Does Manteca really need the city hall that the powers that be apparently think it needs?
The City Council tonight is expected to decide whether to hire an extremely reputable firm — LDA Partners — to conduct a city hall needs assessment for $100,000. It also includes the vetting of five sites.
Rest assured the firm will do what they are directed to do. That is the problem.
It is clear that what is going to be examined is a city hall rooted in 19th century sensibilities. Don’t misunderstand. Whatever the ultimate plan is it certainly will be plugged into 21st technology and will be spacious compared to what is in place today.
The problem is the city appears to be not just in sleep walking mode but they are about to go on another wild goose chase given that the lock-step City Hall needs process along with the police department will easily be a $40 million proposition. As such the city can ill afford not to think out of the box or lower its expectations given other pressing bust-the-bank needs and wants such as $81.4 million for a community recreation complex anchored by an aquatics center, more interchange work, and enough road repairs to top the gross national product of a Third World country. And that’s just for starters.
Putting the money issue aside for just a second, let’s look at how bad the situation really is.
The first phase of the current city hall was finished in 1978 when Manteca had 22,000 residents. The rest of the permanent buildings were finished a few years later.
In 2004 a consultant assessed the city hall needs and determined if the city spent $34 million building at the civic center by going up to four stories as well as building a new police department it would take care of municipal needs through 2025.
Not trying to appear cynical but 2025 is just six years away. Do you see city staff working at desks in the hallways? While it is true the Great Recession hit four years after the last $100,000 plus needs assessment was conducted, it is also true the world is doing things a lot differently today.
And given the unfunded pension liability hanging over every city’s head is it really wise to keep hiring permanent full-time staff? Workers provided by specialized firms the city contracts with such as have been used in the community development department as well as public works “consultants” that are retained to do engineering work for specific projects as opposed to consultants hired to do studies may be a logical course to take on other departments as well. Such an approach would reduce ongoing set expenses and future pension liability risks. It would also reduce projected space needs.
If more physical space is needed, the city has more than 22,000 square feet available once they build a new police station which is easily a 100 times more pressing need than a new city hall.
And if that is not enough space, there is a company in town that can allow Manteca to add space on the campus at 1001 West Center Street as it is needed. American Modular Systems offers dynamic modular buildings that are being constantly upgraded as new construction standards emerge.
Don’t automatically pooh-pooh modular buildings. The Neil Hafley School campus on Northgate Drive is an all-portable campus. It is in close to pristine shape thanks to aggressive maintenance. It also happens to be almost 40 years old or twice the expected lifespan of a “portable” building. Schools with roughly 30 kids per classroom get much more wear and tear than office space.
There is also the issue of upgrades. A few years back the city spent $700,000 on upgrading the council chambers. While $300,000 was for technology upgrades, the rest went to make the chamber compliant with updated Americans with Disabilities Act standards. Rest assured that so-called “stick” buildings are going to need expensive retrofitting or remodeling every 20 to 40 years.
The case can be made it is more prudent to go modular as they can be replaced by individual segments if necessary.
By adding modular buildings to the existing campus it can be done in increments and not take away from the city’s ability to afford and finance things that mean more to a community than a gleaming city hall building.
If you think this isn’t prudent what if Manteca had spent $34 million 15 years ago on a new city hall complex. Based on what we know now it would have been a colossal misuse of limited resources. It would simply have replaced existing space and provided additional capacity of which most would not have been needed.
What is needed is a new police department. You really should check it out. It is arguably the most vulnerable police department for a city just six years away from having 100,000 residents anywhere in the United States. Ripon, a city the fifth the size of Manteca, employs bulletproof glass to protect the police from attack. This is not a “what if” scenario. A gunman aggressively attacked the Ripon Police station earlier this decade. What effectively stopped him until the cavalry arrived was bullet proof glass.
The Manteca Police station is a sieve. Open corridors connect various components of the department that is protected only by a 6-foot high wrought iron fence lacking “bent arrows” on top to impede scaling and some shrubbery. The lobby for the public is not much bigger than a phone booth. Windows throughout the facility are not bulletproof except for the recently completed evidence building. It is a pretty sad state of affairs when this city assures the safety of evidence more than they do that of the men and women who serve and protect. The dispatch center and the overall police department define cramped and overcrowded. The rest of the city hall complex is spacious in comparison.
Keep city hall where it is. Build a new police station. Use the existing city hall buildings and remodel the current police station of office growth and add portables as needed.
Ask 100 people in Manteca and I bet you not a one unless they work at city hall or are the mayor will put a new city hall in the Top 5 needs for Manteca.
We need a lot of things and a grand building for city hall is far down on the list.
Let’s take care of what matters first — police and fire facilities, recreational facilities, and better streets. We need to think out of the box for everything we do as a city. We need to have a game plan, which is what the intent of the contract with LDA Partners is designed to provide.
But how we are going about it based on the overall needs and financial reality is essentially designing a McMansion vacation home and doing so when the roof on our primary residence is leaking (street needs), we have kids to raise (recreation facilities) and we have cellophane for windows doors hanging off their hinges to a 400-square-foot house (the police department).
Besides does anyone really think the public is going to go for a new city hall as the first major municipal project that either the city will have to borrow money for against the general fund or impose a special tax to finance?
