If there is Blight in Fullerton, Who’s Responsible For It?
The proposed redevelopment expansion in Fullerton hinges upon on the city councils ability to discover “blight” in this vast area. Two of the biggest cheerleaders for this expansion of government power are councilman Dick Jones and Don Bankhead who are happy to make the necessary “finding” of blight.
Let us reflect for a moment on the irony of the situation. Bankhead has been on the city council for over 20 years, and Jones has been on it since 1996, 12 years and counting! So what have we got going on here? According to Jones and Bankhead “blight” has been proliferating at a record pace on their watch! So what does this suggest about their competency to fight blight, are these the guys we want running even more redevelopment?
The whole thing would be sort of comical if the potential consequences for the property owners in the proposed expansion area weren’t so serious.
Government is always looking for problems to solve–then usually just makes them worse!
Will this be the Keller/Bankhead re-election platform in ’10–“Blight grew by 25% under our reign!”
Or will they stick with the $6 Million Burger?
It’s worth a look at the online video of the City Council meeting where Sharon Quirk somewhat angrily disagreed with testimony that there is no blight in Fullerton. Quirk posited her assessment of some East Side apartments and rentals to assert that there IS blight. However, she failed to explain how that would validate the lame blight report for West Fullerton, consisting of commercial property and the airport.