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Health & Fitness

No on Measure T

The proponents of Measure T, the initiative to annex the Sakata-Kett farmland-property, want us to believe that without its successful passage, the city will not be able to provide basic services like Police, Fire, library, recreation and after school programs. Don’t let their lies scare you, our State Constitution mandates what is required by law in regard to public safety obligations. Also, according to the “Yes on T” Facebook page, supporters want us to believe that stores like: In-N-Out, Costco, Olive Garden, Kohl’s, Trader Joe's, Burlington Coat Factory, Red Robin, TJ Maxx, Cracker Barrel, Marshalls, Golden Corral, J.C. Penney, and Cabela's…” are just chomping at the bit to locate here thereby creating “hundreds of local jobs,” not to mention generating the much needed sales tax revenue the city needs to provide those basic services.    

The city’s Economic Development Manager has repeatedly stated that Watsonville doesn’t have the demographics, educational, and income levels to sustain this type of commercial retail. What makes Measure T supporters think anything changes just because you change the location? Measure T proponents also say they’d like to “replicate the success of the Target store on Main Street” as they claim it annually brings in $400k in sales tax revenue and employs more than 200 people. I wonder how many of those 200 employees actually live in Watsonville and how those numbers have changed now that Capitola has its own Target?  

Watsonville doesn’t need to pave over prime farmland for commercial development, Watsonville needs a thorough house cleaning at city hall! The elimination of Redevelopment Agency monies only served to shine a neon light on the blatant mismanagement that has been going on at city hall for years: the Manabe-Ow business park deal (where ARE those 2,000 jobs?); the shenanigans and taxpayer dollars wasted during the Alejo Regime; the ongoing fire truck fiasco; the 4.4 million dollars the State of California wants back, and now the $80K being wasted on a special election. And while I’m thinking about it, with unemployment in Watsonville at about 22 per cent, why do we have a City Manager who makes more per year than any current Governor in the United States?  When is the corruption going to end?  

I agree that Watsonville is at a turning point. It is in everyone's best interests to have a vibrant and healthy city with planned development and economical services but annexing valuable farmland to build unknown “big box” stores is not the solution. Let’s concentrate on development within existing city limits and on properties already approved by voters. If 49 per cent of the Watsonville Youth Council felt that, according to an article in the R-P on February 26, 2013, the city should work on the downtown area before investing in a big box store, why don’t our grown up city leaders understand that? Could it be these young people already understand that minimum wage retail jobs do not make for bright futures and that the promised jobs  never materialize for people in the community who need them the most?  I agree with Mary Flodin, “Measure T is a bottom feeder’s plan.” Please join me, along with the Pajaro Valley Chamber of Commerce, Watsonville Wetlands Watch, Santa Cruz County Farm Bureau, and The Santa Cruz Sentinel Editorial Board in voting No on Measure T.

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