I can't believe the corporate hubris on display in the "Yes on Measure B" campaign. They have thrown just about everything but the kitchen sink at the voters of Thousand Oaks to make us believe that Measure B is in our best interest.
Their latest trick has Jess Ruf, one of the owners of the Do It Center chain, playing the victim in their latest glossy four-color mailer. Are they serious? Their own Web site proclaims them as the "world's largest hardware store," representing 4,100 stores worldwide. I find it hard to believe they can't handle a little competition.
Personally, I think Measure B is the worst abuse of the initiative process I have ever seen. It amounts to anti-trust legislation and asks voters to sanction it. Since when has something that benefits one corporate special interest at the expense of 127,000 citizens of Thousand Oaks been good for a community? I might buy hammers and nails from the Do It Center, but I don't buy their rhetoric.
But don't take my word for it. Here is what three leading newspapers in the area had to say about Measure B:
The Star said, "Measure B sprang from one business -- the Do It Center."
The Thousand Oaks Acorn, in its recent editorial against Measure B, called it, "a slick marketing strategy to stifle competition by a multimillion-dollar company."
A recent Los Angeles Times editorial stated, "Measure B represents a small but growing species of ballot measure, used by businesses to impede their competitors at the polls rather than the checkout counter."
Even the consultant hired by the Do It Center to run the "Yes on Measure B" campaign, said in a recent article published in the May 24 issue of The Star, "I can't say to you it doesn't have anything to do with competition. Of course, it does."
Please say no to corporate greed. Vote no on Measure B.
-- Gary Heathcote, Thousand Oaks