Preston Park discussions continue....

On Tuesday night, the Marina City Council will once again discuss the disposition of Preston Park. One of the issues to be discussed will be the possible sale of the Preston Park property. Considering the state of the City's overall budget and the unwillingness of this Council to address the revenue side of the ledger makes this discussion all the more important.

On June 13th, I posted on this site my thoughts and reasoning as to why the sale of this property is vital to the long term financial viability of the City of Marina. I am re-posting that article below since it is still the only clear path that makes sense for the City's future. While the beginning is a bit dated the balance holds true today.

Please come to the Council meeting on Tuesday night and let your voice be heard on this important issue.

The Marina City Council has embarked on a series of scheduled meetings regarding the 2011-12 budget and an unknown number of ad-hoc meetings on the same subject. For the past few years the City Council has not dealt with the income side of the budgetary process; rather the Council has relied on cuts and union renegotiation's. If not for a couple of then City Council members and the willingness of the public to tax itself, we would not have any additional income.

This Council has already signaled that they will continue to center their discussions on the expense side of the ledger. It is my opinion that the answer to Marina’s long term budget issues is not that difficult to solve and it does not include additional cuts.

First, let’s understand what the future looks like for Marina today from a larger prospective. The Federal deficit will continue to limit their ability to push funds to local and State governments. Second, the State of California will continue their attempts to take monies from Cities, or at the least, push expenses back to Cities and Counties. This will not change for several years so there is little or no help from outside sources for years to come.

Even with the new taxes that voters approved, (approximately $1.8 million in new funds) the city will still have a structural annual deficit and will need to draw from our reserve fund. While this is not optimal we know this will not last forever and time is not on our side as we wait for the housing market to improve. At current levels we have about 2 years before our reserves are depleted. We can only hope that the housing market improves in that time and that we start to see new homes added to our tax base to help balance our future budgets.

On the expense side, we know that we are at an absolute base level for our Police, Fire, Administration, and Recreation departments. With crime increasing on most levels, due primarily to ongoing economic issues, we cannot jeopardize our community by cutting any additional public safety services. In fact, the community told us this by approving the new taxes. Our administrative departments are substantially understaffed and cannot lose anyone else and still perform the basic functions we require.

All that said, do we have any options that are not being considered? The answer is a resounding yes!

The City of Marina is the owner and the property manager for both the Abrams and Preston Park housing communities. The City Council has repeatedly underfunded the maintenance funds for these communities to the determent of both those that live there and the long term value of the properties. This is not a desirable circumstance for either community but I want to focus on Preston Park for now.

It is my understanding that Preston Park is valued somewhere between $50 and 60 million dollars. For the purposes of this exercise let’s say that number is the conservative $50 million. It is my opinion that the City needs to sell this property with all the current restrictions in place, (i.e.; the property would stay at least 20% affordable). It should be noted that while the residential housing market is still troubled, the apartment market is very robust, so sales of this property would be very possible. So let’s assume that we can get $50 million for Preston Park; half would go to FOR A (a very willing partner in the sale) so the City of Marina would net approximately $25 million.

Now, let’s further our example with a couple of hypothetical Council actions with those funds. First, take $1 million for deferred CIP projects like fixing pot holes and back fill a couple of much needed staff positions. Next, take a second million and honor our contracts with our police and fire personnel for the cost of living increases they deserve. That would leave $23 million. Finally, add three million to our immediate reserves thus extending them for at least one to two more years. We would still have a $20 million dollar balance.

I would suggest setting this aside in an investment fund with the Monterey County Treasurer or outside professional management. At today’s current rates, investing these funds in a series of properly laddered and balanced AAA rated bonds would garner approximately 3 to 5% interest. An average rate of 4% would generate approximately $800,000 annually (5% would generate $1,000,000 annually) that would be available to our general fund. This number all but replaces the income we currently use from Preston Park funds today in our budget. If Abrams is included the numbers improve even more, but since there is a note on this property the net balances would not change drastically.

An additional benefit is that a $20 million cash reserve would significantly improve the City’s credit rating thus reducing the cost of any bond financing that might be desired in the future.

A Life Lesson

Life is full of lessons; I guess the key is to learn from them the first time around. Of course, some of us take a little longer but we still learn along the way. Hopefully, at the end of the day we have moved the ball forward and prepare for the next day a little smarter for it.

That said, I want to look back a week and learn a lesson that we should all never forget.

This is the story of a group of Marina kids that just needed a chance. They needed someone to believe in them and to give them a path and a vehicle that would allow them to shine. I am sure we all remember our early teen years as a time when rebellion and direction did not go hand in hand. Add an element of authority and off the reservation we went.

So back up a couple of years ago when an unlikely authority figure stepped up and took a few ragtag skateboarders aside and planted an idea. It took a while but slowly this group of kids began to see something happening and it was changing them all.

Soon this group of kids began to become a Team and a good one at that. They began to believe in themselves and in each other, and they began to win. First it was a competition here and there, and then it was almost all they entered. When the first year was done they found themselves State Champions.

Now this is not to say that challenges did not remain, there were many. There was the normal school, family and friends to deal with but there was also that authority figure that drove them. He would not allow them to give up and he helped them deal with their own personal challenges.

So almost two years later they found themselves on the brink of something no one could ever have envisioned. They found themselves as a Team entering QUALCOMM Stadium in San Diego, before some 30,000+ people at the opening ceremonies of the 2011 State Games of America National Junior Olympic Championships. In a matter of hours they would be competing for a National title.

When it was all said and done, this group of Marina kids outdid them all, all 20 teams. They skated like they had never skated before and they found themselves the 2011 State Games of America National Junior Olympic Skateboarding Champions!

So what of the life lesson? What do you think of when you see a bunch of skateboarding kids? What about a group of kids in general? Do you give them a chance in your mind? Would you find a way to help mentor them? Perhaps the lesson is for all of us to learn.

So here's to our 2011 State Games of America National Junior Olympic Skateboarding Champions - the City of Marina/On the Beach/Drawn Skate Team, and here's to Terry Siegrist, our Recreation and Cultural Services Director who saw what was possible and guided a group of kids to accomplish more than they could have ever dreamed.

More later

The Real Marina

I spend a lot of time talking about Marina’s politics but there is another side to Marina. I’ll call it the real Marina. It’s the Marina that we all know about but sometimes forget.

Tonight, Dorothy and I went to the Mayor’s reception for the Bronco World Series Teams. This is where all the participating teams get together for the first time, have pictures taken and have a meal together. I am going to bet that many of you don’t realize that all the Bronco World Series teams stay in Marina for the duration of the games. I bet you also did not know that there is a dedicated group of Marina residents that help make all this possible. There is no fanfare, no big write ups in the papers just the knowledge that they are helping to provide an experience that these kids may never have again. An experience they will never forget.  It does not matter if they are from Florida or Taipei, they are all welcome in Marina. This is the real Marina!

From the Bronco reception we went to sent off our City of Marina Skate Team. They left tonight for an adventure of their own, the National Skate Board Championships in San Diego. Here is a group of young men representing their City, our City, at a national competition, and as two time California State Champions they could do quite well this weekend. They will have the support of their parents and our Recreation Director (Terry Seigrist) and an entire community here at home. Many that gave money to help make this adventure possible. This is the real Marina!

So the next time we all get caught up in the day to day events and the politics of the day, let’s not forget what our City is really about. Marina has always been about its citizens, let’s never forget that part. Let’s never forget the real Marina!

More later