The Council of Government's "smart growth" transport policy is rampant with deceit and folly. Myth No. 1: Smart Growth is good.
In reality, it's not. Portland and San Jose, the two top "Smart Growth" cities in the U.S., have more unaffordable housing, higher job losses, higher urban unemployment and greater congestion, with much higher confiscatory tax and fee levels, than before they adopted their "Smart Growth" policies. Yet their leaders proclaim "success" from their policies. Hypocrisy has become the norm - lies and deceitfulness their standard operating procedure for government. Only their union employees and congestion management consultants are profiting - and the bankruptcy attorneys.
The question is: Will COG's Directors adhere to the "success" of "Smart Growth," or will they stop killing small businesses, heaping more burdens on local taxpayers, and stop giving perks to their favorites?
If Earthbound Farms is going to make $450 million more per year after merging with their competitor, do our COG Directors really need to have the county taxpayers pay for that corporation's employees commuting? Why not just buy them a bus and donate to that needy corporation? Or have their employees transported by limousines? It would be much cheaper, and fairer for their fellow business owners.
Ask your readers: How many hundreds of thousands of dollars would we save San Benito County if we just bought each of their employees an SUV? Or don't they have drivers licenses, and if so, then COG's Directors are aiding and abetting the violation of our law, and thereby jeopardizing receipt of state and federal funds for highway safety improvements. Caveat Viator!
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