A Little Blogger Help?

My work only allows so much time for tracking down and examining details. But in looking at a Pelosi linked land deal, I may have found enough to make it worth the time for another blogger or two to pick up the ball and run with it. Below is the short version of what could be a case where millions of tax payer dollars are going into a 1.2 Billion dollar venture which will ultimately yield hundreds of millions of dollars in profit for companies and individuals linked to Nancy Pelosi and her family.

As far back as 1998, Nancy Pelosi was officially involved in transferring The Presidio and Treasure Island from the military to the city of San Francisco. That land is worth billions today.

Base Conversions:

Important language regarding the Presidio clean-up and the transfer of ramps and roads on Treasure Island to the State was included in the bill for military construction appropriations. For the Presidio, it requires the Secretary of the Army to "report by January 15, 1999 on the current status of environmental remediation at the Presidio....including the estimated dates for completion of such activities."

For Treasure Island, it requires the Secretary of the Navy to "report by January 15, 1999 on the planned disposition of roads and rights of way from the San Francisco Bay Bridge to the Treasure Island Naval Station, including an evaluation of the need for seismic upgrades and the possible transfer of such property to the State of California."

Then there's this directly below from a pdf -  cached text here:

Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi’s nephew, Laurence Pelosi, has been a top executive with Lennar Communities and treasurer of the Newsom for Mayor campaign. Pelosi literally "strong armed" the signing of the Hunters Point Shipyard Conveyance Agreement despite expressed opposition by the United States Navy, as reported in the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner in February of 2004.

Fast forward to today.

The city commission overseeing the former Treasure Island Naval Station approved a plan Monday to spend more than $1.2 billion to transform the 403-acre island and its smaller neighbor, Yerba Buena Island, into a self-sufficient community with 6,000 homes, a new ferry terminal and 300 acres of open space.

The seven-member Treasure Island Development Authority, (TIDA) appointed by the mayor, gave its support for a building blueprint that has been three years in the making....

The lead developer, Kenwood Investments, which is controlled by Democratic lobbyist and fundraiser Darius Anderson, is working with Miami-based home builder Lennar Corp. and local firm Wilson Meany Sullivan, which led the Port of San Francisco's Ferry Building restoration.

Darius Anderson worked as a fund raiser for Gavin Newsom and is linked to many high profile Dems - including Diane Feinstein here and Nancy Pelosi. Pelosi's son, Paul, Jr. is a Newsom cousin and as I posted previously, is President of the San Francisco Commission on the Environment, which I believe would be involved in upgrading zoning and so forth for this mega project. But it gets even better.

The project was given to Lennar Corporation, a major developer. Pelosi's nephew, Laurence Pelosi, was president of acquisitions for Lennar.

So, we have a major land transfer with the Army and Navy spending money to rehabilitate the land as a result of major contamination. And there is Nancy Pelosi on the front end involved in the land transfer - her son in the middle involved with zoning - and a nephew bringing up the rear with the developer. Coincidence? And how much pressure did Pelosi exert on the military to put money into this, or grant concessions on the land?

Meanwhile some folks are crying foul as result of a firing and claiming Lennar doesn't have exactly a stellar reputation in this regard. And because San Francisco Mayor Newsom does the appointments to the commissions, much of this has been done behind closed doors.

Treasure Island does not sit well with the Exclusive Negotiating Agreement and with crooks like Lennar which has a track record of shafting the constituents where ever it has chosen to develop build homes and open space some with golf courses. We can go to Florida or if we like Sacramento or New Mexico and check out the details....

The Mayor of San Francisco is beholden to Lennar just like Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. was beholden to Lennar. It is all about money and sweet heart deals which the Federal Bureau of Investigation has been very slow to fathom and less slow to act.

Some one should be taken to task for the blatant discrepancies and the bold moves made on every level to break laws, maneuver around regulations, formulate models that contradict standard real estate processes, it is difficult to read through all the convoluted language linked to the Disposition and Development Agreements. I want to see a Term Sheet and I do not see one. Why?

Would be Speaker Pelosi is already one of the wealthiest people in Congress. If tax payer dollars have been used to facilitate her, her husband the real estate whiz, or some of her family members, making tens of millions more, I think the public has a right to know it. But I'm not sure one can trust the San Francisco Chronicle to get to the truth.

Any blogger who wants to pick up the ball and run with it, please feel free.

Comments

[Sadly, No! Research Labs]

I'd like to help, but...

[larry]

you GO, son! GET that crooked brittle bitch!

[Purple Avenger]

Lennar builds crap, and hires subs who do shoddy workmanship They have a less than stellar record of customer satisfaction, and at least one fatality on record.

http://www.lennar-homes.info/

The fatality was big news in the FL construction community and resulted in an emergency FBC code change that is going into effect right about now requiring steel framing to be grounded. This something the NEC (NAtional Electric Code) didn't (and still doesn't) require. Of course if the fatal installation had been per the NEC Article 300.4 to begin with there wouldn't have been the fatality because the drywall screw energizing the framing wouldn't have been able to reach the cable and the fan installer would be alive today.

http://www.lennar-homes.info/Electrocuted!!!!

[Purple Avenger]

I should add that "crap" construction is quite common. I bought my place new back in 89' and stopped counting after 50 electric code violations when I rewired it and brought everything up to the 2002 NEC standards a few years ago. Three of the code violations were potential fatalities.

The place had passed all inspections back in 89'. Caveat Emptor.

[splashtc]

Isn't always about the money-no matter who is in power? The common people are lead to believe a certain party supports their "cause"-as we did with the Rep party-so it goes with the Dem party. sigh...

[Purple Avenger]

"Isn't always about the money-no matter who is in power?"

This is why we have the building and electrical codes. So that even the minimal crap sellers (i.e. the majority of them) will have to (in theory) produce a product that isn't blatantly dangerous.

I'm most familiar with the national electric code. An electrical installation that "meets the code" is like passing a school test with a D-. Even spending a ton of money is no guarantee of quality. Earlier this year I spent a couple of tortured weeks at a $10M mansion that was being built. The workmanship and material being used were no better than the cheapest $120K tract house. It was stuff I wouldn't have wired a doghouse with. Couldn't walk 5' through that place without spotting at least 3 electric code violation. Some months later I heard through the grapevine that it had passed inspection and I just rolled my eyes. Some inspector got a fat envelope for passing that one ;->