BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Candidates for Palo Alto City Council have been critical of City Manager Ed Shikada’s performance.
“I don’t think he’s done a great job,” Planning Commissioner Bryna Chang said in an interview.
Chang said residents have reasonable complaints — about traffic, code enforcement and Cal Ave. — yet nothing gets done.
Chang wants to stop closing City Hall every other Friday — a schedule she said is symbolic of the city’s lack of responsiveness.
“City staff is supposed to serve residents. That’s like their reason for being. And I don’t think our bias has been that way,” Chang said.
Mayor Vicki Veenker said she’s struggled to find the right balance between herself and Shikada in their respective roles.
Veenker said Shikada maintains a positive workplace culture that retains city employees. But there are times she’s expected something to be done, and the opposite has happened.
For example, one of Veenker’s first decisions on council in January 2023 was whether to allow a house to get built 20 feet from Los Trancos Creek
Council didn’t allow the house and decided the city should have rules for developments near creeks.
Veenker said she was eager for the creek protections to come back, but the discussion is still a couple months away.
“That is very frustrating to me,” she said in an interview, while acknowledging that council’s agendas are complex and full.
Councilman Ed Lauing said he’s been frustrated by Shikada’s lack of progress on Cal Ave. He wants to see more signs and kiosks that show where the businesses are.
Lauing also criticized Shikada for unilaterally replacing the city’s handcrafted, wooden park signs without going to council or the Parks and Recreation Commission first.
“Apart from the action, the process needs some attention. Because other folks should’ve known about it,” Lauing said in an interview
Parks Commissioner Yudy Deng said council members aren’t effectively monitoring Shikada, and he has more power than them.
“Council members should decide the trend of the city, not the city manager,” Deng said.
Deng pointed to the influx of RV dwellers and said Shikada should’ve addressed the issue earlier, when around 50 RVs were parked on the streets.
“Then we wouldn’t have today’s situation,” she said, as the RV count is now closer to 150.
Only Dr. Gary Gechlik had no complaints about Shikada, giving him an A+ grade for managing a $1 billion budget and over 1,000 employees.
Gechlik said Shikada has strong personal skills to navigate diverse interests.
“He’s a sweetheart. He works super, super hard,” Gechlik said.
Shikada, 63, has been Palo Alto’s city manager for the last eight years. Before that, he was general manager of utilities and San Jose’s city manager.
Council evaluates Shikada’s performance behind closed doors with facilitator Dan Rich, who was Mountain View’s city manager from 2011 to 2019.
“For example, one of Veenker’s first decisions on council in January 2023 was whether to allow a house to get built 20 feet from Los Trancos Creek
Council didn’t allow the house and decided the city should have rules for developments near creeks. Veenker said she was eager for the creek protections to come back, but the discussion is still a couple months away.”
Really?? If this is the most frustrating example she can cite over the last few years, she’s clearly not paying attention.
It also explains her failure to do anything to hold Mr Shikada accountable on the big issues.