By Marcia Fariss
It is both amazing and frightening to see how many people have been misled into believing the half-truths, exaggerations and outright lies spewed forth by the opponents of Measure G. It is particularly galling that the opponents continue in their duplicitous ways even after they admit that at least one of their major ballot arguments is factually incorrect.
The "Big Lie" syndrome is not only alive and well in Saratoga, it is thriving! The well-financed opposition of Measure G assumes that if the same lies are shouted enough times, that voters will accept them as truth. Well, the truth is being told over and over again, and Saratoga's voters deserve to hear it and read it. The truth is available from SONIC, a grassroots movement not supported by builders, real-estate developers and/or profiteers. Supporters of Measure G are "just plain folks" interested in attempting to preserve what little remains of Saratoga's rural past.
We do not have thousands of dollars to spend on publicity, advertisements and/or huge mailings. We do not have supporters who own undeveloped properties that would make them wealthy if the properties were developed as high-density or rezoned as commercial. We do not have supporters who are land developers just waiting for "their" councilmembers to approve rezoning so that hundreds of thousands of dollars can flow into their profit columns.
A review of the past 18 years of City Council elections revealed that only six of the 23 councilmembers elected since 1978 have not been supported by developers and/or other interests wanting to develop land for maximum profits. Certainly, there is nothing wrong in wanting to earn a profit and/or develop land; however, when the greater good of the community is sacrificed, then it is wrong.
Saratoga's voters know that they moved here to escape the high density and intense commercial development that typifies the land use of surrounding communities. Saratoga voters know that this is our town; that it's not the sole domain of city councils, developers and greedy landowners.
Measure G assures a reasonable development policy that allows the residents of Saratoga to have some say in its future. Measure G is not a draconian, suffocating initiative, as the opponents would like you to believe. Measure G merely supports and reinforces existing general plan land-use policies regarding residential and open-space property.
Measure G opponents obviously have no intention of either abiding by or supporting the residential or open-space designations stipulated in the general plan; if they did intend to honor it, they would not be opposing Measure G!
Marcia Fariss is a member of the board of the Saratoga Woods Park Homeowners Association.
This article appeared in the Saratoga News, March 20, 1996.
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