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Local parents whose children attend the two city-subsidized child care programs in Menlo Park, the Menlo Children’s Center and the Belle Haven Child Development Center, can breathe a little easier now knowing that one of the rare affordable child care options in the city won’t be shut down.
The question for some will be – is it still affordable?
The Menlo Park City Council voted Tuesday night to keep the centers open, despite a significant increase in operating costs due new social distancing requirements imposed by regulators to minimize the risk of children or staff contracting COVID-19 there. Members also agreed to raise tuition at the Menlo Children’s Center by $500 per month, putting the center’s rates closer to the median cost of other local daycare programs.
The proposal received four votes; Councilman Ray Mueller abstained. He had proposed to send a letter to leaders in San Mateo County involved in child care policy issues to ask for funding support and consider using the city’s day care programs as a training ground for new early childhood educators. Doing so could help tackle the challenge of the severe shortage of early childhood teachers in the area, he added.
Other council members such as Mayor Cecilia Taylor weren’t ready to commit to the idea or the preliminary step of sending a letter without doing some research first.
Staff had estimated that running the child care centers for the 2020-2021 fiscal year would require about a $1.2 million subsidy at the Belle Haven child Development center and $454,300 at the Menlo Children’s Center, if the city were to raise the tuition by about $1,100 per month. The city’s subsidy will ultimately be larger than that $454,300 figure because the tuition increase will be $500, rather than $1,100 per month.
Families that send their children to the Menlo Children’s Center are encouraged to contact the city if they feel a $500 increase would price them out of the program, said Councilwoman Catherine Carlton.
As they near the end of their budget-planning process, council members also raised budget items they want to be preserved that have been on the chopping block, including continuing to operate the Onetta Harris Community Center, and retain the city’s membership in the Peninsula Library System network. One challenge with any community center or library is it’s not clear when they will be allowed to reopen because of COVID-19 restrictions. If the Arrillaga Recreation center is allowed to reopen, then the Onetta Harris Community Center should be allowed to reopen as well as a matter of equity, several community members said in public comment.
“The Onetta Harris Community Center is a monument here, said Belle Haven resident Marcelline Combs. “It is a monument here. … It is still a safe place that children that live in the community can go to and be able to walk home and feel safe.”
She expressed discomfort with children being bused after nightfall to and from the city’s other community center across town, the Arrillaga Family Recreation Center, as the city plans to do when the community center is closed for construction. It’s not yet clear when either the Arrillaga or the Onetta Harris community centers will be able to open next, and the Onetta Harris center is slated for demolition expected next March as the city moves forward with rebuilding a new community center and library there with support from Facebook.
Council members asked staff to bring back a list of the remaining items and said it would be OK to dip into the city’s reserves – somewhere around the low-six-figures.
“When you cut everything like crazy it can leave sharp edges and corners,” Mueller said. “I want to give a little bit of a cushion …to smooth the edges so things can work.”
Calls to defund police
The council also received a number of public comments asking members to reduce funding for police services and invest those funds in other departments like community services and community development, as well as education and health initiatives, which aren’t as clearly tied to the city’s budget and programs.
“I want to see the city increase efforts to be inclusive for communities of color and marginalized communities,” said commenter Kevin Gallagher. The county’s curfew last week, he said, he saw as a sign that “the county values property over people.”
Commenter Rose Scott urged the council to “rethink our view of public safety” and focus on investing in mental health support, affordable housing, substance abuse programs and community well-being.
Taylor and Councilwoman Betsy Nash expressed interest in enacting additional cuts to the police department, beyond what has already been proposed in the upcoming budget. Taylor said she’d like to see the police budget reduced by 20%. Nash said she was planning to bring forward a resolution in support of the Black Lives Matter movement to an upcoming council meeting.
New commissioners appointed
The following people have been appointed to the following Menlo Park commissions.
Housing Commission – John Pimentel
Complete Streets Commission – Petrice Espinosa, Katie Behroozi and Isaac Wyatt
Environmental Quality Commission – Janelle London and James Payne
Finance and Audit Committee – Theo Keet and Roger Royse
Library Commission – Katie Hadrovic, Sukanya Guha, Mayrin Bunyagidj and Yen Tran
Parks & Recreation Commission –Jennifer Baskin and Jennifer Johnson
Planning Commission – Andrew Barnes and Henry Riggs
Sister City Committee – Anna Tavora Enerio
Pool can reopen
The Menlo Park council also approved the new terms of its contract with third-party pool operator Team Sheeper to reopen the city’s pools in a phased approach at Burgess Park and Belle Haven, clearing the way for the pool to reopen.
Visitors will not be permitted to gather with non-family members, will have to wear face coverings when not in the pool and maintain a 6-foot distance from other people inside and out of the pool.
People also may not occupy locker rooms and restrooms and equipment will be heavily cleaned. Equipment would be wiped down after each use. Employees will fill out a digital daily health check form, and patrons will have their temperatures checked before entering the facility.
The first phase will allow lap swimming and summer camps. The second phase will allow more programming within the facility, including Masters swimming, swim lessons and family open swim time. Phase three would add in the pool’s Aqua-fit program, reopen some locker rooms and restrooms, showers, a front office and youth sports. Phase four would be a return to normal operations with a full program, plus enhanced cleaning and disinfecting.
Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include a new commissioner who was accidentally left off the list in an earlier version.
“Taylor said she’d like to see the police budget reduced by 20%.”
That is VERY easy – just contract with the Sheriff for police services and the City will save at least 20% AND service levels will IMPROVE.
Mueller simply plays the game at a different level than anyone else; his move here was utterly genius. It’s just fun to watch this guy; we should enjoy it while he’s still in our leadership orbit. He’s always two steps ahead and outside the box.
Mueller simply plays the game at a different level than anyone else; his move here was utterly genius. It’s just fun to watch this guy. We should enjoy it while he’s still in our leadership orbit. He’s always two steps ahead and outside the box.
Some of us remember when the murder rate in EPA and East Menlo was so high that it was the “Per Capita Murder capital of the United States”, more recently those of us in the Willows remembers the spike in home burgularies. We don’t want to return to crime statistics like we had then. We do not need to defund the police any more that has been done as part of the new budgeting process. We certainly do NOT need to contract with the Sherrif deparement to take over police services. We should ensure our officers are properly trained in deescalation procedures, how to safely restrain people and how to build relations in the community.
“. We certainly do NOT need to contract with the Sherrif deparement to take over police services.”
Why not Brian? We would get better service at a lower cost.
” We should ensure our officers are properly trained in deescalation procedures, how to safely restrain people and how to build relations in the community.”
The Sheriff has 800 employees and a team of people doing training while MPPD has 76 employees and ONE person doing analysis, records AND training – which organization do you think does a better job of training?
contracting with the Sheriff’s department is the right thing to do. the overhead of operating our own “system” would be mitigated. San Carlos did it and is VERY happy with the performance and reliability.
this is a fiduciary “no brainer” that Ray Mueller understands, and the rest of the council needs to pull their head out of the sand……
Roy Thiele-Sardina
Similarly…and unfortunately…Menlo Park’s police department to stay, but with rate hike…
is true also! Their huge raises are going to be forced on to the city, and the council members will not do their jobs to turn it over to the county.
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s department has their fari share of issues, just google them and you find cases of smuggling phones into the jail, staging fights in the jail, officers falsifying police reports, etc. I think we need a smaller police force that can build relationships within the community and who knows the people and the problems. We have police that can deal with the homelsee better because they know them and interact with them regularly. Having an 800 person force that covers a huge area means they will not know Menlo Park or anyone living here. If Menlo Park needs help they can get it through Mutual Aid and they get additional training with other departments.
Where we really need to look at cutting costs in the Fire Department. People talk about large salaries with the Police, they are miniscule compated to what the fire department makes (Highest Average pay in the state of California). If we could find a way to shift some of the money from the bloated FD to Menlo Police we would solve a lot of problems.
“Having an 800 person force that covers a huge area means they will not know Menlo Park or anyone living here.”
Brian – you do not understand how the Sheriff’s Office works.
Communities like Woodside, Portola Valley and San Carlos each have the same deputies assigned to them every shift – those officers know the neighborhoods they serve as well as does any local police force.
And when the Sheriff’s Office takes responsibility for a new community they offer positions to the best of the current department’s police force. This is what the San Carlos Mayor said at the time of the transfer:”We do have a lot of local cops, and those local cops will continue to work,” Royce said Tuesday. “If you look at any organization, it’s good to have some change. We’ll have the best of both worlds. Having the mix of existing local cops and new officers, they’ll be able to provide as good, if not better, level of service.”
From the Grand Jury Report:
“When asked by the Grand Jury for the reasoning behind choosing to contract with the
Sheriff’s Office, a knowledgeable San Carlos official stated in response to a Grand Jury
survey:
As a result of more than a decade of unsustainable public safety cost increases
combined with lower public safety levels for the community, San Carlos chose to
implement a regional consolidation approach for providing police services to the
community. By contracting with the SO, San Carlos was able to maintain
minimum staffing levels for patrols, provide the same quick response times, and
has been able to restore many of the key community programs that the San Carlos
Police Department had provided in better economic times.”
“The contracts utilized by all three cities are basically the same. They have a common theme of
saving each city thousands of dollars by having the SO perform virtually all policing duties.
These savings are gained by having the SO assume responsibility for office expenses, including
accounting and personnel, along with pension and medical obligations. The contracts provide for
police services at staffing levels determined by the individual city councils, which are
commensurate with the cities previous staffing levels. Additional services not set forth in the
base contract can be added by the cities to fit their needs by amending the contract. ”
“FINDINGS
F1. The SO is providing the police services for which the cities of Half Moon Bay, Millbrae,
and San Carlos contracted within the cost perimeters of the contracts.
F2. Public response to the transition from individual police departments to the SO is positive.
F3. No increase in the number of police involved incidences has been reported by the cities
due to the transition of policing services to the SO and one city, Millbrae, reports a
decrease of 17 per cent in crime.
F4. The transition from individual police departments to the SO was incident free with
former city personnel generally pleased with the change.
F5. The police service contracts between the SO and each of the cities of Half Moon Bay,
Millbrae, and San Carlos serve as good models to other cities in the County which
operate their own police departments and which are facing budgetary restraints.
F6. The trust funds for each city comprised of unallocated funds should be disclosed in
financial reports and described in the policing service contracts.
In response to the Grand Jury Report San Carlos made this statement:
“The SO has consistently met or exceeded the contracted service levels. Of particular note have been the efforts in Community Policing and community engagement practices which have far exceeded what the city expected”
Case Closed!!
Sorry Peter the case is definately not closed. I don’t think I really need to argue here since the council is not supportive of this idea. If I need to discuss this topic I will do it with them instead of you.
Brian – If you don’t think that you need to counter the facts that I have presented then don’t bother to continue to post opinions for which there is no factual support
Brian:
the fire department is not a city department. It’s budget has no effect on our city budget. Cutting costs there will do ZERO for MP’s bottom line.
San Mateo County has a population of just 720,000.
It has 18 cities.
And 13 police departments including the sheriff (5 cities contract with the sheriff)
Do we really need 13 police deparments, each with its own administration, to serve 720,000 people?
Like many police departments, Menlo Park police has problems, and loses law suits, never brought to light by prearrangement with powerful police unions.
Occassionally we learn, thanks to the Almanac, of a problem indirectly. Remember the story of the Naked Cop, caught on duty with a prostitute (and more)– who may still be working for the Menlo Park Police.
“Do we really need 13 police deparments, each with its own administration, to serve 720,000 people?”
No and we also don’t need multiple fire departments.
A county wide emergency services agency that combined police, fire and ambulance services would save millions and it would improve the service levels for all of these critical functions.
With the world protesting the Homicide by Law Enforcement of George Floyd, and San Mateo County protests to support that and BLM very few SMC Residents are aware that Chinedu V. Okoboi was killed by six SMC Sheriff Employees on October 3, 2018 in Millbrae around 1PM. The Coroner Office ruled the manner of his Death to be a Homicide just like the coroner ruled George Floyd’s Death was ruled a Homicide.
Sheriff Carlos G. Bolanos and PIO Rosemerry Blankswade issued e News Releases within hours of his death with multiple False Statements which the print media repeated over and over. The Sheriff”s Office left those false statement up on the County’s website for 5 months even though they knew they were false at the time the published them.
Supervisor Don Horsley commented that he was not concerned about the false statements.
Chinedu Okobi was a 36 year old Black Man walking on the sidewalk when Deputy Wang became interested in him and made a u-turn. It was after this u-turn that Okobi crossed El Camino where there was no cross walk. He was DEAD 9 minutes later.
Chinedu Okobi is San Mateo County’s George Floyd.
March 1, 2019 District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe stated in his Press Conference The Coroner of this County ruled the manner of Death was a Homicide. Steve Wagstaffe chose not to charge the Six Employees.
How about council members use the $40 million or a portion of it that Facebook plans to spend to rebuild the community centers in Belle Haven? First, this demolition and new building is completely unnecessary, yet the existing programs are essential for the community NOW ! There will be NO programs left with the current cuts to the senior center and rate hike to child care in Belle Haven…perhaps this IS the intent by city managers and council ? How about cutting the Assistant City Manager (and other overpaid, useless positions) which could subsidize child and senior programs! Over 100 seniors signed a letter protesting the demolition of the MP Senior Center in Belle Haven last year, and the building could remain, cutting that $40 million price tag. The solutions exist, yet does leadership that represents what citizens NEED exist ???
REGARDING CHILD CARE: Just out of curiosity, what is the monthly cost of child care at a day care facility these days? In 1963, it cost me $85 per month for eight hours’ daily care, plus one meal (lunch), for my two-year-old son. One of the Menlo Park day care facilities I used was on Avy, close to Avy and the Alameda; the other day care facility was near Willow and Middlefield, close to Sunset Magazine.
I’ve been to the MPSC (Menlo Park Senior Center), and was extremely impressed with the physical building, range of resources dedicated to directly contributing to our seniors’ well being, seeming dedication of the staff. It seems UNNECESSARY and a WASTE to demolish such a FINE and USEFUL EXISTING CENTER, relocate OUR SENIORS to other interim places, and then finally LOCATE them in an ILL-CONCEIVED, ILL-DESIGNED replacement center that does not EQUAL WHAT THEY HAVE NOW – and all for the POSSIBLY SELF-CENTERED and QUESTIONABLE NEEDS of FACEBOOK, the multi-billion dollar company beneficiary of A DECISION THAT SEVERELY IMPACTS OUR SENIORS’ NEEDS NOW AND INTO THE FUTURE! Makes NO SENSE especially in light of the NEW REALITY OF FACEBOOK EMPLOYEES WORKING FROM HOME – THEY DON’T NEED THE SAME AMOUNT OF NEW SPACE. Come on folks….PLEASE RECONSIDER YOUR DECISION and YOUR PRIORITIES! Thank you. Kirt (Palo Alto resident and professional seniors advocate)