Feb 6, 2008

Three libraries forwarded to November ballot

Council pushes for full set of plans

By Kristina Peterson / Daily News Staff Writer

Palo Alto library supporters on Tuesday cheered the city council's decision to move forward with a bond measure that could lead to major improvements at three libraries if it is approved by voters this fall.

In November, residents will determine the fate of an $80 million trio of projects - building a new Mitchell Park library and joint community center, renovating the Main Library and adding significant improvements to the Downtown branch - the council decided late Monday evening.

Facing a larger and more expensive project than initially estimated, the council could have opted to limit the November bond measure to improvements at one or two of the library sites, but chose to move forward with the full set of plans.

"I'm delighted that the city council reaffirmed its commitment to improving the library system," Alison Cormack, president of the Palo Alto Library Foundation, said Tuesday.

Kathy Miller, board member of the Palo Alto Library Foundation, said the council's decision would likely make the bond measure more popular among residents.

"I think this community will by and large be happier to see a bond measure that addresses all the branches rather than just one," she said.

While the city council was united in its decision to move forward with all three projects, the decision of when to send the measure to voters was more controversial.

Council members Yoriko Kishimoto and Greg Schmid pushed for bumping up the bond measure to the June 2008 ballot, when the school district will be working to bring out voters to support a bond measure of its own.

"The November election will be controversial and focused on national issues," Schmid said. "It is hard to sell a local issue in the midst of that."

But city staff and other council members pushed back, arguing that more time is needed for a massive public outreach campaign aimed at winning the necessary two-thirds voter approval.

"You need to run a campaign, invest money, go door to door, talk to neighbors," Council Member Sid Espinosa said.

More bluntly, Council Member John Barton said the city needed to "light a fire underneath our outreach consultant."

And after a heated discussion over how to prioritize city funding for the library and public safety building projects, the council ultimately decided to defer a decision on how to fund construction of the police headquarters until next week, after the finance committee has reviewed new information.

Despite Schmid's call to spend "18 hours talking about this because it is such an important long-term commitment of our resources," the council opted to choose next week whether to ask the public to fund the construction as a bond measure or pay for the project by issuing $81 million worth of certificates of participation.


E-mail Kristina Peterson at kpeterson@dailynewsgroup.com.