City Council Meeting on Tuesday
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 20 November 2009 — 4 comments below »
The City will pay for an assistant principal at the Middle/High school for the current school year ($101k), as well as pay for a music teacher to rotate through all three elementary schools each week ($42.6k), as a result of the current financial woes of the school district (WCCUSD) and the State. The City Council will approve these actions at next Tuesday’s meeting — 7pm at City Hall.
The Council will also authorize further development of a Veterans tribute monument slated to be installed on Hercules Point but will not approve any further spending at this time ($120k has been spent so far). Other items on the consent calendar include…
- Design of John Muir Parkway extension to Bayfront Boulevard. Cost: $85k.
- Documents pertaining to EIRs for the Hercules Bayfront and Intermodal Station projects. Cost: $150k.
- Town Architect services (Opticos) for the Market Town portion of the New Town Center project. Cost: $51.7k.
The complete agenda is available on the City’s website.
UPDATE — The staff report states that the location of the monument has not been finalized, but the ad hoc committee proposes Hercules Point. Councilmember Kris Valstad’s comments on November 10th — announcing that the Veterans monument would be installed at Hercules Point for the second time — are misleading if the location has not been decided…
The specific location is not a sure thing. This is what the staff report states:
“The final monument and its contents/representation are still in concept and the complete process to arrive at a final project site is still to be explored. The Ad-Hoc Committee recommendations are as follows:
1. Approve the continued work on a Veterans Tribute monument
2. Designate the follow-up work to the Community Services & Library Commission and the Planning Commission
3. Present the concept to members of the community for their comments and input
4. Direct the Commissions to select a specific location for the monument (The Ad-Hoc Committee has recommended the Hercules Point site).
5. Direct City/Agency staff to continue to provide administrative support to the Commissions on this matter
6. Designate the appropriate resources to address this matter”
@Anonymous – Councilmember Kris Valstad stated that the proposed monument would be installed at Hercules Point again on November 10th (at 52-min mark of the video of the proceedings). Valstad originally stated that the monument would be installed at Hercules Point at the previous City Council meeting on October 27.
@Anonymous – I’ve updated the post to include video of Valstad’s comments.
Valsted seems to be making all the decisions by himself, with no community input. WWII memorial is nice but the point has historical significance in its own right. The community should be allowed to express what it would like to see there – not Valsted.