Make the developer, not taxpayers pay for Oxbow concrete pile cleanup

By San Bernardino City Mayor John Valdivia

San Bernardino needs a fiscally and environmentally responsible solution to eliminate the unsightly pile of concrete that’s impacting the quality of life for 5th Ward residents. That’s why I vetoed the City Council’s ill-advised decision to use $2 million dollars in city funds to pay for the cleanup.

As your Mayor, I believe that the developer – not city residents – should pay the cleanup costs. My solution will save city taxpayers an immediate $2 million and require the developer to pay the costs for on-site grinding and grading. It holds the developer accountable to safe building standards which are included in the original intent of the local development plan.

In the long-term, my plan would help our City to avoid a costly lawsuit – providing an additional $5 million dollars in budget savings that can be used for future community improvements.

On-site grinding will better protect local residents by avoiding the significant street damage that would be caused if large trucks were used to haul the existing heavy blocks of concrete through their neighborhoods. By reducing truck traffic and the associated wear and tear on local streets, on-site grinding and grading will keep disruption of the cleanup to a minimum. Ground concrete is also much easier to reuse and recycle, thus keeping it out of our local landfills and meeting our desired goal of a cleaner, more environmentally sustainable community.

The developer has agreed to use low-noise, high air quality grinding equipment which would be strictly limited to day-time, week-day hours. Long Beach and many other progressive California cities currently employ this innovative technology to crush materials on site.

5th Ward Councilman Reynoso, who wants city taxpayers to foot the cleanup bill, has falsely accused me of being influenced by campaign contributions from the developer. If his statements had any validity at all, then why I am insisting that the developer pay for all of the cleanup costs?

Councilman Reynoso’s immature and false claims are clearly a political smokescreen to cover up his own failure to effectively address this important issue for his constituents since being elected to office.

I want to commend City Councilmembers Figueroa, Sanchez, and Shorett for standing with the taxpayers of San Bernardino and holding the developer accountable for the Oxbow cleanup costs.

At our next City Council meeting, I will be asking the City to implement a cost-effective on-site grinding and grading process for the concrete pile. Hopefully, Councilman Reynoso will put his petty political agendas aside and support this common-sense solution that benefits his own constituents and all taxpayers of San Bernardino.

*Views expressed in Guest Op-eds do not necessarily reflect the views of IECN.