Along with mosquitoes commercial foreclosures multiply in Bay Area
One man’s poison is another man’s meat. Nothing can be more true in Contra Costa County and San Jose region where the curse of foreclosures have turned into happy breeding and hunting grounds for mosquitoes infected with the West Nile virus. This was from reports coming in from Vector Control.
Tim Mulligan said that a three square mile area would be fogged. Approximately the area border Dolph Drive on the west, Bucknall Road skirts the north and on the east and south are Sonuca Avenue and Mistletoe Road respectively. The virus was detected in 2004 when 22 people were affected. The foreclosure crisis with the stagnant pools in abandoned houses worsened the situation. In June 2008 a dead bird was tested positive from the mosquito borne disease.
It is not that all who are bitten by the mosquito carrying the germ will get sick but the danger is there and the people have been warned. Backyards with stagnant pools should be drained and the doors and windows should be fitted with screens. The most vulnerable times are at dawn and dusk. Horses easily succumb to the disease and should be vaccinated. Half of the infected horses die.
The prime culprits are the abandoned pools in foreclosed houses. The larvas thrive on the slime and the mosquitoes multiply. The code enforcement officer Patrick Vicencio making the rounds remarks that these pools look like un-flushed toilet bowls.
A single pool can contain millions of these varmints – all potentially dangerous to humans.
An increase in foreclosures has meant an increase in the mosquito population. In the Bay Area the problem is serious. The Alameda County Mosquito Abatement District is taking on an average three complaints in a day. In Solano County the calls are averaging five per week. The inquiries are smaller in Contra Costa.
The vector control department is loaded with work. John Rusmisel the district manger of the mosquito control said that under normal circumstances there would not have been mosquito related problems in swimming pools. But with foreclosures the picture has changed. Pressure is being put on real estate firms so that they report to the authorities about neglected pools. The calm and temperate waters of swimming pools are perfect hatcheries for the female mosquitoes.
The problem is that without the green signal from the proper authorities one cannot enter properties of others. It would tantamount to trespassing. For this green signal the authorities would have to fashion new laws and ordnances – thus delaying matters.
Along with mosquitoes commercial foreclosures multiply in Bay Area. The Bay Area has reported recently in January 2010 the downing of shutters of five retail centers. All have fallen into bankruptcy. The total debt is over $39 million. The sign is ominous showing that consumers are still struggling and that the credit squeeze is not yet history.
The retail outlets got entangled in Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases – all of which had been filed in December 2009. Included in the list are a retail outlet in Fremont planning on an Asian theme, a strip center located in Newark, two centers in San Jose and one that has yet to be constructed with plans for an official and residential complex. George Labarth of Grubb & Ellis said, “We’re just beginning to see some of the retail properties that were purchased three to five years ago running into trouble.”
The main problem has been lack of customers. John Haveman of Beacon Economics said “Retail is really taking it on the chin. People are talking about holiday shopping being better in 2009 than 2008, but shopping was absolutely abysmal in 2008.”
However Gary Hansen co-owner of Aspenwood Plaza (shopping centre in Newark) who has filed bankruptcy has blamed the lender for his troubles. He complained of banks having hoarded the bailout funds but refusing to make loans. He said, “They refuse to loan to restaurants or retailers that want to be in our project, and they refuse to provide financing to developers such as ourselves.
