Merchants need more business. Aggressive parking enforcement stuffs the city's coffers full with nearly a million dollars a year, but robs merchants of shoppers who chose to go elsehwere, like Palo Alto, Stanford, Town and Country Village, Redwood City and San Carlos.
Excuse me, but new trash cans, hard metal benches and a new irrigation system is nice, but simply is a first step. What do other cities do that Menlo Park does not? Why is Menlo Park empty at night vs. thriving, flourishing and populated?
Ok, go ahead, kick the can down the road. Let next year's City Council deal with it. Meanwhile, the City gets rich at the downtown merchants expense.