Letters to City Council
Preserve Our Downtown Library
January 26, 2019
Dear Councilmembers,
I was very happy to vote for Measure S because I love public libraries. I go to the Downtown Library and check out items regularly and often from the wonderful people who staff the desk.
I never would have voted for Measure S if I had known the funds were to be used to cast aside this building and destroy more trees, land, and sky with a parking garage. How can we ever again trust the words of City ballot measures and promotional mailers? This library issue strongly influenced my recent votes for Council candidates, so now my hopes are somewhat renewed.
Everyone should go to Watsonville and experience the vast concrete coldness of the multilevel structure encasing their library. A Watsonville Library employee came to one of our past council meetings and testified that exhaust fumes seep through the garage into the library.
The Downtown Library has very easy, convenient access on foot or wheels. Parking is always available in front of/around it and feels safer than being inside a parking structure, especially after sundown. It is a comfortable, familiar, and pleasant place to visit (occasional drifting cigarette smoke notwithstanding, but that is a different problem).
Just please undertake what we thought what was going to be done when we voted for Measure S. Please restore the present building and also our trust. Thank you.
For people and the planet,
Katharine Herndon
Dear Councilmembers,
I was very happy to vote for Measure S because I love public libraries. I go to the Downtown Library and check out items regularly and often from the wonderful people who staff the desk.
I never would have voted for Measure S if I had known the funds were to be used to cast aside this building and destroy more trees, land, and sky with a parking garage. How can we ever again trust the words of City ballot measures and promotional mailers? This library issue strongly influenced my recent votes for Council candidates, so now my hopes are somewhat renewed.
Everyone should go to Watsonville and experience the vast concrete coldness of the multilevel structure encasing their library. A Watsonville Library employee came to one of our past council meetings and testified that exhaust fumes seep through the garage into the library.
The Downtown Library has very easy, convenient access on foot or wheels. Parking is always available in front of/around it and feels safer than being inside a parking structure, especially after sundown. It is a comfortable, familiar, and pleasant place to visit (occasional drifting cigarette smoke notwithstanding, but that is a different problem).
Just please undertake what we thought what was going to be done when we voted for Measure S. Please restore the present building and also our trust. Thank you.
For people and the planet,
Katharine Herndon
Downtown Library Remodel
January 25, 2019
Dear City Council Members,
I have just finished re-reading all the newspaper articles concerning Measure S funds. Either the ballot measure was unclear or the library/garage option was kept secret until election results were in and the funds were secure. I am unable to find any evidence of the latter option presented to voters until long after the bond measure election. "Modernize, upgrade and repair" are the bedrock of the Measure S campaign literature regarding the downtown library.
I was a founding member of the Friends of the Library when our "new" library opened 53 years ago, having spent my earlier years in awe of our beautiful stone Carnegie library. It is inconceivable to me that this building cannot be brought up to "21st century standards" for $23 million. The demolition alone would consume a good portion of that amount, given today's abatement and safe disposal regulations. Furthermore, the notion that Santa Cruz is the "green capitol" of this country, banning plastic bags, straws, and now little shampoo containers, it is difficult to justify simply discarding a perfectly usable 53 year-old building.
When I often visit the downtown library I never have the sense that it is "overcrowded." In fact, the empty book shelves speak volumes to the need for updating space allocation for digital options. This building is a public treasure with all kinds of potential, and it's location at the heart of our civic center is in keeping with our civic pride.
Please make space in your busy schedule to read the letters and articles published in the past few years concerning our downtown library. Don't allow another Cooper House demolition. Santa Cruz has a history to be respected.
Thank you for your service,
Mary McGranahan
Dear City Council Members,
I have just finished re-reading all the newspaper articles concerning Measure S funds. Either the ballot measure was unclear or the library/garage option was kept secret until election results were in and the funds were secure. I am unable to find any evidence of the latter option presented to voters until long after the bond measure election. "Modernize, upgrade and repair" are the bedrock of the Measure S campaign literature regarding the downtown library.
I was a founding member of the Friends of the Library when our "new" library opened 53 years ago, having spent my earlier years in awe of our beautiful stone Carnegie library. It is inconceivable to me that this building cannot be brought up to "21st century standards" for $23 million. The demolition alone would consume a good portion of that amount, given today's abatement and safe disposal regulations. Furthermore, the notion that Santa Cruz is the "green capitol" of this country, banning plastic bags, straws, and now little shampoo containers, it is difficult to justify simply discarding a perfectly usable 53 year-old building.
When I often visit the downtown library I never have the sense that it is "overcrowded." In fact, the empty book shelves speak volumes to the need for updating space allocation for digital options. This building is a public treasure with all kinds of potential, and it's location at the heart of our civic center is in keeping with our civic pride.
Please make space in your busy schedule to read the letters and articles published in the past few years concerning our downtown library. Don't allow another Cooper House demolition. Santa Cruz has a history to be respected.
Thank you for your service,
Mary McGranahan
Renovate the SC downtown library!
January 25, 2019
Dear Council members,
I write in support of the “Don’t Bury the Library” group’s proposal to proceed with renovation of the downtown Santa Cruz library, instead of building a new library under a parking garage on the site of the present downtown farmers’ market. The Council may want to tweak the details of its approach, but the overall thrust of the proposal strikes me as eminently sound.
I will not repeat the many reasons, save one: when the campaign for passage of Measure S was on, not once that I can see was the construction of a new downtown library proposed. Rather, the language used consistently concerned “remodeling” and “renovation” of the existing library.
The Council needs to keep faith with the voters who supported Measure S. Please move ahead with what we supported in the first place!
Thank you for your consideration,
John Hall
Dear Council members,
I write in support of the “Don’t Bury the Library” group’s proposal to proceed with renovation of the downtown Santa Cruz library, instead of building a new library under a parking garage on the site of the present downtown farmers’ market. The Council may want to tweak the details of its approach, but the overall thrust of the proposal strikes me as eminently sound.
I will not repeat the many reasons, save one: when the campaign for passage of Measure S was on, not once that I can see was the construction of a new downtown library proposed. Rather, the language used consistently concerned “remodeling” and “renovation” of the existing library.
The Council needs to keep faith with the voters who supported Measure S. Please move ahead with what we supported in the first place!
Thank you for your consideration,
John Hall
Library - Measure S funds
January 16, 2019
Dear City Council members,
We support using the Measure S funds for renovating and repairing the current library facility.
We attended a city council meeting last year on this issue. We also attended a smaller meeting at the library where the new head librarian shared her views and listened to our concerns.
Although she desired a new facility be built, the #1 thing we learned from her was that there are many places in the current facility that are not used, or are under-used. We also noticed that there were very few people in the library itself, both downstairs or upstairs where our meeting was held.
If the current facility is not literally overflowing with "customers" AND there is space in the current facility that is unused, then there is absolutely no legitimate reason to use the Measure S funds as merely a down-payment on any other larger facility.
Our town is already short of funds, and taxpayer money should be used wisely where originally designated, especially during a time of overall budget constrictions.
Thank you for listening.
Linda & John Brown
Dear City Council members,
We support using the Measure S funds for renovating and repairing the current library facility.
We attended a city council meeting last year on this issue. We also attended a smaller meeting at the library where the new head librarian shared her views and listened to our concerns.
Although she desired a new facility be built, the #1 thing we learned from her was that there are many places in the current facility that are not used, or are under-used. We also noticed that there were very few people in the library itself, both downstairs or upstairs where our meeting was held.
If the current facility is not literally overflowing with "customers" AND there is space in the current facility that is unused, then there is absolutely no legitimate reason to use the Measure S funds as merely a down-payment on any other larger facility.
Our town is already short of funds, and taxpayer money should be used wisely where originally designated, especially during a time of overall budget constrictions.
Thank you for listening.
Linda & John Brown
Revitalizing the Library
January 22, 2019
Dear City Council Members,
I am writing to urge you to support a plan to revitalize and update the downtown library at its current location.
Measure S funds voted on and approved only for this purpose. To do otherwise is an insult to the community and in my opinion, makes a travesty of our election system. Revitalizing the library at it's current location was never adequately explored, and the opinions of the community were ignored. I never felt that our voices were heard at all throughout this process.
It would also be a tragedy to displace the Farmers Market from its current perfect location, which would include killing many heritage trees. What is the purpose of a Heritage Tree Ordinance, if time and again, these beautiful trees are given no consideration and are killed? Are these ordinances just for "show"? It's really heartbreaking for me.
Please support the wishes of the community to Revitalize the library at it's Current location. We have more than enough money to create a beautiful library that will meet all of the community's needs. I ask you to open a new discussion, with new independent research - to include direct input from the community and the Don't Bury the Library Committee.
Thank you,
Satya Orion
Dear City Council Members,
I am writing to urge you to support a plan to revitalize and update the downtown library at its current location.
Measure S funds voted on and approved only for this purpose. To do otherwise is an insult to the community and in my opinion, makes a travesty of our election system. Revitalizing the library at it's current location was never adequately explored, and the opinions of the community were ignored. I never felt that our voices were heard at all throughout this process.
It would also be a tragedy to displace the Farmers Market from its current perfect location, which would include killing many heritage trees. What is the purpose of a Heritage Tree Ordinance, if time and again, these beautiful trees are given no consideration and are killed? Are these ordinances just for "show"? It's really heartbreaking for me.
Please support the wishes of the community to Revitalize the library at it's Current location. We have more than enough money to create a beautiful library that will meet all of the community's needs. I ask you to open a new discussion, with new independent research - to include direct input from the community and the Don't Bury the Library Committee.
Thank you,
Satya Orion
Please remodel and revitalize our library!
January 15, 2019
Dear City Council Members,
Mayor David Terrazas wrote in his own Sentinel OpEd: "We should show our respect for the past by....doing a better job of taking care of what we have. We don't just start over from scratch...throwing away everything from our past. Instead, we renew. We revitalize. We transform." 12/20/17 Santa Cruz Sentinel
I agree with our former Mayor - his words reflect exactly why I am urging you all to do a thorough study on revitalizing/remodeling our treasured and well-used library in its current location. When we, your community members, voted for Measure S, the measure stated the monies collected would be targeted strictly for library refurbishment: what we the voters assumed to mean “save our library.”
Admittedly, it is currently in shabby shape, due to what I call demolition by neglect, but it is eminently salvageable with this Measure S money. I can't believe the library refurbishment would cost more than $23 million plus dollars (figure given by staff during a DLAC meeting). The budget (Sentinel article of 2015) for the new Hilton hotel on Broadway was only $25 million - let's add another $5 million for unforeseen costs - this hotel is many times greater than our library and it was built from scratch with an underground garage! Our comparatively small building could not cost as much to be refurbished.
Also, we live in a live earthquake area. It's inevitable that we will experience a major earthquake eventually. According to the structural engineers at the second DLAC meeting, our current library is earthquake stable - it suffered little or no structural damage in the '89 earthquake. It has stood the test of time thus far and in an emergency it could even be used as a shelter for aftershocks.
I understand that one of the main reasons the City wants to move the library is because our City Manager wants the premises for more office space for all the many new staff he keeps hiring despite having declared a fiscal emergency in 2018. Any monies the City has for refurbishing the library for City uses should be better spent on community based projects.
At every DLAC meeting in 2018, the overwhelming opinions of the community members in the audience were for saving and remodeling the library where it is. Please honor the original intent of Measure S and use this designated money for what the people voted for: To save our library where it now stands.
Susan Martinez
Santa Cruz, CA
Dear City Council Members,
Mayor David Terrazas wrote in his own Sentinel OpEd: "We should show our respect for the past by....doing a better job of taking care of what we have. We don't just start over from scratch...throwing away everything from our past. Instead, we renew. We revitalize. We transform." 12/20/17 Santa Cruz Sentinel
I agree with our former Mayor - his words reflect exactly why I am urging you all to do a thorough study on revitalizing/remodeling our treasured and well-used library in its current location. When we, your community members, voted for Measure S, the measure stated the monies collected would be targeted strictly for library refurbishment: what we the voters assumed to mean “save our library.”
Admittedly, it is currently in shabby shape, due to what I call demolition by neglect, but it is eminently salvageable with this Measure S money. I can't believe the library refurbishment would cost more than $23 million plus dollars (figure given by staff during a DLAC meeting). The budget (Sentinel article of 2015) for the new Hilton hotel on Broadway was only $25 million - let's add another $5 million for unforeseen costs - this hotel is many times greater than our library and it was built from scratch with an underground garage! Our comparatively small building could not cost as much to be refurbished.
Also, we live in a live earthquake area. It's inevitable that we will experience a major earthquake eventually. According to the structural engineers at the second DLAC meeting, our current library is earthquake stable - it suffered little or no structural damage in the '89 earthquake. It has stood the test of time thus far and in an emergency it could even be used as a shelter for aftershocks.
I understand that one of the main reasons the City wants to move the library is because our City Manager wants the premises for more office space for all the many new staff he keeps hiring despite having declared a fiscal emergency in 2018. Any monies the City has for refurbishing the library for City uses should be better spent on community based projects.
At every DLAC meeting in 2018, the overwhelming opinions of the community members in the audience were for saving and remodeling the library where it is. Please honor the original intent of Measure S and use this designated money for what the people voted for: To save our library where it now stands.
Susan Martinez
Santa Cruz, CA
I would like to thank you for your expressed support for the restoration and revitalization of the Santa Cruz downtown library.
January 15, 2019
I was one of the many county voters who supported our tax money to be directed to the improvement of our libraries in Measure S years ago. I am a regular library patron and always enjoy my visits, with the trees as well as the people hanging out (just don't like walking through cigarette smoke!). I always find parking when needed.
I bet our tax dollars can go a long way toward many improvements and upgrades, (specifically bathrooms, elevator, meeting rooms and whatever the library staff along with library design experts determine best).
Thank you for taking the time to reflect on what the community desires in our civic center downtown.
Jaime Garfield
I was one of the many county voters who supported our tax money to be directed to the improvement of our libraries in Measure S years ago. I am a regular library patron and always enjoy my visits, with the trees as well as the people hanging out (just don't like walking through cigarette smoke!). I always find parking when needed.
I bet our tax dollars can go a long way toward many improvements and upgrades, (specifically bathrooms, elevator, meeting rooms and whatever the library staff along with library design experts determine best).
Thank you for taking the time to reflect on what the community desires in our civic center downtown.
Jaime Garfield