One Brick Shy

Published Sept. 11, 2013 in Tulare County's Foothills Sun-Gazette

     "Let it come in," said the pleasant man who's been sharing his thoughts with me the last few months on the Dollar General project in Lindsay.  "We need something downtown."

     That certainly would have been easier.  With this added, unpaid workload, the last few weeks I've wondered if I'm one brick shy of a load.  But in honor of the democratic process and all the people who stand to lose, instead we sued the City of Lindsay and all interested parties to stop the project until certain conditions are met.

     Broadly speaking, one of those conditions is to obey the laws governing cities, particularly the laws regarding planning and development, but also the conduct of open government.  Our city has been ignoring those laws so long they think they're exempt.  In the name of everyone in the past who has been harmed by this arrogant ignorance and everyone who will be harmed in the future if it's not stopped, this lawsuit is a tap on the shoulder suggesting those days are over.

     Another condition is that the potential losses from, and problems created by the project, be assessed before it is constructed.  The project proponents - the City, the developer, and the property sellers - only proclaim the benefits.  Self-interest naturally guides the property sellers.  The developer's job is to convince the City that the benefits outweigh the costs; that's what he gets paid the big bucks to do.  The City's job, however, is to assess the costs and ensure that the benefits truly do outweigh them, and to require mitigation for costs to the community as needed.  Our City has not done their job.

     A third condition is to step up to the plate and include historic preservation as part of the City's development toolbox.  The 1989 General Plan, created 7 years before we became a Charter City and adopted the "strong city manager" form of government, commits the City to doing this.  Unfortunately, historic preservation has been seen as an impediment to the City's development desires since Scot Townsend rose to the top.  The proposed demolition of the Citrus Exchange Building for the original Dollar General plan was the most recent public example of a long string of Lindsay landmarks that were slated for removal during the Redevelopment Agency era.  One look at Exeter and Reedley, two towns that have preserved older buildings and landmarks in their downtown core, shows what can be done to attract people hungry for more intimate environments, places with a history.

     We need something downtown, alright, and it's not more brick sidewalks and landscaped bulbouts.  We need people to invest in their existing buildings and encourage businesses that will attract more foot traffic, not subtract from what already exists.  We need City staff who care about helping the existing businesses, not harming them, and who want to bring residents into the planning process, not exclude them.  We need the Council to recognize when sleights of hand are occurring and call the cards.  And most of all, we need residents willing to pitch in and hold the Council's feet to the fire until they require the staff to uphold the laws and protect all the town's residents, not just a few property owners.

     When we start getting these things, Lindsay won't be missing any bricks.
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Trudy Wischemann is an open-eyed student of small farm towns who dreams of their renewal.  You can send her your observations and dreams % P.O. Box 1374, Lindsay CA 93247 or leave a comment below.