WOW- I think I have to agree 100% with everything that Murtaza Baxamusa has stated, and I am pretty sure that most everyone is going to agree after the problems we have seen with Smith and Graham. Fold the CCDC and SEDC into the reglar development process. One other thing NOT mentioned here is the cost to fund these quasi government agencies and the return on investment. After seeing the eye popping $54 million CCDC has spent the last 10 years I would have to imgaine that the same $54 million could have redeveloped the entire SEDC area.

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 8:30 pm

Non-profits can be corrupted just as easily as the public service sector and the for-profit sector.It's the people.//The non-profit model would work better if the board were comprised of community leaders who were not directly tied to the development and finance industries.This is because the community leader-based board would GUIDE redevelopment for the public good, whereas the developer/ banker model PROMOTES redevelopment for special interest profit.//I do believe a non-profit can be run for public benefit, but really, if you have developers and bankers running redevelopment from the position of the board of the redevelopment non-profit, of course the organization is going to us public resources to benefit private special interests.//During the last real estate boom, the CCDC board and colleagues in the private sector gamed downtown like the most extreme version of Monopoly, jacking up development potential and land value, writing the book on the Downtown Community Plan.

Posted by Christopher Hall | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 9:15 pm

Pete Wilson's model wasn't just "hailed as a success," it WAS a success. It was a tool used by a visionary and forceful leader that transformed our downtown from a haven for massage parlors, crime and deterioration. But, in the absence of strong political and managerial leadership at the City, CCDC became the tail that wagged the dog. Unfortunately, CCDC and SEDC are but symptoms of that problem. The more The Voice and other dig, the more they'll find. As Tom Cruise said in locally filmed "Top Gun," it's a "target-rich environment." Pointing to the city auditor as the responsible party by inference is like blaming a flea for which way the dog is walking. It's about political leadership, vision and organizational management and unfortunately, the cupboard is and has been bare for some time.

Posted by Get A Clue | reply to this comment
July 24, 2008 10:35 pm

It's not working. Get rid of them before we have to look at Madaffer heading up one of these organizations making the big bucks. With all money SEDC has had in the past 20 years we could have created much more in the community, fed and housed the homeless. The salaries and benefits are astronmical. It's a waste of taxpayer dollars. I suspect we will find more problems in these other organizations with few solutions until we get rid of some of our council men and woman (Frye excluded). And I men get rid of them....no moving onto quaisi government positions, boards, non-profits. Bye, Bye like get a job in the private sector if you can other than being a lobbyist or a puppet like Zucchet.

Posted by Norman | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:31 am

Iagree with Murtaza,but it should be emphasized that the city council must approve all SEDC and CCDC decisions, Aside from Donna Frye, they never questioned anything these agencies recommended. Example, while cutting the general fund budget for branch libraries and recreation centers, they voted against Redevelopment paying back any of the $200 million owed to the general fund. True, this year, they finally voted to pay back $7.5 million. Big deal ! The city council is reponsible for all the boondoggles, the salaries,the conlicts of interest and the unnecessary ,unneeded downtown projects, which take away millions from the rest of the city. One example is $ 26 million for refurbishing the Balboa Theatre.Why is a theatre a government function? We have the Spreckels around the corner and the Civic Theatre across the street, to say nothing of the Old Globe and the

Posted by mel | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 7:55 am

Double WOW! I agree with Billy, we know most regulars on this blog, rarely do! The most interesting fact is the absence of information in the (March 2008) “CLEAN” FY06 audit by the city NEW auditors. How did all this slip by? What other corruption have they failed to uncover? Where is, was, the City’s Office of Ethics and Integrity? Billy is 110% correct when he said, "After seeing the eye popping $54 million CCDC has spent the last 10 years I would have to imgine [sic] that the same $54 million could have redeveloped the entire SEDC area." We know now, due to the great investigative journalism of VOSD, there was and probably still are many skeletons in these government closets called structured "hybrid". We, the people, need to direct our representatives, take back the control and oust those who lust after power and greed.

Posted by JustWondering | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 8:45 am

Alright everyone...if we can do better than the current appointees to these various boards and commissions, let's apply for the job. Go to link and tell the City about yourself and how you can help. We won't be eliminating all these boards, so lets fill them with informed citizens instead of insiders.

Posted by Fred_Williams | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 8:48 am

So, Wilson's model 1. Bypassed the electorate and made the will of the people redundant. 2. Idled city workers who would have constructed the projects--and made their paychecks redundant, and 3. Turned over city responsibility to private interests and made the politicians gophers for the rich. As a poster above noted, this did work well, for those able to work it. But for the real people who have to live in the disconnected, ill-served and poorly conceived mess they made, life is a different story.

Posted by Fred | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:52 am

Isn't the life of Redevelopment coming to an end ? The lives of redevelopment areas are not infinite. We all can see where redevelopment was put to good use, but, unfortunately, it and its powers have been abused. Now is the perfect time to stop and take a very close look at ALL projects undo some of the harm that has been done. There is no way that the Valencia Business Park deal should be allowed and it must be stopped, along with a host of others. Look for the money.....

Posted by San Marcos says, | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 9:58 am

The original CCDC created by Pete Wilson was a closed old boys club that treated downtown as a developers playpen. The public was not invited to participate in its planning processes, and never had any say in what got built. Under Hal Sadler it was a private club designed to make developers richer, not unlike the Port Commission. Under Peter Q. Davis' chairmanship, CCDC began to involve the public more in its planning efforts and began to coordinate better with other downtown planning group. The first question to ask is whether CCDC should be dismantled and its planning work transferred to the city's planning staff. It it is retained, perhaps its time to bring Peter Davis and Mike Stepner back to rebuild public trust in the organization.

Posted by Watcher | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:02 am

Pete, CCDC, and SEDC...? What about the City Planning Department, what about the Mayor, what about the City Councilmen in the areas CCDC and SEDC have operated? Sure, blame poor old ‘Big Business ubis allas’ Pete if you want. But I believe the responsibility of what has happened over the last 16 + years (development and redevelopment) rests upon the shoulders of every one of our elected officials and senior city employees who were in any way privy to the information concerning the acts and actions of these groups and did nothing to safeguard the public trust.

Posted by Gregory | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:18 am

San Marcos wrote that the lives of redevelopment areas are not infinite. Well, the life of downtown redevelopment will be infinite for practical purposes, if the Grantville Settlement Agreement passes at City Council (Item 334) this Tuesday. The Grantville settlement uses downtown redevelopment to launder the Redevelopment Agency’s payoff to the County. The agreement goes until 2050. From 2011 to 2050 Grantville redevelopment will pay downtown redevelopment $31 million. Downtown then pays the County $31 million to improve their property at the North Embarcadero. If you don’t want to see this come to pass, come to the City Council Tuesday afternoon. If you want to know more about this agreement, contact me at link

Posted by Brian T. Peterson, DVM | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 10:34 am

While I agree that a shift, or an end to CCDC and the SEDC might now be warranted, can anyone really doubt that if the CCDC was implemented in the way that it was that we would actually have the successful downtown we do today? Given how inept the public sector has proven on just about everything else, one has to wonder if anything downtown would have actually happened if they were in charge. Also, as to the idea of putting community leaders in charge of a non-profit because they would somehow perform for the public good...that is hogwash. Let us a least be truthful and admit that it would only bring about a diversity in self-interested points of view. The only thing many community leaders are good at protecting is their property values and their income stream of benefits from the taxpayer.

Posted by El Cajonian | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 11:49 am

7. Fred_Williams wrote on July 25, 2008 8:48 AM: "Alright everyone...if we can do better than the current appointees to these various boards and commissions, let's apply for the job. ... I AM APPLYING FOR THE CEO POSITIONS OF BOTH CCDC AND SEDC, I NEED YOUR SUPPORT FRIENDS! I actually could run both agencies better, and do it on a salary of $60K per year and a 401K-what are the chances of a guy like me getting hired without any connections????????? (PS, I am NOT Mike Aguirre OR Bruce Henderon, I have no gov connections at all).

Posted by Billy Bob Henry | reply to this comment
July 25, 2008 2:03 pm

Take a good look at the" reorganization." It removes staff from civil service which eases the way for patronage, political appointees.Tammany Hall lives on! Not satisfied with that, the reorganization also removes contracting from the regulations of the Municipal Code and the City Charter. If this is so desirable,why not do it for all city employees and all city contracts ?

Posted by mel shapiro | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 8:31 am

Give the CCDC job to Billy Bob! I bet he'd do better than the predecessors. His offer is generous and he's lead the path to government overhaul. Let's give him a chance, forget expensive studies and if after a year it's not working then.....I am sure Ms. Adkins would love the job but only at the same salary level as proposed by Billy Bob.

Posted by Norman | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 9:31 am

Don't know Billy. If this letter is a sign is a sign, the author didn't get your pseudonym correct. If nothing else, looks like you need a good marketing guy to get your name out in front of your intended audience.

Posted by JustWondering | reply to this comment
July 26, 2008 9:59 am

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