This seems extreme to me. Have there been thefts from the desks of absent employees? Not allowing Palo Alto citizens to freely access city hall sends a very unwelcoming signal.

Where did all the comments go? This blog was originally published on 11/26 with 26 comments and then again yesterday with only several comments with a few repeated.

Is there a reason for deleting all the original comments, especially the ones highlighting all the money wasted on City Hall "wayfindibg" systems for the public that's now banned?

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Banning the public from PA City Hall
Uploaded: Nov 26, 2023

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by Diana Diamond
Banning the public from PA City Hall
Nov 26, 2023
26 comments | 3,186 views

Unbelievable. Why not put in cameras if he is so worried about theft? Exactly how many theft occurrences have happened? Why is "City Hall" unaccessible to the public? Never heard of this. Even extremely large cities with much bigger populations than Palo Alto do not have a "lock down" in place for floors above the main floor. City employees, should be accessible to the public. Shakida has now put a wall where people of this city, and this wall is a one directional wall where the people who live in the city can not access the city building. Unheard of.

Do you not realise that most companies do not allow visitors into their buildings unless it is in the lobby or front entrance? Try to go to any other large tech firm, private business, etc. and the same will happen. You have to have an appointment to meet someone, if you show up unannounced, you will either be turned away or if the person has time to see you, you will be escorted to their floor or office by security personell or staff. Why does everyone make such a stink about things that are currently in practice around the area or in the business world?

Add to that, I saw an interesting online article about a railroad bridge in the UK that is scheduled to be closed for repairs (complete with a photo of crumbling infrastructure) and ensuing problems for commuters. I thought it interesting enough to send to the City Transportation Department as an FYI since we face a similar problem with the bridge near El Palo Alto tree. I looked up the email address and sent the UK site but it bounced back. No such address! I had copied and pasted the address from the City online site.

Palo Alto was one of the last places to add this necessary employee safety measure. Why the hysteria? Has Diana Diamond ever tried to visit other cities/public agencies? Try the Santa Clara Valley Water District and many others. The public is not barred from entering, they just need to call the person they want to see and be let up to the office area. As usual, she is trying to make a mountain out of a molehill.

Place your bets if the City Manager has a "sergeant in the trunk" anywhere in City Hall such as cameras or GPS as used in many police departments to track beat cops to know exactly where and what his paid employees actually do when they are being paid to work in their offices or at home. So very easy to do the bare minimums to avoid being fired when there is 0% public transparency at a work site. As if City Hall needs to have the security of the Pentagon or CIA with escorts everywhere for non-VIPs! Fine, but then I want to be able to monitor them ANYTIME while they work.

How fondly I recall the Shallow Alto City Manager in 1998 ordering her city staff to sandbag her house when Palo Alto flooded instead of clearing creek debris during a 100 year rainstorm. Guess what her golden exit handshake pension pays annually? And ditto the cash-in-pocket of all the city staff and elected officials who've dithered and pointed fingers at others for over ***23*** years while not fixing the Newell Street and Chaucer Street bridges which caused some of that flooding.

@neighbor of PA - your post suggests that calls are answered and one can easily do business at City Hall. If only.

History, reputation, and personal experience contribute to why I agree with Ms. Diamond and others that this is a serious negative. Shikada shields himself from the public, was supportive of a police chief who favored encryption, and without good reason subjected Palo Alto to an onerous curfew in 2020 that, thankfully, ended several days earlier than he wanted, thanks to public pressure and civil liberty concerns. And he functions without accountability. Ditto many of the senior staff. And City Staff has a poor reputation when it comes to availability and responding to calls. The last time I went to City Hall (about 3 weeks ago) I quickly concluded that I was not going to be able to interact with a person and left. I suspect that is the desired outcome. Please also keep in mind that Palo Alto City personnel work an on-premises schedule that was reduced significantly years ago and reduced further because of Covid and WFH. In-person availability is very, very limited. Accountability is very, very limited. Getting things done is very, very limited.

The silver lining of all this limitation is that the CM will have a heck of a time convincing the public that a new building is needed! Heck, they barely use the one they have.

I am puzzled. If no one is working at City Hall, then how is one to do business with the City? Is everything supposed to go through email and online form submission? I agree that many office buildings have increased security, but all of them that I know of have a person or persons in the lobby to answer questions, check people in, etc. I would rather pay someone to be available to help people find their way than pay for another assistant to the City Manager or give all of the executive staff another large raise. Are there no departments left where you need to go to a counter to transact business? What happens to residents who don't necessarily use computers? Weird.