
The 2015 State of the City Address in Irvine is all about Choi’s proposed $200 million plus massive library at the Great Park. It’s a virtual rewrite of his 2013 State of the City address and for two years, not a lot of progress on it.
Choi’s Sunday guest column in the OC Register declares “Irvine has a plan for a Library.” No it doesn’t. The story is loaded with all sorts of ways Choi intends to pay for the construction and operations of the library. From the story:
The land for this project is available for free at the Great Park, and Irvine is expected to have $450 million to $750 million available in 12 years – money not yet designated. Irvine itself already has a Library Special Tax Set-Aside Fund authorized by our county supervisors, the total amount projected at about $20 million in 7 years. The Irvine Library Foundation will also raise a third of the total cost, up to $50 million.
Further, Irvine and the O.C. Fire Authority reached an agreement to “reimburse” the city for overpaid taxes in 2013, although this agreement is being challenged at this time by the county. If the court rules in our favor, the OCFA reimbursement would range between $200 to $300 million, depending on property valuation in the next 12-15 years.
The state of California also has agreed to pay Irvine $292 million over the next 12 years as a settlement over the redevelopment funds at the Great Park.
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There is no question that costs can vary wildly. My own estimate, based on figures provided by the city engineering firm, is$25 million to $107 million depending on the size of the building that the council chooses. These are costs that city will have to bear after considering existing library capital funds and community contributions.
The city can use funds in the library special tax account and funds donated through the foundation and the city. The construction cost is manageable and requires a fraction of the total available resources.
As someone who’s been watch the Irvine Public Schools Foundation struggle to raise a few million each year to help Irvine’s underfunded schools, I am not sure how long Choi thinks the Library Foundation is going to need to raise $50 million. And for someone with a master’s degree in Library Science, Choi’s ignored the crumbling neighborhood libraries in Irvine that need renovation.
Choi writes: “Some people ask, “Why do you need a library when you can Google everything?” If you look further, public libraries are not dead. Libraries are centers for culture, community, social events and education.”
Our current City Civic Center has been functioning just fine in this capacity for quite some time. Irvine is a big enough city with a village centric approach to neighborhoods where a neighborhood library makes far more sense. There’s land to expand most of the city’s libraries if not outwardly then upwardly.
But Choi’s push for the massive library, which I’m sure he wants named after him, is not about providing residents with a center for culture, community, social events and education — its about giving him a platform to run for State Assembly should State Rep Don Wagner win a special election to the State Senate. The Mayor is only about the Mayor, not our citizens.
I don’t know why everyone is against a library if it was built in Santa Ana, the liberal OC would be happy. La has a huge public library. Why not one for Orange County. What I think they should do is get the Irvine company and the Segerstrom foundation to built it and cut the costs.