Also, to be clear, the action before the City Council tomorrow night is for the City Council to instruct the City Attorney to craft the measure and ordinance to preserve park land should the City Council opt to do so.
It’s a bit surprising to me the Housing Leadership Council would send a letter expressing concern the measure WILL promote segregation, when it isn’t even written yet.
With kind regards,
Ray Mueller
With kind regards,
Ray Mueller
(please excuse odd punctuation. my laptop does not always work well with the City's email system.)
________________________________
From: Mueller, Ray
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 2:53:33 PM
To: Evelyn Stivers; _CCIN
Cc: Leora Tanjuatco; Ken Chan; Angela Solis; Karen Grove; Adina Levin; Brittani Baxter
Subject: Re: Ballot Measure to Protect Parks
Also, to be clear, the action before the City Council tomorrow night is for the City Council to instruct the City Attorney to craft the measure and ordinance to preserve park land should the City Council opt to do so.
It’s a bit surprising to me the Housing Leadership Council would send a little expressing concern the measure WILL promote segregation, when it isn’t even written yet.
With kind regards,
Ray Mueller
(please excuse odd punctuation. my laptop does not always work well with the City's email system.)
________________________________
From: Evelyn Stivers
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 7:38:58 AM
To: _CCIN
Cc: Leora Tanjuatco; Ken Chan; Angela Solis; Karen Grove; Adina Levin; Brittani Baxter
Subject: Ballot Measure to Protect Parks
Dear Mayor Combs and Members of the City Council,
Parks are critical for healthy, liveable cities. They create opportunities for exercise and recreation, improve air quality, and provide places for people to socialize. We fully support the preservation of parks and hope you will include all of the residents and activists in the conversation about a future ordinance or ballot measure.
Menlo Park has a very high housing goal for this Housing Element cycle, and I understand the council’s concern about finding adequate sites. The more sites are taken off the table, the greater the pressure to zone for housing in other sites. That is why an inclusive process should be used to develop policies on what areas are off limits to development. Specifically, we are concerned that this measure will function to preserve segregation, not just parks, by classifying parking lots, developed sites, perhaps even existing buildings as “parkland” increasing pressure to up-zone areas of the city where residents have the least political power.
Additionally, we are concerned about the equity impacts of spending city resources protecting the current inequitable distribution of parks. How will this measure increase parks and open space in Belle Haven and the Willows? How will this measure support improvements at Sharon Heights Park?
We ask that the city council use an inclusive public process to develop an ordinance and/or ballot measure. Everyone in the city should have a say, every council member should be at the table. The city is already investing substantial resources in a Housing Element, Environmental Justice Element, and Social Justice Element. Why not use that process to create an integrated and diverse, multi-generational, and healthy, equitable and environmentally sustainable plan for parks and housing that can be adopted by the council or the voters.
Thank you for your time and attention. Please contact me if you would like to discuss.
Evelyn Stivers
Executive Director
Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County
2905 S El Camino Real
San Mateo, CA 94403
510-334-3362 cell
www.hlcsmc.org
