This week I'm grateful for heat, water and electricity. Truly fortunate to live in beautiful Menlo Park.
Sincerely,
City Council Meeting, February 23rd
Tuesday (2/23/21) night's City Council 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 agenda items coming before Council tomorrow:
K2. Consider modifications to the Downtown street closure and temporary outdoor use permit pilot program. There are currently two blocks on Santa Cruz Avenue that have been modified to allow businesses to operate in travel lanes. The city ordinance allowing the configuration is set to expire on February 28, 2021 unless City Council adopts a new ordinance extending the timeframe. The City Council is receiving a lot of feedback from residents and downtown business owners about this item. If you would like to share your thoughts on the matter, you can email the City Council at city.council@menlopark.org and/or follow other ways to provide comment as outlined on the agenda here. In addition, the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce has also created a survey to obtain feedback here (survey deadline is 12pm Monday, 2/22). Note: Outdoor dining will remain either way in the converted parking spaces or "parklets". The issue is whether or not to allow dining and activity in the travel lanes.
K5. 2021 City Council priorities and work plan adoption. This agenda item is a continuation of the January 30th Goal Setting Workshop. The Staff Report lists out dozens and dozens of projects uncompleted from prior years and new ones added this year, that come from staff, community members and council members. While many of these projects are worthwhile and valuable, the challenge is prioritizing which ones to tackle at this time, given existing resources and budgetary constraints. Once the priorities are set and the work plan is adopted, Staff then develops the Capital Improvement Plan and the City Budget.
Other agenda items for Tuesday night include a general funds operations report, the adoption of the 2021-2022 budget principles and approving a contract for a new city attorney (Nira F. Doherty with Burke Williams Sorenson, LLP). Again, you can see the full list of items to be discussed and ways to give feedback, on the agenda here.
Other Items of Interest
Below is some additional information you may find useful:
Apply to Serve on a Menlo Park Advisory Body: Have you ever wanted to get more involved in local government? Now is your chance! Below is a list of upcoming vacancies* for various Menlo Park commission and committees. Deadline to apply is April 16th. The application is here. *Note: For many of these positions, an "incumbent" commissioner may reapply. Sometimes it can take a few tries to get appointed. Please feel free to reach out if you have questions.
San Francisquito Creek Project Update Community Meetings:The San Francisquito Creek Joint Powers Authority (SFCJPA) was formed in 1999 to lead projects that mitigate the risk of flooding along the San Francisquito Creek and the Bay. One of these projects includes widening the creek channel in five locations and replacing the Pope-Chaucer bridge. There are two upcoming community meetings to update stakeholders on the status of the project's planning, design and schedule. To register for either or both of the events, email RSVP@sfcjpa.org and a Zoom link will be sent to you.
Tuesday, 2/23 at 5pm - General project overview and update.
Tuesday, 3/2 at 5pm - Project impacts to trees and plans for mitigation.
Rebates Available for Electric Heat Pumps: Are you making the switch in your home from fossil fuels to carbon-free energy? Do you have solar panels and an electric car, and wondering what else you can do to reduce your home's carbon footprint? Did you know that at least 40% of the methane gas used by homes is for heating water? Peninsula Clean Energy is partnering with the Bay Area wide BayREN Home+ program to offer additional rebates for installing Heat Pump Water Heaters for San Mateo County residents. To learn more, visit https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/heat-pump-water-heater/. If you end up installing one, please let me know how it goes!
Cal Water College Scholarship Opportunity: Students who live in one of Cal Water's service areas may be eligible for a college scholarship ranging from $2,500 to $10,000. Form more information about eligibility requirements and to fill out an application (due April 16th) visit https://learnmore.scholarsapply.org/cawater/. Note that most of District 3 is serviced by Cal Water (South of Seminary and Coleman is serviced by Menlo Park Municipal Water).
Civics 101
From time to time I will provide information that may be helpful to residents advocating for projects and issues that are important to them. Most of the information will be things I wish I had known when starting to get involved in local government.
The Hub and Spoke
You may be aware of a California law called the Brown Act that ensures that the public's business is conducted in the open and with transparency. There are many components of the Brown Act, including how and when agendas must be published in advance of meetings, but the most important aspects are those that define "a meeting". To ensure compliance, a majority of a legislative body (the city council in our case, but this also applies to city commissions), must not meet or discuss any item that could come before itself. For a 5-member city council, this means that only two members (less than the majority) can "Brown Act" or confer with one another outside of an officially noticed meeting. This also means that a council member can only know what one other council member thinks about any item (this is why we don't know what each other is thinking about something until the actual meeting). For many items, council members have "Brown Act Buddies" who they work with, and then avoid discussing the item with the other council members.
I'm bringing this rule to your attention because a member of the public can inadvertently share information about council members' positions to each other, which can be problematic. For example, a resident may want the council to adopt an "Ice Cream Every Day Ordinance." The resident may contact Councilmember A and find out this person supports the effort. The resident may then contact Councilmember B and find out the same. The resident may then contact Councilmember C, and let Councilmember C know that there is already support from Councilmembers A & B. This is known as the hub and spoke - the resident serves as an intermediary and relays the thoughts and positions of council members to each other. If this occurs, council members may not be able to vote on certain items and there may be other consequences.
Please continue to reach out to council members and to share your thoughts. You are free to talk to whomever you'd like about whatever you'd like to discuss. Just be aware that council members must abide by certain rules, so please do refrain from sharing the positions of council members to other council members. If you have any questions about the Hub and Spoke, the Brown Act or any other Civics 101-type issue, please let me know.
