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With a goal of possibly extending McKelvey Park, the City Council met in closed session last week to discuss purchasing five half-built houses behind the park, and decided not to.
Some council members had previously said that the idea was to buy the partially constructed houses behind the park, which have been called an eyesore, to extend the park’s boundaries and help the Santa Clara Valley Water District build a larger flood detention basin there. Council members had said they wanted to have the Water District reimburse the city for it.
But city manager Kevin Duggan said “We are unable at this point to know for sure how it might impact the Water District project and what savings might be involved,” and he noted that it might even delay the flood basin project.
Also being considered for purchase was a fifth house at 935 Mountain View Ave., which is next to the other four. Duggan said he expected the properties would be sold privately sometime soon.
The city should take the money and give it to the Mountain View Whishman school district as a one time grant in he future of its most vulnerable citizens. The schools are facing a multimillion dollar shortfall and next school year will see the largest class sizes in a decade. The city needs to HELP if there is money just sitting around to buy empty lots and forclosed homes!
What? Puhleeze….. The MVWSD needs to better use what they already have. How about a little accountability on their part first?
Just a point of information: California schools are the 47th WORST FUNDED in the NATION. This was in Friday’s Chron in an article about how CA was passed over for the Obama “Race to the Top” billions in school funding.
MVWSD does an incredible amount to stretch every tiny penny that comes its way. When you are given only $8,000 or so per child/year and kids in comparable communities (Philly: $12,000, Philly suburb Lower Merion, PA: $21,000—every child takes home a mac!), then it really is prudent to ask oneself, perhaps we can’t expect much from a district that is so DRASTICALLY underfunded. Enough said.
Why not buy the houses?… In these difficult fiscal times the City has already spent around $20 million on land at Moffet and 101; about $2 million on a church on Escuela; over $10 million on a new fire station. But hey let’s cut City services and let’s blame the City employees and labor groups for the City’s “financial woes”. Granted things need to be tightened up but don’t believe the sky is falling rhetoric and certainly don’t blame out City’s employees… that’s just what the “leaders” want you to do.