Last Monday night, I watched the City Council meeting on my computer to learn about the next steps of the Measure R/Measure W saga. What I learned was that Measure R never had a shot at being a legally viable law.
The court’s judgment seemed swift and damning — almost as if the judge was insulted that he had to spend time reviewing the case. I found it very interesting that the city attorney, the city council and the dozen or so community members who spoke seemed unsurprised by the ruling. It seemed as if this was the inevitable conclusion all along.
Yet, several gentlemen urged the city to pursue an appeal of the ruling with no valid reason other than the fact that people voted for Measure R deserved “another bite of the apple.” However, our legal system clearly doesn’t work that way.
So, after watching the city council discuss this issue for a few hours, it’s pretty apparent that an appeal would certainly waste taxpayer money to fight what appears to be a losing battle.
The city’s best bet is to legislate on their own, within the law, to achieve some of the items Measure R alleged to accomplish. But, the bottom line is Measure R should not be pursued any further. It is simply a train wreck.
Cathy Wood