Letters for November 28-December 4
“Fresh is the Word,” Music, 10/24
The Truth About TIP
You’re getting your awards shows mixed up. The BET Hip-Hop Awards was held in Atlanta a week after the VH1 Hip-Hop Honors, which was in New York. TIP was arrested in the ATL.
Marcus Matthews, Atlanta, GA
“Gimme Shelter,” Feature, 10/24
Some Advice
I read with some amusement your Oct. 24 article regarding the Rivard family’s concerns about the increased use of the Altamont speedway track and how it is affecting their lives. From a distance, it’s possible to see both sides: The new owners of the track blow in, want to optimize their investment, they quickie up some bleachers, lights, and so on; no permit ’cause, hey, it’s the middle of nowhere, right? All the new fans roll in, park everywhere, drive fast, trash the place, and so on. The track hasn’t felt out the neighbors yet, so there’s lights, noise at all hours, etc.; hell, no consideration. Bad stuff. No love.
Earlier, the Rivards foolishly build a house next to a large racetrack(!) and then are surprised when it becomes louder and more present. The first thing they do is form a committee, hire lawyers, and go for the gonads. They expose the track’s relaxed attitude towards permits, they go to the county, make noise, make press … and then Mr. Rivard claims surprise when the track CEO won’t shake hands. In fact, the track management is well and truly pissed, and the Rivards can’t understand why!
The bads.
To the racetrack: You blew in there, large, noisy, and bright. You didn’t shake the man’s hand. You didn’t talk and help, you did low-level retaliation. You lied. Everybody hates that crap. And you still haven’t faced the neighbors and shaken their hand, saying the magic words, “I’m sorry we’ve had a misunderstanding. Let’s make it work”.
To the Rivards: You bought and built next to a racetrack. A LARGE racetrack. Then you went right to the lawyers. Then you are surprised when the track is way, way pissed off. Your behavior is called passive aggressive. Everybody hates that crap.
The advice.
Track: Shaddup. Sit down and be a good neighbor. You can have your track, and most of your races. Put in sound buffers, turn the lights off early, keep a good schedule, and talk to the folks. Talk, and try to make it work out, really. ‘Cause they will be up your butt again if you don’t.
Rivards, etc.: Shaddup. You might not want to hear this, but do: You live too close. We all do. Life grows bigger and louder around us all, every day, even over here in Kensington, my home. The track owes you something, but you also owe them. Can you pay? I think you made a bad decision to build there. The track is not going away. Forget that. They will make some concessions, but will it be enough? Come back down to the planet, here.
And as for that lawyer? Fire his ass. He is saying only what you want to hear, spouting to the press. Stuff not based in reality. The best you can hope for is a negotiated settlement. Here I am, telling you that for free. Him you pay?
That’s all I got. Call me, both you, if you want to talk.
Daniel Leonard, Kensington
A Pawn in Their Game
I have long maintained that your publication is the best of the Bay Area free weeklies. I am therefore sorely disappointed to see the unbalanced article on the conflict over the Altamont speedway. I feel that your author did a poor job of looking over the situation and fully understanding the forces at play. In short, she allowed herself to be used by the Rivards to further their own selfish aims. I’m very disappointed that you left out some very salient facts in your article. I expect the Express to be better than that.
A: Practically the first thing that the Rivards did upon purchasing their property was to build a motocross track there. They let many people use the track, to the point where they had to post that the track was in fact private because people they didn’t know were just showing up to ride. The point is that these are hardly your basic quiet-loving countryfolk. They use heavy equipment to tear up their land, and then make copious amounts of noise with their motorcycles.
B: If you visit the Rivard’s web site on this issue, you’ll find that they push the environmental issue heavily. They speak about how the racetrack isn’t in keeping with the natural habitat of the area, and the opening page has a pretty picture of a wild fox. The problem is that the racetrack sits next to the intersection of two freeways — hardly a natural wonderland. It’s also highly hypocritical of off-road motorcyclists to criticize paved-track operators over their environmental impact.
C: No mention is made of how the Rivards tried to buy the racetrack. It seems to me that there may be a serious case of sour grapes that somebody else beat them to it. It stands to reason that may well have been in the Rivards’ plans all along. Otherwise, why did they build their house overlooking the track?
D: The author made the point that having legitimate venues available for drifting makes that activity less likely to occur on public streets. This point is important and meaningful, as people die daily from street racing, and thus, providing a safe place to indulge their passion provides a public safety service. I acknowledge that the track management has been arrogant and dismissive at times. Condren and his crew have made enemies of people that came prepared to give them the benefit of the doubt. But if you snoop around this issue it’s pretty easy to see that the Rivards are hardly pure as driven snow. They did a classic “build next to an airport and complain about the noise” scenario, and the location of their house coupled with their own motorsports background suggests that this power struggle isn’t just about good or bad neighbors, but about power and control. The East Bay Express may have allowed itself to be a pawn in this battle by not adequately providing a complete picture.
The locals have legitimate beefs. I do not contest that. I just do not buy the whole “the poor Rivards are victims” line of bull. They have a huge property, yet they chose to build right next to the track. They tear up their land and criticize the track for its environmental impact. They have tried to buy the track themselves. These items are all a matter of the public record. The Rivards could sell their property to the track for a handsome profit and move to a much quieter spot (not next to a freeway, perhaps?). But they choose to wage war. Why? In part it is due to the antagonistic actions of the track management, but I think that the Rivards have always wanted to own the track, and if they can’t, they’d like to see it shut down. I have much more sympathy for the other neighbors of the track, who do not own a McMansion on 56 acres of land, who aren’t media-savvy like the Rivards, and who have lived in the area for far longer than this conflict has gone on.
Berkeley Choate, Oakland
Editor’s Note
The Rivards staunchly deny that they ever hoped or tried to buy the Altamont Speedway. They say officials from Altamont have long used that line in an attempt to paint them as disgruntled and dishonest. We called track co-owner Neal Sebbard to ask about the purchase issue, given that it was previously reported in the San Francisco Chronicle. He did not return my phone call.
Really, You Should Visit
What does this statement mean? “They rode their bikes and took long walks, a welcome alternative to their home in the Oakland Hills.” Have you ever been to the Oakland Hills? Every day hundreds of people are riding bikes and taking walks in the Oakland Hills.
Hank Henrikson, Oakland
Hire Some Muscle
Being shocked but not too surprised after reading the “Gimme Shelter” article, I have one question for the Rivards and their neighbors: Instead of lawyers, who haven’t been able to make much headway with the county apparatus, have they considered private investigators? The whole scenario reminds me of payola situations I’ve run into, where there is too much of a twilight zone reaction from so-called authorities. They’re hoping that if they can just keep the scam going a little longer and a little longer, that eventually they’ll wear you down.
If you start with this guy “Bizar” in the planning department, whose responses sound like a spokesman for the track owners, I’ll bet the dirt you’ll find will get the results you need and deserve. If not, maybe you should do what the US government does for protection from narrow-minded, bigoted little punks, and hire Blackwater, since my understanding is that you’re receiving what law enforcement considers terroristic threats.
Fred Walker, Oakland
Check the Zoning
As development encroaches more and more into our once quiet lives, and everyone espouses “progress,” these people bought undeveloped land basically on top of a well-known race track. I could care less if it wasn’t being utilized as much as they thought when they purchased the land (probably zoned mixed-use or industrial). Industrial or mixed-use zoned land has separate noise ordinances than residentially zoned land. Therefore, if you purchase property that is zoned as theirs is, you should buffer your compound (reminds me of the Branch Davidians — LOL) against the allowed decibel levels for that area. Plain and simple.
Celeste Young, Fremont
WWDED?
Although I personally would not have picked that particular location to build a home, the site was zoned for housing, the Rivards did their research, and they and their neighbors are entitled to live there without harassment. Condren is one of the new breed of businessmen/sociopaths who regard zoning and environmental laws as personal challenges to be undermined and circumvented. This conflict would not be taking place at all if Alameda County would just enforce its own zoning and permit regulations — they are the real culprits here. And are motorsports enthusiasts who make death threats really helping their sport? WWDED (What Would Dale Earnhardt Do)?”
Mark Ungar, Richmond
“Speech vs. Action,” Letters, 11/7
Some Journalist
Interesting that you chose to print a letter from self-described “journalist” Dan Spitzer supporting the Chronicle‘s firing of peace activist Henry Norr. The only evidence of Spitzer’s journalism I could find on Google was a letter printed in the Berkeley Daily Planet slandering another peace activist, for which the Planet later publicly apologized. Spitzer’s argument for Norr’s firing is that Norr is a member of the International Solidarity Movement — in 2003, Israel accused the ISM of sheltering terrorists in its West Bank office, therefore Norr is a member of a pro-terrorist organization and should be fired. If McCarthy-era style firings based on guilt by association are making a comeback, shouldn’t employers fire all members of the Republican party, whose chief is the world’s leading mass murderer?
Roger Gabrielson, Berkeley
“Local Licks,” Music, 10/24
Elevate Us Later
In the 10/24 Local Licks review of our album Even These Things Tell Stories, it said that we were attempting to hide behind “hip, post-punk influences like Television and Pavement” to cover up the album’s debt to the goofiness of bands like They Might Be Giants. The band went through a significant lineup change after the recording of that album, which shifted our sound more in the direction of the previously mentioned post-punk artists and slightly away from “They Might Be Giants silliness.” There was no intention to mislead or pose as hipper cats than we actually are.
That being said, we take as much pride in being compared to the guys who wrote “Cut Your Hair” and “Marquee Moon” as we do to the guys who wrote “Ana Ng” and “The State Got Me High.”
Aaron Sankin, Dubious Ranger
Letters Policy
Please provide your full name, address, and daytime phone number, although we’ll only print your name, city, and affiliation. Send letters to [email protected]m or Letters, East Bay Express, 1335 Stanford Ave., Emeryville, CA 94608. Letters are edited for length and clarity.
Correction
In the Best Music of 2007 (Holiday Guide, 11/21), the mention of how Nappy Brown “switches between registers at will, injects extraneous syllables here and there, and executes descending melismas with breathtaking ease” refers to the ballad “Give Me Your Love,” not “Don’t Be Angry.”
