I hope those that have written about the hotel conference center before me (including jack) will allow me to correct a few of the errors in their comments about the hotel project.

This so-called “secret� project has been discussed many times at open public meetings by the City Council. One the earliest of those meetings took place in November 2003. It was reported in the Sentinel at that time (15 months ago). Here is a link to that story:
www.santacruzsentinel.com/archive/2003/November/16/local/stories/01local.htm
Okay, so maybe info in the Sentinel doesn’t count. Check indymedia’s own article from about 10 months ago “revealing� the plan. Here’s the page: santacruz.indymedia.org/feature/display/8287/index.php
Additionally, detailed information has been available on the City’s website for several months, including both draft and final environmental impact report: www.ci.santa-cruz.ca.us/
Okay, so it hasn’t really been a secret…

What about this claim in jack’s article: “The economics of this plan have been questioned by many people, including experts, and have not been validated by anyone.� The fact is that several independent experts have been hired to examine the finances of this project and have said that they work well for the City—increasing revenue to both the City’s Redevelopment Agency and the City’s General Fund. Just because jack hasn't bothered to find these reports is no reason for him to claim they don't exist.

jack wrote alarmingly about “the plans blocking Cowell's beach from public access.� This is simply another mistake on jack’s part. The hotel project will increase public access because they will build a new stairway from West Cliff at Bay down to Cowell’s beach. This will provide access where none exists now. In all other respects the access is the same as it is now. So it is a net gain in access at no cost to the taxpayers or the city.

jack also wrote: “During the creation of the plans, not even City Council members had their questions answered by developers.� There is simply no basis in reality for this claim. The hotel owners have been meeting with individual City Council members and the whole Council over many months.

Finally, jack wrote: “The City must be honest about its actions.� The City seems to be open and honest about the plans, based on how easy it has been for me to find out so much. I hope jack will hold himself to the same standard as he expects from the city.

On Becky Johnson’s comment about the City’s $30 million subsidy: just so everyone knows, the part of the project that the city will pay for will BE OWNED BY THE CITY. The City will make money from this ownership.

And on the labor question: the hotel is ALREADY UNIONIZED and it will continue to be until the workers there decide otherwise. The project has a legally binding commitment to pay the construction workers a union wage with benefits.

By the way, did anyone mention that this project includes knocking down what is arguably the ugliest building in Santa Cruz and a building that has close to zero wheel chair access. The new building will be shorter, have first class wheel chair access, and be built to “green building� certification standards. jack really ought to take a close look at the piece of shit that is there now before he spends any more energy defending it.