Shepherd
08-10-2012, 05:42 PM
By Shepherd Bliss
WaccoBB.net
Despite the past-midnight, contentious, split 3-2 decision by the Sebastopol City Council to conditionally approve the controversial Chase/CVS development in our downtown commons, the struggle against them anchoring our small town is far from over. At the August 7 meeting the matter reached its next stage, not its final stage.
Many strongly opposed to Chase/CVS have voiced opinions online but have not yet spoken up publicly, assuming that these mega-corporations would not be approved. Now is the time for these new, needed voices to speak up to the City Council and to local editors, or these big chains will damage our small town character. If this suburban strip mall goes in, the abandoned lumberyard nearby might also be sold to another big business. Armstrong Development brags on its website that it has developed properties for Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Target. Wouldn’t that be sweet—a Wal-Mart in downtown Sebastopol?
I want to thank Vice Mayor Michael Kyes and Councilmember Sarah Gurney for standing against the bullying of Armstrong, the U.S.’s largest bank, Chase, and its 18th largest corporation, CVS Pharmacy. Their insistence on conditions that CVS/Chase may not accept is important and strengthens community resistance, which could include tactics such as boycotts and civil disobedience.
Councilmember Gurney reported that “in all my contacts with the public, the sentiment was overwhelmingly against this project. The true heart of Sebastopol doesn’t want this project in its downtown.” Sebastopol’s brave Design Review Board also deserves credit for repeatedly rejecting the development, finally with a 4-1 vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYPI5pSTIsNow two important things will happen. First, a pending lawsuit by the Small Town Sebastopol Committee seeks to stop the project because it violates the California Environmental Quality Act. “The lawsuit alleges that an adequate traffic study has never been done and violates CEQA,” commented community member Helen Shane.
Then, on November 6, Sebastopol residents can vote to fill two seats on the council, which could potentially reverse this disastrous decision. This corporate takeover by the highest outside bidder may dominate that election. Of the four viable candidates, two have challenged the development--Robert Jacob and John Eder. If either is elected, he would replace outgoing Councilmember Guy Wilson, who voted for the development. Both candidates are knowledgeable local businessmen.
A recent editorial in the local daily (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120806/OPINION/120809693/1043/opinion03?Title=PD-Editorial-It-s-past-time-to-approve-CVS-project) asserts that there are no “good reasons” to reject Chase/CVS. One knowledgeable participant in the decision-making process responded that the editorial “is full of holes and distortions. The applicant refused to cooperate, used stalling tactics, manipulated the truth, and bent the rules. This editorial is subjective and arbitrary.”
He added that the Sacramento developer “made several changes, but that was part of their game; they were only small variations on their unyielding scheme, one that will be too large, too oppressive, too overbearing, too boxy - all so they can have a facility that dominates the community. The project is definitely not consistent with the General Plan, the Design Review guidelines, etc. starting with the tragic suburban site plan in a ‘downtown core’ zone. The politics surrounding this project, the threat of a lawsuit, the policymakers who are too associated with business interests at the expense of our community quality, have been influential in the course of its progress.”
Here are some of the numerous “good reasons” for rejecting this development:
Traffic, Traffic, Traffic, as in Location, Location, Location. A 2010 Press Democrat article reported that of some 80 cities within its population range, Sebastopol had the second highest number of fatal and injury accidents. The corner that Chase/CVS covet is one of the most congested in Sonoma County. Highways 116 and 12 converge at the center of our town, causing huge traffic problems, not only for cars but for pedestrians, bikes, and emergency vehicles. The two proposed drive-throughs would worsen pollution and escalate climate change. That “twice as much parking” that the daily lauds is part of the problem. Many Sebastopudlians strive to move beyond a car-centric culture.
The majority of those who have spoken at the more than two-dozen meetings over the last two years oppose this development. At the last public hearing 43 testified against it and only 17 for it. The opposing numbers are now likely to grow.
The proposed suburban strip mall featuring giant multinationals is totally out of character with our downtown commons with local businesses such as Screaming Mimi’s ice cream parlor, Slice of Life restaurant, Hairmaster Salon, and Infusion Tea and Chocolate. On the other hand, Sebastopol has welcomed the large, nearby Barlow Project, about 600 yards east of this project. It will be occupied by local businesses, create new jobs, and bring new revenue to Sebastopol. It’s not that we don’t want development and commerce; we want the right kind.
CVS leaving the Redwood Market, where it is now on the north border of town, would create a big hole. Many elders and West County folk have commented that they already do not want to brave Sebastopol’s downtown traffic to get their medicine.
Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., mastered the credit default swap and derivatives markets, issuing sub-prime loans to homeowners that wrecked our economy. They then wrote thousands of fraudulent affidavits to foreclose on countless American families, while taking billions in taxpayer dollar bailouts. Chase is a titan corporation that has criminally enriched itself on the backs of the poor and vulnerable, and has yet to be held accountable. These are not the neighbors we want. Chase’s predatory banking practices do considerable damage to people’s lives.
Other Sonoma County cities—such as Cotati, Sonoma, and Petaluma—have restrictions that keep giant corporations from their downtowns. There is nothing charming or unique in Chase or CVS. Let’s give a home-town advantage to nearby local businesses--such as Community First Credit Union and Exchange Bank--rather than unleash monsters next to them.
At least two small businesses already in the downtown core want to make an offer on that property and others are willing to invest there. GoLocal for us is more than a slogan. We want our money to stay circulating here, rather than be outsourced to wealthy CEOs far away. At the last public hearing a local chocolatier said he would like to manufacture chocolate there, as did a local maker of electric vehicles. To them we say a welcoming “Yes!”
The daily’s reference to “management blunders” by Chase minimizes the criminal activity that Chase and CVS have been convicted of numerous times. They simply pay millions of dollars in fines, which is “business as usual” for such big businesses. They thus do not have to admit wrongdoing or face criminal charges for their blatant acts of fraud, bribery, conspiracy and illegalities.
These mega-corporations run our politicians. It is not about mistakes, but about a system that is not democratic or humane. Money rules. They break laws left and right and receive no justice. The top managers belong in jail, not in our downtown commons.
Our City Council needs to be law-makers and consider how to deal with law-breakers, like Chase and CVS. Democracy can be a long, slow, messy process, especially when dealing with larger issues, like the bank that helped bring down our global economy. Direct democracy is alive in Sebastopol. How many towns of less than 8000 residents get around 200 people, as Sebastopol did at its last three City Council meetings, now including many young people in their 20s?
We will fight to the end to keep our place clean of corporate pollution. Our country has been robbed enough by these companies, and it won’t happen here—not on our watch, and not in our downtown. Get ready for a battle, because this one is only beginning.
Many “good reasons” for rejecting Chase/CVS have been voiced by literally hundreds of people at meetings and online. The essence of our objections is that these big chains would rob small town Sebastopol’s people of money, taking it out of the county, as well as rob of us our heart and soul.
(Shepherd Bliss farms in the Sebastopol countryside, teaches college, and has contributed to over two dozen books. He can be reached at [email protected].)
WaccoBB.net
Despite the past-midnight, contentious, split 3-2 decision by the Sebastopol City Council to conditionally approve the controversial Chase/CVS development in our downtown commons, the struggle against them anchoring our small town is far from over. At the August 7 meeting the matter reached its next stage, not its final stage.
Many strongly opposed to Chase/CVS have voiced opinions online but have not yet spoken up publicly, assuming that these mega-corporations would not be approved. Now is the time for these new, needed voices to speak up to the City Council and to local editors, or these big chains will damage our small town character. If this suburban strip mall goes in, the abandoned lumberyard nearby might also be sold to another big business. Armstrong Development brags on its website that it has developed properties for Wal-Mart, Lowe’s, and Target. Wouldn’t that be sweet—a Wal-Mart in downtown Sebastopol?
I want to thank Vice Mayor Michael Kyes and Councilmember Sarah Gurney for standing against the bullying of Armstrong, the U.S.’s largest bank, Chase, and its 18th largest corporation, CVS Pharmacy. Their insistence on conditions that CVS/Chase may not accept is important and strengthens community resistance, which could include tactics such as boycotts and civil disobedience.
Councilmember Gurney reported that “in all my contacts with the public, the sentiment was overwhelmingly against this project. The true heart of Sebastopol doesn’t want this project in its downtown.” Sebastopol’s brave Design Review Board also deserves credit for repeatedly rejecting the development, finally with a 4-1 vote.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtYPI5pSTIsNow two important things will happen. First, a pending lawsuit by the Small Town Sebastopol Committee seeks to stop the project because it violates the California Environmental Quality Act. “The lawsuit alleges that an adequate traffic study has never been done and violates CEQA,” commented community member Helen Shane.
Then, on November 6, Sebastopol residents can vote to fill two seats on the council, which could potentially reverse this disastrous decision. This corporate takeover by the highest outside bidder may dominate that election. Of the four viable candidates, two have challenged the development--Robert Jacob and John Eder. If either is elected, he would replace outgoing Councilmember Guy Wilson, who voted for the development. Both candidates are knowledgeable local businessmen.
A recent editorial in the local daily (https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20120806/OPINION/120809693/1043/opinion03?Title=PD-Editorial-It-s-past-time-to-approve-CVS-project) asserts that there are no “good reasons” to reject Chase/CVS. One knowledgeable participant in the decision-making process responded that the editorial “is full of holes and distortions. The applicant refused to cooperate, used stalling tactics, manipulated the truth, and bent the rules. This editorial is subjective and arbitrary.”
He added that the Sacramento developer “made several changes, but that was part of their game; they were only small variations on their unyielding scheme, one that will be too large, too oppressive, too overbearing, too boxy - all so they can have a facility that dominates the community. The project is definitely not consistent with the General Plan, the Design Review guidelines, etc. starting with the tragic suburban site plan in a ‘downtown core’ zone. The politics surrounding this project, the threat of a lawsuit, the policymakers who are too associated with business interests at the expense of our community quality, have been influential in the course of its progress.”
Here are some of the numerous “good reasons” for rejecting this development:
Traffic, Traffic, Traffic, as in Location, Location, Location. A 2010 Press Democrat article reported that of some 80 cities within its population range, Sebastopol had the second highest number of fatal and injury accidents. The corner that Chase/CVS covet is one of the most congested in Sonoma County. Highways 116 and 12 converge at the center of our town, causing huge traffic problems, not only for cars but for pedestrians, bikes, and emergency vehicles. The two proposed drive-throughs would worsen pollution and escalate climate change. That “twice as much parking” that the daily lauds is part of the problem. Many Sebastopudlians strive to move beyond a car-centric culture.
The majority of those who have spoken at the more than two-dozen meetings over the last two years oppose this development. At the last public hearing 43 testified against it and only 17 for it. The opposing numbers are now likely to grow.
The proposed suburban strip mall featuring giant multinationals is totally out of character with our downtown commons with local businesses such as Screaming Mimi’s ice cream parlor, Slice of Life restaurant, Hairmaster Salon, and Infusion Tea and Chocolate. On the other hand, Sebastopol has welcomed the large, nearby Barlow Project, about 600 yards east of this project. It will be occupied by local businesses, create new jobs, and bring new revenue to Sebastopol. It’s not that we don’t want development and commerce; we want the right kind.
CVS leaving the Redwood Market, where it is now on the north border of town, would create a big hole. Many elders and West County folk have commented that they already do not want to brave Sebastopol’s downtown traffic to get their medicine.
Chase, the largest bank in the U.S., mastered the credit default swap and derivatives markets, issuing sub-prime loans to homeowners that wrecked our economy. They then wrote thousands of fraudulent affidavits to foreclose on countless American families, while taking billions in taxpayer dollar bailouts. Chase is a titan corporation that has criminally enriched itself on the backs of the poor and vulnerable, and has yet to be held accountable. These are not the neighbors we want. Chase’s predatory banking practices do considerable damage to people’s lives.
Other Sonoma County cities—such as Cotati, Sonoma, and Petaluma—have restrictions that keep giant corporations from their downtowns. There is nothing charming or unique in Chase or CVS. Let’s give a home-town advantage to nearby local businesses--such as Community First Credit Union and Exchange Bank--rather than unleash monsters next to them.
At least two small businesses already in the downtown core want to make an offer on that property and others are willing to invest there. GoLocal for us is more than a slogan. We want our money to stay circulating here, rather than be outsourced to wealthy CEOs far away. At the last public hearing a local chocolatier said he would like to manufacture chocolate there, as did a local maker of electric vehicles. To them we say a welcoming “Yes!”
The daily’s reference to “management blunders” by Chase minimizes the criminal activity that Chase and CVS have been convicted of numerous times. They simply pay millions of dollars in fines, which is “business as usual” for such big businesses. They thus do not have to admit wrongdoing or face criminal charges for their blatant acts of fraud, bribery, conspiracy and illegalities.
These mega-corporations run our politicians. It is not about mistakes, but about a system that is not democratic or humane. Money rules. They break laws left and right and receive no justice. The top managers belong in jail, not in our downtown commons.
Our City Council needs to be law-makers and consider how to deal with law-breakers, like Chase and CVS. Democracy can be a long, slow, messy process, especially when dealing with larger issues, like the bank that helped bring down our global economy. Direct democracy is alive in Sebastopol. How many towns of less than 8000 residents get around 200 people, as Sebastopol did at its last three City Council meetings, now including many young people in their 20s?
We will fight to the end to keep our place clean of corporate pollution. Our country has been robbed enough by these companies, and it won’t happen here—not on our watch, and not in our downtown. Get ready for a battle, because this one is only beginning.
Many “good reasons” for rejecting Chase/CVS have been voiced by literally hundreds of people at meetings and online. The essence of our objections is that these big chains would rob small town Sebastopol’s people of money, taking it out of the county, as well as rob of us our heart and soul.
(Shepherd Bliss farms in the Sebastopol countryside, teaches college, and has contributed to over two dozen books. He can be reached at [email protected].)