"Making the Deal Happen"

“Making the Deal Happen,” Councilman McAllister Closes the Circle of Dots.

by Edward Faunce

Funny how things get discovered. If ex-Councilman van Haaster hadn’t abused his public office, we would not have had a recall; we would not have uncovered the out-of-the-area developer financial engine driving our City’s development; we would not have discovered that the Murrieta’s Chamber of Commerce isn’t really run by Murrieta businesses; we would not have exposed the County GOP party as a partner to the business interests profiting from the rapid development of Murrieta; and we would not have seen so clearly that the local media, the City Police and Fire Unions, the career politicians, the Chamber, and the developers are all allied in one common goal -- develop Murrieta, get a slice of the profits and do it NOW.

Seemingly innocuous events - when seen in a larger context - tell a completely different story than perhaps intended. In 2003, Doug McAllister threw his hat into the Murrieta City Council ring. He had already served on the City Planning and Steering Commissions thereby enabling developers to assess his desirability. Although he received their support, he still needed to get elected. McAllister ran a populist campaign in two areas of the City which historically are the controlling voting areas, the seniors. So, his campaign was aimed at the Colony and the newly annexed Murrieta Hot Springs area of Murrieta.

McAllister’s goals, according to the League of Women Voters:
• Protect Murrieta's History while Building Murrieta's Future Vision.
• Identify what Murrieta wants to be when we grow up, and getting us there.
• Eliminate the symptoms of leadership dysfunction: traffic, lack of police/fire, parks, etc.

On November 3, 2003, McAllister was elected to the City Council. But rather than eliminating the symptoms of leadership dysfunction, he became a third vote on a 3 to 2 voting block which continued Murrieta’s headlong rush to build out. The recall movement swept McAllister up beginning in June of 2004 because he was seen as merely an extension of van Haaster and Seyarto.

In August 2004, McAllister came out of the small businessman closet and announced a career change. He said he was selling his glass etching business, and armed with a new real estate license, he was going into the development consulting business. He also announced that he was thinking of starting a new monthly newspaper (The Murrieta Insider) by partnering with Planning commissioner Steve Rawlings. (See “Councilman switches careers” by Laura Mitchell, Californian, August 28, 2004)

Immediately, McAllister was challenged about the wisdom of a City Council member partnering with a Planning Commissioner because appeals from the Planning Commission’s decisions were heard by the City Council. On August 29, 2004, the Californian printed a letter from me pointing out the conflict of interest and asking:

“I thought that the City Council was supposed to sit in judgment on appealed decisions from the Planning Commission. So how is Councilman McAllister going to exercise neutral and independent judgment over his business partner's decisions? Who's going to resign, McAllister or Rawlings? One, or both, have to give up their official positions to avoid this obvious conflict of interest.” (Letter by Ed Faunce, printed in the Californian, August 29, 2004)

Shortly thereafter, McAllister purportedly withdrew from the newspaper venture and his announced career change fell off the radar screen. In an earlier posting on this Blog, I asked Councilman Seyarto if he knew what Councilman
McAllister was doing about his new career. Councilman Seyarto wrote:

“Ed, why ask me what Doug does for a living? Go ask him. Last I knew he was working with a real estate firm. But whatever he's doing it is certainly more noble than helping the Howdy's of the world get a free ride on all us taxpayers. Well, the gutter is always fun to visit, as long as I don't have to take up residence there. I am ready to go back to the constructive dialogue when everyone else is. Good night. By Kelly Seyarto, at Tuesday, October 04, 2005 11:53:10 PM”

I haven’t asked Mr. McAllister, but I did discover at least one business where he has landed. If you go to the website link embedded in this post's title and you will find a Temecula business that advertises itself as “Golden Real Estate & Investments, specializes in working with investors, land developers and builders to find property that suits their needs. . . .”

The Golden Eagle Real Estate company also lists its employees and describes what each contributes to their business purpose. Here is what is published about Doug McAllister:

“Strategic Resource – DOUG McALLISTER’s record of positive impact on the valley’s business environment is well known. Currently a member of Murrieta’s City Council, Doug has also served on many boards including the Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce’s Executive Board. Doug brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to every deal. And making the deal happen is his specialty.

Doug made his mark in the Valley early on by starting and growing a local business that won the Business of the Year award on two separate occasions. Feeling his talents and strengths could be put to better use; he sold that business and moved into Commercial Real Estate. He began looking for a firm that had the kind of strengths that would compliment his.

Golden Real Estate & Investments fit that bill perfectly. As a result, the talented Golden Real Estate Team can make wonderful things happen for buyers, sellers, entrepreneurs , investors…you. . . .”

A check of the State Real Estate Licenses does not reveal that McAllister has a real estate license. We know that his education and experience has not been in real estate, much less commercial real estate, so, we ask: “Just what does McAllister bring to the commercial real estate development table?”

The quoted blurb from Golden Real Estate lays it right on the line. McAllister is on the Murrieta City Council, he has connections and his specialty is GETTING THE DEAL DONE.Translated into ordinary language, the intended message is that Golden Real Estate has hired a Murrieta City Councilman with inside connections and if you bring your development business here, you’ve got a leg up on other developers because we’ve got political connections.

So, McAllister has finished connecting the dots. He has shown us that we really did get the picture. The place to make money is to be on the inside helping to push the development of Murrieta and Southwest Riverside County. If you have no particular real estate development skills, it’s OK to sell your political position. (Actually Kevin Jeffries’s sell-out shows that this process has expanded to the entire County.)

The dots are connected and the circle is complete. The developers will support residents for Council membership who demonstrate a willingness to vote approval for their projects. Further, even if you have no particular background or skills in development consulting, as a Council member, you can still be a “strategic resource” valuable enough to be part of a consulting team.

Now, before Rholmgren and others get all bent out of shape claiming that RM’ers are trying to deflect attention away from “their boy, Warnie,” this article was prepared before WE’s arrest occurred. The article was not submitted to Mr. Kunkle while the discussion of WE’s situation was “hot and heavy.” That discussion has petered out, so now is the time to consider our entire City Council dilemma.

Oh, and to those bloggers who say “I’m sick and tired of all this negativity and you’re just giving Murrieta a bad name” – you are so wrong. A recent book “Attention Deficit Democracy” has chronicled the demise of “real democracy” in America. Inattention to what is really happening is destroying democracy in America. The message is that we must notice the negative. If we don’t know what’s wrong, we will not be able to fix it.

Sorry, but in my judgment, Doug McAllister has demonstrated poor judgment over and over. We all know about his personal problems, but I refer to his collusion with Seyarto to try to cover up for van Haaster on the day-care center; his ill-advised decision to enter into partnership with a sitting Planning Commissioner, Rawlings, the hocus-pocus political campaign in 2003 claiming to be a small businessman who understood the need to cure a dysfunctional City leadership which then morphed into a full-blown development consultant touting his Council office as his strategic resource. How could McAllister allow the Golden Real Estate company to advertise his Council membership on its website? Or, even worse, maybe he doesn’t see how mentioning his Council Office looks like he’s selling his City Office?

And finally, to all of you who say that all this turmoil is giving Murrieta a bad name, cheer up. We are actually rescuing Murrieta’s name. Many, many people stopped me while collecting signatures on the recall petitions and asked “Can you tell me how we can do the same thing in my City?” Many of those asking were from other states, even one, I remember, from Hawaii.

Rholmgren is fond of calling RM’ers whining do-nothing people. How wrong he is. It is the spirit of the Boston Tea Party, the Declaration of Independence and the desire to really participate in a government “of , by and for the people” that drives the attempt to clean out our City Council.

We need developers, but we need developers who will stop trying to buy easy access and special favors from our representatives. We need City Council members who are absolutely committed to doing what is right for the long-range benefit of Murrietans. That is not possible when those on the Council are the recipients of developer monies.

- Ed Faunce