Letters to the editor

The Salinas Californian
Posted on June 2, 2007

Yes on Measure D

I read Chris Fitz's commentary, "Measure A is the only way to fix a broken political system," in the May 27 Monterey County Herald. He totally misses the point.

LandWatch engaged in two separate elections for Board of Supervisors - District 2 and District 4. Its candidates did not win, so they have concluded that the process is broken. Forget the will of the voters.

LandWatch and Measure A bypass the political system. Instead of working with the process, they have chosen to bypass it, creating confusion by placing all
land-use issues on the ballot. Why have elections for the Board of Supervisors if the results do not matter?

With respect to Ventura County, which LandWatch cites as an example of what can happen under Measure A, one should take note of Ventura's regional Highway 101 corridor, which is wall-to-wall outlet malls and big-box stores. Each city is building to its limits, fighting for sales tax revenues. Traffic is
gridlocked. One can look at all of the farmland around it. That is what to expect with Measure A.

Alana Knaster is highly qualified and competent with depth of knowledge, compassion, integrity and understanding of the issues. Having consulted with her in my quest to gain greater insight to the issues addressed by the measures, I am confident Measure D (representing the supervisor-adopted general plan) serves the best interests of our community.

Donald McEnry Davis
Monterey