Upfront
Rail
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sortium (PCC) have been particularly alarmed about the rail authority’s ongoing negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) on an agreement that would lay out early investment opportunities by the rail authority in the Bay Area. Some, including Palo Alto Councilman Pat Burt (who also sits on the Rail Committee and chairs the PCC) have argued that the MTC, a regional planning agency, may not be the best representative for the Peninsula when it comes to high-speed-rail issues. At Tuesday’s hearing, which was chaired by state Sen. Joe Simitian, D-Palo Alto, Burt said that while Palo Alto understands the MTC’s role in distributing regional funding, the agency “lacks both the ability to speak on behalf of our residents and the local knowledge that our council members possess.” Palo Alto’s Rail Committee continued to question the MTC’s role Thursday morning and stressed in its letter that it believes the agreement should involve Caltrain rather than the MTC. The Peninsula Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain, owns the tracks and has consistently advocated for the blended approach, which was first unveiled about a year ago by Simitian, U.S. Rep. Anna Eshoo and Assemblyman Rich Gordon, D-Menlo Park. Councilman Larry Klein, who chairs the Rail Committee, said Thursday that the greater the MTC’s role is in the new contract, the more worried he is about the agreement. He noted that Caltrain, as the owner of its corridor, has the kind of lever-
age over the rail authority that the MTC does not. Despite the city’s reservations, the MTC is unlikely to withdraw from the process. Jayme Ackemann, Caltrain’s government affairs officer, told the committee that the MTC — which has the authority to disperse federal funding to other transportation agencies — has indicated its intention to take the lead role in the agreement. Richard said the authority plans to ask the State Legislature this year for $2.7 billion in bond funding for Central Valley construction. Improvements for the system’s “bookends” will not come until later, he said. Even so, rail officials maintained that the revised business plan is a “new vision” for the agency and that it directly addresses many of the concerns it received from the community and legislators when it released its current business plan last year. “This is an opportunity for Caltrain as much as it is an opportunity for high-speed rail,” Hartnett said Tuesday night, referring to the early investment. “We believe the plan will set out a reasonable way of doing that.” High-speed-rail officials also said Tuesday that the project’s estimated $98.5 billion price tag will drop in the new business plan, largely because of its new emphasis on the blended approach. The new plan, he said, will demonstrate the ways in which the capital costs can be reduced. “The key to it is the blend approach,” Richard said. “This is one of the things that will lock us into the course that I think will save us a lot of money.” N Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.
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Kenrick has declined by $808 per student, 6 percent, since 2008-09, Mak reported Tuesday, even more than the $788 per student she reported on Feb. 28. The current per-pupil allotment is $12,215. The per-student reduction is a consequence of enrollment increases outpacing growth in property tax receipts, as well as state funding cuts. Mak said she expects the school district will face “large structural deficits” for the next five years, particularly if proposed tax measures expected to be on this November’s ballot are voted down. However, the district has squirreled away surpluses for the past three years, growing its “undesignated fund balance” from $3.1 million at the end of 2008-09 to $12.9 million at the end of 2010-11. Those funds came from one-time windfalls such as federal stimulus funding. The district has used the surplus to cushion the reductions and uncertainties in the state income and property-tax picture. N
Jordan Middle School gym 750 N. California Ave.
Gunn High School
Terman Middle School gym 655 Arastradero Road
Terman Middle School
a lot of work to find common ground — probably achievable in some areas but not others,” he wrote in an email. “This can be done with small beginnings in local neighborhoods, not the entire city. Journey of a thousand miles begins with but a single step. He’s trying to make a giant leap for mankind — if I may borrow from history,” Browning said. Many neighborhood association leaders said residents have made connections through association activities, common-interest groups such as book groups and the environment, and through emergency preparedness and block-preparedness programs. But although email connections are becoming the glue for many, others said they could not discount the importance of personal, faceto-face connections. In Greenmeadow, the association has had a neighborhood meeting house, park and swimming pool since the
1950s — all were built by developer Joseph Eichler as part of his community concept. “I’m glad Mayor Yeh is being proactive about this. Having fun together is a great way to build relationships. That has been Greenmeadow’s philosophy for about 50 years. So far, it has worked pretty well,” Penny Ellson of the Greenmeadow Community Association said. “I think stable, happy communities are like stable happy marriages. Building relationships, understanding each other, happens when we make time to be together. If we want a healthy community, we need to constantly work on our relationships,” she said. “A friend of mine used to say, ‘Love doesn’t just happen. It’s a habit. The habit of acting in a loving way makes love happen.’ I think community is a lot like that.” N Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.
Guide to the Mayor’s Challenge What: The first athletic event in Yiaway Yeh’s Mayor’s Challenge is a table tennis (pingpong) challenge. The event is designed to bring neighborhoods together in friendly competition during a fun, interactive afternoon. Additional athletic events will be held through the year as part of the Mayor’s Challenge. When: Sunday, March 25, 2-5 p.m. 2-2:30 p.m. Open Play 2:30-3 p.m. Demo by a coach volunteer 3-3:45 p.m. Open Play with opportunities for one-on-one coaching tips
3:45-5 p.m. Open Play Where: Five locations: Palo Alto Family YMCA, Cubberley Community Center, Jordan Middle School, Terman Middle School and the Campus for Jewish Life (see map). How to register: Go to http://ymcamayorschallenge.eventbrite.com/ or register in person at the Palo Alto Family Y (3412 Ross Road). Additional information is available by contacting Stephanie at 650-8427167 or shannah@ymcasv.org. Cost: $4 per person, plus $1.21 per person online processing fee.
Map by Shannon Corey
by Chris id-year school-budget cuts were approved by the Board of Education Tuesday, March 13, as officials described an ever-changing financial outlook. About $2.1 million in mid-year cuts to the schools’ $162.4 million operating budget came atop $2.7 million in reductions made at the start of the 2011-12 budget cycle. Cuts approved this week include $889,000 in personnel, utilities and food service; $389,000 in “routine maintenance allocation”; $200,000 in staff development budget for summer activities and $338,000 in per-student allocation of school site funds. However, the site-specific reductions will not affect this year’s classrooms because they will come from site reserve funds, the district’s Business Official Cathy Mak assured board members. Mak will return to the board in May with proposed cuts for the 2012-13 school year. School funding for Palo Alto — excluding locally raised money —
know the people on your block is one of the best ways to build community on a macro level. Getting to know your neighbors is also an effective way to address crime; witness the recent incidents where observant Palo Alto neighbors have noticed unusual activity on their streets, contacted police and helped to solve recent burglaries,” he said. Barron Park resident Bob Frost said he had signed up to play at Terman Middle School. “I will probably watch as much as I will play,” he said. “It just sounded like fun.” Frost said it would be interesting to see if people come out. But for others, the challenge fell flat. “I am not big on organized events in the neighborhood. Most of our life is so ‘over scheduled’ that I just love that our little street is sort of ‘schedule free,’” Downtown North resident Corrie Sid wrote in an email. “I personally would not go to a neighborhood pingpong tournament, mainly because I have too many scheduled events and parties already (one of which happens to be a pingpong tournament) from our school community at Addison,” she said. There are other challenges on which her neighborhood focuses its energy, she said. “The struggle with traffic in our neighborhood has left parents unwilling to leave their children to play on their own, even in their own front yard. ... If the mayor really wants our neighborhood to come together, we should block off some of the streets again ... I think we’d have many more opportunities to come together naturally, just because folks would be outside more often than today. “Perhaps a block party would entice more interest, ... make it more social, versus an activity that forces folks to know a skill or how to do something other than say, ‘Hi, I’m your neighbor,’” she said. George Browning, Charleston Gardens Neighborhood Association leader, said he did not think many in his neighborhood would participate in the pingpong tournament. “Neighborhood building will be difficult, since the neighborhoods are quite far apart — physically and economically. It will take
Where to go for the Mayor’s Challenge
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Which neighborhood do I belong to? Neighborhoods will earn points in the Mayor’s Challenge based on the number of people they bring to the events. To find your neighborhood, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news/show_story. php?id=15124 Who: Palo Alto Mayor Yiaway Yeh, the Palo Alto Family Y, the Palo Alto Table Tennis Club, Joola and the Palo Alto Unified School District are the event’s co-sponsors. What else? This event is open to City of Palo Alto residents only. N