Chamber’s Pathway to SPRAWL Plan Garners Meaningless Endorsements
By Emerson Drake
It would be funny if it wan’t so pathetic, watching the Chamber of Commerce lobbyist Cecil Russell scurry from group
Chamber pot (Photo credit: Pete Reed)
to group presenting their Pathways to SPRAWL plan. Several weeks ago at the Planning Commission’s meeting regarding the General Plan Amendments, Russell tried in vain to fend off questions from the public despite not being on the agenda.
During the meeting Maggie Mejia, President of the Latino Community Roundtable (LCR), spoke to the public saying she was going to bring a Proclamation to her group endorsing the Pathways to Sprawl plan of the Chamber’s. But a few minutes later when she heard she would receive opposition to the Proclamation she must have silently changed her mind. For just a few days later and without consulting LCR members, Ms. Mejia signed the so called Proclamation.
Last Tuesday when the Chamber’s representatives met at the King Kennedy Memorial Center, the presentation was given to five members of the public (two of whom were from Salida) in an effort to receive the Boards endorsement. They received the endorsement of the five members of the King Kennedy Board, along with that of the NAACP since Frank Johnson was there.
My point is we have three Boards, The King Kennedy Memorial Center’s Board, the NAACP, and the LCR, all of whom are desperate for a seat at the power table, and are willing to endorse this GREEDY DEVELOPER’S LAND GRAB to obtain one. None of these Boards discussed this with their memberships, if in deed they represent voters at all, let alone sought out debate on the subject. So now the Chamber has three meaningless endorsements to brag about.
Eye On Modesto 