One person can truly make a difference. On January 26th, the City Council was about to approve the design for two new pools at the soon-to-be built Menlo Park Community Campus in the Belle Haven neighborhood. While the design met ADA guidelines, a resident spoke up at the meeting to point out that the entry to one of the pools, while meeting regulations, did not provide an inclusive and inviting experience for pool users of different ages and abilities. Because of her comment and perspective, the Council directed Staff to revisit the pool design and a solution was found which both addressed her concerns and met the constraints of the project. The Almanac ran a story about this here.
It is incumbent on each of us, in whatever way we can, to participate in what goes on in our community. I hope that providing you information in this newsletter helps you find a way to get involved.
Sincerely,
City Council Meeting Tomorrow, February 9th
(Note: Early Start at 4pm)
Tomorrow (2/9/21) night's City Council's packed agenda is here. Like all City Council meeting agendas, it includes links to staff reports for each item, login/call-in information and ways to weigh in on the issues being discussed.
Below are just a few of the many agenda items coming before Council tomorrow:
C1 - Receive an update on Menlo Park Municipal Water (MPMW) operations and provide direction on water rates. Did you know that there are four(!) water agencies (see map below) that service Menlo Park? MPMW covers approximately half of Menlo Park's residents. Most of District 3 is serviced by Calwater, but the neighborhoods of South of Seminary and Coleman receive their water from MPMW. This item is a study session to give guidance to Staff on an updated rate structure.
C2 - Pension liabilities presentation with actuarial consultant. Curious about why cities are always talking about pensions and unfunded pension liabilities? If you look at Menlo Park's budget, employee salaries and retirement benefits make up a huge portion of our city's expenses. Additionally, a gap exists (and is growing) in the amount Menlo Park pays into CalPERS and the amount Menlo Park will one day need to pay out to retired employees - this is our unfunded pension liability. This item is a study session to provide direction to Staff on whether to pay down our unfunded pension liability sooner than later, and if so, how much. Of course, like all things, there are trade offs (funds used to pay down liabilities mean less money for other city initiatives).
I1 - Receive public input on upcoming labor negotiations. Speaking of employee costs, Menlo Park is about to renegotiate it's labor contracts with multiple bargaining units. Tomorrow night's agenda item is an opportunity for community members to weigh in on the City's negotiating position. Then on February 23rd the City Council will meet in Closed Session to confirm negotiating teams, and provide initial bargaining authority to the City's chief negotiator. Following City Council direction, negotiations will take place over months, with successor agreements targeted to be ready in the summer. Note that there is also a somewhat related and separate agenda item (I2) for public input on the unrepresented management compensation plan.
Other agenda items include a contract extension Menlo Park's pool operator (Team Sheeper), newsrack permit fees and library technology upgrades. Again, you can see the full list of items to be discussed and ways to give feedback, on the agenda here.
UPDATE from the City Council Goal Setting Workshop
The City Council met on Saturday, January 30th for most of the day to hear from residents about their priorities for the City and to discuss which projects and initiatives to pursue in the coming year. Thank you to so many of you who wrote emails, filled out web forms, and gave public comments about your preferred projects and goals for Menlo Park. It is wonderful to live in a city with so many engaged community members.
Projects and ideas discussed ranged from very specific (safety on a particular street) to extremely broad (addressing Climate Change). Item J5 on tomorrow night's agenda contains a summary of all projects brought forward by residents, Council and Staff. Note: The staff report lists 137 items! Staff is continuing to prepare additional information for City Council consideration and seeks adoption of the 2021 City Council priorities and work plan at the February 23rd Council meeting. I will continue to keep you posted.
In addition to the project-related conversation that took place on January 30th, there was also quite a bit of discussion about the process of goal setting and how to frame and message projects and initiatives in a way that makes sense for residents, Council and Staff. If you have any thoughts about how best to go about this annual process, please let me know.
You can check out The Almanac's coverage of the January 30th Goal Setting workshop here. Note: The priorities have yet to be finalized and/or adopted.
Other Items of Interest
Below is some additional information you may find useful:
Willow Village Updates and Input Meetings: Facebook via Signature Development Group, recently resubmitted its master plan for its proposed Willow Village project. You can learn more about the current details of the project on the City's website here. While the City will have it's own meetings and review process, Facebook is holding a series of meetings on its own about the project on February 25th, March 10th and April 8th; all at 6pm. You can register and learn more here.
It’s A Problem Here Too - A Conversation about Racism in Our Neighborhood: On Sunday, January 31st, the Peninsula Democratic Coalition hosted a panel of experts on racism and local policy makers in a discussion about racism and ideas for change. A recording of this event is now available on YouTube.
City of Menlo Park's Weekly Digest: Did you know that the City of Menlo Park sends out its own weekly email, with news and events? You can sign up to get these emails, as well as other city updates at https://www.menlopark.org/list.aspx.
