• Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Leland Yee, soon to be our state senator, has come out against Measure L [1] because "it asks Pacificans to approve a project without the benefit of a development agreement and an environmental impact report. Public policy cannot be made by signing a contract without knowing the terms."
• The San Mateo County Times said "No on Measure L" in its lead editorial Oct. 18 [2], concluding that "housing is the last thing Pacifica needs." The Times also endorsed incumbents Sue Digre, Jim Vreeland, and Julie Lancelle.
• Peebles' phone "push polls" [3] have alienated a lot of people, including City Councilman Jim Vreeland, who found the loaded questions "very derogatory." Vreeland told the San Mateo County Times that "it seemed apparent to me that was a way to show the incumbents in the most negative light." Peebles did not respond to the Times reporter's request for comments by press time.
• Real estate commissions on sales of 355 quarry units could be at least $22 million. Now look at who supports Measure L; they know which side their bread is buttered on.
• Peebles is writing an advice book for developers called "The Peebles Principles." [4] (This is not a joke. Or then again.)
• If you want a righteous read on how to fight a big developer, refer to John Nichols' "Milagro Beanfield War" (and Robert Redford's film version on DVD). Also rent "The Truman Show" and "Invasion of the Body Snatchers."
• Ugly lynch-mob atmosphere at recent Peebles pep rally. Foul-mouthed supporters and speakers shouted down questioners and called police to eject them, but police refused, saying it was a public forum, not a private event.
• Peebles proposes 500-square-foot live/work units. Bucky Beaver wants to know what kind of life/work you can do in such a small space-Rockaway Red Light District, perhaps?
• How is Peebles' law firm connected to Proposition 90's law firm?
• Peebles is getting so desperate that he sends high school cheerleaders in short skirts out to shadow No on L pickets on Highway 1. The girls jump up and down and scream a lot, but when someone recently tried to ask them if they knew anything about the issues, their handler said, "I don't want to debate the subject in front of the girls."
• Peebles told the San Mateo County Times that his bank's appraiser set the quarry's value at 10 times what Peebles originally paid for the land, and the developer gloated that he had already made a nice profit on appreciation. Well, bully for you, my man. So if you've had your fill of Pacifica, and you've made enough money off our real estate, why don't you spare everyone the misery of elections, hearings, four-color brochures, telemarketing calls, and gutter politics, and just sell the land at a reasonable price to a consortium of public and private agencies and land trusts. Visualize a fully funded Rockaway Park.

The above was printed in John Maybury's Wandering and Wondering [5] column in the Pacifica Tribune on October 25th, 2006, and is republished here with the author's permission.