News Details (Posted: November 14, 2005):

Taxpayers Millions Wasted In City's Funds At INGALLS PARK...WHY?

Full Description:

THIS LETTER WAS PRESENTED AT THE CITY COUNCIL MEETING 11/2/05 A development agreement between the city of Norco and Sun Cal was approved by the City Council October 4, 2000. This agreement required Sun Cal to dedicate and grade approximately fourteen acres on the east side of Ingalls Park with approximately six acres of this land to be graded into a flat pad area at no cost to the city. A document exists that changed this development agreement on January 2, 2002. Recently in writing Hal Clark stated that he pushed for and approved this new agreement to remove rock and thereby expand Ingalls Park. Mayor Herb Higgins signed this new document. This was without the approval or knowledge of all the City Council. This document was never recorded. To date this has cost the taxpayers millions of dollars for grading that is yet to be finished. Grading that should have been completed by Sun Cal at no cost to the taxpayers of Norco. I believe a grievous wrong has been done to the citizens of Norco. The entire City Council should be involved in any decision to resend an original contract voted on by the council. Not a minority of two. I do not know what the legal ramifications are! I don’t know if the original development agreement signed by the council would stand, or if the new agreement signed by mayor Higgins, that was not approved by the city council would stand, or if it was ever legal in the first place, since it was never recorded and never renewed. Work of this magnitude requires three bids before any decisions are made. This never went out to bid. This is not the correct protocol for handling city funds. I believe as a taxpayer and a citizen of this community it is my responsibility not to be a part of this cover-up. THANK YOU Harvey C. Sullivan This is not a political ploy as mayor Higgins stated in the Press Enterprise 11/3/05. The unrecorded document with mayor Higgins signature that released Sun Can from their original agreement was just recently made available to me. Evidence supplied to the Grand Jury will show that I have questioned the grading at Ingalls Park, in council, on numerous occasions, Giving councilmen Higgins and Clark the opportunity to have disclosed the agreement in question.