The Mayor’s downtown redevelopment scandal burst wide-open yesterday when he, Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher and downtown redevelopment leader Fred Maas held what the Voice of San Diego called a “mea culpa.”
They call the cigar smoke-filled backroom”process” they undertook “flawed,” and pledge to make everything better by holding meetings about a DONE DEAL to increase the spending cap for downtown redevelopment at the expense of the City’s General Fund, the County and the school district.
What happens if taxpayers show up at the meetings and say, “I don’t want the redevelopment cap lifted at the expense of my neighborhood.” What will they be told?
I predict something along the lines of “Sorry, we already made that decision and could care less what you think – but thanks for leaving work early to provide us with your comments!”
And of course, this has NOTHING to do with taxpayer-funded stadiums and attempts to increase sales taxes, does it?
My favorite part is the Mayor trying to figure out if the idea came from his office. From the Union-Tribune:
“Sanders also acknowledged for the first time that his office contacted Fletcher to begin the process to lift the cap. He had previously said Fletcher approached him.”
No comment needed, that speaks for itself.
For maybe just this once, I agree with Donna Frye’s perspective:
She told Voice of San Diego that she “doesn’t blame anyone who now doubt the trustworthiness of city leaders as they ask them to trust on Prop D”.
“It is the very root cause of what’s wrong with the city of San Diego,” Frye said. “Because we just can’t seem to follow a basic process and keep our word, and when we don’t do that the public suffers.”
You said it, Donna!
This scam on its own is worthy of a “pitch forks and torches” moment by City residents. I don’t even know what it elevates to when you consider they are asking for more sales tax money at the same time.