By Gerald Z. Dubinski
Mayor of Olmos Park

Having served as Mayor of the city of Olmos Park for 21 years, I have been involved in many projects and one of the most interesting is the planned reconstruction and possible relocation of City Hall.

While there is little disagreement that we need new facilities, there are many opinions about where the facilities should be located. Articles have been written about this subject and I would like to share information from the mayor’s point of view.

Last year, knowing we were nearing the end of our infrastructure project, the City Council agreed it was time to begin plans for new facilities. We invited proposals from local architects and selected the firm of Sprinkle Robey to design the project. Architects met with Council and city employees to determine the needs of each department, both for the present and future, and determined 11,000 to 12,000 square feet were needed to meet these needs, more than double the 4,200 square feet of our current building.

Council appointed a six-member site selection committee, which included council members Harriet Oppenheimer and Ron Herrmann and four Olmos Park citizens. The committee was charged with considering sites for the new building and making recommendations to the City Council. The committee considered numerous sites, presented their report, and council authorized appraisals of two sites. Once the sites were identified, the owners made it clear their properties were not for sale. This is when the controversy began.

Much was written about “eminent domain” and a municipality’s right to condemn property for the public good. While this always is an option, it is not the preference of the city of Olmos Park to take land from an unwilling seller. Our first priority is now and always has been to find a suitable location with a willing seller to build new facilities. We continue to meet with the site selection committee, architects, and property owners to find such a location.

Once a site is selected, we will hold a Town Hall meeting to share the information and plans with our property owners and merchants. Only with a commitment from the community can we see this project through.