Editoral, what's the story on the Story?

A couple of weeks ago the Chronicle ran an extensive front page story about the Story Mansion.

The article informs us that the “Becker Amendment,” named after Commissioner Sean Becker, stipulated that the City would allocate $392,000 from property tax revenues to the mansion so that the City could qualify for a $500,000 federal grant. Somehow connected to this is a group called the Friends of Story Mansion. They committed to raise money and repay this amount within two years. If they failed, the mansion was to be sold.

The transaction seems strange. It has the appearance of a loan, but the Friends never received any money. So I have some questions. Why would the City make the success of the fundraising effort a contingency for its decision to sell the mansion? The Friends are a non-government group which has no connection to the financial picture other than the fund raising commitment. Indeed, there is no obligation to pay the money back. So what exactly was the purpose of this agreement, other than to be an unofficial tax collection department?

Oh, the money. The feds gave $1.3 million to the project, plus another $2.3 million came from the City itself (including the $392,000?). To this amount we must add the loss of property tax revenue that would have been paid if a private party owned it (let’s assume $40,000 per year for past 5 years). Of course, we also need to consider what other projects might have been funded had all this tax money not been spent on the mansion.

On top of that the article tells us that income generated from the use of the mansion totaled $38,000 in the last year and a half, while expenses amounted to $31,000. And, apparently a substantial number of the 262 users paid nothing. Can anyone say boondoggle?

So let’s break it down. The cumulative cost to the taxpayer is around $4,000,000 (!) to purchase and preserve a mansion that was built by Story’s son (the father’s more opulent and historically significant mansion on Main Street was demolished by the City in the 1970s). It remains a continual drain on the City’s resources. The city has no reasonable expectation that it will recover the money from the Friends. Happily, the City does gain a party other than itself to affix blame.

But let’s go deeper. Where does the City Charter authorize the commissioners to purchase a building for historic preservation? Where does the Charter authorize the commissioners to connect city business to a private fund raising effort by a group that has shown little more than good intentions? Is there any limit at all on the City’s authority to throw money around on whatever pet project that happens by?

And how about this: The law stipulates that the mansion must be sold for at least 90% of its appraised value. The mansion is zoned R-1, which limits its use. And, any purchaser would have to honor the historic preservation easement. Does this all sound like everything possible has done to make the mansion unattractive to potential buyers?

This has the feel of someone dealing from the bottom of the deck, a grand scheme to do whatever it takes to satisfy a leftist itch to keep the mansion out of private hands, no matter the cost. How wonderful it must be to have unlimited access to other peoples’ money, especially in these difficult economic times.

The article ironically quotes Commissioner Becker: “It’s important that (city officials) are responsible stewards of all city assets.” Um, yeah, when exactly does that start happening?