CUE VI, a subsidiary of Security National, purchased the Balloon Track property in 2006 and is proposing to build a mixed-use development anchored by a Home Depot, which will include an 11-acre wetland reserve and space for office, retail and light industrial uses. Very shortly after the property was sold, an opposition group formed, dubbing itself Citizens for Real Economic Growth (CREG) and naming Glass, who had not yet been elected to the council, as its spokesman.
◼ Council moves Marina Center EIR forward
Some members of the public also expressed concern over Glass's vote on the issue.
”There is a councilperson who has made this Marina Center a personal issue...You have a clear conflict of interest and should recuse yourself from voting on this issue,” said Eureka resident Susie Gaxiola. In the past, Glass has had personal conflict with Security National owner Rob Arkley.
Glass said his concern lies with the EIR document.
”I'm flattered that people want my vote for this,” he said about the comments. “You got a big hill to climb to get there. You could get there, but not with this document.”
Atkins agreed, saying that she did not think the document was adequate for her to base her decision on.
”I have major objections to being characterized as an obstructionist. I want to see jobs, I want to see the Balloon Track cleaned up as much as any of you out there,” she said.
Representatives from the local Sierra Club and Humboldt Baykeeper said there has not been enough opportunity for the public to comment on the document. Baykeeper's Pete Nichols said the EIR contained “blatant inadequacies” and needed more public circulation and discussion.
Wasn't the clear conflict of interest that Best Buy was reported to be one of the businesses planning to locate in the Marina Center - clear competition for The Works.
As for predatory litigious "Baykeeper," we all know their motivation here. Sue the deep pockets.
has Bonnie ever had a real job? As far as I can remember she went from being a secratary for the BOS to an appointment to the BOS and then got elected. And it was suspected that she got the appointment to the BOS due to her "special relationship" with DA Terry Farmer, long before they were married.
ReplyDelete? has Bonnie ever been an accountant, a small business owner, a cook, or whatever? Has she ever supervised anyone in a previous employment?
Eric Vang Kirk ought to recuse himself right off the internet. He has deliberately silenced Stephen Lewis from posting on his blog while blocking google searches of Stephen Lewis' blog effectively engaging in censorship. Meanwhile he has refused to apologize for attacking the Bear River Tribes attempt to regain their ancestral homelands by aligning himself with the likes of Hank Sims.
ReplyDeleteSo, using your logic, any councilmember who has openly supported the project -- Jones, Leonard -- should also have to recuse themselves from voting on the matter.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, taking your illogic to the end, there isn't an elected member of any body in this country who can vote on any issue because they have made public statements opposing or supporting legislation.
In other words, this is a whole bag of nothing. Glass has answered questions put to him and has made his views clear and public. You may disagree, and there are thousands who do, but this recusal nonsense makes about as much sense as the dipwads running around saying that Congress -- the body tasked with creating Federal laws -- can't possibly pass a law regarding health care and insurance reform because ... wait for it ... it's unconstitutional.
And you wonder why we point and laugh.
Only you could equate (no, what's your word - conflate?) this with Congress and Healthcare.
ReplyDeleteNO. Last time I looked, Leonard wasn't involved with a group formed for one purpose, like CREG.
Regardless - there's legal/technical need for recusal due to conflict, and there is perceived and moral need for recusal due to conflicts. Like objecting to a project that will possibly include a competing business to yours.
Don't worry. Nobody expects Larry to change his stripes. Or betray his base. He is the talk of the town, though.
Whatever. Who cares? This is really just the stupidest obstructionist game, petty political bitchfest waste of city and county money ever. Bonnie and Larry. Not Atkins, she's just caught up in the game. Eureka is a City, for god's sake. This isn't pristine wilderness, and is in fact exactly what all the "infill" advocates profess to want.
Vang? What's that? Kirk= church if I'm not mistaken but what is Vang?
ReplyDeleteWhite Vang and Blacktoot..oh, whoever that was that posted the complaint about me and Eric, one has to ask why the post? Never could happen, not on Eric's the lawyer's blog. Eric would never ever censor the likes of me. I guess you're noticing that I have to post as J.D., Justice Dept. in order to comment on Eric's and Heraldo's blog kinda made you leap to conclusions. These guys are as honest and forthright as the day is long..hmmm, days are getting shorter aren't they..
Classic how Arkley originally proposed Home Depot and Best Buy.
ReplyDeleteCoincidence? I think not!
This is comical.
ReplyDeleteIf you would only comment on the other things LG is up to!
Like his draconian rental "reform" - the idea of charging people fines by the day for infractions?
ReplyDeleteAnyway - if what you mean is he is doing some good things too, have at - go ahead and make your case.
His point the other night that he can't be held accountable for delays was a bit disingenuous. Even if only because of what (or who) he represents. The regressive "Progressive" shut everything down crowd, the "Citizens for REALLLLLL Economic Growth."
Somehow that word CITIZEN doesn't seem to apply to all those people who got up and spoke FOR the project the other night.
Yet - here's the deal - he took a job where he is supposed to act as - no, make that BE - he is supposed to BE the representative for ALL the people.
NOT just for CREG/Baykeeper/LocalSolutions/EPIC/NEC in their search for a meal ticket.
I think you saw the other night just how SMALL a group those people are.
It was pretty interesting. Those weren't his enemies talking to him. Those, many of them, were people who LIKE him. Friends of his. Neighbors of his.
Maybe he oughtta close his eyes and pretend it is Vellutini who is proposing the project.
Yes, that and more.
ReplyDeleteWho are his friends, who is soo close to him and what to they represent?
Vang is Eric's middle name. It is an old Viking name passed down. The Vikings were notorious rapists and Eric is engaged in lawyering. Connection?
ReplyDeleteStephen, the fact is Eric has trampled on rights handed down to you by God. You are no longer able to use your trueborn named in posting on the internet. They never apologized for their attacks upon the Bear River people.
It is time to draw a line in the sand before the next election comes and goes and Eric Vang Kirk and Hank Sims triumph again at the ballot box.
I'm listening to your every word. How dare he! Time to break out ol' Paxcalibur and beat him over the head with the peace symbol end of it. That should make him straighten up and fly right. Give peace a chance, right?
ReplyDeleteStephen I am pleading with you to grow a spine and fight the prog shills like Kirk and Sims. You know the dirty business they have engaged in during election season. You have the gift of perfect spiritual sight. Now use it!
ReplyDeleteHe's talking to himself again...
ReplyDeleteHi Rose,
ReplyDeleteI personally don't care for Larry Glass, and I wish the press would do a better job showing what a complete ass and bully he is to eureka city staff
- did anyone else catch what he tried to the dial a ride operator at the last meeting (Larry came off looking like a fool, as all of his concerns were answered completely and completely short-circuted Larry's mean-spirited bullying).
That being said, he hardly has a conflit in this instance. He's not on the board of CREG anymore. Sure, he's an ass, and adamantly against this project, but that doesn't mean he's got a conflict of interest.
Hell, Debbie August had a huge conflict of interest, down in fortuna, and you defended her, which I never understood.
That was a rigged attack on Debbie orchestrated by Tim Stone and Progressives out to remove Republicans from Fortuna's City Council because they consistently backed Palco over the DA's other political attack project, Ken Miller's poorly written lawsuit that got tossed out of court.
ReplyDeleteI never heard of Debbie ever using her office to try and block other real estate agents from coming into Fortuna but Larry Glass is trying his best to keep his business from any big box competition.
What I said all along was that if the Fortuna City Council felt that Debi had done something wrong, after the Grand Jury's report was made, the proper thing to do would have been to censure her.
ReplyDeleteThat's not what happened. Tim Stoen decided to get her by any means possible and steered that Grand Jury in a particular direction in order to punish a political opponent of Paul Gallegos - and send a clear message to any others who dare speak out.
In Larry's case, to say 'he is not on the Board of CREG' anymore is to pretend that 'CREG's Board' means anything other than a required set of titles for tax purposes. It's to give legitimacy to a "group" that is one of many made up to serve a purpose, to be used as a weapon in an ongoing battle - attack, really - on Arkley.
CREG is not a REAL organization, and being on, or not being on the "board" is not like being on say, the City Council.
In other words, losing the pretend title, since it is inconvenient now, doesn't mean a damn thing. IMO.
REAL citizens spoke out the other night.
And judging by the look of Larry's jaw, he didn't like hearing from them.
Just as, I might add, REAL citizens spoke against Calpine. No one wanted that project, rather the opposite to this one.
ReplyDeleteIn both cases, though it may have upset some Council members, they have to listen to the PEOPLE.
No, Stephen, it most certainly was NOT a "rigged attack" on Ms. August.
ReplyDeleteNobody stuck a gun to her head and made her advocate for a development in front of the planning commission as both a fortuna city councilperson.
Rose, I think rather than a censure from the council, or the direction that moron Tim Stoen took it, the proper course wouldve been to take a page from Mark Lovelace's playbook and file a complaint with the FPPC - that would have placed it with the most proper authority by which to determine whether or not there was an actual conflcit.
If you were to do the same with Glass - file a complaint with the fppc, I believe (as do, evidently, the experts) that the fppc would rule there was no conflict.
There is no campaign in play here. He's a sitting Councilman.
ReplyDeleteHe's gonna do what he's gonna do.
Nothing is going to stop him.
There is a significant difference between a conflict of interest and bias.
ReplyDeleteThe TS almost had it, but the bigger picture eluded them.
The question is whether Glass is so biased about an individual, or a project, that he is incapable of making an objective decision in his role as Councilmember.
It is not about conflict of interest, but bias. And that he has clearly demonstrated.
"No, Stephen, it most certainly was NOT a "rigged attack" on Ms. August.
ReplyDeleteNobody stuck a gun to her head and made her advocate for a development in front of the planning commission as both a fortuna city councilperson."
You're wrong. Rose got it right. Stoen, with the encouragement of Gallegos and Miller and Progressive crew were out to get Debbie and they most certainly abused the DA's power to do so. And like I say, Debbie never attempted to stop competing realtors from coming into Fortuna while that's what Glass is doing. Pierson, Glass, they don't want big box competition which will make them reduce their profits.
I'm "wrong"?
ReplyDeleteHow, Stephen? Debi August got up MULTIPLE times at DIFFERENT meetings of the fortuna planning commission and tried to influence the planning commission, representing herself at different times both as a sitting councilperson and a private citizen.
Go back and read the accounts in the north coast journal and the times-standard.
What she did was wrong, and she is on record as saying so.
Again, you are projecting what I've said to include the DA's actions as being part of what I approve of; they are not. A complaint should have been filed with the fppc. Period.
Stephen, please tell me how she did NOT have a conflict of interest. Try to leave the DA and his moronic assistant out of the equation.
Larry has a bias. He has a conflict of interest too,in my opinion. But,if you feel he doesn't then I'm sure you feel Tom Herman didn't as well.
ReplyDeleteThere are conflicts and there are conflicts.
ReplyDeleteLarry ACTIVELY worked against the project. It was not a passive thing. It was a very aggressive action. It was not a simple thing, it was involved, drawing up a name, constructing the shell, the facade...
The Works went from one the biggest deals, local success story wise - with multiple locations and double-truck ads in the newspapers - to it's current size and location. Arkley didn't do that to him.
Various changes in the marketplace, and his own business decisions led to that. Other decisions, and he might have become a 'Best Buy' himself.
It just is what it is, competition comes and goes, businesses rise and fall. You can look back through old papers and see it.
What stays are the buildings. From the Feurwerker building to the Carson Block Building, and the once dominant Eureka Mall - businesses come and go.
If Best Buy or Home Depot are the initial tenants in a Marina Center, they will not be the last. When their time comes and goes, other businesses will locate in the Center, like hermit crabs finding a bigger shell.
The building is an asset to a community - a godsend for businesses who need a location but do not have land or inclination to build.
That's really what is being obstructed here, it's ultimately not important if Glass and Pierson fear competition, or hate Arkley.
"I'm "wrong"?
ReplyDeleteHow, Stephen? Debi August got up MULTIPLE times at DIFFERENT meetings of the fortuna planning commission and tried to influence the planning commission, representing herself at different times both as a sitting councilperson and a private citizen."
Yeah, you're still wrong. The case was Dismissed, remember? Lack of evidence to convict. In a small town it is not at all unusual to have elected officials dealing with friends and relatives as part of their outside business activity. Some people sought to use Debi's naivete as a weapon to get her and some people wanted to make a federal case out of her and some people can't stand losing and will keep dragging up their dead horse attack on political foes forever.
Mike Jones is employed by a company which is tied to the Chamber of Commerce,which publicly supports the project.His former campaign manager was once its president,and is a advocate for the project currently.If people are asking that Larry recuse himself for his involvement with CREG,then the same should be asked of Jones.
ReplyDeleteSee, mresquan, you are confusing a legitimate business organization, to which many, if not most businesses belong, with an activist attack entity, formed for one purpose, with absolutely no legitimate credentials.
ReplyDeleteIt's a moot point. Larry is going to do what Larry is going to do. And nobody is going to stop him, nor do anything about it even if he is 100% wrong. He'll get his way.
Rose,the heads of the Chamber are indeed using their position to be an activist entity,as you saw Hockaday cheerleading as a supporter of the project at that council meeting.In regards to the Marina Center,he and others are using their position with the chamber to be an activist entity,and are acting no differently then CREG,just on the opposite side of the issue.
ReplyDeleteSigh.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised mankind ever emerged from the primeval ooze.
What are you sighing about Rose? Every silly argument you have made has been refuted. Glass has no conflict of interest, he doesn't want Arkley's development built without more information. When you can wrap your head around that you'll be on the trail to making sense. Thousands of people support the Marina Center, including the Mayor, who is both personally and professionally close with Arkley, Leonard after getting publicly berated by Arkley has thrown his support behind the idea and Jones has always been a supporter. Either present the case that Glass has a conflict -- and not a conflict of philosophy -- of interest or just keep on sighing, it's about as useful as your insight.
ReplyDeleteGlass has no conflict of interest? So we just should ignore the fact that Glass owns The Works and the Marina Center may attract some big box outfit with much lower prices and that Glass has gone over the top to stop Arkley's potential competiton? Glass has a real conflict of interest as long as he is a businessman using his elected office to derail competitors.
ReplyDeleteShhhhhhhh! Stephen, we're not supposed to notice that!
ReplyDeleteRose,there is nothing to notice.That is unless you can point out to me where it reads in the proposal that specifically states that a Best Buy,or something similar that could impact The Works is slated in the project.
ReplyDeleteAnd again,if your criterion is used as an example for one's recusal,then Jones needs to do the same unless he provides a claim in writing that Pennfold/Leavitt will not insure any businesses which would be entering into business in the Marina Center.