Read the Grand Terrace City News This Week An Open Letter from the BlogMaster

Dear Editor of the Grand Terrace City News:
Coltoncitynews@aol.com

The GrandTerraceNews Blogspot Blog welcomes the attention given to it in the Grand Terrace City News. However there are a few bits of misinformation or misinterpretation reported in the article mentioning the web site. http://grandterracenews.blogspot.com/

First: The Blog Master or GrandPaTerrace is not a founding, or participating member of the Grand Terrace Community Awareness Group.

Second: The final paragraph misrepresents the discussion regarding the identification of a person who has been arrested, or charged for a crime, who by the way has had the arraignment this week. It also misinterprets the situation as being a complaint that the City is “Investigating the Criminal Background of the GTCAG members. The first identification was a result of the practice of the Blog reporting the arrest statistics and Charge Detail. The second reference to a particular arrestee was made by an anonymous poster trying to smear the GT Community Awareness Group by making a direct correlation with that individual’s arrest and the moral stature of the remainder of the members of the group. The arrested person having been quoted in an article printed in the Press Enterprise. This tactic, a political smear or perhaps an attempt of intimidation of the groups members was addressed by members of the group, in follow up posting. The final posting clarified the practices of the blog of posting all comments, and arrests. The Blogmaster or GrandPaTerrace is not concerned about criminal records being known, Public Information is Public Information after all. It would be a good thing to know the criminal records of your neighbors, council members and city employees. Some of us have clean records.

Third: GrandPaTerrace posts emails from Citizens who have opinions, and concerns regarding the City of Grand Terrace, and reposts all comments made on any of the postings.

Fourth: GrandPaTerrace unlike most local papers does not insist on printing the name of the writer and himself stays anonymous so that the city can’t attempt to intimidate or mute the open discussion of concerns facing the citizens of Grand Terrace. GrandPaTerrace even posts comments and opinions which do not “agree” with the public policy preferences of the BlogMaster or Contributors.

Fifth: GrandPaTerrace posts current arrests and charge and some times trial detail which is available from official county and state web sites. The City of Grand Terrace has not made this publicly available in the past. In addition to this date will only provide a sanitized summary of the dispatchers log, and arrests two months after the fact reported in the Blue Mountain Outlook and the Senior’s News Letter, both sources funded in part by City Funds.

Sixth: GrandPaTerrace's Opinions are not identical to those of the founders or members or attendees of the GT Community Awareness Group. Grandpa would return GT to have minimal county zoning, and allow goats, and pet pigs, and a chicken in every back yard, Golf Carts on all the streets, and reduce the city wide speed limit to 35mph and get rid of all fireworks, hire Colton Police Force for Law Enforcement, and many other issues which the GT Community Awareness Group has not addressed or put into actionable measures.

Seventh: GrandPaTerrace is a mystery writer, whose identity is unknown to the members of the Council or any other organization. GrandPaTerrace is not running for office, does not have personal political ambitions. I may be a City Employee, or a Store Clerk, or just about anybody in town, who I am not is a person associated directly with the GT Community Awareness Group, any suggestions in that regard is simply misinformation.

Other Points In Response to the Article:

The Developer of the Savon Property “Broke Ground” but construction has not begun. This property was and is ready for development and yet it lays fallow under the same Developer for the Town Center Project.

Mr. Schwab always insists that “Negotiations” must be behind closed doors, yet he has publicly stated what Jo has been offered. Is he willing to report publicly what the Former Mayor received for similar property at a recent sale? It is by the way a larger amount.

The Developer has not held public or town hall meetings where the entire town has been invited. Only the people on the development boarders were invited. Public Notice came as a result of the GrandTerraceNews.Blogspot blog, and the efforts of a phone and by word of mouth effort to inform the community. The Developer and the City began that meeting with statements which suggested that the Developer has the right to develop the property as they see fit as it is zoned for commercial development, that they were just trying to be good neighbors, But, they were under no obligation to be accommodating to the neighbors of the development, or the current owners who don’t wish to sell.

Environmental Impact Reviews, and realistic cost analysis for increased city services has not been done to off set the real cost to the community what the new development will bring compared to low houses with horse property size lots