Fremont City Council Session 5/22 - Minor item

From a note sent out earlier today:

FROM: CITY OF FREMONT

SUBJECT: BALLPARK VILLAGE PROJECT - GENERAL GUIDELINES

This is to advise you that an agenda item has been scheduled for the regular City Council meeting of Tuesday, May 22, 2007, on a proposed set of General Guidelines for use in negotiations on the Oakland A's proposed Ballpark Village Project. The City Council meeting begins at 7:00 p.m.

The meeting will be held in the City Council Chambers located at 3300 Capitol Avenue, Building A, Fremont, California.

If you have any questions regarding this agenda item, please contact Economic Development Director Daren Fields at (510) 284-4020 or at dfields@ci.fremont.ca.us

I think I'll sit this one out and check out the webcast instead. I like process, but not that much.

---

Update: The Merc's Barry Witt has the scoop on the agreement up for consideration:

As part of a list of proposed "guidelines" to steer negotiations between the city and the A's, City Manager Fred Diaz said "there should be no future un-reimbursed general fund financial obligations or liabilities."

Sounds like a good public gesture for both parties. Of course, when they say "general fund" they're conveniently leaving TIF funds out of the agreement. That's not to say that usage of TIF is a bad thing. A few days ago I outlined a couple of ways TIF could be used for positive community benefit when the time comes. However, that requires a level of restraint and discipline that too often is not applied when TIF comes into play.