The ribbon has finally been cut, and Stockton’s new City Hall is open. Politicians see it as a milestone. Many taxpayers see something very different.

A FLEECING OF $100 MILLION TAX PAYER DOLLARS

In 2017, then-Mayor Michael Tubbs pushed for purchasing a building nobody wanted. It just so happened to be owned by Jane Butterfield. The same Jane Butterfield who worked with Fritz Grupe and hosted a fundraiser for Tubbs to be mayor.

Tubbs told residents that the City would be “saving money,” $4 million over 20 years while avoiding debt service. The public was told it would cost $25 million in total. The bills proved that was a lie.

Instead of becoming an example of fiscal responsibility, Butterfield’s property, which had been on the market with no buyers for over a year, became one of the most expensive and controversial public projects in Stockton’s history. What was sold as a “cost-saving” investment ultimately cost taxpayers an estimated $100 million. We say estimated because the City has yet to disclose the final cost.

The building also serves as a reminder of another lie made to voters: that the Measure A sales tax increase would hire 120 additional police officers. Yet, after 10 years of collecting the tax, Stockton taxpayers have contributed hundreds of millions of dollars and have LESS police officers now than when it was passed!

And guess who the Chair of the committee to pass the Measure A tax was? Jane Butterfield.

The nearly defunct Record even has a video of her celebrating the night it was passed- while looking twacked out and struggling to stay still.

When 209 Times became the only independent source to report on these issues and facts and call for accountability, a Civil Grand Jury “investigation” accused us of being mean to the City government and recommended officials “stop talking to them”- a recommendation that isn’t even enforceable as it violates the First Amendment.

And guess who was on that grand jury? That’s right, the same Jane Butterfield.

Meanwhile the promised independent audit of how the money was spent has never occurred, and the tax was extended after its 10 years.

Buildings often become symbols of the priorities that created them. The Butterfield Building is no exception. It stands as a reminder of soaring costs, unmet expectations, and a government that asked taxpayers to trust its promises but failed to deliver on many of them.

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies last a day. Public investments last for generations. Long after the speeches are forgotten, Stockton residents will still be living with the financial consequences of this decision.

Jane Butterfield and her husband made millions off the “new” City Hall, while the rest of Stockton remains in danger from less police officers because the money to hire them was spent on their old building instead.

The Butterfield Building Will Forever Symbolize Broken Promises.