Carmel County Roads vs. Carmel-by-the-Sea City Roads

 
Monterey County Public Works Chip Seal Resurfacing Project
Location: Camino Del Monte, north of Junipero Avenue
View: Towards the county, city pavement in foreground, chip seal resurfaced pavement in background 
CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
CITY COUNCIL AGENDA

Regular Meeting
Tuesday, September 12, 2006

V. Announcements from Closed Session, from City Council Members and the City Administrator.

B. Announcements from City Council members. (Council members may ask a question for clarification, make a brief announcement or report on his or her activities).

City Councilman Michael Cunningham announced “Good news…some work that’s been done on our roads around the outside of Carmel, at the top of the hill on Highway 1, thanks to CalTrans and on the top of Carpenter, the top of Ocean and on Rio Road, thanks to Monterey County Public Works. Those road repairs are very badly needed and certainly welcome to anyone who uses those routes...”

Later in the meeting, during the discussion of how to allocate the $705,596 surplus from Fiscal year 2005/06, Gerard Rose stated that “Now that the county has begun to take on some of the entries to the city, I think it’s becoming more and more obvious that things are better in the county than they are in the city, at least in terms of the conditions of our streets…we’ve got some potholes that are unacceptable.”

City Councilman Erik Bethel echoed City Councilman Rose’s sentiments by stating the following: “Regarding what to do with the money, I think it would be prudent to put some in reserves, but we should also think about, I think it’s obligation of any government to not only provide public safety to it’s citizens, but also to provide a good infrastructure. And right now our road infrastructure and general infrastructures are in need of repairs.”

Note: In The Carmel Pine Cone article of 15 September 2006, “Budget report: city finishes fiscal year with an extra $700K,” Mary Brownfield wrote, “and councilman Erik Bethel said it would be prudent to put some of the money in reserves, which were depleted for capital improvements last year.” Misleading readers, Mary Brownfield included the first part of Erik Bethel’s statement, but neglected to include the last part of his statement. Additionally, City Administrator Rich Guillen stated that reserves were “depleted for capital improvements last year.” More incomplete and misleading reporting from The Carmel Pine Cone!

Comments:
Apparently the reality of the County outperforming the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea motivated City Councilman Gerard Rose to at least address one aspect of Carmel-by-the-Sea’s deferred maintenance, namely the condition of our roads. Embarrassment as a motivating force, in lieu of a proactive policy of consistently budgeting for deferred maintenance projects, does not exactly inspire confidence in this City Council’s leadership!