voiceofsandiego.org: Letters... It's the Economy, Stupid

Wednesday, Nov. 21, 2007 | "It's Deception 101." That's what Councilman Jim Madaffer said of the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA), as property rights activists announced that they have collected more than 1 million signatures to place this eminent domain reform initiative on the June ballot. During his stint at Café San Diego, Councilman Jim referred to Economics 101. Now, I'm not sure which of these entry-level classes the young Madaffer actually attended, but I'm pretty sure he spent more time studying deception than economics.

As evidence, I present the Grantville redevelopment project. At its core this project is a fraud. In California, redevelopment projects are meant to eradicate blight. A quick tour through the area will prove to anyone that the area is not blighted. The major problems to be fixed, according to the councilman, were flooding and traffic congestion. But wait, when Grantville plans were actually revealed more than a year after the project was initiated, the goal was changed to adding more than 12,000 new residents to the community. The highest population density will be on the banks of the creek that occasionally overflows. What about traffic and flooding?

Furthermore, to make the project work, the redevelopment agency and the councilman need to have eminent domain authority. Properties or businesses that do not conform to the new Grantville need to go. True, Grantville is an older community, but there are many successful, small businesses that have been there for a long time. These people need the protection of the CPOFPA.

Many of these folks may have not taken Economics 101, but they have figured it out on their own. Considering two personal bankruptcies, and votes to underfund the pension and undercharge commercial sewer customers ("Let 'em sue us!"), this is more than we can say for Mr. Madaffer.

At its core this project is a fraud. In California, redevelopment projects are meant to eradicate blight. ....100% CORRECT..anytime a goofy City Council wants to redo any part of the City, that part INSTANTLY becomes blighted....complete scam.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
November 21, 2007 6:44 pm

The problem with Madaffer, besides the obvious lack of ethics, is that he was raised politically in the laps of people like Judy McCarty and Dick Murphy. These three politicans are driven less by the needs of the citizen and more by what benefits them personally. No surprise there. But they all seem to know what's best for the community, despite what the community wants. And in the 7th district, San Carlos and Del Cerro always come first. Watch out for April Boling. She's just like Madaffer, McCarty, and Murphy.

Posted by Larry | reply to this comment
November 22, 2007 11:24 am

Couldn't agree more regards Madaffer. However, my experience to date with April Boling is just the opposite. April has been pounding the pavement south of Hwy 8 in neighborhoods I don't believe Madaffer has ever stepped foot in. She is knowledgeable and is becoming proactive regards our problems and concerns. I suggest she will not be selfserving, unconsiously motivated and loud without substance as I suspect her oponent and I know the incumbent are.

Posted by El Cerrito | reply to this comment
November 23, 2007 10:38 am

It has been our experience here that anything in which Jim Madaffer is involved has or will be utterly self-serving, with no thought to the wants and needs of the community. Judas rediscovered.

Posted by bk | reply to this comment
November 23, 2007 12:18 pm

The "deception 101" is brought to us by our local governments, by our local councils, and by our local redevelopment agencies. When has the Redevelopment Law EVER been used to ASSIST in the actual improvement of "blight", if indeed "blight" even exists, which in most cases it doesn't. The Redevelopment Agencies are NOT there to help to improve the areas thyemselves for the people of those redevelopment areas. Instead, huge, complicated processes are in place to run the existing property owners out, whether it be by fear, intimidation, spot-zoning, or out-and-out fraud, as in the case of those who dropped their lawsuit in the Valencia Business Park in Encanto - with the promise that they would be getting their promised building. They dropped their lawsuit - no building - nothing. That is deception. That is misrepresentation. That is fraud.

Posted by Redevelopers do NOT play fair | reply to this comment
November 23, 2007 5:39 pm

The next time anyone hears that their community is considering redevelopment, they need to be on their toes. When something sounds too good to be true - it is. Redevelopment is not going to help those in the Redevelopment District, it will probably hurt them in ways they couldn't even begin to consider. The District will sell bonds and pledge the proceeds of the Tax Income to pay those bonds, which are in many cases for projects that have no real connection with the people in the redevelopment area. The very worst ( and most obscured fact) is that there are HUGE profits to be made by Redevelopment. When the properties are redeveloped and reaccessed, the revenue the cities get out of the county property tax income change possitions. The county gets much less, the city RDA gets much more. Voila ! Goodbye...

Posted by San Marcos says, | reply to this comment
November 23, 2007 6:20 pm

I don't know, El Cerrito. Boling came by my house and had already made up her mind that the megadorm proposed for Rolando was a good thing. Never mind that she knew none of the details. She definitely knew what was best for my neighborhood.

Posted by Larry | reply to this comment
November 26, 2007 9:05 am

Agree strongly with the comments about Jimmy Madaffer. He has a documented history of cloaking his sinister, self-serving motives under the guise of public benefit (please see Fox Canyon, for a start). Completely disagree with the comments about April Boling. I don't see her as a shill for the discredited Madaffer-McCarty-Mur trioka. How many politicos are out on the streets talking to the voters? The previously mentioned 3Ms of District 7 made a habit of hiding from the electorate. Also, Ms. Boling knows the numbers and where some of the financial dead bodies are buried. Moving forward, it is going to be about the numbers in this town. Time to elect people who are ready to face some fiscal realities. First step is electing candidates who KNOW that we have some problems.

Posted by Dale Peterson | reply to this comment
November 26, 2007 3:55 pm

It's the Economy, Stupid

By Brian T. Peterson, DVM, Birdland