Planning Commission Delay:

The Grand Terrace Planning Commission and the Planning Departments Delay in approving the HAM Radio antenna brings to the forefront their incompetence. The Planning Commission has already forced the removal of a HAM Radio antenna in the history of Grand Terrace.

In that case the homeowner was cited by the then Code Enforcement Officer. The property owners appeal to the City Council landed on deaf ears. The property owner yielded to the pressures of the Code Enforcement Officer, and City Planner because they did not consult with the legal experts on the issue.

After 9/11 the need for alternative communications methods became clear to state and federal officials. Laws restricting the small town actions restricting the citizens right to put in a HAM Radio System were themselves restricted. The city has been here before. The former case was on the corner of Raven and Mt. Vernon Ave.

The Planning Department and the Planning Committee should have been well prepared and fully informed about the issues in regards to the current situation. This meeting was already delayed once by the applicant, the issues involved haven't changed. Yet our highly paid Planning Employees fail to prepare and to serve the common citizen. Now the Planning department has heard the "Visual Impact" and the "Lowers My Property Value" whines of neighbors. Yet when the same concerns are raised in regard to "The City's Preferred Development" they don't hold water. NOW the City wants to see how other towns regulate HAM Radios and antenna. This issues is not a surprise, why on earth had the city not done its preparation before the meeting?

The word is incompetence in the Planning Department. Here is the reality. The Planning Department is a direct reflection of the City Manager's Management of the City. He hires his friends for consultants, and city employees. They do his bidding, and operate at his personal direction. OFTEN citizens and future business owners will go to the Planning Desk for information and they are given a big shrug a smile and an "I don't know". Putting new business owners through Planning Department when they purchase an existing business is unnecessary bureaucracies and an impediment to the economic continuity of our city. This is our Planning Department as Managed By the City Manager Tom Schwab.

When a member of the Planning Department is also an Employee of a Company Contracted to the City to Provide services, there is a problem in the Planning Department. When the City "Rents" a member of the Planning staff a house for $500.00 per month, there is a problem. (now former employee). This is called Conflict of Interest and Corruption.

The HAM Radio antenna is only the symptom of a community bent on promoting an elitist ideal of ever increasing property values, a persnickety sense of aesthetics, and a restriction on the rights of individuals to enjoy to the fullest extent the use of their property. To quote Jim Miller, "No one guarantees your view from your property". That was in regards to the Blue Mt. Senior Villas... Let see how he responds to the current issue, when it is not a CITY PLANNED DEVELOPMENT or a Pet Project of City Manager Tom Schwab.

Lindy Ward, and Mario Mendoza should respect the rights of their neighbor to put in a HAM Radio Tower which may in the event of an Emergency Save Their Lives or be of service to the Community in a number of ways. I wonder if they would refuse such assistance knowing its came from such a communication device? May they never have a family member abroad during an emergency, or at war. May they never need the assistance in finding a loved one in a remote location serving as a missionary, or simply on a travel adventure.

To those who "Threaten to Move" if the Radio antenna Stays, good bye.