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<br />- <br /> <br />Gary and Julie Humphreys <br />2112 N. Ross Street <br />Santa Ana, CA 92706 <br />(714) 541-3452 <br /> <br />June 28, 2004 <br /> <br />Mayor Miguel Pulido, <br />City Clerk and members of the Santa Ana City Council <br />20 Civic Center Plaza, 8th Floor <br />PO Box 1988-M30 <br />Santa Ana, CA 92702 <br /> <br />Re: One Broadway Plaza Project <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Pulido and City Council Members: <br /> <br />I am writing as a parent of an OCHSA student, a concerned resident of Floral Park, and a reliable <br />registered voter to express my many concerns about the proposed One Broadway Plaza project. <br /> <br />Student Safety: I attended the June 14, 2004 Santa Ana Planning Commission meeting on the <br />One Broadway Plaza project and was appalled by the total disregard by Commission members <br />for the very real and identifiable safety issues created by the proposed development as to <br />OCHSA and other nearby public school students. In fact, planning commission member Chris <br />Leo not only disparagingly dismissed these "safety issues" as simply a last-ditch effort to delay <br />this project, he also displayed his total ignorance of the applicable law by falsely stating that <br />such safety iss].les were solely the concern of the school district, and not the city. Commission <br />member Glen Mondo, who should have recused himself from this matter because he also sits on <br />the OCHSA Board of Trustees-and, thus has a fiduciary obligation toward the safety of the <br />OCHSA students-should have corrected Mr. Leo on this important legal point, but inexplicably <br />chose to remain silent. <br /> <br />To the extent that you or any other member of the City Council also shares the common, but <br />mistaken, opinion that the safety of students traveling to and from school is the sole <br />responsibility of the school district and not the city, this is simply wrong. To the extent that the <br />city creates a dangerous condition on public property, it is the city that faces liability for any <br />damages caused thereby. In fact, given the city of Santa Ana's past actions with respect to the <br />closure of Tenth St., Santa Ana could face significant liability if this project is allowed to <br />proceed as currently planned. If you have any doubts about the potential liability of the city for <br />an accident on Tenth St. (say by a car hitting a student crossing at Sycamore), I strongly urge you <br />to seek an immediate legal opinion from the city attorney (or, better yet, from an independent <br />law firm experienced in municipal liability) prior to voting on this project. It shouldn't take any <br />competent attorney more than a few hours to confirm this important legal point for you. <br /> <br />75E-56 <br />