Beware a wolf in sheep's clothing: a call to vote no on 98, yes on 99!

Prop. 98s opponents say that besides keeping governments from taking private property to transfer it to another private party, the measure would destroy rent control and eliminate most tenant protections, end requirements that developers must make part of their units affordable, and gut many environmental and land use regulations.

Their rival measure, Prop. 99, would keep the government from using eminent domain to take a home and transfer it to a private developer, period. It is written so that if both measures pass but Prop. 99 passes with a bigger margin, it would become law.

The No on 98, Yes on 99 campaign lists nearly 200 labor, business, environmental, tenant, mobile homeowner and other organizations and elected officials. Among them are two not often seen on the same page: the California Labor Federation and the California Chamber of Commerce.

Among Prop. 98s initiators is the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association. This is the far right group that 30 years ago initiated Californias Prop. 13, which claimed to protect homeowners from soaring taxes but in fact curbed local governments ability to fund education, libraries, fire departments and other municipal services.

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