Yes on W--Yes on Open Space

by Stephen Knight, Political Director

Originally posted on October 24, 2008

Save The Bay was founded almost 50 years ago to ... well, save the Bay, from Bay fill. And it was saved--back then; but somehow it never seems to stop needing to be saved again. With seven million of us living all around it, the pressures on the Bay will always be enormous, no matter how much we love it and realize how important it is to our quality of life and economy.

We'd like to think that in the 21st century, any further massive Bay fill would be off the table. Not so.

At the top of Save The Bay's agenda right now is passing a ballot measure—Measure W—in Redwood City. Measure W gives Redwood City voters the final say if the City Council approves development on open space, parks and baylands. The largest threatened open space left along the Bay shoreline is a 1,430-acre salt pond site owned by Cargill Inc., where current zoning does not permit the truly massive development planned by Cargill developers.

In their campaign against Measure W the Cargill developers are spending around $20,000 a day to confuse voters by claiming that Measure W will somehow hurt homeowners, leave seniors hungry, and even burn down houses! Redwood City residents should reject these baseless claims, get the facts and send the developers a message by voting Yes on W.

Redwood City’s quality of life and economy benefit directly from the smart decisions made to preserve open space. Because citizens acted, Bair Island is now a wildlife refuge instead of an office park, and Marina Shores’ massive high rises were stopped.

This November, Redwood City voters should make another smart decision for open space by voting Yes on W.

Watch our Yes on W video on YouTube