08/09/2006

More than 70 percent say no to bond issue

By
Record-Eagle staff writer

Record-Eagle/Tyler Sipe
City Commissioner Deni Scrudato reads precinct results from Tuesday's election in which voters defeated a bond proposal for a public parking deck in downtown Traverse City at an election-night party at her home. Reacting to the news are, from left, Michael Estes, Ellen Fivenson, Scrudato and Jim Carruthers.

TRAVERSE CITY — City voters are all decked out.

More than 70 percent of Traverse City voters who cast ballots Tuesday rejected a bond issue of up to $16 million to pay for a public parking deck on West Front Street.

The deck plan was part of a 100-foot-tall, mixed use development by Federated Properties. The public deck would have been the city's second.

Project opponents defeated the bond issue proposal by a 2,823 to 1,142 tally.

"Slowly, Traverse City is taking its city back," said Jim Carruthers, spokesman for a group that campaigned against the ballot proposal.

The project and its financing gained near-unanimous city commission support, forcing residents who opposed the bond issue to collect signatures to place the proposal on the ballot. City commissioner Deni Scrudato was the only commissioner to vote against the public parking deck plans during the approval process.

Project opponents said the vote showed the city commission was out of touch with its constituents.

"It's time for them to start listening to us," Carruthers said.

Mayor Linda Smyka said the city still needs to work "very hard to make downtown viable."

But as to the public parking deck proposal: "We certainly got the message loud and clear," Smyka said.

"This was always a long-term plan and I think that, often times, that is a difficult thing for folks to envision," she said.

Project supporters praised the plan as a way to strengthen the downtown, remove surface parking lots and transform blighted property.

"We worked very hard on this, there is no question that we were disappointed," said Peter Schmitz, chairman of the Downtown Development Authority and spokesman for the pro-deck campaign group.

Scrudato called the victory a "landslide."

"I would just like to think that a lot of people out there didn't like the smell of it," she said.

Jeff Culver cast a "no" ballot Tuesday at the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. He said the DDA should spend tax increment financing funds on a children's park or improved street lighting, not another public parking deck.

He was also uncomfortable with the role state Sen. Jason Allen played in the removal of an alternative public parking deck plan submitted to city officials by another West Front developer. Gerald Snowden said his plan could have cost millions less than the Federated Properties' proposal, but he withdrew it citing political pressure. Louis P. Ferris, the chief executive officer of Federated Properties contributed $20,000 to an Allen political fund.

Culver said he supported the idea of building "up not out" and strengthening the downtown.

"If (Allen) just admitted he played a role in something funny, but he won't even go on record to explain what happened...," Culver said. "That's probably the No. 1 reason why I swayed back to the 'no' side."

Project detractors decried the deck's public funding, the size of the building and speculated about the need for another public deck. Schmitz said there were "clouds" tied to the vote that weren't just about the bond issue. He said the DDA was correct to support the project.

"I don't believe it was out of touch at all. I believe it is more an issue of the facts and the clarity," Schmitz said.

Carruthers said the public was against the project all along, but city officials "must have had blinders on."

"We are so excited," he said. "It was a small group of volunteers. We didn't have the money; we didn't have the influence."