[Lexi Boeger, Boeger Winery] {photo taken and frequently used by Measure E supporters to denigrate ABC-ED members on social media}
STATEMENT OF AGRICULTURE, BUSINESS AND COMMUNITIES OF EL DORADO (ABC-ED)
In 2016, ABC-ED stood up in public and warned that Measure E was illegal and would strangle El Dorado County’s economy. We said that traffic-control Measure Y, approved by 72% of the voters in 2008, was working and should continue as-is.
The small group who wrote and promoted Measure E didn’t like that at all. They attacked ABC-ED members personally, and called us “tools of developers”. They insisted that their wholesale re-write of Measure Y was the only answer to “save our county,” and they persuaded just enough people that Measure E barely passed last November.
We’re not developers or their tools – we are farmers, businesspeople, and residents who love El Dorado County. We want it to thrive, and we reject name-calling and political extremism.
Guess what? We were right about Measure E. Judge Stracener of the El Dorado Superior Court recently invalidated its key policies as unconstitutional and unlawful. He said that the Measure E policies would impede County government, create inconsistencies in the County General Plan, coerce County property owners, and take private property rights without due process.
Measure E’s boosters are busy spinning their resounding legal defeat as a victory in social media, and are most certainly hatching new plans to further their agenda. Don’t be fooled. Measure Y has produced more than $240 million in developer fees to maintain and improve the level of service on both County roads and Highway 50.
Let’s put aside illegal and poorly written initiatives and stay the course with Measure Y – it’s thought out, well constructed, reasonable and has worked for El Dorado County since 1998.
