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Briefs: Councilman Rich Cline set to be next Menlo Park mayor

If Menlo Park's City Council follows its order of succession, Councilman Rich Cline will be sworn in as the city's next mayor at the council meeting Tuesday, Dec. 1.

John Boyle, the lone "minority" voice on the council, is in line to become vice mayor, if the council follows the order.

The mayor chairs council meetings, but has no executive authority. The position rotates among council members.

The brief, celebratory meeting will begin at 7 p.m. in the council chambers, located in the Civic Center between Laurel and Alma streets. A reception in the council chambers will follow.

Fire district dedicates new building

The Menlo Park Fire Protection District will celebrate the opening of a new administrative office building in a ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 1, at 9 a.m.

The new building is located at 170 Middlefield Road.

Instead of starting from scratch, the fire district purchased and renovated an existing structure for $5 million, according to Fire Chief Harold Schapelhouman. Rebuilding the existing offices at 300 Middlefield Road would have cost an estimated $19.7 million, Mr. Schapelhouman said in a press release.

Twice as large as the district's previous office, the new structure will house chief officers, support staff, and the fire prevention bureau, according to Mr. Schapelhouman.

The district serves Atherton, Menlo Park, East Palo Alto and nearby unincorporated areas.

Venture capitalist seeks Assembly seat

A Menlo Park man has thrown his hat into the ring as a candidate for the California Assembly's 21st district.

Josh Becker, a venture capitalist and philanthropist, will vie for the Democratic nomination for the seat to be vacated by Ira Ruskin, who will be forced out of office by term limits in 2010.

In a press release, Mr. Becker said he would "like to take some of the same principles of innovation I've experienced here in Silicon Valley up to Sacramento."

He is the founder and chair of the Full Circle Fund, a San Francisco-based philanthropy organization that gives grants to nonprofits. He also founded New Cycle Capital, an "early-stage" venture capital firm based in San Francisco.

More recently, he started the Clean Economy Network, a business networking group.

Other candidates to replace Mr. Ruskin include San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon, and Palo Alto Councilwoman Yoriko Kishimoto.

The 21st district encompasses all of The Almanac's circulation area.

Talk on topographic maps of the future

Mark DeMulder, director of the National Geospatial Program for the U.S. Geological Survey, will discuss the future of topographic map-making in the Menlo Park offices of the USGS on Thursday, Dec. 10.

The presentation, "A New Generation of Maps: Topographic Maps for the 21st Century," is set for 7 p.m. in Conference Room A of Building 3 at 345 Middlefield Road.

The new Web-based topographical maps are quadrangles composed of PDF layers that, together, provide "more than a standard map," according to a flier for the event.

Go to online.wr.usgs.gov/calendar for more information.

Church seeks online prayers for peace

Hopes for peace in the world's trouble spots will be a focus at Valley Presbyterian Church in the weeks leading up to the holidays.

During November, church officials are asking the public — both here and around the world — to send prayers to the church's Web site. Artists in the congregation will incorporate the prayers in a 4-foot-by-20-foot banner at the church, at 945 Portola Road in Portola Valley.

The banner's principle message will be "Peace on Earth" in English, Arabic and Hebrew, and it will hang from the side of the church during December, the Rev. Cheryl Goodman-Morris said in an e-mail.

The church says it has given out small peace banners to children in local Muslim and Jewish communities with the intention of having the kids return them decorated in peace-related themes for display around the perimeter of the church's sanctuary, Ms. Goodman-Morris said.

Go to valleypreschurch.org and click on "Peace on Earth" Prayer Banner Project for more information. The church also has a Facebook page for the project.

Film focuses on girls orphaned by AIDS

Coming to the Woodside Village Church at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, is a one-hour documentary entitled "Where the Water Meets the Sky." The film tells the tale of 23 women from Zambia who learn filmmaking to show the plight of girls orphaned by AIDS.

The Rotary Club of Woodside/Portola Valley is sponsoring the event in recognition of World AIDS Day. Refreshments will be served.

The Campaign for Female Education, a nonprofit based in Cambridge, England, produced the film.

Go to www.camfed.org for more information, or call Joan Fuetsch at 599-9277.