Don't Gloat!

Folks, this is not the time to gloat, boast, or celebrate too loudly.

There is still much to do and it is our responsibility to attempt to bring OUR community back together after Bob ends his bid for his current plans.

In reality, Bob either has to immediately learn from the recommendations created by the Planning Department and create a new application that is more in line with those recommendations, or simply put an end to his current plans and either sits on the land for a few years, or tries to sell off the land that is now probably worth about half of what he paid for it.

I charge that Bob has done some real damage to OUR community and the vast differences between his scheme and what the City Planners suggest could be built, demonstrate that he seemed to be more about clearing more profit than he was about helping out many in OUR community.

There are some very good San Pedrans that probably will have some egg on their faces, but I am still a bit hard-pressed to let many of them off that easily.

I have continually called for community members, with Bob and other, to come up with compromise proposals that are reasonable, realistic, responsible, and respectful to all members of OUR community. Yet, my phone remained silent and my inbox remained empty from those who both support Bob's plans, whatever they may be, and consider themselves 'community leaders.'

It is long passed time that these 'community leaders' realize that they may have been had by supporting a project that the developer should have known could never be approved.

But as much as I may have some anger with these 'community leaders' we all need to understand that they also may have been misled by Bob and his Outreach Team.

That is still not enough, though. It is the responsibility of all the members of OUR community who have been apart on the issues surrounding Ponte Vista to come back together and actually work for a project that does reflect what the community really wants and needs and also can find approval from the agencies and government citizens pay for.

There is a whole list of good people living in OUR community that need to find closure with their support for Bob and his concepts for Ponte Vista.

One of the most disturbing parts of the Report deals with senior housing. This type of housing was seemingly supported by a great number of people. The sad truth is that the plans supplied by Bob were so completely obliterated by the City Planning Department, it makes many folks feel they may have been misled, including me.

I do and did wish for some senior housing at Ponte Vista. I wanted it to be placed on the most southern end of the site because that is closest to the stores. This was something Bob completely repudiated. It now appears Bob was wrong and I wasn't.

There is a unknown number of seniors who wish for more options in San Pedro. The options provided by Bob have been deemed completely unworkable, and more than a few reasons have been given.

These senior citizens may have provided the backbone for the most vocal and active types of support for Bob's plans.

I feel OUR community must not ignore these good people and work with them for some kind of resolution.

I don't see how any supporters of Bob's plans can defend those plans when those plans are up against what was released by the Planning Department.

It is also thought that there will be some opponents of Bob's plans who will not necessarily be as 'nice' as they should be. I hope they are very few and quite apart from the rest of us.

However, I may write some fairly foul things in the future. I have been particularly attacked in many forms for my views which I still consider much nicer than the views of many others.

I have endured quite a lot of foul-fingered writers who supported Bob's plans. I continue to be somewhat attacked for my views, but I respect the fellow doing the attacking and he has many contributions to OUR community. He and I happen to disagree about many things regarding Ponte Vista but we both considered senior housing to be important, at the site.