Menlo Park: Council puts brakes on library rebuild

After a scramble over the last month to look into how the city should move forward with a multi-million-dollar offer by developer and philanthropist John Arrillaga to help rebuild the Menlo Park main library, the City Council agreed Tuesday to take a breather before making any more big decisions on the library proposal.

The council agreed to put members Rich Cline and Kirsten Keith on a subcommittee to meet with Mr. Arrillaga and discuss more fully the details of his offer. Council members also reached a consensus that if the matter is brought to voters in the form of whether a debt obligation bond should be accepted, funds to support both a new main library and a Belle Haven library should be requested.

At its previous meeting on July 18, the council voted 4-0, with Councilman Ray Mueller absent, to endorse the acceptance of a surprise offer by Mr. Arrillaga to help rebuild the main library – a gift of potentially tens of millions of dollars – on the condition that it be done as quickly as possible. The new library is expected to be 48,000 square feet, have underground parking and cost about $55 million, according to the latest staff report.

The funding question

According to Nick Pegueros, the city’s chief financial officer, there’s now an understanding that Menlo Park would not only be responsible for fronting the first $20 million of the offer, but also the project’s soft costs, including planning fees, professional services fees and utility improvements – estimated at $10 million. (Mr. Arrillaga would pay for all other project costs, according to the city.)

Finding that much money on an “expedited” time frame – as quickly as possible – means the city would likely have to draw from its reserves or go into debt with a bond issue, he said.

Councilman Rich Cline pointed out that that last time the city worked with Mr. Arrillaga, on the civic center’s recreation, gymnastics and gymnasium buildings, the city had already passed in 2001 Measure T a $38 million bond measure to renovate and expand the city’s parks and recreation facilities.

“Will he give us time to build ourselves so we can actually do this the right way?” Mr. Cline asked City Manager Alex McIntyre, wondering whether the city will have time to develop a plan for a new library system.

Mr. McIntyre, who has discussed the offer with Mr. Arrillaga, responded, “I’m not convinced he would.” Then he paused and added, “But I don’t want to put words in his mouth because that’s unfair for me to say.”

Councilman Ray Mueller told the council he didn’t think the city should accept such a high amount of debt obligation without taking the matter to voters first.

“I firmly believe we need to ask the taxpayer to approve a debt obligation of this size before we implicitly commit the taxpayer to pay for it,” he said. “I also am concerned if this council takes on this debt obligation for this one project, without asking the taxpayer first, it won’t just delay or reprioritize other projects, it will make them fiscally infeasible because the taxpayer will not be willing to approve further expenditures.”

If the matter is brought to voters, council members agreed unanimously, the bond measure should include funding to rebuild both the main and Belle Haven libraries.

” Absolutely, it should be done together,” said Councilwoman Catherine Carlton.

Councilman Peter Ohtaki pointed to current low interest rates. “If there’s any time to raise debt financing, this is the time to do it,” he said.

It would be possible to put such a bond measure before voters as soon as next March or June, according to City Attorney Bill McClure.

Staff presented preliminary timelines for both libraries, with completion of the main library in early 2021 and the Belle Haven library in early 2024. That assumes that funding is available for the Belle Haven library, though, said Chip Taylor, assistant city manager.

Community response

In addition to a slew of emails the council received, mostly in opposition to the council moving forward with Mr. Arrillaga’s offer, 13 people also presented comments publicly at the meeting.

The argument that the city has more pressing priorities was a common one. Jennifer Wolosin, who heads the Parents for Safe Routes group and advocates for transportation improvements to help kids get to school safely, compared the offer to the allure of a half-price facelift at a time when one’s hip is out and kidney needs replacing through a transplant.

“It’s a silly analogy,” she said, “But it’s your job as council members … to separate those wants and needs.”

Affordable housing advocates Angela Evans of the Housing Leadership Council and Meg McGraw-Scherer, a member of the city’s Housing Commission, suggested consideration be given to adding affordable housing above the library, citing its location near transit and the fact that it would be on city-owned land.

Karen Grove, a recent addition to the Housing Commission, told the council, “I think housing is a bigger priority than the library being better than it is.”

Katie Behroozi, a member of the city’s Complete Streets Commission, reminded the council that just in March, its members had balked at the thought of spending $30-plus million to improve the library. Now, it’s planning to spend $30 million and expedite a project that “doesn’t resemble what the community needs,” she said.

She described philanthropy as a force that, at its best, offers “patient capital” to fund projects that the government can’t; and at other times, produces the “odd encouragement of a plutocratic voice in a democratic society,” using the words of Rob Reich, a Stanford ethicist. Mr. Arrillaga’s offer, she said, does not appear to be offering “patient capital.”

Members of the Menlo Park Library Foundation, on the other hand, spoke about the need for improved library facilities. Monica Corman, the foundation’s president, said that the library can’t be remodeled without major changes to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, and that a remodel would still be expensive and could need to be redone in 10 to 15 years. She also noted how hard it would be to raise funds for a new library if Mr. Arrillaga’s offer were to be declined. People will wonder why they’re being asked for their money if such a gift were to be turned down, she said.

The council is expected to discuss the matter further at its next meetings on Aug. 29 and Sept. 12.

Other business

The council was also scheduled to discuss on Aug. 22 annexing Stanford property and approving a new office building at 2131 Sand Hill Road, but the matter was postponed because some documents were not included in the council’s agenda packet for the meeting. Such documents must be made public for 72 hours prior to council action on such items, according to state law. It has been postponed until the council’s next meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 29.