"...The results didn’t change: With 4,164 votes tallied, Measure G went down 48 to 52 percent. The defeat made the council vote moot, but if G had passed, the five-candidate pro-town slate would have swept it.
What remains are the sore feelings among neighbors who are, at least in some respects, strikingly similar.
Judging by the victory parties, both sides have been led by mostly senior, mostly white, mostly middle – to upper-class folks who don’t want rampant development‚ hence the nearly identical slogans: “Keep Carmel Valley Rural” on the Yes side, “Keep Our Valley Rural” on the No.
That mutual love of the sticks may present a healing opportunity. Just weeks before the election, the state water board adopted a cease-and-desist order that sharply stacks the odds against new developments – in large part to protect the Carmel River that runs through the valley, regardless of townhood.
If residents can become so deeply divided over what makes Carmel Valley rural, maybe they can band together to keep it that way."
From: Monterey County Weekly
