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Guest Comment: Measure F: Locals seeking local control

By Lee Hancock, Mark Harris, Sean McCauley and John Wong, Brentwood - thepress.net, on March 25, 2010

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank the more than 5,200 Brentwood neighbors who recently signed the initiative that would give Brentwood control over our property.

We are proud of the proposal and were so gratified that so many people came to the conclusion that we have known for a long time. That is that Brentwood is the right agency to decide what happens with our property. We believe in Brentwood, are fortunate to be a part of this community, and have written this measure so that everyone can benefit from it. Much of this stems from the fact that we have owned our land, on average, for more than 20 years each.

The initiative is moving forward. The City Council has determined that all of the necessary steps had been done properly and placed the initiative on the June 8 ballot. The council acted after staff presented the fiscal impact report. Should the initiative succeed and be fully implemented, staff found a direct influx of $60 million to the city over time. Also, there would be an annual net surplus of $800,000 for the city to use on a variety of needed services including parks, police and roadways. We’re proud to do more than pay our own way. If you’d like to see the discussion of the initiative, please go to www.ci.brentwood.ca.us and look for the video of the March 9 meeting.

We just learned that the initiative will be called Measure F. We hope you’ll take the time to learn more about Measure F and its many elements, which are designed to help make Brentwood an even better place to live, work and raise a family. Within the next week, our Web site will be available at www.putbrentwoodincontrol.com.

Briefly, Measure F would establish Brentwood’s own Urban Limit Line. This would put the Brentwood council and city voters in control not only of our land but the perimeter of the entire city. Neither the county nor any other neighboring city should make these decisions for us. Only the people of Brentwood can fairly determine what is in their best interests, not outsiders, however well-intentioned they might be.

Additionally, Measure F would rezone our land and potentially allow the city to permit a low-density project. If this happens, Measure F would create new local jobs, help our schools, improve Brentwood’s economy and enhance public safety. Taken together, these factors should also result in higher property values. We also commit ourselves to fixing Balfour Road and American Avenue around Heritage High School and Adams Middle School.

Those of us who have been part of the community for many years know how important all of these things are to Brentwood. Along with the significant contributions to the city’s budget mentioned earlier, this is a package we hope you’ll see as beneficial for you and your family. Please direct any questions, concerns and comments to putbrentwoodincontrol@yahoo.com.

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