The election code requires that an independent analysis of ballot initiatives be commissioned to better inform voters and the Board of Supervisors on the impact of the measure. There are law firms that do these kinds of analyses, and it is the duty of the county to select a competent and unbiased firm and provide sufficient time to complete the task. Instead, the County chose a firm that promotes its service to developers in Napa and had agency in keeping the initiative off the ballot in the previous year. The directions to the firm were biased or the Board of Supervisors is inclined to accept a biased, non-compliant with the Election Code section 9111 requirement, and inflammatory report as 'objective'.
It's not
Sierra Club has endorsed a ballot initiative to improve protections for Napa County’s watershed and oak woodlands. Voters will face the initiative in June, and, if passed, it will be a historic, precedent-setting measure that will set a limit on how many acres of oak woodlands can be permanently removed.
In response to the letter from Jason Abbott regarding the watershed initiative (“Read the initiative before you sign,” Nov. 3).
Like you, I’m a fisherman, hiker, gardener, and concerned citizen. I have a different take on the effort to place this initiative on the ballot.
"It is time to slow down the crass progression of the wine industry before the entire valley and its mountains becomes a cartoon with cute mansions and gentleman vineyards. Let's concentrate on making a product that the world knows is the best, and not on how many people and corporations can get rich from a concept created by visionaries.
Vote 'yes' on Measure C."
"Measure C is a well-written initiative, based on the best current science, and puts in place reasonable measures to protect Napa County's water supply. It is good for agricultural, good for the wine industry, good for all of us in the county. Measure C stops unsustainable expansion of vineyards in our hillside watershed."
Definition of shortsighted: 1. lacking foresight 2. nearsighted –online Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
Definition of property right: a legal right or interest in or against specific property –online Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
"Measure C was designed to ensure ongoing farming success in the Ag Preserve by ensuring that water remains available from the Agricultural Watershed zoning district. The beautiful oak-studded hillsides that surround the Napa Valley are also a critical source of our agricultural and town water supplies. Every grape grower, vintner, and citizen knows that water is an essential need in grape growing, winemaking, and the community. From our perspective, enhancing protections on these Ag Watershed lands, which recharge the reservoirs and the groundwater aquifers, is vital to ensuring the ongoing viability of the Napa Valley community and wine industry.
We are not radical environmentalists. We’re pragmatists in an era of extended drought, higher temperatures and growing competition for limited water supplies – from farming, a growing local population, and a robust tourism industry."
The science is solid and long settled that all watersheds in Napa County have impaired water quality from human land activities providing undeniable evidence that a yes vote on Measure C, the Watershed and Oakwood Protection Initiative is justifiable.
San Francisco planting 2,000 trees. Napa County allowing 14,000 to be cut for one vineyard project alone, while sending children out to plant acorns.
Rewilding, reforestation, restoration are all wonderful. Better and cheaper is preservation. Preservation is also more visionary. Why wouldn't Napa County want to be a leader on this?
When the Farm Bureau and its allied wine and hospitality industry partners use the “highest and best use” language, they are talking about vineyard and winery development - period. Never mind the historical agricultural uses of much of the Valley’s land, such as grains, vegetables and orchards. Never mind that the once-prevalent use of grazing on hillsides (“fuel management" in current wildfire-speak) greatly aided in the minimization of devastating conflagrations such as those of last October.
Paid for by Yes on C, Watershed & Oak Woodland Protection Committee. Committee major funding from Andy Beckstoffer.
Copyright © 2018 Yes on C, Watershed & Oak Woodland Protection Committee