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WWW.THEALMANACONLINE .COMF E B R U A R Y 2 0 , 2 0 1 3 | VOL . 48 NO. 25
T H E H O M E T O W N N E W S P A P E R F O R M E N L O P A R K , A T H E R T O N , P O R T O L A V A L L E Y A N D W O O D S I D E
Culinary magic without culinary degrees at Woodside Bakery & Cafe
SECTION 2
SELF-MADE
Camp ConnectionA special publication produced by the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac and Mountain View Voice
Summer 2013
G U I D E T O 2 0 1 3 S U M M E R C A M P S F O R K I D S
Inside this issue
Summer Camp Connection 2013
2 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
REDWOOD CITY
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Master suite and 2 family bedrooms on
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2 car garage.
February 20, 2013 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 3
UPFRONT
By Dave BoyceAlmanac Staff Writer
The Woodside Town Coun-cil, once again confronted with what to do with
furnishings from the 1920s-era Jackling House, sounded guard-edly pessimistic on Feb. 12 about a proposal to divest itself of some of the artifacts so they could be used in a new house on Whiskey Hill Road. The house would be designed in the fashion of the Jackling House’s architect, George Washington Smith. With space in the Woodside Community Museum to dis-play just some of the artifacts acquired in 2010, and with the remainder in a sun-and-rain-proof container outside, there is now a possibility that a col-lection could be formed in the home of someone who loves them. But for how long? And subject to what fate if the home is sold? Mr. Smith designed the Span-ish Colonial house for copper baron Daniel Jackling in 1926 on
Mountain Home Road. Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs bought the property, disliked the house, and had it demolished after win-
ning a decade-long legal battle with friends of the house and of Mr. Smith’s designs. The house’s historical value led the town to take custody of many of its fur-nishings. Woodside History Committee member Thalia Lubin said that the couple, Ben Gilad and Qian Su, would be open to tours of some kind and would be good custodians. “I think we have a wonderful opportunity to
keep these as a collection and restore them into a structure and bring them back to life,” she said. “I would really hate to see these things spread to the four winds.” Some of the couple’s list of desired items, including door knockers, light fixtures and decorative grill-work, are in the town’s $12,000 plexiglass-en-closed display. Artifact disposal is at the discretion of Town Manager Kevin Bryant, who has mentioned an auction and said he involved the council in the interest of transparency on a matter of community concern. With no obvious answers to the couple’s proposal, the council agreed to have the items appraised. “Personally, I’m not interested in disposing of any of that stuff,” Councilman Peter Mason said. “It seems odd to me that we would give it away just because it’s sitting around. ... I think we should figure out a way to store it.” A
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
The iron grill work on these light fixtures on display in the Woodside Community Museum were once used in the Jackling House, built in 1926 on Mountain Home Road. A couple is proposing to use town-owned artifacts from the Jackling House in a new home on Whiskey Hill Road.
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Town weighs future ofJackling House artifacts
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THE ALMANAC (ISSN 1097-3095 and USPS 459370) is published every Wednesday by Embarcadero Media, 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025-6558. Periodicals Postage Paid at Menlo Park, CA and at additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for San Mateo County, The Almanac is delivered free to homes in Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and Woodside. Subscriptions for $60 per year or $100 per 2 years are welcome. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Almanac, 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025-6558. Copyright ©2012 by Embarcadero Media, All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited.
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4 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
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February 20, 2013 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 5
M E N L O P A R K | A T H E R T O N | W O O D S I D E | P O R T O L A V A L L E Y
By Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer
The easy question was whether Menlo Park needs more planning staff.
The consensus was yes, given the number of incoming proj-ects — at least 35 — expected during the next five years. The hard question was how to fulfill that need. City management and the council found themselves at odds late Tuesday night, Feb. 12, over whether nearly doubling the number of full-time plan-ning employees would be the smart solution. In the end, the council sup-ported a strategy that could add a mix of permanent, provisional and/or contract employees to
tackle the increasing planning department workload. Apart from some business rep-resentatives with projects in the pipeline, including Facebook, members of the public who commented agreed that adding so many permanent employees would be the wrong move. “I’m concerned about long-term commitments and learn-ing from recent hard lessons,” said Henry Riggs, planning commissioner and pension-cost watchdog. “Are we making long-term commitments for cyclical needs?” He pointed out that for now, the actual unfunded pension liability the city has incurred remains unknown until CalP-ERS, the state’s public employee
retirement system, updates its debt information in about 12 months. Later in the meeting, council members echoed Mr. Riggs’ concern. City Manager Alex McIntyre, along with other senior staff,
argued that contract employees could result in lower-quality work, given that the workers would know less about the intri-cacies of some local projects,
and may be less consistent in applying the city’s regulations. Menlo Park contracts out a lot of work, he said, including plan checking, environmen-tal reviews and maintenance. “Where a service can be clearly articulated and scoped, and where judgment is not necessar-ily exercised in a great way, that’s an easy project to contract.” While he said he couldn’t conclude that contracting out would fail, Mr. McIntyre added, “I can control the product and get a higher level of return with a full-time employee.” Provisional staff — also known as limited-term employ-ees — receive full benefits, unlike contract employees. The planning department currently
has two provisional staffers, whose contracts end in June. Developer Steve Pierce of Greenheart Land Company agreed that full-time staff offers advantages. His company plans to build on the Derry Lane site, “which is very dependent on the history that goes along with the specific plan, which includes all the intricacies of CEQA approv-al.” He thought a contract employee couldn’t “jump into that and really be efficient.” The council questioned staff ’s analysis. Based on her own expe-rience with contract employees, Councilwoman Cat Carlton said she took issue with the notion that they do lower-quality work, and noted that they provide a
Menlo council nixes adding 9 full-time planners
Local News
The City Council prefers shorter-term solutions to shorter-term planning staff
shortfalls.
By Dave BoyceAlmanac Staff Writer
The Portola Valley Town Council spent the last year dealing with the knotty
and controversial state mandate requiring all communities to plan for homes affordable to people of moderate incomes. Now, bowing to community pressure, the mayor has named a committee of citizen volunteers to try their collective hand at it. A team that included Mayor John Richards and Town Man-ager Nick Pegueros interviewed the 13 residents who applied for membership. Those chosen were Susan Dworak, Bud Eisberg, Wanda Ginner, Judith Hasko, Judith Murphy, Jon Myers, Andrew Pierce, Onnolee Trapp, and Carter Warr. The committee’s priorities will include thinking about and discussing: ■ Whether there is a need in town for homes for people of low and moderate incomes. ■ A mission statement that would address the relevant legal requirements. ■ Ways to reconcile the town’s low-density zoning with the economics of affordable housing construction. ■ Priorities in finding and evaluating sites for such hous-ing. The Affordable Housing Ad-Hoc Committee will meet at 7
p.m in the Historic Schoolhouse on five Tuesday evenings — March 5 and 19, April 16 and 30, and May 14. The council voted 3-0 to approve the list, with Coun-cilwoman Maryann Derwin and Councilman Ted Driscoll absent. The committee’s non-voting chair will be the former mayor and experienced mediator Steve Toben. The current council decided not to participate or attend, but will rely on the town manager and the committee chair to stay informed. A verbal progress report from the committee is due the Town Council in late March, with a final written report due in mid-May. As the state Department of Housing and Community Devel-opment explains, the mandate requires communities to submit for approval a housing-related chapter in their general plans, and update it every seven years. Among the objectives: to “promote infill development and socioeconomic equity,” to encourage “efficient develop-ment patterns,” to improve relationships between jobs and housing within the region, and to increase the mix of housing types and affordability “in all cities and counties within the region in an equitable manner.” A
Portola Valley names nine to affordable housing panel
During renovation of a Willow Road apartment complex, three workmen cut vinyl panels for baths and kitchens. They are, from left, Salvador Pinentel, Jaime Loza and Carlos Martinez.
Michelle Le/The Almanac
By Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer
A combination of public, private and nonprofit funding is turning a new
affordable housing complex on Willow Road into a showpiece of technology and collabora-tion.
“Affordable housing isn’t what it used to be,” Kate Comfort Harr, director of HIP Housing, told the Alma-nac. “People have this image of poorly constructed units where everyone’s destitute.” The 12 units at 1157-1161 Willow Road, on the other hand, will incorporate free Wi-
Fi, a community room, and, with a little luck, solar power for every apartment. HIP Housing, a nonprofit specializing in finding afford-able housing for San Mateo County residents, purchased the property in May 2012.
Housing complex is model for collaboration
See MENLO PARK STAFF, page 8
See HOUSING COMPLEX, page 8
6 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
N E W S
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By Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer
A request to build a duplex on a 112-foot by 54-foot lot in Menlo Park kicked
off a round of approvals and appeals, with the City Council finally voting against the project 4-1. Billy McNair, the owner of 1976 Menalto Ave., a lot in the Willows neighborhood, applied in May to build a duplex con-sisting of two single-family, two-story homes separated by a parking court. He asked for a use permit with variances because of the lot’s size and layout, as well as permission to remove three heritage trees. In November, after holding a study session earlier last fall, the Planning Commission approved the permit and city staff signed off on removing the trees. Those opposed to the project promptly appealed to the coun-cil to reverse the approvals. The applicant also appealed to the council after the Environmen-tal Quality Commission, which handles appeals of heritage tree removals, upheld removing two trees, but declined to allow the third, a magnolia tree in good health, to be cut down. Although at least one neighbor emailed the council to support the project, 22 others opposed it. As presented at the Feb. 13 council meeting, their concerns included where parking for the duplex would go, but focused on the fate of the heritage trees at 1976 Menalto Ave. as well as an oak tree next door whose roots stretch across property lines. In his rebuttal, Mr. McNair said, “We’ve looked at countless alternatives, none of them are viable, and they also don’t meet
the direction we were given by the Planning Commission, on which we relied on when design-ing the project.” He pointed out that the lot’s substandard size and odd shape means building even a single-family home — such as the one currently on the lot — requires variances. As for the trees on the prop-erty, Mr. McNair said “no reasonable and feasible alterna-tives” would allow preservation of all three, while efforts could be made to guard the roots of the oak tree next door during construction. Kirsten Keith, who served as a planning commissioner before being elected to council, said she respected the Planning Com-mission’s work, but felt uncom-fortable with their decision. “I think it’s tough because you’ve got 22 neighbors” who dislike the plan, some of whom had lived there for 36 years with those trees, she said. Ms. Keith, using the Matteson develop-ment at 389 El Camino Real as an example of productive col-laboration between residents and developers, suggested Mr. McNair return to the drawing board. Before casting the dissenting vote, Mayor Peter Ohtaki said that given the Planning Com-mission’s and city staff ’s input, he respected their expertise and thought that changing the decision now created doubt for other applicants of what they can expect when they develop a project in Menlo Park. Vice Mayor Ray Mueller com-mented that it went against the character of the neighborhood to pack two residences onto a tiny lot. A
Trees defeat duplex in Menlo Park■ Council reverses Planning Commission approval.
Applications are now being accepted to serve on the grand jury of the San Mateo County Superior Court. The next grand jury term begins July 1, 2013, and ends June 30, 2014. The grand jury investigates local government activities and issues reports and recommenda-tions.
Applicants sought for grand jury Any resident of San Mateo County for more than one year, who is a citizen of the United States, 18 or older, with good character and sufficient knowl-edge of the English language, is eligible for selection by grand jury Judge Lisa Novak. Elected public officials are not eligible. After completion of an inter-view process by Judge Novak, jurors will be selected through a random draw. Applications are due by March 29 and may be obtained by writ-ing Grand Jury Clerk, Court Executive Office, 400 County Center, Redwood City CA 94063 or calling 599-1210.Join today:
SupportLocalJournalism.org
February 20, 2013 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 7
N E W S
REAL ESTATE TRENDSby Samia Cullen
The Consumer Financial Protection Bu-reau recently issued rules designed to re-duce risky lending and require banks to ver-ify that borrowers have the ability to repay their loans. The new rules require lenders to look at criteria such as a borrower’s income, employment status, credit history and other debt obligations. These criteria were largely ignored in the years leading up to the 2007 housing collapse.
When a loan meets new lending criteria outlined by the CFPB, it becomes a “quali-fied mortgage,” which will give protection to the banks from lawsuits filed by ag-grieved borrowers. A qualified mortgage is defined as a loan that does not have excess upfront points and fees, has no toxic fea-tures such as interest-only payments, teaser rates, negative amortization and balloon payments, and where the borrower does not spend more than 43% of his or her income to pay down debt.
The rules will encompass most lending institutions. The rules are already in effect, but lenders will have 12 months for full implementation. Buyers may have a few
months left to try to get a loan from a lender that has not yet implemented the new rules.
Jumbo loans (loans above $625,000) will be particularly affected. Before 2010 about 75% of jumbo loans were highly leveraged non-qualified mortgages with debt well in excess of 43% of reported income. In ad-dition many high-income borrowers with good credit scores took “interest-only” loans. Although the new measures do not set minimum down payment or credit score requirements, rumors are that lenders will require a 20% down payment on adjustable jumbo loans.
It is difficult to measure at this point the exact impact of the qualified mortgage rules on home prices in our area due to high de-mand, persistent low inventory and the fact that 30% of our buyers last year were cash buyers. However, in our expensive market some buyers may not be able to make the 20% down payment expected to be required for the popular adjustable jumbo loans. Fewer qualified buyers in a market low-ers demand, and lower demand normally means lower home prices.
I offer complimentary staging when I list your home. Contact me at (650) 384-5392, Alain Pinel Realtors. To learn more, log-on to samiacullen.com
Information believed reliable but not guaranteed. Please contact a qualified lender for information regarding the new lending rules.
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By Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer
Stanford University and developer John Arrillaga are revising their plans for
Menlo Park’s empty car lots for a third time, according to project representatives. In January the university sub-mitted a site plan for replacing eight acres of car lots along 300 to 500 El Camino Real with a mixed-use complex of 96,000 square feet of medical offices, 133,500 square feet of offices, 10,000 square feet of retail, and two five-story apartment build-ings containing up to 152 units. The Menlo Park Planning Commission held a study ses-sion about the project on Jan. 28, fielding a couple dozen com-ments from residents unhap-py with the potential traffic impacts and the scale of the complex compared with sur-rounding buildings. The commission itself request-ed further analysis of the traffic impacts and retail parking, wondered whether the multi-story, modernistic design suited the city, and asked whether the project’s Middle Avenue plaza is more a three-lane easement for cars accessing the complex instead of public space. Now, the university might change the exact configuration of the site plan. “Stanford is considering the comments and suggestions received at the plan-ning commission meeting,” said Steve Elliott, managing director of real estate for the university. “Technically, the plans have not been ‘withdrawn’ but at this preliminary stage, we are work-ing on potential revisions to our
submittal.” While he declined to go into detail about what changes could be made, he said the project team is evaluating issues raised at the commission meeting, including traffic issues, the design for a plaza on Middle Avenue, the architecture of the office buildings, and the inclu-sion of medical offices. “Right now we don’t have a specific time frame for submit-ting these (revisions) to the city,” Mr. Elliott said.
During the Planning Com-mission study session, Mr. Elliot stated that the univer-sity acknowledged that Stanford “will need to contribute our fair share to” traffic mitigation in addition to paying traffic impact fees. “Drawing on our extensive transportation management experience, Stanford will create a comprehensive transportation demand management plan to reduce the project’s traffic,” he said. Members of Save Menlo, a grassroots coalition that orga-nized a petition opposing the project, sat down again with Stanford to discuss the complex in the days after the study ses-sion. “We had a cordial meeting, and we appreciate how well they listened to us. However,
Stanford gave us no indication what changes they might make to their plans,” Perla Ni, Save Menlo spokeswoman, said. The group said it reiter-ated concerns about safety, congestion, cut-through traffic, a car-free plaza and the housing imbalance, and plans to meet with Stanford again in a few weeks. The Sierra Club also took a look at the proposal. According to an analysis by its Sustain-able Land Use Committee, the eight-acre mixed-used complex in its January incarnation would create about 900 jobs — about six times as many jobs as hous-ing units if 152 apartments are built. The club proposes slicing both medical and regular office space in half — to 114,750 square feet — to create room to build 234 apartments in total. That yields a job-to-housing ratio of 2-to-1, which is the overall ratio for Menlo Park, according to the Sierra Club, and also helps reduce the traffic impact. With the city’s current struggle to identify enough high-density housing sites to get back in com-pliance with state law — and the promise of future demands for more sites — the ratio may be an important parameter. Whatever changes, the pro-posal will likely stay consistent with the baseline requirements of the specific plan to avoid trig-gering public benefit discus-sions. That leaves Menlo Park without much control over the project, since the only approval required will be the Planning Commission signing off on architectural details. A
Stanford ‘rethinking some parts’of Arrillaga project on El Camino
About a dozen representatives from cities within Assembly-man Rich Gordon’s district will join him on a new committee to review the state’s housing element process. He represents Menlo Park, Atherton, Wood-side and Portola Valley, among other cities. “The purpose is to clarify the issues and concerns. I’ve heard folks say, ‘It just doesn’t work.’ Another issue is how (the state’s) Department of Finance makes its initial projections of housing needs; I’ve also heard concerns about the amount of time it takes for planning and review,” Mr. Gordon, D-Menlo Park, said. He’s asked cities to identify who they think should sit on the committee, and expects a mix of
council members, city staff, and others. The first meeting will likely take place in March. “I’m look-ing forward to an opportunity to hear from people what the issues are and to ascertain whether we can make this process work bet-ter,” he said. Menlo Park is hurrying to finish identifying 14 additional sites for high-density housing to get back in compliance with state law. The city has until May to adopt an updated hous-ing element as part of a lawsuit settlement. Go to tinyurl.com/MP-heu to review the proposed update.
Man assaults cyclist, 72 A 72-year-old man walking his bike along the 500 block of
El Camino Real was hit and then chased by a shouting black man on Feb. 11, he told Menlo Park police. The encounter left the victim shaken, but uninjured. Police had no further information about the incident.
Police investigatealleged theft A former employee at an interior design company alleg-edly wrote fake checks to non-existent vendors, according to Menlo Park police, and presum-ably kept the money for herself. No arrests have been made yet as investigators continue to look into the theft, reported by a business in the 1100 block of Crane Street on Feb. 13.
Gordon forms housing review committee
The university says it hasn’t set a timeframe yet for resubmitting
the site plan.
8 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
N E W S
Funded primarily through a $1.85-million, 55-year, interest-free loan from Menlo Park’s below-market-rate housing fund, the project also drew upon a private bank loan for $573,600, plus $50,000 from Redwood City, and a $5,000 grant from Facebook, along with contri-butions from the county and Rebuilding Together, for reno-vations. Redwood City chipped in because it had to either spend the money or lose it, and without being able to increase the amount through state or redevelopment funds, didn’t have enough to actually build anything itself, according to Ms. Harr. “$50,000 won’t buy you a bathroom,” she said. But the contribution was key to the success of the project. County regulations required providing at least one handi-capped-accessible apartment, and the Redwood City contri-bution helped cover the cost. “In the future this is going to be the new normal,” Ms. Harr suggested, given state funding cutbacks. “Cities are going to have to work together.” Nine units at the complex are reserved for people earning less than 50 percent of the regional median income of $81,300, and three units for those making less than 30 percent of that income. A total of nine apartments must go to people who either live or work in Menlo Park, and HIP
Housing hopes to house up to five veterans there. So far four veterans have applied for apartments, thanks to a collaboration between the Veterans Affairs administra-tion and HIP Housing. “We really had to work to come up with a strategy,” Ms. Harr said, explaining that finding income-qualified veterans who also live in Menlo Park was a challenge. The Willow Road complex will be the first in HIP Hous-ing’s portfolio to provide free Wi-Fi, a feature that the non-profit believes takes a step toward closing the digital divide between high- and low-income communities. An Oregon non-profit that specializes in wireless access for affordable housing is going to get the complex online for $5,000. Sun Light & Power, a Berkeley-based solar power company, is interested in wiring every unit to run off solar power, according to Ms. Harr, but that’s $11,000 HIP Housing can’t afford. Yet. That may change if Menlo Park approves the nonprofit’s request for permit fee reimbursement. Because the complex straddled two lots, HIP Housing had to submit and pay for two sets of plans and permits. Construction started in Janu-ary, and may finish by March. Rebuilding Together Peninsula will work on converting a stor-age area into a community room as part of its national volunteer day in April, Ms. Harr said, just in time to hold an open house early the following month. A
HOUSING COMPLEXcontinued from page 5
track record of other projects that the city can evaluate to make sure they have the neces-sary experience. Colleague Kirsten Keith com-mented she was surprised that the city manager didn’t really flesh out the alternatives to hir-ing full-time staff. She talked to an agency that provides staff for the city of Petaluma, she said, and was told that contract staff work out well in public positions because they want to maintain a good reputation for future work. Saying that he liked the idea of provisional employees, Council-
man Rich Cline noted that some non-building projects, such as updating residential develop-ment guidelines, will get “politi-cal and nasty,” and therefore shouldn’t be contracted out. Mayor Peter Ohtaki suggested a “hybrid model” of poten-tially two full-time employees, and four to five provisional staff. Although the council differed on whether to go with provisional versus contractual employees, the idea of blending the types caught on. “I am not ideologically opposed to hiring full-time employees when they are going to be full-time employees,” said Vice Mayor Ray Mueller. “... (I)n this case we would be hiring full-time employees for a level of
development that’s not sustain-able.” He favored looking for a contract agency. A 5-0 vote gave the city manager authority to decide how to spend $300,000 on a combination of two additional provisional employees, improv-ing City Hall office space to accommodate more people, and possibly extending the service of the planning department’s two current provisional employees. Staff will also start preparing a request for proposals to find contract employees, hopefully before the fiscal year ends in June, and return to the council with a hybrid plan for review. The plan could include a mix of full-time, provisional and/or contract employees. A
MENLO PARK STAFFcontinued from page 5
Marianne T. Gallion died peacefully on Jan. 9 at home, surrounded by her family. A resident of Atherton for more than 60 years, she was 90. Born in Greybull, Wyoming, Ms. Gallion was raised in Butte, Montana. She graduated from St. John’s Hospital Nurse Train-ing School in Helena, Montana, and joined the Army as a nurse during World War II. She served on several converted troopships in the Pacific theater, providing medical care to wounded sol-diers. It was on one of these vessels that she met her future husband, Joseph Gallion, a staff officer in the Merchant Marines. After
the war , they were married and lived in San Francisco before moving to Atherton. Ms. Gallion was a consummate cook, adroit bridge player, found-ing member of the Lady Luck Investment Club, and a lover of
outdoors, say family members. In later years, she traveled the world. Ms. Gallion is survived by children Susan Gallagher of San Anselmo, Randall Gallion of Atherton, and Kipling Gallion of San Antonio; siblings Jean Yakawich of Butte, Montana, and Fred Frick of New Rochelle, N.Y.; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Gallion, in 1986 and daughter, Lynne, in 2001. Plans are pending for a cel-ebration of Ms. Gallion’s life. Donations may be made to Make a Wish Foundation, a local hospice, or a favorite char-ity.
Marianne Gallion as an Army nurse and on her 90th birthday.
Marianne Gallion was World War II nurse OBITUARY
A burglar shattered a front window and attempted to rob a cash register at Buck’s of Wood-side restaurant after the close of business on Friday, Feb. 8, the San Mateo County Sheriff ’s Office reported. Nothing was reported stolen. Investigators were looking at a suspect arrested by Redwood City police in connection with a similar incident earlier in the day. Buck’s is at 3062 Woodside Road in Woodside.
Other crimes The Buck’s incident was one of several burglaries and acts of vandalism reported in recent days. Someone with a BB gun shot and damaged a light fixture at the Mountain Terrace restau-rant at the corner of Skyline Boulevard and La Honda Road in Woodside. The front windows of the restaurant have been “shot out” twice in recent months, the owner told deputies, according to a Feb. 11 report. The total
estimated damage is $1,000. Meanwhile on the same day in unincorporated West Menlo Park on Liberty Park Avenue, someone covered a tree in toilet paper and used a liquid, pos-sibly bleach, to draw pictures in the lawn of a swastika and male genitalia. Damage is estimated at $100. In a residential burglary on Iris Lane in Menlo Park report-ed Feb. 7, police say they do not know how the burglar entered the house, but three laptop com-puters and $200 cash in a piggy bank were taken, for a total loss estimated at $2,600. A burglary at the Stanford Inn at 115 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, reported the same day, resulted in an estimated loss of $2,010, including perfume, makeup, a purse and $1,040 in cash. The method of entry is not known, police said.
Burglar targets Buck’s restaurant in Woodside
CRIME ROUNDUP
Air powerBetty Chen, left, and Charlie Brandin were on one of the competitive middle-school teams building and racing balloon-powered toy race cars at Portola Valley’s Woodside Priory School on Jan. 18. The object of the exercise: build a car with everyday objects such as cardboard tubes, chopsticks and CDs, and along the way, explore teamwork, intuition, and applying concepts from math, physics and art.
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
February 20, 2013 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 9
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By Renee BattiAlmanac News Editor
Atherton is recruiting up to nine residents to sit on an advisory com-
mittee that will lead the effort to build a new hub for the town’s administrative offices, library, police station and community gathering spaces. At a Feb. 12 special meeting, the City Council unanimously approved creating a Commu-nity Center Advisory Com-mittee, which will include two council members. A previous committee cre-ated about three years ago and chaired by current mayor Elizabeth Lewis was recently disbanded, as was an advi-sory committee that stud-ied options for building a new library. Now that voters rejected a plan to build a library in Holbrook-Palmer Park, the new committee will incorporate a library into the Town Center rebuilding plans. The new committee will be staff-led, according to Mayor Lewis. Staff members help-ing to guide the process will
include the town manager, the police chief, the community services director, the town engineer, and a member of the library staff. At the outset, the committee will help town staff develop a master plan for the new center. It also will devise a strategy to gather opinions and ideas of fellow residents to determine what the new center will offer, and at the conclusion of the process, make recommenda-tions to the council. In addition to rejecting the plan to build a library in the park, voters last November also endorsed the construc-tion of a new Town Center, using primarily private dona-tions. The town has long struggled with increasing challenges in housing its administrative services. The police depart-ment operates in a small sec-tion of the main administra-tion building with inadequate space; the building and plan-ning offices are in ramshackle portable buildings; and the
historic building that houses the library is cramped and in need of seismic upgrading. All the buildings are old and in need of repair. Mayor Lewis said one of the first tasks ahead for the town is to hire a consultant to help with creating a master plan for the Town Center area that extends to the train depot. Although the bulk of fund-ing for the project is to come from private donations, there is money already set aside to fund the consultant and other early expenses, Mayor Lewis said. That includes money in the restricted library fund, about $1.8 million in build-ing department reserves, and contributions to the nonprofit Atherton Police Foundation, she said. The town is seeking appli-cants for the committee, and those interested in serving may call City Clerk Theresa DellaSanta at 752-0529. Or go to www.ci.atherton.ca.us and download an application under the “Council Commit-tees and Commissions” sec-tion of the homepage. A
Building a new Town Center■ Town seeks members for advisory committee.
ATHERTON
This information is from the Menlo Park Police Department and the San Mateo County Sheriff’’s Office. Under the law, people charged with offenses are con-sidered innocent until convicted.
MENLO PARK
Residential burglary report: A purse and a stereo with a total estimated val-ue of $160 are missing after someone kicked in a locked exterior door of a home on Hamilton Avenue on Feb. 12.Auto burglary reports:
■ Losses are estimated at $1,000 in the theft of two purses and $500 in cash from a locked vehicle entered by unknown means on Marsh Road on Feb. 10.■ A purse and miscellaneous con-tents valued at $329 is missing from a locked vehicle entered by unknown means on Terminal Avenue on Feb. 10.■ Someone smashed the passenger side windows of a vehicle on Glen-wood Avenue and stole an Apple iPod, a Bluetooth device and a sports bag on Feb. 6 for an estimated loss of $300. A citizen reported hearing a car alarm and seeing someone fleeing the area, police said.Theft reports:
■ Losses estimated at $548 in the theft of three sweaters from off their
hangers at Afterwards, a used-clothing shop at 1159 El Camino Real on Feb. 12.■ A bike valued at $379 and locked to a pole at Doyle Street and Santa Cruz Avenue was reported stolen on Feb. 9.■ Losses were put at $113 in the theft of a wallet containing credit cards from an unlocked locker in a work-place on Constitution Drive on Feb. 8.Fraud report: A woman from Hobart Street wired an unknown amount of money — possibly as much as $7,000 — to someone claiming to be her grandson and in jail in Mexico before learning that her grandson was not in Mexico and not in jail, according to a Feb. 8 police report.
WEST MENLO PARK
Fraud report: A woman on Valparaiso Avenue reported 14 fraudulent trans-actions, totaling $1,300, from her checking account on Feb. 13.
WOODSIDE
Theft report: Someone stole an unlocked bike valued at $500 from a bike rack at ada College on Farm Hill Boulevard on Feb. 13.
POLICE CALLS
For some, the word “math-ematics” brings to mind con-cepts such as beauty and truth, order and predictability. How about magical, mystical and transcendental? Those last three words were chosen for a press release by George Comstock and Paul Heiple, two Portola Valley residents who in February will present the second of three workshops on three funda-mental concepts of math. The January workshop on pi — a numerical constant essential
for determining the circum-ference of a circle — included a discussion on how one might determine the circumference of the universe. At 7:30 p.m. on Thurs-day, Feb. 28, in the Historic Schoolhouse, the workshop will focus on e, a constant number like pi and discovered in the 16th century during a study of compound interest. Then on the evening of March 28, the focus will be on i, an imaginary number expressed as the square root
Fun-with-math workshops ahead
of -1. The March workshop will include the revealing of “an astonishing” relationship among these three concepts, Mr. Comstock said. The town’s Nature & Science Committee is sponsoring the
workshops in hopes of spark-ing the curiosity of students in the seventh grade and beyond, and adults “intrigued by lesser known, but not highly tech-nical, aspects of numbers.” Hand-held calculators and
scratch pads are recommend-ed. Go to tinyurl.com/pvpi-123 for more information or write to Mr. Comstock at [email protected].
Correction A caption in the Almanac’s Jan. 30 edition that ran with a historic photo of inventor
Leon Douglass stated that Leon and his wife, Victoria, built what became known as Victoria
10 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
Although we understand why Menlo Park City Manager Alex McIntyre wants to add nine full-time employees to the planning staff in advance of
possibly the busiest five years in the department’s history, he should not be surprised that the City Council put the brakes on his request, giving him considerably less than he asked for last week, at least for the next few months. Perhaps the council was reflecting residents’ strong aver-sion to adding full-time employees as shown in the 2010 passage of Measure L, which garnered 72 percent of the vote and decreased pen-sion benefits for city employees. Planning Commissioner Henry Riggs, who co-chaired the pension reduction campaign, asked the council last week, “Are we making long-term commitments for cyclical needs?” The city’s staff report showed that project fees cover a large portion of the salaries for some planning and public works staff, and that actuarial pension costs are low for new employees. But the council discussed the request until well after midnight before voting 5-0 to limit imme-diate expenditures for new planners and office set-up to $300,000, rather than approving the $1.2 million request-ed. The city manager will decide how to spend the money on some combination of two new provisional employees, extending the service of the departmentís current two provisional staffers beyond June, when their contracts expire, and furnishing office space. The council asked Mr. McIntyre to return with a proposal to hire a mix of con-
tract, provisional and permanent staff members, instead of only full-time employees, to meet the city’s needs. We understand the city manager’s reluctance to risk coming up short-handed, with known projects like the Facebook west campus and the Stanford/Arrillaga devel-opment on El Camino Real on the way. Planners donít grow on trees, and itís a slow process to get any new employee up to speed. But we believe it makes more sense to contract staff, rather than saddle the city with the costs
of nine new full-time employees. Not surprisingly, Facebook officials and developer Steve Pierce of Green-heart Land Company, whose firm plans to develop the Derry site on Oak Grove
Avenue near the train station, strongly supported adding full-time staff. Mr. Pierce said his project “is very depen-dent on the history that goes along with the specific plan, which includes all the intricacies of CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act).” He said a contract employ-ee could not “jump into that and really be efficient.” We see Mr. Pierce’s point, but the city can always make sure a planner with the proper background is assigned to any project that has special needs. As the workload increases, it makes sense to use a mix of contract, pro-visional and full-time staff that allows the f lexibility to adjust the amount of staff as the workload changes. Managing this mix may not be as easy for Mr. McIntyre, but itís a fiscally responsible way to meet Menlo Park’s needs.
A good way to control planning costs
Writer opposes district’s single-sex classes
Editor: In 2011, the Portola Valley School District first announced that it would respond to an anomalous 70-36 boy-girl distri-bution in third grade by setting up all-boys classes. This flew in the face of one of the primary missions of the public school sys-tem — to teach children how to function effectively in a diverse environment. Parents who wish to segregate their children by sex, race, reli-gion, economic status, or any other divisor can and do accom-plish this by sending them to private schools. But as a long-ago graduate of an academi-cally excellent all-boys public high school (thankfully long since turned coed) I can testify to the
impediments a single-sex school placed on my own development and maturation. I read now (Almanac, Feb. 13) that Ormondale principal Jenni-fer Warren, the main engineer of the all-boys classes, worked with the private San Francisco Town School For Boys in implementing the single-sex setup at Ormondale School. And that, moreover, she has parlayed that interaction into a new job for herself at that private school. This places a still more unfavorable light on a question-able action. Last year I expressed my disap-proval of this action by exercis-ing, for the first time, my right to senior exemption from the Portola Valley school parcel tax, something I had not done before because I feel a strong commit-ment to the public school system. Now I will not only continue to do so but will oppose the forthcom-ing parcel tax extension/increase.
Lawrence S. LernerStadler Drive, Woodside
IDEAS, THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ABOUT LOCAL ISSUES FROM PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. EDITED BY TOM GIBBONEY
Menlo Park Historical Association
Our Regional HeritageDue to the work of Edward and Mary Tutt Eyre, this Episcopal church opened in 1886 on land owned by Edward W. Hopkins, owner of the Vallombrosa property on Oak Grove Avenue. Joining Mr. Eyre on the vestry were Leland Stanford, William James Adams, Charles N. Felton, Percy Selby and George Loomis, a prosperous dry goods merchant. The church structure was remodeled and moved several times, and now is the Church of the Nativity of the Holy Virgin, a Russian Orthodox institution at 1220 Crane St.
EDITORIALThe opinion of The Almanac
LETTERSOur readers write
Continued on next page
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Manor in the early 1920s. Leon’s grandson, Earl Douglass of Atherton, reminded the Alma-nac that his grandparents didn’t build the mansion, but bought it from Pauline and Theodore Payne in 1921. The mansion was built between 1909 and 1913, Mr. Douglass said. Based on an account in “Under
the Oaks,” a history of Atherton written by Pamela Gullard and Nancy Lund, we also said that Leon and Victoria lived in the mansion until the mid-1930s. When the Douglasses moved from the mansion, it was to a small house Victoria had built in the gardens of the estate, accord-ing to the book. Mr. Douglass said his grandfather lived on the estate until he died in September 1940.
February 20, 2013 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 11
V I E W P O I N T
By Adina Levin
Stanford’s proposed new development on El Camino Real creates
even more of a housing defi-cit for Menlo Park. The city is now updat-ing the housing element of its general plan after being out of compliance with state law for well over a decade. Because we have been out of com-pliance for so long, the city needs to identify many new properties that will be zoned for hous-ing. The process is painful because Menlo Park is so far in arrears on identifying sites available for housing. The housing element law addresses a problem in Cali-fornia — some areas have lots of jobs but few homes, and others have lots of homes but few jobs. This means that people commute long dis-tances by car, which causes major infrastructure costs, pollution, health problems and contributes over 50 per-cent of the Bay Area’s carbon footprint. Each jurisdiction with more than 1.5 jobs per household is required to identify sites for hous-ing, and submit a housing element update every seven years showing compliance. During the time that Men-lo Park proceeded without a housing element, some other cities ignoring the law got sued and lost. The outcomes of losing a lawsuit have included a court takeover of local zoning and permitting decisions. Menlo Park is try-ing to avoid this by comply-ing with the law. Just as we seem to be get-ting our heads back above water on Menlo Park’s hous-ing deficit, the new develop-
ment proposed by Stanford at 500 El Camino Real is putting us back under. Stanford proposes a large mixed-use project with 230,000 square feet of office space and about 150 housing units. At 250 square feet per employee, a traditional rule
of thumb, the proj-ect would generate 900 jobs, for a jobs-housing ratio of 6 to 1. This is three times worse than Men-lo Park’s already job-heavy ratio of 1.9 jobs per home. The new develop-ment makes Menlo Park’s “housing
deficit” deeper. Perhaps we can wait to see if other developers will create more housing in the area to bring us closer to balance? Menlo Park has recently adopted a specific plan with new zoning rules for the downtown/El Camino area, which could hold nearly 700 new housing units. If the proposed develop-ment cut the office space in half (down to 115,000 square feet), and replaced that space with more hous-ing (about 234 units total), the jobs-housing balance would be improved to 2.0, in line with the specific plan. This is still a deficit, but at least it wouldn’t dig the hole deeper. The Stanford proposal needs to change: less office space, no high-traffic medi-cal offices, and more hous-ing. This outcome would generate far less traffic and would not worsen Menlo Park’s housing deficit.
Adina Levin is a Menlo Park resident and Sierra Club member. Gita Dev,
also of the Sierra Club, contributed to this article.
Proposed Stanford development would deepen housing deficit
GUESTOPINION
Continued from previous page
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12 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com February 20, 2013
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