More from InTheNews... and a bit of the old brain..

http://www.sbsun.com/letters/ci_11996887

No planning

Under the watch of Steve Berry, acting city manager, Grand Terrace's small-town image has eroded and turned into a free-for-all for outside developers.

He has turned our once friendly and well-informed community into a self-serving, personal, pet project with total disregard for us who love and call Grand Terrace our home.

He has rushed through projects without a clear agenda, focus or goal. With all the building going on in our city, there is still no place to call "the center of town." All projects are inherently chaotic and spread around. None has a common vision; the architecture lacks uniformity and beauty.

His projects only include citizen input when it is too late, lacking in public scrutiny, with no advanced announcements of public meetings.

For example, for his events, he repeatedly mails the same announcements two or three times with bold, red letters on the outside reading "IMPORTANT CITY INFORMATION" announcing the Halloween Haunt. We have never received an announcement like that for public meetings.

To bring in a Walgreens to compete with existing businesses that have already invested in our community is the worst type of city planning.

Steve Berry is sending the message that Grand Terrace is not business friendly. We will not protect their investment by allowing competing businesses, leaving them with no room for profitable growth. In short, creating an "every man for himself" environment.

It saddens me that our elected officials have chosen to allow the chaos by putting our city in the hands of Steve Berry, whose judgment has been very questionable.

Elections are coming up and it should be noted that we citizens are fed up with all the blank looks by some City Council members at the meetings. It is apparent that they do not take their elected positions as seriously as we residents do.

BETTY GUZMAN
Grand Terrace

Colton schools
http://www.sbsun.com/opinions/ci_11996884
Board must listen to those it serves
Posted: 03/25/2009 07:25:02 PM PDT

Grand Terrace's new - and long-awaited - high school will be named after a longtime Colton resident.

Yes. Yes, really.

No matter that 34 percent of the nominations made for the school's name favored Grand Terrace High School. No matter that the cities of Colton, San Bernardino, Redlands, Fontana - most cities, really - have schools named in their honor.

Nope, the Colton Joint Unified School District, which serves students in five cities, voted 5-1 recently to name its newest high school after Ray Abril Jr., a former district board member who lives in Colton.

Let us be clear: We have nothing against Mr. Abril, who served the district with dignity for 28 years.

Nor do we believe Mr. Abril should decline this tribute, as some have suggested in letters printed here. This is an honor that Mr. Abril and his family should be allowed to cherish.

But we can't ignore the frustration that is evident among district families who see the school board's decision as a "slap in the face," as one parent put it.

Grand Terrace has waited a long time for a high school - longer than it should have had to wait, truth be told.

The district began to plan for its third high school back in 2001, when voters approved a $102 million bond. But increased costs and a lengthy planning process delayed progress on the high school; meanwhile, the district spent some $70 million on improvements and costs related to school construction.

In November, the district dared to approach voters again, and voters - parents, grandparents and concerned citizens who want students to have every chance to succeed - approved another $225 million bond to fund actual construction of the Grand Terrace high school and other projects.

For that, we think the school board owes voters. Voters at least have earned the right to state their preferences for the names of schools in their communities, and the right to expect board members to hear them. Really hear them.

This time around, though, board members asked for feedback and then blithely went ahead with naming the school after one of their own, disregarding the very input they sought.
We hope the school board learns a lesson from the public tongue-lashing it's getting in this newspaper and gives the communities it serves a real say in future decision-making.


Quick points to both the articles:

Ms Guzman should be mindful that free and open competition is good. What we have in Grand Terrace is a Redevelopment Agency that has selected a favored few to own and develop the little remaining land in Grand Terrace, and even go so far as to aid in the running off of land owners to make development investment more attractive. It is the Governments intrusion into the rights of property and investment that should be of concern, not to many drug stores. If all drug store investments came into Grand Terrace under an OPEN Market that would be their own risk and fair competition. However, this is not the case for any of the Jacobson Project / Town Center or what ever it is being called now.

Any Businesses that go into that development and if they compete with pre-existing businesses in Grand Terrace, and those businesses prove a loss of income, the City's Redevelopment Agency may be liable to fund those losses for a period of time. Of course Mr. Jacobsen is not held responsible to fund these losses and so he has no motivation not to saturate the community with drug stores which are in fact Liquor Stores in disguise. Check where the profit margins for these stores are, and you will see that the Liquor Sales is what is making the payroll...

Grand Terrace has a sufficient number of retail locations selling liquor for off site consumption. Grand Terrace already has been noted to have a surplus number of liquor licences according to the State Alcohol Control Board. This should be the area of action for those citizens who see no need for more points of sale for alcohol.

I can not agree with the idea that there should be uniform architecture or some city defined design conformity inflicted upon the land owners and business owners... The land owner should have the right to make their property useful to their use. Ugly is not or should not be illegal or codified against. The idea that how you manage or use your property is my business or the governments is counter to the freedom to own property and get full enjoyment out of your property as the owner sees fit. If the use is not a health or fire problem keep off my turf... trespass not with your feet or eyes...

The idea that it is your property values you are supporting with this type of tyranny is in part what caused the hyper inflation of home prices and debt speculation and ta da... our current banking and finance melt down... Let's reverse these nasty traits and practices on a local level.. it is where the air for the bubble comes from... the local government, RDA and City Councils in bed with Realtors, Developers, and Lenders.

Steve Berry is not the beginning of this folly, he was and is well trained to respond to Tom Schwab's directions... He is only a puppet enjoying longer strings of direction... If he has in independent thought it is only on how to have a party that will allow him to have a petty cash fund, or ask for contributions... He like Schwab should be in charge of weed pulling on city lots and no more than that.

Now for the school name: again I agree it should be Grand Terrace High School, and I think that Ray Abril should turn it down and accept a dedication not name. The petty conduct of the City Council of Grand Terrace, and the CJUSD School Board speaks volumns as to answer the question of why GT/CJUSD/Colton is in education mess and sustainable economic troubles both.

Good luck to you all...

Gramps...