They reneged
Monday July 07th 2014, 11:13 pm
Filed under: Friends,Politics

And poof, just like that it was gone.

Merlone Geier informed Steve Rasmussen today that their shared parking agreement that would allow Milk Pail to stay in business is, sorry dude, so last week: Phase II didn’t get city approval and it was contingent on that and oh well, tough to be the guy who’s not the multibillion-dollar company with major clout, huh.

It was all just a ploy to pressure the City after the Planning Commission had come down unanimously against them–vote for this while we don’t even tell you how we’re going to make this surprise change to the plans happen. Moving the parking structure? You don’t get to know, just do what we say.

Except that.

I keep thinking of that moment in the city council chambers a week ago where their rep called Steve up to make his bombshell announcement that after two and a half years, at long last, “Milk Pail will be able to stay as it is where it is and into the foreseeable future.”

And every face on that council was stunned speechless–and each was one thrilled. Deeply, deeply gratified. Now, it may be that for some it wasn’t for Milk Pail’s sake but rather for the relief of no longer having angry, vocal voters coming after them from now till Fall.

But I think it was about much more than just elections: in that moment, they every single one of them knew if they didn’t before that this mattered to them personally and that they wanted Steve’s business and all that it represented to the community to survive. That they wanted Steve to succeed after all these times of seeing him being the kindest man in the room no matter what, living up to his ideals when it could not have been easy, never showing the least degree of anger, always assuming the best of those utterly set to take him down after all he’d given to the community for so long.

It may well be that their reaction was a surprise to a couple of them. But I saw it and it was real and I saw the relief even in the face of the younger rep from that developer to be finally doing right by that good man.

But now Merlone Geier is back to playing the bully. They know that role so well.

Five local and city newspapers that I’ve found so far from San Francisco to San Jose had trumpeted the saving of this beloved small business and written up how glad the community was.

Merlone Geier has lost. They just don’t know it yet.


2 Comments so far
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Oh, keep us posted. I hope this story has the ending that the audience is rooting for.

Comment by twinsetellen 07.08.14 @ 5:18 pm

Shame on MG. Do keep us posted!!

Comment by Channon 07.11.14 @ 6:48 pm



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