{"id":105,"date":"2008-10-17T01:01:00","date_gmt":"2008-10-17T01:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/terragrafix.com\/blog\/?p=105"},"modified":"2008-10-17T01:01:00","modified_gmt":"2008-10-17T01:01:00","slug":"emeryvilles-70-million-bailout","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.thesecretnewsonline.com\/?p=105","title":{"rendered":"Emeryville’s $70 Million "Bailout""},"content":{"rendered":"

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Subsidies to Developers Will Cost $7,000 per Resident — Three Times that of the Federal Bailout<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Edited version of Council Member John Fricke’s Letter to Emeryville Residents
(sent via email on Sept. 28, 2008)<\/p>\n

The Bush Administration\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s $700 billion bailout of Wall Street has been characterized as the largest government bailout of private enterprise in U.S. history. The bailout will cost about $2,300 per man, woman, and child in our country. That sounds like a lot, but from the perspective of an Emeryville resident, this figure is quite modest.<\/p>\n

The Emeryville City Council majority has expressed support for granting tens of millions of dollars in taxpayer subsidies to developers for a series of projects likely to be approved in the next year or two. By my count, total subsidies for these development projects will reach at least $70 million – $7,000 for each and every man, woman, and child in Emeryville, three times the amount per person of the federal bailout.<\/p>\n

Here’s the tally (these numbers are estimates, as the City Council has refused to divulge the actual amounts):<\/p>\n

<\/span> Bay Street Mall Site B ————– $48 million<\/span> (based on 2006 figures)
30-story hotel, chain department
store, and parking garage slated for site<\/p>\n

<\/span>Public Market Expansion ————- $10 million<\/span>
Office space, 52,000 square feet
of retail, and up to 340 new
housing units<\/p>\n

<\/span>Transit Center ———— $3-6 million<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>EmeryStation Triangle ————- $3-6 million<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>Gateway —————– Unknown<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>“Upgrade” of Pac & Save to<\/span>
<\/span>Safeway —————– Unknown<\/span><\/p>\n