Palo Alto Weekly February 2, 2018 by Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto

Vol. XXXIX, Number 18

February 2, 2018

Dog flu strikes Palo Alto area Page 5

w w w. P a l o A l t o O n l i n e.c o m

In a fix Rising construction costs create high anxiety for city of Palo Alto Page 24

IN SIDE TH I S I S S UE

Pulse 11 Spectrum 12 Transitions 14 Movies 30 Home 35 Puzzles 43 Q Arts Songwriter, playwright Stew takes on messy heroes Q Seniors VA studies connect exercise and the brain Q Sports M-A favored in CCS girls wrestling tournament

Page 29 Page 31 Page 45

TOO MAJOR FOR HOME

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Express Care accepts most insurance and is billed as a primary care, not emergency care, appointment. Providing same-day fixes every day, 9:00am to 9:00pm.

Page 2 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

JUST RIGHT FOR STANFORD EXPRESS CARE

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 3

883 Robb Rd Palo Alto Gorgeous Mediterranean Villa Estate with Bay Views Newly Completed in Summer 2017

Main Residence: 5 bedroom suites, 2 half baths &DEDQD VXLWH IXOO EDWKV DQG D ODUJH RÉ?FH Lot Size: +/- 1 acre

5REE 5G 3DOR $OWR 7KLV UHPDUNDEOH HVWDWH LV RQH RI WKH Č´QHVW LQ 3DOR $OWR (YHU\WKLQJ QHHGHG IRU WKH SLQQDFOH RI &DOLIRUQLD OLYLQJ FDQ EH \RXUV Č&#x201A; D FORVH LQ ORFDWLRQ IDEXORXV YLHZV RI WKH 6DQ )UDQFLVFR %D\ IURP DOPRVW HYHU\ URRP DQG RSWLRQV IRU H[WHQGHG IDPLO\ DQG JXHVWV â&#x20AC;˘ Beautiful grounds of approximately one acre, privately located on a cul-de-sac â&#x20AC;˘ Two-story main residence with 5 bedroom suites (3 in main level), and 2 half-baths â&#x20AC;˘ Two-story cabana with 1 suite plus 2 full baths, lounge, laundry area and a large room, ČľH[LEOH ČľRRU SODQ IRU Č´WQHVV DQG RÉ?FH ZHOO LQWHJUDWHG ZLWK WKH PDLQ KRXVH â&#x20AC;˘ Approximately 9,750 sq.ft of living space: Main residence 7,517, Cabana 2,233 â&#x20AC;˘ Additional +/- 3,705 sq.ft. includes: detached 3-car garage, 837, attached 1-car garage 339, cover loggia, 1867, balcony/terrace, 591, covered breezeway, 71. â&#x20AC;˘ Sweeping San Francisco Bay views from almost every room Č? &HUWLČ´HG *UHHQ3RLQW 5DWHG SRLQWV â&#x20AC;˘ Ample parking on both upper and lower levels â&#x20AC;˘ Elevator in main residence Č? &ORVH WR /RV $OWRV DQG 3DOR $OWR VKRSSLQJ GLQLQJ 6WDQIRUG *RRJOH )DFHERRN 7HVOD (VWKHU &ODUN 3DUN DQG +LJKZD\ Č? 7RS UDWHG 3DOR $OWR VFKRROV

Listed at $14,500,000

Information deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

Page 4 â&#x20AC;˘ February 2, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

To spur housing, city looks to ‘go big’ on zone changes Palo Alto’s new Housing Work Plan proposes host of new programs by Gennady Sheyner

eeking to significantly ra mp up housing production, city of Palo Alto planners are preparing to advance a package of zoning changes in the coming months with the goal of adopting them by the end of this year.

The proposed zoning revision is a central component of the city’s new Housing Work Plan, which the city’s Department of Planning and Community Environment released this week and the City Council is scheduled to discuss on Feb. 5.

The plan aims to address one of the council’s top priorities — the city’s severe housing shortage — and help the council reach the housing goals of its recently updated Comprehensive Plan. As the work plan makes clear, meeting these goals and addressing the housing crisis will require dramatic action — including a roughly three-fold increase in housing production, when compared to recent years’.

One proposal would add new incentives for developers of highdensity housing in areas served by public transit, including limited exceptions to the citywide 50-foot height limit. Other changes on the table for nearterm implementation include: density bonuses for developments that offer 100 percent affordable housing; new incentives for residential development on properties that are identified in

the city’s Housing Element; and a requirement that developers with residential projects offer a “minimum density” of eight units per acre in districts zoned RM-15 (multi-family residential). Today, these districts only have a maximum density of 15 units per acre. City planners are also exploring zoning changes to promote (continued on page 10)

EDUCATION

School board weighs in on teacher housing Proposed project would build 60 to 120 units in Palo Alto by Elena Kadvany

P Veronica Weber

Vet Tech Anna Yanushkevich, right, and Tonia Duran, a vet tech in training, pet Coco, a goldendoodle, after Coco received the dog-flu vaccine at Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital on Jan. 30.

HEALTH

Dog owners rush to get pets vaccinated Veterinary hospitals, dog-care facilities hit by spread of virus

wo forms of canine influenza have rapidly spread up the San Francisco peninsula in the last few weeks, prompting dog owners to pack veterinary offices for vaccinations against the highly contagious virus and cancel dog-care and play-dates. Cases of canine H3N2 (which is NOT the same as the human strain) and H3N8 viruses began appearing in San Jose in early January and spread to Palo Alto and southern San Mateo County about three weeks ago, veterinarians said. Dogs develop similar symptoms to humans, including fever, cough, sneezing, lethargy, diminished appetite and nasal and eye discharge. Surprisingly, dogs can be sick for up to three weeks. In about

by Sue Dremann 90 percent of cases the symptoms are mild, but 10 percent of cases can be severe or progress to pneumonia or death. The disease has spread with surprising swiftness. “It was in south San Jose one week and the next week it was on our doorstep,” said Dr. Janet Lowery, co-owner of MidPeninsula Animal Hospital in Menlo Park. Her hospital has had four to five confirmed cases through DNA testing, she said. The disease is concerning because both strains are new in dogs, who have no immunity against them, she said. The H3N8 virus originated in horses and has been known to infect them for at least 40 years, according to the U.S. Centers for

Disease Control and Prevention. In 2004, it mutated and jumped to dogs, initially infecting greyhounds. Scientists believe it spread among dogs in kennels and shelters. The canine H3N2 virus, which is currently the most prevalent in the Bay Area, initially infected birds and was first detected in dogs in South Korea, China and Thailand in 2007, according to the CDC. An outbreak in Chicago in April 2015 sickened more than 1,000 dogs and killed five. Many local dog owners are heeding veterinarians’ warnings to get their pets vaccinated and to refrain from frequenting dog parks, groomers, and day-care (continued on page 8)

alo Alto school board members directed staff on Tuesday to begin talks with Santa Clara County about a collaborative proposal to build affordable housing for teachers in Palo Alto, with some caution about the project’s financial feasibility. Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian proposed last week, with the unanimous support of his colleagues, that a piece of county-owned land at 231 Grant Ave. be developed into 60 to 120 units of affordable housing for local teachers. He has stressed that the project would require “innovative” funding partnerships, and is looking to the Palo Alto school district as well as Mountain View Whisman, Mountain View Los Altos, Los Altos and the Foothill-De Anza Community College districts and local cities as potential partners. While most Palo Alto board members signaled their support for the idea of adding more housing for teachers in an increasingly expensive market, some questioned how school districts would actually help pay for a development. The Palo Alto district was advised by attorneys not to issue a bond for teacher housing, which might technically not be considered school facilities, staff said. “The happy case is that construction costs would produce, in the presence of free land, a financial situation that wouldn’t require much in the way of contributions in addition to that,” said board President Ken Dauber. “Otherwise it’s going to be hard to see how we can make

significant contributions.” Simitian has estimated that construction of a multifamily complex could cost $500,000 to $600,000 per unit. Board members agreed to send a letter of support, as other school districts have done, but opted not to include wording about sharing costs. Leadership from other districts and teachers’ unions, including Palo Alto, have already penned letters of support that describe the economic hardships teachers face as part of the “missing middle” — making too much to qualify for low-income housing but not enough to afford to rent or purchase homes in the city they work in. In Palo Alto, the median rent for a two-bedroom apartment was $3,080 at the end of 2017, according to ApartmentList.com. Simitian argues that the proposed housing will help districts that are struggling to retain and attract teachers. The “vast majority” of Palo Alto Unified teachers cannot live in the city, Palo Alto Educators Association Teri Baldwin wrote in a letter to the Board of Supervisors, and their often long commute “takes a toll on our teachers’ quality of life and decreases the value of their salaries.” At a town hall meeting at Gunn High School last week, teachers described living with parents, in-laws or multiple roommates to afford to stay in the area, and increasingly long commutes that prevent them from attending events or connecting with (continued on page 9)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 5

Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210

Four City Chamber Expo Date: Wednesday February 7, 2018 Time: 5:00PM - 7:00 PM Location: Palo Alto Elks Lodge 4249 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94306

FEES/ADMISSION: Free for Member $10 for Non-Member

Last year we had a Tri-City Expo, this year we have a Quad-City Expo! This is a collaboration with Los Altos, Mountain View and Sunnyvale. The goal of the Four Chamber Expo is to provide exhibitors with a cost-effective venue to create new business introductions, as well as attract fresh clients. In addition to business exhibits, the Four Chamber Expo will offer raffle prizes, hors d’oeuvres and beverages. The Four City Chamber Expo is open to the public. Sponsored by:

PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Linda Taaffe (223-6511) Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6516) Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane (223-6517) Home & Real Estate Editor Elizabeth Lorenz (223-6534) Assistant Sports Editor Glenn Reeves (223-6521) Spectrum Editor Renee Batti (223-6528) Express & Digital Editor Jamey Padojino (223-6524) Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena Kadvany (223-6519), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513) Staff Photographer/Videographer Veronica Weber (223-6520) Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Christine Lee (223-6526) Editorial Interns Marley Arechiga, Fiona Kelliher, Sarah Klearman Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Dale F. Bentson, Mike Berry, Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Alissa Merksamer, Sheryl Nonnenberg, Kaila Prins, Ruth Schechter, Jay Thorwaldson ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Multimedia Advertising Sales Adam Carter (223-6573), Elaine Clark (223-6572), Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571), V.K. Moudgalya (223-6586), Caitlin Wolf (223-6508) Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Lead Blanca Yoc (223-6596) Sales & Production Coordinators Diane Martin (223-6584), Toni Villa (223-6582) DESIGN Design & Production Manager Kristin Brown (223-6562) Senior Designers Linda Atilano, Paul Llewellyn Designers Rosanna Kuruppu, Talia Nakhjiri, Doug Young EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Online Operations Coordinator Kevin Legarda (223-6597)

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARING ON THE CITY OF PALO ALTO COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT (CDBG) PROGRAM The City of Palo Alto Human Relations Commission Selection Committee will hold a Public Meeting on February 15, 2018 to review CDBG funding applications submitted for Fiscal Year 2018-2019. The Selection Committee members will collectively review, discuss, and make a recommendation for each application. The Public Meeting will be held from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. in the Council Conference Room, Ground Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. The City of Palo Alto Human Relations Commission (HRC) will hold a Public Hearing on March 8, 2018 to review the proposed CDBG funding allocations recommended by the Selection Committee. The HRC will make recommendations to the City of Palo Alto Finance Committee. The Public Hearing will be held at 7:00 p.m., or as soon as possible thereafter, in the Community Room, 1st Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Upcoming Public Hearings for the CDBG program at meetings of the City of Palo Alto Finance Committee and the Palo Alto City Council will be announced soon. ADA. The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with disabilities. To request accommodations to access City facilities, services or programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn more about the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), please contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by emailing ada@cityofpaloalto.org.

BUSINESS Payroll & Benefits Zach Allen (223-6544) Business Associates Cherie Chen (223-6543), Suzanne Ogawa (223-6541) ADMINISTRATION Courier Ruben Espinoza EMBARCADERO MEDIA President William S. Johnson (223-6505) Vice President Michael I. Naar (223-6540) Vice President & CFO Peter Beller (223-6545) Vice President Sales & Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Frank A. Bravo (223-6551) Marketing & Creative Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Major Accounts Sales Manager Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Tatjana Pitts (223-6557) Circulation Assistant Alicia Santillan Computer System Associates Ryan Dowd, Chris Planessi The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. ©2016 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our email addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, digitalads@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 223-6557, or email circulation@paweekly.com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.

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Page 6 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

If we stayed home that long, we’d all go crazy. —Suzanne Attenborough, dog owner, on the advice to keep one’s canines away from other dogs for a month after getting the first flu shot. See story on page 5.

Around Town

LIQUID ASSETS ... Armed with paperwork, a Double Gulp cup from 7-Eleven and a handful of sugar packets, local dentist Ken Horowitz came to City Hall on Monday to make a fresh pitch for a soda tax. Palo Alto, he told the City Council, should follow the examples of Berkeley, Albany, Oakland and San Francisco and move ahead with such a tax, which would be levied on distributors and fund nutrition programs and dental subsidies for low-income residents. To make his pitch more vivid, Horowitz brought the council 17 packets of sugar: the amount that he said it takes to make 20 fluid ounces of Coca-Cola (alas, he couldn’t get a hold of the 50 packets necessary to demonstrate what it takes to fill a Double Gulp). Over the past month, Horowitz has been researching other ordinances, crunching numbers and lobbying the council to take up the cause. Horowitz said that not a single dentist in Palo Alto takes DentiCal (the dental program for lowincome residents under Medi-Cal) because the subsidies dentists receive are generally lower than the cost of providing service. The revenues from the new sugarbeverage tax, he said, can remedy this by providing stipends to those who accept the insurance. “We can do a lot of good in the area of tooth decay,” Horowitz told the council on Jan. 22, when he first introduced his proposal. This week, he renewed his pitch and asked the council to produce a “colleagues’ memo” that would pave the way for placing the tax on the November ballot. Horowitz proposed taxing sugary beverages at a rate of 1 cent per fluid ounce, as Albany and Berkeley do. MOST IMPROVED ... Palo Alto redeemed itself in the American Lung Association’s “State of Tobacco Control” report this year by jumping from failing grades to the top class of municipalities with policies aimed at preventing and reducing tobacco use. The city’s overall tobacco grade jumped from a D to an A. It turned its F in the category of “smokefree housing” (which covers apartments, condominiums and common areas) into an A through a series of smoking restrictions, including a December 2016 ban on smoking at multi-unit residences.

Under the same law, landlords and condominium sellers were required to provide tenants and buyers written notices of the smoking ban. The city also earned an A grade in the category “reducing sales of tobacco products” — an improvement that can be attributed to the council’s recent the adoption of a tobacco-sellers registry administered by Santa Clara County. Palo Also addressed five of six challenges in the “Emerging Issues” category, losing a point for not minimizing the pack size of cigars. While smoking rates are declining statewide, tobacco use continues to be the “leading cause of preventable death and disease, killing nearly 40,000 Californians each year,” Vanessa Marvin, vice president of of public policy and advocacy for the association’s California division, said in a press release.

SPEAKING OUT ... Stanford University alumna and singer K.Flay, otherwise known as Kristine Flaherty didn’t walk away with a Grammy at Sunday’s award show in New York City, but took time after the annual event to acknowledge the inequality many women face in their careers. The 32-year-old was nominated for best engineered non-classical album for her latest record “Every Where Is Some Where,” released in April; and best rock song for “Blood In The Cut.” She was among the female nominees interviewed by music online magazine Pitchfork who weighed in on the continuing conversation surrounding sexual misconduct, a subject of widespread media attention in recent months across multiple industries. Flaherty became involved in the issue through the Time’s Up movement, a celebrity-backed initiative launched this month in Hollywood against sexual misconduct. “On a day-to-day basis, I don’t experience this (harassment) because I built my team. I picked them with intention, to say, ‘I want to have people of color and women included even if means I have to look harder or it’s a less conventional search process,’” she said. “And I think it’s honestly a fundamental cultural shift inside major label buildings about why and how people should advance, or even be let in. I think it is a topdown change.” Q

Upfront EDUCATION

Board seeks new school, more campus housing in Stanford growth plan Members ask university to consider impact of proposed expansion on district by Elena Kadvany

he Palo Alto school board approved on Tuesday a set of requests for Stanford University to consider in its general use permit (GUP) application, including land for a new elementary school and more on-campus housing to accommodate the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population growth. The letter, which will be sent to Santa Clara County as part of a public comment period on the GUPâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s draft environmental-impact report, asks that Stanford move a potential school site identified in its plan to a different location on the northeast side of campus. A new neighborhood school is necessary to accommodate a planned influx in Stanford faculty and staff and prevent further traffic problems, according to the district. The two Palo Alto Unified elementary schools that currently serve Stanford students, Escondido and Nixon, are at capacity. To have new students attend Palo Alto Unified campuses farther away would increase traffic at peak hours, the letter states.

Opening a new school on the universityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s campus â&#x20AC;&#x153;is the only solution that preserves reasonable school-enrollment size and avoids the very poor alternatives either making enrollment at Escondido/Nixon larger or dispensing with the value of a neighborhood school and creating an unacceptable travel burden for parents and students,â&#x20AC;? the letter states. Stanford has proposed building 2.275 million net new square feet of academic buildings, 3,150 housing units and 40,000 net new square feet of child care centers between 2018 and 2035. Of the planned housing, 1,700 are for undergraduates students, 900 units are for graduates (mostly singles or couples) and 550 for faculty and staff, according to the university. The letter argues that more oncampus housing will be necessary to prevent Stanford from purchasing residential properties in Palo Alto to lease to faculty and staff â&#x20AC;&#x201D; properties that would be taxexempt. This would have a â&#x20AC;&#x153;negative impactâ&#x20AC;? on the school district,

which relies heavily on property tax revenue, the letter states. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The university should be required to provide additional onsite housing to accommodate the full population increase,â&#x20AC;? the letter states. The board also requests that Stanford commit to not seeking exemptions for new developments under the new general use permit that would house students attending Palo Alto Unified schools. The board is asking Stanford to more directly consider the impact of its proposed expansion on the district. If the university realizes more than 550 family housing units will be necessary to accommodate growth, for example, the district requests that school capacity be a â&#x20AC;&#x153;formal part of the discussion and consideration.â&#x20AC;? The board approved the letter 4-0, with board President Ken Dauber, whose wife is employed by Stanford, recusing himself. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet for its annual retreat to discuss the latest National Citizen Survey and adopt its 2018 priorities and performance indicators. The retreat will begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Feb. 3, at Mitchell Park Community Center, 3700 Middlefield Road. CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in a closed session to discuss the status of its labor negotiations with various labor unions. The council will then review the proposed Housing Work Plan; consider modifications to the Evergreen Park-Mayfield Residential Preferential Parking program; and discuss next steps for funding the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s contribution for the Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo reconstruction project. The closed session will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, Feb. 5. The regular meeting will immediately follow in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to meet at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. The agenda wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available by press deadline. BOARD OF EDUCATION ... The school board is tentatively scheduled to meet for a retreat from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the district office, 25 Churchill Ave. The agenda wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available by press deadline. UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to meet at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 7, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. The agenda wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available by press deadline. HISTORIC RESOURCES BOARD ... The board is scheduled to meet for its annual retreat, in which it plans to discuss the Certified Local Government Annual Report, the year-end board assessment, CEQA reviews and other topics. The retreat will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION ... The commission plans to meet at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 8, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. The agenda wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t available by press deadline.

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Upfront

Dog flu (continued from page 5)

and boarding facilities until the pet has received the two-part vaccination and its body has created immunity — in all, a period of more than a month. But staying away from shared spaces can be difficult for some owners and pets. “If we stayed home that long, we’d all go crazy,” dog owner Suzanne Attenborough said at Mitchell Park on Tuesday. On the warm, sunny afternoon, canines shared saliva-covered balls and water dishes and romped together on the grass. Attenborough’s dogs, 6-year-old Wendell, a mellow golden retriever, and Kimberly, an 8-year-old white Labrador retriever, had only had their first shots. Cheyenne, a 2 1/2-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, chased one of the dozen soggy tennis balls strewn around the play area. His owner, Mary Ann Cusenza, said he has had his shots, but he has not completed the entire waiting period. “I was quite worried about it,” Cusenza said of the flu. Still, she weighed the risk of not waiting out the last two weeks after the booster shot versus not exercising or socializing her pet. She and the other dog owners said they feel fairly safe at the Mitchell Park dog run because they all know each other, and everyone is responsible about

not bringing sick pets to the park. Still, dog flu concerns are putting a damper on play time. “It’s a gorgeous day and at 4:30, it’s prime time, but it’s underpopulated here. We have six dogs here; normally we have 25 to 30,” said Jo Ann Mandinach, who was at the park with her frisky black poodle, 11-year-old Rico. Mandinach said she hasn’t taken Rico for his flu vaccinations despite the warnings. She doesn’t get a flu shot for herself and doesn’t get the flu. Her partner, who does get the shot, still gets sick. Rico is a healthy dog despite his age, so she isn’t concerned that he would become very ill if he did catch the virus. But veterinarians said the virus can spread when dogs sniff each other, nuzzle, lick or share water, food and toys — even when dogs seem healthy. “Canine influenza has some of the highest degree of virus shedding prior to when dogs show symptoms. The fact that they can be contagious prior to showing clinical symptoms is a bit scary,” Mid-Peninsula Animal Hospital’s Lowery said. Humans can spread the disease to pets if they have come in contact with a dog who has the illness. Dog flu can contaminate clothing, shoes and other objects. The virus stays live for 24 to 48 hours. The disease is significantly affecting veterinary clinics and hospitals, where veterinarians and staff must wear surgical caps,

gowns, booties and gloves. Each time they see a new pet, the doctor and staff must discard the paper coverings and disinfect the exam room with bleach, Lowery said. Pet clinics are being inundated with calls and are busy with vaccination appointments. Mid-Peninsula has so far held five vaccination clinics, and they are booked for every 10 minutes, she said. Dr. Brennen McKenzie, a veterinarian at Adobe Animal Hospital in Los Altos, said the hospital’s Los Gatos office has had driveby vaccine clinics where pets are met and examined in the client’s vehicle before given an injection. At the Los Altos office, dogs won’t get in the door without a parking-lot exam. Sick animals can be treated in an isolated room or housed in a quarantined area if they are hospitalized, he said. Adobe Hospital has confirmed 13 cases with lab tests. “But there are more we think that are unconfirmed because their owners have declined to have the lab tests done. I know for sure of four cases that have required hospitalization, with some having pneumonia. They are mostly older dogs and puppies,” he said. Alpine Animal Hospital in Mountain View has also seen cases, some of which have been confirmed by testing and others in which owners declined to do lab tests. “We’ve had quite a few cases

coming in but no fatalities,” manager Stephanie Zeman said. Tammy Steely, practice manager at Animal Hospital of Palo Alto, said the hospital has not had any cases of dog flu. But they have had an overwhelming number of calls from concerned dog owners — more than 15 per day since the outbreak. Worries over dog flu have affected other dog-related services. Animal Hospital of Palo Alto has a boarding facility, which has seen a decline in bookings since the outbreak, Steely said. No dogs are allowed unless they have had all of the injections. Ashley Erens, assistant manager at dog day care facility A Dog’s Life in Palo Alto, said they have at least five cancellations each day. “They are not coming in until the dogs have had both rounds of the shots,” she said. A case confirmed Tuesday illustrates the need for vigilance, she noted. A dog had visited the facility after having its first shot, but he still came down with influenza. He was two days from receiving the booster, she said. “We have been cleaning every minute of the day with bleach and other cleaning supplies. We have been dousing the whole facility since early to mid-January,” she said. “We’ve emailed all of the parents so they can be hyper-vigilant, and we’ve deep cleaned the one room where that dog was.” Dog grooming facilities are also seeing some deferred business. “No two ways about it. In the last couple of weeks we have had some cancellations,” said groomer Carol O’Connell of Alexander’s

Grooming Salon in Palo Alto. “We haven’t had any instances of dog flu. We can only hope people are honest and realistic with their dogs,” she said. “We are hoping it will come and go very quickly. We are using lots of disinfectant.” O’Connell said the last communicable dog disease she saw to rival canine influenza was decades ago when canine parvovirus broke out. Parvovirus appeared in 1978, causing a widespread epidemic in dogs of all ages because, like canine influenza, it was a new virus that no dogs had been exposed to before, according to the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine. Most flu viruses are speciesspecific and therefore aren’t a threat to other animals or humans, veterinarians said. But H3N2 dog flu virus has been reported to infect cats, which so far have developed mild symptoms. There isn’t a vaccine for felines, however. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, because the influenza virus constantly mutates, it is possible canine influenza could change to infect humans, although that is not the case now. Human infections with new influenza viruses (such as avian and swine flu), against which the human population has little immunity, are concerning, the CDC noted. They could create a pandemic, so the CDC is monitoring both canine influenza viruses and other animal influenza closely. But researchers think dog flu poses a low threat to people, according to the CDC. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

CityView A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (Jan. 29)

Finance: The council accepted the Fiscal Year 2017 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report and approved various planning amendments. Yes: Unanimous Southgate: The council approved the expansion of the Southgate Residential Preferential Parking program to include the west side of El Camino Real and directed staff to seek approval from Caltrans for the change. Yes: Unanimous ADU: The council approved revisions to the city’s ordinance on accessory dwelling units to ensure compliance with state law. Yes: DuBois, Filseth, Fine, Kniss, Kou, Scharff, Tanaka, Wolbach No: Holman

Board of Education (Jan. 30)

Dyslexia: The board waived its two-meeting rule and approved a resolution in support of educators and families in addressing the needs of students with dyslexia. Yes: Unanimous Stanford GUP: The board approved a comment letter in response to Stanford University’s General Use Permit (GUP) application. Yes: Baten Caswell, Collins, DiBrienza, Godfrey Recused: Dauber Teacher housing: The board directed staff to engage with county staff on a proposal to build teacher housing in Palo Alto and to write a letter expressing support for doing so. Yes: Baten Caswell, DiBrienza, Dauber, Godfrey Abstain: Collins Goals:The board heard updates from staff on progress on the district’s 2017-18 goals. Action: None

Planning and Transportation Commission (Jan. 31)

Workforce district: The commission approved an ordinance creating a “workforce housing combining district.” Yes: Alcheck, Gardias, Lauing, Monk, Riggs, Waldfogel No: Summa 2755 El Camino Real: The commission recommended approving a proposed 57-unit housing complex at 2755 El Camino Real. Yes: Alcheck, Gardias, Lauing, Monk, Riggs, Waldfogel Recused: Summa

Stanford pediatricians, now in your neighborhood at Juvvadi Pediatrics

Architectural Review Board (Feb. 1) Access to Excellence.

genpeds.stanfordchildrens.org Page 8 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

620 Emerson St: The board considered a proposal to demolish a single-story building and construct a two-story 4,256-square-foot commercial building for the expansion of Nobu Restaurant and voted to continue the item to a future date. Yes: Unanimous

Upfront

Teacher (continued from page 5)

students after school. Data provided by the school district shows that the number of teachers living in Palo Alto and neighboring cities has dropped slightly over the last three years. In the 2015-16 school year, just 21 percent of Palo Alto Unified’s 898 teachers lived in the city, down to 19 percent in 201617 and the same percentage this year. The total number of teachers employed has not changed significantly over those years. Three years ago, about 32 percent of teachers lived in cities within roughly seven miles of Palo Alto, from Mountain View to Redwood City. That number dropped to 30 percent last year and 29 percent this year. Data provided by Palo Alto Unified in May 2016 showed that 70 percent of district teachers would earn salaries in excess of $100,000 for the 2016-17 school year. The county’s median income, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is $74,200 for a single person and $113,349 for a family of four.

addressing teacher housing in the district then we need to look at things like where in the district do we have land here we can build,” Dauber said. The board ultimately voted 4-0, with Collins abstaining, to direct staff to engage with the county on the issue. County staff plan to return to Simitian and the Board of Supervisors with a financing plan no later than May, with the goal of having a partner or partners selected no later than August. Simitian said he’s asking school districts to embrace taking an “off-the-shelf approach” to a regional problem. “This isn’t anything any one of us can do by ourselves, but if we all do our part, I think we can do something,” he told a full room of teachers, school leadership and housing advocates at the town hall meeting last week. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

Teachers live farther away now More teachers live in San Jose and the East Bay than 10 years ago Cities of residence

% in 2007-08

% in 2017-18

Palo Alto area (Mountain View through Redwood City)

61.7

52.8

South Bay area (Sunnyvale through Los Gatos)

11.3

10.8

Midpeninsula area (San Carlos through Burlingame)

8.6

9.7

San Jose

6.5

San Francisco

5.8

4.1

East Bay (Fremont through Concord)

1.5

4.7

Other

4.6

5.9

Note: In 2007, 812 teachers were employed by Palo Alto Unified School District. In 2017-18, 898 teachers are working for the district. Source: Palo Alto Unified

Correction

The Jan. 26 story “Ravenswood in crisis” incorrectly described the Ravenswood school district’s negative ending balances of $3.3 million in 2018-19 and $10 million in 2019-2020 in the district’s general fund, as estimated by the San Mateo County Office of Education. They are not “deficits” but rather “negative ending balances.” To request a clarification or correction, contact Editor Jocelyn Dong at jdong@paweekly.com, 650-326-8210 or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto 94302. Q

‘If we’re looking at a regional solution I’d rather partner with the other districts to figure out what the needs are.’ — Terry Godfrey, board member, Palo Alto Unified On Tuesday, board member Terry Godfrey urged staff to approach this as a regional problem and to better understand where the most need is, which she said might not be in Palo Alto. She noted a Mountain View Whisman School District survey found that over one-third of employees there were paying more than 30 percent of their paycheck on housing costs. “If we’re looking at a regional solution I’d rather partner with the other districts to figure out what the needs are ... (and) how we can best serve the students in the region versus just ourselves,” she said. Board member Todd Collins offered a potential alternative, which he said he has also floated to Simitian’s office: The county could “ground lease” the property to the Palo Alto school district, which could then build its own housing project there. Even if the project was built as proposed, units would be split amongst multiple districts, meaning the impact on one district’s needs could be small, Dauber noted. He suggested the district view the proposal as a catalyst to spur “our own thinking and efforts” rather than a “solution to the problem.” “If we really are serious about www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 9

Upfront

Online This Week

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAlto Online.com/news.

Surge in flu cases packs local hospitals Hospitals throughout Santa Clara County are grappling with an unusually lethal flu season that has led to hospitalizations rivaling those of the 2009 “swine flu” pandemic. County health officials strongly recommend that anyone who hasn’t gotten a flu shot yet to get vaccinated. (Posted Feb. 1, 9:24 a.m.)

Plan for ‘car-light’ housing on wins support A plan to build a 57-unit apartment building at one of Palo Alto’s most congested intersections received a big boost Wednesday night, when the city’s Planning and Transportation Commission signaled its support. (Posted Feb. 1, 12:25 a.m.)

Survey details residents’ hopes, frustrations Weekly file photo

The city of Palo Alto is seeking to spur housing development with help from a new Housing Work Plan.

Housing (continued from page 5)

high-density multi-family housing in the downtown area, including a new “Pedestrian and Transit Oriented Development (PTOD) district” around University Avenue, according to the work plan. They are considering allowing housing at Stanford Shopping Center and along the El Camino Real frontage of the Stanford Research Park. And they are looking to create a new zoning district that would allow a mix of retail and residential space — but no office. “The intent of these changes would be to encourage a mix of land uses that contributes to the vitality and walkability of commercial centers and transit corridors,” the plan states. Many of the ideas in the work plan are a direct response to a memo that was penned last year by Councilman Adrian Fine, co-signed by Mayor Liz Kniss and Councilman Cory Wolbach, and unanimously endorsed last November by the council. The memo makes a case for more aggressive action to address the region’s housing crisis, which “causes significant economic, social and environmental harm.” “While Palo Alto may never be a truly affordable place to live, the City Council has an obligation to current and future residents to explore policies that expand housing choices for people of different incomes, generations and needs,” states the memo, which then directs staff to come up with the plan for pursuing housing initiatives. The new Housing Work Plan makes clear that reaching the council’s current housing targets will require a host of ambitious initiatives, including zoning reforms, direct subsidies by the city and partnership with other agencies and organization. The

city will need to “go big” on the zoning changes, the plan states, if it is to “increase Palo Alto’s rate of housing production in a meaningful way and see the amount of new housing envisioned as part of the recent Comprehensive Plan update.” Between 1970 and 2010, the city permitted new housing at an average rate of about 160 units per year, according to the plan. But between 2011 and 2014, the rate dipped to just 64. Since then, the numbers have fluctuated dramatically. In 2015, the city permitted 246 net new housing units; in 2016, just 18. Last year, 80 units were permitted, according to the plan. If the city were to stay on its current course, it would fall well short both of its own goals — as articulated in the new Comprehensive Plan — and of regional targets. The Regional Housing Needs Allocation calls for the city to develop 1,988 units at varying levels of affordability between 2015 and 2030. Meanwhile, the city’s updated Comprehensive Plan calls for policies that would result in a production of 3,545 to 4,420 new units between 2015 and 2030 — an annual rate of between 230 and 290 units. It doesn’t help that the city is already playing catchup. Between 2015 and 2017, the city only permitted 118 units per year — well short of the mark. This means that to meet its mid-range Comprehensive Plan projections, it would need to ramp up production to about 303 units per year between 2018 and 2030. The work plan also includes a host of new programs focused on below-market-rate housing. To encourage such housing, city planners are considering a zone change that would offer developers incentives such as reduced parking requirements, reduced landscaping requirements and smaller fees,

Page 10 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

according to the work plan. Currently, about 8.25 percent of the city’s roughly 28,000 housing units are deed-restricted as below-market-rate housing, the plan states. Given the city’s sky-high housing costs, the plan makes a case for significantly boosting this number. It notes that the median rent for a twobedroom apartment in Palo Alto was $3,500 in November 2017, while the median sale price for a single-family home was $3 million, according to Zillow. “This contributes to both housing insecurity and overcrowding, as residents are forced to spend more and more to pay their rent/ mortgage and find themselves living in smaller spaces with more roommates or family members,” the plan states. “These issues can affect income restricted and special needs populations, such as the elderly and disabled, more than the others, and the number of such households in Palo Alto has been increasing over time.” The city has already taken some steps to stimulate more housing. Last year, the council voted to relax restrictions for building accessorydwelling units, in some cases going beyond the requirements of new state laws designed to achieve the same objective. It also contributed funds to preserve the Buena Vista Mobile Home Park and signaled its intent to move ahead with a new “concept area plan” for a portion of the Ventura neighborhood that includes Fry’s Electronics. The commercial campus anchored by Fry’s is widely seen as one of the city’s most underdeveloped areas. As such, the council sees it as particularly promising for housing. The next 12 months promise far more action on the housing front. In addition to moving ahead with the new zoning ordinance, staff is preparing to look at increasing the city’s “inclusionary (belowmarket-rate) requirements” for

Despite widespread frustration about housing options and traffic congestion, Palo Alto residents generally get good vibes when asked about their quality of life, a new survey shows. (Posted Jan. 31, 9:12 a.m.)

Palo Alto to challenge Edgewood Plaza ruling Palo Alto plans to appeal a court ruling that invalidated the city’s fines against Sand Hill Property Company for failing to maintain an operational grocery store at Edgewood Plaza. (Posted Jan. 30, 2:16 a.m.)

Ford acquires Palo Alto startup Autonomic Ford Motor Company announced Thursday that it has bought Autonomic Technologies Inc. as part of its effort to develop selfdriving ride services aimed at improving traffic and transportation nationwide. (Posted Jan. 26, 4:25 p.m.)

Palo Altan pleads ‘no contest’ to murder charge A former Gunn High School student has pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in the 2013 killing of an East Palo Alto man, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said Thursday. (Posted Jan. 25, 5:35 p.m.) Want to get news briefs emailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.

Five elements of Palo Alto’s new Housing Work Plan For implementation in 2018-19 1. Completion of ongoing projects and initiatives aimed to produce more affordable and workforce housing. 2. Revision of zoning ordinances to encourage more diverse housing in appropriate locations. 3. Preparation of economic analyses needed to consider boosting inclusionary requirement of new developments from 15 percent to 20 percent; applying inclusionary requirement to new rental housing; and requiring fees or replacement housing if existing homes are eliminated. 4. Use of city’s affordable-housing funds to stimulate rehabilitation and development of new affordable housing. 5. Partnerships with agencies and organizations to assist underserved residents and to consider use of public land for affordable housing. Source: city of Palo Alto new developments from 15 percent to 20 percent (which means 20 percent of the units in new developments would have to be comprised of affordable housing). The council also signaled its commitment to addressing the housing crisis when it united behind the Fine memo last November. Newly elected Mayor Liz Kniss is particularly passionate about

the topic. Minutes after getting promoted to the mayor’s chair on Jan. 9, Kniss told the assembled crowd that the city is “way behind on providing housing” and emphasized the need to do more. “Its beholden on us — on our integrity — to do that,” Kniss said. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Pulse

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto

Jan. 24-Jan. 30

Violence related Assault w/deadly weapon. . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Strong arm robbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Checks forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Vehicle related Abandoned bicycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Driving with suspended license . . . . . . . 8 Driving without a license. . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Vehicle accident, minor injury . . . . . . . . . 7 Vehicle accident, property damage . . . . 9 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alcohol or drug related Drinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving under the influence . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . . 2 Sale of drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Animal Call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Casualty/fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . 15 Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Parking violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . . 1 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Sick and cared for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Unattended death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Vehicle stored . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Warrant/other agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Menlo Park

Jan. 24-Jan. 30

Violence related Assault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft undefined . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle related Auto burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Auto tampering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving with suspended license . . . . . . . 2 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle accident, minor injury . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle accident, no injury . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vehicle accident, property damage . . . . 1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Alcohol or drug related Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . . 3 Miscellaneous Adult protective services . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Domestic disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Graffiti abatement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Warrant/other agency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto

Welch Road, 1/24, 2:17 a.m.; domestic violence. El Camino Real, 1/24, 4:20 p.m.; strong arm robbery. 200 block University Avenue, 1/25, 8:08 a.m.; battery. Olive Avenue, 1/27, 9:19 p.m.; domestic violence. Urban Lane, 1/27, 9:25 p.m.; battery. 200 block University Avenue, 1/28, 2:16 a.m.; battery. Park block California Avenue, 1/28, 8:53 p.m.; assault with a deadly weapon.

Menlo Park

Pierce Road/Almanor Avenue, 1/28, 1:51 a.m.; assault.

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STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS ;OL :WLJPHS *P[` *V\UJPS 9L[YLH[ 4LL[PUN ^PSS IL OLSK H[ 4PKKSLĂ&#x201E;LSK 9VHK 7HSV (S[V [OL 4P[JOLSS 7HYR *VTT\UP[` *LU[LY -LIY\HY` H[ (4 [V KPZJ\ZZ! -@ 7LYMVYTHUJL 9LWVY[ ;OL 5H[PVUHS *P[PaLU :\Y]L` HUK *P[PaLU *LU[YPJ 9LWVY[" HUK 9LJVTTLUKH[PVU MVY *V\UJPS 9L[YLH[ (NLUKH HUK 7VSPJ` HUK :LY]PJLZ *VTTP[[LL 9LJVTTLUKH[PVU MVY *V\UJPS 7YPVYP[PLZ ;OL -PUHUJL *VTTP[[LL 4LL[PUN ^PSS IL OLSK PU [OL *VTT\UP[` 4LL[PUN 9VVT VU -LIY\HY` H[ 74 [V KPZJ\ZZ! 9L]PL^ +YHM[ ;YHUZWVY[H[PVU 0TWHJ[ -LL 5L_\Z :[\K` HUK 9LJVTTLUK [OH[ [OL *P[` *V\UJPS (KVW[ HU 6YKPUHUJL *VUZVSPKH[PUN HUK <WKH[PUN [OL *P[`ÂťZ ;YHUZWVY[H[PVU 0TWHJ[ -LL 7YVNYHT )HZLK VU [OL :[\K` 9LJVTTLUKH[PVUZ HUK HZ (U[PJPWH[LK PU [OL *P[`ÂťZ *VTWYLOLUZP]L 7SHU SHZ[ HTLUKLK VU 5V]LTILY " HUK 9L]PL^ HUK 7YV]PKL 0UW\[ VU H 7OHZLK 0TWSLTLU[H[PVU 7SHU MVY [OL +V^U[V^U 7HYRPUN 4HUHNLTLU[ Study Recommendations.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ February 2, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 11

Editorial With PCs, it’s complicated Legal stand-off on Edgewood Plaza is another reason why ‘planned community’ zone shouldn’t exist

hat a mess. A carefully negotiated deal, made in 2012, offered a developer the right to build 10 homes at Edgewood Plaza on the condition that it maintain an operating grocery store in perpetuity as the anchor tenant on the remaining commercial portion of the site. It was the type of deal that had been encouraged by Palo Alto’s zoning code through what is called a planned community (PC) zone. In exchange for negotiated “community benefits,” the City Council could grant a property owner more development rights than would otherwise be permitted under the normal zoning, and, in theory at least, residents of the city would benefit enough to warrant the special exception and additional impacts. Over the years, this PC zoning process has been repeatedly abused by developers who have managed to find a way to either negate or minimize the so-called public benefit, leaving them with a substantially more profitable development and the public shortchanged. Until the council finally decided in 2015 to stop, at least temporarily, doing PC agreements, they were the preferred approach by most developers and infuriated residents, who saw them as harmful, lopsided deals. There were never any independent economic analyses to quantify the financial benefits to the developer of these arrangements and ensure they were appropriately shared with the city, nor was there any policy about what the public benefits should be to warrant these zoning exceptions. Each case was negotiated between the developer and city staff, as happened with the Sand Hill Property Company for the property at Edgewood Plaza, located on Embarcadero Road just west of the freeway. The city thought it had secured a sure-fire and popular community benefit: the return of a neighborhood grocery store. Sand Hill guaranteed it would maintain a grocery store as a condition for being granted the additional development rights, or so it was thought. Sand Hill landed The Fresh Market as a tenant and all seemed copacetic — until the grocery chain suddenly decided to pull out of Palo Alto in March 2015, less than two years after opening, leaving the 21,000-square-foot empty again. The Fresh Market apparently continued paying rent to Sand Hill, as obligated under its lease. Sand Hill has been so opaque about its dealings and agreement with The Fresh Market that it is unknown if it sought to buy out the lease, was holding The Fresh Market to the terms of the lease to put the burden on it to find a new grocery tenant, or if the lease agreement contained provisions covering the closure of the market. But as the space stood empty and neighborhood resentment mounted, in October 2015 the city began imposing $500 a day fines on Sand Hill for violating the development agreement, later increasing them to $5,000 a day. Sand Hill eventually stopped paying and challenged the city’s right to levy the fines. An administrative law judge ruled in favor of the city in April, but Sand Hill then filed suit in Superior Court, and on Dec. 15, just as a new grocery operator was opening “The Market at Edgewood,” Judge Peter Kirwan ruled the city improperly imposed the fines because the wording in the development agreement with Sand Hill wasn’t clear enough that it required the developer to ensure the continued operation of a grocery store rather than simply that the use be restricted to a grocery store. On Monday, in closed session, the City Council voted 7-2, with Mayor Liz Kniss and Councilman Greg Tanaka dissenting, to appeal the ruling to the state Court of Appeals. It also rejected a settlement offer by Sand Hill that would have reduced the fines to a fraction of what the city has levied. The total amount at stake is more than $1 million. Whether the city is likely to prevail on appeal is impossible to know, but one can assume that the council was advised in closed session by its attorneys it had a strong case and that filing an appeal would put pressure on Sand Hill to settle. While we have strongly opposed the use of planned community zoning because of how it distorts the zoning and lacks transparency, we support the council’s appeal of Kirwan’s decision. We have no sympathy for Sand Hill Property, which made a calculated business decision to risk having to pay fines if it could not maintain a grocery tenant. It freely concluded that obtaining permission to build the houses on the site was so valuable that it was worth possible problems of sustaining a grocer in the space. If it didn’t negotiate protective language in its lease with The Fresh Market, that’s not the city’s problem. Sand Hill is an active developer in the region and will undoubtedly be seeking approvals of future projects in Palo Alto. It would be smart for the company to settle this dispute at a price that provides substantial compensation to the city for Sand Hill’s failure to meet its commitment under the development agreement, and at a price that makes it easy for the city to drop its appeal. Q

Page 12 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Letters Volunteers have fought stinkwort Editor, I was generally pleased to see Sue Dremann’s story on stinkwort. It is indeed an unpleasant and pervasive pest. However, the picture of a field of stinkwort at Rancho San Antonio was surprising, not to say distressing. Several volunteers, not to mention Midpeninsula Regional Open Space staff, have in fact done an excellent job at removing stinkwort at Rancho San Antonio. I have never seen the area in the photo, so I can only assume it is hidden somewhere off out of the way. I can assure you that I, or any of half a dozen other volunteers, would have attacked it ruthlessly had we known about it. Had you been watching Midpeninsula preserves over the course of the last year or two, you would have seen dramatic improvement in stinkwort reduction. It is a continuing effort, but stinkwort is by no means out of control in Midpeninsula preserves. Dave Hood Fife Avenue, Palo Alto

Bikes at risk under Caltrain plan Editor, As a San Francisco resident who commutes to Palo Alto via bike on Caltrain, I want to express my concern that the proposed electrified car layout may encourage bike theft. To maximize space for bikes, Caltrain bike cars require bikes to be stacked against each other and unlocked, allowing riders to board and disembark at will. Thus it is essential that car layouts include seats — and enough seats — from which cyclists can monitor their bikes. This issue is dear to me because I was the victim of a bike theft on Caltrain last year on an occasion where there were not enough open seats in the bike car. While other measures like surveillance cameras may act as a mild deterrent and forensic tool, they are no substitute for guarding one’s property personally. I also want to encourage Caltrain to ensure that all future car layouts hold 96 bikes per train. Any number less than this is insufficient to keep up with future demand, especially as cultural and environmental changes make biking a more attractive option for the Bay Area’s rapidly growing population. Ted Lechterman 25th Street, San Francisco

Stanford’s expansion Editor, As 40 year resident of College Terrace and retired Palo Alto employee, I’m voicing my concern over the massive growth — seemingly without end — on the Stanford University campus and surrounding community. When my father moved here, Stanford was a university mostly known in California. It is now a big, successful business with an internationally known “brand.” Stanford is not what it was. It has become a mega-developer with tentacles all over the town and the region. It is more like an octopus than a university. The academic part of the university is not promoting the unlimited greed and development that has taken it over. Have you driven around the campus lately? It is unrecognizable since the money makers, the expansionists, have taken it over. Only the name remains the same. Just try to ride or walk through Escondido Village, the growth there is huge! Residents on Williams Street daily feel the parking impact as Stanford students park their cars for days, weeks ... walking or pulling a bike out of the car and riding to campus, as there is no long-term affordable parking available. I also believe the environmental-impact report needs to provide alternative housing for everyone who will be supporting incremental developments and address the existing externalizing of Stanford’s

housing shortages in surrounding communities, which has had rippling, damaging effects. Palo Alto and the Menlo Park area already experience too many negative impacts of Stanford’s growth. College Terrace is surrounded by an overgrowth of dense Stanford housing as well as an increasingly a large number of Stanford-owned homes in the Terrace that stand empty! Janette Herceg Williams Street, Palo Alto

Need new, not recycled mayor Editor, I use to work for a Palo Alto newspaper but have never written a letter to the editor, but for some reason when I saw we had a new mayor I had to laugh because I thought it should have said we have a recycled mayor. When are the voters in Palo Alto going to stop settling for the same people over and over! We need a change to get this town going in the right direction: new ideas, fresh ideas. Just as a side comment, I did not want parking stickers and have not gotten one because I still would not be able to park on our street, College Avenue. We recently had one car with a sticker parked in front of our house for four weeks, never moved. Donna Bliss College Avenue, Palo Alto

WHAT DO YOU THINK? The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

Has the dog flu affected your family? Submit letters to the editor of up to 300 words to letters@paweekly.com. Submit guest opinions of 1,000 words to editor@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information contact Editor Jocelyn Dong or Editorial Assistant Christine Lee at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.

Check out Town Square! Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly at PaloAltoOnline.com/square. Post your own comments, ask questions or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Guest Opinion Of house and home — Palo Alto style by Evelyn Preston

f course, it had to be. We were overdue. Progress and change had finally penetrated my small, dualnamed corner of Palo Alto. For more than half a century our wide street remained cul-de-sac quiet, enjoyed by bicyclists, school kids and several disappointed short-cut seekers. Until now. As home prices climb out of sight while inventory goes to zero, non-descript neighborhoods citywide undergo a reverse renaissance. From modest updates every few years, recent swift teardowns and huge build-outs signal the inevitable and inescapable dislocation to come. First, it was a corner house that sold and got a total style makeover. The home was quickly sold again and the new construction completely gutted and expanded with little leftover land on its smallish lot. We watched, wondered, then shrugged and mostly approved. Upgrades and young families are good for home prices and great for school taxes. Soon after, however, an ominous looking fence went up three houses down from mine — that tall, green mesh surround

that screams “major construction.” After a few days’ sightings of an emptying garage each time I went by, a driveway storage pod joined the fence and silently announced a proposed large add-on. “Seven hundred feet, but only in front, according to Zillow,” my daughter reported. “I’m not sure about the back.” In my neck of the “woods” (plus stucco), residents of these aging Eichler spinoffs (originally slapped up for returning World War II vets) have created the legend over the last 50 years that our onestory, flat-roofed, window-walled, Frank Lloyd Wright wannabe’s constitute “history” and are worthy of preservation akin to the Old North Church or Monticello. And as “Our Town” now debates backyard granny units and sky-rise apartment complexes, I sadly recall the crafty activist who lived a block away 40 years ago and initiated the grassroots putsch that ultimately squashed any unsuspecting, upwardly mobile homeowner in the area. Although over so much time, a few ersatz villas and hodge-podge fixes have personalized my street, to date, I enjoy the only second-story on the block. Yes, at this point I must confess that I am the small-potatoes traitor who inspired the current avidly pro or rabidly anti “neighborhood overlay,” the injunction against building up. Whether a few houses or a few streets, these no-second-story

groups have sunk into vocal villains or soared to “save our neighborhood” status. They champion the low-rise character and tract-home aesthetic, and they adamantly resist the maxi-mansion mania of the new Silicon Valley. In the late ’70s, our own no-big-deal aim was to move our two sons from their closet-sized bedroom with its locker-room miasma to an upstairs space. “Not a master suite?” queried our more modern friends. “We were actually thinking about bricking the kids in if we could,” we shot back, “but that’s probably against the law, so a mini-attic’s the best we could do.” We planned a partial second floor with minimal square footage that neither impacted the next door neighbors nor restricted their views. At the mandated planning commission hearing, several nearby homeowners attended and agreed that our add-up was welcome, unobtrusive and wouldn’t block anyone’s panorama of power poles. They also decided it was definitely a plus for property values. The proposed three-month building timeline stretched out to a year as the soonto-be-parodied Palo Alto Process kicked in. Outdated but entrenched rules killed our pleasing upper-level plan for wood beams designed to match the existing architecture. The city inspector straightened the lovely spiral staircase, suggested a

flight ending in the middle of the dining room table and lowered the landings so much that to this day I crouch like Quasimodo every time I do the laundry. Daily, it seems, our endearing but endangered Crackerbox Corners slides from that 1970s semi-remodel into superrestructuring. Another small property nearby sports our street’s very first depthdefying basement. We all marveled that the huge, lethal-looking shovel somehow managed to fit on the lot. Yes, most of us did think things would stay pretty much the same forever. We were once the young newlyweds on the street, embarking on careers and families in a university-oriented area. We could have it all, two or three kids and an easily affordable mortgage. Add block parties and walkingdistance schools. The Middle Class American Dream lived — right on my block. Whatever happens next, turrets or tents, better get used to it. With a burgeoning population and growing gridlock, we’ll happily opt to stay home more. And as the entire area moves from family affordable to financially stratospheric, the cost of a single-family home may prove to be the only thing upwardly mobile, especially if neighborhood bans on full second stories hold fast for a long, long time to come. Q Evelyn Preston is a former Palo Alto teacher and a 25-year investment adviser who now writes.

Streetwise

Would you change anything about downtown Palo Alto? Asked on University Avenue in Palo Alto. Question, interviews and photographs by Sarah Klearman.

Sabine Wiemmer

Kelsey Kienitz

Diogo Delgado

Karen White

Kendall Schroepfer

Executive Assistant Benton Street, Santa Clara

Cashier Helen Court, Palo Alto

Software Engineer Wildwood Lane, Palo Alto

Retired Ramona Street, Palo Alto

Engineer Park Court, Santa Clara

“Parking. ... That’s something I would have to say I’d change right now.”

“I’d want free, unlimited parking.”

“More housing would be amazing — or mix first-floor retail and put housing on top.”

“I would add more upscale restaurants, and more shopping, more shoe stores — and fewer tech businesses.”

“I can’t think of anything off the top of my head. It’s a great place to be.”

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 13

Robert Berka Bob Berka died in Portola Valley at The Sequoia Skilled Nursing Facility of aspiration pneumonia on September 29, 2017. He was born on July 15, 1927 in San Francisco, but lived most of his early life in Lodi, then in Santa Rosa where he graduated from high school. In June 1945 he enlisted in the navy and was sent to Guam where he edited the base newspaper. After his discharge, he enrolled at Stanford, majored in journalism and met his wife, Paula Minard. They were married in 1951. Bob’s first job was editor of Western Advertising Magazine in San Francisco. Then he commuted from Palo Alto to Oakland to work in Safeway’s market research department. For the remainder of his working years, he owned Merchandising Systems, Inc., a company manufacturing store fixtures. He and his wife and their two young children moved to Los Altos where Paula and Bob remained for thirty years. He joined the Rotary Club, and in the late 1980’s worked on the club’s Aids Project, which resulted in a film, sent to Rotarians throughout the world, educating people about the disease and helping those who were suffering from aids. Among the many other causes he supported were: Business Executives Move for Vietnam Peace, Zero Population Growth, The California Native Plant Society, Planning and Conservation League, California State Parks Association and Yosemite Natural History Association. An enthusiastic hiker and backpacker, Bob trekked for miles in the Yosemite high country and climbed Mount Whitney and Mount Lassen. In 1995 he, his wife and a small group of old friends hiked for three weeks in the Swiss Alps. After retirement he and Paula toured the major countries in Europe where they occasionally became lost walking big city streets and out in the countryside. They also travelled to Caribbean islands and to Peru where Bob climbed Machu Picchu. In Brazil they walked miles on beaches and over streets in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo. Several years after they moved to Menlo Park in 1989, Bob transferred from the Los Altos to the Rotary Club of Menlo Park and coordinated a student exchange program with a sister club in Japan. He visited the club in Kashihara and also travelled to Kyoto to see the famous historical gardens. Other post-retirement activities included working as a garden volunteer, later as a docent at Filoli. At home he planted a vegetable garden and experimented doing what he called “frugal gardening” using cuttings and seeds when plants went dormant. He also enjoyed jazz and symphony concerts, opera, plays in Ashland. Not only an avid reader, but a writer, he wrote a biography of Luther Burbank, returning periodically to Santa Rosa to do research in the Burbank archives. He wrote the last draft several months before his death. Bob will always be remembered as a man who was devoted to his family and loyal to his friends. In addition to his wife, he is survived by his son, Chris Berka and his wife, Rebecca Akers, of Portola Valley; his daughter, Alison Berka, and her husband Michael Abraham of Tiburon; his grandchildren: Caitlin, Haley and Kyle Berka; Max, Rachel and Sam Abrahams. He was predeceased by his brother, Donald. A private celebration of Bob’s life has been held in a state park where he lies covered by colorful autumn leaves, where he senses the gentle rains of winter filter through redwoods, where he will feel shafts of summer sunlight warm the earth he loved, and where he waits for the eternal cycle again. PAID

OBITUARY

Peter Taber

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Jean Lane A celebration of life for Jean Lane (March 28, 1930 - November 18, 2017) will be held on Saturday, February 10, 2018 at 11 am at Valley Presbyterian Church, 945 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA. There will be additional parking available at Christ Church, 815 Portola Road, Portola Valley, CA. A reception will immediately follow the service at the Portola Valley Town Center. PAID

OBITUARY

Faith Terry Witte

October 10, 1957 – January 15, 2018 Faith Terry Witte passed away January 15, 2018, from complications of a stroke. She leaves her husband, Steve Witte, children Keegan Witte (Camy) and Brittany Neal (Brent), sisters Celeste Johnson, and Colette Bettencourt (Mark), and grandchildren Carrigan (7), Kedrick (5), and Alika (2). Faith Terry Heckler was born October 10, 1957 in Camden, New Jersey. The family moved to California around 1960, settling in the Greenmeadow neighborhood. Faith attended Ohlones Elementary, Wilbur Junior High, and Cubberley and Gunn High Schools, graduating in 1975. Faith and her future husband, Steve Witte, crossed paths throughout their school years. Finally at age 17, Steve asked Faith out while walking her home from the Greenmeadow pool, launching a long and happy life together. They were married on December 15, 1979, and welcomed the births of their two children, Keegan Craig, on February 28, 1983, and Brittany Aspen on August 5, 1985. Faith and Steve raised their children in San Jose, but eventually returned to Greenmeadow. Faith’s career in banking encompassed a broad range of positions: she started as a teller and worked her way up, serving as Merchant Vault Manager at Bank of America, Manager of New Accounts at Eureka Bank, and a branch manager in several locations for both Citibank and Union Bank. Faith loved sailing, camping, backpacking, gardening, cooking, and interior design. Nothing gave Faith greater joy than time spent with family and friends. Faith radiated pride in her children and delight in her grandchildren. She will be deeply missed by so many whose lives she touched. A Gathering in Remembrance of Faith will be held at 2:00pm on February 18, 2018 at the Lucie Stern Community Center, Palo Alto. Please consider a charitable donation in Faith’s honor or a contribution to a legacy fund for the benefit of her grandchildren: https://www.gofundme.com/faithwitte PAID

Page 14 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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OBITUARY

Peter Taber, longtime co-owner of Hobee’s California Restaurants and former Palo Alto resident, died in his Los Altos home on Jan. 30 after a yearlong battle with melanoma. He was 63. He died surrounded by his husband of 28 years, Edward Fike, and their Jack Russell terrier, Sydney. Born on Jan. 12, 1955 in Honolulu, Hawaii to Paul and Mary Taber, he spent his childhood and teenage years learning about the restaurant industry from his father, who owned several Waikiki restaurants, such as the Green Turtle and Hofbrau. Although he relocated to the Bay Area in his late teens, he visited Hawaii frequently. After graduating from Burlingame High School, he studied music composition at the Berklee College of Music in Boston for two years. After his father founded Hobee’s Restaurant in 1974, however, he realized his true passion was in food and hospitality and joined the family business. He served as president of the company for two decades and grew Hobee’s from one small restaurant to 13 company-owned and franchised locations. He also formulated some of Hobee’s signature dishes, such as the blueberry coffeecake. At a Thanksgiving dinner in 1989, he met Fike, who was studying at Santa Clara University, and the two immediately shared an “intense, wonderful” connection, Fike recalled this week. They met for dinner the following night and got married on Dec. 25, 2013 in Hawaii. Taber often referred to this day as the “happiest day of his life.” The couple went on many trips around the world and cultivated many lasting friendships. After his retirement from Hobee’s, he pursued his creative work through landscape design and watercolor painting. He won several commendations for his paintings and volunteered with the Santa Clara Valley Watercolor Society. Throughout his life, he also donated more than $100,000 in food and gift certificates through Hobee’s community donations program to local nonprofits and served on the board of Palo Alto Chamber of Commerce for seven years. He also volunteered with Narcotics Anonymous as he battled and overcame addiction in his own life. He regularly aided and mentored those who struggle with drug addiction. He is also survived by his sister, Connie Taber Durant of Honolulu, Hawaii; niece, Alex Fuentes of Pearl City, Hawaii. A private service will be held, with details forthcoming. Memorial contributions can be made to Cancer Commons at 5050 El Camino Real Suite 215, Los Altos, CA 94022. Q

THE CITY IS

PALO ALTO THE LEADER Cover page to IS

come ALAIN PINEL

APR.COM

PALO ALTO

578 UNIVERSITY AVENUE

650.323.1111

Volume shown in millions of dollars. Source: TrendGraphix, January 1 through December 31, 2017. Displaying the top 5 brokerages in Palo Alto based on closed sales volume.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 15

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Pam Page 650.400.5061 ppage@apr.com

Derk Brill 650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Breathtaking Birge Clark estate property in Crescent Park featuring a totally restored residence on an expansive 24k SF parcel. www.CrescentParkEstate.com

PALO ALTO

$12,200,000

Sold with 2 all cash offers! Unique 20,000+/- sq.ft. lot in Old Palo Alto with 4 charming 2/1 bungalows, detached garage and yard.

Grace C. Wu 650.208.3668 gwu@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$9,000,000

High ceilings, Bay and hill views. Contemporary, open ﬂoor plan with 7bd, 9ba plus office and au pair suite. Elevator, 9478sf of living area, 3 car garage.

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LOS ALTOS HILLS

$7,995,000

Stunning European villa, sweeping Valley & Bay views. Resort-inspired grounds take full advantage of the gorgeous setting.

650.209.1516 swalker@apr.com

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Derk Brill

Derk Brill PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Private and serene 6BR/6.5BA situated on one of the largest parcels in the City. 7,500sf+ of living space overlooks Palo Alto Hills. Minutes to freeways.

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Build your dream home! Outstanding 15.5k sf parcel in Crescent Park. Existing 3BR/2Ba home with rental income, out of the ﬂood zone. A rare ﬁnd!

650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

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Sherry Bucolo 650.207.9909 sbucolo@apr.com

650.248.5898 nessabhoy@apr.com

Stefan Walker

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650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

Nadr Essabhoy

PALO ALTO

$7,950,000

Sold in 8 days! Captivating circa 1915 Craftsman style home in the heart of Old Palo Alto. Spectacular 13,500+/- sf lot with English gardens.

PORTOLA VALLEY

$6,598,000

5 Bedroom/4.5 Bathrroms. Beautiful home in desirable Portola Valley. Spectacularly renovated, extremely private, with awe-inspiring views.

Lynn Wilson Roberts 650.255.6987 lwr@ wilsonroberts.com

Square footage, acreage, and other information herein, has been received from one or more of a variety of diﬀerent sources. Such information has not been veriﬁed by Alain Pinel Realtors. If important to buyers, buyers should conduct their own investigation.

APR.COM

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John Forsyth James 650.218.4337 john.james@apr.com

Ling Lau 650.269.6809 llau@apr.com

LOS ALTOS HILLS

$6,295,000

Exquisite custom built home with resort-like grounds & sweeping Bay views. A truly enchanting Silicon Valley retreat. Represented buyers.

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LOS ALTOS HILLS

$5,995,750

New construction just blocks to Downtown Los Altos. Gardner Bullis Elementary. 5 BD, 5.5BA; ~ 4,289 SqFt, theatre w/ 12 foot screen.

Dana van Hulsen 650.248.3950 dvanhulsen@apr.com

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Greg Celotti 650.740.1580 greg@apr.com

Grace C. Wu 650.208.3668 gwu@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$5,988,000

Quality built newer custom home spacious and light-ﬁlled interior. Nearly 4900 sf, 7bd, 5.5ba, large entertainment, peaceful backyard.

SOL

ATHERTON

$5,988,000

Beautifully remodeled 5bd, 3.5 ba with 4,795 sf on a quiet, tree lined street in prime West Atherton neighborhood.

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Christy Giuliacci

650.556.3890 sgavande@apr.com

650.380.5989 christy@apr.com

PALO ALTO 650.248.3950 dvanhulsen@apr.com

CALL FOR PRICE

Community Center / Downtown area Oasis. Elegant home, pool house, pool and beautiful mature garden on rarely available 10,000 sf lot. Represented buyer.

PALO ALTO

$5,500,000

Style & elegance in desirable Community Center! Spacious 6 bd/5 ba floor plan features high ceilings, hardwood floors & designer fixtures.

Sherry Bucolo 650.207.9909 sbucolo@apr.com

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Samia Cullen 650.384.5392 scullen@apr.com

650.504.2824 cathens@apr.com

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Supriya Gavande

Dana van Hulsen

Candi Athens

PALO ALTO

$4,895,000

Style and innate charm deﬁne this craftsman style home. Elegance and modern ﬂair throughout the 5 bedrooms and 4.5 baths home.

PALO ALTO

$4,800,000

4 Bedroom/3.5 Bathrooms. Enchanting Midtown home on oversized lot. Completely renovated by celebrated designed, Karen Salveson.

Lynn Wilson Roberts 650.255.6987 lwr@ wilsonroberts.com

APR.COM

Palo Alto 650.323.1111 | Los Altos 650.941.1111 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 17

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Arti Miglani 650.804.6942 amiglani@apr.com

PALO ALTO

Leika Kejriwal 650.218.5345 leika@apr.com

CALL FOR PRICE

Desirable Leland Manor Home situated on a 9600 sq ft lot with 5 bedrooms, 3 baths and 2 car garage.

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$4,500,000

Charming Tudor on Christmas Tree Lane one of the most coveted streets in PA. 4 Beds, an office, & 3 Baths, 2,467 sf, 7,500 sf lot. Represented buyer.

Umang Sanchorawala 650.960.5363 usanchor@apr.com

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PALO ALTO

Derk Brill 650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

Jenny Teng PALO ALTO

Carol Li 650.281.8368 cli@apr.com

CALL FOR PRICE

Newly constructed 5BR/4.5BA Mediterranean on a spacious 8,256 lot, with additional detached living space in an outstanding Midtown/South PA location.

PALO ALTO

$4,155,000

Completely updated charming Country English home. Five bedrooms including 1 guest bedroom downstairs. Convenient location close to schools, parks and shops.

650.245.4490 jteng@apr.com

SOL

Arti Miglani 650.804.6942 amiglani@apr.com

PALO ALTO

Leika Kejriwal 650.218.5345 leika@apr.com

$3,950,000

Generated 7 all cash offers and sold in 3 days for the highest price per square foot in Green Gables in 2017!

MENLO PARK

$3,850,000

4-bedroom, 3.5-bath residence, approx. 3,040 sf interior, 10,825 sf lot. Great room opens to back yard. Formal living and dining rooms.

Michael Johnston 650.533.5102 mjohnston@apr.com

SOL

John Forsyth James 650.218.4337 john.james@apr.com

Angie Galatolo 650.704.8168 agalatolo@apr.com

LOS ALTOS

$3,825,000

Create Your Dream Home Here! Outstanding opportunity to remodel or build, more than 1/2 acre situated in a private setting with amazing Bay views.

LOS ALTOS HILLS

$3,798,000

Gorgeous conceptual design for a 6BD/6.5BA home with total of 10,576 SqFt including garage. Lot size 1.2 acre (52,335 SqFt); PA schools.

Lynn Wilson Roberts 650.288.6987 lwr@wilsonroberts.com

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Pamela Rummage Culp 415.640.3293 pculp@apr.com

Jane Wei WOODSIDE

$3,700,000

Located in the Woodside Glens, nestled in a woodsy setting this 4 Br 3.5 baths.

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PALO ALTO

$3,690,000

Green Acres house in a ~9478 sqft lot 4 br/3 ba~1957 sqft living space. Top schools, convenient, quiet and private.

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Erika Ameri 650.269.8211 eameri@apr.com

650.283.3953 jwei@apr.com

Alan Dunckel LOS ALTOS

CALL FOR PRICE

This lovely and well-maintained 5bd/3ba home enjoys an excellent ﬂoor plan with abundant amenities situated at the end of a very quiet cul-de-sac.

PALO ALTO

$3,500,000

Currently a 6bd, 2.5ba home on a 7500 sf lot. Amazing Downtown/Crescent Park location. Ready to build your dream home. Will be on the market in mid-March.

650.400.0327 adunckel@apr.com

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Alan Dunckel 650.400.0327 adunckel@apr.com

Erika Ameri PALO ALTO

$3,500,000

This is the lot adjacent to 846 Lytton Avenue. 7500 sf, currently has a 4 car garage with no home on it. Can be sold together with home or separate. Great opportunity.

PALO ALTO

$3,495,000

Fantastic opportunity to purchase this well maintained home in the highly desirable Green Acres neighborhood. Move in and enjoy your own new dream home!

650.269.8211 eameri@apr.com

SOL

Arti Miglani 650.804.6942 amiglani@apr.com

Ray Hogue LOS ALTOS

Leika Kejriwal 650.218.5345 leika@apr.com

$3,450,000

North Los Altos, Updated home on a court location with an oversized lot, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a 2 car garage.

REDWOOD CITY

$3,498,000

One-of-a-kind Mediterranean estate. Beautiful 4bd and 5 ba; gourmet kitchen, outdoor cooking & entertaining area; Two 2 car garages + large workshop.

650.964.3722 rhogue@apr.com

APR.COM

Palo Alto 650.323.1111 | Los Altos 650.941.1111 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 19

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Desiree Docktor 650.291.8487 ddocktor@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$3,250,000

Wonderful home located in desirable Midtown neighborhood. Spacious home features 5 bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and 2 car garage. Excellent Palo Alto schools.

SOL

LOS ALTOS

$3,050,000

This inviting home balances classic details with many updates for a setting that is move-in ready or an excellent foundation for your own vision.

650.814.0741 bwilliams@apr.com

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Denise Simons 650.269.0210 dsimons@apr.com

Barbara Williams

Derk Brill PALO ALTO

$3,025,000

Beautifully remodeled 4 bedroom, 2 bath Eichler, with walls of windows, radiant heated ﬂoors, skylights and an open ﬂoor plan. Sold w/ multiple offers.

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Excellent cul-da-sac location in Green Gables features a 1,879sf 3BR/2BA Eichler home on an expansive 8,976sf lot. Close to schools and shopping.

650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

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PALO ALTO

Supriya Gavande 650.556.3890 sgavande@apr.com

Shelly Roberson 650.464.3797 sroberson@apr.com

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Coming soon in north Palo Alto, updated 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, with top rated school.

PALO ALTO

$3,000,000

Gorgeous Palo Alto modern contemporary home in a tranquil and private setting close to Midtown shopping. Sold with multiple offers.

Dana van Hulsen 650.248.3950 dvanhulsen@apr.com

SOL

Erika Ameri 650.269.8211 eameri@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$2,998,000

Very charming 3bd/2.5ba College Terrace home sold over asking w/multiple offers due to my negotiating skills. Call me today if you want the same!

PORTOLA VALLEY

$2,995,000

New listing located in a lovely wooded setting with stunning Bay views from the living areas. 4 bedrooms, 2.5 baths make this a versatile home.

Pamela Rummage Culp 415.640.3293 pculp@apr.com

APR.COM

Palo Alto 650.323.1111 | Los Altos 650.941.1111 Page 20 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Charles Jacob 650.546.1360 cjacob@apr.com

MENLO PARK

$2,950,000

Updated 3bd/2.5ba with a lovely kitchen, master suite, and private garden. Perfect location near Stanford, shops and commute routes. Represented buyers.

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CALL FOR PRICE

A Midtown masterpiece! Artful blend of modern and traditional features. Represented buyer sold with multiple offers. Call for more details.

Supriya Gavande 650.556.3890 sgavande@apr.com

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PALO ALTO

Supriya Gavande 650.556.3890 sgavande@apr.com

Sophie Tsang 650.687.7388 sophie@apr.com

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Ideal location in midtown. Walking distance to Mitchell Park library. Lovingly maintained 4 bedroom home. Ease and comfort with a dash of uniqueness.

LOS ALTOS

CALL FOR PRICE

Elegant picture perfect home in an excellent North Los Altos location, close to the Village and Downtown. Represented buyer.

Dana van Hulsen 650.248.3950 dvanhulsen@apr.com

SOL

Charlene Chang 650-543-1108 cchang@apr.com

Andrea Schultz 650.575.3632 aschultz@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$2,705,000

Charming home in desirable Green Gables neighborhood. 4bd, 2ba, with gourmet kitchen. Beautifully updated. Private park-like backyard.

MENLO PARK

$2,600,000

Expanded and updated 3 BR home in prime Willows location. Spacious chef’s kitchen and open ﬂoor plan are ideal for entertaining. Bonus 4th room.

Harry Chang 650-543-1061 harrychang@apr.com

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Janie Barman 650.759.1182. janie@apr.com

Derk Brill 650.543.1117 dbrill@apr.com

PALO ALTO

$2,498,000

Affordable elegance in Old Palo Alto! Updated 3BR/2BA home features vaulted ceilings and open ﬂoorplan in a private and secure location.

LOS ALTOS HILLS

CALL FOR PRICE

Gaze at the western hills through the trees from this stylish contemporary home on 1 acre on a secluded cul-de-sac.

John Barman 650.380.8440 jbarman@apr.com

APR.COM

Palo Alto 650.323.1111 | Los Altos 650.941.1111 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 21

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Andrea Schultz 650.575.3632 aschultz@apr.com

Shari Ornstein LOS ALTOS

$2,395,000

Urban living at its ﬁnest. Built in 2015, 2bd, 2ba plus an office/ bonus room. High end ﬁnishes and attention to detail. Ideally located in the heart of downtown Los Altos.

STANFORD

CALL FOR PRICE

Available to Stanford Eligible Only! 4 bd /2ba, one level home with family room on lovely large lot in culde sac.

650.814.6682 sornstein@apr.com

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Michele Harkov 650.773.1332 mhorkov@apr.com

Isabelle Cole 650.814.0360 icole@apr.com

MENLO PARK

$2,350,000

Only 8 days on the market! Beautiful three-bedroom, two-bath, updated home in the Willows sold over the asking price with multiple offers.

REDWOOD CITY

$2,299,000

Sought after Emerald Hills home showcasing 4bd/3.5ba 3600 sq ft interior living space and 7140 sq ft lot.

Liz Rhodes 650.722.3000 lrhodes@apr.com

SOL

Pamela Rummage Culp 415.640.3293 pculp@apr.com

SAN JOSE

$2,288,888

Gorgeous 5 bedroom, 3 bathroom Tudor-Style home, located just away from shopping and dining on Lincoln Avenue.

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PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Wonderful Green Gables home in ideal community location. Represented buyer. Sold with multiple offers. Call for more details.

PALO ALTO

650.556.3890 sgavande@apr.com

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Denise Simons 650.269.0210 dsimons@apr.com

Supriya Gavande

CALL FOR PRICE

Delightful and well-maintained 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in Midtown close to schools, Community Center and local parks.

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Experience luxury living at its ﬁnest in this downtown 2 bedroom 2 bath condo at The Hamilton.

Shelly Roberson 650.464.3797 sroberson@apr.com

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Greg Celotti 650.740.1580 greg@apr.com

Catherine Shen FOSTER CITY

CALL FOR PRICE

Spacious 4 bed, 2 ba single level home with 1,950 sf on a 6,650 sf lot and excellent schools.

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Beautiful 4 beds 2 1/2 bath home in Almaden Valley. 2825sf living space on a large 8700sf lot. Lots of upgrades. Great life style.

Greg Celotti 650.740.1580 greg@apr.com

Ted Paulin SAN MATEO

CALL FOR PRICE

Gorgeous 3 bed, 2 ba home on a quiet street, great neighborhood and walking distance to a park.

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Lynn Wilson Roberts 650.255.6987 lwr@ wilsonroberts.com

650.862.5268 cshen@apr.com

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SAN JOSE

PALO ALTO

$1,350,000

Beautifully Renovated Barron Park Condo with attached garage and private yard. Represented buyer.

650.766.6325 tpaulin@apr.com

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Sophie Tsang WATSONVILLE

CALL FOR PRICE

4 Bedrooms/2 Bathrooms. Pajaro Dunes gem with ocean views, just steps to beach and community center.

PALO ALTO

CALL FOR PRICE

Looking for something with walking score of 100? Bright & Open 2 bedroom top ﬂoor unit. Perfect urban living for all ages.

650.687.7388 sophie@apr.com

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Sophie Tsang 650.687.7388 sophie@apr.com

Denise Simons SAN FRANCISCO

CALL FOR PRICE

Pride of ownership with this move-in ready home. 3 bed 2.5 ba, 2 car attached garage, lots of storage space. Walking distance to Daly City BART station.

MOUNTAIN VIEW

CALL FOR PRICE

Beautifully remodeled 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath end-unit townhouse with high ceilings, patio and a 2-car garage. Close to Silicon Valley’s major tech companies.

650.269.0210 dsimons@apr.com

APR.COM

Palo Alto 650.323.1111 | Los Altos 650.941.1111 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 23

Rising costs create high anxiety over Palo Alto’s infrastructure plans

In a fix by Gennady Sheyner photos by Veronica Weber

roundbreaking ceremonies typically precede construction, but by the time Palo Alto City Council members and staff lined up in front of the Rinconada Fire Station on Tuesday morning, half the building had already been reduced to rubble. Not that anyone was complaining. Though demolition of the 1948 fire station was scheduled for the following day, the sunny weather was too good to pass up, and city officials were eager to get the project started. Everyone understood that when it comes to construction, time is literally money. Moments before the ceremonial

Why are costs rising? Palo Alto faces $56 million shortfall in building nine infrastructure projects

Construction

costs have spiked. Three projects’ scopes have expanded. Design costs have increased. Source: City of Palo Alto

shovels pierced the soil, City Manager James Keene acknowledged that the city’s production had been scooped by actual work. “This is nothing more than a false Hollywood-set façade right now because the whole back of the building has already been demolished,” Keene told the assembled crowd. “Let’s keep the schedule and get it on time and under budget.” For Palo Alto’s council, which has named “infrastructure” one of its official priorities for the past five years (and may do so again at its retreat on Saturday), the Rinconada groundbreaking was a critical milestone. Reconstruction of the station is the first project of nine in the city’s infrastructure plan to make the leap from conception to construction. Others are expected to follow in quick succession. According to a Public Works Department schedule, eight projects — including the new bike bridge over U.S. Highway 101 and new parking garages near California Avenue and on Hamilton Avenue — will head into construction either this year or in 2019. (Ironically, the only item that is not eyed for construction until 2020 is the one deemed most urgent: the public-safety building.) In the spring, Palo Alto will begin fresh upgrades to the Charleston/Arastradero Corridor; in the summer it will launch the next phase of the bike-boulevard plan; and in the fall, the city plans to

Page 24 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

A construction worker carries lumber inside Avenidas, the senior-services nonprofit at 450 Bryant St., Palo Alto, which is undergoing renovation. With construction booming throughout the Bay Area, labor is scarce.

break ground on the 636-space California Avenue area garage, which will replace a city-owned parking lot at 350 Sherman Ave. In January 2019, construction is set to begin on the U.S. Highway 101 bridge, a project that city leaders hope to see completed by the middle of 2020. That spring, construction of the new downtown garage on a parking lot at Hamilton Avenue and Waverley Street is scheduled to start. Later in the year, crews will launch the next phase of improvements at the Baylands’ Byxbee Park, which include a “network of white oyster shelllined trails with wooden viewing platforms” and also break ground on replacing the Mitchell Park fire station. Yet for all the big plans, the path forward isn’t exactly clear. The construction climate around Silicon Valley continues to sizzle, driving up costs and straining the supply of available labor, two factors that have forced Palo Alto to scale back its dreams. The 101 bike bridge, initially envisioned as “iconic,” is now just a bridge. Even after it was stripped of most bells and whistles, the project’s $16-million price tag is well above the roughly $10 million the council was eying in 2015, when it held a design competition for the project. A 7.7-acre piece of land next to Foothills Park that the city ceremoniously dedicated as “parkland” in 2012 will likely be opened to the public this year. Two years ago,

council members debated ways to improve the site, whether by adding picnic amenities or restoring the riparian habitat in Buckeye Creek, which flows through the parcel. Now, given a lack of funding, staff is recommending opening the undeveloped site as is, with no amenities. Even a major Palo Alto Junior Museum and Zoo renovation —

‘We want to fast-track construction. The escalation we’re seeing in the market is extreme.’ —Matt Raschke, senior engineer, city of Palo Alto perhaps the city’s most popular infrastructure project to break ground this year — is facing budgetary uncertainty. Despite a successful $25 million fundraising drive by the nonprofit Friends of the Junior Museum, the zoo project hinges in part on a $4 million contribution from the city, which is responsible for redesigning the parking lot and creating a new bike path for the Rinconada Park attraction. And while the project has enough funding to get started, more money will be needed further down the line to furnish the zoo with a variety of interactive

features, including an insectarium, a butterfly exhibit, a touch tide pool tank and — most notably — a “Tree House” feature, which is intended to offer visitors a two-story zoo experience and allow them to “explore the tree canopy and have up-close encounters with the birds and animals that live there,” according to a Community Services Department report. These features were removed from the renovation design in 2016, when the project was scaled back because of rising costs. The city and the Friends group are “seeking grants and looking for fundraising opportunities” in hopes of bringing the $1.2 million Tree House back in the next phase of the zoo’s expansion. The council will consider on Feb. 5 a recommendation from staff to withdraw $2.3 million from the city’s infrastructure reserve to help with near-term improvements, as well as to direct staff to come up with a strategy for finding the city’s $3.9 million share of the project. The degree to which costs have escalated is striking. The collective price tag has gone from $136.6 million in 2014 to $235.8 million today, according to Assistant Public Works Director Brad Eggleston. Even with the local economy humming along and tax revenues on the rise, Palo Alto is facing a $56 million funding gap for its top nine infrastructure projects. The California Avenue garage, which in 2014 came with a $9.6 million

Cover Story

The former International Telephone and Telegraph building still remains in the marshland at the Palo Alto Baylands, and the city is planning to restore it.

Traffic moves along Arastradero Road in Palo Alto, which will see additional improvements under a city infrastructure plan.

the $2.3 million bid is within the project’s budget.) Ed Shikada, the general manager of City of Palo Alto Utilities as well as assistant city manager, said the low number of bids is a recurring problem. “We’ve tried to find ways of packaging contracts to maximize the number of bidders,” Shikada said. “It’s definitely an ongoing issue.”

Best-laid plans

alo Alto planted the seeds for today’s infrastructure boom in 2010, when Silicon Valley was still shaking off the dust from a global economic downturn. That was the year the City Council appointed a 17-member citizens committee and directed it to identify the city’s most pressing needs, as well as possible funding sources. Known as the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission, the group met for about a year and in 2011 released a report identifying an infrastructure backlog of about $500 million. The group also highlighted high-priority items that

need to be constructed as soon as possible — with the public-safety building on top of the list. Echoing prior studies, the infrastructure report called the existing police headquarters at City Hall “unsafe and vulnerable” and recommended the city move expeditiously ahead with a new publicsafety building — a structure that would house the Police Department, the city’s Office of Emergency Services, the Emergency Operations Center (the city’s “situation room” during disasters) and Fire Department administration. “Public safety should be a top priority for any city but — in terms of proper facilities — that priority has for many years been dangerously deferred in Palo Alto,” the 2011 report states. The report also identified Fire Stations 3 and 4 as in urgent need of significant upgrades, the report found. Each is more than 50 years old, fails to meet earthquake codes and is “increasingly inadequate as engines have grown in size.” “Demands for hazardous-materials processing, equipment storage and safety conditions for the

personnel housed there have also grown, and the role of these stations in emergency preparation and response has increased,” the report states. Some of the report’s recommendations have fallen by the wayside. The council never formed a permanent Infrastructure Commission to monitor progress; nor did it commit $6 million in annual funding for infrastructure repairs or issue a bond to pay for the new public-safety facilities. The commission’s recommendation that the city upgrade its Municipal Services Center — a sprawling complex of vital utility and public works functions on East Bayshore Road — also largely fell off the list. The commission’s report did, however, spur action: The council upped its annual spending on street repairs from $1.8 million in 2010 to more than $5 million in subsequent years (as a result, the city’s street conditions are the best in the county). It also approved in 2014 the infrastructure-projects plan and proposed a hotel-tax increase (continued on page 26)

COSTS: INITIAL vs. CURRENT ESTIMATES Five of nine top infrastructure projects’ costs exceed the initial estimates* 100

40 30 20 10 0

16.3 10

14.6 10

40.4

9.6

Downtown parking garage

California Avenue parking garage

Charleston/Arastradero Corridor improvements

U.S. Highway 101 bike/ pedestrian bridge

80 Public-safety building

April and cascade, block-by-block, down University and along Downtown North neighborhood streets over the following 12 months. Last August, the city went out to bid on what engineers estimated to be a $12.4 million project. Seven firms attended the city’s pre-bid meeting, according to a Utilities Department report; zero of them submitted bids. With no takers, city officials reached out to all contractors who had participated in the prebid meeting to see if any of them could get the job done. Only one — Ranger Pipelines, Inc. — was deemed capable of meeting the city’s schedule and project requirements, the report states. Even though the Ranger quote for the project was $16.4 million — well beyond the city engineer’s estimate — city staff deemed it appropriate and recommended the contract. The high price, the report notes, can be “attributed to the booming construction industry in the San Francisco Bay Area where local contractors have been unable to keep up and are more selective on project bids.” Some members of the City Council took issue with this process and the result it netted. On Monday night, Greg Tanaka and Karen Holman both voted against the Ranger contract — a rare occurrence for a utility replacement project. Both argued that the city can do better. “I think we should go out and rebid this thing and make sure we get more bidders, and get competitive bidders,” Tanaka said, moments before the council voted 7-2 to approve the contract. There’s no guarantee that another round of bidding would draw more interest. Even some of the city’s routine projects are struggling to attract bids these days. On Feb. 5, for example, the council is scheduled to approve a $2.3 million contract to upgrade the electrical and mechanical systems at the Children’s Theatre in the Lucie Stern Community Center. As part of procurement process, it reached out to 375 bidders; only two submitted bids, according to a staff report. (Fortunately for the city,

In millions of dollars

price tag — now stands at a gaping $40.4 million. The public-safety building, once viewed as a $57 million project, is now expected to cost $91 million. The construction market isn’t the only driver of these rising costs. The council’s decision last year to increase the size of the California Avenue garage (and to include two underground basements) inflated the price tag by millions. So did the city’s decision to build a publicsafety building on a constrained Sherman Avenue parking lot, requiring two underground levels for operations. Yet the market is playing the biggest role, accounting for a 58 percent escalation in costs between 2012 and 2021 for the police building, Eggleston told the council last week. Every month of delay on the California Avenue garage and public-safety building is adding about $350,000 to the cost, Eggleston said. The $56 million funding gap, if anything, greatly understates the problem. It does not take into account the many projects that the council wants to pursue but that were not included on the 2014 infrastructure list, including the renovation of Cubberley Community Center; an upgraded animal shelter; and the implementation of the newly approved parks master plan. All are currently unfunded and, with every passing month, the challenge to make them happen is growing. Furthermore, projects in the infrastructure plan comprise just a small fraction of the city’s $600 million capital-improvement program for the years 2018-2022 — a voluminous list that includes replacing water mains, burying electricity wires in underground trenches, installing traffic signals and dozens of other mostly thankless municipal tasks. Here, too, the city is seeing costs spike to unexpected heights. Consider Upgrade Downtown, Palo Alto’s effort to replace 50-year-old water and gas mains under University Avenue, install fiber conduits in an underground trench and implement an assortment of street improvements. The project is scheduled to kick off in

28.1

Infrastructure project * Estimates for the remaining four projects — Bike/Pedestrian Plan Initial estimate implementation, Fire Stations 3 and 4 replacements, and Byxbee Park Current estimate improvements — are within $1 million of initial estimates. Source: city of Palo Alto www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 25

Cover Story even should the construction market slow down and costs drop as a result of an economic downturn, so would the city’s resources. As the experience of 2009 shows, Palo Alto leaders don’t talk about “iconic” bridges or six-story parking structures when they’re laying off 10 percent of City Hall’s workforce or putting popular services like animal services on the chopping block. “If the bottom comes out of the economy, there will be tremendous pressure to spend those (infrastructure) funds on operating expenses, on today’s needs,” Shikada said.

Infrastructure (continued from page 25)

to fund it — a measure that voters approved later that year. Some of the items in the plan were consistent with infrastructure commission’s recommendations: the public-safety building and the two fire stations. Others were added to sweeten the deal for voters on the hotel-tax measure: hence the new garages, the Highway 101 overpass, improvements to Byxbee Park and new bike boulevards. Eggleston told the council last week that at the time when the commission deliberated, the construction climate was coming off of a slowdown, which made today’s situation impossible to foresee. Faced with rising costs, city leaders have opted to scale back some projects, such as the bike bridge and the Junior Museum and Zoo. But for others, they’ve opted to stick with the plan, higher price tags notwithstanding. Last week, the council considered a staff recommendation to reduce the scope of the California Avenue area garage, which had grown in order to satisfy demands from area residents and merchants. Originally envisioned as a structure that would create 158 new spaces, the garage was revised last year to also include two basement levels, more than doubling the new parking spaces. Last week, Eggleston made a case for eliminating

The need for speed

P Palo Alto City Council members Lydia Kou, far left, Mayor Liz Kniss, left, and Greg Scharff, far right, stand with Fire Chief Eric Nickel, third from left, and fellow firefighters as they ceremoniously break ground on the replacement fire station at Embarcadero and Newell roads. one basement level — a move that would trim between $6 million and $8 million. But with business owners and residents framing the recommendation as a “betrayal,” the council voted 8-1, with Councilman Adrian Fine dissenting, to stick with the larger structure. In staying the course on the garage, the council figured it could offset some of the additional costs with revenues from parking permits. For other projects, including the police building and

the bike bridge, such an option does not exist, which means the council will either have to “value engineer” these projects to reduce costs or draw funds from the General Fund, which pays for most basic city services aside from utilities. Occupancy taxes from two Marriott hotels on San Antonio Road, whose plans the city recently approved, should help. According to city staff, these and other hotels are expected to bring in about $4.9 million

in additional annual revenue. In recent meetings, council members have repeatedly voiced discomfort at the rising costs but have largely endorsed staff’s approach of trying to move as fast as possible, before the prices get even higher. “In general, the experience shows that because you can’t time it, the best strategy is to push out projects as quickly as possible,” Shikada told the Weekly. That strategy recognizes that,

alo Alto is a leader in many fields. Moving fast on public projects isn’t one of them. The term “Palo Alto process” has become synonymous over the decades with bureaucratic entanglements, endless revisions and escalating costs. In the past, it’s been the bane of developers, architects and home renovators (in one notable 2010 case, a homeowner spent more than $500,000 on studies and permit fees before winning the city’s approval to demolish and replace his one-story home in Professorville.). Now the city increasingly finds itself in the applicant’s chair, the process is starting to cause heartburn at City Hall. The tension between Palo Alto’s two competing imperatives — to move fast and review thoroughly

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Page 26 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Cover Story

By the numbers City of Palo Alto’s top infrastructure projects

$235.8 million Estimated cost for the nine projects

$149.8 million

Amount currently budgeted for the projects

$30 million

Contingency funds that could be allocated

$56 million City’s shortfall

Source: city of Palo Alto — was palpable at the Jan. 18 meeting of the Architectural Review Board, which was reviewing the new California Avenue garage. The meeting got off to a good start. After panning the preliminary design at a prior review, board members on Jan. 18 agreed that the garage plan had come a long way. Early in the hearing, board members lauded the project and two members, Peter Baltay and Alex Lew, said they could support it. City staff stressed the urgency of moving the project forward. “We want to break ground on this in October,” Matt Raschke, senior engineer at Public Works, told the board. “We want to fast-track

construction. The escalation we’re seeing in the market is extreme.” The board had some quibbles about the landscaping plan, the garage’s potential noise problems and — most notably — the proposed stairway in the garage, which some members argued needed to be refined. Assistant Planning Director Jonathan Lait said these concerns could be addressed by approving the project and adding conditions that these items return at a later date for a subcommittee review. “All things considered, from staff perspective, we are very mindful not only of the costs to other applicants who have to go through the process, but the city

also has an expense that it’s incurring that has potentially broader implications,” Lait said. “As we spend more money for building the public-parking structure, there’s fewer funds for other projects we want to advance.” The board, however, refused to be rushed. Board member Robert Gooyer said he felt like the board was “being bulldozed to make a decision today.” He also argued that the city’s engineers could move ahead with most of their construction documents while leaving some details “purposely vague.” In the end, the board voted unanimously to continue the review on March 1. “I know it’s difficult,” board Chair Wynne Furth told staff after the vote. “It’s a great project. Sorry we couldn’t give you everything you want.” David Bower, who attended the meeting, was not amused. A City Hall veteran, Bower chairs the city’s Historic Resources Board and knows a thing or two about reviewing complex development proposals. He also served on the Infrastructure Blue Ribbon Commission, where he was part of a subcommittee that explored options for a new public-safety building. After hearing the Jan.

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A region that’s booming Private and public construction projects compete for labor by Gennady Sheyner

alo Alto’s big push on infrastructure comes at a time of economic prosperity, with sales-tax receipts on the rise and new hotels bringing with them the promise of growing tax revenues in the years to come. Yet when it comes to costs, the timing for the city could hardly be worse. Today, the Bay Area is booming, with commercial construction leading the way. According to the 2017 Silicon Valley Index, produced by the nonprofit Joint Venture Silicon Valley, the region produced more than 5 million square feet of office space in 2016, more than in any other year since 2001. Nationwide, construction costs have escalated by about 3.3 percent over the past year, according to an index compiled by Engineering News-Record, an industry publication. Locally, the climate is considerably hotter. Over the past year, San Francisco has been among the nation’s leaders in construction inflation, according to the 2017 International Construction Market Survey by the firm Turner and Townsend. In 2016, San Francisco experienced cost inflation of 4.2 percent, second only to Seattle’s 5 percent (New York City was third, with 3.5 percent). The report’s forecast showed San Francisco catching up to Seattle in 2017, with each

experiencing a cost inflation of 5 percent. The escalation in cost is driven by a confluence of large projects, public and private, that have created a labor shortage, said Bill Russell, pre-construction manager with Vance Brown Builders, a Palo Alto construction company that in last year completed the new Palo Alto High School gym and is now working on the Junior Museum and Zoo renovation and the reconstruction of the nonprofit senior-services agency Avenidas on Bryant Street. On the private-project side, Russell said, are companies like Google and Apple adding or expanding their campuses. On the public side are giant regional projects such as the city and county of San Francisco’s new wastewater treatment plant; the ongoing renovation of San Francisco Airport, where a new United terminal is under construction; and upgrades to BART. Add up all the demand, Russell said, and there’s just not enough labor to go around. “Generally, the labor side of construction is going to go wherever there’s work available,” Russell said. “I think you have a situation where both the public and the private side are busy, and they’re probably reaching the limit of what’s available.” Public projects are particularly vulnerable to the fluctuations of

the economic cycle, Russell said. A company like Google, he said, can cancel a project within a few months through an internal decision. But public entities like the city of Palo Alto, the county of Santa Clara or the state of California generally have a far longer planning process, from the time they go out to sell bonds or raise taxes to the time the project seeks bids. “There is more risk in the public side that you’re going to hit the wrong part of the cycle,” Russell said. As costs have gone up, the imperative to “value engineer” projects has risen. Russell pointed to the substantial redesign of the Junior Museum and Zoo project, which was downsized from a two- to a one-story building. That, Russell said, was a direct response to the overall cost of the building. “If something the developer thought was going to cost $10 million now costs $15 million, they may choose not to move forward or to wait until they have a tenant signed up, so a lot of our (construction) business gets more difficult because timing is less certain.” That’s not to say, however, that builders are complaining about the current market conditions. “We would rather be in this market than in 2008,” Russell said. Q www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 27

Cover Story

Crews work to demolish the fire station at Embarcadero and Newell roads in Palo Alto this week. Replacing the station is a top infrastructure project for the city.

Infrastructure (continued from page 27)

18 discussion, Bower told the Weekly he was struck by the lack of urgency from the board, which effectively ignored staff’s budget concerns and Lait’s recommendation to move ahead. “How can a board ignore $200,000 to $700,000 in added costs for no benefit?” Bower said. “That’s what I find very, very distressing — because we don’t get that money back. I feel strongly this is not good stewardship of the responsibility the board has.” One way to improve the process would be to have the council provide better direction to the architecture board, Bower said. When a board fails to represent the best interests of the community, the council needs to step in. One way to do that would be to have a council member serve as a liaison to the architectural board (the Historic Resources Board is one of several local boards that has a council liaison). The council, for its part, is also recognizing that fulfilling the city’s infrastructure goals may require a more hands-on approach from members. Mayor Liz Kniss said during the Jan. 22 council meeting that she was concerned about the prospect of incurring more than $300,000 monthly in extra costs because of delays to California Avenue area garage and

the public-safety building (because the city plans to start constructing the public-safety building once the garage is built, to minimize parking loss, any delay to the former project necessarily delays the latter). For that reason, she and other council members rejected a proposal from Tanaka to revise the garage proposal to add mechanical lifts. Such a move, she said, would add months to the architectural review and potentially add between $1 million and $2 million to the project’s cost. “We do not move with great speed,” Kniss said. In approving the garage, council did agree to add one unusual provision. It explicitly authorized staff to return to the council for additional direction if the Architectural Review Board (ARB) makes recommendations that drive up project costs. Councilman Greg Scharff, who added the provision, said the move will allow the council to weigh the board’s aesthetic considerations against economic realities. “I think the ARB does a good job, and their mission is to make sure we have the most attractive buildings out there and use the most attractive materials,” Scharff said. “On the other hand, their mission is not to look at cost savings. The council needs to look at that.” Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

About the cover: Brandon Donchak, left, Mark Perez, right, and fellow construction workers from Granite Construction remove asphalt at the corner of East Meadow and Ross Road, where a roundabout will be installed as part of a traffic project for the city of Palo Alto. Photo by Veronica Weber.

THERE’S MORE ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

Give your opinion on this topic and read those of others on Town Square, the community discussion forum at PaloAltoOnline.com/square. Also, read all about the city’s plans at infrastructure.cityofpaloalto.org.

Stanford Continuing Studies presents

Stanford Writers in Conversation: An Evening with Carol Edgarian

Carol Edgarian

Sara Houghteling

Please join us for a special evening with Carol Edgarian (Stanford ’84), author of the novels Rise the Euphrates and Three Stages of Amazement. Edgarian’s fiction contains multitudes—from the scars of the Armenian genocide on three generations of women to a love story set in San Francisco at the start of the 2009 financial crisis. In 2003, Edgarian co-founded the San Francisco–based Narrative Magazine, which publishes over 300 artists each year, including such writers as Tobias Wolff, T.C. Boyle, and Joyce Carol Oates. Over the course of the evening, Edgarian will discuss her own writing process and share her personal insights of contemporary trends in literary magazines and publishing. Avid readers and aspiring writers alike will gain fresh ideas about the art of fiction and on literature’s role in the information age during this engaging discussion. The program will be hosted by Sara Houghteling, former Nancy Packer Lecturer in Continuing Studies.

Thursday, February 8 • 7:30 pm Building 370, Room 370 • Main Quad Stanford University • Free and open to the public Palo Alto City Manager Jim Keene talks on Jan. 30 about the fire station that will be rebuilt at the corner of Embarcadero Road and Newell Road. Page 28 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

For more info: continuingstudies.stanford.edu

by Karla Kane here’s no simple way to define the work of Stew. As a rock-and-pop songwriter (under the name Stew and with his band The Negro Problem) and playwright, his discography is full of beautiful melodies, distinctive vocals and, most of all, the incisive and humorous lyrics that give him such a memorable voice in both the pop-music and theater worlds. His songs can be gentle and acoustic, edgily aggressive or jazzily cabaret-like — sometimes, somehow, all at the same time. Stew, the moniker of Los Angeles born-and-raised artist Mark Stewart, is probably best known as the creator of the semi-autobiographical musical “Passing Strange,” which won a Tony Award for Best Book in 2008. Some readers may recall that “Passing Strange” has local ties, as Stew and his collaborators workshopped the show during a Stanford Institute for Creativity in the Arts residency back in 2006. He’s also taught songwriting courses at the university. Stew is returning to Stanford this weekend for three performances of “Notes of a Native Song,” inspired by the work of noted novelist and social critic James Baldwin. Baldwin, an icon of the civil rights and LGBTQ rights movements, is a hero of Stew’s, but don’t expect “Notes of a Native Song” to be a straight-forward tribute. “It’s what we call a narrative concert. It’s really about the effect an artist can have on a person’s life and how his life is this really cool

example of how sensitive you can be to the world, how you can use your alienation in your art and how you can change your mind,” Stew said. “Baldwin was always changing his mind and always thinking things and always arguing with people. I like that.” The show presents Baldwin as a “rock ‘n’ roll figure,” he said, likening him to Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones. “There are these noble black novelists we all put on stone pedestals,” he continued, mimicking a serious, scholarly tone, “but Baldwin was just this wonderfully messy human being. We don’t treat him like a god; we treat him with an irreverence. Sometimes we have this blind fawning over those we claim as our heroes, and we don’t want them to be messy, when the very thing we’re celebrating them for is their messiness. The reason they changed our lives is because they’re so messy.” The show was originally commissioned by Harlem Stage for an audience that included members of Baldwin’s family and legendary writer Toni Morrison, and its “punk-rock, confrontational” take was not universally beloved by those who may have been expecting a more traditional tribute. “We tend to want our heroes to be clean and antiseptic — well, no. My heroes are f---ed. My heroes like to do weird things in their beds. ... My heroes do drugs. My heroes, they do all kinds of things that you, Mr. Person out there reading, may not like, and I’m proud of them,” he said. Never one to shy away from

poking fun at either himself or others, Stew’s song “Klown Wit Da Nuclear Code,” which was released last summer and covers the election of Donald Trump, is nevertheless, he said, a departure from his usual style. “I don’t really like writing topical songs because they get dated quickly, and I didn’t want to add to all the Trump static,” he said. It was written at the behest of filmmaker and friend Spike Lee (who turned the final Broadway performance of “Passing Strange” into a feature film). “He sent me a text that just said, ‘A clown’s got the nuclear code,’” Stew said. Lee wanted him to write a song on that subject, which was later used in conjunction with his new television show, “She’s Gotta Have It.” “I resisted for a pretty long time, but he just kept texting me: ‘A clown’s got the nuclear code.’ Everyday it would show up on my phone.” Finally, Stew gave in and wrote the scathing track, which describes Trump, among other things, as an “unreal estate orange agent.” “It was the hardest thing I ever had to write,” he said, adding that, for the world’s sake, he hopes it’s one that doesn’t stand the test of time. “That’s the song you hope you don’t have to sing again.” He’s gearing up for two new record releases — the soundtrack to “Notes of a Native Song” as well as “The Total Bent,” another musical — and will perform at Lincoln Center in New York on Feb. 7. In the meantime, “Passing Strange”

lives on as communities across the country embark on their own productions. Though that show originally featured Stew as a narrator commenting on the experiences of his younger self, he said the project has a life of its own that’s not dependent on his presence in the cast. “It’s really not as personal as people think. We always call it ‘autobiographical fiction,’” he said. “So many people have told me how they relate to it that I can’t feel like I own it.” He recalled running into a man in the subway who told him that he’d taken his ex-wife to see the play so that she could finally understand him. The two then rekindled their romance. Stew was profoundly touched by the encounter. “That’s way better than a Tony Award,” he said. And despite that Tony, Stew is not a big fan of traditional theater. “Not at all. I don’t go to it. I don’t appreciate a well-made play. I’m a simpleton,” he said, laughing. “I like theater in Berlin, like where they’re doing Shakespeare but then a guy comes out playing a Velvet Underground song on acoustic guitar, or there’s blood and people screaming, nudity — I’m the heterosexual who’s really into full frontal male nudity. But I’d much rather see a Tuesday night rock band.” Rock music, too, he conceded, “is a branch of theater. Everything, actually, is theater. I do respect what theater is about.” Any interview with Stew would be remiss not to mention his musical soulmate and frequent collaborator, Heidi Rodewald, whose infectious

bass guitar lines and sweet harmonies are essential to The Negro Problem’s sound and who’s been Stew’s co-composer throughout his career. Though they’re no longer romantically involved, their fruitful songwriting partnership continues. “You just get lucky if you find that person who’s there through thick and thin — and it hasn’t all been pretty, by any means,” he said, reflecting on their bond. The key to collaboration, as he tells his songwriting students, is not to find someone who loves your music but rather “someone who gets your music.” He and Rodewald, he said, grew up listening to the same L.A. radio stations and shared a mutual love of ‘70s soul and hard-edged punk. And despite the fact that they’re now based in Brooklyn, their music retains a distinctly West Coast vibe. It’s one of the reasons they’re looking forward to their upcoming Stanford shows. “We’re thrilled just to be in California,” he said. “Even though it’s not my home-home anymore, it’s my spiritual home.” Q Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com. What: “Notes of a Native Song” by Stew and The Negro Problem. Where: Bing Studio, 327 Lasuen St., Stanford. When: Friday, Feb. 2, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, Feb. 3, at 2:30 and 8 p.m. Cost: $15/students; $45-55 general admission. Info: Go to live.stanford.edu.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 29

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Cowboys and Indians

250 HAMILTON AVENUE, COUNCIL CHAMBERS FEBRUARY 14, 2018 AT 6:00PM Action Items: 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Recommendation to the City Council to Adopt an Ordinance Creating Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) Title 18 (Zoning), Chapter 18.30(J) (É&#x2C6;VYKHISL /V\ZPUN *VTIPUPUN +PZ[YPJ[ ;V 7YVTV[L ;OL +L]LSVWTLU[ VM (É&#x2C6;VYKHISL 9LU[HS VY 6^ULYZOPW /V\ZPUN 7YVQLJ[Z 3VJH[LK >P[OPU 6UL /HSM 4PSL VM H 4HQVY ;YHUZP[ :[VW VY /PNO 8\HSP[` ;YHUZP[ *VYYPKVY HZ +LĂ&#x201E;ULK PU :\IKP]PZPVU I VM :LJ[PVU VM [OL 7\ISPJ 9LZV\YJLZ *VKL I` 7YV]PKPUN -SL_PIPSL +L]LSVWTLU[ :[HUKHYKZ HUK 4VKPM`PUN [OL <ZLZ (SSV^LK PU [OL *VTTLYJPHS +PZ[YPJ[Z HUK :\IKPZ[YPJ[Z *,8(! ,_LTW[ WLY :LJ[PVU VM [OL *,8( .\PKLSPULZ -VY 4VYL 0UMVYTH[PVU *VU[HJ[ .YHOHT 6^LU H[ .YHOHT 6^LU'JP[`VMWHSVHS[V VYN ;OL 7SHUUPUN HUK ;YHUZWVY[H[PVU *VTTPZZPVU PZ SP]L streamed online at http://midpenmedia.org/category/ NV]LYUTLU[ JP[` VM WHSV HS[V HUK H]HPSHISL VU ]PH JHISLJHZ[ VU NV]LYUTLU[ HJJLZZ JOHUULS ;OL JVTWSL[L HNLUKH ^P[O HJJVTWHU`PUN YLWVY[Z PZ H]HPSHISL VUSPUL H[ O[[W! ^^^ JP[`VMWHSVHS[V VYN NV] IVHYKZ W[J KLMH\S[ HZW -VY (KKP[PVUHS 0UMVYTH[PVU *VU[HJ[ @VSHUKH *LY]HU[LZ H[ @VSHUKH *LY]HU[LZ' JP[`VMWHSVHS[V VYN VY H[

HERSHEY FELDER

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hostilesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; clumsily corrects classic Western themes 1/2 (Century 16 and 20)

The days when movie Westerns were â&#x20AC;&#x153;Cowboys & Indiansâ&#x20AC;? writ large are long gone. Westerns grew up a bit, empathizing with Native Americans even if they remained in support of the white leading characters. The genre may be on life support, given a general lack of popularity with the American public and abroad, but filmmakers still feel the pull to put their mark on the genre. That explains â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hostiles,â&#x20AC;? writerdirector Scott Cooperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s handsome, well-acted but somewhat clodhopping modern Western. At its best, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hostilesâ&#x20AC;? works as a contrived but effective parable of the American West, its painful legacy and small measures of redemption. In 1892, Army Capt. Joseph J. Blocker (a resonant Christian Bale) gets an order he literally canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t refuse, try as he might. He and a small group of soldiers are to escort ailing native Chief Yellow Hawk (the great Wes Studi) from New Mexicoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Fort Berringer back to his Montana homeland to die with dignity. Blockerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s career has been spent in brutal conflict with Native American tribes, including

the Comanches of Yellow Hawk. Friends have died at Yellow Hawkâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hands, and Blocker seeks every alternative, including the offer of a â&#x20AC;&#x153;letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s settle this like menâ&#x20AC;? knife fight. But no, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in for a classic Western journey across a dangerous physical landscape, as well as the comparably harsh psychic terrain of scarred men. Yellow Hawk stoically endures his physical pain and the hatred of his escorts, keeping a watchful eye for his own sake and that of his attendant family members. But our focus mostly remains on the white people and Blockerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s struggle to reach empathy for a community much more wronged than his own by the war both have fought. Rosamund Pike plays Rosalie Quaid, a widow left suicidal by the murder of her husband and young child. The killers were Comanche, setting up added tension since Rosalie also gets an escort from Blocker and his party. Rosalie plays double duty as a plot device, since she also allows for romantic tension with Blocker. Another foil arrives in the form of Ben Fosterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Sergeant Charles Wills, once a friend

and colleague of Blocker, now a criminal being transported. Willis advocates for his own release and the victimization of the Comanches, all the while insisting Blocker is no better than him. But of course he is better. We know this because others keep telling him heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a good man, heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fine man, as he stares back unconvinced. The storyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s true purpose is to morally educate and redeem him, which occurs predictably and accompanied by action that forges the new Blocker in fire. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hostilesâ&#x20AC;? gives the white people of the time more credit than theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re due, with no fewer than three formerly bigoted white characters making grand, sympathetic gestures to the Comanches. If â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hostilesâ&#x20AC;? proves ham-handed in story, Masanobu Takayanagiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s beautiful location cinematography helps to compensate, as does an interesting grab bag of character actors supporting the leads: Adam Beach and Qâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;orianka Kilcher as Studiâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s family; Rory Cochrane, Jesse Plemons, Stephen Lang and current Best Actor nominee Timothee Chalamet as soldiers; and Scott Wilson and Bill Camp as additional antagonists to Blocker. Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one other thing going for â&#x20AC;&#x153;Hostilesâ&#x20AC;?: If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re in the mood to see a Western on the big screen, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only game in town. Rated R for strong violence and language. Two hours, 14 minutes. â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Peter Canavese

MOVIES NOW SHOWING

Music by Piotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Written and Performed by Hershey Felder Directed by Trevor Hay

â&#x20AC;?Fe elde er's abilitty to o conju ure the grreat Ru ussia an maste er sweptt the opening g nig ght audie ence e away!â&#x20AC;?

12 Strong (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Lady Bird (R) +++1/2 Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Bolshoi Ballet: Lady of the Camellias (Not Rated) Century 20: Sunday

Maze Runner: The Death Cure (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Call Me by Your Name (R) ++++ Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Coco (PG) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. The Commuter (PG-13) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Darkest Hour (PG-13) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Den of Thieves (R)

Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

The Greatest Showman (PG) Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Horse Feathers (1932) () Stanford Theatre: 7:30 p.m., Friday; 4:45 & 7:30 p.m., Sat. - Sun.

T e Merrcury Th ry New ws

Hostiles (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Now thru Feb 11

I, Tonya (R)

Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts theatreworks.org 650.463.1960

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Mollyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Game (R) +++

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Paddington 2 (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Padmaavat (Not Rated)

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Phantom Thread (R) +++1/2 Guild Theatre: Fri. - Sun. The Post (PG-13) ++1/2 Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) (R) Guild Theatre: Saturday The Shape of Water (R) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (PG-13) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

International House (1933) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: 6:10 & 8:55 p.m., Fri. - Sun.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (R) +++1/2 Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Winchester (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

+ Skip it ++ Some redeeming qualities +++ A good bet ++++ Outstanding

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 327-3241) tinyurl.com Aquariuspa Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View tinyurl.com/Century16 Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City tinyurl.com/Century20

TheatreWorks SILICON VALLEY

HERSHEY FELDER / COURTESY HERSHEY FELDER PRESENTS

Page 30 â&#x20AC;˘ February 2, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

CineArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (For information: 493-0128) tinyurl.com/Pasquare Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (For recorded listings: 566-8367) tinyurl.com/Guildmp Stanford Theatre: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 324-3700) Stanfordtheatre.org

Find trailers, star ratings and reviews on the web at PaloAltoOnline.com/movies

FEBRUARY 2018

LivingWell

“The quality of your life is our focus”

Amenities include:

Veronica Weber

• 3 restaurant-style meals by our chefs. Dinner served with wine. • 7 day concierge service, 24 hours staff • Emergency call system in bedroom and bathroom. 24/7 monitor.

Wearing wrist weights, Richard Whittington does shoulder presses during his aquatic aerobic exercise class at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System on Jan. 22. The VA’s Water-Vet study uses vigorous aerobic class three days per week over eight months to help vets improve their cognitive agility.

Exercise and the brain Studies at Palo Alto VA investigate the connection by Chris Kenrick

“

than developing it at 65.” While exercise has been demonstrated to help prevent and manage many chronic illnesses, it’s only in the past decade that researchers have started to understand its effects on the brain, Fairchild said. “It’s one of the areas that holds the greatest promise in terms of having benefits cognitively in late life,” she said. “Having a physically active lifestyle is just a piece of the puzzle — you have to have a cognitively active lifestyle and be socially connected — but it’s a hugely important piece.” Participants in the Exert study — which is still recruiting members and is not limited to veterans — will get an 18-month

• All utilities except phone and cable

membership to the YMCA and 12 months of personal training. They’ll be randomly assigned either to an aerobic training group or to a group that focuses on stretching, balance and range of motion and then be expected to complete the assigned exercise program four times a week for 18 months. During the first year, a trainer will supervise two of the four weekly sessions. In the final six months, participants will be expected to come to the Y to complete their exercise programs on their own. The study will assess 300 people nationally, 21 of them in the Palo Alto area, Fairchild said. Among the local subjects is 90-year-old Henry Goetz of Mountain View, who began the exercise regimen in July. “What’s good about this is I have to meet with a trainer and I make a commitment that I’m going to

• Chauffeured van and bus to all medical needs, personal errands, shopping, outings and excursions to San Francisco, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Sausalito etc. • Kitchenette with full size refrigerator and 2 cook tops • Full monthly calendar with activities, wellness program and daily exercise with instructor

Contact Marie Louise Cates

(continued on page 32)

Sales Manager 408-446-4300 Ofﬁce 408-210-7425 Cell Email: MarieLouise@chateau-cupertino.com

10150 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA 95014 Cross street: Stevens Creek Boulevard

Veronica Weber

Can exercise help your brain?” asks a postcard recently mailed to 8,000 Palo Alto area residents from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The mass mailing was to solicit local 65- to 89-year-old subjects for Exert, a national study investigating whether certain types of exercise can improve memory and thinking skills in people with mild memory loss. With earlier studies suggesting a link between physical activity and reduced risk of cognitive decline, researchers are investigating whether different forms of exercise can stave off Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia in the fast-growing population of older Americans. “Until we have more effective treatments for these disorders, what we’re really looking at is prevention,” said research psychologist Jennifer Kaci Fairchild, the local coordinator for Exert, which is underway in 14 locations across the United States. Fairchild is a “geropsychologist” whose work focuses on older adults at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System and Stanford University. “People are living longer than ever before, and age is the single greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease,” she said, adding that one in three people older than 85 will have Alzheimer’s when they die. “We’re looking at ways to prevent or delay Alzheimer’s — developing it at 95 is very different

• Weekly housekeeping with laundry service

Heather Taylor, site study coordinator for the Water-Vet study, leads veterans, from left, Richard Whittington, Dean Kwarta, Godfrey Watson, Verne Shrewsbury and David Hanabusa, in a round of sprints during their aquatic aerobic workout at the VA Palo Alto Health Care System.

Give blood for life! b l o o d c e n t e r. s t a n f o r d . e d u www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 31

Living Well

The Right Care at The Right Time

Exercise (continued from page 31)

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see her twice a week,â&#x20AC;? Goetz said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a tendency to stay with it because you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to disappoint her. You feel a little bit of responsibility to make sure you do it. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m not sure if I had to do this all on my own Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d be able to continue, but making a commitment to somebody else makes sure you do it.â&#x20AC;? In a separate study, Fairchild is assessing whether water aerobics and explicit cognitive training can improve memory, concentration and decision-making in older veterans who are beginning to experience memory problems. The â&#x20AC;&#x153;Water-Vet Studyâ&#x20AC;? was conceived as a way to include older veterans whose arthritis, pain or joint issues make it hard for them to exercise in a gym. â&#x20AC;&#x153;(Participants) say that when they get in the water the pain just goes away, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re able to get their heart rate up and keep it up for longer,â&#x20AC;? Fairchild said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We have guys with walkers jumping into the pool next to guys who run half marathons, and theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re able to exercise together.â&#x20AC;? Water-Vet participant Dean Kwarta, a Vietnam-era Navy pilot, commuted from his San Jose home to the Palo Alto VA Aquatic Center three mornings a week for eight months. Previously sedentary and with arthritis in his ankles, Kwarta said he found the exercise so beneficial heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continued on his own with water aerobics five days a week at a YMCA near his home. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I see the benefits of exercise, and it definitely changed my eating habits, too,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;In the process I ended up losing 30 pounds, so that actually motivated me to continue on.â&#x20AC;? Kwarta, who retired from HP in 2012, also noticed positive results on the social side.

Veterans Godfrey Watson, top right, Verne Shrewsbury, bottom center, and Richard Whittington, left, do a side stretch following their cardiac workout. â&#x20AC;&#x153;This is the first time Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve hung around with military guys in probably 30 or 40 years,â&#x20AC;? he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s sort of like getting a second wind. I was in the retirement phase, just becoming more and more sedentary, and this gave me an opportunity to get re-involved with society, essentially.â&#x20AC;? In yet another exercise-related project, Fairchild is targeting people who take care of veterans with traumatic brain injury or dementia to determine whether physical exercise and other training can improve (continued on page 34)

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Page 32 â&#x20AC;˘ February 2, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

“MY EARS ARE STARTING TO PAINT MY ENVIRONMENT

IN PRIMARY COLORS... WITH MY PREVIOUS HEARING AID, EVERYTHING WAS MORE MUTED AND LESS BRILLIANT.” – QUOTE FROM A PACIFIC HEARING SERVICE PATIENT

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SCHEDULE A COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO HEAR WHAT A DIFFERENCE WE CAN MAKE IN YOUR LIFE

Home is where the heart is!

So who says you have to leave your home just because you’ve gotten older? Avenidas Village can help you stay active, safe and connected in the home that you love. Learn more at a free Coffee Chat: Thursday, March 8 @ 2pm Tuesday, April 17 @ 10am Thursday, May 10 @ 2pm RSVP to (650) 289-5405

Village

Your life, your way, in your home

www.avenidas.org/village

Living Well

FEBRUARY 2018

Feb 1 Movie: “Beatriz at Dinner” 1:30-4pm, Avenidas @ CCC. $0/$2 includes popcorn. Get ticket at front desk. Feb 2 Wine Appreciation: Wines from the NorCal Coast: Sauvignon Blanc, Merlot & Zinfandel 3-4:30pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Pre-registration required. Call 650-289-5400 to register. $12/$15 Feb 5 Caregiver Support Group 11:30am-1pm – every Monday @ Sunrise Palo Alto, 2701 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Call Paula 650-289-5438 for more info. Drop-in, free. Armchair Travel – Destination: Cambodia, Part 2 1:30-2:30pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Call 650-289-5400 to preregister. Free Feb 6 Avenidas Walkers 10am – every Tuesday. Call

650-387-5256 for trailhead info or to schedule. Free. Feb 7 Reiki appts available Avenidas @ CCC. Call 650-2895400 to schedule. $30/$35 Feb 8 Avenidas Hikers 10am – every Thursday. Call 650-575-6291 for trailhead info or to schedule. Free.

Calendar of Events

Feb 14 Caregiver Support Group 11:30am-1pm – every Wednesday @ Sunrise Palo Alto, 2701 El Camino Real, Palo Alto. Call Paula 650-289-5438 for more info. Drop-in, free. Feb 15 Movie: “The Last Face” 1:30-4pm, Avenidas @ CCC. $0/$2 includes popcorn. Get ticket at front desk.

Feb 9 Tech Talk with Dr. Manjula Waldron: “The Impact of Tech on Values and Morales” 11am-12:30pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Pre-registration required. Call 650-289-5400. Free.

Feb 16 Tuina 10-11am, every Friday, Avenidas @ CCC. Drop-in, free.

Feb 12 UNA Film Festival “Sing Your Song” 3-4:30pm @ Channing House. Drop-in, free.

Feb 20 Lotus Dance Fitness 3:30-4:30pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Free.

Feb 13 Avenidas Village Coffee Chat 10am, Avenidas @ CCC. RSVP required. Call 650-289-5405.

Feb 21 Blood Pressure Screening 9:30-10:30am, Senior Friendship Day @ CCC, Building M. Dropin, free.

Feb 19 Avenidas closed

Feb 22 Workshop: iPad for the Complete Beginner 2-4pm @ Channing House. Space is limited. RSVP required. Call 650-289-5400. $10/$20. Book Club: “The Vinegar Girl” by Anne Tyler, 2:30-4pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Drop-in, free. Feb 23 Presentation: “Why Social Media?” 11am-12:30pm, Avenidas @ CCC. Registration required. Call 650-289-5400, $0/$10. Feb 26 Senior Adult Legal Assistance appts available for Santa Clara County residents age 60+. Call 650-289-5400 for appt. Free. Feb 27 Massage appts available Call 650-289-5400. $35/$45 for 30 min. Feb 28 Mindfulness Meditation 2:30-3:30pm, every Wednesday, Avenidas @ CCC. Drop-in, free.

Complete schedule or info about Avenidas events, call 650-289-5400

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • February 2, 2018 • Page 33

Living Well

Stanford Continuing Studies presents

Beethoven’s Revolution: The Musical Odyssey from His First String Quartet to His Last

Senior Focus

In the quarter century between 1801, when a young, brash Beethoven wrote his first string quartet (Op. 18 No. 4) to 1826, when he penned his last (Op. 135), the course of music history had been changed by the now completely deaf and isolated genius. Between live performances of these two amazing quartets, we will discuss and illustrate Beethoven’s musical and spiritual development and how the force of his compositions steered the evolution of classical music from Haydn and Mozart toward Brahms, Mahler, and the 21st century. This program is hosted by the San Francisco Chamber Orchestra’s music director, Ben Simon, featuring the SFCO All-Stars: Kay Stern and Hrabba Atladottir, violins; Ben Simon, viola; and Eric Gaenslen, cello.

ROBOT COMPANIONS? ... Engineer, design researcher and novelist Manjula Waldron will speak to the question “ Living with Smart Robots: Fact or Fiction?” in a discussion with futurist Richard Adler on Friday, Feb. 9, from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The free event will be held at Avenidas in Room I-2 of Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. The two will explore questions such as: Can new technologies really help with the problems of aging? What would it be like to live with a smart robot? Can robots provide companionship? Pre-registration is required. Go to Avenidas.org.

Road. Cosponsored by Friends of the Palo Alto Library, the talk is part of Silicon Valley Reads, which is focusing on “caring, coping and compassion” as the reading and discussion themes for 2018. Go to siliconvalleyreads.org.

CARING AND COPING Mark Lukach, author of “My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward,” will speak Sunday, Feb. 11, at 3 p.m. at Palo Alto’s Rinconada Library, 1213 Newell

Items for Senior Focus may be emailed to Palo Alto Weekly Contributing Writer Chris Kenrick at ckenrick@paweekly. com.

Exercise

More information about the Exert study is available at exertstudy. org or by calling 650-493-5000, ext. 65992. Information about the Water-Vet study is available by calling 650-493-5000, ext. 68957, and about the caregiver study by calling 650-493-5000, ext. 65992. Q Contributing Writer Chris Kenrick can be emailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

(continued from page 32)

Saturday, February 10 • 7:30 pm Science Teaching & Learning Center Auditorium Stanford University • Free and open to the public

caregivers’ health and well-being. “At the VA we’re faced with a new type of caregiver — the caregivers for the traumatic brain injuries coming back from the recent conflicts,” she said. “They’re going to be caring for someone for 20, 30, 40 years. How can we help them be the best caregiver they can be?”

For more info: continuingstudies.stanford.edu/events

“SING YOUR SONG” ... The life of singer, songwriter, actor and social activist Harry Belafonte is featured in a 2011 documentary “Sing Your Song,” which will be shown Monday, Feb. 12, at 3 p.m. at Channing House, 850 Webster St., Palo Alto. The event is sponsored by the United Nations Association Film Festival. Free and open to the community. Q

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Serving happy clients across Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Woodside, Portola Valley and more! Page 34 • February 2, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 42 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

A weekly guide to home, garden and real estate news, edited by Elizabeth Lorenz

Home Front CAMELLIAS GALORE ... The San Francisco Peninsula Camellia Society will hold its annual flower show and sale on Saturday, Feb. 17, and Sunday Feb. 18, at 1400 Roosevelt Ave. in Redwood City. The sale will be held Saturday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a show from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday the hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Go to camelliasfpcs.org for more information. RITZY ZIP CODES ... According to Forbes Magazine, the town of Atherton (94027) tops the list of most expensive ZIP codes in 2017 among 500 surveyed in the United States by Altos Research of Sunnyvale. Atherton’s median price was $4.95 million. Also in the top 10 was Los Altos Hills (3rd) and Palo Alto (4th). Portola Valley was 32nd and Menlo Park was 74th. Just for some perspective, Beverly Hills 90210 was 8th, Hillsborough was 11th, and Tiburon was 41st.

STOP JUNK MAIL ... Is your home recycling bin inundated with “mixed paper” from junk mail? By stopping the mail you don’t want, you can not only save yourself time but conserve natural resources. According to Zero Waste Palo Alto, each year, more than 100 million trees’ worth of bulk mail arrives in American mailboxes. When making donations, ordering items through the mail, or subscribing to a publication, include a note that instructs the organization not to lend, sell or trade your name to other mailing lists. For more information visit cityofpaloalto.org/junkmail, email zerowaste@cityofpaloalto.org, or call 650-496-5910. Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email elorenz@ paweekly.com. Deadline is one week before publication.