Where did the money come from and where could it have gone?
MORGAN ON THE CIVIC CENTER
WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?
$20 million dollars.
Times are tight. The economy has serious problems. September 11 hit tourism hard, and tourist taxes are in trouble. The stock market has plummeted. Traffic and parking problems plague our town, and the schools are collapsing in confusion.
But the City of Monterey thinks that this is the perfect time to build the Taj Mahal of City Halls--a $20 million office building in the heart of the historic center of the town. 57,000 square feet of offices -- the size of 25 large houses!! Five majestic trees would be turned into wood chips!! 140 parking spaces fewer than needed, so City employees would be forced to circle the streets looking for parking!
So how does this 20 million dollars help the local residents and bolster the economy? It doesn't. No new downtown activity. No benefits for residents. No benefits for the local businesses.
LET'S FIX THE REAL PROBLEM
We don't need to finance this over-sized monument to bureaucratic ego. We don't need to spend 20 million dollars for a building to hold a city staff of bureaucrats. $20 million is the size of Seaside's ENTIRE budget, including police, fire, streets, parks, and government.
Let's build smaller and let's build smarter. Sure, let's fix the handful of workplace conditions that need to be fixed. And we can save the parking spaces. And the trees.
We can work smarter: Let's set up a system where routine transactions can be done on the Internet for those who want to do so. Post City Codes, reports and fee schedules on the Internet. Allow us to accomplish more with less. And redirect that $20 million toward projects that benefit residents and local business.
Make government work for us.
WHAT DO WE DO?
We use our tax money for the RESIDENTS. Save the State Theatre -- use it for all of us. Let's invest in our children.
A monumental City Hall office complex can wait.
Vote November 5, 2002
MORGAN FOR MAYOR
498 Washington St., Monterey CA 93940
MorganForMayor.org
| 
