Voters to see water-diverting ballot measure

Dean Cortopassi, a Stockton-based farmer and food processer, has collected at least 585,407 signatures for a ballot measure that would amend the California Constitution to require voters to approve ballot bonds that cost the taxpayer $2 billion or more. Cortopassi’s main target: Governor Jerry Brown’s proposed twin-tunnels that would divert water from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta to Southern California.

“This is a really bad idea that would cause costly delays in repairing our roads, colleges and water systems and make it harder to respond to natural disasters,” Governor Brown’s spokesman Gareth Lacy told the Los Angeles Times. “The governor is strongly opposed to this initiative.”

Cortopassi is well known in the farming community. He is the largest supplier of tomato sauce to restaurants. He is also the leader of Restore the Delta, a group who is strongly opposed to the twin tunnel project.

A number of groups, including the California Chamber of Commerce and the State Building and Construction Trades Council, have come out in opposition to the ballot measure.

“This ballot measure is both deceptive and dangerous,” Allan Zaremberg, president of the California Chamber of Commerce, told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s deceptive because revenue bonds are not repaid by taxpayers, they’re repaid by users of a project. Since neither the general fund nor state taxpayers are on the hook for repayment, it’s misleading and unnecessary to call for a statewide vote.”

According to the secretary of state, a random sample of Cortopassi’s signatures proves that his collection is valid. Cortopassi has spent $4 million qualifying the ballot measure through collection gathering. The measure is expected to be on the 2016 ballot.