Efforts to Build Infill Housing in California Won't Solve Growth Woes

Smart growth and the buzzwords that accompany it are swarming our neighborhoods - sustainable development, viable communities, healthy neighborhoods, and infill development are just some of the terms of choice for planners and politicians these days.

Infill housing, promoted by a new California law, is a process where vacant sites located closer to established, developed areas receive preferential treatment for development than sites not located as close to historical city centers. Infill housing is supposed to increase density, promote affordable housing closer to jobs, preserve open space, reduce traffic congestion, and improve the environment. It doesn't. An examination reveals this policy actually exacerbates many of the aforementioned problems and does very little to alleviate the others. MORE

Report Confirms Smart Growth Raises Housing Prices

Over the past several years studies by Harvard University and Tufts University professors and researchers at The Heritage Foundation have found that many common smart-growth strategies raise home prices by increasing the cost of land and/or by adding impact fees. As if such policies didn’t cause enough problems for American households, smart growth now has been shown to increase the “bricks and mortar” construction costs of both residential and non-residential construction.

The report, The Jobs are Back in Town, was released by “Good Jobs First,” a Washington, DC advocacy organization. It contains a detailed appendix that classifies 155 U.S. metropolitan areas based upon their regional growth policies as either “smart growth” or “business as usual” (less-regulated growth policies). “Smart-growth” metropolitan areas are defined as having development restrictions, including urban growth boundaries, service extension limits, or green belts. MORE

Is moving to the suburbs bad for your health?

Is moving to the suburbs bad for your health? The American Dream of owning a home where you can raise a family is under attack because it doesn't mesh with new "smart growth" plans for dense cities where everyone lives downtown and walks or rides light rail.

The dream house that we work so hard for is being blamed for everything from obesity to air pollution. Now, instead of parents blaming fast-food restaurants for their kids' weight problems, "smart growth" groups are blaming the suburbs for our nation's obesity and health woes. Some of the anti-suburb sentiment is downright ridiculous, not to mention highly unscientific.

The Sierra Club's "10 Reasons Sprawl is Hazardous to Your Health" include, "It's Fattening" (because commuting limits exercise); "It Can Kill You" (because if you have to drive, you are more likely to die in a car accident); and "It's Treacherous" (because subdivisions might be far from hospitals).

Art Blooms in the California Desert

Thank God all them  artists came to the basin to bring culture to us'ens haulin' rusted washing machines in our old Pickup trucks. Eh...Hah. 

A FEW squat concrete buildings and a whole lot of dust. That's what you're likely to notice first while driving through Joshua Tree, at the foothills of the Mojave Desert in Southern California. The scorched land still feels like a rugged frontier with nonstop wind and king-cab pickup trucks hauling rusted washing machines and groceries.

There's nothing remotely charming or quaint about it. But hidden among the cactus, creosote and tract housing is a full-fledged art scene, with striking works by contemporary artists like Andrea Zittel, Jason Rhoades and Jack Pierson. (Mr. Pierson likes to put the old roadside sign letters he collects for his artwork out in the soil behind his house to get that vintage sun-baked, weathered look.) MORE

Portland's Smart-Growth Example

From all over the world, people visit ... Portland, Oregon, to learn the wonders of "smart-growth" planning. City officials ooh and ah over Portland's light rail; reporters photograph the region's urban-growth boundary; while planners exclaim over the city's high-density, transit-oriented developments.

Smart growth is less exciting to local residents. They have discovered that smart growth's promises to reduce congestion, provide affordable housing, and protect valuable open spaces are phoney. Many now realize that smart growth's true goals are to increase congestion, drive housing prices up, and develop as much urban open space as possible. MORE

Downzoning: Smart Growth's dirty little secret

Brea city officials are perhaps the most hostile to property rights among all the governments in Orange County, given their longtime advocacy of eminent domain in their downtown area, their use of hundreds of thousands of tax dollars to fund a public-relations campaign to stop the development of new houses on noncity property straddling the Orange and Los Angeles county line and their quixotic lawsuit against plans to build a reservoir at an old Boy Scouts ranch in the hills.

But the city's latest efforts are strikingly totalitarian, even given the low standard set there. Officials are trying to rob several property owners of nearly the entire value of their land in an area of Carbon Canyon separating Brea from Chino Hills. The word rob is accurate. The city is proposing to downzone the property - i.e., reduce the number of houses that can be built on the acreage - without paying compensation.

The city's general plan had allowed the development of 1,685 housing units in the area, down 30 percent after it had downsized the number of properties in 2001. Now officials want to allow only a total of 103 houses on the land. Three owners would be particularly hard hit, losing 95 percent of the development potential of their property. Those owners would be allowed to build 29 houses on 814 acres - an absurd limit of one house per 28 acres.

Officials claim the downzoning is to deal with the steep topography, but that's nonsense. Private owners and their engineers can determine the right number of homes that can be built in the canyon. The real goal is to set aside open space. MORE

Another abuse of the taxpayer dollar

California: Where a deal is not a deal

By: Ray Haynes - Commentary

Spring has arrived in Sacramento, but instead of a warm breeze of cooperation, your state Capitol is in the throes of annual April Madness: government gridlock, petty politics and no attention to present priorities or future needs.

Worse than the common lack of cooperation, this intransigence could have a negative impact on our quality of life and our ability to fulfill our state's potential.

This is nothing new, but it brings up troubling questions about state government in general: Is it organized to facilitate important progress, or impede it?

Four 65th Assembly candidates address large audience

Four candidates running for the 65th State Assembly District seat gathered in the council chambers at Yucaipa City Hall Monday night to introduce themselves to interested members of the community and to answer questions from the audience, estimated at more than 100 people.

Each of the seven candidates running for the State Assembly seat received a certified letter with an invitation to attend the forum, which was sponsored by the Yucaipa Valley Chamber of Commerce and the Yucaipa and Calimesa News Mirror. The moderator was Redlands Court Judge Brian Saunders.

Brenda Salas, a Republican candidate and city council member from Banning, could not attend the forum due to a schedule conflict. It was the same with the lone Democratic candidate, Rita Ramirez-Dean, from 29 Palms, who already had an engagement scheduled. John Taleb, a Peace and Freedom candidate from Joshua Tree, received his certified letter but did not respond.

Each of the candidates who did show up for the forum Monday is a Republican. Jim Ayres is a member of the city council in San Jacinto. Paul Cook is the mayor of Yucca Valley. Robin Lowe is the mayor of Hemet. Ken Smith is a local businessman. MORE

Campaign turns ugly in judicial race

Marines will not lose their nerve

"The only way we can lose in Iraq is if we lose our nerve and I'm not losing my nerve and I know the United States Marine Corps will not lose their nerve either," President Bush said today as he visited our Marines.


Text of speech: Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California 12:34 P.M. PDT

THE PRESIDENT: Thanks for the warm welcome. Sergeant Major, thanks for the introduction. It's an honor to be here. I've been really looking forward to coming to Twentynine Palms. The General told me that I'm the first President ever to have come. It's an honor to be the first President, but he also reminded me that my mother beat me to the punch. (Laughter.)

I want to share some thoughts with you right quick. One, I'm incredibly proud of the United States Marine Corps. (Applause.) You bring honor to our country. You represent the very best of America. You represent men and women who volunteer to serve during dangerous and historic times. And because of your service, we're defeating an enemy overseas so we do not have to face them here at home. (Applause.) Because of your service, we've liberated people from the clutches of a tyrant. And because of your service, we're laying the foundation of peace for a generation of Americans to come. These are historic times, and your service makes me incredibly proud.

And I also want to say something to your families. It's hard when your loved one is overseas. I respect your sacrifice, and want to thank you very much for your service to our country, as well. (Applause.)

Marine base simulates Iraq conditions

Chants of prayers can be heard from the mosque. The feint sounds of gunshots are in the distance.

King keeps the group moving. It's tense and fast-paced, with a lot of reliance on instinct.

Without notice, an explosion.

A scene from Iraq? Not quite. This town is only 55 miles from Palm Springs and only 4 miles from the rest of Marine Air Ground Combat Center.

It's part of Mojave Viper, an extensive month-long training that uses more than 250 role players and two working towns to test Marines from throughout the nation on urban warfare and the rigors of the desert. More

Please stop the presses

While the rest of the valley is excited about the visit of the President of the United States, our local papers are posting dispatches from the 29 Palms Inn extolling the virtues of the left wing wacko Art Kunkin, the founder of the L.A. Free Press. In the article "Never stop the presses," you would have thought the young star struck reporter had been given an audience with Jane Fonda. It was like reading a young girl's gushing high school report of her favorite soap star. Sorry, there's something about it that chafes my nards as a Vietnam Vet.

IRS, Social Security Administration could slow illegal immigration

BY LIZ CHANDLER
Knight Ridder Newspapers

WASHINGTON - Two federal agencies are refusing to turn over a mountain of evidence that investigators could use to indict the nation's burgeoning workforce of illegal immigrants and the firms that employ them.

Last week, immigration cops trumpeted the arrests of nearly 1,200 illegal workers in a massive sting on a single company, but they admit that they relied on old-fashioned confidential informants and an unsolicited tip to get their investigation going.

It didn't have to be that hard.

The IRS and the Social Security Administration routinely collect strong evidence of potential workplace crimes, including names and addresses of millions of people who are using bogus Social Security numbers, their wage records and the identities of the bosses who knowingly hire them.

But they keep those facts secret.

"If the government bothered to look, it could find abundant evidence of illegal aliens gaming our system and the unscrupulous employers who are aiding and abetting them," said Rep. J.D. Hayworth, R-Ariz. More

Marine One

HMX-1 was established in December 1947 as an experimental unit to test and evaluate helicopters and tactics.

HMX-1 provides all helicopter transportation for the President both overseas and within the continental United States.

In addition, HMX-1 provides helicopter transportation for the Vice President, members of the President's Cabinet, and foreign dignitaries as directed by the White House Military Office.

HMX-1 also provides helicopter emergency evacuation and other support as directed by the Commandant of the Marine Corps.

Marine One is the call sign used when the President is on board of one of the HMX-1 Marine helicopters. The primary presidential helicopter is the Sikorsky VH-3D (Sea King).

HMX-1 is tasked with the Operational Test and Evaluation of US Marine Corps assault helicopters and related equipment.

Bush's Radio Message: Coming to 29

He's on his way

Associated Press

Mexico: Do as I say, not as I do

(Washington, D.C.): The Congress has received lots of free advice lately from Mexican government officials and illegal aliens waving Mexico's flag in mass demonstrations coast-to-coast. Most of it takes the form of bitter complaints about our actual or prospective treatment of immigrants from that country who have gotten into this one illegally - or who aspire to do so.

If you think these critics are mad about U.S. immigration policy now, imagine how upset they would be if we adopted an approach far more radical than the bill they rail against which was adopted last year by the House of Representatives - namely, the way Mexico treats illegal aliens.

In fact, as a just-published paper by the Center for Security Policy's J. Michael Waller points out, under a constitution first adopted in 1917 and subsequently amended, Mexico deals harshly not only with illegal immigrants. It treats even legal immigrants, naturalized citizens and foreign investors in ways that would, by the standards of those who carp about U.S. immigration policy, have to be called "racist" and "xenophobic." MORE

R.C. Clayton: Dear Mr. President

Dear President Bush,

I’m about to plan a little trip with my family and extended family, and I would like to ask you to assist me. I’m going to walk across the border from the U.S. into Mexico, and I need to make a few arrangements. I know you can help with this.

I plan to skip all the legal stuff like visas, passports, immigration quotas and laws. I’m sure they handle those things the same way you do here. So, would you mind telling your buddy, President Vicente Fox, that I’m on my way over? Please let him know that I will be expecting the following:

• 1. Free medical care for my entire family.
• 2. English speaking government bureaucrats for all services I might need whether I use them or not.
• 3. All government forms need to be printed in English.
• 4. I want my kids to be taught by English-speaking teachers.
• 5. Schools need to include classes on American culture and history.
• 6. I want my kids to see the American flag flying on the top of the flag pole at their school with the Mexican flag flying lower down.
• 7. Please plan to feed my kids at school for both breakfast and lunch.
• 8. I will need a local Mexican driver’s license so I can get easy access to government services.
• 9. I do not plan to have any car insurance, and I won’t make any effort to learn local traffic laws.
• 10. In case one of the Mexican police officers does not get the memo from Pres. Fox to leave me alone, please be sure that all police officers speak English.
• 11. I plan to fly the US flag from my house top, put US flag decals on my car, and have a gigantic celebration on July 4th. I do not want any complaints or negative comments from the locals.
• 12. I would also like to have a nice job without paying any taxes, and don’t enforce any labor laws or tax laws.
• 13. Please tell all the people in the country to be extremely nice and never say a critical word about me, or about the strain I might place on the economy.

I know this is an easy request because you already do all these things for all the people who come to the U.S. from Mexico. I am sure that Pres. Fox won’t mind returning the favor if you ask him nicely. However, if he gives you any trouble, just invite him to go quail hunting with your V.P.

Thank you so much for your kind help.

Respectfully Yours
R.C. Clayton

This is not the way to gain sympathy

On March 27, 2006 Students protest in Whittier area students from Pioneer, California and Whittier high schools walked out of classes to protest the proposed federal immigration bill. The protestors put up the Mexican flag over the American flag flying upside down at Montebello High.

If this is what we are teaching our kids we are in deep trouble. If this is what the illegal alien population believe, we are in the middle of an invasion. If this upsets you contact every representative in the state and federal government and tell them how you feel.

Patriot´s Day

Patriot's Day commemorates the battle of Lexington and Concord which were fought on April 19, 1775. Part of the history of this famous revolutionary battle was the midnight ride of Paul Revere and William Dawes. The Sons of the American Revolution in Massachusetts were largely responsible for the official recognition of the event.

Today only a few states recognize the holiday; however, its celebrations are known by many. Besides several reenactments of the famous midnight ride, there are other festivities including professional baseball games and the running of the Boston Marathon. LINK

Audit: Millions misspent, Politicians scrambling for cover

San Francisco earthquake: America's greatest disaster

One might have expected this morning to be a sombre one in the city of San Francisco, marking as it does exactly 100 years since the greatest disaster ever to befall an American metropolis - the great earthquake and fire of 1906.

A combination of natural calamity and human incompetence laid waste to an area six times larger than that destroyed by the Great Fire of London in 1666 - 4.7 square miles, or more than 500 city blocks.

Just about everything in downtown San Francisco, from the Mission to the newly constructed City Hall, from the quayside now known as the Embarcadero to North Beach and Telegraph Hill, was left a smouldering wreck. The impact was worse than General Sherman's torching of Atlanta during the Civil War, worse than the British sacking of Washington in 1812, way worse even than the al-Qa'ida attacks on the World Trade Center in New York in 2001. Imagine one-fifth of Manhattan in flames, and you are nearer to the mark. But most chillingly, it could all so easily happen again, and on a far vaster scale of human loss. MORE

That's not how they taught sex education when I went to school

OK, what the hell is it with the quality of educators we're getting? Either I was oblivious as a child to the amount of Teacher/student bedding going on or we have had a explosion of, one on one sex education in the past few years. Just this week across the country we have well over twenty cases of teachers arrested for having sex with their under-aged students. Google it yourself. We even have one of our own teachers over in Yucca Valley accused of it. What the hell is going on?

It isn't as if this is an anomaly it happens all the time.

We would not put up with any other profession to have that many nuts in such important positions of society. Could you imagine the uproar if twenty police officers were arrested a week for rape? We need to do background checks on these people. Obviously there is something broken in the system. We need to fix it, and fix it fast.

President Bush to meet our Marines

Capt. Chad Walton, public affairs officer at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, said Marines there are as surprised as anyone else about the president's visit.

"Obviously it's not something that happens every day," he said.

In fact, no longtime Marines on the base could remember a presidential visit to Twentynine Palms, Walton said. The closest thing in recent history was an early 1990s visit by then-first lady Barbara Bush, wife of former President George H. W. Bush and the current President Bush's mother, he said.

Few Marines know yet about the president's upcoming visit, said Walton, who himself learned about the visit only Friday morning through the White House's release of Bush's upcoming itinerary. Many Marines have left the base for Easter weekend leave, he said.

"I think people will be looking forward to it once (news) gets around a little more," Walton said.

Bush's schedule calls for him to attend a morning church service at the base, to have lunch with Marine Corps and Navy families and then to attend a military training session.

"It's going to be a good opportunity for the base to show how important the Mojave Viper training we are doing is," Walton said. MORE

Mike Stewart Takes On New Job

(The Desert Dispatch (Barstow, CA)(KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 12--BARSTOW -- Barstow City Manager Frank Mike Stewart announced his resignation on Tuesday, ending what was at times a contentious relationship with some City Council members.

Stewart has served for a little more than two years and still has another nine months left on his contract before it is up for renewal. He will be taking up a management position at the new Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization at the National Training Center at Ft. Irwin.

He is required to give a 60-day notice, but may leave on April 28 if he has the council's blessings. The city could choose to get an interim city manager while conducting a national search for a permanent city manager.

Stewart declined an interview for this story.

In a press release he stated, "This is an opportunity to serve my country once again in a war fighting organization. Improvised explosive devices have caused more than 65 percent of our soldier and Marine casualties during the war on terror. It is something I think about every day when I read the casualty list. This will give me an opportunity to once again make a difference by contributing to the war effort." MORE

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

YUCCA VALLEY - Robert Nolan, who received a Commissioner's Commendation award from the California Highway Patrol in September 2004 for going above and beyond the call of duty, is being sued by the family of a little girl he pulled from a wrecked vehicle.

He was served March 3, 2006. The plaintiffs allege, in part, that Nolan negligently and carelessly operated his vehicle, interfered with another motorist's driving and caused harm to the plaintiffs and the parents of the child he rescued.

The girl's parents were killed in an accident Feb. 15, 2004, on the Morongo Grade when a drunk driver, who was driving a van on the wrong side of the road, slammed into them. MORE

President Bush To Visit 29 Next Weekend

President George Bush is set to visit the Coachella Valley and the Marine Base in Twentynine Palms April 22-23, after a trip to Northern California to meet with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In the valley, Bush plans to attend a Republican National Committee event at the Toscana Country Club in Indian Wells and will spend time in Rancho Mirage. MORE

2 years, thousands of dollars and the City Web Site still unfinished

Its been over Two Years and still counting. If you go to the City Website and click on "Municipal Code" you get this message "Municipal Code's will be available on this site at a later date." After 10s of thousands of dollars spent on that slow loading blue beast there is little on the site that wasn't posted from the start. How many more thousands of dollars are we taxpayers going to have to fork over for these Sharks to finish the project?

Public records belong to -- guess who? -- the public

What part of the word "public" do so many bureaucrats not understand? How do they interpret the phrase "public records" in any way other than: records that belong to the public? Why are they so reluctant to share public records with the public that owns them?

Yes, owns them.

It's a fundamental precept of our democracy that the governed should know what the governing are up to. Voters reaffirmed their commitment to the California Public Records Act by enshrining it in the state Constitution through passage of Proposition 59 in 2004.

Both houses of the state Legislature voted unanimously to put Proposition 59 on the ballot, the governor endorsed it and the voters approved it overwhelmingly. The proposition mandates that the public's right of access to government information be "broadly construed" -- putting the burden on the government to show why any particular information should not be released to the public. MORE

Schwarzenegger: Prop 59 holds public employees accountable

(SACRAMENTO, May 5) -- Responding to requests from newspaper publishers and First Amendment advocates, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has agreed to make public records more widely available to those who seek them.

In an April 26 letter to the California Newspaper Publishers Association, Schwarzenegger's legal affairs secretary, Peter Siggins, said the governor would require state agencies to seek executive approval before denying access to public records. In the past, agencies have relied heavily on a provision in the state legal code, Section 6255, allowing them to withhold documents if the public interest is "better served" by nondisclosure.

Siggins' letter came in response to a request from the CNPA and the California First Amendment Coalition that he vigorously enforce the principles of Proposition 59, the ballot initiative passed by voters in November that established a constitutional right of access to public meetings and records.

In light of voters' overwhelming support for the measure -- it passed by 83 percent of the vote -- the organizations urged Schwarzenegger to "send an unequivocal message to public servants at all levels of government that Proposition 59 means what it says and that you will hold public employees accountable for its enforcement."  MORE

SAN DIEGO: Prosecution expert turns out to be a fake

New off-road restrictions and possibilities

What might come back to bit the county, San Bernardino County supervisors voted 5-0 today to create new restrictions on how people can operate off-road vehicles in the 20,000-square-mile county that has become increasingly popular with riders.

The new rules require riders to obtain written permission from property owners, which they must keep with them at all times. A temporary event permit is required where 10 or more riders gather and vehicles must meet state noise standards.

Promoters are now in active research on tying in contiguous pieces of private property to develop new trails and new business opportunities. We are thrilled with the new ruling that will make it possible to develop ORV trails throughout the valley. We finally have a rule that will allow unfettered use of authorized private property.

The new law, which must come back before the board on May 2 for final adoption, also contains provisions for making it illegal to disturb the peace and quiet of a residential area.

Fines range from $200 for a first offense to $500 for a third offense within three years. A fourth offense within three years would be a misdemeanor and punishable by 90 days in jail, a $1,000 fine or both.

Today's vote comes two weeks after Riverside County supervisors adopted new rules on off-road vehicles. The two laws differ substantially. Riverside County's law bans the use of off-road vehicles on private property in unincorporated areas except between noon and 5 p.m.

The Tourist Dollar

Many of our representatives in Washington are unaware of the economic importance of motorized off-highway vehicle (OHV) recreation on public lands throughout the U.S. particularly in the western states.

A study of the economic impact of OHV recreation in California completed in 1993 showed the contribution to the California economy at that time to be over $3billion. Since that time the off-road recreation enthusiasts have increased enormously and the price of the off-road vehicles has escalated drastically. Current economic contribution estimates are in the $9 to $10 billion range.

A 2002 study in Arizona showed that Off-Highway Vehicle recreation for that year Created a statewide economic impact of $4.25 billion and supported 36,951 jobs.

The Department of Agricultural Economics at the University of Tennessee reports that the Economic Impact of Off-Highway Vehicles is a $3.4 Billion Industry.

The Institute for New Hampshire Studies, Plymouth State University, reports that the impact of spending by ATV/Trailbike travel parties on New Hampshire’s Economy during July 2002 to June 2003 was approximately $318 million.

These figures are representative of the dollars spent by OHV enthusiasts across the United States. From the Text of TESTIMONY in the CONGRESSIONAL OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE HEARING of July 13, 2005.

Twentynine Palms residents split over development plan

 By JOAN OSTERWALDER
The Press-Enterprise