Caltrans Denies SDMM a Second Adopt a Highway on I-5

Updated: 23 Jun 08

** SEE SHOCKING DOCUMENTS AND PROOF OF CA GOVT. CONSPIRACY ON SUB-LINK TO LEFT UNDER "Adopt-a-Highway" !!

080128 – Caltrans displaces SDMM from I-5 NB 66-68. Offers alternate freeway 50 miles away on 52 in Santee in violation of Caltrans regs which says SDMM must be offered a freeway or waiting list within 10 miles.

080514 – Catherine Bruce-Johnson emails list of available freeways to Jeff Schwilk. SB I-5 #64-62 listed as available. Schwilk fills out application.

080515 – Schwilk faxes application to Caltrans at 12:05 pm, then calls AAH office and leaves message that application was just faxed and to return call to confirm receipt and confirm that SDMM is first group to apply for that freeway. Call is not returned.

Later that day, PIO Steve Saville tells North County Times they received SDMM’s fax but its on an old application form and also requires an original signature and therefore the request is invalid (not true according to their regs; a faxed copy will hold the site).

080516 – Updated form printed off the CT website, filled out, and mailed with USPS signature confirmation to Caltrans.

080517 (Saturday) – USPS delivery attempted, but no one at Caltrans SD HQ to sign for it. Caltrans claims they had a phone conversation this day with Jobing.com and they accepted this open freeway since they were displaced from a nearby site, however they were displaced on May 16, long after SDMM was displaced on Jan. 28.

080519 – Caltrans employee J. Hernandez signs for SDMM application at 1:14 pm from USPS. Caltrans says it didn’t arrive in their office until May 20, so that is the date they use as “official”.

080530 – Sent email to Catherine Bruce-Johnson asking about status of SDMM application. Steve Saville emails back that it is being processed and we will be kept updated as to when it is approved.

080606 – Email sent to 5 key leaders at Caltrans asking for status update of application.

080609 – Letter received in mail denying SDMM application because “another group had accepted this site previous to receipt of your program application request”. FALSE STATEMENT!

080612 – Called Catherine Bruce-Johnson to ask how a group that accepts the freeway on the 17th can bump a group that submitted an application on the 15th. At first she says our application was not valid. I pointed out to her that it was valid per their own regs. Then she said Jobing.com was displaced so they had priority. I said then we have priority because we were displaced from a nearby stretch 4 months before Jobing.com was displaced. She then went to talk to some one at Caltrans and came back on the phone and said SDMM was not considered a “displaced group”. I said how could that be and she could not answer that question and that the decision was final.

080613 – Called Caltrans HQ in Sacramento and talked to Sri and told him all of the above and he said he’d check into it. I called back at 1pm and Sri said Caltrans lawyers advised that Sacramento could not get involved due to the lawsuit on the other freeway and he couldn’t tell me anything.

080614 – Articles in the NCT and SDUT showed two conflicting statements by their spokesmen. Steve Saville told NCT that we were denied because Jobing.com got their request in before SDMM (17th vs. 20th) and Edward Cartegena told SDUT that SDMM was denied because they “are technically not considered displaced”.

080616 – Catherine Bruce-Johnson emails to tell me Jobing.com’s previous freeway site, SB #68-66 was made unadoptable on May 16th and they accepted SB #64-62 on May 17th.

I spoke to Bridgette Horgan, the marketing director at Jobing.com in Phoenix, and she confirmed they were switched on May 17th, but she personally did not talk to Caltrans on the phone on Sat, May 17. She said she would be willing to give or switch with SDMM #64-62 if they could have another stretch of I-5 from Caltrans.

080617 – Schwilk emails Delgado and others at Caltrans to request that SDMM be given their rightful freeway back since we were the first to apply for the open freeway according to Caltrans own statements.

080618 – Delgado emails letter to Schwilk saying the entire AAH program is suspended and that they currently do not have an application on file from us. (absolute lie).

080620 – Visually confirmed that Jobing.com has a new sign on the #64-62 site that SDMM rightfully applied for