Caldwell Mayor Nancolas and City Councilors appear to be assuming the role of Nero in their quest to get a new city hall built despite no demonstrated need for this edifice. Add to the "not needed at this time" is "who asked for a new city hall".
The cost to build this legacy project in downtown Caldwell is at or near $15 million and you have to ask yourself are we in ancient Rome or Caldwell?
Spending $15 million property taxpayer dollars on a facility not needed, asked for nor approved by the voters makes the Mayor, City Councilors and the Caldwell East Urban renewal district look like NERO when Rome was burning.
Who will get to write the question in support of and against this project if and when we have an advisory vote? The Mayor and Team Garrett are getting a fair amount of blow-back on this particular project. The real question that needs to be answered is: Who of us in the community asked for a new city hall complex? The short answer is it came forward in much the same manner as the Gazebo without going thru the rinse cycle with the voters. It just poped up and was announced it was going to be built and it will be good for all of us.
Urban Renewal has taken over the role as the "decider" for what is good for all us taxpayers. In this economy the use of our tax dollars on a new city hall lends credence to the "greed is good" mantra of Wall Street and the debacle of the bankers of late. We get to hunker down and they still get to spend money, take trips, and get bonus money from taxpayers. A new city hall has all the same aroma.
THE GUARDIAN read the IPT article this week on the fiscal health of our fair city with some healthy skepticism. Virtually every government function in the State of Idaho is scrambling to make ends meet, cutting jobs, hours, budgets, and perks but Caldwell finds itself in the magical land of OZ with only about $20 thousand or so to make up in budget shortfalls this year. I really hope this is the factual case for the citizens of Caldwell.
A new city hall project flies in the face of every citizen in Caldwell who is currently struggling to make ends meet in this economy. Mayor Nancolas offered that the electrical and HVAC systems were getting some age on them in the current buildings and would need some updating at the public meeting held last month as justification for a new city hall. THE GUARDIAN would offer the HVAC system in my residence is over 30 years old and when it fails I will not get a new house but will replace the unit and continue to live in my beloved surroundings. Add to this, the building next to the fire station downtown used by the City Engineering and Development Services Departments has a lot of unused office space. Where is the need for a new city hall? (The Fire Dept has been denied the use of empty spaces for their needs. No real reason is known for this denial by the Mayor.)
Most everyone is having to do more with less in this economy. A new city hall flies in the face of the people paying the bills. It makes Caldwell elected officials look rather selfish and self serving spending money unnecessarily. People are starting to question just what the heck is going one with their tax money with a project that nobody asked for in the first place.
Last note on downtown redevelopment. We are being told the Mayor, Urban Renewal and Team Garrett are following the Leland Report Phase II Strategic Report. The Leland Report has a key element the City/Urban Renewal buy properties downtown and sell them at steep write downs to get private capital to invest in our downtown. And.."Re-invest in existing businesses utilizing high quality, energy efficient, sustainable development practices" are also outlined in this report.
Other key elements in the Leland Report are to keep civic functions downtown and create housing options for downtown. We will be losing the Southwest Health District out of our downtown core when the economy turns around. This move will take about 75 jobs out of downtown Caldwell when this happens. Meanwhile, the Mayor is please to tell us in public forums that he and his team are courting the Veterans Administration to locate in downtown.
Parking options for private capital businesses will be severely limited with TVCC and the VA located in Downtown. Economic growth will be severely curtailed when people can't find a place to park. The City Deciders like to call the new city hall a "catalyst project", the reality of this is highly questionable in the absence of factual data analysis to support this statement.
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