CONFIRMED FOR COUNCIL . . . On Friday, Dena Mossar and Sandy Eakins confirmed that they would be applying to fill the City Council seat soon to be vacated by Joe Simitian. The city began receiving applications for the position on Monday. Mossar, commute coordinator for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, has been active in environmental and alternative transportation issues. She initiated the highly successful shuttle to Palo Alto Celebrates the Arts fair in August. Eakins is currently on the Planning Commission and has also served as co-chair of the Comprehensive Plan Advisory Committee. Planning Commissioner Victor Ojakian and animal rights activist Andy Freedman also plan to apply. The deadline is Jan. 9.
NAMES IN THE NEWS . . . Tireless Palo Alto crusader Jim Lewis has dredged up some interesting statistics. Lewis ran a check of the computer catalog to see which City Council members and officials have received the most mentions in newspaper articles over the last four years in the Weekly, the Palo Alto Daily News, and the former Peninsula Times Tribune. The winner? Soon-to-be county Supervisor Joe Simitian, with 124 articles. In second place was Gary Fazzino, with 88. Third place was Mayor Lanie Wheeler with 76. But, Lewis points out, none of these people can challenge the Shoreline noise issue, which has been the subject of 149 news articles--so far.
RETIRING . . . Beloved longtime Palo Alto Medical Clinic pediatrician Harry Hartzell announced his retirement last week, at of the end of this year. For 33 years, Hartzell has cured sniffles, treated earaches, and diagnosed myriad symptoms. In a letter to patients and friends, he wrote, "I have discovered that the practice of pediatrics brings much the same satisfaction as parenthood: seeing a dependent infant grow into a confident adolescent. We have gone through many challenges together, you and I, and I want you to know that I appreciate the trust you have invested in me." Hartzell and his wife, Susan, who will also be retiring from Addison-Wesley Publishing, will continue their community activities and spend time with their grandchildren.
HOLD YOUR LEASHES . . . For those who read in the Weekly recently that dogs would soon be allowed on the Hamms Gulch Trail in Windy Hill Open Space Preserve, hold onto those leashes. The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District board gave the idea preliminary approval back in October, but still needs to give final approval, which could come tonight.
TRAFFIC BARRIER SOS . . . The Menlo Park-based community association Safe Open Streets, SOS, has collected and sent to Palo Alto traffic officials and the City Council 369 signatures opposing the traffic barrier at Palo Alto Avenue and Chaucer Street. The signatures, 290 from Menlo Park residents, were collected on three recent afternoons. On Jan. 13, the City Council is scheduled to consider whether to continue with the trial project, known as the Lytton Neighborhood Traffic Management Plan.
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