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Councilwoman Wendy Scatterday has plenty of reasons to wonder about due diligence regarding a proposed new public safety building in Wheeling. Her fellow council members should tell Mayor Glenn Elliott to slow what appears to be a rush to judgment on the project.
Last fall, voters rejected a proposal that would have increased property taxes to pay for a new safety building projected to cost more than $20 million. State law requires that 60% of voters approve such taxes; only 54% said yes in November.
It is likely fewer voters would have favored the plan, had they understood officials' lack of consideration over the cost to taxpayers.
At the time, Councilman Dave Palmer expressed concern about the price. After voters turned the plan down, other city officials had no choice but to listen to his suggestion that more options for the public safety building be considered.
Lo and behold, by last week a new proposal -- with about $5.5 million slashed from the price tag -- was outlined. City officials must believe the plan is adequate, or they would not have presented it.
On some taxpayers' minds last year may have been another harebrained idea, to build an $11 million parking garage downtown. It was to have been built on land leased -- not purchased -- from two lawyers. Among other considerations, including control of part of the garage, the land owners were to be paid $15,000 a month.
A draft memorandum of understanding between the city and the attorneys provided for a 30-year lease, with options for a five-year renewal. At the conclusion of that term, the city could have been entirely at the mercy of the landowners -- who may have ended up owning the parking garage or at least having the city over a barrel on future lease payments.
Though city officials stressed the MOU was only a draft to be amended, it was under consideration for a time.
No wonder voters rejected the public safety building when they had the opportunity to do so.
They will have no say over the new proposal, if Elliott has his way. He suggested last week that city council probably would vote on the plan during its Aug. 20 meeting -- only about a month after Wheeling residents heard about the idea.
And voters would be bypassed under the funding scheme, which calls for a $2 per week -- $104 a year -- "user fee" to be paid by people who work in Wheeling. Only part of that amount would be needed for the public safety facility. The remainder would be used for unspecified infrastructure work.
During last week's council meeting, Scatterday said she is "not inclined" to support the proposal. She cited concern that other funding options, including money through more efficiency in municipal operations, have not been explored. That has "not been made a priority," Scatterday said.
Bearing in mind last year's irresponsible idea for the parking garage and the initial overspending envisioned for the public safety building, it is no wonder Scatterday has reservations.
Add to that the haste with which Elliott hopes to get the new plan in place --before taxpayers have a chance to even understand it fully, much less voice opinions -- and it is to be wondered why other council members do not share Scatterday's concern.