What a City!

Lots of great letters in the paper today! I'll weigh in soon with my thoughts on the general plan, but I hope plenty of you will log in and leave your own comments here. (I've fixed the comments so you just have to verify a word to post, not log in as a registered user.) ...

In a perfect world ...

A great new Walnut Creek downtown library would include about 150 underground parking spaces with a design that puts an expanded building over the current parking site without encroaching on the tennis courts or rose gardens. That's the kind of design I'd be willing to pay for with a November bond measure. ...

Can you hear me now?

There's a funny Walnut Creek City Council quote I keep seeing in the Contra Costa Times. It goes something like, "You know, the folks who show up at Council meetings probably don't even represent the real feelings of the people." ... Councilman Charlie Abrams gets The Quote in Sunday's Times, where he's paraphrased as saying "(I'm) not sure those who attend public meetings truly represent a cross-section of the public." ... Well, Councilman Abrams, I don't attend many public meetings, and I can tell you, the folks out here are just as concerned as those in your halls. You see, when a city council begins to lose touch with the people it represents, those people just might not want to waste their breath bending its ear. ... It also strikes me that if the council has strong local grassroots support for its actions, it should be able to stack rooms of people in favor of those policies. Its inability to do so shows clay feet. ... It's not just "prominent old-timers" (apologies to JoAnn Hanna) that the Council has to worry about. It's people like me and my neighbors: renters and first-time homebuyers, folks who live in the condos on Oak Road and down Ygnacio Valley, who push their infants on the swings and play tennis at Civic Park. ... You might be aggravating folks who remember what the town was like 30 or 4o years ago, but you're also waking up a whole new generation who came to Walnut Creek because it's the best darn town in the East Bay, and who don't want another Dublin-Pleasanton. Middle-class, educated, progressive people. ... You see, when we hear about things like the Council booting the recycling center to make way for auto dealers; threatening the future of great downtown businesses like Mark Morris and La Fogata; converting working-class rental units into unaffordable condos; throwing the Veterans Hall in the dustbin of history in favor of speculative commercial development; ignoring the needs of dog owners; and threatening to put hundreds of superfluous parking spaces in our park, we get a little upset. ...

Round 1 goes to Save Civic!

There are plenty of happy folks around Walnut Creek this weekend, as citizen action forced the Council to shelve any thought of eminent domain for Casa Cristina (and to scale down the library project and scrap plans for new retail stores in Civic Park, according to City Manager Mike Parness' remarks in the Times.) ... We also made the top headline in the Times (Save Civic co-editor John Morse is quoted, and this site is referenced, though not by name). ... This is big folks. You all deserve a round of applause . ... I've also updated the flyer to reflect this victory. ...

Friday Flash

FLASH: CC Times to report no eminent domain for Casa Cristina. ... Sunday update: The original online version of the story Friday was a bit different than the one that appeared in print on Saturday. The original version states that no commercial space will be sited in the park. ... Maybe people wouldn't have complained about eminent domain if councilmembers hadn't stated that they were considering it. It's also interesting that the council took the time to put a $21 million bond on the ballot before its recess, but not to clear up the eminent domain issue. That had to happen at a scarcely noticed special closed session. ...

A growing effort

Things are booming for Save Civic Park. John Morse, a Parkmead district resident concerned with the land-grab development going on in Walnut Creek, joins the site this week as a co-editor to talk about issues such as the new General Plan that goes before the City Council in coming months. ... Theresa Harrington, our local C.C. Times reporter, has an article in today's Walnut Creek Journal about the City's efforts to lure more business to the office parks around town. Read it online, then post your comments below and send them by e-mail to Journal editor Aaron Crowe at acrowe@cctimes.com. ... Tell him Save Civic Park sent you! ... Also today, I spoke to a key member of the Diablo Greens about the library project, sharing concerns such as the impact on the Farmers Market. Hopefully all the town's political parties will see the worthiness of our effort here. ... Thanks for reading! ...

Market photo courtesy the Real WC.

Not in my name

While the City uses our tax dollars to slap around one of Walnut Creek's oldest families, the women of Casa Cristina have been digging into their own pockets for decades to protect their property. The home's history is documented in Bay Area publications back to 1933, and in 2001 architectural and landscaping surveys found national historical significance in details such as the backyard picnic area with walls and fireplace constructed of Australian basalt. The rock was first used as ship ballast, then to pave the cobblestone streets of San Francisco before H. Lloyd Drury put it to use behind his new home. ... It's this kind of history documented in the old guest book that Julia Maxwell and Elizabeth Heidt showed me today. You can trace the family's history through that book, from the yellowed news clippings to the children's scrawled signatures from Easter dinners. ...

See that creek? They've been good stewards

When Elizabeth Heidt was a child, she remembers the creek very green, gunked up with algae. Occasionally stinky. Ducks were the only wildlife in sight. ... Things have changed since then. Sunday I watched a blue heron take off not 50 feet from the wooden steps that lead from Casa Cristina to the creek. Herons and egrets dine in the slow-moving waters, as do raccoons that lunch on the smaller critters that hide in the mud. ... Preserving the creek didn't just happen, though. Rip-wrap and rebar line the creek on private property, while concrete fills the streams the City got its hands on. ... Some 50 years ago, Heidt's grandfather, Kendric French, rebuffed attempts by the Army Corps of Engineers to pave the creek bank. ... "He said, 'What are we going to call it? Walnut Ditch, Walnut Gutter, Walnut Sewer?' " recalls Heidt. ... When you look from Lincoln into the creek, you see a family's stewardship. Walnut Creek should be grateful. ...

Fighting City Hall

"I'm not against the library ... I'm against the destruction of my family home," says Elizabeth Heidt. ... Heidt is a seventh-
generation Californian and mother of the sixth generation to occupy Casa Cristina, the adobe-style residence on Live Oak. For what seems like the umpteenth time in the 70-odd years her family has lived here, Heidt and her mother, Julia Maxwell, are in a pitched battle with City Hall over the fate of their beautiful creekside home. ... At the dinning room table in Casa Cristina on Sunday just after the Farmers Market, Heidt and Maxwell describe their latest plight in a story peppered with the history of Walnut Creek and the state itself. For a relative newcomer like myself, it strikes odd that the Council would play such hardball with a family that helped pioneer California and that has already given up its orchard for the current library. ... Maxwell, a teacher, nurse and now antique dealer, though, is having none of it. She's stubborn, and younger than her mother Betty French, who into her 90s beat back City efforts to force her out. "They don't want to deal with you when you're in your 90s," Heidt says to her mother. "They don't want to deal with me now and I'm only 66," Maxwell says with a grin. "I'm going to stop them." And if stubborn fails, she's ready to play to pity. "I'm a senior citizen living in my own home with the support of my family ..." ... And though the family might not always see eye-to-eye on how to deal with the City, they've agreed on one thing. Casa Cristina lives on, even if the City forces them to load it up on a truck. ...

Misuse of eminent domain

The C.C. Times ran an interesting editorial today that should help pressure the Council on the wisdom of planting a parking garage and new retail stores in Civic Park. ... Times editors, while coming out strong for support of a new library, counseled City leaders to do away with the issue of eminent domain for the beautiful Casa Cristina. "The city either should alter its plans and use the park space or offer the landowner a substantial buyout package," the Times editors' opined. ... No, that's not really the good part. The light in this editorial comes in form of a critique of the design that puts a monster garage and retail stores in the park. ... From where we sit, if the Council wants to bring the growing ranks of bond detractors on board, it needs to do a lot more than slide the library further into our open space. For a start, it needs to stop fooling around with the Maxwell/Heidt family on what it really intends for Casa Cristina, and it needs to go back to the drawing board for a design that's more park, less parking. ...

How to Help, Part Duex

Things are heating up in the campaign to stop the Council's poorly conceived library bond, and folks from other causes are getting on board as well. One supporter followed me home yesterday to talk about problems with the new General Plan, and we're reaching out to Walnut Creek Dog as well. ... I ask, why is it that the City can rent out one of out best playing fields (in Civic Park) for staging a pipeline project for years, but won't provide adequate facilities for residents with dogs and horses? ... Besides spreading the word about SaveCivicPark.com (passing out flyers at meetings, putting them on your car, or - as in the case of Elizabeth Heidt - blowing them up as yard signs), one way to set the council straight is to show up at 7 p.m. each Tuesday for public comment at the beginning of their meetings. Tell them, "For love of Walnut Creek ... SAVE CIVIC PARK!" Thanks! ...

Roses for Regalia

Rather than take heed of growing voter sentiment against the Council's plans to break the civic bank for a giant garage, retail stores and big-box library in Civic Park, Councilwoman Gwen Regalia in today's W.C. Journal dismissed the 92 residents who took the time to rank the City's key issues. ... "It indicates that there was not a great deal of interest ... I wouldn't call this the most accurate poll," Regalia told the Journal's Theresa Harrington. ... Perhaps our elected representatives could take time to read the letters, like the one from Sharon Doherty. Sharon likes the idea of a new library, but she wants to keep the tennis courts, the trees and the roses. Won't somebody listen to Sharon? ...

The people are with us!

I couldn't help but grin as I read this morning's Walnut Creek Journal. A few days ago I asked CC Times editor Chris Lopez if he thought the paper's coverage was tapping true voter sentiment. I posed perhaps not, since most of the coverage focuses on official actions, while the people are "too busy fighting with traffic, housing costs and everyday hassles to make a fuss." What a vindication to find that W.C. readers told the Journal in a survey published today that traffic and trasportation were their top issues, with affordable housing not far behind. ... Also near the top were preservation, a dog park, and Walnut Creek Heritage. "New library" was second to last on the list of residents' concerns, beating out only "political changes in city." Wanna bet that last one gains steam if the Council holds course? ...

Photos

Hey! That's why I love blogger. It's easy as pie to add photos. Send in your favorite Civic Park images and I'll add my own over the weekend. ... Meanwhile, enjoy this shot of the gazebo from the City Web site. ...

Save the trees

What will incorporation of the Maxwell property into the library design mean for Civic Park? The loss of historic trees, for one thing. Hopefully this weekend I'll get photos up and we can look at some of the leafy giants slated for the axe. ... (And earlier than expected, pictures of our shady friends.)

How to help

Ready to get involved? Download the nifty "Save Civic Park" flyer (click here - updated to reflect win on eminent domain) and pass it around your neighborhood or keep stacks at the counter of your downtown business. Or print out a copy of our car sign (click here) and display it proudly in your car windows (or even on cardboard in your front yard). All the kids are doing it! ...

Comments welcome!

Wow! Lots of folks are visiting the site as word starts to get out about the dark side of Walnut Creek's library plans. Please feel free to click the comment link and add your thoughts. ...

Traffic dumping zone

It's an open secret that 310 spaces in the parking garage is far more than needed to serve even an expanded library. The parking is overflow for the surrounding downtown. Sadly, that's how much the City cares about open space. And remember, two retail spaces are slated for the garage area. A Starbucks and a Borders? ... (OK, maybe I'm going overboard with the Borders suggestion. Use the comments to suggest what intrusive business might be waiting to set up shop in the park.) ...

Tennis, anyone?

As far as I can tell, the Civic Park tennis courts are slated for closure in the GARAGE/library plan. That means the winter ice rink is just the start of troubles for hardcourt lovers. Please add to the comments if you know more. ...

Flyers!

My son and I made it to tonight's Environmental Impact Report scoping meeting long enough to hand out a few flyers and pick up an agenda. There were a little more than 20 people there, and the Maxwell family reports strong support for saving their home, Casa Cristina. ... It was interesting to find out that the taking of the historic Maxwell home is the sole reason for the planned EIR. Putting a five-story garage next to a creek doesn't trigger the law. ... After leaving the meeting based on a one-year-old's attention span, we went over to the park to use the swings and talk to people about the garage and retail proposals. Sure enough, people know about the retail, but they don't have much idea about the rest of the project. ... One big problem with the upcoming bond election: the EIR won't be released until December - full month after voters go to the polls to decide on funding for the project. The public hearing on the EIR is scheduled for early 2006, and the final version won't be reading until next spring. ...

Casa Cristina

Coming soon, an interview with Elizabeth Heidt, whose children are the sixth generation to occupy Casa Cristina, the Spanish-style home on the creek bought by H. Lloyd Drury, who moved to the county home to raise dogs. Now la casa is on the chopping block as the Council reaches for the biggest library garage (oh, yeah, with books too) in Contra Costa County. ... Keep reading, and make yourself heard Monday, 7 p.m., at the Council chambers, where the City takes input on its plans to take Casa Cristina using eminent domain. ...

Talking cents about a wasteful bond

Kris Hunt of the Contra Costa Taxpayers Association gets in a dig on the W.C. City Council's request for a $21 general obligation bond to pay for a 310-spot parking garage in Civic Park (oh, yeah, and a library). "There's a concern when you don't have a cost," Hunt told the CC Times. I hope that's not all she had to say. ... There seems to be plenty of contention about all this bond baggage the Council's foisting on the electorate, but most of the coverage has focused on the overwhelming support from the City's electeds. (That family that stands to lose its home? Last graf in the stories.) ... What nobody is saying is the god-honest truth that young families and first-time homebuyers are going to float most of the costs of this thing goes through in November. ... When news accounts pin the average assessed value of a home in Walnut Creek at $300,000 - about $33 a year in bond costs under the GARAGE/library plan - that's less than half the story. See, assessed values are linked to home sales. So when you go to buy your house in this market and have to sink $900,000 for a three-bedroom home where your kids can go safely go to public schools - you'll be paying $100 bucks for the library bond. And you'll be paying it so shoppers from San Francisco and Stockton can park in your downtown. ...

Old tricks for a new library

Well, I hate to drag out an old word like "boondoggle" to describe the Walnut Creek City Council's plans for a giant new parking garage in Civic Park (oh, yeah, they'll be tacking on a library too). "Boondoggle," though, suits the tale. ... The Contra Costa Times tells the story well (sorry, they want registration for a peek at their online stories). City voters, thanks to the Council's wisdom, will be asked in November to pay a staggering $21 million - a heck of a lot more if you talk about debt - in general obligation bonds over the next 30 years. The payoff? A bigger library that serves as a trojan horse for putting Olympia Place-style retail stores in the park at the corner of Lincoln and Broadway. And that's not all the big wooden mule will be carrying inside: plans also call for a FIVE-STORY parking garage. A couple floors of the garage might go underground if voters OK every last cent the City wants over next several years. Talk about holding a gun to our heads. ... How about no parking garage, half the cost, and stepped up public transit to reach a new and improved library? Or a garage over retail in the commercial district at Lincoln and Main? ... How about getting off this one-way track while Civic Park's still whole. ...