An uneven visit to Hong Kong WEEKEND | 20 FEBRUARY 6, 2015 VOLUME 23, NO. 2
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Council reverses course on North Bayshore housing CITY TO STUDY POSSIBILITY OF ALLOWING THOUSANDS OF NEW HOMES NORTH OF HWY. 101 By Daniel DeBolt
supported the study of housing in North Bayshore. McAlister, n response to an appar- who has opposed significant ent mandate from voters, housing growth elsewhere in on Tuesday night the City the city, kept his position under Council moved to take plans for wraps during the election seaNorth Bayshore in a completely son, when North Bayshore housdifferent direction from just two ing and the city’s jobs-housing imbalance took center stage. months prior. On Tuesday, City Council As a small business owner, he members unanimously sup- expressed interest in having ported studying the possibil- adequate housing to support ity of allowing development of small businesses in the area. “This discussion has been a thousands of homes in North Bayshore, the neighborhood long time coming,” said council that’s home to Google, LinkedIn, member and longtime community activist Siegel, who was Intuit, Microsoft and others. elected on a proThe move North Bayshore was spurred by housing platform the election of ‘I keep getting in November. three new mem“I really think bers who made told by people we have a marvelNorth Bayshore housing a top who work in the ous opportunity now to address issue of their election cam- Bayshore area that what I consider to be a long-term paigns last year: Pat Showalter, they would like to weakness in” city Siegel Ken Rosenberg live in Bayshore.’ planning,” said. and Lenny SieC o u n c i l gel. Despite COUNCIL MEMBER KEN ROSENBERG members also growing supexpressed interport for housing during the election, last year’s est in allowing new housing in the council council continued to Whisman area, to be discussed in plan for office development only a few months. Whether all of it in North Bayshore, approving a will be adequate to meet the area’s precise plan for developers that job growth remains to be seen. Speaking for the company excluded homes. With opponents to housing in North Bayshore all that owns nearly all of North termed out of office, the council Bayshore’s property, Google’s is now unanimous in its support John Igoe said Google continues to support housing in North for studying housing. “It’s a happy day for Mountain Bayshore. “We still believe that View and those of us who have makes sense,” he said. Igoe had previously said that been working to bring jobs and housing back into balance in Google was interested in having Mountain View,” said former 5,000 homes built in North Baycity manager and resident Bruce shore. “It would be wrong to designate Liedstrand at the meeting. Even Mayor John McAlister See BAYSHORE, page 11
I MICHELLE LE
Nurse Practitioner Whitney Block watches Tessa, 4, eat applesauce after her food allergy clinical session.
A nut a day keeps the doctor away CLINICAL TRIAL SHOWS KIDS A NEW WAY TO FIGHT SEVERE FOOD ALLERGIES By Kevin Forestieri
T
essa sat on a secondfloor hospital bed at El Camino Hospital eating a cup of applesauce, as her mother and two nurses stood by, waiting for an allergic reaction. The applesauce contains only a placebo this time — oat flour — but if it had peanut, sesame or egg in it, the nurses
would need to be ready to jump in and save Tessa’s life. That’s because Tessa, along with millions of other children in the United States, suffers from severe food allergies. In an effort to help kids overcome such allergies, the Sean N. Parker Center for Allergy Research is running 11 groundbreaking clinical trials to desensitize kids like Tessa to
the foods that could kill them. In a process called oral immunotherapy, kids eat very small doses of the food they’re allergic to, like peanuts, and slowly work up the dosage without triggering an allergic response. By the end of the trial, kids can eat up to eight See ALLERGY, page 15
Landlords hid big election spending LATE CONTRIBUTIONS TO PAC FUNNELED $85K INTO CITY COUNCIL RACE By Daniel DeBolt
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landlord advocacy group effectively hid from voters big expenditures in Mountain View’s November City Council election, new records reveal. According to disclosures filed with the state last week, the California Apartment Association — which represents landlords
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and is involved in local politics — funneled $90,000 through the “Neighborhood Empowerment Coalition,” a mysterious political action committee (PAC) that sent out an unusual number of mailers in support of three candidates opposed to rent control during the election: Pat Showalter, Ken Rosenberg and Ellen Kamei. Most of the apartment association’s funding of the Neighbor-
hood Empowerment Coalition, or NEC, went unreported until Jan. 25, long after voters had filled out their ballots for the Nov. 4 election. Prior reports indicated association contributions of only $5,000. “Now we know for sure who the Neighborhood Empowerment Coalition represented in See LANDLORD, page 13
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