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Publication Date: Wednesday, October 20, 2004 Endorsements from readers
Endorsements from readers
(October 20, 2004)
Almanac erred by not backing Cohen
Editor:
Re: the lack of Almanac endorsement of Andy Cohen in the Menlo Park City Council race.
While I have mixed feelings about the policies of the current Menlo Park administration, I believe the purpose of a council is to represent the people of the community and I do not feel the community is currently being fairly represented.
Andy Cohen views this campaign as his chance to help build our community and I see that he means that in the true sense -- not just what does he want for our community but what does everyone want? He is more willing to listen than anyone I have seen in a long time. He wants to hear all the issues and find the "third way," the way in which everyone wins. He has taken this on whole-heartedly, drawing people together and creating a very energetic and capable force that seems to envelop all who come in contact with him.
Morgan Wain
Mills Court, Menlo Park
Make sure your voice matters
Editor:
The upcoming Menlo Park City Council elections will impact our city and neighborhoods in a big way.
After witnessing the behavior of the current council - dominated by Nicholas Jellins, Lee Duboc, and Mickie Winkler - and their efforts to impose the recently rescinded Residential Ordinance 926 on our community, I see that it is clear that we need to offset this council majority with strong leaders who believe in a more consensus-building approach.
Candidates Mike Lambert and Lorie Sinnott are not the answer. They are endorsed by the majority, both support 926, and have strong ties to the developer community. If elected, they would transform the majority into a monopoly.
We should select new council members who will carefully listen to all sides, forge solutions that reasonably balance competing interests, and encourage constructive resident participation. Please consider voting for Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen. They are committed to an open and inclusive style of governing Menlo Park. Dana Hendrickson
Ambar Way, Menlo Park
Old buzz words are off the mark
Editor:
"Developer, Pro-Development, Monster Homes." Valerie Frederickson used all the old buzz words in her letter last week against Lorie Sinnott and Mike Lambert, two smart, life-long, community-minded Menlo Park residents.
She has further perpetuated the Fergusson-induced myth-information regarding Ordinance 926.
The truth is: We already have a rules-based ordinance, but the rules only apply to 50 percent of Menlo Park's lots that are classified as "standard" lots.
The rescinded Ordinance 926 would have significantly reduced the building envelope for standard (as well as substandard lots), and added neighbor notification and review for "standard" lots.
However, thanks to Ms. Fergusson's efforts to stop Ordinance 926, at least five, to quote the letter, "ugly monster homes" are being or have been built on standard lots that would not have been built under the new rules, unless they were reviewed and received neighbor approval.
It's time to cut out the labeling, and focus on truth.
Robert Anderson
Menalto Avenue, Menlo Park
Sprinklers and affordable housing
Editor:
If Menlo Park citizens are looking for a City Council member who speaks out of both sides of his mouth, they should support Mike Lambert.
On the one hand, Lambert says he is in favor of more affordable housing. On the other, he said at the League of Women Voters' candidates' night forum that he would add $900,000 to city revenues and, thus, much more to the cost of housing, by mandating fire protection sprinklers in new homes, even though it is questionable whether they would add to life safety in otherwise well-designed residences.
James R. Madison
Holly Avenue, Menlo Park
Where does Fergusson stand on business?
Editor:
Candidate Kelly Fergusson says publicly that she is for "managed growth" but she should have said she is for micro-managed growth.
Ms. Fergusson's record is clear: She champions the one-year use permit, which means she expects a new business to invest tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars in a venture in exchange for Planning Commission reconsideration after just one year. This was true for the coffee shop on Menalto, in my neighborhood, which Ms. Fergusson repeatedly touts as her crowning achievement in dealing with Menlo Park's business community. If her Planning Commission decision had not been reversed by the City Council, the coffee shop would never have been opened.
In addition to seeking a one-year review on the coffee shop, she wanted to regulate exactly which products the shop could sell (including whether or not they could sell sandwiches, and, if so, what kind).
Menlo Park, with one of the highest commercial vacancy rates on the Peninsula, is trying to become more business-friendly. Why is business important to Menlo Park? Are we talking about handing the keys to developers?
Emphatically, no! Businesses pay a substantial portion of the taxes that run our city and enable us to provide police, parks and recreation, senior, childcare and other services. Electing Ms. Fergusson sends a sour message to the very businesses we need to support our quality of life.
Michelle Harbottle
Menalto Avenue, Menlo Park
Development a key council issue
Editor:
Menlo Park faces a number of complex, ongoing issues, including residential housing, commercial development, traffic management, downtown parking, Burgess Center development, and development associated with Caltrain.
We need to achieve a reasonable balance between those at one extreme who wish in vain for a Menlo Park like it was decades ago, and others who would open up Menlo Park to free-wheeling, no-holds-barred development.
After seeing our current council in action, dominated by Nicholas Jellins, Lee Duboc, and Mickie Winkler, I'm convinced that we need other voices on the council to offset their approach. We need people who will listen carefully to all sides, work to help forge compromises that balance competing needs, and lead Menlo Park through the inevitable changes to come.
Please consider voting for Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen to maintain balance on the City Council. I have met both of them, and believe they are committed to an open, inclusive style of governing Menlo Park.
Carel Veenhuyzen
Helen Place, Menlo Park
How will Fergusson behave on council?
Editor:
On September 29, I was present for "Meet the Candidates Night" for the Menlo Park City Council, sponsored by the League of Women Voters.
Kelly Fergusson claimed that she would offer "leadership" and "balance" to the council. It is worth examining whether her record suggests if she is likely to work cohesively with her future fellow council members. Her public record on this is not promising.
At a use permit hearing last year, she was required to recuse herself as a member of the Planning Commission. She stepped off the dais but shared her views as an ordinary citizen. Other public officials who have recused themselves leave the council chamber and don't attempt to influence their colleagues. Ms. Fergusson's action conformed to the letter of the rules but utterly subverted their spirit.
On other issues, when her views on residential zoning were not incorporated into a recent zoning law, she actively campaigned against it, spreading what I believe to be false information to solicit signatures for her repeal petition.
I am deeply concerned that the important legislative issues facing Menlo Park will be filibustered until the rest of the council gives in to her proposals. Contrary to her claim, she will unbalance the council and be a highly disruptive presence on a future City Council.
Susan Hart
O'Keefe St., Menlo Park
Check positions on home-building rules
Editor:
This election gives us an opportunity to find out about our City Council candidates' ideas on the thorny issue of home-building rules.
At their meet-the-candidate coffee sessions, Lorie Sinnott and Michael Lambert are telling supporters that they favor a rules-based zoning ordinance. Yet their literature and Web sites studiously avoid mentioning that crucial information. Perhaps they can explain why no city on the Peninsula, with the exception of Atherton, relies solely on rule-based zoning laws.
Contrary to claims, "rule-based" emphatically does not mean equity; it means removal of any existing neighborhood feedback and Planning Commission review. So, perversely, instead of adding moderate protections for those who don't currently enjoy them, a rule-based ordinance removes them for all who now do.
Perhaps the two candidates were not paying attention when over 2,500 Menlo Park residents recently signed a referendum petition calling for the council to either repeal the measure or put it to a vote. Ms. Sinnott might be excused for her staunch support of Ordinance 926 since her husband, architect/developer Sam Sinnott, was a strong supporter of the proposal.
As a Planning Commissioner, Kelly Fergusson has consistently favored a streamlined home-building process while, at the same time, recognizing that the neighborhood has a stake in how the area develops. She led the successful effort that led the council to rescind Ordinance 926, preserving the protections long enjoyed by half of Menlo Park's homeowners.
For those who want to update their properties while preserving their neighborhoods' individual characteristics, the choice is clear: elect Kelly Fergusson to be our voice on the City Council.
Jennifer Fisher
Hermosa Way, Menlo Park
Unified position on Children's Center
Editor:
From watching the City Council candidate debate at City Hall, I now know that both Michael Lambert and Lorie Sinnott are in lockstep agreement with the Lee Duboc, Mickie Winkler, and Nicholas Jellins majority on every thorny issue.
I was sad and frustrated to hear Mr. Lambert and Ms. Sinnott both oppose the new, voter-approved Menlo Children's Center in favor of a controversial decision to renovate the abandoned police station.
Mr. Lambert parroted the same discredited arguments and spin used by the council. To prove his point, he held up the June 2001 City Brochure entitled "It's Time To Renovate," emphasizing the word "renovate," suggesting the city had originally proposed a renovation to voters during the Measure T campaign.
Had Mr. Lambert actually read the city brochure he would have seen the following in the proposed project list:
"The development of a new childcare center to replace the temporary portables currently used." And on the back, "... the city has already started the design for two projects ... including ... a new childcare center."
And he would know the city pledged $10 million in existing funds to finance the two projects, and that the council wasted nearly $1 million in design costs, of which Mr. Jellins voted in favor all along to this point.
It is bad enough to waste a million dollars and ignore 70 percent voter approval. It is worse to deny or spin the facts about which child-care facility was proposed, particularly when those undeniable facts are right in your hands.
Did Michael Lambert deliberately misstate what he knew? The mayor's recent letter further shows me that they are collaborating on this new spin tactic. Lambert is just an echo, no more.
Irene Searles
Oakdell Drive, Menlo Park
Council needs divergent views
Editor:
Since I was away from my Menlo Park home this summer, I was not involved in the discussions on how people in our town get representation.
However, I noted during a recent City Council meeting that the present majority on the council, though stating a willingness to listen to all the constituents and minority views, appear closed to opposing views when making decisions or running meetings. The atmosphere is not the best to encourage discussion or to consider all sides of an issue.
In the upcoming local election for City Council members, we can elect two people who represent a large and divergent view to the present council majority or we can add to the majority, and thereby have less representation. I prefer diversity and an exchange of more, rather than fewer, ideas.
Therefore, I strongly urge the voters of Menlo Park to vote for Kelly Fergusson and Andy Cohen.
Thomas Forrest, M.D.
Bay Laurel Drive, Menlo Park
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