March 10, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Editorial: Mayor Beecham's call to arms

He said concerted, collaborative action in several areas is required to maintain Palo Alto as "one of the best cities in the country." In terse, tightly focused language, Beecham outlined a series of threats to the community -- encompassing the Palo Alto Unified School District -- and warned that without effective action things will only get worse.

The tone and flow of the speech lacked rhetorical flourish, but more than made up for it in specific content, detail and forceful direction. There is little new information, but the weaving together of issues facing the community creates a new focus that should help facilitate action. (His complete comments are posted on www.PaloAltoOnline.com.)

Beecham is right to note that most residents cherish the community: 94 percent agreed in a recent survey that it is a good or excellent place to live. He also noted that the city in the past three years has cut $14.5 million in costs -- without impacting services.

Yet dangers abound, he warned. These include further cuts in state funding and possible "new, creative ways to take our resources" from cities and school districts statewide. Increases in health care and pension costs, plus wage pressures and unfunded state mandates also drain city resources.

But a huge threat is the continuing, quiet deterioration of the city's infrastructure, much of which is 50 to 100 years old. The $73 million earmarked for replacement projects over the next decade "is insufficient to maintain the parks, streets and facilities that comprise our city's half billion dollars in material assets," Beecham warned. That should average $10 million a year, not including new projects such as a downtown park, rebuilding storm drains or expanding police headquarters, he said.

Revenue sources are also threatened, with sales tax declining from $25.8 million several years ago to $17.4 million next year. Retailers, from Stanford Shopping Center to small businesses, are also under pressure from "big box" stores in neighboring communities and other competition. At the same time, Palo Alto is stuck in "a tangled web of process that brings delay, economic hardship and mounting tension," he noted -- also not a new observation but one that deserves emphasis.

But Beecham's best news relates to the City Council: He cited "a new level of mutual respect and a willingness to talk with and listen to each other."

That will be tested in coming months, but this State of the City address provides a solid stepping off point for the work ahead.

Editorial: Scaled-down Hyatt plan a positive move for all

The news that Hyatt Hotels has scaled back its plans for the 16-acre Hyatt Rickey's site in south Palo Alto is a positive step for all concerned.

In addition, Hyatt will propose a smaller "boutique" hotel instead of the 320-room hotel/conference center it had planned for the site, to replace the aging 344-room garden hotel/meeting center there now.

Hyatt officials have not said how big, or small, a "boutique" hotel is. But one alternative (studied as part of the environmental impact report on the Hyatt property) defines a smaller hotel of 166 rooms -- the "environmentally preferred alternative."

A possibility that Hyatt might build a hotel/conference center on Stanford University land at Highway 280 and Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park -- discussed with at least one high-level Stanford official late last year -- is still an open possibility.

Keeping a hotel of any size in town is good news. Palo Alto would lose between $1 million and $1.4 million annually in transient-occupancy-tax revenues if the hotel left town completely. Palo Alto can ill afford to lose such income in these economically difficult times without it impacting city services and projects.

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