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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02121973MINUTES city of palo alto February 12, 1973 The City Council of the City of Palo Alto met on this date in a regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. with Mayor Comstock presiding. Present: Beaters, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton Rosenbaum, Sean Absent: Pearson Mayor Comstock announced that this evening Council would be addressing itself to several matters which had engendered high public interest. He said that Council would allow people who wished to express themselves to do so. After the public had spoken, the matter would be returned to Council for consideration. He stated that no one would be allowed to interrupt the business before Council and the conduct of the meeting. Penal Code Section 403 prohibits the disruption of a public meeting, and he hoped there would be no violation. If disruption did occur, he would announce the disruption and ask that the meeting be broueht back to order. If the meeting were not brought back to order, Council would adjourn, or recess until order was restored. Persons violating Section 403 of the Penal Code would be prosecuted. Resi nation of Hunan Relations Commission Member Mayor Comstock announced that the City Council had received a l?tter from Mr. David Thiemann, member of the Human Relations Commission, advising that because he now resides on the Stanford University campus, he could no lonrter serve on the HRC, since commission members are required to live in Palo Alto. For this reason he was submitting his resignation effective upon appointment of hip. successor. ?MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, :seconded by Henderson, that the resigna- tion of Mr. David Thiemann from the Human Relations Commission be accepted with regret. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Mayor Comstock announced that the Council would advertise this vacancy in the normal manner. )tin es of Jaz i.ary 22, 1973 Mayor Comstock noted that on page 84, Donald Graham is mentioned in two places, once'es living at 707 Cowper and once at 706 Cowper. The correct address is 706 Cowper. On page 98, Mayor Comstock noted that Charles A. Carlaten should Charles A. Carlson. read .)n page 86, Councilwoman Semen noted that the last two paragraphs should be struck, as they were a repetition. 1 2 0 2/12/73 MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Norton, that the minutes of January 22 be approved as revised. The motion passed on a unanimous vGi:P. Minutes of January 29, 1973 Mayor Comstock noted that on page 113, under the item about the Stanford Hospital expansic,n, reference to Dr. Gunder of Stanford Hospital should be Dr. Gonda. Councilwoman Seman noted that on page 115, under the item of letter of welcome to returning military personnel, the motion was made by Council- man Beahrs and seconded by Councilwoman Seman instead of Councilwoman Pearson. Councilwoman Seman noted that on page 112, fourth paragraph, tenth line, where it says "staff will now know" it should read "staff will not know." MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Norton, that the minutes of January 29 be approved as revised. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Meetin s of Februar 19 and 20 Mayor Comstock noted that next will be no Council meeting and Procedures Committee will feet Monday, February 19, is a holiday and there on Tuesday, February 20, the Policy and in its regular meeting. MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded bv Norton, that tha City Council meeting of February 19 be cancelled. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Dedication of Observatory, axaaca Oaxaca ?Sex1co Mayor Comstock stated that last week he had the good fortune, Along with approximately sixty other people from Palo Alto, to attend the dedication of the observatory built as a joint project letweeu the cities, Neighbors Abroad, Foothills College, and interested citizens. The telescope presented by Palo Alto was completed and is now in operation. .The dedication was a very fine affair with Palo Alto well represented. The facility will be used by the people in much the same way as the observatory at Foothill College is used. A shortwave station there is connected to a shortwave station at Foothill. Total hospitality was extended to the visitors by the people of Oaxaca. Councilwoman Semen, who also Attended, offered special thanks to the - Neighbors Abroad organization and hoped more people in Palo Alto would join and become involved. She said she was hopeful that a group of students from Oaxaca would come to Palo Alto next summer and that thr people in Palo Alto would open their hones to thee. 1 2 1 3/12/73 Welcome to Girl Scout Troup 833 Mayor Comstock noted that five girls from Girl Scout Group 833 of Greendell School were here tonight as part of their civic affairs badge. He stated that Council was happy to have them here. Conservation Pro ram See Page 167 In the absence of Councilwoman Pearson, chairman of the Policy and Pro- cedures Committee, Councilman Rosenbaum represented the committee. He noted that a majority of the Policy and Procedures Committee meeting of January 23, 1973 was taken up with two subjects: Housing Rehabilitation and Housing Conservation. It was the feeling of the committee that more work was going to be required on the part of staff before the committee would be in a position to send recommendations to Council. The committee particularly felt that the plan proposed was too top heavy on the adminis- trative end and requested that staff attempt to come up with a new program which had a lighter administrative burden and concentre,:ed on Fire Zone I. MOTION: Councilman Rosenbaum moved, on behalf of the Policy and Pro- cedures Committee, re the conservation program that with respect to the proposed mandatory presale single family inspection program and the multi -family dwelling unit occupancy and housing code inspection, that the following tasks should be undertaken: a. Hold meetings between staff and realtor boards, financial institutions, title companies, homeowners groups and tenant organizations to explain the proposed programs and obtain the benefit of citizen and interested party input for subsequent reporting to the Council; b. Proceed with detailed development and costing of the proposed programs for consideration by Council and Council committees for the 1973-74 Budget; c. Investigate possibilities for the formation of a nonprofit housing maintenance service based on funding and capitaliza- tion discussed iv the report. Councilman Rosenbaum commented that this is an intermediate step. The committee is not recommending to Council that final action be taken but rather if the Council goes along with the recommendation, it would be assigned to staff to continue with some of the work that is going to be required before going ahead with this program. In the last week there has been some comment from the Palo Alto Real Estate Board which is adverse to this program. He noted that if the program is continued from here, meetings are going to be held with realtors and financial institutions to attempt to discuss the program and to get more input as to difficulties that right be faced. Vice Mayor Norton commented that he hoped staff would include in their study of the situation the possibility of having this as a voluntary, as distinguished from a mandatory, program. It is quite a major step to impose an inspection process as a mandate on every change of owuer- ship. He noted that title insurance, which is not mandatory but volun- tary, has become so accepted that most peop`;e insist on it. It would seem more palatable to the community if it were first of all voluntary with the possibility of later being made mandatory. 122 2/12/73 City Manager Sipel commented that the city does have, and has had, a voluntary program and approximately 55 to 70 homeowners have availed themselves of that program at a cost of $35 per inspection. There has been some good experience with it thus far, but 67 is not a lot of in- spections in that period of time. Vice Mayor Norton said he did not feel it was widely known that the program existed. Councilman Beahrs said he thought a voluntary program had advantages. He complimented Councilmen Rosenbaum and Berwald for their comments recorded in the minutes. He expressed disappointment in the necessity of inducing financial institutions and insurance companies to take care of their own affairs. His experience has been that inspections are required. He questioned the probable cost. He said that in considering this tonight he would need to know what was called for in terms of staff hours, months or weeks. He felt that the Planning Department is being overburdened as it is. Mr. Pawloski, Director of Inspectional Services, responded that staff had determined it would have to handle about 1200 inspections annually. In connection with the budget, they have ccsted it out and determined the number of manhours based on their experience with the voluntary presale inspection program. Councilmen Berwald commented on Vice Mayor Norton's thought that not too many people knew of the voluntary nrogram. He said that, unfor- tunately, not too many people knew about the program being pr000sed either. He thought that was the reason for item a. on the committee recommendations. The city is caught between two positions. One, the": there is a deterioration of the property, and two, there is a feeling oa the part of many people that a mandatory orogram would be too oppressive. There are alternatives. Councilman Berwald continued that he had an additional suggestion. If a. and b. are to be done concurrently, and staff proceeds with detailed development for the 1973-74 budget, this doesn't leave much room for alternatives. One of the alternatives that has been suggested is some amendment to the building code to allow for additional maintenance to be done by property owners in that area. Secondly, if staff proceeds with a. and b. together, it doesn't leave any opportun{ty for the development of alternatives and revisions of the program. If the staff will accept a. and b. with the idea that they may modify the program and present it as a tentative program, then he would vote for a. and D. Otherwise he would have to ask for a division of the 4uestion and vote on a. affirma- tively and b. not affirmatively. He said he would not be satisfied with the staff proposal as it is now presented, and if the Council goes on record as recommending that the program be considered for the 1973-74 budget, that implies Council members are for the proposal. Councilman Rosenbaum said he had the impression that the reason b. was included is that if the Council decided it wanted to go ahead with this program, it was going to require time to prepare budget detail for inclusion in the 1973-74 budget. With regard to the question of voluntary versus mandatory, he was afraid that what would happen was that those homes most in need of inspection would not get it because selier and buyer would recognize there might be financial liability incurring to them through the inspection. Large numbers of homes in the City were built immediately after World War II and the great majority are well -kept but some are pot. As Planning Director Knox said at the 123 2/12/73 committee meeting, many cities have gone along and paid no particular attention to what was happening in various area of their city. There has been a trickle -down process. Palo Alto should make as much effort as possible to see that all areas are well maintained. He encouraged Council to take this intermediate step and have staff continue working on it. Councilman Clark said that he agreed with Councilman Rosenbaum. The conservation program, it contrast with the rehabilitation program, is not limited to Fire Zone I. The rehabilitation program was not in the original presentation,- and when it was sent back to committee for further study, it was to zero in on Fire Zone I. Speaking for himself, he said he had the intent -the Council would approve in principle the inspection program. It has to come back after the staff has reworked it. He said he was nrepared to recommend that this kind of conservation program be instituted in this city but not rehabilitation a. this time. Councilwoman Seman said that she was interested in item c., the for- mation of a nonprofit housing maintenance service, which there was not any discussion of in the minutes. She discovered it in the report on page 10. She said she certainly supports this as an innovative idea. She discussed this with Mrs. Bernhardt of the Housing Corporation. It lends itself as a possibility for retirement jobs. She hopes that if this item is passed that it will be discussed with th.:: Housing Corporation. Councilman Berwald asked the staff if they would like to respond to the question he raised about wheaer or not there could be some mlAification to the present proposal, and if there would be time co rr:ake the modifi- cations and still comply with item b. City Manager Sipel responded that staff would plan to complete item a. before it got any further into item b. Staff did not feel concerned that item a. might drag out and they would not be able to get item b. back to the Council before May. This should allow time for considera- tion during budget sessions. He said that staff was not going to pro- ceed with b. without having substantial feedback under a. He thought there would be changes in the program as presented earlier. Councilman Berwald said that that satisfied him. Mr. l'awloski said that staff has thrown out a concept and has to develop ideas about the concept so that they can answer questions of the public. They will take the feedback and modify the original concept. Janet Owens, 863 Moreno, representing Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing, said that every effort must be made to increase the stock of low-income housinj through new construction. She said it is equally important that Palo. Alto's existing supply be maintained and improved. She said MCFH supported the housing conservation program. She suggested details to improve -the plan: (1) rented homes should be included in the maintenance program; (2) moni::or apartment dwellings of less than twelve units; (3) in eases of extensive rehabilitation, MCFH asks that a means be found to keep rents within a reasonable range. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Santa Clara County Housing Authority► Pilot Pro ram Councilman Rosenbaum stated that this item concerns the "piggyback" arrangement that Councilwoman Seman brought to Council several months ago. 1 2 4 2/12/73 He exrlained that the Santa Clara County Housing Authority has a pro- gram known as Leased Housing. What happens is that the Housing Authority leases homes or apartments throughout the county and pays the property owner fair u.arket rent. In turn, the Housing Authority rents the property at less than, the fair market rent to people who meet certain income requirements. Close to 800 units are being rented in this fashion through- out the county. The program is a very successful means of providing low - and moderate -income housing. No stigma is attached, because no one knows where the units are. In Palo Alto, the county has been able to lease very few units. What Councilwoman Seman has suggested is that the city con- tribute some money in addition to what the Housing Authority is able to pay. He noted that the Housing Authority funds are federal funds. MOTION: Councilman Rosenbaum moved, on behalf of the Policy .1nd Pro- cedures Committee, that with regard to the Santa Clara County Housing Authority pilot program that Council approve the "piggyback' program provided that HUD agrees to matching funds in r'ie amount of 25 units with the understbnding that the County Housing Authority orally agrees this date to leave open for the present the option of the additional 25 units. Councilman Seahrs stated that over a period of time he has expressed sympathy for this type of problem but also concern that the huge propor- tion of taxpayers cannot afford this trend in public subsidy at their expense. He has insisted that service of this character should be based on the broadest possible tax base which is at the county level as a minimum. He has also suggested that where low cost housing is subsidized, it should more appropriately be subsidized by the expio L . r and employer of low-cost labor. Palo Alto is not alone in utilization of such labor. ANEND:ENT : Councilman Beahrs moved an amendment that the s program be restricted to employees of the City of Palo Alto. The amendment died for lack of a seconi. Councilman Clark added, for the sake of clarity, that this program would cost the city $50,000 for a three-year period. Councilman Berwald stated that he supported the committee's recommendation. He did not believe that Councilman Beahrs' suggested limitation would be legal. He felt that this was an opportunity for the city to do something for $17,000 a year for three years and to take a look at what scattered low-income housing does. He felt 4t was a worthy program and he said he would like to see it. If it could be restricted at ail, it should be restricted to elderly and disabled. Councilwoman Semen noted that included in the program are additional funds for a phase out. She asked Mayor Comstock if her underatan_ding of the procedure a -, correct. If the motion is approved, what Council will have done is authorize the staff, the Housing Authority and HUD to begin negotiations on this program and they will report back to Council and then the matter will be returned to the finance and Public Works Committee. Mayor Comstock responded that it would come back to Council before any action is taken. Referral to committee would be up to the Council. Cnuncilwomian Seman recommended that the Housing Corporation be included in the referral. She commented that in the minutes she noted that Councilman Clark asked what data there is with regard -to demand from people in Palo Alto for this type of program. In cooperation with the 1 2 5 2/12/73 Housing Corporation she had secured a table which corresponds to income levels of people in the program. Basically, the gialifications are: with one person in a household the maximum income is $3,750; four people, $5,250; six people, $6,250. The table shows 3,495 households in Palo Alto today qualify for this program. Councilman Rosenbaum commented that when the proposal was first made, he considered it premature. The city is going to have expense in con- nection with rehabilitation in Fire Zone 1 and this should be combined with that program. The last page of the minutes states that "Discussion followed al:out the money going into new units or older homes with the community consensus being that the money should go into older existing single family homes." With respect to that subject, he would like to add an amendment. AMENDMENT: Councilman Rosenbaum moved to amend the motion to state that the investment of city funds should serve as a catalyst for rehabilitation. In particular, emphasis should be placed on properties requiring rehabil- itation and some significant property improvements should be required as part of the lease agreement. The amendment died for lack of a second. Janet. Owens, 863 Moreno, speaking for Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing, said that MCFH regards Section 23 leased housing as one of the federal government's most effective answ,e_rs to the need for lower priced dwellings. Furthermore, the H-UI. freeze, and removal of rent control, will take this program especially significant in the mediate future. Unfor- tunately, the Housing Authority's rent limits have been set so low that few leases can be negotiated on units in Palo Alto. The piggyback subsidy fund can alleviate this problem and MCFH urged approval. She expressed_ disappointment that the proposal had been reduced from 50 units to 25 and hoped that support would be given for the full 50 units and asked that the program be given high priority. Mayor Comstock note3 that Council had received a letter dated January 24 from Sill Byxbee which reviewed remarks he made at the committee meeting, and a letter dated February 7 from Pamela Strandberg expressing the desire that old houses not L& torn down. AMENDMENT: Councilman Rosenbaum moved;_eeeee,ded by Berwald, to add that the investment of city funds should serve as a catalyst for rehabilitation. In particular, emphasis should be placed on properties requiring rehabil- itation, and some significant property improvements should be encouraged as part of the lease agreement. Councilma- Clark asked Councilman Rosenbaum if he were saying that before the county makes a three-year lease with a property owner, that they ask a property owner to bring the property up to code. Then, without any other rehabilitative subsidy, the property owner would bring it up to code and then he would be given a three-year lease. Councilman Rosenbaum responded that he was looking for an experiment. Council is talking about considerable rehabilitation throughout the city. He felt the Council could offer a carrot, such as not having a vacancy for three years. He said he was curious to see how much rehabilitation would be done on that basis. He said more importantly, he would like to direct the Housing authority to seek out properties that need.rehabili-- tation so that the city would be getting more for its money in going aloe; with the program. 1 2 6 2/12/73 Councilman Clark responded that it certainly was a worthwhile goal but that he did not see it as being workable. Mr. Grigoni noted that the city is already under a cooperative agree- ment with the Housing Authority that requires units to be brought up to code. Otherwise, the Housing Authority cannot enter into a lease. Councilman Henderson said he opposed both amendments that were offered. He would like to try the program without any restrictions to see how it operates. He felt thr: Councilman Beahrs' suggested limitation was illegal. He supported the recommended 25 units and hoped to move quickly on the other 25 units. He said he w.iuld like to give the program a serious try. Responding to Mr. Grigoni, Councilman Rosenbaum said there is no incen- tive for the Housing Authority to seek ont those units which can benefit from rehabilitation. He would expect the Housing Authority to attempt to secure its goals without going to any extra trouble. There is no experiment in going out and increasing tbs. ante, nor is there any experi- ment in increasing the differential between what the property owner gets and what the renter pays. To get some feeling as to how the rehabilita- tion program is going to work, Counci', should try it with this amendment. The city should get something special cut of it. the amendment failed on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Berwald, Rosenbaum Noes: Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Seman Councilman Beahrs again expressed interest and s;mpathy for those who want to help people, but said he felt Council is confronted with tokenise and in danger of giving false encouragement to many, many people. Council- woman Seman has said over 3,000 people would qualify for the program. His proposal re limitation was described as discriminatory. He asked how can you select 25 households out of 3,000 for subsidy support. 25 units would amount to $560 a year each. If there are 3,0%.0 families entitled to this public support, we are talking about $1,680,000 or better than 50% of the general tax take of this community. Palo Alto is making big promiees to the world. The whole thing is illusory and tokenism at its worst. Councilwoman aeman responded that the figures only give those people whose incomes qualify. They may or may not have the need for the housing. The motion pssed on the following vote: Ayes: Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Seman Noes: Beahrs, Rosenbaum Re ort: of Select Council Committee re a o to us ng orporat on Mayor Comstock expressed his gratitude to Vice Mayor Norton and the members of the committee for tackling this difficult problem. 1 2 7 2/12/73 Vice Mayor Norton, chairman of the committee, noted that on November 6 Council requested that a corar^.ittee be appointed to meet r.•ith the Housing Corporation to review the issues in Councilwoman Pearson's memorandum of November 2 and future contractual relations of the city with the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. This arose out of the displeasure that was expressed in Councilwoman Pearson's memorandum regarding a trans- action which had taken place and lack of policy followed by the Housing Corporation. Following the appointment of the Council committee, three members of the Council and three Housing Corporation members met for three meetings. The discussions were beneficial and cleared the air on a number of issues. The recommendations made by the committee to the Council are before Council tonight. Vice Mayor Norton indicated that each recommendation should be considered individually. Councilwoman Sernan stated that the City Attorney had advised that she abstain from participation in this matter, because she was a member of the Housing Corporation at the time the contract was executed. She therefore would not discuss or vote on any of the committee's recom- mendations. MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, on behalf of the committee, that the role of the Housing Corporation be referred to t1;p "inance and Public Works Committee to be dealt with in the course of its deliberations on the budget. Vice Mayor Norton co:.:ented that where part of the referral to the com- mittee alluded to future contractual relations between the city and the Housing Corporation, during discussions it became quite obvious that the committee would not be able to deal with that subject without a number of additional meetings. It was decided that it would be more appropriate for Council to consider that part of the referral at budget time. The special committee tried to deal with things that seemed to be of most immediate cc'ncern. It is the intent of the motion that the role of the Housing Corporation will be considered in detail at the committee level during budget deliberations. Mayer Comstock noted that the Council will be considering each recom- mendation individually. He said that Council had received the minutes of all three meetings, a letter dated January 15 from Sue hemp, letters dated January 7 and January 17 from the Housing Corporation which speak to some of the recommendations, and a letter from )4r. Keller advising that he could not be present at this meeting because of his absence on an extended trip. The referral motion passed on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Clark; Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum Noes: Berwald Abstain: Semen Vice Mayor Norton commented that all of the recommendations were not unanimous, but he would move all of them on behalf of the committee for procedural purposes. MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, on behalf of the committee, that the following provision be incorporated in the next contract to be negotiated. with the Housing Corporation: 1 2 8 2/12/73 If a board member has a present or potential future interest in a specific project being considered by the Housing Corporation, the general nature of that interest shall be revealed in any information transmitted to the city, and further, the Housing Corporation shall state that the board member having such interest did not participate in dousing Corporation decisions relative to that project. Mayor Comstock commented that such a requirement is desirable, but it is also desirable as a matter of consistency that such requirements should be made of other Council -appointed bodied as well. Council has given an assignment to the City Attorney to deal with questions of con- flict of interest and co prepare some material for possible Council action to clarify these requirements. MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Beahrs, that this committee recommendation be referred to the City Attorney's office to review in conjunction with the Council assignment concerning City Council conflict of interest requirements. Grant Spaeth, 2110 Waverley, asked to speak at this time and stated that the motion now being discussed and the recommendation 3.c. requesting the resignations of Roy Clay and Bill Reller were tied together in his presentation. lie said that he had been out of town and was absolutely appalled to learn of the rift between Roy Clay and members of the Council when both had the sane concerns and should be working together. He said that regardless of who failed to make a phone call and whether it was played as Council would like it played now, there was no question that as soon as the hospital project was defeated, the land was for sale. The foundation would have liked nothing better than for the city to have taken it off the hook. it was decided that the right thing to do was to pass it by the city but not to apply any pressure. There was no substantial interest expressed by the Housing Corporation or anywhere else. He said he felt that referral of the role of th.e Housing Corporation to the Finance and Public Works Committee was an adequate resolution to be made tonight. Decisions like those recommended in 3.b. would be made in a supercharged context. He submitted that this is not the time to make thop.t judgments. They should be made in the overall context of the budget sessions. He urged Council not to make decisions tonight about what kind of co:tract to draw up but rather refer all of it to be examined by the Finance and Public Works Committee. Speaking directly to the present motion, Mr. Spaeth said that Mayor Comstock F d stated well what he would have advanced. He assumed that the standards recommended in this section would be imposed on Council, commissions, and any other outside relationships. Mr, Spaeth opined that the combination of 3.b. 1) with 3.c. amounted to a vote of censure. It was a vote which one Council member described as a trial. He said everyone should be able to see that the effect of a conflict of interest resolution combined with asking members of a body to resign had to be interpreted as a censure. He asked Council to look carefully at the selective impact of this kind of thing on the people involved. He viewed censure as an extraordinary remedy rarely, if ever, used by this Council. Counci''man Beahrs agreed that the association of the two recommendations created the implication that 1r. Spaeth described, but he said Mr. Spaeth had not suggested an appropriate disposition. Mr. Spaeth responded that he would suggest passage of 3.b. 1) (revelation of interest) and defeat of 3.c. (requesting resignations). 1 2 9 2/12/73 Ed Arnold, 1454 Hamilton, said that he believed in representative democ- racy, and voters expect Council, members to make decisions for them. Council should be free to make decisions without harrassment and without too much advice from constituents. He said the matter before Council now demanded strong and vigorous opinion be expressed. He referred to Council- woman Pearson's "witless and unwarranted" attack on Mr. Clay particu- larly, and Mr. Reller as well. It seemed to him it was a gross abuse of public office to slander a person and then hide behind the comment that "I was just asking a question." Council's access to the press confers a special responsibility to be careful and circumspect in what is said about people, particularly those who are trying to perform a service to their community whether it be a civic or charitable enter- prise. As far as the Palo Alto Housing Corporation is concerned, he suggested Council had to decide whether it wanted an independent or a dependent board, a consultant or a puppet. If the Housing Corporation is not what Council prefers, Council should have the courage to cut it off at the po^kets. Citizens sincerely interested in housing will then ask them why they did pit. He suggested thoughtful consideration. Regarding the revelation of interest motion, Councilman Henderson asked whether, if referred, Council could expect a decision from the City Attorney's office prior to deliberations by the Finance ani Public Works Committee on contract renewal. City Attorney Stone responded that the preparation of a conflict of interest code for the city is going to take substantial time and effort, and he would not expect to have it to Council before sixty to ninety days Councilman Henderson commented if the report is not received in time for deliberations in committee, there would be a problem of not having a statement concerning conflict of interest and the committee would not be able to proceed in attempting to renew the contract. Councilman Berwald commented that recently a mayor of a rather large city in the area faced with a similar investigation of some people called it a Spanish Inquisition and said the thing to do is to ignore it. He said he didn't see this situation as quite that, but with respect to the referral motion, he did not want to dignify what had happened in the past several weeks by referring even this item to the City Attorney. He said he had made the original motion concerning overall conflict of interest requirements and felt it was important. He was confident that the City Attorney would give Council a complete report. He didn't think Mr. Stone needed any further advice from Council. To refer this partic- ular mutter to the City Attorney would simply give dignity to a highly questionable procedure, as Mr. Spaeth indicated with the use of the word "trial". Councilman Rosenbaum asked City :.ttorney Stone whether what is proposed in 3.b. 1) differs from the conflict of interest provisions which would currently apply. He asked if anything proposed is a step forward or something not currently abided by. City Attorney Stone replied that it is difficult to say whether it would precisely follow the law. He would have to know what kind of interest item is involved, present, future, or potential. What is proposed for the Housing Corporation might parallel the law for public officials. One aspect of the conflict of interest law is ability to disclose an interest but still participate. In short, he said it is too early to tell. 130 2/12/73 Councilman Rosenbaum spoke to Mr. Spaeth's reference to the fact that the two items are on the agenda together. He said that all of the items under "b." were thought of as long -tern arrangements to be placed in the contract and based on items entirely separate from the resignation request. The resignation request is an ad hoc response to the Scott Street situation. It was certainly not intended to combine these two proposals in any sinister manner. Councilman Clark asked City Attorney Stone if he needed this motion to modify what his office is already doing on the conflict of interest study. City Attorney Stone said he did not, because the assignment they have would not necessarily include all contracts with all consultants. Councilman Clark said that it wouldn't affect, for instance, the arrange- ment with Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing any more than it would for this corporation. City Attorney Stone thought that was correct, but he said he really didn't know enough about the precise intent of the motion before Council --whether it be restricted to the Housing Corporation itself re conflict of interest or all city contractors. Councilman Clark asked if there were anything about the structure of the city's relation with the Housing Corporation that would make a conflict of interest law or set of guidelines different for it than for Livingston and Blayney, for example. City Attorney Stone replied only from a public policy standpoint, not from a legal standpoint. Councilman Clark indicated he would oppose the referral motion. Vice Mayor Norton said he felt the motion would be an easy way out of this, but he had to oppose it. .It was established in the committee that there would not be identical conflict of interest rules applying to the Housing Corporation that apply to Council members and Planning Commissioners. Mrs. Bernhardt leases office space that the corporation uses, and she is also on the board of the corporaion. Lawyer members of the corporation have prepared eviction notices for a modest fee. Certain other kinds of minor services were performed for the corporation by its members for pay- ment. Their bylaws permit this kind of remuneration. If identical rules applied, all of this kind of activity would be forbidden. It is impractical to forbid it. One of the advantages of the corporation may be that it has more freedom to operate. The motion suggests the rules should be the same, and he did not agree that they should be. Councilman Beahrs commented that the timing of this particular element of the proposal is unhappy. He thought Council would be best advised to not pass this proposal at1d reconsider it at a more appropriate time. If it passed, he did not see that it should necessarily be a major factor in any contract consideration. This type of proposal Khould be binding in honor and not be given the force of contract. The motion to refer to the City Attorney failed on the following vote: Ayes: Comstock Noes: Beahrs, Berwai_d, Clark, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum Abstain: Semen 1 3 1 2/12/73 The motion regarding revelation of interest failed on the following vote: Ayes: Henderson, Rosenbaum Noes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Norton Abstain: Semen MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, on behalf of the committee, that the following provision be incorporated in the next contract to be nego- tiated with the Housing Corporation: At least one Palo Alto Housing Corporation meeting each month be held in the evening. C. W. Noble, 933 Scott Street, asked how many times the corporation meets. Councilman Henderson replied that breakfast meetings are held on the first and third Wednesdays of each month. C.W. Noble said that to be right about it, all meetings should be held at night so citizens who are interested can attend. Councilman Kenderson said that last year the subject of the corporation having evening public meetings was brought up by Councilwoman Pearson and Councilman Rosenbaum in committee. On March 30, 1972, Councilman Henderson wrote a letter defending; the corporation's prac; ice of meeting in the :morning. Several considerations have now chan,:ed his opinions on this subject. One reason given in favor of morning meetings was to enable the commuters to the city and other businessmen ;.o participate. During one period last fall, three out of five meetings did not have a quorum of members in attendance, and 'ach meeting of late has been touch and go on sufficient attendance. It is no longer apparent that one evening meeting would be a.greater hardship than the present schedule. The Youth Advisory Council wanted to name a committee to attend ?AMC meetings, but no one could go in the morning. Other organizations might send representatives at reasonable hours. The current controversy would make it most desirable for Housing Corporation members to want to have public attendance. Councilman Henderson felt the Housing Corporation should bend over back- wards to be out in the open and inform the public on housiig matters. Councilman Clark stated that he thot.ght the Housing Corporation should be able to hold meetings when its membership felt it was convenient. It is not the same as a Council -appointed committee, and he said he must make the parallel again that if Council tells the Housing Corpora- tion that it must have its meetings at a certain tome; why not tell MCFH when to meet also. Councilman Berwald thought this recommendation displayed an abysmal ignorance and understanding of what the Housing Corporation is. It is a private consultant. It in not an arm of the city in that the city cannot abolish it. The city can cut off funding. Council doesn't tell Livingston and Blayney :.°hen to meet. Why pick out the Housing Corporation? It is absolutely ludicrous and illogical. Councilman Beahrs agreed with Councilmen Clark and Bcrwald. He said if Council wants to inhibit the operation of the Housing Corporation, it should also dictate the agenda for the particular meeting. Unless the agenda is controlled, what does it matter when they meet. 1 32 2/12/73 Councilman Henderson said there is a difference in that the Housing Corporation is a private consultant virtually totally funded by the city. Much of its agenda consists of items referred by the City Council. Councilman Berwald :ommented that when Livingston and tslayney does work for the city, they are totally funded by the city. Council doesn't dictate when they meet. The motion failed on the following vote: Ayes: Henderson, Rosenbaum Noes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Norton Abstain: Seman MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, on behalf of the committee, that the minutes of the corporation's board meetings be distributed to all members of the City Council. Vice Mayor Norton commented that effect of this is more directed to the City Clerk. It is innocuous and he would see no problem except for the possible freling that mandating contractual provisions is offensive. Councilman Clark thought it put an additional requirement on the Housing Corporation which was unwarranted. He didn't see any need to read Housing Corporation minutes. Council gets good complete reports on the things that are referred to them. On the things the co.-poration might be doing on its own initiative in trying to stimulate new projects, it should be able to work alone, and when it is time to make things public, be allowed to do so. Councilman Beahrs agreed and said to carry things to the ultimate, the format of the minutes should be spelled out. This can be carried to the extreme also. It doesn't make sense to demand minutes unless they are told what Council wants ir`cluded in the minutes. Councilman Henderson commented that he receives the minutes as liaison and doesn't dictate the format. He felt it would be beneficial for Council to receive the minutes. Also, there is precedent. Council receives the minutes of the PACDAB meetings. The motion passed on the following vote: Ayes: Berwald, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum Noes: Beahrs, Clark Abstain: Seman MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, on behalf of the committee, that best efforts be made to have one member of the board be a Palo Alto resident of a federally subsidized law -moderate income housing protect, and that at least one additional member of the board be a Palo Alto residential tenant. Vice Mayor Norton commented that the PAHC hoard members at the meeting agreed this would create no problem. 1 3 3 2/12/73 John Roger, 203 Addison, said that it is good to have a tenant on the board, but the question is what income is that tenant going to have. It is important for the tenant to be a low-income tenant. Vice Mayor Norton indicated that two kinds of tenants are specified in the motion. One is a low -moderate income tenant. John Roger said that it is important that several low-income tenants be on the board. C. W. Noble, 933 Scott Street, said that rapid Council votes tonight were voting down what looked like the bare essentials of what should be. He commended the subcommittee for the recommendations returned to Council. The Housing Corporation is made up of people in the monied property class. The members are mostly either real estate brokers or landlords. The Housing Corporation is supposed to advise the city on the ability to preserve low-income housing. The present Housing Corporation will never be able to understand the interests of low-income people. He did not think that Roy Clay and William Reller should sit on the Housing Corporation board. Lou Goldsmith, president of the Palo Alto Housing Corporation, stated that the letter they wrote to Council pretty well spoke as to their feelings on the various items, but it disturbed him when Mr. Noble got up there and made ridiculous comments. Housing Corporation members Roy Clay and Elaine Crossley -+re black. The Palo Alto Housing Corporation are the only ones wl.,o have built any housing under the program in the last four years. It is fine to say the corporation should have representation from eve ryboay in the community, but if it did, it would never get any- thing done. They would debate endlessly about what needs to be done. Sixty families are new living in Colorado Park, are happy in them envi- ronment, and will make a positive contribution to the community. Hal Hudson is a tenant member of the board, but he does not live in subsidized housing. For some time the Housing Corporation has been considering various nominees for addition to the board. Recently, they have done almost nothing else except consider the questions on the agenda tonight. It has taken a tremendous account of everyone's time to defend themselves against totally unwarranted charges. The board would be delighted to have a member from Colorado Park or Stevenson House. The one requisite for membership is that they be willing to work. Councilman Berwald commented that he was against approval of this item. Mr. Goldsmith is the oresident of a consulting organization to which Council has no right or privilege to dictate the terms of their opera- tion. In his letter of January 17, with the usual grace and good will and cooperation that members of the Housing Corporation have exhibited, Mr. Goldsmith says that while he feels that most of the recommendations are unnecessary, that adding a tenant of a federally-aasisted housing development or unit is something the corporation has been considering for some time and hopes to accomplish in the near future. Councilman Berwald said that passage of this recommendation would not add one iota to the efficiency and effectiveness of the Housing Corporation in achieving the goals it was set up to achieve. It is dictatorial. It is big -brother government. It is the kind of situation that could be detailed even more to say that you could add Palo Alto's affirmative action program, all sorts of races, etc. In the final analysis, if the members of the public who are interested in serving the city, rather than criticizing those who voluntarily wish to serve the city and want to achieve the housing goals were to send a list of qualifications to the Housing Corporation, their applications would receive equal con- sideration. Those who could make a contribution would be considered 134 2/12/73 for membership. He hoped Council would defeat this method of imposing on the Housing Corporation the opinions of this elected body which has no right to impose rules on this particular organization. Councilman Clark commented that he felt exactly the same way. Even though Council is not yet considering the next item (resignation request), he said he was not going to allow any more time to go by without a modest rebuttal to Mr. Noble's remark regarding Mr. Clay and his indication that Mr. Clay was involved in making a profit. Mr. Clay was president of a lay board of a totally charitable organi- zation. It happened to be his time to be president during the period when the foundation was almost sink by the burden of carrying that piece of property. To indicate that Mr. Clay in his official capacity as a volunteer on a charitable board was involved in making a profit when that property was sold is really libelous. Councilman Henderson said he was resisting the temptation to talk about 3.c. until it is before Council. He was the one who made the motion regarding membership with the feeling that there had been no represen- tation on the board from the tenant community until the recent addition of Hal Hudson.. He felt there should be come representation in order to get the viewpoints from tenants. When Mr. Day Lion left the organiza- tion, he spoke very positively in that respect. He said that the Housing Corporation had responded in support of this Item. The motion passed on the following vote: Ayes: Co_stor.k, Henderson, N ton, Rosenbaum Noes: Beahrs, Beriald, Clark Abstain: Seman MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton roved, on behalf of the committee, that Council request Palo Alto Housing Corporation to ask board members William Reller and Roy Clay to resign from the board on the basis that, although there was nothing illegal about the Palo Alto Medical Foundation land sale transaction, it was poor judgment for two direc- tors of an agency established by the city to perform certain functions related to low -moderate income housing to have been involved in this transaction without the knowledge of other Palo Alto Housing Corpora- tion board members and the public. Vice Mayor Norton commented that this recommendation caused the most disagreement among the committee which recommended on a 2-1 vote that the two gentlemen in question be asked to resign from the board. He said he would defer to Councilmen Henderson and Rosenbaum as to their position. His own dissent en the recommendation was that there was general agreement that there was no legal wrong done and the way he read the testimony, it vas quite clear that both individuals followed the then bylaws, rules, and precedents as the corporation members understood them to be. It was rather unfair on an ex post facto basis to decide that this conduct was wrong. Mayor Comstock indicated that he was going to propose a substitute motion that the Council initiate the procedures necessary to cancel the contract with the Housing Corporation. The basic reason ins that if Council has disagreement with the Housing Corporation, that is the way it should deal with it. When the contract was negotiated, Council did not stipulate the right to try to remove individual members of the board. The contract was accepted with the understanding the board 135 2/12/73 members were self-perpetuating. It is clear that the response of other members of the board are generally supportive of the actions taken by the people in question. If Council is not aware of any disagreement on the part of their board, perhaps the disagreement is with the entire board itself. John Roger, 203 Addison, said that tonight we are talking about whether William Reller is fit to serve on the Palo Alto Housing Corporation. He said that American cities are full of decaying older homes, The real question for a real estate company is how to squeeze money out of an older house. The first thing they do is get older houses together and raise the rent to all the market will bear. In the meantime, they start hunting for a person who wants to buy an older house instead of a new one. Or they look for someone who wants to invest in rental property, or someone who wants a large parcel of land and will tear the houses down. People .involved in such dealings should not be given a position on a city board which was formed to promote low -moderate income housing. He said he had been hearing incredible stories when people call the Palo Alto Tenants Union. Patricia Murray, 321 Addison, said people on Scott Street are dealing with hardship, eviction, and rent increases and getting promises from the landlord and then having him back down. She maintained that at first Mr. Reller told tenants they could have 60-90 days' notice and then told buyers they could move in in thirty days. Margaret Dubik, 960 Waverley, said she has been co-chairman of the Addison School Title 1 Advisory Committee and resident of the Scott Street area interested in events dealing with low-income housing. Two years ago she moved here from Chicago, and she sees many parallels between Palo Alto and Chicago as far as housing problems go. Lo' -income homes and rental units are destroyed to make way for high rises for the wealthy. There is na place for low-income tenants to go. The real problem is a deliberate and systematic eradication of low-income people in Palo Alto. Low-income houses are still standing, but rents have been raised to high -income levels, and the low-income people are being driven out. Many people in this area are on fixed incomes and due to accidents of old age or ill health can no longer support themselves. The question is are we our brother's keeper. William Reller has supplied his answer, "Eliminate your brother." Tom Reese, 80 Kirby Place, stated that he was hero as a friend of Bill Reller. The issue is whether or not hr. Reller and hr. Clay should be asked to resign from a commission that they have served in a voluntary. capacity for some time. Another way to phrase it is whether or not this body should censure them when there has been lack of evidence of any wrongdoing. That being the issue, the vote should be very clear, and he said he supported Vice Mayor Norton's conclusion that if that is the finding, that mustbe the vote. The issue is not whether or not Mr. Reller or anyone else is a good guy or a bad guy landlord. It is not whether or not this city should institute rent control. To have speaker after speaker criticize Mr. Reller as a person is totally irrelevant and unbecoming of these proceedings. From the evidence no wrongdoing was found. Mr. Reese said he was disturbed As a citizen in Chia town about how this matter came ul. The effects on Mr. Reller and Mr. Clay are the same as though this were a trial, which is grossly unfair. From what has been published in the paper and from remarks made in public, he would be concerned about serving on a city commission lest he run the risk of some Council member disliking him and then the possibility of personal criticism to the paper or elsewhere. 1 3 6 2/12/73 Jack Wheatley, 2240 Cowper, said he happened to know both of the individuals being spoken of here. The remarks made here are easily made by those who wish to make them under the pretense of debate, and they are vicious and are meant co try to target in on these individuals. They are unwarranted. There are two sides to every story --the landlord's and the tenant's. On the Housing Corporation board itself, some of these people have served for four years. They have volunteered their time and services, and some have even made financial contributions to the organization. To say that they are using the position for any type of profit is absolutely wrong, unfounded, and he would like to see any statements produced proving that. He commented that Council's actions over the past few months have probably just about nullified the Housing Corporation, an organization that was sec up with high ideals, with the desire to create some housing for people in this town that could not afford to live here otherwise, to f.ini a place to locate it, which is difficult, and Bill Reller and Roy Clay have given up their time and made personal sacrifices in order to serve on the board. He said he disagreed with the intention of making a substitute motion instead of facing this one. That is the easy way and puts Council back to the starting point and says unless you belong to the Tenants Union and Venceremos, you are trot going to have a voice representing the people in the town. Council should have some voice coming from the rest of the citizens. The charge is that nothing illegal was done, but poor judgment was rendered. He said there could be question about the judgment of some other people in this action and perhaps on other actions as well. To pass such an item as this is sayi>>g to the city that Council wants to get rid of this board because it is too independent and Counci doesn't have control. Also, Council is saying that the only way we can have low-income housing in the town is not to develop new housing projects but just keep the old houses and in a run-down condition. It has always been the intention of the Council aad the city to upgrade the housing for all people in the city, including Fire Zone 1. To improve that housing takes dollars. There are subsidized programs, and people can get rent subsidies, and that is the place some of these things should be taken up. He asked what Council is doing to improve the Addison Street property. What is Council doing with the property in which it has invested the city's money. He suggested Council vote against this action and give the individuals some recognition for the contributions they have made. Marty Basey, 550 Hawthorne, said she hoped that people would not mis- judge what she was going to say by the way she looked. She said she would like to direct some comments to the City Council and some to the young people sitting in the back who probably look a lot like she does. She said to the young people that just because they have needs in the world and some people malign them, they have to be careful about who they choose to destroy in efforts to serve themselves. She said that Bill Keller is one of the most ethical men she had ever met in her life. It distressed her that because people have needs they have to destrk;y someone who is ethical and who does the right th{ng as much as he is able. She said Council had been unfair and had not seen that they are destroying an ethical mien. She said they have a responsibility to look before they do something like this. She urged Council to vote against this. Brian Garrett, 1111 Harker, said he considered himself a victim of Mr. Reller. He lived at 474 and 472 Scott Street for nine months. It is a five -bedroom house which rented originally for $465 and was raised to $485. After paying a $150 cleaning deposit, he had to wade through stuff and spent three or four days cleaning. For the amount of money they paid, it was incredible. It had a cement backyard, an illegal basement, and it took a month to get the toilet repaired. He said Mr. Keller can't be a responsible man if this is the kind of house he rents to people in Palo Alto. 1 3 7 2/12/73 Jeffrey Youdelman, 720 Waverley, referred to the interest this item had generated and who it had brought out, because the Housing Corpora- tion is a vestige of the previous city government which had a different balance on the Council; one which was subservient to the real estate and business interests. He said he didn't think Council should inter- fere with the Housing Corporation's internal business. If anyone on the Council has the interest of low-income people in mind and has examined the track record of the Housing Corporation, they should get one that represents the low-income people. Don Willis, 426 Matadero, said that the city had made some progress since the time of Wheatley, Arnold and Spaeth. It has slowed the pace of development a little and made a few gestures against the war but has never been able to deal with the possibility of corruption in the government of the city and the police department. The people involved are enemies of low-income people. The corruption of Mr. Reller and the failure of the Housing Corporation are part of the reason why it is almost impossible for people to get low-income housing. Ron Hall, 2043 Euclid, said he didn't understand how there is a con- flict of interest. This is supposed to be a democracy where people can do what they want as long as it is not a criminal action. He said he was buying one of the houses in the disputed area. Mr. Relier has treated him fairly and has gone out of his way to clarify things. He said he was pleased with the way Mr. Relier had handled his situ- ation and felt this was getting absurd and out of control.. See Page 167 C. W. Noble, 933 Scott Street, commented about the illegal -legal aspect. He said he firmly believed everybody in the world had a right to housing they could afford. When that right is violated, it is illegal. He said that Roy Clay violated that right. Dangerous conditions took place in the houses for people who li'7ed there. All of his actions as a landlord never led Mr. Noble to believe Mr. Clay was black. He said Mr. Reller was trickier, and it was hard to see what -ae was trying to do. He Celt Mr. Reller was going to try to sell his house out from under him without giving him the benefit of the doubt. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Henderson, that the City Council initiate action to cancel its contract with the Housing Corporation. Councilman Beahrs asked the City Attorney whether or not this was valid as a substitute motion. Councilman Beahrs thought a substitute motion had to relate to the substance of the motion it superceded. There was no relevancy here. City Attorney Stone responded that the substitute motion is essentially a matter of ruling from the chair. The substitute motion that is on the floor is relevant that should it pass, the existing preceding Notion would be moot. Mayor Comstock ruled the substitute motion was in order. Councilman Beahrs challenged the ruling. Councilman Berwald appealed to Mayor Comstock to withdraw the substi- tute motion, because he thought that it was not related to the subject before Council which is the attempt to prove by come sort of implica- tiorr, and having dragged two people through mud for several weeks, that these two men are unfit to serve the city in a consultant capacity 1 3 g 2/12/73 and should resign from the board. He said he opposed that and opposed the whole procedure during which that took place. The substitute t o1i n gears ;': ond this and attempts to drag, by implication, the entire Housing Corporation board from the chairman on down through the same mud. None of the other people have had a chance to defend themselves, and now in one fell swoop Council gets away from the issue and the right for these individuals to defend themselves and places in jeopardy the reputation of all of the other people on the Housing Corporation by saying the Housing Corporation is not fit to serve the city as a consultant. There is no evidence to support that contention. Councilman lerwald asked City Attorney Stone if Council could take action on the substitute motion tonight. It is not on the agenda. Asking that the Housing Corporation be put out of business which would be final action is not on the agenda. City Attorney Stone responded that the substitute motion could be voted on by the Council, because the matter before Council related to the activities of the Housing Corporation and to its role. Item 3.a. was a specific referral respecting the role of the Housing Corporation. Councilman Beahrs commented that from the inception and the initial handling of this entire matter there had been irresponsible, callous, and unconscionable impugning of good names and s transparent effort to create a cheap political issue at the expense of public citizens, and now the substitute motion avoids that issue, and he said he wanted the opportunity tc vote on that original issue. Mayor Comstock noted that the ruling of the chair that the substitute motion is in order had been"challenged. An aye vote would uphold the challenge and take the substitute potion out of consideration. A no vote would be voting against taking the substitute motion out of consideration. The challenge was not upheld by the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, 8erwald, Norton Noes: Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Rosenbaum Abstain: Seman See Page 166 Councilman Clark said he hates it when Council gets political, but tonight he really was driven to it. He,said he was going to be personal. Ever since the Housing Corporation was conceived, some of the members of the Council have been at all times grudgingly willing to accept its informa- tion but never particularly helpful in creating a close relationship between the Council and the Housing Corporation. When a matter was brought up and someone had not referred it to the Housing Corporation, there were snide remarks about why was there no comment from the Housing Corporation. When someone suggested the Housing Corporation be included, there were snide remarks about why is thae. necessary. He said he had felt that at the first opportunity there was an opening wedge, the Housing Corporation would be sabotaged. The manner in which it came about was extremely dis- tressing for someone as close to the Scott Street situation as he is. He said he went to two of the committee meetinge, and he had never been so distressed as he was to sit in on these discussions. He said he also resented that the Mayor could not pick up the telephone and let Council members know in advance of a meeting so:. -thing as important as a proposed substitute motion that Council should do away with the Housing Corporation. He said to his knowledge this is the first time Mayor Comstock had ever made this propose]. in public, and he had never said it in private either to certain ones on the Council. He said he had heard snide remarks. For 139 2/12/73 example, the Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing sent a letter sup- porting the Housing Corporation, and Mayor Comstock said to Council- woman Pearson, "We will have to get their contract too." He said he hated this in the worst way, but this had been dragged into this kind of a situation. The important thing and the thing that everybody is forgetting is that two men are being publicly --well, crucified is too strong a word. The shadow it has cast over them is absolutely dreadful. He thought the entire Housing Corporation would have good reason to walk out tonight even if this motion doesn't pass. He said he voted against the challenge, because he thought Mayor Comstock had a right to bring the substitute motion up, but he was voting against the substitute motion. He said he was sick at heart about the whole procedure. Councilman Berwald said he had spoken earlier about this, but he would not have an opportunity to say anything about item 3.c. if the substi- tute motion passed. He said this begs the issue. Councilwoman Pearson isn't here tonight to pursue the letter she wrote which was highly in- accurate. The facts were not right. There was even a reference to the Webster property which wasn't correct. On this document Council based the entire decision to conduct the committee meetings, which he had referred to as an inquisition, and star chamber proceedings, and kangaroo court at various times. He said he was appalled when at one of the meetings Councilwoman Pearson said, speaking to Mr. Reller, "I am not the one who is on trial. You are." That was the first time that the word "trial" was used. At that time, he said that if it happened to him, he would get a lawyet end defend himself in court and those raking accusations would have to defend their statements in a court of :aw where the rules of evidence and trial by peers and other protections art present. re said that moving from the subject that has been discussed all through the =meetings, the subject that was at hand tonight, the subject of these two men, gets these members who served on the committee off the hook, gets those who tried the case in the papers before it went to the committee off the hook, and allows Council to accomplish what apparently was the hidden intent in the first place --to get rid of the Housing Corporation in one fell swoop and ruin the reputations of a two people. Councilman Berwald said he would like to talk about the Housing Corporation and their carrying cn. The first indication he had of an attack on the Housing Corporation was in the case of the Webster property where a committee was formed. The subject was referred to the Housing Corporation, the Planning Commission, and the Housing Advisory Committee. The Housing Corporation was not advised. He said he brought this up at a meeting, and staff sent them a letter. The next episode was when Council was visiting the Scott Street property, and a member of the city government made a statement that Mr. Reller was a slum -lord. That was passed on to Mr. Zeller, and Councilman Berwald asked Mr. Reller to go resolve that with the person who said it. The next episode was Councilwoman Pearson's letter. What Council would be doing by adopting the substitute motion is putting a cloud on everyone's reputation. He said he could talk for an hour about the good things the Housing Corporation has done and each member's contributions to the community. Board members have defended their members. He said he had known M:. Goldsmith for many months and had never heard him say anything dishonest, misleading, or two--faced-- nothing except a professional approach to development of low -moderate income housing. He said he respected what Tenants Union, Venceremos, and Scott Street Association members had to say, but he had a right to differ. He suggested taking th3 records of all of those who spoke against Mr. Rel12r tonight and ask what contributions those people have made to the ameliora- tion of low -moderate inc0m3 housing and to unifying this community at a time when the community doesn't need any more division, and then look at Mr. Goldsmith and see what he has accomplished. Peoplo are living in Colorado Park in harmony with their neighbors. Let the record show that the Housing Corporation has accomplished some things. He said he didn't 140 2/12/73 know Mr. Reller very well, but no evidence had been prevented that he had done anything dishonest, unethical, or immoral. He said he does know Mr. Clay very w`11. Councilman Berwald said he first met Mr. Clay in a small apart -merit on the corner of Alma and Greenmeadow Way when their sons joined the Y Indian Guides together. He said he has not met a finer husband or father or citizen then Roy Clay. This is the kind of a person Council is putting a cloud over in questioning his character. Councilman Berwald said this whole proceeding was based on inaccurate findings that are un- proven, that it was unnecessary, that it is invalid, that it was useless, that it was a waste of human resources in the city, that it will not add one iota to the housing objective or the quality of government in Palo Alto, and finally it was divisive, and there should be some effort in the community to bring us back together. Many good things have been done. This is not one of our better performances. Councilman Beahrs commented that only two young people spoke in favor of Hr. Reller and he wanted to point out that when Carolyn and Bill Reller were first married, they moved into a houae right next to his, and he observed then for six years, and there are no finer young people in this community. He said he wished there were more people lire them. Councilman Rosenbaum commented that this had been a remarkable issue and he had never seen so many of his colleagues on edge. He said he would like to speak to item 3.c. and also to why he thougnt the substitute motion was appropriate. This was a situation where the Palo Alto Housing Corporation was set up at the request of the city to pursue the goals of achieving more low -moderate income housing. What Mr, Reller did was set up an adhoc corporation with the na::.e of Restored Properties for the sole purpose of buying the hcr.:es on Scott Street. What was going to happen to these homes on Scott Street? First, the rents were going to be raised. If this proved impossible, he was going to sell off the homes. Councilman Rosenbaum main- tained that one cannot do this in public life. It was totally inappropriate behavior, He suspected that some of his colleagues recognized that. Suppose George Romney, who used to be in charge of HUD, had on the side engaged in buying and selling lcw-income property in Detroit to his possible profit and to the possible discomfort of the people who lived in that property. If one of the Detroit newspapers uncovered this fact, there would no have been any cc muittee set up to determine what should happen in that case. He would have been asked to leave. Councilman Rosenbaum thought this was the situa- tion here, and he was amazed at the insensitivity of some people as to what constituted proper behavior when one is in public life. The reason the sub- stitute motion is appropriate 13 that the Housing Corporation has been insensitive on this issue also. They have been given several months in which to initiate action on this and have failed to act. He said he would support the substitute motion. Vice Mayor Norton stated there were reasons why he would not vote for the substitute motion. It gets Council back to three months ago when Council- woman Pearson made the original motion. The substitute motion was made to form a com-mittee and s{.t down and talk. He said he voted for it, because he felt it was a preferable procedure to terminating the contract out of hand. He said he had had second thoughts on the wisdom of this since then, but he die vote for it. Now, three mcrrtha later, Council has adopted item 3.a. to the effect that the future of the Housing Corporation and it:s relation to the city be referred to the Finance and Public Works Committee. The present motion would predetermine that relationship and terminate it tonight. It restates a motion originally unacceptable to him and .s out of keeping with the intent of 3.a. Councilman Henderson expressed regret that Councilwoman Pearson was not present. He said he wanted to defend one statement having to do with the See Page 166 1 4 1 2/12/73 "trial" business. He quoted from the minutes and said her comment was an emotional response to a statement Councilman Berwald made, and she was in no way referring to this as a "trial." Councilman Henderson said this had been the most difficult subject to deal with during his period of Council service. When the motion was made in September, +972, to terminate the contract, he said he led the moveleent to defeat the motion and to give the Housing Corporation Board the opportunity to handle the Reller-Clay matter itself. When the corporation did not take any action, another motion was made to terminate the contract at the December 8 meeting. This time he moved a substitute motion to establish a Council committee to meet with the Housing Corporation representatives. This action had been suggested by the Housing Corporation representatives, and it was passed by the Council. The meetings were held, the problem aired, and the results are before Council tonight. He said he had to respond to some remarks that Councilman Berwald was quoted in the Palo Alto Times as having made. It was interesting that in the article, there were no quotes from anyone on the committee. Councilman Berwald stated that the entire matter was unjustified, had been handled in an undignified and uncivilized manner, that it was a political inquisition, politically motivated because Mr. Reller was involved in past political campaigns and in the recall election. It Nas another attempt to destroy a man's reputation, etc. Councilman Henderson stated that he wanted to make it very clear that first of all, he was not aware of any of Mr. Reller's previous political involverents, and secondly, if he had been, it would not have made any difference. He said he had found the whole matter to be most unpleasant and wished it had never come about, but it was here, and he had to deal with it as his conscience led him. He said he had been most anxious to preserve the Housing Corporation. The notions he made at the specialcommittee meetings were to indicate to the Housing Corporation what steps would have to be r_.ade by the Housing Corporation for him to be able to support a contract renewal. Although there was nothing illegal about the Scott Street trans- action, it was very poor judgment and to hire an unacceptable conflict of interest for two board members of the Housing Corporation to be involved without the knowledge of the other corporation members. He said that Mayor Comstock had taken the position that no action against the individuals was in order and that the matter could be ended by cancelling the Housing Corporation contract. He said he could be persuaded to follow this line of thinking, especially since the contract would be before Council soon anyhow. He said he was troubled at having the two na'ns appear equally at fault. Mr. Clay's involvement is substantially less than Mr. Relier's; yet it cannot be ignored. Regardless of what phone calls should have been made and other possible misunderstandings, Mr. Clay had informed the Housing Corporation about the status of the Research Foundation property at every meeting he attended through March 1 of 1972. Councilman Henderson said he was firm in his belief that Mr. Clay would give the city an opportunity to match any offer for the property. There was complete secrecy after March 1, 1972, until the sale was announced by a tenant in September, two months after the sale was consummated. This was probably the best-known piece of property in Palo Alto. It was the subject of a vital election, written about many times after the hospital defeat. It was mentioned often as a possible site for loo --moderate income housi►zg, even possible landbank. Hr. Clay, as president of the Medical Research Foundation Board and a member of the Housing Corporation board, had an obligation to inform the Housing Corporation members in executive session, and Council members with whom he had talked previously, about the pending negotiations for sale. Mr. Heller has made many si;inificant contributions tc the Housing Corporation, and his loss would be deeply felt. Unfortunately, he has been involved in a number of real estate and management activities related to low -moderate income housing. Councilman Henderson said, in his opinion, Mr. Reller's activities represented See Page a completely unacceptable degree of involvement for a member of the Housing RIG Corporation and, in fact, the chairman of the site -selection committee. Also, 142 2/12/73 it was his decision alone not to announce the Research Foundation property sale, even after the sale was completed. Councilman Henderson expressed disappoint -went that the Housing Corporation board had not felt these actions were inappropriate. Several members had expressed concern to him personally, but no public questioning had ensued. He said he did not want to take action against individuals who had bee' serving their community on a voluntary basis, and he did not want to see the Housing Corporation con- tract terminated, but he could not go against his personal standards for conduct and was given few alternatives. He said ha would vote for the substitute motion. If it failed, he would ask for a division of the motion or, the vote related to Mr. Clay and Mr. Reller. See Page 167 Mayor Comstock said he owed Councilman Clark an explanation. He said that sincerely if such a thought had been in his mind then, it certainly was not now. He said he hoped Councilman Clark would believe that he would not operate with that lack of sensitivity. To speak to the substitute motion, he said he was not naive enough to think that if it passed, that was the end of the issue. Council could take action to terminate its dealing with the issue, but it will take time to let it pass in the members' feelings with each other. He said his purpose in offering the substitute motion was not to duck the issue. He said he did not think Councilman Beahrs had ever taken any cheap political shots, and he hoped Councilman Beahrs would give him credit for not F.icking this kind of a subject for this approach. Finally, he said he had to apologize to Councilman Clark for not calling members of the Council and letting them know in advance of his intention to propose the substitute motion. He said he was :.:ore or less on public record in response to a Question from a .,ewspaper reporter a week ago in which he was asked hoer he would deal with it, and his response then vas essentially that he would do what he had done tonight. He guessed that was not adequate. He said he must take the position that the dealing as a City Council with the Housing Corporation is a collective issue. Council is a collective body, and they are too. Until Council decides that it has a different oontract to be viewed in a different way, he could see no other way to handle it. He said he did not come to this position lightly. He was extremely uncomfortable, but the buck stopped here. Council members have to cake their position and vote on it. He said he offered the substitute motion with those intentions and was not going to feel that if Council members did not support it that he could not deal with them on other issues. He said because he felt strongly that the substitute motion was the way to proceed, that he did not support the motion the way it was proposed. The substitute motion failed on the fc•llowing vote: Ayes: Comstock, Henderson, Rosenbaum Noes: Beahrs, Bervald, Clark, Norton Abstain: Semen Mayor Comstock noted that this again put item 3.c., the conseittee's recom- mendation, before Council. Councilman Henderson said he would like to divide this motion. He had con- tinued research into this matter, and conversations with Mr. Spaeth had convinced him that Mr. Clay played a very minor role in the sale. Mr. Spaeth handled the entire matter. He called for a division of the question. Councilman Clark asked if they could vote on whether or not to divide the question. He did not want to split it if possible. 1 6 3 2/12/73 City Attorney Stone said that the code provides that the question may be divided upon request, but the chair's ruling is appealable. Mayor Comstock said he had ruled that the question would be divided. Councilman Beahrs challenged the ruling. The chair's ruling was upheld on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Clark, Norton Noes: Berwald, Comstock, Henderson, Rosenbaum Abstain: Semen Mayor Comstock noted that Council would now vote on the resignation motion as stated, except that it applied only to Mr. Reller. The motion failed on the following vote: Ayes: Henderson, osenbaum Noes: Beahr_ , Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Nortozi Abstain: Seman Mayor Comstock noted that Council would now vote on the resignation motion as it applied to Roy Clay. The motion failed on the following vote: Ayes: None Noes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum Abstain: Seman MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved on behalf of the committee that Council commend present and past volunteer members of the Housing Corporation for the contributions they have made to the City of Palo Alto. The motion passed on a unanimous vote, with Councilwoman Seman abstaining. Tentative Subdivision Ma er orner o efield Road and Loma Verde Mayor Comstock recognized Mr. J. Eichler, applicant. Joseph L. Eichler, $19 Mitton Road, Burlingame, submitted a map show- ing how it is intended to handle 1•',t number 10. to'lyor Comstock asked if this was to be considered rather than the map that was submitted to City Council. Hr. Eichler responded that there is a change on the map. The existing property line is now shown on the map as a dotted line and it a1eo shows the placement of the house on this lot. Mayor Comstock asked the Planning Commission Chairman and Planning staff if they could relate this change to the Planning Commission recommenda- tion to the Council and whether it requires an amendment to the Commission's recommendations. 1 4 4 2/12/73 Planning Director Knox clarified that the slide being projected on the screen shows the tentative map submitted by the applicant and the rear yard is shown at the right hand edge as 20 feet and the side yard is shown at the lower edge of lot 10 at 8 feet. Staff assumed from their discussiczs with the applicant tat this delineation of these setbacks was for the purpose of clarifying what might otherwise be an unhappy situation for him in the placement of the houze on the lot. The ordi- nance allows the Building Inspector to determine which is the appro- priate rear yard, or 20 -foot setback and which is the appropriate sideyard, or 8 -foot setback. At the Commission meeting of January 31, the Commission acted to modify these and actually reverse what is shown on this plan to show an 8 -foot yard at the right hand edge and a 20 foot yard at the lower edge. In effect, reversing what the appli- cant had recommended in his attempt to clarify ;his particular parcel. What has happened now is the applicant has come to Council with a sketch plan showing how the particular house type labelled PA -154 would sit on the lot and he is attempting to show that if the 20 -foot yard is placed along the bottom edge of the lot, as shown there, that his house would protrude into the yard, the required setback. Mr. Eichler said what the applicants really want is the house to be placed on the lot so that the rear of the lot is toward the northwest, and the front of the lot being the street, regardless of where Cie 20 -foot setback is going to be. He noted that they are also intending to change the lot line in order to get r.ore sideyard to that portion of this house, and in doing this there is a violation there in that the back yard is only 48 feet, whereas the legal requirement is generally 60 feet. They could easily get around that by shortening that lot and just giving away that footage in the back. Therefore, he felt it should be left 1.. Mr. Eichler noted there is another requirement: the Planning Commission had included which he objects to. That is on lots 1, 12, and 14 and then two of the lots along Loma Verde, the applicants requested a 16 -foot set- back and the Planning Commission finally allowed them a 20 -foot setback, The law says that those should be 24 -foot setbacks. He explained the origin of the law and said in this particular case they wanted to avoid having any driveways on Middlefield and therefore requested 16 feet. They still have to have one lot, lot 23, which has a driveway into Middlefield and on that one there will he a 24 -foot setback. Mr. Knox stated that in an attempt to find the best possible solution to this subdivision, the staff met Frith the applicant and essentially agreed to the best possible plan which would not have any exceptions cr variances and asked the applicant to reach some compromise on appro- priate setbacks. At the time this was brought to the Commission, the depths of these various setbacks were discussed and the present recommenda- tion of che Planning Commission is that a 20 -foot setback be allowed as a variance on those lots, which is a variance from the 24 feet which is now otherwise required. Mayor Comstock said basically, then the soap that is on the board is the Planning Commission recommendation. Planning Commission Chairman Gordon referred to the plan labeled Exhibit A. Or: lots 1 and 22, as applied for by the applicant, a 16 -foot sideyard setback is shown. The Planning. Commission recommendation is for a 20 - foot sideyard setback. Moving up to lot 24, which is on the corner, the Planning Commission 's recommending a 20 -foot sideyard setback. On lots 14 and 13 the applicant has asked for a 16 -foot setback, the Planning Commission is recommending a 20 -foot setback. 145 2/12/73 Mr. Knox added that the resolution before Council in draft form proposes variances for lots 1 and 22. Because the applicant had requested 16 feet, the variances were required. Chairman Gordon continued, moving to lot 10, the rear yard is inter- preted to be that which is basically north or northeast, and the Planning Commission recommendation is that the interi,..etation be that the south or southeast line adjacent to the Los Arboles property labelled 23 would be the 20 -foot setback. The discussion in the Planning Commssion minutes reflected a similar situation between lots 30 and 14 and 15. However, these are controllable by the applicant. In other words, he can plan the location of those houses for a mutual protection between them, which is not the case between lot 10 and the already developed Los Arboles tract. She continued that it is rela- tively open behind lots 10, 11, 12 and 13 but it is a residential development, R-1 property. Chairman Gordon Raid the sketch that Council .ts looking at was not sub- mitted at the Planning Commission level and does not conform with their recommendation. One of the problems she would like to point out is that Council has before it a subdivision, not a concern with the location of specific houses on a specific piece of property. Councilman Beahrs said he, among most people, insist that people live by rasonable standards that are set after due public hearing and notice, etc. However, he said he would hate to see a good piece of property not developed attractively and have imbalance generated out of Council's adherence to strict interpr-*ations of rules. He asked Mrs. Gordon to comment on this. Chairman Gordon said it might be appropriate to make another observa- tion or two. One is that Middlefield, as is Lorna Verde, is a very heavily traveled street, and there is a responsibility to try to keen residences as far away from those streets, lust from the standpoint of lead poisoning, as possible. Another comment would be in relationship to the number of square feet in the property. It isn't a minimum 6,000 sq. foot lot and there are vcrious ways to design houses to fit upon pieces of property. She said she realized Mr. Eichler has some favorite ways in which he likes to design a house, but thinks there should be some flexibility in that as well. Mr. Eichler responded that if his proposal was not approved he would have to huild two story houses to get a house on there large enough, and in a subdivision like this, two story houses would destroy the privacy of the surrounding houses in the subdivision. These houses are going to be expensive and they have to be a certain size to justify the cost. Mayor Comstock acknowledged receipt by Council of a letter dated February 11 from the Palo Alto Housing ^orporation regarding comments made at the Planning Commission meeting of January 31; niso a letter from Adrian Flakoil. 650 Toyon Place, dated February 6 urging approval of the application. Pay Witt, 769 Allen Court, member of the Housing Advisory Committee, said this is the third yr fourth map submitted and is substantially in conformance with requirements of the city's planning process .,xi should be approved on that basis alone. Arsy opposition to it is from thoss who want low to moderate income housing on that Bite. He urged Council to approve this subdivision. 1 4 6 2/12/73 Gene Schobinger, 3364 St. Michael Drive, referred to Planning Commission agendas of August 29, 1956 and later citing occasions when the neighbo- rhood spoke in support of R-1 proposals for this site. He asked supporters of this subdivision present in the audience tonight to stand and they did so. He urged Council to approve the subdivision. Mrs. Toni Tuzzo, 663 Toyon Place, spoke in support of the subdivision. Mrs. Jan Nix, -(0O Toyon Place, read a statement in support of R-1 subdivision. Ron Green, 3366 Ross Road, spoke in support of the subdivision. John Austin, 763 Holly Oak Drive, spoke in support of the subdivision. Vice Mayor Norton asked Mr. Austin whether he was in agreement with the map submitted by Mr. Eichler this evening. Mr. Austin confirmed that he was. Janet Owens, 863 Moreno, representing Midpeninsula Citizens for Fair Housing, read a statement in opposition to the subdivision. Dorothy Wortr:c:n, 743 Holly Oak Drive, urged Council to approve this proposal. Sue Mitchell, 550 Hilbar Lane, vice chairman of the Housing Advisory Committee, and speaking on behalf of the committee, said the Housing Advisory Committee calls to the Council's attention its recommendation in a recent report regarding this property which urged the Council to give this site first priority for immediate purchase by the city with land bank funds this year with a view to locating loci -moderate income housing on it. Steve Manley, 731 Holly Oak Drive, spoke in behalf of seven persons who support the Housing Advisory Committee and MCFH's opposition to this project. He said all these persons are living on Holly Oak Drive and Cork Oak -Way and thee7 feel strongly that the City Council should not accept this tentative subdivision map. He urged Council to consider human values instead of property values. A signed petition was sub- mitted. Roberta MacKenzie, 751 Holly Oak Drive, made reference to the recent annual report of the city Palo Alto in an Era of Change. George Cruze, 951 Bryant Street, member of PATtJ and Greater Scott Street Association, noted that he served on the Housing Advisory Committee last summer in Roberta Cane's Absence. The city should consider no further high income housing until law income needs are met, he stated. Sal Tuzzo, 663 Toyon Place, spoke in support of the subdivision. Councilman Henderson said he would like to set the record straight and clarify that the Housing Corporation did look at this property as re- corded in its April 15, 1971 minutes, and in April, 1972, the Housing Corporation stated the Council should require 235 units at this site. The location is considered appropriate for low to moderate income housing. Planning Director Knox stated the staff and the Planning Commission agree that these lots are adequate in size and a variety of house types could be designed and fitted on these lots. See Page 166 147 2/12/73 MOTION: Councilman Berwald introduced the following resolution and moved, seconded by Semen, its adoption: RESOLUTION NO. 4703 ENTITLED "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALO ALTO APPROVING A TENTATIVE SUBDIVISION FOR PROPERTY LOCATED AT THE INTERSECTION OF MIDDLEFIELD AND LOMA VERDE. GRANTING AN EXCEPTION TO PERMIT A REAR LOT, AND ESTABLISHING SIDE Ai1D REAR YARD THEREFOR, SUBJECT TO CONDITIONS" Councilman Berwald said this is a matter of judgment. His vote would not be based on whether or not he is for low- and moderate -income housing. This is not the only site nor the last site in Palo Alto. Those who are saying the opportunity for low- and moderate -income housing is being taken away are not particularly speaking the truth either, in view of the fact the City is looking at the Beale property, Webster, and several other sites. He said he would listen to the discussion and keep an open mind. Councilman Beahrs questioned what 'ee motion included. Mayor Comstock responded tnat the motion was to approve the sub- division with the two changes Mr. Knox and Mrs. Gordon pointed out tonight. Councilman Rosenbaum stated he :lid not see any justification for the variances asked. Staff made certain recommendations based on sound planning and engineezing, and consistent with its recommendations, the developer should be expectec' to come up with a subdivision which does not require any variances. Vice Mayor Norton said he was not clear on exactly what the motion intended with respect_to lot 10. He asked if staff planned on what was shown on the map or what the Planning Commission recommended. Councilman Eerwald responded what the Planning Commission recommended. Not section 2. Vice Mayor Norton understood then that there would be 20 feet on the bottom and 20 feet on the right-hand side. He thought no one cared about being closer on that side. AMENDMENT: Vice Mayor Norton moved, seconded by Beahrs, to show on lot 10 a 13 -foot setback on the south boundary line opposite lot 23 in the Los Arboles subdivision, and that the setback on the easterly side of the lot be 8 feet. Planning Commission Chairman Gordon indicated it :night be simpler to go back to the original resolution ai.d change 8 to 20 in section 2 and 20 to 8. That would allow Mr. Eichler to do what he is proposing. AMENDMENT CHANGED: Vice Mayor Norton moved the proposal as shown on the map on the wall as originally submitted for lot 10. SECOND WITHDRAWN: Councilman Beahrs withdrew his second to the amend- ment. See Pate 166 AMENDMENT: Vice Mayor Norton moved, seconded by Beahrs, to make the setback on the southerly boundary 18 -feet and easterly boundary 30 -feet. The amendment passed.on a unanimous vote. 1 4 8 2/12/73 The resolution as amended was adopted on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Norton, Seman Noes: Henderson, Rosenbaum MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Beahrs, that the naming of the new street be referred to the Public Facilities Naming Committee. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Final Subd is iv ion Ma --Glenwood I WA is er Asso., rtes • MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Norton, that Council uphold the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approve the applica- tion of J. L Eichler Associates for a final subdivision map, Glenwood I (14 lots, residential) for the Harker School property, bounded by Harker, Melville, Greenwood, and Harriet Avenues. The motion passed on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Seman Noes: Rosenbaum Final Subdivision Man --Glenwood IT J. L. Eicn er Associates Z` MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved, seconded by Norton, that Council uphold the recommendation of the Planning Commission and approve the application of J. L. Eichler Associates for a final subdivision map, Glenwood II (16 lots, residential), for the Palo Alto Military Academy property bounded by Parkinson, Harriet and Harker Avenues. The motion was approved on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Seman Noes: Rosenbaum Con rehensive °l�. an_s-. , _. Cons- ul tin on C tract$ ..,. ,, _ Mayor Comstock noted that Council had received at their places this evening a letter from Mrs. Gordon, Planning Commission Chairman, containing a description of the Comprehensive Plan Work Program, and he gathered from reading the letter that she was not at this point requesting specific action from the Council. Mrs. Gordon commented that the wording of item #7 as listed on the agenda was a little inaccurate. She said that the motion as moved by Commissioner Klein included a request by the Planning Commission that the Chairman rrake en interim report to Council, which is the material Council has received, relative to the point at which the Planning Commission now finds itself regarding the comprehensive plan. 149 2/12/73 Mayor Comstock noted that it was getting late, and he wondered if Mrs. Gordon were looking for any action from Council. Mrs. Gordo- responded that the letter was informative, and Council members could read it at their leisure. All she felt compelled to do was to say that she was asked by the Planning Commission to convey their intent to move ahead with a future recommendation for the hiring of consultants for the comprehensive plan. They do not make that as a formal recommenda- tion tonight, because the consultant is doing further work which will be brought back to the Planning Commission for review. City Manager Sipel commented that if Council has some concerns about the direction in which the Planning Commission and staff are going, now is the time to state chose concerns, because there is a substantial amount of work that has to go forward and which could be set in motion by the Council this evening. Staff would appreciate any negative concerns Council has so they can be guided by expressions of interest or lack of interest. Mayor Comstock said he did not have any negative concerns, but his greatest concern was to give this matter consideration without damaging the schedule. Councilman Berwald stateu he was in agreement with the spirit of it but did not feel reedy to go along with number three particularly, and he thought there might be a joint meeting of Council and the Planning Com- mission to discuss the nature of the contract and perhaps an executive session to discuss t'ne actual background behind the approval of the two firs. He felt Council should receive the report and not take any final action tonight. Mayor Comstock responded that giving direction tonight would result in a more definitive proposal that would come back to the Planning Commission and them to Council outlining policy direction, financing, staff time ccc itnents, etc. He wondered what date night be the next touch -point with Council. Planning Director Knox replied_that r:; had received today a memorandum from John Blayney which set out the beginning basis for a contract between the City of Palo Alto and Livingston and Blayney. He said he would send this document to the Planning Commission for their information. Staff would follow with several weeks of hard work to get a precise agreement with the consultants as to haw much time would be put in by each, and at what cost, and bring that to the Commission for further review. Staff is overburdened in terms of other work items, and if it were Council's pleasure that staff not move forward with the contract negotiation at this tine, staff would withhold that particular effort until a later date. If Council has any qualms about the direction the staff and Commission have been going in choosing consultants, staff would appreciate any negative comments at this point. If Livingston and Blayney and Gruen -Gruen are not the consultants staff is going to be negotiating with, negotiations should be stopped. Councilman Henderson said he was prepared to move on with the next step. He did not want to see the comprehensive plan schedule delayed. Councilman Beahrs commented that he understood Mr. Knox to suggest that the staff would not be upset if the matter were postponed for several weeks. Mr. Knox commented that he was quite new, and was just getting used to the amount of time it takes to get some of these matters through. He had first asked for a consultant in July. It was now February. He was prepared to wait another thirty days if that were the wish of the Council. t 5 0 2/12/73 Councilman Berwald asked if Council had discussed the implications on the budget, size of staff, etc. Mayor Comstock replied that is what will be found out if they move ahead with this. Councilman Berwald said that if there were no final commitments, and if after staff got through negotiating, Council decided maybe they didn't like the qualifications of the consultant, that he hasn't had enough proven experience, or that the cost is too much, a lot of staff Lime might have been wasted. Mayor Comstock commented that if there were no proposed action, he respectfully suggested Council consider the rest of the agenda. Councilwoman Seman commented that she was under the impression that Mrs. Gordon did not want action taken by Council tonight. Planning Commission Chairman Gordon said everyone felt some direction to them at this point would be helpful, but they were not asking for approval of hiring consultants tonight. A sense motion to approve the direction in which the Cow.-ission and staff were going would be appropriate. 1 1 `:orIo:;: Council -art Penderson roved, seconded by Norton, that Council declare its approval of the direction that the Planning Commission and staff ace t:ow taking toward completion of the Comprehensive Plan; and to include the following: direct the staff to negotiate appropriate contracts with the consulting firms of Livingston and Blayney and Gruen and Grier to work on the Comprehensive Plan and Zoning Ordinance; and direct the staff to return those portions of the contracts relating to time span, work input, remuneration, and level of effort in general to the Commission at the earliest possible date for review and recommendation to the City Council. City Manager Sipel pointed out that if Council votes for the motion as just stated, Council is in effect saying they want Livingston and Blayney to be the consultant pending successful negotiation of contracts. Councilman Berwald said he sensed hesitancy on the part of some and lack of understanding of the direction in which the Planning Commission is going. Council has not yet adcressed itself to this question or given the Planning Commission and staff the time they deserve. MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved, seconded by Beahrs, to continue this utter pending a joint meeting of the Council and Planning Commission for a review of the Planning Commission's direction. Councilman Berwald said he hoped the joint meeting could be held at the earliest possible time. The continuance motion failed on the fallowing vote: Ayes: Yeahra, Berwald Noes: Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum, Semen Mayor Comstock indicated Council was now considering the motion made by Councilman Henderson and seconded by Vice Mayor Norton. Councilman Berwald asked to divide the question to first approve the direction the Planning Commission and staff are now taking toward completion of the Comprehensive Plan. 1 5 1 2/12/73 Mayor Comstock riled that the question would be divided. The first portion of the motion passed on a unanimous vote. The second and third portions to direct staff regarding contracts, passed on the following vote: Ayes: Beahrs, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Norton, Rosenbaum, Secnan Noes: Berwald MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved that the meeting be adjourned. Mayor Comstock indicated that adjournment would mean that Council would resume deliberations at the February 26 meeting, beginning with item #8. Councilman Rosenbaum urged reconsideration of the motion, noting that representatives from BART and the West Bay Railroad have been invited to make a presentation at the Feb uary 26 meeting. He said he would not like to put something that is likely to be a long event before they address Council. City Manager Sipel advised Council that he had an emergency item for consideration tonight; that the city has an opportunity to purchase some portable radios and so.:.e sound slice training projectors, and passage of the proposed resolution would set in 17.otion an application to the Regional Criminal Justice Planning Board for the grant -lug of funds to the city. Unless action is taken this evening, the opportunity will be lost. He requested the opportunity to bring this up as an emergency item. nfrn' Vice Mayor Norton C;1e -OCiOn to adjourn. MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, duly seconded, t^ move up for considera- tion. item #10 a, emergency item recommended by City Manager and not shown on the agenda. The motion passed on a unanimous vote. Santa Clara Count' Re Iona; Criminal ,.ist1ce :n:;:�ng rant �A n cat oon (C Ilt:600:3) MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton introduced ;.he following resolution as an emergency item and moved, seconded by Clark, its adoption: RESOLUTION NO. 4704 ENTITLED "RESOLUTION OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CIT1 OF PALO ALTO AUTHORIZING THE SUBMITTAL OF GRANT APPLICATIONS FOR EQUIPMENT FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT PURPOSES" The resolution was adopted or, a unanimous vote. Mount to Adjourn MOTION: Vice Mayor Norton moved, seconded by Beahrs, that the meeting be adjourned without reference to any particular date, with remainirg agenda items to appear under unfinished business at the next regular meeting. 1 5 2 2/12/73 AMENDMENT: Mayor Comstock moved an amendment, seconded by Henderson, to adjourn to February 26, 1973. Mayor Comstock noted that the amendment had the effect of beginning the February 26 meeting with item 08 of February 12, 1973. Councilwoman Seman stated that she would vote against the amendment and against the adjournment, She thought Council :,hould hear the remaining items tonight. The amendment failed on the following vot'2: Ayes: Clark, Comstock, Henderson Noes: Beahrs, Berwald, Norton, Rosenbaum, Seman Mayor Comstock noted that the motion to adjourn was before Council. Councilman Clark commented that he hoped Council would stay with it to►.fight, because it was going to be the same late houa when Council gets to important things next time. Councilman Berwald stated that he would vote not to adjourn on two con- ditio>>s--that Council take a short recess and put a time limit on debate. The motion to adjourn failed on the following vote: A es: B.2ahr ,, Norton, Rosenbaum Noes: Berwald, Clark, Comstock, Henderson, Semaa (Coune.il recessed from 12:55 to 1:00 a.m,) (Councilmen Beahrs and Norton left the meeting at 1:00 a.m. and did not return.) Human Relations Commission Youth Advisor Council ort e�re eat ons ohcern.n `o ce c av or-- Owe sa+ac . eimmm o.aee Mayor Comstock noted that the City Council had received a, letter from the Human Relations Commission. He read the report that the Council received. City Manager Sipel thanked the members of the HRC and the YAC for the time and effort they put into the review of the Hallowe'en allegations. He expressed regret that they were unable to reach more definite conclu- sions. He said the issue had commanded the limelight for over 100 days. Some mistakes were found, but all were discovered during staff's own review prior to the formation of the committee, and corrective action was taken in each instance. He said the Police Department, City Attorney, and City Manager's office spent 700 hours and $6,500 collecting end analyzing information, causing higher priority items to be put aside. He commez:l:ed that the impact of the review was far greater than the loss of staff time when the morale of the Police Department was considered. This department has been under constant pressure for several years. Some criticisms of the Police Department have been motivated not to constructively improve the department, but to underline community confidence in it and demoralize the people in it. He said that Palo Alto has a fine Polio: Department, and he has complete confidence in it. He did not think it was perfect. It mast adapt to solve new problems, and effort) such as those required by the ex" tensive review of the Hallowe'en incident only serve to postpone and detract from the greater program of improvement. Specifically, he believed that 1 5 3 2/12/73 further discussion of the Hallowe'en and related allegations would serve no constructive purpose and that any future questions raised by people in the community about the performance of the Police Department should be immediately referred to the City Manager as the person responsible for the operation of that department. He said he and his staff were eager to dis- cuss the performance of any department or individual with any citizen at any time. Police Chief James Zurcher commented that his conversations with the mem- bers of the HRC/YAC suggested that there is a need to improve relationships between the police and the youth of the community. He pointed out various policies and programs which involve the community and its youth in the operation of the Police Department, i.e., neighborhood crime prevention programs, School Resource Officer Program, Pre -Delinquent Diversion Pro- gram, and the policy of handling first violations of the curfew ordinance as detentions and release to parents, rather than arrests. Some members of the committee suggested that further review and consideration of selec- tion, promotion, and training of officers is necessary. He noted that the City Manager and Personnel Director are reviewing recommendations regarding these matters, and the HRC and YAC have been involved in the selection of personnel for nearly two years. Other suggestions such as establishment of a peer court, !method of keeping parents informed of the real meaning of police contact with their child, and parent presence during questioning will receive study. He stated that the police are not adversaries, but advocates of those they serve. The street rolicezian must continue to en- force the law', investigate criminal matters, and handle many unpleasant tasks. They must preserve the legal rights, comfort, and safety of all persons in the community. He said the police in Palo Alto represent the finest in the nation and are to be commended for their alert and dedicated service. Councilwoman Semen commented that just prior to the meeting, she was given a letter from William A. Hall, M. D., father of Marcia Hail, and asked to read it. She complied with the request by reading the letter. Mayor Comstock asked ruembers of the public.: to speak as succinctly as pos- sible. Councilman Berwald mentioned that he had said he would be willing to be here if debate could be limited and he could have some reasonable assur- ance that speakers would limit their comments. MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved that speakers be limited to three minutes with a total time limit of one hour. The motion died for lack of a second. Mary Luce, 4313 Miranda, said that a lot of people don't feel that the Task Force report was ridiculous and did not deal with the facts. The report said that the police conduct was proper with some minor incidents of poor judgments. The report does not mention that the court struck all charges against Marcia. It says it is a matter of record that both Marcia and Karen need surveillance. It never mentioned that Criswell has a pic- ture of Marcia in his office. The most important thing is that the report says the special investigative unit is a good thing. It is the Red Squad. Everything the Red Squad has done has been kept from the public. She said she wants what the special investigative unit does made public and Criswell fired. Yale Braunstein, 574 LcZia Verde, said that the Hallowe'en incident and the so-called allegations concerning police behavior must be considered in the light of the continuing division between the police and the community. 1 3 4 2/12/73 1 1 The HRC letter says there is a need to improve relationships between youth and the Police Department. That is an understai:ement. The last time he was involved in the activities of the Police Department, he and Mayor Comstock filed declarations in support of the Red Squad suit. He said while he was chairman of a student government organization at Stanford University, he was receiving calls at 3:00 a.m. He related incidents that led him to conclude that the calls were coming from members of the Police Force. He asked what had come out of the settlement of the Red Squad suit. Somebody should investigate Officer Criswell for violating Section 2 (b) 2 cf this. The police probably do not think they are in violation. They are under the assumption that Venceremos is an illegal organization. He said there has been a change in some of the members of the Council, and intimidation is not only coming from the police but also the Council. People he knows are receiving calls from upstanding members of the community telling them they should not associate with the likes of Franklin and Venceremos and should not work for the Bach Mai pecition. He asked what the special investigative unit investigates. MOTION: Mayor Comstock moved, seconded by Rosenbaum, that the meeting be adjourned. The motion failed on the following tie vote: Ayes: Comstock, Henderson, Rosenbaum Noes: Berwald, Clark, Seman Mayor Comstock announced that he was going to leave and asked Councilman Clark to take the chair. 11 Mayor Comstock left the Council chambers at 1:38 a.m. Councilman Clark took the chair. Mike Fox addressed Council from the audience and was advised that he was out of order. Councilman Berwald said he had listened to the speaker who spoke. Every- one had been asked to be brief, and he wasn't. The item on the agenda was a report on allegations concerning police behavior on Hallowe'en 1972. Council had heard all of the arguments they had heard previously. There has to be a time when debate is cut off and the Police Department is allowed to operate under the direction of the City Manager. MOTION: Councilman Berwald moved that this item be tabled. The motion died for lack of a second. MOTION: Councilwoman Seman moved, seconded by Henderson, that Council adjourn to February 26. The action passed on the following vote: Ayes: Clark, Henderson, Seman Noes: Berwald, Rosenbaum Adjournment The meeting was adjourned at 1:41 a.m. APPR "ED : ATTEST: City Cler Mayor 1 55 2/12/73