As we wrote yesterday, the current problems with the economy and the state budget crisis are causing the City of Claremont to make across the board cutbacks in the face of a potential $4 million loss in sales tax revenue and state funding.
So, things are tight for city finances. We just didn't realize how tight. According to the Daily Bulletin, Mark Gelman, the CEO of Enhanced Affordable Housing, the company that had tried to work with the City to develop the Base Line Rd. affordable housing project, says that the city owes him for $7,000 in legal fees.
In the Bulletin article, Gelman claims that those legal fees should have been covered, and that after Gelman sent the City a letter in March requesting $37,000 for some of his costs for the failed project, Claremont responded by offering him $30,000 with the legal fees excluded.
Gelman maintains that the City had previously agreed that their contract with Enhanced covered legal fees. According to the article:
"We worked hard and spent a lot of time in a deal that ended up going nowhere for very political reasons," Gelman said, "and we never asked for anything except for what we called for in the agreement."
Gelman said the city originally said it would reimburse him for legal fees relating to project issues such as the environmental-impact report, title and easement issues, "and all these things that benefited the city."
"The city has been really difficult throughout this process," Gelman said.
"I'm really not happy with the staff."
Claremont Mayor Ellen Taylor, on the other hand, feels Claremont has done nothing wrong:
City officials said Claremont is not responsible for Gelman's legal fees because those costs weren't directly associated with Gelman's "pre-development plans" as spelled out in the negotiating agreement.
"We feel that we've been more than fair with Mr. Gelman," said Mayor Ellen Taylor.
Queen Ellen's tone doesn't really surprise us. If you're associated with the local Girl Scouts, you've probably experienced the same treatment. In that instance, Taylor's never once apologized for her rude, arrogant behavior, and her making light of the incident by joking about it publicly underscores that arrogance.
What's more stunning is that the Claremont 400 supported her enough to let her become mayor! But if you've lived in Claremont long enough, you've seen this act before - the arrogance, the broken promises - and you'll see plenty more in the future.
A word of warning if you're a developer thinking of working with the City of Claremont on an affordable housing project: Make sure they pay as they go, or you too may end up getting the shaft.
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