When I read the Morgan Hill Times I often just shake my head at some of the things the city has does. I see the city being involved in things, like land development, that they should avoid or instances where they waste tax pay dollars. Instead I am an advocate for us prioritizing our city expenditures so that we take care of our responsibilities first. Then, if we have the resources, we can engage in other activities and ventures. Currently we do not have the money to take care of our responsibilities but are still taking on pet projects that costs the city millions.
Examples
The Granada
A great example is the former Downtown Mall and Granada Theater. The city bought these properties for $10.3 million during the recession and then sold them to a private company for $1.4 million. Immediately after, the City gave that developer an additional $400k to fix up the Granada. That is a net loss to our city of $9.3 million (approximate amounts). What did the residents of Morgan Hill get for that money exactly? A revamped Granada that is an event venue that caters to the rich and possibly another hotel that hasn’t even started construction. Not a great way to spend taxpayer’s money.
Sadly, there was a community organization at the time that was trying to save the Granada and was willing to purchase it, but the city refused to work with them. In fact, while that community non-profit was trying to keep the Granada alive, the city charged them rent, even though it was and would have remained vacant had that group not been involved.
The money that the city council wasted on the Granada and Downtown Mall could have employed eight police officers, that the current Mayor of Morgan Hill stated that the city needs, for eight years! This is a great example of not taking care of the needs of our community but instead frivolously spending taxpayer dollars.
Some may argue that this was Redevelopment money and therefore had to be used for things like this. While it may be true that those properties where bought with RDA money, the law regarding redevelopment agencies at the time indicated that an agency could be ended at any time, at the discretion of the city, and the remaining balance could be transferred into the city’s general fund. So regardless of where the money came from, there is no excuse for waste of that magnitude in Morgan Hill.
Downtown Parking
Another good example is the downtown parking garage. It is very true that we need parking downtown. So, the city paid $10.7 million for 271 parking spaces, about $40,000 per space. In addition, the city approved $400,000 for a metal tarantula and decorative glass for garage. When, our city cannot afford to employ enough police officers or properly repair our roads, this is an outrageous waste of city resources.
What is even more confounding are the actions the council has taken since opening the garage. Through their planning they have taken out the parking behind the former Downtown Mall, eliminated the parking at the corner of Depot and 2nd (former location of BookSmart) to more Townhome, and installed a playground next to the train station. This has eliminated over 100 parking spaces, not to mention the increased demand they are creating by bringing more residents downtown. In addition, the new Granada and planned downtown hotel have no on-site parking! And the city allowed this. This is insane. I have been in construction management of 13 years and worked on many hotels, but I have never even heard of a city not require a hotel to have parking. Now, the Granada and the upcoming hotel are renting space from the lot next to Wells Fargo for a valet service; which are even more parking spaces for local businesses what will be lost due to poor planning.
Essentially, we built a $10.7 million parking garage to have just about the same number of spaces we had before we started. Except now, all of those spaces are on the far end of the downtown in a garage where we have already seen safety concerns so alarming that the city council had to close the top levels of the garage last year. Again, none of this makes sense. We must listen to our residents and local businesses and develop common sense solutions to our problems instead of wasting tax payer’s money on ill-conceived ideas that seem good in sound bites.
I am not sure if these decisions are made due to ignorance or something more nefarious. Either way we are in desperate need of common sense leadership that will make our infrastructure and safety a priority, not an afterthought that requires higher taxes. I will work hard for this town, listen to residents and businesses and use my experience in construction management, along with common sense to develop plans and use city resources in a responsible manner that will benefit our community.
If you agree with me that we should have more common sense in our local government, please consider voting for me this November 6th. Also, you can join my campaign by contacting me here.