HomeMy WebLinkAbout1985-12-02 City Council Summary MinutesCITY
COUNCIL
MINUTES'
CITY
OF
PAL
ALTO
Regular Meeting
December 2, 1985
ITEM PAGE
Item #1, Proclamation - Civil Defense Patrol 6 5 9 1
Oral Communications 6 5 9 1
Item #2, Resolution of Appreciation to Marion Helen 6 5 9 1
Porter
Consent Calendar 6 5 9 1
Referee] 6 5 9. 1
Action 6 5 9 1
Item #3, Ordinance Re GM Zone Moratorium Extension 6 5 9 1
(2nd Reading)
Item #4A, Report of Council Legislative Committee 6 5 9 3
Re Resolution Opposing Apartheid in South Africa
Item #4B, Request of Councilmembers Klein and 6 5 9 3
Fletcher that Staff Prepare an Ordinance Pro-
hibiting the Deposit, Investment, or Use of City
Funds with Banks, Financial Institutions, Invest-
ment Firms, or Others who do Business with Either
the Public or Private Sector of South Africa or
Namibia so Long as Apartheid is the Official Policy
of Those Countries
Recess 6 6 0 6
Item #5, PUBLIC HEARING: Planning Commission
Recommendation Re Interim Zoning Regulations of a
Moratorium on , Additional Floor Area for the
Stanford Shopping Center, 180 El Camino Real
Item #6, PUBLIC HEARING: Pl anning Commission
Recommendast,ion Re Interim Zoning Regulations of
0.4:1 Floor Area Ratio •. for the Town and Country
iii 11 age, 855 E1 Cara.#no
Item #7, PUBLIC HEARING Planning Commission
Recommendation Re Amendment: to Use Permit for the
New Varsity Theatre, 456 University Avenue
Item #8, Finance and Public Works Committee Report
Re Consultant Selection - Financial Data base
Upgrade Consultant Services - Award of Contract to
Coopers and Lybrand
Item #9, Planning Commission Ar_°:';, Architectural
Review Board ec' mendation_:-Re Site and Design
Review . of Utility Super=visory Control and _Data
Acquisition ($ ADA) Building at 3241 East 8ayshore
Frontage Road
item #10,'Revisions to the Merit System Rules and
Regal a:ions
Adjournment: 12:30 .p.m,
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6 6 1 2
6 6 2 2
6 6 2 5
6 6 2 5
6 6 2 8
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6 5 9 0
12/02/85
Regular Meeting
December 2, 1985
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto ,net on this date in the
Council Chambers, 250 Hamilton Avenue, at 7:40 p.m.
PRESENT: Cobb, Fletcher, Klein, Levy,
Patitucc' (left at 11:35 p.m.),
Renzel, Sutori us, Woolley
ABSENT: Bechtel
Mayor Levy said members of the Civil Air Patrol Cadet Organization
would lead Council with the Color Guard and Piedge of Allegiance.
There being no objection from his colleagues, he moved Item #1,
Proclamation re Civil Defense Patrol ahead of Oral Communi-
cations. _
ITEM #1} PROCLAMATION - CIVIL DEFENSE PATROL (LEG 5-1)
Civil Air Cadet Edelstein led the Piedge of Allegiance and the
Posting of the Colors.
Mayor Levy said the youths represented many high schools from the
Peninsula, area. Cadet Edelstein was a member of the Palo Alto
High School Academic Decathlon Team, along with John Marshall
Klein, son of Councilmember Larry Klein. The Palo Alto High
School Academic Decathlon Team won the County championships and
was going to the State championships later in December, 1985. He
congratulated the team and offered his best wishes on behalf of
the Council. He said the Civil A'lr Patrol (CAP) was formed on
December 1, 1941 under the Office of the Civilian Defense by
civilian pilots who volunteered their time and aircraft to the war
effort at home by relieving the military of tasks such as courier
and cargo transport, border patrol , coastal patrol, pipeline sur-
veillance', forest fire watch, and pilot screening and training.
During the war, 64 CAP volunteers lost their lives; and on July 1,
1946, Public Law 476 of the 79th Congress was signed by President
Truman incorporating CAP as a benevolent, non-profit organization
dedicated to hemanitarian activities; and during the 80th Congress
a law was signed by President Truman making the CAP the volunteer,
civilian auxiliary of the United States Air Force. Presently CAP
had a three -fold mission: emergency services, a cadet: program,
and aerospace education. As Mayor of the City of Palo Alto, he
proclaimed the week of December 1 through 7, 1985 as "Civil Air
Patrol Week" in Palo Alto to acknowledge the outstanding achieve-
ments of the CAP. He introduced Colonel Marston who lead the CAP
since 1947. His tenure with the CAP was almost as old as the CAP
itself. He presented the framed proclamation to Colonel Marston.
Colonel Marston thanked the Mayor, City Council, and City of Palo
Alto for observing the 44 years of CAP. He started out 43 years
ago and had been around many of the squadrons. Presently, he ran
a squadron at Palo Alto Airport. There were about 35 seniors and
10 pilots in the squadrons, and 25 cadets in the unit. They
handled all air rescue for the Air Force --downed missing aircraft.
Presently, they flew blood for the .. Red Cross, dogs for the
Sheriff, and body components. About two months ago, they signed
with Civil Defense of •Sacramento on disaster and would be the
first ones called in case of - a disaster anywheo and the Army
would be called out after them. They coul'd put. their equipment in
the air in a disaster within four to five hours. He had
commun i cati on at Palo Alto Airport where he could talk to Alaska,
San Diego, the East Coast, and was in communication with many in
the Bay Area and the Sacramento Valley.
UKAL COMMUNICATIONS
None
ITEM 2 RESJLUTION OF _APPRECIATION TO MARION HELEN PORTER (PER 4-
2/TER41
Mayor Levy said Marion Helen Porter served the City of Palo Alto
as an employee in the Library Division from July 27, 1959 through
November 1, 1985, and was promoted from Senior Clerk to Supervisor
of Library Circulation. She pursued` her duties with dedication,
accuracy, fairness, a sense of humor, courtesy, and respect for
citizens and co-workers. She coordinated circulation;,routines and
policies City-wide during several eras of library \circulation
systems beginning with the pencil and stamp method, ar,d presented
oral book reviews for the public, coordinated library revenue col-
lection processes, and selected materials for library collections
and in her favorite leisure reading area, Mysteries. Her efforts
contributed significantly to the high quality library services
provided to the citizens of Palo Alto., and the City of Palo Alto
recognized her meritorious services. The Council commended the
exceptional public service and recorded its appreciation, as well
as the appreciation of the citizens, for the service and con,:ribu-
tion rendered during her 26 yearsof employment with the City.
MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Cobb, approval of the
resolution.
RESOLUTION 6450 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF PALO ALTO EXPRESSING APPRECIATION TO MAkION
HELEN PORTER UPON HER RETIREMENT"
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Bechtel absent.
Mayor Levy presented Ms. Porter with a copy of the framed resolu-
tion.
Ms. Porter said the nice words made her feel very special. She
thanked everybody and said it was her pleasure to work for the
City. The people in the Library were fantastic. It was wonderful
and she enjoyed it, otherwise she would never have stayed so
long.
Mayor Levy said Palo Alto had an outstanding library service and
the librarians and people who worked throughout the system were
dedicated and competent.
CONSENT CALENDAR
Referral
None
Action
MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Klein, approval oa the
Consent Calendar.
ITEM 3, ORDINANCE RE GM ZONE MORATORIUM EXTENSION (2nd Reading)
ffLA 3:1-r)
OROI iuAPCE 3552 entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF
E T PALO ALTO EXTENDING MORATORIUM ON THE
PROCESSING OF APPLICATIONS FOR NEW OFFICE USES OF 5,000
SQUARE FEET OR MORE IM THE 8M. ZONE* (1st Reading
11/18/85,,pASSED 9-0)
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12/02/85
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Bechtel absent.
ITEM #4-A REPORT OF COUNCIL LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE RE RESOLUTION
I)TH . AFRICA ( fan i n ued from fl/25)85T
16-1-1)
ITEM #4-B, REQUEST OF COUNCILMEMBERS KLEIN AND FLETCHER THAT STAFF
PREPARE AN ORDINANCE PROHIBITING THE DEPOSIT INVESTMENT OR USE
of Ci`IY PONDS WITH ANK
BS FINANCIAL N�T
I fTUTf NS INVESTMENT
RMS, S TD BUS _N SS I :I
SECTOR OF SOUTH" AFRICA OR NAMIBIA SO LONG AS PA tTHE ID IS THE
UTFTZTATI RFES (Continued from 11/25/85) (F1N
16-121)
Mayor Levy said two motions were before Council. One emanated
from the Council Legislative Committee and the other from Council-
memeers Klein and Fletcher. There was some question the previous
week regarding conflicts of interest which were reviewed during
the week at length by staff, and referred only to the second
motion before Council. All Councilmerbers could vote on the first
motion which directed the delegate to the National League of
Cities (NLC) Conference being held the following week in Seattle.
The second item was a motion by Councilmember Klein that staff
prepare an ordinance prohi'•iting the deposit, investment, or use
of City funds with banks, financial institutions, investment
firms, or others who aid business with either the public or pri-
vate sector of South Africa or Namibia so long as apartheid was
the official policy of those countries. He was informed by the
City Attorney the followine procedure was appropriate and appli-
cable: Council would hear from members of the public and all City
Councilmernbers could hear from members of the public; however,
while Council heard from members of the public only those Council -
members who could vote on both measures were allowed to question
members of the public or make any comments at al 1 . After hearing
from the public, the matter would be brought back to Council, and
the two motions wold be. divided. Council would first speak to the
direction regarding the NLC Conference. To that motion all
Counc i members m i yht speak and, if at that time any counci l members
wanted to question members of the public, they could do so.
Subsequently, Council would move to the second motion by Council -
member Klein, and to that motion only those who did not have
conflicts of interest could speak. Other members of Council,
however, could remain in the Council Chambers during the
discussion.
Councilmember Klein requested members of th.e public direct their
remarks to the two items before Council and not go off on the
wide .ranee policy issues. The items before the Council were a
resolution which instructed its voting delegate to the NLC with
regard to apartheid, and the City's own investment policy. He
hoped comments were directed to those two issues only. He
realized it was difficult, but Council's aim was to have the
discussion directed at what Council could do and not beyond.
Vice Myor Cobb said he was advised by the City Attorney he had a
conflict of interest beceuse of some Mock inherited by his wife.
Councilmember Sutorius said the previous week he ,raised the
question of whether hr had a ,conflict of interest.: The City
Attorney reviewed the circumstances and determined he was in
conflict of interest because he owned shares in Manufacturers
Hanover Corporation. Therefore, he was unable to participate in
the second item of the two being considered. The City Attorney
rendered an opinion on all those matters and he had no alterna-
tive, although he was told depending on the outcome of':the second
item, if it returned to Council and new information wit 'developed
in that time, or depending on the content of the material re-
turned, it was possible he could participate then. As far as that
evening's circumstances, he could not.
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12/02/85
Mayor Levy saint copies of the City Attorney's opinion regarding
conflicts of interest were available in the Council Chambers.
Councilmember Patitucci also had a conflict of interest which was
explained in the City Attorney's opinion, and would out partici-
pate in the second item.
Peter Taskovich, 751 Gallen Avenue, said regarding investment
policies, he would like Council to direct staff to determine the
exact effects on the City's finances and investments. 'He believed
everyone opposed Apartheid, but it was wrong for the City to dis-
engage from investing in any company that did business in South.
Africa. If the City insisted on some form of disinvestment, it
should at least exclude the companies which followed the Sullivan
Principles, which did more in South Africa than some policies
presently covering the United States. The Sullivan Principles
were as follows: Principle One - Nonsegregation of the races in
all eating, comfort, and work facilities; Principle Two Equal
and fair employment practices for all employees; Principle Three -
Equal pay for all employees doing equal or comparable work for the
same period of time (it included comparable work, something which
most companies did not apply in the United States, yet if a
company signed the Sullivan Principles they had to apply in South
Africa); Principle Four - initiation and development of training
programs to prepare blacks, coloreds and Asians in management and
clerical, and technical supervisory positions, which companies in
the United States were not required to do (Companies signing the
Sullivan Principles were checked out by an organization founded by
the Reverend Leon Sullivan); Principle Five - Increase the number
of blacks, coloreds, and Asians in management, supervisory, admin-
istrative, clerical, and technical jobs, which was similar to the
policies in the United States; and Principle Six - Improve the
quality of employees' lives outside the work environment in such
areas as housing, transportation, schooling, recreation, and
health facilities. Companies who signed the Sullivan Principles
were required to improve; something that only the government in
the United States was .leant to do. He was against any disinvest-
ment which included all the companies in South Africa. It was
totally unfair and said all companies doing business in South
Africa were bad and it hurt the people there. The companies who
followed the Sullivan Principles probably did more to help
coloreds and blacks in South Africa than they could ever do here.
If Council directed staff, it should only direct to disinvest in
companies which did not adhere to and had not signed the Sullivan
Principles, not any other companies.
Leo Ars, 71 Morton flay, was a retired farmer and in a position to
attend farm groups and other groups, even abroad, He was con-
scious that Palo Alto, where he paid taxes, etc., it had nut taken
a position yet, which hurt. He believed if the City did its bit
now, it would contribute more than in Hitler's time, when they
also had an opportunity to create sanctions against ,. regime which
almost destroyed the World. Infection in South Africa had to b.e
eliminated and the City could do something by taking that step.
Raymond Giraud, 2200 Byron Street, was opposed to apartheid, end
addressed himself to an intrusion upon and invasion into the pre-
rogatives of the national government because it affected foreign
pot icy. It was important to recognize the locally -elected repre-
sentatives had a responsibility to decide how and through what
agencies' the money which.: belonged to . the people o.f Palo Alto was
invested. It should not be left to Reagan and Schultz. He urged
the Council to consider banks,, lending institutions, and corpora-
tions that f!7.!,!, without Mr. Schultz' ant` Mr, Reagan's permission,
affecting the destiny of the people in foreign countries.
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12/02/85
He suggested Council he attentive to the purchase of bonds and
stocks; the decision to embark im any, kind of investment was an
expression of support, an expression of confidence in and support
for the government, r-euime, etc.. in which that investment was
placed. Investments in the present white minority regime in South
Africa were seen as segments of confidence and support by the
government itself and by the black majority in the country, and
not just by the leaders -of movements active for national libera-
tion there. It was an idea which brought support now among the
black people within South Africa, even those not directly con-
nected with the revolutionary movement. Investments in South
Africa of any kind had the effect of strengthening the apartheid
white supremacists. It was a crime for blacks, for any citizen of
South Africa to go out publicly in favor of divestment of foreign
interests. Investment was as much of an action to affect the
country as disinvestment. One must rid oneself of the notion
maintaining<< investments or maintaining the dooropen to admit
investments was not an action, but disinvestment was an action.
Tne maintenance of investments was just as much of are action and a
much more vicious one than disinvestment. Also, Ameriecan corpora-
tions, banks, and various investment agencies were it South
Africa, primarily for profit. It was self-deception to believe
otherwise. They made money from the seffering of the disen-
franchised black African people, and to the extent Palo Alto's
investments brought a financial return, the citizens of Palo Alto
participated in those profits. He urged Council to approve the
resolution and get Palo Alto out of South Africa.
Bill Cohn, 1626 Bryant Street, went to southern Africa a year ago
and did research through Stanford University, He spoke about
children begging and selling goods. The children in the area had
yellow eyes with mucus coming out of the corners, and their bel-
lies were extended. Theoretical eotions of underdevelopment and
dependence became reality before their eyes‘, People there were
desperate and did a'-ythiny for a wage. In- terms of why`-U.S.
corporations were in South Africa, he believed' it was because it
was essentially the last bastion of formal slavery in the World in
the sense people were not free to trove about and sell their labor
power in a country. He opined South Africa was the antithesis of
free market economy, and he found it discoecerting to hear
people talk about it being part of the western free market.
Regarding divestment, no one took responsibility for themselves,
and one thing the President of their University said was they were
concerned it would hurt those trying to help. He spoke to many
students at two universities in South Africa, and was struck by
the overwhelming sentiment, if they did want to help, divestment
was a necessary first step. If Council wanted to prove their sin-
cerity about. constructive action to end apartheid and bring about
a free and just southern Africa where people could l ive`: a decent
life, the most effective way was to divest-. In terns of the com-
mon argumeet those who were ,trying to help would be hurt by:
divestment, it was significant over that weekend the largest
organized labor movement ever was brought together in a coalition
of trade unions called the Congress of South African Trade Unions,
half a million strong, the ,people employed by 0,S. corporations,
and one of the four demands they Made was foreign -companies
immediately divest from South Africa. In terms;of the question of
displacing respo.nsibil'=t for events e�°sewhere in the world, he
related .the Preside�at of` their Uniyersity told them while divest=
mlkt efforts ,were well-intentioned; y were making a mistake and
lit i sd i recta ny their efforts, If `they `wanted to effect Change In
South Africa, they should go through national legislation and he
supported economic: sanctions. People _working on changing U.S.
foreign policy in South Africa expressed the belief: they would riot
have been able to get anything done in national legislation if it
were not for grassroots- pressure, `specifically divestment being
taken in towns, bccause the grassroots. pressure _was what:. affected
the foreign policy. He urged Council to take those comments into
consideration.
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1
1
1
Ted Savo, 3178 Ross Road, said that day's Chronicle stated there
were many states and cities which divested s and he believed
Norway, Sweden, Denmark, even England, took steps to take their
money out of South Africa. Even Governor Deukmejian supported
taking some funds out of South Africa. Everyone recognized South
Africa's apartheid system as equivalent to slavery, which the U.S.
did away with a long time ago. It was recognized as a source of
cheap labor presently in competition with their own American
workers. Also, those on the City Council who could not vote
because they had investments in firms doing business in South
Africa should ;onsider taking their money out of such firms.
Caroline van Ni ekerk , 650 Escondido Village, circulated an article
by Alan Peyton clearly against divestment. A lot of attention was
paid to Alan Paton as the author of the classic anti-apartheid
novel, Cry the Beloved Country. Invesement in South Africa was
not merely support for the apartheid regime, investment in South
Africa was money which made the whole economy go round. It was
money for education, particularly black education. The expendi-
ture on black education in South Africa had increased phenominally
over the last 10 years. It was money for medical services. She
completely opposed apartheid, but was not pro -divestment and did
not believe anti-apartheid necessarily had an equals sign between
it and the word "pro -divestment." She did not deny some pressure.,
threat of economic sanctions, boycotts, and economic measures
already taken had not had some effect in making the South African
take some small steps in the right direction. When the South
African economy was ruined, what then. Who would build it up
again. Ruining the South African economy did not merely ruin it
for South Africa, it affected, in large part, the whole of sub-
Saharan Africa. What would happen after divestment if divestment
was succeeded. If there was a revolution in South Africa, if and
when . the government was overthrown, what would_ happen then. Was
South Africa goiny to become another of the begging nations of the
world.
Bernard Yount', 966 Amarillo, said the previous speaker was con-
cernea disinvestment in South Africa might bring about revolution.
He was concerned revolution of a much bloodier kind would happen
in South Africa if the South African government could'\ not be
turned around and forced to yield on its cruel policies of apart-
heid, disenfranchisement, imprisonment, and murder. The small
step might encourage the South African government to feel the
moral indignation of the world was not to be ignored, and it was
in its own best interests to change its policies and protect ane
save itself from revolution or something worse. It was inter-
esting and important to note 16 states and 50 cities and many
foreign cour:teies already adopted policies in support of dis-
investment. In Europe, he saw many references in the European
press to the effect the United States was slow, if not derelict,
in taking measures to bring South Africa to task for its pol icier.
The U. S. was seen as one of the countries which made it possible
for South Africa to continue its policies. He urged the Council
to take the steps necessary to put the City of Palo Alto on record
ia favor of disinvestment in South Africa.
Ernie Young, 348 Camino Al Lego, A hertan, spoke as one who left
South Africa 12 year ago in protest against the South African
regime. He supported divesting ar a means of opposing apartheid.
There was a consequential ist argument justifying continuing
investment in South Africa. The first part being an Anglo-
American business presence in South Africa benefited blacks, and,
the withdrawal of the Anglo-American presence would harm blacks.
He believed tfle Anglo-American business presence did benefit
30,000 to 70, 000 bi acks , a small number out of a work force of
more than 20 million. It did nothing :to oppose the basic evil of
the apartheid system. Not even those companies subscribing to the
Sullivan Principles did anything; to oppose migrant labor or the
Pass Laws for influx control, the' damaging of families, the break-
down of family life. Regardi;r'g' whether divestment would harm
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leeeeseee eses
blacks, the CUSATU, the Congress of South African Trade Unions,
one-half million strong, that weekend said they wanted the Anglo-
American business out as a means of exerting pressure upon the
regime. An additional consequential ist argument in favor of
divestment was to look at the long-term consequences of continuing
to invest in the country. Come the revolution, what blacks in
their right minds would want to do business with Americans or
British people seen in their hour of direst need to be in support
of the enemy. If they wanted to think about consequences, he sug-
gested the long-term consequences of continuing to do business
with the country. Fourth, there was a deontological argument as
well as a consequentialist argument against doing business with
South Africa. Doing business with South Africa was in and of
itself, as Bishop Tutu said, evil , immoral, and un-Christian,. It
waf like doing business with the people who supplied Hitler with
gas ovens. In the last 14 months, 900 people were murdered in
South Africa by the police, and the violence coetinued, the Anglo-
American presence notwithstanding. 0n1y a combination of external
and internal pressure against the regime gave any hope of realis-
tic change.
Eric Diesel , 31103 Page Mill Road, urged Council not take any of
his tax dollars and send them to South Africa.
Michael Shuman, 644 Emerson Street, directed his comments to slice
Mayor Cobb, Mayor Levy, Jack Sutorius, and Councilmember Woolley,
the four people the previous week who argued local agencies should
not involve themselves in global affairs. Some were concerned
they lacked sufficient expertise to involve themselves in global
affairs. Council was elected to deal with all matters of local
concern, and did not need to be an expert to know it was immoral
to invest in apartheid. Some Councilmembers also argued the only
appropriate actor in global affairs was the federal government.
In the past year, he carefully studied the constitutionality of
municipal foreign policies and came to the same conclusion as
dozens of other city attorneys across America: those measures were
1 eyal , and if they were legal , they were appropriate and proper.
The essence of federa� ism was not any one topic should reside in
any one level of government_; the essence of federalism was in the
Tenth Amendment, which said if the .federal government had not
banned certain acts, states, and localities were free to act
they- pleased including on global issues. Their belief local
government should not involve itself in global affairs had nothing
to do with federalism. It was a policy of voluntary disempower-
ment; a policy out of touch with global reality. Last May, Mayor
Levy appointer: him to represent the City at a conference in Japan
called the First World Conference of Mayors for Peace. Every one
of the 100 mayors. part?,c ipati,ng made a clear statement if local
mayors cared about their own end other people, they had a duty to
get involved in foreign affairs. The same message could be heard
from hundreds of American Oties which voted to support a freeze,
which declared themselves nuclear free zones, sanctuaries for
Salvadorian refugees, and who got their assets out of South
Africa. Literally, thousands of global local government's world-
wide abandoned a policy of voluntary disempowerment. It was time
Palo Alto joined them. Council .also expressed concern somehow
local involvement in global affairs would ?ead City Council to
neglect "other issues. In the past few years, the City .Council was
invoved.. in global issues in the freeze, in nuclear war education,
and in Sister Cities: Clearly, Council was capable of managing
global issues every now -and then, and it was' all they were being
asked to do then. Thar final objection was the citizens did not
elect them on that issue. The view was wrong. In the last
election, three out of four incumbents were strong advocates of
local involvement in global affairs. Nene of them faced active
opposition which said they did not belong in global affairs; in
fact, the people said it was okay. Last week Councilmember . Klein
said some of his strongest support came from people who endorsed
that kind of activity. In sum, none of their arguments for volun-
tary d i sempowerment stood up. Thl City clearly had the power to
6 5 9 7
12/02/85
aet, and the only question was whether they chose to use it.
hater World War 11, the Nuremberg trials produced the single most
important judicial principle of the 20th century which said, "When
crimes against humanity were committed, they all had an affirma-
tive duty to disobey and to act". That evening Council dealt with
another crime against humanity; the continued enslavement of one
race by another and a little commandant was in each of their heads
urging them to ignore the issue, to look the other way; all be-
cause they should not engage in improper interference in foreign
affairs. He pled with Council to disobey the commandant and stand
up for up for Nuremberg higher principles of responsibility.
Unless Council was willing to act responsibly, the City might well
end up in an unpleasant situation years down the road . when they
found themselves suddenly investing in concentration camps all
because they said human rights was not any of the City's business.
Fifty American cities had the courage to say, "I am my brother's
keeper," and pulled their assets out of South Africa. He urged
Palo Alto make it 51.
Ted Howland, 547 Bryson, spoke on behalf of Professor Martin
Carnoy, who was unable to attend that evening. Palo Alto's
investment policy was a local issue whatever the international
ramifications. The Sunday London Times contained information that
72 percent of the blacks polled- supported economic sanctions by
other countries, even those which would be personally hurt by such
sanctions. Presently 80 percent of blacks and 50 percent of
whites in South Africa believed it was possible for blacks and
whites to rule jointly, and the more pressure put on the South
African regime to allow it to happen, the more chance it had to
happen.
Joel Samoff, 3327 South Court, was a member of the faculty at
Stanford University where he worked on African politics. He was a
former Director for the Center for African Studies at Stanford and
of the joint Stanford/Berkel,ey Center for African Studies. He was
presently completing a term' -of service on the Board of Directors
of the National African Studies) Associaticn, a'nd had studied
Africa for roughly the past 20 years. South Africa was an extra-
ordinary country in terms of institutionalized racial discrim-
inatien, .passes people carried, influx control, the rules for who
could live.where and when, etc., arid the lack of political rights.
Many South Africans had a deep sense `of the U.S. and the U.S.
goner rn ent, and the people of the U.S. were essential in their
support for apartheid. The U.S. support for apartheid was exten-
sive and documented. Re was a regular of the South African press
and brought with him that evening the most recent digest he had
which referred to the period at the end of October which, it its
international coverage, summarized an article quoting Vernon
Walters, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, who was quoted
as saying it was a source of hope for ending apartheid South
Africa was not a totalitarian soc$ety. The press also quoted
Secretary --of . State Shultz who thought the sanctions were unwise
and Leon Sullivan who advocated his principles. The pr eis, the
last week in October, reported on a group of Americans in Niles,
Illinois who organized a form of citizens foreign policy committee
to oppose what they regarded as Critiques of unwarranted and
unduly belligerent apartheid. For the. South Africans, whet hap-
peed in the United States mattered: not only in terms of official
U.S. policy and foemal -investment, but the speeches, words, acts,
legislation, and resolutions -of Ordinary citizens in places they
rarely thought of as being--the,fo.cus for U.S. policy overseas. It
was a _aayth O.S. companies had a better record than other companies
in South Africa; they did not. It was: also a myth U.S. funds or
any other funds supported' black education in South Africa. It wee
true bl atk education had some -support, it had expanded; but the
gap between educat.ionat opportunities.. -avail able to Africans and
whites .; in South Africa had increased The issue was not the
behavior of the companies, the issue was discrimination itself.
By -itself! Palo Alto :was not threatening to South Africa, and yet
:-:-it had significant leverage. The expression of opi n Lan in South
6 5 9 8
12/02/85
Africe, had a significant effect. There were presently 11 states,
36 cities, 3 counties, 1 territory, many universities and other
public institutions who used the divestment policy to express to
South Africa their refusal to continue to support apartheid.
Divestment needed to be the adopted .policy of the City of Palo
Alto as much for them as for South Africa. Racism was corrosive
of the human bonds on which society depended, and to support
racism even at a distance was to announce to themselves, to their
own community, the bonds were unimportant. Council must not do
that.
Marvin Jackson, 239 Robles, Stanford, heard a lot about divestment
and believed the outlook and opinions of the African people were
ignored. It was important to evaluate and analyze the African
perspective of apartheid. Apartheid was an economically violent
system, and to ignore it and the damage by corporations and the
role they played in perpetuating the violence was almost criminal.
Palo Alto needed to carefully evaluate its involvement with thcse
corporations. The Sullivan Principles came to be because people
were dying in the street, and being shot by the police. Even
after Sullivan gave his fourth amplification in December, 1984, he
made it clear the companies in South Africa were not working in
tie best interests of the African people. They were not opposing
the government -at all costs. The majority of the African people
called for divestment, and it was ignorede The `.rue representa-
tive leaders of the African people called for divestment and the
economic isolation of South Africa, and it was ignored. People
went to jail and died, -and were still in jail because they cabled
foe divestment and liberation of the African people, and it was
ignored. South Africa was a violent society; 900 people were shot
by the police, People were killed because they collaborated in a
violent system, and he was surprised the American public looked at
900 people shot by the police, but ignored 50,000 people a year
who died from malnutrition and starvation in - 6ie Bantustands. A
young lady said earlier divestment would hurt the South African
economy, but he queried the African culture, well-being, and "the
African 1 ife. If those were not as important as the South African
economy, he questioned the criterie:a for the l iberaticn of the
African people, The Council should look closely at history .and
what role economics played in South Africa. In 1961, when the
majority of U.S. companies started to pull out of South Africa,
South Africa becane worried. After 1977, when companies started
to pull out, she IMF went in and floated many ;oars. In 1982, the
IMF again re'urned, not after having a situation of discontent
among the African people. The economy itself was violent, and it
took a lot of strength to keep it. The United States and Palo
Alto supported apartheid. To ignore the facts of apartheid, and
the call of the African people was to ignore the true human$ty of
the African people.
Paul Gardner, 890 Fielding Drive, referred to that day's New York
Times. The newly -formed Congress of South Africa Trade Unions,
the biggest labor federation in the country's history, said in its
first: policy statement it supported divestment by American and
British companies -of their South African holdings; a.nd,=if western
corporations withdrew investment, black and white alike would suf-
fer and it would put . pressure on the white authorities to meet
black edemands aor political changes He believed the lull ivan
Principles were worthless. He listened to a South Afric:3n Trade
Union leader. who spoke about the effect the Sullivan Principles
were not having. The companies who signed the Sullivan Principles
paid bleek , -less than, other companies who had not sighed. The
Principles were nothing more than an excuse; something to ease
peoples consciences and make them feel what. -they were doing in
5cuth. Africa was okay. There wera many excuses for not divesting.
One was they had the. Sullivan Principles;- another was - to . let the
federal - governmen-t -handle it, and it was not realy a local_ cone
cern. Another excuse was if they divested, the French, -Japanese
and English would pick Alp where they left off. What was ignored
was the .company_ investprs in those countries told their people the.
6 5 9 9
12/02/85
same thine. Political action started on the local level. It was
where they had most control , where it started, and it was totally
appropriate to start at the City Council level to take care of
those matters.
Herb_ Borock, - 2731 Byron Street , urged Council to suppor's the
recommendation of the Council Legislative Committee regarding a
resolution of the National 'League of Cities Regarding the City's
investment policy, only five Councilmembers could participate, and
an ordinance required five votes to pass. The motion was a direc-
tion to staff ; and he understood a majority of those who could
participate co4iid direct staff to prepare an ordinance, which was
not something Council normally did by an ordinance or resolution.
The City currently had an investment policy which was not estab-
lished by an ordinance or resolution, and as he understood the
Council's procedures, directions to staff, such as investment
policy, did not -need five affirmative votes; only a majority of
those -able to participate in the decision. For that reason, if
Council directed staff to prepare an ordinance, he urged them_ to
direct staff to change the investment policy. Regarding whether
it was a local. or national issue, the packet contained a report of
investment activity for a $72 million portfolio. That seemed to
be a local issue. In terms of whether Council should act
regarding South Africa, it was prudent for Council to act as
requested by Councilmembers Klein and Fletcher. Banks used some-
one else's money, corporations had tight control over other
people's retained earnings, so when they made decisions whether to
stay in South Africa, those decisions were somewhat -delayed
because it was really not the money of the people making the deci-
sions, it was their money. It was a prudent investment decision
to divest as requested by Councilmembers Klein and Fletcher.
Regarding Councilmember Sutorius' position, he could not tell from
his comments or from the City Attorney's memo what the issue was
regarding _whether he could participate. The City Attorney's memo
referred to definition of doing business as if staff could write
the particular definition to suit the case. Common sense indi-
cated the financial institution in which Councilmember Sutorius
had investments did business in South Africa, and he urged a
majority of those who could participate to direct staff to prepare
an ordinance and to amend the investment policy.
Rob Levitsky, 6341 Lincoln Avenue, said America was founded en the
basis of taxation with representation, and the Councilmembers were
elected officials for the City of Palo Alto to collect, disburse,
and invest funds for he' and other taxpayers in the City. If the
City people decided they did not want their tax dollars invested
in corporations doing business in South Africa, or other places,
then it was the responsibility of the Council, as the elected
representatives, to follow their wishes, He as a taxpayer, along
with many other taxpayers there that ,evening, urged Council to
divest his tax dollars from companies doing business in South
Africa.
Joseph' G'doaian, 631 Melville Avenue, was an African, and assured
the Council the vast majority of Africans both within and without
South Africa,: supported divestment completely unambiguously. To
whatever extent Council respected other people's opinions,
especially those affected by the situation, they should take those
facts seriously. There was an equation between investments and
apartheid. The history of apartheid •showed . it to be essentially a
system of economic eenloitation which arose neginraing with the
*isles, etc., to exploit African labor in order to get the gold out
Of the ground cheaply kind exploit it abroad. Even in its history
capital investment came from abroad, and investment and apartheid
were closely relataa. He did` not. believe one could have commerce
without ;f.values, any more than one could have science without
values. Science without values would lead to human: destruction,
as would commerce without values. There was a close relationship
between morality and commerce which was why good businessmen
6 6 0 0
12/02/85
always wanted to maintain a good reputation. As he understood the
question of local versus national, the United States government
wanted local government to represent the opinions of the people on
the local i evel , and what they saw that evening indicated most
people on the local level supported divestment. To. vote against
divestment was where Council took an active position on the issue.
Council should remember revolution was inevitable. The situation
there was going to change, and continued investment was a bad
decision because the future government was going to be completely
anti-American and not want to do business with America. In fact,
most young Africans were beginning to have a negative ,opinion of
America because of investment policies. Even as a purely invest-
ment decision,. in the long-term Council would make a uhwise deci-
sion to vote against divestment. United States government had a
history of economic sanctions, Cuba and Nicaragua were good
examples, and he was more supportive of constructive engagement if
they. had constructive engagement with Nicaragua and Cuba.
MOTION RESTATED: Councilmember Fletcher on behalf of the
Council Legislative Committee moved to authorize Palo Alto's
voting delegate to the National League of Cities Conference to
support the strongest possible resolution against apartheid in
South Africa, incorporating said resolution as part of the
National Municipal Policy promulgated by the National League of
Cities.
counc i l member Woolley asked the City Attorney about the effect of
an abstention, and whether such a position affected the quorum if
a vote were three "yes" votes, two "no" votes; and three absten-
tions.
City Attorney Diane Lee said the motion would carry.
Counciimember Fletcher said there were two resolutions submitted
for consideration at the NLC Conference, and more might be. sub-
mitted. They would probably be consolidated into one resolution
which would reach the floor, on which each of the cities voted.
The proposed resolutions did not call on cities to actually
divest, but for the NLC staff to act as a clearing house in pre-
paring, assembling, and disseminating packets of information, of
keeping file and disseminating model city ordinances which were
evidentally already passed in about 50 cities in the country. If
that policy was adopted by the NIC, it would encourage many cities
to take a stand and help them in the details of implementation.
She could not imagine a greater force on the American government
to take action and the South African government than municipali-
ties throughout the country expressing their dissatisfaction with
the current policies of the South African government. Expressing
the policy in an economic form had a much stronger effect than
expressiny it in nonraonetary terms, so she urged her fellow
Councilmembers t,o support the motion.
Mayor Levy said when he w;as elected to Council, he was elected on
the platform of a number of local issues and no national issues.
At the time he indicated he saw his job wasto deal with .the Palo
Alto Municipal Code, and matters that were the responsibility end
within the authority of the Council. He did not see apartheid as
within Council's responsibility and authority. As Counc i Tmember
Fletcher indicated, the two proposed resolutions did not deal with
divestment, although it was their long-term pal. The stronger .of
the two resolutions and the one Council was called upon to sup-
port, urged the President of the United States to modify official
U.S. policy, urged state legislators, governors, etc., to support
legislation regarding state activities, including state universi-
ties, and in other ways to take it upon themselves to influence
federal policy. He believed in the issue as an individual and
personally opposed apartheid, and individually he would act . to
implement the opposition. He was not one who had' a conflict of
interest, and had no investments in the companies being singled
out that evening, although he had investments in other companies
6 6 0 1
12/02/85
active in South Africa and knew many companies that passed muster
were still active in indirect ways in South Africa. He clarified
he personally believed apartheid was abominable; but the question.
was whether t.ouncil was the vehicle elected to take a national
action. He asked staff how much time was spent during the past
week dealing with the issue. Staf? indicated well over one -person
week was involved and it was only in the initial stages of deter-
mining peripheral questions of who could vote, primarily, and what
were the involvements of certain specific companies. To implement
any direct policy would take a substantial amount of staff time.
It was also a precedent for future decisions of a similar type,
and he would comment on the second motion, but the first motion
was clearly a matter of national policy, and he believed inappro-
priate for Council. He would abstain.
Councilmember Renzel concurred with the points made by Cdencil-
member Fletcher. Each Councilmember was elected because the
citizens believed they exercised leadership, and issues like
apartheid were something where Council had an opportunity to at
least further the public pressures for the terrible policy to be
changed. She believed it was appropriate for Council to exercise
leadership and she supported the motion.
Councilmember Woolley associated herself with the remarks of Mayor
Levy. She campaigned with both Mayor Levy and Councilmember
Renzel two years ago. She did not remember the question of par-
ticipation in national issues coming up and she did not have the
feeling from the campaign their constituents expected them to take
a stand on national issues. In the week intervening since the
last Council meeting, she spoke informally with some of the
members of her campaign committee, who did not indicate they
expected her to take a position on the issue presently. There-
fore, she also would not take a position. She would not object to
the motion before Council if it were simply a matter of providing
information because it was the kind of service they looked- to the
NLC for, but the "whereases" in the motion took a definite posi-
tion; and, therefore, she could not support the motion.
Vice Mayor Cobb spoke on many occasions about his concern with
national issues going before Council, He once stepped over the
line and voted for one; and was one of the "breaking" votes for
the nuclear freeze, but found it difficult because of the amount
of time ittook away from the City business Council Was elected to
deal with. During two campaigns and four years of service he was
never asked by Constituents, other than in occasional meetings, to
deal with national issues. He found racismo and apartheid to be
repugnant, but many other things bothered him in the national
scene as well. He was once involved in partisan politics and took
many strong positions speaking out to try and do something he
believed was right. He entered into the local arena because he
wanted to deal with local issues, which he believed was the proper
role of the Council . Although he agreed with what the motion
tried to acdompl ish, he was concerned if Council stepped over the
line, what the next one would be. Several speakers suggested the
Council level was the proper forum, and there were many issues
chat should go before Council too; it should all start there. He
consistently vote d "no" every time Council had a national issue
before it d The one before -._the Counc i l was a 1 ittl a :harder to do
that with because he did not like the impression it left. lie
leaded toward an abstention because ae;. absention had the effect of
a "yes" vote that a eein-y.. A "goo" vote had the effect of not per-
mii t1ne the. matter to .go forward to the Wse, and he felt strongly
enough- the issue needed to be spoken, and he did not want to be
the one -Who stooped it. On the other hand, e) f he -.voted "yes ," he
fo+.end hi .,self in the dilemma of encouraging yet another issue. He
asked the: publ fc and his col i eagues _to understand his' feelings on
those issues were strong,_as were'his- feelings on doing everything
they could to stop racism, and he found himself caught between a
rock and a hard plate on the issue;- ,:The more . Counc ii l did, the
more -they would do, and he did not want: to create that kind of
6 6 0 2
12/02/85
self-fu1 fi'1 l iriy prophecy either. He was happy to I l sten to his
colleagues comments, but asked understanding about his feeling
that not dealing with those kinds of issues was a strongly held
view on his part, just as his views to stop ra ism were also very
strong.
Councilmember Klein said he had not intended to speak on the reso-
lution and reserved most of his remarks for the City's investment
policy. However, the conversation required him, from his personal
ethics, to say he believed there were only a few issues of a
national or eiorld nature on which the Council should speak, but
there were issues which required . Council to speak out. It was
improver, perhaps even lacking in morality, for Council to not
speak out when there were issues of overwhelming concern. Council
was not asked by its voters to take some type of political vow of
chastity; to the contrary. As he mentioned the previous week,
during his first term in office they had the nucl ear freeze. He
and Councilmember Fletcher were the co-sponsors of it, and it
engendered a lot of controversy in their community and several
hundred people turned up and spoke; a tremendous amount of press,
even television coverage at the time. If the voters were dissat-
isfied with he and Councilmember Fletcher, and Councilmember
Bechtel and Vice Mayor Cobb, all of whom voted for it, certainly
they would have heard about it during the last campaign a month
ago. No one spoke against them, no one really eeepaigned against
them and all four were reelected. There was no outrage in the
community. The argument voters did not el e: t them to take stands
on those issues was specious. It was not the case. He believed
the voters expected them, first beyond anything else, to provide
leadership; second, to attend to the City's business, and if they
could provide leadership on other things and still take care of
the budget, etc., and having done those things, when there were
issues before Council with an overwhelming quality of importance
to their community, it was not only their right but their obli-
gation to stand up and be counted and provide leadership for their
community. Coencil had an issue like that before it, and he would
be distressed if their City could not stand up and be counted
along with other cities at the NLC Conference in Seattle the
following week.
Mayor Levy pointed out all the people who participated in the
debate on the nuclear freeze who ran for reelection were reelected
regardless of their stand on the issue, so he suspected there were
a lot of other elements besides the one the public looked at.
Councilmember Fletcher saio shortly after the nuclear freeze
issue, she landed in the hospital and was deluged with mail; 250
cards and letters, many of which expressed gratitude for the
courage and leadership of the Council in taking a position on the
nuclear freeze. She never had such a response on any other issue
Council dealt with, so the issue could be put to rest because the
voters appreciated Council's stands on important issues. She
realized the particular issue took a lot of staff time. It was
not anticipated, but if one looked at the proposed resolutions,
they were intended to take the burden off each municipality and.
put it at the national level ; for the NLC to .assist local govern-
ments and bypass all the individual staff .time so it was an assist
to save staff time rather than add to it. Qne''ef the proposed
resolutions directed that cities should influence the national
governmeet and the state government, etc. It might not be the
resolution that reached the floor, and she wondered whether those
Councilmembers who objected to taking a position because of that
feature would consider voting in favor if it were taken out,
because she could amend the motion on the floor. Furthermore, it
was often said by her colleagues they could take action as
individuals, but they all knew taking action as individuals .did
nut have nearly the effect as an official City policy did. When
it was done for the NLC, it had a multitude of munio.ipal sties
speaking up as a result.
6 5.0 3
12/02/85
Cuunc i lmember Sutori us said Counc i l members Fletcher and Klein
noted the concerns about the work efforts which might be imposed
on staff regarding the second item; and particularly, it was noted
one -of the valuable outcomes of the positive action at the NLC was
the yatheriny together of information, the analysis process, and
then output of model ordinances, background materials, reference
lists, and a variety of resources which could greatly facilitate
the efforts of communities' legal entities at either _the local,
county, or state levels elsewhere. They noted, and he concurred,
it was a proper purpose of an organization like the NLC. He asked
the makers of the motion of the second motion to abey it until the
outcome of the NLC action.
Councilraember Klein said their motion on the second item was
simple and direct and did not need guidance from the NLC. If the
NLC staff work came up with something more comprehensive or dif-
ferent, then Council could look at it then. The motion did not
require study and fact gathering.
Counc i l member Sutori us said it was an honest effort on his part,
and in terms of comments heard that evening as well as the pre-
vious Monday evening, he emphasized the respect he held for the
opinions shared, and Councilmember Klein's comments were cogent.
Therefore, it was difficult for him to find aspects on which t: be
contrary. The present Council , past Councils, and future Councils
took a strong stand against intrusion into local affairs by
elected officials at the state and federal level. Council made
strong and persuasive arguments as to why there should not be
interference on local issues where the local citizenry, local com-
missions, boards, public employees, and elected officials were the
most knowledgeable, had the authority and responsibility to act,
and where the solutions or the actions dictated from another level
had application in local entities by happenstance, but were not.
the kinds of things that should tar all local communities with the
same brush. Council did not appreciate the intrusion and asked
state and federal agencies to tend to business they were elected
to deal with at those levels. They said the same to adminis-
trative officials, not elected people. It was difficult for him
to maintain the position and expect to maintain it in the future
if lie acted in a fashion which inserted the local Council into
affairs and subjectmatter at the proper province of the state or
federal level. Concerning the types of criticisms Council regu-
larly received, often they made those criticisms ;themselves of
their own actions, or worse, their inactions; the length of time
they' took to del iberate matters, the number of studies postponed
or rescheduled, and the number of studies not even scheduled
because they did not have the resources to do them. In other
words, the way in which they spent time. It was important for
Council to be sure it did not spend its time and its staff time in
ways net ‘truly productive, and made a proper investment of the
taxpayers dollars on matters the taxpayer was concerned about,
such as streets, parks, utilities, and the myriad items they were
elected end had the authority and responsibility on which to take
action. He included Council's fiduciary responsibility and was
willing then, in the past, and in the f,ture to deal with their,
# vestment policy from a fiduciary standpoint. He believed he
could do th,,,t in a fiduciary manner without needing to do it as a
national or international manner. Regarding bite - issue on ehich he
was e1 ieibl a to partir ipate, he believed the output of the NLC
deliberations in that arena could have positive benefits, both in
the broad sense of what was intended and of what was discussed
there that evening as well as in the procedural sense of some of
the outputs available to local entities, and the time and money
savings offered. Toward that Jirectio:e, he was inclined to vote
it _.-_favor, but was on ehe fence. As Vice Mayor Cobb and others
lndlcated0 a "yes* vote might be perceived as being more "yes°'
than intended, and a "no" vote perceived as being More.. no than
intended. The deliberation on the particular issue had really not
absorbed a lot of staff's attention or involvement other than
their capable and competent staff person who provided staff
12%945
assistAisce on the total legislative subject, which was just one
issue of many others that was clearly and directly influential on
Palo Alto. He could live with the outcome ,of the gathered local
representatives at the NLC and in the anticipation the output had
some material value and contribution to Palo Alto. Therefore, he
would vote "yes" on the item with as rnuch reluctance as those who
were abstaining, and with greater dissatisfaction personally that
some of the laws and governances made it improper for him to
participate in the next item.
Councilmember Fletcher referred to Councilmember Sutorius' com-
ments about infringement on other levels of government because it
was an ergument frequently made and probably would be again,. She
did not consider the item an infringement on other levels of gov-
ernment. When Council was mandated by state or federal govern-
ments on s:':at programs or items they must deal with, or when they
were preempted from expressing authority on items, they took away
Council's rights and opportunities to act in certain ways. In the
subject action , Council expressed an o i ni on, their concerns, not
mandatine state or federal government to do anything. It was
useful for local governments to express their concerns when there
were some that concerned them all.
Vice Mayor Cobb said most Counc i l members listened to what every-
body said. including the words of their colleagues, and he had
listened carefully. He respected everyone on the Council, and the
comments of Counc i l members Klein and Sutorius, and after listening
to their particular comments and he identified especially with
what Councilmember Sutorius said, he concluded he did not want to
break his record of never abstaining. It was because of his
strong feelings on ttse subject of apartheid and of racism he was
drawn to the conclusion Councilmember . vv
c me t- Mr.
�. ar u�G
Shuman had some strong words, and had his hair standing up at one
point, If Mr. Shuman brought some of the other issues suggested
to Council, he would go back to voting "no," because if the
Council `, Chambers were turned into a forum for national issues two
things would happen: 1) They would hewer get any City business
done and would use up a lot of staff time --there would be no end
to it; anti 2) They would start seeing City Council campaigns where
the local issues were ignored and they all snunded like a bunch of
conyressional: can;dilates. He believed it was wrong and he did not
want to see Council dragged into that. Just as on the freeze, he
was dragged to a position where he had to make a choice, and a
choice which went down in the position of some kind of moral
statement he could live with. He did not believe Council should
do such things. Council had to rake a choice, and like football
teams who went undefeated, he wanted to yo through his entire
Council career never having cast an abstention. He was not Nappy
about being.put in the position and hoped it did not happen again
soon.
Councilmember Woolley said after consulting with Councilmember
Fletcher, she would offer a substitute motion. She was not cer-
tain it needed be a substitute motion because she believed Council
could empower its voting delegate to the Conference to vote pos-
sibly more than one way.. She wanted to agree to the collection of
information by the NLC which was contained in the two "Therefore,
be it resolved" statements in the first of the two resolutions,,
Attachment 5A, and make a motion supporting that only, not . sup-
porting the "Whereases" which proceeded it. .
Msn Lee suggested Council take a step backward. She understood
the motion was Council authorize Palo Alto's voting delegate to
the Conference to support the strongest possible resolution
against apartheid in. South Africa and incorporate said resolution
as . a part of the National Municipal Policy promulgated by the.
National League of Cities. She believed that was the resolution.
She did not know about "llhereases" or any of those kinds of
things because they were samples. The motion was as she just
read so she was not sure h.ow to accomplish what Councilmember
Woolley wanted in relationship to the particular resolution.
6 6 0 5
12/02/85
Counci l,nemher Woolley believed it was a si hstitjte motion to
authorize -Palo Alto's voting delegate to the Conference to support
the NLC preparation assembling and dissemination of packets of
information as was -worded in the first of the resolution. Maybe
it did not, have to be that specific, but just support the PLC
providing information or model ordinances for member cities, but
specifically not take a position on apartheid.
Ms. Lee confirmed it was a substitute motion.
SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Councilmember 'Woolley moved that Council
support a National League of Cities resolution which called for
the collection and `dissemination of information regadi ng apart-
heid in South Africa, but not one that calls for a specific
position.
SUBSTITUTE MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND.
MOTION PASSED by a vote of S-0-3, Levy, Patitucci, Woolley
"abstaining," Bechtel absent.
COUNCIL RECESSED FROM 9:40 p.m. TO 10:00 p.m.
Mayor Levy said the second half of Item #3 was before the Council.
The motion was made by Councilmember Klein and seconded by
Councilmember Fletcher. Council had a memo from the City Attorney
indicating four members of the Council could not participate in
the discussion or vote on the item. They were Councilmembers
Sutorius, Bechtel, Pati tucci , and Vice Mayor Cobb. They could sit
in the Council Chamber and listen to the proceedings, but could
nut participate.
Councilmember Klein said with only five Councilmembers partici-
pating, as a member of the public pointed out and Council already
concluded, Council would not get the necessary five votes for an
ordinance. He preferred an ordinance since other cities passed -
ordinances and it was stronger. However, after consulting with
the City Attorney and City Manager, Council could accomplish much
the same thing by a motion which only required a majority of those
present and vut2ng--in other words, three out of the five --which
directed staff to add a statement to the City's investment
policy.
MOTION REVISED TO READ: Councilmember Klein moved, seconded by
Fletcher, to direct staff to add to the City's investment policy,
a statement prohibiting the deposit. investment, or mse of City
funds with banks, financial instltut s, investment firms, or
other investment -type organizations who do business with either
the public or private sector of South Africa or Namibia so long e
apartheid its the official policy of those countries and that a
statement of this policy be forwarded to the Sot*th African govern-
Counc i l member: Klein addressed whether the question was a local
issue or whether Council was intruding , in the- .realm .of foreign
policy. ` on the previous motion,; it was an appropriate concern and
differences were expressed. He did not believe the debate was
necessary, with the. present motion because it was, without any
quests ®n in his : mind, a 1oca1 issue because it dealt with what
Palo Alta did with its dollars. They had to make choices all the
time with respect to'hove-the City's Money was .invested. They had
some $70 of;;1l io,0 to invest. The money-, as those on the Council
knew, was- not invested in stocks. The City was lot_a university
With an endowment, its money was all invested in various financial
Ahstrumants such as certificates of deposit, federal notes, bonds,
add things of that nature, but their money was inv. sted' and was
not neutral --no money -was. neutral . There. was no : such .thing as a
neutral investment. One _made choices , when one invested. money in
one place or another. -One exasiple: .He .queried what Council would
do if it learned-- nd he clarified Council got a report each month
6 6 0 6
12/02/85
as to where the City's money was i nvestei , one of the banks the
City had money with was controlled by the Mafia. He believed it
was clear Council_. would direct staff to get the City money out of
the Flefia-controlled bank and put it somewhere else. It might
then say to themselves, "Gee, we don't have anything in our policy
right now, but we will now direct our staff that_ from now on they
are .not to put our funds in any bank controlled by the Mafia." He
believed it was precisely the same issue. A criminal country,
South Africa, and it was their decision, since it was. the City's
money, to not allow their money to the greatest extent possible to
be used in a criminal enterprise. That, to him, was a local
issue. It was sometimes said action on the City's part would have
no effect on South Africa because who in South Africa ever heard
of the City of Palo Alto. He was not deterred because while it
was only a city of 55,000, it had moray leadership, and joined
with other cities, the cumulative total clearly had an effect.
They were doing its bit --and it was all they could ask of them-
selves. He hoped other cities would join with them and gradually
the cumulative effect would have a bearing on what policies were
followed in South Africa. The various movements across the
country over the months made an impact on the government of South
Africa, and he hoped it would be the case so a bloody revolution
was avoided. He was a. lawyer and the previous night while reading
some professional material, he noted the American Bar Association
(ABA) the previous week adopted a resolution to divest its invest-
ments from South Africa. If the ABA, a conservative, traditional
organization could do it, the City of Palo Alto could,_ There were
overwhelming moral reasons why Palo Alto should divest- its invest-
ments from South Africa. It shoeld not have its hands dirtied,
sullied by involvement in South Africa. The question was asked
where to draw the line. If he was correct money was not neutral,
did the- City then have to examine each investment it made to
ensure the money was used for the highest possible moral uses. Of
course, Council would not do that; there was always the question
of drawing lines and it was Oliver Wendell Holmes who said some-
thi ng like people were elected to office precisely to draw lines.
it was an easy line as far as he was <<oncerned when a nation
embarked on a policy which he described as criminal, and it
clearly was. Palo Alto could not associate with a nation whose
policies were so abhorrent and immoral. For those reasons, he
hoped his colleagues would join in direc tiny staff to amend the
City's investment policy in order to joie and do a little to help
change one of the great wronys presently existing in the world.
Councilmember Renzei asked staff if -there was some easy way to
determine how various financial institutions invested, and whether
it could be determined with certainty.
City Manager Bill Zane said there was some difficulty involved.
Staff talked to many cities in the area who had such po,l ivies, and
the information was it was not always a imp? a task, and required
in almost every case, additional staff time. They seemed to
manage it with some degree of certainty and staff would accomplish
the same thing.
Mayor Levy asked how much staff .time Mr. Lefler expected it to
take.
Mr. laner said it was difficult to tell. In discussions. with
other cities who adopted such a policy, staff learned it meant as
much as a half additional person. It all depended upon the size
and nature ` of the Portfolio. He could not give a good guess.
Presently he did not -anticipate any additional staff. Once staff
embarked upon the program, if Council adopted . the policy, and
determined it was taking time away from other tasks that needed to
be accomplished, staff would return to Council with the ieforma
tion,
6 6 0 7
12/02/85
Councilmember Fletcher realized Council was presently dealing with
the local issue, but if the NLC resolution passed, the NLC would
gather and disseminate the information to any municipality who
requested itt which was part of the reason she was so eager to
have_ it pass_iecause it prevented individual staffs from having to
reinvent the wheel each time.
MAKER AND SECOND INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION: THAT A STATEMENT
OF THIS POLICY .BE FORWARDED TO THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT
Mayor Levy asked whether "investment type organizations" included
insurance companies.
Councilmember Klein said he changed the language primarily in
response to questions from staff about what he really meant by
using the word "other." He tried to ensure he did not leave out
any financial organization. As far as he knew, the City did not
invest with any insurance companies.
Mr. Zaner said that was correct. The City sometimes pooled its
funds with institutions not technically financial; for example,
the local agency investment fund operated by the State Treasurer.
City funds were cominyled with hundreds of millions of dollars and
invested on that -basis. Contributions were small; the maximum
amount they could invest was $5 million. He questioned whether
Council -anticipated -the change in policy also affecting the City's
sharing investment opportunities with other organizations.
Councilmember Klein said that was not his intent. He clarified
the use of the word. "other" was intended to be .. catch-all provi-
sion to include any other type of financial organization the City
invested in which did not fall within the definitions of bank-,
financial institution's, or investment firms.
Mayor Levy understood the concept was the City could not use its
money with any institution which cealt :tirectly or indirectly with
South Africa. Institutions who did not , themselves deal directly
with South Africa, but invested in, or loaned money to, or did
business with entities that did business in South Africa would be
outlawed by the motion.
Councilmember Klein said the intent was if there was a bank the
City did business with that continued to make loans to the Union
of South African government, or DeBeers organization, or something
of that nature, then the City would not invest with them.
Mayor Levy asked _ about a bank that made a loan to a company such.
as Xerox which did business in South Africa.
Councilmember Klein did not intend to cover it. He ard the City
Attorney discussed the meaning of the word "indirectly." At some
point the indirect nature became so attenuated it was not possible
to enforce, or de:.i red. The world was an interdependent place to
some degree, and the line had to be drawn in some particular
place. The word "indirectly" was meant more to cover people who
might be using subterfuges to still do business in South Africa
rather than having $a of sales traceable to . some activity in South
Africa,
Mayor Levy asked about the situation where a company had - sub-
sidiary who manufactured or -did business in a major, way in South
Africa.
Councilmember Klein said it wi,'uld be indirect and was precisely
what he meant to cover. they were only dealing with financial
institutions because those were the people the City did businesb
w1tn. The City :Old not do business with General Motors where some
of those questions might be at issue, but the City had no invest-
ments with a General Motors, or a Xerox, or a Hewlett-Packard; the
City had investments with banks.
6 6 0 8
12/02/85
Mayor Levy referred to the concept enunciated by Councilmember
Klein, and asked if there was any conceivable issue that would not
be considered local.
Councilmember Klein bel ieved the quee ion tell in the cetegory of,
"Have you stopped beating your wife lately."
Mayor Levy hypothesized about companies in North Carolina or other
states that might practise discrimination, and asked if a motion
would be appropriate to add to the City's investment policy a
statement the City would not do business with companies of that
nature.
Councilmembar Klein believed he addressed the question a few
minutes previously when he talked about where to draw the line.
It was true one could not cure every ill through an investment
policy, but something could be done. He believed Council should
do what it could, and the motion before the Council was something
it could do.
O
Mayor Levy said his question related to what was _properly a City
action, and what was improperly a City action. Councilmember
Klein suggested it was a City action because it involved City
funds.
Councilmember Klein replied yes.
Mayor Levy said his point was regardless of his judgment on where
to draw the line, virtually any issue then became a City issue by
saying the issue would be addressed by withholding City investment
funds from supporters of the issue; and, therefore, it became an
item properly brought before the Council to be considered, to be
evaluated.
Councilmember Klein responded the City's money did not get Council
involved in everything under the sun. The City had $70 million to
invest which they did with certain financial institutions, acid it
was reasonable and appropriate action for Council to say it would
only invest City funds with those institutions that followed
certain policies. He returned to his example of the Mafia; and
asked if Mayor Levy would have the City invest in a bank con-
trolled by the Mafia.
Mayor Levy asked if the City had a policy.
Councilmember Klein asked whether they needed one.
Mayor Levy said the policy was not whether the City invested in a
bank controlled by the Mafia, but whether it made safe invest-
ments. If investments were not safe in South Africa, and they
might not be, they were covered. If investments were not safe
with the bank controlled by the Mafia, they were covered; but they
did not have a policy on the Mafia, they did not have a policy on
companies that discriminated against blacks, Indians, women, etc.
Perhaps the City should..
Councilmember Klein said the law of the land was; those organiza-
tions could not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, religion,
etc., so such an action was superfluous on the Ceuncil's Bart.
However, the action before Council was not part of the law of the
land; and, it was, therefore, a appropriate action for Council to
tame.
Mr. •Zaner said if the policy was adopted by Council, it would-be
easy to implement .the portion related to any new investments, and
staff could staff the :next morning. They would make no additional
lnvestments that contradicted thee -policy. However; there might be
investments the City presently held, wnich -needed to be-, sold under
_the policy. He intended to do the selling with some prudence, end
did not want Council to think the next morning Staff ewoUld
b 6 0 9
12/02/85
immediately go to the market and divest the City of all iris :fu-
merts at whatever cost it might be to the Treasury. Tney would
move with del iberati on end speed, but preferred to divest so as to
hold losses to a minimum.
Mayor Levy assumed Councilmember Klein motion did not apply to
the Federal Government. The City had 70 percent of its invest-
ments in items guaranteed by the Federal Government which had a
policy of recognizing South Africa.
1
1
1
Councilmember Klein returned to the wording of the motion which
said, "banks, fina cial institutions," etc. He did not believe
the Federal Government fit under the definition, but if Mayor Levy
wanted clarification, it was the reason the wording was chosen.
Mayor Levy said what Council had before it on the agenda was an
item to request staff to prepare an ordinance. He understood the
motion would become effective immediately upon passage.
Ms. Lee said yes.
Mayor Levy asked whether it was a material change.
Ms. Lee believed the substance was the same; the format was dif-
ferent. Whether it took the form of an ordinance or a motion and
changed the investment policy, the substance was the same and,
therefore, she did not believe it was material.
:Councilmember Woolley did not believe she was enough of an autho-
rity to chose whether divestment would have the desired effect
although it would have an effect on the economy. If the effect
was harmful, which seemed i ikely, she queried whether the change
would aid or hinder the advancement of the blacks. Another prob-
lem was whether "faster was better," which involved deeply -rooted
cultural values. If the values did not change, was the democracy
as they knew it or civil war the likely outcome. Another problem
she had was equity. She saw their duty as City Counci leaembers was
to make -sure the sizeable City reserves were invested as prudently
as pose-ible. If Council also took on the task of investigating
the operating principles of the firms whose vehicles they used, it
was okay, but they needed to be evenhanded. For example, `,she
understood there were corporations in Haiti which kept blacks out
of labor unions and paid immorally low wages. In other words, the
human rights of those blacks were ignored. Should the City also
not place its money with financial institutions investing or
dealing with corporations that treated blacks in Haiti in that
fashion. She did not know. It would be difficult- to obtain that
type of information and would take a lot of staff time. There-
fore, at that point because of the information problem, and
because of the question of being evenhanded with all nations, and
all people, people within their own country for that matter, - she
would abstain. -
Councilmember Renzel supported the motion. It was an opportunity
for Council, within its own City policy, to recognize the immoral-
ity of the institutional racism in South- Africa. There was no
question- there were many wrongs in the -world they coeld not take
care of with their investment policy, boat it was of such an order
of magnitude she believed it wee something Coo eit could deal
with. She was not too concerned about the South African govern-
ment collapsing : because of the City's investment policy. She
hoped the individual actions of various municipalities and insti-
tutions in 'raking the financial step would suggest to the ` South
African government they needed to change their racial - policies in
order to maintain their economy, and hopefully it : would occur
before the kinds of revolutions than might otherwise happen.
6 6 1 0
12/02/85
Mayor Levy clarified to his colleagues and constituents he strong-
ly opposed apartheid in South Africa and Namibia, and what he was
about to say was not meant in any way to compromise the strength
of nis personal feel my apartheid was an evil and should be el imi-
.reated. However, he was concerned about fairness and appropriate-
ness. Regarding fairness, he believed in all things equal
individuals should be treated equally. Individuals who were
unequal should be treated unequally, and it was true in any City
policy. For example, if two cars parked overtime, both should be
cited. If two developers wanted similar variances, Council should
not approve one and turn down the other for capricious reasons.
The motion before Council violated the standard of fairness in two
ways: South Africa and Namibia were not the only countries prac-
ticing discrimination. He cited Iran, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Saudi
Arabia, and Bangladesh, and said many countries throughout the
world discrimated against women. Sometimes the discrimination was
written, sometimes not. In any case, discrimination was policy
and practice in many countries, not just South Africa and Namibia.
Regarding companies, Council was singling out companies they dealt
with which were banks or investment companies. The issue started
mostly with colleges _and large institutions which owned stock in
many companies. As a stockholder, one was an owner of the company
and had certain responsibilities, one of_ which was to set the
policies. The issue was either one agreed with the policies of
the companies or got out of them, and he understood it. The City
owned no_ companies; it owned no stock. The -City bought the
services of many companies. Not only banks, but accounting firms;
numerous kinds of consultants, financial, engineering, and others.
Of course.. the City used funds to buy goods from companies like
General Motors, 3M, and other companies many of which did business
in South Africa, Namibia, and other places. The motion dealt
simply with one area of companies the City did business with --the
banks_, If the City was fair, the policy should be across the
board and apply to all companies with which it dealt. As a matter
of fact, he suspected Hewlett-Packard, Xerox or General Motors
made a lot mere money off the City of Palo Alto than any of the
banks from which the City bought CD's. Also regarding fairness,
he bel ieved and practiced a belief to not support any action which
lumped the innocent with the guilty. It was a favorite of dic-
tatorships and many were alluded to in the past. Councilmember
Fletcher, who was a child in Nazi Germany, was painfully aware of
the concept of pulling together everybody whether innocent or
guilty aod treating them the same. However, those companies which
followed commendable a practices wouNestee acted against because
those commendable policies :were practiced in a country with which
they disagreed, There were companies dealing in South Africa
which exercised exemplary standards for fair treatment and human
decency. As a matter of fact, it took .g.reater courage to do so in
South Africa than in America. The proposal did not distinguish
between those companies, but rather penalized them. Councilmeraber
Bechtel's emplo;jter, for example, was City Corp Savings, which had
an excellent history of enlightened personnel practices in the
United States, and in many overseas locations. including South
Africa. They had more than their shares of blacks, Hispanics, and
women in responsible positions. In South Africa they adhered to
the Sullivan Principles 3 and it was mentioned_ t; o -se ;Principles
went beyond what was asked of companies. even in America, although
they were principles that should be adhered to by ali'-c mpanies
everywhere. There were many companies in America, many Libor
unions:, many fraternal organizations within the United St :tes and
California which engaged in sdiscriminatory practices that 0001.
be condemned, but supply because they acted with a broad brusn,
they let them yo by, and companies which behaved in accordance
With the Sullivan Principles in South Africa were penalized. He
did mot -believe the motion befc .e CounC t l held_e4 the standards of
-fairness which the City thou%ra follow» Regarding the previous
motion, it was not a matter which was part of _ the -Palo Alto City
Charter under which he stood for=--- el ectl on. The motion before the
Council opened the door for lengthy Council meetings in relation
to other elements going on in America and around the world. They
6 6 1 1
12/02/85
were elected as Councilmembers to legislate and make policy in
other areas, and they elected representatives to legislate and
make policy in those areas, Council's action that evening clearly
and unfortunately set a precedent which encouraged all to ask
Council to withhold investment funds as a statement regarding
national or international policies around the globe. He agreed
lines had to be drawn, and it was up to Council to draw them in an
enllyhtened fashion. If Council was asked, for example, to take
action condemning international terrorism as practiced by Libya,
he assumed there would be strong sentiment for it. When asked to
take action against other entities, there would be ,borderlines.
Council would spend substantial amounts of time, as they did that
evening, debating where the line should be drawn. The three items
Council spent the most time on were Cable Television, which was
the longest; the nuclear policy; and the divestment issue which so
far took three hours. He assumed when individuals asked Council
about the policies of, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Nicaragua, El
Salvadore, Iran, or Northern Ireland," Council, regardless of
where it chose to draw the line, would be involved in many hours
which took it away from what he believed to be the focus of what
made Palo Alto livable. He did not believe the matter was appro-
priate for Council action. He would abstain, and while he had
cow:idence Councilmember Klein and others would draw the lines
where they should be drawn, he had probl ems with the amount of
time it took to draw those lines and the diversion from the areas
in which they were elected to legislate.
Councilmember Ren ze l said she attended almost every Council
meeting since 1969 with a few exceptions, as a citizen, a Planning
Commissioner, and then as an elected Councilmember. The debate
over whether to take positions on various issues of state,
national, and international scope continued during that time.
Various Councils took positions, and there had not been a prolif-
eration of those issues. It was not something she personally
chose to jump into on a regular basis, but it required at least
two count i lmemfeers to make a motion and second. The responsi-
bility was with them as individual Councilmembers to use modera-
tion in those things, which was her experience since 1969.
NOTION PASSED by a vote of 3-0-2, Levy, Woolley, "abstaining,"
Sutoriss, Cobb, Patftucci! 'not participating,' Bechtel absent.
ITEM Its PUBLIC i EARING: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE
IN RIM "Orl NG R GUi ONS R MORATORIUM ON ADDITIONAL FLOOR
AR R S RD N 1 80 EL CAMINO REAL (PLA
3-1) (CMR:621 : 5)
ITEM 06 PUBLIC HEARING: PLANNING COMMISSION R; ,OMMENDATION RE
IN RIM NI NG REGULA IONS 0 0.4 : 1 AR A I FOR TE TOWN
PiD COUNTRY VILLAGE, 8S5 EL CAMI RIFTA T
Planning Commis ion Chairperson Pat Cullen said the Planning
Commission unanimously recommended development restrictions for
the interim one and one-half years while the City-wide Land Use
and Transportation Study was being completed because of traffic
circulation concerns and parking at Stanford Shopping Center and
Town and Country Village. -Meeard ing the . Stanford Shopping Center,
the Commission believed either a .4 floor area ratio (FAR) or its
equivalent of 110,000 square feet was a generous ceiling on poten-
tial development because the requested .5 FAR or its 470,860
square feet would be intolerable given the traffic and parking:
problems in the area. Several commissioners said the ceiling was
not to be regarded as favoring development at such a high level,
but only an attempt to provide flexibility for the Center given
the likelihood that the,, remainder of the creekside parcel would probably'be given a new noncommercial zoning in the _ future. The
Commission did not believe Town and Country needed the square foot
restrictions, but the .4 FAR should be applied due to the compli-
cation of the 11 different parcels.
6 6 1 2
12102/85
Chief Planning Official Bruce Freeland said regarding the 110,000
square feet as an alternative to the .4 FAR, they should be care-
ful to avoid thinking it established an entitlement to uce. It
would still be a maximum within which applications could be made
duriny the interim time period, but there would need to be envi-
ronmental assessments and individual approvals In order to utilize
the square footage. Council was not being asked to grant any
absolute right to build the 110,000 square feet or whatever the
number turned out to be.
Vice Nayor Cobb asked if anyone ever "looked at whether the
restrictions would have any perceptible impact on sales tax
revenues.
Mr. Freeland said no.
MAYOR LEVY RE ITEMS TO CONSIDER AFTER 11:00 p.m.
Councilmember Patitucci said a considerable number of staff people
sat through the entire proceedings, and there were other people in
the audience who might be interested in other issues. He was led
to bel ieve before he took office that 11 :30 p.m. ewas the outside
time for Monday night meetings. Ile believed one of the prices
Councilmembers paid for spending so much time on issues some
bel ieved to be inappropriate for the Council was there was not
enough time to spend on other things some believed they -should
spend more time on. He wanted to know if there were some items
which might be continued in order to meet the 11:30 p.m. deadline.
Councilmember Renzel suggested Council try and get through the.
agenda. There would be a bare quorum the next week and the fol-
lowing week would probably be a heavy agenda. It was important to
yet that eves-#ng° s business done.
City Manager .Bill Zaner said Items 8, 9, and 10 could be resched-
uled if Council desired although staff preferred not to.
MOTION: Councilmember Patitucci moved to continue Items 8,
Consultant Selection Financial Data 8as.e and Reporting Systems
Upgrade; #9, Planni:+g Commission and Architectural Review Board
recommendation re Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition System
at MSC; and 110, Revisions to Merit System Roles and Regulations
to next available agenda. -
MOTION DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND
RETURN TO ITEM #b, INTERIM ZONING REGULATIONS OR MORATORIUM FOR
S URD SH PP NG N ER , 180 EL. CAMI Nl- REAL
Councilmember Patitucci understood he might have a confl ict of
interest on the Stanford portion of the item. He taught as a
part-time lecturer at Stanford University and was employed for the
Spring Quarter ending June 30, .985. He understood he could not
participate iii any matters which might involve Stanford for one
year following that date.
City Attorney Diane Lee suggested the Mayor have discussion .of the
StanOrd item separate from the Town :'and Country item, in which
case Councilmember Patitucci could participate on the Town and
Country item.
Mayor Levy asked. -if the public hearing could be for both items.
Ms. Lee said yes..
Mayor. Levy said the public hearings for the items would be com-
bined, ;tut the itemswould be voted on separately.
Councilmember Sutorius said he saw the point .4 FAR and the
110,000. square which effectively was .4 FAR at Stanford from a
f
1
different perspective. For example, at Town and Country, the
existing floor area was 171,737 square feet. The .4 FAR would
allow, under the caveat expressed by Mr. Freeland, development up
to an additional 56,294 square feet. If he calculated it cor-
rectly, it said there could be a 32.2 percent increase whereas
110,000 square feet on top of 1,331,340 square feet was something
like 8.3 percent growth. From the standpoint of traffic impacts
and other adverse effects, he opined a 32 percent increase poten-
tial would exacerbate a critical sittation. While there were
more square feet involved, 110,000 square feet was absorbable
within the Stanford main parcel and the second parcel excluding
any development physically occurring on the creekside parcel. He
queried whether in the staff or Commission review any considera-
tion was given as to whether a percentage allowance under a mora-
torium or zoning change was the route to go in order to reflect
the true effects of development potential in either location.
Mr. Freeland said they did not think of a percentage increase. He
saw nothing wrong with the approach as opposed to the one recom-
mended. Staff's intention was to allow something more generoue.
than an absolute moratorium, and he believed there were many
routes to get to an acceptable solution. Staff suggested an
interim zoning on a judgmental basis as to the num6er of square
feet which ,Might be reasonable to even accept applications, and
staff bel iered the resultant numbers were within the range of what
could be reasonab1; considered again with the caveat they were riot
in any way implied as a right.
Commissioner Cullen believed the Commission looked at the proba-
bility of development on the 11 parcels and a single parcel . The
single parcel under one ownership had a higher probability of
development than the 11 parcels under two or three ownerships. If
Co;incil believed there should be a further cut back on the 11 par-
cels, she appreciated the traffic problems and the Commission
agreed. The Commission believed both areas were presently subject
to congestion, and it was anxious to cut back without cutting out
completely.
Mayor Levy referred to the proposal for the shopping center, and
clarified if additional square footage was to be built, an envi-
ronmental assessment was called for.
Mr. Freeland said an environmental assessment definitely, and an
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) only if staff found there were
significant impacts they did not know how to mitigate through an
agreement.
Mayor Levy asked if it would then have to go before the Council.
Mr. Freeland said an EIR would go before the Council; however, if
staff could find ways to mitigate a project so a full EIR would
not be required, then an application would normally only go to the
Architectural Review Board (ARB). Council would only see the
application if there was an EIR or an appeal.
Mayor Levy asked what would happen if Stanford wanted to add addi-
tional square footage beyond what Council was santioning that
evening.
Mr. Freeland said there was no provision in either the .4 FAR or
the 110,000 square foot alternative to go beyond. They would both
be maximum amounts of development. In order to have a project
larger than the .4 FAR or 110,000 square feet processed by staff,
there would have to be an action by the Council to change the
zoning or the square footage ceiling equivalent to the action
before the Council that evening.
Mayor Levy clarified a rezoning would be necessary,
6 6 1 4`
12/02 /85
Mr. freeland said if Coueci1 took the .1 FAR approach, one could
only yu beyond it by havin.y another rezoning which set a higher
FAR. If Council took the square footage limitation, a new ordi-
nance would be required to set a different square footage limit.
Councilmember Woolley asked staff to comment on the equity of the
.4 FAR in relation to the temporary limitations already placed on
the CS, CN, and OR zones.
Mr. Freeland said in the CS, CN and OR zones, a .5 FAR was estab-
1 ished. 0n the other hand, the properties being discussed were in
the Community Col amercial (CC) zone. The other parts of town which
were in the CC zone and under study were California Avenue and, the
downtown, both of which were actually given moratoria which out-
right prohibited development during the time those properties were
studied. It depended : what basis of comparison was made between
the subject property and others. The subject instance was a some-
what tighter restriction than the CS, CN and OR zones, and a much
looser restriction than the other CC areas under study.
Councilmember Woolley was concerned about traffic generation and
asked if there was any difference, or whether any possible differ-
ence would be studied, for 10,000 square feet of commercial space
located on El Camino, in the downtown, or in the Stanford Shopping
Center.
Mr. Freeland doubted 10,000 square feet would show up as a sig-
nificant difference no matter where it was located.
Councilmember Woolley clarified there would be a difference for
30,000 square feet depending on the location.
Mr. Freeland could .not say ghat the threshold was, but could say
in the Downtown Study staff looked for so-called "wriggle room"
to allow projects to add square footage and there were two differ-
! ent alternatives. One allowed 20,000 square feet and one allowed
50,000 square feet. The 30,000 square feet within the downtown
was barely noticeable in traffic forecasts. He believed the
numbers needed to be at least 30,000 square feet to show up in a
traffic analysis as a difference, but it might need to be larger
before it stood out.
Councilmember Woolley asked if they would get to the level in the
traffic study where they could differentiate between whether the
new space was located at Stanford Shopping Center or along El
Camino.
Mr. Freeland said yes. Staff intended to produce a number of dif-
ferent scenarios to place different amounts of development in dif-
ferent parts of town, and :.Council would be able to see the differ-
ences the different square footages made.
Councilmember Renzel referred to the Stanford Shopping Center and
when the now defunct Sand Hill Road EIR approval was done. She
believed there was some discussion there would be only 40,000
square feet of additional expansion in the shopping center or that
there were 40,000 more square feet there than had been accounted
for in the EIR which already showed levels of service "E" and °iF"
on Sand Hill both before and after the project. She queried how
the numbers of 110,000 square feet tied into those already serious
traffic problems.
Mr. Freeland said the 110,000 square feet was purely the applica-
tion of a .4 FAR to the property and was independent of the square
footages which might have been identified a year ago :during the:
Willow Road extension process. As he -recalled, representatives of
Stanford identified about 30,000 square feet they believed might
be built within a year or two which were not identified in then
Willow Road document, that is, projects beyond the Neiman Marcus
store. He believed it = was a judgment as to how mac h short-term
development Stanford anticipated at that point. The 110,000
square feet was independent of the traffic forecasts in the Willow
Road document, which was why he made the statement it would be d
mistake for anyone to believe because the zoning might theoreti-
cally allow up to 110.000 square feet, it did not in any wa.v
create an entitlement to build it, and projects would have to be
looked at for their individual environmental effect. It might be
possible to absorb the square footage, it might be possible to
absorb more or less, but it was all subject to future environ-
mental assessments.
Councilmember Renzel was concerned about the cumulative impacts on
the Willow corridor. Since the September, 1984 cumulative Envi-
ronmental Impact Report for the corridor, the Environmental Man-
agement Facility received approval , there was an announcemeat by
Stanford of a major renovation of the western area of its campus,
and 40,000 square feet of shopping center expansion potential was
not previously included. If it took 30,000 square feet of some-
thing to -be measurable for purposes of cumulative impacts, she
asked how the City would get a handle on the problem.
Mr. Freeland said with regard, to the corridor itself, staff had a
good picture through the various environmental assessments of what
the traffic was and would be with projects anticipated to date.
Staff would get a better look when the Stanford Master Use Permit
Environmental Impact Report was received in a few months. He did
not believe staff was far off from understanding what the traffic
consequences were in the vicinity at least for the anticipated
projects. It became awkward when the City did not know about
projects. He again stressed to a importance of understanding
future development projects would have to stand on their own and
be evaluated through the environmental process.
Councilmember Renzel said in the EIR for the Sand Hill Road/Willow
Road corridor, the current existing condition was level of service
"F" at many intersections. She asked if the City would invent a
"G" or how it would be dealt with, and what worse than level of
service "F" meant.
Mr. Freeland recalled most of the EIRs projected to the year 1990
or 1995, and showed levels of service worse than "0"/"E' -at many
points. He did not recel l current conditions, but believed they
were fairly good at the shopping center-. He believed there were
existing adverse conditions at Galvez/El Camino Real and at Santa
Cruz/Sane: Hill, but the intersections in the immediate vicinity of
the shopping center were in fairly good shape presently, but would
go to more critical levels in the foreseeable future. Level or
service "F" when reached was not the end of the line. Peak hours
tended to spread out into peak periods and the adverse conditions
existed for longer durations during the day. He did not believe
they were at the crisis point yet.
Councilmember Renzel clarified any projected increase would be
measured as against all the other projected increases or against
the -current condition for purpose of measuring significant
impact.
Mr. Freeland said the City's obligation under the California
Environmental Quality Act (-CEQA) was to measuee the difference
between present day conditions and future Conditions which in-
cluded a new project plus all other projects the City- knew of in
the area. The City was toe take a cumulative view. In other
words, what would the future si tuatton - be without -the project and
with the project. counting all other known projects in Ithe vicin-
ity, which was then compared against the current conditions.
Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open.
6 6 1 6
12/02/85
Kent Peterson, Stanford University Associate Vice President for
Business Affairs, opposed the planning Commission recommendation
to_ impose a interim downzoning on the Stanford Shopping Center
equivalent to a_.4 FAR, or 110',000 square feet. As a practical
matter, it left Stanford as the owner with almost nowhere to go.
Its existiny contracts with major department store tenants allowed
them to finish their interior with a total of about 85,000 square
feet, and if it added more than 25,0(' square feet, which was less
than a two percent expansion, Stanford would be in breach of its
legal agree gents. The Stanford Shopping Center received many
awards and was recognized locally and ;,nationally as one of the
best shopping centers in the country. (The reason was the ability
to respond quickly to changing times, tastes, and demands.
Stan ford must be in a position to accommodate desirable tenants
who made application as well as to seek them out. If it were not
done, the forces of the marketplace would cause them to locate
elsewhere In the area and d imi sh Stanford's appeal. Ten years
ago, in response to newer and larger centers, Stanford planned an
expansion and renovation now being completed. Stanford had as
partners in the enterprise, 120 specialty stores many of which
were owned by small business people who lived in the community and
who made considerable investments in their stores. Since the
mitigation imposed during the Willow Road hearings Stanford worked
with City staff in an effort to put a reasonable limit on growth
during the next 18 months. It was impossible to forecast the
future. Chanyes in the economy or consumer tastes might change
the whole face of the shopping center industry. Stanford was
negotiating leases for small stores in the remodeled Joseph Magnin
space and wanted to reserve up to 5,000 square feet to permit them
to construct a mezzanine; and expected to add some square footage
when redeveloping the former Ni ven' s supermarket and might want to
add a mezzanine there, which would consume almost all of the
allowable expansion. Stanford also considered adding a second
story to one of its buildings, but would be unable to do so if the
Planning Commission recommendation prevailed. Stanford did not
•,want to add stores just to add stores. It believed it could du
much better by having an excellent tenant mix, and its ability to
refine ..its mix could become crippled by the dramatic downzoning
proposer . In Council's deliberations, he urged consideration of
equity with other property owners. If an interim zone modifi-
cation was imposed, it should be done equitably. Stanford under-
stood in other commercially zoned areas in Palo Alto received FAR
reductions of 0.5:1 during the study period, and Stanford should
be given no less. Presently, Stanford had one of the lowest
ratios of building space to land in Palo Alto since ground cover-
age was about 16,200 square feet per acre. If Stanford believed
bigyer was better, it would have been long ago. It did not make
sense to penalize restraint by imposing greater restrictions.
Stanford asked for no less than 0.5:1 FAR as the shopping center
was currently zoned be in effect during the 18 -month study
period.
Councilmember Klein said in over 30 years, the shopping center
increased from 500,000 square feet to a little over 1.3 million
square feet, a total increase of 800,000 square feet, which
averaged out to '26,000 square feet a year being added. Mr.
Peterson said 110,000 square feet over .18 months, which was
roughly ib,000 square feet a year, or three times the historical
averLge, was not enough. 8e asked for comment.
Mr. Peterso,r. said Stanford's major .stores, Emporium ar±d__Macy's,
had: the right to an additional 8fa,000 square feet. Stanford did
not know whether it would be done, but they had the right.
Stanford was currently involved in two renovations, the Magnin
store under the inner circle, and the old Niven's store : into a
"food mart." In both situations, Stanford might want to add
mezzanines.
Councilraember Klein was concerned Stanford wanted to add something
three times as large as the historical average.
6 6 1 7
12/02/85,
1
1 b_ d zes s� n L was tight
t n_ f
<<�tln� tA_^lher Renzel said the parking pretty z�y�r� �i �%n►iiui'ii
particul arly around the holidays, and she queried with the
recently completed expansions, how Stanford expected to accom-
modate the seasonal parking crunch, particularly if Stanford added
the 110,000 square feet.
1
1
i
Mr. Peterson said Stanford would watch what happened over the
Christmas season. If it found its customers could not park, it
would probably decide to add another parking deck. When it was
done a few years ago, the City Council seemed less interested in
letting Stanford add parking than Stanford was in adding it.
Stanford would assess the situation and might ,well decide to add
another parking deck-.
Councilmember Renzel asked where it would be.
Mr. Peterson did not believe it was determined.
Councilmember Renzel asked if private contractual arrangements of
applicants or proper tv owners limited the City's ability to zone.
Mr. Freeland said private contractual areements did not oblige
the City in terms of its zoning decisions. If any of the square
feet mentioned already existed and was to be activated, it would
not count against the 110,000 square feet. It would count if it
created new floor area. He understood some space at the Emporium
physically existed, but was not being used. He was not sure how
to account for the differences between the numbers.
Councilmember Renzel clarified when the Council looked at what it
did with zoning, it was not affected by the private contractual
arrangements of people.
Vice Mayor Cobb said it did not sounded as if Stanford necessarily
anticipated a lot of the square footage happening, but rather it
could happen ;'n the worst case. If the Emporium and Macy's took
their full bite, plus the other things, Stanford would exceed the
110,000 square feet. He asked about the likelihood of the worst
case situation occurring.
Mr. Peterson said it was hard to guess. Stanford would probably
add approximately 5,000 square feet of mezzanine in the old Magnin
space, and between 5,000 and 15,000 square feet in the old Niven's
space, but it was .lot yet decided,
CouncilmEmber Renzel asked if the 5,OUO and 10,000 square feet
mezzanines were some of the space contemplated In the two percent
growth rate used in the Willow Road EIR or whether they were new
spaces.
Mr. Peterson believed they were contemplated in the EIR, but said
he was not the ' expert,
Mr. Freeland said the only space specifically accounted for at the
Stanford Shopping Center in the Willow Road EIR was the Neiman
Marcus store. A 1.5 percent regional growth factor was plugged in
and the "shopping center would be part of regional growth. In a
way, it could be said some additional expansion of the shopping
center w .s consistent with the regional growth figures. It was
not as i f there was a spec ;fic growth factor plugged in for the
shopping center itself,
detty Meltzer, 1241 Dana, said during the past election many ads
were taken out by- the candidates for offices in Palo Alto. 0f
those running. for City Council, several referred .to the desire to
protect neighborhoods from undue impacts ° of through traffic.
Those intentions reflected the deep cont.2rn felt _ by residents c,f
Palo ;alto about traffic and its parallel problem of parking. The
6 6'1 8
12/02/85
Planning Department was conducting a study of these problems on a
City-wide basis, and Council took extreme steps to ensure com-
mercial growth was minimized in the downtown CM and CS zones
during the study period. Restrictions existed to ensure future
growth was consistent with h conclusions from the study. Some
individuals would have liked to develop commercial buildings
during the interim- period, but Council stood firm restricting
the amount of growth. That evening, growth and FAR allowances for
the Stanford Shopping- Center and the Town and Country Village
areas during the study period were being considered, which areas
should be treated in the same restrictive fashion as Palo Alto
treated other commercial areas in town. Until conclusions from
the Planning Department study were public and a subsequent plan
was suggested, she urged Council to minimize the amount of com-
mercial growth allowed in the two shopping areas. It should be
remembered commercial growth at Stanford and the Town and Country
shopping centers could only aggravate an already dangerous traffic
situation at El Camino and Embarcadero. The congestion from those
shopping centers directly affected the safety of high school
students on a daily basis. Th.e traffic to and from Stanford
Shopping Center endlessly contributed to further congestion of
Palo Alto's residential streets. Embarcadero and University
Avenues were two of the major routes for all cars traveling west
from 101. It was an unfortunate situation for Palo Alto and its
traffic problems because there were no alternative routes from 101
west whic:di .voided Palo Alto's residential streets. Everyone
appreciated and enjoyed the convenience and pleasure derived from
shopping at the two centers, but at some point, the residents of
Palo Alto needed to protect the quality of life which remained. A
plan was needed to take into accoant Palo Alto's residential -
priorities.
Mayor Levy dec i aree the public hearing closed.
Mayor Levy suggested Council take up Item #5 related to Stanford
Shopping Center and then move on to Item #6.
MOTION: Counc i 1 meaaber Klein mover, seconded by Renzel , approval
of the Planning Commission recommendation that there will be no
adverse environmental impact and to adopt a moratorium on addi-
tional floor area beyond 110,000 Square feet for the Stanford
Shopping Center.
ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE
COUI CIC or TWW CITY 0 PALO ALTO ADOPTING INTERIM
REGULATIONS REGARDING THE FLOOR AREA RATIO FOR CC
(COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL) DISTRICTS IN THE STANFORD
SHOPPING CENTER.
ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE
C1UNCIL OF YP(E TAY b' PALO ALTO ESTABLISHING A MAXIMUM
ALLOWANCE OF NEW SQUARE FOOTAGE TO BE APPROVED FOR
CONSTRUCTION AT THE STANFORD SHOPPING CENTER AND
IMPOSING A MORATORIUM ON FURTHER APPLICATIONS ABOVE THAT
ALLOWANCE UNTIL JULY 1, 1987'
CouncilAember Klein agreed with h the staff report and Planning
Commission. Stanford's request was excessive and not historically
justified. He did not see the need for 110,000 square feet, and
it did generate a lot of traffic. If an extraordinary situation
warranted going beyond the 110,000 figure, .Stanford was free to
return, ..but as an outside limit for the next 18 months, it was
generous.
Councilmember Woolley supported the motion, and believed it was a`
reasonabl a compromise,. As Vice Mayor Cobb mentioned, the City had
a substantial sales tax income from the property and-- should
balance that on the one hand with the flexibility needed on the
5: 5 1 9
12/02/85
other Eiuhteen months was relatively short period in ter -MS of.
planning and it probably was sufficient. The 110,000 square feet
rather than the FAR gave some flexibility in dealing with zoning
on the Creekside property, if they got the Willow Road EIR back,
and the wanted to keep open space zoning as a possibility.
Councilmember Renzel supported the motion principally because it
was an alternative to the current square rootage that could be
built under the current zoning. She was not entirely satisfied
the 110,001) square feet was exactly the same as a 0.4 FAR because
if the Creekside parcel was rezoned, the 0.4 FAR was, practically
met by the existing shopping center. Theoretically, it was a
transfer of development from the Creekside parcel to the main
shopping center parcel. It continued to be frustrating to hear of
more and more development proposals not incorporated in the so-
called "cumulative impact report" for the Sand Hill corridor. She
did not know how to correct it since it was a lack of timely com-
munication by Stanford. Council was supposed to make decisions
which affected the community environment andrwere only given par-
tial information; and, once the decisions were made, Council wa.s
given more information. As to tax revenue, Council should not get
too greedy about revenue not yet earned at Stanford or any place
else in the City. One of the principle reasons for the rotten
land use planning throughout California and the nation was cities
got greedy for tax revenue and did not pay attention to the
environmental impacts on their communities. There were certainly
bal ances to be struck, but Palo Al to had ample revenues and should
not sacrifice the envirc nmont in order to gain a little more.
Councilmember Sutorius queried whether a percentage, which could
be converted into square footage, was a more reasonable approach,
and suggested ten percent applied in both instances The effect
was to put the current cap with all the caveats mentioned at
133,000 at Stanford, 17,000 at Town and Country for a total of
150,000 versus the current combined proposal of 165,000. His
rationale was concern about the higher cap in the next item. He
saw no serious potential concern about a 133,000 cap at Stanford
because, as emphasized in the discussion by all parties, anything
done went through the process and was looked at with the proper
view and consideration of whether it was tolerable, of marginal,
or how it should be mitigated. The 133,000 added a little con-
ceptual flexibility on Stanford' part regarding its contractural
obligations and being able to evaluate an additional proposal
Stanford might receive from a firm or firms appropriate for the
Center, and where Stanford could go forward without the require-
ment for it first to be addressed as a zoning. chenge. It could go
forward as a request for a building proposal which: would use the
same precautions which otherwise applied. On the other side of
the El Camino, the absorption rate or potential was different, and
a ten percent limit converted to square foot was reasonable and
proper to apply to both items.
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Sutorivs moved to amend the notion to
133,000 square feet.
AMENDMENT DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND.
MOTION PASSED. unanimously, fatitucci "not participating,*
Bechtel absent.
COUNCILMEMBE_RPATIT UCCI LEFT AT 11:35 p.m.
MOTION: Councilmember Meniel moved, seconded by Levi, to
approve Planning Commission recommendation that there will mot be
an adverse environmental impact lad to adopt -interim zoning regu-
lations of .40 floor area ratio for the Town and Country
Village.
6 6 2 0
12/02/85
MOTION CONTINUED
ORDINANCE FOR FIRST READING entitled "ORDINANCE OF THE
COUNCIL ur int CiMi iF rALO ALTO AfOPTUNO INTERIK
REGULATIONS REGARDING THE FLOOR AREA RATIO FOR CC
(COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL) DISTRICTS IN THE TOWN AND COUNTRY
PILLAGE"
Mayor Levy clarified it was an interim ordinance Anding July 1,
1987 as was the previous ordinance.
Councilmember Renzel said there was a findine of no significant
environmental impact, and it was important for Council to limit
what could occur to preserve planning options. Since a repre-
sentative of Town and Country Village was not present, it sug-
gested the limit suggested was probably reasonable.
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Sutorius moved, seconded by Fletcher
to reduce the FAR to .35.
Councilmember Sutorius said the reduction changed the cap from a
55,29.4 square foot development potential to a 26,915 square foot
development potential. The chance of 55,000 square feet under a
.4:1 FAR occurring in an 18 -month period was slim, but Council
should risk the slimmest of chances. With regard to the inter-
section of El Camino and Embarcadero, it was prudent to recognize
perhaps there was another intersection that competed with it from
a technical standpoint, but he did not believe there was one from
a safety standpoint; and, therefore, Council should take action
stronger than proposed.
Councilmember Woolley queried the practical effect of the parking
requirements on the possibility of additional space at Town and
Country.
Planning Administrator Lynr:ie Melena doubted additional parking
spaces could be added on -site, but as observed at Stanford
Shopping Center, there were additional parking spaces added
through a deck, so it was always possible to add parking.
Councilmember Woolley asked whether it was necessary for
additional square footage.
any
Ms. Melena believed so, but had not checked to see exactly what
the parking situation was.
Councilmember Renzel asked whether there was difficulty in having
two different standards.
City Attorney Diane Lee said no.
Councilmember Renzel supported _ the . amendment. She asked if there
was any notice difficulty regarding Town and Country Village in
arriving at a new smaller number when they believed it was a dif-
ferent number - for purposes of .the hearing.
Ms, Lee assumed the notice was the same as went to the Planning
Commission, which was .5 or less, in which case, Council had
latitude.
Councilmember Renzel supported the motion, and was amendable to
'a K.3b FAR on .the Stanford property as well.: Clearly, from the
Willow Road EIR, one of the major intersections impacted- by the
shopping center traffic was Enbarcadero/E1 Camino. With 26,000
square feet: t: they were talking, about four times as much growth at
Stanford Shopping Center under the allocation just approved. She
concurred with Councilmember Sutorius : it made sense to limit as
much as possible what happened.
6 6 2 1
12/OZ/G5
1
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1
Mdyor Levy supported the amendment. The stretch of road between
the underpass and El Camino on Embarcadero was one of the worst in
town, particularly at midday when the Palo Alto High School
students used the crossway. Unless the City figured out some way
to engineer substantial improvement, there was clear justification
for holding in check the expansion of Town and Country Village.
AMENDMENT PASSED unanimously, Bechtel and Patitucci absent.
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously, Bechtel and Patituccl
absent.
MOTION TO RECONSIDER: Councilmember kennel moved to reconsider
/tee 05 for purposes of putting a .35 floor area ratio on the
Stanford Shopping Center.
MOTION TO RECONSIDER DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND.
ITEM 07, PUBLIC HEAkiNG: PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION RE
AMENDMENT TO USA PERMIT FOR THE NEW VARSITY THEATRE, 456
UNIVERSITY AVENUE (PLA 3-1) (CMR:623:5)
Planning Commission Chairperson Pat Cullen said the Planning
Commission held the six-month review of the New Varsity Theatre
Use Permit and recommended the permit be approved with the condi-
tion a sound leveler be inste l l cd and maintained. There was con-
cern about the difference between the ambient noise level and the
music sound level . `e Commissioners Cullen and Wheeler were a
minority in ettewpting to set an average standarl ambient noise
level against which to measure the music level. The other
Commissioners voted to maintain the provisions of the present
noise ordinance. The Commission recommended continued police
monitoring of the sounds levels and also recommended the Use
Permit be extended for Friday and Saturday nights in October.
Commissioners Cullen and Hirsch opposed the October extension.
Mayor Levy declared the public hearing open.
Mori Hall, 483 University, lived in the President Apartments for
seven years, and found the New Varsity courtyard music a problem.
It was loud and invaded her privacy and she wanted to deal with
less of it during the summer. She hoped Council would keep in
place provisions equivalent to those guiding the music the past
summer. She preferred music less hours per night, fewer nights
per week, or fewer months per .year. The Planning Commission
recommendation did not provide the residents of her building with
as much protection as the past summer. The suggestions extended
the period in which courtyard music was allowed to October instead
of September, and did not specify any guidelines to determine when
it was appropriate for Council to review the Use Permit again.
The only redress neighbors had was a Zoning Administrator's
hearing that took a long time to even initiate as it took years to
make the last one happen which eventually triggered the reviews.
She preferred some mention in the Use Permit of a specific number
of noise code violations or missing the time limit violations
which triggered . another review . by Council. She understood the
decision was ultimately up to the Zoning Administrator, but
believed such a note provided a . useful context to the Zoning
Administrator's actions. lhrough calling the Police Department
for noise tests and by taking notes when the music continued past
the allowed hours, • neighbors documented nemerous ;violations by the
New Varsity of the noise ordinance and time -playing limit restr;ic.
Lions over the past summer. She asked Council to not allow the
New Varsity to feature courtyard music in October., the following
year. The past October was a wonderful relief•after months of.
contending with the music. She al so asked Council to quantify how
many violations o'f the rules justitie-d review of the Use Permit
another time. If possible, she asked Council to reduce the amount
of courtyard music allowed.
6 6 2 2
12/02/85
Glenn Lutge, 329 Pope Street, Menlo Park, owned the New Varsity►
and uryed Council accept the recommendations of the Planning
Commission. The past six-month period was difficult for the
Varsity. Their major source of income was reduced by the number
of days and amount of time they were allowed to play. In addi-
tion, the Varsity was forced to shut down their lunch business
because of the construction noise of the new addition to the
President Hotel , the Cowper Court. If the Varsity was to exist in
its present format and resist the developers, it needed to remain
economically viable, which meant their opportunities for music
within the City's sound ordinance not be further restricted.
Mayor Levy asked what percent of the New Varsity's weekly business
was Friday and Saturday.
Mr. Lutye said it was entirely dependent on what went on. It was
not always the same, but was a good percentage.
Mayor Levy asked for a range.
Mr. Lutge said probably 30-40 percent.
Mayor Levy cl\arified 3U -4U percent was average; in other words,
those two daye averaged 30-40 percent of a week, and those two
days together were somewhere around 30 percent of a week, so the
business from the courtyad was flat through the week.
Mr. Lutye said it varied with the artist, the weather, etc.
Mayor Levy declared the public hearing closed.
MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Klein, to
adopt staff recommendation modifying Use Permit 85 -UP -37 as
follows:
1. Modify Condition 3 to permit musical entertainment during
October, on Friday and Saturday evenings only.
2. Modify Condition S to require the installation and maintenance
of a sound leveler device in the courtyard sound system to
reduce peak level sound.
3. Remove Conditi n 9, which required a six-month review of the
Use Permit, and direct staff to continue monitoring of sound
levels and other aspects of use permit compliance, with per-
iodic informational reports to the Planning Commission and
City Council on sound level readings and curfew violations.
Councilmember Fletcher believed the Varsity made a good faith
effort to minimize sound levels and tried to terminate the music
on time, and hoped they continued end impraved the cut-off period.
There would be periodic sound level monitoring and reports made to
the Planning Commission and City Council . If a serious problem
developed, the City Council could set in motion a review of the
Use Permit again, but from reading the material from, the Planning
Commission, leyeile, A.f Council issued a Use Permit it could not
continue to review the Use Permit on a periodic basis, but had to
rely on the good faith of the reci'pi ent
Councilmember Reneel said Council was ratifying the existing Use
Permit and allowing it to continue, and it was adding two days a
week during the month of October, which was an additional condi-
tion to the old permit.
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Renzol moved to amend, Item 1, the
modification of Condition 3 permitting musical entertainsest der -
log' October, on Friday tad Saturday evenings idly, to be reviewed
in the sewer of 1986.
AMENDMENT DIED FOR LACK OF A SECOND.
6 6 2 3
12/02/85
Councilmember Woolley referred to the third point of the motion
regarding periodic informational reports to the Planning
Commission and City Council on sound level readings, and queried
whether staff had any problems with adding the words "and curfew
violations."
Zoning Administrator Bob Brown said no.
Councilmember Woolley asked the maker of the motion to accept the
words "and curfew violations," because it was also something
Council was interested in monitoring.
Councilmember Fletcher clarified "curfew" meant the termination of
the music.
Councilmember Woolley said it was the term used in the staff
re'port (CMR:623:5); whether they cut off at the time they were
sepposed to.
MAKER AND SECOND OF MOTION INCORPORATED AND CURFEW VIOLATIONS"
INTO ITEM 13 OF THE MOTION
Councilmember Renzel said it seemed about half the pol ice cal 1 s
were violations. If the pattern continued, she asked about the
process to revoke the permit —what sanctions Council had.
Ms. Lee responded the ultimate sanction was to -evoke the permit.
in its entirety. Depending on what evidence was presented, what
the violations were, how many there were, and over what period of
time they occurred, it could result in ,a lengthy proceeding, If
it was a clean revocation, it was a lot easier than trying to work
out modifications to the permit in order to enforce compliance,
which was one of the time consuming things about the proceeding.
In the first instance, the Zoning Administrator would hold a
hearing to .determine whether there was sufficient evidence to
warrant =revocation or modification of the permit. Ultimately,
depending on the results, it could go to Council.
Councilmember Renzei believed it went a little far to add time
when the music was played, and would not support the motion as it
currently existed. She believed the people who lived in the
President Hotel were subjected to extraordinary noise, and while
there was some reasonableness to expecting a certain amount of
noiee in a commercial area, it was a tremendous infringement of
peoples' privacy and conforteble enjoyment of homes to add even
more at that point, particularly in a iew of the fact it was a
somewhat spotty record. She opposed the motion even though she
appreciated many of the services offered by the Nevi Varsity.
Councilmember Fletcher pointed out Council was not del eged with
protests from the residents of the hotel since the new ► ules went
into effect, eel there had not been a large crowd at the Planning
Commission or the City Council meeting objecting to the proposal.
Mayor Levy reluctantly supported the recommendation because the
level of sound desired nowadays was quite strident to his, ear and
called for suhstantial amplification. He yearned for the days
when amplification was not required for enjoyment, but times had
changed and the City needed to adapt to those changes in a way
which allowed different peo4t,e to coexist as reasonably as pos-
sible. The recommendation before Council was a reasonable adapta-
tion for all parties; neither party was satisfied by it, but
neither party would be satisfied by whatever Council did.
MOTION PASSED by a vote et b-1, Refuel voting °no,' Bechtel,
,
PatitoCGI.:absent.
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12/02/85
ITEM #d, FINANCE AND PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE REPCRT RE CONSULTANT
SELECTION - FINANCIAL DATA BASE UPGRADE CONSULTANT SERVICES -
AWARD OF CONTRACT TO COOPERS AND LYBRAND (FIN -1) (CMR:607:5)
Vice Mayor Cobb said Chairman Bechtel asked him to give the report
on behalf of the Finance and Public Works (F&PW) Committee which
met on October 3, and reviewed the consultant selection for the
Financial Data Base upgrade, and concurred with staff's recom-
mendation and. the. Consultant Selection Committee's recommendation
to award a contract to Coopers 8 Lybrand. It was the unanimous
vote of the three members of the Committee who participated.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Cobb for the Finance and Public Works
Committee moved that Council:
1. Authorize the Mayor to execute the agreement with the firm of
Coopers i Lybrandfor an amount not to exceed $45,000, and
2. Authorize staff to execute change orders to the agreement of
up to $5,000.
CONSULTANT AGREEMENT
Coopers and Lybrand
Mayor Levy was interested in the approximate cost of Phase II,.
The City was getting, into a situation where Phase III would be
implemented as an outgrowth of Phases I and II, but he saw no
costs related to it.
Ci y Manager Bi l l eerier said staff's best guess at that point was
about $26,000.
NOTION PASSED unanimously, Bechtel, Patltuccl absent.
ITEM fet PLANNING COMMISSION AND ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD
R OMMENDATfON R SITE AND DESIGN R VIEW OF UTILITY SUPERVISORY
CONT . it. AND DATA AC U I S IT I OR (SCADA) BUILDING AT 3241 ` A T
BAYS R RON G ROAD U I 1-8) (CMR:626:5)
City Manager Bill Zaner said while he disagreed with the ARB's
position, he agreed to call Council's attention to a letter from
the Architectural Review Board (ARB) regarding the Master Plan
timing.
Council member Renzel asked how many other projects, or approval s
for projects, at the Municipal Service Center �'tMSC) were antici-
pated within the two-year period of developing a Master Plan.
Mr. Zaner said only onp project might precede the development of
the Master Plan, which was reported to Council a few months ago,
wherein the City wanted to make some improvements to house City -
owned hazardous materials. The other projects the City would do
at the MSC, including installing a wash rack and probably an over-
head canopy to protect some equipment stored outside, would prob-
ably be done inside the Master Plan project.
Counc i lmember Menzel asked how many square feet staff was talking
about.
Mr. Zaner did not know. The City needed to isolate some of the
material, so it would be in a couple: of locations. They were not
massive developments, but: were improvements to the Center.
Councilmember Renzel asked, in order of magnitude, if they were up
near the 5,000 square feet of the SCADA facility.
Mr. Zaner did not think so. One involved the storage of large
drums, and while it was not a big building, it might be an
enclosed. or fenced areaand have some square footage involved,
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12/02/85
Councilmember S4rtorius said the Environmental impart Assessment
(EIA) paper, on page 3, indicated five additional employees during
the largest shift. He did not know what the 24 -hour staffing was
at the facility and appreciated there was some: overlap with people
coming and going, The EIA indicated six new parking spaces were
lncluded in the lot designed to accommodate employees of the
Control Center, and he was concerned about the adequacy of the
parking assessment and the provision for parking. While he was
subject to a more accurate count, that day he observed 76 cars
parked in the area. He noted 62 existing parking spaces and the
additional cars were parked in areas marked "no parking at any
time." Of those additional cars, nine were against the back fence
wall where, although there was a sign saying not to park, there
were some concrete bollard which suggested some arrangement was
made for those to be reasonable parking spaces even though they
were not painted. Regardless, there were 76 cars and a provision
for 75 cars in the new plan which added people if he understood it
correctly.
Zoning Administrator Bob Brown understood from the architects
there were currently 67 spaces in the parking lot, and they pro-
posed to add eight as opposed to the six mentioned in the staff
report. The architects also indicated while the parking lot
serving the MSC was convenient, there actually was a second lot to
the north of the Center which had approximately 40-50 percent
capacity, so there was sufficient parking for the MSC complex to
handle any overflow, but the proposal was to formalize the parking
in the lot for 75 vehicles.
Councilmember Fletcher asked if bicycle parking was not included
because less than ten auto spaces were being added.
Mr, Brown said that was corF ect.
Councilmember Fletcher said regardless o,f the regulations, she
hoped there would be some Class I bicycle`parkiny provided since
none existed currently.
MOTION: Councilmember Fletcher moved, seconded by Renzel , to
adopt the Planning Commission and Architectural Review Board
recommendation approving the Site and Design application for the
SCADA project, making the following findings and subject to the
conditions listed below:
Findings
1. The project, as proposed, will not have a significant impact
on the physical environment;
2. Construction and operation of the project will occur in a
manner that will be orderly, harmonious and compatible with
existing or potential Uses of adjoining or nearby sites, in
that the project has beer, located in an area which will not
interfere with operation of either the Municipal Service
Center or the Animal Services Center, and is separated from
these rases by existing fencing;
3. The project will ensure the desirability of investment, or the
conduct of business, research, or educational activities, or
other authorized occupations, in the same or adjacent areas,
in that the project is approximately one-half,, mile from pri-
vate development along East Bayshore Road, and, therefore,
will not affect the conduct of activities at the Municipal
Service Center or the Animal Services Centers and is to be
located at least 650 feet from bayland levees, which are used
by the public as pathways into the mershl ands;
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12/02/85
NOTION CONTINUO
4. The project design will ensure that soured principles of envi-
ronmental design and ecological balances are observed, in that
the project will add substantial landscaping, shielding the
existing parking lot from view of East Bayshore Road and US
101 and the building from the Baylands, and has been designed
to substantially limit the need for additional paving and
site coverage; and
5. The project will be in conformance with the Palo Alto Compre-
hensive Flint in that it accomplishes the direction of Policy
K of the Baylands Master Plan which states, "Continue current
operation of the Municipal Service Center and Animal Services
and add screen landscaping between the MSC and the future
landfill area park."
Conditions
1. That a final landscape and irrigation plan return to the ARB
for approval prior to occupancy of the building;
2. That curbing protect all landscaped areas with the parking
area; and
3. That five (5) Class 1 bike parking spaces be included, less
any existing Class 1 bike spaces.
Mayor Levy asked to have his memory refreshed in terms of a Class
1 bicycle parking space.
Mr. Brown said Class 1 were covered bicycle spaces capable of
being locked. The lockers seen at train stations were Class 1
facilities.
Mayor Levy asked if any Class 1 spaces were currently at the MSC.
Mr. Brown said not to his knowledge.
Councilmember Klein asked about the normal ratio of Class 1 bike
spaces to automobile spaces.
Mr. Brown said about ten percent.
Councilmember Klein asked about the cost of a Class 1 space.
Chief Planning Official Bruce Freel and believed the -fiberglass
ones installed in the downtown parking lots with a federal grant
were -around $2,00U each, Each locker held two bikes.
Mr. Freeland said if the same models were purschased, it might
require six lockers, but the fiberglass models were not the only
ones available.
Councilmember Klein clarified it would c.ist around $5,0100.
Mr. Freeland guessed it was around $5,000 to $6,000.
Ccsuntilme ber Sutorius understood the five Class 1' s were not
exclusively related to the MSC site.
Councilmember Fletcher said that was correct.
Mr. Zaraer clarified they were still talking about five spaces.
Councilmember Renael said the motion did not discuss the Master
Plan for the MSC and she asked if it was more appropriate by a
separate motion.
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12/02/85
Ms‘ Lee believed it could be added to the motion,
AMENDMENT: Councilmember Renzel moved, seconded by Lcvy, a
fourth condition that staff develop a Master Plan for the MSC
within 18 months.
Mr. Zaner urged Council to not adopt the amendment. Staff picked
the two-year figure with great care. The Public Works work pro-
gram was jammed and engineers were assigned to tasks which would
probably not be compl Med. It was already known the City would
fall behind in its Capital Improvement Program, . and the time
period was selected to ensure the project got done. He urged
Counc 11 to 1 eave development of the Master P1 an on a two-year
period.
Councilmember Renzel said her real concern, and she believed that
of the ARB, was that there not be too many projects going through
which were not planned for.
MAKER AND SECOND MODIFIED AMENDMENT TO READ: A MASTER PLAN BE
RETURNED TO COUNCIL BEFORE ANY OTHER PROJECTS FOR THE AREA EXCEPT
FOR HAZARDOUS MATERIALS STORAGE, THE CAR WASH AND THE D06F RUN
Councilmember Renzel clarified it was not her intent to exclude
the car wash and the dog run, but rather the major buildings.
Mr. Zaner clarified staff would not do major construction prior to
the Master Plan,
AMENDMENT PASSED unanimously, Bechtel and Patitucci absent.
MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED unanimously0 Bechtel and Patitucci
absent.
ITEM #10, REVISIONS TO THE MERIT SYSTEM RULES AND REGULATIONS
PER 1-1) CMR:624:5
MOTION: Mayor Levy moved, seconded by Klein, approval of the
resolution.
RESOLUTION 6451 entitled "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF
TOT -CITY OF PALO ALTO ADOPTING MERIT SYSTEM ROLES AND
REGULATRNS AND RESCINDING RESOLUTIONS 4372, 4491, 4636,
4815, 5250, 5259, 5349, 5389, 5548, 5720, 5792, 5945,
5955, 6036 AND 6138"
MOTION PASSED unanimously, Bechtel and Patitucci absent.
ADJOURNMENT
Council adj ourne6 at 12:30 a.m.
ATTEST:
APPROVED:
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12/02/85