Around Town Around Town (January 21, 2004)

PLANNING AHEAD . . . The recent resignation of Joseph Bellomo from the city's Planning and Transportation Commission leaves an unexpected vacancy on the body, since he had just been reappointed to a four-year term last year. The commission was once considered a stepping-stone to the City Council. Only two of the current council members came up through the commission. Still, the vacancy is likely to attract a number of hopeful applicants, who must apply by Feb. 2. Bellomo gave no explanation for his resignation other than to say it was for personal reasons.

CITY ATTORNEY WANTED ... The City Council is seeking six residents to serve on a panel to help Palo Alto's search for a new city attorney. The position has been vacant since September when former City Attorney Ariel Calonne left town for a job in Boulder, Colo. Interim City Attorney Wynne Furth is one of the candidates for the post, and was recommended by Calonne prior to his departure. Even though it's been more than four months since Calonne left, it is likely to be another five months until someone takes the position. But council members are not worried. "We have such a competent interim city attorney, it's not a crisis or an emergency," Councilwoman Judy Kleinberg said. The City Council is expecting to interview top candidates for the city attorney position in April. The panel of residents will also interview them at that time. Interested residents should contact Mayor Bern Beecham by Feb. 1.

PEACE PRIZES ... Three Stanford administrators, including Palo Alto Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell, were recently chosen by Morehouse College to receive the "Ganghi, King, Ikeda Award." Also honored are Clay Carson, who runs the Martin Luther King Jr. Papers Project, and William "Scotty" McLennan, the university's dean of religious life. The award celebrates the lives of Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. and Daisaku Ikeda. An awards presentation will be held Friday, Jan. 23, at 6 p.m. inside Tressider Union at Stanford.

GOT 'EM! ... Palo Alto Police officers made 37 DUI arrests this holiday season. The extra effort was part of the county's Avoid the 13 campaign, and represented a 68 percent increase over last year's total. Overall, officers in Santa Clara County agencies made 855 arrests -- Palo Alto's total was the fourth highest among all agencies. Although there were two more DUI-involved accidents this year (six in 2003 and four in 2002) in Palo Alto, the number of accidents with injuries decreased from three to one.

EYES ON THE PRIZE ... First, second and third-place winners of the Far Eastern Economic Review's 2003 Young Inventors Awards will be coming to Palo Alto. They receive a tour of computer company Hewlett-Packard's Palo Alto labs and computer equipment from the company as part of their prize. The competition began in 2000 and partners the Review, a Hong Kong magazine, with Hewlett-Packard to distinguish ground-breaking work by young scientists in parts of Asia.

BE PREPARED ... On Sunday, Jan. 25 there will be an Emergency Preparedness Shopping Extravaganza at Lucie Stern Auditorium, 1305 Middlefield Road. A variety of preparedness items will be up for sale and entrance to the event is free. The fair runs from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is put together by the Red Cross and Palo Alto/Menlo Park Mothers Club. Many businesses are participating, including Palo Alto Hardware, Arrowhead Water and ACE Fire Extinguishers. For more information visit www.paarc.org or call (650) 688-0430.

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