"Your noble son is mad"
"Brevity is the soul of wit," the Bard wrote.
That imperative of every writer wasn't lost on Gregory Carter, who writes:
from: GREGORY CARTER
to: todd.ruiz@sgvn.com
date: Mar 21, 2007 10:16 AM
subject: poor coverageyou should be fired
More than a terse critique of my overall job performance, Gregory's comment was soon clarified as part of a letter-writing campaign initiated by Arcadia First! 24 hours after Monday night's meeting of the Arcadia Planning Commission.
Opponents of The Shops at Santa Anita are fuming because they felt short-changed during the public comment portion of the meeting, where the commissioners sat before a capacity-bursting crowd at the Masonic temple on Duarte.
Despite a clear majority of the audience raising their hands in support of the project, (or, as one paid opponent suggested, was it "hands?") I was surprised when the first nine of 10 speakers used their three minutes of time to adamantly express their support.
Being professionally and naturally curious ...
(My third-grade teacher at Baldwin Stocker gave me a ribbon which read "Most Inquisitive," to which I immediately said "What does inquisitive mean?")
... once back from Eldon Bowman's place in Simi Valley, I reached for the phone to call up Assistant City Manager Don Penman and ask if he could explain.
Not that it will quiet whispers of conspiracy, but he did, and it's "after the jump."
The Donald's explanation in short: The order cards were called was unintentionally botched, but soon rectified.
"Typically, we ask for supporters first, and then the opponents," Don explains of the process for a typical hearing, where three-to-five people come to speak. "But we realized it wouldn’t be appropriate for this project."
An understatement, given the line of patient speakers snaking out of the hall.
Both Caruso Affiliated -- who wants to build the project -- and Arcadia First!, which is funded by mall-owner Westfield, turned in big stacks of cards they had collected from their respective camps.
For the first 45 minutes, Don says, the cards were mistakenly pulled in the order they were stacked, and apparently Team Caruso's contribution was on top. After taking a break 45 minutes into the process, Don recounts, they realized the problem and randomized the card order.
Also, a stack of cards from Arcadia First! was not turned into the clerk until well after the hearing had begun, he adds.
Don promises the same problem won't recur when the City Council meets to officially approve or reject the plan.
The Star-News will be there for that as well, and both camps can be assured our editorial judgment will be unclouded by e-mails, Mayor Roger Chandler's colorful rhetoric, its advertisers or the developer.
However the Mall Wars play out, a lot of people will be getting rich -- I won't be one of them.
Comments
Posted by: Aaron Proctor | March 22, 2007 9:16 AM
Posted by: Bob Dobbs | March 22, 2007 3:26 PM