As a resident and taxpayer of Lake County I would like to add my perspective to the debate on measures O and P. It seems we have all the elements for a real debate.
Lets start with the Lake County Farm Bureau, they have come out against P. So the farmers do not support the right to grow the natural plants of the earth, seems odd, they support the alcohol farmers,but not the private citizens right to grow things. If P is designed to protect private citizens from being forced to consume GMO products, I am left to conclude our local farmers support GMO crops. Especially the alcohol farmers, who could very well be planting genetically altered grapes in the very near future.
The argument is people will use P to grow Marijuana. So we are supposed to abandon our right to grow natural food in order to prevent marijuana grows,even though P protects only private personal gardening. Why don”t the farmers abandon farming to prevent the alcohol farmers from producing a product that causes death and destruction everyday in our county. It is because farmers have a right in a free society to grow grapes for alcohol instead of food. The grape growers consumes 100x the water as back yard gardeners and they spray pesticides on the crops, all protected by Lake County”s stated policy of being an agriculturally based economy.
Then we are told that whichever measure gets the most majority votes wins. What? In an election a majority is a majority. I can see how O will eliminate N but P states it creates an exemption for private use so if they both pass it seems O”s regulations on private gardening is DOA. How could both pass? That would require voters to say “I support our right to grow natural plants except for the fact that I don”t support our right to grow natural plants.”
Then there is the voter guide error. How convenient, now the O supporters can call for a special election for a re-vote when P is not on the ballot. They blamed the printer. I say they printed what they were sent. It looks to me like the people who wrote N are working with the people who wrote O. Also the “no” supporters have twice the voting power as the “yes” supporters. It makes perfect sense if you are against them both to vote “no” on both, thereby doubling down on your vote. Whereas the” yes” people if using logic as a guide would vote for one or the other, thereby splitting there voting power.
On one last note I would like to point out the fact that in many counties there are similar measure to both N and O going up for a vote, these are corporate measure supported by outside money, but here in our beautiful rural agriculturally based county we are the only ones in the state who are being given the chance to vote on a truly unique one of a kind grassroots measure.
I ask the citizens of Lake County to read measure P, then think very carefully before deciding how to vote on P. We may not get another chance.
Jeff Webb, Kelseyville
