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LWV League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
Smart Voter
San Mateo County, CA November 7, 2006 Election
Measure J
Advisory Measure
City of Menlo Park

Majority Approval Required

Fail: 4,273 / 39.0% Yes votes ...... 6,677 / 61.0% No votes

See Also: Index of all Measures

Results as of Jan 4 9:41am, 100.0% of Precincts Reporting (30/30)
Information shown below: Yes/No Meaning | Official Information | Impartial Analysis | Arguments |

Should the City of Menlo Park have the option of constructing sports fields, with necessary infrastructure, on not more than 17 acres of the 160 total acres at Bayfront Park, subject to obtaining all environmental clearances and regulatory agency approvals necessary to build the sports fields, using developer fees, user fees, donations, and other voter-approved parks and recreation funds?

Meaning of Voting Yes/No
A YES vote on this measure means:
The effect of a "yes" vote will be to advise the Menlo Park City Council that there is voter support for the City of Menlo Park having the option of construction sports fields at Bayfront Park. If a majority of the votes cast on the Advisory Measure are in favor of the Measure, the Advisory Measure shall be deemed to have been recommended by the voters of Menlo Park.

A NO vote on this measure means:
The effect of a "No" vote will be to advise the Menlo Park City Council that there is not voter support for the City of Menlo Park constructing sports fields at Bayfront Park. If a majority of the votes cast on the Advisory Measure are opposed to the Measure, the Advisory Measure shall be deemed not to be recommended by the voters of the City of Menlo Park.

Official Sources of Information
Impartial Analysis from the City Attorney of Menlo Park
The Menlo Park City Council voted to place an advisory measure on Bayfront Park before the voters to help determine the level of community support for, or opposition to, the possible construction of sports fields at this City-owned park. Located at the eastern end of Marsh Road, Bayfront Park is a 160-acre passive open space park built on a former solid waste landfill. The Park is adjacent to the San Francisco Bay and the federally funded Salt Pond Restoration Project, an expansion of the Don Edwards Wildlife Refuge.

Preliminary concept plans show an area of between 10 - 17 acres (depending on the number and configuration of fields) roughly in the center of the Park, that could be developed with up to two full-sized regulation, lighted soccer fields and 1 - 2 adult baseball diamonds or combination multiuse areas. Preliminary cost estimates range from $10 - 17 millions for the construction of the fields and related infrastructure (utilities, parking, restrooms, concession stand). Further detailed studies would be required to determine the cost of developing sports fields on the closed landfill and identify sources of funding for both the capital cost to build the facilities and the operation and maintenance expenses.

In accordance with the California Elections Code, advisory measures such as this one are nonbinding; meaning that neither a "yes" vote nor a "no" vote will result in the constructions of any sports field or the necessary roads or utilities without further public hearings, environmental studies and approval from various regulatory agencies and the identification of funding for construction and maintenance.

/s/ William L. McClure, City Attorney of Menlo Park

  Events

Video of Yes and No Arguments

Partisan Information

Information: http://www.sfbws.org/board.htm

Against Measure J: http://www.savebayfrontpark.org
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Arguments For Measure J Arguments Against Measure J
Bayfront Park Fields, YES! Our City desperately needs more play fields. Menlo Park is a very desirable place to live and good parks enhance our quality of life and property values. New families are moving in, our schools are thriving, and participation in sports programs is booming. Soccer, lacrosse, baseball, football, softball, and all field sports are growing in popularity. Sports leagues also keep youth healthy and out of trouble. Unfortunately our existing field space is overused and insufficient to meet this demand. Compared to other communities, our play fields per resident ratio is low. We're at the point where children are being turned away from some sports leagues due to "overcrowding". Providing play fields at Bayfront Park is a great opportunity and our only real option. Play fields have been envisioned at Bayfront Park since the late 1990's and conceptualized in the Recreation Master Plan since 1999. The idea is NOT new. It is time to move this vision forward. Other viable options do not exist.

Plans at Bayfront Park are viable. Independent consultants and engineering experts agree that these plans will work.

The play fields can be built without raising city taxes. The costs to construct these fields will be covered by dedicated existing and projected funds, and will not dilute other city services.

The play fields would only use 17 acres of a 160 acre park + about 10%. Bayfront Park is our largest city park. We can share a little of it with our children. The park's hills won't be impacted. The hiking and biking trails won't be impacted. The wildlife preserve won't be impacted. Strict environmental standards will be maintained. In fact, the addition of more restrooms and improved access will allow more people to enjoy this park.

Vote YES to move forward on play fields.

/s/ Lee B. Duboc August 5, 2006 Council member

/s/ John Conway August 6, 2006 Owner, Menlo Chevron

/s/ Larry McGill August 6, 2006 Menlo Atherton Little League Board Member

/s/ M. Maria Flaherty August 6, 2006 Menlo-Atherton High School Lacrosse

/s/ R.P. (Dee) Tolles August 5, 2006 Former Mayor

Rebuttal to Arguments For
VOTE NO ON J! It's just too costly!

Bayfront Park was planned and built as a hilly, open space for passive recreation. It is not suitable for intensive uses requiring many acres of flat lat. Opening up Bayfront's landfill cap to create level athletic fields would be environmentally risky and extraordinarily expensive.

  • It's unwise and premature to give the City your approval for a project that has no controls over constructions costs, no estimates of maintenance costs, and no citizen oversight over spending.

  • This plan will take many years and will not meet our immediate need for fields.

  • There's been no comprehensive study of the environmental threats from construction on the landfill including hazardous combustible gas, impacts to air and water quality, unique toxic hazards to humans and impacts to San Francisco Bay and the National Wildlife Refuge.

  • The costs of reopening the closed landfill and constructing an athletic complex would be exorbitant and could preclude funding for other long-planned and voter approved (Measure T) park and recreation projects. These include the Burgess gymnasium and recreation center, which desperately needs upgrading.

Other more convenient and reliable sites offer better and more cost-effective alternatives, including improvements to underutilized or deteriorated City and school fields as recommended by Menlo Park's Playing Fields Task Force. Taxpayers have already invested in these facilities. First, let's maintain and upgrade what we have.

Vote NO on Measure J! Say NO to extravagant spending and preserve Bayfront Park as open space.

/s/ Andrew Cohen August 24, 2006 City Council Member

/s/ Mary Jo Borak August 23, 2006 former Mayor, City of Menlo Park

/s/ James B. Madison August 24, 2006 soccer coach & referee

/s/ Anne G. Moser August 24, 2006 former trustee Menlo Park City School District

/s/ Lennie Roberts August 24, 2006 Legislative Advocate Committee for Green Foothills

Measure "J" asks you, the voter to approve a BLANK CHECK to develop athletic fields at Bayfront Park while Menlo Park is suffering a financial crisis. Measure "J" contains NO LIMIT ON SPENDING for construction or maintenance. Preliminary cost estimates are enormous + $17 MILLION + to develop 17 acres of the park. Actual costs will almost certainly be much higher. NO COST ESTIMATES are available for annual maintenance and operations. Measure "J" requires NO CITIZEN OVERSIGHT of these expenses. VOTE NO ON MEASURE "J". Stop this unwise spending and preserve Bayfront Park as natural open space, available to all. Why would fields be so expensive at Bayfront?
  • The park sits atop an old landfill, built years ago when there were few restrictions on dumping along San Francisco Bay. Sports field construction will require reopening the landfill, rebuilding the underlying methane gas collection system, and leveling the site. These actions are expected to unearth hazardous waste.
  • Regulatory agencies will likely require expensive upgrades to monitor, control and dispose of leachate (toxic liquid) and methane gas. Costly precautions will be necessary to keep people and buildings safe from the invisible landfill gas.
  • The landfill will continue to settle and shift as solid waste decomposes. Structures, paved areas and sports fields will require costly ongoing maintenance and repair due to landfill settling. How could all these extraordinary costs possibly be financed by a City in financial straits?
  • The City proposes using fees levied on new residential development, which could result in extensive development, and still wouldn't come close to paying for this boondoggle.
  • Constructing fields at Bayfront could preclude funding for other voter approved (Measure T) high priority park and recreation projects.
  • Other funding sources are merely speculative.

VOTE NO ON MEASURE "J"

/s/ Kelly Fergusson August 13, 2006 Vice Mayor, Menlo Park

/s/ Charles M. Kinney August 14, 2006 Former Mayor, Menlo Park

/s/ Stephen M. Schmidt August 13, 2006 Former Mayor, Menlo Park

/s/ Elizabeth Lasensky August 13, 2006 Friends of Bayfront Park

/s/ Robin Winslow Smith August 13, 2006 Sequoia Audubon Society

Rebuttal to Arguments Against
Don't be fooled by the misleading arguments against this proposal.

1. Your "Yes" vote is not a blank check. This is a non-binding advisory measure simply asking whether you favor the idea of building play fields on 10% of Bayfront Park. Lots of planning, review, and approval cycles will lie ahead before any construction even begins.

2. The construction is possible, and has been done before. Play fields have already been built on closed landfills all over the Bay Area. We already regulate lechate and methane gas at Bayfront (you pay for this through increased garbage bills). An independent consultant has told us that these fields can be built and that getting the regulatory agencies' approval should not be a problem.

3. Because certain funds are set aside explicitly for parks and recreation, we will not have to use money from our city's general fund. The argument against this measure fails to mention that there are NO good alternatives for building the play fields our city needs. Even if the needed 17 acres of land were available, the cost of purchasing it would be about $68 Million. Add in the cost of developing the fields, and it becomes obvious that Bayfront Park is our most economical option. We own the land at Bayfront Park. We already spend over $250,000 a year to maintain it.

This proposal represents an excellent way to leverage an underutilized, existing city asset for the benefit of all. It's time to move forward!

/s/ John Posthauer August 24, 2006 Pop Warner Football Coach

/s/ Robert Silano August 24, 2006 Parks and Recreation Commissioner

/s/ Mickie (Miriam) Winkler August 24, 2006 Former Mayor, Menlo Park

/s/ John C. Boyle August 24, 2006 Transportation Commissioner

/s/ Todd A. Roberts Soccer Coach, Mid Peninsula Strikers


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Created: January 4, 2007 09:42 PST
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