Something we should know

June 7, 2006

By JACK BALSHAW

I find it strange that our city government doesn't think it's good for us to know about important happenings around town. The May 26 edition of the Press Democrat's Petaluma section had an interesting paragraph. In an editorial about community facilities, this comment was made:

"It's not easy to replace community facilities once they are gone É The city learned this lesson as it struggled to replace the Little League fields that will be lost when the old Kenilworth school site is developed. Unfortunately, (italics added) the city didn't use its leverage during the approval process to require the developer to find new locations for the fields."

The city had leverage and didn't use it! Why not? Is it more interested in maximizing its take from the property sales and future sales tax than providing replacement facilities for youth sports? It rolled over for the developer on the swimming pool and skateboard park. What next, the fairgrounds?

Someone, and I hope it's the City Council, knows the details of the agreement between the school district and the developer for the purchase of the property. It would be nice if they (especially those running for re-election and higher office) thought enough about us to let us in on the secret.

Perhaps one of the questions to ask of all candidates for City Council is whether or not they will actively work for more open information from city departments to residents.

Since writing the above, the Argus has published an article about the police withholding crime information from its reporters. I would think the police would be cultivating the press to insure support for the public services tax proposed for November's election. I'm getting a bit paranoid about the secrecy surrounding things at the national level but now it looks like all levels of government are adopting the concept.

I find it astounding the city is paying $120,000 a year to have the city's hired legal firm process each of the newspaper's requests for information. At the highest cost, a police administrator should be knowledgeable enough to do the review. At the least, the police and the paper should work out an agreed-upon summary process for most police events.

I'm even more astounded to see the council members rallying around the police department on this. Particularly Councilmember Canevaro, who said, "I fully support giving the information that we're required to give." It sounds like that's the legal minimum they have to provide. So much for being on the public's side.

The other council members are all on the fence, seeming to be concerned with both the public's right to know and the department's apparent limited ability to handle the situation.

Perhaps this has been all brought on by the city's need to hide behind smoke and mirrors at budget and mid-year budget time to obscure the extreme costs associated with public safety retirement shortfalls.

Secrecy means never having to admit to a problem or missed opportunity because no one knows there ever was a problem or an opportunity.

Another example of minimal concern about the public's money is the proposed $125,000 study to determine what will be done with the railroad trestle behind the Great Petaluma Mill. As many dollars have already been spent to encase the railroad tracks north and south of there in cobblestones, I had presumed a decision had been made to replace the trestle for trolley level service. If this decision hasn't been made, why was the money spent preserving the tracks?

Maybe we're not that small of a town any more and some of us are just not with the program. But it seems more and more that development in the city is becoming mostly an internal discussion among city staff, the City Council and specific applicants. The public gets to see only the piecemeal approval process without any clue as to what will happen next and where it will happen.

Goodbye, small-town Petaluma.

(Jack Balshaw is a retired transportation planner and former Petaluma City Council member. His e-mail address is jbcolumn@sbcglobal.net)