Thursday, June 12, 2008

A "Rehearsal", A Free Meal, Desperation????

A reliable source told me that the Ponte Vista Outreach Team has what the source claims was a "rehearsal" for speakers to the upcoming June 26 Public Hearing with the Planning Department Hearing Officer.

The "rehearsal" apparently took place at the Port of Los Angeles High School during the time when ABC television was having it's meeting and also during part of the Central San Pedro Neighborhood Council's meeting, both in other rooms.

I think I can "rehearse" what many folks will be saying, on Bisno's side. There will be the Union representatives claiming that Bob will use only Union labor, even though nobody actually knows what may be built at Ponte Vista.

We can "rehearse" speeches by chambers of commerce members who will taut the benefits of all the new economic benefits Bob's current plans might bring. The problem with that is that there are now really 'big ticket' items that can be bought in the City of L.A., within a five-mile radius of the Ponte Vista site.

I am quite sure you all can "rehearse" many speakers' remarks about how "affordable" units at Ponte Vista will be. Of course one needs to be able to gross quite a lot of money per year, to be able to purchase the least expensive units Bob currently wishes to be built at Ponte Vista.

The "rehearsal" of the many benefits of traffic mitigation that Bob would pay for is probably the most humorous speeches I am looking forward to.

I hope one of the supporters remembers that the City of L.A. is already funding and placing the very traffic mitigation improvements at signalized intersections that Bob keeps claiming he will fund. On the other hand, Bob mentioned approximately 58 intersections he would "improve" when the L.A. Department of Transportation is going to include those same 58 intersections as part of their 127-intersection improvements.

So, if you are waiting to hear that Bob will place "5 Million" or "8 Million" dollars into a traffic improvement fund, please realize that if he does that, the L.A. Department of Transportation can take ALL of that money and spend it anywhere else in their area, with perhaps NONE of that money coming back to San Pedro.

On June 26th, beginning at 3:30, we have learned that the Ponte Vista Outreach Team and Bob Bisno are hosting a free meal at the Cabrillo Beach Bath House. This is another free meal attempting to attract more supporters of Ponte Vista to attend the Hearing.

You shouldn't be surprized that I have NOT been invited to the free meal, this time.

Might these two events be more signs of desperation by Bob Bisno and his Outreach Team?

If it seems that they have to offer a free meal just to get folks out to a meeting, perhaps the Outreach Team has not been able to reach out to enough people to support their project and come out freely on their own, without any other incentive.

It seems more and more likely these days, that no matter how much supporters' rehearse and no matter how many of them accept another free meal from Bob and his Outreach Team, there is an underlying appearance of desperation, I feel, because Bob is having to greatly increase his marketing budget for a project that adds opponents to it, every day.

Oh, and another thing. If Bob does receive entitlements to create 33 parcels, instead of the 22 already at Ponte Vista, there is absolutely, positively no guarantee that he won't sell off parcels to others and take his money and leave.

Please also remember that there has been NOTHING APPROVED for the Ponte Vista at San Pedro development as far as the City of Los Angeles is concerned.

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