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| Council continues to be disingenuous Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, January 19, 2005 3:19 PM PST Have you heard the one about the City Council that purchased parkland as a "blank slate," upon which the community could build anything it pleased? It's a ripsnorter. Goes like this: City Council negotiates backroom deal with large employer that is looking to unload some property. City Council ignores appraisal that suggests it may be about to overpay for land. City Council forms advisory group to explore what the community wants on the land. Meanwhile, City Council, unknown to everyone - including some of its own members - hires an architect as part of a detailed grant application that includes very specific plans for the park. And no one knows... get it? No one knows? We told you it was hilarious. Presumably the Half Moon Bay City Council will try to explain away the park grant application submitted to the state in November - before the first meeting of a citizens' committee that was reportedly charged with conjuring up such a plan. City officials will likely tell you that the application, which includes the consultant's drawing you see on the front page, was merely an example to wow state decision-makers. They will probably point to a staff memo that states that the application is but one possibility for amenities at the site. We would submit that misleading the state - which did not get that winking staff memo - is not morally superior to lying to the locals. The application clearly states that the park will have soccer fields and basketball courts and horseshoe pits and a skate park. It does not even hint that the plan is still in the early stages. But then what else might we expect at this point? It's not that the boy has cried wolf, it is that the boy has cried nothing but wolf. The City Council misled the paper about the existence of an appraisal for the land. Its attorney still hasn't released a staff due diligence report prepared prior to purchase. Members doctored the advisory committee, locking out fans of some amenities while they got to choose which members of the parks board to include. Then the City Council chose one of its own as the group's chairwoman, over objections from some of the ordinary citizens to whom they supposedly answer. If you live in Half Moon Bay, your elected officials are nothing if not consistent. Look, it's a park. It's not a prison or a municipal dump. The City Council started the project with something approaching universal acclaim. It's a pity that we've come to the point that the planning process is merely a joke. - Half Moon Bay Review |