It seems everyone likes to be a philanthropist, especially if it is with someone else’s money.

     

So it is with some of our current City Council members.

     

Last week our council voted 4 to  3 to ratify a grant of about $63,000 per home in street improvements to some 300 homeowners South of Forrest Avenue (SOFA) and a few other Santa Clara neighborhoods.

     

Residents showing up to speak in protest of this give-a-way plan were former Mayor Larry Fargher, former Mayor Bill Gissler, former two-term Councilman David Tobkin, and Ted Chamberlain, all members of a local political action committee known as Santa Clarans for Fiscal Responsibility.

     

Getting off the couch and representing the SOFA group were about 80 homeowners.

     

One would have to ask where were those chronic objectors from “Not with My Money” and “Santa Clara Plays Fair” who have lamented the cost of building a stadium in Santa Clara?

     

If they were seriously concerned about City spending, this is the meeting where they should have been present.

     

The cost of this project equates to a little over $600 from every homeowner in Santa Clara.

     

Free grants offered to the SOFA group are to build new streets, curbs, gutters and sidewalks even though they promised to upgrade their own county streets to City standards when they were annexed into Santa Clara over 25 years ago.

     

When this issue first arose last year our professional City Staff did a lot of research on this issue, weighed all the arguments pro and con and recommended a fifty-fifty cost split between homeowners and the City. Our Council voted at that time on a 4 to 3 split vote to fund this project at 100%.

     

Last week’s vote ratified the original decision and in addition removed any and all covenants attached to these homes.

     

The covenants were promises made by over 30 of these homeowners to repay the City for their street improvements.

     

First our Council ignored staff’s recommendation to fund this project at 50% and second they removed any and all obligations by the freeloading homeowners to ever repay a dime of their $63,000 grants.

     

Leading the free lunch pork barrel hand-out plan was Mayor Patty Mahan who was supported by Councilmen Dominic Caserta, Kevin Moore, and Will Kennedy.

     

Speaking against removing covenants and the give away plan were Councilmen Pat Kolstad, Jamie McLeod, and Joe Kornder.

     

In a representative form of government we elect our officials to represent us. When they take the oath of office they promise to uphold our City Charter (Constitution) and sustain the laws, policies and codes of our City.

     

Thanks to this Council it appears that our City Code 17.15 which governs obligations of homeowners regarding covenants is no longer a part of our City Code.

     

Promises made…promises broken and nothing that 20 million dollars can’t fix.

     

Philanthropy is easy when you can spend someone else’s funds.