PLAYING WITH A STACKED DECK ON DONNER SUMMIT?

There are times when I wonder if Kirk Syme, and Todd and Mark Foster, principals in Royal Gorge LLC are playing with a stacked deck in regards to furthering their proposed development at Donner Summit/Serene Lakes.

If you cut the deck they're playing with, you'll find, turning over the first card, the very interesting situation with Royal Gorge LLC's CEQA lawyer.  They've hired Remy, Thomas, Moose, and Manley. There's a bit of a conflict here, at least for the law firm, because Tina Thomas, one of the name partners in the firm, represented Serene Lakes Property Owners Association (SLPOA) in commenting on the EIR involving Summit Meadow/Van Norden Meadow in Nevada County- an EIR that is  very much alive, and still being pursued by Royal Gorge LLC.  But what the heck, why not hire the same law firm that represented the little homeowner's group on a part of the project that is still contested- you might find out all kinds of information about how they negotiate!  

Shuffle the cards a bit, and you find Bill Abbott, principal in Abbott and Kindermann, a law firm whose motto is, "when good planning is not enough."  I almost find that motto ominous (or really funny), by the way. Mr. Abbott, a former president of SLPOA, is married to Tina Thomas.  His firm also is of counsel to Placer County's Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).  Placer LAFCO will have quite a bit of input into Royal Gorge's project application in Placer County. Now, to my knowledge, Mr. Abbott's firm in not at this time in the employ of Royal Gorge LLC, but it does cause some small degree of unease to think of the convoluted relationships here-- 

Here's a wild card.  Remember Darius Anderson and his Platinum Advisors? He's the lobbyist with the "platinum rolodex" of movers and shakers happy to share his annual trips to Cuba (that would include a member of  the family that owns the San Francisco Chronicle, just this last trip), and let him bend their ear to curry favor for his clients.  Well, not only does Royal Gorge LLC retain his services, so does Placer County. I wonder if he ever has cosy get-togethers for all of his clients?

To increase the chances of a Royal Flush for Royal Gorge, though, Kirk Syme and Todd Foster, and their company Royal Gorge LLC have laid a veritable jackpot of money on scores of elected officials, including more than generous amounts to local supervisors (see www.savedonnersummit.org for more info).

Heck, cards are one thing- but recently Royal Gorge LLC even got Placer County to agree to change the rules of the game.  Royal Gorge LLC and Placer County entered into a prior agreement (see letter from Michael Johnson, head planner, in documents on www.saveserenelakes.org) wherein plans, reports, and documents submitted by Royal Gorge LLC to the county in November would be shielded from public view- even though California law does not permit this.  We're hearing a whole lot of feeble spin for the motivations for this special treatment, and curiously enough, the county, who knows the submissions are public records, seems bound to some sort of "gentleman's agreement"- they're hoping Mike Livak rescinds his letter of December 13- the letter asking for the documents back that was generated 10 days after my written request to Placer County for access to the records. (California law requires disputed records to be retained by counties once a request (even verbal) has been made- so a judge can make the decision to grant access to the record, if the county is recalcitrant.)

The big question here- why did Placer County planning agree to bend the rules for Royal Gorge LLC? Is this commonly done for big development, but no one ever asks?  Was there perhaps influence from other individuals or development-oriented groups to encourage the county to sidestep the California Public Records Act, and the genuine citizen involvement they seemed committed to in June, when they put all of Royal Gorge LLC's June documents up on a county web-page? What is the Placer County board of supervisors doing to address this problem?

Let's hope Royal Gorge LLC really isn't playing with a stacked deck- but the way they're going about things right now,  I think what they're looking at, in terms of their relationship with the Donner Summit Community, is more like a game of "52 Pick-Up". And it's not the Community who's dropped the cards.