Clear the air on child care center Clear the air on child care center (November 11, 2005)

When the Voice last supported the city's plan for a new child care center, back in May, the endorsement came with some conditions. For one, we'd taken the city at its word that there is a dire need for such care in Mountain View -- in other words, that all other child care facilities are full -- despite statements to the contrary from operators of some local child care facilities.

For another, we assumed that neighbors around the proposed location -- nearly a full acre of land in Rengstorff Park, one of the city's lower income areas -- were fully informed and supportive of such a project.

Finally, and perhaps most important, we believed that the new center -- which in its current form would cost $3.5 million and provide for 104 kids -- would make a difference among the low- and medium-income residents who need it the most. Many of these parents work multiple jobs while trying to raise their children.

But today, all of these essential issues remain unresolved. Here in its 11th hour, after expending hundreds of hours of city staff time to determine if and where the center should be built; drawing up a blueprint; finding a developer to build it, and locating a contractor to run it, the child care center at Rengstorff Park still feels like it's on shaky ground.

After all this effort, it's foolish to simply scrap the project. On the other hand, city leadership owes us a full reckoning of these issues before proceeding:

* Although the project's boosters, including Mayor Matt Neely, say the city does indeed face a dearth of decent, affordable child care, those in Mountain View already providing the service tell a different story. As Mohammed Alkhattat, co-owner of Hobbledehoy Preschool on Jane Lane, put it to the Voice in June, "Give me their names, I can place all of them." How many child care slots are really available, and at what cost?

* Residents who live near Rengstorff Park say they've been largely in the dark about the city's plans, particularly since 2002, when the city scrapped plans to fold a child care center into Rengstorff Park's senior center and decided instead to build a whole new structure. It's unclear exactly why so many had not caught wind of the project until recently, but now that it's happened, those in the Rengstorff area should be brought up to speed.

* Although predictions have varied as to how much the service will cost per child, center advocates are now citing $700 per month as a standard rate. The question remains: Is this an affordable rate for most of the residents around Rengstorff Park? Also, would it not be cheaper and more effective to simply subsidize families who are in need of child care but can't afford it at the going rates?

Before turning that first shovel of dirt, the city council should put these concerns to rest. In response to the revelation that the park's neighbors were uninformed, the city had scheduled a community meeting for Wednesday night (after this paper went to press) at the senior center. We hope city leaders use opportunities like this to sell us, once and for all, on a contentious project.

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