Opponents of SMART should stick to the facts
Staff Report MARIN IJ
Article Launched: 09/04/2008 12:03:36 AM PDT


POLITICIANS OFTEN won't pay much attention to the spinning that goes on in ballot arguments.
They turn them into ammunition to attack their opponents' credibility, but they rarely go to court to ask a judge to edit ballot statements.

But the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit board is taking its critics to court - and for good reason.

The ballot statement signed by SMART's critics is political spin that plays with, rather than pays respect to, factual accuracy.

The SMART board has a host of complaints and has asked a Marin judge to order their removal from the ballot text.

Critics' argument that voter passage of SMART would pave the way for freight trains, some as long as 60 cars, to start running through Terra Linda and into San Rafael stretches the truth to the breaking point.

Their printed statement uses the word "would," not "could." Even "could" is a stretch.

Such a statement is meant to alarm Novato and San Rafael voters in hopes of persuading them to vote against Measure Q's quarter-cent sales tax increase for passenger rail. We are disappointed SMART foes would play fast and loose with the facts - especially in a taxpayer-funded publication that's meant to inform, not mislead, voters.

SMART has no plans to permit freight trains to roll on its tracks south of Novato. There is not much of a market to justify such an investment.

The North Coast Railroad Authority is pushing forward with plans to roll freight trains into Novato, where they would turn east at Highway 37 toward Napa County where they could connect with primary routes.

SMART critics decided, on their own, that despite evidence to support their statement, that long freight trains "would" roll further south through San Rafael.

There is enough political ammunition surrounding SMART without either side having to manufacture issues.

We respect their opinion. They raise issues voters should consider in deciding how to vote. But tactics such as those played out in the ballot statement are a disservice to voters.

The SMART board, led by Marin Supervisor Charles McGlashan, was right to go to court and ask that the false statements be removed.

On Wednesday, a Sonoma County judge sided with SMART and revised opponents' ballot statement in that county.
Marin's registrar of voters, unfortunately, only corrects ballot statements for grammar, not facts or fairness In 1974, the state Supreme Court ruled that the voter pamphlet plays a different role than those glossy campaign mailers. It "purports to be an authoritative document that appears to give an imprimatur of official approval," the court wrote.

The ballot statement is publicly funded voter education, an opportunity for the two sides to make their case. Some would argue that truth is the first casualty of politics, but we have to drawn a line somewhere. This is a good place to start.

Rather than forcing more public money to be spent on lawyers to resolve this dispute, SMART critics should do the right thing and clean up their ballot statement. We urge them to provide Marin voters with more facts and get rid of the deceptive spin.