At a Nov. 21 City Council work session, Steve Clark, one of the co-chairs of our fair burgh’s Civic Campus Engagement Task Force, appeared and expressed concerns to the council that neither they or City staff are sufficiently assessing the recommendations of the task force.
Clark appears to be worried that these insufficiencies could imperil the project materially, and importantly, also turn-off the very folks that will need to vote a tax increase for themselves to get the Campus built.
Now, Clark has submitted his comments to the Council in writing ahead of the next City Council meeting on Monday, and we believe they are absolutely worth reading. We’ve pasted them below…
Comments from Steve Clark to City Council
Mayor and City Councilors, my name is Steve Clark. I live in Ward 1 … and appear before you as a Corvallis community member. You also know me as one of three co-chairs of the Civic Campus Community Engagement Task Force.
I appreciate your discussion today and the work of city staff over the past year or more in leading to this meeting.
Yet, I believe the staff report provided for today’s meeting insufficiently assessed the findings and recommendations provided by the Civic Campus Community Engagement Task Force.
For example, the concept of providing for a city police facility as alternative within the Civic Campus requires more civic input than was provided by the City Council charge to Civic Campus Community Engagement Task Force. We did not study this concept beyond asking one question within the on line community survey. And the Task Force found that the limited input that we did receive regarding a police facility indicated – that that while public safety services are valued by the Corvallis community- a city law enforcement center’s connection to the Civic Campus was not seen as vital.
I also continue to ask you to take note of the Task Force’s recommendation that the creation of a Civic Campus should be part of an overall strategy to provide for a safe and vital downtown. The Task Force recommended that the city and the City Council should help lead and foster creation of that strategy and investments along with other downtown partners. And that a Civic Campus should be part of the second and third phases of that downtown strategy.
I also believe that discussions of pursuing a Civic Campus should more actively involve other government jurisdictions and organizations in the city and county. The Task Force heard this interest loud and clear from Corvallis School Board members and Benton County Commissioners.
The Task Force also found that when it comes to understanding the public’s interests in costs, the City Council and city staff leaders must understand that the public’s concern about costs is very deep and goes well beyond Civic Campus project costs. Community members are deeply concerned that Corvallis is unaffordable to live in and that city services and fees are already too costly.
I fully understand that city staff seeks City Council decisions in the next few weeks to ensure that design and engineering work begin very soon so as to enable construction of a Civic Campus to start in 2027.
I understand the many reasons for this start date – including serving mounting city staff space needs and mitigating mounting construction costs.
Yet, to ensure eventual success in creating a Civic Campus, the City Council must resolve to do more than simply select a preferred concept.
Any resolution you adopt, also must resolve to:
■ Help lead and participate with other stakeholders in strategies and investments to provide for a more vital downtown. In my view, this commitment must extend beyond speaking to nurturing downtown vitality as part of city’s new Strategic Operational Plan.
■ Initiate efforts to engage the community, other governments, businesses and organizations to build understanding and achieve a “consensus of yes” for a Civic Campus. Doing so should demonstrate how a Civic Campus will help to address priority community values, goals, needs and outcomes that the Civic Campus Community Engagement Task Force heard to be important.
■ Explore more fully with police, business and community stakeholders why a new law enforcement services center is needed and why constructing this building in downtown is the best alternative.
■ And consider and address costs broadly. This goes beyond involving the community in discussions regarding the costs of a Civic Campus and its funding. The City Council must provide for real efforts to address the cost of living in Corvallis and cost of city services
Including this essential work as part of a council resolution on a preferred Civic Campus does not postpone advancing Civic Campus concepts.
This additional work can occur within the next two years as architects, designers and engineers create the plans for a Civic Campus. And financial experts discern costs and funding concepts.
I ask that the City Council make these requirements and getting to a community “consensus of yes” part of any resolution within your Civic Campus decisions these next few weeks.
In closing, I continue to complement the City Council, City Manager Mark Shepard and other city staff for thoughtfully and thoroughly seeking to assess the “what, why, where, when and who” details of a Civic Campus. The work to assess city facility conditions throughout Corvallis … and create forward-thinking priorities for improving city facilities has been excellent.
Yet, the City Council must address do more in adopting a resolution on a Civic Campus preferred alternative.
Neglecting to do so may ultimately mean that efforts to create a Civic Campus will fail. As a community, we cannot risk that this latest effort is not successful — as have many past proposals for a new city hall, new county courthouse or new county jail.
I offer my continued personal engagement to help serve community goals, values, needs and outcomes as part of Civic Campus work.
Thank you.
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