NEW! Click here to see whats NEW on OurLosBanos.com or Search OurLosBanos.com

June 5th, 2007
An opinion piece from OurLosBanos.com

What this town needs is a vision for a magnificent and comprehensive city center campus.

This week the Los Banos City Council is going to meet and one of the items on their agenda is the approval of "phase one" of the "Community Center." I have spoken about my opposition to this phase the way it stands in my Los Banos Blog so I will not rehash it here but to say that: "In my personal opinion, making the only funded phase of a "Community Center" into a defacto basketball gymnasium is NOT a step in the right direction. Phase I is too narrowly focussed and does NOT serve the community as a WHOLE."

It may seem ironic or oxymoronic at best for me to be strongly opposed to funding phase one of a much smaller project than what I am about to outline, but such is the cost of having a greater dream and vision for how Los Banos makes its first impression on people and businesses visiting or relocating to our community.

So, I'll take the label of being oxymoronic, though some of the less kind among us will drop the "oxy" prefix by the time they finish this article. So moronic or not here is my opinion on what we should do about a CITY Center as opposed to JUST a community center...

The previous city council with Mayor Amabile at the helm and Mr. Pruitt, Mr. McAdam, Mr. Jones, and Ms. Balatti-Brooks on the council did something VERY VERY right during the last few years of their tenure as a council. Those five leaders through brilliance and inspiration or just darn good planning bestowed upon Los Banos a true community focal point... a place Mr. Amabile calls our community living room. This focal point is known as The Henry Miller Plaza.

With the bronze statue of the founder of our city and the beautiful water feature that makes up the rest of the "setting" Los Banos has seen the positive results of having a central place where it is natural for community events to take place and where our community minded citizens can gather for any number of civic events such as the movie nights that have been held there and the wonderful Centennial barbecue - that from all reports was an outstanding community bonding event.

Not only does henry Miller Plaza provide a great point for civic activities, but it is also a good place to go when nobody is there for a bit of quiet reflection and dare I even suggest - inspiration. In fact, OurLosBanos.com was built with a plaza statue photograph as it's main graphic because the community square so embodies the concept of COMMUNITY BUILDING which is what this site is all about. In fact it is not a stretch to suggest that the feel and content of this site was partly inspired or at least cemented by visits to this natural focal point of Los Banos.

Yes, the previous council did Los Banos a tremendous service by building such a monument and focusing the city in one place. It's time for the next step.

We need to build on that triumph. It is time to consider building a true CITY CENTER that we can all be very proud of.

My vision for a city center is as simple as it is expensive. What I would like to see is a grand and magnificent campus built in a semi circle around henry Miller Square.

Comprised of far more than a "community" center, this CITY CENTER would include the city hall, police administration, fire administration, public works administration, school administration, all other community government administration and offices, the new community center, a new city library, the Miliken museum, facilities for the chamber of commerce, PAL, and others all in one central, historic, and convenient location.

Of special note here, I want to make very very sure that we do not miss the point of this proposal. This 'central hub' of government that I envision would be INCLUSIVE both in fact and in feel of the community. It is critical that we keep the idea of a COMMUNITY CENTER in this vision even as we go on to discuss building a new city hall and public administration facilities. Indeed The Community Center portion would be the focal point of this proposal and must include all of the facilities important to such a venture. I would also like to see it include a new library, and the Miliken Museum.

Side note: Incorporating all of these facilities in one central area has less tangible effects as well. Such familiarity makes "City Hall" a more inviting place since it is only steps away from places that the citizens frequent. This makes council meetings more inviting to the public and gives people a sense of belonging.

Incorporating the community center into a much broader CITY center also naturally brings the citizens into closer contact with their government officials and makes it more likely for people to grab the opportunity to participate in any number of ways.

In addition to improved citizen involvement in their government such a facility would naturally encourage the cross pollination of ideas between department heads and workerbees as they are in closer proximity. This would make for better working relationships and the encouragement of solutions that might not have otherwise occurred.

The benefits of such a city center are enormous and multifaceted. I can not begin to cover all of the positive aspects of such a center but beyond what I have mentioned above, here are just a few that come to mind:

Simple convenience: if you want to make a good impression on new businesses that are considering relocating to Los Banos as well as improve the lives of your citizens a city center would make it convenient for them. With all services located in one place city business could be conducted with ease. A person or business having to make visits to multiple offices would have but one place to go and only one address to find. They would also see that we have a strong commitment to our citizens (their future workers) as they see that we took their welfare seriously with a grand library, museum and community center - all within viewing distance of the planning department.

Frugality: With this centralization also comes a reduction in expenses. With public works and so many other services spread out over numerous offices throughout the city there is a huge duplication of expenses. Maintaining the grounds and structure of so many buildings, heating, air conditioning, and a hundred other costs are duplicated over and over in each location that we have a decentralized city office. This is hardly frugal. In addition requiring city staff who need to have face to face meetings with each other to drive all over town costs time, money, and gasoline. I am sure almost all decentralized facilities maintain meeting rooms and other infrastructure that go unused a great percentage of the time. Sharing facilities makes practical sense and it saves duplication of effort and unnecessary redundancy.

It's Just Darn Good PR: As the population of California continues to expand and the cities of the Central Valley continue to grow we will need to become a true city of excellence in order to compete for the clean industries and higher paying jobs that will come with companies moving and or expanding into the San Joaquin Valley. With those companies comes income for a better police presence and other improved city services. In order to lure in companies that bring jobs and tax revenue we need to absolutely stand out as a community and as a city. When company relocation or deployment choices are made Los Banos should always be on the list of final candidates for anyone looking to have a presence in the Central Valley.

It is my contention that a city that LOOKS like it is serious about itself will draw more interest than a similar town that has a slipshod or disconnected feel to it. I think a town that shows caring for its citizens, bringing them closer to its government and putting on a really good face with an outstandingly beautiful center of this nature would say a lot for us. (Of course going along with this would be a pressing need to make this city more business friendly and severing a lot of red tape needed to open a business in town - but that's fodder for a later WTTN article.) A Grand City Center puts the right face on the town for prospective businesses.

One Example Of Right Choices And Wrong Choices

While silicon valley is NOT the model I would want to use for social aspects in our town , I can say that what I see in the government squares in cities like Mountain View and Cupertino really make a lot of sense. Mountain View especially has done it almost right. They have made a very nice Civic center which includes a city hall, the library, and a performing arts center all in one place. They missed incorporating the fire and police admin buildings into this campus but they also did not have the land available to do that. Another miss was that Mountain View decided to put in retail spaces which I think has NO place in a Civic or Community center. If you Google this one up please ignore the ugly construction and focus on the centralized city services concept that was so well done.

One Key Is Planning

As noted above, my vision is a high class cultural, government and community center being built in a well planned and highly thought out fashion. This city center should be built around henry Miller Square and should include ALL of the major city functions in one glorious and outstandingly beautiful 'campus'. To accomplish this however our city leaders need to plan and phase this thing properly.

The reason I finally decided to break down and get this "What This Town Needs" article finished was what I saw as a poor phasing recommendations for the proposed community center. The idea that we'd open up a cavernous multi purpose room full of basketball courts which benefit so few people (comparatively) before we open up other more broad-serving phases was beyond me.

In planning out a new CITY CENTER with an included COMMUNITY CENTER section it is my opinion that it needs to be planned and phased in a logical and linear way designed to give the most bang for the buck to the most people as early as possible. This way if funding is lost in mid project we will have the benefits that are most inclusive and least redundant.

So, for what it is worth, here is my suggestion for how to go about a diverse plan of with such lofty goals.

1) First it is important to FULLY plan out the new CITY CENTER PLAZA in full. Each building or phase should be documented (blueprinted?) and approved before any of it is begun. As things are now we have buildings of different architectural types spread out in various locations and built in different manners. If this city hub is to be done right we must have a comprehensive plane so that the City Center center does not end up looking like a checkerboard of different architectural styles despite the buildings being built years apart.

2) Build in correct phases. The first things that should be built are those buildings which will house facilities that are not served or that are under-served to a great degree in this community. Again the reason that I wrote the article you are reading at this time as well as my Los Banos Blog entry was because I perceived there to be a disconnect between what SHOULD have been phased first and what WAS being proposed to be phased first.

In my personal opinion the phasing should go like this:

• Community Activity / Learning Center - We do not have a community center yet so this is the obvious "first build" choice. If portions of the community center itself must be phased then phase those portions which answer unmet needs first. Those new-service sections must be constructed before those that add redundant (albeit improved) facilities to our town. For instance, in my opinion we need a much expanded library and a place for our seniors far more than we need more basketball courts.
• Police and Fire Administration - Lets face it our Police building is getting old and it is being outgrown. Perhaps if it is not incorporated directly into the City Hall portion of the City Center this should be considered next.
• City Government / City Services / School Administration offices - Again, if this is not made part of city hall itself then the administrative offices for all of these area should be constructed next. This would free up land to sell to pay for further improvements to the city center and or to build some new schools.
• Finally we could relocate city hall and the city government apparatus to the new City Center. While our city hall is pretty decent and in pretty decent shape right now, incorporating it as the last phase makes sense. Again this would free up some land and the existing building could be sold to pay for the expenses of the city center or other projects.

The Impediments - Minds and Money

As with almost everything of high value that is done in government and in industry the one big problem is going to be financing such a vision. All too often our community shoots itself in the foot by thinking small instead of planning large and finding the means and funds through creative ways. In order to realize such a goal the naysayers must attempt to rethink the idea that a small vision is all we can possibly afford or accomplish. In short closed minded thinking must be excised and creative means to an end need to be found. Yes money is going to be THE key issue and THE key impediment but it is my feeling that with the right group of people searching for solutions that the money impediment will be easier to overcome than the impediment of preconceived ideas and closed minds.

An example of closed minded thinking.

Closed minded thinking occurs when people dismiss something outright without giving the merit of a project any thought because of preconceived ideas of what can and can not be done. In government and business alike this usually comes down to a question of money. If a project has a prima facia feel of being too costly the entire proposal is tossed out before any real consideration is given to it and before even exploring the possibilities and benefits that could be derived from it.

Closed minded thinking usually starts with seven words: "We can not possibly pay for this!" Followed closely by answers borne of 'accepted thinking' answers like:

" It's an insurmountable challenge - one that can not be met. It is probably completely impossible. It is probably something that can not be doable in any of our lifetimes. It will cost too much, take too long and not be anything more than a giant waste of time to even discuss such an aggressive and costly dream."

People in government and in the private sector said the same thing about the moon missions. Twenty years before Neil Armstrong took his first steps on our closest celestial neighbor, good, intelligent, even brilliant, learned men were still filling chalkboards with mathematical 'proof' that it was absolutely physically and scientifically impossible to so much as break the sound barrier in earth-bound skies. Likewise when President Kennedy made his famous "before this decade is out" speech in May of 1961 there were very very few people in any sector of government (Including NACA - the predecessor to NASA) that believed that it would be possible that such a landing would ever occur - and certainly not before 1970! .....But there were a few believers. There were a few idealists that were willing to take the risk of being laughed at. There were a few dreamers that would make it happen. So in July of 1969 the impossible, underfunded, overly exuberant, and stupidly ambitious "impossible" plans became a reality despite the fact there was an expensive war going on and the United States was in the midst of the social turmoil which marked the worst of the 1960's.

Granted, an grand city center for Los Banos is not a sexy federally funded moon mission. However I'd like to remind you that it's all a matter of scale. What was a 135 Billion dollar (2006 dollars) federal program when scaled to what such a center would cost a municipality like ours can't be all that different.

With the exorcism of closed minded thinking must come a new reliance on our citizens initiative and industry.

The greatest accomplishments in any group or company are met because people are given the freedom to make a difference and enough people are onboard with the vision so that if left alone they can accomplish a common goal. In addition the more you can bring people together to "own" whatever the goal is the more likely the success of any mission. This will be KEY to making such a world class city center for our "little cow town".

In order to do this the common citizen must be encouraged to participate and management must get out of his way. We need to give OWNERSHIP of this project to the people. Remember the greatest building accomplishments of the old world, the grand cathedrals, were built in large measure by private contributions of time, effort, and funding. Personal ownership and pride in your town will give people more incentive than just about anything I can think of.

In Thomas J. Peters book "In Search Of Excellence" and in the numerous books and seminars on Total Quality Management or "TQM" a single theory emerges that makes total sense to me. Let people do what they are best at and do NOT stand in their way when they go outside the box.

One example given in an In Search Of Excellence PBS Special that aired some time ago follows: A certain telecommunications company(?) had an office worker who (because of a snow storm or other natural disaster) was unable to do his job. This guy pushed paper for a living. Instead of sitting back and playing minesweeper or just complaining to the boss and sitting around waiting for someone else to take care of the problem, this person determined that a phone line was down, chartered a helicopter on his own, and went to the remote location himself and fixed the problem for everyone!

Now I am not saying we all have to charter helicopters and dumptrucks and bring in bricks and carpet, but the lesson of TQM and the lessons of the above anecdotes are simple. DON'T STAND IN PEOPLE'S WAY! It is management's job, or in this case city leadership's job to ENABLE people to do the very best they can. It is to encourage people to do what will benefit everyone. Don't hem them in and don't poo poo ideas for seeking grants, gifts, and other outside the box federal funding sources just because city staff did not come up with the idea themselves or because it is not mainstream or because it did not go through the right red tape infested channels.

Instead leadership needs to celebrate unique and new ideas, get out of people's way, do what needs doing to enable the citizens to work for you, and maybe just maybe we can make this city the Gem of the valley. This does not need to stop at a city center either! This mentality should be allowed to flourish throughout all of the city's departments. Our elected officials should enable everyone from the City Manager all the way to the lowest paid janitor to do the BEST they can do to further the future of this city. Sometimes that will mean thinking outside the box, and sometimes dreaming up the "impossible"...

Leadership needs to celebrate unique and new ideas, get out of people's way, do what needs doing to enable the citizens to work for you, and maybe just maybe we can make this city the Gem of the valley. This does not need to stop at a city center either! This mentality should be allowed to flourish throughout all of the city's departments. Our elected officials should enable everyone from the City Manager all the way to the lowest paid janitor to do the BEST they can do to further the future of this city. Sometimes that will mean thinking outside the box, and sometimes dreaming up the "impossible"...

Having said that funding will be the major issue. I do not have the answers to this and I am not going to pretend I do. BUT we have a lot of brainpower in Los Banos and I know there are people out there that can make this happen. Though I don't have the answers I will start the discussion. There are many many avenues to explore beyond what I say here. I would personally suggest looking into some of the following funding ideas:

Partnering with builders: We already do this in the residential areas. As I understand it part of the agreements that the city has with builders is that builders must donate x amount of land or money whenever they put in a subdivision and that money is allotted to Los Banos City parks. Similarly we could do this with industrial building but put some of the money towards the City Center. We could also consider allowing some subdivisions to not have a park if they are near an area with a lot of parks nearby in order to put that money toward funding this enterprise.

Get the builders onboard in a benevolent way: The housing cycle will not always be in this 2007 slump. When the boom comes back there will be lots of money to be made in housing. Our neighbors who happen to own the construction companies will need tax write-offs and to be seen as good neighbors. What better way than to get them to come onboard with a benevolent gift of time, money, and or manpower to build a permanent part of our city? In addition if the contribution was grand enough why not give them the honor of naming the building after their company. Heck if I was in such a position I'd love to see "The OurLosBanos.com Community Center" in big brass letters on such a focal point in the city.

Give True Deep Cut Taxes And Fee Incentives: Builders and businesses who are willing to help us should be helped by us where possible. Perhaps some sort of SERIOUS tax incentive or fee reduction could be arranged for those who make such a dream a reality for us? I stress the fee reductions would have to be DEEP but what we lose is far less than we would gain in my opinion.

Get Federal And Private Corp. Help: I know there are some pretty strange and unusual federal grants out there. We'd need to search out every little tiny grant and every large grant and incentive we possibly could from the federal government. It would be like a person of humble means and moderate intelligence building a scholarship ladder into college. In that model the prospective student goes after every little tiny scholarship he can, even if it is only 100 dollars at a time. By doing this hundreds of times nickel by nickel he accumulates enough money to go to an Ivy League school. It's a ton of work, and its a huge commitment in time but it WORKS. Similarly I am sure there are grants of all kinds available and maybe even from private concerns like the Gates Foundation and others that we could explore. Perhaps we could build a "grant ladder" to our City Center.

Sell Real Estate Used By Current Offices: One not so starry eyed way to obtain a fair chunk of funding for this project is to sell off the real estate that vacated admin buildings are on now. This is obvious so I will not go too far into this but I would bet that if the city looked at all the places that could be consolidated into a true city center there would be a lot of land that could be relinquished in order to obtain funds for this dream.

Turn Few Away: Every citizen can help in some way. There will be the few crazies that will be more trouble than they are worth, but in most cases people who want to help, particularly financially, should be allowed to do so. In addition small businesses that want to carpet a room or help with wiring or whatever they specialize in should be allowed to do so if possible.. I am sure that if this thing is accomplished that we will have enough wall space that every single contributor whether a 5th grader donating 5 bucks or a builder donating a couple million can have a little brass medal with their name on it on the final contributors plaque. Let people OWN this project.

Yes this is an ambitious dream, but I think an important one to consider as we look at the long term good of Los Banos.

Let me close by partially repeating what I said a few paragraphs above. Leadership needs to celebrate unique and new ideas in order to make this happen. Making Los Banos the Gem of the valley is not just a pride issue but a survival issue. We have seen other towns go from what we are now to sewers because of a lack of vision. Nobody I know wants to see that happen here.

Let me say it again, our elected officials should enable everyone from the City Manager all the way to the lowest paid janitor to do the BEST they can do to further the future of this city. Sometimes that will mean thinking outside the box, and sometimes dreaming up and then accomplishing the "impossible"...

Share your opinions with the Los Banos Community on the Los Banos Forums Bulletin Board!