Letters to the editor

Monterey County Herald
Posted on May 23, 2007

Impractical solution

Consider the argument that Measure A will save the environment by cutting the number of cars on our clotted roads. If we have children and grandchildren, the population grows. Prosperous areas will also grow
by immigration because that is where the jobs are. Many commuters to the Peninsula are sitting in their cars polluting the environment because of the failure of the Peninsula governments to plan and allow for affordable housing for workers.

The solution proposed by the no-growth backers of Measure A is to impose the same failed policies of not accounting for population growth and not building
affordable housing on all of the county. The Measure A supporters cite the Rancho San Juan case as justification to change the system to one where the
expense of a countywide election will impede all growth. The Rancho San Juan case is actually a success story in which only a clearly inappropriate case is
subject to a referendum.

Where we should let voters make the decision is in the election of their county supervisors. Whereas the intent of Measure A may sound good, the proposed
solution is an irresponsible, impractical management of growth.

Russell L. Elsberry
Carmel Valley