Your Tax Dollars At Waste, AGAIN! - Blogs from Stan - packerfan's Blog - Tehachapi News

Apr 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM : No wonder...

No wonder all the new mini malls are still empty. Sounds to me like the developer should be paying the city for the mitigation fees and not the renter. So Stan what was the final verdict at Mondays meeting regarding this subject?

Apr 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Stan, I...

Stan,

I would like to thank you once again for bringing your one sided view to our attention. However your unprofessional, unethical, and slanderous behavior in and out of city council meetings have made your voice mute. You have had 0 support from anyone at any city council meeting. Your only supporters are here on the blogs, and I suspect most of them are you, your girlfriend and Jim Richards with many different profiles. When anyone disagrees with you, you and your "supporters" go after them with guns a blazing. You say things like " their on drugs, their crazy, drunks, and many other evil things". No one wants this type of politics here in Tehachapi. Some of your issues are legit, but no one wants to hear from you any longer! I am sure this post will be rebutted by your crew, Jimr, calvintehachapi, soupwater, the many anonymous, as well as others. ( aka the 3 of you) It is sad that you now believe your own lies. I am sure your behavior will escalate to criminal soon. You already support Henry Shaffer for city council and he is not a real city resident. That's against the law Stan, what other things will you do to support your agenda?

tehachapichick- The new mini malls are empty like all the homes here in town, due to the economy. The City requires that new business pay these fees. The City is being nice by letting these new businesses make payments on these fees. It was the developers that did these new businesses bad not the City. The developers knew about these fees and did not inform their renters like they should. The "oldgaurd" as Stan has referred them (Grimes and Hand) are letting these new businesses make payments to help keep these mini malls full.

Stan is good at throwing mud, but he has never came up with a plan to change anything! "The old way is bad, I am better" Tell us just once how your better. We don't want to hear about how they suck any longer!!!

Apr 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM : and...

and dreamkiller exactly who are you..................I find it funny when someone that hides behind a ''anonymous'' name like dreamkiller attacks other ''anonymous'' posters for doing the same.

I don't live in the city but I do appreciate Stan posting his comments here on the blogs because the the TN isn't going to. T

These migration fees are a joke. To me it sounds like a unfair tax.

Apr 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Gube, I have...

Gube, I have no issues with people being anonymous. I feel that is what makes this blog work! I do have issue with a handful of people with many profiles, posting the same thing in order to make their agenda look like the popular one.

These fees suck but it cost the city to provide these services. I think it is ok for the city to let these few new businesses make payments in order to help keep them open. Stan wants the money now!!!!!

The TN does do stories on these topics. However the TN tries to show both sides of the story. Stan and his "supporters" don't like the fact that the TN wont only tell just the Stan slant. We all have been upset at the TN becuase we felt our side was not shown the way we wanted.

Apr 9, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Great job, Dreamkiller...

Great job, Dreamkiller - you complain of unprofessional, unethical, and slanderous behavior, and then YOU make accusations of "lies" and predictions of criminally behavior. Are you referring to a specific lie, or is that just your slanderous hot air?

Back on topic though, I am a little tired of this city punishing itself by doing stupid things and then justifying its idiocy by complaining of Stan's personality.

No doubt, Stan could improve his advocacy. But eventually, unless you think joining with developers to screw over tenants is a good idea, you need to move away from the friendship-based decision process we get around here and move toward considering the facts. And one fact is that the most CHARITABLE interpretation of the clown show that is the city's "planning" department is that it is incompetent. That should be the issue, not Stan's personality.

Apr 9, 2008 at 12:04 PM : Nobody is against the...

Nobody is against the City collecting the fees, Dreamkiller. The way for the city to do that is FROM THE DEVELOPER, AT THE TIME OF THE DEVELOPMENT. In other words, UPFRONT - WHEN THE DEVELOPER HAS MONEY!!

Do you not realize what Que Pasa's bankruptcy means? It means that the City won't collect these fees at all, or only after long and expensive legal proceedings!! It means that sewer improvements that benefited the developer of that property will be covered by all city residents. It means that the city hall dummies just got took again, just like they did with Capital Hills, just like they do every single time a Music Man comes into town...those guys have to laugh about how easy it is...

Apr 9, 2008 at 12:04 PM : Why is it...

Why is it the City's fault that the developers screwed over its tenants? Why is it a bad idea for the City to try to work with these tenants to help keep them open. Soupwater you like to throw mud as well, do you have a plan to fix this issue? Your the same as Stan ( if not Stan himself) All you can say is " Its a clown show, they suck, drunks, potheads, but I can do better. " Then you have no idea or plan to fix it. Yes the planning department has not done much planning! I agree with you on that, but what is Stan doing about it beside throwing mud at it? Yes the City should have made it a rule to collect this fee up front, they did not. Same on them! They made a mistake and now there working to fix it! Now we need to work on helping keep these stores open. If Que Pasa shuts its doors and that building sits open, we don't even get sales tax from it! If we force them to pay now like Stan wants, then we get screwed out of long term sales tax and they still may not pay the fees.

It was the developers that did not inform their renters of these fees! This would be a mute issue if the developers would have done the right thing. How was the City to know the developers were going to do this?

Apr 9, 2008 at 12:04 PM : Soupwater-...

Soupwater- "Great job, Dreamkiller - you complain of unprofessional, unethical, and slanderous behavior, and then YOU make accusations of "lies" and predictions of criminally behavior. Are you referring to a specific lie, or is that just your slanderous hot air?"

Do you think Stan saying Hand is a pothead and Grimes is a drunk is not unprofessional, unethical and slanderous behavior? Then lie about not saying it till some nice old lady and a pissed off fireman say no they where told just that by Stan. Then at meetings he talks out of turn, makes faces at the public and other council members statements. Do you think this behavior is productive in helping make this a better City? All I am is saying is this- Stan has some good points ( sometimes) but no one cares because in the eyes of the citizens he is just a lier and a bully!

Soupwater- "And one fact is that the most CHARITABLE interpretation of the clown show that is the city's "planning" department is that it is incompetent. That should be the issue, not Stan's personality. "

It is unfortunate that Stan has made his personality an issue!

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : dreamkiller...

dreamkiller exactly what services does the city supply the tenant for the migration fees?

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : Water and...

Water and sewer! These are impact fees. Its just like if you wanted to build a new home in Golden Hills. The GHCSD will charge you $6,000 for a $100 water meter. The other $5,900 goes into an account to fix and up grade the water system later down the road. These fee are just like that but in a bigger scale!

The real issue is this, the city made the mistake not getting this fee out of the developers up front. The developers screwed their renters by not telling them they were going to pass that cost down to them. In order to help keep these businesses open the city made a deal with them so they could make payments. Now the city gets the money up front from the developers. This issue was solved till Que Pasa decide to file for bankruptcy( according to Stan) Stan is now scared the city will not get their tax! The businesses need to sue the developers for not disclosing this fee! The city needs to sue the developers for this fee! The city is trying to be nice and work with the screwed new stores and Stan is pissed that he was out voted once again!

I wish I could quote Stan on what he told the Canine Creek lady when this happened to her. It was something like "to bad so sad. " I am sure if she reads this she will post what was really said.

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : What plans do...

What plans do I have to fix it, Dreamkiller? This question is ridiculous. Why not ask a passenger on the Titanic to fix the gash in the hull of the boat? One can imagine this conversation in the North Atlantic....

Frenzied Passenger - "Captain, there's an iceberg dead ahead!"

Captain - "hmmm....I think everything is OK..."

Frenzied Passenger (a few minutes later) - "Captain, we ran into the iceberg!"

Captain - "Yes, we made a mistake and we are now working to fix it..."

Frenzied Passenger - "I told you the iceberg was there!!"

Captain - "Sure, you like to throw mud, but do you have a plan to fix this issue?"

Hey - like the Titanic, the situation may not be retrievable! It may require rising the rates on everyone in town. Seems fair that there would be a political price for that.

And you made several inaccurate accusations against me. I most certainly have NOT EVER called anyone a "pothead", I have never characterized a city employee with the word "suck", nor have I have called anyone a "drunk".

I stand by my description of the city planning office as a "clown show". Pretty mild term, considering.

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : I...

I didn't say you said that soupwater, I said Stan said that!!! However I do think your just Stan blogging under one of his many profiles! It is Stan's job as an elected official to find a fix for this problem, not just stand there saying " look at what the potheads and drunks did now"!!!!!

Your right about this being a sinking boat! To bad the voters just added more weight to help it sink!

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : thanks...

thanks dreamkiller that's pretty much what I thought they were. How much are the fees?

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : I am not...

I am not sure, but if you read Stan's original post, it looks like $100,000's of thousands of dollars per store!

Apr 9, 2008 at 01:04 PM : that to me...

that to me seems extreme..

Apr 9, 2008 at 02:04 PM : I'm not...

I'm not Stan, and I don't know Stan. I don't know anyone posting here. I don't post under any other name. Believe it or not, its more information than you deserve.

What you posted against me was this:

Soupwater you like to throw mud as well, do you have a plan to fix this issue? Your the same as Stan. All you can say is " Its a clown show, they suck, drunks, potheads, but I can do better. "

You used quotation marks, meaning you claimed I said those things. I didn't. If that isn't what you meant, then apologize!

Apr 9, 2008 at 02:04 PM : First, let me commend...

First, let me commend both PD & dk on an interesting & enlightening conversation. The "snarkiness" hasn't gotten out of hand, and there's lots of ideas to ponder. Thanks!

Second, I want to thank gube for the comic relief. Your confusing "mitigation" fees with "migration" fees, coupled with your obvious bias about the migrant issue, has given me quite a few chuckles to break up the intense dialogue. I can just imagine the chaos, should the city require "migration fees" in conjunction with a Mexican restaurant! You're too much, dude!

;-)

Apr 9, 2008 at 02:04 PM : You do like...

You do like to throw mud without having a positive statement about anything! Look at all your anti-cop post. I am sorry you don't like the fact that most people in this town support our police and we support positive change. Stan was voted in for change, he has become a joke. Sometimes change for the sake of change is not a good thing. We need to change things the right way without making hateful statements about anyone that disagrees with us. Well I got to go, I am meeting friends out at the Base to play Call of Duty4 . Soupwater you want to meet us there for a few games? You can even be on my team. Gube you can come to..................How much fun it would be to have the 3 of us in the same room after a few beers! Someone call the MP's!!! lol

Apr 9, 2008 at 02:04 PM : LOL...

LOL oohchild!!! Just think about how much Stan and the City could make charging just Mexican restaurants and immigrants! We have a lot of both. LOL

We have to many Mexican restaurants, that may be the reason behind Que Pasa's difficulty. The City should be recruiting a more diverse group of business types up here.

See soupwater... that was a jab at a problem ( to many Mexican restaurants) and a fix to the problem. ( recruit others) Your friend Stan needs to take note.

Gube likes controvsery. I think he will post on something he doesn't even think is right just to see others go off. ( I am that way sometimes, and gube is entertaining due to it) Am I right Gube?

oh and soupwater I am sorry for calling you Stan, I know now your not!

Apr 9, 2008 at 03:04 PM : This is reall a two...

This is reall a two problem issue.

First the city didn't coolect the fees when they should have. That is when the developer wanted to build. The developer could have then figured that into his rental price for the tenant. Then the city could have place a fee into the first business license that makes for the offset of the general mitigation fee to the type of business going to be ran. Each year after that the license would be a flat rate per business type as they have now.

The second problem that occured was that the developer was not fully honest with their tenants. They shoul have informed them that because of the new development their was also going to be a mitigation fee before they could open.

Being a person with a personal business online, I have a home occupation business license. I feel the fee to run this type of business license is rather high since I don't increase local traffic, there is no additional sewer use or water use.

Apr 9, 2008 at 03:04 PM : How's this for...

How's this for "solution"? Hire two new council members committed to firing the head of the planning department, and hire a new planner with a strategy and a clue. Then, fire the current city lawyer and hire a new one to give competent, non-blog-based advice on how to retrieve money from the developers who benefited from the sweetheart deal the fired folks gave them.

OR we could follow your plan. Keep doing what we are doing, ignore folks who point out that it is being done wrong, and then accuse the folks we ignored of bad manners and negativity when they point out that what they said would happen, happened.

Meanwhile, you still don't get it - Que Pasa won't be paying the town, the town isn't even listed as a creditor! The town's "solution" (getting monthly payments from the ripped-off tenants) isn't going to work!

Apr 9, 2008 at 04:04 PM : Soupwater-...

Soupwater- "How's this for "solution"? Hire two new council members "

We tryed this solution when we voted Teel out and Stan in. All that got us was the happy little clown show, turned into a mean and hateful little clown show. Stan as done nothing but discredit his position as Councilman.

Soupwater- "Meanwhile, you still don't get it - Que Pasa won't be paying the town, the town isn't even listed as a creditor! The town's "solution" (getting monthly payments from the ripped-off tenants) isn't going to work!"

What is going to work, making these tenants pay all the money now and run them to close their doors? Like Stan wants! At lest now we are getting some of the fees payed back and have the sales tax as income. If we do Stan's plan we run these small new stores out and we don't get the sales tax and maybe not even the fees!

jer72- "Being a person with a personal business online, I have a home occupation business license. I feel the fee to run this type of business license is rather high since I don't increase local traffic, there is no additional sewer use or water use."

Congrats to you jer72 you are but just one of the few people that have a home business that pays for a business license! Have you compared what you pay to what people in other cities like Tehachapi City pay? You have very little impact on the city. I do feel you should have to have a business license but the city should only be charging you what it cost them to administer the license.

Soupwater who is going to run for these two new council positions? Henry Shaffer? Don't get me wrong I love Henry and his store but he does not live in the city.

Next up is Jim Richards who is just more of Stan! He will just continue the mean and hateful crud that now comes out of Stan's mouth!

Apr 9, 2008 at 05:04 PM : dreamkiller, I thought...

dreamkiller, I thought you were going to play ball. Game over?

ProgressoDassani you summed it up perfectly. But I want to know whose dreams dreamkiller is trying to kill, the 3500+ voters in this town? Dreamkiller, do you think letting the old guard continue to take "Staff's recommendation" on the agenda items because your City Council Members haven’t done their homework so they rubber-stamp everything that comes across on the agenda is going to bring about change?

You have accused me of a lot of actions here up to and including criminal. What do back that up with? I did eat crow for having a private conversation many months ago about Mrs. Hand's proclivities and that was written about in the TN. While there may be more to come on that front, I have not written anything or stated in any public venue that Grimes is a drunk. Where are you getting your information? From some of the things you have stated here it sounds like you have been sitting in on the council’s closed session meetings. That is a very bad ethical violation.

You accuse me of having a group like this is a bad thing. Yet Hand has her supporters aka group and I guess that’s OK with you? You know nothing of my supporters. They don’t blog, but I see them everyday out in the stores and restaurants. Funny, they all say the same thing…keep their feet to the fire and don’t give up. You are doing a good job. Come November we’ll be voting in some help for you. I will take their ‘up front in my face’ word over the word of someone too scared to reveal his identity.

As for Henry Schaeffer, Henry owns a home in Tehachapi and this man contributes a goodly sum to the tax base in Tehachapi and spends more time at his store than at his home. Remember Henry got 570 votes just on a write-in, if his name is on the ballot he’ll win by a mile. Don’t be surprised, there’s another dark horse coming in that will blow your mind.

You speak to the impact fees of Golden Hills. Why not the City? If you live in Golden Hills then you are not a part of the electorate of the City of Tehachapi.

You are wrong about a lot of the allegations of who is who on these blogs. And, I haven't heard you say one word about how Mrs. Hand packs the council chambers with 20 +/- of her "friends" when she wants to give the impression of public opinion being for one of her pet projects. She does this because she knows that no amount of petitions signed by those who cannot attend the meetings is going to supersede what the people present in the chamber say because Hand, Grimes, Smith and Vernon vote as a block rather than think and ask questions. That very action disenfranchises any other voter that could not make the meeting and have their voices heard. It may be legal, but do you think this is ethical?

You can call this mudslinging if you like, I call it the truth and that is why you have this history of developers trying to stick it to upstart businesses and the City having to scramble to get paid back. If I hadn’t made a stink when the mitigation fees issue came up the first time for Que Pasa and Don Pericos, the City would still be doing things the same old way and we would have other future problems.

I am not trying to squeeze the little man so the City can get YOUR tax dollars back. You just don’t get it. This restaurant may have survived without going Chapter 11 if the City hadn’t stuck them with the $3,200 per month that is eating not only into the profit margin, but also into the operating budget. For your edification Chapter 11 is reorganization and does not mean the restaurant is going to close. It means that the secured creditors will get paid but only a portion of what they are owed and this will be decided by bankruptcy judge and administered by bankruptcy trustee. The City of Tehachapi has a contract for the mitigation fees, but we are an unsecured creditor. If the restaurant doesn’t close, we will likely never see a dime of the money that is owed. Personally, I would like to see the City sue the developer for the fees, but that is not likely to happen with the council members you have now.

How would you like to come in as a small business and have a budget in place only to be told at the 11^th hour, “By the way you’re going to have to pay the City $115,000 in mitigation fees that we didn’t collect from the developer and that the developer never disclosed to you!” That’s is just not right and that is why I am telling you folks about this. Dreamkiller, whether you like my personality or not, do the right thing for the citizens of Tehachapi. Your negative comments are your point of view and you are entitled, but for every one of yours I have 20 people telling me to keep doing what I’m doing and go after the *expletive deleted* and make the changes we need made. I guess I’ll listen to the 20 and hope that your sensitive nature can adjust.

Damn straight developer should have paid these fees in the first place. But, the City already had a procedure in place and the procedure was changed after the fact and after I “held their feet to the fire.”

You don’t believe that the $115,000 per store is correct, or you can’t recall something I said in chamber, and then listen to the recording. After I was voted into office I strongly pushed for recordings of the council meetings so you can now go back and hear for yourself EXACTLY what was said in each meeting. Here's the link http://www.tehachapicityhall.com/index.asp?nid=125

If the link doesn't work, you can follow this path:

www.tehachapicityhall.com Your Government>City Clerk>Minutes>City Council Meeting Audio

Since you haven't been attending the meetings regularly, or your recall is in need of updating, you will find that I told the ladies that approached who were concerned about their mitigation fees that the prudent thing to do would be to get an attorney and go after the developer.

Why did I do that and why am I holding the City responsible for this mess? Because David James and the City Manager were not upfront with these businesses and they knew what the developers were doing to their tenants. Because the developers and tenants already had an agreement, there was not much else that could be done at that point. Leslie at Alpha Canine Sanctuary found a solution to her problem. She found a different location. This is close to my home and I am happy to say that she did a great job working with her lender and making an eyesore building into a great looking building and the work that she does is invaluable to the City.

As ProgressoDassani said, “How's this for "solution"? Hire two new council members committed to firing the head of the planning department, and hire a new planner with a strategy and a clue. Then, fire the current city lawyer and hire a new one to give competent, non-blog-based advice on how to retrieve money from the developers who benefited from the sweetheart deal the fired folks gave them.

Apr 9, 2008 at 06:04 PM : The November that you...

The November that you got voted to office saw anyone with incumbent next to their name voted out. ( at all levels local to state)You were the only name on the ballot so you got the most votes. I am sure come this next November the voters will have learned from their mistake in voting you in. No ones wants to vote in a dark house, we want change but change in a good way. Your tactics have been scary to say the lest. You say you have supporters but where are they? They don't blog, they don't come to meetings, where are they? I find it hard to believe that anyone from the city knew that the developers where going to do this to their tenants and purposely kept it from the store owners. Do you really feel that everyone in city hall is out for themselves? Your way of thinking, that everyone but me is evil is horrible. Do you know how many people tell me everyday that they wished they didn't vote for you? It is sad that when people disagree with you, you resort to name calling! And for the record I have never been in a closed door city council meeting. Please keep blogging Stan that way us the voters of this City can learn the real you.

Stan-"While there may be more to come on that front, I have not written anything or stated in any public venue that Grimes is a drunk. Where are you getting your information? From some of the things you have stated here it sounds like you have been sitting in on the council’s closed session meetings. That is a very bad ethical violation."

So Stan did you say that Grimes is a drunk in closed door sessions? Is that what your trying to say?

Stan- As for Henry Schaeffer, Henry owns a home in Tehachapi and this man contributes a goodly sum to the tax base in Tehachapi and spends more time at his store than at his home.

Like I said I love Henry and I think he would be a great City Councilman, but having a camper in town and sleeping at your BVS home is not a city resident. So he can't legally run for office here in town. That would be illegal and unethical and you support this!

Apr 9, 2008 at 06:04 PM : dreamkiller why...

dreamkiller why don't you answer some of the questions that I put to you? What are you affraid of? You are the one that has been doing the name calling and making some very serious accusations. Again, how do you substantiate what you have been saying? And, for the record you are twisting words. I have never called anyone names in closed session. That much I can say.

What the City Council has been condoning for years is what got me voted into office. And do I think that most everyone that works or worked at city hall has gotten by with many things in the past and so does the public. This is why I pull items off the "Consent Agenda" and I ask questions which is more than your former council did. The public wants to know, "Why wouldn't the City Council approve an investigative audit?" Just because they have tons of audits, that doesn't suffice for an investigative audit. Why do we have people claiming that the City has "missapplied" bond funds? Why are we having water problems? These are questions that beg to be answered but are swept under the carpet.

As for Henry Schaeffer, I am sure that whatever he needs to do to be a legal candidate he will do and I would condone nothing less. Again, you are making many unfounded accusations and I think the readers out here can draw their own conclusions and they certainly won't be in your favor. You keep twisting the issue back to my nefarious character but you are not answering the questions.

Go ahead and make your posts. I won't delete them, but I find your arguments without merit to the topic. Let's here some real answers from you and how about some solutions? You say I compain but don't have a solution. Madam, I assert you are wrong and need to pay a bit more attention.

Apr 9, 2008 at 07:04 PM : dreamkiller, Are you...

dreamkiller, Are you saying that I can complain about the fee? Do I pay more or less than those other people? Maybe, maybe not. But I live here and run my business not there. Did I say that the other people that do the same type of business as I do pay less? No, but I believe they would also say that same thing. Heck I didn't even say how much I paid. I will tell you that three years ago the fee was about a quart of what I paid last year. I will also say that three years ago they didn't require you to go to the planning meeting to get approval. They do now.

The funny thing is that I don't even know why you attacked my post when I didn't agree with anyone. I just gave out my opinion of the reasons the problem exists.

Stan,

I agreed with your vote on the mitigation fee. I think the city is not the place to finance business loans or act as a bank either.

ProgressoDassani,

I agree with you that we need to get Grimes, Smith, Hand, and Vernon out of there. I personly know and like Grimes and Phil and have know them for a while, but it is time for them to go. As for the planning board and David James goes, they all need to go in my opinion. Not just James but the entire board. They might mean well but I believe the time has came for change.

Apr 9, 2008 at 08:04 PM : Jer72 you...

Jer72 you totally misunderstood my post. I am congratulating you for paying a tax when you could have never said anything to anyone about your in home business. Yes you should complain about this fee, but before you do find out what others are paying in other cities like Tehachapi. That way you can have some ammunition to use. Such as " I surveyed these 10 cities that are the same size as Tehachapi and this is what they charge." It would be hard for the city to fight such a fact as that. Just make sure you use "like" cities. Same size, same make up. Find out if the city employees union have determined caparisoned cities for negotiating their pay. If they did use the same cities for your caparisoned survey on fees. I do feel you should have to have a business license but the city should only be charging you what it cost them to administer the license. No more no less!!! I think you feel the same way right? Do you pay sales tax to the city? If you do, they should be more then happy to keep you in the city. As for going to the planning meeting to get approval for your in home business, I think that is a good thing. You would not want someone to open a petting zoo in the home next to you. Sorry petting zoo was kind of an over the top example but you know what I am saying.

As for the mitigation fees- the city could not just leave these small business in a lurch. I think it is good small town government to try to help. Did the city make a mistake not getting the fees from the developers up front? YES. Making the new business pay all fees right now is not a good solution. Changing the policy on fees and helping these new stores stay here was the right solution.

As for the planning board -I think they need to go as well, but only if we can find better people then them. I don't want to replace a bad thing with another bad thing. We did that and look where we are now. Same place different story.

Apr 9, 2008 at 10:04 PM : Dreamkiller, I will...

Dreamkiller, I will say that I did take what you said in the wrong light. I will say that I felt you meant it as an attack because of the switch in the first part of you post to your comments to me.

I also agree that there should be a business license for home businesses just like any other business. I don't have a problem at all for this due to the fact many people could run businesses that can be rather questionable to the families in the area. Yes I do pay for the sales tax according to the license application and have no problem doing so. I do understand that many towns charge roughly the same for the license, but I believe in most cases it is much higher than it should be. The reason I mentioned the process and the raise in the fee was to point out the changes that were made over the period.

To be honest about the local government boards, they almost all need to be changed out. School, city, planning, park and rec, and many that slip my mind. I agree that swapping one bad for another is problematic and having been on the TVRPD board a few years back, one good person usually can't change much.

Apr 10, 2008 at 10:04 AM : Yes the developers...

Yes the developers should pay the basis fees up front. I think about $11,000. But at the time of building the development He my not know who is moving in. Once he has a sign lease he should collected the proper fees from the new business, and he paid the city Great from now on. What do we now? The business Put a deposit and sign a lease for many years goes to the city hall for their permit and are told the additional fee of $60.000. and that what happen. Yes tell the new business they can not open or as the city council work did work with the new business. I feel they did the right thing at the time (Remember both business did not move into the development and the development loss the rent he would have he loss in the long run)

Apr 10, 2008 at 11:04 AM : Fees are paid to...

Fees are paid to provide needed services to the building - without these services the buildings are basically worthless. This value accures to the buiding - hence to the building owner - not just to the first business that moves into it.

So the fees, just like construction costs, have to be paid by the developer, who must then calculate what rental income he needs to cover his costs and adjust his rental rates or profit margin according to the dictates of the market.

Now, how do you suppose this existing cock-a-mamie scheme of taking the entire fee from the first businesses entering the center happened? From adopting the common practices of other towns? Or more like this....

Developer Harold Hill : Gosh, Dave - these impact fees are so complicated! One price for a resturant, another for a nail salon....hmmm...I just don't know.....Whattasay we do this instead....when I get my spaces leased out, I'll just have the businesses pay you the impact fee directly! That way, it'll cut out the middle man, and you'll know exactly what business impact you're dealing with!

River City Rube Dave James : "Cut out the middle man? That's a good thing ... I guess .... Sure, Mr. Hill - lets do it that way!

Developer Harold Hill : Great, Dave! That'll really help! I'll have my lawyer draw that up for us this afternoon! Pleasure doing business with you!!

Apr 11, 2008 at 11:04 AM : They are...

They are extreme. It is just like banks now. They charge you "fees" for NSFs nearing forty bucks a pop, even though it costs the bank a few cents to return a check. But, they wait until the end of the day to post checks so they can decide which ones to post first. For example, your rent check for $1200 comes in on the same day as four or five other much smaller checks. They will pay the largest one first so they can bounce the others and collect as many "fees" as possible. They also wait until the end of business to post deposits, once again enabling them to take more money from the customer's account. Bank executives actually get huge annual bonuses for collecting the most fees from customers!

The mitigation fees are the same thing. It may cost the city a few hundred in actual impact, but they have to jack up the price through the roof to increase revenue. And, instead of charging per building, they charge per business. They get more cash that way. There is a definite community impact when new building is done, but to the tune of $90-100,000 per small business? That is way too excessive. And the fact that they neglected to tell businesses that the city was raising the fees by over 100% is ridiculous. The exorbitant payouts are making it impossible to open a business, unless of course, you have tons of liquid assets to begin with. And before you say, "well, the city needs that money to improve the roads and water systems", the roads in Tehachapi are still in deplorable shape, and the water situation especially in east Golden Hills is critical. Where are all these profits from fees going? I know they are not going toward improvements.

BTW, gube, it is mitigation, not migration.

Apr 11, 2008 at 12:04 PM : Charlee, you may be...

Charlee, you may be correct about mitigation fees being too high in general. But to develop the corner of Tehachapi Blvd and Tucker where Que Pasa is located, the city had to build a sewer force main, i.e., a pumping station to move the wastewater to the wastewater treatment plant, so developing that corner took a substantial outlay by the city. I don't know how much (who does in the crazy quilt of civic accounting?) but I wouldn't be surprised if it were $1M or more.

As for East Golden Hills, that is out of the city limits and none of the mitigation fees paid to the city is going to help that problem. Gotta go see GHCSD for that!

Apr 11, 2008 at 12:04 PM : BTW, gube,...

BTW, gube, it is mitigation, not migration.

lol

Apr 11, 2008 at 12:04 PM : What!....a...

What!....a little off centered........ha ha ha true

Apr 11, 2008 at 12:04 PM : Hey...

Hey who's deleting comments?.....................

Apr 11, 2008 at 01:04 PM : I forgot...

I forgot that GH is in a different jurisdiction. But I sure would like to see some of that revenue going toward street maintenance. The potholes near my house are ridiculous, and what's with those huge trenches at some of the intersections? Those should be levelled out some; I drag my car on them every time, and I'm barely moving.

gube, guess you just thought you were writing about illegal immigration again. ;)

Apr 11, 2008 at 01:04 PM : mi...

mitigation- migration .........it's a honest mistake lol........... I got a big laugh out of it yesterday when oohchild brung it to me attention.....

Apr 11, 2008 at 01:04 PM : Yes Gube a little off...

Yes Gube a little off centered but you have grown on most of us...I cannot believe someone deleted my comment just not right....

Apr 11, 2008 at 03:04 PM : I'm sorry...

I'm sorry eek. What was your comment? I don't like people deleting comments from my blog. But, then again, when I posted this blog I saw it post around 8:00 p.m. one evening and by 8:00 a.m. the next morning it was gone. I had to repost the darned thing. Anyway, post again and see what happens.

As for the cost of the mitigation fees, I do know that the cost to put in new infrastructure is not cheap. But, I also know that your City Hall and City Council are spending money hand over fist like there is no tomorrow. They just don't get that the housing bubble and those 'anticipated' tax revenues are OVER.

We get our mid-year budget for review soon, I hope! Mid-year was January, but the state came down with their cuts and I know we had to wait to see exactly where those cuts were to be made. But, once the mid-year budget is given out, I am going to push for a minimum of 10% cuts across the board. There is no reason that any department should be spending every penny that is budgeted to them. We just can't afford that anymore.

Apr 11, 2008 at 05:04 PM : I had just stated...

I had just stated that what irish1 posted was rude and that gube is sometimes a little off centered but he/she seems like a decent person.... Nothing bad atleast I thought so...

Apr 11, 2008 at 05:04 PM : eek you said...

eek you said nothing rude. I wonder why Irish's post was deleted to? Lets see............both you and Irish's comments where deleted right.......Who deleted them.......Irish sounds like paralegal39 or who I like to call ''Whoopi'' Irish was saying that me gube and Shane and dreamkiller are the same person.I replied to Irish that she sounded like Whoopi and few minuets latter she deletes her comment.

Oh wait a second one of my posts was deleted to ha ha..........that means either Stan or the Admin deleted all 3 comments.............I can't see the Admin deleting them because they where not out of line..........That leaves only Stan...........
Stan are you deleting comments and why?

Apr 11, 2008 at 05:04 PM : Stan, Do...

Stan,

Do you know if the infrastructure costs for any of the new housing developments, of which are now "on-hold", were paid for in advance? Is this another situation similiar to these commercials properties, where the city picked up the tab and waited for the developer to collect and repay? How much in predicted sales tax on these homes was factored into the city budget planning for the next few years? Which new businesses - besides food service - are on the horizon to relocate here? There seems to be plenty of planning and discussion for new street lights in the town center but I heard the schools don't have enough lockers & books? I'm all for maintaining a small-town, cozy atmosphere; I grew in one back in the Northeast; but at some point the city management needs to make some tough financial decisions now to ensure the future is just that - a future.

Scott

Apr 11, 2008 at 08:04 PM : Thanks Gube for not...

Thanks Gube for not getting offended by my comment of you are sometimes off centered but seem like a decent person... I did not mean it to offend you in any way... You really do seem like a decent person with some really good intentions...