Next Steps on Referendum

Dear San Carlans: Thanks so much to all of you who have emailed me at voteontransitvillage@gmail.com. I wanted to state that we will accept anyone in San Carlos to force a vote on this project - even if you are a supporter of the project. We are only arguing that citizens deserve to vote on the largest project in the history of our City. We believe this is necessary because the City Council and City Staff have not been honest about the impacts of this project on ALL San Carlans. We want a real dialogue and this has not occurred over the 6 years we have been opposing this massive project right in the center of town.  


We also wanted to let everyone know that we have met with the City about the referendum and they have so far cooperated. They have, however, expressed their intention to word the referendum as some kind of "Yes" vote as opposed to the "no" vote we believe it should be. We are going to fight this to make sure no one is confused. This trick has been used before and will not be tolerated.


Regarding the question of how to get involved, we are putting together our circulator list of volunteers now. We want to thank all of you who have already emailed us about your wish to be part of the team. The more members we have, the more signatures we can gather, so please email us and get on the list. We are really excited about the heartfelt expressions of interest that have been coming in. It makes San Carlos feel like a wonderful place to live with lots of concerned citizens.


Below are the current ways to get involved:


1. Join the Circulator Team


2. Become a Circulator Manager (with 3-5 Circulators working with you)


3. Volunteer to host a petition signing potluck at your home (Must be San Carlos resident)


4. Pledge a possible contribution (* We are not currently accepting money, but we are keeping track of the different pledges we have received. We have been threatened on this board by an individual about tax compliance issues, so if we are not able to collect money, then we will do the entire project without money by using our own initiative.) And even though we know the developers will throw hundreds of thousands of dollars to defeat us, just as they continue to do to support their large legal staff, we believe San Carlans will be able to tell black from white and will vote according to their beliefs and knowledge. We want a true grassroots project anyway, so we don't want to pollute things with money if we can avoid it.


5. Design your own petition sign projects: Best signs will be featured in media and blogs to promote our cause. We are also interested in finding San Carlans who have built signs before and can help us cover our City.


6. Help name the campaign. Right now our working title is "Save San Carlos", but perhaps someone has another idea for our campaign. We want this to come from San Carlans and look forward to your ideas. 


7. Put signs in your front yard to promote our referendum. Thanks also to those of you on major streets who have already pledged to let us use your front yards!


Finally, I want to thank Tom and Sandy Hodges, the last successful citizens to pass a referendum in our City which prevented a large chunk of Greater East San Carlos from being sold to industry. This campaign was entitled "Save our Homes" and passed by an overwhelming vote in 1984. What was so beautiful about the  campaign was that East and West San Carlans came together to save the homes on the East Side. We still owe a debt of gratitude to all of you who voted to stop the sale of Laureola School to industry. Instead, the beautiful homes of Bayport Court were built, and Laureola Park is surrounded by a quaint neighborhood instead of more industry. Since this project not only affects the East Side but also affects the West Side of town, we are hoping everyone can get involved!


We look forward to seeing all of you on Laurel Street and at your homes!


Thanks for your amazing support.