“Who” dedicated “What”? Dr. Vernetti was an honorable and revered member of this community but the City of Coronado and its taxpayers are not credited with dedicating the fountain! If you have no claim or rights to the fountain, how can you dedicate it? The Rotary Club of Coronado did not contribute a PENNY to this fountain or the Plaza. Perhaps we can SHAME them into “FINING” themselves to pay for the operating cost for Rotary Plaza including the fountain with its 25 HP (Twenty-five Horsepower) pump and 6500 W (Six thousand five hundred Watts) of lights and the water to keep it at the optimum level from evaporation and spills. Some cost details you may have missed: The electrical control panel for the fountain: $30’000.00 The 25 HP Pump: $20’000.00 25 Lamps inside the fountain $600.00 EACH: $15’000.00 (None of the above includes the labor and materials to install them!) AND DO YOU THINK ….
… the Rotary Club of Coronado paid for any of the benches or tables? NOT!
Do you think they may have had a work party to assemble the benches or even to attach the Rotary International inserts (which they did furnish)? NOT!
ALL THIS BRANDING MAKES LOCALS AND VISITORS BELIEVE THAT THE ROTARY CLUB PAID AT LEAST FOR SOME OF THE PLAZA IMPROVEMENTS! NOT!! YOUR TAX DOLLARS PAID FOR ALL OF IT! WHY? Mayor Smizek, Al Ovrom and Phil Monroe, ALL ROTARIANS, ALL “FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE” voted for the $1.5+ Million expensive and environmentally irresponsible “Rotary” Plaza! Mayor Smizek frequently commented smilingly: “I have no problem with the 3:2 VOTES of the City Council!” “Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?” (The requirements for the Rotary sponsored essay contest) The Plaza IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC. Come to the Plaza dedication on on July 15 and voice YOUR OPINION on the BRANDING of a Public Plaza for a Club that has done NOTHING to earn this honor! In the meantime petition the City to REMOVE THE ROTARY INTERNATIONAL MEDALLIONS FROM THE BENCHES AND REPLACE THEM WITH THE SEAL OF THE CITY OF CORONADO! THE FOUNTAIN DESERVES A MODIFIED OR SECOND PLAQUE, THAT MAKES IT CLEAR THAT THE TAXPAYERS OF CORONADO PAID FOR THIS OUTRAGEOUSLY EXTRAVAGANT PLAZA, INCLUDING ITS FOUNTAIN, NOT THE ROTARY CLUB OF CORONADO!
