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The Record Founded in 1895 by Irving Martin Roger W. Mike Klocke Eric Coover Editor Grander Presidentand Donald W. Opinion -Page Publisher Blount Editor Managing Editor The Stockton City Coun- cil voted last week to spend $2 million to take this ramshackle property at Airport Way and Eighth Street off the hands of former City Councilman Ralph Lee White. The city wants to bulldoze these build- ings and build a new firehouse to replace an obsolete one up the street. CRAIG SANDERS/ The Record W editorials $2 million for that?! City Council overspends for rundown property he city paid how much? For that? If that was your reaction to the purchase of a ramshackle strip of south Stockton property for $2 million, you're not alone. None- theless, that's exactly what the city did on a unanimous council vote last week. They really had no choice. Part of the purchase was for land for a new firehouse on Airport Way. Mostly, the purchase was so the city can bulldoze Ralph White Bail Bonds and the old Club Luna, which might charitably be described as eyesores, that should have been con- demned years ago. The property is owned by the for- mer councilman, Ralph Lee White, who during his unsuccessful mayoral campaign last spring repeatedly said he was doing the city a favor — a big favor, he said with a grin — by letting his 2.9 acres go for a mere $2 million (actually $1.3 million for the property plus concessions White made for business relocation and other expenses). The city also has an option on an adjacent parcel for $750,000. "It's more or less giving some- thing back to the neighborhood, you know, than being selfish," White said. "They're really getting a hell of a deal, and I really don't mind mak- ing it because of what it's going to be for." One wonders if he said that with a straight face; others had a differ- ent view of his act of generosity. "We've just got to get that area cleaned up," Councilwoman Rebecca Nabors said. "It's going to allow us to clean up a very blighted intersection with a historyof police calls and nuisance issues," said acting Redevelopment Director Paul Blumberg. The city held off buying the property until an October appraisal put its value at $1.3 million. Yes, as a matter of fact, that is a hard figure to believe especially given the state of the commercial and residential real estate market these days. But that was the appraisal, and that what the city had to pay if offi- cials insisted on that piece of land. Still, the price of anything —from a tube of toothpaste to Ralph Lee White's run-down property — is what someone is willing to pay. And White found that the city was willing to pay $2 million. The act of kindness White is so eager to brag about would be easier to fathom if his claims of having offers of up to $3.2 million for the property seemed to have any credence. He tossed those figures around with abandon during the run-up to the mayoral primary (he finished fourth in a seven -way race) without once saying who might actu- ally be willing to pay so much for the privilege of razing his buildings. The city plans to replace an exist- ing firehouse on Airport Way just south of Charter Way with a new one on White's property. The old firehouse is 50 years old, in dis- repair and far from many of the homes and industrial buildings its crews protect. It's not clear what will happen to the old firehouse property. Maybe the city could sell it to White for, say,. $2 million.