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What ever happened to Chamala anti development group?


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Dale Palfrey can write exposés all day long, but it's not as if a story about an illegally issued permit is going to shame the Chapala government into doing the right thing.  The only way to stop illegal permits and construction abnormalities is thru lawsuits.    

Taafe....you mentioned Amigos del Lago.  Is this group willing, able and trustworthy to tackle the Chapala government over these issues?  

 

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2 hours ago, ComputerGuy said:

What an absolute load of unmitigated hogwash. CHECK YOUR FACTS. Allyn and Beverly Hunt bought that paper decades ago, both Americans. Sean is as reported, American, Michael British, both have Mexican status. Their interest is in serving the expat populace. Dale is a reporter and does not run the paper or decide what goes in it.

If I want a biased viewpoint of the U.S. I'll read your stuff. Your denigration of the viewpoint of the entire country of Canada is shameful to me, and smacks of xenophobia.

The best and most accurate post you have ever authored!!!!!!!!!

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27 minutes ago, slainte39 said:

Neither one are in good enough shape to be bothered by anything, now.

I had heard that second hand so thanks for confirming. Lots of opinions about both but certainly colorful figures even considering lakeside is THE land of colorful figures, lol. They actually stayed at our house in Houston in 2001 when he came up for a regular medical check-up.  He must have had 10 newspapers spread out all over the house as he read and studied all kinds of news. Very introverted and ill at ease around people, the opposite of her. I always checked my back pocket to make sure my wallet was still there. A good person to have if you were a buyer, not so if you were a seller. Staying at her BnB was what prompted us to open our own since the "room for improvement" was so obvious. Many board members probably never had the "experience" of staying at Laguna BnB but as difficult as she was her employees were the salt of the earth. Ricardo told us some truly incredible stories about working for them. We were invited to meet them at their house in Joco once but it was simply to meet up and have Ricardo drive us all to Guadalajara.  We weren't invited into the house.  "Allyn is very busy working, I don't want to disturb him".

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You would have had to put her down in order to get to Allyn, that´s how protective she was of him.  Allyn and I shared a similar passion (called cornhuskitis) that was unique to probably just us two, but even then most of our conversation went through Beverly or my son, who had unlimited access to Allyn, for professional reasons.

I was with him the night he had the bar room brawl with Adam Fisher in the early 80´s at the restaurant where Telares is now and we kind of tore things up. LOL That´s when I knew he was "my man".   

Good Ol Days………..

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According to Ricardo...he was also wont to "tear things and people up" in his own house. She certainly was protective of him and he almost never was seen in her office. She thought he was going to go before her and she had great plans to move into Casa Rose which is down behind our old BnB. She would tell us how she planned to fix it up. We bought a piece of land from them, adjacent to Casa Rose where we built the house we sold to Tom and his wife.  We went to the closing in Joco and expected to see Allyn for the first time since he had stayed with us but found out he had been in the day before to sign. From that to a bar room brawl is certainly indicative of the persona that not many people saw. Colorful folks!

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4 hours ago, Bisbee Gal said:

Dale Palfrey can write exposés all day long, but it's not as if a story about an illegally issued permit is going to shame the Chapala government into doing the right thing.  The only way to stop illegal permits and construction abnormalities is thru lawsuits.    

Taafe....you mentioned Amigos del Lago.  Is this group willing, able and trustworthy to tackle the Chapala government over these issues?  

 

Yes, I have been working with them and, not only are the people involved very knowledgeable about the development plans in our area, but the professionals who are fighting these illegal developments have good contacts in the state, federal and international community (Living Lakes for example which adopted Lake Chapala). 

The Mexico City lawyer has agreed to work with Amigos continuing his investigation and analysis of the urban planning and zoning in our area in order to legally stop over-development in protected areas.  It is the only way to stop it, with good legal representation that is immune to pressure from local politicians and who has national experience in stopping this type of problem.

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15 hours ago, Taaffe said:

Living Lakes for example which adopted Lake Chapala). 

Oh do I remember that plea for money! Thank goodness Lake Chapala found someone to adopt it.

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3 hours ago, HarryB said:

then why has the project noted in this weeks Guad Reporter gotten so far?

 

Harry, Amigos (see newspaper article below ) has put a injunction ratified by the 5th judicial district but Chapala City Hall refused to stop the work.The project will be huge.

9193B918-C016-4288-A3E5-BB2D2B3F4C9C.png

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If a politician refuses to do their job, they are subject to a denucia. Why hasn't Amigos taken this step? If the politicos find that they are actually subject to the law they might be more careful.

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32 minutes ago, Taaffe said:

"The wheels of the law ground slowly, but they grind fine." I don't know the details.  You can check out their facebook page, Amigos del Lago, and ask what steps they have taken.

“The wheels of justice turn slowly, but grind exceedingly fine.”

And, as we know, Justice and the law are not always the same thing.

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Didn't catch this when I recently posted asking about development in the area. Sounds disturbingly similar to the States; crooked politicians generally have never met a developer that they don't love. Earlier comments regarding the plight of Chapala also ring a bell. We were never successful in publicly shaming the crooks (they are beyond that), but they do respect the legal hammer. Disturbing to read that Chapala City Hall is that unresponsive. What sorts of options are available when your local gov't there gives the majority of its citizens a giant middle finger? Is there any sort of ground swell of concern or outrage from the general populace, or is this just being paid attention to by a select few?

I don't live there (yet) and I'm not looking to end up in jail when I do, but what's the scene on public protest? Can the city officials simply go all Bull Connor on you and unleash the figurative or literal dogs? For that matter, as property owners in the jurisdiction, do you have any legal say in anything, or is that strictly reserved for Mexican citizens?

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It depends on who is interpreting the prohibition against foreigners participating in politics.  If  you become a Mexican citizen, you can  protest all you like. Otherwise, ???🙃 I err on the side of caution, especially after my friend who moved to Puerto Escondido gave vocal support to the Zapatistas and was escorted to a plane removing her to the U.S.  She did manage to get back to Mexico after a good lawyer claimed she was having a mental breakdown during her error in judgment, so at least she didn't lose her newly acquired land. As in all things, YMMV.

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I am a nationalized Mexcan citizen and  would not take on a powerful local.. Things can happen.

Was your friend a witer or the girlfriend of a writer? I met a woman who was helping her friend who was a writer in Puerto Escondido and she was walking a thin line in my opinion.. Chiapas and Oaxaca have their share of Marxist, anarchists and all kinds of other colors and sometimes the local get fed up with them and kck them out.. It happened to an Italian professoor in Tuxtla a few years ago. He found himself on the first place out of Mexico and back to Italy..

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25 minutes ago, bmh said:

I am a nationalized Mexcan citizen and  would not take on a powerful local.. Things can happen.

Was your friend a witer or the girlfriend of a writer? I met a woman who was helping her friend who was a writer in Puerto Escondido and she was walking a thin line in my opinion.. Chiapas and Oaxaca have their share of Marxist, anarchists and all kinds of other colors and sometimes the local get fed up with them and kck them out.. It happened to an Italian professoor in Tuxtla a few years ago. He found himself on the first place out of Mexico and back to Italy..

Yes, I remember the Italian professor case, it was interesting. The professor was trying to foment a full blown Marxist rebellion. When they detained him, he was happy because he thought he could turn it into a full blown showtrial, impressing his Marxist activists back in Europe. The trouble was he had not checked his paperwork, he was two weeks passed his working visa date. So you are right, on the next plane out.

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1 hour ago, Ajijic_hiker said:

el blanco barba:  you asked about public protest....it has been my observation, after living at Lakeside for the past 10 years, that the Mexican citizens here rarely, if ever, complain about anything....

Oh they do but not where it counts.Most of my friends are Mexicans,you?

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1 hour ago, Ajijic_hiker said:

el blanco barba:  you asked about public protest....it has been my observation, after living at Lakeside for the past 10 years, that the Mexican citizens here rarely, if ever, complain about anything....

Maybe not here and I would suggest  very  un Mexican....In MX city never a weekend without  a protest, also in the southern states total  chaos 

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The expat community has the right to maintain their way of life which is threatened by over-development with no infrastructure to accommodate these huge projects.

Our life here will be miserable in terms of traffic, water, garbage, etc. Letters to the mayor and legal steps to investigate irregular permits are perfectly in order and will not put in  jeopardy   your status in the country.

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Ajiic Hiker obviously uu do not know about living in Chiapas where citizens complain about everything, block roads beat the officals up , kidnap them and threaten to burn them aliv eif they do not get what they want.. Yes lakeside is very tame in comparaison to Oaxaca, Chiapas Guerrero and on and on..

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13 hours ago, bmh said:

I am a nationalized Mexcan citizen and  would not take on a powerful local.. Things can happen.

Was your friend a witer or the girlfriend of a writer? I met a woman who was helping her friend who was a writer in Puerto Escondido and she was walking a thin line in my opinion.. Chiapas and Oaxaca have their share of Marxist, anarchists and all kinds of other colors and sometimes the local get fed up with them and kck them out.. It happened to an Italian professoor in Tuxtla a few years ago. He found himself on the first place out of Mexico and back to Italy..

My friend was a visual artist, but very political. A natural "crusader".  Haven't heard from her in a long time.

As you said, "things can happen".  I prefer a wide line to a thin one for walking.

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It would seem that my days of political activism would best be left at the border.

Not suggesting it would necessarily make a dent, but perhaps appealing to the clients' shareholders? Beyond which, both Wyndham Hotels & Resorts (NYSE:WH) and Wyndham Worldwide Corp (NYSE:WYN) are headquartered in the U.S., and while that doesn't necessarily mean that that is their home country (Apple for instance maintains itself as an Irish corporation, while many others rely on tax & banking havens rooted in the old British empire), there are laws that supposedly have effect over U.S. businesses acting abroad. Many of them dal specifically with respecting local environmental & planning regulations while also making fraud and bribery illegal on some level. Not up on all of the legalese, but there might be some additional leverage to be had there. That or perhaps some sort of outreach campaign through social media to try and shame the company for being so nonchalant about literally crapping all over a body of water that is recognized as being internationally significant? Just a thought...

All of course in conjunction with the already engaged/planned legal challenges.

Lastly, if the politicos are that crooked and unresponsive, what are the chances of running someone in opposition who is more reasonable and perhaps willing to do the right thing? Mr. Smith goes to Chapala?

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