Dear Editor,
Brock Tower (Daily Press opinion 6/26, "I’ve Had It" by Charles Andrews) will probably never get built because of the daunting economics of high-rise construction, but fear-mongering has proven an effective political tool. The image you published is a rendering, not a photograph, yet Brock Tower is emblematic of what is happening to our city because Brock prefers bluster to effective policy-making.
Our residential neighborhoods are now dotted with "builder’s remedy" projects, a direct result of Brock, Parra, and de la Torre having voted for a fatally flawed Housing Element — despite professional advice that it would not pass state muster and would result in significant penalties to our community. Rather than thinking through the best long-term policy (which is hard work), they chose to pander to extreme no-growthers and roll the dice with Sacramento. They lost and so, we all lost.
Impulsive bad decisions have been a hallmark of this unfortunate Council majority. Two years ago they pushed a 2am vote that could have destroyed rent control. At the most recent Council meeting, without meaningful public input, they summarily changed long-standing wall and hedge height rules, but only in renter neighborhoods… a change that our police have warned will make residents less safe. And that vote was taken at 3am, making sure that more reasoned voices could not be heard.
Fortunately, Council meetings are recorded on YouTube, and residents do watch, although the Brock Council does its best to operate out of sight. We watch, we understand, we learn.
Thanks for your four years of instructive service, Phil, Oscar and Christine. You’ve taught us that candidates promising blue sky, but who have no real plan to make things better, can be disastrously inadequate for the difficult job of actually running our city. It’s time for us to elect new councilmembers more committed to policy than posturing.
Kevin McKeown, Retired former Mayor
