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Luis Alejo: Measures H, I and J are bad for Watsonville

By Assemblyman Luis Alejo

Special to the Sentinel

Watsonville has a long history of standing up for the voting rights of its residents. In fact, the 1989 Watsonville federal voting rights case was fought all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court order resulted in fairer elections and a process of how to select our mayor and vice mayor.

The voters of Watsonville, through absentee ballots, already are able to vote down Measures H, I and J, which seek to undermine our voting rights. A secret group based in Capitola responsible for these three misleading measures on the ballot claims to be a "volunteer" effort even though the majority of the signatures submitted were by paid signature gatherers who didn't even live in Watsonville. I find it disturbing and offensive that a group from Capitola with no transparency is attempting to dictate my hometown's municipal elections.

The California Fair Political Practices Commission is currently investigating this "dark money" group for possible violations of state campaign finance laws and not reporting a single expenditure or contribution.

Here's why I encourage my constituents in Watsonville to vote "no" on all three:

NO ON MEASURE H >> Vacancies filled by costly elections and leaving you with no voice for three months. If your council member resigns creating a vacancy, your council district should not be without a representative for an extensive period of time. Measure H, however, guarantees your council district would have no representation for three months on important issues like the budget, public safety or other city issues.

Currently, the council has the option to call for a special election or to appoint someone within 30 days in a public hearing just like almost every other California city. That person would just be appointed for the remainder of the partial term and would have to run again at the next election. Measure H instead requires a special election, each time wasting thousands of taxpayer dollars.

In addition, Measure H is attempting to overturn Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Timothy Volkmann's 2010 decision protecting constitutional rights of voters in District 2 when I resigned to join the State Assembly. He ruled in my favor allowing me to vote for my replacement to not disenfranchise the people of my council district. Otherwise, only council members from other districts would vote for who would replace me. That's not right and should be rejected.

NO ON MEASURE I >> Mayor rotation based on district number only, not on leadership or experience. Watsonville deserves the best leadership for its mayor. The way we choose our mayor and vice mayor is based on that 1989 federal voting rights court order, but it requires the mayor and vice mayor to earn the support of his/her fellow city council members through leadership and consensus-building skills. But Measure I now wants to undermine the federal court order and have the mayor and vice mayor be decided solely by the number of the council district, not on any leadership or skills. It also eliminates a vote at a public hearing where residents get to share their valued opinions.

That's poor public policy and will result in completely new, neophyte council members with no experience becoming mayor immediately only because their council district number was next in line. I agree that we need to continue to have a mayor that is a team leader and that can lead by building agreement and consensus on important city matters.

NO ON MEASURE J >> Discriminatory process for naming of public places. We all love our public parks and buildings. However, Measure J aims to make it more difficult to name them after any Latino leaders. I think that is not inclusive and is disrespectful to the people who make up our great city. Out of 26 publicly owned parks in our city, not one is named after a Latino.

I believe the current process is fair and does require several public hearings. Your council representatives vote for you just like they do on every other important city issue. It also costs no significant money to taxpayers. Measure J, however, requires a costly citywide election each time and appears motivated by discrimination.

Let's not be tricked by an outside secret group with these 3 misleading measures. Let's stand up for our constitutional rights and support policies that respect all people of our great city by voting "no" on Measures H, I and J.