Publication Date: Wednesday, January 05, 2005
Editorial: Facing a year of hard choices
Editorial: Facing a year of hard choices
(January 05, 2005) Palo Altans in 2005 must learn to set collective priorities during difficult economic times, both in city and school projects
ever since the early 1950s, when Palo Alto changed from a commissioner system to a council/manager form of government, have civic revenues been shakier.
The response a half century ago was to align with interests of Stanford University -- also facing lean times financially -- to create a vibrant Stanford Industrial Park, now called the Stanford Research Park, that became a major source of revenues and jobs.
But this initiative had side effects. It created traffic bottlenecks and demands for housing that threatened to fill the foothills with houses all the way to Skyline. The birth of the environmental movement in the 1960s was a result. Many felt the cure was worse than the condition, but relished the revenues and services nonetheless.
No such cure exists today for Palo Alto's new reality of revenue limitations. Even best-case scenarios show a slow and only partial recovery, with no return to the economic boom of just four years ago. Worst-case scenarios get downright gloomy, with further erosion of the city's sales-tax base.
The significance for service-rich Palo Alto is that without revenues there will be fewer services, and less money to replace aging libraries, police stations, storm drains and other important elements of the city's infrastructure.
As outlined in last week's (Dec. 29) lead story, "Pipe Dreams," the city has far more projects in its pipe than it has ways to pay for them.
The Weekly stopped counting when it reached 15 such visions for Palo Alto's future -- from a new high-tech central library and new police headquarters to less visible but still vitally important storm-drain upgrades and general facilities maintenance.
"There's going to have to be a prioritization of those kinds of projects," City Auditor Sharon Erickson noted.
Yet collaborative prioritizing and goal setting is not something for which Palo Altans are known -- for all of their collective intelligence, education, concern and community involvement. In fact, many community leaders and activists seem positively challenged when it comes to making community-wide decisions and moving forward to accomplish them.
The strengths of residents seem to be in the areas of doing individual analyses, then adopting and defending positions based on their analyses, or longtime favorite causes.
It will be a huge challenge for the city staff and council, as well as for the school board and administration, to provide the leadership to help residents move past this barrier of strong individuals knowing their views are the right ones. But the future of the community depends on it.
Children's Library deserves its history
Children's Library deserves its history
(January 05, 2005) Birge Clark's architecture should be respected, enhanced during its renovation and expansion -- but not at any cost
Few buildings in Palo Alto deserve more careful renovation and expansion than Palo Alto's historic Children's Library.
The design should reflect the existing style and feel of the original structure, period. Famed Palo Alto architect Birge Clark, who appropriately was the brother of longtime Palo Alto pediatrician Esther Clark, designed the library in 1940. While Esther helped raise healthy children, Birge created a space for their mental development. Generations of children have developed their love of books and reading within its walls.
Sadly, the building has not been maintained or upgraded properly over the years. It has no air conditioning, its plumbing is inadequate and its electrical systems are a fire hazard. The library needs more space for books and items and for the hundreds of youngsters who attend the story and reading sessions there.
We think it's a no-brainer that any addition should follow the tone and feel of Clark's design as the city moves forward with planning a $2.6 million expansion/renovation of the structure -- largely funded by grants and donations, city officials hope.
But the historic facade elements of the building should not limit the library's internal functionality. We believe that neither Birge Clark nor Aunt Lucie Stern, who donated funds for the original building, would want to squeeze the structure inside solely to preserve an external appearance.
Both were forward-looking visionaries who would want the Children's Library of the future to serve new generations of Palo Alto youngsters with the same quality and efficiency that the original library served kids in its early years.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
