After facing a backlash for suggesting that the community's traffic concerns are "exaggerated," Mayor Liz Kniss issued a public apology on Monday night and announced that the city will hold a town meeting in October focused on the topic.
Kniss said she has heard from "all over the community" in the two weeks since she made her comments at the July 30 meeting. At that time, Kniss suggested that some local streets -- including Channing Avenue and Alma Street -- aren't as congested as some residents have maintained. She also noted that when she drives to or from City Hall, she seldom encounters "real traffic."
"If you're willing to try alternate routes, not go your normal route, I think you'll find that traffic is not as overwhelming as you might think," Kniss said at the July meeting.
Many in town don't share her assessment. The city's annual citizens survey shows increasing concerns about traffic flow, with only 42 percent of the respondents giving the city positive reviews when asked about "ease of travel by car." A decade ago, the proportion was 65 percent, according to the National Citizen Survey.
In Crescent Park, which has been struggling with traffic issues, particularly along and around Middlefield Road, her comments were met with shock and disappointment. John Guislin, a Middlefield Road resident who has long lobbied officials for safety improvements along the prominent artery (the city last year approved road redesigns aimed at improving safety), and Greg Welch, a member of a recently formed citizens group aimed at addressing traffic, issued a statement on the neighborhood's message board criticizing her comment.
"We listened carefully to the recording of Mayor Kniss at Council on Monday night where she essentially denied that we have traffic problems in Palo Alto. Astounding!" Guislin and Welch wrote. "This appears to be willful ignorance of the many issues residents live with due to congested traffic.
"Her view might be considered a part of her support for commercial interests who want to continue growing commercial activity in and around downtown."
They encouraged others to email Kniss to inform them about their traffic concerns. On Monday, Kniss indicated that she has received the message and apologized to residents "about misjudging the complexity and intensity of our traffic."
"I heard from all over this community about the trouble with traffic, the traffic jams and the traffic difficulties," Kniss said.
Kniss said the special meeting on traffic will take place on Oct. 22 at City Hall.
Comments
Menlo Park
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:33 pm
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:33 pm
In addition to impacting Crescent Park, based on the non-stop flood of traffic crossing the Chaucer Street Bridge leaving Palo Alto in the afternoon, downtown Palo Alto and Stanford appear to be the major source of cut-through traffic and congestion backups in the Menlo Park Willows Neighborhood also. To many offices! Too little housing.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:47 pm
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:47 pm
Schools are back. Wait for more traffic at school commute times. It has been so much easier the last few weeks, but we shall return to normal problems as the status quo.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:50 pm
Registered user
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:50 pm
I'd love to know exactly how many letters she got, one of which is mine sent on 7/31 and to which I've gotten no response from the Mayor or from any of the other city officials copied even though I asked legitimate questions, some of which are sadly of long standing.
I'm curious -- did anyone get a response to their letters>
Maybe we should all paste our letters here, compile them and print them up for the October meeting?
Old Palo Alto
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:53 pm
on Aug 13, 2018 at 9:53 pm
Heartfelt apology for her big faux pas (embarrassing or tactless act or remark).
Her response? Call a Meeting! Nothing to fix the problem or to improve the situation, just an opportunity to promote her favored candidates for council and to display their pseudo sympathy. And to waste the residents time.
I don't like being fooled, I won't be there.
Good timing to talk to the public. Right before the election!
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 13, 2018 at 10:01 pm
Registered user
on Aug 13, 2018 at 10:01 pm
@Transparent election maneuver, you say "just an opportunity to promote her favored candidates for council." Please elaborate. How many and who are they?
Does that also include Rick Boone who's made transportation his main platform but is still in fact-finding mode so it's tough to get answer on whether he favors spending tens of million of dollars on "traffic diets" and bollards blocking out driveway access or other specifics.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 13, 2018 at 10:44 pm
on Aug 13, 2018 at 10:44 pm
After nearly two years in office Liz Kniss goes off script and accidentally reveals how she really feels about traffic, and is immediately forced to issue an apology and offer residents a town meeting to make amends. [Portion removed.]
Downtown North
on Aug 13, 2018 at 11:23 pm
on Aug 13, 2018 at 11:23 pm
[Post removed.]
Greene Middle School
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:40 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:40 am
Ask any stay-at-home mom, the traffic is terrible; we know the roads like the back of our hands. I worry that children biking will be hit by cars. When I grew up here and graduated in 1984, there were no traffic signals between Paly and T & C because there were so few cars. Alma is terrible during rush hour. Waze, Google maps, they all map out the quickest routes. Liz is clued-out if she thinks there are secret alternate routes during rush hour; they are all found by technology, no hiding. PAPD says in our city of 67,000, the city swells to 200,000 during the weekdays.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:23 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:23 am
Actually I think "Transparent election maneuver" is right in saying, "Call a Meeting! Nothing to fix the problem or to improve the situation, just an opportunity to promote her favored candidates for council and to display their pseudo sympathy. And to waste the residents time."
Yup. We waste too much time trying and failing to get REAL answers without this theater of the absurd. They'd have to block out 50 hours -- 2 SOLID days -- to let the Ross Road petitioners speak for their piddling 1 minute, forget about all the other likely outraged speakers from other neighborhoods -- Arastradero, Middlefield, Crescent Park, Hamilton -- which would run for days more.
Unless the CC meeting format changed from 1-minute statements, perfunctory "thanks for your input" and the mayor's gavel silencing all audience reaction, there's nothing to be gained no matter how long the meeting ran.
If Liz, the cc and the city manager now responsible for Transportation were sincere, they'd have seen that we get responses to our specific concerns unique to each neighborhood. But they haven't.
Midtown
on Aug 14, 2018 at 5:46 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 5:46 am
"Let them eat cake" - Marie Antoinette, Queen of France to the working class during the French Revolution.
"If you’re willing to try alternate rules, not go your normal route, I think you’ll find that traffic is not as overwhelming as you might think," - Mayor Liz Kniss to the common residents of Palo Alto, enduring traffic congestion every work day.
Remember this when you vote in November.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:00 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:00 am
It is so imperious for Liz Kniss to make residents come to a town meeting to explain Palo Alto traffic to her, like it is some kind of obscure problem that she has never heard of before. Residents have been complaining about traffic congestion for YEARS.
Why doesn't Liz just get in her car and try driving the routes residents have been complaining about? Wouldn't experiencing Palo Alto traffic first hand give Liz a much more visceral understanding of the problem than listening to even more residents complain?
As usual, it is not about understanding the problem. It is all about Liz being on stage where she can virtue signal her compassion for the plight of ordinary Palo Alto residents.
Adobe-Meadow
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:10 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:10 am
Voters think traffic might get better if only the right people and plan are in place. They actually think things will get better with the current same amount of cars on the road.
Aint. Gonna. Happen.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:55 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 6:55 am
'Let's call a meeting' is part and parcel of her decades long confidence game of pretending to be a champion of residents while mercilessly and aggressively pushing for the urbanization of a small college town that has never been equipped to support massive urbanization and growth. She is the total opposite of a resident champion.
Liz Kniss, more than any other single PA politician in memory, has been responsible for the perpetual traffic mess, which she initially denied even existed. The only reason she is calling a meeting about traffics the fear that the outrage would sweep her protege, Cory Wolbach, out of office.
Old Palo Alto
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:11 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:11 am
Perhaps people should try Cowper between Oregon and Embarcadero instead of Middlefield? That street isn't very busy. (It also has a ton of available parking).
Seriously, I live in Old Palo Alto. The other day, at 10:30 in the morning, it took me 30 minutes to get to the intersection of Page Mill and Foothill. I try not to drive during peak commute times. Now that school is in session, I will try not to go anywhere near Paly around 8 or 3. If Liz Kniss thinks traffic in Palo Alto isn't bad, I wonder if she is spending much time here.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:13 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:13 am
Kniss is so disconnected from the reality of
what is happening in this City that she downplays
the traffic and suggests a cut-through alternate
where there is an elementary school.An apology
and another meeting to educate the public isn't
good enough. She represents the status quo - more
of the same,which is destroying this City,it's
neighborhoods,its viability,it's character. She crossed the line - she needs to resign from the City Council.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:59 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 7:59 am
Wrong again, maurucio. Mauricio. In your haste to bash kniss and wolbach, you ignore the fact that palo alto residents want these meetings. It is part of the communication that residents effect of the city. If there was no meetingyou would be complaining that the council is ignoring the people.
If you are so unhappy with kniss why don't you start a recall. Oh wait....
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 8:57 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 8:57 am
Wrong as always Bolinas. This meeting is a sham meeting, similar to the stunt Kniss pulled during the voting on the commercial development cap, "Accidentally" pushing the wrong button in order to justify a revote that would give Wolbach a chance to change his vote.
This sham meeting is supposed to relieve the pressure that's been building up against her since her absurd comments re traffic, and of course would not alleviate the traffic nightmare she is responsible for.
Crescent Park
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:01 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:01 am
QUOTE: "If you’re willing to try alternate rules, not go your normal route, I think you’ll find that traffic is not as overwhelming as you might think," - Mayor Liz Kniss to the common residents of Palo Alto, enduring traffic congestion every work day.
Not a very practical suggestion on the part of the mayor as all it does is create traffic gridlock in some other area when drivers begin to explore & utilize alternative routes to save travel time.
This approach can also lead to more gas consumption if taking a 'roundabout' route to get somewhere. Not a very environmental approach for a town that prides itself in being environmentally concious.
Lastly, why wait until October to address this issue with a 'town hall meeting'?
Place it on an upcoming CC agenda immediately & try to address the problem pro-actively.
And don't waste money hiring another 'consultant' to assist in the resolution of a common sense problem.
Registered user
Midtown
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:11 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:11 am
re: QUOTE: "If you’re willing to try alternate rules, not go your normal route, I think you’ll find that traffic is not as overwhelming as you might think," - Mayor Liz Kniss to the common residents of Palo Alto, enduring traffic congestion every work day.:
And when we do try that, the response from the residents that live on the "alternate" routes is to complain to the city and demand speed bumps and other devices to deter the use of the "alternate" routes.
You can't have it both ways.
/marc
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:16 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:16 am
I don't think we need any more meetings. We have sent emails, attended city meetings, been to outreach meetings and even answered surveys. We don't want another platform for the council to "educate" us on how to alleviate traffic. It isn't a case of the public or even commuters to be educated. It is getting some real solutions implemented and this hasn't even started.
We have no clear solutions to parking in downtown, we have been promised electronic signage with real spaces available, we haven't got them. We have confusing permits and zones that only those who park regularly understand. We have no pay machines at most lots and no apps to help us find a spot or to pay for parking. This technology is available but not in Palo Alto.
We have no clear indications that any cooperation between neighboring cities to do with traffic and public transportation exists. The thread about the JCC shows no buses or shuttles to get there. School is back in session and once again there appears to be no headway on improvements in getting students to our high schools and middle schools by bus or shuttles.
Regular commuters coming off our highways have to drive through town to their regular workplace. We have no offramp lots and no shuttles to downtown, Cal Ave or even Stanford destinations from these highways.
Caltrain is a north/south public transit, but in regard to east/west, across the Bay or from the Coast, there is no efficient service. FANG companies have their own transportation for their own employees but anyone working for a smaller company has nothing.
Real action is needed. Traffic and transportation is not a Palo Alto issue, it is a regional issue. Rick Boone is having a traffic and transportation summit on Thursday in Midtown - Palo Alto Cafe, 4 - 5 pm. Not a vague meeting in October. He at least can see there is a problem and has ideas. He is also ready to listen, a rare act from a politician.
I say give us no more meetings for us to listen to council telling us how we can solve our own problems. Instead, give us some real aids to solving the problems. We cannot and will not all be able to bike and walk to solve the issues. Putting in expensive bike boulevards will not solve a problem that is bigger than Palo Alto. Reducing lanes and traffic calming measures do not make the problems go away, they just change the areas where traffic is a mess. Forcing traffic to pass elementary schools is not a solution and sadly building housing won't solve traffic or parking issues.
Wake up mayor, it is about those of us who live in Palo Alto needing to get where we want to go in a sensible amount of time. It is not about getting votes for the next election.
Registered user
College Terrace
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:54 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:54 am
If only, instead of (or in addition to) her apology, the Mayor could revisit some of the many votes she cast while inexplicably ill-informed about traffic realities. Alas, it is not possible to undo certain things.
As for the Town Hall, given all the input the public has been giving about traffic impacts for quite some time now, the purpose of the meeting must be to educate City Hall about the real-world impact of over-authorization of office development. And under-parked buildings. And occupancy rates that exceed formulaic expectations. And unsynchronized traffic signals. Etc.
I hope senior planning staff are required to attend. Just as the mayor "heard from the community" they might learn something, too. Hope springs eternal, after all, and this place isn't yet too far gone.
another community
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:57 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 9:57 am
I relocated to Palo Alto from the San Fernando Valley. Traffic congestion over there is far worse. Palo Alto commute traffic is a cakewalk.
Mayor Kniss appears to be a small town mayor with a big city perspective as she is not overly concerned with trivial whining over a commonplace occurrence. A big city mayor actively promotes redevelopment and the gentrification of poorer neighborhoods. Displacement of certain individuals is like a natural selection. If you wish to live somewhere, one must survive an oftentimes hostile environment in order to flourish.
In Palo Alto, this means having the financial resources to reside here. If you cannot or do not, then move some somewhere else. Simple as that. The President Hotel issue runs along these lines. In this case, the financial environment has changed and there are human dinosaurs still striving to exist in a changing environment where they may no longer belong.
Nature doesn't work that way and neither does human existence. Traffic congestion is a natural by-product of population and employment densities and relocation is a natural alternative when one can no longer afford to live somewhere.
Go Dodgers!
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 10:07 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 10:07 am
When the Mayor went off script for a moment, her solution was to just shift the mess she had created from some neighborhoods to others via cut through driving. That says everything we needed to know of the gist of her endless participation in PA politics. Create unsolvable problems, pretend your policies are good for the residents(vibrancy anybody?), then speak like Mary Antoinette and offer absurd solution that would just aggrevate the problem, while intially denying there was a problem in the first place.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 10:32 am
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 10:32 am
"In Palo Alto, this means having the financial resources to reside here. If you cannot or do not, then move some somewhere else. Simple as that."
Ever hear the expression " not for a New York minute"? Think the very wealthy New Yorkers would tolerate it taking 8 years to sync an unnecessary traffic light? Or any of our other traffic absurdities?
Fuhgeddaboudit
Web Link
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:10 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:10 am
I was one of the many who e-mailed the City Council while the Council meeting was stilll ongoing. Like Kniss e-mailed me back to say that she would like to drive around with me, so I e-mailed my weekly schedule of volunteering. Never heard back from her. Maybe because so many e-mailed her their opinions.
another community
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:14 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:14 am
Liz Kniss, for a brief moment, spoke the truth about PA traffic complaints and she was, and will continue to be, punished for it. That truth is that PA traffic -- for which actual measurements of various roads/intersections exist -- isn't bad in many locations.
Where there ARE problems, the issue may very well be "traffic calming" and unreasonable speed limits and signage.
With very MODEST changes to allow the free flow of traffic, congestion would improve greatly.
But this demonstrable truth (and volumes of supporting data) goes against one of the basic tenets of local "religion": which consists of tiresome mantras about growth, Stanford, traffic, outsiders, etc.
I realize that this observation is likely to be attacked and edited.
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:33 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:33 am
Well stated, neighbor. I am sure you will incur the wrath of the usual suspects. I agree with you, traffic is not that terrible in palo alto. There are times when certain streets move slower. However complaining about traffic has been part of the pslo alto fabric for decades.
Adobe-Meadow
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:35 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:35 am
There are no traffic calming barriers on the freeway. Why are cars stuck in traffic?
There were no(or few)traffic calming structures in the 1990's through 2000's
why did traffic become significantly bad at that time and has never recovered.
Do you think the number of cars has anything to do with the above scenarios since traffic calming measures were not involved at all and traffic at that time became horrible? If the number of cars continued to increase why would you expect things to be better despite how many roundabouts were removed?
Downtown North
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:48 am
on Aug 14, 2018 at 11:48 am
Shame of Mayor Kniss for her flippant comments on traffic problems in Palo Alto. Traffic cost Americans $78 BILLION every year from fuel and wasted time- Doesn't that count towards the economics of Palo Alto? Here is a great podcast with scientific facts about the monetary cost caused by traffic.
Web Link
Midtown
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:00 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:00 pm
This sound so similar to the airplane noise problem. The proposed attempt at solving the problem is another meeting. I said for months that listening to another droning official, city or FAA, was not going to solve anything and it didn’t! Wish there was someplace to bet on these things ... I could have made enough to buy a house somewhere from traffic congestion and/or aircraft noise pollution. Wanna bet this latest meeting will result in nada? Huge waste of time?
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:02 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:02 pm
If one could get Liz Kniss to be honest for just one moment, she would repeat the claims of PAF and their allies, that the best way to reduce traffic is to build much more housing and offices.
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:07 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:07 pm
Does Kniss reside in Palo Alto? If she does, I’m surprised she hasn’t experienced jams and gridlock.
Only thing we can do is, aside from risk sore vocal chords from stridently protesting in Town Hall meetings, is to VOTE.
Keep the peace, neighbors. We are stronger united against bad policy than divided.
Greater Miranda
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:16 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:16 pm
The physical dimensions and the transportation infrastructure in Palo Alto are not going to change anytime soon. No amount of magical thinking about alternate forms of transportation is going to fix that. More on-call services will only increase traffic density - New York City is facing that now, as is SF. And the "traffic calming" programs have only made traffic flow worse, not to mention the behavior of drivers. And I could go on.
Capping development and telling the tech behemoths to start establishing branches in cities across the US that need jobs and have affordable housing is pretty much our only option. I am hard put to it to think that we'll start using eminent domain to widen roads.
Good luck . . .
Another Palo Alto neighborhood
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:17 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:17 pm
Do residents actually expect that their will never be traffic jams in the city? I think that many residents are out of touch with reality when it comes to traffic. And then you have certain posters that use a story like this to endlessly bash the councilmember de jour that they do not like ( 4 postings from one person basically repeating the same thing over and over)
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:20 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:20 pm
"Schools are back. Wait for more traffic at school commute times."
One more time: What -- if anything -- is being done to coordinate shuttle scheduled with school schedules to reduce one of the most predictable causes of traffic? No pricey consultants or infrastructure funding or tax hikes required.
Too cost-effective? Too sensible?
Barron Park
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:54 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:54 pm
This is simple, folks....the constant building of more housing and offices ("development") is creating more and more traffic. The more development we allow ( and I mean "we" as we vote for our city leaders) the worse traffic is going to get.
Registered user
Community Center
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:58 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 12:58 pm
[Post removed.]
Adobe-Meadow
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:03 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:03 pm
I work on coordinating the VTA 88 bus "school trippers" with the Gunn High School bell schedule, including when there are early dismissals, etc. This is work I started a decade ago when we got VTA to create the school trippers. I continue to do this volunteer work, even though my twin daughters graduated from Gunn in 2011. I get help from Gunn HS staff and the VTA. On the typical school day, over 100 students ride to Gunn on this bus. And well over 800 students commute to Gunn by bicycle.
Liz Kniss is hosting Cory Wolbach's campaign kickoff at her house on Cowper between Embarcadero and Oregon Expressway.
Charleston Meadows
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:07 pm
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:07 pm
If people weren't in such a hurry all the time, there would be no traffic congestion to acknowledge or complain about.
I get there when I get there.
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 1:15 pm
Arthur Keller, thanks for your work with the VTA but what about the city coordinating the Palo Alto shuttles? And maybe the VTA 35?
"Liz Kniss is hosting Cory Wolbach's campaign kickoff at her house..."
Thanks. Other candidates? What about for Alison Cormack?
Registered user
Green Acres
on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:35 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 2:35 pm
Liz Kniss couldn't be so ignorant as to not know there are traffic problems in Palo Alto. She was adopting willful ignorance so all the overdevelopment projects she supports don't seem like they're creating more traffic problems. And the meeting she is calling is obviously unnecessary. If she wants to know the traffic problems she can just review all the traffic complaints at past CC meetings where she was present, at least physically. The only thing the meeting will accomplish is that some of the less informed will think that Kniss is actually listening to the residents and may actually do something for them. [Portion removed.]
Registered user
Adobe-Meadow
on Aug 14, 2018 at 4:16 pm
Registered user
on Aug 14, 2018 at 4:16 pm
@ Online Name, the Palo Alto Crosstown Shuttle is coordinated with JLS and the middle school formerly known as Jordan. The VTA 35 is not coordinated with other schedules, as far as I know, not even Caltrain.
Tom DuBois campaign kickoff is at Hoover Park on Sunday, August 19 between 1 and 3 pm. Web Link is his website.
Eric Filseth campaign kickoff is at Robles Park, Park Blvd, on Sunday, August 26 between 2 and 4 pm. Web Link is his website.
Alison Cormack already had her campaign kickoff. I understand Liz Kniss was one of the speakers.
Registered user
Adobe-Meadow
on Aug 16, 2018 at 3:30 pm
Registered user
on Aug 16, 2018 at 3:30 pm
Wow! I always thought our CC members, and especially our mayor, should be on top of all our issues/problems and be leaders in solving them. I guess I was wrong. A weak, late, and feeble attempt by Mayor Kniss. I will not attend any meetings. It would be a waste of time. There is nothing that our good citizens could or would say that would cause changes...policy changes, ordinance changes, or any other kind of changes that would go against our politically motivated and developer friendly CC pro growth majority. Mayor Kniss is working very hard to make sure her favored/supported candidates running for CC in November will win and maintain the current majority's positions. Don't expect any positive changes for a better quality of life or major improvement on our homelessness, and very low and low income housing situations.
Registered user
Duveneck/St. Francis
on Aug 17, 2018 at 12:41 pm
Registered user
on Aug 17, 2018 at 12:41 pm
In my observations over the years Mayor and Council member Kniss has had a definite knack for making statements that were less than well thought out. From years ago when suggesting the city should acquire a motel on El Camino near Dina's Shack, that she believed to be less than a first class lodging, for use to house homeless persons only to be informed by the owner that it was not for sale, for suggesting that plaques be mounted in the city hall lobby commemorating each city council member for serving, to the "Iconic" bicycle bridge that has yet to be started, Ms Kniss has outdone herself on speak first and think last.
She continues to have a Winchester kind of belief that if the construction stops in Palo Alto that the city will die. Being out of touch with reality is a kind of trait with our mayor that apparently endears her to the community as she has been elected and reelected so many times
Registered user
Greenmeadow
on Aug 18, 2018 at 9:06 pm
Registered user
on Aug 18, 2018 at 9:06 pm
She reminds me of Marie Antoinette's "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche".
Registered user
Embarcadero Oaks/Leland
on Aug 20, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Registered user
on Aug 20, 2018 at 7:55 pm
Here are the City Council Candidates statements; they offer pretty clear and different views re what to do about traffic as 4 out of the 5 did.
Web Link
Cory sees more "traffic calming" and traffic as a zero-sum issue diets" a and wants to "Reduce traffic by making it safer to bike or walk, ..."
Whereas Pat Boone wants "City Council to finally solve traffic
and transportation issues - let's get rid of the traffic back-ups.."
Tom DuBois "Let's end the era of aggressive development... that exceed intended zoning adversely affect traffic, parking, ..."
Eric Filseth will "continue combatting our worsening traffic through incentives, disincentives, technology, and sensible growth management..."