From A to Z, and beyond—Monterey County Elections prepares a long list of local ballot measures.

The United States presidential election has been getting a lot of ink as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris campaign around the country. But there's a lot at stake locally as well. 

The filing period for all local positions closed on Wednesday, Aug. 14, and the deadline to place local measures on the ballot came on Friday, Aug. 9. Measures, many of which were ideas for a long time, now have their assigned letters, and candidate lists have taken shape. 

Measure A through P are school bonds for various local school districts (and a small slice of South Monterey County is included in the West Hills Community College District's Measure C, for Coalinga College). 

School districts with bonds include: Monterey Peninsula Unified, Pacific Grove, Salinas Union, Pajaro Valley Unified, Aromas-San Juan, Soledad Unified,  South Monterey County, Chualar Union, King City Union, Mission Union, Washington Union and Spreckels. 

Voters in the cities of Marina, Monterey, Seaside, Pacific Grove, Del Rey Oaks, King City and Gonzales, as well as unincorporated Monterey County, also have a variety of ballot measures to decide on. Some relate to increasing taxes to generate additional revenue, while others make changes in the composition and structure of city councils, and beyond—Seaside voters, for instance, will decide on whether to implement an all-out ban on fireworks.

• Measure Q would update Pacific Grove's definition of "timeshare," as originally approved in 1981, to reflect contemporary "fractional ownership" housing units as timeshares subject to the city's existing prohibition on such units. 
• Measure R would give Del Rey Oaks City Council the ability to increase the city's transient-occupancy tax rate from its current 10 percent up to 14 percent. The city does not currently have any hotels, so the impact to existing operations would be on short-term rentals only, generating up to an estimated $60,000 in additional revenue annually.
• Measure S would increase Gonzales' sales tax rate from 1 percent to 1.5 percent.
• Measure T would increase King City's sales tax rate from 1 percent to 1.5 percent for 12 years. 
• Measure U is a $50 million bond in Marina that would support city facility updates. The average cost would be $54.74 annually per $100,000 of assessed property value. Specific projects listed in the measure are a new public safety building for the fire and police departments and a new community center; remaining funds could be allocated for uses beyond those, if there are any additional funds.
• Measure V updates Monterey's city charter to deleted obsolete language and make the following changes: It would use gender-neutral pronouns; it would delete outdated language regarding certain staff positions; it would clarify the role of the library director; and it would update language to reflect the current process for approving new city ordinances. 
• Measure W would change Monterey's city charter regarding the candidacy of a councilmember for the mayoral position. Under the current policy, a councilmember must step down when they run for mayor, even if they lose the election. The amendment proposed in Measure W would not change that, but aims to minimize the duration of a post-election vacancy, and would allow the councilmember to continue to serve up to 40 days after the election, or until their successor is selected, whichever is sooner. 
• Measure X would implement term limits for Monterey City Council positions (including mayor) to a total of 12 years.
• Measure Y would update the Monterey city charter to allow for leases of city property at below-market-rate to nonprofit, educational or government entities. (The city leases out 90 properties, about 11 percent of which are currently rented to nonprofit organizations.)
• Measure Z would amend the Pacific Grove city charter to shrink the size of its City Council from seven to five members. (There are currently six councilmembers and one mayor; Measure Z would change that to four councilmembers and one mayor. The councilmembers would stick with four-year terms, and the mayor with two-year terms.)
• Measure AA would increase the sales tax in unincorporated Monterey County by 1 percent, generating an estimated $29 million in revenue to the county government per year.
• Measure BB would change the Seaside mayor's term from two years to four years. 
• Measure CC would ban all fireworks, including so-called "safe and sane" fireworks, in the City of Seaside.
• Measure DD applies to voters within the jurisdiction of the Monterey County Regional Fire Protection District. Measure DD would repeal Measure H, a 2018 tax on cannabis businesses. (The measure generates about $375,000 a year for the fire district, and cannabis industry players argue it is too onerous.)
• Measure EE is an annual tax of $82 per parcel within the North County Recreation and Park District, generating an estimated $300,000 annually.

Click here for the full list of ballot measure, and click here for the full list of candidates.