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HomeMy Public PortalAbout20181112plCC 701-32 DOCUMENTS IN THIS PACKET INCLUDE: LETTERS FROM CITIZENS TO THE MAYOR OR CITY COUNCIL RESPONSES FROM STAFF TO LETTERS FROM CITIZENS ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ITEMS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES ITEMS FROM CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND REGIONAL AGENCIES Prepared for: 11/12/2018 Document dates: 10/24/2018 – 10/31/2018 Set 1 Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction in a given week. 1 Carnahan, David From:Ng, Judy Sent:Friday, October 26, 2018 2:09 PM To:Council Members; ORG - Clerk's Office; Council Agenda Email Cc:Keene, James; Shikada, Ed; De Geus, Robert; Flaherty, Michelle; Gaines, Chantal; Tanner, Rachael; Nose, Kiely; Harper, Paul Subject:10/29 Council Agenda Questions for Item 4       Dear Mayor and Council Members:     On behalf of City Manager Jim Keene, please find below in bold staff responses to inquiries  made by Council Member Tanaka in regard to the October 29, 2018 council meeting agenda.     Item 4: Approval of Fiscal Year 2018 Reappropriation Requests and Budget Amendments –  CM Tanaka      Item 4: Approval of Fiscal Year 2018 Reappropriation Requests and Budget Amendments –  CM Tanaka    Q. 1.   The format of Attachment B is not as useful as the format of Attachment A.  The  fact that there were inaccuracies in each project’s management relative to revenue  and expenditures is understandable. Attachment A’s format provides the reasons for  the proposed budget changes. One problem with Attachment A’s format is that the  original  appropriation  is  in  the  description  field  (mostly),  rather than in its own  column. Having these two numbers clearly visible offers one the opportunity to see  the percentage of error/change that was in the previous budget. If there is a project  tracking number for the projects in Attachment A—it is missing.    Can you please provide an explanation?    A. 1.   The format of Attachment B and Attachment A differ since Attachment A is  focused on Operating Budget Reappropriations while Attachment B focuses on  Capital Budget Reappropriations. Project Numbers are not used in the Operating  Budget, so they are not included in Attachment A.  The explanations for Capital  Reappropriations  are  not  as  varied  as  the  explanations  for  Operating  Reappropriations so they are explained in the body of the report rather than with  each individual line item. This can be found on page 4 of the staff report. Regardless  of the recommended adjustment, it does not change the overall budget for the  Capital project; instead it shifts the project budget between fiscal years.    Q. 2.   Why didn’t the City receive $10.5 million of revenue from the Dewatering and  Loadout Facility in the last fiscal year? Why is it expected this fiscal year?      2 A. 2.   The revenue and expense for the Dewatering and Loadout Facility were both  originally  budgeted  in  FY  2018.  However,  the  State  Revolving  Loan  Funding  is  disbursed to the City as the work on this project is completed, on a reimbursement  basis. As such, the shift of the revenue from FY 2018 to FY 2019 brings the budget  in  line  with  the  anticipated  completion  of  the  project.  The  project  was  approximately half‐way done at the end of FY 2018 and approximately half of the  revenue was collected. Reappropriating the remaining revenue ensures appropriate  alignment between the FY 2019 budget and the project completion to offset the  remaining construction costs. A matching expense reappropriation was not done  for this project because the funds were already obligated to the contract and are  thereby included in the budget.    Thank you,  Judy Ng          Judy Ng   City Manager’s Office|Administrative Associate III   250 Hamilton Avenue | Palo Alto, CA 94301 Phone: (650) 329‐2105  Email: Judy.Ng@CityofPaloAlto.org    1 Carnahan, David From:Manoj R <hellomanoj@yahoo.com> Sent:Sunday, October 28, 2018 8:53 PM To:Council, City Subject:Appeal to uphold the privacy of our home (3743 Carlson Circle) Attachments:Raisinghani letter to council (3714 Carlson) - mr1.pdf Dear council members, Please see the attached letter as our earnest request to uphold the privacy of our Eichler home. Appreciate your consideration during tomorrow's council meeting and review of the consent calendar. Warm regards, Jasleen and Manoj Raisinghani 650 556 3455 From: Jasleen and Manoj Raisinghani 3714 Carlson Circle, Palo Alto CA, 94306 28th Oct, 2018 Re: Appeal to uphold the privacy for our Eichler home Hello dear council members, Our appeal case has reached the consent calendar and will be reviewed by you and the city council members on Monday 10/29/2018 (tomorrow evening). Appeal filing: App # 8 File # 17PLN-00272 (ID # 9671) Our neighbor, Tim Perkins and we (my wife Jasleen and I) are not averse to the construction of the 2nd level by the owners at 3743 Redwood Circle. However, we have repeatedly requested the city planning department (Amy French and Graham Owen) that the 3743 Redwood Circle plans be revised so as to not breach our privacy and to ensure that we can continue to maintain the quality of life that we have enjoyed in our beautiful Eichler community and neighborhood. We cherish the inside-out and outside-in Eichler living style! After multiple reviews and discussions, following are the key outstanding items that we request the council members to earnestly consider towards safe-guarding the privacy of our home along with the privacy needs of Tim Perkins and his immediate neighbor to the right (Andrea) who has two small children. 1. Provide a 40 foot setback instead of the current proposed ~29 feet. a. The 2-story home on the right side of 3743 (Burt at 3747 Redwood Circle) has a 40 feet set-back and was built more than 21 years back. Our request and acceptable compromise is that the 2nd level setback for 3743 Redwood Circle also needs to be at 40 feet just like that of Burt’s home. 2. Center the 2nd floor volume. a. We are unable to reconcile that the ne proposed 2nd level volume (mass) placement is mainly on one side – that is, the majority area of the new 2nd level construction will face our backyard and adversely impact our privacy. With the current proposed plans, our home (3714 Carlson Circle) takes the biggest brunt of this new construction. 3. Provide the main windows on the front-face of the 2nd level so it faces the street. a. Multiple homes on Carlson Circle with a 2nd level including our own (3714 Carlson Circle), have a similar plan where the main windows are facing the street – which allows good light and air flow in the home without encroaching the privacy of neighbors. 4. Have additional egress windows to the side walls with no egress windows on the back-wall a. We believe by centering the 2nd level volume, the ‘glazed’ egress windows can be on the sides (left and right vs. the back) of the home. This allows better distance from the side neighbors versus having the volume of the 2nd level on any one side. Being in an Eichler community the back-wall of our house opens into the back-yard and is a series of full length sliding glass doors. This is our outside-in and inside-out experience that Eichlers are so well known for. The council and city development office need to consider and uphold the experience and privacy requirements in such classic neighborhoods and communities. The Eichler guidelines recommend that owners ‘must’ plant trees in order to block someone from peeping into our homes from their 2nd level which is constructed very close to our backyards. For new construction, such guidelines are un-reasonable because it burdens us with the responsibility to check and file complaints to the city against our neighbors if the trees are short, die or get bare due to some sickness. We can avoid such hardship and long term angst by requiring the new construction of the 2nd level to have at least 40 feet setbacks. We hope the city planning and development office uses our recommendations as a ‘model’ for updating the Eichler guidelines including the Individual Review guidelines to keep privacy as the primary focus. We are interested to maintain harmony and respect among neighbors and, mutual privacy is a key catalyst for a peaceful neighborhood and longer term thriving community. Please help mitigate a situation where are privacy is encroached by the building plans as proposed by 3743 Redwood Circle. Attached are some pictures where you will see first-hand how couple other properties that face our back-yards breach our privacy currently by having full view into our homes. We are earnestly trying to stop this from happening again and would really appreciate your consideration. Looking forward to saying hello to each of you in person. Warm regards, Jasleen and Manoj Raisinghani 650 556 3455 PS: please see 3 pictures as examples and proof points to support our request Picture 1 Picture taken from our kitchen: 1-Burt’s 2nd level is 40 feet setback –he has straight line of sight into our entire 1st level 2 –3743 Redwood Circle proposed plan for 2nd level will be facing us at this point. With straight sight into our 1st level and adversely impacting our light plane with trees and structure 1 2 Picture 2 Picture 3 Picture taken from Andrea’s dining room door: Tim’s neighbor Andrea –who is single mom with two young children uses the canopy as shown in her backyard to avoid the neighbors from peeping into her home! 1 Carnahan, David From:Len Filppu <lenfilppu@earthlink.net> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 8:21 AM To:Council, City Subject:In Support of Raisinghani Appeal Filing App # 8 File # 17PLN-00272 (ID #9671) Dear Council Members,  I’m writing in support of Manoj and Jasleen Raisinghani’s appeal filing, App # 8 File # 17PLN‐00272 (ID  #9671),  concerning the privacy of their home at 3714 Carlson Circle.    Maintaining personal privacy in our unique Eichler neighborhoods presents unique challenges that will sometimes  require careful application of planning regulations and voluntary guidelines. This is such a situation.    The Raisinghanis are asking that reasonable considerations be applied to the proposed construction at 3743 Redwood  Circle, they have gone through the proper channels of our City’s planning department and discussed the situation with  several Council members, and it seems to many of us who live in our Eichler neighborhoods that it is imperative that the  City back up its commitment to the new Eichler guidelines with appropriate supportive action.     I urge you to support the Raisinghanis, and by extension, all our Eichler neighborhoods, in their efforts to protect their  privacy and maintain their quality of life.     Sincerely,  ‐‐Len   Len Filppu  Fairmeadow Neighborhood           Virus-free. www.avast.com   1 Carnahan, David From:tim.perkins@yahoo.com Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 11:21 AM To:Council, City Cc:Manoj Raisinghani; Jasleen Raisinghani Subject:Request to Remove from Consent Calendar - Raisinghani Appeal Filing App # 8 File # 17PLN-00272 (ID #9671) October 29, 2018 Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, I’m writing in support of Manoj and Jasleen Raisinghani’s appeal filing, App # 8 File # 17PLN-00272 (ID #9671), concerning the proposed building plans which impacts the privacy of their home at 3714 Carlson Circle. I would speak to the council in person if I did not have a medical appointment conflict.c In my letters to the planning department regarding this project, the last of which was attached to your council package, I identified privacy as a significant Eichler issue given the unique neighborhood layout and the typical large glass exposures in the side and back yards. Having personal experience living adjacent to a two story house, I know first hand the loss of privacy and the resultant vulnerability and sense of violation. Maintaining personal privacy in the Fairmeadow Neighborhood Association "Circles' is a unique challenge but the concept can be extrapolated to other Eichler neighborhoods. The Eichler guidelines were a significant step towards addressing Eichler owner and resident concerns, but I do believe additional refinements, perhaps coming from the dialog about 3743 Redwood Circle would add value to the document in its next iteration. Many of us who live in Eichler neighborhoods believe it is important the City listen to the intent of the Eichler Guidelines in addition to meeting the letter of the 'law'. I urge you to support the Raisinghanis by removing the item from the consent calendar. Your actions will communicate to all Eichler owners and residents that you remain concerned about protecting their privacy and maintaining their quality of life, and that the issue is complex and merits further reflection and discussion. Sincerely, Tim Perkins 3712 Carlson Circle Palo Alto, CA 94306 1 Carnahan, David From:pram@apple.com on behalf of Paul Ramsbottom <pram@apple.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 12:25 PM To:Council, City Subject:Proposed 2-story construction at 3743 Redwood Circle, Fairmeadow, Palo Alto Dear friends and esteemed Council Members.    My wife and I are homeowners and residents at 3796 Redwood Circle.    We have been made are of the proposed construction at 3743, which will impact our community.    I am writing to you today, to ask that you remove the approval from your "consent calendar".  The goal being to enable  better community consultation, to ensure design coherence and privacy protection.      I join others including Manoj and Jasleen Raisinghani who have made a formal appeal filing, App # 8 File # 17PLN‐00272  (ID  #9671), concerning the privacy of their home at 3714 Carlson Circle.      I urge you to support the Raisinghanis, and by extension, all our neighbors, in their efforts to protect their privacy and  maintain their quality of life.   We believe it is imperative that the City honor its commitment to the new Eichler guidelines, with appropriate  supportive action in this case.  Sincerely,  Paul Ramsbottom  Piyawan Rungsuk  10.29.18    1 Carnahan, David From:John Hurst <john.hurst77@gmail.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 1:12 PM To:Council, City Cc:Manoj Raisinghani; 000 JASLEEN RAISINGHANI Subject:In Support of Raisinghani Appeal Filing App #8 File #17-PLN-00272 (ID #9671) October 29, 2018    Dear Palo Alto City Council Members,    I am writing in support of Manoj and Jasleen Raisinghani's appeal filling, App # 8 File # 17‐PLN‐00272 (ID #9671),  concerning the proposed building plans which impacts the privacy of their home at 3714 Carlson Circle.     I have sent previous letters regarding remodel/tear down projects in and around our Circle.  Privacy has been raised as a  significant issue facing any project involving an Eichler neighborhood like we have in the Fairmeadow tract.  The Eichler  guidelines are a step in the right direction.  The project that I am referencing in this email can also lead to productive  dialog on additional steps to ensure that a harmonious solution is found so that neighbors like the Raisinghani's can  enjoy their backyard and living area exposed to their backyard without feeling like they are living in a fishbowl.  They  have made some slight, but significant requests to this project that would be a a great step to protecting privacy not just  for them, but for any home owner in a Palo Alto Eichler neighborhood concerned about site lines and privacy.    I urge you to support the Raisinghani's by removing the item from the consent calendar.  This action will help reiterate  that the privacy and site line issue facing all Eichler neighborhoods outside of Green Meadow is complex and merits  further discussion.      Sincerely,      John & Julie Hurst  3722 Carlson Circle  Palo Alto, CA . 94306    1 Carnahan, David From:Wayne Martin <wmartin46@yahoo.com> Sent:Wednesday, October 24, 2018 1:21 PM To:Council, City Subject:CPA Prioritization Matrix Attachments:cpa_prioritization_matrix_1.xls Elected City Council  City of Palo Alto  Palo Alto, CA    Elected Council Members:    An article in the Post suggests that the City Manager is promoting a six‐months "study" to determine what, if anything,  can be downsized in order to determine how much money might be free to pay CalPERS contributes at a lower discount  rate than suggested by CalPERS.    Attached please find a spreadsheet that the City developed for a Council off‐site some years ago to provide the Council  insight into what the City was doing with the taxpayers money. While the data in the spreadsheet is dated, the point of  passing this along to you is to suggest that this sort of exercise has been conducted in the past and didn't take six‐ months, or more to complete.    It's not suggested that this format needs to be followed, but certainly identifying where the money goes in terms of  services and customers and organizing that data is something that every organization would want to do periodically.    Wayne Martin  Palo Alto        1 Do not over write formula in columns D, F, and H. 2 Data is added to these fields by entering a appropriate code from either the Program-Tier or Dept table. 3 First enter your appropriate department code into cell E2 Example: If your are in CSD your code is 6. If you enter "6" into cell E2, CSD will appear in cell F2. 4 To start entering your departmental data, tab to cell B7. Using the Program-Tier Table select the appropriate code for the program/function you are describing. Example: If your are in Police and you are preparing the service level justification for Patrol, you would determine that the Program-Tier Type description that best describes the Patrol function is: A = Essential Service/Health & Safety/Legal Mandate You would then enter A into cell B7. Cells D7 and F7 would the automatically populate with the information. This may seem like a lot a trouble to simply fill in these small fields, but it will be much more consistent in the end. 5 Next, in cell G7 enter the corresponding code for your department from the dept table. 6 Now you can begin entering the data for your department, if you need assistance call Carl Yeats at extension 2450. Instructions Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact ASD Accounting General Ledger/Accounts Receivable No Yes 1,927,671 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for all General Fund accounting, accounts receivable, CAFR, monthly reporting, State Controllers Report and coordinating annual external audit. ASD Accounting Enterprise No Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for all Enterprise Fund accounting, accounts receivable, monthly reporting, FERC reporting and coordinating annual external audit. ASD Accounting Accounts Payable No Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for processing and payment for all payables on a citywide basis. ASD Accounting Payroll No Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for payroll for all city departments, insurance, PERS processing, and payroll payables processing. ASD Admin Department Administration No Yes 781,395 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Includes Department Director and Administrative Assistant. Necessary for department admnistration, Agenda Planning, CMR production and citywide coordination. ASD Budget Budget Development, Production & Monitoring No Yes 807,961 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for the production, monitoring and analysis of the City's budget. ASD Purchasing Purchasing and Contracts Admin Yes Yes 1,232,187 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for all puchasing administration and purchase order processing on a citywide basis. Receives and processes all RFPs and bids for goods and services and CIPs. ASD Purchasing Stores and Warehousing Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for the Central Warehousing facility for all city departments. Includes delivery of mail and goods purchased through purchsing. All provides inter-department delivery service to all city facilities. ASD Real Estate Property Management/Leasing/Easment Processing No Yes 559,701 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for all city property, leases, easements for Utilities construction, right-of-way process and lease and rental payment processing. ASD Treasury Revenue Analysis and Forcasting No Yes 233,886 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for analysing, forcasting and monitoring all city revenues for the Budget. In addition, coordination and production of the Long Range Financial Plan. Also provides oversight for the Utility Risk Management and the Middle Office functions. ASD Treasury Utillity Risk Management No Yes 75,006 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for Middle Office Utilities Risk Management function. ASD Treasury Investments and Banking No Yes 177,309 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for the City's investment portfolio for all Funds, monitoring and issuing all debt, making debt service payments, complete of investment reports. ASD Treasury Revenue Collections No Yes 941,226 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsible for processing all payment transactions for the City, including utility bill, building permits, parking citations, UUT and TOT payments, paramedic billings, and tax payments. 6,736,342 General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft 2 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft ATT City Attorney Admin.No No 164,050 1 Legally Mandated Reduction in Department Support could lead to increased liability losses over time. Also, turnaround time would increase which could lower the level of services from other departments. This could lead to delayed response time to requests from developers and the public. ATT Consultation & Advisory 3,077 1 Legally Mandated ATT Council Member Support 292,286 1 Legally Mandated ATT Litigation & Dispute Resolution 1,195 1 Legally Mandated Reduction in litigation support would result in increased outside counsel costs, as the number of cases where the City is sued would not drop. ATT Claims Investigation 80,896 1 Legally Mandated ATT Civil Litigation Defense 247,292 1 Legally Mandated ATT City Initiated Litigation 43,741 1 Legally Mandated ATT Official & Administration Duties 682 1 Legally Mandated ATT Legal Document Preparation 68,580 1 Legally Mandated ATT Mandatory Cont. Legal Ed.50,142 1 Legally Mandated ATT Board/Commission Advice Yes Yes 145,792 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Operating Department Support Yes Yes 1,118,169 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT CAO Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Administrative Services Sup Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Community Services Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Human Resources Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Fire Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Planning Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Police Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Public Works Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Utilities Support Yes Yes 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management 3 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft ATT Ind. Investigat'n/Pub. Inqu Yes Yes 143,885 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management ATT Code Enf./Nuisance Abatemen Yes Yes 249,463 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Reduction in code enforcement litigation would reduce the amount of Code Enforcement done by the City as a whole. This is policy choice for the Council 2,609,250 AUD Audit Financial Audits No No 153,819 1 Legally Mandated The annual external audit is required by the City Charter, regulatory, and grant-making agencies. AUD Audit Performance audits Yes 529,469 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management The City Charter prescribes that the city auditor conduct internal audits of city departments. These audits are intended to promote honest, efficient, effective, and fully accountable city government. The annual Service Efforts and Accomplishments Report provides information on the performance of city departments and the cost of providing city services. The City Council approves the annual audit work plan. Current audits include contract contingencies and workers' compensation. AUD Audit Revenue audits Yes 119,373 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost This function generates revenue in excess of expenditures. 802,661 CLERK Council Support Yes 456,118 1 Legally Mandated Preparation draft and final Council agendas, posting of agendas. Attendance at Council meetings and preparation of minutes. Board & Commission recruitments. Council events such as the State of the City, Reorganization Meeting, & Legislative Meetings. Council support such as City Clerk reviewing mail with Mayor, processing Council travel expenses and registration, & proclamations. These functions are essential to the city and can not be cut. CLERK Election/Confilict of Interest 63,397 1 Legally Mandated City Clerk management of elections with staff support. Administration of Conflict of Interest Code. These functions are essential to the city and can not be cut. CLERK Legislative Records Management 96,931 1 Legally Mandated Management of updates to the Municipal Code. Administration of citywide and department records (resolutions, ordinances, deeds, leases, minutes, and correspondence). These functions are essential and any cut to them would lessen the ability to handle public and city requests for records and public records requests. 4 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft CLERK Public Information Yes Yes 79,567 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Public information includes assisting the public with information at the front counter, on the telephone, and with the microfiche. The preparation of the roster and updating the web page for the City Clerk and City Council. This is an essential function that can not be cut. CLERK Administration Yes 81,065 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Attendance at meetings and training classes, purchasing functions (ordering, processing purchase orders & invoice payments), and management of department functions. Administration of department budget. The majority of these functions are required for the function of the department. The only item that could possibly be cut would be training, which would have a detriment to the department by not be up to date on new laws and new procedures for records. 777,078 CM City Management City Management Yes No 454,225 1 Legally Mandated Elimination of the core city management function would remove the essential leadership role of the city manager and key staff members as it relates to implementation of Council policies and general city operations. CM City Management Council Relations Yes No 285,211 1 Legally Mandated Elimination of Council relations would severely impact the preparation of the Council Agenda, responses to Council questions, orientation of new Council Members, and the monitoring of Council's Top 5 Priorities. CM City Management City Manager Department Admin. No No 232,394 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management General department administration consists of staff meetings, time card review, performance evaluations, administrative support to the City Manager, and managing the City Manager's Office budget. Elimination of the administration function would seriously limit the ability of the City Manager's Office to operate. CM City Management Interdepartmental Coordination No No 147,887 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Elimination of the interdepartmental coordination function would remove the current oversight of the 13 city departments and the Capital Improvement Program by the City Manager's Office. CM City Management Intergovernmental Relations/Legislation Yes No 264,084 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management The elimination of the intergovernmental relations/legislation function would reduce the City's ability to interact with federal, state and other local agencies, as well as the PAUSD, Chamber of Commerce, Stanford University, and community groups. CM City Management Sustainability Yes Yes 21,127 4 Other The elimination of the this function would end the oversight the City Manager's Office provides to the City's sustainability efforts, although other department efforts might continue. 5 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft CM Economic Development Special Projects Yes No 74,199 2 Council Top 5 Priority/Milestone Elimination of special projects would limit staff's ability to provide support to Mayor's Retail Committee or other future ad hoc committees. It would also seriously limit the City's redevelopment efforts should Council decide to identify a future project area. Additionally, a reduction within this function would force the Business Improvement District invoicing to nearly 800 businesses to be reassigned. CM Economic Development Economic Analysis Yes No 148,399 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Economic Analysis consists of maintenance of commercial vacancy data, maintenance of a broker contact list, updating and maintaining data on business operations in Palo Alto (e.g. Dun & Bradstreet database, Employment Development Department database, Metroscan, review of sales tax, property tax & transient occupancy tax). Elimination of economic analysis would eliminate the maintenance of the commercial vacancy data and broker contact list. CM Economic Development Business Outreach/Coordination Yes No 96,459 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost This function is responsible for a variety business retention activities, work on the Auto Dealership Policy, general business outreach visits, coordination with the Chamber of Commerce on the Shop Palo Alto Campaign, planning for the quarterly Economic Forums, and external and internal liaison activities between the City and the business community, marketing for Palo Alto, Downtown Coordination Meeting leadership, and point of contact for business related questions. Elimination or reduction in this function would limit site research for auto dealers, decrease the number of business outreach visits, and eliminate the Quarterly Economic Forums. CM Public Communications Public Communications Yes Yes 286,417 3 Enhances Productivity/Customer Service Elimination of this function would severely impact the ability to communicate with the public during City emergencies, keep the community informed through print and electronic media, and research and respond to the concerns of individual residents. CM Public Communications Council/Public Communication & Correspondence Yes Yes - 3 Enhances Productivity/Customer Service 2,010,402 CSD Administration Management, leadership, administrative support and departmental allocated charges Yes No 7,290,673 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Elimination of leadership, supervision and administrative support for five divisions with 150 FTE, $19 million budget and hundreds of programs and services. NOTE: Includes department-wide indirect allocated charges including vehicle replacement, computer replacement, liability insurance, cost plan, etc. 6 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft CSD Administration Enjoy Catalog Yes No 60,000 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Development, graphics, printing and distribution of Enjoy Catalog. CSD Arts & Culture Arts and Culture Division Manager No Yes 152,950 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Responsibilities of department head and the two Arts and Culture managers are greatly increased. Reductions in service to the Public Arts Commission, Neighbors Aboard, and Community Theater and the arts community. CSD Arts & Culture Art Center Administration, facility rental, volunteer and program support.Yes Yes 477,271 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Art Center is open 7 days a week and 4 nights. Over 200 volunteers are recruited annually contributing a significant amount of hourly support to the administration and programs of the Art Center. CSD Arts & Culture Arts & Culture Administration No No 112,375 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Arts and Culture Administration is now split 50/50 between two positions. It includes the Art Center, Children's Theatre, Community Theatre, Cubberley Artists, and a variety of programs for all ages. It includes staff liaison to Public Art Commission and Neighbors Abroad. CSD Arts & Culture Art Center: Adult Studio Programs, classes, workshops, open studios, special events. It serves approximately 2,000 adults annually.Yes Yes 194,326 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Elimination of this program results in a net loss of $31,436 to the City's general fund due to the revenue loss and support from the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation. CSD Arts & Culture Art Center: Children's Art Education, classes, camps, workshops, Project LOOK!, Family Days, and Family Guides to exhibitions.Yes Yes 204,818 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Elimination of this program results in a net loss of $10,182 to the City's general fund due to the revenue loss and support from the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation. It serves approximately 10,000 children and their families annually. CSD Arts & Culture Children's Theater: Classes, Camps and Conservatory. Formal classes for young people such as acting, improvisation, dance, etc. Camps such as Sneak Preview and Playing Along and the conservatory program Yes Yes 82,301 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost No City sponsored instruction inTheater programs would be provided, service includes training in theatre as well as valuable leisure time programs. Revenue produced is $90,756 CSD Arts & Culture Music and Dance Adult Class Program No Yes 84,834 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Adult music and dance classes offer a wide variety of choices in the performing and healing art fields, including afro-brazilian, tango, salsa, ballet and belly dancing as well as capoeira and wild goose gigong. Revenue produced is $79,420. CSD Arts & Culture Music and Dance Children's Class Program.. Dance includes tiny tots, preschool and children's ballet, creative, hip-hop and capoeira Yes Yes 84,834 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Elimination of service would mean no City sponsored training in the arts. Revenue produced is $82,580. 7 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft CSD Arts & Culture Outdoor Concerts: Provide two summer concert series. The Brown Bag noon time concerts in downtown Palo Alto and the evening Twilight Concerts.No No 13,930 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost This program is funded through fundraising. The only cost to City is the regular FTE to coordinate the program. CSD Arts & Culture Children's Theatre: Wingspread Program. Summer Stock experience for high school and college students, for a family audience Yes Yes 153,567 4 Other Wingspread program provides teens and college students a positive and productive summer theatrical program. Revenue produced is $14,500. CSD Arts & Culture Art Center: Exhibition Program, core program for Art Center upon which all other programs are based.Yes Yes 154,752 4 Other Elimination of this core program would eliminate the basic foundation of all other Art Center programs and revenue loss from the Palo Alto Art Center Foundation which enables publications and special programs in conjunction with exhibition. This program targets young and old with approximately 30,000 visitors annually. CSD Arts & Culture Art in Public Places (general fund)Yes No 81,313 4 Other Elimination of this area eliminates maintainance of art works in the City's Permenant Collection, administration of the Collection, and Public Art Commission staff support. Eliminates administration of CIP funds ($60,000) with loss of public art projects through out Palo Alto and of matching funds in support of the projects. Last year this totaled approximately 50%. CSD Arts & Culture Children's Theatre Productions, Facility and Administration. Core program of Plays presented for a Family Audience. Leadership Programs, Cast and Crew Training, Special Events, Facility, Equipment Maintenance Yes Yes 578,846 4 Other Elimination of this core program would eliminate local chrildren's threatre for young people who participate in plays and or attend productions. Revenue produced is $91,000 CSD Arts & Culture Childrens Theatre: Outreach Program. Program done in cooperation with the PAUSD, District PTAs, provides tryouts, rehearsals and preformances at the elementary schools for students and provides tryouts, rehearsals at middle schools for students with preformances at the Children's Theatre. Elementary schools have an outreach program every third year and middle schools every year Yes Yes 181,468 4 Other If service is eliminated there would be reduced local opportunities for chrildren. 8 Dept ASD Higher Level of Tier Dept Division Function Scalable Service Cost Type Program/Service Type Service Impact General Fund Service Prioritization Matrix - First Draft CSD Arts & Culture Community Theatre and Opera Program. Enables the Palo Alto Players, TheatreWorks and West Bay Opera to present a variety of dramas, comedies, musicals and opears to an audience of over 50,000 people No No 217,956 4 Other If this program were eliminated local theatre and opera performances would be reduced. CSD Arts & Culture Concerts at the Art Center and other locations. Yes No 13,930 4 Other Year round series of music concerts at the Art Center and at other locations for children and adults in a variety of musical styles. CSD Cubb/Human Services Human Services and Cubberley Center Administration and Staff Supervision Yes No 194,510 2 Necessary for Proper Organizational Management Elimination of staff support would result in an inability to effectively manage budget, contracts, division personnel and general administration of the division which includes both Human Services and Cubberley. CSD Cubb/Human Services Cubberley Center rental, lease and maintenance services No Yes 489,848 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Rental and Leases of theatre, gyms and rooms generated $2 million for 03/04. Reductions in staffing will result in a lower standard of building maintenance that will impact health & safety and negatively impact revenues. Maintenance costs are recovered by the revenue generated in the rental and leasing function. CSD Cubb/Human Services Child Care No Yes 71,128 2 Revenue Generating/Self Supporting/Allocated Cost Elimination would cut City management of the school age after-school care programs located on PAUSD sites throughout the community. CSD Cubb/Human Services HSRAP Yes Yes 1,334,447 3 Program targets at-risk children/teens/seniors $1,278,853 in funding provided to non-profits for human services & basic needs. $55,594 represents staffing costs. Elimination of the fund will eliminate the City's safety-net of services including senior services, child care subsidies, homeless services, etc. CSD Cubb/Human Services Family Resources Yes Yes 120,211 4 Other $80,238 goes to staffing. Family Resources' focuses on information and referral to families with infants through teens. Elimination of staffing would eliminate data base, web site and ambassador program. CSD Cubb/Human Services Seasonal Workers Program No Yes 43,185 4 Other Program to train and integrate homeless or at-risk-homeless into workforce would be terminated. CSD Golf and Parks PAUSD -field maintenance Yes No 365,954 1 Health and Public Safety 40 acres of PAUSD fields may become unsafe and unusable for community and youth; eliminate field brokering for user groups resulting in fewer fields for sports organizations; long term maintenance issues will arise and be costly. CSD Golf and Parks City Athletic Field Maintenance Yes No 408,384 1 Health and Public Safety With the elimination of this service 77 City fields may become unsafe and unusable for youth and adult activities; eliminate field brokering for user groups resulting in fewer fields for sports organizations; long term maintenance issues will raise operating costs. 9 1 Carnahan, David From:slevy@ccsce.com Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 10:35 AM To:Council, City Cc:Keene, James; Shikada, Ed; Nose, Kiely; Paras, Christine Subject:retirement costs and budget item tonight I support the careful attention asked for with regard to retirement cost funding and the entire budget process. I have been asked by staff to review the long-range revenue forecast but have not started that review and these comments are separate from that. The September UCLA forecast shares short term cautions that I find convincing. The nation faces lower labor force growth, rising trade deficits, rising budget deficits and rising interest rates through at least 2021 and probably beyond. While the local economy may do somewhat better than the nation or state in terms of growth, we will be affected by these trends. So the next two years -- mid 2019 to mid 2021 --will be tough fiscal years even without the retirement cost challenges. I applaud lowering the implied rate of return below the CalPers target and would consider running some numbers also with a 5.5% rate of return assumption. There are other factors that suggestion some near term caution but for now, thanks for taking this budget round seriously toward the goal of long-term fiscal and retirement cost stability. It is always better financially to make adjustments earlier rather than delay though they may not be popular with residents. Stephen Levy Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy 1 Carnahan, David From:Arthur Keller <arthur@kellers.org> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 3:24 PM To:Council, City Subject:Revisions to Council's Policies and Procedures Dear Mayor Kniss and Council members,    I cannot speak at tonight’s meeting, so I am sending this material in writing.    1. Current Council Policy and Procedures (page 44) states:    Respect for Process  Members shall perform their duties in accordance with the processes and rules of   order  established  by  the  City  Council  governing  the  deliberation  of  public  policy   issues,  meaningful  involvement  of  the  public  and  implementation  of  policy   decisions of the City Council by City staff.    Meaningful involvement of the public is not possible when members of the public are given only one minute to speak to  an item.  At a minimum, two minutes should be given to each member of the public, and preferably three minutes  except in unusual circumstances.  A large number of speakers is not an unusual circumstance that should limit the time  of individual members of the public on a regularly scheduled agenda item.    2. Last minute proposals by staff or Council members should not be considered at the same meeting, but should be  continued to a subsequent meeting where the public has an opportunity to review and comment.  Last minute proposals  occurred often in the Comprehensive Plan Update process and also occurred in the Accessory Dwelling Unit zoning  amendments.  These did not provide for the “meaningful involvement of the public.”    3. Regarding the Consent Calendar, Council members should be allowed to state the reason for dissent prior to the vote  because the reason might sway other Council members to change their votes.  The Brown Act may preclude  communication prior to the Council meeting, so it is imperative that Council members be allowed to explain their votes  prior to the vote occurring.  Furthermore, the number of Council members required to remove an item from the  Consent Calendar should be reduced to two along with the reduction in Council size.    4. The election of the Mayor and Vice Mayor must be subject to the Brown Act.  This has been an issue identified in  other cities as well.    5. Pursuant to the Roberts Rules of Order, the Mayor should refrain from making or seconding a motion while presiding  over the meeting.    Thank you for your considerations.    Sincerely,  Arthur Keller      CITY OF PALO ALTO TO: FROM: DATE: SUBJECT: HONORABLE CITY COUNCIL MOLLY STUMP, CITY ATTORNEY OCTOBER 29, 2018 ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE AMENDING THE MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADOPTION OF AMENDMENTS TO COUNCIL PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS TO CONFORM TO A SEVEN-MEMBER COUNCIL; DISCUSSION AND DIRECTION TO STAFF OR REFERRAL TO THE POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE OF ADDITIONAL DISCRETIONARY CHANGES TO THE CODE AND/OR COUNCIL PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS The (1) ordinance and (2) amendment to the Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook included with this memo replaces those included with the original packet. Both now have an effective date of January 1, 2019, which conforms with the date of the Council becoming seven members. In addition, the Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook, in its entirety, can be found at this link: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/34330 /Z!<D2 I Molly Stump City Attorney 1 of 1 -. COUNCIL MEETING [!!] 10/29/2018 11 IZIReceived Before Meeting Attachment A *NOT YET ADOPTED* Ordinance No. Ordinance of the Council of the City of Palo Alto Amending Section 2.04.190 (Standing Committees -Special Committees) of Chapter 2.04 (Council Organization and Procedure) of Title 2 (Administrative Code); and Amending Section 12.10.060 (Coordination with City) of Chapter 12.10 (Street Cut Fees) of Title 12 (Public Works and Utilities) of the P~lo Alto Municipal Code to Conform to a Seven-Member City Council. The Council of the City of Palo Alto does ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1: The Council of the City of Palo Alto finds and declares as follows: A. In November, 2014, the Charter of the City of Palo Alto was amended by the electorate to reduce the City Council to seven members (from the current nine member council) effective January 1, 2019. B. In order to prevent conflicts with the California Brown Act, relevant sections of the Palo Alto Municipal Code must also be amended to reflect the seven-member Council. SECTION 2. Section 2.04.190 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby amended as follows (deleted text is in striketl:lreYgl:l, new text is underlined): 2.04.190 Standing committees -Special committees. (a) Not later than the second regular council meeting in January, the mayor shall appoint two standing committees, consisting of ffH:w. three members each from the members of the council. The mayor shall appoint each council member to only one standing committee and shall appoint the chairperson of each committee. The mayor, or the vice-mayor at the request of the mayor, may act as an ex officio, voting member of each committee when one or more regular committee members are absent. (b) The standing committees shall be designated, respectively, committee on finance and committee on policy and services, and shall meet at 7:00 p.m. in the city hall on the day established by Section 2.04.200. (c) Council members may attend meetings of committees of which they are not members, without participating in any manner, but only committee members or ex officio committee members shall vote in committee in accordance with subsection (a) of this section. (d) Council members who submit matters to the council which are referred to a standing committee may appear before the standing committee to which the referral has been made in order to speak as proponents of the matter. Standing committee meetings during which such th TS/ORD Amending 2.04 Attachment A *NOT YET ADOPTED* referrals may be considered shall be noticed as council meetings for the purpose of enabling the standing committee to discuss and consider the matter with a quorum of the council present. (e) In addition to standing committees the mayor may, subject to appro~al of the council, appoint such other special committees of council members, private citizens or both as deemed desirable and necessary to assist and advise the council in its. work. SECTION 3. Section 12.10.060 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code is hereby amended as follows (deleted text is in strikett:ire1::1gl=I, new text is underlined): 12.10.060 Coordination with city. (a) Before a person, utility or public utility applies for an "Application and Permit for Construction in the Public Street" to construct in the public rights-of-way or any street, alley, sidewalk or other public place, the applicant shall notify the director of public works-city engineer, and the city engineer, or designee, shall review on behalf of the applicant the utility master plans and the city's five-year repaving plan on file with the department of public works. The applicant shall coordinate, to the fullest e~tent practicable, with the utility and street work shown on such plans to minimize damage to, and avoid undue disruption and interference with the public use of such public rights-of-way, streets, alleys, sidewalks or other public places. Such coordination shall include: (1) Whenever two or more parties have concurrently proposed a major excavation in the same block during a five-year period, they shall meet and confer with the director of utilities, or designee, regarding whether it is feasible to conduct a joint operation. If the director, or designee, determines that it is feasible to conduct a joint operation, a single contractor shall be selected and a single application fee charged. (2) Any person, utility or public utility aggrieved by the director's decision to require a joint operation may, within thirty days of receipt of the director's written notice, file an appeal with the city manager in written form in a manner prescribed by the director. Within thirty days of the filing of a timely appeal from the director's determination, the city manager shall review the appeal and issue a recommendation to the council to uphold or overturn the action or determination of the director. The recommendation of the city manager shall be placed on the consent calendar of the council within thirty days of the filing of the appeal. In determining such appeal, the council shall consider the impact of the proposed excavation on the neighborhood, the applicant's need to provide services to a property or area, facilitating the deployment of new technology as directed pursuant to official city policy, and the public health, safety, welfare and convenience. The council may adopt the recommendation of the city· manager, or remove the appeal from the consent calendar, which shall require five vetes...2_ majority vote. and take action to uphold or overturn the recommendation of the city manager. The decision of the council is final. th TS/ORD Amending 2.04 .. .. .. Attachment A *NOT YET ADOPTED* (b) To avoid future excavations and to reduce the number of street excavations, any person, utility or public utility providing utility or communications service shall be requested, when practicable, to install sufficient conduit to accommodate the reasonably foreseeable future business growth needs of that person, utility or public utility. SECTION 4. Severability. If any provision, clause, sentence or paragraph of this ordinance, or the application to any person or circumstances, shall be held invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the other provisions of this ordinance which can be given effect without the invalid provision or application and, to this end, the provisions of this ordinance are hereby declared to be severable. SECTION 5. CEQA. The City Council finds and determines that this Ordinance is not a "project" within the meaning of section 15378 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines because it has no potential for resulting in physical change in the environment, ~ither directly or ultimately. SECTION 6. Effective Date. This ordinance shall be effective on January 1, 2019. INTRODUCED: PASSED: AYES: NOES: ABSTENTIONS: ABSENT: ATTEST: APPROVED: City Clerk Mayor APPROVED AS TO FORM: City Manager Deputy City Attorney th TS/ORD Amending 2.04 Amendment to Council Handbook COUNCIL MEETING ~ .............. 10 .... 1 ... 29 .... 1 ... 20_1_s__ 11 0Recelved Before Meeting AMENDMENT TO THE CITY COUNCIL PROCEDURES AND PROTOCOLS HANDBOOK In November, 2014, the Charter of the City of Palo Alto was amended by the electorate to reduce the City Council to seven members (from the current nine member council) effective January 1, 2019. In order to prevent conflicts with the California Brown Act, relevant sections of the Palo Alto City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook must also be amended to reflect the seven-member Council. Upon approval by the City Council, the following amendments shall become effective January 1, 2019: Subsection (K) (Council Matters) of Subsection 2.4 (General Requirements) of Section 2 (Council Meeting & Agenda Guidelines) of the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook is hereby amended as follows (deleted text is in stril~ethro1:1gh, new text is underlined): K. Council Matters Any two Council Members may bring forward a colleague memo on any topic to be considered by the entire Council. Two Council Members are required to place such a memo on the agenda, reflective of the Council procedure requiring a motion and a second for consideration of a motion by the Council. Up to~ three Council Members may sign a colleague memo. The City Attorney recommends.that the colleague memo be limited to #M:ee two Council Members in order to avoid the potential of a Brown Act issue. Prior to preparing a colleague memo, Council Members will consult with the City Manager to determine whether he/she is or is willing and able to address the issues as part of his/her operational authority and within current budgeted resources. Colleague's memos should have a section that identifies any potential staffing or fiscal impacts of the contemplated action. This section will be drafted by the City Manager. Council Members shall provide a copy of the proposed memo with the City Manager or appropriate senior staff prior to finalization. Completed Council colleagues memos shall be provided to the City Clerk's staff by noon on the Tuesday prior to the Council meeting that the memo is intended to be agendized, to provide time for the City Clerk to process for the Council packet. The City Council will not take action on the night that a colleague memo is introduced if it has any implications for staff resources or current work priorities which are not addressed in the memo. The Council will discuss the colleague memo and then direct the City Manager to agendize the matter for Council action within two meetings, allowing Amendment to Council Handbook City staff time to prepare a summary of staffing and resource impacts. Action may be taken immediately by the Council on colleague memos where there are no resource or staffing implications or where these are fully outlined in the colleagues memo. The Brown Act requires that the public be fully informed of the potential action by the Council via the Agenda 72 hours before a scheduled Council meeting. In order to satisfy the Brown Act requirements, the Council should consult with the City Attorney to ensure that the proposed title to the colleague memo contains all actions that the Council Members want completed on the night of the Council review. Subsection (3) (Appointment} of Subsection (Y) (Ad Hoc Committees) of Subsection 2.4 (General Requirements) of Section 2 (Council Meeting & Agenda Guidelines) of the City Council Procedures and Protocols Handbook is hereby amended as follows (deleted text is in striketl:ire1::1gl:i, new text is underlined): 3} Appointment The Mayor or the City Council may appoint .fet:H: three or less members of the Council to serve on an Ad Hoc Committee. In contrast, only the Council and not the Mayor alone can create a Standing Committee. The Mayor will publicly announce any Ad Hoc Committee created by him or her, its membership and stated purpose and posted on the City Council website. The City Manager shall prepare a report to Council about the anticipated time commitment required for staff to assist the Ad Hoc Committee. 1 Carnahan, David From:Linhai Qiu <lqiu@alumni.stanford.edu> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 11:32 PM To:kou.pacc@gmail.com; Scharff, Gregory (internal); Wolbach, Cory; Fine, Adrian; Kou, Lydia; Council, City; Transportation; Info, Plandiv Subject:An important idea regarding the rail grade separation especially regarding the viaduct option Hi council members and related city departments,    I learnt about the council decision to vote the fate of the viaduct option soon. After serious consideration, I am bringing  up my thought and proposal about it.    While I still feel that the lowering train tracks options are far better for Palo Alto residents, I am proposing an idea about  a modified version of the viaduct option. Have you or the responsible teams study the option of constructing such a kind  of viaduct that holds a pipeline to let the trains run through inside the pipe, which is very much like a "tunnel" over the  viaduct, or we can say it is a viaduct with walls on all sides? The advantage of this proposal is that it does not need to  overcome the technical and environmental difficulties due to the underground water/creek issues that we may face in  the underground tunnel or trench option. Also, it will eliminate the noise, health, safety, privacy issues that are deeply  concerning the railroad neighborhood (including myself). I hope the city can seriously consider about this and add this  into one of the options or transform the viaduct option into something like this.    In regard to the hybrid option that raises the train tracks, that is equally bad or even worse than the original open (as  opposed to having walls) viaduct option, even if not all people realize that yet. The hybrid option also raises the train  wheels higher than the residents' backyard fences, which makes it have almost all the downsides that the viaduct option  has. Moreover, it effectively cuts the Palo Alto east and west into two parts visually. I suggest the city combine the  viaduct option with this hybrid option that raises the train tracks into one vote, because it makes little sense to leave this  option while voting down the viaduct given those reasons.     As a resident, I sincerely wish the city can move forward with an option that benefits the residents overall, but I still hold  the bottom line that the railroad neighborhood residents' health, safety and privacy cannot be sacrificed to achieve any  goal. So, let's work together to work it out.    Thanks,  Linhai        On Mon, Aug 20, 2018 at 11:40 PM Linhai Qiu <lqiu@alumni.stanford.edu> wrote:  Hi Cory, Greg, Lydia, Adrian,    I am a resident living in the Charleston Meadow area with my family. We are very surprised to learn that the options that will raise  the rails (including MCL) are still on the table, given our community is so against it. Here is why we are so against it. With the  current height of the train tracks, we can already see through the windows of the caltrains in our backyard and even in the living  room. We cannot imagine if the train tracks are raised another 14 feet (almost twice as high as our fence). The question now is not  how it will impact the privacy of the caltrain neighbor residents. From our direct experience (before seeing any 3D simulation), we  can testify that there will be no privacy at all. Let's forget about the noise (especially the freight trains) for a moment. Just think  about trains passing over the head every day. Just think about that kind of feeling and how much stress that will cause "every" day.  People have been so anxious about the decisions on your hands that they cannot even fall asleep sometimes. For us it is not just  discussion and analysis, it is our life, daily life! We have been keeping mentioning the constraints, but I think no elevation of the  rails should be the most basic constraint.  2   (I agree with one point from one of you that we should factor in the cost of all the necessary mitigation such as insulation, sight  blocking, etc. into the cost analysis, although I also think much of the long‐term damage caused by elevation will be so costly that  can't even be measured.)    Thanks.  1 Carnahan, David From:California High-Speed Rail <Northern.California@hsr.ca.gov> Sent:Thursday, October 25, 2018 11:52 AM To:Council, City Subject:California High-Speed Rail Authority Northern California Newsletter- October 2018 To view this email as a web page, go here. Can't see the images? View As Webpage Northern California Regional Update The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) continues its commitment to provide updates on the program’s progress in the Northern California region. Here’s what’s happened this month. San Francisco to San Jose San Jose to Merced Statewide Update 2 High-Speed Rail Authority Board of Directors Approve Alignment within Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section Certifies Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report The California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) Board of Directors on October 16 certified the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (Final Supplemental EIR) for the Fresno to Bakersfield Project Section and approved a high-speed rail alignment between Poplar Avenue in Kern County and the F Street station location in downtown Bakersfield. This allows the Authority to take additional steps toward advancing major work on the project. “Today’s decision by the Board of Directors reflects the successful partnership between the Authority and our regional partners to find a path forward in bringing high-speed rail to Bakersfield,” said Board Chair Dan Richard. “Having a high-speed rail station in Bakersfield will spur new economic activities and development in the region, and tie the Central Valley to Northern and Southern California like never before.” The Board of Directors heard a staff presentation and took public comments on the Fresno to Bakersfield Final Supplemental EIR. After deliberations, the Board of Directors voted unanimously to certify the document under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), approve the project and alignment between Poplar Avenue in Kern County and the F Street station location in downtown Bakersfield and adopt documents required under CEQA. 3 Click the button below to find the Final Supplemental EIR and associated documents. Click for Final Supplemental EIR Authority Progress Highlighted at National High-Speed Leadership Summit Chair Emeritus of the U.S. High Speed Rail Association Rod Diridon presenting the inaugural Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. National High-Speed Rail Champion’s Award to CAHSRA Board Chair Dan Richard. Representatives from the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) were featured prominently in two significant stakeholder events last month: the National High-Speed Rail Leadership Summit in San Jose and Governor Jerry Brown’s Global Climate Action Summit at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. The three-day National High-Speed Rail Leadership Summit, held September 11-13 at the Santa Clara County Building, featured various high- speed and transportation-related discussions and presentations. Authority Board Member Bonnie Lowenthal, Northern California Regional Director Boris Lipkin, Sustainability Director Meg Cederoth and Board Chair Dan Richard all spoke during the summit, which concluded with the Authority hosting a tour of construction sites in the Central Valley on September 13. 4 On the first day of the summit, Board Chair Richard was presented with the inaugural Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. National High-Speed Rail Champion’s Award for his role in supporting and advancing the high-speed rail program. “Of course, receiving this award was a great personal honor, but it really represents the incredible progress we as an organization have made in building America’s first high-speed rail system,” said Richard, who was appointed to Authority Board in August 2011 and subsequently voted Board Chair in February 2012. “It’s appropriate that the U.S. High-Speed Rail Association named this award after Governor Brown, because without his leadership this project would have never gotten off the ground.” The week concluded with Authority CEO Brian P. Kelly speaking at the Governor’s Global Climate Action Summit, during which Kelly provided an update on the Authority’s streamlined land acquisition process and its public outreach efforts in the Southern California that is designed to update key environmental stakeholders on the program’s progress. Said Kelly, “I firmly believe that strengthening these relationships is key to building greater understanding of why this project is critical to California’s future mobility, economic prosperity and sustainability and climate objectives.” San Francisco Approves Alignment for Downtown Extension 5 The San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) in September approved the Pennsylvania Avenue as its preferred tunneling alignment for the downtown extension (DTX) – an extension that will ultimately bring high-speed rail and Caltrain service to the Salesforce Transit Center in downtown San Francisco. The construction route of the tunnel is expected to cost $6.1 billion and is scheduled to be ready to provide Caltrain and high-speed rail service by 2027. The entire Downtown Rail Extension Project includes a 1.3-mile rail line that will include the creation of a transit-friendly neighborhood, with 3,000 new homes and mixed-use development. The extension will provide Caltrain and high-speed rail with a line that will extend from the current Caltrain station at 4th and King Streets. Caltrain Begins Tunnel Work to Advance its Electrification Project In order to accommodate its new, incoming fleet of electric trains, Caltrain construction crews launched work in the four San Francisco tunnels, work that is essential in order to electrify the Caltrain Peninsula Corridor. In order to facilitate work in the tunnels, trains will not serve the San Francisco or 22nd Street stations on weekends from October 6, 2018 to late spring 2019. Crews will create additional clearance in the tunnel sides to accommodate the new trains and will install anchor bolts in the tunnel ceilings to facilitate the installation of the overhead contact system that will power the new electric trains. For more information visit http://www.caltrain.com/main.html October 2018 Construction Update 6 Construction Update High-speed rail continues to make significant progress in the Central Valley in constructing the nation’s first high-speed rail system. In October’s construction update, we take a look at the work to extend the Cedar Viaduct across State Route 99. Meantime, excavation work continues under State Route 180 as crews are preparing to build the passageway for high-speed trains. Plus, get a look at the recent concrete pours at the San Joaquin River Viaduct. San Francisco to San Jose Project Section Next Environmental Milestone The project team continues to advance engineering and environmental analysis on two alternatives, which will contribute to a staff recommended State’s Preferred Alternative that will be presented to the Board of Directors in December 2019. Below is an updated schedule to deliver the Final Environmental Impact Report/Statement (EIR/EIS) for the San Francisco to San Jose Project Section, including the State’s Preferred Alternative as the next environmental milestone. 7 Community Working Groups Schedule This month marks the restart of Community Working Groups (CWG). There are three groups:  San Francisco CWG  San Mateo County CWG  South Peninsula CWG (previously known as the Santa Clara County CWG) These groups are comprised of representatives from neighborhood associations, business organizations, and transit advocates throughout the Peninsula Corridor. All meetings are open to the public. Materials from these meetings can be found on the Authority’s website, here, under Community Meetings. San Jose to Merced Project Section Developing a Concept Plan The Authority along with Partner Agencies, the City of San José, Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) and Caltrain, entered into a Cooperative Agreement earlier this year to develop a Concept Plan for the integration of existing and future transit services at a new, expanded Diridon Station. The vision is to deliver a world-class transportation hub that provides seamless customer experience for movement between transit modes within the station and into the surrounding neighborhoods and downtown San Jose. Additionally, the Authority continued its engagement with environmental agencies and non-governmental stakeholders in the Santa Clara Valley and Pacheco Pass this month. These valuable interactions are establishing a highly productive collaboration as we consider and effectively plan for all potential environmental impacts from all of the alternatives under study in the project section. This work is leading up to the next milestone of the selection of the State’s Preferred Alternative planned for September of next year. If you are interested in inviting us to your community meeting to receive a project update, our team would be happy to coordinate with you. Feel free to contact us here: 8 Via Email: san.jose_merced@hsr.ca.gov san.francisco_san.jose@hsr.ca.gov Via Phone: San Francisco to San Jose Project Section: (800) 435-8670 San Jose to Merced Project Section: (800) 455-8166 Via Mail: Northern California Regional Office California High-Speed Rail Authority 100 Paseo de San Antonio, Suite 206 San Jose, CA 95113 Sincerely, Boris Lipkin Northern California Regional Director SEE MORE AT WWW.HSR.CA.GOV California High-Speed Rail Authority 100 Paseo de San Antonio, Suite 206 San Jose, CA 95113 northern.california@hsr.ca.gov (408) 277-1083 This email was sent by: California High-Speed Rail Authority 770 L Street Suite 620, Sacramento, CA, 95814 US Privacy Policy Unsubscribe 1 Carnahan, David From:aram james <abjpd1@icloud.com> Sent:Wednesday, October 24, 2018 11:20 PM To:dennis.r.burns@gmail.com Subject:Check out this TED Talk! A prosecutor's vision for a better justice system (Adam Foss | TED2016)    https://www.ted.com/talks/adam_foss_a_prosecutor_s_vision_for_a_better_justice_system?utm_source=tedcomshare &utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=tedspread      Sent from my iPhone  1 Carnahan, David From:Arlene Goetze <photowrite67@yahoo.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 1:35 PM To:Cindy Chavez; Kniss, Liz (external) Subject:Digital Gap: Poor Use & Rich Ban it in schools From New York Times   by Nellie Bowles, Oct. 26, 2018 The Digital Gap Between Rich and Poor Kids is Not what We Expected America's public schools are still promoting devices with screens--even offering digital-only preschools. The rich are banning screens from class altogether. But now, as Silicon Valley’s parents increasingly panic over the impact screens have on their children and move toward screen-free lifestyles, worries over a new digital divide are rising. It could happen that the children of poorer and middle-class parents will be raised by screens, while the children of Silicon Valley’s elite will be going back to wooden toys and the luxury of human interaction. Read more . . ..Worried parents organize against digital for kids https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/26/style/digital-divide-screens- schools.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Feducation&action=click&contentCollection=education®io n=stream&module=stream_unit&version=latest&contentPlacement=4&pgtype=sectionfront Forwarded by Arlene Goetze, NO Toxins for Children, photowrite67@yahoo.com 1 Carnahan, David From:Michael Tan <michael.lam.tan@gmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 11:07 PM To:Council, City Subject:Exit from 101N onto Oregon Expressway Dear City Council members,    The traffic on the 101N on the mile leading up to the Oregon Expressway exit is usually crowded around the evening  rush hour.  Sometimes I see cars use the mile‐long exit‐only lane before the Oregon Expressway exit as a way to bypass  the traffic. This is problematic for two reasons:    1) The car that abuses the exit lane needs to slow down and merge back into the traffic‐heavy expressway. The  slowdown can be unexpected and cause accidents, and it blocks the people from actually exiting until the car merges  back in.    2) Everyone else in the freeway is fairly waiting their turn. Seeing a car cut ahead in front of them can provoke  frustration, which may lead to unsafe driving. Sometimes people may beep at the exit lane abuser, which might cause  them to road rage later.    Can we put up signs to say that drivers using the exit lane must exit?  This would help alleviate traffic in the exit lane and  allow for safer driving around that intersection.  There is an article around this type of policy  here: https://www.mercurynews.com/2014/02/10/exit‐lane‐cheaters‐tempt‐road‐rage‐crashes‐and‐sometimes‐a‐ ticket/    Thank you for your consideration,  Michael  1 Carnahan, David From:Wayne Martin <wmartin46@yahoo.com> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 5:05 PM To:Council, City Subject:Finding $2M a year Palo Alto City Council City of Palo Alto Palo Alto, CA Elected Council Members: Given that the Staff seems to be unable to find $2M dollars out of an operational budget of over $200M this year (and growing to $286M in ten years), the following information about the use of "management specialists" is brought to your attention: Using the employee compensation data for 2017, the follow departments hired "Management Specialists" for the following amount of money: +--------------------------------+------------------------+ | department | Salary | +--------------------------------+------------------------+ | Administrative Services | 113,543 | | City Auditor | 17,300 | | City Manager | 97,086 | | Community Services | 15,030 | | Development Services | 78,673 | | Fire | 2,746 | | Human Resources | 100,962 | | Information Technology | 5,985 | | Library Services Dept | 33,291 | | Planning & Community Envir | 46,346 | | Police | 310,830 | | Public Works | 128,287 | | Utilities | 240,092 | +--------------------------------+------------------------+ Total: $1.1M. Does anyone on the Council know what these people are doing for this money? A similar question (or two) might be asked: Does anyone on the Council know how much money is spent on consultants on a yearly basis? Does the Council require the City Manager to list all of the consultant contracts for the public to review? It would seem that there might easily be two million dollars to be found in the area of "management specialists" and "consultants". Wayne Martin Palo Alto 1 Carnahan, David From:D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com> Sent:Friday, October 26, 2018 10:50 PM To:Zero Waste Cc:Keene, James; Council, City Subject:Foodwaste     Dear Zero Waste:    Your flyer, in the October 26, 2018, PA Weekly newspaper, is ridiculous and a waste of taxpayer monies.  The "Plan" and  "Pack" sections are either written for morons or written by morons.  In fact, on second review, this entire flyer is  ridiculous.      Be mindful that you are addressing Palo Alto, the Stanford community, and the heart of Silicon Valley. We are the richest  little town in America, and a town of billionaires and geniuses.  Your flyer is patronizing and just plain stupid.  Who the  hell is responsible for such trash?  How dare you address my community in such a demeaning way!      You are exploiting hard earned taxpayers' monies.  Just knock it off.  Whoever you are, you are a leach, and whoever is  responsible for hiring you should be fired.  You have thrown away valuable taxpayer monies with expensive and insulting  advertising.  Shame on you!!    Please respond.  ‐‐I demand to know: how much money was wasted on composing such nonsense, and how much  unnecessary money was dumped into the very expensive PA Weekly's Advertising Department?  Who is  responsible?  Palo Alto taxpayers want accountability.        1 Carnahan, David From:Roberta Ahlquist <roberta.ahlquist@sjsu.edu> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 1:58 PM To:Council, City; Stephanie Munoz; Rita Vrhel; Mary Sylvester Subject:Fwd: California Today: Los Angeles Tests Housing the Homeless in Its Own Backyard   ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  From: NYTimes.com <nytdirect@nytimes.com>  Date: Tue, Oct 30, 2018 at 6:32 AM  Subject: California Today: Los Angeles Tests Housing the Homeless in Its Own Backyard  DEAR COUNCIL PEOPLE CONCERNED ABOUT LOW‐INCOME HOUSING:    WE SHOULD BE DOING SUCH THINGS. Many places are trying to figure out ways to get more worker housing.  EVERY ZONING CHANGE YOU MAKE SHOULD MANDATE THAT 50% LOW INCOME HOUSING  BE INCLUDED.    WE SHOULD NOT ALLOW  A  FOR‐PROFIT WOMEN'S CLUB (THERE IS ALREADY A WOMEN'S CLUB ON FOREST) BUT  RATHER   LOW INCOME HOUSING SHOULD BE BUILT THERE (MIDDLEFIELD AND ADDISON). WHERE IS THE NEW LOW INCOME  HOUSING? ALL WE SEE IS EXPENSIVE CONDO PLANS,  OR CONDO/OFFICE! Let's see some low‐income housing for our workers.  WILPF  Low income housing committee    a potential ethics challenge for Gavin Newsom and Baroo Los Angeles closes after three years View in Browser | Add nytdirect@nytimes.com to your address book. Tuesday, October 30, 2018 NYTimes.com » 2   Los Angeles Tests Housing the Homeless in Its Own Backyard By JENNIFER MEDINA AND INYOUNG KANG 3 A home being built in the backyard of another house in the Highland Park neighborhood of Los Angeles. Jenna Schoenefeld for The New York Times Good morning. What would it take for you to put the homeless in your own backyard? The city and county of Los Angeles are attempting to find out. In separate pilot programs, officials are offering subsidies of between $10,000 and $30,000 to homeowners who commit to creating accessory dwelling units — more commonly called “granny flats” — and renting them out to the formerly homeless. On Monday, Bloomberg Philanthropies announced the city won a $1 million grant to get the experiment off the ground. City officials are likely to look for more private money to fund the pilot program. It is unclear exactly how many units the city will pay for with this round of money, but much of the experiment will focus on just what it will take to convince homeowners that they should rent out their back houses to the homeless. 4 “There’s a lot we don’t know yet, so we’re asking what would it take for this to work, to appeal to enough people to make a difference,” said Amanda Daflos, who heads Mayor Eric Garcetti’s innovation team, which has focused on the city’s housing crisis. For months, Ms. Daflos and her colleagues have hosted focus group meetings to understand what kinds of questions and concerns homeowners might have. When we visited one focus group this fall, the skepticism was clearly evident. “There’s a lot of fear when you hear the term homelessness,” said Richelle Saldana, a 33-year-old homeowner and mother of two. “Maybe that is not fair, but it’s true.” One official in Portland, Ore., where a similar experiment is underway, went as far as calling the idea “a little cuckoo,” but insisted that people would be eager to “step up and do a little.” What do you think — would you be willing to rent out your backyard flat through a similar program? What could persuade you to do so? Share your thoughts in the comments or by email: jennifer.medina@nytimes.com California Crossword This is the seventh in a series of ten California-themed crossword puzzles, written by veteran Times crossword constructor and San Diego resident Bruce Haight. 5 The theme of today’s puzzle is different San Francisco landmarks. If you’re a resident of the Bay, you should have fun with this one – there’s even a bonus Bay Area-related answer at 26-Across. If you like what you’re solving, check out our daily Mini crossword puzzle, or take your puzzles on the go with the New York Times Crossword app. California Online (Please note: We regularly highlight articles on news sites that have limited access for nonsubscribers.) A memorial outside the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh. Michael Henninger for The New York Times • Prosecutors vowed to seek the death penalty for Robert Bowers, the man accused of killing 11 congregants at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday. [The New York Times] • A torrent of anti-Semitic content over the weekend showed that as social media companies expanded their reach, they never quite understood the negative consequences of their influence nor what to do about it. [The New York Times] 6 • Cesar Altieri Sayoc Jr., the Florida man accused of mailing pipe bombs around the country, kept lists that suggested he had more than 100 potential targets, including at least 15 in the Los Angeles region. [The Los Angeles Times] • Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and Senator Kamala Harris will barnstorm together this weekend in a final push to energize voters in four closely contested House races in Southern California. [Politico] • Mr. Newsom’s business interests could present an ethics challenge if he is elected governor and maintains his holdings in wineries, bars, restaurants, hotels and liquor stores. [Associated Press] • A private-equity-backed campaign could overturn a landmark state criminal justice reform law that is intended to help the poor by abolishing bail-bond companies. [The Washington Post] • Marc Benioff, the chief executive of Salesforce and one of San Francisco’s wealthiest residents, has molded himself into the face of a local initiative to tax large businesses and raise money to help the homeless. [Buzzfeed News] • Klay Thompson set an N.B.A. record with 14 3-pointers in the Golden State Warriors’ victory over the Chicago Bulls. [The New York Times] • The Warriors must pay the estimated $40 million debt incurred by Oakland and Alameda County for renovations to Oracle Arena, an arbitrator ruled. [San Francisco Chronicle] 7 Guadalupe Plascencia, right, shown with her daughter, Mahria Torres, won a $55,000 settlement after she was detained by immigration authorities despite repeatedly telling them she was an American citizen. Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times • A U.S. citizen who was detained by ICE in San Bernardino County was awarded $55,000 in a settlement after she sued the federal government and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department. [The New York Times] • In Watsonville, an immigrant farmworker picks strawberries and prepares for the birth of her third child. She faces health care challenges and worries about her immigration status. [CNN] • Tesla is making progress, but its future isn’t yet secured. Here are some fundamental questions hanging over the company. [The New York Times] • Scientists captured incredibly rare footage of a Dumbo octopus swimming at the Southeast Davidson Seamount, southwest of Monterey, about 10,000 feet deep. [Newsweek] • Sunday was “Super Sports Equinox” in L.A., which hosted a home game in five major sports that day. Two fans attended them all. [The Los Angeles Times] 8 The Lido House brings the architectural influence of Cape Cod to the California coast. Lido House • This design-centric spot in Newport Beach is challenging the concept of what a Southern California hotel should look like. [The New York Times] And Finally … 9 The food was experimental, hard to categorize and often deeply delicious, like the restaurant's popular noorook, a grain porridge seasoned with koji. Elizabeth Lippman for The New York Times It began in a Hollywood strip mall with a cramped kitchen and a shoestring budget. The food they served was experimental, laborious to prepare and technically accomplished — neither Korean nor Italian, often priced around $10. When Kwang Uh and Matthew Kim opened Baroo in 2015, it caught the eye of the restaurant critic Jonathan Gold shortly after. In 2016, Bon Appétit named Baroo one of the 10 best places to eat in the country. The restaurant served its last meal on Saturday, but it pulled off a rare balancing act in dining culture: warmth, affordability and experimentation, all till the very end. Read the full story here. California Today goes live at 6 a.m. Pacific time weekdays. Tell us what you want to see: CAtoday@nytimes.com. California Today is edited by Julie Bloom, who grew up in Los Angeles and graduated from U.C. Berkeley. 10   FOLLOW NYTimes FACEBOOK @nytimes Get more NYTimes.com newsletters » | Get unlimited access to NYTimes.com and our NYTimes apps.Subscribe » Copyright 2018 The New York Times Company 620 Eighth Avenue New York, NY 10018 ABOUT THIS EMAIL You received this message because you signed up for NYTimes.com's California Today newsletter. Unsubscribe | Manage Subscriptions | Change Your Email | Privacy Policy | Contact | Advertise 1 Carnahan, David From:D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com> Sent:Saturday, October 27, 2018 1:04 AM To:Ludia.kou@cityofpaloalto.org Cc:Eggleston, Brad; Keene, James; Shikada, Ed; Council, City Subject:Fwd: Praise for Brad Eggleston | Dawn Redwood   Lydia Lou  Council Member    Thank you Lydia.     The historic Dawn Redwood is on city property.  The Post Office belongs to the Feds, but the land is ours.  All plant life,  at the downtown Post Office, is dying for lack of water.  Waiting for rain is not the solution.    I spent months trying to get this issue resolved, and only contacted Brad out of desperation.      I appreciate your support and recognition.  It's your turn to be Mayor.    ‐Danielle  ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  Danielle Martell  dmPaloAlto@gmail.com  650 856‐0700        ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  From: Kou, Lydia <Lydia.Kou@cityofpaloalto.org>  Date: Friday, October 26, 2018  Subject: Praise for Brad Eggleston | Dawn Redwood  To: D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com>    Dear Danielle,    Thank you for your follow up on the Dawn Redwood. It is a beautiful tree and we should take care of  it whether it is on private or public property.    Kind regards,    ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  2 Lydia Kou ‐ Council Member  Contact Info:  https://goo.gl/BcgCQS    From: D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com>  Sent: Friday, October 26, 2018 4:32 PM  To: Keene, James  Cc: Shikada, Ed; Eggleston, Brad; Stump, Molly; Council, City; Minor, Beth; Brettle, Jessica  Subject: Praise for Brad Eggleston | Dawn Redwood          FYI    ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  From: D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com>  Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2018 at 4:10 PM  Subject: Fwd: Dawn Redwood  To: <Brad.Eggleston@cityofpaloalto.org>      THANK YOU!! You are appreciated. -Danielle Martell        ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Forwarded message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  From: Eggleston, Brad <Brad.Eggleston@cityofpaloalto.org>  Date: Fri, Oct 26, 2018 at 3:57 PM  Subject: Dawn Redwood  To: D Martell <dmpaloalto@gmail.com>    Hi Danielle,  Thanks for the photos you dropped off at the Clerk’s Office!  We’re still trying to coordinate with the Post Office about their trees and the irrigation system, but I  wanted to let you know that for now we’re having a water truck water the Dawn Redwood tree once  a week.  Hopefully this will be enough to at least stop its current decline.  Have a good weekend.   3 Brad       Brad Eggleston | Interim Director of Public Works  250 Hamilton Avenue | Palo Alto, CA 94301  D: 650.329.2636 | E: Brad.Eggleston@cityofpaloalto.org                   1 Carnahan, David From:Virginia Smedberg <virgviolin@hotmail.com> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 2:44 PM To:Council, City Subject:How to respond as a City to the Pittsburg killings Dear Council Members ‐ in response to the Mayor's note about this horrible act:    Would the city consider doing a resolution like this one?? ‐     https://www.bendthearc.us/open_letter_to_president_trump    Letter to President Trump from Pittsburgh Jewish Leaders President Trump, you are not welcome in Pittsburgh until you commit yourself to compassionate, democratic policies that recognize the dignity of all of us. www.bendthearc.us   I've also asked friends at Beth Am and First Congregational Church ‐ but I think the more groups it, or  something similar, comes from, the better.    Virginia Smedberg  441 Washington Ave PA    1 Carnahan, David From:Cecilia Willer <cecilia_willer@yahoo.com> Sent:Thursday, October 25, 2018 3:32 PM To:Council, City Subject:Idea regarding helping with housing I wanted to pass on an idea that an acquaintance had shared regarding the housing challenge.    Right now in Palo Alto the housing prices are crazy and we have this wonderful Proposition 13 in place.  [I love it as a  home owner].    I believe the rentals in Palo Alto account for over 50% of the housing units.    Many home purchasers buy homes to be a rental property ‐ the house next door to our home is a rental, the What's App  person purchased 4 additional homes, Mark Zuckerberg purchased many homes surrounding his home, and there are  many more.        I feel that Proposition 13 should be for homeowners who LIVE in the home they own.  It should not be made available to  those who purchase with the intention of renting the home out.  My understanding of Prop 13 is that it was to help the  home owners be able to remain in their home.  Homeowners NOT renters.     Perhaps if home purchasers know they will need to pay a higher property tax each year, they won't purchase as many  homes, pay the crazy prices they pay to have more homes, and just maybe there will be homes available for people who  want to live and stay in this community.  If people want to purchase rentals, pay the taxes.    I hope you can give this some thought.  There are just so many people with lots of money that want to benefit from  rentals.  So, have them help pay for the infrastructure that is needed in our community.      Cecilia Willer  1270 Byron Street  1 Carnahan, David From:Family <iveybarajas@aol.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 8:39 PM To:Council, City Subject:Laps swims and Rinconada Community Pool Dear City Council Members,     I have been a lap swimmer at Rinconada Pool for over 25 years and have used the community pool for health  benefits.  My husband and I have raised our three children in Palo Alto and we have always made it a priority to live near  the community pool for lap swims.  It is important to our family that the city of Palo Alto continue to offer a public pool  to the community for lap swimming, swim lessons and masters swim club. Rinconada pool is the only public pool in Palo  Alto.  Let’s keep this valuable asset for the community.      Thank you for your cooperation and for working on behalf of the community.     Sincerely,   Lourdes Barajas  Iveybarajas@gmail.com   1 Carnahan, David From:Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> Sent:Wednesday, October 24, 2018 11:00 PM To:dcbertini@menlopark.org; myraw@smcba.org; Council, City; jason@jason4rwc.com; drutherford@cityofepa.org; council@redwoodcity.org; christina@christina4rwc.com; gkirby@redwoodcity.org; reddy4rwc@gmail.com; cbolanos@smcgov.org; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; epatoday@epatoday.org; rick@rickhunter.org; jbeiers@smcgov.org; citycouncil@menlopark.org; michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com; Jonsen, Robert; stephanie@dslextreme.com; apardini@cityofepa.org; cromero@cityofepa.org; lmoody@cityofepa.org; lgauthier@cityofepa.org; jrosen@da.sccgov.org; dave.cortese@bos.sccgov.org; rabrica@cityofepa.org; Kilpatrick, Brad; Lee, Craig; Kan, Michael; roberta.ahlquist@sjsu.edu; wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com; Tony Dixon; yolanda@rocketmail.com; Zelkha, Mila; tom.dubois@gmail.com; molly.o'neal@pdo.sccgov.org; Stump, Molly; laptoplg@mac.com; hayden@yourcriminaldefender.com; smanley@scscourt.org; rpichon@scscourt.org; sscott@scscourt.org; jsylva@scscourt.org; dryan@scscourt.org; mbuell@cityofepa.org; fields.randal@gmail.com Cc:Gary.Goodman@pdo.sccgov.org Subject:Larry Krasner’s Campaign to End Mass Incarceration | The New Yorker   https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/10/29/larry‐krasners‐campaign‐to‐end‐mass‐incarceration      Sent from my iPhone  1 Carnahan, David From:Janet Littlefield <janet@wilddancer.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 6:35 PM To:Council, City Subject:Letter in Support of Rinconada Masters October 29, 2018  To the Palo Alto City Council:  Not all masters swim programs are alike.  Not everyone is young, strong, and competitive.  Not  everyone is a tri‐athlete or aspiring tri‐athlete.  Some of us are beginning swimmers; some of us  are recovering from injuries.  Many swimmers enjoy swimming for fitness with a more relaxed group of masters swimmers.  At  Rinconada Masters we enjoy our workouts, but also the comradery of other swimmers who share  our love of swimming but aren’t necessarily competing.  We respectfully ask you to keep the Rinconada Masters program as is rather than allowing Team  Sheeper to establish its own masters program.  There are many competitive masters programs in  the area – Menlo Masters and Stanford Masters come to mind.  Though I am a Menlo Park resident, I have swum with Rinconada Masters since 1985.  Menlo  Park’s Burgess Pool would be more convenient for me, but there are virtually no times when I,  working full time, can lap swim there, and I believe their masters program is too strenuous for me.  I particularly appreciate Rinconada Masters because it provided me with the opportunity to  recover from a massive rotator cuff injury.  If it hadn’t been for this group and Carol MacPherson’s  coaching, I most likely would never have been able to swim again.  Please don’t allow Rinconada Masters unique program to be dissolved.                                                          Sincerely,                                                          Janet Littlefield  1 Carnahan, David From:Mike S <mjsl4@yahoo.com> Sent:Thursday, October 25, 2018 7:56 AM To:Council, City Subject:Lying Sack of Crap Seriously? How demented does a city council have to be to honor someone for lying in front of congress? Don't spend  time trying to fix problems in your state, such as the highest poverty rate in the country, or people shooting up and  defecating on the sidewalks. No your time is best spent honoring a complete liar. Good job palo alto, you should all be  ashamed of yourselves.     Signed,     REAL AMERICANS           Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android  1 Carnahan, David From:Chris M. Balz <chris@chrisbalz.com> Sent:Wednesday, October 31, 2018 9:56 AM To:Council, City Subject:Message from the City Council Home Page Regarding the Rinconada Masters Swim Program, I hope that something can be worked out here.  I don't know anything  about the important aspects of running a swimming pool, but I can say that Carol has an amazing ability to dissect a  swimmer's swim stroke and help them improve.  I've had a great experience at Rinconada Masters and I am sure that  everybody can come together around good safety standards and continuing the fine tradition at Rinconada.    Sincerely,      ‐ Chris M. Balz, Palo Alto resident.    1 Carnahan, David From:Neilson Buchanan <cnsbuchanan@yahoo.com> Sent:Wednesday, October 24, 2018 2:16 PM To:Council, City Subject:News Impacting Quality of Life on the Peninsula     SAN FRANCISCO PENINSULA NEWS SUMMARY News Impacting Quality of Your Life October 24, 2018   View as Webpage   2 What describes how most councilpersons manage traffic in their towns?   Bold leadership can help us reach new heights   To Subscribe Click Here   Everyday life on the Peninsula On Oct 22 the Palo Alto City Council held a study session focused only on traffic. Citizen response was robust and clear - The City must do more! This issue is dedicated to local transportation solutions, i.e. solutions within the control of city councils. We will also focus on land use decisions which balance transportation with housing and jobs. Viable solutions can evolve to reduce the traffic burden on residents and commuters only if councils set priorities and allocate resources. Respectfully, Editors Neilson Buchanan and John Guislin See John's Guest Editorial! Palo Alto Weekly     3 What is Council Leadership? It is the foundation of a quality community. What happens when a city council openly steps up to address an overwhelming issue such as traffic? Or housing…or schools…or parks? This issue starts a 6-month a case study of Palo Alto’s council leadership. Palo Alto's study session on Oct 22 may offer a 2019 learning opportunity to all city councils on the Peninsula. We hope so. Traffic and transportation need leadership by example.       Getting going---3 ways in Palo Alto #1 Bias for action Traffic congestion, safety issues, spillover cut-thru traffic, etc. are everyday realities in Palo Alto and many peninsula cities. Each year Palo Alto conducts a scientific survey of residents' opinions. Traffic is consistently rated as major concern. Palo Alto is commuter town. Only God know what commuters must think! One neighborhood assumed leadership and challenges the status quo. Palo Alto Online #2 Mayoral mea culpa On July 30 Mayor Liz Kniss stated during a Council meeting “…I think you'll find that the traffic is not as overwhelming as you might think.” This resulted in national news, regional TV coverage and startled citizens. She quickly apologized and her apology was accepted. Mayor Kniss, the Council and staff scheduled a special Town Hall Traffic Study Session. Seattle CBS #3 Neighborhood voices Citizen leaders from multiple neighborhoods took proactive action. No pitchforks….no flaming torches. One neighborhood conducted a formal citizen survey with Survey Monkey. Another neighborhood convened face-to-face meeting and     4 followed up by email. Another individual deployed technology and surveyed traffic in front of his home. Other neighborhoods are looking at their hot-spots and will communicate to city staff. Palo Alto Weekly   Double Quick Action? Or double talk? Will Palo Alto Council blaze a trail and respond to a heavily attended townhall meeting on traffic? Residents sound off For Palo Alto residents exasperated by worsening traffic congestion, the city offered some hopeful news: Help is on the way…..expect delays. Many argued for moratorium on commercial development. Some came armed with surveys, data sets and anecdotes. One citizen installed a camera at his house for car counts and documented 33% increase from 2013 to 2018. Close to 100 residents participated and over 30 testified. Another resident made the case for halting commercial development until city solves traffic problems. He said the city of Palo Alto is transitioning into a corporate-office park. Palo Alto Weekly Ed. Comment: Palo Alto has a snarl. Transportation Department is not staffed or funded to address its problems. The new comprehensive plan is not funded adequately. The City Council is in lame duck status until January and a new city manager has just begun to organize his senior staff. When might the new city council set new, funded priorities? A good target date is the first council meeting in April. For the record, the Oct 22 audience was polled to see if the business community was in attendance. Less than a handful were interested enough to attend the town hall meeting. Quick Links: NBC Bay Area TV Taking Mayor to Task NBC Bay Area TV News ABC 7 TV Citizens create survey to spotlight traffic ABC7 TV News     Boom and bloom of a lifetime 5 Scary: Economic known unknowns Boomtown mentalities understandably drive most Peninsula City Councils. Profound economic success creates greater and greater imbalance with housing, traffic and incomes. Many leaders, not all, are dazzled by dollars just like King Midas. Google the timeless story of desire and atonement. Most councils struggle with quality of life policies when development opportunities dominate Council and staff time. If the economy sours, all blooms are off. What's next for Palo Alto? Only time will tell! Necessary ingredients to manage traffic are not in place. City budgets are not aligned for transportation management. A new city manager has just been promoted. City transportation department is not fully staffed. On January 1 the City Council shrinks from nine to seven. Three new council persons will soon be seated for 4-year terms.. There is a bigger question. Can city councils learn from each other?       Worst of the worst 6 Roads in the Bay Area were the worst in the nation and accounted for high costs to drivers. Road congestion alone costs Peninsula residents $1,475 a year. This does not include costs resulting from deteriorating road conditions or accidents. The full report on 2016 road conditions can be found here. Almanac News Ed. Comment: The issue is not simply roads. The issue is massively imbalanced transportation, jobs and housing aggravated by every city council's land use decisions.       What's ahead?   7 Job surges + Atmospheric office markets = Gobs of traffic       Waves of jobs predicted “Santa Clara County is the high-flying part of the Bay Area,” said Robert Kleinhenz, an economist with Beacon Economics. “The South Bay has a remarkable job market.” One trend has clearly emerged this year: Santa Clara County’s economy has galloped ahead of the nine-county region’s two other major urban centers during the last 12 months. San Jose Mercury News Ed. Comment: Job surge is real and it makes instantaneous impact upon Peninsula traffic….and housing, schools, demand for services, water, utilities, etc.       Silicon Valley’s tech boom has fueled an appetite for office buildings that is poised to propel the region to its best leasing market in years, new research reports indicate. The demand for office space appears to exceed the supply of completed properties, according to separate reports from commercial realty firms Cushman & Wakefield and Colliers International. San Jose Mercury News Ed. Comment: Office markets are going through the roof. New leases with higher density create instantaneous traffic.   Over the top office growth Everyone is on a dangerous ledge 8 Jobs zoom past housing supply The Bay Area is a hot place to build cubicles, conference rooms and office suites. But don’t look for as many hammers pounding out new homes, condos and apartments. The region is expected to open 18.2 million square feet of office space in 2018 — tops in the nation and more than New York City and Dallas combined — while home, condo and apartment construction has grown only modestly. San Jose Mercury News Ed. Comment: What are our government leaders and Tech Titans thinking? We see no plausible mid-term scenario for over-heated construction industry to match housing development with demand. Furthermore, the basic laws of economics in a gold rush apply. Construction costs are zooming far ahead of the CPI. Therefore, housing is more and more unaffordable. We welcome expert opinion to the contrary.        November will bring fall colors and new features We are gearing up our commentary post-election. Two newsletters a month will be leveraging your local newspapers’ best articles. We will step up humor in these challenging times. And we will prescribe a drop or two of satire. Aggravate the comfortable. Comfort the aggravated.   9 Success of SFPRA newsletter success depends upon its readers. Please feel free to forward the newletter to your friends and neighbors. Ask them to subscribe at no cost by clicking the subscribe button above or by emailing cnsbuchanan@gmail.com.   Editors Neilson Buchanan and John Guislin are unpaid, private citizens on the SF Peninsula and have no ties to developers or government organizations.     Our Web Site   Neilson Buchanan | Downtown North, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Unsubscribe cnsbuchanan@yahoo.com Update Profile | About our service provider Sent by cnsbuchanan@yahoo.com in collaboration with Try it free today   1 Carnahan, David From:John Kelley <jkelley@399innovation.com> Sent:Friday, October 26, 2018 11:08 AM To:Council, City Subject:NYTimes: Will One State Go It Alone to Make Polluters Pay? Here's a story from The New York Times that I thought you'd find interesting:    Washington State voters will consider carbon fees aimed at curbing climate change. If they approve, the state will be the  first in the nation to impose the fees.    Read More...    Get The New York Times on your mobile device    Best, John       (Mobile. Brief. Please excuse.)  1 Carnahan, David From:Tim Owens <tvowens@outlook.com> Sent:Thursday, October 25, 2018 11:18 AM To:Council, City Cc:Tim Owens Subject:Palo Alto - City Council Dear City Council,    60 percent of the homeless are "invisible": they live in cars, RVs,  friends sofas, motels,   and they dont have access to online job training.     This means they cannot learn how to create a resume, use email, job search online to keep from living on the streets.    I know this because I work with the invisible homeless.    I have created a solution.    Job training online;  accessible from anywhere...for free.    I would like the City Council to approve 5 million dollars so the City and I can get these people the help they deserve.    Please see my website below and please contact me to discuss further. Thank you.     ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐  Tim Owens      *   C.E.O.    *   ‐‐‐jobtraininginthecloud.com    *   (PHONE) 1‐(310)‐625‐7711    *   (EMAIL)  tvowens@outlook.com  1 Carnahan, David From:Nat Fisher <sukiroo@hotmail.com> Sent:Thursday, October 25, 2018 11:56 AM To:Council, City Subject:plastics: news clip In environmental news, European lawmakers have voted to ban single-use plastics in an effort to reduce ocean pollution. The ban includes plastic cutlery, straws and disposable plates and would take effect starting in 2021. This is EU lawmaker Frédérique Ries. Frédérique Ries: “What are the objects we have most often found on the beaches? That’s single-use plastic. And secondly, are there inexpensive alternatives that are accessible? If that’s the case, then we’ll change. It’s not complicated. It’s disfiguring our beaches. It’s killing our oceans. It’s killing animals. It ends up in fishes’ stomachs and kills them. And at the end of the day, it ends up inside our bodies. There’s an impact on human health. There are alternatives which exist, which are not expensive and are often European, so we just change things.” The regulations still have to be approved by individual governments before becoming law. Natalie Fisher  Palo Alto   1 Carnahan, David From:Eggleston, Brad Sent:Wednesday, October 31, 2018 9:28 AM To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Keene, James; Keith, Claudia; De Geus, Robert; Flaherty, Michelle; Passmore, Walter Subject:Post Office Dawn Redwood tree Attachments:Water Promised for Old Tree.pdf Dear Councilmembers,    The City Manager asked me to provide you an update on the distinctive Dawn Redwood tree at the Post Office.  As  mentioned at Monday’s Council meeting, our Urban Forestry group recently began watering the tree with a watering  truck as a temporary measure.  The attached article about the Dawn Redwood was published in this morning’s Daily  Post.  It includes some information about Dawn Redwood trees provided to the Daily Post by Urban Forester Walter  Passmore, and also indicates that the Post Office will begin watering the tree and is interested in advice from Public  Works and Canopy about the appropriate watering schedule.  We will coordinate with Canopy in the coming days to  reach out to the Post Office about the best care for the Dawn Redwood and other trees at the Post Office.    Respectfully,    Brad          Brad Eggleston | Interim Director of Public Works   250 Hamilton Avenue | Palo Alto, CA 94301 D: 650.329.2636 | E: Brad.Eggleston@cityofpaloalto.org            Water promised for olil tree --City postmaster apologizes after concern raised BY ALLISON LEVITSKY Daily Post Staff Writer Palo Alto tree advocates were alarmed that a once-rare redwood tree at the downtown post office wasn't being watered -but after learning of their concern, the city's postmaster has apologized and said his mainte- nance crews would start watering it again. TREE lovers sounded the alarm about this redwood outside the downtown Palo Alto Post Office at Waverley Street and Hamilton Avenue. Post photo . Dawn redwood trees were once thought to have been extinct for 20 million years. But in 1944, living specimens were discovered in Chi- [See TREE, page 26] . _____,. __ Ja's Sichuan province. A Harvard expedition brought ;eeds back from China in 1948, and one was planted :it Hamilton Avenue and Waverley Street on March 7, 1949. "We're about to lose that tree for the simple reason that the landscape irrigation was turned off. A number Jf large trees on the post office property have already :lied," Susan Rosenberg, co-founder of the tree advo- cacy group Canopy, said at City Council on Monday night. "I think it would be a real shame if Palo Alto lost this tree because it didn't get enough water." City water truck helps out Urban forester Walter Passmore sent the city water truck to give the tree 200 gallons of water last week -5 to 10 gallons per inch of the trunk's diameter, he said. Before that, volunteers from Canopy were wa- tering it. Passmore said that based on the way the tree looks, it was "evident" that the post office had either stopped or reduced watering on their property at 380 Hamil- ton Ave. sometime in the last year. In August, officials from the city and the post of- fice exchanged emails and phone messages about the problem, Passmore said. "They were receptive to talking about it. I think they recognized that it is an important tree," Passmore said. "We haven't really had a lengthy conversation. We just told them that we were concerned about it." Postal service spokesman Augustine Ruiz said yesterday that Palo Alto Postmaster Ramon Martinez wanted to apologize "to those who think he is not wa- tering the tree." Ruiz said that Martinez had told his maintenance crews to start watering the tree until he installs a sprinkler system. Despite the repeated contacts from the city, Ruiz said Martinez didn't know who to contact from Can- opy or the Public Works Department about how often he should be watering the tree, and for how long. "He would like to work with the local advocacy group to learn more from them on the proper mainte- nance of such a tree," Ruiz said in an email. In 1999, the tree was measured at 48 feet tall and more than 2 feet in diameter. Its branches had a crown spread of nearly 40 feet that year. Reeidents watered tree Passmore said he appreciated how proactive local tree advocates had been after seeing that the tree was being neglected. "The real exciting part is that we have a lot of people in Palo Alto that really care about trees, and they're willing to take some action to take care of them," Passmore said. "We have people who care enough to spend their time going out to take care of this tree at the post office, even though it's owned by the federal government." 1 Carnahan, David From:Deborah Goldeen <palamino@pacbell.net> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 10:19 AM To:Council, City Subject:Pria Graves I live in Evergreen Park.  Stanford has purchased two homes adjacent to mine.  I agree that leaving them empty for long  periods of time is deeply disturbing. The management company hired to oversee the houses has no motivation what so  ever to be respectful and considerate and they are not.    I disagree that removing these houses from “the housing pool” and “taking them off the open market” is a bad thing.   The people who can afford to buy these houses on the “open market” are in a class of wealth of people who generally  believe the rules don’t apply to them and have no motivation what so ever to be involved in their communities.  The  “open market” is over rated.  it has it’s place, but to quote Wendell Barry, “rats and cockroaches live by the laws of  supply and demand.”  I’ll take Stanford affiliates as neighbors, thank you very much!~    Deb Goldeen, 2130 Birch St., 94306, 321‐7375  1 Carnahan, David From:Hal Daseking <hal@daseking.com> Sent:Sunday, October 28, 2018 8:19 PM To:ParkRec Commission Cc:Council, City Subject:Proposed Changes to Rinconada Pool and the Master's Swim Program To whom it may concern,  I am a Palo Alto resident and a Master Swim member for over 30 years. I want to encourage you  not to approve the  Team Sheeper, Inc. aquatics contract as proposed at the recent Parks and Recreation Commission meeting  of October  23, City of Palo Aquatics Contract Update, until a mutually agreeable solution can be worked out over the continuation  of the long standing Rinconada Masters Swim team.    I appears that the Recreation Community Services Department’s eagerness to complete a contract has not  allowed for a  reasonable effort to find a mutually agreeable solution.  Their major safety concern (number of lifeguards on duty) can  be reasonably resolved.  Thanks for your help .  Hal Daseking       1 Carnahan, David From:Greg Scharff <gregscharff@aol.com> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 10:21 AM To:Annika McClure Cc:Council, City; Ashley Chesson Subject:Re: Turkey Trot 2018 and Mayors Cup Challenge I just thought I would remind everyone Palo Alto won the Mayors cup in 2013 and 2017.  Go Team Palo Alto  Sent from my iPhone    On Oct 30, 2018, at 9:38 AM, Annika McClure <amcclure@svlg.org> wrote:  Dear Mayor Kniss and Councilmembers:    Thank you for your time during last night’s city council meeting. The Leadership Group would deeply appreciate your participation in the Mayor’s Cup competition and hope that you will support our Mission-One-Million community effort.  The run will take place in Downtown San Jose starting on Santa Clara Street at First Street and finishing on Santa Clara Street at Delmas Street. Following the run, there will be a festival at the Guadalupe River Park!  If you would like to register for the Turkey Trot, please do so here, and be sure to note in your registration that you’d like to participate in the Mayor’s Cup competition. Please note this year, Mayor’s Cup points will be awarded for both council participation and outreach to your constituents.  Best,  Annika McClure    ‐‐   Annika McClure  Public Policy Associate  Silicon Valley Leadership Group  408.200.2365  1 Carnahan, David From:Wayne Martin <wmartin46@yahoo.com> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 9:16 PM To:Council, City Subject:2% Reduction City Council City of Palo Alto Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: Impact of a 2% Across-the-Board Cut of 2019 Proposed Budget Council Members: Listening to the discussion tonight where Council was discussing the proposed 2% across-the-board reduction—there seemed to be some confusion about what such a budget reduction might involve. Using data from the 2019 proposed budget, which laws out the expenditures by department, a simple 2% reduction was applied—which can be found in the right-most column. Please take the time to consider these numbers and not discuss this matter without the hard numbers which are so easily produced: Unit  FY 2019   Proposed Budget   Percent  Reduction      Percent‐ age of  Budget  2% Administrative Services 7,963 4.3%  $159,260 City Attorney 3,263 1.8%  $65,260 City Auditor 1,258 0.7%  $25,160 City Clerk 1,282 0.7%  $25,640 City Council 488 0.3%  $9,760 City Manager 3,259 1.8%  $65,180 City Manager’s Office of Sustainability  417  0.2%  $8,340 2 Community Services 28,915 15.8%  $578,300 Development Services 12,561 6.9%  $251,220 Fire 31,826 17.4%  $636,520 Human Resources 3,634 2.0%  $72,680 Library 9,664 5.3%  $193,280 Non- Departmental 7,825 4.3%  $156,500 Office of Emergency Services  1,509 0.8%  $30,180 Planning and Community Environment  8,791  4.8%  $175,820 Police 41,951 22.9%  $839,020 Public Works 18,492 10.1%  $369,840 Subtotal 183,098 100.0%  $3,661,960 Transfer to Infrastructure 25,173  $503,460 Operating Transfers-Out 5,725  $114,500 Total 213,996  $4,279,920 Wayne Martin Palo Alto, CA 1 Carnahan, David From:Stephanie Munoz <stephanie@dslextreme.com> Sent:Sunday, October 28, 2018 4:39 AM To:info Cc:chuck jagoda; roberta ahlquist; Ruth Chippendale; supervisor.simitian@bos.sccgov.org; Court Skinner; Council, City Subject:rent control To Danny Glover : Thank you for sending me Bernie Sanders' remarks about California's Prop 10, repeal i of Costa- Hawkins. I heartily agree, but repeal is not a game changer; it merely frees the cities to impose rent control if they want to, and they mostly haven't wanted to. The principle of Capitalism is that money is the measure of all things. With money, you can build skyscrapers, factories, hospitals and nuclear submarines, and the present housing crisis is a reflection of that principle. In the late 50's, Terman, a distinguished Stanford professor, brought Palo Alto a development idea. Stanford could put its many acres of undeveloped land together with its resident genius scientists and engineers, to produce high tech products. Palo Alto then rezoned hundreds of acres from "housing" to "industrial". The wealth generated made the property more valuable; the new jobs drew in huge new demand, and you know about supply and demand. Property tax supports the schools, ergo, Palo Alto schools have many AP classes, but the schools where the workers live, in East Palo Alto, consider themselves blessed if most of the students graduate from high school. The very large number of workers living at a distance from the workplace, and obliged to commute by car, create monumental congestion and toxic air. I believe the solution is to call on the parties whose well-being depends on the workers to require that large companies build housing for their workers on their own land, at the rate of one bedroom per worker; that would include teachers and municipal workers, and would simultaneously solve the problem of housing too expensive for teachers, which drives our school costs up but never high enough to pay for housing. The same principle applies to other civil service, but the teachers are most essential. All public buildings should have some housing in the air space above them. The US government should offer housing to on surplus army bases to all veterans, paid for according to income, especially to those suffering from PTSD which makes them a danger to themselves and others, so that they might be cared for, and monitored. It's a disgrace that we have homeless veterans, and the cost of housing them should be borne by the entire nation that has benefited from their services, in an orderly and dependable manner, rather than by a catch-as-catch-can effort by individuals and individual communities. The flaws and the assets of the national pension system should be understood so as to provide housing for retired persons who have paid into and been vested in Social Security system. Since participation is involuntary, it behooves the nation to see that some level of housing, however modest, must be provided for retired persons, and in the industrialized part of the country near doctors and grocery stores, not in a tent in the national forest. However, these pensioners have two advantages over other prospective tenants: their monthly stipend is absolutely guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the US government, and they are no longer dependent on the automobile to get to a job. They would be well served by economy of scale, many minimal private units, like hotel bedroom and bath suites, clustered so as to share common spaces and amenities with others, like the swimming pool, large dining room, a workshop or computer room, spacious landscaped grounds, and a vehicle to take people to the doctor, library or public transportation. No matter how much the land 2 costs, there is some number of single householders or couples --maybe as much as hundreds, rather than dozens--who could afford the cost if it were shared., and this housing need not be publicly subsidized or even publicly built if the cities will permit it and the state will facilitate the formation of public banks where small savers can invest in it. This type of housing has not been permitted by city zoning for two reasons: first, it serves the needs of people with little money, where cities would prefer to be inhabited by prosperous taxpayers and would like the appearance of the city to be prepossessing, and second because the neighbors do not want to have to compete for free parking on the public street. But the building inhabited by many rather than few is worth just as much and therefore pays as much in taxes, and can easily be just as attractive; moreover, if it were expensive looking, it would attract many widows and widowers who are occupying large houses and paying for space they no longer need, when renting out those homes to families with children would finance a more agreeable lifestyle.There are thousands of homeless on the waiting list for subsidized housing; at least one or two shared buildings could be limited to those without cars, or at least with cars housed elsewhere and off the street. This type of co-housing can also be suitable for young workers who don't have families and don't have cars, and it is certainly possible to design modules so they can be adapted --put together-- for people who enlarge their families, but traditional homes, even very small ones, seem to be right for families. Hopefully, removing these groups whose lodging can be taken care of by other means will clear the way to use our public housing money to house all families in need of housing for their children. Mobile homes and mobile home parks should be protected, and suitable streets--not residential streets--designated for RVs. Every city should have some areas where car campers can park, with a nearby bathroom; where parking structures are built, they should always have bathrooms and be available for car campers to rent space in them at night. Cities, and condominium governing boards should not be allowed to put limits on whether homes may be rented out, and to how many people, and should not permit leases to be broken or rent decontrol with change of ownership. Of course low income housing should not be torn down to clear the way for more expensive purposes but we must recognize that often it is government which forces it to be torn down, by demanding expensive upgrades that the owner can't avoid.,by giving permission for the land to be converted to some other use, by forcing the owner, through taxes, to give it up so it may fulfill its Capitalist destiny of returning the maximum amount of money to the system, as in urban renewal and the estate tax. Like Mr. Glover, my sisters and I were born in San Francisco and grew up there, and our family's property there had been used for rental, under rent control, for seventy years; without Prop 13 we would have been forced to sell. After Prop 13, the federal government took over and saw to the dispossession of us and our rent-controlled tenants by simple fiat: Congress passed a law that parents couldn't give property to their children above an amount which was not enough to save even one house. All three homes had to be sold and the rent controlled tenants and my daughter, a schoolteacher, and her family, evicted. The low income tenants should have saved them We should end homelessness by any means possible. Where religious and charitable groups are willing to help the homeless we should help them, not hinder them., and certainly not charge them a permit fee! For instance, where churches permit cars in their parking lot overnight, we should provide 3 the porta-potty. If the shelters are full, homeless should be accommodated on the floor of city hall or other public buildings during the hours of darkness. Overnight busses should carry emergency blankets and not make the homeless leave the bus periodically. Stephanie Munoz, Housing Committee, Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Peninsula Branch. Rapidly rising land value is the situation where rent control and prohibition of mass eviction is needed. Likewise mobile parks should have protected status, and cities should furnish some safe place, with a bathroom nearby, where cars can park overnight. All parking structures should have bathrooms, and be available to rent overnight. 1 Carnahan, David From:Deborah Goldeen <palamino@pacbell.net> Sent:Wednesday, October 24, 2018 11:24 PM To:Council, City Subject:Rinconada Masters I swam with Rinconada Masters for four year, then moved to Mountain View Masters. That was twenty years ago.  I left  because of Carol MacPherson. So did a lot of other people, including long time assistant coach Cindy Baxter.  She was  inattentive and rude as a “coach” and only did the bare minimum to keep the club running. Before Team Sheeper took  over, Carol used her privileged status and inside contacts to run her own, private swim school out of Rinconada using  the site itself for prominent advertising for her program as well and comandeering prime times and pool space.    If Team Sheeper wants to nix their contract it’s because of Carol MacPherson.    Deb Goldeen, 2130 Birch St., 94306, 321‐7375    PS ‐ If you want more swimmers at Rinconada, please get that damn boiler fixed! I can’t swim there until they’ve fixed  the cold showers. I understand the boiler is the responsibility of the city.  1 Carnahan, David From:Jan Cole <jan_cole@sbcglobal.net> Sent:Monday, October 29, 2018 11:06 AM To:Council, City Subject:Rinconada Pool To whom it may concern:     As an 18 year resident of Palo Alto and a long term lap swimmer at Rinconada pool, I would like to express my  concerns about the proposed changes in management of the pool.  Although I have not been involved with  the Master’s program, my family has been involved with the pool in all other aspects‐ swim lessons, PASA  swim team, lap swimming, as well as a daughter who taught swim lessons.     My concerns are as follows:     1. A total lack of transparency from the City rec. department employees who are working on the  contract with team Sheeper     2. A total lack of communication with the swimming community regarding these potential  changes     3. Most importantly, a total lack of support of the Palo Alto residents’  concerns who utilize the pool.     The swimmers and residents were last included in a meeting in March in which our concerns were  voiced.  The city employees seem to have already made the determination that the pool will be  outsourced. The majority, if not all of the swimmers at that meeting either do not want the pool  outsourced, or if outsourced, in speaking for the lap swimmers, we do not want our lap swim  hours changed or the number of lanes that are available to the lap swimmers during those  dedicated hours changed.      The rate for seniors has already been increased by 66% and for the non seniors, close to a 50%  increase.    Have there been any objective budget figures to show that taking these increases in to account,  has it been at all financially beneficial to the city to outsource the pool?       There are of course many other issues to voice here and I think that some of the limited number  of swimmers that have been aware of these meetings have been attending City Council and the  Park and Rec. Commission meetings to express all those concerns, but the major concern here  that the council members should be aware of is that the residents of Palo Alto who frequently  utilize Rinconada Pool are not supportive of the changes that are being proposed by outsourcing  the pool.  Additionally, with so much discontent and many swimmers who are still uninformed of  2 the issues due to the lack of communication, it would be prudent to communicate with all  swimmers, allow all swimmers a voice, table this decision until further input is given, and  additionally, if there is a decision to outsource the pool, shorten any contract offered as a 5 year  contract with so much discontent seems to be a poor management decision.      Thank you for taking the time to consider my concerns.     Jan Cole   1 Carnahan, David From:David Levinson <David.Levinson@comcast.net> Sent:Saturday, October 27, 2018 8:42 PM To:Council, City Subject:The Future of the Rinconada Masters Swim Club October 27, 2018 My name is David Levinson. I have been a Palo Alto resident continuously since 1977, and a member of the Rinconada Masters Swim Club the entire time. I am greatly distraught at the prospect of our wonderful adult swimming program being eliminated at the whim of Tim Sheeper. The Rinconada Masters have been a central part of my life for the past 41 years and I am filled with despair that the Palo Alto City Council apparently is not able or willing to intervene to prevent Sheeper from abolishing us with a mere stroke of a pen. To put this in perspective, let me give you a very brief background on Masters swimming. It has been known since the late 1950s that simply swimming nonstop laps is not an effective means of cardiovascular conditioning. Researchers discovered that one needs the intensity of structured interval training in the water to gain significant benefit. Once lap swimming had been replaced by intervals as the basis for competitive swimming training, records began to tumble at all levels. In the early 1970s, Masters swimming came into being nationwide for the purpose of providing adults with the opportunity to do real swimming training under the supervision of real swimming coaches. The Rinconada Masters Swim Club was one of the first of these Masters teams. Rinconada employs a unique combination of highly structured, but low pressure, swimming training that is different from most other Masters programs. Under the tutelage of Rinconada coaches Cindy Baxter (retired) and Carol MacPherson, the latter having been my coach for 41 years, I went from being a mediocre college swimmer to an 8-time national champion during my years with Rinconada. Now I am 68 years old, retired from competition, and suffer from several age-related ailments, among them atrial fibrillation and peripheral neuropathy. Thanks in large part to Rinconada’s interval training program, I am now free of atrial fibrillation symptoms, and am retaining a large amount of strength in my legs despite the neuropathy. I owe much to the Rinconada Masters, and I don’t know what I would do if it were gone from my life after all of these years. I’ve done workouts at other Masters clubs when I’ve been on travel, and it’s just not the same. I hope you can find it within you to use your good offices to save the Rinconada Masters, which means so much to me. David A. Levinson   Carnahan, David From: Sent: To: Subject: Attachments: michal shalon <michalshalon@gmail.com> Thursday, October 25, 2018 8:07 AM Council, City Traffic in Palo Alto IMG_1801Jpg; IMG_1802Jpg Photos taken at about 5:30pm Tues Oct 23, looking both ways on corner of Hamilton and Center. Was walking dog and very glad I was not driving. While this does not happen every evening, the unpredictability of it can cause a great deal of stress. Michal Shalon 155 Island Dr, Palo Alto Sent from iPhone, please excuse typos 1 Carnahan, David From:John Bender <bender@stanford.edu> Sent:Saturday, October 27, 2018 2:54 PM To:Council, City Subject:Traffic Dear Council Members,    I couldn’t come to the meeting on traffic, but I have two observations:    —there certainly is much more traffic on many artery streets than 12‐15 years ago.  Embarcadero & Middlefield I know  best. Stop light at Oregon backs up on Middlefield many blocks north between 4‐6:30 pm, often well‐past Santa Rita.    —I don’t see enough discussion of the impact of the housing rush you seem engaged in on local car trips.  Commute  trips seem to be the focus.  But, I, for instance, make about three  local round rips a day, often more, and my wife and I  don’t even have children or other family members in the house. I’d venture that the growth in traffic is significantly  about local car trips.    Your truly,  John Bender  PA resident, and property owner since 1973      1 Carnahan, David From:Jeff Hoel <jeff_hoel@yahoo.com> Sent:Tuesday, October 30, 2018 2:39 PM To:Council, City Cc:Hoel, Jeff (external); UAC; CAC-TACC Subject:TRANSCRIPT & COMMENTS -- 10-16-18 Finance Committee -- smart meter (AMI) item Council members, On 10-16-18, the Finance Committee considered an item about smart meters. Here's the agenda. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=71592.98&BlobID=67079 And staff report (110 pages). https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/67112 And the video. http://midpenmedia.org/finance-committee-50-10162018/ The Smart meter item is from 1:49:00 to 3:04:23. Below the "######" line is a transcript of the video. I have added my comments (paragraphs beginning with "###"). I'd also like to mention something that was not discussed at the meeting. Cybersecurity is an issue. The staff report assumes that the electric meters will have a remote-shutoff capability, but doesn't say how much that will save. This article warns of the risk. 10-27-18: "Hacking a Smart Meter and Killing the Grid" https://smartgridawareness.org/2018/10/27/killing-the-grid/ Thanks. Jeff ------------------- Jeff Hoel 731 Colorado Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94303 ------------------- #################################################################################### TRANSCRIPT: 1:49:00: Chair Scharff: All right. Now we're on to the next one. 1:49:01: Dean Batchelor: So, before I introduce this next topic, Judith Schwartz, our UAC vice chair, would like to speak to this item. So, probably after we make this presentation, first, I think. And then, is it OK if she comes to the table and speaks? Or do you want her at the podium? 1:49:20: Chair Scharff: (unamplified) No, she -- no -- she can come speak when you're done. 1:49:22: 2 Dean Batchelor: OK. All right. Great. Thank you. OK. So, on to the next item -- is to look and have a discussion around our Utilities' smart grid assessment. So, Utilities staff, along with consultants, developed a strategic technology roadmap somewhere around five years ago, that we've been working on. And we identified some major critical technology investments, such as the replacement of the customer information -- the billing system. And then we also looked at what we're calling today is the development of this AMI project. And tonight we are bringing this forward to you, to have some discussion around the smart grid project portion of it. So, with that, we have a presentation that we would like to discuss. So, Shiva, is that you again? Or ... 1:50:22: Jon Abendschein: Just a couple of the things that I'd say. One of the things that we mentioned at the last presentation, early on, was the increasing penetration of electric vehicles, solar, and storage in the community. And, you know, as levels of penetration of those resources increase, we're going to see both potential opportunities to use those resources to decrease costs, you know, through the use of AMI. Also, the -- And also the potential cost impacts, if we're not able to, you know, carefully manage the integration. And I think it's relevant to this discussion because, you know, as the commissioners know, AMI is more and more common in the utility industry, and it's a critical foundation to be able to take advantage of some of those benefits, and to avoid some of those cost impacts. So, what we're coming to you with tonight is the roadmap. It's only intended to be an early indicator that we're on the right track. Formal approval of budgets and contracts will come later, and -- as part of the annual budget process. Or once it's timely to do an RFP. So, with that, I'll turn it over to Shiva for the presentation. 1:51:48: Shiva Swaminathan: Thanks, Jon. So, again, the commonality between this and the EIRP is, the driver for smart grid is also electric. The advent of PVs, EVs, storage systems, and flexible loads in the community. How do we take -- leverage those resources to reduce overall costs and prevent system degradation? ### I won't transcribe the presentation slides. The presentation slides were not included in the "presentations" document for this meeting. https://cityofpaloalto.org/gov/agendas/finance/default.asp The presentation slides on the video have limited resolution and are hard to read. 1:52:13: So, the driver for this -- So, the request today is to accept the staff findings, and -- as Jon mentioned -- and then set us on a path over the next five to six years, to plan for and implement this program, along with other utility technology programs. This was one of the key programs also identified in the Utilities Strategic Plan, when it was approved last year, and is a foundational technology, as Jon was mentioning. 1:52:45: So, I'll briefly talk about smart grid -- what the history of AMI in California, and Palo Alto, in the past. We had a consultant engaged over a year, last year, to do a detailed assessment. And then we'll also, in addition to the quantitative benefits, also talk about qualitative benefits, which we're not able to quantify. And then, staffing, and next steps. 1:53:12: So, smart grid is -- is a broader term. It's just not smart meters. But a smart meter is a foundational technology to enable smart grid. So, it is essentially communicating and control technologies to monitor utility networks. So, currently, for example, the electric network -- we don't have visibility into what is going on in our distribution system -- electric distribution system -- downstream. We know at our nine substations what's happening. But downstream, along the feeder, we have less visibility. This will assist with creating better visibility and improve reliability. It's enabling technology to do these broad six areas: * greater energy and water and efficiency, * enable faster detection and restoration of electric outages, * maintain service reliability. We have additional EVs and solar coming on the distribution system that can create issues for our distribution system. That will help -- This technology will help us maintain the distribution system reliability. * we can detect and fix water leaks, and * implement time-of-use [TOU] electric rates for customers, and * overall increase customer experience. So, these are the kind of the broad things it will enable. 3 1:54:34: So, what is smart grid? As illustrated here, to the left here, it is essentially meters, with radio capabilities, which will mesh with each other and talk to gateways, or other devices, which will talk through a public carrier, like AT&T or Verizon. And then, it will store the data in a meter data management system, which then can be used by different -- for the billing folks, the outage management, improve reliability, the GIS, and for engaging customers, to reduce -- and -- their consumption, and better utilize resources. So, that's broadly an AMI system is. So, to do that, we have to replace the entire electric meter. This electric meter typically costs about $100 for a residential customer. And a little more expensive -- $400 to $500 -- for commercial customers. But on the gas meters, AMI means we just repla- -- there is a radio at the back, here, which -- the meter will not be replaced, just -- only a radio dial will be replaced in the -- your gas meter. And the water meter, also, there will be another radio installed on the water meter, to communicate the usage on an hourly basis. ### Previously, staff has said water and gas meters might transmit only once or twice per day, to minimize the load on the meter's battery. So, apparently, each transmission might transmit multiple data points. Will the system have the flexibility to transmit as soon as it notices that an unusual amount of water or gas has been consumed? So that's what the technology looks like. 1:55:56: And this has been prevalent in California -- and, if you probably know, in -- since the late 2000s. Currently, about 80 percent of California customers -- except for the LADWP, ### LADWP is the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power. LADWP has about 1.5 million electric customers. https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/ladwp/aboutus/a-power/a-p-factandfigures?_adf.ctrl- state=up8vp0hl5_21&_afrLoop=210004881416431 Currently, it does not have smart meters, although a 52,000-customer pilot program is said to be in the works. https://www.ladwp.com/ladwp/faces/ladwp/aboutus/a-power/a-p-smartgridla?_adf.ctrl- state=up8vp0hl5_21&_afrLoop=211338007708337 which is a large electric and water utility, all other invest- -- all other -- most other utilities have -- electric customers -- on AMI. And on natural gas, pretty much 99 percent of the gas users in California have AMI. 1:56:30: Chair Scharff: So, isn't that misleading to say that though? Because -- I mean, how many non-investor-owned utilities have natural gas? ### I think Chair Scharff's point is that in California, investor-owned utilities (IOUs) -- both electric and gas -- are required by law to have smart meters. So the fact that IOUs have smart meters doesn't prove they're cost-effective. http://www.cpuc.ca.gov/uploadedfiles/cpuc_public_website/content/about_us/organization/divisions/office_of_government al_affairs/smart%20grid%20annual%20report%202017.pdf 1:56:42: Shiva Swaminathan: Three. 1:56:43: Chair Scharff: In the entire state? 1:56:44: Shiva Swaminathan: Correct. 1:56:44: Chair Scharff: That's what I thought. So -- I mean, the investor-owned utilities have different incentives than everyone else. 4 1:56:51: Shiva Swaminathan: Correct. 1:56:52: Chair Scharff: So, you know -- And the reason I say it's misleading is that it implies that there's some value to that information. And it implies -- I mean, what you really should -- could say is -- you know, which you did, currently, all electric and gas IOUs have AMI. ### An IOU is an investor-owned utility. And there's only three other natural gas ones. And they're small. So, that's why you're going to have 99 -- you're GOING to have 99 percent of California -- all natural gas customers. Whether or not we, you know -- I assume. Right? Whether or not people do it or not. Because there are only three of us who are natural gas utilities. ### I think Chair Scharff is saying that we already know that all investor-owned utilities in California have smart meters, because government demanded it, but that doesn't tell you how cost-effective it is. If we knew what fraction of publicly- owned utilities in California had smart meters, that might tell you more about how cost-effective smart meters are. ### But not all publicly-owned utilities (POUs) are in the same situation. For Palo Alto, manual meter reading is less expensive per meter than for most POUs, because Palo Alto has electric, gas, and water utilities. Once the City pays for the meter reader to get to a premises, it can amortize that cost over three meter reads (usually). ### As I understand it, the cost of electricity to Palo Alto's electric utility doesn't vary as much, at different times of day and different seasons, as it does in many other communities. So, if the City's time-of-use (TOU) rates must be based on its costs, then they will be less effective at changing behavior, and there will be less reason to have TOU rates at all. 1:57:23: Shiva Swaminathan: Right. Right. Yup. That's a fair point. Long Beach, which is the -- One, Coalinga, is miniscule. The other one is Long Beach Water & Gas. 1:57:38: Chair Scharff: And we're miniscule. I mean, we're -- what -- 1:57:40: Shiva Swaminathan: Yup. 1:57:40: Chair Scharff: Right? Or not. We're not one percent of California customers [laughs]. 1:57:44: Shiva Swaminathan: Right. OK. So -- And that's in terms of the -- point well taken. The 50 percent -- so this is -- the top one is the point about investor-owned utilities. And publicly-owned utilities like Palo Alto electric, gas, and water. Again, just roughly about 50 percent of those in the POU community. ### A POU is a publicly-owned utility. And then, -- And so, back in 2012, Council requested us to take a look at it. And we came back to the Council saying that it was not prudent at that time. And so, the Council recommended deferring that investment at that time. For the -- allow the technology and applications to mature. And await improved economics. Since then, the costs haven't come down too much. It's about the same. But the applications and the impetus to have it in place -- that has increased considerably, as you saw in the EIRP presentation. So, again, going back -- So, in 2013, we implemented a pilot AMI program for 300 homes. And we learned quite a bit. There were quite a few water leak detections we were able to make. About 30 percent of the customers who were on that pilot over a 3-4 year period saw some leakage detection. We implemented time-of-use rates for electric vehicle customers. Had about 300 customers was on a wait list. When they heard about 5 this pilot, they wanted to sign on, but we said we were closed for that pilot. So, there has been some interest since. And we gained a lot of operational experience through that pilot program. So, staff is knowledgeable and able to implement it at full scale. 1:59:32: We got some good press where this -- I won't play the video, but -- you know, this customer, a resident who was out of town, was able to detect their leaks while they were out of town, and they were able to estimate -- save about $100 on their bill. 1:59:52: So, that's, again, history. So, we had this consultant take a look at things -- who is also an implementation consultant. And they did the assessment which you have in the report in front of you. But I'm going to focus only on item number 1, 2, and 10. So, look at: * [1] the financial cost benefit assessment, * [2] some qualitative and strategic benefits, and also * [10] impact of AMI on customer utility bills -- what is that going to look like. We can get into the -- more details if needed. 2:00:20: So, this is a table of potential capital costs. As you see, the top three items are -- include electric, gas, and water meter replacement. And it also includes a $2 million installation cost embedded in them. And then this portion is more of integration costs with our billing system. And then, there is a lot of staffing engagement required. We're estimating it at $1.5 [million] to $2 million over a 2-3 year period. So, this, again, internal staffing costs. Estimated [total] cost of $18 [million] to $19 million. 2:00:58: In terms of benefits -- ongoing operational benefits -- we estimated the annual cost of actually operating this new system - - we need additional staff with better -- new skills, to operate and maintain the system. That is an incremental cost of $1.9 million [annually]. But there is an offsetting savings of about $3.3 million [annually], primarily made up of two buckets: * 1 is staffing-related savings. The meter-reading staff roles will no longer be needed. That's about $1.6 million per year. And then, * [2] conservation and efficiency-related savings -- about $1.7 million [annually]. About half and half of the value. So the net benefit of about $1.4 million [annually]. Which will go towards paying of the $19 million capital expenditure. 2:01:53: Chair Scharff: How are we going to do the capital expenditure? Are we going to bond for it? Are we going to just use it out of ... 2:01:57: Shiva Swaminathan: Electric's -- We'll get into that. 2:01:59: Chair Scharff: ... Special Projects ... 2:02:00: Shiva Swaminathan: Special Projects Reserve. 2:02:00 Chair Scharff: Calaveras Fund. 2:02:01: Shiva Swaminathan: OK. That's for the electric. And for gas and water, it could potentially -- a loan from that fund. 6 ### If the Electric Special Projects Fund is supposed to be used to benefit electric ratepayers, how does lending money to the water and gas utilities benefit electric ratepayers? See this 11-01-11 resolution. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/31858 And the 11-01-11 staff report (49 pages). https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/42839 2:02:07: Chair Scharff: OK. 2:02:07: Shiva Swaminathan: Um. What we -- What we didn't quantify is a bunch of other items which we'll talk about in more detail. So, this is a look at an MPV basis -- what you have over an 18-year period, at a 3.5 percent discount rate. As you see, the total life cycle costs of the system is about break-even. So, what you have is a capital here. Capital cost of what we just estimated. And this is ongoing operational costs. Versus the savings. ### Some people think that today's smart meters will become obsolete in far fewer than 18 years. 09-25-18: "Security Risks and Technology Obsolescence Reduce Smart Meter Expected Lifetimes" https://smartgridawareness.org/2018/09/25/technology-obsolescence-reduces-smart-meter-lifetimes/ ### In fact, this source claims, "... the smart meters deployed in the last 1–3 years are already obsolete in terms of the data communications standards, hardware and cybersecurity capabilities that exist on these meters." 01-25-18: "IoT / IIoT Device Companies Are Making The 'Smart Meter Mistake.' " https://hackernoon.com/iot-iiot-device-companies-are-making-the-smart-meter-mistake-2ab1471ff078 ### This 09-04-18 article by the American Public Power Association reports on the rejection of some smart meter proposals. https://www.publicpower.org/periodical/article/regulators-reject-smart-meter-proposal-kentucky Among the reasons were that the proposals didn't provide enough evidence that the meters would last 20 years, and the remaining useful life of the existing analog meters was not considered. 2:02:45: And we then looked at what is the impact on customer bills. So, the cons- -- So, the ... 2:02:51: Council Member Tanaka: (unamplified) Wait. Hold on a second. So, **, you're saying that ... 2:02:54: **: Microphone, please, **. ### City officials often forget to turn on the microphone before speaking (and to turn off the microphone after speaking). On 03-26-18, Council considered upgrading the audio/visual system, but there was essentially no discussion of the audio. For example, could the microphone's on-off switch control whether the microphone's audio was amplified and broadcast to the meeting room (to avoid feedback issues) but NOT control whether the audio was captured on the video recording? Anyhow, a low-tech alternative would be to assign a staff person to say "microphone, please" as appropriate. (In this transcript, there were 53 "unamplified" occurrences, not including the one in this sentence, but only three "microphone, please"s, not including the ones in this sentence..) 2:02:56: Council Member Tanaka: You're saying that -- uh -- that -- uh -- that this is -- this isn't exactly the total cost -- that it's a break-even? Is that what you're saying? 2:03:09: Shiva Swaminathan: No, look at -- The top one is capital expenditure. 7 2:03:11: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. 2:03:12: Shiva Swaminathan: That's the ... 2:03:17: Council Member Tanaka: So, -- OK. And are these savings like re-occurring? 2:03:22: Shiva Swaminathan: Yes. To the right. The bottom, the right, is recurring. 2:03:28: Council Member Tanaka: So the op-ex is $27 million. And then we get a recurring $43 million? 2:03:35: Jon Abendschein: (unamplified) This is all on a present-value basis ... 2:03:37: Council Member Tanaka: Oh, I see. 2:03:38: Jon Abendschein: ... so that this is the present value of the ongoing costs as well as the first. 2:03:44: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. And why are the numbers so close to each other? 2:03:48: Shiva Swaminathan: (unamplified) That's analysis ** -- No, just kidding. (amplified) We made some -- assess -- assess -- assessment. It came out to be this way. We -- But we can show you the variability, too. 2:03:59: Council Member Tanaka: OK. **. 2:03:59: Shiva Swaminathan: So, around this variabil- -- 2:04:01: Council Member Tanaka: ** analysis. 2:04:01: Shiva Swaminathan: Ah. No, it's not ... 2:04:01: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. 8 2:04:01: Shiva Swaminathan: So, we looked at the same NPV on a -- for different assumptions. It can vary anywhere from negative $15 million to positive $8 million. 2:04:13: Jon Abendschein: (unamplified) ** ... 2:04:15: Chair Scharff: Could you just say that again? Just repeat that. 2:04:18: Shiva Swaminathan: So, the -- This is on NPV. It says it's zero. But that could vary, depending on the assumptions, from negative $14 million to positive $8 million. 2:04:31: Chair Scharff: So, what would cause a negative $14 million? 2:04:33: Shiva Swaminathan: OK, we'll -- We can go through that. So ... 2:04:37: Vice Mayor Filseth: (unamplified) Can I ask a question before we leave this slide? 2:04:38: Shiva Swaminathan: Yes. 2:04:39: Vice Mayor Filseth: It looks to me like you're counting on quite a bit of savings from conservation, as a result of doing this. 2:04:46: Shiva Swaminathan: Correct. 2:04:47: Vice Mayor Filseth: What's the driver for the conservation? 2:04:50: Shiva Swaminathan: OK. We can talk about that. So, there is leaka- -- So, OK. This is a good slide to go with. 2:05:02: Jon Abendschein: (unamplified) ** 2:05:03: Dean Batchelor: (unamplified) ** 2:05:04: 9 Shiva Swaminathan: Sure. So, the top is about half a percent reduction. This is called conservation voltage reduction. So, we have the ability to manage our voltages more -- in a narrower band, ... 2:05:17: Vice Mayor Filseth: OK. 2:05:17: Shiva Swaminathan: ... and that has the ability to save customers about half a percent. And then, for electric -- gas -- so, on the electric, gas, and water -- For electric, there are customer programs which -- informational programs -- we could roll out, which can inform customers, which will help them -- more aware of their usage. For example, the OPower report, which we had, increased customer awareness, providing -- Many of you probably received an OPower report, where you compare your usage with other customers. ### This is an odd example, in that it speaks to what the City can do if it DOESN'T have smart meters. 2:05:56: Chair Scharff: That's the one that says ... 2:05:57: Shiva Swaminathan: And we estimated ... 2:05:57: Chair Scharff: ... you're better than 90 percent of your neighbors. Or you're the same. Or you're worse. 2:06:01: Shiva Swaminathan: And we estimated that, for electric, that -- to have saved about 1.5 percent of load -- customer load. And for natural gas, 2 percent. So this is a verified number, through M&V. Ah ... 2:06:12: Chair Scharff: ** 2:06:13: Shiva Swaminathan: Measurement & Verification process. ### Apparently sometimes called Evaluation, Measurement & Verification (EM&V). https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/45622 https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2014/05/f16/what_is_emv.pdf ### I don't think EM&V can verify an estimate before the measured data is available. Staff may be saying that in the case of the OPower reports, electric consumption dropped 1.5 percent and gas consumption dropped 2 percent (during the time that the City was sending out OPower reports?), but I don't know how staff can claim that the OPower reports were the cause of these decreases. Is staff saying that the actual decreases observed were accurately predicted by estimates made before the OPower program started? ### How should EM&V score electric consumption increases that result from switching from gas to electric appliances, or from gasoline to electric cars? 2:06:13: Dean Batchelor: ** 2:06:17: 10 Commissioner Schwartz: (unamplified) Can I -- Can I get to be part of this conversation? 2:06:19: **: (unamplified) Sure. 2:06:19: Commissioner Schwartz: (unamplified) Because this is -- this is ... 2:06:22: Chair Scharff: No, actually. 2:06:23: Commissioner Schwartz: (unamplified) No? OK. 2:06:24: Dean Batchelor: No. Not yet. OK. 2:06:29: Shiva Swaminathan: Um. And so, that's on the -- through customer programs and greater awareness. And then, on the ... 2:06:36: Vice Mayor Filseth: (unamplified) And those -- (amplified) those are contingent on having smart meters. 2:06:40: Shiva Swaminathan: Correct. So, over and above our -- what we're able to -- So, currently, we estimate that through our existing programs, we can save about 0.7 percent per year. That's anywhere from large commercial customer building retrofits to -- all that which we achieve ... 2:06:57: Vice Mayor Filseth: Right. 2:06:57: Shiva Swaminathan: So, ** 2:06:58: Vice Mayor Filseth: After AMI? 2:06:59: Shiva Swaminathan: After AMI, incremental. So, currently, our 10-year goal is about 5 percent. And we think incrementally -- And part of that 5 percent, we have included, for example, some of these potential goals. CVR is part of the potential for 5 years. ### CVR is Conservation Voltage Reduction. ### How confident is staff that CVR will result in 0.5 percent energy saving? For loads like clothes dryers and TVs, wouldn't the savings be more like zero? I COUNCJL ~~G /C/~:/1 [ ] Placed Before Meeting [~ived at Meeting Dear Mayor Kniss and Members of the Council, 29 October 2018 While the public and our elected officials are focused on Stanford's 2018 GUP application and their request for a Development Agreement, there is another, quieter aspect to Stanford's expansion. Over the past few years, Stanford has been buying up many homes and lots in College Terrace and Evergreen Park as fast as they come on the market! The current count in these two neighborhoods alone is at least 30 and there is no indication that they are planning to slow their acquisitions. Why does this matter? College Terrace has always been home to many Stanford faculty members and students who have always been valued members of our neighborhood. So what's different now? The answer is that once the University owns these properties they are only available to Stanford employees and will never again be available to the rest of the public! They are permanently removed from the Palo Alto housing pool, exacerbating our perennial jobs/housing imbalance. If Stanford rents them out, no property tax is paid. And if they "sell" them, it is on a ground lease basis, which typically means that the "purchaser" pays less tax than if the home was purchased on the open market. To make matters worse, Stanford has been leaving many of these homes empty for months or even years, creating a "ghost house" environment in our neighborhood. This erodes our community connections and decreases our neighborhood safety since we have less "eyes on the street". And once they do take action, that action is generally to demolish and replace these houses, many of which are 100 years old or older. Replacing these charming older homes is rapidly eroding our neighborhood's unique quirky character. Although Stanford claims that they are designing "sensitive" replacements, the new homes cannot possibly have the patina and history of the original homes being demolished. Residents on Cornell Street are being faced with multiple demolitions on a single block! And the charming 110 year-old Craftsman shingle bungalow next door to me has a nearly new roof and a recent high-end kitchen makeover. Sending all that to the landfill is absurd. It is not obvious what the Council can do to stop this land grab but at a minimum, the College Terrace Residents' Association asks that you use your voice in the upcoming Development Agreement and GUP negotiations with Stanford to insist that the effects of their actions be considered in the process. They should commit to halting the acquisition and especially the demolition of additional existing off-campus homes. And they should ensure that any home that they purchase should be occupied within three months of acquisition. Sincerely, Q~~- Pria Graves, CTRA Stanford Observer 2130 Yale Street, PA John Beeley 137 Orchard Ave #7, Mountain View CA 94043 Cell 650-483-1863 jbeeley@pacbell.net 29-0ct-2018 Palo Alto City Council Dear Palo Alto City Council, ICOUN~L ~TING / ?J,. ~~ '/ x--. [ fPlaced Before Me.etmg [ ~ved at Meeting I am writing in support of Rinconada Masters Swim Team's use of the municipal Rinconada pool. I joined Rinconada Masters when I moved to Palo Alto around 1994 and have been a member ever since. I do not understand the reason for a new Swimming Pool administration to cancel one long- time Masters program in favor of another. Not all Masters clubs are the same. Some empathize competitive swimming and feature tough workouts and favoritism towards the skilled swimmers. Rinconada Masters does offer workouts for all skill levels, but does not pressure anyone to compete. As you know, Rinconada Masters is a home-grown club that has enjoyed tremendous public support within the Palo Alto community. It is an important resource for both Palo Alto and surrounding communities. Its annual swim meet in March at Riconada pool is very popular, attracting Masters swimmers from all over the Bay area. To make it work, all club members participate as timers, deck support, etc and contribute eatable goods for sale. The club caters to all ages and is especially supportive of non-competitive fitness swimmers and seniors. I myself am 74 years old, and there are many swimmers my age and older who are active in the workouts. We welcome new members constantly. The key to a successful Masters swim club is good coaching and tailored workouts. A typical swim workout is about 1 hour and for my intermediate level of skill the total length is about 2700 yards or about 1 1/2 miles. I like the 6am workouts Monday, Wednesday and Friday to avoid commute traffic, which means getting to the pool around 5:45am to take off the covers. It was also a good time, before I retired, for a workout before going to my job. The workout is not simply swimming laps. The coaches typically write out 3 sets of workout routines (low stress, intermediate and advanced) for groups of lanes across the pool which include short and long-distance sets where we are swimming timed intervals which changes daily, keeping it interesting and varied. I attribute my current health and fitness to my Rinconada Masters workouts. It is a supportive group that is a local treasure. Losing it would have a negative impact on all club me~bers, especic~lly~eniors and the citizens of Palo Alto. ; ' "I . , " • ...... -' I ', siri~erely, ohn Beeley r-2 Distinguished members of the Palo Alto City Council-- I hope you all are well. CITY OF PALO ALTO CA CITY CL[HK'S OFFICE f 8 OCT 3 J AH fO: 00 Primarily, if I may, I would prefer to give you all a brief introduction of myself: My name is Paul Minsker, and I am a 19-year-old university student originally from central Arkansas and majoring in Geography at San Jose State that occasionally takes Caltrain to visit your city for some of its countless recreational and retail opportunities. The main entity in your city that I choose to visit on my trips, however, I feel needs no introduction to you all: The El Palo Alto Redwood tree rooted in El Palo Alto Park. From the moment my mother made me aware of a newspaper article she read discussing famous trees that vaguely mentioned "a Redwood in the city of Palo Alto that Portola once camped beside" (she knows my love for trees), I was intrigued as to where this tree existed, how the plant was doing, and what type of prominence such a historically significant tree in your city would receive. My first brief visit to the tree in late August of this year (I had limited time as per the tree being so well hidden) was a learning experience, most certainly, seeing an 1100 year old being in front of me still alive to this day. As my visits to the tree occurred at later times, and as I began to research this tree online, my knowledge of the true significance and meaning of this tree only exponentialized by the day. I learned about the tree being California State Historical Landmark No. 2, the location where the entire Bay Peninsula was essentially founded as a Spanish mission settlement area, the reason for the city of Palo Alto having the name, and even the reason why Stanford University has the tree logo as their uniting symbol despite the fact that no official school mascot evidently exists. I learned about the tree's appraisal for a meager $55,600, about the misting system to "fool the tree" that was installed to bring water to the tree's upper limbs for coaxing the plant back to health as illness struck, and about the tree being a waypoint for navigators on the original El Camino Real, as well as the primary distant marker for construction of said roadway, as well as the railroad that Caltrain now operates on. I read of railroad spikes being hammered into the trunk (they are still there wedged in the trunk today) to help early Stanford students into the tree's upper limbs to try and see which one of them could fly their fraternity I school flag the highest on the tree (I also saw that this tradition ceased as per the acrophobia of a youth in 1909 that found himself stuck near the top). I even was able between my visits to gather information about why the tree looks in such a form today, as per the upper portions of the tree being removed progressively as the cities of Palo Alto and Menlo Park lowered the water table of the area for their citizenry to have water access, slowly killing the tree at the extremities. The tree was once three-trunked, of course, with a debate still in place as to the second trunk's demise being by way of the flooded San Francisquito Creek in a winter storm or by the rail bridge beside the tree being constructed with equipment that caused the mishap. In all honesty, I even learned as per my research that I am not the only person that has ever taken the time to write to your organization on the tree's behalf, as per my findings that the plant was in such a state of nearness-to-death from lack of water, the polluted and flooding San Francisquito Creek, and the nearby railroad trestles weighing down the shallow roots that it was brought to your attention by a Mr. Jim Johnson that something to help the now-largely-human-reliant tree must be done. Honorable council members, I am, by no means, nearly as qualified in my assertions as Mr. Johnson was in the late 1980s and early 1990s, but I cannot deny to any of you that my frequent observations of this tree and the immediate surroundings lead me to bring two crucial elements at play to committee attention. Primarily, in short, please allow for me to take a moment to commend your city on an obvious victory in saving this tree for the time being from near-death, what with the misting system and reinforcing the northern side of the trunk with concrete going down into the creek. From what I have read of this tree, the plant has experienced many years of lack of water, vandals destroying lower branches and defacing the trunk, and especially the nearby railroad bringing with it a generation of smoke-belching trains killing off the tree's west side; added to this presently are daily passenger and freight trains that shake and rattle the ground on the three walkable sides of the trunk when they chug past (I have personally felt such). Indeed, the tree has taken a large bounce back to prominent life, despite being more so these days a bushy, stocky tree than the plant originally was back in the day as a taller, slimmer version of self. The tree is obviously, as solely pertaining to the trunk and crown structures, in decent form, with the failing roots obviously being supplemented by the mister, yet I cannot deny to your organization that my praise for your assistance to this tree, from here onwards, must definitively end. I write to you today, if I may, to most prominently bring to your immediate and unconditional attention the second collection of elements of my El Palo Alto comment I concern: 1. The tree is still often being vandalized in between my visits there, especially as per new markings on the dead section where once stood the second trunk being seen. 2. The tree is still frequented by vagabonds, many of which often verbally hassle me in various regards as I attempt to have a quiet moment sitting in nature before their running into the adjacent woods down towards their presumed encampments in the San Francisquito Creek. 3. The tree is still under daily threat from the railroad, as train after train rattles the roots and threatens to fall the giant should the misting system and nearby ground structure around the trunk not be maintained. 4. The tree often smells from over five feet away as if humans have urinated upon parts of the trunk (and, therefore, given that Redwood trees are not naturally known to smell of urine, I would conclude only one possibility for this observation that needs no further detail on my end). 5. The tree ALWAYS, upon my visits, has garbage littered around the trunk base: just recently were broken sunglasses, cigarette butts, and Reese's wrappers, and traditionally there have been soda cans, water bottles, alcohol, coats and blankets, mats laid out as if someone caught a nap and left, and always an insane amount of spread-out newspapers. There is evidence that the garbage is occasionally removed (I have often done so, myself) by some individual and/or entity, which I commend, but the above issue of my concern still prominently stands, especially given that much of the garbage in question simply is "cleared out" by being naturally blown by passing trains and winds into the creek. 6. This might seem rather silly, I am sure, but the fact that so, so many people that I witness walk and bike on the trail beside the tree to get between Palo Alto and Menlo Park and seem to give the great being no mind personally aggravates me, and has shown me exactly how it is in these present, tech-savvy times how the human ability to connect with nature is oh, so rapidly being lost. I have not yet done a study of such, I must admit, but let us assume, based on my observations, that these people pass this tree as if there is nothing significant to see. They are likely unaware that the tree is the reason for the name of the park. They are likely unaware that the tree is the reason for the name of the adjacent avenue. They are likely unaware that the tree is the reason for the Stanford logo existing with a tree. They are likely unaware that the tree is the reason for the name of the entire CITY. They likely do not bother to notice the tree's two plaques, for they may feel that they are not worth the time to read. They are choosing, of course, as is their right, to remain blissfully unaware of the natural, historical, and literal giant that stands near them, yet I must assert, in my final concern, that it is the complete. total. entire. wholistic. and undeniable responsibility of the city of Palo Alto--the city named after THIS VERY TREE--to educate and inform the citizenry of the living. growing. could-soon-be-dying being BEHIND the name. BEHIND the Stanford logo. BEHIND their backs as they mosey on by. As for any potential solutions to any and/or all of these dilemmas at hand, I leave all final decisions as necessarily proper to your city and your organization, but I must assert, nonetheless, my own personal ideas presently that I feel could directly benefit the tree, El Palo Alto Park patrons, and the city of Palo Alto as a whole. • El Palo Alto Park should, as soon as reasonably possible, have garbage cans I recycle bins installed in it along the Palo Alto city side of the trail between Palo Alto Avenue and the bridge to Menlo Park. This would, most certainly, come at a cost to the city to install and maintain, yet I can personally feel as if the placement of said garbage cans could only encourage park patrons to be responsible with their trash and recyclables, as opposed to littering them along the trail, around the tree, or even directly into the creek, thereby making the next portion of my proposition. ideally. almost obsolete. • To deal with the present littering I garbage problem that you cannot reasonably deny is at hand, there must be a reasonable effort in place to hold city and/or community clean-ups in the park and down in the creek to ensure that the environment here can continue to bounce back ideally so rather than regress back to the days when the creek (so I have read} used to flood with garbage clogs at various points along its length. Your neighboring city of Menlo Park, as with the county of San Mateo--given that the creek is a city AND a county divide--could even likely take interest in this as well should you, as a city, bring this jointly-brought-about issue to their attention. • In speaking of entering the creek for garbage cleanup and shoreline maintenance, as per my observations of various vagabonds entering and leaving the creekbed, it should be a Palo Alto direct responsibility to take charge--even if Menlo Park shall not--of regularly sending police into El Palo Alto Park to patrol the grounds and check the creek for any potential transients that likely are only further contributing to the area's environmental degradation (as I have read, their rat poisons sprayed and fecal matter left in the creek bed are not news to your city in that they occur}. • Any and all railroad resurfacing I track maintenance or construction projects on either the Northbound or the Southbound line occurring directly in the proximity of the tree must be consulted by a knowledgeable arborist (knowledgeable ESPECIALLY to the history of El Palo Alto} supplied by the city to ensure that any of said projects do not directly impose any new, unprecedented strains on the tree I the tree's roots. • At the cost of the city, in couplement with the pre-existing system of lights and lamps along the trail beside the tree, I find it best to discourage nighttime questionable activities at the base of the tree--such as urinating, littering, and/or vandalism··by way of the installation beside the tree of floodlights that are angled so as to illuminate the lower trunk, and hopefully do such without distracting passing cars on Palo Alto Avenue and/or train drivers on the nearby tracks. Installation and maintenance of these lights is a commitment, most certainly, yet I cannot help but note that this cannot be too much of a stretch with trail lights nearby already existing and being (as far as I can see} properly maintained. • Provided the city of Palo Alto would desire carrying the above illumination consideration a step further, the installation of a security camera on the west side of the tree facing east could only help to further discourage--at ANY time--tree desecration, littering, urinating, vandalism, and/or illegal vagabond endeavors. This would be a drastic measure, I concede, yet a camera as such could guarantee--so long as it is operational consistently and properly guarded from tampering--needing to dispatch less law enforcement agencies to the park and only doing so on an as-needed basis if the camera has a live stream to the Palo Alto Police Department or an entity of the sort. • My final proposition, if I may, is the one that I might personally feel can be where you distinguished individuals and myself can meet on the most direct ground: I propose that the city of Palo Alto--perhaps even in a joint effort with the El-Palo-Alto-branded Stanford Unjversjty--somehow. in some way. organize and hold in as near of a future as possible an "EL PALO ALTO APPRECIATION DAY" that can hopefully bring together the people of this great city in a united effort to fight against losing the living, standing being that is indirectly the reason behind why all of you exist in the place that you do today. Holding this Appreciation Day would help to spread the El Palo Alto protection cause, granting your city government (hopefully) hundreds of new allies that can watch out for the tree and speak out in the case that something regarding the being that they observe might not seem properly decent (thereby placing the local government and law enforcement in less of a tree "watchdog" role and shifting said responsibility to the citizenry). The Appreciation Day could also very likely decrease will among the populus that happens by to randomly vandalize / litter the area once they hopefully realize the significance of the living history that they choose to alter simply for their own contrived pleasure. Holding festivities on this day could, as well, provided that an admission is charged and I or vendor stand permits are granted, grant your city DIRECT funding that could generate revenue to ensure that any and all of the above considerations of changes could very well get underway. Holding this Appreciation Day, hands down, if properly advertised, could also even generate tourist revenue In your city, with people traveling from around the Bay, across the state, and even potentially beyond to be acquainted with this silent shrine that has seen more history in life than many of us can even remotely fathom. If people enter the city to see the tree, they will also likely want to go shopping here as well, and, with the Stanford Mall so close by, people could use this day to partake in retail excursions as such with the unintended consequence of also flowing new money into the local economy. Stanford University could also be economically I socially benefited by advertising at the Appreciation Day for already having a history so closely tied with the tree (and hopefully a future history where such can only continue to be so). The economic potentials of this day for your city are undeniable, and I can certainly only hope that a properly advertised inaugural celebration with vendors, souvenirs, and speakers from the city, Stanford University, the Palo Alto Historical Association, and even perhaps general citizens like me that love the tree could help everyone involved reach their own personal goals while still hopefully not forgetting to help out this magnificent tree. • This is not a direct proposition from me, but I would dare say, respectfully, that I feel as if speaking on behalf of the tree for a continued life and proper welfare in the face of human environmental threats to the attendees at an event such as an Appreciation Day ceremony could very well be a highlight in my Bay Area experience, to know that 1--a modest person from Arkansas-can devote myself to help a living being that means a lot to me, and increasingly more so with each visit to the monumental plant that I take. Palo Alto City Council Members, I profusely thank you for your time and consideration, and wish you all only the best from now until furthermore. I trust that any and all of my considerations regarding El Palo Alto shall be taken as fully seriously as they are expressed, and that any and all of my propositions emphasized can only be executed so long as they are deemed by your city to be what is known as best for the health and safety of El Palo Alto Park patrons and for the continued and healthy existence of the El Palo Alto tree. Best wishes, and all my best fw&_~ -Paul Minsker minskerpaul@gmail.com COUNlIL MJ!ETING f D z,c;/IJ- Dseceived Before Meeting liafleceived at Meeting Contents 1. Resumes 2 Contract with Team Sheeper 4. Insurance for Rinconada Masters 5. Red Cross Life guards and CPR,AED,and First Aid certifications 6. Letters to the City Council 7. Rapp's Triathlon /Rinconada Masters Ran for 7 years 3805 Magnolia Dr. Palo Alto, CA 650-493-3920 OBJECTIVE Carol Macpherson www.rinconadamasters.com www.c_mac.us carol.macpherson22@gmail.com To continue to use Rinconada pool and offer high quality coaching from Rinconada Masters and, inspire swimmers to stay in shape, to promote good health and promote swimming in the Bay Area by having a masters meet for 43 years for the community. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 46 years, founder and coach Rinconada Masters 60 years of experience in the swim instruction of children and adults Inducted into the Santa Clara Swim Club Hall of Fame in 1969 12 Time All-American and selected for the Pan-American Games Inducted into the Menlo Atherton High School Hall of Fame 1995 Founder, Teacher, and manager of Carol Macpherson Aquatics Center Inc. PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE Rinconada Masters Program: 1974-present Founder and head coach of Rinconada Masters Program Manage the financial and business aspects of the team including organizing and running an annual master's swim meet Founder ofSwim4Fitness program for adults World Games 2006 Organizing Committee, Stanford University 2002 Modern Pentathlon World Championships, Stanford University Carol Macpherson Aquatic Center: 1997 -2017 Founder and Owner for Swim School for all ages Developed and implemented innovative teaching method to promote Skill and development. Trained 10 instructors working under C-Mac. Negotiated all contracts, hired and managed staff, managed financial, Marketing, and business aspects of the swim school. Bay Area Swim School: 1995-1997 Founder and owner for swim school of all ages High School Coaching Head Coach Palo Alto High School Women 1981-82 Head Coach Gunn High School Men 1980-82 Won SCV AL High School League Championship Age Group Coaching De Anza College coached age group Palo Alto Hills Gold & Country Club ATHLETIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS • 12 Time All-American • 39 National Swim Championship Titles 1980-81 1980-81 • World Games Australia -All-American 2008 • World Games Canada-200 Meters Backstroke World Champion 1994 • World Games Australia -400 meters Free World Champion 1988 Resume' Carol Macpherson Elks Member Teaching and Coaching Head Coach Founder/Coach Founder/Coach Head Coach Head Coach Age Group Coach Age Group Coach All Star Coach Coach-Jr/Sr.Group Swim Instructor Founder/Coach Swim Instructor Additional Experience: 16 years a member. Trustee 6 year office Managed swim pool 4 years Modeled in Fashion Show 3 years Organized Christmas program for Kids Serviced on Scholarship committee 2008 Worked at Bingo Games 3 years C-Mac Swim School Elks Pool 1999-07 Swim programs clients all based in years 1961 Santa Clara/San Mateo Countries to present Sacred Heart Aquatics Masters 1999 Carol Macpherson Aquatic Center 1997-2017 Bay Area Swim School 1995-97 Palo Alto High School Women 1981-82 Gunn High School Men 1980-82 • Won SCV AL High School League De Anza College 1980-81 Palo Alto Hills Gold&Country Club 1980-81 Pacific Association 1980 De Anza College 1978-79 Carol Macpherson Swim Lessons 1973-78 Rinconada Masters 1972-present Addison Janes Swim School 1961-72 • 2002 Modem Pentathlon World Championships -Stanford University • Director for world meet swimming venue Amateur Athletics Union (AAU) age group swimming • National Swim Champion • All-American 1954 -55 Masters (National Competitive Swim Meet Category) • 13 Times All American Champion • 39 National Swim Championship Titles • World Games Australia-400 meters Free World Champion 1988 • World Games Canada-200 Meters Backstroke World Champion 1994 • World Games Stanford University 2006 Organizing Committee • World Games Australia -All -American 2008 Swim4Fitness-Founder and Instructor, Palo Alto Recreation Dept. 2009-present Terri Baxter-Smith SWIMMING ACHIEVEMENTS: 1978-1982-Palo Alto High School Most Valuable Swimmer. 1980 United States Olympic Team-Swimming, 100 and 200 Meter Breaststroke. 1984-1987 N.C.A.A. Division I All-American, Swimming. 1987 United States Pan-American Games National Team, 100 Meter Breaststroke Bronze Medalist. COACHING AND AQUATIC EXPERIENCE: Summer 1986: Swim instructor-Rinconada Pool 1992-1995: Head Swimming Coach, Benicia Blue Dolphins, Benicia, CA. 1996-1999: Assistant Men's and Women's Collegiate Swimming Coach, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. 1996-1999: Assistant Aquatics Director-McGinness Pool, Franklin & Marshall College, Lancaster, PA. 1996-1999: Head Age-Group Swim Coach, Trident Aquatic Club, Lancaster, PA. 1-999-2000: Aquatics Director, Sewickley Valley YMCA, Sewickley, PA. 2000-2005: Head Age-Group Swim Coach, Hampton Dolphins Swim Team, Hampton Township, PA. Summer 2015-Swim Instructor, CMAC. 2015-Current: Assistant Swim Coach, Rinconada Masters, Palo Alto, CA. /\ . \ ;· \ / . 1 ·~· ··:. Sl-iEEPER Rinconada Pool Facility Rental Terms It is agreed between Team Sheeper, Inc ("Company"), and Carol MacPherson Aquatic Center, Inc. DBA Rinconada Masters ("Renter"), together known as "Parties", as follows and referred to as the "Agreement'': 1. Contract Term. The tenn of this Agreemenfshall be from September l, 2017 until the earliest to occur of (a) December 31, 2018, (b) The Company's termination of its current agreement, a fully- executed copy of which is attached as Exhibit "B", with the City of Palo Alto, and (c) the Renter submits written termination notice with at least thirty (30) days advance notice of the effective Agreement termination date. The Company agrees to notify the Renter if and when any discussions or negotiation occur with the City of Palo Alto to modify, renew, replace or amended the current lease between those parties with implication for the Agreement 2. Payments. Jn consideration for the rental and use of the facility upon the terms specified in Exhibit "A/' Renter shall make payment to the Company in the manner specified herein and in Exhibit "A." 3. Relationship of the Parties. Renter agrees and understands that the services provided by Renter and the use of the facility under this Agreement are performed as an Independent Contractor and not as an employee of the Company and that neither Renter, nor any of its employees, acquires any of the rights, privileges, powers or advantages of Company employees. The Company represents and warrants that there are no third-party beneficiaries to this Agreement to which Renter could or would become bound or obligated for any reason as a result of Renter's entering into this Agreement 4. Hold Harmless. Renter agrees to hold harmless, indemnify and defend the Company, their employees, and agents. from any and all claims, damages, and liability in any way occasioned by or arising out of Renter's use of the facility, including but not limited to any claims for personal injury or property damage claimed by any participant in Renter's programs, except to the extent that such claims arise out of or result from the gross negligence or willful misconduct of the Company or its employee(s). The Company agrees to hold harmless, indemnify and defend Renter, it customers, its employees, and agents, from any and all claims, damages, and liability to the extent occasioned by or arising out of the Company's or its employees' gross negligence or willful misconduct with respect to the management, maintenance and use of the facility. 5. Non-assignability. Neither the Company nor the Renter shall assign this Agreement or any portion thereof to a third party without, the prior written consent of the other Party, which shall not be unreasonably withheld, conditioned or delayed, and any attempted assignment without such prior written consent in violation of this Section shall automatically terminate this Agreement 6. Termination of Agreement. In the event of a breach of this Agreement by either Party, the non- breaching Party may terminate this Agreement upon the expiration of five (5) days written notice to the breaching Party, if within such five-day notice period the breaching Party has not cured such breach. 7. Worker's Compensation Insurance. Renter agrees and understands that the Company does not provide Worker's Compensation Insurance to, or on behalf of, the Renter for the work/services perfonned, but that said worker's compensation insurance is the sole responsibility of the Renter. 8. Payment of Permits/Licenses. Renter shall obtain any license, permit, or approval if necessary from any agency whatsoever for the rental of the Facility by Renter, at his/her own expense, prior to commencement of said work/services or forfeit any right to occupy the facility under this Agreement. The Company represents that it is not aware of any additional license, permit or approval required which the Renter does not currently have in their capacity as current renters of this facility prior to the effective date of this Agreement Page 1 oft ' .-. /\ l~· '.. /'· -'\' ~ SttEEPER 9. Non-Discrimination. No person shall be excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under this Agreement on account of their race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, or disability. l 0. Merger Clause. This Agreement, including all Exhibits attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, constitutes the sole Agreement of the parties hereto and correctly states the rights, duties, and obligations of each Party as of this Agreement's last signature date. Any prior agreement, promises, negotiations, or representations between the parties not expressly written and stated in this Agreement are not binding. This Agreement terminates and replaces all prior agreements between the Renter and prior Pool operator, the City of Palo Alto, who executed the attached lease with the Company. All subsequent modifications to this Agreement shall be in writing and signed by both the Company and Renter and provided to the Parties at addresses included in Exhibit "A." In the event of a conflict between the terms, conditions, or specifications set forth herein and those in the Exhibits attached hereto, the terms, conditions, or specifications set forth in the Exhibits shall prevail. 11. Liability Insurance. Renter shall carry commercial liability insurance for not less than One Million Dollars ($1,000,000.00), naming the Company, its officers, officials, employees and volunteers as additionally insureds, and shall provide the Company with a certificate evidencing such insurance prior to use of the facility. Renter shall also carry employer's liability insurance in the amount of $1,000,000 per accident for bodily injw-y or disease, naming the Company as noted above. The Company shall carry commercial liability insurance in amounts as required by the City of Palo Alto in their agreement, included as Exhibit "B." 12. Attorney's Fees. In the event of any litigation arising out of this Agreement to enforce the terms hereof, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover its attorney's fees from the other party. 13. Choice of Law and Jurisdiction: This Agreement shall be governed by and interpreted in accordance with California law, with any consideration of its rules governing conflicts of law; and both Parties consent to the jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State of California for the resolution of any disputes related hereto. THIS RENTAL CONTRACT IS NOT VALID UNLESS SIGNED BY BOTH PARTIES .-. ,,.--·1 , ' - ,,'}"'~~·.~· .. /.(·_.'. ,,'~:... ." //I/./ ·'/· .. J. J I '· ~ ,, r • ---.. / ;-· /~/.,,.. /, ~--·r~~ ..... -J ... i-<.;...v" t-·'°'···---. (i /··/: l/7 .] I ,J / / .t I Carol MaCPlierson ·' ;i Carol MacPherson Aquatics Center, Inc. OBA Rinconada Masters Da~ / / 17 Pagel ofl ,,, / ·\ / \ \ . \ ~::_.. . .0 SHEEPER Rental Contract -Exhibit A Rental Terms: 1. The "Rental Tenn" of this Agreement shall be September l, 2017 to December 31, 2018, unless tenninated earlier as described in 1. Contract Tenns. 2. The Company agrees to operate and make available to the Renter, the Facility during the Rental Term. The Company gives notice that the Facility will be closed during only the following three (3) statutory holidays 1) Christmas, 2) New Year's Day and 3) Thanksgiving Day. 3. The Renter shall have access to the Facility during the days and times, known as "Rental Facilities: 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Rental Fees: Time" listed below: a) Monday, Wednesday and Friday; 5:45am to 8:30am, b) Tuesday and Thursday; 12:00pm (noon) to 1:30pm; 7:00pm to 8:30pm, c) Saturday and Sunday; 9:30am to 11 :OOam d) Swim competitions -days and times to be mutually agreed upon per section 22. This Agreement encompasses the Rinconada Pool, located at 777 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94303, !mown as the "Pool or Facility." 14 lanes of the Pool, of which the Renter has the option to rent all or some of the lanes. Showers and Bathroom Access -participants will have access to showers, bathrooms and all associated facilities and storage areas for 15 minutes before Rental Times, during Rental Times, and for 30 minutes after Rental Times. The Company and Renter shall mutually agree upon an allocation of office and storage space. Renter shall retain the keys to various offices, storage areas, and other spaces which are currently in Renter's possession, plus keys to access entry to the pool area which they currently possess. No changes to any of these keys or locks shall occur without written notification to the Renter by the Company who will provide replacement keys. The Company shall ensure that the City of Palo Alto provides to Renter: o A clean and safe pool and locker room facility o Tables and chairs for swim competitions o Storage for training equipment o Vehicle access permits for swim competitions o Standard pool equipment in safe and working condition Installing and i·emoving pool covers and lane markers, shall be the responsibility of the Renter if both of the following two conditions apply at either the beginning or end of their Rental Time 1) there is exclusive use of the Facility by Renter and 2) Renter is the first or last user of the Facility on a given day per the Company's monthly Pool Schedule, a copy of which will be provided to Renter on a monthly basis. 10. The Rental Fees shall be effective September l, 2017 through December 31, 2018: $2 per lane per hour. This will be the total Rental Fee due from Renter, no additional payment to the Company or any third party will be due for Rental Fees. 11. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the Renter will rent fourteen (14) lanes at a cost of $77 per day. 12. Tuesday and Thursday, the Renter will rent seven (7) lanes at a cost of $42 per day. Page3 ofl 13. 14. Payment: 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. Policies: 20. 21. Saturday and Sunday, the Renter will rent fourteen (14) lanes at a cost of$42 per day. Quarterly, at a mutually agreed upon meeting date and time which will be at least thirty (30) calendar days prior to the start of each calendar Quarter, the Parties will meet to mutually agree upon the upcoming quarter's lane rental needs of the Renter which can be adjusted down with thirty (30) days' notice. Should the Renter desire to reduce lane usage and rent only a portion of the Facility during times identified as exclusive use, Renter shall be able to reduce lane usage and rent 7 or fewer lanes. At the same meeting, or more often, the Parties also agree to include a discussion of the upcoming Facility schedule and scheduled maintenance, general operational and maintenance aspects and other topics of mutual interest covered by this Agreement Renter shall be billed thirty (30) days in advance, on a monthly basis. Monthly rental invoices should be sent via email to Jim Levison atjimlevison@gmail.com and Carol MacPherson at carolmacpherson22@gmail.com. Renter shall not be deemed to have received an invoice unless the Company has sent the invoice via email to at least one of the emails listed in this Section 15. Monthly payment is due from Renter on or before the date that is thirty (30) days following the date on which the Company has delivered the monthly rental invoice to Renter in accordance with Section 15. Renter has the option to make payment 1) in person at the Company's offices during regular business hours, 2) via US Mail, 3) via overnight delivery service or4) via the Company's PayPal account. Agreement is subject to termination for non-payment if after Renter has received written notification from the Company of any delinquent monthly rental payment, Renter has not made such payment within seven (7) days after Renter's receipt of written notice of delinquency of payment. The monthly payments should be sent to Carole Hayworth, Team Sheeper, Inc., 501 Laurel St, Menlo Park, CA 94025. The Company will provide written updates to Renter ifthe Company's address and I or contact changes from what is listed in this Agreement. Renter may also pay via Pay Pal to carole@menloswim.com under the no-fee option. If payment is submitted via Pay Pal under the fee option, Renter will pay the additional fees. If Renter uses Pay Pal for their monthly payment, Renter will send Company an email advising them of the date and amount of payment sent via Pay Pal. If when the Company reads the email, no Renter payment can be located, the Company and Renter will cooperate in locating and /or resolving the missing payment At least one person who holds a current lifeguard certification and is certified in First Aid/CPR shall be supervising Renter's swimmers onsite at all times when there is exclusive use of the lap swim pool (facility) by Renter. During those times, there must be at least one other person certified as a lifeguard and is certified in First Aid/CPR on deck or in the pool to assist with rescues as needed. When seven (7) or fewer lanes of the Pool are being used by Renter, Company will provide on-deck lifeguards at no charge. Should the Renter so desire, the Renter may arrange with the Company to use Company lifeguards to provide some or all of this required supervision. Company shall furnish lifeguards at a rate of$25 per hour per lifeguard. Programming is limited to adult swim team, drop-in swimmers and swim for fitness members. Each swimmer shall possess a current United States Masters swimming card or Page4ofl 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. ['.\ / \ '. \. ~ Sl-iEEPER equivalent or have applied for such card or renewal card. No additional for fee lessons, water polo, camps, or other such programming is allowed without prior written approval of the Company. Renter may conduct swim competitions one to two times per calendar year. The swim competition dates shall be confinned with the Company 30 days prior to the calendar quarter of the swim competition. The Renter may collect and retain fees for such events at their discretion. Facility rental for such events will be $3 per lane per hour. Renter will maintain all related member's registration and payment records. The Company does not have access or rights to these records. Renter must follow all written facility policies, a copy of which is attached to this Agreement as Exhibit "C" or will be attached prior to September 30, 2017. The Company will provide to Renter any updates or revisions prior to being implemented. Renter and Company will create and maintain a respectful environment for all parties using the facility. Any damages to the facility directly caused by Renter or Renter's customers will be the responsibility of the Renter. Marketing 01· Club information of the Renter can be displayed in the bulletin board area and is subject to the Company's approval, which shall not be unreasonably withheld. Facility is subject to closure due to "unexpected, unscheduled or emergency" maintenance. As soon as the need for this type of abnormal maintenance is determined or !mown, the Company shall use email, phone calls and /or text messages to notify the Renter of this maintenance. The Company will provide information about Facilities fitness or availability for rental and if not available for rental, an estimate for when the Facilities will again be available for rental. For all "normal, routine, scheduled or major" maintenance which is known more than seventy-two (72) hours in advance by the City of Palo Alto and/or the Company, the Company will provide advance email, phone calls and /or text messages notice to Renter as soon as possible and at least seventy-two (72) hours advance notice. Renter will not be charged for the facility during any of these closures via credit or refund on next month's invoice and payment Any other closures of the Facilities which prevents the Renter from using all or a portion of the Pool, will mean the Renter will not be charged for the facility during any of these closures via credit or refund on next month's invoice and payment. Company will provide advance notice of more than seventy-two (72) hours of any scheduled events which prevents the Renter from using all or any portion of the Pool, such as, but not limited to, swim meets, private party use only of the Pool or other scheduled events. Renter will not be charged for the facility during any of these closures via credit or refund on next month's invoice and payment Company is in breach of this Agreement if any of the following conditions occur. As a result of any of these breaches, Renter will not be charged for the facility for so long as any of the following conditions exist and are continuing and a credit or refund will be given on next month's invoice and payment to the extent of any such breach or non-compliance by the Company (on a pro rata basis based on the number of days of non-compliance during the invoice period) A. Pool water temperature below 76 degrees Fahrenheit or above 83 degrees Fahrenheit. B. Shower and Bathroom areas temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit as registered on the heating control units located in either the male or female bathing and changing areas. Page5 ofl