Do Rancon Profits Take High Priority Over Winchester Rd Traffic Fatalities?
By Robert Peel
I was alarmed to read the Press Enterprise report on Temecula Council members profiting from ties to developers [Cashing In On Growth, December 2007]. More alarming is the shift in road priorities from the very dangerous Winchester Road to Newport Road. Is it mere happenstance that the Rancon controlled elected officials in our region assisted in the approval process for the extension of Newport Road? How would a road to nowhere benefit the area especially when Winchester Road had two deaths reported in January 2001 in separate traffic accidents?
According to reports from 1999 to 2001 police officers had investigated in excess of 100 crashes along a seven mile section of Winchester Road from Temecula’s city limits to Scott Road in Menifee. According to the California Highway Patrol, most of the traffic accidents along Winchester Road occur when the road is one lane in each direction. And since 2001, there have been more Winchester Road traffic fatalities. How then, did Newport Road become the County’s top road priority?
If you follow the money trail it ends up at Rancon headquarters in Murrieta. In 2003, Temecula council member Comerchero accepted a full time employment position with Rancon. He was charged with the responsibility of making a development project east of Menifee a reality. Getting roads at the taxpayer’s expense would allow Rancon to convert this raw Menifee farm land into a financial windfall. “This road creates access that is needed for us to sell our lots to merchant builders,” Stephenson wrote to his investors. Stephenson described the advantages of financing through a CFD that made the investors responsible for the bond debt for only a short time before it would be passed on to builders and later to homeowners. Stephenson wrote, “It means that a tremendous amount of development around our property will be accomplished at very little cost to us.” Plus, in the Press Enterprise report it was noted that County attorneys had written that issuing the bonds and building the road were“integral” to settling the lawsuit - filed by the City of Temecula in November 2003! Cashing in on growth indeed.
Comerchero, a former toy salesman, says it best, “Dan Stephenson and I had an immediate understanding of what we could do for each other. That’s what led me to being named President of Rancon”.
Political corruption has been good for many of our elected officials, but at what cost to the public? The lives of the families who lost their loved ones will never be the same. I for one am contacting the FBI for a full investigation and I encourage you to do the same.
FBI Riverside Resident Agency
3480 Vine Street Suite 200
Riverside, CA 92507
(951)-686-0335
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8 comments:
To The Editor;
I am so sick of your unfounded allegations against the developer Mr. Dan Stephenson who has made a great impact on just opening the roads of Dominiegoni PKW and Newport to allow traffic to go to Hemet and Palm Springs; his achievements are way too numerous.
If it was not for the Stehpenson family the kids here wouln't have a clue of culture and theater; I am an outsider from Palm Springs who moved 5 years in this cowboy town and christian schools abusing the space every sunday in schools paid by my taxes.
Thank God for a great visionary business man who knows how to attract investors in this forsaken place. As to your newspaper it is a piece of garbage; if I was the editor; I stop the grudge and the feud of nonsense and achieve better articles which can open
the mind of the reader to problem solving in the community.
Let's not forget; our city is one of the looser in economic growth and job market with the huge foreclosures let's see who is going to bail us out in this economic growth. I got news for you inspite of your defamation of character; guess what the leaders such as Dan Stephenson at this very minute are putting their minds with experts and a lot of
supporters to survive the adversity of this real estate crisis.
My mission is make sure that me and other folks support Dan Stephenson because his kind of work creates jobs for the community directly and indirectly.
Good luck in your ardent sabotage of a good pioneer you won't win; it just a matter of time.
AN INVESTOR
Dear Investor,
"Problem solving in the community" is exactly what the people are trying to achieve through open communication that has been researched extensively. We are all investors in this community. Some of us invested over 30 years ago, not five such as yourself. We see the problem more clearly than you and I am sure Dan himself sees his error in judgement of the elected officials whose decisions are a direct result of the real estate crisis we are experiencing. And yes, you are in the Bible Belt, where the need outnumbers the financial resources to build churches so school sites have become alternate resources. Some members of our community have lost their lives on very dangerous roads, and others, who survived to tell about the experience, feel very differently about the road to Hemet that has been dangerous for over 20 years. Traffic signals that would slow traffic to achieve some measure of safety for a nominal cost does not get funded until people die first. And you are wrong in your assumption that we didn't have culture for the children. In the 70s schools made sure theatrical performance was taught and non-profit groups raised funds for community centers that supported performing arts. And it was the pioneers who fought for tax dollars to bring libraries to our area. The visionaries were the people who put together a general plan for our area. In less than ten years, that general plan was so manipulated by developer representatives and Dan's elected officials that all investors lost the opportunity for an area that was enviable - even when the economy took a downturn. Five years is too short a time to see what has happened here. Your lost investment opportunity and mine are the result of hodge podge development that loses value because quality along with price was not built into the equation. I am sure Dan has to be thinking that the elected officials he supported did a disservice to all of us. They are the ones that should be reprimanded for your investment grievances not the people who are shining a beacon of light on their decisions and shifts in priorities. In my opinion, Dan failed you, as he did every one of us, by funding the campaigns of people who had neither the education or ability to deliver development that would hold value.
I thank you for your letter to the editor. It will be published along with my response.
Sincerely and respectfully,
Nancy Knight
I'm not sure where “AN INVESTOR” is coming from. He says he moved “5 years in this cowboy town,” and then goes on to describe our Temecula Valley as a “forsaken place.” Forsaken by whom, I’m not sure. Certainly not God, since he also complains about Christian schools – I guess he also has a problem with people raising their children in the manner they choose.
So let’s address the real reason “our city is one of the looser [sic] in economic growth and job market with the huge foreclosures.” We got hit hard because our economy is far too dependent upon the real estate industry, and has little permanent, sustainable, and growth-oriented business. Housing development can only sustain an economy so long – once the houses are built, the jobs go away.
Will Stephenson be providing jobs here five years from now? Not likely, since the urban sprawl created by him and his kind has already exhausted itself. The simple reason there are so many foreclosures is that there are too many houses, and not enough people with good jobs to pay for them. Our city government should have seen this coming. The responsible thing for them to do is to find ways to foster economic growth that is not based upon simply building more houses.
There is no city on earth that sustains economic growth simply through construction of its own homes. In order for Temecula to thrive, there must be jobs based upon growing industries like computers, electronics, biotech, banking, etc. Anybody with a clue about urban planning knows this. Either our city government does not know this, or they have other priorities.
- DK
Responding to Investor: It is a challenge to know all the intracacies of a particular dispute. So much of what goes on is unspoken, unseen and misunderstood. Nancy Knight has a good point as she has lived in the Valley many years longer than five. I have lived in this Valley since 1989 and have experienced (and driven) through much of the development. Some good, some not so good. We live in a beautiful Valley with much affluence and prosperity. Many of us wish to preserve that beauty and possess a different view than you. Allow us to pursue a positive environment, one that would make our early settlers and founders proud, and children prosper.
Every life that has been lost on SH 79 should be taken into consideration when making short-sighted statements. Ask those that lost their loved ones.
Finally, long-term vision for the future takes into consideration those issues that impact not just Temecula but its surrounding communities and the children that are our legacy.
I question why you chose to move to a "cowboy town" that you describe as a "forsaken place." Temecula is a young, vibrant town situated in a geo-strategically, powerful position along the I-15. Land development decisions should be made with 25-50 years in mind.
Perhaps Palms Springs might suit your needs better.
With respect,
Lisa Musick
Temecula, CA
The Bugle is right.
Let's stop the nonsense of always praising DanS. and His elected officials.Where is the truth?
The traffic is a mess,there are no Good or Great paying jobs here and these Yahoos'want to build a 80million dollar city hall.Are they aware that people are losing jobs in the private sector as wel as state employees.Tell the Teachers that will soon be unemployed in TEMECULA that there will be an 80million dollar structure.Where is the Future with that.
That whole Deal smells to heaven.
Thanks Bugle and Nancy Knight for printing the truth.
People get up and get involved and let's stop Public Corruption at its core and start building a future for SW-Riverside County,and not only a future for a few handpicked Officials and a hand ful of Developers.Let's make history and get them kicked out of Office and start planning a REAL futurefor all the Citizens.
Investor posting on 4.15.08 is obviously a Rancon insider crank. Mr/s Investor clearly doesn't understand the self-interest manifested by Dan Stphenson in having gotten Dominigoni PkWy and Newport Road opened for his real estate projects.
You think DS did this for Hemet and Palm Springs. What a dolt. You don't understand how a major developer like DS operates.
DS clearly scuttled the early development of Winchester heading into Murrieta/Temecula area or Scott Road (Maybe the most dangerous interection with Winchester) or supporting the extension of Clinton Keith to Winchester to help take traffic off Winchester into Temecula. He did this in order to insure that his project way North of Murrieta/Temecula would receive favored treatment and public funding.
You speak of Dan's achievments. What total nonsense. He has set back by at least 10 years desparately needed road improvements in Southwest Riverside County in order to feather his little nest on Newport Road. Only a fool would fail to see this. DS is a very large net liability to residents of Southwest Riverside County.
And your unqualified cheerleading for Dan Stephenson suggests that you may be on his payroll just like the majority of the Temecula City Council.
So give ole Daniel a call and tell him you did his bidding by posting on the Bugle Blog, but the broader community is not buying your uninformed blather.
Astute Observer
Mr Anonymous may be sick of the allegations against Dan Stephenson, but from my point of view they are not unfounded. We have the Winchester Road deal, Hwy 79 S deal and many other suspicious transactions all favoring Rancon, Mr Anonymous's favorite RealEstate "manipulator." That should make a rational man a little suspicious. We have Chuck Washinton, Jeff Comencharo, Naggar, and Ron Roberts with income and influence that directly involves Dan Stephenson. This may not be illegal, but it sure casts a shadow on some of the decisions that this Council has made. Rancon has been the darling of this bunch. If you really care about where and why your taxes are being spent,you better pay more attention to the actions of this group of politicians on our Council. Harry Truman once said,refering to Richard Nixon; "Any man who goes into political office poor and comes out rich is a crook." Makes you wonder, doesn't it?
I want the Murrieta City Council to start an investigation if TUMF-funds from Murrieta were used to help pay for Newport.If so let's investigate and go after the people that are currently still on the council and the ones that got voted out.
Where was my representation as a tax-payer??
Also want to know from anonymous where Dan S. is putting his mind together with these experts in his Multi-million dollar home at the Yellowstone-club in Montana or his Estate in Lake Tahoe.
He is certainly not making any statements from Bear Creek.
It's time to go forward without Developer-Politician influence.
We The People need to stand up and put an end to this.
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