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to see all of this first before she could make a final decision. Vice Mayor Howard stated she agreed that the interest should be used for the City Hall. Vice Mayor Howard said she was reluctant to cut corners, and did not want to short change the public on a building they want to be proud of. Councilman Ruskin stated that specifically he wanted to keep the Council Chambers in the building, that the roof was critical and should remain as close to the original design as possible. He was willing to see less brick, but there was a need to keep a certain amount, the expansion area should remain especially when changing the steel bracing would diminish flexibility. Councilman Ruskin said that the most important element was the role the new City Hall would play in Redwood City's public life. It will be a building that the City would live with for a long time. Buildings can detract if they are only functional or serve the bottom line, and people are impacted by the quality of their environment. "A beautiful building tells how we feel about each other and how the government feels about its people", and said that in five years from now "I'll feel much better about life in general and about this City in particular" with a beautiful City Hall. Councilman Ruskin said the Council needed to make the most economical decision possible, but also needed to create a beautiful building that the whole community could be proud of. Councilman Leipzig said he wanted to reassure everyone that he did not want to build an ugly building, he wanted a nice building. That was not the debate. "Everyone wants a nice building." But basically, "we are talking about office space." The Council was not building the State Capitol or Washington, D.C., and businesses will locate in Redwood City not for its City Hall, but because it is a well-run, well-managed City, a clean City with clean sidewalks, etc. Councilman Leipzig stated that people looking for homes and businesses do not choose an area because of what the City Hall looks like. Councilman Leipzig said he did not want the City to build a huge monument, and he did not care what folks 20 or 30 years down the road will think of his tenure on the Council. He stated he wanted to be a "watchdog for the taxpayers." He said he wanted to see the numbers first and then they could have a discussion of priorities. Councilman Leipzig said that the $9.5 million plus the accrued interest was just too much to spend on a City Hall. Councilman Leipzig said there should be more discussion on the use of that interest and the limited life of the Utilities Users Tax. Mayor Hartnett ended the evening's discussion by expressing his agreement with Councilman Leipzig with respect to money and options and the need to focus on cost and design integrity. But he added that the City Hall is not a mere office building, it is part of the civic center and the costs of a civic center are different from the costs of an office building. Mayor Hartnett stated that "we have to recognize that we are not just here on the Council to say what it is private businesses want, we have to say what does the community want." The people who spoke tonight said they wanted something much different from an office building. Mayor Hartnett said that the City had responsibly saved the money for this project over a period of years for a community asset. He thanked the prior Councils who had the foresight to save the money. Mayor Hartnett said "the cost was not $238 per square foot, but less than $200 for a civic center building that will be an attraction for the Special City Council Study Session Minutes MINUTE BOOK NO. 53 December 4, 1995 Page 10 Page No. 463 ._.... .... .. -000"'.""..".'.-""""""'-"'-"'--"'--'--"""'.-00.-__-