BAY AREA ELECTION SUCCESSES!
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BAY AREA ELECTION SUCCESSES! |
Six out of the eight measures that Greenbelt Alliance took a position on went our way!
Unfortunately, Sonoma's transportation tax passed, and the San Francisco housing bond measure did not achieve quite the two-thirds vote it needed.
But the overall news from this election here in the Bay Area was one of victory for our transportation options. The measures that passed funded transit and planning for cyclists and pedestrians - as well as growth controls to keep sprawl development from clogging our roads with more cars. Measures to fund local open space protection also passed handily.
These decisions by Bay Area voters help make our region an even better place to live.
The following measures went our way:
Solano County Measure A - Transportation Sales Tax - FAILED (63.8% yes) This measure focused on highway widening, included no growth controls, and only 2% of the money would have gone toward safety improvements on Solano County's roads.
Marin County Measure A - Transportation Sales Tax - PASSED (70.8% yes) This measure funds local transportation, with significant funding for transit, planning for cyclists and pedestrians, and safe routes to schools.
San Mateo County Measure A - Transportation Sales Tax - PASSED (75.3% yes) This measure also provides significant funding for transit, including buses and CalTrain, and for cyclists and pedestrians.
Hercules Measure M - Franklin Canyon General Plan Amendment - PASSED (63.2% yes) This measure will protect 450 acres of canyonlands around Hercules, which have frequently been threatened by development.
East Bay Measure BB - Alameda-Contra Costa Transit Parcel Tax - PASSED (71.7% yes) This $2/year measure will help offset lost funds from the state, and allow AC Transit to maintain needed bus service without raising fares.
East Bay Measure CC - East Bay Parks Parcel Tax - PASSED (67.1% yes) This $12/year measure will raise much-needed funds for parks in the western half of the East Bay Regional Park District, to help maintain the parks and protect wildlife habitat.
These measures did not go our way:
San Francisco Measure A - Affordable Housing Bond - FAILED (64.6% yes; needed 66.7%) This $200 million bond measure would have provided funding for much-needed affordable housing for people who make less than San Francisco's median income.
Sonoma County Measure M - Transportation Sales Tax - PASSED (67.2% yes) Eighty percent of the measure's funds go toward roads and highways, not public transit, and it includes no growth controls.
These are measures we took no position on:
Contra Costa County Measure J - Transportation Sales Tax - PASSED (70.5% yes) This measure includes funds for public transit, especially in western Contra Costa County communities. However, its growth controls rely on an urban limit line that could be moved after the vote. We're focusing on strengthening that urban limit line, to keep sprawl development off of Contra Costa's greenbelt.
Cotati Measure P - Retail Business Uses - FAILED (38% yes) This measure would have restricted retail uses to keep big box stores, particularly a 165,000-foot Lowe's Hardware, from being built in part of Cotati, and would have promoted a more pedestrian-friendly "retail village."
Santa Cruz County Transportation Sales Tax - FAILED (42.8% yes) This was another highway-heavy transportation measure, of interest although outside the nine Bay Area counties in which Greenbelt Alliance works.