[Cross-posted from THE BREAN, where I also spend some of my bloggin’ time.]
Here it comes — as suddenly as predicted, as ridiculous as expected: it’s the $9,000,000 parking structure giveaway.
On April 15th, 2015, at 6 p.m. — i.e., TODAY! — the Brea City Council will be deliberating on whether or not to spend $9M of your money to build a parking structure in the Brea Downtown. This structure will be conveniently located right next to the properties owned by Dwight Manley, who was — coincidentally, I’m sure — the major financial contributor to two of our newest council members Cecilia Hupp and Steve Vargas.
Oh, and I hope you’re asking yourself, “Why is this meeting a “special meeting” scheduled on a Wednesday at 6 p.m. and not on a normal council meeting day and time?” (That’d be the first and third Tuesdays of each month at 7 p.m.) Apparently Dwight Manley is a huge hurry to get this approved — and Mayor Marty Simonoff, who sets the agenda, days, and times of council meetings, is only too willing to oblige.
Here’s the link to the agenda for Wednesday’s [today’s!] “Special Meeting,” where the Council will be ready to act in “Potential consideration of a motion instructing staff to proceed with the project to construct the proposed Downtown Parking Structure”— or, in other words, to just go ahead and spend $9M out of the City’s $17M General Fund reserves on this project that most citizens of Brea don’t even know about:
http://www.cityofbrea.net/index.aspx?NID=1003
This is a flat-out giveaway. A boondoggle. Even — a ripoff. And it raises some serious questions:
1. If Manley wants this parking structure so badly — which will make his downtown properties shoot up in value — why isn’t he paying for it himself?
2. What else would you like to see $9M of your taxpayer dollars spent on instead of a parking structure? Yes, parking is an issue during the peak hours on Friday and Saturday nights. But is that the most important problem facing our city? Is it a $9M problem? What about paying down Brea’s unfunded pension liability? What about more police and fire services? What about traffic improvements? You can surely think of 100 things better to spend $9M on than another parking structure.
3. Is a parking structure really needed? There is a massive parking structure at the end of Birch street that is never full!
If you think this is as much of a boondoggle as I do, make sure you let the Brea City Council know. Email them. Call them. Better yet – attend the meeting on April 15 at 6pm and tell them directly!
Marty Simonoff, Mayor – 714-990-7702 – martys@ci.brea.ca.us
Cecilia Hupp – 714-990-7704 – ceciliah@ci.brea.ca.us
Christine Marick – 714-990-7700 – christinem@ci.brea.ca.us
Glenn Parker – 714-990-7703 – glennp@ci.brea.ca.us
Steven Vargas – 714-990-7701 – stevenv@ci.brea.ca.us
The math behind this deal is so sketchy that the Staff Report recommends only that the Council “Receive staff presentation, discuss policy issues, and provide staff direction regarding any desired information needs and process for next steps to consider the parking structure.” That’s what the professionals have to say.
Check out the Staff Report yourself at the following link:
Really?! The parking structure would be built on a parking lot that already has 178 spaces. The structure will have 485 spaces. That’s a net gain of 307 parking spaces! $9M for 307 more parking spaces — most of which will remain unused by far most of the time!
Do YOU think you’re ready for the City Council to vote — THIS WEDNESDAY TODAY at 6 P.M. — on whether to spend $9 million of YOUR MONEY (if you, like me, are a Brean) RIGHT NOW on a parking garage that will mostly serve to increase the value of Dwight Manley’s downtown property?
I hope not.
We’ll be here watching to keep you informed on what your Brea City Council is doing. Stay tuned. (And if you think our logo is cluttered, just wait until you see what hundreds of more cars at peak hours will do to Brea Blvd. between Ash and Imperial!)
Well, my guess is this will not happen. That parking lot is just begging for a two sub-level garage with a four or five level residential “infill” project sitting on top of it.
Too many sharks in the water not to smell the blood.
I think you need to double check your facts. While he owns a lot of property in downtown Brea, Dwight Manly does not own the Tower Records site, BWW or Taps.
Mark Caplow, owner of the Tower Records building and the Mangella family (Taps) have long complained of a lack of close parking. This was not lost on city planner Crabtree who decievingly offered up many of the available spots to Bank Of America in a move trying to save 800 jobs in Brea.
With the likes of the Christine “I’ll sell my soul”Merick voting you can bet Brea will get whats best for Christine. Not the city.
Please point out where I said that Manley owns the Tower Records property. Good luck trying. He owns plenty of other property on the east side of Brea Blvd., though — and the value of that property would go up considerably.
Manley wants to build a live concert venue on that side of the street. The Improv would also move under the conceived deal. Read the Staff Report, available at the link.
Is TAPS hurting for business, by the way, even if some people have to (gasp!) cross Brea Blvd to get there? (I doubt that many do have to, actually.)
As for Christine Marick: (1) she’s only one vote out of five, (2) she spells her last name with an “a,” and (3) I have no idea what you’re even talking about regarding “soul-selling.” If there’s any “selling” going on, I’d look for it in Manley’s IEs that got Hupp and Vargas elected last fall.
What is the “Downtown Owner’s group” and who is in it? In the staff report this entity suddenly appears with capital letters suggesting a real organization of some sort.
It’s an organization of owners of Downtown Brea property, with the City having one seat. My understanding is that over time, due to his having bought out other owners, Manley has gained more than half of its seats, so he in effect can call the shots. In practical effect, it’s Manley.
By the way — how often have you seen Staff anywhere give that sort of “let’s maybe not” recommendation?
They do that when they are not sure which way the wind is blowing.
I would ask how come the previous (smaller) proposal from three years ago was projected to cost $4 million more. That nine million seems like a ten-year old estimate.
The incremental revenue numbers are completely useless for basing any business decision.
“And the value of that property would go up considerably”.
On what basis do you state that?
Are you trying to shake up a jar of bee’s?
We get Greg Diamond is a man of the people. An Occupy leader. A lawyer who has thrice sued municipalities.
What you are chasing her is hogwash. You fail to state you have a HUGE political interest here. But no monetary or community interest. You have, sir decided to sh!t where you eat. That might prove to be a HUGE mistake.
Try attending the St. Angela Merici food drive. That neighborhood is suffering from crime and low income issues. Start there smart guy.
Learn the facts.
“On what basis do you state that?”
On the basis of the “consultant’s” report stating that tax revenue was going up. Higher tax revenue means higher property value. Didn’t you bother reading the staff report?
And who are you to say who does or doesn’t have a “community interest?” Pathetic.
Yeah Dipshit Sheppard!
I have become weary of these small pond civic boosters who flutter about in whatever prevailing breeze is blowing – mostly because they have a piddling little interest – like municipal park soccer fields – to cultivate; or worse, those whose ego is fueled by a nod and a knowing smile from a councilperson. Oh, ecstasy!
You’ve been successfully misdirected, David. The “substantive” claim was just a pretext to get to the personal attack, which is what drives the comment. I’ve seen this “namedrop Angela Merici”/”shit where you eat” trope before (but not, I think, both in the same comment.)
Then it’s somebody who doesn’t like Dan Sheppard to whom I apologize, although the personality type itself presents a universal, stock character. Anaheim is full of them.
You seem to (think you) know me so well for someone I’ve never heard of.
While David’s correct that the tax revenue is good evidence of it, there’s an easier way. Consider: (1) How much do you think that the empty Tower Records Building is worth now? (2) How much do you think it would be worth with the parking structure there? You can listen to what the Downtown Property Owners said TONIGHT ALONE to see that THEY think it’s a big difference.
What’s my “huge political interest” here? If I had one, I’d be sucking up to Manley.
No monetary or community interest? Of course I do. How dorkish of you.
I *think* that you’re saying that I shouldn’t take on entrenched interests in my own hometown. Thanks for caring. I don’t like to cower, though.
Those who want to do food drives certainly should. I believe that my talents suggest other paths, though — ones that fewer people can do. When I lose my legal and activist chops, though, doing food drives would be time well spent.
*Each City has its own “little way” of taking kick-back money. When Downtown Jerry Brown raided their little Revelopment Funds…….it put a stop to egregious dirty tricks, however, seasoned professional bureaucrats and electeds know how to hedge their bets into different “new projects”. The Red Light Cameras is an example of direct pay-offs to electeds and specified and identified bureaucrats which could “move the process”. Thank goodness enough dedicated patriotic citizens stepped forward to identify the shortened yellows in order to ticket, setting up blocked intersections and then ticketing folks for being stuck in those and finally the fact that Red Light Cameras did not increase Public Safety for the intersections identified. Then came those Parking Structures……which are a deal Brea has been using for years. This is not their first dinner date with Parking Structures…..and many around the Brea Mall for instance actually serve a good purpose. These guys have become so sophisticated in the design, construction and marketing programs involved……well, we just have to commend Dr. D., for trying to ferrett out the truth. Strip malls, Design Shopping Centers and the like are the New Funds on the table. Each city needs to stay alert to these overpriced boondoggles, that make sure the Auto Dealers, pay no tax for 30 years ……….with a sweetheart renewal clause in the waiting.
So Dr. D, WHAT HAPPENED? Update, please.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2015/04/brea-council-meeting-on-jamming-through-9m-parking-structure-part-1-audience-matters/
And there will be much more where that came from!