Thursday, August 20, 2009

Missive to Carmel-by-the-Sea Voters on the Flanders Mansion Property

On the 3 November 2009 General Election Ballot, there will appear a Ballot Measure to approve or disapprove discontinuance and abandonment of, and authorization to sell, the Flanders Mansion Property Public Parkland; specifically, the Question on the Ballot will read, as follows:

Shall discontinuance and abandonment of the Flanders Mansion Property (APN 010-061-005) as public parkland, and authorization to sell the Flanders Mansion Property "with Conservation Easements and Mitigation" as passed on May 12, 2009 by the City of Carmel-by-the-Sea City Council by Resolutions No. 2009-30 through 2009-33, be approved?

Substantive reasons for Carmel-by-the-Sea voters to vote “No” include, as follows:

Creation of an inholding within Mission Trail Nature Preserve thereby destroying the physical integrity of the City’s only Preserve Park and the removal of the focal point which makes Mission Trail Nature Preserve unique and differentiates Mission Trail Nature Preserve from all other parks in Carmel-by-the-Sea and elsewhere.

Permanent transfer of ownership of a National Register of Historic Places resource from the public to a private owner thereby precluding any future public use of the Flanders Mansion.

Reward a mayor and city council for their abysmal stewardship of the Flanders Mansion Property and for their failure to acknowledge correspondence and meet with the Flanders Foundation with the aim of determining a public use for the Flanders Mansion.

Undecided Carmel-by-the-Sea voters and voters inclined to vote “Yes” would be wise to ask and answer the following questions prior to voting on this Ballot Measure:

In its news articles and editorial commentaries, has The Carmel Pine Cone informed Carmelites of the objective facts for the purpose of empowering voters to make the wisest decision or has The Carmel Pine Cone attempted to manipulate public opinion in support of Mayor Sue McCloud’s personal agenda of selling the Flanders Mansion with unscientific polls and misleading propaganda from the City, ex., past city councils have intended to sell the Flanders Mansion?

Is the sale of the Flanders Mansion Property less about the sale of a public asset and more about Mayor Sue McCloud’s personal antipathy towards Flanders Foundation President Melanie Billig?

Has Mayor Sue McCloud represented primarily the interests of her constituents, the owners of the Flanders Mansion, or the interests of the Hatton Fields neighbors, who have been given veto power over any reasonable use of the Flanders Mansion Property?

Since the Carmel Heritage Society manages the city-owned First Murphy House and Sunset Cultural Center, Inc. manages the city-owned Sunset Center for the benefit of the public, why doesn’t the City have the Flanders Foundation, the sole nonprofit with the mission “To preserve, enhance, and maintain the Flanders Mansion property as an historical, cultural, and educational resource for the benefit of residents and visitors to Carmel-by-the-Sea,” manage the Flanders Mansion for the benefit of the public, particularly park users?

In closing, we, as Carmelites, and our elected city government representatives, will be judged by future generations of Carmelites according to how responsible we were in managing this unique, historic public asset entrusted to our care. To wit, only by voting to maintain the Flanders Mansion as a public asset, voting “No,” and demanding a commitment by the City Council to the upkeep and maintenance of the Flanders Mansion and to determine and implement a viable public use for the Flanders Mansion, can we hope to be judged as good stewards of the Flanders Mansion Property.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have not seen anywhere and I do not believe it was addressed in the economic feasibility analysis of the property the feasibility or probability of a buyer willing to spend $2 million for the parcel including easements, add $2 million more for remodel, only to be surrounded on all sides by public parkland. The analysis did say there were no comparable properties in the vicinity. This could mean from a real estate perspective that there are no potential buyers for a multimillion dollar property in a park. Voters should take this prospect into consideration also and put themselves in the shoes of a potential buyer. Would they buy Flanders Mansion for $2 million, put $2 million more in to make it habitable and be surrounded by dogs and people walking around their front and back yards?

Anonymous said...

Vote NO to sell the Flanders Mansion in the heart of Mission Trail Park.

Sue McCloud and the council like to mislead voters by saying the council is only putting it on the ballot for the voters to decide as if they did not take a position. This is disingenuous at best and lying at worst. The council voted to sell the Flanders Mansion before they we caught by the court in their illegal attempt to sell it. Now they say they are all for the people deciding with a lawsuit in process claiming the city illegally went about selling it another time.

Voters need to send a message to the mayor and council and tell them NO on the sale because no city concerned with the public would put this sale on the ballot with a lawsuit in progress. And we know the city has a very bad record on the selling of Flanders and most everything else they do.