I have been following the ongoing dialog regarding the proposed City Hall project, and a couple of points come to mind. It appears that there is no major disagreement that the current facility is worn out and the existing arrangements for offices are an ongoing money pit. It is also past time to upgrade because costs will not go down. I also would ask the naysayers, how many of them voted for the second high school over and over again until it passed, full well ignoring that it was surely going to be a never-ending money pit to staff and operate with a declining enrollment/budget and no operations budget built into the costs? The exact opposite is true for the proposed new City Hall. A new City Hall should provide for a cheaper, and centrally located consolidated facility over the long haul without a huge outlay of funds for staffing and operations.
I am a long-term retired facilities manager, and am convinced that we need a new, up-to-code/efficient and safe facility for our front-line city workers to do their jobs and provide one-stop shopping access to the public. Something we can be proud of instead of what we have.
John White
Juneau