Don't Worry Be Happy!

THE GUARDIAN received the cartoon in this post from a friend and wanted to share it with you. People are starting to question what is going on with their money. The IPT had an excellent Our View editorial piece on Urban Renewal and no voting on big dollar projects in their Sunday Edition. The following are my humble observations and opinions on Caldwell City Government. Thirty-one years of living here gives me license to make these comments and observations. Opposing views are welcomed.

We all know there are many aspects and problems in the daily operations of a city like Caldwell and for that matter any city or county. The point of this cartoon is no matter how dark it may appear to you or your personal finances right now city leaders are looking to the future and how they can spend all the cash they get without much thought or worry about paying future bills.

Caldwell has 21 subdivisions at a total stand still with give or take 12,000 empty lots or ground to accomodate this many lots for sale and no takers at any price. Three of them are in foreclosure and three of them are in bankruptcy. Mayor Nancolas and Team Garret spin this as an excellent position for our fair city when the economy turns around at some undefined point in the future. Cheap dirt will be the catalyst for the next gold rush in land and home values in the valley.

Meanwhile, Caldwell East Urban Renewal crew(Team Garret in disguise) don't get enough money to spend via our property taxes and other revenue streams and now want to sign us up for the EASY PAY PLAN. Urban Renewal is moving at warp speed to issue $8.5 million in revenue bonds for TVCC. Urban Renewal now rakes in $6 million a year in property tax money from Caldwell citizens. This is not nearly enough to fund all the big dollar goodies they want. (Six million a year will only go so far and their list is bloated with pork.) The list can be changed modified or anything they want under urban renewal laws.

It looks like a city hall project may have taken a back seat to TVCC given all the maneuvering by the Mayor and City Finance Director. City hall price tag is anyones guess depending on the meeting you attend. Figures from a high of $30 million (Oppenheimer Group number this past spring) down to $8 million (Caldwell budget hearings in August) and everything in between have been thrown out for public consumption.

Add to the city hall laundry list, (word is) they (Oppenheimer Group and the city) do not yet own all the property to start construction of a new city hall project as described at town hall meetings.

Mayor Garret has stated repeatedly in public meetings FEMA is the hold up for a new city hall project. The obvious question not getting answered is how can the good people doing the new D. L. Evans Bank project move forward at Blaine and 10th sans approvals from FEMA and City Hall is at all stop at Blaine and 7th? Team Garret and his merry men need to resolve this mystery for those of us who are more than a little confused.

Meanwhile, DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY as we move forward to our bright future and city deciders attempt spend our way into prosperity with your tax dollars.

The word on the street is NO MONEY for a new city hall at this point in time. THE GUARDIAN has attended almost every meeting on downtown and FEMA flood mapping has been the mantra of city politicos on this deal. Maps, PowerPoint presentations and words continue to flow from the downtown TEAM. Meanwhile downtown Caldwell has a very nice five block addition to the park system along Indian Creek and not much else to bring any economic activity to our city center area.

In the no money category, we must add both a new Caldwell Airport terminal building and police/fire substations that have been promised for over four years. This set of value added infrastructure projects have taken a back seat to funding TVCC and other goodies with urban renewal property tax dollars.

Another bit of bad news for downtown Caldwell has surfaced. The South West District Health Dept. offices will be moving out of town and taking 75 jobs with them when they leave. The previous director found it difficult to deal with Team Garret and he facilitated the purchased seven acres for new digs at Karcher Rd. and Florida Ave. (The mayor calls this moving from Caldwell to Caldwell.) The jobs leaving town will exacerbate the erosion of what little economic base that remains in downtown Caldwell. It may take a while to make the official move in this economy but there isn't any amount damage control that can be done to keep SWDH downtown Caldwell.

Mayor Namcolas rather pointedly said to a person close to THE GUARDIAN that "downtown Caldwell will never be a top priority". With all the stuff leaving downtown, will the last person out please turn out the lights. It looks like it will be the Sky Ranch area for the nerve center of "New Caldwell" envisioned by Team Garret and the Urban Renewal crew.

A tally of urban renewal money spent on downtown and blight removal in Caldwell has been a very minor amount of total urban renewal dollars spent to date. The bulk of urban renewl funds have been spent in areas that could hardly be considered blighted or in need of "renewal".

Last rants in this post are:

The matching streetscape money promised Mayor Garret at the Indian Creek dedication in April of this year is a rant with downtown property owners. While Mayor Garret verbally fantasized about the smell of fresh baked bread wafting along the banks of Indian Creek, downtown property owners have tried to cash in on his offer of matching money. Guess what? There is no money, nor does anyone on Team Garret know any thing about the mayors offer of matching funds to upgrade streetscapes and store fronts.

Finally, there is the long talked about bike trail from downtown to the YMCA. The bike trail seems to be in financial limbo as well.

DON'T WORRY BE HAPPY.

THE GUARDIAN is offering space to anyone on Team Garret who cares to explain anything not perceived as factual in this posting.

Dear City of Caldwell Citizens:

I am taking the Guardian author, Paul Alldredge, up on his offer to respond to many inaccurate and erroneous claims made by him in a recent blog entry. The City of Caldwell is dedicated to providing the truth to the citizens of Caldwell and we appreciate any opportunity to clarify falsehoods and educate the public on our many projects and priorities. I strongly encourage anyone interested in learning more about city issues to contact us at City Hall or view our website at www.cityofcaldwell.org. I will make myself or the appropriate city official available to speak with you. We are never too busy to provide information to those we serve. As we see it, the “Caldwell Guardian” blog represents the view of one private citizen with an obvious axe to grind and therefore, this will be the last time we waste taxpayer dollars and employee resources to respond to personal attacks and claims made without any basis in reality. We will outline on our website, paragraph for paragraph, the truth behind the allegations made by Mr. Alldredge and hope that his readers will take the time to research fact versus fiction. Please contact me at 455-3011 if I can be of assistance to you. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year to you and yours!

Thank you,

Mayor Garret Nancolas