Around Town: New Eagles, larger city commissions and award-winning theater

In this week’s Around Town column, Palo Alto High School students earn Eagle Scout honors, the City Council walks back on cutting commission bloat and a local theater group earns a Bay Area award.

SOARING UP THE RANKS … Three Palo Alto High School students climbed the ranks of their local Boy Scout Troop, and now they’re ready to fly off after the three were promoted to Eagle Scouts at an awards ceremony on Dec. 30. Seniors Beau Revenaugh and Adam Hu and junior Andrew Kassel recently completed local service projects to earn the achievement that only 6% of Boy Scouts attain. Beau designed and built a guinea pig house for Animal Assisted Happiness in Sunnyvale, a nonprofit that offers “barnyard animal interactions” to local kids. Adam assembled four planter boxes for the All Five preschool in Menlo Park. And Andrew painted the foul poles and helped install a yellow safety cover along the outfield fence of the Ravenswood Little League field in Martin Luther King Jr. Park in East Palo Alto. He also cleared out the park’s equipment storage and donated the extra gear to youth baseball leagues in Latin America. The youth said they wanted to thank their friends, mentors and family who helped support them along their scout journey.

THE ART OF GOVERNING … When the Palo Alto City Council moved to reduce the sizes of its advisory commissions in spring 2020, council members and staff who supported the idea argued that having fewer members would reduce the burden on the city staff who have to support these advisory bodies. That decision – as well as a related action to similarly scale back the size of the Human Relations Commission – turned out to be an unequivocal dud. The Parks and Recreation Commission, which was also up for a seat trimming, strongly pushed back against the proposal and convinced the council to retain the seven-member status quo. The Human Relations Commission, whose broad mandate includes police oversight, diversity, inclusion and social services, wasn’t as lucky. After three years with five members, its members convinced the council to revert its ranks to seven. This week, it was the Public Art Commission’s turn. At its Jan. 16 meeting, the council quickly restored two seats to the commission, bringing it back to seven members. The move was championed by council member Lydia Kou and Mayor Greer Stone, who penned a memo last year supporting the change. Commission Chair Hsinya Shen told the council on Dec. 4 that restoring two seats would “promote inclusivity, diversity of views, continuity of institutional knowledge and greater representation and coverage for our public art events.” Staff is also on board. Community Services Director Kristen O’Kane noted in a report that, while a larger commission would increase demands on city staff, staff will be “positively impacted” because there will be more opportunities for ad hoc committees to advance the commission’s work. It is also expected to improve diversity. “A larger decision-making body will allow for diverse perspectives in the selection of the public art including commissioned artists and locations for temporary and permanent art within Palo Alto,” O’Kane wrote.

AN AWARD FOR THE DIRTY BIRDIES … When the Palo Alto Players open their live performance of “Misery” this weekend, they won’t just be acting out the nationally recognized horror production, they’ll also be wearing a badge honoring their local efforts. Theatre Bay Area recently gave “Misery” the Homegrown Achievement for its 100% local cast, design team, director, crew and stage management, said Melissa Momboise, the group’s marketing associate. She said Palo Alto Players have previously won the award for their “Wizard of Oz” and “Matilda” shows, but the latest mark is just another part of the theater company’s ongoing efforts. “A part of our mission at Palo Alto Players is that we are theater for the community by the community,” Momboise said. Between Jan. 19 and Feb. 4, the group will be putting on “Misery,” a 90-minute adaptation of Stephen King’s horror book about an author who gets in a car accident and wakes up trapped in a remote cabin with his number one fan. The R-rated show is playing at Lucie Stern Theatre on 1305 Middlefield Road (they recommend you be 17+ to see it), and tickets cost $20-$60.