On Needing More Time to Finish One’s Homework

With only 2 meetings “down” and many to go, it is becoming clear to ardent Livingston Council Watchers that a 3-2 split has already formed.  The “alliances” appear to be as follows:

·        Council persons: Margarita Aguilar & Rodrigo Espinosa

·        Mayor Daniel Varela & Council persons Frank Vierra and Martha Nateras

 

It seems “interesting” that the first “split vote” of the Council had to do with whether or not every Council Person had had enough time to finish reading and comprehending the information in their Agenda Packets prior to the Tuesday, December 16, 2008 City Council Meeting.

 

(Some City of Livingston’s “political junkies” can’t but wonder if it is because one of the particular Agenda Items (#13 under Discussion and Potential Action Items) was a”

 

“Resolution Approving and Adopting an Amended Conflict of Interest Code Pursuant to the Political Reform Act of 1974.”)

 

As an ardent “City Council watcher” and “Agenda Packet” reader myself, I have known for some time that the Agenda Packet is usually ready by 4:00pm on the Friday before a scheduled City Council Meeting. That means your average person has

·        Friday evening

·        All day Saturday and Saturday Evening

·        All day Sunday and Sunday Evening

·        All day Monday and Monday Evening

·        Most of Tuesday

To figure out and “fit in” the reading time necessary in order to be prepared for City Council on Tuesday.

 

Having been to many many City Council meetings and “scanned through” many many Agenda Packets in the last couple of years, the one for the December 16^th 2008 meeting couldn’t have been nearly as huge as some of those we’ve seen in the past.

 

Yet….even though the previous Council has had to read through and consider thousands of pages of Staff Reports, contracts, and supplemental materials, I don’t recall anyone on the Council ever asking for more time to “finish the reading”.

 

However, I can remember many, many occasions, when folks have stepped up to the Podium to plead with the City Council to postpone a decision because the Council could not possibly have read every word of every page of every document relating to matters before them.

 

(Makes me wonder just how many votes in the past were cast by someone who never really did “the reading.”)

 

One can only hope that recent turns of events means that all the council will be doing all the reading and paying more attention to all the implications of all the decisions they will be called on to make in the future………………………………

 

The Livingston City Council isn’t the only entity needing more time to finish up their “homework”. There is also the case of the…..

 

Merced Union High School District

Once again, a representative from the MUHSD came to the podium to talk about the Livingston High School expansion project and implications for Peach Avenue traffic and once again it was clear that someone had not finished “his/her homework”.

 

During the presentation, representatives from the High School District asked that, instead of the current plan accepted by the city to reroute Peach Street, that the Council consider permanently closing the section of Peach Avenue from 7^th Street to Main. 

 

If the Council would allow the closing of Peach instead of the “agreed upon” reroute, the MUHSD would save $3 million, which could be used on other projects.

 

There were just a few little problems with that request…………………………

 

1.     The City Council never did agree to rerouting Peach Avenue

2.     Peach Avenue is a “main thoroughfare” for the City (and would be important for diverting traffic around the City in case of emergencies)

3.     Doing anything to Peach Avenue would require a General Plan Amendment

 

The City Manager was therefore put in the delicate position of having to educate MUHSD officials about how they were erroneously basing their assumptions on an agreement that never existed. He explained to all present that there had been 4 alternatives put before the Council, but no final decision had been made about which alternative would be accepted.

 

The four alternatives that had been discussed (in June of 2008) were:

1.     Reroute Peach

2.     Raise Peach and construct a tunnel under it

3.     Build a Pedestrian Overpass across Peach

4.     Close Peach (from 7^th to Main)

 

We can only hope that someone from the MUHSD will do what it was asked to do back in June: come before the council with a written request regarding Peach Avenue, with written details of how the project is to be funded.

 

To learn more about the original “Peach Avenue Discussion” between the City of Livingston and the Merced Union High School District in June, 2008 click HERE.

 

For more on the current Livingston High School Expansion plan, click HERE