City Officials Taken Aback by College Proposal

By Jorge Casuso

March 24 -- A plan floated by Santa Monica College to pay for a new City park at the airport with college bond money got a mixed reception from City officials, who knew little or nothing about the proposal until it was publicly announced this week.

The proposal to build the 8.3-acre park in exchange for the right to put the college’s shuttle parking underneath in a 650-space garage caught City Council members by surprise. (see related story)

Reactions ranged from outrage that the college would hatch a proposal for a municipal project without City input to worries that it would further delay the building of a park that has been years in the making.

The announcement comes shortly before the City Council is expected to put the construction contracts out to bid in an effort to complete the park -- which will include two lighted sports fields -- in a year.

“We’ve been working with City staff to make sure it was fast-tracked and completed quickly,” said Council member Richard Bloom. “It’s been budgeted, and staff is comfortable where we are with that.

“This park wasn’t just requested by the community, it was demanded by the community,” Bloom said. “If we were to switch gears, it would delay it significantly.”

Council member Kevin McKeown agreed with Bloom in an email responding to The Lookout’s request for comment.

“We need playfields now, and this month's sudden College announcements are a difficult reversal of a multi-year City planning process where we're about to sign a construction contract to deliver what the community has told us it wants,” McKeown wrote.

“We generally develop a proposal over time in participatory public workshops,
rather than spring it full-blown as a public relations campaign,” McKeown added.

The college’s decision to put forth its proposal in a mail campaign to area residents without alerting City officials or asking for their input may have exacerbated tensions between SMC and City officials.

“I’m outraged,” said Ken Genser. “I think they’re working around the City. How dare they publicly circulate a plan for use of a City park… How dare they make proposals as a public entity for delaying our park.”

Genser said he first heard about the plan some six weeks ago from college officials after word of the plan had leaked.

“I was very careful not to say I liked it or didn’t like it,” Genser said. “I certainly didn’t think they would go public.”

But it wasn’t until this week that most council members first heard about the college’s proposal to pay for the park with bond money from Measures S and U -- which were passed by Santa Monica-Malibu voters in March 2002 and November 2004 respectively.

“It’s a total surprise to me,” Bloom said. “I’m dumbfounded that the college would move forward with planning something like this when the City is nowhere near on board.”

Council member Herb Katz played down the college’s announcement.

“If they haven’t talked to the City, they should have,” Katz said. “I don’t think it’s the right approach, but still, there’s no damage done. It’s just a proposal.”

Genser and Bloom, who have been frequent critics of the college, said the announcement marks a continuation of SMC’s practice of bypassing the City and ignoring its concerns.

That attitude, City officials have said, was prevalent during SMC’s expansion under Dr. Piedad F. Robertson, who resigned earlier this year after a decade as the college’s president.

“There have been issues between the City and Santa Monica College for a couple of decades now,” Bloom said. “We have spoken about the need to foster a more cooperative environment.

“This is completely contrary to that goal,” he said.

“I think this bodes for very ill will between the two institutions,” said Genser. “It breaks down my trust I was trying to build with the college.”

Although McKeown expressed concerns about the proposal, he didn’t dismiss the college’s plan.

“Working together offers some interesting opportunities for community benefits, which the City will investigate and consider,” he said in his email.