HomeMy Public PortalAboutMarch 25, 2024 City Council Emails701-32
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: 3/25/2024
Document dates: 3/18/2024 – 3/25/2024
Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction
in a given week.
From:Tim Ryan
To:Council, City
Subject:Bicycling on ECR
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 12:01:22 PM
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________________________________
Council members I’m calling to join the chorus of local bicyclist, who feel El Camino Real in Palo Alto is unsafe.
Ironically, I will miss the discussion in Council Chambers on April 1 because I will be bicycling in Spain. I have
bicycle in many European countries, and all of them to me appear safer than here in the US and the Bay Area in
particular.
All over the roadways in Spain are signs advising drivers to keep 1.5 meters, or about 5 feet, away from a bicyclists
by law. Let’s remove parked vehicles as best we can and welcome people onto the roads, because after all, we’re
reducing greenhouse gas, roadway and parking lot congestion and helping people shed pounds and minimize
diabetes.
Tim Ryan
San Carlos
Play hard ♂
From:Darius Teter
To:Council, City
Subject:El Camino Real paving project
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:55:01 AM
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To whom it may concern,
I am writing to lend my support to a proposal that will be discussed at the Palo Alto
city council meeting on April 1st. As a long-time resident of Mountain View and daily
bicycle commuter, I advocate for the elimination of parking spaces along key sections
of El Camino Real and the creation of bike lanes instead. Although there are some
alternative routes, many riders still prefer to ride along El Camino for access to
businesses, schools and their jobs, particularly along the Mountain View - Palo Alto -
Menlo Park commercial corridor. Unlike many urban corridors, drivers do have manyparking options, typically free, on intersecting side streets and public lots all long this
section of El Camino - far in excess of what is available along the thoroughfare.
Thank you for your consideration.
Darius Teter
Darius Teter
Executive Director
Stanford | Seed
Stanford Graduate School of Business
Stanford University
655 Knight Way
Stanford, CA 94305
(m) (650) 804-8466
dteter@stanford.edu
seed.stanford.edu
LinkedIn | Facebook | Instagram | Twitter
Check out our podcast:
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From:Andrew Etringer
To:Council, City
Subject:A safer El Camino Real
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:54:17 AM
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Dear City Council of Palo Alto,
I am a long-time bike commuter (25-years) and bike enthusiast, but am somewhat new to theBay Area. Riding a bike along El Camino Real is a real nightmare currently. I usually avoid
even driving a car on that stretch of road. Anything that you can do to slow down cars andmake the roadway safer for bikes and pedestrians is a great idea. I support the removal of car
parking spots in favor of a well-marked bicycle lane.
Sincerely,Andrew Etringer
From:Lisa Dusseault
To:Council, City
Subject:Bike lanes and El Camino Real
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:50:22 AM
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Hi council folks,
I write to you as a biker and as a mom of bikers. While I do drive around the area a fairamount too, I don't see driving my kids everywhere as a plan that's good for me, for them, or
for the environment. Thus we have set expectations that they bike themselves to school,summer school and to friends houses; to stay active and healthy and independent.
That's why my older son was hit by a car when he was crossing El Camino Real on his way to
Gunn high school last summer. It wasn't bad and he didn't report it. Neither did the driver,who may not have even known that when they turned sharply the back end of their vehicle hit
a biker and knocked them over the curb and flat on the sidewalk. My son's bike needed repair,we replaced his helmet, and we checked him for concussion - but nobody reported it. We
were just glad it wasn't worse.
El Camino Real is an important thoroughfare not just for drivers but also for bikers andpedestrians, going to work or to shop or to hobbies. It should be safer for all and it should
encourage more multi-modal traffic. I've been a champion and supporter of Palo Alto'sincreased bikeability for years, and would support changes to El Camino Real in this direction
too. Our move away from car-first urban planning is working and I know you must have seengood options to continue this work along El Camino Real or other places where bike support
might make even more of a difference. Let's keep the momentum.
Lisa Dusseault, Palo Alto resident
From:Elaine Salinger
To:Council, City
Cc:katie@bikesiliconvalley.org
Subject:In support of a resolution to have protected bike lanes on El Camino
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:44:04 AM
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Hello Palo Alto City Council Members,We need protected bike lanes. Cycling in San Mateo County has not increased in the last 20 yearsbecause people don’t feel safe riding (According to a SMC Grand Jury Report 8/23). Please vote forthe resolution to remove parking on El Camino to create protected bike lanes.
I am the SMC BPAC chair and I am really tired of people being hit by cars. And I am really tired of ourlocal government prioritizing the needs of cars over pedestrians and cyclists. And people are paying forthis with their lives. Here is a recent Op-Ed I wrote for the San Mateo Daily Journal:
Cyclists pay taxes too
By Elaine Salinger Mar 11, 2024 1
Peter Grace was one of the smartest, friendliest people I have ever known. In
December, a driver sideswiped him while he was riding his bike and killed
him. Peter was such an experienced cyclist, but he was riding in San Rafael on
a badly designed road and bike path. He died because of a lack of adequate
physical separation between people on bikes and cars.
What’s the solution? For every dollar spent on
roads, we can and should have 5 or 10 cents
spent on separated bike lanes and bike
infrastructure. Cyclists pay transportation
sales taxes too and deserve this.
The benefits? It will be safer for cyclists, and
drivers will be happier because they won’t
need to share the road. Traffic congestion will
improve as more people leave their cars at home. Studies have found that
mental health improves when we are outside, and property values always
Elaine Salinger
increase where there are bike lanes.
About 200 people attended Peter Grace’s memorial. He had a lot of friends. If
all of us asked state Sen. Josh Becker and assemblymembers Papan or Ting to
write and vote for a law mandating that 5% of our road spending be spent on
safety for those who bike, more people would ride, roads would be safer and
less congested. How do you build political will for this legislation? By telling
our legislators what we want so that more Peter Graces aren’t killed. Readers,
please email or call them today. It helps to repeat this two-minute action
every week.
As the San Mateo County Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee chair, I am
tired of seeing worthy safety projects not get funded. Safety advocates fight
over tiny scraps of money. All of us use the roads, but funding
overwhelmingly prioritizes cars. For example, the San Mateo County
Transportation Authority approved almost $600 million to widen Highway
101 to reduce congestion. But studies have shown that the relief is temporary
and the number of cars increases because it encourages more driving. The 101
widening canceled the much-needed and long-planned Holly Bicycle and
Pedestrian Bridge in San Carlos and the Hillsdale Bicycle and Pedestrian
Bridge in San Mateo.
The Holly Street Bike and Pedestrian Bridge was ready for construction in
2019, but Caltrans prioritized the 101 widening project over the
bike/pedestrian safety project. Without any feedback from the community,
the project was abandoned. This is a shame because I know of six serious
cyclist injuries on the existing overpass. Holly and 101 was identified as a San
Mateo County Youth-Based High Injury Network and a highest safety priority
area.
Holly is the only route to access the east side of 101 and the Bay Trail from
San Carlos via bike or foot for several miles. Holly is also the main route to
access downtown businesses in San Carlos from the Bay Trail. Are you a
business owner in San Carlos? Speak up.
San Mateo’s Hillsdale Bicycle and Pedestrian Bridge was identified as a
priority in 2007. This has been the site of many serious crashes involving
cyclists, including one fatality. And like Holly, Hillsdale is part of the Youth-
Based High Injury Network due to frequent crashes involving kids. According
to the city of San Mateo, the 101 widening “complicated” the design of the
planned/bike pedestrian bridge and now the project is on indefinite hold.
Our prioritization of auto drivers’ convenience and speed at the expense of
the health and safety of those who leave their cars at home or live in polluted
communities adjacent to our highways needs to change. Please email or call
Becker and Papan or Ting to ask that they write and vote for legislation
mandating a minimum of 5 or 10 cents for bike infrastructure for every dollar
spent on our roads. To make this as easy as possible for you, here is their
contact info:
Becker: https://sd13.senate.ca.gov/contact or call (650) 233-2724.
Papan: https://a21.asmdc.org/contact or call (650) 349-2200.
Elaine Salinger, SMC BPAC Chair and CCL Group LeaderSan Mateo County Chapter 650-533-3539
Ting: https://a19.asmdc.org/contact-me or call (415) 557-2312
Do this action every week and just say: Please write and vote for legislation
mandating a minimum of 5 or 10 cents for bike and pedestrian infrastructure
for every dollar spent on roads. Cyclists and pedestrians pay taxes and need
this.
Elaine Salinger is a retired veterinarian living in San Mateo. She is the chair of
the San Mateo County Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee and leads the
SMC chapter of Citizens Climate Lobby. The views expressed are her own.
From:Tim Dick
To:Council, City
Subject:Yes to Bike Lanes on El Camino Real
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:42:38 AM
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________________________________
I am a long time Palo Alto resident and bike frequently in the area. Please consider El Camino Real bike lanes as a
way to improve our city and reduce traffic.
Thank you.
Timothy Dick
tdick@startupcv.com
415-710-9622
From:Neil S
To:Council, City
Subject:safer el camino!
Date:Monday, March 25, 2024 11:35:02 AM
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we need a safer el camino, i'm in san carlos and bike everyday on el camino. it's a death trap.please remove parking and add bike lanes.
neil shah
san carlos, ca
From:Friends of Cubberley
To:Council, City; board@pausd.edu
Subject:Cubberley Update?
Date:Sunday, March 24, 2024 7:17:05 PM
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________________________________
Hi City Council and PAUSD School Board,
Can you please provide an update on the conversations regarding the possible land swap at Cubberley?
Deborah Simon
Friends of Cubberley, Chair.
From:Aram James
To:Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:Cindy Chavez; Council, City; Ed Lauing; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; Supervisor Otto Lee;
district1@bos.sccgov.org; Foley, Michael
Subject:Israel Has Formed a Task Force to Carry Out Covert Campaigns at US Universities
Date:Sunday, March 24, 2024 6:53:59 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Israel Has Formed a Task Force to CarryOut Covert Campaigns at USUniversities
https://truthout.org/articles/israel-has-formed-a-task-force-to-carry-out-covert-campaigns-at-
us-universities/
From:Jo Ann Mandinach
To:Council, City
Subject:#11 -- El Camino Bike Lanes. Just say no.
Date:Sunday, March 24, 2024 1:57:12 PM
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Dear City Council.
Just say no to replacing parking on El Camino with bike lanes because it's too
dangerous for everyone -- bikes, cars and pedestrians -- and will totally destroy the
businesses on El Camino by depriving them of customers who will have no place topark.
Even in progressive San Francisco merchants are suing to get the bike lanes
removed because their businesses are being destroyed.
Can we afford to lose the sales tax revenue from the ruined businesses? No.
Does it make sense to pay our $$$$$ money to retail consultants to improvebusinesses while consciously destroying retailers? No, not unless you're part ofPA's consultant gravy train.
Can we afford to make people waste their time and drive longer distances to runtheir errands? No.
Does it make sense to approve mandated housing on El Camino and then deprive
the new residents of nearby resident-serving businesses? No.
I could go on but you get the picture. For too many years Palo Alto has dealt with
incompetent transportation czars like Josh Mello and Jaime Rodriquez who caved
on everything the bike lobby wanted -- bollards at every intersection that pushedcars into the middle of Oregon and Embarcadero because they could no longerbypass turning traffic, bus stops 3 car lengths away from major intersections that
left cars stuck in the middle of major roads....
BUT THE MAIN PROBLEM IS THAT EL CAMINO NEEDS TO BE REPAVEDTO PREVENT VEHICLE DAMAGE NOW AFTER YEARS OF ALLOWING IT
TO BECOME INCREASINGLY DANGEROUS AND STICKING US WITH
MAJOR CAR REPAIR BILLS.
Please get your priorities straight and tell CalTrans to STOP this virtue-signalling
nonsense and do its job by repaving EL CAMINO NOW.
Most sincerely,
Jo Ann Mandinach
1699 Middlefield Road
Palo Alto, CA 94301
STOP BY AND LOOK AT THE DAMAGED STREET TREE A DRIVER RAN
INTO TRYING TO AVOID TURNING TRAFFIC.
From:Aram James
To:Angel, David; Angie, Palo Alto Renters Association; Bryan Gobin; Council, City; D Martell; Daniel Kottke; DuJuanGreen; Greg Tanaka; Jeff Moore; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Kaloma Smith; Karen Holman; Salem Ajluni;Sean Allen; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Tom DuBois; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; dennis burns
Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Baker, Rob; Ed Lauing; Friends of Cubberley; Jeff Rosen; KEVIN JENSEN;
Lewis james; Gardener, Liz; Michelle; Robert. Jonsen; Roberta Ahlquist; Sean Webby
Subject:Israel Has Formed a Task Force to Carry Out Covert Campaigns at US Universities A major Israeli news site saysIsrael’s foreign affairs and diaspora affairs ministries are behind the operation.
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 10:29:28 PM
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Some BS!!!
Israel Has Formed a Task Force to CarryOut Covert Campaigns at USUniversities
A major Israeli news site says Israel’s foreign affairs and diaspora affairs ministries
are behind the operation.
https://truthout.org/articles/israel-has-formed-a-task-force-to-carry-out-covert-campaigns-at-
us-universities/
From:Raymond Goins
To:Aram James
Cc:Council, City; Greg Tanaka; Jeff Moore; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen
Subject:Re: Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 10:03:27 PM
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I will stand by that 100%
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 23, 2024, at 9:04 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:Good question. Maybe de-bug can expand to this important area.
On Sat, Mar 23, 2024 at 7:31 PM Raymond Goins <goinsrayl@gmail.com>
wrote:Who’s going to take over this mess? If they are declining to renew their
contract, what non profit will take care of our counties most vulnerable? Andwill we as a community have input into this decision.
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 23, 2024, at 10:13 AM, Aram James<abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelterhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=7ca3f9b7-0ebe-4ff9-9a0d-a00e56fbc816&appcode=SAN252&eguid=411a1c6c-c0f7-421a-8356-2d0cb4eda814&pnum=29#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury Newse-edition app here:
From:Aram James
To:Julie Lythcott-Haims; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Baker, Rob; Council, City; D Martell; Damon Silver; Daniel
Kottke; Don Austin; Friends of Cubberley; Greg Tanaka; Human Relations Commission; Jeff Moore; Jeff Rosen;
Josh Becker; KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Lewis james; Linda Jolley; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; Raymond Goins;
Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Salem Ajluni; Sameena@Secure-Justice.org; Sean Allen; Vara Ramakrishnan;
WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; dennis burns; Tannock, Julie; Foley, Michael; yolanda
Subject:The Great Rupture in American Jewish Life
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 9:52:34 PM
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The Great Rupture in American
Jewish Life
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/22/opinion/israel-american-jews-zionism.html?
smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
From:Aram James
To:Raymond Goins
Cc:Council, City; Greg Tanaka; Jeff Moore; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen
Subject:Re: Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 9:04:42 PM
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Good question. Maybe de-bug can expand to this important area.
On Sat, Mar 23, 2024 at 7:31 PM Raymond Goins <goinsrayl@gmail.com> wrote:Who’s going to take over this mess? If they are declining to renew their contract, what non
profit will take care of our counties most vulnerable? And will we as a community haveinput into this decision.
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 23, 2024, at 10:13 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelterhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=7ca3f9b7-0ebe-4ff9-9a0d-a00e56fbc816&appcode=SAN252&eguid=411a1c6c-c0f7-421a-8356-2d0cb4eda814&pnum=29#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-editionapp here:
From:Ken Tam
To:Council, City
Subject:No viaduct on Churchill crossing
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 8:33:07 PM
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I am writing this email as a long-time resident of South Gate Palo Alto, with the train trackjust a stone's throw away. Thus, I can safely say that my family 'has skin in the game' when it
comes to the decision of how the Churchill crossing should be handled. I must say thatresidents in the South Gate neighborhood have to put up with a lot: some bikers texting while
riding through our narrow streets, walkers leaving trash behind, and waiting 10+ minutes attimes just to make a left turn onto Churchill due to busy traffic. It is disheartening to hear that
the viaduct option is being reconsidered again for the Churchill crossing. It will change theappearance of the South Gate neighborhood, divide the city of Palo Alto, and destroy our
livelihood.
I urge the city council to stop the reconsideration of the viaduct option for the Churchillcrossing. Otherwise, we will fight this initiative once again.
Regards,Ken
From:Raymond Goins
To:Aram James
Cc:Council, City; Greg Tanaka; Jeff Moore; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen
Subject:Re: Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 7:31:29 PM
Some people who received this message don't often get email from goinsrayl@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant
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Who’s going to take over this mess? If they are declining to renew their contract, what non
profit will take care of our counties most vulnerable? And will we as a community have inputinto this decision.
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 23, 2024, at 10:13 AM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelterhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=7ca3f9b7-0ebe-4ff9-9a0d-a00e56fbc816&appcode=SAN252&eguid=411a1c6c-c0f7-421a-8356-2d0cb4eda814&pnum=29#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition apphere:
From:Jasmina Bojic
To:Kou, Lydia; Burt, Patrick; Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Lauing, Ed; Stone, Greer; Tanaka, Greg; Veenker, Vicki; Nose,Kiely; Shikada, Ed; Council, City
Subject:another UNAFF In Libraries event focusing on climate change and the oceans
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 5:05:45 PM
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Dear City of Palo Alto Council members,
I hope you are enjoying the weekend. After having two extraordinary UNAFF In Librariesevents presenting the educational systems in Israel and Palestine and women and science in
Iran, now we have another one focusing on climate change and the oceans. Please see thedescription below and invite your friends in the Bay Area to join us.
As all of the other UNAFF year-round programs, these popular UNAFF in Libraries events are
FREE and open to the general public.
Warmest regards,Jasmina
Jasmina Bojic
Film Critic/Lecturer
International Relations and Stanford Continuing Studies
Founder and Executive Director
UNAFF & UNAFF Traveling Film Festivals
www.unaff.org
(650) 725-0012
Save the date: 27th UNAFF – October 17-27, 2024
Theme: SHARED HUMANITY
Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University
Like UNAFF at www.facebook.com/UNAFF
Follow us at www.twitter.com/unaff
THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2024 at 6:00PM - UNAFF in Libraries@Rinconada Library1213 Newell Road, Palo Alto, Embarcadero Room(FREE and open to the public)PICTURE OF HIS LIFEHe swam with crocodiles and killer whales, with anacondas and with great white sharks. Butone major predator has always eluded Amos Nachoum. The legendary underwater stillsphotographer always dreamed of swimming underwater with a polar bear and capturing itface-to-face on film. He tried before and barely escaped with his life, but now, as he nears theend of his career, he is determined to give it one last shot. The danger is real, perhaps morereal than ever, but this is his last chance to get the Picture of His Life. Accompanied by EmmyAward-winning cinematographer Adam Ravetch, Amos dives into a world being rapidly
erased by a changing climate and changing social norms. Adam was inspired by Amos at thestart of his own career. Now is his chance to be there with his mentor on his last greatadventure. As he prepares to escape to the ominous tranquility of the Arctic Ocean, Amoscontemplates the series of unspoken events that drove him here, to the end of the world. Afterliving through childhood abuse and war, swimming with a ferocious predator in a silent,cerulean realm may be the closest he will ever come to achieving real peace. It has been along and painful journey, but where others find fear, Amos finds redemption.(Canada/Israel,Mexico/US, 75 min) Directors/Producers: Yonatan Nir, Dani Menkin Executive Producer: Nancy Spielberg [DOWNLOAD FLYER]
On 1/14/2024 9:16 AM, Jasmina Bojic wrote:
Dear City of Palo Alto Council members,
Congratulations to the new Mayor of Palo Alto Greer Stone and to Vice Mayor
Ed Lauing. We would like to thank again all the members of the Palo Alto CityCouncil for the the continuing and much appreciated support for UNAFF (United
Nations Association Film Festival), which is not only the largest cultural event inPalo Alto with eleven days screenings of 60 films, but also a diverse educational
event which bring us together in this very divided political climate. I am attachinga photo from the proclamation event.
We just started organizing the 27th UNAFF (October 17-27, 2024) and already
updated the web site with the new theme SHARED COMMUNITY(http://www.unaff.org/2024/mission.html) and are in the process of planning our
year-round monthly screenings and panels throughout Palo Alto. The significanceof this year's 27th UNAFF is even greater, as the main festival will take place just
a few days before the historic 2024 election, when the clarity of viewpoints itprovides will be the best antidote to fake news and misinformation.
In order to be able to continue our work we are asking the Council to uphold its
tradition of supporting UNAFF and are attaching our proposal with all therelevant details. In case you should need additional information and explanations,
I would be happy to join you for a few minutes at any of the council meetings toanswer any of the questions you might have.
Thank you so much in advance for all your support and encouragement,
Jasmina
Jasmina Bojic
Film Critic/Lecturer
International Relations and Stanford Continuing Studies
Founder and Executive Director
UNAFF & UNAFF Traveling Film Festival
www.unaff.org
(650) 725-0012
Save the date: 27th UNAFF – October 17-27, 2024
Theme: SHARED HUMANITY
Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, San Francisco and Stanford University
Like UNAFF at www.facebook.com/UNAFF
Follow us at www.twitter.com/unaff
From:Aram James
To:Council, City; Greg Tanaka; Jeff Moore; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Raymond Goins; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen
Subject:Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Date:Saturday, March 23, 2024 10:13:15 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelter
Nonprofit to leave homeless shelterhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=7ca3f9b7-0ebe-4ff9-9a0d-a00e56fbc816&appcode=SAN252&eguid=411a1c6c-c0f7-421a-8356-2d0cb4eda814&pnum=29#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here:
From:Aram James
To:Julie Lythcott-Haims; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Angel, David; Angie, Palo Alto Renters Association; Baker, Rob; Bryan Gobin;
Cindy Chavez; Council, City; D Martell; Damon Silver; Dan Okonkwo; Daniel Kottke; Don Austin; Ed Lauing; JIM
MINKLER1; Jeff Moore; Jeff Rosen; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; KEVIN JENSEN; Lewis james; Michelle; Zelkha,
Mila; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; O"Neal, Molly; Roberta Ahlquist; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen; Supervisor Otto Lee;
Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Perron, Zachary; dennis burns; district1@bos.sccgov.org
Subject:Jewish-led activists calling for ceasefire arrested at Adam Schiff’s office
Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 9:04:33 PM
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Jewish-led activists calling for ceasefire
arrested at Adam Schiff’s office
https://lapublicpress.org/2024/03/jewish-led-activists-calling-for-ceasefire-arrested-at-adam-schiffs-office/
From:Aram James
To:Perron, Zachary
Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Angie, Palo Alto Renters Association; Anna Griffin; Wagner,
April; Baker, Rob; Binder, Andrew; Cecilia Taylor; Council, City; D Martell; Damon Silver; Dan Okonkwo; Daniel
Kottke; Don Austin; Ed Lauing; Enberg, Nicholas; Jensen, Eric; Friends of Cubberley; Greer Stone; Greg Tanaka;
Human Relations Commission; Jeff Moore; Jeff Rosen; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith;
Zelkha, Mila; O"Neal, Molly; Reifschneider, James; Robert. Jonsen; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen; Shikada, Ed; Stump,
Molly; Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; dennis burns; editor@paweekly.com; Figueroa, Eric;
Tannock, Julie; kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org; Foley, Michael
Subject:White ex-officers get 10 to 40 years in torture case
Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 6:18:12 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
White ex-officers get 10 to 40 years in torture case
White ex-officers get 10 to 40 years in torture casehttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=1090ac38-75e4-4aeb-91be-a7913797d8a6&appcode=SAN252&eguid=6f30b053-4970-40c7-960c-61e39a5a7620&pnum=33#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here:
From:Saurabh Kumar
To:Council, City
Subject:Caltrans" El Camino Real Bikeway Project
Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 5:19:20 PM
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Dear City Council,
I support Caltrans' El Camino Real (ECR) bikeway project. I am a
student at Stanford and have to cross or walk/ride along El Camino
Real to access stores and businesses in Palo Alto. I am glad to see
protected bike lanes on El Camino. The bikeway project has potential
to help me and others make safe car-free choices when getting around
our shared neighborhood.
Thank you!
From:Annette Glanckopf
To:Council, City
Cc:Clerk, City; Shikada, Ed; Lait, Jonathan
Subject:Bike lanes on El Camino - vote no
Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 1:35:07 PM
Attachments:Letter on Bike lanes on ECR.docx
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Dear Mayor Stone and Council members,
Please see my attached letter with my full details on why bike lanes on EL Camino
Real should be rejected. Menlo Park isn't going to do this, why should we waste this
time and money? Use (or enhance) what is already established - a safer faster bike
route on Park Blvd.
Annette Glanckopf
PS: I do not agree with consultant's report on the over-de$$$$ign needed to make
this work safely for bikers.
March 22, 2024
Dear Mayor Stone and City Council members.
I want to weigh in on the topic of bike lanes on El Camino. VOTE NO ON THIS FOLLY. It is a
disaster waiting to happen.
The logic behind creating bikes lanes from Mt. View to Redwood City on El Camino is faulty for
many reasons.
1) Menlo Park has no plans to do so
2) Alternative routes: Little consideration has been given for the optimum alternative route on
Park Blvd, just a few blocks off of ECR or even Bryant Street (Palo Alto's official bike
boulevard).
3) Parking: Small businesses will suffer - just at a time when the city is trying to encourage
more retail, especially small independently owned businesses. Yes, some of these businesses
do have parking, but is it sufficient? I think not, especially for those customers (elderly,
disabled) who want to park in front of the door on ECR. Taking out a huge number of parking
spaces in a major mistake. Caltrans counts 600 vehicle parking spots on ECR, but hasn’t
identified where these vehicles should/could go. I understand that at least about 41 serve as
dwellings for some of our neighbors.
4) Safety: With the numerous curb cuts, driveways, and streets on ECR, bike lanes are a
recipe for disaster, especially with distracted drivers, speeders in a hurry, buses and trucks as
well as numerous traffic lights. Note that on Park Blvd, there are only a handful of lights and
fewer driveways, streets, etc. to hamper bikers. This Park Blvd alternative route already has
bollards (Ventura and near Mollie Stones) for bike safety. This route is much safer and
FASTER as well. ECR accident reports show that a large majority of serious and fatal
accidents between cars and bikes are broadsides, indicating that these accidents occurred
when bikes were crossing ECR. This plan does not at all address this real and known fact.
5) No Answers: There are numerous unanswered questions that need to be
decided/discussed; the answers are uncertain. How do bikes and buses work together at bus
stops? Will buses cross bike lanes at each bus stop; this will be a significant safety issue.
What portions of the bike lanes will be Class 2? No bike user data, current or projected, has
been gathered. I ask how many bikers will actually use ECR, when they realize that a faster,
safer route is Park Blvd.?
Finally let's consider the greater good. The daily car, bus, and truck traffic is significant on
ECR--in the high thousands--while bike traffic would be in the hundreds at best. ECR parking
is also used as dwelling spaces. Should we inconvenience the far greater number, when there
is an alternative route that is faster and safer.
Please take a strong stand against Caltrans and refuse bike lanes on El Camino.
Annette Glanckopf, Midtown resident
From:Shani Kleinhaus
To:Steve Zamek; Council, City
Subject:Re: Los Altos tree/nest removal
Date:Friday, March 22, 2024 1:01:19 PM
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Thanks Steve,Can you help? email the Palo Alto and copy City.Council@cityofpaloalto.org and tell them what
you are telling me, with photos if possible? Please cc me?(they need to hear from the community, not just from me)
Thank you,Shani
On Fri, Mar 22, 2024 at 12:33 PM Steve Zamek <steve.zamek@gmail.com> wrote:
Hi Shani,Last year I discovered an active Pygmy Nuthatch nest at Heritage Oaks Park in Palo Alto.
I had also seen some Nuttall's Woodpeckers investigating that tree, but never confirmednesting of that bird.
The old dead fruit tree had plenty of nest holes from past years.This tree was cut down and removed earlier this week :(
This is the location of the spot: https://maps.app.goo.gl/FwVDKc2FqpMbRPEB8I know this is a never-ending task, but you might want to contact the city about this.
Thanks.Steve
From:Bryan Chan
To:Council, City
Subject:Rail Grade Separation - need Trenching/Tunneling back on the table
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 9:51:57 PM
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Dear City Council.
Please reconsider the option of trenching and ideally tunnel the train tracks under the City. Itwill remove the artificial barrier that separates the City and provide immediate tangible
benefits. South Palo Alto (and all of Palo Alto) needs this - don't disappoint us.
Don't let the cost be an issue -- let's choose the best option for the residents and all the otherissues are secondary.
There is no need for us to be concerned about Caltrans and their needs -- we need to put our
the priority on our citizen's needs first. Caltrans can sort it out later.
All the other alternatives are unsatisfactory.
Also, we don't have room in Palo Alto for 4 tracks!!!!
Thank you!
From:W W
To:Council, City
Subject:MUST TUNNEL HIGH SPEED RAIL AND TRAIN TRACKS
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 9:42:27 PM
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Dear Council,
The City of Palo Alto needs to bury the train underground -- it is the one thing that you coulddo that would improve everyone's lives in the City. Despite the "expense", we can do it if we
set our minds to it. We don't have space for "4 tracks" so why do you continue to askCaltrains about this "future possibility". Palo Alto is not a large city and "4 tracking" can be
done somewhere else where there is more space. Trenching/tunneling the train is the onlyoption. Do it for the future and for the kids.
Sincerely,
Bob Bernstein
From:bob ohlmann
To:Council, City
Subject:Rail committee recommendations
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 8:13:42 PM
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Dear Council members:
I still strongly prefer the solution for the crossings at Charleston and at Green
Meadow to be a covered trench with lowered tracks in the trench. I'm sure
engineering solutions can be found for passing the creek and ground water under the
trench. I would much rather have a small tax increase to cover the higher cost of this
approach than have to live with a reduction my property value due to a unsightly
viaduct carrying the rails, with added train noise, or the complex auto routing required
for the hybrid upper and lower solutions proposed.
Bob Ohlmann
373 Creekside Dr.
Creekside area near the Charleston crossing
From:Robert C Ohlmann
To:Council, City
Subject:Rail decision at Charleston and East Meadow.
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 8:04:18 PM
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Dear Council members:
I would still prefer the rail solution to be a covered trench in place of the current rails under Charleston and
East Meadow intersections. Engineering solutions can be found for passing creek and ground water to thebay under the trench. I would be happy to support a tax increase rather than have my property values
reduced because of an elevated train, or the complex traffic routing for the partial under and over solutions
that have been suggested.
Thank you for your consideration.
Bob Ohlmann
372 Creekside Dr., Palo Alto
Greemeadow Area
From:Eric Nordman
To:Council, City
Subject:Please improve safety in Palo Alto
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 4:41:46 PM
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Dear Council members:
I support a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real (ECR) and install bike
lanes. This is a rare opportunity to get safety improvements for no additional cost to thecity. As other cities are making safety improvements on ECR, Palo Alto would look foolish todecline safety improvements.
It’s been argued that Park Blvd is a better place to bike than ECR. This is probablytrue for those like me who live east of ECR but not so for those west of ECR. If one
wanted to go to a store six block away on ECR it would be much longer to cross ECR,
go three blocks to Park, ride 6 blocks and then ride 3 blocks back on Park.
The situation is even worse for those living on ECR. To get anywhere, they need to
take a lane on a road with 3 lanes of traffic in each direction often going well over 35
mph. Alternately, they could ride on the sidewalk as many do now. Neither are safe
options. Not everyone can conveniently choose to avoid stores on ECR. Even with
today’s unpleasant and dangerous conditions, many people find they need to ride on
ECR.
I looked at research into safety. One large study (17,000 fatalities and 77,000 severe
injuries) showed that it was not only bicyclist safety that is improved. They
concluded: “More specifically, our results suggest that improving bike infrastructure
with more protected/separated bike facilities is significantly associated with fewerfatalities and better road safety outcomes for all road users.”
The safety improvements are not small. For example, between 1990 and 2010 the
overall road fatality rate in Portland dropped by 75%.
This makes intuitive sense. Removing parking improves sight lines for all users andnarrower travel lanes helps to control speeding.
Palo Alto’s SCAP calls for increased active transportation trips from 19% to 40%. This
simply cannot happen without new, much safer bicycle infrastructure.
This paving project doesn’t address all safety issues as it’s limited to what can bedone with paint. After this project, the city should work with Caltrans to further
improve safety, especially crossing safety as many kids need to cross ECR to get to
school.
Please pass a resolution to remove parking on El Camino Real (ECR) to enable bike
lanes to be installed.
Sincerely,
Eric Nordman
Member of PABAC since 2012 and currently vice chair
From:Linna Zhang
To:Council, City
Subject:Opposite SB9 Urban Lot Split at 722 Marion Ave
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 3:13:52 PM
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Hi City Council,
I am writing you to opposite SB9 Urban Lot Split at 722 Marion Ave, Palo Alto.
I live in this neighborhood. I am concerning if it is allowed, it will destroy our quietneighborhood.
Please consider my opposition.
Best regards,
Linna Zhang
From:Rossana Mattioli
To:Council, City
Subject:Apple : N" 1 - privacy , safety , Freedom.
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 2:15:12 PM
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CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
I hereby confirm the trust and solidarity with Apple which I do not have. This is proof that: 1) Apple is the
best answer to protecting your privacy 2) Asian competition offers quality and low price, but not a
guarantee of privacy and freedom. In fact, telecommunications are the defense of a nation, when it
doesn't sell itself off like the unfortunate Italians and every third world do. Apple certainly has the
monopoly on the best security of its data and life. Excellent topic to protect and prefer when you can and
in any case you should.
Best regards
Rossana Mattioli Spallanzani
Firenze
+393512476359
From:John Conricode
To:zoe.lofgren@mail.house.gov; Rep. Zoe Lofgren; asad.ramzanali@mail.house.gov; sandra.soto@mail.house.gov
Cc:Council, City; emargaretten@embarcaderopublishing.com; zmorgan@embarcaderopublishing.com
Subject:El Paso Today
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 1:36:15 PM
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https://twitter.com/JennieSTaer/status/1770886341879885952
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren: Thank you for your service.
From:Lawrence Garwin
To:Lauing, Ed
Cc:city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City
Subject:Re: Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real.
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 12:38:36 PM
Attachments:image002.png
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Ed,
I appreciate your personal reply.
I agree that bicycle lanes deserve substantial physical protection, not just road stripes orhollow plastic bollards.
At the 3/10/2024 public meeting, Caltrans officials told me that improvements beyond
different road striping would not be available immediately after the initial repaving, but wouldbe likely thereafter.
I believe more bicycle traffic is not a problem, but part of the solution. Slowing cars and
increasing motorists’ awareness of bicycles through signage, street markings, and enforceddriver responsibility will increase bicyclists’ safety.
To further address your question, below are some suggestions that I made to Caltrans officials
directly at the 3/10/2024 public meeting at Palo Alto High School and to Caltrans and the Cityof Palo Alto via the webform at:
https://us.openforms.com/Form/1328d991-d30a-4ca1-b9f7-9e364540e959
Please do not let the lack of an immediate great solution stand in the way of a better solutionfor the time being.
Thank you.
Lawrence Garwin
Caltrans State Route 82 El Camino Real Bikeway Project Feedback Shared with Caltrans and
City Staff in person on 3/10/2024 and via web form:
I suggest a 2-4’ tall concrete barrier between the car lane and the bike lane, rather than justhollow flexible plastic bollards, to provide real protection from distracted drivers wandering
out of their driving lane.
How about bike lanes to the left of right turn lanes to avoid the obvious and dangerousconflict?
Please create a bike friendly environment on El Camino Real. This includes encouraging or
requiring bicycles to ride outside of the Door Death Zone, which is the 4 to 5 foot stripalongside parked cars, where opening car doors may impact cyclists or cause them to swerve
in front of or into motor vehicles, likely causing the cyclist’s death.
I think bike boxes before intersections should go in front of straight-through motor vehiclelanes, or at the front left corner of right turn lanes, so folks can turn right without waiting for
the light to turn green to let the bicycles across. And cyclists invariably move to the right,back into the bike lane, immediately after the intersection, or even earlier, as soon as they’re
clear of cars turning right. This route could be marked in dashed green to make it clear toeveryone where to expect the cyclists.
As a cyclist I would use the box in front of the straight through car lane unless there were no
stopped cars; in that case, once the light goes green, I’d be at risk of speeding cars “not seeingme” and running me down from behind in the first few seconds after the light changes before I
can get over to the right in or after the intersection. In this case, I’d likely pull forward on mybike and into the left edge of the right turn lane so cars can turn right and speeding straight
through cars wouldn’t hit me.
Please work with the City of Palo Alto and/or Stanford University to find a place for live-invehicles that have parked on El Camino Real to park nearby; not all of our local workers can
afford the local rent.
Use paint with glass beads for reflectivity, not a thermoplastic dashed path, for bike lanemarkings across intersections, as thermoplastic markings are punishingly bumpy on cyclists
with high pressure tires and no suspension (typically long range commuters).
In each direction under the University Ave/Palm Drive bridge, there are three 12’ lanes with a36’ RoW. How about narrowing at least two of the lanes and adding a narrow, non-protected
bike lane just for that section, so there’s not a gap in the bikeway that sends bikes intodangerous conflicts with cars on the ramps to and from University Ave/Palm Drive? VTA
says they’re happy with two 10’ lanes and an 11’ curb lane; that leaves 5’ for a bike lane withno parked cars, so there’s plenty of width. Alternatively, how about sharrows on the on and off
ramps that cross Palm Dr/University Ave.?
Consider:Right turn from El Camino onto Page Mill perhaps separate from straight-through lane.
On Mar 21, 2024, at 11:15 AM, Lauing, Ed <Ed.Lauing@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote:Thanks for your input. The “protected bike lines” here don’t physically protect cyclists from a
swerving care or a cyclist falling through bollards into traffic lines. Plus we will be significantly
increasing bike traffic. How do we address these problems?
Ed Lauing
Vice Mayor
(650) 329-2571
Ed.lauing@cityofpaloalto.org
www.cityofpaloalto.org
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important
From: Lawrence Garwin <lawrencegarwin@yahoo.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:07 AM
To: city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>
Subject: Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real.
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Dear Mayor, Council Members, and Palo Alto City Staff,
I support bike lanes on El Camino. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with this for a while now as
my concerns are similar to many Council members – how will this really make El Camino safer? In
particular, how does this address the major causes of cycling crashes (80%), the right hook or
broadside crash?
By removing parking on El Camino, this will improve visibility and sight lines for cyclist and car
drivers. With the addition of protected bike lanes, this will help bring attention to motorists about
the presence of cyclists in this corridor and give cyclists a safer place to ride (eliminates the Door
Death Zone). This should help address the major cause of cycling crashes on El Camino.
Reducing the speed of traffic on El Camino will also make this route safer. The easiest way to
address this is to reduce the width of the left two travel lanes to 10 feet. Reducing lane width has
been shown to decrease speeds in these situations. The right most lane would then have more
room for the bike lanes and bus stops. As I understand it, VTA has OKed the reduced width of the
left two travel lanes, but Caltrans is still using their old outdated guidelines of 11 feet.
Here is where Palo Alto can make El Camino even safer: Approve the removal of parking on El
Camino on the condition that the left two travel lanes are 10 feet wide. This will reduce the car
speed and increase the width of the right lane to better accommodate bike lanes and bus stops.
This additional reduction in lane width is also called for as 30% of all crashes on El Camino, from
San Jose to SF (as I understand it) are in Palo Alto, so this calls for additional road treatments for
safety measures in Palo Alto.
Should Palo Alto decide not to support these free safety improvements, that could be completed
within a year’s time, Palo Alto will be liable for crashes in this corridor.
Please note again, that these improvements are free to Palo Alto and will be done in short order.
While this project is not perfect, Palo Alto could never come up with other improvements, of any
kind, to address safety on El Camino for many years.
Please do not miss this opportunity to make El Camino safer for all road users.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Garwin
From:Aram James
To:Julie Lythcott-Haims; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Braden Cartwright; Bryan Gobin; Cecilia Taylor; Cindy Chavez; Council, City;
D Martell; Damon Silver; DuJuan Green; EPA Today; Ed Lauing; Emily Mibach; GRP-City Council; Greg Tanaka;
JIM MINKLER1; Jeff Moore; Josh Becker; Kaloma Smith; Karen Holman; Gardener, Liz; MGR-Melissa Stevenson
Diaz; Michelle; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; O"Neal, Molly; Raymond Goins; Rose Lynn; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen;
Stump, Molly; Supervisor Otto Lee; Tom DuBois; Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; dennis burns;
district1@bos.sccgov.org; Figueroa, Eric; Tannock, Julie; Foley, Michael
Subject:Tony Kushner Backs Jonathan Glazer’s “Unimpeachable, Irrefutable” Oscars Speech: “Who Doesn’t Agree WithThat?”
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:24:59 AM
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Tony Kushner Backs Jonathan Glazer’s
“Unimpeachable, Irrefutable” Oscars
Speech: “Who Doesn’t Agree With That?”
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/tony-kushner-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235857096/
From:Lawrence Garwin
To:city.council@cityofpaloalto.com; Council, City
Subject:Bike Lanes Along El Camino Real.
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 11:07:43 AM
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Dear Mayor, Council Members, and Palo Alto City Staff,
I support bike lanes on El Camino. As a cyclist, I have been struggling with this for a while now as
my concerns are similar to many Council members – how will this really make El Camino safer? In
particular, how does this address the major causes of cycling crashes (80%), the right hook or
broadside crash?
By removing parking on El Camino, this will improve visibility and sight lines for cyclist and car
drivers. With the addition of protected bike lanes, this will help bring attention to motorists about
the presence of cyclists in this corridor and give cyclists a safer place to ride (eliminates the Door
Death Zone). This should help address the major cause of cycling crashes on El Camino.
Reducing the speed of traffic on El Camino will also make this route safer. The easiest way to
address this is to reduce the width of the left two travel lanes to 10 feet. Reducing lane width has
been shown to decrease speeds in these situations. The right most lane would then have more
room for the bike lanes and bus stops. As I understand it, VTA has OKed the reduced width of the
left two travel lanes, but Caltrans is still using their old outdated guidelines of 11 feet.
Here is where Palo Alto can make El Camino even safer: Approve the removal of parking on El
Camino on the condition that the left two travel lanes are 10 feet wide. This will reduce the car
speed and increase the width of the right lane to better accommodate bike lanes and bus stops.
This additional reduction in lane width is also called for as 30% of all crashes on El Camino, from
San Jose to SF (as I understand it) are in Palo Alto, so this calls for additional road treatments for
safety measures in Palo Alto.
Should Palo Alto decide not to support these free safety improvements, that could be completed
within a year’s time, Palo Alto will be liable for crashes in this corridor.
Please note again, that these improvements are free to Palo Alto and will be done in short order.
While this project is not perfect, Palo Alto could never come up with other improvements, of any
kind, to address safety on El Camino for many years.
Please do not miss this opportunity to make El Camino safer for all road users.
Sincerely,
Lawrence Garwin
From:Charlie Weidanz
To:Council, City
Subject:Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce News & Updates - March 21, 2023
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 10:56:39 AM
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NEWS & UPDATES - March 21, 2024
2024 Tall Tree Awards - Registrations Now Open!
Easter Brunch Buffet at Crowne Plaza Palo Alto
Imagination Lab School Spring Market
Cubberley Artist Studio Program Open Studios
el PRADO Hotel Wedding Fair
Nurse Next Door Home Care Services
44th Annual Tall Tree Awards
Celebrate with Us!
The 44th Annual Tall Tree Awards Celebration recognizes our city's outstanding
businesses and individuals.
April 18, 2024 | Oshman Family JCC
Recipients being honored are:
OUTSTANDING BUSINESS
Zareen’s
OUTSTANDING PROFESSIONAL
Sherri Sager
OUTSTANDING CITIZEN VOLUNTEER
Betsy Bechtel
OUTSTANDING NONPROFIT
Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum Zoo
>Purchase Your Tickets or Table Online
Sponsorship Opportunities
Contact: Charlie@paloaltochamber.com
Networking Reception and Award Presentations benefit the educational programs of the Palo
Alto Chamber of Commerce Foundation, a 501(c)3 charitable org.
Easter Brunch Spread
Easter Brunch Buffet at Crowne Plaza Palo Alto
Join us for a lavish Easter Brunch Buffet featuring your favorite brunch dishes,
plus a carving station with Prime Rib, a variety of main dishes, seafoood bar,
salads, sides, chaucuterie, and an assortment of delicious desserts.
Sunday, March 31 from 10am to 3pm.
Easter Egg Hunts at 11am & 1pm
Priced at $95 per adult: $40 per child; free for children under 5 years
Reserve at 650-628-0172 or email tina.phongam@cabanapaloalto.com.
MORE DETAILS: www.cabanapaloalto.com/eat-drink
VIEW
MENU: www.cabanapaloalto.com/site/assets/files/1/easter_brunch_menu_final.pdf
RESERVATIONS: www.opentable.ca/r/cabana-cove-restaurant-and-bar-palo-alto
Imagination Lab School Spring Market - April 2024 flyer
Imagination Lab School is honored to host their Annual Spring Market at
Cubberley Community Center!
Imagination Lab School is hosting their Annual Spring Market on April 13 from
11AM - 2PM at the Cubberley Community Center. The market features a
wonderful selection of handcrafted goods from local makers, new and lightly used
items (think “great” garage sale finds), and fun activities for the whole family!
The day will feature a live demo from Silicon Valley Karate and a performance by
members of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra. BTW… Our friends at the
Cubberley Artist Studio Program are hosting their Open Studios program the same
day (11AM - 5PM)!
It promises to be a day of fun, creativity, art, conversation, music, and community!
www.imagination-school.org/
Cubberley Artist Studio Program 2024 Open Studios - Group of Artists
The artists in residence with the Cubberley Artist Studio Program are excited to
welcome the public to their studios for their 2024 Open Studios events on
Saturday April 13, 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., and Saturday November 9, 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.
The Cubberley Artist Studio program is a unique, competitive program with
established artists offering free, family-friendly programming to the local
community. It provides rent-subsidized studio space and creative community for
artists in exchange for community service. Twenty-two artists are currently in along-term residency with the City of Palo Alto through the Cubberley Artist Studio
Program. They work in a rich diversity of media including installation, mixed media,
painting, printmaking, interdisciplinary art, photography, sculpture, film, textile,
woodworking and performance.
View Participating Artists
These events are free to the public and will take place at Cubberley Community
Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. Artist studios are in the E, F, and U
wings at the north end of the Center.
We look forward to seeing you there!
el PRADO Hotel Wedding Fair
el PRADO Hotel, Palo Alto is sponsoring a Wedding Fair on Sunday, April 14th
and YOU, your family & friends are invited!
If you’re still looking to book your wedding vendors than you won’t want to miss
this great opportunity to get in front of our DJ’s, Musicians, Photographers,
Florists, Cake Vendors, Wedding Planners and more…
DATE: Sunday, April 14th, 2024
TIME: 11AM – 3PM
PLACE: el PRADO Hotel, 520 Cowper Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 (on the corner
of Cowper & University)
PARKING: FREE street parking. There is also a parking garage directly across
from the hotel and a parking lot adjacent to the hotel which offer FREE parking on
the weekends.
Valet parking is $25.
FOOD: Complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine will be served
RSVP: Complimentary Registration is now open on Eventbritehttps://www.eventbrite.com/e/2024-wedding-fair-el-prado-hotel-palo-alto-
tickets-848750243827?aff=oddtdtcreator
Thank you and we hope to see you soon at the el PRADO Wedding Fair!
Nurse Next Door - Home Care Services logo
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Need help caring for a loved one? Are you looking for affordable in-home care
services, that allow you to live in the comfort of your own home? Look no further!
Explore Home Care Services that Make Lives Better! At Nurse Next Door, we go
beyond home care. We believe seniors should have choice in everything they do.
We match you or your loved one with the perfect caregiver, with care tailored to fit
individual needs. We also provide 24/7 live support, providing you with peace of
mind.We’re proud to serve local communities near you. Our passion is client care
and senior care. Nurse Next Door provides in-home care; a 24/7 Care Team, along
with experts in Alzheimer’s & dementia and licensed & bonded caregivers
– all with no long-term contracts. Mom needs care? No problem! Dad is
recovering from surgery? We can help! Special needs? We're experts! Nurse Next
Door’s mission is to make lives better every day. It starts with a team of
compassionate, dedicated, and caring staff who are passionate about making a
difference. We always hear amazing stories from clients about our devoted
caregivers and the love they bring to their work. We live our Happier Aging value
to the core! We are partners with the VA, YMCA and much more including Senior
Centers as well as members of the Santa Clara County Chamber of Commerce. We
serve over 40 zip codes in Santa Clara County including San Jose, Palo Alto, Santa
Clara, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Sunnyvale and more! Call (408) 222-8488 today for
peace of mind and care!
www.nursenextdoor.com/locations/santa-clara-ca/
See Our Upcoming Events
Learn More About The Chamber
PALO ALTO CHAMBER & VISITORS CENTER
355 ALMA STREET | PALO ALTO | CA | 94301 | 650-324-3121
WWW.PALOALTOCHAMBER.COM
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From:Aram James
To:Ed Lauing; Greer Stone; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Angel, David; Angie, Palo Alto Renters Association; Baker, Rob; Braden
Cartwright; Bryan Gobin; Council, City; EPA Today; Emily Mibach; Friends of Cubberley; Greg Tanaka; Jeff
Moore; Jeff Rosen; Joe Simitian; KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Zelkha, Mila; Van Der Zwaag, Minka; Palo Alto
Free Press; Raymond Goins; Robert. Jonsen; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Salem Ajluni; Sean Allen; Supervisor
Otto Lee; Vicki Veenker; WILPF Peninsula Palo Alto; Perron, Zachary; dennis burns; Figueroa, Eric; Tannock,
Julie; kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org; Foley, Michael
Subject:UC again in spotlight regarding limits on free speech
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 7:44:35 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
UC again in spotlight regarding limits on free speech
In November, Barnard College, a private New York City women’s liberal arts
college, issued a policy that political statements can’t be posted on official
college websites without administrative approval.
UC again in spotlight regarding limits on free speechhttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=39720d2f-8d76-
4e4d-880d-7f192c615fcc&appcode=SAN252&eguid=73410541-9565-4394-b168-7ba773070cf4&pnum=2#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here:
From:Loran Harding
To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; bballpod; boardmembers; fredbeyerlein; bearwithme1016@att.net; Leodies Buchanan; David Balakian; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; dennisbalakian; Doug Vagim; dan.richard@earthlink.net;dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; kfsndesk; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; MY77FJ@gmail.com; MarkStandriff; Mayor; merazroofinginc@att.net; margaret-sasaki@live.com; maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; nickyovino; news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net
Subject:Fwd: Nvidia"s Huge AI Announcements
Date:Thursday, March 21, 2024 1:06:21 AM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Wed, Mar 20, 2024 at 4:33 PM
Subject: Fwd: Nvidia's Huge AI AnnouncementsTo: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
To all-
Huge developments by Nvidia: Somewhere in here we hear that the "Nvidia BlackwellPlatform Arrives to Power a New Era of Computung". A new era.
I think this vid has to do with Nvidia tech in movie making:
E8: NVIDIA'S HUGE AI Announcements Will Change Everything (youtube.com)
Also, for sure see Nvidia Founder and CEO Jensen Huang's Keynote at GTC 2024 onMonday, March 18, 2024 by clicking on the link below. Always interesting: Over 2 hours. This is the Nvidia developers conference, GTC. It began on Monday, March 18, 2024 and runs
for four days in San Jose. You need a recent degree in Computer Science to understand this,but even without one, this impresses. Don't miss this.
In the Keynote, we see a build up using Nvidia's new products which results in a fantastic
data center at the 29 minute mark. Watch that build up.
World Leader in Artificial Intelligence Computing | NVIDIA
The Nvidia website, above. After you watch the keynote, spend several hours nosingaround in here.
You can find the Keynote on Roku by going to YouTube.
If you do not watch this keynote, and then see more on the website, you will just be behind
in your awareness of where the computer industry has gone, or at least how fast it is evolving.
I hope these developments yield some beneficial new drugs. You know they will. Self-driving seems close now too.
After you watch the keynote a couple of times, and more hours on the website, decide if
Nvidia has a future. NVDA stock c. today at $903.72 per share, up $9.74, up 1.09% today. Ipaid $232 per share for it a year ago.
TSLA c. today at $175.66, up $4.34, up 2.53% today.
L. William Harding Fresno, Ca.
From:matt@evolutionaryteams.com
To:palo-alto@fridaysforfutureusa.org
Subject:FFF Follow Up – Mar 15 (Week #114)
Date:Wednesday, March 20, 2024 10:45:58 AM
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Friday was a gorgeous day, a perfect backdrop to our heartfelt conversation about how to preserve a habitable planet for all life. After creating ourlist of candidates for the next Sign March climate message, we again used rank choice voting and cast our ballots. Over the weekend, after allballots were received – 10 in all – the winner was decided in a very close tie-breaker election: KIDS DESERVE CLIMATE ACTION. Thanksfor participating in the selection! I have started to create the signs in preparation for the next march.
Next, we focused on completing and refining the powerful script for our first Green Mic video. Thanks, Kadir, for developing the draft andleading the discussion. We completed the script and assigned our lines. We even conducted rehearsal recordings. Kadir reports that they are veryhelpful and will make the actual recording all that much better. Thanks, everyone, for sharing your voices and your messages!While we had planned to have a joint meeting with the Climate Friends Book Club this Friday, our book club discussion has been postponed. Rather, this Friday we will record our Green Mic video segments, decide on a hashtag for our climate march, and develop a speaker list for theGlobal Climate Strike on April 19.
Keep Up the Fight and See You Friday!
Matt Schlegel
Organizer
Fridays For Future Palo Alto
Cell: 650-924-8923
Email: Palo-Alto@FridaysForFutureUSA.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/fridaysforfuture_paloalto/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Fri4Future_PA
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCMGKrv_ADB5k7HPK9FJO_Hw
Web: https://fridaysforfutureusa.org/local-groups/palo-alto/
Email List: https://mailchi.mp/c8c130127345/join-fridays-for-future-palo-alto
From:Raymond Goins
To:Aram James
Cc:Salem Ajluni; Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Angel, David; Council, City; Damon Silver; Don Austin; Ed
Lauing; GRP-City Council; Greer Stone; Greg Tanaka; Jack Ajluni; Jeff Moore; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims;
Lewis james; Lotus Fong; Michelle; Zelkha, Mila; Raj Jayadev; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen;
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; dennis burns
Subject:Re: Over the Weekend
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 8:08:34 PM
Some people who received this message don't often get email from goinsrayl@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
https://siliconvalleydebug.org/stories/searching-for-care-within-the-first-48-hours-of-crisis-in-
santa-clara-countySent from my iPhone
On Mar 19, 2024, at 8:02 PM, Raymond Goins <goinsrayl@gmail.com> wrote:Hello everyone, can you please look at my price and share it with your circle?
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 19, 2024, at 7:56 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com>wrote:Hi Salem,
I saw earlier coverage of this awesome art display that Michelle sentmy way. Congratulations on pulling off this extraordinary protest
action off.
Aram “ Another Jew For an Immediate and Permanent Cease-Fire “James
On Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 7:15 PM Salem Ajluni
<ajluni@hotmail.com> wrote:
Last Saturday, about 80 volunteers from the Bay
Area converged on Aptos to participate in an art
installation to commemorate the deaths of some
14,000 Gaza children at the hands of the Israeli
state. It was a remarkable event and a protest
action and the reactions of visitors were
overwhelmingly positive (at least the ones I spoke
to).
In addition to social media, the event was covered
by a Monterey/Salinas local TV channel (KSBW).
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4mYvOrrb5r/?
igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
https://www.ksbw.com/article/thousands-of-
childrens-clothes-laid-along-california-beach-in-
support-to-ceasefire-in-gaza/60221172
Ceasefire Now!
Salem
From:Raymond Goins
To:Aram James
Cc:Salem Ajluni; Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Angel, David; Council, City; Damon Silver; Don Austin; Ed
Lauing; GRP-City Council; Greer Stone; Greg Tanaka; Jack Ajluni; Jeff Moore; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims;
Lewis james; Lotus Fong; Michelle; Zelkha, Mila; Raj Jayadev; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen;
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; dennis burns
Subject:Re: Over the Weekend
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 8:02:38 PM
Some people who received this message don't often get email from goinsrayl@gmail.com. Learn why this isimportant
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Hello everyone, can you please look at my price and share it with your circle?
Sent from my iPhone
On Mar 19, 2024, at 7:56 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote:Hi Salem,
I saw earlier coverage of this awesome art display that Michelle sent my way.
Congratulations on pulling off this extraordinary protest action off.
Aram “ Another Jew For an Immediate and Permanent Cease-Fire “ James
On Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 7:15 PM Salem Ajluni <ajluni@hotmail.com> wrote:
Last Saturday, about 80 volunteers from the Bay Area
converged on Aptos to participate in an art installation to
commemorate the deaths of some 14,000 Gaza children at
the hands of the Israeli state. It was a remarkable event and
a protest action and the reactions of visitors were
overwhelmingly positive (at least the ones I spoke to).
In addition to social media, the event was covered by a
Monterey/Salinas local TV channel (KSBW).
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4mYvOrrb5r/?
igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
https://www.ksbw.com/article/thousands-of-childrens-
clothes-laid-along-california-beach-in-support-to-ceasefire-
in-gaza/60221172
Ceasefire Now!
Salem
From:Aram James
To:Salem Ajluni
Cc:Ahmed@ahmedforcongressca.com; Angel, David; Council, City; Damon Silver; Don Austin; Ed Lauing; GRP-City
Council; Greer Stone; Greg Tanaka; Jack Ajluni; Jeff Moore; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Lewis james;
Lotus Fong; Michelle; Zelkha, Mila; Raj Jayadev; Raymond Goins; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen;
Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; dennis burns
Subject:Re: Over the Weekend
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 7:56:43 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Hi Salem,
I saw earlier coverage of this awesome art display that Michelle sent my way. Congratulationson pulling off this extraordinary protest action off.
Aram “ Another Jew For an Immediate and Permanent Cease-Fire “ James
On Tue, Mar 19, 2024 at 7:15 PM Salem Ajluni <ajluni@hotmail.com> wrote:
Last Saturday, about 80 volunteers from the Bay Area converged on
Aptos to participate in an art installation to commemorate the deaths
of some 14,000 Gaza children at the hands of the Israeli state. It was a
remarkable event and a protest action and the reactions of visitors
were overwhelmingly positive (at least the ones I spoke to).
In addition to social media, the event was covered by a
Monterey/Salinas local TV channel (KSBW).
https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4mYvOrrb5r/?
igsh=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D
https://www.ksbw.com/article/thousands-of-childrens-clothes-laid-
along-california-beach-in-support-to-ceasefire-in-gaza/60221172
Ceasefire Now!
Salem
From:Leland Wiesner
To:Guagliardo, Steven; City Attorney; Council, City; Lara Ekwall; Mike Stone; Mike Meffert; Kou, Lydia
Subject:Re: City Council Retail Committee - 3/20/24 9 AM and Economic Development and Transition City Council Priority
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 6:06:16 PM
Attachments:image001.png
image002.png
image004.png
image005.png
image006.png
image007.png
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Dear Mr Guagliardo:
I would like to suggest adding to the agenda below a comprehensive study on how the City of
Palo Alto would provide adequate fire, safety, police and other emergency services given theproposed closure of Calif Ave. Also it appears that the so called pedestrian area ignores the
fact that bicyclists are speeding through the same area and the closure has increased the risk ofinjury to pedestrians given the pedestrians believe its a safe area to walk and it is well-known
or should be well-known to the city that bicyclists are speeding through the same areas.
I would especially like at least the following questions added to the agenda below:
1. Does the Fire Chief of Palo Alto believe that closing California Ave will pose noadditional burden on the Fire Department to administer emergency and non-emergency
services to the citizenry and visitors to Calif Ave as it would any other area of the Calif Avearea?
a. If the FIre Chief answers yes there will be absolutely no additional risk for those on theclosed off area of Calif Ave than would it be open, please also have the FIre Chief explain in
detail:
i. How such emergency and rescue services might be provided given the
inaccessibility of the street and buildings designed to have such servicesprovided via the Calif Ave street when they were built?
ii. Can the Fire Department demonstrate these alternative rescue methods in theevent there is a fire on each of the
buildings or there are medical emergencies such as choking/stopped breathing,bleeding, or other emergencies requiring
rapid response?
iii. What are the tradeoffs to the Emergency personnel providing these services?
Will they be able to carry equipment and
supplies easily and how will they insure no added delay is created due to the
closure?
iv. How will the Fire Department access fire hydrants and other equipment to
provide these services?
b. In the event the Fire Chief believes there will be additional risk due to the closure of Calif
Ave providing emergency and non-emergency services then please explain:
i. What exactly the additional risks shall be for property owners and stakeholders
running their businesses on Calif
Ave given the fire department will not have clear access to the building?
ii. Since safety in all Calif Ave buildings relied upon having Calif Ave open bydesign, has the City
carefully assessed the risk of shutting down the street and assuming the added riskthat accompany
eliminating this access?
iii. Given COVID has ended and there is no longer an exigent circumstance for
closing Calif Ave, has the City
adequately investigated the trade off of reducing the safety and security of its
citizenry in exchange for a
an intangible and undefined benefit for a few restaurants to have food served
outdoors?
- Does the City believe that the liability for personal injuries and property
damage is worth the benefit gained?
- What exactly is the potential liability of municipal negligence given the
City was not required to
close Calif Ave and would the city be immune for such negligence or,
alternatively would they willing to
settle potential lawsuits for personal injury or wrongful death should they
occur?
ii. What is the impact to property owners when insurance companies find out that
the street will be closed and
the ability for the Fire Department will be limited and not administered in
accordance with present day standards of
care as well as standards of care when these buildings on Calif Ave where built.
-Will the City of Palo Alto help property and business owners obtain orsubsidize insurance when insurance
companies realize the added risk of fire is significantly greater due to theinaccessibilty of the street?
2. Police Chief: I think there could be a similar set of questions developed for the Police
department in the event there are crimes afoot in the area, if there is an active shooter scenario,or many other safety and security matters. Can the police truly police equally well given the
closure of the street.
3. Bicycle traffic and Pedestrian traffic -
No one every walks there bikes down the closed area of Calif Ave and it is especially
dangerous now that it is closed.
Is the City willing to bear responsibility for policing bicyclists or the cost of law suits
when pedestrians are struck by bikes?
-Has the City weighed the actual costs and risk associated with personal injury suits
that might arise as a result?
I think these issues are not being addressed and it concerns me that the City does not seem toconsider safety or security in their quest to create a European feel to a city already
internationally famous in its own right that needs no European ambience to bolster itssuccesses. The closure of Calif Ave was a byproduct of urgency during COVID and I am
concerned that the CIty is not thinking this matter through clearly and the stakeholders andcitizens of Palo Alto will no doubt pay the ultimate price for what amounts to myopic decision
making.
Thank you for addressing my concerns.
Best,
Leland
On 3/19/24 11:31 AM, Guagliardo, Steven wrote:
Hello business partners,
The first meeting of the City Council’s ‘Retail Committee’ will take place tomorrow
morning at 9:00 AM in the Community Meeting Room or you can join on zoom
(https://cityofpaloalto.zoom.us/j/85845544145).
You can find the details here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/City-
Clerk/City-Council-Committees/Retail-Committee and the agenda here:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14916
The committee is chaired by Councilmember Lydia Kou and Vice Mayor Ed Lauing is the
other member of the committee.
This committee will meet on the third Wednesday of each month and we will share
agendas in advance of the meetings.
The retail committee was created to help support City Council’s Priority of Economic
Development and Transition which was approved on January 29, 2024. On Monday,
March 11 the City Council unanimously approved the objectives for this Council
priority.
The objectives are listed here for your reference:
Focus on Commercial Corridors, Downtown, and California Avenue
Facilitate the establishment of sustainable business organizations in the Cal Ave.,DT, and Midtown DistrictsEngage Cal Ave merchants on high-priority, rapid implementation projects, i.e.barrier replacement, street cleaning, maintenance, access, signage and outdoordining guidelinesDevelop permanent Cal Ave car-free streetscape design through engagementwith Cal Ave merchants and community stakeholdersInitiate preliminary analysis and stakeholder engagement on a car-freestreetscape design for Ramona StreetApprove preferred alternative for the University Ave Streetscape Plan inpreparation for environmental review and funding optionsDevelop pre-approved parklet designs with stakeholder outreach, for CouncilapprovalImplement ongoing parklet program in compliance with adopted parkletstandards, leveraging pre-approved designsAdvance Downtown Parking garage in conjunction with advancement ofaffordable housing in the DowntownAdvance complete build out of fiber pilot phase 1 with grid modernization
Support Economic Development and Business Transition
Establish regular engagement with retail brokers in the area to create strongerconnections and understand how the City may be able to help promote availablespacesResearch and evaluate options for implementing a public-private small and localbusiness and incubation and vacant storefront program connecting landlordsexperiencing vacancy with small and local-businesses that may be seeking brickand mortar spacesConduct business stakeholder outreach and present to Councilrecommendations for a citywide retail zoning strategy and receive direction forzoning ordinance implementation
The City Council also added two additional items to the list, voting to:
1. Direct Staff to work with and report to the Retail Ad Hoc Committee to explore apermanent ordinance allowing parking lot, eating/drinking venues that don’tface public streets2. Direct staff to improve the cleanliness of the University Ave. downtown area.
We will be increasing the frequency of our communications so stay tuned for further
updates and developments!
Thank you,
Steve Guagliardo
Steve Guagliardo, MPA
Assistant to the City Manager – Economic Development
Office of the City Manager
(650) 329-2261 (o) | (650) 690-0656 (c)
steven.guagliardo@cityofpaloalto.org | www.cityofpaloalto.org
From:Leland Wiesner
To:Guagliardo, Steven; Kou, Lydia; Mike Meffert; Mike Stone (mike.mollie@gmail.com); Lara Ekwall; City Attorney;Council, City
Subject:Re: City Council Retail Committee - 3/20/24 9 AM and Economic Development and Transition City Council Priority
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 4:51:09 PM
Attachments:image001.png
image002.png
image004.png
image005.png
image006.png
image007.png
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I will likely be on a plane but it would be nice of there was a few weeks advance notice and a
calendar invite for these critical events.
Perhaps Mr. Guagliardo could create a Google group, include all the property owners of CalAve, retail stake holders, and others instead of these terse emails sent out the day before.
I subscribe to many Google Groups that have frequent meetings and this is the #only# way to
be inclusive given the diverse number of people and the inconsistent or ostensible low turn outdespite the high importance of this topic to so many stakeholders, small and large.
If the City proclaims they are having a difficult time getting people involved, and cancel
meetings due to low turnout, despite people's livelihoods depending on these meetings,itseems some thought should go into the communication modality used to inform and invite the
relevant community.
I would argue continuing to use emails to gather input on these critical issues despite theirineffectiveness to gather proper representation is tantamount to a failure of due process on the
part of the City.
Most people's email boxes are so full of spam that it is not adequate to just send emails andexpect everyone to respond, even if their livelihood depends on it. Clearly the City needs a
better way to communicate with its citizens if they want to uphold due process and fairdealing.
Please create a Google group and allow everyone to enter these events on their calendarsrather than waiting to the last minute in hopes that no one will respond, and the meeting can be
canceled or worse, poorly attended.
Thank you.
Leland Wiesner
On Tue, Mar 19, 2024, 11:31 AM Guagliardo, Steven <Steve.Guagliardo@cityofpaloalto.org>
wrote:
Hello business partners,
The first meeting of the City Council’s ‘Retail Committee’ will take place tomorrow
morning at 9:00 AM in the Community Meeting Room or you can join on zoom(https://cityofpaloalto.zoom.us/j/85845544145).
You can find the details here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/City-Clerk/City-
Council-Committees/Retail-Committee and the agenda here:https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Portal/Meeting?meetingTemplateId=14916
The committee is chaired by Councilmember Lydia Kou and Vice Mayor Ed Lauing is the
other member of the committee.
This committee will meet on the third Wednesday of each month and we will share agendasin advance of the meetings.
The retail committee was created to help support City Council’s Priority of Economic
Development and Transition which was approved on January 29, 2024. On Monday, March11 the City Council unanimously approved the objectives for this Council priority.
The objectives are listed here for your reference:
Focus on Commercial Corridors, Downtown, and California Avenue
Facilitate the establishment of sustainable business organizations in the Cal Ave., DT,and Midtown Districts
Engage Cal Ave merchants on high-priority, rapid implementation projects, i.e. barrierreplacement, street cleaning, maintenance, access, signage and outdoor dining
guidelinesDevelop permanent Cal Ave car-free streetscape design through engagement with Cal
Ave merchants and community stakeholdersInitiate preliminary analysis and stakeholder engagement on a car-free streetscape
design for Ramona StreetApprove preferred alternative for the University Ave Streetscape Plan in preparation
for environmental review and funding optionsDevelop pre-approved parklet designs with stakeholder outreach, for Council approval
Implement ongoing parklet program in compliance with adopted parklet standards,leveraging pre-approved designs
Advance Downtown Parking garage in conjunction with advancement of affordablehousing in the Downtown
Advance complete build out of fiber pilot phase 1 with grid modernization
Support Economic Development and Business Transition
Establish regular engagement with retail brokers in the area to create strongerconnections and understand how the City may be able to help promote available
spacesResearch and evaluate options for implementing a public-private small and local
business and incubation and vacant storefront program connecting landlordsexperiencing vacancy with small and local-businesses that may be seeking brick and
mortar spacesConduct business stakeholder outreach and present to Council recommendations for a
citywide retail zoning strategy and receive direction for zoning ordinanceimplementation
The City Council also added two additional items to the list, voting to:
1. Direct Staff to work with and report to the Retail Ad Hoc Committee to explore a
permanent ordinance allowing parking lot, eating/drinking venues that don’t facepublic streets
2. Direct staff to improve the cleanliness of the University Ave. downtown area.
We will be increasing the frequency of our communications so stay tuned for further updates
and developments!
Thank you,
Steve Guagliardo
Steve Guagliardo, MPA
Assistant to the City Manager – Economic Development
Office of the City Manager
(650) 329-2261 (o) | (650) 690-0656 (c) steven.guagliardo@cityofpaloalto.org | www.cityofpaloalto.org
From:Aram James
To:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Wagner, April; Baker, Rob; Binder, Andrew; Council, City; DMartell; DuJuan Green; Enberg, Nicholas; Jensen, Eric; Jeff Moore; Jeff Rosen; Joe Simitian; Karen Holman;Raymond Goins; Reifschneider, James; Robert. Jonsen; Roberta Ahlquist; Sean Webby; Tom DuBois; Perron,Zachary; dennis burns; Figueroa, Eric; Tannock, Julie; kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org; Foley, Michael
Subject:Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ deputies get yearslong sentences for racist torture of 2 Black men
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 2:52:04 PM
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Mississippi ‘Goon Squad’ deputies get
yearslong sentences for racist torture of 2
Black men
https://apnews.com/article/mississippi-goon-squad-sentencing-d2eb6ba7e2f337ac1f17035cc97f2934
From:Aram James
To:Braden Cartwright; Council, City; Dave Price; EPA Today; Ed Lauing; Emily Mibach; Human RelationsCommission; Jeff Moore; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Kaloma Smith; Palo Alto Weekly;Richard Konda; Sean Allen; Stump, Molly; Supervisor Otto Lee; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Susan Hayase;cindy.chavez@os.sccgov.org; district1@bos.sccgov.org
Subject:California apologies, reparations would improve state’s karm
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 1:11:10 PM
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The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and the Palo Alto City Council must appoint
commissions on the issue of Reparations for African Americans.
California apologies, reparations would improve state’s karmahttps://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=3e0da453-f6d7-
419b-8a16-072d78f2e173&appcode=SAN252&eguid=beb9af9d-7df1-4e9b-830a-15950883c297&pnum=27#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here:
From:Aram James
To:Julie Lythcott-Haims
Cc:Binder, Andrew; Council, City; D Martell; Dave Price; Don Austin; EPA Today; Ed Lauing; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff
Moore; Joe Simitian; Lewis james; Reifschneider, James; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose Lynn; Sean Allen; Shikada, Ed;
Stump, Molly; Perron, Zachary; chuck jagoda; dennis burns; kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org
Subject:Mountain View celebrates history of safe parking program at fundraising event
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 11:45:49 AM
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Mountain View celebrates history of
safe parking program at fundraising
event
https://www.mv-voice.com/community-leaders/2024/03/18/mountain-view-celebrates-history-of-safe-parking-program-at-fundraising-event/
From:Aram James
To:Angie Evans; Ed Lauing; Josh Becker; Julie Lythcott-Haims; Zelkha, Mila; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg
Cc:<michael.gennaco@oirgroup.com>; Angel, David; Baker, Rob; Binder, Andrew; Braden Cartwright; Bryan Gobin;
Council, City; D Martell; Damon Silver; Dennis Upton; Don Austin; DuJuan Green; EPA Today; Friends of
Cubberley; Greer Stone; Greg Tanaka; Human Relations Commission; JIM MINKLER1; Jeff Moore; Jeff Rosen;
KEVIN JENSEN; Kaloma Smith; Lewis james; Linda Jolley; Gardener, Liz; Lotus Fong; Van Der Zwaag, Minka;
Palo Alto Free Press; Bains, Paul; Raymond Goins; Robert. Jonsen; Roberta Ahlquist; Roberta Ahlquist; Rose
Lynn; Salem Ajluni; Sally Lieber; Sean Allen; Sean Webby; Tom DuBois; Vara Ramakrishnan; WILPF Peninsula
Palo Alto; dennis burns; kenneth.Binder@shf.sccgov.org; Burt, Patrick
Subject:Report foresees famine for northern Gaza Strip
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 11:35:20 AM
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Report foresees famine for northern
Gaza Strip
Report foresees famine for northern Gaza Strip
https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=8016c6dc-06a0-42a5-ab52-43e2dc8c7d7e&appcode=SAN252&eguid=beb9af9d-7df1-4e9b-830a-
15950883c297&pnum=1#
For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here:
Tax-Aid new logo
From:Jill Sturm
To:Jill Sturm
Subject:Fwd: Test Message - HTML Format:Time is running out! Don"t miss out on these in person events!
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 10:53:42 AM
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The tax deadline is fast approaching. Please share these upcoming free tax preparation events with yournetworks. Thank you!
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Pronouns: she/her/hers
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From:Laura Granka
To:Transportation; Council, City
Subject:Mar 19 Rail Committee comment
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 9:58:07 AM
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Hello,
Below is my public comment/ feedback in advance of today's Mar 19th rail meeting as Icannot attend live. Thank you for your time.
First, thank you for the quick progress on grade Separation feedback: A big thank you to
the transportation team and rail committee for processing the Caltrain feedback and readyingproposals for the upcoming grant timelines. I appreciate the urgency of the transportation team
in working through these details, and hope that committee and city can carry this momentum.
Based on Caltrain's feedback, it looks like the most viable options right now are for theChurchill crossing, and while this crossing was initially deprioritized, it would still be a huge
benefit to the city to continue forward progress, at least with the grant studies, especially for acrossing in such close proximity to a school.
Quiet zone study: A request (on behalf of myself and neighbors) that City Council please
approve the rail quiet zone study when it comes to council. While the September electrificationof Caltrain will have many benefits, one consequence is that weekend passenger service will
double, significantly increasing noise along the corridor. A quiet zone, and eventual gradeseparations, will serve to retain quality of life and equity for those near the rail corridor, and
this study is the first step to assess what will be required.
Churchill crossing signal. I heard in the last committee meeting that Caltrain is investigatinga faulty signal at Churchill crossing. I wish I had reported this sooner; it has been falsely
triggering for at least the past year, at least 2-3 times a day, compounding the already backed-up traffic.
Minor suggestion for Churchill partial underpass: A public commenter in a recent meeting
suggested that Alma NB become one lane near the Churchill crossing, to preserve the treecanopy along Alma, which is proposed to be eliminated to accommodate the partial underpass.
I suggested this last year: given Alma NB becomes one lane almost immediately afterChurchill (for the Embarcadero bridge), this solution would just extend that single lane for a
slightly longer stretch. Traffic impacts should be minimal, and should still be preferred overremoving the entire tree canopy for ~7 blocks.
Thank you again for all of your work and progress,
Laura GrankaChurchill Ave resident
From:Alan Wachtel
To:Council, City
Subject:Grade separation alternatives (Rail Committee Meeting May 19, Action Item 1)
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 8:28:09 AM
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Members of the Council Rail Committee,
I'll reiterate what I've previously told this committee several times.
I'm a member of the city's Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee and of PABAC'sGrade Separation Subcommittee. PABAC has not yet taken a position on a grade separation
alternative; that topic is on the agenda for our April 2 meeting. At this point I can speak onlyfor myself when I say that contrary to the evaluation matrix, the underpass, as currently
designed, is emphatically the least desirable alternative for bicycle and pedestrian traffic onMeadow and Charleston. In recommending alternatives to advance, I ask you to retain the
hybrid and viaduct options and to include the underpass alternative only if it's modified.
The benefit of the underpass is that in addition to grade-separating the railroad crossings, it
also grade-separates the Alma Street crossings, eliminating the major cause of delay on thoseroutes. That means that instead of signalized intersections at Alma Street, we would have
interchanges, which are always tricky for bicyclists and pedestrians, who have to cross free-running ramp movements. The underpass design therefore also attempts to grade-separate
bicycle and pedestrian traffic from vehicular traffic at the interchanges.
However, it is not geometrically possible, given right-of-way constraints, to retain and grade-
separate all existing movements. Instead, some direct movements between Alma and Meadowor Charleston, both motorized and nonmotorized, have to be eliminated, leading to circuitous
and confusing vehicular travel routes, as by now you're well aware. For the same reason,nonmotorized off-road access along Meadow and Charleston is shunted onto a single two-way
facility on one side of each road.
But these nominally separated bike and pedestrian facilities still need to interface at some
point with the roadway network, and the proposed interface creates significant problems.Crossing a busy multi-lane road such as Meadow or Charleston in an uncontrolled crosswalk,
as the underpass design's path calls for, is slow and potentially hazardous (the consultant'sestimate of a 30-second delay does not seem realistic). Bicyclists may be tempted to avoid
crossing the road by instead riding against traffic on the roadway to enter or leave the path,which is illegal and dangerous. The connections at the Park Boulevard end also involve
indirect routes, wrong-way travel, narrow sidewalks, sharp turns, and poor sight lines. Inaddition, these facilities mix faster bicyclists, including the increasing number of e-bicyclists,
with slower bicyclists and pedestrians, a conflict that might be aggravated on underpassdowngrades. And the far side of the undercrossings imposes climbs that could be an
impediment to children, the elderly, and the disabled.
These deficiencies demonstrate that separated facilities per se are not necessarily "clear and
safe," as Council criterion C calls for. The viaduct and hybrid would keep more traffic at grade
level, or on shallower grades, along existing travel routes, eliminating many of theseproblems. And it might yet be possible to reconcile the benefits of grade-separated
underpasses at Alma Street with the more complete vehicular access and safe bicycle andpedestrian access of the hybrid and viaduct alternatives, if the Council is willing to reconsider
its design evaluation criteria.
~ Alan Wachtel
Palo Alto
From:Chef Darryl Maurice Young, CDM, CFPP, ServSafe Food Protection Manager
To:Council, City
Subject:Spider Infestation
Date:Tuesday, March 19, 2024 5:17:25 AM
Attachments:74BF0B52259B4C8AB255222D1D9867C5.png
79CC060007B8484CAAB281A7F9B26180.png
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Please be advised that I observed a spider infestation. I reported to Google Employees and
Contractors. As a security officer, Darryl Young, I am obligated to protect the health and welfare of
us Googlers and Google Users. Therefore, I am requesting your qualified assistance to initiate an
investigation about the spider infestation at my security post located at Google Business Park
Buildings located at #1133 and #1129 San Antonio Way, Palo Alto, California. Please forward this
request for spider infestation investigation and inspection, please and thank you.
Darryl Maurice YoungCDM, CFPP(904) 885-5076Darrylyo123@gmail.com
From:Loran Harding
To:Loran Harding; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; David Balakian; fred beyerlein;bearwithme1016@att.net; Leodies Buchanan; boardmembers; beachrides; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; Doug Vagim; dennisbalakian; dan.richard@earthlink.net;dallen1212@gmail.com; Daniel Zack; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com;maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; MY77FJ@gmail.com; Mayor; Mark Standriff; merazroofinginc@att.net; nickyovino; news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net; yicui@stanford.edu; Zoosk
Subject:Fwd: More Tesla vehicles- 1 yr. ago.
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 11:49:50 PM
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---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 11:28 PM
Subject: Fwd: More Tesla vehicles- 1 yr. ago.To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>
Monday, March 18, 2024
To all, including Mary Barra and Elon Musk-
They say here that the Tesla robotaxi will be owned by Tesla, not by Tesla buyers. You hear that in the first two minutes of the vid below "Elon Musk Announces Tesla'snew Robotaxi for 2023" . Having owners put theirTesla out for the day as a robotaxi was anidea in ~2019, but now that seems to be gone. Tesla won't sell you a car to use as arobotaxi, they will sell you a ride in one. Same program as Zoox.
Elon Musk Finally Revealed Tesla's Insane New Cars (youtube.com)
Having GM own the Chevy Bolt as a robotaxi was GMs idea too. Probably still is. Havingbeen denied use of SF streets, GM-Bolt robotaxi is now testing in other cities around the US,
maybe in Phoenix or in Texas. Check it out.
Since Tesla will own the robotaxi, I suggest that offering the best vehicle for thatpurpose would be the best revenue earner. That would currently be Tesla Model X and the
new Tesla Van. Maybe make the new Redwood as a robotaxi too for those riders who canstand a low roofline. So that would be three Tesla vehicles in robotaxi form, all of them
owned by Tesla, not individual car buyers. Let riders hail the vehicle that suits them best.
Here you hear that Tesla will own the robotaxi, not a Tesla owner: first two minutes:
Elon Musk Announces Tesla's NEW Robotaxi For 2023 (youtube.com)
I hate to be negative, but there is a video of a Chevy Bolt being used as a robotaxi, in SanFrancisco, I think. The rider is a tallish guy and when he gets in the back seat and is riding
along, he is tipped over ~20 degrees due to the low roof back there. Cmon, GM use one of
your vehicles better suited than the Bolt for use as a robotaxi.
In the above video where they show the Tesla Semi, they show the tall doors and say "a 6-footer would have no trouble there". I wonder where that came from.
L. William Harding
Fresno, Ca.
Donna Johnson <donna@unlimitedmojo.com>Mar 11, 2024, 8:46 PM (7 days ago)
to Julie, Jeanette
Thank you and absolutely. We will need to work around a fairly heavy client load, but I am happy to find a time that works.
Jeanette can reach me via email or on my mobile at 408.391.6639.
In health,
Donna
Sent by mobile. Please allow for odd autocorrects, typos, and missed punctuation.
Get Outlook for iOS
From: Lythcott-Haims, Julie <Julie.LythcottHaims@CityofPaloAlto.org>
Sent: Monday, March 11, 2024 8:43:54 PM
To: donna@unlimitedmojo.com <donna@unlimitedmojo.com>
Cc: Jeanette Miller <assistant@lythcott-haims.com>
Subject: Fwd: Palo Alto City Council Letter
From:Donna JohnsonTo:Lythcott-Haims, Julie; Tanaka, Greg; Veenker, Vicki; Lauing, Ed; Kou, Lydia; Council, City; Burt, Patrick; Stone, Greer; Shikada, Ed; City AttorneyCc:Jeanette Miller; miller.jeanette@gmail.com; Russ KahnSubject:Re: Palo Alto City Council Letter
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 7:04:00 PM
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Hello Julie,
Following an office hours Zoom call with Council Member Greg Tanaka yesterday evening, I am now aware that all conversations and correspondence betweencouncil members and interested parties regarding the matter of 445 Bryant must be on public record. I am therefore taking this opportunity to summarize our telephoneconversation held on Friday, March 15, 2024 beginning at 4:05pm and lasting 14 minutes. To avoid any appearance of favoritism or impropriety and to ensure fairnessamongst all competing parties, here is that summary.
Per your email sent at approximately 9:30pm, following the City Council Meeting on the evening of March 11, 2024 (included in this thread), you wished to get on a 15minute call with me to "discuss a related issue". Given you had complimented my speech, my assumption was the call would be somehow related to me, my proposal, and/orthe property. During this conversation, you spoke of having previously toured the building at 445 Bryant with other council members and recalled that some council memberssuggested removing the showers in favor of other services, but that you saw them as a potentially valuable resource for the unhoused. You then proceeded to ask me if I wereto get the option for the lease on this property, would I be willing to allow the unhoused to use it a few times per month to "shower, get a haircut, and do their laundry."
As I said on the call, I was forced to pivot and think quickly on my feet as this was not at all what I thought the call was supposed to be about, but still attempted to be helpfulwith brainstorming options that would serve the homeless community. After throwing out several possible solutions, I concluded that part of the conversation by stating wemight not be insurable under this scenario.
I have since spoken with our franchise representative and legal counsel and have not only determined the substance of your request to be at the very least impractical andproblematic from a business perspective, but that this option would also render the business, in fact, uninsurable. I will therefore be unable to entertain this request if offeredthe lease option to open a fitness facility at 445 Bryant.
Because both I and my husband want to be good citizens, we took a look online for other organizations near the Palo Alto Downtown area and have found LifeMovesOpportunity Center just a mile or so away off of El Camino Real near PAMF. This site appears to offer many of the services you mentioned as well as housing, meals, andcareer services.
Again, in the interest of fairness to other parties and to avoid any hint of favoritism or impropriety, any future conversations regarding this matter should be livestreamed onthe City of Palo Alto YouTube channel so they are, in perpetuity, part of the public record. At this time I'd like to disclose that prior to my knowledge about the need forpublic records on this matter, on February 21, 2024, I had a short telephone conversation with Lydia Kou telling her an edited version of the back story, describing Iron24Fitness + Recovery, and how excited I was at the possibility of opening one in Downtown Palo Alto. All I want to do is open a business that happens to align quite well withcity priorities and objectives, that serves my local community, and is also welcome by the residents and other business owners.
Please note, reiterating the interest of transparency, all members of the Palo Alto City Council including the Mayor and Vice Mayor, the City Manager, and the City Attorneyare also copied on this email.
Sincerely,Donna Johnson
On Mon, Mar 11, 2024 at 8:43 PM Lythcott-Haims, Julie <Julie.LythcottHaims@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote:Donna, great job tonight. Can I get a 15 minute call with you later this week to discuss a related issue? If so my assistant Jeanette Miller who manages my calendar will getback to you with options. Julie
Julie Lythcott-HaimsCouncil Member, City of Palo Alto
Jeanette Mar 12, 2024, 9:20 AM (6 days ago)
Hi Donna,Julie is most flexible on Friday morning between 10am-12pm. Would you have 15 minutes during this window? Friday afternoon is also an option if you areDonna Johnson Mar 12, 2024, 1:31 PM (6 days ago)
Hi Jeanette, I have clients 7am-2pm but am available to chat after that. Happy to chat by phone or meet person after 2pm. In health, Donna From: Jeanette <assisJeanetteMar 12, 2024, 1:54 PM (6 days ago)
to me
Thanks Donna. I've scheduled for a 15 minute phone call at 4pm on Friday. Julie will call you then.
All the best,
Jeanette Miller
Executive Assistant to
Julie Lythcott-Haims
408-431-9375
From:Annette Isaacson
To:Kandikuppa, Nishita; Council, City
Subject:Printer"s Cafe
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 6:00:34 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking
on links.
________________________________
Dear Nishita and Pat Burt,
I was saddened to read that Al at Printer's Cafe isn't able to renew his
lease. After Printers' Inc closed and Al opened Printer's Cafe, it has
been an important business on California Avenue, a great place to stop
for coffee with friends or grab a sandwich for lunch.
It's a shame that Al managed to survive the pandemic and now can't
continue to serve the community because the new owner of the building
has other plans. I'm sorry for Al and his long time employees.
I know Al is grateful for your support.
Sincerely,
Annette Isaacson
2550 Webster St.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
From:Loran Harding
To:Loran Harding; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; David Balakian; fred beyerlein;bearwithme1016@att.net; Leodies Buchanan; boardmembers; bballpod; Council, City; Cathy Lewis;cramirez.electriclab133@gmail.com; Doug Vagim; dennisbalakian; dan.richard@earthlink.net;dallen1212@gmail.com; Daniel Zack; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu;Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; Joel Stiner; jerryruopoli; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; Kevin.Nower@bestbuy.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com;maverickbruno@sbcglobal.net; MY77FJ@gmail.com; Mayor; Mark Standriff; merazroofinginc@att.net; nickyovino; news@fresnobee.com; newsdesk; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; terry; tsheehan;vallesR1969@att.net; yicui@stanford.edu
Subject:Fwd: Nvidia- New products. Love NVDA
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 5:37:34 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>Date: Mon, Mar 18, 2024 at 5:02 PM
Subject: Fwd: Nvidia- New products. Love NVDATo: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>
Monday, March 18, 2024
To all- More fantastic developments from Nvidia, NVDA. I'm not selling my shares!
Nvidia GTC 2024: Tech giant shows off new GB200 GPU, accelerated computing, more |
Seeking Alpha
L. William Harding Fresno, Ca.
From:David Gamow
To:Council, City
Subject:public feedback for tonight"s Council meeting
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 4:37:14 PM
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Dear friends,
Regarding the below item and Living Wisdom High School’s request for more classroom space at Cubberly:
CONFERENCE WITH REAL PROPERTY NEGOTIATORS Authority: Government Code Section 54956.8 Property: 4000 Middlefield Road,
Palo Alto (Informally known as the Cubberley Site) Negotiating Party: Palo Alto Unified School District City Negotiators: (Ed Shikada,
Chantal Cotton Gaines, Kristen O'Kane, Sunny Tong) Subject of Negotiations: Purchase, Exchange, and/or Lease Price and Terms of
Payment Agenda Item Reordered
My testimony:
I have been a mental health professional for the past 30 years and haveworked for 10 departments at Stanford, The City of Palo Alto, The City ofSunnyvale, the SF Police Academy, the San Mateo County 911 call center, and
many other local agencies. 40,000 people have attended my training classesover the years.
I have also seen the current state of our young people, and as a professional Ifear for them. I have also known the Living Wisdom School system ofeducation for decades and have seen close up what they have done for ouryouth over this extended period of time. If there is anything you can do toaccommodate their need for more space so more young people can be helped,I cannot think of a better thing that could be done to enhance our area'sfuture.The level of teen mental health issues and suicides leaves me feeling
this is urgent and ought not to be delayed.
David Gamow, founder
Clarity SeminarsLocal resident
From:John Guislin
To:Council, City; Crescent Park PA
Subject:$7.4 million deal with Pets In Need - Where are the promised dog parks?
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 4:28:41 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.
Palo Alto set to ink five-year deal with
animal nonprofit
Despite some concerns, City Council prepares to approve $7.4 million
contract with Pets In Need
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2024/03/18/palo-alto-set-to-ink-five-year-deal-with-animal-nonprofit/#comment-441189
We would be wise to listen to the experienced voice of animal control officer Washington anddo a thorough review of the quantity and quality of services we get from Pets In Need. Given
the problematic history of Pets In Need, we should have a citizen oversight commissionperform a study before we commit these funds for 5 years. And there should be an explicit
cost comparison with direct services from Palo Alto staff.In addition, it is more than frustrating that we contemplate spending $7+ million on animal
services and yet cannot meet the promise of our 2017 Parks MasterPlan to have more off-leashdog parks in more neighborhoods in Palo Alto. In comparison, dog parks are small dollar
investments in the health and socialization of local dogs who are treasured family members formany of us.
John
From:Pria Graves
To:Council, City
Subject:Traffic enforcement
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 3:39:10 PM
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Mayor Stone and Council Members -
We desperately need better traffic enforcement at El Camino Real and Cambridge Ave, mostly in the mornings.
I frequently observe northbound El Camino traffic whizzing through this intersection against
the red light, particularly during the morning hours.
Last Saturday, at about 10 a.m., I saw not one or two but three cars in a row flying through the intersection on the red!
This is extremely hazardous to pedestrians and cyclists crossing at that intersection and,
unfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence. I have seen it many times.
I hope you can get some enforcement out there to stop it!
Regards,
Pria Graves2130 Yale Street
Palo Alto650.493.2153
p.s. I believe that part of the problem may be that the two signal lights over the street are of the
Fresnel lens type and are at a bit of an angle relative to the approaching traffic. The drivers may not be able to see the lights clearly in the morning light.
From:Jeff Hoel
To:UAC
Cc:Hoel, Jeff (external); Council, City
Subject:TRANSCRIPT & COMMENTS-- 03-06-24 UAC meeting -- Item 3: Wastewater Rates
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 3:35:31 PM
Some people who received this message don't often get email from jeff_hoel@yahoo.com. Learn why this is important
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Commissioners,
At your 03-06-24 UAC meeting, you considered (as an ACTION item) an Item 3 about Wastewater Rates.
Agenda (with staff reports, presentation slides, etc.)https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/6/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda-and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2024/03-mar-2024/packet_20240305182610968.pdf
Video:https://midpenmedia.org/utilities-advisory-commission-32-362024/
I have made a TRANSCRIPT of this item, and added my COMMENTS (paragraphs in red beginning with "### ") and also information aboutpresentation slides (paragraphs in orange beginning with "###.")
I was especially interested in the proposed (up to) $3 million loan from the Fiber Fund to the Wastewater Fund. Thanks for discussing that indetail.
I agree with Commissioner Croft that, given the terms presented, the Fiber Fund would lose money on the deal.
I agree with Commissioner Forssell that choosing the Fiber Fund as the source of the loan seems "odd." Staff didn't really explain this choice.
I'm also concerned that the Fiber Fund might need its reserves to fund fiber infrastructure before the Wastewater Fund is scheduled to pay the
loan back.
Thanks.
Jeff
-------------------Jeff Hoel731 Colorado AvenuePalo Alto, CA 94303-------------------
=============================================================================================================
TRANSCRIPT
24:21:
Chair Segal: We'll move on to Item 3 on the agenda, which is a discussion of the wastewater rates.
### It's an ACTION Item.
Are there any comments from the public?
24:34:
Jenelle Kamian: This is Jenelle Kamian, Program Assistant. If anyone from the public would like to speak on Item number 3, please raiseyour hand or dial *9 on your phone. There is one hand raised. David Coale, you may speak.
24:50:
David Coale: I think that was left over from a previous item. I have my hand lowered at this time and do not wish to speak on this item. Thankyou.
25:01:
Jenelle Kamian: No other hands raised.
25:04:
Chair Segal: Thank you. And do we have a report -- a presentation?
25:15:
Lisa Bilir: Yes. Good evening. My name is Lisa Bilir, Senior Resource Planner. And we do have a presentation for the Wastewater Utility. Let me just -- Give me a moment while I pull it up on the Zoom screen.
###. Packet page 136 -- Wastewater Collection Utility Financial Projections
25:45:
Lisa Bilir: So, tonight we're going to talk about the Wastewater -- all the utilities, but starting with Wastewater. And then Electric. Before we
go into Wastewater, I'm going to give you a little bit of a brief overview. I know you had a very large packet with a lot of information in it. What
we're going to try to do is focus on the changes from when we came to you in January with a lot of some similar information, so that you can --
so that we can try to highlight for you what has changed, and ask for your feedback on the revisions to our proposal. Since we came to you in
January, we incorporated your feedback. We went to the Finance Committee in February with the preliminary rates. And heard some
feedback from the Finance Committee. And, largely, they were supportive of our proposals. And so, we'll say a little bit more details as we go
through each of the utilities. We're -- This is a series of rate increases and rate changes that allow these utilities to invest in the system inPalo Alto, for the benefit of the residents and businesses in Palo Alto. This is to make the system more reliable, and to allow the City to meetits Sustainability and Climate Action [Plan] goals of the Council, in order for the residents and businesses of Palo Alto to have a reliable andmodern system. We're also proposing changes that will allow us to maintain or replace the infrastructure, including the water distributionsystem and the wastewater collection system, and pay toward rebuilding the wastewater treatment plant. This set of proposals will providefinancial stability and allow the City to manage the rate at which rates change, going forward, so that we can provide financial responsibilitywhen unexpected events occur.
27:45:
Additionally, I wanted to point out that Palo Alto's rates are favorable in comparison with PG&E. PG&E has proposed some increases -- or hasincreased rates at the beginning of this year for electric and gas. And based on our projections for the current year, Palo Alto's gas average --median residential bill is 10 percent lower than PG&E's. And, for electric, is projected to be 50 percent lower than PG&E's.
28:18:
So, with that, I wanted to -- In January, we gave you an overview of our proposals in an overview slide. And I wanted to just show that
overview, so you get an overview of the different proposals that we're going to be speaking about.
28:34:
###. Residential System Average Rate Projections. This slide is not in the packet. A similarly-formatted slide, "Preliminary System Average
Rate Projections," was in the January packet at PDF page 22, but the data are completely different.
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/2/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda-and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2024/01-jan-2024/01-03-2024-packet.pdf(On the video, it's also a low-resolution slide, so it's hard to read.)
So, here, what is -- The key points to focus on is in the red box, for fiscal year '25. That's the rates that we'll be proposing, starting July 1st of2024. The beginning of fiscal year 2025. So, Jonathan Abendschein, Assistant Director of Utilities, will talk to you tonight about the ElectricUtility, and the cost of service analysis that is incorporated in this rate increase for electric. The Gas Utility proposal hasn't changed since --the 9 percent hasn't changed since January. The Wastewater -- When we spoke in January, the reserves were very low in the WastewaterUtility. And we went back and revised our staff proposal to be a 15 percent increase.
### In January, it was 9 percent.
Or, the $7.30 per month, per residential customer. And then, for the Water Utility, the increase is higher. That's because we increased ourproposal for the distribution rate. And also, the SFPUC, as Dean had mentioned, increased their rate proposal. Refuse is not expecting a rateincrease still. And Storm Drain -- it says 3 percent. The numbers in this table are rounded to the nearest percent. The nearest wholepercent. And to the nearest 10 cents, for the dollar figures, to make it easier to see, 'cause it's a lot of information. But the Storm Drain is
pegged to the CPI, which is 2.6 percent. And when you see this series of rate increases, I just want to mention that if you look at Palo Alto's
rate increases over the past 5 years, from 2020 through 2025, the average increase is 4.7 percent per year. On average. Which -- Interest
rates have been high in California and in the country. And in the utility industry, they've been even higher, between -- from 2020 through 2023,
about 10-13 percent. So, the rate increases for the utilities -- I just wanted to put that into perspective, of the broader construction inflation.
30:56:
And, with that, I wanted to turn to just a couple of slides from the Wastewater Utility, to give you the highlights.
31:15:
###. Packet page 137 -- Wastewater Proposal
So, as I mentioned, the reserves are very low in the Wastewater Utility. This is due to several different factors. One of the things thathappened, additionally, in the Wastewater Utility is moving forward more quickly than expected with the Sewer Main Replacement 31, thatDean described. And we moved forward a year early. And that was important, in order to coordinate with the repaving of El Camino. Additionally, our cost estimates came in higher than we forecasted. And revenues lower. And so, we went back and, as I said, changed ourrate recommendation to a 15 percent increase. This will allow for a smaller sewer replacement in 2026, of $2 million for construction and $1million for design in '25. And additionally will allow us to move forward with the pump station retrofit in 2028. The alternative looks like whatwe brought to you in January, of a 9 percent rate increase. And -- But both of these alternatives would provide enough funding for the five-mile per sewer main replacement, going forward, starting in 2028.
32:43:
Vice Chair Scharff: [unamplified] **
32:45:
Lisa Bilir: Sorry. Five miles per project. And it's an every-other-year project. So, it's 2.5 miles every year. Yeah. Thanks for the question. And I think I said the -- Oh, yes.
33:02:
Commissioner Mauter: One very brief question I had about this is that we have had lower-than-projected revenue this year. And it wasn't
exactly clear how. What revenue projections apply to these future years. Could you just clarify that point, so that we're sure that there will be
sufficient ** --
33:21:
Lisa Bilir: Yes. So, in the current year, non-residential -- commercial, specifically -- revenue is declining about 4 percent, instead of increasing
the 9 percent that we increased rates. And that's because the commercial revenue is based upon winter usage, which was low, due to the
very, extraordinarily wet winter. And possibly also because of business impacts due to COVID and recovery and drought. So, what we did is,
we took it into account, and assumed that that would come back over a three-year period. Back to -- So, we took it through a three-yearperiod and assumed that revenue would return. And -- But the forecast then assumes a more normal winter usage, going forward, in each ofthe years. The residential and restaurant revenue is not lower than we projected. Yeah. And I also wanted to mention next that we did takethis proposal to the Finance Committee, and the Finance Committee members were supportive of the proposal.
34:40:
Lisa Bilir: There's one additional item that isn't in the slide, but is in a later slide, that I wanted to describe. To -- Because the reserves arevery low in this utility, and because we're doing a large main replacement project, we want to make sure that there are sufficient funds forshort-term needs. And so, we explored the idea of doing a loan. And we're proposing up to a $3 million loan from the Fiber Utility to theWastewater Collection Utility. And that would be repaid in 2026, when the Wastewater Utility has sufficient funds to repay that. But it wouldbe the ability to borrow those funds in the current year, if they're needed. And that would be repaid at the City's "portfolio rate," which iscurrently 2.47 percent, PLUS a quarter of a percent (0.25 percent). So, what the financial plan models, for the documents we gave to youtonight, is a 3 percent interest rate. On a potentially up to $3 million loan. So, that is the proposal that we're planning to bring to the Council,and that we would ask for any feedback on. Tonight.
36:01:
Commissioner Mauter: Just to clarify that, the loan would only be made if the -- you know, if the cash were needed?
36:08:
Lisa Bilir: Yes. We would evaluate at the end of this fiscal year,
### That is, 05-31-24.
when we know what the reserves are. And have the Council authority, through the approval process, in order to make a loan up to that $3million level, depending on how much is needed. And then it would be repaid.
36:28:
Chair Segal: So, it's almost more like a line of credit. Is that right?
36:33:
Lisa Bilir: I --
36:33:
Chair Segal: Because it's only if you need it do you draw on it. Or, are you actually transferring the funds?
36:38:
Lisa Bilir: It -- I am not sure of the distinction there. But it's -- It would be a loan. And it would be -- We just wouldn't c- -- We often ask for
Council approval of transfers, from either within a utility or across a utility. And then, we only complete those transfers if they're needed. So,
this would be similar.
37:04:
Karla Dailey: So, I think the difference is, we wouldn't wait until there's a situation that we need the money. But we would wait 'til the end ofthe year to see what shape the reserve is in, before making a decision to borrow the $3 million or not. So, it's not, don't borrow it until, oh mygosh, there's a problem, we need $3 million. It's, let's see how the rest of this year plays out, see what condition the reserve is in, six monthsfrom now, and -- or, I guess less than six months from now -- Is that correct? Is that what --
37:36:
Vice Chair Scharff: So, I think I've become more confused on this than I was when we started. [laughs] So, is the authorization to borrow up
to $3 million, or to borrow $3 million? Up to $3 million. Right? And so, we wouldn't borrow to put money in reserves. I assume. Because thatseems silly.
37:53:
Karla Dailey: Oh, we would --
37:53:
Vice Chair Scharff: You'd borrow if you need something? You'd borrow the whole $3 million? Or would you borrow -- Say you suddenly findyou're short like half a million dollars, and you don't want the reserves to go to zero, so -- Do you then borrow half a million at that point, andthen, a year later, or six months later, you borrow another half million if you need it? Or is it -- Or, do you take the whole $3 million? I guessthat's where I'm confused.
38:22:
Lisa Bilir: So, what's happening right now is, the Sewer Main Replacement 31 --
38:28:
Vice Chair Scharff: Yup.
38:28:
Lisa Bilir: So, by the end of the year, we should have a good idea of the funds that are needed for that short-term. Everything else should becovered by the revenues. So, it's -- We should have -- So, it's -- When we get to the end of the year, and we know the exact amount that wethink we would need to borrow, that's when we would borrow up to the $3 million.
38:53:
Vice Chair Scharff: And it's going to be used pretty much for the sewer replacement. Is that -- Is that the thought?
38:57:
Lisa Bilir: It's going to be -- To cover the needs for those funds in the short term. Yeah.
39:03:
Vice Chair Scharff: But it's up to $3 million. And it's -- you borrow -- It's not a line of credit. You borrow the whole $3 million, or you borrow$2 million, or you borrow $1 million, depending on what you need.
39:10:
Lisa Bilir: Let me show you the recommendation slide, if that would help --
39:14:
Vice Chair Scharff: Sure.
39:14:
Lisa Bilir: It's up to the $3 million.
39:19:
Commissioner Forssell: Can I also ask -- That was for the Reserve Fund to borrow up to $3 million. Is that in order to get the Reserve backup to its minimum? Or is that because money gets parked in the Reserve Fund before being paid out to Sewer Project 31?
39:35:
[pause to find the right slide]
###. Packet page 157 -- RECOMMENDATION
39:46:
Lisa Bilir: So, this is the recommendation language that would go to the Council. So, it says, "Approving up to a $3 million enterprise transfer
loan from [the] Fiber Optics Fund to the Wastewater Collection Utility's Operations Reserve...." Any funds that come into the Wastewater
Utility go into the Operations Reserve. So, it would be going into the Operations Reserve. And the only -- And it would be used to cover the
short-term needs of the utility. This utility's in a very kind of unique situation, of having very low reserves. And so, we just want to make sure
that we have a plan, in the event that additional funds are needed, to make sure that we're properly paying for the cost of borrowing thosefunds. And I can talk about it a little bit more as we go through the slides, to show you what the reserves look like.
40:51:
Chair Segal: And so, it starts in Operations Reserves. But it would then be moved to wherever it was needed. Presumably, CIP orsomething.
41:00:
Lisa Bilir: The spending also comes out of the Operations Reserve. Yeah. So, it would be there to cover the costs.
41:09:
Vice Chair Scharff: What's the interest rate we charge on the transfer?
41:13:
Lisa Bilir: It's modeled as 3 percent. It's -- It would be at the City's "portfolio rate," which is CURRENTLY 2.47 percent, but is expected to be
higher than that. PLUS 0.25 percent.
41:31:
Vice Chair Scharff: So, it's like 5 percent.
### No.
Oh, point 25.
41:35:
Lisa Bilir: Point 25. Yeah. So, it's like --
41:36:
Vice Chair Scharff: About 3.
41:38:
Lisa Bilir: We guess about 3 -- 3 percent.
41:42:
Karla Dailey: So, if I could just add -- Sorry, if I could add just one -- It's really to manage the cash flow issue. So, if cash flow is -- Right now,
we're projecting cash flows NOT to go negative. But if they are going to go negative, that's when we would borrow, to -- And we could borrowin increments. We wouldn't have make a decision of -- it's $3 million or zero. We could --
42:06:
Vice Chair Scharff: When you say the City's "portfolio rate," that's what the City's currently receiving on its cash reserves?
42:13:
Karla Dailey: That's my understanding, from coordinating with --
42:17:
Vice Chair Scharff: They must be terrible at it. [laughs] Must be. I mean, all of us can get 4 [percent] at least on our money.
42:32:
Commissioner Phillips: Is this -- kind of in general -- So, there's a number of places in the future -- And I don't want to have the same
discussion every time, if it's the same process, where -- particularly, under the electric power plan, you're looking at borrowing from one
reserve to another, up to a certain amount. I had the kind of same kind of question. Is this -- Would this be the same answer on all of them,
effectively? That -- I mean, not the ** but the fact that you're looking for this authorization at some future time. You'll say what's the need, we'll
borrow up to that. Because I was kind of looking at like, say, why don't we just authorize that amount?
43:15:
Director Batchelor: Well, I think the thing is is that when we start in the Electric Fund, we move reserves from one reserve to another reserve. So, we're not actually asking you to borrow money from the Electric. So, we don't take it out of one of the reserves, borrow it to the otherreserve, when it's in the same fund. In this case, we're actually asking for authorization, because we're taking it from a total different fund. So,if we decided that we wanted to take it out of the Electric Fund, we could have taken $3 million out of the Electric. But we would have had torepay that fund. But interchangeable within the Gas Fund, or the Water Fund, you just -- we just move those. And we let you know that we'removing X to this new reserve.
43:58:
Commissioner Phillips: But it's the same process. So, there's no interest payment involved. But it's the same process, where you would wait'til the end of the year, and then decide something, up to -- So, for example, it says
###. At packet page 158.
"up to $20 million from Electric Special Projects Reserve to the Supply Operations Reserve." You might take nothing. You might take take 15,or you might take the whole 20.
44:18:
Director Batchelor: Yeah. We wait to look at the end of the year, and then see what we need to transfer at that point.
44:23:
Commissioner Phillips: Right. Thanks.
44:27:
Chair Segal: I have one more question. If the grant from Valley Water comes in, or comes in higher -- I don't know if we've heard from them --does that impact the need for the loan?
44:41:
Lisa Bilir: It could. That's one of the uncertainties. There could be some reimbursement. But at the same time, costs for the wastewatertreatment could be higher than we expect. So, we -- you know, there's a series of uncertainties that could make the costs and revenues higheror lower than our projections. So, that's why we don't -- we -- there's some possibility that we need to protect against. And that's why we'reasking -- we would be asking the UAC to recommend to the Council. And then, we would be asking the Council for authorization to borrowonly those funds that the Wastewater Utility needs to borrow. Up to the maximum of $3 million.
45:25:
Chair Segal: Have we heard from Valley Water? Or do we know when we'll hear from them?
45:29:
Lisa Bilir: I know they're working on it. But I don't know what the timeline is going to be. Are there other questions on this item?
45:46:
Commissioner Croft: I have a question. This is Rachel. Um. I wasn't sure how many slides we're going to go through. But I had a question
on something related to what Commissioner Scharff was asking about. There are a couple places in the packet -- page 42 and page 56 --
where we talk about "unrealized losses on investments,"
### I found this on packet page 97. (I also found "unrealized gains/losses" in five other places, and "unrealized gain/loss" in one other place.)
and "loss on share return on investment on cash."
### I found this on packet page 111.
### I think the packet page number discrepancy occurred because this version of the packet contains 55 pages pertaining to Item 2, and aprevious version that Commissioner Croft relied on did not.
And I was curious what -- what would we be losing money on? And, similarly, if you could just talk about what is our cash managementprocess? And you mentioned something about interest rates being higher. And I'm wondering if our debt is all fixed -- fixed rate? Or if any ofit floats?
46:46:
Dave Yuan: Dave Yuan, Utilities Strategic Business Manager. Good evening, everyone. So, for the unrealized gain and loss, I think it's just a
paper accounting thing. So, we have bought bonds throughout the years, for years. A laddering strategy. So, [if] we buy at 2 percent, and the
market rate is now 5 percent, we take a loss of 3 percent on that unrealized gain and loss. If we borrowed at 5 percent, and now the interest
rate's 2 percent, then we have a profit of about 3 percent. So, it's just a fictitious number that goes up and down, assuming we liquidate
everything at the current price. But our plan is always to hold the bonds 'til maturity.
### Does the City ever deviate from that plan? For example, what if a utility needs cash and none of the bonds in its portfolio are mature
yet? Or, what if the utility would like to replace a low-yielding bond with a higher-yielding bond?
So --
47:22:
Commissioner Croft: OK.
47:22:
Dave Yuan: -- it's really just an accounting number. Hope that helps. And, regarding the 2 percent, that Commissioner Scharff asked about, Ithink it gets blended over many years. Every year, we invest so much money. So, during the low interest rate years, we got really low bonds -- low interest.
47:39:
Commissioner Croft: And any of our debt -- Is our debt all fixed rate? Like, for all the bonds that we're paying debt service on, on these --
47:45:
Dave Yuan: As far as I know, they are. Yes.
47:48:
Commissioner Croft: OK.
47:49:
Dave Yuan: But we can confirm that.
47:51:
Commissioner Croft: Great. Thanks.
47:56:
Lisa Bilir: OK. Any other questions on this, before we go on? OK.
48:11:
###. Packet page 148- Wastewater Reserve Projections
48:18:
Lisa Bilir: OK. So, I wanted to tell you a little bit about some of the reserves, and go into the details of what we just touched on. This chart
shows the green as the Operations Reserve. And you can see the concern, at the end of 2023, with that reserve being at negative $0.7
[million]. So, what happened, in 2023, is, the funds were not actually spent yet. That's what the orange stripy bar is. You can see that the
funds were moved into the CIP Reappropriations & Commitments Reserve. So, what this chart shows -- it models those funds being spent in
2024 and 2025. And the green bar -- the Operations Reserve -- you can see it recovering in 2024. Significantly. And that's partly because the
costs balance the revenues. But also because of this potential loan, that's shown as coming into the Operations Reserve, to really bring it up
to that minimum guideline level, and make sure that it brings the Reserve up to a higher level. And then, you can see the Operations Reserve
doesn't really decline in 2026, when that loan is repaid.
### I think this slide doesn't show the loan explicitly, either when it's received or when it's repaid, although it would affect the OperationsReserve, which you can see.
In this model. And then, it continues -- the Operations Reserve continues to grow. And also the CIP Reserve -- we're able to begin toreplenish that reserve over time, and use that reserve to fund the larger main replacements that are coming up. I think there's a question.
49:53:
Vice Chair Scharff: So, this chart actually says you will take the loan. As soon as you approve, you take the $3 million, you put it in theOperations Reserve, and it sits there, to show that we have money in the Operations Reserve.
50:05:
Lisa Bilir: That is what this shows. Yes.
50:06:
Vice Chair Scharff: It doesn't show us needing the money. It just shows us having it sit there.
50:09:
Lisa Bilir: Yes. It shows it coming in 2024, and then being returned in 2026. With interest.
### When in 2026? 05-31-26? That would make it a two-year loan.
50:17:
Vice Chair Scharff: Dean, maybe you could explain. Why does the money -- I mean, it may very well need. But why do we care if theOperations Reserve is low, when you have the ability to borrow the money? Why would you borrow the money, and put it into the Reserve,pay 3 percent on it? I mean, I know it's paying to somebody else. Right? But why would you do that? I mean, why would, from a cashmanagement point, you do that? I mean, there may be a good reason. I just don't see it.
50:39:
Director Batchelor: Well, I think the thing is is that, you know, we don't want the reserves to be at the negative level of all. But I think thebigger important thing is is that when we are working on a project, as this is, in 31, we don't know what those outlays will be by the end of theyear period of time. And we're going to have to pay bills. Right then and there. By the time that we actually have to come back to you, and
then go back through Finance, and then go back through the Council portions of it, then, you know, we're going to be past that 30-day windowperiod of whatever the costs might look like. So, that's why we try to true it up at the end of the year, to see where we're at. And then, we justput this money in the bank. And we understand that, yes, there's a 3 percent rate on that money that we have borrowed. But it does sit in thatReserve, so that we do have those monies to be paying for these projects that we have. So, it's mostly around a timing issue, of when theseprojects finish. And, you know, we only get really one chance really to make some changes, unless we do it in a kind of a mid-yeartimeframe. We could do it then. Or it's too late then, depending on whatever the project is -- timeline is. Scheduling-wise.
51:56:
Commissioner Forssell: Um. It -- I think maybe what some of us are expressing is, it just feels odd to borrow money from the Fiber Fund.
What would we do if we didn't have a big pot of cash sitting over there in the Fiber Fund, available for loaning out?
52:22:
Director Batchelor: I think, at that point, we would determine -- then we'd have to look at the other funds. In the other utilities. So, if we move
forward with the whole fiber, and we spend all those dollar amounts, you know, there are other funds and other reserves in other utilities thatwe would then take the borrow from. From -- it could be from the Gas Fund. Or it could be from the Water Fund. Or --
52:45:
Commissioner Forssell: And just to push the hypothetical a little bit farther, what if we didn't have five utilities that -- it's this sense of sort oflike --
52:52:
Director Batchelor: So, we --
52:53:
Commissioner Forssell: -- it's a diversified portfolio of utilities that can slosh funds from one to the other. What would we do if it was just
Wastewater?
52:59:
Director Batchelor: We'd have -- If we were only a Wastewater only, we'd have to go out and actually get a loan. We would have to actually
put the money back out, or, you know, we would have to do some bond financing, or something, to actually come up with the monies that we
were going to be short for. Whatever the project was for. And pay -- And then pay market rate.
52:24:
Commissioner Forssell: Right. I guess it's -- I -- there's a feeling that it's -- I'm just going to use the word "odd" -- that the reserves -- themental model of what a reserve is meant to be sort of breaks down. And if we are, in fact, sort of free to move money -- monies aboutbetween the utilities, should each of them have their own reserve? Or should it just be a large pot of money that's available? And I think we'reprobably not allowed to do that. But, um, --
53:57:
Director Batchelor: Yeah. This was changed some time ago. Dave, do you remember when?
54:01:
Dave Yuan: [unamplified] Sorry.
54:02:
Director Batchelor: Do you remember when we went away from having one big bucket of reserves? And then we had to split -- It was an
auditor's --
54:09:
Dave Yuan: [unamplified] **
54:13:
Director Batchelor: OK. So, somewhere around 2009,
### I looked at the major audits listed on the Auditor's home page. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/City-Auditor/Reports-and-Publications-Archive/Performance-and-Financial-AuditsThe only one that mentions "reserves" is 01-22-13: Finance Committee Recommendation to Accept the Utilities Reserves Audit (31 pages)-- Auditor Jim Pelletierhttps://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/city-auditor/performance-and-financial-audits/fiscal-year-2012-2013/utilities-reserves-mini-packet-01-22-13.pdfIt lists (page 9) two rate stabilization reserves (RSRs) for Electric, two for Gas, one for Water, one for Wastewater, and one for Fiber. it alsolists one Emergency Plant Reserves. It recommends (page 6) that the Utilities Department take steps to effect the audit's recommendations. Did that happen? Did it result in a document that says what the rules are?
### This 06-09-14 staff report to Council (on consent) (146 pages) mentions the 01-22-13 Utilities Reserves Audithttps://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/city-clerk/ordinances/ordinances-1909-to-present/ordinances-by-number/ord-4459.pdfIt identifies in Table 1 (page 129) 20 reserve funds: 6 for Electric, and 4 each for Gas, Wastewater Collection, and Water. (It doesn't mentionFiber, Storm Drainage, or Wastewater Treatment.) But I have the impression that Table 1 doesn't list all the funds.
### At the 09-23-14 Policy & Services Committee meeting, Auditor Harriet Richardson presented a progress report on implementing the
changes recommended by the 01-22-13 Utilities Reserve Audit AND other audits from 2008, 2010, and 2012.
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/policy-and-services-committee/00-
archive/2014/09-23-14-ps-final-minutes.pdf
There's an agenda
https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/policy-and-services-committee/00-
archive/2014/09-23-14-ps.pdf
but the staff report for this item is unavailable (404...Oops!) There's a video (0:02:19-- 0:41:00).
https://midpenmedia.org/policy-services-committee-3/
we did have -- prior to that, we just had one bucket. One large bucket of reserves.
### This 10-22-97 ordinance says there are separate Rate Stabilization Reserve Funds for Electric, Gas, Refuse, Storm Drainage,Wastewater Collection, Wastewater Treatment, and Water.https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/city-clerk/ordinances/ordinances-1909-to-present/ordinances-by-number/ord-4459.pdf
And then, the auditor came through and said you have way too much money in one reserve. We could have moved it anywhere we wantedto. We could have done anything with it. And so, the outcome of that audit was that we needed to actually break it out by the fund. Becausethat's how the utility was broken out to the -- into those five utilities. And so, that's why we have so many different reserves. In each of thefunds. So that the money is shown. And it can be calculated, and it can be tracked directly to whatever fund that we have a reserve in. Otherwise, it would have been much easier if we were able to have one superfund reserve.
55:05:
Commissioner Forssell: I guess another way of expressing it, I guess, is, has the Wastewater Fund been managed in such a way -- Like,
should we have raised rates more a year ago, two years ago, to have avoided this situation, if we didn't have this sort of cushion of other utility
funds to draw from?
55:29:
Director Batchelor: Probably even further back than that. And the reason for it is that, you know, we have not raised the rates compared to
how we have seen the inflation on just costs of construction. So, we've always kept it at the low. It's the lowest fund that we have, that we
keep just basically the minimum amount, because that's what we get in from a minimum amount from revenues. And so, there's not a lot of
extra that comes in, because we've kept our rates so low over the years. And -- correct me if I'm wrong, ladies -- but I also think that now, withthe treatment plant, we have to look at what those costs are going to be. You know, over the timeline, I was just doing some envelope costing,you know, over the entire period of that, you know, overall, it's about a 31 percent that we are going to be -- have to fund. 30 percent of thewhole entire project. It's about $245 million. That's about $76 million overall. Over the expand of the time with that -- You know. So, wehave to think about -- so that we don't get in these type of situations where we're borrowing money from other funds, and then have to pay thisback, is -- This is the reason why we're looking at trying to true up some of these dollars and some of the rate increases that we'll have to dealwith. Because if the plant was running smoothly, like it did years ago -- no more upgrades -- then, you know, we were probably in pretty goodshape. But I think that now, those upgrades need to be done at the plant. And that's also included in these costs, in the revenues. Is thatabout correct, ladies? No?
57:20:
Chair Segal: Can you just remind us, what's the minimum reserve, and what's the maximum, for wastewater?
57:28:
Lisa Bilir: Thanks for bringing that question up. The Operations Reserve is shown on this slide
###. Packet page 150 -- Wastewater Operations Reserve Projections
And it shows a different view of that red line. So, the target is 105 days of treatment and operating expenses. And then, there's a band above
and below that, I think of 45 days of expenses. So, you can see that the minimum in 2025 is a little bit -- like about $3.5 million. So, what
we're trying to do is cover the costs, and then rebuild the reserves, and make sure that we're paying for the costs associated with the utility,
without doing any mixing of costs across utilities, like you were pointing out.
58:21:
Chair Segal: And are there any consequences, like with City bond ratings, or the interest we have to pay on bonds, if we're below our reservetargets, or at risk -- at or below risk assessments? [pause] I guess what I'm asking is, we have these -- we have this risk assessmentnumber. We have a Reserve minimum/maximum and target. And I appreciate it's based on so many days of operations expenses. But arethere -- You know, are there consequences, besides we want to have that cash? Is there anything beyond smart money management?
59:10:
Dave Yuan: I think if it's a one time, I don't think they'll count against us. But if it's perpetual, then yes, it would hurt our ratings. But I think ifwe also bond with other utilities, like the Electric Fund, depending on the project, then we would get the higher rating. So, sometimes, whenwe do bonding, we try to bond with multiple utilities at once, to get the higher rate.
59:31:
Liaison Lauing: Chair Segal, I might -- I'm over here (laughs) -- I might suggest that at some future date, you bring in a guest speaker calledKiely Nose, who's our Assistant City Manager. And she's managed this, you know, for a lot of years, and can give the facts as well as thealternatives that she's looked at. And I'm sure she'd be happy to come.
1:00:04:
Commissioner Mauter: Can you just clarify what risk assessment is?
1:00:09:
Lisa Bilir: Yes. The risk assessment is the possibility of some event happening, like revenues being 10 percent lower than we thought. Or
treatment costs being 10 percent higher than we thought. So, it's a utility-specific risk assessment, for the utility-specific risks like that, in this
utility. Yeah. Um. And I just wanted to add that, you know, this is a -- This is a Prop 218 utility. And the customers need to pay the costsassociated with the utility. So, we can't -- We want to make sure we're not in a situation where there's any cash -- negative cash -- so thatwe're not borrowing -- Since the cash is shared across City funds, we don't want to be borrowing essentially from another fund. We want toprotect against that, and make sure that we're borrowing the money up-front, with Council approval, and then paying those borrowing costs, sothat the Prop 218 requirements are met.
1:01:18:
Chair Segal: I guess that makes sense to me, except we've been undercharging, is what this tells us. So, --
1:01:26:
Lisa Bilir: OK.
1:01:26:
Chair Segal: Prop 218 -- I mean, you could argue -- goes both ways. You can't overcharge. But you also should not be undercharging. So --
I mean, I guess you're hearing, pretty loud and clear, that -- You know, we all have concerns about the way the fund was managed, and the
idea that we have to borrow money, and pay 3 percent on $3 million -- um -- is suboptimal, shall we say.
1:01:55:
Karla Dailey: [unamplified] I -- um -- [amplified] Thanks for that statement. I'm not sure that Prop 218 says you can't undercharge. Prop 218
is "up to." You can't --
1:02:07:
Chair Segal: Yeah. Fair enough. We don't have to get into a [Prop] 218 discussion. But, you know -- And I guess I also want to throw out -- I'm very appreciative that your meeting with the Finance Committee -- and they were open -- and -- to raising -- increasing rates by a double-digit amount. I know that's been a reluctance sometimes in the past. And, you know, this is maybe the back end of what happens when wehave these -- I'm going to call them "political" decisions about rates, rather than practical financial decisions about rates. I think this is the backend. And, hopefully, it gets back to City Council [laughs] and they can see the other side of it.
1:02:52:
Liason Lauing: But I can comment on that, just briefly. I'm on the Finance Committee as well. And one of the Finance Committee memberssaid we probably, in hindsight, shouldn't have kept them so low. And I don't recall exactly which utility he was talking about. But the tone was,you know, we tried to react to the pandemic, and the outrageous bills that people had from the gas. And that probably wasn't the most prudentthing to do. And so, there was general agreement, as Dean said, on support of what you have here. At the same time -- I was going tomention this later -- But at the same time, there's obvious -- Already, there's feedback from residents, who read newspapers and all that, and
say, oh, now all these rates are going up. We don't want ANY increases. Well, that's not your problem. You're going to do what's right for the
City, staff. And Council has to figure out the way to correctly message that -- the amount of investments that we have to do. And the price of
getting the goods to resell to them is going up as well. So --
1:04:08:
Chair Segal: Thanks for that. Commissioner Croft, I see your hand raised.
1:04:12:
Commissioner Croft: Oh, yeah. I just had a question about, you know, borrowing from the Fiber Fund, and we have to pay interest. I'massuming that interest goes to the Fiber Fund. Is that right?
1:04:21:
Lisa Billir: Yes.
1:04:23:
Commissioner Croft: OK. So, it's still within Palo Alto. It's just in our accounts, and possibly even earning more than the rate we're paying theFiber Fund. I'm assuming. So, maybe it's a bit of a loss for the Fiber Fund.
### Right.
### If, on 05-31-24, the Fiber Fund had at least $3 million in cash, it could lend whatever the Wastewater Fund wants (up to $3 million) andget an interest rate of around 3 percent (depending on what the City's "portfolio rate" was) for something like 2 years. Or it could buy 2-yearCDs (or some other investment vehicle), probably at a higher interest rate.
### Here's one example of CD rates now. (I don't claim it's the best deal.) (By 05-31-24, the rates might have gone down a little.)
https://www.capitalone.com/bank/cds/online-cds/?gclsrc=aw.ds&gclsrc=aw.ds&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI05_I6-z5hAMVFw-
tBh17tQxcEAAYAyAAEgJX-PD_BwE
For a 10-month CD, you can get 5.1 percent. For a 2-year CD, you can get 4.2 percent. So, the Fiber Fund might be losing about 2 percent.
### If, on 05-31-24, the Fiber Fund didn't have at least $3 million in cash, then, in order to lend whatever cash the Wastewater Fund wants,
the Fiber Fund might have to convert some of its investments into cash, probably paying an additional penalty. Should the Wastewater Utility
be paying this penalty?
### By the way, should the City calculate a separate "portfolio rate" for each of its utilities? Should the Wastewater Fund be paying the FiberFund an interest rate based on the Fiber Utility's "portfolio rate"?
1:04:39:
[pause]
1:04:57:
Dave Yuan: I think the loss on that one would actually be to the Wastewater Fund.
### I don't think so. See above at 1:04:23;
'Cause the Fiber Fund would get the 2.47 percent, generally, if it wasn't borrowed through the Wastewater Fund. So, to make up for that, theyput another 0.25 [percent] on top. It's general past practice. Is what I heard.
1:05:18:
Commissioner Mauter: So, can we move to move forward with this recommendation?
1:05:25:
Lisa Bilir: Yes.
1:05:28:
Commissioner Mauter: I move to --
1:05:30:
Chair Segal: Well, wait, wait, wait, wait. Let's just make sure there's no more discussion before we actually -- um -- move.
### In theory, after a motion is moved and seconded, there can be discussion about the motion (and even amendments and/or a substitutemotion) before voting on the motion.
1:05:37:
Lisa Bilir: I was going to turn to this slide.
###. Packet page 157 -- RECOMMENDATION
And I'd be happy to try to answer any other questions.
Chair Segal: Any other questions? OK. OK. So, now, --
1:05:54:
Lisa Bilir: So, the staff recommendation -- the recommendation is -- make sure you can see it -- is for the UAC to recommend that the CityCouncil adopt a resolution approving three things: -- the fiscal year '25 Wastewater Collection Financial Plan; -- the changes to the rate schedules, including these rate changes; and then -- the $3 million enterprise transfer loan from the Fiber Fund to the Wastewater Collection Utility Fund.
1:06:30:
Commissioner Mauter: I move.
1:06:33:
Commissioner Phillips: I'll second that.
1:06:33:
Chair Segal: To adopt the resolution
1:06:35:
Commissioner Mauter: To adopt this resolution.
1:06:38:
Commissioner Phillips: I'll second that motion.
1:06:40:
Chair Segal: OK. We'll go first online. Commissioner Croft.
1:06:43:
Commissioner Croft: I approve it.
1:06:46:
Chair Segal: Commissioner --
1:06:48:
Commissioner Forssell: I approve as well.
1:06:51:
Commissioner Mauter: Approve.
1:06:52:
Vice Chair Scharff: Aye.
1:06:54:
Commissioner Metz: Yes.
1:06:55:
Commissioner Phillips: Approve.
1:06:57:
Chair Segal: And I approve as well. So, thank you for that. And for answering our questions. And we can move on to Item 4, which is theElectric Utility Financial Plan.
1:07:08:
END of Item 3
=============================================================================================================
From:Karen Fredrickson
To:Council, City
Subject:Use of 445 Bryant street property
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 3:13:54 PM
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important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ]
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on links.
________________________________
To Council and staff:
As a frequent user of senior lunch programs at several venues, I feel compelled to comment on the proposal to house
the Palo Alto (formerly Avenidas) program there.
While the lunch program is useful and used (up to 100 lunches prepared off site
and served daily M-F), I strongly urge that analysis be done re returning it to the Avenidas building.
This building, remodelled at great expense several years ago and leased and maintained by the City essentially free,
is VASTLY underused.
Classes and other meetings are generally held in rooms on the second and third floors while the entry floor is usually
completely empty. Having dropped in at difference days and times over the last few months, I am saddened by
emptiness and silence in a space that should be humming with people socializing. Meeting over lunch there is an
obvious solution to both issues.
Regards,
Karen Fredrickson
(45 year resident of Palo Alto)
Sent from my iPad
From:Linnea WICKSTROM
To:Council, City
Subject:AT&T application to drop landlines
Date:Monday, March 18, 2024 12:33:40 PM
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City Council Members,
Thank you for taking up the issue of AT&T’s request to drop landline service.
I have sent a letter to the CPUC Public Advisor requesting that the CPUC deny AT&T’s Application
23-03-003.
I wrote for several reasons, but primarily because cell phones, even in an urban area, and especially
in a power outage, are no replacement for self-powered copper lines.
Linnea Wickstrom
Palo Alto, CA