Portola Valley: Major donor joins Town Center fundraising effort Portola Valley: Major donor joins Town Center fundraising effort (December 07, 2005)

By David Boyce

Almanac Staff Writer

Donations to seed a Portola Valley fundraising campaign for a new civic center grew from about $40,000 to more than $1 million last week, with a promise of another $500,000 if the fund reaches the halfway point toward its goal of $16 million.

Residents Charlene and Derry Kabcenell donated $500,000 to the nonprofit Portola Valley Community Fund on December 2, fund co-chair Sally Ann Reiss said. The couple pledged to give another $500,000 from their foundation if and when the fund's total reaches $8 million, Ms. Reiss said.

"For years, our Town Center has offered a wonderful variety of cultural, recreational and educational programs," the Kabcenells said in a press release. "This project will allow all our residents to continue to enjoy these benefits and more, in facilities that are more modern, seismically safe and environmentally responsible."

On the same day, residents Bill and Jean Lane fulfilled a pledge made last year to donate an additional $500,000 and sent a check for the fund to Ms. Reiss.

"Jean and I are very proud to have made the lead gift and to now finalize the fulfillment of the total $1 million in trust to the town and the fund," Mr. Lane said in a December 2 letter to Ms. Reiss. The Almanac received a copy of the letter.

With the recent donations, the fund totals about "$1 million and change," said Town Councilman Steve Toben, the council's liaison to the fund committee.

The Town Center fund was established after the Lanes had already donated a large sum for the project -- $500,000 that is not reflected in the $1 million fund tally.
Timing

The gifts arrived at what may be a critical point. The proposed $20 million project has raised big questions among residents, including whether a new Town Center complex is necessary, where it should be built, what it should look like, and how it should be paid for.

Financing has been particularly touchy. The town had set aside just $3 million in public money and was counting on a fundraising campaign to raise $16 million in donations.

The five-member Town Council has avoided discussions of financing until the project's design meets with community approval. Once thought to be more or less settled, the design is now undergoing scrutiny by the town's architecture review board and may be scaled back.

"We know that the design will continue to be refined, and that more town residents will need to be engaged," the Kabcenells wrote. "However, we felt that it was the right time to show our commitment to the project and to help move it forward."

The community is not yet convinced that the project must go forward, said Ms. Reiss. "We are still working that."

The town has a history of conservative budgeting and avoidance of debt, but a contingent of residents who oppose the project have argued that the council should be using public money and asking residents for an up-or-down vote on a general obligation bond. Their arguments may have struck a nerve. In what turned into a protest vote in the November 8 election, a utility tax that normally is widely supported won renewal by just 4 percentage points.

Council members have admitted that they could have done a better job communicating to the public about the project, and have said that a general obligation bond is likely if private fundraising falls short of the $16 million mark.
Raising the money

About 50 Portola Valley families have the capacity to make large donations, Ms. Reiss told the Almanac. "The wealth is here (and) they are also characteristically very philanthropic about their wealth," she said. "It's always who you know and how you approach them."

Ms. Reiss said she is confident about reaching the $8 million mark. "The Kabcenell gift is starting to kick off momentum for us," she said. "Sixteen million (dollars) is much more challenging, but I think it's a great goal to have."

Potential donors, she said, want the new center to provide more or less the same level of town and recreational services now available at the existing complex. "That's really important to the people we've been meeting with," she said.

Design details come up, too, she said, generally from residents with smaller gifts in mind. Some have asked if a horse trail will surround the site (it will), and whether commercial coffee carts will be allowed on the site (they won't). They just want to make sure "it's done right," she said.

Naming buildings after donors is not in the offing, but plans do include a prominently located "recognition wall" showing donors' names.

The project has evolved through crawling and walking stages and may be ready to run, Mr. Lane told the Almanac. "I think there are several other gifts in the wings," he said. "I'm talking about some major donors."
INFORMATION

The Portola Valley Community Fund is seeking private funds to help pay for new facilities at Town Center, including a library, a playground, a community hall, activity rooms and playing fields. For information, call Beth Rabuczewski at 529-9541 or e-mail rabuczewski@sbcglobal.net.

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