LETTERS LETTERS (June 15, 2005)

Is it election time already?

Editor:

Good Lord, is it election time already?

Letters from Heywood Robinson and Russ Dember are already campaigning with hit pieces coordinated with one Menlo Park City Council member's press release to all four local papers, and its just barely June.

The latest story line is that Mayor Mickie Winkler wrote to the Planning Commission regarding a recommendation they had decided to revisit, constituting "undue influence." Many people wrote letters, including the authors' compatriot, council member Fergusson. And the commissioners read them all.

One of six paragraphs involved whether, if a home addition on a "sub-standard" lot is limited to a single story and meets all zoning criteria, plus two new restrictions, can the homeowners skip the onerous planning commission review process -- as the owners of regular lots do. It's worth noting that half of all Menlo Park lots are "substandard."

On first review, ending somewhere around midnight, the commission said "yes," but adding that neighbors could bump it back on the Planning Commission's calendar. In the light of day, the error was obvious, so notice was given and put back on the agenda for another meeting.

The claim is made that the mayor initiated this. No one outside the commission initiated it. I did. I had made the original motion, and felt the next morning that I had made a hasty misjudgment and had to fix it. Council member Fergusson attended that second hearing and heard all that.

At the end of that hearing, Ms. Fergusson, who had also addressed the commission at length, said to us, "That wasn't the outcome I had hoped for, but I have to admit you really work well together as a commission." I couldn't have said it better.

Because residential zoning issues are both complex and emotional, this is great campaign fodder for manipulative "activists" telling a creative view of events targeted at short attention spans. We don't need a bunch of political consultants using our town to build a political career. Not in early June, and really, not at all.

Henry Riggs

Callie Lane, Menlo Park

Mayor's letter should have been public

Editor:

Recent complaints from Menlo Park Planning Commission members and City Council majority loyalists Kirsten Keith and Henry Riggs regarding the appearance before them on May 23 by Council Member Kelly Fergusson overlook the most egregious aspect of the brouhaha.

We should be asking what caused the commission to place the issue on the agenda again after approving it on April 25. The real story is that Mayor Mickie Winkler wrote a letter on the subject to the entire commission sometime between April 25 and May 23 that was not made available to the public, either in a public notice, attached to the agenda or on the city's Website. That letter may have influenced both Mr. Riggs' request to reconsider the issue and the commission's decision to reverse itself. Either way, the public deserves to know.

Steve Schmidt

Central Avenue, Menlo Park

City's landscaping 'shocking'

Editor:

The poor maintenance of the landscaping on city property in Menlo Park is shocking and disgraceful.

A look at the medians on the Santa Cruz Avenue, along one of the most beautiful streets in the west side of town, Sharon Park Drive, and along the main thoroughfare leading into the city, Sand Hill Road clearly shows a complete disregard by the city manager and his staff.

Despite several complaints and meetings with city staff, nothing has been done, other than some lip service and vague broken promises for the future. What this is doing to the main business district and to the property values elsewhere in the city can only be imagined.

The Almanac would be doing all of the citizens of Menlo Park a big favor by running photos of these conditions. Weeds three to four-foot tall, volunteer brush and trees growing inside of existing plantings are typical of the things that you will encounter. I urge all citizens to look at this and make your displeasure known

Jerry Schwartzman

Mansion Court, Menlo Park

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