By A seemingly innocuous question-and-answer session last week between Los Altos city officials and downtown merchants, property owners and concerned residents proved one more time that the current city council and staff should not be in the real estate development business.

The city of Los Altos spent thousands in consulting fees two years back to decide that a hotel would best fit the controversial corner of Main and First streets. Now the city is trying to attract new developers for the site, while the originally approved developer, Roxy Rapp, said he has not been told that he’s out of the picture.

Rapp has offered the city $3 million cash for the lot the city purchased for about $1.9 million four years ago. His plan calls a boutique hotel and for 75 additional parking spaces for the public. Furthermore, he says he is willing to work out arrangements with the current tenants, Neilsen’s One Hour Martinizing and the Home Consignment Center, to free the city from further threats of condemnation proceedings.

Further proof of the city’s incapacity to manage commercial real estate was the original 10-year lease to business owners on the property. And now to add to the controversy, the city and the dry cleaner owner are in a spat about lease payments and the lease renewal.

The dry cleaner says he and the city were still in negotiations on the fair market value of the lease since renegotiation of the lease in July 2001. But the city hiked the lease payments to market value anyway while the dry cleaner continued to pay at the old rate. On Oct. 28, the city billed him in one lump-sum for the difference between their charge and his payments - about $70,000, and he was given three days to pay. The city says the lease calls for full market rate and officials have been upfront with the tenant.

There seems to be a serious lack of communication among city officials, business owners, would-be developers and the general public. The onus is on the city to be clear in its direction but obviously, this is not happening.

It also was apparent from last week’s meeting that business owners and merchants also want more input on projects such as the pursuit of a downtown seven-screen theater for the Bandera restaurant parking lot. They shouldn’t be left feeling this project will be coming to this location, no matter what. As Mel Kahn said, “The city council will be here and gone in a short time but we business and property owners will be stuck with their decisions for the long term.”

From Roxy Rapp to the First-and-Main renters to the theater, the city needs to be clearer about its intentions. Last week’s meeting was helpful, but perhaps more are needed.

Thanks should go to the Los Altos Chamber of Commerce and Los Altos Village Association, which arranged this meeting. It offered an opportunity for city officials to communicate downtown plans and to hear reactions. These reactions, in turn, need to be impressed upon city council members, who ultimately decide on projects that will impact the city long after their tenures.