Monday, July 18, 2005
Early
Reviews and Westside News
Well, after a week, the jury's still out. Some of you who
have visited this site apparently like what you read, because
you've told me so. Other comments have been "guarded" - probably
because they fear being quoted. Others are probably still
seething with rage and have not yet been able to type a
response.
One old friend, though, made what might be a telling Freudian
slip when he referred to this site as "A Babbling Cauldron". I
can hear the heads nodding in agreement out there as you read
that last sentence.
One of the great things about this medium is that you can choose
to read this stuff - or not. This site is not a newsletter, per
se. I'm not going to send you a weekly reminder to visit the
site. You can bookmark it and visit as often as you like - or
not. I'm not going to add content on any particular schedule - I
might post something new twice a day. Then, again, I might only
post something once a week. As I said in the beginning, this is
a work in progress...
On another note, on July 16th our local community newspaper, the
Daily Pilot, saw fit to print yet another of my commentaries. As
usual, the editors did a good job of polishing my original
submission. And, as is sometimes the case, they also chose to
delete a segment in it's entirety. They, for some reason, chose
to delete my last two sentences, which read: "Thuggery is not
leadership. This is not a happy time for our city."
I don't plan to point out editing decisions in the future, but
thought this particular example might be informative for you.
***
Daily Pilot
Community Commentary
Published July 16, 2005
Westside war path
By Geoff West
Columnist Jim de Boom, and this writer along with him, were
wrong. I whole-heartedly agreed when de Boom suggested, in his
annual turkey of the year piece 18 months ago, that Eric Bever
flew above that mob -- that he was an eagle -- because of his
selfless act of citizenship when he stepped aside so Mike
Scheafer could be appointed to the City Council, thus avoiding a
costly special election. That was then; this is now.
Now on the council, Bever's smug willingness to virtually put a
gun to the head of a property owner by threatening to condemn
his business makes me very nervous.
Several months ago, Bever -- elected in November by the slimmest
of margins -- quick pitched the process by ignoring the
recommendations of the Westside Redevelopment Oversight
Committee by moving to place a residential overlay zone over
virtually the entire redevelopment area.
This should have been a wake-up call for every resident in this
city, because he and the other men on the council have
subsequently shown a willingness to play fast and loose with the
rules.
Sadly, it comes as no surprise to me that Bever, in his writing
to the Pilot on Thursday, reaffirmed his willingness to use the
sledgehammer of eminent domain with Triangle Square.
I'm afraid this is just an omen of things to come for residents
and property owners in the redevelopment area on the Westside.
All industrial property owners in that area should be quaking in
their boots right about now.
With the recent Supreme Court ruling on eminent domain as
back-up, the council can now begin to purge the Westside of
those businesses they find so offensive and proceed to sell off
the property to salivating developers -- who, coincidentally,
might just become major campaign contributors.
Eminent domain is supposed to be but one of the tools, such as a
scalpel, available to local governments to resolve blighted
areas. The way it's beginning to look right now, the tools of
choice for this council will be a billy club, brass knuckles or
baseball bats, as they flog reluctant property owners into
submission.
It sure looks like the majority on the council -- rather than
negotiate and provide incentives -- plan, figuratively, to
simply drag reluctant property owners into an alley and beat the
daylights out of them.
I wonder just how many of us will simply stand by and watch the
muggings take place without comment.
I wonder if those Westside residents who stood with cocky smirks
on their faces a couple months ago when Bever cast the shroud of
the residential overlay over them -- figuring it would solve all
their problems -- realize that they may be hoisted on their own
petard.
I wonder if they realize that if their little bungalow happens
to be in the way of future redevelopment plans, they might also
be plucked out and cast aside like some unwelcome weed in a
garden.
I wonder how many of us realize that we just might be among the
next group of property owners to be threatened, pummeled and
pitched overboard.
* GEOFF WEST is a Costa Mesa resident.
10:48 am pdt