That Mailing!

Did you get it? I finally did at about 5:45 on Monday afternoon. A wonderful person faxed the mailing to me so I could read what the folks at Ponte Vista are STILL claiming. Then when my pre-printed post card arrived, I finally got a look at what Bob paid for.

First, I looked everywhere for the word "compromise" I didn't expect to see it, so I wasn't surprised when I didn't find it.

This mailing looks like Bob's original proposal and I don't see anywhere in it where he even suggest some of the things he has talked about changing from his original proposal. Isn't it about time Bob, at least, puts into writing some of the changes to his plans he has mentioned to the CAC and others?

I think what I am going to do is copy the mailing on this post and make my own comments in between the paragraphs. Watch out though, you might learn some facts that contradict Bob's writing.

“Remember when communities were more than a collection of homes?”
Sure I do Bob, OUR community is more than a collection of homes, it is a real community made up of diversity in construction, diversity in population, and a great diversity in income.

“Our neighbors were our extended families. Seniors. The young. The starry-eyed kids just starting out. All of them, sharing in the life and vitality of the community. We learned from each other . And everyone was a little bit richer for it.”
Hey Bob, some of our neighbors are real members of our families, especially in San Pedro. Perhaps our neighbors were a bit better at sentence construction, too. Ponte Vista might allow for some seniors to live closer to their families, but don’t bet on those younger members being able to afford to live near mom and pop.

“The Ponte Vista residential community offers 575 condominiums built especially for seniors in a gated community and 1,725 condominiums and town homes that will appeal to everyone-from first time homebuyers to those looking for a little bit of luxury." Bob, I thought you mentioned several times that you were thinking about uping the percentage of Senior Housing to 40%. What happened to those comments? To suggest that housing at Ponte Vista “will appeal to everyone” is not only very dogmatic, but it is untrue! Yes Bob, first time homebuyers might be able to buy a home at Ponte Vista if they make somewhere near $100,000.00 per year. Then they would still need, according to your own documentation, a yearly salary of about $144,000.00 to maintain their lifestyle in their 650 square foot condo, or did I miss something?

“Ponte Vista will be built around an abundant network of resort-like open spaces, including a 2.5 acre Village Green with connecting walking trails and bike paths. The center piece of the development will be a beautiful two-acre water concourse with numerous outdoor plazas for relaxing, lush gardens, and fountains.” I did not know until now that trails were actually paved walkways. I always considered trails to be made out of dirt, rocks, and sometimes asphalt. Would “hikers” on the “trails” like meeting bikers on the “bike paths”? In Bob’s drawing, I haven’t been able to find any dirt trails or specific bike paths. Of course Bob forgot to mention that these “resort-like” amenities would be private and not available to the general public, or community, if you will.

“A senior center will offer adult education and recreation classes. All homes at Ponte Vista will be within walking distance of the main clubhouse, several swimming pools and a fitness facility.”
Private, non-public, not open to the general community, should probably have been added to this paragraph to let everybody know how segregated Bob’s community will be compared to the rest of OUR community.

“The experts have spoken and Ponte Vista is getting the green light. The City of Los Angeles has agreed that Ponte Vista can fully mitigate the traffic impacts generated by 2,300 homes at Ponte Vista. The residential development will provide millions of dollars in traffic mitigation for communities in the harbor area – things like providing the state of the art Automated Traffic Surveillance System on Western Avenue and at seven intersections in Wilmington. Adding a new signal at Peninsula Verde on Western Avenue for residents and fixing the freeway on and off ramps at Pacific Coast Highway and Anaheim – long time community problems that will finally get fixed with the help of Ponte Vista.”
Oh really? Why has Councilwoman Janice Hahn called for a whole new traffic study to be done? If nothing has been approved concerning Ponte Vista, why are drivers along Western already being impacted by the installation of the new system? It is because, Bob, Caltrans is already doing their part and it is not based on anything you may or may not do! I do appreciate your funding of the new signal at Peninsula Verde Drive, but it probably would meet the “warrants “ necessary for installation, if anything were to be built at Ponte Vista. How can you provide something that has already been approved of and is slated for installation?

“Ponte Vista will replace abandoned, blighted property – the former 62 acre Navy housing site – with a beautiful new master planned community that will focus on “smart growth” principals. A “walkable” community that will take traffic off of Western Avenue by offering on-site retail services. A shuttle service that will take residents to the doctor, to the beach or shopping. A concierge service will match up residents who commute to work in the same direction. All smart ideas to get people out of their cars and into good transit solutions to improve air quality and reduce traffic."
“Well, isn’t that special?” Bob’s “master planned community” might only be smart to the folks who buy into it. Is Bob going to use the concierge service to match residents of his community with members of OUR community to help traffic. I think not! The “on-site retail services” Bob mentions, are going to be the very last part of the development built, according to the documentation, and it will be built years after the first units are built IF plans don’t get changed due to unforeseen economic conditions that might require later phases of the development to be changes or eliminated altogether.

“A six-acre public park will be open to all residents in the harbor area to enjoy with family and friends.

Ponte Vista will provide a permanent public road to the highly anticipated Mary Star of the Sea High School. Students of the High School living at Ponte Vista will find an easy walk to the school."
I guess it is never too late to learn something new. With this last paragraph, I have now learned that “highly anticipated” means under construction, because that is what is now happening with the new school.
And about that “six acre” park. I think I am going to have to post the actual documentation about the real size of the park. It is listed on the drawings as being 5.46 acres in size. 5.46 is less than five and a half, so it is more correct to consider the park being a five-acre park instead of a six-acre park.

As Steve Marconi commented and as illustrated by this Ponte Vista mailing, it really looks to me that Bob Bisno really considers all of us to be stupid. That is not very nice, Bob. Not only do you skew the facts, even your mailing has some glaring flaws in its format and word usage. It has some wording that you think makes up sentences, yet they do not even have a verb.

Bob Bisno, I am proud of my P.H.D. It is the highest diploma from a public institution I have. My “Pedro High Diploma", is just one of the many thousands that can be found in homes in OUR community. I don’t believe I am as stupid as I feel you think members of OUR community are. Many of us can read and there is a large group of people who are learning about your attempts to bring to OUR community a segregated, private, and privileged project that would not fit in to OUR community.

And yes Bob, I too, can spell “speculation”.