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Change is inevitable
The world is changing. That’s the takeaway from the public comments at the Jan. 14 meeting of the Menlo Park City Council.
New state laws require cities to come up with plans to allow more housing, particularly affordable homes. Neighboring communities like Redwood City and Mountain View have done this. It’s taken diligence and leadership, not casting spells or hoarding magic beans.
Many residents of Menlo Park, though, don’t care for any of it. A proposal to build at least 345 affordable units on city-owned parking lots downtown was derided in crude and coarse language. Redlining, open bigotry and defiant exclusion somehow became acceptable in public statements.
Councilors shouldn’t approve “low-income projects,” one said. Another described the people who would live in these subsidized homes as problematic, prone to suicide and domestic violence. What’s more, one person declared that no one has a “divine right” to live in Menlo Park, because it’s the existing residents’ divine right to park downtown.
Apparently it doesn’t matter whether the folks who cook our meals, clean our streets and stock our shelves live in a tent or out in Tracy, as long as they don’t call Menlo Park home. So civic leaders in Menlo Park face a choice: reject cynicism and entitlement and embrace a future with more neighbors, or get buried in lawsuits as the state housing authority takes charge.
Change is inevitable. I for one can’t wait to see what happens.
Anthony Lazarus,
Redwood City
Local journalism informs and entertains
In support of local journalism, my hat’s off to journalist Alexei Koseff of CalMatters whose coverage of Gavin Newsom’s budget is informative, in-depth and entertaining. For example, here is a quote he elicited from a top former government official, “[Elon Musk] … is a little piggy that’s been at the [government] trough.” Thank goodness for local journalists that have nothing to do with AI or algorithms. Thank goodness that local newspapers can bring us this content. Democracy depends on it.
Sincerely,
Kaia Eakin,
Redwood City
Regarding Anthony Lazarus’ comments, I find it disturbing that at the last City Council meeting, a high percentage of the supporters of the project were like Anthony, not actually residents of Menlo Park. Moreover, no commenters mentioned divine right or any other nonsense like that. The detractors (residents and business owners) at the meeting were much more constructive than portrayed by Anthony, most of whom pushed the City Council to seriously consider the Civic Center site which is a more optimal site than the downtown parking lots. Unfortunately, the City Council largely ignored the input without offering a reasonable reason why. Ideology is once again trumping pragmatism in MP.
I’ve been a Menlo Park resident for over 20 years. I’m tired to hearing the same old objections to city growth.
We need more housing. In Menlo Park and everywhere. I don’t care if it’s affordable or market rate. We just need more supply.
I’m tired of seeing our young professionals leave for Austin, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and Raleigh because they can’t afford a place to live here.
We have an obligation to our young generation to offer them an opportunity to remain in our community.
Build more housing now!