I missed it.
In Meet me in the stacks I wrote about how city council plans to conduct its meetings in our main library once city hall is torn down. The inconvenience to the public and the inefficiency imposed on city staff were part of my concern.
I also warned that their representation that the library had the electronic equipment necessary to conduct and broadcast the meetings might be false.
Then in The Lying Two Step it became apparent that “The Main branch equipment is not adequate for hosting public gatherings, conferences, presentations and events” according to a request for proposals issued by the city dated December 11, 2013. It appears that the city needs to buy equipment to facilitate the meetings.
Now I see on slide 10 of this November 6, 2012 city presentation (slide title “Total Costs”) that the city plans to spend $800,000 to build council chambers in the El Paso Times building. According to the slide the chambers will be “funded separately”, whatever that means. I suspect that you and I will pay for it, and that does not make it very separate to me.
Let’s break this down into steps:
- Tear down the existing facilities
- Temporarily occupy space at the library and buy new electronic equipment
- Spend $800,000 to build new council chambers in the El Paso Times building
Don’t forget that the city is already talking about building yet another new city hall after all of this round of moving is done and they have had a chance to catch their breath.
In the mean time I will add this amount to the running total. It was at $63.9 million (out of a promised $33 million) last time I added it up.
We deserve better.
elpasospeak 