Canyon City Alliance is a Scam
Vulcan Materials company is attempting to buy your vote. They have formed a new "organization," Canyon City Alliance, which is a complete fabrication of their PR company. In addition, they have formed a bogus website (Azusans4Azusa.com), which they fully own. See Whois registration information (Snapshot of registrar/owner 8/5/10).
The Vulcan
Materials flyer (right) is full of lies. First, the circulators of the petition
(Azusans Against Mining Expansion)
have $0 in funding from "outside interest groups." All funding is from
individual citizens, with the largest donation being only $250. Vulcan Materials
has spent more money on their first flyer than Azusans Against Mining Expansion
have raised in total from individual citizens. We have no corporate or "outside
group' funding. In contrast, the police officer portrayed in the flyer, Terry Smith,
is an outsider, since he is not a resident of Azusa.
Corporal Smith was
sworn into the PD only this year on January 5, 2010. In addition, Irene C.
Villapania, CEO of the Azusa Chamber of Commerce is also an outsider, residing
in Montebello.
The petition is not misleading, but clearly states its intent, as required by law. The petition is a citizen-led right of the people of Azusa to demand the City Council of Azusa to put the mining expansion ordinance (10-O5) on the ballot for the citizens of Azusa to vote on. All signatures on all petitions are gathered by volunteer registered voters of Azusa. No circulators are paid. In fact, most, if not all of our volunteers have spent their own money to produce and circulate the petitions.
Repealing the mining expansion ordinance will not cost the city of Azusa $65 million. The vast
amount of money produced from Vulcan's mining is unaffected, since the mining
tax rate is the same under the old and new mining plans.
What is the "Azusa Mining Restriction & Hillside Restoration Project"? We don't
really know, since no such project or organization exists.
The ordinance is really entitled "A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF AZUSA APPROVING MODIFICATION TO CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT CUP 89-20 AND A
REVISED RECLAMATION PLAN TO MODIFY THE EXISTING MINING AREAS AND RECLAMATION
APPROACH AT THE AZUSA ROCK QUARRY, LOCATED AT 3901 FISH CANYON ROAD, AZUSA,
CALIFORNIA." The ordinance provides a financial windfall for Vulcan Materials,
who own the Azusa Rock Quarry.
Will this non-existent project make Azusa safer? No! Funding for the Azusa Police Department is completely independent of any moneys paid by Vulcan Materials. This is a good thing, since Vulcan Materials has been cheating on their taxes for the last 8 years, paying less than $100,000. Azusa would be much better off to sue Vulcan Materials to recover the potentially millions of dollars in mining taxes that they have failed to pay in the past.