Developer Money and How the SummerHill Project Will Affect Alamo

Did any of you attend the District II Supervisor forum on April 12, or  the video posted on Danville Patch? I found the opening remarks of candidate Dr. Sean White incredibly interesting (scroll 11 minutes into the video).

Specifically Dr. White, who is a self-professed “5th generation greenbelt resident” had some very definitive thoughts about politicians who receive campaign contributions from developers and other special interest groups. In his eyes he feels that, politicians who obtain “a lot of money from special interests... can’t say that [they] are going to be impartial.” But, while his suggested solution seems like a nice idea, I am too skeptical to believe that things will change anytime soon. (Although, that said, he does get my support).

Take for instance the letter that Save Our Creek wrote to the late Gayle Uilkema earlier this month. In it, Save Our Creek asked for the recusal of , the Chairperson of the Alamo Municipal Advisory Council (MAC), from any involvement in upcoming MAC reviews of SummerHill Homes’ proposed development of Magee ranch in Danville.

You see, it turns out Mr. Bowlby was contracted by SummerHill Homes (some time ago, according to their Director of Development) to help promote this particular development. Moreover Mr. Bowlby has been actively working, on behalf of SummerHill, ever since. Yet this was a nugget of information he chose not to share when Save Our Creek raised the subject of the SummerHill project during two recent public Alamo MAC meetings.

Save Our Creek believes that Mr. Bowlby’s ongoing working relationship with SummerHill Homes represents a clear conflict of interest and that it could taint Alamo MAC’s stance on the project.

But Mr. Bowlby’s involvement with the developer doesn’t seem to faze Uilkema’s Chief of Staff, who allegedly informed a Save Our Creek steering committee member that Mr. Bowlby will decide “at the appropriate time” whether to excuse himself.

So where does this leave Alamo residents? Save Our Creek believes the development, if approved in its current form, will have a significant impact on Alamo traffic in the Stone Valley Road/Green Valley Road corridor, as well as the 680/Stone Valley Road corridor.

If this is the case, shouldn’t Alamo MAC carefully look at the project on behalf of its residents? And shouldn’t it proactively offer comment on the upcoming Draft Environmental Impact Report, which is now expected to be released to the public in August?

More importantly, is it possible for the Alamo MAC to review the Magee ranch development objectively when it's own Chairman is being paid by the developer?

What are your thoughts Alamo?