County needs to move quickly on assessing public safety building

Marin Independent Journal Editorial

Posted: 04/28/2011 03:00:00 AM PDT

IT MAKES SENSE for Marin to take a closer look at whether the Marin Commons office complex could be turned into the county's public safety complex.

The other choice is building a new facility near the Marin Civic Center.

It appears the county could save money in both short- and long-term costs by buying the office complex just west of Highway 101 off Lucas Valley Road.

County staff estimates it could cost $450,000 more to find out whether the Marin Commons meets the county's space and security needs as well as to determine the seismic safety of the 1970s-era building.

That's a lot of money, especially right now, when services are being cut and county workers being laid off.

The evaluation process also means spending more on consultants, which makes us nervous for the reasons in the previous sentence.

The public safety project is a worthy — if expensive — one.

Supervisors need to get the county's communications center and emergency services out of the Civic Center and into a building more capable of surviving a major earthquake. Two grand jury reports have stressed the importance of completing this project as soon as possible.

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