Palo Alto Weekly September 27, 2019

Palo Alto

Vol. XL, Number 52 Q September 27, 2019

Stanford, county lock horns over growth plan Page 5

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ZONE IN SIDE UE TH I S I S S

Debate heats up over cellphone ban in schools Page 16

Spectrum 14 Eating Out 28 Shop Talk 29 Movies 31 Home 33 Puzzles 51 Q Neighborhoods Professorville bonds over lunges, squats Page 8 Q Arts A golden year for Gryphon Stringed Instruments Page 21 Q Sports Paly football hosts defending state champ Friday Page 49

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 3

Building new affordable and subsidized homes on campus.

So families can thrive.

Stanford has been your neighbor for 128 years, and we’ve made it part of our mission to make positive contributions to the local community. That’s why we’re looking to build affordable housing units for graduate students and 550 subsidized apartments for faculty and staff right on campus, so they're close to the heart of Stanford's teaching and research enterprise. Stanford is a world-class institution because those who make up our community thrive.

L E A R N M O R E A T G U P. S T A N F O R D . E D U Page 4 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Tempers flare over Stanford’s growth plan Supervisors at odds over proposed development agreement, which university claims is mandatory for its application to proceed

by Gennady Sheyner

W

ith Stanford University’s bid to dramatically expand its campus entering a critical phase, the university doubled down Tuesday on its demand for a development agreement with Santa Clara County

and suggested that it would not accept the county’s approval of its growth plan without such a deal.

Stanford made the bold announcement during Tuesday’s meeting of the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors, which

is scheduled to review Stanford’s proposed general use permit over a series of three hearings between October and early November. The Tuesday workshop on the permit gave the supervisors and the community a chance to gather some

background information about Stanford’s growth proposal before the formal public hearing begins on Oct. 8.

If approved, the permit would allow Stanford to construct 2.25 million square feet of new academic development along with 2,600 student beds, 550 housing units for staff and faculty and 40,000 square feet for child care centers and transportation

facilities aimed at curbing solo driving. In June, the county’s Planning Commission recommended approving the growth plan but with one key and controversial provision: a requirement for Stanford to build at least 2,172 new housing units, which roughly quadruples the number the university outlined in its proposal. (continued on page 7)

HEALTH

‘There’s a sense of urgency’ Commission calls on city to stop ‘terrible phenomenon’ of vaping among youth

by Sue Dremann

C

(continued on page 10)

(continued on page 12)

Sammy Dallal

“In newspapers, my name was ‘unconscious intoxicated woman,’ 10 syllables, and nothing more than that,” she wrote in her victim impact statement, which she had read in court. “For awhile, I believed that that was all I was. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am.”

alling youth vaping a public health emergency that must be immediately addressed, Palo Alto Human Relations commissioners are urging the city to control vaping among teens, just as the California Department of Public Health has issued a warning about the health risks of the popular method of inhaling vaporized tobacco and marijuana using an e-cigarette.

The commissioners voted 5-0 on Sept. 12, with members Patricia Regehr and Rev. Kaloma Smith absent, to send a memo asking the City Council to direct city staff to work with them, the Palo Alto Youth Council, Palo Alto Unified School District and community partners. Among the actions the commission is requesting: the exploration of changes to laws, regulations and enforcement; preventative, educational and outreach efforts; and additional funding for treatment and related services.

Vaping has become popular with youth, aided by chemical additives that taste and smell like cotton candy, watermelon and other flavors.

The memo, which was moved by Commissioner Steven Lee and seconded by Chairman Gabriel Kralik, authorized Lee and Commissioners Daryl Savage and Valerie Stinger to draft the memo and Kralik, Savage and Stinger to form an ad hoc committee to study vaping.

Teeing off? No sweat!

On a day when the temperature reached 97 degrees in Palo Alto, Ty Lin hits a few balls at the Baylands Golf Links.

CRIME

Chanel Miller speaks out during her first interview about being sexually assaulted by Brock Turner Palo Alto native releases memoir on the assault, trial and aftermath

by Elena or more than four years, what the world knew about Chanel Miller was limited to her physical state at the time Brock Turner sexually assaulted her, the location where the assault took place, the pseudonym used to protect her identity during the

F

Kadvany ensuing trial and the words she read to Turner in a Palo Alto courtroom that would capture the world’s attention before the #MeToo movement even took form.

Miller was the young woman whom Turner, a former Stanford

University student, sexually assaulted outside a fraternity party in 2015. He was later found guilty for three felonies related to the assault and served 90 days of a six-month sentence in county jail.

With the airing of her first-ever interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes on Sunday night, Miller started to reclaim her full identity, filling in the blanks beyond those scant details.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 5

Upfront

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That’s about as derelict as anything I’ve ever heard from anyone in government.

—Dave Cortese, Santa Clara County supervisor, on development agreement with Stanford University. See story on page 5.

Around Town

A NATURAL DISAGREEMENT ...

An effort to open up Palo Alto’s pristine and exclusive Foothills Park to residents from other cities continued to pick up momentum this week, when members of the Parks and Recreation Commission generally supported a one-year pilot program. Under the proposal, non-residents would be able to purchase passes through an online reservation portal and staff would be able to adjust the number of permits to control the crowd. There would be a cap of 50 passes for any given day and a new policy for school field trips, with the goal of getting more students exposed to the 1,400-acre open space preserve. The existing cap of 1,000 visitors per day would remain in place. “We understand how unique and how special this place is,” said Commissioner Jeff Lamere, a member of the ad hoc committee that formulated the new policy. “We also believe, based on looking at historical data and based on speaking to rangers and other people, that there’s also an opportunity to share our amazing resource in a responsible manner with a few more people.” The program would not change the fact that residents will be able to visit the park for free. It should, however, lower number of people that get turned away. Commissioner Ryan McCauley, a member of the ad hoc committee, noted that the number has gone up in recent years. In 2017, staff turned away more than 3,700 non-residents who tried to visit the park, McCauley said. Their colleagues concurred that it’s time to make the park less exclusive.

Commissioner Keith Reckdahl said he generally supports the program and Commissioner Anne Cribbs said it “doesn’t feel right to me to live in a community that has a park that is closed in some sense.” Before the discussion, the commission heard from both supporters and critics of the change. Resident Shani Kleinhaus recommended requiring visitors undergo a training program before they are let in. The park, she said, “should be looked at as a museum for our community. It should not be looked at as something that is a common good.” Former Councilwoman LaDoris Cordell urged the commission to approve the policy as written. “Enough of the elitism and the exclusionism.

Let’s bring the park into the 21st

century. Let’s open the entry gates to those who desire to visit it,” Cordell said.

TRYING AGAIN ... Despite political opposition and legal hurdles, the Chicago-based Adventurous Journeys Capital Partners is pressing ahead with its plan to convert the President Hotel building at 488 University Ave. from an apartment building to a hotel. The company announced this week that it has resubmitted its application. The company plans to invest $50 million in renovating and restoring the building, according to the announcement. Improvements would include the restoration of the building’s roof garden, guestroom renovations and seismic upgrades. The conversion would, however, have to overcome several zoning obstacles, including a city ordinance that the council passed in April prohibiting the conversion of housing units to nonresidential uses during renovations of “grandfathered” downtown buildings that don’t comply with current development standards.

By moving ahead, AJ Capital is banking on the city to give a waiver from the requirement. Alex Stanford, chief development officer of AJ Capital, said in a statement that the company is “dedicated to delivering a project that the City of Palo Alto’s residents and local businesses will be proud of for generations.”

REACHING NEW HEIGHTS ...

Charity took on a whole new meaning when Palo Alto city and Board of Education representatives participated in the third annual Downtown Drop Down, a “Rappel-a-thon” fundraiser for the Downtown Streets Team. Human Relations Commissioner Steven D. Lee and Board of Education member Shounak Dharap were among the regional leaders who took part in the benefit event on Sunday, when they rappeled 16 stories — the equivalent of 236 feet — from the roof of Adobe headquarters in downtown San Jose. The two were part of the Millennial Team that as of Thursday raised $3,206 of its $10,000 goal for the nonprofit, which assists homeless people and those atrisk of becoming homeless with housing, work, stipends and community involvement through volunteer work. Q

Upfront

Stanford (continued from page 5)

B

ut while the Board of Supervisors wasn’t planning to discuss the aborted negotiations over the development agreement Tuesday, the topic returned to the board with a vengeance when Supervisor Dave Cortese lambasted county staff for failing to negotiate with Stanford in good faith. After learning that the development-agreement negotiations were led by the ad hoc committee of Simitian and Chavez with little participation from county staff, Cortese accused County Executive Jeff Smith of “running a rogue operation.”

“That’s about as derelict as anything I’ve ever heard from anyone in government that I’ve ever been in a governance position to supervise ... or keep on my payroll,” Cortese said.

Cortese said he was frustrated by the fact that the board hasn’t been updated about the negotiations with Stanford since it appointed the committee to negotiate with the university.

“I don’t like being in the position of being in the dark as to what’s going on,” Cortese said.

County staff, for its part, has consistently held the position that while it is authorized to negotiate a development agreement, it is not required to do so. Stanford’s prior general use permit, which the county approved in 2000, did not require a development agreement and neither has any other development that the county has ever reviewed.

File photo/ Sinead Chang

One major sticking point between Stanford and the county was whether or not the two sides should move ahead with talks of a development agreement — a negotiated contract that would allow both sides to propose requirements and community benefits that go beyond the county’s regulatory requirements. The county agreed last year to authorize two of its supervisors — President Joe Simitian and Supervisor Cindy Chavez — to enter into negotiations with Stanford over such an agreement.

The negotiations fell apart last April, however, when Stanford reached a separate agreement with the Palo Alto Unified School District on a package of benefits worth an estimated $138 million.

Stanford’s tentative deal with the school district hinged on the county’s approval of a broader development agreement with Stanford — a condition that Simitian and Chavez saw as Stanford’s attempt to get leverage over the county. Once news of the school deal broke, the two supervisors abruptly halted the negotiations over the development agreement. Since then, the county has continued to review Stanford’s application through its typical process, which involves certifying the Environmental Impact Report, imposing conditions of approval and going through public hearings in front of the Planning Commission and the Board of Supervisors.

The development agreement, which Stanford strongly hopes to achieve, would dramatically change the dynamic in the tense negotiations between the university and the county, shifting the county’s role from that of a regulator to that of a partner. County staff has been loath to make that shift, arguing that it would be important to first determine the requirements that Stanford would have to meet before deciding what other benefits and concessions the county should consider in a development agreement negotiation.

Smith said Tuesday that he believes development agreements are “only useful and good where it’s fairly clear exactly what other requests are being made outside the normal process going through planning.”

“In this situation, we have a complex and very complete planning document with lots of conditions of approval. It already went through the Planning Commission and is coming to the board for action. Trying to superimpose the development agreement on top of that is a formula for confusion and not a good approach, in my opinion,” Smith said.

After hearing Smith’s response, Cortese said he thinks it’s “absolutely absurd,” given the Board of Supervisors’ direction from a year ago, for staff not to take a more proactive approach on the development agreement and not make a counterproposal to Stanford.

Stanford has also consistently pressed the county to negotiate an agreement, which university leaders argue is the only way to provide the community with “front-loaded benefits” and provide Stanford with long-term certainty that it will be able to grow. On Tuesday, Catherine Palter, Stanford’s associate vice president for land use and environmental planning, suggested that such an agreement would be a mandatory component of whatever gets approved.

“Since many of these community benefits will need to be provided upfront, we have concluded that it will not be possible to accept a new general use permit without a corresponding development agreement,” Palter said. “Such an agreement will enable us to satisfy the county’s requests and provide the kinds of significant benefits our neighbors seek.

“In return, Stanford receives the predictability that a development agreement affords. We see a permit and the development agreement as a package.”

While some residents touted Stanford’s academic reputation and argued that the university shouldn’t be treated like other developers, Simitian pointed out that Stanford already gets special treatment. The general-use permit process — which effectively allows the university to build any project it wants within a 10- to 20year period without first getting the county’s approval (provided the project is consistent with the permit) — is a tool that exists only for Stanford, he noted.

Stanford has always been able

A man bikes past Stanford University’s Clock Tower in June. The university is applying for a permit from Santa Clara County to further develop its campus. to get the approvals it’s been seeking from the board. The county, he said, has a “128-year history where every single application (from Stanford) has gotten a yes.”

“It seems to me there’s a pretty good track record and a case to be made for pretty responsive if not generous spirit by folks here at the county with respect to the mission of the organization and the development requests,” Simitian said, referring to Stanford.

T

he board’s discussion followed comments from a few dozen public officials and residents, most of whom urged the board to make sure Stanford’s expansion doesn’t aggravate the area’s already considerable housing and traffic problems.

East Palo Alto Vice Mayor Regina Wallace-Jones lauded Stanford as an educational institution but warned about the traffic and housing challenges her city is already experiencing. She said her city would like to see Stanford contribute $20 million for construction of affordable housing in her city and another $15.5 million to help fund necessary transportation projects.

“As we delved into the plan for housing, a lot of the workers, some of which are part-time, some of which are faculty, are not accounted for in the housing. And many of those housing units are sought in the city of East Palo Alto.”

Menlo Park City Councilwoman Betsy Nash said her city, like others, “struggles every day with two large and growing issues: One is inadequate housing availability and housing affordability and the other is traffic congestion that chokes our streets.

“Menlo Park residents, like others in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, are fed up with the situation, and they elected us to do something about it,” Nash said.

Mountain View Mayor Lisa Matichak praised the proposal in her letter to the Board of Supervisors.

Providing on-campus housing, she wrote, “would be a leading step

by Stanford to help address our

region’s housing crisis and reduce potential transportation impacts by allowing faculty, staff and students to walk or bike to work.

“If new housing is not constructed on campus, then there would be greater housing and transportation impacts to the city of Mountain View and other nearby cities,” Matichak’s letter states. “The city appreciates Stanford providing all of its housing on-campus to fully mitigate the significant residential impacts from its proposed academic facility expansion.”

Palo Alto Mayor Eric Filseth focused on the potential traffic problems resulting from Stanford’s expansion and suggested that the university be required to make significant contributions to big-ticket transportation projects.

“There is no dispute that the

city of Palo Alto will be significantly burdened by the addition of nearly 3.5 million square feet of new development,” the letter signed by Filseth states. “Most acutely, the city will experience an increase in commuter congestion on its roadways and multi-modal networks that will extend travel times and exacerbate commuter frustrations.”

The letter argues that to fully mitigate its impacts, Stanford needs to provide “fair share” payments toward separating the Caltrain corridor from streets at intersections (the city estimates that Stanford’s share in the project should be $159 million), improving the downtown transit center ($99 million) and performing roadway maintenance on (continued on page 12)

CityView A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (Sept. 23)

Recycled water: The council discussed opportunities for partnering with Valley Water to expand opportunities to recycle wastewater. Action: None Housing: The council directed staff to continue working on the “Palmer fix,” which would create inclusionary-zoning requirements for new apartment buildings; to explore ways to protect duplexes and cottage clusters; and to explore raising the housing-impact fee for commercial developments. Yes: Unanimous

Board of Education (Sept. 24)

Settlement: The board approved in closed session a $150,000 settlement for a female Gunn High School student who the district found had been sexually harassed by a male student. Yes: Unanimous Parcel tax: The board discussed renewal of the district’s parcel tax. Action: None Cubberley lease: The board heard a proposal for a five-year lease extension for Cubberley Community Center. Action: None A-G report: The board heard a report on A-G graduation requirements for the class of 2019. Action: None

Council Finance Committee (Sept. 24)

Pensions: The committee discussed the CalPERS valuation reports as of June 30, 2018. Action: None

Parks and Recreation Commission (Sept. 24) Rinconada: The commission recommended amending the park improvement ordinance for Rinconada Park. Yes: Cribbs, Greenfield, Lamere, McCauley, Reckdahl Absent: Moss Abstained: McDougall Foothills Park: The commission discussed a pilot program for expanding nonresident access to Foothills Park. Action: None

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

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 7

Upfront

Neighborhoods

A roundup of neighborhood news edited by Sue Dremann

Around the Block

MAYFIELD HISTORY ... Residents and curious Palo Altans can learn more about the history of the town of Mayfield, which Palo Alto incorporated in 1925, on Oct. 6 when author Raye C. Ringholz will speak before the Palo Alto Historical Association about her recently published book, “Mayfield: The Town That Wouldn’t Go Away.”

The lecture takes place from 2-4 p.m. at the Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto. The event is free and open to the public.

WALKING TOURS ... Docentled walking tours by Palo Alto Stanford Heritage (PAST) will take place in College Terrace on Oct. 5; Downtown Palo Alto on Oct. 12; Professorville, Oct. 27; Homer Avenue, Nov. 2. A new tour, Silicon Valley Entrepreneurs, takes place Oct. 19. The tours are free and open to all. They begin promptly at 10 a.m. and last about 90 minutes.

More information is available at pastheritage.org. Q

Got a good neighborhood story, news, upcoming meeting or event? Email Sue Dremann, Neighborhoods editor, at sdremann@paweekly. com. Or talk about your neighborhood news on the discussion forum Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com/square.

Photo by Federica Armstrong

STANFORD-OWNED HOMES ...

As an addendum to the Aug. 23, Palo Alto Weekly story “Stanford is snapping up homes in College Terrace,” university spokesman EJ Miranda provided the following accounting of the university’s faculty and staff residential holdings: 47 homes on Stanfordowned land throughout Palo Alto.

Nineteen are currently groundleased or rented to faculty and staff; the remaining 28 are owned by Stanford (read vacant). Many are being renovated or redeveloped to be ground leased to faculty. In Palo Alto, there are an additional 180 homes at University Terrace (112 condos and 68 single-family homes), 628 rental homes at Stanford West, and 108 rental units at Welch Road Apartments.

Colonnade apartments provides an additional 167 rental units in Los Altos. In addition, 937 homes — mainly single-family homes, duplexes, townhomes, and condos, with six apartments— on the unincorporated Santa Clara County portion of Stanford’s campus. Of these, 98 are owned by Stanford, including 25 townhomes built as rental housing for staff and the six rental apartments.

Residents gather around a giant paella cooker filled with chicken fajitas during the annual Professorville East block party held on Sunday, Sept. 22.

PROFESSORVILLE

Party time Professorville puts on annual block party that is building community in novel ways

by Sue Dremann

I

n the dappled sunlight of a warm afternoon, 26 Professorville residents gathered in the street in a wide circle to squat and lunge. Creaky knees and stiff lower backs got a gentle workout as participants stretched one leg forward or lowered themselves toward the ground.

Isaac Morse, fitness coach/ owner at ACRO Vitality, was leading the lesson in the middle of the 500-block of Kellogg Avenue between Webster and Tasso streets.

“These moves are the canary in the coal mine,” he said, regarding whether people will retain agility as they age or end up in a wheelchair or be unable to rise on their own.

It’s the second year Morse has come to the Professorville East block party, a gathering that has taken place for at least seven years.

Doughnut limbo. Blind wine tasting. Fajitas. Neighbors old and young, newcomers and decadeslong fixtures came out on Sept.

22. Sipping wine and margaritas to live jazz by Gypsy jazz band Farouche, they reveled in the annual ritual. They held new babies,

Page 8 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

regaled each other with tales of travel, and introduced themselves to those they had not met before.

Young children jumped happily in the inflatable bouncy house; middle-schoolers tried snagging bites of sugary doughnuts dangling from strings in a limbo game.

For one afternoon, the months of rushing kids to soccer matches, hustling off to work and dashing outside to put out the trash all melted away. People stopped to pet dogs, share food, beverage and homemade desserts and take time to make the time-old human connections comprising the lifeblood of any neighborhood.

Melanie Mahtani, who spearheaded the event with her spouse, Lisa Kenkel, welcomed the neighbors and handed out name tags. People added their names to the addresses on a neighborhood map.

“It’s really about bringing people together,” Mahtani said.

Kenkel agreed.

“Because of this event, we know people on every block,” she said.

Putting together the Professorville block party is a lesson in community-building in itself.

Each year up to 20 residents start in the spring to plan the autumn fete. The group planning adds to the number of neighborhood meet-ups residents make during the year, Kenkel said.

“It’s an excuse to get together and chat and catch up.”

Once-sporadic block parties became an annual event after Kenkel and Mahtani took Community Emergency Response Training (CERT) classes. They realized it is crucial to know one’s neighbors, Kenkel said.

The block party offers an opportunity to “get a temperature” on the neighborhood — to know the animals, children, who lives in a particular house and which neighbors are going to need assistance, Kenkel said.

“It’s certainly much more enjoyable to go through the neighborhood and not just glance at houses. You think of who is in those homes. You are much more apt to engage when you see people,” she said.

Claire Lauing presided over a giant paella cooker, grilling chicken fajitas. Each year, Lauing has cooked paella to share with all, but this time around she

said she decided to switch to fajitas, a tasty and colorful melange of spicy poultry and vegetables spooned into flour tortillas.

Jack Halliday, a 44-year resident, sat at a picnic table enjoying one of the filled, rolled-up tortillas. He’s watched generations grow up here and he has no desire to leave.

“People say, ‘You’re retired.

Don’t you want to go to a retirement community?’ I say, ‘No. I like to see kids,” he said.

The neighborhood has changed some over the years, with a new and vibrant diversity. A number of new immigrants now inhabit the neighborhood, adding to the colorful mix of cultures and life experiences. “That’s what makes the neighborhood,” Halliday said.

Farther toward Tasso Street, the wine-tasting table was a central hub of activity. Mike Schonenberg poured 10 samples of various wines — reds and whites — into plastic cups. Each bottle was cloaked in brown paper. Participants tasted two samples each of five varietals, trying to judge which was the costlier wine.

Schonenberg and his wife, Tracy Neistadt, have lived in this neighborhood for 12 years.

“I love the neighborhood. I’m able to walk to downtown Palo Alto and I can go to Stanford football games,” she said. “When I see the kids riding bikes to school, it warms my heart and I feel a sense of community.”

Veronica Dao, who scored the wine-tasting contest, grew up in Professorville. When she attended Palo Alto High School, it was easy to make friends, she said.

She moved back to live with her parents after attending college.

“I’ve always enjoyed living here. I’m close with my neighbors,” she said.

Dao works for the city of Palo Alto planning department in administration. Her job has taught her that Professorville is a special place.

“I get many calls from other people complaining about their neighborhoods, and that’s a very different experience than for me,” she said.

Mahtani said she’s building on that sense of community. But she hopes to reach the other members of her neighborhood; the ones who don’t show up to the block party and have a harder time getting to know each other, she said.

“I wonder how to draw them out. I’m grateful that every year more and more people attend.

Even if it’s only for one day, it takes a lot of personal trust and engagement to say ‘This is my community,’” she said. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 9

Upfront

News Digest School district settles sexual harassment case Palo Alto Unified will pay $150,000 to a female Gunn High School student who the district determined was sexually harassed by a male Gunn student in 2018.

The school board unanimously approved the settlement in closed session on Tuesday. The district will pay half and the other half will be covered by the Northern California Relief Joint Powers Authority, which functions as an insurance company representing school districts in liability claims, board President Jennifer DiBrienza said after the board convened in open session. She did not comment further on the settlement.

What was initially a school district Title IX case was brought into the legal system in January by the girls’ parents, who sought to reinstate a district decision to prohibit the male student from participating in robotics altogether. The two students both belong to the Gunn robotics team and dated briefly.

After determining last fall that text messages the male student sent to the girl and comments he made to other students constituted sexual harassment, the district initially banned him from participating in robotics activities starting in January, but later decided to allow him to attend on an alternating schedule with an escort. This prompted the girl’s family to seek a court order to prohibit the boy from participating in robotics.

The six-page settlement releases each party from any future claims. Q —Elena Kadvany

Palo Alto explores new laws to spur housing With housing production falling well short of their goals, members of the Palo Alto City Council clashed and compromised Monday over the best way to support low income residents.

The discussion was prompted by a new memo by Councilwoman Lydia Kou and Councilman Tom DuBois, who argued Monday that the city’s housing efforts are inadequate.

The council ultimately voted to move ahead with several key proposals in the memo. These include implementing the “Palmer fix,” a policy that would require developers of rental properties to designate a percentage of their units for below-market-rate housing. The city’s existing inclusionary zoning policy only applies to ownership units.

The council also agreed to explore protections for low-density buildings, including duplexes and cluster housing.

And in a turnaround, the council agreed to explore roughly doubling the housing-impact fees that the city charges commercial developers. With its unanimous vote, it directed staff to update a nexus study that the city had performed in 2016, when it last considered the fee change. Q —Gennady Sheyner

Council has questions about 911 call Palo Alto City Council members on Monday afternoon said that they still have questions about the police response to a June 3 911 call during which a resident with stroke-like symptoms was kept from receiving medical aid for 14 minutes, but at the same time the council members expressed faith in City Manager Ed Shikada to provide those answers to them.

Mayor Eric Filseth learned about the incident, which was reported on by the Weekly on Sept. 20, after a phone call from the woman’s husband in July, he said on Sept. 23. Filseth then had a number of conversations with Shikada and a couple of discussions with City Attorney Molly Stump. Most of those exchanges have focused on decisions made regarding the city’s staging protocol.

“There are still a number of unanswered questions,” Filseth said, such as “why there is not camera footage from the sergeant (Adrienne Moore).”

On Monday morning he viewed and listened to the body-camera audio and video of the other officer who handled the 911 incident, Officer Yolanda Franco-Clausen.

“Overall, it looks pretty much to me like the emergency responders (police) were trying to diagnose and respond” to the woman, he said, adding that he is not an expert on such matters.

The woman and her husband claim that police overstepped their role on June 3 by trying to assess the woman’s condition rather than determining that she posed no harm to the paramedics who were standing by, ready to treat her.

Filseth said he expects an update from Shikada and called the matter “an operational issue.” The council’s role is to review the policies and procedures and the update from Shikada and to see if the city staff did what they were supposed to do, he said. Q —Sue Dremann and Gennady Sheyner LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com/square

Page 10 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Chanel Miller (continued from page 5)

Miller has always wanted to be a writer. The 27-year-old Palo Alto native majored in literature at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She lives in San Francisco and writes in a small room lined with books and art.

Her memoir about the assault and aftermath, “Know My Name,” was published on Sept. 24.

Miller found out she had been sexually assaulted by reading a news story online at work more than a week after the assault, she told 60 Minutes’ Bill Whitaker.

Though she’d been discovered around 1 a.m. by two graduate students, who intervened in the assault, and was taken by ambulance to Santa Clara Valley Medical Center in San Jose, she was unaware of exactly what had happened, even after she regained consciousness at 4:15 a.m.

Miller said she couldn’t avoid reading the comments section below the article, where posters blamed her for drinking too much and inviting the sexual assault.

“Rape is not a punishment for getting drunk,” Miller said during the interview. “We have this really sick mindset in our culture as if you deserve rape if you drink to excess. You deserve a hangover, a really bad hangover — but you don’t deserve to have somebody insert their body parts inside of you.”

She criticized the media for focusing on what Turner had to lose — his spot at a top university, his achievements as a swimmer, his hopes to compete in the Olympics — rather than “on what had already been lost for me.”

For the first time on Sunday, the public heard more about her emotional state during the trial, which ended in 12 jurors finding Turner guilty of three felonies: assault with the intent to commit rape, sexual penetration with a foreign

Chanel Miller, a Palo Alto native who was sexually assaulted by Brock Turner at Stanford University in 2015, sits for her first public interview on 60 Minutes on Sept. 22. object of an intoxicated person and sexual penetration with a foreign object of an unconscious person.

The pseudonym Emily Doe became the vessel through which she disconnected from the details of the assault.

“I did not want to own that body or occupy it. I didn’t want to have anything to do with that image so I pretended it wasn’t mine. It was Emily’s,” Miller said. “I had to compartmentalize my life. I had to say, ‘Emily and the trauma are over here and then my daily life is over here and I’m going to keep moving.’ All those hateful things they said are about Emily. But they don’t belong to me.

“It’s a very fragmented way of living,” she added.

The line of questioning by Turner’s defense attorney, Michael Armstrong, felt like a second assault, Miller said. She was shocked to hear Turner’s story change from his initial police interview on the night of the assault, with the addition of him explicitly asking and her verbally consenting for him to touch her. He also said that she was awake, conscious and responsive throughout

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council does not have a regular meeting scheduled this week.

COUNCIL FINANCE COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss a revised work plan for a possible 2020 ballot measure. The meeting will begin at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. UTILITIES ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss the city’s sea level adaptation strategy, the 2019 energy reach code, utilities customer programs and utilities strategic plan update.

The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 2, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW BOARD ... The board plans to discuss a proposal to demolish the 94,300-square-foot Macy’s Men’s Building at Stanford Shopping Center and constrict four new retail buildings; and provide input on the Peninsula Corridor Electrification Project on the Caltrain corridor. The meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave. CITY COUNCIL ... The council will meet in a closed session to discuss the performance evaluation for the city clerk. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 3, in the Community Meeting Room at City Hall, 250 Hamilton Ave.

all of their interactions that evening, in contrast to the testimony of numerous witnesses who described her as unresponsive and unconscious.

Because Miller had no memory of the assault, Turner was “able to write the script,” Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci, the prosecutor assigned to the case, said on 60 Minutes.

“This was not a quest for justice but a test of endurance,” Miller writes about the trial in her memoir. She said she kept notes on her phone throughout the process to remember specific details, which would later inform her book.

Like many, Miller was shocked

by Turner’s sentence — six months in jail and three years of probation — compared to the six years in state prison that Kianerci sought.

She was also shocked by the viral response to her victim-impact statement. Thousands of letters, many from survivors disclosing their sexual assaults for the first time, flooded the courthouse the day after her statement was released. The letters were like “medicine” for Miller, working to “dissolve” her shame, she said.

She also drew hope from the two Swedish graduate students.

The 60 Minutes interview shows the three of them meeting for the first time.

“There’s something really beautiful about the intuition in their reaction,” Miller said. “They acted before they could even think.”

Because of the case, the way that California handles sex-related crimes changed. In 2016, former Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a bill that established a mandatory prison sentence of three to eight years for anyone convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious or intoxicated person. California also expanded its legal definition of rape to include all forms of nonconsensual sexual assault.

Because of those changes, Miller said she started to feel hopeful again about the criminal justice system.

“I began to believe again in justice,” she writes in her book. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

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Upfront

Stanford (continued from page 7)

city streets that serve the campus ($1.2 million).

T

he impact of Stanford’s growth on schools is also an area of concern in Palo Alto.

While Stanford has repeatedly assured the district that it will honor its commitment to provide $138 million in benefits to the district, a letter it sent on Sept. 23 appears to both reaffirm this commitment and make it conditional upon the county’s approval of a development agreement.

In the letter, Stanford Vice President Robert Reidy informed the district about Stanford’s decision to “only accept a general-use permit that has feasible conditions that Stanford can implement and that is accompanied by a development agreement.”

Such an agreement, he said, would guarantee that “the university can build its academic buildings under predictable land use rules and regulations.”

“I want to assure you that there will not be a future scenario where Stanford accepts a permit to build new campus housing without providing the committed benefits to Palo Alto Unified School District,

Julia Anne (Clay) Freeman November 24, 1940 – August 28, 2019

Julie was born in Torrance, CA and raised in Alhambra, CA. She attended Garfield Elementary and Alhambra High School before earning a Bachelor’s Degree in English and her teaching credential from the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Her family had a cabin at Lake Arrowhead, where she enjoyed a lifetime of summers water-skiing, boating and swimming. It was there that she met her husband Paul Clark Freeman, during the summer of 1960.

Paul had a summer job working for a lumber company, and Julie worked in the village snack bar. They were married June 23, 1962.

Julie began her teaching career in Burbank, CA, where they welcomed Susie and Wendy. She and Paul bought their first home in La Canada, CA, then moved their young family briefly to Sacramento, CA. They settled in Palo Alto, CA in 1968, where Jay, Andy and Bryce were born and they raised their family.

When her children were young, she was an active volunteer at Green Gables Elementary School; serving as homeroom mom, on the PTA, and helping with Field Days. She taught a creative writing class which was loved and appreciated by many students over the years. She introduced “New Games”, a collection of fun, unconventional activities that involved teamwork and creativity.

Having achieved the Curved Bar as a Girl Scout, she supported Susie and Wendy’s troops.

As her own children grew, Julie returned to teaching as a teacher’s aide at Palo Alto High School. She later worked as a private tutor until her recent retirement.

Her passions and hobbies included reading, writing letters, postcards and thank you notes to EVERYONE, playing the piano and ukulele, singing with the Sunday Singers, baking, book group, tennis, and movies. She traveled to much of the U.S., visited Switzerland, Hong Kong, and Ireland, and enjoyed river cruises on the Columbia and Rhine rivers.

Julie was a devoted Christian Scientist and a 50-year member of the Palo Alto church. She wore many hats multiple times; serving as reading room librarian, on the board, as head usher, on the care and music committees, in the children’s room, and playing piano for the Sunday school. She was ever present.

She was preceded in death by her father John Harold Clay, husband Paul Clark Freeman, mother Edna Lemon Clay, and brother John Cordell Clay, Sr. She is survived by her sister (Laura) Jane Anderson, five children: Susan Gomez (Enrique), Wendy Richardson (Jonathan), Jay Freeman (Charlie), Andy Freeman (Jordana), and Bryce Freeman, and seven grandchildren: Sadie Puicon (Jaime), Abby Puicon, Sebastian Gomez, Isabel Gomez, Ryder Freeman, Hayden Freeman, and Clara Freeman.

Julie will be missed by many, and lovingly remembered by all. A Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday October 5, 2019 at 2:00 pm at the 1st Church of Christ, Scientist, 3045 Cowper Street, Palo Alto, CA 94306. All are welcome. In lieu of flowers or donations, please send a card to someone you love.

PAID OBITUARY Page 12 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

which will be made possible by the package of a permit and a development agreement.”

Despite the letter’s multiple references to a development agreement, school board members at their meeting Tuesday evening interpreted Stanford’s letter as a commitment to deliver the benefits to the district regardless of what approval process is used.

Superintendent Don Austin underscored Reidy’s statement that the university “remains unequivocally committed to the agreement we structured with the Palo Alto Unified School District earlier this year” as a clear indicator that Stanford would provide the benefits — notwithstanding the fact that the agreement earlier this year contained a provision that two county supervisors deemed unacceptable.

Board member Ken Dauber said Stanford’s commitment is “as clear as can be,” while member Shounak Dharap went a step further and said the letter proves that Stanford’s commitment is “not conditional on a development agreement.”

At the Tuesday afternoon meeting of the Board of Supervisors, school board President Jennifer DiBrienza and Vice President Todd Collins both stressed the importance of having Stanford contribute to local education, given the number of new students — an estimated 1,500 — that the university’s expansion would bring to the district.

“We need to make sure the expansion of one great educational institution doesn’t drag down another,” Collins told the board. “Please, please insist on an agreement that protects Palo Alto schools.”

Simitian told the Weekly that even without a development agreement, the Board of Supervisors can require Stanford to contribute to school based on “findings” that the board has to make before it approves use permits.

One such finding requires that the proposed use “not be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare.” If the university adds more than 1,000 students and doesn’t provide funding to the district to help pay for the extra cost of educating the students, supervisors would not be able to make this finding and would have to deny the permit, Simitian told the Weekly.

It’s hard to make an argument that adding that many students and reducing the district’s ability to fund students’ education does not constitute an impact detrimental to “public health, safety or general welfare,” both as the finding pertains to the students currently in the district and to the larger community, he said.

Simitian also suggested that asking Stanford to contribute to Palo Alto schools would be reasonable given the university’s exemption from property taxes. The Office of the County Counsel determined

earlier this month that Stanford, were it not to have exercised its tax-exempt status during the 201819 fiscal year, would have paid $44.5 million to the Palo Alto Unified School District, and a total of $95.9 million to all local jurisdictions in the county, according to memos that Simitian provided to the Weekly.

The office also determined that the Stanford’s exemption leads to higher property-tax bills for households that the school district relies on to pay general obligation bonds.

The exemption adds $118 for every $1 million of assessed value, according to county data.

The topic of schools is expected to take center stage at the Oct. 22 meeting of the Board of Supervisors, which will be held in Palo Alto. In preparation for that meeting, Simitian and Chavez issued a memo asking staff to determine the expected enrollment increase in the Palo Alto Unified School District associated with Stanford’s expansion, the impact of the expansion on per-pupil funding in the school district and other information, and the effect on school revenues of Stanford’s exemption from paying property taxes.

The board’s next review of Stanford’s GUP application is scheduled for Oct. 8 at 70 W. Hedding St. in San Jose. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

Vaping

an executive order by Gov. Gavin Newsom last week to confront the growing youth-vaping epidemic and its health risks.

Almost one in three teens in Santa Clara County have tried electronic cigarettes, according to the California Student Tobacco Survey, which was administered last fall and published in August.

The survey of 18 schools found that more than 13% of high school students currently use e-cigarettes, while only 1.4% currently smoke cigarettes.

The habit starts is fairly inexpensive to start. A liquid pod typically costs $8 to $10 and a device starts at $20. Teens often acquire them as gifts from a friend. Boyfriends and girlfriends often have matching vapes, Rivas said. The youngest child she has encountered with a vaping addiction was 12 years old.

Divya Ganesan, Youth Council secretary and a Castilleja School student, told the commissioners that vaping (also known as Juuling, after the popular Bay Area-based company Juul) is common in Palo Alto schools.

“I think if you talk to any teen nowadays and you say ‘cigarettes,’ they would probably say ‘Eww. That’s gross.’ It’s smoky; it makes your clothes smell and it makes you smell,” she said. “But you talk to a kid who Juuls and Juuling does not make you smell. It looks kind of like the new iPhone. It’s really sleek. It’s like a USB drive.

You plug it into your computer to charge it. The Juul pods are liquid, so it doesn’t feel messy; it feels clean, making people think it is clean and that’s not the case.

“I think the distinction of making Juul some kind of luxury brand … is what makes this such a different issue than other substances that teens have abused before,” she said.

A mother who spoke before the commission, said her son, a Gunn High School student, became addicted last year.

“Our family went into shambles” trying to control his habit, she said.

Her son and about 50 students started attending smoking parties organized on SnapChat. They sneak the devices into classrooms and have contests to see who can smoke more puffs in class without getting caught. The school district doesn’t have funding to catch kids who are vaping, she said.

Commissioners said they were stunned by the statistics.

“This is a pretty open-and-shut case of taking vulnerable teenagers and hurting them and causing havoc in families and causing havoc in schools,” Kralik said.

He said noted that the Youth Council made a presentation to the City Council months ago, but the council has yet to take action, which he’s found frustrating.

Lee concurred.

“There’s a sense of urgency, and quite frankly, outrage that our public officials haven’t taken action.

The scale and breadth of this issue requires that we use ... all of the tools in our tool box. The city needs to make this a priority. We need the resources of the city to work with us,” he said. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

(continued from page 5)

“This is an emergent public need that needs to be addressed. It’s a terrible phenomenon that’s going on with our children,” Kralik said after hearing a report from two experts from the nonprofit Adolescent Counseling Services and statements by a student and the parents of children who have become addicted.

Kyle Greenman and Samantha Rivas of Adolescent Counseling Services’ Adolescent Substance Abuse Program, said vaping, which was introduced in 2007, has become the most common form of inhaling nicotine, with a 600% surge in sales between 2016 and 2017.

Depending on the product, the “pod” (which contains the vaping liquid) contains between 41 mg and 90 mg of nicotine; a traditional cigarette contains 20 mg. The vaping liquid also contains a wide range of cancer-causing chemicals, they said.

Authorities suspect the habit could be deadly. As of Sept. 24, 90 people in California who have a history of vaping have been hospitalized for severe breathing problems and lung damage this year, and two people have died, according to the department.

On Tuesday, the health department issued a health advisory warning the public to refrain from vaping, no matter the substance or source, until current investigations into the cause of the reported serious lung damage have been completed. The advisory follows

Upfront

Abilities United 28th Annual

TRANSPORTATION

Bike Palo Alto 10th anniversary offers new, fun activities

Saturday November 2, 2019 | 10:30 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Crowne Plaza Cabaña Hotel

Glass pumpkin patch, EcoCenter and donkeys are part of this year’s routes meet and hear these acclaimed authors

by Sue Dremann

B

ike Palo Alto, the city’s annual community bicycling event, is stepping up the fun for its 10th anniversary on Sunday, Sept. 29, with destination events that include glass-blowing demonstrations, Palo Alto Baylands tours and nose-to-nose visits with Barron Park’s movie star donkey, Perry, the model or the donkey in the movie “Shrek.”

The bike tours, which take place from 1-3 p.m., encourage people of all ages to reduce their carbon footprint. The free event kicks off the Fall Walk & Roll Week in Palo Alto Unified School District schools. It’s a chance to discover bike bridges, underpasses, bike boulevards and pathways.

To sweeten the deal, treat stops dot each route. Three of the four rides are suitable for families and amateurs and are on fairly flat terrain, co-organizer Penny Ellson said.

Registration and all bike routes start at Fairmeadow Elementary

School, 500 East Meadow Drive.

Bike-safety checks, helmet fittings and booths with information about bicycle safety will be at the school.

The 9.2-mile (6.8 miles when using a shortcut) route, called the “yellow route,” takes riders through parts of Palo Alto and Menlo Park. A stop at Heritage Park in Palo Alto includes a station for decorating bikes. The route wends to the historic redwood El Palo Alto and continues to Menlo’s Burgess Park, where riders can make their own blender-bicycle smoothie.

The 8.3-mile (7.9 miles with a shortcut) “red route” takes riders west from Fairmeadow School to a secret pathway for a treat at Robles Park, then by a bike bridge to another secret passage off Monroe Drive. The route continues to Los Altos for a stop at the Sweet Shop for a frozen yogurt sample.

On the return trip, riders go on the Bol Park bike path to visit the Barron Park donkeys Perry and Jenny, then to the fountain near

the California Avenue Caltrain station for a snack before heading back through the California Avenue tunnel.

If birds and brine are more to one’s liking, the “blue route” is a 9.6-mile sojourn to the Ross Road YMCA, up Ross Road Bicycle Boulevard and on to the Great Glass Pumpkin Patch at Palo Alto Art Center, where glassblowing demonstrations will happen every half hour. After a stop at Edgewood Plaza Shopping Center for pastries, the tour heads to the Baylands EcoCenter, where Environmental Volunteers will host blender-bike smoothies, docent-guided interactive exhibits and microscopes for viewing tiny marsh creatures. Birding and expansive views of the bay top off the experience.

For die-hard bikers, the Grand Tour route is an 18.3-mile journey encompassing all of the other routes.

Registration and downloadable route maps are available at bikepaloalto.org. Q

Cathleen Schine David Maraniss J. Ryan Stradal Deborah Underwood Special Thanks to Our Sponsors Gold

Goldman Sachs Gives Laurie Jarrett Christina Kenrick John McNellis Rachel and Simon Segars Stanley E. Hanson Foundation Patty and Jim White

Silver

Claudia Claussen Nancy Drapkin El Camino Health Jennifer Wagstaff-Hinton and John Hinton Ellen Jones Susan and Sanjay Vaswani Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati Foundation

To purchase tickets, visit AbilitiesUnited.org 650-494-0550 • info@AbilitiesUnited.org affiliated with GATEPATH

More information about upcoming events can be found at cityofpaloalto.org/workshops. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 13

Editorial Stanford’s odd ultimatum As it preps for public hearings on its 25-year development application, university demands a closed-door negotiation instead

S

tanford University and Santa Clara County staff are locked in an unusual conflict over how the university’s application should be handled by the county Board of Supervisors, a disagreement that few in the public understand or consider important.

As the supervisors proceed toward public hearings in the weeks ahead and a decision on Stanford’s general-use permit application, Stanford is not helping itself or serving the community’s interests by demanding a different process that consists of confidential negotiations behind closed doors.

The university’s preferred process amounts to freewheel bargaining between the applicant and the government agency, where deals are struck to trade off some requirements in exchange for obtaining other benefits that the public may want but has no legal authority to require. In the end of the process, the applicant and staff release the resulting “development agreement” that spells out the commitments of the applicant. The agency, in this case the county Board of Supervisors, then holds public hearings and votes on the agreement. This is not the normal way government agencies consider development proposals, and Santa Clara County has never used it.

County staff are instead following the traditional legal process, which involves the staff recommending conditions of approval, including measures necessary to mitigate the impacts of the development, followed by public input and final action. That approval process is well underway. The county Planning Commission has already held hearings and approved the staff-recommended conditions of approval.

Stanford has strong objections to some of the conditions, including requirements that it provide more housing than the university originally proposed and meet stringent new traffic requirements based on a more aggressive monitoring system. It says these conditions, when taken together, are infeasible.

But instead of either reducing the 3.5 million square feet in its development proposal or focus on persuading the county and public to agree to specific changes to the proposed conditions, Stanford has decided to threaten the withdrawal of its application unless negotiations get shifted to a closed-door development agreement process.

The Board of Supervisors and the public should strongly resist this attempt. The county staff has prepared, in good faith, conditions of approval that seek to give Stanford all the development approvals it seeks for the next 25 years while protecting the surrounding communities from the impacts created by that development.

Stanford University already enjoys tremendous exclusive benefits from the county, including the opportunity to avoid going through a separate permit process as it constructs each building. Once approved, for the next 25 years Stanford will be free to proceed with its plans with minimal involvement of the county other than to ensure compliance with the conditions of approval.

Stanford has not made the case that a change in the process is needed or desirable. Its statement that “under a development agreement, Stanford is able to provide significant community benefits, and even front-load those benefits, because of assurances from the county that the university can build its academic buildings under predictable land use rules and regulations” is vague, unpersuasive and fails to explain why the same cannot be accomplished through the current open public process.

With under 200,000 square feet left to develop from its current permit, Stanford can hardly afford to walk away from its new application. Let’s hear the arguments and the university’s alternative proposals for mitigating the impacts of its growth. But thinking its best strategy is to threaten the withdrawal of its application in order to get all or part of its application diverted to a development agreement is a recipe for confusion, further delay and unpredictable and unaccountable horse-trading. The normal process worked fine for Stanford when its current use permit was approved in 2000.

In the meantime, a piece of good news this week: Stanford has informed the Palo Alto Unified School District that when it builds new housing on campus as a result of being granted a new generaluse permit, it will honor the commitment it made earlier in the year to pay the district about $6,000 a year for every additional student who enrolls in the school district who lives in new tax-exempt housing, as well as other benefits that could total as much as $138 million over 40 years.

The public is not served by any process that pushes the negotiation of critical issues behind closed doors. Much as Stanford might prefer otherwise, the county has oversight of development on the campus and is right to insist on following a normal, open process in which the public can fully observe and participate. Q

Page 14 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Guest Opinion Ravenswood’s going in the right direction

by Emily Egbert

R

ecently, the Pa lo A lto Weekly published an article regarding tensions within the Ravenswood City School District’s Board of Trustees. While there may be tensions at the board level, it is important for the entire community to know that the tensions end there. The environment, climate and overall energy at the district and school levels — including our unwavering commitment to our students — have never been stronger.

It is unfortunate that the article focused only on the concerns of two school board members from the previous regime associated with Dr. Gloria Hernandez-Goff.

Their opinions do not reflect the views of the majority of the school board, teachers and staff, and it is a disservice to our community to suggest otherwise. Although I am one teacher, I have been an educator for 22 years — 16 in Ravenswood — and I believe I speak for all of the teachers and staff in saying that the district has never had such positive energy.

With the removal of Hernandez-Goff, the school district has utterly been transformed. The district office used to be a place that was avoided at all costs; in fact, one would say it was working in a completely different world from our schools. Fast-forward to today: The district office is full of life, full of happy employees excited to be at work and full of energy for our students.

Each day I walk into school and see my colleagues smiling, talking and ready to work together.

I now regularly see people from the district office, including interim Superintendent Gina Sudaria, at our site, and teachers, including myself, are often at the district office. Just the other day at 6 p.m. I was leaving the district office and while I walked down the hall I heard laughs, lots of talking and people in almost every room working together.

Everyone greeted me (even the ones I didn’t know) — and just like that the district office and schools joined the same world.

We are now a place that

encourages tr ust, transparency and inclusion. And leading this dramatic transformation in culture and increase in staff morale is Gina Sudaria.

With over 20 years of experience, she knows this district on every level. She has brought transformational and distributed leadership to every position she has held. She has introduced brand new STEM, art and multimedia programs, created literacy initiatives, launched facilities upgrades and brought about transformational professional development. Every student in our district now gets to go to the Makerspace weekly, which provides them with opportunities to explore and learn STEAM subjects through handson experiences. They are coding, designing, creating and learning essential skills for the 21st century. We have art and music specialists who are providing these every day, in addition to connecting us with local art institutions that provide field trips to help students synthesize what they are learning in class. Each site was also given two reading specialists/coaches to provide reading intervention and teacher support/coaching. In addition, there are also several classes now being offered after school for any teacher to take. These classes will improve our craft and also provide units to help our new teachers fulfill their license requirements. But most importantly, Gina Sudaria has shown that she values every child, staff member and parent.

Sudaria is an experienced, ethical, and inspiring leader. She values what we teachers do; she trusts us to be the experienced professionals that we are and absolutely supports us in our work. She regularly spends time at each school seeing kids, staff members and parents.

This is my 22nd year teaching, and I have worked under five different superintendents. Out of those five, Gina Sudaria is the only one who has ever taken the time to talk to teachers and truly listen. She has done more in six months than any other superintendent did in their entire term.

Our experience is precisely the opposite of what Trustee Ana Pulido alleged in the article, that we are somehow coming to dismantle progress and set the district further back. Quite to the contrary, with Gina Sudaria at the helm, we are dedicated to accelerating progress and building a thriving education community.

Indeed, we have already signed an agreement (ending two-plus years of negotiations) with both our unions that includes muchneeded raises for both teachers and classified staff. And in order to make this happen, Sudaria and the rest of the district administration did not receive salary increases.

It is important to clarify another reference made in the article regarding the district’s upcoming search for a new superintendent.

Although this is standard, we are lucky to already have the best candidate in the position, one who has the expertise and vision to lead this district. Gina Sudaria has the trust and respect of every teacher and employee at the Ravenswood City School District and has built relationships with generations of our families faceto-face and day after day. Several teachers, including myself, only decided to stay and continue in Ravenswood because she became our superintendent and finally gave us hope that we could move the district in the direction we all want it to go.

Voters spoke clearly last fall, recognizing that their previous choice to lead this district, despite some policy victories, could simply not overcome the toxic environment the leadership itself created. We deeply appreciate the work done by the board members to create a vibrant district for students, but it is not about any board member’s or superintendent’s legacy. The work we have before us is what we owe our children. There are inequities in our community.

The schools are the front line in combating those disparities. In Gina Sudaria, we have the leader we have hoped for, and we unequivocally support her.

We are #oneravenswood. Q Emily Egbert is a teacher at Costaño Elementary School and can be emailed at eegbert@ ravenswoodschools.org

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 15

Cover Story

No phone zone

Educators, parents, youth debate how to handle students’ ‘distracting’ access to cellphones in schools Story by Elena Kadvany | Photos by Magali Gauthier

E

very year on the first day of school, longtime Gunn High School teacher Josh Paley throws his cellphone against the wall.

He does this to illustrate a double standard — that students are expected to put their phones away during class while teachers are not. He then explains his classroom cellphone policy, which is more restrictive than the school’s. He asks students to put their phones away in numbered pouches that hang on the wall for the duration of class. If he catches anyone with their phone out, he confiscates it for the day.

“The reality is that the cellphone is such a distraction,” Paley said in an interview. “The temptation to go and use it is patently obvious.”

Paley is one of many teachers at Gunn and Palo Alto high schools who have devised their own ways to deal with what they describe as increasingly distracting cellphone use during class. Others ask students to put their phones into backpacks and put the backpacks at the back of the classroom. One teacher has asked students to put their phones into a basket prior to taking tests to prevent cheating (which one student reportedly circumvented by bringing more than one phone to class that day).

While cellphones have become a pervasive part of daily life, some high schools are taking steps to curtail their presence during school hours. Last year, San Lorenzo High School banned phones during the school day, citing research showing the detrimental effects of phones on learning and students’ well-being. Inappropriate cellphone use had become the East Bay school’s top discipline issue and was damaging relationships between students and staff, according to school leaders.

“We believe this change will make a dramatic difference in our school climate, culture and academic achievement,” Allison Silvestri, then-principal of San Lorenzo High School, wrote in a letter to families.

San Mateo High School followed suit this fall in response to teachers who were at the end of their ropes with monitoring students’ phone use. Post-ban, both high schools say students are more engaged during class and interacting more with classmates during breaks and lunch. Teachers and parents in neighboring districts, including in Palo Alto, are watching closely to see how the new policy goes at these schools.

While there is no concrete proposal for a cellphone ban in the Palo Alto Unified School District, there is an appetite for one among some frustrated teachers and a group of parents organizing around the issue. But others, including students, defend cellphones as valuable educational tools as well as an opportunity to teach teenagers responsible use before they go on to college or a career.

Having teachers decide

B

oth Palo Alto high schools’ cellphone polices are laid out in their student handbooks. At Gunn, electronic drives — including cellphones, smart watches and computers — are not permitted in any class unless allowed by the teacher.

Paly prohibits use of social media, texting, messaging, gaming or streaming videos on devices at school. The handbook notes, “Students may find games, applications and social media available on cellphones addictive. In these cases, the education of such

Page 16 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Joshua Paley, a computer science teacher at Henry M. Gunn High School, instructs his students on Sept. 19. In Paley’s classroom, students must place their phones in numbered storage pockets at the start of the period. students is greatly disrupted, and this behavior may lead to further problems.” Paly teachers and staff can confiscate phones if they are “judged to be disruptive,” the handbook states.

At the private all-girls Castilleja School, middle schoolers are not allowed to use cellphones during the school day without adult permission and high schoolers can only use them during free time outside of classrooms, the student handbook states. Students who use phones “inappropriately” during school hours may have them taken away.

At Paly and Gunn, much is left to the discretion of individual teachers. Paley, who has taught computer science and mathematics at Gunn for 18 years, implemented the pouches last year.

They make a difference, he said.

He’s supportive of a school-wide ban.

“What I really want is the student to be present in my classroom — present, alert, engaged in any kind of discussion we have, engaged with fellow students,” he said.

Even as a computer science teacher, he doesn’t see a need for smartphones at school.

“Until people have really good ideas on how to use the technology so that it’s not more disruptive than it is productive,” Paley said, “I want them out of the classroom.”

Gunn’s history and math departments, as well as the Focus on Success program for students who need additional academic support, exclusively use the pouches, according to teacher Marc Igler, who is also vice president of the teachers union. Teachers have asked the administration to develop a broader policy, he said.

Gunn Principal Kathie Laurence did not respond to repeated interview requests for this story. Paly Principal Adam Paulson did not respond to emailed questions. Superintendent Don Austin declined an interview request.

Igler, who teaches English, typically relies on a “stern warning and lots of follow-up” on cellphone use during class but said he’s going to try out the pouches with new freshman and

sophomore classes next semester.

Several teachers said they find upperclassmen to be better at selfregulating their phone use.

“It’s almost like freshmen and sophomores, they can’t resist it,” Igler said. “The unconscious pull of the cellphone can be a problem.”

The fight over phones can also create tension between students and teachers and damage the classroom dynamic, Igler said.

While a campus-wide ban would be a “clean solution,” he’s not sure there’s broad support for one among Gunn teachers.

Kristy Blackburn, who teaches English and journalism at Gunn, acknowledged that phones have become a major distraction over the last decade but doesn’t support a blanket ban. Her journalism students, for example, rely on their smartphones as a reporting tool — to take photos, record interviews and cover breaking news or events.

There’s also a difference in opinion among teachers at Paly.

Eric Bloom reminds his students to put their phones away at

Cover Story the start of class. He attached an old iPhone to his classroom’s door jamb as a humorous reminder to students to do so. He’s not interested in policing students by taking away their phones. If there are a few free minutes at the end of a period, he encourages students to talk to each other instead of automatically reaching for their phones.

He questioned how well a campus-wide ban would be received by schools with strong cultures of autonomy.

“At Paly and Palo Alto in general those kinds of broad, sweeping command kinds of things just don’t seem to work very well,” Bloom said.

Paly history and social science teacher Chris Farina has for years been requiring students to put their phones away during class in backpacks or pockets. He pointed to research showing there’s a cognitive cost to simply having a phone out, even if it’s not turned on or in use.

But he’s not completely for a ban. There’s some value, he said, in leaving it to teachers’ discretion to decide how to handle phones in their classrooms, particularly if they use it as an educational tool.

“Also, I think there’s value in setting it as an expectation in your classroom and asking the students to develop the habits around responsibility and keeping it away, cultivating that behavior rather than just imposing it on them at this age level,” Farina said. He talks with students about the research on cellphones’ effects and more broadly, the role of technology in the classroom, such as taking long-hand notes versus on a laptop.

School board member Melissa Baten Caswell also argued that teaching students responsible use is preferable than trying to create a “hermetically sealed environment.” She’s heard from parents who want to ban phones at school and others who agree that teenagers need to learn to self-monitor.

“When you have a challenge with kids’ behavior I think we immediately jump to, ‘Let’s just take away the thing that’s creating that behavior,’” she said. “It’s definitely harder to spend time on teaching kids to make good decisions, and maybe we haven’t been spending enough time on that.”

Nathan Strope, a senior at Palo Alto High School, slaps the iPhone his teacher, Eric Bloom, has mounted on the door jamb on his way into class on Sept. 20. it’s important?’ And even though it rarely is, there’s always that constant notion of ‘I feel like I’m missing something.’”

Senior Claire Cheng has had teachers using their own phone pockets since her freshman year.

This year, two out of her seven classes use them and a third teacher asks students to put their phones away in their backpacks when they enter his classroom.

These measures are effective from her perspective — she feels more engaged in those classes — but a complete ban would be “inflexible.” What if a student needs to leave early, or has a mid-day prep period during which they need their phone to get work done?

Students also use their phones to send each other reminders about club meetings and assignments throughout the day, she said.

“It definitely is harmful when

you aren’t able to communicate with people virtually during the day,” Cheng said.

Both Gordon and Cheng said they would expect students to oppose a ban if proposed in Palo Alto.

At San Mateo High School, phasing in the ban with ample opportunity for public feedback helped reduce pushback, Assistant Principal Adam Gelb said in an interview with the Weekly.

The school started by piloting a few phone-free classrooms last spring, and some students voluntarily gave up their phones for the day. The school held more than 10 public meetings to gather input from students, staff and parents.

Most parents there support the ban, he said, but the top concern is how to reach students in the case of an emergency, such as a school shooting. Both schools encourage

parents to call the front office if they need to get in touch with students in an emergency.

Both San Mateo and San Lorenzo high schools use Yondr pouches — small gray, cloth bags in which students lock their phones for the day. They keep the pouches on them but cannot access them until they’re unlocked at the end of the day. The founder of the San Francisco company created the pouches to encourage more in-person interaction at concerts, but they’re now being used at schools, courtrooms, medical facilities and other spaces. According to Yondr, San Lorenzo was the first school in California to use the pouches all day rather than in some classrooms.

The pouches cost about $12 each. For a high school the size of Paly or Gunn, that would cost about $24,000.

Working through the complications

O

ne of Farina’s AP psychology students, senior Ben Gordon, does feel more engaged when his phone is away. He thinks his peers also pay more attention in that class. He grapples with the compulsive pull of his phone — constantly wondering if there’s a text or social media comment that’s come in that he “needs” to check.

There’s “that feeling when I finally get access to my phone: ‘What’d I miss? What’d I miss?’

It’s almost like an unconscious, jittery fear,” he said. “’What if

A student looks at his phone before slipping it into a Yondr pouch at the start of the day at San Mateo High School, which has banned students from using their cellphones during school.

San Mateo High School created a procedure for when students need to access their phones. The school issues to all students bright yellow “consideration cards” that students can put on their desk in order to go to the front office to check in with an adult who either unlocks their pouch or lets them use a landline phone.

Students have found workarounds to the pouches but for the most part comply, Gelb said.

“I get there are benefits to having phone during the school day, but teachers saw it was a constant battle for attention. An engaging teacher who has put a lot of effort into a lesson might go unnoticed, and students might perform poorly on an assessment because of their distraction and addiction to the screen,” he said.

For some teachers, cellphones are just the tip of the technological-distraction iceberg. To ban them would raise the question of what to do with the other kinds of electronic devices in classrooms across Paly and Gunn. Both schools provide all students with a district-issued Chromebook, for example, many of which are used during classes and have the same potential for distraction as a phone.

Teachers said they’re also seeing students listening to music during class using wireless earbuds.

Paley pointed to Schoology, the district’s online school-management system, as another source of distraction and anxiety. Students — and parents — have immediate access to grades, homework assignments and other class content on website. If a student logs onto Schoology during class, they’re “one click away from having a complete distraction,” he said.

San Mateo High School also has Chromebooks in almost every (continued on page 18)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 17

Cover Story

Cellphones (continued from page 17)

classroom. Gelb said teachers monitor students’ screens and ask them to close anything that’s nonacademic or class-related.

Differing opinions on the board

T

odd Collins, vice president of the Board of Education, reached out to Gunn Principal Laurence and top district administrators last February about trying out Yondr after reading news stories about San Lorenzo High School. He said there wasn’t much interest at the time.

“I’m increasingly concerned that there are public health risk type issues associated with universal cellphone usage at all times,” Collins told the Weekly.

“It just changes so fundamentally the way people interact with each other. Getting people to interact with each other is a huge part of what education is.”

Collins thinks a ban could be tried on a limited basis in a single classroom, department or school even if there are logistical challenges or potential for student and parent pushback. The district can tap two local high schools that have actual experience in the process to navigate implementation issues; staff at both schools have

offered to come and talk to teachers and administrators here.

“We’re not doing our jobs right if we ignore an idea like this that other people are adopting,” he said.

One of his board colleagues, however, thinks locking away students’ phones would divert the schools’ attention from more impactful changes, such as implementing the district’s homework policy and having later school start times.

“Students who are stressed and deprived of sleep but without cellphones are still going to be stressed and deprived of sleep,” board member Ken Dauber said.

“I would rather focus on those I think more fundamental problems than focus on this specific issue.”

A group of Palo Alto Unified parents who have become increasingly concerned about cellphone use are starting to organize around the issue. Dave Shen, whose children attend district elementary schools, is part of that informal effort and said they will likely lobby the superintendent, district administrators and school board members — as well as students — to propose a ban. Shen thinks the district should not simply institute a ban in isolation but make sure to also create classes or otherwise educate students about responsible technology use and technology’s effects on the brain and body.

His own concerns run the gamut, from the detrimental

A student opens her Yondr pouch using a powerful magnet at San Mateo High School, which this fall instituted a ban on students’ cellphone use at school. Administrators there say students are now more engaged and interacting with one another. social-emotional impact of phones and social media to health risks like excessive blue light exposure to eyes. Shen, the co-vice president of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs’ health and wellness committee, pointed to the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study, the largest long-term study of brain development and child health in the United States, funded by the National Institutes of Health

(NIH), which found that children who spent more than seven hours a day on screens showed premature thinning of the cerebral cortex, which is responsible for executive functioning.

Above all, the cost of cellphones in an educational setting is obvious, Shen said.

“If we’re stuck in a screen, we’re not focusing on the world,” he said. Q

Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

About the cover: Kai Park, a junior at Henry M. Gunn High School, smiles after his teacher tells him to put his cellphone in a numbered storage pocket on Sept. 19.

Photo by Magali Gauthier.

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Page 18 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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Page 20 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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

Paul Jacobs restrings a guitar at Gryphon Stringed Instruments in Palo Alto, which will celebrate its 50th anniversary this weekend. hen Frank Ford and Richard Johnston first met as college students back in the 1960s, introduced by a mutual friend, it was evident they were kindred spirits.

“I was startled to find somebody who knew so much about old instruments. He was really surprised to meet somebody who, upon getting his first guitar, started modifying it right away,” Ford recalled.

“We found ourselves almost talking in code, boring the crap out of everyone around us, not talking about music itself but the instruments,” he laughed.

Despite the friendship-at-firstsight, young Ford and Johnston never expected that mutual music geekery to form a partnership that’s lasted half a century, but the homemade luthier business they founded in 1969, Gryphon Stringed Instruments, has expanded into a flourishing repair shop, retail store and local music hub that’s this week celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Gryphon, Frank said with a grin, is just another Palo Alto garage startup. He and Johnston began getting together at Ford’s Margarita Avenue home and building instruments from scratch. In 1969, they decided to become a “not

Lambert Avenue business celebrates 50 years in the local music community

by Karla Kane | photos by Magali Gauthier exactly very formal business,” based on a handshake partnership.

Searching for a name, they picked Gryphon, inspired by the mythological beast.

“We settled on that because it was the coolest-looking one that had a name that wasn’t so unwieldy,” Ford said.

After a few years, it became apparent that their homespun model wasn’t sustainable and that there was a market for skilled repair work. In 1973 they rented a tiny Palo Alto storefront and also began selling used and new instruments (today they still sell mostly acoustic fretted instruments, including guitars, mandolins, basses, banjos and ukuleles, but also a few select electrics) and accessories. They also met many friends who were music teachers seeking room to give lessons, so

they decided to search for a bigger space that could serve that need. A few years later, they moved from El Camino Real to their current location at the corner of Park Boulevard and Lambert Avenue. They occupied only the front half until 1994, when they expanded to fill the entire cavernous space.

Rare in a society where independent, brick-and-mortar shops seem increasingly endangered, Gryphon is going strong, employing around 15 staffers plus hosting a similar number of music instructors, including Carol McComb, who’s been teaching group vocal and guitar lessons at Gryphon for decades, and Jack Tuttle, a noted teacher whose children practically grew up at Gryphon (see story on page 23 for an interview with Molly Tuttle, whose photo on the cover of Acoustic Guitar

Magazine is framed and displayed at the shop). The Gryphon Carolers, which grew out of McComb and Ed Johnson’s classes, have been entertaining the community annually during the holidays since 1975.

Lisa Sanchez has been coming down from San Francisco twice a week since 1992 to teach guitar at Gryphon. “The students, many of whom are from the local community, are an interesting, motivated group of people,” she said, describing Gryphon as a welcoming, non-threatening environment for musicians of all levels. “The owners are really good guys.

Frank and Richard set the tone at the store and they know how to make things work,” she said. “I credit them with the store’s great success.”

Roz Lorenzato, who’s been

teaching guitar, mandolin, banjo and bass for 14 years, told the Weekly she still considers herself a “newbie” compared to how long some have been there. She described Gryphon as a “popand-pop” shop with a close-knit, family feeling.

“They have helped me immeasurably with everything from referring students, fixing instruments and guiding me with my silly projects. But more than that, they have let me be a part of their clan,” she said.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon visit, Ford and Johnston did indeed imbue a paternal air of pride as they introduced their staff members (many of whom are also musicians and instrument builders in their own right).

Paul Jacobs, working at the checkout counter near a display of handmade “Frank’s Cranks” string winders, noted he’d seen many local music stores shutter since he was a music-loving teen in the 1960s. “Palo Alto’s changed a lot,” he said. Gryphon, along with Gelb Music in Redwood City, seems to defy the odds.

Employees are provided lunch each day, Ford explained, a perk (continued on page 22)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 21

Arts & Entertainment

Left, Frank Ford, co-founder of Gryphon Stringed Instruments, repairs a banjo. Above, the busy repair shop forms a major part of Gryphon’s business. Below, in an archive photo from the 1980s, Ford and co-founder Richard Johnston build a banjo together.

Gryphon (continued from page 21)

Courtesy of Gryphon Stringed Instruments

to make up for the frequent interruptions and busy schedules that make longer breaks impractical.

As Ford worked in the bustling repair area on restoring a mandolin that he himself had built in 1970, Johnston led a tour of the catacomb-like upper floor of the shop, filled with a wide variety of instruments in various states of repair, including a banjo from the 1890s. “Keeping track of it all drives us nuts,” he admitted with a laugh.

“Our primary goal and mission is the service we do on the instruments; it’s what makes us different in an industry dominated by the likes of Amazon, the big-box places,” Ford said. Keeping Gryphon going over the years hasn’t been easy.

“Nobody is recession-proof around here. Our business had a devastating depression centered around 1983-84,” Ford said, when “literally 85% of the music market went away.” Many factors contributed, including a general economic downturn, a defunding of school music programs, a changing

Page 22 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

demographic as boomers turned away from musical hobbies and an increase in synthesized and electronic music.

“We saw music store after music store drop out. We were paralyzed; we went for a couple of years with literally no business at all,” Ford recalled. “Our accountant came and said, ‘You may not know it but you’re out of business, you need to sell everything until you have nothing left.’ We said, ‘No we don’t, we’ll stick it out; the world is going to come back to playing guitar.’”

Sure enough, acoustic music made a comeback and Gryphon carried on. The enthusiastic return of the ukulele in recent decades has also been an unexpected boon.

“We couldn’t be happier about that,” Ford said.

Gryphon has had to evolve with the times, as they now, somewhat reluctantly, also do plenty of business via the internet, employing a photographer to help catalog and market instruments for online sales and maintaining an informative website and blog.

Alex Jordan, a longtime customer and touring musician who eventually became a part-time employee, said it’s not only the

expertise and range of instruments represented but the community feeling shared by the customers, staff and especially the support of Ford and Johnston that make Gryphon a special place to shop and work. “I’ve visited dozens of music stores around the country and none are quite like Gryphon,” he said.

Customer Mark Fassett agreed.

“It’s really rare to live near such a resource these days. I had a friend come from out of town and one of the required stops on his tour of the Bay Area was Gryphon.”

On Sunday, Sept. 29, noon to 5 p.m., Gryphon will celebrate its golden anniversary with a low-key party. Instruments made by Ford and Johnston will be on display and there will be live music from Gryphon employees, associates and alumni; refreshments; a raffle; special sales and some giveaways.

“We’re real simple guys,” Ford said. “All we want to do is acknowledge to our customers and friends that we’ve been here a good long while.” Q More information is available at gryphonstrings.com.

Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com.

Arts & Entertainment

Catching up with Molly Tuttle Palo Alto-raised virtuoso returns to her roots

by Karla Kane

Q: How did growing up in Palo Alto shape who you are as a person and as a musician?

A: I was surrounded by such a supportive music community in Palo Alto. The people at Gryphon Stringed Instruments helped me buy my first guitar and they did everything they could to encourage me as a young musician. I’ve always been treated with so much respect there. I also met a lot of friends my age around the area through my dad’s group classes at Gryphon and through attending Peninsula School in Menlo

Park for middle school. John Fuller, who teaches music there, opened my ears to so many different styles of music and encouraged me to explore playing different genres.

because I’m traveling so much.

Q: How does living in Nashville compare to living on the Peninsula?

A: It’s a lot different. The Bay Area still feels like home to me.

There is a more casual, laidback vibe in the bay that I resonate with. I also really miss the ocean and all the incredible nature in California. Nashville has a bigger music scene for the type of music that I play, though, and the cost of living is a lot lower.

Everyone is really friendly and down-to-earth here. There is definitely a southern hospitality thing going on. I would love to move back to the Peninsula someday, but it’s hard to know if I could afford it. I feel sad knowing that a lot of artists have had to leave the area because of cost of living.

A: I keep my ears open to all different styles of music and I go out to see live music pretty often.

I also try to do other creatively stimulating things like going to an art museum or writing in my journal. With collaborators it really just has to feel right and there has to be a certain chemistry there. Maybe you connect over shared musical interests or you play together and interact in a way that is super fun. Collaborations that happen naturally usually feel the best to me.

Q: I know you’re in the midst of a lot of touring. What are your favorite and least-favorite aspects of being on the road and playing gigs?

A: My favorite aspects are playing with my band and seeing how our sound and dynamics evolve. I love working up new music with them and feeling the show get tighter over time. I love getting to connect with fans and feel the audience respond to my music. I also love when I get to play a festival where I can meet other musicians and do some collaboration. It’s really hard for me not to have a normal routine though. Every day is different so it’s hard to establish healthy habits like exercising and eating well. I also miss my friends and family a lot and don’t get to see them as often as I’d like to

Q: As a songwriter, how do you find inspiration and how and when do you go about choosing collaborators?

Q: Can you please tell me a bit about your work with National Alopecia Areata Foundation?

A: The National Alopecia Areata Foundation (NAAF) helps people who have lost their hair because of Alopecia Areata, which is an autoimmune condition that causes your white blood cells to attack your hair and make it fall out. I lost all my hair when I was 3 and I try to give back to the foundation because they have helped and continue to help me make sense of living with total hair loss. They connect me and so many others with a community of people who understand, they provide information on research developments, and recently they have started a youth mentorship program where they pair young adults with children who have Alopecia. I’m a mentor in the program, which has been really rewarding. I also raise money for them each year and play at their annual conference.

Q: When you’re not focused on music, what else do you like to do, and what career or studies might you have chosen if not music?

A: I like to go on bike rides and write in my journal. I like to read. I think I would have loved to go into anything that has to do with literature, like being an English teacher. Q For more information, go to mollytuttlemusic.com. For more information on the Sept. 30 concert, go to eventbrite.com/e/ earthwise-welcomes-molly-tuttle-tickets-70723017449.

Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com.

SEE MORE ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com Gryphon is hosting a low-key 50th birthday party on Sept. 29, which will feature live music, raffles and refreshments.

For a video on Gryphon Stringed Instruments’ 50th anniversary, go to PaloAltoOnline.com/arts.

Courtesy of Molly Tuttle

S

i n g e r /s o n g w r i t e r / multi-instrumentalist Molly Tuttle was absorbed in the music world from a young age, thanks to her dad, noted local musician and teacher Jack Tuttle, who along with Molly and her two brothers (and vocalist AJ Lee) formed the bluegrass band The Tuttles with AJ Lee. The Palo Alto-raised musician headed east to study at Berklee College of Music and now calls Nashville, Tennessee, home, when she’s not touring the world in support of her career.

Lauded with numerous honors for her playing, singing and writing, she was named “Instrumentalist of the Year” at the 2018 Americana Music Awards and was the first woman ever named International Bluegrass Music Association’s “Guitar Player of the Year” — which she won a second time soon after. Her fulllength solo album “When You’re Ready” was released by Compass Records in April of this year. Tuttle will be back in her old hometown to help fete Gryphon Stringed Instruments this Sunday, as well as to perform at Mitchell Park Community Center on Monday, Sept. 30 (sold out, as of press time).

Palo Alto-raised musician Molly Tuttle will be back in town to perform at the Mitchell Park Community Center Sept. 30.

Earthwise presents SEPT

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OCT

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jazz improvisers

jazz trumpeter

Free show at Palo Alto Art Center

“Hands of Orlac”

1924 scary film with live original score

Featuring: Allison Lovejoy, Alina Polonskaya, David Boyce, Lisa Mezzacappa, Eric Moffat and Dave Mihaly

Mitchell Park Community Center Palo Alto For more information: (650) 305-0701 or eventbrite.com www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 23

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Page 26 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 27

by Elena Kadvany

be open in May or June.

“We’ll be lucky if we can open this year, to be really honest,” he said more recently.

They get regular emails and questions from customers asking when Ludwig’s will open in Mountain View. Bate said he wanted to share what the process has been like not to criticize the city, but to inform the public about what it takes to open a restaurant.

“There are things that are out of our control, unfortunately,” he said. “We want it open as much as the people that are asking.”

The City of Mountain View did not make any staff available for an interview, despite repeated requests.

Ludwig’s is by no means the exception on the Peninsula, where restaurants are routinely delayed by complex city regulations and bureaucratic red tape. The cost of opening a restaurant — before the first customers are even served — has become prohibitively expensive, particularly for small, local businesses owners without the backing of deep-pocketed investors. (In San Francisco, a Board of Supervisors committee held a hearing on Sept.

16 to discuss what they could do to address this, including easing the permitting, planning and building processes for restaurant owners.)

Melody Hu, who is working to open a gluten-free bakery in downtown Los Altos, sent an email out to subscribers earlier this month explaining why it’s not yet open.

“When I signed the lease for what used to be Mr. Cho’s Mandarin Dim Sum, I knew that several things had to change to transform the store into a cute little bakery. But I underestimated the time it would take,” she wrote.

Hu took over the 209 Melody Hu, owner of Sweet Diplomacy, is working to First St. space in early 2019 open a gluten-free bakery in downtown Los Altos. Her and planned to open Sweet initial opening date was set for this summer.

I

n early August, Ben Bate got some bad news. The City of Mountain View informed him — seven months after he took over 383 Castro St. to open Ludwig’s German Table — that the building’s grease trap needed updating. Digging out the carport and sinking the 500-gallon grease trap will push the restaurant’s opening back another three to four months.

The grease trap was simply the latest request from the city that has frustrated Bate and delayed the opening of the popular German restaurant and beer garden from San Jose. There was debate over the type of plants that would be outside the restaurant, the color of the tables, the style of the chair legs. More recently, the city asked Bate to remove the Corinthian detail at the top of 21 white columns that anchor an outdoor trellis.

The cost to do this? About $12,000.

When I spoke with Bate and co-owner Nicole Jacobi in February, they hoped to

Veronica Weber

Page 28 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Diplomacy by this summer. Now she’s hoping for the end of this month but is hedging her bets for October.

“The city’s Building Department and the county’s Department of Environmental Health both want detailed plans on even minor changes in the store. For the plans, we had to find and create an ‘A’ team of architect, mechanical/plumbing/ Top: Ludwig’s German Table was expected to open in June in the electrical engineers, former home of Bierhaus in downtown Mountain View, but ran and a good general into multiple delays due to expensive city requirements. Photo by contractor ... all that Magali Gauthier. Above: Ludwig’s German Table’s first location took awhile,” she is in San Jose, where customers frequently ask for updates about wrote. “The plan the Mountain View location, the owners said. Photo courtesy reviews and final Ludwig’s German Table. to property owners and occupants within inspections will also take awhile.

“I admire the public safety net that our 600 feet of the project and becomes final government agencies have created, and 14 days later unless someone requests a although the process is lengthy to say the hearing.

City records show Bienaime’s application least, at the end I think it’s nice to live in a world where most public places are built to was marked as incomplete in early August, then resubmitted and last “marked as TBD a high standard of safety.”

In Palo Alto, another restaurant owner on TBD by TBD.” “There’s nobody who I can go talk to is frustrated with what he described as an opaque and drawn-out experience with the about a timeline,” he said. “I’m just comcity’s planning department. Guillaume Bi- pletely left in the dark.”

Meanwhile, he’s paying about $7,500 in enaime wants to open a bar in the building next to his 5-year-old French restaurant, rent every month for the empty space.

“If we continue to make it so difficult for Zola, on Bryant Street. He secured through a lottery a full liquor license (Zola serves local business owners to create businesses beer and wine only) and in July filed the within the city or this area in general then necessary paperwork for a conditional use we’re going to end up with chain restaupermit for the next-door space, which was rants and chain stores because they’re the only ones who can afford to pay through last a hair salon.

Bienaime said there’s been little com- this process,” Bienaime said.

Bate and his three Ludwig’s business munication with the independent contractor overseeing his request since then. The city partners, for their part, have been paying has 30 days to determine whether a condi- rent at the prominent corner space since tional use permit application is complete January. He declined to say how much the or not; a tentative decision is then mailed monthly rent is. There’s also the cost of

Eating Out

ShopTalk

Local food & retail happenings

GUILD THEATRE CLOSES ...

Landmark’s Guild Theatre, a singlescreen movie theater that’s been in Menlo Park since 1924, officially closed its doors on Thursday.

Landmark spokeswoman Laine Kaplowitz confirmed the closing of the 225-seat theater, which was first announced on Facebook on Sept.

20. The Menlo Park City Council approved plans in May 2018 to transform the vintage movie theater into a nonprofit live music venue. The new theater is also expected to host occasional film events. The Guild was constructed in 1924 and began offering “moving pictures” around 1925, according to a historical report

by Bonnie Bamburg, excerpted on the Imagine Menlo website.

According to the report, the theater, initially called The Menlo, started out showing silent films accompanied by a live organist, but by 1929 had upgraded its sound system to offer “Movie-Phone” sound. The lobby was forcibly shortened by about 30 feet in 1942 when El Camino Real was widened. The theater changed names to the Guild when a newer theater in town took the name “The Menlo.” Ownership changed hands several times. In the late 1980s, the theater was remodeled in the Art Deco style, and it developed into its current niche in the local theaterscape as an art house theater.

— K.B.

TAMARINE SPINOFF OPENS ...

Banh khot, bo luc lac, goi ga and other traditional Vietnamese dishes are on the menu at Tam Tam, which opened Sept. 23 in downtown Palo Alto. Tam Tam (140 University Ave.) comes from the owners of Tamarine, the more upscale Vietnamese restaurant located at the other end

They knew they were taking a financial risk expanding to Mountain View but the potential payoff was too good to pass up, Bate said.

“Being on a street like Castro has the ability to pay off in the long run,” he said. “We’re only 3 years old. To have my brand on that street in a city like Mountain View is massive for me.”

Both Bienaime and Bate said

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Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Kate Bradshaw, Elena Kadvany and Linda Taaffe.

Got leads on interesting and newsworthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@paweekly.com.

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they’re speaking out not to bash the cities they want to open in, but to hopefully find solutions.

“It’s from a place of, we need help,” Bienaime said. “It really eats me alive every day. They don’t feel any of that. It feels very disconnected from what people are really feeling.” Q Staff writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

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the architect, engineers and other people who must be hired to comply with the city’s requests. Every time the city files comments on Ludwig’s plans, their architect must review them and respond.

In San Jose, the plans, permits, building and inspections for Ludwig’s were finished in six months.

Bate anticipates Mountain View will take at least a year. He’s still waiting for building permits to start renovations. (Meanwhile, the building has been put on the market for sale, which the Ludwig’s team didn’t know about until recently.)

The timing of the restaurant’s opening also impacts the owners’ bottom line. With the delays, it’s likely Ludwig’s, with its outdoor beer garden, will be opening in the dead of winter, its slow season.

Bate suggested that the city create separate planning processes for small and large businesses.

It’s hard for him to sustain a business through a protracted process, less so for a large tech company or restaurant chain.

“Everyone talks about trying to be pro-small business but it feels like we get treated the same as your Apples and your Googles and your Facebooks,” he said.

“There’s one book for everyone.

In this situation, it doesn’t make sense.”

OAKLAND BOUTIQUE EXPANDS ... Oakland’s McMullen Boutique has expanded into Palo Alto. The women’s luxury apparel store opened in the former Intermix space at Town & Country Village on Sept. 14. This is the second store fashion retailer Sherri McMullen has opened since launching her flagship boutique in Oakland in 2007.

McMullen, whose shop features emerging designers from around the world, said she decided to open the Palo Alto store after seeing a growing clientele from the Silicon Valley, according to a press release.

Named one of the top boutiques in the country by Women’s Wear Daily, McMullen has become well known for its commitment to supporting African and African American apparel and home décor designers who have limited resources. Sherri McMullen is actively involved in the Bay Area, regularly holding fundraisers for organizations focusing on women, children and the arts. — L.T.

of University Avenue. It’s an attempt to be more casual, less expensive and “strictly Vietnamese” (no fusion dishes), co-owner Tanya Hartley said in a previous interview. She has run Tamarine with her sister Tammy Huynh since 2002. Both were born in Vietnam; their family is from from Vung Tau, a fishing village in South Vietnam. The menu describes Tam Tam as “a regional Vietnamese restaurant created to introduce our guests to the heart and soul of traditional Vietnamese cooking.”

The menu identifies which region of Vietnam each dish comes from.

Banh khot, crispy coconut rice flour pancakes stuffed with crab meat, uni and scallions, is from the South, while ca chien, fried whole branzino topped with sautéed onions, bell peppers, pineapple, dill, celery and tamarind sauce, is from the North.

Tam Tam serves a Northern-style pho with slices of beef tenderloin and brisket and fried breadsticks on the side. Starters range in price from $8 to $12 and entrees, $19 to $28. Tam Tam will be open from 5-9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 5-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant will open for lunch (11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) starting Monday, Sept. 30. They hope to prove that “you don’t have to go to downtown San Jose or East side San Jose to have real Vietnamese food,” Hartley said. — E.K. Q

The owner of downtown Palo Alto restaurant Zola wants to expand next door and open a bar, but has complained about the city’s red tape.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 29

The Palo Alto Recreation Foundation in partnership with the City of Palo Alto and the Palo Alto Weekly present

You’re invited to the Palo Alto Black & White Ball on Friday, October 4th at the iconic Lucie Stern Community Center. Join us in celebrating the City of Palo Alto’s 125th birthday and Palo Alto Weekly’s 40th anniversary. Spend the evening mingling with friends & neighbors, dancing to live music, & enjoying food & drinks from your favorite local restaurants.

Tickets on sale now at: parecfoundation.org

All proceeds benefit the Palo Alto Recreation Foundation (PARF) which helps fund our City’s most cherished community events, recreational & wellness programs for all ages, while enhancing the extraordinary quality of life in Palo Alto.

Page 30 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Movies OPENINGS

The man with the horn Jazz doc shows how Miles Davis gave birth to ‘the Cool’ 000 (Aquarius) Documentary filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s new film “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” looks at Miles Davis’ enduring influence: The trumpeter, composer and bandleader practically defined jazz in his own image as the ultimate in cool sophistication that never stopped innovating.

Coming in at just under two hours, “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” functions as a primer rather than a deep dive. On these terms, Nelson does a fine job of compressing Davis’ nearly 50-year career (1944-1991), following some personal history context. Mostly though, “Birth of the Cool” hurtles through the “milestones” of Davis’ career, touching on his key romantic relationships and struggles with addiction.

Actor Carl Lumbly (TV’s “Alias”) ably performs excerpts from Davis’ 1989 “Miles: The Autobiography” (written with Quincy Troupe, one of the film’s interview subjects). Lumbly adopts Davis’ trademark rasp, as do nearly all of the interview subjects who knew Davis personally when they anecdotally recount Davis’ remarks. How Davis wound up with that rasp also gets recounted

here by a friend who remembers Davis’ impatience to talk after surgery to remove polyps from his larynx (although no mention is made of the studio yelling match that sealed the deal).

The rest of Nelson’s construction strings together photos, audio, film and video of Davis, sometimes on the move but usually performing on a stage or in a studio. “Birth of the Cool” proves most valuable by gathering a number of Miles’ friends, lovers, musical collaborators, admirers and musicologists — many of whom are getting up in years — to share their recollections and perspectives on Davis, his musicality and his personality. Participants include Quincy Jones, Wayne Shorter, Joshua Redman, Juliette Gréco, Frances Taylor Davis, Betty Davis, Jimmy Heath, Jimmy Cobb, Carlos Santana, Herbie Hancock, Ron Carter and Clive Davis. Arguably Davis’ most important collaborator, Gil Evans, is the film’s only archival interview.

The talking heads can be incisive in explaining Davis’ towering artistic presence. A brilliant improviser, he also had a rocksolid theoretical foundation,

partly laid by day at Juilliard (“I wanted to see what was going on in all of music”) as he galvanized New York’s 52nd St. jazz scene by night. Nelson also recognizes the importance of Davis’ 1949 trip to Paris, which he wrote “changed the way I looked at things forever.” The film’s later passages demonstrate how Davis stayed on music’s cutting edge by recruiting young performers for his bands and synthesizing with his own limber style the musical trends of any given moment, pushing boundaries in the process.

Co-produced by PBS’ American Masters Pictures, “Birth of the Cool” hits the key points in familiar fashion, from childhood friends’ observations to the young artist gigging with Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker to his 1957 foray into film composing (for Louis Malle’s “Elevator to the Gallows”) to his 1959 police assault to his physical abuse of women while under the influence of a powerful drug and alcohol cocktail. Some of the most interesting moments, though, involve experts trying to explain in words Davis’ musical genius, his sensual, lyrical style that was “romantic without being sentimental.”

Davis aficionados will probably walk away from this film feeling undernourished; it serves better to introduce young audiences to a musical master and to rekindle the desire to luxuriate in Davis’ catalog. As good a job as Lumbly does, “Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool” also feels incomplete without more footage of Davis speaking for himself on camera.

Still, Davis never expressed himself more eloquently than he did through his horn, and “Birth of the Cool” pulses with that unmistakable Miles Davis sound.

Not MPAA rated. One hour, 55 minutes.

— Peter Canavese

Abominable (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

It Chapter Two (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Ad Astra (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

Judy (PG-13) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Angel has Fallen (R)

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

The Angry Birds Movie 2 (PG)

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Brittany Runs a Marathon (R)

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Dora and the Lost City of Gold (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Downton Abbey (PG) ++ Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. The Fast & Furious: Hobbs & Shaw (PG-13) Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Gang Leader (Not Rated) Good Boys (R)

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

Hustlers (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

24t h A N N UA L

September 28-29, 2019 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

MOVIES NOW SHOWING

After the Wedding (PG-13)

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 51.

Palo Alto Art Center, 1313 Newell Road, Palo Alto

Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice (PG-13) +++1/2 Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. The Lion King (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool (Not Rated) Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun. Monos (R)

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Once Upon a Time ... in Hollywood (R) +++ Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun. The Peanut Butter Falcon (PG-13) Rambo: Last Blood (R) Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 16: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

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

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 327-3241) tinyurl.com/Aquariuspa Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View tinyurl.com/Century16 Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City tinyurl.com/Century20 CineArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (For information: 493-0128) tinyurl.com/Pasquare ShowPlace Icon: 2575 California St. #601, Mountain View tinyurl.com/iconMountainView 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

SHOP AND SUPPORT THE ARTS AT CALIFORNIA’S LARGEST GLASS PUMPKIN PATCH 10,000+ one-of-a-kind glass pumpkins for sale • Glass-blowing demonstrations • Food, drink and fun • Free Admission www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 31

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Page 32 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 48 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

A weekly guide to home, garden and real estate news

FALL SEEDLING SALE ...

Start your winter vegetable garden with the UC Master Gardeners’ Fall Garden Seedling Plant Sale Saturday, Sept. 28, 10 a.m. to noon at the Master Gardeners’ Palo Alto Demonstration Garden. Find a wide variety of vegetable seedlings that do best when there’s a chill in the air. The event will also feature a free talk at 10:45 a.m. on planting and caring for your seedlings. Sales benefit the UC Master Gardener program. Cash or checks only.

The demonstration garden is located at Eleanor Pardee Park, 851 Center Drive, Palo Alto. For more information, call 408-282-3105 or visit mgsantaclara.ucanr.edu/.

INSTALLING WALL TILE ...

Learn how to make short work of tiling and grouting with a free tile installation workshop on Saturday, Sept. 28, 1011:30 a.m. at Home Depot.

Get the low-down on the supplies you’ll need and how to avoid common mistakes when installing tile. The workshop will also cover tile trends. Home Depot, 1781 E. Bayshore Road, East Palo Alto.

For more information, call 650462-6800 or visit homedepot. org.

FOOD WORTH CELEBRATING ... It’s hard to get more farmto-table than the second annual Food Worth Celebrating event on Saturday, Sept. 28, 3:30-7:30 p.m. at Hidden Villa. The community farm is hosting a feast of its own produce and meats, cooked

by Roadside Rotisserie, plus local cheeses and wines. The event also features discussions about the principles of regenerative agriculture, which aims to increase biodiversity (attract more pollinators and wildlife) and enrich the soil.

Tickets are $50-$150. Hidden Villa is located at 26870 Moody Road, Los Altos Hills. For more information, visit hiddenvilla. org or call 650-949-8650. Q 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 editor@paweekly.com. Deadline is one week before publication.

READ MORE ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

There are more real estate features online. Go to PaloAltoOnline.com/ real_estate.

CAUGHT between TECH and a HARD PLACE Gentrification hits East Palo Alto hardest, with the city lagging behind its neighbors in economic and quality-of-life metrics

by Kiley Russell

W

hen 73-year-old Randal Parker first moved to East Palo Alto with his family in 1952, he remembers open fields of agricultural land, a diverse and thriving working-class community and job opportunities for people of color.

Parker’s mother put $800 down on a $19,000 three-bedroom house.

For years it was the Parker family anchor, a gathering place for extended family and friends where holiday and birthday celebrations rolled through with the seasons.

“My mother’s house was where everybody came for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner,” Parker said.

Soon, however, things began unraveling for the Parkers and the entire East Palo Alto community as successive waves of drugs and crime rampaged through the streets, punctuated by the drug culture of the 1960s, the crack cocaine epidemic of the 1980s and the lingering gang violence of successive generations, Parker said.

“It was a melting pot, a real melting pot. Everybody got along, no problem,” he said. “Then the Haight and Ashbury mess came through, with the drugs, and boom, that started changing this community.”

After his mother died and Parker, who has spent roughly 50 years behind bars on various assault-related charges, was put away again, the house went up for foreclosure in 1991, he said.

When he was finally released in 2007, Parker was able to work various jobs helping formerly incarcerated people make the transition to postprison life, but an illness curtailed that career and he eventually found himself living in an RV back on the streets of East Palo Alto, where he could no longer afford a roof over his head.

“They were harassing us; we couldn’t park anywhere in the neighborhoods,” Parker said of himself and a handful of fellow RV dwellers whom he befriended. “It was rough. It was cold that winter, rainy.”

While an extreme example, Parker’s story in many ways mirrors that of many East Palo Alto residents, for whom skyrocketing housing prices, a historical lack of economic, educational and health care opportunities — sometimes coupled with personal misfortunes and missteps — have created seemingly insurmountable barriers to accessing the benefits of Silicon Valley’s tech boom.

The city, nestled in the heart of one of the world’s most dynamic economic engines, has long been a pocket of persistent segregation and inequality bracketed by many of the country’s most affluent communities.

By most measures, East Palo Alto lags drastically behind neighboring Palo Alto and Menlo Park in economic and quality-of-life metrics, including income potential, educational attainment and business ownership.

For example, East Palo Alto’s median earnings for full-time workers was about $33,500 in

File photo by Veronica Weber

Home Front

Traffic heading both east and west routinely backs up along University Avenue in East Palo Alto during the weekday evening rush hour.

2015, while Palo Alto’s was roughly $119,000, according to data from Bay Area Equity Atlas, a project created by PolicyLink, the University of Southern California’s Program for Environmental and Regional Equity and the San Francisco Foundation that seeks to quantify racial and economic inequality throughout the region.

And while that represents an increase of about $11,000 for Palo Alto workers since 2000, East Palo Alto workers saw a roughly $4,600 decline in earnings during that same period, according to the Bay Area Equity Atlas.

By measures of community vulnerability, the city ranks well above those two Silicon Valley powerhouses, including in linguistic isolation, housing burden and gentrification risk.

For example, while 90% of low-income East Palo Altans lived in gentrifying neighborhoods in 2015, the same could be said of just 28% of low-income Menlo Park residents.

Despite the fact that taken as a whole, Menlo Park’s low-income population is far less likely to face the pressures of gentrification, the city’s low-income African American households are disproportionately shouldering that burden, with 84% living in gentrifying neighborhoods in 2015, while just 3% of low-income white households were similarly affected, according to the Bay Area Equity Atlas data.

“Because of the makeup of our community — primarily low income, majority minority, primarily Latinos and black — we’re kind of a working-class community in the midst of very wealthy communities like Palo Alto and Menlo Park,” said long-time East Palo Alto resident and City Councilman Ruben Abrica.

Due to the intractable reality of its geography and the relentless waves of Silicon Valley’s boom and bust cycles, Abrica says East Palo Alto is particularly vulnerable to gentrification pressures as new workers — primarily young, well-paid tech professionals — migrate to the region in search of housing.

And while the city’s rents are on par with those of the entire nine-county Bay Area, they’re still much more attractive than their closest neighbors.

For example, from 2011 to 2017, while the estimated median monthly rent in East Palo Alto rose roughly $1,300 to $3,509, rents in Palo Alto grew by almost $2,300 to $6,115, according to the Equity Atlas.

During that same period, the estimated median rent in Menlo Park grew from $3,736 to

$5,249 between 2011 and 2017.

“This wave of gentrification feels more aggressive,” Abrica said. “In the ‘70s and ‘80s there was a wave of gentrification but this is absolutely magnified 100 times, and I think that Silicon Valley has exploded and created these two parallel societies, where the people at the top benefit a lot and the people at the bottom do not, and we’re at the bottom.”

Abrica likens the situation to living in a “semi-feudal” society.

“When they’re building million-dollar homes right next to a homeless shelter, that tells you what time of day it is,” said Paul Bains, senior pastor of East Palo Alto’s Saint Samuel Church and founder of Project WeHOPE, which provides homeless services and job training to people in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.

“Now when I’m going up and down the street — I see Asians and Caucasians running and jogging,” Bains said. “That’s not a negative thing. The negative piece is that the very people, the very fabric of this community, the people of color who have lived here all their lives are being forced out.”

Bains said the city was particularly hard hit by the 2008 housing market crash and subsequent foreclosure crisis, when outside investors were able to snap up homes for pennies on the dollar.

Many residents were displaced during that period and in 2011, San Mateo County estimated East Palo Alto’s homeless population at nearly 400 people — in a city that according to U.S. Census Bureau data was home to roughly 28,000 residents.

“The forces of gentrification are so intense, they are hard to stop,” Abrica said. “All we can do is mitigate it, slow it down. The city government has put in place many things that can help but still, in the midst of all this, disastrous economic inequality is going on.”

One of the city’s many efforts includes an ongoing commitment to building affordable housing and enacting meaningful renter protection laws.

For example, East Palo Alto currently has 2,500 units covered by its rent control ordinance and between 2015 and 2017 the city issued permits for 44% of its estimated need for low-income housing and 51% of its need for moderate-moderate income units, as determined by the Association of Bay Area (continued on page 34)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 33

Home & Real Estate

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Page 34 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Governments’ 2015-2023 Regional Housing Needs Assessment, according to the Equity Atlas.

Also, last year 80% of the city’s voters approved Measure HH, which Abrica said could raise up to $2 million annually by taxing large commercial developments.

Thirty-five percent of the revenue is intended to help build more low- and very lowincome housing, with additional funds earmarked for tech-sector and building trades training for local residents, Abrica said.

The city also created an “anti-displacement” fund to provide financial assistance to residents who have fallen on hard times due to a job loss or illness and are facing eviction.

Additionally, along with Eden Housing and the East Palo Alto Community Alliance & Neighborhood Development, the city recently received $13.5 million in loans to build 128 new affordable units, including 14 designated for the formerly homeless, disabled and youth.

“Within the limits of our powers and authority, we are doing as much as we can to counter these forces,” Abrica said.

Still, according to the Equity Atlas, 66% of East Palo Alto renters spend more than the recommended 30% of their income on housing, making the city the third most rentburdened community in the Bay Area, behind only Calistoga and Dixon.

“Our history of segregation and redlining and predatory lending has had a lot of rippling effects even today,” said 25-year-old resident Karen Camacho.

Camacho, who lives with her parents due to the region’s exorbitant housing costs, notes that these practices have made it nearly impossible for black and Latinx families to generate savings and pass wealth along to successive generations.

Camacho said she’s proud of the way her city is trying to find creative solutions to address East Palo Alto’s systemic cycles of poverty, gentrification and inequality, but, like many locals, she casts a wary eye to her neighbors to the north and south.

“There are other cities in our region that need to play a more active role in helping fix these problems,” Camacho said. “Their refusal to build more affordable housing is placing gentrification pressures on East Palo Alto.”

“They should not be feeling blameless in this process,” she said.

For Randal Parker, at least, things are looking up.

As part of a cooperative project between Bains’ Project WeHOPE and the City of East Palo Alto, he’s taken advantage of the Bay Area’s first program to allow legal overnight RV parking in a safe lot, complete with showers, restrooms, laundry facilities and social services.

Soon he expects to move into his first permanent home in years, thanks to the outreach coordinators from WeHOPE who helped him secure a housing voucher.

“I’m going to get my family back together,” Parker said. “I’ve seen all the ups and downs. As a community we always bounce back. That’s what we’re doing as we speak, we’re bouncing back.” Q Kiley Russell is a contributing writer for the Bay City News Foundation. He can be emailed at kileyrussell@baycitynews.com.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 35

for JLee Realty Thank you for attending our realty grand opening event.

For any future event — RNGCUG EJGEM| Julianalee.com/agent-class.

Please stop by VJG QHƂEG KP ECUG you missed the event for free classes, food CPF TCHƃGU

4260 El Camino Real, Palo Alto 650-857-1000

Page 36 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

!

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3618 Laguna Ave +B_d _sd • Ĺš ” Ĺš ”Û—““ĺ / Ĺš Â”Â›Ă›ÂœÂšÂ— / #2

MID-CENTURY MODERN IN BARRON PARK 9O_KdaO sd sVWp oBoO dTTOoWbU db sVO aBo^Os Tdo sVO  ops sWaO Wb B_adps ˜“ |OBopĂ› bOps_OM db B _BoUO _ds dT Â”Â›Ă›ÂœÂšÂ— sq ft. Designed to build the interior with the beautiful ptoodtbMWbUpĂ› sVO VdaO VBp ‚ddoøsdøKOW_WbU U_Bpp overlooking the grounds. Cross the threshold of this home and move into a tranquil space in the rear yard offering ‚dzOopĂ› B UodyO dT oOMzddM soOOp BbM aBstoO yB__O| dB^pĂ The quiet sound of a gentle stream beckons you to walk toward the creek bank and lift your eyes to the green plBKO dTTOoOM J| sVO BM]BKObs d_ +Bo^Ă› zWsV bds BbdsVOo VdtpO Wb pWUVsĂ 3/2 / Ă?

Offered at $3,195,000 www.3618LagunaAve.com

Arti Miglani 650.804.6942 osWĹ’ osW WU_BbWĂ Kda DRE 01150085 zzzĂ osW WU_BbWĂ Kda

compass.com Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01079009. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sourcø Op MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMĂ VBbUOp Wb loWKOĂ› KdbMWsWdbĂ› pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOĂ !d psBsOaObs Wp aBMO Bp sd BKKtoBK| dT Bb| MOpKoWlsWdbĂ __ aOBptoOaObsp BbM pntBoO TddsBUO BoO Bllod{WaBsOĂ

Compass is the brand name used for services provided by one or more of the Compass group of subsidiary companies. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01079009. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only and is compiled from sources MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoWÂ OMĂ VBbUOp Wb loWKOĂ› KdbMWsWdbĂ› pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOĂ !d psBsOaObs Wp aBMO Bp sd BKKtoBK| dT Bb| MOpKoWlsWdbĂ __ aOBptoOaObsp BbM pntBoO TddsBUO BoO Bllod{WaBsOĂ

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 37

Page 38 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Access thousands of new listings before anyone else, only at compass.com.

BY APPOINTMENT

OPEN SAT & SUN 1-4 PM

BY APPOINTMENT

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Get a head start to `KU`S zbrm Tb_Mà

1206 N. Lemon Avenue, Menlo Park 4 Bed | 3.5 Bath | $4,995,000 joe.parsons@compass.com

3121 South Court, Palo Alto 4 Bed | 3.5 Bath | $4,680,000 nadr.essabhoy@compass.com

Gloria Darke 650.380.3659 DRE 00570470

Chris Anderson 650.207.7105 DRE 01438988

Joe Parsons 650.279.8892 DRE 01449421

Nadr Essabhoy 650.248.5898 DRE 01085354

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Caitlin Darke 650.388.8449 DRE 01332161

OPEN SAT & SUN 12-5 PM

320 Family Farm Road, Woodside 5 Bed | 3 Bath | $5,850,000 canderson@compass.com

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30 PM

1 Patricia Drive, Atherton 4 Bed | 4.5 Bath | $9,200,000 thedarketeam@compass.com

530 Oak Street, Mountain View 3 Bed | 2.5 Bath | $2,398,000 530oakst.com

Liz Daschbach 650.207.0781 DRE 00969220

Jim & Jimmy Nappo 650.209.1567 DRE 01439226

Stacey Jamison 650.867.7976 DRE 01996000

Michael Galli 650.248.3076 DRE 01852633

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30 PM

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238 Beresford Avenue, Redwood City 5 Bed | 4 Bath | $3,198,000 stacey@staceyjamisonrealestate.com

BY APPOINTMENT

11511 Summit Wood Road, Los Altos Hills 4 Bed | 4 Bath | $3,495,000 nappo.com

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30 PM

1175 Hermosa Way, Menlo Park 3 Bed | 2.5 Bath | $3,998,000 liz.daschbach@compass.com

2171 Parkwood Way, San Jose 4 Bed | 3 Bath | $1,649,000 ryan.gowdy@compass.com

Derk Brill 650.543.1117 DRE 01256035

Stephanie Nash 650.995.3820 DRE 01104524

Karen Young 650.400.8228 DRE 01179172

Ryan Gowdy 408.309.8660 DRE 01322889

OPEN SUNDAY 1-4 PM

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4 PM

88 S Broadway #2302, Millbrae 2 Bed | 2 Bath | $1,680,000 karen.young@compass.com

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30 PM

301 Alameda Avenue, Half Moon Bay 4 Bed | 2.5 Bath | $1,999,050 stephanie.nash@compass.com

OPEN SAT & SUN 1:30-4:30 PM

2130 Sterling Avenue, Menlo Park 3 Bed | 2 Bath | $2,395,000 derk@derkbrill.com

425 Grant Avenue #28, Palo Alto 3 Bed | 2 Bath | $1,528,000 paul.yang@compass.com

309 North Sunnyvale Avenue, Sunnyvale 3 Bed | 1 Bath | $1,285,000 rickandsuzannebell.com

152 Patrick Way, Half Moon Bay 2 Bed | 2 Bath | $939,000 teamsalet@compass.com

530 El Camino Real #105, Burlingame 1 Bed | 1 Bath | $875,000 joe.bentley@compass.com

Paul Yang 408.203.0567 DRE 01980050

Rick & Suzanne Bell 408.829.4853 DRE 01051633

Tom Salet 650.245.6326 DRE 01217786

Joe Bentley 650.867.0199 DRE 01082626

Sharon Salet 650.245.6326 DRE 01084650

Compass is the brand name used for services provided by one or more of the Compass group of subsidiary companies. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws.

WKObpO !taJOo à __ aBsOoWB_ loOpObsOM VOoOWb Wp WbsObMOM Tdo WbTdoaBsWdbB_ ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMà VBbUOp Wb loWKOÛ KdbMWsWdbÛ pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate. Home must qualify under Compass Concierge guidelines. Subject to additional terms and conditions.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 39

#$!"

• Three bedrooms • Two bathrooms • private master suite featuring: • updated bathroom • serene views of lush, green landscaping • Large living room with: • vaulted ceiling • walls of windows overlooking beautifully landscaped, private backyard • Remodeled kitchen featuring: • stainless steel appliances • breakfast bar • Separate laundry room

• Upgrades include: • bamboo floors • dual pane windows • insulated foam roof • Huge, private backyard with mature landscaping • Desirable location with easy access to: • schools and parks • Mitchell Park library and the Magical Playground • shopping, transportation and much more • Home size: 1,382 square feet (approx.) • Lot size: 8,388 square feet (approx.)

OFFERED AT $2,395,000

Midtown Realty, Inc. • 2775 Middlefield Road • Phone: 650.321.1596 • www.midtownpaloalto.com Listing Agent: Tim Foy CalBRE# 00849721 Cell: 650.387.5078 tim@midtownpaloalto.com

Co-Listing Agent: Joann Weber CalBRE# 01896750 Cell: 650.815.5410 joann@midtownpaloalto.com

OPEN SATURDAY 9/28 & SUNDAY 9/29 FROM 1:30-4:30PM Page 40 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Exquisitely Designed New Construction OPEN Sat & Sun 1:30-4:30

Palo Alto

471 Pepper Ave 4 BD 3.5 BA 2545 SF 6000 SF LOT !Oz_| Kdal_OsOMÛ TBoa VdtpO ps|_O dtspWMO zWsV KVWK KdbsOaldoBo| MOpWUb WbpWMO ø B__ JtW_s zWsV O{KOlsWdbB_ KdbpsotKsWdb BbM VWUVøObM bWpVWbUà aB WbU bBstoB_ _WUVs ddMp OyOo| KdobOo dT sVO VdaOà WUV zB_^ pKdoO BbM OBp| BKKOpp sd BKK_BWaOM +B_d _sd pKVdd_pÛ JW^O odtsOp BbM KdaatsO odtsOpà 2VWp WaloOppWyO szdøpsdo| VdaO Wp perfect for today’s Silicon Valley lifestyle.

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Jenny Teng

Sophie Tsang

650-245-4490 jenny.teng@compass.com DRE#: 01023687

650-687-7388 Sophie@compass.com DRE#: 01399145

Compass is the brand name used for services provided by one or more of the Compass group of subsidiary companies. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01079009. All material presented herein is intended for informational ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMà VBbUOp Wb loWKOÛ KdbMWsWdbÛ pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOà !d psBsOaObs Wp aBMO Bp sd BKKtoBK| dT Bb| MOpKoWlsWdbà __ aOBptoOaObsp BbM pntBoO TddsBUO BoO Bllod{WaBsOà

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 41

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Midtown Realty, Inc. License #01900986 • 2775 Middlefield Road • Phone: 650.321.1596 • midtownpaloalto.com

Jane Volpe Realtor, MBA DRE#01330133 650-380-4507 jane@midtownpaloalto.com www.janevolpe.com

Page 42 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

OFFERED AT $2,698,000

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 43

1105 Rosefield Way, Menlo Park Ope

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Priced at $3,685,000 1105rosefield.com

161 & 153 Stone Pine Lane, Menlo Park 4 BD / 4BA 4300 Sq Ft living space per appraiser 4 car garage his stunning residence was created by combining two homes into one sophisticated city-style home. Walls of glass from the living room and library overlook the expansive patio with spa. This multi level home was remodeled in 2000 with a contemporary flair. Truly one-of-a-kind home featuring a walk to town location, close to shopping, transportation, elevator and excellent Menlo Park schools.

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Priced at $4,200,000 161-153stonepine.com

675 Sharon Park Drive, Menlo Park ON

1BR / 1 BA 739 sq ft per Realist Priced at $725,000

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Sue Crawford Coldwell Banker

650-566-5341

scrawford@cbnorcal.com 00587710 Page 44 • September 27, 2019CalBRE# • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 45

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 47

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Sports Shorts PREP REPORT ... Senior Sydney Bianchi scored four goals and recorded five steals as Menlo School beat host Valley Christian 12-6 in a WCAL girls water polo contest.

Senior Sophie Golub and sophomore Rusha Bhat each scored three goals and had two assists for the Knights (8-5, 2-1), who host defending Central Coast Section Open Division champion Leland in a nonleague match on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.

Junior Hope Isaacson recorded six saves for Menlo ... Sophomore Nathalie Benrey earned medalist honors, shooting a 9-hole total of 37, to help Menlo-Atherton record its low score of the season in beating San Mateo 222-238 at Poplar Creek Golf Course. Joanne Yuh fired a 41 and Katie Spivakovsky shot a 44 for the Bears (8-0), who host Aragon at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club on Tuesday, with tee time scheduled for 3:15 p.m. Triana Devaux and Angelina Heller were instrumental in M-A’s low score of the season as they each posted a season best round of 50. In the West Bay Athletic League, Castilleja won its second straight match, beating Notre Dame Belmont 254-276 at Baylands Golf Links. The Gators (34) travels to San Jose Muni to meet Notre Dame San Jose at 3 p.m.

Monday ... Woodside is forfeiting its PAL Lake Division football game scheduled for Friday with Burlingame due to a lack of healthy players.

Going into the season Woodside coach Justin Andrews was actually cautiously hopeful that what he saw as his team’s improved depth would help withstand the issues associated with a lack of numbers that the team encountered the past several years.

But a rash of early-season injuries has torpedoed that hope. Last week at Seaside, with his team down to 17 able players, Andrews requested the fourth quarter not be played. So the game concluded as a 28-0 Seaside win, the score after three quarters.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,’’ Andrews said. “We have four to five people in casts, others in slings with shoulder injuries, others on crutches with ankle injuries and we have two kids in concussion protocol. Each week we get two back and lose four more.’’ With this week’s game called off and a bye next week, Andrews is hopeful of having a much healthier team in time for the start of Peninsula Athletic League Lake Division play Oct. 11. “By the time the league schedule rolls around we could look like a completely different team,’’ Andrews said. “It will be like a brand new season for us.’’ Q

ON THE AIR Saturday College women’s soccer: Stanford at USC, 1 p.m., Pac-12 Network College football: Stanford at Oregon State, 4 p.m., Pac-12 Networks

Sunday College women’s volleyball: Washington at Stanford, 2 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Thursday College men’s soccer: Washington at Stanford, 5 p.m., Pac-12 Network

Sports Local sports news and schedules, edited by Rick Eymer

JD Carson (11) hopes to find some running room when Menlo-Atherton travels to play Folsom at 7 p.m. Friday. The Bears are the defending state Divsion 3-AA champion while Folsom won the state Division 1-AA title. Photo by Karen Ambrose Hickey.

PREP FOOTBALL

League season begins for Palo Alto, Gunn Menlo-Atherton travels to take on Folsom

by Glenn Reeves o feeling your way along.

No padding your record with tuneup games against weaker opposition.

League play begins for Palo Alto and with it a contest that could quite likely go down as the game of the year. Paly hosts defending state champion Wilcox in a Santa Clara Valley Athletic League De Anza Division opener Friday at 7 p.m.

“Why wait?’’ was the response of Palo Alto coach Nelson Gifford.

Last year Wilcox went 14-1 with its one loss to Menlo-Atherton in the Central Coast Section Open Division I championship game. Palo Alto went 10-2 with its losses to Wilcox in a regular-season showdown for the De Anza Division crown, and in the CCS semifinals to M-A. Paly is 3-1 this season. After losing to St. Ignatius in the season opener the team has put together three solid wins.

Wilcox is 2-2 with its two losses to Bay Area powers Valley Christian and Pittsburg. Last week the Chargers, playing without their first-string running backs, were dominating Pitt, leading 31-14, before the Pirates put together a late rally, using back-to-back onside kicks, for a 35-31 win.

When asked why he went to the onside kicks, Pitt coach Vic Galli said, “What difference did it make if we made them go 80 yards or 50 yards. We couldn’t stop them.’’

Quite a compliment to Wilcox

N

and its veer-option running game.

“That’s scary,’’ Gifford said. “If anybody knows how to stop the veer it’s Pittsburg. They’ve been watching De La Salle run it for so many years.’’

Paul Rosa rushed for 398 yards in Wilcox’s first two games, but hasn’t played in the last two due to a groin injury. He will likely be ready for Paly. But as Wilcox showed last week, the system is so good it almost doesn’t matter who plays. Isaiah Flores, Rosa’s backup, rushed for 215 yards against Pittsburg and the Chargers pounded the line for 302 yards on the ground in all.

“It really doesn’t matter,’’ Gifford said. “They’re going to run their

stuff so clean and so fast.’’

Wilcox is averaging 314.8 yards per game rushing. A big challenge for the Paly run defense. But last year the Chargers pulled a surprise by throwing for three touchdowns in a 35-21 victory.

“The biggest thing is to try to be as solid and confident on defense as they are on offense,’’ Gifford said. “There has to be a high level of communication and trust.’’

After having its offense shut down at St. Ignatius, Palo Alto has scored 129 points over the last three weeks. The sophomore tandem of Danny Peters at quarterback and Josh Butler at running back has stepped up in a big way. Peters has completed 40 of

57 passes over those three games for 689 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Butler has carried 43 times for 423 yards and 9.6 yards per carry.

“The last three weeks the team has been very consistent on offense,’’ Gifford said. “They’ve been able to make plays and haven’t put themselves in a hole.

Danny has really made some throws, For Josh everything is coming easier.’’

Monta Vista at Gunn, 7 p.m.

After going 4-0 in nonleague play and getting off to its best start since the 2002 team went 6-0, Gunn will begin league play by hosting Monta Vista. And SCVAL El Camino Division play is being treated as a new season for the Titans.

“All out the window,’’ Gunn coach Jason Miller said. “We’re all zero and zero now.’’

Monta Vista, which is off to a 3-1 start, beat Gunn 39-36 last year. (continued on page 50)

BOYS WATER POLO

Sacred Heart Prep looking for experience Woodside takes control of the PAL Bay Division race

by Rick Eymer acred Heart Prep boys water polo coach Brian Kreutzkamp won’t get one of his most experienced players back until sometime in October. Until then, he just needs his team to keep playing.

Without a senior on the squad, it’s become a complete rebuilding year for the Gators, who are used to being considered one of the top programs in the country.

So far, SHP has played in one tournament, finishing second in the St. Francis tournament, and three

S

league matches. It’s still a little too early to crown the Gators the best of the section.

“We’re so young,” Kreutzkamp said, “we need a lot of varsity experience.”

Back troubles have kept sophomore goalie Griffin Price from playing yet this season. Despite his youth, Price was a key player in Sacred Heart Prep’s successful season last year.

With half of last year’s team playing in college, Kreutzkamp can only hope the younger group grows

in a hurry.

They’re showing they are, at least, heading in the right direction.

Luke Johnston scored four goals in helping the Gators remain unbeaten in West Catholic Athletic League play with an 18-3 victory over visiting St. Ignatius on Wednesday night.

Bear Weigle and Jack Tsotadze each added three goals for the Gators (6-1, 3-0), who host Serra next Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in a league (continued on page 50)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • September 27, 2019 • Page 49

Sports

Rick Eymer

SHP’s Jake Tsotadze tries to intercept a pass during the Gators’ 18-3 victory over St. Ignatius on Wednesday. Sacred Heart Prep, without a senior on the roster, needs game experience.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Water polo (continued from page 49)

match.

Wyatt Stenson made seven saves for SHP, which held the Wildcats without a goal for 19:21 after they scored in the final seconds of the first period.

“Wyatt has done a really good job,” Kreutzkamp said. “Luckily we have some team speed and are able to utilize that.”

Sacred Heart Prep is the threetime defending WCAL champions and has won seven of the past eight league titles. The Gators lost to Bellarmine in the St. Francis tournament earlier this year.

Football (continued from page 49)

Charlotte Tomkinson MENLO CROSS COUNTRY The senior won her first individual cross country race with the fastest time of the day on the girls side across 11 races in four divisions as the Knights won the team title at Woodbridge.

Colin Giffen PALO ALTO FOOTBALL The senior wide receiver caught seven pass for 155 yards and a touchdown in helping the Vikings beat Carlmont 34-24 last Friday.

Giffen is also a defensive standout for Paly.

Honorable mention Minhee Chumg Castellija water polo

Amelia Gibbs Palo Alto volleyball

Cooper McKenna Gunn water polo

Josh Butler Palo Alto football

Cory Hallada Gunn football

Jaden Richardson Menlo football

Sarah Perry

Kai Seed

Woodside cross country

Woodside water polo

Odeya Russo Gunn volleyball

Ella Woodhead Sacred Heart Prep water polo

Eitan Smolyar* Gunn football

Ryan Stanley Palo Alto water polo *Previous winner

Watch video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to PASportsOnline.com

Page 50 • September 27, 2019 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

“They like to run,’’ Miller said.

“They use a lot of option, throw in some play action pass. They’ve adopted some of our sets. They present a diverse set of problems.’’

Gunn’s double-wing offense has been virtually unstoppable thus far this season. The Titans have scored 217 points in four games, an average of over 54 points per game. And they are rushing for 368.5 yards per game.

Fullback Eitan Smolyar leads the team with 528 yards rushing and seven touchdowns. He is averaging a boggling 16.0 yards per carry.

Wingback Cory Hallada has 496 yards on 33 carries, 15.0 yards per carry. Philip Doan has chipped in with 278 yards on 32 carries. As a team Gunn is averaging 12.0 yards per carry or a first down every time they call a running play.

Miller knows it won’t be as easy in league play.

“Our league is much better than the teams we played in our nonleague schedule,’’ he said. “Every game will be a big challenge. We will try to rise to the level of our competition.’’

“They’re clearly the number one team in the section,” Kreutzkamp said. “I’m looking forward to seeing them in an individual game.”

After a slow start against the Wildcats, the Gators went into overdrive and overwhelmed the SI defense, beating them down the pool and getting off close shots. If not for SI goalie Luca Caniglia making several highlight stops among his nine saves, the score could have been worse.

“We led Mitty 8-6 at one point,” Kreutzkamp said. “We wanted to make a point of being better than that.

We play some good teams coming up and I don’t think there will be too many more 18-3 games.”

After the Wyatt Stenson Wildcats pulled within 4-2, Johnston scored in the first 25 seconds of the second period and Isaac Rotenberg followed with a goal less than a minute later.

Johnston added another score midway through the period and the Gators were in control.

Will Swart added two goals, three assists and a pair of steals for the Gators, who were declared cochampions with Bellarmine in last year’s Central Coast Section Open Division last fall. The title game was canceled because of poor air quality.

Sacred Heart Prep finished 2018 with a 26-2 overall record, which included three victories over the Bells.

Teddy Pasquesi also scored twice against SI while Jack Vort recorded a goal and two assists.

Menlo School, playing its first year in the WCAL, found its first

league victory with a prolific offensive showing. The Knights recorded a season in goals, beating visiting Valley Christian 23-14 as Noah Housenbold scored six goals and Zayd Mahmoud recorded eight saves.

Senior Connor Enright added 4 goals, five assists and two steals for the Knights (7-2, 1-2), who travel to play De La Salle in a nonleague match Saturday.

Connor MacMitchell and Jack King also scored four goals while Ben Siminoff added a pair of goals and two steals. Greg Hilderbrand also scored twice.

Woodside gained the upper hand in the Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division, beating visiting Burlingame 11-4.

Menlo-Atherton topped Half Moon Bay 18-7 in another PAL match.

Woodside (11-4, 4-0) moved into sole possession of first place in the Bay Division as Aidan Seed scored three goals to help the Wildcats against the Panthers.

Duncan Vaughan, Jake Anderson, Joe Untrecht and Andrew Mills each added two goals for Woodside, which hosts Carlmont in a league match at 6 p.m.

Tuesday.

Kai Seed recorded five saves and had a pair of assists and Noah Brosius also recorded a pair of assists. Dominic Borg came on at goalie to make three saves.

Julian Montoya scored five goals to lead the Bears (3-1, 5-7), who host Burlingame at 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Michael Heller and Zach de Haaff each added three goals as M-A held the Cougars scoreless in the first period while building a 4-0 lead.

Sonny Watkins scored twice and had two assists and Alex Rarick added two assists for M-A.Q

Menlo-Atherton at Folsom, 7 p.m.

With his team having a bye last week Menlo-Atherton coach Steve Papin drove up to Folsom to watch his next opponent in person.

“They have athletes all over the field,’’ Papin said. “(Running back) Daniyel Ngata is the best player I’ve ever coached against. (Receiver) Elihjah Badger is the second best.

Their slot receiver might be the third best. They have Division I guys sprinkled in all over their offense and defense.’’

A tall order, Folsom (3-1) has been recognized in recent years as the second-best team in Northern California, behind only De La Salle.

Ngata is ranked the No. 2 all-purpose back nationally by 247Sports.

His college finalists are Clemson, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State, Arizona State and Utah.

M-A (1-2) lost to East of Salt Lake City 49-20 its last time on the field. The Bears had a 20-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

“A lot of things went our way,’’ Papin said. “We had a fumble recovery for a touchdown and I think we started feeling ourselves, thought we had them. But they wore us down.’’

The bye week was used to “figure out who we are and get back to basics.’’

“We’ve lost some games by scores that look pretty lopsided,’’ Papin said. “But if you watch us play we’ve had opportunities.

We’ve played well and then just killed ourselves with penalties and other mistakes. We’ve been our own worst enemy.’’

Of concern is the number of players on the M-A injury list. The Bears are heading on the road to play the No. 2 team in Northern California with three starting offensive linemen out (center Uate Uhila, right guard Chris Feao and right tackle Semisi Mataele). Standout linebacker Joe Posthauer is dayto-day. Cornerback Skyler Thomas still hasn’t played this season due to a shoulder injury.

“We will have to play a near flawless football game to win,’’ Papin said. “It’s a tall order, a tall challenge, but I think we will be up for the challenge. We will go up there and play our best.’’Q

READ MORE ONLINE

www.PASportsOnline.com For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, visit www.PASportsOnline.com

Sports Gunn’s Tia Chang said the tournament showed how much mental and physical strength is needed to complete the round.

“I don’t have much experience playing 18 holes and I realized how important it is to stay mentally strong,” she said. “Toward the end I was getting tired and wishing I had stronger resolve. It was great meeting people from different schools.

I liked that.”

OF LOCAL NOTE

Palo Alto girls golf teeing up for a good year Castilleja on pace for fifth straight PAL water polo title

by Rick Eymer

P

alo Alto sophomore Lauren Sung tried out a new set of irons for her first round of golf at Poplar Creek Golf Course.

It went well.

Sung fired a 3-under 68 to lead Palo Alto to the team title of the Helen Lengfeld Memorial Golf Tournament. The Vikings scored a team total of 351, 17 strokes ahead of second-place Harker School.

Menlo School (403) finished fifth and Gunn (422) was seventh. Valley Christian placed third.

Lowell San Francisco’s Lauren Shew and Harker’s Natalie Vo each shot a 5-under 66 with Shew earning Low Gross honors on a tiebreaker.

Sung was third, one of four Vikings to score par or better. All six Paly golfers finished among Katherine Sung the top 10.

Katherine Sung and Madison Pineda finished in a fifth-place tie, each with a round of 70, Marina Mata (71) was eighth, Bridget

O’Keefe (72) was ninth and Priya Bakhsi (73) tied for 10th, along with Menlo’s Taylor Baik.

Athina Chen led Gunn with a round of 79. Menlo’s Gianna Inguagiato and Vikki Xu each shot a 76. East Menlo Park resident Angelina Pohahau fired a round of 83 for St. Francis, which finished sixth.

“Everything in my game was great,” said Lauren Sung, who qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur before she started her freshman year at Paly. “I had 14 putts on the front nine, which is good for me. My family drives by here on the way to San Francisco all the time and it was finally nice to play here.”

O’Keefe, who qualified for the state tournament as an individual last year, was only slightly miffed at herself for “finishing second highest”on the winning team.

“We’re all competitive and the goal is to beat them,” she said. “At the end of the day, whatever I shoot, I root for the team.”

The Vikings are the two-time defending Central Coast Section and have made winning a third one their main objective.

“That’s why playing in this

Across 1 ___ gow poker 4 “The Godfather” actor James 8 Highest peak in New Zealand 14 Twilight, poetically 15 “Clair de ___” (Debussy work) 16 “___ divided against itself, cannot stand”: Lincoln 17 Small complaint 18 “The Facts of Life” mentor ___ Garrett 19 Gossipy sorts 20 Comedian currently co-presenting “The Great British Bake Off” 23 Latvian currency 24 Pet lizards 28 “Downton Abbey” countess 31 SpaceX founder 32 “Evita” narrator 34 Go for a stroll 36 “What ___ can I say?”

37 With it, when “with it” meant something 38 Former late-night host 41 Evanescence vocalist Amy 42 Commedia dell’___ 44 Triglyceride, for one 45 Part of D.A. 46 “Exodus” author 49 Swiss capital 51 “Melancholia” star Dunst 52 5 to 2, e.g.

55 Tennis superstar, as nicknamed by his Serbian fans 60 Buffet bit 63 Like octuplets 64 “Blueprint for a Sunrise” artist 65 ___ and Guilder (rival nations in “The Princess Bride”) 66 More than enough, for some 67 The Lightning Seeds lead singer Broudie 68 Forewarning 69 Ardor

tournament is good practice,” said Katherine Sung. “We get to play against the private schools and to see where we stand. It’s good practice to see where we stand.”

Palo Alto, Harker and Valley Christian finished the tournament in the same order as they did in last year’s CCS tournament.

“I like this tournament because it breaks up the regular season,” Pineda said. “And we play teams we don’t normally see until the CCS. There’s no extra pressure because we’re all motivated to play our best and because we all want to win.”

Playing in a tournament dedicated to the memory of Helen Lengfeld, who founded the Pacific Women’s Golf Association 72 years ago to promote women’s golf in Northern California, particularly junior girls golf, makes it a special for many participants.

“I’ve played in a couple of tournaments she created,” Bakshi said.

“She was such an influential person and its cool to see her work continue today. I like coming back, playing with a lot of teams. There’s more competition than usual and it was a nice day to play.”

Girls water polo Senior Sarah Pedley recorded four saves and the Castilleja girls water polo team swamped host Aragon 12-2 in a Peninsula Athletic

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“The Name Game” – maybe it’s a mean name, amen. Matt Jones

This week’s SUDOKU

Answers on page 31.

Answers on page 31.

70 “Black-ish” father

13 Jennifer Lien’s “Star Trek: Voyager” role 21 Head of Hogwarts?

22 Actor Rao of “Drag Me to Hell” and “Avatar” 25 Invalid 26 Money in the bank 27 Sport with clay pigeons 29 Literally, “reign” in Hindi 30 M.D.’s group 31 Island off Manhattan 32 Pool hall supply 33 “Ready or not, ___ come!”

35 Story credit 39 Calligrapher’s tip 40 Honorary poem 43 Suck in

Down 1 Pasta in casseroles 2 “Wheel of Fortune” purchase options 3 Defense missile used against other missiles 4 F or G, e.g.

5 “Vorsprung durch Technik” automaker 6 Ben Stiller’s mom 7 Curly of the Harlem Globetrotters 8 Request to be excused 9 2018 horror movie and spin-off of “The Conjuring 2” 10 Swindle 11 Not closeted 12 Mama bear, in Madrid

League Bay Division match.

Anjali Kambham, Minhee Chung, Gabby Lewis and Lexi Triantis each scored twice for the Gators (8-5, 5-0), who host Notre Dame Belmont at 5 p.m. Friday as the league schedule reaches its halfway point.

Castilleja is the lone remaining unbeaten team in league play.

Menlo-Atherton is in second place with a 3-1 record and hosted winless Half Moon Bay. Elsa McElhinney, Serafina Cortez, Lauren Bynn-Rider and Georgia Hutchinson each added a goal for the four-time defending PAL Bay Division champion Gators. Q

www.sudoku.name

47 Place of perfection 48 Give in 50 Hundred Acre Wood resident 53 Iranian coin 54 Pastry with some Earl Grey 56 Controversial TV health adviser 57 “Emma” novelist Austen 58 Marine predator 59 Ship’s bottom 60 Ozone layer pollutant, for short 61 Words with king or carte 62 NaNoWriMo, er, mo. ©2019 Jonesin’ Crosswords (jonesincrosswords@gmail.com)

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