The Almanac October 16, 2020

T H E H O M E TO W N N E W S PA P E R F O R M E N LO PA R K , AT H E RTO N , P O RTO L A VA L L E Y A N D W O O D S I D E

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First graders return to Portola Valley schools Classes feature decorative face shields, Zoom gardening lessons and horseshoe marks 6 feet apart

By Angela Swartz Almanac Staff Writer

‘K

eep one horse length apart” read signs at Ormondale Elementary School, as first graders trickled into classrooms Monday, Oct. 12.

The nod to the school mascot, the horse, is one way the school is personalizing social distancing during a pandemic that’s kept students out of classrooms for seven months. Students and teachers are required to wear masks, with some donning face shields attached to headbands with cat ears, mouse ears and crowns. Horseshoes painted on the ground indicate how to keep 6 feet from others.

The reopening has gone smoothly, said Principal Lynette Hovland on day two of in-person instruction, despite some of the anxious feelings she had. It is challenging to observe students, who might ordinarily seek out the familiar face of their former

kindergarten teacher and ask for a hug, need to stay at a distance, she said.

“I want them to understand we can see their smiles in their eyes,” said Hovland, who began working on a reopening plan in May. “We’re a school that embraces kindness, and having to see them be far apart is kind of difficult. They’re doing a great job and being really respectful of one another.”

The Portola Valley School District, which serves about 500 students across Ormondale (transitional kindergarten to third grade) and Corte Madera (grades 4-8) schools, is taking a phased approach for returning students to classrooms.

When San Mateo County granted the district the waiver to resume in-person instruction on Oct. 8, the district joined three other public school districts — there are 23 total in the county — that have gotten the go-ahead to reopen.

See PORTOLA SCHOOLS, page 13

Magali Gauthier

Kimber Trefero, an Ormondale Elementary School first grade teacher, checks on her students before they head out for recess in Portola Valley on Oct. 13.

Three compete for two Menlo Park school board seats

By Angela Swartz Almanac Staff Writer

I

n the Menlo Park City School District (MPCSD) school board race, there are three candidates running for two open seats: incumbent David Ackerman and district parents Francesca Segrè, a communications professional, and Robert Maclay.

Ackerman, the former principal of Oak Knoll and Encinal schools, has been on the school board for four years. Ackerman has endorsed Segrè, a former journalist who applied for appointment to an open school board seat last fall. Maclay is a district parent whose children attend Oak Knoll.

How to safely reopen schools

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amid the COVID-19 pandemic is among the challenges facing district officials this school year.

San Mateo County granted the district a waiver at the end of September to reopen classrooms for in-person learning, starting with kindergarten and first grade classes. The rest of the grades will be incrementally resuming inperson learning over the coming weeks.

At the same time, district officials have been tackling how to address a persistent achievement

gap between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Another major topic of importance is if the district will renew or replace a parcel tax that district staff has said is only a “temporary solution” to the district’s financial woes. Measure X, the parcel tax that passed in 2017 with an initial rate of $360 per parcel, will expire in 2024.

The Almanac asked candidates about all these issues and more via questionnaires.

Robert Maclay

Maclay said he wants to bring his leadership skills, which includes helping lead information technology at Stanford Healthcare, to the board as

INSIDE

the community faces “unprecedented challenges” during the pandemic.

Maclay, a parent to a kindergartner and a third grader at Oak Knoll Elementary School, said many Otters may recognize him as a volunteer for the hot lunch program.

His top three priorities as a school board member would be to reopen schools safely for staff and students; build trust in the community that their children will receive the highest quality of education in the district; and ensure funding levels to ensure the high quality of education in the future.

Maclay said virtual learning has been a “mixed bag,” with some students adapting

and others not able to focus on screens the entire day.

Virtual learning has put new strains on families, especially for those with younger children and those with IEPs (individual education program plans for special education students), he said.

“The district is still adapting to our new reality and working hard to make virtual learning work.”

Maclay supported the move back to classrooms, saying he believes in the science that children learn better in person.

“I must give credit to the amazing teachers and principals in the district who have overcome every obstacle to make the new

INFO MENLO 2020

VIEWPOINT 20 | ARTS 22 | FOOD 23

See MPCSD, page 12

2 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

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October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 3

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Coronavirus updates: San Mateo County case total exceeds 10,600

By Embarcadero Media staff

S

an Mateo County reported 23 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, bringing the county’s total to 10,622. The death toll has stood at 155 since Thursday. Twenty-nine people are hospitalized. Santa Clara County reported 100 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday, raising the total to 22,741. One more person has died, raising the death toll to 363. There are 80 people hospitalized, 10 of whom are new.

Adam Pardee

Still horsing around Almost 70 local equestrians saddled up for the Day of the Horse progressive trail ride through Woodside on Saturday, Oct. 10, with some riders in costumes reflecting the “Roaring ‘20s” theme. The 16th annual Day of the Horse weekend took place Oct. 9-11 with both virtual and in-person activities.

The weekend, organized by volunteers from the Woodside Area Horse Owners Association (WHOA!), also featured an online show of more than 100 works of horse-inspired art and a drive-thru horse fair with a variety of horses and exhibits that included demonstrations of horseshoeing and equestrian skills such as dressage and vaulting. Organizers said that over 200 people (in 85 cars) attended the drive-thru fair, which was also offered in an online format. See more photos on page 19.

Plans for three-story building and townhouses in Allied Arts move forward

By Kate Bradshaw Almanac Staff Writer

A

proposal to replace the commercial building and four housing units at the corner of El Camino Real and Cambridge Avenue in Menlo Park moved forward last week after it was reviewed by the Menlo Park Planning Commission.

Commissioners voted 4-0, with Chris DeCardy, Camille Kennedy and Michele Tate absent, to recommend the City Council approve the proposal

by HuHan Two LLC to build a new three-story mixed-use building at 200-211 El Camino Real and two new townhomes behind it at 612 Cambridge Ave. The project, situated at the northern entrance to Menlo Park’s Allied Arts neighborhood, would add 1,200 square feet of restaurant space and 5,876 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, above

which would be two floors with 17,365 square feet of housing space.

That would be split into six one-bedroom and six twobedroom apartments with some shared spaces. Behind the three-story building on Cambridge Avenue would be two stand-alone townhomes, according to a staff report.

Two of the 12 apartments

would be set aside at belowmarket-rate rent for “lowincome” renters — those making up to 80% of the area median income, or about $97,000 for a single-person household under San Mateo County’s 2020 housing income limits.

The owner would be able to convert the housing units from See ALLIED ARTS, page 13

Courtesy EID Architects/HuHan Two, LLC

A rendering of the proposed new three-story building at the corner of El Camino and Cambridge Avenue in Menlo Park, as seen from El Camino Real.

Santa Clara County now in orange tier Santa Clara County became eligible to enter the state’s orange tier on Tuesday, which sets into motion a revised public health order that permitted restaurants and congregations in the county to reopen for indoor service on Wednesday, Oct. 14.

The “moderate” risk level allows more businesses to reopen, albeit with some restrictions to ensure social distancing.

In highlighting the revised order, both county Counsel James Williams and Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody emphasized that some of the activities that will now be allowed for the first time since March continue to pose a risk of COVID-19 transmission. To reduce the threat, the county is requiring restaurants to limit occupancy to 25% capacity or a maximum of 100 people, depending on which number is smaller.

The same restriction will be imposed on other indoor gatherings, including movie theaters, congregations and cultural gatherings, according to the county.

“It’s a really important limitation that we put in place to help try to reduce the density, to help try to reduce the risk for the community,” Williams said.

“And we will be out there with our enforcement team ensuring that.”

The order also allows outdoor activities with up to 200 people, consistent with state guidance, and specifies that there are no capacity limitations for malls and other retail businesses. It

will allow college sports activities to resume, though they have to do so without fans and while following specific county protocols that require testing, face coverings and small cohorts.

The order will also allow museums and zoos to open at 50% capacity.

State’s contact tracing capacity on the rise Roughly 95% of California’s local health departments now have the capacity to contact new coronavirus cases and their recent contacts on the same day their test result is reported, the state’s top public health official said Monday.

The state’s testing numbers have now eclipsed 125,000 per day after late summer heat waves and wildfires prompted some testing centers to temporarily close. Over the weekend, an average of more than 150,000 tests were completed across the state.

Test results are regularly being reported in 24 to 48 hours, at which point the state’s corps of more than 10,000 contact tracers are able to alert people who may have been exposed to a positive case.

The state has also collaborated with local epidemiologists and used remote communication tools like Zoom to support state and local disease investigation efforts. “(We are) really building up this infrastructure across the state so we can continue to box in the virus as much as we can and make sure that a single case doesn’t turn into 20 or 30 cases,” state Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said Monday during a briefing on the state’s pandemic response.

The state intends to push its daily testing capacity north of 250,000 by next year, due in part to an agreement with the Massachusetts-based diagnostics company PerkinElmer to provide 150,000 of those tests per day.

According to Gov. Gavin Newsom, California will also See CORONAVIRUS, page 7

October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 5

N E W S Established 1965

Community college district races bring new perspectives to county board

By Kate Bradshaw Almanac Staff Writer

T

he 2020 elections will bring new faces to the San Mateo County Community College District Board of Trustees. While the Area 1 race is now uncontested, in Area 5, three candidates vie to represent Redwood City, East Palo Alto and part of Menlo Park.

In San Mateo County, there are three seats up for the county’s Community College District board, one each for areas 1, 3 and 5. The community college district oversees Skyline and Cañada community colleges and the College of San Mateo. The district is in the process of switching to a by-district election system from an at-large one, meaning candidates must live in one of the trustee areas up for election to be eligible.

While the Area 3 race, covering the territory from Hillsborough to southern South San Francisco, pits two incumbents against each other — Dave Mandelkern and Maurice Goodman — the seats for both areas 1 and 5, which include the communities covered by The Almanac, are not currently occupied by an incumbent.

Area 1 includes the San Mateo County coastside, Woodside, Portola Valley, Atherton, unincorporated West Menlo Park and the city of Menlo Park up to El Camino Real. Lisa Petrides is the only candidate running for the seat.

Area 5 covers the remainder of Menlo Park northeast of El Camino Real, as well as East Palo Alto and Redwood City and has three candidates running: Lisa Hicks-Dumanske, Blair Whitney and John Pimentel.

Karen Schwarz, the current board president and a Redwood City resident, said in an email that she is not planning to run for reelection to represent Area 5 because she has served for six terms and is ready to move on to other endeavors. “It will be extremely important to have a board of trustees who can work together with the chancellor and staff to keep moving forward and keep in place the positive structure that has kept the district solvent all these years,” she wrote.

As she steps back after 24 years on the board, she said, the district is facing a number of challenges: staying financially solvent; keeping students and employees safe from

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COVID-19; helping students in need with food, housing, Internet and jobs; and providing the best education possible.

Beyond those, the district faces its own governance challenges — its former chancellor, Ron Galatolo, is being investigated by the county District Attorney’s Office, potentially in relation to the management of school district finances and harassment Area 1

In Area 1, there is only one candidate actively running for the seat: Lisa Petrides, a nonprofit CEO and educator.

Eugene Whitlock, a former employee at the community college district, announced on Sept. 21 that he would be dropping out of the race. However, his name still appears on the ballot, with the ballot designation of equity/inclusion educator.

Whitlock was previously the vice chancellor, human resources and general counsel for the community college district, and currently works as assistant vice chancellor at UC Berkeley.

According to a settlement agreement obtained through a public records request, the district board voted unanimously to terminate Whitlock’s employment in April last year. According to the agreement, the district paid Whitlock $2.28 million and stipulated that Whitlock not have any further contact with the district, nor access the district’s property without written permission from the district’s legal counsel for five years.

“I do not want my candidacy — or presence on the board — to be a distraction from the issues that we need to focus on to improve our colleges,” he said in an email to local reporters announcing his withdrawal from the race.

Lisa Petrides A first-time candidate for public office, Petrides is founder and CEO of the Institute for the Study of Knowledge Management in Education (ISKME), an education nonprofit based in Half Moon Bay that conducts research, promotes the sharing of educational

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resources and hosts workshops and trainings, according to its website. Before that, Petrides was on the faculty at Teachers College at Columbia University.

The top three problems for the district are safety, security and faculty workload, she said.

The district should respond to and support students in need, such as those who experience homelessness or food or housing insecurity. It should also provide a quality education that is safe and accessible by managing problems related to remote and online learning, the digital divide and support services.

“Continuing to educate in a safe and accessible manner is costly given that students are facing an all-time high in terms of lack of access to WiFi, technology, food, housing, and the loss of jobs impacting themselves and their families,” she wrote.

Among her endorsers are Congresswoman Jackie Speier, state Sen. Jerry Hill, state Assemblyman Marc Berman and county supervisors Dave Pine, Don Horsley and Warren Slocum.

Petrides has reported her campaign has received a total of $36,828 in support, including a personal loan of $1,600, as of Oct. 7. She had spent $26,300 as of the last deadline to file campaign paperwork, Sept. 24.

Top contributors include the California Federation of Teachers Small Contributor Committee ($10,000), Biz Stone, Twitter co-founder ($5,000), Mary Austin of San Francisco ($5,000), Christopher Mark and Jayne Battey of Miramar Farms ($1,000 each), Jason Goecke of Half Moon Bay, Brewster Kahle, a digital librarian from San Francisco ($1,000), Denise Phillips of Moss Beach ($1,000), Myra Strober of Stanford ($1,000), Kathy Sherman of Los Altos Hills ($1,000) and Will Parish of San Francisco ($1,000).

Area 5

In San Mateo County’s Area 5, there are three candidates running: Lisa Hicks-Dumanske of Redwood City, Blair Whitney of North Fair Oaks and John Pimentel of Menlo Park.

Of the three candidates, Pimentel has poured the greatest amount of funding into his campaign, by far.

He reported that his campaign has received a total of

$158,885 as of Oct. 5. Of that, $150,000 came from a personal loan. He had spent $123,416 on the campaign this year as of the most recent Sept. 24 deadline to submit campaign funding paperwork. Top contributors to his campaign are Thomas Stephenson of Atherton ($2,500), Steve Sherr of Foundation Windpower ($1,000), Charles Patton of Del Mar ($1,500) and Albert Pimentel of Los Gatos ($1,000).

In contrast, Hicks-Dumanske reported her campaign had received a total of $18,271, including a $2,000 personal loan.

Top contributors to her campaign include Sarah Blatner of Redwood City ($1,260), Muriel Willey of Los Altos ($600), Thomas Bauer, vice chancellor of the district ($350), Burlingame City Councilwoman Donna Wills Colson ($250) and Redwood City Councilwoman Diana Reddy ($200).

Whitney did not report any campaign fundraising activity.

Lisa Hicks-Dumanske Candidate Lisa HicksDumanske is running for the community college district board because, she explained in response to a candidate survey from The Almanac, she knows what is at stake as someone who attended Cañada College and expanded her love for learning from her college experiences into a career in community organizing and leading nonprofits.

“My life was transformed by education, and I will work to make sure that other students can achieve their dreams, too,” she said.

Hicks-Dumanske said she regularly attends board meetings, and her top three issues in the district are to: ensure budget decisions prioritize student needs and avoid cuts to programs that help students graduate or certify; track funding and enrollment to expand program options, speed up program completions and help students transition to next steps; and provide vulnerable students with support for food, housing, transportation and digital access needs, and help them afford higher education.

When it came to the district’s rapid rollout of remote learning during the past spring amid the pandemic outbreak, Hicks-Dumanske described the speed and overall success See COLLEGE DISTRICT, page 10

Serving Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, and Woodside for over 50 years NEWSROOM Editor Andrea Gemmet (223-6537) Assistant Editors Julia Brown (223-6531) Heather Zimmerman (223-6515) Staff Writers Kate Bradshaw (223-6536) Angela Swartz (223-6529) Contributors Kate Daly, Maggie Mah Special Sections Editor Linda Taaffe (223-6511) Chief Visual Journalist Magali Gauthier (223-6530) DESIGN & PRODUCTION Design and Production Manager Kristin Brown (223-6562) Designers Linda Atilano, Amy Levine, Paul Llewellyn, Doug Young ADVERTISING Vice President Sales and Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Display Advertising Sales (223-6570) Real Estate Manager Neal Fine (223-6583) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Manager Kevin Legarda (223-6597) Sales & Production Coordinator Diane Martin (223-6584) The Almanac is published every Friday at 3525 Alameda De Las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025 Q Newsroom: (650) 223-6525 Newsroom Fax: (650) 223-7525 Q Email news and photos with captions to: Editor@AlmanacNews.com Q Email letters to: Letters@AlmanacNews.com Q Advertising: (650) 854-2626 Advertising Fax: (650) 223-7570 Q Classified Advertising: (650) 854-0858 Q Submit Obituaries: AlmanacNews.com/obituaries The Almanac (ISSN 1097-3095 and USPS 459370) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 3525 Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park, CA 94025-6558. Periodicals Postage Paid at Menlo Park, CA and at additional mailing offices.

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N E W S

Sequoia district candidates bring in long list of donations

By Angela Swartz Almanac Staff Writer

C

andidates for seats on local school boards filed their campaign finance disclosure statements for the November election the week of Sept. 21.

The Almanac is covering three local elementary and high school board races. There will be no elections for the uncontested seats in the Woodside and Portola Valley districts.

Below are finance reports from the period of July 1 to Sept. 19. View the FPPC 460 forms at tinyurl.com/ schoolsSept460s.

Sequoia Union High School District

In the Sequoia Union High School District, there are five candidates running for three open seats.

Incumbent Georgia Jack is running for reelection against challengers Rich Ginn, a parent and business owner, and Shamar Edwards, former TIDE Academy principal and current Sunnyvale Middle School principal, in Trustee Area C, which represents Woodside, West Menlo Park and Portola Valley.

Incumbent Carrie Du Bois is running uncontested to represent Area B, which includes Redwood City, Belmont and San Carlos.

Jacqui Cebrian, a teacher and candidate for the district’s Area E, dropped out of the race in mid-September to support candidate Shawneece Stevenson instead. Cebrian said she believed Stevenson, as a Black woman, would better represent the area, which includes Menlo Park neighborhoods east of Highway 101 as well as East Palo Alto. Only two candidates filed for the one open seat in Trustee Area E, leaving Stevenson as the only candidate in the race. Cebrian’s name will still appear on the ballot, as the San Mateo County Elections Office’s deadline for candidates to withdraw has passed.

CORONAVIRUS continued from page 5

utilize some $150 million in federal funding and $83 million in philanthropic funds to help counties isolate and quarantine residents who test positive before they have a chance to spread the virus on a large scale.

The increase in testing and focus on contact tracing has also led to a steady downward trend of the state’s daily positivity rate.

Jack raised $8,169 from Shane Larry, retired, $500; James Porter, retired, $500; Tedesco Lucia, analyst, Stanford University, $500; Roy Darling, $500; Beverly Purrington, retired, $300; Renee Corington, retired, $250; Margaret Marshall, retired, $250; Annie Lynch, substitute teacher, Redwood City School District, $250; Don Cecil, $250; Gloria Principe, $250; Neil Layton, deputy district attorney, Santa Clara County, $250; Michael Wells, software engineer, Google, $250; Elizabeth Gomez, artist, $200; Cathrin Callas, retired, $250; Deborah Moore, substitute teacher, Redwood City School District, $200; James Payton, global planning director, Gilead Sciences, $200; Shelly Masur, California state director for Council for Strong America, Redwood City vice mayor, $200; Eric McCrystal, owner, Woodcraft, $150; Jane Taylor, community volunteer, $150; Marie Carter, substitute teacher, Redwood City School District, $150; Mary Hower, manager, Stanford University, $150; Sequoia district board president Allen Weiner, $100; San Mateo County Superintendent Nancy Magee, $100; Jacqueline Killen, retired, $100; Sheila Cepero, $100; Naomi Hunter, former director of communications for the Redwood City School District, $100; Anne Decarli, retired, $100; Betty Casey, retired, $100; Alisa MacAvoy, Redwood City School District trustee, $100; Robert Jack, retired, $100; James Schein, career services, Stanford University, $100; Michael Jack, marketing, Spirent Communications, $100; Laura Palmer-Lohan, strategic planning and operations, Amgen, $100; Kathleen Hawkins, $100; Liza Meak, marketing, Cisco Systems, $100; Samuel Leinbach, trustee, Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, $100; Sherry Brown-Ryther, retired, $100; and Marta Roig, retired, $100.

She spent $904.31 on signs and

a campaign mailer.

Edwards raised $5,333, including from Sarah Eisner, nonprofit founder/CEO, Quarterman & Keller Foundation, $1,000; Kimberly Chrisholm, $500; Melanie Vinson, director, audit committee chair, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley, $500; Katherine Basile-Fero, attorney, Reed Smith LLP, $260; David Henig, architect, $250; Bridget Watson, Sunnyvale School District trustee, $208; Molly Finn, eBay lawyer and Las Lomitas Elementary School District board candidate, $200; Michelle DeWolf, health coach, The Festive Table, $150; Rebecca Wargo, consultant, Wargo Consulting & Mayfield Fund, $111; Debbie Markhan-Humphrey, professional photographer, $104; Byron Lee, $104; Lauren Sneed, $104; Peter Hanley, San Mateo Union High School District board trustee and finance manager, Bay Area Charter School Athletic Conference, $100; Marnie Foody, planner, Facebook, $100; Janelle McCombs, vice president of real estate, SJW Land Company/San Jose Water Company, $100; Angela Ehrlich, teacher, Soledad USD, $100; Winston Haddaway, $100; Heather Hopkins, owner, Toddle Preschool, $100; Janet Diepenbrock, $100; Laura Legros, hardware engineer and Apple executive, $100; Harriet Wilson Lee, $100; Koya Anderson, sales and leasing manager, Crafted at the Port of LA, $100; Stella Bergan, health and human performance coach, StellaFit; $100; Jennifer Polly, $52; and Charlene Margot, founder and CEO, The Parent Venture, $50.

She spent $2,523 on printing, voter registration, campaign literature and mailings, postage, marketing, filing fees and web services.

Ginn, a former Las Lomitas Elementary School District trustee, raised $16,443, including a $11,999 loan from himself. He also received donations from Las Lomitas Elementary School District trustee John

Over the last seven and 14 days, the state’s average daily rate is down to 2.6%, a full percentage point decrease since mid-September.

“We are not going to slip backwards on testing, we are going to forge forward and be much more aggressive,” Newsom said.

coronavirus in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties online at paloaltoonline.atavist.com/ tracking-the-coronavirus. Find a comprehensive collection of coverage on the Midpeninsula’s response to the new coronavirus by The Almanac and its sister publications, Palo Alto Online, and the Mountain View Voice, at tinyurl.com/ c19-Almanac.

CalMatters and Bay City News Service contributed to this report.

Comprehensive COVID-19 coverage View interactive charts tracking the spread of the

Earnhardt, $999; Rich Kelley, investor, Search Fund Partners, $999; Patrick Heron, investor, Frazier Healthcare, $999; Aaron Kushner, investor, $500; Bob Ottilie, lawyer, Ottilie Law, $250; Julie Quinlan, lawyer, $125; Walter Paulsen, sales consultant, $100; and Maria Doktorczyk, lawyer, Evernote, $100. Ginn spent $3,453 on yard signs, design services and voter data.

Stevenson raised $5,344 during the period. She spent

$1,644.28 on web services and filing fees. Donors during this filing period were: Carrie DuBois, $500; David Henig, $500; Sarah Eisner, co-founder and president of Reparations Project, $400; Meredith Liu, nonprofit leader, The Primary School; $250; Eric Stevenson, $450; Frank Satterwhite, consultant, Leadership Incorporated, $150; Heather Cleary, manager, Peninsula Family Service, $150; See CAMPAIGN DONATIONS, page 19

REAL ESTATE Q&A

by Monica Corman

Vote On the November 3 election the ballot contains some propositions that affect property rights and property taxes. Here is a list of them: Proposition 15: Taxes on Commercial Property Proposition 19: Changes in Property Tax Rules Proposition 21: Rent Control You may not be affected by all or any of them but they can potentially affect your property. There are several websites that help explain each proposition, and one of the best ones is www.Votersedge.org. Be sure and vote on or before November 3rd.

Contact me at monica@monicacorman.com; Office: 650-465-5971, COMPASS. Ranked in the Wall St Journal’s 2016, 2017, and 2018 Nationwide list of top 250 Realtors.

October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 7

N E W S

Menlo Park’s playgrounds to reopen by month’s end

CRIME B R I E FS

Armed robbery at Flood Park Three men were arrested in connection with the robbery of two juveniles Monday afternoon at Flood Park in Menlo Park, according to a statement from the Menlo Park Police Department.

Officers responded at about 3:25 p.m. to a robbery report at the park, located at 215 Bay Road. The youths told officers that two men with a shotgun took their belongings and fled. The victims were uninjured.

A search turned up three people in the area of Bay Road and Heritage Place. One of the three “abandoned a backpack, ran behind a residence, and jumped a fence,” police said in a news release.

All three suspects were detained, and a single-shot sawed-off shotgun was found in the discarded backpack, police said. The youths identified two of the men as the ones who robbed them.

A 26-year-old from Mountain View was arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit a felony, firearms violations, and resisting arrest. He is an alleged MS-13 gang member on probation for false imprisonment and vehicle theft, according to police.

The second man, 28, was arrested on suspicion of robbery, conspiracy to commit a felony, firearms violations, resisting arrest, and several outstanding arrest warrants for drug violations. Police identified him as a transient on probation for false imprisonment.

The third man detained refused to identify himself, police said.

He was later identified as a 30-year-old man from East Palo Alto and was arrested for allegedly making threats of violence toward police and violating the terms of his probation. He was on probation for assault with a deadly weapon, police said.

Anyone with information about the robbery is asked to contact Detective Josh Russell at 650-330-6364 or jprussell@menlopark. org.

—Bay City News Service

Juvenile bike robbery suspect Menlo Park police officers said they recently located one of two juveniles suspected of involvement in a gunpoint robbery of a bicycle from another juvenile.

On Oct. 2, a victim under age 18 reported to the Menlo Park Police Department that he had agreed to buy a bike for $400 in cash via Snapchat. When he arrived at the agreed-upon location on the 200 block of Ivy Drive in Menlo Park around 11 a.m., he handed over the cash. Then, another juvenile arrived on a bike, pointed a handgun at him and demanded the bike and the victim’s cellphone. He gave up the bike and reported the incident.

After an additional investigation, officers identified the first suspect, who arranged the sale of the bike, as a 16-year-old from East Palo Alto. They said they got a full confession from him, admitting that he worked with the other suspect to rob the victim, according to the police department. He was given a court date and released to his parents. The department is still investigating the identity of the other suspect who brandished the firearm.

Police are asking anyone who has information about the case to contact Detective Jeremy Ordone at 650-330-6357 or jlordone@ menlopark.org.

Hit-and-run case Menlo Park police officers are looking into incidents that happened around 7:20 p.m. on Oct. 7.

A driver involved in a hit-and-run collision at the intersection of Willow Road and Hamilton Avenue allegedly was fleeing the scene of a shooting in East Palo Alto when he collided with another motorist, who was not injured.

After the collision, the shooting victim parked around the 1300 block of Madera Avenue and then walked to the Chevron gas station on Willow Road.

While those scenes were being secured, an unrelated strongarm robbery occurred at the 76 gas station at 275 El Camino Real. Atherton police officers responded and found the suspect, a 40-year-old from East Palo Alto, who was arrested on suspicion of robbery, battery and resisting arrest and booked into the San Mateo County jail.

Police are asking anyone who has information about the hitand-run collision or robbery to contact Detective Josh Russell at 650-330-6364 or jprussell@menlopark.org.

See CRIME BRIEFS, page 15

8 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

By Kate Bradshaw Almanac Staff Writer

S

even months after Menlo Park’s playgrounds were roped off with caution tape and closed to the public, the city’s youngest residents will soon have their jungle gyms back — but must abide by some new rules of play.

The Menlo Park City Council voted unanimously close to midnight on Tuesday to reopen the playgrounds and dedicate $49,500 to safety measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among children who play there.

Of that, $40,000 was set to pay for weekly cleanings of the city’s 14 playgrounds at a cost of $4,000 per week for 10 weeks, $6,500 for a vendor contract to operate and maintain hand-washing stations at the playgrounds, and $3,000 for new signs at the playgrounds.

The California Department of Public Health issued new guidance on Sept. 28 laying out instructions for how communities could reopen playgrounds.

New rules, as mandated by the state health department, include the following:

• Visitors 2 years and older must wear face coverings at all times.

• Visitors must maintain 6 feet of social distance from others at all times.

• All children must be supervised to ensure they follow the above rules.

• Visitors must wash or sanitize their hands before and after play.

• Eating and drinking are not permitted on the playground.

• Visitors must follow the posted maximum number of children allowed. No new children may enter until others leave.

• Visitors should limit playground time to no more than 30 minutes per day when others are present.

• Seniors and people with underlying medical conditions should avoid the playgrounds when others are present.

While Councilwoman Catherine Carlton voted to approve reopening the playgrounds, she expressed skepticism that children would abide by the mandates. “I don’t think it’s safe. I don’t think anybody’s going to follow the rules,” she said.

The playgrounds will open no later than Oct. 29, and city staff is working to open them earlier, if possible. The exact opening date will be announced soon, according to Sean Reinhart, library and community services director.

Of Menlo Park’s 14 playgrounds, three are not open to the public and are reserved for participants in the city of Menlo Park’s child care programs. They are located at the Belle Haven Child Development Center, the Belle Haven Youth Center and the Menlo Children’s Center.

The city’s 11 public playgrounds are as follows: Belle Haven School Tot Lot (Ivy Drive and Chilco Street), Burgess Park (701 Laurel St.), Hamilton Park (545 Hamilton Ave.), Jack Lyle Park (500 Arbor Road), Karl E. Clark Park (313 Market Place), Nealon Park (800 Middle Ave.), Seminary Oaks Park (Seminary Drive at Santa Monica Avenue), Sharon Park (1100 Monte Rosa Drive), Stanford Hills Park (2400 Branner Drive), Tinker Park (1550 Santa Cruz Ave.) and Willow Oaks Park (490 Willow Road). A

Public invited to observe election staffers process mail-in ballots

By Bay City News Service

S

tarting this week, the public is welcome to watch San Mateo County authorized elections staffers open and process mail ballots for the Nov. 3 presidential general election.

Election officials can open the return envelopes containing voted mail ballots beginning 29 business days before Election Day, according to a release from Mark Church, San Mateo County chief elections officer.

Operating hours for opening and processing will be daily, Monday through Friday from 5 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 2-10:30 p.m. — or until all ballots are processed for the day, until the official canvass is complete.

For each ballot, an election official will compare the voter’s signature on the outside of the envelope to the signature on the voter’s original registration application or other updated signatures on file.

The ballot is separated from the envelope to preserve secrecy. The envelope is saved for the mandatory retention period, and the ballot is digitally scanned.

The tabulation of the scanned

ballots will not be reported until the close of voting at 8 p.m. on Election Day. Anyone interested in observing the process can go to the registration and elections division office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo at any time, or make prior arrangements by contacting Elections Supervisor Michael Lui at 650-312-5238 or mlui@smcacre.org.

Observers will receive a copy of the election observer program guidelines, which specifies observer rights, responsibilities and limitations and a copy of the vote by mail processing procedures.

Registered voters may use the “My Election Info” link at smcvote.org to verify when ballot materials were mailed and when the Registration & Elections Division received their voted ballot.

The last day for registered voters to request a ballot to be mailed to them is Tuesday, Oct. 27.

Voted mail ballots can be returned in one of the following ways: Mail the ballot in the postage-paid envelope. Ballots must be postmarked by Tuesday, Nov. 3, and received by the Registration & Elections Division no later than Friday, Nov. 20.

Ballots may be dropped off at any official ballot drop box located throughout the county, or dropped off at any vote center daily between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. before Election Day and from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day. A full list of county vote center locations can be found online at smcvote.org by selecting “All Vote Center Locations” or at smcacre.org/vote-centerlocations. A

As you prepare to fill out your ballot for the Nov. 3 election, The Almanac has compiled its voter guide online with links to news stories, candidate profiles and editorials to help you make an informed decision on local races. We’ll keep adding links leading up to Election Day. You can find it at tinyurl.com/alm-vg-2020.

N E W S

Ravenswood school board candidates discuss top issues

By Elena Kadvany

S

ix candidates are running for two open seats on the Ravenswood City School District Board of Trustees.

The terms of trustees Sharifa Wilson and Marielena Gaona Mendoza are ending in November. Wilson is not running for reelection after 12 years on the board, while Gaona Mendoza is seeking a second term. The newcomers include a Ravenswood parent, two former district employees, a labor negotiator and a labor manager.

This year’s election comes at a time of transition and rebuilding for the K-8 school district, which serves about 1,700 students in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park. The district has a new superintendent, Gina Sudaria, after years of leadership and financial upheaval, and a comprehensive middle school to better prepare Ravenswood students for success in high school.

The district is navigating the challenges of making sure students who lack sufficient support and internet access at home during distance learning don’t fall behind. Ravenswood school campuses are staying closed until at least late November.

Whoever is elected to the board will also have to meet the challenge of the pandemic as well as Ravenswood’s declining enrollment, which led to the closure of two elementary schools this year. At least one of the candidates opposes the Voluntary Transfer Program, which allows Ravenswood students to attend neighboring school districts, and another is a staunch opponent of charter schools, which have been criticized for taking students and funding away from the local neighborhood schools.

To get to know the candidates better and find out where they stand on top issues facing the district, watch video

Today’s local news & hot picks

Fresh news delivered daily Sign up today at AlmanacNews.com/express

interviews with Bronwyn Alexander, Jenny Varghese Bloom, Zeb Feldman, Gaona Mendoza and Joel Rivera. Candidate Julian Garcia did not respond to multiple interview requests, and candidate Mele Latu has

halted her campaign for personal reasons.

View the video interviews at tinyurl.com/rcsd-videos. A Email Elena Kadvany at ekadvany@paweekly.com

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Virtual roundtable on policing, race and justice Monday The town of Portola Valley is hosting a virtual panel and Q&A on Monday, Oct. 19, entitled “Policing, Race & Justice in the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office.”

Scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m., the event will be co-hosted by Vice Mayor Maryann Derwin and Councilman John Richards, who make up the town’s recently formed Race and Equity Subcommittee. The subcommittee has spearheaded various efforts to engage residents and the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office on issues related to policing, race and implicit bias, including creating a page on the town’s website to collect public comments and launching a series of virtual town hall meetings on racial equity and policing with an author talk last month.

Monday’s panel is the second of four anticipated town hall meetings through early next year. Panelists will include Sheriff Carlos Bolanos; Sheriff’s Office Capt. Christina Corpus; District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe; Rev. Lorrie Carter Owens, president of the San Mateo County chapter of the NAACP; Kevin Allen, an attorney with the San Mateo County Private Defender’s Office and organizer of a Black Lives Matter demonstration at local courts; and Michael Smith, an adjunct professor at Cañada College and Redwood City Planning Commission member. It will be moderated by Henrietta Burroughs, founder of the East Palo Alto Center for Community Media.

“The role of policing in our society lies at the center of our nation’s urgent search for answers to long-standing questions of race and equity,” town officials said in an email promoting the event. “We have enlisted the help of seven San Mateo County professionals to provide their thoughts and experiences on this critical topic. Through a spirited conversation, ever mindful that we must all work together, we hope to emerge with next steps toward a more equitable future.”

Questions during the meeting will be taken from the Q&A tool in Zoom. Questions emailed by Friday at noon to questions@ portolavalley.net will be included in the first round, according to the town.

To join the Zoom discussion, visit tinyurl.com/pvmeetinglink and enter the passcode 762620, or dial 877-853-5247. For more information, visit tinyurl.com/pvconversation.

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Vacancies on town commissions The Portola Valley Town Council is looking for three volunteers to serve on the town’s Architectural and Site Control Commission (ASCC) and three to serve on the town’s Planning Commission through December 2024.

The Planning Commission addresses policy matters related to development and general land use in Portola Valley. It provides recommendations to the Town Council on legislative actions, such as amendments to the zoning code and General Plan, and reviews and acts on certain applications, including conditional use permits, variances and subdivisions, according to an email from the town. It also reviews appeals of staff and ASCC decisions.

The ASCC is responsible for reviewing and approving design review applications and site development permits, including applications for new homes, second units, larger and second-story additions, and commercial buildings. It also provides comments on variances, conditional use permits, subdivisions, and other issues referred by the Planning Commission, town staff or council members.

To apply, send a letter of interest to the Town Council to Town Clerk Sharon Hanlon at shanlon@portolavalley.net by 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 2. The council will conduct interviews at a meeting on Nov. 11. Email Hanlon with questions or call (650) 851-1700 ext. 210.

—Julia Brown

Vote for JOHN

Paid for by Pimentel for College Board 2020 - ID#1426218

JohnPimentel.com October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 9

N E W S COLLEGE DISTRICT continued from page 6

of the transition, but noted that moving forward, the district needs to intervene earlier to make sure students have the technology and connectivity they need — and should plan to do more than provide equipment and a safe place for quiet study, such as checking in with students sooner and coordinating with counseling staff.

“The digital divide has never been so acute,” she wrote.

Students of color have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, but many problems — like unemployment, food and housing insecurity, health problems and technological barriers — existed before the pandemic, she said. The district has a number of programs to help — it distributes food from Second Harvest Food Bank at two of the colleges, provides Safeway food cards to foodinsecure students monthly, and has some programs at each campus to support student housing needs, she said.

While the pandemic was estimated to have a financial impact of $7 million to the district, she said, there are sufficient reserves so that budget cuts are not expected.

“Prudent choices led us to this moment of a strong financial position, and equally prudent choices will need to be made to ensure future fiscal solvency,” she said.

Key endorsements include: state Sen. Hill, state Assemblyman Kevin Mullin, current board members Thomas Nuris and Schwarz, and county supervisors Horsley and David Canepa.

Blair Whitney Whitney said he is running for the seat because he is passionate about education and advocacy for inclusive campus facilities and services for Area 5. He attended the College of San Mateo and Canada College using veteran benefits from the post-9/11 GI Bill.

He wants to expand access to the system beyond the three hilltop campuses into the community, potentially creating satellite campuses in more dense areas, the way Foothill College did for many years at Palo Alto’s Cubberley Community Center.

The top three issues facing the district are COVID-19, management and governance failures, and the economy, he said.

The district should ensure that online classes retain transfer eligibility and the quality is not diminished,

seeking out best practices in delivering online learning.

While the county has a good property tax base, he said, the district should keep a close eye on enrollment numbers and expand where demand is greatest.

Whitney talked about the need in the biotech industry not for Ph.D.-level academics, but for people who hold associate-level credentials in biology who can work as lab techs. “That’s right where the community college system can really excel — partnering with some local industries identifying those gap areas where an associate’s degree or certificate can get someone right into a well-paid job. As COVID and remote work shifts change the local economy, a lot of displaced service workers are feeling the pressure and the community college system could also be a great resource in helping folks rebrand or reequip themselves for different opportunities,” he said.

To help students who experience food and/or housing insecurity, he said, he’d like to have on-campus sign-ups with county workers to connect them with assistance. He said he also wanted to look into an ombudsman or student advocate role to expedite support for students in crisis due to problems like domestic violence, evictions or reentry after incarceration. Peer mentors could support these efforts, and could facilitate peer support groups to deal with mental health, substance abuse recovery or other areas of need, he said.

He said he’d favor working to house students in mobile homes and trailers, or converting a commercial building into lofts or dorms for students.

He’s open to developing student housing on the College of San Mateo campus but added, “it might be easier to purchase and rehab an existing apartment building nearby than to build from scratch.”

When it comes to the district’s finances, he said, while the reserves are in good shape, “we need to see how the state budget and enrollment numbers look going forward and react based on that.”

John Pimentel John Pimentel, a Menlo Park resident, wants to make education tuition-free for those who need it within the community college district.

Before 1985, he said, community college was tuitionfree in California. Today, he said, attending community college in San Mateo County

10 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

can cost more than $15,000 per year when factoring in tuition, books, fees, parking and transportation costs, child care, rent and other living expenses.

He favors programs to run shuttles that can transport students without private vehicles to the remote community college campuses — which are otherwise difficult to access — as well as streamlining digital learning programs to make it faster to earn credits or certifications, and working with local employers to ensure that technical training provided is what employers are looking for. He also proposed a “Visiting Varsity” program that invites high school athletes, performers and competitors to use community college facilities and become familiar with them as a pathway to bolster recruitment.

Another key priority is transparency, he said. He proposed a number of ideas to expand transparency within the district, such as recording all meetings and making them public, avoiding nobid, sole-source contracts, and appointing an “inspector general” position to independently report to the board.

While he commended the district’s transition to online learning this spring, moving forward, he said, he wants to evaluate best practices for digital teaching, invest in computers and Wi-Fi hot spots needed for all students and faculty and the district’s on-campus parking lot Wi-Fi services to other areas near the Bay and coast so students don’t have to commute to the campuses to access Wi-Fi. Another area to explore is the police training provided within the district to ensure the police force is “developed in a way that is free of implicit bias and able to manage situations with nonviolent techniques,” he said in a video on his campaign website.

He added that he believes the district’s financial situation is overall good because it receives most of its general fund revenue from local property taxes, which are less volatile than the state’s budget system, and the district’s current reserve of $43 million is substantially higher than the 5% general fund reserve recommended by the state Community College Chancellor’s Office.

“I believe reserves are meant to be jealously guarded for a rainy day,” he said. But if the pandemic, wildfires, unemployment and more are “not enough rain ... then what is?” he added.

Pimentel noted that while some might see him as a

Lisa Petrides, 59, is the founder and CEO of ISKME, an education nonprofit that, among other initiatives, has assembled digital libraries that have expanded access to free textbooks and educational materials for many. She has lived in the district for 20 years and holds a Ph.D. in education policy from Stanford University, an MBA from Sonoma State University and a bachelor’s of sciences degree from University of California at Berkeley. Her campaign website is lisapetrides.org.

Lisa Hicks-Dumanske, 59, is executive director of the Redwood City Library Foundation. She has lived in the district for 57 years and attended Cañada College, followed by San Francisco State University, where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in psychology. A former community organizer and the first in her family to attend college, Hicks-Dumanske has also worked as associate director at CuriOdyssey and served on the Redwood City Library Board and other civic organizations. Her campaign website is hicksdumanske.com.

Blair Whitney, 51, is a veteran and a site supervisor providing security at a tech campus. He lives in North Fair Oaks and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from San Jose State University and an MPA from Golden Gate University. He has lived in the district for eight years and is a member of the North Fair Oaks Community Council. He has chaired the Palo Alto VA Veterans and Family Advisory Council, and volunteered as a poll worker during elections and as a monthly food distributor at the Fair Oaks Community Center during the COVID-19 pandemic. He did not provide a campaign website.

John Pimentel, 54, is a renewable energy project developer and founder of Foundation Windpower, Sustainable Water Solutions, Panoche Valley Solar and Pacific Ethanol. He attended San Joaquin Delta Community College before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree at University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He has lived in the district for 15 years. He was recently appointed to Menlo Park’s Housing Commission, has served on the boards of the Ravenswood Education Foundation, the San Joaquin Delta Community College Foundation, Ravenswood Little League and Redwood City Police Activities League, and has volunteered with local schools and youth sports teams.

He previously worked as deputy secretary of transportation in California and was a consultant at Bain & Company. His campaign website is johnpimentel.com.

privileged white man, he had a chaotic and violent upbringing, with parents who had mental health and alcoholism problems, two sisters who died by suicide, and a brother who, high on meth, killed his mother, among other painful family circumstances. He was working unloading trucks in a Stockton warehouse when he enrolled at Delta College, which changed his life, he said.

“I feel obliged to make sure every resident of San Mateo

County has the same shot I had.”

Key endorsements include: current trustees Richard Holober and Dave Mandelkern, state Assemblyman Berman, San Mateo County supervisors Slocum, Horsley, Canepa and Pine, and county Board of Education members Ted Lempert, Rod Hsiao, Susan Alvaro and Joe Ross. A Email Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@almanacnews.com

N E W S

Two Stanford University economists win Nobel Prize Paul Milgrom, Robert Wilson lauded for auction theory and new auction formats

By Sue Dremann

A

pair of Stanford University economists will share the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced Monday.

Paul Milgrom, 72, and Robert Wilson, 83, have been awarded the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences for “improvements to auction theory and inventions of new auction formats,� according to a press release. The award also comes with 10 million Swedish kronor, equivalent to about $1.1 million.

Milgrom and Wilson are known for research and teaching on auction market design, pricing, negotiations and topics concerning industrial organization and information economics. They have played an important role in auction designs and competitive bidding strategies for the communications, oil and power industries, and in the design of innovative pricing schemes. Wilson has also influenced a generation of younger economists, including Milgrom,

Courtesy Andrew Brodhead/Stanford News Service

Robert Wilson, left, and Paul Milgrom have been awarded the 2020 Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences.

Stanford University said in a press release. “They have also used their insights to design new auction formats for goods and services that are difficult to sell in a

traditional way, such as radio frequencies ... Their discoveries have benefited sellers, buyers and taxpayers around the world,� the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said.

Milgrom is the founding director of the Stanford Institute for Theoretical Economics and is director of the Program on Market Design at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy

Research. Wilson is a professor emeritus at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. They shaped the modern telecommunications industry, which arose from an auction format they developed, along with American economist Preston McAfee. “The prize to Wilson and to Milgrom gives just recognition to one of the most important and successful applications of economic theory: auctions and auction design. But their influence on what we do and how we think in microeconomics, especially applied to the study of management, goes well beyond auctions. Their impact on business schools and business school curricula cannot be overestimated,� David Kreps, an economist at Stanford’s business school, said in the university’s press release.

Milgrom’s dissertation research during the 1970s under Wilson formed the theory of auctions when bidders have “differential information about the value of an object being sold,� according to the release.

See NOBEL PRIZE, page 13

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N E W S MPCSD continued from page 1

school year start as well as it did,” he said on his campaign website. “I recognize the start of this school year was not normal, nor ideal, but everyone has come together and made the best of it.

The theme for this school year is adaptation and the district has worked to adapt as fast as possible.”

Enrolling more students in preschool is one way to help address the achievement gap between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds, Maclay said. Many studies show early learning is critical for children.

He encourages continued investment in the district’s Early Learning Center as one of the responses to the achievement gap.

“With the pandemic there has been a dramatic impact to public finances, which has already impacted the budget of Menlo Park and caused cuts to many programs such as the Menlo Park Children’s Center,” he said.

The district will need to partner with other organizations, such as the city of Menlo Park and local employers, on its programs to help close that gap, he said.

Measure X will need to be renewed or replaced to maintain the district’s current budget, he said.

“Measure X was supported by 80% of voters in the district, which speaks to the commitment the community has to our schools,” he said.

He will host a virtual meet and greet on Oct. 21 from 7 to 8 p.m. atmeet.google.com/ tma-ytom-pkb.

David Ackerman

The pandemic upended Ackerman’s plan to retire from public service. Over the summer, he saw the need for a former administrator or teacher on the board while he served as the board’s representative on the district negotiating team with the teachers’ union on the conditions for returning to work in both distance and inperson learning.

“The memorandums of understanding we agreed to demonstrated to me the necessity that during these extraordinary times the board have at least one member who had actual experience as an educator and administrator dealing with union issues, instruction and curriculum,” said Ackerman, who has 45 years of experience in the field. “There will be numerous challenges ahead as we educate our children during this pandemic. The board needs a representative that has experience with teachers, teachers’ unions, instructional pedagogy and curriculum development.”

Ackerman’s first priority is the

Robert Maclay Robert Maclay, 39, is a parent and an IT director at Stanford Healthcare. He has lived in the district since 2011 and has leadership experience in corporate and health care settings. He holds a degree in telecommunications from the University of Colorado Boulder. His campaign website is robertmaclayforschoolboard.com.

Francesca Segrè Francesca Segrè, 47, is a content producer at LinkedIn and was a journalist for more than 20 years. She has lived in the district for a total of five years. She has been on the Encinal Elementary and Hillview Middle school site councils; served on the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation board; and volunteered at Encinal and for Hillview’s theater program. She holds a master’s degree in public policy administration from National University of Singapore and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Brandeis University. Her campaign website is votefrancesca.com.

David Ackerman David Ackerman, 74, was elected to the school board in 2016. He is retired, but taught elementary school for 15 years and was a principal for 30 years, including 15 years as an administrator in the Menlo Park district. He has lived in the district for five years. Ackerman serves on the superintendent’s early learning education advisory committee and is liaison to the Menlo Park Atherton Education Foundation and Menlo Park and Atherton city councils, along with other posts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in education from Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, and a master’s degree in education, curriculum and instruction from Webster University. He does not have a campaign website. “safe and expedient” reopening of schools. The district must quickly meet children’s academic and social needs, which have been affected by distance learning, he said. The pandemic will also impact finances, he said.

“The pandemic is going to negatively impact our future financial ability to provide the highest quality education,” he said. “We must bring our community together to reestablish financial security for the future.”

The district did an admirable job transitioning to distance learning last spring in such a short time period, he said.

“No one wanted to start this school year with distance learning,” he said. “Distance learning is not an effective full-time replacement for the fabulous job our teachers do under normal circumstances. It is inevitable that distance is a disappointment. Our teachers and principals should continue to listen to the feedback parents and students are providing.”

Staff will also have to provide social and emotional supports to students as they trickle into classrooms after this long period of isolation, he noted. He voted in support of the waiver to return to in-person learning and believes

12 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

the district has implemented good safety precautions.

There are many factors that have contributed to the achievement gap between students of differing socioeconomic backgrounds. Poverty, poor health, unemployment, lack of affordable housing and lack of day care have had a devastating effect on learning, he said.

“While we can lobby for fair and just remedies in these areas, there are areas where we have direct influence,” he said. “During my term on the board we have initiated an early learning program for 3- to 5-year-olds targeting our socioeconomic challenged families. Our district needs to hire a more diverse faculty. Our faculty needs further training on unconscious bias, maintaining high expectations, and relationship building with families from different backgrounds. We need to attack the ‘rumors of inferiority’ that pervade our society and the unconsciousness of our underachieving students.”

Ackerman said there is no doubt Measure X will have to be replaced so the district can continue to provide a high-quality education for students.

“Under the laws governing public schools the majority of our

funding comes from property taxes, parcel taxes, state and federal allocations, and community fundraising,” he said.

Francesca Segrè

With a resume that includes reporting for KQED, the New York Times and Reuters, and experience as a parent, active member of the school community and public policy professional, Segrè said she is well-equipped to serve on the school board.

With two children in the district, Segrè hears about the struggles and successes with distance learning, the uncertainty of returning to campus, and the emotional impacts of socially distant living firsthand, she said. Segrè’s mother also lives in Menlo Park, so as a board member, she would be invested in making choices that consider the health and safety of the wider community.

“These are high-stakes decisions for your family and for mine,” she said. “I’m running for Menlo Park City School District board because I want to ensure that all of our children, despite circumstance and despite COVID, are prepared to build the future of their dreams.”

Segrè applied for a vacant school board seat last fall, but the trustees chose former board member Mark Box for the oneyear appointment. Ackerman said Segrè impressed him, but the trustees wanted someone who could come up to speed quickly on district issues and contribute immediately given the short stint of the appointment.

As a board member, she would like to ensure reopened schools are as healthy and safe as possible for both the school community and wider community.

“No single intervention is sufficient to make schools safe, and no school environment will be 100% risk-free,” she said.

She said she was impressed with how quickly teachers transitioned to distance learning over just a three-day period.

“This rapid response was almost unheard of in other California districts,” she said. “There is room for improvement. As a parent, I see and hear teachers spending precious live instruction time targeting tech-support challenges for individual students. Students can email or call in to get support; but help is not necessarily immediate. I would like to have a dedicated tech support phone line to assist students in the moment, so teachers aren’t stopping class to troubleshoot one child’s spotty Wi-Fi.” Segrè would also like sustainable, innovative and transparent funding solutions for the district.

Moving forward, the district is facing a contraction in many of

its funding sources: property taxes; Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation donations; state and federal contributions; and the sunsetting Measure X parcel tax, she said.

“The economic turbulence we’re experiencing today is unprecedented; yet I stand firm that we must maintain our investment in education. Our children today are starting their lives in the shadow of a pandemic — we must provide them with every tool to get through it now and thrive in the future.”

At the same time, the district will need to navigate potential new expenses, including COVIDrelated costs. This combination of reduced revenue and increased expenses could threaten educational offerings, she said.

The district has frozen hiring and put in across-the-board placeholder cuts of $1.5 million in the 2021-22 school year and another $1.5 million in the 202223 school year.

Segrè notes that poverty is all too often linked to performance.

“Schools alone cannot close the achievement gap, but this is a top priority for me,” she said. She wants to add resources to the district’s Family Services Coordination team, which makes in-home visits to support students who are not connecting to school regularly. She said the district must ensure these students have the best hardware and connectivity available, so that technology isn’t an additional barrier to success.

She would also like to extend and financially support programs that aim to close the achievement gap, such as mentorship and academic assistance.

Along with Ackerman’s endorsement, Segrè is backed by San Mateo County Superintendent of Schools Nancy Magee, San Mateo County Supervisor Dave Pine, Menlo Park City Council member Ray Mueller, former Menlo Park district school board members and more.

Campaign finances

School board candidates filed their campaign finance disclosure statements during the week of Sept. 21. The finance reports cover the period of July 1 to Sept.

19.

Maclay’s 460 form was not available on the county’s website.

Ackerman did not report spending or raising any money during the period.

Segrè raised $3,856, including $242 from Magee and $194 from former Menlo Park City Council member Kirsten Keith. She spent $1,581 on lawn signs, postcards, her candidate statement and marketing. A Email Angela Swartz at aswartz@almanacnews.com

N E W S

Magali Gauthier

Adam Ahlbach, an Ormondale first grade teacher, talks to his students before they head outside for recess. The buckets by their desks serve as seats during outdoor lessons.

Magali Gauthier

Ormondale students, one to a table, eat their snacks on Oct. 13.

PORTOLA SCHOOLS continued from page 1

The neighboring Menlo Park City and Las Lomitas school districts, along with the Hillsborough City School District, also received reopening waivers, according to San Mateo County Office of Education spokesperson Patricia Love.

Las Lomitas district kindergartners will return to classrooms Oct. 19, with older grades phasing back into classrooms the following weeks, said Las Lomitas district Superintendent Beth Polito.

Middle school students in the Portola Valley and Las Lomitas NOBEL PRIZE continued from page 11

He pioneered research on the design of auctions for largescale problems where many bidders may be competing for many different types of goods, according to the university.

He is also known for work on the economics of incentives and management, game theory and information economics, for developing one of the standard models of the microstructure of financial markets, and for multiple contributions to mathematical economics.

In 1996, he co-founded a consulting company to design markets for commodities such as diamonds, timber, electricity, natural gas and radio spectrum and another company in 2009 to provide software solutions for conducting multiproduct auctions.

He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and

districts will continue with distance learning indefinitely, according to the districts.

The county moved out of the most restrictive purple or “widespread” risk tier to the red or “substantial” tier on Sept. 22. Since the county has stayed in the red tier for three weeks as of Oct. 13, all TK-12 schools in San Mateo County are allowed to reopen, so long as they develop a reopening plan, have a testing plan in place for staff, and use an incremental approach to reopening, according to the San Mateo County Office of Education website.

A new school day structure

Sciences in 1992 and the National Academy of Sciences in 2006 and received the 2008 Nemmers Prize in economics.

Wilson is best known for applying theories about auctions to real-world market problems, the university said.

He worked with the U.S. Department of the Interior on policies for auctioning leases for oil exploration in the 1970s. Wilson later created an auction system for the sale of industrial chemicals.

He and Milgrom designed the 1993 Federal Communications Commission spectrum auction.

He also designed portions of the markets conducted by the Power Exchange, an auction system for the sale of electricity and reserve generation capacity that was used in California after the state deregulated its electric power industry in 1998 and contributed to designs used by the California and New England

power-system operators.

He joined the Stanford Graduate School of Business faculty in 1964 and was director of Stanford’s Center on Conf lict and Negotiation in 1990 and Institute of Theoretical Economics from 1993 to 1995. In 1994, he was inducted into the National Academy of Sciences in 1994.

Wilson received the Stanford Business School PhD Faculty Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001 and was named a Distinguished Fellow of the American Economic Association in 2006.

In 2018, Milgrom and Wilson were jointly awarded the 2018 John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science with Kreps.

Milgrom and Wilson are the 18th and 19th living Nobel laureates at Stanford, the university said. A

The Portola Valley district is following a hybrid learning model. This means students will do some learning in person and some at home.

The 38 first graders who have returned to the Shawnee Pass Drive campus are divided among three classes. They will be joined by kindergartners and transitional kindergartners next week. Second and fourth graders will begin on-campus instruction on Nov. 2. Third and fifth graders will follow on Nov. 9.

Kimber Trefero’s first grade

Email Sue Dremann at sdremann@paweekly.com

students sit at tables separated by clear partitions. Trefero, who is in her sixth year teaching at Ormondale and 17th year teaching, said she is happy to see the students in person.

“I’m just hoping we stay open,” she said, referencing other schools across the country that have shut down following reopenings because of COVID-19 outbreaks.

The teachers union, Portola Valley Teachers Association (PVTA), initially submitted a letter to the board July 25 which strongly expressed that it did not want teachers and students to return to campus during the pandemic. But two weeks later, the district and teachers union reached an agreement on distance and in-person learning during the pandemic, with terms that include giving teachers at least a 48-hour notice to transition to in-person learning, according to an Aug.

10 joint statement. PVTA president John Davenport declined to comment on the reopening.

From 8:30 to 11:30 a.m., first graders eat snacks outside and the gardening teacher conducts lessons over Zoom while students use the on-campus greenhouse. Instruction also takes place in classrooms. The district purchased lap desks and buckets to use as seats for outdoor learning, Hovland said.

They resume online instruction at home at 12:30 p.m.

Connor, a first grader, said he was “bummed” he didn’t see his friends in person during full-time distance learning and is happy to see them again.

“Kids are a lot more resilient than adults are,” Hovland said while watching the students play during recess. “They’re just happy to be here.” A

ALLIED ARTS

parking spots, 11 of which would operate as electric vehicle (EV) charging stations and 15 of which would be wired to allow EV charging equipment at a later date.

The development would also have bike parking, per city mandates, as well as a public paseo to connect to the neighboring site, the former Oasis restaurant. The proposed restaurant space would have patio areas and outdoor seating.

The proposal is scheduled for potential final approval by the Menlo Park City Council on Oct. 27. A Email Kate Bradshaw at kbradshaw@almanacnews.com

continued from page 5

rentals to a for-sale condominium development “at some point in the future,” according to the staff report, but additional terms or restrictions placed upon the housing would be up to the City Council to decide.

The Housing Commission was scheduled to discuss some options for the developer’s below-market-rate agreement to recommend to the council at its Oct. 7 meeting.

Underneath the structure would be two levels of belowground parking offering 59

Email Angela Swartz at aswartz@almanacnews.com

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PLANNING COMMISSIONERS PARTICIPATING BY TELECONFERENCE: BILDNER, DARE, ELFISHAWY, KUTAY, LONDON, VOELKE, AND WALL Join Zoom Meeting:

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Presentation and consideration of a proposal requiring Formal Design Review (ASRB20190028) to demolish an existing Fire Station and replace it with a new two-story Fire Station, LQFOXGLQJ EXW QRW OLPLWHG WR HQFORVHG ÀUH WUXFN SDUNLQJ ED\V DQG FRPPXQDO OLYLQJ TXDUWHUV 3URSRVHG VLWH LPSURYHPHQWV LQFOXGH UHFRQÀJXUHG SDYLQJ ODQGVFDSLQJ DQG IHQFLQJ 7KH proposed Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application (CUSE2019-0006) would update development standards and operational conditions by amending and replacing the existing CUP (CUP-80-132).

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A

double-whammy of COVID-19 and the upcoming flu season has health professionals worried there will be a large surge in hospitalizations and that some people could contract both diseases.

They are urging people to get vaccinated for influenza, while preparing to administer the vaccines in ways they haven’t done before. “It’s never good to have two infections circulating at the same time that affect the lungs,� Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, Stanford professor of pediatric infectious diseases and health research and policy, said during a recent interview. “Clearly, we are worried.

Influenza is another pandemic.

It’s a pretty significant health problem. “This is a year when you clearly want to get a vaccine,�

Maldonado said.

This fall and winter “are going to be probably one of the most difficult times that we’ve experienced in American public health,� Robert Redfield director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned during a July webinar with the Journal of the American Medical Association.

At Palo Alto Medical Foundation (PAMF), Dr. William Isenberg, chief quality and safety officer for parent organization Sutter Health, said teams are tracking the flu virus. There is cause for concern when two major viruses attacking similar body systems converge. “Flu always affects the respiratory system and COVID-19 mostly does. Either one can lower the immune system and will be a setup to have a weakened immune system,� he said.

There is evidence that people can contract both diseases. Very early in the pandemic, a patient in the Philippines had contracted COVID-19, influenza and pneumococcal disease, he said. And anytime someone is hospitalized, the risk of contracting another infectious disease goes up, he said.

Isenberg said that’s why it’s critical for everyone to be vaccinated this year. To that end, PAMF’s pharmacy ordered influenza vaccines as soon as they were available and is well-stocked. He cautioned people not to get the vaccinations too early, however, which would cause people to lose immunity later when the flu season is still active.

PAMF started rolling out its vaccinations after Labor Day. The best time to get that shot is from September through December.

To keep people safely socially distanced, PAMF will be handling its flu-shot clinics by appointment, Cecilia Aviles, operations executive for Sutter’s Peninsula care centers, said.

Appointment can be made either by phone to set up a visit with a patient’s physician or by filling out a form online.

Depending on the location, some vaccinations will be given in parking lots and other outdoor locations.

The clinics are also scaling up to meet the greater demand. They are gauging how many patients they can see in an hour while maintaining social distancing. “It’s also a dress rehearsal for when COVID vaccines become available,� she said. “We have looked at if vaccination rates were to increase 10%, 20%, 30% and how to meet those numbers. We could be open longer; we would be available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on weekends or later, even,� she said.

Contrary to some rumors, the flu shot will not lower a person’s immune system response to COVID-19, Maldonado said.

Stanford also has “a pretty aggressive flu program� for vaccinating its employees, and it tracks and sends data on vaccinating its units to the state.

Like PAMF, Maldonado said Stanford will use more spacing to allow for social distancing and is currently working out plans to be more creative with its clinics.

This year’s flu season could turn out to be weaker than in prior years. Influenza strikes the southern hemisphere about six months before it spreads north, and so far reports show there aren’t many cases, Maldonado said. But that could also change as the virus moves north, she said.

Social distancing, quarantines and wearing masks against COVID-19 might be contributing to the lower number of flu cases. “We’re starting to wonder if masks are having an impact.

Does it make a difference if there is only a small inoculum of the virus that gets through? So far I feel it’s a good deterrent, but not 100%. Most likely, it is reducing a degree of the disease,� she said. A Email Sue Dremann at sdremann@paweekly.com

N E W S CRIME BRIEFS

Four arrested for buying alcohol for minors

continued from page 8

Package theft suspects found Menlo Park police cited and released two San Jose residents, ages 27 and 38, who they found driving around Sharon Road and Eastridge Avenue in Menlo Park after 2 a.m. on Sept. 30 in a black Mercedes-Benz SUV. An officer stopped the vehicle after noticing its registration was expired and saw more than 10 Amazon packages in the back seat.

The packages, which bore addresses from different homes on the 600 block of Sharon Park Drive, were determined to be stolen, according to the police department.

Police cited the two occupants for theft and possession of stolen property, and the elder of the occupants with possessing narcotic paraphernalia, a controlled substance and driving with a suspended driver’s license. They were released on their signed promises to appear in court.

Police are returning the recovered packages to their owners.

Witnesses are encouraged to contact Detective Josh Russell at 650-330-6364 or jprussell@ menlopark.org.

Menlo Park police worked with agents from California’s Alcoholic Beverage Control department to arrest four people on Sept. 30 who purchased alcohol on behalf of people under 21.

The operation was funded through a $54,000 grant from the Alcoholic Beverage Control department and intended to reduce underage drinking in Menlo Park.

The departments used a supervised underage minor as a decoy. The decoy stands outside a liquor or convenience store and asks patrons to buy alcohol for him or her, indicating that he or she is underage.

If the adults agree to buy the alcohol, they are arrested and cited for providing alcohol to the minor. The minimum penalty is a fine of $1,000 and 24 hours of community service, according to the police department.

During the operation in Menlo Park, the decoy contacted 30 people and four were cited.

Additional enforcement operations are planned throughout the year, as well as programs to educate businesses that sell alcohol about state regulations.

—Kate Bradshaw

Second Harvest Food Bank faces volunteer shortage Second Harvest of Silicon Valley, which operates as the primary food bank in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, is facing a shortage of volunteers as the number of people who receive food assistance in the two counties has risen to about a half million.

The demand for groceries and food assistance that Second Harvest provides has doubled in the wake of the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, according to a news release from the nonprofit.

It has expanded food distribution sites to 130 new drive-thru locations, which increases the food bank’s need for volunteers. Many distribution operations have drawn only about half of the needed workers, according to the release.

“Since the pandemic began, we have seen an outpouring of support from people wanting to help, but we are now

Magali Gauthier

Second Harvest of Silicon Valley volunteer delivery drivers load their cars with packaged food at the Avenidas Rose Kleiner Center in Mountain View around 8 a.m. on June 16. The demand for deliveries has increased during the coronavirus pandemic as some clients aren’t able to leave their homes.

distributing 80% more food than we did before and we simply need more help,” said Leslie Bacho, CEO for Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.

Volunteers are expected to wear masks and maintain social distancing. Seniors or anyone with a chronic health condition are not recommended to volunteer at this time. Anyone showing signs

of illness will be asked to leave and come back when they are well. The minimum age to volunteer is 14, and all volunteers ages 14 to 17 must have a signed electronic permission slip on file at least 48 hours before volunteering, according to the statement.

Go to shfb.org/give-help/ volunteer to sign up for a shift.

—Kate Bradshaw

A Better Health Care Experience Awaits with a Medicare Advantage plan from Stanford Health Care Advantage (HMO)

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For accommodations of persons with special needs at meetings call 1-855-200-9227 or, for TTY users, 711. *You may reach a messaging service on weekends from April 1 through Sept. 30 and holidays. Please leave a message, and your call will be returned the next business day. Stanford Health Care Advantage is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Stanford Health Care Advantage depends on contract renewal. Stanford Health Care Advantage complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex.

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October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 17

Public Notices

995 Fictitious Name Statement

Here for you. Or over there for you.

In-person or virtual visits at Peninsula Pediatric Medical Group genpeds.stanfordchildrens.org

BREAKING GROUND THERAPY FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: 285223 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: Breaking Ground Therapy, located at 732 Montezuma Dr., Pacifica, CA 94044, San Mateo County.

Registered owner(s): REBECCA GOOD, PsyD. 732 Montezuma Dr. Pacifica, CA 94044 This business is conducted by: An Individual.

The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of San Mateo County on September 25, 2020.

(ALM Oct. 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020)

FitCuts FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: 285340 The following person(s) is (are) doing business as: FitCuts, located at 1181 El Camino Real, Menlo Park, CA 94025, San Mateo County; Mailing address: 200 Leland Ave., Menlo Park, CA 94025.

Registered owner(s): KCH LLC. 200 Leland Ave. Menlo Park, CA 94025 California This business is conducted by: A Limited Liability Company.

The registrant commenced to transact business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on N/A. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of San Mateo County on October 6, 2020.

(ALM Oct. 9, 16, 23, 30, 2020)

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Visit sfcu.org/HELOC for more information or to apply. +(/2&V IXQGHG RQ RU DIWHU 2FWREHU ZLOO UHFHLYH WKH LQWURGXFWRU\ UDWH RI 3ULPH PLQXV IRU WKH ŊUVW PRQWKV WKHQ UHYHUW WR 3ULPH IRU WKH UHPDLQGHU RI WKH ORDQ WHUP 2ʼnHU DQG UDWHV DUH VXEMHFW WR FKDQJH ZLWKRXW QRWLFH 7KHUH DUH QR RULJLQDWLRQ IHHV RU FORVLQJ FRVWV IRU +(/2&V XS WR $Q (DUO\ &ORVXUH )HH RI ZLOO DSSO\ LI WKH +(/2& LV FORVHG LQ WKH ŊUVW WKUHH \HDUV &DOLIRUQLD SURSHUWLHV RQO\ 0HPEHUVKLS HOLJLELOLW\ UHTXLUHG 7KH +(/2& UDWH LV YDULDEOH DQG VXEMHFW WR LQFUHDVH GXULQJ WKH ORDQ WHUP 5DWH LV EDVHG RQ WKH 3ULPH 5DWH DV SXEOLVKHG LQ 7KH :DOO 6WUHHW -RXUQDO 0RQH\ 5DWHV 7DEOH á,QGH[ø 7KH ŋ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

18 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

With support from the County of Santa Clara, Office of LGBTQ Affairs

Call (650) 289-5445 for more information or sign up at www.avenidas.org

Like us on facebook.com/AlmanacNews

N E W S

Saddled up and safely distanced for Day of the Horse

Photos by Adam Pardee

Clockwise, from top left: The Day of the Horse’s Progressive Trail Ride took riders on local trails that went through downtown Woodside on Saturday, Oct. 10; riders were encouraged to wear Roaring ‘20s-themed attire; sunlight hits a horse’s mane; three riders pass through downtown Woodside.

CAMPAIGN DONATIONS continued from page 7

Ed Nickerson, sales, Pegasus Products Group, $150; Patricia Foster, executive director of Girls to Women, $100; Joleen Ruffin, notary, $100; Mallory Stevens, educator, Cañada College, $100; Cecilia Marquez, administrative, Sequoia Union High School District, $100; Henry Organ, retired, $100; Vicky Gorin, support staff, Mountain View Whisman School District, $100; Carisa Hamilton, stay-athome mom, $100; Edna Johnson, sales manager, Veeam Software, $100; Amina Burrell, teacher, Eco-Wonderschool, $100; Gloria

Brown, retired, $250; Minnie Whittle, retired, $100; Chelsea Bonini, attorney, Kiski Law PC, former San Mateo-Foster Elementary School District trustee, $100; Heather Hopkins, organizing member, Community Equity Collaborative, $100; Larry Moody, East Palo Alto City Council member, $100; Appollonia Uhilamoelangi, retired, $100; and Hurmon Hamilton, clergy, New Beginnings Community Church, $100.

Menlo Park City School District

There are three candidates running for two open seats on

the board of the Menlo Park City School District: incumbent Dave Ackerman, parent and communications professional Francesca Segrè, and parent Robert Maclay.

Ackerman did not spend or raise any money during the period.

Segrè raised $3,855.82, including $242.45 from San Mateo County Superintendent Magee and $193.90 from former Menlo Park City Council member Kirsten Keith. She spent $1,581.27 on lawn siwgns, postcards, her candidate statement and marketing.

Maclay’s 460 form was not available on the county’s website.

Las Lomitas Elementary School District

There are three candidates running for two open seats on the board that governs Las Lomitas Elementary School in Atherton and La Entrada Middle School in Menlo Park.

The contenders for seats on the board for the two-school district are Jason Morimoto, a finance executive and parent; Jody Leng, a physician anesthesiologist and parent; and Molly Finn (mentioned above as a donor to Edwards).

Finn raised $4,095, including a $225 loan to herself. She received donations from Suzi

Robertson, nurse, $1,000; Erin Passan, communications executive, Vanguard, $1,000; Mary Sheehan, stock broker, $520; John Earnhardt (mentioned above as a Las Lomitas district trustee), $250; Kathy LaPorte, venture capitalist, $250; Rosemary Camposano, communications, Cisco Systems, $250; Mario Diprisco, finance, Dodge & Cox, $150; Frances Nuelle, college consultant and writer, $150; and Wanda Molari, events producer, $150.

Leng and Morimoto’s 460 forms were not available on the county’s website. A Email Angela Swartz at aswartz@almanacnews.com

October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 19

Viewpoint IDEAS, THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS

ABOUT LOCAL ISSUES

Vote ‘no’ on Measure RR GUEST OPINION

By Michael Brady

O

n the November ballot is a tax measure, Measure RR, which would create an additional sales tax for the benefit of Caltrain.

Sensible voters should vote “no” on this measure; Caltrain is a bloated, mismanaged public works nightmare that doesn’t deserve taxpayer help during these tough times.

For years, Caltrain has been engaged in a program to “electrify” its main line from San Jose to San Francisco.

This has been, and continues to be, a financial disaster. Its original cost estimate was $800 million; now it is up to four times that — or over $3.2 billion!

This is a prime example of government waste and profligacy that the voters hate.

In connection with this electrification project, Caltrain has to develop a sophisticated signaling system to prevent collisions. Knowing that a certain contractor had been found incompetent in Denver, Caltrain went out and hired the same contractor with disastrous results on the Peninsula and after spending untold millions of dollars.

Instead of the ruinous electrification project, Caltrain refused to consider modern Tier 4 diesel trains as an alternative; they cost one-quarter as much, are quiet and clean, and get you to San Francisco about three minutes later than an electric train. Is that “severe delay” worth putting up with to save billions? Another example of Caltrain bullheadedness.

Caltrain made an unholy alliance/marriage with the California High-Speed Rail Authority; Caltrain received $745 million from HSR, and

in return gave up control of its 50 mile right of way, agreeing to let HSR run 10 trains north and 10 trains south every hour, a little exercise that will paralyze the Peninsula with the crossing gates coming down every three minutes.

No one will be able to get to work onw time, get the kids to school on time, get to the emergency room, and the merchants of the Peninsula will be severely hurt, as if they aren’t already suffering enough from the pandemic.

The Peninsula will be paralyzed by this stupid move. And they did this with no money for grade separation, and their famous comment as to what they were about to impose was, “We’ll see how things develop!”

There is no long-term planning: For example, who says that people on the Peninsula will return to work in San Francisco? Or will they stay home to work? Will all our work habits change, with limited commute traffic compared to before? Why aren’t these issues being analyzed before any tax is imposed on the people?

Caltrain has also become a wealthy person’s commute vehicle. The average household income for a rider is $100,000 per year, according to a 2018 Caltrain ridership survey; this is scarcely a program for the poor and disadvantaged.

But a sales tax is regressive and hurts the poor the most.

Measure RR is a bad financial decision for a badly run entity. Send Caltrain a message; vote “no” on Measure RR. Michael J. Brady is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School who has practiced law in Redwood City since the late 1960s and been active in litigating against the California High Speed Rail Project, trying to keep it off of the Peninsula. He has lived in Menlo Park and Woodside for more than 50 years.

‘Yes’ on RR to save Caltrain GUEST OPINION

By Marc Berman

W

e all miss certain activities that we took for granted before our lives were upended by the COVID-19 pandemic — cheering on the Giants at a crowded Oracle Park, catching up with colleagues in the office at lunchtime, or spending a Sunday in San Francisco or San Jose. For tens of thousands of us these activities all had one thing in common: taking Caltrain to get to and from our destinations.

The good news is that this health pandemic will end eventually, and we will get back to doing all of the things we miss.

The bad news is there’s a real risk that Caltrain will not be there for us.

We have the opportunity to ensure that Caltrain continues to serve as the backbone of our public transportation system from San Jose to San Francisco. Measure RR, which is on the ballot in Santa Clara, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, is an eighth-cent sales tax to create a dedicated funding source for Caltrain operations. Caltrain has no stable source of funding and more than 70% of its revenue comes from fares. With most people working from home during the pandemic, ridership has dropped by nearly 95%, crippling Caltrain’s finances.

Without Measure RR, Caltrain is facing a shutdown that will cost taxpayers at least $155 million just to get the system back up and running. We can avoid that unnecessary expense by supporting Caltrain now. This will ensure that thousands of essential workers can continue to rely on its service during the pandemic, and it will preserve the system for when millions of us return to a more normal life sometime next year. A recent survey of Caltrain riders showed that at least 70% plan to start riding again once

LETTER S Our readers write

Reelect Anna Eshoo

Magali Gauthier

Caltrain ridership more than doubled in the past 20 years, but it dropped by 95% during the coronavirus shelter-in-place order, leaving an unfamiliar amount of space on previously crowded commute-hour trains.

20 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

Here is why I am voting for Anna Eshoo for Congress representing the 18th Congressional District. Since 1992, Anna has served our congressional district well. I am a dietitian in health care, and I have seen directly how Anna has always supported legislation to provide meals, food, and health care for the underserved in all age groups. She is the first woman to chair the most powerful committee in Congress — the Health Subcommittee of Energy & Commerce. She is working hard to combat rising prescription costs by introducing legislation overhauling Medicare to allow the federal government to negotiate prescription

the pandemic subsides.

Measure RR isn’t just a stopgap measure to keep the trains running.

It’s a well-thought-out, long-term plan to make Caltrain a world-class public transportation system. Electrification is scheduled to go online in 2022, and Measure RR will pay for operations for this cleaner, faster system. Electrified, quieter trains will mean cleaner air and less noise pollution for our communities, reducing criteria air pollutant emissions by up to 97% and eliminating over 176,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions along the corridor each year.

Importantly, Caltrain’s Board of Directors recently adopted an Equity Framework designed to make Caltrain more accessible to more of our communities who don’t currently ride.

They’re piloting a 50% fare reduction for lower-income riders that can be made permanent if Measure RR passes. The equity framework also proposes adding more trains to its schedule during offpeak hours, expanding access to station facilities and improving connections to other public transit routes.

An expanded Caltrain also provides a much-needed economic boost to the area. Projections show that Measure RR will add approximately 16,000 good paying jobs across the three counties.

Ensuring that Caltrain not only survives this pandemic but is in a position to thrive afterwards is critical to our post-pandemic quality of life. Can you imagine if the tens of thousands of daily riders were to drive their cars instead? Join me in supporting Measure RR to support Caltrain and protect this critical transportation system for decades to come.

Marc Berman is the state assembly member for the 24th District. He can be reached at marc.berman@asm.com.gov. drug prices. She serves Silicon Valley as a champion for net neutrality and as the author of a revolutionary digital signature bill. Anna cares about her constituents and, before COVID, met with them regularly in person. She now holds regular virtual town hall meetings to hear directly from her constituents.

She respects and honors each constituent and is always willing to listen.

During this pandemic and horrendous fire season, her first priority has been assistance to first responders and those suffering from the pandemic and the fires. She worked hard on developing the CARES Act — the first bill that addressed the economic crises during the pandemic. Her experience and knowledge of how the government and Congress works has enabled her to pass Continued on next page

V I E W P O I N T

Halloween during a pandemic doesn’t have to be scary School superintendents implore families to plan alternative celebrations for upcoming holidays GUEST OPINION

By Erik Burmeister, Beth Polito and Gina Sudaria

W

ith the realities of COVID-19 firmly ingrained, how to celebrate the upcoming holidays is top of mind. We face the real possibility of missing some very dear and important traditions.

As superintendents of your local elementary school districts, many parents ask us about holiday expectations. Will they be the same? Is trick-or-treating safe?

Can we have class parties? Is travel okay? These are all legitimate questions that must be answered within the context of an unfortunate reality.

We remain in the midst of a global pandemic that has killed 216,000 Americans and over 1 million individuals worldwide.

There is no vaccine available.

Social gatherings remain the single biggest contributor to the spread of COVID-19. If we wish to open schools and keep them open, we must adjust our expectations and use the pandemic as an opportunity to find new ways to celebrate.

According to the CDC, many of the traditions we love most are considered unsafe; these include trick-or-treating, haunted houses and indoor parties. Your local superintendents ask our community to please plan alternatives to traditional trick-or-treating this year. Consider socially distanced outdoor costume parades just on your local block/street. Provide grab-and-go treats for kids

along the path that don’t result in grouping at doorways. Postpone haunted houses until next year and don’t invite other families to your home for parties. Consider decorating your own home and plan a fun spooky movie watch party just for those with whom you live.

Whether it is a Thanksgiving

Your local superintendents ask our community to please plan alternatives to traditional trick-ortreating this year. celebration or December holiday tradition, COVID-19 forces us to rethink our plans. We first want to address travel. The CDC is clear that “travel increases your chance of getting and spreading COVID-19. Staying home is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.� Your local superintendents humbly ask parents to avoid travel this holiday season, particularly international travel. We also ask you to reconsider large gatherings that bring family together. COVID-19 doesn’t care that you are related.

Familial relations don’t protect you from giving COVID to or getting COVID from your loved ones. The safest option for all of us is to celebrate with those with whom we live.

In our own experience, the holidays often involve hurried travel, a hectic sense of obligation, last-minute shopping, and endless

Continued from previous page

over 45 bills with bipartisan support, including the Paris Climate Agreement and the Affordable Care Act. Anna knows the ropes in government and knows, respects, and protects her constituents. Vote for Anna!

Lorri Holzberg University Drive, Menlo Park

Vote for John Pimentel I am supporting John Pimentel to represent Area 5 on the San Mateo County Community College District (SMCCCD) Board of Trustees.

With the challenges we are facing these days as a nation, we need someone who can help rethink how our young people can get a jump-start on building career-sustaining skills. I believe the community college system is an integral part of the solution and that John has great ideas on what to do. Furthermore, he comes with highly

cooking for visitors. Why not use COVID-19 as an excuse to slow down this holiday season and focus on time spent with those in your home? After the stress of the last six months, doesn’t a quieter holiday season off of planes, out of stores, and away from Zoom sound life-giving right about now?

If you must celebrate outside of your home, we ask you to consider the following precautions. Limit the number of people with whom you are celebrating. Celebrate outdoors whenever possible. Wear a mask when not eating or drinking.

When without a mask, keep your distance. Wash your hands regularly.

The three of us agree that the single most important social gathering that our entire community must prioritize is kids in school. Every member of our community, whether they have children in school or not, has a part in ensuring our schools can open and stay open. If we can limit the spread of COVID in our community by limiting social gathering to only those activities that are essential — like school — we can get through this. The good news is that we will see a day when COVID is behind us. Until then, we thank everyone for adjusting their plans to ensure our schools can open and stay open. More importantly, our kids thank you.

Erik Burmeister, Beth Polito and Gina Sudaria are the superintendents of the Menlo Park City, Las Lomitas Elementary and Ravenswood City school districts, respectively.

relevant firsthand experience; he is a graduate of the California community college system and is an entrepreneur, he knows what kids need to maximize the chances of getting and keeping rich and rewarding long-term jobs.

I encourage voters to check out his website and see for themselves what John is proposing. We need his creative ideas, high energy and passionate conviction now more than ever.

Marshall Haines Laurel Drive, Menlo Park

What’s on your mind?

Tell us what’s on your mind by sending your letters to letters@AlmanacNews.com. Or snailmail them to: The Almanac, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306.

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TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE CONTROL COMMISSIONERS NEEDED The Portola Valley Town Council is seeking three volunteers to serve on the Town’s Architectural and Site Control Commission (ASCC) through December 2024. ;OL (:** JVUZPZ[Z VM Ă„]L TLTILYZ HWWVPU[LK I` [OL Town Council, and meetings are held on the 2nd and 4th Mondays of each month. ;OL (:** PZ JOHYNLK ^P[O [OL YL]PL^ HUK HWWYV]HS VM KLZPNU YL]PL^ HWWSPJH[PVUZ HUK ZP[L KL]LSVWTLU[ WLYTP[Z PUJS\KPUN HWWSPJH[PVUZ MVY UL^ OVTLZ ZLJVUK \UP[Z larger additions, second story additions, and commercial I\PSKPUNZ 0U HKKP[PVU [OL (:** WYV]PKLZ JVTTLU[Z VU JVUKP[PVUHS \ZL WLYTP[Z Z\IKP]PZPVUZ ]HYPHUJLZ HUK other matters referred by the Town Council, the Planning *VTTPZZPVU VY ;V^U :[HɈ ;V HWWS` WSLHZL Z\ITP[ H SL[[LY VM PU[LYLZ[ [V [OL ;V^U *V\UJPS [V ZOHUSVU'WVY[VSH]HSSL` UL[ I` WT VU 4VUKH` November 2, 2020. The Town Council will conduct interviews at a scheduled meeting on November 11, 2020.

If you have questions or would like more information, WSLHZL JVU[HJ[ ;V^U *SLYR :OHYVU /HUSVU H[ ZOHUSVU' WVY[VSH]HSSL` UL[ _

TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY PLANNING COMMISSIONERS NEEDED The Town Council is seeking three volunteers to serve on the Town’s Planning Commission through December ;OL 7SHUUPUN *VTTPZZPVU JVUZPZ[Z VM Ä]L TLTILYZ appointed by the Town Council, and meetings are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month.

The Planning Commission is responsible for addressing policy matters related to general land use and development in Town. The Commission provides recommendations to the Town Council on legislative actions such as amendments to the Zoning Code and the General Plan. In addition, the Commission reviews and acts on certain types of applications, such as conditional use permits, subdivisions, and variances, as well as reviewing appeals of ASCC and HKTPUPZ[YH[P]L Z[HɈ KLJPZPVUZ To apply, please submit a letter of interest to the Town Council to shanlon@portolavalley.net by 5pm on Monday, November 2, 2020. The Town Council will conduct interviews at a scheduled meeting on November 11, 2020.

If you have questions or would like more information, please contact Town Clerk Sharon Hanlon at shanlon@ portolavalley.net or (650) 851-1700 x210.

October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 21

Artscene

P E O P L E A N D P E R F O R M A N C E S I N A R T S A N D E N T E R TA I N M E N T

Dragon Theatre hosts video game/performance hybrid

Arts org invites patrons to take part in an ‘immersive online experience,’ with plans to expand

By Karla Kane

L

ive theater and video games: When done well, both have the power to magically transport participants into another realm. For its next major project, Dragon Productions Theatre Company is combining these two media in “Party at the End of the World.” Its creators call it an “immersive online experience,” and the first chapter in what they hope is a bigger theatrical universe titled “All We Have to Fear.”

The initial idea for a video game/theater hybrid came to Co-Artistic Director Bora “Max” Koknar back in May, when it became apparent that live theater would not be returning to “normal” for quite some time. The Dragon team quickly adapted, utilizing technology to offer content to patrons and opportunities to artists from a distance. But Koknar had something even more ambitious in mind.

His goal, he said, was to address “our emotional reactions to things as a society that we often seem to pass off as logic.” He imagined “creating something mythical and comic book-like — which I believe is the mythology of our generation — to help us make sense of what’s going on,” he said in a recent interview, alongside co-creators Jacob Vorperian, Kimberly Ridgeway and Shelli Frew.

“This was the mission: How can we use fiction and a fictional experience to spark people wanting to commit acts of compassion in the real world?” he said.

“Stories have power to motivate us and inspire us.”

What evolved from those initial thoughts is a true ensembledriven piece, involving numerous writers, performers and technical wizards. Vorperian serves as all three.

As Dragon’s associate director and director of technology, “I’m responsible for all the bugs that will be plaguing you,” he said with a laugh. “I’m also performing ... and I guess I’m on the writing team too.”

Vorperian, who studied computer science in addition to having experience in immersive theater (in which some of the traditional boundaries between stage and audience are removed), has had an intense job, lending both his technical expertise and his creative eye to develop the “All We Have to Fear” universe.

“It’s been a monthslong research problem,” he said, of writing custom software, hosting the website, developing inventory lists and more. The game, he said, consists of “very person- and actor-driven quests. It’s less about how to find a thing, more about a personal interaction with someone.”

Ticket holders (ideally with the Chrome browser, a webcam and a microphone) will be able to become townspeople in a fictional, keyboard-controlled 2D world, where their avatars can meet and influence main characters (portrayed by live actors), go on “side quests” and down “rabbit holes,” communicate and collaborate with each other and generally explore during the show. (Those

Employment The Almanac offers advertising for Employment, as well as Home and Business Services.

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22 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

Courtesy Dragon Productions Theatre Company

In Dragon Productions Theatre Company’s “Party at the End of the World,” patrons join in the story via an online game.

who are less inclined to directly participate can also opt to simply watch and hear the action unfold.)

Co-writer Frew, like Vorperian, has worked with Koknar on other immersive projects in the past, and was attracted to the project partially because of how it’s “pretty in the moment, the way that we’ve worked in what’s going on in the real world right now,” she said.

Ridgeway, a playwright and actor, comes from a more straight/ traditional theater background.

She brings what she called the “layman’s perspective” to the innovative format, not having much experience in the gamer world.

“I’m not a video-game person outside of Candy Crush. Once I got on the platform, that’s when it became a little more magical for me. It wasn’t easy to picture what we were doing until we were able to explore the space,” she said. “There are areas in which anyone who is going to be on the platform can come together and explore and go on this journey together. I think that’s the most fascinating thing for me. You don’t have to be an expert to completely be immersive in this situation.”

So what exactly is the situation? In the interview, the team was understandably reticent to offer much in the way of spoilers. What we do know: The storyline involves a creation myth, a pantheon of gods representing anthropomorphized emotions, humans as pawns in the global politics of immortals, and the

titular party at which everyone’s gathered.

“Some of the characters you meet are just partygoers trying to survive the pandemic and feel something, and others have a little more going on,” Koknar said.

Immersive theater in general is challenging, both creatively and logistically. Writers, actors and directors have to allow for enough flexibility to handle whatever curveballs audience interaction may throw, while maintaining the discipline to keep the storyline running smoothly. The experience, Ridgeway said, offers her a chance to stretch her skills.

“As a writer, I think it’s easier to adapt than as an actor, because I’m so used to having a script. There’s a level of improv to it,” she said.

“You can write all the scenarios you think are going to happen and then someone will do something out of left field,” Frew acknowledged. “Audience members will always throw a wrench in there.” Surrounding actors new to immersive theater with those accustomed to it can help.

Sound and lighting cues, similar to those used in magic and circus shows, can help subliminally cue the audience — or directly cue performers — on what to do next.

The around-75-minute show is “set to a clock, and that’s how we are able to manage multiple things happening at the same time. In addition to the script, the improv and the audience, we have a floor show,” Koknar said.

“Actors have their scenes timed to that chronometer so we can

make sure the thing that is supposed to happen doesn’t happen in the wrong order.”

With the physical Dragon Theatre space in downtown Redwood City still closed, the team is spread out. Vorperian works off a server in San Anselmo, while Koknar has converted an in-law unit in the backyard of his East Palo Alto home into a socially distant livestreaming station used by stage manager Rachel Nin. The actors and writers contribute from their respective headquarters around the Bay Area.

They’re all hoping “Party At the End of the World” is a prototype; the first piece of the ongoing “All We Have to Fear” puzzle.

“An episodic immersive piece has been my white whale for years now,” Vorperian said. “The reason we want to do that is the same reason why TV characters seem to be so much more richly developed than movie characters. You get to spend so much more time with them.”

It’s also part of the Dragon’s ongoing reckoning with how theater can and should evolve.

“What can theater look like for the future? We need experiences that connect us; there’s no reason not to try it now,” Koknar said.

“All We Have to Fear: Party At the End of the World” runs on Fridays and Saturdays at 7 p.m., Oct. 17-Nov. 21 (no show Oct. 24).

Tickets are $15-$30. More information is available at dragonproductions.net. A Email Karla Kane at kkane@paweekly.com

Food&Drink Desperately seeking

By Elena Kadvany

I

t wasn’t easy finding Mister Softee.

For someone used to food trucks with fixed locations, chasing one down was new to me.

Sure, you can use the iconic East Coast soft serve company’s smartphone app to track the trucks in real time, but they’re constantly in motion. Every time I put in a location on Waze, by the time I arrived, the truck I was following had moved somewhere else, just out of reach.

Persistent (and in desperate need of soft serve), I drove in circles through a South San Francisco neighborhood, repeatedly refreshing the app. It didn’t take long for my thoughts to start spiraling. Why is there no Mrs. Softee? Should I quit my job to start a competing feminist soft serve truck at the risk of violating federal trademark law? Will my tombstone read, “She tried, and failed, to find the Mister Softee truck; R.I.P.”?

For those who grew up in pursuit of Mister Softee’s creamy soft serve and sundaes, the name is synonymous with childhood nostalgia and the pursuit of something uniquely wonderful. The mere mention of Mister Softee to an East Coast transplant (including the editor who assigned this story) immediately elicits such enthusiasm that I had to try it for myself.

So, after several U-turns and some not-very-discreet stalking, I finally turned a corner and found the white-and-blue truck, emblazoned with the tuxedoed, elusive Mister Softee himself, smiling at me with the reward of a double softee dipped in rainbow sprinkles.

“You had to be quick,” said Felix Tarnarider, who grew up in Brooklyn, rushing into the street to catch his local Mister Softee truck.

You can thank Tarnarider for bringing Mister Softee to the Bay Area in 2017. A Redwood City resident, he worked in tech for two decades before becoming Mister Softee’s Northern California franchisee. His childhood was marked by a “daily ritual”: When he heard the famed jingle that blares from Mister Softee trucks, he’d rush to his parents to ask for enough cash for his go-to order (a cone with “crunchies,” or chocolate

sprinkles inside) and take the stairs three at a time to rush into the street along with the rest of the neighborhood kids.

“Eventually I decided that it would help build community and bring neighborhoods together just like it did in New York City,” Tarnarider said. “While the brand is not known like a Starbucks or McDonald’s, the affinity for the Mister Softee name goes a lot deeper than those other brands.

It’s a part of the culture in a few areas of the country.”

Two brothers, William and James Conway, founded Mister Softee in 1956 in Philadelphia and moved its headquarters to New Jersey two years later, where they remain today. The company now operates about 450 trucks in more than a dozen states, many owned by individual operators.

Mister Softee currently deploys a fleet of seven trucks throughout Bay Area neighborhoods, including up and down the Peninsula.

Tarnarider said they plan to add two trucks per year for the next several years.

Mister Softee — those trucks, the chocolate-dipped soft serve, the jingle — has remained largely unchanged since the 1950s, except for one thing. The company now relies on social media to disseminate the trucks’ whereabouts and drive sales. The company posts to Instagram and Facebook which cities the trucks will be in each day, but there’s no set location or address. It takes commitment and the app to find the roving trucks.

When you open the app, the truck’s jaunty theme song plays.

(The jingle sounds innocent enough, but has been embroiled in a surprising amount of controversy. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg tried to ban the song in 2005 as part of a citywide crackdown on noise. It was also

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the subject of a federal trademark infringement case that prohibited a former franchisee who went “rogue,” starting a competing soft serve business, from playing it on his trucks.)

I didn’t grow up with Mister Softee, but I strongly identify with the sense of nostalgia these trucks invoke. For me, it was the Choco Tacos and It’s It that I ordered from the truck that drove through my neighborhood, the Baskin Robbins mint chocolate chip ice cream cake I demanded for every birthday, the soft servelike frozen yogurt from the now-closed Yogurt Stop, whose parking lot was the setting for many formative teenage gatherings.

Standing on that corner with the Mister Softee truck, trying to make sure my melting treat didn’t drip soft-serve tears down my wrists, reminded me of all those moments — simpler times we could all use more of right now.

Follow Mister Softee NorCal on Instagram or go to mistersofteenorcal.com for the local truck schedule.

Email Elena Kadvany at ekadvany@paweekly.com

Photos by Elena Kadvany

Above: The elusive Mister Softee truck, with its distinctive jingle, evokes childhood nostalgia in East Coast transplants. Top: A double softee dipped in rainbow sprinkles.

TOWN OF PORTOLA VALLEY NOTICE OF PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Commission of the Town of Portola Valley will hold a public hearing, via teleconference, on Wednesday, October 21, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. on the following: APPEAL OF ARCHITECTURAL AND SITE CONTROL COMMISSION DECISION TO APPROVE AN ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW AND SITE DEVELOPMENT PERMIT TO CONSTRUCT A NEW RESIDENCE WITH BASEMENT AND POOL; 138 GOYA ROAD; FILE #PLN_ARCH06-2020; PURSUANT TO PORTOLA VALLEY MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 18.66.

This project has been determined to be exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines Section 15303 (a), which exempts the construction of one single family residence in a residential zone.

To join the Zoom meeting online: Go to Zoom.com – Click Join a Meeting – Enter the Meeting ID 958 9477 3286

To join the Zoom meeting by telephone: 1.888.788.0099 (toll-free) Enter Meeting ID 958 9477 3286

Public Hearings provide the general public and interested parties an opportunity to provide testimony on these items. If you challenge a proposed action(s) in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at a Public Hearing(s) described above, or in written correspondence delivered to the Town of Portola Valley at, or prior to, the Public Hearing(s).

Information pertaining to the proposal may be viewed by contacting Dylan Parker, Assistant Planner at dparker@portolavalley.net Interested persons are invited to appear before the Planning Commission to be heard at the time and place mentioned above.

Dated: October 11, 2020 Laura Russell, Planning Director October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 23

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October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 29

SUNNYVALE | $1,599,000 Single-family 2 bd, 2b home w/ 1 bd, 1ba apartment over detached garages.

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Call us today if you’re thinking about Selling!

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SAN JOSE | Price Upon Request 2br/2ba upstairs unit features views of the Golf Course & Foothills w/approx. 1,152 sq. ft. of livable space.

SACRAMENTO | Price Upon Request 3br/2ba home close to Regency Park. Spacious kitchen & living room w/ fireplace. Master bedroom w/ walk-in closet. Low maintenance rear patio & yard.

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The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty and Coldwell Banker Devonshire are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. ®

30 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020

REDWOOD CITY | $2,398,000 4br/3ba multi-level home. The entryway immediately beckons you to the open-concept kitchen, dining and living rooms with soaring ceilings and expansive windows. The spacious master suite features sloped ceilings, a unique fireplace and a built-in bed. The hidden wine room is finished with redwood and kept naturally cool by the hillside. You can enjoy the outdoors from the multiple decks on three levels.

Douglas Andrew Gonzalez 650.465.8930 dgonzalez@cbnorcal.com CalRE #00895924

MOUNTAIN VIEW | Price Upon Request Stunning Summerhill home only 3 years young! Open floorplan, stylish kitchen. 3 bd 2.5 ba. Oak floors, plush carpet & high end finishes throughout.

Manju Bhatia 408.644.9100 manju.bhatia@cbnorcal.com CalRE #01399514

SANTA CLARA | $1,239,000 Pending! This lovely single-family home is situated in central Santa Clara. Main home consists of 3 bd, 2 ba + detached bonus room on backside of the property. Fireplace in the living room and laminate floors. Large sliding door in the dining area leads you to beautiful Japanese garden. Kitchen features granite counters and white cabinetry. Spacious guestroom has a large window overlooking the garden.

Masako Takemura 650.847.7272 Masako@cbnorcal.com CalRE #01763865

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guiding you home since 1906

The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty and Coldwell Banker Devonshire are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. ®

October 16, 2020 Q AlmanacNews.com Q The Almanac Q 31

PORTOLA VALLEY | $22,000,000 This magnificent vineyard estate is the ideal place to escape from the fast daily pace of Silicon Valley. The peaceful grounds of approx. 41 acres enjoy top-of-the-world San Francisco Bay views. Outside, the grounds are equally compelling with exceptional front and rear terraces, a pool, spa, pool house and tennis court, intertwined with beautiful landscaping and sweeping Bay views.

Ginny Kavanaugh 650.400.8076 CalRE #00884747 John Kavanaugh 415.377.2924 CalRE #02058127

LOS ALTOS | $4,649,000 This home features a formal living room & dining room w/dramatic architecture for entertaining. The chef’s kitchen & the family room boast slab granite counters, stainless steel including a six burner range, wine cooler & Sub-Zero refrigerator. The family has a fireplace & entertainment center & wet bar. The master features a fireplace, walk-in closet, a bathroom w/in-floor heating & a steam shower.

Dana Willson 650.917.4256 dwillson@cbnorcal.com CalRE #01292552

LOS ALTOS | $3,388,000 This stunning, new custom 3BR/2.5BA home, lives larger than its square footage with open floor plan, chef’s kitchen w/island and light filled rooms.

Linda Takagi 650.303.2972 ltakagi@cbnorcal.com CalRE #01280638

ColdwellBankerHomes.com

guiding you home since 1906

The property information herein is derived from various sources that may include, but not be limited to, county records and the Multiple Listing Service, and it may include approximations. Although the information is believed to be accurate, it is not warranted and you should not rely upon it without personal verification. Real estate agents affiliated with Coldwell Banker Realty and Coldwell Banker Devonshire are independent contractor sales associates, not employees. ©2020 Coldwell Banker. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker logos are trademarks of Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. The Coldwell Banker System is comprised of company owned offices which are owned by a subsidiary of Realogy Brokerage Group LLC and franchised offices which are independently owned and operated. The Coldwell Banker System fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. ®

32 Q The Almanac Q AlmanacNews.com Q October 16, 2020