Gen Katz, of Friends of the Oakland Public Library, rebuts Judy Offer’s letter in opposition to Measure N, saying among other things that reuse of the Kaiser Center would be no more expensive that the alternative of increasing the height of the existing Main Library.

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Judy Offer’s “No” on N means no air conditioning for Rockridge, no accessible public toilets for Elmhurst and Lakeview; no expansion (ranging from 30 to 300 percent) planned for Asian, Dimond, Lakeview, Main, Piedmont, and West Oakland; and abandoning the new libraries planned for East Oakland and Laurel. Measure N funds will provide improvements and renovations for every library in Oakland.

But let’s get to the point of Judy’s objection for the Main library’s expansion into the Kaiser Center Auditorium. From her letter, I presume that Judy would not be adverse to the Main expanding by increasing the height of the existing building. The feasibility study showed that adding two floors would cost approximately the same as the reuse of the Kaiser Center. So her main objection seems to be the use of the Kaiser Center.

She suggested circuses and dog and pony shows—it hasn’t happened. Kaiser Center is shuttered. Buildings that are shuttered quickly deteriorate. The existing library building, when vacated, will not stay empty for long. Many agencies are looking for downtown expansion.

And while I am at it, the new location is a major improvement. How many of you have tried parking downtown? The Kaiser/Main will still be accessible by public transportation but it will have parking for cars and bikes— making it available to many who wouldn’t venture downtown.

As for the money… Yes, I watch my tax bill grow. The government is in the business of printing money —not making money. Everything we want we have to pay for in some way. I put my dollars on Oakland libraries. (And I consider Dimond my personal library.)

— Gen Katz

[Editor’s note: This letter is one in a series of three related letters:

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