Donohue joins 'No on A' chorus
Salinas: Mayor says measure too costly for county

Posted on May 24, 2007

By CLAUDIA MELÉNDEZ SALINAS
Herald Salinas Bureau


For Salinas Mayor Dennis Donohue, it's "no, no, yes." Repeating his mantra of economic development as a road to peace and prosperity, the top elected official of the county's most populous city came out against a measure that would prevent most growth on agricultural land unless approved by Monterey County voters.

Surrounded by "No on A" promoters and posters, Donohue said Measure A "will ultimately cost this county billions of dollars of revenues and thousands of new employment opportunities."

Monterey County voters will be asked June 5 to weigh in on four questions that will ultimately decide how the region grows in unincorporated areas.

Measure A asks the voters to approve the General Plan Initiative, a plan that would require a countywide vote for most development on farmland. Measure B asks voters to reject the land-use plan approved by the Board of Supervisors, and Measure C asks voters to confirm it. Measure D — which Donohue said he would not take a position on — would repeal Butterfly
Village, a 670-unit housing development north of Salinas.

It's a set of complicated issues that's baffling many residents, Donohue said, and that's why he decided to toss his opinion into the mix.

"I observe there are so many good people who want to be good citizens by simply voting, and they're confused," he said.

Donohue, who doubles as president of an agricultural company, is the eighth mayor in Monterey County to add his voice to the "No on


A" campaign. All the mayors of the Salinas Valley cities — and all of the councils except for Salinas — have expressed opposition to Measure A.
Because of pending litigation against Salinas, the city attorney recommended that the council as a whole not take a position on the issue. Elected officials
could make their views known as long as they made clear that was not the official position of the city, Donohue said.

Councilwoman Jyl Lutes, a strong backer of Measure A,
said she was surprised to hear about Donohue's public
stance.

"He'd always said he's not going to take a position,
but I'm also a little surprised because Measure A is
good for cities," she said. "With Measure A, cities is
where growth occurs, and we can direct resources to
the cities."

Donohue said he wasn't taking a position to side with developers but to air concerns about the measure's potential to stifle agriculture, the county's largest source of revenue.

"Measure A will not allow the wine industry to reach its full potential as possibly the world's next premier wine region," he said.

Lutes acknowledged the citizen-driven initiative had flaws, including not making room for the wine industry as the supervisors' approved plan does.

"But I think that can be overcome," she said. "Just after the dust settles, we go back to the ballot and say, 'Let's adjust Measure A' and things that make
sense you can go back to the voters and say, 'Let's readjust it.'"

That's what opponents to Measure A want to avoid: having to go back to the voters every time a plan that would be in place for 25 years needs tweaking.

"If any area in this world calls for good political battle over its future, Monterey County does," Donohue said. "But there's a right way and a wrong way to wage that battle. There's a right way and a wrong way to make policy. Measure A is not the right way."

Claudia Meléndez Salinas can be reached at 753-6755 or cmelendez@montereyherald.com.