REBUTTAL

Susan Skinner Caustin

Former planning commissioner Thomas Ashley’s recent letter to the

editor asks voters to reject Measure S (Greenlight) because he believes

that we can hold our City Council accountable to the will of the

residents through referendums on specific projects and recall elections

(“Residents remain split over Measures S and T,” Sept. 14).

This naive view ignores the fact the referendums are extremely

difficult and expensive to place on the ballot, and only certain types of

projects can be modified via referendum. Opponents of a project have only

30 days to collect signatures from 10% of the registered voters of a city

-- a very tight time frame. My own personal experience in organizing a

future referendum against the proposed Dunes hotel has certainly opened

my eyes to the enormous barriers against residents taking this avenue of

accountability as Ashley suggests.

In contrast, look at the level of community involvement expressing

opposition to the Dunes hotel. Planning Commission meetings were packed

with residents opposed to the hotel. The city ultimately received more

than 1,000 letters and messages opposed to the hotel. A large coalition

of homeowners groups opposed the hotel. The environmental impact report

was thoroughly critiqued, with absurd contentions such as the statement

that construction of the hotel would improve long-term traffic at 36

major intersections called to the attention of the commissioners.

The result of all this effort? The planning commissioners unanimously

approved the hotel. Discussions with individual council members indicated

that the City Council was on track to approve the hotel until the project

was delayed until after the November election, presumably to protect the

council from the political fallout of their decision.

If the intensity of community opposition against the Dunes hotel did

not convince city officials to uphold the prior settlement agreement

limiting the size of the hotel, how can residents ever hope to match the

irresistible influence of large developers?

Ashley is right when he says that many people feel we cannot trust

City Council members to represent the will of the people regarding

development issues.

Measure S is not the draconian measure that Ashley describes. It was

crafted to allow residents a level playing field when it comes to large

developments like the Dunes hotel. Measure S will affect only one or two

of the 1,500 building permits issued every year, and is designed to

impact only projects which have a potential to degrade our quality of

life.

But beyond the specifics of Measure S, there is an underlying message

that will be sent to our City Council in November.

If Measure S fails, voters will be affirming the status quo and

accepting the rate and density of growth in our city.

If Measure S passes, a clear and unequivocal message will be sent to

our city leaders regarding the residents’ needs to maintain our quality

of life. For those of us who believe that a paradigm shift is years

overdue, a yes vote on Measure S is our only real choice.

* SUSAN SKINNER CAUSTIN is a Newport Beach community activist.