Get the facts and "Vote Yes to Stop the Lens."

Voters have been misinformed by the city's spin and are in need of unbiased information to make this critical decision.

The public deserves an apples to apples comparison of the Lens and a renovated pyramid. The newspaper and city present an unrealistically high cost estimate for renovating the current pier, false statements about its life span and false statements about what the Lens will offer.

Here is a short list of possible choices.

1) The Lens. Cost: $50 million for Phase I, $150 million if completed
2) Renovated pier. Cost: $50 million, or up to $15 million without retail or auto access 
3) A new shorter pier. Cost: $1- $5 million 
4) Funding other downtown priorities and not building a new pier. Cost: Demolition of existing pier.
5) Private funding. Cost: 0

1) The Lens- The local newspaper sells the public unfunded features of the Lens that may not be possible even if taxpayers want to fund phase II. Remember the city bought a project first priced at $150 million. To stay within the $50 million budget for Phase I the city keeps downsizing the Lens and substituting cheaper materials. The whole concept of the Lens as a place to view an underwater garden was the first to go. We basically get a long hot sidewalk with a terribly expensive sculpture on top and a snack bar and restrooms at the end. The last minute addition of an air conditioned restaurant is pure fantasy. The handful of visitors expected won't support a hot dog cart.

2) Renovated pier- The Times and the city have presented a plan for an $87 million pier renovation that nobody advocates; this plan was solely developed to exceed the $50 million budget and give an excuse for demolishing the pier. A realistic plan for renovating the pier within budget was developed and ignored. This plan saved money by cutting the unneeded overwater parking strip, making the road narrow and moving the retail close to shore where construction is cheaper and the walk to Beach Drive much shorter.

Downsized renovated pier- Another option is to renovate the pyramid without the first floor retail and build a Lens style sidewalk for a total cost of under $15 million. This option has all the Lens offers and more at less than half the cost. The city wants to demolish the pier before this option can be considered. 

3) New shorter pier- A shorter pier without the pyramid saves most of the cost and it might be possible to reuse the existing approach. Can we safely use it for more years if trucks and buses are not allowed?

4) No pier- The next option is no pier. We have enough to attract people downtown without trying to compete with baseball and all the existing businesses. Unfunded projects in the downtown plan could be done on a pay as you go basis if we cut the pier and we save the cost of borrowing.

5) Private funding- A fifth option is to offer the pier to private investors. People will say "We don't want Disney on our waterfront", but an investor who knows the entertainment business can bring in ideas to make it work.

We could save most of the $50 million budget and use it to reduce taxes or provide money for other priorities.