Tracy Press

Get ready for a Tracy growth battle royale.

If you thought Tracy’s growth issue would fade because of a pesky little recession, think again.

The first shots were fired Tuesday in what promises to be a months-long tussle over the city’s future development, and the City Council chambers were the perfect battlefield. The big guns, however, are being held in reserve.

What is and will be at the center of the debate — right or wrong — is which developers get dibs on building rights. And, by extension, what the Hamlet by the Highway will look like, 10 and 20 years hence.

If things continue as planned, the Tracy Hills and Ellis ventures will get first bite at Tracy’s growth allotment apple. City staff is feverishly working on various stages of those projects and is not accepting applications for other new development in the city.

Some smell a conspiracy.

I see misplaced priorities.

The break in building given us by Measure A and the economic slowdown should be an opportunity to rethink how the city grows.

Instead of completing these deals as if a deadline approaches — could it be the Nov. 4 election? — the city has a chance to blow up the process and build a new one.

The best suggestion I’ve heard came from Councilwoman Evelyn Tolbert. On Tuesday night and again Wednesday afternoon, she pitched a merit-based system that would help Tracy figure out what gets built when.

Give projects points for quantifiable criteria — “green” construction, proximity to the city core, mix of low-income and senior housing, etc. — and take out the guesswork.

It’s transparent. It’s simple. It might even work.

The sticky point is how to determine what’s important. Does infill single-family development override far-flung low-income apartments? Should mixed use trump a super-green brainchild? Open public debate — with lots of sunshine and common sense — could help set the standards.

Adjust those benchmarks every three or five years to keep pace with changing needs, and you’ve got yourself a working system. Not perfect, but pretty darn good. Certainly better than whatever we’ve got now.

But unless it’s applied to all future projects, including Ellis and Tracy Hills, we might as well spend our time sipping Blue Moon at Ralph’s Club. Because it ain’t going to make a difference.

If those two projects go forward at the expense of other developments, a prevalent fear among several activists, it won’t matter what the true priorities are. The matter of priorities will have already been decided.

So strike while the iron’s hot. Fairly and objectively rate the public benefit of developments and see what comes of it.

If Ellis and Tracy Hills make it through the wringer, let ’em build.

But if there’s something more deserving — say, cleaning up and building out the Bow Tie and giving our shiny downtown engine fuel to run on — the big boys can wait their turn.

None other than Mike Souza, lead developer for Tracy Hills, agreed at Tuesday’s meeting:

“Tracy Hills is extremely supportive of infill that’s in existing city limits now being able to build. … They should have priority over Tracy Hills, and we’re supportive of that.”

Thanks for your patience, Mike. You’ll get your turn eventually.

Ay’ll be back in a fortnight

Saturday afternoon, I’ll be crammed into the coach section of a British Airways jet bound for Scotland. Ultimate destination: the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrew’s, where I’ll play a little golf on the famed Old Course.

I hope to send a dispatch from Edinburgh for next Saturday’s edition. If not, I’ll be back in a fortnight, as they say across the pond.

• Columnist Jon Mendelson will be out of the office until April 15. Leave him a message at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it , or visit his blog at www.jmendelson05.blogspot.com.

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written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

we're gonna get screwed for about 1% of the value of either $urland$ or akt/tracyhil$'$ $cheme


vote for not getting screwed, vote garamendi

...
written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

http://tracypress.com/content/view/12766/2242/
*
wasted 5 years, $3.6 milliØn on antennimal farm:
tØlbəяt

wasted 5 years, $3.6 milliØn on antennimal farm:
!və$


need change, vote garamendi

...
written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

http://tracypress.com/content/view/14151/2242/
*
lemme see if i got this right.

1. əlli$ actually need$ 225Ø permit$
2. $ØrlaИd get$ extra 16ØØ permit$. dØnt need them, ju$t get$ them a$ a bØnus.
3. $ØrlaИd get$ to $ell/give extra 16ØØ to whØmever they plea$e withØut city review.

HØW MUCH DØ YØU $UPPØ$E A GIFT OF 16ØØ PERMITS IS WØRTH?

4. this is all brand-new city pØlicy and implementatiØn of pØlicy specificly to give $ØrlaИd what they want
5. tØlbəяt'И'!və$ are finally Øver the edge. how many sides do they have to their mØuths?


vote change, vote garamendi

...
written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

*
if we're gonna get screwed for about 20 years,
that's a whole lotta screwin.
oughta get more than 1%

heck, if you doubled it it would still be only 2%

but 2% of what?


get more than 1%, vote garamendi

...
written by Ubbo Coty , April 05, 2008

Tracy doesn't need more houses, it needs more business'. It needs a reason for people to come here and spend their money, not move here and loose money. Tracy also needs to address its growing gang and drug problems too. THEN worry about building more houses. Who wants to do business in a combat zone?

...
written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

http://tracypress.com/content/view/9236/2241/
*
there's no deficit that couldnt be fixed

"[!və$] said he made the decision [to run for mayor]... driven by ... a budget deficit while maintaining public safety,
["Who wants to do business in a combat zone?"
-ubbo]
getting a youth sports park built, the redevelopment of downtown and creating a college consortium."




!və$ in Øffice 16 years.
tØlbəяt, same agenda, 1Ø years.


vote change, vote garamendi

...
written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008

tØlbəяt'И'!və$
*budget deficit: increasing structural deficit of about $8 M this year

*public safety: "Who wants to do business in a combat zone?"
-ubbo

*spØrts park, hey, take a bØw tØlbəяt'И'!və$ 1Ø and 16 years later....ØØps, nØ park.

*dØwntØwn? hah! tØlbəяt'И'!və$'ve done everything to kill dØwntØwn while putting lipstick on the cØrpse. call that lipservice.

*cØllege cØnsØrtium, just put it in tØlbəяt'И'!və$' in bØx. hØw lØng should it take? 1Ø or 16 years?

tØlbəяt'И'!və$, same answers to the same prØblems


vote change, vote garamendi

...
written by amy , April 06, 2008

How will we put Tracy on the map as another place for the tourist to stop?

If we don't have any reason for them to stop why visit Tracy at all? So no money?

...
written by bob blinker , April 06, 2008

http://www.garamendiformayor.org/blog/?page_id=4

Issues
Meeting the Tracy’s needs today and the challenges and opportunities of tomorrow with Vision Leadership and Independence

Real Priorities
* Providing common sense leadership to address the real priorities of Tracy residents:
*Jobs and Economic Development
*Police, Speeding and Public Safety
*Streets, Traffic and Transportation
*Schools
*Downtown/Bowtie
*Youth Sports Fields, Pools and Parks
*Affordable HousingGreen Development

* Fiscal Responsibility
Cutting deficit spending, waste and the bloated city government, so available tax dollars can be spent on our real priorities

* Open Honest Government
Restoring trust and confidence in city government eroded by violations of Measure A, destroying and trying to keep public documents secret, ‘institutional cronyism’, and dirty campaigns funded by developer special interests

vote garamendi

...
written by bob blinker , April 06, 2008

http://tracypress.com/content/view/14151/2242/
*
lemme see if i got this right.

1. əlli$ actually need$ 225Ø permit$
2. $ØrlaИd get$ extra 16ØØ permit$. dØnt need them, ju$t get$ them a$ a bØnus.
3. $ØrlaИd get$ to $ell/give extra 16ØØ to whØmever they plea$e withØut city review.

HØW MUCH DØ YØU $UPPØ$E A GIFT OF 16ØØ PERMITS IS WØRTH?

4. this is all brand-new city pØlicy and implementatiØn of pØlicy specificly to give $ØrlaИd what they want
5. tØlbəяt'И'!və$ are finally Øver the edge. how many sides do they have to their mØuths?


vote change, vote garamendi http://www.garamendiformayor.org/blog/

...
written by Steve Reshakis , April 07, 2008

Garamendi would wreck this town in a Year.
She is A Democrat...that alone is reason enough to Vote against her.

...
written by bob blinker , April 07, 2008

*
əLəCTə AND AИИØiИtə

* uckər aИИØiИtəd 1998
11-05-02 05,017
11-07-06 05,192
* fØяwhØmthəbəltØlbəяt ələctəd 11-1998
11-05-02 04,933
11-07-06 05,754
* !və$ ələctəd 11-1991
11-05-00 07,370
11-07-06 08,472
* DEBORAH RANDLE-JONES
11-07-00 09,986
* MEASURE V NO
11-02-04 12,419
* MEASURE U NO
11-02-04 15,260

16 year$, plus 4 as cØmmish (parks! of all things!!)
1Ø/2Ø year$ later, here we are still.
that's LEADER$HIP?


vote change, vote garamendi http://www.garamendiformayor.org/blog/

...
written by amy , April 08, 2008

If Garamendi is a Republican, would people view her differently? Just a thought.

Like Pombo does fighting for his family land?
If Pombo is a Democrat would we view him differently?

...
written by Susan Geftar , April 09, 2008

*
If Garamendi moved back out of the city limits people would view her more favorably.

...
written by Cliff Notes , April 09, 2008

bob blinker doesn't like 2% milk.

You can only get 1.5% from gerrymandering.






written by bob blinker , April 05, 2008
*
if we're gonna get screwed for about 20 years,
that's a whole lotta screwin.
oughta get more than 1%

heck, if you doubled it it would still be only 2%

but 2% of what?


get more than 1%, vote garamendi

...
written by Lessons Learned , April 09, 2008

There are nearly ten posts by bob blinker on this page and the same posts can be found on nearly every Tracy Press article about the city. That means bob blinker is cutting and pasting the same thing on every message board. Propaganda is not a good thing. But bob blinker just got off the boat, from Russia??? No wonder this guy's blogs have a hint of Russian text. See his third, fifth, and seventh posts.

People are talking. People are asking. Why all the propoganda? Why all the support for his friend garamendi when she doesn't have a clue.

Want to make a real change in Tracy? Run as a Democrat for Mayor.

It is time to take the Connolyflict/Pombo fued OUT of Tracy. Send them both back to the ranch!