My wife and I woke up on election morning to see that the two "No on N & P" signs in our front and side yards had been stolen.
Later that day we saw that yard signs reading "Yes on N, P & I" had been strategically placed in the business districts of Arcadia, apparently without the permission of the property owners on Baldwin, Santa Anita and Huntington.
That night Measures N & P, on which Westfield and its puppet organization spent more than $3 million, was approved by voters by a mere 63 votes and 255 votes, respectively, out of more than 12,000 ballots cast.
It's not clear who performed either nefarious (and most likely illegal) act involving the yard signs under the cloak of night -- it certainly wasn't any opponent of Measures N & P (no billboards and free parking for everyone at the proposed new Shops at Santa Anita development).
And it certainly wasn't supporters of the school district's Measure I bond measure. The "N, P & I" signs posed a potential threat to supporters of their Measure I if voters were misled into believing the Westfield measures were connected to the school district's bond issue because thousands more voters were supportive of Measure I than those who endorsed N & P.
In any case, both measures were passed. But Westfield and supporters of Measures N & P should not feel as if they have won any kind of landslide or a mandate from the people of Arcadia based on a victory margin or dozens and hundreds of votes.
Sure, it's a victory nontheless, but a very narrow one that came only after a months-long barrage of a multi-million dollar deceptive ad campaign.
While no one expects that pointing out the tactics used or the razor-thin vote result will in any way dissuade Westfield from its anti-competition campaign against Santa Anita Park and The Shops at Santa Anita, it would be worthwhile for people who actually live and raise their families in Arcadia to consider these factors in the weeks and months ahead.
For those of you who decided to let Westfield convince you that it was important to use the ballot box to enforce a city ordinance regulating signs instead of leaving it to the officials you elected to do that, and for those of you who felt that it was so important to allow out-of-towners to park for free that it was worth giving up more than $600,000 in parking revenue to the city that will now likely have to come out of your pocket through increased city taxes, congratulations.
One can only assume and hope that with these apparently important concerns now decided in your favor, coupled with developer Caruso Affiliated already removing the residential component from the project in response to your wishes, that you will now be proud to support The Shops at Santa Anita.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!