Follow
the Money
published
October 23, 2004 in the Redwood City Independent
Dear Editor:
It's not what
they're telling you about Measure Q that's significant, but rather
what's not being spoken about that will have major repercussions
for years to come.
The real reason
I'm opposed to Measure Q is because it's really a tax initiative,
and as such should require a two-thirds majority vote to approve.
Your yes vote means that your taxes will increase to support this
private developer's grand scheme. The city of Redwood City has
already dug deep into your pockets in preparation for this pork
project and it's just the beginning. A close look at the real
issues here can lead to only one conclusion: It's all about the
money. No, not the money for you and me, but to line the pockets
of an elite few.
The pro-development
City Council has an agenda here. The Jefferson Avenue theater
compex began it all. After spending $20 million of your tax dollars
supporting this complex under the guise that it's good for local
business, they now see a need to bring in a substantial population
base to support this disaster in the making. That money comes
from you and me.
Their agenda
was further advanced with the reclaimed water project. We all
paid for it with dollars and traffic delays, but the net effect
was to free up good dsrinking water for this monster high-density
housing carcinoma called Marina Shores.
The biggest
bubble yet to burst is the traffic nightmare ahead for us. The
effect of 20 theaters off Jefferson Avenue have yet to be realized,
but it's coming. The effects of complete occupancy of the already-developed
but vacant real estate such as the former Excite@Home building,
the offices at the end of Seaport Boulevard, the corporate offices
of the approved but not yet built for Eli-Lilly on the old salt
mound property, the new Sequoia Hospital site near Granite Rock
and so on. We won't be able to move on the access roads, let alone
the freeway system.
This doesn't
even count the traffic created by this monster of a project. Five
thousand people generating 15,000 car-trips per day, adding to
already-clogged roads, spewing more air pollution, and you can
see where this is going. The only defense will be to run for the
hills--if you can get there, because you won't be going anywhere
fast. The only solution to these cluster block messes will be
to throw more tax dollars at more band-aid attempts to keep traffic
flowing in ever-slowing jam-ups.
To call Measure
Q a rezoning density issue is just a plan and outright attempt
to pull the wool over your eyes. This is about taxation, and as
such should require a two-thirds majority vote to approve. The
special interest agenda of lining developers' pockets at our expense
means years of paying the bills for you and me. Deceptive politicians
advocating the many benefits of overdevelopment can mean only
one thing: They must be on the take, too.
Follow the
money, people. Vote no on Q.
Kevin Germano
Redwood City
