Submitted by Daron Case
Honorable Mayor & Council,
Attached is an agenda item request form asking that any one or combination of you please utilize Council Policy #2 to agendize a discussion whether to have City Council present the City’s utility undergrounding plan to voters as an “advisory measure” similar to Prop H (tunnel project) in 2010.
https://ballotpedia.org/City_of_Coronodo_Traffic_Tunnel_Advisory_Vote,_Measure_H_(June_2010)
http://www.smartvoter.org/2010/06/08/ca/sd/prop/H/
Many parallels may be drawn between the tunnel project and undergrounding including the amount of taxpayer money spent studying the project and the enormous projected cost of the project itself. Citizens have many concerns including the fiscal prudence of the City’s utility undergrounding plan that is currently projected to cost $40M+ of public funds to underground utilities on a few streets in town. For those residents who reside on one of the “priority streets” designated for undergrounding, or within an assessment district, homeowners may face hefty assessments that some may be unable to afford. It is unclear whether a majority of your constituents support this project, but in recent polling at the Coronado Electorate social media group, over 93% of polling participants would like City Council to present the City’s utility undergrounding plan to voters as an advisory measure.
If City Council does not present the City’s utility undergrounding plan to voters as an advisory measure, then citizens will be forced to circulate a referendum petition to get this topic on the ballot, and utility undergrounding will likely be a deciding issue for voters in the upcoming 2020 City Council election. A majority of Council is up for re-election in 2020. You could remove undergrounding as a deciding factor for the City Council election by presenting it to voters as an advisory measure, otherwise incumbents risk losing their seats to candidates who oppose the City’s utility undergrounding plan.
Thank you in advance for your time and consideration.
Best regards,
Daron A. Case, Esq.
