Arcadia Wins! Blog

New Traffic? Must Mean Shops at Santa Anita Will Be Wonderful, Right?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Wed, 11 Apr 2007 06:30:00 GMT

I have followed both sides of the decision with interest and read all the opposing arguments which seem to boil down to two things only:

* Traffic issues. Let's be clear... Traffic will be generated by both the third extension of Westfield's mall and the Caruso development. According to Arcadia First, Caruso's development (and puzzlingly only Caruso) will generate millions of extra cars. How can that be? Presumably because the Caruso development will be so much better than the Westfield one that millions of people will want to come and enjoy it -- otherwise, why aren't they coming now? Caruso's development is obviously going to be wonderful! AND Caruso is contributing $10 million to easing traffic - (I have not seen anything much from Westfield as to their contribution towards traffic; just $millions wasted on misrepresentation.)

The we come to...

* Gambling. There is no gambling property planned within the mall so why does Arcadia First continue with this misrepresentation? Gambling is offered within the current racetrack building only and is merely being shifted to its own more private area making the racetrack more suitable for family use. It is therefore not an issue and as such is a complete fabrication.

The benefits from Caruso however are compound -- extra revenue, a wonderful town center, upscale shopping and a beautiful and impressive way to dien outdoors facing our historic landmark, enabling everyone to savour and experience it. We don't have any of these benefits currently and Westfield cannot provide them either.

The alternative is nothing -- it will be some other type of commercial venture with probably consdierably less appeal.

Opportunity is there on a plate -- grab it while you can!

Nicky Hunter -- 91006

Santa Anita: "No "racinos," "casinos," "slots" at track."

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Sat, 10 Mar 2007 23:17:00 GMT

Arcadia First! likes to try to scare Arcadians by using fear-mongering headlines and lightning rod words such as "racino" to suggest there will be slot machines, casinos and "new gambling" coming to the track, somehow supposedly tied to the proposed -- not yet approved -- Shops at Santa Anita retail development.

As with almost everything Arcadia First! says, there is not a shred of truth to this.

Now there is another insinuation making the rounds that Santa Anita Park is guilty by association with San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino.

The key word there is "Indian." Indian casinos have been and will likely continue to be successful preventing anyone but Native Americans from operating casinos in California. The last thing they would do is strike up a business relationship with any entity that they perceive as a threat to their casino business.
Their relationship with Santa Anita is quite simple -- it's a marketing alliance, no different than any number of non-casino companies have with any number of Indian and Las Vegas casinos.

Once again, Santa Anita Park, a treasured and historic icon of Arcadia, finds itself in the position of having to defend itself against reckless and unfounded charges and implications.

Santa Anita Park officials recently released a statement to the city and Arcadia Wins! clarifying for the umpteenth time that the track has no plans for any casino games or bingo at the property.

Legitimate questions are fair game. Knowingly disseminating inflammatory half-truths and innuendo without first checking the facts or offering the accused an opportunity to respond -- especially in a faux "newspaper" -- is beyond unethical and shameful journalism and even beyond good clean competition. It is disrespectful to the very entity most Arcadians are trying to preserve because of its multiple values to the core of the city.

A full copy of the statement is below.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Santa Anita Park has traditionally sought partnerships and sponsorships with compatible advertisers and marketers. These arrangements not only bring in funds to support Santa Anita’s marketing programs but often allow us to reach new audiences of customers.

This year’s association with San Manuel Indian Bingo and Casino is no different. In exchange for a sponsorship fee and marketing considerations, Santa Anita Park has allowed San Manuel access to its daily racing fans through title sponsorship of major races at Santa Anita, logos on television, print and banner advertising, booths, displays and accommodations for preferred San Manuel patrons. The sponsorship is reciprocal in that San Manuel has created marketing plans offering incentives to send its clientele to Santa Anita to attend the races. San Manuel also reaches Santa Anita’s mailing list recipients with ads sent via the racetrack’s direct mail newsletter.

Santa Anita Park has had a similar arrangement with the Las Vegas Hilton for the past two years. And Del Mar, a racetrack in the San Diego area, recently concluded a sponsorship association with Barona Hotel and Casino and is now a marketing partner of Viejas Casino . None of these relationships has involved anything on the racetracks’ end other than parimutuel wagering on Thoroughbred horse racing, something Santa Anita Park has been doing since 1934.

San Manuel would not have entered into this sponsorship with Santa Anita if we had any intention of installing slot machines at the racetrack, or the proposed Caruso Affliated project, “The Shops at Santa Anita.” All California Indian tribes strongly support current California law that mandates that slot machines are only legal on tribal land. In addition, there are also no plans for casino games or bingo at Santa Anita Park or the “The Shops at Santa Anita” project.

Westfield expansions: 6 MILLION NEW CAR TRIPS!

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 21:24:00 GMT

Does that headline grab your attention?
It's just the kind of fear mongering headline that Westfield's Arcadia First! is using in ads and mailers. And, like those ads, this headline is accurate... to a fault.

Mail carriers dropped fliers in mailboxes around town today that feature a big photo of congested traffic on Huntington Drive at about 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 31, and asking us to imagine how much worse it will get when the "Caruso/Magna Mall" is opened.
First of all, what the flier and ads conveniently fail to mention is that much of that current traffic congestion they are showing in such dramatic photos is caused by Westfield's own Santa Anita mall!

If Westfield's Arcadia First is so concerned about traffic, why haven't they done anything to reduce their own increasing car trips and why are they continuing to add to it themselves with their own expansions? In fact, they are seeking approval from the city right now for yet another expansion that will generate even more traffic trips.

Ironically, the best solution to Westfield's traffic is the approval of Caruso Affiliated's proposed Shops at Santa Anita. While Westfield and its Arcadia First group have no new plans to reduce traffic congestion, Caruso Affiliated's proposal comes with a promise to spend about $10 million to improve traffic lights and intersections to the point that traffic at the 20 most impacted intersections will be no worse than it is now, and will actually flow more smoothly at 16 of those 20 intersections than it does even now.
Think about that.
Caruso's plans for traffic improvements will not only offset extra traffic trips to his own Shops at Santa Anita but also the extra traffic that has already been created and ignored by Westfield and additional traffic Westfield will generate with more expansions.

When Westfield alerted the city back in 2000 about their series of planned expansions totaling 600,000 square feet, the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) at that time projected 16,080 net new car trips per day when all the expansions were complete. Certainly those projected numbers would have increased in the last 7 years, but even using those figures, if you want to extrapolate them in the most inflammatory way as Westfield does regarding the EIR for Caruso's Shops at Santa Anita, you could do the math this way: Westfield's 16,080 car trips x 30 days in a month = nearly a HALF-MILLION NEW CAR TRIPS PER MONTH... EVERY MONTH... FOREVER! Or you could accurately say, 6 MILLION NEW CAR TRIPS PER YEAR... EVERY YEAR... FOREVER!
But those are the kinds of manipulations and scare tactics that Westfield's Arcadia First is using in an apparent attempt to get Arcadia residents to help them keep them from having to face the mall's first real competition in Arcadia.

What you should be asking yourself is:

* Would you rather leave things status quo and allow Westfield to continue to expand and generate more traffic without doing anything to make those photos they are sending to you ever look any better even if the Shops at Santa Anita is never built?
* Or would you rather see approval of a development that offsets all new car trips it generates as well as the additional car trips being generated by Westfield?

The last two chances you will have to let city leaders hear your preference (unless Westfield's Arcadia First decides to start another petition drive to get another initiative on the ballot at our expense) will be at a special meeting of the Planning Commission on March 14 at the Masonic Lodge at 50 W. Duarte Rd., and again at a special City Council meeting on April 11 at the same Masonic Lodge.

City leaders need to hear from you and your neighbors, friends and family who live in Arcadia.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Traffic everywhere!

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Mon, 05 Feb 2007 04:34:00 GMT

Observations, understandings and comments after a week of driving around Arcadia and listening and asking questions at multiple presentations and meetings:

Congratulations to Westfield for finally adding the electronic Car Count system to the parking garage at the Santa Anita mall, which they began advertising as “coming soon” last October just before the November 2006 election they created to force the proposed Shops at Santa Anita development to allow non-Arcadians to park for free. The new Car Count system which displays the constantly-changing number of available parking spots on each level of the parking garage as you enter, seems to work identically well to the system Caruso Affiliated has had in place at The Grove for more than five years and will include at The Shops at Santa Anita. Since both the Car Count system and Westfield’s planned new outdoor retail expansion at the mall are being added just as Caruso’s development, which was proposed about three years ago, nears final approval, we have to assume that the threat of competition has been at least partly responsible for these improvements at Westfield’s mall, and perhaps the same even goes for the welcome additions of the new Cheesecake Factory and H&M store. As we’ve said all along, competition will prove beneficial to both developers, all patrons, and especially the city and residents of Arcadia.
The City of Arcadia will begin work this year on the first phase of traffic light integration, the first step towards making the city’s traffic lights be coordinated by a centralized system that will ultimately help traffic flow more smoothly and respond to historic and at-the-moment traffic patterns. Although the city hopes to have the first phase completed by late 2007, city funds will come up short by more than $1 million for the funding of even this first phase. This is yet another reason that it will be important for city leaders to approve Caruso’s Shops at Santa Anita development, since Caruso has already promised to spend the money required to complete that traffic light integration system as it relates to the 20 intersections near the Santa Anita Park area, and millions more dollars to make physical traffic flow improvements at the intersections (extended and double left turn lanes, new dedicated right turn lanes, etc.).
Sam Schwartz, the former New York City chief traffic engineer who coined the term “gridlock,” not only took the advice of Arcadia Wins! members and others who advised him during his Dec. 9 driving tour of Arcadia to return on Dec. 26 to observe traffic during the confluence of the holiday season (the 6^th heaviest shopping day of 2006) and the opening day at Santa Anita race track, he hired aircraft and photographers to record traffic from all angles and for many hours all along Huntington Drive and other streets in the area. The result: Schwartz and his associate Annie Weinstock demonstrated to numerous city groups last week the computerized micro-simulation they are creating. The animated aerial video simulation allows viewers/users to examine traffic in the entire area and analyze the patterns and timing and problem situations. Digitized vehicles can be added to simulate extra traffic projected at various intersections and how it will be affected by changes in traffic light integration systems and physical changes in the roads and intersections as proposed. Schwartz will spend the next weeks and months further developing the simulation on behalf of Caruso Affiliated and, after making final recommendations for the best traffic flow improvements, will donate the computer program system to the city of Arcadia to use for any future research and analysis desired. Schwartz is communicating with city officials and asking for input from Arcadians about problems traffic areas and situations in that vicinity. Feel free to e-mail your comments to us here at Arcadia Wins! – info@arcadiawins.org – and we will get your comments to Schwartz. Or you may e-mail your comments directly to Schwartz’s consulting firm via Weinstock at aweinstock@samschwartz.com.
In response to questions about growing traffic surrounding every Arcadia school each morning and afternoon as Arcadia parents drop their children off one-by-one, it turns out that although school bus service is available, demand has been so low (parents don’t want to have kids standing at pick-up points, not enough pick-up points, price is too expensive, etc.) that it is currently only offered to four schools – Baldwin Stocker and Hugo Reid elementary schools, and Foothills and First Avenue middle schools. According to the district website (http://district.ausd.net/docs/routes.pdf), there are only a handful of pick-up locations for each route in close proximity to each other (only four each for elementary schools – just five minutes from first to last). The cost for this service is $210 per school year ($70 every three months). Schwartz suggested that Arcadians may want to take this up as a “Green Initiative” to find ways to work with parents and schools to provide incentives to increase usage of the school bus or carpools or walking, not only to reduce traffic congestion but also to reduce energy consumption. Sounds like a great idea to us. Let us know if you have any thoughts.

Scott Hettrick

Founder, Arcadia Wins!

10 Mil. - 15 Mil. Better Reasons

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Wed, 31 Jan 2007 17:07:00 GMT

Arcadia First!, aka Westfield Santa Anita, is back with another full-page scare-tactic ad in the Jan. 31 Pasadena Star-News alarming Arcadians by saying "There are at least 1 MILLION good reasons NOT to build the Caruso Mall," noting the mall will bring "over 1 million new car trips each month to Arcadia's streets."
That 1 MILLION may look frightening, as intended, but it's simply a multiplication/extrapalation of the number that the developer of the Shops at Santa Anita, Caruso Affiliated, has been using publicly from the beginning -- 15,000 cars going to (and then leaving) the new Shops each day (30,000 total daily trips), multiplied by 31 days in a month.
What is not noted in the ad, of course, is that Caruso has also promised in writing to make improvements to related streets and intersections in Arcadia around the new Shops that city-hired analysts have concluded will result in traffic flow that will be better at 16 intersections even with the extra traffic than it would be without the new Shops.
That's a project that will cost Caruso between $10 million - $15 million. And that's $10 million - $15 million that the city does not have to spend on improving worsening traffic in Arcadia, even without the new Shops at Santa Anita.
Also not in the ad is any mention of the fact that Arcadia firefighter and police associations have recently officially endorsed the Shops at Santa Anita, in large part because of the improved traffic flow that will allow them to provide more efficient emergency services.
It can be no coincidence that the new ad ran on the first of two days that a world-renowned traffic engineer called Sam Schwartz is making a handful of presentations to community groups and the Chamber of Commerce. Schwartz, who has improved traffic problems from Europe to New York, in front of Buckingham Palace and in Times Square, is showing the efforts already made to help Caruso Affiliated, the developers of the proposed Shops at Santa Anita, fulfill their stated promise of improving traffic flow in Arcadia so that it winds up better even with the extra car trips than it is now.
Schwartz, like Caruso, has come to Arcadia to listen to Arcadians before proceeding with any specific plans. He spent a Saturday morning on Dec. 9 riding around town with representatives from the Arcadia Firefighters Association, the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, homeowners associations, Arcadia Wins! and other community groups and residents, to see firsthand and hear in person our views about the streets and intersections that cause the biggest problems. He will listen to input again today and tomorrow and make presentations about his plans before submitting a final plan to Caruso Affiliated.
We can all allow ourselves to be frightened by numbers like 1 MILLION new car trips and wind up with no new Shops and traffic that will continue to get worse with no money to improve it, or we can provide input and listen carefully to a rare proposal by a developer who is offering to spend $10 mil. - $15 mil. of his own money to improve our city streets and intersections so that we can spend less time in our cars.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Westfield Owners Could Learn From Their Employees

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 02:40:00 GMT

There are some really nice people working at Westfield Santa Anita mall.
Arcadia Wins! recently participated in Westfield's Week of Wonders and were pleased to find so many accomodating staff members.
The annual fund-rasing program is a terrific community-minded initiative on the part of Westfield that allows non-profit groups to keep 100% of all monies raised in the sale of red plastic wristbands that grant the wearer access to a plethora of discounts and special offers throughout the mall for a week just before the holidays.
Once we were approved to sit at a table inside the mall for two four-hour shifts along with other non-profit groups, the Westfield people could not have been more helpful and friendly.
Marketing Director Nicole Jasinskas took her own time to make sure we got situated and moved us to a better location when another group did not show up. She even offered sales tips for us on a slow Monday night at the mall. Several young workers at the nearby concierge booth were extremely pleasant and gracious throughout the evening. One even insisted on purchasing a wristband from us despite our protests that she needn't do so.
The following Friday night, Senior Shopping Concierge Therea Olivas stopped by our table with a big smile to make sure we were doing alright. Later, she came back by and offered us a discount coupon for a restaurant. A simple but thoughtful and genuine gesture of kindness.
Throughout the evening other employees of the mall and the shops and even valet parking attendants stopped by for a brief friendly chat. And Ms. Jasinskas passed by again with a smile and pleasant hello.
I know that among some people in town it's not cool to say anything kind about the Westfield Santa Anita mall itself but I have never had any problem with it as a consumer. The city and we taxpayers benefit greatly from the millions of dollars each year the mall generates in sales tax revenue. It's nice to finally have a movie theater in Arcadia again, though it's still more convenient to go to the Krikorian in Monrovia. The restaurants in the most recent expansion are a good addition and they are about to open The Cheesecake Factory and a big H&M store.
Not that I frequent the place -- I get there maybe a couple times a year to actually shop at the stores, and those times I am usually heading to one location in particular. Maybe I go a couple additional times to eat at McGrath's or Wood Ranch, and maybe a couple more times to see a movie at the AMC theaters. (I'd go to eat and see movies more often if it wasn't for the one big complaint I have about the mall -- the horrendous parking and unnecessarily inefficient traffic flow).
As for shopping, it's not that I have more upscale tastes, it's just that I'm not much of a shopper; I really don't shop much of anywhere.
But whatever your feelings are about the mall, don't let those feelings color your perceptions about the people who work there.
The parent company of the mall has been waging an expensive and growingly nasty campaign against the proposed Shops at Santa Anita development that is supported by Arcadia Wins! But don't confuse that campaign or the people behind it with the people who work at the mall.
We believe The Shops at Santa Anita will be good for the city, good for the people, good for the schools, good for the race track, good for property owners, good for taxpayers, and even good for the Westfield mall.
If only the owners of the mall were as welcoming as their employees.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Believe It; Traffic WILL Improve!

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 00:38:00 GMT

With respect to Dr. Stewart Bell’s letter printed in the Pasadena Star-News on Nov. 13, I would like to clarify several points that Dr Bell raises regarding the proposed Caruso development at Santa Anita racetrack.

Yes, Dr Bell rightly points out that Arcadia traffic is getting worse and this will continue as the city has no intentions (or any money) to replace the outdated traffic signaling systems currently in use. He is correct in saying that traffic will increase due to the project but it is not so much the finite number of cars which is important but whether the traffic system street by street will be able to cope. He is also correct when he says that the developer has made claims that the traffic situation will improve after he has replaced the outmoded signaling, with state of the art computerized traffic signaling systems which monitors actual flow patterns of traffic.

However this is not so outlandish as he thinks (re: "This defies common sense") and it is also borne out by the most recent DEIR (Draft Environmental Impact Report) currently available for public perusal on the city’s website. (This report is compiled by independent experts who specialize in this work for all developments).This report clearly supports this claim having studied the effect on 42 traffic intersections within and without Arcadia. In fact the report states that of these 42 intersections, only 20 will be impacted by the Caruso project. It also states that with all the improvements and mitigations Caruso is prepared to undertake, 16 of these 20 intersections will show BETTER traffic flows in 2009 than if nothing was built at all. (The experts also factored into their calculations 47 other developments in neighboring cities within that timescale). In fact Caruso may be the only developer who may be willing to undertake such costly traffic improvements, thereby giving yet another free benefit to the city.

I encourage all Arcadians to exercise their right to express their opinions on the proposed Caruso project but from a basis of accurate and factual information, not hearsay or marketing hype. This Arcadia Wins! website provides such information and a concise summary of salient points from the DEIR for Arcadians and monitors the debate objectively as we, as Arcadian residents, are not funded by, or a “yes man” to either Westfield or Caruso.

Nicky Hunter

founding member, Arcadia Wins!

Yes on N&P; Yes on Indian Casinos?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 20:38:00 GMT

Congratulations, Westfield. You have successfully duped 6,201 Arcadia voters into believing that a foreign corporation cares more about the future of our city than does our own City Council (the majority of which these same voters elected into office just 7 months ago).

I am constantly amazed at how gullible people can be. It proves that if you are willing to spend enough money ($3,138,100 equating to $506 per vote), some people will swallow anything! Westfield spent almost $150,000 in just the week before the election alone, some of that to have "Yes on N & P" signs posted illegally on public right-of-way along Colorado and Huntington on election day. Not only does Westfield rewrite our laws, they flaunt existing law to do it!

I’m sure if we end up with an Indian casino on the Santa Anita parking lot, Westfield will be ecstatic…much more traffic, but no competition to their mall. And irrespective of Measures N & P, an Indian casino will be able to charge for parking and have garish neon signs because our local laws will not apply to them.

If those 6,201 of you who fell for Westfield’s political scare tactics don’t believe that can happen, wake up and smell the coffee. Are you aware that the Tongvah tribe lived on these very grounds for many centuries up to the early 1800s?

Vince Foley

founding member, Arcadia Wins!

Yes on N & P, No on Santa Claus

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 08:00:00 GMT

I can’t begin to describe the discontent I felt when I woke up Wednesday morning only to see that Measures N & P had passed.
I was talking to a friend from out of town that thought I suffered from a bad case of “Sour Grapes.”
I explained to him that “Sour Grapes” was when my college football team loses by 30 points; embarassment is when the citizens of Arcadia let a Corporate Bully come in and dictate City Politics through lies, deception and manipulation.
I thought the citizens of Arcadia were smarter than this. Every councilman urged residents to vote ‘NO’ (didn’t we just elect these guys?); every past mayor (that I can think of), every major local organization that went public, etc., said vote ‘NO,’ yet the citizens of Arcadia decided to listen to pretty mailers that had a quote on it from someone I have never heard of………sad…….
What is sadder is that today I realized that Voting & Politics (the basis on which this country was founded) was now determined by who is a better marketer, not what the message is or what is right or wrong.
At the end of the day, do Measures N & P really change anything? No, but what did change is that today I realized there was no Santa Claus and that the good guy doesn’t always get the girl.

Kevin Tomikns
founding member, Arcadia Wins!

Stolen, Anonymously-Planted N&P Signs

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Thu, 09 Nov 2006 00:41:00 GMT

My wife and I woke up on election morning to see that the two "No on N & P" signs in our front and side yards had been stolen.
Later that day we saw that yard signs reading "Yes on N, P & I" had been strategically placed in the business districts of Arcadia, apparently without the permission of the property owners on Baldwin, Santa Anita and Huntington.
That night Measures N & P, on which Westfield and its puppet organization spent more than $3 million, was approved by voters by a mere 63 votes and 255 votes, respectively, out of more than 12,000 ballots cast.
It's not clear who performed either nefarious (and most likely illegal) act involving the yard signs under the cloak of night -- it certainly wasn't any opponent of Measures N & P (no billboards and free parking for everyone at the proposed new Shops at Santa Anita development).
And it certainly wasn't supporters of the school district's Measure I bond measure. The "N, P & I" signs posed a potential threat to supporters of their Measure I if voters were misled into believing the Westfield measures were connected to the school district's bond issue because thousands more voters were supportive of Measure I than those who endorsed N & P.
In any case, both measures were passed. But Westfield and supporters of Measures N & P should not feel as if they have won any kind of landslide or a mandate from the people of Arcadia based on a victory margin or dozens and hundreds of votes.
Sure, it's a victory nontheless, but a very narrow one that came only after a months-long barrage of a multi-million dollar deceptive ad campaign.
While no one expects that pointing out the tactics used or the razor-thin vote result will in any way dissuade Westfield from its anti-competition campaign against Santa Anita Park and The Shops at Santa Anita, it would be worthwhile for people who actually live and raise their families in Arcadia to consider these factors in the weeks and months ahead.
For those of you who decided to let Westfield convince you that it was important to use the ballot box to enforce a city ordinance regulating signs instead of leaving it to the officials you elected to do that, and for those of you who felt that it was so important to allow out-of-towners to park for free that it was worth giving up more than $600,000 in parking revenue to the city that will now likely have to come out of your pocket through increased city taxes, congratulations.
One can only assume and hope that with these apparently important concerns now decided in your favor, coupled with developer Caruso Affiliated already removing the residential component from the project in response to your wishes, that you will now be proud to support The Shops at Santa Anita.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Clearing up Traffic Picture

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Sat, 28 Oct 2006 22:55:00 GMT

The newly-released revised Draft Environmental Impact Report discusses the potential impact of the proposed Shops at Santa Anita on traffic in Arcadia in a manner that is as congested as the unwieldly name of the report itself.
Traffic is surely the single most concerning element of the proposed development. Therefore, a report of this magnitude needs to offer average residents an easy-to-understand summary of the results.
The report is filled with data relative to traffic flow and car volumes and peak and off-peak hours and mitigations and grades of A-F (including "E").
But none of that means anything to the average Arcadia resident. Sure, if one muddles through a few hundred pages and charts he might find some comparative grades for the current traffic of a given intersection, a grade for that same intersection in 2009 without the project, and a grade that reflects the projected traffic when developers implement mitigations such as additional right-turn and left turn lanes and computerized traffic signals.
One would draw the conclusion in the report that there are 20 intersections that will be significantly impacted by the proposed development, 15 of them in Arcadia. And it would appear by spending hours looking at grade comparisons in this report, that all but a few of them would be improved by the development and its mitigations, with the others remaining at the same grade levels even after the mitigations.
But how do we know what a "C" grade means, for instance?
This report needs to break this kind of analysis down for residents to better comprehend in terms that we can relate to.
It's like the old comedian's joke about how complicated weather forecasts have become with all the new technology, when the only thing that most of us really want to know is whether we'll need to take an umbrella or not.
In this case, all we really need to know is whether this proposed development will make us have to spend more time driving the streets of Arcadia and whether it will put more cars on our residential streets.
That should be made easy for us to determine with something simple like the following:
"Today it takes an average of ?-minutes to drive down Huntington Blvd. from Santa Anita to Baldwin during peak hours.
By 2009, if no major developments are added, that time will increase to ?-minutes.
By 2009, with the proposed development and the mitigations, that drive is projected to take ??-minutes."
That's primarily all we need to hear or read. And the same concise comparison should be made available for each intersection and street.
If we see that the average wait time at an intersection now is 3 minutes and will grow to 5 minutes by 2009 with no development and be reduced to 2 minutes with the development and its mitigations, then that is an obvious improvement at no cost to city taxpayers. If the time will grow, then that is an obvious downside.
It's that simple.
The developer, Caruso Affiliated, has said they will work to try to prepare this type of specific data.
But why leave something of this importance to the developer or their opponent to provide with their slanted conclusions?
We at Arcadia Wins! call on the city, which is responsible for the report, to provide this type of clear summary, preferrably in time for review by residents in advance of the Planning Commission public hearing on this report on November 28.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Encouraging Sign?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 21:23:00 GMT

What a tentatively encouraging sign it was to pick up the Pasadena Star-News paper this morning (Saturday, Oct. 21) and see an ad from the Westfield Santa Anita mall indicating that they appear to have actually listened to complaints from Arcadia residents and their mall customers relative to their horrendous parking situation.
The ad says that in response to suggestions, Westfield Santa Anita will add more parking spaces and add a new perimeter road to ease congestion, both in time for the holidays, and, "coming soon," will introduce a "car count" system in the parking structure. (A car count system is what Caruso Affiliated put in its parking structure at The Grove years ago to let drivers know where there are empty spaces. It won't help make the lanes at the Westfield Santa Anita structure wider or create any more spaces or eliminate the labyrinth on the second level that winds around rooftop air conditioners, but it will hopefully cut down on drivers aimlessly wandering the structure looking for a spot and creating worse congestion in the process.)
Unfortunately, after so many unkept promises from Westfield each time the company expands the mall, and after so many misleading and self-serving ads, many of us have become quite skeptical and cynical about the words of Westfield. The ad is, at the very least, convenient timing just two weeks before the election they created for an issue over potential parking fees at Caruso's proposed Shops at Santa Anita next door to the Westfield Santa Anita mall. And it is interesting that this is one of the few ads that is only a half-page as opposed to the numerous full-page ads it buys to promote its Caruso/Shops at Santa Anita-bashing campaign.
It is the terrible parking at the mall that has many of us so anxious to see a new mall with the kind of forethought to ease-of-parking and the kind of commitment to state-of-the-art technology that Caruso has exhibited at The Grove.
The parking at Westfield Santa Anita is atrocious. It alone is what often deters many of us away from shopping or eating at the Westfield Santa Anita mall. The parking structure has such narrow driving lanes that it is hard not to trade paint with another vehicle even when simply driving on a straight part of the lot, let alone making one of the many turns. The deceptive diversion to more parking on the second level near the AMC and Dave & Buster's over the rooftop and around the air conditioners is absurd as there is little additional parking, what is there is at awkward angles, and the road often leads to nowhere and requires trying to turn 180-degrees in a confined away while other drivers stacked up behind you are about to encounter the same situation. None of the necessary directions are clearly marked, and neither are the entrances or exits in any part of the structure.
The open parking surrounding the mall is like a sea of cars that will have you dog-paddling for as long as 10 - 20 minutes trying to find a vacant spot before you give up and leave. It appears that many of the best spots are taken by cars parked by the valet services on both sides of the mall.
It's convenient for Westfield Santa Anita to claim they offer free parking when in fact they make the free parking so painful to utilize that many people wind up paying for the valet service, which they manage to make much more convenient at the expense of the drivers trying to find a free spot anywhere within the same area code.
We would like to believe the ad in the newspaper, that Santa Anita is truly going to listen to its customers and do what it should have done in the first place and create a more acceptable parking situation so we can all enjoy our experience at the otherwise pleasant mall.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

If Not Caruso, Then Who?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 05:54:00 GMT

If not Caruso ---- then who?

Westfield is clearly annoyed (or frightened?) by the proposal that they should have a competitor next door. I am not sure why they think they should have the monopoly on retail business in Arcadia – a little arrogant perhaps?

However it should be clear that something/someone is going to develop the blacktop space at the race track.

This area was commercially zoned by the city several years ago and it is private land, so something WILL be built there. We cannot pretend this is not going to happen. The question is: Who and what?

Clearly it has to be revenue-generating for the race track to offset the costs of development. OK, so let's have an amusement park, or a container depot, or a casino or a big-box complex or a live animal market, or an equine auction, to name but a few. These may all be viable options but may not be so attractive to all. The same issues of traffic and parking will still need to be addressed and they offer nothing very much in addition to increased revenue to the city and the race track.

We must not make light of the fact that the Caruso development will bring Arcadia FREE school district offices - thus freeing up space at the Arcadia High School for alternative use; a performing arts theatre FREE – something that has been desired for many years; an attractive traffic-free town center or plaza for the community to share – this currently does not exist; outside dining to take advantage of our Southern Californian weather in a traffic-free peaceful historic atmosphere – again which currently does not exist ; and, of course, upscale shopping opportunities which are different to Westfield – to retain sales dollars which are currently being spent elsewhere.

What other alternatives for the blacktop are there out there which can bring us all these extras?

If there are any – we would like to hear them!

Nicky Hunter
founding member, Arcadia Wins!

Westfield Using Forked Tongue?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:44:00 GMT

Westfield's actions speak louder than their words.
But Westfield seems to believe that no one in Arcadia is paying attention to what the giant Australian-based behemoth is doing outside the boundaries of Arcadia.
For instance, Westfield has spent millions of dollars to campaign against paid parking for out-of-town visitors at the proposed Shops at Santa Anita, claming how irresponsible and burdensome it would be to residential and retail neighbors to add such a large retail center without providing free parking. But Westfield has just done exactly that at their new $460 million addition to Westfield San Francisco Centre. No, in fact, what they have done in San Francisco is even worse; they haven't provided any additional parking at all, at any price! That's how little they care about their retail neighbors there, like the giant Union Square.
But here in Arcadia, they apparently expect neighboring developers to adhere to some sort of code or rules that they do not follow themselves.
And while Westfield likes to support the notion that additional retailers will undermine the vitality of their mall here in Arcadia, a recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle (Sept. 28 - http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/09/28/BUGLPLDU571.DTL) about the expansion points out that Westfield's renovation of the megamall shopping center at Fifth and Market streets is expected to draw 25 million more shoppers and $600 million in retail sales. While there will be some overlap and some stores may be forced out of business, most competitors, local business and civic leaders welcome the Westfield expansion, recognizing that it will surely increase overall revenue for everyone, even Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue in Union Square, which will compete directly with Westfield's new co-anchor Bloomingdale's.
And remember how Westfield was the first to lead a campaign last year to get Caruso Affiliated to drop the residental element from their proposed Shops at Santa Anita development with condos above the shops? Well, now Westfield is building the exact same kind of residential/retail development in Century City with 260 luxury condos as part of its $500 million retail/office project. And they are boasting about how smart it is. Taking the exact opposite position in Century City, Westfield's head of U.S. operations Peter Lowry defended Westfield against concerns about traffic congestion and reduced quality of life from nearby homeowners there by saying that the strategy will actually reduce traffic during rush hour, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Okay, so maybe you argue that all projects are different because Arcadia is not Century City or San Francisco.
The point is that Westfield is capitalizing on growing trends in various markets and most of their residential and retail neighbors are embracing them. But here in Arcadia, Westfield seems to be using its clout to prevent a potential competitor from trying to do the very same things in Arcadia that Westfield is doing elsewhere.
Maybe Westfield hoped we wouldn't notice.
Well, we Arcadians are smarter than that.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Truth in Advertising

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 23:04:00 GMT

Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia are all careful to note in small letters at the bottom of most of their literature that they are funded by Westfield. But if Westfield truly wants to be open about the fact that they are behind these groups, then why form these groups at all? Or why not have the group carry the name of Westfield? One has to be suspicious that the reason is to fool people.
Even an attendee at last Saturday's meeting/open house for members of Arcadia First! seemed to be under the delusion that AF! is a grass roots organization started and run by volunteers. That is hardly the case. Westfield has already spent millions of dollars funding the staff, management and media campaigns of Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia. There's nothing wrong with that level of funding unless you have successfully managed to make it look like the elaborate and numerous full page newspaper ads, mailers and petition drives are all being created, designed, paid for and dissemniated by good-hearted and passionate residents of Arcadia. And there's nothing wrong with spending that kind of money unless you are intentionally deceiving people by using bogus and misleading names to keep it hidden that the money and groups are coming from Westfield, which obviously has its own self-serving agenda and priorities.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Clarifying the Facts

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 22:36:00 GMT

At an Open House meeting held for Arcadia First! members on Saturday, Oct. 14, AF! executive director Bernetta Reade accurately informed the group that the city recently announced that is no longer operating at a deficit and expects to be in the black for at least the next couple of years, which was confirmed to Arcadia Wins! by city officials who attributed the great news to increased county and sales taxes. Reade also correctly noted that the new fire station being built on Santa Anita Ave. is funded entirely from city revenues derived from Santa Anita Park race track.
But when she vehemently pointed out that the race track is prospering and setting records at recent meets like the current Oak Tree in order to dismiss the notion that the track needs help, she started to veer into more murky territory.

* First of all, while it's nice to have enough money from the track to pay for most new city buildings, that's only a slanted view of the situation. City officials say that while revenure from Santa Anita stands at about $1.5 million per year, that's only 50% of the approximately $3 million the city used to reap from Santa Anita in the early 1990s.

* Although the track is not losing money and does continue to enjoy bigger handles on big days like the Santa Anita Derby and Santa Anita Handicap, the track is not setting records.

* And if I heard Ms. Reade correctly, she told the small gathering that the city of Arcadia gets a cut of any bet placed anywhere on races run at Santa Anita, whether placed in person at Santa Anita or placed off-track at other tracks or betting locations. This is not correct.

City officials told Arcadia Wins! that they only get a percentage of bets placed at the track itself, though those bets can be on any race being run anywhere, as long as it is placed at Santa Anita.
While I chose not to say anything during the meeting, choosing to show appreciation for their graciousness in inviting and welcoming me by simply being a silent observer, it is important and it is the objective for Arcadia Wins! to clarify and give a full understanding of such nuanced points.
For example, it makes a major difference whether the city benefits from any bet placed anywhere or just from bets placed at Santa Anita. Under the first scenario, there would be no advantage to the city to have more bets placed at the track itself. But the opposite is true -- the city benefits by having more people attend the track itself, both from bets and from sales tax on any merchandise or food purchased at the track. While Santa Anita gets a cut of bets placed elsewhere on races at Santa Anita, the city does not reap any revenue from off-track betting. And Santa Anita's cut of off-track betting is smaller than on-track, so they prefer larger crowds as well.

We believe that when residents understand that the city has lost half of the $3 million in annual revenue it used to enjoy from the race track each year, Arcadians will be more inclined to support a development that will more than replace that lost $1.5 million each year with more than $2 million in new sales tax revenue alone. The Shops at Santa Anita are also projected to spark increased property tax valuations that will generate more than $3 million in incremental property taxes, hundreds of thousands of dollars of which will go directly into city coffers, and additional revenue making its way to schools and other non-city services such as the county Arborteum and the Arcadia County Park.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Blue Ribbon Commission?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:26:00 GMT

At a recent meeting of Arcadia First! it was clear that many of the attendees favored the pursuit of an alternative use of the parking lot at Santa Anita Park race track, something that sparked a call by Arcadia First! earlier this year for a so-called Blue Ribbon Commission.
This whole concept strikes me as very odd because we are talking about a piece of privately-owned property. Why would you or I or any city leaders presume to make recommendations to a private property owner for what he should do with his property?
I wonder why Westfield isn't calling for a Blue Ribbon Commission to offer suggestions about what Westfield should do with their property? Why not form a Blue Ribbon Commission to make recommendations to Denny's about what else they could do with their land?
This would seem to be something that would only be appropriate if Santa Anita owner Magna requested such help or if the land were to become blighted and the property and concern of the city.
A Blue Ribbon Commission can spend all the time it wants discussing options on behalf of Magna (and AF! members seemed to acknowledge that such a process would take a long time), and when they complete that lengthy process they could present their ideas to Magna and get the following response: "Hmmm, interesting. Uh, no thanks."
And then what?
What am I missing here?

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

No Astroturfing; Real Grass Roots

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 23:10:00 GMT

The front page story in The Pasadena Star-News on Sunday (10/15) about the growing trend called "Astroturfing" in which corporations and political groups manufacture fake grass roots organizations is an important story.

In fact, it is why we formed Arcadia Wins!, which is mentioned in the story but potentially and probably inadvertantly gets painted with the same brush as groups such as Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia.
Arcadia Wins! was formed early this year shortly after we learned that Arcadia First! was not a grass roots organization created by citizens in Arcadia at all. Rather, it is the result of a business strategy by Westfield, the Australian-based company that is the largest owner of shopping malls in the United States. They hired a political consultant who does not work or live in Arcadia or even the Arcadia residents and business owners to combat the proposed development on the parking lot of Santa Anita Park, right next door to a Westfield shopping mall. Since then Westfield has also created "Save Arcadia" and has spent millions of dollars through the two organizations to try to stop the proposed Shops at Santa Anita.

There is nothing wrong with Westfield spending that kind of money or taking those positions.

But that level of spending is clearly beyond any local grass roots effort. Although Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia are careful to note that they are funded by Westfield, those notations are lost on many residents and even some supporters of Arcadia First! who believe that they are truly part of a group that was formed and is run by devoted Arcadia volunteers.

We feel it's important for Arcadia residents to clearly understand who is behind the onslaught of propaganda. And we believe it is important to present an independent voice, one that cuts through the opposing agendas, rhetoric, distortions and manipulations to provide facts upon which Arcadians can make intelligent decisions.

That is the basis on which Arcadia Wins! was formed by a group of residents with a common goal.

Make no mistake, Arcadia Wins! is supportive of the revised proposal for The Shops at Santa Anita. But we are no shill or voicebox for the developers Caruso Affiliated. In fact, last summer Arcadia Wins! refused to endorse a counter ballot petition Caruso generated in response to Westfield's two upcoming ballot initiatives. Caruso cited our position as well as requests by the City Council when they decided to shelve their petition.

Through this website we cite the relevant facts and figures that can get distorted by both Caruso and Westfield, and we do our best to keep both sides honest by pointing out and clarifying misleading quotes in ads and mailers. While we clearly take a position, our support for The Shops at Santa Anita and our credibility will only be negated if we do not provide accurate information. We welcome input and concerns from all residents to ensure that we all make the most informed decision.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Arcadia First! Members Serious Too...

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Tue, 17 Oct 2006 21:56:00 GMT

Members of Arcadia First! appear no less committed to their cause to prevent the development of the Shops at Santa Anita than members of Arcadia Wins! are dedicated to seeing the project succeed.
I had the pleasure of attending a meeting/open house of Arcadia First! members this past Saturday morning, Oct. 14. Having enrolled as a member in Arcadia First! last January before realizing it was a group created by Westfield, which hired a consultant who does not live in Arcadia or even the San Gabriel Valley to run the organization, I remain on AF!'s membership roles along with executives of SASA developer Caruso Affiliated and other SASA supporters who simply went to the web site and signed in to get more information.
We are all among the 4,200 members boasted by AF! Presumably all of those members were invited to Saturday's open house. A couple dozen people attended, including myself and the leaders of the group and their consultants.
I had rsvp'd in advance so as not to surprise anyone and give them an opportunity to request that I not attend since I must be seen as one of the enemies.
When I arrived I signed in and introduced myself and was pleased to be warmly accepted. I was also pleased to see the group carry on with their agenda with no inhibitions.
The hour was spent with AF! executive director Bernetta Reade mostly leading a free-flowing dialogue that involved a wide-ranging variety of topics and concerns and comments relative to the proposed Shops at Santa Anita. The tone and slant of the comments were, obviously, mostly directed at finding ways to stop the project. But for the most part there were sincere concerns expressed by good citizens who, like all of us, want to ensure the best future for our city, ourselves, our children and future generations.
Arcadia First! can be commended for presenting mostly accurate information to their members last Saturday.
The problem is that even accurate information can sometimes be presented without other equally accurate information in order to give it a slant that may ultimately not be providing the full picture to the listener. (See related blog titled: Clarifying The "Facts") That is often the case when it is presented by people hired to push the agenda of a corporation while masking it as a sincere effort by concerned local citizens.
It was startling to hear an attendee on Saturday praise Ms. Reade for the work of she and Arcadia First!, which the attendee said was laudable given the fact that it was all being done on a grass roots level with volunteers.
Give credit to Ms. Reade for noting a few moments later that she was being paid by Westfield and other people in the community.
Although Ms. Reade corrected the woman's misunderstanding by saying she is paid, it's doubtful that the woman has any idea that Westfield has already spent millions of dollars to fund Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia and their media campaigns. Given her response when she learned that Ms. Reade is, in fact, paid by Westfield -- "Well, you should be!" -- it may well be that the woman would not be the slightest bit deterred in learning that the driving force behind the group she is supporting is a global behemoth retail corporation that understandably puts the best interests of its own businesses well ahead of the best interests of the city of Arcadia.
But Arcadia Wins! feels it's important that she and all others be aware of that information before drawing any conclusions or taking a position.
Our concern at Arcadia Wins! is that many of the other 4,200 members of Arcadia First!, very few of whom were at this AF! Open House on Saturday, and many residents who are not members of any of these groups, will assume, as did the attendee (whom one would think would be more engaged and informed on this issue than the average person), that the sole and primary motivation of Arcadia First! is to represent the best interests of Arcadia residents. In fact, the primary and probably only goal of Arcadia First! is to do what's best for Westfield. And not necessarily even what's best for Westfield Santa Anita, but what's best for Westfield's global operations.
Of course that message wasn't delivered at the Arcadia First! meeting. And we wouldn't expect it to be.
That's why you come to this web site.
Nonetheless, the AF! Open House was a welcome opportunity to hear the concerns of fellow citizens, as was the Planning Commission hearing in June on the Draft Environmental Impact Report (a hearing on the revised Draft EIR is set for Nov. 28). This is the kind of open dialogue Arcadians need relative to this ongoing issue of whether or not to approve the proposed Shops at Santa Anita on the parking lot of Santa Anita Park race track.
It is important for Arcadia Wins! to monitor concerns of all residents so we can help can present and get those issues addressed by Caruso and city leaders, as well as Westfield. We will not allay all objections but we feel strongly that the more Arcadians know about the all the facts, the more they will be in favor of the development.

Scott Hettrick
founder, Arcadia Wins!

Westfield strategy: win by making enemies?

ArcadiaWinsBlog — Mon, 09 Oct 2006 23:39:00 GMT

After creating intentionally misleading ads involving the Arcadia fire and police departments earlier this year, and then alienating the Arcadia City Council, Westfield Santa Anita has recently unleashed a new flurry of deceptive ads involving the Arcadia Chamber of Commerce, the Arcadia Historical Society, and Arcadia school teachers. Their most recent ad sparked an entire story and a letter to the editor from Arcadia city attorney Stephen Deitsch refuting what he percevied as an implication that he supports Westfield's upcoming ballot measures N and P.

Westfield (and its growing number of shadow groups with disingenuous names such as Arcadia First! and Save Arcadia that are run by paid consultants who don’t even live in Arcadia) knows that the Chamber, the Historical Society and the Arcadia School District are not taking sides in Westfield’s self-serving battle to defeat the proposed Shops at Santa Anita family-friendly retail development on the vacant parking lot of the race track.

But Westfield is disregarding the wishes of those organizations by sending out mailers and creating ads that falsely imply the endorsement of each of them with quotes by an “8-year Arcadia teacher” (without noting where she lives or that she has never been employed for more than sporadic substitute teaching) and quoting a member of the Chamber board and Historical Society without noting that she is no longer on the Chamber board and does not speak on behalf of the Historical Society.

Westfield’s strategy is puzzling since it has only infuriated the leaders of all of these important groups.

It’s also a great disappointment to see that Westfield, which offers such a valuable asset to the city with its mall and has heretofore been a good corporate citizen and remains a strong supporter of organizations like the Arcadia Educational Foundation, insists on disrespecting and demeaning the intelligence of Arcadians.

Scott Hettrick
founder Arcadia Wins!