 Letters to the Editor |
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SEDC: Pillars of Humanitarian Reform?By Susan Drury, EncantoThursday, July 24, 2008 | When Southeastern Economic Development Corp. was created, I was scared to death that the community would be handed over to developers to evict us from our property and make quick profits by bulldozing homes and creating a slum. East San Diego, which used to be a nice place, was the model I thought of. Instead SEDC did what they promised! They brought in retail stores and condos and actually made the area much better. They did not harm the residents. I wonder now if the ouster of Carolyn Smith and the board opens up the area for developer rape. SEDC cared about the residents. What will the next leadership care about? Now who will protect us from wanton capitalism? Is this a power play to open up the residents to irreparable harm? I think all of the community has a reason to worry about the future of land use in the area.
16 Comments so far on this story...
The community served by SEDC needs to be protected from that very enity, not developers waiting to "rape" the area. What about Ms. Smith's self serving actions do her supporters not understand ? The community has already been raped. Crooks come in all colors so I personally don't find this to be a racial issue. Remember Latino Inzunza, White Zucchet, and African American Charles Lewis ? Sorry Ms. Smith was her own undoing. She may have begun her stint with SEDC with the best of intentions, but somewhere along the way, GREED and POWER corrupted her. She’s not first and she won’t be the last either. Now we’re in for a period of denial. But over time, after the dust has settled, we will be able to see who really served whom. Fresh blood makes sense for both CCDC and SEDC. It’s our job to KEEP AN EVERY VIGILANT EYE ON THEIR BUSINESS. Thanks to the VOICE of SAN DIEGO for uncovering this corruption. This shows us investigative journalism works to protect all of us. Keep up the great work. Susan Drury writes "...Instead SEDC did what they promised! They brought in retail stores and condos and actually made the area much better. They did not harm the residents..." Ah, yes, retail stores and condos. Well Susan, how many of those in the District? To be fair, how many businesses that were operating when SEDC started have been lost? How many people left the neighborhood? Where are all those good paying jobs SEDC promised to attract? (Well besides Carolyn's, Dante, Kimberly King and Chip's). Over what period of time and how many millions did SEDC get to work with? Where did it go besides 39% to administrative costs? By any measure it is a paltry return on investment. Don't you realize the people you have supported have been ripping you off? And why am I more deeply angry about than you? and furthermore, Susan says "Now who will protect us from wanton capitalism?" Are you kidding me? If you had a modicum of sense and understood at all what civic responsibility was about, you'd wouldn't need anybody to protect you. Did you go to meetings, vote, examine SEDC's budget, ask any questions? Capitalism is a good thing and that is precisely what SEDC was supposed to be about. It is a miserable failure because everyone sat back and permitted Carolyn Smith and her partners in crime to game and rape the system for their own benefit. Check out the VOSD article about the 23 homes Reese Jarrett built; who got them, sold them and profitted on "low cost housing". If it takes 14 years, I don't think a couple second rate stores and some commercial development is something to be really proud of. The best food store in SEDC is Northgate, and they didn't get SEDC help to move in. You may not realize this but the bonus money Smith awarded herself came from a City budget that is stretched thin, and you and other taxpayers pay into that City fund. You may want your money to go to enrich Smith because you benefited directly from her dealings, but why should I want her enriched unreasonably? She's done nothing for my neighborhood except take funds that might have been used for other purposes (and I live in a poor neighborhood, thank you very much...it just isn't one of the "hot" areas to redevelop). Smith's gone and now Nancy Graham is gone. I just hope people aren't so dumb that any of the exiting councilmembers are picked to replace them...that would just be more of the same. No one wants to hear the truth - just opinions, this is San Diego after all. I understand your fear about "developer rape" in your neighborhood. Despite the fancy city facilities and new shopping mall, the poor of the community of City Heights were not served. Between the freeway and the redevelopment, the real affordable housing was eliminated. But the management at SEDC has taken advantage of the community and the city for their own gain. SEDC is typical of how the city has done business when operating in the "climate of corruption." It's city wide, from University City and La Jolla down to Brown Field and all points in between. I understand your fear about "developer rape" in your neighborhood. Despite the fancy city facilities and new shopping mall, the poor of the community of City Heights were not served. Between the freeway and the redevelopment, the real affordable housing was eliminated. But the management at SEDC has taken advantage of the community and the city for their own gain. SEDC is typical of how the city has done business when operating in the "climate of corruption." It's city wide, from University City and La Jolla down to Brown Field and all points in between. Just FYI - As far as I know, City Heights is not part of the SEDC area. I wonder just how many properties, businesses and homes would have fallen in the path of the SEDC or the CCDC if it weren't for our vigilant Voice of San Diego ? Hopefully these exposures of greed, misappropriation of funds, and outright conflict of interest, not to mention the actual fraud that may have been committed, will STOP. Our court of law and/or the San Diego City Council needs to reverse decisions, as in the Valencia Business Park disaster. The City Council should consider the citizens that council members are sworn to protect. It is time that the "settlement" of the Grantville issue be given a closer look too, since the "Redevelopment" is NOT wanted and the removal of homes and businesses just so developers can gain - is absurd. Redevelopment is a financial windfall to cities, that is why they push it so hard. It's not rape if the victim consents. In the case of your neighborhood, if you and your homies don't either work the political process or the levers on the Winchesters when the developers come, guess what? You consented! Let us look at the senior staff, community investments, the political representation and the projects that have been supported. Look at which groups are represented or overly represented and which groups are not represented / have almost no representation. Then look at the ethno-demographics of the area. Does anyone see a conflict in ratios of representation and inclusion? Does anyone care? The numbers do not lie. Thing about pointing fingers – there are often three others pointing right back at you should you do it. Had there been even a little bit of wide community inclusion over the years…, well, too late for that now. So, moving forward - how do we keep our community from being taken advantage of – again? Unity? Cooperation? Making sure, we do not silence or repress the voices and rights of others? Choice seem clear - work with each other. Yes gregory, it works every time; every, single, time. Want to take all talk about race and racism out of the picture in any forum and kill a forum? Just bring up the condition of and representation rates of the San Diego Latino population and everyone shuts down. It is the single thing that none of the ‘politicos’ in San Diego dare to talk about publicly, and for some unknown reason especially not all those people who going around claiming to represent the San Diego Latino populations. You were right, now go play somewhere else for a while untill dinner is ready. Much as could have been predicted, it seems that just about everyone who demanded that the people taking money from the public coffers be fired; those who stood-up for that poor community seem to now be under attack; and from whom? Supporters of these caught with their hands in the cookie jar, is that right? I believe I read this morning about ‘some someones’ are accused of having a clandestine meeting in a coffee shop / some SEDC board members of a little represented group. I wonder if these 'accusers' know what Danish they ate or if they have photos or video recordings of what they claim was talk about or even the claimed meeting itself…? The coffee shop does – what will happen to those accusers when the video tape is review and what if they are shown to be liars? Just about everything is recorded - today. Nevertheless "Really?" exactly why is it, do you think, that there are no Latinos at any of these SEDC/CCDC/CNC meetings? Looking at the ethno-demographic it seems to me as if more than 33% of the populations South of 8 and some 52% of the population South of 94 are Latino. Why is it that they do not have leaders or representatives who are demanding to be included and that their people have some if not fair levels of representation? Is it that such assertions may get in the way of the gentrification of the Barrios and all the profits, which may soon be realized, by forcing a new community plan of the poorest populations of our city? Perhaps they are all too busy ‘playing ball’ or going around endorsing pro-development/ redevelopment political Candidates. Reader feedback
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