News Digest News Digest (November 02, 2005)

Candidates raise nearly $200,000

The candidates for the Palo Alto City Council have raised in total more than $190,000 in campaign contributions, according to forms filed Thursday with the city clerk.

Peter Drekmeier and Harold "Skip" Justman are the top fundraisers. Drekmeier, an environmental educator, raised $35,759. Justman, a real-estate lawyer, raised $31,278. More than $7,000 of Justman's sum was raised in 2004.

Other candidates raised the following:

* Larry Klein, a former mayor and attorney, raised $26,263.

* John Barton, an architect and school board member, raised $21,709.

* Jack Morton, one of the race's two incumbents and an accountant, raised $20,520.

* Karen Holman, a historic preservationist and member of the city's Planning and Transportation Commission, raised $19,230.

* Yoriko Kishimoto, the other incumbent and consultant, raised $17,898.

* Norman Carroll, an activist for the "un-housed," raised $935.

* Victor Frost, a panhandler and perennial candidate, raised $80.

Another candidate, Danielle Martell, pledged earlier she would not raise more than $1,000.

The sums include non-monetary contributions. The reports list contributions received up to Oct. 22.

There are 10 candidates competing for five seats, although there are two candidates who have dropped out but whose names will still appear on the Nov. 8 ballot: Roger Smith and Sanford Forte. Before dropping out, Smith raised $19,423 and Forte raised $99.

-- Bill D'Agostino

Simitian to chair education committee

State Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, has been named chair of the new Senate Select Committee on California's Master Plan for Education, Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata announced Monday.

The subcommittee will be authorized to review policies, theory, research and programs related to education at all levels, according to Perata's office.

"Senator Simitian will lead this committee with vigor and will put forth vital suggestions on how we can improve education in this state," Perata said in a prepared statement.

"As a former school board member and a leading advocate on the Senate Education Committee, he has already shown his effectiveness," Perata added.

"Most recently, his work in passing one of the Senate's top priorities this year, Senate Bill 687, which will result in more transparency in local spending for parents and teachers, demonstrates the kind of effort we're looking for from the select committee," Perata said.

"It's my hope that the select committee's work will have a tangible impact in the classroom," Simitian said in a prepared statement. "It's time to move from theory to action."

State Sens. Elaine Alquist, D-San Jose; Alan Lowenthal, D-Long Beach; Abel Maldonado, D-Santa Maria; and George Runner, R-Antelope Valley will serve on the subcommittee.

Former mayors to discuss Palo Alto

More than 40 years of Palo Alto political history will be discussed Sunday by the people who were at the center of it when 15 former mayors and current Mayor Jim Burch get together to share their recollections.

The event, Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. at the Children's Theater, 1305 Middlefield Road, is sponsored by the Palo Alto Historical Association. Gary Fazzino, a former mayor and the city's unofficial political historian, will be master of ceremonies.

Ed Arnold and Frances Diaz were mayors during the turbulent 1960s; Kirke Comstock during the 1970s; Alan Henderson, Betsy Bechtel, Larry Klein and Gail Wooley during the 1980s; Fazzino, Jean McCown, Liz Kniss, Joe Simitian, Joe Huber and Dick Rosenbaum during the 1990s; and Vic Ojakian, Dena Mossar and Burch in the past decade.

-- Don Kazak

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