Schoolbrary is out of the lap of luxury
How many laptops for school kids would $185 million buy?
Work a deal with Dell at $500 per, and $65 million would cover the 130,000 students in the San Diego Unified School District, leaving enough to turn schools into Wi-Fi cafés with non-union labor and charter schools included.
If a poor-mouthing broke school district can subsidize a city project, why can’t a poor-mouthing city subsidize a school project? The return on its investment — a computer-savvy work force that’s not just employable, but earning a decent wage - would be rising demand for houses, rising house prices and rising property taxes, never mind soaring sales-tax revenue. The ultimate trickle-down to the school district would mean a higher return than $20 million sunk into a Schoobrary for maybe one percent of its students.
Odds are, moreover, that the ratio of actual library patrons to homeless people will rise only when the cognoscenti and glitterati of our fair city party under the starlit dome to benefit a charity and their income-tax bill.
Harsh? Yep. Yet if the purpose of a new main library is really adequate storage for library materials and a system for quicker dispersal to the (higher) demand at branch libraries, a downtown warehouse with customized HVAC and a state-of-the-art retrieval system would suffice.
Read The Schoolbrary Wrangle: Opinions from Scott Peters, Arthur Salm and Steve Francis
But, alas, the Schoolbrary as a necessity, not an amenity — whose luxe design would signal San Diego’s arrival as a contender among the nation’s seven larger cities in culture and couth.
If this bankrupt city were ever to roll in dough instead of debt, this splendiferous project would still stand as an extravagance built long past its prime, like a Tower Records revived while the rest of the world downloads.
It takes a real tin ear not to hear axles breaking, broken pipes gushing and middle-class families pinching pennies. So City Council President Ben Hueso persuaded six council colleagues that the city’s financial situation and the uncertain future are “not a real good reason” to oppose the $500,000 cost of having the architect who loves this design and construction experts who need the work begin the bidding process.
Hueso reportedly covets a seat in spendthrift Sacramento, which is holding $20 million of taxpayer money for this monumental mistake. He’d fit right in.
At least Mayor Jerry Sanders hedged, sort of. If the bids come in “significantly above” $185 million, he said, the project won’t make sense. How much above is significant enough to bag this project? He doesn’t say.
Half a million bucks is pretty heavy coin to flip on any project.
At least lose the dome.
Beth Barber is an SDNN political columnist. She can be reached at Beth.Barber@SDNN.com
Tags: Ben Hueso, San Diego City Council, San Diego Downtown Library, San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders, Schoolbrary, SDNN
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Comment by: But for reality ... Posted: October 28, 2009, 2:25 pm
Not a dime of the money slated for the downtown library can go to furnish laptops to school kids — not even the school district’s money! That money is bonding for school infrastructure. CCDC money can’t supply equipment for students, and the state library grant can’t either. Some of the private donors might redirect their money, but that’s up to them. Why even bring up false alternatives?
Comment by: Jake Posted: October 28, 2009, 4:58 pm
The laptops have near-zero value in 3 years, while the library has a slightly longer useful life. The important point here is that this city can’t pave its streets or fund its schools, yet it wants to sink 1/5th of a billion dollars into a grandiose library that serves an ever declining role in meeting the needs of the citizenry. Most people don’t use libraries anymore, just like the Tower Records example, and those that do certainly don’t need a $185 million monument. Crazy.
Comment by: CMR Posted: October 28, 2009, 5:04 pm
Yes. False alternative. But one that isn’t is that CCDC’s contribution COULD be used to contribute to the permanent homeless shelter….which would be appropriate because a central library built less than 4 blocks from the core of DT’s social saftey net providers will be PRECISELY this. It is the most ridiculous, idiotic waste of money. I want the ENTIRE library foundation down there 2 years after it is built and then can start providing counseling and services to the chronic homeless population taht will be camping out in the stacks and the reading rooms. Oh…and they can (it is so funny to think) yank their kids out of Bishops and Country Day and send them to the schoolbrary where they will dodge the chronic homeless on their way to school. Seriously, DID ANYONE think this through???!!????
Comment by: Jennifer Posted: October 28, 2009, 7:17 pm
Speaking of the chronic homeless (CMR, Thank You!) - how about a homeless solution? How about THAT? I live in downtown and I see so many NEW homeless compared to just 6 months ago. This is a problem for the whole county, we all pay taxes, and it should get more attention. Many of these people are victims of the economy, like folks losing their homes in Carmel Valley and other upscale areas. If we gave them a decent place to go for help, with training and resources (like they find in the library and MORE) we might be able to reverse this trend. Any conscious homeless person knows that the library & internet offer important connections to resources, so they do use the library, but we as a community need to provide so much more.
Comment by: mel Posted: October 28, 2009, 8:42 pm
Channel 10 survey showed 79% of the City used the main library “almost never.”
Comment by: Debbie T. Posted: October 28, 2009, 8:48 pm
The concept of a main library in the center of town, full of books, librarians to talk to, a theatre and a newspaper room was a great idea. So was my record player, my landline phone, Encyclopedia Britannica and oven. The kids of this city are not going leave Rancho Bernardo or Skyline to come downtown to find information or see an old movie. They need to have an accessible, safe and well-equipped library in their own neighborhood. A main library was a good idea 25 years ago. It is not a good idea in 2009. A book warehouse in a reasonably priced area of town(Otay Mesa?)- a branch library to serve the “downtown” neighborhood - and upgrades to existing branch libraries is what we need. Council President Hueso needs to commit to build the long promised branch in San Ysidro.(Yes, I understand it is different money.) And does he really expect the kids to take the trolley downtown to use the big pretty library every afternoon? Councilmember Emerald is shortsighted to applaud the creation of short-term construction jobs to build this palace and blind to the fiscal demands of ongoing operational costs, maintenance and technological expenses. Councilmember Frye has disappointed me. It seems like she wants this $500,000 study to go forward just so she can say “I told you so” when the city comes back with the developer agreement and asks for a final go-ahead. It is Mayor Sanders that has no vision on this one. This edifice is for the developers, contractors,ConVis and library “patrons” who want the Wangenheim Room available for cocktail parties. It does not benefit library “users” who do not live in the downtown area or have the means to take advantage of this luxurious -no wait “iconic” facility.
Comment by: shoana Posted: October 29, 2009, 7:49 am
PLEASE go the branch libraries after school hours and on Saturdays, and see how many children are using these places as “safe houses.” They do their homework, work on computers, read, and wait for their single parents to retrieve them! Put the money in the BRANCH libraries instead of cutting their hours. And then send a THANK YOU to those staff people.
Comment by: John de Beck Posted: November 14, 2009, 3:18 pm
Surprisingly the folks above seem to miss the way money can be spent. Laptops can be bought from State School Building funds used to equip schools. Even though they are not ok from school bonds, they are in the mix when school bonds are used for matching money to get state school building fundw. The first statement is correct. But the issue of the library is really whether the district needs to support the project at all. The support is for an unnamed and currently unplanned charter…I suspect someone will invent one to get in on the deal.