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Gennady Sheyner
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About Gennady
Gennady Sheyner has been covering Palo Alto since 2008. His beats include City Hall, with a special focus on housing, utilities and transportation. He also covers regional politics for the Palo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Online and its sister publications. He has won awards for his coverage of elections, land use, business, technology and breaking news.A native of Ukraine, Gennady grew up in San Francisco and graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles, with a bachelor’s degree in English and from Columbia University with a master’s degree in journalism. Prior to joining Embarcadero Media, he spent three years covering breaking news and local politics for The Waterbury Republican-American, a daily newspaper in Connecticut. He is a massive fan of English football, marathons and churros.
Stories by Gennady
Downtown hotels look to add five-story 'wing'
The bustling hotel hub next to Palo Alto's downtown transit center may soon become more crowded -- and luxurious. The owner of Westin and Sheraton Hotel on El Camino Real won tentative praise Wednesday for his proposal to add a five-story "wing" to the hotel complex.[Wednesday, May 25, 2011]
City may raise fees for car chargers, solar panels
For Palo Alto residents, installing a solar panel or an electric-car charger is about to get a little more expensive. The city is proposing to raise permit fees for both solar panels and car chargers in July.[Wednesday, May 25, 2011]
City pursues 'optimistic' budget for police, fire
Palo Alto's message to its public-safety unions has been clear throughout this budget season: Give the city more than $4 million in concessions or else. On Tuesday, a City Council committee got a sense of what "else" could look like.[Tuesday, May 24, 2011]
Palo Alto weighs police, fire staff cuts
If Palo Alto's public-safety unions don't agree to millions of dollars in concessions, the city may have to cut 12 percent of its police force, eliminate a fire-engine company and consider instituting station "brownouts" to balance the annual budget, Interim Public Safety Director Dennis Burns wrote in a recent memo.[Monday, May 23, 2011]
Will the Great Recession usher in an Era of Engagement?
The national economy is sluggish, the state government is sclerotic and counties are pinching pennies, but Palo Alto's future will be warm, sunny and increasingly democratic.[Friday, May 20, 2011]
Analysis: The Great Recession's silver lining
A jaunt through Palo Alto City Hall these days can make visitors feel like they're on the set of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," with plastic sheets covering hallway floors, streaks of primer stretching along walls and curly wires dangling from circular holes in the ceiling. ==B Related stories:== ■ [http://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/show_story.php?id=21174 Will the Great Recession usher in an Era of Engagement?][Friday, May 20, 2011]
City creates 'Hospital District' for Stanford expansion
The largest development project in Palo Alto's history will soon have a brand new zoning district designed specifically to meet its needs. The Planning and Transportation Commission recommended creating a new "Hospital District" to accommodate the dramatic expansion of Stanford University Medical Center.[Wednesday, May 18, 2011]
Caltrain rethinks relationship with high-speed rail
A recent decision to start California's high-speed-rail line in Central Valley has prompted Caltrain to reconsider its seven-year-old partnership with the agency overseeing the controversial rail project, Caltrain officials said at a Town Hall meeting in Palo Alto Tuesday morning.[Wednesday, May 18, 2011]
Palo Alto expects dozens of new wireless facilities
Ready or not, dozens of new wireless facilities will soon be on the way to Palo Alto. That was the main message that emerged Monday night during the City Council's wide-ranging discussion of cell towers, distributed-antenna systems and other facilities designed to improve wireless service in the famously tech-savvy city.[Monday, May 16, 2011]
Palo Alto meeting to focus on Caltrain electrification
Caltrain's ongoing effort to electrify its train system will be the subject of Santa Clara County Supervisor Liz Kniss' Town Hall meeting in Palo Alto Tuesday morning.[Monday, May 16, 2011]