HomeMy WebLinkAbout2025-01-21 City Council EmailsMy dad, an oppositional Jew for sure, was born Daniel Ben Ezra Fink —and changedhis name to Steven Daniel James shortly before my birth. He claimed, with his
irreverent sense of humor -once he changed his name-to be the President and Founder ofJews for antisemitism. Dad grew up in Minneapolis -a very anti-semitic city in his
youth. Used to be chased home being called a Christ Killer. Dad spent two years atCarleton in Minneapolis before enlisting in the army air corp. Post the war he attended
the U of Illinois where he obtained a masters degree in in English, later a secondmasters degree at lowly Stanford.
January 20, 2025
SUBJECT: Item #9 - Affordable Housing on City-Owned Parking Lots
Dear Mayor Lauing and Council Members,
We are excited to see affordable housing on city parking lots moving forward into reality.
Ensuring this was a pivotal and accountable part of the Housing Element was a key goal of our
advocacy work. The city’s commitment to approve at least 290 affordable and/or workforce
housing units over the next (less than) six years in our downtown is noteworthy and admirable.
Our housing shortage is acute, as we all know. We urge you to move forward more quickly
with affordable housing on more than one city parking lot. There is a benefit to moving
forward with more than one site. There are significant economies of scale to be obtained in
terms of staff effort, expertise, and time; shared parking garage efficiencies; and housing
amenities and services that can also be shared. Further, there are important cost savings to be
realized if a more holistic approach can be taken involving more than one site.
Achieving a consensus vision in our two- to three-year Downtown Housing Master Plan
need not delay smaller below market rate projects on city parking lots. Both are needed to
reach our Housing Element commitments. And as we know, more housing downtown would
provide much-needed workers for retail, hotels, and restaurants; as well as new customers who
can walk to shop locally.
Reaching our housing goals (especially with regard to below market rate housing) to
create a more vibrant downtown will take strong action, courage, and creativity. We know
Palo Alto can accomplish great things with bold leadership. Our residents, businesses, workers,
and our environment will benefit as we strengthen our urban core with more housing.
As always, thank you for your service to our community.
Amie Ashton
Executive Director, and on behalf of the Board of Palo Alto Forward
From:Henry Etzkowitz
To:Council, City; Letters NYT
Cc:Office of the Provost; Rebecca Eisenberg; Sue Rosser; Human Relations Commission; Josh Schneider; Roberta
Ahlquist
Subject:It’s “1898 time” for unintegrated Bay Area
Date:Monday, January 20, 2025 3:17:01 PM
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on links.
To the editor:
Analyses of the on-going Los Angeles urban wilderness fires have pointed out that a multi-policy of divided, even ifoverlapping, political authorities contributed to an inadequate, albeit heroic, response to an inextricably conjointenvironmental-institutional disaster. Although it is coming too late to respond to current events; Los Angeles votersauthorized an elected county executive, a political leader with the potential to exert, …moral authority andleadership (Nagourney, “Asking Who’s in Charge as Agencies Overlap” NY Times 1/20/25 A13).According to a local academic observer Fernando Guerra, director of Loyola Marymount’s “Center for the Study ofLos Angeles, It’s going to be as centralized as New York is now. That may not be saying much. When Brooklynindependence was lost, due to a lacunae in municipal leadership, the State of New York’s unification policy,creating New York City, left many government functions under oversight and veto authority by the state legislature,allowing persisting partisan political interference.
Nevertheless, in our region, only the Bay itself is under a unified state government authorized special district thathas successfully renewed its ecological integrity, although there is still much to be done including reparations to themy I Bay by returning Palo Alto Airport to its rightful “owner. As a perceptive KQED documentary series shows,this hard won public advancement was achieved by a coalition of female activists, club women and gardeners, ledby Mrs Clark Kerr, wife of the iconic Chancellor of the University of California, Berkeley, who had conveningauthority and community organizing skills.
As pointed out in the recent Palo Alto city council election, there are an array of problems, like an outdated railroadcut aka “Suicide Alley” that can only be addressed by a broader authority as well addressing the conditions that willexacerbate the inevitable urban wilderness fire that will occur after a similar period of rainfall lack as experiencedby Southern California. An analogous event may only be six months away, with similar calamitous consequence.Even if coordinated action is undertaken, a climate change exacerbated disaster may still occur. Nevertheless, ashumans with foresight abilities and the responsibility left to us by AI to ask relevant questions, it is incumbent uponcitizens and elected officials to rise up and meet the challenges of our era!
SincerelyHenry EtzkowitzPrincipal, Sustainable City Consulting Group “Defensible Urban Development”
Palo Alto CA 94304
Sent from my iPhone
From:Henry Etzkowitz
To:Office of the Provost
Cc:Council, City; Roberta Ahlquist; Aram James; Team JulieforPaloAlto; Terry Beaubois; Mark Granovetter
Subject:Martin Luther King: Stanford Full Observance
Date:Monday, January 20, 2025 12:46:05 PM
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on links.
Dear Provost Martinez:
I trust the new quarter is going as well for you as it is for me.
I was surprised and shocked this morning to find the office at Stanford’s Oak creek Apartments staffed and open. Ipresume that with no classes held in observance that university offices are also closed including those related toadministrative functions such as housing. Certainly, Oak creek, publicly announced as a unit of the university, eventhough it is temporarily managed by an external contracț, should not be allowed to embarrass the university anddisrespect Dr King’s attorney, a long term regular residential of Oak Creek, whose autobiography, parenthetically,was recently published by Stanford and is prominently displayed in the university bookstore.
Kindly recommend early closing today at 1pm and placing on future Holiday schedule
SincerelyHenry EtzkowitzStanford DonorSilicon Valley ArchivesWww.triplehelix.
Sent from my iPhone
“... we did a lot of research and we did a lot of focus groups on
what it would take to get from 8% to 25% of all trips by bike. What
we learned is that bike boulevards ... are the way to go.”
Many people at the Ross Road council study session said they loved
Bryant and thought that is what they would get on Ross. Unfortunately,
staff was directed by the council to not use street closures which were
used so successfully on Bryant. This led to the use of more expensive
traffic calming measures that were not well received by many people.
Please work towards making active transportation a priority for Palo
Alto.
Sincerely,
Eric Nordman
From:Steve Levy
To:Council, City
Cc:Lait, Jonathan
Subject:Agenda item 9
Date:Sunday, January 19, 2025 8:25:21 AM
Dear Mayor Lauing and council members.
Thank you for proceeding on housing at the Kipling/Lytton parking lot and thank you for the collegial tenor of theJan 6 council meeting.
I leave the recommendations on item 9 to your judgment BUT do urge you to move forward on discussing a secondsite with the non-profit developer not selected for this first site.
These sites provide walkable options to shop, eat and have access to public transit and the Stanford shuttles andbring multiple benefits to residents, businesses and the environment besides the housing for low income residents.
We have a tight timeline to meet the Housing Element goal for 100% affordable housing on city owned parking lots.My reading of HCD correspondence is that they are treating this as a critical commitment from the city so I hope wecan begin to plan for the other identified sites.
Stephen LevySent from my iPad
GAZA CITY — In these final hours, where blood is mixed with prayer, civilians in
northern Gaza are living the cruelest of moments waiting for the ceasefire to
come into effect. Three full days between the announcement of the deal and its
implementation. Three days of death as the merciless bombing continues. Time
now is measured not in minutes, but in lifetimes of pain and tears. With every
passing moment the anxiety and tension of the people here grows, as they
wonder whether they will stay alive long enough for the fire to cease.
The occupation intensified its bombing in the first hours after the ceasefire was
announced. Fifty airstrikes in less than 24 hours. They targeted shelters, homes,
and tents of the displaced. More destruction, more blood. Just minutes after the
announcement, the courtyard of Al-Ahli hospital was filled with martyrs.
Administrators were forced to set up a makeshift field hospital in the courtyard to
handle the flood of wounded coming in.
From the moment the ceasefire agreement was signed, ambulance and Civil
Defense crews have been working around the clock. The scenes inside the
hospital were very difficult, with more than 70 martyrs arriving in just 24 hours,
including more than 20 children. The occupation army did not stop there. They
targeted the al-Falah school; they bombed an entire residential block in Jabaliya;
they killed families, like the Alloush family, whose bodies have not yet been
recovered and still lie under and over the rubble. The children I saw that night
appeared happy but they were no longer living, their faces frozen in a mix of
smiles and blood.
We bore witness to heart wrenching scenes in these hours of death; families in Al-
Ahli hospital bidding bitter farewells to their fallen loved ones. One of the mothers
said in a trembling voice: "Oh God, in her final hours, my daughter was so happy
with the news of the ceasefire, she was ululating, but her joy was cut short. How
can the world be like this?”
These moments are the embodiment of the opposing forces of hope and tragedy,
between unfulfilled joy and the sorrow that haunts everything around us.
As the bombs rained down, families did not leave their homes and shelters for
fear of being killed in the streets. They chose to disperse family members among
From:Eric KrockTo:Council, CitySubject:Make sure grid-scale battery storage sites have battery units OUTDOORS not INDOORSDate:Saturday, January 18, 2025 10:11:47 AM
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Dear Members of the Palo Alto City Council -
Please ensure that any lithium ion-based grid-scale battery storage systems use battery subunits that are outdoors and will vent superheated gases skyward in the event of a fire. The Moss Landing disaster, in whichan entire turbine hall full of container-size batteries burned up, was a readily-foreseeable outcome of the flawed installation design. Placing the containers within a reinforced concrete building ensured that whenany single unit caught fire, the structure would concentrate superheated gases, causing overheating and thermal runaway of adjacent units and the loss of the entire building.
Literally everyone who reads the news knows that lithium batteries are subject to ignition and thermal runaway if they overheat, that they can randomly overheat due to manufacturing defects that can’t always bedetected up front, and that often once these fires ignite they often must be allowed to burn themselves out as it’s often impossible to extinguish them. Therefore, if you’re going to build one of the world’s largestgrid-scale energy storage systems, you need to ASSUME that a battery WILL overheat and experience thermal runaway and design the system in such a way that the ignition of one battery won’t cause any of theothers to ignite. You could straightforwardly satisfy that design requirement through some combination of spatial separation of the subunits, physical separation of the subunits by earth, reinforced concrete, orsimilar, and venting of each subunit to the sky so hot gases will dissipate upward instead of being contained with the other batteries increasing the risk of chain-reaction overheating and thermal runaway.
Here is a photo of a Tesla grid-scale storage implementation. It appears that’s exactly the strategy they use: numerous subunits in the open air separated by gaps so a burning unit will mostly heat the sky not theadjacent units.
Yet the below system from Vistra using LG container-size battery subunits was designed in the exact opposite fashion: all the subunits were contained within a closed concrete building so hot gases would beconcentrated not vented, maximizing the risk of the any fire spreading to consume the adjacent containers and then the entire building.
It requires no expertise in grid-scale battery systems design to foresee this scenario. I have no such expertise at all. If you’ve watched one YouTube video of a laptop battery or an EV igniting and one YouTubevideo of how hot gases behave during a fire inside a structure, you can foresee this scenario.
This appears to have been a failure at every step of the way:- The solution architects at Vistra Energy who proposed enclosing a grid-scale lithium ion battery storage system within a reinforced-concrete building- Anyone at LG who reviewed Vistra’s integrated solution design from a safety standpoint- Every county planner and government body that approved this implementation
I strongly support implementation of grid-scale power storage to smooth out power supply-and-demand gaps, reduce the number of power plants needed, and reduce the need for natural gas-based “peaker” plants.But the companies who design, build, and operate these systems will also need to use at least minimal intelligence in their safety design to prevent readily foreseeable disasters like this from occurring, giving theentire industry a bad name, and creating public resistance to future battery system construction. And local permitting authorities will need to have staff who read the news and ask “What if?” instead of justassuming the service provider’s design is good and rubber-stamping it.
Please make sure we learn from this needless error by Vistra Energy and the Monterey County Board of Supervisors and don’t ever repeat it. Lithium ion-based grid storage batteries must be placed outdoors, notindoors.
Sincerely,
Eric Krock
Mobile
a retired high-tech person, commented: he agrees with your suggestion that I would have been better served by
using the Zionist lobby or pro–Israel lobby, but also opined that it would likely not have changed the tone of the
three individuals who referred to me as a racist, anti-Semite, hater. My understanding is that the use of the
phrase Jewish lobby, Hindu Nationalist lobby, or lobby in most other contexts is NOT to cast an over-wide net of
over-inclusiveness of individuals, but just the opposite. A special interest lobby, by definition, is a narrow group of
individuals all focused on a similar goal.
Okay, I look forward to our next exchange on this topic.
Best.
Avram ” Eliminate the state of Israel Now” Finkelstein
Sincerely,
Shannon Griscom
Palo Alto, CA 94301
From:City Mgr
To:Council, City; Shikada, Ed
Cc:Executive Leadership Team; Clerk, City; City Mgr
Subject:City Council Bundle - January 16
Date:Thursday, January 16, 2025 8:31:15 PM
Attachments:RE 1145 Middlefield - Dangerous tress across from our home on city property.msgRE Critical issues impacting PA Transitional Housing Project - please read .msgre East meadow fire station.msgre Staffing fire.msgRE Palo Alto Community Project.msgRE Retaliatory Towing by Management.msgRE Written public comment 113.msgimage001.pngimage002.png
Dear Mayor and Council Members,
On behalf of City Manager Ed Shikada, please see the attached staff responses to emails received in
the City.Council inbox through January 16, 2025.
Thank you,
Danille
Danille RiceAdministrative AssistantCity Manager’s Office|Human Resources|Transportation(650) 329-2229 | danille.rice@cityofpaloalto.orgwww.cityofpaloalto.org
Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward to your response.
Sincerely, Katherine
Reverse “Erev” Fails Morally and Politically. Council’s Resolution of May 20 shouldbe withdrawn with the exception of the codicil requiring presence at Council Meetings
of this wishing to discuss an issue, whether sourced domestically, internationally, orboth, as with the hopefully about to be ended Gaza war that has led to fraught
divisions within and among our city’s religious and social communities that could notbe papered over. Let us learn from this experience and find ways to help each other to
address issues in more fruitful ways than public comments with no council response.
How can we recreate the Athenian agora with all citizens participating in debate anddecision making? The obvious coming issue that can only be ignored at peril to Palo
Alto’s very existence is the specter raised by the Los Angeles burning that calls thepost-war widespreading of individual houses across natural landscapes into question.
there is unlikely to be enough insurance, public and private funds to rebuild on themooted 110% footprint of previous dwellings. Nor should there be.
Palo Alto should learn from the Southern California debacle that will likely repeat
itself here when we suffer a similar spell of desiccation, perhaps in six months or so.Humans must orderly retrench into Physically and ecologically “defensible cities,” a
step change beyond digitally”smart cities.”
To be continued…
Henry Etzkowitz Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice
Sent from my iPhone
How can we recreate the Athenian agora with all citizens participating in debate anddecision making? The obvious coming issue that can only be ignored at peril to PaloAlto’s very existence is the specter raised by the Los Angeles burning that calls the post-war widespreading of individual houses across natural landscapes into question. there isunlikely to be enough insurance, public and private funds to rebuild on the mooted110% footprint of previous dwellings. Nor should there be.
Palo Alto should learn from the Southern California debacle that will likely repeat itselfhere when we suffer a similar spell of desiccation, perhaps in six months or so. Humansmust orderly retrench into Physically and ecologically “defensible cities,” a stepchange beyond digitally”smart cities.”
To be continued…
Henry Etzkowitz Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice
Sent from my iPhone
From:Tran, Joanna
To:Council, City; georgeglue@gmail.com
Cc:Shikada, Ed
Subject:RSVP by 2/19/25 - State of the Valley 2025
Date:Thursday, January 16, 2025 12:25:46 PM
Attachments:image001.pngimage003.pngimage004.pngimage006.pngimage007.pngimage008.pngimage009.png
Hello Council Members,
This year, the Joint Ventures State of the Valley event is scheduled for Friday, March 7th, from
8:30 AM to 12:30 PM. The City has sponsored a table at the event, which includes breakfast and an
advance copy of the 2025 Silicon Valley Index.
If you are interested in attending, please confirm by February 19th. After that time, we will open the
remaining tickets to our Executive Leadership Team.
What is the State of the Valley Conference?
The State of the Valley Conference brings together stakeholders from all sectors to discuss
Silicon Valley's challenges and opportunities. It is informed by the Silicon Valley Index, a
data-driven report that has tracked the region's economy and community health since 1995.
Where?
San Jose State University
Diaz Compean Student Union
2nd Floor Ballroom
211 South 9th Street
San Jose, California
When?
Friday, March 7th from 8:30 AM – 12:30 PM
Thank you!
Joanna
Joanna Tran
Executive Assistant to the City Manager
Office of the City Manager
(650) 329-2105 | joanna.tran@cityofpaloalto.org
www.cityofpaloalto.org
previous dwellings. Nor should there be.
Palo Alto should learn from the Southern California debacle that will likely repeat itselfhere when we suffer a similar spell of desiccation, perhaps in six months or so. Humans
must orderly retrench into Physically and ecologically “defensible cities,” a step changebeyond digitally”smart cities.”
To be continued…
Henry Etzkowitz
Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice
Sent from my iPhone
From:Henry Etzkowitz
To:Council, City; Office of the Provost; Supervisor Otto Lee; Sarah Wright; Gennady Sheyner; Dave Price; Cribbs,Anne; Amalia Tormala; Braden Cartwright; Jeanne Fleming; Bette; Roberta Ahlquist; Rebecca Eisenberg; BrianGood; Lotus Fong; sally Tomlinson; Firoozeh Dastmalchi; Jim Hersh; John Marlin; Alex Etzkowitz; annika steiber;Carol Kiparsky
Cc:Marty Wasserman; Aram James
Subject:‘I realised we’re such hypocrites’: how growing numbers of US veterans were moved to protest over Gaza |Global development | The Guardian
Date:Thursday, January 16, 2025 7:36:52 AM
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https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2025/jan/16/us-veterans-protest-over-gaza
Reverse “Erev” Fails Morally and Politically. Council’s Resolution of May 20 should bewithdrawn with the exception of the codicil requiring presence at Council Meetings of this
wishing to discuss an issue, whether sourced domestically, internationally, or both, as with thehopefully about to be ended Gaza war that has led to fraught divisions within and among our
city’s religious and social communities that could not be papered over. Let us learn from thisexperience and find ways to help each other to address issues in more fruitful ways than public
comments with no council response.
How can we recreate the Athenian agora with all citizens participating in debate and decisionmaking? The obvious coming issue that can only be ignored at peril to Palo Alto’s very
existence is the specter raised by the Los Angeles burning that calls the post-warwidespreading of individual houses across natural landscapes into question. there is unlikely to
be enough insurance, public and private funds to rebuild on the mooted 110% footprint ofprevious dwellings. Nor should there be.
Palo Alto should learn from the Southern California debacle that will likely repeat itself here
when we suffer a similar spell of desiccation, perhaps in six months or so. Humans mustorderly retrench into Physically and ecologically “defensible cities,” a step change beyond
digitally”smart cities.”
To be continued…
Henry Etzkowitz Neighbors for Environmental and Social Justice
Sent from my iPhone
"Lessons from two surviving LA fire homes": 28:28 Very good information about howto keep a home safe from wildfires. He shows and analyzes two homes, one being the nowfamous one designed by Greg Chasen in LA. This man is a builder in Austin, Texas, not anarchitect. Lots of good information. Don't miss this:
Mr. Meraz of Meraz Roofing- You replaced my roof in June, 2021. Note the 1/16" mesh
made in Australia he shows that can block embers from getting into an attic through ventsunder eaves or through vents on a roof. Meraz Roofing- One of the very best roofers in
California.
Lessons From Two Surviving LA Fire Homes
LH- Use as a YouTube search term "Fire resistant home". It would take days to watch allof the vids that come up.
CalFire: "Defensible space. Protecting your home from wildfire". 4:21 3 years ago.
Defensible Space: Protecting Your Home from Wildfire
L. William Harding
Fresno, Ca.
engine assigned to Fire Station #4.
We are actively working on proposals for recovering the fire engine at Fire Station
#4 and adding a part-time ambulance to meet the demand for fire and emergency
medical services in Palo Alto. Here is a link to the Finance Committee meeting
held on November 19, 2024, where we presented the options to add resources to
our current operations model, including the fire engine at fire station #4.
Your concerns are valid, and I will continue to work with the city manager and our
city council to staff a fire engine at Fire Station #4.
Sincerely,
Geo Blackshire
Fire Chief
Palo Alto Fire Department
(650) 329-2424
www.cityofpaloalto.org
-----Original Message-----From: Annette Ross <port2103@att.net>Sent: Friday, January 10, 2025 9:37 AMTo: Council, City <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org>Subject: Staffing fire
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious ofopening attachments and clicking on links.
Unless I am misinformed, Palo Alto is presently the only city in the county thathas a closed/unstaffed fire station. Sadly, the L. A. County fires are a scaldingreminder of the importance of fully staffing each of our fire stations. I think ifyou polled residents you would learn that this is a top priority for most if not allPalo Altans. We pay plenty in taxes and you transfer considerable sums from theutility coffers to the general fund. There's really no justification for leaving anyarea of this city inadequately protected or subject to delayed response times. Please make life safety a priority.
Annette RossResident
Sent from my iPhone
However, there is a very real chance that it could be passed into law by the new
Republican-controlled Congress and signed by Trump after he is sworn in next
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Discover highlights of SimulTrans’ 40-year journey
From:Katie Schramm
To:Council, City
Subject:Tom Haxton - Middle School Athletics
Date:Tuesday, January 14, 2025 2:26:23 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking
on links.
I’m writing to let you know that I do not support the efforts of Tom Haxton to privatize the operations of middle
school athletics. I also do not support his efforts to become reinstated as the coach for JLS Track and Field this year.
I coached Track and Field with him last year and found him very difficult to work with. I’m very glad to hear he
won’t be coaching this year and I respect and support the decision not to hire him.
He plans to speak at today’s meeting and claim that his not being hired is in some way not legal. I can’t imagine that
is true. He left his post as coach with the city to start his own club. He now wants to come back. I can understand
why the city hired different coaches.
Best,
Katie Schramm
JLS Middle School teacher and parent
Sent from my iPhone
The City's response - which seems to be drafted by the City Attorney's office - is that SafeRoutes maps have disclaimers. That is an unreal response, to the point of being downrightdisgusting.
My final email to the City on September 9 was simply ignored.
Please note that I am the PTA rep / liaison to the City for my children's elementary school -I attend City-organized meetings, with my presence requested by the City. But my concerns
are ignored. Unreal!
Citizens cannot sue to get action on negligence. You may ask, if Palo Alto is so negligent,why aren't we getting sued? Well, as I believe you all know since I have reached out to you
time and again (largely with no response), I experienced gross negligence with lack ofmaintenance and failure to respond to an electrical emergency (loose neutral) behind my
home. I called MANY attorneys (and I am one myself) - it's basically impossible to bring anegligence case against a municipality, unless you create a class action, which would bevery, very difficult to do in these cases of negligence, just due to their fact patterns and theshorter statute of limitations on municipalities. So, nothing happens.
The City Attorney's practice is to ignore and deny claims. So, you may ask, why aren't we
paying out a bunch of claims if everyone is getting hurt by our negligence here in Palo Alto? Anecdotally, I had heard that no one ever got a claim paid by the City of Palo Alto - most get
outright ignored. So, I put in a Public Records Request for claims and payment on thoseclaims. Findings:
1. The public records request I know fell way short of what should have been produced
(illegal and opens the City up to a lot of liability ($$$) in theory but, again, good luckfinding a lawyer to sue the City over this!).
2. Many claims showed people harmed by the same negligence (two examples: brokenutility covers and - yes - what members of Council know that I myself experienced:
contaminated water due to untrained City contractors!) 3. No surprise, there was only 1 claim paid out - all others I reviewed were denied.
The City Attorney - in another of the office's "gotcha" moments - knows that it'svirtually impossible to sue the City for negligence, so the policy is just to ignore and denyclaims - they won't turn into lawsuits, so there's very little risk.
Ethics should play in, but do not. The thing is - a City Attorney's ethical duty is not only tothe City coffers - it is also to the wellbeing of citizens and visitors to the City. I have
called the CA Bar for help on ethics provisions to cite to the City Attorney's office, which doin fact exist, to try to get the City to competently respond to harms done through the City's
pattern of negligence. I emailed this provision to the City Attorney - no answer (as is theirmode of operation).
In closing, I will share this, emblematic of Palo Alto's complete lack of care: When
discussing water black with dirt with an Assistant City Attorney, asking the City to take propersteps so that this would stop happening (it happened to MANY residents) he said "It's notlike this is Flint." That is absolutely unreal, once again. Is that seriously our standard here inPalo Alto? "Not Flint, Michigan"????
Trish Tamrazi
Increasingly Concerned Homeowner
---------- Forwarded message ---------From: Patricia Judge Tamrazi <tamrazi.law@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Sep 9, 2024 at 10:45 AMSubject: Re: Uncontrolled (unsafe) intersections along "Suggested Routes" to school
To: Star-Lack, Sylvia <Sylvia.Star-Lack@cityofpaloalto.org>Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org>, Safe Routes <SafeRoutes@cityofpaloalto.org>,
Transportation <Transportation@cityofpaloalto.org>, City Attorney<city.attorney@cityofpaloalto.org>
Hi Sylvia,
I hope you had a nice weekend. Thank you for your detailed email below.
Where does this leave us? Am I understanding correctly that there cannot be a warrant forwhat I am asking, so this is a straight judgment call by staff or Council? Are you saying staff
will decide this, or do I need to lobby the City Council?
I reviewed the City’s 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, but I don't see a mapwith recommendations for traffic control - is that available somewhere?
All I am asking is for stop signs on the side streets that feed onto Greer, for the children
walking and biking on their designated "Safe Route to School" to be able to freely use Greerto get to school. Currently, these intersections are totally uncontrolled, with poor visibility. In
effect, this means to be safe, the children should be stopping and taking a good look at everyone of these uncontrolled intersections. No one does this, and it would be very impractical.
This really is URGENT. There are young elementary school students who cross these
intersections alone, their parents trusting that this is a "Safe Route." There are many, manybicyclists - the consideration of a bicycle boulevard down Greer is evidence that the City
knows this to be the case. So why are we leaving uncontrolled intersections on this route?
You make a good point about the current design perhaps simply being outdated - I thinkperhaps traffic has become heavier in the neighborhood, making these uncontrolled
intersections dangerous. Those who live in the neighborhood - not much of a problem withthose cars. But we now have many, many delivery drivers who don’t know the neighborhood
- heck, even self-driving cars - these folks tend to blow onto Greer (often with a confused lookon their face - which is warranted because how is there an uncontrolled intersection onto a
relatively busy street in evolved and cutting edge Palo Alto?!). It’s not safe. At all.
Could you please let me know what next steps are to get this fixed as quickly as possible, forthe safety of the children on their ways to and from school? We really cannot wait for a long
study, nor should we have to, given that not much is being asked for here.
Thank you,
Trish
On Fri, Sep 6, 2024 at 5:09 PM Star-Lack, Sylvia <Sylvia.Star-Lack@cityofpaloalto.org>wrote:
Hi Patricia,
Thank you for your patience as I collected information from City staff who have been away. I
agree that working together is the best way to improve road safety, which is why I shared
with you in my prior email how to get involved with our Safe Routes to School program.
Thank you for volunteering at Palo Verde this year as a Transportation Safety
Representative.
Here is more information about traffic control and transportation planning in the City:
Traffic Control Framework
Thanks for correcting my reading of the traffic control at the nearby intersections on Greer
Road. I spoke to other Transportation staff and have more context to share regarding the
traffic control in the neighborhood. Our policy is that stop signs need to be placed either
due to a stop warrant analysis or due to a Council-adopted policy or action that has been
studied and vetted with the community.
Stop Warrants
Stop warrant analyses use vehicle volume and collision data to establish the need for four-
way stop-controlled intersections, but stop warrant analyses cannot be done to establish
two-way stop-controlled intersections. You are asking for a two-way stop-controlled
intersection at Janice and Greer. We do not have a warrant for this. According to current
traffic engineering principles, unwarranted stop signs are more likely to be ignored by
drivers once they see that the traffic dynamics at the intersection do not warrant
stopping. Research has shown that unwarranted stop signs and stop signs that have been
used for speed control, do not have the effect desired. Speeds between the stop signs
increase as drivers try to make up for lost time. Drivers tend to roll through the unwarranted
stop signs with higher frequency (over 50%).
Stop Signs as Traffic Calming
At the same time, it is likely that when our neighborhoods were established, the Council
approved the existing stop signs as part of the subdivision or perhaps as part of the historic
“Guard and Go” policy that alternated stop signs on a collector street with stop signs on the
cross streets. Many neighborhoods in Palo Alto exhibit this stop sign pattern. Decades ago,
this use of stop signs as a traffic calming treatment at every other intersection was
considered a good option, but more recent studies and best practices show that
unwarranted stop signs are more frequently ignored and can actually have the opposite
effect of inducing speeding as noted above. The traffic calming toolbox has since expanded
to include other methods to moderate speeds.
Greer Road Planning
The City’s 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan recommended a Bicycle
Boulevard network of slower, low-traffic corridors through the neighborhoods to better
accommodate bicycle and pedestrian traffic. As part of that initiative, a preliminary concept
plan for Greer Road, ultimately not pursued, shows no stops signs on Greer between Loma
Verde and the second Kenneth Drive intersection and uses speed humps and new
landscaping added to the road to slow vehicle speeds, similar to the treatments you can see
today on Ross Road. In this plan, stop signs are posted for vehicles coming out of all of the
cross streets on Greer. The City is not pursuing this plan as the update of the Bicycle and
Pedestrian Transportation Plan (BPTP) is occurring now. This BPTP Update will prioritize
projects for the City to implement based on recent data and community engagement.
Policy Change
In general, to change the traffic control on streets where stop signs are not otherwise
warranted, the City would need to change the “policy” governing those streets by
conducting a neighborhood circulation study and outreach effort. City staff and funding
would need to be found for this work, and the Council would need to prioritize it amongst
other City priorities. To facilitate this prioritization, as noted in my prior email, I have shared
your email message with the consultant teams working on the Bicycle and Pedestrian
Transportation Plan Update and the Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan. These documents
will prioritize projects that support vulnerable road users like schoolchildren who walk and
bike.
In the meantime, our staff will assess the Janice/Greer intersection and determine if stop or
other signs are warranted. I will also ask Safe Routes to School staff to share with all PAUSD
school principals and Transportation Safety Representatives text to help families and
children navigate uncontrolled intersections.
Email Protocol for Staff Responses to Residents
So that you are aware of our protocol for responding to residents, staff have been instructed
to copy the City Manager’s Office staff who then bundle staff responses and send them to
the Council. This batches the email responses for Council so that their inboxes are not
overwhelmed with individual email messages.
If you’d like a phone call to discuss this information, please let me know a good time to call.
Have a good weekend,
Sylvia
From: Star-Lack, Sylvia
Sent: Friday, August 16, 2024 6:28 PM
To: Patricia Judge Tamrazi <tamrazi.law@gmail.com>
Cc: City Mgr <CityMgr@cityofpaloalto.org>; Safe Routes <SafeRoutes@CityofPaloAlto.org>;
Transportation <Transportation@CityofPaloAlto.org>; City Attorney
<city.attorney@CityofPaloAlto.org>
Subject: RE: Uncontrolled (unsafe) intersections along "Suggested Routes" to school
Hi Patricia,
Thank you for your email messages. Due to staff being on vacation, I am providing this
partial response to you regarding our Safe Routes to School program. I’ll have more for you
next week when critical staff return to the office. Thanks for your patience with me.
Suggested Routes to School
One of your recent email messages included your understanding that routes on our
Suggested School Route maps are guaranteed to be safe. The Safe Routes to School
movement is nationwide, with many cities producing school route maps. No city can
guarantee safety for road users, but cities can select suggested routes that may have lower
traffic, slower speeds, good sightlines, crossing guards, and other elements that make them
more appropriate than other routes for schoolchildren to walk and bike to school. Even so,
our maps include the following text:
The Palo Alto Safe Routes to School Partnership encourages parents to walk or bike
with students and use this mapping tool to explore options for commuting from home
to school. Parents are responsible for choosing the most appropriate route based on
their knowledge of conditions on the route between home and school and the
experience level of their child.
Sharing Feedback
I wanted to make you aware of several channels we encourage residents to use to share
road safety feedback and get involved in promoting safer commuting.
The City/School Transportation Safety Committee (CSTSC) is comprised of community
members, City of Palo Alto staff, and Palo Alto Unified School District staff who serve in an
advisory capacity to the City Manager and the Superintendent on matters relating to school
traffic safety for students. Members of the public are welcome to attend the monthly
meetings. Meetings are typically held the fourth Thursday of the month. Meeting
information can be found on the Safe Routes to School Main Page. If you are interested in
getting on the City School Traffic Safety Committee meeting agenda, please email us at
saferoutes@cityofpaloalto.org.
You can also reach out to the Palo Verde PTA Transportation Safety Representative (TSR),
who can work with you to educate parents at your school regarding safer driving behavior
and safer walking and biking practices for students (such as how to navigate uncontrolled
intersections). While engineering improvements are an element of our Safe Routes to
School program, there are five other elements that work together to support safer school
commutes: Education, Encouragement, Engagement, Evaluation, and Equity. Working with
your school’s TSR to help encourage more biking and walking to school will reduce the
number of cars in and around the school, reducing risk to everyone using the adjacent
roads.
Additionally, as I mentioned in my prior email, the City is also working on two Council
priority planning documents to improve roadway safety that will benefit vulnerable road
users: the Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan Update and the Safe Streets for All
Safety Action Plan. Council will have an opportunity to review and approve these documents
and the policies and programs contained therein in the coming months. Community
engagement opportunities and feedback sessions on these planning initiatives at standing
committee meetings (CSTSC, Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee, and Planning and
Transportation Commission) are also forthcoming, so please watch the committee and
Council agendas and the project websites for events and meetings where you can provide
your input.
I will get back to you regarding the other items you raised next week. Thanks, again, for your
patience, and have a good weekend!
(2) The problem: everyone is passing responsibility - so where does the buck stop?
These advocates tell me that they are stuck in a full circle of passing the buck:
City staff (traffic engineer) says only City Council can decide traffic signage.
City Council says only City staff can decide traffic signage.
This is, of course, ABSURD!!
(3) The law: the City has heightened duty of care and is actively breaching thatduty.
Many of us here in Palo Alto trust our City. When the City designates "Safe Routes to
School" - we expect them to be safe for students. When the City designates a "BicycleBoulevard" - we expect it to be safe for bikers. Yet, these designated routes are glaringly
unsafe!
I believe, further, that this heightened expectation is supported by common law. I believethat by designating these routes, the City has legally created a heightened duty of care.
My understanding is that the City has been on notice for years of these dangerousshortcomings, yet has not responded.
Analogous would be the special duty imposed on landowners to invitees: the City of Palo
Alto has, by designating these routes, made students going to school on its "Safe Routesto School" and bicyclists on its "Bicycle Boulevard" invitees of the streets on these
routes. An invitee is owed the highest duty of care. Park goers, for example, are publicinvitees. The landowner has a duty to take reasonable care to prevent injuries to any
invitee on their premises. This includes a requirement to frequently inspect the land toensure that it is safe. So - to actively ignore resident concerns and calls to make theseroutes actually safe - absolutely breaches the City's duty of care.
I look forward to hearing back on how we can work together to improve safety here inPalo Alto!
With kind regards,
so it is also needed on Janice 1 and Janice 2.
Please could you do the following to protect Palo Alto's children using this Safe Route
to school?
1. Add a stop sign at Janice 1.
2. Add a stop sign at Thomas 2.
3. Add a stop sign at Janice 2.
Please let me know your thoughts? I'm hoping to see those stop signs go in this week!
Thanks so much!
Trish Tamrazi
Palo Alto Homeowner
On Wed, Aug 7, 2024 at 10:43 PM Star-Lack, Sylvia <Sylvia.Star-Lack@cityofpaloalto.org> wrote:
Hi Ms. Tamrazi,
Thank you for your email. I am so sorry to hear about your son’s recent experience,and I am glad that you reached out to see what can be done. If you would like me tocall you about this issue, please share your phone number and a good time to call.
I live just off of Greer Road, near Colorado, and my children biked down Greer pastJanice to get to JLS Middle School, so I am aware of the cross streets along Greer.I’m also an avid cyclist who bikes down Greer at least weekly to reach destinationsbeyond the Greer/Louis intersection. Finally, I oversee the City’s Safe Routes toSchool team, our forthcoming Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan, and the updateof our Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan, so I am working to improve ourstreets for everyone, particularly children and vulnerable road users.
The California DMV manual says the following about intersections:
Intersections
An intersection is any place where one road meets another road.
Controlled intersections have signs or traffic signal lights. Uncontrolled
and blind intersections do not. Before entering an intersection, look
left, right, and ahead to check for vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians.
Be prepared to slow down and stop if necessary. Pedestrians always
have the right-of-way. Here are some right-of-way rules at
intersections:
· Without STOP or YIELD signs: The vehicle that arrives to
the intersection first has the right-of-way. However, if a vehicle,
pedestrian, or bicyclist gets to the intersection at the same time
as you, give the right-of-way to the vehicle, pedestrian, or
bicyclist on your right. If you approach a stop sign and there is astop sign on all four corners, stop first and proceed as above.
· T intersections without STOP or YIELD signs: Vehicles,
bicyclists, and pedestrians on the through road (continuing to go
straight) have the right-of-way.
Notably, some of the cross streets of Greer south of Loma Verde are T intersections.
Of the 7 intersections on Greer between Loma Verde and Louis, four of them are Tintersections where Greer, as the through road, has the right-of-way. Janice does not
have a T intersection with Greer, so drivers and cyclists should follow the procedurein the first bullet above, giving right-of-way to the first vehicle to arrive at the
intersection.
As you know, a 311 ticket has been opened, and one of our transportation engineerswill evaluate the intersection for appropriate signage. Stop signs are placed according
to a standard analysis conducted by our engineers. It can take some time for theengineers to gather the data needed for this analysis, and the outcome will be shared
in 311.
Since you care about school route safety, I wanted to let you know about Cityprograms and initiatives where you can engage further to support vulnerable road
users. I will also share your email with the teams working on these efforts:
Our Safe Routes to School program relies on parents at each school tovolunteer as Transportation Safety Representatives (TSRs). You can contact
the Palo Verde TSR (check with the PTA for this year’s TSR) to see how youcan be on the team to help educate and encourage students and parents at your
school on how to walk, bike, and drive more safely in the neighborhood. TSRsalso come to monthly City/School Transportation Safety Committee meetings
to work collaboratively with School District and City staff on road safetyitems.
The City began development of a Safe Streets for All Safety Action Plan in the
middle of 2023. A draft plan will be available for public review this fall beforea final draft is adopted by Council in late 2024 or early 2025.
The City is currently updating its existing 2012 Bicycle and Pedestrian
Transportation Plan (BPTP) to reflect current community needs and desires,consider recent trends in cycling and bicycle technology (such as e-bikes), and
address changes in bicycle and pedestrian planning and design. This summerand early fall we are developing a priority projects list and discussing the
City’s entire bicycle network, so it’s a great time to follow along and getinvolved. Look for public engagement opportunities this fall. We anticipate the
final draft of the BPTP Update will be available in early 2025 for a summer2025 City Council adoption. You can learn more on the project webpage.
And finally, a round-up of what Santa Clara County cities are doing to improve road
May I suggest that someone walk your "Suggested Routes" and flag and fix wherethey are unsafe?
To create, then perpetuate, unsafe conditions where you suggest and actively
encourage walking and biking - particularly for young children on their way to andfrom school - is quite egregious. This also goes for dangerous conditions along the
"Bicycle Boulevard" on Ross Road, which have been flagged by residents for yearsnow, but which remain unfixed.
On the Suggested Route to Palo Verde Elementary along Greer, there are a number of
uncontrolled intersections, for example, where Janice feeds into Greer (both sides ofJanice).
My 8 year old son and a car almost collided yesterday at the intersection of Janice
and Greer, near Louis, due to the uncontrolled intersection there. He was going downGreer on his bike and, thankfully, due to others' advocacy on unsafe intersections in
Palo Alto, we noticed in mid-July (3 years into our crossing that intersection) that theintersection is uncontrolled and unsafe - therefore, he treats it as having a stop sign
now. It was only for that reason that he and the car did not collide (the car turningfrom Janice to Greer did not stop and the driver looked very confused as she moved
through the intersection - rightfully so!).
These uncontrolled intersections put too much responsibility on those travelingthrough the intersection and are particularly dangerous for people not familiar with
the area (as with the car yesterday). Residents and visitors should be able to trust thatthere are sufficient traffic signs, especially in a well-funded and technologically
advanced city such as Palo Alto. At the moment, there are not!! (For example, Ihave seen self-driving cars blow through these intersections which lack proper traffic
control.)
I flagged this issue of uncontrolled intersections on Greer Rd. toTransportation@cityofpaloalto.org back on July 19, but never received a substantive
response - I emailed back on July 22 that a ticket was started on PaloAlto311 (ID15716138). I also flagged this issue on 311 yesterday, again, after my son would
have been hit by the car, had he followed the City's traffic signs.
Many elementary aged children walk along Greer to school - many unaccompanied
by adults. Could you please address this before school begins?
Thank you,
Trish Tamrazi, Palo Alto homeowner
From:Henry
To:Council, City
Subject:In support of Tom Haxton
Date:Monday, January 13, 2025 5:45:25 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking
on links.
I’d like to give my support for Tom Haxton who was our coach of the independent cross country team at JLS, in his
interest in coachingJLS track and field this spring. All my experiences and interactions with him show him to be
earnest, hard working and entirely competent and trustworthy as a coach and having only the participants at interest.
Please consider him and reverse the negative decision placed on him. You’re doing the youth a disservice.
Henry Yu
Parent of Olivia Yu, participant with cross country team
From:Emily Chen
To:Council, City
Subject:Please re-hire Mr. Tom Haxton as the coach for JLS Track and Field Team
Date:Monday, January 13, 2025 5:30:16 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking
on links.
Dear City Council members,
Tom has been coaching my daughter at JLS for the past season Cross Country, and I haven’t met any coach as
passionate, responsible, and genuine as Tom. He was always trying hard to help all kids and making sure their
training routine is effective yet still fun. My daughter began to like running under Tom’s coaching and made some
very good friends. We would love to join his Track and Field Team in the spring. Please consider re-hire him.
Thank you!
Best regards,
Emily Chen
Sent from my iPhone
Pacific Palisades for $300,000. Now they are worth $3 million and insured for $600,000.THAT is what they will get from their insurance co. So, they will sell the lot the house sat on
to a developer, and LEAVE. The developers will be in there trying to buy them as cheaply aspossible. THEN new homes, built to tough new fire codes, will be built by wealthyindividuals. So it will indeed all get rebuilt, but not by the people who lost their homes inthe fire.
LA Fire captain opens up about the wildfires:
L.A. fire captain opens up about the wildfires: Fire & Ash - Part 4
Inside California's home insurance crisis: 20:24
Inside California's Home Insurance Crisis
California's Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara. 3 days ago, apparently: 7:53
California's insurance commissioners
Malibu's iconic coastline in ruins. 46:48. No narration. Just video showing burnt homes on
the ocean side of the PCH. Tragic but gets a little boring in 46 minutes. These were expensivehomes.
Malibu's Iconic Coastline in Ruins: Beachfront Properties Turned to Ashes
L. William Harding Fresno, Ca.
L. William Harding
Fresno, Ca.
From:Markus Lipp
To:Council, City
Subject:Tom Haxton
Date:Monday, January 13, 2025 4:05:34 PM
CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Be cautious of opening attachments and clicking
on links.
Dear City council,
I heard that Tom Haxton - who has a history and track record- was not approved as JLS Track and Field coach.
Tom is a passionate person that put his heart and dedication into this role.
It seems that this has a connection to his criticisms of the City’s MSA program. In a Democracy like ours, criticism
always should have a legit place and Tom is certainly the person that
is respectful enough to phrase his critic in the right way.
Please overthink this decision an allow Tom to be part of the JLS T&F team
Thanks
Markus Lipp (Parent)
From:Winter Dellenbach
To:Council, City
Subject:Critical issues impacting PA Transitional Housing Project - please read
Date:Monday, January 13, 2025 12:24:01 PM
Attachments:Transitional Housing issues.pages
For City Council members -
Winter DellenbachPalo Alto