A widening circle of Napa citizens is linking arms with the Sierra Club to wage war against Measure A, which will appear on the County's June ballot. The Sierra Club is calling "foul" to this extremist initiative. Titled "Fair Pay for Public Benefit", the measure would allow landowners to file for damages any time the Board of Supervisors (BOS) initiates land use regulations which the owner claims reduces their land's value. In the face of these claims, the BOS will have three choices: pay the requested compensation, waive the regulations for the landowner, or go to court.

As environmentalists, we judge Measure A to be an assault on grassroots efforts to preserve our open spaces, clean up our water and allow diverse ecosystems to thrive. Our various allies perceive myriad other threats in the "Foul Pay" act.

about the erosion of Napa's agricultural protections, which have so far prevented urban sprawl from paving over their fields. Residents wonder how our rural beauty can be preserved. Tourist industry insiders fret that the magic of the Napa image will fade as "anything goes" land speculation takes over.

The cruelest joke to members of the Anti-A coalition is the word "Fair" in Measure A's title. Measure A, they argue is unfair to taxpayers, who will pay for land speculators litigation, unfair to county residents who will lose essential services, unfair to landowners whose neighbors will get land use regulation waivers in back-room deals, and unfair to anyone who depends on open, democratically influenced government processes to assure preservation of our small town and rural character.