THE CITY BROKE THE LAW AND THE PUBLIC HAS A RIGHT TO KNOW

The public comment process that the City conducted for the land swap was flawed to the point of being invalid. The City and the Broadmoor employed sophisticated techniques which are illegal, and do not happen by coincidence. During the entire process the opposition was stonewalled and insulted. At more than one meeting I was intimidated by City and Broadmoor officials. At the meeting on March 14th, Mr. Damioli of the Broadmoor promised that at the next meeting he would disclose the full scope of their plans for Strawberry Fields. He failed to honor his promise at the next meeting, and when asked about that Karen Palus told us that the Broadmoor was not required to provide that information. That implies collusion. To this day the Broadmoor has not provided this information. Presentations by both the City and the Broadmoor contained fluff, and conspired to frustrate the opposition. At the Park Advisory Board meeting their presentations lasted for hours, and the opposition was forced to wait seven hours before having an opportunity to speak. On March 14th Councilman Tom Strand promised that a time for Citizens Discussion would be provided in which people could speak for three minutes each. I waited for that time slot and it never came. Some people were allowed to speak for a long time, and many others had no opportunity to speak at all. At one meeting Mr. Damioli stated that they planned to put one hundred picnic tables at Strawberry Fields, at another meeting he said one hundred people. I asked the city about this and they refused to answer. The City also used fear and deception to exaggerate the need for the land swap. The City claimed that owning that land would make it would be easier to get an alternate route down from the Incline. Where is that alternate route today? The City claimed that if the Cog Railway was ever sold the new owner might close the Barr Trail. Was there not a bill making its way through Congress to give the Forest Service a permanent easement? The City claimed that they lacked the resources to take care of Strawberry Fields. Most of what was needed was just fencing and graffiti removal. I asked the City over and over to disclose the cost of the needed repairs on the Barr Trail. City refused to answer. Now the City tells me that over $200,000 has already been spent on those repairs. The public had a right to know that the land we were acquiring needed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work. The public comment process is invalid because both the City and the Broadmoor refused to provide the information that the public asked for, and needed to make an informed decision. All land that was exchanged must be returned to its original owner immediately.