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In this week’s community briefs: A new way to reach 911 responders, California gets a new Senator, seasonal generosity is on display, and local schools announce a new speaker series and recent sports coach hires.
Padilla to replace Harris in Senate
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced that he has selected California Secretary of State Alex Padilla to fill the U.S. Senate term being vacated by Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.
Padilla, a former Los Angeles city councilman and state senator, has been elected twice as the secretary of state and will be the first Latino to serve as a U.S. senator for California.
“The son of Mexican immigrants – a cook and house cleaner – Alex Padilla worked his way from humble beginnings to the halls of MIT, the Los Angeles City Council and the State Senate, and has become a national defender of voting rights as California’s Secretary of State,” Newsom said in the announcement.
Padilla will be the first Southern Californian in nearly three decades to serve as one of the state’s two representatives in the Senate. He will fill the rest of Harris’ term, which ends in 2023, after she and President-elect Joe Biden were elected to the White House in November.
– Bay City News Service
Text to 911 option now in effect
San Mateo County residents can now text 911 to receive emergency aid rather than having to call the emergency number, according to a press statement from Cal Fire CZU, Cal Fire’s unit covering San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties.
The service is intended to be used in emergencies when people cannot call 911 by voice. Such situations might be if it’s dangerous for a person to make a voice call to 911; if an individual is deaf; hard of hearing or has a speech impairment; if a person is incapable of speaking due to a medical emergency; or if there is poor cellular service that permits text messages but not a voice call.
The service only accepts SMS text messages and won’t support videos, photos or MMS messages.
Initial funding for the project comes from the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services 9-1-1 Emergency Communications Branch.
– Kate Bradshaw
Parking enforcement suspended over holidays
In keeping with tradition, the Menlo Park Police Department will not be enforcing the city’s overnight parking ban over the holidays, with will run through the morning of Saturday, Jan. 2. Enforcement will begin again at 2 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3.
Vehicles parked on the street without a permit receive a courtesy warning. People can purchase overnight permits online at menlopark.org/parkingpermits or in person at the Menlo Park Police Department at 701 Laurel St.
– Kate Bradshaw
MPCSD to host speaker series on race
Following a June school board resolution to create anti-racist classrooms, schools and communities, the Menlo Park City School District will present a three-part online speaker series “Race, Prejudice & Policy: A Conversation on Segregation and its Legacy on Education around Menlo Park” in January.
There will be a Jan. 6 presentation by Menlo Together and the Community Equity Collaborative based on Richard Rothstein’s book “The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America.” During the event, speakers will examine how real estate redlining policies led to the demographic segregation in the city and in schools that is visible today.
During a Jan. 13 webinar, local equity leader Mary Montle Bacon of Images of Culture will guide participants through what the school district experience may look like from the perspective of different families, and how the community can work to ensure that all talents, cultures, languages and achievements are valued and elevated.
The series culminates with a Jan. 19 panel discussion presented in partnership with Ravenswood City School District and Menlo-Atherton High School. The panel includes Ravenswood Superintendent Gina Sudaria, Menlo Park City Superintendent Erik Burmeister, M-A Principal Simone Rick-Kennel, Menlo Park City Council member Cecilia Taylor, East Palo Alto City Council member Regina Wallace-Jones and Ravenswood School District board member Ana Maria Pulido. They will discuss the historical influences that continue to impact local school districts and how the community might organize to address the challenges.
For more information on the upcoming series, go to mpcsdspeakerseries.com/events.
The district is also offering the community the opportunity to read a book and engage in conversation with fellow community members about issues of race and racism.
The district’s Antiracism Advisory Team has chosen: “Caste” by Isabel Wilkerson, “The Color of Law” by Richard Rothstein, “So You Want to Talk About Race” by Ijeoma Oluo, “Between the World and Me” by Ta-Nehisi Coates, “Nice White Parents” podcast by the New York Times, “Real American” by Julie Lythcott-Haims, “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, and You” by Ibram X. Kendi and Jason Reynolds, and “How to Be an Antiracist” by Kendi. All are welcome to choose a book and join in the facilitated conversations, which will be held virtually between January and March. To sign up for a book club, go to tinyurl.com/MPCSDbookclub.
– Angela Swartz
Atherton police donate toys to kids in need
The Atherton Police Activities League and Police Officers’ Association donated gifts for Adelante Selby Lane Spanish Immersion School in Atherton for the holidays.
Over 100 families signed up to receive gifts for their children, Principal Warren Sedar told Atherton Police Chief Steve McCulley.
One resident donated $5,000 to the program, allowing the groups to provide 50 $100 Target gift cards to families, said McCulley.
“There are going to be a lot of happy kids and families at Christmas again this year,” McCulley said in an email to police officers.
Police also gave Encinal and Laurel School students in need a Christmas hat, light-up necklace and a $100 Target gift card in lieu of the annual “Shop with a Cop” event.
“This is the third year we have put together this great program and we are very much looking forward to shopping in person at Target with the kids next year,” McCulley said in an email to Menlo Park City School District Superintendent Erik Burmeister.
– Angela Swartz
M-A hires new volleyball coach
Menlo-Atherton High School Athletics has hired Gino Gamboa as the school’s head varsity boys volleyball coach, according to a Dec. 11 press release.
Gamboa, a Los Angeles native, graduated from University of California at Santa Cruz with a degree in human biology, and learned how to play volleyball during his freshman year of high school. During his sophomore year at Bishop Alemany High School, he joined the varsity volleyball team. He also competed at the club level for Santa Monica Beach Club for four years.
While at Santa Cruz, Gamboa was a member of the team’s Division III NCAA men’s volleyball team from 2013-18.
He holds a master’s degree in exercise biology from Northumbria University, where he also played volleyball. He then signed a contract to play the sport professionally in Denmark.
Gamboa works as a volleyball and sports performance coach in the Bay Area and has coached several teams at the club and high school level.
“I want each one of my players to learn and grow as not just volleyball players but as people,” he said in a statement. “Everyone has something they can improve upon. It’s my duty as a coach to properly challenge my players with the intention of having them realize how capable they are in achieving their respective goals.”
– Angela Swartz
M-A hires new wrestling coach
M-A Athletics announced it hired Gregory Prior, an aspiring Olympic competitor, as the head coach of the varsity boys wrestling team.
A Bay Area native, Prior has coached judo as well as strength and conditioning for the last two years. Prior is an internationally ranked judo player on Team USA, and an active competitor.
Prior spent over 20 weeks training in Japan and Europe in 2019. He hopes to medal at the 2024 Olympics.
“Greg is one of the most talented athletes I’ve ever coached,” said Willy Cahill, a two-time Olympic, Paralympic coach and ninth-degree judo black belt from San Bruno.
Prior won medals at two international tournaments, a Veterans World Championships bronze and four national tournament medals.
He has spent a majority of the pandemic developing conditioning and strength techniques.
“My influences come from the wrestling coaches in my formative years at camps and my family of wrestlers,” he said in a statement. “I have hopes to bring a scientific and safety approach to developing a full team of successful athletes that supports champions. I want a full team understanding what hard work really is and what it can do for them as a life skill.”
For more information on M-A’s new coaches, go to bearsathletics.com.
– Angela Swartz
Menlo Church removes medical debt
Menlo Church, a six-campus megachurch headquartered in Menlo Park, is raising funds to erase medical debt for households in need in California and Texas.
So far, the organization has spent at least $60,000 to purchase $7 million in medical debt to help 3,764 households and plans to spend a total of $120,000 to purchase an additional $5 million to provide $12 million in debt relief, according to church spokesperson Heather Holliday.
Donations have helped households in Santa Clara County as well as Marin, Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino counties in California and Fort Bend and Harris counties in Texas, according to a press release.
“The chance to bless someone by alleviating their medical debt is a tangible act of compassion and kindness,” said Executive Pastor Eugene Lee in a press statement. “We believe that helping to pay off the debts of others is a tangible way to serve our neighbors and show God’s love.”
The church has had a tumultuous year after former Senior Pastor John Ortberg resigned at the end of July when it was revealed he had permitted his grown son to continue to work as a volunteer with church youth even after the man privately disclosed that he was sexually attracted to minors.
People interested in participating in the medical debt-relief fundraiser can learn more at give.menlo.church.
– Kate Bradshaw
