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Editor,
I have received quite a few questions from residents asking why I have stayed neutral and haven’t joined other elected officials in endorsing “No on Measure P.” The answer is, frankly, that it’s all about the parking structure, or lack thereof. Back when I was on the Menlo Park City Council, I said if the city was ever going to build on these lots, it was going to have to make a financial commitment to building a parking structure.
I haven’t seen the city of Menlo Park make a financial commitment yet, to fund a parking structure in a way that downtown merchants can rely on. It’s reasonable to me, that if the city is going to take away so much parking to build housing, it has an obligation to put forward a solid plan with a funding commitment to build a parking structure. Parking structures don’t get built on best intentions. Kudos to Drew Combs who recently stated as much at the last City Council meeting.
Without such a plan, Measure P is a decision best left to voters. Menlo Park voters are smart and they don’t need me or any other endorser to tell them how to answer this question based on their own personal preference: Do you agree with the small business owners and think the city should have a firm plan and funding for a downtown parking garage to replace the parking lots taken for an affordable housing project, or do folks agree with the city that it should prioritize affordable housing due to need and build on the parking lots downtown, trusting that a plan and funding for a parking structure will materialize later.
Personally, I think the city better put together a plan for a parking structure urgently, or risk the measure passing. As an aside, I would also put a two-screen movie theater, like you see at ski resorts, in the sublevel of the parking structure that the city owned and could treat as a community benefit and lease out to an operator at a reduced rate to attract residents to the downtown. That would make everyone happy. But a solid plan to build and fund any garage is necessary here. I doubt there would have been a Measure P at all if the parking structure had existed to begin with.
Ray Mueller
Former Menlo Park mayor, San Mateo County supervisor
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