I wanted you all to pay very close to the first four bulleted points so I can explain it for you further down.Now I would like you to take a look at an illustration from the Bisno group and look very closely at the entire project. There will be a quiz later on.
I hope you have had a good look at the illustration from documents supplied by the Bisno organization depicting what Bob Bisno really wants his project to look like.
Now, to refresh every one's memory, I am going to repeat the first four bullet points in the advertisement and write about them. Yes, it is part of the quiz.
Quiz question #1. By looking at the description of the site and actually looking at the illustration of the site, find the "single-family housing" and tell me where it is.
Quiz question #2. Please look on the advertisement, then look anywhere and everywhere else you can to find any price that would suggest that any home at Ponte Vista would be "affordable to middle-income families and first-time homebuyers". For extra credit, please tell me where to look for written documentation supporting facts that would set the qualifications for "first-time homebuyers".
Quiz question #3. Please go back to the site illustration and tell me where to find any "hiking and biking trails". Remember, the illustration is what Mr. Bisno is using to support the advertisement for 2,300 units at Ponte Vista at San Pedro, and this illustration is included in the legal documents the applicant, (Mr. Bisno) has deposited for consideration by the L.A. Planning Department.
Now that the quiz is done, let me remind everyone of one particular part of the survey and this document that is "in error", and something that is not debated by the developer, the pollster, or anyone else on the planet!
Going back to the first bullet of the project description as used in the survey and in the advertisement, the following bulleted point is made:
"The project would have 2,300 new homes, with a mix of single-family housing, condominium and town homes affordable for middle-income families and first-time homebuyers:"
The above statement was called into question as being in error, because it has a type of housing that will not be offered at the development. The pollster reading out the results of the survey, of the firm of Fairbanks, Maslin, Maullin, and Associates, indicated when questioned about this point stated that the point was "in error". When further pressed as to why the statement that was a known error was used, Mr. Robert H. Bisno, the developer and applicant for Ponte Vista at San Pedro, claimed that he, himself created that particular point and he was responsible for the "error".
When I asked Bob if the "error" was intentional, his response to be was, "that's a very interesting question", and he didn't go any farther with an explanation.
Look folks, the room was pretty full that night. There were professional reporters in the room, Bob was miked and everybody heard him claim he made the "error". Why do I always put the word "error" in quotes? Because I am not convinced that this "error" was not unintentional. I believe Bob Bisno used this particular language to suggest that there would be detached housing in the project, and he clouded the description for his own purposes. The vast majority of folks taking the survey and reading the advertisement would probably conclude that "single-family housing" meant that the housing was detached from other housing units.
The "errors" in the survey and repeated in the advertisement should not assist Bob's cause for building the project he wants built.
I think if 63% of the respondents want a residential project built at Ponte Vista, that is not really too bad, in my opinion. But with 41% of those folks wanting more housing for "middle and low income families, including the elderly" perhaps we should allow that type of housing to be built. It looks like the majority of surveyed folks want single-family housing for middle income folks and single-family housing for first-time buyers. I can certainly understand some types of government assistance to allow new housing for first-time homebuyers be required for Ponte Vista. I think subsidies for housing for the elderly and low-income families would be great, if that is what Bob really wants to build.
But what Bob really wants to build has absolutely nothing in common with any type of development actually proposed for real "low-income" families, "first-time homebuyers", and "the elderly", because I have been involved with what Bob wants to build, I have talked directly to him, I know what the low end pricing might be for units at Ponte Vista, I know the yearly income required to be able to qualify for a loan for housing, I have information about how much income a resident of Ponte Vista would need to have to be able to live in the development Bob is currently proposing, I have stored data on average incomes in the area, and I have some experience learning about this project.
Now ask yourself, If Bob is so sure about his project and how it would benefit the community, why won't he step in, right now, provide land that is already flat and has one baseball diamond on it, and let Eastview Little League use his land the same way the DiCarlo's site is used. Bob would gain much favor if he opened the gate, built the fields right now, and allowed Eastview Little League to move onto the site he promised them several years ago, this time without strings attached.
Bob's advertisement claims that; "over 10,370 signed supporters of Ponte Vista agree with residents surveyed". If he also claims that "area residents support Ponte Vista 2 to 1", how come the number of signatures on R1 petitions are much, much more that 50% of his total of "10,370"? Somebody has got some fuzzy math. Oh, that's right, fuzziness is written about in another post on this blog.
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