" It is important to remember that Keep Napa Napa, a simple campaign committee, is not the only opposition to Measure N.

Save Napa's Agricultural Gateway, The Napa Chamber of Commerce, The Napa Valley Vintner's, and the Napa County Democratic Party have all come out in opposition to Measure N after independent review of Measure N. Also, many respected individual's in the community have come out opposed to Measure N, including Joel Tranmer, Past President of the Land Trust of Napa County.
"

" Could not agree more. We do deserve better. Nice parenthetical teaser. "

" If the Democrat's are against it, then I'm for it. They rarely do anything right. "

" nwc is either mis informe or chooses to mis lead the Napa democratic party has taken no stand on this issue and the Napa Valley Democratic Club also voted not to take a postion on this issue. "

" The worse choice is voting on an important, if not critical, local issue becaues of who else we suspect wants or may benefit from it. The important thing is what the measure does for everyone. The what is significantly more important than the who.

If Measure N passes, the future growth policy for oversized residential development in the county will not be in the hands of any political action committee, it will be in the hands of Napa County Voters. That is us. Period!

If Measure N fails, future growth policy will be in the pockets of politicians, KNN's sole founder and financier, Napa Redevelopment Partners and 3 of 5 county supervisors. KNN and the Napa Pipe Developer will have regional political backing from Noreen Evans, whose personal aid is on the the KNN political action committee's payroll, thus on the developers payroll. For Evans Santa Rosa has always come first (more voters) so I'm not at all encouraged she is inclined to have our best interests at heart either.

Napa County is already stuck in a regional and state wide trap with housing, so if we give up our votes on the issues the regional politicians and big money interests will invade and take us over. We will be as defenseless as the proverbial babes in arms. A position I cannot advocate no matter who else might also benefit from county residents keeping their vote.

Logically, I see no upper hand given to any development interests by Measure N. There was no big developer interest spawned by its predecessor, Measure A. All developers will be constrained to control the size of their developments or must face voters to educate us why or how our community will benefit from growing over our traditional limits.
"

" I am neither for or against at this point, just attempting to come to a well informed decision. There are red flags on both sides of this issue. I would like to hear from someone who is non partial and is qualified on the issues of meeting our affordable housing allotments. If we were sued in 2003, then we have not always met our allotments. I would like to know why these allotments were not met, and if a yes vote on this measure will cause more problems in this area. Perhaps in your upcoming articles you couls attempt to answer this question? "

" NVR: You are so right. It's a bad choice all around.

However, I'm hoping that your analysis will make clear that Measure N isn't simply a Yes or No vote on a housing project at Napa Pipe. The stakes are broader and more complex than that. In a Valley that's almost built out, no decision is neutral. By saying "No" to housing development in one place, we are effectively saying "yes" to housing development some place else.

For those of us who will be affected by development on the Ghisletta pasture land, Big Ranch Road and elsewhere (which Measure N can do nothing to limit), the consequences are heading straight for us.

It’s not just that the N campaign presents bad choices on both ends. Napa is facing very hard choices all around.

Unless we deal with the root causes of our problems and seek a regional solution, we’ll be creating a scene out of Caddyshack – we’ll prevent the gopher of growth from coming up one place, but it will just come up somewhere else, and we’ll end up destroying what little green space is left to us in and around the City of Napa.
"

" Register Editorial Staff.

Who chooses your headlines? Why always play on a negative spin. This distracts from the real story and seems aimed to inflame rather than inform. No mystery that the editorial staff has favored the Napa Pipe Development since their first articles on it in 2004. This is disappointing as the news media should "report" not inject bias.

On the instant story, The editor really completely misses the point. Maybe it sells better, but it is not fair to your readers.

Our choices on a ballot measure simply do not boil down to which political action committees support or oppose it. They are all bias, have their own political agendas and many are flat dishonest.

That does not mean the vote is for or against any Political Action Committee. They are not candidates and will not occupy public office after the election.

The real story here does not involve "bad choices" unless you believe letting voters vote is a bad choice. Maybe you do?

There is a string of thought that voters are not smart, sophisticated or informed enough to cast a vote on some issues. Of course, in the case of N, that would be a vote to control growth policy related to developments that exceed the 30-year-old County legal growth limits. While this may be subject to reasonable debate, it is not presenting local voters with any "bad Choice"

Voters are here simply asked to decide if they want a vote on Growth. If they vote no on N they will loose their vote on growth. If they vote yes on N they will have a vote. No matter what special interest or developer is “behind” the project, they will have a vote or not. Simple!

"

" I thought I'd write a lengthy argument against this editorial and the author's (multiple staff writers ?) obvious bias but TheWholeTruth said it best. Amen! "

" TheWholeTruth Amen Right On
I was taught having a choice was a GOOD thing, having NO choice was a BAD thing!!! The NVR along with many other papers report bias. Many readers now turn to the internet for both sides of a story. If only the NVR would print TheWholeTruth... "

" Sandra,
Read the Farm Bureau press release. I quoted it to you in a previous response to one of your blogs but you can find it on their website. Just Google Napa Farm Bureau.

The Farm Bureau doesn't like Napa Pipe but they're concerned enough about the housing issue to have taken a neutral position on Measure N. They were previous strong supporters of Measure A so this is very significant. However, the de Haro lawsuit and recent appellate decisions at the State level have changed the status quo -- and the Farm Bureau's position on unduly restricting the County's ability to provide housing. The State reserves the right to control housing. And they trump local law.

This is a very complex issue with multiple ripple effects. That's the problem with an overly simplistic campaign spiel. It's not simple at all. And the choices are all difficult because we just don't have a lot of land left.

Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. "

" First, Sandra, you have been very astute in questioning Measure N and have expressed logical concerns shared by many. I am, obviously, a firm believer that Measure N must be Passed to reinstate the vote county residents had on important Growth issues for 20 years under former measure A.

Iwright is obviously from the KNN camp and wants us to believe that if N passes, and we get our vote back on growth policy, the sky will fall. Like Chicken Little, he speculates that if N passes the voters will cast votes to require county leaders to violate state law and interfere with the planning process. In other words, he feels that we should give up our right to vote on these issues and let politicians, political action committees, special interest committees and those with the money and power to control one of these entities call the shots while voters sit silently on the sidelines bound and gagged.

Personally, I don't trust politicians (although some are quite honest, some are not), political action committees or special interest groups near as much as I trust the collective will of the electorate. I believe we are smart enough to become informed and to vote for policy changes that comply with the law and serve the best collective interest of the community. We are smart!

Iwright and his group seek to confuse, twist and misdirect focus from the only real issue here. Our collective ability to vote on local growth policy. They do this because they want to develop real estate and maximize profits for their developer, in this case Napa Pipe. The bigger issue is, once our votes are lost these huge money developers will not stop. Yes on N or explosive growth, our choice!

"

" The basic problem lies in motivation of the backers of the opposite sides. Jim Marshall for N is a local for many years, raised his family here and has a business here and wants this community to thrive...Rogal agains N is a developer and wants a huge profit! "