Genji Schmeder
Napa Group Conservation Chair

As the leaves start to turn we focus our attention on local ballot items that have environmental consequences. The following are our positions on the relevant measures.

No on Measure T

Every election year developer moths fly in hungry to chew another hole in Napa County's agricultural preserve. This November we'll have a rerun of one of the spot zoning measures from the March election. The same individual who bought property at the corner of Highway 29 and Oakville Grade, and then tried to get Measure J restrictions lifted via Measure Q, is now trying again with Measure T. Commercial development on that corner would make a bad traffic problem much worse. Customers driving northward would need to cross a lane of heavy traffic and a railroad track to get to the proposed 173-seat restaurant. With Yountville only 5 miles away, there are already plenty of nearby restaurants and other tourist serving businesses. Swat the moth! Vote NO on T.

No on Measure W

We have tried since December to get the Napa County Transportation Planning Agency to consider compromises and alternatives for their 500 million dollar tax and work plan. After the Board of Supervisors refused to place the tax on the November ballot, we hoped proponents would be willing to create a community discussion to try to compose an acceptable, maybe even consensus, plan. It's disappointing that they prefer to continue fighting via this Jamieson Canyon Road widening advisory vote.

A large vote for this measure will confirm our local highway lobby in its goal of transforming south county highways to a freeway regime stretching from Solano County to the entrance to the Carneros region. Defeating it will signal the need to sit down with their opponents to work out a better transportation plan.

Meanwhile, Highway 12 through Carneros has five times the average fatality rate, and is getting worse. Widening Jamieson Canyon Road and its related south county freeway projects will drive more and faster traffic into the most dangerous stretch of road in Napa County.

The jobs-housing imbalance which results in a large part of our workforce living in other counties will not be solved by highway widenings. Making the commute through Jamieson Canyon faster for a few years will make it possible for workers to live farther away in the Central Valley and still commute here. This problem is universal in California, and wider highways with people driving more miles for inevitably more time can only perpetuate the problem. Instead of dumping hundreds of millions of dollars into adding road capacity, our planners should look for ways to use that money to solve the housing imbalance and commute problems. How far could 500 million dollars go toward making Napa County housing affordable for necessary workers like police and nurses? What can be done to change our travel patterns so commuting by public transit and vanpools is more practical than driving one's own car? We'd like to work with the planners to find solutions to these questions. But they'll be in a more cooperative mood if Measure W is defeated.

Sierra Club Elections:

The Napa Group is looking for a few good leaders to nominate for the Executive Committee election in December. ExCom members whose terms expire with this year are Elaine Honig, Jason Kesner, Carol Kunze, and Tyler York. The Committee is planning nominate at least two more candidates than positions to be filled.

Nominating procedures are explained on our website http://www.redwood.sierraclub.org/napa/nominating/. The deadline is October 1, 2004.