Recently, Redwood City residents have been growing concerned over their city council members’ numerous professions and how they affect their decision making process. City mayor Jeff Ira is putting the environmentally damaging Cargill project into consideration, a project that will create dozens of homes at the expense of wildlife in the Redwood City salt ponds. Cargill is aiming to develop the salt ponds into a new city with a population of 30,000 people. It would be the largest bay fill in the last 50 years.
The Cargill project is very dangerous, and the prospect of its approval is very disturbing to local residents, but what perhaps is more disturbing is the fact that many RWC council members have affiliations that suggest ulterior motives for passage of the Cargill proposal. One surprising fact is that many current council members are, or have been a part of the Chamber of Commerce. It is easy to see why this could affect their decision making process. As part of the Chamber of Commerce, it is their duty to seek favor with businesses and welcome their proposals, but as City Council Members it is their duty to serve the interests of the people first. With these opposing roles it is impossible to make impartial decisions. Therefore, they can no longer be trusted to make a decision reflecting the will of the people regarding the recent Cargill development proposal. Although it is clear that the Cargill proposal, if passed, will cause irreparable damage to the bay and its wildlife, the Redwood City Council has decided to take it into consideration.
A few years ago, while some RWC council members were part of the Chamber of commerce, the Chamber of Commerce secretively (a fancy word for illegally) spent over $25,000 in campaign contributions to oppose Measure W. Measure W, if passed, would have halted urban growth in all open spaces in Redwood City and the Cargill salt ponds, at the benefit of the environment. Now, when facing a similar decision as city council members, they are bound to place similar interests and their priority of businesses over the environment in their decision. Council Members also have other affiliations that impact their decisions. For example, Rosanne Foust’s husband is a real estate lawyer and the building of houses in the Cargill project would be beneficial to their income.
In addition, Cargill has recently invited prominent city officials to a dinner party to “explain” their proposal. However, several city officials including the mayor have received several expensive gifts from Cargill, such as tickets to a Stanford vs. Arizona football game, free airport parking, wine baskets, and gift cards. It is more than likely that city officials are being bribed by Cargill to lend support to their environmentally catastrophic proposal. City Council Member Rosanne Foust, also the past mayor of Redwood City, had recently made a biased decision when she proceeded with an environmental review on the Cargill proposal. Foust is also the president and CEO of the San Mateo County Economic Development Association, which is usually in favor of economic development proposals.
It is quite obvious that city officials are being bought out by the Cargill industry. The RWC members also have associations that compromise their impartiality on this crucial decision. It is imperative that the people of Redwood City speak out against Cargill’s proposal and are aware of what is going on within their council.
Vedang Uttarwar
Ajay Mandlekar
Saif Adeeb
Cargill has at its disposal millions of dollars, unlimited public relations dollars and an aggressive development team with no qualms about buying favors.
ReplyDeleteHowever, what Cargill doesn’t have, and can’t buy, is the honesty, resilience and fearlessness of youth.