I attended the Planning Commission hearing for Measure P in Santa Barbara last week. I am now even more convinced that “Measure P” is bad, really bad for Santa Barbara County.
Measure P is so bad that the proponents have asked the Planning Department to try and fix it. But the facts, and facts are stubborn things, are that the county can’t fix this misguided initiative.
I heard a lot about the proponent’s “intent” at that meeting. Unfortunately, the words of Measure P are what they and their San Francisco law firm saddled us with.
Again some of those stubborn facts are:
Despite what proponents are claiming that Measure P will not impact existing oil production, the county’s legal counsel admitted that 100 percent of existing well production will be impacted by the initiative. It serves to ban all current safe and productive oil extraction processes that have been used for over 100 years
Santa Barbara County will lose more than $290 Million dollars a year in economic activity and thousands of good paying jobs will be lost
If Measure P passes, Santa Barbara County will be subject to devastating and costly “takings” lawsuits. In fact, the county is being made to create an ordinance, and rather quickly, to help mitigate the legal threat it foresees, that will be inevitable, if the measure is approved.
The County Counsel specifically stated that Measure P poses the greatest liability risk the county has ever faced.
Currently California receives 2 percent of its oil from Vladimir Putin’s oil fields. Is he someone we really need to support? We have the technology, the oil and the people here to safely extract this oil.
As I said at the Planning Commission meeting, Measure P is like a pig in need of make-up, but no one has enough lipstick for this pig.
Vote No on Measure P for our county, our kids, and our families.
Scott W. Dunn
Santa Maria