10:30 a.m. Wednesday, July 15, in Watsonville
Supporters of ‘Stop the Salt, Save Our Jobs’ measure announce it has made fall ballot; water district board will also take up UFW-backed plan
Community backers will join United Farm Workers representatives at a Wednesday morning news conference announcing a union-sponsored water initiative has qualified for the Nov. 3 general election ballot. The "Stop the Salt, Save Our Jobs" measure is designed "to preserve the viability of agriculture in the Pajaro Valley" for everyone whose job depends on farming, according to UFW President Arturo Rodriguez.
The fall ballot measure phasing out the overdraft of water in the Pajaro Valley Water Management District (PVWMD) by the year 2013 will also be taken up by the district’s board of directors at their 7 p.m. meeting Wednesday. PVWMD directors are expected to place it on the November ballot.
The Santa Cruz County Elections Department has already certified the measure. Backers of the initiative attending Wednesday’s news conference will include Rev. Tom Alejo of Hope Ministries in Watsonville, Methodist Rev. Darryl Darling, community activist Rachel Rosner, Chris Johnson-Lyons of the Community Action Board of Santa Cruz County and a representative from the local Green Party.
The UFW-supported campaign is aimed at halting saltwater intrusion that threatens the future of agricultural workers "plus all the individual residential and commercial ratepayers who rely on a viable water supply in this Valley," Rodriguez states. The gravest threat to "all of agriculture in this region is the severe overdraft of water in the Pajaro Basin and the resulting intrusion of seawater," he says.
Who: Key supporters of the UFW-backed water initiative.
What: Announcing the measure has qualified for the fall ballot.
When: 10:30 a.m., Wednesday, July 15, 1998.
Where: UFW office, 18 West Lake (behind Main St.), Watsonville.
The text of the measure as well as background materials are available by calling the UFW’s Manny Pastreich at (408) 761-7173.
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