On Saturday, March 18th, the City Council held it's Priority Setting meeting. Below is a picture of the Council right after the workshop concluded. (In the picture from left to right is Councilmember Maria Doerr [D5], Vice Mayor Cecilia Taylor [D1], Councilmember Betsy Nash [D4], myself, and Councilmember Drew Combs [D2].)
Together, the City Council identified five strategic priorities for the coming fiscal year (listed in no particular order):
Climate Action
Housing
Safe Streets
Activating Downtown/Economic Development
Emergency Preparedness
Tuesday's City Council agenda contains Informational Item H3 which provides an update on the Priority Setting workshop. I encourage residents to stay engaged over the next several months to see how the priorities are translated into work plan items, and budget appropriations. I also want to point out that just because a project may not neatly fall under any given strategic priority doesn't mean that it won't get staff and council attention. I personally appreciate the almost 400 submissions we received from residents about their desired priorities and I look forward to making progress on many of them in the year ahead.
Switching gears, I know that everyone is experiencing storm and electrical outage fatigue. What a year it's been! Even though we're all over it, another storm is projected to hit our area on Tuesday (yes, really). Please stay vigilant, get prepared and hang in there. For the latest updates from the City of Menlo Park, visit www.menlopark.gov/stormupdate. Here's hoping for an easy one.
Tuesday's meeting will kick-off with a presentation from the chair of the Environmental Quality Commission (EQC), Tom Kabat. I encourage residents to tune in to learn about the work that the commission has underway, and their recommendations moving forward. The image above shows the agenda for the presentation, and the other slides are available in the agenda packet.
About a week ago, on March 20th, the United Nation's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a summary report about the status of climate change. The state of affairs is quite alarming. The chart below, from the report, shows the projected impact to three different age groups, based on the level of climate action taken. As a parent of two teenagers, the data are frightening.
A stated in an article from Fortune, "A brutal climate report is raising alarm bells about the future—but there are reasons to be optimistic." There are existing solutions that can be employed to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, and everyone, from individuals to local government to other countries can and need to be part of the solution. In Menlo Park, we are so fortunate to have highly knowledge (and nationally recognized) climate experts serving our community in the role of EQC commissioners.
Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) became effective January 1, 2022 and allows:
Homeowners in most areas around the state to divide their property into two lots, and;
Two homes to be built on each of those lots, with the effect of legalizing fourplexes in areas that previously only allowed one home.
This agenda item is a second reading of an ordinance introduced on March 14th to establish Menlo Park-specific regulations that conform with State law. Areas covered under the ordinance include lot dimensions, setbacks & setbacks, floor area limits and building coverage, maximum unit sizes, parking requirements, building massing and privacy and architectural design elements.
These two agenda items (G2 and G3) are continuations of item I2 from the March 14th Council meeting (Amend the fiscal year 2022-23 budget and salary schedule). The one item has been split into two separate ones. Minor corrections and further explanations are included in the revised staff reports. Below is my summary of the item from last time (note: I only included information about the budget and did not describe the salary schedule changes):
The City Council approved the fiscal year 2022-23 budget at its June 28, 2022 meeting (the City's fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th). At that time, the adopted General Fund operating budget was balanced with the use of $6.4 million in reserves. This agenda item contains amendments to the adopted budget, both changes in revenues and expenses. As stated in the staff report, "The net impact of the recommended amendments results in a forecasted General Fund deficit of approximately $15,000 for fiscal year 2022-23, compared to a budgeted deficit of $6.4 million. This is primarily due to approximately $1.6 million more in revenues (vehicle license fee, transient occupancy tax and interest income) and salary savings of roughly $5.5 million." The fiscal year 2022-23 General Fund forecast is now expected to result in $76.64 million in revenues offset by $76.66 million in expenses, closing at a deficit of approximately $15,000 (to be covered by reserves, as previously mentioned).
I first want to thank our Menlo Park Police Department for their work as first responders during these ongoing storm events. On Tuesday, there are two police-related informational items at the end of the agenda. The first, (H4) is an update from Police Chief Dave Norris on the work that the Reimagining Public Safety Subcommittee has been doing. The second, (H5) is the City's first reporting of racial and identity information stemming from police activity. In addition, under "Other Items of Interest" below is a list of online services now provided by the police department.
Other Items of Interest
Below are some additional items of interest.
Menlo Park Quiet Zone Update
On Thursday, March 23rd, the City of Menlo Park held a community meeting about what it would take to make Menlo Park a train horn honking Quiet Zone. The meeting covered the process, estimated costs and next steps. As of the writing of this email, the presentation slides, exhibits shown and video of the meeting are not yet available. They should to be posted here in the coming week.
Civic Engagement Volunteer Opportunities
Calling all engaged residents, or those looking for ways to engage!
There are many opportunities available for residents to be involved in local decision making and government oversight. Below are three agencies (including Menlo Park) that are actively recruting volunteers:
Citizen's Advisory Committee members directly contribute to Peninsula Clean Energy’s mission of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by expanding access to sustainable and affordable energy solutions.
The San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury is an independent investigative body created by the California State Constitution. Composed of nineteen citizens, the San Mateo County Civil Grand Jury serves as a "watchdog for citizens of the county."
Menlo Park welcomes and encourages residents' active participation through serving on a city commission or committee. Advisory commissions examine issues of community interest and make recommendations to the City Council on policy matters. Each advisory commission reviews specific subjects and carries out assignments as directed by the City Council or as prescribed by law. Each advisory commission establishes an annual work plan that is in line with the City Council's goals, which guides the commissions' activities and projects. Menlo Park currently has seven City Council advisory bodies with the following number of vacancies:
Complete Streets - 2
Environmental Quality - 2
Finance and Audit - 5
Housing - 1
Library - 2
Parks and Recreation - 2
Planning - 2
Ravenswood Bicycle Lane Pilot Survey
The City is conducting a pilot project on Ravenswood Avenue to extend the bike lane at Noel Street to Alma Street, a distance of about 300 feet, in place of one existing car lane. The previous design of the road involved an abrupt ending of the bike lane, forcing cyclist to merge suddenly with cars. The City started this pilot project March 2, 2023, in advance of a pavement resurfacing project that is scheduled to take place in the next few months.
To help gather data about the benefits and impacts of the redesign, the City has launched an online survey for road users to share their feedback. Staff will use the findings to report back to City Council (tentatively scheduled for early May) to seek direction on whether to extend the pilot, make it permanent, or return the road to its previous configuration. Thank you in advance for sharing your thoughts.
Menlo Park Spring Recreation Classes Start This Week
Registration Still Open
The City of Menlo Park hosts a wide range of community classes for all ages at reasonable rates. The spring session begins this week. Classes include fitness, dance, sports, music, drama, art, lifelong learning and more. City facilities are safe and welcoming to all. In person and online classes are available. Enrollment is still open for some classes. Check out the online activity guide to browse the class listings and enroll online.
Egg Hunt at Flood Park
Saturday, April 8th from 10am to Noon
On Saturday, April 8th at 10am, the City of Menlo Park, in partnership with San Mateo County Parks, will host the annual Egg Hunt event for children and families at Flood Park. This free family event will feature crafts, a candy guess, egg hunt organized by children’s age groups, photos with the bunny, fire engine rides, and more. Join in the fun at Flood Park, 215 Bay Road.
Love Our Earth Festival
Saturday, April 22nd from 11am to 4pm
Join the City of Menlo Park and community partners at the Love Our Earth Festival on Saturday, April 22nd from 11am to 4pm. The Love Our Earth festival will feature a food marketplace including live vegan cooking demos on induction cooktops, a Goodwill donation drive, free bicycle repairs, an electric vehicle showcase, 50+ exhibitors/vendors, live music, family activities including story times and a live lizard show, a speaker series offered in English and Spanish, an electric landscaping tools demonstration, and more! The event will be held at Menlo-Atherton High School and more information can be found here.
Various Police Services Available Online
The Menlo Park Police Department now offers many services online for the convenience of the community. While some of these features have been online for a while, there have been a number of added services in the last few months. From parking permits to registering your bicycle or camera system to filing a police complaint or compliment, here is a list of online services:
File a police report - You will be able to print a confirmation page for your records.
Buy a parking permit - You can purchase temporary overnight parking permits for $2/each. Annual overnight parking permits must be done in person due to the nature of the application process.
Camera registry - Register your private video surveillance system.
Special needs registry - You can voluntarily register your family member with special needs to aid the police department during encounters with them.
Bicycle registry - You can register your bicycle so that it is easier to return should it be stolen.
Please note that you can also complete these services in person by visiting the police lobby (located at the Burgess Civic Center) during regular business hours. Regular business hours are Monday to Thursday, from 7:30am to 5:30pm.
