Jim said: All Rybak had to do, and still can do, was admit it was a mistake caused by poor information from his staff and assure the voting public that this inattention will not happen again. Me: He would have a difficult time saying it was a mistake caused by poor information Jim. Yes, the CPED planner (now retired) missed the ball completely by not using the approved small area plan when writing the staff recommendations. The planner assigned to this project said he "didn't even know it existed". Then the CPED project manager for the project never surfaced with the contracts for this site that would have contradicted the applications being considered. None of this information was made available to the Planning Commission when they made their decision on this. But Marian Biehn, the highly competent Development Manager for the Whittier Alliance assembled 3 ring binders tabbed and highlighted for speedy access with all the information that should have made denying the rezoning, conditional use permits or variances for this development an easy decision. The Zoning and Planning Sub-Committee, the full City Council and the Mayors officer were given copies of two executed city contracts that clearly specified that there was an approved plan that Sabri agreed to follow in the development. The Zoning and Planning Committee completely ignored this information as did the Mayor. There was a city approved plan for the area that emerged from thousands of hours of thoughtful citizen input that the Z&P committee and the mayor again ignored. So, two executed city contracts and an approved policy document were blown off in this vote. What really galls me in this situation is that there were many many Somali tenants who tried to reason with the mayor to get him to support the denial BEFORE he vetoed the council decision. These people organized by Omar Jamal relayed countless stories of fear, intimidation, abuse and downright thuggery on the part of Sabri and he ignored that too. The only reason the veto was overturned is because the mayor realized upholding the veto could place the city in some legal soup. It was R.T. who encouraged Scott Benson and Don Samuels to change their votes and overturn the veto, based on the advice of the City Attorneys office. At any rate, that is water under the bridge at this point and we are now stuck with one hell of an ugly, cheaply constructed building down on 29th and Karmel Blvd. Back to the current scandal, I do not believe for one minute that Mayor Rybak had any part of this horrid corruption. These alleged acts were poor judgment on Dean's part and Dean's part alone. However, during the last campaign R.T. saw fit to lay some of the responsibility for the Herron scandal at the feet of Sharon Sayles Belton. That is when he whipped out the giant green air freshener and started touting the need to restore ethics and confidence to city hall. Well, by the looks of things, the air freshener didn't work and I don't see him whipping it around anywhere now. I would say what is good for the goose is good for the gander. He believed four years ago that some responsibility for the Brian Herron scandal should lay at the feet of Sharon Sayles Belton. I believe four years later that some responsibility for the Zimmermann scandal should also lay at R.T.'s feet. Most especially as it pertains to his support of the Sabri development. BTW, Gary Carlson who is the developer of record on the 24th and Chicago development project has a long term relationship with the Sabri family. As I understand it he wrote the mortgage for the first property the Sabri's bought. I was told by both Gary Carlson and Omar Sabri that they were financial partners in the development on 24th and Chicago. So while there may not be direct and chargeable involvement from any of the Sabri's in this bribery scandal, I will bet they are somewhere in the wings. I think more will unfold as this case proceeds further. One thing for sure is that the people of the 6th ward have been done a great disservice. I have been out and about today on the campaign trail for my two favorite candidates. People are shocked, angry and disappointed about the scandal. But, the beat goes on..... Barb Lickness Whittier
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