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Ms. Ortiz agreed with Mr. Poling's remarks about the past votes. She agreed with Mr. Zelenka that the council <br />needed to look beyond downtown. She suggested that providing the police with decent space was a matter of <br />equity. <br />Ms. Ortiz said she used her office at City Hall but would also be willing to give it up. While she appreciated the <br />space, she regretted the cost of the project. <br />Mr. Pryor said constructing a new city hall building would cost $120 million, and the City would not have that <br />kind of money anytime soon. The council had to do something in the interim. Mr. Pryor thought that the council <br />would have to spend far more than the amount it had in the Facility Reserve to renovate City Hall. He said the <br />council would have to seek voter approval for a bond to make that happen. <br />Mr. Pryor was intrigued with the idea of a temporary park. <br />Mr. Pryor believed the recommendation might not be the entire solution, but it would move the organization <br />toward a more permanent solution. He said it was not viable for the organization to stay in City Hall. He liked the <br />options presented to the council and supported the public input proposed. He said the council had the responsibil- <br />ity for making the decision, but he wanted its decision to represent an informed choice. <br />Mayor Piercy reminded the council that it had been working on the issue for the last few years and the council <br />majority had not changed its vote; for several years, the council majority had said the organization should vacate <br />City Hall over time, and would build a new city hall. Nothing had changed; the issue was how the council would <br />reach that goal. Given the current economy, Mayor Piercy believed that the public expected the council to go <br />about solving the problem in the most practical and cost - effective way possible. <br />Mayor Piercy reminded the council that it needed the organization's first responders in a place where they could <br />provide services in case of an emergency. That was a basic service, not the "bow on a cake." She thought the <br />council owed that to the public, and reiterated the question was which avenue it would try. She suggested that the <br />council needed to move on and try to get together on this, and councilors needed to decide what they could live <br />with. <br />Mr. Brown thought there was general agreement with the Mayor. He clarified for Mr. Poling that he was speaking <br />about the airport terminal and the two active fire stations that were considered seismically vulnerable. <br />Responding to a question from Mr. Brown, Mr. Penwell said that the building at 858 Pearl was about 16,000 to <br />17,000 square feet and had no basement. <br />Mr. Brown said he was not interested in more public process about the future of City Hall, although he was <br />interested in more public input related to a new police facility because someone might have a good idea that led to <br />the best use of the $22 million in the Facility Reserve. He suggested the potential of using urban renewal dollars <br />for a new police facility. <br />Mr. Clark expressed appreciation for Mr. Brown's remarks about the need for new officers and said he would offer <br />the Budget Committee a motion to fund new officers again this year. He believed that the public deserved the most <br />effective public safety system at the least possible cost, and for that reason found the recommendation intriguing. <br />Mr. Clark asked about City Manager Ruiz' communication with EWEB regarding the City's interest in the utility's <br />administrative building. City Manager Ruiz said he had not written a formal letter but had discussed the issue with <br />General Manager Randy Berggren. He anticipated further discussion. Mr. Clark advocated for contact with the <br />MINUTES —City Council May 11, 2009 Page 10 <br />Work Session <br />