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Dear City Council,
Please consider what the reasonable and appropriate priorities should be for city government. Although world peace, nuclear proliferation and climate change are some of the relevant problems for all of us to value, the City of Menlo Park has some more immediate and correctable issues.
For example, restoring the life and economic viability of downtown. The streets are a mess, the barriers from the Covid era are sad, the deteriorating plywood kiosks from 30 years ago are shabby. There are too many shuttered businesses.
Restoring and re surfacing streets. Our own Sand Hill Circle last year was judged to be in a "failed" state but it is not on any schedule before 2026 for repair.
The idea that a monstrous multistoried apartment building at the corner of Willow and Middlefield can be built without any reality testing about what will it do to traffic and utilities and yes, climate change, is poorly aligned with the health of the community.
We seem to have money for projects that I would not consider elemental in city governance. Is an expensive and undersubscribed child care center a primary service? Is an experiment in creating low income housing in commercial parking lots wise?
I would hope that the City Council could start from the basics in formulating their plans for the future.
best wishes and thanks for your service.
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Bruce T. Adornato
Sand Hill Circle
Menlo Park
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