380 replies to this topic

[waterbaby149]

Ms. Candy.... I take offense at your comments of an ugly ball field, it is a space with current use that is beautiful. Maybe at 76 your memory is going but there appears to be in review an article in the Folsom Telegraph back in 1991 or so that quoted u as saying that the most idelic site was Oak Avenue Parkway and Creekside.
Now the proposed building for the Library is beautiful and it can be beautiful any where, but tell me why after 10 years of study with public imput that was narrowed down to 5 sites which did not include the present site, the beloved City Council threw out all of those other 5 sites for a site not even discussed!!!!
The next point is the traffic situation on Natomas which has increased significantly with the closing of the "Dam Road" Why is this location so "delightful" if it is increasing the traffic situation which is already intense.
The traffic flow at another site even just up the street where the sign stating the library was being built is is better traffic wise.
Another point u should study is the law. Please check California Veteran's Law. There is a code section that will sure to provide our beloved City Council with jail time if they take one shovel to that "rock"
Our fathers, sons, daughters, died for us to have the right to voice our opinion. We owe them our respect for the lives they gave and not disrespect them by moving memorials around because u think the playing field is ugly -
I invite u to take a trip to the VA Home and tell those boys that the memorial for the lives lost is of no importance. Take a real look at those boys without any legs being strapped into wheel chairs so they can sit up and tell them they don't count.
Tell the families of the loved ones who are fighting today and the families of the loved ones who are coming home in a box that they don't count.
We spit on our Vietnam Vets and we should never have done that - and to even consider moving or changing that memorial is spitting again.
I strongly advise any one who wants to put a stop to the foolishness of these City Council members to join the recall committee which meets every Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at the VFW on Forrest. Let us show these council members that they work for us not the developers!

[Candy Apple]

No Vetern or anyone else will be dishonored by the new library building!

Where were all these fault finders when these other sites were available to be purchased for big bucks? It was put to a vote of the people which lost!!!

Where were you when there was so much complaint about tearing down the perfectly good fire station building?

Folsom is finally getting a library!!! Cincinnatus told it like it is!!

The LOCAL OFFICIALS are not responsible for the damn dam road closure!

If you want to find fault, write your complaints to the local petty officials with the Bureau of Reclaimation. THEY ARE THE ONES RESPONSIBLE!!!

[waterbaby149]

Sorry Candy ... I seem to have hit a nerve - I am not against the library - although I have seen many a beautiful building built and then no funds to staff it or maintain it - so maybe we should be more conservative in what we build. I mean really aren't we going a bit over the top with a fireplace, a coffee shop, etc.
You are wrong about the Veterans Memorial and since u seem to get so much information from Ernie - have his provide you with the copy of the California Veterans Code
A memorial is a memorial
And by the way .... the dam road - well lets not make a problem worse
P.S. While our brothers our serving on the Ad Hoc Committee - keep in mind that no one who signed the recall petition was accepted to be on that committee, and several while retired, maybe one or two are looking for employment .......
For a person who claims to have all the facts straight - keep digging - your sources are poluted

[Cincinnatus]

There are some errors in my previous posts:

The Proposition 14 Library bond funds from the state would have been 65% and required a local match of 35%. There are many ranges of opinion as to whether the city should have continued to pursue the bond funding. Personally, I felt we did the city a disservice by not pursuing the bond funding. After all, if you don't ask the answer is already NO.

Also, there was one Library Commissioner that opposed the park site unless the bond was pursued and this Commissioner cast a dissenting vote (the vote was not unanminous as I mistated). The vote for the joint use school site was unaminous with with the same Commissioner obstaining.

I tried to stick to the facts as I understand them (with my commentary mixed in), if my postings are in any way erroneous please let me know.

[Ahnold]

waterbaby, how was the traffic flow at the other site by city hall any better?? I'm sorry but that is a ludicrous statement. In order to get into that site they were going to demolish the existing driveway between the fire station and police station (just so a reading room would look out over the power lines... lovely) and then cram a new road between city hall and the library. To get into the site you would have to either make a risky left turn by the police station or turn in at the city hall signal and make a tight, windy turn onto the new road. and then the road would have lead to parking in back of city hall which is already impacted. How exactly was that better than the park site? At the park site, there is an existing signal, a road that has very little traffic on it (special events excepted) and good ped and bike access (could be better, but its good). What were the other five sites by the way, and why were they discounted? Thanks for listening to my opinions.

[camay2327]

I do not think that the site that was chosen for the new library is in central Folsom. I do not think that the people who have moved into Eastern Folsom, will think that is very close to them.

I know that they are planning a library in conjunction with the new high school that will be built out there and I have problems with that too. I do not think that we need a lot of adults going into the area of the school and into the library. Are the people going into the library at the school going to go through metal detectors to make sure they are not carrying guns or knifes in with them. Are they child molesters. I do not think it should be a mixed library, adults and children.

[parklady]

Cincinattus -
Bond funding, though worthwhile under the 65%/35% local match formula is extremely beneficial, though very difficult to obtain. In the current round of state funding, there is only $90 million statewide available to be awarded - 71 applications representing a total of $560 million dollars in need were submitted. Very tough competition indeed.

[Candy Apple]

From what I have been told, that is why the city felt it was a waste of time to pursue state funding, plus the fact that for state funding certain restrictions had to be met, one of which was that the city would have to show it had "maintance" (of the library) funding in place, which at that time they did not.

I may not have stated this clearly or accurately but hopefully, the meaning is there.

As to the "central" location, it is in the "Civic Center" area and much more central than the Comm. College which is where the one dissenting council member wanted the library.

Not everyone is happy about the "joint use" with the proposed new HS as a "branch". However, it was a compromise that will serve the "East" of Folsom.

In any case---FOLSOM IS GETTING A LIBRARY!!!! That is better than 10 more years with what there is now!!!

[tessieca]

That old story about kids and adults not mixing is, well, old. The joint library is set up so that the general public cannot just walk on to campus any more than they can at any other campus. The concept is tried and true, so if you're nervous you might want to visit Franklin's library. It's great that two governmental organizations are pooling my tax dollars to make a joint use of the funds. I'd rather have that than have the city take money from my right pocket and the school district take it from my left pocket so that they can each have their own libraries. Protections can be put in place. For those who don't want to share, there will still be other city library options available to them elsewhere, but I don't expect much of that will occur. As soon as the joint library opens, "the sky is falling" people will settle down and be just fine.

[john]

I highly doubt that seedy characters and riffraff (youth or older population) will be hanging out at the library!!!

[flyboy51]

Ahnold,

Actually, over 20 sites were considered early on. The proponents of "Save the Park / Recall" are crying that the Lemby Park site wasn't chosen. That site didn't even make the cut to the final 5 sites. The problem with most of the sites was that they didn't meet enough of the criteria to qualify for the state bond funds. The other problem at many of the sites was that the city would have to buy the land. The fire station site was the best compromise, at the time, to save the city money and still qualify for the bond funds.

Other than the fire station, none of the other finalist sites are available any more. The choice facing city council was not between 5 sites or the park, but between the fire station and the park. The short comings of the fire station site have been amply outlined earlier in this thread.

As I've said before, Marshall Farley did not die at that ball field. He is not buried there. Memorials are moved when they can be improved and appreciated by more people. That happened with John F. Kennedy's gravesite. That happened with the original Vietnam Veterans' Memorial in Washington DC. Marshall Farley will not be forgotten. We have the opportunity with the new library to improve the way Folsom honors all of its veterans.

I'm a bit surprised that a vocal minority can create such a stir over something as innocuous as a library. Now that city council has approved the site plan and the building layout, hopefully the public will become more informed about how this project will enhance the park and the city.l

[waterbaby149]

In response to the question of where the other 5 sites where - it states in the September 2, 2001 issue of the [U]Folsom Telegraph[U] the following: "...southeast corner of Prairie City Road and Iron Point Road, the southeast corner of E. Biedwell Street and Creekside Drive, and Creekside Drive at Oak Avenue Parkway. Undeveloped property owned by Folsom Lake Community Collect (FLCC) at E. Bidwell near Clarksville Road, and the site of the current fire station at Natoma Street and Wales Drive are other possibilities."

This article further goes on to quote Bettye Mahan - Mr. Sheldon's cheerleader as follows: '"The Creekside Drive and Oak Avenue Parkway site would be accessible to all residence of Folsom." said Bettye Maham of the Friends of the Folsom Library in an earlier interview, "as well as the community collect, and our friends in nearby communities."

As to Ken Bonham not being a resident of Folsom - I am unclear on that - but I do know that he owns the building on the corner of Stafford and Natoma and if that does not give him a vested interest in what is built in the neighborhood I don't know what does.

Maybe Mr. Bonham is trying to follow your "lessons" Ms. Holderness of not building it in my backyard - doesn't that have something to do with a bridge that we could really use right now ..... or is that gossip .....

I will shortly be posting the Veteran's Code section for all to read.

I also again call on one and all to attend the recall meetings Friday nights at 7:00 p.m. at the VFW on Forrest - and sorry -no tape recording permitted.

[Candy Apple]

I repeat----how can a library "degrade" any vetern, memorial, site, or business/homeowner?

A library is an advantage to a city----to bring investors/business.

A library is an attraction for scholors, authors, students, and residents.

A library is a privilege which most Folsom residents/taxpayers want and deserve.

Someone, in a lot of library books and textbooks, once said "You can't please all of the people all of the time. You can only please some of the people some of the time" Mr. Lincoln was right.

The new library building in it's park site location will be a jewel that the majority in Folsom will enjoy and appreciate.

[waterbaby149]

Great have the library - not a problem - but not there!!! That is the point - we are not against a library!!!!!

Education time:
California Codes
Military and Veterans Code Section 1318

1318. Every person who maliciously destroys, cuts, breaks, mutilates, effaces, or otherwise injures, tears down, or removes any veterans' memorial constructed or established by any veterans' association, as defined in subdivision © of Section 1260, is guilty of a crime punishable by imprisonment in the state prison or by imprisonment in the county jail for less than one year.

The code is very simple and straight forward - it is a law - moving a memorial is not a convenience for your library dear "Candy" moving the memorial is breaking a state law and I haven't even pulled the Federal laws yet.

[flyboy51]

Waterbaby149,

Your own argument points out that no state law will be broken. Moving and improving the memorial can in no way be interpreted as "malicious".

I will avail myself of your invitation to attend the Friday night recall meeting. I'd like to keep a somewhat open mind to hear your grievances first hand.