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Burglar targets Buck’s restaurant in Woodside A burglar shattered a front window and attempted to rob a cash register at Buck’s of Woodside restaurant after the close of business on Friday, Feb. 8, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office reported. Nothing was reported stolen. Investigators were looking at a suspect arrested by Redwood City police in connection with a similar incident earlier in the day. Buck’s is at 3062 Woodside Road in Woodside. Other crimes
The Buck’s incident was one of several burglaries and acts of vandalism reported in recent days. Someone with a BB gun shot and damaged a light fixture at the Mountain Terrace restaurant at the corner of Skyline Boulevard and La Honda Road in Woodside. The front windows of the restaurant have been “shot out” twice in recent months, the owner told deputies, according to a Feb. 11 report. The total HOUSING COMPLEX continued from page 5
Funded primarily through a $1.85-million, 55-year, interestfree loan from Menlo Park’s below-market-rate housing fund, the project also drew upon a private bank loan for $573,600, plus $50,000 from Redwood City, and a $5,000 grant from Facebook, along with contributions from the county and Rebuilding Together, for renovations. Redwood City chipped in because it had to either spend the money or lose it, and without being able to increase the amount through state or redevelopment funds, didn’t have enough to actually build anything itself, according to Ms. Harr. “$50,000 won’t buy you a bathroom,” she said. But the contribution was key to the success of the project. County regulations required providing at least one handicapped-accessible apartment, and the Redwood City contribution helped cover the cost. “In the future this is going to be the new normal,” Ms. Harr suggested, given state funding cutbacks. “Cities are going to have to work together.” Nine units at the complex are reserved for people earning less than 50 percent of the regional median income of $81,300, and three units for those making less than 30 percent of that income. A total of nine apartments must go to people who either live or work in Menlo Park, and HIP
N CRIME ROUNDU P
estimated damage is $1,000. Meanwhile on the same day in unincorporated West Menlo Park on Liberty Park Avenue, someone covered a tree in toilet paper and used a liquid, possibly bleach, to draw pictures in the lawn of a swastika and male genitalia. Damage is estimated at $100. In a residential burglary on Iris Lane in Menlo Park reported Feb. 7, police say they do not know how the burglar entered the house, but three laptop computers and $200 cash in a piggy bank were taken, for a total loss estimated at $2,600. A burglary at the Stanford Inn at 115 El Camino Real in Menlo Park, reported the same day, resulted in an estimated loss of $2,010, including perfume, makeup, a purse and $1,040 in cash. The method of entry is not known, police said. Housing hopes to house up to five veterans there. So far four veterans have applied for apartments, thanks to a collaboration between the Veterans Affairs administration and HIP Housing. “We really had to work to come up with a strategy,” Ms. Harr said, explaining that finding incomequalified veterans who also live in Menlo Park was a challenge. The Willow Road complex will be the first in HIP Housing’s portfolio to provide free Wi-Fi, a feature that the nonprofit believes takes a step toward closing the digital divide between high- and low-income communities. An Oregon nonprofit that specializes in wireless access for affordable housing is going to get the complex online for $5,000. Sun Light & Power, a Berkeleybased solar power company, is interested in wiring every unit to run off solar power, according to Ms. Harr, but that’s $11,000 HIP Housing can’t afford. Yet. That may change if Menlo Park approves the nonprofit’s request for permit fee reimbursement. Because the complex straddled two lots, HIP Housing had to submit and pay for two sets of plans and permits. Construction started in January, and may finish by March. Rebuilding Together Peninsula will work on converting a storage area into a community room as part of its national volunteer day in April, Ms. Harr said, just in time to hold an open house early the following month. A
8 N The Almanac N TheAlmanacOnline.com N February 20, 2013
Photo by Michelle Le/The Almanac
Air power
Betty Chen, left, and Charlie Brandin were on one of the competitive middle-school teams building and racing balloon-powered toy race cars at Portola Valley’s Woodside Priory School on Jan. 18. The object of the exercise: build a car with everyday objects such as cardboard tubes, chopsticks and CDs, and along the way, explore teamwork, intuition, and applying concepts from math, physics and art.
Marianne Gallion was World War II nurse Marianne T. Gallion died peacefully on Jan. 9 at home, surrounded by her family. A resident of Atherton for more than 60 years, she was 90. Born in Greybull, Wyoming, Ms. Gallion was raised in Butte, Montana. She graduated from St. John’s Hospital Nurse Training School in Helena, Montana, and joined the Army as a nurse during World War II. She served on several converted troopships in the Pacific theater, providing medical care to wounded soldiers. It was on one of these vessels that she met her future husband, Joseph Gallion, a staff officer in the Merchant Marines. After MENLO PARK STAFF continued from page 5
track record of other projects that the city can evaluate to make sure they have the necessary experience. Colleague Kirsten Keith commented she was surprised that the city manager didn’t really flesh out the alternatives to hiring full-time staff. She talked to an agency that provides staff for the city of Petaluma, she said, and was told that contract staff work out well in public positions because they want to maintain a good reputation for future work. Saying that he liked the idea of provisional employees, Council-
the war , they were married and lived in San Francisco before moving to Atherton. Ms. Gallion was a consummate cook, adroit bridge player, founding member of the Lady Luck Investment Club, and a lover of
outdoors, say family members. In later years, she traveled the world. Ms. Gallion is survived by children Susan Gallagher of San Anselmo, Randall Gallion of Atherton, and Kipling Gallion of San Antonio; siblings Jean Yakawich of Butte, Montana, and Fred Frick of New Rochelle, N.Y.; and five grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband, Joseph Gallion, in 1986 and daughter, Lynne, in 2001. Plans are pending for a celebration of Ms. Gallion’s life. Donations may be made to Make a Wish Foundation, a local hospice, or a favorite charity.
man Rich Cline noted that some non-building projects, such as updating residential development guidelines, will get “political and nasty,” and therefore shouldn’t be contracted out. Mayor Peter Ohtaki suggested a “hybrid model” of potentially two full-time employees, and four to five provisional staff. Although the council differed on whether to go with provisional versus contractual employees, the idea of blending the types caught on. “I am not ideologically opposed to hiring full-time employees when they are going to be full-time employees,” said Vice Mayor Ray Mueller. “... (I) n this case we would be hiring full-time employees for a level of
development that’s not sustainable.” He favored looking for a contract agency. A 5-0 vote gave the city manager authority to decide how to spend $300,000 on a combination of two additional provisional employees, improving City Hall office space to accommodate more people, and possibly extending the service of the planning department’s two current provisional employees. Staff will also start preparing a request for proposals to find contract employees, hopefully before the fiscal year ends in June, and return to the council with a hybrid plan for review. The plan could include a mix of full-time, provisional and/or contract employees.
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Marianne Gallion as an Army nurse and on her 90th birthday.
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