The El Cerrito Democratic Club lived up to our tagline at our March meeting! After an extremely thorough and informative presentation by our District One County Supervisor John Gioia our club voted unanimously to endorse Measure AA, San Francisco Bay Clean Water, Pollution Prevention and Habitat Restoration Program.
Measure AA, also known as “Clean and Healthy Ballot Measure” will raise over $5 million through a $12 per year per parcel tax in the 9 Bay Area counties: San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, Solano, and Sonoma. The tax will be effect for the 20 years beginning July, 2017 through June, 2037.
These funds will be used for 4 main programs:
- Safe, Clean Water and Pollution Prevention
- Vital Fish, Bird and Wildlife Habitat Program
- Integrated Flood Protection Program
- Shoreline Public Access Program
These programs are vitally important. Over the past 150 years, development, diking, and filling in our bay with trash, waste, and toxic pollutants have reduced our natural wetlands by 80%, from over 200,000 acres to 40,000 acres. Natural wetlands provide essential protection against flooding, as well as important habitat for thousands of marine, land, and avian species. Having clean water in our Bay means we have clean water in our shore linked lakes, streams and ponds, and less overall pollution in our environment.
The measure includes clear provisions for citizen oversight, appropriations priorities, and transparent reporting.
An extraordinary coalition of local businesses, environmental organizations, and elected officials have crafted a measure that addresses the declining health of our defining geographical feature that is coherent and comprehensible. For the complete language of the measure see http://sfbayrestore.org/docs/BallotMeasureLanguage.pdf.
Supervisor Gioia’s presentation was enhanced by the graphics provided by Jessica Reynolds from the Yes of Measure AA campaign.
Our club will be reach out personally to 1,000 new and infrequent voters to encourage them to vote Yes on Measure AA at the June 7 election. This will be different from our customary literature drops where we have left literature at the homes of frequent voters. Instead, our walkers will knock on doors and try to speak personally with new voters, and infrequent voters. In this way, we hope to encourage individuals who have registered to vote to cast ballots, and increase voter turnout.
We will have maps, lists, materials and scripts ready by April 29. If you are interested in participating in our voter outreach, please contact Hilary Crosby either by phone (510-375-5647) or email (ecdc.pres@gmail.com).
Hilary Crosby
President, ECDC