Re “City considers bonds for One Beverly Hills project,” Aug. 14 issue

According to the Beverly Press/Park Labrea News, the Beverly Hills City Council is considering whether to assist the One Beverly Hills project by “authorizing the issuance of up to $550 million in bonds.”

The city’s reports and agenda attachments are nonsensical when one considers the bottom line: the 31,000 residents of Beverly Hills (every man, woman and child) will be liable for about $17,750 each in case the project goes bankrupt. The project already appears to be financially shaky because the developer needs the city’s bond for support.

How stupid would a resident be to agree to such a liability ($17,750)?

Pat Hollander

Beverly Hills

It is outrageous that the city of Beverly Hills is even thinking about issuing a giant $550 million municipal bond project to help the One Beverly Hills project pay for “public infrastructure and services.”

The developers of this project sold it to the residents of the city by promising improvements to sidewalks and streets and use, when permitted by the project, of park spaces within the project. They didn’t say that they would ask the city to issue bonds worth more than its annual budget for a project that has already gone bankrupt once.

They say that revenues from the project will pay for the bonds, but who is left responsible if this ill-conceived project goes bankrupt once again? Those who live in Beverly Hills?

From the start, there have been questions about irregularities in the vote counting for the initiative that approved the project, with rumors of special considerations offered to civic leaders for their support. The City Council should reject this blatant private grab of civic resources that endangers the finances of Beverly Hills and those who live in it.

Local, state and federal authorities including the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Public Integrity Division and the FBI should look into why this bond proposal has gotten as far as it has.

The 2002 Community Facilities District bond issue to improve Rodeo Drive and the surrounding area benefited the city. This bond issue would largely benefit only One Beverly Hills.

Privatizing the benefits of the project but putting the risks on the public is bad policy. Enough is enough.

Daniel Fink

Beverly Hills