If the Town had a collaborative relationship with Caltrain and had not been suing them for years then this desirable pole alignment would have been a simple matter of a handshake - no cash, no legal indemnification.

There is absolutely no way of knowing that this issue would not have been contentious in a different atmosphere. To say so definitively simply exposes the person making such a statement as arrogant and self serving.

I applaud the Council's decision not to knuckle under to Caltrain's outrageous demands.

Here are two expert opinions on the matter"

1) "I believe Caltrain has not acted in good faith in dealing with Atherton," Ms. Lewis said. "There's no secret to the fact that Atherton has been a thorn in Caltrain's side for a long time because we've sued several times."

2) "I believe there is an opportunity to come to a solution here," Mr. DeGolia said.

"I think we need a good relationship with Caltrain," he said. "That means working with them.

And, as of today Caltrain's deadline for the Town to agree to the conditions for the pole changes has expired.

So,Mike, how did that work out for the Town?

If any city ever needed to be entirely gobbled up by Eminent Domain and bulldozed over, it's Atherton. Completely incapable of doing anything that doesn't involve screwing over the rest of the Bay Area.

Atherton complains and sues over everything! The airplanes are too noisy, the train poles are too high, the fire department is taking too much money to provide top notch service...blah blah blah...getting old. Get over it Atherton...you don't always get everything you want just because you are rich!

Well, I think iti shows that Caltrain is tired of dedicating so much time in salaries and construction. I know that I'm annoyed that my tax dollars for Caltrain are all spent on a single city that hardly patronizes the system.

I wonder how other Atherton residents feel about their taxes subsidizing the $200K fee for the few owners next to the tracks. I know, they feel just like me.

Looking at all the letters back and forth between the Town and Caltrans how much did this failed effort cost in terms of staff time and legal fees?

Atherton spends thousands every year on law suits. The mist litigious town in the county. How many, if any do they actually collect on?? Both Cal Trans and Cal train I am sure are tired of the belly crying. But then, a rude of wakening will occur shortly do the special tax being declined by the voters!!

I can actually empathize with the residents impacted in Atherton. What if AT&T said they were going to put a 45 foot cell tower just behind your back fence (or in front of your house if you prefer). Would you be happy with that? It could reduce the value of your house, it will likely be an eyesore, who knows there could be health related issues. Would you like that?

Atherton has low usage of Caltrain because, at least partially, they closed the one stop in Atherton.

Atherton does not allow/encourage cell towers and, as a result Atherton residents have lousy cell phone coverage - unless they live near a cell tower that is located in a neighboring community. I get better coverage in Kenya than I do in Atherton.


Caltrain closed the Atherton stop, except on weekend, because that stop had very low usage - not the reverse.

"Atherton is a weekend-only Caltrain station located in Atherton, California. It serves the 32 Saturday and 28 Sunday local Caltrains and does not serve weekday trains or weekend Baby Bullet trains. Shuttle service to Redwood City was previously provided; however, due to low ridership, it was discontinued on July 1, 2007."

This is how Atherton forces neighboring communities to provide cell towers for Atherton residents:

"D. WTFs should be collocated with existing WTFs, if within one thousand five hundred feet of an existing visible WTF, unless the town determines that the particular design proposed would not create excessive visual clutter or would otherwise create harms the town cannot ameliorate."