Riverbank’s Measure M looks to win handily with 61.8% support in early results update

A measure to require a public vote to approve Riverbank City Council decisions allowing development on farmland or open space west of the city was has strong support in early, unofficial election results Tuesday night.

Measure M would essentially give Riverbank voters veto power over projects and annexations in that area. In an updated count of vote-by-mail ballots, the measure has 1,722 votes, or 61.8% support, with 1,065 votes, or 38.2% opposition.

The Voters for Farmland group gathered signatures to qualify the ballot initiative.

It does not mention the controversial 2,400-acre River Walk development plan, but the project is a presumed target of the measure.

The Bee's Ken Carlson reported in September that Riverbank City Attorney Tom Hallinan's impartial analysis told voters that the growth-control initiative is "likely unconstitutional" and would lead to costly lawsuits if approved.

Proponents of Measure M asked Riverbank's city clerk to make changes to the analysis before it appeared in the Voter Information Guide for the Nov. 3 election, but no changes were made.

Denny Jackman, president of Voters for Farmland, said the analysis reads more like an argument against the voter initiative.

"Several of the analysis' legal claims are stated as settled conclusions when they're actually debatable stretches," Jackman said. He added that words suggesting the measure conflicts with state law run throughout the analysis, making it read more like legal argument.