LOOK WHO'S BACK - RECALLED PLANNER GORDON HAMMERS WINS ELECTION, RECLAIMS SEAT ON POTRERO PLANNING GROUP

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By Miriam Raftery

December 4, 2008 — Less than a year after being recalled
by a two-to-one margin, former Potrero Planning Group Chairman Gordon Hammers
has been re-elected to the board.  Hammers' victory, though surprising to many, appears to
signify a healing in this small rural community split first by controversy
over Blackwater and later by the Harris Wildfire that devastated the region.

Hammers and four other planners were recalled by the community in December
2007 for refusing to overturn their votes in favor of allowing Blackwater USA
(now Blackwater Worldwide) to open a private military training camp on the
site of a former chicken ranch surrounded by federal wilderness and national
forest lands.  Residents opposed the facility due to concerns about noise,
traffic, environmental issues, impact on the rural character of Potrero, and
the contractor's controversial record in Iraq.

After the recall election, Blackwater withdrew its application for Potrero
and opened an indoor shooting range in Otay Mesa.

"I look forward to serving the community," Hammers told East County Magazine during
Assemblyman Joel Anderson's holiday party in El Cajon this evening.

Asked what he learned from the recall experience, Hammers said he now realizes
that "no matter what's right, emotion will win out" in some cases.  "If
Blackwater came back, I couldn't vote for them because the people don't want
it," he said.  "I couldn't vote against it because it's good for the economy,
so I'd have to abstain."

Thell Fowler, a second recalled planner who tried to reclaim his seat in the
November 2008 election, lost by five votes.

"I'd vote for it again," Fowler said of the Blackwater project, adding that
it would have brought jobs to the community.  

During the Harris Fire, Fowler remained behind when others evacuated and helped
to save several neighbors' homes.   Some voters opposed to Blackwater
found themselves forced to make a painful choice in the polling place:  loyalty
to a helpful neighbor versus the long-term future of their town. 


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Comments

Ping: Gordon Hammers

Hey, Gordon!

I don't know if you read the comments here or not, but in case you do, I'm the guy who put the smoke bomb on your car 57 years ago in the parking lot of Mt. Whitney High School. We all got a great laugh out of that and I don't think you ever found out who did it. If you want to know, email to <straycat5625 AT att DOT net>. I hope P.L., who was in the car with you at the time, didn't get too upset about it. After reading the article about you and Blackwater and the town council and the people of Potrero, I see you haven't changed much. LOL.

An old friend from way back when,

 

Hammer's return

How useful Hammer's return will be to the community of Potrero can probably be gaged, by his arrogant attitude in insisting that his viewpoint on Blackwater was the correct one, and that the opposition was based entirely on emotion, a not uncommon attitude among staunch conservatives, who see everything under the sun as a matter of jobs and money, and all who oppose them as emotional liberals. His stated basis for his viewpoint, is that the installation of a paramilitary organization and its attendant problems, would be good for Potrero by creating more jobs. Hammer would do well to wake up to the fact, that not everyone in Potrero sees more jobs as the driving issue for the Planning Group; some would prefer to retain their rural atmosphere and have so stated in very direct terms. In fact, some went so far as to declare that they came to Potrero for the express purpose of escaping the atmosphere of development and more jobs. the Moreover they see the responsibility of the Planning Group to reflect the wishes of the majority of the community, not the ambitions of a few, who may or may not, benefit from that proposed installation.

It's not that he appears unrepentant; there's really no reason for repentance but, his expressed attitude that he was right all along, and that the citizens of Potrero are simply emotional, and by extension presumably, unfit to make decisions on their quality of life; this, is what would seem to make for a rocky time for the future of the Planning Group. I can foresee many contentious meetings as a result of his return to the Planning Group.

Hammer should get over himself, his views concerning Potrero are no better than anyone else's, and, in any case, constitute just one opinion. He should adjust his attitude, stow the arrogance, and pledge not only to serve the community, but to shape his public statements so as to convince the people that he means it and not just using the Planning Group to serve his ambitions. Potrero, I would think, has had quite enough of his arrogance.