Just to show that the Zhid's pro-environment agenda ignores party lines, the Zhid is announcing his opposition to the re-election of Contra Costa County District 3 Supervisor Mary Nejedly Piepho.
Piepho, a Republican, is up for re-election this year and the Zhid considers her to be one of the most vile enemies of the local environment.
Why?
This is why.
Piepho makes the following claim as her campaign statement:
As a co-author of the county’s Urban Limit Line, I am protecting open spaces and controlling sprawl to maintain our high quality of life.
While she may have been a co-author of the Urban Limit Line, she also is one of the four Contra Costa County Supervisors who immediately authorized a study that would lead to the absolute evisceration of the Urban Limit Line.
Now, after years of often contentious political battles to limit suburban sprawl, four of the five Contra Costa County supervisors are considering a loophole that could lead to numerous residential developments outside the limit line.
The supervisors voted 4-1 to proceed with a study that would allow 193 mostly luxury homes to be built on 770 acres of land in the Tassajara Valley, east of Danville and San Ramon.
Any politician who helps to author law, that is approved by voters in overwhelming numbers, and then goes behind the backs of the voters to collaborate with and aid the developers who are trying to act in contravention of that law is a hypocrite, a shill and an enemy of the voters and the environment.
As the Contra Costa County Times said about Piepho's actions:
This is an issue that deserves far more public attention as the study moves forward. Voters need to be fully aware of what is going on and not allow their elected supervisors to undermine Measure J and Contra Costa County's urban limit line.
That Piepho acted to subvert the will of the voters by authorizing the New Farm study is bad enough; that she now claims she is protecting open spaces and controlling sprawl as part of the Urban Limit Line is an outright lie and an affront to all voters.
Piepho must go.
And for those of you who would like to get up to speed on the attempts to undermine the Urban Limit Line, and Piepho's refusal to support the clearly stated will of the voters who overwhelmingly approved the Urban Limit Line, this article is quite good.
Assemblyman decries city's effort to control Tassajara
Jeanine Benca
Assemblyman Guy Houston on Tuesday publicly lambasted San Ramon's advance on the Tassajara Valley and challenged his political rival, Contra Costa County Supervisor Mary Piepho, to rein in the city's efforts to control the large undeveloped area.
"The city of San Ramon is going about this all wrong," said Houston of San Ramon's recent attempt to bring the 4,900-acre Tassajara Valley under its "sphere of influence."
He said Piepho, who represents San Ramon on the Board of Supervisors -- and with whom Houston hopes to battle this fall for that seat -- should "ask San Ramon to withdraw its (sphere of influence) application" from the Local Agency Formation Commission.
"In addition, I call on Supervisor Piepho to go to the Contra Costa Board of Supervisors and rescind any current studies or actions
that infringe on the voter-approved urban limit line," Houston said.
He referred to New Farm, a controversial mixed residential/ agricultural development of 194 housing units proposed in the Tassajara Valley.
Supervisors approved in July a study to determine whether the project violates the county's voter-approved urban limit line, which bars development from the Tassajara Valley until at least 2026.
Piepho reiterated Tuesday her position that the study is just that -- a study, and not a guarantee that the development will be approved.
"I do support the urban limit line. I have not said I support New Farm or any other development in the Tassajara Valley, and I do have great concerns about the infrastructurenot supporting further development in that area," she said.
"The question before us is, does (New Farm) meet the county's general plan, and that's what we're looking at." [Gee, Piepho, you claim co-authorship of the law and you are now saying that you don't understand something as obvious as what would constitute an obvious breach of the law??? Ed.]
About San Ramon's sphere of influence attempt, Piepho said, "I understand that San Ramon is acting upon the vote of their community and what their voters have said they want for their future planning, and I respect that. I respect the vote of the people." [No, Piepho, the county as a whole voted to stop development in the Tassajara Valley and a small constituency, San Ramon, is attempting to undermine the will of the county's voters. You should respect THAT will of the people, you hypocrite. Ed.]
San Ramon's current general plan calls for the city to re- evaluate its urban growth boundary in 2010. Residents will be asked to vote on whether they would support annexation and eventual development of the rural stretch east of city lines.
But Houston, a San Ramon resident, said residents of his city already have declared their intent to leave the Tassajara Valley as is -- through their support of Measure L, the 2006 measure that extended the county's urban line to 2026.
"I respect what the voters did," said Houston, a former mayor of Dublin. [Note to Piepho-this is how you respect the will of the voters. Ed.]
He criticized San Ramon's leaders for not including input from Dublin or Danville -- neighboring cities that border the Tassajara Valley -- in an environmental report for the city's sphere of influence application.
Last week, staff of LAFCO sent San Ramon leaders a letter criticizing the city's environmental report as incomplete in its failure to address the potential for "future development" of the Tassajara Valley.
San Ramon Mayor H. Abram Wilson said Tuesday that, in response to LAFCO's letter and concerns aired by neighboring jurisdictions, the city's planned March 11 public hearing on the environmental report has been canceled.
The city will postpone its sphere of influence application until the City Council, San Ramon staff and officials from neighboring jurisdictions have had a chance to "sit down and talk," Wilson said.
"More than anything else, I do believe that there is and has been a misunderstanding of San Ramon's position, so I will do everything I can to make sure that everyone feels a comfort level."
He reiterated that San Ramon officials have "no intention of trying to develop the Tassajara Valley.
"We don't have any thoughts of building anything. We're not in a rush to do anything. We're very cognizant that everyone has a say."
And Piepho, if you find anything inaccurate in this post, you are welcome to advise the Zhid at vengefulzhid@yahoo.com
