Hi City Council
I am an almost 15 year resident of Menlo Park. We love it here and are
happy to be raising our family here.
I know that housing policy in the state of California is hard. I think we
do need to do the hard things and figure out a solution to ease the
affordability burden. However, builders remedy was a lazy and
ill-conceived solution by Sacramento and the 80 Willow Road development
does not even help with affordable housing and will ruin an entire large
portion of Menlo Park
The city of Menlo Park has been put in a difficult situation with 80 Willow
Road and Bontas recent endorsement. But I urge you - do the right thing
and fight back. There are so many ways we could push back - the original
jobs-to-housing ratio is wrong now for Menlo Park since Meta doesnt have
as many jobs in Menlo Park, builders remedy allows too much power for
developers and does almost nothing to create *affordable housing,* but most
importantly this development does not belong in a small enclave like Menlo
Park. Its far too large, does not have enough parking, has a massive
detrimental environmental impact, and does nothing to solve affordable
housing.
The city has a lot to fight back with on this one. If funds are needed, we
could raise them. We should be pushing harder on the Russian oligarch
connection as well. This is Medvedevs money, a sworn enemy of the U.S.,
that the California Attorney General is supporting. Corruption has been
seeping into all parts of the U.S. political system but that does not mean
citizens dont have power to fight back.
Please do the right thing and fight back. You have the support of
constituents and if you need us to do more - ask.
Thanks for the consideration.
Sarah Reilly
