HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Councilmember Item - Councilmember Posey - November 201 CITY OF HUNTINGTON BEACH
City Council Interoffice Communication
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Michael Posey, City Council Member /p
Date: April 11, 2016
Subject: CITY COUNCIL MEMBER ITEM FOR THE APRIL 18, 2016, CITY
COUNCIL MEETING— NOVEMBER 2016 ADVISORY VOTE ON
FUTURE DISPOSITION OF RODGERS'SENIOR CENTER
STATEMENT OF ISSUE:
The City Council has discussed the disposition of the Rodgers Senior Center site on many
occasions, and during 2015, issued a Request for Proposal to develop the site as residential
housing and a neighborhood park with the proceeds from the sale being restricted to improve
park needs city-wide Currently, the Park and Recreation Master Plan identifies nearly
$35 million in unfunded needs with $27 million in new projects through 2020, not including this
parcel Multiple developers walked away from the potential of purchasing the property from the
City due to the risks of acquisition and development
Most recently, the City Council held a Study Session on continued use of the site as community
rental space In order to utilize the current facility, an initial $290,000 was identified in repairs
with a second tier of repairs estimated at $570,000 Specific need for the rental space was
estimated, but not fully defined, based on known demand for community rental space Finally,
some are calling for the demolition of the existing structure and creating a park on the site The
estimated cost remodeling the site to an open park with no facilities is over$1 5 million
I believe that ultimately all of the residents of our City should determine the disposition of this
site I propose asking the citizens for an advisory vote at the November 2016 election While
an advisory vote is not a Measure C vote, the outcome of the advisory vote in November of
2016 will help the City Council better perceive the desire of all of our residents as to the
priorities for either using the proceeds from a sale for City-wide park improvements or
prioritizing the development of a neighborhood two-acre park for over$1 5 million
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Direct the City Manager and City Clerk to return to the next City Council Meeting with an agenda
item to prepare the necessary documents for an advisory vote on the November 8, 2016,
General Election regarding whether the voters believe the City should sell the Rodgers Senior
Center site, (estimated value of$14 million), with proceeds to fund City-wide park improvements
or turn the site into a park which could cost as much as $1 5 million or whether the Rogers
Senior Center should remain intact and maintained The action items must be completed in
time for the November 2016 election and in no event later than July 18, 2016
Cc Fred Wilson, City Manager
Ken Domer, Assistant City Manager
Joan Flynn, City Clerk
Michael Gates, City Attorney
7- wi r,�v�� 417
Estanislau, Robin
From Dombo, Johanna
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 10 19 AM
To: Agenda Comment
Cc: Wilson, Fred, Fikes, Cathy, CITY COUNCIL
Subject: FW Rodgers Park-Agenda# 16 & 17
AGENDA COMMENT
-----Original Message-----
From: Gloria Alvarez [mailto:gloria(@e-mailcom.com]
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 10:13 AM
To: CITY COUNCIL
Sub]ect: Rodgers Park - Agenda # 16 & 17
> Dear CC,
> This email is in regards to the historic Rodgers Park site. Following are my concerns &
reasons for
> - Support for Agenda #16
> - Oppose agenda #17
> # 16 - Lake Park together w/ Circle Park (renamed Farquhar park), Triangle Park & Rodgers
Park form a trilogy of the original & historical parks that laid the foundation for our
City's park system. One can find over & over again in land deeds, city council minutes & the
City's historical notes as recent as the mid 1970's the place that Rodgers Park holds in the
founding & formation of our City.
> The Community Svcs Dept & Community Svcs Commission are the experts on how best to use
parkland to best serve the needs of the surrounding community. That is why they were formed
& that is their function to provide to CC their expertise in these matters.
> Therefore, HB Preserve Our Past supports Agenda # 16 to forward to Community Services for
complete review & more thorough feedback & recommendations for Rodgers Park.
> #17 - The return of Rodgers Park to usable parkland for the surrounding community was
already voted on the Ballot Measure in 2006, 10yrs ago. There is no logical reason to put it
again on a ballot measure' ' '
> If the City is so desperate for $$$$, then it has the choice of several other parks that it
can sell off for development to obtain $$$ for City funds'
> HB Preserve Our Past opposes agenda # 17.
> Thank you,
> Gloria Alvarez SUPPLEMENTAL
> On behalf of HB Preserve Our Past
> COMMUNICATION
> Sent from my iPhone
Meeting Date:
V.. le- c?
Agenda Item 0016 an a(*-/7
1
Estanislau, Robin
From: Dombo, Johanna
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 8 05 AM
To Agenda Comment
Cc: Fikes, Cathy, CITY COUNCIL
Subject FW City Council Meeting -Agenda Items 16 and 17
AGENDA COMMENT
From: Kim Kramer [mailto kim@e-mailcom com]
Sent:Saturday, April 16, 2016 6 40 AM
To: CITY COUNCIL
Subject:City Council Meeting-Agenda Items 16 and 17
Dear City Council,
Unfortunately, I am unable to attend this Monday's City Council meeting
I am writing in support of Councilmember Peterson's agenda item#16 Although I disagree with some of the
suggestions contained within the agenda item, I do believe that moving this forward to the Community Services
Commission is the appropriate action at this time By doing so, it will give the citizens of Huntington Beach
more prominent participation in the decision-making process Public participation in the formulation of
government decisions is, of course, always the right choice Additionally, in light of so many unanswered
questions at the Study Session, it is the next logical step in vetting this project and determining the fate of the
Rodgers' site for the benefit of all Huntington Beach citizens
Conversely, I am opposed to a ballot initiative Although I have tremendous respect for Councilmember Posey's
relentless pursuit for fiscal responsibility (thank you Mike Posey) I think the call for a ballot initiative at this
time is oversimplified and premature Let's first define the project, consider all of our options, encourage hands-
on public participation in the formulation of public policy, and then determine if a ballot initiative is the
appropriate course of action
Thank you,
Kim Kramer
Downtown Resident
Sent from my Wad
SUPPLEMENTAL
COMMUNICATION
Meeting Date: q- / 0 D �b
Agenda Item No.lot 14 44
i
Estanislau, Robin
From: Dombo, Johanna
Sent: Monday, April 18, 2016 8 03 AM
To Agenda Comment
Cc: Fikes, Cathy, CITY COUNCIL
Subject. FW Old Rogers Senior Center- Save as park space
AGENDA COMMENT
From: KIRK NASON (mailto kirk Nason(«Dhotmail com]
Sent: Sunday,April 17, 2016 7 21 PM
To: CITY COUNCIL
Cc: 'Kim Kramer', iohnwarrenwebb@verizon net, Sandy Pope
Subject: Old Rogers Senior Center-Save as park space
Dear City Council,
Unfortunately, Mary& I are unable to attend this Monday's City Council meeting
We am writing in support of Councilmember Peterson's agenda item#16 Although we disagree with some of
the suggestions contained within the agenda item, we do believe that moving this forward to the Community
Services Commission is the appropriate action at this time By doing so, it will give the citizens of Huntington
Beach more prominent participation in the decision-making process Public participation in the formulation of
government decisions is, of course, always the right choice Additionally, in light of so many unanswered
questions at the Study Session, it is the next logical step in vetting this project and determining the fate of the
Rodgers' site for the benefit of all Huntington Beach citizens
Conversely, we are opposed to a ballot initiative Although we have tremendous respect for Councilmember
Posey's relentless pursuit for fiscal responsibility (thank you Mike Posey) we think the call for a ballot initiative
at this time is oversimplified and premature Let's first define the project, consider all of our options, encourage
hands-on public participation in the formulation of public policy, and then determine if a ballot initiative is the
appropriate course of action
Thank your
Kirk J & Mary L Nason
Downtown Resident
SUPPLEMENTAL
COMMUNICATION
Meeting Date: 4" / 9-Z O/6
Agenda Item No*16 -4 ]W- 17
1
SUPPLEMENTAL
Estanislau, Robin ��,t� s:� s t a��°►,� 'w°w4 ��
From. Surf City Pipeline [noreply@user govoutreach com]
Sent: Saturday, April 16, 2016 8 44 AM Meeting Date:
To: CITY COUNCIL, Agenda Alerts
Subject: Surf City Pipeline Comment on an Agenda Item (notification) 4*/7
Agenda Item No.
Request#25860 from the Government Outreach System has been assigned to Agenda Alerts.
Request type: Comment
Request area: City Council -Agenda& Public Hearing Comments
Citizen name: Richardson Gray
Description: Dear Mayor Katapodis, Mayor Pro Tem Sullivan, and Council Members Delgleize,
Hardy, O'Connell, Peterson, and Posey,
For two items on your April 18th meeting's agenda, I am writing you to urge the City to
return the Rodgers Senior Center site to parkland For almost ten years, I have owned
my home in our Downtown neighborhood, and have worked to improve our residential
quality of life here. My home is 11 blocks from Rodgers Park I sent an earlier version of
this email to the Council 1n March, but I wanted to repeat my comments to you now for
your meeting this Monday
As you probably know,the Rodgers site is one of the four original parks deeded to the
City by the Huntington Beach Company, all roughly one hundred years ago. The other
three are Triangle Park, Farquhar Park, and Lake Park As such, each of these four parks
is almost as old as our City itself In the deeds to the City, for both Triangle Park and
Rodgers Park, the City agreed to keep both sites as parkland for all time
The Main Street Library, along with its setting on Triangle Park, in 2013 was listed on
the National Register of Historic Places, with the unanimous endorsement of our City
Council Last year, Triangle Park, Farquhar Park, and Lake Park were all made local
historic landmarks, again by the unanimous endorsement of our City Council As well
last year, Farquhar Park and Lake Park were deemed to be eligible for the California
Register of Historic Resources, according to the City's updated Historic Context and
Survey Report. As you can see from this evidence, Rodgers Park is one of a small, select
group of our C1ty's parks, which are all unrivaled, highly esteemed, historically
important, and irreplaceable
Given that the new senior center on Central Park is using parkland for new development,
it is only fair that the City return the Rodgers site to its original use as a park The equity
of tlus approach is further bolstered by recent history the taking of a portion of Central
Park for the new senior center has been and still remains very controversial in our City
The leading example of tlus controversy is that, after an expensive campaign on both
sides, the Measure C referendum passed by a razor thin margin, which approved the new
senior center site in 2006 Without Mayor Pro Tem Sullivan's promises,to return the
Rodgers Senior Center to parkland, as a part of his efforts to win the campaign for the
new senior center at Central Park, this 2006 Measure C vote, in all likelihood, would
have failed. Obviously, Mayor Pro Tem Sullivan today owes it to all of the voters of
1
Huntington Beach to make good on his 2006 campaign promises
I am convinced that City parks are a major component of improving our residential
quality of life in Huntington Beach Far too often, however, our City leaders seem to
have forgotten this nearly sacred truth In my ten years here, the City has taken part of
Central Park for the new seruor center, the City has threatened to develop the historic
Triangle Park for commercial purposes, and now the City is attempting to avoid
returning the historic Rodgers site to parkland.
I imagine that the motivation for these strategies has been economic, to try to raise more
revenues for our City I would argue, on the contrary, that these strategies actually are
counter productive IL
Huntington Beach is primarily a residential, bedroom community The City's largest
revenue source by far is real estate taxes, constituting almost three tunes the amount of
any other source Given this state of affairs, if the City were simply to make residential
quality of life our foremost goal, the City would maximize its revenues, coming from
increases in our home values and real estate taxes
Huntington Beach's residential property values, almost unbelievably, are the lowest of
any coastal Orange County city. Shockingly as well, though we have very comparable
ameruties as our next-door-neighbor,Newport's home values are about two tunes those
of Huntington Beach These differences in home values tell me that our City leaders
have not been doing a good enough job over the years, in managing our municipal
affairs, so as to maximize our residential property values and our real estate tax
revenues
For all of these reasons, I urge you to begin putting residential quality of life first among
our City's priorities Such an approach will be good for our voters, and good for the long
term financial health of our City And returning the Rodgers site to its historic, original
use as a park will be a strong step in the direction of this primary objective, of improving
our residential quality of life
For the City Council elections this year and in 2018, I certainly will remember your
votes on this issue, for my campaign contributions and volunteer efforts I believe the
same will be true for many Downtown residents and voters For our Downtown
neighborhood, returning the Rodgers site to parkland has been the City Council's most
important decision in years Thank you for your support, and for considering our views.
Richardson Gray
415 Townsquare Lane#208
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
714-348-1928 (cell)
Richardson Gray@yahoo com
Expected Close Date: April 17, 2016
Click here to access the request
z
Estanislau, Robin
From: Surf City Pipeline [noreply@user govoutreach com]
Sent- Thursday, March 17, 2016 11 24 AM
To CITY COUNCIL, Agenda Alerts
Subject: Surf City Pipeline Comment on an Agenda Item (notification)
Request#25552 from the Government Outreach System has been assigned to Agenda Alerts.
Request type: Comment
Request area: City Council - Agenda& Public Hearing Comments
Citizen name: Amory Hanson
Description: To whom it may concern
I have enclosed a letter regarding study session 1 Please insure that it is sent to the City
Council, City Manager, and City Clerk and listed for the record as a supplemental
commmumcation In addition, I will be sending a paper copy to each of The City
Councilmen, The City Manger and The City Clerk
Sincerely Yours,
Mr Amory Hanson
Expected Close Date: March 18, 2016
Click here to access the request
Note This message is for notification purposes only Please do not reply to this email Email replies are not
monitored and will be ignored
COMMUNICATION
Meeting Date: 4— /f ' 4
Agenda Item N �� K �
i
The Honorable
James Katapodis
Mayor of Huntington Beach
2000 Main Street
Huntington Beach CA 92648
Dear Mister Mayor•
I am writing in support of Item 16, an Item proposed by Councilman Erik Peterson
regarding the re-designation of the Michael Rodgers Seniors' Center I am also
writing in opposition to Item 17, an Item proposed by Councilman Michael Posey
asking for a November 2016 Advisory Vote on future disposition of the Michael
Rodgers Seniors' Center
Regarding Item 16, I believe it is in the interest of the Huntington Beach City Council
to let the Huntington Beach Community Services Commission hear the opinions of
the residents of Downtown Huntington Beach It is important that as many residents
as possible be heard I personally think it is important that The Huntington Beach
City Council honor their agreement with Chevron to use the land for public use
Regarding Item 17, I am concerned about the ability of the city to request an
"Advisory Vote"An Advisory Vote regarding whether the United States Supreme
Court's ruling in Citizens United v Federal Election Commission should be
overturned by an Amendment to the United States Constitution (Proposition 49)
was proposed by The California State Legislature to be placed on the November
2014 ballot as a proposition Proposition 49 was removed from the 2014 ballot
following a lawsuit by the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association This Year, The
California Supreme Court made a narrow ruling, written by Justice Kathryn
Werdegar permitting the California State Legislature to place Proposition 49 on the
November 2016 ballot However, Justice Werdegar's opinion only ruled in regard to
Proposition 49 and established a test to determine the constitutionality of later
advisory votes Item 17 would open the city to a potentially lengthy and costly
lawsuit in order to determine the constitutionality of the advisory vote.Also,The
Huntington Beach City Charter makes no mention of"Advisory Votes",thereby also
opening questions about whether The Huntington Beach City Charter permits The
Huntington Beach City Council to even put on the ballot advisory votes
Sincerely Yours,
Mr Amory Hanson
CC The Honorable David Sullivan
CC: The Honorable Barbara Delgleize
CC The Honorable William O'Connell
CC The Honorable Erik Peterson
CC The Honorable Michael Posey
CC' The Honorable Jill Hardy
CC. Mr Fred Wilson
CC The Honorable Joan Flynn
Barbara Robinson
To: city hall@surfcity-hb org
Subject: Save Rodgers Park
Thank you for providing this forum to allow residents to give feedback about issues of concern for Huntington
Beach
Thank you for item#16 It is the next logical step in determining the best use of the public space where Rodgers
Senior Center is currently located It is unfortunate that 10 years have passed since the 2006 election that led to the
exchange of 5 acres of Central Park for a 2 2 acre park at this site That's 10 years we could have been studying and
planning for this so that we could realize the promise of a community park Of course, until just very recently, everyone
expected that campaign promise to be kept,that this site would be a park for community use
On the other hand, I am adamantly opposed to item#17 1 do not see any reason for the rush to sell off this
valuable asset after procrastinating on this for 10 years There is no reason this has to be on the 2016 ballot We have
not yet seen the results of the studies of the options We do not yet have the information voters will need to make an
informed decision The local residents,who are opposed to selling our park for more residential development in an
already overcrowded neighborhood, have not yet had an opportunity to present other options We are committed to
the concept of"Keep the Promise-Save Our Park" to the extent we have begun identifying grant opportunities to match
city funds for building a green space park, up to 50%of the cost
This park is a valuable asset It is the third oldest park in the city with a rich history from the date it was given to
the city to be used as a community resource into perpetuity,to its use for barracks during WW 11,to its years of services
for our senior citizens It should be named an historical landmark and used for all the residents of the city as intended,
and then promised again in the 2006 election materials, not sold off for a one time gain
Several City Council members included specific statements in their election materials supporting green space
Now is the time to put your votes where your values are Another's election materials said he was"committed to
protecting our beaches, parks, and wetlands" Here's an opportunity for you to put your vote to protecting our parks
One other HBCC member said he was running because he wanted "to give something back" Selling off the city's assets
is not giving back Let's see if your vote is for giving back to the city or selling it out
I get it I understand that HB faces financial challenges But I understand that those challenges are due to a
budget imbalance not a budget shortfall When you have a budget shortfall,you can sell off an asset or two and solve
the problem But when you have a budget imbalance, it's a long term problem that requires a long term solution The
city can sell off every single asset, green space by green space, block by block until there's nothing left to sell and the city
is stripped of all assets and we'll still face a budget imbalance All we've done is pushed the problem onto a future City
Council
And make no mistake, these assets belong to the city of HB, that's the residents not the 7 current members of
the HBCC These are our assets we're discussing selling off If selling them would solve the problem, it might be a
sacrifice worth making It is not worthwhile if it doesn't even solve the problem
In the end, if our elected representatives are not representing what we want for our city,we have no one to
blame but ourselves and we must remember that come the next election cycle The residents of HB are entitled to have
elected representatives we can trust to keep their promises We deserve representatives who abide by their own code
of ethics
r `
RECO-VEL FROM
AS PUBLIC RECORD FOR rrX1,:,1L MEET,NG
OF_ >i �
CITY CLERK OFFICE
J0AN L CITY MEPh
Estanislau, Robin )� 6
From: Fikes, Cathy
Sent- Thursday, April 21, 2016 12 20 PM
To Agenda Comment
Cc: Fikes, Cathy, CITY COUNCIL
Subject FW Senior center
AGENDA COMMENT
-----Original Message-----
From: Lena Hayashi [mailto:lenahayashi(@me.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 21, 2016 8:17 AM
To: Peterson, Erik
Cc- Fikes, Cathy
Sub]ect: Senior center
Dear Mr. Peterson,
Thank you for backing the community in not selling the Rodgers Senior Center. Keep up the
good work' We need more open space and community related sites in HB.
Yours truly,
Lena Hayashi
9572 Castine Drive
92646
44 yr resident
Sent from my iPad
Lena Hayashi
1