I.B.
Voters' Guide
Stalheim?
dations to the Historical
Resources Board that the
1887 Coronado Belt Line
Railroad “was not historic.”
The board overruled his rec-
comendation uananamously.
His recommendation was
based, not on fact, but on the
influences and request of
County Supervisor Greg Cox,
who seems to have lots of
influence over not only
Stalheim, but Patricia
McCoy, Diane Rose, Mayda
Winter, Fred McLean and
Jim Janney — and that’s just
in Imperial Beach! I could
write chapters about Cox and
Chula Vista, the Port,
MTDB/MTS, SANDAG,
NCTD, Regional Joint
Powers Authorities, water
districts, city halls, and the
County Board of Supervisors.
Don’t make me go there right
now, because this is supposed
to be about Stalheim.
Most people do not under-
stand “redevelopment” but,
recently, a growing number
of people have become con-
cerned about the use of
unconstitutional powers to
take private property through
emminant domain. This is a
key ingredient to the RDA’s
recipe for disaster.
Stalheim is one of those
pro-redevelopment bureau-
crats, who facilitates the
process though a smoke-and-
mirrors shell game called
“open public hearings.” His
job is to go into an area slated
for redevelopment and hold
hearings for public input
about the impacts and design
characteristics of a proposed
project. The so-called public
meetings do let residents talk
— which amounts to little
more than a therapeutic vent-
ing of frustration prior to
anger setting in. His method-
ology is to divide the audi-
ence into four working
groups and rotate discussion
groups. Leaders and plants
try to shape and direct the
scope of the group discus-
sions. This was tried by con-
sultants and Community
Development’s Greg Wade at
a recent workshop in
Imperial Beach. Wade used
to work for San Diego
Planning. Was “Senior
Planner Maxx Stahlman” his
supervisor?
Most of the residents who
attended the Imperial Beach
workshop saw though the
charade and just wanted their
opinions heard by everyone
in the room;unfiltered by
some group leader who
would lead them by the nose
to a predetermined result.
Mayor Rose was determined
not to lose control over the
direction of the discussion at
such meeings. There were
always sufficient ringers and
plants in the crowd to get all
the developers’ bullet points
on record so that when they
finally reported on the project
it was still the same project
they started with, but had
never presented to the regular
people who had attended the
meetings in good faith.The
results surprised most resi-
dents that attended the meet-
ings! Since many of the pro-
jects Stalheim is involved
with displace long-term busi-
nesses and residents, this
should be a warning signal to
watch out! The entire charade
is intended to circumvent the
spirit, if not the letter, of the
Brown Act!
Mayda Winter recently
brought back a proposal from
the regional park JPA for the
City Council to vote on. It
seems that the Otay Valley
Regional Park Joint Powers
Authority has over $10 mill-
lion in grant money to admin-
ister wildlife programs on
contaminated floodplain
property, as mitigation for
unbridled development to the
East. The County’s
Endangered Species Act,
which McCoy and Winter
helped write, allows this land
to be used for mitigation for
even more development.
Grease my palm?
I am still trying to find out
if McCoy, Winter and the
Carey’s pet project SWIA,
will administer any of the
grant money — they’ll get a
fee of course!
Stalheim’s job is to neu-
tralize opposition to proposed
development and create a
public record that shows that
the final plan was based on
public input. He already
knows what a project will be
like before the process starts.
He just needs to make sure
that any Brown Act
Violations are not reported by
giving the appearance of
open, free public meetings,
propertly posted and docu-
mented prior to the meeting.
The conclusions and reports
that follow are a manipula-
tion of the fixed input at
those smoke-and-mirrors so-
called public input sessions.
The participants are herded
like sheep to the slaughter,
never knowing what was
ahead. Maxx goes wherever
Cox has an interest. He’s got
lots of pretty pictures, maps,
photos and archetectural ren-
derings. Pretty pictures…if
your property isn’t in his
path.
Stalheim is a “yes man”
— a good soldier for Cox and
the regional political macin-
ery. If Stalheim wins a seat
on the IBCC, he could not
only sit on the City’s RDA,
but also be appointed as rep-
resentative to SANDAG,
where his regional vote will
count up in Cox’s column —
as has Patricia McCoy’s these
past years. He could grease
his development buddies and
the insinders he’s been culti-
vating in a professional
Nov. 2006 - I. B. Voters' Guide - Page 5
capacity for many years.
Stalheim will transform
Imperial beach, but….maybe
not in the way the local resi-
dent’s think it needs to be
transformed. The friends of
Cox/Malcolm & Company
will benefit, while the tax-
payers of Imperial Beach will
pay for it.
When the most powerful
Republican in the county
supports these Democrats
over his own party’s nomi-
nees, you know that someone
is doing favors for Cox. Is
voting Cox’s way at
SANDAG, the Port District,
MTS/MTDB, Otay Valley
Regional Park, etc. McCoy,
Stalheim and Janney’s ticket
for political endorsements
from Cox?
Our current council is
inexperienced at flexing its
redevelopment muscle.
Having Stalheim on the
Council and the RDA will
speed up the processs, pro-
viding economic opportuni-
ties for all the consultants and
developers that Stalheim has
worked with previously all
over the county. It will give
Cox’s friends and supporters
first crack at taking valuable
property in Imperial Beach
for corporate welfare. All of
this, of course, will be paid
for by the increased tax incre-
ment to your already higher
appraised property value.
Somebody will have to pay
the bill.
Statistics posted on
SEE STALHEIM, PAGE 8