I want to serve the people of Menlo Park

By Antoinette "Toni" Stein

A discussion of my political philosophy and positions

Mobility

I will work to improve TRAFFIC FLOW and bring better mobility. As a County Congestion Management and Air Quality Commissioner (CMAQ) I have learned that an effective way to free up our streets is to work to provide a world-class viable transportation system. I will work as fast as possible to bring CalTrain upgrades to Menlo Park and the region. I fully support electrifying the train, improving our train station, and building necessary grade separations at road crossings. In addition I have learned that our transportation system needs improved and expanded shuttles to fill the demand for transportation to and from our senior centers, schools, recreational facilities, shopping centers and our office parks.

Downtown Parking

I will work to resolve our downtown parking problems. From active participation in the Menlo Park Downtown Parking Study I learned that to resolve these problems we need to better manage employee parking both on our residential streets and in our parking plazas. I will promote a City sponsored program to work with local businesses to provide employee cash-back incentives as an option to employees in bringing cars to Menlo Park. I will proactively promote increased carpooling and ride sharing. I will work to better distribute our available parking. I will work to establish appropriate employee parking zones away from customer parking areas.

Menlo Park's Lovely Character

This is a city whose lovely character continues to mature over time. I, like you, want to protect and enhance Menlo Park's lovely nature. I want to improve the liveability of our town. We need more than rug shops in our downtown. I am ready and willing to modify our zoning to promote more variety and more local serving businesses. I will work to bring about numerous aspects of a liveable community. I will work to assure that we have a safe connective network of routes for our city's active pedestrians and bicyclists. I am committed to expanding our parks, our recreation, and our cultural resources. In particular I favor improvements to our wonderful library.

Children's Services

I have consistently supported the new Children's Center and will continue to bring it forward. When Fremont School was demolished due to seismic instabilities, I as a Planning Commissioner approved the temporary use of portables at the Civic Center location. I supported that move because I felt strong that our city needed to have a facility to serve children and more specifically because the Civic Center location offered children full access to our terrific library, Burgess park, pool, gymnasium and other City of Menlo Park recreational facilities. During the Measure T ballot campaign, I worked hard with others in the community to reach out in a grass roots fashion to inform residents and parents in the community of the issues to join in a majority to pass the Bond. I have been aware that in a citywide needs assessment of community services it was determined that building a new Children's Center was of highest priority. After passage of Measure T, I together with a unanimous Planning Commission approved the necessary use permit and architectural control for the new facility. In this decision I had reviewed analysis of renovating our old Police Station and concurred that renovation of the old Police Station was not fiscally feasible and was not appropriate for the specified children's programs. At the Planning Commission we held public comment period and there was no opposition to the project. I believe that the current plan for the new children's center is a good one. I think that the quoted construction costs for the new 13,400 square foot Children's Center are reasonable relative to the current construction market.I would support any outside audit of the Children's Center Project because I believe it has been handled properly. Without any evidence of improper actions, I am committed to move forward with construction of this much need facility for our children.

I am in favor of on-site before and after-school programs but understand that the School District's ultimately have authority over use of our school classrooms and grounds. The School District's have to date indicated that they lack appropriate space and the neighborhoods do not want additional portables to be installed.

Working within the available School District facilities and our own facilities I am committed to adding very high quality after-school reading, writing, math, science and sports programs. These programs are especially needed in the Bellehaven community to help compensate for the grave deficiencies in the Ravenswood School District.

Additionally I am in favor of rebuilding our pool to serve our children's educational and competitive swim team programs, and to meet the demands of our active adult lap swimmers.

Affordable Housing

I would also like to work to provide affordable housing opportunities (for teachers, postal workers, etc) in our city. I support both the Below Market Rate program (i.e. housing rates for moderate income residents) and I am in favor of allowing denser development in the near downtown area (near Roble Ave. or in the redevelopment of SRI).

Commercial Development

As a Planning Commissioner I have worked hard to bring commercial projects that serve the local community, as well as maintain appropriate scale of commercial development. I will continue to welcome projects that mitigate threir negative environmental impacts (ie. Air quality, traffic, etc.) The M-2 district is currently developed under a 1980's model of "office park" /industrial park lacking a balance of other necessary uses such as light banking (ATMs), cafes, pocket parks for pedestrians to enjoy during work breaks, and complementary affordable housing. As a planning commissioner I recently opposed the current council's plans to revise the M-2 zoning because I believe that we need to retain our "Use Permit" procedure in that district and we need to include environmental mitigations to developments. I believe that projects that increase intensity of use should be subject to standard traffic mitigations to lessen their negative impacts on neighborhoods and the regions traffic congestion. I also believe that the city should as planned develop review criteria and performance standards for any change in zoning. I am in favor of long term changes to the M-2 district to assure that that district is livable and compatible with the surrounding Bellehaven and Lorelia neighborhoods. Proper consideration should be made of possible potential uses such as residential, retail, hotel, or car dealerships, including fiscal assesment of revenues that could be generated to the city and long term vision for the corridor.

Residential Guidelines

I also advocate changes to residential review to make it fair to all Menlo Park homeowners. I feel strongly that the current residential review process needs updating to meet today's demands. In particular, I am a strong advocate for streamlining the process to allow a fast track approval for remodel projects that have little to no neighborhood impact. I also support the creation of very clear guidelines to aid homeowners, architects and developers in understanding our complex regulations. The guidelines need to provide information on how one can successfully meet our cities zoning regulations. I support maintaining Planning Commission use permit review of projects as opposed to administrative review. And I support an "opt-in" approach with overlays, like that demonstrated in Felton Gables where there are more stringent regulations.

As a parent, as a professional, as a city planner, I bring the same concerns that you do for our quality of life. My skills, knowledge and experience are the foundation from which I will work for you as a council member, and my great love for our city is my inspiration.