R.I.P. Measure A
“This issue is trust. Should voters put their trust in the Board of Supervisors as well as the city councils in the county’s nine incorporated cities, all of which will receive a share of the funds, to spend the money the way it is intended?” — from a Press Democrat editorial, June 2, 2015.
Measure A votes: 67% opposed, 33% in favor.
Trust question answered. Next question: Why don’t voters trust elected officials?
Answer: Because they ignore issues important to residents in their constant fawning over business interests, the 1% and tourists, as reflected in their continuing failure or refusal to:
• Stop vacation rentals and pursue AirBnB for taxes owed
• Enact a $15 minimum wage ordinance
• Stop neighborhood-disrupting winery “event centers”
• Create incentives for more affordable housing
• Raise TOT on tourists, instead of regressively taxing residents
• Diversify the economy away from low-paying wine/tourism jobs
• Stop construction of big hotels that ruin small-town character
• Stop environment-destroying vineyards and mega-mansion developments
• Stop fattening public employee pensions, especially their own
• Stop winegrowers from sucking our aquifers and rivers dry
Otherwise, they’re doing a fine job.
One thought on “R.I.P. Measure A”
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As someone living in St. Helena, I cannot agree with Mr Edwards more. The pursuit of the $ has become the excuse to approve outlandish projects that use up precious water resources, to change neighborhoods with short-term rentals. Why are so few people willing to acknowledge this harm in planting vineyards at the expense of our native woodlands… and our own health.