HomeMy WebLinkAbout10291974Regulars Meeting
October 29, 1974
ITEM PAGE
Minutes of October 7, 1974 5 3 2
Retirement of William Ontiveros 5 3 2
Public Hearing: California Avenue Area Off -Street Parking
District Project No. 71-63 5 3 3
Public Hearing: 1040 East Meadow Circle - Vacation of Sewer
Easement
Affirmative Action Program
Community Development Block Grant Funding
San Antonio Road Underground Conversion Project
Newspaper Recycling Study
Stanford -Palo Alto Liaison Meeting
Oral Communications
Adjournment in Memory of James A. Hawkinson
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10/29/74
Regular Meeting
October 29, 1974
ITEM PAGE
Minutes of October 7, 1974 5 3 2
Retirement of William Ontiveros 5 3 2
Public Hearing:
District Project
California Avenue Area Off -Street Parking
No. 71-63 5 3 3
Public Hearing: 1040 East Meadow Circle - Vacation of Sewer
Easement
Affirmative Act=.on Program
Community Development Mock Grant Funding
San Antonio Road Underground Conversion Project
Newspaper Recycling Study
Stanford -Palo Alto Liaison Meeting
Oral Communications
Adjournment in Memory of James A. Hawkinson
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10/29/74
October 29, 1974
The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date at 7:30 p.m.
ins regular greeting with Mayor Sher presiding.
Present: Beahrs, Berwald, Clay (arrived 8:15 p.m.),
Comstock, fender.aon, Pearson, Rosenbaum,
Sher
Absent: Norton
Mlreutes of October 1, l
y®i AA�im�lA®I. IwiAi.A�IfY
Vice Mayor Henderson requested that the word "to" be added at the
end of the last line on page 386. On page 400, the first line was
incorrect, and Vice Mayor Henderson asked that it be corrected to
read as follows: "Vice Mayor Henderson stated that he had stood
on the levee east of the Yacht Club and had observed a noticeable
dip in the height of the sandbags as he looked toward the Yacht
Club area". Further, he asked that the next word, "and", be deleted
and a new sentence begin with "It".
Councilman Beahrs referred to page 389 and asked that the word "difficulties":
in the third line of the fourth paragraph be corrected to "differences".
He further asked that the last line in the paragraph be changed
to seed: "In his opinion, it should have been held with Palo Alto
and others licensed by the government property".
.yor Sher asked that the following change be made under Item 1
of Oral Co unicat1ona: "Mayor Sher responded that in the future
if members of the Council or the public would notify the Chair that
activities of media representatives were unduly interfering with
the conduct of the meeting, steps would be taken to control such
activities". Mayor Sher requested that the word "continued" in
the second line from the top of page 410 be corrected to "adjourned".
The whole paragraph headed "Special Meeting" should be deleted from
the minutea since those arrangements were made after the meeting
wse adjourned.
MOTION: Councilman Comstock mowed, seconded by Henderson, that
the minutes be approved as revised.
The emotion passed on a unanimous vote.
P.ata.reeent of .1dii1i ro (C 8:557:4)
}IOOAIAMMEM.A.l4d�lflA�Af14ARI�SIN - A
NOTION: Councilman Comstock introduced the following resolution
and moved, seconded by Pearson, that it be adopted:
RESOLUTION NO. 5017 , entitled "RESOLUTION
OF THE COUNCIL OF TRE cITT OF PALO ALTO
EXPRESSING :APPRECIATION TO WILLIAM ONTIVEROS
UPON HIS RETIREMENT"
Ths motion passed on a unanimous vote.
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10/29/74
PUBLIC HEARING: California Avenue
es -- trset ar ng District
:51ib:71)
Mayor Sher made the following opening statement:
"Two separate hearings have been scheduled for this
project. They will, however, be held concurrently
because they both relate to the same proceeding.
The first hearing is on the Engineer's report pre-
pared pursuant to Division 4 of the Streets and
Highways Code. The sole purpose of this first hearing
is to receive and hear protests against the proposed
acquisitions and improvements. Protests at this
first hearing may be either written or oral. Written
protests filed during the course of the hearing will
be received and considered by the Council, but cannot
be legally included in the percentage of protest.
The second hearing is on the Engineer's report, which
includes all of the details of the project, including
plans, specifications, estimates of cost and proposed
assessments. Formal protests as to this phase of the
project may only be in writing and will be received and
considered by the Council if they are filed at any time
before the conclusion of the hearing. However, as in
the case of the first hearing, only those protests filed
before the time fixed for hearing can be considered in
determing the percentage of legal protest.
Anyone interested may therefore address the Council on
any detailed phase of the project. Objections or
endorsements may he to the location or design of tZo
improvements, to the location and extent of property
to be acquired, to the question of whether the acquisi-
tions are to be made or whether the improvements are to
be installed at all, to the question of whether any
particular property is benefited, to the Engineer's
estimate of the costs and expenses, to the method
proposed for spreading annual assessments, or to any
other phase or detail of the project.
The hearings are declared open."
Lennie Helena, Project Manager, stated that the project before Council
is the assessment proceedings for the acquisition of three parcels
for parking purposes and for the immediate development of one of
the parcels. The parcel to be developed immediately is at the corner
of Birch and Cambridge, which is Parcel 1. She said the project
also included funds for feasibility and design studies for a parking
structure that Would include Parcels 2 and 3 at the corner of Sherman
and Birch and at least the adjacent existing parking lot. Me. Helena
noted that the project had been initiated more than a year ago in
response to a request by the California Avenue Area Development
Association for the a►seessssfent district to acquire the three parcels
and to analyze the feasibility of a parking structure south of California
Avenue. The three parcels were reviewed by the Planning Commission
almost a year ago, and they were found to be in conformance with
the General Plan. Further, a parking survey undertaken earlier
this year substantiated the need for additioiaa:t parking where it
is proposed to be provided. Ms. Melena explained that in connection
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with the Council's decision to move ahead with this project, a decision
had to be made on the disposition of the existing three duplexes
and their occupants on Parcel 2. Three of these units are occupied.
Staff has recommended that the occupants be relocated in six months
to a year under the city's Relocation Assistance Program while the
parking structure feasibility and design studies are under way.
If Council approves the immediate relocation, in other words - six
months to a year, the one vacant duplex could be demolished immediately;
and the others would be demolished as they are vacated. If Council
chooses to allow the tenants to remain for a longer period of time,
or if there is difficulty in relocating them, the units should be
brought up to Housing Code. The estimated cost to do that for the
three units is $18,000. Staff anticipates that the feasibility
study that would be undertaken would analyze the binding capacity
of the district over time, and the cost of alternative parking structures.
It would also include an investigation of the possibility of alternative
sources of financial assistance, such as the county.
Ted Ncguchi, Traffic Engineer, stated that in order to properly relate
the acquisition of Parcel 1, as well as 2 and 3, the staff initiated
a parking survey in April of this year; and the results of that
survey were submitted to Council in a report dated June 20, 1974.
Summarizing, Mr. Noguchi said that the survey did determine that
a current deficiency of about 300 spaces existed in the California
Avenue .ssesement District Area. Parking demands were based on
cuirent zoning regulations, the location of vaunt parcels, and
recent development trends. This data was a+sed to help formulate
long range parking reeds, and deficiency .aee_ds for 1980 and 1990
were shown. Mr. Noguchi said that by 1980, there would. probably
be another 170 spaces deficiency in the district; and by 1990, another
336 spaces deficiency will have developed. Staff found that the
survey data substantiated very clearly that a parking deficiency
does exist in the California Avenue district.
Ken Jones, Bond Counsel, noted that the Mayor had stated that there
are two public hearings scheduled for thin meeting. The function
of the first one is to determine the extent of written protests
which may have been filed against the proceedings at any time before
the hearing vas set or during its course. The second is on the
substance and details of the project, primarily on whether the properties
in the Assessment District are benefited by the proposed improvements.
Mr. Jones said that the project is to be distinguished from most
of the assessed proceedings that have been before the Council because
the financing is under the city's Bond Plan C. This means that
the formula for thy: spread of the assesament has been established
in the ordinance, and that formula is to recipe the annual amount
of prey necessary to pay the principal and interest on the bonds,
by an *aaesemeut computed against the square footage of non-residential
buildings within the boundaries of the district, duly adjusted to
the extent that they have satisfied their parking requirements under
the zoeing ordinance. P1r. Jones explained that this means there
is no proposed assessment against vacant lands, -residential properties,
o r any tax-exempt properties. The question to be determined at
this meeting is.vhether the formula is appropriate to this protect,
and it also means there is no fixed total amount which each property
ewer can deal with as his ultimate share since that would be determined
annually depending upon the variables of bond requirements, and
the quantity of adjusted square footage of non-residential buildings
in the district. The final feature is that a ceiling has been placed
by Council on the rate which is to be applied against non-residential
buildings', and this ceiling is nine cents per adjusted square foot.
Hr. Jas explained that this meant that if for any reason the requiresnte
of the district are such that nine cents will not raise the necessary
amount, there would have to be a district wide ].and area assessment
to make up any deficiencies. The basic purpose of this provision
is to prevent any possibility of a pyramiding assessment against
a shrinking assessment base; for instance, a major catastrophe which
would remove a number of buildings from the assessment base, or
the providing of substantial additional private parklug by large
assessment payers resulting in inequitable and unduly high assessments
against the remaining properties. The idea is to maintain a balance
and to recognize the fact that there is some general district wide
benefit regardless of the sae to which the properties are being
put. If the proceedings result in Council approval of this project,
Mr. Janes said there would be a bond sale scheduled at which the
boucle will be offered at competitive sale in order to raise funds
to accomplish the project. The maximum interest rate in the proceedings
is S% in accordance with a revision of the state law which went
into effect approximately thirty days ago. The current bond market
indicates an interest rate something In the range of 71/4%, and the
actual rate would be determined by market conditions at the time
of sales The essential question to be determined is whether all
the property in the district is benefited by the project, and whether
the assessment formula as described is appropriate for this financing.
Mayor Sher asked the City Clerk if there ,tees any protests.
Ann Tanner, City Clerk, reported that one written protest had been
received from Ellis and Joan L. Jacobs owners of Parcel 124-32-51,
455 Cambridge Avenue. The protest reads as follows:
"As property owners within the district affected by
the Parking Project 71--b3, we wish to protest for the
following reasons:
1) We feel that the lot en Cambridge and Birch should
not be purchased, as it will not Improve the parking
district in relationship to the cost of the purchase.
2) The lot at Sherman and Birch should be bought, but
the cost breakdown as shown seems much too high. It
should be looked into further.
3) The assessment basis does not treat all property
within the district fairly. Empty and residential lots
receive additional value from parking lots that are
developed but do not share or pay their portion of
costs.
Therefore a new method of assessment should be
developed to treat all properties within the district
more fairly.
For these reasons we protest the parking project."
Mildred Juitesen, 420 Seale Street, stated that she was speaking
as an individual but she was a menu of the California Avenue Center
Council of the Consumers' Cooperative. She observed that the proposal
was a good one, and it did seem to round out the parking needs in
the Birch Avenue district. Ms. Justeaen was pleased that the project
would be paid for by G Bonds because that meant the cost to the
Cooperative would be considerably less. Her main reason for appearing
before Council was to call its attention to the large number of
lots that have been developed between Birch and El Camino on Cambridge
end Grant Avenues, and between Birch and Park Boulevard. She pointed
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out also that on opposite sides of Cambridge Avenue there are two
small lots, and she said that the part of the Assessment District
which lies on either side of Cambridge Avenue between Birch and
Park is not very well developed at the present time. $220,000 seemed
like a lot of money for three relatively small parcels, and she
wanted Council to recognize that the price reflected the increased
value which derives from other parking lots and other buildings
that have been built. Ms. Justesen said that when she was on Council
in 1953, she voted for parking lots in the downtown area; and she
did this because she felt the merchants deserved and needed parking.
It was ironic to her that neither in the downtown area nor in the
California areas has the parking really helped the merchants. Rather,
the parking helped land developers who have taken advantage of the
parking to construct office buildings; and the number of merchants
in those two areas has diminished. Ms. Justesen noted that the
consultant on this project estimated the number of parking spaces
that would be needed on the basis of number of employees, rather
than merchants and shoppers. She thought Council probably did a
wise thing when it took the half block that belonged to the county
and suggested that it be used for housing rather than as a county
parking lot. That parcel was still there, and Ms. Justesen urged
Council to rezone it diately to R'-3 or some other zone so that
it will not be developed into something that would become a source
of employment and cause further parking congestion. It was Ms. Justesen`s
hope that Council would give attention to the needs for parking
between Birch and Park Boulevard on Cambridge, that one of the two
lots that the city now owns would be extended sufficiently that
it could become a double -deck garage if that were needed in the
future, and that this acquisition be made before the city goes forward
with any double -deck garage on any land that the city now own .
The Cooperative had paid parking assessments for the past year of
something like $100 per month, and it had been paying ad valorem
taxes for over a million dollars including interest and principal..
Therefore, Ms. Justesen felt the Cooperative had been helping to
finance parking in the entire district without having received any
benefits up to the present date.
Mr. Jones responded to the written protest that had been received
from Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs. With regard to the first point in the
letter of protest, Mr. Jones pointed out that it was obvious from
the location of the two proposed acquisitions that they are very
centrally located with relation to district boundaries. Specifically,
they fall almost exactly half way between El Camino and Park Avenue
and are one-half block off of California Avenue. The second point
regarding the high cost of the property at Sherman and Birch was
true, but Mr. Jones said the high cost was necessarily so because
of the circumstances. The property is occupied by dwelling units.
At least one of those units is occupied, and the project will have
to bear the cost of relocation expense. Also, there would have
to be unavoidable expenses of acquisition, demolition, and ultimate
improvement. The coats are high, and the question is whether the
district can afford thew. The third point in the protest letter
was a criticism of the formula that was contained in the ordinance
since it was felt to be inequitable. Mr. Jones pointed out that
the current proceeding is the culmination of at least three or four
prior proceedings for parking. At least two or three of those were
based on ad valorem, and that impact falls without regard to parking
requirements, without regard to use, and is based solely on value.
When this project and others were submitted to Council, a concerted
effort was wide to develop a formula which would recognize some
refinement in the impact of the parking costs; and the G Bond formula
is the result of those efforts. It recognizes that the demand for
off-street parking in a commercial district is the result of commercial
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buildings, primarily. Further, the formular recognizes that adjustments
are necessary because of past investments in private off-street
parking; and the square footage of the commercial structures is
adjusted in accordance with those investments. It was Mr. Jones
feeling that this formula is an equitable one, considering that
there is no perfect formula; and it did recognize to a substantially
greater degree the burdens and the benefit from parking, which
the ad valorem formula did not do. With regard to the high cost,
Mr. Jones gave a brief summary of the investigation report. The
purpose of the report was to make a financial analysis of the project
and the district for the purpose of determining whether the district
is capable of bearing the burden of the proposed assessments, and
the report is a tabular accumulation of the assessed valuation of
land, improvements, true value, analysis of outstanding assessments
againstthe area, and of the proposed assessment. The results show
an assessed value of land of $1,223,195; improvements of $1,507,303;
and a total outstanding debt of $1,063,600. When legal tests are
applied to these figures, the result is that the total debt which
will result after the incurring of the proposed assessment is within
the limits which were established by the State Legislature. Therefore,
at least according to that standard, the assessment would be within
the financial capabilities of the district. Market tests exist which
are considered substantially more realistic.
Mayor Sher declared the hearings closed.
Councilwoman Pearson expressed concern about the way the deficiencies
were arrived at with regard to parking in the Assessment D:,strict,
and she was disturbed that she was perhaps hearing projections for
the 190's and 1590's that were based on zoning that might be changed.
She asked staff to explain how it arrived at the deficiencies and
whether it considered present Genetal Plan recommendations at all.
Mr. Noguchi responded affirmatively, The data produced in the report
with regard to long range projections were consistent with the Comprehensive
Plan. Current needs were primarily identified on the basis of obvious
abuses that occur In the California Avenue Parking District. This
includes abuses on the off --street lots and on the street parking.
Councilwoman Pearson asked what Mr. Noguchi meant by abuse.
Mr. Noguchi explained that where there was a two hour limit, a car
owner would move from_ane_epot to_s_nother thoughout the day, either
in the lot or on the street. This meant that - space was not really
available for the intended use.
Councilwoman Pearson asked in relation to G Bonds if places such
as the Cooperative would get credit for the amount of parking they
provide themselves.
Mr. Jones responded that this was correct.
Councilman Berwald asked what would happen older the G Bond process when
a vacant piece of property had a building constructed on it.
Mr. Jones replied that the assessment computation under this procedure
was an annual one. If a vacant piece of property is improved by
the first Monday in March, then it becomes subject to assessment
for its share of this project to the extent that it does not satisfy
its parking requirements.
Councilman Bervald said that mention was made that the remaining
bonding capacity of the diatriet, if figured today, would probably
a
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not allow construction of a two level parking structure. He asked
for the total outstanding indebtedness for the Assessment District,
including the School District.
MS. Melena explained that bonding capacity is determined by first
finding the assessed valuation of land, improvements, utilities,
and personal property. Half of that figure is taken which gives
$1,855,350. Then the principal o* the outstanding bonds for the
Caa1ifornia Avenue Parking District is subtracted, and you get a
figure of $1,180,350. Ma. Melena attempted to find the bends that
the California Avenue Assessn t District was responsible for in
`the Palo Alto School District and in the Foothill College District
and in the city. There are probably other county bonds that are
outstanding that the district is responsible for to a certain degree,
but Ms. Z4eleria dad not go into that in detail. Subtracting the
School District and city bonds, you arrive at a figure of $1,000,350;
then the cost of the present project is subtracted, and you get
an available bonding capacity of $580,350. Over a pari.od of time
that figure will change as the bonds are paid off.
Councilman Berwald asked when the bonding capacity would become
low enough to complete the entire project.
s. Melena felt that was something that would have to be determined
through the feasibility study. She said that Tim Sandia of Sandis
Associates had made a very rough estimate of what a pae;'king structure
would cost for Pareele 2 aind 3 and the adjacent- psreel.
Mr. Sandis said he estimated very roughly that the cost would be
$825,000; and this cost would provide 99 spaces at the second level
and 104 spaces at the lower level.
Councilman jkrwa3?d asked when the district would be within its capacity
to finance the bonds that would be necessary to pay that off plus
the original phase.
Ms. Aelena thought it might be several years before the bonding
capacity had reached the point where a garage could be financed,
and that was the kind of thing that would show up in the feasibility
study.
Councils Berwald asked if there were any retroactivity involved
when a tax assessment is made against vacant properties where an
improvement is made.
Mr. Jones responded negatively.
Councilman Berwald asked if an assessment on an improved property
would adjust the other owners' bonded indebtedness.
Mfr. Jones replied affirmatively, slaying that the annual aeaesament
any given year would be the result of several variables; and the
total amount of adjusted square footage in the district for a given
yesdr will be one of those variables. If somebody builds a structure
without providing parking, that will 4ncrease the number of adjusted
square feet which are available to be charged fez the bond costs;
so the addition of buildings in -an area would result in a lower
rate. Om the other hand, Mr. Jones explained the demolishment or
abandonment of build'_.n a would result in a reduction in the number
of adjusted square feet.
Councilman Berwald asske4 who would administer this.
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Mr. Jones said the city would do it. The ultimate collection is
by the county, but the process of computing the annual assessment
and providing the figures for the county is done by the city.
Councilman Berwald asked it this would add a significant load to
the city over and above what it would be if the project were an ad
valorem type of bond district.
Mr. Jones responded that he was not well informed ea this, but the
city was doing it sow in the University Avenue district. Personally,
he did not feel the work world be too burdensome.
Councilman Comstock referred to a comment made on page 2 of the October
24, 1974 staff report which states: "'the feasibility study to be
included in this project will examine alternatives for construction
of the parking structure, given the bonding capacity of the district".
It was Councilman Comstock's understanding from talking to Mr. Pawloski
that provisions have been made in the Engineer's Report to conduct
this kind of a feasibility study, which is basically the report that
would be adopted under a resolution on this meeting's agenda. He
reported that the Council members had received at their places a
letter from Mr. W. P. Morgan that gives a very conceptual proposal
for an alternative development which would be a mixture of parking
and housing. The letter puts forth the idea of accomplishing some
other things that the city is interested in besides parking, such
as housing; and Counci.iran Comstock thought this sort of thing should
be examined as well as just the idea of building a parking garage.
Ail along, Councilman Comstock thought the city had made a glorious
underuae of space above parking lots. He asked staff if it needed
direction from Council to include in the study the possibility of
this type of a joint development.
Mr. Pawloski asked which parcels were referred to in the setter.
Councilman Comstock established that the parcels referred to were
C-6 and C-7.
Mr. Pawloski stated that the intent of the feasibility study is to
incorporate any intended or proposed development on that adjacent
parcel by way of parking, etc., with what was being proposed for
the Assessment District. He felt this idea could be incorporated
with the feasibility study proposed in the district.
Mr. Walker agreed that this would be done.
Councilman Berwald thought it might be a good idea to look at the .-
feasibility of a combination of uses for both parcels. This sort
of thing had been talked about quite:a bit in Comprehensive Plan
discuseione ? and it wes important to make sure that the city did
not build houses for cars and nut houses for people.
Councilman Rosenbaum said that in tine with the comments that had
been glade, he assumed that staff would consult with the Housing Corporation
which sight be able to provide some quick information as to how they
viewed the feasibility of the project. Councilman Rosenbaum said
he vas struck by Mr, Sandia' comment that he thought this project
was going to cost $800,000 to build a two level structure for roughly
two hundred cars; whereaa, the letter proposes a three level parking
structure for 400 cars at a proposed coat of $790,000. Clearly,
this was one of the things that would need to be investigated. He
referred to ES. Justesen's comments that the parking lots really
had not helped the merchants as much as they had hoped, but they
helped people who developed office buildings. It appeared a decision
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needed to he made as to how much of a parking lot would be allotted to
all day parking and how much would be alloted to one and two hour
parking. He asked staff how it allocated the parking spaces between
those two distinct uses, one which tended to favor shoppers and the
other that provided all day parking for office workers.
Mr. Noguchi responded that an exemption system existed in the entire
Assessment District which permits employees to park on the lots without
regard to the time limits that are posted. That, coupled with the
apparent excessive use of the on -street parking, contributed to a
basic reduction in available spaces for retail parking. The need
is to try to open up some of the desirable street parking for retail
parking, such as on California Avenue.
Councilman Rosenbaum asked if all of the lots were currently available
for all day parkers,
Mr. Noguchi said that all of the lots were available to anyone who
had an exempting parking sticker.
Councilman Rosenbaum asked if this were a subject of controversy
in that retailers complained to Mr. Noguchi that this arrangement
was unfair.
Mr. Noguchi responded that the California Avenue District seemed
to be satisfied with this kind of operation, and he had receive
no complaints from the Parking Committee of the California Avenue
Association.
Mr. Walker, in responding to Councilman Berwald's concern that a
mixed use be considered for the other parcel as well, said the use
of Parcel 1 is contemplated immediately for the continuation of the
surface parking that is now taking place there. There is a good
chance that that lot as well as others currently owned by the district
will be looked at in the future for other types of development, and
at that time some combination use might be appropriate. Mr. Walker
stated that was not an immediate possibility, however. Staff was
not looking at that location as much as they were the one where they
saw the combination of the lots to be purchased with parking that
already exists. Wherever developments occur, the suggestion fade
by Councilman Berweld was worthy of investigation.
Councilman Berwald asked if it would be done as part of the feasibility
study referred to in the report.
W. Walker replied that the feasibility study talked about in the
report is only for Parcels 2 and 3 in combination with lots C-6 and
possibly C-7.
Councilmen Berwald commented that at the appropriate time somebody
should introduce a motion to ask etaff to look into multiple uses
and give Council direction to that effect for all city properties
where there is only surface parking, and particularly in this area.
It ifas his hope that the feasibility study would include in this
particular project a study of both parcels even though they were
for future decision wing.
Vice Mayor Henderson referred to Mx. Jones' response to the letter
of protest from Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs where he talked about the high
coat of the lot at Sherman and Birch and the added costs of relocation,
demolition, etc. He wanted to know if those costs were included
in the $97,500.
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Mr. Jones said he was simply pointing out that the basic land cost
is aggravated by the fact that the parcels are improved with existing
dwellings, and there was the necessity of coping with relocation.
The costs are there, and they are high; but in the overall picture,
they are in the capacity of the district to handle them.
Councilwoman Pearson asked about Parking Lot Number 1 across from
Cambridge Hardware in that it was presently a parking lot. She wanted
to know how many spaces were there now and how many there would be
after the city owned the property.
Mr. Pawloski responded that the existing parking lot has thirty spaces;
and after improvements are completed, there will still be thirty
spaces.
Councilwoman Pearson asked if the city wanted the lot to ensure the
fact that the lot would not be developed.
Mr. Pawloski said that the lot was identified as one of the lots
meeting the parking needs of the district.
Councilwoman Pearson asked if it would not be cheaper to rent the
lot from the owner.
Mr. Pawloski stated there was nothing to preclude that parking lot
being developed.
Mr. .Jones said that the acquisition of the property by the Assessment
District will assure that 5.t will remain available for parking.
Secondly, the cost of municipal borrwing at tax exempt rates will
produce economies over a long term rental. The rental ;--ould have
to include the taxes on the property and whatever carrying costs
are involved at the higher non-exempt rates. Therefore, in terms
of overall public municipal economy, it is normally cheaper to buy
at municipal rates than to rent at private rates.
MOTION: Councilman Comstock introduced the following resolution
sad moved, seconded by Pearson, its adoption:
RESOLUTION NO 5018 entitled "RESOLUTION
OF DETERMINATION UNDER DIVISION 4 OF THE
STREETS AND HIGHWAYS CODE TO PROCEED WITH
PROCEEDINGS FOR ACQUISITIONS AND IMPROVE-
MENTS"
The resolution was adopted on a t zanifficus vote.
MOTION: Councilman Comstock introduced the following resolution
and moved, seconded by Pearson, its adoption:
RESOLUTION NO. 5019 entitled "RESOLUTION
AND ORDER ADOPTING ENGINEER' S REPORT AND
ORDERING THE WORX AND ACQUISITIONS"
The resolution was adopted on a unanimous vote.
Mi)TION: Councilman Comstock introduced the following resolution
and moved, seconded by Pearson, its adoption:
RESOLUTION NO. 5020 entitled "RESOLUTION
OGLING PROTESTS CN RESOLUTION OF
INTENT/ON NO. 4993"
The resolution was adopted on a unanimous vote.
1
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MOTION: Councilman Comstock moved, seconded by Pearson, that
authorize staff to begin relocating tenants under "Relocation
Program".
The motion passed en a unanimous vote.
Council
Assistance
MOTION: Councilman Comstock moved, seconded by Pearson, that a
negative declaration be filed an Parcel II.
The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Mr. Walker said there was another action that staff would like Council
to take relating to cash flog problem. Staff would like to move
immediately on the parcels they have options for. The action taken
tonight authorizes the expenditure of the money, but the actual
proceeds from the sale of the bonds will not be available for some
tine. Therefore, staff would like Council to pass a motion authorizing
an inter -fund loan in the amount of $250;000 from the Capital Improvement
Fund to this Asaessnent District. This would be an interest -free
loan, and it was simply a bookkeeping situation.
Mayor Sher asked if Mr. Welker meant that the money would not be
spent, and the situation was merely one of bookkeeping. He wanted
to know if the money would still be earning interest for the city
during the period of the loan.
Al Mitchell, Controller, said the General Fund would be losing a
certain amount of interest depending upon the date of sale of the
bonds. If Council desired, Mr. Mitchell said he would compute that
charge and assess the district for it.
Mayor Sher asked how long it mould be before the bond proceeds--;culd
be available.
Mr. Mitchell estimated the time at being one to two months. Re
said the amount of interest due to the General Fund would be frcm
the time the money is spent t:e the time the bands are sold. When
that amount of time was known, then the interest could be determined.
Councilman 8erwald asked )r. Jones what the general practice was
in such cases, rind he asked Mr. Mitchell if the city should charge
the Assessment District interest. If interest were to be charged,
he wanted to know how the rate would be determined,
Mr. Jones responded that the normal practice is for the city to
advance the funds; and he was not aware that there had ever been
any interest computation, let alone payment.
Councilman Berwald said he did not know any place else where money
could be gotten free.
MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved, seconded by Rosenbaum, that the
money be advanced to the escrow, and that an interest rate be charged
from the time of the advancement of the money until reimbursement.
Councilwoman Pearson said that in her ten year* on Council, she
had never heard of this kind of action. She wanted to know if the
same thing had been done for downtown Palo Alto when funds had been
shifted.
Mr. Mitchell replied that the city had yet to make this kind of
a change to any of the Special Assessment Districts. On the+ Coatrariy,
t e city has always supported tracb Special Districts. The staff'
time devoted to this project measures one hundred fold over the
interest costa. City Councils have always seen fit to bear the
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costs of the general overhead type of services that are required
to launch, implement, and carry out such districts, partly because
they are an improvement to a section of the city.
Councilwoman Pearson agreed with Mr. Mitchell, and she did not
charging an interest rate.
support
Mr. Sipel reinforced Mr. Mitchell's comments on the types of underwriting
that the city had done in the past. Regarding staff time, Mr. Sipel
thought there was a cost of four or five thousand dollars involved;
dollars were tied up in appraisals; and in a variety of other thingc
that occur in the acart-up of every project of a Special Assessment
District nature. It was his feeling that if Council wanted to charge
for those kinds of things, then it ought to charge for everything
or else charge for nothing. lair. Sipel noted that the policy during
his tenure with the city had been to not charge for use of money
or staff time which converts into money; therefore, this would be
a departure from previous practices.
MOTION CHANGED: Councilman Berwald, with his second's agreement,
withdrew the part of his motion dealing with charging an interest
rate.
MOTION RESTATED: Councilman Berwald moved, seconded by Rosenbaum,
that, pending the sale of bonds, the Council authorize an inter -
fund loan in the amount of $250,000 from the Capital Improvement
Fund to Special Assessment District, Project 71-63, Impro e,ment
Fund.
The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
PUBLIC HEARING: Vacation of Sewer Easement
1040 East Meadow Circle (Cn:580:4)
Mayor Sher read the following statement:
1. This is the time and place set where and when
any and a].1 persons having objection to the
proposed vacation of a sanitary sever easement
in Rancho Rincon de San Fr-ancisquito in the
City of Palo Alto may appear and show cause why
said easement should not be vacated,
2. Let the record show that the City Clerk has
filed an affidavit of publication of the notice
of this hearing and has on file an affidavit of
posting of the notice of such hearing as required
by law.
3. Is there anyone present who wishes to be heard
on this matter? There being none, the hearing is closed.
4. The chair will entertain a action to adopt a
resolution ordering the vacation of the aforesaid
easement.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Henderson introduced the following resolution and
moved, seconded by Clay, its adoption:
RESOLUTION NO. 5021 entitled "RESOLUTION
OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO
ORDERING THE VACATION OF A SEWER EASEMENT
BEING A PORTION OF RANCHO RINCON DE SAN
FRANCYSQUITO"
5 4.3
10/29/74
The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Affirmative Action Program: (CMS:594:4)
Couccilwoman Pearson, Chairwoman, Policy and Procedures Committee,
broke down the percentages that ate shown on page 4 of the minutes
of the Policy and Procedures Committee meeting of October 16, 1974.
The work force of 37Z women is made up of 27% white women and 10%
minority women. The 25% minority that is mentioned ie 157 minority
males and 10% minority females. The figure of 63:X males is made
up of 15% minority males and 48% white males. Councilwoman Pearson
pointed out that the City of Palo Alto has supported an affirmativ=e
action for minorities for a number of years, and that is part of
the requirements of any contractor who does work for the City.
In 1963 a program was begun to include more women and minorities
in the city work force. During the last budget hearings, the full
impact of the program became apparent when the request for additional
funds to fully implement the program became visible. About that
time the women and minority groups became aware of the inadequacy
of the proposal, and the result was that Council refused to budget
enough money to implement the progr am. This forced the City Manager
to seek funds elsewhere, and he was successful in obtaining approxitrately
$35,000 from the ?Manpower Board to develop six trainee positions
for women. These positions would be in area which are traditionally
male dominated. Councilwoman Pearson said the second thing that
happened was that the National argainization for Women, analyzed the
deficiencies of the Affirmative Action Plant; and they were able,
by working through the Stag: Fair Employment Practices Commission
and the management, to convince Palo Alto's management to correct
these deficiencies. NOW and staff are in relative agreement with
the proposal before Council. Basically, this proposal is to raise
the parity of the number of women and minorities in the work force
of the city to 37% for women and 28% for minorities; and secondly,
to establish a citizens' committee of twelve appointed by the City
Manager to review and evaluate the Affirmative Action goals and
the time tables. NOW further succeeded in getting the goals of
percentage of women raised as just stated. Women presently comprise
20% of the Palo Alto city work force, and the goal was originally
to be 262. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the
law clearly stated that the work force of the employer, which is
the City of Palo Alto, must reflect the composition of the work
force from which the employees are drawn. In Palo Alt,, that would
be 282 white females, 102 minority females, or a total of 382 females.
Regarding men, the figures are 152 minority males and 47% white
males. The goal is now for 372 women. The goal for minorities
would go from the present 23% representation to 28%. Councilwoman
Pearson said there were some interesting statistics about women
in Palo Alto, and she thought they should be reiterated. Of the
female population, 372 are now working; and that :is 32 more than
Santa Clara County as a whole. Of these, 262 are heads of households.
The majority of worsen who work today are not working for pin money,
or for the fun of it, or because they have nothing to do; but they
do work because of necessity. They or their families might starve,
or they may not have a place to live. The difference between poverty
and moderate incomes for families is usually the wife's wages; and
the difference between moderate income and the first little step
toward getting some of the amenities is the wife's wages. Councilwoman
Pearson pointed out that in Santa Clara County and in the United
States totally, women who are performing the same tasks as men are
usually paid 502 leas. Santa Clara County has put out a Female
Heads of Households and Poverty in Santa Clara County Report from
if
544
10/29/74
the ESO, and Councilwoman Pearson read some of the facts from that
document. The report states that all women who head households
in the county are not problem ridden or handicapped. The statistics
indicated that 22% of all the female heads of families earned over
$10,000 in 1969, and that has allowed them to maintain a middle
income independence. However, 29% of the female heads of families
earned less than $4,000 in 1969; and that could account for the
fact that four out of every ten poverty families in Santa Clara
County were headed by women. The trend toward a class of female
headed poor families will continue as long as the following conditions
exist, and these are the kinds of conditions that Palo Alto is trying
to correct by trying to get women and minorities into better positions
and hiring more of thus in the city. Females are not trained or
educated for available technical jobs; females are placed in low
paid jobs; females make less than males in similar jobs; public
job placement services give priority to placement of men; female
heads do not have the option of a second paycheck in the family;
community attitudes support discrimination practices against female
single parents in job placement, housing, and credit situations;
the state law and agency regulations encourage divorce; families
headed by women are n:o.e vulnerable to emergencies; public assistance
allotments are not geared to the rising cost of living; expensive
support services such as transportation and child care are not adequately
subsidized or geographically available to female headed families;
and females outlive sales. These fac:..ors limit the income of all
women who head households whether they are family heads or unrelated
individuals living alone. It is assumed that any female head of
a family in Santa Clara County is only a broken leg away from welfare.
These comments made by Councilwoman Pearson came directly from the
Santa Clara statistics which had been developed recently. Councilwoman
Pearson said that there was a tremendous parallel between the treatment
of blacks and other minorities, and women. Both face continuous -
handicaps in the job market; both are fired before white men and
hired after theta; both are arbitrarily limited to the lower paying,
least productive, and less skilled jobs. The statistics show that
women average two to four years less than men on the jobs they hold,
and black men average two years less than white men. The reasons
for neither gravitating toward steady work are similar. Roth are
fired before white men, and both are more apt to quit because they
move away a perhaps to get a better paying job - or they cannot
get transportation to their jobs. Woman and blacks have less control
over where they live than white amen. Further, women and blacks
are resented if they assert themselves; and they are criticized
if they do not. Councilwoman Pearson stated that in her opinion
the Affirmative Action Program was only a beginning. She congratulated
Mr. Sipel for moving the program forward, all the women who had
worked so bard, and especially NOW for its strong stand. Referring
to the recommendations from the Policy and Procedures Committee,
Councilwoman Pearson said there was no grievance procedure included;
and she felt that it should be there. NOW and the FEPC advocated
that the Citizens' Advisory Committee also act as a grievance committee;
and the City Manager, of course, feels that this procedure is already
existing in the Code. Councilwoman Pearson feat the problem was
that there is no grievance committee which is available to the casual
worker who is hired temporarily or on an hourly basis, or to the
unsuccessful job applicant. She noted that it is traumatic and
costly for such a persot to appeal to the FEPC, which is located
in San Francisco; therefore, the need exists in Palo Alts, to have
an available grievance committee. Councilwoman Pearson stated that
after the main raotiorOwas on the floor, she would move an additional
motion in regard to a grievance committee,
545
10/29/74
MOTION: Councilwoman Pearson moved, on behalf of the Policy and
Procedures Committee,
a) that Council adopt the Affirmative Action
Policy Statement written by City Manager
George Sipel and incorporated in the Staff
Report dated September 23, 1974, and that
the word "handicapped" be added to the
wording of said Policy Statement wherever
appropriate;
b) that. Council approve, in principle, the
basic concept of the Affirmative Action
Plan as set forth in Staff Report dated
September 23, 1974, including its Appendix
A and Appendix B; and
c) that Council adopt an ordinance amending
the budget for the fiscal year 1974-75 to
add five trainee positions for woman and to
appropriate funds for the positions through
a grant from the Santa. Clara Valley Manpower
Board.
Charlotte Jackson, President of the Palo Alto Branch of the American
Association of University Wonen, said the Palo Alto Branch of the
AAUW applauded the Policy and Procedures Committee's action in recommending
the Affirmative Action Policy Statement and recommencLng that the
Affirmative Action Progran be adopted by the City Council. As a
representative of the AAUW, Ms. Jackson urged that the program be
adopted without further delay. One concern which the AAUW had was
that an ordinance or law which was not enforced is a negative entity,
and an Affirmative Action Program or policy statement which is not
vigorously implemented is worse than no program at all. This is
true because people are led to believe that there is movement or
change that they support when, in effect, there is nothing being
drae. A lot of benign neglect had been experienced in recent years
in the field of social action, and the AAUW expected that Palo Alto
would not be drawn into that morass. Ms. Jackson stated that Mr.
Sipel and Mr. Rounds, who have expressed support for this program
and who seem to be willing to expedite it with intelligence and
cooperation, deserved fiscal and moral support. She said the Palo
Alto Branch of AAUW would eagerly watch future events, and would
be happy to offer any assistance it could to assure that Palo Alto
has a viable and functioning Affirmative Action Program.
Elaine Meyer, 2510 Greer Road, NOW, stated that the organization
was very pleased that after seven months of meetings and negotiations,
an Affirmative Action Plan has been recommended to the City Council
by the Policy and Procedures Committee and by the City Manager,
Ms. Myer pointed out that a lot of hard work went into the development
of the plan by Fir. Rounds and his staff, by the members of_ N0'W,
and by the California Fair Employment Practices Commission. She
said that this represented one facet of the growing influence and
importance of the women's movement, and of their determination to
participate fully in American life. Ms. Meyer noted that women
are not a special interest group; women comprise 522 of the population
of Palo Alto. Affirmative Action is one of NOW's major commitments
across the country, and the six chapters in Santa Clara County are
involved in it. The Palo Alto chapter has made Affirmative Action
its highest priority. The fact that only 202 of the city' work
force were women, while the area's work force is composed of 38%
546
10/29/74
women, is illegal. The Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII
of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the 1970 additions to California's
Fair Employment Practices Act, and the 1971 Federal Affirmative
Action Order ell applied to the local situation. Throughout the
negotiations leading to this plan, Ms. Meyer said that NOW stressed
the importance of avoiding any competition for jobs with other under-
utilized groups. NOW and the FEPC have called for hiring goals
for all such groups to be set separately, and that progress toward
each goal be evaluated separately. To be in favor of jobs for women
is not to be against jobs for minorities; rather, it meaxs that
the discrimination against both needs to stop. M3. Meyer indicated
that NOW was very much aware of the practical difficulties in reaching
the legal goal of 35% in five years. The present plan was a very
good one in many respects, and the Advisory Committee appoint.ed
by the City Manager will have access to information that will make
it possible to keep the community informed of progress in the different
areas of Affirmative Action. Any plan is only as good as the dedication
applied to its implementation; and this plan would require more
thorough recruitment and outreach by the city, programs of career
development for employees, and a procedure for handling complaints
that is suitable to the kind of persons who might need to use it.
For example, a remaining concern is the absence of a procedure for
handling complaints from job applicants arid temporary workers.
Ms. Meyer thanked the individuals and the organizations that had
expressed strong support for NOW's efforts on Affirmative Action:
The Resource Center for Women, The League of Women Voters, The Palo
Alto YWCA, The A.rerican Association of University Women, Anne Miner -
Affirmative Action Officer for Stanford University, New Ways to
'pork, Barbara Babcock - Professor of Law at Stanford University,
the Reverend Barbara Troxell, Employee's Service lnteinational Union
Local 715, R.ina Rosenberg - Director of the Commission on the Status
for Women for Santa Clara County, Eda Banks - Business and Professional
Women, and nary Cottrell - C:3airwoman of the Human Relations Commission.
M?. Meyer said that SOW was very happy with the progress that had
been made so far, and the Task Force on Affirmative Action would
continue its interest in the actuai working of the new plan.
Linda Gregory, Research Director for Local 715 of Service Employee's
International Union congratulated the City Council, the City Manager's
Office, and the Department of Personnel for what seems to be the
most forward looking Affirmative Action Program in any of the jurisdictions
that her union represented. With regard to a grievance procedure,
M. . Gregory was confident that for the employees who were represented
by Local 715, there was no problem; but the casual employees are
in a unique position. She understood that they do have access to
the old merit grievance procedure, but that does not allow for any
kind of adequacy until it gat to a higher level. Casual employees
are basically hired and kept on et the whim of those who appoint
them, and she saw a real problem about their protesting not being
hired into a percent position in that their employment is much
more vulnerable than that of a permanent employee. MA. Gregory was
in favor of acme grievance procedure which would be available for
the casual employee, and she thought it could be incorporated with
the grievance procedure that would speak to the problems of applicants
as well. She requested that the Union have a seat on the Affirmative
Action Advisory Committee.
Rin* Rosenberg, Director of the Commission on the Status of Women,
appreciated the fact that Mr. Sipel and Mr. Rounds had been so receptive
to suggestions that the Commission had made. Speaking to the motion
on the floor, Ms. Rosenberg suggested that the words "physically
handicapped" be used rather than handicapped. The words "physically
handicapped" should be defined in the way FEPC has done, and they
5 4 7
10/29/74
define such persons as those who have some impairment in one of
the senses or lack soae mobility in an arm or a leg. She said the
plan contained lofty statements of intentions, and Ms. Rosenberg
felt they were genuine; but in order to put them into effect, they
would require effort and a little money. One of the items referred
to revamping selection procedures to conform with state and federal
guidelines, and she felt that was easy to say and difficult to do.
Ms. Rosenberg thought it would be vise for Palo Alto to cooperate
with some of the other neighboring cities and with the county since
everyone would be trying to develop validated procedures. Career
ladders and restructuring of Jobs had bet.ti talked about, and this
too would be an arduous task. Referring to the turnover figures,
Ms..Rosenberg thought Palo Alto had a particularly unique problem
in that most of the turnover in the city's work force is not in
the high administrative professional and managerial. categories,
but is in the low paying jobs where there are mostly women and minorities.
It would be necessary to find out why there was such a turnover
in the clerical dead end jobs. In the meantime, Palo Alto had the
problem of not being able to change the profile of the work force
particularly effectively because there are no openings at the top
where there are decision making positions. Ms. Rosenberg expressed
her concern, too, about the need for a grievance procedure for those
women and minorities who happen to reach the management level.
Similarly, the casuals and part. -time people needed to have a way
of being heard. She suggested that the Advisory coninitte' be given
the ability to proceed with conplafnts. Rosenbsrg pointed out
that it was illegal to include the words "for women' in part `, j of
the motion, since that Is not a bona fide occupational qualification.
If men and minorities were not allowed to apply for the positions,
then the city would be in violation of the maw.
AMENDMENT: Vice Mayor Henderson moved, seconded by Pearson, that
in the list of specific categories for nondiscrimination in the
Affirmative Action Policy Statement include "sexual preference"
after the word "sex".
Councilman Berwald suggested that the word "handicapped" in the
Policy Statement he expanded to "physically and neurologically handi-
capped", and that this change be added to the motion.
AMENDMENT RESTATED: Vice Mayor Henderson moved, seconded by Pearson
that in the list of specific categories for nondiscrimination in
the Affirmative Action Policy Statement, the wording "sexual preference"
and "physically and neurologically handicapped" be added after the
word "sex".
Mayor Sher asked Mr. Sipel if he were in agreement with the proposed
amendment.
Mr. Sipel responded that if he were in total agreement, he probably
would have offered such suggestions its the first place, He eouie not
think of any specific reasons why these things should not be included;
however, he would like at some time to have guidance as to how to
implement sexual preference and neurologically handicapped.
Mayor Sher asked if the addition of words in the sentence that emplcarent
actions be free of considerations of these things was not really
a part of the statement that relates to increasing the percentages
in the work force.
?fix. Sipel felt it was implied that staff would take some affirmative
steps to employ people of these types.
5 4 8
10/29//4
Mayor Sher said the way he read the Policy Statement, the first
part says that employment should be free of personal and political
considerations influenced by the various factors; later on, there
is a reference to the Affirmative Action taking aggressive steps
to increase the utilization of ethnic minorities and women.
Vice Mayor Henderson agreed that there was no statement about the
other categories increasing percentages, but merely that the city
would no; discriminate against any of those.
fir. Sipel said that if this were Council's intent, then the amendment
was fine with him.
The amendment passed on a unanimous vote.
Vice Mayor Henderson recalled that he had been involved in attempts
to create an Affirmative Action Programs from the time it was introduced
as a Budget Supplement Program last May at the Finance and Public
Works Committee. At that time and on through the budget hearings
into June, there was a real struggle. The Committee did not ever
come up with full support for the program; and finally, it passed
a reduced supplemental program that cut back on the expenditures
for training women for certain positions where women had tot previously
been employed. Council followed along en the reduced basis. During
those struggles, Vice Mayor Henderson was very much conc.rrned. Pe
visited with Mr, Sipel and became convinced of the City :`Manager's sin-
cerity and desire to implement an effective Affirmative Action Progra.m.
This sincerity is obvious from the manner in which Mr. Sipe' obtained
funds from another source when the Council did not vote such funds.
In reading material distributed for this meeting, and in talking
with people active in promoting Affirmative Action Programs, Vice
Mayor Henderson was extremely pleased with the apparent cooperation
and good will of all the parties involved. This was reflected in
this very fine programs that appears to be supported by everyone.
He congratulated staff members, particularly the Personnel Director,
Jay Rounds; NOW for their cooperative efforts; and Mrs. B. J. Miller
for her key role. Vice Mayor Henderson stated enthusiastic support
for the recommendations from the Policy and Procedures Committee;
and he realized there were desires by some to go a bit further,
especially in relation to the Advisory Committee. He did not believe
at this time that Council should be involved in selecting the committee
members. Thia will not be a Council committee, and the City Manager
is responsible by law for handling personnel matters for the city.
Vice Mayor Henderson noted that Council sets the policy; and it
should adopt, support, and promote the Affirmative Action Program,.
leaving implementation to the City Manager. He hoped that the Advisory
Committee would adequately represent the interested organizations
and i.ndiviwdua'.s in the community, and he hoped Mr. Sipel would contact
such organizations for recommended members for the committee. Vice
Mayor Henderson had discueaione with several people about establishir.t
a grievance procedure, and the subject was brought out several Blare
at this meeting. Again, he felt this should be part of the Manager's
administration of the policy. There should be some way for a job
applicant, who believes he or she has been discriminated against,
to discuss the situation with a higher authority; and Vice Mayor
Henderson assumed that the City Manager would respond to that need.
He opposed establishing the Advisory Committee as an official grievance
body; and he was certain that if an individual brought a complaint
to a member of the Advisory Committee, that member would be welcomed
by Mr. Sipel for discussion of the matter. Vice Mayor Henderson
thought everyone was aware that the numbers being worked with represent
goals. There are rainy factors that could preclude the attainment
5 4 9
10/29/74
of those specific numbers, especially in terms of distribution through
all the departments of the city; however, the goals are worthy ones,
and every effort should be rode to reach them. Vice Mayor Henderson
was convinced that the City Manager wanted to reach those goals
and would lead an all out effort to attain them.
Councilman Berwald referred to the Affirmative Action Policy Statement.
and said that he assumed from Mr. Sipel's comments that it would
be all right to add "sex preference", and "physically and neurologically"
to the word "handicapped"; but that the City Manager would oppose
it if it were intended that he take aggressive steps to increase
the utilization of those types of people. He asked Mr. Sipel if
it were his understanding that the Council was not interested in
his aggressively pursuing utilization of persons who were physically
and neurologically handicapped.
Mr. Sipel explained that the point he was trying to make was that
he really was not familiar with the needs of those particular groups
described in those words; and until he had a better familiarity
with these needs, he would have trouble referring to there in a policy
statement bearing his name. He felt that the clarification that
was made indicated where the Council stood on the matter; and he
would, time permitc'ing, get into discussions with people more knowledge-
able than he about the problems of those two groups and see what
could he done to include them in the program.
Councilman Berwald thought. this was a very stair statement. He agreed
with !'ice Mayor Henderson thet setting up -j grievance procedure
should come from the City Manager since that was part of his administra-
tion. Also, the Policy Statement does not indicate that the Advisory
Committee would be representative of any groups, and Councilman
Berwald would like members of the Committee to be selected by the
City Manager on the basis of their competency and the degree to
which they represent minority and women's interests in the area -
not minority or women's groups in the area. He thought it was important
to make it clear that the city was not running a government based
on getting equal representation of groups; because if that were
don_, you would always have some groups who were unhappy. Councilman
Berwald said he would vote against it if he thought staff planned
to set up an Advisory Committee based one hundred percent on groups.
He assumed that if you had good individuals, they probably would
belong to organizations such as NOW, Resource Center for Women_,
etc. However, he did not want group representation locked into the
policy.
Mr. Sipel responded that in staff's discussions with FEPC concerning
an Afdirmative Action Committee, three groups were mentioned tor
inclusion. Representatives of those three groups have been asked
to serve oar the Committee, and they have accepted. Beyond that,
to some degree the membership is drawn from groups in the community
and .the general rskidpeninsula area,. By and large, these groups acs:
those who have a minority interest and are set up in part for this
purpose. In a couple of cases, staff had gene to presidents of
such organizations, indicated the city's needs, and received names
of people to contact, In a sense, they represent an organization;
but more so,.they represent a point of view. Mr. Sipel said that
-it was conceivable there would be a few people on the Committee
who did not represent any particular organization.
Councilman Berwald said that his interest was to have the group
as representative as poushle of the 52% of the population who were
women. He did not understand how staff .could implement the suggestion
that was made regarding the fact that if the ordinance were paned;
5 5 0
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the city would be in violation of FEPC rules; the suggestion being
that Palo Alto should provide that the trainee positions would actually
be filled by women, but that anyone could apply. That sounded like
double talk to him, and he asked the staff to comment.
Mr. Rounds responded that technically, Mrs. Rosenberg was correct
in saying that the city would be in violation of the law if it denied
application for any position in the city employment to men, women,
or any particular ethnic group. On the other hand, it is satisfactory
to have Affirmative Action goals, and to have stated goals in conjunction
with filling the openings. That is the intent of the ordinance.
if you read the ordinance that has been prepared by the City Attorney's
office, you would see that the title indicates that the positions_
are for women; however, in the body of the ordinance, nothing is
said about that except to make a statement that there is underutiiization
in certain areas..- Mr. Rounds explained that the impact of the ordinance
is not to deny application for any of the positions to anybody;
but the fact of the matter is that there are goals established,
and under the law, the city can respond to those goals in making
the selection of applicants to fill the positions.
Councilman Berwald asked if it bothered Mr. Rounds that the title
included the words "for women".
Mr. Rounds thought perhaps the title should be changed, and he deferred
to the City Attorney.
Robert Booth, City Attorney, stated that the body of the ordinance
took precedence over the title; but it would be desirable to ha -le
the two consistent. He suggested that the wards "for women" be
otruck from the title of the ordinance.
Councilman Berwald said he was not very happy with quotas. He realized
that the city was far below the fair rate of employment for women
such more than for minorities, and he could assume there was some
validity in setting a goal. Councilman Berwald wanted to know if
this particular plan would displace other people because they are
not minorities or femele; for instance, a male head of household
who had twelve daughters to support. Hiring such a man would be
indirectly providing the fruits of labor to twelve women and one
man.
Mr. Sipel replied that, generally speaking, if that male worked
for the City of Palo Alto and he was at least an average performer,
he would not lose his job; and his daughter would not replace him.
Councilman Berwald wanted to know what would happen if such a man
came to work for the next several months, and Mr. Sipel was working
up toward that 37% goal, Would such a man be displaced from the
employment market even though he had the necessary skills, and a
woman who is single hired.
'sir. Sipel said the intent of the program is not to displace ar.y
people who are currently full time regular employees with the city;
rather, the intent of the program is to provide opportunities for
ethnic minorities and wowed to compete for positions that are open.
Conceivably, as the staff seeks to hire more ethnic minorities and
women, for example, in supervisory and management positions, there
could be situations where people in the organization would be eompetiug
against people who are not in the organization. Mr. Sipel said
that was the only way in the next four or five years that any great
strides would be made toward meeting some of the goals.
5 5 1
10/29/74
Councilman 3erwald pointed out that one of the weakrLesses of this
type of program was that it did not always result in justice and
equity; and he hoped that the program, as administered, would take
his comments into account.
Councilman Clay referred to the three groups mentioned by Mr. Sigel
to be represented on the Advisory Committee and asked which groups
those were.
Mr. Sipol replied that they were the National. Organization for Women,
Resource Center for Women, and New Ways to Work.
Councilman Clay asked what the reasoning was behind the naming of
those groups.
Mr. Rounds recalled that the discussion centered around what kinds
of representatives would be on this committee, and those three were
given as examples of some types of interests that would be represented.
Councilman Clay's one reservation with regard to group representation
was that if you go that route as opposed to individuals, then you
are not likely to have enough slots available on the committee to
handle all the requests that would come in over a period of time.
Councilman Clay thought the program was a very good one, and he
agreed with statements made earlier that the results would depend
upon the execution of it. He stated total confidence that Mr. S1pel
and staff would carry through in accordance with the Policy Statement.
Councilman Clay advised against over -mechanization of a program
of this type; that in, If you get too involved in details of implementation
at this level, you tend to lose sight of the program itself. He
thought that adding words to insure that all groups of people were
included was an example of this; and it may seer: harmless to add
physically and neurologically handicapped groups, but this brought
up such questions as to tics= the quotas for physically and neurologically
handicapped minority women would be met. Councilman Clay agreed
with Councilwoman Peareon'e statements about the similarities in
problems and difficulties of minorities and worsen; but he would
add that there were also some significant differences, which he
would not go into detail about.
Councilman Beahrss reiterated Councilman Perwald's concern over any
formalized representation of groups on the Advisory Committee.
He feared that such representation would involve a certain amount
of inhibition; and on occasion, anything but objectivity. In his
opinion, representatives on such a group should be completely free
agents.
Councilman Comstock commented that when Council set up a committee,
it traditionally went to groups in the city and asked for recommendations
of persons to serve on the committee. He aid not think Council
should "put down" any organization in the community that has an
interest in this particular problem simply because they want to
have a representative on the committee. Generally, that way not
dune; and Councilman Comstock did not think it was appropriate in
this case. People do band together to solve their problems; and
this was a legitimate, viable way in which p:!ople in the community
organised to express interest in their problems and to try to deal
with them. People came to Council and spoke as individuals and
as representatives of organizations. The City Manager has decided
that he wants to appoint this committee, and Councilman Comstock
commended him for that. Mr, Sipel'a work is only beginning; and
if he is interested in soliciting representatives from certain organiza-
tions, that was was his business. Council could appoint the committee
5 5 2
10/29/74
if it so desired; but since Mr. Sipel had volunteered to take on
that responsibility, Councilman Comstock thought that Council's
attitude should be supportive and not be too concerned about whether
the people on the committee are from various groups or not. Councilman
Comstock thought it was inevitable that someone from NOW would be
on the committee, and that did not bother hir. too much. He did
not know whether NOW represented all the women in town or cot, but
any one of them represented the women a lot better than he dial,
for instance. As far as the matter of displacement is concerned,
the city knows that every tine a fireian'e or policeman's position
is open, there are a great number of people who apply for the job;
and the city is only able to hire one person, and the others go
away disappointed. That situation is still with us, and Councilman
Comstock said he would be very surprised if there were only five
or ten people applying for these new positions; not only because
of the current job market, but because there are some very positive
things about being a trainee in various positions in the community,
or in simply working for the city. He anticipated that there would
be a lot of applicants, and only one would get each of the five
jobs. Further, he thought it could be anticipated that a substantial
number of the applicants would be women with fair degrees of qualifica-
tion; and if the city supported parts a) and b) of the :notion, it
is saying that it likes the City Manager's plan and the Policy Statement,
and he had Council's endorsement to conduct this kind of program.
If he picks female applicants for these positions, there will be
other female applicants who will be disappointed and also soT.¢ mile
applicants; but that i.a just the way it is. Councilman Comstock
noted that his own employer, after a good irany years, decided to
use males as well as females to serve passengers cocktails and dinner,
and to pick up their tickets. Every time the company hires a male
for one of these jobs, that means a female does not get one of the
jobs. That, again, is just the way it goes. Until there was just
one applicant for are Job, there would always be disappointed people.
Councilman Comstock pointed out: that the only thing different here
is that the city and the City 'tanager ate putting their weight behind
a statement that souse objectives needed to be reached; and one way
to do that is to create some trainee positions to help people who
are behind ir achieving some parity in employment, skills, and development
opportunities. He said he did not know if this were unjust or not,
but he thought it was as reasonable a proposal as he had seen. In his
opinion, the City Manager and the Council would be well advised to
support it and go ahead with it.
Part a) of the motion as mended passed on a unanimous vote.
Councilwoman Pearson stated that she wanted to be sure that the
wards that had been added to the Policy Statement would also be
included in the goals and timetables throughout the Affirmative
Action Plan.
Mr. Sipel confirmed that the words would be inserted throughout
the Affirmative Action Clan.
AMENDMENT: Councilwoman Pearson roved that a Section (d) tie added
to Appendix A stating that a citizens' committee, upon its formation,
specifically develop a grievance procedure.
The amendment failed for the lack of a second.
Councilwoman Pearson said she had made a strong plea at the Policy
and Procedures Committee meetings regarding the appointment of the
committee, or at least its ratification, by Council. In her opinion,
5 5 3
10/29/74
the question of who is on the committee really is Council business.
She felt Council should be sure that the appropriate people are
on the committee. Council has stated the policy that it wants an
Affirmative Action Program in the City of Palo Alto, ani it is the
duty of the City Manager to implement that. Councilwoman Pearson
deemed it appropriate for the committee to at least be ratified
by Council., and that any future members also be ratified by Council.
This kept Council apprised of who was on the committee and gave it
an opportunity to complain ox exercise some control over it.
AMENDMENT: Councilwoman Pearson moved that the Affirmative Action
Advisory Committee be ratified by the City Council.
The amendment failed for the lack of a second.
Fart b) of the motion passed on a unanimous vote.
Mayor Sher said he did not think an amendment would be necessary
to delete the words "for women" from part c) of the motion and the
ordinance title.
Councilwoman Pearson said she was not willing to delete those words.
She thought discrimination had taken place originally because the
woven were not given the opportunity to join the unions or get the
training that would qualify them for certain jobs; therefore, she
would not be the one to delete the :;ords 'for women'. That is what
the money is intended for, and Council should face up to that.
Councilman Comstock thought the ordinance would be more cor'plete
if it referred to the actions taken in parts a) and h).
AMENDMENT: Councilman Comstock moved, seconded by Pearson, that
two additional whereases be included in the ordinance:
1) WHEREAS, the Council of the City of Pao Aleo
adopted the Affirmative Action Policy
Statement written by the City Manager on
October 29; and
2) WHEREAS, the Cr.ty Council approved in
principle the Affirmative Action, Plan
set forth by the City Manager on October 29.
The amendment to the ordinance passed on a unanimous vote.
Councilman Comstock caked the City Attorney if the words "for women"
would create a conflict with laws either on a state or a national.
level.
Mr. Booth stated that in view of the body of the ordinance and the
comments that were made in the record, he thought it would be wisp:
to take those words out of the title to make the conaiatextr_ and
not a ause potential problems from a disappointed applicant in the
future.
AMENDMENT: Councilman Comstock moved, seconded by Beahrs, that
the words "for women" be deleted from the title of the ordinance.
Councilman Comstock pointed out that the discussion at this meeting
had been quite clear about how the hiring program for these positions
would be isapletiented; and furthermore, the body of the ordinance
itself recites that there is an underutillzation of women in city
occupational areas and that the establishment of these trainee positions
5 5 4
10/29/74
in certain departments would help to correct that underutilization.
So the statement of intent along with the reference to the Policy
Statement and the Affirmative Action Program in the body of the
ordinance makes it clear to Counci.l and to the City Manager what
kind of program would be pursued.
Councilman Cray thought more confusion and frustration would be caused
if you did not have "for women" in the title. He wondered whethee
it was illegal to have the word "woman" when the intent of the ordinance
iz to achieve Affirmative Action goals; and as a matter of fact,
the whereases.that were inserted further clarifies that point. He
did not think this was any more illegal than adding "race" to some
application or resume to identify the applicant. Councilman Clay
felt that "woman" in this case was very much the point, and wording
to that effect should remain.
Councilman Berwald asked staff if the city had any public works
trainee positions, utility trainee positions, or firefighter trainee
positions for minorities at the present time.
Mr. Sipel responded that in the budget that was adopted, there were
two or three firefighter trainee positions approved. The ones for
public works and utilities were rot approved.
Councilman Berwald said it occurred to him thatgiving preference to
one group, that right be discriminated against, by ordinance, added to
the confusion. Since racial minorities and women are discriminated
against, Coune.ilrnan Berwald thought that the ordinance should recognize
the Affirmative Action Program and simply say in the language of
intent and in the enforcement sections, that these trainees shall
be added; and preference would be given to women, minorities, and
handicapped - in that order of preference. He said this would be
legal and more equitable. For example, if all the positions were
filled with ethnic minority women, he would be very pleased; but
you really end up picking out just one type of person. Councilman
Berwald said he would vote for it, but it just did not seem to be
as good or as strong as it would be if you stated that preference
would be given to those three classifications.
Mayor Sher asked if it were not true that the budget amendment reflected
the county grant, and the county grant is to establish these trainee
positions for women; and no matter what was adopted in the way of
trainee positions, that money would not comae from the county unless
the persons hired were women.
Mr. Sipel stated that i; it were not midyear, the whole program
would have been folded into the 1974-75 budget. Essentially, Council
was approving dollars to accomplish the hiring of the five positions
and aethoriaing the City Manager to hire people in five positions.
Also, Council was establishing titles for the positions. That is
the legal effect of what Council was doing. Mr. Sipes said wheteases
were not really needed that talk about occupational areas where
there is underutilization of women, and no reference needed to be
made to women at all. The stated purpose of the program is to provide
some opportunities for women, but that does not need to be stated
in the ordinance. He explained that the ordinance is only for the
establishment of some positions and come dollars to go along with
that. With respect to the Manpower Board, Mr. Sipel said the proposal
included a statement relating to the city's desire to provide opportunities
for women in areas that are traditionally occupied by men. The
money was granted to Palo Alto _to fulfill that general purpose.
5 5 5
1.0/29/74
Councilwoman Pearson pointed out that all the whereases in the ordinance
are related to women right down the line. The various sections
point to that, and the Affirmative Action Program speaks specifically
to five women who would be hired, and the Santa Clara County Manpower
Board talks about the fact that Palo Alto is going to hire and train
women; therefore, Councilwoman Pearson thought it was wrong to take
the words out. She could not imagine anyone suing for that reason,
and she did not want the words "for women" removed. The whole purpose
was that this particular $35,000 would be used to train women, and
Council should be very explicit about it.
Councilman Clay said the key factors here were that women would
be hired to fill positions not normally held by women, and that
minority women would not be excluded. In his opinion, the words
"for women" aimed at those two key points.
Vice Mayor Henderson pointed out that Mrs. Rosenberg raised the
question of the possible illegality of such wording, and the City
Attorney suggested that those words be left out. He thought the
Attorney's legal advice should be followed, and he would vote for
the amendment.
The amendment passed on the following vote:
AYES: Beahrs, Eerwald, Comstock, Sher,
Henderson, Rosenbaum
NOES: Clay, -Pearson
The ordinance as amended was approved on a unanimous vote.
Coniur_ity Develooraen_t Bloc :
Gr xtg
di (C':t:579.3}
xenneth R. Schreiber, Assistant Director of Planning, stated that
an application in regard to this matter would have to be submitted
to HUD; and it would have to be completed by March 1 in order to
be submitted for regional review for the deadline of April 15, 1975.
Because of the tight time schedule, staff would like Council to authorize
staff to submit this item directly to the Planning Commission for
their review and then have the Planning Commission submit it directly
to the Finance and Public Works Committee.
Councilman Beaters said he was not sure if this superseded all other
grants. Be pointed out that this was quite limited since it could
not be used for community services, social services, etc.
Mr. Schreiber responded that this would not supersede general revenue
sharing, but it supersedes a wide variety of categorical programs.
Councilman Beahrs asked if it were an additional revenue allowance.
Mr. Schreiber replied that it was in addition to general revenue
sharing.
Councilman Beaters asked if the other program would still continue
and if its controls were still the same.
Mr. Schreiber said that general revenue sharing would continue in
the same way that it has.
556
10/29/74
Councilman Beahrs said he understood that this was a supplemental
allowance which would take pressure off of some of the other allocations
that the city might have made within its own programs.
Mr. Schreiber explained that the purpose of the program is not to
supplement the ongoing and anticipated operations of municipalities,
but to assist cities in furthering their activities in these areas.
It is replacing a wide number of programs that cities have traditionally
gone to for funding when they needed money beyond their own capabilities.
MOTION: Vice Mayor Henderson moved, seconded by Pearson, that Council
authorize Staff to submit the draft application for Block Grant
Funding directly to the Planning Commission.
The referral motion passed on a unanimous vote.
San Antonio Road Und.�rzrou,nd
l% 1�aWlOa�oR.���WM11YIfU4tl��.�N-Ulf ,
Conversion Pro ecte. (111R:57b:4)
MOTION: Councilman Comstock moved that Council fired that the undergrounding
will have no adverse environmental impact, and he introduced the
following resolution and moved, seconded by Eerwald, its adoption:
RESOLUTION NO. 5022 entitled "RESOLUTION
OF INTENTION TO AMEND SECTION 12.16.020
OF CHAPTER 12.16 OF TITLE 12 OF ThE PALO
ALTO MUNICIPAL CODE BY ESTABLISHING
UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT NO, 18"
Councilwoman Pearson asked for the status of Embarcadero Road from
Middlefield Road to El Camino.
Jack Taylor, Project Engineer from the Light and Power Department,
said this would be an expensive stretch to take care of. It had
been in the five year Capital Improvement Plan, but it had been
moved away from because the feeling was that large of a section
could not be handled just now.
Councilwoman Pearson said Embarcadero Road was one of the worst
looking streets in the city, and she asked if there were some way
to utilize funds from another area that may not want undergrounding.
Hr. Sipel said that portions of Embarcadero Road would be taken
care of in a couple of years.
Mr. Taylor said that the section of Embarcadero Road from Louis
Road to Bayshore would be taken care of, and also the section between
El Canino and the SP right -of -ray. The normal progression to get
rid of the part that is the most concern and the largest eyesore -
the piece between }ti.ddlefield and Alma - would be to undertake the
60 KV undergrounding between the Colorado Station and the Hopkins
Station first. Then Embarcadero Road would be taken care of as far
as Louis. The second part of the work would be installing the 60
KV from Hopkins down to the Alma Station; and with that, you could
take the distribution lines and get poles off the two sides of Embarcadero
Road. Mx. Taylor stated that the first section from Colorado Station
to Hopkins Station would alleviate the sae sort of situation on
Louis Road, a *action of which has poles down both sides of the
spreet . The problem is that each of the 60 KV jobs would run about
six or eight hundred thousand dollars. With other programs that
the city had going, these expensive sections were pushed down the
line in the five year plan.
5 5 7
1129/74
Mr. Sipel said the problem was one of dollars. At the time the
city had a million dollar program a year, this particular project
had a fairly high priority; but when the city reduced the allocation
for underground conversion to about one -fifth of that, that elongated
the program rather substantially. He explained that as long as
Palo Alto was spending only a couple hundred thousand dollars a
year for undergrounding, it would be very difficult to take on anything
of chat magnitude.
Councilwoman Pearson asked if funds were being set aside for Embarcadero
Road, or if the funds were all being used far projects here and
there.
Mr. Sipel responded that there was a very detailed planning process
that is brought before Council every year in the Capital Improvement
Program; and he suggested that if Councilwoman Pearson had an interest
in that particular project, she should get involved in the discussion
at that time and recommend setting aside funds for a couple of years
in oeder to take care of that area. Mr. Sipel said it was very
difficult to make judgements as to which project is more important
for aesthetic reason,; only. Staff gets into engineering considerations
and the scope cf the project, and they tend to take precedence over
the aesthetics<
Councilman Rosenbaum stated that Council had made a decision that
the city would no .longer spend on undergrou:din2; the amounts that
it used to because it felt there were higher priorities in othar
areas. Ihis was reflective of that decision, and he suspected those
poles would be looked at for quite a while yet.
Cou:cilwo an Pearson, said she remembered that policy and that she
was a party to it; however, it seeped to her that the city was continually
undergrounding. Quite a s%Im of money was spent in do; atown Palo
Alto for undergrounding, and that was all right; but if Council
wanted to really beautify the city, Embarcadero Road should have
the undergrounding done. At least some money should be set aside
so funds could be accumulated for that project.
The motion was passed aad the resolution was adopted on a unanimous
vote.
News a� l sy�.line udv 1 Q► i : 577 :4)
Dr. George R. Henry, President of the Board of Directors of the
Community Association for Retarded, said the Board was in substantial
agreement with the staff report which is before Council.
Vice Mayor Henderson recalled that about a year ago he wrote a memo,
to Council covering information about newspaper pickup. At the
November 26, 1973 Council meeting, he moved to direct staff to actively
pursue a study of providing separate house to house pickup of discarded
newspapers for recycling. In his memorandum, he noted that any
program designed for the city must make allowances for CAR's needs.
Since that time, the city became involved in a study conducted by
two students from the Stanford Graduate School of Business, and
one of those students was Mr. Mark Harris who is present at this
meeting. Mr. Harris had continued on with the study in the preparation
of this proposal, and he is now a city staff member. Included in
the study was a test conducted in selected areas of Palo Alto, and
the staff report of October 24 gives details of the study and presents
three alternative proporsals, recommending Alternative No. 2. Vice
5 8
10,129/74
Mayor Henderson explained that under the recommended proposal, residents
would tie their newspapers in bundles and place them by their garbage
cans. The bundles would be picked up by Palo Alto Sanitation Company
employees at the time of the regular garbage pickups. :he city
would pay up to $2,000 or so to equip nine refuse trucks with special
newspaper collection racks to keep the newspaper bundles intact.
Delivery would be made to the Recycling Center in the baylands where
the newspaper bundles would be placed in bins maintained by CAR,
and CAR would carry on with the marketing of the newsprint. From
the revenue collected, CAR would retain 80X; and the sanitation
company would receive 20%. There are many questions and no certainty
about the success of the program in terms of participation, cost,
and revenue. However, Vice Mayor Henderson understood that both
PASCO and CAR are willing to try this program; and it was his belief
that Palo Alto residents would respond in a very positive way.
if the price for newsprint holds up, CAR should be in an improved
situation from the greatly increased participation. Vice Mayor.
Henderson thought that one problem that would limit participation
to a degree was the requirement for tying the papers in bundles.
He thought it might be a good idea if the city provided string periodically,
and he wanted some comment from staff as to whether that would be
practical. Vice Mayor Henderson said there were fiscal considerations,
and he thought the proposed system should be established as soon
as possible so that by budget tine, Council would have an idea of
the degree of success of the programl. Even if all other things fail,
he thought that the cost of the collection could be added to the
refuse monthly billing and not: cause torn large an increase. Hopefully,
the market for newsprint will be good; and that problem will not
exist.
MOTION Vice Mayor Henderson moved, seconded by Berwald, that Council
direct staff to install a newspaper pickup system in line with Alternative
No. 2 presented in CMR:577:4, dated October 24, 1974, and that Council
find that no adverse environmental impact will result from this
program.
Vice Mayor Henderson said that so eoae had indicated the bottom
had dropped out of the market for newsprint, and he scanted to know
if that were still the case. He alsc wondered if CAR had save kind
of an agreement that maintained the price so that they were protected
for at least a given period. It seeraeed to Vice Mayor Henderson
that if CAR were down to $5 per ton, they would not be able to participate,
Dr. Henry stated that unfortunately, CAR had no long term contract
with any newsprint recycling company; and they were exposed to the
vagaries of the market. In the past, paper reached a low of four
to five dollars a ton. They continued operation through that very
difficult period. At five lollars a ton under the present operation,
CAR was very close to a break even poiot. No revenues ere received
for their program, but they still felt they rendered a significant
community service. Under the proposed plan at $S a ton, the necessity
of having to supply additional manpower to provide for unloading
paper at bins would cause CAR to lose money. Their effort would
be to cooperate with the program over a limited period of time,
and th.e plan before Council suggests one year.
Vice Mayor Henderson said that, practically speaking, it would be
less than a year; because the city would be coming into its new
fiscal year and budget considerations in May and June. If CAR were
in the kind of situation mentioned by Dr. Henry, Vice Mayor Henderson
was sure that the financial arrangement would be reconsidered.
He asked for a comment about the tying of the bundles and the string
situation.
5 5 9
10/29/74
Mark Harris, Senior Analyst, Solid Waste, said that when this program
was started, staff needed to decide how to advertise it. In terms
of a publicity idea, he thought perhaps the string idea might be
good. In terms of actual increase in participation, Mr. Harris
did not think it would have a major impact. The purpose of the
whole system is to offer two separate means of recycling. Staff
did not want to cut out the present means of going to CAR or the
recycling center because this would impact the city's other recycling
program and would perhaps diminish the recycling of bottles, cans,
etc. This program was a means of trying to get people to participate
who would not normally do so. Some people think it is a lot easier
to not bother bundling their newspapers and jug;, bring them dawn
to the bin, and other people will be willing to bundle the newspapers
and put then out with their garbage. Therefore, staff was trying
to provide a little bit of flexibility by introducing this program.
Vice Mayor Henderson said he saw no specific statistics from the
tests that had been run, and he wondered how much increased participation
there was.
Mr. Harris responded that when staff reported something like a 25
to 67% reduction, that is a summation of survey data based on telephone
conversations with people in the zones where experimenting had been
tried. The 25% represents actual increase in participation, and
the 67% increase represents inteaticn of participation. Palo Alto
is presently recycling about 30% of the newsprint, and the 25?: increase
would bring that up to about 37% participation. A 67X increase
would bring it up to approximately 50%, which compares favorably
to any system in the nation. Mr. Harris had 1ozkeJ into mandatory
versus voluntary programs, and the indication was that there is
no significant difference becween the two systems as far ae results
were concerned. Cities have ordinances; but either they are not
erxforc.ng there, or they cannot enforce them. Mr. Harris pointed
out that one problem with string is that it has to be removed before
the paper can be marketed, and someone had mentioned the possibility
of a paper suing which would be quite an advantage.
Councilwoman Pearson stated that she would find out there such paper
string could_be found;
Councilman Berwald thought the staff recommendations were excellent,
and the report was very thoroughly done. He said he always had
a keen interest in what CAR was doing, and sons of his family members
were still doing volunteer work there. Councilman Berwald felt
that the part of the staff report that impressed him a great deal,
besides the accuracy, was the sensitivity with which the staff approached
the interests of CAR; and he commended Mr. Sipel and his staff for
that.
Councilman Beahrs acid it was clearly indicated that if PASCO ran
into any excess costs, they expected to be reimbursed. He wondered
if there had been any time and notion studies done since it aeeaeed
to him they would lose a huge amount of productivity from their
men. Refuse pickup rates were already being increased, and Councilman
Beahre did not think the community at large would be very happy
to have another increase to accommodate this particular activity.
Peraon.ally, he was perfectly contented to tek.e his glass, cans,
end paper down to the center; and he thought that took him leas
time than it would to even up papers and tie them up with string.
Mx. Harris responded that an a attempt wee made to find out how much
extra time was used in picking up the newsprint, but staff was not
obis to ascertain time differences. In £one cases, the route times
were less after the implementation of the project, which did not
make much sense. Staff timed how long it took the men to unload
5 6 0
10/29/74
the newspapers from their garbage trucks into a separate bin, and
that was on the order of about ten minutes. PASCO indicated willingness
to absorb this as a community service. Jr! terms of any additional
cost, Mr. Harris had been thinking in terms of the city going over the
projected capacity of one hundred tons which would either require
some additional trips to the recycling center or possible additional
vehicles and pickups. He explained that if the program were getting
seventy or eighty percent participation, that would be beyond the
city's capacity to handle it; and that is where the extra cost would
come in. PASCO has new trucks ion order which will be equipped with
devises for newspaper stacking; and if those trucks arrive on time,
the city may not even have a $2,000 expense.
The motion pasaed on the following vote:
AYES: Beerwaid, Clay, Comstock,
Henderson, Pearson, Sher,
Rosenbaum
ABSTAIN: Beahrs
Stanford -Palo Alto Liaison Meetin
Councilwoman Pearson stated that Council members had received the
minutes of the Stanford -Palo Alto Liaison meeting of October 17, and
she was very interested because this was the meeting where the Sylvia
Sean Report on Community Attitudes toward Stanford was discussed.
Councilwoman Pearson asked if Mrs. Seraan had not bean present at
the meeting to discuss her own report.
Mr. Sipel responded that Mrs. Sem.an was not present.
Councilwoman Pearson thought that when someone was hired to do a
job, and sh8 doe a well done, voluminous report, she should be
asked to discuss her findings.
Mx. Sipel noted that the Liaison Committee did not hire Mrs. Semen, but
Stanford_ University did. Mrs. Semen was an employee of Stanford
when ahe did the study, and it was Mr. Sipel's understanding that
she had a number of discussions with the people who hired her as
to what her recommendations were. Mr. Sipel said he and other members
of the Palo Alto staff had a clear understanding of what the recommenda-
tions were. Staff members had reed the report, and some had discussions
with Mrs. Semen. He did not think this was the last time that the
subject would be discussed. Parts of the report would be discussed
throughout the year, and Mr. Sipel said he would not hesitate to
call upon Mrs. Semen to elaborate on a section of the report or
to meet with her. His recollection was that the subject of her
being at the Liaison Committee meeting did not cote up.
Councilwoman Pearson felt that someone who had spent that much time
end energy, and who had done such a great job, ought to be asked
to sit in and respond to questioaa frcin both Stanford and the city.
Councilwoman Pearson said Mrs. Sew had some very interesting things
to say about the Liaison Committee, and there was nothing in the
minutes to indicate whether those things were discussed.
Mr. Sipel responded that every item in the report was discussed,
but some of them were not discussed in great 1etti1 because of the
limited time that the Committee had to allocate to it. The intent
of the Committee was to just take a quick first look through the
report to determine what items could be moved forward on very quietly,
5 6 1
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and what things Stanford was working on end could implement. There
would be a report made to Council on this first look at the Seman
report. Mr. Sipel said he insisted upon that at the meeting because
he knew Council members would be interested in the disposition of
the various items. He pointed out that the -report was one item
of an agenda of seven or eight subjects, and staff would be coming
back to Council at a future date with a lot more information.
Councilwoman Pearson pointed out that some of the things that Mrs.
Seman recommended are things that the public should be involved
in; and she took issue with the Stanford -Palo Alto Liaison Committee
meeting privately, without the press, and without public participation.
Whensthe Committee is talking about something like Willow Road improvements,
the iublic should know about that. Councilwoman Pearson took great
issu4 with Stanford for hiring a consultant and then not asking
that consultant to come to the meeting and discuss the report with
them. She hoped that Mr. Sipel would convey these feelings to Stanford
officials.
Mr. Sipel commented that he thought Mrs. Seen had opportunities
to talk to members of the Stanford staff about the report. He did
not know the extent or nature of those conversations.
Councilwoman Pearson explained that she was merely saying that when
the City and Stanford were meeting together, Mrs. Sej.an should be
there to discuss her own report; and in her opinion, it was an insult
that she was not invited to do so.
Oral Communications
None.
Adiourn nt In t°femoLlyawof .iasaes A. Hawkinson
. a�nrroww�.ioe�s w�.+o
Mayor Sher stated that everyone was very saddened to learn of the
death on October 28th of Mr. James A. Hawkinson, who had been the
Manager of the Data Processing System for the city. Mr. Hawkinson
was a talented and valued employee, and Mayor Sher knew that each
member of Council would join him in extending sympathy to members
of MIrr. Hawkinson ` s family.
MOTION: Mayor Sher moved, seconded by Henderson, that the meeting
be adjourned in memory of fir. James A. Hawkinson.
The motion passed on a unanimous vote.
The adjournment took place at 11:20 p.m.
ATTEST: APPROVE:
1
Mayor {p — -
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