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P.S. The People Speak: Letters to the Editor
Embarrassed by those who do not want facts
Dear Editor,
As a Redwood City resident, I am embarrassed to read letters by other
Redwood City residents complaining about the unanimous decision by our
council members to move forward with the environmental impact review for
the Cargill salt ponds development project. I am proud that the city wants to
learn the facts before making a decision.
Council members made it very clear when they voted that moving forward
with the process is not the same as endorsing or supporting the project. To
suggest that the council is doing something wrong by going through the
well-established legal process for project review is preposterous. It is also
surprising that John Cieslewicz thinks that taxpayers pay for project review.
The process is well established by law so that taxpayers do not foot the
bill for review of the project. The city manages the process and bills the
applicant. Stop trying to make the city look bad for, once again, going
through the normal process.
Pay now, save our county’s future
Maria Cortes, Redwood City
Dear Editor,
With the Board of Supervisors borrowing $49 million to help meet the
needs of the upcoming budget, San Mateo County is making the deficit
larger and getting deeper in debt. That is just more money that our children,
grandchildren or great-grandchildren are going to have to pay back just to get
San Mateo County back into financial shape.
Attention San Mateo County: What we should do instead is cut more services
and departments that we can go without for the time being while we clean up
this financial mess that we are in. Unfortunately, these cuts might mean more
layoffs, but there is no other way around it. We will either pay for this mess
to get straightened out today or in the future, but we will have to pay. So let’s
start to buckle down and start saving money to help our county’s future.
Self-serving conduct? Or smart lobbying?
Dear Editor,
Both the New York Times and the San Francisco Business Journal reported
that Cargill’s designated developer for their Redwood City salt ponds,
DMB and Associates, paid $350,000 to lobby the Bay Conservation and
Development Commission (BCDC). What did DMB/Cargill get for its
money? It disseminated a false story that BCDC’s 26-page, scientifically
based proposal to study and plan for sea level rise in the bay is just an attempt
to expand its jurisdiction.
DMB/Cargill pitched this story to municipalities, some of which put a great
deal of political pressure on BCDC to delay or eliminate a vote to implement
climate change guidelines for the bay.
Why is Cargill/DMB spending this money to lobby BCDC? Because
guidelines to plan for sea level rise would likely discourage new development
in the bay at or below sea level, which is exactly what Cargill/DMB proposes
to do in Redwood City. Can Bay Area residents afford to trust Cargill/DMB
on issues of public safety when they display such self-serving conduct?
Kaia Eakin, Redwood City
Let your opinion be heard!
Send your letters to letters@spectrummagazine.net or
Opinions & Letters, The Spectrum Magazine, P.O. Box
862, Redwood City, CA 94064
Letters to the editor should be no longer than 300 words. Columns should be
no longer than 750 words. Illegibly written and anonymous letters will not be
accepted. Please include a daytime phone number where we can reach you.
Frank Lopez, Redwood City
Not surprised at recent actions
Dear Editor,
It is no surprise that the Redwood City Chamber of Commerce was fined
by the California Fair Political Practices Commission for failing to disclose
that it spent $25,000 to oppose a 2008 local ballot measure that would
have restricted development on open space in Redwood City, including the
controversial DMB and Cargill salt ponds development. However the real
news in that story (“Chamber fined over campaign contributions” in the June
18 edition of the Daily Journal) was missed. It turns out that current and
former City Council members Jeff Ira, Jeff Gee, Jim Hartnett and Rosanne
Foust are, or were, Chamber of Commerce board members. Nancy Radcliffe,
Redwood City planning commissioner, and John Bruno, a principal of DMB
Associates, also serve on the chamber’s board. I doubt it is a coincidence
that the chamber failed to disclose its $25,000 to defeat a measure directly
opposed to DMB’s interests. This is now the second time that Redwood City
public officials have been either directly or indirectly found in violation of
California state law (the first violation was in 2010 and involved Rosanne
Foust). The decision to approve or reject DMB and Cargill’s massive
development plan for the salt ponds is still pending before the City Council
and Planning Commission. However, the public can no longer trust that they
will make a fair and impartial decision free of undue influence.
Marsha Cohen, Redwood City
The Spectrum 11