After years of negotiating and months of campaigning, Santa Clarita voters Tuesday rejected Measure S, prompting discussion about the growing power of social media, the effect of money in elections and what’s next for the City Council and billboards.

“I thought (Measure S) was the right thing to do, but the vote’s the vote and I, of course, respect it,” said City Councilman Bob Kellar, who authored the ballot statement in support of the city’s deal with Metro.

City of Santa Clarita officials have a year to decide if they want to try again on a deal to remove billboards next November, according to a statement from City Hall. However, Kellar didn’t see that as a likely scenario.

“I don’t see any reason to bring this back next year,” he said. “We’re not trying to shove anything down anyone’s throat.”

Had Measure S been approved, the city officials would have been able to gradually remove 42 billboards throughout the city on Metro land, in exchange for the transportation agency contracting with Allvision to build three large, two-sided electronic billboards adjacent to local freeways. A portion of the revenue would have gone to the city annually as part of a 50-year lease.

The city also purchased 20 billboard structures throughout the city in anticipation of the deal’s approval, offering Edwards Outdoor Advertising in Newhall $1.3 million for its business.

City Councilman TimBen Boydston, who was an active opponent of the deal and the way it was managed by city staff, described the 16,284-12,697 vote to defeat the city’s billboard deal as a “mandate” from Santa Clarita residents.

“My question really, for City Hall is, ‘Will you listen to the people now?’” Boydston said.  “We still have issues of overzealous regulatory agencies on chloride, Cemex, the Whittaker-Bermite site… There’s no lack of important issues to work on, and I’m looking forward to getting back to work on those issues.”

The deal, which City Council members approved 3-1 despite a large crowd of protesters at City Hall, was the subject of a referendum effort garnering 11,370 certified signatures in 30 days over the summer.

Related: County Certifies Signatures For Santa Clarita Billboard Referendum

The referendum, which was aimed at stopping the deal, gave City Council members three options: they could cancel the deal, bring back a similar deal in a year or put it on the ballot for a special election.

The city’s special election Tuesday cost voters $204,000, according to city officials.

Related: Santa Clarita Posts Measure S Ballot Arguments On City Website

Facebook and social media were great equalizers in the grassroots campaign, Boydston said, noting the opposition in favor of Measure S outspent the No on S group about 16-to-1.

“It was the contention of the Yes on S people that if the people were just educated, they wouldn’t have signed that referendum,” Boydston said. “They had the opportunity then to spend a couple of months to educate people and over $150,000 to educate the people — they did that and then the people overwhelmingly rejected this deal.”

As far as whether voters’ concerns with Measure S was the deal itself, the city’s outreach efforts, a rejection of electronic billboards or a combination thereof was not yet entirely clear for Kellar on Wednesday.

“The folks said that they do not want billboards on the freeway, they want them on the railroad tracks,” Kellar said. “Hey, the vote’s the vote.”