BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
Political leaders on the Peninsula got a wake-up call the other day. Voters in the San Mateo County city of Millbrae recalled two council members from office over the county’s plans to convert the La Quinta Inn on El Camino into homeless housing.
Maurice Goodman and Angelina Cahalan were ousted because they didn’t sign a letter opposing the county’s plans for La Quinta.
The project would result in more crime and cost the city money, the residents behind the recall said.
In a statement on their website, the recall campaign said that the project is “inviting unstable and dangerous individuals into a city where residents have worked hard to create a quiet and safe enclave for their families.”
This is a victory for residents who are trying to stop large housing projects from being built in their neighborhoods.
Article 34
But this isn’t over. The county supervisors are thinking about putting a question on the November ballot asking voters to suspend Article 34 of the state constitution in the county, which requires voter-approval for government-funded housing.
If Article 34 goes away, that will open the door to a lot of undesirable housing, built without the input of residents.
Millbrae sued the county for violating Article 34, but a judge said the suit was filed prematurely and dismissed it. However, the city is free to bring the suit back in the future, after the damage has been done.
I think everyone wants more housing, but residents need to have a say in where it is located and how big it will be. We shouldn’t let the housing destroy residential neighborhoods.
Let’s strive for balance between big developers and individual homeowners.
Editor Dave Price’s column appears on Mondays.
The two who were recalled were tools of developers and sacramento democrats.
You need to stop changing the facts in order to make what you think is a valid point.
I agree with Dave’s call for balance. The developers and their puppets in local politics have been able to run roughshod over our neighborhoods for years. Time to rebalance the scales of justice and remove the bad guys from office.
These candidates are bankrolled by developers. For instance, Rick Bonilla, got a warning letter from the FPPC over donations he got from developer Windy Hill Properties. Let’s get developer money out of local politics.
As you vote this fall, remember that both Marc Berman running for Assembly and Josh Becker running for the state Senate voted for SB9 and SB10 to force local governments to accept housing developments with four units per residential lot despite their zoning laws. I will vote for their opponents.