There is nothing like the threat of insolvency and a downgrade to junk bond status to motivate traditionally liberal politicians to abandon the environmentalists who heavily fund their campaigns. Last week Governor Jerry Brown of California tossed one of his core campaign-bundling constituency under-the-bus at a bill-signing event in downtown Los Angeles. As Brown signed his third measure this year that dramatically narrows the “sustainable” crowd’s ability to use litigation to delay or kill capital projects, the governor said it is time for, “big ideas and big projects,” especially ones to “get people working.” With the pace of public insolvencies and Chapter 9 municipal bankruptcy fillings accelerating across the U.S., Brown is the vanguard for high profile progressives willing to bet that capitalism can pull them back from the precipice of disgrace and potential recall. Continue reading
Category Archives: Development
Costa Mesa’s Triangle (Square) is getting hotter
A few years ago, in one of my weekly columns in the Daily Pilot, I brought the idea of creating a hot spot at Triangle Square. Back then it made sense, and it still makes sense today.
Black night/olive branch pizza has decided to move operations from E. 17th Street to the Triangle inCosta Mesa. Triangle owners chopped off the Square word because, I guess, it sounds too lame or because it isn’t square enough to be called that way.
Now, does it mean that with another restaurant bar the number of drunk people will increase in Costa Mesa? Well, some community activists in the east side think that it will, and they are already making some fuss about it. I’m sure they are promising they will fight back once the project gets to the City Council later this year. Continue reading
AUHSD Trustee Brandman waived thousands in school developer fees too
Do these limo liberals care about our schools? No they don’t!
It turns out that Anaheim City Council candidate Jordan Brandman didn’t break new ground when he decided to publicly support the $158 million hotel bed tax giveaway that his allies, Council Members Gail Eastman, Kris Murray and Harry Sidhu voted for.
For three year in a row, the Anaheim Union High School District (AUHSD) trustees, including Brandman, voted to defer their developer fees until the Gardenwalk project was complete. That was Brandman’s gift to the Orange County Business council, the Anaheim Chamber of commerce, big developers and SOAR (the Anaheim Resort Political Action Committee). Continue reading