Metropolitan Apartments and Gateway Commons

Editor

There is a lot of blame to go around in the The Metropolitan Apartments (Prometheus project) — San Mateo city inspectors, the contractors and the union members employed who were not very skillful in their work are all at least partly to blame ("San Mateo’s Metropolitan sues builder for $20M,” in the Jan 6 edition of the Daily Journal).

It’s reminiscent of the subsidized Gateway Commons low-cost housing project that has asked for another bailout by the city who "donated the two-acre plot of land to a developer in 1988 to build a first-time homeowner complex, and aims for mostly moderate-income people by capping selling prices. It has since loaned various residents a total of $7 million, about one-fourth of the project’s value, to help with down payments.” San Mateo may now loan another $1.7 million, all for inadequate home owner association fees to maintain the property that was ill conceived in 1988. The co-op received $2.4 million from the developer in 1993 to fix problems. Around $7 million in subsidies went to the owners, all because they could not afford ownership.

How do you improve quality control over all entities from underfunded owners who may be prone to cut corners, the construction industry who is susceptible to cost cutting, and failure of government planning approval and oversight? Simple: site inspections. It seems that our contractors and their union and nonunion employees have failed to maintain standards. It reminds me of the pejorative phrase, "It’s good enough for government work.”

Lastly, where do the renters’ and owners’ responsibility fall in maintaining the property? Maybe they are more responsible for misusing the property than the craftsmen.

Jack Kirkpatrick

Redwood City