Mr. Jensen's goals are quite close to what advocates of a new Civic Center say they want. He doesn't like the current Civic Center. He believes the Civic Center could be made much better than it is.

LBREPORT.com's views are honestly different. LBREPORT.com's opinion is that we want the least costly, most frugal fix for the current City Hall and Main Library. We think it was and is unbusinesslike not to invite real-world bids through an RFP process to learn the real-world cost of a City Hall retrofit. If city management and former Councils had done this in 2005 or 2007, City Hall's seismic issues might have been fixed by now; instead, city management's timeline (already behind schedule) appears to let City Hall's public safety seismic issues persist for years.

In contrast, Mr. Jensen cites the City's own documents to show troubling financial issues and present constructive financial options on the merits. His points stand in stark contrast to virutally all the other public testimony we've heard to date. Most speakers have dealt with matters irrelevant to taxpayer financial matters. Artist conceptions. Impressive designs. Affordable housing. Enough; first things first. It's time for the Council to deal intelligently with the public's money. That's why the Council should welcome, not throttle to three minutes, Mr. Jensen's testimony today.

The most recent Long Beach Business Journal includes an interview by its publisher, George Economides, with city management's point-man on the proposed Civic Center deal, Mike Conway. In our opinion, some of Mr. Conway's responses were alarming, including clinging to a foundational $12.6 million annual cost figure (plus annual CPI escalator.) Mr. Jensen has publicly questioned that key figure, itemizing reasons why management's figure shouldn't be believed. If management's foundational cost figure is wrong, the rest of the P3 transaction is wrong. In our view, it could end up siphoning off public dollars that could be better spent on police, fire, parks, libraries and the like for decades.

In 2002, a former Council approved a costly pension spike amid management assurances that made no sense but credulous Councilmembers may have thought would give them political cover. Instead, it was political velcro. The proposed P3 Civic Center transaction has the capacity to velcro today's Councilmembers to what Mr. Jensen says are similarly costly and avoidable long-term taxpayer consequences.

In the public's interests, and in their own political self-interests, Long Beach Councilmembers should let Mr. Jensen testify on the merits at length, and if necessary at future not-yet-scheduled study sessions, without fighting a 180 second countdown clock.

Lawmakers in Washington and Sacramento routinely invite contrary views at informational hearings, which is what a Council study session is supposed to be. They welcome the opportunity to hear, cross examine and sharpen issues on which they'll ultimately have to vote and face voter accountability.

Of course sixty minutes isn't enough time for a study session on this transaction's financial aspects. In our view, what's scheduled for North Long Beach today isn't a serious study session. It's meant to manipulate, not educate.

Although we candidly prefer a frugal retrofit that leaves City Hall and Main Library in place, we greatly respect what Mr. Jensen has done on the merits in questioning management's fiscal figures and offering constructive, less costly financial alternatives for a new Civic Center.

At today's study session, Councilmembers should let Mr. Jensen testify at meaningful length on the meris beyond three minutes, and field questions, all of which the Council can do. Long Beach taxpayers continue to bear the present day costs of previous Councils that told thoughtful, constructive taxpayers to sit down and shut up after three minutes.

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