When things get out of control - no car wash at the plaza results in unrestrained anger
People aim to inspire the citizenry, then find out that they've inspired them a little too much.
I've previously posted about Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who took a prominent position at the 500,000-strong pro-"undocumented worker" gathering in Los Angeles on Saturday, but then found himself facing truant students on Monday. When he tried to get them to go back to school, he got the response "Hell no, we won't go."
A similar thing is happening this evening on the other side of the illegal alien debate. The background is contained on John and Ken's blog:
Replace an Illegal Alien for a Day!
Posted by The John and Ken Show @ 9:59 am
Jobs Americans won’t do, eh?
Not at the The John & Ken Show Car Wash!
We’ve got AMERICAN CITIZENS to wash your car! Feel free to ask any one of them for identification. They won’t be offended. They’ve got nothing to hide.
It’s free. But if you’d like, we’ll be accepting donations for charity.
This Thursday, April 20th, from 3-7 pm at Riverside Plaza in Riverside.
Well, that's how the post originally read. But later in the day (some time after 5:30 pm) "Riverside Plaza in Riverside" had to be crossed out and this was added:
The illegal alien activists are scared of you, and what you can do! They have threatened to riot, damage property, and even physical violence. So the Riverside Plaza has backed out. Stand by for a new location.
All right and fine, right? Well, now the KFI callers want to boycott Riverside Plaza for backing out. At least three callers say that they have called Riverside Plaza to inform them that they are taking their business elsewhere. One person proposed to block the entrances to Riverside Plaza with cars. And it's just getting more strident.
So what is Riverside Plaza? (I've never been there.)
General info:
Contact Us
[phone] 951.683.1066
[fax] 951.781.7985
[address]
Riverside Plaza, Suite 200
3545 Central Ave
Riverside, CA 92506
[email]
info@shopriversideplaza.com
[leasing information]
For leasing information, contact
Angie Nett, CB Richard Ellis
909.418.2058
-or-
Christine Jensen
909.418.2114
And at least it's beautiful:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 31, 2006
CONTACT:
Jennifer Craig/(212) 410-0842
Deborah Blackford/(951) 898-0123
RIVERSIDE PLAZA RECEIVES THE “MAYOR AWARD” FOR HELPING KEEP THE COMMUNITY CLEAN
The Keep Riverside Clean And Beautiful Program Announced 2006 Beautification Awards On January 26
(RIVERSIDE, CA) – On Thursday, January 26 during the 2006 Mayor's State of the City Address held at the Riverside Convention Center, the Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful (KRCB) program presented Riverside Plaza with the “Mayor’s Award.” Given by Mayor Ron Loveridge, the honor was accepted on behalf of Riverside Plaza by developer George Carroll of Westminster Funds and Bill Kenney, whose consultation on the redevelopment of Riverside Plaza was significant to its success.
“It is a true honor to be recognized by the Keep Riverside Clean and Beautiful program,” says Carol Scott, GM for Riverside Plaza. “We will continue to uphold our responsibilities of helping the community and keeping Riverside clean.”
KRCB works under the Chamber of Commerce and publicly recognizes and awards local businesses in various categories including New Construction, Maintenance of Existing Facility, Exterior Reconstruction and Historic Preservation. The “Mayor's Award” is the highest award given for beautification efforts. The mission of KRCB is to instill a sense of community, pride and leadership within Riverside by creating partnerships that work toward the beautification of the city.
About Riverside Plaza
Riverside Plaza is located on Central Avenue between the 91 Freeway and Magnolia Avenue. In 1955, Riverside Plaza opened for business, featuring such prestigious retailers as F.W. Woolworth Company and Harris’ Department Store. Today, the newly redeveloped Riverside Plaza features retailers including Gottschalk’s Department Store, Borders Books, Regal Cinemas, Vons, Trader Joe’s, Sav-on, Panera Bread and California Pizza Kitchen. Log onto www.shopriversideplaza.com or call (951) 683-1066 for a complete directory and more information.
But Riverside Plaza may not be done in by the illegal aliens or their opponents - their own city may damage the plaza:
Riverside City urban designers and their sponsors, occasionally city council members, have been infatuated for years with the notion of having a "restaurant row" in Riverside--a thoroughfare lined with popular restaurants. This concept gripped their little imaginations when San Bernardino City, some decades ago, successfully created a restaurant row in the development park along Hospitality Lane....[A]ttention shifted to Merrill St, which runs along the northern side of the old, centrally located Riverside Plaza. After having decayed for a few years, the former Plaza is now the location of a new, privately owned, planned, shopping center with a "main street" and shops with front door parking. More than a half-dozen new high-end franchise eateries have opened (e.g., California Pizza, Citrus City Grill). To all appearances, the new shopping center is a great success. New shops are being built. Crowds throng on weekends. The food in the restaurants is still edible after several months of local clientele.
So why do the city leaders continue to insist upon the notion of a restaurant row along Merrill Street, just across from the successful shopping center with its new restaurants? Do they wish to kill them off, by offering competitive, city planned and subsidized restaurants?...
Perhaps a better idea, than a city-planned restaurant row, would be to replace the city's planning department with the private marketers and developers who are building the new central plaza shopping center. And City Councilpersons could take jobs as waiters at the restaurants in the center to learn something about the business.
Meanwhile we'll see what Lonewacko and Calblog say about the sleeping giant that was awakened by Riverside Plaza's cancellation of the car wash. Of course, KFI will probably shut off the outlet of the unwashed citizenry.
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