The San Diego Union-Tribune article was calling out the opulence of the Vista Civic Center, completed in 2010 for more than $50 million and at a square foot cost of $530, in today's dollars. The article declared this building the second most expensive in the County of eighteen structures built since 1958.
Maybe its because we watch as our federal government spends millions . . . billions . . . trillions daily that it seems our politicians have lost touch with reality. As a taxpayer, I am very cognizant of what I spent in my household and work hard to remain within my budget. But I think that when you are given a free piggy bank, as in "other people's money", our politicians may not be a frugral as they might be with their own funds.
Your mind can't help but wander to the question, "I wonder what the MOST expensive building in the whole entire County over the last eighteen years was?"
Well, let me help you with that question. That would be Chula Vista City Hall built in 2009 at a cost of $54.5 million. The square footage was 122,916 at a cost of $444 a square foot! When you look at the median price of a home in Chula Vista, this seems a little pricey . . . more like a castle than a town hall. The Chula Vista leaders may have done their taxpaying residents wrong.
So how does our Coronado City Hall compare to all this? Well, Coronado built a much smaller facility at only 56,000 square feet for a cost in today's dollars of nearly $36 million. But here's the clincher . . . Coronado outspent every city hall built in San Diego County since 1958 in the cost they spent tricking out the building. Coronado spent $643 per square foot, $113 more per square foot that the ostentatious Vista being watchdogged in this article.
Here's the comparison chart:
But we like to give credit where credit is due. So just in case you were wondering who our "fiscally conservative" leaders were in 2004 that approved that expenditure, the following list has been provided for your pleasure:
• Mayor Tom Smisek
• Councilmember Casey Tanaka
• Councilmember Phil Monroe
• Councilmember Patty Schmidt
• Councilmember Frank Tierney
Councilmember Carrie Downey replaced Patty Schmidt on December 7th, 2004 and the City Manager at the time was Mark Oschenduszko.
If you'd like to see the full story, you'll want to read "City halls are getting fancier" written by Aaron Burgin. Be sure to read the comments.
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