Mountain Views News          Saturday, October 20, 2012

17

ELECTION 2012

 Mountain Views News Saturday, October 20, 2012 

A CALL TO SUPPORT PROP 37 - By Kim Clymer-Kelley

While on the surface the issue of labeling genetically engineered foods 
(GMOs) that would be required by Prop 37 seems to be inconsequential to 
many people, it is, in fact, of monumental importance. We are in a battle to 
reclaim a food supply which is horribly failing the American people. It has 
been hijacked by corporations whose only concern is churning out cheap 
and profitable food. As a result, there are far more toxins and calories 
in the food available to us in our supermarkets, and far less nutrition. 
Consequently, we are becoming a sick and obese nation. We have been 
kept in the dark about how our food is produced and what it is that we 
are eating. For almost two decades this ignorance has been skillfully and 
stealthily created and maintained by the producers of our food.

The rest of the industrial world has been granted the information that they 
need to make good food choices. Over 60 nations now require genetically 
engineered foods to be labeled including all of Europe, China, Japan, and 
Russia. As a result, the people of these countries have used this information 
to cast their vote against genetically engineered food, making it illegal to 
even cultivate genetically engineered crops in many countries. This leaves 
the people of the U.S. as the unwitting guinea pigs for the rest of the world 
to watch. In the countries where labeling is required, often U.S. products 
are rejected or banned altogether, and those that are imported, must be 
labeled. Yes, our food manufacturer are already producing products that 
are labeled as GMO or that have been reformulated to no longer contain 
them...for other countries, but NOT for us.

Started by one grandmother in Chico, CA Right to Know’s is a grassroots 
movement that has risen above the corporate created ignorance to shed a 
light on the GMO issue, with hopes of awakening a sleeping public. In Prop 
37 they have written a fair and strong piece of legislation to require the 
labeling of foods that are genetically engineered or that contain genetically 
modified ingredients. The proposition has exceptionally strong support 
but it has in the last 2 weeks been eroded by the tens of millions of dollars 
of corporate money have flowed onto the airwaves. Support of Prop 37 has dropped nearly 15 points and the opposition’s support has 
increased by at least that much as a direct result of the Monsanto funded “No on37” campaign. The YES on 37 movement does not have 
the money to fight these insidious ads that are inundating the public with misinformation. This is beginning to look like a repeat of what 
happened in Oregon in 2002 when a similar labeling proposition led in the polls by a 75% to 25% margin at this point in their campaign 
and ended up losing by 25% to 75%. Similarly, just last year a cigarette tax in California, that held a huge lead going into the final weeks 
before the election, got narrowly defeated by a tobacco industry-funded campaign orchestrated by the same front groups who are now 
running the No on 37 campaign. After it was defeated, as we all scratched our heads in wonder of how it could have happened, the 
media spent a lot of time analyzing the issue to help us understand how these corporate campaigns have gained so much control over 
the populous ...throwing light on the phenomenon and making us aware of its injustice ...and yet here we are again...falling for the same 
old bag of tricks.

Do not let your opinion be swayed by all of the ads you are seeing. Look at the end of the ad...they are all funded by Monsanto, et al. They 
are nothing but lies and deception. They are depicting the proposition as being “a deceptive scheme” that “panders to special interests” 
… the exact, carefully-researched and chosen buzz words that corporations have used to fight every recent battle...words that their 
strategists have determined will instantly push buttons and that the public will glom onto as truth the moment they hear them. Sad but 
true.

On the surface it seems that the issue with Prop 37 is that of the health concerns and environmental concerns of GMOs and the agricultural 
practices of which they are central. While we should be deeply concerned with those issues, they are NOT what this propositions is 
about. This issue is about our basic right as consumers to know what the food industry is putting in our food. For almost 20 years we 
have been deliberately kept in the dark, and the corporations that have set it up that way are waging a multi-million dollar battle against 
a grassroots movement in order to protect their secret. Without the knowledge that this legislation will provide us, we cannot make 
informed choices on how we spend our food dollars. Without this knowledge there is no “free market”...it is instead controlled by the 
corporations that we have entrusted with our food supply. 

Polls show that nationwide, 90% of the people support GMO labeling and all of those eyes are on California now. They are looking for us 
to lead the way. The Legislators in several states have recently attempted to pass labeling legislation in their states, only to be threatened 
by lawsuits by Monsanto. Even though the proposed laws stood to pass, instead of standing up for the people, the government bowed 
to the corporation and tabled the bills. It is critical for Prop 37 to pass. We need to have complete transparency in our food system. The 
very industry that we trust to provide us with sustenance has violated that trust and has put profits above people. Their campaign against 
this proposition is a campaign against us and our best interests. It is a campaign that goes against the very roots of democracy. A defeat 
of this proposition will be a major setback to all efforts to reclaim our democracy from the monied interests that have hold of it. 

NOVEMBER 2012 
LOCAL BALLOT 
MEASURES 

Measure A Appointment of County Assessor -- 
County of Los Angeles (Advisory Vote Only) 

Do you support seeking to change the California Constitution 
and the Los Angeles County Charter to make 
the position of Los Angeles County Assessor an appointed 
position instead of an elected position? 

Measure B Safer Sex In the Adult Film Industry Act 
-- County of Los Angeles (Ordinance - Majority Approval 
Required) 

Shall an ordinance be adopted requiring producers of 
adult films to obtain a County public health permit, 
to require adult film performers to use condoms while 
engaged in sex acts, to provide proof of blood borne 
pathogen training course, to post permit and notices 
to performers, and making violations of the ordinance 
subject to civil fines and criminal charges? 

Measure J Accelerating Traffic Relief, Job Creation 
-- County of Los Angeles (Continuation of Voter-
Approved Sales Tax Increase - Majority Approval 
Required) 

To advance Los Angeles County’s traffic relief, economic 
growth/ job creation, by accelerating construction 
of light rail/ subway/ airport connections within 
five years not twenty; funding countywide freeway traffic 
flow/ safety /bridge improvements, pothole repair; 
keeping senior/ student/ disabled fares low; Shall Los 
Angeles County’s voter-approved one-half cent traffic 
relief sales tax continue, without tax rate increase, for 
another 30 years or until voters decide to end it, with 
audits/ keeping funds local? 

Measure ALF Density Limit re Assisted Living Facility 
-- City of Sierra Madre (Ordinance - Majority 
Approval Required) 

Shall an Ordinance be adopted to amend Sierra Madre 
Municipal Code Section 17.35.040 (“Core Density 
Limit”) of the People’s Empowerment Act (aka Measure 
V) to permit development of an assisted living facility 
consistent with the Kensington Assisted Living 
Facility Specific Plan not exceeding two stories, thirty 
feet in height and seventy-five assisted living suites, for 
the parcels located at 33 North Hermosa Avenue an 
245 West Sierra Madre Boulevard? 


WHO IS ON THE BALLOT?

President/Vice President of the United States 

Gary Johnson/James P. Gray, Libertarian 

Mitt Romney/Paul Ryan, Republican 

Roseanne Barr/Cindy Sheehan, Peace and Freedom 

Thomas Hoefling/Robert Ornelas, American Independent 

Jill Stein/Cheri Honkala, Green 

Barack Obama/Joseph Biden, Democratic 

United States Senate

Elizabeth Emken, Republican 

Dianne Feinstein, Democratic

US Congress - District 27

Judy Chu, Democratic 

Jack Orswell, Republican

California Assembly - District 41

Chris Holden, Democratic 

Donna Lowe, Republican

California Senate - District 25

Carol Liu, Democratic 

Gilbert V. Gonzales, Republican 

District Attorney; County of Los Angeles 

Alan Jackson 

Jackie Lacey 


DON’T CHECK THAT BOX....YET

 

Take a moment to hear the objective truth 
about our State & Local Ballot Propositions!

On Tuesday, October 23, 2012 at 12:00 noon, the Sierra Madre Kiwanis 
Club in conunction with the Pasadena League of Women Voters will 
sponsor a panel of speakers that will give both the Pros and Cons on the 
eleven statewide and four local ballot propositions.

 This will be an educational forum where the speakers will not take a position, but rather 
given the public an objective, informed review of the measures you are asked to vote on.

 The forum will be held at The Lodge (Formerly the Masonic Temple), 
33 E. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre. The forum is free. Lunch will be 
served at noon for a cost of $10. Lunch reservations may be made by calling 
626-355-0728.

DATES TO REMEMBER

October 22, 2012 Last day to register to vote

October 30, 2012 Last day to apply for a vote-by-mail ballot 
by mail

November 6, 2012 Election Day

 Polls are open 7:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m