Public water supporters soldier on, and vow to keep fighting Cal Am.

As the poll numbers scrolling across the bottom of the TV screen showed Measure W losing by a wide margin, the NBC weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser filled the remainder of the picture.

The levity wasn’t lost on Measure W campaign consultant Jim Graham.

“You can’t miss the irony, can you?” he said.

Measure W asked Monterey Peninsula voters if they were willing to spend up to $550,000 to fund a study of public water ownership. About 63 percent of voters said no.

But feelings of defeat were hardly the predominant mood at the pro-public water party Nov. 8, at Citizens for Public Water Treasurer George Riley’s Monterey home. Instead, over the course of the night, the tone ranged from resigned to optimistic to vaguely victorious—but not before it meandered into denial and sarcasm early on.

“It’s just the beginning of the night,” Graham said as early returns showed Measure W trailing two to one. “Absentee voters always go conservative—cross your fingers.”

Asked what he would do with $14, the amount it would cost bill payers to fund the W study and the amount he would save should the ballot measure fail, Graham said, “I’m gonna drink. And be out [asleep] on the lawn.”

Developer and W supporter Nader Agha shouted out a common theme of the night, “They spent $400,000!” (In fact, California American Water spent $260,000 on advertising to defeat the initiative, making Measure W the most expensive campaign in the Peninsula’s history.)

As the numbers remained static, the pitch of the 15-person potluck turned to analysis.

“They outspent us 10 to one,” said Graham, adding that Cal Am was investing heavily in order to avoid a precedent of public takeover feasibility studies across the West. “I look at it as a good corporate system—feel good ads and confusion. They had to win no matter what it takes, if they don’t, they have 500 fires [in other towns] to fight.”

Agha offered another theory. “When they announced Cal Am was going to be sold by [parent company RWE in 2007], a lot of people probably thought not to go to vote,” he said.

A brief jolt of hope arrived with news by phone from Monterey County’s Elections Department: The current numbers were invalid. A few paper wine cups were similarly given new life. Minutes later, however, the adjusted numbers revealed no real change. The tone of the tight-knit group grew more pragmatic.

Naval Postgraduate School professor Ron Weitzman said that Measure W supporters’ success in publicizing statistics showing the savings and advantages of public water ownership was good, but that relationships will drive future success.

“People don’t trust numbers, they trust people,” he said. “There is a critical mass of people we will reach.”

Weitzman explained the groups next step: patiently gathering the local signatures needed to put the public buyout—not an appraisal of buyout costs—on the ballot, and avoiding the association with the unpopular water board. “If I had to bet I’d say we go for signatures. An advantage of [getting] signatures is you educate, one to one.

“The district was Cal Am’s whipping boy.”

After the TV camera crews left, sentiments of pride and defiance began to dominate the dialogue. And while nobody was dancing on the kitchen island, there was an audible air of accomplishment.

“This caused so much hassle for [Cal Am]—they said they wouldn’t campaign against Measure W,” Agha said. “Can you imagine when we go for the real thing? Cal Am has no staying power. Their employees will come and go with the company. The ratepayers, we aren’t leaving.”

“Look how much they [Cal Am] paid for their votes and how much we paid for ours,” Weitzman said. “Who got a better deal?”

As a couple of partygoers headed for the door, host Riley looked resolute as he surveyed the potluck leftovers. “It’s just the beginning,” he said.