The Revolutionary Pen - beta

Betrayal

Rancho Cucamonga’s last General Plan Update was conducted in 2003. As always, the public was invited to participate. So I did, lobbying for several months to have the following language included in the General Plan’s Vision Statement:

“Our city has recognized the importance of the natural resources within its purview and is sensitive to the threatened ecosystems that are present here.”

I was under no illusions. Rancho Cucamonga has never been a haven for nature lovers. No measure of green-washing will ever change this reality. But the statement at least inferred that we have some of the rarest and most valued natural communities found anywhere.

But even this relatively benign statement was apparently too much for our political masters and our latest, ongoing update is apparently an opportunity to get rid of it. The following utterly hollow, meaningless, and transparent statement seemingly takes its place:

“Undertake proactive design and development of lands within our Sphere of Influence, maintaining open space WHEREVER POSSIBLE ” (emphasis added).

As a public servant for nearly 35 years I’ve written my share of bureaucratic claptrap so I know it when I see it. “Wherever possible” are more than just classic weasel words, they are part of the universal lexicon used by snake oil salesmen everywhere.

The duplicity aside, what I find most galling is the perception that saving open space (land) is somehow a fanciful pipedream. It is not. Other communities with far fewer resources are doing it. In fact, I have submitted multiple, concrete proposals to my city. In 2002, I prepared a detailed protection plan which the City endorsed in writing but failed to follow through on.

In Rancho Cucamonga, build out takes precedence over everything else. Rancho’s Redevelopment Director recently boasted to me that they first needed to build the “roofs” before they could attract businesses to the City (according to RealtyTrac, over 4000 of those “roofs” were in some stage of default). And if there is any doubt about who the real bosses are one only has to read the long list of questions sent to each of the candidates for City Council by the Building Industry Association.

Simply, there’s no money in fanciful pipedreams. Rich campaign donors don’t invest in our City Council so they can waste time pursuing fanciful pipedreams. Moreover, time isn’t apportioned to dine with Congressman Gary Miller to discuss fanciful pipedreams. Business needs to be done, profits need to be reaped, and political aspirations need to be achieved.

The City, of course, will provide a litany of excuses explaining why they are helpless in preventing sprawl from spilling onto our hillsides. The bottom line – it’s not in their job description. But their protestations simply don’t wash.

An effort spearheaded by Supervisor Paul Biane (to his credit) has resulted in the consolidation of two open space zones into a single County Service Area. Rancho Cucamonga’s Sphere of Influence (SOI) is now included in County Service Area 120 in its entirety – well over 9000 acres. The effective date of the reorganization is July 1, 2009. The purpose of this newly constituted service area is “open space and habitat conservation, including, but not limited to, the acquisition, preservation, maintenance, and operation of land to protect unique, sensitive, threatened, or endangered species, or historical or culturally significant properties…..”

Now I may be an environmentalist but I’m not whacky enough to believe that the County of San Bernardino has now become a bastion of environmental stewardship. You’ll find no portraits of Rachel Carson or Aldo Leopold at the Hall of Administration. But Supervisor Biane’s initiative is undoubtedly a positive step that should be supported.

But you’ll find no mention of it in Rancho’s new General Plan Update Vision Statement. Why? Given that build out is nearly completed and land is rapidly being annexed in our SOI, the formation of a new County Service Area that overlays our SOI and whose purpose is conservation does seem rather pertinent.

I am always reluctant to attribute human qualities to animals. Nevertheless, weasels do have a reputation for being little rapscallions. They are known to sneak into hen houses, steal eggs without hardly ruffling a feather, and then leave without a trace. Our policymakers, however, have absolutely nothing to fear from them. They’ve long ago extirpated the weasel from my fair city along with a veritable ark of other plants and animals.

So rest in peace, dear weasel, your graves are marked by the “roofs” my City is so proud of and the countless palm trees that make us feel like we are home. Oh and yes, we’ll pay our respects whenever possible.

And if Rancho Cucamonga is seriously interested in public input, here’s mine:

“The City is dedicated to the proposition that our community’s natural wonders are not just gifts we will pass on to our children. They are their birthright.”

By Frank Schiavone

>Copyright © 2008 Frank Schiavone