Turlock stadium project goes out of bounds

There's no doubt that football field and track at Turlock High School show their age -- nearly 60 years -- and need significant upgrades.

But should the city of Turlock spend $2.8 million of its limited redevelopment money -- by law supposed to be aimed at eradicating physical and economic blight -- to repair them?

The City Council voted last week to do precisely that, and the Turlock Unified School District board tonight will talk about putting the project on a fast pace, with the goal of trying to get it done by the start of the 2010 football season.

While it appears to be a legal expenditure, we don't think the stadium project meets the spirit of California's redevelopment law -- or the city's stated mission for its redevelopment (printed here).

City Councilman Ted Howze championed this project and eventually won support from three of his council colleagues at last week's meeting. Mayor John Lazar could not vote because he owns property near the high school.

The council approved a list of seven projects, totaling almost $20 million, for funding in the 2009-10 budget, and an additional 14 proposed projects over the five-year plan, 2010-14. The city expects to have about $25 million available during the five-year period.

Most of the 2009-10 projects do a better job of meeting the redevelopment's stated purpose of reducing blight and promoting economic development. A little more than $8.4 million is budgeted toward a new public safety center, to be located downtown and within the designated redevelopment area. The $3.2 million earmarked for interchange and infrastructure improvements in the Westside Industrial Area will boost job creation potential. Thus, both of those are logical, justifiable redevelopment projects.

The council made the stadium project politically palatable by keeping on the funding short list $3 million toward rebuilding the downtown Carnegie Arts Center, which was badly damaged by fire in 2005. Earlier in the summer, it appeared that the arts center and the athletic field would be competing with each other.

Howze argues that the improved football stadium, with a synthetic field and year-round traffic, has the potential to increase tourism in Turlock. We're skeptical at best.

In addition to questioning the appropriateness of using redevelopment funds to improve the athletic facilities, we must note two other things:

The state has threatened to grab redevelopment money from cities throughout California to address state budget problems. Cities responded with a lawsuit and the issue is hung up in the courts. So there's a chance that Turlock won't get all the money it is expecting. If the Debely Field project is pushed quickly, it could get funding ahead of others with more merit and that have been on the list for years.

The timing is political. There's a push to get the stadium and track redone by September, in time for the next sports season but also coinciding with next Turlock council race. Howze and Lazar's seats are both up for election next year, as is that of Councilman Kurt Spycher.