Will the City of Grand Terrace Buy my house for the Inflated Mortgage Value they were party to causing the inflation and Financial Business to become unstable. Yes right here in Grand Terrace the RDA and City Council promoted the ideas that Debt is ok, and the goal is to have ever increasing cost to housing or High Home Values.
What supported these high home values? Paper, some of it drawn my Council Members and Relations to Council Members. What supported these High Value? Jobs or Productivity that will pay for the citizens to live in the city? An Economy that supports the citizens? An environment or community which is sustainable as a unit?
Now the city is buying more property. Will they buy my house for 350.000.00 that their hype inflated it to .... but now it will sell for about 180.000.00 if I can find a buyer... No... their "Redevelopment" Bonanza their economic plans have nothing to do with the individual family or citizen.
This story plays out over and over in California. When the Big Guys on top can't make budget. They get a raise and lower paid people are fired, laid off, or cutback. Even the Grand Terrace City Council continues to get their full stipend and gas money and medical insurance, and travel at tax payers expense. No it is time for the citizens of the City to say to the Council it is time for you to Plan for a Depression... Make rules and code fit the current economic situation.
I could pay my home payments if I could rent half of my house to a second or third family. Doubling or Tripling up so that the unemployed single mothers are not living in her car... or the Military Folks returning from War have a room and home to come to... But, no this house sharing is actually discouraged by the City Code.
Growing one's own food or having home based occupations and businesses is also discouraged by the city. Even the One Yard Sale a Year is a restriction that should be lifted. Perhaps we should have a City Wide Yard Sale Once a Month with out a permit required. Anyone who wants to sell things from their driveway can say on the 2nd weekend of the month...
No the City Council continues on as if saying to the struggling members of this community. Sorry we can't help you, you'll have to move out of our town... we don't want to have your kind here... go away, we have no services and we plan none, we will make you a non person a person to arrest for begging, selling things at a garage sale... You bother us just get out of town.
Well, that may work in Grand Terrace, but truth is.... there is no way that Grand Terrace can escape the reality that there will be homeless, and lost homes in Grand Terrace in part to their lack of offering available cost effective code modifications that would aid humans during this economic time.
Shame on them and all the Politicians who are still acting like it is ok to put 10 to 20 percent of the US Citizens on the streets unemployed or under employed, and homeless. They were and are part of the Management of Society that brings us to toady's experience in Grand Terrace and California.
It is time that the City Manager, and Staff take a 10Percent Pay Cut, and the City Council reduce it's expense by 10 Percent and those funds go to an emergency relief fund. In addition, the citizens should be encouraged to take in boarders to share houses. The citizens should be encouraged to grow food including eggs. Surplus production can be either sold or given to soup kitchens. Yes there will be a soup kitchen in Grand Terrace if Action is not taken at all levels of the economy.
In addition the City Needs to get on board with a re-finance plan for all homes in Grand Terrace and have all homes re assessed in value for their 1999 prices and if the debt is greater than that the bank should have to forgive the amount of the overage, as they participated in the inflation scam too.
More of the same from our local government will not bring economic stability to our community. There will be no one to buy things at Fresh and Easy or Walgreens if there are no jobs or families left to buy anything. By allowing the homes to house more than one family the income will be able to cover the house cost and have money to spend... It is time to make the adjustment... When and If things get better with the economy the people will move back to single housing arrangement by a natural desire to do so.
Gramps, I sure hope you paid for your new home and got cash for the one you sold in GT. Good luck to the ones who still live here, the City Council is in no mind to help change our local situation other to have more stores and sell more imported things to get sales tax revenue. This form of finance does not work... it will continue to suck the life out of the city and state...
If food is grown in Indio... what do we ship to Indio in exchange? What does Grand Terrace produce? We can not consume more than we produce and then collect taxes on our consumption and think that is sound economics. We can not love higher home prices and curse high gas prices. Have we not repeated this folly enough in history?
Shall we be told at the Next City Council Meeting the equivalent of "Let them eat Cake". Well, that did not work out well for the Rulers of that Society. I hope the City Council will begin to look at the current economic health of the community as needing to make a plan for sustainability and humanity so that GT shines in the times of trouble rather than just goes down like one of the Rats on a Sinking Ship.
