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Home My WebLink About2022-10-11 City Council Emails 701-32 DOCUMENTS IN THIS PACKET INCLUDE: LETTERS FROM CITIZENS TO THE MAYOR OR CITY COUNCIL RESPONSES FROM STAFF TO LETTERS FROM CITIZENS ITEMS FROM MAYOR AND COUNCIL MEMBERS ITEMS FROM OTHER COMMITTEES AND AGENCIES ITEMS FROM CITY, COUNTY, STATE, AND REGIONAL AGENCIES Prepared for: 10/11/2022 Document dates: 10/03/2022 – 10/11/2022 Note: Documents for every category may not have been received for packet reproduction in a given week. From:Tran, Joanna To:Council, City Cc:Executive Leadership Team Subject:Reminders: Council Questions and Supplemental Memo Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 11:49:42 AM Attachments:image001.png image003.png image004.png image006.png image007.png image008.png image009.png Hello Mayor and Councilmembers, I hope you had a lovely holiday weekend! This email is a friendly reminder to please send any questions for Monday night’s Council meeting by tomorrow October 12th COB. As a reminder, a supplemental memo containing a summary of actions for the code updates will be sent this Thursday. Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Last Chance: 2022 Athena Leadership Award, October 18th - Honoring Gina Dalma Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 11:00:21 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. Register Now Athena 2022 Leadership Award Presentation October 18th, 2022 5:30 – 7:30pm Sheraton Palo Alto Honoring Gina Dalma Executive Vice President Silicon Valley Community Foundation Reserve Your Tickets or Table Here WITH VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO Stanford University Comcast | Bright Homes Real Estate | Castilleja | Homewood Suites Stanford Medicine | Town & Country Village Palo Alto Weekly | Sheraton This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Andrea Temkin To:Lait, Jonathan; Council, City; Planning Commission Subject:Fwd: P&T Commission meeting 10/12 Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 10:35:03 AM Attachments:image009.png image012.png image001.png image003.png image007.png image013.png image010.png Dear Planning Director, City Council Members, and Planning & Transportation Commissioners: I was somewhat astounded to receive this reply last week to my inquiry regarding information needed to participate in the public comment opportunity to be held on October 12. I am a pretty fast reader but this hardly seemed like enough time to familiarize myself with the voluminous material, to be able to comment coherently on Wednesday. I understand that you are now considering moving the date of the public comment opportunity into November and wanted to write to let you know I think that would be a prudent idea. Sincerely, Andrea Temkin 3371 Park Blvd, Palo Alto, Ca 94306 650-380-6183 ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Raybould, Claire <Claire.Raybould@cityofpaloalto.org> Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2022 at 11:57 AM Subject: RE: P&T Commission meeting 10/12 To: Andrea Temkin <andreatemkin@gmail.com> Cc: Sofia Fojas <slfojas@gmail.com> Good afternoon, The Agenda and staff report for the hearing gets posted on Thursday. It will be made available here once posted publicly: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Planning-Development-Services/Planning-and-Transportation-Commission-PTC/Current-PTC-Agendas- Minutes The Draft EIR is available here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/News-Articles/Planning-and-Development-Services/200-Portage-Avenue (scroll down to the environmental section on the webpage) The Development Agreement is not yet available. A draft of the agreement is currently being prepared and input from hearings (including this study session and other future formal hearings in front of the PTC, ARB, Historic resources board, and council) will further inform the agreement. We aim to make a draft version available prior to the study session that will reflect the information presented in the staff report to be released on Thursday. The Draft development agreement will reflect the terms outlined in the August 1, 2022 study session with Council. Here is the staff report from that hearing. The City also provided this update, which discusses the ad hoc committee process for the development agreement, goals of the city in those negotiations, etc. A plan set reflecting the proposed development agreement is available here. However, I will note that this is the initial submittal and therefore does not reflect staffs review. The City is currently reviewing and has numerous comments regarding additional items needed to evaluate the proposal and modifications needed to comply with different department comments. Many of these are finer points that won’t modify the site plan in a substantial way. But some of the comments include modifications to provide an enhanced bikeway connection between Park and portage which will need to be reflected in the site plan. Regards, Claire Claire Raybould, AICP Senior Planner Planning and Development Services Department (650) 329-2116 | Claire.Raybould@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org NEW Parcel Report | Palo Alto Municipal Code | Online Permitting System | Planning Forms & Handouts | Planning Applications Mapped The City of Palo Alto is doing its part to reduce the spread of COVID-19. We have successfully transitioned most of our employees to a remote You don't often get email from andreatemkin@gmail.com. Learn why this is important work environment. We remain available to you via email, phone, and virtual meetings during our normal business hours. From: Andrea Temkin <andreatemkin@gmail.com> Sent: Tuesday, October 4, 2022 11:11 AM To: Raybould, Claire <Claire.Raybould@CityofPaloAlto.org> Cc: Sofia Fojas <slfojas@gmail.com> Subject: P&T Commission meeting 10/12 CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Ms. Raybould: Thanks for the notice of the public hearing re 3200 Park Blvd/200 Portage on October 12. I can't seem to find an agenda, the Draft EIR, or the proposed Development Agreement online. Can you please direct me to where they are located so that I may have time prior to the meeting to review them? Best, Andrea ---3371 Park Blvd Palo Alto CA 94306 650.380.6183 “Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors; weborrow it from our Children.” – Tasunke Witko (Crazy Horse) Lakota From:FEC United To:Council, City Subject:FEC United Education Newsletter Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 9:05:54 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. FEC United Education Pillar Newsletter October 11, 2022 Changing the Future of Education in America? The last two years have been eye opening for many parents. While many fought to get schools open and a return to normalcy for our children they also discovered that what was being taught in school was not what they thought it was. Pandemic school at home exposed CRT, DEI, and the politics and policies of the teacher unions. It has led many to flee the government schools, and many more to wonder if and how to leave. It has led to parents becoming more involved in classrooms and state and local board of education meetings and motivated others to run for office. It has led to changes in school choice laws in several states as legislators and constituents realize that publicly funded does not need to mean publicly run. Parents are the primary educator and decision makers for their children. Yet, it seems that many school districts, teachers, school counselors, and even physicians have come to the conclusion that "in parentis loco" means that they know, and can act on what they think is best for your child. Week after week stories come out of parents being excluded from life changing decisions concerning their own children. It is clear that many who run those systems believe they know what is best, to the point that parents should be excluded from discussions and decisions about their own children. It is time for parents to take their children back. We can no longer abdicate our responsibility for the education, health and welfare of our own children to a system that has proven it cares more about indoctrination than education. Once your eyes have been open, there is no other choice other than to take action. How do we fix it? It starts with elections this fall. At every level of government. Local officials often claim they are only following the law. Then change your state legislator. Those in state bureaucracies often claim they are only following the mandate from the federal government. Then elect individuals that will decrease or eliminate federal oversight of anything not laid out specifically in the Constitution. Keep in mind that we didn't get here overnight. Just because an election happens, win or lose, doesn't mean you can go back to sleep. If you get the person elected to office that you want, continue to support them. If you didn't get the person you wanted, work to find their replacement. Show up at meetings, town halls, send emails. Be there when they are standing up to the mob, and support them behind the scenes when they are struggling. Get involved. Whether it is in a campaign or on a committee or speaking out at meetings, or writing an op-ed - ENGAGE! The battle for our children's future is not a single election cycle. It is an ongoing battle that must be engaged in every day. Those that are elected, and those that run the bureaucracies need to know that you are paying attention, that you will speak out, and that your children belong to you, not the government. Parents need to band together to create new options. We can continue to fight the machine of unions and bureaucrats, but it is time to act outside of the system as well. For some that may mean homeschool, parochial, or private schools that are parent-led. For others it may mean creating supplemental programs that push back at the narrative taught in the government schools. It means finding and supporting healthcare providers that stand for what is right for children, pushing back against the woke mob that are pushing ideology before science. It means taking an uncomfortable stance in a "woke" world, and being willing to be canceled because our children's future is what is at stake. Join Us on Facebook Use the following link to join FEC United Education Pillar FEC United- Education pillar | Facebook Please answer the questions to be approved. _________________________________________________________________ Education Survey We need your help to make an impact. What are your education issues and concerns? How are you willing to step into the gap to give our children a better future? Respond to the survey to help to build better educational opportunities for our children. Click this link to take our survey - https://fecunited.com/education- pillar-survey/ If you run a private or homeschool program, share your information here so that it can be shared with the community. education@fecunited.com If you are willing and able to volunteer now, send an email to education@fecunited.com FEC is continuing to explore how we can change and provide the education parents want for their children. If you are interested in becoming part of the solution and taking back education, email education@fecuntied.com I Want to Help FEC United! Mailing Address: PO Box 891, Parker, CO 80134 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can an change your email address or unsubscribe from this list. Unsubscribe at https://papp.pidoxa.com/unsub Sent by FEC United PO Box 891 , Parker CO 80134. Copyright 2022 by FEC United or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. From:Aram James To:Perron, Zachary; Sean Allen; Jethroe Moore; Richard Konda; Shikada, Ed; Binder, Andrew; Winter Dellenbach; Council, City; Betsy Nash; Cecilia Taylor; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; city.council@menlopark.org; Jeff Rosen; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; Jay Boyarsky; Joe Simitian; chuck jagoda; Enberg, Nicholas; Josh Becker; Rebecca Eisenberg; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Greer Stone; Wagner, April; ladoris cordell; Reifschneider, James Subject:Op-Ed: Black people are wrongly convicted more than any other group. We can prevent this Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 8:42:21 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Op-Ed: Black people are wrongly convicted more than any other group. We can prevent this https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-10-07/black-people-wrongful-convictions-exonerations A new report shows that Black people are seven times more likely than white people to be falsely convicted of serious crimes. Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; Jeff Rosen; Jeff Moore; Sean Allen; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Planning Commission; Shikada, Ed; Stump, Molly; Binder, Andrew; Reifschneider, James; Wagner, April; Afanasiev, Alex; Michael Gennaco; Foley, Michael; Josh Becker; Betsy Nash; city.council@menlopark.org; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; Council, City; Winter Dellenbach; Jay Boyarsky; Enberg, Nicholas; Joe Simitian; chuck jagoda; Rebecca Eisenberg; Greer Stone; Perron, Zachary; ladoris cordell Subject:From the archives: what will new city council members say about the Zack Perron Scandal. Will they be bludgeoned into silence by upper management or will they demand to see the full report on this very ugly incident. Date:Tuesday, October 11, 2022 7:59:39 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Alleged Use of N Word by Palo Alto Police Captain Zack Perron remains unresolved . Which new council members will refuse to be silenced? Time for Zack Perron to go? https://padailypost.com/2019/05/22/cops-use-of-n-word-led-to-investigation-that-never- became-public/ Shared via the Google app Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:gmah@sccoe.org; Gennady Sheyner; melissa caswell; Diana Diamond; chuck jagoda; Shikada, Ed; Winter Dellenbach; Council, City; Joe Simitian; Jethroe Moore; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; Josh Becker; Jethroe Moore; Human Relations Commission; wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com; Roberta Ahlquist; Holman, Karen (external); Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Rebecca Eisenberg; Greer Stone; Vara Ramakrishnan Subject:Rebecca Is Running for Water District! Date:Monday, October 10, 2022 5:51:45 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. As you may have read in the Palo Alto Weekly or the Palo Alto Daily Post, fellow baseball parent, our very own Rebecca Eisenberg (my wife and Ari's mom) is running to serve as District 7's representative on the Santa Clara Valley Water District!! The Water District manages a multi-billion dollar budget to provide clean water to Santa Clara County's 2 million residents, and also protect us from floods and climate events. District 7 includes the Western portion of Santa Clara County that runs from Palo Alto, through Palo Alto Hills, Los Altos, Mountain View, Monte Serreno, and all the way south through Los Gatos. Rebecca's campaign is going great. She has won the most important endorsements in her race -- the San Jose Mercury News and the League of Conservation Voters -- and she also is connecting with voters as well as succeeding in fundraising. That said, Rebecca faces an opponent who is spending $400,000 of his own money to beat her, no matter what it takes, regardless of the current investigation regarding his actions on the board and during his own campaign (The events that led to the current investigation into Rebecca’s opponent can be found here and here). Despite the current investigation, however, he refuses to step down. Rebecca Will Fight For You!! As all baseball parents, friends, and families know Rebecca will fight hard and relentlessly for her constituents. If you remember, she is one of the people who took PAUSD to task to reinstate the post-season and she will bring this enthusiasm to fight for you! Rebecca is the candidate we need right now to represent us on the Valley Water District Board. Instead of wasting $4 billion of our taxpayer funds on an ecologically destructive Pacheco Dam Expansion, she plans to utilize some of the billions of dollars recently authorized under the Inflation Reduction Act to upgrade our county's plumbing infrastructure to enable water recycling, recapture, and reuse, which will deliver badly-needed savings on our water bills. Additionally, instead of increasing our reliance on expensive, energy-intensive plans to import more water from other parts of our state, Rebecca will follow Orange County's (and Israel's!!) lead in leveraging carbon credits and govt subsidies to regenerate native ecosystems and recharge our groundwater storage. Her focus on efficient water management and sustainability has garnered Rebecca praise from the environmental community and business community alike, given unanimous agreement that better management of existing water resources is our only path forward during our never-ending drought. And once elected, it will be easy for Rebecca to be successful from day one, given that she is endorsed by two sitting Valley Water Board members over her opponent, the incumbent. We Need Your Support! Rebecca will win, but she needs our support. Please consider joining me in supporting her candidacy with a financial contribution? The campaign contribution maximum is $4950, and although she has received a few of those contributions, she will be grateful for whatever amount you are comfortable with. All proceeds will go entirely to helping Rebecca get the word out about her campaign, he values, and her goals -- which you can read about here: www.rebecca4water.com Also, although I am sending this email on her behalf, Rebecca encourages you to email her (rebecca@rebecca4water.com) or call her (415-235-8078). Community engagement and input is top priority to her, because she believes (as you undoubtedly have witnessed) that people who are impacted by a decision deserve an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process. And that means you and the rest of us in District 7. Rebecca's contribution link is here: https://secure.actblue.com/donate/rebecca4water Thank you for considering. Best, Curtis From:Don Jackson To:Batchelor, Dean; UAC Cc:Abendschein, Jonathan; Council, City Subject:How much do CPAU"s current "higher" gas rates encourage/motivate electrification? Date:Monday, October 10, 2022 1:54:36 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Director Batchelor and Honorable Commissioners, Recently and repeatedly, I have encountered the assertion that CPAU’s existing “higher” gas rates help/assist the motivation of customers to electrify. In this context “higher” (apparently) means “generates a non-negligible surplus”. This makes intuitive sense, but intuition is not always correct. I seek to understand to what extent this is quantitatively valid. If the cost-of-gas used by a household's gas-appliances is greater than the cost-of-electricity for a household’s electrified-replacement-for-gas-appliances, then that would clearly contribute to a customer’s motivation/incentive to electrify (ignoring the purchase price and installation cost of the replacement units). Are there any published analyses or reports demonstrating/validating that at the current CPAU “higher” gas rates, that the cost of running gas appliances is indeed greater than the cost of electricity would be for electrified replacements? If so, I would appreciate receiving links/references to this work. If not, having such a study would be extremely useful and valuable, and I would ask that CPAU consider undertaking that analysis. Alternately, if the current CPAU “higher” gas rates do not result in the cost-of-running-gas- appliances exceeding the cost-of-running-electrified-replacements, then that would appear to call into question the validity of the assertion/argument that the current/higher gas rates have any positive effect on electrification (other than to lower the increased cost of running electrified replacements…) Regards, Don Jackson Former UAC Commissioner, 6/2019 - 5/2021 From:FEC United To:Council, City Subject:FEC United Faith Newsletter Date:Monday, October 10, 2022 10:05:28 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Image FEC United Faith Pillar Devotional October 10, 2022 Consequences of Compromise… You may be wondering why I have a picture of unhealthy versus healthy eating and the consequences of each lifestyle…well, it is certainly an area I have been dealing with. My little compromises and excuses after three major foot surgeries and getting older have now turned in to a larger health crisis…(you can read between the lines on this example, but I thought I may as well lay my area of personal compromise on the line so I don't sound like a know it all and just scolding others about personal choices). Honestly, my obsession with how unhealthy I have become distracts me from my relationship with God. Let's be honest, if we ask the question where has the church compromised and what were the consequences of those choices, what would your answer be? Here are just a few examples: Less power, division, denominational differences, leaving certain scriptures out of the pulpit because of fear of offending people, and more concerned on church growth than peaching the truth. There are numerous examples in the Bible where Satan did an outright frontal assault on the church. This type of attack just made the church stronger. So, our enemy, Satan, tried a different tactic to divide from within to make us weaker. Guess what, it worked! That is the main reason why our country and the church is so weak and falling for the lies—we compromised and gave away our power. Folks we need to do our part to gain back the power of the church and in turn, that will help our country get back on track to be the nation that God loves! My pastor posed a challenge to each of us on Sunday—We don't need to pretend, we don't need to position ourselves with man, just remember we have an audience of one—God. Stop compromising, stop pretending and hiding, stop the hypocrisy and walk in the way of God. God loves us the way we are. Ask yourself these questions: Is there something in your home or life you need to remove? Are your personal relationships healthy? Is there something you are watching or looking at that takes you away from God? How do you run your life—Business? Family? marriage? Have you led your family in righteousness? Is there something you are keeping back from the Lord? Has Satan entered into an area of your life? Are you cultivating unity and healthy relationships? Are you honest? Trustworthy? And Forthright? Do you have an audience of ONE? Do you want to be seen by man or God? Do you fear God? Here are some scriptures to ponder as we ask ourselves these questions: Acts 2:42-43 (NLT) 42All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord's Supper), and to prayer. 43A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. Luke 8:17 (NKJV) For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Luke 12:2 (ESV) Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known. Galatians 6:7-10 (NKJV) 7Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. 8For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. 9And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith. If you would like to be a part of the FEC UNITED Pikes Peak Faith Pillar, CONTACT: National FEC Chaplin and Pikes Peak Faith Pillar Pastor Garrett Graupner: ggraupner@fecunited.com Pikes Peak Faith Pillar Admin. Jeri S: jeri@fecunited.com Copyright © 2022 FEC United, All rights reserved. Mailing Address: PO Box 891, Parker, CO 80134 Want to change how you receive these emails? You can unsubscribe from this list. Unsubscribe at https://papp.pidoxa.com/unsub Sent by FEC United PO Box 891 , Parker CO 80134. Copyright 2022 by FEC United or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:New Program: $600/year reward for biking to work, biking to Caltrain, or biking to the bus Date:Monday, October 10, 2022 9:00:35 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. New Program: $600/year reward for biking to work, biking to Caltrain, or biking to the bus The Palo Alto Transportation Management Association just launched an innovative new “Bike Love” mobile smartphone app for Apple/Android that pays you $5 per day, up to $600 per year, to bike to your job in Downtown or the California Ave area if you are not already biking to work. We also reward biking and bike parking at Caltrain stations on the way to your Palo Alto job. Instantly redeem rewards at local merchants via your Apple/Google Pay Bike Love Virtual Visa card. The app tracks your location to confirm valid bike, e-bike, e-scooter, and e-skateboard trips (operating in compliance with the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018). Check out our one-minute explainer video. Sign up for the program here - Bike Love Application Form. Have questions? You can also email us at connect@paloaltotma.org. This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. View this email in your browser Empowering a vibrant Palo Alto, East Palo Alto and Menlo Park From:Palo Alto Community Fund To:Council, City Subject:Your PACF Donation at Work this World Mental Health Day Date:Monday, October 10, 2022 8:00:10 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Palo Alto University Graduation - the next generation of behavioral and mental health professionals World Mental Health Day Supporting Mental Health Services The global mental health crisis is overwhelming, and solutions can often feel inaccessible. However, there are an abundance of organizations in our community working every day to deliver mental health solutions locally. In recognition of World Mental Health Day today, October 10, the Palo Alto Community Fund (PACF) would like to thank our grantees that strive to improve the lives of all those affected by mental health challenges and that deliver many of our “last-mile” services here in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, and Menlo Park. Thank you to Palo Alto University, Acknowledge Alliance, Adolescent Counseling Services, CASSY, Children’s Health Council (CHC), Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse (CORA), EPACENTER, KARA, and PARTI (Positive Alternative Recreation Teambuilding Impact Program). Palo Alto University: 2022 Dave Mitchell Impact Grant Recipient Earlier this year, we awarded a Dave Mitchell Impact Grant of $75,000 to Palo Alto University (PAU), a local institution entirely dedicated to educating mental and behavioral health professionals. PAU addresses the pressing need for more psychologists and counselors to equitably meet the growing needs of our diverse local community. PAU trains the next generation of practitioners and provides barrier free services through sliding scale fees, telehealth (e-clinic), and specialty clinics serving the Latinx and LGBTQ communities. Approximately 75 percent of Palo Alto University undergraduate students require financial support. “We are so grateful for this grant from the Palo Alto Community Fund,” Maureen O’Connor, President of Palo Alto University said. “We are using this funding in multiple ways, primarily to support our e-clinic, which is working with Peninsula area college readiness programs. The amount of money we have for new initiatives like this is very small, so any additional work in the community requires additional funds. PACF makes this critical work possible.” Our Impact Grants provide larger, unsolicited general operating support to nonprofit organizations that deliver transformative solutions to critical issues in our community in a way that achieves both immediate impact and longer term systemic change. Read more + Mental and Learning Differences At the Forefront of Mental Health Resource Library Curated by Children’s Health Council The Children’s Health Council (CHC) has curated an extensive resource library featuring articles, videos, and CHC expert content like podcasts and blogs that tackle important topics and provide mental health support for children and families. Learn more + Free Webinar Series Provided by Palo Alto University Palo Alto University not only trains more mental health professionals for our local community than any other institution, they also offer a free webinar series that anyone can benefit from! At the Forefront of Mental Health showcases the expertise of PAU professionals as they discuss the field's most pressing issues. Learn more + You can make a difference in our community. Donate to PACF today! Copyright © 2022 Palo Alto Community Fund, All rights reserved. Thank you for being a friend of the Palo Alto Community Fund. Our mailing address is: Give Where You Live Palo Alto Community Fund PO Box 50634 Palo Alto, CA 94303-0634 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. From:Aram James To:Tom DuBois; Filseth, Eric (Internal); Pat Burt; Lydia Kou; Planning Commission; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Shikada, Ed; Council, City; Joe Simitian; Winter Dellenbach; Greg Tanaka; Greer Stone; Human Relations Commission; Gennady Sheyner; Sue Dremann; Diana Diamond Subject:From The Mercury News e-edition - Bay Area cities may not hit state deadline Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 10:39:45 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I saw this The Mercury News e-edition article on the The Mercury News e-edition app and thought you’d be interested. Bay Area cities may not hit state deadline https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=eb5dc771-fc1e-462b-8b5c- 0a386c73f332&appcode=SAN252&eguid=9ecfbfdc-8c68-436d-84cb-55b5c7848dd8&pnum=19# For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here: Sent from my iPhone Download Attachment Available until Nov 8, 2022 From:Jethroe Moore To:abjpd1@gmail.com; Sean Allen; Human Relations Commission; Binder, Andrew; Shikada, Ed; Jeff Rosen; Winter Dellenbach; Council, City; LaDoris Cordell; dennis burns; chuck jagoda; Joe Simitian; Enberg, Nicholas; Jay Boyarsky; Pat Burt; Greer Stone; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Planning Commission; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright Subject:Re: Kevin Jensen for sheriff Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 6:51:22 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Sent from AT&T Yahoo Mail on Android On Sun, Oct 9, 2022 at 9:47 PM, Aram James <abjpd1@gmail.com> wrote: Click to Download IMG_3435.MOV 0 bytes Sent from my iPhone Download Attachment Available until Nov 8, 2022 From:Aram James To:Sean Allen; Human Relations Commission; Jethroe Moore; Binder, Andrew; Shikada, Ed; Jeff Rosen; Winter Dellenbach; Council, City; LaDoris Cordell; dennis burns; chuck jagoda; Joe Simitian; Enberg, Nicholas; Jay Boyarsky; Pat Burt; Greer Stone; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Planning Commission; Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; dennis burns Subject:Kevin Jensen for sheriff Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 6:47:27 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Click to Download IMG_3435.MOV 0 bytes Sent from my iPhone From:Loran Harding To:Loran Harding; alumnipresident@stanford.edu; antonia.tinoco@hsr.ca.gov; boardmembers; bballpod; bearwithme1016@att.net; beachrides; fred beyerlein; Leodies Buchanan; David Balakian; Cathy Lewis; Council, City; Chris Field; Doug Vagim; Dan Richard; dallen1212@gmail.com; Daniel Zack; eappel@stanford.edu; Scott Wilkinson; Gabriel.Ramirez@fresno.gov; George.Rutherford@ucsf.edu; huidentalsanmateo; hennessy; Irv Weissman; Sally Thiessen; jerry ruopoli; Joel Stiner; kfsndesk; karkazianjewelers@gmail.com; lalws4@gmail.com; leager; Mayor; Mark Standriff; margaret-sasaki@live.com; merazroofinginc@att.net; newsdesk; news@fresnobee.com; nick yovino; russ@topperjewelers.com; Steve Wayte; sanchezphilip21@gmail.com; tsheehan; terry; vallesR1969@att.net Subject:Fwd: How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 5:57:44 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Sunday, October 9, 2022 To all- Re HSR in California: A refutation of the bull put out by the HSR haters: ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sun, Oct 9, 2022 at 4:51 PM Subject: Fwd: How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Date: Sun, Oct 9, 2022 at 3:57 PM Subject: Fwd: How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails To: Loran Harding <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org>, Doug Vagim <dvagim@gmail.com> ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Doug Vagim <dvagim@gmail.com> Date: Sun, Oct 9, 2022 at 2:05 PM Subject: How California’s Bullet Train Went Off the Rails To: Harding, Loran <loran.harding@stanfordalumni.org> Loran, FYI... https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/us/california-high-speed-rail-politics.html Doug- This will refute the lies issued by the California HSR haters. Who does have HSR now? Well, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Holland, Belgium, China by the thousands of miles. The UK is building a system. All of those except China get a totally free military defense furnished by the suckers, the American people. Get the Facts - California High Speed Rail I think the Chinese build an additional thousand miles per year of high speed rail. Very helpful if you get into a big shooting war. And the USA, someone with whom China might get into a big shooting war, has not one millimeter of high speed rail. We have crummy old Conrail freight, if it still exists, and ancient, accident-prone Amtrak for passenger service. Only substance abusers and psychotics, and the really poor, would ride most of the Amtrak milage. Do you know of anybody with any sense who takes long distance trips on Amtrak? So here we are, bereft of a wonderful high speed rail system, or any system, in the United States. Just get on YouTube and see HSR in France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Japan and S. Korea. Those populations think the American people must be crazy, as well as stupid. We let millions of illegals pour across our southern border, and the governors there put them on buses to NYC, DC. Chicago, etc. Their prisons are already full and their welfare systems are at the breaking point. We give billions of dollars per year to countries in the Middle East, and to countries all over the world. The United States is like a drunk lying in the gutter. If one goes over and kicks him, a few billion dollars fly out. We should tell the countries in the Middle East to kill each other with the weapons we've given them since 1949 for a few years and use that money to build high speed rail in the United States. What little rail money was in the infrastructure bill was high jacked by Shumer when he blackmailed some other senators to get the money for the north east. Remember that when you plan your vacations. Keep that message alive: Shumer high jacked the federal tax money that Californians pay for rail infrastructure. The military budget of the United States for the next fiscal year is $811 billion dollars. The Germans have reluctantly agreed to increase their military expenditure, as part of NATO, to $100 billion per year. The UK spends around $45 billion per year on their military, 6% of what we spend. We defend the world, including Saudi Arabia, as Trump pointed out, and they all screw the American people any way they can. Now OPEC cuts oil production by two million barrels per day when the American suckers, who provide their defense, are just reeling at the high price of gasoline, which they must buy to get to work. Next it will be heating oil prices in the NE in the expected cold winter there. Why is natural gas becoming more expensive in the western States? Because supplies of it were drawn down to generate more electricity during the long heat wave this summer in the west. The American people are fed up with our shit government. That includes the federal Nazi regime dedicated to ruining the liives of white American men. And it includes SB9 in California, signed by our asshole Governor, Newsom. SB9 will ruin our single family home neighborhoods in California, and this radical liberal asshole Newsom signed that into law. That should be the end of this bastard's political career. Find out how your California state senator voted on SB9, and vote them out this November if they voted yes on it. Elect the Republican for Governor. If he is as bad as Newsom, we can recall him. If Newsom wins, we should start an immediate effort to recall him with someone who is capable of serving as Governor of California. The Republicans are running a total unknown from up near the Oregon border. I am sure that he is a fine person. Elect him. Maybe the Republicans were bribed to throw the election. I hope the attached will help you see the truth about HSR being built in California. Notice that the next phase will most likely be Merced to San Jose. That will connect the Central Valley with Silicon Valley, and that will be transformative for the former. It will heip the latter as well. No more of $200,000 and up engineers in SV paying $3,000 per month for crummy apartments in Sunnyvale and Santa Clara, or trying to live in RVs along El Camino Real. For $3,000 per month they can buy beautiful new homes in Fresno, one hour from Diridon Station in San Jose via high speed rail. The rich Republicans in Fresno have nearly bankrupted themselves trying to stop the California HSR system. Their labor supply will be riding one hour on HSR to San Jose and earning twice what they earn here. CHSRA needs $11-13 billion to build HSR from Merced to Gilroy to San Jose. Newsom, or some new Governor of California, should peel that money off of the $99 billion surplus we have and provide that money to CHSRA to get the Central Valley connected to Silicon Valley and the Bay Area. $11 billion and we will spend $811 bilion next year to defend the whole world. L. William Harding Fresno, Ca. From:Aram James To:Council, City; city.council@menlopark.org; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; Perron, Zachary; Sean Allen; Binder, Andrew; Reifschneider, James; james pitkin; Shikada, Ed; Jeff Rosen; Planning Commission; Human Relations Commission; Jay Boyarsky Subject:Sheriff Jody Greene Recorded Saying He Would Fired Every Black Deputy In... Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 3:39:22 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. .. FYI: no black officers in the command staff of the PAPD but PAPD Caption Zack Perron remains. Where’s the outrage folks?? https://youtu.be/EzT288rP2zg Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Council, City Subject:Take this hammer Date:Sunday, October 9, 2022 12:47:40 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/bundles/216518 Sent from my iPhone From:Jeff Hoel To:Council, City; UAC Cc:Hoel, Jeff (external) Subject:TRANSCRIPT & COMMENTS -- 09-19-22 joint study session -- FTTP Date:Saturday, October 8, 2022 6:47:00 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments andclicking on links. Council members and commissioners, At Council's 09-19-22 meeting, there was joint study session with Council and UAC about FTTP (Item 6). 09-19-22 Agenda, including staff report (Packet Pages 54-95) (PDF pages 18-59): https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas- minutes/2022/20220919/20220919pccsm-amended-linked.pdf Video: https://midpenmedia.org/city-council-152-9192022/ Staff's presentation slides (29 pages): https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/item-presentations/2022/20220919/20220919pptccs-item-6.pdf Subcommittee Presentation slides (6 pages) https://www.cityofpaloalto.org//files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/item-presentations/2022/20220919/20220922-fsc-full- presentation.pdf Public Comment: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org//files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/public-letters-to-council/2022/20220919-september- 19/20220919plccs-item6.pdf Here (below the "######" line) is a TRANSCRIPT of the item, with my COMMENTS (paragraphs in red beginning with ###). But first, some high-level comments. 1. There will never be a better time for Palo Alto to commit to deploying citywide FTTP than right now. 2. There's no reason to think that if we do FTTP, we can't also do electrification, get rid of gas, and save the planet. 3. There's no reason to think that municipal FTTP can't succeed despite the competitive efforts of the incumbents. 3.a. I'd ask Council not to ask FTTP to be a cash cow for the City. Rather, let it be a utility, offering the best service to the community at the best price. 4. There's no reason to think that some new technology will obsolete FTTP. Thanks. Jeff ------------------- Jeff Hoel 731 Colorado Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94303 ------------------- ################################################################################################################### TRANSCRIPT ### All seven Council members were present in Council Chambers. 1:54:43: Mayor Burt: So, our next item is a joint study session of the City Council and the Utilities Advisory Commission regarding the fiber to the premise efforts. And I see -- Is Director Batchelor kicking this off? Or -- 1:55:01: Director Batchelor: [unamplified] 1:55:03: Mayor Burt: Oh. We'll get you that. 1:55:04: Director Batchelor: Thank you. Yes, I will, Chair Burt. Or, Mayor Burt. 1:55:11: Mayor Burt: OK. 1:55:28: Director Batchelor: Good evening, Mayor Burt and Council members, Chair Segal and commissioners. Sorry -- don't see -- could you flip the screen, please. Tonight, we're discuss in the study session. We decided that what we were going to do is, we're going to break this up into eight different segments. During the joint session, we'll be talking about the background of how we got here today. As well as some survey results, some modeling, and some risk mitigation. And in the second hour, is that we will be talking about the financial options and the organization structures. ### From this description, it wasn't clear to me that UAC would be invited to participate in only the first four segments. 1:56:14: ### Slide 1: Study Session Fiber Update -- Palo Alto Fiber -- Internet Survey Results and Financial Business Models Mayor Burt: Before you continue, Director, we have -- is it two members of the UAC here? And I don't know what the plan was to include them within the -- ### There should have been a plan for seating UAC members. ### There should have been a roll call for UAC. Chair Segal, Commissioner Forssell, and Commissioner Metz were present in Council Chambers. Vice Chair Johnston, Commissioner Smith, and Commissioner Bowie attended via Zoom. Commissioner Scharff was absent. I didn't know if it was at the table here. Or, if there's only two, we would have room up at the dais. So, maybe we'd like to invite them at this time. Sure. 1:56:41: Chair Segal: Mayor Burt, I believe some of the other commissioners are on their way. I don't know -- Do you know of anyone accessing online? OK. So, we have at least two of the three members of the Fiber Subcommittee who are joining via Zoom. And -- so at least we have a quorum here. If we're the only two in chambers, we're happy to join you, or whatever you prefer. 1:57:15: Mayor Burt: Why don't you go ahead and come join us on the dais. Let's see. Do we have chairs, though? We can bring them from the other room. [pause] Sorry for that delay. 1:58:19: Director Batchelor: Quite OK. So, as I was mentioning is that we broke this down -- and for the Council session portion of it -- is to talk a little bit more about the analysis that we have done, from a financial standpoint. As well as some financial options. And then also looking at the organizational structure. Next slide, please. 1:58:43: ### Slide 2: FIBER STUDY SESSION AGENDA ### The purpose of this slide seems to have been to explain which topics the UAC could participate in. One more. Thank you. 1:58:45: ### Slide 3: Items to consider in the Study Session So, some of the items to -- that -- to consider during this study session tonight is looking at the marketing analysis and estimated costs that we were able to obtain. As well as, we'll be talking about some key values, as well as some of the risks that are involved if we move forward in owning an FTTP network. And the last thing is is to talk about the three different models of how the organization could be structured. And how the cost will roll up in those three different models. So, I'd also like to thank -- next slide -- 1:59:33: ### Slide 4: Joint Study Session -- City Council and Utilities Advisory Commission I want to thank the UAC Fiber Subcommittee for working with our City staff and with our consultant, Magellan. They put a lot of work and effort into understanding this -- this very difficult task at hand. And I'd like to have one of them -- or maybe all three -- I see Commissioner Metz is here -- I think Commissioner Johnston -- or -- is on. Don't know if Commissioner Smith is on. But they would like to address the Council as well. So, with that -- Is [Commissioner] Loren Smith -- are you on? 2:00:25: Mayor Burt: Not sure. I see Director ### Commissioner Metz. You're part of the Subcommittee? And we're trying to figure out who will introduce your memo. 2:00:37: Director Batchelor: And also a couple of slides that they would like to talk about. 2:00:39: Mayor Burt: And it would be done at this time, you're saying? 2:00:41: Director Batchelor: Yes, please. 2:00 42: Mayor Burt: Great. 2:00:47: Director Batchelor: Commissioner Metz, are you prepared to -- 2:00:49: Commissioner Metz: Yes. 2:00:49: Director Batchelor: Thank you. 2:00:50: Commissioner Metz: This is Commissioner Metz. I'll be speaking for the Subcommittee. Both Commissioners Johnston and Smith were not able to attend in person. Shall we begin then? Can we get our slides up? 2:01:15: ### Subcommittee Slide 1: UAC Sub-Committee Recommendations -- Implementation of a City-Owned FTTP network and City-Owned Internet Service Provider OK. Thank you. Next slide please. 2:01:21: ### Subcommittee Slide 2: UAC Subcommittee Recommendations OK. The UAC Subcommittee on Fiber, after reviewing the business financial models and especially the customer survey would like to make two recommendations. First is that the CPAU proceed forward evaluating plans to offer fiber-based broadband services. But also, we have some specific recommendations that address the risks that we see as inherent in the City developing internet service provider. Next slide, please. 2:02:01: ### Subcommittee Slide 3: Key Findings So, just a couple -- And I won't go through all this. I'd just like to touch on a couple of key findings. One -- The first is that about a third of households were dissatisfied with current internet service. I think we need to be careful in assessing that, because it kind of means that the majority were actually satisfied, to a greater or lesser degree, with services that they have today. I think it highlights how competitive this business would be. Also, in terms of the survey, the customer choice criteria, price, speed, and reliability were the top choice criteria. And price was number one. Not by a lot, but it was the number one choice criteria. And I think that, again, highlights how competitive this business is. I think one particularly bright note from the customer survey is that about 50 percent of households buy internet separately from entertainment services. It certainly was a surprise to me. And I think it highlights that it's -- the feasibility of offering a broadband service separate from entertainment. Which was one of my personal concerns, going into this. Next slide please. 2:03:24: ### Subcommittee Slide 4: Key Benefits In terms of benefits, I think those will be talked about by Director Batchelor, by Magellan. So, I think we won't talk about that. We'd be happy to answer questions during the discussion section about, you know, our perspective on some of these. But I think everyone is familiar with the benefits, and those will be addressed in detail by others. So, I won't. I'd like to turn to the last slide. 2:03:53: ### Subcommittee Slide 5: Key Risks So, this slide talks about -- We think, you know, a pow-wow with our recommendation to proceed with our evaluating the business. We see these four risks as very important to deal with. First one is competition. This is the -- Which is super important. Because this will be the only utility service that CPAU has that competes with other organizations. And that really -- And those organizations are well-financed incumbent competitors. So, competition is particularly important. Take rate assumption is the second risk that we see. The viability of the business, and the cash flow over -- particularly over the first ten years or so -- depends highly on the speed of rolling out the service, and the speed with which people accept it. And the ultimate viability depends totally on how many people will accept the service. The third risk that we see is technology obsolescence. I'm particularly concerned about 5G wireless. Some of the 5G mobile service providers are offering fixed internet service for, you know, home internet use. So, we see that as a particularly important new technology. And we see it as both a threat and an opportunity for potential Palo Alto internet service. It's a threat, obviously, in terms of being able to roll out broadband service more quickly than might be possible with fiber drops. It also could be an opportunity in terms of allowing the City to roll out ITS service faster. Also, the wireless requires a broadband -- optical fiber backhaul. So, the City has the wholesale network. So, there's an opportunity for the City to provide backhaul for such a service, whether the City of somebody else is providing the last foot to the home. 206:18: The fourth risk, which I'm sure will be discussed in detail here tonight, is capital investment and cash flow. A lot of money involved. A lot resting on how fast revenue can be ramped up. And I'll leave it at that. I think that we'll be happy, whenever we have an open discussion, to talk about both our recommendations positively and also the risk and concerns that we have. Thank you very much. 2:06:50: Director Batchelor: Thank you, Commissioner Metz. At this time, I would like to introduce John Honker, who is the President of Magellan, who will be going through the presentation tonight. And staff's on, ready to answer any of your questions, as we move forward. Thank you. 2:07:05: ### Slide 4: Joint Study Session -- City Council and Utilities Advisory Commission John Honker: Thank you, Dean Batchelor. And it's a pleasure to see everyone tonight. Mayor Burt, members of the Council, and the UAC. John Honker, with Magellan. I've been the project executive on the project for the past year and a half. And excited to give you an information update on where we are in the project, and share with you some of the findings. Next slide, please. [pause] 2:07:43: ### Slide 5: HOW DID WE GET HERE There we are. So, let's level-set first on -- well, again -- sort of why we're here. And what was approved by Council at this last go-around. One was, you know, upgrading and making more resilient the City's existing fiber backbone. As you all know, the City and CPAU own a fiber backbone that supports City needs, the business community, and also City departments and the electric utility itself. Right? ### PAUSD is a customer. A few residences are customers. Making communications easier, cheaper, and more reliable for all of the City departments and the utility. The City's really authorized, you know, finding ways to upgrade that backbone, and making that backbone more resilient, both for the City's internal needs, as the City and its utilities do more online and need more communications infrastructure, but also for commercial fiber leasing. As you all know, you have a significant commercial fiber business today. One of the most significant in the country for cities to own. And the upgrade of that fiber backbone is going to give you more capacity -- more fiber -- to be able to serve the business community's needs for another 20 years. Like, the network's done over the past 20 years. Right? That's a testament to sort of the vision of Palo Alto, is to have a fiber backbone before a lot of other cities did. And now, you're reaping the benefits of that. And the goal is to reinforce and reinvest in that backbone, to make it stronger and more resilient for the City and its departments. 2:09:17: Also, you authorized the Fiber to the Premise business case, which includes really the blueprint for the network. Right? The engineering design for the network, as well as all of the business planning surrounding that, to help inform Council and the UAC of what a fiber business case would look like for the City. Right? Financial analysis. Market demand. Risk analysis. Opportunity analysis. All the things that need to go into a business case for Fiber to the Premise. We're nearing the completion of those phases, and we're excited to kind of report on those findings tonight. Next slide, please. 2:09:56: ### Slide 6: AGENDA -- Joint Session -- Survey Results So, we'll talk first about the survey results, because these are really important as we think about demand from Palo Alto citizens and businesses that are looking to utilize fiber. Why would they use fiber? What types of take rates could we expect? And what would they potentially pay for fiber services? Next slide, please. ### Slide 7: INTERNET SURVEY RESULTS as of August 3, 2022 So, the survey was distributed to the entire Palo Alto Utilities email database. About 22,000 surveys across the entire market. ### This database does not include all CPAU customers. It was also published on the Fiber Hub. And community members were encouraged to take the survey. Those results, as we compiled those, over 3,200 surveys were completed. A little under a 15 percent response rate. Now, that's a significant amount. When we look at surveys nationally, most cities that we work with, where we're serving the populations, we're looking at maybe a 3 to 5 percent take rate. ### Survey completion rate. So -- Using the same type of methodology. So, we see, you know, strong results in the community. It's obviously an engaged community. And fiber is an important topic for them. Next slide, please. 2:11:10: ### Slide 8: DEPOSIT RESULTS In addition to the survey itself, a deposit program was enacted to have residents put down a financial deposit on fiber service. And this was really a no -- it's a refundable deposit of $50 that would allow residents to show their financial commitment to a project. To the project. Not signing up for service yet, but putting a deposit down, just to show their commitment and their interest in the project. Since about 703 deposits were made, totaling about $37,000 that was raised from the community for Fiber to the Home. Or Fiber to the Premise. ### Mayor Burt revisited this slide at 3:07:40. Please see comments there. That's significant. Right? The residents are showing some financial commitment there. Next slide, please. ### Slide 9: INTERNET SURVEY FINDINGS Some of the key findings in the survey. So, the deposit program, plus the survey itself. You know, as we looked at that again, what we saw as a really important findings for you to understand. The satisfaction levels. And, you know, that there were about a third of residents that were dissatisfied with service. You know, the survey data also told us that there was a lack of some competition in very high speed fiber services. And there was only one provider of those services in certain parts of the City. As Commissioner Metz had mentioned before, price, speed, and reliability are the three most important aspects of fiber. The internet services for the residents. And, as we looked at that, we looked at these different opportunities, what it really teased out is the type of network that residents are looking for. You know, it provides high speeds, you know, affordable prices, and also a network that provides a high reliability, with potentially no service caps. Symmetrical speeds -- meaning the same downloads and the upload speeds. And more opportunities to support their entertainment needs. Right? We talked about TV in particular as not being a key service in Palo Alto, that would potentially need to be offered as part of the Fiber to the Premise network. In many communities, you have a triple play provider, where they're voice, video, and data. And that video piece -- the TV piece -- is typically an important part. But in communities that have "cut the cord" -- and when I say that, meaning where a lot of residents aren't receiving traditional cable TV, and are using either Netflix or Hulu -- that bundle is not as important. And that's important competitively for Palo Alto, competitively, as it considers fiber, is not needing to provide cable TV as part of the overall package, makes the service offering much simpler, much lower cost, and the overall financial sustainability of the network much stronger. Because cable TV has typically been a loss leader in communities where that service has to be offered. At best, it's a zero profit service. So, we look at those as really kind of a summary of the key findings, in internet, and what that fiber network could potentially provide to meet residents' needs, based on the survey results. Next slide, please. 2:14:49: ### Slide 10: POTENTIAL SERVICE OFFERINGS So, the quantitative part of the survey really focused on estimating take rates. And the take rate estimate -- based on the survey, based on that 3,400 survey results -- we're looking at about a 37-42 percent of households that would potentially subscribe to service. And services could be provided in a number of different speeds and tiers, based on what residents were looking for. So, think about these survey results and the pricing and the speeds as really what the residents have said. Now, this doesn't mean that this has to be your end user price. Meaning this is a snapshot in time. As we look forward to actually deploying a network, think about these rates changing. The could be potentially lower than they are listed here, as you move into fiber. But this is really what the community has said, based on different combinations of offers presented to them in the survey. These are the prices and the speeds that they would potentially be looking for, both on the residential and the business side. Minimum take rates are also important, because we need to look at what are break-even, and are -- what minimum take rates are needed to be financially sustainable. Looking at the survey data, again, we expect, based on what the survey results said, between 37 and 42 percent, the minimum take rates for that break-even are between 27 and 30 percent So, again, as Commissioner Metz said, you know, take rates are very important. And keeping up with subscriptions and growing quickly is critical to the overall fiber project. So, being in those -- But it's important to know what your minimums are, for long-term sustainability. Next slide, please. ### Slide 11: VALUE PROPOSITION OF CITY-OWNED FIBER So, really, the value proposition of City-owned fiber. If the City were going to offer services, what would be important in those services? 1) Obviously, reliability and speed. 2) Reducing community spend. For example, if the City could reduce pricing by 10 percent over what the current internet rates are, at these take rates -- at 37-42 percent, the community would potentially save over $15 million over 10 years. So, as we look at the magnitude of savings by small reductions in internet service, it adds up over time for the population. Now, the City still has to be competitive. Right? It has to be able to sell at a margin, but also be competitively priced. The goal is, really, to have a net positive impact on the community, to reduce internet costs, Palo Alto wide. [3)] Equal access for all. Unlike the way services are distributed in the community today. In some cases, you can have two providers, ### In context, Honker seems to be saying that in some places, there are two providers of 1 Gbps service. But if that means 1 Gbps symmetrical service, Comcast's HFC doesn't provide that. So, in Palo Alto, few if any households can get 1 Gbps symmetrical service from more than one provider. And most Palo Altans can't get 1 Gbps symmetrical service from any providers. and in some places, you only have one gigabit provider. One of the goals would be to potentially enable access for 100 percent of the Palo Altan community. 100 percent of households and businesses. A couple other important ones: [5)] More control, and [6)] More choice. Taking decision making for internet into your own hands and being able to have control over how services are provided. How customer service is provided. And the overall reliability of the network. Next slide, please. 2:18:14: ### Slide 12: AGENDA -- Joint Session -- Business Models We'll talk a little bit about the business models next. Next slide. 2:18:20: ### Slide 13: BUSINESS MODEL SUMMARY So, you know, a major portion of the project and the business plan is determining what business models Palo Alto would be best utilizing for deploying a fiber to the premise network. And, you know, cities range, in different types of business models, from providing all the services themselves internally, by hiring employees, to outsourcing 90 percent of the operations. And then, there's a number of models that are in between. So, think of these as variations on the continuum, depending on how many functions -- how many business functions the City wants to insource through its own staff, versus outsource to strategic vendors. And why would it do that? Right? In some cases, cost. In other cases, capabilities. In other cases, control. Right? In some cases, you may not want to outsource key things, like sales and marketing. That's a core function of any broadband business, that's critical to the success of the business. And it's very difficult to outsource that. Other functions, like engineering, or customer service, or tech support. We see cities all over the country outsourcing those. And those are things to consider, where there's an opportunity for a private sector partner to take some of those on, at a better cost but still maintaining quality. Those can be a way to offset some of the risk but also still provide quality service. 2:19:43: So, the product team really looked at a number of different models, including fully insourced, and how many staff that would take, versus hybrid versus fully outsourced models. Next slide, please. 2:19:54: ### Slide 14: BUSINESS MODELS -- EXAMPLES And just some sort of parameters around those. As we look at the insourced models, we're looking at potentially 25 new employees in Palo Alto Fiber, as part of the existing organization. All the way down to an outsourced model, where you only staff 5 employees. And, you know, your swings in costs are millions of dollars a year. Right? So, as you look at potentially, you know, fully insourced option, you know, staffing costs are higher. Overheads are higher. Versus some of those outsourcing models, where those costs are lower over the long term. Next slide, please. 2:20:31: ### Slide 15: AGENDA -- Joint Session -- Risks and Mitigation And, finally, going into the risks and mitigation portion of the business plan. Next slide 2:20:40: ### Slide 16: BUSINESS RISKS AND MITIGATION And some of these have already been discussed a bit. But, you know, competition is -- is a risk in any business. And it's a big risk in a broadband business, too. So, we have to look at ways to ensure that Palo Alto Fiber is successful at competing. And that means providing superior service, first and foremost. Delivering on that service. And being able to manage the business in a competitive environment. That means adjusting to what the competition is doing. Making decisions on pricing. On marketing. On sales. On strategy. That have to happen quickly and in real time. And being able to track either the success or the failure of those strategies, and how they've been implemented. We put that as a risk level "high." because it is. And it is in any business. Right? It's the biggest risk Risk is part of any business. So, you know, how does the City mitigate the risk? Right? By competing successfully. Right? Technology superiority, and better service quality. Utilizing your existing brand. And that's important. Because the brand to Palo Alto goes far in the community. We saw that in the survey results. So, we have to look at that as a lever to use, to compete. And to use in the competitive business. 2:22:06: Technology obsolescence. We talked about that as another risk. And looking at how the City can protect itself against technology change. A community like Palo Alto changes part of culture here. Right? So, as we look at that, how do we adapt? How do we both utilize new technologies to compete and provide better service and delivery of those services. And also be able to manage competition and stay ahead of the curve. Because as new technologies come out, Palo Alto has to be on the front end of that. Has to be evaluating those technologies -- like we talked about earlier in wireless -- to make sure there's a path to adopt technologies like wireless, IF there's a way to offer that service at a lower cost. So, the City has to be out in front of that. And as you look at cities that are successful at providing broadband services, their staff is typically on the front end of that. Right? They're at the vendor conferences. They're talking to their key strategic partners about new technologies that are being deployed, and adopting the ones that make the most sense for them. Next slide, please. 2:23:16: ### Slide 17: BUSINESS RISKS AND MITIGATION (Part 2) Service quality. Of course, service quality is key to any business. And it's key to the overall -- previous slide -- it's key to the implementation of Palo Alto. You've got to be able to provide superior customer service, better reliability, and faster speeds than the competition. 2:23:40: And, finally, fiscal sustainability. Again, looking at what happens if things don't go exactly the way they planned. How will the City potentially mitigate the financial risk around the project? And we've got to work with Finance to determine some alternatives, to either mitigate those strategies, or change the strategy to be able to right the ship if the City is experiencing financial issues as a result of the network. Next slide. 2:24:12: ### Slide 18: Q&A So, that covers, really, an update on the overall fiber to the premises project. And we'd like to open it up to Q&A from UAC and Council. 2:24:49: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Excuse me. So, before going to questions from the Council, Chair Segal, do you have any additional information that you'd like to add, from the Commission? 2:24:42: Chair Segal: Thanks, Mayor. And thank you for the presentation, John. I think I want let the Council know -- and we had a cover letter in the memo that was provided by the subcommittee. And we really appreciate -- we know the subcommittee spent a lot of time, and we really appreciate it. As a full commission, we did not have an opportunity, really, to vet that memo. And so, I just want to make sure that Council is aware of that. And, hopefully, by the end of tonight, we'll have had an opportunity to address most of those issues. 2:25:20: Mayor Burt: Great. And tonight is only a study session. It's not going to be an action item. So, this is really to -- for the purpose of getting us all up to speed, and to be able to air questions, and have a thoughtful dialog, and then figure out what we might want to do in terms of action at a future meeting. 2:25:46: So, do we have questions from colleagues? Before wading into a real discussion? [pause] OK. Council Member Filseth. 2:26:04: Council Member Filseth: Yeah. Sorry about this. I'm going to sort of dive into weeny questions right up front. How much of the City is not covered by Comcast? 2:26:18: John Honker: So, from our -- From the survey data that we found, the vast majority is covered by Comcast ... 2:26:26: Council Member Filseth: By Comcast. I mean Comcast Fiber. 2:26:29: John Honker: Oh. So, differentiating, we see most of the services being cable-based services. That's technically what Comcast provides. Comcast has a lot of fiber out there, as well. Not directly providing fiber to homes, necessarily. 2:26:45: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:26:45: John Honker: More providing maybe fiber to businesses. 2:26:48: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:26:48: John Honker: Or for their own internal uses. Or to connect their nodes. 2:26:51: Council Member Filseth: OK. But, broadband, Comcast covers the whole City. 2:26:55: John Honker: Correct. ### Not exactly. AllConnect says https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/palo-alto (Comcast) Xfinity "cable" (HFC) is available to 97 percent of Palo Alto, but Xfinity "fiber-optic" is available to only 0.092 percent of Palo Alto. ### AllConnect also says that AT&T "DSL" is available to 99 percent of Palo Alto, but AT&T "fiber-optic" is available to only 0.767 percent of Palo Alto. (This might be wrong.) ### BroadbandSearch says AT&T Fiber is available to 6.8 percent of Palo Alto. https://www.broadbandsearch.net/service/california/palo-alto ### AllConnect says https://www.allconnect.com/methodology that, generally, one source of its information is Form 477 data that ISPs provide to the FCC. This data counts a census block a being entirely served even if as few as one residence in the census block is actually served. So, the reported coverage is an overestimate. It also accepts data from ISPs about which ZIP codes they serve, but that's even less granular than census blocks. ### The FCC is working on a more accurate system for reporting ISP coverages. But see this article: 09-06-22: "In Our View: Slightly Better FCC Maps on Horizon, Maybe" https://muninetworks.org/content/our-view-slightly-better-fcc-maps-horizon-maybe ### FCC's Chair Rosenworcel has proposed changing FCC's definition of broadband from 25 Mbps down and 3 Mbps up to 100 Mbps down and 20 Mbps up. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/07/fcc-chair-proposes-new-us-broadband-standard-of-100mbps-down-20mbps-up/ Under that definition, AT&T's DSL product should not be called "broadband." Further, she is also proposing a "national goal" of 1 Gbps down and 500 Mbps up. Comcast's HFC product does meet this goal. Council Member Filseth: And AT&T. I think you said. ### See above. So, I saw a stat in here that the Comcast market share here is 73 percent, and AT&T's is 25 percent. Or 70 percent and 25 percent. ### The staff report (Packet Page 73) says the survey results say Comcast's market share is 69.6 percent and AT&T's is 23.2 percent. What's that for? 2:27:09: John Honker: Well, based on the survey results, that's about what the market estimates were. 2:27:14: Council Member Filseth: Is that for broadband or fiber? 2:27:17: John Honker: Well, let's say internet services. Right? So, that could be fiber or broadband -- or, fiber or cable services. ### Worse, it could be for service that's too slow to meet the FCC's definition of "broadband" (25 Mbps down and 3 Mpbs up). 2:27:24: Council Member Filseth: Got it. So, there's been a lot of discussion of -- There are parts of the City that Comcast and AT&T will not be easily able to serve with fiber. OK? Do we know how much of the City that is? And is that a part of the City that we WILL be able to serve with fiber? 2:27:46: John Honker: So, there's -- As we look at the survey data, we see about 25-30 percent of the City potentially covered by AT&T, offering fiber services directly to homes. 2:27:58: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:28:00: John Honker: And when we looked at the data, and we looked at the maps, and understand where Palo Alto also has electrical lines. 2:28:07: Council Member Filseth: Uh huh. 2:28:07: John Honker: When we look at most of these areas being aerial. Right? 2:28:09: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:28:09: John Honker: Meaning overhead -- telephone pole -- fiber on telephone poles. Which is a less expensive way to deploy fiber. Right? 2:28:16: Council Member Filseth: Um hum. 2:28:16: John Honker: Than, you know, directional drilling under the streets. You know, restoring -- managing traffic, etc. So, in the areas where -- And this is typical for most providers. They're going to go where it's cheapest to build. 2:28:29: Council Member Filseth: Uh huh. 2:28:29: John Honker: Typically. Right? Just makes business sense ... 2:28:32: Council Member Filseth: Right. 2:28:32: John Honker: ... to pick up those homes. So, there's another 70-75 percent of the community right now that doesn't have fiber, that Palo Alto can build to. 2:28:42: Council Member Filseth: Uh huh. 2:28:42: John Honker: Right? That was part of the overall engineering design. To estimate, you know, where the City could build, to reach those additional homes, ... 2:28:51: Council Member Filseth: Right. 2:28:51: John Honker: ... what the cost of that would be. And, of course, the costs will be higher there, because that is mostly underground area ... 2:28:55: Council Member Filseth: Uh huh. 2:28:55: John Honker: But there is also some aerial portion of the City that ... 2:29:00: Council Member Filseth: And you think that that's about 70 percent of the City? 2:29:02: John Honker: We're estimating about 70 percent. Correct. 2:29:04: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:29:04: John Honker: I mean, to be 100 percent clear, like, the City can build 100 percent. Right? Can build to the entire -- all the residences and businesses in the community. 2:29:13: Council Member Filseth: Right. 2:29:13: John Honker: But what's left o- -- What's not been built by AT&T right now is -- we're estimating about 30 percent. ### I think this is a misstatement. I think the consultant is estimating that 30 percent of residences have access to AT&T Fiber. 2:29:20: Council Member Filseth: OK. Next weeny question. If I can get this off in a minute and 40 seconds here. It's 'cause you guys did a conjoint analysis. That's key. When you did that, did you ask people -- I mean, were you seeking, would you subscribe to a gigabit at $89.99? Or, were you asking -- in context of competition, that is -- would you switch from Comcast to City of Palo Alto at a gigabit at $89.99? So, were you asking, would you subscribe? Or would you switch? Which was the focus of your conjoint study. ### I have requested that staff publish all the survey questions, as well as the algorithm used to skip questions based on the respondent's answers to previous questions. 2:29:54: John Honker: So, the conjoint was really focused on the switching aspect of service. Meaning, if -- We make the assumption, in the conjoint analysis, that they already have service from one of the providers. ### One of the first questions the survey asked was whether the respondent had home internet service at all. So, the survey didn't have to make an assumption about that. What Honker may be saying is that conjoint analysis was not done whenever the respondent had no home internet service. So that would underestimate how many people would switch from having no internet service to having the City's internet service. Either AT&T or Comcast. Or a third provider. 2:30:06: Council Member Filseth: Right. Fiber service? Or low-speed? 2:30:09: John Honker: Doesn't matter. For the purposes of the conjoint, ... 2:30:12: Council Member Filseth: Uh huh. 2:30:12 John Honker: ... we wanted to really know that they were subscribing to internet services. 2:30:17: Council Member Filseth: Yeah. 2:30:17: John Honker: Either from Comcast, using cable, or from AT&T, using fiber. ### So respondents using AT&T DSL were also ignored? 2:30:22: Council Member Filseth: OK. 2:30:22: John Honker: And would they switch to a City-offered service, you know, at prices and speeds that were comparable or greater. And the way the conjoint worked ... 2:30:32: Council Member Filseth: Right. 2:30:32: John Honker: ... was to give them multiple offers. 2:30:34: Council Member Filseth: Right. 2:30:34: John Honker: And let them go through the iterations to determine what was their best choice. From the City. So it looked at that switching ... 2:30:41: Council Member Filseth: Yeah. 2:30:41: John Honker: ... and also for people who didn't have -- or, households that didn't have high-speed internet, what would be their preferred provider? ### When I took the survey, and said I didn't have home internet service, the survey refused to ask me any more questions. 2:30:48: Council Member Filseth: OK. Yeah. People who didn't have it already. OK. And, finally, you don't happen to know, off the top of your head, what Atherton Fiber's take rate in Atherton and Menlo Park is, do you? 2:30:56: John Honker: Um. No, I don't. ### Atherton Fiber used to require substantial connect fees. https://www.ci.atherton.ca.us/DocumentCenter/View/2266/ITEM-20-2-Atherton-Fiber-to-the-Home---Council-20150715-v2?bidId= This 05-18-22 article talks about a $10-$15,000 installation charge for 10 Gbps service, but doesn't mention the installation charge for slower services. https://www.globenewswire.com/en/news-release/2022/05/18/2446234/0/en/Atherton-Fiber-Debuts-A-Different-Kind-of-Internet-Service- Provider.html The article says they plan to expand to Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and other nearby communities, but doesn't give details. ### The 05-18-22 article says they're providing free 1 Gbps symmetrical service to parts of North Fair Oaks (an unincorporated area close to Menlo Park) https://www.telecompetitor.com/atherton-fiber-launches-open-access-network-in-san-mateo-county-california/ ### Atherton Fiber is a subsidiary of Open5G. https://open5g.com/ which sounds like it might have had 5G wireless origins. But it is changing (or maybe has changed) its name to Hexvarium. ### This 04-20-22 blog says Open5G plans to expand across the U.S. https://tech.marksblogg.com/faster-geospatial-enrichment.html 2:30:58: Council Member Filseth: OK. Thanks. 2:31:02: Mayor Burt: Council Member DuBois. 2:31:06: Council Member DuBois: Yeah. Hi. Kind of one high-level question. Just, given all those cities you've worked with, how does our business plan, financing, the engineering design you've done -- how does that challenge stack up to I guess other cities you've worked with? Like, how would you characterize Palo Alto's position? 2:31:25: John Honker: Yup. That's a great question. So, I think the way we would look at the Palo Alto situation is, you know, what's working in your favor: demand. We see higher demand, higher cord-cutting rates. Which eliminates the need to have a cable TV package as part of your internet service. Those are big benefits for the community. What is working against you is cost. It's more expensive to build in Palo Alto than in other communities. And that cost will drive up, of course, the overall revenue needed to cover the costs and the debt service. Now, the financial plan is sustainable, for sure. But your costs are much higher than what we're seeing in other communities. 2:32:09: Council Member DuBois: OK. And I just quickly wanted to get through several questions. Just really understanding the construction assumptions. Like, it seemed like there was some notes that said, depending on what the City of Palo Alto Utilities will allow. I mean, when you build up the financial model, what were you assuming, in terms of trenching and ... 2:32:32: John Honker: So, the overall assumption was that the fiber network would follow the electric network, in terms of whether it's aerial or underground. Right? Where you have poles, you want to use the poles to cut down on the construction cost. Or, cut down on the construction, both from a cost perspective and just from a community impact perspective. Right? Less streets torn up, less restoration, etc., over a short amount ... 2:32:59: Council Member DuBois: Sorry. I'm on a clock. But, yeah, we were talking about microtrenching versus kind of how deep we need to go, ... 2:33:05: John Honker: We were very conservative on the construction costs. So, we didn't utilize any microtrenching. We utilized, you know, 90 percent directional drilling on the underground. Because we know there are microtrenching opportunities. But we didn't want to put that -- put those numbers into the study, because until you're actually in the ground and actually working with microtrenching, it's very difficult to estimate the costs. Directional drilling is a very kind of standard cost. We know the numbers. The contractors know the numbers. So, they give you kind of your worst-case estimates for construction. 2:33:39: Council Member DuBois: And did the business case include the cost to replace power poles? Or is that outside of the plan? 2:33:45: John Honker: We did. Yup. We estimated what we called the make-ready costs, which are either prepping existing poles for new fiber, or, in the case that they fail -- new fiber installation -- replacing those poles with new poles. 2:34:00: Council Member DuBois: So, do you know offhand how many poles do you think ... 2:34:02: John Honker: Well, we were looking at about -- under 10 percent of the poles that needed to be replaced. So, you have about 6,200 poles. So, we're looking at, you know, under a thousand for replacement. 2:34:13: Council Member DuBois: And would that costs fall on the Fiber Utility? Or would it be shared by everybody on the pole? 2:39:19: Director Batchelor: [whispered] It would be shared. 2:39:19: John Honker: Typi- -- Yeah, it would be shared. Across the different users. 2:34:23: Council Member DuBois: And, last two questions. How many broadband providers have unionized labor? Do you know? 2:34:30: John Honker: I'm sorry. I missed the question. 2:34:31: Council Member DuBois: How many of the broadband providers -- like AT&T, Comcast, Verizon -- are they unionized shops? 2:34:37: John Honker: Typically, they are. Yup. 2:34:37: Council Member DuBois: OK. And, the last question. So, part of the funding, I think, was for the electric utility, for AMI, smart grid. Are there other opportunities for things like smart water, smart gas? You know, do we expand beyond electricity at some point? 2:34:59: Director Batchelor: Well, Council Member -- So, that is part of that cost. So, the cost from the AMI portion of it. Because we are AMI on the water and the gas side. So, we do have those collectors. So, they are paying their share as well. For that fiber and that backbone. Right now. 2:35:15: Council Member DuBois: OK. But I thought it was only from the electric utility. 2:35:18: Director Batchelor: No. It's also from the gas and from the water side as well. 2:35:21: Council Member DuBois: OK. Thanks. 2:35:25: Mayor Burt: And, Commissioners, if you have questions, can you wave to me, because you don't have buttons? Council Member Stone. 2:35:32: Council Member Stone: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to staff for all this work, being here, answering our questions. And welcome to our UAC commissioners. Nice to share the dais with you. A few questions. First one. Curious to what extent is the digital divide within our community. So, the disparity of internet connections amongst various demographics within the City. 2:35:53: John Honker: That's a very good question. And I think what we've seen in Palo Alto is, it's smaller than, you know, most communities. You know, as we looked at survey data, you know, less than 1 percent of residents are not subscribing to internet services. And typically, it was because they have internet at work, or they have a hot spot, they have another reason, or they're a part-time resident and they don't live here all the time. Those were kind of the typical responses that we got. So, as we look at it at a general level, we don't -- definitely don't see as much of a divide in Palo Alto that we do in other communities. 2:36:27: Council Member Stone: OK. But it does exist, to some extent. 2:36:29: John Honker: There's always a divide. Yeah. Every community has a divide. You know. So, there are a few. And the survey data -- You will have sort of all the raw data, so you can see kind of what that looks like. ### Will the public have access to this data? And what kind of responses some of those folks that don't subscribe to internet access have provided to the City. 2:36:49: Council Member Stone: Great. Thank you. It's one of the kind of exciting things about the program, to be able to address, then, that issue for some Palo Altans. Going back -- You had an exchange with Council Member DuBois about aerial construction, using utility poles. And I'm curious. I imagine there'll be a lot of residents with this concern, about how that -- what the aesthetics of that would look like, in relation to, like, cell towers being placed on utility poles. Can you describe how it's similar? How it's different? The look of that? ### Council Member DuBois' questions were about the cost of aerial, not the aesthetics. 2:37:18: John Honker: So, absolutely. So, you know, we are adding another cable to existing utility poles. You know, cable's relatively small. So, we're not adding a significant amount of volume to the poles. But, you know, there's one more line on the poles, that's going to be there. Somewhat discreet. Because you have other communications utilities that are already using the poles. So, it's not -- For example, if we're on a certain part of the pole, we're not going to be adding another line, you know, that's in a completely open space -- in a bare space where there aren't other attachers already. So, we don't see it adding a huge amount of visual disturbance on sight lines to the existing poles. But definitely less so than, you know, than having a wireless transmitter on each one. Right? That would definitely be more disruptive, typically. 2:38:12: Council Member Stone: OK. Thank you. And as we move forward, it would be helpful to maybe see some images of what that looks like in other communities. So, I noticed there was a significant price increase for both the fiber backbone and FTTP since just last year. Do we anticipate that those costs are going to continue to rise at similar rates, or we might see a drop in that, as inflation and supply chain issues improve? 2:38:35: John Honker: And you're right, in that supply chain issues have created price issues in all aspects of fiber, both in the labor side and on the materials side. We're starting to see a bit of flattening on the materials and some of the labor. We don't expect prices to go much higher. But we are continually are watching the market. Because you want to be on top of that. You want to be understanding when materials are available, what the demand is. And also be looking at commodity prices over the next 12-18 months. We're starting to see those flatten as well. So we expect that, you know, there may be a -- some small additional price increases, but nothing compared to what we've seen from 2021 to 2022, where things were, you know -- prices were up, you know, 20 [percent] -- even 50 percent on some materials. You know, petroleum-based goods up, you know, 40-50 percent. So -- But it's important to be continuously watching those. 2:39:35: Council Member Stone: Right. That's really -- But unlikely to drop. 2:38:38: John Honker: Unlikely to drop. At least in the near term. 2:39:39: Council Member Stone: OK. And I'm -- One thing that kind of struck me a bit is why staff was concerned -- of difficulty of accessing the FTTP network for multi-dwelling units. And I was just kind of curious. Is that more based in the difficulty of building the network to reach those units, or is it more because it requires the owner and the operators of those housing complexes to agree to connect? 2:40:04: John Honker: So, there's a couple of items there. One is right-of-entry agreements with the property owners. That's part of any broadband business, though. So, as you go into a multi-unit -- if it's an apartment complex, condo, or commercial multi-unit -- you're going to need to get ahead of that with a property owner, to get that right-of-entry agreement. Overall, it's much LESS expensive serve MDU units, if they're significant. Right? You know, 20 and above -- maybe 50 -- units. Because you only need, typically, one piece of equipment to serve that entire building. Versus single-family homes, where you need 50 pieces of equipment to serve each home. And you need 50 service drops to each home. ### Honker means that each single-family home needs one piece of customer premises equipment (CPE) and one drop. ### I'm not yet on board with the idea that an MDU should be served by just one MDU-level CPE, and all the wiring within the MDU should be electric, not fiber. As speeds increase over the years, we don't want MDU residents to be left behind. So, more front-end work that has to be done to get those multi-units on the network. But better revenue streams and lower overall cost per subscriber, typically. 2:40:54: Council Member Stone: OK. That makes more sense. And then, kind of going back to the discussion on the take rate, at 27-30 percent, in order for revenues to be able to exceed expenses, does that include expenses of kind of the happy startup fee of over $100 million? Or does that just cover ongoing program costs? 2:41:12: John Honker: That's all-inclusive. 2:41:14: Council Member Stone: OK. 2:41:14: John Honker: So, think of that 27-30 percent as covering all of your debt service costs. You finance the network. Right? You spend the money to finance the network up-front. It includes all of the expenses you need to cover debt service, renewal and replacement, general operating costs, staff, all of that. So, that's really the target number that you want to try to get to. Minimum. 2:41:37: Council Member Stone: Great. And -- Let's see -- Little time left to get one more question in. Has the City had any exploratory conversations with neighboring cities, or the county, to see if there is an interest in a JPA? 2:41:51: John Honker: I don't believe so, at this time. 2:41:53: Council Member Stone: OK. It was just kind of pointed out in the staff report as a possibility if Council's interested. Great. All right. Thank you. 2:42:03: Mayor Burt: Council Member Cormack. 2:42:05: Council Member Cormack: Thank you, Mayor Burt. Welcome, Mr. Honker, and our UAC commissioners. It's indeed nice to have you. OK. So, I'll have some questions for staff. And then, actually, for Council members, in our next go-round. But let me start with you, Mr. Honker. The expected take rate, 37-42 [percent]. Did you just extrapolate straight from the people who responded? Or did you adjust the number in any way? 2:42:41: John Honker: Well, we actually -- We had to adjust the number, because the raw numbers, when you do a conjoint analysis, typically you'll have a perfect market environment. Meaning assuming you're presenting offers to residents, are those offers already available in the market? Including the City of Palo Alto's? So, the startup -- the startup requirements, the execution of sales and marketing, all of the business factors that may reduce take rates aren't built into that. So, the raw take rates, or the raw conjoint analysis came up with a take rate of closer to 60 percent. 2:43:07: Council Member Cormack: OK. OK. 2:43:08: John Honker: In a perfect world. 2:43:09: Council Member Cormack: So you adjusted it. OK. 2:43:10: John Honker: We discounted that. 2:43:10: Council Member Cormack: All right. So, you know, I know you've spend a lot of time with the UAC talking about the choice of the business model. How does the choice of the business model increase or decrease the risks that both the subcommittee and you have identified? 2:43:27: John Honker: So, if we look at key business functions, where the City may not have certain capabilities, that would help reduce the risks. On some of the busi- On the overall operation. Right? If we look at tech support. If the City doesn't have a capability, and needs to ramp up quickly, it can outsource that to a quality provider with a good track record, and control that provider in a strong contract, ultimately, that will help reduce the risks for Palo Alto. Right? Tech support, customer service, engineering, field services. Anywhere where there's an expertise in the private sector, where the City doesn't feel it has the -- either the runway -- meaning being able to ramp up quickly enough to keep the business moving fast. Or just the general capabilities to staff those resources. Those would be opportunities to outsource. 2:44:28: Council Member Cormack: OK. All right. So, it doesn't -- OK. So, one of the questions that occurs to me -- I probably should have asked this earlier, somewhere in the process. Do we have to allow other providers to access the fiber? Are there any rules or regulations about fiber that are different from other utilities? For example, I believe AT&T allows another provider to use it. Right? Is it a requirement, if we build this? Or is it an option? 2:44:53: John Honker: There are certain requirements that would require you to share certain resources. For example, conduit. If conduit was available, and the City didn't have specific plans for it, like, other ISPs and other carriers, the City would have to allow use of that conduit by another provider. 2:45:14: Council Member Cormack: OK. So, the conduit. Um. So, one of the people who has come to my office hours has raised a 5G question, and I appreciate the subcommittee bringing it up as well. You know, one of the last times we went through this, there was another technology approach that everyone was super excited about, which turns not to have panned out. ### What technology approach was that? So, how worried should we be about whether or not 5G will just supplant this, and people will cut, like, EVERY cord? [laughs] And just literally go over the air? How should we thing about the risk and opportunity of 5G? 2:45:51: John Honker: I think there's probably -- There's two ways you want to think about the risk. And, like we said before, it's a threat and an opportunity. Every technology is. For the City, if an emerging technology comes out, let's say 5G, that helps you to reduce cost over the next, let's say, 5-7 years, as you're building this network, there's no reason the City can't switch, and start utilizing that technology to provide services to the community. Instead of the last mile be a fiber. ### I can't see the City's building a fiber network to within 100 feet of premises and then compromising the speed and reliability of connections to premises by doing wireless drops. Long-term, thinking about overall strategy, the City's going to have the gold standard, being fiber to the home. Right? That fiber to the home network will be available to every home and every business. It costs money to bring a new technology in and to be a new provider in Palo Alto. Right? So, if a new provider wants to come and provide services to the City, they're going to be looking at the risk, just like you're looking at the risk today. And if there's an entrenched provider -- or, actually THREE entrenched providers, at that point -- Comcast, AT&T, and Palo Alto Fiber -- the opportunity for more market share, or potentially to dislodge one of the entrenched providers, is going to be very challenging. Right? So, if I'm looking at that from a marketing perspective, I'm going to say, well, I could go into Palo Alto, where there's three providers and there's a hypercompetitive market, or I could deploy my capital somewhere else that's less competitive, and potentially get higher returns on my investment. So, we look at that as a market perspective, to say, well, you know, could an entrant come in with a lower-cost technology? It's not only about the lower cost technology. It's about all the other costs that are required to come into a market and compete in Palo Alto. Sales and marketing. Right? Customer service. Field services. Tech support. All those are required. 2:47:40: Council Member Cormack: Yeah. I guess I was thinking more that 5G is going to be here. Because people will all expect and demand that. And it will be provided by cellular companies. And if it's already there, maybe people just won't need this. 2:47:52: John Honker: And it's been a long road for 5G as well. Right? 2:47:54: Council Member Cormack: I understand. Yeah. OK. So, my time's up. I'll continue in our next round. 2:48:01: Mayor Burt: Chair Segal. 2:48:05: Chair Segal: Thank you. I had a couple questions that we didn't have an opportunity to ... ### TIME GAP! ... acknowledgement that the current providers are focused on aerial lines just as our analysis started with -- for the way we price out the cost, and when we'll have revenues based on take rates. And we start with overhead. And I wonder if you've looked at flipping that, and starting with underground, because 1) underground districts don't currently have any other option for fiber, ### At Council's 08-22-22 meeting, at public comment, Steve Mullen said AT&T Fiber was available at his house on Phillips Road in Crescent Park (in Underground District 30). At 3:34:45, Andy Poggio said AT&T Fiber was available at his house on Gaspar Court in Midtown (in Underground District 41). See this map of underground districts: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/utilities/utilities-engineering/electrical/cip-projects/utilities-undergrounding/ugdt.v2019.pdf Before I heard of these examples, I, too, thought AT&T Fiber would focus on aerial. and 2) you know, because they have no other options, maybe that take rate would be higher. And I know it's not that easy to figure out where exactly AT&T offers fiber. But from my very unscientific analysis, it seems to be ONLY in places with overhead. 2:48:56: John Honker: It's a very good point. And it's definitely a worthwhile strategy to try to raise your take rates in the underground areas. And, you know, if we can get to much higher take rates there, and have captive markets, it -- underground construction makes perfect sense. Right? We can start in those areas, where it makes sense. And I think that, as you're moving forward, here, and we're getting closer to, you know, the final sort of work product, that's definitely analysis that can happen. Right? Let's look at the pros and cons of going into aerial areas first, potentially with more competition, versus underground areas where, you know, Palo Alto Fiber may be the only game in town, as far as a fiber connection. Maybe those take rates are 10-15-20 percent higher. Right? Which is going to really help support the overall cost of construction. 2:49:49: Chair Segal: Thanks. And, again, another question is, we -- If one of the options is mostly outsourced, I'm wondering if any community -- or, if you've thought about actually entering into a joint venture with one of the current providers, so that -- if we're outsourcing anyway, some way where we can rely on their expertise. ### I wouldn't outsource anything to AT&T or Comcast. After all, that would be asking them to compete against themselves. Service, for example, is a concern I've heard from community members. We're -- You know, we're good at digging and putting in lines, but we don't have experience on the service side. And they do. Have you seen that? 2:50:25: John Honker: Sure. We've seen that in other communities. Where sort of a -- sort of a -- it would be more of a public-private partnership option -- is utilized. And even other cases where an existing broadband utility -- You know, the public provider is partnering with a new broadband utility, like Palo Alto Fiber, to provide some of those services. So, for example, in Chattanooga, in Tennessee, they outsource almost all the functions that new broadband providers need to get started. Customer service. Tech support. Provisioning. Billing. They provide those, per customer, as a service, to help other utilities -- to help other cities -- get off the ground. ### That is, Chattanooga EPB provides these services, so that other communities can outsource functions to EPB. https://epb.com/broadband-solutions/ 2:51:11: Chair Segal: Great. And then, just the other concern. I tried to talk with a bunch of community members who did not participate in the survey, for whatever reason, just to try to get insight from maybe less aware residents. And one of the questions that came up is whether there were any opportunity costs if the utility goes down this path and focuses on fiber, either because -- whether it's a revenue bond or another bond -- if that risks being able to get a bond, for example, for electrical grid updates, or some other large City project. 2:51:45: [internal discussion between staff and consultant -- unamplified] 2:51:56 Director Batchelor: Chair Segal, so, I think we're going to cover that in the second half. Of our study. ### However, UAC wasn't invited to participate in the "second half." And if I could just go back to your first question. I think one of the other things we have to think about is is that for doing the underground portion, that's 60-70 percent of the cost. So, this $100 million, to start off on the underground portion of it, makes -- could make some sense for gaining -- But the thing is is that 30 percent to 35 percent of it is cost for the aerial, but the rest is going to be the underground. We've seen costs somewhere between $100 to $125 a foot to dig. So, that's part of the strategy. When we've talked about, that maybe we should look at the aerial portion first. But, again, it's not 100 percent that we will look at, as well. But, just to let you know, that's the costly part of the business. 2:52:46: Chair Segal: Thanks for clarifying that, Director Batchelor. And on that one other question that came up, talking to citizens, was whether, if we're going to drill, if we're going to lay underground, if we can combine it with other projects. 2:53:03: Director Batchelor: Well, I think that, you know, the easiest one is to look at the electric. Can we underground electric at the same time? And I think the question is -- or the answer -- to that is, it's going to be very difficult. Because what ends up happening is, is that if we were going to move forward with -- as we've been talking about -- strengthening our grid, we are going to have to wait until something happens with this fiber. Or vice versa. And it takes a lot of coordination portion. But if you think about it, is, we did the undergrounding in the downtown, on University, we replaced a water main and a gas main, and we also installed 2,700 feet of fiber. Or conduit. Excuse me. Conduit. In that area. So, we could start looking at -- Maybe, when we start doing some water-gas-wastewater sides, we could start looking at combining some of the fiber in that. And then, it won't have any impact on the electric side, as well. ### Previously, staff has said that the City's overarching plan for underground utilities was to put fiber on the same side of the street as electric, and to put water and gas on the other side of the street. If the City now wants to mess with this plan, staff should write a staff report explaining why, and UAC and Council should scrutinize it. ### The Upgrade Downtown project didn't follow this overarching plan. ### The 2,700 feet of conduit for fiber cost the Fiber Fund $1,070,202. (It would have been $2,140,404, but Council intervened.) So, that's $396 per foot (and would have been $792 per foot) -- more expensive than you'd like. ### I'd like the consultant to take a look at this conduit deployment and determine whether it's suitable for either the dark fiber backbone extension or the FTTP network. If not, then let's not use it. 2:53:59: Mayor Burt: Vice Mayor Kou. 2:54:02: Vice Mayor Kou: First, I want to thank the subcommittee for their work on this. And also, it's great to have our joint session here today. And thanks to staff also. I wanted to ask, other cities with similar size by Palo Alto, population etc., what is their staffing model? What -- that has been successful? 2:54:23: John Honker: So, it really depends on the city. We see most of the municipal utilities staffing themselves. Meaning they're providing their own employees, covering just about all of the operations. Where they outsource some of those services, maybe it's const- -- Obviously, construction is outsourced. Engineering is outsourced. But the core functions -- providing customer service, you know, tech support, installations, managing the network, billing -- those are typically provided by staff. 2:54:55: Vice Mayor Kou: Mmm. That's very helpful. I mean, I see the Table 1, showing the pros and cons for a staffing perspective, you know. I think institutional knowledge, quality of service, total control, you know, that's something that it would be quite important to gain confidence. Right? The other one is phasing the build-in. My only concern is, it's 15 years out, then the cost is going to go up, too. Right? Whereas, if we just do everything at one time, then we keep the cost at what's quoted to us. Is that so? 2:5537: John Honker: There's probably less impact in inflation. Right? Over a shorter-term build. Meaning, get the build done in 3-5 years. And it's complete. All the capital costs are paid for. Yeah, absolutely. That -- If we trail it over a 15-year period, which was sort of Option 2 in your packets, where you don't take on any new debt, you are, more than likely, going to see more costs in construction and labor and materials over that period of time. 2:56:08: Vice Mayor Kou: Thank you so much. 2:56:12: Mayor Burt: Commissioner Forssell. 2:56:16: Commissioner Forssell: Thank you. I think most of my questions have been covered by others. So, I just have a couple of small things left to ask about. Take rate is key. Probably one of the most important things to consider. 'Cause its very important that a potential investment pay itself back. What do you see as take rates in other cities that already have one or two incumbents offering fiber and/or other forms of broadband service? 2:56:47: John Honker: You're typically looking at between 35 and 50 percent, in most cities that are offering it, over about a 5-year period. And we look at most utilities similar to Palo Alto. That's the take rate range they've been in. 2:57:00: Commissioner Forssell: And do you have any insight as to what drives the uptake in those communities where there already are incumbents? 2:57:07: John Honker: It's really a combination of providing the right value proposition to the population, better service, better service quality. You know, competitive pricing, but not always lower pricing. I think we've heard from a lot of municipal utilities, that they say they want to be at the existing level -- at the existing prices, or slightly lower. But also providing a much, much higher level of customer service, and experience to the customer. I think when we work with other utilities, we hear a lot about the equity that they have in their brand. Meaning the trust that their residents and businesses place in them to deliver essential services. And making sure that the customer is taken care of. Right? We hear a lot about, well, what do we do to take care of the customer? How do we help them get connected to our service? How do we help them use it? Utilizing community orientation and training. Being there for the customer has a lot to do with it. And they don't get that experience, typically, from, you know, the large incumbents that are out there. 2:58:13: Commissioner Forssell: And that level of white-glove service is something we think we could offer, even if it was outsourced? 2:58:19: John Honker: It's something that all providers have to try to offer, I think. We see cities doing a better job of it. Because that's a really important part of what they do for their communities. Right? Their community, first and foremost. So, we see a lot of focus being placed on, you know, the back-office customer service. Making sure the customer's taken care of over the phone, but also how that translates into things like installations in the customer's home. Making sure the customer knows how -- like, when that installation contractor leaves, they know how to use everything in their house. Right? Before service is established. And then, also, helping train the customer. Right? We see a lot of communities using sort of, you know, community events, town halls as training sessions, to help them really understand the service. 2:59:10: Commissioner Forssell: Does the customer service usually involve not just sort of the connection, but Wi-Fi in-home, Wi-Fi access points set up? 2:59:19: John Honker: Yup. Typically, you'd have -- so it would be more of a full-home experience, where the utility is actually managing all the services in the home. And it's good for the City to do that, because it allows you to know when there's a problem in that customer's home. Say there's a Wi-Fi router down. Or there's a TV that's not online anymore. You can actually see when that happens and let the customer know, so the customer is aware that it's a problem inside their home, and not a problem with the service. Right? That's proactive customer management. The technologies that you would potentially deploy in the work would have that capability built in, as part of the service. So -- And you really want to focus on training CSRs -- your customer service agents -- how to use that, and also how to troubleshoot inside the customer's home. And it goes a long way. 3:00:14: Commissioner Forssell: Let's see. One -- I'll see if I have time for two more questions. So, would the relationship between the City of Palo Alto and an outsourced provider -- an outsourced ISP -- be similar to the relationship between AT&T and Sonic? Is that a useful analogy? 3:00:34: John Honker: I would think, though, that more like a strategic vendor. Where you may have -- Again, Palo Alto would still be the service provider, but you would have, you know, a vendor that's managing, let's say, all of your tech support. 3:00:47: Commissioner Forssell: OK. Got it. All right. And final question. So, there's been some discussion of whether starting aerial or starting underground is the right approach, given that sort of inverse relationship between cost of installation and likelihood that the customers are really dying for this service. In an undergrounded area, would it involve trenching on the customer's property to install the service? And in this business model, who bears that cost? 3:01:18: John Honker: The City would bear the cost, typically. Almost all broadband providers bear that cost. And they get the money back in the monthly service fee. But it would involve, typically, trenching on the property. 3:01:30: Commissioner Forssell: Thank you. 3:31:35: Mayor Burt: Thank you. So, first, I'd like to ask a follow-up question on the take rate assumptions. This range that we have, nationally, of like 35-50 percent for a city fiber, have you broken that down by how many competitors there are? If -- Is it a -- Is the 50 percent more when there is only one competitor, and 35 percent when there are two? Or do we not know that? 3:02:07: John Honker: It really depends on the community. You have some communities, like Cedar Falls, in Iowa, where you have, you know, one competitor, and they have almost 90 percent take rate in the community. Right? Almost 9 out of 10 households subscribe. You have other areas, like BrightRidge (or Johnson City) where they are more in the 40s. Right? Because they're earlier. ### I'm not sure, but Honker may have meant that BrightRidge's network is younger. According to this 12/10/20 article, BrightRidge's take rate is about 50 percent. https://www.brightridge.com/news/66/brightridge-opens-28-free-public-wi-fi-locations-bowmantown-broadband-met-with-strong-demand They have two competitors in that market. And then, you have places like Longmont, in Colorado, where you have sort of one main competitor and one smaller competitor. And they're above 50 percent. ### According to this 08-30-22 article, Longmont's take rate is 60 percent. https://www.timescall.com/2022/08/30/longmonts-nextlight-internet-service-surpasses-25000-customer- milestone/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CGenerally%20speaking%2C%20we%20have%20a,are%20choosing%20to%20take%20it.%E2%80%9D So, it's hard to baseline, because every community and every competitive market is so different. It's hard to baseline it. But, as a general rule of thumb, you know, fewer competitors are going to lead to fewer choices, and better opportunities for take rate in Palo Alto. 3:02:55: Mayor Burt: OK. And then, I wanted to follow up on this -- the cost assumptions with trenching versus traditional undergrounding. And so, you said you use traditional undergrounding techniques as a conservative assumption. So, do we have a sense of what's the range of cost savings that we might see from trench- -- microtrenching? 3:03:22: John Honker: It would have to be a -- We think, Commissioner, it would have to be a -- or, Mayor -- it would need to be a study on Palo Alto's sort of roadways. Looking at the existing roadways. Understanding what kind of microtrenching could be utilized, if there were good opportunities for that. What the restoration costs would be. And then come up with an estimate of, you know, proposed savings for the areas. 3:03:48: Mayor Burt: And when you say the restoration costs, is it necessarily so that with conventional trenching, you're going to have a higher restoration cost than the microtrenching? Or is there something I'm not understanding about ... 3:04:01: John Honker: No, the restoration costs could be -- They could be as high. They could -- I mean, with the traditional, you'd be looking at directional drilling. Lower restoration costs, typically, with that method. The microtrenching has its own restoration costs, which may be higher or lower, just depending on the particular environment that it's in. Is it in concrete? Is it in asphalt? What are the specific dynamics of the roadway beds that need to be restored after the microtrenching is completed. So, really, a deeper -- a deep study on that should really be looked at, if we really want to consider microtrenching. 3:04:35: Mayor Burt: OK. So, I appreciate we can't get any numbers tonight. But I'm trying to get a sense on the likelihood that it's going to be a lower cost. At least in some areas of the City. We do have a good portion of older Palo Alto that has concrete streets. 3:04:49: John Honker: Yup. 3:04:49: Mayor Burt: And that may be less conducive to the microtrenching. But we also have a lot of asphalt. And in those areas, is it not reasonable to assume that the microtrenching would be lower cost? 3:05:04: John Honker: It is. We could assume that. We just don't know the magnitude of that difference. 3:05:11: Mayor Burt: OK. 3:05:11: John Honker: The other thing that's important about that is, the overall long-term O&M on the microtrenching right now is somewhat of an unknown factor. So, we need to look at that, and understand if there is a higher O&M on microtrenching, we need to build that into the overall operating cost model. Mayor Burt: I guess I'm surprised. The half dozen or so years ago, when we were looking at this, it was newer, and I had assumed that it was -- would be more mature and better understood, especially in fiber applications by now. 3:05:42: John Honker: We have a microtrenching expert that we actually brought along with us, who's actually done about 1,000 miles of it. So, I'm happy -- Chris would you mind coming up and sharing, for a minute or two? Do we have time? 3:05:53: Mayor Burt: Yeah. And even if we -- I'm trying to get at -- Even if we can't know the number of how much less expensive it would be here, is there some sort of range that we might assume? Hi. Welcome. 3:06:07: Chris: I'd say it's partly based on percentage, more than an actual dollar amount. Microtrenching is -- It really depends on the conditions of the ground. Because, you know, it's not a silver bullet. But it can be effective in a lot of areas where -- Like, say, if you're downtown area, where you have limited running lines, you don't have the traditional space to do what you need to do. And it's driving up cost. Because now you're having to open trench, and, you know, restore a much larger footprint. So, there's definitely a percentage of savings that can be saved. The other thing is speed. It can go very fast. Traditional boring, you know, an average crew can maybe do 1,000 feet in a day. With microtrenching, you can easily do 4,000 feet a day. But you also have a lot of risk of your network being shallow. So, you have a tendency for people to hit it. Have potential outages. Downtime. But -- Go ahead. 3:07:11: Mayor Burt: Well, I was just -- I'm trying to get at this range of percent. Is it 5-10 percent? Is it 10-15 percent? What kind of ballpark are we in on the potential savings? 3:07:22: Chris: I don't know what number you feel comfortable with saying. But it can be substantial. As much as 50 percent. 3:07:30: Mayor Burt: OK. In fact, that's an upper end. And then we've got a lower end. That kind of gives me an order of magnitude sense of that. Thanks. 3:07:37: Chris: Sure. 3:07:40: Mayor Burt: And then, on Slide number 8 -- I don't know if we can call it back up but -- we've had an issue on take rates. And then, I think this slide gave us some sense of the geography of where we might have highest take rates. And we probably want to look at that, and compare that to what Chair Segal was talking about, on where we have undergrounding. And see where there's overlap, and any sweet spots. ### But AT&T has deployed FTTP in some underground districts. ### The Wayback Machine found this map of Palo Alto's underground districts (dated January 2019). https://web.archive.org/web/20220308022120/https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/utilities/utilities-engineering/electrical/cip- projects/utilities-undergrounding/ugdt.v2019.pdf But then, we also have this equity issue. And so, I'm trying to remember the areas in the City that have undergrounding, and whether we see any correlation between the deposit results, which I'm construing to be an indicator of take rates. Is that a reasonable assumption? 3:08:39: John Honker: Um hum. 3:08:39 Mayor Burt: OK. 3:08:40: John Honker: We think so. Yes. 3:08:40: Mayor Burt: Yeah. And how that correlates to where we have undergrounding. Director Batchelor, you have a good feel for where we have the undergrounding. I don't know if we can get Slide 8 up again, but -- Is there -- Oh, you've got it in front of you, too. Do you think that there's any good overlap between those areas, so that we could potentially have low construction cost and high take rates in the beginning? 3:09:12: ### Slide 8: DEPOSIT RESULTS -- again. Director Batchelor: Mayor Burt, there is. I mean, I'm looking at the map, there are some definitely advantages for us in the underground area where we -- I've seen some of these depos- -- these numbers of 703 ### It's now up to 743 deposits, totaling $37,150. https://fiber-palo-alto.hub.arcgis.com/ actually getting up into -- there's one area I was looking at -- the was about 200 customers that have made deposits that are in the underground area. And, as I was speaking to Chair Segal, you know, we would look at those opportunities, as well as looking at the overhead side, where that makes the most sense, to start the undergrounding areas. So, I think that there's a great potential to gain customers in those areas of where this overlap was. ### More comments about Slide 8: What is a "fiber area"? Is it an area where it makes sense to deploy FTTP infrastructure all at the same time to minimize construction costs? How many fiber areas are there? How many premises are in a fiber area? If it varies, then "deposits per fiber area" isn't really a measure of (estimated) take rate in the area. ### Is Mayor Burt's intent to maximize revenue to date per construction cost to date as the network is being built out? If so, then, as Honker pointed out on a previous occasion, you might want to consider building first the fiber areas that are closest to the huts. And, later on, buiding fiber areas that are closest to fiber areas that have already been built out. ### Depending on how the speed tiers are priced, higher tiers might generate more net revenue per connection than lower tiers. Should that be considered? Is there any data about what tiers depositors might want? 3:10:02: Mayor Burt: OK. Thanks. Lastly, we've talked about our competitive advantages. And one of the key ones that gets repeatedly mentioned is superior reliability. So, what would be the basis of us being able to offer superior reliability than the existing providers? 3:10:20: John Honker: So, you have the opportunity to sort of build the network for, you know, sort of maximizing reliability early. Right? When we look at how the network might be designed and built, you're building this effectively from scratch. Right? ### So, for example, Honker is recommending that the City not compromise the FTTP network to be compatible with the existing dark fiber network. A lot of the existing networks out there have been built over time, over legacies. So, there are some inherent flaws and there are some inherent limitations that are created by that. You know, when we look at this -- For example, the POP locations. The locations where the electronics surround -- all are going to be fully redundant. Right? Where we have redundancy there. And all the way down into the neighborhood level. That -- So, let's say, a contractor tears down a fiber, a car hits a telephone pole and knocks out a fiber, you're still going to have more reliability. You're going to have a resilient network, a redundant route, to keep services up to those communities. So, that's really a design principle that you can only get when you're building networks from scratch, and building new, that will really ... ### Adobe Creek Networks is a co-op formed by Palo Alto residents of upper Page Mill Road who got tired of waiting for the City to build a citywide municipal FTTP network. https://adobecreek.net/ They plan to offer redundancy right down to the premises level! https://adobecreek.net/services/ But it's pricey -- $1,000/month for 1 Gbps service, plus $2,000 connect fee, plus $1,000 co-op membership fee. ### It would be great if staff could write a staff report that spells out in detail what kind of redundancy the City intends to implement. 3:11:20: Mayor Burt: OK. So it's not speculative. It's not because we're just better at stuff. It's because we'd be building it from scratch, predominantly. Hopefully, we can be better in other ways. But there certain inherent aspects to building from scratch. OK. Great. Council Member Tanaka. 3:11:42: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. Well, thank you to the UAC. And thank you to staff for your work on this. I have a question which is, if we look at Palo Alto and our, let's say, you know, percentage of households that can get a gigabit or higher, ### Did he mean 1 Gbps symmetrical, or just 1 Gbps for downloads, with uploads unspecified? Most municipal FTTP networks offer symmetrical speeds, and most incumbents don't, and symmetrical is a real advantage. how do we compare against, let's say, Mountain View or Menlo Park, or some other communities? Are we doing better or worse? Roughly. Do you know? ### AllConnect says of Mountain View: https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/mountain-view (Comcast) Xfinity is available to 97 percent of the community. (Same as Palo Alto.) But Xfinity fiber is not mentioned. AT&T DSL is available to 97 percent of the community, but it can't do 1 Gbps. AT&T Fiber is available to 24 percent of the community. (In Palo Alto, it's only 0.767 percent.) ### AllConnect says of Menlo Park: https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/menlo-park (Comcast) Xfinity is available to 100 percent of the community. But Xfinity fiber is not mentioned. AT&T DSL is available to 99 percent of the community, but it can't do 1 Gbps. AT&T Fiber is not mentioned ### AllConnect says of Los Altos: https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/los-altos (Comcast) Xfinity is available to 99 percent of the community. Xfinity fiber is available to 0.266 percent of the community. (In Palo Alto, it's 0.092 percent.) AT&T is available to 100 percent of the community, but it can't do 1 Gbps. AT&T Fiber is available to 5.813 percent of the community. ### AllConnect says of Los Altos Hills https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/los-altos-hills (Comcast) Xfinity is available to 99 percent of the community. But Xfinity fiber is not mentioned. AT&T DSL is available to 95 percent of the community, but it can't do 1 Gbps. AT&T Fiber is not mentioned. ### Los Altos Hills Community Fiber is a co-op. See coverage map here. They can offer 10 Gbps symmetrical. But they also have steep connect fees. https://lahcommunityfiber.org/ 3:12:04: John Honker: Than your neighboring communities? We haven't looked at that specifically. We know that the providers in Palo Alto offer similar services in those surrounding communities. But we haven't done a deep analysis on, you know, how they stack up in terms of the speeds, between communities. 3:12:21: Council Member Tanaka: How about -- You mentioned, like, Chattanooga. What about other cities that have done, you know, some sort of open access, or have done municipal -- ### Cities that haven't build their own telecom systems can't offer open access. ### Chattanooga hasn't offered open access for residential premises, as far as I know. This article names several municipal networks that offer open access. (Not all are FTTP.) https://muninetworks.org/content/open-access like, how does that compare against, you know, where we are right now? 3:12:34: John Honker: In terms of the -- sort of the position you're in now? 3:12:37: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. In terms of the percentage of households that have high-speed -- not just high-speed, but, let's say, a gigabit and higher. 3:12:42: John Honker: Um hum. So, most other communities that have built out have another dominant provider that's providing gigabit services. Like, Longmont, Colorado, we talk about a little bit. They have Comcast as well. They have gigabit services. Now, I think, Comcast is providing 2 and even 3 gigabit there. ### Comcast says its FTTP product, Gigabit Pro, can do up to 3 Gbps. But it has "limited availability." https://www.highspeedoptions.com/resources/insights/xfinity-boosts-max-speed-3- gig#:~:text=Comcast's%20Xfinity%20is%20setting%20a,a%20sign%20of%20the%20times. ### AllConnect says of Longmont (NextLight): https://www.allconnect.com/local/co/longmont (Comcast) Xfinity is available to 97 percent of the commmunity. But Xfinity fiber is not mentioned. CenturyLink DSL is available to 89 percent of the community, but it can't do 1 Gbps. CehturyLink Fiber is available to 2.898 percent of the community. NextLight service is available to 91 percent of the community. (AllConnect says the speeds are up to 1 Gbps, but it's 10 Gbps.) NextLight, the City of Longmont's utility, is providing now, I think, up to 5 gigabit in broadband services. ### NextLight says 10 Gbps (symmetrical). https://mynextlight.com/residential/ So, you know, they -- you know, most of the cities will have a dominant gigabit provider already in the community that the city will be [competing against] ... 3:13:15: Council Member Tanaka: I guess what I'm trying to get at is, I'm just trying to see -- Like, our City, we've been talking about fiber. We have some dark fiber backbone. But we haven't actually done, you know, the home yet. ### Palo Alto deployed a 67-home FTTH Trial network (2001-2005). And I'm just wondering, like, you know, if you can take our City, where we haven't actually done it to the home yet, compared to cities that have done more active steps, you know, are we that much further behind, in terms of availability of gigabit Ethernet? ### I think he means gigabit internet. (And, again, what about uploads?) 3:13:40: John Honker: To other communities? 3:13:42: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. 3:13:42: John Honker: No. ### I don't understand. Why isn't Palo Alto further behind than municipalities that have already built municipal FTTP networks? I mean, you're really in a position that a lot of a lot of utilities have been in, where they have, already, a commercial fiber backbone, and they have, you know, a backbone that's serving city facilities, and all of the city's needs, and how they're extending to the home. Like, BrightRidge in Tennessee. Right? And they're a little larger in meters than Palo Alto. They're about 60-70,000 meters. Very similar, though. They had, you know, a large fiber backbone supporting the electric utility. And then, you know, they took that down to the home about five years ago, and have been building since to every home in Johnson City. So -- And their competition is, you know, a big cable company that is providing that gigabit service. 3:14:24: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. I'm less -- I'm more agnostic as to whether it's provided by the city or provided by a private company. It's more about having available service to the people. Right? I'm just trying to think of what impact does having a city have a more active presence in providing this -- how does that affect the percentage of people that get this high-speed internet? 3:14:48: John Honker: Oh, I think your question is around, you know, what's the net effect of ... 3:14:52: Council Member Tanaka: Yes. 3:14:52: John Honker: ... the city providing. So, what we typically see is, lower prices for everyone. Right? Meaning, because there's a new entrant, ... 3:15:00: Council Member Tanaka: But is it really lower price? Because the city's are dumping in, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars into the program. So, you have the total cost, not just what the people pay. The individual consumer. But also what the city pays. Is it really lower cost if you ... 3:15:14: John Honker: It's sort of a triple net. Right? We think about that in terms of, the city has to finance that. The citizen has to pay. But if the overall cost is lower the citizen, in paying to cover the debt service and the operating cost, ... 3:15:27: Council Member Tanaka: But as long as you factor in the cost that the city put in, as well. Right? Because if you don't factor that in, it's not a fair comparison. 3:15:36: John Honker: Right. But the revenues from the -- So, the revenues from the consumer are paying all the costs -- Right? -- for the service. So, if those revenues from the consumer are lower than what they're paying in the market today. And that's covering all the costs the city needs to finance the network -- operate, manage. That triple net impact is a lower cost for the community. And, sort of an add-on impact of -- if that competition reduces the cost to the existing services from other providers, they also get that benefit of it. So, we've seen it that way. And, you know, that creates a sort of communitywide benefit. 3:16:15: Council Member Tanaka: OK. 3:16:15: John Honker: Even for consumers, even for ... 3:16:18: Council Member Tanaka: So you're saying even after factoring the cost to the city puts in -- like staff time -- Right? -- something that ... 3:16:24: John Honker: ** 3:16:24: Council Member Tanaka: ... it's still -- it's still a net benefit. 3:16:28: John Honker: It would have to be. Yup. Because all those have to go into the over- -- all of those costs need to go into the price of the service. Right? So, the city's -- what the city's charging has to cover all of those costs. So, as long as that's happening, and, long-term, the city is at least breaking even, then, if those prices are lower than the market, then the community is saving money. 3:16:52: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. Because -- 3:16:53: John Honker: Does that make sense? 3:16:54: Council Member Tanaka: I think so. I -- I mean, the thing I was just thinking about when I looked up, you know, the possible pricing that the City would offer is, there's not much better than what I would get today. You know, I can get gigabit ethernet ### internet now at Comcast. ### IF he can get 1 Gbps symmetrical service from Comcast at all, it would be way more expensive than the price proposed in the staff report for 1 Gbps symmetrical service. I can't get it from AT&T. But I can get it from Comcast. But, for me, I actually do both. Right? Just because -- Not because -- Mainly because of reliability. Because if one goes out, I have the other one. So, that's the main reason why I have that right now. I just wonder -- and I think somebody earlier mentioned it -- is, you know, I wonder if we're too late on this. Right? And whether the City can move fast enough, and differentiate enough to, you know, really have a big enough effect. Right? Or whether we'll be kind of lagging behind on the technology. And if there's a sufficient differentiation that we could have in the market. And so -- Or, should we maybe more partner with people? Go more outsource. Or maybe just provide incentives for existing providers to have a certain coverage rate. Or some sort of reliability motive. Or something where we would create more competition, versus trying to compete ourselves. Because I wonder whether -- You know, if we'd done it 10 years ago, or 20 years ago, then I think it's a different story. But we're doing it today. And some of the -- If I look at this as a consumer point of view, it doesn't seem that as compelling. Even, like, 5 years ago, or 10 years ago. Right? 10 years ago, it would have been amazing. But now, I look at it and I go, **, I can get that right now, almost. Right? And so, that's what I'm worried about. ### Note that if the City provided incentives, it would be losing money. Because the City wouldn't have a revenue stream for getting the money back. ### It would be very hard for the City to measure whether an ISP was really providing the improved service it was incentivized to provide. 3:18:20: John Honker: Well -- And that, really, when you think about the prices that are up there -- Right? -- those are starting prices, and those are standard prices. So, you know, with 95 percent of the existing providers, offering promotional prices. 2:18:33: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah, but their prices also go down. Right? ### In this 01-12-21 blog, consultant Doug Dawson predicts that the price for broadband from the incumbents will exceed $100/month within just a few years. https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2021/01/12/100-broadband/ Going down. And then, it would be the 5G people coming. And there's going to be more of a competition. So, I'm just worried about, can we move fast enough, can we be competitive enough? Or should we be more in the game of providing incentives for more competition? 3:18:46: John Honker: And that ... 3:18:46: Council Member Tanaka: And remove barriers from -- like, trying to make it easy to get permitting, to deploy these services. Right? And -- or the conduits. Or whatever it takes to make it easy for people to compete. Versus trying to get into the game ourselves. I just wonder whether we can move fast enough. That's my concern. 3:19:02: John Honker: Sure. That's a philosophical question. Like at the ... 3:19:04: Council Member Tanaka: I don't think it has to be philosophical. I think we could actually look at, you know, where other people are, and where we are. So, I don't think it's necessarily philosophical. But -- That's why I was asking these questions. 3:19:14: John Honker: Sure. 3:19:15: Council Member Tanaka: Thank you. 3:19:17: Mayor Burt: So, we were planning to go to the public. And then come back for the second half. And discussions. Do you have a quick question, Council Member Filseth? OK. So, why don't we go ahead and go to the public at this time. And then we'll reconvene for the second half of the meeting, which is the Council portion. Apparently. 3:19:49: OK. So, let's see how many speakers we have. Is that it? All right. We'll go ahead and allow up to 3 minutes per speaker. Our first speaker is Jeff Hoel. And welcome. To be followed by Aram James. 3:20:12: Jeff Hoel: Thanks. I'm -- I sent you a list of my questions. Which is a very long list. And I don't propose to go over it again. But I'm pleased that you're asking the questions that will allow you to answer whether you want to go forward with this or not. That's it. Thanks. 3:20:43: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Our next speaker is Aram James, to be followed by Hamilton Hitchings. Welcome. 3:20:49: Aram James: OK. Well, maybe there's another Aram James, but I'm on there twice. I think that's probably an error. So, I'll speak now. 3:20:56: Mayor Burt: We'll only let you speak once. You can ... 3:20:58: Aram James: I appreciate that. Particularly on this subject. It's one I've never tried to jump into before. You know, a very interesting conversation. But somebody said this is NOT speculative. ### At 3:11:20, Mayor Burt summarized Honker's response about why there are good reasons to think the City's network could be more reliable than incumbents' networks. And I'm thinkin', whoo, with all the variables that are discussed, I can't imagine anything that's more speculative. I think you'd really have to do the deep dive, that Greg Tanaka's done, and others have done, to, you know, get another city, that is similar in its population and demographics. And then, all of this digging that's going to take place. And I think Dave Price raised a good point today in his editorial about the City trying to run businesses when we've got, you know, all of these -- I understand it was somewhat of a different scenario. But, you know, a public gymnasium, versus competitors. ### It's an entirely different scenario. These days, FTTP is a utility. A gymnasium is not a utility. But here, I've also got the concern about outsourcing. I'd think we would want to insource. You know, when we deal with stuff like climate change, why would we want to have people coming from outside town driving in here, with the climate change issues. ### At 2:50:25, Honker gave an outsourcing example: the City could outsource certain functions to Chattanooga, which would perform them remotely. Why not give those jobs to people that live in Palo Alto? Give them -- And there's another question here, is, what kind of wages are the people that are going to be working -- hopefully insourced --- and I imagine it's got to be wages -- that are a livable wage. So, I'd like to hear something about that. On the questions. And then -- I mean, Greg Tanaka raises great -- And it seems to me, like, if this had been done 20 years ago, yeah. But now, the technology is moving so quickly. ### This 02-01-21 article says, "Fiber is the only technology that can handle the broadband demand today and for the next fifty years." https://potsandpansbyccg.com/2021/02/01/why-fiber/ We have climate change. We have, you know, sea level possibly rising. With underground cables. So, I just think it's -- It's a very, VERY speculative proposition. So, I'm glad all of you are asking lots of questions. And I'm going to do my best to hang in here, to hear all the other people that -- Council members make your brilliant questions and comments, and see where all this comes out. But, it sounds to me, ultimately -- The other thing is, if you're going to be investing $100 million -- or $50 million -- worth of City money up-front, with all the other needs that we -- should be prioritized -- making certain that every unhoused person in Santa Clara County, and, certainly, Palo Alto, is housed, should we be putting this kind of money into a service that's already provided by lots of competitors. I would think not. We also need more psychiatric social workers. We've got a lot of things that come as a priority here, over this undergrounding. ### Not all of the FTTP network would be undergrounded. That's my perspective. Without having the educational base that a lot of the Council member have. But I'm going to keep listening and keep an open mind. Thank you very much. 3:23:54: Mayor Burt: Thank you. And before proceeding to our next speaker, I just want to note that I see Commissioner Smith has a hand up, and I'll go to him, after hearing from members of the public, before we end this portion. Hamilton Hitchings, to be followed by Herb Borock. Welcome. 3:24:12: Hamilton Hitchings: Because Comcast already provides ubiquitous high-speed internet access to all of Palo Alto today, ### The "high-speed" internet Comcast provides to 97 percent (not 100 percent) of the City today is "up to" 1,200 Mbps down but only "up to" 35 Mbps up. And when the network is loaded, you don't get the "up to" speeds. the value proposition for City residential fiber is primarily ensuring there's competition. However, AT&T started the roll-out of "true" fiber to the home a couple of years ago in Palo Alto. If you use Sonic, Sonic will layer outstanding customer service on top of that for the same price. AT&T is almost the same as the City's proposed fiber rates. Except with AT&T, it's $5 more expensive on the lowest tier, and much cheaper for the fastest -- 2 and 5 gig, in their upcoming offerings. ### The City's proposed prices are not yet set in stone. Anyone who is satisfied with Comcast can switch to AT&T Fiber/Sonic today, provided it is offered to their home. Thus, the REAL question is, what is the percentage of City homes -- will AT&T Fiber offer coverage to in 3 years time? This roll-out's going to take 4 years, and won't start for a year and a half. Staff claims that currently only 25 percent of Palo Alto is covered by AT&T Fiber. But they don't actually know. ### AllConnect says it's 0.767 percent. https://www.allconnect.com/local/ca/palo-alto ### BroadbandSearch says it's 6.8 percent. https://www.broadbandsearch.net/service/california/palo-alto They also claim AT&T is primarily installing fiber at homes served by overhead lines. In Palo Alto, 90 percent of the homes are served by overhead lines. ### Is this documented somewhere on the City's website? A 2003 staff report about FTTP (no longer available online) said it was 70 percent. Since then, more lines have been undergrounded. Again, in Palo Alto, 90 percent of the residents are served by overhead lines. Thus, you can infer AT&T is easily able to reach 90 percent of the City's population. ### How easily AT&T Fiber could pass a premises depends not only on whether the fiber would be aerial or undergrounded but also on how close to existing AT&T fiber infrastructure the premises is. Magellan's estimates -- take rates and financial estimates do not account for this. And I don't believe they even accurately account for AT&T's existing fiber customers, who are very unlikely to switch. The modeling by Magellan assumes a 30 percent conversion of users switching to the City's fiber from the existing providers. This would be reasonable if Comcast were the only provider. But because of AT&T Fiber, the 30 percent conversion rate seems overly optimistic to me. In the City survey, 7 percent said they were very satisfied, and 22 percent said they were somewhat satisfied. ### No, 6.7 percent were very dissatisfied, and 21.7 percent were somewhat dissatisfied. See the staff report, Packet Page 75. I think the conjoint analysis shows that some folks who were neither somewhat dissatisfied nor very dissatisfied were willing to switch. The modeling by Magellan assumes all of these users switch to City fiber, and none of them to AT&T. And that just gets you to 30 percent. They're talking about 35-50 percent. ### The consultant said (2:56:47) the range of take rates of municipal FTTP networks nationally was typically 35-50 percent. He said (at 2:14:39) that the take rate for Palo Alto might 37-42 percent. But the minimum take rate needed to be successful would be 27-30 percent. Furthermore, almost half the existing users have another bundled service, such as phone or cable. This will further reduce conversion rates for customers. Thus, it's important to truly understand what percentage of City homes will AT&T Fiber offer coverage to in 3 years' time. Thank you. 3:27:07: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Our next speaker is Herb Borock, to be followed by Bob Smith. Welcome. 3:27:18: Herb Borock: Mayor Burt, Chair Segal, Council members, and Commissoners, I sent you a letter with some questions on -- some more after reading the report in more detail, I believe what's been proposed is that dark fiber fund be changed from the -- fund that does both dark fiber and the lit fiber. I prefer having something set up separately, as a customer of the dark fiber, as the way to fiber to the premises. I have also raised the question of what kind of optronics is going to be used. If it's GPON, or point-to-multipoint, that assumes oversubscription, and there won't be congestion, because people use their fiber at different times. The alternative is active Ethernet, point-to-point, which I prefer. The -- Magellan proposes putting a fiber hut in Juana Briones Park, which is dedicated parkland. And I know we've had -- and that requires a vote of the people, to remove -- from parkland. In terms of the kind of internet service provider to have, there are experienced outside providers that we can hire who have a reputation for excellent customer service, and who don't do data mining for the purposes of ad targeting or surveillance of subscribers. You just had a closed session on your labor negotiations. Recently, the Utilities Advisory Commission was advised of how many vacancies there are in the existing utility functions. And so, I don't see the wisdom of starting something new here. I would prefer a clear, broken-down spreadsheets on the capital forecasting versus the operating budget. You know, in the City, we have both an Operating Budget and a Capital Budget. And, also, there's money supposedly coming from at least the electric utility. Of which there are estimates. And those things apparently depend upon how many of the fiber strands in each of the backbone and the fiber project are used by the utilities, versus, for example, used by the fiber project. And other than the percentage of money, we don't see the -- you know, the actual fiber count on those. I don't think it's much of a benefit to say that we spend a lot of money on this project, but we should be happy if the incumbents lower their prices. I don't think that's a way to get any kind of benefit. Thank you. 3:30:21: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Our next speaker is Bob Smith, to be followed by our final speaker, Andy Poggio. Welcome. 3:30:32: Bob Smith: Good evening. Municipal broadband for this community is an unnecessary risk. Think of it this way. If you build it, and it works, and you make money -- a little bit, like your plan is -- does that really help anybody? Or will the incumbents, by the time you build yours, have theirs working as well or better than it already does, and it won't be something you notice? On the other hand, if you try to build it and fail, well, it's a $130 million investment that's sitting there. Probably a lot more by the time you get it done. And if you look at cities like Provo, Utah, that tried it and failed, it was a misery. I don't see the point. I follow these meetings for 40 years, here in this room. ### Forty years ago, in 1982, the City wasn't talking about municipal FTTP. I suppose Smith is remembering that in 1982, the City invited private-sector entities to submit bids to operate a cable TV system. https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news_features/weekly20/timeline.html And each time, we have new meetings about fiber, it's less appropriate. It's less necessary. I realized this last summer when AT&T came along and wired my house. (Take this [mask] off. Having a hard time talking.) I now have AT&T and Comcast, so I can at least compare them. They both work. Kind of. Let's look at a priority that you're not doing much about, as far as I can tell, and that's the City's electrical grid. There was some mention of it tonight. As we look forward to end-of-gas and electrical vehicles, we're going to need a lot more power in this community. And I don't see us doing much to make that happen. In fact, talk about reliability, Mr. Mayor, the electrical system here has been a fright in the last several months, and people are saying the City is not running a reliable system. I'm saying it. And hearing other people say it, too. That would be something to work on. Of course, you can also pick housing, transportation, the railroad changes that are necessary. I don't understand why you're here talking about fiber. Go home and watch Comcast. You know? ### Watching conventional TV is not the point. It works. Fiber works. From AT&T. A lot of the concerns about fiber not working, or Comcast not working, really have to do with the fact that you have a huge system out there for the internet. And a lot of the individual sites occasionally have problems. And then people say, oh, Comcast isn't working again. Well, I don't know. I wish you luck. 3:33:39: Mayor Burt: Thank you. And our final speaker is Andy Poggio. Welcome. 3:33:49: Andy Poggio: Hi. Good evening, everybody. I just have three points I'd like to make. First one is, there was a concern about fiber technology obsolescence. In particular, 5G. 5G still has significant drawbacks. If you want fast 5G, it doesn't work well with precipitation, like rain. It doesn't work well with foliage. We may not have too much rain, but we have lots of foliage. High-speed 5G and foliage don't work well together. In addition, usually 5G is a shared medium, because it's broadcast. That means lower individual bandwidth at times when internet use is possible. So, if you notice, 3G towers didn't use 3G for the backhaul. They used fiber. 4G towers, same thing. 5G towers, they're not using 5G for the backhaul. They're using fiber. The reason is, fiber is reliable. And fast. 3:34:45: That's point 1. Point 2 is -- 'cause there was perhaps some misinformation -- AT&T Fiber is doing underground fiber in Palo Alto. I live in Midtown. My neighborhood has all underground utilities. Within the last 12 months, AT&T Fiber has been offered, and I'm it. Works OK. So - - So that may not be such an opportunity. There may not be necessarily be -- If the utilities are undergrounded, there's no fiber available -- that's certainly not the case in my neighborhood. I can't speak for others. 3:35:19: The last point Bob Smith touched on. I want to just expand on that a little bit. So, as many of you know, including some of the current Council members, I've long been a fiber to the premises proponent for Palo Alto. I still think it's a good idea. But things have changed. In particular, now, I can get fiber at home. Not from an ideal provider but from a sort of OK one. But there are other opportunities. And I think one is mandatory for us. And that's City electrification. Right? We're going to have to outlaw natural gas. Only electric stoves, heat pumps for heating, heat pumps for hot water, only electric cars. This is coming, and we have to support it. So, I would really like to see number projecting, here's what Palo Alto's future electricity needs will be, here's the kind of capital investment we need to meet those needs, and see if we can do both electrification and fiber to the premises, great. That's the ideal outcome, in my mind. I'd love to see that happen. But if it's a choice of one or the other, I think we have to do electrification. So, I'd really like to see that plan, and those numbers. Thank you very much. 3:36:38: Mayor Burt. Thank you. And I see that we have Commissioner Smith, who wishes to speak. And go right ahead. 3:36:48: Commissioner Smith: Thank you very much, Mayor Pat Burt. I appreciate that. City Council. Lovely to be here this evening. The UAC fellow commissioners, as well as City staff, thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. As many of you know, I've worked on this particular subject for some time. First with the Citizens Advisory Committee, that was essentially sunsetted when fiber -- and the discussion of fiber -- was rolled into UAC's purview. ### On 11-01-10, Council changed the Municipal Code to give UAC responsibility for advising Council on the fiber utility. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/city-clerk/ordinances/ord-5096.pdf https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2010/final-cmr- 398_10-2nd-reading-council-ad-hoc-committee.pdf Before that, Council gave UAC ad hoc responsibility for fiber from about 1999 to 2004. ### On 05-14-13, a Council subcommittee (Chair Kniss, Mayor Scharff, and Council Members Klein and Shepherd) asked City Manager Keene to create a Citizens Advisory Committee on Fiber and Wireless (CAC) (Item 5, page 6). https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/zzz-archive/cac-for-the-fttp-and-wireless-master- plans/00-archive/2013/05-14-13-tcc-final.pdf But that did not diminish UAC's purview of the fiber utility. CAC became advisory to staff. UAC is advisory to Council. ### On 06-24-19, Council sunsetted the Citizens Advisory Committee on Fiber and Wireless. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/reports/city-manager-reports-cmrs/year-archive/2019/id-9620-mini- packet-61319.pdf So, I've been very, very close for a number of years. And I've been watching it. And I have a number of comments that I'd just like to make. First of all, a small, little anecdote. There was -- Slide 8 was brought up in the questioning during the period. And Slide 8 was a beautiful slide, primarily because it basically shows where those people we assume are most interested in fiber to the home have put down a deposit. And there are a couple of areas there that are dark blue. I happen to live in one of those dark blue areas. What's interesting about those dark blue areas -- that is, greater than 15 -- per -- I think -- I fail to remember the fiber metric, but greater than 15 got dark blue. What's interesting about that -- and one of those two areas happens to be my area. And AT&T Fiber, actually it is offered in my area. So, I signed up. Because I'm desperate for fiber. And regular connectivity. We had an appointment last Thursday. No one showed up. My wife called AT&T. And I -- anecdotally -- this is exactly what the response was. Sorry, we're a month out from delivering service. Small, little anecdote about the delivery quality that's available through AT&T. There are problems. It is available. It's not available to everyone. 3:38:41: The other important fact that I'd like to bring to everyone's attention -- and certainly to this City Council -- is that there are two components of fiber. There's dark fiber. And there's fiber to the home. And there -- dark fiber -- there's a significant portion of that dark fiber that is necessary for our future. We are talking about -- and we are going to implement AMI. And that is Advanced Metering Infrastructure -- for our infrastructure. For our department of Utilities. All of that is run on our fiber. In order to implement AMI, in our City, we need to improve our fiber. A significant portion of the cost you're reading about in the reports tonight are associated with AMI. Fiber to the home is but one extension of the ask. ### At 4:55:54, Director Batchelor explained that AMI needed only 5 collectors, each backhauled by dark fiber, and the existing dark fiber network was used to provide these connections. 3:39:35: The other thing that I'd like to highlight is -- There was a comment made earlier about bundling. That bundling became suddenly so important. What was interesting about the survey results is, the survey results actually show that most -- that literally 50 percent -- I think it was greater than 50 percent -- ### 53.9 percent. See PDF page 10 here. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda- and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2022/08-03-2022/08-03-2022-id-14582-fiber.pdf (On this survey question, there was no option to say "I don't have cable television and I don't subscribe to internet streaming.) have already "cut the cord." Most of us are using Hulu. Or Netflix. Or some other third party's content provider. 3:40:03: Another comment I'd like to make is on timing. There were a number of questions about, is this the correct timing? To that, I'd like to answer that almost financially. We have a $32 million war chest that has been accumulate over 20 years. Actually, greater than 20 years. ### The City started building the dark fiber network in 1996, i.e., 26 years ago. That $32 million war chest has been put aside for development of dark fiber. And, potentially, AMI. And, potentially, fiber to the home. The shortage of $86 million that's been highlighted in your packets this evening is easily made up, as we've demonstrated in our memo, via a revenue bond. The interesting thing about a revenue bond -- the payments against the bond are funded by the revenues of the network. They're not taxes. We're not talking taxes to anyone. We're not talking about increasing spending from the City of Palo Alto. We're talking about paying for the fiber network via the revenues the fiber network generates. 3:41:11: The -- One final thing on that is -- And there's a concern about this. That's why the subcommittee from the UAC actually asked the City Treasurer this specific question: Does our roll-out of fiber to the home affect our ability, in any way, financially, to raise money to fix or upgrade our electric utility grid? And the answer was, it is a revenue bond. A revenue bond that is paid for by the revenues of the fiber network. In other words, they are not related. As we heard tonight from Dean -- and our Director of Utilities -- we know that they are related, but they are related from the perspective of the physical work. And that is logical. If we need to upgrade our electrical grid, then let's go ahead and do the fiber. If we're going to do fiber, let's go ahead and do the electrical. That is logical work. 3:42:20: Finally -- and I think this is one of the things -- there's -- sorry, not final -- There's two final points that I'd like to make. The first is this. If I am offered 1 gigabit service, up and down, from AT&T, and it works perfectly fine, I'm very happy. I've got 1 gigabit service, up and down, I'm very happy. And I'm not dropping my wife, my son. I can be at work, my wife can be at work, and my son can be at school. I'm very, very happy. If I can do that, and pay the City of Palo Alto, knowing that the $80 a month that I spend for that 1 gigabit service, up and down, goes to the City of Palo Alto, and to payment for the Fiber Fund, and potentially for improvement of the Fiber Fund, and for potentially reducing the cost of my fiber from $80 to $10 -- ### Possibly Commissioner Smith intended to say reducing the cost from $80/month to $70/month? as they've demonstrated. A 10 percent savings -- or, a $15 million savings over 10 years -- equates to $560 per household. Over that 10-year period. That's a chunk of money. I'm going to be interested. But more importantly, I'm doing something for my community. And I'm benefiting my own community. And my neighbors. I'm bringing down the cost of fiber. Secondly, I'm also forcing my competitors to also bring down, and maybe be more competitive. That's very compelling for us moving forward. 3:43:46: Finally, I'd like us all to reflect back over the last two and a half years. COVID-19 decimated our ability to actually function as a society. We couldn't go to school. We couldn't work. And our entire communities were locked down, in our single-family residences. That was painful. Making that somewhat easier, by providing fiber, and reliable downstream/upstream service via fiber, will make our citizens that much happier. And, God willing, we don't have another COVID crisis. We are prepared. But, more importantly, we are providing a provision for our future generations, that they will be prepared. When we weren't. Thank you. 3:44:43: Mayor Burt: Thank you. I don't see hands from other commissioners. Is that correct that they are not seeking to speak? OK. And, so, before breaking up this session, Commissioner Filseth, did you have a follow-up question? 3:44:59: Council Member Filseth: Well, I was going to continue the discussion. Are we going to take break, or something like that? 3:45:03: Mayor Burt: Yeah. We're going to take a break. And then, it's scheduled that we'll have a Council reconvening in the second half. 3:45:08: Council Member Filseth: OK. I'll wait until after the break. 3:45:11: Mayor Burt: OK. All right. So, I think that concludes this first half of this study session. And I want to thank everyone. It's been a pleasure having the Commission here. And -- on this simple subject. [laughter] And so , we look forward to additional discussion. Thanks. And we'll return in 10 minutes, at five minutes to nine. ========================== BREAK ========================== 4:02:02: Mayor Burt: So, now we're going to head into the next session -- segment of this study session, which is a Council session, covering financials, sensitivity analysis, financing options, organizational structures. And then some additional discussion on kind of how things may all fit together. ### The agenda didn't explain that there would be two parts, and that the UAC wouldn't participate in the second part. Slide 2 could have been used to explain this, but it was not used. So, Director Batchelor, were you kicking off this next section? Or how do we go? 4:02:30: Director Batchelor: Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Burt. So, we're just going to continue on with John making a presentation, and staff will fill in when needed. 4:02:54: ### Slide 19: City Council Council Member DuBois: Could I interrupt for just one second? 4:02:57: Mayor Burt: Yeah. 4:02:57: Council Member DuBois: We were talking -- It's been so long. I think some of the Council members weren't even here, I think, the last time we had a fiber update. So, maybe even just giving a little bit of an introduction would be helpful. For some. 4:03:09: John Honker: Just a -- Well, just a general introduction on the fiber project? 4:03:13: Council Member DuBois: About who Magellan is, ... 4:03:14: John Honker: Oh, yeah. Of course. Absolutely. We're happy to do it. So, for those who we haven't met with before, John Honker, with Magellan. Magellan -- We're a broadband consulting engineering firm. We've been around since 2004. And we've worked with about 400 cities, utilities, local governments that have decided to build some type of fiber network. And we're really some sort of a, again, engineering/consulting. And we help cities get to the point where, you know, they're ready to build. We've -- And in Palo Alto, now, we've gotten you to the point where you'll have full blueprints and engineering designs for the proposed fiber to the home network. That was part of our tasking with the City. As well as the business plan, the market analysis, and the financial plan cost analysis. So, you know, we work throughout the country. A lot in California. We have about 50 municipal and municipal utility clients in California. But we work throughout the country as well. So, happy to answer any specific questions on the company. But that's just a little bit of background on us. 4:04:26: Moving into the presentation, this part of the presentation really focuses on the financial aspects of the proposed fiber to the home network. The goal here was really to help City Council and UAC understand, you know, overall costs for the fiber to the home network. Fiber to the premise network. And, you know, potentially looking at overall financials for the proposed broadband business, and what drives, you know, financial performance for the system. Next slide, please. 4:05:03: ### Slide 20: AGENDA -- Council Session -- Financials So, we'll cover just some very high-level financials right now. But please, as we go though this, we'll dive a little bit deeper in. And I'll try to get through these slides in 10-12 minutes. And then we'll open it up to questions from the UAC and Council. ### But UAC isn't participating in this part. Next slide, please, 4:05:23: ### Slide 21: FINANCIAL COSTS FOR FTTP As we looked at the original costs for fiber to the premise from last year, we were looking at about a $128 million -- ### No, rather -- $120.8 million for the entire project. And that was broken down into two components: 1) the fiber backbone and 2) the fiber to the premises network. So, when we think about the fiber backbone, again, we're talking about the enhancement of the City's existing fiber network to support the utility, to support City departments. Also to support commercial dark fiber leasing. That cost of that's about $22 million, with the bulk of that -- the remaining being fiber to the premise. Which is, effectively, you know, a couple hundred miles of fiber that's laid throughout the City, to provide broadband to homes and businesses. So that, in 2021, was $86 million. And we also set aside about $12.5 million for working capital. Now, what is working capital? Working capital is, really, all of the funding that's needed to start the fiber to the premise business before revenues exceed costs. ### I think he means before revenues exceed operating costs. So, for example, no matter what business model you pick, you're going to have to spend money on staff, contracts, vendors, stuff. To get the business -- to get the broadband utility off the ground, before you have customers. We have to train FTEs. We have to have systems in place. We have to have staff in place, to be able to support the fiber to the home network. As you're doing that -- Right? -- we need some operational funding to support that. That $12.5 million supports the fiber to the home operating costs for the first few years, as revenues are generated on the network, and before those revenues are high enough to pay for costs. 4:07:22: So, adding those three together, we were at $128 million. ### $120.8 million. Our current estimates have gone up. Supply chain issues. Demand in the broadband business has gone significantly higher than it was last year. And we see considerable inflation in prices on materials, and, to a lesser degree, labor. Those costs have gone now from originally $120.8 million to about $143 million. So, up a bit from last year. We've also increased the working capital set aside from $12.5 million to $15 million. Because we realize that labor costs have also gone up, and we want to project the increases in labor costs going forward in the first few years of the network, to cover the additional expense load. 4:08:12 So, how would that be funded? The first thing to take out of those numbers is the joint savings if the two networks are built together. So, if you think about the fiber backbone, and the fiber to the home network, there's a lot of places where they overlap. And wherever they overlap, there's an opportunity to put that fiber in the same trench. Meaning, we don't have to dig two trenches for each network. We can use that same trench, as long as it's on that road. So, we did an engineering analysis to determine what that cost savings would be if they were both built together. And we're looking at about $11 million there. So, it's significant. Right? And that would bring down the overall cost of the network. By that $11 million. The existing Fiber Fund that would be utilized to bring down the cost of new debt, by $34 million, and the remaining would be about $98 million, in new borrowings or new funding required for the City. 4:09:11: The allocation of that, again. We talked about electric using a portion of that network. And costs -- A portion of the costs would be allocated towards electric. So, we're looking at between $13 [million] and $18 million that would be funded by electric, to support the fiber network for their portion of it that would be used. And then, the remainder would be allocated, you know, directly to the fiber utility, with about $80 [million] to $85 million. So, you know, $98 million in new funding. You know, less those -- that allocation between fiber and electric. 4:09:48: ### Slide 22: FINANCIAL PLAN -- CASH BALANCE As we look at the financial plan, we looked at different business models and how they would perform under these funding scenarios. So, looking at total costs of the network and what our cash balances would be at the end of the year. In each of the insource, hybrid, and outsource models. What's important about these graphs is that the lines always stay above zero. Right? The goal is, in any of the financial models -- any of the operating models that we're looking at -- we need to keep our cash balances above zero every year that the fiber utility is operating. And in these cases, the three scenarios we looked at do. There's some contingency built into this, as well, given the fact that costs have risen over the past year. But what's important for you to look at in these numbers is the slope of the lines. Right? As we look insource, hybrid, and outsource models, they all carry a cash balance above zero for the period of time. And they also maintain a similar slope in each one of their curves. Meaning that their costs are overall linear, comparing the three models. Outsource, you know, creates the highest opportunity for cash flow. Meaning the lowest cost for the City. Fund balances are higher. Followed by the hybrid, followed by the insource model. So, in effect, what we're saying is that the City can operate at lower costs if it's outsourcing, versus insourcing. And that's primarily a function of the higher overheads on labor that the City carries, as part of its employment. So, again, what's important, though, is to -- Because of these -- the slopes of these curves, the models are relatively similar. So there doesn't have to be a definitive insource versus outsource option. You can look at variations of this. And you can also look at variations over time, depending on the needs of the business. Right? Business will drive the overall performance of the network, and the performance -- the financial performance. So, it's important to remember is that that can be flexible over time. Meaning, if the City decides in the first few years of building its network that it wants to outsource a number of the functions because maybe it doesn't have the capability today, or it can't ramp up fast enough, that's a way to keep costs down and also introduce those capabilities quickly. Which could be insourced over time. Right? We see a lot of cities moving through the first three or four years of construction and operation to a point with their outsource partners, but bringing those in-house over time. Right? Once the take rates are achieved, once the network is mature, you know, starting to internalize some of those opportunities, some of those business functions. And then using less outsourcing. The decision on the final model really will be based on an understanding of sort of quality, -- Right? -- cost, and control. Right? As you utilize outsourced vendors, we do lose some control. We can contract with quality vendors to provide good services. But it may be different from what the City is providing internally. And we need to make sure that, whatever the City does, it's up to the standards of the community. Next slide, please. 4:13:14: ### Slide 23: AGENDA -- Council Session -- Sensitivity Analysis Sensitivity Analysis. So, again, remember that financials only provide one snapshot of one set of scenarios at one point in time. So, as we go through this analysis, sensitivity and variable analysis is really important to understand what are the most sensitive factors that drive the financial performance. Or financial erosion, if they go negative. Next slide, please. 4:13:42: ### Slide 24: SENSITIVITY ANALYSIS -- TAKE RATE As we look at this, and we've gone through the sensitivity analysis of about 12 different key variables: construction costs, operating costs, payroll overheads, take rates, pricing, discounts, promotions. Everything that goes into the broadband business and changes financial results needs to really be modeled in the financial scenarios. This is probably the most impactful one. As a number of commissioners and Council members have said tonight, take rates are everything. Right? So, what this slide shows is what our take rates look like -- or, our financial performance looks like, at varied take rates. From 15 percent, which would be catastrophic, frankly. It would be a very -- a bad situation if the City could only achieve a 15 percent take rate. And HIGHLY unlikely. All the way up to 50 percent. Which would be very positive. Right? And we can see, you know, as we're at 15, 20, and 25 percent marks, our cash balances each year -- You can see the slopes of those curves are negative. And either go positive or stay negative. So, we talked about the break-even take rate being between 27 and 30 percent. You can see, in those lower take rates, which are sort of shown in orange, red, and yellow, those lower take rates -- 15, 20, and 25. Our cash balances are below zero each year. So, we're going to have to be adding funds to the network each year. Right? And that's not a position the City wants to be [in] -- to have to continually add funds to the Fiber Fund each year. So, this is just one scenario. Again, as we work through the final financial plans, over the coming weeks, you'll see more financial analysis, more sensitivity analysis. But, again, this helps to reinforce how important those take rates are for the business. 4:15:41: ### Slide 25: AGENDA -- Council Session -- Financing Options Financing Options. We met with the City Finance team, to understand what opportunities were out there, and how the $85-86 million would actually be financed. ### I don't know where the $85-86 million comes from. Slide 21 says $98 million is needed to finance both the backbone and FTTP. If electric chips in $13 million, that leaves $85 million for everything else. If electric chips in $18 million, that leaves $80 million for everything else.) 4:15:54: ### Slide 26 -- FTTP FINANCING OPTIONS ### (Slide 25 says "Financing Options." Slide 26 says "FTTP FINANCING OPTIONS. I think Slide 26 should say FINANCING OPTIONS." because it's about financing both the dark fiber backbone extension and FTTP) Option 1 would be, you know, utilizing the Fiber reserve, with a revenue bond. Right? So, the revenue bond -- about $98 million. ### This apparently assumes that electric's contribution ($13-18 million) would be debt-financed too. Which would have a debt repayment, or an annual debt service, of between $6 [million] and $6.5 million a year. ### See the table on Packet Page 66 of the staff report for more details. ### Did the Finance team consider the possibility of borrowing, each year, only enough to pay for the construction in that year (but with rates guaranteed from the beginning)? And that's over a 30-year term. So, we looked at that with Finance. This also assumes a build-out of 5 years. So, the City would be deploying about 20 percent of the network per year, be at a mature take rate at about year 6, once the network was fully deployed. 4:16:41: The other option was looking at a way to deploy the network without taking on any new debt. Is there a way that the network could be built without a new bond -- a new revenue bond or otherwise? The $34 million in the Fiber reserve could still be applied to that. And it would be, effectively, a slow roll. That $34 million would be put forth -- toward the first areas of construction in the City, and the rest of the network would be built out over time. The concept would be to utilize the $34 million as, effectively, seed capital. And once that area started to generate free cash flow, or excess revenues, those would be plowed back into the system, to build out more of the network. So, effectively financing the expansion through revenues rather than debt. And because revenues take time to accrue, it will take time to build out new areas. So, for example, you may not be able to build the next area, beyond that $34 million, until year 5 or 6 -- until there's enough cash that the system is throwing off to start reinvesting in that area. So, as we looked at that, that was about a 15 year build-out. Again, debt-free. Right? Because it's using the system revenues to generate new capital expansion. But a much longer timeframe. And a much slower build-out. ### I think Council has rejected this option, because it would take too long. 4:18:12: ### Slide 27: AGENDA -- Council Session -- Organizational Structures The last section that we reviewed -- product team spent time on was the organizational structure. Right? This really gets into a little bit more than the business models, and really looks at, you know, what are the -- what is the right organizational structure? What is the right framework for the City to be managing the utility. Next slide, please. 4:18:40: ### Slide 28 -- Potential Organizational Structures And the goal here was to identify ways that the City could potentially alleviate some of its constraints -- maybe around procurement, or around decision-making -- to ensure that the broadband business had a flexible -- Let's say the broadband business could compete in the marketplace. Right? Competition requires fast -- quick decision-making. Quick response to rates. To promotions. To customer service. And is the City's organizational structure set up for that? So, we looked -- the project team looked at, you know, the City-owned and [City]-operated model. Which is typical, and which is the most common across municipal utilities that have built fiber networks. But there are also some additional ones looked at as alternatives. Such as Joint Powers Authorities, Nonprofits. And then, you know, more Public-Private Partnerships. With a partner ISP that is, you know, a separate entity away from the City. And the goal was to really understand whether there were other opportunities, or other organizational structures, that would give the City more flexibility, with, you know, a better orientation in the competitive environment. And those four were evaluated. I think some of the conclusions from that analysis were that the City's existing structure could be utilized without, you know, any significant changes, to support the needs of the broadband business. There were constraints, and the other organizational structures that made them less than optimal for the City. So, among the project team, those were the four that were evaluated. 4:20:47: ### Slide 29 -- Q&A Jumping into the Q&A, any questions? Can we open it up to questions and answers from City Council and the UAC? 3:20:58: Mayor Burt: Thank you. So, let's go ahead, and, for this go-round, focus -- try to focus questions primarily on the financial aspects. Although there's clearly an intersect between a number of these. Council Member Cormack. 4:21:15: Council Member Cormack: Thank you, Mayor Burt. OK. So, using the Slide 22, and going all the way out to 2042, and in all three scenarios, we have between $40 [million] and $60 million. ### Actually, the outsource model has $67 million in 2042. What exactly should -- in the event that that materialize -- we chose to do materialize -- what should we be thinking about those funds? Are those things we need to set aside for replacement costs? Like, what are the value of those funds at that level, and how should we be thinking about them? 4:21:48: John Honker: The -- In terms of the -- Can we go back to that slide? 4:22:00: Council Member Cormack: The cash flow. 4:22:00: John Honker: Yeah. 4:22:16: City Clerk Milton: Which slide number was that, Council Member? 4:22:18: Council Member Cormack: 22. 4:22:18: City Clerk Milton: 22. Thank you. 4:22:19: ### Slide 22: FINANCIAL PLAN -- CASH BALANCE -- again. John Honker: 22. There we go. So, as far as this cash balance, this is what we sort of call an all-in, or net cash balance. Meaning that the cash remaining here is net of debt service, renewal and replacement, and any reserves that are built into the network. 4:22:39: Council Member Cormack: So, it's net of replacement. 4:22:40: John Honker: Net of replacement. 4:22:41: Council Member Cormack: OK. So, it's available. Right? 4:22:44: John Honker: Right. We would normally, typically call this a free cash flow schedule. 4:22:46: Council Member Cormack: What do other municipalities do when they have excess funds? 4:22:50: John Honker: Ah. We see most -- a number of municipal utilities having excess cash flow on their networks. 4:23:00: Council Member Cormack: And what to they do with those funds? 4:23:01: John Honker: Typically, reinvest them back into the network, for expansion. We see a lot of that. We some General Fund transfers, in states that allow General Fund transfers. And we also see, if there are loans to the electric utility, for other municipal utilities that are doing inter-fund loans, repayment of that debt to the primary utility. 4:23:35: Council Member Cormack: Well, next time we look at this, I think we need to have some understanding of, you know, what uses we would expect for those funds, and why. So, I'm super concerned about competition. And I can -- I'm glad that you've rated it so highly as a risk. How do you expect incumbents to compete, in the event that we go ahead and implement this business model? What kind of behaviors have you seen elsewhere? 4:23:55: John Honker: So, typically, we would classify those as sort of prior-to-construction, or prior-to-deployment, and post-. 4:24:03: Council Member Cormack: So, that would include the truck I've seen that has blue on either side, from AT&T, saying, "We'll pay you to switch"? That's driving up and down Alma? Is that -- OK. 4:24:14: John Honker: So, we would actually -- typically, that's -- they're going to do that no matter what. And they're going to continue to try to lock customers into long-term contracts. They will sign up as many as they can, as quickly as they can. And they may even accelerate some of their deployment schedule in the areas where they see it. So, if they have a three-year deployment schedule into Palo Alto, they may decide to accelerate some of those areas, to get ahead of the potential risk of Palo Alto coming into the market. On the front end, we would see as much, you know, challenges from the existing providers, you know, in the form of, you know, trying to slow down the project, politically. Right? Lobbying, you know, the Council, the UAC. Trying to influence decision-making. Once the project is green-lighted, and is moving forward, it's really about 1) marketing and re-marketing to their customers. Trying to entrench -- sign them up for long-term contracts. Offering additional promotions. Extending the timeframe for promotions. Lowering rates, to some degree, although we don't typically see a significant reduction in rates. 4:25:29: Council Member Cormack: OK. That's helpful. 4:25:29: John Honker: Those are just a num- -- some of the tactics that we've seen. 4:25:31: Council Member Cormack: OK. Because I've certainly heard people say, you know, well, you know, they could just lower their rates and just sit there for a couple years. It wouldn't -- You know, they'd be fine with that. So, it's -- I'm glad to hear you talk about that. I presume that, you know, municipalities going into fiber hasn't worked everywhere in the country. So, what have you learned from the failures elsewhere? What are some of the financial risks that -- might occur? 4:25:57: John Honker: Yeah. We've -- I mean, we've seen a number of business risks. Leadership. Picking the right leadership to manage the utility, and providing the right powers to that leadership. Ensuring that leadership of the broadband utility has the authority to make decisions based on the needs of the business. Trying to keep politics out of that, to some degree. Making sure that there's quality managers that have the experience in the telecommunications business. And -- So, hiring and staffing is critical. Another aspect is looking at existing City policies, in terms of permitting and construction. Making sure there are not unnecessary delays there. Or unnecessary obstacles that would allow the City to, you know, efficiently build the network. Those are two large ones that -- You should consider how Palo Alto gets ahead of -- as, you know, you consider the overall network deployment. Those are two very large and important ones. 4:27:08: Council Member Cormack: OK. Thank you. And I'll look forward to a more general conversation when the time comes. 4:27:12: Mayor Burt: Council Member DuBois -- Oh, Stone. 4:27:21: Council Member Stone: Yup. Hi. Thank you. OK. So, a few more questions. And you were talking -- Just a quick follow-up. You were talking about the possibility of the transfer to the General Fund, with those excess funds. So, I guess, turning to the City Attorney's office, we've obviously had issues with our utility transfers in the past. Do you foresee problems here, being able to transfer excess funds into the General Fund? In the future? 4:27:50: City Attorney Stump: I'm sorry. Can you say that one more time, so I get it right? 4:27:54: Council Member Stone: Sorry. So, we're discussing the possibility of excess funds from this being able to be possibly transferred to the General Fund, in addition to being reinvested back into the program. But we've had issues with that under state law. Do you foresee any problems in the future being able to do something similar with these excess funds? 4:28:16: City Attorney Stump: So, the law in this area is somewhat different than the gas and electric transfer. And it is also evolving. So, we'll take a look at it. And work closely with the staff over time. So -- 4:28:29: Council Member Stone: Great. I think it would be helpful for the future discussions. Does -- So -- back to Magellan. Sorry, your name, one more time. 4:28:39: John Honker: John. 4:28:40: Council Member Stone: John. Thanks, John. Sorry. Does your take rate analysis consider the significant growth that the City is anticipating to see -- in housing, and, in particular, multi-unit housing, over the next 10 years? We're hoping to construct over 6,000 units over the next 10 years. How has that been considered in your analysis? 4:28:59: John Honker: We did. We utilized the MSA take rate for the local MSA, which, I believe, is Palo Alto, Menlo [Park], and Mountain View. ### Does "MSA" here mean metropolitan statistical area? I don't know who gets to define the MSAs. This source http://proximityone.com/metros/2013/cbsa41940.htm says that the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara MSA includes Palo Alto and Mountain View but not Menlo Park. So that was factored into the growth in housing. And -- which is factored into the take rate, effectively. 4:29:19: Council Member Stone: Great. Thanks. And earlier, I asked about the digital divide. And so now I kind of want to relate it to -- Have you seen a discrepancy, in your polling, of customer satisfaction within multi-housing units, compared to customers in single-family homes? 4:29:37: John Honker: No. No specific trend in multi-family versus single-family. 4:29:42: Council Member Stone: And is that true in other cities as well? Or, is that -- 4:29:46: John Honker: You know, we would think it varies case by case. Right? Because some multi-families are very, very well served. And, you know, all are -- 100 percent fiber to all units. Others are highly underserved. Right? With kind of decrepit broadband services. So, it's really case by case, based on the MDU in the community. 4:30:05: Council Member Stone: OK. Thank you. 4:30:10: Mayor Burt: All right. I don't see lights. So I'll ask a couple questions. Our current Fiber Fund. What -- How much cash has it been spinning off the last 3 years or so? A year? 4:30:31: Director Batchelor: Mayor Burt, I'm sorry. Did you say, how much we spent over the last three years? 4:30:35: Mayor Burt: Spinning off. How much is going into the Fund -- revenues ahead of expenses? 4:30:41: Director Batchelor: It's about $2 [million], $2.5 million. 4:30:43: Mayor Burt: OK. 4:30:43: Director Batchelor: On a given year. 4:30:44: Mayor Burt: And then, on the bond that we have, we can project that we'll have the ability to pay that off, off the revenue. But if revenues fall short, does that go to the General Fund to be picked up? Or a utility fund? Or -- How does that get paid for? 4:31:11: Director Batchelor: Well, I think the thing is is that if we were going to use the Electric Fund to back this project, then, from what we've talked to the Treasury group about is is that those funds would actually have to come out of the Electric Fund. 4:31:25: Mayor Burt: Electric Fund. 4:31:25: Dean Batchelor: Because -- if we used it now. If we -- If we were going to do something -- you know, from a City's perspective, then, of course, it would have to come out of the General Fund. But we would look at -- on the Electric side. 4:31:38: Mayor Burt: So, if it's the Electric Fund that would back the bond, would this be essentially under the Electric Enterprise? And then, if there are profits in the future, that's where those dollars would stay? 4:31:59: Kielyr Nose: Mayor, I think, with the Electric Utility -- Apologies. Kiely Nose, Administrative Services Department. [Director] Dean [Batchelor] and [City Attorney] Molly [Stump] can correct me if I'm wrong. To the extent that the Electric Fund benefited from the investment, from the funds that were issued from the bonds -- So, let's say we were putting conduit in, or putting in a trench, that we were underground electric and putting in fiber, we could look at that liability and allocate appropriately some piece of it to the Electric Fund. But unless the electric ratepayers are benefiting from whatever the investment was, the General Fund would be your end stop. If we were to default on it. 4:32:42: Mayor Burt: OK. So then, flipping that around, if we make profit from it, who gets the profit? 4:32:50: City Attorney Stump: So, these are all very complicated and important questions. And I'm sorry to do this, but I'm going to kind of punt on some of them. And we'll have to work and dig down on this. Also, we'll need to let you know that this area of the law is changing, both through judicial decisions and, potentially, through new legislation. So, there may be measures on the ballot that will change the way that -- the amount of flexibility that the City may have TODAY, but during the time period that's relevant for this activity. 4:33:22: Mayor Burt: And our current Fiber Fund -- I had, for a long while, thought that those dollars had to stay in that fund, and could only be used for additional fiber purposes like this. But I think in the last year or so, during budget discussions, it became clarified that those were NOT restricted funds. Is that correct? 4:33:42: City Attorney Stump: So, a few years ago, we did look at this, and advised that we thought the City had more flexibility than strictly limiting the use of those funds to the fiber activity. But in the very recent period -- a couple of months, actually -- there's been a new Court of Appeals decision that does raise some questions about this whole area of analysis. So, we are continuing to look at it. 4:34:08: Mayor Burt: OK. And I do want to note that, you know, there's been a lot of -- we have this question of will this be successful? And we don't know for sure. The take rate is certainly critical. And how the competition will respond is critical. But I do want to note that we have -- in addition to having a great history of success with our gas and electric and water utilities. And where electric, in particular, is way below PG&E - - almost 50 percent lower on base residential rate. And then we have, more recently, we've invested in a complete re-do of the golf course. And we projected it was going to be a couple years before it had positive cash flow. And it's doing very well, and spinning off a lot of money. We'll get an update again this year. Same thing with the airport. When we took it over, we projected that it would be a couple years before it had positive cash flow, and that's happened, and it's doing very well. Of course, those funds are restricted, again. And so, we can only plow those dollars back into those enterprises. But we do have a good history on very good success on these enterprises. I did want to bring up something that I recall from 6 years or so ago, on a presentation on this. Which, at the time, the claim was -- if I'm remembering correctly -- and Jeff Hoel will probably remember better than me -- is that if there was one -- two providers versus one, then costs of service were about 10 percent lower. But if there were three providers, they dropped drastically. Is that no longer the case, Mr. Honker? Because it sounded like you're saying that the response from those other providers is not, typically, today, a significant price drop. 4:36:16: John Honker: I wouldn't say we've seen, you know, going from 2 to 3 providers, I wouldn't say that we've seen a drastic price drop in other communities. You know, 5 to 10 percent total, across those 3 providers, would be reasonable. More than that, we don't -- we wouldn't -- we haven't -- we haven't encountered that in other communities. 4:36:36: Mayor Burt: Well, in that sense, like you said, it then reduces our fear of being undercut on pricing severely. And then, I did want to address this issue of the impact of AT&T expanding their penetration in our market by covering more geographic areas in the timeframe in which we're rolling this out. So if -- Do we have any idea of their expansion plans in Palo Alto? And have we looked at how that would affect our take rate, if it's not the current level. And they're clearly expanding. It's a question of how much and how soon. How will that affect our take rate, and, really, our break-even point? 4:37:30: John Honker: No, it could. If AT&T plans to accelerate their deployment, based on the fear that Palo Alto comes into the market, they're going to retrench and try to, you know, lock in as much of that market share as they can. That will make it somewhat more difficult for Palo Alto to go after that take rate. Right? Because in those areas, we will have two competitors. Two fiber competitors and a cable option. ### That is, Palo Alto Fiber would have one FTTP competitor (AT&T) and one cable competitor (Comcast). 4:37:56: Mayor Burt: And how long have they been offering fiber? ### The minutes of the 07-20-17 CAC meeting say that AT&T planned to deploy 25 FTTP "nodes," each capable of serving up to 250 premises, by January 2018. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/zzz-archive/cac-for-the-fttp-and-wireless-master- plans/2017/minutes-072017.pdf The minutes of the 12-13-17 CAC meeting say that AT&T had actually deployed one such "node." https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/zzz-archive/cac-for-the-fttp-and-wireless-master- plans/2017/minutes-121417.pdf ### I don't know when AT&T Fiber started serving it's first Palo Alto customer. ### On 10-10-19, a friend sent me a message that AT&T Fiber had connected his house in Palo Alto, after he and his wife installed a fiber drop cable in the underground conduit to his house. If they don't accelerate, just continue at their current rate of expanding service, do we know what that looks like? 4:38:07: John Honker: You know, we don't know how long they've had market share out there. We did get some good information from the survey. But, you know, we would -- This is just a guess at this point. But over, probably, over the past 5-7 years, they've been increasing their densif- - - we call it densification of fiber across different parts of Palo Alto, and have been jumping into the residential market. So ... 4:38:31: Mayor Burt: OK. 4:38:31: John Honker: ... we would -- Yeah, we would expect that that's typically been the timeline for most of the big providers to be increasing their infrastructure in communities where they're building fiber. 4:38:46: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Council Member DuBois. 4:38:49: Council Member DuBois: Yeah. I mean, this Council and prior Councils have had a series of meetings over the years. I think it's easy to lose track of kind of where we've been and, you know, what we've covered. So, you know, thank you tonight. I mean, we asked for a business plan, a financial model, engineering design. And I think it was over two years ago, before some Council members joined, that we accelerated the work and said to do the design for the backbone and the fiber to the home together. So, tonight, you know, I'm glad it's a study session. There's a lot of past work, a lot of catch-up on new information. I've been trying to attend the UAC meetings and follow along. And -- So, I just really have a series of comments. And, you know, we kind of started out tonight by saying, you know, why are we talking about fiber to the home? You know, our town already has two broadband providers. And, for me, I think, there's multiple reasons. You know, we're talking about private companies. And generally, in the U.S., private broadband is both expensive and poor quality. We pay more for less than practically anywhere else in the world. According to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. cable giants are making a 97 percent margin on their services. Real world speeds aren't always what they're advertised to be. And you see performance that can be interfered with through data caps, peering agreements. The biggest opponent to net neutrality is Comcast. And, these days, a lot of surveys show that broadband is the number one priority for renters. And it also adds value to housing. 4:40:40: And I went back and looked, when we had a conversation in 2018, I think there were around 108 cities that had muni fiber. Now, there's something like 560 communities. In four years. ### This 08-11-22 article claims, "...community broadband at this scale is a recent phenomenon, with the number of networks jumping from around 100 in 2018 to more than 560 in 2020." https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/could-investments-community-broadband-bridge-digital-divide But I don't trust it. It seems to include dark fiber networks. ### MuniNetworks Community Network Map (September 2021) says there are 83 citywide municipal fiber networks plus 260 less-than- citywide municipal fiber networks. https://muninetworks.org/communitymap So, that's 343 networks. The map also reports on municipal dark fiber networks, municipal cable networks, and co-ops, but I'm not counting them. ### Also, this 2017 article says there were 216 municipal FTTP networks then (if you count 14 public-private partnerships). https://www.bbcmag.com/pub/doc/BBC_Oct17_RecordIncrease.pdf ### Nevertheless, Council Member DuBois' point is well taken: the number of muni FTTP networks in the U.S. has been growing significantly. So, you know, when you say, like, why should be do this, I think it's better service. It's symmetric upload and download speeds, to really support, you know, working from home, increased use in the home. And it's more value for the dollar. And it's true that some people in town do have options, Do have better service. For many people, fiber is still not available. And I really think we can benefit from marketing a local, City-owned service. You know, instead of "shop local," we could be "surf local." And I believe people will support our community. And I do think it's some key questions here about what all this excess cash flow could be used for. I think that if we can fund our City services while enjoying great internet, that that by itself would be pretty compelling to a lot of people. ### My choice for what to do with the "excess" revenues: pay down the debt early. After the debt is paid off, one choice would be to lower prices. You know, I wanted to talk about the survey a little bit. We get a lot of different surveys. To me, this was a much higher quality survey than the typical email multiple-choice survey. So, again, we sent it to our Utilities subscribers. We had a 15 percent response rate. So, it was to a known universe of people. And, beyond that, we really haven't talked about -- over 700 people put down money. And, to me, that's an extremely strong statement of interest. They were putting down money years ahead of time, on, really, around an idea. 4:42:27: And then, the use of conjoint analysis and doing tradeoff questions really measures the degree of preference, and lets us do more accurate predictions of things like market share, and what's driving the buying decision. And, you know, if -- I don't know if you guys saw the survey, but you were forced to repeatedly trade off brand, price, service levels. And so, we're able mathematically to measure those things independently. 4:42:57: So, I would say that I hope we really look at the feedback we got from that survey. It's direct feedback. It's much more than our personal opinions and our personal experience with internet in Palo Alto. And there are a lot of people telling us that they would switch. And if we had this kind of response on our climate action plan, I think we'd all be very happy. 4:43:21: On the financing side, you know, I think we all know we have -- We're not very leveraged as a City. We don't have a lot of debt. We have great bond ratings. We could fund a pretty quick build-out. With a subscriber bond, ### Revenue bond? plus the money from our Fiber Fund, and a contribution from the Electric Utility. You know, saving $11 million by building both networks at once, to me is pretty attractive. And also, just reducing rates for everybody in Palo Alto, even those who are subscribing to the other services. $15 million in savings to our residents is pretty compelling. 4:44:02: And, you know, if you look at that Slide 22, that cash flow just seems really compelling. It's $20 million in excess cash in 10 years. If we went with the outsourced model, we'd have $68 million in excess cash in 20 years. Which includes paying down the bond, paying for maintenance and upgrades, interest. You know, we could use that money to pay down the bond early. Hopefully, we could transfer some to the General Fund. Or we could spend it on climate action plans. Or our grid upgrade. ### Pending further analysis from the City Attorney's office. (See 4:33:42.) So, just from a financial business opportunity, I feel like we should be focusing on de-risking the business plan, and moving as fast as we can. And there are very few things that we do the provide these kind of benefits to our residents and also generates this much revenue. And, again, we talk about the future of the gas utility and the gas transfer. This seems like it could potentially blow it out of the water, at a time when perhaps gas transfers may be decreasing. 4:45:13: In terms of business structure, I do think we need to think about how we have this nascent business and let it flourish. And John talked about some of the risk being giving the right leaders the right authority to respond as a business. I think we should avoid fully loading a fiber utility with all of our government processes and all of our overhead. If there's a way we can do that. You know, I -- it's probably a much longer discussion. For me, I would lean towards the outsource model. Like we would hire key managers internally. Make them responsible for managing the contractors. And, you know, really get the benefit of trying to be competitive, and move fast. 4:46:08: The phasing discussion was interesting. You know, the map of the interests and the deposits are really spread citywide. So, again, for me, I think we should think about how do we move as fast as we can, to get as many subscribers as we can. And that probably means the overlashing on the aerial plant. And, you know, I think some speaker said it. AT&T is not available where I live. We have overhead wires. And so, hearing that 70 percent of the costs were in the underground districts also gave me pause. And -- that, you know, about where do we start, or where do we go. And I'd be interested in kind of that iteration of the business plan when it comes back. But, for me, I think the goal would be to turn on subscribers as quickly as possible, and start generating revenue, to fund the rest of the build-out. 4:47:05: On the competition, you know, I'm hearing a healthy concern from my colleagues. We will really need to execute on a business plan and a marketing plan. And, again, I think the survey is a great start. But -- And the other point I would make is, we've been running a successful fiber business for 20 years, against a large group of competitors. A lot of these companies are the same companies we're talking about here. So, you know, we can do it. We've shown that we can do it. 4:47:38: And then the last point I'd like to make is just around innovation. And that doing something new is never easy. You know, if you think back to 1896, when Palo Altans were talking about starting a utility, our residents would have paid millions of dollars more than they have for water, electricity, gas. And, going forward, I think we're looking at electric rates that are really 50 percent of PG&E. We've show that we can have an award-winning fiscally strong utility. And even more recently, thinking about the Council members in 1997 who voted to start the dark fiber ring, ### It was 08-05-96. (I cited the minutes of the 08-05-96 Council meeting here, on PDF page 5. But unfortunately the URL for these minutes no longer works.) https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda- and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2016/11-02-16-meeting/letters-to-the-uac.pdf I'm sure they had no idea that they'd leave us with $34 million in the Fiber Fund today, that makes this possible. So, creating a new utility -- I think it's easy to say no. It's easy to kill it, through a thousand cuts. It's really hard to say yes. But I'd urge us to be innovative. And I think about this as an opportunity. And, you know, tonight, we heard about some of the other cities that have done it. Like, I'd urge, you know, Council members to take a look at Longmont, Colorado's municipal fiber website. It has the history. It shows the pricing. It shows a range of options. It also shows how they're marketing their service. ### This page has the history. https://mynextlight.com/about/ This page has residential pricing. https://mynextlight.com/residential/ This page mentions some special pricing. https://mynextlight.com/terms-conditions/ • $49.95/month for 1 Gbps symmetrical internet service, for Charter Members who signed up within 3 months of the service's availability in their neighborhoods. • $59.95/month for 1 Gbps symmetrical internet service, for 1 Gbps customers after the first year. 4:49:07: So, if we make the decision to move forward when this comes back to us as an action item, I really hope we could focus on things we could do to accelerate this. For me, I think the highest risk would be a really slow roll-out, that would get bogged down, and, you know, something like the self-financing plan, over 15 years, I think that would be death. I mean, talk about the competition having time to respond. So, I'll just leave you with the thought. And it would be, what would life be if we had no courage to attempt anything? So, thank you. 4:49:46: Mayor Burt: Vice Mayor Kou. 4:49:50: Vice Mayor Kou: So, Council Member DuBois, thank you for the background. And refreshing us on what we had discussed prior. I just had one question, just to clarify. The City's Fiber Enterprise Fund. It's not restricted to just the dark fiber. Right? 4:50:10: Director Batchelor: That is correct. 4:50:12: Vice Mayor Kou: So, it can be used for FTTP and **. OK. Thank you so much. 4:50:18: Director Batchelor: Yes. 4:50:22: Mayor Burt: Council Member Filseth. 4:50:26: Council Member Filseth: Yeah. So, since we're getting into comments here, I think we all see the attraction here. Right? None of us wants to be terribly dependent on cable TV company service. And the notion of architectural advantages if we start from scratch is an intriguing one. Right? You know, the cash flow. You know, of course, it looks great. But it's a high fixed cost business. Right? It's -- If you got the market share, it spins off cash. OK. OK. Question is, can you get the market share? Right? So, I think, you know, I worry -- and I think all us have focused on this -- about the take rate, and the concern that, you know, 30 percent may be harder than we think to get to, in this particular environment that we're in today. So, basically, the short is, I believe we build it. The question is, can we sell it? Right? 4:51:25: The survey data also raises some concerns. Right? To -- You know, half the people are cord cutters, but the other half want TV. OK? ### Not OK. The 08-03-22 staff report to UAC, PDF page 10, said 53.9 percent had already cut the cord, and 17.2 percent would cut the cord and just use streaming. And 14.4 percent needed more information about streaming. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda- and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2022/08-03-2022/08-03-2022-id-14582-fiber.pdf So only 14.5 percent would for sure want to continue getting conventional TV service. Of these, perhaps some would consider getting internet service from Palo Alto Fiber and TV service from Comcast. So they're gone. At least for the moment. So, in order to get to 30 percent take rate, then we need 60 percent market share of the remaining half. Right? Which is, you know -- [waves hands]. 4:51:46: What's our value proposition? The survey shows that people's top priorities are 1) cost, 2) speed, 3) reliability in service. We haven't shown that we can differentiate on the first two priorities. OK? ### Palo Alto Fiber is faster than Comcast's HFC product. We're talking about the third one. Which is interesting. All right? But, you know, that one's sort of hard to prove to people, and demonstrate, and so forth, too. Especially if we're not first to market. OK? So, you know -- And it will work well if the competition is really asleep. Right? But if we have to displace an incumbent, because we didn't get there fast enough, then it gets more complicated 4:52:26: Your data contains the caveat that, well, the competition might fight back. OK? With, you know, faster speeds, lower costs, and so forth. I think we should assume some of that. 4:52:36: And it's not just Comcast and AT&T. Right? I think we need to keep an eye on the startups, too. Right? There are some. So, I bring up Atherton Fiber because supposedly they have $500 million. ### This 07-05-22 article says they're "in the process" of raising the $500 million. https://almanacnews.com/news/2022/07/05/new-internet-provider-comes-to-atherton-north-fair-oaks And one of my friends in Menlo Park has had them for a year. ### From this Atherton Fiber "about" page, https://www.athertonfiber.com/about-us/ you can click on "Service Areas" to go here, https://go.athertonfiber.com/ where it says they serve some places in Atherton, North Fair Oaks (unincorporated), and Lindenwood (apparently a part of Atherton), and are "coming soon" to parts of Woodside, Menlo Oaks (unincorporated), and East Palo Alto. They don't admit to serving or aspiring to serve Menlo Park. And LOVES it. OK? OK, this is what we call [air quotes] mother-in-law research, but -- Anyway, they claim -- they claim a gigabit for $65 a month. And 10 gigs for $300 a month. ### What do "they claim" the connect fees are? Which is already lower than our data estimate shows. So, if there's price erosion, that'll impact our financials. And it's not unheard of for City capital projects to actually cost more than their original estimates were. OK? So, I think the go-to-market plan here is really important. I mean, we really need to -- If we're going to entertain going in this direction, like, it's got to be right. And so, we got to look in, and go, are there places in town where we're not going to have to go head-to-head against AT&T, or somebody else, and so forth? I mean, Atherton Fiber is not in Palo Alto YET. OK? So, maybe they won't be for a while. Maybe they will. Right? Or somebody else. Are there places where structurally we're not going to have to go head-to-head against them for a while, so we can build our business there? Right? 'Cause the risk is that this ends up as kind of an infinite subsidy kind of thing. If we don't hit our take rates, then -- In other words, if the revenue doesn't actually cover the revenue bond -- I mean, the financials here, it's already a decade to get to cash flow positive. OK? ### I think he means that it takes a decade to pay off the revenue bond. For several years before that, cash flow is positive, that is, revenues exceed expenses. 4:54:12: So, I think the whole risk is the take rate. And this is the first utility we're talking about where we're actually going to go head-to-head against private-sector competition. Which we don't have in any of our other utilities. ### When California deregulated electricity, Palo Alto's electric utility had private-sector competitors. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000%E2%80%9301_California_electricity_crisis Just before deregulation, CPAU built up a war chest, just in case, but it turned out not to be needed. After deregulation ended, this fund was repurposed as the Electric Special Projects Fund. ### It's too bad that CPAUs Quarterly Reports and UAC's verbatim minutes from this era aren't still available online. So I think the go-to-market plan is going to be really important, and I think if and when this comes back to Council, I think, you know, that needs to -- that's probably going to be pivotal. OK? Thanks. 4:54:40: Mayor Burt: I have a couple follow-up questions. First, in the projections, did we incorporate over the next -- well, let's -- Our build-out timeframe is what, again? 4:54:55: John Honker: So, we're looking at about five years. 4:54:58: Mayor Burt: And so, if we're spinning off $2 [million] to $2.5 million from the dark fiber fund, is that built into the cash flow? ### The fund is called the Fiber Fund. 4:55:04: John Honker: It is. Yes. 4:55:05: Mayor Burt: OK. OK. 4:55:08: John Honker: The net cash flows from the existing fiber business are built into the numbers here. 4:55:13: Mayor Burt: OK. And then, I wanted to dive into the backbone expansion. Aside from the fiber to the premise. So, we've talked about the criticality to our -- particularly to our electric utility, with our advanced metering infrastructure [AMI]. But we need to do that pretty soon. And if we're talking about a five-year build-out, what would we be doing to meet that need, as we're rolling out the AMIs in the next year or two? 4:55:54: Director Batchelor: So, Mayor Burt, right now, we have used the existing backbone. And kind of made some very long drops off it. 'Cause there's actually four collectors, throughout the City. And there's going to be a fifth that will be added up in the foothills. But right now, we are actually -- I'm getting -- backhauling some water and some gas meters through that AMI system, using the existing fiber backbone that we have. But, again, that houses quite a long extensions in some of those areas. ### In other words, the backbone extension isn't needed for AMI. 4:56:28: Mayor Burt: So, over the next five years, while we will be rolling this out, how well would we be able to meet our need to accommodate a full roll-out of AMI, before we have a full roll-out of this system? 4:56:52: Director Batchelor: That's a good question. 4:56:53: John Honker: I mean, we can prioritize -- We could prioritize the AMI, so that the roll-out -- The fiber that's needed for AMI could be prioritized, with the fiber to the premise roll-out, you know, so it happens, you know, before or coincident with those areas. So, for example, if you're building a neighborhood, and we need an AMI collector in that neighborhood, well, we need to build the fiber to hit that AMI collector, so let's also build to that neighborhood at the same time. ### Apparently, staff didn't tell Honker that staff had solved the AMI problem with the existing backbone. 4:57:21: Mayor Burt: OK. 4:57:21: John Honker: So, definitely some scheduling, and some prioritization. 4:57:25: Mayor Burt: And then, as we build out this backbone, do we create other opportunities to expand our business and our earnings from the dark fiber? And so, to what extent do we think, on that -- on the business side we might be able to expand this, even before we've gone into -- by just building out the backbone, how much would we potentially increase our revenue, and our profits, from the existing fiber network. 4:57:58: John Honker: There's an opportunity for that. We didn't quantify how much it would be, because dark fiber is very hard to forecast. Right? Because there's a smaller number of customers. It's not a commodity service, like broadband. But there would definitely be an opportunity for more dark fiber sales with more fiber capacity in the new backbone. 4:58:20: Mayor Burt: And, you know, I haven't looked recently at kind of the map of our fiber loop. And we didn't have a map of how we would roll out this backbone. But it made me wonder how many more businesses we would be able to serve, and customers that we'd attract, as we just do the backbone roll-out. Is it -- Do we have a sense of that? Or we haven't really mapped that out yet? 4:58:51: John Honker: We do. We have a -- We can get some numbers on how many more businesses would have access. Because we are passing - - ### Honker is right to correct himself. Dark fiber doesn't "pass" anything. With a new fiber backbone, we're going through areas that didn't have fiber before. And those businesses would all be fair game for new service. So, we can put that on the agenda to kind of quantify. 4:59:13: Mayor Burt: Could it -- And, lastly, I was thinking about, you know, this question of the value of the reliability. And I was realizing that when Council Member Tanaka was talking about -- He, for example, is buying both services. That sounds to me like that's a premium that he and others -- I don't know how many others -- are already being willing to pay to increase the reliability. If one goes down, they have a second one. And that's a premium for reliability. That's a pretty high premium to increase your reliability. But I would imagine that there are others who are very reliant on their broadband service, for their businesses and whatnot, who are already doing that. I don't know if we have any way to capture that, and have that help inform a value of that reliability premium. But it's certainly something to be thinking about, that's -- it's on people's minds. Even if they haven't called it that. 5:00:15: John Honker: Right. Well, and I think we can support that in, you know, the cost of the service -- the premium for the reliability doesn't create a cost in service for the customer. Meaning that the rates are the same. And [if] that's true, that should drive take rates. 5:00 34: Mayor Burt: Yeah. And I mean, they're not going to pay what they pay for two services. But they'll still -- it will still be a factor. OK. Council Member Cormack. 5:00:42: Council Member Cormack: Thank you, Mayor Burt. All right. Um. I think the question that hasn't been asked yet is: what is the problem we're trying to solve. And I've heard really different versions from some colleagues. And we have, you know, super detailed information here. But I think it behooves us to figure that out. And write it down. And, is it that it's too expensive? Is it that we don't like the service? Is it that it's not reliable enough? Is it that not enough people have access? And every time we say all of these things matter, we end up with a program that probably won't meet the objectives. So, I feel really strongly that we do not have a value proposition that's written out, in a way that's going to make people comfortable making a, you know, multi-million dollar decision. And that's easy to explain to people. So, I'm still waiting for that. And not quite sure who's responsibility it is. But I don't think we have a crisp description of that. 5:01:44: And I guess one of the ways I've been thinking about this decision is -- like others this -- that our Council has had to make, it's really a decision for the long run. Right? It's -- Council Member DuBois is right. It's always easy to say no, or this isn't the right time. There's a lot of reasons this isn't the right time. So, one way I'm -- One lens I've been using is, do we think that in five years, or 10 years -- pick your number -- it could be 15 -- Palo Alto should have fiber everywhere? ### I think yes. And if we think that that should happen, do we believe it should be operated by the government? ### People tend to trust their local governments more than they trust state and federal governments. https://news.gallup.com/poll/195656/americans-trusting-local-state-government.aspx The incumbents know this, so their lobbyists like to talk about "government networks" rather than "municipal networks." Or do we believe that, you know, businesses are better equipped to do that? For whatever reason? ### Many communities that have municipal FTTP networks are better served than Palo Alto is. So, for me, that's the fundamental question. That will get us past a lot of the details -- Super helpful to have them. They're very important. We could all spend, you know, a whole nuther day going through them with you. But, fundamentally, do we believe that everyone in Palo Alto should have fiber in the near future? And, to the extent that we cannot answer Mr. Hitchings' question -- how many people will have AT&T Fiber in three years -- then maybe we need to take the responsibility on ourselves. If we knew that, you know, one of the existing competitors was going to provide, you know, that, you know, reliable fiber, MOST of the places, I'm not sure that we would take the risk. So, those are the questions that I'll be thinking about there. 5:03:13: One of the big questions -- and, Director Batchelor, this is for you, and it's probably also for the City Manager's office -- it was another public comment, it's been implicit in a lot of the discussion. If we do this, will this work in ANY way -- displace the really crucial work of getting gas out of our City? 5:03:37: Director Batchelor: I'd have to say no. It has no ... 5:03:40: Council Member Cormack: You're not going to spend any time on this? 5:03:44: Director Batchelor: Well, the thing is is that, from what we've looked at so far, is. all the engineering has been done. 100 percent of -- Well, 92 percent of this system has already been looked at. The sharing of some of the resources that we talked about, like, from an engineering perspective, there's not going to be no shared resources between fiber and gas. So, I'd have to say, no. There's ... 5:04:08: Council Member Cormack: OK. You're sure that the projects are independent. It's not overloading staff ... 5:04:12: Director Batchelor: No. It -- Like I said, especially on the water-gas-wastewater side, it would not. 5:04:19: Council Member Cormack: Yeah. You're not as worried about that side. 5:04:20: Director Batchelor: The only time that -- If we were going to make some final decisions to look at making some joint trench with maybe a gas or a water project, maybe from some new design portion of that. But, other than that -- short of that -- I'd have to say no. 5:04:37: Council Member Cormack: OK. And then, it sounded like Council Member Filseth was headed down some version of what I'll call the doomsday scenario. So, you know, I just think -- not that I -- You know, I like to imagine everything that could go wrong. It's not my usual style. And we are losing money, you know, year over year, what are the options? Can we sell the infrastructure? To competitors, at -- We just need to know what the exit strategy is if this doesn't go well. 5:05:11: John Honker: So, typically, there's ... 5:05:16: Council Member Cormack: That's fine. Go ahead. 5:05:16: John Honker: Typically, you would, you know, let's say the take rate -- we hit the doomsday scenario, and the take rates aren't where they're expected to be. Right? You're going to go through a period of reevaluation, to determine what the next step is. And that would -- the first logical step would be, find a partner who's willing to operate the system for you. Come in, you know -- And that's not a -- That's not putting Palo Alto in a powerful position. Right? 5:05:40: Council Member Cormack: I get it. 5:05:41: John Honker: The providers know, and they're going to negotiate the best deal that they can. But it still protects the City's financial investment in this system. So, that typically looks like, you know, a private sector partner taking over operation of the system, being the front face, and then covering the City's debt service. Right? Not directly, as a third party, but effectively paying a fee to the City so it can cover its debt service. For the long term. Obligation of that debt. You know, if that's not available, then, you know, potentially, selling the system to a third party, as, you know, an asset sale. Which we have rarely seen. I think in two cases we've seen that. But that would not be a good position for the City to be in either. Right? We're talking about a fire sale of the assets at that point. Although they still have significant value, the City will not be in a good bargaining position if that were to happen. 5:06:40: Council Member Cormack: OK. Thank you. 5:06:43: Mayor Burt: Council Member DuBois -- oh, Stone, rather. 5:06:40: Council Member Stone: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, this conversation has been really helpful. As a new Council member. To this issue. Really came in tonight. And I don't have a strong preference either way.. And, unfortunately, good arguments are being made on both sides. And so, it is definitely making it more difficult. I do believe that the -- that you made a compelling case for the take rate. I think these are services that would benefit the community. And, depending on -- as well what we can do with possible transfers in the future. This is a -- really opens up a lot of interesting opportunities for the City, as far as future investments not only into this program, to improve it, but also into other areas. But, of course, other law is developing there. So, not -- really not too hopeful of this.-- this moment. There are some concerns that I have, that I think are shared with some of my colleagues. I do question, are we veering out of our lane? And kind of taking on responsibilities and strategies that the City is just not experienced in. Some of the various strategies that are outlined to counteract potential risks were: recruiting and training influencers, to promote the City's message, marketing to compete with international companies, greatly expanding -- And, really, just a way of expanding our City's bureaucracy, in order to maintain that competitive edge through some stronger customer service. Now, do I think Palo Alto CAN offer a better service, and better customer service? Absolutely, I think we can. But I'm also kind of curious. I have Comcast. I don't love it. But I also don't know how difficult it is to make the switch. And, would even saving $10, $20 a month really be worth it for me, picking up that loan, and doing that? ### What loan? (Maybe I misheard.) I don't know. And I don't know how others will react to that. And this is a big bet on that. I think arguments were made strongly in favor of that we have done this very well with other utilities. But I also agree with Council Member Filseth, those have been without competing with other international companies that do this work day in and day out. ### The City of Palo Alto is not an international company. ### I don't know why being an international company would be an advantage for offering FTTP internet service. And make very sizable profits on it. And are going to become very, very defensive when we encroach on their turf. 5:09:16: Yeah, the staff report stated that if Palo Alto becomes the third major ISP in the market, that it will be unlikely that other ISPs will enter the market in the future. And I think that's a good thing if we're providing a superior service. But, of course, less competition will lead to less innovation, fewer incentives to differentiate. And so, I'm -- So, pardon me, I also kind of wonders. And I think this kind of goes to Council Member Cormack's point: what is the government's role here? And are we better simply staying out of the market? By doing that, can we actually have a better situation with providing more private actors to be able to compete for that -- for that market share? I just don't -- I just don't know. One thing that continues to worry me is the risk of -- I view the risk to connection for tenants in multi-using housing to be a big flaw here. Staff report identified that -- I know there were some risk mitigators that were identified. I'd like to see that further developed. And I don't think it's sufficient to just say it's -- that we might not be reach those growing number of households. So, I'd like to see a plan that builds that in. On the -- whether we in-house it or outsource it, I mean, for me, Council Member DuBois made a good point on the outsourcing. But, for me, I think in-house would be my preference. I think one of the great advantages to operating our own service here would be having control over our operations, and being able to deliver the quality of service that residents have really come to expect from the City of Palo Alto. I think that is what's going to get people talking to their neighbors and their friends within the community. And convincing them to switch over, in order to enjoy that service. So, if we're outsourcing these operations, I think we really lose that advantage. And, at that point, I'm really not sure why we wouldn't want to just leave it to the private market to address. But, that being said, my preference for in-house -- the City is also struggling right now with -- across the board. In recruitment and retention. In all other areas. And so, we are going to be creating a whole new base of employees. A whole new employee group. And the ongoing struggles that we will see with that. I think there are some interesting issues of equity, that I think this can help address within the community. That greater connection will benefit everybody. So, I think that's where I'm at. I see the pros and the cons. And I'm glad this is just a study session today. 'Cause I'm looking forward to getting some more information back from staff, and continuing this conversation. But I'm glad we are continuing it. I think it's a worthy exercise. 5:11:59: Mayor Burt: Council Member Tanaka. 5:12:02: Council Member Tanaka: Yeah. So, I've been listening to the conversation. And I have to agree with what my fellow Council members said, in terms of -- I think some of the one-sided -- You know, like the golf course, or power, or water. It's not a fair comparison, because those are monopolies. ### There are 46 golf courses in the Bay Area. https://www.golflink.com/golf-courses/ca/bay-area/ We have -- we don't have real competition. People don't have a choice. So, I don't think that's a -- probably a good thing. Also, I don't think we can build a business on charity, where people will have a patriotic duty to Palo Alto to use our service. I don't think that's a good way to build a business. I think, you know, maybe people will do that, but I don't think we can rely on that. So, I don't think we should do that either. 5:12:44: And, you know, I've also heard arguments about, well, gee, for our utilities, we have such better rates than PG&E. But like I've said many times, you know, we're basically renting the service from PG&E, versus owning it ourselves. ### Did he mean that Palo Alto owns its local electric infrastructure but neighboring cities like Menlo Park in effect rent the local electric infrastructure from PG&E? We sunk in a lot of capital. So, you just can't look at the rates and not look at how much capital went in. ### The money that Palo Alto's electric ratepayers have been paying to the General Fund over the years is more than enough to have paid off the financing of the infrastructure. And what people are paying. In order to have a fair comparison. So, you know, the more I think about this, the more I think that -- And I've been a huge fan of fiber to the premises. I think we should have done it a long time ago. And I think there's a lot of benefit to getting much faster internet. But the product -- the service proposed here is just, in my mind, really not compelling. It's -- It's like -- And I think it would be even less compelling in 3 years. or 4 years. or 5 years. or whenever this comes out. And, you know, if we're going to do something, we're going to have to do something much better than this. Maybe 10 gigabit. Or something. Some target much better than what this is. ### OK, the 09-19-22 staff report didn't happen to mention 10 Gbps service https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/city-council-agendas- minutes/2022/20220919/20220919pccsm-amended-linked.pdf But the 08-03-22 presentation to UAC did. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda- and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2022/08-03-2022/08-03-2022-id-14582-fiber.pdf ### These days, the electronic transceivers deployed in the City's FTTP network should be able to do at least 10 Mbps, whatever services are offered initially. And I agree on the comment about reliability. I don't know anyone else that does what I do. And I, you know, keep telling my wife -- as a Council member -- she's so freaked out by the internet going out that we have both. But I don't think there's too many people that do that. ### I think more folks subscribe to multiple ISPs for the sake of reliability than he suspects. ### Can Council Member Tanaka get AT&T Fiber? At 3:16:54, he seems to say no. At 5:16:56, he seems to say yes. If he can, then is he concerned about A&T Fiber's reliability? If he can't, then is AT&T DSL fast enough, even as a backup? So, I think reliability is a hard sell. Even though, myself, we pay a premium because of that. So, I think what we should do is -- all this effort and money that we're thinking about spending -- what I think we should do is, try to encourage, like, the Atherton startup to come over here and provide service. ### Atherton Fiber charges enormous connect fees. And maybe try to provide incentives for AT&T to try and roll out to a certain target. Or for there to be some sort of reliability uptime from these guys, and they get some sort of bonus or some sort of benefit from the City. ### AT&T has a track record of accepting public money in exchange for providing better service, and then failing to provide the better service. ### How would the City know if AT&T was delivering the better service? I think that's probably the better thing. Where we spur the competition. Where we encourage the competition -- make it easier to do business here, easier to roll out here. I think we might get a bigger return on investment, for a lot less risk. ### I don't think he's really talking about return on investment (ROI). I think he's talking about the City's paying money out and never getting it back (even if residents might benefit). That doesn't just risk losing money, it guarantees it. We probably don't need to hire 4 people. Or 25 people. And worry about all the pensions, and all that stuff? And I -- You know, I -- You know, every Sunday I have office hours. And I have a bunch of peo- -- a lot of my office are -- people complain about customer service. That's the City. They complain about our permitting. That's -- Every week, there's someone complaining about permitting. And how bad it is. And they complain about, you know, utilities. And just, there's just all these customer service issues. So, I don't think we, as a City, are really great at customer service. It's hard. You know. It's not easy, providing great customer service. And so, I don't think the City excels at that. And a lot of what being an ISP is is, like, oh, my Wi-Fi went out, and this and that, and -- I don't think we're great at that. I mean, we don't -- are we going to open up a call center in India? ### An example cited by Honker (2:50:25) was Chattanooga. Chattanooga is not in India. I mean, I don't know. It just seems like -- I think one of the customers said it well, which is, maybe we're swimming out of our lane a bit. I think it's -- I think we have enough trouble just doing what we're doing right now. And, you know, I've had people also -- you know, people complain incessantly about the power outages. I think we had like 19 power outages, or something like that this year. And so, people are like, I don't know if we have the brand of being super reliable. Maybe we do. ### The survey's conjoint analysis is a better measure of the City's brand (re FTTP) than anecdotes. And 19 is not bad compared to other cities. But to some people here, it seemed like a lot. ### The City can and should report its electric reliability. SAIDI (System Average Interruption Duration Index) is a measure of reliability: how many minutes per year the average customer is without electric power. Fort Collins, CO, consistently has a SAIDI of less than 20 minutes per year. https://fortcollins.clearpointstrategy.com/economic-health/electric-system-average-interruption-duration-index-saidi-in-minutes/ Palo Alto has a goal of 60 minutes per year, but in some years, we don't achieve that goal. See page 386 here. https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/administrative-services/city-budgets/fy-2022-city-budget/fy-2022-proposed-city-of-of-palo-alto- operating-budget-for-web_2.pdf ### The 09-14-22 colleagues' memo from the UAC fiber subcommittee https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/utilities-advisory-commission/archived-agenda- and-minutes/agendas-and-minutes-2022/09-14-2022/09-14-2022-uac-agenda-and-packet.pdf cited a list of awards received by the City. (The list is also available here.) https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/Departments/Utilities In 2018, the American Public Power Association gave Palo Alto the Reliable Public Power Provider (RP3) award at the "Diamond" (highest) level. In 2021, APPA gave Palo Alto another RP3 award, but at the "Platinum" (2nd highest) level. https://www.publicpower.org/rp3-designated-utilities (The awards last for 3 years.) Who knows what 2024 will bring? ### But I don't think it's appropriate to let electric reliability distract Council from the FTTP issue. 5:16:06 And so, I think we should really, at this point in time, either come up with a super compelling -- you know, much better, much cheaper service offering that we think we can do, or we should go back to Plan B, which is -- or, go to Plan B, which is really encouraging massive competition in our City, to provider better service and reliability. ### Massive competition where each ISP uses its own fiber infrastructure is not possible. The utility poles aren't strong enough, etc. Massive competition where the City offers "open access" to ISPs over its fiber infrastructure is a possibility. So far, the consultant has said it's not financially feasible for the City to do this. But several open access municipal FTTP networks have been successful. https://muninetworks.org/content/open-access (Many, but not all, are in states where state law forbade municipal entities from offering retail broadband services.) After the bonds are paid off, I think Palo Alto should take another look at the feasibility of open access. And that is encouraging -- giving incentives to people. Maybe it would be giving access to dark fiber, or money, or whatever it takes to get people to compete in our City. And I think that's going to yield better results than this. Because this seems like -- it doesn't seem like a super compelling business case right now. And I wish it was. 'Cause I'm actually a pretty big fan of this. And I want this to happen. But this doesn't seem to pencil out. 5:16:56: And maybe if I didn't have access to gigabit Ethernet ### Internet. right now, at my house, I might be, like, you know, kind of thinking differently. But I think I do, and a lot of other people do now. And so, we've kind of missed the market window, so to speak, at least in my mind. So, anyways, that's my thoughts. Thank you. 5:17:15: Mayor Burt: Vice Mayor Kou. 5:17:18: Vice Mayor Kou: Thank you. When you return, I was wondering if you might be able to include some municipalities that has fiber, and some model of what they offer, on the take rates, and how they implemented -- what challenges they ran into? So, some of those modeling, just so we can kind of compare and consider with the City here. 5:17:48: John Honker: Should definitely be able to do that. 5:17:51: Vice Mayor Kou: Thank you. 5:17:52: Mayor Burt: Council Member DuBois. 5:17:55: Council Member DuBois: Yeah. So, listening to Council Member Tanaka, I just thought -- So, you're talking about a build-out over 5 years. We really haven't talked about the packages that we'd offer people, in terms of making it a compelling service. It looked like, from the survey, there were some people that would like lower price, you know, slower speed service. Potentially a 1 gigabit service. I mean, over those 5 years, would we offer -- would you recommend offering a 10 gigabit service? And since we're building this network, we would build the network from scratch, what would be our ability to offer, like, really compelling services? 5:18:35: John Honker: Yeah. No. That's a great question, Commissioner ### Council Member DuBois. We really look at -- The speeds and prices that are presented here are, again, from the survey. Right? So, those look at what the current market has to offer, and what a Palo Alto offering -- how it would be treated in the market by the consumer. Right? It doesn't mean that's -- those are the products and services that we're actually offering. And, in all reality, when the network is built -- Right? -- it will be a year down the road, at least. So, prices, speeds, packages are going to be considerably different at that point. And, again, building the network from scratch gives you the ability to, you know, offer as much speed as you want. And offer -- because we have, from looking at the free cash flow graphs, we have excess cash flow in the system. Which would allow you to potentially lower rates as well. So, you know, use those numbers that are in the pricing slide -- in the take rate slide -- ### Slide 10: POTENTIAL SERVICE OFFERINGS -- again. as a snapshot in time. As a baseline. You can offer much more than that, based on what the network's capabilities will have. So, to answer question sort of in a brief way, yes, you'd be able to offer, you know 2 gig, 5 gig, 10 gigabit services from day one, if that's what the community decided was the most important. 5:19:59: Council Member DuBois: Yeah. So, it's really a dynamic business. I guess we've just got to be ready, over time, to keep upgrading and offering different things? It sounds like. 5:20:09: John Honker: Right. 5:20:13: Council Member DuBois: Thanks. 5:20:14: Mayor Burt: Well, I'd just like -- Oh, go ahead. Council Member Filseth. 5:20:17: Council Member Filseth: I just want to make sure I understand what you just said. So, you're saying that, you know, we could make money with 2.5 gigs at 40 bucks a month? 5:20:28: John Honker: No. There's going to be limits to that. But the cost of increasing your speeds on the network are marginal. Very, very, very small. So, you could increase from, you know 1 gigabit to 2 gigabit for a very, very small marginal cost. 5:20:45: Council Member Filseth: Right. 5:20:45: John Honker: But a -- much higher marginal revenue. So, it all would be, you know, provide as much speed as you can, ... 5:20:51: Council Member Filseth: Right. 5:20:51: John Honker: ... within the limits of the network, at the lowest cost possible. 5:20:53: Council Member Filseth: So, does this turn into a thing of, you know, we need to get at least X from every customer, but whether we offer 1 gig or 2 gig or 5 gigs makes much less difference? 5:21:04: John Honker: Right. 5:21:04: Council Member Filseth: We need to get ... 5:21:06: John Honker: You have a fixed cost for ... 5:21:07: Council Member Filseth: Is there any reason that our fixed cost per resident could be significantly lower than competitors because we're starting from scratch? 5:21:18: John Honker: Ah -- Yeah. To some degree, it could. 5:21:21: Council Member Filseth: So, ... 5:21:21: John Honker: The question becomes, how much cushion do you want to leave in there for potential price reductions? Right? So, we can back down those prices, which is going to reduce free cash flow in the later years. 5:21:32: Council Member Filseth: Right. 5:21:33: John Honker: But you want to leave some cushion in there. Right? We don't want to sell for too low, and then not have any flexibility. 'Cause we can only go down. We can't go back up. That's where we get in trouble. 5:21:46: Council Member Filseth: OK. 5:21:46: John Honker: So, it's -- Again, it's the business. Right? The business risk is, we want to set pricing competitively -- Right? -- at that sweet spot ... 5:21:54: Council Member Filseth: Right. 5:21:54: John Honker: ... where we're achieving the take rates, slightly lower [prices] than the competition. But we're not going so low that we set ourselves up for, you know, all the other business issues that could happen. Right? We may need that cash for higher costs. Higher overheads. Right? So, it's a delicate balance, price setting. 5:22:12: Council Member Filseth: But you may need that aggressive pricing, you know, to get the customers on board. 5:22:17: John Honker: Agreed. Agreed. 5:22:19: Council Member Filseth: So -- Well, OK. So, I think, you know, again, this is -- This is what I think, you know -- one of the really key linchpins of us considering this is. You know. And, according to your spreadsheet -- Right? -- we need 9,000 customers. OK? Who are the first 10? Who are the first 100? Who are the first 1,000? Why are they going to buy it? What's the customer acquisition cost? What are they going to pay? Why are they going to pick us instead of AT&T, and other folks, and so forth? That -- We need a clear understanding of that. And the number that you just said, which is, how far can we lower our price and not go broke? Right? We need to know that, too. 5:22:57: John Honker: Yeah. You always want to know your fixed cost per customer. Like, what's the minimum fixed cost we can get, to pay back the debt service and cover costs? 5:23:04: Council Member Filseth: Yes, we do. 5:23:06: John Honker: Right. 5:23:07: Mayor Burt: Council Member Tanaka, did you have something else? 5:23:09: Council Member Tanaka: I did, actually. So, I just wanted to follow on what Council Member Filseth just said, which is, I think all the things he just said we need to have in order to figure out this business case -- But I've been involved with a lot of startups. And, you know, one of the fundamental errors a lot of startups make is, we look at the current product, and we say, well, heck, you know, we're going to start from scratch. We don't have to solve this legacy -- have to deal with. We're going to build a way better product. But the issue that a lot of startups have is that what's in the market right now also keeps progressing forward. And so, I worry about that. Right? I really worry that we're going to be chasing something that's going to be hard for us to beat. And also, a lot this -- what's in this internet service is, there's also branding. Right? It's also the service people. There's all this stuff. So, I've been thinking about, like, what is our City's competitive advantage here? Like, what advantage -- what can we do in a more superior way than anything else. And I don't think it's customer service. Right? Maybe there's something else. But it's not customer service. Is it speed? I don't know. 5:24:14: But maybe one thing that you guys could think about, that we might have a real competitive advantage in is latency. For some people, latency is actually a big deal. Right? So, you know, maybe because we have the short circuit to the dark fiber. Or we don't have to do -- I don't know. Maybe there's a way where we could have a real competitive advantage. Because the truth is, if I had 10 gigabit ethernet ### internet right now, what would I do with it? I don't know. Right? Maybe in the future, we'll be all in the Metaverse and not really need it. I don't know. But latency is something that a lot of people could use right now. Whether it's Zoom calls or whatever. You can actually -- when you have low latency, you actually can feel it. ### In theory, active Ethernet has lower latency than PON, because for uploads, a premises doesn't have to wait until given permission to transmit. 5:24:51: So, anyways, I just -- I think we have to figure out what is our competitive advantage. And if it's too nebulous, if it's too hard for us to get a clear win here, I don't think we should do this. 'Cause there's too much risk here. I don't see -- It can be kind of like, wait for stars and moon to align for this to work out. It's got to make logical sense. And right now, I just don't see it. 5:25:14: Mayor Burt: I just wanted to summarize some of the key questions that I still am hoping to get additional information on. So, we say that we're real far along on the whole engineering design. But this big nut of how much microtrenching is going to affect our construction costs seems very significant. And I appreciate that kind of the next return to us, you may not have a precise number. But we need something that gives us a better sense of that. Because, you know, if we cut a lot of dollars out, ... 5:25:53: John Honker: Yeah. Sure. 5:25:53: Mayor Burt: ... that's going to change the ball game. And then, to a lesser extent, this potential of combining the fiber-laying with any other utilities that we'd be putting down. Rather than vice versa, as Dean said. 5:26:14: I'd also want to see if we can estimate additional revenue opportunities from the backbone expansion. 5:26:25: John Honker: From the dark fiber. 5:26:26: Mayor Burt: Yeah. 5:26:26: John Honker: Sure. 5:26:26: Mayor Burt: Which, once again, throws money into subsidizing the fiber to the premise. 5:26:34: And then, to what extent we can have a better understanding on the General Fund transfers. If we're going to assume risk from the General Fund, but we don't get benefit, in terms of return to it, then that's an imbalanced equation. We still may want to do it. But it's something we really need to understand better than we do now. Even with appreciating that it's a fluid situation now, somewhat. 5:27:02: And then lastly, to see some real projections of the impact of AT&T's expansion at their current rate, based on, say, 5 years from now, when we're fully rolled out, what's -- how competitive are they to us are they at that time versus if we were rolled out today under their current take- up. And if they chose to accelerate their rollout in response to us, how would that affect us? 5:27:33: So those were my big things. Oh. Council Member DuBois, I see you have something else. 5:27:37: Council Member DuBois: I just wanted to -- doing questions, I think one thing we didn't talk about, either, was, would be off fiber service to businesses? So, is that in the business plan anywhere? 5:27:49: John Honker: I'm sorry, Council Member. Could you repeat the question? 5:27:51: Council Member DuBois: Offering fiber service to businesses? 5:27:55: John Honker: Yeah. Yup. I would. And I think that's what Mayor Burt was mentioning as well. Projecting the revenues from ... 5:28:04: Council Member DuBois: Not just dark fiber, but a lit fiber service to businesses. 5:28:06: John Honker: Lit fiber. Transport services. You know, anything that the business community, in terms of telecommunications, would be fair game. 5:28:15: Council Member DuBois: OK. ### There are 17 occurrences of "businesses" in this document (including 2 instances in my comments). ### I wonder if what Council Member DuBois was getting at was, have projected FTTP revenues from businesses been included in the financial estimates? 5:28:18: Mayor Burt: I think we've milked that one dry. So, thank you very much. It's been a very informative discussion. Even if we don't have all of our questions answered, I think that this has been productive. And when -- Do we have any sense of what our next steps would be? In returning to Council, with some significant portion of our questions there? And whether that would be an action item evening, or another study session, leading to an action item? 5:28:29: Director Batchelor: So, thank you very much for all the input tonight, Council members. So, right now, we're planning on coming back the Monday after Thanksgiving, which I believe is is the 26th. ### It's the 28th. Back to Council. The idea was to come back as an action item. To you. We will take back everything that we learned tonight. And we'll put together a new report, updating all your questions and your concerns in that. And, like I said, we were planning on bringing it back as an action item. 5:29:34: Mayor Burt: Thank you. Thank you. And that concludes our regular business tonight. 5:29:40: ============================================= From:Rebecca Sanders To:Lait, Jonathan; Council, City; Planning Commission Cc:Furman, Sheri Subject:October 12, PTC Meeting - Regarding City/Sobrato/Fry’s Development Agreement DEIR – Comment Period and PTC Meeting Date:Saturday, October 8, 2022 2:57:12 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Planning Director, City Council Members, and Planning & Transportation Commissioners: PAN’s October meeting attendees voted to ask that you: Extend the public comment period for the DRAFT EIR for 320-340 Portage Avenue / 200 Portage until November 15 to provide a 60-day review period; and Postpone the DEIR review by the Planning and Transportation Commission to mid-November to give the PTC more time to review the document as well. The reasons we ask are these: 1. We just found out about the existence of the DEIR. Many PAN members and many Palo Altans we’ve spoken to, including those on the NVCAP Working Group and living in Ventura who have been tracking the proposed development did not know about the DEIR. 2. The DEIR was not well publicized. We discovered the release of the DEIR was announced in the most recent Uplift Local Newsletter dated September 29, where it was buried at the bottom of a paragraph. We are glad it was included in the Uplift Newsletter, but it was not easy to find to a casual eye skimming the page; 3. The DEIR was released with an inaccurate or misleading address two weeks prior to the newsletter, but under the address 200 Portage and not 320-340 Portage or 200-340 Portage; 4. Because of 1, 2 & 3 above, we and other members of the public don’t have enough time to review. Two weeks of the comment period have already passed without many folks even knowing the comment period was open; 5. The DEIR is hundreds of pages long. To read and digest its contents and provide in depth feedback before October 31 seems a big ask, especially because -- 6. This is an election year and crowding in public discussion of this important topic prior to November 8 dilutes the time voters can devote to both studying the ballot to make informed decisions and to reviewing the DEIR in a meaningful way. We respectfully request that you extend the comment period by two weeks to enable residents to give the DEIR a considered and thoughtful review. Thank you. Kind regards Becky Sanders Sheri Furman Co-Chairs Palo Alto Neighborhoods P.S. Going forward, please make sure that: the complete and accurate address is associated with documents pertaining to the Cannery property, in particular; a meaningful headline accompanies any notification in the newsletter, such as Public Comment sought on the Draft EIR of the Development Agreement between the City and Sobrato; and persons known to be interested in the project and living nearby be notified by email or postcard of the publication of these important documents From:UNAFF To:Council, City Subject:Program and Tickets for the 25th UNAFF LIVE! Date:Saturday, October 8, 2022 8:01:25 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. 25 YEARS OF PROMOTING RESPECT FOR HUMAN RIGHTS THROUGH DOCUMENTARY FILMMAKING, UNAFF (UNITED NATIONS ASSOCIATION FILM FESTIVAL) CELEBRATES GROUNDBREAKING DOCUMENTARIES WITH 60 FILMS FROM ACROSS THE GLOBE THAT WILL CHANGE YOUR VIEW OF THE WORLD October 20-30, 2022 The theme is REFLECTIONS As one of the oldest documentary-only film festivals in the United States, UNAFF brings together the interests in human rights advancement and cinematic achievement. The 25th UNAFF will be held in person for eleven days in Palo Alto, East Palo Alto, and San Francisco, and at Stanford University. UNAFF 2022 will present 60 documentaries spotlighting current events from across the globeand will host six panel discussions, during which renowned experts will elucidate topics such as climate change, threat of epidemics, mental health, racism and hate, criminal justice reform,immigration, homelessness, creativity and disability, the future of borders and military spending, and the power of art to transform consciousness and inspire social change. For this very special UNAFF Anniversary - a quarter century - we are giving the UNAFFVisionary Award to Academy-nominated filmmaker, Stanford alumna, Dorothy Fadiman, one of whose several films presented at UNAFF was WHEN ABORTION WAS ILLEGAL: UNTOLDSTORIES, shown in 2004. For more details, please click the following items: Program: http://www.unaff.org/2022/schedule.html Tickets: http://www.unaff.org/2022/tickets.html Support Human Rights Through Documentary Filmmaking: http://www.unaff.org/2022/support.html Interested in Volunteering: http://www.unaff.org/2022/volunteers.html UNAFF was originally conceived to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. It was founded by Stanford educator and film critic Jasmina Bojic. In addition to providing early outlets for films, many of which have gone on to win major awards and accolades, UNAFF takes pride in creating a community forum for discovery and dialogue about different cultures, social issues, and solutions. Over the years, UNAFF has screened some of the most awarded and talked-about documentaries in the industry, including eight that went on to win Academy Awards and thirty-four that were nominated. Thank you! UNAFF Team UNAFF | PO Box 19369, Stanford, CA 94309 Unsubscribe city.council@cityofpaloalto.org Update Profile | Constant Contact Data Notice Sent by info@unaff.org powered by Try email marketing for free today! From:Juan Souffront Castillo To:in@es.es Subject:Holla Date:Friday, October 7, 2022 6:27:12 PM Algunos contactos que recibieron este mensaje no suelen recibir correos electrónicos dejsouffront@migracion.gob.do. Por qué esto es importante CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Este mensaje y sus anexos contienen información confidencial dirigida única y exclusivamente para el (los) destinatario (s) del mismo. Si usted recibe este mensaje por error, notifique de inmediato al remitente mediante un mensaje de respuesta y proceda a borrarlo. Cualquier uso indebido del mismo, tanto total como parcial, está prohibido, por lo que la Dirección General de Migración no se responsabiliza por el uso que hagan personas no autorizadas de la información contenida en este mensaje, ni de las alteraciones que pueda sufrir durante su transmisión vía Internet. From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Meet Nuro - Our Latest Spotlight Member Date:Friday, October 7, 2022 2:00:13 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Nuro's custom electric autonomous vehicles are designed to bring the things you need—from produce to prescriptions—right to your home. The company's autonomous, goods-focused solution can give you valuable time back and more freedom to do what you love. This convenient, eco-friendly alternative to driving has the potential to make streets safer and cities more livable. Nuro has piloted autonomous local delivery for communities in Texas, Arizona, and California. Check out the video below and visit www.nuro.ai to learn more. Play Video Nuro - 6 Years of Impact Video Meet Nuro - Image of Nuro Founders - Click to learn more. Have questions about Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce Member Nuro's Autonomous Vehicles operating in Palo Alto? Their new webpage www.nuro.ai/about will take you on a journey to understand Nuro's mission, values, technology, and passions. From the development of Nuro vehicles and the autonomy that drives them, to the teams working on safely commercializing the delivery service, this will be an unprecedented look into each area of Nuro's business – and what sets them apart. This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Kristina Littleton To:Council, City Subject:RE: Reach Out Date:Friday, October 7, 2022 11:01:53 AM Some people who received this message don't often get email fromkristina.littleton@clickatomic.tech. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi May I send a sample of one of our B2B contact business Database? Let me know if you can try free samples? Samples are free of cost You can advise me on your data needs as below, Targeting Industry: Targeting Location: Targeting Job titles: Any Other Specification: Thanks, and looking forward to your response. Regards, Kristina Littleton Note: If you do not wish to receive our emails you can reply "Not Interested” From:Aram James To:Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Planning Commission; Jethroe Moore; LaDoris Cordell; Rebecca Eisenberg; Council, City; Winter Dellenbach; Shikada, Ed; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com Subject:Editorial: Veenker, Lauing, Lythcott-Haims for Palo Alto City Council | News | Palo Alto Online | Date:Friday, October 7, 2022 10:28:24 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2022/10/07/editorial-veenker-lauing-lythcott-haims-for-palo-alto-city- council?utm_source=express-2022-10-07&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=express Sent from my iPhone From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Donate at Stanford Blood Center in October for chance to win Stanford Football tickets vs. BYU Date:Friday, October 7, 2022 9:00:19 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Stanford Athletics - Stanford Blood Center SBC has once again teamed up with Stanford Athletics to support our community, and this month, donors can Be a Champion for Local Patients! As a special thanks for keeping patients a priority, anyone who donates at any center or mobile drive October 1-31 will receive FOUR free tickets to the Stanford football game vs. BYU (Brigham Young) on Saturday, November 26. SBC currently has a critical need for Type O negative (O-) and Platelets. You can help make a difference for local patients in our community. You can make an appointment by visiting stanfordbloodcenter.org, the SBC mobile app, or by calling 888- 723-7831. Walk-ins are welcome! Learn more at stanfordbloodcenter.org/football. Stanford Blood Center - Give blood for life! This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Aram James To:Dave Price; Emily Mibach; Braden Cartwright; Roberta Ahlquist; wilpf.peninsula.paloalto@gmail.com; Winter Dellenbach; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Supervisor Otto Lee; Council, City; Alison Cormack; eric.filseth@cityofpaloalto.com; Pat Burt; Greg Tanaka; gmah@sccoe.org; melissa caswell; Shikada, Ed; Jeff Moore; Lait, Jonathan Cc:EPA Today; Rebecca Eisenberg; Jason Green Subject:Great debate tonight Thursday October 5, starting at 7pm. Critical we all be there. Debate re the selection for Santa Clara County Water District Directer, District 7. Rebecca Eisenberg v Gary Kremen Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 3:48:53 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi all!! Tonight - Thurs Oct 5 at 7 PM - is the ONLY live debate/forum where my opponent and I get to go head to head (assuming he is not busy testifying as a witness who purchased a concealed weapon carry permit from Sheriff Smith in her criminal trial for receiving bribes for weapon permits). Might as well join the Zoom forum - it's free and online! Info here: https://www.lwvlamv.org/content.aspx?page_id=22... And sign up here: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_Hp1PQFvcTdCcxko_ErdmKg? Please join and see firsthand the clear difference in this very important race! Best, Rebecca Eisenberg From:Tran, Joanna To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Executive Leadership Team Subject:RE: RSVP by Oct 7th: 2022 Athena Leadership Award Tickets Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 3:45:18 PM Attachments:image001.png image010.png image011.png image013.png image014.png image015.png image002.png image003.png Importance:High Hello Mayor and Councilmembers, Friendly reminder to RSVP for your ticket to the 2022 Athena Leadership Award Ceremony by this Friday, October 7th at 2pm. We currently have 6 tickets left for the event. After this time, we will extend the offer to our Executive Leadership Team. Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From: Tran, Joanna Sent: Tuesday, October 4, 2022 2:38 PM To: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Cc: Shikada, Ed <Ed.Shikada@CityofPaloAlto.org>; Executive Leadership Team <ExecutiveLeadershipTeam@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: RSVP by Oct 7th: 2022 Athena Leadership Award Tickets Importance: High Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, The City of Palo Alto has 8 tickets available to attend the 2022 Athena Leadership Award Ceremony at the Sheraton Palo Alto on October 18th at 5:30pm – 7:30pm. If you are interested in attending this event, please let me know by Friday, October 7th at 2pm. After that time, we will extend the offer to our Executive Leadership Team. Some background of the event is provided below: The ATHENA® award is given to honor exceptional woman leaders who demonstrate the highest levels of professional excellence, give back to their communities and, most importantly, assist other women in realizing their full leadership potential – and it is an international award, having been given to more than 6,500 recipients in over 500 cities and 8 countries. Locally it is awarded by our Chamber of Commerce. This year, the event will be honoring Gina Dalma, Executive Vice President of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From: Charlie Weidanz <charlie@paloaltochamber.com> Sent: Monday, October 3, 2022 10:00 AM To: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: 2022 Athena Leadership Award - Honoring Gina Dalma Register Now Athena 2022 Leadership Award Presentation October 18th, 2022 5:30 – 7:30pm Sheraton Palo Alto Honoring Gina Dalma Executive Vice President Silicon Valley Community Foundation Reserve Your Tickets or Table Here WITH VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO Stanford University Comcast | Bright Homes Real Estate | Castilleja | Homewood Suites Stanford Medicine | Town & Country Village Palo Alto Weekly | Sheraton 1D This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Aram James To:LaDoris Cordell; Council, City; Shikada, Ed; Winter Dellenbach; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Jethroe Moore; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; Human Relations Commission; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; Planning Commission; ParkRec Commission; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; Diana Diamond; Gennady Sheyner; Sue Dremann; chuck jagoda; Enberg, Nicholas; Greer Stone Subject:Great debate tonight Thursday October 5, starting at 7pm. Critical we all be there. Debate re the selection for Santa Clara County Water District Directer, District 7. Rebecca Eisenberg v Gary Kremen Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 3:43:39 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hi all!! Tonight night - Thurs Oct 5 at 7 PM - is the ONLY live debate/forum where my opponent and I get to go head to head (assuming he is not busy testifying as a witness who purchased a concealed weapon carry permit from Sheriff Smith in her criminal trial for receiving bribes for weapon permits). Might as well join the Zoom forum - it's free and online! Info here: https://www.lwvlamv.org/content.aspx?page_id=22... And sign up here: https://us02web.zoom.us/.../reg.../WN_Hp1PQFvcTdCcxko_ErdmKg? Please join and see firsthand the clear difference in this very important race! Best, Rebecca Eisenberg From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Supervisor Simitian Sidewalk Office Hours - Palo Alto Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 2:00:28 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Please join Supervisor Simitian for his Sidewalk Office Hours: Sunday, September 11, 2022 9:30 – 11 a.m. California Ave. Palo Alto Farmers’ Market New Sidewalk Office Hours Location Sunday, October 9, 2022 9:30 – 11 a.m. California Ave. Palo Alto Farmers’ Market New Sidewalk Office Hours Location Click here for the entire fall schedule This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Martie Wynn To:City Mgr; City Attorney; City Auditor; Clerk, City; Council, City Subject:City of Palo Alto Transportation Survey Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 1:47:57 PM Attachments:PATMA English 2022 Commute Survey Postcard (1).png PATMA Spanish 2022 Commute Survey Postcard (1).png Some people who received this message don't often get email from mwynn@altrans.net. Learnwhy this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello City of Palo Alto, This month the Palo Alto Transportation Management Association is conducting our annual commute survey and we would appreciate your help getting the word out. It will only take 5 mins I promise. Your feedback matters! Who in your department should I work with to share the following links with your employees? 2022 commute survey in English 2022 commute survey in Spanish I’m also attaching the postcard flyers with QR codes: one in English and one in Spanish. This survey is for employees who work in and around University Ave and California Ave in Palo Alto. We are hoping to have 1,000 people fill out the survey this year. We anonymize the results and share the findings with the City Council to secure funding for more transit passes for workers next year. Would it be possible to have most of your employees fill out the 5 min. survey by Monday? Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks so much for your help! Martie Wynn Palo Alto TMA mwynn@altrans.net -- Martie Wynn TDM Coordinator (408) 258-7267 x511 mwynn@altrans.net www.altrans.net Let us know how we can help manage your commute program! From:Dan Cooper To:Council, City Subject:Estimate & Take-off - Follow Up! Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 1:45:00 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from dan@csi-estimating.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Hello. I apologize again for interrupting your daily routine, but I must remind you again about our best services. How are you doing? I'm not sure if you saw the email I sent you about the cost estimation service. Our experts guarantee that the cost estimation rate you receive from us will give you a better than 90% chance of winning the bid on your project. We will be happy to show you samples if you need more information. Please contact us at any time; our doors are always open to you. Dan Cooper Business Development Manager CSI Estimation, LLC Tel: 516 856 3212 78th St Brooklyn NY 11214 www(dot)csiestimation(dot)com From:Art Liberman To:City Mgr; Council, City Subject:Fw: No upcoming Council Agenda"s on the City Council agenda age Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 9:51:36 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. To the City Clerk The latest meeting agenda/packet on the Clerk's City Council website is October 3rd, and today is October 5th! I thought the Clerk was to post agenda packets for upcoming meetings 10 days to two weeks in advance. Arthur Liberman Chimalus Drive The following is copied from the Clerk's Council page on October 5th at 8 pm: 2022 City Council Agenda Packet and Minutes (hide below) Agenda Packet Minutes Video October 3, 2022 Agenda Packet (5:30 p.m.) October 3, 2022 Draft Action Minutes October 3, 2022 Summary Minutes October 3, 2022 Video September 27, 2022 Agenda Packet (5 p.m.) September 27, 2022 Draft Action Minutes September 27, 2022 Summary Minutes September 27, 2022 Video (PDF, 4MB)(PDF, 162KB) (PDF, 17MB)(PDF, 143KB) From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:BAWPVA"s 11th Annual Golf Tournament Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 9:00:19 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. The Paralyzed Veterans of America, Bay Area & Western Chapter (BAWPVA), a non-profit veterans service organization in your community, is planning its 11th Annual Golf Tournament at Cinnabar Hills Golf Club on Monday, November 7, 2022. The funds we have raised through this event for our Sports & Recreation and Spinal Cord Injury Research Programs have enabled us to continue our support of wheelchair athletes and helping to find a cure for paralysis. Register Here On behalf of the paralyzed veterans in Northern California, Northern Nevada, and the Pacific Islands, BAWPVA thanks you for your support. Your generosity will help us continue to provide assistance to wheelchair athletes and continue our fight for a cure for paralysis. Our tax ID number is 9-46132553 11th Annual Golf Tournament 2022 Sponsorship Opportunities Event Info This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. View this email in your browser LWVPA 2022 Pros and ConsPresentations From:LWV Palo Alto To:Council, City Subject:Join LWVPA Pros and Cons Presentations on Oct 8 & Oct 11! Date:Thursday, October 6, 2022 8:36:11 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Join a Zoom presentation of the pros and cons of state and local measures appearing on the ballot. Each hour-long presentation by League members covers the same material and includes an opportunity to ask questions. Saturday, October 8, 2022 11:00 am - noon Tuesday, October 11, 2022 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Register Now Register Now LWVPaloAlto.org Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn Email Email Copyright © 2022 League of Women Voters Palo Alto, All rights reserved. From Voter Recipient List Our mailing address is: League of Women Voters Palo Alto 3921 E Bayshore Rd Ste 209 Palo Alto, CA 94303-4303 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Questions? Contact us at communications@lwvpaloalto.org. From:Aram James To:Binder, Andrew; Sean Allen; Joe Simitian; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Shikada, Ed; Supervisor Otto Lee; Cindy Chavez; city.council@menlopark.org; Council, City; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky; chuck jagoda; Enberg, Nicholas; Tannock, Julie; Enberg, Nicholas; Michael Gennaco; Foley, Michael; Jethroe Moore; Josh Becker Subject:San Jose Police Department sued after K-9 bites man"s neck Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 11:56:13 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ > > Dear Chief Andrew Binder, > > Please ban weaponized police canines in Palo Alto. > > Sincerely, > > Aram James > > > https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-jose-police-department-sued-after-k-9-bites-mans-neck > > > Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Binder, Andrew; Sean Allen; Richard Konda; Jethroe Moore; Jeff Rosen; Council, City; Jay Boyarsky; Enberg, Nicholas; chuck jagoda; Joe Simitian; Josh Becker; Rebecca Eisenberg; Greer Stone; Winter Dellenbach; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Shikada, Ed; Perron, Zachary; ladoris cordell; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; Wagner, April; Reifschneider, James; Raj Jayadev; Planning Commission; Greg Tanaka; Pat Burt Subject:San Jose Police Department sued after K-9 bites man"s neck Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 11:35:43 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Dear Chief Andrew Binder, Please ban weaponized police canines in Palo Alto. Sincerely, Aram James https://www.audacy.com/kcbsradio/news/local/san-jose-police-department-sued-after-k-9-bites-mans-neck Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Binder, Andrew; Sean Allen; Tannock, Julie; Enberg, Nicholas; Pat Burt; Council, City; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; city.council@menlopark.org; Jethroe Moore; Winter Dellenbach; Shikada, Ed; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; chuck jagoda; Joe Simitian; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Josh Becker; Rebecca Eisenberg; Greer Stone; Wagner, April; ladoris cordell; Perron, Zachary; Reifschneider, James; Raj; Greg Tanaka; Cindy Chavez Subject:Brentwood, California officer says "police canine warning" not given before dog ripped off shoplifting suspect"s scalp - ABC7 San Francisco Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 9:57:39 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ https://abc7news.com/woman-attacked-by-brentwood-police-dog-k9-rips-scalp-off-shoplifting-suspect-bitten- canine-talmika-bates/11611610/ Sent from my iPhone From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: Elderly Asian woman attacked and robbed of life savings by men posing as construction workers in California Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 4:49:51 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From: Allan Seid, Stephen Lee Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2022 Subject: Elderly Asian woman attacked and robbed of life savings by men posing as construction workers in Californiail. Source; Yahoo News 10/4/2022 So sad the criminals are attacking elderly Asians and stealing their life saving. All Asians will need to more vigilant not just walking in the street but also at home. https://news.yahoo.com/elderly-asian-woman-attacked-robbed-223238249.html From:Charlie Weidanz To:Council, City Subject:Last chance for your tickets to AbilityPath"s Authors Luncheon Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 4:24:16 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clickingon links. You are invited to join AbilityPath to hear a fun and fascinating panel of authors at the Oshman Family JCC in Palo Alto for the 31st Annual Authors Luncheon Cocktail Edition! Ticket sales end on Thursday, October 6. You won’t want to miss it! AbilityPath Authors Luncheon, Saturday, October 15, 2022 | 3:30pm | Cocktail Edition This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. View this email in your browser TONIGHT'S LIVESTREAM POSTPONED As much as I would like to share a comprehensive update about Konnech with everyone on tonight’s LIVE, I can’t. This is a very fluid situation. To avoid any potential conflict or compromise of other ongoing cases, I need to stay quiet a little longer. We will continue to post our official statements as more news breaks. And I will be back on LIVE to explain everything very soon. To those of you who’ve supported our work for years on end, thank you. Your From:True the Vote To:Council, City Subject:TONIGHT"S LIVESTREAM POSTPONED Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 3:07:53 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from info@truethevote.org. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. faith is a constant source of encouragement to us. To our detractors, so be it. We’re fighting to keep our elections secure and our nation free. Lastly, we should all recognize this as an opportunity to unify. Wherever you are on the political spectrum, let’s come together to protect our country. Keep the faith. I’ll be back in touch again very soon. This is a Psalms 35 moment. Thanks be to God. Ever onward - Catherine SHARE Share Tweet Share Forward PO Box 3109 #19128 Houston, TX 77253-3109, 713-401-6017 Copyright © 2022 True the Vote. All Rights Reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. From:Progressivism Madness To:Council, City Subject:How American Universities Moved From Diversity to Indoctrination Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 12:45:08 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. Can't see this message? View in a browser How American Universities Moved From Diversity to Indoctrination Academe these days is full of code words. Diversity is one of the most popular and has increasingly become an article of faith at American colleges. Its usefulness depends on ambiguity. While the public and media may believe it means openness to previously excluded students and studies, the reality is that “diversity” is a brazen attempt at thought control, rapidly moving toward the center of undergraduate education through the mechanism of General Education requirements. As an example, at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, professors who want their courses approved for General Education diversity credit must meet new guidelines borrowed from the most ideological part of the university, the School of Education. At UMass, as at many other universities, Social Justice Education (SJE) has for years been a key part of the School of Ed, offering not only a concentration but also a Master’s and a Ph.D. The language of SJE makes clear that it is driven by narrow political aims, which pervade all aspects of the program. With a constant emphasis on intervention and advocacy in schools and communities on behalf of social justice (never clearly defined), the SJE website makes plain its fundamental concerns, which include: “Prejudice and discrimination, the dynamics of power and privilege, and intersecting systems of oppression,” “Theories and practices of social change; resistance and empowerment; liberation and social justice movements,” and “Sociocultural and historical contexts for, and dynamics within and among the specific manifestations of oppression (adultism, religious oppression, ableism, classism, ethnocentrism, heterosexism, racism, sexism, transgender oppression) in educational and other social systems.” In his book Diversity: The Invention of a Concept (2003), Peter Wood describes how “diversity arose as a countercultural critique of American society that depicted social relations as based on hierarchy and oppression of disprivileged groups.” This “diversity ideology,” rooted in a Marxist view of America as a system of oppression, had been brewing for generations but only gained real traction in the 1980s. “For it was then,” he writes, “that the Left, at last, found a combination of political leverage, economic opportunity and cultural advantage to institutionalize much of its anti-American program. Diversity was the key to that three-part success” (his emphasis).” But until recently, the emphasis on diversity as the chosen path to “social justice” was not built into the university’s “social and cultural diversity” Gen Ed requirement. Now it is. And as I argue here, it is an exercise in compelled speech, unworthy of higher education, and unconstitutional in a public institution. A fairly loose definition of what diversity courses should entail had existed for about three decades. Designed to combat “ethnocentric stereotypes” and open students to the wider world of “pluralistic perspectives,” the old diversity requirements contained a single prescriptive phrase (my emphasis): Courses satisfying this requirement shall reach beyond the perspectives of mainstream American culture and the Western tradition. The Old Guidelines Then Shifted From Shall to May They may focus on the peoples of Africa, Asia, Latin America, or the Middle East; the descendants of those peoples living in North America; other minorities in Western industrial societies; and Native Americans. Since sensitivity to social and cultural diversity is advanced by an understanding of the dynamics of power in modern societies, courses that focus on the differential life experiences of women outside the mainstream of American culture, minorities outside the mainstream of American culture, and the poor also come within the scope of this requirement. True, the phrase regarding “the dynamics of power,” hinting at the old Marxist framework with a touch of Foucault thrown in, seemed designed to predetermine the content of such courses to some extent. But the list of groups (women, minorities, and the poor) with “differential life experiences” was merely, as the last part of the above paragraph made clear, a possible focus–not a necessary one, and certainly nothing like the obligatory listing of numerous supposedly marginalized identities that abound today. What, then, changed? In the spring of 2016, faculty began to realize that the General Education Council had proposed a little-publicized new delineation of the required diversity courses. As before, undergraduates would be required to take two courses carrying the Diversity designation, one national, the other international, but the details had passed through an ideological transformation. Normally, significant changes to the curriculum would have to go through the Faculty Senate, but the Gen Ed Council had by-passed this step by claiming (when challenged) that the changes in the two required diversity courses involved “only language,” hence did not need Faculty Senate approval. Most faculty, as usual, were busy with other things and did not react. Some people, however, were alarmed. Harvey Silverglate, civil liberties attorney and co-founder of FIRE (the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education) and I wrote a piece about the new requirement, pointing out the ways in which it went well beyond the existing guidelines. We argued that not content with existing policies that restricted speech, the university was mounting an effort to compel certain kinds of speech and political attitudes in courses hoping to gain Gen Ed Council approval toward fulfilling the diversity requirement. As we wrote: Using politically fashionable jargon, the three new gen-ed guidelines for diversity courses stipulate not merely, as before, geographic and cultural breadth but the specific attitudes and beliefs that must animate certain areas of teaching (or indoctrination, depending upon your point of view). Faculty members must embrace “knowledge, pluralistic perspectives, and engagement beyond mainstream traditions,” by focusing on “unequal access to resources that derive from race and ethnicity, national origins, language, socioeconomic class, gender and sexual orientation, religion, age, and ability.” The second mandated guideline encompasses “cultural, social and structural dynamics” that shape human experience and produce inequality, while the third specifies “exploration of self and others” so as to recognize inequalities and injustices. The clearly stated goal, not left to the imagination, is “to engage with others to create change toward social justice.” This phrase encapsulates the shift from educating students to be able to think and analyze for themselves to the vastly different effort to indoctrinate students into administrators’ and professors’ belief system, which is assumed to be the only worthwhile, good and moral one from which, therefore, no one dares dissent. All of This Should Cause Concern at Public Universities That Are Bound by Constitutional Norms The First Amendment’s protection of free speech has two aspects. The more widely known one prohibits the law from censoring officially disfavored and unpopular speech. But the other equally important and complementary aspect of this liberty enjoins the government from compelling speech and belief. In a society where students have long been granted the right to refuse, for example, to recite a biblical passage or even the Pledge of Allegiance in public schools, college students are now required to genuflect before the banner of diversity, inclusion and social justice. It’s insufficient for students to refrain from uttering offensive or “wrong” words and ideas. They must increasingly be trained to mimic their professors and affirmatively utter the “right” ones. The new guidelines, in other words, explicitly spelled out a commitment to social justice, understood in a particular way, reflecting precisely the political vision already familiar to us from Social Justice Education programs, rooted in Left politics that have dominated academic circles for some time now. But whereas these politics used to be confined to certain (mostly identity-based) academic programs, along with Schools of Ed and Social Work, the new requirements aim to subject the entire university and every student in it to current academic dogma. The revision names identity groups repeatedly, uses all the current code words, talks over and over again about inequality, marginalization, power dynamics, and the need to combat all these. Hardly a minor revision, this is a complete delineation of the changes in academe in the past few decades. At a time when the university persistently reiterates its commitment to social justice, diversity, inclusion, and equity, the undergraduate curriculum is undergoing Gleichschaltung, i.e., everything is being brought into alignment with the prevailing political orthodoxy. A further chapter in this story of ideological policing unfolded in late 2016. Not satisfied with the changes quietly incorporated into the Gen Ed diversity requirement earlier in 2016, the Gen Ed Council once again initiated a change that it evidently hoped most faculty would not notice. This time, it proposed a third required diversity course, mandated for all incoming students, who apparently needed this training in identity politics in order to proceed with their education. I conclude that we hardly know what “social justice” is, let alone how it may best be attained. Indeed, the very term has been used in ways that might alarm today’s social justice warriors (if only they knew some history, such as that of the populist priest Father Coughlin, the anti-capitalist, anti-communist, anti-Semitic founder of the National Union for Social Justice in 1934 and of the paper Social Justice two years later, who became an apologist for Nazism and an Axis propagandist). The entire history of the twentieth century, to stick just with recent times, tells us how dangerous a path the belief in the single-minded pursuit of “social justice” is. This Minding the Campus article “How a University Moved From Diversity to Indoctrination” by Daphne Patai, on December 11, 2016,.is from their Free Speech in Peril collection. Become a SAPIENT Being member Sapient Conservative Textbook (SCT) Program 4533 Temescal Cyn. # 308 Corona CA, 92883 (951) 638-5562 Share on social SAPIENT BEING You've received this email because you are a subscriber of this site. If you feel you received it by mistake or wish to unsubscribe, please click here. View this email in your browser From:True the Vote To:Council, City Subject:Catherine"s Back Tonight with Election Updates LIVE! Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 11:33:44 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Don't Miss Tonight's Livestream (10/5) at 7 pm ET! It's back to business tonight! Join me tonight at 7 pm ET to get caught up on the latest behind-the-scenes election news and your questions. You won't want to miss this one. There's a lot going on. Click here to join the livestream at 7 pm ET And, don't forget to share this with a friend. Ever onward, When & Where Wednesday, October 5th 7PM ET NOTE: You do not need to be a paid supporter to watch this livestream. However, you will need to create a Free Locals Member account. Or. if you would like to join the fight financially, you can become a Local Supporter. You won't want to miss this livestream! SHARE Share Tweet Share Forward PO Box 3109 #19128 Houston, TX 77253-3109, 713-401-6017 Copyright © 2022 True the Vote. All Rights Reserved. Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: Man charged with hate crimes in robbery spree Date:Wednesday, October 5, 2022 7:50:48 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From: Allan Seid Date: Wed, Oct 5, 2022 Subject: Man charged with hate crimes in robbery spree Source: S.J. Mercury News https://enewspaper.mercurynews.com/infinity/article_popover_share.aspx?guid=8f658799- 1b9e-4eed-8be7-1c2ee8e4ef20 From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: California man charged with hate crimes for targeting South Asian women in necklace robbery spree Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 8:59:04 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From: Allan Seid,Steve Lee Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2022 at 8:47 PM Subject: California man charged with hate crimes for targeting South Asian women in necklace robbery spree https://news.yahoo.com/california-man-charged-hate-crimes-173835630.html View this email in your browser From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: Come See Rare Bruce Lee And Martial Arts Movies! Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 8:42:59 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: CHSA <info@chsa.org> Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2022 at 10:30 AM Subject: Come See Rare Bruce Lee And Martial Arts Movies! To: ALLAN SEID <allanseid734@gmail.com> See Rare Bruce Lee and Martial Arts Films: RadiatingBruce Lee Radiating Bruce Lee: Cinema Under the Sky Want to see rare Bruce Lee and martial arts films? Want to watch movies under the stars? Want to celebrate the iconic career and impact of a San Francisco legend? Join CHSA and the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (HKETO) for the one-of- a-kind film series Radiating Bruce Lee: Cinema Under The Sky. In conjunction with our landmark exhibition, We Are Bruce Lee: Under the Sky, One Family, this curated five-film series explores the life and work of the martial arts icon and honors Lee’s enduring legacy as a martial artist, filmmaker, and actor. This program showcases a unique selection: silent, documentary, narratives, martial arts action, and arthouse. Each provides linkages to Lee and situates his trailblazing accomplishments at the dynamic intersection of Hong Kong and Chinese American film and cultural exchange. The Radiating Bruce Lee film schedule will be: SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 5PM @ CHSA Red Heroine (China, 1929, directed by Wen Yimin; digital video, 94 min.) Includes live music performance by Kendo and JE of the Fresh Crew SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 5PM @ CHSA Golden Gate Girls (Hong Kong, 2014, digital video, 90 min.) Includes talk by film scholar Louisa Wei on filmmaker Esther Eng SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2PM @ GREAT STAR THEATE The Orphan* (Hong Kong, 1960, directed by Lee Sun-fung; digital video, 104 min.) Includes talk by curator, researcher, and writer Sam Ho on the making of Bruce Lee SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 5PM @ CHSA The Grandmaster (Hong Kong/China, 2013, directed by Wong Kar-wai; digital video, 108 min.) Includes screening of Rhythm of the Dragon and discussion of Bruce Lee's influence on hip hop. SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 27, 2PM @ GREAT STAR THEATER The Way of the Dragon (Hong Kong, 1972, directed by Bruce Lee; digital video, 99 min.) Commemorating Bruce Lee’s 82nd birthday! Includes panel discussion with Chinese-American chefs and labor historians on how the restaurant business became a defining feature of Chinese immigration to the U.S. in the 20th century and how it has evolved in the present. Tickets are $15 for each individual film. Or purchase a Binge Pass and watch all 5 films for just $29.99. Radiating Bruce Lee is presented in partnership and collaboration with HKETO, The Center for Asian American Media (CAAM), and the Bruce Lee Foundation. This program series is also made possible by support from First Republic Bank, Spotify, Joseph George Fine Wines, Mechanics’ Institute, and individuals. Monkey Block Art Exhibit Monkey Block is a pop-up art exhibit arranged by curator Charles Linder that spotlights San Francisco’s historical Montgomery Block, an aviary for some of the earliest Chinese American artists, calli- graphers, painters, muralists, and sculptors during the latter half of the 19th century. It features a selection of artwork of international artists whose works range from painting and drawing to candle making and couture and will appear in the CHSA gift shop. Monkey Block runs through January 2023 at the CHSA Gift Shop space at 949 Clay Street in Chinatown. The handmade works are all available for sale and proceeds would benefit both the artists and CHSA. For more information, visit Monkey Block. Want to See Even More Films? Fri, October 7th, 6PM BUY TICKETS CHSA is thrilled to sponsor Mechanics' Institute Library's upcoming October programming that examines Chinese representation in mainstream American films from the earliest silent days to the early 21st century. The CinemaLit program kicks off with a screening of Arthur Dong's 2007 doc- umentary Hollywood Chinese, which includes dissection of the Fu Manchu series, yellowface and whitewashing, and various breakthroughs and disappointments are covered with a trove of clips and interviews. We are excited to share that CHSA members receive free admission to this screening. Renew Your CHSA Membership! RSVP TODAY In commemoration of our landmark exhibit, CHSA is excited to offer a one-of-a-kind set of We Are Bruce Lee: Under The Sky, One Family-designed membership cards when you purchase a three-year museum membership. Renew your membership and receive three unique, collectible WABL-designed membership cards, for $200. Book A CHSA Group Visit! RENEW TODAY Join CHSA for docent or self-guided tours. Soak in the history and legacy of Chinese in America, including our landmark We Are Bruce Lee exhibition at our museum. We are currently offering: CHSA Museum Docent Tour (Wed.-Sun. | 11am-12pm & 1-4pm) CHSA Museum Self-Guided Tour (Wed.-Sun. | 11am-4pm) Virtual Chinese American: Exclusion/Inclusion (Wed.-Sun. | 11am-12pm & 1pm- 4pm) Chinatown History Walking Tour (Wed.-Sun. | 11am-12pm & 1pm-4pm) Chinatown Food Walking Tour (Wed.-Sun. | 11am-12pm & 1pm-4pm) Register now for a group trip at tinyurl.com/fieldtripCHSA. CHSA programs and activities are sponsored in part by grants from: Share Tweet Forward SIGN UP Join CHSA Donate to CHSA Visit CHSA As a CHSA member, you receive discounted or free entry to programs. Support our mission to interpret & promote the history of Chinese in America with a contribution today. MUSEUM HOURS: Wednesday-Sunday 11am-4pm Monday-Tuesday Closed Copyright © 2022 Chinese Historical Society of America. All rights reserved. Our mailing address is: 965 Clay Street, San Francisco, CA 94108 unsubscribe from this list update subscription preferences From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Comments on Importance of Merrill v. Milligan Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 4:49:00 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. From: Allan Seid, Christine Chen at APIAVote <media@apiavote.org> Date: Tue, Oct 4, 2022 at 3:10 PM Subject: Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Comments on Importance of Merrill v. Milligan. logo FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 4, 2022 CONTACT: Ruoping Chen media@apiavote.org 202-223-9170 Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) Comments on Importance of Merrill v. Milligan Washington, D.C. - Christine Chen, Executive Director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), made the following statement after the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the voting rights case Merrill v. Milligan. The case focuses on Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) of 1965 which protects the right to vote for racial minorities by requiring that redistricting of congressional districts be done in a way that does not reduce the opportunity for minorities “to elect representatives of their choice.” “We commend Evan Milligan, Executive Director of Alabama Forward, for being the lead plaintiff in this case and for his efforts, with others, in advocating for Americans’ right to fair representation today in Merrill v. Milligan. In Alabama, 27 percent of the voting-age population is African American. Yet, because of the way congressional districts were redrawn by the state legislature, only one district is a majority-Black district. This is a clear example of voter disenfranchisement, and cannot be allowed to stand.” “This case represents a critical point in whether or not we preserve all our nation’s citizens' freedom to vote. Simply put, the VRA ensures that Americans, regardless of ethnicity, freedom to vote is protected and that they are fairly represented by their elected government. If the Supreme Court allows Alabama’s racially-gerrymandered congressional map to stand, it will further erode this landmark civil rights legislation. Voters of color, including AAPIs, will be at an even more increased risk of having the power of their votes diminished and their voices silenced.” “The Supreme Court has a duty to uphold the VRA and stop these anti- democratic attacks. If the VRA is not upheld, we risk eroding the protections millions of Americans rely on to fully participate in the democratic process and risk AAPIs seeing their voting power withered.” ### About APIAVote: Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote) is a leading national nonpartisan organization that works with partners to mobilize Asian American Pacific Islanders (AAPI) in electoral and civic participation. APIAVote envisions a world that is inclusive, fair, and collaborative, and where AAPI communities are self-determined, empowered, and engaged. See our website for more information at http://www.apiavote.org/ APIAVote 1612 K St NW #510 Washington, DC 20006 United States If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe. From:Aram James To:Planning Commission; Josh Becker; Jeff Rosen; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; Binder, Andrew; LaDoris Cordell; Sean Allen; Anna Griffin; Council, City; Jethroe Moore; Winter Dellenbach; Joe Simitian; Betsy Nash; Cecilia Taylor; Tony Dixon; Jay Boyarsky; chuck jagoda Subject:From The Mercury News e-edition - Ginni Thomas is a one-woman American constitutional crisis ( Sick to my stomach! )!! Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 4:26:43 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I saw this The Mercury News e-edition article on the The Mercury News e-edition app and thought you’d be interested. Ginni Thomas is a one-woman American constitutional crisis https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=6ae75d19-ff78-4bff-b2e9- 8c1205ce0fb9&appcode=SAN252&eguid=48c51d42-7237-4c3a-87f7-1014c1af9c5a&pnum=32# For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here: Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Tom DuBois; Council, City; Human Relations Commission; Winter Dellenbach; Shikada, Ed; Binder, Andrew; Jay Boyarsky; Planning Commission; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Joe Simitian Subject:From The Mercury News e-edition - Why Palo Alto needs to pass Measures K, L Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 4:14:12 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ I saw this The Mercury News e-edition article on the The Mercury News e-edition app and thought you’d be interested. Why Palo Alto needs to pass Measures K, L https://edition.pagesuite.com/popovers/dynamic_article_popover.aspx?guid=33490b82-3937-472f-b7af- 6cb396bd16bf&appcode=SAN252&eguid=48c51d42-7237-4c3a-87f7-1014c1af9c5a&pnum=28# For more great content like this subscribe to the The Mercury News e-edition app here: Sent from my iPhone From:Tran, Joanna To:Council, City Cc:Shikada, Ed; Executive Leadership Team Subject:RSVP by Oct 7th: 2022 Athena Leadership Award Tickets Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 2:38:05 PM Attachments:image001.png image003.png image004.png image006.png image007.png image008.png image002.png Importance:High Dear Mayor and Councilmembers, The City of Palo Alto has 8 tickets available to attend the 2022 Athena Leadership Award Ceremony at the Sheraton Palo Alto on October 18th at 5:30pm – 7:30pm. If you are interested in attending this event, please let me know by Friday, October 7th at 2pm. After that time, we will extend the offer to our Executive Leadership Team. Some background of the event is provided below: The ATHENA® award is given to honor exceptional woman leaders who demonstrate the highest levels of professional excellence, give back to their communities and, most importantly, assist other women in realizing their full leadership potential – and it is an international award, having been given to more than 6,500 recipients in over 500 cities and 8 countries. Locally it is awarded by our Chamber of Commerce. This year, the event will be honoring Gina Dalma, Executive Vice President of the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. Thank you, Joanna Joanna Tran Executive Assistant to the City Manager Office of the City Manager (650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org www.cityofpaloalto.org From: Charlie Weidanz <charlie@paloaltochamber.com> Sent: Monday, October 3, 2022 10:00 AM To: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org> Subject: 2022 Athena Leadership Award - Honoring Gina Dalma Register Now Athena 2022 Leadership Award Presentation October 18th, 2022 5:30 – 7:30pm Sheraton Palo Alto Honoring Gina Dalma Executive Vice President Silicon Valley Community Foundation Reserve Your Tickets or Table Here WITH VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO Stanford University Comcast | Bright Homes Real Estate | Castilleja | Homewood Suites Stanford Medicine | Town & Country Village Palo Alto Weekly | Sheraton This email was sent on behalf of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce 355 Alma St Palo Alto, CA 94301.To unsubscribe click here. If you have questions or comments concerning this email or services in general, please contact us by email at info@paloaltochamber.com. From:Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo To:Council, City Subject:Protecting Birds at the JMZ and New Discovery Programs Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 11:21:29 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of openingattachments and clicking on links. Logo_Full_Color_CMYK.jpg Protecting Birds at the JMZ and New Discovery Programs October 4, 2022 Hello Friends, If you’ve visited the zoo recently, you may have noticed that the birds have been moved away from visitors for the time being. This is one of many steps the JMZ has taken to protect its vibrant bird collection from the current avian flu outbreak. For this newsletter, we spoke with John Aikin, executive director of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo, to learn more about the avian flu pandemic, what the zoo is doing to keep its birds safe, and what you can do to help. In the meantime, the JMZ has introduced Discovery Programs to highlight the many other animals who live at the zoo, including cichlids, ferrets, snapping turtles, other reptiles, bats, and more. I encourage you to attend a Discovery Program and learn something new about the many wonderful animals at the zoo! Warmly, Lauren Angelo President, Friends of the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo Photo of a Blue-Tongued Skink, Courtesy of Lois Tema Photography. Preventing the Spread of Avian Flu and Spotlighting Other Animals Interview with John Aikin, Executive Director of the JMZ What is avian flu and what is the risk to the Junior Museum & Zoo’s bird collection? How long is this outbreak expected to last? Avian influenza or bird flu is a virus naturally spread among wild waterfowl that can be transmitted to other bird and animal species. Spread is normally caused by bird-to-bird contact, exposure to contaminated people, or through feed and equipment according to the California Department of Food and Agriculture. Each year, there is a flu season for birds, much like humans. The current outbreak of bird flu is particularly dangerous and can cause severe illness or death among flocks. That is why it is important we keep our birds at the JMZ safe from exposure to this strain. The current outbreak is expected to last through this spring, and some scientists believe this strain may become endemic in the U.S. We are monitoring the severity of the outbreak locally and continually reassessing its risk to our birds. We are also making changes that help to minimize the risk. In the meantime, in lieu of flamingo feedings, we have introduced Discovery Programs in various locations throughout the zoo to highlight the mammals, reptiles and fish who live at the JMZ. A Current Discovery Program Schedule: Raccoon Talks are at 10:30 AM, Aquatic Talks are at 12:00 PM, Meerkat Talks are at 1:30 PM, and Reptile Talks are at 3:30 PM. What is the JMZ doing to respond to the threat of avian flu? In order to keep the JMZ’s bird collection safe and healthy, all birds at the zoo have been moved behind the scenes until the risk of transmitting avian flu is lowered. Flamingo feedings and interactions with any birds are not offered at this time. The wellbeing of our animals is the top priority of the JMZ, so we are taking a very conservative approach to ensuring our birds are not exposed to the current strain of bird flu. This means that among our staff, only zookeepers are permitted to be around our birds and they take special precautions, like keeping work shoes and clothes on site so they don’t inadvertently bring the virus to us. There are also sanitizing foot dips and other sanitizing protocols in place. What can visitors to the zoo expect while the birds are kept behind-the-scenes? During Discovery Programs, staff from the JMZ’s animal care team provide animals with portions of their daily diet, hide food in the animal’s habitat so visitors can watch them search, and may provide animals with toys or other types of behavior enrichment. Visitors also learn about the animals' routines, behaviors, adaptations, and personalities. Some Discovery Programs spotlight the species of animals living in zoo habitats, such as the slender-tailed meerkat, raccoon, or Lake Malawi cichlids. During Discovery Programs, visitors may also be introduced to one or more of the JMZ’s “Animal Ambassadors” who are trained to travel to local schools for our education programs. Our Ambassadors represent the diversity of animals at the JMZ and include arthropods, reptiles, birds, and mammals, all of which have understandable and interesting adaptations that provoke questioning and thinking from children. This month, we are debuting our newest Ambassadors in some of our programs, including the following species: cone-headed chameleon, giant gecko, common snapping turtle, and Virginia opossum. Depending on the program, we may also include our ever popular existing Ambassador species like the four-toed hedgehog, straw-colored fruit bat or domestic European ferret. Although we are disappointed that our birds have to stay away from the public right now, this current outbreak has given us the opportunity to spotlight our interesting invertebrates, reptiles, and mammals while keeping our birds safe. We are thrilled for JMZ visitors to learn more about these animals and what makes them unique, especially those that are typically behind-the-scenes. One of Many Animal Ambassadors from the JMZ, a Four-Toed Hedgehog. Photo Courtesy of Lois Tema Photography. What can we all do to help protect the JMZ’s bird collection? Although people are unlikely to get sick with the current strain of bird flu, it is still important to take precautions before visiting the JMZ in order to protect our flock. We ask that visitors never visit the zoo immediately after exposure to wild migratory waterfowl. This can include a visit to the duck pond, Baylands, or a facility which has poultry or birds like a school, feed store, swap meet, bird market, fair, veterinary clinic, another zoo, bird refuge or bird hunting club. If you have backyard chickens or pet birds that live outdoors at home, we ask you to plan your visit after this avian flu outbreak is over. We recommend avoiding feeding or providing baths for wild birds at this time because it can help spread the flu. Thank you for joining us in keeping our birds safe! 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:Aram James To:Council, City; Human Relations Commission; Shikada, Ed; Binder, Andrew; Wagner, April; Jethroe Moore; Sean Allen; Jay Boyarsky; Jeff Rosen; Enberg, Nicholas; Joe Simitian; Dennis Upton; Council, City; citycouncil@mountainview.gov; city.council@menlopark.org; Winter Dellenbach; Reifschneider, James; Perron, Zachary; Josh Becker; Greer Stone; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com Subject:New CA law will decriminalize jaywalking Date:Tuesday, October 4, 2022 12:53:07 AM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Racial bias is considerable in jaywalking cases. Hopefully this law will encourage police to apply the law in a constitution fashion. ( more likely the police will find another way to continue their habit and pattern of racially discriminatory policing). Check out this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/X5icADJ3M-c Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Pat Burt; Binder, Andrew; Shikada, Ed; Council, City; Jeff Rosen; Jethroe Moore; Jay Boyarsky; chuck jagoda; Sean Allen; Enberg, Nicholas; Winter Dellenbach; Josh Becker; Greer Stone; Wagner, April; Perron, Zachary; Julie Lythcott-Haims; vicki@vickiforcouncil.com; Planning Commission; paloaltofreepress@gmail.com; Joe Simitian; ladoris cordell; Reifschneider, James; Dennis Upton; citycouncil@mountainview.gov Subject:Ban Tasers in Palo Alto ( from the archives of Aram James) Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 10:54:15 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. https://sfbayview.com/2015/12/expert-stun-guns-are-far-from-being-a-nonlethal-alternative- to-bullets/ Shared via the Google app Sent from my iPhone From:Italico Restaurant To:Guagliardo, Steven; Council, City Cc:maico.campilongo@gmail.com; Shikada, Ed Subject:Re: Ciao:) Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 10:14:08 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from info@italicorestaurant.com. Learn why this is important Steve Let me know when available for a quick call to give some feedback on Cal Ave business district. The subject of discussion would be the following : 1. we (Terun and Italico) feel like enforcement applies only to us. I am sure it is not the case but it feels like it. 2. Do not understand the logic of 400sqft max for tents: a 10x40 tent (see La Boteguita) obstructs view the same way of a 20x40 . 3. Restaurants like Pastis, Kali and Kowa Ramen can`t really have consecutive tents as they would exceed the 400sqft limit 4. Do not understand the logic of NO SIDES allowed for tents. 5. Do not understand why not heat lamps under tents. Commercial tents are fire proof. 6. Having heaters outdoors without a roof (tent and sides) clashes with the "green"/"save the energy" political views of the city of Palo Alto . We are just wasting so much gas it is unbelievable. Extremely inefficient . Thank you so much for all you do. Best Franco, Maico and the Terun and iTalico family On Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 9:29 AM Italico Restaurant <info@italicorestaurant.com> wrote: Steve Unfortunately I cant this week as I am with my 2 kids (mama not around!) Could we try next week? Thank you so much On Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 8:40 AM Guagliardo, Steven <Steven.Guagliardo@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote: Absolutely; I’ll actually be on Cal Ave later today and can stop by Italico in person a little after 11:30 AM for a few minutes if that works? Alternatively, we could do a phone call at 2:30 PM today if you’d prefer that? Just let me know – happy to find another time if neither of those works. Thank you, Steve Guagliardo 650-329-2261 From: Italico Restaurant <info@italicorestaurant.com> Sent: Tuesday, September 27, 2022 6:01 PM To: Guagliardo, Steven <Steven.Guagliardo@CityofPaloAlto.org> Cc: maico.campilongo@gmail.com Subject: Re: Ciao:) Ciao Steven Thank you for the info and sad i missed you when you came in with Kara. Could I have few minutes of your time for either a call or in person meeting at your convenience? Thank you so much On Tue, Sep 27, 2022 at 1:38 PM Guagliardo, Steven <Steven.Guagliardo@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote: Hello, I wanted to circle back on this; Kara has moved back to the Police Department and I’ll be the main point of contact for economic development for the City of Palo Alto. I stopped by and dropped a card off a few weeks ago and I will try to pop my head in when I’m down on Cal Ave tomorrow and say hello as well. City staff actively tries to pursue enforcement and follow-up on any complaints received in a timely manner. When we make observations on walkthroughs we follow-up directly with the business to correct any violations. We always hope to resolve this informally, but can progress to more formal notice of violations. The more formal notice of violations may include citations, fines, and even ‘red tagging’ which would effectively close the dining space. I won’t ask you to point any fingers at particular businesses, but if there is anything in particular you want us to keep an eye on, please let me know. Thank you, Steve Guagliardo From: Italico Restaurant <info@italicorestaurant.com> Sent: Saturday, September 17, 2022 7:25 PM To: Apple, Kara <kara.apple@cityofpaloalto.org>; Maico <maico.campilongo@gmail.com> Subject: Ciao:) CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Becautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. Kara Hope you are well and not working too much:) I was wondering how does the enforcement of the rules on Cal Ave works. We at iTalico and Terun are not perfect and we know it but can't avoid noticing other colleagues that kept side walls up and heaters under the tents after you sent us the notice/email. You teach us that "rules cannot be applied only to some". I know you are in a very complicated situation but I just wanted to understand. I hate pointing fingers but unfortunately also some of our customers started noticing the disparity and asking us why. Sorry to have bothered you , I know you are as always extremely busy. Thank you again for all you do. Franco Campilongo iTalico and Terun family -- iTalico Restaurant 341 South California Ave Palo Alto Ca, 94306 -- iTalico Restaurant 341 South California Ave Palo Alto Ca, 94306 -- iTalico Restaurant 341 South California Ave Palo Alto Ca, 94306 -- iTalico Restaurant 341 South California Ave Palo Alto Ca, 94306 From:matt@evolutionaryteams.com To:Council, City Subject:Thank You! Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 9:24:49 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from matt@evolutionaryteams.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear Mayor, Vice Mayor and Council Members, Thank you for passing the S/CAP Goals and Key Metrics and the Advanced Heat Pump Water Heater Program motions today. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate that. Also, I appreciate your discussion and intention to keep up the terrific momentum on reducing GHG emissions in our community. Let’s take every opportunity to accelerate progress towards our goals. Thanks again! Matt Matt Schlegel Schlegel Consulting 650-924-8923 Author: Teamwork 9.0 Website: evolutionaryteams.com Blog: evolutionaryteams.com/blog/ Linked In: linkedin.com/in/mattschlegel/ Twitter: twitter.com/EvoTeamMatt Instagram: instagram.com/MattSchlegel6 Facebook: facebook.com/mattschlegel.77 YouTube: youtube.com/channel/UCLkUMHuG4HVa831s9yeoZ5Q Enneagram Quiz: www.EnneaSurvey.com View this email in your browser. Visit us on www.lwvpaloalto.org, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter October VOTER Oct 3, 2022 In this Issue Message from our President LWVPA Winter Luncheon LWV Election Updates 2022 Candidate Forums 2022 Pros and Cons LWV Palo Alto Voter Guide LWV California Easy Voter Guide From:LWV Palo Alto VOTER To:Council, City Subject:LWVPA October VOTER - Ballots will be arriving soon-are you ready to vote? Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 5:48:26 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links. Subscribe to our Google Calendar Where, When, and How to Vote Neighborhood Meet-Ups September 2022 Board Meeting Highlights Advocacy Reports Climate Calls Events by Other Leagues State of the Nation: US Election Systems/Security How Textiles Affect Climate Change In Case You Missed It How to Maintain the Public's Rights and Its Safety Indigenous Peoples' Day—October 10, 2022 Message from our President Hi Everyone! In preparing for the November 8th election, our Voter Services Team is busier than ever in our efforts to engage the voters and inform the public, through hosting candidate forums, organizing pros/cons workshops both on Zoom and in-person, developing a local League Voter Guide, coordinating with VotersEdge.org, and reaching out to voters in over 25 local organizations. We thank our tireless volunteers for undertaking this important work of empowering voters and defending democracy. The Candidate Forums Committee hosted two well-attended, successful forums— the PAUSD Board of Education race (watch recording) and the Palo Alto City Council race (watch recording). Special thanks to Louise Valente, our Zoom Master, as well as Board and League members who volunteered to serve as moderators, question sorters and timers. Our Pros and Cons Zoom presentations of local and state ballot measures are coming up on October 8 and 11 and we hope you will join us! League volunteers will also visit Gunn High School on October 12 to talk to students about voting as part of our Youth Vote program. Eight neighborhood gatherings have been held and were well received, thanks to all the hostesses who opened their homes. We hope this will continue as a wonderful way to get to know our neighbors and learn more about the League. The Board and Off-Board had a productive Annual Retreat on Saturday, October 1. We discussed strategies for the League to move forward, developed ways to activate and mobilize our members, and brainstormed ideas to advocate for housing and engage the public on electrification of our home appliances. Board and Off-Board members at the Annual Retreat on Oct 1. Last evening at the stunning Foster Museum, we had a very successful LWVPA Fall Kickoff with close to a hundred people attending. Featured speaker Kemi Oyewole, a Ph.D. candidate at the Stanford School of Education, gave us an inspiring talk on a multi-level advocacy framework based on her personal journey and leadership experience. After showing a part of the film, Suppressed and Sabotaged: the Right to Vote, Kemi led the audience in a stimulating discussion of “hope” relating to what is currently happening with voter suppression in our country. A big thank you to Myra Lessner and her Events Team, and Kimberlee Smith of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, for organizing this wonderful kickoff and for developing the valuable partnership that we look forward to continuing! Left: Kemi Oyewole and Kimberlee Smith. Right: Voter Services Co-Chair Kathy Miller talking to attendees. It was such a pleasure to connect and re-engage with each other in person at the kickoff and we hope to "see" each other more often! Liz Wednesday, December 7, 2022 12:00 - 2:00 pm 520 Cowper St. Palo Alto, CA 94301 Featuring our Guest Speaker Judge LaDoris Cordell “Her Honor: My Life on the Bench. . . What Works, What’s Broken, How to Change It.” Judge Cordell will discuss her newly released book, Her Honor, where she provides a rare and thought-provoking insider account of our legal system, sharing vivid stories of the cases that came through her courtroom and revealing the strengths, flaws, and much-needed changes within our courts. Save the Date and stay tuned for more information regarding reserving your seat for the luncheon. LWV Election Updates GENERAL ELECTION: NOVEMBER 8, 2022 Mail-in Ballots will be sent out starting the week of Oct 10, 2022 2022 Candidate Forums Hear directly from candidates for local, statewide and Congressional offices. Come listen to the candidates and learn where they stand on pertinent issues. After each forum, a recording will be posted on the League’s website and our YouTube channel. Palo Alto Ballot: September 22 - Palo Alto Unified School District Candidate Forum hosted by LWV Palo Alto. View the Forum September 29 - Palo Alto City Council Candidate Forum hosted by LWV Palo Alto. View the Forum County, State, National Ballot: September 21 - Santa Clara County Sheriff Candidate Forum hosted by LWV San Jose/Santa Clara. View the Forum Thursday, October 6, 7-9 pm - Santa Clara County Water District #7 Candidate Forum hosted by LWV Southwest Santa Clara Valley. Registration Link Zoom Webinar Friday, October 7, 7-9 pm - Congressional District #16 Candidate Forum hosted by LWV Southwest Santa Clara Valley. Registration Link Zoom Webinar Sunday, October 9, 4-5 pm - California Assembly District #23 Candidate Forum hosted by LWV Los Altos-Mountain View Area. Registration Link Zoom Webinar 2022 Pros and Cons Join a Zoom webinar presentation of the pros and cons of state and local measures appearing on the ballot. Each hour-long presentation by LWV members covers the same material and includes an opportunity to ask questions. Once a Pros/Cons event has been held, a recording will be posted on the League’s website and on our YouTube channel. Saturday, October 8th, 11 am to noon. Register for this Zoom Webinar Tuesday, October 11th, 7-8:00 pm. Register for this Zoom Webinar LWV Palo Alto Voter Guide LWV Palo Alto Voter Guide, which includes both the state propositions and Palo Alto Measures K & L, is now available and will be mailed to all members this week. LWV California Easy Voter Guide Produced for statewide elections in California since 1994, the Easy Voter Guide is a collaboration of the League of Women Voters® of California Education Fund and the California State Library. This project was supported in part by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian. The Easy Voter Guide is available for download in 5 languages—English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Korean—and contains general information about voting and an overview of the ballot measures. Where, When, and How to Vote All registered voters can vote using a vote-by-mail ballot. Mail-in Ballots are being sent out by the SCC Registrar of Voters starting the week of October 10, 2022. Mail-in Ballots can be returned in the postage-paid envelope in one of three ways: (1) via the US Post Office; (2) via an official, secure Drop Box; or (3) in person at a polling center!! Check out VotersEdge.org for fact-based information: Look up your personal ballot. Look up ballots by county. See ballot measures and races for the State of California. See a list of past elections. To learn more about Vote-by-Mail, go to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters or the California Secretary of State. How to Return your Vote-by-Mail Ballot. How to Track your Vote-by-Mail Ballot. Learn 11 Ways to Avoid Getting Your Vote-by-Mail Ballot Rejected. Neighborhood Meet-Ups — Join us on October 8 or 9! League members are opening their homes in neighborhoods across Palo Alto for informal conversations and the latest news on the work of your League. Sign up here to connect with old and new friends! September 2022 Board Meeting Highlights With fall getting underway, the Board heard reports on recent DEI workshop evaluations, the neighborhood member gatherings, the Fall Kickoff, the Voter Guide, the autumn donor appeal being mailed next week, and our upcoming retreat, among other topics. Approved Motions: 1. Approval to support “Yes” on Palo Alto local ballot Measure K (Business Tax) and support “Yes” on Measure L (Amend the Palo Alto Municipal Code to affirm annual transfer of up to 18% of the City's gas utility revenue to the general fund), as both these measures are allied with our local and state League positions. 2. Approval of motion to not serve wine at Fall Kickoff without having required insurance to cover alcohol. 3. Approval of Consent calendar including August minutes and EAC communications on safe gun storage notice. Our next Board Meeting is on Tuesday, October 25, 7 pm - 9 pm. All members are welcome to join the meeting using this Zoom link. - Megan Swezey Fogarty, Secretary Advocacy Reports Local Our Board recommends voting “Yes” on Measures K and L, two measures put on the November 8 ballot by the City Council. Measure K would establish a business tax based on square footage over 10,000 square feet. It would raise $9 million per year for the city’s general fund to help pay for police, fire, emergency services, libraries, affordable housing and rail crossing solutions. Most cities impose business taxes but not Palo Alto. City revenues were down nearly 20% during the pandemic, and failure to pass this tax could require cuts in essential services. The tax has been criticized as not adequate (anticipated revenues are much smaller due to pushback from business interests). But because Measure K broadens the city’s tax base to include businesses, on balance LWVPA supports this measure. Measure L would authorize the City Council to continue to transfer 18% of city gas utility revenues to the city’s general fund. The Council has been making these transfers for decades, but a recent Superior Court ruling has required a vote of the people to authorize this transfer. A “yes” vote would not raise tax rates. Failure to pass the measure could result in cuts in essential services. Gun Violence Prevention: Our Board’s advocacy on gun safety bore fruit in August. The PAUSD finally sent a notice to parents that any firearms kept at home must be disabled with a trigger lock or stored in a locked container. Since 2019 the Superintendent of Education has required local districts to send this notice annually. Guns are the leading cause of death of kids in the United States. Locking up firearms at home is one of the most effective ways of reducing those deaths. State Read about LWV California's VOTE WITH THE LEAGUE Ballot Recommendations and visit their website. LWVC has no recommendations on the other November Ballot Propositions. When the LWVC has no pre-existing position relevant to a ballot measure, we offer no analysis. When we are neutral, we offer an explanation as to the reasons for our neutral stance. We are either neutral or have no position on the remaining November propositions. - Lisa Ratner, 2nd Vice President and Advocacy Chair Climate Calls How will you benefit from the Kigali Amendment to reduce HFCs (hydrofluorocarbons)? By Virginia Van Kuran On September 21, the US Senate passed the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol, which was negotiated in 2016. The US joined 137 countries, including China, India, and Russia, in ratifying the Kigali Amendment. The Kigali Amendment calls for a gradual reduction in the consumption and production of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), potent greenhouse gasses. Its global implementation should avoid as much as 0.5 degrees Celsius (about 1 degree Fahrenheit) of warming by the end of the century. California passed Senate Bill 1383 in 2018 to reduce HFC emissions 40 percent below 2013 levels by 2030. HFCs are used in refrigerators, heat pump water heaters, traditional air conditioners, and air-source heat pump heater/air conditioners. If you are considering a new refrigerator you have choices. Here is the Energy Star list of low GWP (global warming potential) refrigerators. For heat pump water heaters, consider a heat pump that uses CO2 as a refrigerant. CO2 has the lowest GWP of all refrigerants. SANCO2, for example, offers a CO2 water heater and also a combi-system which provides water heating and space heating for some home configurations. For air conditioning, consider an air-source heat pump. Air-source heat pumps provide heating and cooling in a single unit, replacing both your existing gas furnace and AC (if you have one). Models with low GWP refrigerants will be available by 2025. If you need a new furnace or AC unit now, the benefits of the reduction in CO2 emissions are greater than waiting. To learn more about heat pumps for heating/cooling, visit the City of Palo Alto’s heat pump overview at Sustainability Electrification. Want to share your ideas? Need further information? Please write to us at climate@lwvpaloalto.org. Events by Other Leagues State of the Nation: US Election Systems/Security LWV Southwest Santa Clara Valley Saturday, October 8, 2022 10:00 am - 12:00 pm Keynote speaker Kim Alexander, President of the California Voter Foundation (CVF), will explore some major election problems and offer possible solutions. Register Now How Textiles Affect Climate Change LWV Piedmont Wednesday, October 19, 2022 4:00 pm Ever wonder about the climate impact of the textiles in your closet – from production to manufacturing to retail distribution? Come learn how sustainable fashion and regenerative farming are closely linked, how new programs are making a difference, and what you can do to reduce the carbon footprint of the clothes you wear and the fabrics you use. Speaker Rebecca Burgess is the Executive Director of Fibershed and the author of two books: Harvesting Color, a bio-regional look into the natural dye traditions of North America, and Fibershed: Growing a Movement of Farmers, Fashion Activists, and Makers for a New Textile Economy. Register Now In Case You Missed It How to Maintain the Public’s Rights and Its Safety Want to meet an awesome LWV volunteer who helps restore trust between California police departments and the communities that feel overpoliced by them? Did you know that Sunnyvale has the largest fully integrated public safety department (cross-trained police/fire/EMT) in the country—and is one of America’s safest cities? And are you aware of the CA law that requires all local law enforcement agencies that own militarized equipment to get approval for, and post online, their proposed use of it—and then submit annual reports on its deployment? Do you know what an Independent Police Auditor does? Have you heard of a public-safety model that’s non-adversarial, where respected community elders hear and vet neighborhood stories and then give informal confidential feedback on the revealed patterns of police behavior to the local police commander? Learn all this and more from this terrific forum sponsored by the five Leagues of Santa Clara County. - Ellen Forbes, LWV Santa Clara County Council Civil Discourse Committee Indigenous Peoples' Day—October 10, 2022 Indigenous Peoples’ Day is celebrated on the second Monday of October, on October 10 this year, to honor the cultures and histories of the Native American people. The day is centered around reflecting on their tribal roots and the tragic stories that hurt but strengthened their communities. LWVPA Board Officers & Directors OFFICERS Liz Kniss President Nancy Shepherd DIRECTORS Paula Collins Parliamentarian 1st Vice President, Immediate Past President Lisa Ratner 2nd Vice President, Advocacy Megan Swezey Fogarty Secretary Theivanai Palaniappan Treasurer Liz Jensen Voter Services Karen Kalinsky Collaborations Hannah Lu Communications Kathy Miller Voter Services Bonnie Packer County Council Chair Cari Templeton Membership Jingjing Xu Fundraising LWVPA Off-Board Civil Discourse Liaison Susan Owicki Civics Education Jenn Wagstaff Hinton DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Chair TBD Education Chair TBD Events Myra Lessner Housing & Transportation Steve Levy Local Campaign Finance Reform Nominating Committee Chair, Terry Godfrey Dawn Billman Myra Lessner Nancy Shepherd Hannah Lu Observer Corps Chair TBD Gun Violence Prevention Hilary Glann Stacey Ashlund Social Media Rachel Kellerman Bella Daly VOTER and E-Blast Editors Hannah Lu Lisa Ratner, Elizabeth Weal & Karen Kalinsky LWVPA Board Folder Task Force Ellen Smith Hannah Lu Natural Resources/Climate Change Hilary Glann Mary O'Kicki Arati Periyannan Voter's Edge Clinton Lewis Meg Durbin Webmaster Rachel Kellerman Stay Informed! Sign Up for LWV California & LWVUS News & Alerts Click here to sign up for LWVC Newsletter and LWVC Action Alerts Click here to sign up for LWVUS Email News (at bottom) and LWVUS Action Alerts How to contact your elected officials All your elected officials United States President Joseph R. Biden (202) 456-1414 Senator Dianne Feinstein (415) 393-0707 Senator Alex Padilla 202-224-3553 Rep. Anna Eshoo (650) 323-2984 California Governor Gavin Newsom (916) 445-2841 Senator Josh Becker (650) 212-3313 Assemblymember Marc Berman (650) 691-2121 Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian (650) 965-8737 joe.simitian@bos.sccgov.org Other Areas in California Locate your elected officials by using your street address JOIN A TEAM Learn More About Our Teams and Programs on our Website! Facebook Twitter Website Copyright © 2022 League of Women Voters Palo Alto, All rights reserved. From Voter Recipient List Our mailing address is: League of Women Voters Palo Alto 3921 E Bayshore Rd Ste 209 Palo Alto, CA 94303-4303 Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list. Questions? Please contact communications@lwvpaloalto.org. From:John Mark O"Leary Cox To:Council, City Cc:Burt, Patrick; Kou, Lydia; kou.pacc@gmail.com; Cormack, Alison; DuBois, Tom; tomforcouncil@gmail.com; Filseth, Eric (Internal); Stone, Greer; Tanaka, Greg; greg@gregtanaka.org Subject:Fwd: Mad Hatter English Mafia Message by Thirty-Two Statues on Route Sixty-Six Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 5:09:03 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email frombohemiansaltmines@gmail.com. Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. ---------- Forwarded message --------- From: John Mark O'Leary Cox <bohemiansaltmines@gmail.com> Date: Sun, Oct 2, 2022 at 3:49 PM The Photographic Images in this Email on Sunday, October 2nd, 2022 are of the Sixteen Paired Statues on Route 66 that Portend a Cryptic Dangerous Message as "66" is Viewed if One is Driving in the Left Side Manner as in London "Land One" "Single Tower Freedom Tower" which infers a Collision Course with Traffic on Route 66 that Drives in the Right Side Manner. Commentary on the Interpreted Meaning of these Statues is Found at the Facebook Account of "Mark O'Leary Cox (MahdiCain)" while the Overriding Theme is the Mad Hatter Tea Party that Connects to Alice in Wonderland Literature that in Turn Connects to Manhattan that in Turn Connects to 9/11 that in Turn Connects to the Beads that were Bullets in the Natives to Convince the Natives to Leave the Surface of Manhattan to Become the Hills where their Heels were Buried because Europeans would Rather Kill than Heal Relations between Nations. The Manhattan Project that Culminated with the Nuclear Detonation of Little Boy on Hiroshima and Fat Man on Nagasaki is Proof that Man Hates because Man is a Fallen Angel who Loves Death, Destruction, Covert Criminality, and Wearing Law Enforcement Uniforms with a Satanic Silent Oath to Keep their Organized Crime Affiliation a Secret to the Public World. The Twin Towers were Monuments to the Nuclear Clouds in Japan on August 6th and August 9th in 1945. The Boomerang thrown at Japan in 1945 will Return to the United States in 2026 when San Francisco and San Diego are Destroyed by Water on Saturday, May 9th, 2026 while the Boomerang will Skip Over to Destroy Chicago and Dallas by Wind on Sunday, May 10th, 2026, to Skip Over and Destroy New York and Washington DC by Light on Monday, May 11, 2026. Before the Destruction of Six Cities in the United States of America in Three Days on May 9, May 10, and May 11 in 2026 will be the Return of the Water of the Ancient Natives on Saturday, October 15th, 2022 as Two Geysers return with the First Geyser on Santa Monica Blvd Historic Highway Route 66 at Rexford Drive at 6:59 AM. the Time of Sunrise in Beverly Hills on Saturday, October 15th. 2022 and the Second Geyser in West Hollywood at Crescent Heights Blvd at 6:19 PM the Time of Sunset in West Hollywood on Saturday, October 15th, 2022. With the Return of the Geysers the Reservoir of the Geysers at the Fill Point should begin Overflowing from the Subterranean Fill Point because the Ejection of the Water of the Geysers on Santa Monica Blvd will Not Keep Up with the Flow of Geological Water that flows into the Reservoir at the Fill Point. Saturday, October 15th, 2022 at 8 PM the Twentieth Hour is the Tentative Time of the Overflow of the Fill Point to Bring Forth the Return of the River that Used to Flow when the Two Geysers were Operational before the Point in Time when the Geyser's Replenishment with Water at the Fill Point was Countermanded to Enlarge the River that was the Beautiful River the Spanish saw before the Deliberate Subterfuge of Naming the City of Los Angeles after the Small Los Angeles River that is Named after "Lady of the Angels" the Small Church in Rome that is Swallowed by the Larger Church that is Saint Peter's Basilica the Largest Church in Rome as the Vatican devoured the Ministry of Saint Francis to Hide his True Ministry in Proclaiming that King David Reborn as a Commoner died on the Cross to Pay for his Sin to his Neighbor when David had his Neighbor crucified by Enemy Soldiers because in David's Former Life when David was King David, King David got his Neighbor's Wife Pregnant. The Mad Hatter Display of Thirty-Two Statues on Santa Monica Blvd Historic Highway Route 66 the Opium Highway to Chicago since November 11, 1926 which in 2022 is the Opium Highway to Beverly Hills for the Irish Mafia and to West Hollywood for the English Mafia as the English Mafia and the Irish Mafia are in a Protracted Stealth Criminal War against Each Other. The Functional Purpose of the Brazen Display of Thirty-Two Statues on Lampposts is a Cryptic Message that is Related to the Operational Goal of Pre-Staging a Terror Attack on Los Angeles that will Dwarf 9/11 in Scale and Magnitude in a Single Day on July 15th just Eleven Days after July 4th to Begin a Massive War of the US on Iran in the Persian Gulf as the Purpose is to Allow the Embedded Members of the English Mafia in the US Military to Learn How to Cultivate Opium in the Persian Gulf Countries of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran. Hence Iran will be Blamed while False Evidence to Point False Blame at Iran will be Planted in this Terror Attack with Assistance from Embedded Operatives in the LAPD, and the Sheriff's Department. The Ground Level Operatives in the Pre-Staging Phase who Don't Understand who they are Working for as they Continue to Work on a Project Sponsored by the English Mafia, those Pre_Staging Operatives who are Not Direct Members in the Cult of the English Mafia will be Murdered while their Dead Bodies will be Added to the Count of the Dead to Launch the War. From:Allan Seid To:CHOpinion CHOpinion Subject:Fwd: Defending the Future Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 4:28:32 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. FYI. ALLAN From: Christine at APIAVote <info@apiavote.org> Date: Tue, Sep 20, 2022 at 11:46 AM Subject: Defending the Future Today, APIAVote is pleased to join the Defend the Future campaign and support young people’s participation in the November 8th midterm elections. According to the Spring 2022 Harvard Youth Poll, 76% of AAPI youth believe that AAPIs are under attack in America because of their racial background. When the attacks on our elders started at the start of the pandemic, young AAPIs did not sit around and wait for help. They took action and pushed for the changes they wanted to see by voting at a historic rate. The historic turnout, especially in swing states like Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada that helped decide the 2020 Presidential election, would have huge impact on the AAPI community, including: The Covid-19 Hate Crimes Act Four states and other municipalities mandating Asian American history be taught in schools Increased funding for AAPI-serving orgs when historically we received less than 15-cents for every $100 allocated to AAPI causes, and more Looking ahead, we know AAPIs, especially our youth, remain energized and are ready to take action again this year. Young AAPIs voters and others have the power to enact an agenda that upholds the fundamental dignity of all people – and APIAVote stands ready to support this momentum. The stakes are higher now than ever. If young people don’t vote, the most intolerant and radical forces in our country will determine our future. The Defend the Future campaign is working toward a world where: No community has to worry about hate and violence Every person has an opportunity for a quality education that is inclusive of ALL our history Our freedom to vote is protected All people are afforded the safety and respect they deserve Learn more about the campaign at defendthefuture.org. Check out the campaign video here. Rally with us in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 22nd. Sign up at defendthefuture.org for news on how to join us in Lansing, Phoenix, Atlanta, Las Vegas and Austin in the coming weeks. APIAVote is proud to join with our colleagues on the front lines of the movements for human and civil rights,, voting rights, and public safety in this campaign. Together with Voto Latino, EMILY’s List, The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, March For Our Lives, and Planned Parenthood so we can vote for a future that reflects the younger generation’s commitment to true equality and justice. Please join us to Defend the Future. In solidarity, Christine Chen Executive Director of Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote APIAVote 1612 K St NW #600 Washington, DC 20006 United States If you believe you received this message in error or wish to no longer receive email from us, please unsubscribe. From:Hilary Glann To:Council, City Subject:Please approve the S/CAP updates and water heater replacement program tonight Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 4:27:23 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Dear City Council members: First of all, thanks to all of you and to city staffers for your hard work to fight climate change. Special thanks to the members of the Ad Hoc Committee for engaging with the community to devise innovative solutions to jumpstart our transition away from fossil fuels. Please approve the S/CAP updates and turnkey water heater program tonight. The technology and the funding (from the state and Feds) is there to support the switch to electric, and we need to get started now. The new water heater program will engage the contractor ecosystem in this important transition. Best Regards, Hilary Glann From:Aram James To:Human Relations Commission; Council, City; Winter Dellenbach; Joe Simitian; chuck jagoda; Jeff Rosen; Jethroe Moore; Jay Boyarsky; Supervisor Susan Ellenberg; Planning Commission Subject:More on Liza K Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 3:44:39 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. https://www.antiwarsongs.org/canzone.php?lang=en&id=701 Shared via the Google app Sent from my iPhone From:Aram James To:Human Relations Commission; Council, City; Greer Stone; Binder, Andrew; Winter Dellenbach; Shikada, Ed; Jeff Rosen; Jay Boyarsky Subject:My Name Is Liza Kalvelage Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 3:39:29 PM CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. ________________________________ Check out this video on YouTube: https://youtu.be/nayr_r-oApo Sent from my iPhone From:Jeralyn Moran To:Council, City Subject:Please support the S/CAP, and Heat Pump water heater effort Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 12:02:33 PM Some people who received this message don't often get email from jeralyn.moran@gmail.com.Learn why this is important CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautiousof opening attachments and clicking on links. Thank you for all your Climate Change mitigation efforts as a Palo Alto City Council Member! As your constituent, I strongly urge you to push forward with your Staff's positive stand on these two very important and timely endeavors. Now is the time. Sincerely, Jeralyn Moran Palo Alto -- Jeralyn Moran jeralyn.moran@gmail.com ....... the Time for Climate Action Is Now. From:john kovalfamily.com To:Council, City Subject:FW: Utilities undersized at Cubberley Date:Monday, October 3, 2022 11:48:05 AM Attachments:image001.png CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking on links. City Council, If you are looking for a community benefit that could build goodwill after the Utilities overcharge issue and use some of the cash the utilities departments have on hand. Could I suggest an upgrade to Cubberley power service so that we can expand the number of pickleball courts at Mitchell Park and make room for the tennis players at Cubberley. See the Palo Alto Post article below identifying this as the primary issue standing in the way of improving the usage of City Properties. Not sure of the cost, but it’s got to be way less than citywide fiber that the Utilities Commission is looking to spend $100M on. Regards, John Koval Tennyson Ave From: Lauren Segal <laurengagesegal@gmail.com> Sent: Saturday, October 1, 2022 7:02 AM To: john kovalfamily.com <john@kovalfamily.com> Subject: Re: Utilities undersized at Cubberley Hi John, Funny you mention this. I was just at an even where the Mayor and the commissioners on the Park + Rec commission were talking about pickle ball. The need for more electricity at Cubberley has not specifically come to the Utilities Commission but I believe our November meeting will be discussing grid upgrades generally. What I recommend is that you send an email to the following groups: City Council Utilities + UAC (utilities advisory commission) Parks + Rec commission We do read community feedback and it makes a difference. If you prefer to speak during a meeting you can zoom in or show up live and speak when the item is on the agenda. Hope that helps, Lauren On Sep 30, 2022, at 2:41 PM, john kovalfamily.com <john@kovalfamily.com> wrote: Lauren, Not sure if you have tried pickleball yet, it is the fastest growing sport in the US and Palo Alto. See the enclosed article. It mentions that Cubberley does not have enough power to the site in order to light the tennis courts there. If you are looking for a community benefit that could build goodwill after the overcharge issue and use some of the cash the utilities departments have on hand. Could I suggest an upgrade to Cubberley so that we can expand the number of pickleball courts at Mitchell Park and make room for the tennis players at Cubberley. Not sure of the cost, but it’s got to be way less than citywide fiber. What is the best way to approach this? Regards, John P.S. Thanks for the nice squash, my favorite! isks if vmaker event ihtout deceased Rep, during remarks at a "Where's Jackie?" =tiny later said the top of mind" for the of acknowledge that ing his remarks at ce on hunger, nutti- e BIDEN, page 301 Locallyowned, independent ERIKA DEMMA 650.740.2970 CONTACT FOR INFORMATION COMPASS KATHY BRIDGMAN ,,,,, (650) 868-7677 hopeful's tax stand changes Candidates asked about high cost of living favor aigning for a off raising taxed ballot ile measure was candidate against it. 4ueNer for the county was considering. Now she group of nonprofits. She and Mueller Back in the spring, the county was Inty Board says she would support a new tax if were asked how they would help se- looking whether to put a 5 -cent -per - different voters were behind it. niors who can't keep up with the high square -foot annual parcel tax on the an she did Her revised view on taxes emerged cost of living. November 2022 ballot. Now the county Tuesday during a debate in Half Moon As part of his answer, Mueller said has dropped the tax after a poll showed parcel tax Bay sponsored by Thrive Alliance, a during the primary, his opponent was [See TAX, page 301 E MI +3.65 82.15 IAD ewe 249110 the Ian sterday, king ind and. eople Ispital Ply rme since Aaron an n a 1 -run in ronto RS: also ver Iper PICKLEBALL —The courts at Mitchell Park were filled with pickleball players, Post photo by Braden Cartwright. A push for pickleball time BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT Dally Post Staff Writer The pickleball courts at Mitchell ding Park in Palo Alto are so crowded that c players can wait hours to play a game, his and sometimes they go home without ever getting on the court. at And these players love pickleball. A ;e 4J large group of them showed up at the .ORNINGSIDE ROAD 1.05 ALTOS 218 STANFORD AVENUE MENLO PARK OPEN SUNDAY 1.4PM Players have to wait for hours for a court Parks and Recreation Commission on Tuesday to say that the sport is more than just a fun way to exercise — it's a bonding experience too. "It's the best time I've ever had," said a69 RICHARDSDN CT.. PALO ALTO OPEN SAT & SUN l-4PM Beverly Marshall, a Palo Alto resident for 60 years who picked up pickleball during the pandemic. Members of the Palo Alto Pickle - ball Club packed in to the communi- ty meeting room at City Hall to lobby parks commissioners to convert two more tennis courts at Mitchell Park into [See PICKLEBALL, page 30] 1055 Wavetiey S1. Palo Alto CONIACT FOR INFORM/1110N .`_ =E.»SUNDAE 2-4ry