Upfront
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that on January 14, 2013 the Fire Chief of the City of Palo Alto ďŹ led with the City Clerk of said city a report and assessment on abatement of weeds within said city, a copy of which is posted on the bulletin board at the entrance to the City Hall. NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN that on August 5, 2013 at the hour of seven p.m. or as soon thereafter in the Council Chambers of said City Hall, said report and assessment list will be presented to the City Council of said City for consideration and conďŹ rmation, and that any and all persons interested, having any objections to said report and assessment list, or to any matter of thing contained therein, may appear at said time and place and be heard. DONNA J. GRIDER, MMC City Clerk
450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Carol Blitzer (223-6511) Sports Editor Keith Peters (223-6516) Express & Online Editor Eric Van Susteren (223-6515) Arts & Entertainment Editor Rebecca Wallace (223-6517) Assistant Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6521) Spectrum Editor Tom Gibboney (223-6507) Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Chris Kenrick (223-6512), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513) Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Elena Kadvany (223-6519) Staff Photographer Veronica Weber (223-6520) Contributors Andrew Preimesberger, Dale F. Bentson, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Tyler Hanley, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Karla Kane, Kevin Kirby, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti Editorial Interns John Brunett, Rye Druzin, Karishma Mehrotra ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Advertising Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Multimedia Advertising Sales Christine Afsahi (223-8582), Adam Carter (2236573), Elaine Clark (223-6572), Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571), Janice Hoogner (223-6576), Wendy Suzuki 223-6569), Brent Triantos (223-6577), Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Carolyn Oliver (223-6581), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Inside Advertising Sales David Cirner (223-6579), Irene Schwartz (223-6580) Real Estate Advertising Assistant Diane Martin (223-6584) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Manager Jennifer Lindberg (223-6595) Sales & Production Coordinators Dorothy Hassett (223-6597), Blanca Yoc (223-6596) DESIGN Design Director Shannon Corey (223-6560) Senior Designers Linda Atilano, Paul Llewellyn, Scott Peterson Designers Lili Cao, Rosanna Leung, Kam Sawyer EXPRESS, ONLINE AND VIDEO SERVICES Online Operations Coordinator Ashley Finden (223-6508) BUSINESS Payroll & Benefits Susie Ochoa (223-6544) Business Associates Elena Dineva (223-6542), Mary McDonald (223-6543), Claire McGibeny (223-6546), Cathy Stringari (223-6541) ADMINISTRATION Receptionist Doris Taylor Courier Ruben Espinoza
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August 2, 3, 4
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August 9, 11
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EMBARCADERO MEDIA President William S. Johnson (223-6505) Vice President & CFO Michael I. Naar (223-6540) Vice President Sales & Advertising Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Frank A. Bravo (223-6551) Major Accounts Sales Manager Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Director, Circulation & Mailing Services Bob Lampkin (223-6557) Circulation Assistant Alicia Santillan Computer System Associates Chris Planessi, Chip Poedjosoedarmo The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is published every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a newspaper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 3268210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Š2013 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.com Our email addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, digitalads@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 223-6557, or email circulation@paweekly.com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.
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NOTICE OF HEARING ON REPORT AND ASSESSMENT FOR WEED ABATEMENT
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
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Thank God we had interpreters. — Lori Durand, a Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital social worker, who helped victims of the Asiana Airlines crash. See story on page 3.
Around Town
CIVIC ENRAGEMENT ... Palo Alto has been awash in neighborhood events this summer, with block parties, foodie gatherings and emergency-planning exercises all coming on board thanks to the City Council’s recent decision to subsidize these events through a “neighborhood grants� program. But the two neighborhood parties set for this Sunday were sparked by another council decision — its June 28 vote to rezone the site at 567 Maybell Ave. to enable construction of a 60-unit apartment complex for low-income seniors and 12 single-family homes at the former orchard site. In approving the project despite major opposition, the City Council has succeeded beyond its wildest dreams in sparking civic engagement, promoting democratic participation and bringing neighbors together (albeit in opposition to the council). On Sunday, July 14, opponents of the rezoning decision are hosting two events geared at getting the needed signatures to bring the decision to a November referendum. From 4 to 6 p.m., there will be a wine and cheese party (it’s still Palo Alto, after all) at a residence at 1121 Harriet St. Those who prefer lemonade and cookies can attend another referendum party at Mitchell Park, near the East Meadow Drive side. That event will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. REPRESENT ... Palo Alto has no shortage of opinions when it comes to the rail issues. In recent years, the city has been one of the state’s most vocal critics of the proposed high-speed rail line even as it remained a staunch advocate for Caltrain improvements. The city’s Caltrain station on University Avenue is the second-busiest in the entire system, and the council has been increasingly requiring developers to prevent new traffic problems by buying Caltrain passes for their tenants. But when it comes to having an actual say in Caltrain policies, the city’s voice has been muted by the agency’s bureaucratic structure. Neither the city nor its neighbors in the Midpeninsula have any representatives on the nine-
member Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which owns and oversees Caltrain. While the board includes three representatives from each of the counties Caltrain serves — San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Clara — none of the current members representing Santa Clara County are from the northern part of the county (they are Santa Clara County Supervisor Ken Yeager, San Jose City Councilman Ash Karla and Gilroy City Councilman Perry Woodward). Now, Palo Alto hopes to change that. To that end, Mayor Greg Scharff has written a letter to the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, which appoints members to the Caltrain board, asking the agency to devote at least one of the three spots within its purview to the northern part of the county. “There is no representation for Santa Clara County north of San Jose despite over 75 percent of Santa Clara County boarding north of San Jose.� CANCELED FLIGHTS ... Surf Air, the “all-you-can-fly� airline service that was supposed to take off from the Palo Alto Airport instead made a flyover, putting down wheels at the San Carlos Airport. Santa Monicabased Surf Airlines Inc., or Surf Air, is the Netflix of air travel, but it’s aimed at serial travelers rather than couch potatoes looking to binge on serial dramas. It offers its members unlimited flights between smaller airports — in San Carlos, Santa Barbara and Burbank — for a monthly fee that will run you a tad more than a Netflix episode binge — $1,650. Surf Air CEO Wade Eyerly said he liked the Palo Alto Airport, but practical matters made him decide on San Carlos instead. “The runway was 500 feet longer, and that turned out to matter,� he said. “Plus it kind of splits the difference between the Palo Alto crowd and downtown San Francisco crowd. It’s a little easier to go four miles south of SFO, where the airport itself and facility is.� He said the upcoming transition of ownership from Santa Clara County to the City of Palo Alto didn’t have any bearing on the decision to switch airports. N
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