HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-13 Human Relations Commission Action Minutes
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
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HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION
Thursday, February 13, 2020
Community Meeting Room
Palo Alto Civic Center
250 Hamilton Avenue
7:00 PM
REGULAR MEETING
Commissioners Present: Kralik, Lee, Regehr, Savage, Smith, Stinger
Absent: None
Council Liaison: Council Member Tanaka
Staff: Minka van der Zwaag, Mary Constantino
I. ROLL CALL
Chair Kralik: Okay, the Human Relations Commission meeting, regular meeting of February
13th, will come to order. We’ll begin with our roll call. Staff will call the roll. Thank you.
II. AGENDA CHANGES, REQUESTS, DELETIONS
Chair Kralik: Item II is Agenda changes, requests and deletions and, you know, I understand that
sometimes when we put together these agendas, minutes are assigned, and sometimes also
people want to change the order of things for different reasons. So, speak up and just go ahead
and mention anything in what you feel should be changed, okay?
Commissioner Regehr: I just have a request, which is also part of agenda. I would have preferred
to have it scheduled, the speakers, at a time when we had more time for full discussion, because
tonight we have an important thing about the election, which we only allocated 15 minutes for.
So, I would like to suggest that the introductions to our speakers and our thank-yous are left very
briefly and we try to hold all our questions. So, we limit our questions.
Chair Kralik: Well, it’s always been official to let the speakers speak, and I know if we can limit
some of the questions that it will move us along and keep to the timeframe.
Commissioner Regehr: Also, the introduction and the thank-yous.
Chair Kralik: All right, great, sure.
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
Chair Kralik: Okay, oral communications from the public. We have three cards, but they’re all to
Aram James. Aram has identified parole and the ITC – I’m not exactly sure…
Aram James: I’m sorry my handwriting is not that great.
Chair Kralik: Well, come on in, you have to… Yes, he has difficulty with his disability, so we’re
going to let him go ahead and sit at the table. Yes, if you press the button right there. Three
minutes on this one. You have two other comments. One is on item number 2…
Mr. James: Mr. Chair…
Chair Kralik: … and the other is on item number 4, so just hold those other two, and…
Mr. James: I was under the impression that oral communication was 5, according to the agenda.
Chair Kralik: It can be if you want to spend that time, but we ask you to try…
Mr. James: I try to do the best I can.
Chair Kralik: Okay.
Mr. James: One of my favorite books is Make No Law: The Sullivan Case and the First
Amendment. I always like to remind public bodies that the core principle of the First Amendment
is the right to criticize public officials. To do that harshly, even unpleasantly. Now, it doesn’t
mean we need to do that, but when I hear civil engagements, sometimes what I hear is, let’s self-
censor. So, it’s a book that Anthony Lewis, who also wrote Gideon’s Trumpet, it’s a gem of a
book if you want to know about the history of the First Amendment and what our citizen rights
are in that regard. Okay. I apologize, but I’m going to read a little bit here. This is a letter I
wrote. It was published in the Daily Post, Monday, December 16th, 2019, called City – this is the
Daily Post – City foot-dragging. [Reading] Dear Editor: In response to the Post’s story on
Saturday, More Police Secrecy Proposed, quote-unquote, I find it difficult to reconcile the
alleged racist conduct of Palo Alto police captain Zach Perron and the systematic foot-dragging
by city officials in refusing to release this long-overdue investigation. It’s difficult not to
reconcile – not to conclude, excuse me – that we’re watching an ongoing cover-up. The alleged
incident dates back to January 20, 2014. Note that I had four years; it should have been six years
ago. Not only has the investigation not been released, but Captain Perron was rewarded with a
promotion. The longer this incident is allowed to fester, the more likely it will catch fire with the
public, the press, social meeting, and social justice groups like Black Lives Matter. If our city
were really concerned with any of the longstanding animus between the African American
community and the police, the Perron investigation would be released immediately. So, I started
out with, who’s going to be the Mitt Romney of the Palo Alto HRC? Who is going to be the Mitt
Romney of the Palo Alto City Council? Who will step up and lead a movement that demands
that the City of Palo Alto Chief Robert Jonsen, the City Attorney Molly Stump, our City
Manager Ed Shikada, and our City Council, release the investigation regarding Captain Zach
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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Perron? I really would think it would be important for all of you who were not present on
December 16th, 2019, to watch agenda item Number 16, where they were talking about the
independent police auditor, OIR, Group and how they were going to take allegations of
misconduct and categorize them either as personnel, which would then secretly go by way of the
HR department, versus going down the normal path and letting our independent police auditor
investigate the matter. It’s outrageous, if the allegations are true and, by the way, here’s the paper
that, when it was finally leaked to the public back on May 21st, 2019, we know what the story is,
but is anybody going to take action? I know there’s been some really great people that wrote to
the Palo Alto Weekly, but you need to watch the December 16th agenda item Number 16 to see an
exercise in obfuscation, where the City Council sat there for an hour and never asked the
operative question of the executive members there – the police chief, Molly Stump, Ed Shikada.
I hope I didn’t mispronounce that. Not one of them said, when are you going to release it? When
are you going to release this investigation? Now, the last time I was at an HRC meeting, I was
sitting here with Zach Perron. I’ve always had gotten along with Zach. That night, Susan
Dremann wrote up about body-worn cameras. So, it was a few years back, and I’ve talked with
Zach about the homeless incident. But you know what? My sons are both African American,
they both grew up in Palo Alto, they both swim, and when I said, “What do you want me to do
about this?” They said, “Dad, we’ve grown up in Palo Alto. They’re not going to do anything
about this. You go ahead and do your thing, dad, but we’re not coming down.” I want you to
know what it feels like to hear that kind of language, to have to talk to my boys and… One
facing the police, and one here, that Zach Perron, who grew up here in Palo Alto just like I did,
Paly High, Gunn High, doesn’t want to stand up and at least explain it. Because I’m for
restorative justice. If the man comes forward and tells us what was going on, hey, I’m okay with
that. I’m okay with that. But be man enough to talk to me. Sit down with your kids and my kids,
and let’s find out why…. Okay. Thank you very much.
Chair Kralik: And I know that you have two other speaker cards that will come up.
IV. BUSINESS
1. Presentation by Kory Amaral, Executive Director of the Bay Area Western Chapter
of the Paralyzed Veterans of America
Chair Kralik: All right. First line of business is to introduce Reese Levasseur, President of the
Bay Area & Western Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America, and also Kory Amaral,
Executive Director. This is a discussion item for 20 minutes. This is a new group visiting our
Commission, and we welcome both you gentlemen, and look forward to hearing about your
human relations work in the community. Thank you.
Reese Levasseur: Thank you guys for the invitation. I’d like to introduce Kory Amaral, and he’ll
start off the presentation.
Kory Amaral: Like Reese said, I’m Kory Amaral, Executive Director for the Bay Area &
Western Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America. We’re actually located in VA Palo Alto
Healthcare System, so we’re actually lucky because we’re the only non-profit in the VA in terms
of VSOs. So, although we are in the Palo Alto VA, we also cover VA’s across California and
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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Hawaii, so we do have a big scope of how many members we do have across California and
Hawaii, as well. Like Reese said, he is the President and I am the Executive Director, but we do
have nine board members, and four of them are elected as directors. Reese is the President. We
have Sebastian, which is our Vice President. We also have Steve as our Treasurer, and Ken as
our Secretary. Our mission statement is all of our veterans have spinal cord injury or disease.
They are seen at VA Palo Alto. We have members who go there for their annuals. Basically,
what our job is to make sure that our veterans have barrier-free access to healthcare at the VA.
We’re fighting always to have special need care be in the VA system.
Mr. Levasseur: I would like to talk a little bit more about the eight mandated programs that we
try to run through our organization. The first one is our membership. Without our membership,
our organization wouldn’t be around, so we want to support and acquire those members that have
a spinal cord injury or disease. We also cover Hawaii, Guam, Saipan, and the Samoan Islands, as
well. We have about 500-and-something veterans in our case, and there’s a thousand and some
change that actually get seen with a spinal cord injury at Palo Alto Health Care. The other thing
that we provide – and this is the main, one of our good services – and that’s the National Service
Officer. That’s the VSO. That’s the gentleman that reaches these veterans when they first get
injured, whether it’s service-connected or post-service, or what we call non-service connection.
They get to those veterans and explain what our organization does. They help them with their
claims and benefits and what kind of program that they are qualified for throughout the VA,
whether it’s home care, bowel care, vehicles, the ability to get back into driving and continue
with life. The other thing that we do is hospital liaisons program, and that chapter, part of our
chapter organization, we do meals, we do holidays, Tuesday brunches. When our veterans come
in for their annual visits and they have to fast for their blood work, we try to give them
something to do or a meal to eat prior to lunch so they’re not starving. We also do bingo games
and activities throughout the week or month with our veterans that are inpatients, to give them
something out of their room to socialize. A lot of the information our veterans get is information
from veterans, so they get to learn more about how they can deal with life, and how they can
cope with this type of an injury. The other thing that we do is fundraising. So, of course, we have
to fill our budget, we are right around $300,000 per year. We get a little bit of a grant from the
national organization, and it’s around $100,000, so we do a lot to try and make those programs
beefier so our veterans can enjoy those type of activities. We do that through grant writing, our
golf tournament, wine fundraisers, and our direct mail. The other bigger thing that we’re going to
be doing, and we’re going to be doing that at the end of this month, is advocacy. We actually get
together with congressmen and senators and talk about a lot of the important problems and needs
that are happening at the Palo Alto VA, and also within the city and the towns. This doesn’t just
help our veterans. When we advocate for the ADA laws and the Air Carrier Act and some of
those type of benefits, it makes the world more accessible and boundary-free. It doesn’t just help
our veterans, but it helps anybody with a disability. The other thing we do is sports and
recreation. We have two big events that our organization helps fund. It’s a winter sports clinic.
We send about 20-25 veterans to Colorado, to Aspen, to what we call Miracle on the Hill. This is
an opportunity for them to learn how to do snow skiing, mono skiing, in a sled, without having to
be standing. They can do sled hockey, cross-country skiing. They do, it’s not shuffleboard, but
it’s curling, where they do the stones across the ice, and all that kind of stuff. They get a really
good break-in to what kind of activities they can still do with a spinal cord injury. And we call it
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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Miracle on the Hill because these two opportunities change our lives. For example, I served in
the Marine Corps for 10 years. I’ll go back and explain that. I did 10 years in the Marine Corps,
from 1992 to 2002. I saw the end of Desert Storm and the beginning part of Iraqi Freedom. I
actually came home afterwards and got hurt on a motorcycle, three years after I got out. So, at
the very beginning of my time as a civilian, I did not know that I had VA rights. Not being
service-connected, I didn’t know that the VA and this organization could help me. I happened to
run into a person, got me into the VA, got me into Palo Alto, and it changed my life
dramatically. I got to do kayaking, I got to do both the summer and winter sport clinics, I got to
ski – all those things that we did… because I went to Barstow when I was in the Marine Corps.
We did cold weather training, we did skiing, all that kind of stuff in the military, and it was just
nice to get back into that type of lifestyle, not knowing I could still do those things. To the point
now, when it comes to sports and recreation, I actually teach disabled kayaking to our veterans. I
wanted to give back with what I learned. Sorry, sports is my favorite spot. The other activity we
do is the summer wheelchair games. This is our summer sport. This is weightlifting, cross-
country, javelin, swimming, archery – all those types of summer sports. Golf and this year, it’s
going to be in Portland, Oregon. It’s going to be during Fourth of July weekend, so we’re going
to be in an awesome town, and seeing the fireworks, and having a camaraderie with other
veterans during that time at a patriotic event. And being able to compete and be with sports. The
other thing that we do is research and education. So, we help make sure that the staff, nursing
and doctor staff, is well trained in the spinal cord portion of our healthcare and makes sure that
the veteran gets the utmost attention to make sure that we’re not getting injured or going down
the road of pressure sores and things of that nature. Which is actually one of the things that when
we go to the ER on a civilian site, that is part of what’s happening. We actually get injured going
to the ER because the care in their specialty is not quite as advanced as the VA healthcare. So,
it’s really important to keep that VA healthcare. And then, we also send staff to our PVA summit
and education and conferences, so we help offset their income to make sure they’re using their
time to get their education, and just helping them out. We use communication for our newsletter,
and that is in your blue bag, our last month. We do that quarterly through snail mail. We’re
trying to save a little bit on paper by not doing it monthly or bimonthly, but we do have a
monthly e-bridge, which is our electronic emails that we send out monthly to our veterans and let
them know what the chapter, the hospital, what’s going on, where they can get things. And of
course, like everyone else nowadays, we’re always using Facebook, Twitter, and our website to
get information out to our veterans.
Mr. Amaral: Can I just add on a little bit? So, people do get confused. There is a national
organization that started in 1946, which is located in DC, but there are 33 chapters. We are the
one that covers Northern California and Hawaii and it is hard because people state, “Oh, we
donate to you all the guys.” But it’s not. They donate to the national organization, so they get
that confusion. We do have two different federal ID numbers, so we just want to make that clear.
The good thing is that we stand out up here in Palo Alto because we try to go to all of these
events that, you know, the Chamber events and the City events, to try and get the word out. The
problem is there are a lot of VSO’s out there, veteran service organizations, but ours is very
specific for spinal cord injury. So, I think it makes us stand out a little bit. So, just added that. Go
ahead, Reese.
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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Mr. Levasseur: That’s pretty much our presentation at this time. We will open up the floor for
any questions.
Chair Kralik: Okay, I’m just going to start with one question. I’m an ombudsman for long-term
healthcare, and I visit several thousand patients in Santa Clara. And I wanted to ask you, because
some of them are specialty hospitals. Outside of the VA, where are the paralyzed veterans that
are in their group? Do they stay in their homes, or are they in any kind of specialized facilities?
Mr. Levasseur: We do have some catchment for veterans that are dealing with certain wounds
and injuries that are in long-term care facilities, to help them monitor and go through, work with
those type of wounds that can’t help, change their bandages and stuff on their own. I don’t have
specific numbers, but with our organization, we try and get a lot of veterans back to their homes.
We want to make sure that their homes are accessible and that they can live with their family and
loved ones and have that… You have a better quality of life when you’re in an environment that
you want to be in. Do you have numbers, or…?
Mr. Amaral: So, Valley Medical Center is the only other place in the Bay Area that does spinal
cord injury, but we obviously want our veterans here in Palo Alto, at the VA. Another thing is,
our SCI center is getting dated. It’s from the 80’s. So, they’re looking to build a new one, and
that will include long-term care, which is very important because veterans are dying in nursing
homes because the staff doesn’t know how to treat spinal cord injury. So, it’s a major issue. But
the good news is, hopefully soon – you know how the VA works, everything is very slow –
we’re looking for having those 20 beds in the community long-term care.
Chair Kralik: Any further questions? Go ahead.
Commissioner Lee: First, I just wanted to say thank you for your service and thank you for all of
the work that you’re doing through this great organization. I have a lot of questions, but
hopefully I’ll be able to meet with you offline. The one that I’m going to ask is regarding slide 9.
I’m wondering if you could speak to, what are things that cities like Palo Alto could do perhaps
better in terms of ensuring that facilities and programs are more ADA compliant and more
accessible to folks with all abilities. Is there any one thing that you think cities could do better?
Mr. Amaral: Accessible parking. That’s the major issue we see every day. And yes, there’s many
accessible parking spots, but they’re not van accessible. So, the thing is, our veterans are not able
to get out of their cars because they have ramps, or they have lifts. So, that’s one thing that we
see all time, and that our members have problems with. Do you have anything to add?
Mr. Levasseur: I was thinking the parking, and… One of my comments is, even though we need
specialty parking, realistically, we don’t need that parking to be at the front of the building. We
don’t mind rolling through the parking lot to get to the store. It’s extra exercise for us. The
biggest thing is, is that little space, the 70-something inches so that our ramps and stuff can come
out and then we can still have room to get up it without the other car being next to us, is the real
need that we have. And then, like everything else, it’s always the painting. After so many months
or years, the painting fades, that no-parking spot fades, and nine out of 10 times, there’s another
car that parks in that spot that blocks us from being able to get in and out of our vehicles.
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
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Chair Kralik: Okay. Thank you so much for coming, and we really appreciate the efforts you’re
making in the community to help our veterans.
Mr. Levasseur: Thank you for letting us present.
Chair Kralik: Okay.
2. Presentation by Rachael Tanner, Assistant Director of Planning & Community
Environment, on the Safe Parking Pilot program and next steps
Chair Kralik: We’re going to move on to Item 2, which is a presentation by Rachael Tanner,
Assistant Director of Planning & Community Environment, on Safe Parking pilot program and
next steps. This is a staff and Commissioner Lee item, so, Commissioner Lee, feel free to
introduce.
Ms. van der Zwaag: I was just going to spend a moment to just introduce my colleague, Rachael.
So glad that she could be with us tonight. And it looks like another colleague is there, who we
may not have met before. But thank you for coming, for spending the time, and to share the
information about what the Council has given you direction for.
Rachael Tanner: Thank you for having us here. Is it okay if I unplug this computer and plug
mine in? Or will disaster happen if I…? I have a PowerPoint presentation. I just want to make
sure that it’s all right.
[Setting up PowerPoint]
Commissioner Lee: Let me just add some brief comments. This is an issue that the City has been
working on for quite a long time. When I first joined the Commission about two and a half years
ago, this was a topic that this Commission discussed with the Council during one of our joint
study sessions. At that time, a majority of the Council thought that this was an issue worth re-
exploring. So, I was very excited to see that Vice Mayor Dubois and Councilmember Kou had
put together a colleagues’ memo on this member about six or seven months ago, and I’m very
gratified to see that Council was very receptive to that, and all of the work that staff has already
done and will continue to do on this issue. As we know, homelessness in particular has gone up
by double digits in Palo Alto, and most communities in California. So, I want to thank you in
advance for all of your work and look forward to hearing what you’ve done so far and what your
future plans are. So, thank you very much for coming.
Ms. Tanner: Thank you so much, Commissioner Lee and Commission. I’m very glad to be here.
Council Member Tanaka. I have a brief slide presentation for you, and I have with me my
colleague, Nicole Laureola. She is relatively new to the City, but she will be my right hand in
working on this project in the Planning & Development Services. We’re fortunate to have her
here so she can help keep me on track. If you have any questions or follow-up, we’re happy to be
in touch. The last slide does have my contact information and email, as well as Nicole’s, so if
you need to get hold of us, please don’t hesitate to reach out and thank you, Minka, for inviting
us to speak here this evening. I’m just going to briefly share a little bit about the program as
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Page 8 of 47
proposed, and I think at the outset, we’d like to say this program really… I’m grateful that I’ve
been able to do this work, but it really is a collaboration with the community. We as the Planning
& Development Services Department, and the City as a whole, are creating a process of
framework for the programs to operate, but really, it’s going to be the congregations, it’s going
to be the non-profit organizations, that are going to make this thing work. So, the way that we
can be helpful and the ways that we can facilitate, we want to do that. We want to be good
partners, but I think as this rolls out, the hats will really go off to the congregations and those
men and women who are willing to work and become part of this program, which I look forward
to working with them. So, it’s fortunate that we’re here on February 13th. We were just at City
Council on January 13th. So, literally a month ago, we took this ordinance for first reading, and
now we’re here to share it with you all. I’ll do an overview of Safe Parking for those who may
not know what it is and those who are watching at home and here, just to provide some
background. Talk a little bit about the City Council and the committee actions that brought us
here. And then, talk a little bit about the proposed Tier 1 Program and the recommendation that
we made to Council, which they fortunately made some amendments and then did pass, and will
come back on February 24th. So, Safe Parking programs broadly provide safe, secure locations
where households using a vehicle as their primary residence can park the vehicle overnight and
sleep in their vehicle. So, I think it’s important to note that these programs, the impact that they
have, is somewhat limited. Safe parking programs cannot solve issues related to homelessness
and folks who are dwelling in their vehicles. Addressing homelessness, including those who are
dwelling in vehicles, requires a multi-pronged approach. This is just one part of helping persons
who are struggling with housing instability and even with an effective and successful safe
parking program, let’s say everybody who came to a parking lot found stable housing, they
would only be a fraction of persons who are dealing with homelessness, and a fraction of those
who are dwelling in vehicles. I think it’s important to set ourselves up for what success looks like
with these programs. Who is served by safe parking? There may be families that include minors.
Could be single adults; could be couples; could be several families together, that are living
together. They might be in recreational vehicles, so often RVs are somewhat more noticeable
because of their size. But folks are living in passenger cars, they’re living in vans, trucks, and the
vehicles in many programs must be registered or insured and the drivers must have a valid
license. Now, all programs don’t operate under that condition. Different parking operators may
have avenues to help folks get insured, get registered, but again, part of the goal is to ensure that
the vehicles are operational, and they can be driven, and that if folks are leaving their parking lot,
that they’re doing so safely and would not be… If they were in accident or something happened,
they wouldn’t be injuring someone else and where do these happen? Most safe parking
programs, which there has been an uptrend in California and other coastal communities that
struggle with homelessness, to have more of these programs. They are often on publicly owned
or publicly leased land, as well as congregations and there is some exploration of whether or not
private businesses or other land would be open to this. I think you can imagine some of the
hesitancy they may have, but certainly something that we continue to explore, and perhaps as
these programs become not too common, hopefully we can stem homelessness so they’re not
everywhere, but maybe there may be some private sector partners who want to be engaged in this
work. Some of the City Council actions and committee actions. This started back in June of last
year. As Commissioner Lee mentioned, there was a colleagues’ memorandum from Council
Member Kou and Council Member Dubois that was referred to the Policy & Services Committee
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Page 9 of 47
to craft the program details. In September, I did a bunch of research, kind of looked at different
programs, talked to program operators, especially City of Mountain View, City of East Palo
Alto, understanding our two closest neighbors, what they’ve done, and brought forward an
overview of some of the programs, how do they work, how might we consider our program.
Policy & Services directed staff to return with a program for up to four vehicles. That’s what
we’re calling the Tier 1 program. There’s Tier 1, 2 and 3. Tier 1 for us is this pilot program of
four vehicles or fewer parked at congregations or religious institutions. We hope to see a Tier 2
program, which would be more than four vehicles, perhaps at congregations or other privately-
owned land and then, the Tier 3 would be publicly owned or leased land that the City or Council
and partners might make available for safe parking. We want to keep developing the Tier 2 and 3
while we are getting this Tier 1 up and running. We returned in November with the details for
that program to the Policy & Services Committee, which Council Member Tanaka, along with
Council Member Kniss and Council Member Kou, helped to craft and give us direction for. And
then, we brought that plan forward to the full City Council in January, and for the first reading of
ordinance. It’s anticipated that on February 24, 2020, the second reading will happen, and the
ordinance will be adopted and then, 30 days later, the program is operational, and the ordinance
is in effect, and we can begin to accept applications. So, we are really gearing up towards that
date. Again, I went over this, what the Tier 1, 2 and 3 of the programs would be. Some of this
will be redundant, but again, limited to four vehicles or fewer: parking lots of legal
congregations and religious institutions. The programs can operate during the pilot period. The
ordinance initially was going to expire in March 2022. The Council did decide to strike that from
the measure, but I think that it’s important to note that our goal is that by that time, still, we want
to have a full ordinance that, whether it’s we learn from this program and we revise the Tier 1,
we’ve added Tier 2 and 3. So, I think it’s important to keep that date as, like, that’s our date to
make sure that we’re still, in these two years, working towards the next step. The approved
permits are valid for 18 months, so once a congregation goes through the process to get a permit,
it’s good for a year and a half. That is subject to revocation, you know, if an operator, for
example, wasn’t following the rules, if there were constant complaints, you know, over a period
of time, there is a process for revocation. But we hope we would not need to avail ourselves of
that and all operations are subject to application and approval. So, we would hope to see
congregations coming and working with the City, with their operators to get their permits, not
just opening their parking lots to folks. So, that’s kind of the process that we’re hoping that we’ll
see. Permits can be appealed, and they are appealed directly to the City Council. I’m going to go
a little bit more into the process, so, if there are congregations listening or pastors who are here,
if you can think about how this might apply to your congregation. Application is filed by the
congregation or religious institution. Again, the permit is to that property, to that religious
institution. And the application will include contact information for the congregation, obviously.
And we want to see a signed contract with a safe parking program provider. Again, there are
several non-profits in the Bay Area and our region that are operating in this space, that operate, I
think, you know, LifeMoves, Project WeHope, Lots of Love, that we’ve referred to in our
research for this program, and we hope that congregations will turn to these professionals who
know how to operate these programs, are connected to our county social service system, so that
the folks who are using this program are not just there overnight, but they’re really connected to
a system and services that can help to help them find stable housing, and I think the good thing
about that for congregations who are interested but worry, how many volunteers will we have to
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Page 10 of 47
organize? How are we going to set this up? Is that this road has been trod, so they can work with
these providers to help to guide them and use best practices. That’s kind of, really to the next
bullet, the evidence of case management services. We want to see that these folks are connected
to the larger social service system. We’re going to ask for a site plan, which will indicate the
designated safe parking area. So, if you have a large parking lot, where is the arrow where you
are thinking these four vehicles would park? Making sure that there is enough space between
them so that people are not packed in there, but they have some space for privacy, but also kind
of co-located for safety and security. Which, again, is a big part of this program, is helping
people to have safe places to park, and helping them be connected to resources. We want to see
restroom and handwashing facilities available to the participants. We would love to see folks
have showers. It can be a big push or a big burden to have showers for only four households, but
some congregations may have those resources, or congregations may be able to pull together. We
feel that could help to enhance the dignity for the persons who are living in their vehicles, but we
didn’t want to make that a requirement because that might be too prohibitive to get this pilot
going. But we do encourage congregations to make that available if possible, and then, we would
want to see adherence to all the standards of operation. Again, I was just speaking with a
congregation today, saying, “Well, did you have this in your standards? Do you have a rule about
this?” And I said, you know, we really are setting the floor or the guardrails, so if there are best
practices that congregations and the safe parking provider want to impose, that’s up to them. So,
for example, some congregations in Mountain View serve only cars. That is totally within their
rights to decide we’re going to serve cars versus RVs, and those populations tend to be different
in terms of the needs that they have and the ways that they use the safe parking, so that’s a
decision that congregation, with their provider, are going to need to make. It’s not a decision that
the City is going to make on behalf of the congregations and the non-profit that they work with.
Getting a little bit into planner land of what the mechanics are behind this. Application submitted
and reviewed. It is approved under what’s called a Director’s decision, so Jonathan Lait, our
Director, me and Nicki, will present and say we think they’ve met all the qualifications, this is a
good application to approve. He will review that, hopefully agree with us. Finding that the use
complies with the standards of operation, that the location won’t adversely affect the health,
safety or welfare of persons residing or working in the area, and that the site is adequate in size
and shape to accommodate the use. That letter of approval would be issued. That would go out to
neighbors within 600 feet of the site, so folks would be notified by that process. But we would
encourage congregations, again, to work with their neighbors, to do community outreach ahead
of time, so that the first thing they get isn’t a, you know, a nice letter from the City, but
something that is coming from the congregation, again, on their behalf. So, neighbors would
have the opportunity to appeal within 14 calendar days once the notice is mailed. I’m sorry I
neglected to take off the italicized thing. Staff initially did not recommend the 600 feet, but
Council did feel that was good in order to provide ample notice. Many of you may know that
several years ago, this effort was underway, and as soon as a congregation said we’re going to be
hosting safe parking, they got pushback. They then reneged on that and did not pursuit it. So, I
think an overabundance of caution to let more people know. Let’s take the flack if people do
want to push back, and that’s in their rights to appeal. It will appeal directly to the City Council,
and the City Council could either, it will be on consent and they could either side with the
Director’s decision and say no, we think that this is an appropriate place for safe parking to
occur, or they could say, let’s pull it off of consent, let’s have a hearing. At that time, they may
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Page 11 of 47
still affirm the Director’s decision, or they may say no, we do agree this is not, with the
appellant, we don’t believe this is an appropriate site for safe parking. So, that is the appeal
process and they will be placed on a consent calendar, is what I just said and a little bit about the
standards of operation. The hours are from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. Again, this is the floor, so it
might be shorter within that time period. It might be the entire time; up to the congregation. No
noise, audio, video, or other amplified sound can be generated that’s audible outside of their
vehicles. Requirements for toilet and handwashing sink. Partnership with case management. The
contact information is posted, both contact information for the program operator, the police non-
emergency number, as well as 911, if there was any type of emergency like that. That the
premise will be maintained safe, cleanly and orderly, and that the revocation would be, the
permit may be revoked if it’s found to be detrimental to public health, safety or general welfare.
Next steps is City Council will consider the ordinance on the 24th on the consent agenda, so if
you would like to send a message to them to support, comment or otherwise you may do so and
then, we will have a meeting with interested congregations and safe parking operators. We want
to make sure that the application that we set up, all the procedures we’re going to follow, align
with what the program operators need and provide and what the congregations want to know and
then, we’ll finalize the application forms and begin accepting applications in March, so we are
looking forward to that, and I think we, again, want to be partners with congregations as they do
their outreach. Any way we can be helpful when they’re meeting with their communities or
neighbors, we look forward to participating in that. That concludes my presentation. Again,
there’s my contact information, Nicole’s contact information, should you or others be interested
in reaching out. We are available for questions.
Chair Kralik: Yes, I just wanted to start out by asking if you and Nicole can speak briefly about
what brought you to do the work that you do.
Ms. Tanner: That’s a great question. You can get ready to answer that yourself; I’ll take it first.
Where to begin? When I was a child… No. So, just a brief thumbnail of my history. I am from
Michigan originally and have been in California for about seven years. I came here after grad
school to work in Long Beach, and then, I worked in the City and County of San Francisco as a
planner, and now here, in Palo Alto. I will say specifically this work does hit on part of my past,
which was community organizing the very first part of my career, working with congregations.
So, I know the power that they have when people get together and decide they want to do
something. It’s pretty amazing. And congregations are pretty awesome. People just deciding,
hey, this is what we believe in, put their money and their time into something, and they do these
amazing things. I also, in that role, worked really closely with our local city and county
government to try to work on policies. At that time, we also had a homelessness problem. This is
back in Michigan, hometown. So, we worked really hard on the Housing First policy, was the
program that we worked in. It takes good people out of government and in government, working
together to make changes, so that’s what I love to do. This is definitely a highlight program.
Unfortunately, it’s just a drop in the bucket of what we need to deal with homelessness, but it’s
really been a joy to work on this.
Chair Kralik: Thank you for your dedication. Nicole, how about yourself? Tell us a little bit
about how you came to do this work.
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Page 12 of 47
Ms. Laureola: Sure. Oddly enough, similarly, I have worked in community organizing for, what
we call Youth Ministries for Peace and Justice, which is an environmental justice organization in
the Bronx. I’m originally from Los Angeles and did my city planning in New York. Came back,
and then moved up here. I want to echo what Rachael was saying, about how amazing it is to
have community members come together and facilitate a program like this, and to create that sort
of connection is kind of why I think I do this. I’m glad to be on the program.
Chair Kralik: Thanks so much for coming in and talking to us tonight. Commissioner Lee.
Commissioner Lee: I have just one question. Thank you so much for coming. So, the HRC is an
advisory body to the City Council, and as staff my understanding is that the ordinance coming in
a couple of weeks is for Tier 1. As staff continues to work with PMS on Tier 2 and Tier 3
towards that sort of March of 2022 deadline… And this is a question both for staff, and we have
two council members in the room. How can this body as an advisory commission provide the
most useful input or assistance to the ongoing work, the ongoing decision-making that’s going to
be happening at the Council level? I’m wondering if you could just share your thoughts on that.
Because we as a body always struggle with, how do we add value without getting in the way?
Could you just speak to how you might envision the HRC and if our two council members
would, have any thoughts, please speak up. Thank you.
Ms. Tanner: I’ll take a swing at that question, and maybe Council Member Tanaka wants to
speak to it. I know Council Member Cormack is also leading Council Member Dubois’s effort to
look at our boards and commissions and think about how to ensure their maximum effectiveness,
because all of you are putting in so much of your time, and to how to make the best use of the
time and energy. I will say, I think one of the benefits… I’ll just speak. I spoke with Pastor Smith
today on the phone to talk about this very program. The benefit that you all have that I don’t – I
live in San Francisco – this is your community. You have real connections with real people who
are going to be putting their money where their mouth is to operate specifically safe parking, and
even as Tiers 2 and 3 roll out, there may be opposition, there may be support. You are the best,
perhaps, to help us know, what are folks saying? What are the worries? What are the concerns?
Where are the opportunities? Who should we be reaching out to? Who should we be talking to?
So, I know that that connection is really, really important, and to the degree that this meeting is a
forum for some deliberation and decisions to happen, I think that’s helpful for staff, and I
imagine also for our council members. It’s also a little, not that it’s a casual meeting, but it might
be more easy for some folks to come here and speak than be intimidated by speaking in front of
Council. Sometimes it’s easier to have a dialog here than when things are at the Council level.
So, if we can work things out through here as well as through the committees, I think that’s a big
advantage for all of us.
Commissioner Regehr: Hi, I’m Patti Regehr. I have a couple questions. One is, because that is,
safe parking was one of my, when I interviewing that I really want to be involved, because I’ve
been working with Mountain View a little bit on this and one is, has there been any thoughts of
having just a women’s parking lot? Because I know people that are living in cars, for women
specifically, it is a safety item for them. Having one lot just for women?
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Page 13 of 47
Ms. Tanner: Before I answer that question, I don’t know if Council Member Tanaka wanted to
speak to the previous question, about how the HRC could be most helpful?
Council Member Tanaka: Sure. Yes. So, this is my first HRC meeting here, so I really appreciate
you guys inviting me, and I’m actually glad you guys have this on your agenda because I
actually think that you guys could do a lot of really great work here that could help us on Council
make better decisions. So, you know, I think Tier 1 is just kind of the basics. There’s a lot more
that we could potentially do as a city, but we want to make sure we do it right. As Rachael spoke
about, you know, a similar idea happened in the past, and there was a lot of controversy about it.
So, I think for this program to work well, there’s a lot of detail that has to happen, right? I think
the big advantage, kind of staff said, that you guys have is that you guys are very connected to
the community, right? This is kind of your ball of wax, so to speak. So, on Council, I would
really like, if you guys could do, is get feedback from the community. I think this is just now
starting to get out there to the community, but you guys have really deep, personal networks, if
you could reach out to people in the community, kind of get feedback on what they think, what
are some of the issues they see, what’s good about it, what’s bad about it. I think really
understanding all different perspectives and doing that kind of footwork. Because I think it’s
hard for staff because they only really hear inbound. But you guys can do outbound. You can
hear the voice of the average Palo Alton. So, I think if you guys can do this, that would be really
great, because on Council, this is one of many, many different issues that we’re dealing with. But
as the HRC, this is something that you guys could really focus on and become subject matter
experts. So, I think that’s, first and foremost, is really understanding people’s concern. Some of
the concerns I’ve heard from community members is, one, of course, that people there are safe,
right? So, that’s a good point about maybe a women’s only, or other things. That’s one thing, is
safety, right? Another concern I’ve heard, and this is some of the motivation is right now, the
RVs are parked on the street. Is that the right place to park them? Will this help them move the
RVs off the street? That’s a big question, right? That’s something that almost immediately after
we voted on this the other time around, we started to getting emails about people very concerned
about, well, how does this get the RVs off the street? Because some people are concerned about
how it causes visibility, makes the lanes narrower, etc., etc. So, I think understanding those
perspectives. Or people who have complained about, like, there’s a lot of generators, and a
generator is, like, to keep things running with it, you smell the fumes, or hear the generator run.
Or they’re going to plug into the church, right? So, all those kinds of things. I’m just scratching
the surface, but I think really, deeply understanding these issues, the pros and the cons. All the
things because I think as a City, I don’t know if we’re really done… I mean, city parking is just a
small part of the overall problem because you really become experts in this issue from the
different perspectives. I think that would be great, right? In fact, I think it would be great if you
guys could even understand who lives in these RVs, right? I know that some people in RVs are
people who maybe have houses other places, but they’re working here at Stanford, or working on
construction, or whatever. That’s maybe one group. In another group, there’s people who are
truly, you know, this is the only place to live. and I think that’s probably what the safe parking is
more targeted towards and then, there’s other people who I heard this one guy has an Airbnb
going, and he rents out a bunch of them, and disables the engine, which is a little bit crazy. So,
that’s another class of people. And that’s one I don’t think we’re trying to service, right? So, how
do we deal with people like that? So, I think really trying to understand, who are these people in
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Page 14 of 47
these RVs? What is their circumstance? I think would be really great. The other part that I think
would be great to understand is, so, I was talking to some of my colleagues in Mountain View.
Mountain View kind of precedes us, right? They’ve been trying to do this for a little bit longer.
Some of their council members told me that it hasn’t quite worked the way they thought it would
work, right? You know, some of the intent from them I think there hasn’t been as many people
going to safe parking as they thought, and also, it didn’t really affect in terms of taking some of
the RVs off the street. Because I think everyone in the community wants to be compassionate
about who is living in these RVs, but I think the intent was also to provide a safe place for RVs
to go and it hasn’t quite happened that way and now, the conversation I had with my fellow
council members if Mountain View is like a five-minute discussion, so I can’t do it justice. I’m
hoping that the HRC could do that, talk to maybe your colleagues in other cities who have
similar programs. Understand what worked, what didn’t work. Because I think by taking best
practices from other cities, we could perhaps make this program even more successful.
Commissioner Smith: Thank you. One of the challenges in Mountain View is that each
congregation decides on the population that it serves and the ordinance here is written the same
way. So, if St. Timothy, I think, the Catholic Church in Mountain View, actually only does
women, I believe, and I know that there are congregations here that are interested in doing it. The
significant hurdles from the faith-based community – and I and Rachael have a meeting with a
group of churches that really want to do this, on the 25th – is, first of all, in talking to the CSA’s,
there is the issue of funding. I don’t know. We’ve been given numbers into six figures to run a
program, because you need case workers, which is one salary; you need people to monitor
facilities, XYZ, because churches don’t have case managers. So, the question becomes: How do
you fund the program?
Council Member Tanaka: That’s a good question. I would love it if you guys could continue to
talk to other local cities, people who have done programs like this, counterparts in other cities, to
really find out what’s working, what hasn’t worked. I think continue to kind of do that and see
how we can learn, right? Learn from others.
Ms. Tanner: I’m available for any other questions that folks might have.
Chair Kralik: Well, it sounds like this is just the start. Valerie, would you like a question?
Commissioner Stinger: I do have a question. First of all, thank you. This is an excellent
presentation and an exciting first step. I saw that you had the communication to the neighbors
that a program was going to be instituted, but I wondered if you also had some thoughts about a
PR or communication plan subsequently, to put some articles in the press. Talk to next door…?
Ms. Tanner: Yes, and I think in terms of letting folks know that the program is available, to get
applicants, or just kind of throughout the process – Is that what you’re thinking?
Commissioner Stinger: I was thinking that in the past, some of my neighbors, in some of the
letters to the editor that I’ve seen in the paper, have been negative, and I think that maybe there
can be some proactive…
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access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
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Page 15 of 47
Ms. Tanner: Positive?
Commissioner Stinger: … to set the tone, so that we help people understand the upside of a
program in this community.
Ms. Tanner: Yes, I think that is a great suggestion. I think that, you know, my mind is aspiring,
in terms of the previous question, in terms of what’s a role the HRC can plan, and the
congregations. I think as staff, we have to walk a fine line as being, you know, servants to the
public, and advocates, and implanting what the City Council has directed us to and at the same
time, try to be fair. So, I think that’s a great role for HRC members, if they’re supportive, to be
authors of those letters to the editor, to try to explain more about the issue. We can certainly
provide information as staff and kind of explain, I think. You know, when folks don’t know what
to expect, there can be a lot of fear, when they don’t know who it is. But, hopefully by the fact
that it’s four vehicles, folks who are already dwelling in their vehicle. So, whether they’re in this
parking lot or parked at the curbside, there may not be a difference for the homeowner or the
neighbor, but there’s a difference for that person, in that they feel safer. So, how to kind of think
about this in a more rational way than like a, oh, my gosh, what might happen next door to me,
kind of way. You know, I’m looking forward to speaking with [inaudible]. One thing that came
to my mind today is, a lot of our congregations are on Middlefield Road, so if there are several
that choose to participate, some members of the community might worry about over-
concentration, or things like that. So, I think there’s got to be a concerted effort on the part of
those congregations to really do some proactive outreach and some discussions with people who
live nearby, and kind of maybe in the broader local media, to help to assuage some of the fears
that may come with the program’s rolling out. But I think that’s a really good point. We did, our
City communications team did draft a blog post. We’re starting to do more blogs and kind of
trying to be more on social media, so there was a post about this program. So, hopefully once it
rolls out, we can keep some of that going as well, proactively.
Commissioner Smith: One of the reasons I ended up talking to Rachael today was because nine
of the churches that basically are on the Middlefield corridor, we know at least one or two that
have the congregational wherewithal and will to do it and one of the things we want to do is set
up a public open house meeting before we even get to doing applications. Because I think there’s
a little bit of distrust if you do the application and then say go along. We’re trying to do
something in the March timeframe that is an open house and have people from the community
really come in and have dialog. One of the, I think, significant challenges, if we read in-depth on
the posts that we see in the Palo Alto online, Daily Post, is there is a lack of clear understanding
and information and a lot of vilification and othering of the homeless population. So, part of the
thing we would love to do in that is have some of the county statistics and other things that
humanize the people. So, hopefully on the 25th, we’ll come to a better date on when we can do
this but I think we want to see one or two places, not like seven churches on Middlefield have it,
because different churches have different capacity but we at least want to get one church off the
ground and start the process and see what happens, and see how it works, and then start building
from there.
Commissioner Regehr: One thought I had was about Hotel de Zink. Do you know how many
fellowships use that now?
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Page 16 of 47
Ms. Tanner: I don’t. I know that it rotates every month, but I’m not sure the number of
congregations that are participating in that.
Commissioner Regehr: Because those neighborhoods are already used to having somebody, is
what I was thinking.
Ms. Tanner: Yes.
Commissioner Smith: It’s a different thing.
Commissioner Regehr: No, no, it’s a totally different thing, but, I mean, but the neighborhoods
know and one thing I’m curious, have you thought about having a mechanic? Because that’s
what I’ve heard is some people’s concerns are, is the car won’t start that day and they won’t be
able to leave.
Ms. Tanner: Yes, I think, again, that would be something that the programs would need to work
out. I know some do have relationships with mechanics and try to offer those things. I mean, it is
really hands on. You know, talking to some providers, it’s like, what does that person need?
They need a mechanic. This person needs work boots. This person needs a bus pass. I mean, it’s
really trying to meet the people where they are with some things that could be too costly for
them, but not a big cost in the grand scheme of things. So, they try to provide those services.
Commissioner Smith: The CSA’s do provide mechanics because squatting laws in California, if
people leave their cars on your property too long, it ends up causing a ton of issues. So, part of
what the CSA’s have to do is have some sort of resource to move the car.
Chair Kralik: Well, thank you very much for this wonderful presentation…
Ms. Tanner: Thank you.
Chair Kralik: … and also for your dedication to this issue.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Look, you have one card for oral communications.
Chair Kralik: Okay, we do, on item 2. So, Aram, go right ahead, please.
Aram James: So, there was an organization that I was part of. It was first called Community
Cooperation Team, then Stop the Ban. Originally, the City Council – and here’s a piece that I
wrote during that period. Actually, there was a struggle over wanting to ban vehicles altogether
in the city of Palo Alto. They passed that ordinance. Liz Kniss was one of the people that led that
charge and then, there was a decision out of Venice, California, the 9th Circuit, that
constitutionally said that that wasn’t appropriate. Anyway, Stop the Ban, Community
Cooperation Team, a lot of Stanford students, and other members of the community, a lot of
unhoused folks, as well. I was lucky enough to link up with a gentleman that was unhoused, and
the two of us went down to the Santa Barbara program. The safe parking program there is very
robust. They have something called New Beginnings, and that was back in 2012 and they really
stressed the importance of rolling it out with lots of community awareness. Because absolutely,
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Page 17 of 47
you’re going to get the fears in the community. To answer one of the questions you put out, they
have a robust program for women in different parts, women and children, men, and it’s really,
really nuanced. You start drinking, you’re out of the program. You’re starting fires outside. So,
it’s really monitored. Caseworkers are great. You gotta have that. But, you know, I really, for me
personally, I grew up in Palo Alto, I think we’ve got the money not to put the whole burden on
the churches. We had such a struggle, there was so much resistance back in 2012. Nobody
wanted this and the 9th Circuit came down with a decision that changed things and again, you’ve
got a lot of legal problems when you try to prevent people from staying in their vehicles on the
street when you’re just going to push the problem on… You know, I remember Justice Mosk the
dissenting opinion out of a Santa Ana case, talked about what, ultimately, what? Are you going
to push people into the ocean, from to the next? So, I recommend you roll it out slowly, but you
don’t put it all on the churches. You go down to Santa Barbara, you call… I think Kristine is still
there. It’s Kristine Schwartz, Executive Director and their people… we brought down some
counselors from that program. We had 100 people meet, including then city council person
Karen Holman, in the city. But the resistance was unbelievable. We contacted 41 faith
communities in Palo Alto over a long period of time. Maybe two or three and the wealthier the
community I found, the more likely there was going to be pushback. I don’t know why that is but
I really appreciate what both of you had to say tonight, and I commend the HRC to take that on. I
moved recently back to Palo Alto. A lot of my stuff on homelessness and legal stuff is in another
box, so I gotta bring that back, but I’m happy to sit down and talk with anybody about the three
or four years’ experience that we had here in Palo Alto, and why, finally, we disbanded. I mean,
at one point, they said, why don’t you guys run it? Stop the bell. We’ll give you $500. This is the
City of Palo Alto we were dealing with. I was like, okay, we’re going to run it. So, I really think
we have to have some city employees involves in this, caseworkers, if we’re going to be serious.
I don’t have to tell you, you all read the paper, how dramatic the problem is around unhoused
people living in the streets. And for every person that doesn’t live in their RV, they’re going to
be out in the streets. And then we’re talking the cost of emergency room, the legal system – it
just gets more and more expensive. So, again, I just commend everybody. I think Council
Member Tanaka is correct. You’ve got to educate; you’ve got to talk. But I also think the City
Council’s got to take their share of the responsibility. It shouldn’t just be on the HRC. You all
need to have a forum here at the City Council chambers just on this issue, so we can get educated
en mass. Bring in some experts on the subject, including people like Chuck Jagoda that have
lived in their vehicle here in Palo Alto. You’ve got to get participation from the people that are
most affected. That will humanize. I know there was that word used. If we really want to
humanize the unhoused, you’ll find out that in most places… It was interesting. In Santa
Barbara, like Palo Alto, most of the people that are unhoused live there, grew up there, and it
reflects the demographics. We picked Santa Barbara out because it’s quite a bit like Palo Alto.
So, anyway, that’s what I would say. I commend the City for doing this, but, boy, the City needs
to put some money into this, and it shouldn’t be all on the faith community. It’s great when they
can do it, but sometimes things don’t work that way. There’s just a lot of… Okay, thank you
very much.
Chair Kralik: Well, thank you for those thoughts, and I appreciate your paper that you’ve
forwarded to our attention.
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Page 18 of 47
Mr. James: Thank you.
3. Presentation by Dr. Karen Eggleston, Director, Asia Health Policy Program,
Stanford University on perspectives on the novel coronavirus 2019-nCov
pandemic
Chair Kralik: Now we’re going to ask Mary to hook us up to video. Let me give a short
introduction to this. As you all know, my daughter Abigail, who has visited here, is from Wuhan
and when the crisis started with coronavirus, we followed the news very closely at home. We all
have been to Wuhan and to the train station there, and we’ve seen the city. It’s a crisis that has
dominated the news. But some of the things that concern us as the HRC are not necessarily
public health, but a focus on backlash in the community. Something that’s called coronavirus
hypervigilance, and actual shunning of people that sometimes could be felt to border on racism.
That is something that really concerns me, just by watching some simple events that have taken
place in the last several weeks. My children do go to a Chinese emergent school. They share that
school with a German international school. Their events have been cancelled. They’ve had
restrictions on parents and grandparents, and some of the grandparents are at home and unable to
pick up the children. It’s not really clear to me that a lot of these restrictions, which were
developed on the fly, are things that are based on science, or fears that are not really grounded in
science. So, I saw this issue, and I included it in the public health, and I am thankful for
Commissioner Stinger for seconding this speaker. Dr. Karen Eggleston is an infectious disease
expert, and I think its kind of important, if we think about this issue, because it has been in the
headlines, but it has impacted our community, businesses. If you just think about the high-tech
businesses that have had difficulty with their supply chains. The economic impact is there, but
the human impact is there as well. There are a lot of people in universities. I saw on the news in
Berkeley, where they did a presentation because some of the students that came back from China
were asked to isolate themselves without any kind of reason, other than they were from China
and some of the things that are happening do fall, in my view, into hypervigilance. There’s
another reason that I put it on here, and that is vulnerability of populations. As you know, I do go
out into the community as an ombudsman to long-term healthcare centers, including healthcare
centers where there are Asian nurses and doctors that are impacted by this. Also, those
communities, they include Alzheimer’s patients, they include long-term care patients. And I
don’t know how prepared all of those facilities are in terms of connection with the public health
department, but there’s an awful lot of reliance, and the question is, is that reliance misplaced, or
not? There’s been some under-reporting that has been noted in the media. Yesterday, I think
there was a spike in cases reported, including deaths in Wuhan. So, this is an unknown, or novel
virus. It’s known now, but the treatment is unknown. There’s no vaccine on the horizon for the
next 18 months. So, it raises a lot of questions. So, I’m concerned about the vulnerabilities,
concerned about the human relations aspects of shunning, particularly in our own community.
We have a big community of Asian folks and in my own household. I think one of the things that
my daughter said to me was, “So, you’re not going to talk to me now because I’m from Wuhan”
and that was just an outburst that happened. And we talked a little bit about it, and I think there
has been some concern, you know, on the playgrounds even, with kids. Some bullying and other
things that have gone on. So, that’s why I wanted to start with some knowledge base, and I want
to hark back to our offsite program briefly. We set up a process not to take action right away on
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Page 19 of 47
items. We set up a process to begin to discuss. That’s what this is. It’s more of a kickoff. We’re
open to ideas, and I know Steve has expressed an interest in public health, and he’s also part of
the initiative as a commissioner. I found that out today. I’m sorry about that, Steve. So, I do want
to ask for ideas, and ask that you listen, and certainly communicate those ideas once you hear the
speaker. So now, we’re not sure where our speaker is. So, hold on just a second.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Mary was waiting for you to finish your introduction.
Chair Kralik: Okay. I should mention that Dr. Eggleston is in a quarantine right now, so, she can
explain that a little bit as well.
[Connecting via Skype.]
Dr. Karen Eggleston: Hello?
Chair Kralik: Doctor, this is Gabe Kralik, the chair of the Human Relations Commission. I want
to thank you for appearing on video tonight. I did a brief introduction as to some of the Human
Relations concerns that we have as to vulnerability of some of our populations, as also some of
the social issues associated with shunning and hypervigilance that concern some of our Asian
community members. So, we talked a little bit about how this is an introduction, and we’re
counting on you to help us as an infectious disease expert to talk through what’s going on with
coronavirus. So, thank you very much for coming.
Dr. Eggleston: Thank you very much for inviting me. As you know, I’m Karen Eggleston at
Stanford University, and I direct the Asia Health Policy Program. I’m actually a social scientist,
but not a medical doctor. So, I will provide some background in policy and how the virus has
developed from China and impacting the rest of the world. I provided these slides requested
yesterday. I will go through them rather quickly because I know they provide background in
other parts of the world and your concern may be much closer to home. Just to note that I believe
that Palo Alto is already taking many appropriate actions, and I’m pretty confident we’ll
continue a prudent, science-based precautions in this event. So, I’ll start with a timeline of key
events, as you may all be familiar. Please feel free to jump in with any questions as you would
like.
Chair Kralik: I just want to start and ask you if you could just tell us a little bit why you’re
appearing by video.
Commissioner Lee: [off-microphone] Did we want to project the [inaudible]? We can either
project it ourselves, or she can project it on…
Chair Kralik: I don’t know how to do that, but Mary can speak to that.
Commissioner Lee: So, we can share our screen here, and we can just flip through the slides.
Chair Kralik: While we’re doing that, can you tell us a little bit about…
[crosstalk]
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Page 20 of 47
Dr. Eggleston: …so I’m using Skype. But I can let you know that I’m actually in self-isolation
myself, having had a family member return from China and on the 14th will be the 14th day. But
that’s why I’m appearing to do you remotely.
Chair Kralik: How did that come about? Did you select to be in self-isolation, or were you
following a protocol?
Dr. Eggleston: Well, as you know, things are evolving quickly, so, actually, the day before the
family member returned from China, which was already earlier because of flight cancellations,
etc., just the day before, Stanford came out with a policy, saying that everyone who is a family
member of someone who returns from China – I might note, anywhere in China, not just Wuhan
– should work from home. I took the decision at that time as a family that the member would be
isolated. At that time, the school district actually had not yet come out with a policy, but I
figured we deserved to give the whole community the same kind of protections that Stanford was
saying was prudent. So, that individual has been self-isolated since returning home.
Chair Kralik: Thank you very much. We’ve got your screen and we’ve got your presentation in
front of us. Please continue.
Dr. Eggleston: Okay. So, as you know, it developed in December in China, and there were
communications to the World Health Organization and other international organizations about
the nature, although it was not declared an international concern, emergency event of
international concern until the end of last month. There was some controversy about how it was
initially handled, and in Wuhan, you may have seen recently that there was some turnover of
officials there. I can talk more about that if you’re interested but the thing to note here is that
drastic measures have been taken, like the awkward [inaudible] of a whole city of 11 million, of
Wuhan, and other areas within China, as well as shutting down much of international travel. So,
I’m now on the slide that goes through January 30th. You’ll see that there’s the first cases of US
transmissions. Moving to the last part of the timeline, you’ll see that the very end of January was
the [inaudible] declaration, and as of… I’m going to flip next to the current epidemiology.
Again, this was as of yesterday when I sent the slides. I just checked, and it’s over 64,000
confirmed cases now, globally, a majority of those in China, in the Hubei province, with over
1,300 deaths. Often not quoted, there’s been over 7,000 who have recovered and a scattering of
cases here in the US. I believe 15 at the latest count, including eight here in California. These can
change quickly. So, showing the current epidemiology and the map on the next slide. We know
that the epicenter had been in Wuhan and it’s spread from there from travel and individuals, and
there’s been human-to-human transmission in other parts of the world. That’s why it was
declared an international, emergency of international concern. One can easily follow the numbers
through the WHO or other sites that follow the evolution of this virus, which has been dubbed
the COVID-2019 for coronavirus disease 2019. So, I have a few other slides about the social and
economic costs, but those are quite uncertain at this point because, as you know, it is still
evolving, and while there has been international sharing of information, a lot is still not known,
both clinically and epidemiologically, as well as the social and economic costs. I would just
emphasize that unprecedented public health measures that have been taken have led to complete
lockdown of millions of people in cities in China. It’s unclear of the eventual extent of death and
other social and economic costs from that, but it does have ripple effects throughout the global
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Page 21 of 47
economy, as you all well know. I won’t go in detail through those cost estimates because we
know they are all so incredibly uncertain at this point. So, I wanted to talk about some of the
aspects of importance that will shape our public health response, particularly what’s known
about the clinical future that’s in the spread. So, it was sequenced early on, which has allowed
experts to try to follow the development and try to find out what might be an effective treatment
for it eventually. The genome characterization was the first… Again, I won’t go through all the
details, but just to give you some of the recently and very quickly published research about this
virus. First is the genomic characterization, which confirmed that it’s similar to other
coronaviruses, but different. Hence, the new name now coined for it. There are also clinical
characteristics of 99 cases, a study that talked about the initial spread in Wuhan. We know, as for
many cases, that the most vulnerable are those who are older or have co-existing conditions, and
those were some of the first lives lost to this particular virus. The spread and the way to
appropriately respond to such a crisis depends on several factors. So, transmissibility and
severity. So, a lot of attention has been given to try to figure out those characteristics of this new
virus. I quote here from a very recently published article in JAMA – the Journal of the American
Medical Association – about transmissibility and severity. They are often considered the two
most critical factors that determine the effect of an epidemic, and the control strategies that are
appropriate and it’s important to note that some of the other cases that I brought up similar to this
one have not had that combination of high transmissibility and severity, although some are one
or the other. So, the ones that they discuss are pandemic influenza A H1N1, or the coronavirus of
SARS – severe acute respiratory syndrome – or the Middle East respiratory syndrome – MERS –
the coronaviruses and a key issue about transmissibility is this, are the basically productive
number, which we know it’s small, and it kills people right away, but it won’t be easily
transmittable. But if it’s greater than one, we know it can have sustained transmission, and we
know in this case that it is indeed at least COVID-1, at least the current evidence suggests that,
that it’s between 2 and 3. In this article, they also draw the parallel to what happened here in
California, just to bring home the point parenthetically that this can arise from anywhere and not
just in China. So, Influenza H1N1 first identified in Southern California in 2009, as you may
recall, was highly transmissible, and I have quoted some numbers there about how far it spread,
to 120 countries in three months. But it was not severe and although there were many more total
deaths there than from so far with this coronavirus, it was many times lower than the 1968 …
[lost Skype connection.]
[Regained connection]
Chair Kralik: We ended with a few thoughts that you were sharing about H1N1. We didn’t get
all the way through your thoughts. You got cut off.
Dr. Eggleston: Yes. Sorry about that. So, H1N1, highly transmissible, but not so severe. I just
wanted to point out that, less we forget that influenza epidemics hit large swaths of the
population and are estimated to lead to deaths on the order of 250,000 to 500,000 per year. So, in
light of that, it’s important to take prudent measures and understand this and take steps to
eventually prepare a vaccine, but also to note that there are many other things that are affecting
our populations, particularly the most vulnerable. So, the final slides are simply to wrap up with
that, to talk about what we know about this virus. So, I include a modeling study about possible
future spread of this particular virus, what is known clinically, and also about travel out of the
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Page 22 of 47
epicenter of Wuhan and this gives some idea, does confirm that the transmissibility is estimated
between two and 3, so epidemic potential, and they estimate the doubling time was 6.4 days.
That was all based on quite preliminary information. That gives you some idea of how rapidly
these things can evolve. So, the final slide and the key questions of impact assessment more
generally are: What are the roles of the pathogenicity and our ability to contain these emerging
viruses? What is the shape of the disease pyramid? It’s important to keep in mind, particularly
given the scarcity of testing kits, that not everyone who has mild forms is detected or confirmed.
So, while there appear to be higher case fatality rate from that perspective, if we only know
about the most severe cases. But many things are still under investigation and will become clear
only later. So, it’s prudent for each community to do what we have been doing here in Palo Alto
– to take prudent science-based precautions and public health measures; isolation of those who
have been exposed; and to avoid discrimination on anyone who might be assumed to have any
characteristics, or simply be Chinese, or having traveled. I might note that the Human Relations
Commission, if I saw it correctly, had the values of civility, respect and responsible actions, and
that could be more important in this case.
Chair Kralik: I just want to begin first by saying thank you for coming to give this talk. But I also
know that you are an Asian study expert, and I wanted to get your impressions about how the
measures that have been taken in China impact human relations and are there lessons learned
from what’s been going on there so far.
Dr. Eggleston: Yes, well, it’s been a fairly extraordinary and difficult time, of course, for many
people in China, and there’s been a lot of fear and distrust about information, to see whether
they’re getting full information. This is common with pandemics and outbreaks, but there’s a
particular reason for a population to be worried in this case. And that is precipitated both
unprecedented public health measures of isolation and revealed a lot of inherent weaknesses. So,
the healthcare system in China is much, much stronger in many respects than during the SARS
outbreak, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t still get worse before it gets better and there are
millions and millions of people now under lockdown in very stringent measures, and many of
those are quite appropriate. Other ones are less clear. There already has been shakeup of some
local officials replaced, and the tragedy of healthcare workers themselves, some of them trying to
tell the world about it, having died themselves.
Chair Kralik: Opening it up for any other questions.
Commissioner Smith: One of the things that I’m noticing is the othering of individuals in social
settings because of their ethnicity. Is there anything that the City or the Human Relations
Commission can do to push back against that? Is there information we could provide to say, that
we should say? Because I think it becomes unfair. I think it was Stanford mall, and I watched
somebody just cross all the way to the other side because they saw an Asian couple coming
towards them. So, I’m wondering, is there any ways we can be proactive?
Dr. Eggleston: Yes, I appreciate that question. I think it’s very, very important to empathize and
not stigmatize, not to blame the victims, and not to over-generalize. I know Chinese Americans
have already been feeling somewhat tense from the tension between our two countries, and this
just adds to that tension. I know among young people, having young people in the household
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Page 23 of 47
ourselves, that there have been on social media, things saying, “Just because I’m Chinese doesn’t
mean I’m infected.” It’s very important to use proper terminology. Perhaps now that there’s an
official name, to not call it the “China virus” or the “Wuhan virus.” Very practical way is simple
to use the coronavirus name for it and also, to demonstrate in our behavior. I have to say that the
school district and the teachers have been incredibly supportive of us being in isolation and are
helping the students and it makes all the difference when you hear from people that understand
and are not discriminatory.
Commissioner Lee: I have two very short questions. Thank you so much for being with us,
Doctor, remotely. The first one speaks to the point you made about fear and the stress of
information. I myself am third generation Chinese American reaching out to our Chinese
community on WeChat and Facebook, and really imploring people to be very discerning about
the source of information and I’ve been trying to refer them only to the CDC and the County’s
public health department. My first question is, are those the right two sources that we should be
referring folks to here? What are the universes of sources that people can trust and rely on here in
the US? The second question there’ve been a lot of events locally around the Bay Area that have
been cancelled. I was on the planning committee for one of the Palo Alto Chinese New Year
events, which was cancelled, which personally I didn’t think was warranted. But there have been
other events that have been kept, others that have been cancelled. What is the current thinking
around cancelling events, or whether folks should be out and about.?
Dr. Eggleston: Well, thank you for the question. I think that, although it’s a rapidly evolving
situation, there’s very, very little risk right now in our community. So, although it’s appropriate
for schools to have been shut down in places in China, it certainly wouldn’t be appropriate here.
Now, part of the cancelling of public events has been to an abundance of caution, and one could
understand that from sort of a purely emotional point of view, and that people just want to have
an abundance of caution about these kinds of things. But it’s very important not to overreact, and
also to stigmatize or to overreact can actually make people go underground and doesn’t help with
a prudent handling of the situation. So, again, it depends on a case-by-case basis, and I would
follow the public health authorities. You mentioned the CDC. They have lots of information,
including clinical guidelines. There are many very able clinical providers in our area that stand
ready to give advice and are already preparing in case more cases will be found in our
community. There also are places following information, both a mapping and visualization by
Johns Hopkins, with up-to-date material. Both the New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA
and Lancet all have collections of scientific articles. It is very important to not forward
questionable sources of information that are not scientific, and unfortunately that’s a big problem
on social media these days. So, it’s something that we all have to think carefully about.
Commissioner Lee: Thank you very much. I did have one quick comment for my colleagues. As
I mentioned, I’ve already done a little bit of outreach to the Chinese community through
WeChat, which is how folks communicate in Palo Alto, and I’ve let them know that we exist as a
body. So, if they are hearing or seeing anything, that they should certainly reach out to us. So,
I’m hoping it doesn’t, but they at least know that we’re here for them.
Commissioner Regehr: I was going to also say that I’m a zero waste leader in Palo Alto, and we
have packets, like, plates, and some people are, they had ordered them for big events, and people
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Page 24 of 47
are saying, “We don’t want to use these. We’re going to use paper plates from now on because
we don’t want…” and that is so miss… I mean, and they know that it’s not related, that stuff
doesn’t live on plastic for very long, like 72-hours. So, I think it’s just a fear more than it is…
than a total racial issue.
Chair Kralik: I do have another question, and this concerns readiness and resources. You know,
some of the things that have been raised in talks over in Berkeley to college communities about
this relate to masks, and the appropriate masks, why someone would wear masks. There was a
Hong Kong piece on TV last night, where people were fighting over masks and you know, can
you help us understand the state of readiness? I know you spoke highly about Palo Alto doing
things, but what is the state of readiness regarding resources, supplies, etc. and also, can we as a
community help with any kind of resources that might be needed, where there’s connections of
our community members to China?
Dr. Eggleston: Well, I think those who work specifically on this topic might be more informed
than I am, and those who work particularly in hospitals, and clinical providers in public health,
first responders, would know more than I. But I believe it’s very important, as you said, to note
that wearing masks can be as a precaution. It doesn’t mean that you’re infected. We happen to
have some in our home, which we used when this family member had returned back. So, for
people to prepare that ahead of time is prudent. Obviously, all of the healthcare providers should
have preparedness plans in place, and they do. But we know that there was a mistake with testing
and incorrect results in San Diego, which is not so far from here, which shows that these things
can happen. So, it’s good to be prudent and thinking ahead and providing information. Once
thing to emphasize is that washing hands is probably more important even than wearing masks,
and to emphasize that all the same precautions that you take for flu season are appropriate here,
to frequently wash your hands, and cover your coughs and your sneezes, and so on.
Chair Kralik: Commissioner Stinger.
Commissioner Stinger: Thank you. Thank you very much. My comment was related to the basic
flu, which I think is probably more of a concern, immediate concern in this community, and I
wanted to think about some the HSRAP grants and the emergent needs, and how we address
populations that don’t have the same access to medical care that we might around this table. I’ve
been in the emergency room twice in the past few weeks, and there are signs all over Stanford,
and my clinic has emailed me and told me to be careful about how I wash my hands and cover
my cough. But there are people who have less access to insurance and good medical care, and I
wanted to be aware of that and think about that as we look at programs to improve the public
health in our community.
Chair Kralik: Thanks very much.
Dr. Eggleston: Yes, it’s very important to think of the vulnerable. I would second that and that
applies not only to our clinical efforts, but also when thinking about isolation [distortion]. Not
every family can afford to DoorDash food or miss work.
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
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Page 25 of 47
Chair Kralik: Doctor, this is a very timely topic, and you came to us on very short notice. We
want to say thank you for what you’ve presented tonight, and we hope you will stay in touch
with the Human Relations Commission.
Dr. Eggleston: Well, thank you very much. It’s an honor.
Chair Kralik: Okay.
Dr. Eggleston: Bye.
Chair Kralik: [off-microphone] We do have comments on item number 3 from Aram James.
Aram James: Thank you very much. Boy, what a timely, timely subject. I know when I was
working of the public defenders’ office, Jose Villarreal, who was then the public defender, asked
me to go to a conference, and it was featured around a film called The Color of Fear and the
producer of the film was a gentleman by the – and I hope I got this correct – Lee Mun Wah, and
he was a Chinese American who was raised with a family who had a Chinese restaurant. And he
decided he was going to do this film because his parents had trained him, when he was a
youngster, to do all they could to discourage African Americans from coming in the restaurant,
because they believed that would be bad for business. I have two African American sons. For a
very long time, they were living together with their mom here in Palo Alto, in an apartment and I
was driving one of my sons back from Bol Park, we had just done a walk, and Palo Alto police
were there and there was an Asian woman standing next to the police, and I walked up and I
said, “What’s going on here?” Well, she just saw two black men go into that apartment. I go,
“Oh, really? Those are my sons.” So, it’s a difficult issue. I’ve got a friend that lives in a facility
here in Palo Alto, and it’s a predominantly Asian facility, and she’s afraid to death of the virus.
Because everybody needs to understand, it’s not about the race; it’s the virus that people need to
be afraid of. But she’s been trying to get information from the director of the place, the low-
income place, and won’t give it out and of course that’s going to create panic and the other thing
that I’ve heard as a community activist is, some of these facilities seem to have been driving
people that have grown up in Palo Alto, particularly African American and others, out of the
facilities, and all of a sudden, there’s people from other countries Russian, Irish, Chinese that are
in those facilities, and people are wondering, why is that? Why are we excluding folks from the
area? These are all really burning questions that, Gabe, you’ve raised. I’m sorry, Gabe, I don’t
know your last name, so if you could…
Chair Kralik: [off-microphone] Gabe is fine.
Mr. James: Okay, Gabe. So, I really think there’s not a hotter topic now than this. My wife’s son,
long dreds, African American, lives in the city, lived in the Excelsior District, and guess what? A
lot of Asian folks there. He loves to get to know people, but they walk across the street to not
have to interact with him as an African American. So, the issues that we’re hearing are, you
know, applicable to everyone in our community that’s why I think The Color of Fear, if you can
get hold of it and you can do a forum around that, because everybody, whether they’re Jewish
folks, whether they’re African American folks, Italian, Native Americans, and the group
included some Native Americans, I remember, at the forum, and they were really upset because
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Page 26 of 47
they had all the traditional minorities that we think of, but no Native Americans in the film and
they wanted to know why they weren’t included. So, the forum started a very hot thing. But I
think somebody has to have the courage on the Human Relations Commission to go to the
different facilities in Palo Alto, the low-income housing, and find out how the people are feeling
about this. Because from my friend, who is a senior like myself, there’s a high level of panic.
They don’t want to give information about people that may even be isolated as we speak in those
facilities, and I just think that needs to more panic, more fear and I think we just have to reach
out to neighbors, regardless of what their race is, and say, “Look, this is about the virus. It’s not
about the race.” Anyway, that’s my two cents.
Chair Kralik: Thanks for your comments.
4. Human Relations Commission Chair and Vice Chair Elections and
consideration of recommendation to move and hold new elections at the June
2020 Retreat if Chair/Vice Chair are not elected
Chair Kralik: We’re going to move to item number 4, the Human Relations Commission
elections for Chair and Vice Chair, and consideration of recommendation to move and hold new
elections at the June retreat when we have a full seven members. I’m going to refer now to staff
to direct us at this time.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Sure. Thank you, Chair Kralik. This is an item that was pushed forward to
this, to tonight, as a decision was not made at the last meeting. So, there are a couple actions that
can take place tonight. One is revisiting the election of the Chair, and those would be the same
candidates as they were last month. If there is a request and a motion that passes to open up
nominations again, that could happen, but the referral was to just take the two nominated
individuals and to vote again tonight. If whether or not a decision on the Chair is made or not,
the HRC does have the prerogative to do elections for Vice Chair, and you also have the ability
to make a decision if you would like what the term would be. So, if there is a decision, for
instance, to move the elections to the June 2020 retreat, if a decision cannot be made tonight, the
HRC could consider that a Vice Chair would serve only until that June meeting, or, a decision
could be made that that person would serve until their full term would be over. So, that would be
January 2021. So, at this point, I would recommend that you first address the issue of Chair, that
you have a discussion if you feel the need is, or go directly to the vote for the Chair with the two
candidates that you had last time and then, after that, then the HRC can make the decision. They
can go straight to the recommendation of moving it to June 2020 if a decision is not reached, or
you can move directly to discussing the Vice Chair. So, there’s a little bit of flexibility in the
order there, but the first order of business would be the election of the Chair.
Chair Kralik: Okay, I’m just going to ask that if you wish to speak, that you turn on your light,
and I will recognize you.
Mr. James: I also have a speaker card.
Chair Kralik: Okay, thank you. Is there anyone that has a comment or a thought, or we can move
right to the vote?
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Page 27 of 47
Commissioner Regehr: Could we hear the oral first? Or what’s the process on that?
Ms. van der Zwaag: Usually you introduce an item, and then there’s discussion and then, after
the discussion is done, then you would hear from oral communications.
Mr. James: Before the vote. Is that correct?
Ms. van der Zwaag: That is correct.
Chair Kralik: Okay, is there any discussion items at this time? Okay, not hearing any, go right
ahead.
Aram James: I read all about the controversy and, you know, as a citizen, and with what’s going
on in Washington, I was going, huh? Why do we need to be doing this rather than dealing
directly with human relation issues? We all have dysfunctional families, so, I’m just going to say
that at this point, the HRC, in the past, from everything I read about the controversy, looked like
a very dysfunctional family. But, that said, they may not remember me because it’s been a long
time, but I’ve been in contact with Steve Lee – Is that correct? Steve? Did I get it correct?
Commissioner Lee: [off-microphone] [inaudible]
Mr. James: Yes, and then, Pastor Smith, I’ve sat at the same table where… On one of the race
conferences that you set up a few years back and I’ve been to your church on race issues, as well.
I’m happy to see that it’s down to two men of color that we’re going to be voting potentially on.
But what I have to say, because I really admire both of you equally. You’re both advocates for
stuff that I feel strongly about. So, as a public defender, I used to have clients who didn’t always
make it to court on time and I would tell them, “The judge is not as patient as I am and you’re
going to go into custody if you’re not on time.” I had a friend who told me, it goes like this. He
said, “Having a good excuse for being late is not the same as being on time.” Having a good
excuse for not being a meeting is not the same as being at the meetings. I think it’s a tiebreaker,
and I’ll leave it to you all to decide what I mean by that, but I think one person is a little bit
further up because of the attendance record. It’s a tiebreaker. That’s just me as a citizen, and, you
know, there you go.
Chair Kralik: Thank you, Aram, for the comments. Are there any other discussion items that
anyone wishes to raise? Not hearing any, seeing any lights on, we’re going to go ahead and
proceed to the vote. Thank you.
[Ms. van der Zwaag and Ms. Constantino hands out ballots.]
Ms. van der Zwaag: Please mark your choices under #1, please.
Commissioner Lee: To clarify, we can only vote between myself and Commissioner Smith.
Ms. van der Zwaag: That is correct.
[Ballots are collected.]
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access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
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Page 28 of 47
Ms. van der Zwaag: There is no decision made. There were no four votes for any one candidate.
Chair Kralik: Okay, we’re going to open it up for discussion as to the next consideration. It
seems like there’s two possible things. One, to consider the…
Commissioner Lee: Mr. Chair?
Chair Kralik: …recommendation – hold on just a second – recommendation to move and hold
new elections. We could invite other candidates. Commissioner Lee, go right ahead.
Commissioner Lee: Yes, at this time, I’d like to make a statement, and then a motion.
Mr. James: Could you speak up, please?
Commissioner Lee: Yes. At this time, I’m going to make a statement, and then I’ll make a
motion. So, this particular issue has been something that’s been on my mind pretty continuously
since our last meeting, and it’s something that I’ve lost sleep over, something that has just
consumed my thoughts over the last couple weeks. You know, contrary to what some folks may
think, I do think I’m ready for this position. I think I’ve worked hard during my two and a half
years on this commission. I’ve shown up at every meeting that we’ve had, without exception. I
go above and beyond to attend meetings and to meet with colleagues. Between this meeting and
the last, I’ve done at least 13 phone calls, meetings, public events, totaling more than 20, 25
hours of work. Not including the actual physical work that we do in terms of editing things and
crafting things. So, I think I put in the work, I put in the effort. You know, I think I’ve raised the
visibility and profile of this commission, and I think, together with my colleagues, we’ve done a
lot of good work during the last 2 ½ years. I certainly have a more expansive view of what the
commission can do for our community. It’s a view that I think I consistent with our charge as a
Commission under our Municipal Code, but certainly one that I will admit is more extensive than
this commission has played historically. I think we are doing good work, and we’re doing it
together, notwithstanding our debates. I think our debates make us stronger. I think we all bring
interesting passion and perspective to this work, and I’ve enjoyed all of that work. So, even
though, you know, I think I’m ready, and I believe I’m the best candidate for this position, I do
care so much about this body as an institution, and I’ll continue to do as much as I can
independently and working in pairs and threesomes with my colleagues to do good work for my
community, but, you know, we have so much to do, and I don’t want this to be deadlocked for
the next couple of months. So, perhaps inspired by some of the company we’re keeping tonight,
I’m going to pull what I think we can all call – the “Councilman Cormack” move, and I’m going
to be the bigger person here, I’m going to be the mature person, and end this deadlock. You
know, again, I want to reiterate that, you know, I have strong convictions that I could have done
a lot as chair to raise the entire commission, not just any one person’s particular agenda, but to
help raise all of it together. With that being said, I’m going to, at this point, ask that all those who
have supported me at this time vote for Commissioner Smith.
Chair Kralik: Are there any other comments?
Commissioner Lee: So, I’m going to make the motion…
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Page 29 of 47
Chair Kralik: Thank you.
Commissioner Lee: I’ll move that we select Commissioner Smith as Chair.
Chair Kralik: I think the proper thing to do is, with that statement, maybe hold another vote. Is
that something we can do?
Commissioner Lee: Well, I mean, I made a motion, so we would vote on that and discuss it.
Chair Kralik: Oh. We can have any further discussion; the next move would be to vote.
Commissioner Lee: Someone would need to second it, then we would discuss it, then we would
take the vote.
Chair Kralik: Okay, I’m not sure… We’re following a process to elect. I think I understand you
to say that you’ve asked folks that have supported your position to support Pastor Smith, and I’ll
just ask staff what the next step is. I think we can have further discussion onto your topic, but I
do think that we have to have a vote.
Commissioner Smith: We moved with a motion to keep two candidates. So, in Robert’s Rules,
you have to go back against that motion.
Chair Kralik: Yes, I didn’t hear him say he’s going to remove his candidacy. I think he just
called for someone to…
Commissioner Lee: I said I would move that we select Commissioner Smith as Chair. So, if that
has a second, we can discuss it, and then vote on [crosstalk].
Chair Kralik: Okay, I don’t hear a second at this time. Okay. I understand your comment to be
that you’ve ask those that supported you in the election… I think we’ve had four polls now. Is
that right? Four?
Ms. van der Zwaag: That’s correct.
Chair Kralik: Okay. To support Pastor Smith. I think we should hold another vote.
Ms. van der Zwaag: So, just to be clear, Commissioner Lee, you are withdrawing your name
from consideration. Is that correct?
Chair Kralik: Or…
Ms. van der Zwaag: Or, were you requesting, you were trying to have a motion that the
individuals who voted for you would change their vote? I think that would be individual
decisions for each of those [crosstalk].
Commissioner Lee: The comment was that I would ask that those who supported me to vote, and
then…
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Page 30 of 47
Ms. van der Zwaag: The comment.
Commissioner Lee: The comment.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay.
Commissioner Lee: The motion is that we vote to select Commissioner Smith as Chair.
Ms. van der Zwaag: I would feel much more comfortable if we just had the process as it is…
Commissioner Lee: That’s fine. Then I…
Ms. van der Zwaag: … that it is valid that each individual…
Commissioner Lee: …move that we vote again.
Ms. van der Zwaag: …can respond.
Commissioner Lee: Okay. Then I move that we do another round of balloting.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay, but are you withdrawing your name, are you not withdrawing your
name?
Commissioner Lee: No.
Ms. van der Zwaag: You are not withdrawing your name. Okay. Thank you. I just wanted
[crosstalk]…
Commissioner Lee: I mean, I’ll leave it up to my colleagues to decide, but, you know, I did…
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay. Thank you. I just wanted to be clear.
Chair Kralik: Okay. We’ll go ahead and vote again. Thank you. If we could turn off our lights,
our speaker lights, that would be great.
[Ms. van der Zwaag and Ms. Constantino hand out ballots; commissioners vote; ballots are
collected.]
Ms. van der Zwaag: So, we do have a decision and a pass motion, with five votes for
Commissioner Kaloma Smith.
MOTION PASSES 5-1.
[Light applause.]
Chair Kralik: That’s great. Are we going to let him move us on to the Vice Chair vote?
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Page 31 of 47
Ms. van der Zwaag: That is the protocol, that he would move on as Chair and oversee the rest of
the meeting.
Chair Kralik: Let me just pass on my regular dual action to the pastor. I wish you good luck.
Chair Smith: I am profoundly moved by Commissioner Lee’s stance. I’m also profoundly moved
by his dedication to this commission. As I spoke to him on the phone earlier, I made it clear, I
deeply admire his passion and work for what he’s done on this Commission, and he will continue
to be an integral part of what we do here. My hope is that as a Commission, tonight we received
a mandate from Councilman Tanaka as far as homelessness, and we have some real meat in
action items we can work in there. We heard so clearly about veterans and those with issues, and
we’ve also heard about parts of our community who have been marginalized by irrational fears.
So, the HRC has a full docket of stuff even in one night that we need to deal with. So, my hope is
just to create frameworks and things that we can all work together really well. Thank you. Our
next action of business is for Vice Chair. We will open with nominations.
MOTION
Commissioner Savage: I’d like to nominate Valerie Stinger.
SECOND
Commissioner Lee: I’ll second that motion.
Commissioner Stinger: Thank you.
Chair Smith: Do we have any other candidates?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I think before you do that you would ask Commissioner Stinger if she is
willing to accept the nomination.
Chair Smith: She said, “Thank you.”
Ms. van der Zwaag: She said, “Thank you.” That was… Okay.
Chair Smith: Okay. Before we close, any other candidates? Do we need to take the vote, or can
we just close?
Ms. van der Zwaag: We can close if folks found that was enough time, if there’s any discussion,
and then, we can go to the vote and just for clarity for staff, because we did produce two ballots,
this would be for the full term, to January 2021. Is that correct, Chair? Or other…
Chair Smith: Yes.
Ms. van der Zwaag: That was your intention, Commissioner Savage? Okay. Thank you.
Commissioner Savage: Can I, more comments, with regard to that?
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Page 32 of 47
Chair Smith: Yes, please.
Commissioner Savage: I’ve known Valerie for more than a decade. She’s got a wealth of
experience, she’s reliable, she’s responsible, and there’s a very good relationship already
between she and the current chair, and she knows how to deal with people effectively. The two
of you have a history of working together, and I just think it’s a good match. Good fit.
Chair Smith: Thank you. Any other comments?
Commissioner Kralik: I can second that. I’d just like to say that I took over for Valerie, and I had
the opportunity to work with her on many different things. I do think she will be a good guiding
force for you, Pastor Smith, as you take on this task, and your ability to interact with staff is only
going to be enhanced as a leadership team, given her background, her experience, as well. So, I
think she’s going to be a wonderful candidate.
Chair Smith: Thank you. Any other comments? Valerie?
Commissioner Stinger: I really appreciate that. Thank you very much. Looking around the table,
we are a group of volunteers with an extreme pool of talent. I kind of liken us to a repertoire
company. We are competing for the lead role, but when the vote is done, we’re going to work
really hard together because we have a show to put on. I enjoy working with each one of you and
respect the talents immensely that sit at this table.
Chair Smith: Thank you so much. I know I personally would not be here if it wasn’t for
Commissioner Stinger. We did, after the Charleston shooting, I did a community rally on racism,
and then, she captured my attention. I think we are on our eighth or ninth event in the last four or
five years. So, I’m grateful for her work. Staff, do we have a vote?
Ms. van der Zwaag: Yes, we have a decision. The motion passed with a vote of six to zero. Six
votes.
MOTION PASSED WITH UNANIMOUS VOTE
[Light applause.]
Chair Smith: Thank you.
Commissioner Savage: Chair Smith?
Chair Smith: Yes.
Commissioner Savage: I just wanted to congratulate you, as well as Commissioner Stinger, on
the new positions. I think we’re headed for a wonderful year, and I just also wanted to talk to
Commissioner Lee. I think that was a really gracious thing you did. I’m sure it wasn’t easy, but
for the sake of the Commission, you selflessly stepped aside, and I do appreciate that.
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Page 33 of 47
Chair Smith: All right. We can at least say we agreed on one thing tonight, and that was
Commissioner Stinger. Thank you.
V. REPORTS FROM OFFICIALS
1. Commissioner Reports
Chair Smith: Let’s go to Commissioner Reports. We can do it in circle fashion, so we’ll start
with Commissioner Lee, and then we’ll go to Commissioner Stinger.
Commissioner Lee: As I mentioned earlier, I’ve had a very prodigious month working with my
various colleagues on our various workplan items. Working with Commissioner Regehr, we’ve
been working with various groups in the community who might assist with some of our
homelessness and housing-related workplan items, and hopefully we can get something on the
agenda in the next couple of months to address those two topics.
Chair Smith: I would invite both of you to the meeting that the clergy and City staff will be
having. It will be on… I have it in my email, in my text. The first initial small group meeting will
be on, 2:00 p.m. on February 25th and I’ll give you the location.
Commissioner Lee: Okay.
Chair Smith: Sorry. Continue.
Commissioner Lee: I’ve also been working with now-Vice Chair Stinger. You know, as we’ve
previously mentioned at the Commission, we’ve been working with the LGBTQ working group
to get that group sort of self-running. So, we met with our two co-chairs of that working group to
finalize some of the structure and the mission of that, and we are re-launching it and including a
broader set of community partners from all of north county and one of the things we’re going to
be working with that group is to be planning the, what would be the first PRIDE event in Palo
Alto so, that’s one of the things that we’re working towards, in addition to some of the other four
categories that we [inaudible] earlier, which includes space, which we’ve already made
tremendous progress on thanks to Supervisor Simitian’s office, and Avenidas, as well as
identifying opportunities for training and education, and… What were some of the other items?
Programming. Sensitivity training. Did I miss any categories? What category did I miss?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I would just say the continuation of the good work that Avenidas is doing, if
you haven’t said it and the event that they’re having tomorrow. The Love is Love…
Commissioner Lee: The Love is Love event.
Commissioner Stinger: Between 3:00 and 5:00. Third floor at Avenidas. It’s going to be lovely.
Music, DJ’s. Views.
Commissioner Lee: The last thing I will bring up is the childcare initiative that the Commission
weighed in on back in October. I did get some feedback from some of the PTA leadership, and
I’ll be culling through that data and putting together a second proposal sometime in the next
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Page 34 of 47
month or two. So, thank you.
Chair Smith: Can we add that, if we can ask the City to put changing tables in the bathrooms on
this level for parents when they bring their kids to meetings? Because I brought my baby to the
meeting and we had to change his diaper and there wasn’t a changing table in the men’s or
women’s bathroom. You generally, bringing kids to meetings, that would be an important part,
some place to change.
Commissioner Lee: Definitely, we’ll add that in. Thank you.
Chair Smith: Commissioner Stinger?
Commissioner Stinger: We held a convening of community leaders on January 23rd to talk about
vaping and the local response and this was an activity of Healthy Cities Healthy Communities,
with PAMF and we will be summarizing that more formally. So, I just want to touch on this now
because these are sort of my edits, but not sanctioned by the committee. We found some gaps in
programming at the middle school level, some gaps in mental health treatments; parent
education; and we have some groups that want to address those needs, and we will be trying to
identify and empower those groups to take the initiative by themselves and carry forward. One of
the findings, or one of the follow-ups that we need to do, or I believe we really need to do is to
recognize and applaud PAMF. They put out a huge effort to bring some 65 people together to
look at what’s being done, what are the gaps in service, what do they need to continue their work
and they will continue to take this issue forward.
Chair Smith: How do you propose we recognize them? Is it a letter, is it a resolution? Is it…?
What would you envision the recognition looking like?
Commissioner Stinger: A resolution would be lovely. I think we also need to just be very
conscious in the press, to give them credit when we go to Council, when we speak in public
places. Minka, did you want to add to that?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I was just going to say, there are two options – One through the work of the
Healthy Cities Healthy Communities, and the HRC also has a recognition process for community
groups that was fashioned a couple years ago. So, the Chair and the Vice Chair could consider
that as well.
Chair Smith: Can we get a full description of the work they’ve done for the next meeting, and
then we can bring it to general conversation to see if we should do some sort of resolution or
official recognition?
Commissioner Stinger: I would love to do that.
Chair Smith: Okay. Thank you.
Commissioner Kralik: So, we did meet as a subcommittee after that vaping group, and I think
one of the things that impressed us was the self-starting, and the determination of the students.
One of the comments that was made is really, I thought, very effective comment, was how the
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Page 35 of 47
students felt it important to take on the leadership of the response to vaping, because they didn’t
want to be lectured to. They wanted to have the ability to set out their own ideas about how to
talk about it. I think one of the ways that we can do that is to support them, and I think, you
know, I’m sure as we meet as a subcommittee again, we will identify certain recommendations
for the HRC to move forward. I think we had some good speakers tonight. I did work on that. I
think both the veterans’ group and Dr. Eggleston brought some really good information. I do
think that, you know, in the context of our group, discussion is really important, and being open
about ideas is important. So, I just want to encourage all of us to continue to do that.
Commissioner Regehr…?
Chair Smith: Commissioner Kralik, could we have recommendations next meeting?
Commissioner Stinger: I can do that.
Commissioner Kralik: The Vice Chair says she can make that happen.
Chair Smith: So we’ll have the letter and the recommendations, right? Okay, cool.
Council Member Tanaka: So, again, I’m really glad you guys are leading the charge on the
vaping. On the Council, we’ve also taken some action, as you guys know, and staff is actually
looking at… They really dealt with the supply side in terms of banning the sale, but I think
there’s a large part that could be done on the… I’m sorry. We dealt with the supply side. I think
there’s a lot to be done on the demand side, right? What can we do? You know, I’ve talked to a
lot of… I’m now the Council rep to Palo Alto Youth Council, so I asked them, “Okay, what do
you guys think this ban is going to do in terms of stopping your colleagues, other students from
vaping?” and people said, “Nothing.” So, I do think that it’s worth it for the HRC to investigate
this issue more, to figure out what really does work, what would help. I know staff is working on
this topic right now, but if the HRC could weigh in on this and kind of figure out what could be
more effective, right? So, I definitely appreciate it. I think you guys could have probably more
time and perhaps more focus on figuring out,… I don’t think there’s an easy answer, but again,
continue to look at other cities, you could look at what’s worked and not worked. Talk to other
students, right?
Commissioner Lee: Can I ask the council member a question? I know when the Council last took
this up, in addition to directing staff to prepare the ordinance, they also asked staff after the
breakfast, to come back with funding recommendations, and I’m wondering if you think it would
be appropriate for this Commission and subcommittee in particular, the three commissioners in
front of me to come back with a possible recommendation in terms of funding especially given
our role in terms of providing HSRAP funding, but certainly could be in a different pot of
money. Would that be something that you think would be appropriate?
Council Member Tanaka: Well, I mean, I can’t talk for the Council as whole, but I can talk for
myself. I would find that very useful. I mean, one of the things I think this was actually part of
the motion, which was to look at, you know, could potential fines be one way to discourage use?
A lot of us think so, but there’s also a lot of potential pitfalls to as well, in terms of fairness and
all that other kind of stuff. So, I for one don’t think that we have the magic answer. I think this is
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Page 36 of 47
a very tough, hard problem. It’s something that’s spreading among our youth quite rapidly, even
at the middle school, which is sad. So, I’m looking for the best ideas and the best brains on this.
Commissioner Lee: I don’t want to discuss it, but I would ask that the committee consider
bringing one of the recommendations, including…
Council Member Tanaka: I think you guys have to figure that out, but I personally would, as a
council member, I would find that very, very informative. Especially if you get feedback before
it comes back to Council.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Can I just interject as far as the timing, Chair Smith? Is that I would like to
have some flexibility for the Health Cities Healthy Communities, to do some of their follow-up.
Vice Chair Stinger is on that. I would rather, instead of just saying, “Okay, it has to be next
month at the HRC,” to look at the timing of this, and do it when it makes sense that the HRC can
be informed by the analysis that the subcommittee on the Healthy Cities Healthy Communities
group has done on the vaping event, and the next steps, and some of what they’ve heard back.
So, I do believe there is obviously a role for the Human Relations Commission to discuss next
steps, but I wouldn’t want that to happen without some of that important work on the Health
Cities’ committee to happen first. So, I’m not asking for a great delay, but I’m just not sure that
the information would be there to have a productive conversation. So, that’s just something that
we can discuss at agenda planning, but I will say that I would like that to be, you know,
considered, so that whatever recommendations the HRC may have, really feel like they come in
concert with the work that the Health Cities committee has done and all that acknowledges the
leadership you’ve provided for this topic up until today.
Chair Smith: Thank you.
Commissioner Stinger: Chair Smith, can I have two more sentences? I was trying to be really
brief since we were just doing commissioner reports. But we’ve talked about the strength of the
teen voice, and one of the voices, one of the statements that they made that I think is really
important is, we’ve seen it; it’s on us and the high school students were saying they wanted to be
instrumental in speaking to the middle school students, and using peer-to-peer influence, and
trying to de-mythicize some of the myths and in that vein, the Palo Alto Youth Council is doing
a program, Escaping Vaping, on April 2nd, at 7:30. It’s a student-organized panel, primarily
targeted to the parents and they’ve taken some of the myths about vaping and tried to twist it…
not twist it, present it from their standpoint because they have said clearly that the medical facts
aren’t deterring them. If they can see the experience of other students, that’s much more helpful.
So, they’re stepping up, and we need to let them go and encourage them. Give them what they
need.
Chair Smith: Thank you so much. Commissioner Regehr?
Commissioner Regehr: I have nothing to report.
Chair Smith: Commissioner Savage?
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Commissioner Regehr: Can I just say…? I look forward to – I’m sorry – In some ways, I do, I’ve
been working a lot on different issues, and Minka has been asking me, do I want to present it on
the agenda before and look forward to working with, having you ask us, so we can coordinate
agendas, not just shared lead, so that some of my things I’ve been working on can be on the
agenda, and can be discussed. So, for timely reasons, I mean, I’ve kind of backed down a lot of
times. So, I look forward to…
Chair Smith: And we’re meeting next week, right? We’ll talk then.
Commissioner Savage: Okay. So, two months ago, Chair Smith, Commissioner Lee and I met
with Palo Alto Police Chief Jonsen, just to go over current events. The first thing we discussed
was community involvement, and they mentioned recent community things, were the December
toy drive. They hold monthly CAG meetings – that’s a Citizens Advisory Group – who recently
developed a strategic traffic plan, so that committee is really going to town. They had a National
Night Out, and they offer citizens’ academies three times a year. There’s an upcoming academy
right now, and applications are now open if anybody wants to apply. We also discussed crime
trends. Residential burglaries are slightly down, but what is up is grab-and-run, and smash-and-
and grab. Grab-and-run are robberies at stores like Apple or Lululemon, where they come in,
they grab, and they run. Smash-and-grab, that’s on vehicles, where they smash a window, grab
your computer, and run. Both of those are on the increase. Staffing for police, there are currently
13 vacancies. There are three people right now in the police academy, and three additional ones
getting field training, and another three are in the final hiring process and lastly, the status of the
new police building, it’s on time, on budget, and completion date is 2022.
Chair Smith: Thank you so much. I have two items to report. As you’ve heard, I’ve been doing
some work with the faith community, and the parking initiative. As it stands right now, I think
there’s a couple of steps we’re taking. We met with nine faith communities and the three major
community services agencies, and we started having a discussion, just to see where everybody
was. There was a lot of lack of clarity. There was a little bit of confusion and a lot of people were
in different phases of their thought process as far as discussion. Also, we started to address the
cost, and there was a certain level of cynicism because they had been down this path before with
the City, i.e. 2012. Next steps, a couple of next steps for that. There will be a small group
meeting with two or three houses of worships that actually are in place. One of them actually,
when they did their renovation, their social space to have a space, having a bathroom that’s
accessible from outside, with a shower. So, this group was already thinking about this. So, they
will be at the table, and two others. We want to put together a community forum to start
answering questions, because some of the pastors locally have started talking to neighbors, and
what we’ve realized is the high level of misinformation and dehumanizing of the homeless
population. So, we continue to work on that and then, we’re going to meet with Rachael because
we are connecting her with a couple of the big serve list of religious institutions in the
community. So, when the City has their bigger meeting to invite everybody that’s interested,
she’ll be able to have a deeper penetration there. The second thing is, myself and Commissioner
Stinger met with the League of Women Voters, and we wanted to continue our dialog around
diverse communities. We are looking to do our next event at the end of March, if I remember
correctly. We have not finalized location. The one location we were thinking about, we have to
see if they finish building it. I don’t know if you know, Congregation Kol Emeth has just, is in
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Page 38 of 47
the process, they’re almost done, of building a beautiful, $30 million synagogue, and this would
be the first public event, talking about diverse communities. We want to put a panel together of
two from marketplace, where we have one young lady that’s African American that runs D&I
Tech company, and another young lady that runs D&I another corporation, to talk about doing
diverse communities. Two faith leaders and two community leaders and we want to make it an
open public discussion, talking about, what does it mean to be a diverse Palo Alto? What does
that really mean as a community? Our goal with this one is to make it more interactive and more
about the people at the table discussing the situation. So, we are in the planning process in
finalizing of that now.
Commissioner Lee: Is that the third in the four-event series?
Chair Smith: That would be second.
Commissioner Lee: Second one.
Chair Smith: First one was Rob Wilder in September.
Commissioner Stinger: We were not counting Jennifer Eberhardt as part of the series of four.
Commissioner Lee: Gotcha. Okay.
Chair Smith: So, I think it’s a great opportunity.
Commissioner Lee: Can I also just ask real quick, Mr. Chair? With regards to the first update, to
the extent that you would like to involve the Commission with any of those efforts, I would ask
that you tag up with Commissioner Regehr and myself since the two of us are identified on the
workplan on homelessness. So, it would be great if can follow the structure that we’ve set out.
Chair Smith: I will definitely do that. I have a little, I don’t want to call it conflict of interest. A
lot of the work I’m doing on that is as my role as a pastor, and the lead pastor in the area. But I’ll
definitely… I think it would be very valuable to have you at the table. So, all the meetings we’re
going to have from now on, I will definitely include you and have you there with everybody else
because I think it’s super valuable to have everybody at the table.
2. Council Liaison Report
Chair Smith: The only other thing is…
Ms. van der Zwaag: Council Liaison Reports.
Chair Smith: Council liaison, yes.
Council Member Tanaka: Well, again, thank you for inviting me here. It’s great to see you guys
in action. It seems like you guys all really care deeply about the community and want to make it
better, so that’s awesome. I guess for me, the thing that I, I would only talk about some things
that I think would be helpful, like the vaping, or the safe parking. But I, you know, as you guys
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Page 39 of 47
probably know, I served on the Planning & Transportation Commission for a while, so I have a
deep appreciation, actually, for commissioners. I really appreciate you guys putting your time in
for this role. I think that, on Council, like, for me, because we’re quite busy looking at a lot of
different topics, I definitely like the fairness and deepness that you guys go into topics and I
think this is something which makes it easier for us on Council to make better decisions, because
we have you guys looking at this stuff, researching it, looking at it from every different angle.
So, I just want to encourage you guys to continue to do that. Also, I want to encourage you guys
to, you know, it seems like you guys have various initiatives that you guys are trying to do, and I
think that’s great as well because I think on Council, we don’t necessarily see everything, right?
So, I think it’s great that you guys have different initiatives that you’re looking to kind of put
forward and research. I think that’s good because I think, on Council, we’re not blindsided when
there’s something that comes up, right? We haven’t even talked about coronavirus, but that
seems like a good thing to be talking about, given all the news right now. So, that’s great. You
know, I want to definitely work with the Chair on how to actually be supportive, but I kind of see
you guys as a resource for us on Council, and would love to see more stuff that you guys do,
right? I think it allows us to free up time for other things, right? To look at other things that we
may not get time to if we’re spending a lot of detail time on some of the stuff that you guys could
do. So, thank you.
Commissioner Regehr: May I just ask, does he have our workplans, so he knows who’s doing…?
Or can he get the workplan, so he knows…? So, you know what each of us, areas we’re working
on?
Council Member Tanaka: It might be helpful. Thank you.
Chair Smith: [off-microphone] [inaudible]
3. Staff Liaison Report
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay, thank you. I have several things. First is I’d like to give out a copy of
hot-off-the-presses Community Services’ annual report, and we do that in the form of a calendar.
You all are listed in here and thanked for your service. Human Services, the operation that Mary
and I serve the City with, is one of the months. Do you remember what month? We might be
September and there’s a picture of Senior Friendship Day, and that is a program that is a
collaboration between the City, the Adult School, La Comida and Avenidas. It is mostly Chinese
elders, so, there’s a great picture in here. I will hand that out. The second thing is your HSRAP
site visits. That list has been sent out. Everybody is signed up except for Commissioner Kralik, if
you could take the time to look at the list, if you are able to take the time to make any visits, and
then, once you have done so, Chair, I will send an email out to all the commissioners, and those
that are listed as leads, I ask that you take the time to start initiating those visits. Mary has sent an
email out to all of our key contacts at those agencies, so they know to expect your contact. Just
as a reminder, this is a social visit. Of course, questions can be asked, but Mary and I take on the
role of really analyzing the effectiveness of their management of the HSRAP grant. Related to
HSRAP in that the HRC has a role, on next month’s agenda is Community Development Block
Grant Second Year. So, in that capacity – for those that have served for a while, may know what
I’m about to say – the CDBG staff does meet with the subcommittee from the HRC to look at the
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Page 40 of 47
decisions that need to be made for Year 2. Protocol has usually been that those that served on the
Year 1 committee serve on the Year 2 committee. So, that would be Commissioner Lee and Vice
Chair Stinger. There is one spot open from Commission Brahmbhatt who is no longer serving.
So, we need a third person. Actually, what I would say is, Commissioner Kralik, the process that
he and I had discussed is that anybody who was interested would let me know, and then, the
Chair would make the decision of who would serve. Often it’s easy for folks who have done it
before because they have a process, but that isn’t a requirement. So, I’d like to just stay with the
process that he identified. So, if you are interested, can you let me know by tomorrow?
Commissioner Regehr: Can we let you know now?
Ms. van der Zwaag: You can.
Commissioner Regehr: Okay, I’d like to. I’d be interested.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay.
Commissioner Lee: Can I ask a question? I know historically that’s how this Commission has
done it, but technically, shouldn’t the Commission vote on who is on a subcommittee?
Ms. van der Zwaag: Because this is time sensitive, that can happen, but this is just trying to fill
that…
Commissioner Lee: I think, in the future, we can try to do that.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay. But this was a decision made, the Chair, just to be more effective,
because this subcommittee will be meeting in the next week or so.
Chair Smith: I’ll withdraw my name. Let’s have Patti do it and move on. Thank you.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay. The other thing is just a reminder that there are three positions on the
HRC, two terms that end May 31st by current commissioners who would be eligible to reapply if
they so desired, and one term that is empty. So, I’m not sure. I got the information from the
Clerk’s office. Not sure if you as individual members have received that…? Okay. Then I will
pass that on to you. The other thing is…
Commissioner Regehr: Can I ask a question on that one? Is it possible, because I know that when
Daryl and I applied – and I can’t remember the other woman’s name – the process was different
for each one of us? Like, Daryl got it videotaped just with one commissioner, I think with you. I
met with everyone and I think that it should be a consistent way of interviewing, or something…
I mean, I don’t know how to say that, but I think that it’s, it seems like we should be consistent.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay. So, with that feedback, there are two council members here, and I can
provide that feedback back to the clerk’s office. Just as an FYI, I chair, it’s not extremely formal,
but the Palo Alto Homeless Services committee. It is a committee of homeless service providers
and senior providers. We are hosting a resource fair for unhoused and low-income members of
the community tomorrow, at the Opportunity Center, from 10:00 to noon. So, those providers
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Page 41 of 47
have been doing outreach for the event. You’re welcome to stop by, but that’s tomorrow, 10:00
to noon, at the Opportunity Center.
Chair Smith: Can I ask something? Can we start, like, a Google doc and just start listing all the
various events that different people want to do, and we can add to it? So that we have one, like a
repository, of things that people go to.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Are you asking for a listing of the events or a listing of who’s going to
them?
Chair Smith: No, no, no, just a listing of events. So like, I know we go through the meeting,
Valerie mentioned, and I know you mentioned one. So that we can all have…
Ms. van der Zwaag: It’s usually, those things that are very good intentioned at the beginning, and
hard to keep up. So, this is an event that Mary and I are planning, so it’s not particularly an HRC
event. I was just letting you know about it. I mean, we can take that into consideration. There is a
spot that needs to be developed on the HRC website that talks about… HRC events and past
events can be listed on. I think, too, if the leadership committee wants to talk about something
else, we can definitely do so. Just wanted to bring that to your attention. Let me think if that’s all
that I had on my list. I believe so. Thank you.
Chair Smith: Thank you.
Commissioner Lee: Can I ask for clarification? When will staff be making its recommendation
on Year 2 on HSRAP? Is it to Council?
Ms. van der Zwaag: There is no recommendation that goes back to Council for HSRAP.
Commissioner Lee: Oh, just renew it.
Ms. van der Zwaag: They have a two-year contract. It’s basically one year with a possibility of
renewing, and there’s really no formal process that happens there.
Commissioner Lee: So, staff could decide not to renew a particular contract for Year 2?
Ms. van der Zwaag: Theoretically, but staff has no recommendations to do so at this time.
Commissioner Lee: Theoretically, when would you be renewing then for Year 2?
Ms. van der Zwaag: That just happens within the budget cycle for next fiscal year.
Commissioner Lee: So, June?
Ms. van der Zwaag: That is when the budget is approved. But as a base budget, the current HRC
budget and contracts just go straight through to Year 2.
Commissioner Lee: Okay.
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Page 42 of 47
Commissioner Kralik: I think you also held a meeting that I attended. I just wondered if you
wanted to speak about that. The senior group.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Sure.
Commissioner Kralik: I had an opportunity to see you in a whole new light as a community
organizer…
Ms. van der Zwaag: Okay.
Commissioner Kralik: … and I certainly enjoyed being present. It was a well-attended meeting.
Speak a little bit about that.
Ms. van der Zwaag: So, part of the work of the Healthy Cities Healthy Communities was to join
and make Palo Alto an Age-Friendly Community, and really, that was part of an effort to have
every city in the county be designated as age-friendly. That’s a World Health Organization
designation that means that we are striving to be age-friendly and working together as a
community and providers to look for ways to make our community a better place for older
adults. So, I’ve been working with that committee for a couple of years and decided it was time
to do a revamp of that committee. We had a meeting just under a month ago. We had at least 25
individuals in the room that work with older adults, in one capacity or another. We are meeting
again next week to look… There were so many ideas generated. The goal was to come up with
some ideas and projects and so forth, for the group to work on collaboratively, but there were so
many ideas that we’re having another meeting, just to revisit some of those ideas, and pare them
down, and see what work that committee, and what good work it can do in the community.
Commissioner Kralik: I thought you did a great job…
Ms. van der Zwaag: Oh, thank you.
Commissioner Kralik: … certainly in organizing, but also in running that meeting. It really
brought out a lot of great ideas from different people. So, thank you.
Chair Smith: Thank you each for your time this evening.
VI. TENTATIVE AGENDA FOR NEXT REGULAR MEETING: Thursday, March 12,
2020
Ms. van der Zwaag: There’s a call for agenda items, Chair.
Chair Smith: Okay. Any agenda items for the next meeting?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I will list, just as a reminder, the CDBG. That is listed on the next agenda. I
would give, for your consideration and that’s really up to the Commission – is one item that did
get tabled was the workplan review. Just to bring that up.
Chair Smith: Definitely.
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Page 43 of 47
Commissioner Kralik: Commissioner Lee was first.
Commissioner Lee: I wanted to ask staff. Maybe we need check with Kristen on this, but in
terms of following up on the CIP and the therapeutic recreation position that they were
considering, when would we need to discuss that as a Commission, if we wanted to send a
recommendation to Council as part of their budget process? Can we wait until April?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I think you’re talking about two separate things…
Commissioner Lee: Yes, yes.
Ms. van der Zwaag: … because, obviously, the staff position is not a CIP. The CIP is for
facilities-based items. I can check with Kristen and share that with the Leadership Team.
Commissioner Lee: If it’s time sensitive, I would ask…
Commissioner Regehr: Because I think she said March.
Commissioner Lee: March?
Commissioner Regehr: I thought…
Commissioner Lee: If it’s time sensitive, I would ask that it be March.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Thank you.
Commissioner Lee: For both items.
Ms. van der Zwaag: I will check.
Chair Smith: What’s the item again, Commissioner Lee?
Commissioner Lee: It’s the Rinconada pool CIP, and the…
Chair Smith: What does the acronym “CIP” stand for?
Commissioner Lee: Capital Improvement Project.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Capital Improvement Project.
Chair Smith: That’s for the entryway for the…
Commissioner Lee: For the gender-neutral family changing rooms.
Chair Smith: Okay.
Commissioner Lee: The other thing was, we’re still working out the therapeutic recreation
specialist. I don’t know if they’re going to be asking for [crosstalk].
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Page 44 of 47
Chair Smith: So that’s two separate…
Commissioner Lee: It’s two separate, but its under the same workplan item.
Chair Smith: Okay.
Ms. van der Zwaag: That can be a staff follow-up item.
Chair Smith: Okay so we’re voting on a timing for staff to let us know when we can make a
recommendation?
Ms. van der Zwaag: Staff will let you know timing as far as when it can be brought back to this
Committee, and you can make a decision if you want to make a recommendation to the Council
that would probably just be shared with Council when they do the budget process, which goes to
the finance committee.
Chair Smith: Okay.
Commissioner Lee: Thank you.
Chair Smith: Any other items.
Commissioner Stinger: Two items. One, an update on vaping, and the Healthy Cities and
Healthy Communities progress, and we had talked about perhaps revising our schedule of
election retreat and setting a workplan for the year. I’d like to look at that. Maybe a retreat would
be better in February or March, right after the Council’s retreat, and when you have a full year to
act on an action plan.
Chair Smith: I like the thinking to that. We’ll review it with the workplan, and then, we can bring
it to a vote to the body, to see if they want to move it for the following year. I don’t think we can
move it for this year. We’d have to keep it, and it would affect the next group for the following
year. Any other items?
Commissioner Kralik: I’d like to second the vaping discussion, just as a way of update. I
understand from Valerie that the Healthy Cities group is meeting early in March, and I think if
we can just kind of focus on a limited agenda item to report off of that, that would be good,
pursuant to the ideas of staff on collecting that wisdom and kind of thinking about which way to
go.
Chair Smith: Okay. Commissioner Regehr?
Commissioner Regehr: I’m wondering why that can’t just be part of a commissioner’s report. It
seems like our workplan should be a big item, because there’s many items… I know you
seconded it, but I’m just saying that it seems like that could be part of a commissioner’s report,
not a small little agenda item because it seems like, according…
Commissioner Stinger: Can I speak to that?
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Page 45 of 47
Commissioner Regehr: … Because according to the workplan, that was just one item, and we
have been taken over by, I mean, in some ways, about just kind of flip-flop, I mean, a ping-pong
ball of our agendas, and I would recommend that you guys think about the workplan and how
that’s going to fit into the agenda along the way, and how some workplans haven’t even been on
the agenda.
Chair Smith: That makes sense.
Ms. van der Zwaag: Can I speak? It can, if they’re not bringing anything to you for
consideration, for any type of action. That would be, I would leave that for that subcommittee to
be in dialog with the Leadership Team about that.
Commissioner Kralik: Yes, I think you have to just find out what the input of the Health Cities
group is, and if it becomes a report, or there’s something that can be raised, you just play it by
ear. So, we’ll see how it goes.
Chair Smith: Okay. Do you have an item you’d like to add? I think we’ll discuss offline whether
it’s just a report, or if it needs to be action. We’ll make a determination at that point. Do you
have any other items?
Commissioner Savage: I do.
Chair Smith: Okay. Commissioner Savage?
Commissioner Savage: Now that we have new leadership, I’d like to explore the possibility of
getting someone in to do a presentation on media training. Yes, maybe staff can do that…?
Ms. van der Zwaag: I’ve already, at this point, a point of scheduling it but I have been in touch
with the City’s chief communications officer about this specifically.
Commissioner Savage: Great. I think media training for everyone, but especially the Chair and
Vice Chair.
Chair Smith: Thank you.
Commissioner Lee: Does that have to be something at a publicly noticed meeting, or can we just
do that, like, separately? Because we have so few of these meetings, and I would hate to waste it
on a presentation like that.
Chair Smith: I’ll look at it for feasibility on the amount of time, because if an hour and a half
training, it would not make sense to do it at a board meeting.
Commissioner Lee: Right. I mean, my preference, even if it was half an hour, we have a long list
of discussion and action items.
Chair Smith: Well, I’ll talk to staff, see what feasibility is, and what makes sense, and then, we
can…
ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations, auxiliary aids or services to
access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn about the City's compliance with the Americans with
Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, may contact 650-329-2550 (voice), or e-mail ada@cityofpaloalto.org . This agenda is posted in accordance with
government code section 54954.2(a) or section 54956. Members of the public are welcome to attend this public meeting.
Page 46 of 47
Commissioner Lee: I guess my question is, is it possible that it be not at a meeting? Like,
technically…?
Chair Smith: Oh, definitely.
Commissioner Lee: Okay.
Chair Smith: Anything is possible. We just have to see what it is. All I have right now is a title,
so, until we figure out what timing and everything is, then we can sort of figure out what we
have to do. We have a lot of hard work to do around homelessness and other things, but we
definitely are going to get to media training because we want to avoid some things. All right.
Commissioner Regehr: Do we need a second on the workplan, for that to be on…? Because you
seconded about the vaping.
Ms. van der Zwaag: For clarity, we did not need a second on the vaping. We made a decision at
this Commission that if something was already on the workplan, it did not need a second to be
brought back to the Commission. As far as the workplan item, that’s really just a continuance of
when it was on the agenda last month and did not get heard.
Chair Smith: All right. I know that we live in a very fast-moving world. If anyone wants to add
anything or change anything to the agenda, please text me. Please have a good evening. I hope
you all have a good Valentine’s Day with somebody you love. I’ll talk to you next month. Thank
you.
VI. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 9:43pm