To the Editor: The city of San Mateo wants to go to the movies so badly that it is neglecting the established procedures intended to ensure that due process is carried out every step of the way in the Downtown Cinema Project.
In the City Attorney's Press Release (dated November 6, 2000) Roy Abrams quoted himself as saying he was "pleased that the Court has dismissed all of the complaints regarding the approval of the Cinema Project". In fact, in his ruling, the Judge ordered the City "to vacate its approval of the agreement and to comply with applicable statutory authority governing closure of a public street." In other words, the Judge found that the City didn't do its job correctly, and needed address the issue of closure of Plaza Lane before going further with the Project.
The City Atttorney also stated that "going through required procedures did not make practical sense until the lane was to be actually closed." It seems that the City didn't consider that closure of a particular public street may not even be appropriate and might cause reconsideration or redesign of the project.
The Judges ruling makes me step back and ask many questions. Why did the City neglect such an obvious and important issue? How could the City Attorney misunderstand a specific statutory requirement even after it was broght to his attention? Why did it take a group of concerned individulas (and legal action) to bring up issues that should have been dealt with by the people we entrust these matters to at the City of San Mateo. Furthermore, why did these same people refuse to consider the issue before spending Taxpayers' money iin defending a costly lawsuit. I ask those at the City to ask these same questions.
The City Attorney seems to be talking more like a politician than an attorney when he states (in the Press Release) that "We will now move forward to re-enter into the agreement and close the streets." This seems to mirror the tenor of the City's position from the beginning of this process- to drive the project forward at all costs. Who do our City officials represent? Call or write to them and let them know!
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.