Good morning, Stockton.
Today we published an investigative story about the unseen spending that has driven the ever-spiraling cost of Stockton’s project to refurbish its New City Hall.
The city bought the Waterfront Towers buildings in 2017, but they’re still empty, and renovation costs have ballooned by more than 30% since work began.
As Aaron Leathley’s special report reveals, most of the cost increases were never reviewed nor voted on by City Council due to a policy that allows many city contracts to grow in cost, largely out of the public eye.
This kind of story requires research into obscure government documents and took Leathley months of digging.
We hope this journalism is enlightening and that you’ll support Stocktonia’s efforts to do more investigative reporting like this as we launch our fall fundraising campaign.
Can we count on you to help us reach our goal of raising $4,000 by Sept. 19?
Today’s top story
New City Hall contracts cost more than $40 million. Then they kept growing
By Aaron Leathley • Stocktonia
Three main contracts for the civic project have snowballed — one has nearly quadrupled — Stocktonia’s investigation found, based on documents and a city policy that are mostly unseen by the public.
▶ READ MORE: Stockton’s three city halls: An 18-year timeline of delays
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