BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Managing Editor
Palo Alto’s city manager isn’t going to ask the City Council whether he should release the city’s appraisal of Cubberley Community Center that voters will be asked to buy in November.
The city has denied a California Public Records Act request filed by the Daily Post for the appraisal of the property.
An appraisal would show how much an independent real estate expert thinks the property is worth. The city has agreed to pay the Palo Alto Unified School District $65.5 million for seven acres on the Cubberley campus if voters approve a half-cent sales tax.
If the city agreed to a price that is less than the amount in the appraisal, the pro-tax campaigners could tell voters they’re getting a bargain. On the other hand, if the city is overpaying for the property, it might cause voters to reject the sales tax increase.
The city said the law allows it to keep such appraisals confidential.
City Manager Ed Shikada told the Post after the city’s denial of the Post’s request that it’s not his decision alone to release the appraisal. He said council and the school board would need to be involved, and both are on summer break.
The Post followed up this week to find out whether council will discuss releasing the appraisal when it’s back in session on Aug. 10.
Shikada replied “there is no action planned for the council to reconsider this request.”
The $65.5 million transaction was approved in October 2024 by council and the school board, contingent on the city raising the money with a tax.
Councilwoman Julie Lythcott-Haims and former school board member Jennifer DiBrienza led the committees that confidentially negotiated the price.
DiBrienza is now heading up the campaign to get the sales tax approved, according to finance forms filed with the City Clerk’s office by the pro-tax campaign.
According to those finance forms, DiBrienza has so far pitched in $5,600 of her own money to the campaign, which raised a total of $9,875 between March 1 and June 30.
Residents have questioned council’s decision not to mention the land purchase on the ballot for the half-cent sales tax.
Instead, the question asks if the city should make Cubberley’s buildings safer, upgrade deteriorating wiring and plumbing, acquire outdoor space, maintain safe and clean streets and prepare for natural disasters.
“It just seems off to me – I mean we can’t really do it without the purchase of the land,” resident Phyllis Brown told council members during the June 8 meeting.
In a letter to council, resident Penny Ellson asked if the city mistakenly left out the land purchase in the ballot question.
Only 34% of Palo Alto voters surveyed in January said buying the Cubberley land was very or extremely important, and the measure needs 50% to pass. The city opted to include issues that ranked higher with voters, such as updating the building’s plumbing and electrical, Assistant Director of Administrative Services Christine Paras told the council on June 8.
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