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‘Lame duck’ council set to vote on North Bayshore — with no housing WILL VOTE BE A ‘SLAP’ TO VOTERS WHO CHOSE THREE PRO-HOUSING CANDIDATES? By Daniel DeBolt
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A car passes by the Milk Pail Market on California Street. The developer that owns the surrounding land announced it bought property adjacent to the Milk Pail to be used to meet the store’s parking requirements.
New plan to save the Milk Pail DEVELOPER BUYS ADJACENT LOT TO SOLVE POPULAR MARKET’S PARKING SHORTAGE By Daniel DeBolt
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fter rescinding a deal to save Mountain View’s Milk Pail Market in July, developer Merlone Geier announced a new arrangement to save the popular market from closing when its parking agreement expires.
The announcement comes shortly before the City Council could take another vote on Merlone Geier’s next phase in the redevelopment of San Antonio shopping center. The developer made the move — which could curry favor for its proposal to build a movie theater, hotel, retail and office
space — in the days leading up to the City Council’s Dec. 2 meeting, when it is expected to take up Merlone Geier’s massive redevelopment plans for the part of San Antonio shopping center that surrounds the Milk Pail. See MILKPAIL, page 10
espite calls from residents that action be delayed to allow new council members to take their posts in January, the “lame duck” City Council on Nov. 25 is set to approve a plan for Google headquarters and the rest of North Bayshore that would allow new offices that could bring as many as 20,000 new jobs, but no new housing. Voters this month elected three candidates who favor at least studying housing for North Bayshore, replacing three termed-out council members who do not favor doing so — an indication for many that a majority of residents support housing in that area, now teeming with offices for thousands of high-tech workers. “For the old City Council majority to approve a draft Precise Plan that does not include housing immediately after an election in which the electorate clearly voted to consider housing in that area might, I believe, be
perceived as a ‘slap in the face’ of the community,” said former Mountain View city manager Bruce Liedstrand in an email. Mayor Chris Clark said in an email that the council is going to move ahead with voting on the North Bayshore plan, and a four-person majority is expected to continue its opposition to housing there, including member John McAlister and outgoing members Jac Siegel, Margaret Abe-Koga and Ronit Bryant. “We plan to move forward with its completion just as we completed the El Camino Precise Plan last night,” Abe-Koga said on Tuesday. The plan lays out a slew of development requirements for traffic management, building sizes and wildlife habitat protections in order to provide for cohesive development in the area north of Highway 101. The draft plan would allow 3.4 million square feet of new office space, enough for 19,428 jobs at 175 square feet per employee, adding See LAME DUCK, page 13
Superintendent resigns, cites need for new leadership MV WHISMAN BOARD OKS $227K PAY-OUT FOR CRAIG GOLDMAN By Kevin Forestieri
C
iting a need for new leadership for the Mountain View Whisman School District, Superintendent Craig Goldman will step down at the end of December. District officials are now looking for an interim superintendent to replace him. At a special meeting on Nov. 13, the school board met in
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closed session and unanimously approved Goldman’s resignation, effective Dec. 31, along with an agreement to pay him an additional 12 months’ salary. The resignation agreement includes a lump sum payment equivalent to 12 months’ salary by no later than the end of January, as well as medical benefits for one year unless he’s “employed otherwise” during the year, according to board presi-
dent Bill Lambert. The lump sum payment, based on Goldman’s 2014-15 annual salary, will be $227,027. Goldman said there is a growing disparity in the “priorities and the methodologies” between him and the five-member board, and that only two of the trustees who hired him to replace former superintendent Maurice Ghysels in 2010 are still board members. They are Phil Palmer, who
appears to have lost his re-election bid to district parent Greg Coladonato, and Ellen Wheeler. “There is a difference in approaches to issues that has to be aligned between district administration and the board,” Goldman said. He said he was the one who proposed resigning to the board, viewing the move as an “obligaMICHELLE LE
See GOLDMAN, page 17
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FLEEING MAN ARRESTED A man was arrested in downtown Mountain View after he allegedly fled police on foot Friday night. Police say the man appeared to be intoxicated, and that he ran when confronted by an officer. The man, identified by police as William Diaz, 23, of Fremont, was walking down Castro Street at around 11:15 p.m. when he was contacted by police. Diaz had been seen running across the street, nearly being struck and forcing traffic to swerve out of the way, according to Sgt. Saul Jaeger of the Mountain View Police Department. Diaz immediately ran on foot upon seeing the patrol car, and was later contacted at the intersection of Castro and Dana streets, according to Jaeger, where Diaz again fled from the officer. Diaz was finally apprehended about a block away from the intersection when he tripped on the sidewalk and fell. Police say Diaz appeared intoxicated and had a small abrasion on his forehead, but declined medical attention. Diaz was arrested on the charge of resisting a police officer and booked into San Jose Main Jail.
ARREST IN SEX OFFENDER SWEEP Police and other local law agencies did a sweep Tuesday to see if registered sex offenders in Mountain View are in compliance with registration requirements. The effort led to the arrest of one person, not registered as a sex offender, for an unrelated warrant offense. Officers visited 48 registered sex offenders at their residences across Mountain View Nov. 18. During the visits, one person was issued a citation and another was arrested, according to a press release by the sheriff’s office. Both people had outstanding warrants. There are a total of 60 registered sex offenders in Mountain View, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriff’s office. Law enforcement agencies that took part in the effort include the Mountain View police, along with the county’s Sexual Assault Felony Enforcement (SAFE) Task Force, the Milpitas Police Department and the Santa Clara Police Department. Compliance sex offender laws, among other things, requires See CRIME BRIEFS, page 15
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Youth find CHAC services invaluable NONPROFIT OFFERS AFFORDABLE MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES TO FAMILIES AND KIDS By Kevin Forestieri
Mountain View Voice
T
hings are moving fast for Mountain View’s nonprofit Community Health Awareness Council. The organization has a new building, a slate of new programs and will soon have to find a new leader to take the helm as executive director. CHAC strives to improve the mental health and well-being of children, teens and their families by addressing a wide range of problems, including academic pressure, depression, drug and alcohol abuse, domestic violence and bullying. The nonprofit also offers affordable care to people who can’t normally afford psychiatric services, using a sliding pay scale.
2014
CHAC is one of seven organizations that will benefit from the Voice’s annual Holiday Fund, and donations from readers and local foundations will go towards funding CHAC’s programs and services in the coming years. Monique Kane, executive director for CHAC, announced she will retire next year after 28 years of working for the nonprofit. A teacher and a therapist, Kane was hired as a clinical See HOLIDAY FUND, page 8
Bullying, depression, disengagement at school MV WHISMAN STUDENT SURVEY COULD LEAD TO MENTAL HEALTH, ANTI-BULLYING INITIATIVES By Kevin Forestieri
A
district-wide survey of Mountain View students revealed that many kids are victims of bullying and don’t feel they have much meaningful participation at school, according to a recent study.
The California Healthy Kids Survey uses information gathered last year from students in fifth and seventh grades in the Mountain View Whisman School District. In the survey, 35 percent of fifth-graders reported being hit at school, and 41 percent said
Council approves major plan for El Camino Real By Daniel DeBolt
A
fter several years of discussion, the City Council finally approved a plan for the El Camino Real of the future on Monday night — one that was called a good compromise by various community members. Council members voted 4-1, with member John Inks opposed, to approve the plan. Members Chris Clark and John McAlister recused themselves
because they own property near El Camino Real. The complex plan sets out development requirements and guidelines for the corridor, such as building setbacks with residential neighbors and community benefits developers must pay. Development is concentrated on key intersections where “village centers” could see heights of up to six stories if developers provide significant public benefits, which would equal about 1 percent of
MICHELLE LE
Monique Kane, executive director of the Community Health Awareness Council, is planning to retire from the organization next year. Donations to the Holiday Fund support the organization’s mission to provide low-cost mental health services.
they considered themselves victims of rumors at school. For seventh-grade students, 39 percent had experienced harassment or bullying in the last 12 months, 24 percent reported feeling chronic sadness or hopelessness in the last 30 days, and 9 percent said they had used drugs or alcohol in the last 30 days. For both fifth- and seventhgraders, only 19 percent of students reported that they had “high meaningful participation” in school. “We really want to work on school engagement,” said Assistant Superintendent Phyllis Rod-
gers at the Nov. 6 district board meeting. “And really increase opportunities for students to participate more in the classroom.” It wasn’t all bad news though. Of the fifth-graders, an overwhelming 99 percent had either a high or medium sense of connectedness to their schools, 83 percent said they felt part of the school, and 98 percent plan to continue their education after high school. For seventh-graders, 74 percent said they viewed their school as safe, and 84 percent reported feeling academically motivated. Rodgers said the information is
important for schools and school districts focus their efforts to create a more positive school climate, and to confront any issues students have in the way they feel about school.
the cost of development, for such things as crosswalks, open space and bike infrastructure. “I think it’s a great plan; I’m really happy with it,” said council member Ronit Bryant, an opinion shared by much of the council. “I think everyone in this room can point to something in this document and say, ‘Oh, I would change that,’” said Bill Cranston of the Monta Loma Neighborhood Association. “Let’s adopt this and move on.” Council members opted to require more community benefits by requiring benefits worth $20 per square foot of development instead of $15. The coun-
cil also exempted ground-floor commercial from those calculations when moving from $15 to $20, but planners said the results would still mean more community benefits from most projects, including the large Greystar project proposed for the corner of El Camino Real and Castro Street where apartments would be built over retail space. Four new crosswalks are included at the intersections with following streets: Boranda, Bonita, Mariposa or Pettis, and Crestview, city staff said. The plan includes bike lanes on portions of El Camino Real where there is no alternative side-street route, including a
stretch from Sylvan to Calderon avenues. A bike boulevard along Church and Latham streets — where cut-through vehicle traffic would be discouraged with physical barriers — is included as an alternative to bike lanes on the rest of El Camino Real. The new El Camino Real bike lanes would replace street parking, and may include just a painted buffer against car traffic. Bicyclists would still have to go around stopped public buses, city staff said. Bike advocate Cherie Wolkoviak and others called for physical barriers to protect bikes from traffic that goes as fast as
Weapons on campus The survey results also showed that 18 percent of students in seventh grade have seen a weapon on campus in the last 12 months — up from 12 percent two years ago. Board member Phil Palmer said that number “jumped out of the page” as a cause for concern. See HEALTHY KIDS, page 15
See EL CAMINO, page 12
November 21, 2014 Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q
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County had Bay Area’s slowest vote count CONTROVERSY SURROUNDING GLITCHES IN ELECTION NIGHT TALLY; SUPERVISORS WANT ANSWERS The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday requested administrators to report in January about the slow tally of votes in the Nov. 4 election in the county, which was the last of nine Bay Area counties to provide a total count for the public. Supervisor Cindy Chavez during the Nov. 18 board meeting in San Jose criticized Registrar of Voters Shannon Bushey for in her opinion not communicating enough with the community about how her office operated during the election. Supervisor Joe Simitian said that a glitch on the Registrar’s website on election night prevented viewing of updated voting results until about 9:30 p.m. and a complete tally was not available
until after 4 a.m. Nov. 5, making it the last county in the Bay Area to complete its count and among “the slowest in the state.” Simitian also cited the controversy about the resignation of a veteran information technology manager for the Registrar the day or morning before Election Day. Reports in the news media about the resignation prompted Bushey to a seek a review of the county’s election results by the California Secretary of State, which declined to do so. The board directed County Executive Jeffrey Smith to review the methods and technology used by the Registrar that may have hurt its ability to add up the county’s votes, seek requests for qualifications from for-profit and nonprofit groups that could
help the county solve problems with its voting system and report back by January. The Registrar’s office has used older vote counting technology since 2007, when a modern touch screen system it bought in 2003 was decertified by the Secretary of State amid concerns over potential security breeches. The Registrar was faulted this fall for having to resend 100,000 sample ballots to mail-in voters due to printing errors that left out a number of candidates and their statements in races for the Gavilan Joint Community College District and the Santa Clara County Unified School District. The office then repeated the printing error in about 1,000 ballots it sent out later to voters in the same two races.
Michael Helms, a board of trustees candidate for the Santa Clara County Unified School District, told the board today that he was one of the candidates whose statement was initially not printed for voters after he paid the county’s fee of $2,500 for it. Simitian replied that what Helms and other candidates went though would be looked at. “I will ask that the county executive and the registrar of voters take a look at cases where there were problems with compliance as far as voter communication that they want to recommend to our board,” Simitian said. Bushey said she agreed that “accuracy, integrity and timeliness are all important matters that need to be considered and we are very open to any refer-
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ral and questions and anything you’d like for us to look at.” She said she had alerted the board and the public that the county’s vote total likely would be ready by about 4 a.m. - the final results were posted online at 4:36 a.m. — consistent with previous elections and not due to any technical difficulties. One major challenge for the county is its use of a central counting system, whereby paper ballots cast at precincts after polls close are stored and then all taken to the Registrar’s office at 1555 Berger Drive to be counted. The process is slow because employees then have to pass each of the paper ballots through optical scanners and for mail-in ballots, the signatures on the envelope of each have to be compared to the signatures of the voters on file before they can he opened and the ballots scanned, she said. “In Santa Clara County we are one of the last counties in California to post results because we are one of the few remaining to actually have a central counting system,” Bushey said. The county’s polling places received 150,000 vote-by-mail votes turned in on Election Day, such a huge influx that the county still had 119,000 votes left to count two days after the election, Bushey said. The county has the highest rate of mail-in ballots of any major urban county in the state, she said. A better solution for adding up votes would be a precinct count system, where optical scanners are in every precinct and poll workers put each vote through the scanner as they are cast throughout the day, with the results stored in a memory card and after polls close are transmitted to the Registrar’s office from a laptop computer, according to Bushey. The office plans to rid itself of its old vote counting system eventually, seek public input on requests for proposals for a new one by the middle of 2015 and receive vendor proposals in 2016, but the updated system would not be approved and delivered until after mid-2017, she said. The Registrar’s office has admitted that its longtime information technology manager quit a day before the election but has declined to detail why, citing employee confidentiality. Then news reports came out at the same time about a missing hard drive, cellphone and employee badge from the Registrar’s office, none of which was true, Bushey told the board. Chavez said that she received many emails from people conSee VOTE COUNT, page 15
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Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
LocalNews
Controversial El Camino bus lane plan back on the table By Gennady Sheyner
A
controversial plan by Santa Clara County to create dedicated bus lanes on El Camino Real between Palo Alto and San Jose is back on the table, despite strong concerns from local officials that the project will only increase congestion on local streets. Two public meetings on the topic were set for Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Mountain View City Council Chambers, after the Voice’s Wednesday press deadline. The Santa Clara County Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is analyzing the highly controversial “dedicated bus lane” alternative in its environmental analysis for a project it calls “Bus Rapid Transit.” The goal of the project is to improve bus service on the 17-mile corridor between downtown Palo Alto and San Jose and get more people to switch from cars to buses. The decision to study the alternative comes despite a strong preference by Palo Alto for a “mixed-flow curb lane” alternative, in which buses continue to travel in the right lane and bus stops are enhanced with bulbouts and other amenities. In June 2011, VTA officials indicated at a study session that the mixed-flow option is the pre-
ferred option in Palo Alto, even as other communities would get dedicated bus lanes. Since then, the city has been corresponding with the VTA and urging the agency to conduct further analysis on the traffic impacts on the mixed-flow option. On Monday night, the council learned that the more dramatic “dedicated-lane” proposal is once again being considered for nearly the entire El Camino stretch. Furthermore, because El Camino Real is a state road, cities may not have the power to prevent the shifting of two central El Camino Real lanes from bus to car use. The VTA does, however, plan to solicit cities’ opinions as to whether they would like to remove parking spots on El Camino Real to create bicycle lanes, John Ristow, the VTA’s director of planning and program development, told the Palo Alto council Monday. The Bus Rapid Transit project, Ristow said, would support the investments made by the city and private developers in the El Camino Real corridor, and would serve as a “catalyst” for the “Grand Boulevard Initiative,” a regional effort aimed at transforming the congested artery into a more inviting destination for pedestrians and bicyclists and encouraging people to switch
from cars to buses. “To us, it’s really the objective and purpose of project to improve that transit choice and in so doing ... we really want to have a project that provides a terrific travel option that’s competitive with the automobile option,” Ristow said. The buses would run people back and forth every 10 minutes and serve local “jobs, schools and entertainments,” he said. The VTA projects that its average number of weekday boarding is expected to increase from 12,512 in 2013 to 14,588 in 2018, even without the project. With the mixed-flow option, the ridership would jump to 15,303, while the dedicated-lane option would boost ridership to 18,616. By 2040, the projected ridership for the two design option would jump to 22,228 and 30,336, respectively. The current plan would cost about $233 million to implement and require an annual operating cost of $12.9 million. The mixedflow alternative in the entire corridor would cost $91 million to build and would come with an annual operating cost of $21.6 million. The county is estimating that having dedicated lanes would
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SECOND HARVEST TURKEY DRIVE Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo County is collecting turkeys to donate to local pantries, soup kitchens and shelters. The goal this year is to receive 13,000 turkeys for this Thanksgiving and Second Harvest officials last week said they still need more than 6,500 turkeys. Turkeys can be dropped off at Second Harvest Food Bank’s Curtner Center at 750 Curtner Ave., San Jose, and Bing Center at 1051 Bing St., San Carlos. “Turkey is a traditional holiday meal for many local families, so we are depending on the community to help us meet our turkey goal,” said Kathy Jackson, CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank. On Monday, Nov. 24, from 4 to 6 p.m., San Francisco 49ers starting safety Antonio Bethea will sign autographs and take photos with those who stop by Second Harvest’s Curtner Center to donate. Monetary donations are also encouraged as Second Harvest provides for almost 250,000 people. Anyone who donates a turkey or chicken before 8 p.m. on Nov. 22 is eligible to enter a drawing for the chance to win two tickets to the San Francisco 49ers-Seattle Seahawks football game on Thanksgiving Day at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara. For more information about holiday dock hours or to make a donation, go to www.SHFB. org or call (866) 234-3663. —Madeleine Gerson
SCHOOL BOARD RETIREMENT EVENT Judy Hannemann, a 33-year veteran school board member for the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District, will retire at the tend of the month. To celebrate her more than three decades of service to the district, the board will honor Hannemann in a special event next week at the school board meeting. The event will be in the district boardroom at 1299 Bryant Ave., on Monday, Nov. 24, at 7 p.m., and the public is welcome to attend. A Stanford University graduate and former member of the Los Altos School District school board, Hannemann has been board president eight times, and has served on committee and in leadership roles on both the Mountain View-Los Altos school board and the California School Board Association. According to a district press release, Hannemann said her experience with the school board association helped her understand how the superintendent and the board have to work as “a team” in making district decisions. Hannemann continues to be an active member of numerous local organizations and foundations, including the Mountain View Rotary Club, the Los Altos Community Foundation, the MVLA PTA Council, the MVLA Challenge Team and the MVLA Community Scholars. —Kevin Forestieri
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LocalNews HOLIDAY FUND Continued from page 5
supervisor for CHAC by cofounder Dodie Alexander, and took the lead as executive director in 2000. Kane was named Woman of the Year by Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian in 2012, and a “Champion for Youth� by the MVLA Challenge Team. Kane said CHAC was unique when it started in 1973 and partnered up with local cities and school districts to create a joint powers authority. The JPA gave CHAC the initial funding it needed to get off the ground, and continues to provide money to the nonprofit today. Since she joined, CHAC has expanded its presence in the community to offer support and counseling to 33 school campuses across Mountain View, Los Altos and Sunnyvale. Kane said spreading out that far was a difficult feat for the limited staff at CHAC. “It was a lot to take on,� Kane said. To take on the new challenges, CHAC hires more than 80 student interns to work at the schools and do one-on-one counseling for students in need — up from 16 interns when Kane joined back in 1986. Interns with CHAC are often psychology graduates and marriage and family therapists looking to fulfill academic requirements, and their donated time is estimated to be worth well over $400,000 a year, according to a CHAC annual report. The bolstered staff has been met with an increase in need for
the nonprofit’s services. Kane said over the years she has seen more and more depression and anxiety for youth in the area. “Kids are very anxious over academic and societal pressure,� she said. Kane said poverty also appears to be more prevalent than when she first came to CHAC, which puts a lot of stress on families and can take its toll on their mental health and well-being. A resource at school CHAC and its mental health counseling services have been an invaluable resource for high school students in Mountain View and Los Altos, according to Barry Groves, superintendent of the Mountain View-Los Altos High School District. Groves said the district and CHAC have worked very closely together, and that Kane has been “wonderful� and will be a tough act to follow. “CHAC has been an incredible partner with us,� Groves said. Every week, four to five CHAC interns come to Los Altos High School for student counseling. Grove said the interns, along with a school site psychologist and a part-time psychiatrist to work with the most intense, needy cases, are all available to help students with their mental health and well-being. He said they’ve even hired some former CHAC interns, like Perla Pasallo, the assistant principal at Los Altos High School. Pasallo said CHAC gives students at the school a discreet way to get help with mental health issues with weekly, 45-minute counseling meetings, and are
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Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
often referred to counseling by teachers, parents, or the students themselves. The district has even carved out a number of rooms specifically for CHAC counseling at the high school, near the administrative buildings and out of the way of common student areas for more privacy. “That’s how much we value their services for these kids,� Pasallo said. Student demand for the mental health services at Los Altos High School is so high that CHAC counselors consistently fill up their schedules and run out of time to see more students. But there may be an alternative on the way, and it resides in two rooms in the new Mountain View teen center, The View. Kane said two rooms in the new facility are closed off to the more public areas, and could be strictly used by CHAC for drop-in counseling, workshops and teen talk groups. Quick to fill up the new facility Kane, along with supervisors and other staff at CHAC, say the new building they work in has been a wonderful and muchneeded resource. Last year in a property swap deal, CHAC moved out of its old facility and into a larger new building on W. El Camino Real near View Street, which has given the nonprofit room to grow. And grow they did. More than 40 rooms in the facility have been used either as officers or counseling rooms, and some of them are used for both. A closet on the second floor was even converted into a small counseling room with a table and two chairs. “We love the new building,� Kane said. Kane said she used to have to leave her office at 3 p.m. at the old CHAC office so people could hold counseling sessions in it, and the board of directors had to use the Mountain View Library for meetings. Staff meetings often involved people squeezed onto staircases and out doorways as they crowded into the tight space.
BUS LANE
Continued from page 7
reduce the time it takes buses to travel from Palo Alto to San Jose from the current level of 85.2 minutes to 48 minutes. The time it takes to travel the 17-mile corridor by car is expected to go up from 40 minutes to 43.7 minutes. Though both the dedicatedlane and the mixed-flow alternative are being evaluated, VTA officials noted in the presentation that “operationally, dedicated lane is superior to mixed flow� and that car-travel speeds would
MICHELLE LE
A doll house and toy figurines are used in play therapy at CHAC.
Full steam ahead on new programs CHAC recently brought back the Blossom Project, a program designed to address teen pregnancy and support teen parents in Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto. The program ran from 1999 to 2013, and with help from new grant money has returned to high schools in the community. The program focuses on keeping young parents in school and preparing them for college, while also teaching them how to properly care for their children. The Blossom Project will be
able to support 20 teen parents, and may be needed now more than ever since the Mountain View-Los Altos Union High School District eliminated its Young Parent Program earlier this year. The Young Parents Program supported eight teen parents. The project is coupled with a program called School First, where CHAC counselors go out to schools, identify truants and try to find the underlying causes for the frequent absences. The program will be at Alta Vista High School, Crittenden Middle School and Castro Elementary School, though CHAC supervisors say truancy remains a district-wide issue. CHAC is also turning its focus towards younger children as well, partnering with FIRST 5 of Santa Clara County. FIRST 5 is a program that funds and sponsors programs that ensure children under the age of 5 are healthy and ready for school. The partnership kicked off the Learning Together Initiative, where CHAC provides classes, events and individual consultations to build a healthy relationship between parents and children. The initiative gives parents an opportunity to meet other families, which reduces the sense of isolation and increases the support they have in the community, according to the 2013-14 CHAC annual report.
be “minimally affected.� Many cars, Ristow noted, would be diverted to other routes, modes and times. For Palo Alto officials, that’s part of the problem. According to Chief Transportation Official Jaime Rodriguez, the dedicated-lane proposal would cause many people to switch form El Camino Real to Alma, prompting the service level on Alma to plummet to the level of Service F, the lowest possible level. The impacts are expected to be particularly severe on intersections of Alma with
Churchill Avenue, Charleston Road and Meadow Drive. “It seems we’re much better off with it ending at Showers,� Rodriguez added, referring to Showers Drive in Mountain View, where the dedicated-lane alternative was expected to reach its northern terminus under the original proposal. Ristow said staff dedicated to analyze stretching the dedicated lanes all the way to Embarcadero in response to a suggestion from Mountain View. Email Gennady Sheyner at gsheyner@paweekly.com
A number of rooms in the facilities have been built and equipped for “play therapy,� and are full of board games and toy figures. One room in particular, with a sign on the door that reads “The Magic Kingdom� includes a doll house and a small sandbox for kids to use play as a means to express the things going on in their lives. Kane said one girl, whose parents were separating and going through a divorce, made up a very segregated world where all the women were on one side and all the men were on another. Shortly after the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, she said kids were able to use the doll house to play out what happened in their houses when they shook violently.
V
Mountain View Voice
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Contributions to the Holiday Fund will be matched dollar for dollar to the extent possible and will go directly to the nonprofit agencies that serve Mountain View residents. Last year, more than 150 Voice readers and the Wakerly, the William and Flora Hewlett and the David and Lucile Packard foundations contributed more than $115,000, or more than $16,000 each for the nonprofit agencies supported by the Voice Holiday Fund. We are indebted to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation which handles all donations, and deducts no administrative costs from your gifts, which are tax-deductible as permitted by law. All donations will be shared equally with the seven recipient agencies. Use this form to donate by mail. Mountain View Voice
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Day Worker Center The Day Worker Center of Mountain View provides a secure place for workers and employers to negotiate wages and work conditions. It serves an average of 60 workers a day with job placements, English lessons, job skills workshops or guidance. Mentor Tutor Connection Mentor Tutor Connection matches adult volunteer mentors with at-risk youth in the Mountain View, Los Altos and the Los Altos Hills area and offers tutoring to many students, including some in high school and beyond. Community School of Music and Arts The Community School of Music and Arts provides hands-on art and music education in the classrooms of the Mountain View Whisman School District. Nearly 45 percent of the students are socio-economically disadvantaged, and 28 percent have limited English proficiency. Mountain View RotaCare Clinic The RotaCare Free Clinic provides uninsured local residents with primary care and many specialty care services. The clinic is frequently the last resort for this underserved demographic group.
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Please make checks payable to: Silicon Valley Community Foundation Send coupon and check, if applicable, to: Mountain View Voice Holiday Fund c/o Silicon Valley Community Foundation 2440 West El Camino Real, Suite 300 Mountain View, CA 94040 The Mountain View Voice Holiday Fund is a donor advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation, a 501 (c) (3) charitable organization. A contribution to this fund allows your donation to be tax deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
YWCA Support Network for Domestic Violence This group operates a 24-hour bilingual hotline and a safe shelter for women and their children. It also offers counseling and other services for families dealing with domestic violence. Community Services Agency CSA is the community’s safety-net providing critical support services for low-income individuals and families, the homeless and seniors in northern Santa Clara County, including Mountain View, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills. Communitiy Health Awareness Council CHAC serves Mountain View, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and seven school districts. Among other things, it offers school-based programs to protect students from high-risk behaviors, such as drug and alcohol abuse.
November 21, 2014 Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q
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LocalNews MILKPAIL
Continued from page 1
On the same night, the council is also set to vote on a blueprint for the whole area, the San Antonio Precise Plan, that will guide future development of the shopping center and surrounding area. Milk Pail owner Steve Rasmussen told the Voice he had yet to hear directly from Merlone Geier about a new parking arrangement. “I assume there’s a pending agreement because I learned about it through the Chamber (of Commerce) website,” Rasmussen said. “I haven’t seen the new verbiage or pending agreement.” Merlone Geier was not immediately available for comment. It is unclear what the future would be for the two existing restaurants on the corner site where parking would be provided. “An agreement requires a meeting of the minds,” Rasmussen said. “I’ve got to know what the exact details are. Whatever occurs, I want the survival of the Milk Pail to be viable for the long term. The word I’m using a lot lately is ‘viable.’” Rasmussen owns the store’s site, while most of the surrounding land has been purchased by
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Merlone Geier. The San Francisco-based developer released the news in a relatively obscure way, by posting to the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce website last week. The announcement was found among its responses to several frequently asked questions about the proposed second phase of Merlone Geier’s redevelopment of San Antonio shopping center. The key phrase in the document: “The Milk Pail will be preserved in its current location.” The document goes on to say that “Merlone Geier acquired the corner parcel immediately adjacent to the Milk Pail. About 31 parking stalls for customers will be provided there, almost three (times) the amount required by city code.” Rasmussen said he didn’t know if the news meant that the parking spaces would be for Milk Pail customers only, or shared parking for the cinema. “There’s some uncertainties and questions that have yet to be discussed,” he said. The Milk Pail has been facing closure as its agreement to lease parking in the neighboring Ross and BevMo! parking lots is set to expire. Representatives of Merlone Geier, which now owns the lots, had said the lease agreement would not be extended. The city
Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
COURTESY OF MERLONE GEIER
San Antonio shopping center could soon see this courtyard with a monument to the birthplace of Silicon Valley at 391 San Antonio Road.
requires the Milk Pail have 11 parking spaces in addition to the five it has on site in order to stay in business at its location.
The document indicates that Merlone Geier hopes to break ground in early 2015. On the site around the Milk Pail, replac-
ing the Ross and BevMo! liquor store, Merlone Geier has proposed an eight-screen movie theater with a bar and restaurant, 106,000 square feet of retail spaces around a courtyard, a seven-story, 167-room hotel, two six-story office buildings totaling 400,000 square feet and a parking garage with 1,480 spaces. The offices would be leased by LinkedIn, according to the document. A presentation on the latest iteration of phase two is set for Thursday, Nov. 20, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Carmel at the Village apartments, 545 San Antonio Road, suite 402 on the fourth floor. In July, a shared parking arrangement signed by Rasmussen was rescinded by Merlone Geier when the City Council didn’t support its phase-two plans. It would have reserved spaces in a parking garage in the proposed office building to be used by Milk Pail customers. Petitions and lobbying by Rasmussen and his store’s loyal patrons have made the survival of the market, which specializes in produce and cheese, a keystone for the city’s acceptance of Merlone Geier’s redevelopment plans. Email Daniel DeBolt at ddebolt@mv-voice.com
See if your favorite auto shop is a 2014
CLEAN BAY BUSINESS
EAST PALO ALTO
More than 90 percent of vehicle service facilities in our communities are making special efforts to protect local creeks and San Francisco Bay. Their routine shop practices keep pollutants away from both storm drains and the sewer system.
A-1 Auto Service Cavallino Collision Repair CSI Chevron East Palo Alto Shell Infinity Auto Salvage Parking Company of America(PCA) Touchatt Trucking
LOS ALTOS Allied Auto Works (Grant Rd) Allied Auto Works (Miramonte) Chevron Automotive Center El Camino Unocal Ladera Auto Wiorks Los Altos Arco AM/PM Los Altos City Yard Los Altos Union Reitmeir’s Werkstatt, Inc. Skip’s Tire & Auto Centers USA Gasoline/Shell Village Chevron
MOUNTAIN VIEW A-1 Auto Tech A-1 Foreign Auto AAMotorworks All-Automotive Americana Shell #142 (El Camino) Autobahn Body & Paint Autobahn Motorsport Haus Avis Rent A Car System, Inc. B & L Auto Repair Barooni Imports Bay Area Performance Cycles, Inc. Bay Muffler Bill Bailey Chevron #9-6377 Bill’s Towing Service Bosco Oil/Valley Oil Company BTN Automotive BW’s German Car California BMW Chevron USA #9-0699 Clearwater Carwash CMV – Fire Station #1 CMV – Fire Station #2 CMV – Fire Station #3 CMV – Fire Station #4 CMV – Fire Station #5 CMV – Fleet Services Division CMV - Shoreline Golf Links CMV – Utilities Division Corporate Auto Works Custom Alignment D & A Garage D.P. Precision Dave’s Body Shop Auto Detailing Dean’s Automotive, Inc. Depot Garage Dinan Engineering, Inc. Discount Tire Co./America’s Tire Co. Driven Auto Care, Inc. Edge Motorworks, Inc. El Monte 76 Service #253686 Euro Quattro Evelyn 76 Expert Auto Care Family Thrifty Car Wash (Bay Street) Family Thrifty Car Wash (El Camino) FCC Collision (Old Middlefield Way) FCC Collision Mountain View, LLC
Look for the blue emblem in East Palo Alto, Los Altos, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Stanford
Felix’s Auto Service, Inc. Garage One Subaru Workshop Grant Road Gas & Auto Care, LLC Harv’s Car Wash Helming’s Auto Repair Herlinger Corvette Repair Heyer Performance Ignightus Enterprises, Inc. Independence Auto Body Independence Car Service Israel’s Tire & Alignment Jiffy Lube #2342 Joe’s Foreign Car Kevin’s Auto Repair King’s Body Shop KML Machining Larry’s AutoWorks, Inc. Laslo’s Auto Repair Lou’s Automotive Lozano Car Wash, Inc. Magnussen Car West Auto Body Magnussen Car West Auto Body-MV II Mark Merrill Mercedes Service of Mountain View Mercedes Werkstatt Metropolitan Van & Storage, Inc. Midas Middlefield Auto Service Miramonte Shell Mobile Mercedes Doctor Modderman Service, Inc. Mountain View Alliance Mountain View Arco #07020 Mountain View Auto Repair, Inc. Mountain View Body Shop Mountain View Collision Center Mountain View Radiator Mountain View Smog Check Mountain View Valero #7542 MPG Auto Service MV/Whisman School District O’Grady Paving, Inc. Pacific Smog Tech Pan American Collision Center Parker Automotive Pedro’s Auto Clinic Perfection Auto Detail Performance European Recology Mountain View Rengstorff Shell #144
Rich’s Tire Service Rotten Robbie-4 San Antonio Valero #7230 Savings Auto Care SCC Transportation Authority Shoreline Shell Silicon Valley Express Car Wash Silicon Valley Valero #7864 Sleek Motoring Steve Weiss Enterprises Stuttgart Werkstatt Sunnyvale Foreign Car Service, Inc. Takahashi Automotive, Inc. The Car Clinic Trackstar Racing United Collision Center, Inc. Wheel Works #8218 Yardbird Equipment Sales Yarnell’s Service Center, Inc. Young’s Automotive Service Zinola’s Machine Shop
Jim Davis Automotive/Valero Mathews-Carlsen Body Works Mechanica Automotive Meissner Automotive Nine Minute Oil & Lube Oil Changers Palo Alto Airport Palo Alto BMW Palo Alto Fire Station #1 Palo Alto Fire Station #2 Palo Alto Fire Station #3 Palo Alto Fire Station #4 Palo Alto Fire Station #5 Palo Alto Fuel Service Palo Alto German Car Corporation Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course Maintenance Yard Palo Alto Municipal Service Center Palo Alto Shell Palo Alto Speedometer Service Palo Alto Unified School District Palo Alto Unocal Service Park Automotive Service Park Avenue Motors Rossi Aircraft, Inc. Say Ray Auto Service Sherman’s Auto Service Smog Pros/Arco Stanford Auto Care StreetFX Customs Tesla Motor, Inc. The Car Doctor Valero USA (El Camino) Valero USA (San Antonio) Volvo of Palo Alto/McLaren West Valley Aircraft Services West Valley Flying Club Yeaman Auto Body
STANFORD Campus Service/Valero Facility Operations Fleet Garage Peninsula Sanitation Services Stanford Golf Course Maintenance Facility
PALO ALTO Advantage Aviation Anderson Honda Arco (San Antonio) Art’s Bodycraft Auto Pride Car Wash Barron Park Shell Service Brad Lozares Golf Shop Budget/Avis Rent-A-Car Carlsen Audi Chevron USA (El Camino) CMK Automotive D & M Motors Dave’s Auto Repair E-Car Elite Auto Performance Embarcadero Shell Enterprise Rent-A-Car (San Antonio) European Asian Auto Center 4Less Smog Check Fimbres’ Brothers Heinichen’s Garage Hengehold Truck Rental Jiffy Lube #1283 (Middlefield) Jiffy Lube #1297 (El Camino)
The Regional Water Quality Control Plant is operated by the City of Palo Alto for the East Palo Alto Sanitary District, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Mountain View, Palo Alto, and Stanford
November 21, 2014 Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q
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APPLICATIONS NOW AVAILABLE! CITY OF MOUNTAIN VIEW BELOW MARKET RATE (BMR) RENTAL WAITLIST The City of Mountain View’s BMR Rental Program is accepting applications for the waitlist. Palo Alto Housing Corporation (PAHC), H SVJHS UVUÉŤWYVĂ„[ HɈVYKHISL OV\ZPUN VYNHUPaH[PVU HZZPZ[Z PU HKTPUPZ[LYPUN [OL HWWSPJH[PVU WYVJLZZ HUK ^HP[SPZ[ MVY [OL *P[`
Applications accepted November 17, 2014 - December 8, 2014, Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ;V IL LSPNPISL MVY H )49 HWHY[TLU[ OV\ZLOVSKZ T\Z[ OH]L H JVTIPULK HUU\HS PUJVTL VM IL[^LLU HUK VM [OL (YLH 4LKPHU 0UJVTL (AMI) shown to the right.
2014 BMR Income Limits
1 Person
2 Persons
3 Persons
4 Persons
5 Persons
Minimum Income (50% AMI)
$35,700
$45,900
$50,950
$55,050
4H_PT\T 0UJVTL (40
$49,050
$57,050
$64,200
$71,300
$77,050
;OLYL ^PSS IL H SV[[LY` MVY WSHJLTLU[ VU [OL )49 YLU[HS ^HP[SPZ[ (WWSPJHU[Z ^PSS IL ZLSLJ[LK MYVT [OL ^HP[SPZ[ [V Ă„SS H]HPSHISL )49 YLU[HS \UP[Z IHZLK VU [OLPY SV[[LY` YHURPUN HUK [OL )49 7YVNYHT WYLMLYLUJLZ Domus on the Boulevard 2650 W. El Camino Real VUL ILKYVVT BMR apartments [^V ILKYVVT BMR apartments
2014 BMR Rents )LKYVVT ÉŤ )LKYVVT ÉŤ )LKYVVT ÉŤ These rents are subject to change in 2015
Obtain Applications by: ŕ Ž +V^USVHKPUN P[ MYVT! ^^^ WHSVHS[VOV\ZPUNJVYW VYN ŕ Ž 7PJRPUN VUL \W MYVT 7(/* K\YPUN VɉJL OV\YZ ŕ Ž *HSSPUN ÉŤ _
Verano on the Boulevard , ,S *HTPUV 9LHS VUL ILKYVVT BMR apartments [^V ILKYVVT BMR apartments
Submit Applications in person or by mail to: PAHC 725 Alma Street, Palo Alto, CA 94301 4VUKH` [OYV\NO -YPKH` ! H T [V W T
Applications postmarked on or before December 8, 2014 but received after that date will not be accepted. Emailed or faxed applications will not be accepted. Only one application per household will be considered.
AFFORDABLE NEW STUDIO APARTMENTS COMING TO MOUNTAIN VIEW EARLY 2015! APPLICATIONS AVAILABLE 11/17/14*
For more information please go to www.edenhousing.org and click on “Now Leasing�. Applications will be accepted for the lottery, Monday, 11/17/2014 up until 5pm, Monday, 12/8/2014. Applications may be submitted in person or by mail to 135 Franklin Street, Mountain View, CA 94041, Attn: Studio 819.
Studio 819 Apartments is a brand new, 49-unit affordable, workforce housing community coming to Mountain View. Community room w/kitchen • Computer room • Laundry facilities • Ground & third floor patio areas *A lottery will be held and preference will be given to current residents of Mountain View and/or persons employed in the City. Income and other restrictions apply. We do business in accordance with Federal and State fair housing laws. It is Illegal to discriminate against any person because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, or any of the protected classes. Please contact us if you require reasonable accommodations or have questions about our equal opportunity policies.
819 N. Rengstorff St., Mountain View • P: (650)600-8889 • TDD/TTY 1-800-735-2929
LocalNews EL CAMINO
Continued from page 5
40 to 50 mph. City planner Eric Andersen explained that “there are too many curb cuts (driveways) on El Camino Real in many places to have barriers. There may be some places where you could have barriers where there are long distances between curb cuts.� “This plan has come a long way — I’m really pleased,� said Wolkoviak. She added that bike lanes shown in the plan for a stretch of El Camino Real between Escuela Avenue and El Monte Road “will be a great connection.� If significant public benefits are negotiated, a “village center floating district� zoning is triggered in the plan, which allows a developer to go to six stories and a 2.2 floor-area ratio at major intersections — a density not shown on the new zoning map. The plan includes two other basic tiers of development heights and densities. The lowest is meant for the shallow lots on the street that have been a problem for the city in attracting redevelopment. Height limits for those lots are three stories, but with a 45-foot height limit to encourage groundfloor commercial space under two stories of residential. No public benefits are required, and allowed floor-area ratio would be 1.35, which would mean a 135,000-square-foot building allowed on a 1-acre lot. A second tier is meant for much of the street and allows up to four stories and a maximum 1.85 floor-area ratio, and would require the standard public benefit cost of $20 per square foot (with ground-floor commercial space exempted). Council members declined to raise affordable housing requirements in the plan from 10 percent to 25 percent, as advocated by the Greenbelt Alliance and Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition. Concern was expressed that the plan lacked integration with a bus rapid transit system, despite VTA’s continuing study of dedicated bus rapid transit (BRT) lanes on El Camino Real as a sort of alternative to light rail down the middle of the street. “This BRT thing seems to be happening; we should have some thoughts on how it’s going to be integrated into this plan,� said council member-elect Lenny Siegel. He suggested park-andride garages be integrated into development on the street to encourage use of the new bus infrastructure. Council member Jac Siegel continued to object to bike lanes on the street without barriers and allowing buildings as high as six stories. Member John Inks expressed his disapproval in vague terms, saying, “I predict problems.� V
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Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
LocalNews Continued from page 1
to a jobs-housing imbalance in the city that is driving escalating rents and commuter traffic. Council member-elect Pat Showalter said she wanted to “respectfully request” that the council be responsive to the voters. “The voters have spoken by electing three people who are pro housing in North Bayshore,” she said. Council member Mike Kasperzak said he didn’t see the election of the three new members as a referendum on housing in North Bayshore, although it repeatedly emerged as the key issue that divided the field of nine candidates. It became apparent during the election that a growing number of residents see the current council’s restrictions on housing growth as a major reason that rents are skyrocketing as the city’s jobs-housing balance worsens in yet another tech boom. Showalter expressed concern about extra work created for city staff if the plan were to be approved and then immediately changed. “It’s a lot of work for everybody to go through all this,” Showalter said. “It just seems like it would be more reasonable to wait a little bit.” She added: “I’m not going to be a council member until Jan. 6. I do want to be respectful of their positions.” “I don’t think it is my job to lobby the current council either way,” said council member-elect Ken Rosenberg. “The council knows there’s been an election,” and that the three winners “campaigned on the concept of a community in the North Bayshore, a new neighborhood. I campaigned on that, Lenny (Siegel) campaigned on that, Pat campaigned on that.” “We’ll just deal with whatever
is handed to us,” Rosenberg said. “Why rush to do something you know is going to be out of date in January?” said council memberelect Lenny Siegel. “It’s clear we’re going to get housing out there, and we would like to make sure we get a neighborhood complete with stores and services. We don’t want just housing, we want a plan. It doesn’t make any sense to adopt a plan that is going to be fundamentally different than what we are going to need.” During the election, opponents of North Bayshore housing said it’s not a good place to put housing because of lack of infrastructure and services, Siegel said. “My response was, ‘Let’s provide the infrastructure and services.’ That has to be part of the plan.” Kasperzak, who supports housing in North Bayshore, said he didn’t see any downsides to moving ahead with the plan. He said it was important to get several transportation management requirements in place, including car trip caps that could limit the pace of office development. Under a proposal made in April, Google and others would not be allowed to build up to 3.4 million square feet of new offices in North Bayshore unless traffic on the three roads connecting North Bayshore to Highway 101 are kept under a collective capacity limit of 18,900 trips between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m. — the “cap.” In April there were 13,900 inbound trips during that period on an average workday. Shoreline Boulevard is already over capacity during morning rush hour. Siegel said the approved trip cap would likely be changed with housing in the plan. “We will have an entirely different expectation of traffic patterns,” Siegel said. The council appears set to move ahead anyway. “We have (a) lame duck session under our charter,” said Kasper-
zak. “You don’t pick and choose the things you want to work on and delay the things you don’t want to work on.” Liedstrand said it could create a legal problem for the new council if it decides to change an adopted precise plan and property owners argue they had lost “vested rights” if they saw their property values decrease with new residential zoning. But the city attorney disagreed. City attorney Jannie Quinn said the plan could still legally be changed to add housing next year. “In California, property rights — or the right to build out a project — does not vest without an entitlement, the issuance of a building permit and the performance of substantial work,” she wrote in an email. “In this market, housing is probably as valuable as office,” added Kasperzak. The concept of a large new neighborhood for North Bayshore is an idea supported by Google, which owns much of North Bayshore, and Mountain View’s Chamber of Commerce, among others. City staff members have said the city could add zoning to the plan for 1,100 homes in the area in a matter of months with a change to the city’s general plan, as it was an option that had been studied in 2012 when the City Council rejected any residential zoning for North Shoreline Boulevard between Highway 101 and Charleston Road. Adding as many as 5,000 homes in North Bayshore — the number discussed during the election and supported by Google — may take years to plan.
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November 11: Palo Alto JCC 3921 Fabian Way Palo Alto, CA 94303 1:30pm, 3:30pm and 6pm
November 17: Mountain View Community Center 201 S. Rengstorff Avenue Mountain View, CA 94040 1pm and 3:30pm
November 21: Dolce Hayes Mansion 200 Edenvale Avenue San Jose, CA 95136 10:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm
November 12: Cubberley Community Center, Room# A-7 4000 Middlefield Road Palo Alto, CA 94306 10:30am and 1:30pm
November 22: Samaritan Internal Medicine—Lobby 2410 Samaritan Drive, Suite 201 San Jose, CA 95124 Presentation at 10am Open House from 9:30am–12:00pm
November 18: Dolce Hayes Mansion 200 Edenvale Avenue San Jose, CA 95136 10:30am, 1:30pm and 3:30pm
November 13: Hoover Pavilion 211 Quarry Road, Suite 201 Palo Alto, CA 94304 5pm and 7pm
November 19: Gamble Gardens 1431 Waverley Street Palo Alto, CA 94301 1:30pm and 3:30pm
December 2: Hoover Pavilion Palo Alto, CA 94304 5pm and 7pm
November 15: Arrillaga Alumni Center 326 Galvez Street Stanford, CA 94305 10:30am and 1pm
November 20: Palo Alto JCC 3921 Fabian Way Palo Alto, CA 94303 1:30pm
December 4: Silicon Valley JCC 14855 Oka Road Los Gatos, CA 95032 1:30pm, 3:30pm and 6pm
Walk–ins welcome. RSVP preferred. 1-855-996-UHCA (8422) / TTY Users: 711 For more events and information, visit www.UHCAmedicare.org
University Health Care Advantage (UHCA) has a contract with Medicare to offer an HMO plan. You must reside in Santa Clara County, California to enroll. Enrollment in the University Health Care Advantage plan depends on contract renewal. A sales person will be present with information and applications. For accommodations of persons with special needs at sales meetings, please call 1-855-996-8422/TTY Users: 711, 8am–8pm, seven days a week to speak with a UHCA representative. The benefit information provided is a brief summary, not a complete description of benefits. For more information, contact UHCA. Benefits, formulary, pharmacy network, provider network, premium and/or copayments/coinsurance may change on January 1 of each year. Other providers are available in our network. This information is available for free in other languages. H2986_MM_066_Accepted 2015
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Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
LocalNews VOTE COUNT
Continued from page 6
cerned about whether their votes were counted. She said that the Registrar’s office needed to develop a communications strategy and a broader review of its management beyond voter machine technology to clear up confusion over mail-in ballots and other issues such as what the correct postage needed on mail-in ballot is and allowing observers to watch vote counting on Berger Drive in San Jose. She asked Bushey to take “a bigger step back than what you have presented to us,” Chavez said. Supervisor Mike Wasserman noted that about 51 percent of county’s approximately 575,000 voters cast ballots in the Nov. 4 election and that about 72 percent of county voters now request mail-in ballots leaving only 28
HEALTHY KIDS Continued from page 5
But Superintendent Craig Goldman was quick to jump in and explain that, while the issue of weapons on campus is a real concern, the survey question was broadly worded and open to interpretation. The question posed to students was whether they had seen a knife or a gun on campus, which Goldman said could be interpreted to mean a pocket knife. “It’s really not as clear as we’d like it to be,” he said. Weapons haven’t really been on the radar for Arturo Noriega, an at-risk youth counselor at Crittenden Middle School. During his nine years at the school, Noriega said he has only confiscated two weapons, both of which were “very small” pocket knives. “It’s very safe. I haven’t seen a weapon on campus for four or five years,” Noriega said. Physical violence doesn’t tend to be a problem at Crittenden either. Noriega said many of the fights he witnesses on the campus are verbal confrontations rather than physical fights. “It’s definitely quiet and students seem to be well-adjusted here,” he said. Similar to Goldman, Rodgers cautioned board members to take the results with a grain of salt, and that the questions are subject to student interpretation. In assessing themselves, she said, kids might have a different understanding of what a “weapon” on campus is, or what constitutes bullying. Rodgers said in a past survey there was a question asking students if they had ever seen a razor blade at school, which one girl
percent casting votes at polling booths. That along with the large number of mail-in ballots dropped off at precincts on Election Day showed that mail-in voting “is clearly the trend” in the county as it is in other parts of the nation, such as Oregon, Colorado and Washington that are voteby-mail only, Wasserman said. Wasserman said he would like the county to discuss the possibility of having the county’s elections be mail-in only. After the board hearing, Bushey agreed that communication from her office “could have been better” and that there was “room for improvement.” She said that media reports about items missing from Registrar’s office “did not originate from me.” The Registrar’s office was prepared for Election Day and had by Nov. 3, counted all of the
posted mail-in ballots it had received by the Oct. 31 deadline, Bushey said. But that was before the avalanche of mail-in votes that arrived on Election Day from those who did not send their ballots in by the U.S. Postal Service, she said. “The issue was the 150,000 vote by mail that all came in on one day,” she said. The problem with last-minute balloting from mail-in recipients is being felt all over the state and will continue, she said. Any move toward an all mailin election system would have to be approved by the state first, Bushey said. On Jan. 1, 2017, Assembly Bill 1436, the state law permitting conditional registration — where voters can register to vote at the polls on Election Day — takes effect and will be yet another factor in future elections, she said. —Bay City News Service
got confused with the razors she used to shave her legs. She said the state has since gotten better at wording the questions in the survey to avoid ambiguity, but that the district still needs to consider how students understood the question. “It’s not because we disregard anything that students say, this is all data that is useful,” Rodgers said. “Some kids might take the question and just be literal about it.” Participation wasn’t a problem though. Roughly 50 percent of fifth-grade students participated in the survey, which Goldman said gives a pretty good idea of the campus climate for students. The survey didn’t require students to have a computer or internet access at home, but it did need parent permission. “We think we have a pretty good picture of the kids, but we would like a higher participation rate and we can look at strategies in the future for doing that,” Goldman said.
Rodgers called the report a first glance and the start of the discussion on school climate, and a reminder to people that the survey exists and the information is available. Regardless, the report included a handful of recommendations for school improvements going forward. The recommendations for the district include more opportunities for students to participate in campus operations and activities in the classroom, as well as new strategies to address bullying and harassment. The district also plans to confront mental and physical health issues by teaching students how to resolve conflicts and build self-esteem. “This is great information to start off with,” Rodgers said. “I think we’re seeing this as a springboard into further research and investigation.” Board member Chris Chiang said parents would likely want to see the climate survey statistics, split up to show results by schools, and that information would mean a lot more to parents than test scores and other typical school information. “As a parent, some of these questions on the survey would matter far more to me in choosing a school than API (scores),” Chiang said.
How to improve Though all the board members at the meeting expressed interest in the survey results and ways to act on the new information, there wasn’t much in the way of specific plans for what to do next.
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Q CRIMEBRIEFS Continued from page 4
people convicted of some sex offenses to register as a sex offender with the police, and update that information annually. The public disclosure does not necessarily mean the sex offender will show up on the Megan’s Law database. The SAFE Task Force also monitors sex offenders who have a “high propensity” to commit another sexual offense, and both tracks and apprehends sexual predators. Kevin Forestieri
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Plan, pricing and product information is subject to change without prior notice. Prices effective as of date of publication. Map and rendering are an artist’s conception and are not to scale. Models do not reflect racial preference. Rendering as shown is conceptual only and may not reflect current modifications to the building elevations. Facebook is a registered trademark of Facebook inc. Trinh Tran CalBRE License #01346891.
Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
LocalNews GOLDMAN
Continued from page 1
tionâ&#x20AC;? to improve the way the board and district staff work together. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Nobody was happy about it, but agreed it was in the best interest of the district,â&#x20AC;? he said. Goldman said he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t decided what to do after his resignation. He said he probably will continue in the education field, likely as an administrator, but that he hasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t identified what that will be. Board member Chris Chiang said there was no scandal or controversy that spurred Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resignation, and no one incident that convinced him to resign. He added that nobody was trying to push him to leave the district. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It really comes down to a parting of ways. Nothing went wrong,â&#x20AC;? Chiang said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everyone has been really grateful for the work that heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s done for the district.â&#x20AC;? At the meeting, the board also established an ad hoc committee to start the process for choosing
officer, Walter said, he succeeded in getting bus passes for all busriding students in the district â&#x20AC;&#x153;for the first time ever,â&#x20AC;? and saved the district the equivalent of his entire salary. She said that Goldman was a visionary who â&#x20AC;&#x153;dreamed bigâ&#x20AC;? on how to improve all nine of the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s school sites. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The facilities plan is not called a master plan â&#x20AC;&#x201D; itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s called the student facilities improvement plan because it is for the students,â&#x20AC;? Walter said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Craigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s input to this plan was invaluable.â&#x20AC;? Walter, along with Wheeler and Palmer, chose Goldman as superintendent after Ghysels stepped down. As superintendent, Walter said, he shepherded the Measure G school bond and went out of his way to be publicly visible in the community and answer questions. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Craig is one of those people who leave a lasting, positive impact on your life,â&#x20AC;? Walter said. Parent Laura Blakely said she has felt privileged to work with Goldman when she worked on
Chris Chiang said there was no scandal or controversy that spurred Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resignation. the next superintendent. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It was a shock and a disappointment,â&#x20AC;? Wheeler said. Lambert said he got the opportunity to get to know Goldman, and understands his decision to move on. He said Goldman, even in his resignation, was thinking about the district, and chose to resign with the â&#x20AC;&#x153;best timingâ&#x20AC;? to replace him at the end of the year. It was revealed at the meeting that board members had been talking about Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s resignation for about a month in closed-session meetings. Though the meeting was short and took place mostly in closed session, a few people came out to thank Goldman for his 16 years of working for the district, and bid him good luck. Former board member Fiona Walter said losing Goldman represents a â&#x20AC;&#x153;tragic lossâ&#x20AC;? for the district, and that it was losing a student advocate, a person of integrity and an amazing educator. As a Huff and Graham parent, Walter said, she remembers meeting Goldman for the first time in August 2002. â&#x20AC;&#x153;He was on the shouting-end of a bullhorn at Huff Elementary School telling me to put my dog back on the leash,â&#x20AC;? she said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thus began 12 years of friendship, collaboration, trust and respect.â&#x20AC;? During Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first year as the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s chief business
the Measure C parcel tax campaign, the Share Shoreline team and the Mountain View Education Foundation. Blakely said she was both heartbroken and angry that the school board members could not work collaboratively to â&#x20AC;&#x153;retainâ&#x20AC;? Goldman as superintendent, and insisted that trustees set aside their differences to foster a better relationship with Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s successor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;As trustees of the Mountain View Whisman School District, you owe every resident of our community and student in our schools a fiduciary duty to act in their best interests,â&#x20AC;? Blakely said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Not in the interest of your own personal agenda, nor of your political future, nor the limelight you may garner in the local media.â&#x20AC;? The board has been criticized for the dysfunctional and, at times, hostile relations between board member Steven Nelson and district staff, as well as his fellow trustees â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a situation that led the board to censure Nelson late last year. Tensions between Nelson and Goldman ran particularly high at times. The district also recently emerged from a polarizing battle with its teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; union over salaries, and Goldman was criticized for his role in contract negotiations that led to widespread support for teachers by parents
and students who packed district meetings this fall. A district press release about the resignation listed Goldmanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s accomplishments as superintendent: API scores for the district increased from 826 to 863 during his tenure, including larger increases for socioeconomically disadvantaged students; three schools were recognized as distinguished schools; a 10-year agreement to receive Shoreline Community funds was passed; and $3 million in grant money from Google was received to improve access to technology and improve mathematics achievement. Although Goldman will resign in less than two months, he said thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still work to be done. Prior to his departure, the board is on track to decide whether or not to turn Castro Elementary School into two schools, splitting its two academic programs.
Invitation for Bids La Honda Creek Livestock Fence Installation NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (District) will receive bids at their (KTPUPZ[YH[P]L 6Ń?JL SVJH[LK H[ +PZ[LS *PYJSL 3VZ (S[VZ *( on or before 3:00 p.m. on Monday, December 1, 2014 MVY [OL M\YUPZOPUN VM HSS SHIVY TH[LYPHSZ HUK ZLY]PJLZ required for the following designated scope of work: The PUZ[HSSH[PVU VM HWWYV_PTH[LS` SPULHY MLL[ VM H UL^ Z[YHUK IHYILK ^PYL SP]LZ[VJR MLUJL PUZ[HSSH[PVU VM SP]LZ[VJR NH[LZ HUK YLTV]HS VM HWWYV_PTH[LS` SPULHY MLL[ VM Z[YHUK IHYILK ^PYL SP]LZ[VJR MLUJL PU 3H /VUKH *YLLR Open Space Preserve. *VTWSL[L WYVQLJ[ PUMVYTH[PVU PZ JVU[HPULK ^P[OPU [OL WYVQLJ[ )PK 7HJRHNL ^OPJO ^PSS IL H]HPSHISL VU :H[\YKH` 5V]LTILY VUSPUL H[ [OL +PZ[YPJ[ÂťZ ^LIZP[L! http://www. openspace.org/news/request_for_bids.asp A hardcopy is available for review at the District Administra[P]L 6Ń?JL
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Winifred â&#x20AC;&#x153;Winiâ&#x20AC;? Gould Jecker Steiner August 31, 1913 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 21, 2014 Portola Valley â&#x20AC;&#x153;Winiâ&#x20AC;? Steiner died peacefully in her sleep after visits from her family and friends. Wini was born in England and emigrated with her family in 1920, eventually settling in Long Beach. Wini graduated from UC Berkeley in 1935 with a degree in English. There, she lived at International House where she met Duroc Albert Jecker, whom she married in 1935. Duroc died in 1940. Not wanting to teach English to support their young daughter, Wini earned a BS degree in home economics at Oregon State. In 1944 Wini was hired as the first home economist for the U.C. Cooperative Extension service for the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, and San Benito, where she organized 24 community groups of mainly farm wives to conduct workshops on food preservation and streamlined garment making. As Santa Clara County changed from rural to urban, she stayed there, where her focus shifted to consumer information in all areas of home making, home furnishings, money management, clothing and fabrics and food buying. She conducted short courses and lecture demonstrations and pioneered a daily radio show on several radio stations, a weekly column for the San Jose Mercury, and a show on KPIX-TV. In the 1960â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Wini served as a cooperative resource to school nurses, teachers, social workers, and dietitians. Later she initiated a nutrition program for low income families, developing cultural and ethnic materials and recipes. In 1957, Wini married Russell R. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Russâ&#x20AC;? Steiner, a local accountant. Shortly after their retirement in 1972, they moved to Paradise, CA. They traveled everywhere. Both loved Yosemite, taking their grandchildren on high country
trips. Wini founded the Paradise branch of AAUW, and led AAUW initiatives there and in Chico to benefit re-entry women and research child care for working mothers. Russ died in 1988. Wini then returned to the Bay Area, settling in the Sequoias Portola Valley in 1993. Wini took leadership positions in St. Nicholas Episcopal Church in Paradise and St. Bedeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in Menlo Park and was faithful at Christ Church Episcopal, Portola Valley. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Wini the Walkerâ&#x20AC;? couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be missed anywhere, and she celebrated her 80th birthday walking across her beloved England. Wini volunteered in many ways to care for students, international visitors, and the elderly in nursing homes. She founded the Jessie Rau Anderson Scholarship at UC Santa Cruz in 1965 in honor of her counselor at Long Beach Polytechnic, who lent her $100 so she could start at UC Berkeley in 1933. Wini would take the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Anderson Girlsâ&#x20AC;? out to lunch for decades after that and maintain a correspondence with many of them. Wini was known for her elegant style, in manner, clothes, and furnishings, her wide-ranging travels, love of the outdoors, high energy, and storytelling. Wini leaves her daughter, Mary Beth (Bruce) Train of Palo Alto, two grandchildren, six stepgrandchildren, and five great grandchildren. A memorial service will be in November. Memorial contributions may be made through the UC Santa Cruz Foundation. Please direct your contributions to Jessie Rau Anderson Scholarship in memory of Wini Steiner. Visit giving.ucsc.edu or send a gift to the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, Dept. 44787, PO Box 44000, San Francisco, CA 94144-4787. You may also give to the Friends of your local library or a charity of your choice. PAID
OBITUARY
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matchmaking LOCAL WINE EXPERTS OFFER SUGGESTIONS ON HOLIDAY FOOD-AND-WINES PAIRINGS By My Nguyen
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lanning what wines to serve at a Thanksgiving dinner or figuring out which to bring to a Christmas party can be, frankly, overwhelming. Holiday foods tend to be full-flavored — whether it’s turkey, buttery mashed potatoes or sausage-filled stuffing — so here are a few options from local wine experts to complement all of your holiday meals: Light meat Chicken and pork tend to be mild and lean, so they should be paired with a mild, lighter-bodied wine. Look for flavors that can build a bridge between the wine and dish. Baked, smoked or honeyed hams beg for wines with a hint of sweet. “With a honey-baked ham, we recommend a fruit-forward pinot noir as it cuts the fat and complements the sweetness of the honey,” said Emily Mathews, co-owner of Vino Locale in Palo Alto. “A honey-baked ham is usually glazed with maple or pierced with cloves, to offer up both sweet and salty flavors on your palate. You wouldn’t want your wine to compete with those flavors, but instead, complement them. A dry wine won’t clash with the sweetness on your plate and will avoid overpowering the entree,” added co-owner Debra Szecsei, who recommends a dry rosé or an extra-dry champagne. For an herbed pork roast, Mathews recommends a creamy chardonnay with hints of fruit and oak, which “won’t overwhelm the herbal flavors in the roast,” she said. Mathews also suggests a light red, such as a sangiovese or pinot noir, which is quite flexible and goes well with the multitude of flavors presented at a holiday table, she said.
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Turkey A traditional Thanksgiving turkey, with all the trimmings, can stand up to a range of wine, either red or white. Turkey is also
VERONICA WEBER
Debra Szecsei, left, and Emily Mathews, right, co-owners of Vino Locale, pour glasses of wine at the bar while talking about which wines they recommend for holiday meal pairings.
adaptable in the way it is prepared. Don’t forget: Side dishes also dictate what wine will pair best. For white wine lovers, try a riesling, which is “one of the great white grapes,” said Laurie Lindrup, director of business development at Beltramo’s Wines and Spirits in Menlo Park. “Riesling is often highly fragrant, very delicious and totally food-friendly,” Lindrup said. “(It) is probably the best foodpairing grape, with its high acid and fresh fruit spectrum it can stand up to most foods and will enhance the experience.” Szecsei recommends a gewurztraminer or sauvignon blanc to balance the acidity and stand up to the richness of the holiday meal. “Gewurztraminer tends to be aromatic with spicy notes that pair well with turkey and gravy, bringing out the best in both,” Szecsei said. “Sauvignon blanc wines are dry and crisp with citrus flavors and mineral undertones, making it a great wine to pair with turkey and mashed potatoes.” For those who prefer red wine, choose a wine with good acidity and soft tannins — a textural element that makes wine taste dry — to allow the wine to support the flavors of the food, Szecsei said, adding that a pinot noir or
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syrah would make good choices. “Pinot noir wines will show bright cherry notes and subtle earthy undertone with few tannins — pairing well with traditional flavors of turkey and stuffing,” she said. Syrah is a more full-bodied wine and has a hint of spice, Szecsei said, which increases the complexity, allowing it to handle the multiple layers of flavors of rich holiday dishes, including stuffing and both white and dark turkey meat. Lindrup recommends a beaujolais, a light-bodied French red wine with a fruity aroma. “Gamay grapes grow especially well in the Beaujolais district of France, where they are used to produce beaujolais wines. Although the Gamay grape itself has lots of tannins, the resulting Gamay wines are characterized by fairly low tannins,” Lindrup said. “Wines made from Gamay grapes have fresh, fruity flavors like strawberry and raspberry and aromas of pears. The high acid and fruitiness of the grape make it an excellent pairing for all the flavors on a Thanksgiving table.” Turkey isn’t eaten alone, so Mike Garcia, owner of The Wine Room in Palo Alto, said to take into account the side dishes that See WINE PAIRINGS, page 20
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accompany the bird, including stuffing. “If you put sausage in your stuffing, a pinot noir will go better with that,” he said. A fullbodied chardonnay or a pinot noir with earthy flavors work well with stuffing that incorporates mushrooms, he added. Beef There are many wines that enhance the flavors of beef, and as a general rule, red wine goes well with plainly cooked beef. But during the holidays, dishes may be served with different sauces and seasonings, and that “kind of helps the wine selection,” Garcia said. A pinot noir would go well with roast beef tenderlion served with a currant sauce, because the pinot noir, which exhibits flavors of ripe
H A PPY HOLIDAYS
red fruit like cherry, raspberry and currant, will pick up the fruity flavors of the sauce, he said. For roast beef, Garcia recommends “going off the beaten path” and serving a cabernet franc. “Cabernet franc tends to be a little more spicy, which will pick up the pepperiness of a roast beef dish,” he said. “If you are someone who likes a bigger style red wine and are doing a more meatier course, I’d do a cab franc.” Vegetarian dishes Fat and acidity play a crucial role in pairing an assortment of non-meat dishes with wine, Garcia said. “If you’re going to eat sides of mashed potatoes and dishes that are fattier without the proteins, a crisp, clean French-style chardonnay or unoaked chardonnay go better with those dishes,” he said. The gravy that comes with mashed potatoes, and creams in traditional dishes like a green bean casserole “mimic French cuisine with its heavy sauces, that’s why the French tend to like crisper wines with higher acid, so that the acid cuts through the fat and makes it more refreshing,” he said. Don’t forget the dessert ... wine Finish the holiday dinner with something sweet by offering a dessert wine. When considering what wine can accompany a traditional pumpkin pie or apple tart, Szecsei recommends a port wine, which is a fortified wine often served as a dessert wine. “That’s an obvious choice,” Szecsei said. “An alternative is
MICHELLE LE
For holiday meals, Beltramo’s Director of Business Development and Assistant Operations Manager Laurie Lindrup highly recommends a 2012 Clos des Papes from Chateauneuf du Pape, saying it “pairs well with all flavors on a Thanksgiving table, especially with a pork roast and ham.”
a late-harvest riesling for rich flavors of honey. Fortified wines and late-harvest wines will bring sweetness and viscosity to support the spice of the pumpkin pie or apple tart you’re serving.” Lindrup recommends a lateharvest gewurztraminer, which has a spiciness to it that will pair beautifully with the melange of spices of a pumpkin pie, she said. For darker and richer last courses like pecan pies or baked plum desserts, Garcia recommends a tawny port, which is mellow, nutty and slightly woody, and will pick up the nuttiness of the pecan pie, or a vintage port, which is a little more grapey and will complement desserts with darker fruit profiles. V
Inspirations a guide to the spiritual community LOS ALTOS LUTHERAN Bringing God’s Love and Hope to All
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To include your Church in
Inspirations Please call Blanca Yoc at 650-223-6596 or email byoc@paweekly.com
MOUNTAIN VIEW CENTRAL SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH Sabbath School: 9:30 a.m. Saturday Services: Worship 10:45 a.m. Wednesday Study Groups: 10-11 a.m. Pastor Kenny Fraser, B.A.M. DIV 1425 Springer Rd., Mtn. View - Office Hrs. M-F 9am-1pm www.mtviewda.adventistfaith.org Phone: 650-967-2189
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Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
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H A PPY HOLIDAYS
The gift that
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keeps on giving CHEFS DISH ON HOW TO TRANSFORM YOUR HOLIDAY LEFTOVERS By Elena Kadvany Photos by Veronica Weber
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hen Nov. 1 hits, so does the holiday-meal planning. Are you brining, roasting or smoking? Pumpkin or pecan? Will you stick to your family’s traditional side dishes, or try something new? Amidst all the food planning, something crucial can fall to the wayside: What to do with all those holiday leftovers. Many may default, in a postThanksgiving food coma, to reheating plates of exactly what was eaten the day before or making turkey sandwiches. There’s nothing wrong with either, but the potential for leftovers is endless. Leftover turkey can become soup, pot pie, sauce, hash patties, chili or salads. Read on for the family traditions and suggestions from a group of local chefs on how to transform your holiday leftovers. ANTHONY STRONG, PIZZERIA DELFINA, PALO ALTO
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Anthony Strong, executive chef for Pizzeria Delfina, loves leftovers so much that he and other Delfina staff who stay in the Bay Area for the holidays actually stay up the entire night before Thanksgiving to make turkey and all the trimmings for an open house, and host a build-
Ingredients for chef Kelsey Casavan’s turkey hash recipe include leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, fresh herbs, an egg (to bind the ingredients together) and gravy.
your-own-leftovers-sandwiches day on the day of. They keep the sandwiches simple: Pullman bread (“just to keep it real,” he says), stuffing, sliced turkey, cranberry sauce and hot or cold gravy (Strong likes it cold). Strong also makes a Thanksgiving version of ribollita, a hearty traditional Tuscan soup made from bread, cannellini beans and vegetables. (Strong called Tuscany “the land of 101 uses for leftover bread and beans.”) “In Tuscany, you typically make ribollita by making this really rich, dense bean soup with a bunch of pancetta and vegetables in it,” he said. “You heat up that soup for dinner and take the leftover bread, tear it up and add it to that soup. Ribollita literally means reboiled or recooked, more or less.” So your leftover bread, vegetables (and added beans) can be served as a soup. Or, the next day, mash it into a cake-like patty and then saute it slowly in olive oil so it gets a crust, Strong said. He does the same with leftover stuffing — and don’t forget to serve it “drenched in olive oil.” Strong said at Christmas, he’ll always make goose. “We obsess over goose. Christmas goose is awesome,” he said. Pro goose-cooking tip from Strong: Get it a week or 10 days before, salt it and let it sit uncovered in the refrigerator. Then roast it very low and slow, at 250 degrees for an hour and a half. But the best part? Puncturing the bird’s skin with skewers before roasting so that all of the fat renders out, he said. “The best part, the gift of Christmas that keeps on giving is all of the goose fat that I get to use throughout the year,” he said. “I cook with that goose fat constantly throughout the year.” Alternatively, he’ll save half the bird, shred up the leg meat and whip it with some of the fat to make rillettes, a preparation of meat similar to pâté. JARAD GALLAGHER, CHEZ TJ, MOUNTAIN VIEW
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Chez TJ Executive Chef Jarad Gallagher does his own version of Thanksgiving ribollita. Take your leftover turkey and separate
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the dark from white meat. Take all of the skin, drippings from the pan and even extra bones to make a stock, then add leftover potatoes and bread. The result is a soup that can be enjoyed the day or even weeks after if you freeze portions of it. He also offered some advice: “When I design the meals themselves for Thanksgiving, I’m always deciding with the plan to do something specific with leftovers,” he said. “I plan from the beginning.” KELSEY CASAVAN, LB STEAK, MENLO PARK
Kelsey Casavan, who has risen up the ranks in the Left Bank restaurant group, from hostess to the cold line and now head chef at LB Steak in Menlo Park, has brunch on the mind when it comes to leftovers, although she said her family is among the many who eats turkey sandwiches for “probably longer than is recommended.” She makes turkey hash patties by combining pulled turkey, mashed potatoes, chopped herbs such as sage or parsley, a beaten egg, salt and pepper and a small amount of whole grain mustard. Make small patties and fry them. Then top with poached eggs and leftover gravy. In her words: “Soooooo good.” BRADLEY OGDEN, BRADLEY’S FINE DINER, MENLO PARK
Renowned Bay Area chef Bradley Ogden, who just this month opened a Bradley’s Fine Diner outpost in Menlo Park, can’t wait for leftovers. His Thanksgiving standby is an open-face turkey sandwich, drenched in leftover gravy and cranberry sauce. “That’s a classic combination,” he said. But if you’re feeling more creatively inclined, turn your leftovers into holiday brunch by using turkey, stuffing and gravy to make a turkey hash. Other turkey ideas from Ogden? Turkey chili, turkey tacos, cream of turkey soup and turkey pot pie. Leftover pumpkin and bread can become pumpkin bread pudding.
Turkey hash made from leftover turkey, mashed potatoes, fresh herbs, a bit of mustard and topped with a poached egg and gravy and a green salad prepared by chef Kelsey Casavan at LB Steak in Menlo Park.
DMITRY ELPERIN, THE VILLAGE PUB, WOODSIDE
ANYA FERNALD, BELCAMPO MEAT CO., PALO ALTO
If you need a recipe for that turkey pot pie idea, here’s one from a Michelin-starred chef. Dmitry Elperin of the Village Pub in Woodside said he starts by making a simple crust using three ingredients: all-purpose flour, butter and ice water. “When cooked, the crust is golden brown, light and flaky,” he said. “For the filling, I cook together tender bite-size pieces of turkey meat, glazed root vegetables, gravy, roasted potatoes, butter, chicken stock, parsley and sage.” Another idea: mashed potato, turkey and stuffing pancakes. Mix together bite-size pieces of turkey meat, mashed potatoes and stuffing. Using your hands, form the mixture into disk-like shapes, about 1 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter. In a clean large bowl, dredge the potato disks in flour and set aside to chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. In a large cast-iron pan over medium heat, add grapeseed oil to liberally coat the bottom of the pan. Add more as needed. Pan-fry each potato pancake for about five minutes per side, or until golden brown. Top with leftover cranberry or gravy — or both — and enjoy.
Not a soup or sandwich person? Try Palo Alto native and Belcampo CEO Anya Fernald’s curried turkey salad. “This is a great recipe to make after a lot of cooking — it takes five minutes start to finish and (there’s) no heat involved,” she said. Whisk together 1/3 cup of mayonnaise, 2/3 cup of whole milk yogurt (Fernald uses Straus Family Creamery yogurt, which she said blends particularly well), one tablespoon of white wine vinegar, one tablespoon of curry powder and one teaspoon of salt. To lighten it up, you can decrease the amount of mayo and proportionally increase the whole milk yogurt, Fernald said. Finish it off by adding three cups of chopped leftover turkey (Fernald does half-inch cubes of both dark and white meat) and three stalks of celery (split lengthwise and chopped very finely). “This salad gets better after a day in the fridge, so it’s a great option for sandwiches the weekend after Thanksgiving,” Fernald said. “Letting the meat sit in this dressing for a day is a great way to keep your leftover bird really moist and avoid the super-dry day two sandwich.” V
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November 21, 2014 Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q
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Viewpoint
Q EDITORIAL Q YOUR LETTERS Q GUEST OPINIONS
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THE OPINION OF THE VOICE Founding Editor, Kate Wakerly
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Council should delay North Bayshore action
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here seems to be a disagreement stemming from the results of the Nov. 4. City Council election. Was the election of three candidates who campaigned on the concept of a residential community in North Bayshore a clear sign from voters that they want housing built there? Reasonable people disagree on the answer, including Councilman Mike Kasperzak, a North Bayshore housing supporter who nevertheless doesn’t view the election as a message by voters on this issue. But here are a few facts: The three winners in the race — Pat Showalter, Lenny Siegel and Ken Rosenberg — will replace three termed-out council members who oppose housing in that area of the city to which thousands of workers travel for their jobs at Google and other major high-tech companies. The winners were among nine candidates, several of whom had bigname backing and solid experience as city commissioners but who argued against North Bayshore housing. So, were voters who chose the trio of newcomers, with solid leads, sending a message? We think they were. The question has become eminently relevant as the current council marches ahead with plans to take action on a “precise plan” for North Bayshore on Nov. 25, just six weeks before the new council is seated. If the vote takes place, the plan is almost certain to pass, with at least four current council members (three of whom are “lame ducks”) opposed to housing in that portion of the city. The problem for those who are calling on council members to delay the action is: The plan before them next week doesn’t allow housing. Many in the community, as well as the Voice, view this an egregious omission considering the city’s severe jobs-housing imbalance that is resulting in out-of-control housing cost spikes and a glut of traffic that is clogging the roadways on a regular basis.
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Q LETTERS VOICES FROM THE COMMUNITY
TRY TO TOP THIS FOR INNOVATION The Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) is staging some more community meetings on its plan for bus-only lanes in each direction on El Camino with boarding in new center islands (Nov. 20 at Mountain View City Hall). Evidently, the VTA wants to ensure longterm reliance on its services and to land federal funds for a new fleet of buses and bus line. Innovative ideas being the key to securing federal funds, may I suggest something entirely new: topless buses into which workers and residents in the high-rises planned for El Camino can simply jump. Sure, some jumpers may land on other bus riders,
Q Mountain View Voice Q MountainViewOnline.com Q November 21, 2014
but that is partly why we have courts, lawyers, doctors and hospitals. And if it rains, well then bus riders would just get a free shower. Many of them need a shower anyway. Topless buses. I can hardly wait. Bring on the federal funding. Gary Wesley Continental Circle
AN ‘OUTRAGEOUS’ MONEY GRAB? A new law (AB 94) requires the University of California to tell the public how and where it spends, and from what funding source the money comes. I absolutely applaud the students and Gov. Jerry Brown for their See LETTERS on next page
Residents, including two of the Election Day winners — Showalter and Siegel — have questioned the lame duck council’s decision to move ahead on a plan that, in all probability, would be significantly revised once the new council members take their posts on Jan. 6. Former city manager Bruce Liedstrand rightly pointed out that, in light of the election results, council approval of a North Bayshore precise plan that doesn’t include housing could be viewed as a “slap in the face” of the community. Council member-elect Showalter, the top vote-getter, has “respectfully” asked that the council be responsive to the voters in its actions regarding the precise plan. “The voters have spoken by electing three people who are pro-housing in North Bayshore,” she noted in an interview with the Voice. And she correctly pointed out that it’s a burden for city staff members to have to put the final touches on a document that will inevitably be changed in short order — a future task requiring still more of their time and effort. Termed-out council member Margaret Abe-Koga indicated this week that she supports the council’s intent to “move forward” to finalize the precise plan. Yet, she told the Voice in March that she tries to listen to the community as she and her council colleagues attempt to address the city’s jobs-housing imbalance. “I’m trying to understand better what people really want,” she said. We urge Abe-Koga and the rest of the council who might be trying to understand what residents really want to consider the message voters sent on Nov. 4. The council as it exists until Jan. 6 has every right to act on this precise plan. But would it be the right thing to do? It would not, and we hope that when the item comes before them next Tuesday, council members will vote to delay action until a new council is seated. V
Viewpoint LETTERS
Continued from previous page
call for transparency with public money. In Mountain View, where I live, sheer greed is apparent in the local school district’s $30 million money grab from the Shoreline Regional Park community. Coercing $30 million from a regional park community that is currently $58 million in bond debt is simply outrageous — and outgoing City Council members cannot be held responsible. To top it off, Mountain ViewLos Altos High School District Superintendent Barry Groves actually suggested (on Nov. 13, at the very first joint powers authority meeting he ever attended) that the $10 milliona-year coerced gift be made an annual payment instead of the three-year, one-time gift the City Council agreed to. Sheer unwarranted greed, I say. Donald Letcher Rengstorff Avenue
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CITY’S AEDS AT FIRE STATIONS, TOO Your Nov. 14 article about AEDs (Auto External Defibrillators) was a good public service. However, you failed to inform the public that all Mountain View fire stations and apparatus have defibrillator service available by highly trained firefighters and paramedics. Located strategically throughout the city, this service is available within five minutes to most areas of the city. This is not to diminish the value of defibrillator use by trained citizens who are willing to take immediate action. I believe it was a miscalculation to not inform the citizens of the fire department’s service that has been provided effectively for years. Bob Burns Springer Road
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