PAN 2024 Candidates Forum Transcript
[00:00:47] Here’s the format for the evening. First, each candidate will be given 30 seconds, got that, that’s in bold, 30 seconds to introduce themselves. After [00:01:00] opening statements, we have a series of questions that have been prepared by PAN based on issues raised by residents. Several candidates will answer each, each question before we move to the next one.
[00:01:14] Not every person will be answering every question, but each candidate will be asked an equal number of questions. The candidates will have one minute to answer each question, except for a few quick fire questions. The quick fire questions are yes, no. They’re not yes, and, but. They’re just yes, no. Yes, no.
[00:01:38] Got it. Okay. And while I realize that one minute is a very short period of time, and we will be discussing complex issues, we want to be sure that we have a chance to hear from everyone. We have timers that will inform the candidates when 15 seconds remain, and a stop indicator [00:02:00] when their minute is up.
[00:02:02] So candidates, when you see stop, please complete your sentence, and So that we can proceed to the next candidate. Pan’s leadership has sought to create questions around issues of importance to residents across all Palo Alto neighborhoods. To be clear, I have not written or edited any of these questions.
[00:02:26] I am simply the moderator. Nor are the candidates privy to any of the questions in advance. After the prepared questions, if time allows, each candidate will be given 30 seconds for a closing remark. This event will end promptly at 9 p. m. Ready? Let’s get started. Alright. So, you will have 30 seconds to introduce yourself to the audience and provide an opening statement.
[00:02:59] We [00:03:00] will go in the order in which you’re seated, so we will start with Keith Reckdahl.
[00:03:06] Keith Reckdahl: Thank you. Yes, I’m Keith Reckdahl. I am running for City Council. For the last 12 years, I’ve been on two city commissions and three workgroups, and the reason I’m running for the City Council is that we have 6, 000 units to build, the state has mandated that, and I want to maximize the livability for all our new residents to have the same.
[00:03:25] Thank you. walkable retail and parks and bike lanes that we enjoy in Palo Alto. But also we have to minimize the impact that this new housing has on the existing residents. All
[00:03:38] Cari Templeton: right, Carrie Templeton. Hi, I’m Carrie Templeton. I’m running for council, too. And so it’s really nice to be here. Thank you all for coming.
[00:03:48] To tell you a little bit about my background. I’m, I’ve lived here about 20 years. I’ve lived in Ventura first and then in Barron Park. And I’ve been six years on the Planning and Transportation Commission working with several of my colleagues [00:04:00] here. I’ve also had the opportunity to work on the Measure S Oversight Committee, which sees, oversees how 50 million dollars of, of our money is spent and make sure that our creeks, creeks are safe.
[00:04:11] Thank you.
[00:04:13] Greer Stone.
[00:04:16] Greer Stone: Good evening, everyone. My name is Greer Stone I have the honor of being the mayor of Palo Alto this year and wrapping up my first term on the Palo Alto I’m a public school teacher, an attorney as well. I’ve been representing this city in a variety of capacities since I was just 23 years old.
[00:04:33] When I was first appointed to the Palo Alto Human Relations Commission, Joe Sumidian then appointed me to the County Human Rights Commission, and then ran for council and was successful in, in 2020. Hoping to be able to earn your support to give me another four years and to continue representing you. So thanks for being here.
[00:04:49] Thank you. And Doria Summa.
[00:04:52] Doria Summa: Thank you. I’m Doria Suman. I want to thank everybody who’s here tonight and all of you out there in TV land. And also [00:05:00] thank you to PAN for organizing this forum. I know it’s a lot of work. I was in PAN for years. So, I’m a 38 year resident of Palo Alto, the city I love. And I have spent 17 years on boards.
[00:05:13] And commissions for the city. I want to be on the council so that I can continue to serve the residents and local businesses and in the most effective manner possible. Thank you.
[00:05:23] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Katie
[00:05:26] Katie Causey: . Hello, my name is Katie Causey. I’m a lifelong Palo Alto resident, been here over 30 years. I’m a proud graduate of Pali, and I currently serve on the city’s Human Relations Commission, making sure city policymaking is fair and equal.
[00:05:40] Professionally, I work with city governments on their street infrastructure, ensuring streets are safe. Repairs happen quickly, and they’re safe. I’m endorsed by over 200 elected officials, community leaders, and neighbors, and I’m running after serving with our seniors and family, running to ensure that this is a community where everyone can thrive.
[00:05:58] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:05:59] [00:06:00] Anne Cribbs
[00:06:00] good evening. I’m Anne Cribbs. I’ve lived here in Palo Alto since 1967 and I now am on the city’s Palo Alto Recreation commission. I’m running for council because I’ve been very frustrated in our inability to get. things done as fast as possible and I, as a swimmer, I like to get to the end of the pool and so that’s what I am about right now.
[00:06:28] I also believe very much in housing and in getting coverly accomplished.
[00:06:35] Thank you. Pat Burt.
[00:06:37] Pat Burt: Hi, I’m Pat Burt. I’ve lived in Palo 44 years now. We first got started in civic involvement with the South of Forest Neighborhoods Group and the SOFA Coordinated Area Plan, and I served nine years on the Planning Commission, and then nine years on the Council came back on the Council four years ago, so I’ve, and served [00:07:00] three terms as Mayor, and all that time committed to serving the people of, throughout Palo Alto.
[00:07:06] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. George Liu.
[00:07:09] George Lu: Thank you. Thank you for joining us. I’m George Liu. I’m running for Palo Alto City Council. I’m a peninsula native, planning and transportation commissioner, and product manager, and I’m running on more housing affordability, safe streets, and vibrant retail. Underlying all that, we need to tackle the Palo Alto process and get more things done more effectively.
[00:07:30] I’d be honored to have your support in building a more responsive, more livable, and more vibrant city. Thank you.
[00:07:37] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Henry Etzkowitz.
[00:07:41] Henry Etzkowitz: I’m Henry Yatskowitz, Senior Advocate, Community Organizer. We stopped Stanford from pushing the seniors out of Oak Creek, where I lived two years ago, and we’re working now to bring back the clubhouse and spread its activities across Palo Alto.
[00:07:55] Underground the railroad, close Si Si Siu Hai Alley. Build plant an [00:08:00] urban forest along San Antonio. The paper called me the candidate with big, bold ideas. And that’s true. But these are ideas that are proven and have worked elsewhere. I’m Henry Yatskowitz. Park Avenue, New York, Underground Railroad, Urban Forest, Rio de Janeiro.
[00:08:15] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:08:17] Alright, now we’ve heard from everyone. We’re going to start with a couple of questions about their goals. Which issue facing Palo Alto concerns you the most and why? What ideas do you have for addressing this one concern? We’ll start with Henry.
[00:08:50] Henry Etzkowitz: stop Stanford from pushing us out, we realized that the underlying problem was the lack of housing for seniors, for Stanford students. And so I proposed, let’s build at [00:09:00] scale on the Stanford Shopping Center, and proposed that to the council. No attention was paid, and that’s what led me to run for office.
[00:09:07] Let’s partner with Stan Stanford. Build on the garages. 10, 000 living, working lofts. Nobody’s going back to the offices. Build And the shopping centers are disappearing. So let’s rethink them and use them for what we need. Which are living, working, lofts. That’s the reality of life in Silicon Valley today.
[00:09:28] Of what we need for the future.
[00:09:31] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Anne Cribbs.
[00:09:36] Anne Cribbs: Thank you. My biggest concern is getting projects done. I would like to see us not take so long to have permits accomplished, to have unfinished, unfinished facilities, unfinished bathrooms in the parks, unfinished coverley, and unfinished problems, especially for kids because they grow up.
[00:09:58] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. [00:10:00] George.
[00:10:03] George Lu: I’m running on three big priorities. And one of them, or chief among them, is housing affordability. Housing affordability and just planning and actually building more housing is one of the best things we can do for our climate. It’s one of the best things we can do for our schools. It’s how we get a truly inclusive community where police, teacher, fire, and all workers can actually participate equally in our community.
[00:10:31] It’s also how we create opportunity. Growing up, I have memories of going to so many open houses in Palo Alto and not making it, and I’m lucky to live here now, and I want to make sure that more people get to experience the great parts of Palo Alto. And we can build housing in a way that benefits our neighborhoods and improves quality of life for everyone.
[00:10:49] We need more transit oriented housing. We need really effective streamlining. We need housing that’s also fairly distributed throughout the city. And we need neighborhood plans that don’t ultimately [00:11:00] take seven years to actually ship. So housing and all of the positive effects are my biggest issue.
[00:11:05] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Greer.
[00:11:12] Greer Stone: The biggest issue we’re going to be facing Palo Alto in the next term is are, are these. State mandates and and the city being able to fill our our housing element that was recently certified by the state We have a we’re going to be required to produce over 3, 000 affordable housing units within this next Housing cycle.
[00:11:33] And that’s gonna be a, a clear challenge for us to be able to, to make. But we have been doing leader, we, we’ve been leading on that issue by really creating sustainable a, a plan for sustainable housing and housing development. And really strategic places along, around the city that is going to minimize impacts on neighborhoods and really be able to allow us to be able to hit those housing targets.
[00:11:57] But none of this, of course, is, is [00:12:00] free. And so we have to use both inclusionary zoning to be able to get additional affordable housing out of market rate developers. We’re doing that along the El Camino Real focus area. We also have to identify additional funding mechanisms. And I have some ideas for that.
[00:12:13] I’m out, I’m out of time.
[00:12:15] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. What are the top three goals you want to achieve in the next four years on City Council? Katie.
[00:12:28] Katie Causey: The top three goals for me are investing in our bicycle and pedestrian plans, making sure that it is, anybody can safely walk, bike, get around their neighborhood. That’s important for our climate goals.
[00:12:41] And last year I severely broke my leg and I know what it’s like to navigate the city in a wheelchair, which is the reality for a lot of our residents. The next goal for me is, Is housing. I bring the unique perspective of working in our housing nonprofits with our seniors and families when they’re close to having nowhere to live, and how they navigate our city’s [00:13:00] resources and where there’s flaws in those resources so ensuring that we not only Build housing, build more affordable housing, pass renter protections, and continue to invest in our housing non profits.
[00:13:10] And lastly, I’m running on the city having its first LGBT Pride celebration and more community cultural events. Serving on the Human Relations Commission, that is an area where we have seen a ton of feedback and we’re seeing cities on the peninsula have a lot of cultural events that help support their local businesses.
[00:13:28] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Keith.
[00:13:30] Keith Reckdahl: Yeah. Yeah. So I mentioned earlier housing is Everybody’s first goal is 6, 000 units is going to be a big ask and we have to do it right. We just, my experience on the Fry’s site was when we planned that, people were just warehousing. The staff came back with designs that just crammed people in without any concern about their livability.
[00:13:51] And we have to make livable housing. We’re not just trying to make places to live. We’re trying to make good places to live. So that is going to be the biggest challenge. [00:14:00] The second big challenge is retail. Our retail is really struggling. We have vacancies, our streetscapes are looking old, California Avenue is a mess.
[00:14:09] We have to proactively fix that. And then finally, the last is community safety. We lost a lot of firemen, a lot of police officers during COVID. We’ve hired a lot of them back, partly due to Measure K numbers, but also due to our sales tax coming back. But we need, right now, there’s no Mitchell Park fire engine.
[00:14:28] We have to fully staff all of our fire engines and fully staff our police department.
[00:14:35] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Doria. Yeah.
[00:14:39] Doria Summa: Thank you. So I, I also, in addition to building new housing units, I think it’s very important that we try to maintain existing affordable housing and not upzone everything so that people can stay in their neighborhoods and places.
[00:14:53] I think it’s really exciting that we’re going to be able to plan a new design for Coverley and get that going. [00:15:00] We’ve, we needed to do that and it’s a diamond in the rough at Cubberley and a great opportunity for a really comp, comprehensive community center. I, I also agree that we need to get safety improvements and specifically in the fire department with fire staffing, but also we need to support both fire and police with equipment.
[00:15:19] And finally, in addition to the wonderful advances we’re making in electrification, I want to make sure we don’t forget about the other aspects of protecting nature, tree canopy, bird safe design and stream side creek ordinance. Thank you. Thank you,
[00:15:36] Hillary Freeman: Pat.
[00:15:39] Pat Burt: Thank you. Well, I agree that our biggest challenge in the next.
[00:15:43] Eight years is how we will accommodate the 6, 000 housing units that the state mandated that we provide for and that are in our housing element. And that’s the biggest growth in housing in 60 years in this community. It’s nearly 25 [00:16:00] percent increase in all of our number of housing units. So making that so that those are real places in the community that have the services that we’ve expected.
[00:16:10] Is extremely important. That means we’re going to have to have the funding for those things. There are advocates that want to reduce our impact fees, that’s how we pay for affordable housing, parks, and community spaces. We also badly need to invest in our downtowns and our retail areas to help them through the transition that’s occurring there.
[00:16:32] And lastly, we need to continue to commit to our climate protection and climate mitigation.
[00:16:40] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Cari.
[00:16:44] Cari Templeton: Did you ask, can you clarify the question again? Was it what our goals are or what the biggest issues are?
[00:16:48] Hillary Freeman: What are the top three goals you want to achieve in the next four years on the City Council?
[00:16:55] Cari Templeton: Thank you. It’s a great question and I, I make that distinction because definitely [00:17:00] we’ve heard the candidates talk about what are the top issues. There’s other things I, I want to talk about as well. So I’m just going to say those are all wonderful things to, to work towards. For me, I would like to work towards making sure that we have goals that we can all get behind, like zero traffic fatalities in a given calendar year.
[00:17:20] That would be, oh, sorry Can you hear me now? Zero traffic fatalities in a given year, that’s Vision Zero it’s been rebranded, we have a new name for it, but generally, what can we do to make our roads safer, have fewer bike fatalities or pedestrian accidents, and have kids be safe biking to school, and that safety feeling is very important.
[00:17:40] I’m running out of time here, so I will also say that I, I think it’s very important for us to work on programs that get people together, like. Community Centers and California’s Third Thursday. Thank you.
[00:17:53] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. All right, let’s switch to housing. These questions [00:18:00] are going to be those yes or no.
[00:18:02] Just, that’s it. Yes, no. Okay. Got it? Everybody, everybody’s on board. Okay. It’s going to be really hard. It’s going to, I know, but, but it is what it is. All right. Yes or no. All right. Thank you. Do you support any housing on, on the Coverly site? Keith?
[00:18:21] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[00:18:22] Hillary Freeman: Cari?
[00:18:23] Cari Templeton: Yes.
[00:18:25] Hillary Freeman: Greer?
[00:18:25] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[00:18:27] Katie? Yes. Doria?
[00:18:32] Doria Summa: No.
[00:18:33] Hillary Freeman: Anne?
[00:18:34] George Lu: No.
[00:18:36] Hillary Freeman: George?
[00:18:38] George Lu: No.
[00:18:38] But.
[00:18:41] Hillary Freeman: George, come on. Okay. Pat?
[00:18:45] Pat Burt: No.
[00:18:46] Hillary Freeman: And Henry? Yes. Okay. Second question, also yes or no. Given the housing shortage, do you think that Palo Alto should [00:19:00] be taxing ghost houses via a vacant home tax? Anne?
[00:19:09] Anne Cribbs: Yes.
[00:19:10] Hillary Freeman: Katie? Yes. Doria?
[00:19:15] Doria Summa: Maybe. Pat.
[00:19:20] Pat Burt: Yes.
[00:19:23] Hillary Freeman: George.
[00:19:24] Keith Reckdahl: Yes.
[00:19:25] Hillary Freeman: Henry. Yes. Keith.
[00:19:28] Keith Reckdahl: Yes.
[00:19:31] Hillary Freeman: Cari. Nope. And Greer.
[00:19:34] Greer Stone: Yes.
[00:19:36] Hillary Freeman: A. Next yes or no. A commissioner commented about the burden we are putting on developers to include 15 percent BMR, below market rate, units in their housing development. Do you agree? It’s kind of a weird question, I’ll say it again.[00:20:00]
[00:20:01] A commissioner commented about the burden we are putting on the developers to include To include 15% below market rate units in their housing development. So we’re, it’s a hard question. So basically not question I know. So let’s just say the com a a commissioner made a comment that we, that we’re hurting development by adding a 15% BMR unit, 15% BMR units.
[00:20:35] In their developments, we are hurting them. Do you agree or disagree that we are hurting the developers? So yes. Means you agree that we are hurting the developers, no means we are not hurting the developers by adding the 15% BMR requirement.
[00:20:58] Anne Cribbs: But you’re saying 15, [00:21:00] not 50,
[00:21:01] Hillary Freeman: 15%. Thank you. Yeah, 15%. Okay, so Carrie.
[00:21:08] Cari Templeton: No, we’re not hurting anyone.
[00:21:10] Hillary Freeman: Okay. George. No. Okay. Henry. No. Heath.
[00:21:16] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[00:21:18] Hillary Freeman: Pat.
[00:21:22] Oh, okay. Thank you. Okay. Greer.
[00:21:25] Greer Stone: No.
[00:21:27] Doria.
[00:21:28] Doria Summa: No.
[00:21:29] Okay. Katie.
[00:21:31] Katie Causey: No.
[00:21:32] Hillary Freeman: And Anne. No. Well, that distinguished everyone. Thank you. Thank you. I’m going to move on. Right. Now, we’re going to go back to regular questions, so you actually have your minute to answer. What problem does the Builders Remedy solve, given that only 20 percent affordable units are required?[00:22:00]
[00:22:01] First up is Anne.
[00:22:05] Anne Cribbs: So, you’re asking what problem does the Builders Remedy solve?
[00:22:11] Hillary Freeman: Yes. Given that only 20 percent affordable units are required. So I will interpret this as the Builders Remedy says that 20 percent affordable units are required. Is that correct? Well, I think you have to know what the building’s really selling at that.
[00:22:30] Okay.
[00:22:45] Anne Cribbs: I understand, excuse me, I understand what it does but when people have talked about the builder’s remedy, they always say, oh gosh, we’re going to build a 20 story building right in the middle of a neighborhood and then call it a builder’s [00:23:00] remedy. So I think that It probably works out just fine to have 20 percent with the Builder’s Remedy.
[00:23:08] But I don’t think it works out just fine for the Builder’s Remedy to get 20 stories someplace. So that’s a little ambiguous.
[00:23:18] Cari Templeton: Hey, Carrie.
[00:23:21] We’re asking what problem it solves to have the Builder’s Remedy or to have it include 20%.
[00:23:26] Hillary Freeman: So, does the Builders Remedy solve, what problems do you think the Builders Remedy solves, if any, given that only 20 percent affordable units are required?
[00:23:38] Cari Templeton: I think it’s not a favorable law, and I don’t think it benefits our community.
[00:23:42] I think its function is to sort of intimidate communities into building projects in areas that are considered more obstructionist than permissive. And I think it’s a tactic that is not very popular here. I don’t think it’s solving any problems, it’s, [00:24:00] it’s something that has been very scary for our community, especially as we’ve had to go into our housing element and revise it several times.
[00:24:06] I think fourth revision got approved. So I think we need to understand that this is something that is external to our community and that we’re dealing with because it’s state law, but it’s not necessarily something that we are. Experiencing benefits from thank you.
[00:24:23] Hillary Freeman: Thank you and George
[00:24:28] George Lu: Yeah, the builders remedy acts It doesn’t solve a problem for our community It solves a problem for the state where the state wants carrots and sticks to build housing and the builders remedy is the stick so I Have gripes with how the state housing law is applied to Palo Alto I have gripes with our being rejected four times.
[00:24:50] And I do have gripes with the builder’s re several of the builder’s remedy projects that have been proposed. But I will say it’s up to us as council and it’s up to us as a [00:25:00] community to make sure that we actually have a housing element that we can pass so that we can avoid the builder’s remedy. The state, you know, it has, like, a valid goal to increase the population of California and to reduce housing costs.
[00:25:13] The Builders Remedy is a really blunt tool that really should not actually apply to communities. It took us four tries to get our Builders Re to get our housing element approved significantly after the deadline. And there was so much process and flawed logic that went into it that we could have avoided to begin with.
[00:25:34] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Okay. Given the cost of land construction costs, how do we make it economically viable to create below market rate housing for low income residents? 80 percent of Ami or lower is what low income is considered in Palo Alto. So I’ll say it again. [00:26:00] Given the cost of land and construction costs, How do we make it economically viable to create below market rate housing for low income residents in Palo Alto Greer All
[00:26:16] Greer Stone: right, thanks for the easy question Yeah, I mean that’s the real, right, that’s the, the real challenge in Palo Alto.
[00:26:23] We have one of the most valuable land markets in the entire, in the entire country. And so this is of course a challenge. But one of the, one of the areas that, that I’ve championed, because the state is not going to give us a pass, we’re gonna have to make we’re gonna have to make significant gains in housing.
[00:26:38] So one of the issues I championed was the El Camino Real focus area. which along a strategic portion of El Camino where Oregon expressway is we’re going to allow developers to be able to build a little higher, be a little denser, have some reduced parking requirements. And in exchange for them choosing that option, they have to provide 20 percent of their housing [00:27:00] at below market rate at 80 percent AMI.
[00:27:03] And we’re already seeing success, acclaimed properties, a developer that submitted a builder’s remedy project, Withdrew that builder’s remedy and put forward a policy that’s actually going to get a 60 percent AMI within that project, which is about 76 units of, at 60 percent AMI, which is a great success.
[00:27:20] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:27:21] Henry Etzkowitz: Henry. We must partner with Stanford. Stanford has land. At the shopping center, at the research park. You remove or virtually eliminate land cost, you’ve reduced the cost of housing significantly. And put that housing where the retail and services already are. Don’t push it out to the periphery on San Antonio.
[00:27:45] That’s where we should have an urban forest. Give back land to the environment. Build housing where there’s already services and a place for it. So, that’s the fundamental issue. Sometimes [00:28:00] the builder’s remedy gets the stock process moving. But that’s not enough. We must think creatively. We must involve the students and teachers at our universities to come up with better ideas, fresh ideas, on how to solve these problems.
[00:28:12] Fire all the consultants that the city’s been hiring. Put that money to better use. Put unused stores, make them sociability spaces, the ping pong tables. With escape rooms. Thank you, Henry.
[00:28:30] Katie Causey: All right, Katie. This is a great question following the builder’s remedy question because I’m a firm believer that developers are a tool and we want them to do what we want, and council sets the tone of the type of developers and the type of projects we attract.
[00:28:46] The good news is we have a lot of cities like Redwood City. That are setting examples of how to effectively build affordable housing and work, get additional support from the state, from state and federal partners. So that starts with things like using city [00:29:00] land and reforming and reducing permitting processes, shorting the, shortening them so that there is firm deadlines for approval and denial of process of, of projects that project approval does not become really expensive and go on for years.
[00:29:16] Thank you.
[00:29:18] Hillary Freeman: All right. What ideas do you have for incentivizing housing construction over office construction? Keith.
[00:29:33] Keith Reckdahl: Yeah, a big thing is zoning right now. If you can build office, you will build an office because it’s so much more profitable than housing. So we have to change the zoning and that either is by actually eliminating the ability to have office or reducing the density so that housing is as attractive as, as a business.
[00:29:55] Hillary Freeman: Thank you, Pat.[00:30:00]
[00:30:00] Pat Burt: I agree with Keith that zoning is the principal tool by which we can switch from office development to housing development. So by reducing or even maintaining the current zoning for office, but elevating it like we’re doing many places on the housing density, it becomes more profitable to build housing.
[00:30:20] We housing’s not even allowed today by right, like the Stanford Research Park. like the Stanford Shopping Center, like Palo Alto Square, and that allows us to have all sorts of new, what is office land today, become housing land at lower costs. I don’t think we need to do support the builder’s remedy to do this.
[00:30:42] Seventeen stories at Molly Stone’s is an abomination, and really destructive to the community, and that’s where we have real choices. I disagree with George, who supports the builder’s remedy process. I think it’s terrible.
[00:30:58] Hillary Freeman: Doria.[00:31:00]
[00:31:13] Doria Summa: Thank you. Let’s restart her time.
[00:31:20] Hello, okay. Hey. Sorry about that. I knew I was going to get that question because it’s already been answered pretty completely and that is that zoning is a traditional tool that we use to get the kind of building that we want in the community and the state has basically denied us that with all the laws that they’ve passed.
[00:31:41] So there’s not a lot we can do with the builder’s remedy law, which is already in place and may come back again depending on how we do with our housing allocations at the half point check in. But and the density bonus law, another law that allows, developers basically to avoid all of our [00:32:00] development standards.
[00:32:01] I do think we should be building housing in the research park and other creative places like that but the research park offers the most possibility and I would say that we don’t need any more office at this time in Palo Alto and that we should severely limit or not allow any more office. Thank you.
[00:32:24] Hillary Freeman: Instead of changing the Syn Arts Theater office space, what could the space be used for that would benefit the community living near the theater? Doria.
[00:32:44] Doria Summa: Okay. So, well, it could be used as a movie theater.
[00:32:52] And That would be excellent. And if it’s not a movie theater, I guess I would be open to considering [00:33:00] options that were other recreational uses, or in the city, or cultural uses, but it should not be office under any circumstances. We don’t need more office, and Palo Alto Square certainly doesn’t need more office.
[00:33:13] So, I think that that pretty much sums it up. I think we need to prioritize movie theaters, and consider appropriate other recreational uses, especially if it could be something to attract, young people that have nothing to do in this town.
[00:33:31] Hillary Freeman: Great. Pat.
[00:33:35] Pat Burt: So if it cannot be a movie theater I think it could be a very important, enlivening, active space for not only Palo Alto Square, but all of those many hundreds and hundreds of new housing units that will be on El Camino right within walking distance of there that Greer spoke about.
[00:33:52] It can have live entertainment. It can have food and beverage. It can be a daytime place for those workers. It can be an evening [00:34:00] place for the community and those residents. It has real potential to be a, a, an active living place for so many new people, literally, potentially thousands of people within a half mile there.
[00:34:16] Hillary Freeman: Anne.
[00:34:19] Anne Cribbs: I love to think about it as a community space. If it can’t be a theater, for recreation uses, for a big, we, we don’t have but one big place in Palo Alto to have a conference, and that’s really the Crowne Plaza Hotel to have big parties, and I think that putting together a community space for everybody to use would be wonderful, especially now that Hyatt Rickey’s
[00:34:46] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:34:47] Keith.
[00:34:50] Keith Reckdahl: Well, as people mentioned it could be used as a movie theater, but it has to stay some type of recreation. It shouldn’t be office. It’s a really bad location. It’s isolated retail, and anyone [00:35:00] who’s done retail knows that isolated retail is a really difficult thing to pull off. So what we do is change the zoning.
[00:35:06] There’s going to be development around there. We have to ensure that there’s retail, there’s coffee shops, there’s restaurants nearby. And so anyone who’s using that recreational space has access to it. There’s another reason to go there, and not just stranded by itself.
[00:35:18] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Henry.
[00:35:21] Henry Etzkowitz: Multi use. A daycare center.
[00:35:24] There’s a terrible shortage of space for daycare in the city. And then, if it’s an entertainment place, the model is right across, in Menlo Park, the Guild Theater transformed into a, music space and still can put the seats back and show films occasionally. And there should be places for used bookstores and other kinds of things.
[00:35:46] So, rezone. Retail is gone. It’s gone to the internet. We must finally face that. It’s just going to be a niche activity from now on. And so we must use those spaces for [00:36:00] sociability spaces, third spaces, and rethink what we’re doing. Living, working lofts. People aren’t doing start ups in garages anymore.
[00:36:08] It’s older people who are doing it in their homes. And for the younger people, we need living, working, lofts. So forget about the offices, that’s gone too. People are leaving those firms which require you to go to an office. We need places that combine living and working, and that’s where we should be going.
[00:36:27] Thank you.
[00:36:30] Hillary Freeman: With the closing of Hana House, what do you envision as the best use of that site? Katie.
[00:36:40] Katie Causey: Oh man, this is really personal to me, because when this was at Borders I would go there every day after school, and when Borders closed my friends actually bought me the Borders sign, which I have in my apartment down the street there.
[00:36:51] So that, that is such a, like, It’s been such a wonderful community space, I think, you know, similar to the previous answers, there’s a lot of different recreation it can be, [00:37:00] but it’s mainly like having those, one of the things I’m running on is not just more community events, but investing in those community spaces, we need more of them, our kids need more of them, our families and seniors need more of them, so figuring out how to use it as a recreation space and seeing what type of What are the different retailers we can attract who would be open to having that sort of community space?
[00:37:19] I know in San Francisco we have Manny’s bookstore where it’s like it is a event space and it’s also a bookstore and coffee shop. Thank you.
[00:37:29] Hillary Freeman: Greer.
[00:37:33] Greer Stone: We must have ran into each other a lot there, Katie, when we, before we knew each other. Cause yep, that was my hangout as well. Yeah, big, big loss, but cannot be converted to office. That is no question. One thing that I really see for that space is a pop up store type of idea. San Luis Obispo, does a similar thing with vacant storefronts where they create pop up opportunities for aspiring retailers.
[00:37:56] And there’s a lot of people around here who probably have some small [00:38:00] online presence, but might like to move into a brick and mortar type of store. They can have an opportunity there to be able to showcase their goods in a beautiful setting. That is. That has a lot of foot traffic, that can give them an opportunity to be able to build a customer base, grow their capital, and then eventually move in to maybe another permanent space somewhere along downtown tackle that 15 percent vacancy rate there, or the 9 percent vacancy rate we have in California, on California Avenue.
[00:38:27] So I think there are some creative uses that we can do with that space and exciting to see what we can do.
[00:38:33] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. George.
[00:38:36] George Lu: I’ll quickly touch on also that I love the Sydney Arts Theatre, that having a public benefit was part of the Palo Alto Square Development Agreement, and I absolutely want an active public space in that spite.
[00:38:51] Similarly, we need an actual community space at the Hanna House. We have on University Ave, [00:39:00] protected retail ground floor zoning and that’s really important and we want incentives and we want to steer and we want to make sure that’s filled quickly and we want to make sure it’s filled with the best possible public serving use.
[00:39:11] I love the idea of pop up stores. I would love any, or would love discussions and incentives to try to make that as open to the public as possible.
[00:39:22] Cari Templeton: Thank you, Carrie. Good, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it on this round. So I was thinking gyms and coffees, no, I’m just kidding. I’m just kidding you guys.
[00:39:32] I’m just kidding. So I would love, I really love that space. It’s really special. And I would love to see creative use. I love the ideas and suggestions we’ve already heard. I would add. As somebody who, whose kids like to study, but sometimes not at home, because video games are too tempting, it’s, it’s nice to think about the way it’s currently configured, and how that might be of, of public use.
[00:39:55] So, can we turn it into a light library type [00:40:00] situation, where we have the community spaces, where kids can get together and study, some desks, and also on call On call for books. We don’t need to store the books there, but they could order them and have them delivered. Now that would incorporate some kind of negotiation between us and the property owner.
[00:40:15] So that might not be totally feasible, but it’d be fun to think about if that’s a possibility for that space. Thank you.
[00:40:21] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Alright, let’s switch gears. And now we’re going to talk about retail. What are your ideas to help local small businesses? Especially those that serve neighborhoods, to survive and thrive.
[00:40:39] Doria.
[00:40:44] Doria Summa: I think that we have to maintain our business districts, and actually just clean them, which this city council has already started downtown, and I think it might be appropriate in other business districts. And I think those districts all have to have [00:41:00] outdoor spaces and we can help with that. I also think it’s important that we keep, that we listen to the, the business owners in these districts because they really know what they need.
[00:41:12] So I, I think that I would prioritize listening to them and maintaining the, the, business districts and keeping the ground floor retail ordinance, which I think is really important citywide so that we have those little small business districts. But the main thing is to listen to the prop the business owners and see what it is that they need.
[00:41:36] Thank you.
[00:41:38] Katie Causey: Katie.
[00:41:38] I agree with our economic advisors who have suggested three things. Reducing our permitting processes for small business, making it less expensive for businesses to open in Palo Alto. Especially the types of retail we see doing really well right now. That’s why we’re seeing a lot of nail salons open, because in person retail is doing really well right now.
[00:41:57] And I would all, I also support dense housing [00:42:00] near our small businesses. I live downtown in dense housing, nobody in my building owns a car because we are right downtown and everything’s right there. And your customer base is built right in. And the other thing our economic advisor suggested is investing in our bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure so you can safely walk, bike, take public transit, invest in green space when you’re going to those businesses.
[00:42:22] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Greer.
[00:42:28] Greer Stone: Well, first, we definitely need to maintain our retail protection ordinance, make sure that we’re not allowing tech offices to be able to go into locations where existing retail is or where we have retail vacancies. So that’s that’s really important. I also think we need to, as well, enforce our actual city code and use code enforcement to make sure, because there are, there are areas around town, and we have had this historically as well here in down the street in Midtown, where businesses will open up a, will open [00:43:00] up a retail shop, but that retail shop will be closed.
[00:43:02] open for like 30 minutes a week and they’ll sell one slice of pie out of it. But really they’re running a catering business or some other business that’s not actually zoned for that space. So ensuring code enforcement has the tools necessary to be able to do that. And also I think we can boost demand by increasing foot traffic in downtown Cal Ave by increasing the type of events that we have.
[00:43:25] It’s one of the things that I’m really focused on in this campaign is bringing people back into Palo Alto to shop and play through more events.
[00:43:32] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. What specific steps would you propose to attract and retain neighborhood serving, retail and services at
[00:43:48] Pat Burt: Combination? First is we need to streamline our permitting for small businesses. It. It remains an obstacle for new businesses to come in here. Second, we need to [00:44:00] invest in those areas. As was mentioned we need to have clean, safe, interesting, with good street furniture and dynamic places to go in all of our retail areas.
[00:44:12] Third, we need to not abolish our retail protection ordinance. which two of our planning commissioners here voted to do, rather than to reform it, abolish it. Tell me someone who retailer who thinks they can compete with a tech office for rent on a retail, what is today a retail space. And I think that housing, in particularly our downtown areas, is an important part of bringing that vitality.
[00:44:40] We don’t have as many workers there today, but we can have many people who live there and will serve those businesses. Thank you.
[00:44:48] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. George.
[00:44:52] George Lu: Firstly, safety and cleanliness are absolute baselines that we need in our retail corridors. And, well, [00:45:00] everywhere in the city. Secondly, In the short term, we have levers to pull on permitting, streamlining, and just how we do business.
[00:45:08] I’ve heard so many horror stories, like the time the Aquarius Theater wanted to sell beer and took a 14 month permit process that required expensive architectural drawings to be reviewed like for per sprinkler and like exact, exacting requirements for a business that already serves food to serve food, to serve beer.
[00:45:29] Sorry. I’ve heard horror stories about a downtown business that had to pay rent for months that was fully built out, ready to accept customers, but code inspection wouldn’t come in time. So there’s so much we can do on streamlining and reforming our city processes and working with staff to be more effective in supporting businesses.
[00:45:48] We also need to invest in our streetscapes longer term, and we need to work on housing to support businesses and good transportation connections, including parking.
[00:45:58] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. [00:46:00] Henry.
[00:46:02] Henry Etzkowitz: I think we must face that retail is going to continue to shrink. And we must rethink the use of those spaces as sociability spaces, and zone for that at subsidized rents, to have places where the students and young people can go, and the old people too as well.
[00:46:21] So, ping pong parlors, karaoke bars all kinds of places that will attract people to mingle and m and meet and know each other. That’s what we’re missing in Palo Alto. We must make this a sociable city. And fire the consultants who are telling us to bring chain stores to solve the retail problem. With one exception, we should proactively go out and invite Barnes Noble to open up with a cafe and a vinyl record section, send a delegation.
[00:46:54] And invite them to come to Palo Alto. Invite them into the old Renaissance [00:47:00] Hardware or the former Hanna House where Borders was. We must take proactive action.
[00:47:06] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:47:08] Okay. Neighborhood services are a critical part of walkable neighborhoods. What changes would you make to zoning rules or enforcement to protect neighborhood services?
[00:47:23] Keith Reckdahl: Just, I mean, retail in general, we want we want the customers to be able to get there easily. So if you have good transportation, good parking, good bike lanes, good walkability, that will help any type of retail business. The other thing you can do is keep the As Pat had mentioned earlier, the retail protection ordinance is a lifeline.
[00:47:47] You don’t want to have these people have to compete against general office, which is much more lucrative. Any landlord is going to want to rent out his space to general office instead of retail. [00:48:00] Yeah, that’s all I have.
[00:48:02] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:48:03] Cari Templeton: Carrie. Thank you very much. Yes, just to our earlier comment about the repurposing.
[00:48:10] Retail Protection Ordinance that did come before the PTC for us to recommend actions to Council. I was happy to support Commissioner Reckdahl’s motion to repeal it, and I was also happy to support the following motion that re stated so that we could repair it and make it better. It didn’t pass to repeal, it’s fine, but just to clarify that, because it’s come up a couple times and I don’t want anyone to think, I don’t want to support retail protections, because I did in the very next motion as well, and I do I agree with Commissioner Suma about the need to support what the business owners are saying, and that’s what the original motion was and why I was happy to support it.
[00:48:55] But. We also can keep our protections in other ways [00:49:00] by removing redundancies. I would like to make sure that as we build new developments that we’re promoting having the retail in those developments as well. Thank you. Thank
[00:49:10] Hillary Freeman: you.
[00:49:10] Cari Templeton: Anne.
[00:49:12] Anne Cribbs: Yes, I would definitely like to make sure we continue to support the retailers that we have, that we make it easy for new retailers to come and easy for people to stay.
[00:49:24] I think it’s really important for spaces to be clean, and safe, and pretty, and fun to go and bring your kids, or bring your friends, and have a cup of coffee, and hang out. I’d like to see us streamline again, the permits for people to get into new places. And then I think as residents, we have a responsibility to support local retailers as well.
[00:49:51] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:49:53] Again, we’re going to change subjects and talk about transportation and traffic. [00:50:00] In addition to Palo Alto’s plan for the San Antonio Charleston area, Charleston Plaza in Mountain View is planning a development that will bring hundreds of vehicle trips to the same area, which is already severely stressed.
[00:50:18] Next, what mitigation measures and should be done. George.
[00:50:27] George Lu: Thank you. This is really important and planning for San Antonio and making sure that corridor is successful for its new residents and for everyone is an absolutely critical priority. Firstly, this starts with actual planning. Last, or two years ago, last time this forum was held, All the candidates had the same discussion.
[00:50:47] We said we needed a plan for the San Antonio Corridor as soon as possible. And we are now bidding that out. And we promised to do our plans faster in the future and learn from our previous efforts. But [00:51:00] the North Ventura Coordinated Area Plan took about seven years. So we need to plan and we need to plan with urgency.
[00:51:06] We need to work with VTA and get improved public transportation there. We need bike connections, we need to make sure that Palo Alto Link is well used and well publicized there. And we also need to work with the state, where the highway interchange, which is long overdue for an upgrade, actually helps clear some of the traffic there.
[00:51:26] So yeah, with those slew of measures and proper planning, we can move the needle.
[00:51:30] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Doria.
[00:51:36] Doria Summa: So one thing we can do is work with Mountain View and discuss how we might share the costs or, Planning of improvements to 101, the on ramp there especially, but mostly the on ramp, I think. And then just in general, we do need to pay special attention to south, to the San Antonio corridor as [00:52:00] we.
[00:52:00] Put a lot of housing there. It’s not appropriate right now. It’s not very walkable. The traffic is very bad So we need safe bike lanes. We need better crossing for people and we need it to be accessible for everyone so but I think that the improving the On ramp onto 101 there would be a very important thing to do, and we need a lot more public transportation in that area, especially across 101 where we’re building our transitional housing.
[00:52:34] Cari Templeton: Thank you. Carrie. I’m really excited about this question. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to be had in improving our transit in that area. We have a very capable representative on our VTA board who as we add density to that area, we’ll be able to fight for making sure we have enough transit there.
[00:52:51] So I think that’s an area that we can feel comfortable will be handled. I am a little concerned about how we did all the improvements to the San Antonio [00:53:00] Road without having adequate biking infrastructure there, that’s frustrating because that was a recent project. But it’d be nice for us to reevaluate that and see what we can add because people would like to bike there.
[00:53:13] I have myself had to bike on parts of that road and it’s very frightening especially with the, the highway interchange when the old underpass used to be closed in winter. So we have a lot of infrastructure that will support that now and we can just continue that on. San Antonio road. Thank you.
[00:53:29] Hillary Freeman: Greer.
[00:53:34] Greer Stone: Yeah. My greatest concern is we’re going to see a significant growth of housing along San Antonio and in South Palo Alto. And we’re going to see a lot of a lot of hopefully families and families with young children. And now with the incredible news that we are moving ahead with, with Cumberley and it’d be turning Cumberley into an incredible community center for South Palo Alto.
[00:53:55] So there’s going to be a. A large demand for people to be [00:54:00] crossing San Antonio, an ever growing street that’s going to get busier, to go to Cumberley, to go to schools, to go to retail and restaurants and other things. And so, absolutely critical. That we are creating safe bike lanes and opportunities for pedestrians to be safe as well when they’re, when they’re crossing.
[00:54:17] Definitely a coordinated area plan is, is critical. And urgency is important, but we have to remember that we cannot cut out the voice of Palo Alto residents and community members when making these big decisions that are going to impact all of us for the rest of our lives. So, having our community members play a part of that process is going to be a major is going to be very important.
[00:54:40] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Keith.
[00:54:42] Keith Reckdahl: I want to go back to the previous question. Carrie implied that I was against the Retail Protection Ordinance, and that’s just misleading. I made the motion because it was a procedural issue. I had to make a motion for each of the consultants each of the consultants [00:55:00] recommendations Okay.
[00:55:01] Okay.
[00:55:01] Let’s go, let’s
[00:55:02] get to the question. No, let me, let me clarify this. I made the motion to mimic what the consultant was recommending. I voted against that, Carrie voted for it. So I was protecting the Retail Preservation Ordinance, she wanted to dismantle it without any hesitation. Okay. amendments.
[00:55:21] She voted yes.
[00:55:22] Hillary Freeman: Can we please answer the question, 30 seconds. 15 seconds. Now, please answer the question. How would you make, what would you do for San Antonio? So,
[00:55:34] Keith Reckdahl: San Antonio is a really good place for housing just because there’s so many high tech offices just across the, the bridge. We have to work with Mountain View for their development and our development have the same problem.
[00:55:47] We can have bike lanes that extend across the Rensdorf Bridge. We can have Better VTA service. We can work with Google and the other companies to run their shuttle down there, and we also can work with Caltrains to [00:56:00] Speed up the process for the 101 interchange update.
[00:56:03] Hillary Freeman: Thank you
[00:56:05] Should bike lanes be added to San Antonio particularly over 101?
[00:56:12] Given the existing congestion at on San Antonio. How could this be accomplished? Pat.
[00:56:21] Pat Burt: Well, I think bike lanes on San Antonio are critical, and that means that all the development that occurs there has to have setbacks built into that approval process. I don’t think a bike lane over right at San Antonio, to the Baylands, is critical, now that we have the bike bridge that’s just a quarter or a half mile away.
[00:56:41] North of there, and that Mountain View has plans for a bridge to the south. But we have to have that bike and pedestrian connection to what is now a really expanded Caltrain electrified service at the San Antonio station, which has three trains per hour at all the rush hours, two trains an hour from [00:57:00] early morning to late at night.
[00:57:01] It’s gone from a nothing station to a really important station that can actually serve all there. Lastly, we have to have not only a biking, but the transit service. That feeds in there. VTA does not have good enough transit service. They have transit service there now, but the new housing will enable us to expand that bus service.
[00:57:22] Henry Etzkowitz: Thank you. Henry. San Antonio, that area towards 101, that should be our green space. Plant a forest. Housing should be built with already existing retail. We’re talking about retail going down. We need more population downtown to use the existing retail. Don’t build another area where we’ll have to put retail in to serve that housing.
[00:57:50] Makes no sense. Build on the Copley parking lots. Underground the parking lots, the multi level garage, like Roble Field at [00:58:00] Stanford, and build housing there. Build it in the city. parking lots in the downtown, partnered with Stanford, residential graduate colleges on the Oxbridge model at the research park.
[00:58:16] Follow the model that’s been done in Europe with research parks. They all built parks like Stanford, low lying, but now they’re making them into science cities with populations living there. So, that’s my suggestion.
[00:58:32] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[00:58:33] Katie Causey: Katie. Thank you, Katie. Thank you. I agree with Councilmember Burt and also all of the comments on the previous question.
[00:58:41] This is the neighborhood where I grew up and it is going to take a tremendous amount of investment to make sure it is safe to walk and bike in this area. This is what I do professionally, is work with city governments to help transform high collision areas. When you are designing high collision areas, Bike lanes where people feel safe.
[00:58:58] What you ideally [00:59:00] want is big wide sidewalk, protected bike lane with like something like cement planters, keeping people safe so everything is separated, nobody is at risk of collision. And that is gonna take, that’s gonna take a lot of investment but it’s worth us talking with the tech companies we’ll be right by because those tech companies do have climate goals to meet where they do whatever they can to incentivize their employees to not drive to work.
[00:59:27] Thank you.
[00:59:28] Hillary Freeman: Anne.
[00:59:31] Anne Cribbs: Well, I like the idea of bike lanes on San Antonio really safe ones as Katie’s talking about. It’s been kind of a long, a long time coming. I agree that we do not need a, another bike bridge because we have a beautiful one that we spend a long time and a lot of money. Creating some years ago.
[00:59:48] And I think that the whole San Antonio corridor provides us an incredible opportunity to get it right with all the experts that we have and really make an an [01:00:00] amazing time, place in that area. Plus the fact I think it’s gonna be incredibly important to work with our friends in Mountain View as well as the planning is going on.
[01:00:12] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. All right, switching again to community life. How do we balance the pressure to build housing against the limits of infrastructure such as transportation, parks, school capacity, and the environment? Greer.
[01:00:35] Greer Stone: This is one of, going to be one of our great challenges over this over this housing element. As Pat spoke to earlier, we’re going to be having about a 25 percent increase of our of our housing use in this community. But at the end of the day, Palo Alto is a community. It’s not a commodity. And we need to make sure that we are building a community for the future, that we all want to live here.
[01:00:56] And that we’re not just warehousing people. And so making sure that we [01:01:00] have a balanced approach to ensuring there is adequate park land. and community services, teen centers, senior services, child care. That is all gonna take a, a vision and experience leadership to be able to get there. There have been some who have talked about removing impact fees altogether from development.
[01:01:18] Well, impact fees is what helps us pay for a lot of these things, like Parks and community centers, et cetera. So we can’t take away, I think a discussion there about what is appropriate is, is okay, but we cannot take away these these funding mechanisms for us to be able to respond to this growth.
[01:01:36] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Pat.
[01:01:40] Pat Burt: Well, first, I agree with Greer that our impact fees are a critical part of how we must pay for the next investment that are needed for these new residents. Our parks, our community centers, including I assume almost everybody heard that today we had an announcement that we’re have a [01:02:00] deal on purchasing the additional seven acres at Coverley.
[01:02:04] We’ll be going to you, the voters, on an expensive bond measure to be able to rebuild that in the next two years. But we also had Measure R, which Keith chaired and the campaign. I led the prove on it through the council, which provided 3 million a year toward affordable housing, 3 million toward transportation, and 3 million a year toward our public safety services, which we also have to do that.
[01:02:29] Palo Alto Forward did not support that. And we have a real distinction between those who are investing in the community and those who just want to build.
[01:02:40] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Keith. I
[01:02:44] Keith Reckdahl: mean, a lot of this is just proactive planning. We, we know where we’re gonna be building. We have the housing inventory, and so our utilities have to make sure that we have the, the plans to update our utilities.
[01:02:56] All of our sewers and all of our other infrastructure, same [01:03:00] thing. We can plan ahead of time. Parks is harder because we have to buy the land, and we have to get ahead of the developers, and if the developers buy up all the land, we won’t be able to get the parks in. So, So again, we have to be proactive about this.
[01:03:12] We can’t sit and wait for the developments to come and then react. We have to get ahead of the problem.
[01:03:20] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[01:03:22] Palo Alto is considering building a new city gym at either Greer Park or Coverley. Should dedicated parkland at Greer Park be used for this purpose or is Coverley a more appropriate location?
[01:03:42] Katie Causey: Coverley is the more appropriate location. I grew up directly across from Greer Park, and I think that is very valuable parkland. That is also a location where it’s just very far from a lot of resources. And I worry about, and again, unless we do those bicycle and pedestrian investments, that we’re going to put a [01:04:00] lot more cars on the road.
[01:04:01] I think it is a much more appropriate and much more needed at, at Coverley. Thank
[01:04:06] Hillary Freeman: you. Ann?
[01:04:08] Anne Cribbs: Yes, I headed up the, the committee from the Park and Recreation Commission that looked at where we should put a gym because we have no indoor space for our kids to play in. And after looking at ten or so sites Greer became the preferred alternative when Coverley wasn’t a possibility.
[01:04:28] Now that Coverley is a big Possibility our group would like to build the gym wherever we can find a place to build it as soon as possible and get started right away and put the shovel in the ground. So either Greer or Cubberley, and we would, at this point, I think, favor Cubberley if it’s not gonna take forever.
[01:04:49] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Henry.
[01:04:52] Henry Etzkowitz: Keep the parks parks. There’s ballot measure four. Vote against it. That would take 33 [01:05:00] acres out of the Camino Park. The entire council has voted to put that on the ballot. They should explain why they did that and how they’re going to ask us now to vote against it. Also, let’s make a linear park where the railroad is now.
[01:05:17] Underground those trains. Right now the ideas have a, a blended system. Yeah. Sounds good, like a smoothie, mixing different flavors together. But what it means is putting commuter trains on the same lines as the high speed rail, which will be coming through there, that’s the plan, at 75 miles an hour, then 110, and then 125.
[01:05:40] Two trains, and then it’ll increase. So, we must work to put those trains on the ground, and suicide alley, gardens, bike paths above. That should be our big plan for the future.
[01:05:56] Hillary Freeman: Okay. Thank you. Many older [01:06:00] homes have natural gas for water heaters and stoves and cannot be easily or economically retrofitted to use heat pumps.
[01:06:11] What do you propose as a realistic solution to avoid placing an undue burden on such households? Doria
[01:06:22] Doria Summa: So I have been very supportive of our goals to electrification and I will still support that and I support Sorry, I got distracted. It was a fly. Okay, no big deal. Not a yellow jacket. I support the upgrades we need to make to our grid, and we also have to, to, to allow this electrification to happen.
[01:06:43] I, we also need to acknowledge that the city, the state of California needs to produce more green electricity for this plan to work. I do not see this as a forced situation. I don’t think you, It’s very expensive to switch a house over to, from gas to electric, so not everybody’s gonna be able to [01:07:00] afford to do it.
[01:07:00] So I think it will be gradual and not forced. You know, the technology is also changing very quickly, so I’m hoping in the future that houses like mine that actually cannot accommodate a heat pump, hot water heater will be able to. So gradual, forced. Right. Thank you. Carrie. Thank you.
[01:07:23] Cari Templeton: I agree with Doria.
[01:07:24] I think that this will happen organically over time until we don’t have enough subscribers to sustain that service as a city any longer. I don’t feel the need to rush it. There are technological capabilities that are ever improving, including probably the size that such, such devices will fit in older homes.
[01:07:47] In the meantime We should encourage it where we can and get the program for the heat pumps you know, in front of as many people as possible. These utility, these utility appliances do have an end of life. They don’t [01:08:00] last forever. And as they retire, we can suggest and make it easier for people to replace with more economic, ecologically friendly devices.
[01:08:09] Thank you.
[01:08:10] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. George.
[01:08:14] George Lu: Yes, electrification is really important for a city in the long term. And in our 2030 goals, one of the likely outcomes, so one of the outcomes described that we need to get to our 80 percent climate greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals, is that virtually all single family homes would be electrified.
[01:08:33] That is an actual in staff presentation described as one of the likely outcomes we need to actually hit those goals. So it is coming, and we need to make it as easy and subsidized so it is as affordable as possible to bring all single family homes along. I think in the longer term, so the next phase after 2030 Goals, A couple decades out maybe we do need to actually study and [01:09:00] plan and set a date for a natural gas sunset.
[01:09:03] That’s how we actually do this equitably. I think a slow organic process actually creates less fair results where some where when very few people are actually left on the system, there will be a cost spiral and we’ll have to plan for that.
[01:09:17] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[01:09:20] Okay, a yes or no. I know, your favorites, right?
[01:09:24] Okay. Would you support increasing the number of affordable units at the expense of market rate development? Anne.
[01:09:39] Okay, I’m just reading it. Okay, one more time. Would you support, that would be the yes or no part
[01:09:46] increasing the number of affordable units at the expense of market rate development.
[01:09:55] Anne Cribbs: Are we talking, are we talking though about the, the 15 [01:10:00] percent or the 20 percent or 50%, I mean.
[01:10:22] Hillary Freeman: It means, are we going to build more smaller Units.
[01:10:29] I don’t think that’s about the size. Okay. I guess when we talk about density, we’re thinking of like 400 square foot units. Okay, let’s skip this question then. Okay. Start up here. Okay. Alright. A, B, 2097 eliminates minimums for new developments located within a half mile of major [01:11:00] public transit stops, including both residential and commercial projects, aiming to reduce development costs and increase space efficiency.
[01:11:10] Pat Burt: Hillary, you mean minimum parking? Yeah. That’s what it is. It’s minimum parking. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
[01:11:16] Hillary Freeman: Okay. Okay, let’s start it again AB 2097 eliminates parking minimums for new developments located within a half mile of major transit stops, including both residential and commercial projects aiming to reduce development costs and increase space efficiency.
[01:11:40] So, eliminating parking minimums. Or new developments located within a half mile. Of everything I said. Do you support AB 2097 or not? Yes, is a support. No, is I do not support it. [01:12:00] Henry? Yes. Okay, Pat?
[01:12:03] Pat Burt: No.
[01:12:04] Hillary Freeman: George?
[01:12:06] Pat Burt: Yes.
[01:12:08] Doria Summa: Anne? No. This is the end of
[01:12:09] Hillary Freeman: this video. Yeah. Gloria.
[01:12:12] Doria Summa: No,
[01:12:13] Greer Stone: No,
[01:12:15] Heath
[01:12:15] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[01:12:18] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. Okay, so these are the extra questions I haven’t read them yet. We’re, we’re both all hearing them at the same time. Okay, Palo Alto’s Planned Home Zoning or the PHZ. Currently facilitates multifamily housing on commercial properties. Yes or no? Should PHZ be extended to build multifamily housing in single family zones?
[01:12:48] Keith?
[01:12:49] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[01:12:50] Cari Templeton: No.
[01:12:52] Greer Stone: No.
[01:12:54] Katie Causey: Yes.
[01:12:56] Hillary Freeman: Doria?
[01:12:59] Doria Summa: [01:13:00] No.
[01:13:01] Hillary Freeman: Ann?
[01:13:01] Doria Summa: No.
[01:13:03] Hillary Freeman: George?
[01:13:04] George Lu: No
[01:13:05] Pat Burt: No.
[01:13:07] Hillary Freeman: Henry?
[01:13:07] Henry Etzkowitz: No.
[01:13:09] Hillary Freeman: Okay. Thank you. Another yes or no? Do you support a 17 story building at Molly Stone’s Sight, . Carrie?
[01:13:24] Cari Templeton: No.
[01:13:25] Hillary Freeman: George No. Henry.
[01:13:31] Henry Etzkowitz: With a good architecture, yes.
[01:13:34] Keith Reckdahl: No.
[01:13:35] Hillary Freeman: Pat.
[01:13:36] Pat Burt: No.
[01:13:37] Greer.
[01:13:38] Greer Stone: No.
[01:13:40] Doria.
[01:13:41] Doria Summa: No.
[01:13:42] Katie.
[01:13:43] Doria Summa: No.
[01:13:44] Hillary Freeman: Ann. No. Okay. All right. That’s the last of those yes no’s.
[01:13:51] That’s it. No more yes no’s. All right. So what we would like to do now, is we would is have your closing statements.[01:14:00]
[01:14:03] So instead of 30 seconds, everyone will have a minute to do their closing statements. Okay. So we will go in reverse order in which you were seated. So, we’ll start with Henry.
[01:14:19] Henry Etzkowitz: So, I’m going to go back to my roots. as a senior renter advocate. There are no questions here about seniors or renters. So, my first principle from Oak Creek, we had a renter’s cap on rents.
[01:14:39] If you lived in Oak Creek for 20 years, your rent would never be raised again. When I proposed a rental cap, The newspaper said I was asking for rent stabilization. I was asking for the principle that the private sector owner had put in place to keep people in place and not torn out [01:15:00] of their housing. So, rental cap for seniors, 15 years, but with a modification that one quarter of your income should be the criteria.
[01:15:11] So, the very well to do would not. be covered by this. And then, well, okay, let’s leave it there.
[01:15:23] Hillary Freeman: Thank you. George?
[01:15:27] George Lu: Again, I’m George Liu, and I would be honored to be your council member. I grew up coming to Palo Alto. I came here every weekend for Chinese school. I went to Stanford, where Palo Alto was my backyard.
[01:15:37] I had my first job at a startup in Palo Alto. Palo Alto has given me so much, and I have deep appreciation for the city and its neighborhoods and for what everyone here contributes to us. I’m endorsed by eight former mayors and 18 current and former elected officials, school board or council, in Palo Alto.
[01:15:57] I’m endorsed by the Santa Clara Democratic [01:16:00] Party. In one of the more surreal and strange campaign experiences, I got to talk with Andrew Yang a good bit, and I’m endorsed by Andrew Yang. And so, I am yeah. So people have confidence in me, and I have confidence that I can lead and be an effective council member on day one.
[01:16:16] I’d be honoured to have your support. Learn more at my website or just talk to me after. Thank you.
[01:16:23] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[01:16:25] Pat Burt: Well, thanks for everyone being here tonight and your interest in electing a, a council that will serve you for the next four years. As you know, I have a great deal of experience, but number of years is not really necessarily an indicator of being able to accomplish things.
[01:16:44] nor your vision and your values. For me, this is an incredibly wonderful community for all of its imperfections. I want to see us build on this in ways that we will evolve over time. that continues to support the essential [01:17:00] characteristics and qualities that we have in this community. I don’t support a builder’s remedy project that’ll put 17 stories at Molly Stones.
[01:17:10] I don’t support these incredibly misguided proposals like AB 2097 that prohibits It prevents us from adding any parking within a half mile of transit, and I support retaining our Retail Preservation Ordinance.
[01:17:27] Anne Cribbs: Thank you and thank you all for being here tonight. I wanted to thank the City Council ad hoc committees in the school district who are now moving forward on a cuddly agreement And I’m certainly happy that Everybody’s talked about it tonight because I think it’s a really important thing for Palo Alto.
[01:17:46] I also wanted to mention about the neighborhood associations and how important all of the neighborhood associations are, I think, to the character of Palo Alto. I think there’s a lot of really fun things that as neighborhood associations, [01:18:00] I’d love to see people do like adopting the Palo Alto. And cleaning up the parks and cleaning up the parks and picking up the parks and making sure that we have bathrooms in all the parks.
[01:18:07] And being involved in emergency preparedness and I think you all make Palo Alto really what we all love about it. And I would love to hear more from you about what you really care about. So I’m around to listen. My website is cribsforcouncil. com and I really appreciate your attention tonight.
[01:18:30] Katie Causey: Thank you, Katie. Thank you all again for having us tonight. My name is Katie Causey. I’m a lifelong Palo Alto resident and I’m endorsed by over 200 elected officials, community leaders and neighbors, many of whom have worked with me before and trust my experience. I’m also endorsed by the local Democratic Party in the League of Conservation Voters.
[01:18:50] I’m running after working in with our seniors and families when they are navigating our city’s resources and they’re when they are close to having nowhere to live and really [01:19:00] knowing where the shortcomings are and where our city can step up more. But I’m also running because I know our community and I know when somebody is in that crisis situation, how quickly neighbors act to keep our teachers here, to keep our seniors in stable homes.
[01:19:15] And that’s exactly what I want to amplify on council.
[01:19:21] Doria Summa: Doria. Well, thank you for having us tonight. So, I just wanted to recap. I have 17 years of experience, which means that I am, I, I’ve demonstrated my commitment to the people of, and small businesses in this community. I’ll be ready to go right away after you elect me. I have always been open to anyone who came to me to ask for help.
[01:19:43] I have never turned someone down or said no. My commitment is primarily to this community. The residents, the small businesses, and to protecting the open spaces. I’m proud that I recently received the Sierra Club endorsement, and I really think [01:20:00] Palo Alto is a great place to live and I think that’s not an accident.
[01:20:03] I see it as a legacy left to us by past elected and also citizen activists. And I think we need to maintain what we have been given here, but I think we also need to build on that and add to it. So thank you very much for the opportunity. Thank you. Greer.
[01:20:23] Greer Stone: Well, thank you everybody, spending the evening with us.
[01:20:25] Nice to be able to get out into some air conditioning for a few hours. I grew up here, I’ve, I went to school here, I taught here, I was the chair of the Midtown Residence Association prior to joining council. It has been the privilege and honor of my lifetime to be able to serve and represent you all for the last four years.
[01:20:45] I’m running on affordable housing on climate and environmental protection on youth well being and mental health and a new initiative I’m calling Palo Alto connect that is intended to be able to connect residents to Community events to nature to art to [01:21:00] each other and to government services. I’m endorsed by Congresswoman Anna Eshoo Supervisor Joe Simitian, state senator Josh Becker, many, many, many former mayors, the Sierra Club, and a lot of community residents.
[01:21:14] I invite you to look at my website, www. Greerstone. com, and I just want to thank my beautiful wife for showing up tonight. And my mom, it’s my mom’s birthday, and she decided to show up here. So yeah, give her a round of applause. We won’t sing her happy birthday, but you can do that later.
[01:21:31] Cari Templeton: I hope you guys can hear me. I am running on policy of safe streets from Students to seniors and everybody in between we need to focus on transportation our Time on planning and transportation commission has been a lot more planning than transportation So it’s time for us to to make sure we’re working on that also on Retail recovery, which I voted to support on 814 I’m happy to talk [01:22:00] about that and to support programs that will help draw people out back into public spaces and supporting our businesses like Third Thursday, which I think is a great program.
[01:22:10] And also on supporting new housing, especially affordable housing, which would be a great use. of some of the cover lease space above any products any housing that any stores that we build there. I also have endorsements by Congresswoman Eshoo, Senator Becker, Assemblymember Berman, Supervisor Joe Simitian, and the Santa Clara County Democratic Party.
[01:22:30] Thank you. I hope you’ll vote for me. Carrie for council. com. Thank you. Keith.
[01:22:35] Keith Reckdahl: Yeah. Thanks everyone for coming. This is always a good thing to hear the differences between different candidates. For me, I’ve been on commissions now for 12 years, and I’ve spent a lot, many, many hours in commission meetings.
[01:22:49] And in government, experience really does matter. It’s given me a deeper understanding of the issues, it’s taught me how to better work with city staff, and also taught me the [01:23:00] value of reaching out and learning more from the, from the residents. Quite often, the best information you get is from the residents who are on the ground who are going to be impacted by a project.
[01:23:11] And cutting out that impact is, and streamlining the, that impact away, the input away, is not leadership. It’s, it harms the, the city. And whenever you have a bad project, that can last for a long time. So for planning, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. So we should streamline. We should really try to make things efficient, but we don’t want to throw a baby out with the bath water and just stop planning.
[01:23:36] That’s not, That’s not a good idea. Thank you.
[01:23:39] Hillary Freeman: Thank you.
[01:23:42] And I’m going to go off script just for a second here and just say thank you to all of the candidates. How fortunate are we as a community to have people that want to participate, that put their time, their energy, their thoughts into participating.
[01:23:59] We [01:24:00] have great choices. So, thank you so much for being here. Thank you for participating. We really appreciate it.
[01:24:16] And that ends our forum. I thank all the candidates, the media center, and to the many members of PAN who helped make tonight’s event possible. And now we’ll return to Becky for a wrap up. Thank you all. Okay. All right.