School board will vote on opposing anti-apartment Measure V

September 4, 2022 3:45 pm

BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

The Menlo Park City School District’s board on Thursday (Sept. 8) will vote on whether to come out against the Menlo Balance measure on the November ballot that could block a neighboring school district’s plans to build employee housing in Menlo Park, and make it difficult to build apartments in single-family-zoned neighborhoods.

The board will vote on the resolution which urges Menlo Park voters to check “no” on Measure V. The K-8 district serves much of Menlo Park and part of Atherton.

The board’s vote is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at 181 Encinal Ave. Here is a link to the proposed text.

The board at its Aug. 25 meeting had asked Superintendent Erik Burmeister and Public Information Officer Parke Treadway to draft a resolution that reflects the majority of the board. But the board will be able to make changes to the resolution before it votes on Thursday.

Measure V would require a vote of the people every time the city wants to change the zoning of a property from single-family housing to something else, such as for apartments. The Ravenswood City School District, which serves students in eastern Menlo Park and East Palo Alto, wants to build up to 90 apartments at the former Flood School site at 321 Sheridan Drive, which is zoned for single-family homes.

The resolution points out the district’s advocacy for more housing to be built in the area, especially housing for teachers.

“The board … urges the voters of Menlo Park to reject any measure that would seek to limit the ability of city planners and elected leaders to expand access to affordable housing, whereby allowing Menlo Park to be a place where all members of our community are valued and may live, work and thrive.”

Burmeister has already come out against the measure, signing one of the arguments opposing the measure.

Previous stories on Measure V, Menlo Balance

• Donors who oppose Measure V — they include Sobrato, Grove

• Donors who support Measure V — money is from just one part of town

• If Measure V passes, the city would get stuck paying legal fees to defend it in court

• Measure V may delay remodeling of fire station

• Fire chief won’t take sides on Measure V

• Ravenswood School Board votes to oppose Measure V — ballot measure called ‘disgraceful’

•
Council hears from both sides in the Measure V controversy

8 Comments

  1. It would be a good sign if the MP schools lined up on the side of the Ravenswood district. I think a PA school board member gave $1,000 to the ‘NO’ side, as did Heather Hopkins of the Las Limitas district. Measure V is a terrible ballot measure. It’s sponsored by residents who don’t want Ravenswood to have income property to provide a steady funding source to improve classroom instruction. And the Yes side doesn’t understand that the availability of apartments will attract and retain good teachers. To make it look like Measure V isn’t about the Flood School site, they made the measure apply to single-family zones in the entire city. So a fire station can’t expand without another election. And that’s probably the beginning. We’ll have elections every year on zoning changes because of this flawed measure. All to stop Ravenswood from building apartments on the Flood School site. I can’t believe they’re going to get away with this. Vote No on V.

  2. Measure V is badly flawed. The proponents are already talking about the need for future ballot measures to fix the problems with V. Sheesh! What a mess!

  3. It’s about time that the City Council and all of the government agencies in Menlo Park came out against the one thing that’s destroying our culture – single family homes. Our over reliance on this wasteful zoning simply wastes precious land that people need housing on. And it just perpetuates rich white people excluding everyone else from building generational wealth. I am heartened for the future tat the Menlo Park City Council is so willing to rezone R-1 properties to correct the inequities on the Penninsula. It’s about time we started the march against these exclusive single family homes and toward real equity.

  4. Thankfully, the majority of the School Board grasped that they have to work and live in this community and not next to the Sobratos, Groves, or the YIMBY foundation.

  5. The Measure V supporters showed their true colors last night. They couldn’t convince the board to drop their support based on the merits of their arguments. So they resorted to crude threats, like destroying the district’s foundation. The intimidation tactics worked. The board dropped the motion of support for Measure V. But do we have a community where we base decisions on bullying and intimidation? It showed how desperate the Menlo Balance people really are. They know they’re going to lose so they’re acting like Trump supporters.

  6. Bullying, like when the RCSD arranged to build a 90 unit monster in a residential neighborhood and told the community, “There’s nothing you can do about it, we’ve got the city council.” They refused any input until Measure V got the signatures. The fact is that no one who spent their lives and life savings building a home in Menlo Park did so wanting dense, affordable housing. They di so because they wanted the quiet streets that kids can play in safely. That’s what won.

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