In this week's Around Town column, read about recognition for departing Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou, changes to the city's parks and what Palo Alto residents want in 2024.

PARTING WORDS … After a year in the central chair, Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou is set to relinquish her leadership position on Jan. 8, the City Council's first meeting of the new year. If the city's loosely held tradition holds, the council the title will shift to Vice Mayor Greer Stone. It will then hold an election amongst its members to determine its vice mayor for 2024, an exercise that typically provides the only moment of suspense in the largely ceremonial meeting. And in yet another local tradition, the first act of the reorganized City Council will be to pass a resolution thanking Kou for her service as mayor. Kou is known around the region for being a feisty foe of Sacramento housing mandates and streamlined-approval laws. The resolution acknowledges this by calling her "a staunch advocate for local control of planning and development, opposing state legislation that could erode Palo Alto's quality of life and environment." It also recognizes her for her work on several local committees, including ones dealing with the future of the Cubberley Community Center and the former Fry's Electronics site, and on regional bodies such as the Cities Association of Santa Clara County. "Lydia's tenure as Mayor exemplifies her integrity, passion and dedication toward the betterment of Palo Alto, its residents and its business community," the resolution reads.

WHEN NATURE CALLS … Palo Alto has big ambitions when it comes to sprucing up its already popular parks and open space preserves. In the next year, the city plans to implement various safety improvements at Foothills Park to make it safer for pedestrians; fix up the damaged piling at the Baylands boardwalk; and enhance Seale Park by adding pathways, picnic tables and new playground equipment. But there is one particular and often overlooked park amenity that is quietly enjoying a renaissance in Palo Alto: the park bathroom. According to a newly released capital improvement plan, the city plans to move ahead in the next year with constructing bathrooms at Cubberley Community Center, Ramos Park and at Boulware Park, a Ventura neighborhood park that is now being expanded and enhanced. The city also plans to kick off the design process in the coming year for a new bathroom at the Magical Bridge playground in Mitchell Park. It wasn't always like this. In 2014, neighbors of Eleanor Pardee Park defeated a proposal to install a bathroom in their park, arguing that it would attract unwanted visitors. A similar argument – and outcome – took place at Johnson Park in 1994. The new bathrooms aren't facing any such opposition. During a recent Parks and Recreation Commission meeting, Chair Jeff Greenfield said that ideally the city would build a park bathroom every other year. Lam Do, superintendent of open space, parks and golf in the Community Services Department, cited insufficient funding to do so. Other projects on the preliminary list of improvements include new picnic areas, pathways and irrigation (and, yes, a remodeled restroom) at Rinconada Park. Robles Park would see improved pathways and resurfaced play areas. The city also plans to begin design work for Seale Park in Old Palo Alto, which includes new playground equipment, picnic tables, fencing and pathways. Heritage Park and Peers Park will also see playground updates and new benches, according to the plan.

NEW YEAR, NEW GOALS … When the City Council assembles for its annual retreat on Jan. 29, one of its key tasks will be to select annual priorities for 2024. To that end, the city has been surveying residents over the past few weeks to get their take on this topic. While the survey results are yet to be tallied, a cursory look through the preliminary survey findings suggest that affordable housing remains a top concern for many residents. Southgate resident Baq Haidiri said in the survey that the council's goal should be "adding more affordable housing to make it more vibrant and accessible to a diversity of people and reduce climate change from commuting," a sentiment shared by dozens of similar comments in the survey (which is now closed). Some residents suggested prioritizing bike improvements, free high-speed Internet access, airplane noise and climate change. Thomas Rindfleisch, a Crescent Park resident, made a pitch for flood protection around the San Francisquito Creek. "There is no perfect solution that will protect all creek-influenced residents from all future floods, especially in the face of increasing climate change effects," he wrote. "However, there are ways to reduce the risk for all creek residents substantially."