HomeMy WebLinkAbout6/1/2017 Item 1, Cooper - Lichtig
Christian, Kevin
From:Lichtig, Katie
Sent:Monday, May 29, 2017 4:59 PM
To:Allan Cooper; Bradford, Xenia; E-mail Council Website; Christianson, Carlyn; Harmon,
Heidi; Rivoire, Dan; Pease, Andy; Gomez, Aaron
Cc:Stanwyck, Shelly; Codron, Michael
Subject:RE: PRELIMINARY 2017-19 FINANCIAL PLAN
Allan –
Happy Memorial Day. Staff will distribute your communication tomorrow.
th
I would like to let you know that I intend to clarify your “paraphrase” of my comments from April 18 city council
meeting – The funding that was moved into the Parkland Development Fund was allocated from the General
Fund and can be used for any purpose a majority of the Council approves. It is not accurate to say that it can
only be used for parkland development. I will leave it to others to assess if your characterizations of what was
said accurately reflects their comments.
Staff is working on an Agenda Correspondence to outline the history of the allocation of this funding and the
history about this issue beyond the money. We should get this out tomorrow as well.
Have a nice evening.
Katie
Katie Lichtig
City Manager
City of San Luis Obispo
805-781-7114 (office)
klichtig@slocity.org
From: Allan Cooper \[ ]
Sent: Monday, May 29, 2017 8:54 AM
To: Lichtig, Katie <klichtig@slocity.org>; Bradford, Xenia <XBradford@slocity.org>; E-mail Council Website
<emailcouncil@slocity.org>; Christianson, Carlyn <cchristianson@slocity.org>; Harmon, Heidi <hharmon@slocity.org>;
Rivoire, Dan <DRivoire@slocity.org>; Pease, Andy <apease@slocity.org>; Gomez, Aaron <agomez@slocity.org>
Subject: PRELIMINARY 2017-19 FINANCIAL PLAN
Dear Katie & Xenia -
Would you kindly forward the letter attached below to the City Council before tomorrow's meeting?
Thanks!
- Allan Cooper
1
To: SLO City Council, Katie Lichtig & Xenia
Bradford
Re: Preliminary 2017-19 Financial Plan
From: Allan Cooper, San Luis Obispo
Date: May 29, 2017
Honorable Mayor and Council Members -
As I was unable to attend your April 18, 2017
Council meeting, I nevertheless did my due
diligence and reviewed the tape of your discussion
on the $900,000 set aside for the North Broad
Street Park. I roughly paraphrased each of your
comments and some of Katie Lichtig's comments
(see below).
What I heard is that there was no consensus on
how to spend this money with the exception of
spending some of it on the P & R Element update.
On the other hand, Katie Lichtig's recommendation
for your June 1st meeting is that all but $260,000
be spent (based on her interpretation of your so-
called “direction”). I also heard Katie Lichtig state
that the $900,000 is presently in the Parkland
Development Fund (not the General Fund) and that
this fund cannot be used for any other purpose
than for what it was originally intended.
I wish to remind Mayor Harmon and Council
members Gomez and Pease that you ran on the
campaign promise of “proactive community
engagement” and promoting “residents’ influence
in decision-making and outcomes”. However, since
December 13, 2016, when all three of you were
newly installed onto the Council, you have denied 4
neighborhood appeals, ignored 3 citizen petitions
(one with over 9,000 signatures) and voted to
raise non-applicant appeal fees from $281 to $683.
All of this despite significant opposition from the
very residents you have pledged to represent.
Please begin acting on your campaign promises
and vote to protect this North Broad Street park
“set aside” in its entirety. And if you find my plea
insufficiently compelling than at least respect what
should have been the inviolable intent of our
previous Council. Thank you!
________________________
Allan Cooper’s rough paraphrasing of Council’s
comments:
April 18, 2017
Item 02: Strategic Budget Direction and Major City
Goal Work Programs for the 2017-19 Financial Plan
5. Should the Park’s Element Update be funded
within the 2017-19 Financial Plan? If so, should it
be funded with Parkland Development Fund
or with General Fund sources.
Christianson - This was originally a request from
a neighborhood group that came out of the blue…
completely out of context. She doesn’t support the
park though she professes to be an “advocate for
trees”.
Gomez - This is money set aside for a park where
presently no appropriate site can be found. He’d
rather see the $900,000 spent on Laguna Lake
dredging, bike boulevards and a P & R Element
update.
Rivoire - He wants to see how much money might
be available from the Parkland Development Fund.
He thinks the P & R Element update would help
determine if a North Broad Street Park is still a
priority. He supports the park in principle. There
will be an opportunity at the next budget
discussion for the concerned neighborhood group
to state their case. Based on the City’s precarious
fiscal outlook, he would like to see the $900,000
go to other priorities.
Pease - She’s uncomfortable raiding the $900,000
when the neighborhood group is not present. Was
this item properly noticed? Katie Lichtig said yes.
Harmon - She didn’t want to touch the $900,000
initially but would like to spend some of it on a P &
R Element update.
Lichtig - Reallocating this money should be
consistent with the previous Council’s direction.
Unlike the General Fund, the Parkland
Development Fund is strictly limited to parks.