League of Women Voters of California Education Fund
	San Diego County, CA November 4, 2008 Election
	Proposition B Marine Freight Preservation and Bayfront Redevelopment Initiative San Diego Port Authority Majority Approval Required Fail: 162502 / 29.87% Yes votes ...... 381593 / 70.13% No votes See Also: Index of all Propositions

Arguments For Proposition B

Arguments Against Proposition B

More than 62,000 San Diegans signed petitions to put Proposition B on the ballot. The initiative process in California was created in 1911 to wrest control of the political process away from special interests, especially the Southern Pacific Railroad, often called "The Octopus". "The Octopus" controlled the Legislature, the courts, even the press. Today, in San Diego, a local version of the Octopus has repeatedly blocked proposals for improved public use of 97 acres of publicly owned waterfront land between the Convention Center and the Coronado Bridge, called the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal. Our local Octopus wants to protect its financial interests and those of their business friends. More than 62,000 San Diegans signed petitions to open up these 97 prime waterfront acres for greater public use and to generate badly needed public revenue. By conservative estimates, this property is worth $1 billion and can venerate tens of millions of dollars annually for cash starved local governments. Proposition B guarantees existing maritime jobs at the 10th Avenue Terminal will be protected and expanded. Proposition B calls for a visionary "decking" of the terminal, in order to permit cargo offloading, parking, and other commercial uses to continue at ground level while a pedestrian waterfront promenade and a variety of other public uses can be developed on the top deck. Proposition B requires the Port District to seek proposals and public input to put the 10- Street Terminal to better public use. Among the ideas: a soccer/football stadium, expansion of the Convention Center, a new cruise ship terminal, a new concert and sports arena, a world class aquarium, and 10,000 parking spaces for downtown, Petco Park and the Convention Center. Proposition B redevelops the Tenth Avenue Terminal at no cost to taxpayers. Instead, Proposition B will generate public revenues. FRANK E. GALLAGHER Partner, San Diego Community Solutions JOHN T. LYNCH President & CEO Broadcast Company of the Americas SCOTT BARNETT President, TaxpayersAdvocate.org MARCOLM FRANKS, MBE Retired CEO KEITH BATTLE Water Board Director Rebuttal to Arguments For The developers behind Proposition B are now blaming a "vast Octopus conspiracy". They need a fact check: Fact: One of the largest coalitions in San Diego County history agrees- NO ON B. This includes local Congressmembers (both Democrats and Republicans), Mayors of San Diego, Coronado, National City, Chula Vista and Imperial Beach, both the Chamber of Commerce and Labor, Environmentalists, Taxpayers, and Military groups. Fact: 62,000 residents did not sign petitions to give 97 acres of prime waterfront to developers. Most people signed petitions to place flawed proposal on the ballot and let the voters decide. You can vote "Yes" to close down maritime freight shipping forever or NO on B to save our working waterfront. Fact: While developers say that their concrete slab, high-rise development plan will be "at no cost to taxpayers", they're not telling you that Proposition B will ruin the economic viability of the working waterfront - costing us $1.8 BILLION in annual revenue as reported by San Diego Institute for Policy Research. Fact: Proposition B includes no guarantees that maritime jobs at the Port will be protected and expanded - 19,000 total area jobs could be lost or negatively impacted. Fact:Proposition B and the end of Maritime shipping will put 93,000 semi-trucks on our highways and roads annually- making pollution and traffic even worse. Military experts confirm that Proposition B will endanger our safety by threatening a key Department of Defense strategic port. Don't fall for the "conspiracy theory" behind Proposition B. See the plan for yourself: http://www.BadPropB.org. Vote NO on B. ISABELLA A. HEULE President/CEO San Diego World Trade Center EDWARD F. PLANT Chairman, San Diego Port Tenants Association STEVEN P. ERIE UCSD Professor of Political Science and Specialist on Ports JAMES R. MILLS Former California State Senator PETER M. ZSCHIESCHE Trustee, Machinists Union #389 Trustee, San Diego Community College District

Don't be fooled by the Developers behind Proposition B and their phony-titled ballot measure. Every Port Commissioner as well as military, labor, civic and business leaders strongly oppose Proposition B because it does nothing to preserve marine freight. Instead of the open spaces and bike paths promised in the measure, what it will really do is enable a 100 acre bayfront "land grab" that will ruin the economic viability of the waterfront with concrete, high-rise hotels, and a football stadium. This is how the bait and switch would hurt the region: Proposition B will allow Developers to cover the Tenth Avenue Terminal with a 100 acre concrete slab deck, high-rise hotels and a football stadium. The loss of port capacity for cargo ships will result in the loss of more than 19,000 jobs for San Diego County. The jobs that will be lost due to Proposition B are solid, good paying jobs, with sustainable salaries and benefits that help keep San Diego's middle class afloat. The region would also lose over $1.8 BILLION in annual revenue during an economic downturn. Proposition B would mean that over 245 ships every year couldn't dock in San Diego; On average, 379 semi-trucks would be needed to transport the goods and freight from each ship turned away! That's over 93,000 additional trucks driving through San Diego County annually - burning gas, causing pollution, clogging roads and freeways. Proposition B would severely impact the environment and adjacent communities by causing more pollution. Military experts agree that Proposition B would create a security risk for the port and could also mean that we would lose the Navy. Is it worth losing thousands of jobs, adding more trucks to our highways, and risking our community's safety and the Navy for the benefit of Developers? See the bad plan for yourself: http://www.BadPropB.com SAVE OUR WORKING WATERFRONT, NO ON PROP B MICHAEL B. BIXLER Chairman San Diego Port of San Diego JOHN C. O'NEILL Chair San Diego County Taxpayers Association TERRY E. MAGEE President, SDMAC (San Diego Military Affairs Advisory Council) LORENA GONZALEZ Secretary-Treasurer/CEO San Diego Labor Council DIANE TAKVORIAN Executive Director, Environmental Health Coalition Rebuttal to Arguments Against Our opponents are 100% wrong. Read the objective title and summary, prepared by San Diego County Counsel: Proposition B will "preserve marine freight." Proposition B guarantees all existing business and jobs will be protected, not eliminated! Proposition B. A visionary leap forward. Take 90 under-utilized public acres of waterfront and thrust them into the center of a dynamic 21 °Century San Diego. Open 90 prime waterfront acres for public use and to generate badly needed monies for local government. Open possible sites for a Chargers stadium, a world class aquarium, a new cruise ship terminal, Convention Center expansion, public open space on the waterfront, a new sports arena and concert venue, new convention hotels. Create 10,000 badly needed parking spaces for the Convention Center, Petco Park and the Gaslamp District. No Taxpayer cost. All of this with NO public financing. No public bonds. No new taxes. No ticket guarantees. It's the law. Proposition B projects must meet strict engineering standards and all government regulations (including Navy and Homeland Security) - or they will simply not be built. Think boldly San Diego. Cities all over the world use "air rights" to unlock value, increase revenues and boost their tax base. New York City's Park Avenue boasts 5 Star Hotels, luxury apartments and Class A office buildings built on air rights above the rail yards leading to Grand Central Station. 62,000 San Diegans signed petitions to put Proposition B on the ballot ... and the Opponents sued to deny us the right to vote. FRANK GALLAGHER San Diego Community Solutions MALCOLM FRANKS, MBE Retired CEO SHEILA SEAGRAVE Non-profit Director KEITH BATTLE Water Board Director SCOTT BARNETT President, TaxpayersAdvocate.org