Mendocino Crossing not needed

Ukiah Common Sense wrote:

Costco, Trader Joe's, Target... all are needed in Ukiah. We NEED those jobs and the tax dollars they provide. We need the improvements around here that only development can bring. Time to pull our heads out of the sand, and embrace improvements. None of these stors can go to the Walmart mess because that area is already a nightmare to get in and out. Costco or any other big development would need an EIR and that would show outrageous improvements needed that make that part of town fiscally impossible.

while i agree that it would be nice to see a Target or a Costco (i'm not anti-growth, but against the Masonite project), i would counter your argument that we really need the types of jobs they provide, as they are primarily low-wage and the profits go to a large corporation with no personal stake in our community. additionally, i don't see that the Airport Park area would be incapable of sustaining the growth, as that was obviously the point of the project to begin with, plus there is ample room to increase traffic flow and possibly even add an additional outlet and/or freeway on/off ramp.

John McCowen is by far the best qualified to represent us on planning issues. He has over eight years on the County Planning Commission. He knows the issues. And he has proven he will stand up for the public interest in the face of pressure from the special interests.

Delbar wants to turn our valley into a strip mall and communter housing for Santa Rosa. These ideas are as dead as the dinosaurs. Vote out Delbar. Vote in Carre Brown and John McCowen. They will vote for the public interest, not the special interests.

No on the Masonite Mall a.k.a. Mendocino Crossings. When Mayfield and Mulhern were defeated in the primary it was a clear rejection for the outside developers that want to suck up all our water and sewer resources, create a traffic nightmare and destroy our downtown.

Now that they and all there supporters are backing Clifton they have a candidate again. She and they say she is "willing to listen to all sides" before she makes up her mind about Masonite. They are not supporting McCowen because they know he will continue to stand up to them like he has for years.

There is a myth that the handful of developers who support clifton represent the community. McCowen has far more business support than she does and it is drawn from a full cross section of the community, not a narrow band of self-interested developers.

McCowen has already listened to the public. And the public has been clear on this issue. We do not need or want the Masonite Mega Mall. We have enough land already zoned for retail. We need to keep our best industrial site for living wage jobs. McCowen has heard the community and he represents our interest. That is why I am voting for John.

First District voters should vote for Carre Brown. Mike Delbar is one of driving forces behind the Masonite mega Mall. He is supported by DDR, Dick Seltzer, the Mayfields, and all the other developer toadies who want the Masonite Mall. If they win the public loses.

Just say no to the big box Mega Mall developers and their chosen candidate. Clifton sought and obtained the support of all the major players who are backing the Masonite Mall. I am worried that she can't be trusted to stand up to them.

I like the electric car idea.

I just got a call as I sit here.
A mall is just another empty pit for consuming goods.
What this country needs, if we want to flourish, is to produce goods.
I would have liked to see northern California stay small. But those days are over. Meanwhile, let's not lose out on the new economy. It's going to be electric vehicles. And we're already behind. When battery research starts picking up, the car companies will begin sprouting. This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity. An industrial location. Don't blow it with silly wasted space.
I like the idea of the e-car facility. It's the future. And the future is now. We either get on board, or they will leave us behind.
Having been a mechanical engineer at McGeehee, I just might come out of retirement for something like that.

yeah i was at costco in rohnert park this weekend and saw two families that i know from ukiah. but sure no one shops there. get real. stop living in the clouds.

the "mendocino crossings" project is more than just costco and target. its live work, its mass transit, have you even researched it or do you just sit back and complain? have you looked at the drawings? does it look like just one big box to you?

http://www.mendocinocrossings.com/renderings....

and costco pays more than minimum wage, and they actually have qualifications for their employees not like wal-mart and big lots!

i personally have no problem w/ a Costco coming in; i know they're a huge draw, pay more competitive wages, and pose less of a threat to small locally owned businesses than more specialized corporate retailers.

and i'd trade WalMart for Target in a heartbeat.

however, i'm opposed to killing off one of our last industrial zoned properties (and such a large one to boot) when we have ample space available on Airport Park Blvd, not to mention the soon to be vacated Mervyn's building, the numerous empty spaces at Crossroads, etc.

Nov 21, 2008
Letter to the Editor:
At the Nov 20 “Business Leaders Luncheon” at Fort Bragg’s North Coast Brewery, Jeff Adams, chief developer for Diversified Developers Realty/DDR’s Mendocino Crossings mega-mall proposal for the old Masonite property in Ukiah, claimed that Mendocino County folks and businesses spend over $50,000,000 a year at the CostCo in Santa Rosa. So much for the efforts to promote shopping locally! The thought of spending my meager monies at any CostCo mega-mall anywhere or shopping at WalMart to further enrich a family (the Waltons) with way too many billionaires is like drinking a Budweiser instead of a Red Seal ale or any other N. Coast Brewery (or Anderson Valley Brewery or Ukiah Brewery for that matter) beer. I prefer to buy a better quality, locally made product -- even if it costs more because that supports folks I know!
To support the DDR mega-mall is to support a company that compensated its CEO $11,000,000 in 2007 (double his 2006 pay), yet faces $1.7 billion in debt maturing within the next two years! DDR is now trying to sell some of its 700+ properties and is cutting its dividends on common shares to $1.50 in 2009 (from a high of $72.33 in Feb of 2007). DDR has no commitment from CostCo (who could build on their own); some of their other possible tenants, Mervyns and Circuit City, have gone under; Standard & Poor reduced their credit rating; their stock value plummeted and recently has been traded at multiples of 30 million shares a day - possibly indicating inner mangement may have dumped their holdings after a Green Street Advisors report described bankruptcy as a definite risk.
Yet, Jeff Adams, their local developer (who has never even met his CEO) is promising to invest $100,000,000 in infrastructure improvements, design development and the precarious & lengthy politicized Mendocino planning process. This borders on the incredulous, as in fake it till you make it. We see retail sales collapsing, malls like the huge one in Eiureka folding-up shops, an epedemic of foreclosures on macmansion homes thru-out the state, and are still asked to believe the Mendocino Crossing Masonite mega-mall will ‘create’ 700 (low paying) jobs and generate $25,000,000 in new property taxes for the County. I ain’t buying it!
Sceptically yours, Skip Taube, Mendocino, CA