Vol. XLI, Number 16 Q January 24, 2020 PaloAltoOnline.com Downtown Streets Team execs accused of harassment Page 5 FFirstirst pplacelace oonn tthehe llineine Paly boys play at Los Altos on Friday night Page 33 Pulse 12 Transitions 13 Eating Out 17 Movies 20 Puzzles 35 QArts Local theater power couple talks life, love and drama Page 14 QBooks Find out what Palo Altans are reading Page 21 QHome In greenhouses, Filoli’s elaborate gardens take root Page 22 Your new Stanford Hospital provides high quality emergency care at dedicated Adult and Pediatric locations Marc and Laura Andreessen Pediatric Emergency Department Adult Emergency Department Caring for children—newborn to age 20 Caring for adults 900 Quarry Road Extension 1199 Welch Road Stanford, CA 94304 Stanford, CA 94304 Labor and Delivery, through Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital: 725 Welch Road • Palo Alto, CA When your needs are less urgent, we can see you at our Express Care or Walk-in Clinic (1.833.777.6151). For more information: stanfordhealthcare.org/emergencydepartment The Marc and Laura Andreessen Adult Emergency Department at Stanford Hospital is the only Level 1 Adult and Pediatric Trauma Center between San Francisco andand thethe SoutSouthh Bay. We hhaveave nationanationall ddesignationsesignations as ComprehensiveComprehensive StroStrokeke anandd CChesthest Pain Centers. IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY CALL 911 Page 2 • January 24, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com Contact Elyse for other ]bI@]bù / properties coming soon /b]Kbù / Johnson Street Menlo Park 7BR 5.5BA 18,942SF New construction w@U]@H]Mbù / 180 Forest Lane 180 Forest Menlo Park Sophisticated Loft Style Home with private elevator in premium Park Forest location 180Forest.com Pending 1 Holbrook Lane 1 Holbrook Atherton 6BR 5.5BA New construction 1HolbrookLane.com 650.743.0734 [email protected] DRE 01006027 ElyseBarcaHomes All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources eb deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are ElyseBarca approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Paloelyse Alto Weekly • Januarybarca 24, 2020 • Page 3 Page 4 • January 24, 2020 • Palo Alto Weekly • www.PaloAltoOnline.com UpfrontLocal news, information and analysis City weighs the return of the controversial ‘PC’ zone After years of meager housing production, community” (PC) project, which process was followed by uproar his department’s housing work plan included 60 apartments for low-in- from residents when the promised for 2020. City Council to consider new zoning ideas come seniors and 12 single-family public benefits were either insuffi- A new report from the Depart- by Gennady Sheyner homes on Maybell Avenue. cient or missing altogether. ment of Planning and Develop- The tool has also been used by But while the PC zone became ment Services acknowledges that tuck in a housing drought, for exemptions to regulations on developers to win approvals for politically toxic, city leaders also “planned community zoning has Palo Alto leaders are pre- height, density and parking in large commercial projects, includ- see it as one of the few mechanisms received significant criticism for S paring to consider more exchange for providing “public ing the redevelopment of Edge- that they can use to meet their a variety of reasons.” At the same drastic actions to encourage resi- benefits.” wood Plaza, the four-story office goal of producing more than 300 time, the zoning process has been dential construction, including The City Council suspended building at 101 Lytton Ave., and housing units per year. As such, it used over the past 20 years in the reviving the contentious “plan- its use of the zoning tool in 2013, the College Terrace Centre on El is one of the proposals that Plan- construction of about 1,300 (or ning community” zone, which after voters overturned in a ref- Camino Real and College Avenue. ning Director Jonathan Lait plans allows developers to negotiate erendum the city’s last “planned In nearly every case, the approval to present to the council as part of (continued on page 8) CITY COUNCIL Standard practice or ‘misleading’? Mayor’s official letter in support of SB 50 rankles council colleagues by Gennady Sheyner t didn’t take Palo Alto’s newly elected Mayor Adrian Fine I long to distinguish himself from most of his colleagues when it comes to housing policy — and to ruffle some feathers in the process. Fine, a passionate housing ad- vocate who became mayor on Jan. 6, submitted a letter to State Sen. Scott Wiener on Jan. 17, offering his wholehearted endorsement of Senate Bill 50, a highly conten- tious bill that aims to increase the Sammy Dallal Sammy density and height of housing de- velopments near transit corridors and in cities with plentiful jobs. In the letter, which is written Zia MacWilliams, a former employment specialist at Downtown Streets Team, left the organization in 2017 after the work on city of Palo Alto letterhead environment at the nonprofit caused her to have panic attacks that required medication. despite the fact that the opinion he expressed is personal and not reflective of his new office, Fine and 2019. Some of the employees took a shot at the city itself, which NONPROFITS spoke on condition of anonym- he argued is incapable of solving ity due to fear of retaliation or its significant housing problems harm to their current or future without Sacramento stepping in. Downtown Streets Team execs accused employment. Specific details of Fine, who has a master’s degree many alleged instances could in city planning, said in the letter not be confirmed — employees that his position is informed by his of harassment, creating drinking culture spoke of instances that took place three years of experience on the Former employees say the conditions at nonprofit headquarters in San Jose privately — but on the whole, the city’s Planning and Transportation accusations pointed to disturbing Commission, his four years on the constituted a hostile work environment patterns of behavior. The Weekly City Council and his prior work as by Sue Dremann and Gennady Sheyner is publishing details of those in- a city planner. cidents corroborated through “From all of that experience, I ne of Palo Alto’s most encouraging a drinking culture. story published on the San Jose documentation and multiple can tell you that local municipali- visible nonprofit organi- The accusations of misconduct Inside website. The former em- witnesses. ties like Palo Alto are incapable of O zations, the Downtown extend to CEO Eileen Richard- ployees alleged they were sub- Downtown Streets Team pro- solving the housing crisis — we Streets Team, is embroiled in son who founded the organiza- jected to inappropriate behavior vides mentoring and services, simply have too many rules, too a scandal in which its top ex- tion in Palo Alto in 2005, and her that went on for years. including housing vouchers, to much process, too much engage- ecutives have been accused of son, Chris Richardson, the chief The Weekly interviewed six chronically homeless individuals ment (and I know it’s impolitic sexual harassment, creating a program officer. The allegations people who worked for Down- to write that!) ... and too little hostile work environment and first came to light in a Dec. 11 town Streets Team between 2008 (continued on page 7) progress.” (continued on page 10) www.PaloAltoOnline.com • Palo Alto Weekly • January 24, 2020 • Page 5 Upfront 450 Cambridge Ave., Palo Alto, CA 94306 QUOTE OF THE WEEK (650) 326-8210 PUBLISHER William S. Johnson (223-6505) EDITORIAL ® Editor Jocelyn Dong (223-6514) Associate Editor Linda Taaffe (223-6511) Sports Editor Rick Eymer (223-6516) It was like a frat house Arts & Entertainment Editor Karla Kane (223-6517) Home & Real Estate Editor Heather Zimmerman (223-6515) all of the time. Assistant Sports Editor Glenn Reeves (223-6521) —Former employee, Downtown Streets Team, on Express & Digital Editor Jamey Padojino nonprofit’s alleged drinking culture. (223-6524) See story on page 5. Staff Writers Sue Dremann (223-6518), Elena Kadvany (223-6519), Gennady Sheyner (223-6513) Chief Visual Journalist Magali Gauthier (223-6530) Staff Visual Journalist Sammy Dallal (223-6520) Editorial Assistant/Intern Coordinator Lloyd Lee (223-6526) Editorial Intern Jonathan Guillen Around Town the pain in my quads let itself be ® Contributors Chrissi Angeles, Mike Berry, The DeLeon Difference Carol Blitzer, Peter Canavese, Edward Gerard Fike, known,” Watkins wrote. “However, Yoshi Kato, Chris Kenrick, Jack McKinnon, Stanford Hospital Children’s Packard Lucile I managed to power through that 650.543.8500 Sheryl Nonnenberg, John Orr, Monica Schreiber, and then just had the heat and Jay Thorwaldson humidity to deal with.” www.deleonrealty.com ADVERTISING Vice President Sales & Marketing READY TO ROLL ... The Magical Tom Zahiralis (223-6570) Bridge Playground in Mitchell 650.543.8500 | www.deleonrealty.com | DeLeon Realty CalBRE #01903224 Multimedia Advertising Sales Tiffany Birch (223-6573), Elaine Clark (223-6572), Park welcomed a special visitor Connie Jo Cotton (223-6571) last weekend — Angela Piazza, Real Estate Advertising Sales the reigning Ms. Wheelchair Neal Fine (223-6583), Rosemary Lewkowitz California. In a Facebook Live (223-6585) video from the event, Piazza read Legal Advertising Alicia Santillan (223-6578) SORE WINNER ... Sleepless from the book “The Adventures ADVERTISING SERVICES nights, long flights, humid of KatGirl” by Katherine Magnoli, Need a ride? Advertising Services Manager Need a ride? conditions and sore quads about a girl in a wheelchair Kevin Legarda (223-6597) haven’t dampened the spirits confronting a bully. She also sat Sales & Production Coordinators of Brendan Watkins, who this alongside Jay Gleckman, director Diane Martin (223-6584), Nico Navarrete (223-6582) week embarked on a global of education at the Magical DESIGN fundraising adventure.