I see were struggling with the basic upkeep of Downtown Menlo Park. The sidewalks and curbs are broken with exposed rebar & crumbling concrete, paint is peeling or worn away on the roads & signage, flowers are dead or non-existent, and theres a layer of dirt & cobwebs on most city-controlled elements (street poles, phone booths (??), water fountains, etc).
Hopefully we will improve all of these problems. One problem with a simple solution is dealing with the out-of-compliance newsracks that are an eyesore up and down Santa Cruz Ave. The city passed a Newsrack Ordinance Jan 1, 2021 to address this very problem. It prohibits newsracks that are unsecured, graffiti or sticker covered, or not maintained in a neat and clean condition (13.28.050 Standards for maintenance and display of newsracks.). That describes most of the newsracks downtown.
Please use the regulations we already spent time making to maintain a basic level of upkeep downtown.
