LA's Delgadillo Makes Backroom Deal With Home Depot!

[mustdeport]

http://mayorsam.blogspot.com/2008/03/slap-in-face.html
Delgadillo Makes Backroom Deal With Home Depot!
(At the opposite end is Home Depot, most notably with their plans to open a controversial store in Sunland-Tujunga. The retail chain has failed to enter into conversations with community leaders, was caught in a major phony astro-turf effort and most recently decided to file a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the City, leading to a secret backroom deal with City Attorney Rocky Degladillo.)
Mayor Sam warned me this was going to happen, and now it has.
Without a word to the community, the City Attorney has made a backroom deal with my old friends, Home Depot, and it really looks like Sunland-Tujunga is about to get screwed!

Heres the Deal:
1. Home Depot puts a "stay" on their $10,000,000.00 lawsuit against the City.
2. Home Depot will submit a new application and will undergo
Project Permit Compliance Review.
3. The City Attorney has agreed to limit this process to a maximum of 5 months, unless both
parties mutually agree to an extension.
4. Home Depot will drop the litigation if the store is approved.
5. Home Depot will resume the litigation if the store is not approved.
6. Either party can pull out of this agreement at any time.
7. The City Attorney's office will spearhead an outreach program to the community and will form something called a "Stakeholders Committee" to mediate between Home Depot
and Sunland-Tujunga.

Sounds good right? Wrong.
Holding the threat of resuming a lawsuit over the heads of everyone involved is not a good faith way to work towards a resolution. If Home Depot really wanted to work with the community, they would completely drop the lawsuit and work towards a mutually agreeable resolution. Here, they can walk away from the table anytime they like, not bound by any agreements, and sue if things are not going their way. The Sunland-Tujunga community is being asked to devote time and hard work to settling this mess, and we can't walk away unless the City Attorney says we can. That's one trump card for Home Depot to play.
The City Attorney has agreed to a 5 month time limit on the Project Permit Compliance Review.
He made this agreement not having seen what Home Depot's new plans entail. There is no way a full EIR (Environmental Impact Review) can be completed in a 5 month period, as just about everyone, but Home Depot, agrees that this Project must be subject to. There are just too many issues involved with a school being less than 500 ft away, a flood channel adjacent to the property, and only one road through town for this to be declared a mere MND (Mitigated Negative Declaration). Home Depot has been asked to conduct an EIR, and they have refused.
This becomes the second trump card Home Depot has in it's possession.
The fact that no one in Sunland-Tujunga was informed that this deal was in the works (we found out the details from Kerry Cavanaugh at the Daily News) until it was signed, is reason enough to be su****ious and very angry. I spoke with the City Attorney in charge of the case and he referred to Sunland-Tujunga as a "Special Interest Group". Imagine that. We are the town that is directly impacted by his backroom deal, but when we ask why we were not informed, his response is that his responsibility is to the City and not to us, as we are merely a special interest group.
Nice, Huh? I call this the "Chopped Liver" defense.
Now about the "Stakeholder Committee" that the City Attorney will form. Exactly who is on it?
Home Depot has a record of stacking hearings with paid supporters. They have had a very hard time of finding more than a handful of supporters in Sunland-Tujunga (most of which are employees of their company), so what will this committee look like?
10 opponents and 10 supporters? Hardly an accurate reflection of local sentiments.
The Deal Stinks! And we'd rather take our chances in the courtroom. But then again, that's just wishful thinking from the "Special Interest Group" of Sunland-Tujunga.
Get ready for a fight! As Joseph Mailander once said, "Sunland-Tujunga is isolated just enough that they don't know they can't fight City Hall..."

www.no2homedepot.com/

[cuzzit]

that is utter bullsh!t! another one of tony's homies

[mustdeport]

that is utter bullsh!t! another one of tony's homies

City Attorney Cuts Secret Deal with Home Depot- Neighborhood Councils Up in Arms

From North Valley Reporter April ’08 by Katherine Rose

While those in power might debunk the words “secret meeting” surrounding Home Depot’s Stipulation Agreement signed by the City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, one would be hard pressed to find a single Neighborhood Council who knew about the agreement before it was signed.
According to a press release issued by Home Depot, The Home Depot will apply for a new discretionary permit for the Sunland-Tujunga store they want to open, specifically applying for a “project permit compliance review” in March 2008. The application will include interior remodeling work, which was approved previously in the permit currently subject to litigation, and minor exterior improvements.
The stipulation, the City agreed to expeditiously process The Home Depot’s permit application, with a maximum processing time not to exceed five months, and will follow its customary practices for determining the appropriate level of environment review.
The litigation would be dismissed if the store is approved and would resume if the store is not approved.
Joe Barrett, President of Sunland-Tujunga Alliance (STA) said, “No one was given advance notification that this deal was in the works- not the STNC, the STA or even Council member Gruel, according to her office. No input was sought from the very community this deal would affect, and this agreement was reached between the City Attorney and Home Depot behind closed doors.”
Over a hundred angry residents and business owners attended a Town Hall Meeting on March 15. Many people felt the need was “another slap in the face” to the community and were shocked when the City Attorney, Tayo Papoola, who is handling the Home Depot case, referred to the community of Sunland-Tujunga as a “special interest group.”
In a letter to Neighborhood Councils and residents, Cindy Cleghorn, President of the Sunland-Tujunga Neighborhood Council, reminded all that, “ In 1999, voters in the City of Los Angeles approved a charter reform measure that included a provision requiring the creation of a citywide system of neighborhood councils.” Cleghorn further remarked, “The STNC, as always, expect The City to follow our laws and procedures thoroughly. A Home Depot at the former K-Mart site is a critical issue for our Sunland-Tujunga community that will impact us for many years. We expect to participate in every aspect of this process, and it should be open and transparent.”
Over four thousand members of the community fought to keep Home Depot out of Sunland-Tujunga citing dozens of negative impacts to the community, when the City Council voted to declare the Home Depot a “project subject to Environmental Review.”
“We’re extremely dismayed that the City Attorney made this agreement with Home Depot without including those of us who are affected by the deal. The continuing threat of a lawsuit does not create a environment of resolution or show good faith on the part of Home Depot. We will continue to demonstrate how inappropriate this store is for the Sunland-Tujunga Community and make certain this Project receives a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR),” Abby Diamond, Secretary, Sunland-Tujunga Alliance Inc.
The City Attorney will initiate a mediation program to facilitate dialogue between Home Depot and the Sunland-Tujunga residents, which is being referred to as a “Community Stakeholder Committee”, but no one knows who will be on this committer and several questions why Home Depot feels that the City Attorney must facilitate these meetings. Both Barrett and Cleghorn have expressed apprehension regarding how these stakeholders will be selected.
City Attorney, Rocky Delgadillo, and Director of Planning, Dale Thrush, did NOT respond to questions asked relative to the Stipulation Agreement. Micheal Higby, owner of the prominent Los Angeles Blog, Mayor Sam’s Sister City— Home of Los Angeles Politics, threw in some parting thoughts, “ Lip service to the community’s concerns is about all citizens got from their local politicians. It appears that Home Depot has given our elected officials at least 10,000 reasons ($2000 to Rocktard alone) to put the store in Sunland-Tujunga. Attorneys from Home Depot’s law firm, Latham and Watkins, have given Delgadillo nearly $23,000 according to City records. City Council Member Wendy Greuel, who represents this area, has made noise that she’s opposed to the store in Sunland-Tujunga.

[mustdeport]

got to bump this facts.

[BorderHawk]

Ummm, I don't think so.

Try substituting City Council with "Congress", and Delgadillo with "Attorney General".

Could Home Depot hang a law suit over the US Congress, to conspire to coerce the government into making a decision favorable to Home Depot?

Ummm, I don't think so.

How about a bunch of citizens run down to Ace Hardware to buy shovels, rakes. pitch forks, etc., and pay a visit to HD Corp HQ?
:ranting:
Who owns this nation, us or some major corporations with high power lawyers?
:ranting:

Those lawyers are employees of Home Depot and as such can be fired by HD, if they misreprent HD's corporate interests. It is HD, not the legal firm that will suffer.
:rotfl:

Hawk

[nina7683]

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[AyatollahGondola]

Nina,

You were warned not to spam the board with advertisements already.

[Patriotic Army Mom]

Good by Nina, take a college course!