Argument in favor of Measure Z (The Read and Understand Act)
Measure Z was filed because over time it has become apparent that the County Supervisors were not always reading and aware of what they were passing into law.
Serious mistakes can and have been made by the Supervisors entirely relying on staff recommendations.
We pay County Supervisors more than $70,000.00 per year plus generous benefits, and after two terms many of these benefits continue for life.
Taxpayers pay our Supervisors well to represent us well, and Measure Z will help the Supervisors understand what that means. Currently there is not a requirement for County Supervisors to read and understand the measures they vote on. Measure Z will formally add this responsibility to our County Supervisors’ job description.
Measure Z complements Measure A. Measure Z will make sure our Supervisors “read and understand” the impacts their new regulations will have on us, and Measure A will make them take those impacts into consideration before deciding how to vote.
Warning: If we don’t Vote YES on Measure Z, we will be telling our Supervisors it’s okay to enact new laws they haven’t even read.
Napa voters and taxpayers want to know: If the Supervisors aren’t reading and understanding the regulations they are passing, what ARE we paying them for?
Rebuttal to the argument against Measure Z
There is nothing ridiculous about wanting our elected representatives to read and understand the new laws they pass. What is ridiculous is that anyone would oppose it. Just look who signed the argument against it – three former Supervisors and one former Mayor. Apparently, elected officials still fail to understand that we expect them to read and understand what they vote on.
The 9111 Report they mention is just as biased as the one they did on Measure A, and just as irrelevant. Both 9111 reports were ordered by our Board of Supervisors as a sneaky way to get around the laws that prohibit spending our tax money on election campaigning. Both reports intentionally exaggerate negative impacts, in order to distract us from the central questions asked by each measure. The campaigns against both initiatives hang their hat entirely on these biased and intentionally misleading reports.
Both Measure A and Measure Z ask questions that are very simple to answer. In the case of Measure A, either you agree that people should be entitled to compensation when their property is taken for public benefit by new regulations, or you don’t. In the case of Measure Z, either you agree that our elected officials should read the new laws they vote on, or you don’t. The thousands of Napa County citizens who drafted, circulated and signed these two initiative petitions have given you the opportunity to make these choices. Please choose wisely. Please vote Yes on Z and Yes on A.