We killed a lot of trees in order to help a neighborhood. The good news is we believe in recycling. The better news is, the Barrio may soon see the PROMISE made 15 years ago actually happen.

Our I-Team began looking into the Barrio Logan Mercado project in early December of 2005. It was supposed to be a retail/business center in the heart of the Barrio. If you ever are driving back from Coronado on the bridge, look to your left on the San Diego side, you will see eight acres of undeveloped land that was supposed to be a thriving commercial center, a place for families to shop, a rare chance to create jobs for the neighborhood. It certainly seemed to be a good idea, at least the Feds thought so. HUD gave the city $8 million to grease the skids and get the project launched. But it never did.

It sat there and sat there.

Here's where the dead trees come in, actually a massive pile of papers. Luis Garcia, who owns Chueys restaurant, was really upset about the empty lot. He had moved his popular eatery across the street from the proposed development--only to see the project languish and his hopes evaporate. I had heard of his complaints and went by the restaurant with reporter Salvador Rivera. We ended up staying for dinner and seeing for ourselves what had made this business man so angry. Boxes and boxes of paperwork. Documents from the Redevelopment Agency, planning groups, the developer, the City Council, the City Attorney and on and on. The paperwork went back in time to before the PROMISE was made. And in a very short time we realized Mr. Garcia had a legitimate gripe. We still had lots of legwork to do but clearly he was onto something. We wondered about the inability of the political establishment or the city bureacracy to get things done. There was another dynamic in this equation. Since the first PROMISE was made years earlier, the East Village was created, PETCO went up, and the value of that Barrio property on the outskirts of the explosive growth area had escalated dramatically.

It seemed to us the longer the foot-dragging went on, the more valuable the land became, the more money someone would make. Millions of dollars were on the table

We spoke to residents in the neighborhood, regular citizens and business owners, they agreed with Luis Garcia that the project was long overdue. They all wondered what was going on. No one ever would come clean on the delays. It was always the same double talk.

So we launched our investigation.
Salvador and I spent the next two months going through the paperwork we had gotten copies of from Luis Garcia plus other documents we requested from City Council and the Redevelopment Agency. We used about three or four pads of those yellow stickies to try to keep track of the timeline. We were joined by photojournalist Mike Howder to help us figure all of this out.

I won't bore you with the tons of details only to say, we found a pretty good story in those stacks of paper.
First off, the City Councilmen from the Barrio district -- former councilman, former assemblyman, now insurance industry muckety-muck Juan Vargas was at the helm when the PROMISES were made.

Convicted felon Ralph Inzunza followed him into office. Lots of fingers pointed to this guy being the problem--we didn't know if it was the "kick him when he is down" syndrome or legitimate claims.

Then there's the current City Councilman, former Barrio project boss, Ben Hueso.
The other council members, who sit as the Redevelopment Agency, didn't give a damn about the project. Neither did City Attorney Casey Gwynn. The Redevelopment Agency staff was a revolving door of personnel and worked at proving how inept a local government agency can be.

There is one more ingredient in this brew, it's Sam Marasco, the personable
developer who ended up with the project. He's connected to Vargas, having thrown a political fundraiser for the ambitious politican. Is that why he got the project?
I can't tell you for sure. But the way the city council representatives are elected is by votes in their own district, not citywide. That means each council district is a private fiefdom. Odds are, Marasco was Vargas' guy.

A backround check of Marasco's numerous business dealings was a mixed bag. Projects stalled, lawsuits were filed. Projects were completed, people were happy. We thought it strange that attorneys and developers in the small world of major developments were reluctant about talking on or off the record about Mr. Marasco's business practices. Some hinted at his litigious nature. While these industry insiders pointed the way to some out-of-state lawsuits, they were of little help.

What we saw in the paperwork was that the Redevelopment Agency gave the developer delay after delay after delay. These delays were always approved because Councilman Inzuna wanted to keep Mr.Marasco on the project. We were eager to speak with Mr. Inzunza about these delays and why he allowed this to go on. As to the current city councilman, the paper trail and sources inside the city seemed to indicate Councilman Hueso appeared to be playing both sides, a cautious politician.

But in his defense, Mr. Hueso was the only one to speak out about his concerns over the slow, slow pace of the project.
We interviewed whomever would talk to us -- Hueso, Marasco, Michael AGuirre, former Redevelopment Agency chiefs, the current redevelopment managment. However Mr.Vargas refused to comment, as did Mr.Inzunza.

Marasco blamed the Agency and other city elments for screwing things up. The Agency was clearly upset and angry about our poking around--and was very defensive and afraid to speak out about the delays involving Marasco, putting the blame on "previous adminstrators" for the problem.

Enter HUD. The federal housing department was plainly ticked off about all the foot-dragging and the millions of federal tax dollars that were never put to use on the project. As luck would have it, this became public in the middle of our investigation. We reported this mess in a series of four reports over six months.

Fast forward to last week. Judge Joan Lewis ruled that the property goes back to the city, Mr. Marasco is out. He can appeal, of course. I hope not, this neighborhoods nightmare has to end. HUD is happy again. And there are three qualified developers from an original group of sixteen interested and eager to step in for Mr. Marasco. They are ready to finally deliver on the PROMISE made to Barrio Logan.