I care a lot about my community and the unfunded pension liabilities and unfunded pavement improvements we need in Morro Bay. So, I have been doing research on Vistra's proposal to build a battery plant and the local ballot Measure A-24, looking for the impacts, which are unexplained.

I have read the ballot measure, and A-24 doesn't even mention the battery project. But passing the ballot measure would mean the Morro Bay City Council would have no authority over the decision on the plant. Is that what the measure's sponsors intend? Why do the promoters of A-24 believe that the council won't study the issue and make the right decision for us? At the City Council meeting where the initiative was placed on the ballot, City Council declined to request city staff study the impacts on our city's financials.

What really concerns me is that I have learned that Vistra can bypass the City Council to go directly to the state Energy Commission and Coastal Commission for necessary approvals. At a recent community meeting, I heard Vistra say that they prefer to work with the city. While some probably distrust Vistra, I want my City Council—not the state—to negotiate the best outcome possible for us.

So, that's my confusion about the ballot measure. If the City Council can't be trusted with the zoning decision, doesn't that "force" Vistra to go to the state for approval? My friends who work in state government tell me the state wants more energy options and won't care about the character of Morro Bay. Do we have to lose control?

I hope the sponsors of the ballot measure can explain how the ballot measure keeps Vistra from building a battery plant, and why we can't trust the council to be responsible for protecting our interests.

Doug Rogers

Morro Bay