October 27, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

False alarm fire disrupts council meeting

by Bill D'Agostino

A false fire alarm inside Palo Alto's City Hall interrupted the City Council meeting early Monday night, forcing the elected officials to adjourn the gathering while standing outside in the brisk fall weather.

A fire captain said overheated wiring probably tripped the siren, which first went off around 8 p.m.

To the embarrassment of city officials, it was a Menlo Park fire engine that arrived first to the scene. It took more than 25 minutes for all four responding fire engines -- two from Menlo Park and two from southern Palo Alto -- to arrive.

Around 8:20 p.m., after the second fire engine arrived, Mayor Bern Beecham appeared to chastise City Manager Frank Benest for the delayed response.

"This is not adequate," Beecham said. "If this was a real fire, this would be falling down." The city manager nodded and said he'd look into it.

Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison said later there were other emergencies occurring at the same time, including a major traffic accident on Alma Street.

"It was just bad timing," she said.

Six people -- including two children who were riding with the alleged drunken driver -- were injured in that five-car crash, which happened around 7:30 p.m., according to Police Sgt. Patty Lum.

Police arrested 27-year-old Palo Alto resident Alicia Williams on charges of felony drunk driving and child endangerment. Her 7-year-old daughter was in critical condition Monday evening. Her 11-month-old son was also injured.

The few officials and residents inside the City Council meeting were first notified of the alarm when Utilities Director John Ulrich came into the council chambers shortly before 8 p.m. The sirens only sounded in two floors of 250 Hamilton Ave., but not inside council chambers.

Once outside, council members began joking, expecting it to be a false alarm.

"I want my wool coat," Councilwoman Dena Mossar said, laughing. "This isn't fair."

Around 8:30 p.m., it became clear the situation wasn't going to be resolved quickly. A quorum of council members then huddled outside, lights flashing around them, and quickly voted to end the meeting on the advice of City Attorney Gary Baum.

At the time the fire alarm went off, the council was discussing a controversial resolution to oppose President George W. Bush's proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution banning same-sex marriage.

Mayor Beecham wanted the council to forego discussion of the item, feeling the resolution was a waste of the council's time since it was not directly relevant to city affairs.

"We are not elected to this council based on our opinion on these types of issues," he said.

Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell said the city did not exist in a vacuum, and important national issues were fair-game.

"I doubt very seriously that this City Council would pass on an issue if it were a federal amendment to ban interracial marriage, for example," she said. "We would see it as a basic affront to civil rights. This amendment, in my opinion, is a civil rights issue and we have no business punting on it at all."

It was unclear what direction the council was going on the issue at the time of the alarm, since not all council members had yet spoken. It will be discussed at a future meeting.

Staff Writer Bill D'Agostino can be e-mailed at bdagostino@paweekly.com.

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