BY DAVE PRICE
Daily Post Editor
Palo Alto City Council’s refusal to release the Cubberley appraisal isn’t the first time the city has withheld crucial information before a tax vote.
In November 2022, the city hid an audit showing it had banked a $40 million surplus before the community voted on Measure K, a tax on businesses.
The tax was approved by 67% of voters on Nov. 8, 2022.
The audit of the city’s 2021-22 fiscal year was released a week later, on Nov. 16, 2022.
The late Ze’ev Wurman, a Palo Alto resident, told the Post in 2023 that Palo Alto obviously had enough money, but the city hid this fact to get the tax through.
“Palo Alto is greedy,” said Wurman.
At a Feb. 13, 2023 City Council meeting, then-councilman Greg Tanaka said the city should have disclosed the surplus before the election.
“Why was this a surprise?” Tanaka asked.
This year, the withheld document is the audit the city obtained to help it negotiate a $65.5 million purchase price with the Palo Alto school district for seven acres of the Cubberley Community Center.
The Post has been asking the city for 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.
Usually, the city attorney decides whether to release documents requested through the CPRA. The Post was unable to find an example in recent years where city council decided what CPRAs would be released.
The $65.5 million would be paid using the proceeds of a proposed sales tax on the Nov. 3 ballot known as Measure J.
With the election approaching, City Council will meet tomorrow (Oct. 13) to decide whether to release the appraisal or appraisals, since one councilman has suggested the city obtained more than one appraisal.
Palo Alto’s current sales tax rate of 9.75% will jump to 10.25% if voters on Nov. 3 approve Measure J, a new tax to fund the $65.5 million purchase part of the Cubberley Community Center. If voters approve the multi-county mass transit tax RMT, the sales tax rate will go to 10.75%.
The only way to pay them back is to vote against all taxes, sales and otherwise, that the council and PAUSD put on the ballot in the future. No more slush funds with no accountability. They’re like “That was before I was on the council” or they change the subject if they were.
If the Council and staff think releasing the report will help pass the vote, they’ll release it. If they don’t it won’t be released.