Santa Clara urges LTD to build trust with neighborhoods
3 min read
LTD General Manager Aurora Jackson at the October 2020 board meeting.
Presenter: Santa Clara neighborhood leaders asked LTD to join them in the slow and methodical work of building trust between citizens and public agencies.
That request comes after LTD scheduled a board vote to declare the former Santa Clara Elementary School site as surplus property. Neighbors said LTD ‘breached every tenet of trust-building.’
At the Oct. 21, 2020 LTD board meeting, Santa Clara Community Organization Chair Kate Perle:
[00:00:28] Kate Perle (Santa Clara Community Organization): Reaching out to the residents, listening to their needs and experiences, collaboratively creating a plan for the future. That’s what we’ve been doing, all the while building trusting relationships based on repeated good-faith actions.
In contrast, your choice to take action on disposal of property that’s integral to this plan and central to our community’s history without any form of advance notice or consultation, breached every tenet of trust-building.
[00:00:56] Presenter: One longtime Santa Clara resident said the neighborhood has worked hard to reverse a longstanding culture of distrust with public agencies.
[00:01:05] Then LTD proposed the board decision on the Hunsaker property. Jeff Parker:
[00:01:10] Jeff Parker: Many residents in this neighborhood were shocked to find that this was on the agenda.
[00:01:14] And I would just like to correct one thing that AJ (LTD General Manager Aurora Jackson) mentioned was that the motion was not just to declare it surplus. The motion was to declare it surplus and give full control to the general manager for its disposal. And that’s very different than just declaring it surplus.
[00:01:28] Presenter: The former school site is critical to the Santa Clara and River Road neighborhoods’ long term planning. The neighborhoods said they should have been informed. Kate Perle:
[00:01:40] Kate Perle (Santa Clara Community Organization): Your choices have consequences, and they don’t exist in a vacuum. You’ve received years of support and advocacy from our organization when you sought funding for the transit station and when you wanted to amend our neighborhood plan to suit your needs.
[00:01:54] Choosing to disregard what could be a community win-win-win with your transit station situated next to a vibrant urban plaza surrounded by a mix of services that neighbors want and need is the height of hubris. And by all accounts, a poor choice on your part.
[00:02:09] Presenter: Jeff Parker:
[00:02:11] Jeff Parker: If board members have not had a chance to look at the letter from the Santa Clara Community Organization that is dated Oct. 18, I think they should, because in it, it describes the good-faith negotiations that have been happening between that organization and LTD about that specific property.
[00:02:27] In fact, I remember being in the room in a meeting in 2018 when Andy Vobora showed us a print of what that would look like and it clearly showed a community plaza, which this community desperately needs.
[00:02:39] Presenter: Building trust takes time and effort. Kate Perle:
[00:02:42] Kate Perle (Santa Clara Community Organization): A large part of our work has been creating relationships between residents, municipalities, service districts, and agencies that are based on transparent communication, shared outcomes, and recognizing opportunities to work together to help us move toward a more resilient and fruitful future.
[00:03:00] Building these relationships of trust takes time and continual effort. A show of good-faith actions and follow-up, repeated over and over for years, is the hallmark of this trust.
[00:03:10] Presenter: LTD general manager Aurora Jackson and the LTD board moved quickly to respond. Board member Stephen Yett suggested postponing the vote and giving LTD time to engage with the neighborhood.
[00:03:23] Santa Clara resident Patrick Kerr:
[00:03:25] Patrick Kerr (SCCO): Thank you to the board for taking the time to acknowledge the Hunsaker property and the implications that it has. It is a gem of a location. I do echo Kate and Jeff’s sentiments.
[00:03:37] Presenter: Beyond Santa Clara and River Road, LTD shocked neighborhoods last November with its Transit Tomorrow plan, which would eliminate most outlying neighborhood routes.
[00:03:47] Southeast Neighbors recently sent a letter to LTD asking for more collaboration with neighborhoods.
