With Election Day three weeks away, Palo Alto City Council will hold a special meeting Tuesday to possibly release the secret appraisal it used to decide to buy a portion of the Cubberley Community Center for $65.5 million.
Voters will decide in the upcoming election whether to approve Measure J, a half-cent sales tax increase, the proceeds of which would be used to pay the Palo Alto Unified School District for the Cubberley property. Ballots have already been mailed out for the election.
Tuesday’s meeting is scheduled for 5 p.m. in the council chambers at 250 Hamilton Ave. and significantly it is not a closed-door session. Previous council meetings about the appraisal have been held behind closed doors.
The Post has been seeking the appraisal since July. A California Public Record Act request was denied by City Manager Ed Shikada, saying the council and school board needed to approve its release.
The Post argued that state law says that once a government agency had reached an agreement to purchase property, the appraisal must be released. However, the city ignored that argument.
On Oct. 5, the city once again refused to release the appraisal and instead issued a press release saying the appraiser, who wasn’t identified, said the property was worth between $43.6 to $60.2 million. The city emphasized that the appraisal was done in 2024, and with inflation the top price would will increase to $65.5 million when the deal would close.
Nobody on council or in the city administration has explained why the appraisal needed to be kept secret. Sometimes government agencies withhold documents that contain personnel information, medical records or details about a law enforcement investigation, but it would seem unlikely that such information would be included in a document about the value of a piece of real estate.
In the upcoming election, not only will voters decide Measure J, but they will also decide whether to return incumbents Vicki Veenker and Ed Lauing to council for another four years.
Council doesn’t understand that they need to show all their cards before they ask us for the money. The “trust us” era is over in Palo Alto. That ended when Miriam Green’s lawyers discovered the city had ripped off its natural gas customers to the tune of $17 million. When the city got caught, they agreed to settle. But the fraud would have continued if she hadn’t sued. That’s when I stopped trusting the city. It looks like Measure J is another ripoff. If the city wants my money, they need to earn my trust.
The only reason Veenker and Lauing will get reelected is that the other candidates are ding dongs.
Keystone Kouncil.
Even it the appraisal turns out to be lower than the selling price, the strategic value of an acre of residential land can not simply be applied to land for a public community center that benefits all Palo Altans. The public value of keeping facilities for education, arts, recreation, culture, and community services in Palo Alto, avoiding costs of finding an alternative site, controlling future use of this property, and avoiding uncertainties in the future are all reasons for voting Yes on Measure J. The residents have waited too, too long for this opportunity to rebuild Cubberley. Community First!
Ken, since you’re a “Community First!” kind of guy, why would community oriented people raise the sales tax, which hurts low and middle income people harder than the rich? Why aren’t we taxing the city’s big companies or its wealthiest residents instead of forcing the poor to pay for this? Shouldn’t Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs’ widow pay an equal percentage of their income as, say, the woman who is living in her car and barely scraping by? You are a “Community First” guy, right?
I am sorry to have to disagree with the above comments as it is usually not my style to respond. I voted for Ed Lauing and Vicky Veenker, as I was entitled to three votes. Ed is simply one of the nicest and kindest and fairest civil servants I have ever met. Vicky is a great mayor. She loves the City of Palo Alto and goes to every event. I would vote for other candidates as well, they were well qualified and hard working. I was kind of obligated to vote for myself, but good news: You need not vote for me because I voted for Measure J, warts and all!
Yep, the whole thing’s a big secret. Trick or treat.
Is there an appraisal? By now, I think there has never been one. If there was, what are so afraid to disclose?
I usually think Palo Altan’s are smarter than to shoot themselves in their own foot, yet most of the above ill informed comments run counter to that assumption, bubbling over with conspiracy theories and paranoia. You embarrass yourselves.
Ignore the noise – vote for Measure J.
There’s no conspiracy or paranoia that I can see, just bad governance. Most people want to see Cubberley improved. The question is whether you hold your nose and accept the slipshod way the Council has handled it, or not.
I’m voting NO. Council improperly diverted city utility revenues and it took a lawsuit (thank you Miriam Green) to force them to keep their promises. I’m not going to trust them again.