MAY 14, 2010
tion he laid out in the guest comment, he and his colleagues would have more support for Measure F. What Mr. Lee and his colleagues don’t understand is people are turned off by the deceptive tactics their hired signature gatherers used to get people to sign the petition. I was doing yard work in the front yard when a high school student approached me and said, “We’re collecting signatures to save Brentwood from Section 8 Housing. Antioch is going to build Section 8 housing by Deer Valley Road if we don’t get the signatures we need to put this on the ballot. Oh, yeah, it will widen American Avenue and help with traffic on Balfour Road, too.”
I took the clipboard and started to read the petition. I was deeply irritated by the fact that it was for a plan to build 1,300 more homes! I signed the petition anyway, because the thought of having an “out” on American Avenue sounded very good (despite the misrepresentation) and I wanted to get back to planting my flowers. After I had time to think about the tactic the student used to get me to sign the petition, I was really angry. I wished I had not signed that petition. This is the main reason why there’s so much opposition toward Measure F. People feel duped into signing the petitions. I consider myself a “pro-growth” person, but I will vote “No” on Measure F.
The tactics used to get people to sign the petition was dishonest and sleazy, in my opinion. My son has a friend who has been hired to knock on doors for Measure F (and petition signature gathering earlier). He told my son they’ve been given a script to use when people answer the door. They have specific “buzz words” they’re supposed to say to get people to support Measure F. The latest report I got from my son is that his friend’s been placing “Vote Yes! On Measure F” signs on people’s lawns without permission! Someone wrote a letter to the editor a few weeks ago expressing how hopeful she felt to see a young man participating in the govern-
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ment (or something to the effect). These people are paid $10 per hour to go out and canvas the neighborhoods. They are not volunteers. They’re using tactics that are deplorable. If they’re not being told to do these shameful acts, their supervisors should have trained them better. Both sides are pointing fingers at each other for being misleading. As the saying goes, “the truth is somewhere in the middle.” The fact is: if the developers had been honest, trained their representatives well and not used fear to get people to sign those petitions, we wouldn’t have this controversy right now. Lai Woudstra Brentwood