The Astroturfing of Carmel Valley

In all due respect, I wonder who you are anonymous poster? I am Kerry Key, UCSD research scientist and Carmel Valley resident of the past 12 years. I've only been to one local planning board meeting so far, but it was by far dominated by those of us in opposition of One Paseo. Here are some concrete numbers for you about the scale of the opposition. The online petition is now up to nearly 300 signers (scroll down to see the names of real residents who aren't tied to PR firms or local development consulting firms): https://www.change.org/petitions/san-diego-stop-o… We will also continue to collect signatures in person at our local shopping centers until this project is either killed or reduced back to the current entitlement of 500,000 sq feet. I've spent the past three weekends involved in collecting signatures, along with a few dozen other volunteers from the community. We will have over 1000 signatures very soon. Its revealing to talk to our friends, neighbors and fellow residents when we're out at the shopping centers. Simply put, most of them are ardently opposed to the project (or had no idea about its massive scale and negative traffic impacts and then become opposed). In three weekends i've only met 3 people who ardently support the project, and two of them admitted they were developers. The online presence of the One Paseo "supporters" is very suspect. Their website looks like it cost a fortune to create: http://mainstreetambassadors.com/ Many of the vocal supports of One Paseo have questionable professional conflicts of interest: Janette Littler states on her own consulting website that she "is a leading grassroots communications strategist who builds productive and diverse coalitions among community members and leaders. " Cynthia Dial, another supporter who's name is all over the local newspapers and pro-One Paseo websites, is well know travel writer and ghostwriter. The website TheCarmelValleyLife.com has the appearance of a front for the One Paseo propaganda machine since they continue to only post pro-One Paseo stories. Its interesting that TheCarmelValleyLife.com appeared around the same time as One Paseo did last year...its also interesting that on their facebook page they have photos of a lavish launch party at the PAC that coincidentally has a full table and poster boards with One Paseo advertisements.
— May 16, 2012 4:07 p.m.

The Astroturfing of Carmel Valley

Also, a link to the City websites documents showing DS's lobbying efforts would be helpful. I wasn't able to find anything at all.
— May 16, 2012 1:52 p.m.

The Astroturfing of Carmel Valley

If you knew the many residents here who've spent considerable amounts of their own time and money fighting One Paseo you might have stated otherwise. As a 12 year Carmel Valley resident, this is the first time i've seen so many neighbors stop being so apathetic towards local politics. The threat of a monstrosity clogging our roads with traffic has rallied us to speak up! Donahue Schriber can lobby as they please as a local business but What Price Main Street is separate from them. Who knows who else is lobbying against One Paseo? We do know that Kilroy is certainly lobbying the city hard! They've even set up "project green light" to help get more voices whispering in the ears down at city hall: http://www.biasandiego.org/projectgreenlight.php
— May 16, 2012 1:45 p.m.

The Astroturfing of Carmel Valley

Grassroots: http://www.whatpricemainstreet.com/ Astroturf: http://mainstreetambassadors.com/
— May 16, 2012 10:54 a.m.

The Astroturfing of Carmel Valley

If you are against the astroturfing of Carmel Valley, you can sign this petition that will be submitted to City Councilmember Sherri Lightner: https://www.change.org/petitions/san-diego-stop-o…
— May 16, 2012 8:51 a.m.

Councilmember Sherri Lightner's Campaign Receives Thousands From One Paseo Developer

Sign the petition against the One Paseo project: https://www.change.org/petitions/san-diego-stop-o…
— May 8, 2012 8:17 a.m.

Councilmember Sherri Lightner's Campaign Receives Thousands From One Paseo Developer

I am a Carmel Valley resident who's opposed to One Paseo. You missed about half of the campaign contributions associated with One Paseo. I've found the total is at least $5500 (10% of the total for that time period). Kilroy has hired Davies Public Affairs as their PR firm; their executives and spouses have also contributed to Lightner. This PDF documents all the One Paseo contributions i've found for Lightner's January - March campaign contributions filings: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/9913030/LightnerContribut… Wondering about all those nice pro-One Paseo articles that keep appearing in the local news? Read this article by the late Molly Ivins that quotes John Davies on the type of PR tactics they practice, including generating fake grassroots support (aka astroturf): http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archiv… And just to be thorough, here's the proof that Davies Public Affairs is working for Kilroy on the One Paseo project (scroll down to the Davies award for "A main street for Carmel Valley": http://www.hermesawards.com/winners-browse/2011/1
— May 2, 2012 10:17 p.m.

City Releases Environmental Report For One Paseo in Carmel Valley

I live in Carmel Valley next to the Del Mar Highlands shopping center, across from the One Paseo lot. I think the community would benefit from more shopping choices on the One Paseo lot, but I *OPPOSE* One Paseo since its simply too much for such a small space; bear in mind that the 22 acre lot is the same size as Carmel Valley Middle school, and half the size of Torrey Pines High School; that's not much land for a movie theatre, a 150-room hotel, 608 multi-family units, and 806,000 square feet of retail and office space so they will build up giant towers that don't fit in with the character of anywhere in Carmel Valley. We don't need the increased traffic from 30,000 daily car trips (cited in the Environmental Impact Report), that's equivalent to a car driving by every 3 seconds. If you don't want Carmel Valley turning into another Mira Mesa Blvd traffic nightmare, write a letter to the Mayor's office and your city councilmember (Sherri Lightner represents District 1; http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/cd1/ ). I would have been okay if One Paseo was much smaller and similar in scope to the Del Mar Highlands Town Center; its hard not to think the planned mini-metropolis is just a greedy bid to maximize Kilroy's profits.
— March 30, 2012 4:18 p.m.