I hope the top priority will be for Palo Alto residents' needs. We are the ones paying and we should be the first criteria.

Saying that, what is the breakdown now for Foothills Preserve? Does the income generated cover the extra expenses? Will the bathrooms be repaired?

When discussing the business tax, CC references Palo Alto's daytime population. Pre-Covid, it was my understanding that, roughly speaking, our population doubled during the day. It makes sense that businesses should contribute to PA infrastructure and services; they should have been doing so all along, but we didn't go that route.

Q: does the daytime population in neighboring cities that have a business tax swell as ours does? If yes, why not look at those cities that have successfully implemented a business tax and model ours after that? I don't understand why this is so difficult for Palo Alto. Nor do I understand the resistance to putting a specific tax on the ballot. More yes votes are needed to pass a specific, binding tax, but I think CC may be underestimating the percentage of lost votes if CC goes through with the plan to make it a general tax. The needs for the revenue are specific (and will outlast all of us); the tax should be specific, too.

So...a budget is approved. But the "Art" Commission can't cough up funds to repair our much beloved Poetry Wall in Midtown. The artist who painted the mural on the CVS wall wrote an interesting comment on the article I first saw on the "decommissioning". Their inflated budget of the amount to repair seemed to some of us in Midtown to be an excuse to do nothing at all.

And, of course, we need a business tax like every other city on the Peninsula. And, of course, we will be getting 2 or 3 a day mailers from the $$$ business community telling us how bad this will be for Palo Alto when it appears on the ballot.

Alison Cormack isn't running again and has no skin in the game. And Tanaka's regular voting pattern keeps money flowing into his coffers to run for office.

So, are they going to keep charging residents twice to use Foothills Park (property taxes + gate fees)?

Increased maintenance cost comes from increased traffic, let the people who haven't already paid for the park with their property taxes pay their fair share.

@Gnar: are you per chance a Palisades Tahoe (fka Squaw Valley) skier?