TMC: Thirty Miles of Corruption

Legally we can do whatever we want there,” Hudson said. “The city wasn’t required to preserve any of it.”

It’s a sad day when each day the integrity and history of our once beautiful and fare city falls .  The Ol Press Bindery was on life support until the death rattle was heard by the final falling of what was left of the frontal façade.  And down it went biting the dirt of progress by the iron fist of City Manager Brad Hudson, while the council below him were none the wiser.  Every time an element of historical significance is demolished, the city loses a little bit of who we are as a community.  People travel to cities because of their history, and it would be in the City of Riverside best interest to stop this practice, and in this situation a case of incompetance.   This ultimately is reflected in a lack of leadership and a breach of trust toward the community by sworn elected officials.  The Stalder Building may be next, with a stipulation that if the cost to repair escalates over 350K, it can be torn down.  What do you think will ultimately be the result?  Well its on paper folks!  True shenanigans going on? My opinion it just can’t be anything else, the good ol’ boys will be boys.  As Dave Leonard stated, Chief of the Old Riverside Foundation, “Knocking down a concrete building is not a mistake, this is a major problem for the city”.  And he fears it will get worse, “The Stalder Building is next”.   I guess, now we will rebuild the facade of the Press Bindery with plaster and fiberglass like some movie set prop, and onward, tear down the Stalder Building, will just rebuild the facade.  This will become our city, facades of what was and maybe just a little bit of Disneyland and Moreno Valley?

UPDATE: MAY 29, 2011: The Press Bindery was designed by Henry L.A. Jekel and constructed in 1925 in the Spanish Revival style.  Someone told me that it even housed the Press Enterprise at one point.  There is no doubt there was incompetancy all around, from City Hall to the construction company.  “Legally we can do whatever we want there,” Hudson said. “The city wasn’t required to preserve any of it.”  What should be bothersome and disturbing to Riversidian’s is the arrogance of that statement.  According to the Certificate of Appropriateness, page 3, the city was to preserve the “ENTIRE Spanish Revival portion of the Press Bindery”, not just the frontal wall facade.  It goes on to say on page 4, that “the Press Bindery consist of the original Spanish Revival front portion of the building AND the poured concrete rear work area of the building. This plan will preserve the highly stylized Spanish Revival front portion of the building.” This gives validity to the argument that instructions were not followed.  No mistake here!  It’s part of the cities agenda or Hudson’s agenda.  It’s obvious the City Manager is responsible.  The Mayor and the council members, who also play a part in state redevelopment decisions, are equally responsible as well.  Another play on the community with use of semantics?  These are people who do not care about our city.   We can place new policies in as Councilman Mike Gardner indicated, but what is worth when current policies are not followed or honored.  When someone turns their head for a second, we find ourselves asking, “What happened to this wall, and hey, and what happened to that wall, it was there yesterday”?  Mike, you cannot tell us, “The city made a very serious mistake by tearing down that building the way they did”.  The chain of events that led to the press bindery demolition should be investigated and responsible parties terminated, afterall, it appears employees at City Hall have been fired for lesser offenses.  You carry two positions of responsibility,  City Councilman and as as an agent of Redevelopment, you are the City.  The investigation should be initiated by Ward 1 Councilman, Mike Gardner, this was on his watch and it went right by him.  Or we can hire at outside law firm as Brad Hudson did to investigate the allegations of favoritism by himself.  We all know where that will lead.  The more that the community understands the truth through documentation, Brad Hudson’s arguments simply begins to become more disingenuous, revealing himself, as just a paper tiger.  If you Like Mike call him, and Especially if you Don’t Like Mike, ask him to investigate Brad Hudson’s actions and recommend he vote for his termination, let him know how you feel, 951-826-5991 (office) or 951-941-7084 (cell) or by e-mail at mgardner@riversideca.gov     Let the City Manager, Bradley Hudson know how you feel directly at 951-826-5771 (office) or by e-mail at bhudson@riversideca.gov    There is the story you read, then their is the real story you don’t read, but is yet to come.  Keep in tune, TMC investigates, check for updates. Please give your comments!

UPDATE: 03/12/2012: WHAT REMAINS OF THE PRESS BINDERY REMAINS IN LIMBO ACCORDING THE PRESS ENTERPRISE.