38 Years of Study Back League of Women Voters’ Support for Initiative

Active support for the SOAR initiative, Measure B on the November ballot, is a continuation of 38 years of intensive study, critique and advocacy by the men and women of the League of Women Voters of Ventura County.

“Saving open space and agricultural resources” has been a prime goal of the organization since the Ventura County League was established in 1960. The then-newly formed League’s natural resources countywide study recommended: “Support a safe and healthful environment and conservation of natural resources such as clean air, water and prime agricultural land.”

That study, completed in 1962, was revisited and updated in 1963-’64, 1966-’67, 1971, 1983-’85 and reinforced in 1991. The consensus from the updates states: “Encourage industry compatible with a healthful . . . environment, with emphasis on agriculture.” And a final position from the same study addressing urban sprawl advises: “Promote orderly growth and development, including appropriate redevelopment of older urban areas, prevent step-out development and encourage in-filling of existing communities.”

Protecting agricultural resources is not only a Ventura County League goal; the California League has similar objectives with statewide positions. The national organization also takes an advocacy role on behalf of agriculture-related positions.

“Positions” are the basis for political action in pursuit of League goals. The League’s positions carry credibility wherever and whenever they are applied. This is primarily because during a study, all aspects--pro and con--of each issue are thoroughly explored, investigated, debated and argued, until finally they are resolved, consensus is reached and a position is developed. The League takes action and advocates for an issue only when there are positions to back up that action or advocacy.

The California League’s position on agriculture, following a 1983 study, concludes: “Support policies that recognize agricultural land as a limited resource which must be preserved for the economic and physical well-being of California and the nation. Appropriate agricultural land should be identified and its long-term protection should be based on regulatory and incentive programs which include comprehensive planning, zoning measures and other preservation techniques. State policy which affects agriculture should ensure the conservation of soil and water resources through incentives coupled with penalties for noncompliance.”

Also, from the same study: “Techniques for preserving agricultural land should include tax relief, tax incentives and ‘less-than-free’ purchase of development interests in farmland.”

The California state League supported the Napa County SOAR-type initiative, Measure J, in 1990. Measure J, which served as the model for the Ventura County SOAR initiative, passed at the polls and has been successfully implemented.

The national League’s federal agriculture policy position, dated 1988, states that “federal policy should encourage a system of sustainable, regenerative agricultural production that moves toward an environmentally sound agricultural sector. This includes promoting stewardship to preserve and protect the country’s human and natural agricultural resources.”

The League position that addresses Measure B’s proposal to “ensure that open space and farmland can only be rezoned for development by a vote of the people” comes from the national League study on citizen rights completed in the 1970s. That consensus states: “Protect the citizen’s right to know and facilitate citizen participation in government decision making.”

Support for individual liberties is a long-standing League principle, and the League works diligently for the citizen’s right to know and for broad citizen participation in government.

League members study issues that are local, statewide and national in scope. A study lasts at least one year and frequently covers a two-year span. If the study is of a county-wide issue, consensus is reached by League members county-wide. Likewise, if the study is state-wide, a position is reached only after California League members study the issue and reach consensus. And if the study is national in scope, League members throughout the United States study the issue before reaching consensus and a position. At local, state and national levels, positions are adopted at annual or biennial meetings after approval by the boards of directors.

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization that encourages the informed and active participation of citizens in government and influences public policy through education and advocacy. The League does not support candidates and is not affiliated with political parties.

The integrity which the League has earned and which it protects comes from the public’s trust in the League’s process and in the ability of a broad-based membership to come to agreement on positions developed from each study. The League’s process is thorough, independent, nonpartisan and covers the breadth of all issues studied.