BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
The city of Palo Alto has cut ties with a longtime volunteer after he was arrested for allegedly trying to meet up with underage girls.
Council voted on May 13 to remove Bob Wenzlau, 67, from the city’s Stormwater Oversight Committee, which he helped to create.
Wenzlau spearheaded a ballot measure in November 2017 to charge property owners about $200 a year for upgrading storm drains and pump stations throughout Palo Alto. The measure raises about $3.1 million a year.
Wenzlau has been on the Stormwater Oversight Committee since the measure passed. His second four-year term was set to expire in May 2025.
Palo Alto police arrested Wenzlau at his home in the Crescent Park neighborhood on April 11 for allegedly sending sexually explicit text messages to undercover police officers posing online as young girls.
“Wenzlau appears to be highly motivated to take action on his sexual desires toward children,” Officer Yolanda Franco-Clausen wrote in her police report.
Wenzlau led a nonprofit for eight years, called Neighbors Abroad, which organizes travel to Palo Alto’s sister cities.
Wenzlau is currently getting psychiatric treatment at a facility in Idaho, his attorney Dan Barton said in court on May 7.
Wenzlau is due back in court on June 12, and Barton said his client will appear in person.
Director of Public Works Brad Eggleston recommended that council remove Wenzlau from the Stormwater Oversight Committee “given that staff has lost contact with Mr. Wenzlau.”
Eggleston sent a single email to Wenzlau on April 15, four days after he was arrested, to see if he would be at the next meeting.
“I was very sorry to see the news last week,” Eggleston wrote. “I wanted to check with you about the meeting and the committee. What are your plans?”
The city provided a copy of Eggleston’s email after a California Public Records Act request by the Post. Wenzlau apparently didn’t reply.
Wenzlau’s arrest wasn’t mentioned in Eggleston’s report recommending Wenzlau’s removal. The decision was on council’s “consent calendar,” which is for routine items that are approved on a single vote without discussion.
The only person to mention Wenzlau at the meeting was Herb Borock, a city watchdog who tries to make sure that council and City Manager Ed Shikada are following the rules.
Borock said the city’s boards and commissions are under the purview of council, and not Shikada.
The city should state “the real reason” that Wenzlau is being removed, Borock said.
“It seems proper for this type of item to only be put on the agenda by council members, and not on the consent calendar,” Borock said.
“Wenzlau led a nonprofit for eight years, called Neighbors Abroad, which organizes travel to Palo Alto’s sister cities.” There may be something bigger going on here than simply Wenzlau’s individual crimes, as revolting as they are. It would be wise for the authorities to investigate Neighbors Abroad, including its subsidiaries, for potential child trafficking and other possible crimes related to the organization and its members.
Alvin above makes an excellent point about Neighbors abroad and sister cities. I don’t get why Palo Alto spends a fortune to send local officials on these junkets.
As for the storm water charges, I find it ironic that he ignored all specific reports about the continued flooding of various storm sewers AND dismissively attacked those who noted we weren’t getting good value for our expenditures.
If Neighbors Abroad is involved in something unsavory, I’m sure the police won’t ask about it. That would represent a lot of liability for the city. Better to just focus on the charges at hand and not ask too many open-ended questions. But I have to agree that it seemed strange to me that so many of our city’s leading lights were into these travel programs, like Neighbors Abroad or Sister Cities.