Winds of Change

I don't know how I'd feel about having a 100-foot tall windmill put up (virtually) in my backyard. When you buy a house, there are quite a few variables that come into play before you make your decision, not the least of which being, "is there a monolithic beacon of renewable energy hovering above my roof?" Under most circumstances, you generally expect the neighborhood you choose to invest in to at least look reasonably the same in 20 or 30 years. If you're talking a housing development in suburbia, maybe longer.

That's what the Heron Bay Homeowners Association felt, at any rate, until the city council voted last night.

I have trouble siding with either Halus or Heron. On the one hand you have 1500 San Leandro homeowners who like their neighborhood just fine as it is and don't want a glorified pinwheel in their line of sight every day. On the other, you have Halus trying to do something positive with what they feel to be a modest addition to the skyline for the sake of the greater good. Clear skies versus green energy. How do you choose?

It's not like there's no credence to the homeowners' arguments. It's a markedly unfair situation to be put in. Of course, the people in Chicago who watched the Home Insurance Building go up probably felt the same way. Which is Cassidy's position in a nutshell; it sucks, but it will do more good than harm.

That's the thing, though. Cassidy is saying it, and the majority of people on the council support it, but what should ultimately be their primary concern as the representatives of, well, us? I can get behind the idea of our city pushing for things that help the planet. But if you're going to go that route you really have to show consistency and push for it everywhere.

That's pretty hard to do in 2013, politically. It's a no-go to be green if there's real green on the table that might be put at risk. SL is doing its best to become Silicon Valley Jr., which means presenting a certain sort of image. Fiber optic cable and windmills look good to the tomorrow people of science and tech that Cassidy is trying to woo.

"Big deal" probably sums up the thoughts of someone living in Heron Bay when it comes to that notion. To them, Cassidy's thought process on the issue probably went something like this: "So what if 1500 San Leandrans don't like it? Even if they move, with any luck some dot-com hipsters making 100K each will move in once [insert Fortune 500 company] rolls into town."

Not to say that's a totally fair way to look at this situation, of course. If you're a mayor, sometimes you have to make choices that not everybody will like. As they say, the first guy through the wall always gets a little bloody. Still, I'm sure it is difficult to feel like your mayor is looking out for you when he seems to be ignoring the needs of you and all your neighbors. I'm not even broaching the rules/laws that might have been bent last night. If nothing else, the whole situation is worth a moment of reflection.

Whatever their intentions, I do think lately that sometimes city hall loses the forest for the trees, or the city for the people. In the end, perhaps everyone would have been better off with a more amicable compromise that didn't turn Halus into "the bad guy" and leave Heron Bay residents with utterly no recourse.

Sigh; progress.