P.S. -- In researching this, I found an article printed in a Gilroy newspaper that says Measure A contains a number of "brazenly" false statements designed to mislead voters. I wonder why the Palo Alto papers haven't printed this yet.
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Original post made by R.S., Downtown North, on Sep 9, 2006
Comments (5)
Three cheers for Drekmeier. Only citizens can vote and you need to know English to be a citizen. Let's seal the borders!
The advocates for Measure A were gathering signatures to qualify for the ballot. The singatures did not have to be from a certain race- just registered to vote. Election materials are multi-lingual and prepared by the County so R.S. should not confuse qualifying for the ballot versus the actual ballot and accompanying materials. It is called democracy. Put it on the ballot and let people vote.
I'd be interested in knowing whether Drekmeier & Company did any kind of outreach on this ballot measure in the Latino community? It would seem that he gathered signatures only in lilly white areas like Palo Alto. One would hope that he and his team believe (and practice) diversity.
Lily White Palo Alto? Hmmm...I am fairly certain that 40% of our school kids, at least in our school, are ELL. ( English Language Learners). As well, I believe that at our school, the second language is Korean. I am pretty sure Palo Alto is turning ....well, whatever color would be a mix of everyone..Diversity is one of the things I love about this area.
I can't vote on Measure A because I live in Menlo Park, but I have a suspicion why the backers of this ballot measure might have avoided Asians, Latins, Pacific Islanders and other minority groups. Newer arrivals to this area probably find the lack of affordable housing to be outrageous and have figured out that regulations promoting open space, such as Measure A, have the unintended consequence of pushing up land prices, which means higher rents. Open space is much more popular among the Haves than the Have-Nots.
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