DEAR EDITOR:
Participation of local labor unions and their members in the
environmental review process for the Glen Loma Ranch Specific Plan
was the subject of a recent article and editorial in The Dispatch.
(
”
Blackmail or environmental concern?
”
Oct. 3, and
”
Unions should tread carefully in Gilroy,
”
Oct. 9.)
DEAR EDITOR:
Participation of local labor unions and their members in the environmental review process for the Glen Loma Ranch Specific Plan was the subject of a recent article and editorial in The Dispatch. (“Blackmail or environmental concern?” Oct. 3, and “Unions should tread carefully in Gilroy,” Oct. 9.)
The editorial questions the right of local union workers to raise concerns about the impacts of development projects on their community, and it says flatly that we should “butt out.” This opinion not only reflects a complete lack of understanding of the public’s role in the review process, it appears to reflect an attempt to intimidate and stifle public debate on major land use decisions that will affect our city and region for years to come.
As a member of a local construction union and a longtime Gilroy resident, I am writing to say that I and my fellow workers have as much right to participate in the public discussion regarding the future growth and development of our community as any member of the Sierra Club, a local homeowners’ association, the Chamber of Commerce, the Building Industry Association or any other group.
Our families also live and work here. We breathe the same polluted air that others breathe, send our kids to the same overcrowded schools, struggle with the same traffic congestion and experience the same loss of open space. We have the same interest as other members of this community in ensuring that environmental laws are enforced to protect our neighborhoods and open spaces, preserve property values and maintain our quality of life.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and many other environmental laws that govern the city’s actions on development projects encourage active citizen participation in the review process.
These laws encourage the public to review and comment on proposed projects that may impact the environment, and to propose alternatives and mitigation measures that might reduce those impacts. The guiding principle of these laws is that the broader the public input, the better and more informed is the public decision making on the project.
Local construction workers and building trades members have an especially strong interest in public decisions on development projects and land-use policy – in fact, our lives and livelihoods are more directly affected by these decisions than many whose participation in the process goes unquestioned.
We not only suffer from the same negative impacts from these projects as everyone else in the community, but our jobs and future employment are threatened by the construction moratoriums and other development restrictions that result from poorly planned and environmentally destructive projects.
We also have a direct interest in ensuring that public decision makers carefully examine developers’ promises that their projects will bring economic and employment benefits that offset the costs and impacts of the project.
Ensuring that these benefits are real is especially important with new residential subdivisions, which over the long-term typically generate less tax revenue than the cost of providing public services for these projects. Too often, however, we see the developers’ promises evaporate as out-of-area contractors and workcrews are imported to build the projects. The local community thus bears the costs of the project, but is denied the benefits that come from increased employment and spending on local goods and services.
Local construction unions are increasingly recognizing the importance of supporting the kind of responsible and smart growth that maintains the quality of life valued by the residents of Gilroy and Santa Clara County.
We see that the only hope for long-term construction employment in this county is through intelligent and environmentally sensitive planning. Building trades unions from San Diego to Sacramento are joining forces with environmental and community groups to advance their common interests in responsible development.
Organized labor has long been in the forefront of this nation’s struggles to improve the quality of life for working families.
We will continue to speak out in favor of responsible development that brings sustainable, environmentally beneficial projects to our community, while also creating clean, safe jobs that benefit the local workers and the local economy. No threats or intimidation will silence our voices.
William Culbertson, Gilroy, member of Sheetmetal Workers Union Local 104
Submitted Monday, Oct 27 to ed****@****ic.com
