Palo Alto Weekly May 18, 2018 by Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto

Vol. XXXIX, Number 33

May 18, 2018

Alarmed by pension costs, city seeks to slash $4M Page 5

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IN SIDE

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Spectrum 19 Eating Out 27 Shop Talk 29 Movies 30

2018

Q Arts Record-player exhibit has patrons feeling groovy Q Home Off-market home sales create options Q Sports CCS baseball openers on deck for SHP, Palo Alto

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saturday may 19 9 am – 2 pm Health Matters is a free community event where you can hear from Stanford Medicine’s world-renowned physicians and health-care experts on the latest medical innovations and get tips on healthy living. Topics include: heart health, immunotherapy, stroke prevention, palliative care, chronic disease, and more. Join us Saturday, May 19, at the corner of Campus Drive and Roth Way on the Stanford University School of Medicine Campus. Register online today at healthmatters.stanford.edu.

H E A LT H TA L K S

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O U T D O O R H E A LT H PA V I L I O N

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MED SCHOOL MORNING

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 3

Paid for by Stanford Health Care

“The care that I got at Stanford is the reason I’m sitting here today.” –Cindi

A Stroke of Good Luck—Young Woman Survives Massive Stroke as a Result of Stanford Stroke Study On the night of April 23, 2017, Cindi, a 46-year-old graphic designer who lives in Salinas, California, went to bed around 10:30pm, anticipating a 5:00am wake-up from her husband, as she was scheduled for outpatient surgery at Stanford. She did arrive at Stanford the next morning—not as an outpatient, but as the victim of a massive ischemic stroke. “My husband woke me up at 5 o’clock as planned, and when I started to speak to him, I couldn’t talk. I knew what I was trying to say in my mind, but it had nothing to do with the sounds that were coming out of my mouth,” Cindi said. Her left side was also paralyzed. Her husband called 911. An ambulance rushed Cindi to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. But because she’d had the stroke while asleep, the “clock” determining whether she could be administered a clot-busting medication or undergo a clot-removing surgery had already started ticking. For stroke patients, the clock starts at the last time they are seen well, and for Cindi, that was 10:30 the previous night. It was already too late for either of these treatments, the attending physicians explained.

But an emergency room doctor told her husband about an ongoing study at Stanford, and coordinated her transfer. Within 30 to 45 minutes, a helicopter operated by Stanford Health Care was on the scene to whisk Cindi to Stanford Hospital. By the time Cindi’s husband and son arrived, she was already out of surgery. Seven days later she was discharged. Cindi was treated at Stanford as part of a 38-center clinical trial sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, and led by researchers at the Stanford

University School of Medicine. Brain-imaging software developed at Stanford identified that she could benefit from a surgical procedure called a thrombectomy to remove the clot in her brain, despite the number of hours that had elapsed since she suffered the stroke. The Stanford stroke study has shown that far more people than previously thought can benefit from an emergency procedure for acute ischemic stroke. “Nearly half of all patients treated between six and 16 hours after the onset of their symptoms were largely spared from the consequences of their stroke,” said the trial’s principal investigator, Gregory Albers, MD, the Coyote Foundation Endowed Professor of Neurology and Neurological Science and the director of the Stanford Stroke Center. The number of stroke patients who died or were confined to nursing homes was nearly cut in half, the biggest improvement seen in any stroke-related trial to date. Key to the study’s findings is a growing understanding that strokes spread through individual brain tissue at different rates, Albers said. It is not so much the amount of time elapsed since a stroke began as the amount of remaining at-risk, but salvageable brain tissue that determines who will benefit from stroke therapy, he said. At a follow-up appointment at Stanford Health Care, Cindi’s doctors showed her ‘before and after’ images of her brain. “Before the thrombectomy, it looked like half of my brain was gone. There was no blood supply whatsoever,” she said. “After, it looked like a tree of life. My brain lit up with veins and arteries. I wouldn’t have survived without the treatment.”

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Ischemic strokes account for about 85 percent of the roughly 750,000 strokes suffered annually in the United States. They occur when blood supply to part of the brain is cut off by a clot in a blood vessel in the brain. The resulting lack of oxygen and glucose quickly kills brain tissue in the immediate vicinity, and the affected area continues to expand until blood supply is restored. While Cindi immediately regained some use of her arms, hands and feet after her thrombectomy, her recovery did not happen overnight. After a week in the hospital, Cindi was moved to an inpatient rehab facility in Santa Clara. She arrived in a wheelchair, unable to do anything for herself. “It was a huge frustration,” said Cindi, who was determined to walk again. Four weeks later, she was able to go home. This time, on her own two feet. But her work was not done. She continued daily occupational, physical and speech therapy. “I have been working on my recovery every day since I had my stroke,” said Cindi. After more than a year of intensive rehabilitation, she has returned to work part time, and is talking, walking and driving as before. Her weekends are spent hiking in Big Sur with her husband, and she has started to swim and ride a bicycle again. “By the grace of God I was chosen for the Stanford study,” said Cindi. “I am literally standing on this Earth as a wife and a mother because of that procedure. It saved my life.”

US News & World Report recognizes Stanford Health Care in the top 10 best hospitals in the nation. Discover more patient stories at StanfordHealthNow.org

Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Alarmed by pension costs, city seeks to slash $4M Palo Alto council committee recommends outsourcing internal audits in proposed 2019 budget by Gennady Sheyner

espite a booming economy and stable revenue streams, Palo Alto is looking to cut $4 million from the city’s budget this year as part of its effort to prepare for snowballing pension liabilities. The direction came from the

City Council’s Finance Committee, which on Tuesday and Wednesday reviewed each department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2019, which begins July 1. The council is scheduled to approve the budget on June 18. City Manager James Keene

proposed a $704.5 million budget in April that eliminates 16 fulltime-equivalent positions, including 11 from the Fire Department. The slimmed down department would operate under a new service model, unveiled in January, that relies more on “cross-staffing,” in which a three-person crew staffs multiple vehicles. Keene’s proposed budget includes a $214 million General Fund (which pays for most city

services, not including utilities), an increase of 1.7 percent from the prior year. This week, however, the committee gave Keene a daunting assignment — by May 23, when the committee is scheduled to wrap up its 2019 budget discussion, identify $5 million in potential savings. The committee identified its own proposed cut early on Tuesday: the Office of the City Auditor, which would see five out of

its six positions eliminated. Under the recommendation, City Auditor Harriet Richardson would be only person left in the office; most of the performance audits would be outsourced to private companies, using 80 percent of the current auditors’ salaries. The restructuring would save approximately $108,000. The significant shift was (continued on page 16)

EDUCATION

Supporters, critics weigh in on superintendent pick Exploring Don Austin’s track record in Palos Verdes by Elena Kadvany

T Adam Pardee

Night lights Cars, buses and the Caltrain pass through downtown Palo Alto along and over the University Avenue underpass on May 16.

COMMUNITY

Palo Alto man languishes in a Nepal jail Wolf Price, promoter of women’s education, has been held six weeks without charges by Sue Dremann

Palo Alto man who has spent years helping Nepalese girls and women advance their education is locked in a jail in Nepal on what his mother called false accusations. Wolf Price, a Palo Alto High School graduate who started the Beyond the Four Walls Endowment Fund to change the status and fortunes of girls and women in the impoverished country, was arrested on April 4 and taken to jail without a translator, his mother, Mary Bartnikowski, said. He was arrested shortly after recording an altercation between a 15-year-old boy and the teen’s sister, Bartnikowski said, but the arrest may also be due to his posing with a controversial erotic

actress in what she later admitted was a sham marriage she had arranged to allegedly garner publicity. News reports in Nepal show Price posed in wedding garb with actress Archana Paneru. Price, 31, wrote a 2010 guest opinion in the Palo Alto Weekly about his decision to forego an expensive college education in exchange for a worldwide education by traveling the globe. Growing up in a family of professional photographers dating back to his great-grandfather, he started his own photography career at age 14. He began solo world travel at age 17, funding himself through photography exhibitions, he said in his opinion column. Nepal became his muse. For

12 years he has made numerous documentary films and taken photographs about life there. Price started funding education projects after he made a documentary film, “Within the Four Walls,” about the plight of women and girls in Nepal. He made the film, he said, after having a dream while on a 145-mile hike around the Annapurna mountain range in the country’s central region. “Three grandmother voices gave their blessing and guidance. Pushing me to create a social documentary for Nepalese women and girls. To archive native history before it disappears from human knowledge,” he wrote in (continued on page 15)

hose who have worked with Don Austin describe him as a confident, accessible and “tough” leader who has ample experience navigating a demanding community. Austin, currently the superintendent of the K-12 school district in Palos Verdes, California, has been named the Palo Alto school district’s next superintendent, pending approval of the Board of Education on May 22. Administrators in Palos Verdes say he is a hands-off mentor who leads by asking questions. He is credited with prompting a heightened focus on student mental health, leading difficult conversations on budget cuts and overseeing the creation of a $200 million districtwide facilities master plan. Austin’s critics, however, have blasted him in news articles for poor judgment and failed transparency in a range of public controversies, from a court decision that found the school board violated California’s open-meeting law the Brown Act to allegations, later determined to be unfounded, that dirt at a district-owned soccer field was contaminated. His relationship with the teachers’ union appears to be fractious, with negotiations stalling last year over a requested raise and teachers refusing to write college recommendation letters for high school seniors in response. (They ultimately agreed to a cumulative 3.75 percent raise.) Austin’s supporters say he has handled the flare-ups well and that he works to connect with others, including those who oppose him. “He’s willing to endure the slings and arrows to get the end

result,” said Keith Butler, Palos Verdes’ associate superintendent of business services. Some chalked up the opposition to resistance to an outsider trying to effect change. Before Austin, Palos Verdes had not hired a superintendent from outside the district for 20 years. “If you’re asking for change there’s always going to be segment of the community that hates you,” said parent Jeffrey Frankel, who serves on a district parcel-tax committee. “That, I really think, is Palos Verdes.” Members of Austin’s cabinet in Palos Verdes were most willing to speak about his record as a superintendent. However, key district players — including representatives of the Palos Verdes teachers union, the local PTA and education foundation, and all members of the school board — declined to comment or did not respond to requests for this story. The current board president and one longtime former member both declined to comment until after the Palo Alto school board votes on Austin’s contract. Multiple leaders of parent watchdog groups only repeatedly stated that they “wish him well.”

Combating ‘disinformation’

ustin’s tenure in Palos Verdes began amidst controversy. When he was hired, a grassroots parent campaign — the first of several he would encounter — was rallying against the new Common Core (continued on page 11)

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Upfront

BING CHILDREN’S FAIR SUNDAY • MAY 20 • 11 am–3 pm

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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. ©2018 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

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To me it sounds more like torture than a public benefit. —Judith Schwartz, First Baptist Church neighbor, on activities held in rented rooms at the church. See story on page 8.

Around Town

SWINGING INTO ACTION ... When local golfers roll into Baylands Golf Links next week for their first tee-offs, they’ll be greeted with jaw-dropping views and eye-popping rates. A review of opening day rates for a two- to four-player game in the late morning lists a $111 charge for the public, $103 for Bay Area residents and $91 for Palo Altans (all rates are per person and the online rates include a $16 golf cart fee). The same time, frame also charges $80 for those with a Links Card (the course’s membership program) and $98 under the OB Travel Rate, both of which won’t be available on May 26, when the course opens officially opens public. The links-style course will rely on a “dynamic pricing” model, with rates decreasing as the day progresses. Even so, the new rates could make some patrons yearn for the lower weekend rates offered at the former Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course, which charged a $39 daily fee, $30 for games at twilight and $35 for the “early bird” package that came with nine holes, a cart and breakfast. The city will start displaying the new course to the public with a series of walking tours on May 21 and May 22 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (no RSVPs are needed). The City Council will then celebrate the opening of course with a May 24 ribbon-cutting ceremony, which will feature the council’s golfer-in-chief Karen Holman taking a swing. Finally, the public will get its chance to get in on the fun when the course officially opens for action on May 26. The city plans to mark the course’s first day with a “grand opening” celebration from 2-6 p.m.

EAT RIGHT, BE BRIGHT! ... Adults can underestimate the power their words have on their teenagers, who heed their parents’ eating decisions more than it may appear. A Stanford University study released on May 14, took a survey of 1,246 students from a diverse Bay Area high school. The participants offered insight into their dietary beliefs and their parents’ attitudes and practices toward food. But the real test came at the very end, when the researchers told

the high schoolers that they were automatically entered into a raffle for two snacks of their choice out of a total 10 offered (five of which were healthy and the other five not so much). From there, some students were told they needed their parents’ permission before redeeming the snacks and others didn’t need parental consent. Students who reported healthier food rules at home were likely to choose a healthy snack, regardless of their instructions to obtain parental permission or collect their reward independently. WE GOT TROUBLE ... It’s been more than 50 years since charismatic con-man Harold Hill warned the good people of River City — and the world at large — about the Trouble (with a capital “T”!) associated with pool, a game that allegedly turns innocent youths into nicotine-stained libertines. Social mores may have changed since the wholesome days of “Music Man,” but Palo Alto council members were shocked to learn this week that the city’s Police Department still charges fees for billiard parlors. In reviewing the Municipal Fee Schedule on May 16, members of the council’s Finance Committee wondered whether this annual fee (which is slated to go up from $935 to $960) is necessary at all. They also raised questions about fees that the city charges for bingo establishments, bowling alleys and taxicab inspections. While the committee ultimately approved all the fees by a 3-1 vote, with Greg Tanaka dissenting, members directed staff to come back at a later date with a clear explanation for why these fees are still needed. Committee Chair Greg Scharff argued against many of the fees, including ones governing billiard and bingo establishments. Committee members were also surprised to learn about the “gathering permit” that the city requires for assemblies of more than 25 people at local parks. Scharff noted that many council candidates hold campaign events at local parks and they don’t take out these permits. “If any of you do your kickoffs in the park, I’m going to be watch-dogging you!” Scharff told his committee colleagues. Q

Upfront JUNE ELECTION

Several sheriff candidates pledge ‘change of culture’ Five contenders share views on ICE, jail reform and modernizing the department by Sue Dremann

Jose Salcido Public-safety adviser to San Jose City Councilman Johnny Khamis; former Santa Clara County deputy sheriff; former San Jose Police D e p a r t m e n t Jose Salcido public-safety adviser; former president of the Deputy Sheriffs’ Association. Top priorities: Salcido would focus on changing the department’s culture. He would work to educate his deputies to be neutral peace officers rather than to have preconceived notions about people. He wants his deputies become aware of social injustice so they will better relate to the people with whom they interact. “The Black Lives Matter movement is real,” he said. He also believes deputies need more training to effectively assess and handle persons in mental health crises and believes treatment should be provided for addicted persons and those with mental illnesses. Crime prevention would be a third priority. Modernization: Salcido said he would buy more technology for the Sheriff’s Office, including more laptops, computer programs for processing reports and license plate readers. He would improve the department’s diversity, especially increasing the number of high-ranking female deputies. He would institute a merit-based promotion system that values how much deputies have helped change the department’s culture. Salcido would also increase communication with his staff, giving every employee at least 10 minutes a year of his time to air their concerns and to discuss what is working, he said. The jails: Salcido would focus on providing treatment to inmates in the jails so that they can overcome or make progress in handling their problems. “I believe in therapeutic communities; putting people with similar challenges together,” he said. Inmates would receive treatment and support each other. “The average stay for an inmate in the jail is 180 days. That is enough time,” he said. Salcido would reduce gang violence by focusing on the heads of gangs within the jails. By offering

Martin Monica Fifth-grade teacher; retired San Jose Police Department sergeant; former police chief in Parlier, a city near Fresno Top priorities: Monica Martin Monica would prioritize changing the culture in the Sheriff’s Office with respect to dealing with young men of color, many of whom feel bullied by police, he said. He would do so through an emphasis on community policing, which includes educating officers about the community they serve. Improving mental health services and staff practices inside and outside the jail are also top priorities for Monica. He said he would collaborate with outside mental health agencies to bring in services for mentally ill suspects and to train and advise the department. Streamlining the department budget to eliminate waste and overlapping programs and training is also a high concern for Monica. He criticized Smith for spending “millions of dollars for a (Sheriff’s) police academy,” noting that that young cadets would be better served by mingling with others from agencies at a joint police academy. Modernization: Monica would equip all deputy sheriffs and corrections officers with body cameras — ones they could not turn off at will. He is a strong proponent of using social media to reach out to the public and of encouraging deputies to expand their education. Training classes that officers take are not enough, he said: “With college classes,

you have to take exams and pass them.” He wants to see officers develop problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, which he said would help reduce unnecessary officer-involved shootings and excessive force. Monica believes inter-agency collaboration would improve the performance of the department, which is currently isolated from other law enforcement agencies. He would open up communication and use relationships with other law-enforcement agencies and with private industry to help devise tools and strategies that would solve crimes and work to reduce gang violence. Immigration detainers: He is sharply critical of the Sheriff’s Office letting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents into the jails. He would follow county policy regarding not allowing ICE into the jails and state law regarding violent criminals who can be deported. Transparency: His push for greater transparency would include adding body-worn cameras on officers and expanding video coverage in the jails. He believes that the public has a right to know what happened in officer-involved deaths and questionable incidents. He would follow the County Counsel’s recommendations regarding release of most footage. Stanford: Monica would no longer deputize Stanford to conduct its public safety but would instead have the university contract directly with the Sheriff’s Department. “Schools are political,” he noted, because universities and colleges don’t want to have a reputation for having high crime rates. It is therefore difficult to get an accurate accounting of reported crimes. “It might be better to do away with that whole setup,” he said. Website: martinmonica.com

Joe La Jeunesse Santa Clara County deputy sheriff; former military police officer Top priorities: La Jeunesse has a laundry list of top priorities: Joe La using technolJeunesse ogy to make communities and schools safer; jail reform through improved oversight of the department and the jails; mental health training; training to de-escalate situations; collaborative policing and cultural sensitivity training; and creating a more positive image with the public. He would want his deputies to learn about the diverse communities where they work and develop more respect for the people they serve. “We have to go back and win the hearts and minds of the public,” he said. He would want his deputies trained on handling mentally ill suspects such that their skills

Courtesy Joe La Jeunesse

Veronica Weber

Santa Clara County sheriff Top priorities: Continuing jail reform and implementing the Blue Ribbon Commission’s recommendations; working Laurie Smith to reduce property crimes and auto burglaries; and improving residents’ quality of life. The jails: Smith pointed to recent initiatives such as building an area to house mentally ill inmates and the addition of barriers to keep inmates at the Elmwood Correctional Facility from dying by suicide. Eleven specialized teams in the jails now work to

“It’s a situation that I don’t think should exist the way it is,” she said. Website: sherifflauriesmith.com

Courtesy Martin Monica

Laurie Smith

help inmates with their mental, substance and medical needs. She wants there to be additional beds for treatment. There are 100 people in jail awaiting treatment beds, she said. Mentally ill inmates who are in solitary confinement or single cells see their mental health issues get worse, she said. “There needs to be a bigger systemic fix. It’s not working,” she said. Immigration detainers: Smith has followed state and county law regarding ICE access to inmates, she said. Regarding the incident where deputies let ICE agents into the jail, “in a 10-day period of time ICE tried 14 to 15 times to get in,” she said. “Our deputies made a mistake.” Transparency: Smith said she is conflicted on whether to release video of incidents and the balance of public interest with the integrity of the investigation. Former San Jose Police Auditor LaDoris Cordell, who chaired the Blue Ribbon Commission on jail reform, criticized Smith in an email, saying the sheriff was not forthright during the commission’s fact-finding process. “Smith was obstreperous and either delayed or simply refused to give information to the Commission that we requested. In one instance, she did a ‘data dump’ on the Commission by distributing five-inch thick binders to each of us at the start of one of our meetings,” which didn’t give members time to read the information, Cordell said. “The Blue Ribbon Commission’s top and unanimous recommendation was that there be civilian oversight of the jail operation. Laurie Smith ... has vigorously opposed transparency and civilian oversight and only recently showed grudging support for both,” she said. Stanford public safety: Stanford University’s deputy sheriffs have been deputized under a memorandum of understanding with the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office. The university’s Department of Public Safety deputies have control of all initial and follow-up campus crime investigations except for cases of death, attempted homicide, kidnapping or hostage taking. The university pays for its own police chief, the deputies and a captain. The lattermost position is supplied by the Sheriff. Smith said she has questions about the arrangement. She is not always satisfied with the accuracy and transparency of reporting from Stanford’s department, particularly about sexual assaults.

Courtesy Jose Salcido

he race for Santa Clara County sheriff is in full swing, with five candidates continuing to square off in forums throughout the county. Incumbent Sheriff Laurie Smith is hoping to retain her job, which she’s held since 1998. The four challengers are former Undersheriff John Hirokawa; longtime former Deputy Sheriff Jose Salcido; former military policeman and current Deputy Joe La Jeunesse; and retired San Jose police officer and former Parlier, California, Chief of Police Martin Monica. The candidates met with the Weekly recently to discuss how they would run the 2,025-person department, including 1,453 sworn officers, if elected. Last week, we reviewed their backgrounds and qualifications. This week, we are publishing their views on everything from working with ICE (U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement) to regulation of the jail system to transparency among department leaders. The Sheriff’s Office has been plagued by trouble in recent years, including the 2015 murder of a county jail inmate by three deputies, who were later convicted; the 2017 murder of an inmate at the hands of another; the suicides of several inmates; the escapes of two in November 2016 after they sawed the bars off a cell; and the November escape by two inmates from the Palo Alto courthouse. The 2015 murder prompted a Blue Ribbon Commission to study and outline recommendations for reform of the jail. If no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the votes in the June 5 election, a runoff between the top two vote-getters will take place Nov. 6.

supportive services and education, he thinks those persons can be turned around. Inmates who look up to them would follow their example, he said. He would also focus on things that can reduce recidivism. Salcido would find out which inmates were transients so they can receive services and not return to the streets. He would also develop teams to create emotional support and services for families of the incarcerated so there will be better support when inmates get out. Transparency: When it comes to public access to police videos, Salcido sees his role as following the law and not making it. County Counsel should decide on the release of videos to the public, he said, though he is receptive to the disclosure of some videos in cases of the greater public concern. He would follow state law under the Peace Officers’ Bill of Rights to protect and not taint investigations. Stanford public safety: Salcido would review the efficacy of Stanford’s department. One concern he has is whether the university pushes to resolve some crimes through its Title IX adjudication process rather than encouraging students to file police reports. Website:salcidoforsheriff.com

(continued on page 10)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 7

Upfront NEIGHBORHOODS

First Baptist Church wins council’s blessing City Council grants church permit to operate as a ‘community center’

eeking to end the bitter feud between an Old Palo Alto church and its neighbors, Palo Alto officials agreed on Monday to grant First Baptist Church a permit to operate as a community center. By a 7-2 vote, with Councilwoman Karen Holman and Councilwoman Lydia Kou dissenting, the City Council gave its blessing to a conditional use permit that will allow First Baptist to legally rent its space to secular tenants and to retain its current tenants, including a therapist and iSing, a singing school for girls. And in a nod to neighborhood complaints, the city also included in the permit limits on the hours of operation and the occupancy maximum at the church, along with a provision that would nullify the permit if the property ceases to be a church. The council’s vote brings a measure of resolution to a conflict that had been simmering for several years. With congregation numbers dipping, First Baptist has

been renting out rooms to nonprofits, dance groups and therapists and using the rent revenues to maintain its building at 305 N. California Ave. After neighbors complained about excessive noise, increased traffic and insufficient parking, the city began issuing code violation notices. Last year, code-enforcement officers required several tenants, including the New Mozart School of Music, to move its operations out of First Baptist. Others, including iSing, remained in planning purgatory until late Monday night, when after four hours of debate the council finally approved the permit that effectively legalizes the church rental operation. More than 100 people attended the emotional hearing, with about 50 directly addressing the council and dozens more sending emails. iSing singers wore pink shirts and carried pink signs with the words “CUP for FBC.” Their parents, joined by First Baptist parishioners and supporters of the church, encouraged the council to give the

church the latitude it needs. Some talked about the challenge of finding community space in Palo Alto, while others praised iSing and lauded First Baptist Church as a benign and responsible force in the community. The Rev. Rick Mixon, pastor at First Baptist, told the council that the church has no desire to become a “mega community center” or to have a “larger commercial enterprise” operate on its site. “We simply want to make it possible for a few worthwhile organizations and activities that provide for the welfare of the city to share our space,” Mixon said. Neighbors of the church also turned out in droves to describe the various hazards and inconveniences they’ve had to endure as a result of the increased commercialization. Some accused First Baptist of being little more than a commercial landlord, masquerading as a church. Many of them asked the council Monday to uphold the sanctity of zoning by prohibiting disruptive tenants

Veronica Weber

by Gennady Sheyner

The First Baptist Church, at 305 N. California Ave. in Palo Alto, received permission from the City Council on May 14 to operate as a community center, over the objections of some neighbors. The church had been renting space to tenants, including therapists and community choirs, in violation of city code that restricted the building’s usage. from setting up operations in a single-family neighborhood. Judith Schwartz, who lives several buildings away from the church, said she was amazed by how loud the church activity has gotten. Forcing neighbors to listen to multiple groups, hour after hour, effectively deprives them of the “peaceful sanctuary” of their own homes, she said. “To me it sounds more like torture than a public benefit,” Schwartz said. In trying to thread the needle between the two camps, the council hewed fairly closely to the recommendation from planning

staff, which drafted a list of conditions that the church would have to follow, rather than the suggestions of the city’s Planning and Transportation Commission. Spurred by Councilman Greg Scharff, the council settled on an occupancy maximum of 70 people, up from the planning staff’s 50 but down from the commission’s 120. The permit will also allow the church to seat up to 280 people for six special events per year. The council also agreed to set the hours of operations to 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and raised the number (continued on page 12)

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Upfront

Sheriff (continued from page 7)

Page 10 • May 18, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Who’s to say they won’t round up whole families?” he said. La Jeunesse would make publicly available the release dates of all felons, regardless of immigration status, so that victims and the public would be notified. He would also work to reduce fear in the immigrant community and dispel fear that law enforcement will arrest and deport innocent people. “We have to get to the immigrant community and make them feel safe,” he said. Website: votejoeforsheriff.com

John Hirokawa Former Santa Clara County undersheriff Top priorities: Hirokawa would collaborate with community groups to bring about cultural changes on the streets John Hirokawa

Veronica Weber

become “muscle memory.” He would also have a psychologist on call to aid deputies who are facing people in crisis. Modernization: He wants to boost use of technology tools in the sheriff’s office, including computer programs to improve workflow. Many things are still written by hand, he said. Concerned about school shootings, La Jeunesse would focus on making neighborhoods and schools safer by using technology such as the ShotSpotter system that detects gunfire. He would also work with tech companies to develop an algorithm and other tools to detect threats by kids on social media that could lead to a school shooting. The jails: La Jeunesse would work to change the culture in the jails to make them safer for prisoners and staff. Offering better care to inmates and helping them

lead better lives would make the streets safer for everyone. He would institute programs and policies for protecting inmates from each other, from abuse by officers and from suicide. He would house mentally ill inmates in a separate wing and would bring in more doctors and services for them, he said. Immigration detainers: For a year, La Jeunesse commanded military troops from El Centro, California to Yuma, Arizona at the U.S. border with Mexico and saw the impacts of illegal drug smuggling and gangs. He describes himself as “anti-sanctuary but not anti-immigrant.” It’s the purview of the federal government, not the state, to protect the borders, he said. He would follow the law and not let ICE agents into the jails but also follow state law and release violent felons for deportation. “My concern is when you let them out and ICE doesn’t know, (ICE) start(s) doing sweeps.

and in the jails. He would implement jail reforms and department promises made in 2014, a key strategy of which would be providing treatment for mentally ill inmates, he said. About 30 percent of inmates are mentally ill and about 75-80 percent have an alcohol or drug addiction. Hirokawa would also be upfront and admit mistakes rather than hiding them, he said. Modernization: Hirokawa pledges to change the organization through effective leadership, training and hiring. He would look for managers who “develop people, accept responsibility and are accountable each step of the way,” he said. He also favors training staff “to treat the public and those in our custody with humanity, compassion, understanding and kindness.” He would also review the quality of training in areas of cultural awareness, crisis intervention teams for the mentally ill, familiarity with countywide protocols

and alternatives to incarceration for juveniles and those with mental health and substance abuse issues. He would ensure better oversight over and documentation of staffing. “Prior to my retirement I oversaw the purchase of a new Early Warning System to identify deputies who are at high risk of negative interactions with the public. I wanted to examine how certain misconduct investigations were being handled,” he said. The jails: In response to The Blue Ribbon Commission’s 175 jail-reform recommendations, Hirokawa’s top priorities would be “leadership/cultural changes in the jail environment; mental health care from booking to housing to release. Independent oversight, creating an ombudsman program and fixing the grievance practices,” among other things, he said in an email to the Weekly. “I am hearing that there is a long wait time for the seriously mentally ill inmates to get their initial medication,” he wrote. “I would assign a dedicated health care liaison to the Custody Health Services division to ensure that the mentally ill inmates are getting the appropriate treatment and medication.” He would also introduce telemedicine to the booking area and jail facilities, an idea he proposed as undersheriff. He would also incorporate dialysis and other medical treatment areas in the new jail. Both of these initiatives would significantly reduce transportation and hospital costs, he said. As sheriff, he said, he would personally attend the San Jose Mayor Gang Task Force, a model for reducing gang violence in the county. “I would have the Jail Intelligence and Gang Units collaborate more with outside agencies ... sharing and coordinating the information flow that can help reduce gang activity,” he said. He would also continue to advocate for alternatives to incarceration to reduce the jail population and collaborate with the school districts and Juvenile Hall to stop the “school-to-jail pipeline.” Immigration detainers: Hirokawa helped draft and implement the current County Civil Detainer Policy in 2011, which does not honor civil detainers nor agree to turn inmates over to ICE when presented with a detainer. He said he would not give ICE access to the inmates unless ICE or other federal authorities have lawful court orders, criminal warrants or subpoenas. Transparency: Hirokawa said his department would work cooperatively with any oversight group. Regarding video releases, he said he would create a unit to make videos more accessible. Website: johnhirokawa.com Q A longer version of this article is posted on PaloAltoOnline.com. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

Upfront Attorney Jeff Lewis, who represented the group of about 50 parents who filed the lawsuit, said that the school board took an “adversarial approach” to the case, opting against an opportunity to settle the case early without admitting fault. Austin said the district was advised against pursuing this option, through which a demand to “cure and correct” gives an agency 30 days to address alleged Brown Act violations.

Austin State Standards. Parents were concerned the standards would lower the quality of teaching in the highperforming district. Austin said he underestimated the “passion” of this group, which he described as a vocal minority, and struggled to find common ground with them. Communication about the new standards before his hiring, particularly about changes to mathematics instruction, had been spotty and fueled the opposition, he said. “Initially it was very frustrating because of my nature — I want to work with and talk through issues with people. I wasn’t successful with some of the people” who opposed Common Core, he said. “They would report something that was knowingly false, easily proven false. I would give them the documents and show what the reality was and they would discard them and continue with the false narrative.” As an example, he said the opposition group continued to make inaccurate statements about the salary of the district administrator overseeing the implementation of Common Core after receiving her pay stub. Bill Lama, a former parent who led the anti-Common Core effort in Palos Verdes, denied this and said his group was focused solely on protesting the standards and the money being spent to implement them. Combating the spread of inaccurate information has been a theme of Austin’s time in Palos Verdes. In 2015, he devoted his superintendent’s report at a school board meeting to a Powerpoint presentation on “misinformation versus disinformation,” correcting what he said were errors in a paid advertisement opposing a district parcel tax. “When misinformation or disinformation gets out to the community and is not checked, it’s reckless and it does do damage,” he said in 2015. He blamed social media for inflaming and expediting the spread of inaccurate information. Similarly, in 2016, the community was in an uproar over allegations that a pile of dirt delivered to a district field, leased to the local American Youth Soccer Organization (AYSO) chapter, was contaminated and posed serious health risks. Despite tests that confirmed the soil was safe, concern persisted in the community. Austin said it turned into a monthslong “feeding frenzy.” “There was a general desire for some people for the district to be at fault or AYSO to be at fault or to find a villain and it was hard for them to accept there wasn’t one,” he said. Several administrators alluded to this dynamic in Palos Verdes. Austin’s reputation there is “mixed,” said Palos Verdes Peninsula High School Principal Brett Kuykendall.

Courtesy Don Austin

(continued from page 5)

A mentor for others Don Austin

“I think for the most part people respect him as a leader and appreciate what he’s done,” Kuykendall said. “(There’s) a small population that is very vocal about the decisions he’s made. ...It’s just hard to say when is it reality and when is it hysteria?”

Violations of the Brown Act

n 2016, more than 50 parents joined to file a lawsuit against the Palos Verdes school board for violating the Brown Act. They alleged four separate violations related to the board’s handling of a controversial solar panel contract, which the board cancelled in the face of community opposition. In a closed-session meeting, the board accepted a waiver letter with the solar company, signed by Austin, but did not announce the action when they returned to open session. A court later ruled that the failure to publicly report the closed-session decision violated the Brown Act. The board also violated the law by not properly agendizing the closed-session contract discussion, the court found. The court decision states that Austin took responsibility for the decision to waive the contract but not for the Brown Act violation. He stated that the board accepted but did not formally vote on the waiver, which the court said amounted to trying to “avoid the implications of the Brown Act.” “Even if Austin is to be believed on this point, that is no answer,” the court said. Austin told the Weekly that the lawsuit was a “distraction.” In a statement to the press at the time, he called the allegations false and “frivolous.” Two community members behind the lawsuit, including a former school board member, declined to comment for this story. Austin said he and board members “leaned heavily” on the advice of district attorneys in their handling of the solar-panel contract. They were advised that it was not necessary to publicly announce the closed-session acceptance of the waiver, he said. He declined to elaborate on the legal advice they received. Though the district vowed to appeal the court decision, the board later settled, agreeing to pay about $21,000 in attorney fees without admitting any fault, liability or wrongdoing.

dministrators in Palos Verdes speak well of Austin, particularly of his focus on mentorship. In interviews, they described him as a collaborative coach rather than a top-down manager. “He’s been very active in leadership development and working with principals — and when I say working with principals, (I mean) offering guidance but not overcontrol,” Kuykendall, the high school principal, said. Kuykendall and others described Austin’s management style as “not always giving an answer but a lot of times asking more questions.” Deputy Superintendent Trent Bahadursingh, who has worked in Palos Verdes for 14 years, said Austin has impressed upon his administration this practice. Bahadursingh said he often hears Austin say, “’Let’s dig deeper on things. Let’s not just do a head nod.’” Administrators described Austin as a visible superintendent, frequently visiting campuses, talking to students, attending football games, school musicals and other events. (This is despite the fact that for four years he has commuted about an hour each way between Palos Verdes and Huntington Beach so his youngest daughter could finish high school.) He also encourages his cabinet to be present at schools, administrators said, to strengthen the relationship between the oftendisconnected central office and school sites. Student mental health has been a priority during Austin’s tenure, staff said. The high schools now have wellness centers, on-site therapists, yoga and mindfulness classes. The district also partnered with Challenge Success, a Stanford University research group devoted to alleviating academic pressure and stress through school reform. At the district level, Austin did not shy away from difficult public conversations about budget cuts, Butler said. The district is facing a shortfall this and next year after several years of deficit spending, which Austin attributed to dipping into reserves to pay for teacher and staff raises. The board recently approved $1 million in cuts from the district’s $120 million budget. Unlike Palo Alto, Palos Verdes is not a Basic Aid district and relies primarily on state rather than local funding for revenue.

Austin also prompted a review of all district facilities for the master plan, on which movement had stalled before his arrival, he said.

Austin’s proposed contract

nder Austin’s proposed three-year contract with Palo Alto Unified, he will receive a starting salary of $300,000 and pay a monthly rent of $1,800 to live in a district-owned property in Palo Alto. If he decides to move out during the first year of his contract, his annual salary will increase to $325,000. Austin’s base salary is similar to that of his predecessor, Max McGee, who started at $295,000. The board “reserves the right” to change his salary at any time, the draft contract states. Austin will also receive health, dental, vision and other benefits “in the same manner and subject to the same limitations as other certificated senior cabinet-level employees,” the contract states. Austin will not receive the up to $6,000 to pay for a life insurance policy, which McGee did. He will be reimbursed for workrelated expenses, including transportation in his own vehicle, but he will not receive the $750 monthly (equivalent to $9,000 annually) car allowance that McGee did. Also absent from Austin’s contract is a provision in his predecessor’s contract that stated board members must express any “concerns, criticisms and dissatisfaction with the superintendent’s performance” only in closed session meetings or through the evaluation process “to avoid damage to the Board’s and the Superintendent’s image and credibility, and as not to lessen each other’s ability to perform effectively.” Austin’s current contract in Palos Verdes was set to expire in 2020. He currently earns $308,752 a year in Palos Verdes, including a $900 monthly car allowance and additional $1,000 for his doctorate degree. He was set to receive a raise this July, contingent on a

satisfactory evaluation, that would be no less than 2 percent but no more than other certificated managers received, his contract states. The school district has not released Austin’s application materials, despite requests by the Weekly, stating that the search firm hired by the district to conduct the superintendent search “owns” the documents. If the Palo Alto school board approves his contract, Austin is set to start his new position on July 1. In many ways, Austin will be tasked with settling the dust in Palo Alto. Recent years have been marked by community upheaval over the district’s handling of student sexual violence and financial mismanagement. Austin’s predecessor resigned midyear after two sitting board members publicly called for his removal. Divisive debate has erupted over issues including renaming schools, reporting students’ weighted grade point averages and sex education. Internally, high turnover has led to new faces throughout the district office and at school sites, with more vacancies coming at the end of this school year. Some staff members, particularly from Palo Alto High School, have described publicly a sense of demoralization and broken trust among their ranks. Major initiatives are also on the horizon, including reforming special education, taking action to close the achievement gap and expanding social-emotional curriculum districtwide. Austin believes he has the skill set to meet Palo Alto’s current challenges. “That’s something I really take a lot of joy in — helping people find ways to work together and really function as a unit,” he said. “I’ve already started reaching out to people up there and everyone I’ve spoken to has been optimistic, enthusiastic and willing to give it a shot together,” he added. “That’s all I want at this point.” 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 consider appeals to the planning director’s decision to approve 11 wireless communication facility permits, allowing small-cell wireless communication antennas on utility poles. The council also plans to consider contracts totaling about $9 million for the Charleston-Arastradero Corridor Project. The meeting will begin at 5 p.m. on Monday, May 21, at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. COUNCIL RAIL COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss the status of Measure B funding for grade separation; discuss the Caltrain business plan; and review the Rail Corridor Circulation Study White Paper. The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, May 22, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to hold a “wrap-up session” to finalize its review of the Fiscal Year 2019 budget. The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 23, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to review the proposed 2019-2023 Capital Improvement Plan for compatibility with the city’s Comprehensive Plan. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Wednesday, May 23, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 11

Upfront nasty, that is not acceptable,” Kou said, calling the director’s behavior “very appalling.” Other council members voiced displeasure at the social-media antics of Gregory Stevens, an associate pastor at First Baptist since 2015. In a series of tweets, which were drafted in late March, Stevens targets the police, makes fun of seniors in the congregation and takes shots at Palo Alto, which he calls “disgusting” and “elitist” (the page associated with the Twitter account has since been taken down). Stevens also made a series of vulgar, scatological allusions and, at one point, wrote, “In the nicest

Church (continued from page 8)

of individual therapists that the church can rent space to from three to five, as suggested by Holman. The discussion underscored the growing tensions between the church’s tenants and neighbors. Kou said that she had recently attended an iSing performance at the church. At the performance, iSing’s artistic director accused neighbors of being hateful toward the nonprofit, Kou said. “When somebody says the neighbors are full of hate and are

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way possible: I hate Palo Alto.” For some council members, the tweets had little to do with the application and, as such, could be easily ignored. But Vice Mayor Eric Filseth called them “disturbing” and said he wouldn’t let his children attend any services at a church where a staff member publicly expresses such views. Holman also found them alarming and asked Mixon to explain what the church plans to do about them. The messages, she said, are “nothing I would expect to come out of a minister’s mouth or a minister’s fingertips.” “These are quite frankly vile comments, using expletives and defaming of people, including our Police Department,” Holman said. Mixon said he had just learned of the tweets on Monday morning and said “they clearly have to be dealt with.” Mixon said that the tweets will likely play a role in the church’s decision about Stevens’ future. After an extensive debate and a long sequence of amendments, the council voted to approve the permit and agreed to revisit it in five years. Scharff said he hopes the new permit will “cut down on the noise and the annoyance.” “Hopefully, it’s a compromise that works — that makes life better and gets rid of all of these issues,” Scharff said. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Get Back To Your Life.

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.

Synchronized green lights coming A strategy to get traffic moving on University Avenue and off Crescent Park residential streets in Palo Alto could include traffic-light upgrades along the Dumbarton Bridge corridor and green-light synchronization, according to Palo Alto Chief Transportation Official Joshuah Mello, who laid out potential traffic-mitigation strategies on Tuesday night during a community meeting for Crescent Park residents at the Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium. (Posted May 17, 8:50 a.m.)

Foothill instructor resigns from council seat Santa Clara City Councilman and candidate for the county District 4 supervisor seat Dominic Caserta has resigned from his position and withdrawn his bid for supervisor amid sexual harassment allegations. Foothill College is investigating student allegations against the part-time political science instructor. (Posted May 17, 9:11 a.m.)

Fan attacked in 2011 addresses bullying Bryan Stow, 49, a San Francisco Giants fan and former paramedic who was attacked outside Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles following a game in 2011, spoke for more than an hour to a crowd with developmental disabilities during an anti-bullying presentation in Palo Alto on Tuesday. (Posted May 16, 9:09 a.m.)

AltSchool finds partners to save school A group of parents whose children attend the soon-to-close AltSchool in Palo Alto are merging with private bilingual school ETU School to maintain what they describe as a much-needed alternative education option in the area. (Posted May 15, 8:39 a.m.)

Affordable housing fees could raise $156M Santa Clara County could collect at least $156 million in affordable housing dollars from Stanford University in the coming years if the university opts to build out all the new space it plans for, based on a fee supervisors voiced support for on May 8. (Posted May 15, 2:57 p.m.)

Council approves police body-worn cameras Seeking to boost transparency in police operations, Palo Alto has approved the purchase of 50 body-worn cameras for its Police Department. The City Council voted on May 7 to approve an expenditure of $110,000 for the 50 cameras. (Posted May 14, 3:54 p.m.)

Police investigate East Palo Alto shooting East Palo Alto police were looking for information related to a reported shooting on the night of Saturday, May 13 at an apartment complex in the 400 block of East O’Keefe Street shortly before 9 p.m. on Saturday, May 13 that left a 28-year-old San Jose man in critical condition. (Posted May 13, 8:34 a.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.

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1. PUBLIC HEARING: Review and Recommendation to City Council on Proposed 2019-2023 Capital Improvement Plan for Conformance With the City’s Comprehensive Plan. For More Information, Contact Chitra Moitra at Chitra.Moitra@ cityofpaloalto.org. The Planning and Transportation Commission is live streamed online at http://midpenmedia.org/category/government/cityof-palo-alto and available via cablecast on government access channel 26. The complete agenda with accompanying reports is available online at http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/boards/ptc/ default.asp. For Additional Information Contact Yolanda Cervantes at Yolanda.Cervantes@cityofpaloalto.org or at 650.329.2404.

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Price (continued from page 5)

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the introduction to the film, which he began in 2010. The film kicked off the endowment fund, which educates girls and women who otherwise would lead lives of indentured servitude, consigned to isolation, multiple pregnancies and heavy labor. One-year grants are given to promising girls so they can take English and computer courses; two-year college scholarships are also provided. Price has built homes, started businesses for the Nepalese people and saved the lives of people and their animals by paying their medical expenses. In 2015, after the devastating 7.8 magnitude earthquake that killed nearly 9,000 people in the region and displaced thousands, the endowment funded and helped the women build a shelter. Prior to his arrest, Price had been bringing children out of the jungle to take part in intercultural projects. One of the girls, the sister of his accuser, was involved in many of the projects. Her brother, who had only recently arrived, was troubled and had been arrested after trying to steal money, Bartnikowski said. “Wolf got him out of jail. I guess no good deed goes unpunished,” she said. The teen then started a physical altercation with his sister. Bartnikowski said at one point he allegedly pounded his head on the ground to make it look as though Price had hurt him — a story he told to police. Bartnikowski has seen the video her son took, which shows that he was trying to diffuse the situation. He wanted to bring in police and a translator to try to solve the problem, she said. Price has been held in the nation’s capital, Kathmandu, without being charged for any crime. He was able to text his mother that he was in jail before his phone was confiscated, she said. A friend of

Bartnikowski who happened to be in Kathmandu has stayed in Nepal to bring Price food, books and other items. She keeps him in touch with his Nepalese attorney and contacts his mother with updates on her son. Bartnikowski, a professional photographer who has traveled to Nepal five times, has seen the impact of her son’s work. “Everyone tells me the same thing: He has such a pure heart. He just wants to help people in this very difficult country. I raised him to be a feminist, and I feel there’s been a backlash for that,” she said. The U.S. Embassy was surprisingly unhelpful, she said. U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s office made contact on her behalf with embassy officials, who said they had allocated Price a lawyer. But Bartnikowski said no lawyer had materialized, so she found one on her own. Price also only received one visit from an embassy representative, she said. “They weren’t really monitoring the situation,” she added. Embassy officials in Nepal did not respond to a request for comment. Ashley Garrigus, spokeswoman for the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs, said that consulates and the U.S. State Department are limited in what they can do. She could not comment on Price’s case without his written permission nor verify if the consulate has received any communications regarding the case. The embassy can provide a list of local attorneys who speak English, can contact family or friends of a detainee, visit the detained citizen and ensure that the incarcerated person receives appropriate medical care. “We can’t negotiate to get people out of jail. There is a judicial process,” within the country, she said. Only in very exceptional circumstances, such as when the three Americans in North Korea were not detained on legitimate charges, will the agency intervene, she added. It’s not unusual in many

countries for people to be held for long periods of time without charges, she said, unlike in the United States. Through his mother, Price released a statement on May 10, which is posted on the GoFundMe webpage she created to raise money for his release. Donations help pay for his legal fees, food and a four-day emergency hospital stay after he became ill due to the jail conditions. Price sleeps on the floor with only a blanket, lying alongside 100 other inmates, he said in his statement. “The shower room is a moldy room with three drums of water. You go there to get water for flushing the toilet or to wash a plate without soap, or a shower, wash hands etc.,” he wrote. There is no ventilation, and he can never go outside. He can wash his clothes but he cannot dry them. “It’s only been five weeks, but I forget the feeling of being free. I try to remind myself to appreciate that at least I am alive. I’m not being tortured.” On Wednesday, May 16, his mother posted another letter from Price. “I’m desperate to get out, but I have no idea when that will happen,” he wrote. Bartnikowski said her son may have a court hearing this week. The girl whose brother attacked her has now made a statement saying that the accusations are false. She has made an arduous 12-hour journey from the jungle and is expected to testify at the hearing. Bartnikowski hopes her son will finally be freed but they’ve had their hopes dashed before. “There have been so many twists and turns,” she said. According to the Centre for Investigative Journalism, Nepal, many innocent people are imprisoned throughout Nepal due to gross negligence by police, government lawyers and judges. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 15

Upfront

Budget (continued from page 5)

prompted by Chair Greg Scharff, who said he was concerned about the office’s recent level of productivity. According to the budget document, the department completed 1.2 “work products” per audit staff in the current fiscal year, compared to 1.67 in the prior year. “I think we’re not getting the amount of audits we should get,” Scharff said. His three committee colleagues — Vice Chair Eric Filseth, Greg

Tanaka and Lydia Kou — agreed that looking to the private sector is a good way to go. Richardson, meanwhile, didn’t offer any objections to Scharff’s proposal, noting that it’s not uncommon for government organizations to rely on outside firms. “I will be picky in selecting those firms to ensure we get firms that have actual performance audit experience,” Richardson said. Another budget change likely to be implemented is the elimination of the Chief Sustainability Officer position in Keene’s office, which debuted in 2013. Gil Friend has held that position and

spearheaded the city’s adoption of the Sustainability and Climate Action Plan.

Rob de Geus said during Tuesday’s review. “It’s implementing the SIP (Sustainability Imple-

‘I think we’re not getting the amount of audits we should get.’ — Greg Scharff, chair, Palo Alto Finance Committee Keene and his staff determined that the position is no longer needed because the sustainability plan has been adopted. “The work that’s going to be happening is largely implementation work,” Deputy City Manager

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mentation Plan), and the work is mostly being done in the departments — Utilities, Public Works, Community Services.” While unanimously endorsing the proposed restructurings, the committee also agreed that the city budget needs to be further trimmed to address an expected rise in pension liabilities. Last year, the Finance Committee commissioned an actuarial study to assess the city’s liability should the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) reduce its expected rate of return (known as the “discount rate”) from its existing projection of 7 percent to 6.2 percent, a rate its own consultant deemed more realistic. The change would add roughly $8 million to the city’s short-term costs, the analysis found. Given this expected rise, Filseth argued that it would be prudent to cut the budget by at least half of that amount and to account for the remaining half in future budgets. To give itself wiggle room in determining what to cut, the committee requested that Keene bring forward $5 million in potential cuts, with the expectation that the committee will ultimately reduce the budget by $4 million. Keene described the assignment as “not an easy task” and one that will require many difficult conversations with city staff in the next week. But the committee agreed that trimming

the budget now, before CalPERS readjusts its discount rate, is the responsible thing to do. “We do not ask it lightly,” Filseth said. “The reality is — we’re spending this money, so it’s going to be painful and we know that. But it will be more painful the longer we defer doing this kind of thing.” Despite its desire to see more cuts, the Finance Committee voted either unanimously or 3-1, with Greg Tanaka dissenting, to move Keene’s budget recommendations along. The only departments whose budgets were not approved this week were the Library Department (the committee had some unanswered questions about the costs of extending library hours and other details) and the Public Works Department, which was asked to provide more information about its vehicle-replacement program and its plans for the Urban Forest Master Plan, which would largely go unfunded under Keene’s proposed budget. Tanaka was the sole committee member who voted against the Information Technology budget, largely because he took issue with the city’s plan to upgrade the broadcasting system in the Council Chambers (the project is already subject to a separate review later this year). Tanaka also voted against the Planning and Community Environment budget after expressing concerns about an 8 percent increase in salaries in the department. As part of its budget review, the committee also recommended approving increases to the city’s electric and gas rates. Under the proposal, electric rates would go up by 6 percent on July 1 while gas rates would increase by 4.2 percent. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

CityView A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (May 14)

Train Employees Regularly “During busy times, our food runners have to make quick work of clearing tables and sorting right. That’s why we do regular trainings and give frequent reminders.” — Darien Brilliott, Manager, The Tap Room

First Baptist Church: The council approved a conditional use permit to allow First Baptist Church to function like a “community center.” Yes: DuBois, Filseth, Fine, Kniss, Scharff, Tanaka, Wolbach No: Holman, Kou

Council Finance Committee (May 15 and 16)

Budget: The committee reviewed and recommended approving the budgets of most city departments. It delayed the approval of the Library Department until May 23 and requested the Public Works Department to provide more information about implementation of the Urban Forest Master Plan and the vehicle-replacement program. Rates: The committee recommended approving a 6 percent increase in electric rates and a 4.2 percent increase in gas rates, starting July 1. Yes: Unanimous

Board of Education study session (May 16) For more tips and best practices, visit: www.cityofpaloalto.org/rc-ordinance zerowaste@cityofpaloalto.org (650) 496-5910

Budget: The board directed staff to come back with a proposal to bridge a $1.3 million gap between revenues and expenditures in the 2018-19 school year, to bring proposals for the use of other funds over a one- or two-year period and to develop a prioritized list of proposed budget cuts. Yes: Unanimous

Architectural Review Board (May 17)

356 Hawthorne Ave.: The board approved a proposal to demolish a four-unit 4,032-square-foot residential development and construct a new development with three detached residential units. Yes: Unanimous

LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com

Page 16 • May 18, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Pulse A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto May 9-15 Violence related Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elder physical abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . Vehicle related Abandoned auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Driving with suspended license . . . . Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . Vehicle accident/property damage. . Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Alcohol or drug related Driving under the influence . . . . . . . . Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 2 1

Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . 1

Miscellaneous Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Possession of stolen property . . . . . Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . Unattended death. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . .

4 3 1 7 1 2 1 3 5 3 1 8 9

Menlo Park May 9-15

7 2 8 4 2 5 5 3 7 9 4 3 6 5

Violence related Assault with a deadly weapon . . . . . 1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 3 1

Vehicle related Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Vehicle accident/ no injury . . . . . . . . 3 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Alcohol or drug related Driving under the influence . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Miscellaneous Animal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Juvenile problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Property for destruction . . . . . . . . . . Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . .

1 1 1 1 3 1 3 1 2 2 1 3 6

CITY OF PALO ALTO PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING 250 HAMILTON AVENUE, COUNCIL CHAMBERS MAY 30, 2018 AT 6:00PM Study Session: 1. Implementing the Council Housing Work Plan Referral: Discussion of Potential Revisions to Multifamily Housing Parking Requirements in the 2018 Comp Plan and Housing Ordinance Public Hearing:

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto Byron Street, 5/01, 6:30 p.m.; domestic violence/battery. San Antonio Road, 5/07, 5:00 a.m.; battery/simple. Starr King Circle, 5/08, 5:04 p.m.; elder abuse/physical. Alma Street, 5/13, 11:05 p.m.; domestic violence/court order.

Menlo Park Hamilton Avenue, 5/09, 12:38 am.; battery. Gilbert Avenue, 5/10, 8:50 a.m.; battery. El Camino Real, 5/10, 5:36 p.m.; battery. Bayfront Expressway/University Avenue, 5/12, 8:19 a.m.; assault with a deadly weapon.

2. PUBLIC HEARING / QUASI-JUDICIAL. 2515-2585 El Camino Real [17PLN-00448]: Recommendation on Applicant’s Request for Approval of a Vesting Tentative Map to Merge two Lots and Subdivide the Combined 39,953 Square Foot lot Into 13 Residential Condominiums and up to 13 Retail Commercial Units. The Subdivision map Would Facilitate Construction of the Previously Approved 39,858 Square Foot Mixed-use Development Project (15PLN-00170). Environmental Assessment: Reuse of a Previously Adopted Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration Prepared for the Associated Development Application (15PLN000170). Zoning District: Neighborhood Commercial (CN) and Community Commercial (CC) (2) Zoning District. For More Information Contact the Project Planner Margaret Netto at margaret.netto@cityofpaloalto.org The Planning and Transportation Commission is live streamed online at http://midpenmedia.org/category/government/city-of-palo-alto and available on via cablecast on government access channel 26. The complete agenda with accompanying reports is available online at http:// www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/boards/ptc/default.asp. For Additional Information Contact Yolanda Cervantes at Yolanda.Cervantes@ cityofpaloalto.org or at 650.329.2404.

Betty Armstrong Dole

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May 30, 1932 – May 4, 2018 Betty Armstrong Dole, beloved and cherished wife, mother and grandmother, died May 4, 2018, in Davis, CA. The cause of her death was Alzheimer’s disease. Betty was born on May 30, 1932 in San Jose, CA, the first child of William L. Armstrong and Rose Brunner Armstrong. She was raised there and in Los Gatos and Watsonville, where her father owned a grocery store. After one year at San Francisco State, Betty transferred as a sophomore to Stanford University. She left Stanford in 1954 with a bachelor’s degree in political science, and lifelong friends Joan Marie Shelley and Nancy Roth. After graduation, Betty joined the US State Department as a translator and moved to Lima, Peru. She cut short her time there to return to Palo Alto to marry her former Stanford classmate Richard A. Dole, Jr. in 1955. In 1956 their daughter, Janet, was born in Tokyo, Japan. Son Jefferey was born two years later, in Redwood City, where the family then resided. In 1961 the family moved to Palo Alto, where Betty lived for the next 55 years. In the late 1960s, Betty began to study court reporting, commuting to San Francisco for instruction two nights a week for several years. In 1969 she became the court stenographer for Judge William A. Ingram, who was newly appointed to the Santa Clara County Municipal Court. She continued to work in his courtroom for most of her career, remaining with Judge Ingram as he was elevated to the Superior Court in 1971 and then to the federal bench in the Northern District of California in 1976, with offices both in San Francisco and San Jose. An avid student of politics and current events, Betty enjoyed her front-row perspective on

cases as varied as the trial of organized crime boss Joseph Bonanno and intellectual property disputes between tech giants. She was particularly moved by the testimony of United Farmworkers leader Cesar Chavez, who appeared before her as a witness on one occasion. In her personal life, Betty was a passionate supporter of animal rights and welfare and for many years she helped feed local feral cats, adopting a series of needy felines and dogs. She derived immense joy from a pet house finch, Falcon, discovered as a nestling by her children. A devout Catholic, for many years she sang in the Our Lady of the Rosary choir. She also enjoyed playing the piano, taking ballet lessons (which she continued into her seventies), learning French and improving her Spanish. She loved to travel and counted the Amazon, China, Germany, Norway, Austria, France, the Netherlands and Africa among the places she visited. She was a devotee of the PBS NewsHour, Fawlty Towers, and Carol Burnett, and known for entertaining with wonderful meals, including homemade cakes and Parker House rolls. She loved a good martini. Betty cared for her family deeply and was dedicated to their happiness and success. Highlights included Jeff receiving his PhD in 1991 and the births of her granddaughters, Charlotte and Lillian Krovoza. In addition to her granddaughters, Betty is survived by her husband of 63 years, Richard; daughter Janet (Joe) Krovoza, and numerous cousins. She was preceded in death by her parents, her brother Bill Armstrong and her son Jefferey Dole. Memorial gifts may be made to a favorite animal welfare organization. Plans for a funeral mass are pending; please refer to online obituary for updated information. PAID

OBITUARY

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 17

Transitions Births, marriages and deaths

Mary Ellen Martin Mary Ellen Martin of Los Altos died on April 16 of natural causes in hospice care at Pilgrim Haven Assisted Living in Los Altos. Mary was born and raised in Round Knob, Illinois, where she lived on a small farm with her parents and sister, Beulah Ablett. She attended nursing school in St. Louis, where she met her

first husband, Frank Martin, in a hospital maternity ward. They ma r r ied in 1944. She and Frank moved to Los Altos in 1950 when Frank started a medical practice

in Palo Alto. Mary stayed at home raising her children until they were all of high school age whereupon she returned to college and received a bachelorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s and then a masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s degree in nursing from San Jose State University. She went on to work for the Santa Clara County Health Department as a public health nurse. Eventually she and Frank

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCIL CIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUE BROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1 CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT ACCESS CHANNEL 26 ***************************************** THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/gov/agendas/default.asp AGENDAâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;SPECIAL MEETINGâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;COUNCIL CHAMBERS May 21, 2018 AT 5:00 PM Special Orders of the Day 1. Appointment of one Candidate to an Unexpired Term on the Historic Resources Board Ending December 15, 2019, one Candidate to an Unexpired Term on the Human Relations Commission (HRC) Ending May 31, 2020, and Three Candidates to HRC for Three-year Terms Ending May 31, 2021 Consent Calendar 3. Approval of a Construction Contract With Los Loza Landscaping in an Amount Not-to-Exceed $429,195 to Repair and Replace Brick Pathways and Install Replacement Pathway Lighting at the Lucie Stern Community Center and Approve a Budget Amendments in the General Fund and the Capital Improvement Fund 4. Adoption of a Resolution Adopting a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Related Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; and Approval of a Design for the Construction of a new Outfall Pipeline to Convey ;YLH[LK ,Ń&#x17E;\LU[ -YVT [OL 9>8*7 ;OYV\NO [OL 7HSV (S[V (PYWVY[ [V +PZJOHYNL 0U[V HU <UUHTLK :SV\NO PU the Baylands 5. SECOND READING: Adoption of an Ordinance Amending Palo Alto Municipal Code (PAMC) Chapter 18.40 .LULYHS :[HUKHYKZ HUK ,_JLW[PVUZ VM ;P[SL AVUPUN [V HKK H UL^ :LJ[PVU 0TWVZPUN HU (UU\HS 6Ń?JL Limit and Setting Forth Related Regulations, and to Repeal the Respective Regulations From Chapter 18.85 (Interim Zoning Ordinances). This Ordinance is Within the Scope of the Comprehensive Plan Environmental 0TWHJ[ 9LWVY[ ,09 *LY[PĂ&#x201E;LK HUK (KVW[LK VU 5V]LTILY I` *V\UJPS 9LZVS\[PVU 5V -09:; READING: April 30, 2018 PASSED: 5-4 DuBois, Fine, Holman, Kou no) Action Items 7<)30* /,(905. 8<(:0 1<+0*0(3! ;OL *P[` *V\UJPS >PSS *VUZPKLY (WWLHSZ VM [OL 7SHUUPUN HUK Community Environment Directorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Decision to Approve Eleven (11) Tier 3 Wireless Communication Facility Permits to Establish Small Cell Wireless Communication Antennas and Equipment on Utility Poles in the Public Right of Way Near the Following Addresses: Node #129: CPAU Pole# 3121 (Near 2490 Louis Road, (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY 3V\PZ 9VHK (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY ,SIYPKNL >H` (75 5VKL ,! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY 3VTH =LYKL (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY 2LUUL[O +Y (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY :[VUL 3U (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY 9VZZ 9K (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY *VSVYHKV (]L (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY ,S =LYHUV (]L (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL

5LHY 3VTH =LYKL (]L (75 5VKL ! *7(< 7VSL 5LHY 3VTH =LYKL (]L (75 ,U]PYVUTLU[HS (ZZLZZTLU[! ,_LTW[ 7\YZ\HU[ [V *HSPMVYUPH ,U]PYVUTLU[HS 8\HSP[` (J[ *,8( *SHZZ .\PKLSPULZ :LJ[PVU ( WWYV]HS VM! H *VUZ[Y\J[PVU *VU[YHJ[ >P[O 6Âť.YHK` 7H]PUN 0UJ PU [OL (TV\U[ VM MVY [OL Charleston-Arastradero Corridor Project - Phase 1, Capital Improvement Project PE-13011; (2) Construction *VU[YHJ[ >P[O 6Âť.YHK` 7H]PUN 0UJ *VU[YHJ[VY PU [OL (TV\U[ VM MVY [OL *OHYSLZ[VU (YHZ[YHKLYV Corridor Project Phase 2, Capital Improvement Project PE-13011; (3) Contract Amendment Number 2 to Contract C14150694 With Mark Thomas & Company in the Amount of $145,419; (4) General Services *VU[YHJ[ >P[O ;YHŃ?J>HYL .YV\W 33* PU [OL (TV\U[ VM MVY 7\YJOHZL VM :`UJOV.YLLU (KHW[P]L ;YHŃ?J *VU[YVS :`Z[LT MVY *OHYSLZ[VU (YHZ[YHKLYV *VYYPKVY 7YVQLJ[ *HWP[HS 0TWYV]LTLU[ 7YVQLJ[ 7, " and (5) Budget Amendments in the Capital Improvement Fund, Charleston/Arastradero Transportation Impact Fee Fund, and Storm Drain Fund

STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGS The Sp. City Council Rail Committee Meeting will be held in the Council Chambers on May 22, 2018 at 8:00 AM to discuss: 1) VTA Measure B Grade Separation Funding Plan; 2) Caltrain Business Plan; and 3) Rail Corridor Circulation Study. The Sp. Finance Committee Meeting will be held in the Community Meeting Room on May 23, 2018, at 9:00 AM to discuss: 1) Budget Continued.

Page 18 â&#x20AC;˘ May 18, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

retired and around the year 2000 and moved to Pilgrim Haven. Her husband passed away in April of 2002. She already knew Ron Fredlund and his wife from church. Ron and Mary became close after both had lost their spouses and married in 2003. She is survived by her husband, Ron Fredlund of Los Altos; three children, Bill Martin

of Saratoga, Anne Johnson of Nevada City, California and Bob Martin of Los Altos; and seven grandchildren. Her memorial service will be held on July 14 at 1 p.m. at the First Baptist Church in Palo Alto, 305 N. California Ave. In lieu of flowers, her family kindly requests that memorial donations be made to a charity of the donorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s choice. Q

May is Drinking Straw Awareness Month in Palo Alto ORGANIZED BY GIRL SCOUT TROOP 60016 AND CITY OF PALO ALTOâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;WATERSHED PROTECTION

Join the Girl Scouts and go strawless in the month of May. 500 million single-use straws are used and discarded in the US every day! Plastic straws are among the top ten items polluting our ocean and harming sea life. ĹŤĹ ÄłĆ&#x2018;ĂŽĆĽĆĹ&#x2022;ĂŽĆĽÄżĹŤĹ Ć&#x2122; ĆĽĹŤ ĆĽÄşÄ&#x161;Ć&#x2122;Ä&#x161; ÇśĆ&#x2018;Ć&#x2122;ĆĽ Ć&#x2018;Ä&#x161;Ć&#x2122;ĆĽĂŽĆĆ&#x2018;ĂŽĹ ĆĽĆ&#x2122; Ä˛ĹŤĆ&#x2018; going strawless: É&#x2020; ÄżĆ&#x2122;ĆĽĆ&#x2018;ĹŤ qĂŽÇ&#x160;ÄżĹ Ä&#x161; É&#x2020; ĂŽĆ&#x2018;Ä&#x201C;ÄżĹ ĂŽĹ&#x2022; OĹŤĆĽÄ&#x161;Ĺ&#x2022; É&#x2020; ÄżĆĽÇ&#x2039; OĂŽĹ&#x2022;Ĺ&#x2022; ĂŽÄ˛Ä&#x203A; É&#x2020; ÂšÄşÄ&#x161; ĹŤĆĹ ĆĽÄ&#x161;Ć&#x2018; É&#x161;Č&#x160; Ĺ&#x2022;ĹŤÄ&#x152;ĂŽĆĽÄżĹŤĹ Ć&#x2122;É&#x203A; É&#x2020; 'ĂŽĹ HĹŤĆ&#x2018;Ä&#x201C;ĹŤĹ É&#x2020; TÇ&#x2022;Ç&#x2022;Ç&#x2039;ÉŤĆ&#x2122; Ć&#x2018;ĹŤĹŤĹ&#x2019;Ĺ&#x2022;Ç&#x2039;Ĺ ĂŽÄłÄ&#x161;Ĺ&#x2022;Ć&#x2122; É&#x2020; eÄżĆ&#x2018;Ĺ&#x2019;ÉŤĆ&#x2122; ÂŹĆĽÄ&#x161;ĂŽĹ&#x2019; ĆĆ&#x2018;ÄłÄ&#x161;Ć&#x2018;Ć&#x2122; É&#x2020; gĹŤÄ&#x152;ĂŽĹ&#x2022; Ă&#x20AC;Ĺ ÄżĹŤĹ Č&#x192;Č&#x2C6;Č&#x201A; É&#x2020; ~Ĺ&#x2022;Ä&#x201C; ÂĄĆ&#x2018;ĹŤ É&#x2020; sĹŤĹ&#x2022;ĂŽ É&#x2020; ÂĄĂŽÇ&#x160;ĆĽÄżÉŤĆ&#x2122; ÂĄÄżÇ&#x2022;Ç&#x2022;ĂŽ É&#x2020; ÂšĂŽÄ&#x152;ĹŤĹ&#x2022;ÄżÄ&#x152;ÄżĹŤĆĆ&#x2122; É&#x2020; qĹŤĆ&#x2018;Ä&#x161; Ä&#x152;ĹŤĹ&#x17E;ÄżĹ Äł ĂŽĹ&#x2022;Ĺ&#x2022; ĆĽÄşĆ&#x2018;ĹŤĆÄłÄşĹŤĆĆĽ qĂŽÇ&#x2039;É&#x160; To learn more or become a participating restaurant, visit

cityofpaloalto.org/thisisthelaststraw

Visit

Lasting Memories An online directory of obituaries and remembrances. Search obituaries, submit a memorial, share a photo. Go to: www.PaloAltoOnline.com/obituaries

Editorial No on RM3 tolls Ballot measure to increase bridge tolls by $3 over next six years is too much

hen Bay Area cities, especially San Francisco and those on the Peninsula, approve massive additional office development without housing to accommodate all the new workers, the natural result is longer commutes and unbearable traffic. That is why Bay Area corporate leaders, state legislators and regional and local officials keep turning to voters for money to add highway lanes, extend BART to downtown San Jose, extend Caltrain to downtown San Francisco, improve bus service and implement other measures to address transportation problems. Santa Clara County voters have been especially responsive. In 2016, they approved a half-cent increase in the county sales tax for transportation projects that will generate an estimated $6.5 billion over the next 30 years. Along with previous sales-tax hikes that are still in effect, county consumers are currently paying 9.25 percent in sales tax, with 1.625 percent dedicated to transportation improvement projects in Santa Clara County (with the bulk dedicated to extending BART to San Jose). At the same time these sales taxes are collecting billions of dollars, a statewide 12 cent-per-gallon increase in the gas tax was implemented by the state Legislature last November for transportation projects. That tax will increase by another 5.6 cents next year and will be indexed to the Consumer Price Index starting in 2020. Now along comes Regional Measure 3, which asks voters in nine Bay Area counties to approve three successive $1 increases in bridge tolls on all Bay Area bridges except the Golden Gate Bridge. The new tolls will increase from the current $5 to $8 by 2025 and will thereafter be increased with the rise of the Consumer Price Index. The new tolls are expected to generate about $4.5 billion for transportation capital projects throughout the Bay Area. To pass, a majority of voters in each county must vote to approve the measure. Supporters, who include major business groups and most Bay Area elected officials, consider toll increases to be a way other than tax increases to generate more funding for the 35 identified transportation improvements located in each of the nine counties. The projects identified that could most directly impact the Midpeninsula are for improvements to the Dumbarton Bridge “corridor,” which would receive $130 million. These could include improved bus service, bus-only lanes on the Bayfront Expressway in Menlo Park and new connecting bus service with Amtrak and BART in the East Bay. It would not fund improvements to the bridge itself. We join with Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in opposing Regional Measure 3. Bridge tolls are a regressive tax that inappropriately target lower-paid service workers who can’t afford housing on the Peninsula (or in San Francisco) but commute here to jobs at restaurants, retail stores, schools, nursing homes and other nontech small businesses. These commuters, who must pay for their gas and bridge tolls in after-tax dollars, will need to make an extra $1,000 a year. Funding important regional transportation infrastructure projects should ideally come through state tax revenues, which are progressive in their distribution of the tax burden. That is exactly what was achieved when the Legislature last year passed SB1, which will fund more than $50 billion in transit improvements. RM3’s toll increases, along with the implementation of inflation escalators, ask for too much and attempt to leverage the public’s frustration over bad traffic to disproportionately penalize bridge commuters, a small fraction of voters and therefore an easy target. Bay Area business leaders and their advocacy organizations such as Silicon Valley Leadership Group need to work more on the root cause of our transportation problems — the continued approvals of new commercial development on the Peninsula without the housing needed to accommodate the employees. Until that becomes their priority, taxpayers will continue to be pressured to pay for transportation improvements that seek the impossible: the accommodation of the ever-increasing number of workers commuting long distances from affordable housing. Q

Last week’s recommendation Yes on Recall of Judge Persky

Next week’s endorsements Santa Clara County Sheriff and Persky successor judge

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Letters Respect the law Editor, Yesterday I received a flyer in the mail titled “Castilleja Partnering with Our Community.” This institution had its start early on in Palo Alto and was dedicated to educating young women of Palo Alto. Throughout the years the number of students grew and applicants from communities surrounding Palo Alto started pouring in. The Palo Alto City Council contractually had limited the expansion of the school to 415 students. The school continued its expansion to date surpassing that number. Castilleja’s continued blatant disrespect for the law, and ignoring the concerns of their neighbors, is outrageous. It is incumbent on Castilleja as an educational institution to start setting an example for their students by respecting the law and the concerns of their neighbors for a change, in lieu of deceiving the community by printing flyers to deflect the concern of the Palo Alto Community from the real issue of expansion against the law. Fred Bisharat Byron Street, Palo Alto

Readopt paper straws Editor, With all the fuss about eliminating plastic drinking straws, which are living forever as litter, is no one around here old enough to remember when we drank our sodas through waxed-paper straws? They served very well, and I doubt that even one discarded straw has survived to our time. They were constructed of strips of waterproof paper formed in a spiral to the length of a straw. Why it was decided to make straws of the more durable plastic I can’t imagine. A straw is not something you’d ever want to try to wash and use again, right? Maybe somewhere there might be surviving one of those machines that formed paper straws. If we go back to paper, then all the disabled and elderly can sip their liquids in comfort. Corinne Derringer Park Drive, Atherton

Keep courts independent Editor, A recent editorial in the Palo Alto Weekly advocates judges must be accountable to community standards. While politicians must be accountable to the public, judges are accountable to the Constitution. Time and time again in our country’s history we have seen communities violate civil

rights in pursuit of some community standard. If it wasn’t for independent courts we would have communities that: • discriminate against women (1971 Reed v. Reed) • proscribe “separate but equal” (1954 In Brown v. Board of Education) • ban same-sex marriage (2015 Obergefell v. Hodges) • prohibit contraception for married couples (1965 Griswold v. Connecticut) • prohibit foreign language instruction in grade school (1923 Meyer v. Nebraska) To protect our constitutional rights, judges must be accountable to the Constitution and not to community opinion polls. I urge people to vote “no” on the Persky recall. J. Mike Hedblom McGregor Way, Palo Alto

Unfit due to bias Editor, Our elected officials should represent their voters’ values and should be held accountable for how they measure up to that task. Judge Persky’s sentencing of less than the minimum sentence for Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner for assault with the intent to commit rape, because it was an “unusual” case, demonstrates a level of bias that makes him unfit to be a judge. This is only one of several instances where Persky has demonstrated concerningly lenient judgment for serious offenders of sex crimes and gender-based violence, particularly for those of privileged status. Mingming Caressi Rickeys Way, Palo Alto

That’s what judges do Editor, Your paper states Judge Persky should be recalled because he “abused his discretion.” Not so. He acted lawfully in the Turner case and the five cases cited by the Recall campaign (of 2,000 criminal cases over which he presided). If Judge Persky had abused his discretion in any of these cases, the prosecution would have appealed — which it did not. In the Turner case, Judge Persky followed the lawful recommendation of the probation officer. That’s what judges do. In two cases, Judge Persky approved the negotiated plea bargain agreement between the defense and prosecution (Smith, Chiang). Approving lawful plea bargains isn’t an abuse of discretion. That’s what judges do. In Gunderson, Judge Persky delayed sentencing to give the defendant “a carrot” (getting an education), combined with mandatory alcohol and drug rehab programs. Providing incentives is a common

— and successful — practice to rehabilitate first time criminal offenders. Note: Contrary to your report, Gunderson is Pacific Islander, not “Caucasian.” In Chain, the prosecutor said he “was not looking for more time” and agreed to the proposed sentence. Another D.A. wrote that Persky is “not the only judge” to impose this level sentence (Weekly: “Analysis: the ‘pattern’ cases”). Ramirez is not relevant. Judge Persky did not take the plea or impose a sentence. The court file reflects he set dates for status reports. He did not participate in the parties’ negotiations. When a judge approves plea bargains, follows probation recommendations and acts lawfully, there is “no abuse of discretion.” Your position Judge Persky should be held “accountable to the community” is a dangerous notion that voters must reject. If judges followed that standard, we wouldn’t have landmark decisions striking down laws banning same-sex marriage and segregation. Judges are “accountable” to and sworn to uphold the law, not prevailing community standards. Nancy Krop McGregor Way, Palo Alto

An abuse of discretion Editor, Following Brock Turner’s sentencing, legislators instituted a new mandatory minimum for his crime. Judge Persky so abused his discretion that the laws were changed to take that discretionary power away from judges. But mandatory minimums are not the solution. In 2014, the National Academy of Sciences released a study exploring the causes of mass incarceration and concluded that mandatory minimums are one of its central drivers. Neither the Recall Persky Campaign nor any members of its leadership team endorsed or lobbied for this change. There is no need to tie the hands of judges who use their judicial discretion justly. We are not advocating for lengthy prison sentences, mass incarceration or mandatory minimums. We are asking that people in elected positions of power in our community not abuse that power to perpetuate a culture of impunity for privileged sex offenders. As someone who grew up in Palo Alto and calls Palo Alto home, I want my family, friends, former classmates and former neighbors in Santa Clara County to be able to trust in the integrity and fairness of the local judiciary. I urged people on June 5 to please vote “yes” to recall and replace Judge Persky. Nicole Bratz 48th Avenue, San Francisco

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 19

Cover Story

A charitable

legacy, ensured Susan Packard Orr shifts focus after decades at helm of family foundation by Linda Taaffe

onsidered an icon in the philanthropy world, Susan Packard Orr frequently is the person nonprofits look to for inspiration and advice. For more than three decades, the Stanford resident has provided nonprofits around the world with support services and software she developed for the management of fundraising and grant-making activities when few others served that niche.

year, she stepped down from her long-held role as chair of the $6.8 billion enterprise. The 16-member board appointed the position to her son, David Orr, who had by that time served as board trustee for nine years. “We need to make room for new ideas. It just became apparent that it was time for the next generation to have some leadership role in the foundation,” Orr said during a recent interview with the Weekly inside the quaint, historic two-story home on Cowper Street in Palo Alto that serves as her software company’s California headquarters. Orr will remain involved in the Foundation as a board trustee. Under her leadership over the past two decades, the Foundation has greatly expanded the breadth and impact of its programs, having a hand in everything from conserving coastal ecosystems, reversing the decline of marine bird populations and mitigating climate change to protecting wilderness in the western United States, overhauling approaches to management of the world’s fisheries, working on population and reproductive health in parts of Africa and Asia and helping children living in poverty. Locally, the Foundation emerged as a leader in sustainability in 2013 after its newly built headquarters became the largest building to achieve net-zero certification for generating more energy than it consumes. Statewide, the Foundation has preserved 480,000 acres through the California Landscape Initiative and partnered with the Moore and Hewlett foundations to protect nearly 20,000 acres of salt ponds along the San Francisco Bay and Napa River. Nationally, its health care strategy saw the number of children in

After steering The David & Lucile Packard Foundation for 22 years, Susan Orr stepped down as board chairwoman in January. “We need to make room for new ideas,” she said. Page 20 • May 18, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Veronica Weber

She’s probably better known, however, for steering her family’s nonprofit organization, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation, for the past 22 years. She stepped into the role of chairwoman — overseeing the mission and strategic direction of the Foundation — in 1996 after the death of her father, David Packard, co-founder of HewlettPackard Company. With the world watching, she transitioned the Los Altos nonprofit into one of the most influential and respected family foundations in the nation. Under her tenure, the foundation expanded its grant giving globally while tackling some of the world’s biggest issues. Orr also has served as a trustee of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute that her family funded, the Packard Humanities Institute, the Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford, for which she played a lead role in the design and construction of the new $1.1-billion LEED Platinum facility that opened in December. And from 2014 until this year, she served as the first Distinguished Fellow in Family Philanthropy for the National Center for Family Philanthropy, sharing her experiences with foundations nationwide on everything from how to give money away to how to navigate family issues. Much of that know-how she’s passed along to the next generation of her own family. Five thirdgeneration Packards currently serve on the Packard Foundation’s board, poised to carry on the work David and Lucile Packard envisioned when they established the foundation in 1964. Orr, 71, recently took another step to ensure the Foundation’s work will be passed along to the next generation. At the start of this

Cover Story

Courtesy of The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

The David & Lucile Packard Foundation’s Los Altos headquarters is one way the organization has demonstrated its long-term commitment to reducing greenhouse emissions. In 2013, the newly built LEED Platinum headquarters became the largest building to achieve net-zero certification for generating more energy than it consumes. the U.S. without insurance reach an all-time low of 7 percent in 2012. Globally, the Foundation has provided 2,557 grants to organizations focused on population growth and reproductive health, helping countries such as Ethiopia double its modern contraceptive use over the past two decades. Looking back on her two decades as chair at the Packard Foundation, Orr — widely known for her modest demeanor and preference for avoiding the public spotlight — explained: “I never considered myself in a place of power as a chairman. I have two sisters, and I always thought we were the triumvirate leading the foundation together. I was just the one who happened to run the business of the meetings.”

A seat at the top

rr was living at Stanford with her husband, Franklin “Lynn” Orr (founding director of the Precourt Institute for Energy), and providing nonprofits assistance through her software company, Telosa Software, when her father died in March 1996, leaving the bulk of his estate to the Foundation in the form of Hewlett-Packard stock. In June 1996 Orr took the top seat of the then 9-member board responsible for setting the mission and strategic direction of the Foundation and for overseeing its finances, operations and policies. Her three siblings — David Packard, Julie Packard and Nancy Packard Burnett — remained in their roles as board trustees. (David Packard eventually left the foundation in 1999 to run his own philanthropic organization, the Packard Humanities Institute.) With Orr as chair, a new era in the life of the foundation began. Within two years, as the value of HP shares skyrocketed, the Foundation went from a $2.1-billion family-style charity awarding about $100 million in grants annually to a global leader endowed with more than $9.1 billion, reportedly making it the third wealthiest

foundation in the world. In 2000, the foundation’s endowment reached a record $13.6 billion and its grant-making budget totaled $534 million. Such fast growth was unheard of at the time. “It was like a startup company that’s just gone public,” the foundation’s chief financial officer, George Vera, told Fortune magazine in 2003. Orr was tasked with keeping the nonprofit charity on course and figuring out how to give away hundreds of millions of dollars — all without losing sight of her parents’ vision. David and Lucile Packard chose not to leave instructions telling their children what programs to support, according to Orr. Her father told them that he had changed his own mind over the years as new information, challenges and issues emerged, and he could not foresee what the most important issues were going to be in the future. “It was very challenging for all of us, although we had pretty much been at the table (as trustees) for a long time,” said Orr. She knew, however, that each of her siblings had their own favorite projects, which could potentially splinter the board’s operations, a 1998 story in the Wall Street Journal reported. According to the article, Orr was chosen as board chair because her father believed she could best keep her siblings focused together. She handled the role just as he had anticipated. When Orr became chair, “there was a profound shift,” Carol Larson, Foundation president and CEO, told the Weekly. “Susan worked hard to honor her parents’ legacy while fully embracing the trust and freedom they gave to the board to change over time. “She led the board in reviewing our values, purpose and areas of work.” She looked to the general trustees for wisdom and to other big foundations for advice. David Rockefeller and Warren Buffet were among those whom she called to advise the family. To find

their focus, Orr held a series of fact-finding meetings that spanned over two years, Larson said. Before deciding on their direction, the Packard siblings also wrote down a set of core values they felt their parents had lived by and incorporated them as guiding principles for the foundation: integrity, respect for others, belief in individual leadership, commitment to effectiveness, and the capacity to think big. “We did a big review to decide on what to work on, and we ended really more or less in the same place. We liked everything we were doing,” Orr said. Orr said the Foundation became more proactive in its giving. “It used to be decided that there were certain areas we wanted to

fund, and people would write proposals,” she said. “We still do that with local programs, (but) with other programs, we’re much more strategic.” Staff works with experts to identify partners and other foundations that can help on policy, research, identifying NGOs and developing a strategy, so grants can be given more broadly to several areas of an issue and have greater impact. “Under Susan’s leadership, the Foundation became a global grant maker and has worked in over a dozen countries around the world. Susan also made sure that we kept a robust local program, reflecting her belief that philanthropy must support the nonprofits in their communities,” Larson said. Larson described Orr’s leadership as “thoughtful and steady.” “Susan is quiet and supportive; she does not dominate the board meetings but ensures that all voices are heard, builds consensus and consistently shows respect for staff leadership,” she said. Orr demonstrated her capabilities as a leader when the market crashed in 2001, sending HP stock plummeting. The Foundation’s assets dropped to approximately $5 billion and it had to slash its annual grants by about $50 million. Orr, who served on the HP board from 1993 to 2001, addressed the issue with transparency. Adam Lashinsky, a Fortune Magazine reporter covering a conference on giving where Orr was scheduled to talk about the problems nonprofits were facing at the time, wrote in 2003: “Before Orr, the keynote speaker, got to their problems, she knew she had to deal with one of her own — the severely declining fortunes of the Packard

Q&A with Susan Packard Orr What was it like growing up in Los Altos Hills? “It was great because it was out in the countryside. Father was a country boy. He grew up in Colorado, so we always had a vegetable garden, fruit trees, a cow ... some sheep. My brother always had lizards or snakes in a cage somewhere. There was a hill right behind us that we called it Moffett Field Hill because we could climb it and see Moffett Field.”

you can hire one day a week. ... There’s this whole infrastructure out there now for startups in Silicon Valley that wasn’t there at all.”

Biggest change in Palo Alto? “Palo Alto back in the day, it had a real feeling of being a small town — well-to-do but not super-rich. The super-rich lived in Woodside and Atherton; they didn’t live in Palo Alto. That’s really changed.”

Is it easier or harder for startups in Palo Alto today?

What’s the story about the horse?

“In some ways it’s probably harder, and in some ways, it’s a lot of easier. My father started his company in 1939. He didn’t have any of the (resources) available now. There weren’t any venture capitalists, so he borrowed money from the bank. Tech startups now are surrounded by marketing firms and design firms and a CFO

“(My brother) was 12 and was going to get a horse for Christmas. The horse was delivered to HP, and Father went down after we had went to bed and rode the horse home. That’s the story. We lived on La Paloma at the time, and HP in those days was on the far side of Page Mill (Road). ... It was a white horse named Silver.”

Foundation. Anticipating the question everyone asks her these days, Orr flashed to a PowerPoint slide reading, ‘Why didn’t you sell your HP stock at the top of the market?’ Her answer: ‘Because Father asked us to hold on to it.’” In 2003, the board authorized the diversification of the Foundation’s stock portfolio to reduce the risk of volatility.

Giving globally, giving locally

rr said even with the Foundation’s global expansion, giving back to the local community remains a priority. “We made a very conscious decision that we were going to have a local program,” Orr said. “We’re all in the area still. We’re still part of this community, so that’s part of it. But the other part of it is this is the community where HP originated and grew, and the community has a lot of issues associated to what’s happened in the Silicon Valley ... and so we feel a responsibility to use a part of that money to assist those (here).” Orr said many of today’s young tech founders are giving, but not necessarily locally. About 90 percent of giving goes elsewhere, according to results from “The Giving Code,” a 2016 report commissioned by the Foundation to look at state of Silicon Valley philanthropy. “The young wealthy people get criticized for not being philanthropic but actually a lot of them are,” she said. “You know they are big-idea people, and so they have a ‘We’re gonna change the world attitude’ because that’s what they did with their companies, and so doing the small-sized grants in the local area isn’t so interesting. Is it going to change the world? No. It’s going to change the lives for some people.” Through its local grant-making program, the Packard Foundation gives about 30 percent of its grants to local organizations working to improve the arts, children’s causes, conservation, science, food and shelter, and reproductive health in San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey counties. The Foundation earlier this year contributed $2.25 million to find creative solutions to the Bay Area’s affordable housing crisis. Silicon Valley at Home, which received $1.5 million, and the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley, which received $750,000, are working to bring down construction costs, expand opportunities to free up more land for housing and promote policies and programs that make development possible. In July, the Foundation also contributed $5 million to the Housing Trust Silicon Valley to provide loans to affordable-housing developers with the goal of creating 10,000 affordable homes over the next decade. (continued on next page)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 21

Cover Story League of Women Voters of Palo Alto Presents

By the numbers 22

Arguments for and against the June 5, 2018 ballot measures Proposition 68 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Bonds for environment, parks and water Proposition 69 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Transportation funding Proposition 70 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Cap and trade agreement vote Proposition 71 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Effective date for ballot measures Proposition 72 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Property tax exclusion for rainwater capture systems Measure 3 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Toll increases on Bay Area bridges

Years that Susan Packard Orr served as Packard Foundation chairwoman

127

The number of Foundation staff members

842

The number of Foundation grants given out in 2017

$314M The Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grant total in 2017 The Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s assets in 2016

Source: The David and Lucile Packard Foundation

Plus information on California primary and recall processes

(continued from previous page)

Free and open to the public May 10, 2018, Thursday, 2 p.m. Avenidas, Cubberley Community Center, 4000 Middlefield Rd. Room 5

May 17, Thursday, 7 p.m. Channing House, 850 Webster Street

May 19, Saturday, 2 p.m. Downtown Library, 270 Forest Avenue

May 27, Sunday, 11:30 a.m. St. Markâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Episcopal Church, Kennedy Room, 600 Colorado Avenue

According to the Foundation, nonprofit leaders put housing at the top of urgent issues facing the region. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of frustrating because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s money to do something about it, but no oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s willing to build buildings. You have to go through the process to find land, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a hard one,â&#x20AC;? she said, especially in Palo Alto where thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s not a lot of open space to begin with to build thousands of homes. There needs to be a more regional approach, she added.

Co-sponsored by the Palo Alto Weekly and Palo Alto Online

Leadership Palo Alto

Early life

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LEADERSHIP PALO ALTO

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he precise moment when Orr became interested in nonprofit work is difficult to pin down. Philanthropy and charity work were always a large part of her familyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s daily life. Her father grew up during The Great Depression and instilled in his children the importance of giving back to the community. Her mother was a consummate volunteer. She spent her days out in the community stuffing envelopes, baking cookies and driving ill children to doctorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; appointments. Her children watched her work evolve into the Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital at Stanford. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She was out in the community all of the time. We have lots of memories of her volunteering. I remember my sister used to say, â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;We all thought she had a full-time job, but she didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t. She was volunteering,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? Orr said. Orr took her seat on the Packard Foundation board alongside her two older siblings when she turned 21. Her father made certain that each of his children would be able to take their seat on the foundation at age 21 by including a stipulation in the bylaws when he formed the foundation a few years earlier. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I am the third born and so it just seemed the natural thing to do,â&#x20AC;? Orr said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We all knew it was going to happen.â&#x20AC;? Orr said in the early days, there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t a whole lot of money to distribute. In the first year, foundation contributions totaled only $17,000, and most of that money was given to charities headed by people Lucile knew personally. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mother was the one in charge.

She was very active and did her homework,â&#x20AC;? Orr said. The family would sit around the dining room table in their Los Altos Hills home looking over proposals, Orr recalled. The process was very informal and relaxed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;There was folder about each proposal that came in, and the folders got passed around the table, and we made our decisions,â&#x20AC;? she said. Orr carved out her own career in the nonprofit world shortly after forming a computer consulting firm in the 1980s. She was doing consulting work at the nonprofit Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos Hills when she discovered that many nonprofits in the area lacked any reliable way of tracking and managing their donations and donors. She said most software programs at that time were developed for private schools, not nonprofit organizations. While at Hidden Villa, other nonprofits approached Orr asking her if she could help them.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;She just drives the social consciousness of what we do. The knowledge that she has ... you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get anywhere else.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; â&#x20AC;&#x201C; David Blyer, Entrepreneur, president and CEO of Arreva â&#x20AC;&#x153;That was kind of the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;aha moment,â&#x20AC;&#x2122;â&#x20AC;? she said, when her computer consulting evolved into nonprofit support services. Orr developed software exclusively for nonprofit groups and launched Telosa Software in 1986 with the goal of helping mid-size nonprofits, such as Ronald McDonald House Charities and The Boys & Girls Clubs of America, track their fundraising. Last spring, Telosa merged with Florida-based DonorCommunity Inc. with the goal of offering nonprofits a way to streamline all of their donorsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities. The new joint venture, Arreva Software, combines Telosaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s donor-relationship management software with DonorCommunityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

Veronica Weber

$6.8B

online fundraising platform. She said the merger means Arreva users can now collect online donations, set up and manage event and volunteer registration, record pledges and memberships, oversee grants, and track all of their activities through one database. Entrepreneur David Blyer, who is president and CEO of Arreva, said with Orrâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s background as a computer scientist and leader in the nonprofit sector, he can think of no one better to work with on this venture. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She was brought up in very philanthropic manner and really understands it, â&#x20AC;&#x153; he said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She just drives the social consciousness of what we do. The knowledge that she has ... you couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t get anywhere else.â&#x20AC;? The companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s headquarters is in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but Orr will keep the Palo Alto office where sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continuing to develop software programs for the company. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Technically, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m called the chairman, but Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m also a programmer,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Yesterday, I found a bug and fixed it.â&#x20AC;? With the recent completion of the new Packard Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Hospital and a new generation at the helm of the Foundation, Orr is putting more focus on another of her passions â&#x20AC;&#x201D; birds. She stepped down from the hospital board in December and joined the National Audubon Societyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s board of directors and is serving as chair of the Global Advisory Group for BirdLife International. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Because Susan has done such a good job in nurturing this next generation of family trustees, there will be very little impact on the Foundationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s work as she steps down,â&#x20AC;? Larson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;She and her sisters are still members of the board, so we are fortunate that our board will continue to benefit from her opinions and experience.â&#x20AC;? Q Associate Editor Linda Taaffe can be emailed at ltaaffe@ paweekly.com. About the cover: Working out of the home on Cowper Street in Palo Alto that serves as her companyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s California headquarters, Susan Orr has provided nonprofits around the world with support services and software she developed for the management of fundraising and grant-making activities. Photo by Veronica Weber

Arts & Entertainment A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture, books and more, edited by Karla Kane

he voices echo through the years — eerie, but surprisingly clear — the strains of “Aloha Oe” by Toots Paka’s Hawaiians, sung and played more than a century ago and captured on a cylinder, one of the oldest means of recording music. At the Museum of American Heritage’s (MOAH) current exhibition, “In the Groove: A History of Record Players,” visitors can encounter a variety of models of phonographs, gramophones, jukeboxes and turntables, learn about the history of the technology, and even select songs to spin — including, with the help of a docent, the hauntingly present “Aloha Oe” recording from so long ago. If you’re of a certain age, you may have grown up with record players. If you’re a current

audiophile, you might be part of the modern vinyl comeback. Or perhaps you’ve never before put a needle to the groove. Whatever your familiarity level, MOAH’s exhibit offers a wealth of information and hands-on learning opportunities. Last year, the museum featured an exhibition on Thomas Edison, and his presence still lingers in this new exhibition, as it was his invention of the phonograph (the ancestor of modern record players, which could both record and play back) that revolutionized recorded sound. The trademarked Berliner Gramophone, a few years later, helped

This phonograph, made by the Thomas Edison Company in 1903, plays music recorded on wax cylinders.

An electric phonograph made by Bogen Sound Systems is on display as part of the Museum of American Heritage’s “In the Groove: A History of Record Players” exhibit. bring record playing to the households of the masses. Record players, whether they’re spinning old-timey cylinders or the more familiar discs, work by means of a needle reading and amplifying vibrations from the grooves inscribed into a record. Cylinders, like the ones featured at the exhibition’s entrance, had their heyday during the late 19th and early 20th century, from early tinfoil-and-wood cylinders (dating back to 1887) and wax cylinders that could only be played back a few times before their indentations were worn down, rendering them useless, to sturdy celluloid cylinders. Eventually, by around 1910, flat discs replaced cylinders as the preferred means of record playing, going through a variety of materials, speeds and sizes. By the 1920s, “78s” (discs that spin around 78 revolutions per minute, or rpm) had gained dominance in the market, followed by the longplaying 33 1/3 rm albums and 45 rpm singles, made of vinyl. The museum also features a variety of jukeboxes, the machines that livened up diners, bars and more by letting customers select singles to spin for a small fee (at MOAH, visitors can choose a song for free in at least one operational machine). Jukeboxes, it turns out, have a sordid history, thanks to their connection with the Mafia. Manufacturers would sell the machines to Mob operators, who would then oversee their placement in venues and reap the money. Because jukeboxes took in cash, the exhibition explains, they were handy for skimming profits, avoiding taxes and laundering money. The exhibition has a charmingly homespun look, with images and text printed, cut and posted in the manner of an oldschool presentation, and winds it way through the museum’s main

“In the Groove” includes a variety of jukeboxes. building (the historic home of Dr. Thomas Williams). In addition to “In the Groove,” the museum’s permanent collection of household items, mechanical inventions, toys and miscellany from everyday American life across the centuries are still on display, as are its flourishing gardens, which include a replica 1940s Victory Garden growing p er io d-a nd-reg ion-ac cu r at e crops, and an outbuilding housing a recreated print shop and automobile garage. Children may especially enjoy the playroom located at the back of the museum’s main building, where they can try out a variety of toys and puzzles. Art Adams, a longtime MOAH contributor, led a recent talk at the museum on how 78 records reflect the culture of their time, from the early patriotic songs of the First World War years to the jazzy dance music from the carefree 1920s and the sentimental songs dating to the Great Depression. That music, he said in an interview with the Weekly, “really reflected the hard times of the period.” Now 92, Adams said he grew up listening to music in the Big Band era of the 1930s and ‘40s

and watched as 78s lost ground to 45s and LPs after World War II. “The quality is remarkably good,” he said, of the 78 records that have survived to the modern era. Asked for his opinion on the current vinyl resurgence, he noted that listeners do object to the “harshness” of digital media. “The records seem to have a warmer feel,” he agreed. However, he added that his own collection features a mix of LPs and CDs and that it’s more about the content than the format. “It doesn’t really bother me that much. Music is music,” he said. Q Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com.

What: “In the Groove: A History of Record Players.” Where: Museum of American Heritage, 351 Homer Ave., Palo Alto. When: Through Aug. 19; from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Friday to Sunday. Cost: Free. Info: Go to moah.org/ currentExhibit.html.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 23

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 25

Arts & Entertainment

A new style of ‘Jeans!’ Local writers turn play about Levi Strauss into a musical by Kaila Prins

thread in their story about Levi Strauss and decided to pull on it. And what resulted was a play about hope, ingenuity and working together to fulfill a dream. Yacowitz said “Jeans!” started out as a play with music. They partnered with their friend Enid Davis, a children’s librarian and the former Library Director of the Harker School in San Jose, who had written a musical parody of children’s fairy tales for second graders. Using songs in the popular domain, Enid created new lyrics for “Jeans!” This original version of “Jeans!” had its world premiere in Vermont and then went on to open on stages around the Bay Area. “People liked the familiarity of the songs with new lyrics,” Davis said. “But to publish the play, we had to have original music.” Just over two years ago, Yacowitz, Claerbout and Davis updated their play and turned it into a full musical. Davis approached her pianist friend Jeremy Erman to help her arrange some original melodies. Together they wrote 14 songs. To take the music from page to

Courtesy of TheatreGames

hen Jacob Davis and Levi Strauss first received the patent for their riveted denim jeans, they had no idea that those jeans would become an iconic symbol of America alongside apple pie, an emblem of youth rebellion in the 1960s, or the subject of a musical that opens on June 2 in Mountain View. “Jeans! The Musical” is the brainchild of locals Caryn Yacowitz and Diane Claerbout, who first started writing about Strauss and Davis while writing stories for a Jewish magazine for children, called “Shofar.” It tells the story of how two immigrant men “dare to dream the American dream” and succeed beyond their wildest expectations. So how did the story become a musical, opening in Mountain View in 2018? Yacowitz had been writing for years — she started out with a book celebrating the 75th birthday of the Palo Alto Children’s Theater and never looked back. But after several years (and many children’s books), her love of theater got the best of her. She and Claerbout found a theatrical

Local youth bring the story of Levi Strauss and his famous denim trousers to life on stage in “Jeans! The Musical.” the stage, the trio turned to trusted friend and director Masha Faber, founder of TheatreGames, a Russian-language theater school in Palo Alto. Faber, who immigrated from Russia with her two sons 26 years ago, wanted to create a community for children of immigrants, where they could continue learning the language and traditions of their home country and also find common ground in the United States. So “Jeans!,” a story about perseverance, ingenuity and collaboration among immigrants in America, felt like a great fit. The play is “squeaky clean, so it’s good for audiences from four to

104,” Yacowitz said. Faber staged the original version of “Jeans!” with her younger students, but this time around, she has cast students in grades 8-10. “Masha has more energy than about 25 people,” Yacowitz said. “I’ve seen her stuff staged, and it’s wonderful.” While TheatreGames normally stages plays in Russian, “Jeans!” will be performed in English. The musical is especially timely, because of the current conversation around immigrants in America. While Strauss and Davis were not exactly like the immigrants coming here today, they share some common experiences, Yacowitz said. Davis, the man

who thought to add rivets to the pockets of denim work pants, had no connections when he came to the United States. He was “innovative, dogged in his pursuit” of his goals, and his eventual collaboration with Strauss — the dry goods purveyor who supplied Davis with the denim in the first place — helped cement their success. When they wrote the play, the conversation around immigration was not as heated as it is today, but “it was in our hearts,” Davis said. And with a cast comprising the children of immigrants, this story is even more powerful. With Levis as a symbol of “Americanness,” this musical contributes a positive message in a time when conversations become difficult around what it means to be American. It reminds us about where we came from and where we can still go, if only we embrace the diversity of our nationality. Q Freelance writer Kaila Prins can be emailed at kailaprins@ gmail.com. What: “Jeans! The Musical.” Where: Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, 500 Castro St., Mountain View. When: Friday, June 2 and Saturday, June 3 at 2 p.m. Cost: $27 adults, $22 students/children. Info: Go to tickets.mvcpa.com.

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HEALTH CARE THAT CARES

n l o ia cti y ily ec Se b am d Sp ut ce d F ter n o u ll- d oo Ce Pu pronsw lth v e ea Ra H

SPRING 2018

From left to right: Kailey (right) bonds with Virtual Dental Home (VDH) Supervisor, Ushma (left), before her dental check-up; Ernesto shows off his smile after his oral health check-up; Dr. Yogita Thakur (left) evaluates the status of Jadeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s (right) oral health. Photoghapher: Rachel Tarantino

Investing in a Future of Healthy Smiles Dear Friends, Ravenswood Family Health Center built a dental clinic in 2008 to improve access to affordable dental care for our patients. We knew that in order to address diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease that our adult patients needed to have good oral health, clear up their gum infections, and get their dentures, crowns, and bridges to keep them from getting the abscesses that undermined their chronic illnesses, which often lead to emergency room care. We knew that pregnant women with untreated gum disease were at risk for preterm labor. We also knew that the number one clinical reason for children missing school was dental pain and swelling due to untreated cavities. To do the best job possible, we wanted to offer comprehensive and preventative dental care regardless of SD\RU VRXUFH WR SURYLGH GHQWDO FDUH VWDUWLQJ ZKHQ WKH Ć&#x201C;UVW WRRWK HPHUJHG LQ infants, to provide sedation and general anesthesia oral surgery for children, and to see children with special needs. Prior to building our dental clinic, we completed a Health Professional Shortage Area analysis to determine the need in our service area. The data revealed that there was only one full time dentist available for 81,521 low-income residents living in East Palo Alto, Belle Haven, North Fair Oaks, and parts of Redwood City combined. Most of us who have always received dental care all our lives through employer coverage or even paid out of pocket for regular prevention visits, have never imagined a life without any dental care or the suffering that comes with cavities, gum disease, broken teeth, and dental pain without any other option by the emergency room as the majority of our patients experience. When we opened our new dental clinic with 10 dental chairs in April 2010 we were also in the midst of the Great Recession. The State of California decided to deny coverage to adult patients in July 2009 and so only children up to the age of 18 had access to Denti-Cal (CAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Medi-Cal dental program for low-income IDPLOLHV EHQHĆ&#x201C;WV (YHU\RQH HOVH ZRXOG KDYH WR SD\ RQ D 6OLGLQJ )HH 6FDOH EDVLV So we came to youâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;our friends, donors, and foundationsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;and asked for your support to build Ravenswood Family Dentistry and to help fund our operations. And YOU did! You have given generously for these past 8 years! In 2014, because of the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, adults once more

could have access to dental care, improving our income and ability to expand care. In 2017, we added 2 more chairs in our dental clinic and 2 dental chairs in our new medical facility. Last calendar year, we provided 6,538 unique dental patients with over 16,000 dental visits, of which 947 visits were in 41 preschools in San Mateo County for 752 children age 5 or under. At the same time, our total medical population grew to 17,456 unique patients. Anticipating patient growth with the opening of our new permanent medical facility in 2015, we applied and were awarded a federal grant to expand our dental clinic by 9 more chairs in a dedicated Pediatric wing. Adult patients will also have increased accessâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;from 7 to 12 dental chairs. All in all, we expect to add another 3,500 dental patients per year once construction is completed in April 2019. In this Spring Newsletter, the articles prepared for you feature the care we provide to children with special needs, our Virtual Dental Home program, and more details about our dental clinic expansion. The federal grant we were awarded provides 43% of the estimated cost of our total project. Our fundraising efforts so far have given us hope that we may receive another 29% between awards and invitations to submit proposals. We still have an XQVSHFLĆ&#x201C;HG WR UDLVH E\ WLPH RI FRQVWUXFWLRQ LQ 6HSWHPEHU :H hope that this newsletter inspires you to contribute to our dental clinic expansion so that we may be able to serve more low-income families in need of oral health care in our community. Togetherâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;with your commitment and supportâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;we are building a healthier Silicon Valley. On behalf of the families we serve, thank you so much for your continued generosity and for being an essential member of the Ravenswood Family Health Center Care Team. Luisa Buada, RN, BSN, MPH &KLHI ([HFXWLYH 2IĆ&#x201C;FHU

Photographers: Tomomi Mori & Katie Bick

Ravenswood Family Health Center | 1

OUR MISSION To improve the health of the community by providing culturally sensitive, integrated primary and preventative health care to all, regardless of ability to pay or immigration status, and collaborating with community partners to address the social determinants of health.

Promoting Good Oral Health in Childhood

VDH Supervisor, Ushma Patel, demonstrates the best way to brush teeth to children and their families. Photoghapher: Rachel Tarantino

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Melieni Talakai, Chair Senseria Conley, Vice Chair Julio Garcia, Treasurer Manuel Arteaga, Secretary Nancy Alvarez, Parliamentarian Adrian Amaral Vernal Bailey Marcelline Combs Ana Gomez Jonathan M. Lindeke Siteri Maravou Elizabeth Salas Raymond Mills, Board Liaison Sherri Sager, Board Liaison

2YHU Ć&#x201C;YH \HDUV DJR Ravenswood Family Health Centerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s &KLHI 'HQWDO 2IĆ&#x201C;FHU 'U <RJLWD 7KDNXU ODXQFKHG Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s innovative Virtual Dental Home (VDH) program, thanks to funding from First 5 San Mateo County, to provide low-income children throughout San Mateo County access to oral health services and education. The goal of the VDH program is to reduce the incidence and severity of dental diseases that impact childhood development. One key player alongside Dr. Thakur has been Ushma Patel, Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VDH Supervisor and Registered Dental Hygienist in Alternative Practice. Ms. Patel and our VDH team, which includes a Dental Navigator and support staff, deliver preventive oral health services and education to children ages 0-5 at 41 sites in San Mateo County preschools and childcare facilities. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The VDH Program is really great for our community!â&#x20AC;? says Ms. Patel. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We know the need is so great and us being out there we can focus on preventive care!â&#x20AC;? The VDH program promotes good oral health in children as early as possible. Early Childhood Caries are the most prevalent oral disease and are a critical factor in healthy childhood development, so it is essential to take steps to prevent cavities as early as possible. During VDH site visits, Ms. Patel and her team collect individual dental health information through exams, portable x-rays machines, and photographs. They then send the information to a Ravenswood dentist to evaluate the images and develop a treatment plan for each child. Upon receiving the childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s suggested treatment plans, the VDH team carries out simple procedures that can be done outside of a dental clinic, such DV Ĺ´XRULGH YDUQLVK DSSOLFDWLRQV DQG GHQWDO VHDODQWV 7KH 9'+

In addition to providing preventive dental services, Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s VDH program also delivers linguistically and culturally appropriate oral health education. Ms. Patel helps parents and caregivers understand the importance of healthy baby teeth and identify good oral hygiene practices they can instill in their children. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We tell parents that it is better to start early,â&#x20AC;? explains Ms. Patel. She advises parents and caregivers how to help their children acclimate to the feeling of someone cleaning their tongue and gums so that they are not as nervous GXULQJ WKHLU Ć&#x201C;UVW GHQWDO DSSRLQWPHQW 2QFH FKLOGUHQ DUH SDVW DJH Ć&#x201C;YH DQG JUDGXDWH IURP WKH program, Ms. Patel and the VDH team help transition them into local dental clinics or Ravenswood Family Dentistry, for future oral health care. The VDH team creates a packet for each child containing copies of x-rays, suggested treatment plans, the date of the childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s last check-up, and a list of dentists in San Mateo County and the insurance plans they accept. These packets are used as tools to encourage children and their families to continue a lifetime of good oral hygiene practices and regular dental check-ups. To address the high demand for pediatric dentistry, including for children who are graduating from the VDH Program and are in need of a dental home, Ravenswood Family Dentistry is building a new Pediatric Dental Wing. The increase in dental space will allow Ravenswood Family Dentistry to continue to positively impact the oral health of children. By doing so, Ravenswood will ensure that the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s children remain on the path toward good health for life.

Ravenswood Family Dentistry Expa

ADVISORY COUNCIL

On February 26, 2018, local community members gathered before the City of East Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Planning Commission to request a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for Ravenswood Family Dentistryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion project. This project will expand the existing dental clinic by adding nine dental chairs as part of a new Pediatric Dental Wing in order to serve the growing needs of Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s pediatric patient population.

Patricia Bresee, Chair Maya Altman Greg Avis Caretha Coleman Greg Gallo Lily Hurlimann Rose Jacobs Gibson Dr. Ross Jaffe Jim Koshland Dr. Richard Levy Gordon Russell John A. Sobrato Dr. Frederick St. Goar Jane Williams

The evening began with a presentation by the City of East Palo Altoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Assistant Planner, who provided testimony that Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dental clinic expansion project conforms to all required East Palo Alto codes and regulations for Ravenswood Board of Directors Chair, Melieni Talakai, addressing the City of East Palo Alto Planning Committee. Photographer: Rachel Tarantino

2 | Ravenswood Family Health Center

team works with families to schedule appointments for more invasive procedures at local dental clinics in the county and at Ravenswood Family Dentistry, Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s main dental clinic.

OUR VISION Our patients will become educated, engaged and empowered to actively manage their health and become advocates for healthy living within their family and the community, inspiring others to value good health as true wealth.

Expanding Ravenswood Family Dentistry Ravenswood Family Dentistry (RFD) has been a critical access point to oral health care for low-income children and families in San Mateo County since 2010. RFD provides a comprehensive range of dental care services, including preventive, restorative, surgical, periodontal

care, and oral health education to children as young as six months old. RFD also accommodates children referred from other local health care facilities who are in need of dental services requiring conscious sedation or general anesthesia. ,Q WKH SDVW Ć&#x201C;YH \HDUV WKHUH KDV EHHQ VLJQLĆ&#x201C;FDQW JURZWK LQ the number of children in need of oral health services, which has caused RFD to reach capacity. The limited number of dental chairs has made it challenging for RFD to accept new patients while effectively completing the oral treatment plans of existing patients. In order to remedy these issues and better address the dental care needs of the communityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most vulnerable children, RFD is expanding. The expansion will increase RFDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s physical and operational capacity to serve both new and current patients, and improve patient oral health outcomes. The 3,017 sq. ft. building adjacent to the existing dental clinic will be converted into a Pediatric Dental Wing, adding nine additional dental chairs in order to serve more children at one time. It is estimated that, after completing the expansion project in April 2019, RFD will be able to serve an additional 3,500 patients each year. The majority of these new patients will be between the ages of 0 and 18.

Ernesto (below) receives a routine cleaning from Ravenswood Dentist, Dr. Mac Soliman (above). Photographer: Rachel Tarantino

The expansion will not only increase patient access to oral health services, but also serve as a gateway for pediatric patients to receive primary medical care at Ravenswood Family Health Center. All in all, RFDâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion will provide more children with access to necessary dental care and to the primary health care they need to lead healthy lives!

OUR SERVICES RAVENSWOOD FAMILY HEALTH CENTER

1885 Bay Road East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel: 650.330.7400 PRIMARY MEDICAL CARE â&#x20AC;˘ Prenatal

Care & Adolescent Medicine â&#x20AC;˘ Adult Medicine â&#x20AC;˘ Womenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Health â&#x20AC;˘ Optometry & Optical Services â&#x20AC;˘ Screenings & Immunizations â&#x20AC;˘ Pharmacy â&#x20AC;˘ General X-ray â&#x20AC;˘ Ultrasound â&#x20AC;˘ Mammography â&#x20AC;˘ Referrals to Specialty Care â&#x20AC;˘ Pediatric

INTEGRATED BEHAVIORAL HEALTH SERVICES â&#x20AC;˘ Crisis

Intervention Counseling â&#x20AC;˘ Social Service Referral â&#x20AC;˘ Parenting Support â&#x20AC;˘ Domestic Violence Counseling â&#x20AC;˘ Short-Term

CENTER FOR HEALTH PROMOTION

Eligibility & Enrollment 1807 Bay Road (moving to 1842 Bay Road on June 1st) East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel: 650.330.7416

ansion: Conditional Use Permit Approved construction. Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s CEO, Luisa Buada, supplied additional details regarding the proposed plans and blueprints, funding sources, and general operational logistics. After Ms. Buada addressed questions by the Planning Commission, residents of East Palo Alto, members of Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Board of Directors, Ravenswood staff, patients, and other supporters came forward to advocate for the dental clinicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s expansion. Many attendees spoke about how the expansion will increase the number of patients served each year, how it will accommodate more patients simultaneously, and how it will reduce wait times

for appointments. Others commented on how this project will increase employment opportunities, especially for local residents. After considering Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s presentation and the appeals brought forth by community members, the Planning Commission approved the CUP for Ravenswood! Ravenswood Family Dentistry can now move forward with construction permitting activities.

â&#x20AC;˘ Chronic

Disease Management Coaching â&#x20AC;˘ Health Coverage Enrollment â&#x20AC;˘ Health

RAVENSWOOD FAMILY DENTISTRY

1807 Bay Road East Palo Alto, CA 94303 Tel: 650.289.7700 â&#x20AC;˘ Pediatric

& Adult Dental Care Care â&#x20AC;˘ Restorative & Periodontal Care â&#x20AC;˘ Crowns, Bridges & Dentures â&#x20AC;˘ Oral Surgery â&#x20AC;˘ Emergency Dental Services â&#x20AC;˘ Oral Health Education â&#x20AC;˘ Preventive Dental Care in 41 San Mateo County Pre-Schools and Other Sites â&#x20AC;˘ Preventive

www.RavenswoodFHC.org | 3

Access to oral health care services can be challenging for children and young adults living with special needs conditions, especially for those who are covered under Denti-Cal. Many dentists throughout California do not accept Denti-Cal. Consequently, this forces many individuals to travel long distances to reach a dentist who will accept their coverage. In addition to travel, many children living with special needs require extensive treatment plans. Special needs pediatric dental patients often require oral health treatment conducted under general anesthesia or sedation, and multiple appointments to complete treatment plans. Ravenswood Family Dentistry provides a haven for these children and their families. &KLHI 'HQWDO 2IĆ&#x201C;FHU 'U <RJLWD 7KDNXU KDV H[WHQVLYH H[SHULHQFH SURYLGLQJ RUDO KHDOWK care to children with special needs. She and her dental team accept children who are covered by Denti-Cal and provide the specialized dental services our special needs patients need to stay on the path toward a lifetime of good oral health. Below are a few examples of pediatric patients who received the oral health care they needed thanks to Ravenswood Family Dentistry.

DOUBLE YOUR DONATION Three generous donors have committed to match all donations up to $8,500 made to Ravenswood during our 2018 Spring Fundraising Campaign! Give online at RavenswoodFHC.ORG or write a check! Checks postmarked by June 30, 2018 will count towards the match. Please write â&#x20AC;&#x153;2018 Spring Campaignâ&#x20AC;? on the memo line, and include this remit slip.

YES!

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d Like to Join Ravenswoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Care Team!*

$100 pays for one childâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s routine dental exam with x-rays SD\V IRU XS WR Ć&#x201C;OOLQJV IRU D SDWLHQW ZLWKRXW dental insurance $500 pays for one child to receive dental care under sedation $1,200 pays for one full set of dentures for a patient experiencing homelessness $2,000 pays for 2 oral surgery cases under general anesthesia for children with special needs I would like to contribute to Ravenswood Family Dentistryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Capital Expansion Campaign! *For Capital Donations of $500 or greater, your name may be added to our Dental Capital Campaign Donor Wall. :RXOG \RX OLNH \RXU QDPH WR EH DGGHG" <HV 1R If yes, how would you like your name to appear?

Donate online: RavenswoodFHC.org Mail check with this slip to: Ravenswood Family Health Center 1885 Bay Road, East Palo Alto, CA 94303 5DYHQVZRRG )DPLO\ +HDOWK &HQWHU LV D WD[ H[HPSW F QRQSURĆ&#x201C;W DJHQF\

4 | Ravenswood Family Health Center

Arturoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Story Prior to becoming a Ravenswood Family Dentistry patient, Arturo faced many obstacles in his search for oral health care services. Arturoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s mother, Cecilia, had taken him to multiple dental clinics, but no one was able to provide him with the appropriate dental treatment he needed. â&#x20AC;&#x153;They didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have services or the patience for special needs children,â&#x20AC;? Cecilia says, â&#x20AC;&#x153;so they were never able to clean his teeth or take x-rays.â&#x20AC;? Due to the lack of oral health care Arturo received, he developed cavities. Two years ago, Arturo was taken to an urgent care dentist at Stanford Hospital because he was experiencing excruciating pain in his teeth. The Stanford dentist understood that Arturo had not received adequate oral health care, and recommended that Cecilia contact Ravenswood Family Dentistryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chief Dental 2IĆ&#x201C;FHU 'U 7KDNXU IRU VSHFLDOL]HG FDUH 'XULQJ $UWXURĹ?V Ć&#x201C;UVW YLVLW WR 5DYHQVZRRG 'U 7KDNXU HYDOXDWHG WKH VWDWXV RI KLV RUDO health. Cecilia was impressed by Dr. Thakurâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s patience with her son, and she was RYHUMR\HG ZKHQ $UWXUR DOORZHG 'U 7KDNXU WR H[DPLQH KLV PRXWK Ĺ?7KDW ZDV WKH Ć&#x201C;UVW time Arturo let someone look at his teeth and do a bit of cleaning!â&#x20AC;? says Cecilia. She was also happy to see that Arturo was no longer in pain after his check-up. Since his Ć&#x201C;UVW YLVLW $UWXUR KDV UHWXUQHG WR 5DYHQVZRRG )DPLO\ 'HQWLVWU\ IRU URXWLQH FOHDQLQJV and treatment for his cavities. Cecilia was so impressed by the quality of care that Dr. Thakur provided to Arturo that she has recommended Ravenswood Family Dentistry to other parents in her community. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I tell them that Ravenswood provides good care, and that the staff tries to understand you and most importantly that they have a lot of patience!â&#x20AC;?

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;? Story â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jacksonâ&#x20AC;?, an 8 year-old boy who had a heart transplant, was referred to Ravenswood Family Dentistry following his discharge from the hospital. He had been seen for a dental abscess at the hospital and was in need of dental rehabilitation. The dental abscess could have infected his transplanted heart and caused severe complications. The Ravenswood Family Dentistry team successfully treated â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jacksonâ&#x20AC;? for his dental caries, and now they see him regularly for preventive visits. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Jacksonâ&#x20AC;? has been caries free for over two years thanks to the efforts by Ravenswood Family Dentistryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s staff.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;? Story â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amayaâ&#x20AC;? was a 2 year-old girl with a complex medical history including developmental delays, blindness, and congenital liver disease. She had prolonged hospitalizations for unexplained fevers. All of her medical tests were normal which provided no explanation as to the cause of her fevers. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amayaâ&#x20AC;? was referred to Ravenswood Family Dentistry following her discharge from the hospital. Upon examining her mouth, her Ravenswood Family Dentistry team noticed that she had multiple dental caries and abscesses that may have been the cause of her fevers. After completing her treatment plan under general anesthesia, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Amayaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;sâ&#x20AC;? condition is now well managed. She continues to visit Ravenswood Family Dentistry for frequent dental preventive services.

Questions? &RQWDFW WKH 'HYHORSPHQW 7HDP DW 'HYHORSPHQW#5DYHQVZRRG)+& RUJ RU

www.RavenswoodFHC.org

Editors: Luisa Buada, Jessica Chiu, Theresa Devonshire, Rachel Tarantino, Virginia Wang

Dr. Yogita Thakur (left) speaks with Arturo (right) before his dental check-up. Photographer: Rachel Tarantino

Eating Out italian classics

For two decades, Don Giovanni has thrived with traditional dishes

Veal scaloppini with capers and rigatoni with grilled sausage are two of the classic Italian dishes expertly executed at Don Giovanni in downtown Mountain View. By Dale F. Bentson Photos by Natalia Nazarova

pen for 20 years, Ristorante Don Giovanni on Castro Street in Mountain View does not serve pizza, nor cuttingedge dishes like roasted Llano Seco pork loin with black calypso beans in a vermouth reduction. What you will find are perfectly prepared veal scaloppini, oysters Rockefeller and grilled polenta with feta cheese and mushroom sauce. Old-school, perhaps, but traditionally delicious. Owner John Akkaya began his restaurant career at the lowest rung: washing dishes. He worked his way from Europe to the United States and eventually to the West Coast. Thirty years ago he opened, and still operates, Café Figaro in downtown Burlingame. In 1997, Akkaya took over the old California Bakery site on Castro Street, with its airy sky-high ceiling, and installed hardwood floors and contemporary lighting. He painted the walls in festive, creamy yellows. Two years later, he acquired the adjacent space,

which serves as a banquet room. Not much has changed over the intervening years at Don Giovanni. The restaurant’s longtime clientele know what to expect. It’s charming, family oriented and now serving a second generation. “If it isn’t broke,” Akkaya said, “you know what they say, and nothing here is broken.” It isn’t just longtime locals that find their way to Don Giovanni. Akkaya said the local influx of tech workers have kept his restaurant continually busy. Like all Bay Area restaurants, staffing is an ongoing problem, particularly due to employees’ declining ability to find affordable housing in the area, Akkaya said. Despite the housing struggle, some of Akkaya’s staffers have been with him for years. Professionalism is apparent at Don Giovanni, where on a recent visit servers were accommodating, knowledgeable, attentive and friendly. My only complaint was being asked to reuse my fork from one course to the next at one lunch. Don Giovanni’s menus are bound in leather, the way they used to be.

Though the menu presented no surprises, it was refreshing to see so many old standards available. Veal, in particular, is about as scarce on restaurant menus these days as a mink stole at Patagonia. With the menus delivered shortly after seating, Italian bread and garlicky dipping oil soon followed. The bread, though not homemade, was baked in the kitchen and arrived at the table warm. For antipasti, the bruschetta al pomodoro ($4.95 lunch, $5.75 dinner) were four toasted slices of Italian bread, rubbed with garlic and topped with chunks of marinated tomato, olive oil, garlic, basil and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese. While the bruschetta was fine, I amped up the flavor by drizzling a spoonful of the dipping oil. Always a good way to start, two Dungeness crab cakes ($7.95, $9.95) were loaded with crab and fried golden brown. Served over cucumbers, tomato and red onion relish, the crab cakes had been drizzled with a sesame-soy aioli. With over a dozen choices, the pasta course offered classic options. One was the rigatoni con salsiccia ($10.95, $13.95), tubes of pasta wrapped in a spicy sauce of bell pepper, onion and tomatoes with two types of grilled sausages that infused different flavors and textures. The penne al pesto ($9.95, $12.95) was simply tube pasta in a basil, garlic, olive oil, and a creamy (continued on next page)

Ristorante Don Giovanni, 235 Castro St., Mountain View; 650-961-9749; dongiovannis.com Hours: Monday-Friday, 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and 5-10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Reservations Credit cards Happy hour

The gamberi alla Mediterranea at Ristorante Don Giovanni: tiger prawns sautéed with tomatoes, mushrooms, olives and wine, sprinkled with feta cheese.

Corkage Children Takeout

Parking: street

Outdoor dining

Alcohol: full bar Noise level: moderate Bathroom excellent

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 27

Eating Out

What is Your Home Really Worth?

Don Giovanni (continued from previous page)

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cheese sauce. All the pasta dishes were large enough to share. Milk-fed veal is white meat with a slight rosy hue, extraordinarily fine-grained and perfectly lean. Because it lacks fat, cooking has to be carefully monitored or the meat will quickly toughen. The veal scaloppine ($20.95, $24.95) was three thin slices of veal, dredged in flour, then sautéed with butter, lemon and capers. The veal was fork-tender and juicy, with clean flavors. A daily special veal chop ($29.95) with asparagus, carrots, broccoli, mashed potatoes and slivers of porcini mushrooms atop, was cooked as ordered (medium). The meat was delicate and tender. Veal is all about taste and texture. Plump tiger prawns ($17.95, $21.95) sautéed in garlic, olive oil, olives, fresh tomato, mushrooms, feta cheese and wine were succulent, firm-textured and sweet. For lunch one day, the sautéed

red snapper ($15.95) was lean and moist, with a firm texture and sweet, nutty flavor. Desserts didn’t disappoint. While I would rate the tiramisu ($8.95) — made with ladyfingers soaked in amaretto and espresso, filled with mascarpone cheese and topped with chocolate shavings — as average, the cannoli ($7.95) excelled. The tube-shaped shells, filled with sweet ricotta cheese and chocolate chips, merged creamy, crisp and sweet into a delicacy. The wine menu offers a thoughtful selection, with an emphasis on reds that pair well with Italian cuisine. Bottle prices were fair and wines by the glass won’t leave you slack-jawed. Don Giovanni also has a full bar with an array of single malt scotches, cognacs, ports and digestives. Any restaurant that survives over two decades without giving in to the latest food crazes is doing more than one thing right; they are hitting on all cylinders. As John Akkaya said, if it ain’t broke ... Q Freelance writer Dale Bentson can be emailed at dfbentson@gmail.com.

Learn the Guitar this Summer

SMUIN MEETS SUSHI!

Carol McComb’s “Starting to Play” workshop hop includes uration the FREE use of a Loaner Guitar for the duration of the classes. * Regular cost is just $180 for nine ncluded. weeks of group lessons, and all music is included.

Smuin unveils Val Caniparoli’s thoroughly delightful

* “Starting to Play” meets for one hour each Monday day night nigh ight for nine weeks beginning June 18th.

If I Were A Sushi Roll, set to music and lyrics inspired

For more information about this and Carol’s other classes at Gryphon, visit www.carolmccomb.com and click on “group classes.”

by real YouTube videos. Plus Helen Pickett’s critically-acclaimed Oasis, and Amy Seiwert’s visually stunning Falling Up. Don’t miss

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Page 28 • May 18, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

ERIC RI A F FELSCH SCH H | PH HO OTO O BY BY KEITH TH SUTT S SU ER ER

NEXT WEEK!

Eating Out

Joshua Redman Quartet

ShopTalk

DUMPLING GARDEN OPENS ... Dumpling Garden quietly opened in a Mountain View strip mall last month, serving handmade dumplings and other traditional Chinese fare. Less than a month after opening, the 108 N. Rengstorff Ave. restaurant had a famous visitor — none other than model Tyra Banks. “She was specifically looking for dumplings,” said owner Kenny Qiu. Banks, wearing a grey sweatshirt and a leopard headscarf, ordered pork and shrimp dumplings, soup dumplings, popcorn chicken, sauteed pea shoots with garlic and cucumber salad, Qiu said. (She was with her family and young son.) She also bought frozen dumplings to take home with her. Dumpling Garden is Qiu’s first restaurant. A former IBM engineer and native of southern China, he recently decided he wanted to start his own business and opted to open a restaurant. He did so with the help of his brother, who runs a dumpling restaurant in San Francisco. Qiu took over the Rengstorff Avenue space after Chinese restaurant Bamboo Garden closed. At Dumpling Garden, all dumplings and noodles are handmade with the “highest quality” ingredients, Qiu said. The large menu also includes meat and seafood entrees, soups, clay pot dishes and other items. —E.K. CAMPER TO REPLACE LB STEAK ... More details were disclosed earlier this month on the restaurant

Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Elena Kadvany and Linda Taaffe. Got leads on interesting and newsworthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com.

Correction

The property owner and location of the building in the May 4 Shop Talk column, under the heading “Blossom returns to California Ave.,” were incorrect. Terry Shuchat owns the Shuchat building at 290 S. California Ave. In the same column, under the heading “Apple closing for remodel,” the name of a company was misspelled. Seabay Building Group filed the building permit application for the project. To request a clarification or correction, contact Editor Jocelyn Dong at jdong@paweekly.com, 650-223-6514 or P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto 94302. Q

JUNE 23 Bing

presented by

Concert Hall

6/24 6/30 7/14 7/15 7/16 7/21 7/22 7/25

Indian Jazz Journey w/Mahesh Kale Christian McBride’s New Jawn Tommy Igoe and the Art of Jazz Somethin’ Else: A Tribute to Cannonball Ruth Davies’ Blues Night with Special Guest Eric Bibb Regina Carter & Xavier Davis: Duos and Quartet Bria Skonberg Jazz Brazil: Anat Cohen/ Romero Lubambo/Vitor Gonçalves

7/22

7/28 7/29 7/30 7/31 8/1

8/2 8/3

7/25

SUN

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7/16

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6/30

SAT

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

MON

taking over the former LB Steak space in downtown Menlo Park. Come this summer, 898 Santa Cruz Ave. will be home to Camper, a project from San Francisco chef Greg Kuzia-Carmel. Kuzia-Carmel has worked in the kitchens of Cotogna, Quince and Outerlands in San Francisco and Per Se in New York. He’s partnering with Roland Passot of the south bay’s Left Bank Brasseries (including one blocks away from Camper) and La Folie in San Francisco to open the new restaurant. LB Steak closed in April after six years of business, with the ownership hinting at a “new and exciting” concept to open there. Camper will serve dinner and weekend brunch, with handmade pastas, roast chicken, ribeye and cocktails. The restaurant will seat 70, with a communal dining area, bar and patio seating and a private dining space. Camper’s managing partner is Logan Levant, a former PR executive who went on to open the wellknown Buttercake Bakery in Los Angeles. She now lives in Menlo Park and said she recognized the city’s “need for a truly Californian neighborhood dining experience.” She envisions Camper to be a restaurant “where you can go for everything from an early dinner with kids, to a celebratory meal, to a memorable private function, all with a high level of service in a relaxed environment.” Kuzia-Carmel, a native of upstate New York, has worked in restaurants from a young age. He started his professional career in Boston, apprenticed at a two-Michelin-star restaurant in Spain and later returned the United States to work at Per Se, which has three Michelin stars. He moved to San Francisco in 2014 and started working at Quince. —E.K.

SAT

RAPHA CYCLES DOWNTOWN... British cycling-lifestyle brand Rapha is bringing its clubhouse to downtown Palo Alto. Rapha Clubhouse is set to open at 170 University Ave. in the space where American Apparel was formerly located. The retailer announced in December that it would be expanding its network of 21 clubhouses around the world in 2018, starting with locations in Palo Alto and Washington, D.C. as part of its push to let customers experience the brand in person. Currently, the majority of Rapha’s business is online. Founded by Simon Mottram in London in 2004, Rapha has evolved into company that offers cycling apparel and accessories, luxury travel and membership in its cycling club, which has hubs in cities in 67 countries. Designed with a retail space, a cafe and a calendar of live racing, rides and events, the Rapha Clubhouses are intended to serve as destinations where cyclists, fans of the sport and members of the local chapter of the Rapha Cycling Club can meet up. According to the company’s website, Rapha’s goal is to make road cycling the world’s most popular sport. —L.T.

7/29

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Become an SJW member and get up to $6 off per ticket!

650-725-2782 | STANFORDJAZZ.ORG www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 29

CRITICS’ PICK

“MARVELOUS!” -Ann Hornaday, WASHINGTON POST

(HIGHEST RATING)

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A CHLOÉ ZHAO FILM

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A middle-aged mother of three suffering a midlife crisis hires a night nanny to help with her newborn in “Tully.”

Baby blues Tickets:

Cubberley $10/$10/$5 Theatre (general / senior / student) at the door Palo Alto or online

Charlize Theron struggles with motherhood in ‘Tully’ 001/2 (Guild) The ennui of a white, middleaged suburban mother gets the full treatment from screenwriter Diablo Cody and director Jason Reitman in the comedy-drama “Tully.” By stretching out various tendrils — the recognition that domesticity and parenthood mean missing out on free-wheeling adventures, the midlife crisis of youth slipping away, post-partum depression, the struggle to raise an atypical child, middle-class jealousy of conspicuous wealth (or, from another perspective, relatively more conspicuous wealth) — Cody cannily ensures that a large number of audience members will relate and, therefore, feel. Never mind that, by picture’s end, your every chain has been yanked. Charlize Theron plays Marlo, the white suburban mother in question. Though Theron’s beauty hardly dims behind tired eyes and mussed hair, the Oscar winner

vividly projects a pre-partum depression from the film’s opening moments. Already a mother of two — an 8-year-old girl and a kindergarten-aged boy on the autism spectrum — Marlo feels the literal and figurative weight of a belly that’s “about to pop” while her recklessly aloof husband (Ron Livingston) works and plays as if he has no responsibility to the pregnancy. Theron’s eyes — and Cody’s signature dark humor — tell the tale of a woman who isn’t sure she can handle any more, but her unplanned pregnancy isn’t going anywhere ... other than to a fresh round of sleepless nights and painful breastfeeding. Enter infant Mia, followed shortly by Tully (Mackenzie Davis), a “night nanny” suggested by Marlo’s well-off brother (Mark Duplass) as a life-changing gift. Despite her apprehensions, Marlo finds that the skinny, pretty, energetic 26-year-old who invades her

life is both a distressing reminder of Marlo’s own lost youth and exactly what the doctor ordered. Tully immediately alleviates Marlo’s load as the perfect nanny, tending to Mia while going the extra mile (house cleaning, muffin baking) to rescue Marlo from her torpor. Inevitably, ultra-competence and out-sized generosity turn to female bonding of the highest order and from-the-mouth-of-babe wisdom that amounts to life coaching for Marlo’s motherhood, marriage and very spirit. Of course, “Tully” has a shoe to drop, and it’s a doozy. A late reveal explains away certain bizarre details while creating what for some will be an unforgivable contrivance. Given the predominantly indie-realist tone taken by Cody and Reitman, the film’s endgame proves a dishonest invalidation of much of what has come before while amplifying one of the film’s most insistent themes. The gambit is annoying, but most will extend the film the courtesy to accept its poignancy. (On reflection, Cody’s idea made me wish for a cinematic switcheroo at the multiplex: Melissa McCarthy in a broadly wacky version of “Tully” and Theron in an earnest comedic-dramatic take on McCarthy’s back-to-college comedy “Life of the Party.” If you see both, give that a spin in your imagination.) Reitman, Cody and Theron have collaborated before, on the 2011 comedy-drama “Young Adult,” and each has gifts useful to the others: Reitman’s competent construction, Cody’s empathywith-zingers style, and Theron’s equally full-bore commitment to resonant depth of feeling. “Tully” turns out to be not so much insightful as bluntly cathartic for a certain segment of the movie-going audience eager to vomit up their neuroses along with Marlo. As well played (some might say “sold”) by Theron and Davis, “Tully” almost gets away with some nonsensical shenanigans. Rated R for language and some sexuality/nudity. One hour, 35 minutes. — Peter Canavese

MOVIES NOW SHOWING A Quiet Place (PG-13) +++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Life of the Party (PG-13) + Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Avengers: Infinity War (PG-13) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Overboard (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Book Club (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Pope Francis: A Man of his Word (Not Rated) Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Breaking In (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

RBG (PG) Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Deadpool 2 (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Dial M for Murder (1954) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun. Ready Player One (PG-13) ++1/2 Century 20: Fri. - Sun. The Rider (R) +++1/2 Show Dogs (PG)

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

I Feel Pretty (PG-13)

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

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

Isle of Dogs (PG-13)

Guild Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Vertigo (1958) (Not Rated)

Guild Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

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

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 Page 30 • May 18, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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

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

G U I D E TO 2018 S U M M E R C A M P S FO R K I D S

n n o e C c tion p m a C

For more information about these camps visit paloaltoonline.com/camp_connection. To advertise in this weekly directory, call (650) 326-8210.

ACADEMICS Harker Summer Programs

San Jose

The Harker School’s summer programs for children K-grade 12 offer the perfect balance of learning and fun! Programs are led by dedicated faculty and staff who are experts at combining summer fun and learning. Strong academics and inspiring enrichment programs are offered in full-day, partial and morning-only sessions.

www.harker.org/summer

(408) 553-5737

i2 Camp at Castilleja School

Palo Alto

i2 Camp offers week-long immersion programs that engage middle school girls in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). The fun and intimate hands-on activities of the courses strive to excite and inspire participants about STEM, creating enthusiasm that will hopefully spill over to their schoolwork and school choices in future years.

www.castilleja.org/i2camp

(650) 470-7833

iD Tech Camps Campbell

Stanford/Bay Area

The world’s #1 summer STEM program held at Stanford, Palo Alto High School, and 150+ locations nationwide. With innovative courses in coding, game development, robotics, and design, our programs instill in-demand skills that embolden students to shape the future. iD Tech Camps (weeklong, 7-17), Alexa Café (weeklong, all-girls, 10-15), iD Tech Academies (2-week, 13-18).

iDTechCamps.com

(844) 788-1858

KCI Summer Camp

Los Altos Hills

Students ages 11-16 discover endless possibilities as they design and engineer their own projects. Hands-on learning of latest technologies including virtual reality, 3D printing, video production, and more in KCI’s new makerspace.

bit.ly/kcisummercamp

(650) 949-7614

Stanford EXPLORE: A Lecture Series on Biomedical Research

explore-series@stanford.edu

Summer at Sand Hill School

Palo Alto

June 26 to July 20; If you’re looking for a great summer learning plus fun option for your child and you want them to be ready for fall, please join us at Sand Hill. The morning Literacy Program (8:30 to noon) provides structured, systematic instruction for students with learning challenges entering grades 1-8 in the fall. The afternoon Enrichment Camp (Noon to 4) focuses on performing arts, social skills and fun. Choose morning, afternoon or full day. Visit www.sandhillschool.org for more details and application.

www.sandhillschool.org

(650) 688-3605

Write Now! Summer Writing Camps

Palo Alto Pleasanton

Improve your student’s writing skills this summer at Emerson School of Palo Alto and Hacienda School of Pleasanton. Courses this year are Expository Writing, Creative Writing and Presentation Techniques.

headsup.org

Emerson: (650) 424-1267 Hacienda: (925) 485-5750

ARTS, CULTURE, OTHER CAMPS Art and Soul Camp

Palo Alto

Art, cooking, tinkering, yoga and mindfulness. We celebrate multiple perspectives and recognize the many ways for our children to interpret their world. Summer Unplugged! is appropriate for ages 5-13 years. Located at Walter Hays School.

www.artandsoulpa.com

Castilleja Summer Camp for Girls

(650) 269-0423

Palo Alto

Castilleja Summer Camp for Girls Palo Alto Casti Camp offers girls entering gr. 2-6 a range of age-appropriate activities including athletics, art, science, computers, writing, crafts, cooking, drama and music classes each day along with weekly field trips. Leadership program available for girls entering gr. 7-9.

www.castilleja.org/summercamp

Mountain View

Come have a blast with us this summer! We have something for everyone: Recreation Camps, Specialty Camps, Sports Camps, Swim Lessons, and more! Programs begin June 4 – register early!

www.mountainview.gov/register

Community School of Music

(650) 470-7833

(650) 903-6331

Mountain View

Community School of Mountain View Music and Arts (CSMA) Mountain View 50+ creative camps for Gr. K-8! Drawing, Painting, Ceramics, Sculpture, Musical Theater, Summer Music Workshops, more! One and two-week sessions; full and half-day enrollment. Extended care from 8:30am-5:30pm. Financial aid offered.

www.arts4all.org

(650) 917-6800 ext. 0

Let’s Go Crafting

Palo Alto

Let’s Go Crafting’s Studio is where your child will have fun while learning many different fiber related arts. We teach sewing, knitting, crochet, weaving and jewelry making to children ages 8 years to 15 years. AM or PM camps $275/week. Full day camps $550/week. 5 student minimum for all sessions; 10 student maximum. Contact Connie Butner at letsgocrafting@gmail.com.

letsgocrafting.wordpress.com

(650) 814-4183

Palo Alto Community Child Care (PACCC)

Palo Alto

PACCC summer camps offer campers, grades 1st to 6th, a wide variety of fun opportunities. We are excited to announce all of your returning favorites: Leaders in Training (L.I.T.), PACCC Special Interest Units (S.I.U.), F.A.M.E. (Fine Arts, Music and Entertainment), J.V. Sports and Operation: Chef! Periodic field trips, special visitors and many engaging camp activities, songs and skits round out the fun offerings of PACCC Summer Camps. Open to campers from all communities. Register online.

www.paccc.org

Stanford

EXPLORE biomedical science at Stanford. Stanford EXPLORE offers high school students the unique opportunity to learn from Stanford professors and graduate students about diverse topics in biomedical science, including bioengineering, neurobiology, immunology and many others.

explore.stanford.edu

City of Mountain View Recreation

(650) 493-2361

Palo Alto School of Chamber Music

Palo Alto

If you are a violinist, violist, cellist, pianist or wind player and interested in playing chamber music, we are offering three oneweek long summer sessions, M-F from 9:30-12:30. There will be chamber music coaching by professional Palo Alto musicians at the First Lutheran Church at 600 Homer Ave., Palo Alto, culminating in three concerts held on Fridays June 8th, 15th and 22nd at 11:30am. These concerts are open to the public. Program is open to children and adults. Cost is $400 per week. We hope that you can join us. This is a wonderful and greatly satisfying program for all! Please call if you have any questions.

www.schoolofchambermusic.com

Stanford Jazz Workshop

(650) 766-5084

Stanford

On campus of Stanford University, Week-long jazz immersion programs for young musicians in middle school (starts July 9), high school (July 15 and July 22), and college, as well as adults (July 29). All instruments and vocals.

stanfordjazz.org

TheatreWorks Silicon Valley

(650) 736-0324

Los Altos Menlo Park, Palo Alto

Kids can have fun, be a character, and learn lifelong performance skills at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley’s Theatre Camps. Spring Break and Summer camps for K-6.

levels. Weekly programs designed by Kim Grant to improve player technique, fitness, agility, mental toughness and all around game. Weekly camps in Palo Alto and sleep-away camps at Meadowbrook Swim and Tennis.

www.KimGrantTennis.com

(650) 752-8061

Mountain View Tennis Summer Camps

Mountain View

Choose from 10 weeks of Tennis Camp – plenty of play time, focus on fundamentals & sportsmanship, talented coaches, Cuesta courts. Full day or morning camp for 7 to 14 year olds and new, morning camp for 5 to 6 year olds.

www.mountainviewtennis.net

(650) 967-5955

Nike Tennis Camps

Bay Area

Junior overnight and day tennis camps for boys and girls, ages 9-18 offered throughout June, July and August. Adult weekend clinics available June and Aug. Camps directed by head men’s coach, Paul Goldstein, head women’s coach, Lele Forood, and associate men’s and women’s coaches, Brandon Coupe and Frankie Brennan. Join the fun and get better at tennis this summer.

www.ussportscamps.com

Run for Fun Camps

(800) 645-3226

Palo Alto/La Honda

Run for Fun’s mission is to provide creative and engaging play for all youth by getting kids active in an inclusive community centered around outdoor fun! We pride ourselves on hiring an enthusiastic, highly trained staff who love what they do. Summer 2018 features four weeks of Adventure Day Camp and two weeks of Overnight Camp High Five. Adventure Day Camp is a new discovery every day filled with sports, crafts and nature, including explorations to Camp Jones Gulch, Capitola Beach, Foothills Park, Shoreline Lake and Great America. Camp High Five is six days and five nights of traditional overnight camp mixed with challengeby-choice activities, campfires, friendships and lots of laughter.

www.runforfuncamps.com/summer-camps-andschool-holiday-camps/camp-overview (650) 823-5167

Spartans Sports Camp

Mountain View

Spartans Sports Camp offers multi-sport, week-long sessions for boys and girls in grades 1-7, sport-specific sessions for grades 2-9, color guard camp for grades 3-9, and cheerleading camp for grades pre-K – 8. We also offer a hip hop dance camp for grades 1-7. Camp dates are June 4 through July 27 at Mountain View High School. The camp is run by MVHS coaches and studentathletes and all proceeds benefit the MVHS Athletic Department. Lunch and extended care are available.

www.spartanssportscamp.com

Stanford Baseball Camps

(650) 479-5906

Stanford

At Sunken Diamond on the campus of Stanford University. Four or five day camps where the morning session includes instruction in several baseball skills, fundamentals, and team concepts. The afternoon session will be dedicated to playing coach pitched games and hitting in the batting cages. Session 1: June 18 - 22 Session 2: June 25-29 Session 3: July 16-20

www.stanfordbaseballcamp.com

Stanford Water Polo Camps

(650) 725-2054

Stanford

theatreworks.org/youth-programs/for-youth (650) 463-7146

New to water polo or have experience, we have a camp for you. Half-day or full-day options for boys and girls ages 7 and up. All camps provide fundamental skills, scrimmages and games.

ATHLETICS

www.stanfordwaterpolocamps.com (650) 725-9016

Dance Connection Palo Alto

Palo Alto

Share the joy of dance with us! Our studio is an extended family and a home away from home for many community members, and we value the positive energy and atmosphere that we strive to provide. For children and teens. Jazz, Hip Hop, Ballet, Tap, Lyrical/ Contemporary, Children’s Combination. Events/Summer Dance Camps - Summer Session for ages 3 - adults: June 11-August 4.

www.danceconnectionpaloalto.com (650) 852-0418 or (650) 322-7032

Kim Grant Tennis Academy Summer Camps

Palo Alto Monterey Bay

Fun and specialized junior camps for Mini (3-5), Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, High Performance and Elite tennis

Wheel Kids Bike Camps

Palo Alto

At Addison Elem. Adventure Riding Camp for grades 1 - 8, Two Wheelers Club for grades K - 3. Week long programs from 8:30 - 4, starting June 4th. Join us as we embark on bicycling adventures for the more experienced rider or help those just learning to ride.

wheelkids.com/palo-alto

(650) 646-5435

YMCA of Silicon Valley Summer Camps

Silicon Valley

At the Y, children and teens of all abilities acquire new skills, make friends, and feel that they belong. With hundreds of Summer Day Camps plus Overnight Camps, you will find a camp that’s right for your family. Financial assistance is available.

www.ymcasv.org

(408) 351-6473

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • May 18, 2018 • Page 31

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 46 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

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

Home Front HOMESTEADER’S FAIRE ... Backyard gardeners, farmers, makers and fermenters alike are invited to Hidden Villa’s inaugural Homesteader’s Faire on Saturday, May 26, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The public event will feature demonstrations about intentional living, stewardship and self reliance. There will be local food, music and activities for the whole family. The event is free but registration is required to receive a parking pass. Local hobbyists and professionals will be present to answer questions about bees, chickens, dairying, gardening, native plants, preserving, fermenting, fiber crafts and tanning, brewing, herbal remedies, wild foods and meat curing. There also will be docent-led animal tours, crafts and games for kids and a skillsswap table. To get your parking pass, go to hiddenvilla.org.

THE HOUZZ MAY CHECKLIST ... Houzz.com’s Laura Gaskill has put together a “to do” list that can be completed in an hour or less this month to get ready for warmer weather. Check outdoor lighting, including porch lights, landscape lighting and motion-sensing security lights. Inspect kitchen and bath fixtures. Make a plan to re-grout or recaulk around counters and tile as needed. Check smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, smoke alarms should be replaced every 10 years — even if they still appear to be in working order. Check the expiration date on your fire extinguisher and replace it if necessary.

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.