No escape from the election

While running trails, I don't expect to encounter election signs, even in a year like this. However galumphing along the town of Pacifica shoreline just south of San Francisco, there's been no avoiding the local battle over Measure W.

Measure W seems to be one of those coastal development fights which are the stuff of California life wherever people live adjacent to the ocean. Keeping real estate developers, often from far away, from selling off the beauty of the coast can be a full time job for locals concerned about quality of life. Yet beach towns do need taxpayers and income producing business. State and local law and regulation has piled up through decades of battles about development which can seem to render the issues in any fight an impenetrable thicket.

The Ballotpedia has a clear description of this particular murky proposition. Despite a lot of verbiage about green building, wildlife habitat, and preservation of natural features, Measure W would apparently authorize residential construction on the site of the Rockaway Quarry.

The quarry is that gray area in the center of this photo.

Yes on W has a slick website. No on W is rudimentary. It's utterly obvious where the big money is on this one.

I was going to recount this story neutrally until I delved into the official ballot pamphlet and discovered that three of the four people who signed the official argument against Measure W are acquaintances whose judgement I respect. So, if I could vote on this, I'd be No on Measure W. I'll be checking these results too on Tuesday night.

***Measure W failed by an almost 2 to 1 vote!