New Committee Takes Up City Hall's Future, and Its Price Tag

Larkspur's newly formed City Hall Study Citizens Advisory Committee held its kickoff meeting Tuesday, tasked by the council with recommending a path forward for the aging, historic building. Mayor Stephanie Andre welcomed the volunteer members: "So welcome everyone to the kickoff meeting of the City Hall Citizens Advisory Committee. So you guys are the committee. Congratulations." Their homework: evaluate three renovation options from a historic structures report, ranging from a $6 million short-term repair package to a $23.5 million full 50-year renovation, with a $20 million middle option good for 20-25 years.

“I don't want to know about that. That's my answer. Don't tell me that happened or I don't know about it.”— City Attorney, on committee members sharing memos or texts outside official channels · ▶ Watch this exchange

Staff cautioned the cheaper option isn't a down payment on the bigger one — spending $6 million now wouldn't reduce the cost of the $23.5 million option later — and warned the estimates themselves may already be dated. "There's an escalator in there assuming that we knew what we were doing pretty much today... we never anticipated tariffs at this level, we didn't anticipate a war in Iran," staff told the group.

The liveliest debate was over scope. Some members floated alternatives to keeping city offices in the building at all, from an arts space to hybrid commercial uses, but staff reminded them a prior council vote already designated City Hall a civic building — changing that would require a new council resolution. Council Member Katherine Wade, on the losing side of that earlier vote, put it bluntly: "That was a 3-2 vote. And I lost on that one." Mayor Andre noted the range of public appetite, from a community arts space with music and kids' programs to simply fixing what's there, adding, "I don't think anyone wants to see this building torn down."

Funding remains wide open — bonds, grants, private donations, and possibly a ballot measure are all on the table, though staff warned grants at this scale are unlikely outside a COVID-era windfall like the one that covered a third of the new library. The city manager noted elected officials "may not want to take a $30 million burden ... without going to the voters," even though a vote isn't strictly required. On committee logistics, the city attorney warned members to keep business off personal email to avoid public-records exposure, cutting off a question about group texts and memos with a dry: "I don't want to know about that. That's my answer. Don't tell me that happened or I don't know about it." Next up: a full building walkthrough, a review of the historic structures report, and election of a chair and vice chair once two absent members weigh in.