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Beset by cars, East Palo Alto to develop ‘mobility’ plan

by paloaltomattersOctober 9, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Sue Dremann / October 9, 2017

Commuter traffic, parking issues disproportionately affect residents, officials say

Surrounded by U.S. Highway 101, Willow Road, Bayfront Expressway and Embarcadero Road, East Palo Alto is a gateway to Silicon Valley jobs. But the city’s residents bear a disproportionate burden of commuter traffic while receiving little or no benefit, residents said.

Since traffic is mostly due to Stanford University, Facebook and tech companies, the city should find ways to have them fund some of the infrastructure for traffic calming and street repairs, the residents said. The city could find a way to charge motorists using University Avenue as a through street.

Fire Department to cut positions as it deals with falling revenue

by paloaltomattersOctober 9, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / October 9, 2017

With reimbursement from Stanford decreasing, Palo Alto seeks leaner service model

The Palo Alto Fire Department plans to eliminate 11 positions — roughly 10 percent of its workforce — to deal with falling revenues from its contract with Stanford University.

The staffing reduction, which the City Council is set to approve on Oct. 16, would eliminate seven firefighter positions and four apparatus-operator positions. Fire Chief Eric Nickel said the change is expected to save about $1.5 million annually, while maintaining service levels that will allow the department to meet its performance standards.

New housing laws pose planning challenges for city

by paloaltomattersOctober 5, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / October 5, 2017

City had opposed SB 35, which creates ‘streamlined’ approval process for multi-family housing

The housing crunch may be an official Palo Alto priority, but City Hall wasn’t cheering last week when Gov. Jerry Brown signed 15 bills that aim to encourage residential development.

State Senate Bill 35, which was sponsored by Scott Weiner, D-San Francisco, is among the most significant components in a package of housing bills that the Legislature approved in late September and that Brown subsequently signed into law on Sept. 29. The bill creates a “streamlined” approval process for housing developers whose projects meet “objective” planning standards and include below-market-rate housing.

It is also the only housing bill that Palo Alto formally opposed.

Council: North Bayshore development must support schools

by paloaltomattersSeptember 28, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Mountain View Voice – by Kevin Forestieri / September 28, 2017

Proposed housing boom would require plans to house thousands of new students

Council members unanimously agreed to add language to the North Bayshore Precise Plan that would require the region’s two major landowners, Google and Sobrato, to submit a “local school district strategy” as part of any dense residential project, showing precisely how the developers would assist in building local, neighborhood-oriented schools in the area. The strategy is fairly broad, and could include land dedication, funding, transferring development rights or other “innovative strategies.”

Google demands more office space, threatens to block North Bayshore housing

by paloaltomattersSeptember 27, 2017September 27, 2017Leave a comment

The Mercury News – by Ethan Baron / September 27, 2017

MOUNTAIN VIEW — In a standoff with city officials, Google is demanding more office space for its futuristic new “Charleston East” campus and is threatening to block nearly 10,000 units of critically needed housing if it doesn’t get its way.

The company’s move could derail a plan — given preliminary approval by the Mountain View City Council early Wednesday morning and which Google says it still supports — for construction of 9,850 homes in the North Bayshore development anchored by Charleston East. The Mountain View search giant had earlier told the city it would work with partners to have 9,600 housing units built on its property, said Vice-Mayor Lenny Siegel.

Police offer signing bonuses of up to $25,000 to attract new officers

by paloaltomattersSeptember 13, 2017September 15, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Allison Levitsky / September 13, 2017

Palo Alto police are 12 officers short of the 92 they’re budgeted for, so the department is offering up to $25,000 bonuses for new hires, police said yesterday.

It’s the first time the department has offered hiring bonuses in almost a decade, Lt. James Reifschneider told the Post. The department has had between eight and 12 vacancies for most of the last year.

Tanaka fined for campaign violations

by paloaltomattersSeptember 12, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / September 11, 2017

Palo Alto councilman settles with FPPC after agency finds three violations

Palo Alto City Councilman Greg Tanaka has agreed to pay $733 in fines after the California Fair Political Practices Commission found inaccuracies in the financial forms his campaign filed during last year’s council race.

The agency, which enforces the state’s Political Reform Act, found that Tanaka’s campaign had committed three violations in reporting contributions made during last fall’s campaign season. In two cases, it had failed to disclose contributions of more than $1,000 within 24 hours, as the law requires.

Councilman Greg Tanaka hit with campaign fine

by paloaltomattersSeptember 12, 2017September 27, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Allison Levitsky / September 12, 2017

In a City Council race that hinged on development in Palo Alto, now-Councilman Greg Tanaka failed to identify several donors as real estate developers, California Fair Political Practices Commission said yesterday (Sept. 12).

Tanaka said he has agreed to settle with the FPPC for incorrectly reporting campaign donations and leaving blank or misreporting the occupations of Chop Keenan, Jim Baer, Roxy Rapp, Mark Gates Jr., Joseph Martignetti Jr. and Perry Palmer.

School enrollment may double due to home-building boom

by paloaltomattersSeptember 9, 2017September 25, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Daily Post – by Allison Levitsky / September 9, 2017

Mountain View Whisman School District is projected to double its enrollment in the next five to 10 years, Superintendent Ayinde Rudolph told the Post yesterday (Sept. 6).

A report last year suggested the 5,200-student district would see about 800 new students in the next five or six years. Then, Mountain View City Council began work on the North Bayshore housing project, which could bring in thousands of homes near Google’s headquarters, bringing the number of new students up to 4,000.

Contractor errs, sells too many parking permits

by paloaltomattersSeptember 8, 2017December 19, 2017Leave a comment

Palo Alto Weekly – by Gennady Sheyner / September 8, 2017

More downtown employees than intended bought permits in five residential areas closest to central downtown

An error in implementing downtown Palo Alto’s evolving Residential Preferential Parking program, which aims to eventually stop commuters from parking in residential neighborhoods, caused the exact opposite to happen this summer: Too many permits were sold to employees wanting to park their cars in five out the area’s 10 parking zones.