It’s funny about the buttons in the elevator of the existing
Gilroy police station: there are buttons to press to go down to the
basement, and buttons to press to go up to the second floor
– but there is no second floor.
It’s funny about the buttons in the elevator of the existing Gilroy police station: there are buttons to press to go down to the basement, and buttons to press to go up to the second floor – but there is no second floor. The police department is a one-story building, aside from the basement.
Back in the ’80s, when the building was constructed, the city decided to spend several million extra dollars to make the walls strong enough to support a second floor, so that one could be added when the time came to expand. I believe that the extra cost involved was $7 million dollars, but I am certainly open to correction on this point. Remember, this was back in the ’80s, when $7 million was real money.
Now, 15 years later, the PD is bursting at the seams, but alas, the building looks old and shabby, so no one wants to put a second floor on it to serve our current needs. Oh, no.
Instead, we will spend $19.5 million – whoops, better make that $25 million – to build a drop-dead-gorgeous Spanish mission style police department, with a clock tower to camouflage the radio antenna, and a two-story underground parking garage, and a weight room, and landscaping.
My point about the elevator to the non-existent but oh-so-necessary second floor is this: the city is not infalliable in prophecy. Their crystal ball is cracked. Their eyes are bigger than their collective stomach. Fifteen years ago, they did not accurately predict what they would need in 15 years. Give me leave to doubt that they can now accurately predict what they will need in 25 years.
My second point is that many of the amenitites that jack up the price of the proposed police station from $176 per square foot to $271 per square foot are luxuries, not necessities: wish list items.
Take, for example, the aforementioned Spanish mission exterior. On Tuesday, columnist Tom Mulhern justified it thusly: “Because the station will be in a neighborhood of existing homes, a lot of care has gone into designing a place that doesn’t look like a large block of concrete. Architectural aesthetics have been considered, and they do have a price.”
Mr. Mulhern, as a resident of the neighborhood in question, I appreciate the sentiment. But have you ever visited my neighborhood? The new station will outshine nearly every house and apartment building in a two-block radius.
Not that our houses in this neighborhood are ugly, exactly, at least not most of them. We do try – most of us, anyway – but we don’t have millions to spend on architects and landscaping. The new station will stick out like a beautifully manicured sore thumb. A large block of concrete would be a better match in style for some of our 1930’s bungalows.
Another wish-list item we can do without is the full-scale track. Tell me, what’s better: police officers running around an oval in their own, private, safe enclave? Or police officers running on the track at Gilroy High School? Or maybe even police officers jogging on the streets of Gilroy, as ordinary citizens do?
Third point: when the state’s economy is down the drain, when the city is facing tremendous shortfalls, when city employees‚ jobs are in danger, hardly seems the time to begin an expensive construction project. Scaling back or slowing down seems the better part of wisdom.
Lastly, a question: Assistant Police Chief Lanny Brown states that the $25 million will come from impact fees on new development, not from taxes. Again, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe the city will actually borrow the $25 million by issuing bonds?
Those bonds will, we hope, be repaid with impact fees? But if the economy does not improve, and people quit buying houses, or if the courts decide that cities can no longer assess police impact fees, then we the taxpayers will indeed have to foot the bill? I really don’t think Mr. Brown’s criticism of the February 24th editorial on this point was justified.
