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Mayor Storey's Article is Self Serving Campaign Retoric
Brett Storey
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That was a carefully crafted story about the development plan for Clover Valley put forth by the Mayor in last weeks Herald.
I say carefully crafted because it very obviously avoided mentioning the huge, over 9 years, effort by citizens who wanted to save the valley for open space.
Of course, he said nothing about the effort by the city and developers to keep the treasures of Clover Valley hidden from the public, requiring the filing of a Freedom of Information request to determine the real number of burial sites.
That information was kept out of public awareness until that request was filed.
I don’t recall the city working with the Save Clover Valley group to wring concessions from the owners of the valley. I remember obstruction and dismissive responses.
Anyone who went to the public hearings held at the Sunset Center recalls the stony faces as the council listened to passionate pleas from the public. I recall Mayor Storey commenting at that hearing that he had never seen or stepped foot in the valley, yet he voted for development.
The mayor and council didn’t win concessions from the developers; the people did by putting pressure on them, the council and the Tribe.
And what was that “collaboration” he mentioned that resulted in the current plan? The volunteer citizen’s group who led this amazing grass roots effort was not part of the collaboration the mayor is so proud of, so who was?
I also wonder who the “we” is that the mayor claims overcame the “challenges” in Clover Valley? “Challenges,” that’s a very mild word to describe destruction of a rare, intact eco-system and 7,000 native California Oaks.
There would be 900-plus homes and decimation in Clover Valley but for a group of ordinary people who forced this legal process to protect the valley’s eco-systems.
I’m happy that the mayor is pleased with the result of that legal process: 500 fewer homes and protection of burial grounds. That legal due-process, CEQA law, is running its appropriate course.
The article by the mayor last week sounds a tad like self serving campaign rhetoric to me.
Its time for a change at City Hall - Go to Betterrocklin.org and see how you can help remove our career politicians from office
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For those of us that remember Rocklin before Stanford Ranch and the massive building boom that along with Roseville and then Lincoln have ruined southwestern Placer County this comes as no surprise. Most of the newcomers into our placid County want to close the door behind them once they are here, well, sorry to tell you that these three cities will not stop until there is no more land on which to build. They have gone as far as gone after grandfathered properties since turning them to a developer would bring in more revenue to the City than that lone house on three acres.
Clover Valley is a very nice place, it's gorgeous, as a matter of fact but soon it will no longer be treetops, it will be rooftops, just like the rest of Rocklin.
These so called bedroom communities need the fees from development and the subsequent property taxes to survive, then they find out that those revenues are not sufficient to fund the necessary services so you annex more land and the cycle repeats. The only reason Loomis incorporated back in the mid 1980s was to prevent a takeover through annexation by Rocklin, in doing so they have become the bright star in Placer County with controlled growth and full coffers.
Good luck but Rocklin has been on a roll for a long time and it's going to take more than just letters to stop that runaway train
True, letters, public testimony and one-on-one meetings with elected will not budge greedy elected Rocklin city councilmen or their appointed hacks. That's exactly why there are lawsuits over Clover Valley.
Clover Valley is a long way from becoming roofs and roads. The head-in-sand, hand-in-the-deverlopers' pockets Rockln City Council have had it "their way only" for so long, they have forgotten they are there to serve, not to ignore the public, or destroy the resources and make life miserable for generations to come. The incumbents do not get it and never will. Let the courts decide.
Approving Clover Valley was one of the biggest mistakes Rocklin ever made, but they've got others on the horizon. If it weren't for citizens and the town of Loomis standing up for what is right (and having to resort to the judicial system), Storey and his ilk would make the entire region higways and houses.
Clover Valley's horrific development, encroaching on creek buffers, bulldozing over half the valley, taking out over 7,000 trees, bringing 14,000 additional cars to residential areas, displacing wildlife, filling wetlands, destroying historical and prehistorical resources, ad nauseum was approved becuase of back room deals.
The United Auburn Indian Community could have been excused for not stepping in to protect its cultural heritage, but can never be forgiven or trusted for butting in on the process of the referendum. They showed their true bully colors; they don't give a hoot about the resources. They only want the disastrous cross valley highway to bring gamblers and party goers to their 24-story expanded casino. Did even one elected official raise a cautionary whisper to give this brutal assault on our Placer County environement a second thought? NO, because just like Rocklin elected officials, they want the tribe's money--a tribe lacking the integrity to protect and preserve its own ancestral untouched lands.
So in spite of Storey's self-serving illusions of his own grandeur, he's just one more pawn, worshiping money and power. Where are term limits when we need them.
Jim, the indians did try to protect their land. We killed them.
Brett Storey’s sarcastic attitude is not an acceptable mode of conduct. He needs to be removed from any further business dealing with our city. He is not a man with moral intentions of the people, just his own!