New Menlo fire district chief
The Menlo Park Fire Protection District Board of Directors will be asked to appoint Mark Lorenzen as the next district’s next chief next week.
Lorenzen has nearly 31 years of dedicated service with the Ventura County Fire Department, where he spent the last decade as chief. He is anticipated to begin his service as the Menlo Park district’s fire chief in early February.
The district’s board at its meeting Dec. 21 will also appoint an acting fire chief to serve until the arrival of Lorenzen since the current interim chief, Mike Shaffer, is scheduled to retire Dec. 30.
The Menlo Park Fire Protection District covers Menlo Park, East Palo Alto, Atherton and some unincorporated areas of San Mateo County.
—Bay City News Service
PV Forum founder named Volunteer of the Year
The town of Portola Valley has named Rebecca Flynn, founder of the PV Forum, Volunteer of the Year.
Flynn, a former town Parks & Recreation Committee member, has moderated the online forum for Portola Valley residents since she launched it on Yahoo Groups in 2004. It has since moved to its own website and has grown to over 3,000 members.
“The PV Forum has helped the community stay informed and connected to their neighbors thanks to Rebecca’s hard work to create a social media platform that encourages respectful dialogue about important issues in town,” according to a town announcement.
Topics on the forum have included emergency preparedness, housing needs, lost pets (including steers, boas, and pheasants), how to put a mountain lion in a chokehold and wrestle a rattler, free fruit and items for sale, memes and more.
“This award is long overdue,” said Councilwoman Maryann Derwin. “Rebecca has single-handedly transformed Portola Valley with the creation of the PV Forum, a one-stop marketplace/town square/breaking news source/at times confessional. In decades to come, I predict that folks will look back and hold Rebecca in high esteem as we have done for pioneers like Bill Lane and Eleanor Boushey, like-minded change-makers whose commitment, dedication and selflessness has lifted up the entire community.”
Flynn, who moved to Portola Valley in 2001, has also volunteered in Portola Valley School District classrooms and at the Nueva School. She has also volunteered for the Woodside High School Drama Boosters, the PVSD Bond Committee, Sequoia High School PTSA, PVAngels, PVCares, the Arts Guild of Portola Valley and the PV Garden Club.
For more on the forum, go to pvforum.us.
Silicon Valley Bank founder joins Menlo College Board of Trustees
Roger V. Smith, founder of Silicon Valley Bank, has joined Menlo College’s Board of Trustees, the school announced in a Dec. 14 press release.
Smith, a Palo Alto resident, founded the Silicon Valley Bank in 1983 and was its CEO from 1983 to 1992. The bank has funded over 30,000 startups, according to the San Jose Mercury News. Smith then founded Smith Venture Group, based in Palo Alto. He also founded Mothers against Murder, an advocacy group for families of murder victims.
The 20-member board governs the college and shapes policy.
—Angela Swartz
Children’s book drive at Menlo Park Library
The Menlo Park Library is collecting new and gently used books for children and teens through Dec. 31 to donate to the Children’s Book Project, a youth literacy program serving 18 counties throughout California, including San Mateo County. People are encouraged to place their donations inside a big blue box located just inside the entrance of the Menlo Park main library, located at 800 Alma St. in the Menlo Park Civic Center.
Books featuring characters of color, board books, books for beginning readers, graphic novels and early chapter books, and books in Spanish or Chinese languages are especially welcome, according to a Menlo Park announcement.
Parking enforcement on pause starting Dec. 20
The Menlo Park Police Department plans to start its annual pause on overnight parking enforcement for the holiday season beginning the morning of Monday, Dec. 20, and ending Sunday morning, Jan. 2. After that, people can purchase overnight parking permits online at is.gd/mpparking. Menlo Park’s overnight parking ordinance, enforced seven days a week, prohibits people from parking any vehicle between 2 and 5 a.m. on any residential street or within 300 feet of any residential area in Menlo Park without a permit.
In case of wet weather
The city of Menlo Park is offering residents tools to protect themselves from rainstorm impacts by providing three sandbag stations throughout the city. People are advised to bring a shovel. They are located at Burgess Park in the parking lot at Alma Street and Burgess Drive, Cambridge Avenue and El Camino Real, and at the fire station at 1467 Chilco St.
During a storm, people are advised to avoid driving into flooded areas or around barricades, and to get out immediately if their vehicle stalls in rising waters. Six inches of water will reach the bottom of most passenger vehicles, while a foot of water will float many vehicles, according to a citywide safety announcement.
—Kate Bradshaw
