California lawmakers are bulldozing ahead with a costly demolition of the East Annex and a plan to block public access to the West Steps and destroy Capitol Park.
Now is not the time to burden taxpayers with a $1.4 billion debt for the next 30 years. It’s time to increase public safety and save the historic West Steps.
The Capitol Annex Project is another example of this arrogance. What was sold to the public as a $543 million renovation has now exploded to more than $1.1 billion.
For more than half a decade, advocates of the state Capitol have sounded the alarm about the $1.1 billion Capitol annex project. This venture is a textbook example of how not to run a public works project.
The Legislature has exempted the project from CEQA and refuses to release details on what is being built or its costs, despite the state’s chronic, multibillion-dollar budget deficit
Save Our Capitol! is working to preserve the historic Capitol and its surrounding Park, including hundreds of irreplaceable trees. Alternatives exist to make the new Annex safe and compatible without spending more than $1.2 billion to excavate the West Steps, build a new parking garage, and rebuild the Annex with an all-glass facade.