Alameda County voters will decide a wide variety of issues in the March 2 election, including a half-cent sales tax to fund the county's troubled medical center, and whether to make permanent Oakland's strong mayor form of government.

Measure A is a countywide half-cent sales tax to boost the medical center facilities where the county's poor, uninsured and underinsured go for basic health care. It's projected to raise $90 million annually to help pay for basic and emergency care, mental health treatment and substance abuse services to low-income residents.

Two-thirds of Alameda County's voters must support Measure A for it to pass. It would raise the county's sales tax rate to 8.75 percent, the highest for any county in the state.

The measure is supported by all five members of the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, the county taxpayers association and the Alameda Contra Costa Medical Association.

It faces little organized opposition, but Berkeley physician Lance Montauk claims in a ballot argument against Measure A that "Alameda County and its healthcare system are neither terminal or on life support," and that the measure is "bad medicine" because it's "the wrong diagnosis, the wrong treatment at the wrong time."

The most contentious issue before Oakland voters is Measure P, which would extend a previous strong mayor charter amendment approved by the city's voters in 1998, the year that Jerry Brown was first elected mayor.

Measure P, which requires only a simple majority to pass, is seen as something of a referendum on Brown's leadership of the city over the past five years.

The new measure, which was devised by a citizens' committee that Brown and the City Council appointed, would strengthen the mayor's job description by downgrading the city manager's title to city administrator and giving the mayor approval over the hiring and firing of department heads.

Brown doesn't attend council meetings under the current strong mayor form of government, but if Measure P fails, he would essentially become a member of the city council and the city would go back to having a strong city manager.

Oakland's Measure R, which requires two-thirds approval, was put on the ballot by the City Council to respond to the city's homicide rate, which has grown 50 percent in the past three years.

It asks voters to approve a 10-year assessment of $90 for each single-family home and $180 for larger apartment buildings in order to raise $10 million a year to for violence prevention and for enhancing police enforcement. It needs to be approved by two-thirds of the city's voters in order to pass.

Of the annual $10 million, 40 percent would go to social programs to steer poor kids away from crime, 40 percent would go toward hiring about 30 more police officers to target drug-related shootings and domestic violence, and the rest would be devoted mainly to providing job-training and counseling for parolees and young adults with criminal records.

Oakland's Measure O, which requires a simple majority, would bring the city in line with a federal law that allows the city to collect a 7.5 percent tax on the bills of cell phone users. Currently, some cell phone users in Oakland are paying more taxes than others, but Measure O, which requires only a simple majority for approval, would change that.

City officials estimate that the change will bring Oakland an additional $1.35 million annually on top of the $7.5 million it now collects in cell phone taxes.

Oakland's Measure Q, which needs two-thirds approval, would raise about $10.7 million a year for local libraries. That's about double the $5.14 million raised each year since voters approved a $36 library parcel tax in 1994.

Measure E in Oakland, which also needs two-thirds approval, is a parcel tax increase to go toward attracting and retaining qualified credentialed teachers, maintaining libraries, music and arts programs, and providing other school services.

The measure would increase the existing $123 annual parcel tax by $6 per month, to $195 annually for a period of five years, with no money used for administrative costs.

Berkeley voters will decide the fate of three charter amendments that would change the city's election procedures. All of them just need a simple majority to pass.

Measure I, which is generating the most debate, would adopt an instant runoff voting system for the offices of mayor, city council and auditor. If the system is approved, voters would rank candidates by their order of preference on the ballot.

Measure H, which is aimed at avoiding the cost of runoff elections, would require that candidates for mayor, city council and auditor would only have to get 40 percent of the vote in a general election in order to avoid a runoff.

Currently, the threshold for avoiding a runoff is 45 percent. Measure H would be superceded by instant-runoff voting if that system ever became a reality.

Measure J would require that candidates running for city council be nominated by registered voters who live in their district. The amendment also would require candidates for all local offices to pay a filing fee of $150.

Or, they could submit signatures to get the fee waived or reduced. Each signature would be worth a $1 discount, so a candidate who submitted at least 150 signatures wouldn't have to pay a fee. Currently, there is no fee to run for office in Berkeley.

Measure B, which needs 55 percent approval, is a $498 million bond measure that would result in a number of improvements to the Chabot-Las Positas Community College District. It will be voted on by residents in Castro Valley, Sunol, Dublin, Pleasanton, Hayward, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Union City.

Measure C, which also needs 55 percent approval, is a $63 million bond measure to renovate aging neighborhood schools and make other improvements in the Alameda City Unified School District.

Measure D, which needs two-thirds approval, is a parcel tax to reduce class sizes and make other improvements in the Dublin Joint Unified School District.

Measure K, which also needs two-thirds approval, would continue a public safety services tax to fund police and fire protection services in Union City.

Measure L, another measure requiring two-thirds approval, is a $250 million bond measure to make improvements in the San Joaquin Delta Community College District, part of which is in southeastern Alameda County.

Measure S, which needs two-thirds approval, would impose a basic municipal services tax in Piedmont. Measure T, which also needs a two-thirds majority, would provide for a "Preserve Piedmont Service Level Tax."

Piedmont City Attorney George Peyton Jr. says in a ballot analysis that Measure T is a supplementary parcel tax, which will increase city revenue and help ensure that the city's government continues to operate at its current service level.

Peyton says Measure T is a companion tax to Measure S and cannot be passed unless Measure S is also passed. He says voters may choose to reduce city services to a very basic level by passing only Measure S, or they may choose to preserve current service levels by passing both Measure S and Measure T.