Questions from the Email InBox:

Pa: Why has the city been hiring so many outside advisers or consultants?

Answer: The expense or the need for outside advisers and consultants goes right back to the troubled management of Tom Schwab and Steve Berry. Because their management and decision making was so flawed, there is no reason to trust an internal report compiled by city employees who were hired by either of the Schwab or Berry. In addition no doubt City Manager Betsy Adams needs to cover her own back as there may be continuing employees with loyalties to Tom Schwab or Steve Berry willing to sabotage a report or staff recommendation in order to make her look bad or liable for a bad representation to the City Council. The City Council's own credibility is in question after being led down the road by bad advise from Schwab and his City Attorney all those years. City Manager Betsy Adams did not clean house so she may not feel the staff hired by Schwab/Berry are up to the professional standards to provide reliable reports and analysis. Given past experience this may be a justified assessment. So the outside consultants may seem to be expensive, but the need for an honest answer and a unbiased professional clearly written report is required at this time.

Pa: How will the payment for the Water 2.3 Mil, and the RDA Fee Payment impact the year to year budget and RDA Obligations? Was there an adjusted Revenue/Budget presented.

Answer: Good question, I don't know but now that the cat is out of the bag there should be a revised long term budget provided to the public and council.

Pa: How long will the old Stater's location be empty?

Answer: Jack Brown/Stater Brothers has a pattern of behavior that leads me to believe that they have a hold on that property and it will remain closed and empty for at least 6 more months. This way they keep out any competition. Their old facility in Colton was held empty until the City of Colton and the property owner found an occupant that would not be in direct competition with Stater's.

Is this fair. No. Having an empty space like that even if they are paying rent to keep it empty causes the other business remaining in that development to be hurt by diminished traffic. In addition it hurts the city by those business having fewer sales and collecting less sales tax. The RDA could have negotiated with Stater's not to have a vacancy hold on their former location during the negotiation regarding the RDA funds provided to Staters. It is not in the City's RDA's interest to have the RDA project hurt the pre-existing businesses as they can put in a claim for lost revenues resulting from the RDA's Action and support for Stater Brothers.

Stater's continues to have people parking on unpaved parking areas... is this what GT RDA paid for? or CalTrans? This is a code violation if it were anywhere else in GT. This is flagrant favoritism being shown to Staters on several levels.