Diana, you are on-point here in many ways. I think staff actually supported The Arrillaga Towers proposal to the tune of $500,000 not $250,000.
‘Our Palo Alto” meanwhile, as if we haven’t learned anything, or it is too soon to react, is a $325, 000 slush fund to help the incumbents AND a subsidy to the developers; it is more like a dog-and-pony show selling to the participants than a dialogue or an opportunity for residents to speak up.
When I first heard of the Arrillaga 27 Uni proposal I commented on a blog that council member Pat Burt seemed unconvincing when he said “we are taking the lead here”. In fact, Burt confronted me in person and told me to back down, tried to intimidate me (and did). Little did I know how right I was: he did know things such that his body language belied his words.
Further: Palo Alto city staff used the public interest in the historic 456 University, the Varsity Theatre to sugar-coat the 27 Uni office towers: they suggested adding a theatre to the plan. Staff meanwhile stonewalled an initiative to find a concert-industry tenant for The Varsity.
I like your idea about having a rule against the revolving door, based on San Jose example.
When I was in school they still taught one-person one-vote (I am Gunn High of Palo Alto, 1982; Dartmouth College of Hanover, NH, 1986); when did we switch over to one-dollar one-vote?
When did Democracy become Dollarocracy? How do we switch it back?
b/w (backed with — it’s music ling0) because the computer wanted me to see this:
1.4 million: Current annual number of prescriptions for hydrocodone, a powerful pain reliever, to Bay Area residents.
5.6: Percent of people age 12 and older in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties who take prescription pain relievers for nonmedical purposes.
638,000: Number of California residents age 26 and up who use illicit drugs, excluding marijuana; that’s 2.7 percent of the population
159 per 100,000 population: Number of visits to hospital emergency rooms each year in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo counties for stimulant abuse; the national average is 30 visits per 100,000 people.
Sources: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Association, data from 2012; City and County of San Francisco Department of Public Health
by Patrick May and Heather Somerville, San Jose Mercury News:
Plastic Alto with Mark Weiss 