By Emerson Drake
1/30/11
Watching the performance by city staff and Joe Muratore supporting the latest developer giveaway of more than $480,000.00 was a stomach turning experience.
Most acknowledge that those who ignore the mistakes of the past are doomed to repeat it, yet Muratore, Burnside, Lopez, and Ridenour embraced the past folly of the Village I fee rollback which cost the City of Modesto's taxpayers an estimated $50 Million dollars.
The council voted 4-2 to lower the waste water capacity fees from $4,905 per lot to $500 essentially giving a free ride to developers and sticking the average Modesto water rate payer with their bill.
The excuse the "Gang of Four" used to support the giveaway was "they reduced to total number of lots by "22" but they seemed to forget how they raised our sewer bills to pay for the new waste water plant.
Muratore, Lopez, Burnside, and soon to be termed out Mayor Ridenour, don't mind charging us but they aren't willing to make their campaign donors pay their fair share. At 38 minutes into the meeting Ridenour actually chortles over costs involved.
You just handed over to Florsheim Developement of Stockton $4,105 dollars per lot and we're talking about 114 lots, or more than $480,000.
Now this is what Joe Muratore has repeatedly called "low hanging fruit."But that's my money and yours, not Florsheim's and Joe's.I
t was disappointing to see Brad Hawn, a candidate for Mayor was noticeably absent. We suppose he didn't want to go on record supporting the giveaway.
Again a hearty thanks to Garrad Marsh and Dave Geer for trying to defend the average Modesto citizen.
