Around Town Around Town (November 23, 2005)

THE LONG GOODBYE... Outgoing Palo Alto school board members John Barton and Cathy Kroymann were inundated with gifts and thank you's at their final meeting last week. So many gifts and thank you's that official business for the 7 p.m. meeting did not get underway until two hours later. People in the audience, and some other board members, began checking their watches and blinking tired eyes toward the tail end of the lavish goodbye, but it wasn't clear if they wanted the meeting to start or to break for treats and sparkling cider, which were offered at 8:40 p.m. Despite having such weighty issues as school attendance boundaries, parcel tax reports, budget items and school capacities to discuss, the board and audience listened on as representatives from Congresswoman Anna Eshoo's and state Sen. Joe Simitian's offices read "whereas" a few times over from resolutions presented to Barton and Kroymann. The two have served eight long and fortuitous years on the board, helping to pass two parcel taxes and implementing an extended class-size reduction program, among other accomplishments. But two hours?

ARMS LENGTH?... Maybe it's our imagination but during recent meetings the Palo Alto City Council appears to have been making a point about its oversight of City Manager Frank Benest. The power dynamic between the council and Benest was a major issue in the recent council election, with some challengers saying the current council was failing to exert proper control over him. So it's not surprising that last week the council challenged Benest's ideas for two new committees to review police department policies and internal investigations by deciding to form a new committee to review details of those committees. And this week, the council pointedly voted to have the mayor -- not the city manager -- appoint members of a new "blue ribbon" committee that will review proposals to rebuild the city's police headquarters. Council members called for the committee to be independent of the city manager and have an "arms-length" distance from staff. Benest seems to be taking it in stride. At the end of the meeting, Mayor Jim Burch formed a committee of council members to help him appoint the members of the blue ribbon committee. (Yes, Virginia, Palo Alto loves its committees.) When City Attorney Gary Baum pointed out that Burch was forming an "ad hoc" committee of council members, Burch asked: "Is that OK?" to which Benest quipped: "As long as the city manager doesn't suggest who should be on that ad hoc committee."

POWER OF THE PRESS?... Earlier this month, the Weekly printed a small item that the city was lacking applicants for its Parks and Recreation Commission, at the request of Chair Anne Cribbs. She was concerned because only one resident had applied, and none of the three incumbents were reapplying. That dearth has become a bounty -- a whopping 20 people eventually applied for the low-profile commission. On Monday, the City Council appointed an ad hoc group of its members -- yup, another committee -- to review which of the 20 to interview at a future meeting. The council is scheduled to appoint three new commissioners next year, once three new council members take their seats.

ZIPPITY DO DA... Residents of Palo Alto's 94303 Zip code are getting organized. As reported earlier this year in the Weekly, Palo Altans in that Zip code -- which is shared across county borders with residents in East Palo Alto -- have grown accustomed to "identity confusion." They pay higher insurance rates and can't get certain magazines, according to anecdotal stories. The topic was brought up again last week on the Duveneck/ St. Francis Neighborhood Association listserv. Now residents are not merely complaining aloud about the issue -- they're planning to meet with their representatives. "This is a federal issue -- and it is time to get Congresswoman Anna Eshoo involved," resident Mary Carlstead wrote to her neighbors.

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