City Council allows Haven Coffee to operate without required permits

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Haven Coffee

2/19/10 – Here is yet another example of Banning’s corruption and the “selective enforcement” that goes along with it : Haven Coffee , Banning’s government funded coffee house ( view previous article ) , apparently  is above the law : it was allowed to open and continues to operate illegally without proper permits,  without paying fees, without plans or City inspection, without Fire inspection, without safety inspection, and without displaying a valid business license –  for 3 months now !

If anyone would try to open a business, would they be allowed to do so before they fulfill ALL of the above requirements ? Not a chance. And what would be their chances to be rewarded with $ 30,000 for all of the above  ?  Was Banning’s Starbucks able to open before  all  permits were in place, all fees were paid and all inspections were done  ?   Of course not.  But  Haven Coffee  was.

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BANNING’S “NANCY PELOSI”  HELPED  PROVIDE TAXPAYER FUNDING

Barbara Hanna – Banning’s “Nancy Pelosi”

You see, it helps if you go to the same church as socialist Council member Barbara Hanna ( Calvary Chapel of the Pass ). The case of Haven Coffee shows that Hanna has no problem getting her City Council cronies,   “Dr. Evil”  Bob Botts and  Taxdodger / military imposter Don Robinson , to support even her looniest ideas and voila – there’s your 30 grand !

As the applicant, it certainly also helps to mislead the public by telling them you’re “robbing Peter to pay Paul” trying to open a Coffee House while in reality – at the same time – you can easily afford making a $ 250 donation to a political campaign ( in this case measure “L”- view filing ) that the City Council favors.This is exactly how Haven Coffee came about for Vince Pellegrini, the official “proprietor” of the Haven.

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SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE  –  WHO IS THE REAL OWNER ?

According to it’s website,  Calvary Chapel of the Pass appears to proclaim itself as an “associate” of the Haven. On their website ( view screenshot ) , if you click on “Ministries”, go down to ” Associated” and click on “Haven Art Center” ,  it will take you directly to havenbean.com ( Haven Coffee )  – not to any art center .

The  church’s  “association” with the Haven is further established by the following : on the day this author visited the Haven (2/16), Pastor Chris Johnson greeted us, dressed in appropriate  “coffee shop” attire, wearing an apron and acting like he was “in charge”.  When we asked to see a business license for  Haven Coffee, he was unable to produce one. A business license must be posted inside a business in public view at all times – this was not the case.

There is even further evidence of the involvement of the Calvary Chapel of the Pass in the taxpayer funded Haven Coffee house :  in it’s enforcement correspondence to the owners of the building,  the Banning Building Department copies in a  John Utterback ( see chapter below ) .   John Utterback  can also be heard on the Church’s website preaching to the congregation ( view screenshot ).  What interest does Mr. Utterback have in the Haven Coffee House that would make him a party to the City’s enforcement correspondence ?  Is Vince Pellegrini merely acting as a  “front” for the Calvary Chapel of the Pass ?

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Ever since he opened Haven Coffee three months ago – on  November 21, 2009  – Mr. Pellegrini has not bothered to secure a construction permit, nor has he paid fees or fully submitted  plans and apparently has not even obtained a business license for Haven Coffee. The City Building Dept. reminded him to submit plans and pay fees on Dec. 1, 2009 ( view ) – without success :  Mr. Pellegrini didn’t seem to care .  After all, why should he – he’s got Barbara Hanna on his side, doesn’t he ?!

What kind of church would “associate” themselves with such lawless conduct as that of Mr. Pelligrini’s ? It must be one that does not believe in “sin”  or “judgment”.

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ENFORCEMENT LETTER

Officials of the Building Department are now threatening enforcement ( view letter ) – and to shut down the illegally operating Haven . But knowing how Hanna and the rest of the Council operate, will they -again- apply pressure on City staff to stop the enforcement , just like they apparently did when the Haven was allowed to open back in November, without permits ?

Haven Coffee is a perfect example of  the ” Soviet Style” corruption and  lawlessness we have here in the City of Banning : Just like in the former Soviet Union, we have the government putting their “comrades” into business, no questions asked.  And just like in the Soviet Union,  we apparently now have two sets  of laws in Banning : one for ordinary citizens and on for the “ruling class” –  those connected to the corrupt  “Polit Bureau”  – also known as  the Banning City Council.

Needless to say, any City Council member who allows this to go on is not only breaking the law but is also exposing the City to potentially unlimited civil liability ( think “slip and fall” accidents, fire etc.).

“Haven Coffee” is what you get when corrupt politicians like Hanna, Botts, Robinson and Machisic have their way and fund their friend’s businesses with our taxpayer money.