Moreno Valley Politics
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City Hires New Public Works Director....yet another $170,000.00+ salary!

BY LAURIE LUCAS

BY LAURIE LUCAS The Press Enterprise

STAFF WRITER

llucas@pe.com

Published: 19 January 2012 05:44 PM

Henry Garcia, city manager of Moreno Valley, has hired him as the public works director/city engineer, at a salary of $174,090 annually.

Ansari, 50, who held the same position for two years for the cities of Perris and then four years for Rialto, started his new job Dec. 22.

Garcia was previously city administrator in Rialto.

Ansari replaces Rick Hartmann, who served as Moreno Valley’s interim public works director after Garcia fired Chris A. Vogt on Oct. 27.

In a prepared statement, Garcia said he appointed Ansari after an open and competitive recruitment. Ansari will oversee capital projects, electric utility, special districts, maintenance, operation, and traffic engineering divisions and supervise a staff of 90.

“Ahmad’s extensive experience with all aspects of public works is a huge plus for us and his familiarity with our region means he will hit the ground running.” Garcia wrote.

Ansari said his immediate concerns are the city’s $75 million infrastructure projects on the east side to ease congestion and attract jobs, particularly in health care and logistics.

This past year the city approved fast-tracking street widening and bridge and ramp improvements, mostly on Nason Street and Moreno Beach Drive, to help bolster its two-year economic development plan.

Besides focusing on the big capital improvement picture, Ansari also prides himself on customer care through immediate callbacks regarding consumer complaints.

“My philosophy is no potholes left behind,” he said.

Born in Persia, Ansari’s family immigrated to the United Stated when he was 16. He became an ardent Trojans’ fan during his years at USC, where he received a degree in civil engineering and architecture. He worked for private firms before starting his career in public service with the city of Burbank.

Ansari takes credit for a major improvement during his tenure in Rialto: the Riverside Avenue/Interstate 10 bridge project. Ansari, an architect at heart, designed the six arches on each side of the bridge to mirror the Ponte di Rialto in Venice, Italy.

He’s also proud of other projects in Rialto under his direction, including the rehabilitation of Margaret Todd Park, the Centennial Walk of Fame, the expansion of the Rialto branch library and the Rialto Bridge design (the city’s seal) on the roofs of the bus shelters.

Even so, Ansari said he couldn’t resist the challenge of working for Moreno Valley, a city of 200,000 people, nearly double the population of Rialto.

“I saw an opportunity to develop the second largest city in Riverside County,” he said.

Ansari lives in Corona with his wife, Shirin, a Wells Fargo underwriter and son, Pouya, 17, a high school senior. His other son, Parsa, 20, is a political science major at UC Irvine.

Moreno Valley City Council - As of September 2011                   
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courtesy City of Moreno Valley

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courtesy www.mvgordie.com

Now we move onto Mr. Krantz one of the individuals who spoke to the citizens of Moreno Valley during its presentation of the new “golden triangle,” no not the one which included medical facilities, but the one with all the warehouses. During this meeting Mr. Krantz spoke highly of the idea of using up Moreno Valley’s only open space for a mega warehousing zone, one of which would be the nation largest.

mvgordie.com however questioned his NIBY attitude in regards to the use of, and preservation of Moreno Valley’s only real open space for such uses. Mr. Krantz doesn’t seem to hold those same feeling when it comes to his own home city of Redlands (this doesn’t even touch on why the City of Moreno Valley brought in two individuals from outside the city to tell us what our city needs, or wants).

During the show mvgordie.com mentioned a new article regarding the growth of the City of Redlands in which Thomas Krantz made the following statement:

 ”Growth is going to happen, but we want to make sure Redlands doesn’t get bowled over,” said Mayor Jon Harrison. “We are at the point where we need to define Redlands for the 21st century.”

 But others say “growth is already taking its toll and that the best the city can hope for is to wring enough taxes and fees from development to pay for services while protecting vestiges of open space and landmarks, such as the historic neighborhoods and downtown, an oasis of shade trees and old brick buildings.”

“We don’t have much time to figure out a better way to balance growth with the city’s economic needs,” said Tim Krantz, a lifelong Redlands resident and a professor of environmental studies at the University of Redlands. “We are definitely at a crossroads. It’s a 50-50 shot if we are really going to seize the day and the opportunity.”

As you can see, Mr. Krantz takes a whole different approach when it comes to his back yard then when it comes to ours, but then why not, Mr. Krantz was and most likely is still associated with Michael Brandman  Associates, the firm that was used to perform the Environmental Impact Report for the Highland Fairview Corporate Park Project, and is now being touted as part of the new “partnership” between the City of Moreno Valley and Highland Fairview for the development of the “World Logistic Center” which will occupy everything east of Redlands Blvd., south of State Route 60, north and south of Allessandro Blvd. and as far east as Gilman Springs Rd…

Mr. Krantz stand on issues outside of Moreno Valley, conflict with those he now exposes toward our city, one of which he doesn’t reside. He stood against the building of a simple hotel near Big Bear Lake, citing “human encroachment” and its effects on native plants and their habitat, however here he doesn’t share that same concern over our vestiges in maintain open spaces or the existence of a federally set-aside of land just to east of this proposed devilment for the preservation of wildlife.

Although correct, these building in and of themselves do no more than remove open space, native plants, and animals as they are merely just building whose effects beyond that would be in the form of water usage, power usage and emissions from their normal operation, what is missing in this equation however is the side effects of their overall operations which will bring in semi-truck traffic which run on diesel fuels.

These diesel fuel operated trucks although now running on cleaner fuel will still have an overriding effect on the surrounding area, even the wildlife preserve to the east as these trucks will deposit soot upon the surrounding area causing a negative effect which will over time all but wipe out the area set aside for the protection of natural species.

It is therefore the conclusion as stated on MV City Link, that Mr. Krantz is in fact a NIMBY, and is more than likely going to receive a good sum of money for his University of Redlands, or maybe for his own use in the area of the ecosystem.

Did I mention Thomas Krantz, his wife Lynn and their love of wine and vineyards; you do know Iddo Benzeevi has plans of his own for the same type of venture?