Dear Mayor and Council Members,
The recent weather events have clearly shown that our infrastructure is not prepared to handle the increasingly extreme weather events that go along with climate change. Our family experienced three power outages: one lasting 56 hours, another lasting 36 hours and a third one that shut down our kids’ school for four days (though we continued to have power).
Having lived in four countries and on three continents, I have never experienced anything like this. Bluntly put, our local electrical infrastructure is developing county standard, which is at odds with living in one of the high tech centers of the world.
An obvious solution to the problem is to move all power lines underground, and I would implore the city to work with PG&E to do so as soon as possible.
On a somewhat different note, it appears that a local developer is using the recent weather events to attempt to weaken our heritage tree ordinance. This developer made headlines about ten years ago for removing a large heritage tree that was neither unhealthy nor posed a danger. It merely cut into the developer’s profits.
One of the main attractions of Menlo Park is the the greenery and the many trees, and I would urge the city to represent the views of the citizens of Menlo Park when it comes to adjusting the heritage tree ordinance.
Sincerely yours, J. Weber
Menlo Park resident since 2003
