Subject: Important Update

From: Yes on Measure A <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 4 Oct 2006 11:16:23 -0700

Friends:

Much is happening with the Santa Clara County Land Conservation  
Initiative.  Please enjoy this update.

1) New endorsements for Yes on Measure A include Republicans for  
Environmental Protection, La Raza Roundtable and Valley of Heart's  
Delight.

2) The League of Women Voters will be hosting a Measure A debate next  
week.  Here are the details.

League of Women Voters Debate
Wednesday, October 11
7:00pm - Candidates for District Attorney
7:30pm - Measure A
Located at the Mountain View City Council Chambers
500 Castro Street, Mountain View

3) We will be walking precincts and dropping literature on doorsteps  
this Saturday.  If you can help out or would like more information,  
please contact Brooke Anderson at [email-masked] or (408)  
947-7526.

4) There was an unfortunate error made by the County Attorney  
recently.  In an analysis of Proposition 90 on the state ballot, she  
suggested that if both Proposition 90 and Measure A pass, it could  
open the door for "takings" lawsuits against the County.  This  
analysis failed to take into consideration Section 5 of Measure A  
which states that if any provision in the Initiative violates state  
or federal law, it is no longer applicable.  The County Attorney has  
since corrected her statement, but not until after our opponents  
(including Supervisors Pete McHugh and Don Gage) had already  
capitalized on the mistake and held a press conference where they  
stated that Measure A could bankrupt the County.  For more  
information, you can view an article in the Mercury News at http:// 
www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/15666290.htm

5) Speaking of manipulative campaign tactics, I thought you might be  
interested in the following information:

Who’s Really Behind “No on Measure A”?

Opponents of Measure A – the Santa Clara County Land Conservation  
Initiative – would have you believe their campaign is led by family  
farmers.  This is far from the truth.  Here are a few facts:

* According to documents filed with the Fair Political Practices  
Commission, 95% of “No on A” funding has come from the California  
Association of Realtors, based in Los Angeles.

* Measure A maintains existing parcel sizes in areas zoned for  
agriculture, so it will have no impact on the property values of farms.

The “family farmer” deception is part of a carefully crafted message  
orchestrated by Tom Shepard, a campaign consultant based in San  
Diego. Shepard has a long history of defeating land use initiatives  
by manipulating the messages of campaigns.  The No on A campaign  
comes straight out of the Tom Shepard playbook.

Shepard’s website - http://www.tomshepard.com/Measure%20I% 
20Sonoma.htm -  contains a case study of his 2000 Sonoma County  
campaign, about which he states: “First, polling showed farmers to be  
the most credible advocates for preservation of the county’s rural  
lands.  For this reason, farmers were encouraged to continue their  
high-profile role as spokespersons for the campaign.  Second,  
builders and other development-related interests were discouraged  
from playing a high-profile role in the campaign because their  
involvement would have created an easy target for initiative  
proponents.”

Two weeks ago, true to Shepard’s technique, Measure A opponents  
staged a demonstration featuring farmers and their tractors in San  
Jose.  The event took place in the parking lot of the Santa Clara  
County Realtors Association.  According to one reporter, the farmer  
she interviewed could not tell her specifically how Measure A would  
hurt his operations.

Another technique Shepard uses to cast doubt on his opponents’  
reliability is to challenge their ballot arguments in court.   
Regarding the Sonoma campaign, he writes, “These “preemptive strike”  
efforts were aided by a successful court challenge to a portion of  
the proponents’ ballot argument, which a Superior Court judge labeled  
“false and misleading” and ordered stricken from county-distributed  
voter information booklets.”

On September 5, Measure A opponents unsuccessfully challenged the Yes  
on A ballot argument rebuttal, calling some statements “false and  
misleading.”  The judge ruled in favor of the Yes on A campaign and  
the statements remained intact.

-----

Donations are needed to get our message out to the voters.   Please  
consider contributing online at http://www.openspace2006.org/ 
donate.htm or mailing a donation to: PLAN, 48 S. 7th St., San Jose,  
CA 95112.

Thanks for your support.

-Peter

-----------------------------------
Peter Drekmeier
Campaign Coordinator
Yes on Measure A
People for Land and Nature (PLAN)
48 So. Seventh St.
San Jose, CA 95112
(650) 223-3306

[email-masked]
http://www.OpenSpace2006.org