the almanac 11.07.2012 - section 1

N O V E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 2 | VOL . 48 NO. 10

Budding writer names Woodside Library’s new mascot. | 0

Have estate,need plansMidpeninsula district considers a future for The Hawthorns in Portola Valley | SECTION 2

2 The Almanac TheAlmanacOnline.com November 7, 2012

Information and all acreage deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

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November 7, 2012 TheAlmanacOnline.com The Almanac 3

UPFRONT

Photo by Michelle Le

Students, faculty and parents participate in the inaugural “Walk-to-Washington Walkathon” on Nov. 2 to raise funds for the traditional eighth-grade trip.

Corte Madera School community rallies to raise money in face of district’s financial crisis By Renee BattiAlmanac News Editor

It’s Washington, D.C., or bust — and ìbustî isn’t an option for the students and school

community of Corte Madera School, who managed to raise more than $21,000 in two weeks when funding for the traditional eighth-grade trip to the nationís capital was threatened by the districtís budget crisis. With only two fundrais-ing events, students, parents, teachers and other school staff pulled together and surpassed the goal of raising $21,500 for the week-long springtime trip, with any additional funds reserved for future eighth-grade trips. The bulk of the funds were raised on Nov. 2, with a “Walk-to-Washington Walkathon,” a festive afternoon event that generated $18,000 and whose participants included Corte Madera students at all grade levels — fourth through eighth grade.

The walkathon “was an inau-gural CMS community-building event that brought all students, staff, administration and par-ents together in the true spirit of fundraising for a united educa-tional cause,” wrote parent and organizer Lisa Bair in a letter after the event. In prior years, the district paid for all or most of the traditional trip. Last year, it kicked in more than $40,000, according to San-dra Lepley, the district’s interim business official. But this year, the ground crumbled beneath the tradition as a result of the fiscal crisis cre-ated by the misappropriation and embezzlement of funds by then-superintendent Tim Hanretty. For fiscal year 2012-13, the board cut the district’s funding for the trip, saying that the eighth-graders were still authorized to travel to D.C. if the trip was “cost-neutral” to the district. That’s when the commu-nity rallied. The warm-up to the walkathon was a car wash and bake sale, held on Oct. 20 at the school. Ron Ramies, owner and operator of Portola Valley Fuel, donated supplies and some of his crew for the car wash, the

kids rolled up their sleeves, and the effort raised $3,500. In addition to Ms. Bair, who has led the fundraising effort, parents Tricia Law and Sally Ann Reiss are co-chairs of the D.C. trip effort, working with Corte Madera principal Michael Corritone on all aspects of the trip, Ms. Bair said. The eight-grade trip to the nation’s capital “is definitely something that all Corte Mad-era students look forward to ... forever!” eighth-grader Regan Castillo said in an email to the Almanac. Calling it “an opportunity trip,” Regan said she and her classmates will have the chance “to absorb the historical aspects of our United States history and the Holocaust that we have been learning about from our teachers at school.” (They will visit the United States Holo-caust Memorial Museum as well as a number of national monuments.) “It is also an opportunity to be with our friends in a great city where we can reflect upon our nine years together in a very fun and memorable way before we go off to numerous high schools,” she said. A

Eighth-grade trip is a ‘go’

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C A L L I N G O N T H E A L M A N AC


M E N L O P A R K | A T H E R T O N | W O O D S I D E | P O R T O L A V A L L E Y

By Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer

The 23 senior residents remaining at Casa on the Peninsula are OK with finding new homes, according to

corporate executive director Ann Villa-pando, but they do need to know whether they’ll have to. The Menlo Park City Council wants answers to its own questions first before the seniors get theirs. Speaking before the council on Oct. 30, Ms. Villapando said 57 other tenants have already moved on, after rumors about the property’s possible sale began swirling in August. The rest are waiting to see if the city will support the sale. Sand Hill Property Co. proposes buying the 125-unit senior residential property at 555 Glenwood Ave. and con-verting it to a 138-room hotel, according to representative Reed Moulds. Branded as a Marriott Residence Inn, the hotel would provide extended-stay accom-modations, with about one-quarter of guests projected to stay more than a month. That puts a dent in the amount of transient occupancy tax (TOT) the city would collect, as the tax excludes stays of 30 days or longer.

Thus the existential question of the evening: What is a hotel? The council dis-cussed whether an extended-stay facility like a Marriott Inn meets the definition of “hotel,” given the projected percentage of 30-day stays, and if so, whether to limit the number of extended stays allowed. Complicating the question is whether the city would consider available rooms permanently contracted by a com-pany such as Facebook to be extended stays regardless of how long individual guests remain. Mark Lin, a hotel spe-cialist speaking on behalf of the applicant, said that Marriott doesn’t dictate the 23 percent ratio, but it does roughly require that at least 40 percent of stays last longer than four nights. Sand Hill Property’s economic review concluded the hotel would add about $660,000 annually to city revenue at the current 10 percent TOT, or $770,000 if voters approve a tax increase — from 10 percent to 12 percent — on Nov. 6. The revenue from longer-term stays would add $163,000 to $196,000 if not excluded from the tax. Sand Hill Prop-

erty based its calculations on the perfor-mance of the Marriott Residence Inn in Los Altos. “TOT is important, but it’s also the definition of what is a hotel,” Mayor Kirsten Keith said, and noted that she found the projected percentage of tax-free stays problematic. “What could you limit it to?” she asked later. “Five percent?” “We’d like to discuss that with you,”

Mr. Lin answered, add-ing that the discussion should be based on “what the market really needs.” The council suggested further directions for research to city staff and the applicant.

“Parking is the huge issue here, I think,” noted Mayor Keith. The specific plan requires 173 off-street parking spaces for a hotel of this size. However, the applicant proposes 117 spac-es — 78 on site and 39 spaces on Garwood Way currently used by the senior home, but within the public right-of-way. “I know you’re requesting the 39 spots go to Marriott,” the mayor said. “Which I’m not comfortable with.”

She suggested partnering with Zip Car, Caltrain and the new owners of nearby 1300 El Camino Real instead to mitigate the amount of parking needed — an approach that found support with other council members, including Rich Cline, as well as the applicant. Another conversational gambit delved into whether the conversion would impact Menlo Park’s frantic search for increased housing capacity, particularly affordable and senior housing. In a word — no. Since the units sit on private property, Associate Planner Thomas Rogers explained, owners have a right to sell or shut down their businesses without the city’s permission. Since the rooms were leased at market rate, the conversion should not lead to the state’s asking the city to provide zoning for an equivalent number of affordable housing units elsewhere as part of the next hous-ing plan update cycle. Mr. Lin pointed out that some long-term Marriott Residence Inn clients are seniors who don’t need medical assis-tance, drawn by getting a free breakfast and other benefits of hotel living. The proposal is expected to return to the city for formal submission and review in upcoming months. A

Menlo Park asks, ‘When is a hotel not a hotel?’

Local News N OV E M B E R 7 , 2 0 1 2

Photo by Michelle Le

What’s in a name?Alexandra Plotnikoff, 9, reads her winning story to a crowd gathered at the Woodside Library on Nov. 1. Alexandra won a writing contest designed to name the library’s new mascot — a statue of a deer. Four other children won certificates and cash prizes for their stories. And what’s the deer’s name? See story, Page 10.

By Barbara WoodSpecial to the Almanac

Atherton residents should probably be forgiven if they were confused by a

flurry of last-minute campaign materials they received last week, including a letter from the mayor sent to refute an earlier mailing by the Atherton Police Officers Association, which has now prepared a letter refuting the mayor’s letter, adding the claim that he wrongly spent taxpayer money to send his letter. Opponents of Measure F, which would approve locating a new library in Holbrook-Palmer Park, also sent out a last-minute email suggesting the public employees’ union representing county librarians had secretly funded the campaigns of the Yes on F library measure and of City Council candidate Denise Kupperman. Both Ms. Kupperman and Yes on F officials strongly deny the allegations in the email. At its Oct. 17 meeting, the Atherton council authorized

Mayor Widmer to respond to campaign materials from the Atherton Police Officers Asso-ciation Political Action Com-mittee. The APOA had endorsed council candidates Elizabeth Lewis, the incumbent, and Cary Wiest, and sent out mailings and an automated phone call to residents. The recorded call, from APOA president Dave Metzger, said, in part: “your police department could eventually be outsourced to the San Mateo County Sher-iff ’s Department depending on the current and future actions of your city council.” The council voted unanimous-ly to allow Mayor Bill Widmer to prepare a press release with the council’s response to the APOA mailings. Mayor Widmer did prepare a press release, but a copy of it was also mailed to every town resident. This riled up the APOA, which

Charges fly over mailers aselection season wraps up

ATHERTON

See MAILERS, page 6

Council studies impact of converting

senior home to extended-stay hotel


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prepared a letter in response, dated Oct. 29, that said, in part: “Astonishingly, Mayor Widmer took liberties with his authori-zation. He chose to send a letter to every resident with a “tit for tat” response to our campaign information. He was only autho-rized to publish a press release. Somehow he unilaterally chose to spend thousands of scarce tax payer dollars in response to political campaign messaging.” Mayor Widmer said he did not send out the press release. “I’m not allowed to send any-thing out,” he said. “It all goes out through the city manager, and he conferred with the city attorney. Obviously they felt it was OK to send the letter out.” In an email to the Almanac, City Manager George Rodericks explained: “The priority of the Council was to get the infor-mation out to the residents of Atherton. While the format of the communication was a press release from the Mayor, the clear intent was to ensure that all resi-dents received the information. “The Town spent approxi-mately $1,000 to mail the press release. This is approximately the same amount the Town would spend on any formal correspon-dence mailed to all residents on any other issue — such as ordinance revisions, general plan issues, special events, etc. The City Attorney was consulted only with respect to the format of the mailed press release and its con-formance to any FPPC rules.” The allegations about the fund-ing for the library and Ms. Kup-perman’s campaigns came in an

email to those on the Atherto-nians Yahoo email group, which is not related to the town publica-tion, “The Athertonian.” “Could the SEIU, the public employees’ union, be secretly funding both the Kupperman and the Yes on F campaigns to win itself fully-protected library jobs in an over-sized library in our park?” the email begins. It also asks: “Could Yes on F or Kupperman be using reserved JPA Library Tax Funds?” The new library will be paid for with tax funding set aside for the Atherton library as part of a joint powers agreement with other county libraries. The email used figures from the last campaign financing statements submitted to the state by both the Kupperman and the Yes of F campaigns, which show more money spent than raised, with most of their bills not yet paid. Ms. Kupperman said the allegations are “just egregious — not based on any fact.” While her campaign had spent more money than it had taken in, she made a personal loan of $12,000 to the campaign last week, she said. “I am fundraising for my campaign,” Ms. Kupperman said. “I just loaned my campaign money. I was hoping to get more contributions.” She said she has received “no donation from the SEIU,” and in fact has not received any donations from anyone but individuals. Ginny Nile, treasurer for the Yes on F campaign, said: “There is absolutely no money from any of the unions,” nor from the library fund. A

MAILERS continued from page 5


Atherton City Council can-didate Elizabeth Lewis had spent at least twice

as much as each of her three opponents had by Oct. 20, the end of the latest state-mandated campaign-spending reporting period, with expenditures to that date totaling $16,526. Ms. Lewis, the only incum-bent in the race for two open seats, and Cary Wiest also each had $3,884 spent on their behalf by the Atherton Police Officers Association Political Action Committee. Spending totals for the other candidates’ campaigns through Oct. 20 are: Cary Wiest, $7,423.45; Greg Conlon, $6,089.23; and Denise Kupper-man, $2,958.47. The police offi-cers’ PAC spent its contributions for Ms. Lewis and Mr. Wiest on mailers, advertising and auto-mated calls, according to the campaign-spending report it submitted. Ms. Lewis’ campaign spend-ing was just slightly less than her to-date contributions of $16,571. Her major contribu-tors during the reporting peri-od of Oct. 1 to 20 include the following $500 donors: Flor-ence Goldby, an investment banker at Venrock; Tod Spieker of Spieker Co. real estate; Charles T. Munger Jr., a self-employed physicist from Palo

Alto; Jeffrey Wise, a developer with Wise Building Co.; and the Lincoln Club of Northern California in Sacramento. All but the Lincoln Club and Mr. Munger are from Atherton. Payments made by the Lewis campaign included: $6,408 to Craftsmen Printing of San Jose, for campaign materials; $1,080

to the Daily Post for print adver-tising; $1,415 to the Almanac for print advertising; $1,540 to the US Post office for postage; and $716 to Wilmes Company, Inc of San Francisco for lawn signs. Mr. Wiest’s major contribu-tors during the same report-ing period included $1,000 contributors Peter Grassi, an investment manager with Grassi Investment Manage-ment LLC, and John Worthing, a partner in Worthing Capital. He also had $500 contribu-tions from E. James Hannay, president of Rector Porsche Audi, and from Steven & Flor-

ence Goldby, a venture capital-ist with Venrock. All are from Atherton. Donations during the first three weeks of October to Mr. Wiest totaled $3,646; with ear-lier contributions and loans of $3,877, the Wiest campaign had raised $11,117 by Oct. 20. A total of $1,645.35 was spent during the reporting period for signs, printing cards/handouts, and newspaper advertisements by Mr. Wiest. Greg Conlon’s campaign had raised $7,912.93 through Oct. 20, including $3,712.93 in loans. Major contributions during the reporting period included $1,000 from David G. Arscott of Compass Technology Part-ners, from Atherton. Also, Mr. Conlon received $500 contri-butions from Boyd C. Smith, an investor with WSJ proper-ties from Palo Alto; the Lincoln Club of Northern California PAC, Sacramento; Charles T. Munger Jr. of Palo Alto, a physicist; and Dennis O’Brien, Foster City, a homebuilder with the O’Brien Group. Mr. Conlon also has loaned his campaign a total of $3,712.93.His campaign has spent $959.10 at Degnan Printers of Redwood City on campaign parapher-nalia; $3,720.57 at Spaulding Printers, Inc., Santa Rosa for literature and mailings; and $290 at Homeytel of San Diego, a phone bank. Denise Kupperman’s cam-

paign had raised $3,750 dur-ing the first three weeks of October, for a total of $6,500, including $250 in loans. Major donors during the reporting period included $1,000 donor Paul Wythes, founder of Sutter Hill Ventures; and $500 con-tributors Marion Oster, home-maker, Daryl Lillie, retired, and Marylue Timpson, president of Timpson Enterprises. All are from Atherton. Much of the money owed by

the Kupperman campaign appears to be owed to her hus-band, Roger Schwab of Ather-ton. Those expenses, which had not been paid by Oct. 20, include $1,130.38 for postage, delivery and messenger services; $394.52 for a fundraising event and bev-erages; $140.05 for campaign paraphernalia and miscella-neous; and $198.24 for office expenses. The campaign also reported it had spent $857 for advertising in the Almanac. A


N E W S

For answers to any questions you may have on real estate, you may e-mail me at [email protected] or call 462-1111, Alain Pinel Realtors. I also offer a free market analysis of your property. www.MonicaCorman.com

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Dear John: Yes to some degree. It is not easy keeping track of the total market these days because of off-market sales that take time to be pub-licly reported, and cash sales that need no formal appraisals. When one is

involved in a multiple offer situation, it is necessary to know as much of this information as possible in order to know what to bid. And, if a prop-erty sells to a cash buyer way above the asking price, can an appraiser rely on this 100% when appraising a subsequent purchase? Most apprais-ers would likely discount this kind of sale at least partially.

Real estate agents are constantly hav-ing to make sense of all of the dynam-ics of the market in order to advise their clients what to bid. Information found solely on the internet is not going to provide this. But a good agent will give you the information you need to succeed in this market.

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In the battle over whether or not Atherton should put a new library in Holbrook-

Palmer Park, the committee working in support of ballot Measure F, which approves the park location, had not only spent far more money than its opponents had spent, but had also spent at least three times as much as it had raised as of Oct. 20, when the latest campaign-spending reporting period ended. The state-mandated cam-paign report shows that by Oct. 20, total contributions to the Friends of Holbrook-Palmer Park Supporting Measure F totaled $6,875, with a little less than half of it — $3,075 — being raised in the first three weeks of October. The campaign had, however, spent $22,529, with $14,592 going out in the first three weeks

of October. The committee also reported not yet paying any of its bills by Oct. 20. By comparison, the Com-mittee against Measure F had by Oct. 20 spent $5,775, with $4,649 spent in the first three weeks of October. Donations totaled $8,248, with $3,087 raised during the October reporting period. Biggest donors to the propo-nents of Measure F during the reporting period were Marylue Timpson, president of Timpson Enterprises, Inc., and Marion Oster, who listed her occupation as housewife; they each donated $500. Christina Isenberg, retired, donated $300, while Clay Del Secco and Barbara Glynn, both retired, each donated $250. The biggest expenses reported for the period were $8,016 to Sacramento-based Duffy &

Capitolo, a political campaign management and media firm; and $5,594 to lowercase produc-tions of San Francisco, a brand-ing and information design firm. John L. Worthing, was the major donor to the Committee Against Measure F during the reporting period, with the retir-ee donating $1,000. Jeanne Page Fischer, Ross Koeningstein and Pearl Ann Seipp each donated $200 while Elizabeth Glickbarg donated an additional $100 to bring her total contributions to $200. All listed themselves as retired or homemakers. Spending by the committee fighting to keep the library out of the park went to Shute, Mih-aly & Weinberger, a San Fran-cisco law firm, $265; to Crafts-men Printing of San Jose, $4,089 for printing, postage, delivery and messenger service; and to custom sign makers Wilmes Company, of San Francisco, $267 for lawn signs. A

Lewis biggest spender by far in Atherton council race

Library supporters outspend foes

Elizabeth Lewis and Cary Wiest also each

had $3,884 spent on their behalf by

the Atherton Police Officers Association

Political Action Committee

ATHERTON


C O M M U N I T Y


Woodside, it turns out, is home to a lot of budding young

writers. Five of them read from their award-winning works at the Woodside Library on Nov. 1. Each was awarded a cer-tificate and a check for $100, thanks to a generous member of the Woodside Friends of the Library. A total of 18 children entered the library’s “Name That Deer” contest, writing tales that suggested a name for the new library mascot: the statue of a resting young deer donated by Hertha Har-rington. Ms. Harrington not only donated the mascot, she also came up with the idea of a writing contest to name it, and gave the prize money. Each of the 15 children who weren’t winners will receive two books for entering. Alexandra Plotnikoff, age 9, came up with the winning name in her story — “Book-er.” Other prize winners were Luke Zamboldi, 5, proposing the name Jumpy; Kate Erick-son, 8, with Thump!; Jenna Lange, 13, with A Deer’s Tale; and Alexa Nielson, 9, with Toby. “I’m so proud of you,” librarian Alison Anson told the authors before they read their stories. “Several parents

have contacted me and said they think this is something we should do all the time.” Alexandra’s story, “The Deer in the Library, and How he Got His Name,” involved a young buck with no name who is let into the library at night by cats, who happen to have a key, so he can look for a name. Alexandra’s library sounds an awful lot like the Woodside Library. “The buck was in love with the library at first sight,” she wrote. “His eyes went straight to all the books, then to the nice places to read, then to the dragons on the ceiling.” Alexandra’s buck loves books. “First he read very slowly, enjoying every word. He loved the description and adventure, because the only things he was used to reading were road signs and some-times an old newspaper he’d find on the trail,” she wrote After reading library books for a week, the buck lets the other animals vote on a name for him. “Some kids chose Percy Jackson and Harry Potter, the heroes from their favor-ite adventures and a couple little boys were set on Max from ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’” she wrote. In the end, though, a gold-finch comes up the perfect name, Booker, and the ani-mals adopt it. “The buck jumped up on

a tree stump and looked out at his new friends. ‘Hello!’ he said. ‘My name is Booker! Let’s go read.’” “And when he went back to the library that night he was not alone,” Alexandra wrote. Kate Erickson’s story involved an alien spaceship that beams up a deer and takes it to another planet, where it turns into a statue, then is dropped back down to Earth, landing in the library. Jenna Lange’s story was a fable about a race among the forest animals, and Alexa Nielson’s fable included a witch that turns Toby the deer into stone. Luke Zamboldi, the young-est winner, wrote a very short story in which a deer was delivered to the library, where he lived “the rest of his life and read lots of books. A binder with all 18 contest entries will be at the library through November for those who want to read them. Ms. Harrington said she was very happy that the contest inspired so many children to write. “I was very pleased,” she said. “They took it very seriously. One father came up to me and said his daughter worked on it for a whole week at the end of the summer.” A

By Jane KnoerleAlmanac Lifestyles Editor

After 28 years, the Chil-dren’s Shoppe in the Sharon Heights Shop-

ping Center in Menlo Park, noted for its classic European/American clothing, is closing. Owner Sheilla Sutherland is retiring. It’s the end of an era for Ms. Sutherland who says she “always wanted a shop for little kids’ clothes, ever since I was 8 years old.” Last week the store was filled with shoppers, there for its going-out-of-business sale. Many said how much they would miss the genial owner. “Don’t worry. You’ll see me downtown one day,” Ms. Sutherland assured Lucy Rutherford, 7, who gave her a goodbye hug. “Lucy has been coming here with me since she was a baby,” said her mother.

Rose Borrone and her daughter, Marina, stopped by for shopping and brought a box of scones as a farewell treat. Always known for qual-ity clothing, the Children’s Shoppe has been the place for a new grandmother to splurge on an exquisite christen-ing dress, hand-embroidered with tiny seed pearls with matching bonnet, bib and booties. It is where a young gentleman could be fitted with a blue blazer, camel top coat, or a tuxedo, complete with red cummerbund. Mothers and daughters have shopped for party dresses, like a pale blue taffeta with hand smocking for a 4-year-old, or a royal blue silk discreetly embroidered with sparkles that a 12-year-old would cherish. For special occasions, such as a bat mitzvah or first Holy Communion, Ms. Suther-

land has always made sure a dress is never duplicated. She has kept a calendar of local religious and social events so “you’ll never see the same dress twice.” The Children’s Shoppe is liquidating every item. All merchandise, fixtures, fur-niture and equipment will be sold, with the store clos-ing Dec. 22 or sooner. The train table in the front of the store, beloved by generations of little kids, will be sold in a silent auction. Cynthia Keefover of G.A. Wright Co., a retail consul-tant assisting in the store closing, says customers are welcome to drop by and pen a few words in a tribute to Ms. Sutherland. When asked if the children’s clothing business has changed in the last 28 years, Ms. Sutherland says with a smile, “The industry’s changed, but I haven’t.” A

Budding writers name library’s mascot

Children’s Shoppe to close in Menlo Park

Two of the 10 Clydesdales that charmed local horse-lovers.

By Nan Chapman

For the past two weeks, equestrians at The Horse Park in Woodside have

had the pleasure of watching some of the best-known adver-tising icons in the world, the Budweiser Clydesdales, frolick-ing and basking in the sun in the paddocks at the facility, which is located at the corner of Sand Hill and Whiskey Hill roads. The horses were brought here in anticipation of appearing at the San Francisco Giants World Series games, but an unfortunate glitch in the city’s permitting process kept them from performing there or at the ensuing celebratory parade. Nevertheless, the 10 horses, their six handlers, and Gus, the ever-present and mandatory Dalmation — attired in a coat that matched those of his equine buddies — had a wonderful temporary respite from their constant travels around their company’s Western zone, which covers several states. According to Roman Raber, assistant supervisor of the team, these gentle giants’ weight aver-ages 2,000 to 2,200 pounds, about double that of the average saddle horse, and four of them stand over 19 hands high (over 6 feet from their feet to the top of their shoulders). Each one eats a healthy serving of grain and 30 to 40 pounds of timothy hay every day. He says the horses are extreme-ly docile and compliant. The animals are so large that it takes a well-coordinated team 25 minutes to harness eight of them, and then hitch them up to the red and gold Budweiser wagons. Potential drivers are constantly in training to learn how to handle the almost lost art of driving with four reins (lines, in horse parlance) in each driver’s hand, which run to the bit in each horse’s mouth. Needless to say, it was a memo-rable experience for all those who

had the opportunity to mingle with these extremely gentle, yet majestic animals, as well as with their keepers. And the feeling was mutual. Mr. Raber said that he, as well as the rest of the han-dlers and the horses, is anxious for a return trip to the Horse Park in the future. As the three huge vans pulled out of the Horse Park on the fog-gy morning before Halloween, a bevy of new fans gathered to wave goodbye and to wish both handlers and horses a safe jour-ney on the way to their next stop and performance in Las Vegas.

Some Clydesdale history In the middle ages, horses were valuable commodities that were used for hauling goods, and in agriculture and war. The horses of that period differed from modern breeds, in that they were types rather than dis-tinct breeds. They were smaller in comparison to the large breeds of today. Anything over 14 hands was considered large. In an attempt to develop a horse that was large enough to carry his enormous weight and necessary war armor, as well as the armor for the animal itself, King Henry VIII decreed that stallions under 15 hands and mares under 13 hands should not be bred. Many smaller ani-mals were destroyed, so as not to displease the king. Selective breeding became more common after Henry VIII started to increase the size of the war horse, and obviously the Clydesdale breed, which was founded in Scotland, was one of the results of this long, pains-taking process. The Budweiser Clydesdales were first introduced to the public in 1933 to celebrate the repeal of prohibition, and thus was created one of the most well-known advertising sym-bols throughout the world. A

Nan Chapman is a Woodside equestrienne and a former

Atherton mayor.

‘Gentle giants’ vacation at Woodside’s Horse Park

See photo, Page 5

By Dave BoyceAlmanac staff writer

Portola Valley native Laura MacMillan, 23, was for a time a displaced person.

She still lives in Brooklyn, just not in the same apartment she occupied on Monday, Oct. 28, while Superstorm Sandy sent about 4 to 5 feet of canal water into the basement of the two-story living space she shared with two roommates. Her neighborhood, Gowanus, is just east of the waterfront community of Red Hook, one of the neighborhoods worst hit by the flooding. Made homeless by the storm along with thousands of oth-ers, one roommate made her way to Los Angeles while Ms. MacMillan and her other room-mate spent three days looking for another home, she said in a telephone interview. It was a scramble, she said. They walked and they biked, and at one point a broker drove them around. They signed a lease on a new apartment, also in Brooklyn, on Thursday. Friends filled in during the interim with offers of hot showers and hot food, Ms. Mac-Millan said. A new apartment

may be a welcome change. The Gowanus Canal is a super-fund site and in the top five of the United States’ most polluted waterways, she said. She expected to return to work on Saturday, baking for a Greenpoint, Brooklyn, bakery after several involuntary days

off. “The bakery is running, but on a much diminished scale,” she said. On a normal day, its baked goods include muffins and scones, quick breads and short bread, cakes and brown-ies, she said. The storm’s aftermath left many of the bakery’s commer-cial customers closed due to the blackout in lower Manhattan, but she said that even had that not been the case, the flooded subway system and the crippling shortage of gasoline would have prevented deliveries. As a kid, Ms. MacMillan went

to Ormondale and Corte Mad-era schools. She graduated from Menlo-Atherton High School in 2007 and has a bachelor’s degree in cognitive science from the University of California, Berkeley, she said. She moved to New York City in April 2012 and started at the bakery in June. Ahead of the storm, the three women had relocated to a friend’s place in nearby Prospect Heights. When they returned home the next day, some of the electrical outlets were dead and “all of the fur-niture (in the basement) was totally toppled over,” Ms. Mac-Millan said. A bed had f loated to the other side of the room. They spent the day cleaning and removing the damaged furniture. The potential for mold made finding a new home a necessity, she said. She and her roommates were among about 10 displaced residents on her block, which includes a couple of auto body shops and a couple of empty lots, she said. She has applied for help from the Fed-eral Emergency Management

Agency, she said. She and a friend walked into Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge one night. “It was defi-nitely a very eerie feeling, walk-ing with such a large chunk of the city totally black,” she said. It seemed to her a “zombie apoca-

lypse,” she added. “Walking around in that part of the city without being able to see where you’re walking is certainly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.” “We’re going to pull through,” she said. “The worst is certainly over.” A


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The 10th annual gridiron contest for a good cause — raising money to assist moti-vated middle school students from low-income households — takes place Friday after-noon, Nov. 9, at Woodside High School. The players: the freshman/sophomore and the varsity teams from Valparaiso Avenue neighbors Sacred Heart Prep and Menlo School. All proceeds from the Val-paraiso Bowl go to the nonprof-it Peninsula Bridge Program, based in Menlo Park but with offices in Palo Alto. The Bridge program, with partner schools, works to develop academic and personal success for low-income students based on principles of social justice and a commitment to the human potential of all children. “We believe commu-nities are stronger and richer when we work together to solve problems and improve lives,” the mission statement says. The football games begin at 4 and 7 p.m., first the freshman/sophomore team and then the varsity. If the two schools have

a football rivalry, it is supposed to be set aside. “It is purely a fun event with a common cause,” Bridge Development Director Maureen Garrett wrote in an email. “It is very important to get people to the game,” she added. “It is one of our biggest fundraisers!” Woodside High School is located at 199 Churchill Ave. at the intersection of Woodside Road and Alameda de las Pul-gas. Food and refreshments, cour-tesy of The Old Pro restaurant in Palo Alto, will include pulled-pork and beef brisket sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken Caesar salad, hot chocolate and soft drinks. The Sacred Heart Prep community will be pro-viding homemade baked goods. All proceeds go to the Bridge program. Tickets are $10 for adults, $5 for students, and free for chil-dren under 5. A donors group called the Circle of Champions will be matching the gate pro-ceeds up to $10,000, Ms. Gar-rett said.

The Valparaiso Bowl:football for a good cause

Portola Valley native takes uphouse-hunting in wake of storm

‘It was definitely a very eerie feeling, walking

with such a large chunk of the city totally black.’

LAURA MACMILLAN


N E W S

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When Business Develop-ment Manager Dave Johnson resigned at

the end of 2011, many wondered whether Menlo Park would leave the position vacant to save on staff costs. The first to hold that title in the city, Mr. Johnson served eight years, and saw the arrival of numerous companies, such as the Rosewood Sand Hill Hotel and Spa, Amici’s and, of course, Facebook. Now City Manager Alex McIn-tyre has confirmed that the city’s seeking a replacement to help strengthen the local economy. “With the adoption of the Downtown Plan, there is cer-tainly opportunity to opera-tionalize the plan and enhance the vibrancy in the downtown. Perhaps equally important is the chance to work with existing property owners in the City’s commercial/industrial area (more or less along the 101) to strengthen the financial condi-tion there,” he told the Almanac in an email on Nov. 1. He said Facebook probably presents the greatest opportu-nity. “It can be argued that the eco-system that will develop as a result of Facebook’s presence is something that the City should

encourage and make sure that as those new companies begin to pop up, we can adequately site them in our community.” The workload might be too much for one person, Mr. McIn-tyre said, but the city’s budget won’t stretch farther than that. “Of course, all of this is to be done in concert with what the City Council and community expects,” he said. The salary maxes out at $129,000 for the job, accord-ing to the city, with retirement benefits provided under Mea-sure L provisions: a minimum retirement age of 60 and pen-sion benefits at 2 percent of an employee’s highest annual sal-ary averaged over three years. About 100 candidates applied for the position by last week’s deadline — “unfortunately many who were not qualified,” Mr. McIntyre noted — and the city plans to start interviewing next week. “We have a number of interesting candidates so we will see how they might fit with the City’s needs.” He declined to comment when asked if the applicants included Harry Mavrogenes, the former head of San Jose’s redevelop-ment agency. A

Many applicants for business development manager position

This information is from the Atherton and Menlo Park police departments. Under the law, people charged with offenses are considered innocent until convicted.

MENLO PARK

Residential burglary reports:

■ Losses estimated at $8,200 in entry through unlocked bathroom window and theft of necklaces, rings and ear-rings, Plumas Ave., Oct. 31.■ Losses estimated at $4,000 in theft of bicycle stolen from storage locker in apartment complex garage, Arbor Road, Oct. 28.Auto burglary report: Losses esti-mated at $4,800 in window smash and theft of leather jacket, boots and two laptop computers, 2800 block of Sand Hill Road, Oct. 30.Theft reports:

■ Loss estimated at $1,200 in theft of lawnmower from victim’s lawn, Bohan-non Drive, Oct. 28. ■ Loss estimated at $1,000 in theft of bicycle from apartment carport, Uni-versity Drive, Oct. 28.■ Loss estimated at $1,000 in cutting of cable lock and theft of bike from bike rack, Alma St., Oct. 28.■ Losses estimated at $719 in theft of locked bicycle, helmet and lock, Curtis St., Oct. 30.■ Loss estimated at $500 in sawing off and theft of catalytic converter from Toyota pickup truck, Walnut St., Oct. 28.■ Loss estimated at $500 in theft of mountain bike from parking area, Kent Place, Oct. 28.■ Losses estimated at $400 in theft

from doorstep of package of medical prescriptions, Pope St., Oct. 28.

■ Losses estimated at $275 in theft of two bikes and bike lock from bike rack, Burgess Drive, Oct. 30.

■ Unknown losses in theft of briefcase and papers from unlocked vehicle, Campo Bello Court, Oct. 28.

■ Unknown losses in theft of bales of cardboard, Sharon Park Drive, Nov. 1.

Sexual battery report: Victim alleges she was groped three weeks before reporting incident, Van Buren Road, Oct. 27.

Stolen vehicle report: Red 1993 Ford Mustang, Menalto Ave., Oct. 31.

Spousal abuse report: Hollyburne Ave, Nov. 1.

WOODSIDE

Residential burglary report: Losses estimated at $3,800 in theft of pellet guns, archery bow and practice arrows from vacation home, Medway Drive, Nov. 1.

Fraud report: Losses estimated at $1,300 in unauthorized use of debit card at several different stores, High-land Terrace, Oct. 23 - 26.

PORTOLA VALLEY

Theft report: Losses estimated at $3,550 in theft of jewelry from resi-dence, Mapache Drive, Oct. 17 - 22.

Fraud report: Losses estimated at $1,800 in unauthorized use of credit card, Wyndham Drive, Oct. 31.

POLICE CALLS

MENLO PARK


A manhunt last week ended with an arrest by Menlo Park police, who found

their suspect hiding in a Madera Avenue garage. After an officer attempted to pull him over for a traffic stop on Thursday afternoon, Nov. 1, Valentin Arias Jimenez, 29, allegedly crashed a stolen green Honda Accord into a police car, and then fled on foot near the Facebook campus. Menlo Park police kicked off a search for the suspect, setting up a perimeter around Carlton and Hamilton avenues, Ivy Drive and Willow Road. Helping out: East Bay Regional Park’s helicopter, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office and Palo Alto police. Resi-dents were asked to stay indoors. Officers found the East Palo Alto resident in a garage in the 1300 block of Madera Ave-

nue, police announced. He was arrested on charges of posses-sion of a stolen vehicle, assault with a deadly weapon, felony hit and run, and resisting/obstruct-ing a police officer. Mr. Jimenez pleaded not guilty in San Mateo County Superior Court on Nov. 2. Charges stem-ming from the Menlo Park chase are not the only legal problems he faces at the moment; the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service also plans to deport the man back to his native country of Mexico, according to sheriff ’s spokeswoman Deputy Rebecca Rosenblatt. The Menlo Park Police Depart-ment asks that anyone with infor-mation about the incident call them at 330-6300 or the anony-mous tip line at 330-6395. A

Manhunt suspect found in garage, pleads not guilty


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Police investigating drive-by shootings in Belle HavenBy Sandy BrundageAlmanac Staff Writer

It was not just another Friday night in Menlo Park. Gunshots punc-

tured a quiet evening in Belle Haven, leaving four wounded. A flurry of 911 calls around 8:05 p.m. alerted police to multiple shots fired near Ivy Drive and Windermere Avenue on Nov. 2. Officers found four adult victims — two were in good condition, one in serious condition and one in critical condition — who were taken to Stanford Hospital for treatment. A black Honda and a black Acura were seen f leeing north on Ivy Drive, accord-ing to police. No suspect descriptions or theories as to motive have been released by investigators. “We are not releasing the types of weapons used at this time, since we are still inves-tigating. As far as the victims, three have been released from the hospital and one is still there in stable condition. We have no further information at this time,” Police Com-mander Dave Bertini said on Monday afternoon. Anyone with information about the shootings is asked to call police at 330-6300.


As the Menlo Park City Council and city staff worked on the recently approved downtown specific plan, many assumed that developers would jump at the chance to build hous-

ing on the eight-acre swath of Stanford land on the east side of El Camino Real that extends from the Stanford Park Hotel to Middle Avenue. But when the city revealed a first draft of developer John Arril-laga’s plan to build a massive mixed-use complex of medical offices, offices and retail, with only a modest 148 housing units, it was a surprise, especially to Councilman Rich Cline, who announced his disappointment dur-ing a recent meeting. Mr. Cline said that “a sliver of housing” is not what the city expected after negotiating with Stanford during the specific plan process, when the city expressed its preference for housing on the properties. But somehow that vision changed, Mr. Cline said, and if the preliminary design doesn’t change, the project will contribute very little to helping the city meet its goal of identifying space for nearly 2,000 units of high-density housing in the next few months. Mr. Arrillaga’s initial plan includes only 148 units of rental housing, dwarfed by 229,500 square feet of office space, including 153,000 square feet of medical offices. A spokesman for the uni-versity said the final ratio of medical to office space hasn’t been determined, but the rough design shows two four-story office buildings facing El Camino Real between Cambridge and College avenues. Approximately 1,190 parking spaces, most underground,

would serve the entire project, according to the initial plan. Given the size of Stanford’s holdings on El Camino Real, it would be a shame if the city could not persuade Mr. Arrillaga to include more housing. To do so would be a huge help in the city’s struggle to rezone for higher-density housing in neighborhoods that don’t want it. Already, advocates for Sharon Park and Stanford Week-end Acres have convinced the city to withdraw those sites from consideration. Now Linfield Oaks residents also want off the rezoning list. They

stormed the Oct. 30 council meeting to protest three potential sites, one of which would create zoning for a homeless shelter, in their neighbor-hood. Nothing was decided, but council mem-bers indicated that at least one of the three sites

would likely be approved. At an earlier meeting the council also suggested increasing the density at the former post office site — 3875 Bohannon Drive — from 30 to 40 units per acre. The housing issue is critical for the city as it must meet the terms of a lawsuit settlement requiring that it add zones for 1,000 to 1,975 units of high-density housing to comply with state law. A draft update of the new housing plan was sent to the state for review on Oct. 31. Unfortunately the new specific plan leaves little leverage to con-vince Mr. Arrillaga to build housing rather than medical offices, which generate many more car trips than housing or even standard office space does. And if there is one thing that Menlo Park does not need, it is more traffic on El Camino Real.

Lack of housing in initial Arrillaga plan

Rare opportunity to see St. Patrick’s SeminaryEditor All of us at St Patrick’s Semi-nary were delighted to see our magnificent chapel featured on the front page of the Almanac’s Oct. 24 Section 2 that accom-panied Barbara Wood’s article on The Irish Connection. St. Patrick’s Seminary has been in Menlo Park since 1898 and it bears an Irish name in honor of the first seminarians here — many of whom arrived from Ireland — as well as our founding archbishop, Arch-bishop Riordan, who served as archbishop of San Francisco from 1884 until his death in 1914. Today we educate future priests representing many countries — including Viet-nam, Mexico, El Salvador and the Philippines — as well as the western United States. We offer community mem-bers of all faiths a unique opportunity to see the cam-pus and chapel at our annual Christmas Tree Lighting on Monday, Nov. 26.

The ceremony, which will be led by our rector, Fr. James McKearney, accompanied by our choir, Schola Cantorum, begins at 5 p.m. Those who arrive earlier can sample a

variety of homemade inter-national foods served by our seminarians, and anyone who wishes to take part in a library tour, which I will lead, should contact me at the seminary,

320 Middlefield Road in Menlo Park, next to the fire station.

Lauren JohnSt. Patrick’s Seminary

IDEAS, THOUGHTS AND OPINIONS ABOUT LOCAL ISSUES FROM PEOPLE IN OUR COMMUNITY. EDITED BY TOM GIBBONEY

Menlo Park Historical Association

Our Regional HeritageCorrective hydrotherapy was used for the treatment of soldiers suffering from manic depression and other psychotic ailments at the Veterans Administration Hospital in Menlo Park as late as the 1940s. The procedure gave way to the use of drug and electric shock therapy to treat mental illness.

All views must include a home address

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EMAIL your views to: [email protected] note this it is a letter to the editor in the subject line.

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EDITORIALThe opinion of The Almanac

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Viewpoint


Jerry Hill challenged on rail-funding statementEditor: Here is an open letter to Assemblyman Jerry Hill: In a recent candidate forum I was astounded to hear you defend your vote on the high-speed rail appropriation in July, saying that you did not vote to approve a $68 billion high-speed rail project. You stated your vote was to bring $1 billion to elec-trify Caltrain along a two-track corridor and also to send funds down south for other regional rail. Really. The appropriation con-tained $6 billion to start the rail project in the Central Valley. The appropriation also approved spending $1.2 billion of the $9 billion authorized by the voter-approved Prop 1A bond funding in 2008, to improve or modern-ize regional rail. The big problem is, Assembly-man Hill, that this $1.2 billion appropriation is clearly illegal. Prop 1A says these funds are to be used for a statewide high-speed rail project and not for regional commuter rail. That is what the voters approved in 2008, and the state Legislature has no right to change what the voters approved. This defense of your vote is clearly not valid. Right now, Gov. Jerry Brown is running up and down the state promoting Prop. 30, a $50 billion tax increase, stating these funds will be used to fund schools, state colleges and state universities, and that failure of the voters to approve Prop. 30 will mean further cuts to these institutions. Why should any voter believe what the governor promises? When you read Prop. 30, you see the funds go into the gen-eral fund and can be spent as approved. Yes, the funds could be spent on education, but there is no legal mandate to do so, only the governor’s promise that this will be the result. The high-speed rail appro-priation in July was pushed through by Gov. Brown, Sen. Darrell Steinberg, and Sen. Mark Leno. Here you had the governor spending Prop 1A funds for projects clearly pro-hibited by the conditions in Prop 1A. Again, why should any voter believe the governor or the Legislature will end up spending the funds from the increased taxes, if Prop. 30 passes, for the educational sys-tem of the state? They just have no credibility.

Morris BrownStonepine Lane, Menlo Park

Challenge for council to take citizen surveyEditor: Whoever is elected to the Atherton City Council, now is the time for our five elected representatives to set a new direction and standard of gover-nance. We no longer want or can afford 3-2 votes and a divided and an uncivil council. Our five elected representa-tives should seek unanimity on every issue that comes before them and demand unanimity on the important issues. A superb place to start would be for the council to unanimously vote to participate in the National Citizen Survey, which has been widely tested in communities around the nation. The survey is a low-cost service for local govern-ments. Tested, flexible, affordable, and efficient, the NCS would allow Atherton to survey citizen opinion for program planning, budgeting, goal-setting and per-formance measurement.

The council would select from a set of standard questions to assess citizen opinion about basic services and commu-nity life. Additional customized questions allow the council to tailor the survey to our unique needs. Our elected officials can use the results to set spending pri-orities. The town manager can use the results to measure prog-ress and chart future steps. Staff can use the results to improve service delivery. The survey program includes three mailings to 1,200 random-ly selected households, which include the pre-survey postcard and two mailings of the survey instrument. The margin of error (95 percent confidence interval) is low, no more than plus or minus five percent. I am so convinced of the need for a new approach to our town governance that I will personally pay for the cost of participation in the National Citizens’ Survey provided such participation is

approved unanimously by our new City Council.

Peter CarpenterLarch Drive, Atherton

Big storm is a wake-up call on global warmingEditor: “Frankenstorm Sandy” is one more dramatic demonstration that climate change and its extreme weather patterns are now part of our future. Although we’re unlikely to reverse climate change, we can still mitigate its effects by reduc-ing our driving, our energy use, and our meat consumption. Yes, meat consumption. A 2006 U.N. report estimated that meat consumption accounts for 18 percent of man-made greenhouse gases. A 2009 article in the respected World Watch magazine suggested that it may

be closer to 50 percent. Carbon dioxide, the principal greenhouse gas, is emitted by burning forests to create animal pastures and by combustion of fossil fuels to confine, feed, transport, and slaughter ani-mals and to refrigerate their car-casses. The much more damag-ing methane and nitrous oxide are discharged from digestive tracts of cattle and from animal waste cesspools, respectively. We have the power to reduce the devastating effects of cli-mate change every time we eat. Our local supermarket offers a rich variety of soy-based lunch “meats,” hotdogs, veggie burg-ers, soy and nut-based dairy products (including cheese and ice cream), and an ample selec-tion of traditional vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts.

Miles BarneySharon Park Drive, Menlo Park

V I E W P O I N T

On Oct. 31 we received a letter dated Oct. 18 from “The Mayor” (no name) of Atherton.

We believe the mailing to be a misuse of taxpayer dollars for political purposes. If the mayor does not like the people (Elizabeth Lewis and Cary Wiest) the APOA endorsed for council, he should have to use his own campaign funds to promulgate his beliefs just as the Atherton Police Officers Asso-ciation did. The mayor needs to be a statesman. Referring to our police as people who issue unspecified “misleading state-ments” is not statesmanship. What is his agenda? Is it to go into negotiations with the police union next year in hostility so that he can walk from the talks and justify outsourcing? Is it to get his candidates elected? Among other questions my wife and I would like to see answered publicly: ■ The letter was unsigned. Is the mayor representing the entire council? Did the whole council approve his message? ■ How about informal or sub-commit-

tee discussions on local policing? I just do not believe there have been no com-munications with APOA. ■ Incomplete budget information was given regarding our police force — how about comparing staffing and response rates to last year, not to half a decade ago? We moved here several years ago after

30-plus years in Palo Alto. In Palo Alto I served on the school board for eight years. I believed then, and I believe today, that honesty and transparency are absolute requisites of commu-nity leaders, and I am troubled that the Atherton council may not be living up to these essential attributes of effective represen-tatives. I have a strong position on the Atherton Police Depart-

ment — keep it. However, it is true that funding for defined benefit retirement plans is an issue for all employers, especially public ones, and it is an issue that must be faced and addressed in a reasoned, public, and cooperative fashion. It seems to me,

without being privy to all the commu-nications, formal and informal, that the APOA has been willing to do this but has been stonewalled by the current council majority, which is one reason why we have contributed to the APOA-PAC. A two-tier police retirement plan would be a good first step although the devil always is in the details. Of course we should have a school resource officer. Of course we should support renewal of the parcel tax; it’s not like our friends and neighbors cannot afford it. As for placing items on the council agenda, I had no idea it apparently takes a majority; that’s non-sense. Any one elected council member should have that right. Here in Atherton we all have our own little private enclaves, and we like it that way. Unfortunately, that leads to a dis-regard for — and disinterest in — local governance. Our council does not rep-resent the talent that resides in this town because most of us do not care enough to be involved. We need more who do.

Don Way lives on Patricia Drive in Atherton.

Mayor’s letter upsetting for police supporterBy Don Way

GUESTOPINION

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the almanac 11.07.2012 - section 1

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