Are you a yes-yes-no-no voter or no-no-yes-yes?
By KELLY NIX

Carmel Pinecone
Posted April 20, 2007

WITH LESS than two months before voters cast their ballots to decide on the county's 20-year growth outline, it seems certain there will be confusion
about which ballot measures mean what. But perhaps the biggest challenge for the two groups competing to implement their plans is motivating people to go to the polls.

Plan for the People, the group backing the Monterey County Board of Supervisors' general plan, kicked off its campaign last week, while LandWatch Monterey County, promoting a slower-growth initiative, said it's gearing up to do the same.

"This election will be decided by whichever campaign can get their people out to vote," said Michael DeLapa, President of the LandWatch Board of Directors.
"We will be everywhere: community events, yard signs, volunteer tables, newspapers, television, radio and the Internet."

The general plan initiative, which got on the ballot after 18,000 people signed a petition in favor of it, limits growth to five unincorporated areas in the
county — none of them in the Monterey Peninsula — and allows for a maximum 10,000 residential housing units. The supervisors' general plan, dubbed GPU4, allows about 21,000 units and permits growth in more parts of
the county.

Plan for the People held a rally last week at which Latino leaders, including county supervisors Fernando Armenta and Simon Salinas, blasted the LandWatch plan, saying it would reduce new affordable housing in the
county.

The group's spokesman, Andre Charles, said it would continue to push that message to voters, "everywhere in the county."

"Our challenge is to communicate the consequences of [the LandWatch plan] so voters understand the importance of casting a 'no' vote," Charles said. "We will be contacting voters in person, by phone, through the mail, and through radio and television advertising."

LandWatch contends the supervisors' general plan allows for too much sprawl and doesn't provide for the infrastructure to support it.

Confusion over competing measures

Some voters casting their ballots for the June 5 special election could be scratching their heads since there will be four questions — three related to the
county's general plan.

"Part of the LandWatch strategy has been confusion and deception," according to Charles. "Promoters of Measure A know that if voters understand the
consequences of the LandWatch initiative — both intended and unintended — they will reject it. So they're trying to divert voters' attention from the
impacts of their initiative."

Voters will be asked to:

- Measure A: Cast a "yes" vote to adopt the citizen-circulated community general plan initiative backed by LandWatch or "no" to reject it.

- Measure B: Cast a "yes" vote to repeal the 2006 county general plan adopted by supervisors Jan. 3, or a "no" vote, which would keep the plan in place.

- Measure C: Cast a "yes" vote to adopt the 2006 county general plan enacted by supervisors Jan. 3, or a "no" vote to reject it.

- Cast a "yes" or "no" vote for the Butterfly Village development near Salinas.

Where measures conflict, whichever gets the most votes will prevail, according to the county counsel's office.

"If voters are confused about measures B and C, that is exactly what some members of the board of supervisors wanted," DeLapa said. "Why should there be two votes on the same measure — Measure B to repeal the supervisors' plan and Measure C to adopt the supervisors' plan? There was no reason for the supervisors to leave measure B on the ballot, other
than to confuse voters."

Neither plan will directly affect the coastal areas of the Monterey Peninsula, which are covered by zoning rules approved by the California Coastal Commission.