Palo Alto Weekly November 20, 2020

Page 1

Palo Alto

Vol. XLII, Number 7

Q

November 20, 2020

State orders monthlong curfew Page 5

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

IN SIDE UE THI S I S S

Upfront 5

Spectrum 17

Arts 22

Eating Out 26

Donate to the HOLIDAY FUND pages 5, 16

Q Thanksgiving Residents deliver free meals, comfort Page 8 Q Election Lopez now ahead in East Palo Alto council race Page 10 Q Shop Talk The RealReal opens at Cheesecake Factory Page 28


dependable health care in uncertain times It is as important as ever to get the care you need. Stanford Health Care is taking every precaution to keep you safe. To protect your health, we are: • Sanitizing exam rooms after every patient U.S. News & World Report recognizes Stanford Health Care among the top hospitals in the nation. Ranking based on quality and patient safety.

• Testing patients for COVID-19 before most procedures • Screening everyone for COVID-19 risk before entry • Providing and requiring masks for patients and staff • Monitoring employee health, including regular COVID-19 testing Don’t delay your care. Appointments are available at our locations across the Bay Area and remotely by video visit.

To learn more, visit: stanfordhealthcare.org/resumingcare Page 2 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


BY APPT ONLY

4184 KING ARTHUR CT., PALO ALTO

Offered at $2,898,000

Welcome to your oasis on a quiet cul-de-sac in vibrant Barron Park! This three bedroom, two bath ranch-style home with an YTHEXIH OMXGLIR LEVH[SSH ¾SSVW XLVSYKLSYX SJJIVW IEW] MRHSSV SYXHSSV PMZMRK ERH IZIV]XLMRK E KEVHIRIV GSYPH HIWMVI 8LI VMGLP] PERHWGETIH TEVO PMOI WU JX PSX MRGPYHIW E TVMZEXI VIEV ]EVH [MXL E WTEGMSYW PE[R PEVKI TEXMS KE^IFS ERH VEMWIH FIH KEVHIR 8LI PMKLX ½PPIH LSQI SJ WU JX JIEXYVIW E KVIEX VSSQ [MXL HMVIGX EGGIWW XS FSXL XLI OMXGLIR ERH XLI VIEV ]EVH EW [IPP EW ER SZIVWM^IH PMZMRK VSSQ GSQTPIXI [MXL FYMPX MR FSSOWLIPZIW ERH ½VITPEGI )\GIPPIRX 4EPS %PXS 7GLSSPW .YERE &VMSRIW )PIQIRXEV] Fletcher Middle, & Gunn High.

7KLV LQIRUPDWLRQ ZDV VXSSOLHG E\ WKLUG SDUW\ VRXUFHV 6DOHV $VVRFLDWH EHOLHYHV WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ LV FRUUHFW EXW KDV QRW YHULÜHG WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ and assumes no legal responsibility for its accuracy. Buyer should verify accuracy and investigate to Buyer’s own satisfaction.

BRIAN CHANCELLOR (650) 303-5511

brianchancellor.com | www.4184KingArthur.com brianc@serenogroup.com | DRE# 01174998 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 3


Give your parents a gift that helps them live better in their own home… A Gift Membership in Avenidas Village!

An Avenidas Village membership provides peace of mind for you and a community of support and resources for your loved ones to help them stay independent and secure. They will enjoy joining a network of active seniors sharing resources for handling life’s transitions, plus: U č iÝÌi à Ûi ÃÌ v ÌÀÕÃÌi` ÃiÀÛ Vi «À Û `iÀÃ Ì i « Þ Õ Ü Ì i À «iÀà > ii`à U Àii > `Þ > > ` ÌiV ÃÕ«« ÀÌ i « • Transportation support with discounted rides U i LiÀý ÜiLà Ìi > ` i > }À Õ«Ã v À v À >Ì > ` Àià ÕÀVi à >À } U - V > iÛi ÌÃ] V ÛiÀÃ>Ì }À Õ«Ã] Ü> } }À Õ« U iV « i V> ­>à `ià Ài`® U č i>ÃÞ Ü>Þ Ì V iVÌ Ü Ì «iiÀà > ` > i iÜ vÀ i `Ã Þ ÕÀ i } L À ` Act now to support the independent path your parents have chosen with a personalized gift ViÀÌ wV>Ìi° À Ài v À Ì «ÕÀV >Ãi] Û Ã Ì ÜÜÜ°čÛi `>Ã6 >}i° À}É} vÌ À call (650) 289-5405 today! Redeem by 12/31/20 to lock in lower 2020 rates. Page 4 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


Upfront

Local news, information and analysis

Council: Housing mandate is a recipe for ‘failure’ Accommodating 10,000 new homes by 2031 is an ‘impossible’ ask, Palo Alto leaders say by Gennady Sheyner

F

aced with a mandate to plan for 10,000 new housing units, Palo Alto’s elected leaders vowed early Tuesday morning to lodge a protest, even as they acknowledged that their resistance will likely prove futile.

The City Council approved by a 6-1 vote, with Mayor Adrian Fine dissenting, a letter to the Association of the Bay Area Governments (ABAG) challenging its recently approved methodology for divvying up 441,176 housing units

among the Bay Area’s nine counties and 101 cities. The regional planning organization, whose executive board is made up of elected leaders from throughout the Bay Area, agreed last month to adopt what’s known as “Option 8A,” which places more housing in areas with jobs, transportation services and educational opportunities. While the actual housing

allocations won’t be formally released until early 2021, the methodology is expected to present Palo Alto with one of the toughest assignments in the Bay Area. Because the city has jobs and public transit stops and because it’s designated as a “high opportunity” zone based on economic, educational and environmental factors, it is being asked to grow by 36% over the eight-year period

between 2023 and 2031, more than any other city in Santa Clara County. More than half of these units would be designated for belowmarket rate, according to the projected numbers. This includes 2,573 units in the “very low” income category, 1,482 in the “low” income category, and 1,673 in the (continued on page 30)

PUBLIC HEALTH

Curfew ordered as COVID-19 cases rise New rules restrict nonessential work, gatherings by Sue Dremann n an attempt to rapidly stanch the spread of COVID-19 in California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday ordered a monthlong curfew, prohibiting all non-essential work, movement and gatherings between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. in counties that are in the state’s purple tier because of high rates of positive cases and hospitalizations. The Thursday announcement came three days after Newsom pulled an “emergency brake” on the state’s virus response, reimposing restrictions on business activities and gatherings throughout much of the state. The decision moved Santa Clara County back from the orange tier, which connotes moderate risk, to the purple tier, which signifies widespread risk. San Mateo County remains in the less restrictive red tier. The order will take effect at 10 p.m. on Saturday and remain in place until 5 a.m. on Dec. 21, according to Newsom’s announcement. “The virus is spreading at a pace we haven’t seen since the start of this pandemic and the next several days and weeks will be critical to stop the surge,” Newsom said in the Thursday announcement. “We are sounding the alarm. It is crucial that we act to decrease transmission and slow hospitalizations before the death count surges. We’ve done it before and we must do it again.”

I Courtesy 49ers Academy

A student engages in distance learning at a community learning hub run by the nonprofit 49ers Academy at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School in East Palo Alto on Sept. 17.

HOLIDAY FUND

Catching students who are falling through the cracks At 49ers Academy’s learning hub, East Palo Alto kids get individual help so they succeed at distance learning by Jocelyn Dong

W

hen the new academic year started at Ravenswood City School District with full distance learning, staff at the nonprofit San Francisco 49ers Academy knew there would be students who would fall through the cracks: Homeless children. Special education students. Youth who take care of younger siblings because

their parents are working all day. Students without reliable internet access. Immigrant children who are just starting to learn English. These, the neediest of those in need, are the ones the 49ers Academy wanted to provide with consistent, individualized attention as well as coordinated help to keep them both in school and thriving.

So in partnership with the Ravenswood City School District, the 49ers Academy opened a community learning hub in September at Cesar Chavez Ravenswood Middle School. The hub provides a safe, quiet, techconnected, structured learning environment where students participate in distance learning. The program started with three

groups of eight students each who meet in separate classrooms, socially distant and masked and with hand sanitizer at the ready. Now, two months in, the middleschool hub has expanded to six groups, or about 43 students, according to Tahisha Victor, the deputy director for the 49ers Academy. Each group is led by a 49ers (continued on page 34)

(continued on page 33)

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 5


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 Heather Zimmerman (223-6515) Express & Digital Editor Jamey Padojino (223-6524) Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena Kadvany (223-6519), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513) Chief Visual Journalist Magali Gauthier (223-6530) Visual Journalist Intern Olivia Treynor Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Lloyd Lee (223-6526)

OUR T EAM IS IN MOT ION FOR YOU

Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Mike Berry, Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Edward Gerard Fike, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Sheryl Nonnenberg, John Orr, Monica Schreiber, Jay Thorwaldson

We’ve all got to dig in and really double down. —Cindy Chavez, Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors president, on stricter COVID-19 health orders. See story on page 5

Around Town

ADVERTISING

Michael Repka | CEO & Managing Broker | DRE #01854880 650.900.7000 | Info@deleonrealty.com www.deleonrealty.com | DRE #01903224

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

Courtesy Jeannette Washington

D E L E O N R E A LT Y, I N C .

Multimedia Advertising Sales Elaine Clark (223-6572), Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Real Estate Advertising Sales Neal Fine (223-6583), Rosemary Lewkowitz (223-6585) Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) ADVERTISING SERVICES Advertising Services Manager Kevin Legarda (223-6597) Sales & Production Coordinator Diane Martin (223-6584) DESIGN Design & Production Manager Kristin Brown (223-6562)

AmiCare SERVICES INCORPORATED

Quality and affordable caregiving services right at the comfort of your home.

CALL FOR A FREE NURSE ASSESSMENT

(650) 709-8900

Senior Designers Linda Atilano, Paul Llewellyn

To place an ad call 650.223.6597 or email digitalads@ paweekly.com.

Designers Kevin Legnon, Amy Levine, Douglas Young BUSINESS Assistant Business Manager Gwen Fischer (223-6575) Business Associates Nico Navarrete (223-6582), Suzanne Ogawa (223-6543) ADMINISTRATION Courier Ruben Espinoza

Sign up today at PaloAltoOnline.com/express

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)

Employment The Palo Alto Weekly offers advertising for Employment, as well as Home and Business Services. If you wish to learn more about these advertising options, please call 650.223.6582 or email digitalads@paweekly.com.

Director, Information Technology & Webmaster Frank A. Bravo (223-6551) Director of Marketing and Audience Development Emily Freeman (223-6560) Major Accounts Sales Manager Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) Circulation Assistant Alicia Santillan Computer System Associates Chris Planessi, Mike Schmidt 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 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. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306. ©2020 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? Email circulation@paweekly.com. You may also subscribe online at PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $120/yr.

Support our Kids with a gift to the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund Donate online at PaloAltoOnline.com/holiday_fund Page 6 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Become a Paid Subscriber for as low as $5 per month Sign up online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com/join

LONG LIVE CAESAR ... Life hasn’t been easy for Caesar. The terrier mix, who went missing Sept. 20 — the day he was adopted — during a trip with his new owners to Pet Food Express on Middlefield Road, stirred worries for nearly seven weeks, said Sacha McDermott, foster and adoption coordinator at Doggie Protective Services. Before he was paired with a new family, Caesar was part of a group of dogs that came out of a hoarding situation and was taken in by the organization. The nonprofit quickly launched a search for Caesar. The effort ended on the morning of Nov. 7 when Palo Alto Animal Control Officer Jeanette Washington responded to a call of a stray dog near the California Avenue Caltrain station huddled behind a wall near the tracks. Washington recognized the dog as Caesar based on a flyer. “I approached the dog slowly at an angle and threw a few nice smelly liver treats,” she said. When that didn’t work, she placed a leash over him and slowly brought him out. “He was a sweet little dog. After we picked him up, a train came by.” Aside from malnourishment and losing 5 pounds, Caesar wasn’t ill, according to McDermott. He’s now eating properly, thriving with foster parents and will hopefully be put up for adoption in a month. THE FUTURE OF HISTORY ... The Palo Alto Museum, a nonprofit group that is trying to build a new museum at the Roth Building, continues to face some steep hurdles — most notably a funding shortage and a City Council that is reluctant to help it rehabilitate the historic, city-owned building at 300 Homer Ave. To boost the effort, the nonprofit welcomed this week four new honorary chairs who it hopes will help get the long-awaited project to the finish

line. They will join current chair Dean Clark, son of Palo Alto’s most famous architect (and Roth Building designer) Birge Clark. The new members are Clayborne Carson, a leading Martin Luther King Jr. scholar who directed the King Papers Project; Gloria Hom, a retired Asian studies professor and former member of the California State Board of Education; David M. Kennedy, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and professor of history and literature at Stanford University; and Susan Packard Orr, a board trustee and former chair of David and Lucile Packard Foundation. On Tuesday night, Kennedy addressed the council’s Finance Committee and urged them to help the city commemorate its “rich history.” “It’s reasonable to assume that going forward, a century from now, that history will be even richer,” Kennedy said. “But if we don’t step up now to preserve what we already have and create and sustain a facility for recording what’s yet to come, who then, a century hence, will know where they come from? Or indeed, how will they know who we were?” The committee heard from a group of supporters of the project but stopped well short of fulfilling their request to help fund the $10.5 million rehabilitation of the Roth Building. Instead, it directed staff to help fund the “cold shell” of the building, a $6 million effort that would result in long-deferred structural and seismic upgrades but require further construction before the museum can occupy it. TESTING UNDERWAY ... Stanford Medicine is hosting one of about 180 sites worldwide conducting tests of an experimental COVID-19 vaccine, it was announced on Oct. 30. The medical school plans to enroll about 1,000 people, who will be among roughly 60,000 people taking part in the large Phase 3 trial for the vaccine by the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Participants will receive either the vaccine or a placebo. “We’re interested in enrolling a wide variety of participants, but we’re particularly interested in those who feel like their home or workplace exposure puts them at risk,” Dr. Philip Grant said in a statement. To learn more, visit ensemblestudy.com. Q


Upfront LAW ENFORCEMENT

In a reversal, Palo Alto moves to increase police oversight City Council prepares to broaden scope of independent police auditor by Gennady Sheyner

F

acing public pressure for more police accountability, the Palo Alto City Council agreed on Monday to empower the city’s independent police auditor to investigate more incidents and to explore a new program in which some emergency calls would be taken by mental health professionals instead of armed officers. In discussing the city’s efforts to promote race and equity, the council generally agreed that it’s time to expand the scope of OIR Group, the Los Angeles-based auditor that has been reviewing all police shootings, Taser deployments and citizen complaints since 2008. The auditor has also traditionally reviewed internal complaints made by officers against their colleagues, though the council decided in December to remove this duty from the auditor’s scope, thus shielding these complaints from public disclosure.

The December action left Palo Alto as the only city that the OIR Group works with that explicitly excludes internal complaints from the scope, auditor Michael Gennaco told the council in September. The city made the change just as Gennaco was preparing to release a review of a 2014 incident in which a white police supervisor used a racial slur when talking to a Black officer. The Monday vote does not restore the auditor’s prior scope. Rather, it directs the council’s Policy and Services Committee to consider returning to the auditor’s oversight internal complaints related to harassment, discrimination or retaliation. It will be up to the committee to decide what the bar should be for triggering an auditor’s review. Vice Mayor Tom DuBois and Council member Lydia Kou supported going further and giving the auditor the power to oversee internal complaints that result in

city investigations of uniformed officers. Others, including council members Eric Filseth and Alison Cormack, felt that this mandate would be too broad. Cormack suggested limiting oversight to complaints that result in officer discipline. The council has seen some pushback after its December decision. Numerous community activists, including Pat Burt and Greer Stone (both of whom were elected to the council on Nov. 3), have advocated for reversing the December action. Some speakers at Monday’s meeting also urged the council to restore the auditor’s power to review internal complaints. Winter Dellenbach, a Barron Park resident and police watchdog, encouraged the council to get internal police investigations “out of the dark cave of HR (human resources)” and back into the purview of the (continued on page 29)

PUBLIC HEALTH

Following Newsom announcement, secondary schools’ reopening could be delayed Palo Alto elementary schools to remain open by Elena Kadvany

A

s Santa Clara County moves into the state’s most restrictive tier, Palo Alto’s elementary schools will remain open but worsening coronavirus trends could mean the middle and high schools won’t reopen in January as planned. Schools that reopened when counties were in a less restrictive tier do not have to close, according to the state. In a message to families and staff on Monday, Superintendent Don Austin emphasized that the local spike in cases is outside of Palo Alto and that the elementary schools are permitted to continue in-person instruction. In-person instruction for small groups of special education and struggling students at the secondary schools will also continue. “We will follow California’s localized solution to measure the spread of illness in our schools and determine when a school or district closure is required. Our elementary schools have demonstrated an ability to follow rules, maintain distancing, and operate within cohorts,” he wrote. Austin told the Weekly that he hasn’t yet received any guidance from the county. If Santa Clara County doesn’t move out of the purple tier before second semester

begins, he will recommend that middle and high schoolers continue with distance learning — which will ultimately be subject to a vote by the school board. The district still asked secondary school families to make their decision between distance learning or a hybrid in-person model for the second semester by Nov. 18, however. “I understand there will be many questions,” Austin wrote in his message. “I will be in contact with the agencies who guide us and will provide updates throughout the week.” Opposition to reopening remains strong among teachers. Gunn High School’s English, social studies and special education departments signed a Nov. 13 open letter to the board and Austin urging them to reconsider reopening, arguing the

district’s plan is “pedagogically unsound” and “does a disservice to our students and exacerbates inequity.” Nearly 80 Palo Alto High School teachers and staff signed their own letter in support of the Gunn teachers. Moving into the purple tier means cases are “widespread” and requires closing indoor dining as well as all indoor activities associated with gyms, museums, zoos and aquariums, places of worship and movie theaters. Shopping malls and all retail establishments must reduce to a maximum capacity indoors of 25%. Under state guidelines, if the county moves back into the red tier, secondary schools can open after two weeks. Q Staff Writer Elena Kadvany can be emailed at ekadvany@ paweekly.com.

Public Agenda A preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to get an update on the Rinconada Park interpretive solar system and receive annual reports on the city’s aquatics program and on Baylands Golf Links. The virtual meeting will begin at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 24. Those wishing to participate by Zoom can do so by dialing 669-9006833 and using Meeting ID: 929 5175 7803.

News Digest New history museum faces funding shortfall Plans to transform the dilapidated Roth Building at 300 Homer Ave. into the new Palo Alto Museum will most likely remain in limbo for the foreseeable future following the City Council Finance Committee’s reluctance on Tuesday to make the kind of investment that would really move the project forward. Members of the Palo Alto Museum requested that the city help it complete the first phase of the project, the restoration of the building to turn it into an occupiable space. The museum has about $1.9 million for the first phase of the museum but remains $2.4 million shy of its goal. Rich Green, president of the Palo Alto Museum board of directors, told the Finance Committee that moving ahead with the construction of a museum at the Roth Building is “the fastest, most cost-effective way to restore this historic building.” But rather than giving the museum the funding it requested, the committee recommended a more limited investment: the construction of the “cold shell” for the new museum at a cost of $6 million. The allocation would enable seismic and structural upgrades to the dilapidated building, bringing it up to safety standards. It would not, however, be sufficient to actually make the building suitable for occupancy. That would cost about $10.5 million, staff and museum leaders have estimated. Q —Gennady Sheyner

One nabbed in College Terrace burglaries A man who allegedly burglarized two homes in Palo Alto’s College Terrace neighborhood was arrested on Wednesday morning, Nov. 11, police said in a statement released on Nov. 13. Detectives are investigating whether he and another man are connected to a series of early-morning burglaries in the city that occurred in October while residents were at home. The second person remains at large, police said. On Nov. 10, police responded to a residential burglary call in the 2300 block of Cornell Street. Home surveillance cameras captured two males attempting to pry open the garage door at 4:07 a.m. When they were unsuccessful, they pried open a side door leading into the garage and stole the bicycles. Officers discovered video footage captured on a neighbor’s surveillance camera of the men arriving and leaving in a white pickup truck. Police also responded to a second call at about 8:10 a.m. regarding a white 2010 GMC Sierra C1500 truck, which had been stolen overnight between midnight and 6:40 a.m. in the 2000 block of Amherst Street. The stolen truck matched the one seen on the surveillance video being driven by the alleged burglars, police said. Then on Nov. 11, at about 6:29 a.m., police responded to a suspicious circumstance call at a residence just down the street from the home burglarized the prior morning. An officer searching the area located the stolen GMC Sierra parked and unoccupied nearby in the 1300 block of California Avenue. Officers located a man matching the description in the video sitting on a bus bench next to a bicycle in the 3000 block of Hansen Way at about 7:20 a.m. He was booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail on suspicion of two counts of residential burglary, possession of stolen property, probation violation, which are all felonies, plus three misdemeanors: possession of methamphetamine, narcotics paraphernalia, and burglary tools. Q —Sue Dremann

Cantor Arts Center head asked to leave Following an external investigation into workplace problems at Stanford’s Cantor Arts Center, Susan Dackerman, the director of the museum since September 2017, is stepping down, an email from Stanford University stated Wednesday, Nov. 18. No date for her departure or explanation of the situation that led to Dackerman’s exit was given in the message from Matthew Tiews, the interim senior associate vice president for the arts and associate vice president for campus engagement. However, Tiews wrote, “The university will be addressing internal concerns and structural considerations so that the museum is best positioned for success going forward.” Allegations that Dackerman led a “toxic workplace” surfaced this summer when the resignation letter from Director of Academic and Public Programs Peter Tokofsky became public. According to a list of staff departures obtained by this news organization, at least 14 people departed from Cantor in 2019-2020, including those in curatorial, exhibitions, events, special projects, collection, communications, security and membership. At least another 16 left between 2017, when Dackerman arrived, and 2019, including those in development, visitor services, conservation. Q —Palo Alto Weekly Staff www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 7


Upfront COMMUNITY

Delivering Thanksgiving dinner — and a little companionship Community group aims to bring cheer to Palo Alto’s most vulnerable by Sue Dremann him if they would like a free meal. Volunteers also poured forth to assist or to provide names of people they know who are in need. That led to plans to deliver about 100 Thanksgiving dinners, and Kushlan expects there could be more requests by next week. The meals are being offered on a first-come, first-served basis until food runs out, he said. The Thanksgiving deliveries are just a small subset of what Kushlan and other volunteers have been doing to help the most vulnerable since the COVID-19 pandemic started. In April, Kushlan spearheaded a community-based group that’s grown to

more than 200 volunteers who help those in need with everything from groceries pickups and dog walking to a friendly phone call to check in. “If COVID has taught me anything about social networks, it’s that we’re all interconnected,” he said by phone this week. In true community style, catering companies, restaurants and individuals are gathering to prepare the meals, with some offering home cooking. His group has taken donations, and some of the cost is being covered out of pocket. One person even donated Christmas-decorated COVID masks to deliver with the meals, he said.

First Church of Christ, Scientist, Palo Alto 3045 Cowper Street, Palo Alto 94306 | 650.493.7870 | www.cspaloalto.org Page 8 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Magali Gauthier

I

magine, during this year of isolation, having to spend Thanksgiving alone. Maybe you don’t even have enough money to buy a holiday meal. It’s a scenario that Howard Kushlan refuses to accept for his Palo Alto neighbors. So he and nearly 20 volunteers have decided to deliver Thanksgiving dinner and a bit of holiday cheer to the doors of the city’s most vulnerable: seniors. If things work out right, they might even hold a community Thanksgiving get-together on Zoom, he said. Kushlan recently invited seniors ages 70 and older to contact

Howard Kushlan waits in line outside Piazza’s Fine Foods in Palo Alto. The Palo Alto resident plans to deliver Thanksgiving meals to local seniors. The need in affluent Palo Alto is eye-opening, he added. Since posting the free dinner offer on the social-networking site Nextdoor, Kushlan has received dozens of emails from people about the trying circumstances under which many in

the community live. The stories gnaw at him. “I’m OK, but my neighbor is 97 years old,” wrote one person. Others say they don’t have enough money for food or that they’ve got no family to help them. “The emails are heartbreaking and devastating,” he said. So the volunteers seek to deliver dignity along with turkey legs and thighs, to make the holiday meals “as seamless as possible” for the recipients, he said. They plan to deliver the dinners at the recipient’s preferred time. But food alone is not enough for human sustenance. Kushlan also wants to create companionship on the holiday. He’s planning a big Zoom Thanksgiving gathering next week, if he can find a way to do it. COVID-19 has taken so many basic human connections away, he said. “I refuse to live in a world where I bring a meal and leave someone to eat it alone, staring at their walls,” he said. Even if no one joins in the Zoom event and he ends up eating alone on the call, he’ll still be there, he said. Kushlan said he assumes his group will do something similar for Christmas. But beyond the holidays, he’s hopeful that out of the tragedy of COVID-19 people will build a new web of connections. “Maybe it becomes an initiative that connects younger families with older people,” he said. “I hope Palo Altans continue engaging with people year round. Nothing feels better than this — nothing.” Kushlan said his thinking and action is encapsulated in a quote he once heard: “The gap between your professed values and what you actually do is where justice goes to die,” he said. “Capitalizing on the community’s sense of urgency is how we’re going to drive change.” Anyone who wants to have a meal delivered, or who wants to donate or volunteer, can contact Howard Kushlan at howardkushlan@gmail.com or by text at 415971-6581. Q Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.


BY APPT ONLY

4206 DARLINGTON COURT, PALO ALTO

Offered at $2,150,000

;IPGSQI XS XLMW FIHVSSQ UYMRXIWWIRXMEP QMH GIRXYV] WX]PI )MGLPIV LSQI [MXL GPIER PMRIW ERH E GPEWWMG STIR ¾SSV TPER ¾SSHIH [MXL REXYVEP PMKLX ,ERHWSQI GIVEQMG XMPI ¾SSVW XLVSYKLSYX ZEYPXIH GIMPMRKW ERH E RI[P] VIQSHIPIH OMXGLIR [MXL QEVFPIH 5YEVX^ GSYRXIVXSTW ERH FEGOWTPEWL ER I\TERWMZI MWPERH [MXL E FVIEOJEWX FEV ERH RI[ ETTPMERGIW ERH GEFMRIXV] 1EXYVI PERHWGETMRK VEMWIH KEVHIR FS\IW ERH GMXVYW XVIIW GER FI IRNS]IH MR XLI WTEGMSYW VIEV ]EVH 8LMW WUYEVI JSSX LSQI MW RIWXPIH SR E WUYEVI JSSX PSX GSRZIRMIRXP] PSGEXIH RIEV I\GIPPIRX 4EPS %PXS schools and parks.

7KLV LQIRUPDWLRQ ZDV VXSSOLHG E\ WKLUG SDUW\ VRXUFHV 6DOHV $VVRFLDWH EHOLHYHV WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ LV FRUUHFW EXW KDV QRW YHULÜHG WKLV LQIRUPDWLRQ and assumes no legal responsibility for its accuracy. Buyer should verify accuracy and investigate to Buyer’s own satisfaction.

BRIAN CHANCELLOR (650) 303-5511

brianchancellor.com | www.4206Darlington.com brianc@serenogroup.com | DRE# 01174998 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 9


Upfront ELECTION 2020

In election squeaker, doctoral candidate wins third East Palo Alto council seat Two incumbents keep their spots for another four-year term by Lloyd Lee

M

ore than two weeks after the Nov. 3 election, the results are more clear: Antonio Lopez will be the youngest and newest member of East Palo Alto’s City Council, joining a five-seat governing body with two veteran incumbents who have comfortably secured another four-year term this election season. Lopez maintains a lead against one of his challengers, Webster Lincoln, with just 67 votes, according to San Mateo County’s election data released on Wednesday evening. He will be replacing veteran incumbent Larry Moody. Lisa Gauthier and Carlos Romero, who received 3,298 and 3,201 votes, respectively, will be going on their third term serving the city. “I’m not worried,” Lincoln said in an interview on Nov. 13, when results increasingly showed the candidate was losing his initial lead. “At the end of the day, I’m running to represent East Palo Alto. If the people don’t think

I’m the right person, then that’s how it is. I really can’t complain.” Lopez, a 2 6 -ye a r- old, Stanford University doctoral student, Webster has remained Lincoln silent on his campaign’s social media accounts and reluctant to call the race in his favor before all the votes have been counted and the county certifies the results on Dec. 3. “It would be a disservice to the county election officials to call it prematurely,” Lopez said on Wednesday. “Let the democratic process play out.” But Lopez’s win seems all but certain. Throughout the entire county, 99.9% of votes have been tallied, and, according to East Palo Alto City Clerk Walfred Solorzano, the city makes up 2.67% of registered voters. Based on that

number, Solorzano said there could only be about six to 12 ballots left to be counted for the city election. “It’s highly improbable Antonio that we’re goLopez ing to have a significant change, but we’ll wait for the official certification of the vote,” Solorzano said. Assuming an unexpected batch of votes don’t overturn his lead, Lopez said his immediate attention as a new council member will turn to the city’s response to COVID-19 and addressing the housing insecurities exacerbated by the pandemic. “The housing crisis has been at the forefront of my mind,” he said. Lopez said that he plans to create more educational campaigns on the “do’s and don’ts of COVID” and on what residents need to

know in terms of rent that needs to be paid and how much of it will be due given the extraordinary circumstances of the health crisis. As a fresh-faced council member, Lopez will be joining three seasoned city council members who have each already served more than one term. “I think it’ll be exciting working with someone who’s young and energetic and clearly has a progressive bent,” Romero said. “If Lopez does take a council seat, there will definitely be three very progressives on the council, and I think that will help move some of the equity and social-economic issues forward that East Palo Alto has to address during this pandemic.” Lopez called it a “wonderful situation” to join a body with so much institutional memory and said he is eager to share his perspectives. “What I’ll remind all of them is that I have had the humble privilege of canvassing every inch of this city, so I’d like to think that I have an organic sense of what the community’s needs are,” he said. “And in particular my passion is for the youth, who might not give a damn about politics, but maybe, with someone like me, they might pay attention.” Lopez’s appeal among younger and Latino voters of the city helped boost the doctoral student’s shot at the third seat. But also critical to overturning the

initial optimistic outlook for Lincoln could have been his raceto-the-finish campaign method, which stirred controversy among some local residents. On Election Day, Lopez hosted a taco stand nearby St. Francis of Assisi Church, one of two voting centers that were available in the city. The candidate publicized the event on social media beforehand, sharing posts that said “Vote & Eat Free Tacos” in English and Spanish. Lopez, Romero and Julian Garcia, who was a candidate for the Ravenswood City School District Board of Trustees, were present on the day of the event. Some community members have called into question the legality of giving out free food near the church, since there are rules against campaigning within 100 feet of a polling location and offering incentives for voting or to vote for a certain candidate or measure. But according to Solorzano, he and a few county field technicians investigated the stand on Nov. 3 and found that Lopez held the event outside of the 100-feet boundary and determined he was (continued on page 34) There’s more news starting on page 29. Read about the Palo Alto planning commission’s recommendation on Castilleja’s proposed expansion.

Thanks for trusting transit. #WeGotYou

Julie VTA Rider Since 1979

vta.org (408) 321-2300 (408) 321-2330 TTY

Page 10 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Morgan VTA Rider Since 2014


Giving Back to the Community

Barron Park Elementary Walk-A-Thon 2020 #1 TEAM IN SILICON VALLEY

Juliana Lee Foundation 4260 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Palo Alto High School

1311 Wayne Way, San Mateo

520 Rhodes Drive, Palo Alto

2 Bedrooms | 2.5 Bathrooms | List Price: $1,288,000 Special Features: Rare End Unit Townhome

3 Bedrooms | 2 Bathrooms | List Price: $3,200,000 Special Features: Lot Size 8,280 sqft

Coming Soon

566 Vista Avenue, Palo Alto

65 Kirby Place, Palo Alto

1 Bedrooms | 1 Bathrooms | List Price: $725,000 Special Features: Cul-de-sac

5 Bedrooms | 4 Bathrooms | List Price: $5,500,000 Special Features: Studio, Lot Size 16,131 sqft

Juliana Lee J MBA/LLB M

650.857.1000 6

Call Juliana Lee for free market analysis

homes@julianalee.com | julianalee.com h

JLEE REALTY Y

Certified Residential Specialist | DRE# 00851314, DRE# 02103053 C www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 11


A Better Health Care Experience Awaits with a Medicare Advantage plan from Stanford Health Care Advantage (HMO)

Learn More at a Free Online Seminar! You will learn: • The Medicare basics you need, including information about eligibility and enrollment dates • A breakdown of the pros and cons of your options such as Original Medicare, Medicare supplements, and Medicare Advantage plans • Ways to save money on your medical and prescription drug costs

• How to get coverage over and above what Original Medicare provides • Details about Stanford Health Care Advantage plans available in your community • How Stanford Health Care Advantage plans give you access to Stanford Medicine and Sutter Health-affiliated doctors, specialists, and hospitals

For a complete list of webinars, visit StanfordMA.com and click Attend a Seminar. Call 1-855-200-9227 (TTY: 711) from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., seven days a week.* Webinar Sat., Nov. 21 | 10 a.m.

Webinar Mon., Nov. 23 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Webinar Tues., Nov. 24 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Webinar Mon., Nov. 30 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Webinar Tues., Dec. 1 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

Webinar Wed., Dec. 2 | 10 a.m. & 2 p.m.

For accommodations of persons with special needs at meetings call 1-855-200-9227 or, for TTY users, 711. *You may reach a messaging service on weekends from April 1 through Sept. 30 and holidays. Please leave a message, and your call will be returned the next business day. Stanford Health Care Advantage is an HMO plan with a Medicare contract. Enrollment in Stanford Health Care Advantage depends on contract renewal. Stanford Health Care Advantage complies with applicable Federal civil rights laws and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or sex. H2986_21-051_C

PAW_11.20

Best Of and Readers’ Choice 2020

For the first time, Best Of and Readers’ Choice won’t include public voting. Instead, we’ll be publishing inspiring stories about how local businesses have taken positive steps to respond to the pandemic and highlighting all they have done for the community.

ERS’ CH

E OIC

This year, our Best Of and Readers’ Choice special publications will honor local businesses, the beloved institutions that have fought to stay open for staff and customers.

READ

Saluting local businesses — the heart and soul of our communities.

2020

Don’t miss our Nov. 27th special edition featuring inspiring stories from those behind the scenes. Learn more at TheAlmanacOnline.com/best_of or PaloAltoOnline.com/best_of For advertising options call 650.326.8210. TheAlmanacOnline.com | PaloAltoOnline.com Page 12 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

2020


1365 Todd Street

Mountain View, CA 94040 #€MmMK @q Ä‘Â•Ă›Â›ÂœÂ›Ă›Â“Â“Â“ — Ä™ Śę • Ä™ Śę Ä° #T KOÄ™ Śę ”Û™•›İÌø/ WyWbUÄ™ Śę Â˜Ă›Â“Â•Â•İÌø/ ds dtoaOs WsKVOb VBp B bOz psBWb_Opp psOO_ oOToWUOoBsdoĂ› oBbUOĂ› MWpVzBpVOoĂ› >OlV|o VddMĂ› /VBol JtW_søWb aWKodzByO MoBzOoĂ› ntBos KdtbsOopĂ› aBoJ_O sW_O JBK^pl_BpVĂ› KObsOo Wp_BbMĂ› BbM pVB^Oo ps|_O KBJWbOspĂ .OadMO_OM B__ BsVodda zWsV bOz yBbWs|Ă› pWb^Ă› 2dsd sdW_OsĂ› stJĂ› BbM dV_Oo TBtKOsp Bs pWb^ BbM stJĂ BpsOo BsVodda VBp B bOz MtB_ pWb^ yBbWs|Ă› ntBos KdtbsOosdlĂ› dV_Oo l_taJWbU  {stoOpĂ› sBb^_Opp 2dsd toilet. Custom shower with porcelain tile. All new Marvin ppObsWB_ _WbO MtB_ølBbO ObOoU|øOT KWObs zWbMdzp Wb Jodb OĂ› WbK_tMWbU bOz BoyWb oObKV Mddop sd oOBo |BoMĂ .OadyOM zB__p sd dlOb sVO ‚ddo l_Bb dTTOoWbU B _BoUO oOBs .dda zVWKV VBp B WyWbU .ddaĂ› WbWbU .ddaĂ› BbM B JOBtsWTt_ bOz WsKVObĂ 2VO doWUWbB_ psBWoKBpO VBp JOOb oOJtW_s Wb B bOz _dKBsWdb sd dlsWaW O sVO _B|dtsĂ .Oø_BbMpKBlOM Todbs BbM oOBo |BoM zWsV ‚dzOopĂ› WooWUBsWdbĂ› UoBppĂ› l_BbspĂ› oBWpOM UBoMOb l_BbsOo JOMpĂ› BbM psOllWbU psdbO lBsVpĂ

Open Smartphone Camera & Point at QR Code to Visit

1365Todd.com

650.218.4337 John@JohnForsythJames.com JohnForsythJames.com DRE 01138400

Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Numbers 01079009 and 01272467. All material presented VOoOWb Wp WbsObMOM Tdo WbTdoaBsWdbB_ ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMà VBbUOp Wb loWKOÛ KdbMWsWdbÛ pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO made without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footage approximate. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 13


Holiday

Waste Service Schedule

GreenWaste of Palo Alto will be closed on Thanksgiving (November 26). If your regular collection day falls on Thanksgiving, your collection day will be moved to Friday (November 27), and customers with a collection day on Friday will be serviced on Saturday (November 28).

MONDAY

A weekly compendium of vital statistics

POLICE CALLS Palo Alto

NOVEMBER SUNDAY

Pulse Nov. 11-Nov. 18

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

22 23 24 25 26 27 28 Questions? Contact GreenWaste of Palo Alto at (650) 493-4894 • pacustomerservice@greenwaste.com

Diana Hawley Thomas January 2, 1945 – July 15, 2020

Diana was the rare individual who, once she decided what she wanted, could accomplish most anything. She was most of all the perfect mother and wife, but she squeezed so much more into her life. Her greatest dream was to have children and raise them to be productive, loving people. She succeeded beyond expectation with Chad, Devon, and Katrina. Diana was the life partner of her husband Stan, whom she met when they were 16, and were never apart (save three years of Navy duty for Stan). She was the most stalwart of friends to so many – if a friend needed help, Diana was always there to provide it. She had an innate sense of what might be wrong and always clear ideas on how to proceed. Not only did she care for family and friends, she also worked for 40 years as a speech and language pathologist specializing in head trauma and stroke. She had the special ability through nonverbal communication, a high amount of empathy, and years of experience to reach a patient on a basic level, and then find a way to bring them therapy that would allow their recovery. Many of her patients became longterm friends. Diana had a multitude of interests: horses, dogs, gardening, painting, music, travel, and fine food. She spent many years as a dressage rider at Stanford Equestrian Center, taking Katrina along from the age of three. She thought dogs should be well trained and took three Golden Retrievers and one Australian Shepherd through obedience competitions. She felt that if dogs misbehaved, it was usually the owner that needed training, and that it was a disservice to the animal if the owner didn’t get it! Diana studied and practiced botanical art for more than twenty years, and as was her way, made many friends in her weekly painting class in San Francisco. She decided to pursue playing the dulcimer after a hiatus of forty years, and was finding joy in the music.

Diana could carry a loaded backpack, sleep on the ground in a tent, make a fire and cook over it, and never complain. Even in the rain. Diana loved travel, any travel, from a weekend in Carmel to weeks in Bhutan. She most enjoyed those places and cultures that were very different from what we are familiar with. Major travel in recent years included Argentina, Costa Rica, Cuba, Bhutan, Cambodia, Mexico, Italy, and Iran. Trips to Tanzania and Egypt were in the works for 2020. Diana also loved plants, and had the same ability to bond with them as she did with people and animals. Her garden is a testament to her as the plants are extremely happy and love the bees with their hives that she recently acquired. Diana was born in Inglewood, California to Perry and Peggy Hawley. She spent her earliest years in San Bernadino and moved to Riverside for high school. There she met Stan, whom she was married to for 53 years, but joined to for 60. She received her Bachelor’s degree from UC Riverside and a Master’s from University of Redlands. She was a member of St. Marks Episcopal Church in Palo Alto. Diana leaves behind her husband Stan and her dearest prizes: Chad Thomas, his wife Cathleen and their children Griffin and Colin; Devon Thomas, his wife Amy and their children Cole and Natasha; and Katrina Sitter, her husband Matt and their children Declan and Nathan. Diana’s family was everything to her, and she is missed terribly. Diana died suddenly on July 15. She was 75. Diana was an ardent supporter of women and would appreciate any support given to Puente de La Costa Sur in Pescadero. Donations can be made at www.myPuente. org or by sending a check to PO box 554, Pescadero, CA 94060. PAID

OBITUARY

Violence related Bryant Street, 11/9, 2:22 p.m.; arson/ misc. Pasteur Drive, 11/12, 11:16 p.m.; battery/ simple. Coastland Drive, 11/16, 12:11 p.m.; suicide adult attempt/misc. Theft related Commercial burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Commercial burglary attempt . . . . . . . . 1 Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Prowler . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Residential burglary attempt. . . . . . . . . 2 Shoplifting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle related Abandoned bicycle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Auto theft attempt. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 1 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 4

OBITUARIES A list of local residents who died recently: Mary Elizabeth “Betty” Schubert, 98, the former president of the Children’s Health Council Auxiliary volunteer program, died on Sept. 17. Ted E. Faravelli Jr., 62, a Palo Alto native, died on Oct. 27. Wilma Murray, 64, a former Palo Alto resident, died on Nov. 4. To read full obituaries, leave remembrances and post photos, go to Lasting Memories at PaloAltoOnline.com/ obituaries. Q

Vehicle accident/prop damage. . . . . . . 4 Vehicle impound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Alcohol or drug related Driving under influence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 3 Under influence of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Located missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Misc. penal code violation . . . . . . . . . . 2 Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Outside investigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Psychiatric subject . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 5 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Menlo Park Nov. 10-Nov. 17 Violence related. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Theft related Fraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Grand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Residential burglary attempt. . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle related Abandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Bicycle theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Driving w/ suspended license. . . . . . . . 2 Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Lost/stolen plates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . 1 Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Alcohol or drug related Possession of paraphernalia . . . . . . . . 1 Miscellaneous Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Mental evaluation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Possession of stolen property . . . . . . . 1 Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . 2 Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

bloodcenter.stanford.edu

Wilma Murray

April 19, 1956 – November 4, 2020 Wilma Murray, 64, peacefully passed away with her loving family at her side on November 4th, 2020. She was born to Ida and Willem Terluin in The Hague, Netherlands. She was raised in Palo Alto, CA and graduated from Palo Alto High School where she excelled in multiple sports and was named Female Athlete of the Year in 1974. She continued to enjoy physical fitness throughout her life and often enjoyed compliments on her youthful appearance. She continued her education at the University of Pacific at which time she met the love of her life Mike. They happily married and raised two wonderful daughters, Brooke and Shannon. She devoted herself to their many activities including countless trips to soccer matches and track meets. Her happiest times were spent on family vacations making countless joyous memories. Her long dedicated career with Valley Mountain Regional Center allowed her to advocate for the needs and opportunities for individuals with disabilities where she touched the lives of many. In honor and memory of Wilma please extend love and kindness to the people in your lives. PAID

Page 14 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

OBITUARY


69 Cornell Road, Menlo Park Offered at $1,950,000 1 Bed | 1 Bath | 793 Sq Ft Home | 4,251 Sq Ft Lot 2VWp O{KOlsWdbB_ KdssBUO Wp WMOB__| _dKBsOM db B quiet street in the coveted Allied Arts neighborhood, midway between downtown Palo Alto and downtown Menlo Park, two of Silicon Valley’s most vibrant hubs. Charming circa 1926 period details including coved KOW_WbUpÛ lWKstoO oBW_pÛ VBoMzddM ‚ddop BbM yWbsBUO Mddo lt__p MO bO sVO KVBoBKsOo dT sVWp plBKWdtp BbM inviting one bedroom, one bath home. Enjoy it as is, oOadMO_Û O{lBbM do l_Bb sd JtW_M JoBbM bOzà {l_doO all of the possibilities. Mature perimeter trees provide a beautiful private setting. Local shops, restaurants, parks, Stanford Mall and Stanford University are nearby as are the highly acclaimed public schools. An outstanding opportunity to move into one of Menlo Park’s most desirable neighborhoods! Photos and Video Available at 69CornellRoad.com

Rankings provided courtesy of Real Trends, The Thousand list of individual agents by total sales volume in 2018. Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01527235. All material presented herein is intended Tdo WbTdoaBsWdbB_ ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoWÂ OMĂ VBbUOp Wb loWKOĂ› KdbMWsWdbĂ› pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOĂ !d psBsOaObs Wp aBMO Bp sd BKKtoBK| dT Bb| MOpKoWlsWdbĂ __ aOBptoOaObsp BbM pntBoO TddsBUO BoO Bllod{WaBsOĂ

Charming Allied Arts Cottage

Colleen Foraker RealtorŽ 650.380.0085 colleen.foraker@compass.com DRE 01349099 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 15


Support our Kids with a gift to the Holiday Fund Last Year’s Grant Recipients 49ers Academy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000 Able Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Acknowledge Alliance (Cleo Eulau) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Ada’s Café . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Adolescent Counseling Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 All Students Matter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 Art in Action. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Art of Yoga. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Bayshore Christian Ministries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Big Brothers Big Sisters. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Buena Vista Homework Club (Caritas). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 CASA of San Mateo County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 CASSY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 DreamCatchers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000 East Palo Alto Academy Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 East Palo Alto Kids Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 East Palo Alto Library (formerly Quest) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 East Palo Alto Tennis & Tutoring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Ecumenical Hunger Progam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Environmental Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Family Connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Fit Kids Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Foundation for a College Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Friends of Junior Musuem & Zoo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Health Connected . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Heart and Home Collaborative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 Hidden Villa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Jasper Ridge Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Kara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Live in Peace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Marine Science Institute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Music in the Schools Foundation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Musikiwest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 New Voices for Youth (Social Good Fund) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,000 Nuestra Casa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Palo Alto Art Center Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Housing. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Music Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Peninsula Bridge Program. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Peninsula College Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Peninsula Volunteers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Ravenswood Education Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$7,500 Rich May Foundation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Rise Together Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Robotics for All. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$3,600 Silicon Valley Bicycle Exchange . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Silicon Valley Urban Debate League . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 St. Francis of Assisi Youth Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 TheatreWorks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Vista Center for Blind & Visually Impaired . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 WeHOPE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$15,000 YMCA - EPA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 YMCA - PA Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Youth Community Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$20,000 Youth Speaks Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000

Child Care Facility Improvement Grants Gatepath (Abilities United) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 All Five. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Grace Lutheran Preschool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 The Learning Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 Palo Alto Community Child Care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$10,000 Palo Alto Friends Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$6,000 Parents Nursery School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$5,000 High school scholarships. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$8,000

E

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 $400,000 by making a generous contribution to the Holiday Fund. With your generosity, we can give a major boost to the

CLICK AND GIVE

Donate online at ssiliconvalleycf.org/ paw-holiday-fund p

programs in our community helping kids and families.

Please consider donating online, which enables your gift to be processed immediately. The secure website is: silconvalleycf.org/paw-holiday-fund Enclosed is a check for $_______________ Name__________________________________________________________ Business Name __________________________________________________ Address ________________________________________________________ City/State/Zip ___________________________________________________

All donors and their gift amounts will be published in the Palo Alto Weekly unless the boxes below are checked.

Email __________________________________________________________

T I wish to contribute anonymously.

Phone _________________________________________________________

T Please withhold the amount of my contribution.

I wish to designate my contribution as follows: (select one)

Please make checks payable to: Silicon Valley Community Foundation

T In my name as shown above

Send coupon and check to:

T In the name of business above OR:

T In honor of:

T In memory of:

T As a gift for:

_______________________________________________________________ (Name of person)

Non-profits: Grant application & guidelines at PaloAltoOnline.com/holiday_fund Application deadline: January 11, 2021

Page 16 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

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.


Spectrum Editorials, letters and opinions

Guest Opinion

Put parking costs where they belong — on businesses by John Guislin

P

alo Alto is again dealing with Residential Preferential Parking Programs (RPPs), energized this time by our new public parking garage near California Avenue. If you live far from any commercial areas, you may not know why these programs exist or the history of their long and difficult gestation. I’ve been working on parking and traffic issues with city staff for more than a decade, including serving on the Downtown RPP Stakeholder Group, and offer my perspective. Historically, many of our neighborhoods that are within a mile of commercial enterprises found their streets overrun by all-day commercial employee parking. After decades of effort, the City Council was pushed by residents to provide some relief via RPPs so that visitors, caregivers and tradespeople can park near the residents they serve. We currently have RPPs covering all or parts of College Terrace, Downtown North, Professorville, University South, Old Palo Alto, Crescent Park, Southgate and Evergreen Park/Mayfield. While these programs have reduced the overcrowding, they have not eliminated the problems (see exception below for College Terrace), and their design fails to put the costs of the programs where they belong: on the dense office businesses that are the source of the problem.

Letters More housing is the right side of history Editor, I’m a Menlo Park resident, currently serving as the Chair of the Menlo Park Housing Commission. I’m writing for myself, as an individual, to urge the Palo Alto City Council to reject suggestions to protest Palo Alto’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers, and instead to embrace the challenge and opportunity of planning for 10,000 new homes in the next housing element. Protesting the Regional Housing Needs Allocation numbers for being too high would perpetuate exclusion. Exclusion not only exacerbates the injustice of racial segregation, it also denies all of us the joy of living in a complete and diverse community

It is alleged by some that RPPs privatize a public resource, i.e., street parking. In fact RPPs do the exact opposite; they stop business employees from all-day monopolization of parking spaces, reducing availability for all others who are blocked from accessing on-street parking. Ending all-day business parking in all residential neighborhoods is a straightforward goal that contributes to making our streets safer, reducing single-occupancy vehicle (SOV) trips, reaching our CO2 emissions goal and protecting residential quality of life (which is prioritized in our Comprehensive Plan). Our state Legislature is pushing to eliminate single-family zoning and dramatically increase the density of residential neighborhoods, while at the same time reducing the amount of parking required from new construction. On-street parking is going to be the only option for most new residents. Giving that parking away to commercial interests guarantees it won’t be there for a growing population. We need to make the commitment, now, that the costs of commercial parking will fall squarely where they belong, on businesses. Why has our council talked for decades about the problem and not been able to address it? Because the business community employs a paid lobbyist with local government connections, Judy Kleinberg from the Chamber of Commerce, whose sole purpose is to deliver benefits to the business community. For decades, the Chamber’s tactics have been delay and denial. While residents have struggled to get RPPs in place, the business community has done nothing to address their parking needs other than lobby our City

with neighbors who are teachers, health aids, clerks and other workers who earn a range of incomes. All of us will rest more easily knowing that we are planning for every person and all families to have a healthy home. And finally, we are staring down a climate crisis. We are out of time and must plan for complete communities in which people can live, work, access healthcare, education and groceries without driving cars. Be on the right side of history, and embrace the opportunity to welcome new neighbors. Karen Grove Alameda de las Pulgas, Menlo Park

Time to meet our housing needs Editor, I appreciate the City Council and community members for

Council. Even with the new publicly funded garage for California Avenue, the Chamber still lobbies to retain all-day commercial parking in adjacent neighborhoods. It is past time for businesses and landlords to address their parking deficits and bear all the costs. An effective model exists today in College Terrace where there are no all-day commercial parking permits issued. It is successful and warmly endorsed by residents. Why is it not available to all neighborhoods? Because of intense lobbying by the business community and some disingenuous City Council members. These council members clamor for reduced SOV traffic, reduced CO2 emissions, increased funding for the Transportation Management Association (which provides no meaningful metrics or enforcement) but refuse to reduce the number of all-day commercial permits available in our residential neighborhoods — the simplest and most cost-effective way to reduce the number of cars coming into Palo Alto. One council member lives in College Terrace, where this rule is currently implemented. There is no legal or moral justification for denying this benefit to all other neighborhoods. For the about-to-open California Avenue garage, some council and Chamber of Commerce members are trying to rewrite history by claiming that the garage was built solely to provide additional parking for businesses. This is a fiction. Residents supported building this garage, funded by public dollars, to provide parking for local-serving retail and to remove all commercial parking from nearby residential neighborhoods. Mayor Adrian Fine acknowledges this at 6:40:40 in the recording of the Nov. 9 council Meeting: RPPs

resoundingly supporting both the housing proposal at 788 San Antonio Road and the expansion of the Housing Incentive Program (HIP) boundaries to selected areas along the San Antonio Corridor. This action helps Palo Alto come closer to meeting our regional housing needs and demonstrates how zoning and incentives can make homes more feasible in this opportunity-rich city. There are many possibilities yet to be explored. Despite our ongoing rhetoric about affordable housing, the council’s past actions have discouraged applicants — only one affordable housing project has been approved in the last two years. And developers have increasingly decided to make proposals in other cities. I hope this project approval is a bellwether sign of a more welcoming attitude toward housing applicants and the creation of a wide range

were designed to “Get the employees out of the RPPs and to provide additional parking for visitors and businesses in that district.” It is important to note that residents have consistently supported small business owners by endorsing high-priority and low-cost permits for local-serving businesses and lowwage workers. Council can also demonstrate its support for these groups through three simple actions: 1. Give local-serving businesses priority for purchasing permits in public garages, including a streamlined renewal process. 2. Make reduced cost permits for low-wage workers available in all public garages. 3. Support the city’s SOV and CO2 reduction goals by ending the sale of all-day commercial permits in residential neighborhoods. Finding a lasting solution to this problem is important for the environmental and quality of life benefits it will bring. But in economic terms there is also an important opportunity cost. I want our city officials to be addressing the safety and traffic congestion issues we face. The recent traffic death of a pedestrian in a downtown crosswalk is a tragedy that we cannot afford to ignore. Let’s put our resources to work on making our streets, sidewalks and crosswalks safer for pedestrians and bicyclists. Let’s reduce traffic and return our public streets in residential neighborhoods to what they were designed for, residential activities. We all deserve no less. Q John Guislin lives in Crescent Park, is actively engaged in efforts to reduce traffic and parking impacts and serves on the Palo Alto Police Department Chief’s Advisory Group.

of multi-unit housing choices to address affordable housing demands. I hope we can begin to demonstrate our willingness to do our part in meeting Regional Housing

Needs Allocation goals, which will require multifamily feasibility in neighborhoods and travel corridors across Palo Alto. Gail A. Price Orme Street, Palo Alto

WHAT DO YOU THINK? The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What do you think about the mandate to build 10K housing units in Palo Alto? Submit letters to the editor of up to 300 words to letters@paweekly.com. Submit guest opinions of 1,000 words to editor@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be accepted. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of permission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Media to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square. For more information, contact Editorial Assistant Lloyd Lee at llee@paweekly. com or 650-223-6526 or Editor Jocelyn Dong at editor@paweekly.com.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 17


Page 18 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 19


Page 20 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 21


Arts & Entertainment A weekly guide to music, theater, art, culture, books and more, edited by Karla Kane

t r a s ’ t r a D e t t e s u o P d Ri c h a r e c a P t a ’ s e i t i l i b i s s o p l a u ‘e x p l o re s v i s Palo Alto gallery presents exhibition by lesser-known member of the New York School

Story by Sheryl Nonnenberg | Photos courtesy Estate of Richard Pousette-Dart/Artists Rights Society (ARS)

A

rt historians are prone to categorizing artists into groups or movements based on style, technique and philosophy. But for every such pigeonhole there are rogue artists or outliers who deviate from the set standards. Richard Pousette-Dart (1916-1992) is generally positioned within the Abstract Expressionist movement, but the current exhibition at Pace Gallery, his first in the Palo Alto venue, demonstrates how he veered away from his better-known colleagues (Jackson Pollock, Willem de Kooning and Mark Rothko) in order to find his own path. On view until Dec. 23 (by

appointment only), the show consists of 16 paintings and works on paper that range in date from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Pace Gallery usually makes a point to refrain from a lot of didactic labeling, but this show opens with five densely patterned roundels from the artist’s “Cosmos” series and a lengthy essay that helps to explain Pousette-Dart’s philosophy and working method. This is a good idea, since most people are not familiar with him, in spite of his association with the Abstract Expressionist movement. Born in Minnesota, PousetteDart found fame in New York City

Top, Richard Pousette-Dart’s “Pulsating Center” is one of 16 works by the artist featured in a show at Pace Palo Alto. Above, Richard Pousette-Dart’s “Radiance Number 8 (Imploding Light Red)” is a large-scale color study composed of tiny daubs of paint. Page 22 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

as one of the pioneering artists working in the new, avant garde style of abstraction. He was included in the groundbreaking “Forty American Moderns” exhibition of 1944 and, along with Pollock, Robert Motherwell, Hans Hoffman and Mark Tobey, in Peggy Guggenheim’s” Spring Salon for Young Artists.” He was one of the youngest members of the “Irascibles,” a contingent of artists who dared the Metropolitan Museum of Art to display more nonrepresentational art. He claimed a place at the notorious Cedar Bar, along with his harddrinking, rebellious colleagues but, by 1951, sought a quieter life and eventually moved with his wife to Suffern, New York. Liz Sullivan, president of Pace Palo Alto, noted that the exhibition reflects the artist’s fluid working style, from the paintings bordered by thick black contour lines to his lighter, almost pointillist paintings that focus on spiritual ideas. She also commented on how PousetteDart further distanced himself from the Abstract Expressionist group by becoming a scholar, teaching at the New School for Social Research, Columbia University and the Art Students League. “He was a highly independent innovator among 20th-century abstract painters, and this presentation is a reminder of PousetteDart’s ability to explore visual possibilities and create paintings and drawings that represent the unknowable,” she said. “Imploding Black,” “Radiance Number Eight” and “Presence Number Three (Black)” all employ tiny daubs of paint, applied

in the characteristic all-over style of the Abstract Expressionists. Unlike Pollock, who used ordinary house paints in much of his work, Pousette-Dart used acrylic and oil paint to achieve these large-scale color studies. And it is amazing how the viewer’s mood can be manipulated as you move from the bright, almost sunny, oranges in “Radiance” to the somber, serious tones of gray and black in “Presence Number Three.” There is no doubt that Pousette-Dart shared Pollock’s philosophy toward abstraction but their approach is noticeably different. Pollock worked in a free-form, spontaneous way — practically dancing above the canvas. In these paintings, we see that PousetteDart was much more methodical, deliberate and planned in both his application of paint and how he approached color and optics. The next room in the gallery contains works that could be perceived as having a kinship with the color squares of Mark Rothko. These paintings tackle the subject of geometry and the juxtaposition of circles, squares and rectangles within bordered canvases. Unlike Rothko, whose colors bled and transfused into each other, Pousette-Dart contains the forms, painted in deep black, as they float within the grey background. Stand before “Transcendental Red” and gaze at the scarlet oblong, painted in such a thick impasto it almost seems like a carpet. Texture, form and color contrast are the themes here and how the manipulation of these facets impact the viewer’s mood and perception. Although Pousette-Dart believed that all art was abstract, to

a degree, he eschewed the Abstract Expressionist label and preferred to call his paintings “presences” and “implosions of color.” In a talk at the Boston Museum School in 1951, the artist said, “Art for me is the heavens forever opening up, like asymmetrical, unpredictable, spontaneous kaleidoscopes. It is magic, it is joy, it is gardens of surprise and miracle.” The last room of the exhibition reflects the artist’s delight in contrasting modes of expression. “Le Jardin Rouge” is red, bold, large and almost aggressive in the thick application of small dots of complementary blue, green and yellow paint. This is not the angst-filled outpouring of a Pollock, but rather the patient study of a man who believed that “art is energy, impulse. It is the question and the answer.” Directly across the gallery is “Radiance Number 3” in which subtle gradations of soft pastels evoke a dreamlike state, calm and introspective. In writing about this exhibition, it really is not enough to try to place Pousette-Dart within the canon of an art historical movement or to even try to describe his work. And it does not come across effectively in reproduction; it should be seen. The artist himself would probably agree. During the above-mentioned talk, Pousette-Dart said, “Paintings can not be explained, they have a life and a being and a voice of their own, they must be personally experienced.” Gallery visits can be scheduled at pacegallery.com/reservations. Q Freelance writer Sheryl Nonnenberg can be emailed at nonnenberg@aol.com.


SO

LD

Represented Buyers:

1039 UNIVERSITY AVE 5 bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms 5,617 SF, Lot 20,000 SF Sold for $8,280,000 on 09/16/20

13531 BURKE RD 5 bedrooms, 5.5 bathrooms 4,289 SF, Lot 15,102 SF Sold for $5,900,000 on 10/27/20

3864 CORINA WAY 5 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms

1039 UNIVERSITY AVE., PALO ALTO SO

3,043 SF, Lot 7,659 SF Sold for $4,100,000 on 07/07/20

LD

13531 BURKE RD., LOS ALTOS HILLS SO

LD

Linda Xu 650-862-7078 linda@lindaxu.com www.LindaXu.com DRE# 01425342

Providing Outstanding Client Service for the Discerning Peninsula Home Buyer and Seller for Almost 20 Years

3864 CORINA WAY, PALO ALTO PA R C A G E N C Y I S T H E A R E A’ S P R E M I E R R E A L E S TAT E B R O K E R A G E 707 MENLO AVE SUITE100 MENLO PARK, CALIFORNIA 94025 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 23 hello@parc-agency.com www.parc-agency.com DRE#02081836


Page 24 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 25


Eating Out Our guide to Thanksgiving meals on the Peninsula Where to get smoked turkey, a prime rib feast, pies and more By Elena Kadvany

W

two ($100): roasted Diestel turkey, herb gravy, cranberry relish, cornbread stuffing, sweet potatogouda gratin and roasted Brussels sprouts with homemade pancetta. You can also order dinner rolls ($9 for six), pumpkin pie, applepecan crumble ($14 each) or up your game with caviar, served with buckwheat blini and chive and lemon crème fraîche ($100). Pickup will be on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2-6 p.m. When you place your order, type your desired pickup time in the notes and ignore the default pickup time. To order, go to zolatogo.com.

Alexander’s Steakhouse Group, multiple locations Not a turkey person? Go big with a prime rib feast ($325) from The Sea by Alexander’s Steakhouse in Palo Alto and Alexander’s Steakhouse in Cupertino. The to-go meal serves six people and comes with a parcooked 7-pound prime rib, au jus,

Courtesy Camper

e all know this Thanksgiving isn’t going to feel normal. Many of us are staying home and scaling down instead of spending much-needed time with extended family and friends. Consider taking the glasshalf-full approach this year and seize the opportunity to create the Thanksgiving you’ve always wanted — no pressure to perform for relatives or politely eat your aunt’s mediocre mashed potatoes. If you want to order dim sum and have three kinds of pie for dessert, you can! (Wait, this sounds great.) Or maybe you only have the mental and physical energy to make a few side dishes and you want to outsource the turkey and dessert. Look to your local eateries to help, and support them in turn during a time when their dining rooms would usually be packed with holiday gatherings and events. And if you are attending or hosting a small gathering, find the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines for safely doing so at tinyurl.com/ cdc-holiday-2020. Here’s our list of Peninsula restaurants and eateries offering takeout meals.

Camper in Menlo Park is offering a to-go Thanksgiving spread, including sides, stuffing, fresh bread and desserts. creamed horseradish, mashed potatoes, Caesar salad and wine. The meal requires some cooking to temperature at home and is available for pickup or delivery Tuesday-Sunday (you must order by 7:45 p.m. the day before). The Sea by Alexander’s is also offering a 52-ounce Wagyu F1 tomahawk chop with three loaded baked potatoes, mushroom gravy and a bottle of Alexander’s Steakhouse cabernet sauvignon ($395). Alexander’s Patisserie in

butternut squash soup, muscatglazed turkey breast with sides and pecan pie cobbler for dessert. To order, go to bit.ly/ FSPATurkeytogo or email richard.lanaud@fourseasons.com by Nov. 20 for pickup at the hotel on Nov. 26.

Mountain View and Cupertino are also making Thanksgiving pies for pickup or delivery. To order, go to alexanderssteakhouse. com/thanksgiving.

Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley, East Palo Alto

Coconuts Caribbean Restaurant, Palo Alto

Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley is making a three-course to-go meal for the holiday, including a

Jerk-roasted turkey with jerk pan gravy, candied yams and rice and beans? Coconuts will be closed on Thanksgiving Day but has a range of Caribbean Thanksgiving meals available for takeout ($90 to $190). Preorder by Nov. 20. To order, go to coconutspaloalto. com/thanksgiving.html.

Camper, Menlo Park Camper is making eight Thanksgiving sides, including buttermilk cornbread, chestnut and sausage stuffing and garlicky mashed potatoes, that you can order all together or in subsets. Plus, desserts from Tarts de Feybesse (hello, pumpkin Parisian flan), Thanksgiving flowers from NoovoBloom, housemade sourdough bread, wine and other add-ons. Reheat instructions will be provided. Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, noon to 5 p.m. To order, go to exploretock. com/camper.

Vina Enoteca, Palo Alto Head to Vina Enoteca for handmade filled-pastas like agnolotti, ravioli, tortelloni and tortellini this Thanksgiving. While you’re at it, pick up some wines, fresh bread and Italian snacks at the restaurant’s new Vina Mercato. To preorder, go to vinaenoteca. com.

Courtesy Belcampo

Zola, Palo Alto French restaurant Zola is offering a Thanksgiving meal for

Belcampo’s is offering seasoned turkey breast with prepared sides.

Page 26 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Little Sky Bakery, Menlo Park You can stock up on Little Sky Bakery’s popular breads, rolls and other baked goods at local farmers markets before Thanksgiving (at Menlo Park on Sunday and at


Eating Out the Portola Valley farmers market on Wednesday, Nov. 23, instead of its usual Thursday). On Thanksgiving Day, owner Tian Mayimin will be baking early and offering deliveries from noon to 3 p.m., as well as some specials: cookie and scone samplers and a seasonal special bread (likely polenta pumpkin seed bread or pumpkin seed fougasse). To order, go to littleskybakery. com/order/.

Thanksgiving produce boxes If you’re immunocompromised or want to avoid grocery stores crowded with holiday shoppers, Sigona’s in Palo Alto and Redwood City will deliver Thanksgiving produce boxes the weeks of Nov. 16 and 23. Locally baked pies are available as add-ons. Local delivery is free for orders over $75. To order, go to sigonashome. c om /shop/ hom e - d el ive r y -produce-boxes/. Farm Box will be offering its usual local produce boxes for delivery with Thanksgiving add-ons like yams, celery, leeks and Three Babes Bakeshop Pies. Orders close Thursdays at noon. To order, go to farmbox.409.co/

Baumé, Palo Alto The two-Michelin-star Baumé will be serving a seven-course prix fixe ($298) or nine-course prix fixe ($398) tasting menu to go, with dishes such as kabocha squash soup and prime ribeye beef with polenta. To order, go to exploretock. com/baume/.

Selby’s, Redwood City/Atherton Selby’s is closed until next year but is still offering a customizable to-go Thanksgiving meal with ready-to-roast turkey, stuffing, scalloped parmesan potatoes, sweet potato rolls and other dishes (from $6 to $254). Selby’s sister restaurant, The Village Bakery, is baking pumpkin, Dutch apple, bourbon-pecan and Meyer lemon pies. Orders must be placed by Monday, Nov. 23, for pickup on Wednesday, Nov. 25. To order, go to eventbrite.com/e/ selbys.

Backhaus, San Mateo Backhaus’ pies are sadly already sold out but you can still

Courtesy The Village Bakery

Get your orders in now for butter buns, levain bread, pumpkin cheesecake mousse, spiced apple crumble pie and other holiday baked goods from Manresa Bread. Available for pickup Nov. 24 and 25, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at any location. To order, go to pre-ordermanresabread.com.

Courtesy The Village Bakery

Manresa Bread, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Campbell

The Village Bakery is taking orders for its pumpkin and Dutch apple pies through Nov. 23. round out your Thanksgiving table with the San Mateo bakery’s excellent breads, from seeded sourdough to whole-wheat pan loaf. (You’re going to need great bread to make your leftovers sandwich on, right?) While you’re at it, order a few croissants or a pear-dark chocolate scone for the morning-after breakfast. All Thanksgiving orders must be placed before noon on Sunday, Nov. 22. Backhaus will be open for preorder pickups only on Thanksgiving Day, with coffee and espresso drinks but no baked goods available. To order, go to backhausthanksgiving.square.site/s/order.

Guinness-braised short ribs, lasagna, sausage-spinach-parmesan stuffing and sweet potato casserole ($88 per person; $25 for children under 12 years old). To make a reservation, go to pastamoon.com.

Belcampo, San Mateo You can order one of Belcampo’s pasture-raised, organic turkeys or, for smaller groups, a seasoned turkey breast, pus prepared sides like Brussels sprouts with bacon and cranberry sauce. Available for pickup or delivery. To order, go to belcampo.com/ pages/san-mateo-hillside.

Keith’s Chicken and Waffles, Daly City

Misfits Bakehouse, Palo Alto

Lean into the nontraditional that is this year and make fried chicken from Keith’s Chicken and Waffles the centerpiece of your Thanksgiving (plus sides like mac and cheese, candied yams and cornbread). Email orders to keithschickennwaffles@gmail. com by Nov. 23 at noon.

Gluten-free bakery Misfits Bakehouse will be making pumpkin pies, croutons and several flavors of paleo, keto

Pasta Moon, Half Moon Bay Italian favorite Pasta Moon will have an extensive Thanksgiving menu available for indoor or outdoor dining on Nov. 26, including hand-carved turkey,

The Smokepoint, San Juan Bautista It’s a bit of a drive out to The Smokepoint, the new barbecue spot opened this month by Jarad Gallagher, the former executive chef of Chez TJ in Mountain View. But maybe this year you have time to spare or no relatives to pretend to please. If so, The Smokepoint is making

2

$

199

$

69

smoked turkey with gravy, stuffing, mashed potatoes, yams, cranberry relish, sauteed greens, salad and berry cobbler ($45 per person) for pickup. Email crew@thesmokepoint.com to place an order.

Just desserts Is dessert the most important part of Thanksgiving? Maybe. Here are a few recommendations for local pies and sweets. Dianda’s Bakery, San Mateo: Dianda’s Italian baked goods are to die for. Do get the famous almond torte, which is so subtly sweet and light that it’s socially acceptable to have it for breakfast as well as dessert. Shampa’s Pies, Pacifica: Owner Haruwn Wesley’s pies are worth driving to the coast for. Go traditional with sweet potato

499

$

(continued on page 28)

Kozy Brothers

OPEN THANKSGIVING 11-26 8AM-3PM 11-27 8AM-6PM

Number5Kitchen, San Carlos Number5Kitchen has the Thanksgiving sides down — stuffing, braised red cabbage, roasted Brussel sprouts and more — plus a black truffle roasted chicken if turkey isn’t your thing, kabocha pumpkin tart with chantilly cream and all the fixings for a holiday appetizer plate. (And maybe add on the restaurant’s Dungeness crab fried rice, while you’re at it?) Pickup is Wednesday, Nov. 25, from noon to 5 p.m. Reheat instructions will be provided. To order, go to number5kitchen. com/thanksgiving.

baklava (including pastrami, black sesame and pecan-walnut) as well as its usual bread and baked goods offerings. Available for local pickup and delivery. Local orders placed by 5 p.m. are available for next day pickup or delivery Monday through Friday. Shipping orders placed by 5 p.m. Tuesday are shipped Monday-Wednesday via UPS second day air (free for orders over $99). To order, go to misfits.kitchen/

Your Your Yo ur Everyday Every veerryyddaay Farmers Farm Fa rmerers Market Maarrkketet M Farm Farm Fa rm Fresh Freresh sh and and nd Always Allwa A ways the the he Best Besest

DE MARTINI ORCHARD

66 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos • 650-948-0881 • DeMartiniOrchard.com

D RIED F RUIT S PECIALS B LENHEIM

DATES B LACK

RAISINS

O RGANIC L OCAL

1999 RED YAMS¢ C ELERY $ 99 $ 99 99 1 11 $ 49 3 SPROUTS CRANBERRIES $ 49 $ 00 $ 99 2 25 4

$

APRICOTS M EDJOOL

L OCALLY G ROWN

D RIED CRANBERRIES

1 # PKG

U NCUT L OTS OF L EAVES FOR LB STUFFING

ORANGE FLESH

ORGANIC YAMS

1 # PKG

1 # PKG

1 # PKG

2

$ 49LB

BUNCH

B RUSSELS

EAST COAST FINEST LB QUALITY

LOCAL TENDER TASTY

GOLDEN

CHANTERELLE

PKG FOR

ITALIAN

FUYU

14

1

H OLIDAY B AKING N EEDS S HELLED

WALNUTS R AW

ALMONDS R AW

PECANS ALMOND PASTE

699 $ 99 6 $ 49 12 $ 99 18 $

1 # PKG

1 # PKG

1 # PKG

LB

N AT U R A L LY G R O W N L O C A L LY G R O W N Pineapples Mushrooms Chestnuts Persimmons WINTER SQUASH ¢ $ 99 $ 99 $ 99 ACORN, SPAGHETTI, KOBOCHA, DELICATA SWEET DUMPLING CARAVAL, BUTTERNUT

O RGANIC B UTTERNUT

¢ 99

99

LB

24

LB

LB

LB

A PPLES L O V

OTS F ARIETIES Y OUR N EIGHBORHOOD M ARKET - F AST I N A ND O UT . GIZDICH RANCH T RYING T O K EEP U S A LL W ELL A ND S AFE . LB SANTA CRUZ WE ARE HAPPY TO OFFER CURBSIDE PICK UP MOUNTAINS LBS TO ALL - CHECK OUR WEBSITE LB 8 KINDS FOR

99¢

2 $400

OPEN DAILY 8 AM- 7 PM • PRICES EFFECTIVE 11/18 thru 11/24

$

9949 4

¢ $ 99

232 49

$ 69 $ ¢00 $399

579

$

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 27


Eating Out 995 Fictitious Name Statement ABBOTT LEARNING FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT File No.: FBN669272 The following person (persons) is (are) doing business as: Abbott Learning, located at 1590 Dana Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94303, Santa Clara County. This business is owned by: An Individual. The name and residence address of the registrant(s) is(are): MATTHEW ABBOTT 1590 Dana Avenue Palo Alto, CA 94303 Registrant began transacting business under the fictitious business name(s) listed above on 9/9/2020. This statement was filed with the County Clerk-Recorder of Santa Clara County on October 20, 2020. (PAW Oct. 30; Nov. 6, 13, 20, 2020)

997 All Other Legals Title Order No. 95524126 Trustee Sale No. 85020 Loan No. EWL5838BRADLEY APN: 132-41-002 NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE YOU ARE IN DEFAULT UNDER A DEED OF TRUST DATED 10/24/2018. UNLESS YOU TAKE ACTION TO PROTECT YOUR PROPERTY, IT MAY BE SOLD AT A PUBLIC SALE. IF YOU NEED AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURE OF THE PROCEEDINGS AGAINST YOU, YOU SHOULD CONTACT A LAWYER. On 12/2/2020 at 10:00 AM, CALIFORNIA TD SPECIALISTS, AS TRUSTEE as the duly appointed Trustee under and pursuant to Deed of Trust Recorded on 11/8/2018 as Instrument No. 24057924 in book N/A, page N/A of official records in the Office of the Recorder of Santa Clara County, California, executed by: CHARLES J. BRADLEY, AN UNMARRIED MAN, as Trustor TROY MORIN, A MARRIED MAN AS HIS SOLE AND SEPARATE PROPERTY, as Beneficiary WILL SELL AT PUBLIC AUCTION TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER FOR CASH (payable at time of sale in lawful money of the United States, by cash, a cashier's check drawn by a state or national bank, a check drawn by a state or federal credit union, or a check drawn by a state or federal savings and loan association, savings association, or savings bank specified in section 5102 of the Financial Code and authorized to do business in this state). At: At the Gated North Market Street entrance of the Superior Courthouse located at 191 North 1st Street San Jose, CA 95113, NOTICE OF TRUSTEE'S SALE — continued all right, title and interest conveyed to and now held by it under said Deed of Trust in the property situated in said County, California described the land therein: See Exhibit "A" Attached Hereto And Made A Part Hereof. The property heretofore described is being sold "as is". The street address and other common designation, if any, of the real property described above is purported to be: 3785 PARK BOULEVARD PALO ALTO, CA 94306. The undersigned Trustee disclaims any liability for any incorrectness of the street address and other common designation, if any, shown herein. Said sale will be made, but without covenant or warranty, expressed or implied, regarding title, possession, or encumbrances, to pay the remaining principal sum of the note(s) secured by said Deed of Trust, with interest thereon, as provided in said note(s), advances, if any, under the terms of the Deed of Trust, estimated fees, charges and expenses of the Trustee and of trusts created by said Deed of Trust, to-wit $363,027.42 (Estimated). Accrued interest and additional advances, if any, will increase this figure prior to sale. The beneficiary under said Deed of Trust heretofore executed and delivered to the undersigned a written Declaration of Default and Demand for Sale, and a written Notice of Default and Election to Sell. The undersigned caused said Notice of Default and Election of Sell to be recorded in the county where the real property is located and more than three months have elapsed since such recordation. DATE: 10/27/2020 CALIFORNIA TD SPECIALISTS, AS TRUSTEE, as

Trustee 8190 EAST KAISER BLVD., ANAHEIM HILLS, CA 92808 PHONE: 714-283-2180 FOR TRUSTEE SALE INFORMATION LOG ON TO: www.stoxposting.com CALL: 844-4777869 PATRICIO S. INCE', VICE PRESIDENT CALIFORNIA TD SPECIALIST IS A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE. "NOTICE TO POTENTIAL BIDDERS: If you are considering bidding on this property lien, you should understand that there are risks involved in bidding at a trustee auction. You will be bidding on a lien, not on the property itself. Placing the highest bid at a trustee auction does not automatically entitle you to free and clear ownership of the property. You should also be aware that the lien being auctioned off may be a junior lien. If you are the highest bidder at the auction, you are or may be responsible for paying off all liens senior to the lien being auctioned off, before you can receive clear title to the property. You are encouraged to investigate the existence, priority, and size of outstanding liens that may exist on this property by contacting the county recorder's office or a title insurance company, either of which may charge you a fee for this information. If you consult either of these resources, you should be aware that the same lender may hold more than one mortgage or deed of trust on the property. NOTICE TO PROPERTY OWNER: The sale date shown on this notice of sale may be postponed one or more times by the mortgagee, beneficiary, trustee, or a court, pursuant to Section 2924g of the California Civil Code. The law requires that information about trustee sale postponements be made available to you and to the public, as a courtesy to those not present at the sale. If you wish to learn whether your sale date has been postponed, and, if applicable, the rescheduled time and date for the sale of this property, you may call 844-477-7869, or visit this internet Web site www.stoxposting.com, using the file number assigned to this case T.S.# 85020. Information about postponements that are very short in duration or that occur close in time to the scheduled sale may not immediately be reflected in the telephone information or on the Internet Web site. The best way to verify postponement information is to attend the scheduled sale." TS# 85020 LEGAL DESCRIPTION EXHIBIT "A" BEGINNING AT A NORTHWESTERLY CORNER OF LOT 24 HEREINAFTER REFERRED TO, AND BEING THE MOST EASTERLY CORNER OF LOT 47 IN BLOCK 9 AS SHOWN UPON THE MAP OF THE BARTLEY TRACT SUBDIVISION NO. 3 OF RECORD IN THE OFFICE OF THE COUNTY RECORDER OF THE COUNTY OF SANTA CLARA, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, IN VOL. "0" OF MAPS, PAGE 66, SAID POINT OF BEGINNING BEING ALSO IN THE SOUTHWESTERLY LINE OF THE RIGHT OF WAY OF THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY; THENCE ALONG THE NORTHERLY AND WESTERLY LINE OF SAID LOT 24 AND ALONG THE LINE OF RIGHT OF WAY OF THE SAID SOUTHERN PACIFIC RAILROAD COMPANY S.51° 30' E. 36.31 FEET OF THE TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING OF THIS DESCRIPTION; THENCE CONTINUING ALONG THE NORTHERLY LINE OF SAID LOT 24 AND SAID RIGHT OF WAY LINE S.51° 30' E. 50 FEET; THENCE S. 33° 30' W. 114.52 FEET TO THE SOUTHEASTERLY PROLONGATION OF THE NORTHEASTERLY LINE OF THIRD STREET, SAID STREET IS SHOWN UPON SAID MAP OF THE BARTLEY TRACT SUBDIVISION NO. 3, THENCE ALONG SAID PROLONGATION OF SAID STREET LINE, N 51° 30' W. 50 FEET; THENCE N. 33° 30' E. 114.52 FEET TO THE TRUE POINT OF BEGINNING AND BEING A PORTION OF LOT 24 AS DELINEATED AND SO DESIGNATED UPON THAT CERTAIN MAP ENTITLED, "MAP OF THE J.J. MORRIS REAL ESTATE CO.'S SUBDIVISION OF PART OF THE WM. N. CURTNER TRACT, BEING A PART OF THE RANCHO RINCON DE SAN FRANCISQUITO", WHICH MAP WAS FILED MARCH 30, 1905 IN THE OFFICE OF THE SAID COUNTY RECORDER IN VOL. "K" OF MAPS, AT PAGE 57. Assessor's Parcel Number: 13241-002

Call Alicia Santillan at 650-223-6578 or email asantillan@paweekly.com for assistance with your legal advertising needs. Page 28 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

ShopTalk

Local food & retail happenings

THE REALREAL MOVES INTO CHEESECAKE FACTORY ... The RealReal, a San Francisco-based company that got its start selling consigned luxury goods online, was set to quietly open the doors of its new 4,300-square-foot shop in a portion of the former Cheesecake Factory at 379 University Ave. in downtown Palo Alto on Friday morning with temperature checks and limited capacity. Under normal circumstances, there would have been much more fanfare — and most likely a long line of customers — celebrating the newest shop from a company that has transformed the second-hand shopping experience. Company spokeswoman Megan Zamiska said shoppers looking for a discount on luxury brands will be able to find clothing, shoes, accessories and handbags from brands like Louis Vuitton and Gucci. The store also carries fine jewelry, watches, art, home goods and furniture: “Everything” in the store is for sale, even the couch that you might be sitting on, Zamiska said. Those looking to buy or sell items can consult with gemologists, handbag experts, resales specialists and valuation managers available on site to provide complimentary valuations and expertise on resale values. The store also features a watchmaker station, onsite tailor and repair services for handbags, shoes, jewelry and watches. The merchandise

Thanksgiving (continued from page 27)

or pecan pie or a sampler pack of five mini pies to try them all. Palo Alto Creamery, Palo Alto: If you can walk past the Creamery’s enormous apple pies in the baking case and not leave with one, I applaud you. Other

at the Palo Alto store has been specifically selected based on local shopping trends, Zamiska said. Men’s bags, for example, are a big focus in Palo Alto. One of the more unique items for sale at the store is an $18,000 Hermes Togo Kelly Galop Retourne 28 handbag that was released as part of a special edition equestrian series. Founded in 2011, The RealReal has grown into one of the largest online marketplaces for authenticated, consigned luxury items. The new store is part of the company’s push to expand its reach offline and comes at a time when Zamiska said more people seem to be putting items on consignment. Since the shutdown in March, the company has experienced a 20% increase in new consignors and has handled 35,000 virtual appointments from those looking to consign. “A lot of people are cleaning out their closets with this new found time,” she said. The company also has locations in San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Dallas and Los Angeles. — L.T. TAM TAM CLOSES ITS DOORS ... The owners of Tamarine announced that their more casual Vietnamese spinoff Tam Tam, opened in downtown Palo Alto last fall, will be closing this weekend. Tanya Hartley and Tammy Huynh decided to not renew their lease at 140 University Ave., they wrote in an Instagram post. Tam Tam’s

flavors include pumpkin, cherry crumb, blueberry, chocolate cream, key lime and chocolate pecan. They make it easy to go a la mode (as you should): ice cream can be ordered by the pint ($8) or quart ($12). Mademoiselle Colette, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Redwood City: The French patisserie is offering traditional Thanksgiving pies,

last day was Nov. 15. The sisters and co-owners opened Tam Tam last September, wanting to bring a more casual, less expensive and “strictly Vietnamese” restaurant to the area. The large corner space has seen numerous restaurants come and go over the years. Before Tam Tam, the space was occupied by Opa Authentic Greek Cuisine, Palo Alto Grill, the shortlived alkymists and Miyake. Hartley said the coronavirus shutdown has been hard for the relatively new restaurant, which initially shifted to takeout only in the spring and then resumed outdoor and indoor dining more recently — though with only two outdoor tables. Reopening the dining room didn’t help much, Hartley said, because Tam Tam hadn’t been open long enough pre-pandemic to develop an established customer base. “COVID made it hard for our future in Palo Alto,” Hartley said. They’re hoping to find a new space for Tam Tam in the area, Hartley said. In the meantime, they plan to offer a few Tam Tam dishes down the street at Tamarine, which is open for indoor and outdoor dining. The sisters are also still planning to open a fast-casual Vietnamese eatery in Mountain View. Q — E.K. Compiled by the Weekly staff; this week written by Linda Taaffe and Elena Kadvany. Got leads on interesting and news-worthy retail developments? The Weekly will check them out. Email shoptalk@ paweekly.com.

but why not treat yourself with an entremet chocolat or mille feuille? It’s been a hard year. You deserve it. Duarte’s Tavern, Pescadero: Make a pie pilgrimage to Duarte’s for some olallieberry or pumpkin pie. Call 650-879-0464 to order. Email Elena Kadvany at ekadvany@paweekly.com

Answers to this week’s puzzles, which can be found on page 35.


Upfront

astilleja School eked out a hard-fought and limited victory Wednesday night, when the Planning and Transportation Commission approved a list of conditions that would allow the school to meet its goal of increasing student enrollment to 540. Over the course of four hours, the commission concluded its monthslong period of deliberations by taking a series of votes that collectively advance the school’s bid to modernize its Bryant Street campus. By a 4-2 vote, with Commissioners Ed Lauing and Doria Summa dissenting, the commission endorsed the conditions of approval for Castilleja’s new conditional use permit, which will allow it to gradually expand enrollment from the current level of 426 students to 540. By the same vote, the commission voted to approve findings for the zoning variance that Castilleja had requested to replace aged buildings with new ones (Commissioner William Riggs was absent). But even as planning commissioners reached numerous compromises over conditions of

C

approval, they hit a stalemate over one key issue that pertains to the expansion: the school’s planned underground garage. For months, residents opposing the project have argued that an underground garage is illegal in a single-family residential neighborhood. And even if it were allowed, it should count toward the school’s gross floor-area-ratio, they have argued. City staff concluded that the prohibition on underground garages is limited to residential uses, thus making Castilleja exempt. They acknowledged, however, that the zoning code is unclear on whether the garage should count toward floor area and have gone along with Castilleja’s request not to count it. In explaining the decision, staff pointed to Congregation Kol Emeth, a synagogue where a newly constructed underground garage did not count toward floor area. Facing vague guidance from the zoning code, the commission deadlocked 3-3 over whether the school’s proposed garage should be allowed and, if so, whether it should be included in the school’s floor area. Summa, Lauing and

Chair Cari Templeton rejected staff’s position that the underground garage is an appropriate and zone-compliant use in the residential neighborhood. Commissioners Michael Alcheck and Barton Hechtman and Vice Chair Giselle Roohparvar all supported the staff position and recommended making the necessary finding to advance the project. The commission’s division over the proposed garage prevented it from approving the necessary findings to formally approve the adoption of the conditional use permit. Its split vote means that it will be up to the City Council to parse the zoning code, hear the various arguments and do what the commission could not: reach a majority decision. The planning commission was more decisive on other aspects of the application, including the conditions of approval that Castilleja would have to meet to move ahead with its campus reconstruction and enrollment expansion. In its third meeting on the subject, the commission voted 4-2 to accept a long list of conditions, including ones that limit special events of

50 or more attendees at the school to 74 annually and that require the school to diligently monitor and regularly report traffic conditions around the school. Most critically, the conditions of approval comply with Castilleja’s request to raise the enrollment cap to 540, provided its traffic impacts don’t increase over time. “I don’t think there’s a problem with having 540 or however many students, as long as there’s no impact on traffic — and that can be managed,” Roohparvar said. The commission’s votes mark the conclusion of a critical phase for a project that has been in the city’s pipeline for the past four years and that has pitted the school’s neighbors against one another. Unlike their colleagues, Lauing and Summa both supported granting Castilleja permission to increase enrollment to 450 instead of 540. Both said the school can always return at a later date to request further growth. The incremental approach, Lauing argued, would give the school a chance to demonstrate that its traffic-reduction programs are working and alleviate neighborhood concerns about the project. There’s no reason, he said, for the city to immediately commit to allowing 540 students. “I don’t think it’s penalizing the school at this point to give them 450 instead of none,” Lauing said. “And I don’t think the extra students will be hard to get to if they just perform and regain trust.” Others suggested that the city’s proposed conditions already go

Police

mental health professional with a police officer for certain emergency responses. The department has been trying for months to join the program, with little success. Police Chief Bob Jonsen couldn’t give a timeline for when the city could be partnering with the county on such a program. The county is currently in the process of hiring clinicians, though the hiring process has proven to be “more a challenge than expected,” City Manager Ed Shikada wrote in a report. Even if that program is implemented, the clinician would only work with the department for part of the week, Jonsen said. “In a perfect world, it would be 24 hours, seven days a week,” Jonsen said. “But that’s just a staffing model on both sides. I don’t think we’ll get there. I think a more realistic model would be four times a week. And we’d program that for most intensive time, depending on the calls for service.” The lack of certainty about county resources has spurred the council to consider hiring someone locally to help police officers respond to medical calls. DuBois suggested that if the county doesn’t assign a PERT professional to Palo Alto in the next six months, the city should pursue creating a program like

Cahoots (Crisis Assistance Helping Out On the Streets), which is in place in Eugene, Oregon, and which directs calls pertaining to homelessness, mental health and substance use to unarmed civilians with expertise in mental health. “I understand it’s going to cost us money, but I’m a little worried that we’re going to pass this tonight, feel good about it, and if nothing ever happens, the county never assigns somebody, it just kind of disappears,” DuBois said of the PERT effort.

Shikada, however, cautioned against moving too fast on pursuing a local model for mental health treatment. The city, he noted, has no expertise in this area. “I’d express some apprehension — and I think appropriate apprehension — about us taking on a profession that we’re not in today, as it relates to behavioral health,” Shikada said. “That is the primary reason why we’d really like to understand what we can accomplish with the county before we

DEVELOPMENT

Commission advances Castilleja’s expansion plan Despite concerns about proposed underground garage, planning commissioners vote to approve conditions allowing expanded enrollment, reconstruction by Gennady Sheyner

(continued from page 7)

independent police auditor. “It is completely inappropriate, and he needs to have the oversight he has always had over internal complaints in the PAPD since 2008,” Dellenbach said. While the council did not reach a decision about internal complaints, members were more unified about expanding the scope of the auditor to include a wider range of incidents that involve the use of force. The council agreed that the auditor should look at all cases where an officer uses a baton, a chemical agent, a Taser, a less-lethal projectile or a canine, as well as any cases that involve injuries that require treatment beyond “minor medical treatment in the field.” The council also unanimously agreed to hold meetings with the police auditor twice a year. The vote to expand the auditor’s scope to include these incidents was one of more than a dozen decisions that the council made on Monday related to police reform. Most of these involve actions that the Police Department and the council are already undertaking, including a bid to join Santa Clara County’s Psychiatric Emergency Response Team (PERT), which pairs a

far enough to mitigate the proposed traffic impacts. Hechtman pointed to the commission’s Nov. 4 vote to institute a “no net new trips” requirement on Castilleja, which the school strongly opposed. The new conditions also require regular traffic monitoring by Castilleja and strict adherence to limits on average daily trips (1,296) and on morning peak hour trips (440). If the school exceeds these limits in consecutive reporting periods, it would be subject to fines and reductions in future enrollment allowances. To further assuage anxieties about traffic impacts, the commission specified that the school’s ability to expand would be based on reviews of three traffic reports, including two from the prior year and one from the year during which the expansion is requested. The list of conditions also includes a long list of transportation-demand management measures to reduce daily traffic, including use of carpool programs, shuttles and incentive programs for faculty, staff and students to use alternative means. Given the city’s strict prohibitions on increasing traffic impacts, there’s no reason to keep the school from adding more than a 100 students, Hechtman said. “I think the safety net is fantastic,” Hechtman said. “It’s foolproof. And it’s that way because it’s been labored over by so many consultants for so many years to get it right.” Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com. were to pursue an independent model.” The council also directed staff to expedite the rollout of the Police Department’s new records management system; to resume annual data collection and analysis of data of police contacts with the public; and to conduct a demographic assessment of the city’s workforce as part of an effort to encourage equity and diversity. Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

O UR T EAM IS IN MOT ION FOR YO U

D E L E O N R E A LT Y, I N C . Michael Repka | CEO & Managing Broker | DRE #01854880 650.900.7000 | Info@deleonrealty.com | www.deleonrealty.com | DRE #01903224 www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 29


Upfront

Housing (continued from page 5)

Olivia Treynor

“moderate” category. For most council members, this is an impossible ask. Palo Alto has struggled to meet its existing regional mandate to accommodate new market-rate housing, and it has fallen well off the mark when it comes to affordable housing. Over the past two years, the only major below market-rate project that the city approved was a 59-apartment complex known as Wilton Court, which required a subsidy of more than $10 million from the city. The new allocation also represents an exponential increase from the city’s current housing target of 1,988 units in the present eight-year Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) cycle. But even as council members acknowledged Tuesday morning that they need to do more on affordable housing, the majority argued that the RHNA process is misguided and that the regional targets set Bay Area cities up for failure. Council member Eric Filseth called the projected allocation numbers “impossible” regardless of what type of zone changes the city undertakes, short of opening the Baylands for development. “Intentionally or not, we’re heading toward a sea change in how land use is done across the state of California,” Filseth said.

A person walks through the Arbor Real neighborhood in Palo Alto on Nov. 13. Arbor Real consists of 181 townhomes built on 16 acres. “Sacramento is giving out un- determine the allocation for each reachable numbers, and the rem- city and county in its jurisdiction. The “zero sum” nature of the edy, when cities don’t meet them, process means that the city’s prois to take over local zoning. “It’s a huge reworking on how tests are unlikely to succeed. Any California land use is done, and reductions that Palo Alto could it’s going to apply to lots of cities potentially obtain would increase allocations in other Bay Area juacross the state,” he added. Vice Mayor Tom DuBois said risdictions. And as recent meetthe problem isn’t so much the al- ings of the various ABAG boards location method but the number and committees have indicated, of units for which the Bay Area other cities aren’t too eager to abis required to plan. The target of sorb Palo Alto’s numbers. While 441,176 units was determined by the various boards ultimately the state Department of Housing settled on Option 8A as a comand Community Development promise, many local officials (HCD), which assigns allocations argued that Silicon Valley cities to every region in California and should get even higher housing althen leaves it up to regional agen- locations, commensurate with the cies like the Association of Bay high job growth that they have Area Governments (ABAG) to been promoting and experiencing

Visit us online at: www.paloaltochamber.com Page 30 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

over the past several decades. In the council’s letter to ABAG, Palo Alto leaders argue that the region’s housing burden is far too high because it’s based on projections in Plan Bay Area 2050, a long-range vision document, rather than on existing conditions. For Palo Alto and other cities in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, the allocations would “result in the need to plan for a population growth equivalent to building a new small city in eight years within existing built-out jurisdictional boundaries.” Palo Alto alone would see its population of about 66,000 go up by 23,000 residents over the eightyear period, or nearly 3,000 annually. This, the letter argues, would require “significant increases in municipal services, including more parkland, expanded public safety services, greater access to libraries and public schools and other services.” The city is requesting in its letter a limit on the housing allotment of a certain percentage of new housing units compared to the city’s existing housing stock. “Development at this scale and pace is not realistic and not feasible for a built-out community,” the letter states. “A growth cap is necessary to ensure jurisdictions can reasonably plan for and produce more housing units.” While council members agreed Tuesday that they should challenge the methodology and ultimately appeal the numbers after they are formally released, they have little hope that their opposition will bear fruit. Over the course of ABAG’s protracted methodology discussion, the city has submitted five comment letters challenging the agency’s assumptions. Planning Director Jonathan Lait acknowledged that the letters have “not been terribly effective in influencing the steady march forward of the RHNA methodology process.” Resident Kelsey Banes, a housing advocate, said that the prospect of ABAG changing its methodology at this point is highly unlikely and urged the city not to challenge the baseline on which the numbers are based. “The main things we look at is access to opportunity and jobs, and Palo Alto has both of those things,” Banes said. “We don’t really have a case to make in terms of why we shouldn’t get homes here because this is a place that needs a lot more homes.” Others supported a more aggressive stance by the city. Greg Schmid, an economist and former Palo Alto vice mayor, called the RHNA numbers for Palo Alto “overwhelming.” They are also, he added, flawed because they concentrate housing in job areas and neglect to consider the impact of job dispersion.

A controversial housing analysis While the council is pushing back on the allocation of housing to Palo Alto, several speakers and council members simultaneously

criticized city staff for citing in their comment letter an analysis issued in September by the research group Embarcadero Institute, which is composed of Palo Alto residents who favor slowgrowth policies. Council member Liz Kniss argued that the group’s paper should not be included or cited in the city’s complaint because the researchers are known to “have a particular philosophy.” The group’s board includes Greer Stone, a teacher who was elected to council earlier this month, former Planning and Transportation Commission member Asher Waldfogel and downtown resident Gabrielle Layton. Both Waldfogel and Layton have been major donors in recent council elections to candidates affiliated with the council’s “residentialist” members. Stone has also been loosely aligned with the slow-growth camp in both his recent council campaign and in his prior council bid in 2016. The Embarcadero Institute alleged in its September report that the state Department of Housing and Community Development exaggerated the housing need in southern California, the Bay Area and the Sacramento area by more than 900,000 units by “double counting.” The document specifically challenges the state agency’s determination that a 5% vacancy is considered healthy, a determination that helps drive up the housing projections. The Embarcadero Institute analysis argues that while a 5% rate is reasonable for rental properties, a more reasonable figure for owner-occupied housing would be 1.5%. The paper also asserts that state agencies double counted factors pertaining to overcrowding and cost-burdening, further driving up numbers. “The state’s approach to determining the housing need must be defensible and reproducible if cities are to be held accountable,” the Embarcadero Institute paper states. “Inaccuracies on this scale mask the fact that cities and counties are surpassing the state’s market-rate housing targets but falling far short in meeting affordable housing targets. The inaccuracies obscure the real problem and the associated solution to the housing crisis — the funding of affordable housing.” Since its release, the Embarcadero Institute paper has become a political hot potato. Even as local officials in cities such as Palo Alto and Beverly Hills have cited it as evidence that state projections are flawed, numerous economists and academics have challenged the paper’s assumptions and conclusions. Stephen Levy, an economist who worked with the Department of Housing and Community Development to develop projections, argued in his letter to the city that the 5% vacancy rate is the agency’s “normal assumption for the total housing stock” and that the rate reflects “important state housing priorities in light of very large price and


Upfront HOUSING

City approves first major housing project of 2020 Council signals its desire to see more residential projects on Palo Alto’s southern edge by Gennady Sheyner

S

rent increases in recent years.” Levy also pushed back on the argument from Embarcadero Institute that the state agency double counted factors relating to overcrowding. The department’s criteria in fact omits some overcrowding scenarios, such as when a young adult moves back with their parents, he said. Chris Elmendorf, a law professor at the University of California, Davis, also criticized the assertion in the Embarcadero Institute paper that the region’s housing need should be equal to projected household growth, with a small vacancy adjustment. “No ‘conventional economist’ would equate California’s housing

a “housing incentive program” on this stretch of San Antonio, a designation that provides zoning incentives such as density bonuses to housing developers. The council’s action underscored the city’s shifting philosophy on housing, particularly on San Antonio. In 2014, council members reluctantly agreed to include the San Antonio Road sites on the city’s Housing Element, a state-mandated document that lays out the city’s strategies for producing more housing. Council members agreed, however, that San Antonio was only on the list as a placeholder and that the city should eventually shift its housing plans away from San Antonio and toward the more transitfriendly areas of downtown and California Avenue. To encourage construction in those areas, the city established a new “housing incentive program” that provides density bonuses and relaxes certain zoning standards for residential projects in downtown, around California Avenue and along El Camino Real. To date, however, there have been few interested developers. The only major residential project that the city has approved in the past two years is Wilton Court, a 59-unit affordable housing development on El Camino, which relied on a different zoning tool — the “affordable housing zone” — to get the necessary zoning concessions. Meanwhile, Palo Alto continues to lag far behind its goal of producing 300 housing units per year. Given the city’s prolonged housing drought, the council is once again expanding its horizons to encompass the commercial area on the city’s southern border. “I think a lot of us over the past few years have hoped that some of our zoning changes would result in housing in downtown and Cal. Ave.,” Mayor Adrian Fine said. “That obviously hasn’t

happened to the extent some of us would have liked, but we are seeing some interest on San Antonio. So I think it’s worth extending the HIP (Housing Incentive Program) to these sites on San Antonio.” DuBois supported the development at 788 San Antonio but was less keen on extending zoning benefits to other San Antonio sites. “I’m still not convinced that this corner is the best place for housing,” DuBois said. “I am concerned that we’re going to dump a lot of density on the border of south Palo Alto.” The factors that have prompted the council to previously reject San Antonio as a suitable housing site still apply, DuBois said. “There’s not a lot of community services. There’s not a school. There’s not really transit,” he added. The biggest resistance to the project came from residents of Greenhouse and Greenhouse 2, condominium communities across the street from the project site. Pamela Harter, who lives in Greenhouse 2, noted that the area has heavy traffic, poor bike amenities and very little public transportation. The Planning and Transportation Commission, which voted in August to approve this project, shared the sentiment and encouraged the council to fund a transportation study for this area. While the developer and several project supporters touted the project’s bike-friendly amenities and its proximity to major employers as significant benefits, Harter said she was “flabbergasted that everyone thinks that this is such an ideal place to bike.” “We don’t have any transportation coming up and down the street in terms of buses and there’s no bike lanes,” Harter said. “People have to dodge bikes on the sidewalk because there’s no place for bikes and people to walk.”

But the vast majority of the roughly 30 residents who attended the virtual meeting urged the council to approve the project and add much-needed housing. “I think San Antonio is an underappreciated resource in Palo Alto and this project at 788 San Antonio can be an anchor — an anchor tenant if you will for revitalization of higher density housing in Palo Alto,” housing advocate John Kelley said. Former Council member Gail Price, who now serves as board president of Palo Alto Forward, a nonprofit that advocates for more housing, said the project will help the city come closer to meet its regional housing allocations (see story on page 5). She also wrote to the council that the project would “demonstrate the viability of the area for new housing.” “Approval of the project and needed zoning changes will send a signal to regional and state agencies that Palo Alto is taking our increased housing goals seriously and providing zoning and incentives to make such housing feasible,” Price said. The zone change would apply to 16 properties that are currently zoned as “service commercial,” a designation that typically includes auto services, motels and appliance stores. The new designation

need with projected household growth,” Elmendorf wrote in a series of tweets challenging the study. The Embarcadero Institute study likewise proved contentious at Tuesday’s discussion, with the council voting 4-3 along its usual political lines to exclude references to the report from the city’s protest letter. DuBois, Filseth and Council member Lydia Kou all supported referencing the study in the city’s letter; Fine, Kniss, Greg Tanaka and Alison Cormack voted for exclusion. Fine characterized the report as “positional” and argued that it is based on the group’s known opposition to new housing. He also

voted against the letter, which will bear his signature despite his vote of dissent. “We have all the tools at our disposal to being able to solve this problem, to meeting our own Comprehensive Plan goals, and this council is split on using that tool and extending it to a certain area to promote more housing,” Fine said, alluding to the council’s 4-3 vote earlier in the meeting to extend the city’s “housing incentive program” — which gives density bonuses to housing developments — to a two-block stretch of San Antonio Road. “That’s why other cities are not happy with us. That’s why we are dark red on that map and getting

one of the highest assignments in the entire Bay Area.” Despite the council majority’s critique of the Embarcadero Institute analysis, most council members supported challenging the proposed RHNA numbers. DuBois called the projections a dramatic increase that is “really setting us up for failure.” “I’m not interested in shifting our allocation to other cities,” DuBois said. “I’d rather see us align with other cities to ensure that the total is something that is achievable and makes sense.” He also suggested that the city should be prepared to support or join lawsuits that challenge the Department of Housing and

Courtesy Studio S Squared Architecture

eeking to make a small dent in addressing the city’s housing crisis, the Palo Alto City Council approved on Tuesday morning its largest residential project of the year: a 102-apartment development on San Antonio Road. By a unanimous vote, the council backed a proposal by 788 SAPA Land LLC to construct a four-story building with 102 apartments and 1,800 square feet of retail at 788 San Antonio Road, near Leghorn Street. The project’s residential component consists of 32 studios, 66 onebedroom units and four two-bedroom apartments. Sixteen would be restricted to below-market-rate households. While the developer plans to rent these as apartments, the city’s approval allows for them to be converted to condominiums at a later time. “The goal of the project is to serve a range of renters and a range of income levels,” said Ted O’Hanlon, who represented the project applicant. “That’s both for the inclusionary housing but also for the other renters — or maybe owners — of the property.” “Generally, we are studios and one-bedrooms. … So this will certainly lend itself to single dwellers or perhaps couples.” In supporting the project, the council signaled its desire to both approve a major new housing development for the first time this year and to raise the stature of San Antonio Road as a location for housing. In addition to backing the residential project, the council voted to extend some of the zoning benefits of this project to 16 other properties on the twoblock stretch of San Antonio, between Middlefield and Charleston roads, with the goal of attracting additional developments. By a 4-3 vote, with Vice Mayor Tom DuBois, and council members Eric Filseth and Lydia Kou dissenting, the council established

A housing project at 788 San Antonio Road in Palo Alto approved by the City Council on Nov. 17 includes 32 studios, 66 onebedroom units and four two-bedroom units. would allow — and encourage — housing by roughly doubling the density allowed for residential projects. The housing program also lets developers use balcony spaces and rooftops to meet the city’s requirements for providing open space. While some council members lamented the lack of services, Council member Liz Kniss observed that there is one benefit to approving a project at a relatively remote site: little neighborhood resistance. “Normally we get pushback from people who live close by, who don’t want something of that size,” Kniss said. “It’s kind of a pleasure to not be in somebody’s backyard. That makes a big difference.” Kou, who supported the housing development, voted against the extension of the zone change to other areas on San Antonio, saying that the move goes against the city’s Comprehensive Plan and its prior housing vision. “We’ve just upzoned a lot of these parcels to provide these parcel owners with more profitability,” Kou said. “Essentially, what we’ve done is increase the value of land all around the corridor.” Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com. Community Development housing allocation. “Government can’t be arbitrary and capricious,” DuBois said. “We need numbers that are based on realistic assumptions. If we get numbers that are not achievable and those have repercussions on our ability to govern our city, then we have an obligation to defend ourselves and defend our city.” Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be emailed at gsheyner@ paweekly.com. About the cover: Under new housing allocations, Palo Alto may have to build 10,000 new housing units. Photo by Olivia Treynor. Cover design by Douglas Young.

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 31


• • • • • • • • •

Charming Palo Alto Crescent Park Setting

756 University Avenue, Palo Alto Bedrooms: 2 | Bathrooms: 2 | Living: +/-1,313 sq ft

List Price: $1,698,000

Nick Granoski | 650-269-8556 Nick@GranoskiWeil.com DRE 00994196

David Weil | 650-823-3855 David@GranoskiWeil.com DRE 01400271

Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01866771. All material presented herein is intended for informational ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMà VBbUOp Wb loWKOÛ KdbMWsWdbÛ pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOà !d psBsOaObs Wp aBMO Bp sd BKKtoBK| of any description. All measurements and square footage are approximate.

Page 32 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com


Upfront

Curfew (continued from page 5)

The order’s intent is to target social activities and gatherings that have a higher likelihood of including participants who do not adhere to safety measures like wearing a face covering and maintaining social distance. COVID-19 cases in California have increased by about 50% in the first week of November, according to state officials. The curfew is just the latest action to curtail activity, following his Monday decision to place more than 94% of the state’s population in the most restrictive tier. Under the purple tier, restaurants are limited to outdoor service only, and only outdoor gatherings in Santa Clara County are allowed for places of worship, museums, family entertainment centers, movies and professional sports without live audiences. All retailers, including shopping malls, are restricted to 25% of capacity indoors.

The return to a red tier means that San Mateo County restaurants must limit indoor dining to 25% of capacity, and other businesses, such as fitness centers, will face additional restrictions. Santa Clara County officials had already announced on Nov. 13 that they would again ban indoor dining and add other yetto-be determined restrictions to public gatherings in response to a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases. It was the second time in a week that the county addressed the growth in cases. The infection rate and hospitalizations have continued to increase since Nov. 9, mirroring trends seen across the Bay Area, the state and in many other parts of the country, county Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said at a press conference. “Unfortunately, I’m here to deliver more sobering news,” Cody said. “It is absolutely imperative that we take action now.” The local curve has been shooting “straight up” since about Nov. 3, she said. “The steepness of that curve required that we act swiftly.”

On Nov. 16 during a press conference in San Jose, Cody reiterated the importance of adhering to state and county guidelines regarding social distancing, wearing masks and businesses’ compliance with restrictions. Santa Clara County had 388 new confirmed cases on Nov. 16. On Nov. 13 she had said there were 110 hospitalizations, an increase from an average of 80 hospitalizations per day in October. “We need every citizen and business in our county to take this extremely seriously,” she said. Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors President Cindy Chavez said on Friday that she realizes that people are growing weary of the restrictions. “As a community we tried really hard to fight this back,” she said. “So this is really bad news and it’s really hard to hear. We’ve all got to dig in and really double down.” Q Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner contributed to this story. Staff Writer Sue Dremann can be emailed at sdremann@ paweekly.com.

BY THE NUMBERS Santa Clara County COVID-19 trends in the past month Oct. 18

Nov. 18

173

281

23,224

29,297

373

453

Newly hospitalized patients

11

22

Total hospitalized

78

155

101

261

New cases Cumulative cases Deaths

Seven-day rolling average of new cases per day Source: Santa Clara County

RECOGNIZING LOCAL HEROES LOCAL HERO

LOCAL HERO

Bob Roth

Palo Alto Stanford Community Thank you to the PALO ALTO STANFORD COMMUNITY for coming to the rescue when we lost our home to fire; giving shelter, meals, clothes, advice, and notes of love. We are deeply grateful! Please help us now BRING HOPE HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS for our less fortunate neighbors at covid19.fgt.org. Submitted by: Megan Swezey Fogarty

Bob Roth has spent 25 years curbing nonnative plants at Foothills Preserve. As a charter member of Friends of Foothill, a group dedicated to habitat restoration, Bob has shared his knowledge widely. The preserve needs more heroes of his kind as it enters its new phase. Submitted by: Ruth Marshall & Roger Smith

Have a local hero you want to recognize? Spread the joy and support our journalism efforts by giving him/her a shout-out in the Palo Alto Weekly. Submit entries at PaloAltoOnline.com/local_hero/

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 33


Upfront

Holiday Fund (continued from page 5)

Academy staff member who is equipped in classroom management, but the leader is not a teacher and the hub doesn’t provide inperson instruction. Instead, the staff member is a much-needed troubleshooter, a guide who helps the students to stay on track. From 9 a.m. until noon, students participate in synchronous, realtime learning online with their Ravenswood classes. After lunch, they engage in independent study. The program has made a huge difference for the youth, both academically and socio-emotionally. “The first week, they were in awe that they could see other kids,” Victor recalled. Even though the newness of that has worn off, and the restrictions of public health requirements keep students from getting too close, Victor said the continuing value lies in knowing there are other kids going through the same thing. Beyond providing a safe and quiet space, the hubs are also venues for 49ers Academy staff to give targeted assistance to the students. For students who start coming to the hub after having missed several weeks of school, the hub leaders help them to catch up on their assignments. For kids

who would benefit from talking with teachers during their virtual office hours but aren’t aware that option is available, their hub leader helps them to make the connection. “We’re noticing that information that’s being given is lost in translation,” Victor said. “Navigating has been the key.” Other times, the middle schoolers simply want someone to help them understand an assignment, Victor said. “Some students have an individualized education plan (IEP), and they just need extra support to get through certain classes.” So much of what the 49ers Academy hub leaders do is personalized to the students’ situations, she said. When they realized that some children were being dropped off at campus far ahead of the start of the school day because their parents needed to get to work, Victor said, 49ers staff accommodated them. “We get here really early,” she noted. When staff realized that older siblings were tasked with being the caretakers for younger ones, the nonprofit invited the sisters and brothers to the middle-school hub. That both reduces the coronavirus risk of having siblings in hubs at separate schools and also relieves the responsibility of the older child.

“Taking off that pressure for the sibling is important,” Victor said. The 49ers Academy’s longstanding mission of meeting students’ needs holistically has carried over to the community learning hubs. In partnership with the school district, students receive breakfast and lunch every weekday, and if they need dinner as well, they’re provided with a packaged dinner to take home. Boxes of fresh food are distributed every Monday to families who need them and include vegetables, eggs and bread among other items. The 49ers Academy has also connected students with extra programs like physical education and virtual tutoring. When students were recently asked how the program has helped them, comments ranged from gratitude for the quiet learning environment on campus and joy at being able to see other kids every day to an acknowledgement that the program enabled the student to catch up on schoolwork. “You guys always find me help,” one sixth-grader said. “And you help my mom when she asks, like getting a tutor and stuff.” Funding for the 49ers Academy comes from numerous sources, including the 49ers Foundation. It also this year received a $20,000 grant from the Palo Alto Weekly Holiday Fund to provide

academic and social support services for Ravenswood middle school students and also those attending Menlo Atherton High. The Holiday Fund and community support are critical so that kids can reach their full potential, even in the pandemic, Victor said. “So many kids for the most part are being left behind. I think about this a lot. If we didn’t open our doors, English-language learners who’ve missed many assignments would be considered bad learners — but they’re not bad learners; they just didn’t have the support,” she said. “This is not babysitting; this is not day care. This is ... an opportunity to come into a safe environment to get school work done, and if there’s a barrier, we address them with the resources we have.” Having expanded from three cohorts to now six, the nonprofit

hopes to add more groups in order to serve more students who are struggling with distance learning and the chaos that the pandemic has created for their families. “This is a small Band-Aid. We’re trying to pick out the families with the most need,” Victor said. “Having the resources to address these dire needs is important.” Q The Holiday Fund campaign to raise $400,000 for local nonprofit agencies serving families, kids and individuals in need is now in full swing. Please see page 16 of this edition for information, or to donate online to the campaign, go to siliconvalleycf.org/Pawholiday-fund. More information about the 49ers Academy is available at 49ersacademy.org. Editor Jocelyn Dong can be emailed at jdong@paweekly.com.

Online This Week

These and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAlto Online.com/news.

Mah wins county school board election As of Wednesday, Nov. 18, at 4:15 p.m., Grace Mah’s lead of Melissa Baten Caswell for the Area 1 seat on the Santa Clara County Board of Education grew to 4,075, according to the latest election results based on 99% of ballots counted by the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. (Posted Nov. 18, 4:45 p.m.)

Sheriff won’t release records, faces subpoenas

East Palo Alto (continued from page 10)

not explicitly exchanging incentives for votes that day. “There was no quid pro quo,” Solorzano said. But Lopez did encourage people’s votes on a few state propositions and Measure V, the local hotel tax increase, in the same online post that publicized free food. “We have the chance to restore the right to vote for prisoners (and) increase funding for affordable housing through Measure V,” the Oct. 29 post stated. One community member, who wished to remain anonymous, has since reported the matter to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office and the U.S. Department of Justice. In response to the allegations, Lopez said he consulted closely with election officials and they affirmed that the event was allowed. Lopez said the event was not intended to encourage voters to support his campaign but was instead “an affirmation that we care and that this campaign cares and that this community will be fed and taken care of.” Legalities aside, Lopez agreed that his in-person campaigning and his push to the final hour of Election Day contributed to what’s turned out to be a razorthin victory. “When I was canvassing, there were folks who we might have missed, so doing that second or third run around helped,” he said.

“Every door knock mattered.” County data shows Romero and Lopez ultimately performed the best at vote centers out of all seven candidates, receiving 485 and 450 votes, respectively, through inperson votes. The rest came from mailed and drop-off ballots. (In contrast, Lincoln outperformed Lopez with mailed and drop-off ballots, though only by 20 votes, according to the latest data.) Perhaps the biggest upset of the race was Council member Larry Moody’s loss, which was apparent at the outset of election night when the first set of results was released. Like Gauthier and Romero, who both attributed their win to their long history in the city, Moody is a prominent community figure — with experience in East Palo Alto going back as far as 1993 — who was seeking a third term on the council. Support from residents, endorsement from the county’s Democratic Party, and the nearly $15,000 raised through donations pointed to signs of the candidate’s status as a local household name and his strong chance of retaining his seat. But latest results showed Moody only landed the sixth most votes in this election, with 265 more votes than Stewart Hyland — a nonprofit director and first-time challenger who came in last in the race — and 395 fewer votes than Juan Mendez, another younger, first-time challenger who raised substantially less money than Moody. “I haven’t taken it all in yet,” Moody said on election night. “This might be the first time on

Page 34 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Nov. 3 that I went to bed not certain that I was going to be reelected.” During the Weekly’s live broadcast of the election results, Moody said he was unsure where his future role in the city lies next but was certain that he will pay close attention, as a council member or not, to the city’s relationship with the East Palo Alto sanitary district. “I think that’s a conversation that my wife and my family certainly need to have,” Moody said. “I don’t think there’s any rush to make a decision.” The 2020 election was also groundbreaking for East Palo Alto given the record number of voter registrations and turnout in the city. In 2016, 6,965 out of 10,221 registered voters cast their ballots, according to statewide data analyzed by the Bay Area Equity Atlas. As of Wednesday evening, 8,575 out of 11,848 registered voters participated in this election — a 72.3% voter turnout and counting. Solorzano couldn’t discredit the role the high stakes presidential election played in driving those numbers up. But he also emphasized that it was the work of the seven candidates, coming from a diverse mix of backgrounds and generations, that helped increase the turnout. “I’m very happy because the community and the city worked hard on voter registration,” Solorzano said. “Anything less than a record turnout would have been disappointing.” Q Editorial Assistant Lloyd Lee can be emailed at llee@ paweekly.com.

Santa Clara County Sheriff Laurie Smith, after months of negotiation, refuses to sign an agreement allowing a civilian law enforcement watchdog access to critical records. Now, county officials are stepping in and subpoenas might be on the way. (Posted Nov. 18, 9:38 a.m.)

County launches virtual health program Starting this month, teens and young adults across Santa Clara County now have a place online to vent, hang out with peers and find new ways to cope with depression and anxiety — all without having to leave home thanks to the county’s new Virtual You program. (Posted Nov. 17, 1:54 p.m.)

CityView A round-up

of Palo Alto government action this week

City Council (Nov. 16)

788 San Antonio Road: The council approved a 102-apartment complex at 788 San Antonio Road. Yes: Unanimous Housing Incentive Program: The council approved the extension of the city’s “housing incentive program” to San Antonio Road, between Middlefield and East Charleston roads. Yes: Cormack, Fine, Kniss, Tanaka No: DuBois, Filseth, Kou RHNA: The council approved a letter to the Association of Bay Area Governments protesting the methodology for the Regional Housing Needs Allocation process. Yes: Cormack, DuBois, Filseth, Kniss, Kou, Tanaka No: Fine

Council Finance Committee (Nov. 17)

Palo Alto Museum: The committee recommended that staff allocate funding to construct a “cold shell” for the Roth Building, which would bring it up to seismic and structural standards, so that the building can later accommodate the Palo Alto Museum. Yes: Unanimous

Planning and Transportation Commission (Nov. 18)

Castilleja: The commission voted to recommend conditions of approval for Castilleja School’s new conditional use permit, which would impose new requirements for traffic mitigation and allow the school to gradually expand student enrollment from 426 to 540 . Yes: Alcheck, Hechtman, Roohparvar, Templeton No: Lauing, Summa Absent: Riggs

Architectural Review Board (Nov. 19)

Objective standards: The board continued its review of objective standards for evaluating new developments. Action: None


Welcome to 319 Walsh Road, Atherton 4 Beds | 3.5 Baths | 3,185 Sq Ft | New Price: $3,900,000 Built in 2014 and situated on prestigious Walsh .dBM Wb sVOosdbĂ› sVWp oBTspaBb ps|_O VdaO offers the best of California living. 9WsV MOpWUbOo  bWpVOp sVodtUVdts BbM B plBKWdtp aBWb _OyO_ dlOb ‚ddo l_BbĂ› sVWp VdaO Wp lOoTOKs for any gathering. The lower level has a media BoOBĂ› Bb dT KOĂŚJOModdaĂ› BbM Tt__ JBsVĂ› WMOB_ for guests and work from home. Experience a backyard oasis with gardens and space for lounging and entertaining. Steps form highly acclaimed Las Lomitas Elementary School. For a video tour & more info visit: 319walsh.com

Karin Riley 650.465.6210 karin.riley@compass.com DRE 01725481 dalBpp Wp B oOB_ OpsBsO Jod^Oo _WKObpOM J| sVO /sBsO dT B_WTdobWB BbM BJWMOp J| ntB_ dtpWbU #lldostbWs| _BzpĂ WKObpO !taJOo Â“Â”Â˜Â•ÂšÂ•Â–Â˜Ă __ aBsOoWB_ loOpObsOM VOoOWb Wp WbsObMOM Tdo WbTdoaBsWdbB_ ltoldpOp db_| BbM Wp KdalW_OM Toda pdtoKOp MOOaOM oO_WBJ_O Jts VBp bds JOOb yOoW OMĂ VBbUOp Wb loWKOĂ› KdbMWsWdbĂ› pB_O do zWsVMoBzB_ aB| JO aBMO zWsVdts bdsWKOĂ !d statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate.

Across 1 1 of 100 still being finalized in D.C. 4 Company with “counting sheep� ads 9 Beginning (of the hour) 12 “The Clan of the Cave Bear� author Jean 14 It may have a big impact 15 “___ Been Thinking About You� (1991 Londonbeat song) 16 Greetings from trained bears? 18 Shirt marker 19 “Can you wait just a freaking minute?!� 20 It had a baby face in “Teletubbies� 21 Escapees from Pandora’s box 22 “George of the Jungle� creature 23 “___ and Juice� 25 California ballplayer 27 Burn a little 29 Modern, to Merkel 31 Annoying 34 Deployed with alacrity? 37 “The Princess and the Frog� princess 40 Heavy metal singer Ronnie James ___ 41 Pronounce 42 Way to keep your spiky sea creatures fastened? 45 City that shares Seattle’s airport 46 “The King and I� actor Brynner 47 Chaka who sang “I Feel for You� 51 Discharges 53 Back-to-school mo. 55 Fertility clinic supply 56 Disinfectant sheet 58 Burj Khalifa’s loc. 60 Alloy containing tin 62 Bug that might bug you in the kitchen 63 Tool to help build a city? 65 Descend diagonally 66 Battleship blasts 67 “The Flintstones� pet

“UR Here� — as if it isn’t obvious. by Matt Jones

This week’s SUDOKU

Answers on page 28.

Answers on page 28.

68 What Portland went back to recently 69 Printer’s excess 70 Animal in “Jack and the Beanstalk� Down 1 People get steamed there 2 One side of “the pond� 3 AriZona alternative 4 Fix a button 5 HHH, in Greek 6 Accelerate 7 Polish site 8 “___ longa, vita brevis� 9 Golf ball brand 10 Like the head of a tennis racket 11 Lite-Brite bulbs, really

13 “Hamilton� creator ___-Manuel Miranda 14 Asking for a tiny bit of fish, maybe? 17 December cartonful 21 Siberia’s neighbor on a Risk board 24 Lists of basics 26 Shrivel 28 Hurry back, perhaps 30 Cohesiveness 32 “Born,� in some notices 33 E. Berlin was its capital 35 “Army of Darkness� director Sam 36 Donut, mathematically 37 Boy king of Egypt 38 Levin who wrote “Rosemary’s Baby� 39 Be resigned to one’s fate

www.sudoku.name

43 Quick learner 44 Hebrew alphabet starters 48 It’ll pick up the faintest of noises 49 Oat-based skin product brand 50 Like some margins 52 Weasel cousin 54 Shepherd’s pie bit 56 Paper nest builder 57 Calligrapher’s supply 59 Icicle lights locale 61 2000s Iraq war subject, briefly 63 Charging port, maybe 64 “Mmhmmâ€? motion Š 2020 Matt Jones

www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • November 20, 2020 • Page 35


44 McCormick Lane, Atherton

NEW CONSTRUCTION BLENDING MODERN SOPHISTICATION AND EUROPEAN FLAIR

7

BEDS

$15,850,000

7+3 BATHS

1

ACRE LOT

44McCormick.com

Stunning masterpiece over 12,000 sq ft total 7 bedrooms, 7 full baths, and 3 half-baths Guest house complete with kitchen and laundry Exceptional space and options to work from home .OKoOBsWdb oddaÛ øpOBs sVOBsoOÛ sbOpp KObsOoÛ Û İ Jdss_O zWbO KO__BoÛ dT KOÛ BbM KoBTsæVdJJ| odda Main-level junior suite and upstairs primary suite State-of-the art systems for comfort and convenience +dd_Û plBÛ JBoJOKtO KObsOoÛ BbM oO lWs db ]tps over one acre Award-winning Menlo Park schools

Page 36 • November 20, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com

Judy Citron 650.400.8424 judy@judycitron.com judycitron.com DRE 01825569

#1 Individual Compass Realtor, California #7 Individual Agent in the USA, WSJ 2020


Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.