Atherton council agrees to let voters decide issue, along with Little League and new Town Center questions
by Renee Batti
Almanac Staff
Almanac Staff
Atherton voters will be given the chance to say yes or no to a proposal
to build a new library in Holbrook-Palmer Park. The City Council
endorsed putting the question on the Nov. 6 ballot at a special meeting
this afternoon (June 29).
The development is a major victory for a sizable number of vocal residents who oppose building the library in the town's only park. They, along with council members Elizabeth Lewis and Jerry Carlson, have been pushing for giving residents the final say at the ballot box.
Last fall, Mayor Bill Widmer and council members Kathy McKeithen and Jim Dobbie endorsed the park location for an approximately 10,000-square-foot library, following about two years of study and community outreach by a task force of volunteers examining options for replacing the town's cramped, seismically inadequate library in the Town Center.
After months of rancor among residents with opposing positions, and a petition drive still in progress to force the council to put the question to voters, Mayor Widmer and Councilwoman McKeithen called for today's special meeting, saying the time had come to try to heal the town.
The development is a major victory for a sizable number of vocal residents who oppose building the library in the town's only park. They, along with council members Elizabeth Lewis and Jerry Carlson, have been pushing for giving residents the final say at the ballot box.
Last fall, Mayor Bill Widmer and council members Kathy McKeithen and Jim Dobbie endorsed the park location for an approximately 10,000-square-foot library, following about two years of study and community outreach by a task force of volunteers examining options for replacing the town's cramped, seismically inadequate library in the Town Center.
After months of rancor among residents with opposing positions, and a petition drive still in progress to force the council to put the question to voters, Mayor Widmer and Councilwoman McKeithen called for today's special meeting, saying the time had come to try to heal the town.
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BACKGROUND:
ReplyDeletePursuant to Atherton City Council rules of procedures, the Mayor has the authority to call a
special meeting. The Mayor sent the City Manager a note in accordance with the law calling the
meeting for Friday, June 29th at 12:00 p.m. The following note was received shortly thereafter
from Mayor Widmer and Council Member McKeithen, with a request for inclusion in the staff
report:
For months now it has been clear that what should have been a wonderful opportunity for
the Town of Atherton has become embroiled in controversy. The Library Building
Steering Committee has worked diligently for almost two years to present this matter to
the Town residents through a broad variety of public forums and informational resources
including an in-depth Environmental Impact Report which concludes that Holbrook-
Palmer Park is the preferable environmental location for a new library. Yet exchanges
continue to be heated, misrepresentations abound and we are deeply saddened by the
Town of Atherton
present state of affairs.
As a consequence, and notwithstanding our belief that a vote on this subject is not the
ideal course to take, we are requesting that the Atherton Town Council vote to place the
issue of a library in the Park on the upcoming November ballot. We envision no other
course of action that might begin the healing process we believe to be necessary at this
time.