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371 <br /> <br /> Mr. Albert Renggli, 725 Main Street, commented that it took <br />him more than a year to put together a small business that would <br />be acceptable to the City, and the City has only three weeks to <br />decide about moving City Hall. <br /> <br /> Mr. Thurman Caudill, 4715 Augustine Street, said that he is <br />against the move and mentioned some comments from citizens who <br />signed the petition opposing the move. He added that the funds to <br />be used for the purchase could be spent on the downtown city <br />streets and sidewalks and for flood control. <br /> <br /> Mr. Leo Heckathorn, 4202 Stanley Blvd., stated that he was in <br />favor of leaving City Hall where it is. <br /> <br /> Mr. Tarver mentioned that a Ms. Joyce Robinson from Mission <br />Park gave him a call and said she is in favor of the move to <br />Kaiser Tech Center. <br /> <br /> Mr. Mercer explained that the consideration for the purchase <br />of Kaiser Tech Building is not a three-week decision. He first , <br />met with Mr. Burke, the Kaiser real estate representative, two and <br />a half months ago without making any commitments. He then talked <br />with the City Manager and the other Councilmembers, and the staff <br />did some research. They asked Mr. Richard Sampson, the consultant <br />who oversaw the construction of the Library, to take a look at the <br />Kaiser building. He continued that there are other options <br />available to the City, but that City employees deserve a better <br />workplace. He added that looking at the proposition from the <br />financial viewpoint means a savings of $3 Million; however, the <br />impact on the downtown area is worth more than the $3 Million in <br />cost savings. The City has spent $17 Million trying to improve <br />the downtown and has struggled to keep the Civic Center where it <br />is. He said that moving the City Hall to Sunol Blvd. does not <br />mean the City is abandoning the downtown area, but he felt that it <br />would be better to leave City Hall where it is. <br /> <br /> Mr. Brandes stated that he agreed with most of Mr. Mercer's <br />statements. However, he does not believe that moving City Hall to <br />Sunol Blvd. would have a negative effect on the downtown area. <br />The new tenants of the present City Hall buildings would continue <br />to patronize the downtown businesses. City employees deserve <br />better working conditions, and the Sunol building would provide <br />that. However, should Sunol be denied, he was not in favor of <br />purchasing the Dynatax building; he would like to see a high <br />priority put on the San Francisco property for a new City Hall, to <br />be included in the CIP budget for next year. He concluded that he <br />would support the purchase because it would be for the best <br />interest of the entire community as well as an asset for the <br />City. <br /> <br /> -14- <br /> 10-3-89 <br /> <br /> <br />