Editor:
Measure CC is on the ballot because concerned citizens took the initiative to devise a method of completing Laguna’s inner greenbelt despite the ending of state funds for this purpose. It is on the ballot because concerned citizens gathered thousands of signatures to ensure that this measure would get on the ballot. For the measure to pass, two-thirds of the voters must vote yes on CC, a tall order in our current negative political environment. If Measure CC passes, that means there is a broad and deep consensus in our community about the virtue of open space preservation.
Don’t believe all the hyperbole, all the exaggerated and frankly preposterous claims that you read against Measure CC. I’ve researched this myself and I urge other voters to do the same. This measure is designed only to keep doing what we’ve been doing, trying to preserve one important element that helps set Laguna Beach apart from other coastal communities. Greenbelt land would be acquired just as in the past. Nothing would change.
I think $120 a year – when our property values will go up more than that as a result of more open space – is a good investment. But I will be voting Yes on Measure CC for reasons beyond financial considerations, for surely if another 400 acres of what now are open hillsides are developed we would lose a lot more than $10 a month!
I support Measure CC because I have found it well-conceived and consistent with current practice and because I like what we’ve been doing and want to finish the job. The benefit of open space, or the loss of it, will be forever and I want the Laguna Beach of the future to retain the same special quality of open space and natural vistas that it offers today.
Lorna B. Shaw, Laguna Beach
