Proponents of a tax to revamp Cubberley Community Center came out in force tonight (May 18), to urge the council move forward with plans to OK plans that may lead to a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot measure to fund long-sought upgrades to the dilapidated center, despite lacking poll numbers.
“I was on council, believe it or not, from 1980 to 1989, and we were talking about Cubberley then,” former Mayor Betsy Bechtel said.
Bechtel was one of nearly 40 residents or patrons of the community center who spoke in favor of the revamp plan that’s estimated to cost between $300 to $400 million. That also includes the cost to buy eight acres of the community center from the Palo Alto School District, which owns most of the 35-acre site.
Council voted unanimously to have City Manager Ed Shikada come back at the June 8 meeting with plans to put a half-cent sales tax on the November ballot. The vote also included council OKing the conceptual plans of the revitalized community center, including renovating the pavilion and the current theater. The renovated pavilion would be used by TheatreWorks.
Some residents who spoke asked the council to reconsider renovating the pavilion to serve as a theater. Members of the ballroom dancing group that has been using the pavilion for 35 years as a place for exercise and socializing for mostly senior citizens in Palo Alto expressed apprehension about moving to a different part of Cubberley as a result of the revamp.
Richard Peskett explained the pavilion is ideal for ballroom dancing because it’s large and dances such as the cha-cha and samba are much more fun when a pair can go across the dance floor without bumping into another person or the walls.
Only two people spoke against the plans yesterday. Resident Phil Mast, who is a TheatreWorks subscriber, said the pavilion ought to stay as a gym. He didn’t see the reasoning in using millions of taxpayer dollars to “destroy a vital sports facility for an unnecessary theater.”
Although council chambers were filled with supporters of the Cubberley revamp, polling numbers show an uphill battle.
After poll respondents heard negative comments about the tax, 46% said they would still vote yes to pass the tax. Before hearing the negative spin, 55% of respondents said they’d vote yes.
Councilman Keith Reckdahl said he and the two other council members who worked on the new Cubberley plan, Julie Lythcott-Haims and Pat Burt, have tried to come up with the most cost effective way to improve the buildings instead of what could end up being a $1 billion rebuild.
Burt said that while the polling is tight, ballot measures that are led by the community do well in Palo Alto.
Councilmen Ed Lauing and George Lu had questions about the plans to have residents having to vote again to end the tax, instead of having a sunset date on it.
Pollster Miranda Everitt from FM3 said the ballot language of the tax running “until ended by voters” can be empowering to the voter, who can be turned off by long sunset times such as 30 years. Everitt said unless the sunset date is under 10 years, voters prefer the “until ended by voters” clause, which means either council or residents will have to decide when to end the tax.
Everitt said for this tax, the hesitation to support it is when confronted with the cost of living.
The possible Cubberley tax will be on the same ballot as the bailout half-cent sales tax measure for public transit in the Bay Area such as BART, Muni and Caltrain.
If both taxes pass, that will raise Palo Alto’s sales tax to 10.75%, among the highest in the Bay Area. Three cities in Los Angeles County, Palmdale, Lancaster and Santa Fe Springs have higher sales taxes, according to state data.
The council is set to discuss the tax further on June 8.
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