Don Cool and Paula Redfern were appointed to the Measure H Oversight Committee by the Ceres City Council on Monday.

Recent council's recent debate over the pros and cons of term limits may have been what triggered the most applications for the committee.

Four individuals were evaluated for an appointment to two seats.

In February the Ceres City Council decided to keep term limits for committee members.

The oversight committee was created in 2007 when Ceres voters approved the half-cent sales tax increase designated for police and fire services. The voters stipulated that the committee should determine if the tax proceeds are being spent where they are supposed to be. The measure called for a member to be limited to no more than two three-year terms. Those members could reapply for a position as long as they spent a term out.
The council also interviewed Brenda Scudder Herbert and Lee Ann Hoogestraat for the committee.

Councilmembers specifically asked the applicants if the police and fire chiefs should have any influence on where Measure H monies are spent, what they would bring to the committee and if they were aware of where monies were currently going.

Cool noted how he aggressively pushed for Measure H, volunteered to walk 400 houses to campaign for it, and held a barbecue to promote it. He also said chiefs should have input on where the tax monies are spent "but they shouldn't have all the say." Cool admitted that he did not know where Measure H monies were being spent.

Redfern is a former Ceres code enforcement officer now working for Merced Police Department. She said the chiefs should advise the council on Measure H expenditures. Redfern said she has stayed aware of how the tax dollars are being spent and said she wants to make sure the citizens are getting the extra police and fire protection that Measure H promised to deliver when it was passed in 2007.

The council voted 3-1 for the Cool and Redfern appointments. Vice Mayor Bret Durossette voted no.