Short Takes Short Takes (December 31, 2003)

What's in a name?

Would a Japanese restaurant in unincorporated San Mateo County sound as sweet? A group of Atherton residents is up in arms over Bonsai Restaurant's big sign on El Camino proclaiming its location as "Atherton, CA." A newspaper ad announcing that Woodside restaurant Bentley's will be opening next year in Atherton also came under fire.

Atherton has no commercial district, so businesses on El Camino that appear to be within the town's boundaries are actually in Menlo Park or an unincorporated county area. The restriction keeps Atherton strictly residential, but it means the town doesn't see any of the sales tax revenue, either.

Atherton council members have been fielding complaints, but say there's little they can do. The name "Atherton" isn't copyrighted, and the businesses do have Atherton mailing addresses. The local postmaster, says City Manager Jim Robinson, has offered little hope that a new zip code will be created for the Atherton-adjacent area.

From Menlo Park to Morgan Hill

Having time to finish reading a book and complete projects around the house is all well and good, but that clearly hasn't been enough for Bruce Cumming, who retired as chief of the Menlo Park Police Department in 1999.

Since then, he's worked as interim police chief up north in Fort Bragg and is currently heading the small police department at the University of California's Hastings College of Law in San Francisco. Now he's planning a stint as interim police chief in Morgan Hill just after his Hastings job ends January 15.

When a reporter observed that this retirement sounded more hectic than tranquil, Mr. Cumming responded affably: "This is relaxing for me. It's really enjoyable."

He said he expects his Morgan Hill position to last about six months, during which time he'll help recruit a new chief and oversee the department's transition into its new police building.

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