|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Update: Ed Shikada announced Thursday morning, June 4, that the curfew has been lifted after he and Police Chief Robert Jonsen had both determined that the conditions that had warranted the order no longer apply. Read more here.
Original article
Citing reports of potential criminal activity stemming from recent protests, Palo Alto instituted a curfew that began Tuesday night at 8:30 p.m. and plans to keep it in place through next Thursday, June 11.
City Manager Ed Shikada notified business owners of the curfew in an email message earlier in the day on Tuesday. The curfew, he said, is “based on monitoring of potential criminal activity in the region.”
The declaration of curfew, which Shikada issued Tuesday afternoon, will come a day after the city saw several peaceful protests by residents demanding justice and racial equality. Later that evening, at the City Council meeting, Shikada, Police Chief Robert Jonsen and other leaders condemned the May 25 killing of George Floyd while he was in police custody in Minnesota and pledged to protect peaceful protesters.
Violation of the curfew, which will be in effect between 8:30 p.m. and 5 a.m., is considered a misdemeanor.
San Mateo County also imposed a curfew on Tuesday afternoon, though the countywide curfew was slated to be limited to Tuesday and Wednesday. The San Mateo County curfew will similarly stretch from 8:30 p.m. and 5 a.m.
County Manager Mike Callagy said in a statement that the county curfew is based on “looting and other criminal activities in the county as well as that in neighboring jurisdictions.”
“While the county remains hopeful that protests will be peaceful, the County is aware of specific threats of civil unrest, including plans to conduct coordinated looting,” the county’s announcement states.
On June 2, Shikada clarified in an email to business owners that the curfew is “not due to lawful protests, which we support, but due to criminals taking advantage of current events as cover for their crimes.” The declaration made a similar point and cited intelligence from the law enforcement community as the reason for the curfew.
That said, the city curfew will empower police officers to fine or arrest most individuals who are out at night. The declaration states that police are “authorized and charged, to the extent provided by law, with the responsibility of enforcing this curfew and are further authorized to arrest persons who do not obey this curfew after due notice, oral or written, has been given.”
The declaration states that Palo Alto’s law enforcement has observed “scouting behavior in Palo Alto, including in and around the Stanford Mall and downtown retail core.”
“Local and regional law enforcement intelligence-gathering suggests that planning is underway for additional organized criminal activity that could very quickly threaten harm to persons and property, and that such activity is imminent,” the declaration states.
The declaration claims that it is necessary to “immediately restrict the use of public areas throughout the city, including streets, roads, sidewalks, alleys, parks, plazas and other rights-of-way during the nighttime hours, according to the declaration.”
The curfew means that the city will postpone its plan to allow outdoor dining, a program that was set to kick off Friday. The curfew will expire at 5 a.m. on June 11 and it will exempt public safety workers, emergency personnel or civilians engaged in police or emergency work. It also exempts utility workers, authorized representatives of any news service and homeless people; people traveling to and from essential workplaces; and people traveling to seek or provide medical care, according to the order.
In adopting the curfew, Palo Alto and San Mateo County is joining a growing number of cities and counties that have already done so, including Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. In the Bay Area, Santa Rosa and San Francisco have instituted curfews, as have Contra Costa and Alameda counties, among others.
While some large cities, including San Francisco and Los Angeles, have experienced looting before instituting curfews, Palo Alto adopted it as a preventative measure. Shikada said the curfew strikes “a balance between ensuring peaceful and lawful protests, while safeguarding against the unlawful actions and organized criminal activity seen locally and throughout the Bay Area that could very quickly threaten harm to our community members and local property.”
“The curfew is an important tool to keep our community and businesses safe during this challenging time,” Shikada said in a statement.
Mayor Adrian Fine told this news organization that the action is based on “credible threats” about people targeting Palo Alto’s commercial districts. He called the curfew a “preventative move” that is necessary for public safety.
“Folks can continue to exercise those rights peacefully and the city will protect them,” Fine said. “We also have an obligation to protect private property and persons. There seem to be threats to that at the moment.”
When asked about the 10-day duration of the curfew, the city’s Chief Communication Officer Meghan Horrigan-Taylor said the timing was based on issues seen in the Bay Area and the expectation that peaceful protests will extend into early next week. Both she and Fine said that the duration may be adjusted.
“It circumstances change, we may shorten that,” Fine said.
In anticipation of possible looting, numerous local businesses have already begun to board up their front doors. At Stanford Shopping Center, most of the entrances to the mall were blocked by barriers on Monday afternoon. The Apple store was boarded up and the jewelry store Shreve & Co. had a sign advising people that all merchandise has been removed from the premises. The Apple store on University Avenue was also boarded up and workers were installing boards on the side of Hotel Nobu on Hamilton Avenue.
Stanford Shopping Center has been particularly on edge since Sunday, when police in Menlo Park and Palo Alto received word that a large group of people was on the way to the mall to loot businesses, according to the Menlo Park Police Department. Menlo Park officers on the lookout for looters arrested two men who were on the way to the mall while allegedly in possession of stolen clothing and a stolen cash register.
Palo Alto Police Chief Robert Jonsen said in a statement Tuesday that the department is partnering with other Bay Area departments to protect communities.
“The threats to public safety continue in our region and a curfew is one tool of many to help us act more quickly to protect our community from harm,” Jonsen said.
The recent announcements by the city and the county have already prompted a growing number of businesses in Palo Alto’s commercial districts to start boarding up their entrances in anticipation of possible looting.
On Tuesday morning, the Apple stores on University Avenue and Stanford Shopping Center were among just a handful of retailers that had boarded up their stores. The list grew substantially by Wednesday morning. At the Stanford mall, stores such as Victoria’s Secret and Neiman Marcus had already been boarded up and workers were installing boards at Bloomingdale’s. A similar trend was unfolding at University Avenue, where Café Venetia was in the process of joining a growing number of boarded-up businesses, which now includes JoS. A. Bank, Lululemon, Arnold Jewelers, Maum, Juut and JPMorgan Chase, among others.
-
Boards block the public from the Lululemon Athletica sportswear store in downtown Palo Alto on June 3. Photo by Gennady Sheyner. -
A man installs a wooden board to block a window at Cafe Venetia in downtown Palo Alto on June 3. Photo by Gennady Sheyner. -
Wooden boards cover windows at the Victoria’s Secret store at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto on June 3. Photo by Gennady Sheyner. -
A crew installs wooden boards at the Bloomingdale’s department store at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto on June 3. Photo by Gennady Sheyner.
News reports say some of this looting and vandalism is done by white supremacists who are trying to discredit Black Lives Matter.
Happy to hear this. Hope Mountain View follows. The hit list looting tonight sounds horrifying.
So not only have we been sheltering in place for over 2 months, but there is a PREVENTATIVE curfew starting at 8:30 pm to 5am? We can no longer go for evening walks in our neighborhoods after 8:30 pm because of scouting activity near Stanford Mall and downtown core (even if we are not even close to either points)?
How is this logical? Not only is this forcing people to exercising all at a specific time, but not everyone is free to exercise before 8:30 pm. Some of us work till 8pm or later.
We had Coronavirus pandemic upon us and were not shutting schools or city down, but we are PREVENTATIVELY putting in a curfew in our city for reports of scouting activity at Stanford Mall and downtown retail core?
Instead of putting more police patrol around downtown retail core and Stanford Mall, and connecting with local residents and students asking them to not hold protests after 8pm, Shakida is forcing everyone to enter their homes by 8:30pm?
What is our crazy police force budget for if not for extra patrolling near the 2 districts that are being targeted?
This is just too much.
Well. this will sure help the restaurants celebrate their reopening.
Temps are in their 90s today. It doesn’t get cool enough until dusk to go outside and get some exercise.
Oh well. I suppose shelter in place is the new norm.
I’m a lifelong Palo Alto resident, and I am absolutely disgusted with the way that this is being handled. Where was this curfew during the height of the coronavirus outbreak? But as soon as the threat of “homies” and “hoodlums” coming to our rich, elitist, white, “peaceful” neighborhoods to protest emerges there’s no hesitation to enact some ridiculous legislation just so you can start arresting Black people and other minorities as soon as the sun goes down. What looters? What even is scouting behavior? Black people walking into stores? Disgusting.
And I know all too well that the bootlickers at Palo Alto Online will take my comment down as soon as they see it.
It will be helpful for a lot of readers if the author clearly says the curfew hours in the title or at the beginning of the article.
Instead of curfews, which will do nothing to stop actual criminals, here’s a list of things which demonstrably work to limit police violence:
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1180655701271732224.html
I look to our elected officials to impose these on the police.
Palo Alto has left America… good riddance, I guess. Karens win….it’s yours girls
This is just crazy. People should have the right to walk in their neighborhoods absent real threats of safety. I just can’t see how this qualifies. Asking people to socially distance and wear a mask for Covid I understand given the state of knowledge we have. But I saw protesters yesterday and they were peaceful and admirable. I just can’t see how this curfew is justified and believe it will cause more harm than good.
Adrian M. Fine only cares about capital (supporting companies like Palantir, other tech companies) and white people.
Monte Sereno city, Los Gatos, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Campbell, and Palo Alto are the most segregated, heavily white cities in the county, with populations that range from 55-78 percent white, 0-2 percent black, 2-18 percent Latino, and 14-33 percent Asian.
Our mayor wants to protect corporations and storefronts over our constitutional right to protest peacefully and go on a WALK IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD.
Understand this is about OUR MAYOR AND CITY wanting to arrest minorities protesting peacefully and protect tech companies.
An unsettling parallel: in March, governments said, in effect, “There’s a serious risk posed by COVID-19, and we can only protect you by confining you to your homes and arresting you if you don’t comply.” Now in June, we hear that “There’s a serious risk posed by violent roaming gangs operating at night, and we can only protect you by keeping you off the streets at night and arresting you if you don’t comply.” Yes, both risks are real and deserve to be met with effective action. But the disturbing similarity in both these policies is that when things get really dicey, those in authority declare they can’t protect you except by forcing you into hiding. Is this really the best we can do?
It makes no sense to issue this city-wide when you could clearly focus this effort and its enforcement on clearly defined areas such as Stanford Shopping Center, University Avenue, California Avenue and El Camino Real. If this is designed to stop looting then focus it on the specific areas where 99.9% of looting will most likely take place. Making it city-wide is complete and utter nonsense and will impact people just just normal stuff like walking the dog after dinner.
10 days of curfew for POTENTIAL looting of Stanford Mall and University Avenue? Which stores? The restaurants? Doubtful. At most it will be the Apple stores. Do they not have insurance policies?
So suddenly to PREVENT POSSIBLE looting, the ENTIRE city of Palo Alto must be in their homes by 8:30 pm?
So elderly residents, families with teenagers, families with children, all practicing social distancing in their evening walks, no matter how far they live from these 2 potential target areas, must be under a CURFEW?!
Whose brilliant idea was this?
We need to sacrifice our mental well being by being stuck indoors for 10 days straight by 8:30 pm for a few stores?
Again City of Palo Alto putting the needs of big business before its residents. Businesses who don’t even pay taxes to the city while it’s in budget deficit.
Nice to know Ed Shakida and likely Mayor Adrian Fine initiated and are supportive respectively of this ridiculous idea.
10 days of curfew. Let’s keep putting the dollar needs of big businesses before Palo Alto residents. Always for the BIG businesses.
And let’s be real, this is all racially based. So long as the protesters look like they go to Stanford or Paly we are fine; but if they are POC then folks get worried and think we need “tracers”. Unbelievable.
So the looters and rioters who will be out there anyway are going to be charged with misdemeanors, right? ALL of them? If that’s the case, then yay. If they’re not and it’s either a “warning” or a “slap on the wrist” then the curfew is a crock. On TV in every other city it seems to be mostly a crock. But maybe things will start to get real. This country is broken and I’m afraid it’s beyond repair. We’re doomed. If the virus doesn’t kill us, the riots will. I’m all for protesting but when it turns into a riot and innocent people are hurt and businesses destroyed (probably owned by the very people these rioters/looters are trying to give voice to), then I’m not onboard. See you all on the flip side. I’m keeping a low profile so I don’t get targeted.
It looks like none of you have seen the hit list circulating for tonight. They (not BML, looters ruing it for peaceful BLM) are planning to start at RWC Target plaza and make their way south down el Camino to Hillsdale Mall. They’ve already made note to hit up targets, Safeway, Walgreens, CVS, pharmacies, small stores, etc. 9:30pm Stanford Mall, 10/10:30pm Hillsdale. And I’d imagine university Ave. This is not okay- to be safe, I’d much rather be inside tonight! At least for tonight, the police need everyone off the roads to control these looters (again, they aren’t BLM protesters, they’re criminals taking advantage of the situation).
This is the stupidest thing I have heard. This is a position taken in fear, assuming in advance that protests will be violent. All the protests I have seen so far in Palo Alto have been peaceful. Increase police presence around Stanford mall, Univ. avenue, but shutting down the entire city is an insult to its residents and our peaceful way of life. So if I need to run out to the store to get milk, or take a walk in my neighborhood, will I be teargassed? What’s next? Tanks rolling down El Camino? Please reverse this immediately.
This is just stupid, especially on top of the excessive virus panic lockdowns. It would have made sense to block off the shopping districts, but not curfew the whole city while giving the cops more power than they already have. F Palo Alto and FTP … they are just going to continue taking more and more power incrementally, hoping people just accept it quietly, but the result will be even more damage than if they’d been less kneejerk fascist.
My dog is not happy about this curfew: he needs walks throughout the day, including two between 8:30 pm and 5:00 am.
Take your shopping money out of Palo Alto, and out of Santa Clara County if you can make the drive (side benefit–you can get a haircut just over the county line). Vote out the current City Council. Defund the cops. Remember who did this to you and the slow way they did it to you, like boiling a frog.
My dog typically needs to go for a late night walk as he’s elderly and can’t wait until his morning walk otherwise. Will this be a problem?
Does anyone else think this move will encourage perpetrators who would engage in problematic behavior to target Palo Alto in particular?
The way this is being handled by Mayor Adrian Fine and City manager Ed Shakida, you would think we live in the Bronx or Queens or some deadly seedy part of town where streets are not well lit, and there drug dealers on every corner.
This is Palo Alto. The city where joggers run at night. Families come out for family evening walks. People walk their dogs. Elderly folks practicing social distancing come out. Tech workers working late also exercise late at night. People unable to handle high heats walk at night.
Suddenly we have an 8:30 pm curfew city wide for 10 days?
Seems city of Palo Alto always takes the easy way out, even if it harms the residents well being and health, just to make the city people and their jobs easier.
We’ve seen this approach with the city budget cuts, but now at it again.
Always protecting the big businesses. Stanford Mall. Apple stores. Who will stand up for the community desires? Seems it’s definitely not Ed Shakida or Mayor Adrian Fine.
Curfews should be the most cautiously wielded tools of any government, as they criminalize the most basic of civic activities – walking peacefully down a public street. I’ve lived in the Bay Area for just under 40 years and I’ve never seen a city impose a 10-day curfew, the few we’ve had have been significantly shorter and in usually in response to natural disaster.
San Mateo only has a 2 day curfew but Palo Alto has a 10 day curfew.
Apparently living in Palo Alto is much more dangerous than living in Redwood city.
A 10 day curfew to protect the big businesses who don’t pay a single cent of business taxes to our deficit laden city budget. But Palo Alto residents who pay extremely high taxes, we need to have a 10 day 8:30 pm curfew.
Thank you Shakida & Fine. We’ll be thinking of you at the next election.
My son’s non-white friend wants to know if he can ride his bike home after he gets off work downtown at 9:30PM. What do I tell him?
It’s time to replace Adrian Fine and Ed Shikada. They’ve displayed nothing but incompetence, and have arbitrarily trampled the most basic rights of the citizens of Palo Alto.
Will the police be getting overtime for these 10 days?
Where is the ACLU – this is outrageous. A total chilling on First Amendment Free Speech rights to peacefully assemble and associate, petition governenment and dissent.
We read nearly every week of organized bands of thieves converging on Nordstoms, the Apple store or Lulu Lemons and running out with thousands of dollars worth of merchandise. They often are from towns far and away and hit the same places over and over again.
Mayor Fine, Ed Shikada – will you ever reign in Chief Jonsen and the PAPD? Is Palo Alto to be run by fear and curfews and controlled by the police while their civil rights are taken away?
This action – and for 10 days (a clear over-reach) – seems designed to do no more than stifle dissent that is happening due to the police abuse primarily of people of color – black and brown.
Here the PAPD has a bad track record of this and now leads the charge to shut down local protest. It is all too pat. Using as an excuse people’s fears that that gin up watching TV of far away places, and reports that are sketchy at best.
This hurts local businesses more that were about to open up.
These type of entitled opinions are why Asia is laughing at us. People have so much disrespect for authority and too many rights in the U.S. (I grew up here, BTW, many family generations). What happens when all the police quit their jobs from continual harassment? Who do you call in your time of need? A few bad apples and everyone blames all the police. There are bad apples in every career. Part of the reason why police cannot do their jobs well is due to the relaxed laws. They can only file paperwork for burglars, no jail time at all, they have to release them to the streets to reoffend.
Anyone who thinks racism will ever end is in lalaland. It will go underground with whispers, it will never end. Unfair? Life is unfair. All the Millenials and Gen Z who grew up with participation trophies want socialism, steal from the rich, give to the lazy and drug-addicted. No strong work ethic because their parents gave them trophies for just trying instead of teaching them strong work ethic to positively contribute to society. Sure, it’s nice to volunteer at a soup kitchen, but you need to earn a living too.
If the looters and rioters want respect, their behavior doesn’t reflect their wishes.
What would you do after 8:30pm that you can’t do during the daylight hours? You have technology, just stay home and keep your mouths shut and clean your house, your house is a mess!
Support this curfew. Safety first. Let’s try to protect our neighborhood.
I believe the police will not harass couples of families going for peaceful walks in their own neighborhood, regardless of the time.
But having the curfew in place PERMITS them to stop and detain people who do “not belong” in a particular area. Yes, it’s political but most laws are, to some extent.
The Camry driving at 75 mph on I-280 is unlikely to be stopped by a Corvette doing the same . . . a greater risk of getting a speeding ticket. Good luck Palo Alto and soon, hopefully, this will be over.
It is actually a 9 days curfew. The next 9 nights with the last night starting next Wednesday. Which doesn’t make it any less ridiculous, but it does make it 10% shorter. Unless the reporter or the city messed up.
Is it time for a peaceful demonstration against the curfew, outside City Hall or the mayor’s home? I’d carry a protest sign.
Excellent! Sheltering in place for 2+ months was not enough, now there’s also an unnecessary 10 days city curfew to keep us even more stuck at home. That is just preposterous! Im sick of all that!
“What would you do after 8:30pm that you can’t do during the daylight hours?”
Finish our dinners in the restaurants that have opened or will reopen this Friday so they can finally make some much-needed money.
Take a walk when it’s cool
Walk our dogs when it’s cool.
Drive home from restaurant jobs.
etc. etc.
@James Thurber
You are advising that people don’t follow the curfew? You must be an anarchist.
I am wondering as to what dark hole of ignorance and prejudice, “YouBozos” crawled out of? Or, was his/her rant intended to be satirical?
In any case, I suppose that we in Palo Alto should be pleased that we are number 1, that is in length of time of the curfew.
To add to Online Name’s list: Take out the trash.
“But having the curfew in place PERMITS them to stop and detain people who do “not belong” in a particular area. Yes, it’s political but most laws are, to some extent.”
They don’t meed a curfew for that when they’ve been doing that for decades when they would ALWAYS do late-night stops of the oldest car at a traffic light and pull them over. I know because decades ago when I was doing late-night software work with colleagues in Los Altos Hills I’d have to think very consciously about my route home to Palo Alto at 2AM to minimize my time on Palo Alto streets and roads. Fortunately for me, my car was mewish.
The biggest threat to public safety after COVID and Stanford rapists in Palo Alto is PAPD. This curfew is unreasonably long and repressive. Ed Shikada is a clown.
The best way to restore order is to end the curfew and end the lockdown, so peaceable people again fill the streets.
It is precisely the empty streets, dark stores, and idle people that have brought us to this sorry state.
Batshit crazy.
Shameful decision. What say the City Council? Recall anyone?
Unless the PAPD has intelligence that criminal gangs intend to come to Palo Alto to commit home invasion robberies, this policy seems to make little sense. The list of retail targets in Palo Alto is finite and isn’t that spread out compared to cities like New York in Los Angeles. Either tell us that the threat is home invasions and we can all proactively get our Glocks out of our gun lockers, or pre-position police units near retail targets. A total lockdown doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, and it hurts and already hurting community even more.
To “J” from Palo Alto,
Where can I find the “hit list” that you mentioned. I guess I’m out of the loop when it comes to this sort of thing, but it would be interesting to see.
How about instead of protecting property, we make a priority to protect people? This is an absurd abuse of power. Also watch this comment get censored.
Does anyone respect looters and rioters? How does that help their cause?
Looters and stolen items can be easily identified if the Fire Department adds Rit Purple Vegetable Dye to the water they spray the looters with. In Hong Kong they spray looters and stolen items with water that has blue dye in it, and it works great in identifying looters and stolen items.
To add to the incompetence of this decision, the social media graphics show that the City does not know how to tell time with analog clock. The clock shows 8.03, 3 minutes past 8, not 8.30, or 30 minutes after 8. What incompetent individual can’t tell time on an analog clock?
Where can one access the hit list for tonight (and other nights)?
From what “J” said earlier in this thread, it’s the stores that are important to ordinary people in the lockdown that are going to be hit: Safeway, Walgreens, CVS. That’s appalling, and I hope the looters are arrested. And why are small stores such targets, also? Those business-owners made only such a tiny profit once they paid exorbitant rent to their landlords before the pandemic.
The news bulletin and the comments have mentioned only Stanford Shopping Center, University, Avenue, and California Avenue. What about Midtown Shopping Center? It has all three of the potential “hit” stores. And the Piazza’s shopping center has a lot of small stores, too. I surely hope that the PAPD won’t overlook these two local centers. They’re much needed by regular-income residents, and they’re also very close to the homes of those customers.
FYI + Menlo Park.
Are Palo Altans finally starting to question authority and the decision making process?
Menlo Park is under curfew, but as part of San Mateo county, they only have tonight and tomorrow under curfew.
Redwood city and Menlo Park have only 2 nights of curfew.
City of Palo Alto, having Apple stores, and Stanford Mall, apparently deserve 10 days of curfew. Apparently our PAPD and City Manager and Fine are in the business of saving insurance money for big businesses.
want to send a message to PA mayor and council members:
city.council@cityofpaloalto.org <city.council@cityofpaloalto.org>
my feelings- close off Univ Ave and Calif Ave and fill them with restaurant tables- start the curfew at midnight; let Stanford Mall hire private guards or police to protect their private property. If the council has some specific, non-Trumpian, information that residences are in danger, please share it. Otherwise, get rid of this overbearing, ass-protecting curfew. 10 days of arbitrary lockdown?
To the person asking above, this “hit list” was posted to NextDoor and taken down- just like my comment was censored above. I’m not complaining, I shouldn’t have posted timing because I don’t want this to happen (though why not prepare police I guess). The link was https://nextdoor.com/post/150182537?init_source=copy_link_share but it’s no longer.
Just be safe everyone. It’s not worth getting hurt over. Protest safely. Your voice should be heard, not your fist.
This is great! The inconvenience of not able to walking after 8:30pm is out weighted by the life and safety of our community. The walk or exercise can resume as early as 5am to avoid the heat of the day. Thanks Mr. Shikada and the law enforcement to protect our life, property and communities!
This declaration is overbroad (too long, too many areas, etc.) and not sufficiently tailored to serve the stated goals (blanket rather than more nuanced exemptions for homeless, people traveling to an essential workplaces, etc.). It’s also another blow to local businesses. We already have a shelter in place order that can be used against groups. An evening walk in a residential neighborhood should be perfectly fine.
What do you think would happen when there will be nothing left to loot from stores and the police afraid for their own lives? It shall be residential areas/ your lovely homes next since by then all police will quit and we shall be on our own with no one to help!
New reality in USA ! In revolution, NO ONE is spared…no one!
If rioters, looters and other criminals in large numbers actually break the law, will the PAPD be stretched too thin to deal with them?
I’m not usually a conspiracy theorist, but where did this “list” come from and why isn’t it public?
Second, everyone who thinks this is silly, let’s go stand in front of our houses the moment the curfew starts. The more protests, the better.
@Truth, there’s a big difference between “looters and rioters” and peaceful protestors. And outside agitators like the Governor of Minnesota, for one public official out of many, has been complaining about since they’re the ones doing the looting and committing violent acts.
Serious question: What’s with the incessant airplane/helicopter noise? It’s been going on for hours.
I ask because a friend in LA posted yesterday “We saw a plane over our house pulling a banner yesterday: “Weak Democrat Governors and Mayors = Violence” and that echoes the Minnesota Governor’s point. (She’s a white lawyer born and raised in PA who lived downtown until they got disgusted with the racism here and moved to LA because the PA police continually stopped her black middle-aged lawyer husband whenever they were looking for a black criminal suspect. They didn’t want to their 2 biracial to experience the same.)
…or we could be standing in front of the neighborhood businesses we rely on. The citizens against the roving trouble-makers, rather than a few hired public safety folks attempting to cover many different sites. Us vs. them could mean the law-abiding citizens vs. the trouble-makers.
So even though Redwood city is fine with a 2 day curfew, somehow Palo Alto is at extreme risk of our life, limb and communities all across the city for the next 10 evenings?
Or is this PAPD, City of Palo Alto (Ed Shakida) and Fine trying to take the easy way out and protecting large businesses?
The way City of Palo Alto is reacting, it’s as if our life, limb and neighborhoods are in extreme dire danger. 10 day curfew.
Did Redwood city & Menlo Park think they are safer while looters run Palo Alto residents off the streets and tear us apart? Is Redwood city police force and Menlo City police force much more better equipped than ours to only need a 2 day curfew while we are under lockdown for 10 evenings?
Ten days is beyond the pale of a reasonable curfew.
Folks here — please note this action in how you vote in the next city election.
10 Days is quite an arbitrary number unless you are a simpleton. Why not 20 or 30 days? I can see a couple of days, maybe even 5 days would make sense to some to get past the weekend, not that there is a difference between weekdays and the weekend anymore. This is simply a rash decision so the City can cover their arsses.
Thank you for making the right call to start curfew today. We appreciate your leadership in making this difficult decision. Stay safe!
Adrian fine doesn’t care about black people, he only cares about the stores in the mall
Peaceful protests are legal. Looting and vandalism are not. It’s disgusting for the same group of race to abuse protests against racial discrimination for that race to commit crime. Criminals should be treated as criminals. It has nothing to do with racism.
Great call! Safety first and let’s protect the city, community and all the people in PA.
palo alto and san mateo county are one of the few places in the country that have imposed curfews in the absence of any looting, burning, or violence. i’m sure they would say they are being prudent, but from my perspective it’s alarmist. and for palo alto to impose a 10-day curfew is beyond belief. they say it can be ended earlier, but the fact they started with 10 days shows is beyond belief. i do have to wonder if the covid stay-at-home orders have made it easier for governments to feel justified in imposing these highly restrictive rules. i’ve been one to argue that we aren’t moving toward a more totalitarian state, but now i’m beginning to wonder
Nope. Not following this. 10 days is completely over the top.
I don’t understand these complaints. This curfew is not coming in the way of protests during the day. Only at night. So lighten up. As for coming in the way of your precious evening walk, please also consider the rights of restaurants and retailers who are facing financial stress and may have their shop fronts broken into and equipment and merchandise stolen. I don’t want the curfew, but I think our town is a prime target and I don’t want looters coming here to desecrate our businesses and buildings.
My grandmother told me that during World War II, the German army had imposed a curfew in her small village. Sadly the butcher came out during the night and was shot. I still remember this chilling story and how sad she was when she talked about it.
Now this was WW2 !
And I don’t believe an enemy Army has moved into Palo Alto.
Not voting for this city council and mayor. Completely ridiculous decision makers. We need leadership and strategic decision making and not someone who just wants to lock everything and come as heroes. There is a relation between job losses and instability. Look at any country in the world.
Hit List. Really? This is not the sober serious language of wise leadership, but of manipulation to cause fear and garner uncritical support for suppression of our civil rights.
Here is what our leaders say the 10 day curfew on all us will prevent –
Ed Shikada justifies the 10 day curfew and shut down of all our public gathering spaces: …”based on potential criminal activity in the region”.
So nothing bad is happening now, or in Palo Alto. It’s just a maybe, and could be anywhere in the area, such as Los Gatos or San Bruno.
And here’s Mayor Adrian Fine’s fear and flawed justification – “…people targeting commercial districts”.
So Adrian wants to protect shops with a super special 10 day lock down extravaganza of all 27,000 households in Palo Alto’s 36 neighborhoods in order to protect some shopping areas.
Is there also a boogieman? Maybe we need to enact a 10 day curfew for boogiemen.
Question Authority, folks.
This curfew is “prior restraint” leading to a “chilling effect” on free expression and speech protected under the First Amendent to the US Constitution. There is no way such shoddy reasoning as above trying to justify such a long term and general curfew is legal when instead the police could in their normal functioning protect shops as they always have when needed.
The curfew mainly functions to deny public spaces to protesters to exercise their free speech rights to assemble peacefully. To think that the Coretta Scott King Plaza in front of City Hall will be one of many spaces off limits represents a desecration of Palo Altos core values at this moment in our country’s common suffering and aspiration for more equal justice.
This curfew must be reconsidered now and lifted. And if not in the next 24 hours, it must be challenged in court and struck down on Constitutional grounds..
I used to work in State government 20 years ago and people would why some circumstance was the way it was. I would say, “Because something happened to make it that way.” If looters in other cities weren’t looting, then we wouldn’t have this. Would we?
How many more restrictions are Californians, Santa Clara County residents, Palo Altans willing to accept out of fear? Maybe until we are required to stay indoors 24/7 and have everything delivered by drone or a robot?
I do not see this as a black or white protest. I see it as Antifa who love an excuse for violence and torching buildings. They were up in Portland beating up ladies on the street and down at UC Berkley torching buildings. And SU is a drawing card. I hope that SU has a police force of their own and are not dependent on PA for any help. And I love all of the budget cuts – police an fire.
So now you are moving off the foot traffic that would normally be in those areas and give free reign to the gangs. The one thing about foot traffic is that the people walking around have unknown skill sets. If the members of the SU football team were at a festivity at the shopping center then the protestors would not fair well. Any of the athletes from SU would give them a run for the money.
If you have gone up to a RWC Friday night music event and checked out the people there then there would be no protestors. That is the San Mateo motorcycle clubs, RWC athletes, and other assorted members of groups that are fully able to take care of themselves.
Protestors be aware that causing trouble can go both ways.
Benjamin Franklin once said: “Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety.”
10 days?!? Beyond extreme for the situation.
This curfew is unamerican, unjustified, and should be met with civil disobedience. Wait until 8:30pm, then go for a walk, a bike ride (make sure your bike has a light), participate in a peaceful protest, or chat with neighbors outside. These are your inalienable rights.
Organized groups of thieves or looters? Check the crime reports. The hieves have been pretty busy for a long time, targeting camera stores, department stores, Walgreens/CVS..
They do it day and night. They’ve thought about timing, getaway routes. Not much new whether you call them looters, thieves, opportunists…
Thieves have been driving their trucks INTO the Stanford Shopping Center department stores for the last 10 years. Security videos on the news show crews breaking into the jewelry cases. Or a group swarms a store at closing, they grab what they want, hop in a getaway car. A chase ensues.
My point is that after years of these crime reports you’d expect big department stores to protect themselves better — barriers in front of their big glass doors — and the police to be more responsive to the merchants when they complain about repeated delayed responses.
Why don’t you allocate your police resources to the downtown shopping district and the mall to dissuade any “potential threat” and eliminate the curfew. Show some common sense and demonstrate some leadership. Boots on the ground will overcome your intelligence fears. Or are you concerned that our FaceBook CEO is at risk? Why should 60,000 residents be impacted?
Why 10 days! Don’t think PA is better than other communities is it because we have Apple and Facebook old PA here so city wants more protection?
Uh oh.. Adrian Fine and the usual suspects must be going to church.
Please find your sanity.
Don’t put what might be good police in a situation where they have to harass people.
Bill of rights much?
Be patient, you Palo Alto progressives who for years have excused looting and burning as legitimate outlets for the rage of those you favor. That frisson of excitement you’ve felt at the sight of Antifa and likeminded leftists putting the torch to businesses and homes has previously been available only via the small screen, but no longer! The touring company is finally bringing the “live action” show right here to you, your own home, and your own business.
I believe a Palo Alto curfew (especially an announced duration) is kind of over the top, but, looking at the comments above, I have to say…
I don’t think the cops will spend a lot of time looking for people walking their rescue mutts around the block before going to bed.
A look at the demographics of my neighborhood tells me 830p is pretty much bedtime anyway.
Restaurant owners and merchants are the ones who should comment on the pro/con impact of the curfew on their businesses, not us online bloviators.
I find most of the comments against the curfew offensive and short sighted. Many have the flavor of hysteria and conspiracy theories. The idea that the curfew is imposed so the police can arrest minorities is pretty ridiculous.
Has anyone watched the riots on TV? It’s very difficult for the police to distinguish between protesters and thieves. If the protesters aren’t there, though, it becomes easier. Of course, if the protesters decide to not be law-abiding themselves, then the plan doesn’t work. Hopefully here people will be more sensible.
I’m all for police transparency, but I don’t expect them to reveal what they know ahead of time. That would just give the thieves a chance to come up with different targets.
I’m shocked that a curfew is needed in Palo Alto. I’m equally shocked to see most of the comments on this forum. Please calm down, take a few deep breaths, and wait this out.
This is a wild over-reaction and totally unjustified use of city authority. Shame on Ed Shikada and Adrian Fine.
I for one would like to volunteer to be part of a citizen patrol to protect Palo Alto from looters and thieves. I would much rather be out keeping my neighbors and our city safe than cowering in my house. I’m serious. If the police need our help, I’m sure there are plenty of people that would volunteer to stand guard in front of vulnerable targets in our city. Is there any mechanism for residents to help, instead of locking ourselves in our houses in fear?
Good old Palo Alto, never can pass up on a virtue-signaling opportunity.
Protestors walk down the middle of the street. On TV the looters were waiting for the parade to pass then run in and break windows and take things. They are using the actual protestors as an excuse and shield.
Back to Redwood City – it has a very diverse group of people who come to the Friday Night music events. But that diverse group of people are going to protect that territory with a vengeance. That is their city and their place and no outside group is going to come in and touch anything there. I feel totally safe there.
YEAH!
Fuck this. They can raze Stanford mall, but they have no right to stop me from walking in my quiet residential neighborhood in the evening when it’s 89 degrees at daytime.
Lets not forget context:
1. 4 police officers murdered a black man in plain sight
2. The entire world is asking for them to be arrested and charged
3. 1 of Tham has been arrested
4. The family of the murdered man are asking for peaceful protests to demand all 4 are charged
5. There have been peaceful protests all over the country, and in other countries too
6. A small element is using this to commit crimes.
7. The police are the accused here, and they are also recommending a curfew. – conflict of interest anybody?
8. The police are certainly sufficiently able to deal with crime without a curfew and we all support that.
9. Palo Alto…what are you thinking?
so our fearless leaders who have instituted SIP shutting down businesses, churches, restaurants , costing thousands of jobs in the name of “flattening the curve” have thrown their “support “behind the protestors who gather in the hundreds if not thousands breaking every SCC health rule
https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2020/06/02/palo-alto-leaders-condemn-police-brutality-vow-to-protect-demonstrators-as-protests-spread
but oh no now…. , we need to curfew because this has got out of control. un – friggin believable as they say in French
Use some common sense people. Yeah, it sucks that you can’t walk through downtown, but the police aren’t going to drive up to your neighborhood and arrest you if you’re on a walk.
To all the complainers here: ok, so you want to wait until all of the businesses are looted and it further cripples the economic struggle? Stop whining and realize that our public officials are dealing with a complicated situation here. What if you owned a business downtown? Would you want it to get looted because some Palo Alto whiner had to walk the dog?
Also, to those complaining about the shelter in place orders: would you rather that covid spread like wildfire? Sorry you had to watch Netflix and get doordash for a few
Months while your fellow citizens suffered. We are two working parents with a toddler,
So spare me your hardship complaints.
PAPD, City Manager Ed Shakida & Mayor Adrian Fine are under a guise of potential possible, maybe looting threat, are saying they need to shut the city down at 8:30 pm. People are actually out at 9pm still walking and running and cycling. The sun starts to set at 8:30 pm but it is not dark even by 9pm. That time between 8:30 pm to 9:00 pm is called CIVIL TWILIGHT
https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/usa/palo-alto
Civil twilight is a scientific term, and defined as “the period after sunset or before sunrise ending or beginning when the sun is about 6 degrees below the horizon and during which on clear days there is ENOUGH LIGHT for ORDINARY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES”
People are still walking and running and biking at 9pm in Palo Alto. Not sure who around here is going to bed at 8:30 pm but it’s not the active folks with dogs or pets or children or tech workers who have started to return to their work places this week.
From 9 to 9:30 is nautical twilight. Nautical twilight is the time when the center of the sun is between 6° and 12° below the horizon. During nautical twilight the illumination is such that the horizon and the brighter stars are usually visible at this time, making it possible to navigate at sea. … The Sun is below the horizon but its RAYS STILL LIGHT UP THE SKY.
So an active person and family, or with a dog or kids will be outdoors (especially as we’ve been sheltering in place and the heat), until around 9 or 9:30pm. The Palo Alto curfew starts at 8:30 pm. A full hour before it is fully dark in Palo Alto.
Our curfew runs 10 days. Menlo Park City and Redwood City only have 2 evenings of curfew. Staring THURSDAY of this week, they are free to roam again.
What’s so special about Palo Alto? It’s not the residents who demand it and worry about their lives being stampeded by looters. Hard to loot in neighborhoods where there isn’t much stores. Stanford Mall is located in one end of the city. University ave is located in another end of the city. Looters are not going to go running down Channing street, breaking windows. Nor will they go down Bryant street screaming and hurting folks.
What is it that city of Palo Alto really thinks needs protection? Apple? Stanford Mall?
Whose properties are the PAPD, Shakida and Fine really protecting.
2 day curfew is understandable. 10 day – where is the justification when neighboring cities don’t feel so threatened.
So folks go outside. Wait for 8:30 pm to hit tonight. Then wait 30 minutes for 9pm.
It will still be light outside at 9pm to run, walk, bike. Wait for 9:30 pm.
By the way, just to point out to those who find the curfew restricting their rights to protest, those restrictions have already been in place for months by Dame Sara Cody of SCC who even with Phase 2 is limiting gatherings to 25 people. So no additional restrictions by PA as far as I can see that limit protests. But I guess some people want to ignore restrictions you don’t like.
Palo Alto may be the worst run city in the entire country. We have no civil liberties here. A disgrace.
Good. Don’t be angry with city council members. Don’t compare our curfew to Redwood City. The Palo Alto gov’t are making difficult decision to profect citizens. Chill out.
Why 10 days when all the other cities/counties are just doing it for a couple days at a time? Because Sara Cody (a resident of old PA) was called a hero for implementing one of the earliest SIP orders, and even now is keeping us under the most stringent restrictions of any community in the country, while with one of the flattest curves in the country. So now the PA leaders are following that lead and putting us under this ridiculously long curfew, hoping to become the next Sara Codys.
So let’s say there is no curfew
People can go out for walks after 8:30, enjoy their cool evening breeze
Looters show up and start vandalism
Police officers have to go out in full force and risk their own lives ..
Stores will loose merchandise and will have to pay for fixing
Restaurants who are already hurting may have to fork up cash for fixing the vandalized property
And all this To …enable the law abiding citizens of this town to take their evening walk ?
I grew up during the cold war in Taiwan & the martial law was in place. Yet there was no curfew. i can’t believe i experience my first curfew in the Land of the Free!
This sounds like police officers misusing fear and safety to justify getting more overtime pay from tax payers. It’s always fishy when the people who happened to be the “solution” are the ones creating the problem.
Keeping ordinary citizens off the streets leaves others out on the roam.. We need normalcy not anarchy.
#BlackLivesMatter #freedomofspeech this appears to be over-reacting. We need a public hearing on this on Zoom tomorrow. This calls for community discussion not limiting fair protest.
Especially those without air conditioning. Walking at night is sane not sinister.
It is a lot easier to lock the sheep-pen than arresting wolves. Make sense totally!
TO POLICE & FIRE DEPARTMENTS: Looters and stolen items can be easily identified if the Fire Department adds Rit Purple Vegetable Dye to the water they spray the looters with. In Hong Kong they spray looters and stolen items with water that has blue dye in it, and it works great in identifying looters and stolen items.
J, you could email paloalto@tipnow.org to give the police a heads-up. There’s also a confidential tip form located here: https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/pol/report/confidential_tip.asp
I strongly urge you to alert the police; while peaceful protest is incredibly valuable, the riots hurt the cause and us all.
Keep a very close eye on your catalytic converter tonight.
Just read that Santa Clara and San Jose will be lifting their curfews.
Let’s see, the vast, diverse County of Los Angeles with more than 10 million people, which lived through the 1965 and 1992 race riots and has actually seen some real vandalism in the last few days, has implemented a curfew on a day-by-day basis. But tiny, elite, mostly white and definitely panicked Palo Alto and its apparently scared elected officials and police force implements a 10-day curfew without any supporting justification for the arbitrary length or any disclosure of allegedly covert intelligence to support it. What’s wrong with this picture?
Here’s a different idea: Instead of stifling residents out for an evening stroll in the third month of the “shelter in place” pandemic and dashing the dreams of struggling local restaurateurs who had hoped to begin providing outdoor table service two days from now, how about having our extremely well-paid Palo Alto police officers [average manager annual salary + benefits = $430,000; average line officer annual salary + benefits = $315,000; see p. 43 of 2021 Proposed City Budget on P.A. website] DO THE ACTUAL JOB FOR WHICH THEY ARE PAID by providing a surge presence in the evenings at the Stanford Shopping Center, University Ave, California Avenue, or other perceived target areas to discourage any ill-intended vandals and thieves? The Palo Alto Weekly Pulse compendium reports exactly nine “violent crimes” for the week of May 20-27, including five incidents of domestic/family violence and four robberies. What, exactly, do 88 line officers and 7 managers of our quite handsomely paid police department do with the rest of their 40-hour work week? Surely, a little on-the-street presence to protect local residents and businesses could be squeezed into their busy work days somewhere. If Palo Alto feels the need to use taxpayer money to protect the glass houses that Apple and Bloomingdales built, I’m sure city residents won’t begrudge you. But c’mon, do your job, rather than trying to empty the streets and threatening to charge law-abiding residents with a misdemeanor. And for everyone else locked down by our fearless Palo Alto leaders, perhaps tonight is the night to start reading “How Democracy Dies” by Steven Levitsky and Daniel Ziblatt. Hint: It isn’t by bloody coups, but by seemingly legal deprivations of freedom in the name of “law and order,” piled one atop the other. A
EXCESSIVE: people are reaching their boiling point, why increase the pressure ever further. The risk does not justify the measure, totally out of proportion! And 10 days, are you kidding me!!! At least you could start at 9:30 and give folks a chance to take a walk in their neighborhoods after work and after tems cool, I guess I will just be walking up and down my sidewalk like a crazy person. Please reconsider the time and the duration of the curfew!
I grew up in Palo Alto, but I now live in SoCal. I can’t believe all of you spoiled idiots are in such an uproar about a 10 day anything!! Get over it. The damage done down here by looters has been unbelievable. It’s going to take way more than 10 days for the cities that have been marred by violent mobs to recover! Many small business owners who were barely holding on due to COVID have now had their establishments burned to the ground. So you have to give up your late night walk for a few days? If it prevents this kind of destruction, you should get down in your knees and thank God!! I love Palo Alto and I don’t want to see it destroyed by violence. Apparently you don’t care.
I think the death of George Floyd was a tragedy. But the looting and violence that I am seeing throughout the US is NOT the solution and never will be. This kind of criminal activity does nothing to honor Floyd’s name or bring the kind of changes that are needed in our society.
While the people of Palo Alto have been reveling in their eliteness, they have not realized that the US is descending/had descended to 3rd world status.
They don’t seem to realize that there is not an impenetrable border around Palo Alto and that they are not insulated from the REAL world.
Time for Palo Alto to get REAL.
It’s amazing how little value people seem to put in basic democratic principles, and how fast they accept dictatorial rule. This is senselss, like the whole response to COVID-19, and it’s draconian measures that have nothing to do with actually solving anything. If you think this is even close to acceptable, I urge you to consider what you think you would have done if you had lived in Germany in the 1930’s.
This is pure insanity, and I’m disgusted by it.
Meredith, that’s such a bizarre comment from someone who doesn’t live here anymore. The “spoiled idiots” of Palo Alto should fund their services enough that the city can shut off streets around locations that are targets for looters without becoming a police state.
By implication Menlo Park and Redwood City are going to be smoldering wrecks because they only put in place a *reasonable* two day curfews (which, given justification I am sure San Mateo could extend if absolutely necessary).
Throwing in my two cents here: this is effing stupid.
We’ve been diligently staying in our little boxes for 3 months now. It’s now a misdemeanor for me to get what barely passes for exercise once it finally cools off enough?
Curfews go against freedoms we enjoy as Americans. “Preventative measures” is not enough of a reason to take our liberties by imposing a 10 day curfew. Let people protest, let people do what they want. Until you know for a fact something is imminent. We pay police well in PA to protect our freedoms and livelihoods. Not to take away one or the other.
Please write not just here but to City Council to voice your concerns. If we don’t speak up, we are implicitly accepting this action.
city.council@cityofpaloalto.org
With so many looting and violence going on across the Bay Area, I feel that my personal safety and property are endangered. The City of Palo Alto did the right thing to enforce a curfew.
That’s the right move! I understand that some people would be upset of not being able to walk at night. However, compared to safety, that’s just a small comprose.
Also, all the “antifa” comments on here… turn off Fox Brainwashing please. If you’ve ever actually been at a protest you’d know this is a complete red herring. Right wing domestic terrorism is the actual threat, recognized by our FBI. Anti-fascism is something I would hope every one of us supports. “Antifa” are your sons and daughters. They come to white supremacy rallies to counter protest and support equality for minorities and the underrepresented. They are not the anarchists who show up to every protest to cause property damage. Get it straight.
It’s one thing to ask us to shelter in place to protect each other from disease. It’s quite another to lock us in to protect Stanford Mall from looters.
I will not comply with this fascist curfew. What do I have to do after 8:30 that’s so important? — Exercise my Constitutional freedoms.
Unconstitutional lockdowns deprived disadvantaged groups of their ability to pursue a livelihood or have any prospects with no end in sight, and deprived them even of social support or distraction. It was predictable that some event would set off an explosion of riots.
Freedom matters. I am very glad to see people setting aside the twee “stayhomesavelives” nonsense to gather and protest. The violence and rioting are horrifying, but that was a predictable consequence of oppressive lockdowns.
Don’t comply.
Gnar, that has to be one of the stupidest things I’ve ever read here on Palo Alto Online, ever.
Meredith, well here in PA, unlike SoCal, we haven’t had any looting. What we’ve had here is only too much overreaction, both in the COVID thing and this curfew. And we are fed up with it.
The first amendment grants us the freedom.to assemble. Violating that right comes with a heavy burden on authorities to show that there is a threat to the community that is equal.or greater to our constitutional rights. None of the justifications offered by the city manager justify this. If they think stores at the.mall.will be robbed they should put up barriers and police the mall, not lock.up everyone in their homes. Why is an extreme military response the first response? Why is everyone suspect? Why are people in Palo Alto suspect until June 11? The citizens of this city have a right to assemble, we are asked to social distance and the majority comply. We have the right to peaceful.protest and again, the majority comply. We have a constitutional.right to move freely. Why is this right being violated?
All it takes it 1 or 2 sentences to the City Council. Tell them to undo the lockdowns. If you want to add a second sentence, tell them you’ll vote them out if they don’t.
city.council@cityofpaloalto.org
The curfew is only as serious as you take it. I went walking for the last hour. It is a beautiful evening. No trying to make a point but it was too hot to walk earlier.
A ten-day curfew is excessive. That said…
Occupy Michigan goons: “My rights!”
PA residents: “My rights!”
Anyone find it ironic that the city of San Jose — which had real — not possible — problems, has already cleaned up much of the city and lifting their curfew of just a few days EARLY?
Will the PA police be getting overtime during this 10-dau curfew and how much will it cost?
Apple stores and Stanford Shopping Center have both been robbed multiple for many years, often several ti,es a year. How much are they paying Palo Alto for protection? And why haven’t they beefed up their own security yo prevent thieves from drives vehicles through their big glass entries and windows?
Glad to hear that City officials are taking a proactive approach. With the looting and people setting fires in Walnut Creek, SF, San Leandro etc. it is about time something is done about this situation. People should be able to protest but all the people who are using this as an excuse to loot should be stopped. So glad to hear that Menlo Park police were able to stop the looters on their way to Stanford. Would hate to see more beautiful cities destroyed in the name of a good cause.
There were people organizing via Twitter, FB etc to hit malls and private residencies and glad that the city is taking things seriously.
The curfew is profoundly misguided and damaging to our community.
Locked in our homes, we all witnessed first-hand the horrifying murders of dozens of Black and brown men and women at the hands of the Police.
It was not looters or protestors who killed George Floyd. It was an armed police officer who killed him in plain sight of millions of people. It was not looters or protestors who shot emergency room technician Breonna Taylor 8 times in the chest, killing her without warning in her own home. It was not looters or protestors who murdered Ahmaud Arbery while taking a run in a residential neighborhood that looks a lot like Palo Alto.
It is hard to imagine a more tone-deaf and callous response to protests against the terrorizing force of police brutality than to disempower and isolate everyone other than the police. Having to explain this can make a person wonder if we in Palo Alto are immune from these very problems.
I do not think that this is the way that a community that values inclusivity and civil rights behaves. Although I fully believe that our city leadership agrees that Black Lives Matter, I cannot find much evidence of that belief in the decisions it made today.
Maybe police are concerned for safety of local residents. Based on tips/ intelligence from other law enforcement agencies, there may be reason to believe various shopping districts will be targeted for looting *and then the looters will do high-speed getaways to local freeways. The public could be injured by high-speed chases.
Based on recent major Walnut Creek shopping center smash/grabs, and some of those who did it then stopped while just approaching Stanford shopping center, there may be basis in belief this will be tried again. Look, I rarely shop at high end Stanford myself, but I don’t want the place looted or trashed. I don’t want ANY commercial avenue looted by criminals, either.
Also, pharmacies have been targeted….for their pharmacies, to steal drugs, specifically. See: Chicago. This is real, folks.
PEOPLE IN PALO ALTO ARE WAY TOO NICE TO LET THIS CITY MAKE PEOPLE LIVE LIKE UNDER DICTATURE!!! SEEMS LIKE THE VIRUS AND THE PROTEST ARE MORE DANGEROUS ONLY IN PALO ALTO. KEEP DESTROYING THE ECONOMY, THE SCHOOLS, AND THE YOUTH WITH THIS NONSENSE. OPEN THE COUNTRY OPEN THE CITY!!! FREEDOM !!!!
From 6:00pm NBC local news tonight, a young black male was arrested last night and release today. He claimed that he was just out to get something to eat, and Oakland PD arrested him because it’s the curfew time.
Then, he mentioned that the cops found a loaded gun in his car. Had Oakland not en-activate curfew, more likely, this guy will rob & hurt someone out there.
Ed Shikada, who is presumably of Japanese ancestry given his name, should be acutely aware that curfews have only ever served to oppress the marginalized, including Japanese-Americans in the Bay Area during World War II. These current curfews serve absolutely no purpose, and will only incite bad behavior.
I wish the same solicitude offered these businesses would be shown seniors and other vulnerable people who’ll need to get out of the heat in coming days. No cooling centers. No movie theaters. No mall. No pool. No library. And now, no going outdoors after 8:30, just as it starts to cool down. I’d love it if the Apple Store cranked up its air conditioning and let seniors cool down there, just in gratitude for the protection they’ll be getting from Shikada and crew.
Joe,
You are a racist bigot. The fact that the young African-American male had a loaded gun does not lead to the conclusion that he would have robbed or killed ANYONE. Silence yourself!
School parades in the evening? What are thoughts?
On the news today it said that the sale of guns has skyrocketed. And a lot of women are buying guns. People are freaking out. People are truly concerned for their own safety.
I grew up in LA in the area where they are marching – that is Mr. Schiff’s congressional district. It is every bit as nice as PA.
As to Antifa – I was watching as they were marching around UC Berkley. And footage of them up in Portland. They were in an area that was close to where my brother’s business is located downtown. If my daughter or son was doing the damage they do I would be disgusted. The footage of their activities has been on all of the news channels.
San Mateo County with Redwood City and Menlo Park City has a 2 evening curfew that ends tomorrow.
Los Altos city has a curfew between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. for only 7 days for juveniles. This does not prohibit juveniles from traveling in vehicles to a specific destination, but does prohibit loitering and being out without a specific purpose.
That’s reasonable.
Have a dog and need to walk it? It’s permissible in Los Altos.
Have children and teens who need a family walk in the evenings? Yes in Los Altos city.
A tech worker who works late till 8:30pm and exercises late in the evening? Yes you can in Los Altos.
What makes Palo Alto so special that PAPD and Ed Shakida and Adrian Fine think we are incredibly highly at risk in our residential neighborhoods that there is a blanket curfew on everyone starting at 8:30 pm for 10 days?
What businesses are we protecting? The Apple stores that don’t pay taxes to our city coffers? The Stanford Mall that also doesn’t pay business taxes?
We’re so scared the looters will come to Palo Alto, even though Los Altos has no curfew unless you’re a JUVENILE and it’s past 11pm and loitering.
Who is making these decisions? Who decided on 10 days? Who decided 8:30 pm? Who decided EVERYONE (not just juveniles?)
Remember this at voting time. Remember which city councilor backed Ed Shakida & PAPD’s position to pass a 10 day curfew on EVERYONE across the board starting at 8:30 pm.
Please contact the PA Cinty Council about this. city.council@cityofpaloalto.org.
The decision was made by the City Manager Mr Ed Shikada. There were serous threats about looting in the commercial areas.
CC will meet on Sunday to reevaluate the duration and with some serious pressure it could be lifted by Monday.
The 10 day duration seems like a misguided one person decision that shold not color general PA governance, at least on this specific instance, pl speak up directly to CC.
Something is backwards when every decision coming out of City Manager’s Shakida’s office is not a workable decision and he is unable to manage a situation with common sense. We already know the budget fiasco the city manager proposed, which certain CC fully supported.
Seems city managers in Menlo Park and Redwood city and Los Altos City didn’t come out with a 10 day curfew affecting every single person starting at 8:30 pm.
The system seems broken if Palo Alto City manager working with PAPD and with City mayor, agree to an 8:30 pm 10 day curfew for all 66,292 Palo Alto residents, while just a city street over in Los Altos, they only have a curfew starting at 11 pm for loitering juveniles, and then on the other side of our city, one street over, in Atherton, Menlo Park and Redwood City their curfew ends Wednesday June 3 this evening.
System is broken if Palo Alto residents have to show up in force to a CC meeting and beg CC to fix an error they should have gotten correct from the beginning.
And in the end, a curfew that starts Tuesday of this week and ends on Monday of next week only after pleading with CC? Evidence that something is not working.
Menlo Park, Atherton, Redwood city, Los Altos – all reasonable curfews.
Doesn’t seem Mountain View even has a curfew.
What’s so dangerous just about city of Palo Alto?
Or did Shakida and PAPD and Mayor Fine get this all wrong?
looters and rioters should be limited to 10 per store in order to maintain social distancing. as a progressive liberal looters have rights too and should be allowed to vent their frustrations, within a few weeks after downtown palo alto is left in cinders we can build again. power to the people burn baby burn!!! justice for what was his name again? oh yea floyd something or other. really like my new jordans. the people united will never be defeated and the chickens have come home to roost whatever!!!
We will survive the curfew. Not sure we will survive this president.
It is conceivable that the city wanted to act quickly and responsibly. A curfew should be a last resort tool and a city-wide curfew should be justified because it severely affects constitutional rights. Moreover, the duration of a curfew should be considered based on efficiency and adjusted as conditions approve.
I hope that city leaders will come to the conclusion that the countrywide curfews are working and that looting and unlawful behavior subsides. Based on data, I would expect that city leaders will adjust the parameters of the curfew: a) perhaps restricting it to the areas that truly need special protection and b) the length of the curfew. Categorically sticking to the initial decision and mandate will very likely not make sense because Palo Altans will question the rationale for a continued city-wide curfew.
So perhaps an announcement from the city that they will re-assess all data and that they might change the mandate would help to restore some peace among all.
Fine, Shikada, and Trump all have to go.
Even the hard hit Sheriff of Alameda is quoted as saying, in part, “You can’t tell us when and where we get to exercise our Constitutional rights, all you are going to do is have people come in waves to fight the curfew”
I am angry.
A national guard plane just went over my house barely clearing the trees. 7:30 AM. And that set the squirrels off sounding the alarms that a large bird is overhead. And someone’s dog is moaning away. So let’s start this day.
Posted by ReallyLiveHere, a resident of Fairmeadow
>> here’s a list of things which demonstrably work to limit police violence:
>> https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1180655701271732224.html
I particularly note item 8 regarding the mentally ill. I would like to see more research/studies about this approach, which might even reduce incidents with the non-mentally-ill.
Regardless, thanks for the link.
@Resident 1- “A national guard plane just went over my house barely clearing the trees.”
Just barely clearing the trees!? I doubt it, I live nearby and nether did I hear or see such a low flying aircraft. If any aircraft was flying so low, many residents would have noted it and reported it.
Please don’t spread inaccurate reports. Thank you.
You would think we are living in a communist country, like China, given how this site censors any non-liberal views.
The “officials” have officially lost their marbles on this one. Completely lacking common sense.
2 days of a curfew would be somewhat acceptable. Declaring 10 days is just downright lazy decision making. Why not declare 2 days, and extend if deemed necessary? These politicians are so out of touch – you can see by the sheer number of comments condemning this decision will have consequences at election time. Good riddance!
Price we pay for living in the most desirable city on the planet.
Such an overreaction. I think the shelter in place has made government officials overly complacent with the idea of ordering people into their homes out of safety concerns. But they aren’t supposed to impose drastic restrictions on the most fundamental of our constitutional liberties, the freedom to leave your own house, out of an abundance of caution or preventatively or whatever their reasoning is. Don’t they have lawyers advising them? Restrictions have to be narrowly tailored, i.e. proven necessary, and that no lesser restriction could suffice — and I don’t see how they could possibly justify 10 days if they were challenged. Hopefully they will pull back as it becomes clear that it’s overreach.
Also, just on a PR note, don’t they communicate with our neighboring cities? I don’t think they’d be getting backlash if they imposed a 2-day curfew in line with the surrounding areas. They could always extend if it looked like there was actual danger.
Punish a the whole city of 70,000++ for the actions (or potential actions) of a few dozen lawless people. Makes sense to me. If we can only save one life (or one dollar of merchandise stolen) then its worth it. Kinda like punishing all gun owners with restrictive laws just because of a few dozen lawless people.
Do we need to present our papers in order to travel to the free zone of Mountain View to get some exercise? Asking for a friend…
I don’t know what else I expected from the city that thinks it makes sense for all roads everywhere to have a 25 mph speed limit.
For “potential” threats, we’re getting a much longer curfew than all other cities who faced ACTUAL threats and are already cleaning up and ending their curfews.
There’s more here here than the usual “virtue signalling” and answers on why they think this over-the-top move is justified would be special.
Are they trying to kill the restaurant recovery before it even starts?
This curfew, along with many in this country, is clearly Unconstitutional as defined by earlier Supreme Court precedents.
What we are seeing right now is many local government officials, who probably never passed a high school civics class, acting in monkey-see-monkey-do unison to quickly erode our Constitutional freedoms.
This started with the pandemic. The absence of solid leadership from the federal government put the impetus on local officials to protect their constituents.
Many of the decisions made then, such as the closing of churches, would have our country’s founders rolling in their graves.
If people accept these breeches of the Constitution by our trusted authorities, without question, then we are one step closer to the end of the republic.
Look, it is without question that a totalitarian regime like China has advantages when dealing with a major catastrophe. But the added safety is not worth the costs that come with it. Those who would trade liberty for a tiny bit of safety deserve neither.
Now is not the time for impulses of anarchy, as that ultimately plays into the narrative that the government is justified in taking away our rights.
Rather, I will wait patiently, and hope the courts give our government officials the spankings they deserve.
The Nanny State in action!
We need the police.
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/black-lives-matter-founder-calls-defunding-police-departments-1296809
Oh, stop being such a bunch a whiney babies. Go out in your backyards after 8:30 p.m. and before 5 a.m.
If I am in Mountain View or Los Altos until 930pm, how do I get home?
@Green Gables – many people don’t have backyards.
The curfew order says that criminal activity in the city “is imminent”. So why 10 days of curfew? Why does a city that experienced peaceful protests have the longest curfew in the country. Not even Minneapolis has a curfew this long.
Posted by Gnar, a resident of Charleston Meadows
>> I don’t know what else I expected from the city that thinks it makes sense for all roads everywhere to have a 25 mph speed limit.
Completely off topic. But, since you asked, ECR, Oregon, Alma, et al. are 35 mph, refuting your statement. Palo Alto has allowed the 25 mph limit for residential and downtown streets, in conformance with California Vehicle Code since forever. I guess you want some residential streets upgraded to expressways? I don’t.
Do we know who is calling the shots in PA? If you look at the past 3 months it seems like the only people visible tend to be unelected administrative folks. Where are the elected leaders hiding? Are you looking to see which way the wind blows before you support something? Same with this curfew; who is in charge where is the city council? Where are the county supervisors? I am use to seeing Joe Simitian non stop.. where is he now.. Crickets..
I agree that the curfew should be applied only to the business areas and malls and police protection focused there. Then as the organized looters, thieves, and thugs approach, the police can redirect them to the residential areas where they are free to stroll undisturbed and the residents are eager to open their homes to comfort and shelter such oppressed masses.
Governments lose their legitimacy when their exercise of power tramples on the rights of their citizens out of all proportion to the threat posed. To wit: the killing of an unarmed, handcuffed man for allegedly passing a fake $20 bill. Or the use of martial law tactics against the entire citizenry for days on end in response to a supposed “threat” against a very small part of the city.
Ladies and gentlemen – this seems political and, in one sense it is. If you’re out in your neighborhood walking with your kids or your dog you are not going to be busted for “busting” the curfew. That’s not what the law / curfew is designed for.
But it DOES give the police the power to stop and detain suspicious folks in the wrong place. You might think it’s a Constitutional Free-for-All but, as a former San Jose Police Officer, I can assure you that it’s not going to be a “snatch and jail everyone.”
The most an officer might do is REMIND you that there is a curfew.
Downtown North, I’ve not taken any polls on those who do not have backyards. Even apartment buildings have open space, decks, garages, swimming pools.
@ James Thurber: As a “former San Jose police officer”, you are advising people to ignore the curfew? If there is a chase and an innocent person is hurt, won’t the public blame the police for not being careful enough? The streets should be clear. Tired of the whiners, they should just clean their houses, nobody’s house is immaculate. Plan ahead, all activities can be accomplished before the curfew. The dog walkers prefer night time so they can allow their dogs to trespass onto private property and defecate without anyone seeing them. That’s the only reason to walk at night. Heat can be avoided by walking at 6am.
I am sharing a story that is true. My cousin’s best friend, a retired superintendent of a school in the Basque region of France, had her family home taken over by the Nazis as they resided in Occupied France near the Atlantic. Her name is Annie. My great-grandfather’s house was also occupied by the Nazis. When Annie’s brother was late coming back to the home he was shot dead in the foyer of his own house by the Nazi because he did not make the curfew.
I do not think that ten days is appropriate. We are obviously not under a fascist regime — yet. I agree with other posters who cite Redwood City with a two-day curfew. Ten days is excessive.
Too many of you conflate legitimate protest with looting. They are nothing alike. People of all races are doing both. Presuming you know the motives of decision makers is silly. Of course looting is not ok. A city wide curfew is overreach and not necessary. Protect commercial areas. Residential areas are no less safe than usual. It is easier to respect and obey authority when it makes sense.
As others have noted, this smacks of laziness or incompetence. If the worry is commercial looting, why not restrict it to business areas like U Ave, California, or even El Camino? If the worry is planned protests being hijacked, why not restrict it to the days/locations of the protests? Neighboring cities have enacted reasonable 2-day curfews — what explains Palo Alto’s overreach without providing any justification for that 10 day length?
Palo Alto City Manager Shikada’s number is (650) 329-2280. I called and made my opinion known – you should as well. City Council members should also hear from you — they are supposed to exercise oversight, not just be rubber stamps.
PS – Mayor Fine quickly responded to my phone call and described continually (but unsuccessfully) pushing back against the City Manager’s 10-day period in favor of 2 days. It seems like Palo Alto Online got a different story; I hope the one I received is the correct one.
Palo Alto residents are getting a long overdue object lesson on the authoritarian left.
First they redeveloped Ross without the consent of local residents, but I didn’t care because I didn’t live on Ross Road. Then they banned gas in all new building, but I did care because I didn’t live in a new building. Then the put a 10 day curfew on ALL Palo Alto residents…
^ channeling Martin Niemöller?
San Francisco has canceled its curfew after tonight.
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/San-Francisco-to-end-nightly-curfew-after-15314823.php?utm_campaign=premiumsfgate_breakingnews_20200603&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email
This curfew is a severe and historic act by the city requiring that its actions be well thought and carefully crafted. The public is right to question if those thresholds have been met.
While the threats of organized vandalism and threats should be taken at face value, there are several serious questions about how this curfew was enacted, and how well it meets legal requirements.
First, the curfew was based on the March 12 COVID-19 city Declaration of Emergency, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/blobdload.aspx?t=73484.26&BlobID=75777. It is not clear whether that declaration can be used as an umbrella for a curfew not related to the COVID emergency. Chapter 2.12 of the City Charter, http://library.amlegal.com/nxt/gateway.dll/California/paloalto_ca/paloaltomunicipalcode?f=templates$fn=default.htm$3.0$vid=amlegal:paloalto_ca, allows rules and regulations on matters reasonably related to the protection of life and property “as affected by such emergency“. In contrast, San Mateo County felt obligated to declare a separate emergency based on the current civil unrest.
Second, curfews are required to balance carefully constitutionally guaranteed civil liberties against needs to protect lives and property, https://www.cacities.org/getattachment/8e773c5a-08e2-452a-a58b-0d071cb75dc0/LR-LowellHndbk.aspx and https://www.caloes.ca.gov/PlanningPreparednessSite/Documents/Legal%20Guidelines%20for%20Controlling%20Movement%20People%20Property%20(FEAT%20doc).pdf. A “reasonableness” standard for curfews has been well established in the courts over decades. Courts have determined that “Freedom of movement is a fundamental right and may be restricted only under extraordinary circumstances, and when necessary to further a compelling state interest, and that laws imposing curfews must be narrowly drawn, directed towards the particular circumstances of the crisis situation.
In the current case, the Declaration asserts a threat of serious escalation of organized vandalism and theft in limited retail commercial areas of the city. In response, the city enacted a citywide curfew that affected all residential and other commercial areas.
The city also made its curfew for 10-days, even though other nearby jurisdictions either did not enact a curfew or limited theirs to a couple of days. Some of those jurisdictions had actual civil unrest and looting.
Mondo, thanks for posting Shikada’s number. I called and left a message along with my name and phone number. I’m not sure I would trust Fine here since he is clearly a friend of developers more than residents. Let’s see him make a public announcement that he came out against the curfew. Let’s see -every- council member do the same. Preferably today.
I’d like to add that if anyone is planning a march against the curfew, I’m in – even though I’m not a night person and it would be easy for me to watch TV and Ignore this Trump-like behavior.
Someone asked if “Don’t they have lawyers advising them? “
Perhaps the city lawyer was on her day off given 80/9 city employee perk. They work “80 hours” (wink wink) for only 9 business days. 80 hours means 7:30 clocking in and clocking out at 5:30 pm.
Would love to see city hall churning away at 7:30 am and starting to close down at 5:30 pm. Have you seen that?
Mountain View doesn’t have a curfew. How did Castro street businesses survive the “imminent” looting last night? Any windows broken with looters running off with restaurant furniture?
Los Altos only has an 11pm curfew for teenagers loitering. Juveniles.
Basically Los Altos also doesn’t have a curfew either.
Even cities in the Bay are with looting did not impose a 10 day curfew.
What makes us so exceptional in looting threat that we require a 10 day curfew?
Lee, your allusion to that poem about rights being taken away is clever but misguided. You are so jaded you have become pathetically misinformed. These are not the topics of this thread but both the Ross Road improvements and the ban on new gas appliances and equipment were done with full public input and meetings. And neither of these acts affect our civil rights like an unnecessary and illegal curfew does. If you think the City makes bad decisions maybe you should get involved.
@Pat Burt Wow, I didn’t even think about the justification for the order — I can’t believe they are using the COVID declaration of emergency to impose a curfew related to something else. I realize that in all likelihood this will all resolve itself and the motivations are benign, even if the execution is lazy and overreaching. But this is starting to feel like a big gotcha psychology experiment testing how far Americans will let their government go to restrict their freedom in the name of “safety” without protest.
This feels overly restrictive and opaque. Where was the community input? Contacts for the city manager’s office are here; https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/depts/mgr/team/default.asp.
Call the people responsible and let them know how you feel!
Ed Shikada – (650) 329-2280
Roger,
Ross was obviously not done with any kind of full input as evidenced by the massive number of complaints the project generated! You, and the CC, seem to think that if they have a late night meeting, packed with, say, adult bicyclists, that they have done everything needful to call in the contractors. Ross, Charleston, and developer giveaways are largely done behind the scenes under color of council meetings not witnessed by most residents.
Perhaps the City could post electronic signs along the major thoroughfares announcing the curfew.
The City’s order came too late to change our delivery times. We had two young gentlemen delivering after 9PM in their personal vehicles and they were unaware of the curfew. Hope the got home safely.
Rick, you have obviously never been involved in a Palo Alto design review; they go on forever, many meetings, with great detail, a lot of public input, and at normal day and evening times, no late nights. If you and others don’t show up and express your opinions but want to instead sit at home and complain when the project does not include your ideas, that is your right. Just like it is our right to travel without unreasonable restrictions.
This is an absolutely outrageous and cowardly reaction to the demonstrations across the Bay Area and the rest of the country. There is no justification for such an extraordinary order, and putting it into place haphazardly out of an unsupported “abundance of caution” further hurts local businesses that only recently have begun to ease back into some curbside/delivery activity during the coronavirus pandemic.
Full moon Friday. Almost full this warm evening. Idyllic environment we have.
Here is a view from an Africa America female, probable in better position than many here,
https: //youtu.be/qbC8uF27yWc.
What a bunch of whiners. My hope is that all of you who so often come on this site and complain about Palo Alto will be so disgusted with this curfew that you’ll just leave. Go. We know, you hate it here, you hate our local government, you hate everything about the horrible, spoiled people that live here, you hate Stanford, blah, blah, blah. Please. Just. Go. Find another place where you don’t have to be inconvenienced by losing a couple hours a day for a few days while the rest of the country is burning. Bonus: You won’t have to be embarrassed to live here anymore. Don’t let the door hit you on your way out. (Apparently, Redwood City, Mountain View, San Jose, and Taiwan are fabulous this time of year.)
But we want to hear back from you when you actually need the police for some reason. God bless them. (No, I don’t think they’re all perfect, but I think the vast majority of them are good people and try to do the right thing.)
@ReallyLiveHere, Love the link you included in your post. Those points make such great sense. Pardon my naivety, but why aren’t all police departments following those guidelines? I know it takes a while to implement things, but is this something we can hope that other PDs will be doing?
@ Michele Dauber, Really? As far as I’m concerned, your credibility is already shot and you are a lot more dangerous to our community and freedoms than our police department. Don’t really care about your opinion. I hope you never need them, but I also hope you’re smart enough to change your mind and attitude about the PAPD someday.
@RP, Hear hear.
I plan to walk tonight in violation of the curfew and to protest racism. I hope to see many of you out and about after 8:30 pm when it will finally be cool enough to walk. Of course, no violence, no looting, just peace.
We deserve to know more information about which places, where and expected timing we expect threats to be executed, before we give up our liberties and freedoms. We need to know why 10 days is chosen, and proof that we have to give up our freedoms for one and a half weeks.
“The City Manager and the Police Chief will evaluate the status of the curfew tomorrow, June 4 and hope to remove the curfew, if circumstances warrant as of June 4.” https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/news/displaynews.asp?NewsID=4910
@wander3r, so anyone and everyone who criticizes anything should just leave rather than try to fix things before bad things (pick your issue(s)) occur?? How nuanced and constructive.
Hmmm, sounds familiar. I wonder where I could have heard that type of indiscriminate condemnation of fellow citizens.
As for calling the police, many of us have. Some of us and some of our friends and neighbors have first-hand knowledge of bad, threatening, disproportionate, racist and/or indifferent behavior on the part of Palo Alto police and Stanford’s flawed response to the campus rapes.
So someone is saying that I did not see a plane and am reporting bad information. Excuse me – was this person outside at 7:30 AM? Yes there was a plane from Moffatt Field – that is where the National Guard is located. Does it not occur to people that we also have helicopters that have been cruising the territory. If I said there is a plane then there was a plane. period.
I am blown away by this announcement. Our city officials have lost their minds. First, shelter-in-place indefinitely. Now, they’ve imposed a military state style nighttime curfew. This is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard. I can promise you that I will vote for anyone other than our current council members if they do not rescind this immediately.
Send in the clowwwwwwwnnns.
Whine, whine, whine. The mutiny of the bountiful
Gadzooks! This latest example of government perfidy harkens back to the summer of 1872. Or was it ’73? Who can ever recall these years precisely?
Anyway, what I can most indistputably recall is how our local officials, some duly elected and sworn in with hand on bible, chose to slow down the wagon trains coming hither and yon from San Francisco to San Jose. Let me tell testify, these dratted licksplitters caused such a frightful mess and confusion! Thunderation!
It was nearly impossible to go to and fro… our supplies of squirrel oil and deer antler talcum suffered miserably… and therewith spawned an ugly situation in which well-musketed hooligans drove their hatch ponies up and down the turnpike at breakneck speed, at all times of the day and night.
O, it was indeed a trying time for all! I can remember hearing my dearest Jane, in the wee hours of the morning, sobbing woefully into her victory quilt.
Dear leaders of today: please heed these words of wisdom and let freedom ring again throughout our glorious Sequoia Valley!
@Online Name, I said no such thing. I didn’t say or even imply that “anyone and everyone who criticizes anything should leave” and I don’t appreciate your accusing me of that. But you have inadvertently made an excellent and timely point: You object to those who indiscriminately condemn fellow citizens—and rightly so—but you did that exact thing to me. As you said, “how nuanced and constructive.” Choosing not to condemn indiscriminately has been, I believe, the point of the events of the past week+, no?
If you are at this site very often then you know about the constant kvetching of people in this area. I am frankly tired of it. I’m tired of people not feeling grateful for what they have. I’m tired of people who complain and don’t actually try to fix anything. I’m tired of people blaming others who are not at fault. I’m not the bad guy because I’m tired of people whining so often when they are surrounded by so much good.
I doubt there is one person who actually likes having a curfew. I certainly don’t want one; I never even had one as a teenager. But it’s a minor inconvenience at most and not the end of all of our freedoms. We’re talking about a couple or few hours that we’d be awake during this time (most of us). And I get that it’s the principle. I’m merely asking for a bit of perspective.
Freedom of movement and freedom of association are rights acknowledged by our Constitution. You don’t have to have any other reason to go out for a walk and meet friends peacefully. Those of you complaining about “whiners” are mindless followers of authority.
t’s really crappy that the City is using the covid lockdown as an indefinite excuse to do whatever they happen to feel like doing. The lack of any defined end to the lockdowns and the unreasonable length of the curfew have to be un-Constitutional and it is certainly politically motivated. I wonder where the lawyers are? Maybe there’s no money in a challenge?
Vote the City council out!
I’ve never heard so much whining in my life! What a bunch of spoiled brats complaining about nothing. Listen to that former San Jose police officer; nothing is going to happen to you if you take a walk around the block. Just shut up. Doesn’t seem like you have watched any news about the awful things happening in this country. I just happen to LOVE the way the police are protecting my Palo Alto community! Thank you PAPD! The reason we have more of a curfew than neighboring communities is because Palo Alto is much more well-known for the wealthy people and businesses so we deserve more protection. I am in favor of all the protection our city is willing to provide. Haven’t you seen on tv the looting and the fires being set? What makes you think it cannot or will not happen here the minute we let up the guard? I am quite sure the police have more Info than you do!! Do you think they are going to publish the info they get? C’mon, you will live, you spoiled brats! Quiet down; you sound like a bunch of two-year olds having a tantrum. Why don’t you lie on the floor and kick your feet and think you will then get your way.
THANK YOU, PAPD! I appreciate what you are doing! Ignore the cry-babies. I have lived here 55 years and never heard these residents kick up such a stupid storm about having to stay in after dark for a bit over a week. You poor, poor honeys!
Don’t comply. This is police overreach. Fine will be voted out next election.
If you are afraid looters are going to go house-to-house in, say, Barron Park, tonight I suggest a hotel in Manteca until you feel safe again.
Those who give up their freedom for security, etc. etc.
Let’s just be honest. City leaders are afraid of our neighbors in East Palo Alto. That is why the curfew was imposed.
Roger,
What I’m saying is that the process for approving projects like Ross and Charleston/Arastradero is flawed. Ross was stopped, thought the city has failed to go back and clean up the already built mess, because there was a huge outcry. Thousands of people signed a petition.
That tells me the process is flawed. Do you expect 66,000 people to show up to council meetings to monitor them for stupidity and overreach? For a project like Ross i expect mail to go out to everyone on that street, and several blocks around, describing -exactly- what is going to be done. Then you can rightfully say that people aware. I know for a fact that people from the pedestrian and bicycle group were in these message boards blatantly kying about the Ross/Charleston circle. The council serves US, not the other way around.
Posted by wander3r, a resident of Community Center
>> If you are at this site very often then you know about the constant kvetching of people in this area. I am frankly tired of it.
wander3r, please, no offense, but, 73.6% of all english-language humor is irony-based.
A man frequently walks into a social-media bar, hears constant kvetching, and then complains about it …
@wander3r, How’s that boot taste? You like putting down your fellow citizens and licking authority while they take away your rights? Sad honestly that people like you truly exist
Rick of Adobe-Meadow,
I will admit that I don’t know the details of the Ross Road bicycle project, but I do know the City process and have been involved in several community projects and I can’t imagine a more inclusive process, so maybe the process got seriously messed up for Ross Road. But, what set me off was your accusations of the City trying to push through this project with late night meetings, favoring bicyclists, and developer giveaways done behind the scenes under color of council meetings not witnessed by most residents. I tend to have a low tolerance for exaggeration during discussions. Have a good day and now we can walk anytime without fear of being arrested.
Roger, the city’s failure to notify Middlefield Road residents of their plan to ban parking to make way for a bike lane was fortunately caught by an alert resident who went door-to-door notifying us. Several hundred angry residents showed up at a meeting and managed to torpedo the plan.
For years the city and its “process” been called out for lousy or non-existent outreach. When residents complain their concerns were ignored or, like Ross Road, the changes did indeed prove unsafe with 3,000 signing a petition to that effect, the city HIRED a consultant to tell residents they were wrong.