Around Town Around Town (September 14, 2005)

DYSFUNCTION AGAIN . . . Monday night's Palo Alto City Council meeting had a couple of tense moments and a few procedural hiccups. First, council candidate Danielle Martell -- who was born on the city's birthday and called herself "Ms. Palo Alto" -- accused the city manager's office of failing to alert her to a series of classes, held last week, that taught all the candidates the basics of important city issues. Martell said she believed the alleged slight occurred because she is calling for the resignations of City Manager Frank Benest and Assistant City Manager Emily Harrison, who taught the lessons. But Benest insisted Martell had been notified of the classes, both by mail and a phone call. Benest also said the city would again offer the classes to Martell. Later in the evening, the council fell back into old dysfunctional patterns while voting to give its managers and professionals pay increases. Immediately prior to approving the contract by an 8-1 vote, the council decided to hold an upcoming meeting where the salaries and benefits of all its employees will be compared and contrasted with each other and with employees from other cities. The city manager insisted the discussion was already planned and would occur regardless of the council's vote. Councilman Jack Morton said it was "bad taste" to vote to authorize an action the city manager had already promised. The council voted 5-4 to hold such a meeting, but the vote had an unusual twist -- all of the female members of the council voted yea while all of the male members voted nay. One council member dubbed it "the boys versus the girls." Before approving either measure, council members had a snit over which motion -- the one authorizing the managers' contract or the one requesting the meeting -- should be voted upon first. "You're losing it guys," Councilwoman Dena Mossar said quietly. Councilwoman Hillary Freeman insisted the latter issue, which she brought up, should be dealt with first. But City Attorney Gary Baum -- responding to a question from Vice Mayor Judy Kleinberg -- said the former probably made more sense since it was the item actually on the council's agenda. "No big deal," Mayor Jim Burch said, attempting to calm his colleagues. "Babies won't die."

IN A HURRY? . . . Busy morning schedules can be a pain, especially when you have school-aged kids who need to make it to class on time. Most maintain, but some parents of Jane Lathrop Stanford Middle School students are apparently in such a hurry, they're breaking basic traffic laws. According to an e-mail sent to parents and staff this month, "while many parents are respecting the rules of the road ..., there are still some who drive in the bike lane on E. Meadow Drive, make illegal U-turns in front of school and speed down the entrance to JLS and in the parking lot." Images of lattes flying and wheels squealing can evoke a laugh or two, but for those on the school's traffic safety committee this early-morning activity is no joke. "It's better for your child to be late for school than to risk a tragedy" is the committee's final message.

PALO ALTO REACHES OUT . . . Palo Alto is adopting a similar-sized city in Louisiana that was badly damaged by Hurricane Katrina, Mayor Jim Burch announced Monday. Residents and city workers are being encouraged to send money to a relief fund in honor of the city of Kenner, La., Burch told the crowd at the City Council meeting. Kenner is located 10 miles west of New Orleans, and was submerged in six to seven feet of water, Burch noted. Sewage and water service remain out in the town, and electricity is out in 50 percent of the homes and businesses. The City of Palo Alto will offer any help it can for 18 to 24 months, said Burch, who has been speaking with Kenner's mayor. Palo Alto officials will work to encourage other California municipalities to adopt cities and towns struck by the devastating hurricane. Residents who want to contribute money can send donations to: Kenner Relief Fund c/o Omni Bank 6300 Corporate Blvd. Baton Rouge, LA 70809 Account # 3350000919.

FLAPJACK FUNDRAISER . . . Kelly McMeekin and Annie Valles, two students from Egan Junior High School in Los Altos, raised $1,987 for Hurricane Katrina relief efforts through a pancake breakfast they organized on Sunday morning. The breakfast was held at the Elks Lodge in Palo Alto. Six 30-person servings of pancake mix were consumed, along with nine gallons of apple and orange juice, 150 cups of coffee and 49 pounds of peaches, bananas and cantaloupe. The food was donated by Andronico's, Safeway, Costco, Peet's Coffee and Kinko's. Palo Alto firefighters, including Chief Nick Marinaro, were the volunteer cooks.

PUMPED UP . . . The East Palo Alto YMCA held a groundbreaking Saturday for its new facility -- without even breaking ground. Not wishing to dig into the fields at the Bell Street Park, the Y's current and future location, event organizers brought in piles of top soil, which city officials cheerfully -- and predictably -- dug their shovels into and turned over while the cameras snapped. The ceremony marked the beginning of what's expected to be a speedy construction effort. In just one year, the YMCA plans to build a $10 million, 32,000-square-foot center, which will include a wellness center, workout studios, a two-court gymnasium, computer lab, outdoor pool, locker rooms, family area, community rooms, outdoor playground, teen center, and teen fitness room. If that weren't enough, the city's community services department will also be located there. Although the ceremony drew plenty of children with its bouncy houses, basketball-hoops contest and free food, it also attracted vocal protesters, who opposed the deal the city made to lease land to the Y for 55 years at $1 a year. Holding signs, they urged the city not to privatize public land and to "stop the warehousing of our youth." Police were also on hand, but there apparently were no incidents. As the event came to an end, children with the YMCA Day Campers program concluded festivities on a fitting note, dancing to that perennial theme song -- the Village People's YMCA.

NO MORE DUMPING - THANKFULLY . . . Palo Alto Animal Services officials are breathing a sigh of relief. August's rash of bunny dumpings , in which 32 neglected and injured rabbits were released in the dead of night at the Palo Alto Bowling Green, has finally stopped. No one has been apprehended in the two incidents, nor in a July 30 incident in Menlo Park, Sandra Stadler, city animal services supervisor said. Because they were all in bad shape, the neglected bunnies were euthanized. Animal Services still has four other bunnies in good shape and available for adoption -- "and lots of guinea pigs," Stadler added. Anyone wishing to adopt the bunnies or guinea pigs can contact Animal Services at 496-5971.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.

[an error occurred while processing this directive]