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Letter: Downtown plan a 'debacle,' writer says

The Almanac's endorsement of the Menlo Park City Council's handling of our downtown debacle is astonishing.

Instead of dealing with this critical situation as they were elected to do, the City Council has kicked the issue down the road for five long years trying to win consensus of 25,000 people, a thought so ludicrous that, if the situation was not so tragic, one could laugh at the very idea.

Amazingly, Mayor Kristen Keith has just now discovered the tremendous number of vacancies in downtown. I guess with a city as huge as Menlo Park, it would be easy to overlook such an item. Perhaps someone should point our mayor to El Camino to bring her up to date on that issue as well.

If five years ago the council would have taken the millions of dollars it has spent on outside consultants and instead refurbished the downtown, and had it allowed the beautiful developments to have been completed on El Camino, instead of a broken-down city center, we would have a charming, booming, and fiscally rewarding commercial center.

Our City Council has abdicated their responsibilities like a cat runs from water. And the Almanac, with its constant support for the council, has been an unwitting enabler.

Sloane Citron, Arden Road, Menlo Park