State Assembly – Vicki Veenker:
I’m recommending newcomer Vicki Veenker for State Assembly. As an Intellectual Property Litigator, she has intimate experience with s the ‘work product’ of the companies in Silicon Valley, as well as the some of the macro issues they face in competition, growth, and preserving the position of Silicon Valley as the gold standard of innovation worldwide.’
Menlo Park City School District Board: Caroline Lucas
I’ve been vocal on the failed Ballot Measures A and C earlier this year for The parcel taxes should not be perpetual, but reviewable and renewable. I hope the incoming school board seriously addresses the need for public outreach.
It’s harder to distinguish amongst the candidates for Menlo Park School Board. What’s needed is objectivity in discussing core programs and augmented programs, and the public at large. I recommend Caroline Lucas – a local teacher – for school board to be a voice for a balanced budget while maintaining and enhancing excellent experience for children.
Someone commented to me that only 20% of the districts families have children attending the district. The implication is that 80% of the district families are out of somewhat out of the communication loop.
Peter Carpenter appropriately brings up the costs the ‘benefit’ that accrues to school personnel who bring their own children into the district. I consider this a great benefit to the teacher. Peter notes that the cost is not a line item in the budget, hence, a spotlight is not usually cast upon that perk. Nonetheless, we’re going for transparency of the anticipated 2017 parcel tax
Some follow up comments to some follow up comments.
See, my prior post. http://www.almanacnews.com/blogs/p/2016/10/14/mueller-and-taylor-for-menlo-park-council
There are two parts to my prior post of October 14: endorsements for council, and the Menlo Park map showing domicile of council members in relation to east side growth. This map isn’t going away - actually calls for more study and could be a post by itself. For example, it would be interesting to also consider their residential zoning categories, lot sizes, and school districts, compared to others.
We don’t have districts for the five council seats; it’s open to all; all five council members can be adjacent neighbors. But the observed lopsidedness is a real problem and will call into question zoning consequences decisions going forward. The easy solution is adding Cecilia’s voice. Unfortunately, this requires sacrificing Catherine Carlton’s seat. Although I don’t expect that to realistically happen.
Reelection is not an Entitlement:
I’ll note for history that former council members Lee DuBoc and Mickie Winkler subsequently lost their reelection bids to their first term. Sometimes a council member explains their reason for re-election as “so they can see what they started through completion.” Well, that’s why elections stagger 2 seats and 3 seats. There is residual experience.
Although there is one little covered aspect that if a council member serves 6 years (as a second term), some benefits do permanently accrue to them, such as ability to buy healthcare. And there may be a pension component. Someone should clarify this.
The General Plan Update: While our current general plan (GP) was initially crafted in 1994, it has been periodically amended – such as the update of its Housing Element about 4 years ago – and current comprehensive rewrite of zoning for the East of Highway 101 and the current ‘M-2’ industrial area. I’d be wary of characterizations of the service life of a GP in words such as ‘this enables 4 million sq. ft. over the next 20 years.’ It’s misleading since one can interpret it as a ‘rate of growth’, 200k sq ft per year for 20 years. Nope. It can be more like a stampede, as when the ’94 GP enabled the campus. The growth and change can be frontloaded. Enjoy.
Next up, Bob Dylan.
