WINNING A WAR OF WORDS ON HETCH HETCHY BALLOT MEASURE

The Bay Area Council and other opponents of a costly and dangerous plan to dismantle the Hetch Hetchy Water and Power System scored a significant victory at the San Francisco Ballot Simplification Committee. The Committee, whose job it is to ensure that any measure appearing on the ballot provides voters with a clear and honest description of what they’re voting on, sided with us in revising the ballot language. Supporters of draining Hetch Hetchy had sought to hide the measure’s true intent behind language implying that the Hetch Hetchy’s 2.5 million users are not careful stewards of this precious resource. With the expert legal help of Bay Area Council member HansonBridgett, we succeeded in convincing the Committee that the description should plainly state the intent of the measure to drain Hetch Hetchy. The Bay Area Council continues to work with Mayor Ed Lee, the Chamber of Commerce, the Committee on Jobs and other business, elected and community leaders in building a growing coalition to defeat the measure, which past polling has shown can win without a vigorous and well-funded campaign. To participate in the Council’s Hetch Hetchy work, contact Matt Regan.