Jake Sterino versus American Fast Freight - An Update
The News Tribune is reporting on the latest, and apparently darn-close-to final, developments in the Richter / Sterino / American Fast Freight story coming out of the ‘farmlands’ of Fife. The bottom line, after a long day of mediation, the 20 acres are going away. The lease that Jake Sterino thought he assumed when he purchased the assets of George Richter Farm, wasn’t actually available to him. The lease isn’t valid. He’s walking away.
While AFF was legally in the right, paving over some of the world’s best berries just short of harvest can’t be good for one’s karma … or community ties.
Link to The News Tribune
Previously on Exit133
Filed under: The-Politics-of-Development, General
14 comments
F Fuzzybear August 28, 2008
This is a disappointing turn of events. Hard to jump AFF for their actions. But yes, if nothing else the Karma is going to get you. This will be a tragic loss to the community.
J jamie from thriceallamerican August 28, 2008
If we want to talk Karma, we at least need to put some of the burden on farmers who sell their land to developers.
I realize this opens up a whole can of worms, because farmers need to provide for themselves in their old age, etc., and of course the developers are offering top dollar. I guess you are talking about a tough choice for the farmers, but ultimately its something of a Faustian bargain for someone that used this fertile cropland to provide for their lives to ultimately bow to the mighty dollar.
We need to look to ways of stemming this tide. The deal was done on this piece of property long before Jake Sterino was involved, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it now. Whatever combination of zoning regulations, purchase and transfer of development rights, and agricultural support that is required to keep farming as a possible way of life in the Puyallup Valley is ultimately going to improve our community and prepare us in the event that it is no longer economically feasible to bring all of our produce from Mexico, Chile, New Zealand, or even California.
There’s nothing we can do about AFF/Richter/Sterino and this piece of land, but hopefully this has made more people aware and the serious dialogue (that has been going on for years) can pick up some steam.
B Bryan August 28, 2008
I’m not really in a position to boycott AFF, but if I were a client I would definitely look to move my business to a company with a greater community conscience. Classic case of something that is legal but not the proper thing to do. I would think that if they have kind of PR person, they would see that allowing one last harvest would soften the stingy image that is currently being conveyed.
D drizell August 28, 2008
Both Tacoma and Pierce County have Transfer of Development Rights programs. This would have been a very visible example of when the farmland could have been saved. The farmer obviously found more value in selling to a developer and moving to Florida to live the good life.
J jamie from thriceallamerican August 28, 2008
The farmer obviously found more value in selling to a developer and moving to Florida to live the good life.
…except in this case, then the farmer died.
D DavidS August 28, 2008
Both Tacoma and Pierce County have Transfer of Development Rights programs.
Pierce County does, but it has not been used yet.
Tacoma does not, yet, but there is a placeholder in the mixed-use center package.
And critically, Fife does not – and does not have any plans for a TDR program to my knowledge.
To bad there is/was no option to pick up these development rights and preserve the farm – though Fife would probably prefer the taxes associated with AFF than a farm.
R rick August 28, 2008
Did we learn nothing from Dr. Seuss in The Lorax […but business is business and business must grow…]. Too bad AFF can’t hold off for 30 days.
On the flip, let’s not demonize Richter. Seems a bit unfair to isolate this transaction and this person and suggest some moral obligation existed to maintain the agricultural viability of his property. ‘Tis a shame, I agree. However, to suggest a Faustian bargain (wtf) seems a stretch. It’s not like Richter burned down an orphanage to build a brothel. He put his land on the market. Guess he wasn’t aware he should have posted his retirement plans on 133 for a full vetting!
T Tubby Two-Two August 28, 2008
It is unfortunate that the land was sold. A lot of farm land in the valley has been selling and I don’t think there are any winners in this case. Maybe local government should change the zoning but I don’t see that happening, not when there’s so much money involved.
J jamie from thriceallamerican August 28, 2008
Rick, I seem to have this habit of overstating my points recently… Probably bringing up Faust was a bad idea. Anyway, I guess what I’m lamenting is that the economic conditions are such that it’s really hard for a farmer at the crossroads (oops, there I go again…) to choose to sell to another farmer when they can sell to a developer for way more money. This certainly isn’t something that is unique to the Richter situation or unique to our area. It’s just a reality of our free market economy which ultimately reflects that the free market doesn’t always reflect our long-term interests. (Now, I’ll wait and see how I’ve put my foot in my mouth this time…)
J Jenyum August 29, 2008
This is a very emotional issue for all the parties involved and I hope we can refrain from throwing around too much idle speculation.
For example, I spoke with a 15-year employee of Richter Farm while researching the piece I wrote for Spew, who told me the 20 acres in question was always leased. If my source is correct George Richter never owned it, and certainly didn’t sell the rights.
I’ve seen Jake Sterino demonized in several forums this week for selling land that his father actually owned.
All of this finger-pointing is just a distraction.
The Pierce County TDR program has never been funded, there is no one to administer it and no money to fund the transfers. Nothing will happen until the County Council moves on it, and that would be a useful place to put our energies.
Farmers are not just pocketing this money and moving to Florida. Please keep in mind that just like homeowners, farmer who own their land often have big loans on it, based on the value of the property at the time of the loan.
With land prices soaring in the first half of this decade many farmers are worried that the bubble will burst and they will be left with land no longer worth the value of their loans.
In many cases it is not a matter of greed but survival, and the memory of similar conditions leading to the economic collapse of the farm sector in the 80s.
If you’d like to read more, this Reuters article is a pretty good summary of the situation.
http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN0448356920080304
T Thorax O'Tool August 29, 2008
“AFF has a PR person, unfortunately they’re busy delivering threats to seek legal action for publishing certain pro-farmland cartoons.“
RR:
Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
__________________________________________
You’re still allowed to publish pro-farmland cartoons. The 1st Amendment has’t been totally thrown out yet (like the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th)
T Thorax O'Tool August 29, 2008
It was this way in the middle ages, and it’s been this way again since the dawn of the industrial age:
The farmer has been moved from a prominent social position down to the bottom of the stack.
I come from a long line of farmers (they were farmers back in the “old country”… modern day Ukraine as well as many in Alberta and Germany), and it troubles me to see the general disrespect these hard working men and women get in our society these days. They grow the food that feeds our nation, they till the land that is our sovereignty.
I tell you, our priorities as a nation, as a society are gravely misplaced when we see subdivisions and industrial parks as more valuable than fertile, productive farmland.
The more I study it, the more and more I see the gross errors our world has made in the last 60 years, favoring the burbs over the urban cores, favoring the freeways over strong neighborhoods, favoring sprawl over farmland.
People are waking up to this more and more it seems. When I first noticed this in my teens, I found few who felt the same. Now in my late 20s, I am finding like-minded individuals all over.
We need a movement to take back our way of life, to take back our communities. Either find one to join, or start our own. It’s going to be real hard to break cities/people out of a 60 year habit, but if we don’t start the process, it just gets harder to resolve the issue as more time passes.
J Jenyum August 29, 2008
AFF wants help digging out the plants.
http://www.tacomamama.com/article.php?story=20080828145718413
D DavidS August 30, 2008
“The Pierce County TDR program has never been funded, there is no one to administer it and no money to fund the transfers. Nothing will happen until the County Council moves on it, and that would be a useful place to put our energies.”
The PC TDR program could be used as a PDR program (purchase) but (currently) it is primarily intended to use comprehensive plan amendment changes as a means to force developer participation (& funds). With the next round of County amendments due this fall, we should see the TDR program spring into action. However, if there is no advocate on the administration side, I could see the requirement getting waived for another couple of years. Avoiding the delays in implementation would be a success and would show preservation benefits by next harvest.
(For an interesting take on the 80’s farm crisis that focuses less on causes/solutions and more on the cultural implications, I’d recommend “Debt and Dispossession”.)