Questionnaire: Association of Palo Alto Neighborhoods

By Hillary Freeman

Questions:
1. Why do you want to run for City Council and what skills and experiences would you bring to the Council?

One of the reasons why I am running for City Council is because I believe in citizen participation in government. I am a citizen and I am fully prepared to participate! Participation is what democracy is based on. Only by hearing the varied voices of our community can we begin to understand each other and build solutions that are truly community-based. I want to ensure that all citizens, not just the vocal minority, feel included and that a wider range of opinions are respectfully weighed. In fact, for me, listening to ideas and concerns of a wide cross section of Palo Altans, including those who showed delight that I sought them out, has been the highlight of my campaign. We are very fortunate to live in a community filled with people who have genuine care for our city. Now is the time to fully tap our wonderful natural resource, the people of Palo Alto.

With citizen participation, I have the background, experience and courage to help shape the future of Palo Alto:

Business and Environmental Experience EDUCATION B.S., Marine Biology, Florida Institute of Technology (now Florida Tech) Course Work for M.S., Fisheries Biology, Iowa State University EXPERIENCE Manager, Emerging Technologies, Business Development, SAS Institute Business Owner, Founder; Data Summation, Inc. Systems Analyst/Programmer, Northrop and also Honda Manpower Planner, US Navy Marine Biologist, National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration Community Leader and Volunteer Palo Alto Children's Theatre, Board of Directors YMCA, Board of Directors, Midpeninsula Libraries Now!, Founding Member PTA Council, Executive Board and local school PTA boards Elementary School Site Council, Facilitator/Member JLS/ Jordan Middle School Japanese Homestay Program 2000, Organizing Sponsor Youth Sports Coach

Parent of School-Age Children Hillary Freeman is a mother of school-age children, a homeowner and a community leader who has a passion for Palo Alto. She will make Palo Alto a better place to raise a family and retire.

2. In your opinion, what are the 3 most important issues facing Palo Alto? Specifically what would you do to address these issues?

ü We need to match our budget with community values. We need to acknowledge that we are in a period of economic uncertainty and we must get back to basics. We must prioritize funding for our public works infrastructure and our core community assets, like schools, libraries, and parks. This will require some hard decisions and belt tightening. With 14 years of management experience, I feel qualified to approach our budget and priorities with proven business strategies. I offer you common sense fiscal accountability. ü We need to recognize that only in working together can we solve our challenges and create a sustainable community. That means, planning and partnership with the school district, businesses, local neighborhoods and our regional neighbors, including Stanford. And possibilities exist, like reducing traffic impacts by combining the Marguerite with the Palo Alto shuttle including expansion of routes and frequency of service. The goal of this planning must be results, not prolonged debate. ü We must fully quantify the optimal jobs:housing carrying capacity of our city and determine, with each new project, if it will bring us closer to our desired ratio. Once we have a baseline from which to operate, we can make informed decisions on projects, and we can act proactively to secure projects that better our city, including much need affordable housing. ü We need to ensure that children, seniors, and the rest of us can walk and bike safely in our town. I challenge each of you to ride a bike to your local elementary school at the time when children are going to school. See first hand how dangerous the traffic conditions are in your neighborhoods. Speeding in school zones and running red lights are endangering our children. The most immediate solution is to enforce our traffic laws, even if it means following offenders instead of using radar. We must make traffic enforcement a priority and as citizens, we must commit to driving sanely and obeying our laws.

3. As a city council member, what would you like to see as your greatest accomplishment/s by the end of your term in 2005?

ü Measurably improved traffic calming and safety. ü Affordable housing for teachers, emergency workers and local employees dovetailed with appropriate commercial growth control; both based on Palo Alto's optimal carrying capacity. ü A City Council fully engaged with the citizens of Palo Alto ü A comprehensive city-wide emergency preparedness strategy

4. After decades of a relatively constant population, Palo Alto is growing, causing strains on our community facilities and city services. What priority would you assign for libraries, parks, schools, storm drains and other community facilities?

We need to match our budget with community values. The community survey should act as a directional mandate for public officials. Our citizens should be fully engaged in determining funding priorities for our public works infrastructure and our core community assets, like schools, libraries, and parks. In doing so, we need to acknowledge that we are in a period of economic uncertainty and we must get back to basics. We must prioritize. This will require some hard decisions and belt tightening. With 14 years of management experience, I feel qualified to approach our budget and priorities with proven business strategies. I offer you common sense fiscal accountability based on citizen's direction. 4a. In order to fund these programs, what steps would you suggest to reduce expenditures and raise revenues?

There are several ways to fund programs:
1. Apply for all possible grants, such as the Library Bond Act, which offers 65% of the cost of new library construction associated with a school, up to $30.8 million, with Palo Alto offering another 35%.
2. Funding jointly with public/private partnerships.
3. With taxpayers consent, a measure such as a bond or parcel tax to complete the goal.
4. Perform a hard examination of the city budget to reduce or eliminate non-essential expenditures.

5. How do you define the major traffic problems Palo Alto is currently facing? What solutions would you propose to these problems? Although there are MANY major traffic problems in Palo Alto, several have been long-identified, including but not limited to the Charleston/Arastradero Corridor, Middlefield Rd., Embarcadero Rd., Oregon/PageMill and residential cut-throughs. There have been many solutions suggested. My preference would be to begin the process with the least costly but measurably effective solutions such as: 1) Institute new and increase the use of current public transportation. Expand the shuttle service (routes and frequency) through collaboration with the Stanford Marguerite. 2) Better enforcement of moving violations (running stop signs and red lights) and speeding. 3) Implementing subliminal traffic calming measures such as public art or tastefully designed banners at the cities gateways to remind motorists that they are entering a residential community and phase in "residential" light fixtures (smaller and closer to eye level) rather than "freeway" lighting on the arterials. 4) Increase the canopy coverage and plantings on arterials. 5) Employ more crossing guards and transitory stop signs. (A transitory stop is a removable stop sign that is placed at strategic locations ONLY at peak traffic periods or when children are entering or leaving schools.) 5) Require the implementation of measurable traffic calming strategies as part of any commercial or residential development with strict consequences for non-compliance.

5a. The City Council has voted repeatedly to keep speed limits on residential arterials (University, Embarcadero, Middlefield, Charleston/Arasterdero) at 25 mph. Do you support this policy? What new approaches would you support to reduce speeding and red-light running problems?

Yes, I support keeping the speed limit at 25mph. I also support working to change the speed trap regulation that handicaps (but does not prevent) enforcement. To approach is problem, I would: ü Support direction from the City Council to the Police Department to prioritize traffic regulation enforcement. This may require evaluating new or re-deploying current officers. ü Implementing subliminal traffic calming measures such as public art or tastefully designed banners at the cities gateways to remind motorists that they are entering a residential community and phase in "residential" light fixtures (smaller and closer to eye level) rather than "freeway" lighting on the arterials. ü Increase the canopy coverage and plantings on arterials. ü Use transitory stop signs. (A transitory stop is a removable stop sign that is placed at strategic locations ONLY at peak traffic periods or when children are entering or leaving schools.)

5b. More and more Palo Alto neighborhoods are concerned with the negative impact of motor vehicle volume and speeds on their local and collector streets. How will you approach requests for traffic calming devices and traffic diverters?

Traffic volume can be addressed with desirable, clean, timely and safe public transit. The increased ridership on the Palo Alto Shuttle is a testimony to acceptance rates of new public transportation services.

I am open to fiscally responsible solutions to traffic calming. I support options that do not require total transformation of our streets, such as enhanced canopy/plantings, transitory stop signs, gateway art/banners, residential style street lighting, and traffic regulation enforcement .

6. Despite the recent downturn in the economy, the Jobs/Housing ratio continues to be high. In this context, do you believe we should limit the number of jobs in Palo Alto, increase the number of housing units or both? Explain with specifics about how you would implement your proposed solutions to this problem.

I think the solution is to do both. Many citizens feel that the build out is choking. The economic down turn, and hence the slowing down of job creation offers us a time to prepare for the future. I believe we need to rely heavily on the Comp Plan to develop Palo Alto's optimal baseline carrying capacity. From that point onward, we will be able to quantify the impacts of any new development (jobs or housing) to determine if the project will help or hinder our progress toward the optimal ratio. We will make hard, but timely go/no go decisions based on factual impacts.

6a. How much more residential growth can our city infrastructure absorb?

I believe we need to rely heavily on the Comp Plan to develop Palo Alto's optimal baseline carrying capacity. From that point onward, we will be able to quantify the impacts of any new development (jobs or housing) to determine if the project will help or hinder our progress toward the optimal ratio. We will make hard, but timely go/no go decisions based on factual impacts.

7. How urban do we want to become, especially in the downtown areas and off the major transit corridors like El Camino? What height limits, densities, urban design guidelines, minimum or maximum parking guidelines would you support in these areas?

I live near downtown Palo Alto, in a dense setting. The vast majority of Palo Alto is suburban. I would like to use the carrying capacity model to determine how much density the more "urban" areas can hold before commenting on specifics. My gut feel is that with appropriate and varied medium density architecture there are select locations in both downtown and along major transit corridors that can benefit from increased density.

8. What, if anything, do you think that Palo Alto should be doing (immediately and in the final zoning ordinance) to maintain healthy neighborhood retail areas? Please comment on neighborhood retail as it applies to Alma Plaza, California Avenue, Charleston Plaza, Edgewood Plaza, Midtown, El Camino, SOFA.

Easy access and community serving retail is essential to supporting friendly, walkable and vibrant neighborhoods such as SOFA. We have the immediate opportunity, in many places, to proactively work with owners in pursuit of retail that makes our neighborhoods more viable. We need to make it city government's responsibility to educate developers on the local goals well before the design phase. In the future, we can explore zoning for retail that matches community plans. Some zoning has already been adopted in Midtown and Charleston Plaza, however, the zoning did not prohibit two competing drug stores to co-locate in one shopping district.

Edgewood and Alma Plaza # surrounding citizens and all stakeholders must be involved in the renaissance of Alma & Edgewood Plazas. The near neighbors with whom I have spoken would like to retain a grocery store, containing a wider variety of goods but not necessarily on the scale of a mega store. They would like to see community-building retail, such as coffee shops, a deli or bagel shop as well as services like a tailor and cleaners. It should be vibrant and appealing. The neighborhood facing perimeters should respect privacy, quiet and add to rather than detract from the neighborhood aesthetics. I would be interested in the neighbor's views of mixed use development at these sites.

California Ave. serves both our daytime and residential populations. To keep the area vibrant and desirable, both populations should be addressed with zoning planning and proactively seeking tenants.

El Camino serves a wide variety of people. In some sections, the parcels are small and narrow. This may be an area prime for planned multi-parcel redevelopment that serves all users.

9. The recent community debates on historic preservation, "monster homes" and neighborhood retail share one important aspect: the tug of war between "market forces" and regulations. How do you view this dichotomy? Where would you draw the line on market forces?

Market forces are the basis of our capitalistic society. They generally work to add balance without regulation. However, there are times of extreme and rapid market changes that require intervention. It is almost counter intuitive to think that intervention may be required in a booming economy, but boom too is a fringe condition in which normal activities become accelerated.

The new single family regulation requiring that streetscape, massing and privacy be adhered to when adding a second floor is an example of a community-based solution addressing the "monster home" issue. The necessity to implement zoning at Charleston Plaza and Midtown are other examples requiring government intervention.

10. What would you change, if anything, in the process of governance and how key decisions are debated and decided in our community?

1) Ensure an open process. 2) All stakeholders should be invited to the process early 3) Decisions should be made timely and on schedule 4) Participants should be held to a timeline 5) Limit consultants and look to Palo Alto citizens for expertise.

10a. What do you think of the process and outcome of SOFA I? What if anything would you have changed?

I have heard the feelings are that the coordinated plan process went off track. The outcome does not seem to be reflective of the citizen's input. The Summerhill buildings grew in size and luxury while the park shrunk and lost financing. The neighborhood group and citizens on the SOFA team should be afforded equal weight in their representation. All discussions and negotiations should be made in the open.

10b. What do you think the role of citizen participation should be in the Palo Alto decision making process?

The citizen stakeholder should have input, be involved at the onset, and be included when changes to agreements are heard. The citizen's opinions should be carefully weighed. According to the Palo Alto org chart, the City Council reports to/works for the people, who are the ultimate bosses.

11. There is a proposal to build a 35,000 square foot combined grocery/drug store at Alma Plaza, which is designated in the comp plan as a neighborhood center. What is your position on this proposal and why?

In speaking to the near by residents, the size of the store, as long as it is not as big as a "mega" store, is less important than how it fits on the property, fits within the neighborhood and how it is stocked. They would like to see community-building retail, such as a cafe, a deli or bagel shop as well as services like a tailor and cleaners. It should be vibrant and appealing. The neighborhood facing perimeters should respect privacy, quiet and add to rather than detract from the neighborhood aesthetics. I would be interested in the neighbor's views of mixed use development at these sites.

12. Currently, there is a proposal to build 302 new apartments at the rear of the Hyatt-Rickey's site, across the street from a single family residential neighborhood. The adjacent Elks Lodge may be replaced by another 180 units in the future. This site is not within walking distance to a train station, grocery store or other significant retail services. What is your position on the proposed Hyatt development? What type of housing would you support in this area, and how many units?

I have discussed the options with neighbors living near the property. The density suggested has been reduced but will still impact the already gridlocked traffic and the suburban atmosphere of the adjacent community.

To suggest alternatives, I would first gather input from the impacted stakeholders. One possibility is for the city to evaluate the 2 parcels as one and determine, with the residents (keeping the impact of the neighborhood, traffic, school population, etc. in mind), the acceptable capacity of the site. To mitigate the impact on the single family neighborhood, perhaps the parcels along Wilkie Way could also be equivalent in size to the adjoining single family neighborhood. Community serving retail (small grocery, café, etc.) should also be included in the development in keeping with the city's walkable, vibrant neighborhood goals.

13. Is one acre enough land to reserve to accommodate a school at the Ventura site? No.

14. What is your position on the recently adopted 4-party Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the Mayfield site? What concerns remain to be addressed? What changes, if any, would you support? What, if anything, would you have done differently to resolve the problems the Mayfield MOU is meant to solve?

I have not seen the details of this MOU, even though I followed the process. On the surface, the schools got Terman back in a deal where they pay for the JCC relocation, give up Greendale for several years as it becomes the temporary JCC headquarters and lost 8 acres at Cubberly. The JCC has to be relocated twice, receives a temporary headquarters and has a 50 year lease. Stanford gives up the corner for 50 years, can relocate 130K sq. ft of office in the Stanford Research Park and is exempt from down zoning at the location.

Many concerns have yet to be addressed. I don't know what the cost of this 4 party MOU is. I don't know if there will be a traffic impact study and who will pay for the mitigation of the impact. What will become of the housing zoning currently in effect at Mayfield? And I haven't seen the deal.

I would have liked the process to be more open with more public input, yet respectful of the immediacy of the project.