Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL
Pinewood is an independent, coeducational, non-proďŹ t, K–12 college-prep school. Students beneďŹ t from small class size,
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) Assistant Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6521)
challenging academic curricula, and a wide choice of enrichment activities.
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)
We offer an environment where each student is a respected
and vital member of our educational community. We invite you to explore the opportunity for your student to become
Contributors Andrew Preimesberger, Dale F. Bentson, Peter Canavese, Kit Davey, Tyler Hanley, Iris Harrell, Sheila Himmel, Chad Jones, Karla Kane, Kevin Kirby, Terri Lobdell, Jack McKinnon, Jeanie K. Smith, Susan Tavernetti ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Advertising Tom Zahiralis (223-6570)
a part of the Pinewood tradition of academic excellence.
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),
For more information, please visit our website.
K12 through
Preview Day
Staff Photographer Veronica Weber (223-6520)
January 11, 2014
Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Carolyn Oliver (223-6581), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Inside Advertising Sales 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) Assistant Design Director Lili Cao (223-6562)
Lower Campus Open House (grades K–2) Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. 477 Fremont Avenue, Los Altos, CA 94024 650-209-3050
Middle Campus Open House (grades 3–6) Saturday, Jan. 11, 2014 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m. 327 Fremont Avenue Los Altos, CA 94024 650-209-3030
Senior Designers Linda Atilano, Paul Llewellyn Designers Rosanna Leung, Kameron 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), Cathy Stringari (223-6541) ADMINISTRATION Assistant to the Publisher Miranda Chatfield (223-6559) Receptionist Doris Taylor Courier Ruben Espinoza EMBARCADERO MEDIA President William S. Johnson (223-6505)
Register online at:
www.pinewood.edu
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 Zach Allen (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. Š2014 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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We think we’re close to having some takers. —Jane Ratchye, assistant director of City of Palo Alto Utilities, on finally getting participants in the PaloAltoCLEAN program nearly two years after its launch. See story on page 11.
Around Town
REVELING RESPONSIBLY ... Thousands of holiday revelers made responsible decisions this holiday season by taking cabs and public transportation, choosing from a myriad smartphone-enabled ridesharing services with annoying names, or just walking instead of driving while inebriated. It seems 32 unlucky folks did not. Santa Clara County’s “Avoid the 13� DUI crackdown started Dec. 13 with fanfare around a muchtweeted-about patrol with Palo Alto Police Chief Dennis Burns, who didn’t catch any drunken drivers. It ended on Jan. 1 with the final three of 32 people arrested over New Year’s Eve. BEST WISHES ... Only hours before the clock struck midnight to bring in 2014, Palo Alto Online staff decided to ask Town Square users what they hoped for in the New Year. One poster said they wanted “Cures for MS, ALS, MD, RA, and cancer.� Very noble. A common theme, though, was a desire to have city leaders who oppose development in Palo Alto, with one poster stating her wish as: “A new City Council populated mainly by Greg Schmid clones.� Another commenter chimed in: “If we start now we could have Greg’s 10 years apart in age.� Among other wishes, poster Craig Laughton enthusiastically hoped for a Stanford Rose Bowl win. Sorry, Craig.
ALLIANCE BY DESIGN ... Palo Alto’s architecture has been under a glaring spotlight in the last few months, with the modern design aesthetic of new downtown buildings grating up against the traditional tastes of many local residents. But now, architects are striking back. Early in December, more than 20 local architects submitted a letter to the City Council making the case against citizen appeals of building plans that the city has approved. The architects’ group includes former Councilman John Barton, former Architectural Review Board Chair Judith Wasserman, current architecture board member Randy Popp and local architect Tony Carrasco. The recent disagreement, they wrote in a letter to the council, isn’t between modern and
traditional styles. Palo Alto, they say, “has good examples of modern design and poor examples of traditional design, so this is not really a one-sided debate.� They also dispute the “compatibility� argument offered by the residents. The city’s goal in encouraging compatibility, they say, “does not strive to cause projects to be identical with or to imitate existing styles. Design compatibility refers to overall building massing, site organization, character of detailing and quality of materials and construction.� The architects agreed with residents, however, that the city could benefit from improvements in its designreview process and agreed that the city’s review boards should discuss how the city enforces its design standards. SHUTTLE DIPLOMACY ... As Palo Alto looks ahead to the long-awaited reconstruction of California Avenue, city officials are brainstorming ways to minimize the impact of construction on parking in the eclectic commercial district. Vice Mayor Nancy Shepherd had one suggestion: reaching out to Caltrain to see if the city can use the dozens of parking spaces in its lot that Shepherd said are unused each day. The lot, she told city planners in an email, is about “1/4 to 1/3 filled during the work day.� According to Assistant Planning Director Aaron Aknin, however, Caltrain officials said they would prefer to keep the parking spaces reserved for train riders. In response to Shepherd, he noted that the city already has other plans to accommodate cars while construction is in place. This includes making 48 additional parking spaces available on Birch Street and making use of a parking lot formerly owned by the Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) on the corner of El Camino Real and Page Mill Road. The city is also discussing with Stanford University the possibility of using parking lots between Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank on El Camino Real and introducing a noontime shuttle between Stanford Research Park and California Avenue. N