From: Phyllis Brown
To: Council, City
Subject: May 8 City Council meeting, item 14
Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026 6:16:24 PM
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Dear Mayor Veenker and City Council Members:
I look forward to hearing your thoughtful discussion of the Ordinance and two Resolutions related to placing a 1/2 cent Transactions and Use Tax Measure on the November 3 election ballot.
I am surprised that the ballot measure language does not include reference to the purchase of the seven acres of property currently owned by the PAUSD--that it only refers to repairs. Is the assumption that the property much be purchased in order for those repairs to happen? Is there good reason not to include reference to the purchase in the ballot language? I also recommend two minor edits of Section 2 in the Spending Guidelines Resolution (Attachment C).
Why not delete "part of" in the sentence
The Council plans to allocate the proceeds from the transactions and use tax to purchase the seven acres and implement part of
Phase 1 of the Cubberley Conceptual Master
Plan to modernize the aging buildings, grow the amount of green space for outdoor enjoyment, invest in local public spaces that provide recreation and culture, and prevent Cubberley from becoming even further obsolete.
Since it is a conceptual master plan, we know there will be changes as implementation occurs, so why not just say to implement phase 1?
The last sentence of that same paragraph lists community spaces at Mitchell Park, the Lucie Stern Center, and the new Bryant Street Community Center (which I believe was built without reliance on a ballot measure, perhaps because it is in the northern part of Palo Alto).
Cubberley will be a much needed addition. Perhaps add the Palo Alto Arts Center to the existing valuable community spaces.
The renovation of Cubberley will perhaps be essential
to residents of the northern parts of our city, given the probalby increase in demand on those centers as the population of Palo Alto grows with the implementation of the Housing Element, especially the San Antonio Road Area Plan.
Getting into the weeds a bit: is there a danger that the City might not receive authorization from the State for a change in the state cap, as is described in the first paragraph of the Analysis in the Staff Report? Was this possible impediment not recognized until after the May 18 City Council meeting?
I will be at the meeting, holding up my Palo Alto Needs Cubberley sign.
Phyllis Brown
From: Shantha Mohan
To: Council, City
Subject: 6/8/26 Council Meeting Item 14: Sales Tax Measure for November 3, 2026 Election Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026 1:38:14 PM
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Dear Mayor Veenker, Vice Mayor Stone, Council Members, and City Manager:
The Friends of Palo Alto Library (FOPAL), founded in 1938 and housed at the Cubberley Community Center since 2002, strongly desires to remain at this Center throughout the planned redevelopment process. FOPAL's current presence at Cubberley is sustained by hundreds of community volunteers like me who gather throughout the year to help run the organization and its monthly sales. Thousands of local residents of all ages attend these sales, in addition to a global following of our online marketplace.
Since 2004, FOPAL has awarded over $3.6 million in grants to the City of Palo Alto Library and, in fiscal year 2026, awarded $150,000. To effectively assist our book- sales patrons and support dedicated volunteers like me, FOPAL's long-term vision is to consolidate its footprint in the new Community Center, increase revenue, and provide larger grants to the Palo Alto City Library for vital funding. I recognize the immense value this redevelopment will bring to Palo Alto residents, and I am eager to continue my volunteer work for FOPAL operations as a fixture of the revitalized site.
I urge the City Council to adopt an ordinance and a resolution calling for an election to place a half-cent Transactions and Use Tax Measure on the November 3, 2026, ballot to support improvements to the Cubberley Community Center.
Sincerely,
Shantha Mohan
Friends of the Palo Alto Library Volunteer
261 Parkside Drive
Palo Alto.
From: [email protected]
To: Council, City
Subject: Comments on June 8 Cubberley Item 14 vote on the Ballot Measure and Advisory Resolution Date: Sunday, June 7, 2026 12:54:55 PM
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Honorable City Council,
As you know, I am enthusiastically in favor of moving badly needed Cubberley plans forward expeditiously. Toward that end, I have a few comments and questions on Item 14 for Monday’s City Council meeting agenda:
1).
I see what seems to be an error in the Resolution language of Attachment B, Section 2.
The language of the ballot measure question makes no mention of the $65.5M Cubberley land purchase from PAUSD. This seems to be a significant omission.
Shouldn’t this be included?
(This omission appears in all packet documents in which the ballot measure question appears.)
2. A tax rate of 0.5% is specifically mentioned in all of these documents, but the Staff Report (Analysis
section, page 2) says, “Within the state cap, the City has capacity for a ¼ cent (0.25%) voter approved local sales tax; staff is working on legislation that would increase the local sales tax cap by a ½ cent.”
Questions:
In case the effort to obtain state authorization to implement a ½-cent tax legislation fails, is there a contingency plan in place to put forward a ¼-cent tax?
Is that what
Section 7, Attachment A is about?
What is the contingency plan?
When does staff expect to receive a decision re: authorization to implement a ½- cent tax?
3).
In the Late Packet Attachment, Section 2 (page 2), the city lists a few community spaces in the city but excludes Palo Alto Art Center, and the Junior Museum and Zoo.
Please add these two facilities and add language that acknowledges a need to provide additional capacity to meet increased demand for community services.
Thank you for considering my comments.
Please move Cubberley forward. The need is clear
and urgent.
Penny Ellson
Virus-free.www.avg.com
From: Henry Yu
To: Council, City
Subject: 6/8/26 Council Meeting Item 14: Sales Tax Measure for November 3, 2026 Election Date: Wednesday, June 3, 2026 9:41:50 PM
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!
Dear Mayor Veenker, Vice Mayor Stone, Council Members, and City Manager:
Friends of the Palo Alto Library (FOPAL), founded in 1938 and residing at the Cubberley Community Center since 2002, has a strong desire to remain housed within this Center throughout its upcoming redevelopment process. FOPAL's current presence at Cubberley is sustained by hundreds of volunteers from the community who gather throughout the year to help run the organization and its monthly sales.Thousands of local residents of all ages attend these sales, in addition to a global following of our online marketplace.
Since 2004, FOPAL has made grants over $3.6 million to the City of Palo Alto Library, and in fiscal year 2026 provided a grant of $150,000. To effectively assist our book sales patrons, and support our dedicated volunteers, FOPAL's long-term vision is to consolidate its footprint within the new Community Center, increasing revenue and providing larger grants to the Palo Alto City Library for vital funding. We recognize the immense value this redevelopment will bring to our residents, and we are eager to continue our operations as a fixture of the revitalized site.
We urge the City Council to adopt an ordinance and resolution calling for an election placing a half-cent Transactions and Use Tax Measure on the November 3, 2026 ballot to support improving the Cubberley Community Center.
Sincerely,
Henry Yu
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FOPAL President, and Chair of the FOPAL at Cubberley Committee Friends of the Palo Alto Library
[email protected]
https://fopal.org