San Carlos council taking first steps on possible bond

“The council is not looking to do anything specific,” City Manager Jeff Maltbie said at Monday night’s approval of election consulting services. “The council is looking to listen to the community.”

The council unanimously agreed to spend $117,730 for election consulting and polling services and $30,542 for community meetings.

Councilman Matt Grocott wasn’t completely sold on the idea.

“To me, the only reason I’m willing to go down the bond measure avenue is because I want to know if the public is interested in the Black Mountain property to turn into a park. I think it’s a great piece of property and I see a lot of potential for things there. But that’s just me. I’m curious what the rest of the public might be interested in,” Grocott told the Daily Journal.

The site is 10.5 acres on Alameda de las Pulgas and the former location of Black Mountain Spring Water company.

Grocott was not enthusiastic about other possible projects like a community pool but said he’d certainly abide by public whim if there is an overwhelming majority leaning elsewhere such as creating more downtown parking.

Other city goals are coordinating shuttle services like Uber and Lyft; creating a development on El Camino Real with public parking, housing and retail; moving most government services online; buy the Black Mountain property for potential open space; building park and recreation facilities for skating or dogs; an aquatic center and more office space.

Mayor Mark Olbert compared the city’s exploration of a bond to his experience doing so on the school board, pointing out that, in the latter, voters preferred knowing specifically how the district wanted to spend the money. Jared Boigon of TBWB Strategies, which the city hired for election consulting, said school measures typically have a “bigger bucket of questions.”

What the bond might ultimately fund will be decided by community meetings in January and surveys using the phone and Internet. The move away from land lines to cellphones makes surveys more time consuming to get a large enough pool so email inquiries will also be used, said Bryan Godbe of Godbe Research, the firm hired for polling.

The council has until summer 2015 to decide whether to pursue the bond, for what and how much and finalize the ballot language.

The city last went to voters in 2009 seeking a quarter-cent sales tax for city services. Measure U failed, leading to the city outsourcing or merging several departments including its fire and police services.

Grocott said he is very cautious going forward with a bond because of how Measure U fared. Councilman Bob Grassilli said the past outcome is certainly something to consider but economic circumstances are different now.

“We were struggling. People looked at us and said cut some stuff. There was a different sentiment in the community. Now we have a better economy and people want all this nice stuff. Now we’ll find out if they want to pay for it,” he said.

Before she decides, resident Bonnie McClure said she first wants to know what other expenses might be coming down the pike such as funding a regional sewer treatment plant. If there are other costs or taxes to consider, she said her answer on a city bond would be different.

“When you’re 83, you’re very conservative about how you’re going to spend your money,” McClure said. “I’d like to see the city give us some education before we are asked some of these questions.”

michelle@smdailyjournal.com

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