What do you get when you bring together 1) greedy public unions who demand high, above-market, wages and pensions; 2) Developers who want to make as much money as possible and to get it, hide behind the "Green Mask" of Global Warming themes such as High Density compact development; and 3) a city who wants to expand its tax base (to pay for the pensions of course)? You get a marriage of collusion and corruption whose partners fight against anyone or anything that might break up the blissful union.
Who has been left out on purpose? THE RESIDENTS! IF they knew of this unholy marriage they would put a stop to it. They know they will get nothing good out of this deal. They will bear the brunt of the negative consequences including higher and higher housing costs, taxes (property and sales) and city fees.
The problem with this marriage is that in order to keep each partner happy, the process of expanding and building and tearing down old buildings and homes and expanding again, has to keep repeating itself. If not, each of the partners cannot sustain their goals. They are all dependent on each other.
The city should be in partnership with its residents.
Upland has no obligation to keep Lewis Homes or Tarbel Realtors in business or make them lots of money. Let them build or operate in other cities and states. Companies do this all the time to keep profits coming in...it's called the free market.
We do not have to cave in to the demands of the public employee unions. We need to work out a plan to deal with the $80+ million that we owe and not incur any more future unfunded liabilities. Every city that hasn’t dealt with this problem and tries to build their way out of it, fails (Best example: Los Angeles).