Dear City Council, I am concerned that that Menlo Park appears to have a much higher number of staff and payroll expenses (and thus retirement expenses) than other cities our size. I would love to know more specifically where we are out of line. For example, is it because we need more staff in the planning dept. to deal with Facebook's planned expansion and/or the current real estate developments along El Camino, and if so, how much more staff does that involve? And do these projects generate sufficient additional revenue in fees to compensate for the staff costs? As you go into negotiations with the service worker union, I hope you will be mindful that we are in a new era where historical sources of revenue (like hotel tax) may be down for some time to come, and that some structural changes in staffing may be in order. I would also like the City to evaluate doing what San Carlos has done in contracting with the county Sheriff's dept. for its police force. If nothing else, that analysis should be done to set forth the pros and cons and shared with the community. Thank you. Debbie Hall 1245 Hillview Dr Menlo Park Received on Wed May 06 2020 - 15:17:53 PDT
