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Understanding Proposition H - WE WANT YOUR COMMENTS

Update: Proposition H Fails

Reporting 10 of 10 at 100.0% counted:

NO 68.86 %

YES 31.14 %

Voting results: https://www.sdvote.org/PickRace.asp

eCoronado.com has been getting loads of emails, comments, calls and just plain outbursts about the upcoming Proposition H election scheduled for June 8th, 2010. So, let us know what you think about the upcoming election and if you feel comfortable, let us know how you plan on voting in the comments below.

The City Council of Coronado has placed an Advisory Ballot Measure (Proposition H) on the June 8 ballot for Coronado Voters, in conjunction with the Statewide Primary Election on the same date.

Proposition H asks:

Do you support the City continuing to use and seek federal, state, and local funding to complete the study of long-term traffic relief options, including a tunnel, between the Coronado Bridge and Naval Air Station North Island?

Proposition H is an advisory measure being presented by the Coronado City Council seeking a determination of whether (1) the community supports the use of existing federal, state and local funding to complete the ongoing study of long-term traffic relief options (the "Study"), including the option of a tunnel between the San Diego - Coronado bridge (the "Bridge") and Naval Air Station North Island ("NASNI"), and (2) whether the community supports continued efforts to obtain and use future new federal, state and local funding to implement the ultimate design and construction of improvements of long-term traffic relief options identified in the Study.

Overview

The City of Coronado has been evaluating possible alternatives that could address easing traffic on the bridge, in the community and coming to and from Naval Air Station North Island for the past 12 years.

The project report and environmental studies began in 2004 and currently are 90 percent complete for what is now known as the SR 75/282 Transportation Corridor project. The ballot measure is in regard to this project.

Argument In Favor Of Proposition H (PDF signed by the Mayor and 3 Council Members)

Argument Against Proposition H (PDF signed by 1 Council Member and 1 Citizen)

Rebuttal to Argument in Favor of Proposition H (PDF)

Rebuttal to Argument Against Proposition H (PDF)

City Attorney's Impartial Analysis (PDF)

Additional Proposition H Information

As an advisory measure the City is not bound by the results of the vote. Should the measure fail the City can still proceed to complete the Study, and can choose to pursue federal, state and local funding options for the implementation of traffic relief measures, including a tunnel between the Bridge and NASNI; conversely, should the measure be approved, the City can choose not to proceed with the completion of the Study, or could cease efforts to seek federal, state and local funds for the design and construction of improvements identified in the Study. As of March 2010, the City of Coronado has approximately $7.9 million to complete the project report and environmental study and the estimated costs to complete the study is approximately $2 million.

The material above is from the City of Coronado website. More information can be found here.

Please add your comments below.

Tags: city council, community, tunnel, vote

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Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on June 6, 2010 at 11:57am: To answer another frequently asked question, the only way to realistically manage traffic throughout Coronado, given our particular geography, is to eliminate vehicle roundtrips to our island.

Obviously, a tunnel will NOT eliminate vehicle roundtrips which is why a tunnel is NOT a valid tool to manage traffic. A tunnel under Fourth Street from the bridge toll plaza toward NASNI merely ADDS CAPACITY for cars on our island. That is why a tunnel is the direct opposite of a smart transportation policy. That is why a Coronado tunnel has and will continue to have zero support from local, regional and federal government agencies, including the Navy in Washington, DC.

At a low-balled estimate of nearly $700 million of OUR tax and toll money -- before construction cost overruns and litigation costs related to eminent domain of Coronado houses, among other things -- it is recklessly irresponsible for elected officials to continue to push the tunnel project on Coronado residents and businesses who will be severely negatively impacted by the colossal financial, environmental, quality of life reduction and other burdens necessary to build and maintain a tunnel through two active earthquake faults that no one will use because an exclusive use tunnel for sailors on North Island is an obvious terrorist target.

Here is the way to measure the success of realistic and affordable traffic management tools:

(a) elimination of vehicle roundtrips to our island,
(b) reduction of our carbon footprint (vehicle emissions reduction), which is NOT optional for Coronado because it is a legal mandate,
(c) reduction of our dependence on foreign oil.

Only these six traffic management tools are capable of achieving the above measurable success:

(1) Park & Ride
(2) Commuter Ferry
(3) MTS-Navy Express Buses
(4) Navy Van Pools
(5) Slugging (Casual Carpooling)
(6) Mass Transit.

That is why the above six traffic management tools together comprise a smart transportation policy for Coronado.

Vote NO on Proposition H to tell the mayor and three city council members to stop working against smart transportation in Coronado and start working hard to support realistic and affordable traffic management now. Enough is enough.

Comment by jef on June 7, 2010 at 5:54am: http://service.govdelivery.com/docs/CACORON/CACORON_1/CACORON_1_200...

"As the City’s federal advocacy groups, PMA can be used for other elements. It was identified that there may be an initiative for the TransBay wastewater line. That may be something Council wants them to pursue this year or it may come a year later."

From Section 11h of the minutes from Tuesday, December 4, 2001, 3:00 p.m., the Coronado City Council's regular meeting. HMMM!! I guess you would need an additional WASTE WATER disposal line if you were doing a MAJOR TUNNEL project on Coronado at some time in the future. PMA is very thorough; get the funding for a tunnel AND get some funding for a waste line that you will need as you build a tunnel.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/30/us/politics/30pma.html?pagewanted...

"Paul Magliochetti Associates (the PMA Group) to provide federal lobbying services related to the City’s tunnel project." WHAT?? Is this the SAME PMA that was under investigation by the FBI?

It appears our little city government has made some BAD choices in this tunnel project over the last 12yrs. Do we really want to trust them with such a HUGE project? Hmmm? I wonder if any of our council members has any experience running a MAJOR (probably $1 billion) construction project or will they rely on "partners" like PMA and Parsons Brinckerhoff. You know Parsons...they supervised/managed the construction of the "BIG DIG" in Boston that was 300% over budget and resulted in the death of a motorist from a roof collapse. Apparently, Parsons took cost saving measures with a total disregard for safety. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Dig My point: With the city government's track record in hiring LOSERS AND CRIMINAL SUSPECTS, I don't think it's such a good idea to ENCOURAGE them to pursue a project of this magnitude. Let's keep them managing carpools, van pools and HOV lanes.

Vote NO on Prop H. I think $650 million is too much money for a little local city government to control. You can't read a $15 million study then decide that YOU will build a $650 million tunnel project with criminal suspects and losers.

Message to Bruce Johnson: Unfortunately, we are not Catalina Island, though I wish we were a few more miles from the mainland where a bridge would not reach us.

Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on June 7, 2010 at 9:29am: To answer another frequently asked question, there are four (4) cut-and-cover tunnel models and two (2) bored tunnel models of various configurations in the tunnel study. This is the lion's share of the study because it is a capital project study to build a tunnel in Coronado, regardless of how others try to spin it.

The tunnel study is NOT a study of transportation demand management (TDM) or transportation systems management (TSM) so realistic and affordable traffic management tools -- Park & Ride, Commuter Ferry, Navy Van Pools, MTS-Navy Express Buses, Slugging (Casual Carpooling), Mass Transit -- are NOT all mentioned in the tunnel study. And the ones that are mentioned in the tunnel study are NOT analyzed and are NOT studied in the same way and with the same detail as the six (6) tunnel models. They are only included by the tunnel-builder conducting the tunnel study because the government process requires it. They are window-dressing thrown in to be minimized and eliminated because the tunnel builder conducting the tunnel study already concluded that what Coronado "needs" is a tunnel. It is unsurprising that a tunnel-building company concluded that Coronado "needs" a tunnel.

Plus, there is yet another cut-and-cover model that was approved by city council by a vote of 4-1 (Barbara Denny dissenting) on 16 February 2010 at page 191 of the complete council agenda item # 11(g) for study by the tunnel-building company that has the tunnel study contract: it's a double-decker, four-lane, cut-and-cover tunnel model that surfaces OUTSIDE North Island in the neighborhood of Alameda Boulevard to "I" Avenue.

This double-decker, four-lane, cut-and-cover tunnel model that surfaces OUTSIDE of North Island is the subject of Proposition H (Coronado tunnel) before the voters on June 8. It was already approved by city council on 16 February 2010 as noted above and the tunnel builder IMMEDIATELY went to work "studying" this tunnel model after 16 February 2010.

One of the most disingenuously misleading parts of this whole tunnel mess is that Proposition H asks the voters of Coronado whether they want to finally "finish the tunnel study" with this promised-to-be-the-very-last tunnel model: a double-decker, four-lane, cut-and-cover tunnel model that surfaces OUTSIDE of North Island.

It is also the tunnel model that the current mayor and four city council members are perpetuating a myth about. The myth is that Caltrans is "making" Coronado study this tunnel model and "there is nothing Coronado can do about it" because "Coronado is the helpless victim of a governmental capital project study process."

In reality, Caltrans communicated to Coronado that IF AND ONLY IF Coronado elected officials persisted in pushing the tunnel project on the people of Coronado without a realistic financing plan to build and maintain a tunnel, then Caltrans could NOT consider the capital project/tunnel study complete until Coronado's capital project/tunnel study had a tunnel model that surfaces OUTSIDE of North Island in it. The reason is that the Navy in Coronado, San Diego and Washington, DC consistently communicated to Coronado beginning right after 11 September 2001 that it cannot support a tunnel surfacing on its property and it won't make its employees drive in a tunnel for obvious security reasons.

Even though a minority of zealous tunnel advocates keep perpetuating the whopper of a myth that they are "going to make the Navy in Washington approve of, pay for, and allow a tunnel to surface inside NASNI," this can never happen after 11 September 2001. The Navy has been very clear about its duty to protect sailors and those that support them, as well as their equipment on North Island, from terrorist attack.

Remember, in 1988 Coronado voters rejected the cut-and-cover tunnel in an advisory proposition. So it is troubling from an ethical standpoint that there will be a total of five (5) cut-and-cover tunnel models in the tunnel study after the already council-approved seventh (7th) tunnel model is finished being "studied" by the tunnel builder.

It is also troubling that city council will choose its "preferred alternative" in the future from a list of five (5) cut-and-cover tunnel models and two (2) bored tunnel models. If they didn't respect the will of the voters who rejected a cut-and-cover tunnel by allowing five (5) cut-and-cover tunnel models into the tunnel study, then there is no guarantee that the current mayor and three city council members won't choose a cut-and-cover tunnel model as their "preferred alternative" against the will of the voters.

Vote NO on Proposition H on June 8.

Comment by Frank Pallares on June 8, 2010 at 5:55am: should not spend any more money on this study...concentrate on less cars not more cars....
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Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on June 8, 2010 at 2:14pm: Here is a partial list of Coronado voters who support a NO on Proposition H (Coronado tunnel) vote on Tuesday 8 June 2010:

Senator Jim Mills
Laura Crenshaw
Peter L. Fagan, Esq.
Ledge Hakes
Peter Jensen, Esq.
Mike Napolitano
Frank Tierney
Alicia Avila
Richard & Marty Barck
Al & Lindsay Barret
David & Star Beall
Dick & Margo Beh
Annette Beus
Pat Boer, Ed.D.
Lauris Boyer
Ron & Stephanie Bright
Stacy Bright
Fred & Sylvia Brown
Travis Bry
Bill & Alexandra Bry
Lydia Buchanan
Marilyn Burchill
Earle Callahan
Jan Clark
Mary Jane Clemens
Kirk Coles & Kim Warriner
Mark Conrad
Pat Cooley
Stephen Crawford, MD
Don & Ella Croshier
Nancy Cuddy
Barry Curran
Gloria Curran
Beth Dahill
Bill & Dianne Danneman
Amy Dolkas-Ives
Steve Duermeyer
Ivan & Katie Dunn
Dr. John & Dorothy Ecks
Victoria Elliott
Loel & Nancy Fain
Jim & Sue Foley
Peter & Carol Ann Formica
Marilyn Foster
H.A. Franck
Paul & Marilyn Friedl
Joe & Rita Fucella
Toby Fuller
Norm Funk
Betty Galbo
Ruth Gellman
Jean Gilham
Dave Gillingham
Ann Goodfellow
Michael Georgino, CMDR USNR Ret
Bob Graham & Reisha Martin
Tina Gravzie
William Green
Nancy Griffith
Denny & Carol Grimaud
Dina Demeo-Grover & John Grover
Guillermo & Stacy Gomez
Grace Harrington
Claudette Harshberger
Christopher & Barbara Harwick
Suzie Heap
Marv & Jill Heinz
Ralph & Hester Held
Charles & Nancy Helsper
David Hendricks
Jane Hiber
Tammy Horner, RN
Donald & Kay Hubbard
Carl & Marie Jennings
Tom & Chris Jeter
J.F. (Jim) & Charlane Kelly, Jr.
Mona Kelley
George Kennedy
Jim & Nancy Kennedy
Dr. Irv Kliger
Don & Virginia Larson
Florence Lighter
Ann Marie McGregor
Ken & Joan Maden
Meg Mahon, Esq.
Phil & Sherry Manion
Ed Masi
Sheila McCallum
Tug & Carol McGraw
Pete & Laura McPartland
Dottie McSwain
Pike & Jane Mead
George & Hazel Metze
Joan Nies
Penny Nyquist
Carrie O'Brien
Joseph & Aimee Olsen
Dan Orr
Ginny Osgood
Anna Paul
Joe & Barbara Perkins
Bill & Susie Piper
Shannon Player
Terry Player
George & Sherry Powell
Tom Pray
Tom & Jill Proctor
Kelly Purvis
Queen/Sexton Family
Mike & Sarah Rahm
Suzanne Ramirez, Esq.
Dolores Reed
Kevin D. Reilly
Dave & Margaret Richardson
VADM David C. Richardson USN Ret
Joann Riley
Bernie & Francette Roeder
Jon & Mary Ann Sanford
Bernie & Jan Schmidt
Kacy Scott
Scott & Pam Seggerman
Debbie Shaw
Sandy & Tim Shortt
Mike & Pam Shourds
Marlys Simmons
Greg & Sara Smith
Ray & Kathy Smith
Dwayne Snider
Scott & Ann Sonne
ADM Robert & Linda Spane USN Ret
Dodo Stanley
Ginna Stanley
Rodney & Caroline Struck
Nicole Tallent & George Perrault
Mr. & Mrs. Stan Prelgovisk
Wayne & Nancy Strickland
Dick & Tippy Thibodeau
Lisa Thompson
Jerry & Melanie Toci
Ron & Svetlana Tretiak
Brian L. Trotier, Esq.
Mike Turner
Candy Tyler
Ed & Jane Vasely
Carvill Veech
Sam & Sue Ward
Suzanne Ware
Deborah Warriner
Claudette West
Loie Wilkens
Skip & Marilyn Williams
Cindy Wilson
Jerry Winters
Anna Woerman
Joe Woerman
Brian & Amy Wray
ADM Leon A. "Bud" & Margon Edney
Councilwoman Barbara Denny

Comment by Councilwoman Barbara Denny on June 8, 2010 at 2:17pm: Here is the list of those who endorse a NO on Proposition H (Coronado tunnel) vote on Tuesday 8 June 2010:

(1) Coronado Common Sense online
(2) San Diego Union-Tribune
(3) San Diego Tax Fighters
(4) Stop Taxing Us
(5) San Diego & Imperial Counties Labor Council
(6) San Diego Libertarian Party
(7) San Diego Tea Party.

Comment by jef on June 9, 2010 at 3:16am: NOTE TO CORONADO CITY COUNCIL: No tunnels on Coronado. I hope you will follow the "will of the people" like you did over the last 12 years. Put the tunnel behind you; FORGET IT!! And we will forgive and move forward to a bright tomorrow. We like the island like it is; don't try to change it. You can't change and improve on Paradise; but you can preserve it. Massive building projects don't preserve; they change and destroy. Thank you Coronado for seeing the truth about the tunnel project.