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City hall's move comes to a vote at this week's city council meeting
Fiscalini, DiQuisto differ in opinion about proposed move to downtown
By Jessica Lyons
Some say a vibrant downtown and a bustling City Hall go together like a horse and a carriage. Willow Glen's Councilmember Frank Fiscalini is one of those.
The chairman of the Civic Center Complex Relocation Task Force, Fiscalini has been involved in the project to move City Hall from its existing location on North First and Mission streets to the eastern edge of downtown San Jose from the get-go. So it's not a question of how he will vote on June 8--the date the council is expected to take another step toward groundbreaking by approving a $214 million building project for a new City Hall.
"Frank has been very involved in the entire process and feels it has been a good process--we have been supportive of it all along," says Michelle McGurk, Fiscalini's chief aid. "I think it sends a strong message to the residents that downtown is the heart of their city. You hear people say, 'I'm going downtown to city hall.' That's what you expect to hear, that centralized feeling."
The proposed location--two blocks down East Santa Clara street between Fourth and Sixth streets--was approved by council on Sept. 22, 1998, and will include a 15-story tower, two smaller buildings, an open-air plaza and a parking garage.
The new City Hall is expected to be the centerpiece of a seven-block district called the Civic Plaza Redevelopment Area, all tied together by streets, walkways, courtyards, fountains and plazas.
Plans call for a new symphony hall directly across Santa Clara Street from City Hall, and a rebuilt Horace Mann Elementary School and Lucky supermarket on Sixth Street. Additional buildings include parking garages, office buildings and apartments.
Proponents of the move say it will revitalize the run-down eastern end of downtown.
But Willow Glen's other councilmember, John Diquisto, whose District 9 governs the southern tip of the Glen, has different thoughts on the multi-million dollar move. Although he hasn't taken an official position on which way he will vote, he has signaled some opposition to the project.
"His basic position is if the city can't afford to hire four new firefighters for Station 31, how can the city afford to move and build a new city hall?" says Dawn Wright, Diquisto's community liaison. "He's still concerned about the economics, where the funding would come from. We made a promise that it wouldn't cost the pubic anything to move city hall. He's very conscious that we keep that promise."
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Willow Glen, California Since 1992
