Dear City Council and Staff,
I’m writing to express my appreciation for your June 3rd actions.
Thank you for staying strong and voting to move ahead with building desperately needed new affordable homes downtown. We need these new homes and we are eager to welcome new, returning and current residents of all incomes and abilities into the heart of downtown. I also appreciate that you invited Eden to respond to an RFP so that if it turns out that other applicants are unable to provide parking they were not needlessly eliminated. I appreciate that you listened to community members concerned about any reduction in parking by requiring full replacement parking rather than “at least 90%.” Thank you.
I’m also writing to thank you for standing up for every resident in our city – no matter their country of origin – by joining the lawsuit with San Francisco and others to challenge the Trump administration’s illegal effort to defund jurisdictions who choose not to spend resources assisting ICE beyond what is required by law. This issue is near and dear to my heart, as a child of immigrant/refugee parents who were Jewish children in Austria and Hungary when Hitler came to power, but I know I’m not alone. Everyone I know is appalled by what is happening. The actions of this administration are chilling. When I heard about the letter the city received demanding we betray friends and neighbors and divert city resources to assist Trump’s inhumane deportation agenda, I prayed we would stand strong, and I’m so grateful that we did. You are showing us the way, and we will stand with you.
Respectfully,
Karen Grove
Menlo Park resident
