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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-06-13 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: 06/13/2022 Document dates: 06/06/2022 – 06/13/2022 Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction in a given week. From:pennyellson12@gmail.com To:Council, City Cc:Liberman, Art; PABAC Subject:Urgent Request From PABAC to City Council re: Caltrans El Camino Real Repaving Project Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:22:58 AM Attachments:4J89U_ Fact Sheet_3.15.22.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable Mayor Burt & City Council, Your urgent action is requested by the Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC) with regard to Caltrans’ El Camino Real (SR82) Repaving Project. El Camino Real (SR82) repaving planning has been underway for a number of years and construction is scheduled to begin in 2023. At PABAC’s request, our March 1, 2022 meeting included a 3-page report of requests city staff has made to Caltrans with regard to bicycle and pedestrian safety improvements that might be incorporated in the planned repaving process. (See Attachment B, p.15 of 38 on the March 1 PABAC agenda here https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/transportation/bicycling-walking/pabac/pabac- meeting-2022/3_1_2022-pabac-agenda-packet.pdf ). There is no Caltrans web page on the Palo Alto portion of this project, so the public cannot find information about what is being proposed, current project status, project timelines, project review/approval process. At PABAC’s request, staff reached out to Caltrans for a project status update, and Caltrans offered only an Updated Fact Sheet with very limited information which was presented at PABAC’s April 5 meeting. (See attached pdf.) According to this sheet, environmental documents are complete, design completion was scheduled for Spring 2022, construction should begin Summer 2023 and end Fall 2024. Though the Fact Sheet says design will be complete Spring 2022, City staff has not yet seen 95% plans, nor have they received notice of a specific date when they will. El Camino Real carries high volumes of motor vehicle traffic, including the city’s only VTA bus lines with ten-minute headways. It presents a challenging barrier to hundreds of school commuters who use multiple k-12 school routes that cross the multi-lane, fast-moving state highway and to others who walk and bike across and along SR82. As El Camino Real repaving happens only about once every thirty years, using this repaving opportunity to address existing hazards is important. Some of the highest collision intersections in the city are on El Camino Real. Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC) asks you to please write a letter to Caltrans re: the El Camino Real (SR82) Repaving project requesting a project web page with: 1. current plans, 2. project status, 3. project timelines, 4. and the review/approval process, including a timely way for local resident comments to be incorporated into Caltrans plans. Thank you for considering our request. Sincerely, Penny Ellson, Chair, Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee Art Liberman, Vice Chair, Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com PROJECT FACT SHEET EA #4J89U (Project ID: 0416000023) Project Type: In-House (SHOPP) DESCRIPTION: This project proposes to cold plane and overlay existing AC pavement, repair localized failed AC pavement, repair localized failed PCC pavement along SR 82 from 0.5 mile north of SR-237 to Sand Hill Road. This pavement conservation project also proposes to upgrade the existing non-standard ADA curb ramps with new ADA curb ramps in compliance with the American Disability Act (ADA) and California Complete Street Act. PURPOSE & NEED: Purpose: The purpose of this project is to preserve and extend the life of existing pavement and improve ride quality and to upgrade existing pedestrian facilities to comply with current ADA Standards and to improve safety, access and mobility for pedestrians at signalized intersections on the State Highway System Need: The project is initiated to meet the requirements of Capital Preventive Maintenance (CAPM) program to improve ride quality, to comply with current ADA standard, and to improve safety, access, and mobility of pedestrians at these locations. PROJECT SCOPE: • Cold plane and overlay existing AC pavement, • Repair localized failed AC and PCC pavement. • Upgrade the existing curb ramps to new ADA compliant curb ramps. • Repair curbs and gutters. • Upgrade APS (Accessible Pedestrian Signal) at the crosswalks • Upgrade drainage inlets. • Upgrade pavement delineations per MUTCD. CURRENT STATUS: Project is in Design (PS&E) phase. Project Manager: Eunmi Choi Design Manager: Son Ly COUNTY: SANTA CLARA (ROUTE 82 – Pavement Rehabilitation and ADA Improvements) (Post Miles:18.2/26.4) SCHEDULE: Milestone Status Dates (A = Actual) or (T = Tentative) Environmental Documents Spring 2020(A) Design Complete Spring 2022 (T) Begin Construction Summer 2023 (T) End Construction Fall 2024 (T) FUNDING: Construction Capital: $33.86 M Funding through SHOPP From:Shweta Bhatnagar To:Council, City Subject:JVSV Institute for Regional Studies - Business Tax Comparison Study Date:Tuesday, June 7, 2022 4:40:52 PM Attachments:image001.png Business Tax Comparison Summary_Final.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Palo Alto City Council Members, Stanford University has been monitoring the discussions taking place in the city regarding a new business license tax which may be placed on the November 2022 ballot. There has been some discussion in the community and by Council as to how this tax compares to business taxes in neighboring jurisdictions. To help find that information, Stanford contracted the Institute for Regional Studies at Joint Venture Silicon Valley, to conduct a business tax comparative analysis with neighboring jurisdictions to get baseline data. We wanted to share the report with you for your reference as you continue your discussions. The findings in this report were determined by the Institute for Regional Studies, not by Stanford University. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions. With regards, Shweta Shweta Bhatnagar Senior Director, Government Affairs Office of Government Affairs Stanford University 650-723-4708 | shwetab@stanford.edu 84 W. Santa Clara Street, Suite 800 • San Jose, California 95113 (669) 223-1331 tel • www.jointventure.org 2 Business Tax Comparison Matrix Select Silicon Valley Jurisdictions Background Stanford engaged the Silicon Valley Institute for Regional Studies to conduct a business tax analysis; the goal of the study was to compare the proposed tax structure in Palo Alto to those being implemented in specific nearby jurisdictions. Methodology Stanford provided parameters for the analysis, including the number of employees and square footage for four proxy companies, each representing a business currently located in Palo Alto that would be affected by a business tax across several size categories . In addition to Palo Alto, five comparison jurisdictions were included in the analysis: one with a square footage-based business tax (Cupertino) and four with business taxes based on employee count (Mountain View, Redwood City, San Jose, and Santa Clara).1 Using the inputs provided by Stanford, business taxes were estimated for each proxy company in five jurisdictions. Business tax regulations and algorithms were obtained through the individual jurisdictions’ websites. An average business tax for each proxy company was calculated across the five jurisdictions. A sensitivity analysis for Palo Alto was conducted based on three proposed tax rates which were provided by Stanford. In addition, a reverse - engineered Palo Alto tax rate for each proxy company was calculated based on the average tax paid across the five jurisdictions. A comparison of the maximum business tax escalator currently under consideration in Palo Alto (5% annually) to those in all five additional jurisdictions was conducted with projections in Palo Alto through year 12.2 Assumptions for each proxy company included: ●All employees are full-time. 1 An additional three jurisdictions with business taxes based on gross payroll, gross receipts, or a combination of the two (East Palo Alto, Fremont, and San Francisco) were originally to be included; however, they were ultimately excluded due to the lack of publicly available data necessary for the analysis. 2 Palo Alto is considering an annual escalator based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI) with a maximum rate cap of five percent. 84 W. Santa Clara Street, Suite 800 • San Jose, California 95113 (669) 223-1331 tel • www.jointventure.org 3 ● For the Palo Alto estimations, the first 5,000 square feet of total company square footage are exempt (based on Palo Alto City Council directives). ● The companies do not qualify for any other business tax exemptions. For the Palo Alto comparison, the proposed business tax based on square footage was analyzed using three different rates ($.05, $.10, and $.15 per square foot per month). Findings Of the five local jurisdictions included in the business tax comparison, the most common form of business tax is by employee count (four out of five jurisdictions; Cupertino uses an algorithm based on square footage – similar to the tax being considered in Palo Alto). Several jurisdictions have a maximum rate in effect, and Santa Clara has a flat tax (as opposed to an incremental one). Overall, Santa Clara had the lowest business tax for each of the four proxy companies when compared to other jurisdictions, bringing down the averages noted below. The city is currently in the process of revamping its business tax structure, though, and is considering replacing its $500 maximum with a tax based on employee count. Across the five jurisdictions by proxy company, estimated annual business taxes ranged from: Low High Average Proxy Company $500 $396,700 $116,200 1,500,000 SF/3,500 employees $500 $209,200 $69,600 500,000 SF/2,000 employees $460 $26,700 $11,500 100,000 SF/400 employees $100 $2,400 $1,200 25,000 SF/50 employees Three out of four proxy companies (with the exception of the smallest proxy company ) would pay the most taxes in Mountain View3. 3 Mountain View Business License Tax estimates are based on the full tax rate that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. 84 W. Santa Clara Street, Suite 800 • San Jose, California 95113 (669) 223-1331 tel • www.jointventure.org 4 Notes: All proxy company inputs are provided by Stanford. First 5,000 SF in Palo Alto are exempt from tax. Mountain View Business License Tax estimates are based on the full tax rate that went into effect on Jan. 1, 2022. Source: Business tax regulations as described on jurisdiction's website. Palo Alto rates provided by Stanford. The following key findings were based on the Palo Alto business tax scenarios using three different annual tax rates ($0.60, $1.20, and $1.80 per square foot per month): ● Even at the lower rate of $.60/SF, companies would pay between 77% (or approximately four times) and 90% (or approximately 10 times) more in Palo Alto than the average tax paid across all five comparison jurisdictions. ● Reverse engineering the business tax rate in Palo Alto to equal the average across the five comparison jurisdictions results in a business tax rate of $0.06/SF/year (for a company with 25,000 SF) to $0.14/SF/year (for a company with 500,000 SF). These rates are significantly less than the annual rates of $.60-$1.80/SF/year currently under consideration in Palo Alto. • As a comparison, a proxy company with 50 employees/25,000 SF would pay approximately $2,400 annually in Redwood City, while in Palo Alto the business would pay between $12,000 to $36,000 - nearly five to 15 times more in annual taxes based on the range of tax rates under consideration in Palo Alto. These estimates reflect the exemption of the first 5,000 SF from the tax and illustrate the additional tax burden that will be placed on Palo Alto’s smaller companies such as start-ups and Main Street businesses. From:Clerk, City To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed; Nose, Kiely Subject:FW: Proposed Business Tax Date:Tuesday, June 7, 2022 12:18:22 PM Attachments:bgsPA Bus Tax v.4(les).docx Good afternoon, We received the attached letter from the chairs of the Resident Advisory Council and the Resident Finance Committee at the Vi at Palo Alto addressed to Ed, Kiely, and Council Members. Thank you, Sangita Dutt Administrative Assistant Office of the City Clerk 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 P: 650.329.2363 sangita.dutt@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org -----Original Message----- From: Les Denend <Ldenend@earthlink.net> Sent: Tuesday, June 7, 2022 12:13 PM To: Clerk, City <city.clerk@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: Proposed Business Tax [You don't often get email from ldenend@earthlink.net. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I request you insure members of the City Council received the attached letter from the chairs of the Resident Advisory Council and the Resident Finance Committee at the Vi at Palo Alto. Thank you. 4876-8725-2771.v2 The Vi at Palo Alto 620 Sand Hill Road, Apt. 204F Palo Alto, CA 94304 June 7, 2022 Ms. Kiely Nose Chief Financial Officer – City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Mr. Ed Shikada City Manager - City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: Proposed Palo Alto Business Tax –Clarification Needed to Exclude Residential and Senior Housing Dear Ms. Nose and Mr. Shikada: We chair the Resident Advisory Council and the Resident Finance Committee* at the Vi Senior Living Community in Palo Alto. We live there and are writing on behalf of the approximately 600 Vi at Palo Alto residents to object to Palo Alto’s recently proposed business license tax on business square footage. We have reviewed the City’s draft proposal and have the following comments and concerns. This is a business tax on business square footage. It should be clear that it will not include apartments or senior housing. The proposal needs to include provisions that explicitly state that this square footage tax will not extend to any space used or intended to be used for individual residences, including senior housing. Excluded senior housing should include independent living spaces as well as living spaces in which assisted living or skilled nursing care is provided. It should also be clear that excluded senior housing includes meeting rooms, dining halls, recreational facilities, health care facilities and all the other areas that make up a senior housing community. In summary, it is critical that any proposal for a tax on business square footage include explicit language that it will not be extended to senior housing and apartments. On a broader level we question whether this additional tax burden on Palo Alto businesses really makes any sense at all for our community, especially now. Sincerely, Leslie G Denend, Chair – Residential Advisory Council Betty Schink, CPA, Chair – Resident Finance Committee 2 4876-8725-2771.v2 *The Resident Advisory Council is a state mandated council elected by residents and created to advise the provider on a wide range of issues affecting the quality of life of residents. The Resident Finance Committee is its principal committee. cc: Palo Alto City Council Patrick Burt Lydia Kou Allison Cormack Tom DuBois Eric Filseth Greer Stone Greg Tanaka From:Les Denend To:Council, City Subject:Proposed Business Tax Date:Tuesday, June 7, 2022 12:04:44 PM Attachments:bgsPA Bus Tax v.4(les).docx [Some people who received this message don't often get email from ldenend@earthlink.net. Learn why this is important at https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification ] CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Please ensure the attached letter from the Chairs of the Resident Advisory Council and the Resident Finance Committee at the Vi at Palo Alto is received by Ms. Kiely Nose, Chief Financial Officer. Thank you. * 4876-8725-2771.v2 The Vi at Palo Alto 620 Sand Hill Road, Apt. 204F Palo Alto, CA 94304 June 7, 2022 Ms. Kiely Nose Chief Financial Officer – City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Mr. Ed Shikada City Manager - City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94301 Re: Proposed Palo Alto Business Tax –Clarification Needed to Exclude Residential and Senior Housing Dear Ms. Nose and Mr. Shikada: We chair the Resident Advisory Council and the Resident Finance Committee* at the Vi Senior Living Community in Palo Alto. We live there and are writing on behalf of the approximately 600 Vi at Palo Alto residents to object to Palo Alto’s recently proposed business license tax on business square footage. We have reviewed the City’s draft proposal and have the following comments and concerns. This is a business tax on business square footage. It should be clear that it will not include apartments or senior housing. The proposal needs to include provisions that explicitly state that this square footage tax will not extend to any space used or intended to be used for individual residences, including senior housing. Excluded senior housing should include independent living spaces as well as living spaces in which assisted living or skilled nursing care is provided. It should also be clear that excluded senior housing includes meeting rooms, dining halls, recreational facilities, health care facilities and all the other areas that make up a senior housing community. In summary, it is critical that any proposal for a tax on business square footage include explicit language that it will not be extended to senior housing and apartments. On a broader level we question whether this additional tax burden on Palo Alto businesses really makes any sense at all for our community, especially now. Sincerely, Leslie G Denend, Chair – Residential Advisory Council Betty Schink, CPA, Chair – Resident Finance Committee 2 4876-8725-2771.v2 *The Resident Advisory Council is a state mandated council elected by residents and created to advise the provider on a wide range of issues affecting the quality of life of residents. The Resident Finance Committee is its principal committee. cc: Palo Alto City Council Patrick Burt Lydia Kou Allison Cormack Tom DuBois Eric Filseth Greer Stone Greg Tanaka From:John Kelley To:Council, City Subject:PA-Proposed Amendments to Tree Ordinance - I strongly urge you to reject the proposal from City Staff Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 8:56:46 PM Attachments:PA-PACC-letter to CPA re Tree Ordinance - 2022-06-06.pdf CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. I strongly urge you not to adopt the Proposed Amendments tonight. The City Council,directly and through City Staff, should (a) notify affected property owners individually, (b)refer this matter to the PTC, and (c) investigate adverse wildfire defense effects thoroughlybefore taking any action on the Proposed Amendments. Details are provided in the attached letter. Respectfully submitted, John Kelley John Kelley 555 Bryant St., No. 714 Palo Alto, CA 94301 jkelley@399innovation.com (650) 444-2237 June 6, 2022 Via Email: city.council@cityofpaloalto.org Honorable Pat Burt, Mayor Honorable Lydia Kou, Vice Mayor Honorable City Council Members City of Palo Alto 250 Hamilton Avenue Palo Alto CA 94301 Re: June 6, 2022, Special Meeting,1 Agenda Item 13, Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Title 8 of the PAMC to Expand Tree Protection…(ID # 14355)2 --- I strongly urge you (a) to notify affected property owners, (b) refer this matter to the PTC, and (c) investigate thoroughly adverse wildfire defense effects before taking any action on the proposed ordinance. Dear Mayor Burt, Vice Mayor Kou, and City Council Members, Enacting sound public policy requires consideration of diverse and competing interests. The proposed amendments in the Staff Report (collectively, “Proposed Amendments”) have resulted from insufficient stakeholder engagement and failures to consider competing interests. Accordingly, the Palo Alto City Council should defer any action on the Proposed Amendments until (a) reasonable and particularized notice has been given to all affected property owners, (b) these issues have been reconsidered by the PTC, and (c) City Staff, with the assistance of other experts, have investigated thoroughly the likely adverse wildfire defense effects of the Proposed Amendments. Notify and Assess Impacts on Property Owners. There is a huge disparity between the potential impacts of the Proposed Amendments on property owners throughout Palo Alto and the degree to which their input has been solicited in any meaningful sense. While the Staff Report notes the participation of 40 people in a webinar conducted in April (Staff Report: 13, 114/173), that number reflects a vanishingly small percentage of property owners in Palo Alto, many of whose principal assets are their respective homes. Every month, we receive numerous notices from the City of Palo Alto Utilities in our bills, and recently I received a letter even advising me that an art and wine festival would be conducted in my neighborhood. But proposed changes to the PAMC that could drastically affect the market values of many homes in Palo Alto? 1 See the agenda for the Meeting of the City Council: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city- council-agendas-minutes/2022/20220606/20220606pccsm-linked-amended-public-letters.pdf 2 See the Staff Report, “Title: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Title 8 of the PAMC to Expand Tree Protection…” (“Staff Report”): https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas- minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas- minutes/2022/20220606/20220606pccsm-linked-amended-public-letters.pdf , 97/173 f. 2 City Staff estimate that there are approximately 600,000 trees in the Palo Alto’s urban forest, and that the number of private protected trees would increase by approximately 24% were the Proposed Amendments to be adopted. If approximately 50% or more of the residential parcels in Palo Alto consist of single-unit, detached structures, and there are more than 15,000 such structures,3 such figures might suggest a minimum of thousands of affected property owners from whom the City Council has not heard. If there were others who have already experienced adverse financial impacts by the existing tree ordinance, including huge reductions in property values, such as those described by one of the people who has already submitted public comments concerning the Proposed Amendments, then it would be prudent for the City Council both (a) to actively reach out to affected property owners and (b) to proceed more carefully. The City and at least one of the non-profit organizations that is a proponent of the Proposed Amendments appear to have considerable information concerning sizes and species of trees in Palo Alto. Because this information exists, the City should be able to provide at least a great number of potentially affected property owners with individualized notice of the Proposed Amendments and their likely effects on individual properties. Such notice should be given promptly. Furthermore, because not all property owners will likely have a reasonable sense of how the Proposed Amendments will affect property values in Palo Alto generally as well as specifically, just as the Policy and Services Committee has heard from and received detailed redline changes from the “Ad Hoc group,” the City Council, the Policy and Services Committee, and the PTC should affirmatively solicit input concerning these matters from Palo Alto realtors and other local real estate experts. Without affirmatively taking such actions, the City Council is likely to enact a fundamentally flawed set of amendments.4 Refer this Matter to the PTC. Among the Proposed Amendments are some that concern Title 18 (Zoning) of the Palo Alto Municipal Code. (Staff Report: 25, 140/173 f.) While both the Staff Report and the Supplemental Staff Report5 address certain development impacts of the Proposed Amendments, they failure to consider such issues in any detail. For example, the Staff Report, in the “Resource Impact” section, notes: Under the existing ordinance, approximately 10% of all building permit applications subject to submitting tree disclosure information are routed for Urban Forestry review. Staff anticipates a dramatic increase in routing to Urban Forestry for all types of building permits that are subject to submitting tree disclosure information. This expected increase is directly related to the increase in number of protected trees (as noted about is estimated to increase three times from current levels). (Staff Report: 12, 108/173 f.) The Supplemental Staff Report also observes 3. Section 18.09.040(f): the section is edited to align the ADU code with the proposed Tree Ordinance. Currently, the ADU code contains more restrictive provisions than Title 3 See, e.g., https://www.infoplease.com/us/census/california/palo-alto/housing-statistics 4 It is perhaps unintentionally ironic that the Proposed Amendment would create a new notification and appeal process for protected tree removal without individually notifying affected homeowners and others of the substances and scope of the Proposed Amendments. 5 See “Title: Supplemental Report Item - Update to the Tree Protection Ordinance, Title 8 of Palo Alto Municipal Code (“Supplemental Staff Report”): https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city- council-agendas-minutes/2022/20220606/20220606pccsm-linked-amended-public-letters.pdf , 145/173 f. 3 8 for some ADU development. Combined with the expanded scope of tree protection proposed in the attached ordinance, this could have the unintended effect of unduly restricting ADUs. Staff had planned for this change to be included in a broader update to the ADU code; however, as that item has been delayed, staff recommends addressing tree protection issues now. (Supplemental Staff Report: 1, 145/173 f.) Despite that “[u]ndly restricting” language, while the literal words of the proposed change to PAMC 18.09.040(f) might, on their face and taken out of context, appear to be an improvement, given the scope of other Proposed Amendments this is likely not the case. Were the Proposed Amendments to be adopted, they would likely have very negative and costly impacts on housing production in Palo Alto. Such effects would not be limited to ADUs. As City Staff recognized, the Proposed Amendments would likely result in a “dramatic increase in routing to Urban Forestry for all types of building permits….” The direct costs to homeowners and others seeking to construct new dwellings for family members, friends, and others in Palo Alto would likely increase substantially. Delays in obtaining building permits would be further compounded. (I am personally aware of at least one instance in which a newly raised urban forestry planning comment as interjected into the permit review process after several prior plan check review cycles.) Such omissions may have occurred because Public Works has been the lead department concerning the Proposed Amendments. Whether that is the case or not, certainly greater scrutiny of the Proposed Amendments by both Planning and Development Services and the PTC is warranted. Protecting more trees may appear to be an unmitigated good in all circumstances, but that may be an illusion and perhaps an important illustration of the type of conceptual error that I refer to as “vector thinking.” One way to overcome such errors in this case would be to specifically refer this matter to both Planning and Development Services and the PTC. In addition, just as Palo Alto realtors should be encouraged to provide input, local architects and design professionals should be invited to do so as well; such invitations could, for example, be coordinated by Planning and Development Services with groups of such professionals that have previously provided important input on various iterations of Palo Alto’s ADU ordinance. Engaging such professionals at this time may also reduce the likelihood of further review of the Proposed Amendments by HCD. Investigate Adverse Wildfire Defense Effects Thoroughly. While the Staff Report mentions Palo Alto’s Sustainability/Climate Action Plan (Staff Report: 3, 99/173 f.), it seems to assume that protecting more trees can only advance sustainability goals, failing to examine countervailing facts. For example, during the January 13, 2022 S/CAP Ad Hoc Committee meeting, the committee and members of the public heard at length from experts on wildfire risks.6 One slide was particularly memorable in this context: 6 See, e.g., the materials concerning that meeting at https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/City- Hall/Sustainability/Get-Involved/SCAP-Community-Engagement 4 To paraphrase Michael Wara, wildfire challenges are best considered in terms of their effects on people. While trees are wonderful in many, many respects, they can also present dangers. They can fall, and they can burn. Making it more difficult to remove trees may result in more falls. In addition, while some person may regard heritage trees as completely irreplacable resources, a raging fire may only see them as fuel. Our community east of 280 is not immune to fires, and reasonable people may want to protect themselves. Palo Alto’s iconic redwood trees are themselves at risk from increasing droughts resulting from global warming. "As summer progresses, we'll start to see more (redwoods dying) as it gets hotter and drier," new city Urban Forester Peter Gollinger said during a joint interview with outgoing forester Walter Passmore earlier this month. [PP] The decline of the redwoods is not a huge story — yet, Passmore said. But if drought persists, it could be. It generally takes three to five years or more before drought affects healthy redwoods. Weakened trees and those without irrigation would be the first to go. In 2025 or 2030, would concerns about fire risks be of greater importance to the community? Should such issues be treated seriously now? Given the increased frequency and increased severity of wildfires in our region, homeowners and others may well deem it advisable to create protected zones around houses and other residential dwellings. While some current state laws focus on residences in high or very high fire hazard severity zones,7 this does not mean that homeowners may not reasonably decide to do far more than is required by state law to protect themselves and those they love. Homeowners and others should have the flexibility to decide for themselves whether some of the newly protected trees that would be designated under the Proposed Amendments should, in point of fact, be removed to help protect people, homes, and other property. Little in the Staff Report or the Supplemental Staff Report suggests that flexibility considering such motivations has been adequately examined. Indeed, certain aspects of the Proposed Amendments, such as the development moratorium, may have precisely the opposite effect. At a minimum, such issues should be considered thoroughly by the PTC, with input from the Fire Department, CAL FIRE, and other experts as appropriate, before the Proposed Amendments are taken up again at a later date by the City Council I strongly urge you not to adopt the Proposed Amendments tonight. The City Council, directly and through City Staff, should (a) notify affected property owners, (b) refer this matter to the PTC, and (c) investigate adverse wildfire defense effects thoroughly before taking any action on the Proposed Amendments. Respectfully submitted, John Kelley 7 See, e.g., https://www.fire.ca.gov/programs/communications/defensible-space-prc-4291/ From:Bryce Beagle To:Council, City Subject:California Ave Caltrain station crosswalk Date:Sunday, June 12, 2022 2:08:41 PM Attachments:image.png image.png Some people who received this message don't often get email from bryce.beagle@gmail.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi Palo Alto Council, I visited the California Ave farmers market today via Caltrain and noticed this crosswalk at the station in disrepair. This is the crosswalk that directly connects the station to the ped/bike underpass under Alma St. -- a vital connection for active transit users. I'm writing to request that the crosswalk be at minimum repainted; the current status is unsafe. However, I would strongly encourage the city to spend this time not simply repairing it, but also modernizing it by converting it into a raised crosswalk. The Caltrain station is a heavily pedestrian area and a raised crosswalk would do wonders to improve pedestrian safety and comfort in the area. The station parking lot was ~recently repaved, but it appears that the pedestrian infrastructure of the area was forgotten. Thanks, Bryce Beagle (nearby Sunnyvale resident) From:Bob Stillerman To:Shikada, Ed Cc:City Mgr; Council, City; Gollinger, Peter Subject:RE: Need help navigating the city offices Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 4:13:34 PM Attachments:image001.png image002.png Some people who received this message don't often get email from bobstiller@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important Mr. Shikada, Thank you for your email. I have not received any email from Mr. Gollinger, nor from Derek Sproat whom I both emailed and phoned. It may be possible that your city IT is blocking my emails, as Joanna said she did not receive my first email to you. I need a way to access city services when I need them (not very often), and it is extremely frustrating when that does not happen. Perhaps I can get your guidance on the best way to interact with the city. Thank you. Bob Stillerman From: Shikada, Ed [mailto:Ed.Shikada@CityofPaloAlto.org] Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:51 PM To: bobstiller@gmail.com Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org>; Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>; Gollinger, Peter <Peter.Gollinger@CityofPaloAlto.org> Subject: RE: Need help navigating the city offices Hello Mr. Stillerman, I just confirmed with Joanna that Peter Gollinger, our city forestor, responded to you via email (to bob@stillerman.com) last week. I’m copying him here and his contact info is below. Please let me know if you’re still having trouble making contact. Peter Gollinger | Urban Forester Public Works Department 3201 E. Bayshore Road | Palo Alto, CA 94303 D: (650) 496-6946 E:peter.gollinger@cityofpaloalto.org Some people who received this message don't often get email from bobstiller@gmail.com. Learn why this is important Best regards, --Ed Ed Shikada City Manager (650) 329-2280 | ed.shikada@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From: Bob Stillerman <bobstiller@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:21 PM To: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: Need help navigating the city offices CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Councilmembers, I would like to bring to your attention that I am unable to get a response from city offices. I could use your help in understanding how to get return phone calls for matters that are being managed by the city. In this case I left a voicemail message (no one answered the phone) and an email message for the city arborist listed on your website well over a week ago. No response. I followed up asking for help from the city manager. Joanna Tran was kind enough to offer assistance, but as of yet I have had no response from the city department, nor from the city manager, whom I specifically asked for his response. It has been over a week since my initial, time sensitive request, but alas, no action! How do I get the city to respond? Thank you for your help in address city responsiveness. Bob Stillerman Some people who received this message don't often get email from bobstiller@gmail.com. Learn why this is important From:Shikada, Ed To:bobstiller@gmail.com Cc:City Mgr; Council, City; Gollinger, Peter Subject:RE: Need help navigating the city offices Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:50:38 PM Attachments:image003.png image001.png Hello Mr. Stillerman, I just confirmed with Joanna that Peter Gollinger, our city forestor, responded to you via email (to bob@stillerman.com) last week. I’m copying him here and his contact info is below. Please let me know if you’re still having trouble making contact. Peter Gollinger | Urban Forester Public Works Department 3201 E. Bayshore Road | Palo Alto, CA 94303 D: (650) 496-6946 E:peter.gollinger@cityofpaloalto.org Best regards, --Ed Ed Shikada City Manager (650) 329-2280 | ed.shikada@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From: Bob Stillerman <bobstiller@gmail.com> Sent: Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:21 PM To: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: Need help navigating the city offices CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Councilmembers, I would like to bring to your attention that I am unable to get a response from city offices. I could use your help in understanding how to get return phone calls for matters that are being managed by the city. In this case I left a voicemail message (no one answered the phone) and an email message for the city arborist listed on your website well over a week ago. No response. I followed up asking for help from the city manager. Joanna Tran was kind enough to offer assistance, but as of yet I have had no response from the city department, nor from the city manager, whom I specifically asked for his response. It has been over a week since my initial, time sensitive request, but alas, no action! How do I get the city to respond? Thank you for your help in address city responsiveness. Bob Stillerman From:Aram James To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed Subject:Fire Shikada Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 6:08:13 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links.________________________________ Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Linda Jolley; Shikada, Ed; Planning Commission; Council, City; chuck jagoda; Roberta Ahlquist; Vara Ramakrishnan; Rebecca.Tanner@cityofpaloalto.org; Rebecca Eisenberg; Binder, Andrew; Jonsen, Robert; Human Relations Commission; Alison Cormack; Winter Dellenbach; Sean Allen; Sajid Khan; Jethroe Moore; Jeff Rosen; Diana Diamond; Sue Dremann; Portillo, Rumi Cc:dennis burns Subject:Police Transparency -Daily Post-June 6, 2022 by aram james Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 11:03:06 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links.________________________________ Sent from my iPhone From:mark weiss To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed Cc:Alison Cormack; Kou, Lydia; Tom DuBois (tom.dubois@gmail.com) Subject:Re: go Zoe, go Rumi Date:Monday, June 13, 2022 8:45:52 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. And another thing: John McWhorter in the New York Times (and a Columbia professor of language) reports that the San Francisco school district is eliminating the word "chief" from all its titles, out of deference to Native Americans. I believe, in contrast, that we should keep the word "chief" as it exists. Mark Weiss head honcho master of his own URL -- see "plastic alto" in my subject line "go" in reference to Zoe is a positive acclamation, like an applause or a cheer. but "go" applied to Rumi Portillo means get away from us, like giving someone an order, or command. On Monday, June 13, 2022, 08:38:18 AM PDT, mark weiss <earwopa@yahoo.com> wrote: Thank you, Zoe Lofgren, my fellow Gunn alumnus, for leadership in the insurrection hearings Posted on June 13, 2022 by markweiss86 I am also responding - besides being reassured about Democracy in these trying times by my fellow Gunn alumnus Zoe Lofgren for her leadership in the hearings regarding the insurrection and coup attempt-- who I met at the 50th anniversary party for Gunn High -- to the late but not insignficant report in a local rag that said that the outgoing "chief people officer" or Human Resources director claimed without evidence that a citizens use of slang such as "bro" and "man" had harmed a female or homosexual male member of staff. The citizen, at least in the press reported that his style and substance was obviously protected by the Constitution and was not hate speech or weaponized. But I noticed in a brief review of the case that it was reported that her starting salary in 2016 was $200,000 yet in 2020 she charged us more than $350,000, a 75 percent surcharge. What kind of civil servant especially in personel gouges We The People like that? Good riddance. But another reason the search for a new chief should be more transparent. Mark Weiss Gunn '82 law practice limited to having taken Starzinger's famous course at Dartmouth for an a.b. in 1986 in Palo Alto From:mark weiss To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed Cc:Alison Cormack; Kou, Lydia; Tom DuBois (tom.dubois@gmail.com) Subject:go Zoe, go Rumi Date:Monday, June 13, 2022 8:38:30 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Thank you, Zoe Lofgren, my fellow Gunn alumnus, for leadership in the insurrection hearings Posted on June 13, 2022 by markweiss86 I am also responding - besides being reassured about Democracy in these trying times by my fellow Gunn alumnus Zoe Lofgren for her leadership in the hearings regarding the insurrection and coup attempt-- who I met at the 50th anniversary party for Gunn High -- to the late but not insignficant report in a local rag that said that the outgoing "chief people officer" or Human Resources director claimed without evidence that a citizens use of slang such as "bro" and "man" had harmed a female or homosexual male member of staff. The citizen, at least in the press reported that his style and substance was obviously protected by the Constitution and was not hate speech or weaponized. But I noticed in a brief review of the case that it was reported that her starting salary in 2016 was $200,000 yet in 2020 she charged us more than $350,000, a 75 percent surcharge. What kind of civil servant especially in personel gouges We The People like that? Good riddance. But another reason the search for a new chief should be more transparent. Mark Weiss Gunn '82 law practice limited to having taken Starzinger's famous course at Dartmouth for an a.b. in 1986 in Palo Alto From:slevy@ccsce.com To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Nose, Kiely Subject:Twilio economizing on space Date:Sunday, June 12, 2022 8:15:48 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Companies can and are reducing space in reaction to work from home and other factors. A tax on space is an additional incentive to economize on space. I think this should be evaluated and a response deduction made in estimated BT revenues. By Laura Waxmann – Staff Reporter, San Francisco Business Times Jun 7, 2022 Updated Jun 7, 2022, 2:05pm PDT Twilio has radically reduced its physical presence in San Francisco after re-emerging last month as a remote-first company. A spokesperson said Monday that the cloud communications company (NYSE: TWLO) has consolidated multiple San Francisco offices into one location, Rincon Center at 101 Spear St., where it now occupies two floors in redesigned space to promote collaboration. It previously occupied five floors there for a total 241,354 square feet in a lease that runs through 2025. Hudson Pacific Properties owns the two-tower complex. The spokesperson would not confirm how much total office space Twilio commanded in San Francisco, where the company is headquartered, but I've identified at least two other locations where the company had space. It leased a portion of one floor at 375 Beale St., and Twilio-owned Segment occupied 19,000 square feet at 100 California St. in a lease that expired in April. It is unclear whether Twilio has listed the San Francisco space it has given up on the sublease market, though it has done so in other markets. Last week, Twilio said that it will list a portion of its office space in downtown Denver, Colorado. The consolidation follows an announcement posted to the company's website in early May explaining that Twilio will be a "remote first" company. This means that employees have the flexibility to work from home, but can also choose to work from an office. Roughly 72% of Twilio's workforce was hired during the pandemic, and 40% have been hired into fully remote roles, the company said in the post. Twilio initially considered implementing a hybrid work place strategy that would have required employees to return to the office a few days per week and was planning to retrofit its spaces to allow for social distancing. But the ongoing pandemic and feedback from employees nixed those plans, the company said. Twilio conducted a survey that revealed that 88% of its employees felt productive working remotely, and that nearly all — 99%— did not want to return to an office full-time. "What we learned is that Twilio's global workforce has adapted really well to working remotely and that Twilions have discovered that — for most jobs— work isn't something you need to be in the office to do," said Twilio Chief People Officer Christy Lake. From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; David Balakian; boardmembers; bearwithme1016@att.net; fred beyerlein; beachrides; bballpod; Cathy Lewis; Chris Field; Council, City; Doug Vagim; dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; jerry ruopoli; Joel Stiner; kfsndesk; kwalsh@kmaxtv.com; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; lalws4@gmail.com; leager; mthibodeaux@electriclaboratories.com; Mayor; Mark Standriff; margaret-sasaki@live.com; merazroofinginc@att.net; newsdesk; news@fresnobee.com; nick yovino; david pomaville; russ@topperjewelers.com; Sally Thiessen; Steve Wayte; tsheehan; terry; VT3126782@gmail.com; vallesR1969@att.net; Daniel Zack Subject:Fwd: Jamie Dimon Tues. June 7, 2022 The Fed has no choice by QT Date:Sunday, June 12, 2022 6:13:50 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: Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 10:04 PM Subject: Fwd: Jamie Dimon Tues. June 7, 2022 The Fed has no choice by QT To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 10:01 PM Subject: Fwd: Jamie Dimon Tues. June 7, 2022 The Fed has no choice by QT To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 5:53 PM Subject: Fwd: Jamie Dimon Tues. June 7, 2022 The Fed has no choice by QT To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 5:49 PM Subject: Jamie Dimon Tues. June 7, 2022 The Fed has no choice but QT To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Sunday, June 12, 2022 To all-- Here is Jamie Dimon on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. He's only the CEO of JP Morgan Chase. What would he know? He says things are going to be bad. Try $170 oil, e.g. He says the Fed has no choice but to do massive QT- quantative tightening. Ouch! 5:02: Jamie Dimon: Fed Has No Choice But to Do QT - YouTube LH- 8.4% inflation just cannot continue. Gasoline in San Mateo on May 20 was way over $6.00 per gallon. Almost $7.00. Just massive bungling by the US government. It they have to arrest CEOs for price gouging, they should do that. They are not powerless. It's all due to covid screwing up supply chains and Putin's war in Ukarine. That is hard to believe since the US was self-sufficient in oil before the pandemic. I read that the oil companies in the US are exporting oil out of here to profit from the high world price of oil. Biden should have the CEOs arrested and have the TV cameras running when it happens. The US is dependent on Russian wheat? I thought places like the Dakotas and Nebraska and Kansas grew lots of it. Being a Kansas native, I've always had that imrpression. The Fed should do 75 basis point hikes every month until prices come down. And as they well know, they don't have to wait for their monthly meeting to act either. They interviewed the man who runs the Port of Los Angeles the o. night. He said a year ago there were 100-200 cargo ships waiting off shore. Now there are 20. That bottle neck has been nearly removed. The Ukrainians say they can win in Eastern Ukraine, but they need the promised weapons now. We say it will take weeks to deliver them. Good thing the war isn't in Germany and France. The biggest industrial power on earth with trillions of dollars worth of cargo planes can't get weapons to the Ukrainians or baby formula to US store shelves. It will be interesting to see how voters register their discontent in November. BTW, whenever they interview people pumping gas, the person interviewed has always been laughing about being gouged. I guess if everybody feels it, and a lot of them get hurt worse than I do, it's cause for laughing. When politicians and oil Co. executives see that, they say OK, they are tolerating it. No cause for worry. But the other night they talked to a man pumping gas and he said "It's ridiculous". That could get the attention of politicians and the WH. That scares them. They don't want an aroused population on their hands. L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:Aram James To:Sean Allen; Human Relations Commission; Council, City; Winter Dellenbach; Shikada, Ed; Vara Ramakrishnan; Jeff Rosen; Raj; Greer Stone; epatoday@epatoday.org; Tannock, Julie; Figueroa, Eric; Enberg, Nicholas; Jonsen, Robert; robert.parham@cityofpaloalto.org; Sajid Khan; chuck jagoda; supervisor.ellenberg@bos.sccgov.org; Binder, Andrew; Shikada, Ed Subject:Police brutality an anathema to democracy ( police brutality a world view) interesting cross cultural view of police Date:Saturday, June 11, 2022 8:18:05 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ https://blog.ipleaders.in/anathema-to-democracy-police-brutality/?amp=1 Sent from my iPhone From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; David Balakian; bearwithme1016@att.net; beachrides; fred beyerlein; bballpod; Cathy Lewis; Chris Field; Council, City; Doug Vagim; dennisbalakian; dallen1212@gmail.com; Dan Richard; Daniel Zack; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; jerry ruopoli; Joel Stiner; kfsndesk; kwalsh@kmaxtv.com; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; lalws4@gmail.com; leager; Leodies Buchanan; mthibodeaux@electriclaboratories.com; Mayor; Mark Standriff; margaret-sasaki@live.com; merazroofinginc@att.net; newsdesk; news@fresnobee.com; nick yovino; russ@topperjewelers.com; Sally Thiessen; Steve Wayte; sanchezphilip21@gmail.com; tsheehan; terry; VT3126782@gmail.com Subject:Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. Date:Saturday, June 11, 2022 4:41:51 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: Sat, Jun 11, 2022 at 4:28 PM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 9:11 PM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 8:49 PM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 8:46 PM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 5:07 PM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2022 at 4:37 AM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 1:12 AM Subject: Fwd: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Thu, Jun 9, 2022 at 1:06 AM Subject: 17:57 After PM survives no conf. vote- roudy. To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Saturday, June 11, 2022 To all- This is worth seeing if you have to come back to this email twice to click on the two links below. This is good. Boris survives the no confidence vote, and Labour can't be happy with it. The two parties edge close to excoriating each other here. One Labour MP, a woman, says that the PM is "loathed". This took place on Wednesday, June 8, 2022. Boris Johnson laughs at Scottish MP Ian Blackford's attacks during PMQs - YouTube Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer tear into each other after no confidence vote | PMQs - YouTube 17:57 Labor leader Starmer attacks Nadine Dorries, the Culture Secretary, for the state of the NHS. She is the woman seven places to the left of the PM on the front bench with the silver hair and wearing the stawberry suit. L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:slevy@ccsce.com To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Nose, Kiely Subject:Business tax proposal Date:Saturday, June 11, 2022 11:38:20 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor Burt and council members, In 2019 I publicly supported the business tax being discussed at the Finance Committee and consultant findings. But I am not able now to support the current proposal. Here are my reasons, suggestions and comments. 1) The staff report picked up in a Daily Post headline says that the top five companies in terms of footage will pay only 20% of the total BR revenue. I ask staff to tell in whatever detail is appropriate, who will pay the other 80%. The BT is being promoted as a fair share tax for (basically) large, profitable tech companies. But it appears that they will actually not pay the bulk of the tax. IT IS IMPORTANT TO KNOW WHO IS PAYING THE BULK OF THE REVENUE TO BE ABLE TO ASSESS EQUITY AND COMPETITVENESS CONSIDERATIONS. This is especially true if council approves the recommendations to provide offsets to those paying transient occupancy or sales taxes. I would exempt them completely but this proposal goes part way. AND if big hotels and retail stores are mostly exempt, then it really does focus on who the heck is actually bearing most of the burden from the proposed tax. 2) In the 2019 discussions equity and competitiveness were designated criteria for evaluating a BT. They seem to have disappeared from any evaluation. Comment Since most non tech businesses of whatever size (the 80% we do not know much about) have been struggling, in part, from trends that will continue--such as work from home, online shopping, I see serious equity challenges in the current tax. Add to that, many of the missing 80% employ large numbers of low-wage workers. Both the 20% and the 80% raise competitiveness issues as well as economic response likelihoods that were going to be addressed in the 2019 round. For the 20%, leaving is always a possibility though I am not arguing that here. I do think with work from home already and a tax on used square footage, that we should expect some space economizing responses and discount the expected revenues accordingly. For the 80%, we see closures every week. While some may be exempt under the 5,000 square foot exemption, not all will benefit. With a decline in customers here, not everyone will stay. Many of our neighboring cities are welcoming new jobs with a competitive attitude. To argue that on one will leave lacks logic. And these workers are customers for our small businesses. 3) I saw two other staff recommendations in their report--one is a step forward and one raises questions. I like the recommendation not to tax vacant space and see above for how that might grow. With regard to companies with multiple sites, I can see the logic for aggregating sites for, say, Palantir but see no rationale for doing this for businesses like Coupa and CVS that operate separate locations to serve separate customers mostly. 4) Suggestions In the 2019 round, we were discussing broad exemptions. I would exempt retail, restaurants and raise the exemption to closer to the EPA first 25,000 square feet--perhaps 10,000 or 15, 000 square feet.. This serves the equity goal and makes the tax closer to council rhetoric that the tax is focused on large tech employers. Then I would ask staff to then discuss what we learned from the 2019 round about competitiveness. 5) Related to point 4 is the finding that in many cases the proposed tax is much higher than the tax burden in neighboring cities as was found for the then higher tax proposals in the 2019 round. Professionally I see no grounds for the Palo Alto has cache argument with perhaps a few exceptions. Our vacancy trends support this. 6) it is probably too late now but I wish the survey had explored alternatives like, for example, would you favor the tax more if x and y were exempted? or would you favor the tax more if the uses were guaranteed under the ballot measure? or would you favor the tax more if all businesses with less than 10,000 square feet were exempt? Stephen Levy Director Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy From:Jeffrey Hook To:Council, City Subject:Deny the Bonus FAR request for 2850 Bayshore road Date:Friday, June 10, 2022 10:00:01 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from tribaljeff51@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable Councilmembers: It has come to my attention that Summerhill Homes has applied for a 1.14 FAR density bonus at 2850 Bayshore Road, where zoning allows a 0.60 FAR, which is nearly a doubling. The developer is claiming to qualify for the bonus because state law allows concessions to be given if the overall project costs decrease. That is NOT THE CASE HERE. Overall project costs will increase massively. The cost of site development will DECREASE PER SQUARE FOOT, but that will be true for any increase in density. The standard is OVERALL costs, not COSTS PER SQUARE FOOT. The city staff has completely misread and misinterpreted the law. If this is allowed to pass, we will see applications for doubling, tripling, quadrupling etc FAR all over town. City staff should be reprimanded for making such an egregious error and the FAR request should be summarily denied. Please insist that staff and applicants conduct themselves with greater integrity. Thank you. SIncerely, Jeffrey Hook 381 Oxford Ave. Palo Alto From:Larry David To:Council, City Subject:Cost Estimation Service Date:Friday, June 10, 2022 6:24:47 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from larry@csimep.com. Learn whythis is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello, We understand how important it is to secure profitable construction projects. To increase your chances of winning a construction project. You need to be able to measure project estimates and material takeoffs precisely. We've helped contractors win jobs all over the country with our highly skilled team of engineers and estimators, along with our vast database. We become an extension of your team and resources, so we can quickly bid on projects you wouldn't normally consider. We can send you samples with over a thousand projects completed with a 99 percent job success rate. Hope to hear back from you soon Thanks. Good Day! Best Regards, Larry David Business Development Manager CSI Estimation, LLC 718-337-8049 78th St Brooklyn NY 11214 www(dot)csiestimation(dot)com From:Kim Raftery To:Council, City Subject:airplane noise Date:Friday, June 10, 2022 3:51:58 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from rafterykim@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. To the City Council Members, I am very frustrated by the number of airplanes that fly right over my house or closeby, making so much noise that I have to yell to be heard if I'm sitting outside with someone. In addition, between 9:00 p.m. and midnight, there are so many low flying airplanes over or near my house that it is impossible to get to sleep, even with earplugs. Sometimes, planes fly over or near my house every couple of minutes. It's infuriating! I've lived in my house for over 32 years. I believe this flight path over and close to my house started when NextGen was implemented. This flight path is incredibly unfair to those of us who live under its path. I know the city is working on this issue, but it is moving slowly and it is very frustrating. I read your recent email entitled "City Responds to SFO After Community Meeting on Airplane Noise". I just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of frustrated Palo Alto citizens. Thank you for your work in trying to resolve this issue fairly. Kim Raftery Kim Raftery 2290 Harvard Street Palo Alto, CA 94306 650-776-1885 From:Bob Stillerman To:Council, City Cc:City Mgr Subject:Need help navigating the city offices Date:Thursday, June 9, 2022 7:10:47 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from bob@stillerman.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Councilmembers, I would like to bring to your attention that I am unable to get a response from city offices. I could use your help in understanding how to get return phone calls for matters that are being managed by the city. In this case I left a voicemail message (no one answered the phone) and an email message for the city arborist listed on your website over week ago. No response. I followed up for help from the city manager. Joanna Tran was kind enough to offer assistance, yet no response from the city department, nor from the city manager, whom I specifically asked for his response. It has been over a week since my initial, time sensitive request, but alas, no action! How do I get the city to respond? Thank you for your help in address city responsiveness. Bob Stillerman ←No balls and two strikes From:mark weiss To:Council, City Cc:Pat Burt; Shikada, Ed; Charlie Weidanz Subject:Pat Burt at bunt Date:Thursday, June 9, 2022 3:06:21 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Posted on June 7, 2022 by markweiss86 No, Pat your argument is specious, mine is solid. I spoke with our mayor Pat Burt today and he told me that although he initially thought he could raise $40m (towards our roughly $200m budget) via a business tax, he has lowered his expectations to $10m. At a No balls and two strikes I spoke with our mayor Pat Burt today and he told me that although he initially thought he could raise $40m (tow... recent public hearing he was discussing $20m. At this rate, by the time there is something on the November ballot, we may be asking our billionaires and trillionaires to pitch in a measley million dollars, or just let us literally eat the remains of their scrumptous power lunches; let us eat cake! I told Pat that people in Palo Alto like winners, and they like heavy hitters. I name dropped Palo Alto Vikings’ Henry Bolte, who had 13 homers for the #2 top public school in the entire Bay Area (and had 48 steals). Our mayor Pat Burt, using my baseball analogy said he was trying to bunt the ball to avoid striking out. I said Pat, you are a leader. You should stand up in public and act your conscience. If you think the fair share for business — like Tesla, $742b market cap, Amazon, $1.25T (trillion) market cap, Google, $529b market cap, Ford $55 HP, $41b market cap, is $40 million for the public coffers and not a measly million say so, no matter how loud the opposition. He said that he had commissioned three polls and the pollsters said the voters don’t want $40 million or $20 million or maybe not $10 million, and he will feel peachy if he raises a mere million. I asked him how much the pollsters cost us, and he said he didn’t know. I asked him if it was true that our pollster or consultant is affilated with Jarvis Gann the famous anti-tax activists and he said he thought Jarvis Gann was a sidewinder for the St. Louis Browns. He said “Jervis Gunn”*, it sounded like. Mayor Burt doesn’t know “Jarvis Gann” from Gene Bearden I said, what about VCs? Did he know that there is a company called Ribbit Capital on University that has announced, via the Silicon Valley Business Journal in January, 2022, that it raised $1.1 BILLION for a venture fund. Ribbit which is above CVS and whose entrance is next to a homeless lady who sleeps where the exit is blocked off to the pharmacy. He said he thought VCs, because they have relatively small offices and few employees would leave and go to Menlo Park and Mountain View if we tried to tax them. I said one, Menlo Park and Mountain View unlike Palo Alto already have business taxes, and two, since Palo Alto has the greatest concentration of venture capital in America, we should have the most progressive tax on venture capital. He said my argument was “specious”, jumped up from his perch, brushed past me (and my small dog, Daffy) around to the other side of the porch (of Printers Ink, the former bookstore turned coffee house turned part-coffee-house part-wine-bar). I said “Define specious”. As he was climbing on to his bike and (for no good reason) strapping on a helmet, I said, facetiously and a bit irked, “Thanks for not attacking me”. He said that I had not learned anything nor shown any human growth since he last attacked me (which was in March, 2011 during his previous council term, at the same joint, but 50 feet away, inside the shop). “You are just like Eddie Haskell”. I said that if he was my therapist the Eddie Haskell remark might mean something to me, but as a mayor and purported businessman he had no business analyzing me, calling me names, resorting to ad hominems, or dodging my questions. I meant to say, because I had rehearsed this with an ally a few minutes before approaching him, that at best he wil go down in history as someone who gave concessions to power, and was concillatory with special interests. I said that the Castilleja result — he voted the previous night to let them rebuild their campus and expand their student body despite their flagrant violations of their Conditional Use Permit — plus the business tax debacle — an extension of what I call a “tax holiday for Palo Alto’s billionaires and trillionaires”– will foment class war, the ultra-rich versus you and me, dear reader. To the extent that Eddie Haskell was a character in a 1950s sitcom about American life and American Family — “Leave it To Beaver” — starring Ken Osmond as a villain or very flawed but funny minor character who tried in vain to kiss up to the adults and misrepresent in a classically ironic sense, this slur applies to Pat Burt way more than to me. I texted him later to say I had in earnest tried to be nice to him, find good in him, laud him when he did something right. This despite the fact, as he admitted he attacked me, bullied me (more than once). When I discussed this dynamic with then-mayor Alex Yiaway Yeh he said that all seven other council members had complained of Pat’s tactics – they called it being “burted”. When Pat ran again for council in 2020 only one of those seven endorsed him. The other six of his peers shunned him. Pat attacked me because I wrote on the comment board of the local paper that I didn’t believe him when he said that billionaire builder John Arrillaga had merely initiated a proposal to build an office tower on park land at 27 University and that “we were taking the lead now”. Sure enough, I was correct, and the Santa Clara County Grand Jury reported that Pat Burt and other council members had violated The Brown Act and our own policies by meeting serially with the billionare to secretly advance his pet project. This cost the tax payers $500,000 — money we foolishly spent fleshing out his plans; maybe it’s not too late to ask the Arrillaga estate to repay us. Taxing the the vast business capital here a feeble $10m is like giving big business a $100m per year tax holiday, if you consider what cities like San Jose and Mountain View do. That we’ve never enacted a tax, while the Dow has grown from 8,000 in 2003 to 32,000 today, is like squandering a potential billion dollar rainy day fund. During the Covid era compounding our problems, our libraries have been open only a third of the possible hours, and we furloughed hourly workers who might have worked at community events at places like The Palo Alto Art Center. Pat Burt is a coward and a fool in that he pretends to work for the people but is really the useful idiot for the ultra-rich and the small group of landlords who runs things here. It’s hard to tell, honestly, whether he thinks he is doing a good job, or if, if he actually listened to a 10 minute tape of himself, he would realize he is way out of his class. Maybe “corruption” is too strong a word for this dynamic. [I had written to council last month calling attention to a situation in Anaheim, California where the FBI caught their mayor in multiple serious misdeeds and claimed that a “cabal” ran that city] But I hope, in these writings, that come November we can find three Palo Altans to run for Council who are willing to bite their lip and take their swings at the plate and not bunt the ball, in the analogy that Pat gave me. We need people who are willing to make Democracy like baseball our national pastime, and not yield to crony capitalism like Pat Burt appears to do. Our business tax should target the 100 largest and wealthiest companies that do business here, and it shouldleave alone Mom and Pops; instead, current leadership calls for spreading the taxes among 1,000 companies, mostly family owned. I saw Pat with Nancy Coupa discussing the topic at her Ramona Street cafe but told her today she should not have been bothered at all. (The Chamber of Commerce put her in their anti-tax ads: how does it hurt Mom and Pops – -the majority of your members, Charlie Weidanz, if We The People tax the ultra-rich?). The VCs might just as likely brag about raising a billion for their funds while raising $10m for the libraries, rather than slink away to some lesser locale, as Pat Burt claims to fear. Or show me evidence that they are as lily-livered and un-American as our current unfortunate mayor. Maybe on top of finding a good candidate for council and then mayor, we should work on a recall of Pat Burt (who after, all, was termed out once before). He is a disgrace to American principles and our community. He is the Eddie Gaedel of batsmen at a time when we need Stan the Man (or “Oh Henry”). *Dizzy Dean was a great picture who said things like “slud” into third rather than “slid” or “slide”. Dazzy Vance was another good pitcher of that era, who I read about or collected his trading cards. Gene Bearden I do not recall. But I do know and am indirectly referencing Con Dempsey the father of my contemporary and opponent Dave Dempsey, who told me his father’s career was ruined when the expert Branch Rickey made him switch from sidearm to overhand. Don’t trust the experts, trust your gut, be it baseball or corporate creep. There is no Jervis Gunn or Jarvis Gann of the Browns, to my knowledge. But I am “city serious” (Lardner, 1924) that I taped Pat Burn making a fool of himself walking back his bungling and not even bunting of the tax initiative. Sit down, Meat! View your plaque From:Kelly Nolan To:Council, City Subject:Ready for delivery – your press plaque for > Lifetimes of Achievement. LaDoris Hazzard Cordell Date:Thursday, June 9, 2022 8:10:23 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. Hello LaDoris See, touch, hold and feel your plaque without paying My team here thinks I've finally lost my marbles but I'm deadly serious about the offer I'm about to make you. I want to send you your press article mounted on a plaque for a 30 day free inspection. There is no obligation to buy, no risk for you. I'm offering you this because I believe you can only appreciate the plaque's quality by holding and touching it. Make up your own mind when you've the plaque in your hands. If you don't love it and don't want to keep it, just tell us, rip up the invoice and we'll arrange and pay for return shipping. So there's no hassle for you. If you decide to keep it the lucinda plaque costs $219. Alternatively, call us on 888-239-5731 to get straight through to someone who can help. I'm keeping this free inspection offer open for the next 7 days. Celebrating your great news, Kind regards, Kelly Nolan Account Manager That’s Great News PS. There is no catch, we've delivered over 200,000 plaques to happy customers. It only takes a minute to confirm having the plaque delivered to you before you decide if you wish to buy. UNCONDITIONAL 100% MONEY BACK GUARANTEE ON ALL PLAQUES A full refund if you don’t like the plaque. 4.8 Overall Satisfaction Rating That's Great News is not affiliated with PALO ALTO WEEKLY Article Lifetimes of Achievement. LaDoris Hazzard Cordell Featured LaDoris Cordell, Palo Alto City Council Published May 06, 2022 View my plaque That’s Great News, 900 Northrop Rd., Wallingford, CT 06492. All Rights Reserved. Call Us: 888-239-5731 and reference Customer ID (12054829) Free Inspection T&Cs i) Available on plaque purchases under $400 ii) All orders shipped to Canada must be paid with Credit Card. All Prices are in USD If you don’t want an alert when you’re featured in the press or our offers please unsubscribe to avoid us contacting you again. View email online. {"iid":"35538645","cid":"12054829","oid":"6508697709"} From:Charlotte Holland To:Council, City Subject:Signature requested on "Payment Authorization" Date:Thursday, June 9, 2022 7:30:05 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from adobesign@adobesign.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Adobe Acrobat Sign Adobe Charlotte Holland requests your signature on Payment Authorization Review and sign Please review and complete Payment Authorization. CHARLOTTE HOLLAND charlotte.holland@amexgroup.online After you sign Payment Authorization, all parties will receive a final PDF copy by email. By proceeding, you agree that this agreement may be signed using electronic or handwritten signatures. To ensure that you continue receiving our emails, please add adobesign@adobesign.com to your address book or safe list. 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From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; David Balakian; boardmembers; bearwithme1016@att.net; beachrides; fred beyerlein; bballpod; Cathy Lewis; Chris Field; Council, City; dennisbalakian; Doug Vagim; Dan Richard; dallen1212@gmail.com; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; jerry ruopoli; Joel Stiner; kfsndesk; kwalsh@kmaxtv.com; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; lalws4@gmail.com; Leodies Buchanan; leager; Mayor; Mark Standriff; mthibodeaux@electriclaboratories.com; margaret-sasaki@live.com; merazroofinginc@att.net; newsdesk; nick yovino; russ@topperjewelers.com; Sally Thiessen; Steve Wayte; sanchezphilip21@gmail.com; tsheehan; terry; VT3126782@gmail.com; vallesR1969@att.net; Daniel Zack Subject:Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal Date:Thursday, June 9, 2022 12:16:54 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: Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 10:03 PM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 5:58 PM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 5:16 PM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 5:12 PM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 3:49 PM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Wed, Jun 1, 2022 at 1:22 AM Subject: Fwd: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sat, May 28, 2022 at 8:41 PM Subject: May 28, 1943: Donitz calls off U-Boats- very big deal To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> May 28, 2022 To all- Seventy nine years ago today, Admiral Karl Donitz calls the U-Boats in from the Atlantic. Very big deal. He had lost his own son on one. What defeated them? Radar on ships and, especially, in planes that could spot them on the surface. Then you run in with planes and ships and depth charge them. Also, radio direction finding. They communicated a lot in wolf packs, and this could be worked on by the surface ships. And, the code breaking. We could read what they were saying. One sub, U-110, had been boarded by the British when its commander thought it was going to sink. The boarding party found the enigma machine and all of the books for resetting the rotors. That all went to Bletchley Park as fast as possible and they made great use of it. Donitz was unaware that that sub had been boarded, assumed it had just been sunk, and so he just had to ponder why the big increase in U-boat losses. Also, the closing of the "mid-Atlantic gap" south of Iceland/Greenland with planes to find the U-Boats. I strongly recommend the DVD by the BBC "Battle of the Atlantic" It is excellent. See it below: The Kriegsmarine lost ~650 U-boats in the Atlantic, with about ~50 men on each. The USN lost ~52 subs in the Pacific. Churchill wrote that "land battles could be won or lost. The only thing that ever really worried me was the U-boat threat in the Atlantic". They show those words in print at the beginning of the DVD "Battle of the Atlantic". 196 - Black May, Nazi Subs Defeated - WW2 - May 28, 1943 - YouTube The narrator here tells of the withdrawal of the U-Boats but lists the events that week elsewhere in WWII. Here is Battle of the Atlantic on YouTube in segments. Don't miss this. BBC Battle of the Atlantic - YouTube Here is another documentary re the U-Boat war: The Atlantic U-Boat Menace Of WWII | Battlezone | War Stories - YouTube The British narrator here could not pronounce the name of Henry J. Kaiser. And, if that is not enough, here is yet another one: Same name, different documentary. This is all exciting, fascinating stuff, as long as you didn't have to be part of it. Battle Of The Atlantic | Secrets Of War (WWII Documentary) | Timeline - YouTube L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:upcomingsales@friendspaloaltolib.org To:Council, City Subject:June Jumping, Jumbo Size Book Sale - Friends of the Palo Alto Library Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 5:57:26 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Visit our web site CUBBERLEY USED BOOK SALES FACE COVERS RECOMMENDED Saturday June 11 Main Room Members' Early Sale 9am - 11am Main Room General Sale 11am - 4pm Bargain Room 9:30am - 4pm Children's Room 10am - 4pm Sunday June 12 All Rooms 11am - 4pm FEATURED IN JUNE High Value Audio Books Health (Yoga) Military History 4000 Middlefield Road Palo Alto NE corner of the Cubberley Community Center (650) 213-8755 www.fopal.org Maps and Directions More information on the sales Donate your used books, DVDs, &c ALL NET PROCEEDS GO TO HELP PALO ALTO LIBRARIES Marty's (Main) Room In our Main Room, prices are way below what used book stores charge. Hardcover books start at $3.00 and softcover books start at only $2.00. NO NUMBERS WILL BE ISSUED FOR NON- MEMBERS FOR THIS SALE. IF YOU ARE NOT A FOPAL MEMBER SIMPLY SHOW UP AT 11AM. Please note that due to crowding during the first two hours of the Book Sale, no strollers, rolling carts, etc. can be brought into the Main Room. This is for the safety of shoppers and volunteers alike. By 12:30 or so, the crowd thins out and shoppers are welcome to bring these items into the sale. Children's Book Sale The Children's Room is located in the portable next to the soccer field near Greendell School. It is entirely filled with children's books and toys. You'll find picture books, school age fiction and non-fiction, award winners, non-English titles, CDs and DVDs, and books for parents and teachers, most for 50 cents or $1. Strollers are welcome in the Children's Room at any time. Bargain Books in H-2 The Bargain Room is located in Rooms H-2 and H-3 of the Cubberley main campus, between Marty's Room and Middlefield Road. On Saturday, paperbacks are 50 cents, hardcovers are $1, and children's books are 50 cents each. The room also contains many records, CDs, and DVDs at $1 each. On Sunday, the room opens at 11 am and all prices are half off. Or, save even more on Sunday by buying green FOPAL reusable bags from us for $2/ea (or bring your own grocery-size reusable bag) and stuffing them with any items in the room for $5/bag. Fill four bags at $5/bag and fill a fifth bag FREE! (We no longer receive sufficient used paper grocery bags along with donations for this purpose.) News from the Library, by E-mail and RSS The Library would like you to know that this year's Summer Reading Program is under way, and you can read their latest newsletter here. If you have ever given the Library your e-mail address, like this newsletter editor did when he signed up for a Palo Alto Library card, you have probably noticed that they are sending you one to a few e-mails per month since the start of the pandemic. If you haven't been getting these e-mails, and are curious, there's an archive of them here. This archive page also has a "join our mailing list" link. If you prefer this sort of thing in your RSS reader instead of your e-mail, you can get the RSS feed here. (This may open in your RSS reader instead of in your browser.) The City may also be sending you "Uplift Local" e-mails once a week or so. There is an archive of those e-mails here. And if like yr hmbl newsletter editor you have not been paying attention and are wondering what is open and how much the Library has a Current Library Services page. June Sale Notes June is FOPAL's busy donation time and FOPAL's members are benefiting with a Members' Early Sale. All FOPAL paid members can get in earlier than the normal 11am start time. Because of this the normal Main Room entry procedure is changed. See the section below pertaining to the Members' Early Sale. Summer is almost here, donations are up and we've got plenty of great reads, music and more! For FOPAL's June sale 2022, look for a unique special of High-Value items normally sold by our High-Value team on Amazon, EBay or at auction. Enjoy this rare opportunity to shop the High-Value inventory at the June's member's Early Sale as well as checking out a nice selection of books, DVDs, LPs, CDs and more carefully curated by FOPAL 60+ Section Managers! Main (Marty's) Room information notes, Audio Books may now be found in the FOPAL Bargain Room, Military History has some terrific Sets and Health received a generous donation of "new" Yoga books! FOPAL Members Get the First Pick at Members' Early Sale A super big fun FOPAL Members' Early Sale is scheduled for this Saturday. Twice a year, FOPAL holds a Members' Early Sale, at which members of the Friends of the Palo Alto Library are admitted early to the Main Room sale. Members enjoy a less crowded main book room and get the first crack at FOPAL's wonderful collection of materials! Life & Sponsor Members Enter at 9am: At our Members' Early Sale, Life and Sponsor Members (and one spouse or guest) may enter at 9am and can purchase up to 100 books per membership only during that first hour. Each Life Member and Sponsor Member must give the one Purchase Slip per membership to the cashier before 10am in order to purchase up to 100 books. If a Life Member or Sponsor Member exits without purchasing all 100 books, he/she may take the Purchase Slip and reenter to fill out the 100 books as long as they are purchased by 10am. Other Members Enter at 10am: Members at all other levels can enter the sale at 10am, and purchase 25 books at a time. General Public Enter at 11am: At 11am, non-members are admitted. The usual limit on purchasing 12 books at a time lasts until there is no longer a line waiting to enter. Ticket Handout Procedure: At the Members' Early Sale, tickets are given only to members of FOPAL. Look for two check-in/ticket lines; one line for renewing members, new members and those members without a membership card, and one line for members with their cards. To speed your way through the ticket line please find and bring your membership card! Tickets given out are for the 9am and 10am lines at the Main Room, since most people who come early are Members of FOPAL. Each Member will get just one ticket, although Life and Sponsor Members may bring one guest between 9 and 10am and Family Members may bring in their families, consisting of one other adult and minor children, beginning at 10am. No tickets will be given out for the 11am line. Join FOPAL Now: If you're not already a paid-up member, avoid delay at the sale by joining online now. High Value Special "FOPAL considers most of our books priced at over $20 as high value and sells them online either through eBay or Amazon. For our Members' Early Sale we are going to make available 500 books from our high value reserve. The books will cover all of our usual category areas, including fiction and nonfiction, recent and old editions, hardbacks and paperbacks. This is an opportunity to see the books in person as a library and buy them without fees and without waiting. As an added Members' Early Sale bonus all of the books will be for sale at less than their online price. "Look for the High Value Special Sale in the main aisle." -Nigel Jones Fiction Boutique "Dear Book Friends, "Welcome back to a TEMPTING selection of recently published novels... both hardcover and paperback. Choose books for your family and friends, and for yourself, of course." -Marian Knox "P.S. Don't forget your book club!" Essays & Short Stories "Avid readers of both short story and essay collections should be aware that we have a remarkable assortment of books in both categories. There is a strong representation of both hard and soft bound editions. Included are both contemporary authors, whose names will be familiar to readers and writers of importance in the history of literature. There is a goodly selection of works in translation. There are also many anthologies that will provide years of reading pleasure. It is also worth noting that we have works of interest that are collections of letters, works devoted to folklore and fairy tales. Last but not least there are literary journals that are worth taking a look at, especially considering their very modest cost." -Allan Fisch Children's Room "Once again, the Children's Room shelves are full of wonderful books, games, puzzles, and toys. Our World Languages section has multiple shelves of books in French, German, and Russian--and also books in Hindi, Bengali, Arabic, Urdu, Thai, Vietnamese, Tagalog, Tamil, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese, Dutch, Turkish, Polish, Danish, and Italian! Parenting has books of advice on parenting teens as well as toddlers. There's a good selection of DVDs including Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and many Disney classics. And our Beginning Readers shelves include books on science, history, and biography in addition to popular series (Mercy Watson, Dr. Seuss, etc.)--a great way to keep your kids reading over the summer. In School Age Fiction you'll find a complete paperback collection of Harry Potter (and four hardbacks of the rarely donated first book in the series, in addition to several copies of each of the other books); a paperback Tolkien collection with all of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings books; three complete Narnia sets by C. S. Lewis; many recent American Girl books; and the popular Wonder and Wonder Stories books by R. J. Palacio. Look in the Activities sections for lots of graphic novels, puzzle and joke books, board games in nearly new condition, jigsaw puzzles, and workbooks in math and science that are perfect for summer reviewing. These are just a few of the highlights this month-- come and browse in an uncrowded setting." -Carolyn Davidson Science "All shelves can be viewed at fopalbooks.com" -Edwin El-Kareh Sheet Music "All shelves can be viewed at fopalbooks.com" -Edwin El-Kareh European Language "We have about 20 French audiobooks on CD or MP3. "We got a large donation of books in Polish (including many about the theater). There will be more next month, since our shelves could only hold about half of the Polish and Hebrew books we've received. "Sincerely," -Susan Strain Mysteries & Thrillers "Mysteries has a section with paperback books of famous writers which are being offered for sale for $1.00. Pick some up to read when you are on the move this summer." -Cathy Swan History "The History section has received a very, very, very large donation of books on CHINA. The books range from contemporary China to ancient history. "It includes a significant number of books on the transition to Communism and subsequent changes in China. It is truly a wonderful and broad ranging selection of books! The books are in the History section in a greatly expanded Asian area. Other areas of Asia have moved but are next to and across from our regular Asian History section. The Middle East and Central America have been moved to a red cart. "We are also featuring a set of Will and Ariel Durant's The Story of Civilization in nearly pristine condition. It is by the far the best Durant set that the long time section manager has ever had in the History section. (And over the years there have been many). "Of course, our other sections have lots of interesting books but this is a unique chance to read and understand more about China as it becomes more important and relevant to our lives in this complex world." -History Section Manager: Suzanne Little, Assistant Manager: Lin McAllister Donations We have made it past Drop-off Donations 3.0 and have returned to accepting donations without the need to make an appointment. HOWEVER.... We are closed for donations from Sunday June 5 through Sunday June 12 to prepare the Main Room for this weekend's sale. Please hold your donations until Monday June 13. Please read our donation guidelines before you bring materials to us. All that said, our normal hours for drop-off donations are Monday through Saturday, 3pm- 5pm. (But not the week before the sale.) Suggestions? We're always eager to hear your suggestions for ways to improve our book sale. Please email us at suggestions@friendspaloaltolib.org. 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From:Aram James To:Council, City; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; Council, City; Human Relations Commission; Joe Simitian; Winter Dellenbach; chuck jagoda; Jay Boyarsky; Binder, Andrew; Greer Stone; Shikada, Ed; Sean Allen Subject:Chesa Boudin Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:36:00 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links.  Nurses for Democracy San Francisco residents voted yesterday to recall District Attorney Chesa Boudin. We’re not surprised, but let’s be clear: The recall was only on the ballot this week because of massive funding by far right Republicans and billionaires. This recall election was an effort to scare voters and make crime a wedge issue for the midterm elections. And now that Chesa has lost, the far right is more empowered to go after other progressive elected officials across the country even harder. That’s why our work now is even more crucial. Nurses for Democracy will continue to work this year to counter the right-wing funded misinformation campaigns happening nationwide — but we need your help. If you’d like to be a part of this work, please join our Nurses for Democracy Kick-off Event on Thursday, June 23. Nurses for Democracy Kick-off Event Thursday, June 23 Zoom 5:00 pm PT/8:00 pm ET RSVP NOW » We’re saddened by Chesa’s loss in San Francisco. When he was elected in 2019, Chesa Boudin became one of the most justice- centered District Attorneys in the country. But billionaires heavily funded the recall campaign attempting to scare voters, even though all the evidence refuted their claims that crime rates are higher in communities with progressive DAs. But still, we should be proud of the collective work we achieved as a Nurses for Democracy team. Together, we: Sent 386,218 texts to San Francisco voters; Identified 2,489 supporters for Chesa; Made 3,312 phone calls to our supporters to remind them vote; And so much more to challenge the enormous disinformation of the pro-recall campaign. This is exactly the kind of work we need to continue through the rest of the year, which is why we need you to join us on June 23. The effects of Chesa’s loss will reverberate in races across the country, but we can’t give up. We deserve leaders who will fight for transformative change, not the priorities of right-wing millionaires. Will you sign up today to join our Nurses for Democracy kick-off? We’ll discuss key threats posed by the far right and how we can successfully counter and defeat them in 2022, 2024, and beyond. RSVP NOW » We’re so grateful you’re standing with us. Thank you! Nurses for Democracy Paid for by CNA/NNOC Political Action Committee Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee Email us: info@votenursesvalues.org This email was sent to abjpd1@gmail.com. You can update your information here. Email is the most important way we stay in touch with you. To receive fewer emails, click here. If you want to unsubscribe from our mailing list, you can remove yourself here. From:Bob Stillerman To:Council, City Cc:City Mgr Subject:Need help navigating the city offices Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 3:20:49 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from bobstiller@gmail.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Councilmembers, I would like to bring to your attention that I am unable to get a response from city offices. I could use your help in understanding how to get return phone calls for matters that are being managed by the city. In this case I left a voicemail message (no one answered the phone) and an email message for the city arborist listed on your website well over a week ago. No response. I followed up asking for help from the city manager. Joanna Tran was kind enough to offer assistance, but as of yet I have had no response from the city department, nor from the city manager, whom I specifically asked for his response. It has been over a week since my initial, time sensitive request, but alas, no action! How do I get the city to respond? Thank you for your help in address city responsiveness. Bob Stillerman From:pennyellson12@gmail.com To:Council, City Cc:Liberman, Art; PABAC Subject:Request from PABAC for opportunity to review future bicycle/pedestrian projects like California Avenue/Ramona Street Closure Extension Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 11:05:36 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Honorable City Council, On behalf of the Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC), we write to request that future bike/pedestrian projects like the California Avenue/Ramona Street Closure extension item are provided adequate time for review by appropriate committees, boards, and commissions. This bicycle/pedestrian project was not reviewed by PABAC, Planning & Transportation Commission, or the Architectural Review Board before it came to City Council. PABAC requested a review, but we were told that staff could not have materials ready for review in time for our meeting that preceded the agendized Council Action Item. While we understand that your recent decision on this item will result in only temporary changes, signs that tell bicyclists to dismount and walk on California Avenue are a problem. This street provides a direct route for hundreds of bicycle commuters from the train station to SRP, as well as for cyclists who use the Cal Ave tunnel to commute from Mountain View and other parts of Palo Alto to SRP and Stanford University. While you considered the concerns of retailers and restauranteurs in your deliberations, consideration must also be given to the community of bicycle riders and bicycle commuters. Diversion of bikes to parallel streets where you have directed motor vehicles adds time and risk to a bike commute and creates a nuisance. Some bicyclists will simply ignore the sign (as they do now), and this will contribute to a perception that bicyclists are rule breakers. While we understand, appreciate, and share your intent to protect pedestrian safety, there are alternative solutions that should have been considered. We ask that adequate time is built into the schedule for these citizen committees to have opportunity to review the next iteration of this project before permanent proposals for these areas are reviewed by City Council. Thank you for considering our comments. Sincerely, Penny Ellson, Chair, Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee Art Liberman, Vice Chair, Palo Alto Pedestrian & Bicycle Advisory Committee (Letter unanimously approved by committee at the June 7, 2022 PABAC meeting) This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com From:mark weiss To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed Subject:Corporate power, as foundation Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:36:56 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. I’ve been Circulating privately a critique of our incredibly irresponsible and conciliatory and depressing and feeble business tax led by Pat Burt. I am reading meanwhile Ralph Nader “the 17 solutions: bold ideas for our American future”, 2012. Have we consulted anybody at Stanford about the nature of corporate power and taxation or any economist? What are we paying our consultant or Polster? Is it not true that we deliberately selected someone with a history of anti-taxation and a connection to prop 13 Jarvis Gann —that seemed to pop up-?? Who told the pollster what to ask? Burt told me recently that he lowered his expectations from $40,000,000 to $20,000,000 to $10m based on the results of polls.(By the way, how is this different than the mayor of Anaheim selling a $300 million asset for $100 million in hopes of a big campaign donation?) Nader: Corporations flocked to charter in New Jersey. New Jersey was caring enough from corporation filing tees and franchise taxes to abolish all property taxes and pay off its entire state debt. This corporate free-for-all started a race to the bottom (italics mine) that was eventually won by Delaware, New Jersey's southern neighbor, and today that state remains the easiest ju- risdiction for incorporation- -hosting roughly 60 percent of the Fortune 500 corporations, including GM, Ford, and Citigroup. Throughout the twentieth century, corporations grew and metastasized--and the states, hungry for tax dollars, abdicated their role as overseers. In 1959, Harvard Law professor Abram Chayes wrote, "The modern business corporation emerged as the first successful institutional claimant of significant unregu- lated power since the nation-state established its title in the six- tenth and seventeenth centuries." By 1972, Professor Ernest Folk declared that the regulatory role of state corporation law had effectively come to an end: "Statutes have become so broad and sweeping that they let a corporation do just about anything it wants. . . State law does not and cannot exert any real con- trols. Corporation statutes and most judicial decisions largely tend to reflect the interest and orientation of management or do used another popular term insiders. in Short state law has abdicated this responsibility as a result of the argument must run only federal law can handle the situation. Pp143-144. Do we Want to be known as the leaders in capitulation to corporate power or is there someone in Palo Alto willing to stand up on behalf of their neighbors and or the homeless and or the library‘s and or the children? Mark Weiss Sent from my iPhone Blog | COVID-19 | Racial Justice With our Community Conversations series, SVCF brings together community leaders to discuss Silicon Valley’s greatest challenges and how our community can lift up organizations that are navigating through unprecedented conditions to find solutions. We invite you to participate. From:Silicon Valley Community Foundation To:Council, City Subject:June 14: SVCF"s Community Conversations – Immigration Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 10:00:22 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. 650.450.5400 @ info@siliconvalleycf.org WEBINAR Community Conversations: Investing in Immigrants to Build a More Just Society Tuesday, June 14, 2022 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. PT Virtual Event Register Now › On June 14, the second of our Community Conversations will focus on immigration. Immigrants and refugees contribute significantly to our country’s social and cultural fabric and economy. Yet the U.S. government has imposed pervasive anti-immigrant restrictions in recent years and the immigration system has long been overdue for reform. Today, sweeping policy changes and investment are needed more than ever. How can we build a more just, inclusive society that supports immigrants and refugees? Join us to hear SVCF CEO Nicole Taylor in conversation with two leaders in the immigration field: Ali Noorani, a fellow at Arizona State University’s Social Transformation Lab, author of “Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants” and former President and CEO of National Immigration Forum, will be joined by Alison Kamhi, the Legal Program Director at Immigrant Legal Resource Center, which serves the Silicon Valley region. Our speakers will discuss current immigration challenges, including anti- immigrant policies and a lack of access to services. They will address how nonprofit organizations are providing solutions so that immigrants and refugees can thrive in our communities. Speakers Register Now › Ali Noorani Fellow and Author Arizona State University Social Transformation Lab "Crossing Borders: The Reconciliation of a Nation of Immigrants" Former President and CEO of National Immigration Forum Alison Kamhi Legal Program Director Immigrant Legal Resource Center Nicole Taylor President and CEO Silicon Valley Community Foundation This webinar was organized with support from the Collaborative Resources for Immigrant Services on the Peninsula (CRISP) and South Bay Legal Services Immigration Network (SBLISN). Address Register Now › 2440 West El Camino Real Suite 300 Mountain View, CA 94040 Ph. 650.450.5400 About Silicon Valley Community Foundation is a community catalyst for change. Copyright © 2022 Silicon Valley Community Foundation View in browser | Unsubscribe From:D Martell To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; AnnaEshoo@mail.house.gov; anne.ream@mail.house.gov; Supervisor Simitian Subject:A 4th COVID case at Lytton Gardens Assisted Living Date:Wednesday, June 8, 2022 12:20:10 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. June 7, a fourth resident tests positive for COVID. From:Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo To:Council, City Subject:Explore the JMZ’s New Solar System Exhibit Date:Tuesday, June 7, 2022 10:00:55 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. Logo_Full_Color_CMYK.jpg Hello Friends, In this newsletter, we dive into the JMZ’s latest exhibit, Voyage Solar System Model, with Tina Keegan, exhibits director at the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo. The Voyage Solar System Model was made possible thanks to the generous support of Friends’ donors. If you would like to learn more about how you can support exhibits at the JMZ and recognition opportunities, please contact Marie Ivich, our development manager, at marie@friendsjmz.org. If you have not yet had the opportunity to do so, I encourage you to check out the new amenities at the recently renovated Rinconada Park, including a new playground inspired by the Magical Bridge. A visit to the JMZ and the newly renovated park could make for the perfect summer outing! I hope to see you at the JMZ soon. Lauren Angelo President, Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo New Exhibit Spotlight: The Voyage Solar System Model Questions for Tina Keegan, JMZ Exhibits Director Tell us about the JMZ’s newest exhibit. The Voyage Solar System Model is a 1 to 10-billion scale model of the Solar System. All of the dimensions in this model, including the size of and distance between planets, are created to scale. The beginning of the installation – the sun – is located between the JMZ and the Girl Scout House. The installation ends with Pluto at the Palo Alto Rinconada Library. Voyage is a program of the National Center for Earth and Space Science Education and Exhibitology. The exhibition is designed for permanent installation in communities worldwide. We are excited to join this community, which aims to “celebrate our remarkable capacity as a race of explorers to decipher our place in space, and through scientific inquiry, reveal the majesty of the universe.” Sun Stanchion 3.jpg The Sun station is located closest to the Junior Museum & Zoo and marks the beginning of the Voyage Solar System Model through Rinconada Park. How was this new exhibit chosen for the JMZ? Our JMZ educators requested this accurate model in order to better teach students about the vast scale of our solar system. This beautifully designed and precise model resonates with our commitment to scientific accuracy even for our youngest children. Visitors will gain a conceptual understanding of Earth’s place in space and the nature of worlds across our Solar System through the use of high precision models, text, imagery, and activities promoting inquiry-based exploration. The Voyage Solar System Model was made possible by the generous support of Friends’ donors. Voyage to Mars graphic.png Mars, along with the other planets featured by Voyage, bear their own informational plaques in front of each model. How can visitors explore the Voyage Solar System Model? As a free, outdoor exhibit, the Voyage Solar System Model is available to the public during and outside of the JMZ’s operating hours. Visitors are welcome to explore this exhibit on their own time and at no cost. Brochures guiding the visitor experience will soon be available at the JMZ, the Lucie Stern Community Center, the Art Center, and City of Palo Alto libraries. You can learn more about this model and find teacher and parent resources here. Guided tours and other astronomy events will be held for the public throughout the year. Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo info@friendsjmz.org | www.friendsjmz.org DONATE NOW Connect with us Friends of the JMZ | 1451 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301 Unsubscribe city.council@cityofpaloalto.org Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by info@friendsjmz.org in collaboration with Try email marketing for free today! From:John Shenk To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Lait, Jonathan Subject:Item 10 Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 5:52:07 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor and members of the City Council, my name is John Shenk of Thoits Bros., Inc. It is time to let this “temporary” ban expire. You have implemented growth caps to control commercial growth in the downtown already. This was implemented when parking was a serious concern and studies were being done. The Council concluded that there were not parking concerns and terminated the public parking garage parking project on Hamilton/Waverley because it concluded it was not necessary. This should be re-started immediately as the funding existed and a new design strategy should be implemented. Maybe a public private project would be more successful? This ban is a reason we are not seeing any upgrades or additions to our buildings. Projects are not being proposed as potential applicants are fully aware of this policy and its implications. During the strongest housing market in recent decades we still do not see a single application for a housing development in the downtown. This in lieu policy has nothing to do with creating a market for housing development. The “data” to show “trends” of development pre and post the implementation of this policy are folly as there is just so little data. Such little development has happened in the last decade compared to any neighboring city that there should be no inference much less conclusion made from the “data”. To infer COVID was a deterrence to hosing applications is wrong as an application would come in IF there was a market and a viable project to be built. The fact remains that housing in the downtown will continue to be elusive until and unless we are willing to explore taller buildings and much higher densities or to allow significant development on the MacArthur Park site or the large parking lots at the train station. Furthermore, this ban has many unintended consequences which are noted but not highlighted in the Staff report. --[if !supportLists]-->1) <!--[endif]-->The ban makes the use of TDR’s (transferrable development rights) substantially impossible as building parking on an historic site is a non- starter and even transferring them to an eligible receiver site in the downtown where parking much be constructed on site again makes them hardly valuable. <!--[if !supportLists]-->a. <!--[endif]-->This undermines the citizen’s worthy goal to incentivize historic rehabilitations and seismic upgrades as both support our unique character and create more safe environs for our retailers and workers. <!--[if !supportLists]-->b. <!--[endif]-->Originally the public and the Council made the TDR’s most valuable as they did not require new parking to be built to support the new area. The large public garages and street parking where deemed sufficient for these smaller areas and the goal of preserving historic structures and making buildings safer was paramount. --[if !supportLists]-->2) <!--[endif]-->By only allowing small private onsite underground parking garages to use TDR’s or to add any square footage above the ground floor the City’s only alternative pushes for the least environmentally sensitive (by a mile) and biggest waste of resources, as well as the largest impact on neighbors and the community because of long and complicated construction processes. <!--[if !supportLists]-->a. <!--[endif]-->The alternative is the in-lieu program and aggregating dollars and building larger public efficient garages that can even be designed to be “re-purposable” as other leading Cities have already done. This makes the most sense and is just plain smart planning. <!--[if !supportLists]-->b. <!--[endif]-->The issues noted of concern in the Staff report may be real but other Cities have managed those issues well. If you are willing to ask questions I am happy to answer how this can be done. --[if !supportLists]-->3) <!--[endif]-->The Report states that “Staff recognizes the importance of office uses in Downtown Palo Alto” yet every recent policy and discussion is anti-office. The Report states that Staff is “well underway” on 4 huge projects and respectfully they all look to be a few years out still and like the design of a downtown parking garage has been happening for many many years already. --[if !supportLists]-->4) <!--[endif]-->Council’s March 21st request that Staff come back with further attacks on office floor area ratios and increases in housing FAR is just another anti- business maneuver that will not help housing productions. Like Mountain View and Menlo Park we need a robust economy with renovated. Upgraded, and new offices supporting local hotels and retail and HOUSING. Attacking and limiting office is NOT the way to create housing. --[if !supportLists]-->5) <!--[endif]-->Housing is built in Mountain View because there is constant employment growth which supports vibrant downtowns and retail. For 3 years the desired studies have not been completed. Staff is overworked and understaffed to get even the most perfunctory work done efficiently and timely. Staff is asked to pursue a new vision or policy or other Council project each meeting and speaking from the trenches, just can’t do it all. There is zero meaningful nexus between the lack of housing production in the downtown and this ban. Frankly if there is not mixed-use zonings that allow for in-lieu parking we will not see any private sector development. Just as office workers are the generators of +70% of retail sales in a year, their vibrancy will support the proformas needed to justify building housing on the small downtown sites. Please let this expire. Send a signal to the business community that Palo Alto is not totally “closed for business”. Support the value of TDR’s as our historic resources, once gone, will never ever come back. John R. Shenk C.E.O. Thoits Bros., Inc. From:Cecilia Willer To:Council, City Subject:Castilleja Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 4:22:17 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from cecilia_willer@yahoo.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. City Council Members, Thank you for the work you do for our city and community. I implore you to not allow Castilleja to proceed with their expansion. I do not need to elaborate on the reasons. Bottom line, they have not been upholding the existing rules, they are within a residential neighborhood, and traffic is already a nightmare on Embarcadero. By your agreeing to allow Castilleja, you are basically saying: 'You can not follow the rules, you can lie and then push lots of money around if you want anything within Palo Alto.' What will this lack of values be teaching the youth and other nonprofits, home owners, and businesses in Palo Alto? This decision is not really about Castilleja that you are making, it is about what we stand for within this community. Do we care about one another? Are we honest? Do we do our best every day to live in integrity? This is a values decision you are making -- Castilleja can be like every other private school that has been in Palo Alto and move to a new campus. Over 75% of the students are not Palo Alto residents. However, the majority of the families that send their daughters to Castilleja have LOTS of money and going against our core values of honesty, diversity, integrity. Money talks is what the value will be if they are given the OK. Why is there so much talk about homelessness and we are willing to reinforce the notion that if you have money, you get your way. How is that helpful? Think if these people gave the money for homelessness versus expanding a school, where would we be as a community? Please vote with the values that we want to uphold in this city. If you have children, please vote the way you would be proud to tell your children how you have core values that you want to pass on to future generations. Thank you for you time. I pray you make the right decision Cecilia Willer 1270 Byron Street From:Aram James To:Shikada, Ed; Council, City; Human Relations Commission; Winter Dellenbach; Joe Simitian; chuck jagoda; Council, City; Brad Imamura; Linda Jolley; Binder, Andrew; robert.parham@cityofpaloalto.org; Tannock, Julie; Figueroa, Eric; Enberg, Nicholas; Sean Allen; Sajid Khan; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Rebecca Eisenberg; Roberta Ahlquist Subject:Ed Shikada some background on his apparent relationship with law enforcement in the past Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 4:12:06 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. https://www.sanjoseinside.com/news/sources-san-jose-city-manager-ed-shikada-will-resign/ Shared via the Google app Sent from my iPhone From:Jennifer Heinemann To:Council, City Subject:Castilleja Agenda Item 6/6/22 Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 12:24:45 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from jenniferjlh402@hotmail.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council Members, Please support Castilleja School's success in providing an excellent program of education, community, and leadership to the next generation of women leaders - something we need more of, not less. Castilleja was established as a school in this neighborhood long before current zoning laws were enacted. It should be a no-brainer to approve the variance for the school to maintain its square footage. You should be helping the school to thrive into the future and not handicapping it. It's a jewel in the crown of Palo Alto. Given the school's demonstrated and proven efforts in traffic management, it should be simple to grant the gradual increase in enrollment to 540 students. Castilleja has already agreed to maintain traffic at a defined level and incur penalties of a reduction in enrollment if it fails to do so. What is the harm in approving this? Let's approve this, close the book on this chapter, and move on. One thing we learned as a society in the wake of the pandemic and lockdowns was how important it is to gather with each other. For those of you with children, I'm sure you recognize how crucial school events are to fostering a strong community and sense of belonging among parents, educators, and students. Please allow Castilleja to maintain its events on campus to enable parents to support their daughters in sports, academic programs, theater, and music. It's really a very, very small thing to ask. Yes, a school brings some traffic and noise. We have all experienced that in our own neighborhoods, whether you live near a public school or a private school. That is just a part of life - living in a town, in a community. These events are filled with optimism, joy, learning, camaraderie and are crucial to our well- being. Let's support them. Best regards, Jennifer Heinemann From:Jim Poppy To:Council, City Subject:Please protect our neighborhood: Castilleja Expansion Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 11:48:09 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear City Council, It appears as though you are going to give Castilleja most of what they want: 1. 60% more square footage than code allows 2. Underground garage that goes against your sustainability goals 3. A lopsided CUP without neighbors’ input 4. A TDM that will not accurately count student and staff parking in the neighborhood Please at the very least do not grant increases in enrollment until the school proves they can minimize their impact on the surrounding community. Also, please make it clear how transgressions can be reported and logged. It looks like much of the enforcement will again be left to neighbors, since the City has never enforced the CUP and has not made it clear how it will be enforced going forward. Thank you, Jim Poppy Melville Avenue From:john kovalfamily.com To:Council, City Subject:Castilleja Expansion Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 11:38:30 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. I am writing to give feedback on the proposed expansion of Castilleja School. What I am in favor of: Girls education, I have a daughter and a wife The implied position that if we don’t support the expansion, we don’t support girls is insulting! Allowing Castilleja to renovate within the city rules for building FAR and ordinances. What I am not in favor of: Allowing Castilleja to increase enrollment after years of exceeding their permitted size Just because they educate girls does not exempt them from following the rules Just because they were penalized does not give them the right to continue to break the rules This behavior should not be rewarded Allowing Castilleja to build oversize buildings and parking garages that dump onto residential streets WE have all had to build our houses according to the FAR and zoning rules. The school is in a residential area, if allowed, the garage should be connected directly to the main artery Embarcadero Road Many other private schools have dealt with the same issues successfully by adding additional campuses Why are the building exemptions and enrollment limits bundled into one item? They are completely separate issues and permits and should be considered independently. Please take your constituents views into account when considering the many exceptions to the rules that this project is requesting. It will still be a great educational institution for girls if they follow the rules! Sincerely, John Koval Tennyson Ave From:Steve Ludington To:Council, City Subject:New Tree Ordnance Date:Monday, June 6, 2022 10:45:39 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email from sludgeo66@gmail.com. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. What is the purpose of requiring bureaucratic approval for removal of trees that are NOT a protected species. This just makes it more cumbersome for the public and the arborist. It seems totally unnecessary. And the idea of an “approved list” of arborists just reeks of elitism and is an invitation to corruption. Who do you plan to exclude from the list?? Steve Ludington sludgeo66@gmail.com 650.387.0561 Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. / Just keep going. No feeling is final. ——Rainer Maria Rilke I believe in jokes, you know. ------------- Willie Nelson