Recently I read that two former Black Diamond City Council members joined the incumbent mayor in claiming that the YarrowBay development will bring in tax revenue to magically fix Black Diamond’s (alleged) problems.

First of all, I love Black Diamond. I grew up here and though I have lived in and traveled on five continents, I chose to return. Second, we do not have major problems. And if we did, they would not be fixed by a huge corporation with no vested interest in the lives of long term residents who are deeply attached to a unique and lovely city.

Yet the mayor and the former council members not only accept YarrowBay’s faulty fiscal analysis, but believe that only money matters. YarrowBay is a complex scheme of limited liability corporations owned by venture capitalists. The corporation projected the rosiest possible future balance sheet for the city but the sources of income needed to create that income are composed largely of fantasies. YarrowBay projected huge retail revenue despite the fact that there is no evidence to suggest any substantial retail development will happen within the next 10 years. They suggest that private HOAs will own streets and maintain them. Not only is it a bad idea to have private corporations own public infrastructure, in reality the city will be the entity responsible for maintenance.

The YarrowBay development is not a done deal. There are many permits and conditions and checkpoints that — thanks to the public — must still be reviewed and approved. Some of these could dramatically change YarrowBay’s plans and keep the power of the city with its citizens. Old politicians who approved the plan want to blindly stick by their original poor decision, so they say there is nothing that can be done to change the future. But note this well, if they actually believed Yarrow Bay’s plans were final and permanent, they would not care who wins the next election.

Cities must always make tough budget decisions and these should certainly not be made based on promises without potential. The data could not be clearer that the new residential YarrowBay development will cost the city more to provide services — road maintenance, an increased police presence, park maintenance — than the residential tax it could collect.

I will not vote for anyone who will sell us out. I support politicians who will figure out the budget in a way that does not discount our citizens and who will work to save our beautiful and peaceful city. Anyone who believes the same should not even consider re-electing the incumbent mayor, a politician who has disregarded Black Diamond’s integrity time after time, then pointed fingers at the council in an ongoing and vicious political smear game.

I support Dave Gordon for Mayor and Erika Morgan for election to the Black Diamond City Council.

Rebecca S. Sullivan

Black Diamond