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No Courthouse group celebrates victory
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Anonymous user Tue Nov 30, 1999 00:00:00 PST
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0 responses 0 comments On May 24, the General Services Administration (GSA) sent a termination of contract notice to Castle & Cooke which cancelled their contract for construction of a federal courthouse.

This was the goal of residents who opposed the site selected as being too close to residential neighborhoods, a school, City Water Resources 10-million-gallon water storage tank and the city's premier park. It was viewed as irresponsible development. These same residents felt the courthouse should be located in the downtown central district for a host of reasons, listed on the Web site: www.nocourthouse.com.
  
It all began as a surprise to residents when, on February 18, 2006, The Bakersfield Californian reported “Not all happy with news of Southwest courthouse.” The developer Castle & Cooke announced it had been chosen to build the new Bakersfield federal courthouse on their property at the southeast corner of Stockdale Highway and Buena Vista Road.

The site selected for the project outraged the community. Residents quickly organized their protest under the leadership of Reba Thompson. She soon met Dana Tusaw, who has phenomenal internet skills, and the now well-known Web site: www.nocourthouse.com was born. Dana continued as webmaster.
  
Residents learned from a Californian article on March 2 that two Presidential Executive Orders give preference to central locations in federal building projects and may have been ignored in the selection process. Subsequently, it was learned from GSA's website that it had a similar policy of giving preference to central districts for building projects. It was also learned that the Southwest courthouse project was not the lowest price. All this resulted in a lot of procedural questions being asked throughout the community.
  
On March 7, SDA, Inc., a construction company that has built 30 buildings for GSA, including courthouses, and had submitted a proposal for a site at O and 17th streets, filed a formal protest, alleging four errors in the selection decision. The GSA protest official denied the appeal on April 11. SDA immediately exercised its last appeal option and filed a request with the General Accountability Office for a review of the selection process. This appeal was pending at the time of the contract termination.
  
At the March 8 city council meeting, Castle & Cooke President Bruce Freeman acknowledged community concerns over the site and indicated the developer had asked GSA to be relieved of the contract. GSA did not accept the request and notified Castle & Cooke that it expected them to fulfill their contractual obligation. On March 11,  a Californian article made readers aware of the nocourthouse.com Web site. Concerned residents visiting the site found it to be a source of up to date information. They signed the petition electronically, made comments and volunteered to help with the protest.
  
On March 17, 11 letters to the editor were published concerning the courthouse. Letters included one from Senator Boxer and one from Bernard Herman, cochair of the Vision 20-20 Committee. All except one strongly opposed the Southwest site. The lone dissenter gave nothing substantive for supporting the location.

There was growing concern in the community as GSA was not revealing any reasons in support of their site selection. Castle & Cooke said repeatedly they “won the bid fair and square.” The community was hearing from a few members of the Kern County Bar Association that the Southwest site should be accepted or GSA would punish Bakersfield by taking the courthouse away and not consider the project again for 10 or 15 years, depending on which attorney you heard it from.
  
The opposition group began meeting weekly and developed talking points opposing the Southwest location and advocating the merits of a downtown location. The theme “FEDERAL COUTHOUSE BELONGS DOWNTOWN” was chosen. A button was developed to publicize the theme, the group's Web site and signing the petition.
  
On the evening of April 6, the group held a well-advertised community meeting at Ronald Reagan Elementary School to discuss the courthouse project. More than 100 people attended. The meeting began with a Power Point presentation giving a detailed explanation of the grass roots organization's opposition to the project's location and presented the group's talking points. Several county supervisors and city council members attended the meeting. City Manager Alan Tandy was on hand to answer questions.
   
As time went on, more volunteers began to attend the weekly meetings. The group developed additional strategies for publicizing its concerns with the courthouse location that included lawn signs, decals, speakers at the Board of Supervisors and city council meetings and letter writing to elected officials and to The Bakersfield Californian.
  
During the grand opening activities of the Park at River Walk, the group organized a protest walk called “A Walk in the Park.” It was an event during which opposition members held signs depicting their theme, “FEDERAL COURTHOUSE BELONGS DOWNTOWN,” and walked peacefully through the park. The group also had an information table at the park with petitions available for signing.
  
These efforts resulted in the Board of Supervisors and the city council each unanimously adopting resolutions in support of a downtown courthouse site. With these two resolutions confirming the community's position, Senator Boxer immediately sent a second letter to GSA's regional administrator. Among other things, the letter said, “The community has spoken, and more than ever before, it is clear that GSA's insistence on a Southwest Bakersfield location, which is seven miles from downtown, is diametrically opposed to the wishes of the community. It is time that the GSA honors its obligation as a government agency and responds to the will and the best interests of the people of Bakersfield and those who will use the court.” Undoubtedly, the Senator's letter was influential in GSA's sending the notice of contract termination to Castle & Cooke.
  
The community won by stopping the ill-conceived courthouse project in the Southwest. GSA must now decide to either reconsider the offers involving downtown locations or start the process over. Whatever happens, hopefully, it will not be shrouded in secrecy and will be more open to the public.

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