Bay Chapter again over 70% successful in elections

The Sierra Club had several important and inspiring wins in the recent "special" election called by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

All ballot measures went down to defeat, including the three that the Sierra Club opposed: Propositions 73, 75, and 76. This outcome protected women's control over their reproductive choices (Prop 73), workers' rights to effective political action (Prop 75), and checks and balances for the state's budgeting process (Prop 76.)

Locally the Bay Chapter was very successful in most areas, while suffering disappointing losses in some very unfair, lopsided elections.

Developer initiatives

In Livermore the Chapter committed significant volunteer, staff, and financial resources to help a wonderfully organized and inspired community group, Friends of Livermore, defeat Pardee Homes (a division of Weyerhaeuser Corporation) in its deceptive attempt to greenwash sprawl development with Measure D. From paid signature gatherers who lied about the measure's impact to false promises of a "solar community" to signs saying "Happy Trails with Livermore Trails", Pardee threw every marketing and campaign tactic possible (and over $3 million) into trying to convince Livermore residents to vote for 2,450 homes outside the Urban Growth Boundary.

Hundreds of (perhaps over a thousand) Livermore residents made sure the voters of Livermore heard the truth from fellow community members. The last weekend alone over 200 people volunteered - in a town of barely 80,000! Residents phone-banked, walked, tabled at events, held house parties, and stood on busy street corners waving signs. The result: over 72% of Livermore voters rejected Pardee's development.

Livermore voters also re-elected Sierra Club-endorsed Mayor Marshall Kamena and Councilmember Tom Reitter, and elected new Councilmember John Marchand.

Unfortunately, in eastern Contra Costa County, developer-friendly city governments made the playing field so lopsided that citizens had little chance to beat three similarly phony developer initiatives, titled, for example, in Antioch, the "Growth Control, Traffic Relief, Voter-Approved Urban Limit Line, and Roddy Ranch Development General Plan Reduction Initiative Ordinance".

Still, Brentwood voters rejected a 2,800-home development, and Pittsburg's measure won narrowly by just a few hundred votes in a low-turnout election. In Pittsburg, Seeno Construction used strong-arm tactics such as threatening to hold hostage a land acquisition by Save Mount Diablo. Hundreds of "No on P" campaign signs were stolen, and "No on P" volunteers reported being assaulted. Most disappointingly, Antioch's Measure K passed with a slim majority of the vote.

In all three communities there is now lots of work to be done. The Sierra Club and other community groups will be organizing residents in Pittsburg and surrounding communities to ensure that the Pittsburg result is reversed. In Antioch we will be strongly interested in what developments get proposed within the new boundary, and in Brentwood too we must watch over development proposals. To get involved in any of these efforts, contact Mike Daley at (510)848-0800, ext. 304, or email mike.daley-at-sierraclub.org

In summary, despite being outspent 15 - 1, community and environmental groups defeated two-thirds of the units proposed for land zoned for agriculture and open space.

Other elections

In other elections, San Francisco voters approved a more walkable Golden Gate Park by a two-thirds majority (Prop G), and in Fairfax Club-endorsed candidates Mary Ann Maggiore and David Weinsoff were elected, while long-time environmental stalwart Frank Egger was defeated by a dirty, negative campaign funded by developers. In Emeryville, voters supported a ballot measure for a living wage and our endorsed Council candidate John Fricke.

In Newark, in a race where the Sierra Club did not evaluate candidates for endorsements, Ana Apodaca was elected to the City Council with the endorsement of the Alameda County League of Conservation Voters. We look forward to working with her.