Pooh-poohing it for being merely a figment of my
“ever-creative” advocacy as the attorney for a competitor, The
Times in an editorial in the June 6 edition dismisses my argument
that the Morgan Hill City Council should reject a Ford dealership
in Morgan Hill because there is not enough regional business for
both this proposed dealership and my
client, Bob Lynch Ford, to survive.
Pooh-poohing it for being merely a figment of my “ever-creative” advocacy as the attorney for a competitor, The Times in an editorial in the June 6 edition dismisses my argument that the Morgan Hill City Council should reject a Ford dealership in Morgan Hill because there is not enough regional business for both this proposed dealership and my client, Bob Lynch Ford, to survive.
Instead, the sometimes analytically sloppy Times says it is content to defer to the judgment of Ford Motor Co.’s bean-counters and marketers if they think two Ford dealers are sustainable in South Valley. It points out that the two Chevy dealerships of Harry Marx in Gilroy and South County Chevrolet in Morgan Hill “do just fine in the same region, thank you.”
As my client pointed out in the June 3 Times article, Marx and South County offer different inventory, with Marx more focused on truck sales. So, they do not compete head-to-head as the proposed dealership and Bob Lynch Ford will. Moreover, the un-attributed Times statement that the two Chevrolet dealerships are “both … going strong” is suspect. A half-interest in Marx has recently been sold to a third party.
Whether the folks at Ford are acting on good data is likewise questionable. Although the proposed new dealer, Tim Paulus, is said to have claimed in the past that “a market study of car registrations in the area showed the need for another Ford dealership,” I have no knowledge that this market study has ever been produced by Paulus or Ford. What I do know is that the justification a Ford supervisor gave to Scott Lynch when he questioned the proposal to open the Morgan Hill dealership was no more substantial than the supervisor’s statement that he thought Ford dealerships in the San Jose/Gilroy region were “too complacent.”
I also know that mindlessly deferring to the judgment of decision-makers in substantial institutions apparently in a position to be well informed on the subject matter – but holding a financial stake in the decision – has brought Morgan Hill to grief in the past. The long-dark Safeway at Tennant Station and the still-dark St. Louise Hospital off Cochrane Road are good examples. Each convinced the city they could compete with Nob Hill Foods and South Valley Hospital, respectively – only to fail disastrously.
My client is not a “miffed” out-of-town businessman trying to “protect his pocketbook,” as The Times dismissively asserts, but an individual with a family to support who is fighting for the survival of the business on which he relies to do so.
The Times states that “California’s strict environmental law, CEQA, will require the City Council to make sure that th(e) traffic, noise and lighting impacts of the dealership” are mitigated as much as possible. Can The Times be unaware that one of the other issues I have raised is that the City is violating CEQA by proposing to approve the dealership without preparing the Environmental Impact Report that CEQA requires to study these impacts and proposed mitigation measures?
If the council wants the tax revenue generated by a car dealership, we should woo Volvo, Mercedes, BMW, Lexus and Jaguar, which are low volume/high dollar, and also strive to build facilities that mirror the image of the make – very high quality. Thus we would have a very different profile, probably a much more flexible negotiation on location, and much lower volume of traffic impact, light pollution (smaller facility), as well as noise pollution for the same reason.
Last Sunday, Wine Country Living did a feature on Corde Valle and Clos La Chance. Morgan Hill could be positioning itself to become the gateway to Wine Country, not the southern exit to Dealer Row. Morgan Hill residents perceive themselves to live in “Los Gatos South,” and want Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, high-end clothing stores, more recreational facilities – which could give the revenue sought, from our true goldmine: location and image. Ford represents someone who will clear out the mine and strip the land.
The Times is content – nay, eager – to sacrifice the long-term quality of life in Morgan Hill for the short-term production of sales tax revenues.
I hope our elected representatives have greater wisdom than our local newspaper.
Bruce Tichinin is an attorney in Morgan Hill. Readers interested in writing a guest column should contact editor Walt Glines at wa***@*************es.com or 779-4106.
