Redwood City's Proposition W, and CA Realtors?

Opinion by Bruce Simmons :

In Redwood City, CA, there's a proposition called W who's main impetus states that a 2/3rds vote is needed to develop open space in the city.

I'm not here nor there on telling you what I believe but what sways me are the following:

Opponents of the measure have spent over $1 million dollars to fight the initiative.
Those opponents are
  • DMB. Contributions over $600,000. (DMB Associates is an Arizona firm that has been hired to draw up development plans for 1,433 acres in Redwood City owned by Cargill Inc.)
  • Oracle Corp. Contribution of $75,000.
  • California Association of Realtors. Contribution of $45,000.
So basically, the people who stand to make money from developing open lands in Redwood City are against this measure.

What surprised me was the CA Association of Realtors getting in the fray.

Greed is greed, but Realtors are supposed to be neutral parties who act as go-betweens in real estate transactions. By opposing measures that restrict real estate transactions, that tells me that they, like all governing entities, are having their strings pulled to pitch into this fight.

They have no place in this fight and to me, show a biased take on potential future real estate transactions that real estate agents would benefit from. They in turn, would of course pay their multitude of annual dues to the state board, who takes their money and does things like this for it, for them.

The opponents alone make me lean towards the idea that those who can make money converting open land to marketable office space are the ones opposing it. But that's just my first take. Check out the sources and make your own decisions.

Source, source, W and V Measures, source,
Yes on W: www.redwoodcityopenspace.org
No on W: www.votenomeasurew.com

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