A letter to Ward 2 Neighbors

Written by: Kevin Dawson on Nov 6, 2005 10:48 PM EST

Linked to groups: Democracy for Riverside

November 1, 2005
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
My family and I have lived in the UCR neighborhood for over twenty years. We actually live across the street from the University near the eastern entrance at Big Springs Road. It has been a pleasant place to live and we have good neighbors. However, over the last three years there have been some changes in the neighborhood that are troubling. More homes in our block of houses have been purchased by absentee landlords and converted to student rentals. Ensuing problems with parking, partying, speeding, trash, noise and an increase in crime are an escalating concern. I'm sure you are dealing with some of the same issues in your part of the community. Having joined our local community group, the University Neighborhood Association, I have become more aware of our current and future concerns.
UCR is seeking approval for their Long Range Development Plan from the Regents of the University of California at their meeting on November 16 and 17, 2005. This plan charts out an ambitious plan for growth which will impact our neighborhood forever. UCR sought to get this plan approved with minimal public input or scrutiny.
UCR's Arroyo Housing project was created without public input and only presented to us about five weeks before the Regents are scheduled to vote on final funding. UCR is currently signing contracts for this project and plans to break ground in January. The Arroyo project could be better. There are changes that would reduce UCR traffic and noise in our community but we weren't given a chance to make those suggestions. If I wanted to make major changes to my house, I would have to go before the City Council to ask permission and my neighbors would have an opportunity to object. Why shouldn't University, whose project will have a much wider impact, be held to the same standard?
The Riverside County Transportation Board is planning to put a Metrolink train line through our neighborhood. Current plans are for twelve trains a day in addition to the current freight trains. Two stations only blocks apart are proposed as UCR wishes to have its own station along Watkins Drive. The Riverside Unified School District just announced that they are closing Hawthorne Elementary on the other side of town because of an adjacent Metrolink line. What will they want to do with Highland and Hyatt Elementary Schools? If the pollution, sound, and vibration are unacceptable to a school, would they be acceptable to a homeowner?
Well connected developers are starting to target our community for high density developments. Doug Shackelton, who I understand used to work for City Planning and for the Redevelopment Agency, is now a private developer. He is responsible for the new three-story apartment complex across from Islander pool. Those apartments were originally approved to be only two-story but he quietly got a variance from the city to add another story without providing any additional parking. Now he has a new proposal: a high density gated development of 96 houses on 16 acres up behind Islander Park. He claims that this complex will not increase traffic and will actually increase our property values. Our community group is opposed to this project and we must be vigilant so this project is not approved in some back-room manner.

Over the years I have sought help with neighborhood issues from our city councilman, Amael Moore. Sadly, I have not found him to be helpful. He is now running for Mayor and I cannot support him.

I believe it is so important for us to select a strong city councilman to represent us that I volunteered to organize our University Neighborhood Association's ward 2 candidate forum which was held October 12th. I have the event recorded if you would like to view it. I have attended one other forum, examined the candidate's web sites and campaign literature and I would like to share with you some of what I have found. There are four candidates for the Ward 2 city council seat. They are as follows:

*Gloria Willis is a smart person who cares about Riverside but she is uninformed about the issues and challenges of our neighborhood. She would be helpful on a community committee but does not have the commanding presence needed to counter the other strong personalities on the city council.

*Deen Teer is an ex-city employee of the Parks and Recreation Department. She is currently a Realtor/Broker. Her Husband is a Realtor/Broker. Her son is a Realtor/Broker who had to step down from managing her campaign as there is a regulation against being a board member of a PAC (the State of California Realtor's Political Action Committee) and an active participant in a campaign. One of her first advertised fund raising events was held in Temecula and not in Ward 2. Although invited, she chose at the last minute not to participate in our forum. She told me she could only go to events were she knew she could get votes. I saw her speak at a forum by the Democracy for Riverside group. She is not well informed on the issues of our community and has not attended any of our community events. She appears to be seeking the support of moneyed interests. She does not have the strong personality or knowledge we need to counter the other members of the city council.

*Ruben Rasso is a retired Riverside Sheriff and has run for this position before. I am very disturbed by who is supporting him. If you go to Link and click on his endorsement list, you will find it very long. Of the names I recognize, there are five major developers. Doug Jacobs is the developer who worked with Councilman Art Gage to use eminent domain to take single-family homes by Riverside Plaza and convert them into office buildings. Ray Magnon developed and owns most of Hunter Industrial Park. One of his latest projects involved buying the Queen Ann Victorian house on the corner of Iowa and Spruce. While the Old Riverside Foundation was lining up a buyer for the house so it could be moved, Mr. Magnon was seeking a demolition permit from the city. When he couldn't get a permit, he then offered the house to the city fire department to use for a practice burn. When the Fire Department refused to burn it, the house mysteriously caught fire at 3 in the morning. He is currently building a five storied office building on the property. Another Rasso supporter, developer Mark Rubin, worked with City Redevelopment to take private property between Main and Market to build a gated, high density, housing complex. The City arranged a loan for the project with the stipulation that some of the houses would be held back and sold to low income buyers. After the houses started coming onto the market, they were selling so well (largely to speculators) and for more money than what was originally projected, that Mr. Rubin went back to the city, repaid the loan, and said he didn't want to sell any of the houses to low income buyers. This appears to me to have ended up being a no interest loan. Mr. Rubin has also donated enough money to the building of UCR's Alumni Visitor center, which is to be built on the site of Watkins House, that the new center is to be named after Mr. Rubin and his wife. Other endorsers are Jeff Miller and Darrell Talbert, Mayor and councilman from the City of Corona. They were investigated for conflict of interest for pushing the City of Corona to set up its own Public Utilities but at the same time setting themselves up in a business to facilitate that change. At our candidate's forum, my impression was that Mr. Rasso was long-winded and rambling and was at times tailoring his responses to what he thought the audience wanted to hear.

*Andy Melendrez is a local business man providing vocational counseling to injured workers. Mr. Melendrez participated in both forums. He spoke articulately and knowledgeably about the issues. He is the only candidate that I have found to have actually read the massive UCR Long Range Development Plan. He has not taken money from any developers. The money he has raised has come from small individual donors and personal funding. He is not a big fan of eminent domain. The City Redevelopment agency tried to take an historic downtown building he owns to sell to a big law firm which then intended to construct a new law office. They were not successful. He is endorsed by members of the Old Riverside Foundation (the local preservation group) and members of the Friends of Riverside Hills.
The current city council is too supportive of developers. All around our city, the use of eminent domain to consolidate private property for the benefit of developers has been proposed or approved by the council. These councilmen have changed chamber rules to limit public testimony. I do not want to elect anyone who would vote with this pro-developer group. I am voting for Andy Melendrez.
It is important for us all to vote in this election. Turn out is predicted to be low and therefore each vote will have more impact. Election records will show how many of us voted from the University neighborhood and politicians pay attention to those numbers. I wish that I could have talked to you personally about these issues as I have with my closest neighbors. I have printed this letter and circulated it at my own expense. I have tried to present this as factually as I could. I love Google. I highly recommend plugging the different names I've mentioned into Google for fact checking. I am also on the community/police relations committee and if you have issues on your street that need to be addressed, please call or e-mail me.

Respectfully Yours,
Kevin Dawson
Goins Ct, Riverside
951-781-0386
kevindaw@aol.com

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Location: Riverside, CA 92501