Menlo Park City Council Goal-setting – Report and Next Steps

On Saturday, January 30, Menlo Park City Council had a Saturday work session focusing on goal setting for the coming year. 

City Council was generally supportive of the priorities that Menlo Together had encouraged:

  • A robust Housing Element process to address opportunities to improve affordability and racial equity
  • A broader initiative to support people and businesses to endure and recover from the impacts of Covid
  • Continued focus on the Climate Action Plan, potentially including opportunities to improve walking, bicycling, and other alternatives to driving.

There were also a variety of other ideas that emerged from community members and Council members. Council will need to make important decisions to winnow the list of ideas that the city will focus on.

On February 23rd, City Council will return to the goal setting process to make decisions – this will be an important moment to steer the city’s priorities in a year that will have big challenges and opportunities for housing, transportation, sustainability and racial justice.

We will keep you posted on actions you can take to further these goals.

Read on for more background on what happened at the meeting. 

Housing Element. With regard to the Housing Element, which is a legal requirement to plan for housing for people of all income levels, council members including Wolosin and Nash supported the perspective of going beyond the minimal requirements to address needs for housing affordability and repairing the city’s legacy of segregation. Staff noted that the Housing Element this year has new requirements to affirmatively further fair housing will will create momentum for these goals.

Covid Recovery. With regard to considering restoring city services within a broader frame of supporting people and businesses with the impacts of Covid, Council Member Mueller was a strongest voice for a robust response; there was a lot of dialogue about how much and what functions the city might take on, such as participating in the county COVID recovery table and make sure our most vulnerable communities receive the resources they need, and requesting disaggregated data to illuminate the disparate impact of Covid in the Belle Haven neighborhood.

Climate Action Plan (CAP). With regard to concerns raised by Council and community members that the Climate Action Plan did not appear to be highlighted as a priority in the staff report, staff reframed their recommendation, considering the project to apply for a Safer Bay grant to protect the Ravenswood electrical substation as a major focus of climate action.  Several council members supported making sure that CAP implementation remains a priority including opportunities to focus on improving residents’ quality of life and reducing car traffic by improving alternatives to driving. This priority would also dovetail with the city’s Vision Zero policy to greatly reduce injuries and fatalities from traffic crashes.

There were a variety of other items that drew public comment and council discussion. 

  • With regard to policing and public safety, there were multiple public comments in addition to Menlo Together and longtime community leader Pam Jones.  Staff commented that the new police chief starting this Spring would focus on community outreach on the issues.
  • With regard to redistricting, which will use new US Census data to define the city council districts in Menlo Park, staff recommended early action in hiring a demographer since they will be in high demand.
  • A number of community members were interested in banning gas leafblowers, which cause annoyance and pollution.  Council Member Mueller made a sensible recommendation to refer this item to the Environmental Quality Commission. While the EQC  had declined to take the item up in 2019, battery technology has made rapid progress even in the last few years so the electric alternatives to gas leafblowers may be more ready for broad rollout.
  • A number of community members were interested in “quiet zones” – a policy initiative that the city would need to lead, to have Caltrain reduce horn noise.  This project would require the installation of four-quadrant gates, which prevent drivers from getting onto the tracks as the train approaches, at the intersections where the Caltrain tracks cross surface streets.  Atherton has already installed quiet zones and a Council Member from Atherton reported in the goal-setting session’s public comment on what that town had done.  Menlo Park Council and staff discussed how this item might be advanced with some more planning.

As date of the Feb 23 meeing approaches, a staff report will be published with more detail for the Council’s consideration of goal-setting decisions. We will keep you posted on helpful ways to support the goals of housing, sustainable transportation, environment and racial equity.

Saturday Jan 30 10am – City Council Goal-Setting

On Saturday, January 30, the Menlo Park City Council is holding a goal-setting workshop from 10am to 3pm. Read on for tips for encouraging City Council to strengthen goals for the coming year to make the city more equitable and sustainable.

The agenda is here. You can send your thoughts in advance by email to city.council@menlopark.org. And you can give public comment at the meeting. Public comment is slated to start around 10:25am, subject to change. You can dial in by zoom at Zoom.us/join with Meeting ID# 947 1320 5683 , or by phone at (669) 900-6833 Meeting ID# 947 1320 5683, press *9 to raise your hand to speak.

The coming fiscal year, from July 2021 through June 2022, will continue to be challenging and uncertain. Widespread vaccination will alleviate the health risks of Covid and the burden on people’s livelihoods, but the pace of vaccination and rise of new virus strains add uncertainty. Covid recovery will be an important theme. The City has urgent and important priorities to meet state legal requirements to plan for housing (called the Housing Element), and important goals to address climate change.

The city staff is starting the Council’s discussions with some good proposed priorities, including the 2022 Housing Element, rebuilding library and community services from service cuts driven by Covid, and the SAFER Bay Project, an opportunity to get federal grant funding to protect a power substation in the Belle Haven neighborhood from sea level rise.

Menlo Together has some recommendations for the City Council to enhance these good priorities:

The Housing Element is essential, as a legal requirement and as a process that can enable the city of Menlo Park to take steps to address housing unaffordability and the legacy of segregation. As part of this goal, the City Council should consider prioritizing related policies and programs to increase housing production, preserve affordable housing, and protect renters that do not strictly fall within the legally required scope of the Housing Element update.

The priority on “rebuilding library and community services” is important for a year in which we expect pandemic restrictions to lift.  We are very glad to see that the staff report highlights the need for assessment of “diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility in LCS department services and operations” as part of service restoration, and are eager to ensure that community outreach plays a big part in restoring services.  However, we believe this theme of rebuilding services should be reframed more broadly as “rebuilding city services to achieve an equitable COVID recovery,” allowing the city to consider a variety of recovery needs.

In advancing the Climate Action Plan, we strongly support  the strategies of building electrification and electric vehicle charging that have already been approved. However, the City Council should also consider prioritizing the city’s regular transportation planning in ways that reduce vehicle miles traveled.  For example, there will be opportunities coming forward in the existing program to advance a transportation management association that can help workers reduce car commuting, and there will be opportunities in the routine selection and design of bicycle and pedestrian projects,that can be oriented toward addressing our climate goals

Here is a copy of the comment letter that Menlo Together sent on January 12 regarding City Council goal-setting.

If you have some time, please share your thoughts with the City Council.

June 16 – Menlo Park Council Considers Black Lives Matter Resolution – Demand Action

On Tuesday, June 16, the Menlo Park City Council will be considering a resolution proclaiming “Black Lives Matter.” This is a welcome step, and an opportunity to go further to demand action.

Already, nearly 100 residents have signed a petition demanding that Menlo Park’s Police Open Data Portal track stops by neighborhood and race. Thanks to everyone who signed the petition. As promised, we are forwarding the names of petition signatures to City Council. If you have not yet signed, you can do so here.

In addition to the demand to track stops by race, Menlo Together’s letter is asking for several other steps to improve public safety – a Public Safety Commission with review and oversight capabilities, and to replace the upcoming “police strategic plan” with a “public safety strategic plan”  that would consider more broadly what types of investments will improve community safety, and explore for which activities other community resources may be a better, such as social workers with mental health and substance abuse expertise.

You can share your own thoughts with City Council tonight – the public meeting is likely to start around 5pm, after a closed session starting at 4pm. If you are sending written comment, please send it before 3pm (see instructions below)

The Black Lives Matter agenda item is on what is called the “consent calendar” – items that Council will vote on without discussion. But the City Council will hear comments on the item and may choose to discuss if there are comments.

How to participate in the meeting
• Submit a written comment online:
menlopark.org/publiccommentJune16*
• Record a comment or request a call-back when an agenda topic is under consideration:
Dial 650-474-5071*
• Access the special meeting real-time online at:
joinwebinar.com – Special Meeting ID 987-314-579
*Written and recorded public comments and call-back requests are accepted up to 1 hour before the meeting start time. Written and recorded messages are provided to the City Council at the appropriate time in their meeting. Recorded messages may be transcribed using a voice-to-text tool.

Tonight: Equity in Menlo Park Budget Decisions

Menlo Park City Council is working on recession budget cuts at tonight’s City Council meeting. There are some decisions in the hands of Menlo Park City Council that can advance or hamper racial and economic equity in the city.

  • The City is proposing to cut community services in Belle Haven for two years or more before a new community center is built.   Belle Haven is a neighborhood that was formerly “redlined” (segregated by financial policy) and has historically been provided with lower quality services than the whiter and wealthier areas of Menlo Park.  This budget decision would exacerbate those historical inequities.
  • Preserving childcare. The draft budget proposes to maintain childcare services. However, the proposed changes risk failure for the program – increasing fees above market rate, adding surcharges, and closing the program if it is undersubscribed with these uncompetitive rates.  Closure of the childcare services will harm the livelihood of families who depend on childcare to hold paying jobs and those who make up the child care workforce (largely women of color).

Instead of cutting Belle Haven services and putting childcare at risk, Menlo Together is urging City Council to deferring capital projects that can wait, and using reserve funds the City saved for emergencies such as this.

For more details on the budget decisions and Menlo Together’s recommendations, see this letter to City Council. And share your thoughts by sending a message to City Council before 4pm.

Or you can participate in tonight’s online meeting. The meeting starts at 5pm with a “close session.” – the public section of the meeting will likely start between 6 and 7.
• Record a comment or request a call-back when an agenda topic is under consideration:
Dial 650-474-5071*
• Access the special meeting real-time online at:
joinwebinar.com – Special Meeting ID 932-476-515


Petition: Demand Data about Menlo Park Police Stops by Race

On a June 3 teleconference with the Menlo Park Mayor Cecilia Taylor and Police Chief Dave Bertini, a woman called in and asked about how to explain to neighborhood teens about being stopped for no apparent reason by police. Studies show that youth who experience intrusive police stops are at risk of heightened emotional distress.

There is plenty of anecdotal evidence of racial disparities in police stops in Menlo Park but we don’t yet have the data to show it. There is no data by race for police stops that do not conclude in a citation or detention.

The City of Menlo Park has an Open Data Portal that provides information about local law enforcement activity. The portal provides statistics for citations, showing disparities by race. Of the citations between 2016 and 2018 that listed the individual’s race (all but 2%) 31% were given to white individuals while 69% were given to non-white individuals (40% for Black and Hispanic individuals alone). In contrast, the population of Menlo Park is exactly the opposite: 70% white and 30% non-white (according to the 2010 census).

If you want to see Menlo Park police track data about police stops by race and neighborhood, please sign this petition. If you sign this petition, Menlo Together will:

  • share your name with Menlo Park City Council
  • contact you with more opportunities to demand transparent data about police stops, and other opportunities for a more transparent and just city

Menlo Park Rally #JusticeForGeorge Floyd

On June 1, hundreds gathered at Burgess Park, at a rally in support of #JusticeForGeorgeFloyd and #BlackLivesMatter. Mayor Cecilia Taylor, the city’s first African-American Mayor, gave a moving talk where she shared with the crowd that she fears for her stepson and nephews’ lives. When she heard the news during a Council meeting she struggled with tears from the dais.

After the Mayor spoke, the group knelt for nine minutes, recalling how long the murderer had his knee on George Floyd’s neck.  Then the group marched, chanting and holding signs, up Alma Street and across the Caltrain tracks to the Palo Alto Avenue soccer fields. The rally, like so many across the United States, was organized by high school students who demand a more just and equitable future where #BlackLivesMatter, where Black people do not fear police violence, and where the outcome of people’s lives – health, education. prosperity – can’t be predicted by skin color.

At the close of her talk Mayor Taylor, “There are policies we can put in place” to bring about a more just and equitable city. For those who share this vision, click here to join us at Menlo Together, a group of Menlo Park and Peninsula residents who envision a city that is integrated and diverse, multi-generational, and environmentally sustainable. We’ll keep you posted on opportunities to learn and take action at bringing about a just and sustainable Menlo Park.

Ways you can help neighbors during the Covid-19 emergency

Vulnerable members of our community need help – here are several ways you can help neighbors in and near Menlo Park at this time of need. 

1. Serve as your neighborhood block captain. There is a volunteer effort underway to organize our neighborhoods, with support from the Menlo Park Fire District. Block captains help their neighbors, especially those living alone and those who are older and/or with medical conditions, to prepare for emergencies. For more information, please see the recruitment flyer. If interested, contact organizer Lynne Bramlett at lynne.e.bramlett@gmail.com 

2. Volunteer with Meals on Wheels. Demand for meals to be delivered to seniors is increasing. This is a critical service in our community during normal times, and it will be vital to keep it going during the weeks ahead. They usually require new volunteers to go to the DMV to get background checked, but they are modifying this requirement during this time. If you are able and interested in this important work, please fill out this form and say in the section on “Specific Jobs” at the end of the page that you’re interested in Covid-19 emergency volunteering.

3. Volunteer with Second Harvest. Second Harvest depends on an extensive network of volunteers to distribute groceries to those in need across Silicon Valley. Due to COVID-19 concerns and precautions, they are currently experiencing a volunteer shortage. If you are healthy and not immuno-compromised, please consider signing up for a shift or two here. Volunteers need to be 14 or older (minors must be supervised by a parent), healthy, and ideally able to lift 25 pounds.

4. Volunteer for Samaritan House provides essential services to low-income Menlo Park residents. Volunteer with food preparation and/or transport! Contact: volunteering@samaritanhousesanmateo.org. Please be patient with the time it takes to respond as volume is high and staffing is low. Due to the postponement of a fundraiser donations are especially needed. Go to www.samaritanhousesanmateo.org/donate on the Web to donate right now.

4. Baby Basics of the Peninsula is a 100% volunteer organization based in East Palo that distributes diapers to needy families. To find out more about volunteering  please call (650) 321-2193 or email baby.basics@yahoo.com You can also donate here.



Complete Streets Commission votes for safer intersection

On Wednesday February 12, the Menlo Park Complete Streets Commission reviewed a proposed redesign of the Laurel/Ravenswood intersection. a project that was created as an “environmental mitigation” for the 1300 El Camino project.

The proposed project would change the lane configuration so there is a dedicated left turn lane from Laurel to Ravenswood.   The proposal also extended the bike lanes through what is currently a gap.  However, the proposal created greater conflicts between people bicycling and people driving,

This is a route that connects to schools, the Burgess pool, gym and civic complex and library with many children using these facilities.

The turn lane change was required under the now-obsolete “level of service” (LOS) EIR standards, drivers were expected to be delayed an additional 6 seconds.  (That’s not a typo, 6 seconds of car delay required the intersection to be changed to add a turn lane under the old rules.).

At the meeting, community members Ken Kershner and Jen Wolosin spoke against the harmful use of the obsolete LOS standard to speed cars and reduce pedestrian and cyclist safety. 

The “Active Transportation Subcommittee” of the Complete Streets Commission noticed an “Alternative 2” in the staff report (see below) that would reduce conflicts between cyclists and drivers.  In addition, the subcommittee proposed bulbouts to reduce pedestrian crossing distance and slow the speed of turning drivers for better visibility of pedestrians.  See the illustration that the “active transportation subcommittee” used to visualize the “alternative 2” which was not illustrated in the staff report.

The Complete Streets Commission voted to recommend Alternative 2 to City Council, which would retain the 6 seconds of driver delay, but reduce pedestrian crossing time by at least 6 seconds and reduce conflicts between cyclists and drivers.

As of July, the old “level of service” car delay standard will no longer be legally required under the California Environmental Quality Act, and the city may have a legal opening to reconsider how it wants to reduce the transportation impact of the 1300 El Camino building.

Staff noted at the meeting that the collision rate at the intersection was “relatively low” with “only” 12 collisions in a 3 year period. However, the city has a Vision Zero policy supporting a goal of zero fatalities and serious injuries. Recently, two Scandinavian cities announced that they had no pedestrian or cyclist deaths in the previous year. This was achieved through step-by-step reducing driving speed.

The Laurel/Ravenswood project will come to Council in the next few months. We’ll keep you posted on opportunities to share your thoughts about the relative importance of improving safety, or saving six seconds for drivers on neighborhood streets. 

Resources:

Here is the link to the staff report, with a short description of the alternatives presented to the commissioners.
https://www.menlopark.org/DocumentCenter/View/24252/SR—Laurel-Street-Final-Intersection-Layout

Current: The northbound Laurel Street approach currently consists of one exclusive left turn lane, one shared through/right turn, and no bike lane.

 Alternative I: One exclusive left turn lane, one shared through/right turn lane, bike lane on the right side of the shared through/right turn lane. (This is what is proposed in the final design intersection layout per Attachment B)  

Alternative II: One shared/through lane, bike lane (between lanes), one exclusive right turn lane

Thursday 1/30: Menlo Park City Council priorities

On Thursday, January 30 from 1-5 pm, the Menlo Park City Council will host its annual goal-setting meeting. This is your opportunity to tell the Council that you want more affordable housing, safer streets, climate action, and racial equity in Menlo Park!  Send your thoughts to city.council@menlopark.org or come in person if you can. 

Here are recommendations from Menlo Together:

1) More Housing Downtown, especially Affordable Housing

More housing downtown would support the Council’s existing goal to address the housing crisis, improve the jobs/housing balance, and reduce driving alone. In particular, we would like to see more density to enable more housing, dedication of publicly owned downtown sites to affordable housing, and zero displacement in new development.

2) Residents’ safety and mobility on Willow and in the Belle Haven/Bayside area

Menlo Park’s streets reveal the disparities in our city.  Belle Haven, with a history of redlining, has highways and major arterials cutting through that reduce air quality and create hazardous conditions for local residents, especially children.  

Menlo Together wants the City to invest in safer streets for children, seniors, and all, including on Willow Road in Belle Haven, and at the Gateway Family Apartments and the new Belle Haven Library and Community Center, and El Camino Real. 

3) Climate Action at the level of the Climate Emergency

Menlo Together urges the City Council to adopt a new reduction target of carbon neutral (zero emissions) by 2030. Since transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, we support the Environmental Quality and Complete Streets Commissions working together with City Staff to create more climate measures relating to mobility.  

4) City government focus on racial equity

Menlo Together is urging the City to join Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE) to actively pursue racial equity within the scope of city government activities.  According to the GARE definition: “Achieving racial equity means outcomes cannot be predicted based on race and are improved for all people.” 

GARE is a national network of government working to achieve racial equity and advance opportunities for all. Over the last two years, four Menlo Park city staff people have attended GARE conferences which provide local governments with training on how to improve racial equity. Other GARE members (cities, counties, etc) report that putting together inter-departmental teams to advance racial equity builds collaboration among staff and improves operations and outcomes overall.  

Thanks for staying informed, learning, and taking local action.

Two upcoming educational events on the history of housing shaping our communities today


The Road to Resegregation
September 10, 2019 at 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm
Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St, Menlo Park, CA 94025
RSVP at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-road-to-resegregation-tickets-68869066231

Meet author Alex Schafran and discuss his book, “The Road to Resegregation: Northern California and the Failure of Politics.”

From the publisher’s description:
How could Northern California, the wealthiest and most politically progressive region in the United States, become one of the earliest epicenters of the foreclosure crisis? How could this region continuously reproduce racial poverty and reinvent segregation in old farm towns one hundred miles from the urban core?

This is the story of the suburbanization of poverty, the failures of regional planning, urban sprawl, NIMBYism, and political fragmentation between middle class white environmentalists and communities of color. As Alex Schafran shows, the responsibility for this newly segregated geography lies in institutions from across the region, state, and political spectrum, even as the Bay Area has never managed to build common purpose around the making and remaking of its communities, cities, and towns. Schafran closes the book by presenting paths toward a new politics of planning and development that weave scattered fragments into a more equitable and functional whole.


The Color of Law: The Hidden History Shaping Our Communities Today 
October 3, 2019 at 7 pm – Congregational Church of San Mateo, 225 Tilton Ave. San Mateo, CA 94401
To RSVP, please go to https://hiddenhistory-rothstein-sanmateo.eventbrite.com.

Housing discrimination on the basis of race and ethnicity is against the law.  Do you know that in recent history, it was actually required?

Richard Rothstein, renowned author of THE COLOR OF LAW, will deliver a riveting presentation about the little known history of how our communities have been shaped, bringing to light the forces that locked the requirement of discrimination into place.  This is a history that continues to have powerful implications for our communities today. 

The author’s presentation will be followed by a Q&A period and a brief reception in the CCSM community hall. 

Financial sponsors for this event are the Working Families Alliance and the San Mateo County Faith Leaders’ Solidarity Network.  Other sponsors include One San Mateo, Housing Leadership Council, San Mateo NAACP, Housing For All Burlingame, DSA, Peninsula For Everyone, Peninsula Young Democrats, Menlo Together, Faith in Action Bay Area, and Tech Equity Collaborative.  Please address requests for more information to onesanmateo@onesanmateo.org.a