By: U.R. Krupt

As seen many times before, in pretty much every project the City undertakes, the welfare of the residents is not the focus. Oh, they say in all their fluff and fodder that we are the main purpose and concern for whatever endeavor they dive into, but please, why is it then that the actual folks that reside in this town are always getting a raw deal? Let’s examine the purchase of the Miracle Shopping Center for example…

The City acts as if they have done us all a huge favor by expending millions to purchase the property, in hopes to develop it into a “destination” place for tourists and the like. This is 9^th & Palm. A just over 4 acre thin strip of rectangle shaped property. They have visions of what, a Horton Plaza type arrangement? Did you vote on this? No. Without any ballot measure or basic poll taking of any resident that is not either being paid by the City, or affiliated with the project, the City has expended much time, effort and money to gain access to this property. They spent tens of thousands of dollars on consultants, and shmoozed several developers (that have already backed out of the deal), spending money for years on property that was owned not by the City but by an individual. Much needed money that could have been used to pave alleyways, fix streets, and secure our safety with fireman and police, or on any other number of real necessities that our city requires. The process of the entire issue has been and is, very underhanded on the City’s part, but of course, smothered with lots of sunshine filled candy coating, in the hopes that either the residents won’t ever realize just how rotten the insides truly are, or not realize it until the decision makers are long gone and can’t be held accountable.

Nationwide, look at what trouble the government has us all in. Now is not the time to blindly trust. We need what keeps us stable and works for us as a community. We need to get down to basics, stop throwing away what little money and assets we have on maybes and pipe dreams. We need to do what helps the residents have a good quality of life on a daily basis instead of making them take the brunt of it all and compromise their lives for a wishful wanting of it just may be possible, if it all goes perfectly, if we keep our fingers crossed, if we can only grab that big gold brass ring out there, then it just may all work out types of projects. This town’s council and city manager unfortunately must be very gullible or just don’t truly care for the residents to so often go with the “we can turn water into gasoline and make millions” types of projects that never reach or even come close to their intended goals and leave the community worse off in the end. Of course they personally always seem to come away with padded pockets of some sort, so maybe they are not so much “gullible” as they are sinister. But I digress…

Back to the shopping center, for starters, the Miracle Shopping Center has always had thriving businesses. They may not be been high end stores, but they fit the needs and purposes of our city. The owner of the Miracle Shopping Center had been happy with what he had and was not looking to sell his property. He had been making a decent living while providing much needed resources to the local residents and visitors for years. Obviously providing by having local, nearby necessity based stores and restaurants that people frequent on a daily basis. Not so obvious to everyone, by the taxes he paid to the city that in turn, the city then uses to serve the community (or at least should be). The city depends upon and enjoys that income, and has for decades.  The city had no problems, or issues with how the property looked, and welcomed the customers/visitors that chose to shop there.  It was not until a few years ago when the housing market began to climb, property values doubling, that the City began this “redevelopment” plan in an attempt to acquire money at the expense of its very own residents that make up the city itself.  This was when the City began to target the Miracle Shopping Center for possible future increased revenue.

With eyes wide shut and possible money to be made in the rising market, they were no longer satisfied with the amount of tax they were receiving from the property’s owner and had a plan to change that. They would need to have the commercial property sold at the current market value, and then the taxes would be rated at the purchase price, not on what the current owner had bought it for. Cha-ching. Another added bonus, if they change the zoning laws making it a mixed-use, commercial and residential zone then not only would they be making money on retail but also on the potential sales and yearly taxes of the 200 plus condos that sit on top of the stores. Sure the now low-density neighborhood would become inundated with high density overcrowding, increased noise, traffic, parking, crime and safety, water, trash and sewer issues (to name just a few problems) completely ruining the very reason why individuals purchased their homes in the first place, but why not? The decision makers don’t live in the immediate area so lets go for the money and forget about the good quality of life for the surrounding residents and overall benefit to the community. But there was a small problem; the current owner was not interested in selling. The council with stars in their eyes was very determined to get their way. Knowing the owner did not want to sell they continued pursuing developers, spending money on consultants, designs, reports and the like. Costing us tens of thousands of dollars. Never asking the voters or people if this might be something they’d like to spend their money on or be apart of doing. Once they had a so-called big time developer interested with some ridiculous plan of retail stores and condos that other cities had already tried and were failing at they still had to get the current owner to sell.

They were going to get the property anyway possible. Pressure from the city by any and every means possible to encourage the sale of the shopping center came down hard. Harassment, fines, code enforcement, and liens against the property. If the owner did not give in and sell to the developer, the city would create the parameters in which they could acquire the property through eminent domain and then sell the property themselves. The owner wasn’t interested.  It was then that they began their citywide propaganda towards a “blighted”, unsightly mall. They wanted to force a sale or make the property available by means of eminent domain. The surrounding homes too, although the largest lots, and low-density in town are suddenly being touted as low income and in need of help to aid in the masquerade. They follow outlined step-by-step guidelines to file for grant money from the state with bogus “elements” fulfilled. “Elements” in this instance being what needs to be occurring in an area in order for a city to be eligible for “redevelopment” grant monies. Low-income, health and safety issues, blight to name a few. If they receive state funds for redevelopment, it basically gives them more ammunition to allow them to move forward towards eminent domain of private property according to laws and municipal codes because they have proven to the state that the area is in need of redevelopment. A few overly-indulged if not completely false cumulative code violations, some selective enforcement, graffiti, liens, a couple of council meetings and of course some bad press to get the word out there and next thing you know, eminent domain is accomplished. There’s no way to fight it, the ones watching over the decision makers are in fact the same ones making the decisions.

Again, no citizen’s input or desire for this, no proposition for the residents to vote on. In fact, once the word of condos being built got out there was a mild effort from the businesses and citizens to collect signatures against the project. Without even trying, they collected over 2500 signatures from registered voter area residents stating directly that they DO NOT want condos or any type of residences at that site. That amount of registered voters is more than what each elective official received to get into their current seats on council, including the Mayor. The people have spoken. That is what the people want. The City is selling us out. The very people we voted to represent us, to voice our opinions, to make decisions that will enhance and enrich our lives as a community, are not. They have forgotten the “people” factor, and are blinded by personal greed.

The owner tried on several occasions to work with the city. The owner was willing to renovate and update the property. A “facelift” as they say, but the City would not issue any permits or give him the “okay” to pursue any action of this type or kind. There was no real financial benefit to achieve if they allowed this to occur. The so-called “blight” wasn’t the real issue; it was just a smokescreen and a means to an end.  You see, the “City” in attempts to gain a larger amount of tax based money, needed to have that property. Also, if they were going to change the zoning, they wanted to make the most profit out of it, and letting the current owner do it wouldn’t get them enough. They pushed and manipulated until the owner could do nothing more then circum to a sale or be forced out by eminent domain and make nothing. And so the City bought his property. They bought it for millions. Not one, not two, but for the just over 4-acre site, including the adjoining plot, they spent in the realm of eleven million dollars. Eleven million dollars from a city that continues to spout looming bankruptcy year after year.(From a city that says they can’t afford to have an election?)  The City does not have the public’s best interest in mind. At this point, the economy is down, housing sales and profit down. But still they push forward. Already two of the developers that the city was counting on buying the property to develop, have pulled out and declined purchase. A claim of bringing in major retail stores to help bring in business is wishful thinking. Retail stores everywhere, even major retail stores are dropping off like flies. They’re trying their best to keep what they have afloat and are not looking to open up at new locations even in major cities. A town based with only 26,000 people total and an income base far less than an average of $40,000 per year is most certainly not profitable, and not a desirable location for them. This also remains true during times of success. Unfortunately, we just aren’t big enough to sustain the amount of business larger retail companies need to achieve to be a success. And that’s okay. We can still be successful without turning our town upside down.

So what now?  The city owns the property; they won’t receive any taxes for it, at least prior to the purchase the city was receiving tax money that was a positive. They have to pay for the insurance and upkeep of the property. It’s a continual loss until they can find someone to buy it from them. Instead of allowing the residents to continue receiving the benefits of the shopping center, while at the same time without any major inconvenience, improving the aesthetics, they have chosen for us, to shut down, demolish, and hopefully if they can find a developer to purchase the property,(they will give the property to the developer for free!) rebuild something sometime in the future. How many years will this take? All with the hopes that it may get the spaces filled and people to come to town. What? So everyone that currently depends on the resources that are available will soon be completely put out, inconvenienced, and just plain out of luck. The monetary aspect of the surrounding homes (property values) will be worth less with no amenities and a huge dirt lot. A raw deal.

The property has been profitable; the businesses that had been there were making money. It was an economically stable, moneymaker, key word, was. The businesses that have recently left have not done so wantonly. They asked for new leases when theirs expired. They had every intention of continuing. It is the city that has decided to not renew any leases. They need to have the businesses leave under the assumption to the public that they are not doing well and had to close their business in order to make it seem as if the shopping center needs to be redeveloped. Oh, the shopping center is economically blighted, stores are pulling out and no money is being made. And in fact this is now true, thanks in all to the council and city manager. They say we must rebuild and bring in new stores. That doesn’t really add up either though, if the businesses that are there now can’t even survive (according to the city heads) how will any other do any better?  It’s all a bunch of twisted words and false ideas that benefits only those with their hand in the cookie jar. Could it even be possible that the developer who ends up with the deal perhaps donated funds to campaigns of those in previous and current offices? Hmm? Its not like it hasn’t happened before. (Can you say Dan Malcolm?) We’ll have to wait and see on that one.

For now, the word is that the city will be demolishing the Miracle Shopping Center in December of this year, leaving it as an empty lot not making any money or providing any services to the public what so ever, but costing us extensively just the same. So far with no developer on board and no real plans to begin construction we will be left in the dust. No grocery store this side of palm, no pharmacy, no barber, no skate shop for the children. The conveniences we have all come accustomed to, necessities we all need, gone. The public taking the brunt of it all, the future unclear, and most likely out of our hands, that is unless we ban together and become a strong voice in this community.

On a side note: There is a grass roots effort that is trying to grow and be heard. A way for the ordinary citizens to take back the city from the political corruption that is so prevalent today. It is called the CCBG. The Community Commission for Better Government.  Every citizen is welcome. The CCBG is not run or in any way connected with any politician or city official. The only agenda is to give a true voice to the individuals of our community, to scrutinize, and hold accountable those in office for what they say and do, that they are responsible for their actions and must not be given a get out of jail free card. The public is watching and taking notes.

What the public wants to happen with the Miracle Shopping Center is this: Remain a zoned-commercial use only, no condos/residential or hotels, renew, and refresh the aesthetics while keeping the businesses that are currently there open and running. Renew their leases. We need the grocery store, pharmacy, and other stores to remain functioning businesses for our own daily quality of life. No “mansionization”, do not overbuild with eyes of grandeur. Keep with the size and look of the surrounding local homes and the businesses across the street on Palm. Have it resemble CVS and Wally’s theme. Visitors will come for the hometown feel, the relaxed mood, more so than a fast paced retail filled mall found in any city. Respect the town and what it is. Use the originality that this town has to offer and exploit that if you must. Small many times is better. Less is more so they say. Carbon copies and attempts at becoming something you should never be is a quick way to failure. Keep the economy we currently have and build on that. Do not chase away profitable business with the hopes that something may show up and may be profitable.
But ah, yes, what the public truly wants and needs is seldom what the council and city manager says the public wants and needs, unless of course that’s where the money is.

Alas the end result in gosh-darn every project in this city is not what is best for the residents and what would enhance the quality of life for us, it is more about the amount of funds they can manipulate and skim and have just plain disappear. It’s really unfortunate for the nice town of Imperial Beach and the people that reside here.
So, this Miracle Shopping Center situation continues to be a hot spot of deception, fraud and manipulation. The Con is On and we need to read between the lines. Demand public input, a proposition on a ballot, laid out plans that specifically outlines what the city’s intention is for this property, a legal public vote before any more funds are thrown at it. Be vigilant and keep your eyes and ears open and voice your opinion. To be continued…