The Price Isn’t Right
by Larry Gilbert

Reporter Mona Shadia's front-page headline in the Oct. 18 Saddleback Valley News/OC Register reads "Dog park needs more money." Her subtitle reads: "Additional funds would push the price tag to $1.4 million."

I have covered Mission Viejo's million-dollar dog park in a prior Facebook post as well as in the August issue of www.ccsense.com http://www.ccsense.com/2013/09/the-million-dollar-dog-park.html where I challenged the Register reporter to disclose the entire project cost as of that date. Reporter Mona Shadia had reported $888,888, yet according to city documents the tab was $1,121,176. However, that is not the end of the project.

There is a major difference between incompetent project management and outright staff deception. In the case of the dog park, at my request, Mayor Reardon asked staff to provide the total estimated cost before we approved the initial contract. It is unconscionable that Assistant City Manager Keith Rattay chose to avoid answering her valid question.

Fast forward to the recent request for $190,600 for additional irrigation. Now let's get real. Did staff ever foresee that we would have a dust bowl after all the cut and fill creating this park?

Quoting from the Oct. 18 News. Mayor Pro Tem Trish Kelley said "it was clear all along that the initial construction of the dog park did not include the entire irrigation system." She adds: "We knew from the outset that the initial funding for the dog park was just bare bones and there would be other things that would come along, and the irrigation system will allow us to have the opportunity now to begin planting."

Trish. As you knew what other features and materials would be added, why weren't we told from the outset?

After we hammered staff for 15 Change Orders to one contractor on the expansion of the Norman P Murray Community Center (where the project cost tripled), staff resorted to a method to avoid cost overrun feedback from the public. We'll simply initiate Capital Improvement Projects in "Phases." Using this method they can avoid resident complaints. Once a project has commenced, these additions often appear as "routine items" on the Consent calendar.

Hey, we're even going to add a boulder climbing wall for dogs in this state-of-the-art park.