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Palo Alto eager to run airport —

has no choicePage 3

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Palo Alto

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Sports Homecoming Week for Stanford football Page 33

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by Gennady Sheyner

P alo Alto Public Works Di-rector Glenn Roberts will receive $130,655 and a spe-

cial City Council proclamation in exchange for an immediate retire-ment and a promise not to sue the city.

The council announced Roberts’ retirement just before midnight

Monday, after nearly an hour in closed session.

City Manager James Keene is-sued a statement Tuesday morning acknowledging Roberts’ 18 years of public service and wishing him “the best in the next phase in his life.”

The city’s settlement agreement with Roberts, made public Tuesday morning, indicates that Roberts’ departure was neither voluntary

nor amicable. The agreement bluntly states that

a “dispute has arisen between City and Roberts regarding the continu-ance of Roberts’ employment with the city.” It says the parties wish to “save the time and expense” of po-tential claims, arbitration and litiga-tion.

Under the terms, Roberts would receive $130,655 and a “proclama-

tion for Roberts upon his retirement consistent with proclamations is-sued for other employees who have retired voluntarily from City service in good standing.”

In return, Roberts agreed to waive “any rights he may have had, or now has, to pursue any and all remedies available to him under any cause of action against the City” or any city officials. Roberts also agreed not to

“apply for any permanent, hourly, consulting or any other position with the City, unless invited to do so by the City.”

Roberts approved the settlement on Oct. 8. The council agreed to the settlement terms Monday night, at the end of its meeting. The closed session was listed on the agenda as

UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis

Vivian Wong

City’s settlement agreement with Glenn Roberts calls for $130,655 in severance; official retirement ‘proclamation’

Y ear after year, Palo Alto’s gritty little airport defies the odds.

As airports across America lan-guish under diminished demand, the Palo Alto Airport continues to attract flocks of aviators to its aging hangars. More than 500 aircraft use the 102-acre facility as their base.

Though the number of operations at Palo Alto Airport dropped from about 200,000 three years ago to nearly 160,000 in 2009, most other

municipal airports would envy these numbers, an airport expert told a City Council committee Tuesday night (Oct. 19).

These statistics are looming large in the minds of Palo Alto’s elected officials, who are now positioning themselves to enter the airport-management business. The airport has been managed by Santa Clara County since 1967 under a lease that will expire in 2017. County officials have indicated that they do not in-

tend to extend the lease or make any major investments in the aging fa-cility. This means that at some point between 2012 and 2017 Palo Alto will have to assume the risks and reap the rewards of airport manage-ment — whether the city wants to or not because of FAA regulations.

This week, the council’s Finance Committee began preparing for this takeover when it discussed an inde-pendent business analysis for the airport. The study, by the Kentucky-based firm R. A. Wiedemann & As-sociates, found that the city could generate a hefty profit by either managing the airport in-house or by hiring a private company to manage it on its behalf.

The committee unanimously agreed that the city should take the airport over from the county as soon as possible, rather than wait until 2017. Committee members set the wheels in motion by directing staff to come back in December with a

plan for an early takeover.For the council, the airport rep-

resents both an opportunity and a burden. The city is obligated to take over management of the airport at a time when airports nationwide are struggling to keep their services intact. R. A. Wiedemann, the con-sultant who performed the business analysis on Palo Alto Airport, told the committee that most airports saw significant losses in usage be-cause of the Great Recession. This has led to a decrease in revenues and services.

“There is an economic squeeze now,” Wiedemann told the commit-tee. “Generally, aviation is the first to get hit and the last to recover.”

The risk is particularly trouble-some because of stringent Federal Aviation Administration regulations. The FAA, which provides grants for airport maintenance and improve-

Palo Alto eager to run airport – has no choice

City officials push for early takeover of Palo Alto Airport management after they learn they can’t close it

by Gennady Sheyner

Stress-busting steps work,

principals sayLater start time, major schedule changes greet Paly students this fall

by Chris Kenrick

I nitiatives to cut student stress at Gunn and Palo Alto high schools this fall are working

well, according to principals at both schools.

Paly students have experienced the most dramatic changes: a later morning start time, a new weekly “tutorial” period and a “block schedule” in which classes meet ev-ery other day but for twice as long.

There are fewer obvious changes at Gunn, where the weekly tuto-rial has been a staple for at least a decade. Last weekend (Oct. 16-17) the school sent a team of students, teachers and parents to brainstorm stress-reducing ideas at a national conference on youth well-being at Stanford University.

Both campuses are awaiting an imminent decision likely to have a major impact on high-school-student life in Palo Alto — the Board of Education’s Nov. 9 vote on whether to shift first-semester final exams to before the December break.

Superintendent Kevin Skelly has recommended the calendar change — which also shifts the entire school year from mid-August to the end of May — starting in the 2011-12 school year. Most high schools in the area, including Menlo-Atherton, Los Altos, Mountain View, St. Francis, Castilleja and Menlo, already have moved to pre-winter-break finals.

Paly’s stress-busting initiatives this fall are a legacy of former Principal Jacquie McEvoy, who convened a task force that recom-mended the changes last spring.

“It’s something we’ve been work-ing on for a very long time,” Paly

Sweet torture!As the San Francisco Giants win Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, Jeff Barbachano (left), who works in downtown Palo Alto, and Lamonte Brown, born and raised in San Francisco, root for the home team over the Phillies at the Old Pro on Wednesday.

EDUCATION

CITY HALL

Palo Alto to pay, honor ‘retired’ public works head

(continued on page 7)

(continued on page 8)(continued on page 10)

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Page 3

Upfront

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

Around Town

‘‘‘‘

TRANSITIONS ... Gary Baum’s colorful six-year tenure as Palo Alto’s city attorney will come to an end this month, when Baum leaves his office on the seventh floor of City Hall to pursue a career in private practice. Since taking over the city’s top at-torney job in July 2004 he’s helped shepherd the City Council through a litany of thorny sub-jects, from high-speed rail and Stanford Hospital’s massive expansion to municipal elections and the city’s green-building code. Though Baum occasion-ally weathered public criticism from council members, he will be showered with honors Monday night, when the council passes a special resolution commending him for his service. The resolution thanks Baum for his “integrity, honesty and professionalism,” his “commitment to mentoring and supporting others,” and his “compassion and dedication to service,” which include his pro bono work on behalf of victims of domestic violence. For this work, Baum received a Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award in 2007 and an Access to Justice Award in 2009. The council is also scheduled to meet Tuesday behind closed doors to consider its recruitment process for the next city attorney. Assistant City Attorney Donald Larkin will serve as the interim city attorney until Baum’s permanent replacement is selected. Baum isn’t the only council-appointed officer to de-part from City Hall this month, though he is the only one who can’t blame a baby for his ab-sence. City Auditor Lynda Brou-choud took off for maternity leave earlier this month, prompting the council to appoint Michael Edmonds as her temporary re-placement. City Manager James Keene, meanwhile, missed the council and the Finance Commit-tee meetings this week because he’s awaiting the birth of his first grandchild.

TRAFFIC MESS ... California officials routinely praise the voter-approved high-speed rail project as a panacea to both the state’s unemployment rate and its transportation woes. Members of the California High-Speed Rail Authority say the system is necessary to get people out of their cars and reduce future highway congestion. But in Palo

Alto, where the rail proposal is about as popular as rush-hour traffic, officials fear high-speed rail would have the exact op-posite effect, particularly if the authority chooses to build a rail station in the city. The City Coun-cil’s High-Speed Rail Committee voted unanimously Thursday morning to oppose a local rail station, largely because of traffic impacts. Mayor Pat Burt noted that the city’s traffic is already slated to increase because of Stanford Hospital’s massive expansion project. Bringing in a high-speed-rail station, which authority estimates would attract about 15,600 daily riders, would add more cars to local streets, he said. This would directly con-flict with the city’s long-term goal of reducing automobile intensity, he said. Councilwoman Gail Price also said she doesn’t think Palo Alto has the “infrastructure capacity” on its road system to accommodate a high-speed-rail station. “I don’t think a station location here makes sense,” she said. The full council is sched-uled to discuss the topic Monday night.

TOP OF THE CLASS ... Palo Al-to’s library system is in the midst of a dramatic metamorphosis, with three local libraries (Main, Mitchell Park and Downtown) preparing for major reconstruc-tion, and a fourth (College Ter-race) getting ready to open its doors after renovations. But while city officials often point to the libraries’ bright future, the present system appears to be working just fine. This week, Library Director Diane Jennings announced that the city’s library system won the “Star Library” designation from the Library Journal for the second year in a row. The award is based on library visits, items that are checked out, attendance at library programs and computer use. “This Star rating reflects many factors that make this library one that people want to and do use — good collections that meet people’s needs, quality programs, accessible hours and services, and great customer service,” Jennings said in a state-ment. “Congratulations to the hardworking library staff who play an important part in earning us this rating.”

We’re chugging up this hill and the hill seems to be getting steeper.

— Superintendent Kevin Skelly on rising en-rollment in the Palo Alto Unified School District. See story on page 16.

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The Palo Alto Weekly (ISSN 0199-1159) is pub-lished every Friday by Embarcadero Media, 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306, (650) 326-8210. Periodicals postage paid at Palo Alto, CA and additional mailing offices. Adjudicated a news-paper of general circulation for Santa Clara County. The Palo Alto Weekly is delivered free to homes in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley, East Palo Alto, to faculty and staff households on the Stanford campus and to portions of Los Altos Hills. If you are not currently receiving the paper, you may request free delivery by calling 326-8210. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Palo Alto Weekly, P.O. Box 1610, Palo Alto, CA 94302. Copyright ©2010 by Embarcadero Media. All rights reserved. Reproduction without permission is strictly prohibited. Printed by SFOP, Redwood City. The Palo Alto Weekly is available on the Internet via Palo Alto Online at: www.PaloAltoOnline.comOur e-mail addresses are: editor@paweekly.com, letters@paweekly.com, ads@paweekly.com.Missed delivery or start/stop your paper? Call 650 326-8210, or e-mail circulation@paweekly.com. You may also subscribe online at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Subscriptions are $60/yr.

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Upfront

www.bowmanschool.org

The Bowman program builds confidence, creativity and

academic excellence.

PALO ALTO HOUSING CORPORATION celebrates 40 years of providing affordable housing by

breaking ground on our newest development

Groundbreaking Ceremony: Thurs., Oct. 28, 2010, at 11:00 am

Project: TREE HOUSE APARTMENTS

Location: 488 W. Charleston Road, Palo Alto

Unit Mix: 33 Studios and 2 One-Bedrooms

Income levels: Extremely-Low to Very-Low

Start of Construction: November 1st, 2010

Developer: Palo Alto Housing Corporation (PAHC)

Architect: Pyatok Architects

General Contractor: Segue Construction

PAHC would like to extend a special thank you to all of our financial partners:

CITY OF PALO ALTO ENTERPRISE SOCIAL INVESTMENT CORP. BANK OF AMERICA STANFORD AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUNDS SANTA CLARA COUNTY HOUSING TRUST OF SANTA CLARA COUNTY SOBRATO AFFORDABLE HOUSING FUND OPPORTUNITY FUND

www.paloaltohousingcorp.org 650-321-9709

ELECTION

Three vie for two seats on East Palo Alto City Council

Second-time candidate Doug Fort is taking on incumbents Ruben Abrica and David Woods

by Jocelyn Dong

Two years ago, nine candidates vied for three seats on the East Palo Alto City Council in the November election. Since then, the recession and

other challenges have left the city of 33,900 in a state of limbo.

The council race this year is quieter than in 2008, with just three candidates contending for two open slots.

Two are incumbents, current Mayor David Woods and Ruben Abrica. The other is second-time candidate Doug Fort, who placed fourth in 2008.

Issues the new council will confront include person-nel and financial challenges, with some bright spots.

Alvin James, the city’s at-times embattled city man-ager, retired earlier this year. A recent search for a new city manager has fizzled, sending the council back to the drawing board, one official said.

Police Chief Ron Davis, who has been well-respected in the community, made his career aspirations known this year by interviewing (and being selected as a final-ist) for the police-chief posts in Seattle and New Or-leans.

The city continues to struggle financially, having seen home values and property taxes plummet along with those of many other California cities due to the Great Recession.

But there are, and have been, bright spots. After three decades without a full-service supermarket, Mi Pueblo opened a 35,000-square-foot store in November 2009. A drawn-out legal war over the city’s Rent Stabilization Ordinance with the city’s largest landlord, Page Mill Properties, has finally come to a close following Page Mill’s financial implosion and subsequent acquisition by Wells Fargo.

And officials, ever hopeful for an economic boon, continue to work at turning a former industrial area in the northeastern corner of the city into a revitalized business district.

The five-member council also includes current Vice Mayor Carlos Romero and Laura Ramirez, both of whom were newly elected in 2008, and longtime coun-cilman A. Peter Evans.

Doug Fort

Fort is best known as the founder of the anti-violence organization “For Youth By Youth.” Currently studying for a law degree from the Silicon Valley Law School, he holds a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice.

Fort feels strongly that the city should reform its system of gov-ernance by adding more com-missions to allow more residents to participate in municipal decision-making.

“We have very intelligent people in the city, but they don’t have a place to engage,” Fort said.

He favors launching commissions that could address public safety, finance, immigration and environmental protection. (The city currently has boards or commit-tees for planning, rent stabilization, senior, youth and transportation.)

The reform would prevent City Council meetings from running so long and inefficiently, in part by curtailing the need for the council to conduct so many study ses-sions, Fort said. Plus, the council listens repeatedly to residents who feel they aren’t getting answers to their concerns at any other level.

“There’s nothing like your community talking to you — but first to the commissions,” said Fort, who said he watches council meetings on TV rather than regularly attending.

Though Fort compliments Chief Davis on “doing an excellent job,” he also calls Davis “an island.”

“We are a police state,” Fort said. “I see (police) strat-egies put out there that criminalize children of color.

“The ‘overcharging’ is what I have problems with,” he said, referring to charges being escalated — drug deal-ers charged with gang activity when they’re not gang members, for example. (Fort, for the record, said he sold drugs at one point.)

Fort briefly served on the Ravenswood Business Dis-trict advisory board but dropped out when his daughter was born prematurely. He was also on the community board that interviewed candidates for city manager.

He is enthusiastic about the redevelopment district and favors hiring a city manager with depth of experi-ence in that area.

“Bringing in jobs, shops — all these things. We need to go in that direction. We need that expertise to help us,” he said.

David Woods

David Woods was first elected to the council in 2002 and has served as mayor three times.

He believes the strongest rea-son for voters to re-elect him is “momentum.”

“We’ve made good strides in the last six years. We can keep the ball rolling,” he said. “At this juncture, experience is very im-portant. ... We have relationships with (federal and other) agencies that have been able to get funding.”

It takes time to learn the issues, and there are two members (Romero and Ramirez) who have served just two years, he said.

“One more new person will stall things,” he said.One of Woods’ concerns is the city’s fiscal health.“We still lag behind per capita in tax,” he said. “The big-

gest challenge in the next couple of years is the property-tax revenues. Our property values have plummeted.”

Some properties have been reassessed at half of what they were previously, and 40 percent of the city’s general fund is derived from property taxes.

Woods doesn’t favor new taxes. He said he does want to start collecting fees that are currently waived for se-niors and nonprofit organizations. He’d also like to re-coup costs for services the city is providing for free or at almost no charge — such as police overtime expenses for staffing parades.

“We’re not doing a good job of collecting what’s on the books now. It’s run on emotions,” he said.

He compliments former City Manager James for keeping the city going “in the right direction” but said he wants to see several departments in the city restruc-tured.

He defends how City Council meetings are run, de-spite some tumultuous exchanges.

“The end product is good. How we get there is just a little rough.”

Ruben Abrica

Abrica considers himself something of an elder statesman of East Palo Alto, having served on the council when the city first incorporated in the 1980s and currently since 2004.

He said he is most proud of the planning that he and other council members have accom-plished.

“As a result of some good plan-

David Woods

Ruben Abrica

Doug Fort

(continued on next page)

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be it all be a Lancer

Palo Alto officer taped, released private callInternal investigation finds an officer violated department policy

by releasing phone transcript to Page Mill Propertiesby Gennady Sheyner

A Palo Alto police officer who secretly recorded a phone conversation between an East

Palo Alto tenant activist and an of-ficial from Page Mill Properties in December 2008 and then released the transcript to Page Mill violat-ed a department policy, a recently completed internal investigation found.

The investigation was prompted by a March 2009 complaint from tenant activist Chris Lund, who has been one of Page Mill’s most vocal critics. The Palo Alto-based proper-ty manager bought more than 1,800 units in East Palo Alto in 2006 and 2007, but lost these units in August 2009 after defaulting on a $50 mil-lion loan.

The investigation, which was conducted by retired police Capt. Brad Zook, found that a Palo Alto officer released the transcript of Lund’s conversation with Russell Schaadt, Page Mill’s director of as-set management, in violation of a department policy on confidential information.

The summary of findings, which the Weekly obtained this week, states that the officer “should not have released the telephone record-ings.” The officer, who is not named in the summary, violated a policy regarding “unauthorized, intention-al release of designated confidential information, materials, data, forms or reports.”

The summary states that the “in-volved employees have received counseling and training regarding our policy for retaining and releas-ing evidence.” Police Chief Dennis Burns wouldn’t say which officer vi-olated the policy, but the transcript of the phone call has Agent April Wagner’s name written on top of it. Burns would not confirm or deny Wagner’s involvement in the pretext call, citing personnel laws.

Wagner has since been promoted to sergeant.

Palo Alto police recorded the phone call between Lund and Schaadt upon request from Page Mill officials. Page Mill had filed a claim against Lund, accusing him of trying to extort the company. Police

recorded the conversation as part of their investigation into the extortion claim.

During the phone call, Schaadt repeatedly offered Lund $20,000 to halt his campaign against the com-pany. He told Lund he would “just as soon get you out of the picture” and offered him money.

“I mean, you are continuing to dis-grace me, you know, and our com-pany, you know, with going around and posting these things,” Schaadt said, referring to fliers Lund had posted criticizing Page Mill. “But that seems to be what it is about at this point and I would just as soon accommodate you in your request, get you out of the picture, and I want, you know, to move on.”

“I (would) just as soon give you the twenty grand,” Schaadt later added.

Lund declined the offer, saying his opposition to Page Mill “is not about the money” and “has never been about a personal settlement.” He was cleared of all charges short-ly after the phone call.

Burns said that while it’s typically illegal to record phone conversations without the consent of the parties, it is acceptable to do so during the course of a criminal investigation. The “pretext call” was arranged because of Page Mill’s allegations against Lund.

Burns said an officer released the recording to Page Mill with the un-derstanding that the company would transcribe the phone conversation and facilitate the department’s in-vestigation against Lund. Police turned the recording over to Jim Shore, a former Santa Clara County deputy district attorney who served as Page Mill’s general counsel.

Shore then released the transcript to the Daily News, much to the sur-prise of Palo Alto police.

“They offered to transcribe the tape to facilitate the investigation and then went ahead and released it without our knowledge,” Burns said. “We were not releasing it to Page Mill with the intent to have it released to the press.

“It was not the intent to release it to the press or to damage in any way the reputation of Mr. Lund,” he added.

The transcript of the phone call was released last month by CalP-ERS, which lost $100 million by investing in Page Mill. The pension fund was ordered by a San Francis-co Superior Court judge to release thousands of documents pertain-ing to its failed investment in Page Mill. The group First Amendment Coalition sued CalPERS after the pension fund refused to release the documents.

In his complaint, Lund asked for the name of the Palo Alto officer who released the transcript to Page Mill. He also wrote that it is his un-derstanding “that such evidence, or in this case, lack thereof, generally remains under seal.”

The pretext call wasn’t the only case in which a member of the Palo Alto Police Department intervened on behalf of Page Mill. Lund also complained to the police about an incident on Jan. 29, 2009, when a man allegedly walked up to Lund’s house with a camera and began tak-ing pictures. The man refused to identify himself and fled the scene after Lund called East Palo Alto police.

The man was later identified as Palo Alto police Lt. Tim Morgan, who moonlighted as Page Mill’s head of security. He retired from the Palo Alto department days after Lund’s allegation became public.

A transcript of the phone conver-sation between Lund and Schaadt can be viewed at www.paloalto o n l i n e . c o m / m e d i a r e p o r t s / 1287685522.pdf.

Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

POLICE

ning over the last few years we were able to balance our budget, didn’t lay anyone off, gave small cost-of-living adjustments and maintained a small reserve,” he said in an inter-view with the Weekly.

The council also created a capital improvement plan, and with federal stimulus funds streets are being re-paired for the first time.

“We’re starting to see the results of that,” he said.

Ravenswood Business District planning is underway, and he takes credit as mayor in 2006 for start-

ing conversations in the community about the large redevelopment proj-ect. He appointed a joint committee and a community group of advisers to gather input on what residents and business owners would like to see in that area of town. This time next year, he expects the city will have developed what’s known as a spe-cific plan for the district.

He agrees with Fort’s idea to add more commissions but opposes add-ing them this year, given that each commission requires staff time. Peo-ple aren’t clamoring to serve on the existing boards anyway, he said.

In regards to the Police Depart-ment, Abrica praises the recent deci-sion to commission a $40,000 study

of violence with Measure C funds in order to develop a comprehensive plan for what the city can do to re-duce crime.

Demographic-based race relations are improving, Abrica said. The city is now nearly 60 percent Latino, and Abrica believes the transition of polit-ical power from the former African-American council majority to a La-tino majority has been “successful.”

“We’ve gotten into some fights, but ultimately you have to fight it out in public, and that’s how we’ve done it,” he said. “So I’d say we’re in good shape.”

Weekly Managing Editor Jocelyn Dong can be e-mailed at jdong@paweekly.com.

EPA council race(continued from previous page)

‘I (would) just as soon give you the twenty grand.’

—Russell Schaadt, director of asset management,

Page Mill Properties

Page 6

Upfront

D E B O R A H ’ S P A L M

— THE LEGAL SIDE OF AGING— COPING WITH DEMENTIA— FINANCES: HELPING PARENTS AGE IN PLACE— CARE FOR THE CAREGIVER— ELDERCARE AND MORE...

DEBORAH’S PALM a NEW non-profit Women’s Community Centerin downtown Palo Alto presents a symposium on:

Caring for Aging ParentsSATURDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2010

10 AM TO 2 PMDEBORAH’S PALM

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Progressive with Social Justice

ELECTION

Becker, Schmidt seek new water board seatLongtime Los Altos City Council member

and environmental lawyer vie to represent areaby Nick Veronin

P alo Alto residents, along with voters from five other Penin-sula cities, are being asked

in the Nov. 2 election to choose between two men running for the newly created District 7 seat of the Santa Clara Valley Water District.

The two candidates are Lou Beck-er, a Los Altos City Council mem-ber, and Brian Schmidt, an environ-mental attorney. Bern Beecham, a former Palo Alto mayor, initially planned to run but changed his mind before the filing deadline.

The new district, which comprises Palo Alto, Mountain View, Los Al-tos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos, was created after the Water board of directors approved a redistricting plan May 14. This is the first time county residents will vote on the District 7 seat.

Previously, Palo Alto was a part of District 5, which was represented by Patrick Kwok of Cupertino.

Though part of the water district, Palo Alto receives its water from the Hetch Hetchy reservoir via the San Francisco Public Utilities Commis-sion.

The water district is responsible for oversight, construction and maintenance of various water-relat-ed structures, facilities, trails and other projects in the county.

Board members are paid $260 for attending up to 10 district-related meetings. These can be advisory meetings, public meetings with dis-trict constituents, briefings with the district’s CEO and board of directors meetings. Directors also may be re-imbursed for any expenses they in-cur in the execution of their duties.

Lou Becker

Lou Becker, 76, has lived on the Peninsula since 1962. He has a master’s degree in civil engineer-ing, and has worked his whole life as an engineer in one form or another, he said. He founded the company TIW Systems, which went through many name changes and is now a part of General Dy-namics.

Becker, whose council term ends in November, said his pri-vate-sector experience, along with his 12 years on the Los Al-tos City Council and his 10 years on the Santa Clara Valley Water Commission, which advises the water district, makes him the ideal candidate for the director of District 7.

“I’ve always been somewhat in-terested in water,” Becker said. He said he decided to run because he is “concerned about the board. I feel that it’s not functioning the way it should.”

Becker said he feels that in the past individual members of the board have given preferential treat-ment to “pet projects” instead of focusing on their core mandates — to protect the district’s water-sheds and deliver quality water in appropriate quantity to serve dis-trict constituents while keeping an eye on the bottom line. He is con-cerned with high employee salaries and benefits, as well as escalating water rates.

If elected, Becker said, he would work to bring those core mandates back into focus.

Brian Schmidt

Brian Schmidt, 43, has lived in the area for nearly 15 years. He studied and has taught environmental law at Stanford University, and is the “ad-vocate” for Santa Clara County of the Palo Alto-based Committee for Green Foothills.

Schmidt has served on the water district’s environmental advisory committee and the performance au-dit committee. If elected, the Moun-tain View resident said he would work to cut costs, make changes to the board of director’s operational structure and place a priority on mercury reduction in local water-ways.

To reduce expenses, Schmidt pointed to superfluous dredging of waterways and taking advantage of the poor economy to obtain lower bids from contractors as ways the district might save money.

He also feels district directors are currently paid too much. While he would like to keep the per-diem Schmidt said he would be in favor of cutting the rate of compensation by half.

“If you’re not doing a lot of work there is no reason you should be paid the whole amount,” he said.

Schmidt said he would work to have public board meetings moved to evenings so citizens with day jobs can more easily attend. Cur-rently, meetings are held every second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 9:30 a.m.

Mountain View Voice Staff Writ-er Nick Veronin can be e-mailed at nveronin@mv-voice.com.

“significant exposure to litigation.”Roberts’ forced departure ends

what has been a long and at times tumultuous career at the helm of one of the city’s most complex and controversial departments. Last fall, Roberts issued a public apology af-ter his staff authorized the felling of 63 holly oaks on California Avenue before the public-notice period con-cluded. Roberts vowed to do a better job reaching out to the public during future tree-removal operations.

In July, Roberts again found himself in the hot seat after Public Works officials discovered a $6.7 million deficit in the city’s Refuse Fund — after Roberts’ department listed a reserve of more than $6 mil-lion but neglected to tell the council that under state regulations it had to be kept for closure of the landfill. The council last month approved rate increases and cost-cutting mea-sures at the city’s landfill to help close the budget gap.

Several years ago, Roberts strong-ly advocated creating a major recy-cling operation known as the “En-vironmental Services Center,” that

was to be housed in a large metal building near the city’s wastewater treatment plant on land dedicated for parkland once the landfill opera-tion ends in the next year or so.

The ESC proposal — significant-ly different than the present, par-tially below-ground-level plan for a composting operation — divided environmentalists and community members until it was voted down by the City Council.

The department is currently in the middle of a heated dispute over the local landfill, which is scheduled to close in the next few years. A coali-tion of environmentalists is lobby-ing for the city to build a compost-ing/waste-to-energy plant on the landfill site. Others argue that the landfill should be quickly filled and the site converted to parkland.

Roberts is one of several depart-ment heads who have either retired or announced plans to retire in re-cent months. City Attorney Gary Baum will conclude his tenure at the end of this month, while Li-brary Director Diane Jennings said she would retire later this year. Fire Chief Nick Marinaro retired this summer.

Roberts is also one of several Palo Alto department heads whose

contracts include a six-month sever-ance provision. Lalo Perez, director of the Administrative Services De-partment, also has such a provision in his employment agreement.

Keene, who took over as city manager in 2008 and who has the authority to hire and fire depart-ment heads, has been designating all his new executive-team hires as “at will” employees.

Keene said in his statement that he plans to name an interim public works director within two weeks. He also said Roberts had not filed a claim against the city, as had been erroneously reported by the Daily Post.

Roberts’ 2009 salary was $179,902, city records show. His severance pay, Keene said in a statement, “is similar to the stan-dard built into contracts for other Department Directors on the City’s Executive Leadership Team.”

“The administrative leave ap-proved allows Glenn to retire, effec-tive December 30, but also permits me to begin to plan the transition in the Department immediately,” Keene said.

Staff Writer Gennady Sheyner can be e-mailed at gsheyner@paweekly.com.

Severance(continued from page 3)

Page 7

Guidance Counselor Susan Shultz said.

Shultz said when the school’s “stressed-out students committee” was unsuccessful in its campaign for pre-break finals calendar sev-eral years ago, it began focusing on “things we could do on our own campus for our kids” — and McE-voy supported those efforts.

This fall, Paly’s morning start time was moved from 7:50 a.m. to 8:15 a.m.

Under a new “block schedule,” stu-dents have no more than three or four classes per day — except on Mondays

when all seven periods meet, as was traditional in past years.

A mandatory “tutorial” period ev-ery Thursday encourages students — after check-in with their sixth-period teacher — to scatter around the campus to seek assistance from teachers or simply study in the class-rooms of their choice.

All changes at Paly are being tested under a one-year pilot. Student, parent and teacher feedback will be solicited before a second-semester evaluation of the initiatives, Shultz said.

The concept behind the tutorial is to give students an opportunity within the regular school day to gain extra access to teachers in whatever way they feel is necessary, Paly Principal Phil Winston said.

“If a student goes to an English teacher’s classroom but does math homework there, I find that accept-able,” Winston said.

“It means they’re comfortable with that teacher, which draws them in.

“When we talk about the social-emotional needs of students, there are simple things we can do to in-crease people’s connectedness, such as offering them the ability to go to any teacher they choose.

“These kinds of conversations build relationships, and make stu-dents more connected and comfort-able at school.”

If a student wants to check in to P.E. and shoot baskets for 20 minutes, “I want them to have that flexibility. Or maybe they just want to read a book in the quad,” Winston said.

“It’s about meeting them where they are.”

Winston said the new 8:15 start time has been “enormously benefi-cial.”

“Students come in vibrant, awake and ready. There’s a different level of energy with just 25 extra minutes of sleep.”

Start time at Gunn this fall is 7:55 a.m.

Gunn students have had a weekly tutorial period for at least a decade thanks to former Principal Noreen Likins, who instituted the practice.

“Teachers and students utilize it in a variety of ways: setting up stu-dent-teacher meetings; classwork, homework and/or project help, review assignments, test review, make-up tests and/or test re-take,” Katya Villalobos, Gunn’s new prin-cipal, said.

“It is an invaluable time built into the school day for students to access a valuable resource — their teach-ers,” she said.

At last weekend’s Stanford con-ference on teen well-being, the hot topics were block scheduling, later school start times and pre-break fi-nals, according to Gunn Assistant Principal Tom Jacoubowsky, who accompanied the Gunn team. The conference was convened by the Stanford-based organization Chal-lenge Success, founded by Senior Lecturer Denise Pope, psycholo-gist Madeline Levine and education consultant Jim Lobdell.

Gunn already runs on what Ja-coubowsky called a “modified block schedule,” in which students have no more than five or six class periods in a day. The sixth and seventh period rotate in and out on alternate days.

Villalobos said Gunn’s “big push” in the area of student social-emo-tional health this fall is adoption of the “Developmental Assets” ap-proach, developed by the Minne-apolis-based Search Institute and promoted locally by Project Cor-nerstone of San Jose.

The developmental assets are “the positive relationships, opportunities, values and skills that young people need to grow up caring and respon-sible,” Project Cornerstone says.

Students across the Palo Alto school district took a baseline survey on De-velopmental Assets this month.

The results, which will be avail-able in February, “will provide a road map of where our kids are and how we can build on those strengths,” Villalobos said.

Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweek-ly.com.

Upfront

No animals for three years, plea bargain saysAna Ramos and Jose Rubio won’t be able to keep any animals in their

trailer home in Palo Alto for three years, according to a plea-bargain agreement reached this week.

The couple was arrested and charged with keeping more than 40 dogs and cats in their trailer. The charges were dropped in a plea bargain reached on Tuesday .

The terms of the plea bargain forbid the couple from adopting animals during a three-year probation period, according to Assistant City At-torney Don Larkin.

“Ramos and Rubio pled no contest to animal cruelty, and in exchange were given credit for time served as well as three years of probation during which time they cannot adopt, own or have any contact with animals,” Larkin said.

Police officers first learned of the hoarding on May 28, when they arrived at the Buena Vista mobile home park on El Camino Real in response to a minor property-damage report. They noticed more than three dogs, a violation of the city’s Municipal Code, housed in unhygienic conditions. In response, they sent for animal-control officers who dis-covered 25 dogs and 17 cats in varying health conditions. Six cats were euthanized but the others are in shelters and up for adoption.

Ramos and Rubio were charged with four code violations as well as three misdemeanor counts. If convicted, they would have been subject to a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a fine of $1,000 dollars per violation.

“We’re happy that we were able to reach a plea bargain, and are hope-ful that Miss Ramos and Mr. Rubio will learn from the events and take better care of animals in the future, should they choose to have them,” Larkin said. He said the terms of plea-bargain will be available to law-enforcement officials statewide.

— Sarah Trauben

‘Misconduct’ prosecutor Liroff defends his recordLane Liroff, a Santa Clara County deputy district attorney from Palo

Alto who was listed in a “prosecutorial misconduct” report, Wednesday sharply defended his record. Liroff is among six county prosecutors listed as possibly committing misconduct during a trial, according to a report by the Northern California Innocence Project at the Santa Clara Univer-sity. Other deputy district attorneys listed include Troy Benson, James Demertzis, Benjamin Field, Jaime Stringfield and Brian Welch.

But a bar association official cautioned that not all “misconduct” list-ings are the fault of the prosecutor, such as when police may have with-held information.

Liroff’s reported error in a 1996 first-degree murder trial led to the conviction being tossed out in 2007 for “failure to disclose exculpatory evidence.” Liroff ran for a judgeship in 2008 but lost in a run-off election with San Jose attorney Diane Ritchie. He has no public record of disci-pline or administrative actions, according to the bar association.

Liroff responded to the Weekly by e-mail on Wednesday. The court did not make a finding of “prosecutorial misconduct,” he said.

“Indeed, there is no such finding in the case. This case has a convoluted fact pattern.

“The claim advanced in the law review article wrongly oversimplifies and makes sensational something to serve the authors’ purpose. A fair reading of the case demonstrates that their claim is not justified,” he said.

The “Misconduct Study” looked at 4,000 state and federal appellate rulings regarding cases of prosecutorial misconduct between 1997 and 2009. Six hundred prosecutors were found to have committed acts of misconduct that ranged from technical errors to deception and hiding evidence.

For the full story, visit www.paloaltoonline.com. — Sue Dremann

Applicants sought for open-space board vacancyApplications are being accepted for the vacant Midpeninsula Regional

Open Space District board position caused by the death of longtime board member Mary Davey Oct. 2. The deadline to apply is Nov. 8.

Davey occupied the Ward 2 seat on the seven-member board, represent-ing part of Palo Alto and all or part of Stanford, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Sunnyvale and a small portion of Santa Cruz County. Applicants must be at least 18 years old, a registered voter and reside within Ward 2, according to an announcement on the district’s website, www.openspace.org.

The board is scheduled to appoint a replacement by Nov. 29. There will actually be two openings for the Ward 2 seat: one for the

one month remaining of Davey’s existing term, ending on Jan. 2, 2011, and the second for a term beginning Jan. 3, 2011, and ending with the district’s next general board election in November 2012. The board will decide in January whether to appoint a director or call a special election, according to Michelle Radcliff of the district staff.

Applications are available online or at the district offices at 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos.

— Palo Alto Weekly staff

News Digest

LET’S DISCUSS: Read the latest local news headlines and talk about the issues at Town Square at www.PaloAltoOnline.com

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGof the City of Palo Alto

Historic Resources Board

Please be advised the Historic Resources Board shall conduct a meeting

at 8:00 AM on Wednesday, November 3, 2010 in the Civic Center, Council

Chambers, 1st Floor, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. Any

interested persons may appear and be heard on these items.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: September 15, 2010; October 6, 2010

OTHER BUSINESS

1. Discuss items for the joint study session with Council Members on

December 13, 2010.

Questions. If interested parties have any questions regarding the above

applications, please contact the Planning Division at (650) 329-2441. The

files relating to these items are available for inspection weekdays between the

hours of 8:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM and staff reports will

be available for inspection at 2:00 PM the Friday preceding the hearing.

The City of Palo Alto does not discriminate against individuals with

disabilities. To request accommodations to access City facilities, services or

programs, to participate at public meetings, or to learn more about the City’s

compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA), please

contact the City’s ADA Coordinator at 650.329.2550 (voice) or by e-mailing

ada@cityofpaloalto.org.

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Stress-busting(continued from page 3)

Page 8

Page 9

Upfront

Palo Alto committee blasts rail station proposalPalo Alto’s chances of hosting a high-speed-rail station suffered a

heavy blow Thursday morning (Oct. 21), when a City Council com-mittee unanimously agreed to oppose a local station. (Posted Oct. 21 at

9:52 a.m.)

Menlo Park man gets nine months for robberyA Menlo Park man received a sentence of nine months in San Mateo

County jail Monday (Oct. 18) after pleading no contest to robbery charges in connection with a Redwood City incident involving the forcible taking of a gold chain and the intervention of a Good Samari-tan (the prosecutors’ term), who happened to be a witness. (Posted Oct.

21 at 8:55 a.m.)

Police arrest man for occupied-home burglaryJose Luis Fernandez, a suspect in an Oct. 8 residential burglary in

the 1100 block of Hamilton Avenue, was arrested Wednesday (Oct. 20), Palo Alto police announced. The Oct. 8 burglary took place at 6 a.m. while the home’s occupants slept. The suspect entered via a win-dow and stole several items as well as the family vehicle, which was later recovered in Menlo Park. (Posted Oct. 20 at 5:07 p.m.)

Teen’s joyride in Mountain View ends in arrestA 14-year-old Redwood City boy was arrested on suspicion of reck-

lessly evading police Saturday night (Oct. 16). A police officer at-tempted to pull over a black Ford Ranger, but the driver fled at high speed, blowing through stop signs and making erratic turns and lane changes, police said. (Posted Oct. 20 at 8:47 a.m.)

Two judges named to Santa Clara County courtGov. Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed two Santa Clara County

Superior Court judges Monday (Oct. 18): Deputy District Attorney Javier Alcala, 57, of Mountain View, and Court Commissioner Debo-rah Ryan, 57, of San Jose. (Posted Oct. 19 at 9:23 a.m.)

Secretary Geithner vows not to devalue dollarAmerica must invest in infrastructure and education to spur eco-

nomic recovery, but it will not devalue its currency to gain a competi-tive advantage over other nations, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told an audience in Palo Alto Monday afternoon (Oct. 18). (Posted Oct. 18 at 10:09 p.m.)

Recendes admits sex assault of woman, 94Roberto Recendes has pleaded guilty to the 2002 rape and beating

of a 94-year-old woman at Palo Alto Commons, according to the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office. He faces a 17-year sentence under a plea-bargain. (Posted Oct. 18 at 2:05 p.m.)

Online This WeekThese and other news stories were posted on Palo Alto Online throughout the week. For longer versions, go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com/news or click on “News” in the left, green column.

ments, has requirements prohibiting agencies from closing airports even if they’re losing money. In Chicago, officials decided to close its Meigs Field airport without properly noti-fying the FAA, and ended up spend-ing $1.6 million on fines and legal costs. Since then, the fine for clos-ing an airport without notifying the FAA has been raised from $1,000 per day to $10,000 per day, accord-ing to Wiedemann’s report.

Furthermore, the process of con-verting airport land to other uses re-quires FAA approval, which could take years, if not decades.

But the facility doesn’t have to be a financial drain, Wiedemann told the committee. The Palo Alto Airport has many upsides, he said. Its tie-down rates, which range from $129.50 to $188.50 a month, are among the highest in the state and the country. The Reid-Hillview Airport in San Jose charges between $120.50 and $157, while the San Carlos Airport charges $118.

“It’s hard to screw this airport up,” Wiedemann told the Finance Com-mittee Tuesday. “It’s a very success-ful cash-cow airport that has a lot of principles working for it.

On paper, and in every other kind of way, it makes the grade of being a good investment.”

The investment, however, isn’t

without risks. Despite its high level of activity, Palo Alto Airport has been losing money for years, county docu-ments show. According to a business plan the county approved in 2006, the county’s investment in the airport has exceeded airport revenues by $808,000 in the first 39 years of the lease. The business calls its existing arrangement with the city “awkward and untenable for the County.”

This is largely because the county doesn’t have control over land-use decisions at the Palo Alto Airport like it does at the Reid-Hillview and the South County airports. The city’s land-use plans, which bar in-tensification of development in the Baylands, make it all but impossi-ble for the county to add hangars or

pursue any other revenue-creating capital projects.

“The airport faces a structural financial problem in that operating costs are rising faster than revenue and additional capital investments in the airport infrastructure will be required, yet future opportunities to generate additional revenue will be extremely limited,” the business plan states.

Wiedemann said about 90 per-cent of general-aviation airports don’t make money, but argued that Palo Alto Airport could be an ex-ception because of its heavy activ-ity. Despite its historic losses, the airport has been making a small profit in recent years. In fiscal year 2008, Palo Alto Airport’s operat-ing revenues exceeded its operating expenses by $119,653, according to county data.

“A hundred acres is a postage stamp of an airport, but you have 400 to 500 airplanes on it,” Wiede-mann said. “That’s highly unusual. A lot of airports are happy with 50 airplanes.”

Wiedemann’s report estimates

that if the city were to take over the airport by 2012 and manage it in-house, it could make a cumula-tive profit of $13.5 million by 2037. If a third party manages Palo Alto Aiport, the profit could be $16.2 million by 2037 because of greater efficiency in controlling costs.

Councilman Larry Klein pointed out at Tuesday’s meeting that the council really has only two options: taking over the airport in 2017 or to doing it sooner. Given these options, the committee agreed that sooner is better. The committee unanimously directed staff to come back with a time line and a list of staff resources that would need to be expended.

David Creemer, chair of the Joint Community Relations Committee for the Palo Alto Airport, said his committee and other members of the Palo Alto’s vocal airport community would be happy to help city leaders as they transition into airport man-agement, particularly if this means improving the local facility.

“We are extremely enthusiastic to help this process one way or an-other,” Creemer said.

Airport(continued from page 3)

Call (650) 723-4600 or visit www.calendar.lpch.org to register or obtain more information on the times, locations and fees for these and other courses.

Your Child’s Health UniversityLucile Packard Children’s Hospital offers classes and seminars designed to foster good health and enhance the lives of parents and children.

V I S I T W W W . L P C H . O R G T O S I G N U P F O R C L A S S E S

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C H I L D R E N’SH O S P I T A L

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FETAL AND MATERNAL HEALTH As part of the Packard Children’s Anniversary Lecture Series please join us for tea and a

special presentation by Dr. Susan Hintz, Medical Director, Packard Center for Fetal and

Maternal Health, and learn more about this unique offering of comprehensive services and

support for complex fetal patients, expectant mothers and families. To reserve a space for

this free lecture, please visit our online calendar.

- Sunday, November 14: 3:00 pm

CHILD CPR & FIRST AIDDesigned for parents and care-givers of children 1 year of age to adolescence, this class

will cover cardio-pulmonary resuscitation techniques, choking and first aid for common

childhood injuries.

- Saturday, November 13: 9:00 am – 12:00 pm

ALL ABOUT PREGNANCY We will offer an overview of pregnancy for the newly pregnant or soon-to-be pregnant

couple. The program will include the physical and emotional changes of pregnancy, comfort

measures for pregnancy, fetal development and growth, pregnancy testing, life changes and

much more. This is a free seminar however space is limited.

- Tuesday, November 9: 7:00 – 9:00 pm

PEDIATRIC WEIGHT CONTROL PROGRAMJoin us for a family-based, behavioral and educational weight management program that

promotes healthy eating and exercise habits for overweight children and their families.

More than 80% of children achieve long-term weight loss through this program – and

parents lose weight too!

- New sessions begin soon. For more information call (650) 725–4424.

Want to get news briefs e-mailed to you every weekday? Sign up for Express, our new daily e-edition. Go to www.PaloAltoOnline.com to sign up.

Page 10

Upfront

City Council (Oct. 18)Golf course maintenance: The council heard a presentation on a staff proposal to outsource maintenance of the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course. The council is scheduled to approve the proposed contract at a later meeting. Action: NoneGrants: The council adopted a Community Development Block Grant Citizen Partici-pation Plan. Yes: UnanimousGlenn Roberts: The council approved in closed session a settlement with Public Works Director Glenn Roberts, who will retire at the end of this year and receive six months of severance pay.

Finance Committee (Oct. 19)Airport: The committee accepted a recently completed business plan for the Palo Alto Airport and directed staff to create a plan for the city’s takeover of airport man-agement from Santa Clara County. Yes: UnanimousLandfill: The committee approved a staff proposal to fill the city’s landfill as soon as possible and cap it within the next year or so. Yes: Unanimous

Planning & Transportation Commission (Oct. 20)Housing Element: The commission continued its discussion of the Housing Ele-ment, which identifies the city’s housing needs and possible ways to meet these needs. The discussion is part of the city’s effort to upgrade its Comprehensive Plan. Action: None

High-Speed Rail Committee (Oct. 21)Station: The committee passed a resolution recommending that the council oppose the construction of a high-speed rail station in Palo Alto. Yes: Unanimous

Architectural Review Board (Oct. 21)Stanford Hospital: The board held a preliminary review for the landscape design, circulations and revisions at Building 1 in the Stanford University School of Medicine. The project is part of Stanford University Medical Center Facilities Renewal and Re-placement Project. Action: None

CityViewA round-up of Palo Alto government action this week

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to approve resolutions of appreciation for City Attorney Gary Baum and Library Director Diane Jennings, both of whom are scheduled to retire. The council will also hold a study session on high-speed rail; consider a contract for hourly SEIU employees; and consider an EIR for 405 Lincoln Ave., a proposal to demolish and replace a residence in the Professorville neighborhood. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 25, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

BOARD OF EDUCATION ... The board will discuss proposed academic cal-endars for 2011-12 and 2012-13, with a final vote scheduled for Nov. 9. Board members also will hear a summary of the state budget outlook and a propos-al for 2011 summer school. The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the board room of school district headquarters (25 Churchill Ave.).

CITY COUNCIL ... The council plans to meet in closed session to discuss the recruitment process for selecting the next city attorney. The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

PARKS AND RECREATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to dis-cuss the El Camino Park Reservoir Project; prepare for its upcoming joint meeting with the City Council; and plan for a special meeting to discuss the capital-improvement needs in local parks and recreation facilities. The meet-ing is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

CITY-SCHOOL LIAISON COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to discuss re-cent City Council and school board meetings, school transportation and teen mental health. The meeting will begin at 8:15 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

POLICY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE ... The committee plans to meet at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

PLANNING AND TRANSPORTATION COMMISSION ... The commission plans to discuss the California Avenue/Fry’s Area Concept Plan, which evalu-ates various land-use scenarios for the area around California Avenue. The commission will also review a feasibility study for Highway 101 Pedestrian/Bicycle Bridge near Adobe Creek and San Antonio Avenue. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27, in the Council Chambers at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

LIBRARY ADVISORY COMMISSION ... The commission plans to review programs for Mitchell Park and Main libraries; consider shelving capacity at these two libraries; and make a recommendation on the location of the Guy Miller Archives of the Palo Alto Historical Association. The meeting is sched-uled for 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28, in the Council Conference Room at City Hall (250 Hamilton Ave.).

Public AgendaA preview of Palo Alto government meetings next week

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PulseA weekly compendium of vital statistics

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Palo AltoOct. 12-18Violence relatedAssault w/a deadly weapon . . . . . . . . . .1

Battery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Child abuse. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Theft relatedGrand theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Identity theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Vehicle relatedAbandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Auto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Misc. traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Theft from auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Vehicle accident/major injury . . . . . . . . .1

Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .7

Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .8

Vehicle tow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Alcohol or drug relatedDrunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8

Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

MiscellaneousDefrauding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Disturbing phone calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Indecent exposure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Lewd/lascivious . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Suspicious circumstances . . . . . . . . . . .3Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Warrant/other agency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

Menlo ParkOct. 12-17Violence relatedRobbery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Theft relatedFraud . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Petty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Residential burglaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vehicle relatedAuto recovery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Driving without license . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Failure to yield. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Suspended license . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2Vehicle accident/property damage. . . . .3Alcohol or drug relatedDrunk in public . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Drunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

MiscellaneousDisturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Disturbing phone calls . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7Located missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Lost property . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Other/misc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Psychiatric hold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3Sex registrant . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vandalism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Warrant arrest. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5

AthertonOct. 12-18Violence relatedBattery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2Shots fired . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Theft relatedPetty theft . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Vehicle relatedAbandoned auto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Hit and run . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1Parking/driving violation . . . . . . . . . . . . .4Suspicious vehicle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

Vehicle accident/major injury . . . . . . . . .1

Vehicle accident/minor injury . . . . . . . . .2

Vehicle accident/prop. damage . . . . . . .3

Vehicle code violation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Alcohol or drug relatedDrunken driving. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Possession of drugs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

MiscellaneousAnimal call. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Citizen assist. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Construction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

Disturbance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Fire call . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Found property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Hang up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Hazard . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Juvenile problem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Medical aid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3

Meet citizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Missing person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Outside assistance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Perimeter check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Suspicious circumstance . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Suspicious person . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Town ordinance violation . . . . . . . . . . . .6

Welfare check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

Wire down. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1

Page 12

Transitions

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Muriel N. Tesler passed away in Palo Alto on October 16, 2010 at age 93 of natural causes. Beloved wife of the late Isidore Tesler, M.D. for 38 years; loving mother of Chuck (Debbie), Larry (Colleen) and Alan (Michele); adoring grandmother of Lisa, Glenn, Laura, Scott, Julie and Zach. She will be fondly remembered for her quick wit and devotion to family.

Muriel was born in the Bronx in 1917, the only child of Ellis and Pauline (Friedlander) Krechmer. During high school, in the midst of the Great Depression, she traveled to Manhattan every evening to work at a department store. At age 15, she and Isie met. They married six years later upon his graduation from medical school. While raising their children, Muriel assisted Isie in his medical practice.

In 1962, Muriel and Isie moved to North Hollywood, California and later to Encino. After the loss of her husband in 1976, she volunteered at the Jewish Home for the Aging of Greater Los Angeles, in Reseda, California. She became a resident of Menlo Park in 1995 and of Palo Alto in 2000. On October 18, Muriel was laid to rest alongside Isie. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests donations to Stanford Hospital and Clinics.

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DeathsLeslie Hyman

Leslie Hyman, 58, a longtime Palo Alto community member, died of breast cancer Oct. 5.

She was born in Philadelphia and grew up in Rome, Italy. She attend-ed Tufts University where she got a bachelor’s degree in early-childhood education. She received her master’s degree in education from Harvard University. She then went to the University of Southern California, where she got a Ph.D. in clinical psychology specializing in learning disabilities. She did her postdoctoral internship at Stanford’s Children Health Council.

For the past 26 years she had a pri-vate practice in Palo Alto. Her focus was psychological evaluations and counseling for children and adults.

She was a resident of Half Moon Bay.

She is survived by her husband of 35 years Steven; sons David and Daniel; her mother, Dr. Selma Mi-net; and her three sisters, Alison Young, Pamela Lucid and Cindy Minet.

There will be a “celebration of life” memorial Sat., Oct. 23, at 11 a.m. on the bluffs overlooking the ocean at the end of Redondo Beach Road in Half Moon Bay. Following the service will be a reception at 2120 Saint Andrews Road in Half Moon Bay.

Charles MitchellCharles Sidney Mitchell, 70, a

longtime Palo Alto resident, died Oct. 4.

His grandfather was John Pearce Mitchell, for whom Mitchell Park is named.

A fifth-generation native Palo Altan, he earned a degree in me-chanical engineering from Stanford

University in 1962.He married Elizabeth Robinson

Mitchell in 2001 and together they had three children Charles Sidney Mitchell II (6), Katherine Digges Mitchell (5) and William Chris-tophe Mitchell (3).

He was a serious-minded engineer with a gentle, wry humor and insa-tiable curiosity, loved ones said.

He is also survived by two sib-lings, James E. Mitchell and Susan Miles.

A memorial service will be held at Stanford Memorial Church, with reception to follow at the Mitchell residence in Portola Valley, on a date to be determined.

In lieu of flowers, the family re-quests donations to be made to the Jean B. Mitchell Grandchildren’s Trust, an educational fund to ben-efit the Mitchell children, in care of Atherton Lane Advisors.

Page 13

Yes on EEditor,

Foothill and De Anza community colleges are critical partners in sup-porting the Silicon Valley economy through their specialized job-train-ing programs.

As a member of the NOVA Work-force Board for ten years, I am fa-miliar with the ability of the colleg-es to work with local businesses to design and deliver training tailored to local needs.

The community college budget crisis puts these efforts at risk. The colleges must first strive to protect their role in providing a great educa-tion for the 2/3 of college students in California who attend community colleges. This drains time and re-sources from their training role at exactly the time when more students want to or have to improve their skills through specialized training programs.

Voting yes on Measure E pro-vides a double bonus. It helps mini-mize the cutbacks in education to the growing number of community college students, which is the state’s lowest-cost college education. And Measure E will support our econ-omy at a time of great need by pro-viding resources to maintain and expand critical job training.

Stephen LevyDirector

Center for Continuing Study of the California Economy

Yes on REditor,

There is an old adage in law: When you are wrong on the facts, insult your opponent. Sadly, insults have been the favored approach by the opponents and by the Weekly in opposing Measure R.

The opponents claim Measure R is a “Power Grab.” This is not true. The opponents know there is lan-guage in the existing labor agree-ment that preserves existing emer-gency shift staffing levels. Measure R transfers staffing-level decisions to the electorate and away from the firefighters! “Power Grab?” Non-sense. And this is just one obfusca-tion.

The opponents claim that the fire-fighters’ station-closure concerns are “insulting and disingenuous.” Yet, it is indisputable that the city’s representatives have repeatedly told the firefighters that they want to re-duce emergency-response staffing levels beyond the minimum current levels that have existed for well over a decade. Fire Department overall staffing has already been reduced by more than 20 percent during the last decade.

It is fact, not fiction, that if addi-tional emergency medical and fire-suppression staffing is implemented that a fire station in Palo Alto will have to be closed. Why in Palo Alto and not at Stanford? The two sta-

tions at Stanford could not be closed without breaching the agreement at Stanford. Yet 48 percent of the $26 million Fire Department budget is paid for by outside sources, with 33 percent of the budget paid for by Stanford.

The opponents claim that the fire-fighters are “greedy.” The opponents are again misinformed. This year the firefighters have offered to give back their 4 percent salary increase plus a 1 percent retirement contri-bution with NO salary increases for fiscal years 2010-11 and 2011-12. The savings to the city from the fire-fighters’ offer totals $1.4 million. The city’s representatives rejected the firefighters’ offer.

It is long past time for Measure R to be considered on its own mer-its and not with name-calling and insults. Measure R removes emer-gency medical and fire-suppression response staffing levels from the collective bargaining process and provides the residents with the ulti-mate authority to approve reductions in emergency-response staffing lev-els. Measure R should be approved.

Alan C. DavisSt. Michael Drive

Palo Alto

For healthy kidsEditor,

As a supervisor of Santa Clara County, a registered nurse, a mother and grandmother, I strongly support Measure A. Our community has al-ready benefited a great deal from the Healthy Kids programs. Not only has Healthy Kids helped more than 37,000 children receive health insurance over the last nine years, it brings $24 million additional state and federal funds and $6 million to $7 million in local school funding to our county each year.

Access to preventive care has kept our children healthier and reduced the amount of missed school days. Thus, children are more prepared for school and have a greater oppor-tunity to succeed in the future.

I am proud to have been part of the development of this first-of-a-kind, universal-health program for children started in our county and duplicated by 27 other California counties.

I support the decision of the Palo Alto and Sunnyvale city councils in their unanimous endorsements of Measure A.

Please help all mothers and fa-

SpectrumEditorials, letters and opinions

Lou Becker for water district board

Two strong candidates surface for the usually low-profile Santa Clara Valley Water District

Two solid candidates, longtime Los Altos Town Council mem-ber Lou Becker and environmentalist Brian Schmidt, are vy-ing for one open seat on the obscure but vitally important

Santa Clara Valley Water District board.The sprawling district bears responsibility for water supplies,

watersheds and flood protection in Santa Clara County. For the Palo Alto and North County areas, the district is best

known for its work in flood control, especially its funding of preliminary studies relating to long-term flood prevention for the volatile San Francisquito Creek. Countywide the district’s profile has risen due to county Grand Jury reports that have been harshly critical of its operations and expenditures.

The race has been among the most civil of this political season, with each acknowledging the other’s abilities and experience. In our opinion either would do a fine job.

Schmidt is an environmental lawyer who has written a handbook on the Endangered Species Act, and has taught environmental law at Stanford University. He currently works for the Palo Alto-based Committee for Green Foothills (CGF) as its Santa Clara County “advocate”— essentially an environmental lobbyist. Water is a special interest of his, and for six years he has served on the water district’s environmental advisory board.

If elected, he said he would resign from the advisory group but continue work with CGF, recusing himself from votes when there is a potential conflict of interest.

Becker, in addition to serving 12 years on the Los Altos Town Council, holds a masters degree in civil engineering and spent 40 years in that profession, including starting his own engineering firm. For 10 years he has served on the Santa Clara County Water Commission, an advisory group to the water district.

Both candidates vow to increase the district’s “transparency” and examine its staffing levels, now at about 700 persons.

Our preference for Becker stems from his focus on the need to reform the way the board operates, including narrowing its work to its core mission. He is appropriately critical of the current board for attempting to gerrymander the voting districts and for not being more restrained in spending practices.

Schmidt shares these views, but is more interested in the how the district can develop stronger environmental protections for the watershed and water quality.

We believe Schmidt will continue to be effective before the water board on environmental issues as the CGF advocate, while Becker’s engineering, financial and management experience will make him the most effective member of the water board.

The water district needs a clear focus, and we believe Becker is the best bet to help provide that.

Elect Abrica, WoodsChallenger Doug Fort does good work

in community, but doesn’t match the experience and leadership of the incumbents

Two veteran East Palo Alto City Council members are being challenged by a street smart community activist known for his work in support of kids and against violence and drug dealing.

Doug Fort is challenging current Mayor David Woods and former Mayor Ruben Abrica for two open council seats.

Fort has been an important positive force, especially by intervening to prevent or stop violence when teens in different neighborhoods have turned against each other, usually related to drugs. He was the founder “For Youth by Youth” and continues to actively work to support youth in East Palo Alto.

Woods has served three times as mayor since he was elected in 2002 and Abrica is in his second time around on the council, having served first in the 1980s and being elected again in 2004.

Both have worked hard to unite the disparate constituencies in the community at a time of great change and hope for East Palo Alto. They each emphasize the importance and value of continuity to the workings of the council, and their desire to continue with the progress underway to solidify the tax base, strengthen community policing, and plan for future successful commercial development.

If there were a third seat available, we would have no hesitation recommending Doug Fort, as we did two years ago when he ran unsuccessfully. But Ruben Abrica and David Woods have been good and thoughtful leaders and deserve another term.

Editorial

The Palo Alto Weekly encourages comments on our coverage or on issues of local interest.

What do you think? Were you impacted (politically or otherwise) by President Obama’s visit to Palo Alto Thursday evening?

YOUR TURN

Submit letters to the editor of up to 250 words to letters@paweekly.com. Include your name, address and daytime phone number so we can reach you. We reserve the right to edit contributions for length, objectionable content, libel and factual errors known to us. Anonymous letters will generally not be ac-cepted. You can also participate in our popular interactive online forum, Town Square, at our community website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Read blogs, discuss issues, ask questions or express opinions with you neighbors any time, day or night. Submitting a letter to the editor or guest opinion constitutes a granting of per-mission to the Palo Alto Weekly and Embarcadero Publishing Co. to also publish it online, including in our online archives and as a post on Town Square.

For more information contact Editor Jay Thorwaldson or Online Editor Tyler

Hanley at editor@paweekly.com or 650-326-8210.

(continued on nex page)

Page 14

Which issues are important to you in the upcoming election?Asked on California Avenue in Palo Alto. Interviews by Sally Schilling and Sarah Trauben. Photographs by Vivian Wong.

Dorothy SkalaAlumni Director, Menlo CollegeUniversity Heights, Menlo Park“There are so many issues to think about: For people who are my age, you have to really consider the issues because they’ll filter down to the next generation.”

Patricia WeaverTeacherCrescent Park, Palo Alto“Proposition 23, because I don’t like the idea of interests outside the state misrepresenting the environmental im-pact of the proposed law and think de-cisions that effect California’s environ-ment should be made by Californians.”

Gargi KeelingInformation Security ConsultantDowntown, Palo Alto“What’s important to me is the need to keep municipal costs down and to provide a stronger police presence to fight an increase in violent crime.”

Bob OrrahoodWaiterMidtown, Palo Alto“The most important issue is the defi-cit because right now there’s too much mud-slinging going on and not enough action.”

Doug Kreitz PhotographerCowper Street, Palo Alto“Trying to ensure that the Democrats stay in office because they have not had enough time to accomplish what they set out to do.”

In recent weeks the Weekly has taken edito-rial positions on candidates and issues we felt were most important or of interest to

Palo Alto area voters. Following is a summary of those recommendations, with references to the archived editorials.

YES on Measure E: Foothill-De Anza parcel tax

Published Oct. 1, www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13673.

County’s Measure A will quietly help children

Published Oct. 8, www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13712

Rich Gordon ready for state As-sembly

Published Oct. 8, http://www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13711

A mixed bag of state proposi-tions

A brief recap of leading state propositions, published Oct. 15, www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13757

Yes on S for savings in Palo Alto elections

Published Oct. 15, http://www.paloaltoon-line.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13756

Measure R deserves overwhelm-ing defeat

Published Oct. 15, www.paloaltoonline.com/weekly/story.php?story_id=13755

U.S. CONGRESS14th Congressional District: Anna Eshoo

STATE PROPOSITIONS

Proposition 19: Yes Legalizes marijuana under California but

not federal law.

Proposition 20 and 27: Yes, NoProposition 20 removes elected representa-

tives from establishment of congressional dis-tricts and gives that authority to a bipartisan 14-member redistricting commission. Propo-sition 27 eliminates 14-member state redis-tricting commission and returns redistricting authority to elected representatives.

Proposition 21: Yes Establishes $18 annual vehicle-license fee to

help fund state parks and wildlife programs.

Proposition 22: Yes Prohibits the state from diverting funds in-

tended for transportation, redevelopment or local government projects.

Proposition 23: No, No, No! Suspends air-pollution-control law AB 32

until unemployment drops to 5.5 percent for a full year.

Proposition 24: Yes Repeals recent legislation that would allow

businesses to lower their tax liability.

Proposition 25: Yes Changes legislative vote requirement to pass

budget and budget-related legislation from two-thirds to a simple majority.

Proposition 26: No Requires certain state and local regulatory

fees be approved by two-thirds vote.

The Weekly recommends: Editorial

Check out Town Square!Hundreds of local topics are being discussed by local residents on

Town Square, a reader forum sponsored by the Weekly on our com-munity website at www.PaloAltoOnline.com. Post your own comments, ask questions, read the Editor’s blog or just stay up on what people are talking about around town!

Streetwise

thers provide health care for their children and vote yes on Measure A.

Liz KnissSanta Clara County, 5th District

No on REditor,

I have lived in Palo Alto since 1974. I am a retired surgeon who, during my career, was chief of the department of surgery, chairman of the operating-room committee, president of the hospital medical staff and a member of the executive committee at the hospital where I worked.

At no time did we ever consider putting to a vote of the public how many ICU beds or emergency-room beds the hospital needed, how many operating rooms we needed, or the staffing pattern of nurses and physicians in the operating room, emergency room or the ICU.

These decisions were best left to the pro-fessionals who were hired to make such de-cisions. For this reason I oppose Measure R. Fire-department staffing is best left to those we hire or elect to make such decisions and not to a public referendum.

Daniel TuerkGreenwich Place

Palo Alto

No on TEditor,“Opponents” of Menlo Park Measure T

are not exaggerating traffic impacts, but our good friend Planning Commissioner Katie Ferrick is denying them.

She’s pretending that impacts legally classified as “significant, unmitigated” are insignificant and mitigated. Not true. The terms “significant, unmitigated” are legal

terms used in environmental impact reports as required by state law. “Significance” is based on objective community standards.

Opponents have correctly stated EIR find-ings for traffic: nine “significant”, “unmiti-gated” impacts for delay and volume, one for traffic-related noise on nearby neighbor-hoods. These impacts are severe enough that state law required Menlo Park to make a special set of legal findings just to approve them. This is the state’s way of asking, “Are you sure?”

Ferrick says that “most” project traffic uses 101 and SR 84, causing only a “few seconds” of delay. The few seconds of delay is inflicted on each of tens of thousands of rush hour trips on 101, resulting in hours of total delay.

And project traffic isn’t just magically plunked down onto 101 by helicopter. It uses local streets, Marsh and Willow roads, already clogged, to get access to and be-tween Dumbarton (SR84) and 101. Intersec-tions surrounding the project from Marsh at Middlefield to Bayfront south of University, and on two locations on Willow Road will experience delays.

Those among us who know the law and do the math advise Menlo Park not to approve these impacts. Vote No on Measure T.

Charlie BourneMartin Engel

Transportation CommissionersCity of Menlo Park

Letters (continued from previous page)

Today’s news, sports & hot picks

Page 15

Cover Story

SCHOOL ENROLLMENT RIDES THE ROLLER COASTER

English instructor Niloufar Shokrani teaches an English as a Second Language class at Cubberley Community Center, shown here in 2007. The Palo Alto school district owns all but 8 acres of the 35-acre Cubberley site, which it currently leases out to the City of Palo Alto.

The private Stratford School rents the site of the former Garland Elementary School on North California Avenue near Louis Road. The Stratford lease requires three years’ notice of termination.

With bumper crops of kindergartners, school district chugs uphillby Chris Kenrick

W ith Palo Alto elementary classrooms filled to overflowing this fall, old timers wince at the memory of hav-

ing closed 11 of the city’s 22 elementary schools a quarter century ago.

Back in the 1980s, campus after campus was shuttered as enrollment fell and post-Proposition 13 school budgets had planners terrified of going broke.

One fateful night in February 1987, the Board of Education voted to convert Gunn into the district’s sole middle school — with a plan to leave Paly as the community’s single high school.

Oh baby, how times have changed.After what seemed like an enrollment free

fall when Baby Boomers graduated, Palo Alto classrooms are crowded again.

This year, at 12,024, enrollment is aiming toward the district’s all-time high of 15,575 at the crest of the Baby Boom — and shows no sign of slowing down.

“One of our biggest challenges we have is providing enough capacity for all of our stu-dents,” Superintendent Kevin Skelly said.

“We keep riding this (enrollment) roller coaster and it’s going up. We’re chugging up this hill and the hill seems to be getting steeper, not less steep.”

Palo Alto voters historically have offered enthusiastic support to their high-performing, nationally ranked public schools. Two years ago, residents overwhelmingly backed a $378 million facilities bond to add classrooms and other spaces to the district’s 17 campuses and modernize them for the coming decades.

Many of those millions have been commit-ted. Students at Gunn, Paly and Ohlone are co-existing with major construction on their campuses this fall. Renovations at the three middle schools and other elementary cam-puses are in the planning stages.

But the full allocation of bond funds is not yet decided, and plans are subject to change. Even as existing campuses are built out, plan-ners are scouting elsewhere for more class-

room space.Of the 344 additional K-12 students this fall,

more than two-thirds come at the elementary level — shattering upper-end growth projec-tions for that group.

That bumper crop is bound to keep cohorts large as they work their way through the sys-tem.

School trend-watchers recently have noticed a new phenomenon that could add to those already high numbers — an increasing rate of families moving into town who already have school-age children.

And once-reliable patterns of the past — such as enrollment dips during economic re-cessions — have not held true lately, suggest-ing possibly steeper growth ahead.

For example, Palo Alto housing turnover in 2008 and 2009 fell substantially short of the typical 500 to 600 transactions per year, but

enrollment growth proceeded apace. Another simple harbinger — kindergarten

headcount — was 457 in 1981-1982; 744 in 1996-1997; and 905 this fall.

U nlike the last enrollment boom era of the late 1960s, the Palo Alto Unified School District this time has less real

estate to accommodate the growth.Storied old elementary schools, with names

like Van Auken, Ortega, Ross Road and Cres-cent Park, are long shuttered and demolished and, in many cases, paved over with housing.

The aging Cubberley campus, which served as a comprehensive high school from 1956 un-til closing in 1979, operates as a community center under a lease agreement with the City of Palo Alto.

To meet the fastest-growing demand for space in the younger grades, the school district

is erecting or planning to build once unheard of two-story classroom buildings at Ohlone, Fairmeadow and JLS.

Gunn and Paly are being renovated to ac-commodate up to 2,300 students apiece.

Demographic projections are, at best, an imprecise art and science.

As they closed schools in the 1970s and 1980s, community leaders were analyzing real estate turnover and local birth records, among other data.

One of their dominant conclusions — that Palo Alto’s steep housing prices posed an in-surmountable barrier for any significant num-ber of couples with young children to settle here — turned out to be just about 100 percent wrong.

That assumption failed to anticipate a tech-nology boom that would mint 25-year-old millionaires and continue to push prices up-ward.

The ill-fated vote to close Gunn as a high school sparked a November 1987 school board election remembered as one of the most fiercely fought in city history.

The advocates of keeping Gunn as it was won big — and turned the conventional wisdom of the city’s power structure on its head.

On the very night they took office the newly elected insurgents, Stanford University Pro-fessor Henry Levin and parent volunteer Di-ane Reklis, pushed through a reversal of the Gunn decision.

Within three years, enrollment began the steady increase that continues today — though not as steeply as in the Baby Boom era.

A s the enrollment roller coaster clatters upward, leaders year by year must make incremental calls about where to put

new classrooms.A case in point — a recent mini-drama

over whether to re-open Garland Elementary School, at 870 N. California Ave. — illustrates how agonizing those choices can be.

Mar

jan

Sad

ough

i

Veronica Weber

Page 16

Cover Story

Parent volunteer Rebecca Thompson talks with a kindergartner during activity time at Palo Verde Elementary School this week.

In 2008 and 2009, architects hired by the school district worked up a blueprint for a $15.5 million renovation of Garland, with a plan to re-open it as the district’s 13th elemen-tary school in 2012.

But in August 2009 — barely six weeks after giving the thumbs up to the architect’s “schematic designs” — the school board got cold feet.

Members were staring down projected multi-year, multi-million dollar “structural deficits,” a scary state budget outlook, and anecdotal evidence that Palo Alto enrollment was in a recession-induced stall.

In a rare split vote on the consensus-minded board, four of the five members opted for the fiscally conservative decision to scratch the Garland re-opening and extend a $750,000 lease with the private Stratford School, com-mitting the district at least through 2013.

The lone dissenter, then-board president Barb Mitchell, vowed she would “shave (her) head” if the district managed to comfortably accommodate the growth she foresaw in the next three years without re-opening Garland.

To date, Mitchell still has her full head of hair — but she is nervous.

“The bottom line is to look at all the indi-cators we can — even though none of them

provide certainty — and make decisions in-crementally, based on the most current infor-mation. And hopefully stay one step ahead of the children coming in,” Mitchell said.

Having enough classroom space is one thing. Having the space in the right part of town — where the growth is — is something else entirely.

In days gone by, families generally could count on sending their kids to the nearest el-ementary school.

But with elementary schools increasingly maxing out and “overflowing” their neighbor-hood kids to other campuses, that’s no longer much of guarantee.

A new family in town may find the neigh-

borhood school has room for their third-grader, but not for their fourth-grader or their kindergartner — but that a campus across the city can accommodate all three.

Those “overflow” conditions have ripple ef-fects on family logistics, neighborhood health and citywide traffic that are worrisome to Mitchell and others.

“Schools are important for the neighborhood character we all value — getting to know your neighbors, playing with your neighbors, walk-ing to school with your neighbors,” Mitchell said.

It is tricky, she said, to “plan classrooms without spending money in the wrong plac-es, or locking ourselves in, should trends change.”

Notwithstanding the sell-off of school prop-erty in the 1970s and 1980s, the district retains two elementary sites, Garland, and Fremont Hills at 26800 Fremont Road in Los Altos Hills (currently leased to Pinewood School), which in time could be taken back.

A third elementary campus — Greendell, at 4120 Middlefield Road — is occupied by the district-run preschool programs Pre-School Family, Young Fives and Springboard to Kin-dergarten.

In addition, the school district retains a right of first refusal on a fourth elementary campus, the now city-owned Ventura site at 3990 Ven-tura Court. It currently serves as a community center.

“In an ideal planning scenario we want to build classrooms where the kids live so they’re not commuting all across town,” Mitchell said.

In theory, Cubberley remains available as a third high school, and Garland and Fremont Hills as additional elementary campuses. But there is no such space on tap for another middle school.

“At the middle school level, we’re heading up to 1,000 kids at Jordan and JLS — and that’s about the number we hit when we decid-ed we needed a third middle school,” Mitchell said.

“The third middle school (Terman, re-opened in 2001) has gobbled up all the growth since then and we’re back to where we were. We’ve got the same dynamic, a higher growth projection and a huge challenge of considering alternatives there.

“Where would we put a fourth middle school, and what would the trade-offs be? It’s the identical dilemma we have at the high school level, except we have Cubberley.”

U ntil recently, the school board’s Policy on School Size and Enrollment dictated that the “desired range” for elementary

school headcount is 340 to 450 students; for

The Palo Alto Unified School District has asserted an interest in acquiring the 3-acre site of the Peninsula Day Care Center, whose owner announced he will retire and close the center next June. The site, at 525 San Antonio Road, currently is under contract with SummerHill Homes, a housing developer.

Does new housing

equal new students?

Half of district’s new students move into old Palo Alto homes

by Chris Kenrick

M ajor new housing developments, particularly in the southern end of Palo Alto, are often blamed

for generating overcrowding at schools like Fairmeadow and Palo Verde el-ementary schools.

However, new housing in the past five years accounts for only about half the school enrollment growth, according to demographers.

The other half comes from turnover of existing homes — when retirees whose kids have grown sell to young families.

Planners are nervously watching to see what will happen once the housing mar-ket rebounds. They’re also facing con-stant pressure from the state government to add housing.

Palo Alto Planning Director Curtis Williams said the city hopes to satisfy state mandates with smaller, senior-oriented units to minimize impacts on school enrollment. Non-compliance with state housing requirements is not a possi-bility; it can result in loss of certain state grants to the city.

“The short-term focus for the new housing element is to find some ways that focus more on smaller units and se-nior units and housing types less likely to produce school-age children,” he told a recent meeting of the City-School Liai-son Committee.

The city’s new housing plans have be-come a regular discussion topic at the monthly gathering of the City-School Liaisons committee.

Stanford University is not likely to produce a host of new K-12 students. Ten years ago the university obtained county permission to build up to 3,000 new housing units — but much of that already has been built, and 2,000 of the units are for single students, according to Stanford’s Director of Community Rela-tions Jean McCown.

“In terms of the school district’s thinking about this, that (3,000) num-ber doesn’t represent a figure that’s go-ing to produce children for the schools,” said McCown, a former mayor of Palo Alto.

(continued on next page)

‘ The short-term focus for the new housing element is to find some ways that focus more on smaller units and senior units and housing types less likely to produce school-age children.’

– Curtis Williams, Palo Alto planning director

‘ In an ideal planning scenario we want to build classrooms where the kids live so they’re not commuting all across town.’

— Barb Mitchell, former president, Palo Alto school board

Veronica Weber

Veronica Weber

Page 17

Cover Story

Parent volunteer Heather De La Cruz helps a trio of kindergarten students with leaf rubbings during activity time in their Palo Verde Elementary School classroom. Palo Verde is one of several elementary schools so crowded that it had to refer some neighborhood children to other campuses.

457541

683744

816905

1,000

900

800

700

600

500

400

300

200

100

0

Kindergarten enrollment (excluding Young Fives)

Kindergarten enrollment crossing a new hundred mark

’73 ’75 ’77 ’79 ’81 ’83 ’85 ’87 ’89 ’91 ’93 ’95 ’97 ’99 ’01 ’03 ’05 ’07 ’09

middle schools, 600 to 950 students and for high schools, 1,200 to 1,950 students.

Two years ago, as some campuses began to exceed those ranges, the board replaced the old policy with less specific language.

The new policy contains no num-bers.

It “places a high priority on hav-ing students attend their neighbor-hood schools,” while acknowledging practical difficulties in consistently achieving that goal.

It encourages principals to “de-velop methods to promote student connections within the larger school context.”

Board members agree the district must stay nimble and be ready to handle the growth, wherever it oc-curs.

“Our biggest problem right now is elementary school space, and it’s pretty hard to match where the growth is to where our space actu-ally resides,” Board Vice-President Melissa Baten Caswell said.

“We really need to figure out how to accommodate growth in the southeast area, where the new town homes are. If you look at the schools

over there (Fairmeadow, Palo Verde, El Carmelo, they’re all impacted (by overflow).”

Elementary enrollment growth in the past four or five years alone “could fill an elementary school,” she noted.

“We grew 200-something kids this year at the elementary level. The elementary schools are usually under 500, so it doesn’t take long to fill one, and that’s our biggest issue.

“Of course, that’s going to roll into middle school and high school in the long term.”

As for Garland, Caswell said: “Would it give us more space? Yes. But it wouldn’t give us more space where the kids are.

“We could redraw boundaries, but having kids cross Oregon Express-way is a tough decision. I’m not say-ing we wouldn’t make it, but it’s a tough decision to make.”

Enrollment(continued from previous page)

(continued on page 20)

‘ Our biggest problem right now is elementary school space, and it’s pretty hard to match where the growth is to where our space actually resides.’

— Melissa Baten Caswell, vice president,

Palo Alto school board

Courtesy of Palo Alto Unified School D

istrict

Kindergarten Enrollment Trend

Vero

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Cover Story

’54 ’56 ’58 ’60 ’62 ’64 ’66 ’68 ’70 ’72 ’74 ’76 ’78 ’80 ’82 ’84 ’86 ’88 ’90 ’92 ’94 ’96 ’98 ’00 ’02 ’04 ’06 ’08 ’10 ’12

16,000

14,000

12,000

10,000

8,000

6,000

4,000

2,000

18,000

0

15,575 (’67-’68)

7,452 (’89-’90)

Actual Enrollment Low Projection Medium Projection High Projection

W ith a nervous eye on the roller coaster — and the haunting memory of past land sales —

the school district has been hanging tough with any extra space under its control, and reaching for more.

To date it has rebuffed bids from the Foothill-De Anza Community College

District to purchase and redevelop 8 acres of the 35-acre Cubberley site into a state-of-the-art satellite campus to serve the Palo Alto community.

The district recently asserted an in-terest in acquiring a 3-acre parcel ad-jacent to the Greendell campus — cur-rently under contract with a housing developer.

The parcel, at 525 San Antonio Road, has for decades been occupied by the Peninsula Day Care Center. The cen-

Palo Verde teacher Andy Blumberg, right, leads a group of kindergartners through a science activity while Heather De La Cruz, standing, and fellow parent volunteers help lead separate activities for the 22 students.

Enrollment(continued from page 18)

ter’s owner told families earlier this year he’ll close the day care operation in June 2011 in order to retire.

Developer SummerHill Homes has unveiled preliminary plans to build 26 single-family, 3- and 4-bedroom homes on the property.

School Superintendent Skelly, with-out indicating specific plans, said the Peninsula Day Care parcel is of interest to the school district because of its size and location.

“We don’t know what will happen with enrollment — all of us who have to plan for classroom space certainly wish we did,” he said.

“If you look at the last 20 years, it seems that our enrollment is imper-vious to some factors. Whether the economy is good or bad, enrollment continues to increase.

“If you look at school districts across the country, there seems to be a grow-ing premium on quality education.

“Families are more willing to make sacrifices in order to move their stu-dents to quality schools. We look at the future, and we believe our growth is go-ing to continue.”

School board member Mitchell notes that the “squeaky wheels” on the roller coaster aren’t making any noise be-cause they are families who haven’t even moved to Palo Alto yet.

“It’s up to the rest of us who care about how our schools have been — ei-ther for altruistic purposes, sentimental purposes, or property-value purposes — to figure this out,” she said.

Staff Writer Chris Kenrick can be e-mailed at ckenrick@paweekly.com.

‘ If you look at the last 20 years, it seems that our enrollment is impervious to some factors. Whether the economy is good or bad, enrollment continues to increase.’

— Kevin Skelly, superintendent, Palo Alto Unified School District

PAUSD Enrollment History and Projections(Projections include Alta Vista, Children’s Hospital and Middle College)

Courtesy of Palo Alto Unified School D

istrict

Veronica Weber

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Arts & EntertainmentA weekly guide to music, theater, art, movies and more, edited by Rebecca Wallace

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From left, Sindhu Natarajan, Lalita Kristipati, Anu Ranganathan and Anjana Dasu take part in an Abhinaya Dance Group rehearsal.

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Arts & Entertainment

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Notice is hereby Given that proposals will be received by the Palo Alto Unified School District for bid package:

Contract Name: Interactive White Board & Classroom Audio system

Contract No. WBS-2 & WBS-3

DESCRIPTION OF THE WORK: The work includes, but is not limited to: The supply and installation of Interactive White Boards and Classroom Audio Systems at four elementary schools and one middle school. Work includes the removal and disposal of older existing Interactive White Board, the removal and replacement of standard white boards, Installation/Modification of tack able wall surface. Patch and paint wall surfaces as may be necessary. Bidding documents contain the full description of the work.

There will be a mandatory pre-bid conference and site visit at 1:00 p.m. on October 27, 2010 starting at the District Facilities Office located at 25 Churchill Building D. Palo Alto, California

Bid Submission: Proposals must be received at the District Facilities Office building D, by 10:00 a.m. for WBS-2 and 10:30 a.m. for WBS-3 on November 15, 2010.

Bonding required for this project is as follows: Bid Bond 10% of the total bid, Performance Bond to be 10%, Payment Bond is to be 10%.

PREVAILING WAGE LAWS: The successful Bidder must comply with all prevailing wage laws applicable to the Project, and related requirements contained in the Contract Documents.

Palo Alto Unified School District will maintain a Labor Compliance Program (LCP) for the duration of this project. In bidding this project, the contractor warrants he/she is aware and will follow the Public Works Chapter of the California Labor Code comprised of labor code sections 1720 – 1861. A copy of the Districts LCP is available for review at 25 Churchill Avenue, Building D, Palo Alto, CA 94306.1. A pre-job conference shall be conducted with the contractor or subcontractors to discuss federal and state labor law requirements applicable to the contract. 2. Project contractors and subcontracts shall maintain and furnish to the District, at a designated time, a certified copy of each payroll with a statement of compliance signed under penalty of perjury.3. The District shall review and, if appropriate, audit payroll records to verify compliance with the Public Works Chapter of the Labor Code.4. The District shall withhold contract payments if payroll records are delinquent or inadequate.5. The District shall withhold contract payments as described in the LCP, including applicable penalties when the District and Labor Commissioner establish that underpayment of other violations has occurred.

Bidders may examine Bidding Documents at Facilities Office, Building “D”. Bidders may view the Plans and Specifications at the Districts Facilities office.

All questions can be addressed to:

Palo Alto Unified School District25 Churchill Avenue, Building DPalo Alto, CA 94306-1099Attn: Alex MorrisonPhone: (650) 329-3927Fax: (650) 327-3588

CITY OF PALO ALTO

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, PURSUANT TO Government Code Section 55022.3, that the City Council will hold a public hearing on Monday, November 8, 2010, at the hour of 7:00 p.m. or as soon thereafter as the matter may be heard in the Council Chambers, City Hall, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, California. to consider adoption of the 2009 Edition Of The International Fire Code, As Amended By The State of California, Also Known As The 2010 Edition of the California Fire Code, With Local Amendments And Related Findings (Chapter 15 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code). Copies of the of the 2009 International Fire Code and the 2010 California Fire Code are on file in the City Clerk‘s Office and open to public inspection during normal business hours. Additional copies of the 2009 International Fire Code, the 2010 California Fire Code and local amendments are on file in the Fire Department and open to public inspection during normal business hours. This notice is being published in accordance with Government Code Section 6066.

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Bali steps with exquisitely precise fluidity, every muscle taut, each fin-ger’s controlled tremolo expressive of deep emotion. Indian dancer Anjana Dasu’s face conveys delight, hesita-tion, surprise, anticipation, joy and hope by turns as her body bends and stretches in graceful stylized move-ments. When the two dancers finally lock eyes, you feel you could truly be witnessing the climactic meeting of Rama and Sita, one of the peak mo-ments in a religious and mythologi-cal tradition shared by the majority of both Indians and Balinese.

The collaboration between the Abhinaya Dance Group of San Jose, founded by Mythili Kumar in 1980, and the Gamelan Sekar Jaya (which marked its 30th anniversary last year), is a tribute to the power of dancing traditions that have not only survived the transfer to America but are thriving, changing and gaining strength from one another. Abhinaya is roughly translated as “the art of expression.”

In the South Indian classical style known as bharatanatyam, dancers are trained to reflect a sometimes mesmerizing gamut of emotions as the hands perform complex mudras or gestures, each with a specific meaning. The Balinese style, by contrast, is more abstract and more subtle, says Kumar, without the strongly stylized mime element for which bharatanatyam is famous.

Mythili Kumar was among the first of the intrepid Indian classi-cal dancers to establish their art in the Bay Area. She began perform-ing and teaching 30 years ago, after studying from the age of 8 in Bom-bay (Mumbai) and then Hyderabad. After gaining a master’s degree in nutrition there, she came to the U.S. on a Rotary scholarship, later studying biochemistry at U.C. Da-vis where she met her husband. A computer scientist, who also sang in the Indian classical tradition, B.

Kumar helped provide the musical underpinnings for Mythili’s solo dance recitals and later for their two daughters’ solo debuts.

Earlier this year, Abhinaya staged a collaboration with a taiko drum-ming group, showing how far this art form has come in its willingness to experiment. “Bharatanatyam is not stagnant at all; it’s completely evolv-ing, in Europe, India and here,” said Kumar, who regularly brings master dancers and musicians from India to teach her students and perform as guest stars.

An Oct. 24 Palo Alto performance with Gamelan Sekar Jaya will cel-ebrate the strong bond between two cultures that take the epic poems “Ramayana” and “Mahabharata” as their central myths. Many members of the audience will know that the meeting of Sita and Rama is not just love at first sight, but a reflection of the eternal bonding of their ear-lier incarnation, the god Vishnu and goddess Lakshmi.

Though the story was first writ-ten about 2,400 years ago, Sita is a distinctly modern princess. “Swayambara,” one of the dances to be performed by the ensemble, means “choosing a relationship by oneself,” Kumar said. The moment when Sita chooses Rama is still pow-erful, especially in a culture where most Hindu marriages are arranged by the families to this day.

Many of the characters in the sto-ry are male — Sita’s father and her suitors, for example — but they are danced with power and assurance by young Indian-American wom-en, most of whom have demanding careers to manage as well as their dancing commitments.

Rasika Kumar, for example, is both choreographer and principal dancer at age 27. The older daughter of Mythili Kumar, she has a master’s degree from M.I.T., and works as a computer scientist at Google. Taught classical dance from the earliest age by her mother, Rasika has an im-pressive command of the language

of bharatanatyam. “Expression is a huge part of what it means to be a bharatanatyam dancer. It’s not just facial expressions, but posture, de-meanor, gestures, how all contribute. The audiences should feel all the shades of emotion without it being obvious or melodramatic. “

As the Demon King Ravana, Rasi-ka Kumar conveys both the emotion and the comedy of a powerful, dis-dainful character who considers de-feat beneath him. In order to portray such legendary characters, Kumar said, “You have to soul search. You have to delve into the character and discover how you would portray that, then control every muscle in your body and all your facial mus-cles to sustain it.” It is a climactic moment when Ravana fails in his attempt to lift a massive bow that once belonged to the Lord Siva, and crumbles — while struggling not to show his disappointment in failing to win the Princess Sita.

Part of Abhinaya’s goal is to keep such stories alive for the Indian com-munity in the West. In India, the dances are performed for audiences who know the stories intimately, but with modern Bay Area audiences, this familiarity with culture and tra-ditions cannot be assumed. The con-ventions of a stylized art form are not always understood either, so peo-ple who expect instant entertainment may find they need to work harder to understand the complexities.

One way to understand them is to learn to perform the dance. It takes enormous discipline and hard work to master bharatanatyam, which in India involves countless hours of im-mersion in every aspect of the art. In Mythili Kumar’s studio, most stu-dents take classes only once or twice a week. But the benefits go way be-yond the dance itself, Rasika said.

“It’s not just the dance, it’s a cul-ture you’re learning when you come to a dance class. That’s awesome, because when you’re exposed like this it’ll become a part of your iden-tity.”

What: The Abhinaya Dance Company of San Jose marks its 30th anniversary with a performance with the Balinese music and dance ensemble Gamelan Sekar Jaya.When: 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 24Where: Oshman Family Jewish Com-munity Center, 3921 Fabian Way, Palo AltoCost: Tickets are $20 general and $15 for students and seniors.Info: Go to abhinaya.org or call 408-871-5959.

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West Bay Opera in Palo Alto is 55 years old and it has waited all this time to pres-

ent Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Destino,” the massively complex and convoluted tale of love, honor and spiritual redemption.

It was worth waiting for. Within its nearly four hours is some of the most beautiful dramatic opera mu-sic ever written. In many ways, it was a remarkable achievement for the regional company.

The title’s translation could be “the power of destiny.” And it may be that West Bay was compelled by fate to tackle such an awesome assignment. WBO has the array of outstanding singers, and a dedi-cated creative team of artistic spe-cialists in operatic music, staging, set design and all the myriad other tasks involved in this most complex performance medium.

And Midpeninsula audiences are highly supportive of reaching beyond the old familiar offerings. This season, West Bay’s entire schedule is made up of works few regional opera theaters ever take on.

“Forza” takes us back to the 1740s in Spain and Italy. The proud Marquis of Calatrava is shocked to discover his daughter, Leonora, is about to elope with Alvaro, a Peru-vian half-caste (although he is an Inca prince).

When Alvaro’s pistol is tossed away, it accidentally kills the father. This sets in motion a commitment on the part of Carlo, Leonora’s brother, to kill both of the lovers, who separately reach a monastery where Carlo forces a duel and is himself killed, but not before he has mortally stabbed his sister.

Offstage, fortunately. Leonora’s anguished death brings her wish for her lover’s redemption.

Outstanding voices and strong dramatic acting marked all of the principals. Leonora is sung by the young Russian soprano Olga Cher-nisheva whose versatility was heard in the title role of Manon Lescaut last season at West Bay. Her vibrant aria renditions, such as “Pace, Pace Mio Dio,” evoked memories of Le-ontyne Price and Maria Callas in earlier days in this role.

Her Inca prince, Don Alvaro, is sung by tenor Percy Martinez, who is actually a native of Peru. Carlo is Gabriel Manro, a powerful bari-tone making his first company ap-pearance, who seemed to thrive on the evil deeds to which fate was driving him.

Several other key singing roles were critical to the total impact, es-pecially in bringing forth the many changes of mood, a hallmark of the

late Verdi operas. The outstanding acting talents coupled with strong vocal presentations came from mezzo soprano Michele Detwiler as the feisty gypsy army camp fol-lower, Preziosilla; bass-baritone Peter Graham was pivotal in the calming, authoritative role of Pa-dre Guardiano; and a contrasting clerical role of the bumbling Friar Melitone, was well-sung by Carl King in his WBO debut.

The adult and boys chorus takes on special duties in “Forza,” more so than most Verdi operas. Led by the booming bass of Carlos Agui-lar, the chorus was almost as criti-cal as the principals in moving the story forward.

Credit much of the success to the theatrical wisdom and experience of director David Ostwald, a Por-tola Valley resident when he isn’t in New York. The director amaz-ingly was able to move huge forces seamlessly around the small stage. One scene even used all of the aisle space at Lucie Stern for a candle-light march by the monks.

Conductor of the opera Michel Singher not only did the reduction of the score from a huge symphonic orchestra to a 30-piece ensemble, he also guided the talented set of musicians in the small pit, but over video monitors in several spaces he could not see. His superb com-mand brought out the fullness of the score despite the orchestra’s spatial limitations. The theater’s intimate size allowed excellent bal-ances between the voices and the instruments.

Gifted veteran WBO set design-er Jean-François Revon created a giant tapestry that depicts scenes from the opera much in the style of what might be hanging in a Span-ish grandee’s castle. Each area was illuminated like a storyboard by lighting designer Robert Ted An-derson.

British costume designer Claire Townsend made her debut dressing the company in appropriate 18th-century color tones and style.

What: West Bay Opera presents Giuseppe Verdi’s “La Forza del Des-tino.”When: Saturday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 24, at 2 p.m. Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo AltoTickets: $40-$60Information: Go to www.wbopera.org or call 650-843-3900.

A tale of love, honor and redemption

West Bay Opera applies its magic to Verdi masterpieceby Mort Levine

OPERA REVIEW

3 6 2 9 1 4 8 7 55 8 7 6 3 2 4 9 11 4 9 5 7 8 3 2 68 7 6 3 9 1 5 4 22 1 3 4 5 7 6 8 94 9 5 8 2 6 7 1 37 5 4 2 6 9 1 3 89 3 8 1 4 5 2 6 76 2 1 7 8 3 9 5 4

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From left, Percy Martinez (playing Alvaro), Gabriel Manro (Don Carlo) and Olga Chernisheva (Leonora) in West Bay Opera’s “La forza del destino.”

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Page 25

CATCH THAT WAVE ... Video producers from Palo Alto’s Midpeninsula Community Media Center scored seven WAVE awards at a ceremony in Reno last weekend, the center reported.The videos honored included “Small Plane Crash in East Palo Alto,” produced by Re-becca Sanders; a public-ser-vice announcement on polio by Edoardo De Armas; and “Icon: Hangar One,” a pro-file of Moffett Field’s historic Hangar 1, by Daya Curley and Mark D. Messersmith.The Western Access Video Excellence Awards honor community-based video pro-gramming and are given out by the western region of the Alliance for Community Me-dia. The winning shows can be watched online at midpen media.org and will also be replayed on local channels; check the website for infor-mation.

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FilmAfrican Film Festival

A new Peninsula film festival makes its debut this weekend, show-casing 30 creations from 16 African countries. The Silicon Valley Afri-can Film Festival kicks off Saturday at 11 a.m. with a flag- and drum-filled opening ceremony.

Hosted by the Community School of Music and Arts in Mountain View, the event is co-sponsored by Mountain View’s Oriki Theater. Feature films, shorts and animated movies by new and experienced

filmmakers are set to be screened.“The festival’s mission is to pro-

mote an understanding and ap-preciation of Africa and Africans through moving images,” festival director Chike C. Nwoffiah of the Oriki Theater said in a press re-lease.

Films will include “Origins of Sin,” a Ugandan film directed by Patrick Sekyaya. It follows a mar-ried young woman who incurs the gods’ wrath in a traditional society. Sekyaya is scheduled to speak af-ter the 2 p.m. screening on Oct. 23. “Wrestling Grounds,” directed by Cheikh N’Diaye, screens at 11 a.m. on Sunday; it’s about a 17-year-old

joining an African champion wres-tling team.

The festival runs 11 a.m. through 1 a.m. on Oct. 23 and from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Oct. 24. Ticket prices vary from $5 to $30, with options including single tickets and day passes. The school is at 230 San An-tonio Circle in Mountain View. Go to svaff.org or call 415-774-6787.

MusicSwinging strings

Two separate concerts this week-end demonstrate the variable nature of the stringed instrument in its vast range of sounds.

Palo Alto cellist Michelle Djokic, whose regular gigs include playing with Quartet San Francisco and the New Century Chamber Orchestra, will be featured with the youthful players of the Palo Alto Chamber Orchestra in a concert called “Musi-cal Maiden.” The program includes Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden” and music by Jean-Baptiste Lully, Felix Mendelssohn and Northern California’s Lou Harrison.

PACO performs at 8 p.m. in the Eagle Theatre at Los Altos High School, 201 Almond Ave. Tickets are $15 general, $10 for seniors and $5 for students. Go to pacomusic.org or call 650-856-3848.

Meanwhile, Palo Alto’s Tuttle family explores the bluegrass side of stringed instruments with a con-cert that also celebrates the players’ new CD, made with musical cohort A.J. Lee. Mandolin, guitar and ban-jo tunes will be among the sounds mingling with bluegrass singing.

The show is the first of the sea-son for Redwood Bluegrass Associ-ates, which presents concerts at the First Presbyterian Church at 1667 Miramonte Ave in Mountain View. Jamming starts at 5 p.m., with doors opening at 7 p.m. and the concert at 8. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 on the day of the show, with some discounts available. Go to rba.org or buy tickets in person at Gryphon Stringed Instruments, 211 Lambert St., Palo Alto.

“Wrestling Grounds,” a film made in Senegal and Burkina Faso, will be shown at the Silicon Valley African Film Festival.

Page 26

Movies

Hereafter 1/2(Century 16, Century 20) Imag-

ine taking a road trip to the Grand Canyon. The drive is long and tire-some. Your legs ache and you find yourself getting irritable as the trek drags on and on. Then you arrive — just as the sun is rising. The American landmark stretches out before you, accentuated by vi-brant rays of red and gold. Breath-taking.

That was how I felt watching “Hereafter,” a poignant film that is more about the destination than the journey. Director Clint East-wood’s thoughtful drama is slow and plodding (one audience mem-ber was audibly snoring at the screening I attended). It is not for the Vin Diesel or Freddy Krueger crowd that demands its thrills fast and furious.

Rather, “Hereafter” is deep and deliberate. It requires patience and emotional maturity from its audi-ence. Those willing to give it will be rewarded with a cinematic ex-perience that is complex, heartfelt and spiritually uplifting.

Three characters in differ-ent parts of the world are united by death. A devastating tsunami leaves famed French journalist Marie LeLay (Cecile de France) with remarkable glimpses of the afterlife; soft-spoken British lad Marcus (played by real-life iden-tical twins Frankie and George McLaren) struggles with the un-timely death of his twin brother Jason; and San Franciscan George Lonegan (Matt Damon) has an un-canny ability to communicate with the deceased — whether he likes it or not.

Marie’s professional life starts to unravel as her near-death expe-rience consumes her. She sets out to pen a novel about the hereafter, much to the chagrin of her philan-dering lover/boss. George’s “gift” is a constant barrier to intimacy, rearing its ugly head as he tries to kindle a romance with cooking-class partner Melanie (Bryce Dal-las Howard). But Marcus suffers

the most as the traumatic loss of his brother shatters his world. His heroin-addicted mother can offer little help, so he sets out to seek the aid of those with metaphysical expertise.

And the lives of these three indi-viduals seem fated to intertwine.

The film’s production values are impressive, which is to be expected with any Eastwood pic-ture. Lighting is used effectively and the cinematography is often striking. “Hereafter” was shot on location in San Francisco, Paris, London and Hawaii, so the vary-ing locales are a visual treat. The music is appropriate but tends to lull the pace substantially (there is a lot of plunky piano and soft violin), and the story borderlines on melodramatic.

The actors all perform admira-bly, although the McLaren twins are a bit out of their league. (Mar-cus is not very emotive save for some periodic tears.) Damon is particularly compelling, proving once again that he is a very strong leading man capable of carrying almost any film. Howard serves up a terrific performance in her minor role, and De France shines with a charismatic portrayal.

In 2002, Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs of New York” was met with decidedly mixed reactions. Some lauded it as a masterpiece while others condemned it as a faulty misfire. It went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture. I expect “Hereafter” to similarly divide viewers. There is a soulful depth that many may find hard to grasp, especially while munching on Milk Duds or buttered pop-corn.

Eastwood’s enlightened en-deavor — perhaps a subtle com-mentary on his own mortality (the icon celebrated his 80th birthday this year) — presents the afterlife in a peaceful light instead of as something morbid or terrifying. And that sort of optimism is easy to applaud.

Rated PG-13 for mature the-matic elements including disturb-ing disaster and accident images, and for brief strong language. 2 hours, 6 minutes.

— Tyler Hanley

Inside Job 1/2(CineArts) Sometimes a good

documentary is one for the histo-ry books. “Inside Job” — written, produced and directed by Charles Ferguson — may end up being that sort of film. The wounds re-counted may be too fresh just now for “Inside Job” to be broadly ap-preciated, but it’s a cogent synthe-sis of the factors leading to, defin-ing and resulting from the global economic crisis of the last couple of years.

There’s no question that “Inside Job” is wonky in its studious ex-planations of derivative schemes, credit default swaps and collat-eralized debt obligations. Daily readers of Bloomberg News will probably sigh and think, “Tell me something I don’t know,” while those like me, with only the most limited understanding of this fi-nancial sleight-of-hand, will inch a bit closer to enlightenment thanks to Ferguson’s patient explana-tions.

In any case, Ferguson works hard to give his documentary big-time cinematic polish. This includes Peter Gabriel’s song “Big Time” (which accompanies aerial photography of New York City under the opening credits), narra-tor Matt Damon to deliver those economics lectures, and the un-usual choice to frame the film in a panoramic aspect ratio usually re-served for epic (or “arty”) films.

Even the most casual observers of the economic crisis will have to consider much of “Inside Job” to be old news, but Ferguson de-livers it doggedly and without succumbing to blatant emotional appeal. As such, the film isn’t as entertaining or wide-ranging as Michael Moore’s “Capitalism: A Love Story,” but the journalis-tic tone contributes to the film’s sobering effect. With clear-eyed repetition, Ferguson drums in the decades-long pattern (abetted by the administrations of both major political parties) of Wall Street banditry. The tip of Ferguson’s spear points squarely at the only sane solution: strong and incor-ruptible government regulation of investment and investment bank-ing.

Ferguson takes his shots, includ-ing some at Obama for bending to banking interests. (Robert Gnaid-za of consumer advocacy group the Greenlining Institute puts it plainly: “It’s a Wall Street govern-ment”). Former Federal Reserve board governor Frederic Mishkin

OPENINGS

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P E T E R T R A V E R S

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BOB MONDELLO

THE BES T P ICTURE.

(continued on next page)

Matt Damon in “Hereafter.”

Page 27

Movies

Alpha and Omega (PG) Century 20: 11:20 a.m.; 1:35, 3:50, 6, 8:15 & 10:25 p.m. (Not Reviewed)

Beware, My Lovely (1952) Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 6 & 9:30 p.m.

Easy A (PG-13) (Not Reviewed) Century 20: 12:25, 2:45, 5:10, 7:30 & 9:50 p.m.

Hereafter (PG-13) 1/2 Century 16: 11 a.m.; 12:10, 2, 3:30, 4:55, 7, 8:25 & 10:30 p.m. Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; 12:50, 2:30, 4, 5:30, 7, 8:30 & 10 p.m.

Inside Job (PG-13) Palo Alto Square: 1:55, 4:40 & 7:20 p.m.; Fri. & Sat. also at 9:55 p.m. 1/2

It’s Kind of a Funny Story Century 20: 2:25 p.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 7:50 p.m. (PG-13)

Jackass 3 (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: In 3D at 11 a.m.; noon, 1:20, 2:20, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9:40 & 10:35 p.m. Century 20: In 3D at 1:05, 2:15, 3:30, 4:35, 7:10, 9:30 & 10:40 p.m.; Fri., Sat., Mon., Wed. & Thu. also at 11:55 a.m.; 5:50 & 8:15 p.m.; Sun. also at 5:50 & 8:15 p.m.

Laura (1944) Stanford Theatre: Sat.-Mon. at 5:50 & 9:10 p.m.

Legend of the Guardians: Century 16: In 3D at 11:05 a.m.; 1:30, 3:55, 6:40 & 9:05 p.m. Century 20: In 3D at 1:55, 4:20, The Owls of Ga’Hoole (PG) 6:50 & 9:15 p.m.; Fri., Sat. & Mon.-Thu. also at 11:30 a.m. (Not Reviewed)

Letter from an Unknown Stanford Theatre: Sat.-Mon. at 7:30 p.m.; Sat. & Sun. also at 4:10 p.m. Woman (1948)

Life As We Know It (PG-13) Century 16: 12:20 & 3:40 p.m. Century 20: 11:40 a.m.; 2:15, 4:55, 7:35 & 10:15 p.m. (Not Reviewed)

Mao’s Last Dancer (PG) Aquarius Theatre: Fri. at 3 p.m.; Sun. at 5:30 & 8 p.m.; Mon. at 3 p.m.; Tue.-Thu. at 3, 5:30 & 8 p.m.

The Metropolitan Opera: Boris Century 20: Sat. at 9 a.m. Palo Alto Square: Sat. at 9 a.m. Gudonov (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

The Metropolitan Opera: Century 20: Wed. at 6:30 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Wed. at 6:30 p.m. Das Rheingold (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

Never Let Me Go (R) Aquarius Theatre: 2, 4:30, 7 & 9:30 p.m.

Nowhere Boy (R) Century 16: 11:45 a.m.; 2:10, 4:40, 7:50 & 10:15 p.m.

Paranormal Activity 2 Century 16: 11:25 a.m.; 12:25, 1:45, 2:45, 4:20, 5:20, 7:10, 8:10, 9:50 & 10:40 p.m. Century (R) (Not Reviewed) 20: 11:35 a.m.; 12:15, 1, 1:50, 2:35, 3:20, 4:10, 4:55, 5:40, 6:40, 7:20, 9:05 & 10:30 p.m.; Fri.-Wed.

also at 8:05 & 10:30 p.m.

Pickup on South Street (1953) Stanford Theatre: Thu. at 7:30 p.m.

Red (PG-13) Century 16: 11:15 a.m.; 12:15, 1:55, 2:55, 4:35, 5:35, 7:30, 8:30 & 10:10 p.m. Century 20: 11:45 a.m.; 12:55, 2:20, 3:40, 5:15, 6:30, 8, 9:20 & 10:35 p.m.

RiffTrax Live: House on Century 16: Thu. at 8 p.m. Century 20: Thu. at 8 p.m. Haunted Hill (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

The Rocky Horror Picture Guild Theatre: Sat. at midnight. Show (R) (Not Reviewed)

Saw 3D (R) (Not Reviewed) Century 16: Thu. at 12:01 a.m. Century 20: Thu. at 8 & 10:20 p.m.

Secretariat (PG) 1/2 Century 16: 12:05, 3:20, 6:50 & 9:55 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; 2, 4:45, 7:40 & 10:30 p.m.

The Social Network Century 16: 11:30 a.m.; 12:40, 2:25, 3:50, 5:15, 7:05, 8:20 & 10 p.m. Century 20: 11:15 a.m.; (PG-13) 1/2 2:10, 5, 7:55 & 10:40 p.m.; Fri., Sun.-Tue. & Thu. also at 12:40, 3:35, 6:25 & 9:25 p.m.; Sat. also at 3:10 p.m.; Wed. also at 12:40 & 3:25 p.m.

The Sound of Music Century 16: Tue. at 6:30 p.m. Century 20: Tue. at 6:30 p.m. Sing-Along Event (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

Stone (R) 1/2 Century 16: 11:35 a.m.; 2:05, 4:45, 7:40 & 10:25 p.m.

Sudden Fear (1952) Stanford Theatre: Fri. at 7:30 p.m.

Tamara Drewe (R) Century 16: 11:10 a.m.; 1:50, 4:30, 7:25 & 10:05 p.m.

The Town (R) 1/2 Century 16: 7:20 & 10:20 p.m. Century 20: 1:25, 4:15, 7:05 & 9:55 p.m.

UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velasquez Century 20: Sat. at 7 p.m. (Not Rated) (Not Reviewed)

Waiting for Superman Century 20: 11:50 a.m.; 2:25, 5:05, 7:45 & 10:20 p.m. Palo Alto Square: Fri. at 1:45, 4:30, (PG) (Not Reviewed) 7:15 & 9:50 p.m.; Sat. at 4:30, 7:15 & 9:50 p.m.; Sun.-Tue. & Thu. at 1:45, 4:30 & 7:15 p.m.; Wed.

at 1:45 p.m.

Wall Street: Money Never Century 20: 11:25 a.m.; Fri.-Wed. also at 4:50 & 10:15 p.m. Sleeps (PG-13) (Not Reviewed)

Where the Sidewalk Ends Stanford Theatre: Thu. at 5:45 & 9 p.m. (1950)

You Will Meet a Tall Dark Guild Theatre: 3:45, 6 & 8:15 p.m. Stranger (R)

MOVIE TIMES

Skip it Some redeeming qualities A good bet Outstanding

lInternet: For show times, plot synopses, trailers, theater addresses and more information about films playing, go to

PaloAltoOnline.com.

CinemarkSan Mateo 800/FANDANGO 968#

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MOBILE USERS: For Showtimes, Text Message RED and Your ZIP CODE to 43KIX (43549)

SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT PRESENTS A di BONAVENTURA PICTURES PRODUCTIONA ROBERT SCHWENTKE FILM “RED” KARL URBAN WITH RICHARD DREYFUSSMUSIC CHRISTOPHE BECK PRODUCED LORENZO di BONAVENTURA MARK VAHRADIAN

GRAPHIC NOVEL BY WARREN ELLIS AND CULLY HAMNER SCREENPLAY JON HOEBER & ERICH HOEBER DIRECTED ROBERT SCHWENTKEBY

BYBYBASED ON THE

BY

© 2010 SUMMIT ENTERTAINMENT, LLC.ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

“‘RED’ ISABSOLUTELY,THOROUGHLYENJOYABLE.IT ROCKS.”

–Robert Wilonsky, LA WEEKLY

“EXPLOSIVE,FUNNY ANDLOADED WITHACTION!!”

–Mosé Persico, CTV MONTREAL

“GO SEE THISMOVIE.

‘RED’ IS JUSTFLAT-OUT FUN!”

–Kelli Gillespie, XETV CW6

“GO SEE THISMOVIE.

‘RED’ IS JUSTFLAT-OUT FUN!”

–Kelli Gillespie, XETV CW6

“EXPLOSIVE,FUNNY ANDLOADED WITHACTION!!”

–Mosé Persico, CTV MONTREAL

“‘RED’ ISABSOLUTELY,THOROUGHLYENJOYABLE.IT ROCKS.”

–Robert Wilonsky, LA WEEKLY

“THE BEST CAST FOR ANACTION COMEDY…EVER.”

–Roger Moore, ORLANDO SENTINEL

“ .‘RED’ HAS THE MOST GLITTERING ENSEMBLE CAST AND MOST DEFIANT ATTITUDE OF ANY MOVIE THIS YEAR.”

–Sally Kline, THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER

“THE BEST PART OF ‘RED’IS THE SPECTACLE OF TERRIFIC ACTORSBEING TERRIFIC IN NOVEL WAYS.”

–Joe Morgenstern, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Fri 10/22: Inside Job 1:55, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55 Waiting Superman 1:45, 4:30, 7:15, 9:50Sat 10/23: Inside Job 1:55, 4:40, 7:20, 9:55 Waiting for Superman 4:30, 7:15, 9:5010/24-26, 28: Inside Job 1:55, 4:40, 7:20 Waiting for Superman 1:45, 4:30, 7:15Wed 10/27 Inside Job 1:55, 4:40, 7:20; Superman 1:45

and former Under Secretary of the Treasury for the Bush administra-tion David McCormick squirm a bit under Ferguson’s spotlight, while

(continued from previous page) Glenn Hubbard, former chief eco-nomic advisor to Bush, does his best to remain slippery.

The talking heads found defend-ing our culture of economic amoral-ity are emblematic of the problem but hardly the worst of the culprits (most of those declined to be inter-viewed, natch). Among the “friendly witnesses” are Paul Volcker, George Soros, Barney Frank, Eliot Spitzer and Raghuram Rajan, the former IMF chief economist whose warn-ing flag was dismissed.

Intriguing sidelines include dis-cussion of the psychology and brain chemistry informing Wall Street’s vice-ridden decisions, and business academia’s blase attitude to conflicts of interest. Still, the blunt impacts of this recession post-mortem are all

too familiar: the endangered middle class, gutted retirement funds, lost jobs in the tens of millions, and, looking ahead, an estimated total of 15 million home foreclosures.

Meanwhile, as Ferguson notes with quiet anger, those responsible walked away with millions in per-sonal compensation.

Rated PG-13 for some drug and sex-related material. One hour, 49 minutes.

— Peter Canavese

Weekly critic Peter Cana-vese awarded three stars to the “charming” British film “Tamara Drewe.” To read the review, go to PaloAltoOnline.com/movies.

Page 28

Search a complete listing of local

restaurantreviews by location or type of food onPaloAltoOnline.com

AMERICAN

Armadillo Willy’s 941-2922

1031 N. San Antonio Rd., Los Altos

Range: $5.00-13.00

Hobee’s 856-6124

4224 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Also at Town & Country Village,

Palo Alto 327-4111

Burmese

Green Elephant Gourmet

(650) 494-7391

Burmese & Chinese Cuisine

3950 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto

(Charleston Shopping Center)

Dine-In, Take-Out, Local Delivery-Catering

CHINESE

Chef Chu’s (650) 948-2696

1067 N. San Antonio Road

on the corner of El Camino, Los Altos

2008 Best Chinese

MV Voice & PA Weekly

Jing Jing 328-6885

443 Emerson St., Palo Alto

Authentic Szechwan, Hunan

Food To Go, Delivery

www.jingjinggourmet.com

Ming’s 856-7700

1700 Embarcadero East, Palo Alto

www.mings.com

New Tung Kee Noodle House

520 Showers Dr., MV in San Antonio Ctr.

Voted MV Voice Best ‘01, ‘02, ‘03 & ‘04

Prices start at $4.75

947-8888

CHINESE

Peking Duck 321-9388

151 S. California Avenue, Palo Alto

We also deliver.

Su Hong – Menlo Park

Dining Phone: 323–6852

To Go: 322–4631

Winner, Palo Alto Weekly “Best Of”

8 years in a row!

INDIAN

Darbar Indian Cuisine 321-6688

129 Lytton, Downtown Palo Alto

Lunch Buffet M-F; Open 7 days

Janta Indian Restaurant 462-5903

369 Lytton Ave., Downtown Palo Alto

Lunch Buffet M-F; Organic Veggies

ITALIAN

Spalti Ristorante 327-9390

417 California Ave, Palo Alto

www.spalti.com

Pizzeria Venti 650-254-1120

1390 Pear Ave, Mountain View

www.MvPizzeriaVenti.com

Fresh, Chef Inspired Italian Food

JAPANESE & SUSHI

Fuki Sushi 494-9383

4119 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Open 7 days a Week

MEXICAN

Palo Alto Sol 328-8840

408 California Ave, Palo Alto

PIZZA

Pizza Chicago 424-9400

4115 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

This IS the best pizza in town

Spot A Pizza 324-3131

115 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

Voted Best Pizza in Palo Alto

www.spotpizza.com

POLYNESIAN

Trader Vic’s 849-9800

4269 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Dinner Mon-Thurs 5-10pm; Fri-Sat 5-11pm;

Sun 4:30 - 9:30pm

Available for private luncheons

Lounge open nightly

Happy Hour Mon-Fri 4-6 pm

SEAFOOD

Cook’s Seafood 325-0604

751 El Camino Real, Menlo Park

Seafood Dinners from

$6.95 to $10.95

Scott’s Seafood 323-1555

#1 Town & Country Village, Palo Alto

Open 7 days a week serving breakfast,

lunch and dinner

Happy Hour 7 days a week 4-7 pm

Full Bar, Banquets, Outdoor Seating

www.scottsseafoodpa.com

THAI

Thaiphoon Restaurant 323-7700

543 Emerson St., Palo Alto

Full Bar, Outdoor Seating

www.thaiphoonrestaurant.com

Best Thai Restaurant in Palo Alto

3 Years in a Row, 2006-2007-2008

Siam Orchid 325-1994

496 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto

The only organic Thai in Palo Alto

Free Delivery to Palo Alto/Stanford

4-6p.m. 25% off menu price M-F

STEAKHOUSE

Sundance the Steakhouse 321-6798

1921 El Camino Real, Palo Alto

Lunch: Mon-Fri 11:30 am-2:00pm

Dinner: Mon-Thu 5:00-10:00pm

Fri-Sat 5:00-10:30pm, Sun 5:00-9:00pm

www.sundancethesteakhouse.com

of the week

2 0 1 0

PRIME CERTIFIED ANGUS BEEF •

FRESH SEAFOOD & SHELLFISH•

AWARD WINNING WINE LIST

1921 El Camino Real Palo Alto

650.321.6798

Visit Sundance The Steakhouse

for the Best Steak

Page 29

Eating Out

A few years ago, the Interna-tional Astronomical Union demoted Pluto from a major

planet to a dwarf planet, to the chagrin of many. Pluto will get more positive attention in 2015, when NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is expected to make its closest approach to the body.

In the meantime, dining at Plu-to’s in Palo Alto isn’t much of a problem.

The restaurant chain started in San Francisco in 1995, and Louis Kimball and Gerry Bugas opened their Pluto’s on University Avenue

in 1997. There are now eight Plu-tos orbiting Northern California.

“It’s true: We named the busi-ness after the planet,” Kimball said. “Since we are Gerry and Louis we could have gone that route, but resisted. We wanted something with two syllables, something that was easy to pro-nounce and remember.”

Both Kimball and Bugas have degrees from Cornell University in hotel administration, and pre-viously worked at the Stanford Court Nob Hill Hotel in San Fran-cisco. At Pluto’s, they decided to

focus on simple and fresh items. “Our menu today is pretty much the same menu we started with,” Kimball said, adding, “We posi-tioned ourselves between fast-food and a full-blown restaurant.”

For the first-time diner, Pluto’s might be a tad confusing. There is a salad station, a grill station, a pay station. Patrons grab paper menus, place their orders at the appropriate station, have the menu punched to signify what was or-dered, wait for that portion of the order to be made, then continue to the next station or cash register.

There are discreet signs direct-ing traffic flow — and, trust me, plenty of fellow diners to help you out should confusion reign. What looks rather cosmically chaotic is organized and orderly after all.

Elbow to elbow, cooks toss sal-ads, grill meats, assemble plates and fill beverage orders behind a glass partition. During busy hours, the staff works at warp speed.

Occasionally, there is a bottle-neck at the pay station. That part of the crew is responsible for fill-ing beverage orders; plucking brownies, bars and cookies from glass containers; dishing out side orders; and other tasks. But even at the busiest of times, the backup doesn’t take long to clear. Best of all, there isn’t that distressing Sty-rofoam cup soliciting tips at the cash station, or anywhere else on the premises. Hooray for Pluto’s.

With food in hand, diners eat-ing in parties of larger than one might take a moment to find a place to sit, especially during the

RESTAURANT REVIEW

Pluto’s manager Julio Berber, right, prepares meat with Pedro Villasenor, left.

A grilled tri-tip sandwich pairs up with some garlic curly fries.

Mission accomplishedPluto’s keeps food and prices down-to-earth

by Dale F. Bentson

Vero

nica

Web

erVe

roni

ca W

eber

369 Lytton AvenueDowntown Palo Alto

462-5903Family owned and operated

for 15 years

Buy 1 entreeand get the 2nd one

with coupon(Dinner Only)

www.janta indianres taurant .com

880 Santa Cruz AveMenlo Park

(at University Drive)

(650) 329-8888

226 Redwood Shores Pkwy

Redwood Shores(Next to Pacific Athletic Club)

(650) 654-3333

“THE BEST PIZZA WEST

OF NEW YORK”—Ralph Barbieri

KNBR 680

FREEDELIVERY(with min. order)

Halloween Parties =

Buy Two Large PizzasGet $15 Off

Buy Four or More Large Pizzas - Get a FREE Large Catering SaladBuy Any Large Pizza -Get a FREE order of

Garlic Bread

4115 El Camino Real(Quarter mile North of East Charleston)

(650) 424-9400www.pizzachicago.com

Your Local Natural Foods Store

After all other discounts & coupons. Cannot be combined with any other 'Free' or '$ OFF' Country Sun coupon. One coupon per household per day per purchase of $25 or more.

with purchase of $25 or more of natural & organic foods, body care, vitamins & more!

&

Page 30

Real Estate MattersA WHOLE NEW

BALLGAME According to a National Asso-

ciation of Realtors survey, close to one third of existing home sales were foreclosures or short sales.

This is why it is so important to seek the representation of a special-ly trained and qualified real estate professional. Sellers particularly need assistance in navigating these complex short sale transactions, and buyers need guidance to take advan-tage of these delicate opportunities.

Obviously, real estate profes-sionals are among the biggest advo-cates for homeownership, and we strongly believe that any home lost to foreclosure is one too many. Regrettably, some circumstances arise where homeowners are simply unable to maintain their mortgage payments, and risk going into de-fault. In those cases, a trusted agent's specialized knowledge can help secure a short sale and keep the sellers out of the grueling foreclo-sure process.

Aside from staying current on national and local laws that apply to short sales and foreclosures, realty professionals are trained in qualify-ing sellers for assistance, negotiat-ing with lenders, protecting buyers, and limiting risk. Now more than ever, it makes sense for both sellers and buyers to seek professional representation.

Jackie Schoelerman is a Realtor with Alain Pinel Realtors and a Real Estate Specialist for Seniors. Call Jackie for real estate advice.

J ackie Schoelerman650-855-9700schoelerman.comD R E # 0 1 0 9 2 4 0 0

David Ramadanoffpresents

Master SinfoniaChamber Orchestra

Presenting “London Plus”

Tickets:

Gen Admission $20

Seniors (60+) $16

Youth $5

This ad sponsored byGinny Kavanaugh and

Joe Kavanaugh of Coldwell

Banker, Portola Valley.Visit them at

www.thekavanaughs.com

Handel Water Music Suite No. 2

Martin Concerto for 7 Wind Instruments, Timpani, Percussion, and Strings

Haydn Symphony No. 103 in E-flat major “Drum Roll”

Saturday, October 23 at 8:00 pm Valley Presbyterian Church 925 Portola Rd., Portola Valley (Reception follows)

Sunday, October 24 at 2:30 pm Los Altos United Methodist Church 655 Magdalena (at Foothill Expressway) Los Altos

8:30 A.M., Thursday, November 4, 2010 Palo Alto Council Chambers, 1st Floor, Civic Center, 250 Hamilton Avenue the Architectural Review Board shall conduct a public hearing followed immediately by a board retreat. Go to the Development Center at 285 Hamilton Avenue to review filed documents; contact Alicia Spotwood for information regarding business hours at 650-617-3168.

STUDY SESSION:El Camino Real Design Guidelines to review and discuss: (1) issues identified by the City Council, (2) development of a scope of work for consultant involvement, and (3) involvement of ARB members in partnership with staff toward guideline consolidation, revision and finalization.

MAJOR:4041 El Camino Way [09PLN-00292]: Request by Stephen Reller for Architectural Review of a Planned Community on a 0.83 acre site to provide 44 senior assisted living units in a three story building as an expansion of the Palo Alto Commons Senior Housing onto the adjoining property. Zone: CN & RM-15

RETREAT TOPICS:ARB Annual Report to PTC and City Council (PAMC 2.21.030)Administrative items

Amy French

Manager of Current Planning

NOTICE OF A PUBLIC MEETING

of the City of Palo Alto

Architectural Review Board (ARB)

midday crush. Seating is first come, first served. The unadorned, sturdy wood tables are bussed instantly and the dishes and flatware used are restaurant-grade, which adds a detail of quality to the topnotch food ingredients.

While the menu revolves around salads, meats, sandwiches and sides, the potential combinations are astro-nomical. There are 18 possible salad components, a half-dozen meat op-tions, and numerous side dishes.

Salads are $5.15-$6.95, and meats and sandwiches $4.40-$5.90, with extra meat or cheese added for a nominal fee. Side dishes generally hover around two dollars. There is a good-sized Little Astronauts kids menu as well.

On a recent visit, the chicken Caesar salad ($6.95) I ordered was large and tossed before my very eyes. The lettuce was spring-green, the croutons crunchy, the chicken a tad on the salty side. The dressing was tame but not flat and in the right proportion, coating all the lettuce. Pricewise and freshness-wise, it was a good deal.

One warm day, I decided to have an early Thanksgiving dinner. I or-dered the carved turkey ($4.40) and

(continued on next page)

Page 31

Eating Out

STANFORD LIVELYARTS 2010 2011

The St. Lawrence String Quartet, Stanford University’s treasured ensemble in residence, launches the first of three Sunday performances this season with works by Schumann, Elgar and Haydn, joined by pianist Stephen Prutsman.

One of Bali’s premier ensembles presents “Bamboo to Bronze,” a dazzling performance of music and dance.

With sensual vocals and infectious hooks, Reagon explores folk, blues, vintage rock, and more.

BOAC gives US premiere of new piece by Louis Andriessen—plus work by David Lang and more.

Japanese Butoh legends Sankai Juku balance technical precision with sublime elegance in their latest work, Tobari.

S E A S O N

was given the choice of white or dark meat or a combination of both, as well as mashed potatoes ($2), stuffing ($2) and a thimble of cran-berries ($.50). Total: $8.90 for one terrific plate of pre-autumnal bliss.

Another time, I opted for a grilled tri-tip steak sandwich on focaccia ($5.90). The beef was thin-sliced, tender and flavorful. The side of Or-bital Onion Rings ($2) came with a tangy barbeque sauce for dipping.

The Celestial Sandwich special one week was a grilled chicken breast with cheese, peppers and let-tuce ($5.90). It was a delicious lunch especially when coupled with the Crater of Orbital Soup ($4), which happened to be a hearty, flavor-packed, Tuscan bean potage with chunks of chicken.

The only dish I wasn’t enthralled with was the macaroni and cheese side ($2.50). It wasn’t bad, just too plain. Even browned bread crumbs on top would have added another di-mension. In all, a minor complaint.

For beverages, there are coffees, teas, juices, sodas and waters. Plu-to’s has beer, including a house ale on tap made by Pyramid Breweries. Wine labels rotate among Estancia, Mondavi and Ravenswood labels, $4.25-$5.25 per glass.

Pluto’s is exactly as Louis Kim-ball described it to me: a restaurant positioned between fast-food and fine dining that utilizes nutritious ingredients and attractive pricing. Sometimes the simplest foods can be out of this world.

Pluto’s482 University Ave., Palo Alto650-853-1556plutosfreshfood.comHours: Mon.-Thurs. 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Fri. 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Sat. 11:30 a.m.-11 p.m. Sun. 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m.

Reservations

Credit cards

Lot Parking

Beer & Wine

Takeout

Highchairs

Wheelchair access

Banquet

Catering

Outdoor seating

Noise level:Moderate to loud

Bathroom Cleanliness:Excellent

(continued from previous page)

Support Local Business

A new online guide to Palo Alto businesses

ShopPaloAlto.com

We’re all in it together.

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Page 32

SportsShorts

1ST PLACEBEST SPORTS

COVERAGECalifornia Newspaper Publishers Association

FridayWomen’s volleyball: California at Stan-

ford, 7 p.m.; KZSU (90.1 FM)

SaturdayCollege football: Washington St. at

Stanford, 2 p.m., XTRA (860 AM); KZSU (90.1 FM)

ON THE AIR

READ MORE ONLINEwww.PASportsOnline.com

For expanded daily coverage of college and prep sports, please see our new site at www.PASportsOnline.com

PLAYOFF BOUND . . . The Palo Alto Knights’ Jr. Pee Wee team clinched the AYF NorCal West Division title with a 19-18 victory over the Oakland Dynamites on Sunday at Palo Alto High. The unbeaten Knights were trailing 18-12 entering the fourth quarter before driving 62 yards for the tying touchdown, a six-yard run by Ethan Stern. He accumulated 53 yards on the drive, capping it with the TD and extra point. Stern then joined with teammates Jordan Schilling and Ryan Mitra to sack Oakland’s quarterback and preserve the victory after the Dynamites had driven deep into Palo Alto territory. The Knights grabbed a 12-6 halftime lead af-ter Lee Howard scored from 14 yards out and Josh Brigel caught a 15-yard scoring pass from Jack Devine. Also clinching a playoff berth was Palo Alto’s Pee Wee team and the Jr. Midgets. The Pee Wees improved to 5-2 after beating Oakland, 28-6, while the Jr. Midgets (4-3) blanked Oakland, 34-0. The Knights will close out their regular season for all five teams against Oak Grove West this Sunday at Palo Alto High.

LOCAL COLLEGIANS . . . Palo Alto High grad Alexandra Gro-etsema capped a standout fresh-man fall golf season at Williams by breaking a school record while shooting rounds of 72-73-145 to help the Ephs capture the team title at the 2010 Ann S. Batchelder Invitational this past weekend in Wellesley, Mass. . . . Palo Alto resident Emily Avis and Menlo School grad Aly McKinnon helped Williams hold off Bowdoin, 3-2, in a NESCAC match on Sat-urday. Avis, a senior setter, had 43 assists and 14 digs while McK-innon, a junior, added 15 digs as the Ephs improved to 16-7 over-all. In the Ivy League, Princeton swept Dartmouth on Saturday and beat Harvard, 3-2, on Friday to remain perfect at 5-0 in league play (10-6 overall). Against Dart-mouth, Gunn High grad Michaela Venuti had 36 assists and 11 digs while fellow junior Hillary Ford of Palo Alto High had 18 digs. In the win over Harvard, Venuti contrib-uted 60 assists and 14 digs.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck and his running backs have enjoyed great success this season thanks to a seasoned offensive line that has helped the Cardinal earn a No. 12 national ranking.

STANFORD FOOTBALL

Richard C. Ersted/stanfordphoto.com

Melanie Wade (left) and Kim Whitson helped Paly to a 26-0 record after Tuesday’s victory.

PREP VOLLEYBALLPREP FOOTBALL

Keith Peters

Offensive linehas answered

some questionsDespite loss of Gerhart, Stanford still has run up some impressive numbers

by Rick Eymer

F ifth-year senior Derek Hall, one of the most promising young offensive linemen out of Mis-souri when he was being recruited five years

ago, had appeared in exactly two games for Stanford’s football team since arriving on campus in the fall of 2006 before this year.

Meanwhile, Chase Beeler, Andrew Phillips, Da-vid DeCastro and Jonathan Martin formed the Tun-nel Workers Union last year and helped carve huge chunks of yardage for Heisman Trophy runnerup Toby Gerhart.

Chris Marinelli graduated and, after a competition between Hall and James McGillicuddy, Hall became the new member of the TWU. McGillicuddy hasn’t been forgotten though. He’s sort of an honorary mem-ber of the group and has seen significant playing time in a variety of roles.

It should all be on display again Saturday when the 12th-ranked Cardinal (2-1, 5-1) hosts Washington State (0-4, 1-6) for a 2:10 p.m. kickoff in Stanford’s Homecoming game.

“They’re a very proud group, not as in cocky, but they are proud of the way they handle their jobs,” Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck said of his offen-sive line. “It’s a fun group to play behind.”

The two big question marks on the offensive side of the ball heading into the season were at right tackle and running back. Six games into the season, those questions have been emphatically answered.

“We talked about a running back by committee and thought that was going to be a big question mark,” Cardinal coach Jim Harbaugh said. “I know at some of our earlier press conferences we talked about right tackle being a question mark.”

Stepfan Taylor, who has rushed for 100-plus yards in each of the past three games, has emerged as the top running back. Hall stepped into the right tackle spot

(continued on page 34)

For Palo Alto, it has been a season

to cheer aboutby Keith Peters

T here are plenty of goals out there for the Palo Alto girls’ volleyball team this season. The Vikings have their

sights set on a fourth straight SCVAL De Anza Division title, a Central Coast Sec-tion Division I crown, and even NorCal and state championships.

Palo Alto has such lofty expectations be-cause the Vikings are ranked No. 67 in the nation, No. 19 in the state overall (No. 15 among Division I teams), No. 4 overall in CCS and No. 1 in CCS among Division I teams.

Palo Alto also was 26-0 this season, 8-0 in the division following Tuesday’s 25-16, 25-20, 20-25, 25-23 victory over visiting Mountain View (5-3, 10-7). The victory clinched no worse than a three-way tie for the division crown with three matches re-maining.

“What I really liked about last night was our resilience to the stress Mountain View placed on us,” said Paly coach Dave

Palo Alto canbreathe easier after 6-0 start

by Keith Peters

A fter six games and six victories, by an average of 22 points per outing, Palo Alto football coach Earl Hansen

can finally say: “The harder part of our schedule is over.”

The two biggest roadblocks of any sea-son — Wilcox and Los Gatos — have been swept aside. The Vikings beat the Chargers, 28-15, and the Wildcats, 42-0 last Friday.

The victory over Los Gatos was Paly’s best of the season and, most likely, the best ever against the Wildcats. The tri-umph marked the first time the Vikings have ever beaten the Wildcats by such a lopsided margin and is the first time ever Paly has blanked Los Gatos in the 21 times the teams have met. Los Gatos holds a 17-4 edge in the series.

Palo Alto improved to 3-0 in league and 6-0 overall, setting the stage for potentially finishing the regular season with a 10-0 re-cord for the first time since 1950. The last time the Vikings finished unbeaten was in

(continued on page 36)(continued on page 35)

Page 33

WHEN IT’S YOUR CHILD, EXPERIENCE MATTERS.

Ecole internationale de la Péninsule

PRE-SCHOOL

Outstanding full-day program.

LANGUAGE

Longest running bilingual immersion school in the area. Experienced native-speaking faculty.

ACADEMICS

Established English curriculum. Rigorous program in a nurturing environment. Low student-to-teacher ratio.

TEACHING MANDARIN CHINESE IMMERSION FOR 15 YEARS. A LEADER IN FRENCH IMMERSION IN PALO ALTO. ACCEPTING PRE-SCHOOL APPLICATIONS. REGISTER FOR A TOUR TODAY.

INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL OF THE PENINSULA

TOURS & OPEN HOUSES

UPCOMING TOURSOctober 8, 2010October 15, 2010November 5, 2010November 19, 2010

OPEN HOUSES/INFO SESSIONSNovember 13, 2010January 8, 2010

INFORMATION NIGHTS

Learn more about the school’s Mandarin Chinese Immersion and French Immersion programs. RSVP on our website.

FRENCH INFO NIGHTOctober 12, 2010

CHINESE INFO NIGHTOctober 19, 2010

Sports

NOTICE OF VACANCIESOFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR OF WARD 2

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the office of Director of Ward 2 on the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District became vacant on October 2, 2010. Ward 2 includes the cities of Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto, Stanford, Sunnyvale and a small portion of Santa Cruz County.

The remaining members of the Board of Directors of the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District intend to appoint a successor who will serve the current, unexpired term of Director of Ward 2 which ends on January 2, 2010. The appointment will be made on November 29, 2010, at a meeting to be held at 330 Distel Circle,Los Altos, California, 94022 at 7:00 p.m.

In addition, the forthcoming term of the Director of Ward 2 will be vacant on January 3, 2010.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE MIDPENINSULA REGIONAL OPEN SPACE DISTRICT invites interested candidates to submit an application to fill: either or both of the following vacancies:

• Vacant position of Director representing District Ward 2 for an unexpired term ending January 2, 2011, and

• Forthcoming vacant position of Director representing District 2 for a term commencing January 3, 2011, through the next general District election in November 2012. A determination whether to appoint a successor Director or to call a special election will be made by the Board of Directors in January, 2011. To avoid duplication and encourage the broadest range of applicants, the Board is beginning the recruitment process for the forthcoming vacancy concurrently with the recruitment for the current vacancy in case the Board determines to appoint the Director.

THE DISTRICTThe Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is an independent, non-enterprise, California Special District whose mission is to purchase and preserve a regional greenbelt of open space land in perpetuity, protect and restore the natural environment, and provide opportunities for ecologically sensitive public enjoyment and education. To date, the District protects and manages more than 59,000 acres of open space.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMITTING APPLICATIONS:November 8, 2010 at 5:00 p.m.

APPLICATION REQIREMENTS:• 18 years and older• Registered Voter residing within the boundaries of District

Ward 2

WHERE TO OBTAIN THE APPLICATION:• Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District Office 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos• District website: www.openspace.org

For further information, please contact Michelle Radcliffe, District Clerk at (650) 691-1200.

Midpeninsula Regional

Open Space District

CITY OF PALO ALTO

NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Palo Alto City Council will hold a public hearing at the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, November 8, 2010 to consider adoption of an Ordinance Amending Certain Sections Of Title 5 (Health And Sanitation), Title 12 (Public Works And Utilities), Title 16 (Building Regulations), And Title 18 (Zoning) To Promote Consistency With State Green Building Standards And Add Criteria For Sustainable Neighborhood Development.

DONNA J. GRIDER, MMC City Clerk

16th Annual California Ave. District

E V E N T !

This space is donated as a community service by the Palo Alto Weekly

Sunday, Oct 31st, 12 – 4PM, FREE!For children ages 10 and younger

For Halloween fun!Look for orange fliers in windows of 40 participating stores.

Special additional event – Blossom Birth Halloween Carnival & Fun House

With baby, toddler, and preschool games and activities, held at299 S. California Ave. Ste. #120, $1 admission charge

ANATOLIAN KITCHENANATOLIAN KITCHENThe Former Oaxacan Kitchen Is Now

2323 Birch Street, Palo Alto(Between Cambridge and California)

(650) 853-9700www.anatoliankitchenpaloalto.com

Modern Mediterranean

Cuisine

and hasn’t missed a beat.“It bodes well for us that a guy,

who, early on we wondered if the light would ever come on. Would he reach his potential? How good can he be?” Harbaugh said. “Now we have evidence of a guy who works his tail off, it was important to him to be successful, and went through all the workouts and the weight lighting to be where he is.”

Meanwhile, McGillicuddy has been worked into new roles that he has been lobbying to expand every week.

“He’s wearing different numbers, he’s coming out of the backfield and he loves blowing people up,” Phillips said. “He comes out of the backfield looking for people to tat-too. He’s faced a lot of adversity, a lot of injuries early on. He’s had a bunch of knee surgeries. The way he has kept up and endured is ad-mirable.”

The 6-foot-3, 307-pound McGil-licuddy has lined up as a blocking back and as an eligible receiver, which accounts for the number changes.

“I don’t know if any other pro-gram has a position like that,” Phil-lips said. “He’s a special element for what he can bring to the offense.”

And he’s begging for even more involvement.

“He is ever lobbying to expand the Cuddy role,” Harbaugh said. “He wants the ball. We talk about the possibility of him carrying on third-and-one. He comes back with ‘Well coach, I was thinking of something closer to the goal line.’ He may not have won the starting role but I think he’s more valuable where he is. It’s a unique niche he has created for this team.”

Would Luck ever consider throw-ing him the ball?

“Never,” Luck said. “I threw to him once in practice and he dropped it in front of everybody. He’s always in my ear about it.”

What about a hand off?“I don’t think he’d know what to

do with it,” Luck chuckled.As for Stanford’s rushing attack,

the numbers are eerily similar to last year.

“I think a lot of people around the country thought we’d have difficul-ty replacing one of the top running backs in Toby Gerhart,” Phillips said. “But we knew we had so many people coming back and that we’d have a lot of weapons. It’s nice to still be able to move the ball without Toby, and to move the offense.”

Experience helps, but Harbaugh thinks this offensive line could be even better than last year.

“It’s not just run blocking; it’s the pass protection,” Harbaugh said. “Our linemen are blocking in 1-on-1 situations and getting it done. Sacks are always a good indication of how well the line is blocking (Stan-ford has given up three), but there are also fewer hits on Andrew and fewer throwaways than last year. It’s the way they work and study game plans together.”

The Cougars are coming off their best defensive effort in two years in both points allowed (24) and total yardage (352).

Stanford football(continued from page 33)

Page 34

Sports

STANFORD ROUNDUP

1963, a 9-0 campaign.Such a perfect finish would set

the stage for an appearance in the Central Coast Section Open Divi-sion playoffs, where Paly has won before. Yet, the Vikings could es-tablish another first by reaching the postseason and finishing the season with only one loss.

The ultimate first, of course, would be sweeping through the postseason and then winning the state playoffs. But, it’s too soon to be discussing things like that.

Palo Alto has to travel on Friday night to face host Milpitas (1-2, 3-2-1) in a fairly important SCVAL De Anza Division contest at 7:30 p.m.

Head-to-head matchups show that Palo Alto should have no problem with the Trojans, who have lost to Los Gatos (23-6) and Wilcox (35-17) while the Vikings beat those teams by a combined 70-15. Milpi-tas is averaging just 91 yards rushing per game and 149.3 passing. Sammy Fanua, with 334, is the only Milpi-tas running back with more than 62 yards rushing this season.

Palo Alto proved last weekend that it could stop an offense with a one-back attack. Los Gatos had Garret Zeiter, who had gained 453 yards in the two games prior to fac-ing Paly. The Vikings limited him to just 70 yards on 19 carries.

Los Gatos (2-1, 3-2-1) was held to just 164 total yards, 69 coming on rushing. Hansen said his defensive

Prep football(continued from page 33)

Anotherbig test involleyball

No. 2 Cardinal hosts No. 5 Cal on Friday with first

place at stake in the Pac-10by Rick Eymer

C ollege volleyball doesn’t get much better than this: sec-ond-ranked Stanford against

fifth-ranked California in a match to decide first place in the final game of the first half of the Pac-10 schedule.

Call it the mid-terms, with the exam to start Friday night at 7 p.m. in Maples Pavilion.

Stanford (7-1, 16-1) was ranked first in the country until UCLA upset the Cardinal in Los Angeles two weeks ago. The Bears (7-1, 17-1) have been good for a while now and have become a force on the national level.

In a conference filled to the brim with outstanding teams that can claim national championship caliber talent, even this match stands out.

California coach Rich Feller, a Palo Alto High grad, has elevated the program in Berkeley to new heights. The only things missing, really, are a conference title and a national championship. Either of those could happen any given year.

Stanford coach John Dunning, who got his coaching start at Fre-mont High in Sunnyvale, has con-tinued the tradition of excellence on The Farm. He is 278-46 at Stan-ford, leading all active coaches in the conference by winning percent-age (.858). His Cardinal teams have won the past four Pac-10 titles; have been to six national championship matches and won twice.

There are all kinds of All-Amer-ican candidates on both sides of the court, and there’s some history.

After a 29-year drought as the visiting team, the Bears broke the Cardinal rule with a four-set victo-ry on Oct. 19, 2008. More recently, Cal is seeking revenge after suf-fering a five-set loss on The Farm in last year’s regular-season finale. The Bears went up, 2-0, before the Cardinal stormed back to secure the win and its fourth-consecutive Pac-10 crown.

Stanford holds a 62-8 all-time record over California, which is off to its best start in program history. Last season, the team’s split the sea-son series, with each winning in five sets on its home court. The Cardi-nal is 15-4 against the Bears under Dunning.

Stanford may have an edge in that it is both Breast Cancer Awareness Night and Homecoming/Alumni Night.

Senior outside hitter Alix Kline-man is well on her way to becoming the 10th four-time All-American in Stanford history. She’s led the Car-dinal offensively in each of her first three seasons and this year she’s healthy.

Klineman leads all active Pac-10

players with 1,743 kills, ranks fourth with 1,008 digs, and is sixth with 74 aces and 247 blocks.

Cal is led by junior outside hitter Tarah Murrey, third in the Pac-10 and fifth in the nation with 5.21 kills and 5.84 points per set. She also ranks seventh in the conference with a .361 hitting percentage.

Senior setter/hitter Cassidy Licht-man led the team with 22 double-doubles, including 10 triple doubles in 2009. This season, she has reg-istered a double-double or better in 10 of the teamís 17 matches. She is fifth among active Pac-10 players in assists (2011), sixth in digs (907) and eighth in aces (68).

Senior libero Gabi Ailes owns several top marks in the Stanford record book. She is the career digs leader (1,899), holds three of the top four places on the single season digs list and maintains the top three re-cords for digs in a single match.

Women’s soccer Stanford freshman Emily Oliver

stepped in at goalkeeper at halftime of top-ranked Stanford’s fifth match of the season — Stanford’s home opener against Georgia — and has been a fixture at the position ever since. Oliver has started Stanfordís past 10 matches, is credited with three shutouts, has been a part of three others, and has a record of 11-0. Her goals-against average (0.42) leads the Pac-10 and is sixth in the country.

Top-ranked Stanford (4-0, 13-0-2) travels to Arizona State for a Pac-10

match on Friday night.

Men’s soccer The Cardinal (3-2, 7-6) pushed

its record above .500 this season with victories over No. 13 UCLA and San Diego State this past week-end. Stanford now trails UCLA and California by a single game in the Pac-10 race after one trip through the double round-robin.

The Pac-10 champion automati-cally qualifies for the NCAA tour-nament, but Stanford’s strong play of late (winners of seven of nine), also has put the Cardinal back in the thick of the at-large conversation.

Women’s golf Stanford sophomore Sally Wat-

son is representing Scotland at the World Amateur Team Champion-ships, which are being held in Bue-nos Aires, Argentina.

Men’s water polo No. 4 Stanford sits in a tie for

third place in the Mountain Pa-cific Sports Federation, with a 2-1 conference record. The Cardinal earned its first road victory with an 8-6 victory over UC Santa Barbara and continues its stretch of four consecutive road games by taking on last-place Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday.

Women’s tennis The USTA/ITA Northwest Re-

gional gets underway Friday at Stanford’s Taube Tennis Center and is scheduled through Tuesday.

Senior Alix Klineman (10) will lead Stanford against visiting Cal on Friday after winning her third Pac-10 Player of the Week honor.

Richard C. Ersted/stanfordphoto.com

Jefferson (2-0, 5-1) at Menlo (2-0, 5-1), Friday, 3 p.m.It will be a game with championship ramifications when the PAL Ocean Division’s two undefeated teams meet. Jefferson is a legiti-mate contender following a 42-12 romp over Woodside last week, while Menlo kept pace with a 34-0 win over San Mateo. The Knights, however, could be at a disadvantage because standout running back/linebacker Beau Nichols has a broken bone in his right hand and could miss the game. Nichols suffered the injury late in last week’s win over San Mateo, a game that was over at halftime after Menlo QB Robert Wickers had thrown for five touchdowns and 215 yards by intermission. Wickers has completed 90 of 142 passes for 1,441 yards and 19 touchdowns this season. Menlo finished with 394 yards of total offense, enough to get the job done. Jordan Williams caught five passes for 156 yards and two TDs while Tim Benton had five catches for 113 yards and two scores.

Crystal Springs (3-1, 4-1) at Pinewood (4-0, 4-1), Friday, 3:30 p.m.Pinewood still has a shot at winning the Coastal Athletic League title following a 46-0 blasting of Cornerstone Christian last weekend. The Panthers, however, must win this one and upset unbeaten Anchor-point Christian at Gilroy next week. Depite its record, Crystal Springs is averaging just 65 passing yards and 44 rushing yards per game, while scoring at a 36.8 clip. Pinewood is averaging 165.2 rushing and 19.4 passing while scoring 30 points a game. Dante Fraioli, who rushed for 117 yards on seven carries and scored five touchdowns overall last weekend, is Pinewood’s key offensive threat.

Gunn (0-2, 3-3) at Homestead (1-1, 5-1), Friday, 7:30 p.m.The Titans need to get back on the winning track after dropping a 35-16 decision to visiting Saratoga in a SCVAL De Anza Division game last weekend. Gunn is facing four tough games in a row to end the season — Homestead, Milpitas (home), Wilcox (away) and Los Gatos (home). Coming away with a split in those four would make for a suc-cessful season in the tough division. In the loss to Saratoga, Gunn didn’t take advantage of its opportunities and fell behind 21-0 with four minutes to go in the third quarter. Josh Jackson returned a kickoff 93 yards for one Gunn score and Anthony Cannon threw 41 yards to Jackson for the other. Cannon finished with 16 completions for 219 yards.

M-A (1-1, 2-4) at SHP (1-1, 5-1), Saturday, 3 p.m.This is a must-win game for both teams to keep their possible PAL Bay Division title hopes alive. The Bears are coming off a 28-14 loss to Ara-gon while the Gators are coming off a big 42-20 triumph over King’s Academy in a game that saw SHP rush for 276 yards while giving up 251 on the ground. Colin Terndrup led SHP with a142 yards rushing on 21 carries. Terndrup’s three-yard TD run gave the Gators a 28-20 lead. SHP then tacked on two more scores. Sacred Heart fell behind 14-0 after one quarter before senior quarterback John Geary hooked up with Tyler McCool on an 11-yard scoring play. After SHP linebacker Matt Hardy picked off a pass with 28 seconds to play and returned it to the Knights’ 15, Geary and McCool connected again — this time for a 15-yard TD that gave the Gators the lead for good at 21-20.

Anderson Valley (3-2) at Priory (3-3), Saturday, 1 p.m.Both teams are coming off forfeits, Anderson Valley winning one while Priory was losing one. The visitors are averaging 45.4 points a game while the Panthers are scoring at 35.8 ppg. Both teams rely on their running game, with Anderson Valley averaging 192 yards and the Pan-thers 167.

-- compiled by Keith Peters

PREP FOOTBALL THIS WEEKEND

(continued on page 39)

Page 35

Sports

CLOSED SESSION

1. CONFERENCE WITH LABOR NEGOTIATORS

7:30 PM or as near as possible thereafter2. Adoption of a Resolution of Appreciation for City Attorney

Gary Baum

3. Adoption of a Resolution of Appreciation for Library Director Diane Jennings

4. Site and Design Review and Conditional Use Permit to Allow a New Recreational Facility and Related Improvements at 3208 Alexis Drive

5. Contracts for Purchase of Library Books & Media

6. Recommendation of an Award of Contract for Golf Course Maintenance Responsibilities and the Purchase of Used Golf Course Equipment

7. Appointment of Mike Edmonds as Acting City Auditor

8. Approval of SEIU Hourly Contract

9. High Speed Rail Station Discussion

10. Public Hearing: Certification of Final EIR and Approval of Demolition Delay for Historic District Property Located at 405 Lincoln Avenue

STANDING COMMITTEE MEETINGSThe Policy and Services Committee Meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 22, at 8:00 p.m.

PALO ALTO CITY COUNCILCIVIC CENTER, 250 HAMILTON AVENUEBROADCAST LIVE ON KZSU, FM 90.1CABLECAST LIVE ON GOVERNMENT

ACCESS CHANNEL 26****************************************

THIS IS A SUMMARY OF COUNCIL AGENDA ITEMS. THE AGENDA WITH COMPLETE TITLES INCLUDING

LEGAL DOCUMENTATION CAN BE VIEWED AT THE BELOW WEBPAGE:

http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/agendas/council.asp

(TENTATIVE) AGENDA-SPECIAL MEETING-COUNCIL CHAMBERS OCTOBER 25, 2010 - 6:00 PM

NOTICE OF INTENTION TO AMEND A CONFLICT OF INTEREST CODE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council intends to amend a conflict-of-interest code pursuant to Government Code Section 87300 and 87306. Pursuant to Government Code Section 87302, the code will designate employees who must disclose certain invest-ments, income, interests in real property, and business positions, and who must disqualify themselves from making or participating in the making of governmental decisions affecting those interests.

A written comment period has been established commencing on Oc-tober 22, 2010 and terminating on December 6, 2010. Any interest-ed person may present written comments concerning the proposed code amendment no later than December 6, 2010 to the City of Palo Alto, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301. No public hearing on this matter will be held unless any interested person or his or her representative requests a public hearing no later than 15 days prior to the close of the written comment period.

The City of Palo Alto has prepared a written explanation of the reasons for the designations and the disclosure responsibilities and has avail-able all of the information upon which its proposal is based.

The conflict-of-interest code designates those employees, members, officers, or consultants who make or participate in the making of de-cisions which may affect financial interests and who must disclose those interests on financial disclosure statements. A copy of the proposed conflict-of-interest code will be available in the City Clerk’s office beginning on October 22, 2010 for inspection during normal business hours.

Copies of the proposed code and all of the information upon which it is based may be obtained from the City Clerk’s Office, 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301. Any inquiries concerning the proposed code should be directed to the City Clerk’s Office at 250 Hamilton Avenue, Palo Alto, CA 94301, city.clerk@cityofpaloalto.org, 650-329-2571.

DONNA J. GRIDER, MMCCity Clerk

City of Palo Alto

Notice of Public Hearing

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Palo Alto City Council will hold a public hearing at the regularly scheduled meeting on Monday, November 8, 2010 to consider Adoption of Six Ordinances: (1) Repealing Chapter 16.04 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and Amending Title 16 To Adopt A New Chapter 16.04, California Building Code, California Historical Building Code, and California Existing Building Code, 2010 Editions, and Local Amendments and Related Findings; (2) Repealing Chapter 16.05 of The Palo Alto Municipal Code And Amending Title 16 To Adopt A New Chapter 16.05, California Mechanical Code, 2010 Edition, And Local Amendments And Related Findings; (3) Adopting A New Chapter 16.06 of The Palo Alto Municipal Code, California Residential Code, 2010 Edition, and Local Amendments and Related Findings; (4) Repealing Chapter 16.08 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and Amending Title 16 To Adopt A New Chapter 16.08, California Plumbing Code, 2010 Edition, and Local Amendments And Related Findings; (5) Adopting A New Chapter 16.14 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code, California Green Building Standards Code, 2010 Edition, and Local Amendments and Related Findings; and (6) Repealing Chapter 16.16 of the Palo Alto Municipal Code and Amending Title 16 To Adopt A New Chapter 16.16, California Electrical Code, 2010 Edition, and Local Amendments And Related Findings.

DONNA J. GRIDER, MMC City Clerk

Winn. “We had to earn a tremen-dous amount of our points . . . in set 1 alone we had to earn 19 points (17 kills and two aces). Usually teams are a little more charitable with the amount of errors they give us.

“Speaking of which, we were way too charitable with our service er-rors. But, I did have a game plan that we’d have to serve very aggressively to keep Mountain View out of system to mini-mize Brittany Howard’s attack. And since she only had 14 kills, I guess I can be slightly less an-noyed with our 17 ser-vice errors. We’ll have to do a better job of serv-ing tough and accurately against Los Gatos.”

The Vikings had a chance to earn no worse than a co-title by beating second-place Los Gatos on Thursday night. (For results, go to www.pas-portsonline.com). After that, Paly has road matches against Saratoga (a chance to win the league crown outright) and Homestead, sand-wiched around an appearance at the Spikefest II tournament, before clos-ing division play against Los Altos on Senior Night (Nov. 4).

Should Palo Alto finish that schedule unscathed, the Vikings will take a 35-0 record into CCS.

On Tuesday, Paly handled the

challenge offered by Mountain View, which is dealing with stand-out Brittany Howard. The Vikings limited her to 14 kills despite miss-ing 6-foot-2 junior Maddie Kuppe.

Paly still had plenty of weapons as junior Melanie Wade finished with 20 kills (.452 hitting), four blocks and two aces. Senior Trina Ohms also came through with a big night of 18 kills (.353), eight digs and four aces while junior set-ter Kimmy Whitson had 46 assists, five digs, two aces and three kills.

Senior Megan Coleman provided 16 digs from her libero position while Caroline Martin added eight kills (.333), two digs and an ace.

Sophomore Shelby Knowles filled in for Kuppe and contributed a sound effort, while ju-nior Jackie Koenig also provided a solid perfor-mance to keep the Vi-kings perfect.

After dropping Game 3 — the Vikings have lost only four games this

season — Paly bounced back and grabbed a 5-0 lead in Game 4 and pushed the lead to 13-5 while de-termined not to go to a fifth game. Ohms put away the final kill to wrap up the victory.

In the SCVAL El Camino Divi-sion, (Gunn (8-0, 20-4) remained firmly in first place with another easy victory, this time a 25-10, 25-12, 25-7 sweep of visiting Santa Clara. Julia Maggioncalda had 12

kills, six aces and six digs to spark the victory. Allison Doerpinghaus added seven kills and Molly McAd-am had six, while Julia Li contrib-uted 15 digs while Adrienne Thom had eight. Other contributors were Nicole Grimwood with five aces, Monica Cai with 17 assists, and Alyn Shen with eight assists.

In the West Bay Athletic League (Foothill Division), Sacred Heart Prep’s stay in first place was a short-lived one as the Gators fell to defending champion Mercy-Burl-ingame, 19-25, 25-22, 25-18, 18-25, 15-12 on Tuesday night. Sacred Heart (4-1, 14-8) got 22 kills and 16 digs from sophomore Sonia Abuel-Saud plus 13 kills and 14 digs from junior Sarah Daschbach. Amelia Al-varez and Hanna Elmore had 20 and 19 assists, respectively.

In Atherton, host Menlo School used a balanced attack to defeat Castilleja, 18-25, 25-10, 25-16, 25-22.

Menlo freshman Maddie Huber had 11 kills and 11 digs while junior Hannah Boland led Castilleja with 15 kills. Menlo senior Jazmin Mole-dina added 10 kills and five blocks while freshman Maddy Frappier contributed nine kills. Senior Ane-lise Hohl hit a team-best .462 with seven kills and sophomore Alexan-dra Ko provided 35 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Melissa Cairo had nine digs while junior Natalie Roy added seven digs and three aces.

Castilleja bounced back from consecutive losses to defeat visiting Harker, 25-22, 25-18, 25-22, in a WBAL Foothill Division match on Wednesday. The Gators (3-3, 24-5) got 13 kills from both Laura Rose and Hannah Boland and 37 assists from Hannah Hsieh.

At Serra High, Menlo School fell back into the pack after drop-ping a 25-9, 25-20, 25-23 decision to defending champion Mercy-Bur-lingame. Mercy (5-0, 18-6) went 10-0 in the WBAL last season and introduced nine seniors prior to the match — using all nine in its 10-player rotation.

Menlo (3-2, 16-8), on the other hand, had three freshmen in its starting lineup and it showed. The Knights got off to a slow start before rallying to have chances in Games 2 and 3. The Crusaders, however, had too much experience.

In the WBAL (Skyline Division), host Pinewood ended a losing streak with a 25-18, 25-16, 22-25, 25-10 triumph over Eastside Prep. Lizzy Field led Pinewood with 18 kills (.343 hitting), three blocks, three digs and two aces. Lindsay Riches had 18 digs and seven aces while Jenn Bodine added 15 digs and four aces.

Setter Adrienne Whitlock bounced back from a thumb injury last week to provide 24 assists, eight digs and three kills. Also contributing to the victory was Soolim Song (four kills, two blocks, four digs) and Gabrielle Wainwright (four kills, six digs). Pinewood served 15 aces and had 70 digs with libero Kandace Korver getting 13 digs.

In the PAL Bay Division, host Menlo-Atherton (8-1, 15-6) got eight kills and four blocks from Di-ane Seely and nine kills and six digs from Regina Mullen in a 25-1, 25-14, 25-10 romp over Hillsdale (0-9, 2-22).

Prep volleyball(continued from page 33)

Jackie Koenig (12)

Introducing

Good for Business. Good for the Community.

Good for You.

Page 36

Voting Precinct /Polling Place ID

Polling Place Name Election OfficersLast First Position

PCT 2003 / 2859 Palo Alto High School Front Office Foyer50 Embarcadero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Fink Roger InspectorLee Susan ClerkLeslie Arlene ClerkMartin Diana Clerk

PCT 2004 / 689 Oak Creek Apts. - Eucalyptus Room1450 Sand Hill Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Rose Harrison InspectorMcGreal Jacqueline ClerkPierce Arden Clerk PMSchmitt Edward Clerk

PCT 2005 / 2900 University Lutheran Church - Sanctuary1611 Stanford Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306-1255

Morales Hilbert InspectorPhillips Carrole Clerk PMSchroeter Mary Clerk AMZschokke Joanne Clerk

PCT 2009 / 693 Jerusalem Baptist Church398 Sheridan Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Spoon Tibor InspectorHartley Cynthia Clerk PMSchwartz Jeff Clerk

PCT 2010 C / 695 Palo Alto Community Childcare Center3990 Ventura Ct., Palo Alto, CA 94306

Digumarthi Ramarao InspectorLai Letitia ClerkOlmsted Franklin ClerkZychlinsky Ofelia L Clerk

PCT 2014 / 695 Palo Alto Community Childcare Center3990 Ventura Ct, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Sleizer Joy InspectorGiamalis Rosemarie Clerk AMKinney Patricia Clerk PMRosenbloom Margaret Clerk AMTeegardin Ann Clerk PMZychlinsky Stanislao Clerk

PCT 2015 C / 759 Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church687 Arastradero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Murai Aron InspectorMock Arlene ClerkMock Lixia A ClerkSpears Lou ClerkWang Matthew E Student PM

PCT 2017 / 2455 St. Andrews United Methodist Church4111 Alma St, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Klippel Linda InspectorGreen Ronald ClerkTaylor Merridee Clerk

PCT 2019 / 703 Fairmeadow Elementary Sch - Multi-use Rm500 E Meadow Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Andre Terry InspectorBondor Jeffrey ClerkBynoe Jacqueline Clerk AMGoldfein Kathleen Clerk PMStonestrom Peter Clerk

PCT 2024 / 3875 The Children‘s Health Council650 Clark Way, Palo Alto, CA 94304

Hughes Donald InspectorPackard Barbara ClerkPless Rebecca V Student AMRossman Brianna H Student AM

PCT 2025 / 747 Unity Palo Alto Community Church3391 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306-3049

Shupe Kenneth InspectorTavrow Joyce ClerkVitanye David Clerk

PCT 2026 / 2945 First Church Of Christ, Scientist3045 Cowper St, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Cassel Richard InspectorBaker Bruce ClerkMacmillan Elizabeth ClerkRysdorp Joy Clerk

PCT 2028 / 706 Grace Lutheran Church - Room # 23149 Waverley St., Palo Alto, CA 94306

McCarthy James InspectorSax Katoko ClerkSax Ronald Clerk

PCT 2034 / 709 Crossroads Community Church2490 Middlefield Rd., Palo Alto, CA 94301

Barker Marilyn InspectorEpstein Charlotte Clerk AMEpstein David Clerk PMSaffir Patricia Clerk

PCT 2038 C / 743 St. Marks Episcopal Church600 Colorado Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306

Garcia InspectorJones Joanne ClerkShih Becky Clerk

PCT 2043 / 710 First Baptist Church - Fellowship Hall305 N California Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94301

Burt John InspectorBell Norton ClerkChethik Mildred ClerkDejongh Don Clerk AMDejongh Miriam Clerk AM

PCT 2046 / 713 Gamble Garden Center - Carriage House1431 Waverley St., Palo Alto, CA 94301

Holcomb Nelson InspectorBautista Joshua ClerkBieber Karen Clerk

PCT 2049 / 720 First Lutheran Church600 Homer Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Haynes John InspectorHaynes Reo Clerk PMShakes Joseph ClerkSteckel Shannon Clerk AM

PCT 2053 / 724 All St. Episcopal Church - Library555 Waverley St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Henderson Mitzi InspectorBrown Malcolm Clerk AMGomez ClerkTrankle Brian Clerk

PCT 2056 / 721 Channing House - Board Room850 Webster St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Sundback Karen InspectorArabian Isabelle ClerkParkinson Sharon ClerkStewart Geraldine Clerk PM

PCT 2057 C / 2563 Lytton Gardens Health Care Center437 Webster St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Yanez Guillermo InspectorGu Yong ClerkKrimkevich Vladimir ClerkKrimkevich Yelena Clerk

PCT 2061 / 762 Palo Alto Fire Station # 01301 Alma St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Griffin Jeffrey InspectorGriffin Daniel ClerkSparck Samuel ClerkZaidman David Clerk

PLEASE NOTE **This list is subject to change**Notice is also given that the ballots casts at said election will be centrally counted at the Registrar of Voters Office, 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2, San Jose, commencing at 8:00 p.m., Tuesday, November 2, 2010. Dated October 22, 2010 DONNA J. GRIDER City Clerk, MMC

Voting Precinct /Polling Place ID

Polling Place Name Election OfficersLast First Position

PCT 2062 / 3169 Lytton Gardens Court Yard - Lounge330 Everett Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Pfefer David InspectorBaldwin Joseph Clerk AMCleveland Robert ClerkLum Margaret Clerk

PCT 2065 / 2952 Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church1295 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Sun Teresa InspectorHall Kathryn ClerkMill Jeff Clerk PMTuchinskaya Tatyana Clerk AMTuchinskiy Miron Clerk AM

PCT 2068 / 2334 Feldman Residence190 Island Dr, Palo Alto, CA 94301-3126

Andersen Dudley InspectorBrolin Carol ClerkSands Sarah ClerkSinton Wendy Clerk

PCT 2069 / 727 Seventh Day Adventist Church786 Channing Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Kelly John InspectorMcHugh Deirdre ClerkSheehan Finnian Z Student

PCT 2075 / 2952 Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church1295 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Hahn Alice InspectorCooley Michelle Clerk PMGildersleeve Oliver Clerk

Ichnowski Jeanne Clerk PMMaguire Gillian Claire Student AMRantz Student AM

PCT 2078 / 731 Duveneck School - Rm 9a705 Alester Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Kartchner Grace Joan InspectorBaldwin Laurie ClerkMickelson Mark Clerk

PCT 2081 / 735 First Congregational Church - Narthex1985 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Nugent David InspectorLiebert Burt ClerkLiebert Marjorie Clerk AM

PCT 2090 C / 739 Palo Alto Buddhist Temple2751 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Archibald Robert InspectorFlorant Sybil ClerkLi Suen-Yim Clerk

PCT 2090 C / 739 Palo Alto Buddhist Temple2751 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Roh James Clerk

PCT 2096 / 2340 First Congregational Church-Front Lounge1985 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Bowden Barbara InspectorBrown Sallie Clerk PMLaurence Bert Clerk

PCT 2098 C / 740 Friends Meeting Of Palo Alto957 Colorado Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Mahoney Daniel InspectorChuang Ying Clerk AMHefner Kathleen ClerkStraka ClerkWesenberg Ervin Clerk PM

PCT 2101 C / 738 Ohlone Elementary Sch - Multi-purpose Rm950 Amarillo Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Carlson Lee InspectorCervenka Hildegard ClerkLiou Evelyn ClerkPleibel Nancy Clerk

PCT 2102 C / 739 Palo Alto Buddhist Temple2751 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Pusztaszeri Tang

Yu Hong Inspector

Brown Antony ClerkMarkov Anna ClerkWebb Cy Clerk AMRuff Student

PCT 2107 / 752 Palo Verde School - Multi-use Room3450 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Wang InspectorHaas Katherine Clerk

PCT 2108 / 757 Palo Alto Fire Station # 022675 Hanover St, Palo Alto, CA 94301

Foster David InspectorPace Darin Clerk

PCT 2110 C / 2934 The Father‘s House3585 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Rahbar Ali InspectorYin Jilan Clerk

PCT 2112 C / 2455 St. Andrews United Methodist Church4111 Alma St, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Medbery John InspectorChang Chi ClerkCurtis Gene ClerkFletcher Ellen Clerk

PCT 2113 / 742 Barron Park School - Multi-use Bldg.800 Barron Ave, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Rubin Bernard InspectorBaird Edgar Clerk PMClifton-Vizvary Truett Clerk AMDavalos Clerk

PCT 2117 / 734 Eichler Swim & Tennis Club3539 Louis Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94303

Baldwin Gay InspectorBaral Holly ClerkMarshall Beverly Clerk

PCT 2118 / 745 Palo Alto Church Of Christ Multipurp Rm3373 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Mitchell Lawrence InspectorO‘Donnell Peter ClerkRoberts Juliann ClerkWest Robert Clerk

PCT 2119 / 3170 Creekside Inn Of Palo Alto - Stratton Rm3400 El Camino Real, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Knopf Peter InspectorBerndt ClerkChen Zhao ClerkNourian Taraneh Clerk

PCT 2122 C / 758 Palo Alto Fire Station # 05600 Arastradero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Li Shu-Leung InspectorHolmes James Clerk PMKeating Elizabeth Clerk PMVanhorn Melody Clerk

PCT 2123 C / 759 Palo Alto Christian Reformed Church687 Arastradero Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Smith Alice InspectorAllen Jane ClerkHollister Myron ClerkLee Maria M Clerk

PCT 2129 / 744 First Christian Church - Fellowship Hall2890 Middlefield Rd, Palo Alto, CA 94306

Patangui Lambert InspectorDioso Frances ClerkGras Gerald Clerk

Polling Place With Election OfficersNOVEMBER 02, 2010, Consolidated Special Election

City of Palo Alto

NOTICE OF APPOINTMENT OF ELECTION OFFICERS AND DESIGNATION OF POLLING PLACES. NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that a Special Election to be held on Tuesday,

November 2, 2010, the persons named below have been appointed to serve as Election Officers in the designated election precincts, at the specified polling places:

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GIRLS’ GOLF

SHP’s firstvictory

a big oneGators earn a co-title by beating Castilleja

for first time everby Keith Peters

T he Castilleja golf team entered this season having won three consecutive West Bay Athletic

League championships and having not lost a dual match in over two years. The Gators, however, will not begin next season that same way.

Sacred Heart Prep effectively ended those streaks with a shock-ing 227-230 victory over Castilleja on Monday on a pristine afternoon at Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club in Menlo Park.

The triumph for SHP (8-1, 9-1) moves it into a tie for first place with Castilleja. Sacred Heart faced Harker on Thursday. Castilleja (9-1) finished its regular season with a win over Menlo on Wednesday at Palo Alto Municipal.

An expected win by SHP on Thursday will give the Gators a share of the WBAL title. In case of a tie, one of the league’s five tiebreak-ers is used to determine which team

gets the automatic Central Coast Section berth. Since SHP won the second meeting of the teams, it gets the berth.

The CCS tournament is set for next month at Rancho Canada East GC in Carmel Valley.

Both teams should battle there again, as they did Monday.

“The girls were really excited to win, though,” SHP coach Mark Dowdy said of Monday’s outcome. “Castilleja is the three-time defend-ing league champion and we’ve never beaten them in a league con-test, so it was a big win for our pro-gram.”

Castilleja had won 23 straight dual matches before Monday and hadn’t lost since Oct. 7, 2008, to Harker. The Gators also de-feated SHP in their first meeting, 213-239, at Palo Alto Municipal and thus were favored on Monday to wrap everything up once again.

But, as Dowdy said: “I thought we had a team that could com-pete with Castilleja at Sharon Heights, but thinking it’s possible and making it happen is very different. In that way, it was both surprising and satisfy-ing.”

Castilleja had every-thing going for it on Monday, includ-ing having one of the best players in CCS in senior Brenna Nelsen. She lived up to her billing once again by firing a 1-under-par 35 to earn med-alist honors. She birdied the 383-yard par-4 first hole and the 322-yard par-4 seventh hole. Her only bogey came on the long 522-yard par-5 fifth hole when she drove it through the fairway, hit a tree on her second shot and wound up needing a 50-footer for par, which missed.

Nelsen won her battle with SHP’s No. 1, Rachael Henry, who was 1-over with Nelsen through six until picking up two more bogeys on the closing three holes to finish with a fine 39.

Castilleja actually led by seven shots after the first group of play-ers finished. Castilleja senior Sarah

Debs shook off a triple-bogey seven on the first hole to finish with a 43. SHP’s No. 2, Kennedy Shields, bat-tled back from an ugly eight on the par-3 second hole to shoot 46.

The match, however, was decided in the second group. SHP juniors Shelby Soltau (44) and Michaela Hutter (45) finished 17 shots ahead of Castilleja freshman Caroline Debs (52) and sophomore Taylor Wilkinson (54). That gave SHP a 10-shot lead before the final group finished.

Neither of the two Castilleja play-ers in the second group had shot higher than 48 before Monday’s match on the hilly Sharon Heights layout.

Castilleja freshman Ellie Zales had a career round of 46 while playing in the third group, erasing seven strokes off the huge deficit but it still wasn’t enough.

“We hadn’t had a close match all year,” said Castilleja coach Jim Miller. “So, I think this it was a good wake-up call for us.”

Castilleja will have to qualify for CCS as a team at next week’s WBAL championships on Oct. 27 at Poplar Creek GC in San Ma-teo. The tourney also will qualify individu-

als for CCS and beyond.Castilleja won’t have to deal with

any hilly conditions like it did Mon-day, and should win the team crown if it shoots 435 or better — enough to qualify for an at-large CCS berth.

“If the weather is good,” said Miller, “I like our chances of quali-fying as an at-large team.”

The Gators made their final tuneup a good one with a 223-275 victory over Menlo on Wednesday. Nelsen fired a 2-under 35 to earn medalist honors. It was her second sub-par round of the week. Fellow senior Sarah Debs checked in with a 43 while sophomore Taylor Wilkin-son shot 46 and senior Stephanie Merenbach had a 49. Freshman Car-oline Debs wrapped up the scoring with a 50, while Menlo was led by Gabby Girard’s 49.

Sacred Heart Prep’s Rachael Henry fired a 3-over 39 to help upset previously unbeaten Castilleja by three shots on Monday.

Brenna Nelsen

Keith

Pet

ers

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Sports

UPCOMING ETHICS AND WAR EVENTS:FRI. OCT. 29 5:00 p.m. / Annenberg Auditorium Film: Prayers for Peace - Film: War Don Don

THURS. NOV. 11 7:00 p.m. / Annenberg AuditoriumThe Ethics of Violence in War - Richard Rhodes /Author, The Making of the Atomic Bomb

EVENTS ARE FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.Ethics and War is a campus-wide initiative.

For details, sponsors and updated schedule information, visit: ethicsinsociety.stanford.edu

THURSDAY OCTOBER 28, 2010The Changing Face of Photojournalism, The Changing Face of War

5:30 p.m. / Bldg 320 / Room 105 Susie Linfield (Director of the Cultural Reporting & Criticism Program, NYU)

Is photojournalism voyeuristic or a necessary tool that identifies and alleviates suffering? Join Susie Linfield as she discusses the importance

of photojournalism and how it compels us to confront humanity’s capacity for cruelty and violence.

ATHLETES OF THE WEEK

Megan CostelloCastilleja water polo

Sarah DaschbachSacred Heart Prep volleyball

Catherine DonahoeSacred Heart Prep water polo

Kat GregoryPriory cross country

Brenna NelsenCastilleja golf

Erin RobinsonGunn cross country

Jack BeckwithMenlo-Atherton cross country

B.J. BoydPalo Alto football

T.J. BraffPalo Alto football

Sam ParkerMenlo cross country

Colin TerndrupSacred Heart Prep football

Jordan Williams*Menlo football

Honorable mention

Elizabeth AndersonGunn High

The junior began a 6-1 week with 11 goals in two wins to keep the Titans in second place in league. Then, with three starters missing, she stepped up with 21 goals in a 4-1 sec-ond-place finish at the Los Gatos tourney.

Robert WickersMenlo School

The senior quarterback threw touchdown passes of 4, 44, 50, 1 and 8 yards to three different receivers all in the first half while throwing for 215 yards. He finished with 241 yards in a 34-0 PAL Ocean Division football win.

* previous winner

To see video interviews of the Athletes of the Week, go to www.PASportsOnline.com

tackles, Nathan Hubbard and Sam Moses, held their ground and didn’t allow Los Gatos any running room inside.

Palo Alto knew Zeiter was the key Los Gatos player to stop since quarterback Hayden Hibberd was not a threat to throw. He finished 4-of-14 with three interceptions for 95 yards. T.J. Braff had two of the interceptions while Williams had the other.

Palo Alto’s defense, which is al-lowing just 8.5 points a game, was led by defensive ends Kevin Ander-son and Tori Prati, the aforemen-tioned tackles, plus linebackers Will Glazier, Morris Gates-Mouton and Michael Cullen. Anderson, Prati and Cullen all had sacks while Bill Gray recovered a fumble.

Palo Alto was just as impressive on offense.

“They (Los Gatos) had no answer whatsoever,” Hansen said. “They didn’t know whether we were going to run or throw. We have balance.”

Palo Alto is averaging 174.2 pass-ing yards and 172.7 rushing yards

per game. Against Los Gatos, the Vikings finished with 449 total yards against the second-best team in the De Anza Division, gaining 256 on the ground and 193 through the air as senior QB Christoph Bono completed 14 of 24. It was the Vi-kings’ best overall showing this sea-son and its most balanced.

“I thought it was an overall win,” Hansen said.

Paly’s backfield tandem of juniors B.J. Boyd (12 for 127 yards) and Dre Hill (10 for 89) continues to impress and improve. Hill scored on runs of nine and two yards while Boyd tal-lied on a 49-yard rumble.

Paly’s receiving corps also did a number on the Wildcats as Maurice Williams caught a 25-yard TD pass to open the scoring while Davante Adams latched on to touchdown passes of eight and 46 yards to close it. Adams had eight receptions for 116 yards.

Should Palo Alto get past Milpi-tas, the Vikings can clinch no worse than a tie for the division crown by beating visiting Homestead on Oct. 29. Paly may have to wait until the final game of the regular season, Nov. 12 at Saratoga, to win the league crown outright.

Prep football(continued from page 35)

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