To the esteemed Menlo Park City Council,
I write to you again in support of the planned development of affordable
housing units in downtown Menlo Park. I am very disappointed by the
continued opposition to this incredible opportunity. The opposition seems
to think that by allowing people who are not in their tax bracket to share
their spaces that we will lose the "vibrancy of downtown." Their coded
language is not as veiled as they think. As a 29 year old woman working at
Stanford for nearly 10 years, Ive only been fortunate enough to live here
due to BMR programming and I can personally attest to just how cruel
their thinking is.
We have to be better as a community and hold space for those old and new.
As mentioned previously in my last email, we cannot live in a community
that inhibits the brilliant people around us who are working just as hard
and just as deserving to be financially banished from the areas in which we
work. We have a beautiful community that deserves to be accessible to those
who make below high six/seven figure salaries.
While the rest of the world makes it a habit to engage in "otherism" and
pull up the ladder behind them, lets set an example for what it means to
truly be a good neighbor and inclusionary of all. I would love for more
people to be able to enjoy the same life changing BMR housing opportunities
I have been able to enjoy.
Warmly,
Kate Dalman
550 Oak Grove Ave #262
Menlo Park, CA
