John Gaccione

Date: 03/05/2021

Subject: Public Safety Building

From: The Ad Hoc Design Committee

In the pre-zip code days of yore, mail addressed to residents was accompanied by either “Upper Kensington” or “Lower Kensington”. The dividing line between the two sections was Arlington Avenue. The archaic view of two Kensingtons seems to have been resurrected.

This notion resurfaced when the question of how to proceed with the Public Safety Building was discussed on ND. Someone (no names) opining against relocating the police department to the Colusa Circle area asked the following question. Why locate the police headquarters further away from the majority of homes in Kensington on the border with El Cerrito? 

The location of the imaginary majority of homes in Kensington was not given. Perhaps the questioner is still mired in the divisive thinking of upper and lower Kensington. As for being on the border with El Cerrito, pssst…don’t look now but about a third of Kensington’s border is shared with the dreaded El Cerrito. No me diga!

Hopefully, antiquated thinking will not be part of the upcoming public meeting with the general managers from the KFD and the KPPCSD. The meeting is to review the scope and options for the Public Safety Building remodel. To avoid confusion and misunderstandings, representatives from both districts and the public will be updated on the status at the same time.

There are many questions about the remodel to resolve. What are the seismic, fire/life safety and code requirements needed to obtain county approval? Can the KFD and the KPD and all of their equipment fit into the remodeled building? Will the remodel be able to accommodate the next generation of fire fighting vehicles? 

Should we consider the Fire Chief and the Police Chief’s concerns expressed in their 01/07/21 memos indicating the shortcomings of joint occupation of the building? Perhaps we should consider separating the locations of the Fire and the Police in light of earthquake and wild fire dangers? Wouldn’t it be wise to locate one public safety department as far from the threat of an earthquake or wild fires as possible? How much will these options cost?

And wouldn’t you like to be a fly on the wall at the county building department when the Fire Board attempts to make their case that Kensington with a 2019 estimated household income of $157,467 requests an exception because it can’t afford to meet all the code requirements. 

“Meetings are indispensable when you don’t want to do anything.” (John Kenneth Galbraith)

Note: It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness. It was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity…