City Defends City Manager’s High Salary; … Uhm, Hilltown
— by Jeffrey Wisniewski — 1 September 2010 — 2 comments below »
The City responded last week to the news that the Hercules City Manager is the highest paid executive in West Contra Costa County. The response was rather bland, but it did include footnotes. And it hasn’t garnered media attention.
There was some news made however, or acknowledgment of an as-of-yet unspoken truth. The City outlined the City Manager’s tasks and included: “Negotiate the acquisition and eventual development of the Hill Town property.”
While the City’s obvious attempt to purchase the Hilltown property has been reported here (and here and here), it has only been reported here. The pursuit is not mentioned on the project page on the City’s website nor in any meeting minutes (for the meetings that have minutes). It wasn’t discussed at the Community Update event in April. And it has only existed as an APN (404-040-064) in City Council agendas, as part of the closed session which yields no written record.
So can we now talk about it?
Should the City’s Redevelopment Agency spend $16m or more to purchase the Hilltown property, which to date has a willing private developer and an adopted developer agreement (DOPA)? Does the City need more exclusively residential development? What is it about the property that the City must purchase and develop it itself?
Why doesn’t the City focus on existing and stalled projects — the Intermodal Station, the Waterfront and the rehabilitation of historic structures, New Town Center, Sycamore Crossing, the former Walmart property, the annex, the vacant parcel adjacent to Victoria by the Bay (slated to be a Safeway), Sycamore Park and the elementary school site? (What am I missing? Oh yea, the wastewater treatment facility.)
Is the City biting off more than it can chew? Are residents assured that the City is capable of developing the property? What evidence suggests that to be the case — one block of retail and affordable housing units along Sycamore Avenue, still under construction?
What is the inherent advantage of developing the property as a City if it distracts from other priorities, namely the construction of a train and ferry terminal, the development of a vibrant retail sector, and the establishment of a robust corporate business park?
And when does this acquisition become an issue that will be discussed with the public — after its purchase? And at what cost?
I don’t get it. Why is the City so fixated on this project with all the aforementioned projects in the works and stalled? With zero transparency all residents can do is speculate there is some sort of familial connection somewhere. What else are we to think? No information is coming from the City!
“What is it about the property that the City must purchase and develop it itself”? You can be sure any development of Hill Town will be structured in a manner to send more $$$$ to Oliva Clan.