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Inside this issue OUR NEIGHBORHOODS 2013 COUN
DECEMBER 28, 2012 VOLUME 20, NO. 50
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MOVIES | 18
2012: THE YEAR IN REVIEW Charter tiff tops school coverage
Hospital union spat a top story
By Nick Veronin
By Nick Veronin
I
t’s been a big year in local education. While a yearslong battle between Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District showed no signs of cooling, a new majority was elected to the Mountain View Whisman School District’s board of trustees, a $198 million school bond was passed and the high school district implemented a new grading policy that has drawn the ire of some parents and teachers. Bullis Charter School This year has proven to be one of the most contentious in the intractable battle between a public school district and a charter school — and it’s all unfolded in our backyard. With 2013 about to begin, the legal dispute between Bullis Charter School and the Los Altos School District continues to boil. The two educational institutions have been at odds since BCS was first founded in 2003, but the most recent spate of litigation has done more to divide the Los Altos School District community into two camps than perhaps any other previous battle. The most recent chapter in the Bullis vs. LASD saga began in 2009, when the charter school claimed the district’s annual facilities offering was insufficient and took legal See CHARTER SCHOOL, page 7
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his year at El Camino Hospital, a long-running feud between district administrators and the hospital’s major union was mostly resolved, while the November elections brought two significant changes — including new, reform-minded district board members and the passage of a controversial initiative, which, if implemented, could cap the amount the hospital would legally be allowed to pay its employees. MICHELLE LE
Members of the Moffett Field Advisory Board tour Hangar One on a rainy day in March.
Pedestrian deaths, bag ban, Hangar One top the news By Daniel DeBolt
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rom the banning of plastic grocery bags to rejection of a Chick-Fil-A restaurant, there was no shortage of news in Mountain View in 2012. After the city approved its 2030 General Plan, without controversial North Bayshore housing for Google employees, new efforts began to make sure the city’s streets are safe for bicyclists and pedestrians. The City
Council went as far as to reject a Chick-Fil-A fast food restaurant because of its drive-through, the sort of “car-centric” design that the council now has little favor for on Mountain View’s portion of El Camino Real. Meanwhile, the fate of a stripped Hangar One is uncertain as the entire Moffett Federal Airfield may be given up by NASA to another government agency in a lengthy property disposal process. City gets serious about bike and ped safety Widespread concern over a slew of pedestrian deaths made
INSIDE
2012 the year Mountain View began taking a serious look at making its streets safer. Concern mounted after wellknown resident William Ware was struck and killed by a speeding car while he stood at a California Street bus stop. Two other pedestrians were killed nearby, Joshua Baker on California Street and Erik Onorato on Shoreline Boulevard, both at night by cars not deemed to be speeding. “We all saw ourselves there too,” said resident Jarrett MulSee YEAR IN REVIEW, page 6
Union agreement Back in 2010, all employees were asked to give up certain benefits, and the hospital board imposed a contract on the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers, which the union opposed. There were many items of contention, but chief among them was the elimination of a health care plan that was free for union members. That option was restored in September when the union signed a three-year contract with the hospital. Measure M Though the union’s top officials dispute this claim and hospital administrators remain mum on the topic, it would appear that the threatened passage of Measure M — a salary cap that limits executive pay to twice that of the governor of California’s salary — played a See HOSPITAL, page 7
VIEWPOINT 14 | GOINGS ON 20 | MARKETPLACE 21 | REAL ESTATE 23