Hundreds Of 'Yes On P' Signs Are Missing, Organizers Say

LIVERMORE, CA — Proponents of Measure P to approve a hotel at the Bankhead Project say volunteers put up 700 signs in recent weeks, but no more than 400 "Yes on P" signs remain.

The campaign is aware of some 50 to 100 signs that have been vandalized or cut up, said campaign co-manager Asa Strout.

Volunteers again put up 100 signs on Friday, but 30 have disappeared.

"It's getting pretty frustrating to say the least," he said.

Volunteers started noticing signs missing across the city a week or two after putting them up, Strout said.

Measure P proponents have put a strong emphasis on social media campaigning, so much of the public was familiar with the initiative, he said. People started reporting on Facebook when the signs went missing.

Some people said they saw someone on a bike picking the signs up and riding away with them, Strout said. The campaign has asked people to take video if they see this.

The Livermore Police Department said last week that it has not received any reports of vandalized Measure P signs.

Volunteers are getting disheartened, Strout said, but trying to stay positive.

"Let's keep fighting because the best thing for you and for us and the city is to make sure that Measure P passes and that all the work that we've done ... will be worth it," he said.

A stink bomb was set off at a Wednesday night fundraiser, but Strout said it's hard to say if it's connected to the vandalism incident. Nobody got a good look at the person who threw the stink bomb.

Measure P would allow the Wine Country Hotel — described as a 70,000-square-foot upscale hotel with up to 135 rooms and amenities such as a lounge, conference space and more — to be built, with an estimated opening date of November 2022, the city attorney wrote in an analysis of the measure.

The Livermore City Council approved a development agreement for the project July 2019. Plans were halted when members of the public filed a referendum opposing the project.

Opponents claim the hotel was mediocre and "not worthy" of the downtown or wine country areas, there was not enough parking to support the hotel, a park should instead sit at the site and the hotel was in conflict with a public-designed Central Park Plan. Mayor John Marchand asked the public last year to reject the Central Park Plan, Pleasanton Weekly reported.

Proponents say rejecting the Central Park Plan and approving Measure P will mean less delay in improving downtown Livermore, more parking, less dense housing and better traffic circulation.

Read the text of Measure P here.