Opinion: Reject Peter Navarro-Style Economic Disaster and Vote ‘No’ on Measure A

By Dick Murphy, Wendy Gillespie and Julie Meier Wright

The frame of a new home under construction. Courtesy County News Center

In an era of intense and often senseless partisanship, there is an initiative on the March ballot opposed by a broad bipartisan coalition of community leaders, including both the San Diego County Democratic Party and the Republican Party of San Diego County. Measure A is a countywide ballot initiative that, if passed, would create added challenges to building the homes and apartments we so desperately need, and further drive up the cost of all housing. As members of the Strategic Roundtable, we join the bipartisan coalition urging a NO vote on Measure A.

Measure A would make our housing affordability crisis worse, and that would hit young families, seniors and workers the hardest. It would negatively impact all of us. Our entire region would suffer — economically, environmentally and socially — if voters approve Measure A.

Thirty years ago, Peter Navarro launched a campaign to cap the number of housing units in our region by trying to stoke fears of sprawling development and traffic congestion. Voters across the county rejected all of the no-growth propositions promoted by Navarro, and as a result San Diego became one of the most vibrant economies in the nation. Navarro is now in the Trump Administration backing tariffs that increase the cost of goods and service

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