Despite a group's claim that the mayor, three former mayors and three councilmen are in favor of the Bixby Ranch shopping center development, members of a citizens group opposed to the project are not flinching.
Citizens Against Excessive Traffic, which was successful in getting Measure M on the March ballot, says that those in favor of the project amount to only a group of current and former politicians, and not a majority of Seal Beach voters.
Measure M would revert the Bixby Ranch Co. property on Seal Beach Boulevard from commercial to recreational/golf zoning. An organization opposed to the measure, Seal Beach Residents for Responsible Planning, say they have a "broad spectrum of support." In a recent release, the group names Mayor Paul Yost and former mayors Tom Blackman, George Brown and Edna L. Sharp as supporters.
Seal Beach Residents for Responsible Planning "amounts to a small power clique," said Don May, campaign chairman for the pro-Measure M group. "We have 5,000 [residents in support] of the measure."