Once Upon a Time in Grand Terrace....

In a land dear to our hearts called Grand Terrace there came a Developer named Doug Jacobsen who said he wanted to build a development. In that development would be a large Stater's Brothers Market, which he would sell the land to Stater's and then benefit from them being the anchor and HE'd develop the rest of the development and be a good neighbor... yada yada yada...

As of Dec 3, 2010 it looks like Mr. Jacobsen has sold almost all of the property to Stater Brothers and he is limiting his participation in the development. Given Stater Brothers propensity to limit any form of competition on property they own, how the remaining land will be use may be seriously redefined to suit Stater's Desires not those stated in prior agreements, and Specific Plans. In so much that Stater's is getting government assistance directly and indirectly this amounts to a restraint of trade and unfair trade in this writer's opinion.Staters has bought all of the property in the Barton Road Towne Center that Jacobsen owned.
Jacobsen owns nothing in the Barton Rd. Towne Center.

Jacobsen still owns the 2-story house that was next to the ex-mayor's house on Michigan.
That property was never in the Towne Center project.

1167-231-03-0000
" 08
" 09
" 12
" 13
" 15
" 21

Now for our trusted News Coverage provided by the Sun Telegram, read the following article and you'll get the since that the writer did not stay for the entire meeting. He fails to mention the number of people who provided public comment, in support of an appointment of Sylvia Robles and the few who desired a direct election regardless of the cost to the city. The blog has provided much better coverage than the Sun or the Press...

Grand Terrace Council sees fresh start with Colton school district

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer Posted: 12/16/2010 5:24:25 PM PST

GRAND TERRACE - City Hall was crowded with new faces and new words.

Shortly after the swearing in of Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz and City Council members Darcy McNaboe and Bernardo Sandoval, the standing-room-only crowd began to disperse.

But four members of the Colton Joint Unified School District board, including the board president, stayed afterward to pledge a close working relationship with Grand Terrace.

"I want to be clear this board will be transparent above all," said Patt Haro, the new school board president. "You will hear anything and everything."

Mayor Walt Stanckiewitz, who has served on the City Council since 2008, said afterward that he couldn't remember a school board president addressing the City Council in recent memory.

"It's just a whole different outlook now," Stanckiewitz said.

Relations between the two bodies had become frayed in recent years, with tempers flaring over such issues as the the naming and the construction of Grand Terrace High School.

Other developments at the Tuesday night meeting:

A development agreement with Stater Bros. Markets was adopted that locks in fees. Construction on the long-debated market in the city began in October.

City staff was directed to meet with the county registrar of voters to see if costs could be reduced for a potential special election to fill an empty seat on the council. On Thursday, City Clerk Brenda Mesa reported no money could be saved and scheduled a special meeting for Tuesday to decide whether to hold an election or appoint someone to the seat.

Departing Councilwoman Bea Cortes and Mayor Maryetta Ferre received awards for their service to the city.

A decision on which members would represent the city on various regional agencies was delayed.

ryan.hagen@inlandnewspapers.com, 909-386-3916

From In the News: CJUSD Board Members Taken To Task:

Navarro claims officials broke law

Complaint filed against Colton school board

Ryan Hagen, Staff Writer

Posted: 12/20/2010 09:13:57 PM PST

Updated: 12/20/2010 09:19:29 PM PST

An unannounced appearance by four Colton school board members at a Grand Terrace City Council meeting broke state law, alleges a complaint filed Monday with the county District Attorney's Public Integrity Unit.

Gil Navarro, a member of the county board of education, said the Colton members violated the Ralph M. Brown Act, which requires local legislative bodies to publicly post an agenda 72 hours before a meeting, when board president Patt Haro and three of the board's other six members attended the Dec. 14 City Council meeting.

Brown Act experts say it's unlikely the school board members violated the act.

"For the board president to take it upon herself to have a private meeting without advising her constituents - that's why we have the law in place," Navarro said. "The public has a right to know when a majority of the board members are taking on an issue."

During the public comment section of the meeting, Haro and board members Randall Ceniceros and Pilar Tabera congratulated the newly elected council members and pledged to work openly and cooperatively with the city, which in the past has tangled with the school board.

Another board member, Kent Taylor, watched the beginning of the meeting before leaving.

"I came to say goodbye to the existing mayor and council and also to see the incoming mayor and council being sworn in," Taylor said. "I came for an intended purpose, and that wasn't to communicate with other board members. I shook their hand, I waved `hi,' and that's it."

The act contains an exemption allowing members to attend another body's public meeting "provided that a majority of the members do not discuss among themselves, other than as part of the scheduled program, business of a specified nature that is within the subject matter jurisdiction of the local agency."

That would probably cover the school board's actions, said Terry Francke, general counsel of Californians Aware, a group that fights for open access to government.

"I don't think there's a Brown Act issue there," Francke said after hearing a brief summary. "Those expressions of goodwill don't constitute anything substantive."

But Navarro said the comments were not part of the "scheduled program" because they did not address an issue on the council's agenda.

The complaint asks the four board members to apologize in writing and attend a workshop on the Brown Act.