It's refreshing to see an election in Livermore next month now that an opposing view to the Friends of Livermore has come together around keeping the long-awaited BART tracks on the Interstate 580 corridor.
Two open city council seats alone might have sparked interest, but the success of the anti-BART downtown folks in gathering 8,000 signatures asking the council to return BART to the freeway alignment instead of going in a tunnel through downtown demonstrated how out-of-touch the existing council was with the voters.
The council, after spending $250,000 on consultants to determine the costs of each route, adopted the freeway route -- presumably after some public opinion polling.
Whether the challengers, Barbara Hickman for mayor, Laureen Turner and Bobby Burger for city council, will have the people and financial resources to mount a serious challenge against the Friends' slate will be determined Nov 8.
The slate includes Councilman John Marchand running for mayor and termed-out Mayor Marshall Kamena, who is running for council. School trustee and former fire chief Stu Gary is the third person backed by Friends of Livermore.
Livermore limits campaign contributions to a maximum of $250 for individuals and businesses, but there are no limits on how much can be given to political action groups such as Friends of Livermore.
So longtime members Jean King and Lynn Seppala (husband of Independent publisher Joan
Seppala) contributed $12,500 each during the last reporting period, while the group's president, Bob Baltzer, tossed in $11,000. The group received $44,000 as compared to $10,000 for the top candidate Kamena that included a personal $3,000 loan to his campaign.
It's ironic to see these folks, who for years decried business interests in elections, taking full advantage of their shared vision for Livermore to dominate city council elections. Two years ago, there wasn't even an election because no candidates filed to run against the incumbents.
Underlying the election is the future of downtown and whether the extraordinarily expensive 2,000-seat regional theater will be built. The bonds cannot be sold because no investor will go close to them until the future of redevelopment agencies across the state is resolved.
The Legislature, at Gov. Brown's request, eliminated agencies last year unless they made compensating payments to offset the tax increment revenue lost by government agencies. The Legislature's action currently is being litigated and until that process is resolved, everything is on hold.
Meanwhile, the ongoing economic challenges and the cost-structure of the community Bankhead Theater have the local arts groups scrambling big time to make ends meet.
Tri-Valley Repertory Theater has publicized its need for $50,000 to make ends meet, while the Livermore Valley Opera's tickets ran $60 each for its last production. That's a pricey ticket for Livermore.
Livermore Valley Performing Arts operates the 500-seat Bankhead Theater and plans to build the regional theater.
Len Alexander, the group's executive director, reported that rental fees and its own programming cover half of the operating budget, while the rest must come from donations. The Bankhead carries more than $22 million in bond debt, 70 percent of which is covered by fees on garbage dumped at the Altamont Landfill. The balance must come from operations or contributions.
The Bankhead benefits from its downtown location and also from the fact that the other taxpayer-built theater is not an option for local performing arts groups. The Barbara Fracisco Mertes Center at Las Positas College was financed by proceeds from a bond issue passed by district voters in 2004. It includes a 487-seat theater as well as a smaller black-box facility.
The challenge for the college is staffing the new facility, according to district spokeswoman Laura Weaver. She wrote in an email that although the new facility is open, the staffing has not increased. She wrote it would take 15 staff members to operate the theater and Las Positas currently has one theater technician that is devoted to the educational program.
Given the state of California's economy and the very real probability of further budget cuts in January -- the state was running $705 million below budgeted revenues through the first quarter that ended Sept. 30 -- it's unlikely that the 487-seat theater will be available for general public rental anytime soon.
A PERSONAL NOTE: My column is coming to an end. It's been a run of more than 35 years offering my thoughts and opinions on events, people and politics of the valley.
I will miss the opportunity to share with you, but have truly enjoyed my role over many years. You may contact me at huntenterprises1@gmail.com .
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