Editorial: Yes on Measure AA

This June, voters in the nine Bay area counties will be asked to approve a $12-per-parcel annual tax to support efforts to protect and restore San Francisco Bay. Measure AA, The San Francisco Bay Clean Water, Pollution Prevention and Habitat Restoration Measure, was developed by the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority, an appointed body comprised of elected representatives from various Bay Area counties. Its mission is embodied in its name; to restore San Francisco Bay. Over many generations, the Bay has suffered at the hands of inappropriate development, reduction of wetlands, pollution, dumping and neglect. As a result, water quality has declined, wildlife habitat has degraded and the public’s enjoyment of this precious resource limited and constrained.

A list of types of projects the tax funding will support can be found on the Authority’s website. A quick review of seven pages of projects reveals both the extent of the work that needs to be done and the locations where the work will happen. Every region of the nine Bay Area counties is included. The wetlands restoration project near Sears Point unveiled dramatically last fall by breaching the old levee exemplifies the kind of work the Authority proposes to accomplish.

Sonoma County is guaranteed funding for projects, as are all other counties. A citizen’s oversight committee will monitor the choice of projects, spending and implementation. The Restoration Authority also has a very large Advisory Board of environmental professionals that meets and reviews the Committee’s activity.

Measure AA is not perfect, but then again, nothing is perfect. Sonoma County is guaranteed only 9 percent of 50 percent of total revenues generated by the new tax, which is lower than what other regions will receive. All parcels are taxed at a flat rate of $12, though the value of parcels in the Bay Area varies widely and can differ by many millions. The Measure also provides language about “protecting communities from flood” through wetland restoration and levees. Finally, because the Committee is governed by elected officials from various counties, the faces will change over time, and so might priorities.

What is important is that a real effort is being made, however imperfect, to attend to the health of San Francisco Bay. A regional approach is the only way the Bay stands to be well protected; using a collaborative, coordinated methodology that eliminates borders simply makes sense.

Collaboration between regions make sense on many levels, and too often parochial concerns get in the way of regional planning. When it comes to groundwater, air quality, sanitation, health, and transportation, all issues without real borders, a regional approach has far greater possibility of success than if individual jurisdictions address them.

Attaining two-thirds voter approval is a high bar, but it’s hoped that the low $12-per-parcel threshold, combined with the Bay Area’s concern for protecting our environment, will sway voters to cast their vote in favor of Measure AA. We support it, and hope Sonoma Valley will as well.

Sun Editorial Board