Measure K, Part One

I have had the privilege of working with some very dedicated and focused individuals over the course of the past few months. These people have one goal in mind - an honored resting place for our retired and active duty service members. They are working to “Keep the Promise” of a Veterans Cemetery at the former Ft. Ord.

In the first part of a series of articles about Measure K, I want to explore why the Veterans Cemetery is so important to our community and what stands in the way of it becoming a reality.

First: a little history. From its founding in the early 1900’s, Ft. Ord had served as the training ground for hundreds of thousands of Army soldiers until it’s closing in 1994. For many who served in Korea and Vietnam, Ft. Ord was the last place they stood on American soil. Many, who trained here, fell in love with the area and came back here to live after their service to raise their families and become vital members of our greater regional community.

As Sid Williams explained at the Measure K kick-off event at the proposed cemetery site, “those who served are bound together in a brotherhood”. Those that served and trained at Ft. Ord are indeed a brotherhood dedicated to fulfilling a commitment made to them when the base closed – that a Veterans Cemetery would be built.

Unfortunately, keeping this promise has been a challenge and some 20 years later this brotherhood is still waiting. Today, the promise of the Veterans Cemetery has never been so close, and yet it is in danger of never being built due to two competing Measures on your November ballot. Measure K will ensure that the Cemetery will be built, while Measure M endangers that effort.

Without getting too far into the weeds of the Measure, Measure M will limit the access to the proposed site in a way that will negate the Federal funding needed to build the cemetery. In fact, one of its primary backers stated that proper access will stop about a quarter mile from the cemetery itself. The Federal government requires ADA compliant roads to service all Federal projects. Measure M will make such a requirement impossible to fulfill, thus removing the funding and stopping the cemetery.

I fully support Measure K to “Keep the Promise” made to our Veterans and all active duty military who choose to be laid to rest close to home on Ft Ord. I hope that you will do everything you can to help us fulfill the promise made to them and vote Yes on Measure K, No on Measure M.

Next time I will go deeper into some of the land use issues that Measure K reaffirms and why it is important to you and the future of our entire region.

More later