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This was supposed to come out in your water bills.  I haven't seen mine yet.  I guess JASON CAUDLE thinks the less lead time he gives you the less people who show up and ask questions.

Public Workshop

Monday, October 8, 2007

6:00 p.m. at the Veteran's Hall

125 F Street

This is still in the preliminary stage.  Two sites have been selected for the future City Hall.  One site, that Jason Caudle is backing, is the proposed shopping center at Valley Blvd & Curry Street.  For you folks that have lived in Tehachapi for a long time, we used to call this the 'Old Pear Orchard.'  This is going to be a nice shopping center, but do we really want our City Hall in a shopping center?

The other site is in Capital Hills and following you will find my reasoning on why I strongly believe this is the better deal for Tehachapi.  My first line of thinking is, let's keep the larger complexes, i.e., the Civic Center, medical complexes, the hospital, large hotels, etc. out of the Historic Downtown area and let that develop its' true potential as an art, tourist, antiques, and souvenir district.

The Capital Hills site has almost 10 acres.  Initially lots 6, 7, 11 and 12 would be developed with lots 8 and 10 used for additional parking and future growth.  To be fiscally responsible, we have to think 10 to 50 years down the road.  With the shopping center site, the City Hall is landlocked and could not be expanded enough to meet future growth needs.  Within 10 - 15 years the whole City Hall would have to be moved and rebuilt at a cost of approximately 3 times the cost today.

Tower Investments will build the facility to the City's specifications with NO capital outlay for the City.  They will lease back the facility to the City for 30 years and the City can buy-out the facility at the end of the lease for $1.00.  Tower Investments would, of course, charge interest on the lease.  Compare this to a 30 year mortgage on your home, it works much in the same fashion.

The Capital Hills project could be built much sooner.  The off-sites, i.e., the roads, electrical and sewer are already completed.  Work on the actual facility could begin within weeks not 1 or 2 years from now because the ground has not even been broken on the shopping center yet.  The way Jason Caudle drags his feet, who knows how long it will take to get the shopping center complex under way.

The Capital Hills City Hall and Civic Center will be just that, a place the community can use for civic events.  There is an Auditorium to seat 500 to 750 people (this is yet to be worked out), there is an Amphitheater to seat approximately 500 (another detail to work out).  The shopping mall site would be a City Hall and that's is all.  Not a Multi-purpose structure like the Capital Hills site. 

In my mind the citizens deserve more than another JASON'S FOLLY.

Many civic groups can use both spaces, there is ample parking room.  The shopping center location would limit parking and there is NO large auditorium planned, that I am aware of and NO amphitheater planned.

Easy access for all off the freeway, even if you don't like waiting for trains.  The main entrance to the shopping mall is off of Valley Boulevard which is already extremely congested with no relief in sight.

We can offset the cost of the Capital Hills site in a number of ways, one of which we could bring in entertainers, much like come to the Crystal Palace, the Fox Theatre and the like in Bakersfield.  We could have a local Summer Concert series in the Amphitheater.  With the wind blowing NNW the train sounds would not be as disrupting.  Nothing of the kind could even be done at the shopping center site.

Using the Capital Hills site as a multi-purpose venue would create some jobs in our area and bring in tourist dollars.  Business entities could use the facility for meetings with hotels within walking distance for their people who need or want to stay in the area.  The Tehachapi Blvd hotels and restaurants could also prosper from this as could the merchants Downtown.  The City hall could certainly have a rack of brochures showing what is available in the area.  The shopping center site offers none of these possibilities.

Because the wind typically blows from the NNW, the facility could be used as an evacuation center in case of a train collision with a hazardous spill, or other disaster.

If the City builds the Civic Center in Capital Hills, Tower Investments has committed to building a Medical Office complex and other business complexes.  When they do that the Hospital will have a better chance of being built.  Tower Investments has already committed to financially assisting building access roads from the freeway to bypass crossing the train tracts.  Quite frankly I don't understand why the TVHD board hasn't already worked out a similar deal with Tower Investments.  Perhaps JoAnn Huckins could give us some insight here?  None of this will happen if the shopping center site is chosen.  Jason Caudle doesn't know how to lead and negotiate and this project is too BIG for him to handle.  He has no vision and doesn't care what the public needs.  He is a one dimensional, small time thinker and only wants to build what he can grasp and understand.

AND, the best part yet, Oak Creek Energy has committed to giving us a wind turbine so that the Civic Center will be using Green Energy.  NO this does not mean that an 'ugly' windmill would be on the property.  The windmill can be placed miles away and still provide the energy.

I also spoke with Cathy Hart of Southern California Edison when I was in Sacramento.  SCE has architects on staff who can work with Tower's Architects on other ways to "green" the Civic Center and virtually eliminate its' pollution factor.

OK, so now you have a choice, a multi use Civic Center and City Hall with room to grow for future generations (your kids), or a one dimensional City Hall landlocked in a shopping center with no place to go and NO room to grow.

Now it's time to hear from you and I'll answer your questions, or I'll find out the answer for you.  If you support the Capital Hills site YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO SPEAK LOUD AND CLEAR TO YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS AND SHOW UP AT THE MEETINGS.  OTHERWISE YOUR COUNCIL MEMBERS WILL VOTE WITH JASON CAUDLE AND YOU WILL HAVE A SHOPPING MALL CITY HALL.

Best regards,

Stan

Shane recently questioned if the new Hall Ambulance Station was up and running.  The answer is yes!  As of the week of September 12th a new station was added on Woodford-Tehachapi Rd. 

The representative from Hall ambulance was at the Council Meeting on Monday night to follow-up on some complaints raised by Mrs. Socorro Schmidt.  Hall ambulance acknowledged one instance where they had a disconnect and stated in their letter dated September 12, 2007 that they are adjusting their policies and procedures so that the same circumstance doesn't happen again.

If you would like to here what the representative said, you can pick up a CD at City Hall and if you would like to see copies of the correspondense referred to herein please call me at 822-1907.

Also, please know that I am working on the Fire contract to enforce the agreement between the City and the County as soon as possible.

Best regards,

Stan Beckham

SACRAMENTO – Stan Beckham, Council Member represented the City of Tehachapi at the League of California Cities 109^th Annual Conference, September 5-8, at the Sacramento Convention Center in Sacramento.  “Cities Shaping California’s Future” was the theme of the four day event, at which local government leaders from California’s 478 cities gathered to exchange information and learn new ways to plan for and solve the critical issues faced by California cities.  The conference theme encapsulates the importance of local government in the political arena.

Beckham and other attendees were briefed on state legislation of note to cities and issues such as climate change, eminent domain reform, affordable housing, infrastructure, flood control, future water crises, city finance, and economic development.

The conference was held at the end of the State Legislative session and Beckham and other attendees were able to walk over to the State Capitol and lobby their representatives for nay votes on bills that would be detrimental to cities and lobby for aye votes on bills that will help the cities.  Of particular importance were ACA 8 and AB 887.  The members were urged to pass this bill THIS YEAR.  ACA 8 contains strong constitutional prohibitions AGAINST using eminent domain to take homes, small businesses and churches/houses of worship to convey to a private party.  Voters deserve a chance to vote on this reform.

Another important piece of legislation that was lobbied on was in SUPPORT OF CLEAN UP LEAGISLATION for Local Streets and Roads Funding.  While cities and counties appreciate the allocation of $950 million of Proposition 1B funding for local streets and roads in the FY 2007-08 state budget, there were a number of technical FLAWS contained in SB 88 that had to be addressed before the close of session to ensure the efficient distribution of these funds.  For instance, clean up and streamline the accountability process to avoid delays in funding and clarify the city/county split of the $950 million allocated for local streets and roads so cities receive $550 million and counties receive $400 million.  There were nine other bills under consideration that also needed lobbying for the sake of the cities.

“The conference is an opportunity for our members to celebrate our successes this year,” said Pinole Mayor and League President Maria Alegria.  “Without a doubt, our hard work and success at the local level is helping revitalize California.  But we must continue that dedication, particularly in the areas of infrastructure development, eminent domain reform and expanding affordable housing.”

 “The Annual Conference is an opportunity for city officials to come together and share solutions to the challenges we face in preserving local services,” added Alegria.  “We can learn from expert speakers, as well as pool our collective experiences and share new ideas.”

Speakers at the conference’s general sessions were John Garamendi, Lieutenant Governor of California, Mark Sanborn, President of Sanborn & Associates, an idea lab dedicated to developing leaders in business and life; surprise speaker Jerry Brown, State Attorney General and Greg Nickels, Mayor of Seattle, Washington who discussed climate change; and Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D., and internationally recognized leader if the development of creativity, innovation and human resources.

Beckham participated in some of the nearly 50 workshops covering city issues, from achieving fiscal stability, to housing innovations and employee relations.  Other topics of note at the conference include coalition building, intergovernmental relations, after-school programs, and working with the public and working with the media.

An exposition introduced attendees to vendors who offer innovative products and services to help city officials supply the services needed by city residents and businesses.  The theme of the exposition offered many ideas on green energy and recycling to save cities money.

 “The conference theme, ‘Cities Shaping California’s Future,’ stresses the impact cities have in the overall success and growth of California,” said League Executive Director Chris McKenzie.  “The conference is a wonderful time to celebrate what we have accomplished, but also help inspire and inform city leaders so they can better lead their cities in this increasingly complex world.”

On August 30^th, Congressman McCarthy met with Beckham, who is a Vietnam veteran, in Bakersfield to seek Beckham’s input and discuss the VA Medical Facility here and the ones in Southern California to better understand the facilities and how to correct some of the problems for these citizens.  Beckham will continue to work with Congressman McCarthy and local Veteran’s associations to clean up this process.

Since taking office Beckham has spent his time keeping the new city hall and civic center project moving forward, airport growth, eliminating the cost of an obviously unnecessary city fire department, taking the required courses to be a city official, attending conferences and interacting with mayors, city managers, city planners and city council members from all over California.  Beckham is noting the ideas that have worked for other cities and is bringing those ideas that are feasible for Tehachapi to the citizens of Tehachapi.  Being a Council Member is a full time job when one takes the job seriously.  As noted above the city has tremendous challenges coming and the city needs leadership from the CITY COUNCIL to meet these challenges.  You will be seeing more details in the coming months as to projects that are underway to meet some of these challenges.

Beckham is working hard for the citizens of Tehachapi to keep the governmental process moving forward and not letting it get bogged down with minutia.  This is done with leadership, making decisions and moving forward.