Around Town Around Town (February 09, 2005)

TOPSY-SURVEY... A Google search for "Palo Alto" and "Controversy" will net nearly 75,000 Web pages. The letters to the editor in any local newspapers reflect a frenzied public. But there appears to be a silent majority happy as clams with the local government. City Auditor Sharon Erickson released the results from her second annual National Citizen Survey last week and once again, Palo Alto's local government received high grades. Nine out of 10 residents said the city provided good or excellent services (only 1 percent said poor), while 75 percent said they got excellent or good value for their tax dollars. A similar survey was given this year to residents of more than 400 localities in the U.S., from Aberdeen, S.D. to Yuba City, Calif. Comparatively, Palo Alto almost always ranked above the norm. The exceptions: storm drains, libraries, street repair and, especially, access to affordable housing and child care. The survey will be especially useful for members of the City Council seeking to figure out what the city is doing well, and not so well, as they balance a budget with a projected $5.2 million deficit. From top to bottom, here are some of the ratings (out of 100) the 568 Palo Alto residents who took the survey assigned to various city services: Fire service: 84 Recycling: 82 Garbage collection: 81 Yard waste pick-up: 79 City parks: 78 Police service: 77 Recreation programs/classes: 74 Overall appearance: 73 Crime prevention: 70 Public library service: 70 Sewer services: 68 Animal control: 66 Street cleaning: 65 Drinking water: 65 Public information services: 65 Variety of library materials: 65 Traffic enforcement: 57 Economic development: 54 Public parking availability: 53 Code enforcement: 53 Traffic signal timing: 52 Storm drainage: 51 Sidewalk maintenance: 49 Street repair: 46 Job opportunities: 46 Land use, planning and zoning: 46 Access to affordable child care: 31 Access to affordable housing: 12

WALK THIS WAY ... Meanwhile, the survey is also useful to see why Palo Alto's streets are so clogged. Residents were asked about the ease of walking, biking, taking a train and riding a bus. Walking got a grade of 74, biking a 67, rail travel a 58 and bus travel a 44.

FADE OUT ... Cinequest, San Jose's film festival, has bowed out of Palo Alto. The festival has been shown in a Palo Alto movie theatre for the past four years, but this March all of the festival's venues will be in San Jose's downtown. For more information, visit www.cinequest.org.

LIBRARY REOPENING ON SATURDAY... Downtown bibliophiles, rejoice! Palo Alto's Downtown Library will reopen on Saturdays starting this week. The City Council approved the change last month amidst pleas from neighbors and the Friends of the Palo Alto Library. However, don't get too attached ... there's a chance the library will need to close again on Saturdays in July once the city balances its budget. The city is facing a projected $5.2 million shortfall.

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