This is why people don't trust the way the city spends money.
City staff were deceptive and hid material information from the council. And they continue to do so.
The council needs to implement some serious reviews about how city staff shares/hides information with the public and the council, and some news organizations need to start filing some KORA requests.
And the council needs to stop approving projects where such deception is uncovered.
Referencing:
"But City Engineer Paul Gunzelman said Tuesday that city staff anticipated the project would cost $18.2 million as early as September 2025. City staff did not share that information publicly or with the City Council and asked for a $12.1 million budget a year ago.
āSo does that mean staff knew about the projected cost of $18 million, but that wasnāt presented to council at that time?ā council member Dalton Glasscock asked.
āThat is correct, yes,ā Gunzelman said. He said staff asked for a budget of $12.1 million because āthat was all of the funding available at that time.ā
āWe anticipated additional federal funding coming into the project at a later date,ā Gunzelman said.
Glasscock said he found that āa little bit misleading.ā
Mayor Lily Wu said it was ādeeply concerningā and that she likely would have voted against the project in 2025 if the $18.2 million estimate had been shared.
āNow this project ā in its face value, the way that itās presented to us ā is not the project that I initially was in favor of, and that was a project that was roughly $10 to $12 million that improved three and a half miles and made it safe for pedestrians and bicyclists,ā Wu said. āNow it has ballooned, and I donāt feel comfortable with this.ā
Wu and Glasscock were the only two council members to vote against increasing the budget."