The Big Lie - Berrellesa Palms - Glorified Homless Shelter???

Letter to the Editor:

So, it is nothing new to hear that politicians lie.  It is shameful on our part for believing them over and over. 

Well, some of our Martinez City Council lied to its residents and would be residents.  Nothing new there.

I had a visitor recently, a new friend, who basically apologized to me over and over for his being on the other end of the approval of the Berrellesa Palms project than I. I opposed it because I felt it was too large for that neighborhood and that the 17 units that should have been allowed for that size of property grew to 49 units. I felt it would be better built on the L&L site along Alhambra, closer to downtown for senior citizens.  

Why this gentleman came to me I am not sure exactly.  I have no pull in this town.  But I do have a loud voice.

This very soft spoken man, a qualifying senior citizen, HIV positive, and on subsidized housing tried to put in an application to live in that complex and was turned down and was told that it was because he was not homeless. He met all the other criteria and was almost in tears. This is unbelievable.  He was very disillusioned. And while I was shocked, I guess I was not surprised.

So, City Council members…after those of you made this project possible, lying to the residents of Martinez who wanted to live in that supposed “senior complex” it comes down to the fact that those who opposed the project were right after all. It was a lying scheme to get what you wanted and to benefit the property owner. The City Council promised it would not be another Riverhouse but a real nice senior citizen complex. 

Are you happy now?  The project representative who is accepting applications turned down a qualifying senior citizen because he was not homeless. Berrellesa Palms will be nothing but a glorified homeless shelter. Great news for Martinez becoming the homeless capital of Contra Costa County. 

The people you bussed in to the meetings asking for your approval of the project were used.  Not one of them would ever qualify to live there.  No one should believe any promises some of our City Council makes because there is always some lie in the background, something fishy.

So much for your transparency. You should be ashamed that you deceived the people you were elected to represent. And the promises that were made by the project developers about downtown being infused with from $800,000-$900,000 from the residents of this project sounded like a pipe dream then and now it is laughable to even think that homeless people would have any money to dine, shop, or receive services in our downtown. Lie after lie after lie.  Shameful. 

Anne Mobley

Here is a response from the developer's rep to a friend of mine who asked for clarification in my letter to the editor.  Bottom line is:  It will be a homeless shelter no matter how they categorize it.

"While it is difficult to really know why this gentleman was rejected, I don’t believe it is true that it was because he wasn’t homeless. One of the requirements of qualification is that applicants are “at risk of homelessness”, which relates to their incomes and housing situations (for example, paying a high percentage of their income for rent). The letter below indicates that the applicant was already living in subsidized housing. If true, he is unlikely to be considered at risk of homelessness, as he is probably paying a relatively low percentage of his income for rent. Therefore, he will not be considered at risk of homelessness, and would not qualify for BP..

As I mentioned above, I can only go from the email below, but that is my sense of what may have happened here."