'Settlement in principle' reached between Elk Grove, Oak Rose project proponents
https://www.elkgrovenews.net/2024/01/settlement-in-principal-reached-between.html
After reconvening from a closed session meeting late this afternoon, the city of Elk Grove has announced a "settlement in principle" with the Oak Rose supportive housing project to relocate their project to an alternate site in city limits.
Reading from a prepared statement after the one-hour city council closed session, Elk Grove Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen said the project would be relocated outside the Old Town special planning area. Although parcels on Elk Grove-Florin-Road just south of Calvine have been cited as possible locations for the supportive housing project, Singh-Allen did not specify the new location.
"The settlement is not final, the details and formal settlement documents still need to be prepared and finalized," Singh-Allen read into the record.
The Oak Rose affordable and supportive housing project in Old Town has generated controversy and opposition from residents in the special planning area. The opponents have portrayed the possible residents of the Oak Rose complex in unflattering terms.
Over the course of several meetings starting in July 2022, the Elk Grove City Council responded to the expressed fears and denied the project. That rejection has put Elk Grove under the scrutiny of California Governor Gavin Newsom and Attorney General Rob Bonta, who jointly filed a fair housing lawsuit against the city.
As a result of the announcement, the hearing planned for the Oak Rose project at tomorrow night's city council meeting has been rescheduled. The matter will be heard during the January 24 session.
With the tentative settlement, the city appears to have ended the litigation with Long Beach, Calif-based Excelerate Housing, the Oak Rose developer. As recently as Sunday, Elk Grove City Councilmember Darren Suen told Elk Grove News that negotiations up to then had yet to progress because the terms dictated by Excelerate were unacceptable to the city.
As noted during a city council meeting last September, city attorney Jonathan Hobbs said the city could be liable to pay the Oak Rose's legal fees, which he said could be a high six-figure amount. Singh-Allen did not disclose the financial terms of the settlement.
Additionally, Singh-Allen did not say how this tentative settlement will affect the state's fair housing lawsuit against the city. Representatives of Excelerate could not be reached for confirmation or to comment on Singh-Allen's statement.
If you would like a link to the audio recording of Singh-Allen's announcement, email a request to editor @ elkgrovenews . net
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5 comments
I'll be a monkey's uncle! Randy has more information about what is happening at city hall than even Darren Suen!
If the settlement comes to fruition, you can count on Mayor Bobbie Singh-Allen, and the city council doing a victory lap, especially when the campaign season gets into full swing. But whose victory will they be celebrating?
They will portray themselves as Eugène Delacroix-like Liberty Leading the People heroic figures defending their constituents. In reality, they are akin to Lester Maddox and George Wallace segregationists pandering to the worst human instincts to preserve their political status and suppress the rights, dignity and humanity of others.
It is not like they prevented Exxon-Mobil from drilling for oil in a sensitive area or took a stance on environmental justice and prevented Valero from opening a polluting refinery near an economically disadvantaged neighborhood. They succumbed to the fears of the mostly older Euro-Americans, who spread lies that the project would be inhabited by people who would prey upon children and rape women.
Those Old Town Elk Grove Euro-Americans are nothing more than QAnon conspiracy theorists spreading lies about child molestation rings and Jim Crow-era southern white supremacists (that resurfaced recently) who murdered Emmitt Till and countless others.
Good job, Mayor Singh-Allen and the city council - you have cemented your reputation as cowards who only hold office to serve your own needs, will succumb to the hate-filled instincts of people, and refuse to stand up for the weakest in our society. History will be unkind to all of you.
It seems Randy Bekker is the sixth council member. As he said, the council was going to pull a rabbit out of their hat and it seems they have. How was Bekker privy to the negotiations and city's plan? How did he know what was going to happen at the closed meeting before it was even held? I understand he and his minions didn't show up because he knew what was coming.
The city has a mole, someone who shares private city info with Bekker. At some point, this will bite that person in the ass and perhaps cost them their job. Until then, keep the info flowing, Randy. Great to know what the city has up their sleeve. Get that man a chair on the dais; the council's all about transparency, right?
City Attorney Jonathan Hobbs better educate the Elk Grove City Council on serial meetings. City Government 101: They are against the law.
Cal. Gov't Code § 54952.2(b)(1) (West 2016). A series of private meetings (known as serial meetings) by which a majority of the members of a legislative body commit to a decision or engage in collective deliberation concerning public business violates the Brown Act's open meeting requirement.
Loose lips again!
Even a broken clock is right two times a day.
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