Dear Anti-Gentrifiers: Crazy times in SanTana, ¿qué no? Didja hear about the Brave New Urbanist who just slammed Fourth Street's quinceañera shops? ¡Qué pendejo!
But tonight, something even crazier happened: a chingo of you went before the SanTana City Council and, instead of blasting councilwoman Claudia Alvarez for her anti-Semitic stupidity, hailed her as our new Adelita, as our savior against the continued gentrification of downtown SanTana, all because 11 years into her political career, she's just now asking pointed questions about the machinations of some downtown developers to drive out the poor Mexicans in the neighborhood.
What the fuck?!
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Gente: where the fuck do you get this idea? Must I remind you that Alvarez is by far the biggest lap dog for developers on the council outside of Mayor Don Papi Pulido, getting hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations over the years from evil, gentrifying developers like Mike Harrah and Robert Bisno? That Alvarez and the rest of the council pushed on SanTana voters the reprehensible Measure D, which extended Alvarez's tenure on the council by another four year term, that claimed such an action would limit the influence of developers–but was funded almost exclusively by developers?
Must I remind you that, earlier this year, Alvarez called anyone opposed to gentrification “Chicken Littles”? Have you forgotten that in 2009, when when we beat back the Renaissance Plan (remember that?), that Alvarez blamed the press for it and claimed “We are moving toward a quality project” that would see even more Latinos displaced?
And yet now, she's some type of hero to y'all. She's supposed to address Los Amigos tomorrow–Los Amigos, chaired by the same man that once called Alvarez a puta for accepting money from unacceptable sources. If the group had any integrity, they'd laugh Alvarez out for her newfound radicalism–but betcha that won't happen, because she's now a newfound Aztlanista.
Desperate times call for desperate measures, I understand, but DO NOT trust Alvarez. She's using your support as cover for her many sins–and it's working. Understanding the gentrification debate in SanTana is all about taking the long view, people–and your myopia is downright disturbing. Don't say I didn't warn you…
