Update on the ECCL (Center of Community Life)

Last night at the City/Schools Committee meeting (first Thursday of every month at 5:30 at ESS), we had a presentation and accepted the final conceptual design plan for the Center for Community Life (ECCL). After the School Board officially recommends this conceptual design (which will come at the March 13th meeting I expect), the architects will move on to the schematic design, which are the details on how the buildings will look and from which the construction documents will be drawn. The last public workshop on the conceptual plan will be this Saturday, March 3, from 2-5 at Emery Secondary School. Childcare and refreshments provided. All welcome! Demolition is planned for this summer (2012) for the Secondary School to prepare the site for the new facility.

We also heard last night from the 6 student ECCL Fellows whose job it is to engage the community and spread the word to keep the community informed. They presented information about their activities and answered questions about the program. They expressed a desire to have more students involved. There are also 4 adults who are part of the Fellows project.

Here is a link to the website that contains information on ECCL and also the presentation that the City/Schools Committee heard last night. With the bonds that have been sold by the district ($48 million) and the commitment of former redevelopment funds ($25 million), the project has $73 million available for it at this time.

We also heard from a few people who serve on the Citizens Oversight Committee (COC) which collects information on the Measure J Bonds and how they are being spent. Putting in place the tools that the COC needs and figuring out their role with 17 members has made for a challenging year. Brian Carver, who has served as the chair, gave his monthly report which included some changes to the structure of the committee. After his report, he also expressed personal frustration with the process, the amount of time and effort that this work demands, and some of the resistance or attitudes he has met from staff when procedures or assumptions are questioned. He is concerned that the School Board is not looking long term at the management and use of all 3 of their properties, spending most of their attention on the one ESS site. He thinks that the argument for K-12 co-location has not been made adequately. He is considering leaving the committee, he said. I am very sorry to hear that level of frustration from any volunteer who has dedicated so much. I urge all elected officials, staff and residents to respect people who share ideas that are different from their own, truly listen, and maintain a constructive dialogue. That is how public projects are improved and how individuals contribute.