Battle over Measure B might not be over
Maybe the Measure B debate isn’t over yet.
Builders and real estate-related interests raised $174,150 to defeat the citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative on the June 6 primary election ballot.
While the measure won by a 299-vote margin, 6,921 to 6,622, only 34 percent of Yorba Linda’s registered voters cast ballots on the initiative, one of the city’s smaller turnouts. The initiative requires a public vote on most major changes to city planning documents.
Seven weeks after the election, a Garden Grove market research firm paid several Yorba Linda residents to gather in focus groups and participate in two-hour discussions on the factors that influenced their votes and to give their opinions of City Council members.
One participant was Paul Weddell, a retired 26-year city resident who is active in the community. Weddell said he signed a confidentiality agreement, which prevents him from revealing any of the topics discussed during the actual focus group meetings.
Two employees from Ask Southern California confirmed that post-election Measure B sessions were held at their Lewis Street location, south of the Crystal Cathedral, but they refused to give more information and wouldn’t identify the client paying for the research.
Weddell said he and some of his group members noted after their meeting that at least three panels assembled on July 24, with one formed from residents who cast votes for Measure B and another composed of residents who voted against the initiative.
Although Waddell was part of the pro-initiative focus group, he said he initially opposed the measure. He said he changed his mind due to the “arrogance” of council members and developers, a sentiment he said was shared by others in an after-session discussion.
Weddell said he and other group members also voted for the measure because of many misleading statements in the numerous anti-initiative brochures mailed to residents.
Perhaps some well-heeled group is preparing another initiative to overturn Measure B in a future election or maybe the same special interests that campaigned against Measure B in Yorba Linda want to prevent similar initiatives from succeeding in surrounding cities.
Adding the $174,150 raised to fight Measure B to the $115,000 that two developers contributed to stop the petitions opposed to the since-rescinded Town Center zoning ordinances totals $289,150 in outside-the-city money put up to influence local voters.
Unfortunately, none of the money was spent with Yorba Linda businesses, so the city didn’t even pick up a dime’s worth of sales tax revenue from the record expenditures.
Let’s hope Yorba Lindans aren’t facing a big-spending rematch on the same issue.
A FINAL NOTE
The Stop YL Recall group has a few debts remaining from the successful, low-budget effort to thwart a recall of council members Allen Castellano, Ken Ryan, Keri Wilson and Jim Winder, according to the latest financial filing by the local citizens’ committee.
The group collected $1,150 in donations, paid treasurer Betty Presley $500 and listed a $650 cash balance. They owe $1,492 for street signs and an additional $550 to Presley.
Another $966 for newspaper advertising is owed to Eve Tibbs, an anti-recall leader who also helped lead the campaign that convinced council members to abandon plans for a Metrolink train station in southeast Yorba Linda, near Albertson’s supermarket, in 2004.
Builders and real estate-related interests raised $174,150 to defeat the citizen-sponsored Right-to-Vote on Land-Use Amendments initiative on the June 6 primary election ballot.
While the measure won by a 299-vote margin, 6,921 to 6,622, only 34 percent of Yorba Linda’s registered voters cast ballots on the initiative, one of the city’s smaller turnouts. The initiative requires a public vote on most major changes to city planning documents.
Seven weeks after the election, a Garden Grove market research firm paid several Yorba Linda residents to gather in focus groups and participate in two-hour discussions on the factors that influenced their votes and to give their opinions of City Council members.
One participant was Paul Weddell, a retired 26-year city resident who is active in the community. Weddell said he signed a confidentiality agreement, which prevents him from revealing any of the topics discussed during the actual focus group meetings.
Two employees from Ask Southern California confirmed that post-election Measure B sessions were held at their Lewis Street location, south of the Crystal Cathedral, but they refused to give more information and wouldn’t identify the client paying for the research.
Weddell said he and some of his group members noted after their meeting that at least three panels assembled on July 24, with one formed from residents who cast votes for Measure B and another composed of residents who voted against the initiative.
Although Waddell was part of the pro-initiative focus group, he said he initially opposed the measure. He said he changed his mind due to the “arrogance” of council members and developers, a sentiment he said was shared by others in an after-session discussion.
Weddell said he and other group members also voted for the measure because of many misleading statements in the numerous anti-initiative brochures mailed to residents.
Perhaps some well-heeled group is preparing another initiative to overturn Measure B in a future election or maybe the same special interests that campaigned against Measure B in Yorba Linda want to prevent similar initiatives from succeeding in surrounding cities.
Adding the $174,150 raised to fight Measure B to the $115,000 that two developers contributed to stop the petitions opposed to the since-rescinded Town Center zoning ordinances totals $289,150 in outside-the-city money put up to influence local voters.
Unfortunately, none of the money was spent with Yorba Linda businesses, so the city didn’t even pick up a dime’s worth of sales tax revenue from the record expenditures.
Let’s hope Yorba Lindans aren’t facing a big-spending rematch on the same issue.
A FINAL NOTE
The Stop YL Recall group has a few debts remaining from the successful, low-budget effort to thwart a recall of council members Allen Castellano, Ken Ryan, Keri Wilson and Jim Winder, according to the latest financial filing by the local citizens’ committee.
The group collected $1,150 in donations, paid treasurer Betty Presley $500 and listed a $650 cash balance. They owe $1,492 for street signs and an additional $550 to Presley.
Another $966 for newspaper advertising is owed to Eve Tibbs, an anti-recall leader who also helped lead the campaign that convinced council members to abandon plans for a Metrolink train station in southeast Yorba Linda, near Albertson’s supermarket, in 2004.
posted by Jim Drummond at 12:00 PM
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