No Way Gateway

By Mark Anthony Orozco

Gateway Project will trap our district in a pollution bubble.

Marion Ashley has continued to show his support for the construction of the Gateway Center Warehouse Project, a planned 2.5-million-square-foot warehouse in Cherry Valley that, if constructed, would induce traffic congestion, raise noise levels in our neighborhoods, and above all, increase the pollution problems we face.

According to him, the project is allegedly designed to as a job creator. Under his term, the project received the "fast track" in 2008 in hopes of lowering the unemployment rate. What Ashley continually failed to realize, however, was that this project will likely do more harm than good for the well-being of District 5.

Just imagine the hundreds of big-rigs that this warehouse will attract and inevitable harm they will bring about to our district. It has been reported that roughly 1,000 additional big-rigs will pass the area on a monthly basis. The result would be an influx of environmental hazards and smog to our community. According to reports, big-rigs are already our state's largest cause of smog-forming nitrogen oxide. With the increase of big-rigs comes the increase of smog and in turn, potential health concerns that will arise including lung dysfunction, irritated respiratory systems, and asthma.

Our citizens are well-informed enough to realize the potential problems this warehouse would bring. That's why so many have already condemned the project from being built in the first place. And what has been Marion Ashley's response to his constituents' concerns? The answer: complete and utter disregard for the fears of the people he is supposed to represent.

In April, Ashley ignored his constituents' pleas to end the project immediately, and instead offered to continue to review the plans to build the warehouse.

What's worse is that Ashley has done this before. Over the years, he has increased the number of warehouses built in Perris. But in an ironic twist, the warehouses that he claims will create new jobs for his citizens have failed to do so. Perris currently faces a high unemployment rate of 16.9%, leading many to question Ashley's own policies that have failed to make a positive impact on the people he promised to help.

A more viable solution would be to prevent the project from going forward and to reallocate the space to the residential area that it was originally planned for. This would be a sensible investment in our families instead of corporations. Speaking of which, The Shopoff Group, the company that has volunteered to construct the center, states that there is no guarantee that this project will even succeed. In fact, The Shopoff Group claimed on its website that "Investing in The Shopoff Group limited partnerships involves a high degree of risk, including the possible complete loss of your investment."

This all seems like a giant risk, so why take the gamble?

Our children deserve to grow in an area where clean air and healthy conditions are a norm; our families deserve better than risky business deals; and our district deserves better than than the toxic conditions Ashley has created for us.

We don't need a pollution-inducing project or a politician who will continue to ignore the pleas of his citizens. This June, we need to prevent the construction of the center and raise our voices in unison as we vote against the project and against Ashley.