Palo Alto Weekly November 16, 2018 by Palo Alto Weekly

Palo Alto

Vol. XL, Number 7 Q November 16, 2018

Sister-in-law faces jury trial for homicide Page 5

w w w. P a l o A l t o O n l i n e.c o m

Donate to the HOLIDAY FUND page 4

Eating Out 20 Shop Talk 21 Movies 24 Puzzles 43 Q A&E â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Girls Kill Nazisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;: a comedy for the times Q Home Holiday entertaining made easy Q Sports Stanford, Cal ready to tangle in Big Game

Page 18 Page 26 Page 41

When it matters most, patients turn to Stanford Health Care “If it weren’t for Stanford, I don’t think I’d have the quality of life I’ve had over the past year.” –Ron U.S. News & World Report, again, recognizes Stanford Health Care in the top 10 best hospitals in the nation.

Ron received a prostate cancer diagnosis the day before his 58th birthday. Faced with the possibility of erectile dysfunction and incontinence from standard surgical or radiation treatment, Ron came to Stanford, one of the few centers on the West Coast to offer a new, tissue-sparing therapy. With MRI-guided high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), ultrasound energy is aimed from outside of the body, and concentrated within a target deep inside the body. HIFU treats just the diseased part of the prostate gland, so side effects are minimized. “What we have found with focal HIFU is lower rates of erectile dysfunction, lower rates of urinary incontinence, quicker recovery and minimal pain,” said Stanford Urologist Geoffrey Sonn, MD. “To be able to offer this treatment to a man in his 50s and 60s is very gratifying.” “I’m lucky to be on the forefront of this cutting-edge technology which only a teaching hospital can provide,” said Ron, who was running a week after surgery. “If it weren’t for Stanford, I don’t think I’d have the quality of life I’ve had over the past year.” Page 2 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

DISCOVER OUR PATIENT STORIES AT

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 3

Support our Kids with a gift to the Holiday Fund Last Year’s Grant Recipients 10 Books A Home . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 49ers Academy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Able Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Acterra. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Ada’s Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Adolescent Counseling Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 All Students Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Art in Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Art of Yoga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Bayshore Christian Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Buena Vista Homework Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 CASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto. . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Downtown Streets Team. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 DreamCatchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 East Palo Alto Kids Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Ellen Fletcher Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4,000 Environmental Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Family Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Foundation for a College Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Frank S. Greene Jr. Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4,000 Friends of Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Get Involved Palo Alto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Health Connected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Hidden Villa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 JLS Middle School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4,000 Kara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Live in Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Marine Science Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Music in the Schools Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 New Creation Home Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 New Voices for Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,000 Nuestra Casa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 One East Palo Alto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Art Center Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$4,000 Peninsula Bridge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Peninsula HealthCare Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Project WeHOPE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 Quest Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Ravenswood Education Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Rosalie Rendu Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,500 Silicon Valley FACES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Silicon Valley Urban Debate League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 St. Francis of Assisi Youth Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Stanford Jazz Workshop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$2,500 YMCA East Palo Alto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 YMCA Ross Road . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Youth Community Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 Youth Speaks Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000

Child Care Facility Improvement Grants Children’s Center of the Stanford Community . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Children’s Pre-School Center. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Friends of Preschool Family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Grace Lutheran Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 The Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Community Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Palo Alto Friends Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Parents Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Peninsula Family Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000

ach year the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund raises money to support programs serving families and children in the Palo Alto area. Since the Weekly and the Silicon Valley

Community Foundation cover all the administrative costs, every dollar raised goes directly to support community programs through grants to non-profit organizations. And with the generous support of matching grants from local foundations, including the Packard, Hewlett, Peery and Arrillaga foundations, your tax-deductible gift will be doubled in size. A donation of $100 turns into $200 with the

Give to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund and your donation is doubled. You give to non-profit groups that work right here in our community. It’s a great way to ensure that your charitable donations are working at home.

foundation matching gifts. Whether as an individual, a business or in honor of someone else, help us reach our goal of $350,000 by making a generous contribution to the Holiday Fund. With your generosity, we can give a major boost to the

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programs in our community helping kids and families.

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Page 4 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Please make checks payable to: Silicon Valley Community Foundation

01 – Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund c/o Silicon Valley Community Foundation P.O. Box 45389 San Francisco, CA 94145 The Palo Alto Weekly 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.

Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Sister-in-law to face trial in homicide Prosecutors: Palo Alto businesswoman Jenny Shi was murdered in a frenzied attack by Sue Dremann Editor’s note: This story includes graphic descriptions of violence. Palo Alto woman accused of killing her sister-in-law was ordered on Wednesday to stand trial. Santa Clara County Superior

Court Judge Vanessa Zecher found there is sufficient evidence for a first-degree murder charge, with an enhancement of personal use of a deadly weapon, against Jingyan Jin, in the July 7, 2016, killing of Jenny Shi, 65, in Shi’s Palo Alto home.

Jingyan Jin

Jenny Shi

Shi was stabbed 41 times deeply and in a frenetic manner,

a forensics expert said during a two-day preliminary hearing that started on Tuesday at the Hall of Justice in San Jose. Shi, 65, an acupuncturist and angel investor, was found dead at 317 Creekside Drive in the Greenmeadow neighborhood. On the first day of the preliminary hearing, witnesses described finding Shi’s body, and a county medical examiner discussed her fatal injuries.

Opening witness Dr. Michelle Jorden, Santa Clara County chief medical examiner and forensic pathologist, testified that Shi was stabbed around the front and back of her neck, upper torso, upper back, shoulder and arm. Her right hand also had defensive stab wounds, indicating she might have tried to shield herself, Jorden said. Fatal wounds included those to (continued on page 9)

ELECTION 2018

Dharap wins second school seat Ballots are still being counted, but Dharap’s lead is more than a thousand votes by Elena Kadvany hounak Dharap, a 28-yearold attorney and Palo Alto Unified School District graduate, appears to have won the second open seat on the Board of Education with a lead of more than 1,000 votes, though he and contender Stacey Ashlund have yet to call the race. Dharap and Ashlund, a special-education advocate and district parent, were neck and neck in the vote counts for days after Election Day, Nov. 6, their totals within a hundred votes of the other’s. Speculation Shounak of a recount Dharap swirled until early this week, when Dharap took a commanding lead. According to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters’ election update on WednesStacey Ashlund day, Nov. 14, Dharap earned 11,836 votes, or 23.4 percent, compared to Ashlund’s 10,678 votes (21.11 percent), with 89 percent of the ballots counted.

S File photo/Veronica Weber

Brentwood Academy student Gyna Monroy and reading tutor Evelyn Chan-Cox read an “Elephant and Piggie” book together in 2017 during their weekly reading period at the East Palo Alto school as part of the All Students Matter volunteer program.

COMMUNITY

Weekly launches annual Holiday Fund charitable drive Campaign celebrates lives transformed by grants to local nonprofit agencies by Palo Alto Weekly staff

nside a quiet East Palo Alto elementary school classroom last year, student Gyna Monroy and tutor Evelyn Chan-Cox huddled over a picture book from the “Elephant and Piggie” series, practicing Gyna’s skills at reading out loud during their one-on-one time. After sounding out the letters

in “idea,” Gyna strung the whole word together, excitedly. Meanwhile, over at Palo Alto’s Mitchell Park Library, 31-year-old Todd Cerf was helping customers at Ada’s Cafe, a workplace established to employ and train people with disabilities in the foodservice industry.

While the espresso machine hummed, Cerf explained how he likes to joke with his customers. “If they ordered a big drink order, I just tell them, you know, ‘Sounds like someone needed to get their buzz on,’” he said with a shy grin. “I can joke with them in a way that makes them want to come back.”

Todd Cerf and Gyna Monroy are but two of the people whose lives have been changed for the better through local nonprofits supported by the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund, which is launching its annual charitablegiving campaign this week. Last year, community members (continued on page 11)

(continued on page 8)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 5

No Place Like Home for the Holidays

Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 (650) 326-8210

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Linda Taaffe (223-6511) Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6516) Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane (223-6517) Home & Real Estate Editor Elizabeth Lorenz (223-6534) Assistant Sports Editor Glenn Reeves (223-6521) Express & Digital Editor Jamey Padojino (223-6524) Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena Kadvany (223-6519), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513)

Who says you have to leave your home just because youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve gotten older? Avenidas Village can help you stay in the home you love.

Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Christine Lee (223-6526) Editorial Intern Cameron Rebosio

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Winter Dellenbach, Palo Alto resident, on reforming the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s code-enforcement program. See story on page 5.

Around Town

Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Dale F. Bentson, Mike Berry, Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Alissa Merksamer, Sheryl Nonnenberg, Kaila Prins, Ruth Schechter, Monica Schreiber, Jay Thorwaldson

Image courtesy of The Marine Mammal Center

JOIN US for a FREE Avenidas Village Coffee Chat on December 13 at 10 AM. RSVP today!

Staff Photographer/Videographer Veronica Weber (223-6520)

If we blow this opportunity, what a shame.

ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570)

(650) 289-5405

W W W.AVENIDA S.ORG

Multimedia Advertising Sales Elaine Clark (223-6572), Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571), V.K. Moudgalya (223-6586), Jillian Schrager, Caitlin Wolf (223-6508) Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585)

Looking for something to do? Check out the Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Community Calendar for the Midpeninsula. *OTUBOUMZ mOE PVU XIBU FWFOUT BSF HPJOH PO JO ZPVS DJUZĂž

Go to PaloAltoOnline.com/calendar

Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Manager Kevin Legarda (223-6597) Sales & Production Coordinators Diane Martin (223-6584), Nico Navarrete (223-6582) DESIGN Design & Production Manager Kristin Brown (223-6562) Senior Designers Linda Atilano, Paul Llewellyn Designers Amy Levine, Doug Young BUSINESS Payroll & Benefits Suzanne Ogawa (223-6541)

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Business Associates Justin Eggimann (223-6575), Angela Yuen (223-6542), Jill Zhu (223-6543), ADMINISTRATION Courier Ruben Espinoza EMBARCADERO MEDIA President William S. Johnson (223-6505) Vice President Michael I. Naar (223-6540) Vice President & CFO Peter Beller (223-6545) Vice President Sales & Marketing Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Frank A. Bravo (223-6551)

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Director of Marketing and Audience Development Emily Freeman (223-6560) Major Accounts Sales Manager Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Circulation Assistant Alicia Santillan

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Computer System Associates Ryan Dowd, Chris Planessi 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 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. ÂŠ2018 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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Page 6 â&#x20AC;˘ November 16, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

THE NAME IS MOSSY, JAMESMOSSY ... A 230-pound sea lion found near East Bayshore Road on Nov. 8 is now in the care of The Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, where staff named him after a Palo Alto Animal Services employee, with a marine-themed twist. James Moss was the first person to reach out to the Center after discovering the large mammal that led him and other staff to prevent it from entering the street. Marine Mammal Center spokesman Giancarlo Rulli said the names James and Jim were already taken for other sea lions, leading them to name him after Moss. Jamesmossy will stay in a temporary intensivecare-unit holding pen until he can be moved into a standard rehabilitation pool pen, Rulli said. CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? ... A Palo Alto resident who has been leading a neighborhood effort to oppose Verizonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan to install antennas on city poles has launched a new offensive against the city. Jeanne Fleming, member of the group United Neighbors, has filed a complaint against the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Chief Information Officer Jonathan Reichental, accusing him of violating the state conflictof-interest law by allowing a telecom organization to pay for his trip to China in September 2016. The jaunt to Yinchuan is one of eight trips Reichental took in 2016, according to a statement of economic interests that Reichental had filed in February 2017. In all cases, he noted in the form, he has â&#x20AC;&#x153;never personally received any money for any of these events.â&#x20AC;? The complaint acknowledges that city employees are allowed to accept travel payments from 501(c) (3) nonprofits, which generally focus on charity and education. The China trip, however, was sponsored by TM Forum, a 501(c) (6) nonprofit, a designation that applies to business groups and chambers of commerce. Fleming maintained the trip seemed to

violate the legal $470 limit for gifts that employees are allowed to receive in a given year from a single source (the trip reportedly cost about $5,000). Fleming also suggested in a statement that Reichentalâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s involvement with the telecom industry is related to the City Councilâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s decision in May to reject Flemingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s appeal and to approve Verizonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plan to install wireless equipment on 11 poles, notwithstanding the fact that the contentious application was handled by city planners â&#x20AC;&#x201D; not the IT Department â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and that it followed a similar approval by the Architectural Review Board. The decision, Fleming argued, should be overturned. The Fair Political Practice Commission has confirmed that it had received the complaint, though as of Thursday it has not yet determined whether the complaint warrants an investigation. Reichental said he made a few â&#x20AC;&#x153;clerical errorsâ&#x20AC;? which he intends to fix by amending his Form 700. He also said that it is his normal process to get FPPC advice before committing to trips, for which he never gets paid and which are normally paid for by government entities, non-for-profits and educational institutions. In the case of the China trip, it was the Municipality of Yinchuan rather than TM Forum that had paid for the trip (TM Forum, he said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;were only the event coordinatorsâ&#x20AC;?). DONâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T FALL FOR IT ... People posing as employees from two Palo Alto agencies have struck in the community. The Police Department is alerting the public to scam that swindled a local man out of $10,000. The resident alerted police on Oct. 30 of a cellphone call from someone who claimed to be part of the â&#x20AC;&#x153;immigration officeâ&#x20AC;? and told him he was the an identitytheft victim. A follow-up call from someone who identified as police Officer Jim Hopper (the department doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have an officer by this name) urged him to cooperate with the aforementioned immigration office. A third caller from a different â&#x20AC;&#x153;immigration workerâ&#x20AC;? told the man to load money onto gift cards for new ID cards. Investigators want to make clear that an officer wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t solicit for a payment by phone. A similar scam has hit Palo Alto Utilities, where people claiming to be department employees call residents and threaten to cut off their electricity unless they pay their overdue bill. To report a scam, call police at 650-329-2413. Q

Upfront

News Digest

AUDITOR’S OFFICE

City leaders vow to improve code enforcement

Ways to help victims of the Camp Fire

Council members, staff prepare for new strategies, priorities after critical audit by Gennady Sheyner

Veronica Weber

alo Alto leaders pledged on Tuesday to reform the city’s code-enforcement program, which according to a new audit is hampered by vague roles, confusing technology and insufficient public outreach. The audit, which City Auditor Harriet Richardson released last week, recommended that the city set clear priorities for code enforcement; improve its data collection so effective management decisions can be made; and upgrade PaloAlto311, an online tool that allows residents to file codeenforcement complaints. The review by Richardson and Senior Auditor Yuki Matsuura was prompted by persistent concerns from members of the City Council and the public about insufficient and inconsistent enforcement of laws relating to everything from graffiti and illegally dumped garbage to fake “retail” stores that serve as fronts for offices or warehouses and violate the property’s zoning. The audit credits the city with resolving many code-enforcement cases effectively, but it notes that its response has been

James Stephens, now-former lead code-enforcement officer for the city of Palo Alto, takes a photo in 2017 of illegal dumping outside a multi-unit housing complex. Stephens planned to follow up with the property owner to remove the debris. hampered by staffing limitations and “fragmented municipal-code requirements.” Fluctuating organization of the code-enforcement program over the years has added to the confusion, with the city shifting responsibilities for leaf-blower violations from the Planning and Community Environment Department to the Police Department in

2005 (and then back to Planning) and swapping code-enforcement functions between the building and planning divisions. “When the code is written very clearly, it’s easy for them to enforce that code,” Matsuura said. “Sometimes they don’t have the authority to issue the citation (continued on page 12)

EDUCATION

Under threat of lawsuit, school district releases documents Palo Alto Weekly request for leadership emails languishes for nearly a year by Elena Kadvany

or the second time in as many years, it took a threat of legal action from the Palo Alto Weekly to compel the Palo Alto Unified School District to address months of non-compliance with the California Public Records Act. In early October, with the district 14 months behind on Public Record Act requests for monthly board-cabinet communications, the Weekly offered to withdraw all requests for the months prior to June 2018 if the school board signed a settlement agreement. Based on closed-session discussions on Oct. 9 and Oct. 23, the school board rejected the agreement, which among other terms asked that the board adopt a policy requiring monthly publication on its website of all emails and communications between the superintendent, senior staff and the board, both individually and collectively. Under the agreement, the records from each previous month would be published within 30 days of the end of that month. The agreement also asked that the

district provide the Weekly with all responsive documents to requests for communications from June, July and August of this year. The Weekly also requested to be awarded $5,000 in attorney’s fees and costs related to preparing the lawsuit. Soon after the school board’s rejection of the agreement, the district started releasing scores of monthly email correspondence to the Weekly. As of last Friday, eight months of emails have been released, dating back as far as August 2017. With additional staff and a new redaction software in place, Superintendent Don Austin said he anticipated completely catching up by Dec. 14. “I can safely say we are sprinting in a way that will have us caught up very soon,” he wrote in a Oct. 24 email to Weekly Publisher Bill Johnson. The Weekly heard a similar response to a threat of legal action made to then-superintendent Max McGee in March 2016. The district quickly produced months of emails and promised future

compliance. The district was caught up by August 2016 and hired a full-time legal requests specialist to handle such requests but almost immediately fell behind again. “We were burned before by this false promise,” Johnson wrote to Austin on Oct. 26. “’Trust us’ is simply no longer credible, and the absence of a board commitment on the future handling of these communications neither acknowledges the long history of this problem and the district’s past failure to adhere to the promises made in 2016 nor conveys a belief that it considers timely release of routine documents important. “Like so many instances in the past, this has the makings of advice from attorneys determined to steer the board away from doing the right thing because it would establish an expectation of compliance and therefore potential liability if it didn’t comply,” Johnson wrote. Austin responded that he is (continued on page 11)

Several Midpeninsula organizations are collecting goods and donations to help those affected by the Camp Fire that exploded in Butte County last week. The wildfire that destroyed most of the city of Paradise is now being called the deadliest fire in California’s history. As of Nov. 15, the fire had claimed the lives of 56 people and more than 200 others remained missing. The fire, which is 40 percent contained, has consumed more than 140,000 acres and destroyed 8,756 residences. We’ve compiled a list of organizations collecting supplies for victims of the Camp Fire. We will update this list as we receive new information. Emergency supplies • The Oshman Family Jewish Community Center is collecting gift cards that will be distributed to those affected by the fire through Nov. 30. Donations can be dropped off at the Customer Service Front Desk of the Goldman Sports & Wellness Complex on its campus at 3921 Fabian Way, Palo Alto (650-223-8700). • The Woodside Village Church, located at 3154 Woodside Road, Woodside, is collecting any emergency items (coffee, coffee cups, trash bags, dish soap, plastic utensils, new underwear, etc.) throughout this weekend. • Palo Alto resident Alexandria Boehm is hosting a resident of Paradise whose husband went through open heart surgery at Stanford Hospital last week, and her two children. They are currently asking for gift card donations to Target, Safeway and Costco. Donations can be dropped off at 415 Olmsted Road, Stanford through Wednesday. Financial donations • The North Valley Community Foundation: nvcf.org, or 530-366-0397 • United Way of Northern California: norcalunitedway.org, or 530-241-7521 • American Red Cross: 1-800-RED CROSS, or text the word REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation. • GoFundMe: gofundme.com/cause/californiafires/ • The Salvation Army: give-do.salvationarmy.org • Caring Choices: caring-choices.org/wild-fire-donations Q —Christine Lee

School board seeks mitigation from Stanford The Palo Alto school board unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday night asking the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to require Stanford University to give the district both land and money to offset the impact of additional students generated by the university’s expansion plan. The resolution is the board’s firmest stance yet on Stanford’s proposed general use permit (GUP), which proposes building more than 2 million square feet of academic space by 2035. Santa Clara County is in the midst of reviewing the university’s general use permit, including starting negotiations on a potential development agreement between the two entities. The resolution asks that Stanford be contractually required to pay annual payments to the district (or a related party, such as fundraising organization Palo Alto Partners in Education), with the payment based on the number of students attending the district who live in tax-exempt eligible housing owned by Stanford; to set aside 4 acres or more of land on or near the Sand Hill Road/Quarry Road corridor for a new elementary school; and to make a direct contribution beyond mandated developer fees to mitigate the cost of building a new school. There is little clarity on exactly how many new students the GUP will generate given the uncertainty in long-term enrollment forecasting. The district estimates the proposed housing could generate anywhere from 275 to 860 to 1,450 additional students. (The second two estimates are from higher-density housing alternatives studied by the county.) Given that Stanford rental housing is eligible for property tax exemptions and as a community-funded district, Palo Alto Unified relies heavily on property tax revenue, there is mounting concern among district leadership and parents that without assurances that Stanford will help address the cost of increased enrollment, the district will face budget shortfalls, class size increases and program reductions. Q —Elena Kadvany LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at PaloAltoOnline.com

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 7

Upfront EDUCATION

Greene Middle School celebrates ‘transformative’ renaming School dedicates plaque to Frank S. Greene Jr. by Elena Kadvany

Veronica Weber

Valerie Royaltey-Quandt, principal of the Frank S. Greene Jr. Middle School, center, and Dr. Arthur Greene, right, Frank S. Greene Jr.’s brother, prepare to cut the ceremonial ribbon hung across a new plaque honoring Frank Greene during a school-renaming ceremony on Nov. 14.

Veronica Weber

reene Middle School’s multipurpose room was filled Wednesday with hundreds of students and staff wearing dark gray shirts with a quote on the back from the Palo Alto school’s new namesake, Frank S. Greene Jr.: “Success in life is not about ‘me’ but about what you can do to help others.” The school held a rededication ceremony in honor of the AfricanAmerican technologist and venture capitalist, whose name replaced David Starr Jordan’s on campus signs, physical education uniforms and the school website earlier this academic year. The Palo Alto Unified School District Board of Education voted in March to rename both Jordan and Terman middle schools due to their namesakes’ promotion of eugenics. Terman was renamed after Ellen Fletcher, a Holocaust survivor known for her decades of civic leadership in Palo Alto. “This is a transformative event for our school,” Principal Valerie

A plaque honoring Frank S. Greene Jr. will be displayed outside of the entrance to the Palo Alto middle school that was newly renamed in his honor. Royaltey-Quandt told the crowd of students, staff and community members on Wednesday. Among the attendees on Wednesday were Greene’s brother, grandson, colleagues, friends; representatives from organizations including 100 Black Men of Silicon

Veronica Weber

Palo Alto High School student Kobi Jonsson, at left, whose seventhgrade research paper sparked the renaming of his middle school this year, shakes hands with Fred Mitchem, center, a member of the 100 Black Men of Silicon Valley organization as well as the Gamma Chi fraternity, to which Frank S. Greene Jr. belonged. Greene is the school’s new namesake.

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in a closed session with its labor negotiators to discuss negotiations with the Service Employees International Union, Local 521. The council then plans to hold a study session to discuss opportunities to expand use of recycled water; consider a proposal to allow rooftop decks on certain existing structures in the commercial downtown (community) (CDC) subdistrict and consider a permit for a roof deck at 285 Hamilton Ave.; and consider the Utilities Technology Implementation Plan, which includes plans for advanced metering infrastructure. The closed session will begin at 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 19, at City Hall. Regular meeting will follow at 6:30 p.m. or as soon as possible after the closed session in the Council Chambers.

Page 8 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Valley, the California Alliance of African American Educators and the Frank Greene Scholars Program; and Palo Alto school board members. During his career, Greene developed high-speed semiconductor computer-memory systems at Fairchild Semiconductor R&D Labs in the 1960s and was hailed as one of the first black technologists to break the color barrier in the local industry. He held the patent for the integrated circuit that made Fairchild a semiconductor leader at the time. Speakers Wednesday described a persistent, intelligent man “of honor” who lifted others up — in particular, young people of color and women in an industry that still struggles with a lack of diversity. Greene started a venture capital firm to lend money to startup businesses run by women and minorities, then founded a leadership program for African-American youth and women. The quote printed on the new school T-shirts is emblematic of a spirit he embodied, RoyalteyQuandt said: “Lift as you climb.” (Greene made his statement to the Palo Alto Weekly in 2009 when he was honored as one of the 50 most important African-Americans in technology in an exhibit at Palo Alto City Hall.) Greene “believed in the future

leaders of our country and beyond — I think that’s who sits in this room,” said Thought Leadership Lab CEO Denise Brosseau, who worked with Greene. Greene’s brother Arthur, who cut a green ribbon on Wednesday to officially dedicate a plaque in his older brother’s honor, told the Weekly that the renaming is a “profound honor.” Education was highly valued in their family, especially by their father, who would have been “immensely proud” of his brother, who died in 2009. Talking about his brother’s accomplishments in the early years of Silicon Valley, Arthur Greene was reminded of something former First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt said — something he still quotes to his own children frequently: “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” The plaque dedicated to Greene will now hang at the front of the school as a reminder that “all are welcomed here,” Royaltey-Quandt said. Also in attendance on Wednesday was Kobi Jonsson, the young man whose seventh-grade book report on Jordan’s leadership in the eugenics movement sparked the renaming effort three years ago. Eugenics was a 20th century movement that believed in the superiority of particular races over others.

Jonsson said it was hard to describe how it felt to see a yearslong, often contentious effort come to fruition. “A name like this is such an important statement, an emphatic way to make it clear that that,” he said, referring to the racist belief system underpinning eugenics, “doesn’t belong in our communities. “This right here, the renaming, is a really great way of showing that we are better (than that) and that we have people we can look up to,” Jonsson said. A video of Wednesday’s re-dedication ceremony will be posted on the school’s website, greene.pausd. org. Ellen Fletcher Middle School is hosting its own renaming event on Dec. 3, organized by Fletcher’s daughter Terry. She, along with Ralph Samuels, the chair of the Northern California chapter of the Kindertransport Association, will speak at the school. Ellen Fletcher escaped the Nazi regime via Kindertransport in 1938, just after her 10th birthday. Kindertransport secretly took nearly 10,000 unaccompanied Jewish children to safety in England in 1938 and 1939. The school board voted last year to use school bond funds to cover the cost of the renamings, approximately $60,000. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

School board

in full support of counting every vote,” Dharap said. As a candidate, the 28-yearold Dharap described himself as the “underdog” in the school board race — a younger resident with no children or yearslong advocacy record. A contentious debate over reporting weighted grade point averages prompted Dharap, who graduated from Gunn High School in 2008, to get more involved in district issues last year. He ran on commitments to government transparency, legal compliance and student well-being. Incumbent Ken Dauber, whose early, comfortable lead secured

him re-election early on election night, now has 13,802 votes, or 27.29 percent of the vote. The Nov. 6 midterm election saw huge voter turnout: 65.43 percent, according to the Registrar of Voters. Based on voter turnout and the Registrar’s estimate of the percentage still left to count, as of Thursday there are still about 3,300 Palo Alto ballots outstanding. The Registrar is posting updated election results daily on its website, sccgov.org/sites/rov. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

(continued from page 5)

Parent Kathy Jordan was 401 votes behind Ashlund with 20.32 percent of the vote, or 10,277 votes, as of Wednesday evening. Despite the widening gap between Dharap and Ashlund, both have said that they’re waiting for the Registrar’s final vote tally before acknowledging the winner in the race. “I think it’s important right now, especially with so many high-profile races around the country coming down to the last vote, to stand behind the process

Upfront

Murder (continued from page 5)

Veronica Weber

Members of the Palo Alto Police Department work on a homicide investigation in the 300 block of Creekside Drive in Palo Alto on July 8, 2016. called the handyman, Zhang, and her and pulled her out of the bedtold him the situation seemed room. He pulled her to the living strange because the house was room, she recalled. “Almost at the living room, he closed up with the blinds drawn. Kennedy went around to the said, ‘Your sister has been killed.’ “Mr. Zhang stayed with me the back of the house and knocked on doors and windows, calling for whole time. I collapsed. After that Shi, but there was no answer, he I don’t know anything. I collapsed and I couldn’t walk,” she said. said. Zhou said she saw that the bathroom window was open. She noticed a chair propped against the Two alleged house beneath it. The screen was altercations pulled up or cut and the lower During testimony, Jin, the diglass window and its frame were minutive defendant, sat quietly bemissing. The window blinds cov- side her attorney. Dressed in a red ered her view, and she tried to jail jumpsuit, the color reserved move them a little way to look in- for those accused of murders and side. She could not see anything, homicides, her formerly shouldershe said. length hair has grown down to the “I was scared. Even right now middle of her back in the two years recalling this makes me scared. since she was arrested on Oct. 6, Every day, if I recall this, I get 2016, and placed in custody. scared,” she said. Yanmin Shi identified her as the When Shi’s sister and Zhang ar- wife of her younger brother, Jingrived, all four entered the home. min Shi. They met in 2012 in BeiKennedy said there were two jing, Shi said. Jin is a housewife, doors: One led to a hallway and she added, and didn’t have any master bathroom, and beyond it business ties to Jenny Shi. was the bedroom door. Both were During Wednesday’s testimony, locked. Zhang and Kennedy broke Yanmin Shi said her sister told down the hallway door because her that she and Jin had two prior the hinges were on the inside. As altercations. The first, in 2015, they passed the bathroom, Zhou, took place in Jenny Shi’s Beijing Kennedy and Yanmin Shi said investment office. Her sister travthey noticed the window had been eled to Beijing about once a month, placed in the bathtub. Zhou said she said. When her sister returned she had never seen anything like home from Beijing, she showed that in the bathroom before. Shi photos on her cellphone of Kennedy and Zhang removed scratches on her face that she said the bedroom-door hinges with Jin had made during an attack. tools they found in the kitchen. Shi said her sister’s face still The room was dark, but as Zhou bore scratch marks from four took a step forward, her eyes ad- fingers that had raked down her justed to light coming in between cheek. Her sister recounted that Jin the window coverings. She could had come to the office and began see the bed. She saw blood stain- the fight. But her sister didn’t say ing the pillow, she said. why they argued. Through a Mandarin-language The second incident occurred interpreter, Yanmin Shi testified in winter 2015 or spring 2016. Jin that she hadn’t spoken with her sis- allegedly broke into Jenny Shi’s ter for one or two months. It wasn’t Creekside Drive home and began unusual, she said. At the time she arguing. There was no physical alwas caring for both of their par- tercation, but Jenny Shi called poents in her home. lice, and officers escorted Jin from “I didn’t have too much free the residence. time to take care of Jenny,” she “Did she express fear of the detestified. fendant?” Deputy District AttorUpon entering her sister’s bed- ney Luis Ramos asked. room, she walked toward the bed “She was unwilling to have any and could see only the top of Jen- dealings. She kept a distance,” ny Shi’s head and her black hair Yanmin Shi said. among a jumble of blankets and a Jin, her husband and their two comforter. daughters lived in the Creekside Then Zhang suddenly grabbed home in 2014 with Jenny Shi. They

‘I was scared. Even right now recalling this makes me scared. Every day, if I recall this, I get scared.’ —Daizhen Zhou, housekeeper for victim Jenny Shi At close to 11 p.m., Jin’s and Shi’s cell data signals overlapped. Data showed the same cell tower within the crime scene area picked up the signals from both phones coming from the southwest direction starting about 10:56 p.m. The signal direction and the tower that received the signal was significant in determining where Jin’s phone was at the time the prosecution believes that Shi was murdered. Cook said that he checked Jin’s cell data signals from when she lived at the Creekside residence in 2014, and they were the same as those picked up on the night of the killing. The cellphone signals also showed that Jin’s phone remained stagnant in the vicinity of the crime scene from 11:26 p.m. until about 5:26 a.m. on July 7. The signal was only captured by another tower near Jin’s home at 5:36 a.m., he said. Under cross-examination by

Kulick, Cook said cellphone tracking is not specific enough to pinpoint the exact location of a phone. Kulick also noted that Cook identified data from Jin’s teenage daughter’s phone, which showed the girl was also away from the home from 4:55 a.m. to 5:55 a.m. on July 7. Kulick questioned the accuracy of the data and its margin for error. But Cook said that another type of data collection called NELOS, or historical GPS locations, validated the data related to Jin’s whereabouts during the roughly six hours she is thought to have been at Shi’s residence. “There were multiple GPS hits in the same location. She was not moving around,” he said. Kevin Kellogg, a criminalist with the Santa Clara County Crime Lab, said he tested various swab samples taken from objects at Shi’s home for DNA. He found a partial match with Jin’s DNA on the latches of the window found in the bathtub. The DNA findings excluded any of the roommates or Shi. The edges of the window frame also found a possible DNA contribution from Jin and another unidentified person, he said. A swab from a light switch on a lamp in Shi’s bedroom showed strong evidence of Shi’s DNA profile. Jin’s DNA was a possible minor contributor to the DNA mix found on the lamp switch, he said. Kellogg also found another possible contribution of an unknown person’s DNA on the body of the lamp, along with Shi’s. Kellogg found male DNA on Shi’s right hand, but it was insufficient to say to whom it belonged. Swabs of the interior bedroom door handle and the exterior handle on the bathroom door found a mixture of DNA from three people, at least one of whom was male. Kellogg said shaking hands or touching objects could transfer DNA. He admitted on cross-examination by Kulick that if a DNA profile is found, it doesn’t necessarily mean it was recent. Jin pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and enhancement on May 15, 2017. She will return to court on Nov. 26 for formal arraignment on the charges. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

Veronica Weber

her right jugular vein, trachea, larynx and left arm. “Given the circumstances and the scene, that she was in bed, clad in her underwear, it was more of a blitz or surprise attack. It looked like she was sleeping,” Jorden said. Deputy Public Defender Kelley Kulick sought to determine if more than one person had attacked Shi. Though most wounds appeared to be on the front of Shi’s body, Kulick noted a scrape on the back of her neck near the hairline and two unusual wounds on her upper back. Jorden admitted the two wounds were symmetrical and said that was odd. “I never saw an injury like that before,” she said. The perpetrator might have been behind Shi, or Shi was turning while the perpetrator was in front of her. However, there was no indication that more than one weapon had been used, Jorden said. Toxicology tests showed no illicit drugs or alcohol in Shi’s body. And Jorden did not find any evidence that Shi had been sexually assaulted, she said. Three people who found Shi’s body also testified. Menlo Park residents John Kennedy and his wife, Daizhen Zhou, said they were the first people to arrive at Shi’s home after receiving a phone call from her accountant. Shi had not shown up for a business meeting scheduled for that morning and had not responded to multiple calls. By afternoon, the accountant had asked the couple to look in on her. Kennedy and Zhou called Shi’s younger sister, Yanmin Shi, and Jenny Shi’s handyman/contractor, Shifu Zhang, who were to meet them at the house. Zhou testified through a Mandarin-language interpreter that she had been Shi’s housekeeper for many years. They had met at Shi’s parents’ home, which she also cleaned. Zhou was also housekeeper for defendant Jin, she said. She cleaned their homes about once a week. Kennedy and Zhou got to Shi’s house at about 6 p.m. Shi’s new Porsche SUV was on the driveway. Kennedy said they knew if she were away, the car would not be there. While he stayed in their car, Zhou unlocked the front door with a house key that Shi, whom she called “Boss,” had given her. Shi usually had a couple of renters living in the home, and the first thing Zhou noticed was that no one was there. “I strolled around the house and walked to the back. The deceased’s room was closed off. I got a little worried. I did find it unusual. Even when Boss was in Beijing, the blinds would not be closed. The bedroom door was locked,” she said. Zhou said she went outside and

stayed about a year and moved out in 2015, Yanmin Shi recalled. Jin’s husband was only there a few times that year for about a month at a time. The rest of the time he was in China, she said. Jenny Shi did not share with her sister whether the family had any problems. Yanmin Shi said her sister never spoke of financial difficulties. Ramos then sought to tie Jin to the crime scene through cellphone data and DNA. Jim Cook, a cell-data analyst, testified that he tracked Jin’s and Jenny Shi’s cellphones based on signals to cell towers. Shi had been at a residence in Menlo Park’s Sharon Heights neighborhood on the night of July 6. At around the same time, at 10:15 p.m., Jin was at her Palo Alto residence on San Antonio Road. By 10:28 p.m., Shi had traveled to an In-N-Out burger restaurant on Rengstorff Avenue in Mountain View before returning home.

A Palo Alto Police Department officer writes up a report during a homicide investigation in Palo Alto’s Greenmeadow neighborhood on July 8, 2016. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 9

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Page 10 â&#x20AC;¢ November 16, 2018 â&#x20AC;¢ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;¢ www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Upfront

Holiday Fund (continued from page 5)

in the Palo Alto area donated a record-breaking $403,000 to the Holiday Fund, enabling grants to 60 nonprofits helping children, families and others in need. Established in 1993, the Holiday Fund has as its goal the transformation of lives through strategic partnerships with nonprofit organizations. Among the successes that the Fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s grants have enabled: Kids struggling with literacy have turned into confident readers, unemployed adults with disabilities have become productive and proud workers, and the dreams of a future generation have been ignited through a hands-on science program that remakes classrooms into planetariums and ordinary materials into lessons on kinetic energy. Other services funded range from medical care for the homeless and arts programs for disadvantaged youth to parenting training for teen mothers and environmental education for youth and adults. In the Holiday Fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 25 years, it has raised $6.3 million for nonprofits and child care centers. Because the Palo Alto Weekly and its partner, the Silicon Valley

Community Foundation, pay for all of the costs of running the charitable drive, 100 percent of every donation â&#x20AC;&#x201D; which is tax deductible â&#x20AC;&#x201D; is distributed directly to a nonprofit serving Palo Alto and East Palo Alto. As in years past, the 2018 campaign got its kickstart through the proceeds from the Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s annual Moonlight Run in September, which was supported by 10 corporate sponsors. In addition, major donations to the fund have already been pledged by the Hewlett, Packard, Peery and Arrillaga foundations, which are contributing matching grants so that every donation to the fund by a community member is automatically doubled. The Holiday Fundâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s goal this year is $350,000. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m so grateful that the community, year after year, steps up to give so generously to these wellrun nonprofits,â&#x20AC;? Palo Alto Weekly Publisher Bill Johnson said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;These organizations are serving thousands of Midpeninsula residents who are struggling amid the high costs of living, those who work in our community and are part of the fabric of life here. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d like to invite everyone who shares the Holiday Fund vision â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of a unified community that offers

opportunities and support for everyone â&#x20AC;&#x201D; to donate this year.â&#x20AC;? One local leader whose nonprofit is a beneficiary spoke at the April reception for Holiday Fund grantees about the impact of the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s support for the families living in Palo Alto Housing, the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s low-income-housing program. The $4,000 Holiday Fund grant for the newly started â&#x20AC;&#x153;Family Reading Clubâ&#x20AC;? enabled Palo Alto Unified School District librarians and teachers to spend time leading creative and educational activities for children and their parents living in the apartments. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making family reading time fun. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re making interacting with teachers cool â&#x20AC;&#x201D; giving (residents) tools and a safe place to ask questions,â&#x20AC;? said Kate Young, vice president of resident services. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Through your donations and this grant, we have the chance to mentor and partner with and nurture the families who live with us,â&#x20AC;? Young said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thank you all so much for your support.â&#x20AC;? Q More information about the impact of the Holiday Fund, including stories about funded nonprofit agencies and instructions for donating online, can be found at PaloAltoOnline.com/holiday_fund. Or go to page 4 of this edition.

â&#x20AC;&#x153;The quality of your life is

our focusâ&#x20AC;?

Documents (continued from page 7)

â&#x20AC;&#x153;confidentâ&#x20AC;? in the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to catch up and suggested discussing â&#x20AC;&#x153;what documents you really wantâ&#x20AC;? to avoid â&#x20AC;&#x153;over- or underproduction of documents.â&#x20AC;? Board President Ken Dauber, speaking as an individual and not for the full board, declined to comment on the Weeklyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s potential lawsuit but said he intends to pursue a policy to bring â&#x20AC;&#x153;visibility and regular accountabilityâ&#x20AC;? to the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s compliance with the Public Records Act. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It makes good sense to adopt policies and practices that state the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s intention about complying with the Public Records Act because clearly what the district has been doing to this point isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t working well,â&#x20AC;? he said. Dauber serves on the boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy-review committee and will chair it next year. He said he plans to bring to the committee policy ideas that lay out timeframes for the districtâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s response, categories of records that could be routinely produced and regular reporting on the volume and status of requests. He believes the district should work with people who make

â&#x20AC;&#x153;overly burdensomeâ&#x20AC;? requests to narrow the requests and push back if necessary when the â&#x20AC;&#x153;public interest is greatly outweighed by the cost.â&#x20AC;? The boardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s policy-review committee has only one meeting remaining in 2018, but he said that â&#x20AC;&#x153;the right thing to do is to take this up as soon as we can. This is a pretty high priority.â&#x20AC;? In 2012, the district agreed in response to a Public Records Act request to provide the Weekly with copies of board-cabinet communications â&#x20AC;&#x201D; first once a week, then every other week and beginning in September 2013, once a month. After McGee was hired in 2014, the requests eventually lapsed to a backlog of more than a year. In May 2016, the Weekly began submitting formal monthly written requests for these records and has continued to do so at the start of each month. The district has yet to produce emails from the months of October 2017 and February, May, June, July, September and October of this year. Johnson said the Weekly has not yet made a decision on whether to proceed with a lawsuit. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com â&#x20AC;˘ Palo Alto Weekly â&#x20AC;˘ November 16, 2018 â&#x20AC;˘ Page 11

Upfront

Code enforcement (continued from page 7)

— that makes it really difficult.” In addition, the city has a policy that focuses on getting people to comply rather than issuing them citations, which occasionally frustrates the residents who want a violation to end. The city’s top managers and council’s Policy and Services Committee all agreed Tuesday enforcement of city code needs to improve. They also acknowledged that implementing the necessary fixes won’t be quick or easy. Assistant City Manager Ed Shikada, who is set to become city manager early next year, said he plans to work with the planning department, as well as other departments with code-enforcement responsibilities, to better align everyone’s functions. “I think it’s fair to say this is a situation ... that has developed a great deal of complexity,” Shikada said. “Perhaps, like many

things in Palo Alto, it’s built up over time.” As such, it will take some time to correct the problems identified in the audit and to set codeenforcement priorities with the council, Shikada said. Even so, he said the city’s work plan in response to the audit will be “substantial” and will require, among other changes, updates to the PaloAlto311 system. The audit notes that when residents enter a complaint into PaloAlto311, it then proceeds to the appropriate departments, whose staff then plug the complaint into their own separate databases, which they use to manage the case (the planning department, for example, uses the Accela system). Once the complaint is moved to another system, PaloAlto311 marks it as “completed,” which leads residents to believe that their issue has been resolved (or ignored) when, in fact, the city’s response may be just getting started. Deputy City Manager Michelle Flaherty called the problem with

the record-keeping “a breakdown between well-intentioned efforts and unintended consequences.” She and Shikada were directed by the committee on Tuesday to present a work plan in the coming months for resolving the issues identified in the audit. Winter Dellenbach, a resident who has long urged the city to better enforce zoning violations, suggested Tuesday that the city’s leadership adopt more concrete deadlines for meeting the recommendations. “It seems like the city manager needs to set more specific corrective actions as you progress toward the target dates because it’s all really vague,” Dellenbach said. “I’m afraid this may lead to the inevitable march toward not making much of a meal of this. “I think this is very much an opportunity to make what is a very important function in the city work a lot better. If we blow this opportunity, what a shame,” she said. The committee’s four council

members all agreed. Councilwoman Karen Holman, a longtime advocate for improving code enforcement, suggested that the city take a new look at its longstanding policy of not issuing citations, even to repeat violators. “We want to get concurrence, but it seems like the city subsidizes repeat violators because we send staff out again and again,” Holman said. Councilman Tom DuBois said the city should set a “clear policy about code enforcement being a priority.” The issue, he said, “goes to the heart of our social contract as a government.” It also goes to the issue of fairness, he said. “People want a level playing field, and if they feel like other people aren’t following the rules, it’s a temptation for them to do the same,” DuBois said. DuBois also suggested that it might be time to consider getting rid of PaloAlto311, though Councilman Cory Wolbach strongly disagreed with that view, noting that he has spoken to many people who

like the service. He did not dispute however, that there are “great opportunities for improvement.” Committee Chair Adrian Fine said the easiest place for the city to make an immediate difference is with public outreach, whether by posting more information about code enforcement on the city’s website or making sure residents are quickly informed about the city’s actions on their complaints. “I don’t think people expect every code violation to result in a fine or to be rectified completely, but they do expect a response,” Fine said. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com.

READ MORE ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

Additional reporting on the city audit can be found in the article “Palo Alto audit finds flaws in code enforcement,” published on PaloAltoOnline.com on Nov. 10.

CityView

Public Notice

Vacancy on the Board of Directors of Public Facilities Financing Corporation

A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council Who:

The council did not have a regular meeting this week.

Santa Clara Valley Water District

Board of Education (Nov. 13) What:

The Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District intends to fill a vacant director position on the Public Facilities Financing Corporation (PFFC).

When:

Interested parties should notify the Clerk of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District in writing no later than 4:00 p.m., on Friday, December 21, 2018. Please submit a letter of interest which includes your name, contact numbers, residential address, email address, occupation, summary of interest in the position, qualifications and experience.

Where:

5750 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, California 95118

The PFFC is a nonprofit public benefit corporation whose primary purpose is to provide assistance to the Santa Clara Valley Water District in financing the acquisition, construction and improvement of public buildings, works and equipment for the Santa Clara Valley Water District, together with site development, landscaping, utilities, furnishings, appurtenances and related facilities. The PFFC directors serve as volunteers.

Department of Rehabilitation contract: The board waived its two-meeting rule and approved renewal of a contract with the Department of Rehabilitation for services or students who experience barriers to employment. Yes: Unanimous Director of agile teams: The board approved an employee’s status to the new position of director of agile teams. Yes: Baten Caswell, Dauber, DiBrienza, Godfrey No: Collins CAASPP results: The board discussed results from the 2018 California Assessment of Student Performance for Latino and low-income students. Action: None PAPD MOU: The board discussed a revised memorandum of understanding with the Palo Alto Police Department. Action: None

Council Policy and Services Committee (Nov. 13)

Fire: The committee heard a presentation on the Fire Department Emergency Medical Services Future Needs Assessment and voted to accept the report. Yes: Unanimous Audit: The committee discussed and accepted a new audit on code enforcement and heard about staff’s plan to develop a work plan to address the issues identified in the audit. Yes: Unanimous Procedures: The committee discussed the council’s procedures and protocols and identified several issues — including the number of people it should take to pull an item off the consent calendar and the amount of speaking time that should be granted to the public — for the next council to consider. Yes: Unanimous

Board of Education study session (Nov. 14)

GUP resolution: The board waived its two-meeting rule and approved a resolution asking the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors to require Stanford University to mitigate the impacts of its proposed general use permit (GUP). Yes: Unanimous

Duties of the PFFC director will be to perform any and all duties imposed by law, by the Corporation’s Articles of Incorporation or Bylaws, or by resolution of the Board of Directors of the Santa Clara Valley Water District. PFFC directors meet at such times and places as required to conduct Corporation business, usually from one to three times annually.

Planning and Transportation Commission (Nov. 14)

In order to be eligible for appointment, an interested party must reside within the County of Santa Clara and must continue to reside therein while serving on the PFFC. The Board is seeking interested candidates with experience and understanding of the financial market and the issuance of bonds.

Council Rail Committee (Nov. 14)

Grade separation: The committee heard presentations from its AECOM consultant on the trench, viaduct and “hybrid” (a combination of elevated rail and lowered road) at the Charleston Road and Meadow Drive grade crossings. Action: None

Architectural Review Board (Nov. 15)

Caltrain: The board held a public hearing on Caltrain’s electrification project, which includes the installation of an overhead contact system foundation and poles without the Caltrain right of way. Action: None 4256 El Camino Real: The board held a public hearing on a proposal to build a five-story, 100-room hotel at 4256 El Camino Real. The board continued the discussion to a later date. Action: None

Information packets can be obtained online at https://bit.ly/2AESh3T, or email mking@valleywater.org, or in person at District Headquarters, 5700 Almaden Expressway, San Jose, California 95118. 11/2018 JA

Page 12 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

El Camino Real: The commission held a study session to discuss potential changes to a stretch of El Camino Real, between Lambert and Stanford avenues, to improve multi-modal connectivity. Action: None Code: The commission approved an update to the city’s zoning code to add California Environmental Quality Act compliance regulations for development projects. Action: None

Pulse A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto

Nov. 7-Nov. 13 Violence related Animal cruelty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Arson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Elder abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Credit card forgery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Vehicle related Auto burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 3 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 Vehicle accident/mnr. injury . . . . . . . . . 6 Vehicle accident/prop. damage . . . . . . 5 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alcohol or drug related Drinking in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving under the influence . . . . . . . . . . 1 Drunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 3 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Animal call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Fall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Disturbing the peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

ÂŽ

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . 3 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Public indecency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 3 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Menlo Park

Nov. 7-Nov. 13 Violence related Assault . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Theft undefined. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle related Abandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Auto burglary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Auto theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 5 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Vehicle accident/no injury. . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle accident/unspecified injury . . . 1 Vehicle tampering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alcohol or drug related Driving under the influence . . . . . . . . . . 2 Miscellaneous Animal call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 False ID . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Info case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Resisting arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Violation of court order . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

VIOLENT CRIMES Palo Alto

Cesano Street, 11/5, 2 p.m.; elder abuse/financial. 500 block Emerson St., 11/7, 2:30 p.m.; battery/simple. 3877 El Camino Real, 11/10, 4:19 p.m.; arson/structure. 312 Emerson St., 11/11, 3:24 a.m.; animal/cruelty.

Menlo Park

700 block Laurel Ave., 11/8, 2:20 p.m.; assault. 1200 block Sharon Park Drive, 11/12, 3:31 a.m.; spousal abuse.

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Cover Story

More than the

‘baby blues’

Local mothers seek to help others suffering from postpartum mood disorders

n the weeks after giving birth at Stanford Hospital, Laura Keller filled out periodic developmental forms about her newborn son at the pediatrician’s office. Does your child lift the head? Does your child smile? Does your baby drink breast milk or formula? At the end of each form was another question: Has mom been feeling sad, anxious, hopeless or depressed often? She always answered “Yes.” No one followed up with her, Keller said, and she never asked for help. But behind her one-word answer was a quietly brewing storm of postpartum depression and anxiety that she battled mostly by herself for the first seven months of her son’s life. She was perpetually exhausted, irritable,

things to know

Menlo Park mother Lisa Abramson, who experienced postpartum psychosis, wants women struggling with postpartum mood disorders to know the following: 1. It is not your fault. 2. You’re not alone. 3. This doesn’t make you a bad mom, and it has nothing to do with how much you love your child. 4. There’s nothing to be ashamed of or embarrassed about. 5. You will get better. Just get help right away.

angry and anxious to the point of insomnia. When her son would finally sleep, her racing mind would keep her wide awake. She loved her son and husband but wasn’t enjoying becoming a mother. She fantasized about running away from her family. “I just wanted to leave everything behind,” Keller said. “I felt like my family would be better off without me.” Postpartum depression is distinct from the “baby blues,” or the normal mood swings, exhaustion and irritability that the vast majority of women experience in the first two to three weeks after giving birth. Postpartum depression is caused by a dramatic drop in hormones compounded by sleep deprivation and other risk factors. Symptoms in the first year after giving birth include feeling intensely overwhelmed, irritated, angry or hopeless; a lack of appetite and insomnia, or eating and sleeping too much; difficulty bonding with the baby or having thoughts of hurting the baby; and suicidal thoughts, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. While a family history or pre-existing mental illness makes a woman more susceptible to postpartum mood disorders, there is no single cause, according to Postpartum Support International. For some women, postpartum depression can be their first and only experience with a mental illness. Research shows that postpartum depression, if left untreated, can have serious consequences for both mother and child, including suicide risk, attachment difficulties and cognitive and language delays. To say that Keller felt alone in these feelings would be an understatement. But the reality is that postpartum depression is the most common complication after pregnancy and affects one in five women, according to Postpartum

Page 14 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Veronica Weber

by Elena Kadvany

Laura Keller looks at magazine cutouts with her sons, Noah, 2, and Jackson, 4, while doing an arts-andcrafts project at their Menlo Park home. As a first-time mother, Keller experienced postpartum depression and eventually found help through the MOMS mental health program at El Camino Hospital. Support International. Yet most women who experience it struggle in silence, whether due to a lack of awareness that treatment is available or because they fear that asking for help would be an admission they have failed as mothers during what is supposed to be the happiest time of their lives. Even for those who are willing to seek help, it’s hard to know where to turn. Specialized mental health treatment options for new mothers are few and far between, even in the Bay Area. Keller, a 36-year-old Menlo Park resident who grew up in Palo Alto, is one of many local mothers who in the thick of her postpartum depression could not imagine talking about it openly with anyone. But they now see their experience as a call to action to push back against the stigma new mothers often feel. “At some point I said to myself, ‘This isn’t going to define me,’” said Lisa Abramson, a Menlo Park mother of two who experienced postpartum psychosis, a rarer and more severe postpartum mood disorder. “I decided to share my story. So many people (said), ‘This happened to so-and-so’s sister or so-and-so’s sister-in-law,’ or ‘My mom had something like that.’ No one’s talking about this.”

Laura Keller

efore having her first child, Keller suspected she might experience postpartum depression — but it didn’t make it any easier to recognize or treat. Keller grew up on the Stanford University campus and met her now-husband at Palo Alto High School. Depression ran in her family, though it wasn’t talked about. She went through a “phase” in high school that she

now recognizes as depression. She saw a school counselor and psychiatrist at the time but neither were helpful. She worked for several years, then attended the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. In 2014, she became pregnant with Jackson. The birth was challenging — he contracted jaundice and had to be readmitted to the hospital — and once they were home, Keller had difficulty breastfeeding, so he wasn’t gaining weight. Keller and other mothers described the feelings of guilt and shame they faced in being unable to breastfeed, a common situation but one that goes against messages they heard repeatedly in hospitals and from health care professionals: “Breast is best” and formula is looked down upon. Coupled with sleep deprivation, breastfeeding challenges can be the catalyst for postpartum symptoms for many women. Keller’s husband got just five days off from work as paternity leave. When he returned to long hours at his real estate private equity job, she was alone with their screaming, sleepless baby. “I was exhausted,” Keller recalled. A self-described type-A person, she also was resentful that her husband went back to work, but overwhelmed by the prospect of doing so herself. She didn’t know how to tell her employer how she felt, so she quit her job. The drastic transition from one’s “old life,” including career, to first-time motherhood is for many women jarring, akin to an identity crisis, Keller and other mothers said. Because of Keller’s negative counseling experience in high school, she was reluctant to reach out for help. She, like many

mothers who experience postpartum depression, worried that her baby could be taken away from her. None of her close friends had children yet and she didn’t want to turn off women she had only recently met in mothers’ groups by talking about the tornado of emotions that was raging in her head. So she kept it inside. “I probably acted like I was fine, too,” she said. “I kept telling myself, ‘This is the new me. I’m never going to get better.’” By chance, she discovered a treatment program: the Maternal Outreach Mood Services (MOMS) program at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View, which provides new and expecting mothers with therapy, targeted support and education (see sidebar). Keller was checking references for a nanny she hoped to hire so she could have time to look for a job. One of them was Lisa Abramson, who sang the praises of the program that had lifted her out of a terrifying period of postpartum psychosis. Keller and other mothers describe the MOMS program as life-saving. Starting at four days a week, mothers attend group, individual and couples/family therapy at El Camino. Their partners and family members also participate — as does, most importantly, their baby. The hospital emphasizes that the success of the program depends on jointly treating mother and baby. “You cannot forget the baby in the treatment of the mother,” said psychiatrist Nirmaljit Dhami, the medical director of the MOMS program. The program restored Keller’s faith in the power of therapy. She learned how to identify negative thought patterns and focus on selfcare. She recalled an impactful

Cover Story these coping techniques” as a teenager, she said. “I’m less scared of, what if I have another episode in the future? I feel like I know how to handle it now.”

Lisa Abramson

isa Abramson was having breakfast with her husband and mother when the idea occurred to her. She decided — rationally, she thought — to discuss it with her loved ones: Should she jump off of a bridge? A month after giving birth to her first daughter in 2014, she was in the throes of postpartum psychosis, which occurs approximately after one to two out of every 1,000 deliveries and requires immediate treatment, according to Postpartum Support International. She had trouble breastfeeding, and with an exhaustive feeding schedule, she hadn’t slept for three days. By that morning, she had lost touch with reality, she said. She believed that she had been accused of a crime she didn’t commit and that their home in San Francisco was being watched — spy cameras outside the bedroom window, snipers on the roof, police about to knock down the front door to arrest her. Her brain, she said, was on overdrive. She was afraid to be alone with her newborn daughter, Lucy. “It was like I had stuck my finger in an electricity socket. There was no off; there was no down; there was no mellow,” said Abramson, who had never experienced any kind of mental illness before. “At night I just sat there. My mind was buzzing, buzzing, buzzing and my heart was pounding.” Abramson, then 30 years old, had been a successful marketing executive and then a mindfulness coach who preached health and well-being. To ensure her daughter was fed and gaining weight, she sacrificed her own sleep, leading to the early stages of psychosis. At first, it manifested as confusion — like forgetting how to put together a breast pump she had used dozens of times and

Veronica Weber

session on guilt and “shoulds.” “They tell you not to say ‘should,’” Keller said, like “I have an MBA; I should be a corporate executive. I should be loving this baby thing. I should be able to keep my house clean.” But most healing was simply being in the presence of other mothers going through the same thing. Because the program admits patients on a rolling basis, there are women at every stage of recovery, from frazzled and defeated on day one to graduating and healthy. “You get to see them improve,” Keller said. “That was definitely a piece of hope. Maybe I can get better, too, because they’re getting better.” After seven weeks, she left with a better understanding of her own mental health and the skills that would help prevent postpartum depression. When she had her second son, Noah, two years later, she could recognize her own warning signs and knew how to ask for help. Though the experience was harrowing, it sparked in Keller a passion for mental health advocacy. Recognizing the opportunity that pediatricians have to help mothers catch symptoms early, she put together a detailed list of resources and gave it to her pediatrician at Palo Alto Medical Foundation’s Palo Alto office, which now distributes it to all patients at the one-month newborn check-up. For three hours every week, Keller is on the phone with new mothers calling into Postpartum Support International’s “warm line,” which offers help finding resources or, simply, an understanding ear. Keller can’t be sure if better mental health support as a teenager would have prevented her postpartum depression, but she knows it would have helped. As such, she’s also working with Palo Alto youth mental health nonprofit Children’s Health Council on a system to connect parents and teens with available therapists and on a separate project to increase counseling services for youth in East Palo Alto. “I feel like my whole life could have been better if I had learned

The Maternal Outreach Mood Services program team consists of, from left, Ralphina Seymon, licensed psychiatric technician; Naina Sadhi, lead therapist; Dr. Nirmaljit Dhami, medical director; Kathy Taylor, registered nurse; Chen Mentor, therapist and counselor; and Ruthie Ayzenberg, therapist.

New mothers get help through MOMS Ten-year-old program was first of its kind on the West Coast by Elena Kadvany

(continued on page 16)

Veronica Weber

Lisa Abramson and husband, Dave, read to their 15-month-old daughter, Vivian, and her older sister, Lucy. Lisa Abramson decided to talk about her experience with postpartum psychosis to help other new mothers.

l Camino Hospital’s Maternal Outreach Mood Services program was born out of tragedy. A mother who had sought help at the Mountain View hospital died by suicide in 2006. At the time, neither El Camino nor any other Bay Area hospital had a specialized program for new mothers in need of psychiatric care. El Camino brought together OB-GYNs, pediatricians, psychiatrists and marriage and family therapists for a task force to assess whether such services were widely needed in the community and whether the hospital had the capacity to provide them. They answered both questions in the affirmative. A survey of El Camino Hospital’s own data showed that as many as one in five women delivering there were at risk of postpartum depression, according to hospital administrators. With a $25,000 seed grant from a philanthropic women’s health committee, the hospital followed the task force’s recommendation to create an intensive outpatient program for new and expecting mothers — the first of its kind in the western United States and the second in the country. Known as the MOMS program, it opened in 2008 in a small basement room with just two staff, including psychiatrist and medical director Nirmaljit Dhami. Steady demand for the services drove growth: The program now has a designated space at El Camino and a full team including Dhami, licensed therapists, registered nurses, volunteers and interns. The program has served close to 600 mothers. Most insurance plans cover the cost of participating in the program. The program runs Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Mothers start out attending four days a week and then come less often as they move through the program, which typically takes six to eight weeks. They attend individual and couples therapy and classes and spend time with their baby. There’s education about self-care, sleep, breastfeeding, communication, mother-baby bonding and medication, Dhami said. (About 40 to 60 percent of women in the program go on medications, she said.) They learn about “shame resiliency,” or the link between prior trauma and current depression and anxiety. An entire curriculum is devoted to addressing the guilt and shame patients feel out of fear of not being a good mother. Dhami’s interest in the mother-baby relationship was sparked by visiting a shelter in her native India, where she held abandoned, “unreactive” babies. After starting work after medical school, she observed

firsthand the absence of treatment for postpartum psychosis and depression. When she came to the United States, she volunteered with Stanford University psychiatrist David Spiegel on psychosocial trauma research and became the medical director of a Veterans Affairs substance-abuse program before being hired for the MOMS program. Her own challenging pregnancy and delivery of twin babies showed her the “incredible amount of pressure put on mothers and how that impacts wellness.” The most prominent issues among mothers in the program, Dhami said, “are that they feel no connection with their baby. They don’t feel any joy when they see their baby. They have a sense of anxiety and panic, and they feel overwhelmed.” Some mothers experience thoughts of harming themselves or their baby, even if they have no intention of doing so, Dhami said. These kind of thoughts trigger high levels anxiety and panic, she said. The program uses three approaches concurrently: treating the mother, the mother-baby relationship and the family unit. Partners and parents, if involved, are required to attend a family group, which is critical to helping them understand what the mother is going through, Dhami said. “The mother’s depression and anxiety just doesn’t affect her,” she said. “There’s a bi-directional relationship here. As the mother improves, the relationship with the child shifts. I think that’s the critical piece.” A decade after El Camino started the MOMS program, specialized mental health treatment for mothers is still rare, though much-needed. Postpartum depression affects between 8 to 20 percent of women in Silicon Valley — slightly higher than the national average of 8 to 12 percent, according to Dhami. She attributes this to a culture of stress, lack of resources, short maternity leaves and pressure for new mothers to return to work quickly. The program has made it a point to not have a wait-list, believing fiercely that “the sooner you can get them into treatment the faster the intervention works,” Dhami said. But the biggest unmet mental health need for new mothers, Dhami said, remains inpatient psychiatric hospitalization. El Camino Hospital is planning to open a new six-bed women’s unit in 2019. Unlike most psychiatric wards, it will have staff trained in perinatal mental health and will facilitate monitored visits between mother and baby. Research shows that considering the family as (continued on page 17)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 15

Cover Story Resources Postpartum Support International: postpartum.net, call help line at 1-800-944-4773 or text 503-894-9453 Santa Clara County 24-hour suicide hotline: 1-855-278-4204 Crisis Text Line: Text “HOME” to 741741 for free 24/7 confidential support

El Camino Hospital Maternal Outreach Mood Services: Call 866-789-6089 or 650-988-8468 to schedule a free, confidential assessment. Women’s Wellness Clinic at Stanford Medicine: med. stanford.edu/womensneuroscience/wellness_clinic.html or call 650-498-9111. Q

Postpartum (continued from page 15)

not understanding the nuance of a sarcastic joke — and then devolved into active paranoia. “My confidence and my trust in myself just chipped away as I got on the third day of not sleeping. All of a sudden I said, ‘Who am I without my mind?’” After the breakfast-table conversation, Abramson’s family brought her to the emergency room at a local hospital. She was admitted to the psychiatric ward and quickly placed on anti-psychotic medication, but the paranoia and confusion continued. She was unsure if she was in a hospital or a holding facility before a trial for the crime of which she had been wrongly accused. When her husband, David, and mother visited the first few days, she was catatonic and not speaking, he said. Without any prior experience in the byzantine world of behavioral health, they became her relentless advocates. “We were talking to her constantly, asking her questions, reminding her about what was really going on. We were constantly reinforcing, ‘You’re in a hospital. You’re getting better,’” said David, who took two weeks off work to support her and take

care of their newborn. “We were doing the job of bringing her back to reality more than the doctors.” Abramson was in the psychiatric ward for 10 days, but it wasn’t until her husband printed a webpage explaining postpartum psychosis that anyone mentioned the condition to her. (A first-year resident assigned to her did not know what postpartum psychosis was, her husband said.) The combination of Abramson’s mental state and the lack of information led her to believe he had invented a term to make her feel better. The psychiatric ward was “grossly underprepared to care for a mom,” Abramson said. “No one even acknowledged in my treatment at all that I was a mom even though that was what got me there. My husband bringing in that paper was the first time that I knew this has a name ... and it’s related to having a baby.” While she was in the psychiatric ward, David was frantically researching her condition, looking for treatment alternatives and battling a medical bureaucracy that made visiting a locked facility with a newborn close to impossible. “It’s such an important stage in the bonding between mother and child,” David said. “We really had to fight for it.” In brief visits with their

Holiday

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GreenWaste of Palo Alto will be closed on Thanksgiving (November 22). If your regular collection day falls on Thanksgiving, your collection day will be moved to Friday (November 23), and customers with a collection day on Friday will be serviced on Saturday (November 24).

NOVEMBER SUNDAY

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Page 16 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Courtesy Rebecca Levin

Supporting Mamas confidential text line: Text 408-475 4408 to speak with a trained volunteer from this San Jose organization.

daughter in makeshift meeting rooms and a small doctors’ library, he saw glimmers of his strong, loving wife. They also found the El Camino Hospital mothers’ program, recommended by a therapist David found during his research. After Abramson was released from the psychiatric ward, she went to El Camino for a partial hospitalization before transitioning into the program. David also participated, including going to a support group for fathers, who can also experience postpartum mood disorders. They moved in with her parents in Menlo Park for the duration of the program and now live there. El Camino’s specialized program was “night and day” compared to the psychiatric ward, Abramson said. “I could bring my daughter with me to the classes. I got my confidence back in being a mom. I was there, thankfully, in community with other moms, which I think is so important. I realized I wasn’t alone, whereas (before) I thought I was the only person who had ever had this happen to me.” The program restored her sense of self as an individual and as a mother. Five years later, she tears up recalling video recordings the staff took of her interacting with Lucy. “It was touchingly beautiful because I thought, here I was screwing up everything and they’re like, ‘No, look, you can tell when she’s hungry. ... You’re able to read her expressions.’ My confidence was low, so they were able to show me that.” Shame and guilt go hand and hand with parenthood at any stage. But for a new mother with a mood disorder, it’s even more heightened. There’s a disorienting “disconnect,” Abramson said, when one’s internal reality doesn’t match with the promised glow of motherhood — or the Instagram posts of brightly smiling moms who appear to have it all together. Shame kept Abramson quiet at first — she planned to take her psychiatric-ward experience to the grave, fearful that it would

Rebecca Levin plays with her son, Benjamin, who was born in 2014, and her daughter, Leia, who was born last year. Levin believes that more attention needs to be focused on ensuring that new mothers’ mental health is supported. derail her mindfulness career — but in the ensuing months she changed her mind. A year-and-a-half after having Lucy, she wrote about her experience in a Medium post titled, “Why I Wanted to Jump: My Journey into Postpartum Psychosis and Back Again.” Nervously, she shared it on her Facebook page. The response was overwhelmingly positive and led to her giving a TedX talk. She frequently hears from mothers who have watched it on YouTube at a dark time, thanking her for helping them feel less alone. She also created a resources website called Wise Mama, based on a book she wrote when she was pregnant with her second daughter about the transition from career into motherhood. Abramson ends her TedX talk with a sobering statistic: A mere 15 percent of mothers who experience postpartum depression receive professional treatment. “I think we can do better,” Abramson says in the video. “Too many moms are suffering in silence because of the shame and stigma associated with maternal mental health disorders. This is not a moms’ issue. This is an everybody issue.”

Rebecca Levin

ebecca Levin had always loved kids and wanted to have her own. A Palo Alto teacher, she prided herself on being good with children and felt prepared for the arrival of her first child, Benjamin. But after she gave birth, everything shifted. She felt bowled over by the realities of taking care of a screaming baby with acid reflux, the difficulties of breastfeeding and the emotional toll it all took. “I was just overwhelmed and felt like I was doing everything wrong,” Levin said. “I thought I was going to be better at it and love it more at first.” Looking back, she believes she had postpartum anxiety, but she was never formally diagnosed. Now the parent of two young children, she wishes that maternal mental health wasn’t such a taboo topic, only acceptable in the context of a medical diagnosis. “I was never formally

diagnosed with postpartum depression, and I feel like there’s a stigma about even saying that,” Levin said. “I feel like it should almost be assumed, that it’s almost a given, and that doctors should prepare and society in general should prepare to help people.” Levin, who grew up in San Francisco and lives in Mountain View, is a history teacher and guidance counselor at an international school in Palo Alto. She got married in 2012 and had her son two years later, then a daughter in 2017. After Benjamin was born via cesarean section, the difficulty she had breastfeeding felt like a personal failure and required setting aside her own health and well-being. Like many mothers, she felt an intense pressure not resort to feeding him using a bottle. “I should have given up holding myself to such high standards and said, ‘It’s OK if I just want him to be bottle-fed.’ I was so determined not to fail at it,” Levin said. Her understanding about maternal mental health was limited to reading about the “baby blues” and the disturbing headlines about women who harmed themselves and their babies (though there is no direct correlation between infanticide, abuse or neglect and perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, Postpartum Support International says). She was reluctant to reach out for help because she didn’t want to go on medication while she was trying to breastfeed, a common fear. She did tell her doctor that she was experiencing something that felt like postpartum depression and anxiety. Her doctor told her how important this was to address and asked her to make a follow-up appointment, which she ended up canceling because her baby was sick. Looking back, she said she wished her call for help had been met with a sense of urgency on her doctor’s part. “I don’t think there’s enough in this country to take care of the mother. I was very aware of the fact that when I was pregnant everyone was asking me, ‘How are you?’ The second the baby was

Cover Story

WATCH IT ONLINE

PaloAltoOnline.com

This week’s “Behind the Headlines” webcast and podcast will feature MOMS program Medical Director Nirmaljit Dhami in conversation with reporter Elena Kadvany and will be posted by Friday evening. Watch it on Youtube.com/paweekly/ videos or download the podcast at paloaltoonline.com/podcasts/behind_ the_headlines.

mothers about what she went through, she typically encounters two kinds of responses. Some, relieved, divulge their own darkest moments. Others paint a blissful picture of life with a new baby. She said she appreciates both responses, finding comfort in the shared commiseration and positive reminders of the joys of motherhood.

Turning the tide

espite the persistent stigma surrounding maternal mood disorders, mental health professionals and other experts are hopeful that the tide is starting to turn. Aarti Gupta, a Palo Alto clinical psychologist who works with new mothers, said she’s seen a shift in awareness over the last decade. More women are willing to seek help and are coming in better informed about postpartum depression. “I think there is starting to be a dialogue about postpartum depression,” she said. “More women are coming out and saying, ‘I’m not happy all the time. This seems different.’” Katherine Williams, who leads Stanford Medicine’s Women’s Wellness Clinic, described the shift in awareness of maternal mental health over the last 25 years as an “explosion.” When the clinic opened in 1994, there was not a widespread recognition of how to evaluate and treat postpartum

mood disorders, Williams said. Now, the clinic is busier than the staff can handle, working with new mothers as well as training psychiatry residents and educating OB-GYNs, primarycare physicians and pediatricians. At Stanford, Williams is working to break down the longtime barriers between the psychiatry division and the departments that new mothers most frequently visit. A psychiatrist is now embedded inside the obstetrics and gynecology department — a new model for integrated health care that she hopes will be standard across the country in several years, she said. (They placed a psychiatry resident inside Stanford’s pediatric center two years ago but women didn’t come. Williams speculates it was due to fear of disclosing any mental health issues to their pediatrician.) Training is also crucial; Williams serves on a task force developing a national curriculum for medical and psychology schools on the evaluation and treatment of perinatal disorders. California is also starting to shore up the health care system to prevent struggling mothers from falling through the gaps. In September, Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law a package of bills related to maternal mental health. Together, the bills will require: obstetricians to screen mothers at least once during pregnancy or after giving birth; hospitals to

MOMS (continued from page 15)

the baby’s natural environment and preserving that as much as possible “has the best outcome — not (only) short term but long term for both mother and the baby,” Dhami said. This unit will be the second of its kind in the United States. El Camino Hospital is collaborating with staff at the country’s only mother-baby inpatient unit at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine. “The cost of this (unit) is high, but it’s considered less in light of ... the disastrous costs that follow in the absence of early intervention,” Dhami said. For more information about provide maternal mental health training to clinical staff who work with new or expecting mothers and to educate women and families about the signs and symptoms of maternal mood disorders; and the Department of Public Health to apply for federal funding to support programs and a public-awareness campaign. Public storytelling about maternal mental health — including by successful women like tennis player Serena Williams, model Chrissy Teigen and actress Alyssa Milano in recent years — helps

Veronica Weber

born it was all about the baby. What about me?” Levin said. “No one was really asking me how I was doing.” Levin sought support through local moms’ groups, lactation consultants and the nonprofit Parents Place in Palo Alto. Six weeks after the C-section, she was cleared to exercise, which helped her feel like herself again, she said. She was better prepared for her second child — more aware of what would trigger anxiety and stress, so she could head that off at the pass. Levin wishes someone had told her before she became a mother that what she experienced is common, normal and temporary. She urges women to educate themselves on available resources before giving birth and to prepare for their own emotional triggers. She, for example, gets overwhelmed by a messy house, so they hired a house cleaner after she had her second child. When Levin opens up to other

Dr. Nirmaljit Dhami is the medical director of the Maternal Outreach Mood Services program at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View. the El Camino program, call 866-789-6089 or 650-9888468 to schedule a free, confidential assessment or go to bit. ly/2B25pAo. Q “normalize” postpartum depression, Williams said. “It gives people a sense of dignity,” she said. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com. About the cover: Lisa Abramson, who suffered from postpartum psychosis following the birth of her older daughter, has become an outspoken advocate for awareness of postpartum depression and maternal mental health. Photo by Veronica Weber.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 17

Broadway by the Bay’s production of “Aida” features gorgeous lighting by Michael Oesch and a strong ensemble. Photo by Mark Kitaoka.

Broadway by the Bay presents ‘Aida’ by Karla Kane “This is the story of a love that flourished in a time of hate,” sings a character in the opening number of Elton John and Tim Rice’s “Aida.” “Every story,” she insists, “is a love story.” Though doomed, forbidden love is a trope as old as time, it’s still a good one, and the opening number sets up the show in a compelling way. Though “Aida” might not be composer John or lyricist Rice’s finest work, it’s still epically, romantically, melodramatically enjoyable, especially when in the hands of Broadway by the Bay’s talented cast and crew, including director Jasen Jeffrey. The pop-rock musical version of “Aida,” set in ancient Egypt and possibly boasting characters and plot slightly rooted in history, is based on Verdi’s beloved opera of the same name, which tells the tale of the captured and enslaved Nubian (or Ethiopian, in the opera) princess Aida (Raquel Nicole Jete), who reluctantly falls in love with her captor, Egyptian explorer and warrior Radames (Shaun Leslie Thomas). Rather than dooming her to a brutal, short life in the

copper mines and totally unaware she is part of the Nubian royal family, Radames gives her to his childhood friend and erstwhile fiance, the glamorous princess Amneris (Caitlin McGinty) as a handmaiden, where she quickly rises in her mistress’ esteem. Amneris is the daughter and heir of the ailing Pharoah (Fred Feizollahi), and Radames’ own scheming father Zoser (Benjamin Ball) has worked hard to ensure that his son is in line for the throne, thanks to his engagement to Amneris. Radames’ high-ranking slave Mereb (Montel Anthony Nord), also a Nubian, immediately recognizes Aida for who she is and soon the palace’s Nubian slave population is looking to her for leadership. Oppressive, powerful Egypt has been invading Nubia (its neighbor kingdom to the south) in the hopes of expanding its control over the Nile region. While the Nubians hope for deliverance, Aida is conflicted by her feelings for Radames, her genuine affection for Amneris and her loyalty to her people — especially when her father, the Nubian king Amonasro (Bernard

THEATER REVIEW Polk) turns up as a likely-to-beexecuted prisoner. Although this version of “Aida” was reportedly originally intended to become an animated Disney film, as a stage musical it keeps the tragic ending of the opera, although there is some optimistic modern framing at the start and end that suggests that the spirit of love never dies, etc. The music is recognizably, unmistakably Elton John, with lots of his piano-led pop-rock and a variety of genre influences. It’s a bit of a multicultural melting pot, with Middle Eastern and West African sounds and rhythms included as an attempt at capturing, one assumes, some sort of Ancient Egyptian and Nubian vibe. The most memorable songs include the reggae-tinged “Another Pyramid,” in which the talented ensemble gets to do some fun choreography by Nicole Helfer, the catchy quartet “Not Me,” and the stirring firstact-ender “The Gods Love Nubia,” a rousing gospel number by Aida and her fellow Nubian slaves. Aida

A sharp comedy for dark times ‘Girls Kill Nazis’ debuts at the Pear by John Orr here is a small irony in the title of James Kopp’s hilarious, satiric new play, “Girls Kill Nazis.” It’s not “Women Kill Nazis,” even though it is women, not girls, who are slaughtering members of the American Nazi Party, which is in control of the

THEATER REVIEW United States in the not-too-distant future. It’s the Nazi men, in Kopp’s black comedy, who call all women “girls.” “So, the manager of this federal building is a girl?” asks Buck, a Nazi official. “Well I guess a man

Page 18 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

didn’t want the job and someone has to run this place.” It was not that long ago that a play that posits Nazis taking over the American government would have been thought too silly to take seriously. That was before we had a president who said there were some

and Radames share a number of angsty romantic tunes and these various mid-tempo power ballads get a bit tedious, although beautifully sung by the cast. A successful love story depends on the audience rooting for the central couple, something that is uncomfortable here due to the nature of Radames and Aida’s unequal master-slave relationship. Aida remains proud, strong and in command throughout, ever the noble heroine, and Jete is wonderful in the title role, with a voice clear, pure and honey-rich. Thomas’ vocals are also strong, with a certain Elton John rockstar tone at moments. Amneris, I imagine, is one of the most interesting roles to play. The character goes from naive princess presenting a vain and vapid exterior to astute adult assuming the mantle of power and becoming a wise leader over the course of the show. McGinty excels in every scene and song, from the silly — “My Strongest Suit,” which mainly exists for the chance to hold an Ancient Egyptian fashion show — to the moving “I Know the Truth.” Although sound quality in the

large Fox Theatre always seems to be lacking a bit in bass and clarity, the orchestra, led by Alicia Jeffrey, is excellent, as are the glitzy, campy costumes by Merissa Mann, basic but effective sets by Mark Mendelson. Especially lovely is the lighting by Michael Oesch. There are some truly stunning uses of light and color over the Nile scenes evoking changes in time of day. So, while “Aida” as musical theater might not have the immortality of some of John and Rice’s other respective hits (or of Verdi’s opera), Broadway by the Bay’s strong cast, orchestra and overall impressive production prove it to be an engrossing and entertaining epic. Q Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane can be emailed at kkane@paweekly.com.

“very fine people” among the white nationalist and neo-Nazi marchers in Charlottesville in 2017, after one of them fatally rammed a car into a crowd of counter-protestors. Since then, we’ve seen the president insult NATO and other allies, and embrace autocrats such as Vladimir Putin, Kim Jong-un and Rodrigo Duterte. We’ve seen the idea of white nationalism blossoming, instead of hiding under slimy rocks.

So, Kopp suggesting that Nazis might take control of the United States seems like an all-too-timely warning. Thankfully, the play is packed with laughs. Kopp makes a brief appearance in the play, as a drunken Nazi who comes into the library where everything takes place, to complain about a book his daughter had checked out.

What: “Aida.” Where: Fox Theatre, 2215 Broadway St., Redwood City. When: Through Nov. 18. Cost: $44-$66. Info: Go to broadwaybythebay.org.

(continued on next page)

Arts & Entertainment

The Girls’ Middle School 3400 West Bayshore Road Palo Alto, CA 94303 www.girlsms.org

Michael Craig

OPEN HOUSE

In “Girls Kill Nazis,” the American Nazi Party is in control of the country. From left are Keith Larson as Todd, director John Morrison as Buck, playwright James Kopp as Fred and Maria Costello as Tina. (continued from previous page)

“This book is filled with witchcraft and works of the devil. My little girl started reading it and now I have to deal with this bull---t. Why the f--- was this in the kids’ section?!” The book, of course, was “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.” Librarian Ruth, played calmly and earnestly by Stephanie Crowley, defends the book, and the Nazi continues his rant, insulting the library assistant, Sidney, played by Jennifer Sorkin-Kopp. “Hell girl, do you even own any makeup? If you smiled more I bet you would look pretty, who knows in time you might even get a boyfriend.” Sidney responds, “How could I ever fall in love knowing you are already taken?” Tough luck for the Nazi: He has interrupted a meeting of the Nancy Wake Book Club, populated by women who are dedicated to reading fine books and killing Nazis. Such a great concept. Nancy Wake was a New Zealand-born Allied spy during World War II who killed a lot of Nazis. In the play, Ruth mentions her, and Russian school teachers and nurses who became snipers to kill Nazis. “Women killing Nazis is nothing new,” says Ruth. “It’s just part of the story. If these walking abortions want to glorify a page from history, I say we show them what’s on the next page.” The play opens with Keith Larson as Todd, doing a smooth voiceover encouraging people to blow their whistles if they see more than two Muslims speaking to each other, “colored folk” out after sundown, or Mexicans working without papers. The voiceover is paid for by the Evangelical Nazi Church of America. Too subtle? The four women who comprise the book club at first are all wonderfully played, each with her own well-portrayed personality, and each an experienced Nazi killer. Crowley’s Ruth is the leader of the book club. She keeps order in the meetings, reminds women to support each other and tells us she has killed 20 Nazis. “The only reason I haven’t turned myself in is because I’m not done killing Nazis.”

Sorkin-Kopp’s Sidney had gotten tired of people telling her how she should behave and likes working for Ruth. And likes killing Nazis. Heather Mae Steffen is funny but strong as Diana, a yoga teacher who loves books and who’d killed a Nazi who’d attacked her. Pear founder Diane Tasca is delightful as Betty, a seemingly dithering somewhat older lady who loves reading and has used cyanide in lemon bars to kill Nazis. Betty brings a casserole dish loaded with the poison-laced lemon bars to the book club and we are on edge for the rest of the play, wondering if somebody who doesn’t know what they are will eat one. Tasty! Jim Johnson, a Pear regular, is on hand as Bob, who joins the book club without knowing about the killing Nazis part of its bylaws. He doesn’t read the books; he watches their movies, which is a modest ongoing joke. Michael Weiland plays Bob’s son, Sheriff Horowitz, who wonders where some of the dead Nazis have gone. Maria Costello is Tina, a Nazi functionary who tells the book club they have “1984” all wrong. Director John Morrison is Buck, a particularly obnoxious and misogynistic Nazi who threatens the existence of the book club. There are lots of belly laughs in this show, but it’s better to experience them in the theater than to have them given away here. A modest tickle came for me when Crowley, as Ruth, seems to be having a hard time with Diana’s yoga lessons. A tickle because I happen to know that Crowley, when not on stage, teaches yoga. Scenic design (a library, full of shelves, tables and books) by Kopp was excellent. Lighting, also by Kopp, was a problem, with missed cues; it will likely get better. On opening night, the play still felt a bit rough, which is fair, after only one preview. Kopp is probably still polishing, and the cast hadn’t quite hit that moment of organic oneness that comes with performance. But it was very good despite its newness, and is definitely recommended. Q Freelance writer John Orr can be emailed at johnorr@ regardingarts.com.

What: “Girls Kill Nazis.” Where:Pear Theatre, 1110 La Avenida St., Mountain View. When:: Through Dec. 2. Cost:$15-$32. Info: Go to thepear.org.

Saturday, Dec. 1st Please RSVP 650.968.8338 x133 admissions@girlsms.org

1 - 4 pm

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 19

Eating Out By Elena Kadvany

grew up in Menlo Park on a steady, if unexciting, diet of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and Nestle ice cream drumsticks. It wasn’t until I grew older and wiser — and hungrier — that I realized that the region I grew up in, while often thought of as the sleepier, overlooked sibling to San Francisco’s dining scene, is flush with diverse, exciting food. This was only reinforced by this project, in which we set out to crowdsource a curated list of the best dishes that chefs, restaurant owners, bakers and others in the local food and drink industry devoured on the Peninsula this year. We asked a wide range of culinary insiders to tell us about the food that stood out most to them — the dishes they haven’t been able to stop thinking about. This list, while certainly not exhaustive, reflects the culinary talent and diversity on the Midpeninsula. It reminds us that there is always more to explore here, from the high to the low brow and everything in between, and that there is a thriving, vibrant community of chefs making the impossible work in the Bay Area. So grab a friend and use this list as a guide to break out of your dining routine. I know I’ll be working my way through it. Editor’s note: This is an abbreviated version of the list. Read it in full at PaloAltoOnline.com/arts.

Chicken tikka masala, Zareen’s, Palo Alto, Mountain View Dennis Kelly, co-owner, Protégé, Palo Alto: My favorite dish has to be Zareen’s chicken tikka masala with a cup of her famous chai or

insiders tell us about the local meals they can’t stop thinking about a mango lassi. The dish is served with cumin and turmeric scented basmati rice, warm spiced lentils and pickled vegetables. I practically lived on this while Protégé was under construction. So tasty! Anthony Secviar, chef/co-owner, Protégé: THAT WAS MINE!!!! :)))))) Lori Romero Villareal, owner, Calave, Palo Alto: I had Zareen’s a few months ago and was left wanting more and more. My favorite there is the chicken tikka masala with a side of naan. It stands out for me because there is the perfect balance. The spices have a nice kick but are not overpowering and are balanced with a creamy texture, perfect for dipping my naan. The chicken is cooked perfectly. I have had many Indian dishes at other places but this dish stands above all. I have recommended many to Zareen’s and all come back with the same feeling I do.

Twice-cooked bacon, Taste, Palo Alto Dale Bentson, Embarcadero Media restaurant reviewer: A dish I look forward to meeting again soon is the twice-cooked bacon at Taste on University Avenue. The dish exploded with flavor, a collaboration of sweet and salty, that perfect balance that defines Sichuan cuisine. The dish was composed of green peppers, Sichuan peppers, onions, scallions, black bean sauce, sugar, soy sauce and plenty of bacon. Since I was writing a review of Taste at the time, I had a critical eye. The twice-cooked bacon took me by surprise, not that other dishes didn’t measure up, but because of the boldness and harmony of the flavors. Who doesn’t like bacon?

Ramen at the Noodle in a Haystack pop-up in Daly City.

Kouign-amann, Loveforbutter popup Rocco Scordella, owner, Vina Enoteca, Tootsie’s Barn, Palo Alto: The dish I can not stop thinking of are John Shelsta’s pastries. The first pop-up he did (at my other favorite restaurant Zola in Palo Alto) I went and picked up some pastries to bring back for the team at Vina Enoteca. I got in the car and the kouign-amann looked so good that I parked my car and gave it a bite. You can imagine how I ended up. His pastries are simply spectacular. You can taste the love and work that he puts in each one of them. Everything is made by hand. The layers of each pastry (are) so light and crumbling. My mouth waters just writing about it.

Ricotta gnocchi, Zola, Palo Alto Lars Smith, chef-owner, State of Mind Public House, Los Altos: The dish is so rich and satisfying. At the same time it is airy and lighter than the description suggests. Sometimes one bowl isn’t enough. The mainstay on the menu consists of beautifully light gnocchi made with ricotta, a perfectly soft-cooked egg, mushrooms and brown butter. When truffles are available they will also shave fresh truffle all over the top. When available always get the truffles added. Every experience at Zola is memorable, but I can remember vividly the first time I had the gnocchi with the truffle. The dish had been served and a chef came out and made it rain truffle all over the bowl. I think everyone at the table had their jaws hit the floor watching. Finally, for a pro tip: Always break the egg and mix everything together before indulging in the dish. Kristi Marie, owner, Kristi Marie’s, Redwood City: I especially like the seared ricotta gnocchi with mushrooms and a soft egg at Zola. They have definitely executed French seasonal cuisine perfectly. Owner Guillaume Bienaime and his staff are always so genuinely hospitable.

Veronica Weber

Inside the dining room at Bird Dog in Palo Alto. Page 20 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Michelle Le

Restaurant industry

Tonkotsu deluxe ramen, Ramen Izakaya Yu-Gen, Mountain View Greg Buccheister, owner, Coffeebar, Menlo Park: I love ramen and

this winter while we were building out Coffeebar MP, I would go several times a week either on my own or with our team. Any time someone new would start, I’d use it as an excuse to take them. I always get the tonkotsu deluxe ramen dish. There is something about it and fuels my soul from within—rich, spicy, nourishing. It also conjures vibrant childhood memories just like Anton Ego (the fictional food critic) from Ratatouille!

Yuzu paitan ramen, Noodle in a Haystack, Daly City Muffie Fulton, Bold Food Co., Los Altos: Noodle in a Haystackmakes the best ramen I’ve eaten outside of Japan, and it competes with many bowls in Japan. We have a lot of great ramen restaurants on the Peninsula. I try to sample as many of them as I can, and the pop up that husband-andwife Clint and Yoko Tan run in Daly City is the best of not only the Peninsula but the entire Bay Area. Most people are familiar with tonkotsu ramen, which is made from pork, but in Japan there are many varieties of ramen made from seafood, chicken, vegetables and miso. Clint and Yoko have mastered many diverse styles, using local ingredients but staying true to the ramen of Japan which is a very challenging task. My favorite is their yuzu paitan, a perfect ramen made from the richest chicken broth and dashi, a shio tare (a salt-based seasoning sauce infused with dried shrimp and fish from Japan) and yuzu chicken oil. If you are a ramen aficionado and haven’t eaten at Noodle in a Haystack yet, you need to get there right away. They sell out quickly so join their newsletter to know when tickets are available.

Wagyu striploin, Bird Dog, Palo Alto Mistie Cohen, co-owner, Oren’s Hummus Shop, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Cupertino, San Francisco: I wish I could say Bird Dog’s fried chicken because everyone raves about the dish. ... Unfortunately, having an allergy to gluten and always needing my protein fix (I could live off red meat, sadly) (it) would be the wagyu striploin. It’s extremely flavorful with a marbly cut, unique in its creation and has an almost orgasmic explosion

happening with every bite. It’s definitely a highlight when visiting Bird Dog. Maybe TMI :) but it is a fabulous dish and how it best comes to mind to describe!

Shaking beef, Tamarine, Palo Alto Andrea Potischman, Simmer + Sauce blog, Menlo Park: A local dish I love is shaking beef, a delicious savory-sweet Vietnamese stir-fry dish from Tamarine. This dish wows me every time with its simplicity and bold, unforgettable flavor. Crispy, tender beef filet quickly pan-seared on high heat. To make this dish, you sear the beef cubes in a very hot pan, sealing in the juices, and then shake the pan once or twice to loosen them and allow everything to cook evenly. This particular dish at Tamarine has always been special to me and my family — so much so that we hosted my son’s bar mitzvah dinner party there in May. Shaking beef was prominently featured and the most talked about dish by far.

Spicy chicken bao, The Chairman food truck Guillaume Bienamie, chef-owner, Zola, Palo Alto: The dish that I go back to almost every other week is the spicy chicken bao from The Chairman food truck every Monday at The Willows Market in Menlo Park. From the first time I tried it, it seems to hit every note: sweet, spicy, sour, salty and delicate yet sumptuous. Also, my 7-year-old loved the tofu bun! It’s the only way I can get him to eat vegetables. He’ll put down six of those things.

Short rib pithivier, Protégé, Palo Alto Zareen Khan, owner, Zareen’s, Palo Alto and Mountain View: Amid an array of amazing dishes in Protégé’s prix fixe dinner, the short rib pithivier stood out as a feast for the eyes and the mouth: a decorative pastry pie filled with succulent beef. The protégés have done their French Laundry mentor proud.

‘Red King’ ramen, Ramen Nagi, Palo Alto Thanasis Pashalidis, co-owner, Taverna, Palo Alto: Last year, I had (continued on page 21)

Eating Out

ShopTalk

in Palo Alto and eventually the greater Silicon Valley. Ace will launch its driverless delivery service on Nov. 29 to select residents of Channing House in Palo Alto before expanding to other customers. A spokeswoman from Ace said the Department of Motor Vehicles has issued the company a permit to operate retrofitted Ford Transit Connect vans with a safety driver in the car for now. The idea behind the driverless technology movement is that by cutting out the need for a driver, businesses can cut costs and provide delivery services at lower prices. “This is simply the next step in providing the ‘above-and-beyond’ customer service we are known for,” said Eric Hassett, owner of Hassett Ace Hardware. —L.T.

Local food & retail happenings

PALO ALTO’S OUT OF ‘REACH’... After providing fitness classes in Palo Alto for 36 years, Reach Fitness Club is permanently closing at 707 High St. on Dec. 15, according to a notice posted at the club on Nov. 1. “The debate to close Reach Fitness Club or stay open was truly a difficult decision. Unfortunately, due to the economic demands, it has become a financial hardship to maintain our position in Palo Alto,” Darryl Brandon, vice president of operations, wrote to members. According to a flyer from Premier Properties advertising the 6,070-square-foot facility as “ideal for fitness, retail, or personal services,” the building will be available for lease on Jan. 1, 2019. The announcement of the building’s pending availability was posted online in July, according to the real estate site 42floors. The asking rental rate has not been disclosed. The

Reach Pilates Studio at 833 Emerson St. will remain open and operate as usual, according to Brandon. Reach opened its fitness club in Palo Alto in 1982. Over the years, the gym has offered everything from cardio and strength training to yoga, Pilates and Zumba classes to personal training services. Members, many who have been there since the start, described the club as a welcoming community that “feels a bit like home.” In 1990, the company expanded its operations to include corporate fitness. Today, it manages facilities for corporations across the country. —L.T.

BLUE BOTTLE COMING TO STANFORD ... Third-wave coffee roaster Blue Bottle Coffee is opening a new location at Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto. Outlines of coffee cups with the company’s trademark bright-blue bottle image recently appeared on scaffolding covering a space next to the new Jeffrey clothing store, on the El Camino Real side of the shopping center. A Blue Bottle spokesperson confirmed the new location but declined to share further details. The opening is “still quite a ways out,” the spokesperson said. Blue Bottle got its start in Oakland in 2002 and has since expanded beyond the Bay Area with dozens of locations on the West and East coasts as well as in Japan. The Stanford Shopping Center Blue Bottle will join a cafe nearby that opened

ACE GOES DRIVERLESS ... Palo Alto’s Hassett ACE Hardware store at 875 Alma St. is partnering with Mountain View-based tech company ThorDrive to bring same-day, autonomous driving delivery service to customers

“There’s no place like home.” Veronica Weber

Chef’s bucket list (continued from page 20)

the opportunity to experience a trip to Tokyo which has influenced me tremendously. I’m a huge fan of soups, noodles and broths so I went on a culinary ramen tour in addition to my seafood expedition. I found comfort slurping up piping hot broth and tender noodles at all hours. Upon my return, I was a bit disappointed that I couldn’t find that comfort locally. I recently visited Ramen Nagi. Finally, I was able to experience authentic Japanese ramen just a few blocks from home. The flavors are rich, the service is sincere and the ambiance is balanced. I really find myself craving a bowl of the Red King more often than I should. It has just the right amount of spice that I like. I enjoyed my first bowl at the counter and I observed the open kitchen and chefs making ramen with a flare, throwing noodles in the air and shouting in Japanese.

New York Strip, Sundance the Steakhouse, Palo Alto Chad Newton, culinary director and co-owner, Asian Box: The

Sausage and honey pizza, Vesta, Redwood City Becky Sunseri, owner, Tin Pot Creamery, Palo Alto, Los Altos: One of my favorite dishes on the Peninsula and one I crave especially often in the summer is Vesta’s sausage and honey pizza. This wood-fired pizza has an incredible balance of sweet and savory flavors, as well as crispy, chewy, creamy and crunchy textures. The crust on the pizza has those little blackened air pockets on the edges, so you know it’s gonna be good. The sauce is fresh and bright, and the pizza is topped with Italian sausage, mascarpone, serrano chili and is drizzled with honey. Although you may not have seen this flavor combination before, and perhaps it even seems a little odd, as soon as you taste it you know these flavors were made to go together! Q

Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Elena Kadvany and Linda Taaffe. Got leads on interesting and news-worthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@ paweekly.com.

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The sausage-honey pizza at Vesta in Redwood City. New York strip at Sundance the Steakhouse is perfection to me. High-quality beef expertly cooked with a touch of salt and butter, served with an awesome peppercorn sauce on the side. Pair it with one of bartender Ozzie’s chilled martinis.

inside the historic Varsity Theatre in downtown Palo Alto in 2015 — Blue Bottle’s first Peninsula location. That cafe serves espresso, blend and single-origin coffees as well as breakfast and lunch. —E.K.

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www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 21

Page 22 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 23

MOVIES NOW SHOWING A Private War (R)

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Green Book (PG-13)

An American in Paris (1951) (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Instant Family (PG-13) + Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Beautiful Boy (R) +++

Just add children

Dramedy ‘Instant Family’ undercuts heart with idiocy 0 (Century 16 & 20) ones that can only be Let me first try to be OPENINGS described as ridiculous nice to “Instant Family,” a comedy-drama about fos- caricatures. The lazy writing and ter care and adoption. The film’s directing that spawns the film’s premise, “inspired by” co-writer/ mostly tone-deaf attempts at hudirector Sean Anders’ own family mor undermine an otherwise sinlife as a husband and father, isn’t a cere attempt to promote the wins bad one for an innocuous family of the foster-care system. Since Pete and Ellie are descomedy with laughs and heart, a withering-to-wacky satire of mis- tined to take home a trio of Latino begotten parenting, or a thought- siblings (Isabela Moner, Gustavo ful, psychologically insightful Quiroz and Julianna Gamiz), Pete look at the social work and family asks, “Is it a problem? The whole dynamics around adoption. But ‘white savior’ thing?” and rightly the tonal whiplash you’ll get from receives the answer that foster the pileup crash of all three may kids will take loving parents of have you wishing he picked a lane. any color, thank you very much. Mark Wahlberg plays Anders’ Shortly thereafter, Ellie defensurrogate Pete Wagner, and Rose sively insists that she’s not rich and Byrne his wife, Ellie. Together, later screams at her new teenage they’re a complacent team at home charge, “I am 1/8 Comanche!” Pete and Ellie’s default reaction and at work flipping houses. But when Ellie gets an itch for children, to nearly everything is to fly off it sends the couple on an adventure the handle, so when they stop long in foster parenting. Shepherded by enough to breathe and reason out a social-worker double act com- a solution, they seem like entirely prised of Octavia Spencer and Tig different characters. Each has exNotaro, the Wagners soon find actly one lick of common sense themselves surrounded by pro- when it comes to parenting and spective foster parents and active while a learning curve adheres

The Girl in the Spider’s Web (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

A Star is Born (R) ++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun.

Bohemian Rhapsody (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. Boy Erased (R) ++1/2

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Can you Ever Forgive me? (R)

Aquarius Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch (2018) (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

The Nutcracker and the Four Realms (PG) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. The Old Man & the Gun (PG-13) Palo Alto Square: Fri. - Sun. Overlord (R) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Smallfoot (PG) ++

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald (PG-13) Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun. ShowPlace Icon: Fri. - Sun.

Thugs of Hindostan (Not Rated) Century 16: Fri. - Sun.

First Man (PG-13) +++1/2 Century 16: Fri. - Sun. Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Widows (R)

Free Solo (PG-13) Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

Guild Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

Venom (PG-13)

Century 20: Fri. - Sun.

The Young Girls of Rochefort (Not Rated) Stanford Theatre: Fri. - Sun.

+ Skip it ++ Some redeeming qualities +++ A good bet ++++ Outstanding

Aquarius: 430 Emerson St., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 327-3241) tinyurl.com Aquariuspa Century Cinema 16: 1500 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View tinyurl.com/Century16 Century 20 Downtown: 825 Middlefield Road, Redwood City tinyurl.com/Century20 CineArts at Palo Alto Square: 3000 El Camino Real, Palo Alto (For information: 493-0128) tinyurl.com/Pasquare Guild: 949 El Camino Real, Menlo Park (For recorded listings: 566-8367) tinyurl.com/Guildmp ShowPlace Icon: 2575 California St. #601, Mountain View tinyurl.com/iconMountainView Stanford Theatre: 221 University Ave., Palo Alto (For recorded listings: 324-3700) Stanfordtheatre.org

Find trailers, star ratings and reviews on the web at PaloAltoOnline.com/movies

to both realism and narrative formula, the imbalance of idiocy to trustworthiness here suggests these people can’t be trusted with a pet rock, let alone three vulnerable underage human beings. To go by the marketing, you would take “Instant Family” for a hip but wholesome domestic comedy akin to the long-running sitcom “Modern Family.” But this

PG-13-rated flick throws in an “f”-bomb or a subplot involving sex-criminal “dick pics” when it’s not trying to warm your heart, so think twice before bringing your little ones. Only Notaro’s dry delivery and some earnest dramatic scenes make “Instant Family” palatable. The rest of the time, everyone mistakes shrill annoyance for humor and the hateable for the

relatable. Humor is subjective, of course, but the film offers this litmus test: Do you laugh when a sane adult finally slaps Ellie and when another slaps cuffs on Pete? Or do you cheer? Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, sexual material, language and some drug references. Two hours. — Peter Canavese

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 43.

Page 24 • November 16, 2018 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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SCHEDULE A COMPLIMENTARY CONSULTATION TO HEAR WHAT A DIFFERENCE WE CAN MAKE IN YOUR LIFE www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 16, 2018 • Page 25

Home&Real Estate

OPEN HOME GUIDE 39 Also online at PaloAltoOnline.com

A weekly guide to home, garden and real estate news, edited by Elizabeth Lorenz

Home Front NATIVE GARDEN DESIGN ... The City of Palo Alto Utilities Department is offering a workshop called “Designing Native Gardens” on Saturday, Dec. 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. Participants will learn how to create low-water, low maintenance landscapes with native plants. The workshop will be held at Mitchell Park Community Center’s El Palo Alto Room, 3700 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. To register, go to bawsca.org. HOLIDAY GREENS SALE ... On Saturday, Dec. 8, from 9 a.m. to noon, Gamble Garden will be offering fresh-cut greens, potted paperwhites, wreaths, swags and more for sale. Gamble’s expert flowers arrangers will be in the Tea House designing fresh centerpieces filled with greens, starting at $30. Arrangements are custom-made in either a container you provide or one you purchase the day of the sale. Drop off your container in the Main House between 9-11 a.m., Monday through Friday the week of the Greens Sale. Include your name, email and phone number with the container. Among the greens for sale will be acacia, boxwood, cedar, eucalyptus, fir, holly, hydrangea blooms, pine, redwood, and seasonal shrubs such as rose hips, toyon, nandina and branches of curly willow and grapevines. HOLIDAY FLOWERS ... Learn how to create a seasonal centerpiece for your holiday party table by attending Gamble Garden’s “The Beauty of the Holidays with Arrangements,” on Saturday, Dec. 15, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Participants will learn how to combine seasonal foliage, flowers and other accents into their designs. All materials are provided, but participants are welcome to bring foliage clippings or other accents from home to share and add a personal touch to their creations. The class is open to those age 14 and older. Cost is $99 for members and $129 for nonmembers. To register, go to gamblegarden. org. Gamble Garden is located at 1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto. Send notices of news and events related to real estate, interior design, home improvement and gardening to Home Front, Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302, or email elorenz@ paweekly.com. Deadline is one week before publication.