NEWS
Involuntary servitude in state prisons upheld. Page A2
LIFESTYLE
SCI/TECH
College Board fees may disadvantage students.
Vegetarian diets can make dining out more difficult.
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PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT PALO ALTO HIGH SCHOOL 50 EMBARCADERO RD. PALO ALTO, CA 94301
NON-PROFIT ORG U.S. POSTAGE
PAI D PALO ALTO PERMIT #44
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The Campanile Vol. CVII, No. 4
Palo Alto High School, 50 Embarcadero Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301
Wednesday, December 18, 2024
RACE RECOUNT
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he Palo Alto City Council election recount which began on Nov. 25 has ended, with Planning and Transportation Commission Vice Chair Keith Reckdahl receiving 10 more votes than Planning and Transportation Commission member Doria Summa. This means Reckdahl has secured the fourth and final Council seat. Reckdahl and Planning and Transportation Commissioner George Lu will replace outgoing council members Greg Tanaka and Lydia Kou when their terms expire on Dec. 31. The race drew controversy over the electronic ballot, where eight candidates appeared on the first page of the ballot, but voters had to click “More” to find Summa’s name on a different page. Mayor Greer Stone said he was frustrated by the lack of foresight in this situation. “This was a very avoidable situation, if the Registrar of Voters (had) just put in more common sense policies,” Stone said. “I’m disappointed that the process played out the way it did with the placement on the electronic ballot.” Vice Mayor Ed Lauing agreed and said the situation was unacceptable. "To me, that’s just absolutely ridiculous in Silicon Valley because the user interface was invented here for software, and software can be changed by humans," Lauing said. "That should never have happened, and that has to change." Council member Lydia Kou said
she tried to bring attention to concerns about the general election process but faced resistance. “I asked for the council to pull it off the consent calendar in order for us to have a short discussion about putting this forward, to bring the discussion to council about addressing this malfeasance and negligence,” Kou said. “Nobody helped me to pull it off the council consent agenda.” Reckdahl, though, said it is unclear the effects the ballot design had on the outcome. “There were anecdotal reports that people were confused,” Reckdahl said. “I don’t know how many votes it cost her. I’m not sure if 10 affected it or not.” Junior Will Stover, who works under Stone, said the narrow margin shows the importance of civic participation in our democracy. “An election that close, it really shows how our democracy does work,” Stover said. “That kind of raises a sense of civic duty, the fact that every vote that you do put in does matter, because at the end of the day, yours could be in the vote that breaks a tie and is decisive.” Reckdahl said his victory over Summa was a mix of emotions. “I’ve worked with Doria for years, so just defeating her kind of makes it bittersweet,” Reckdahl said. “I really have a lot of respect for her, and I really wish we could have served together.” And Kou said she encourages the community to continue supporting Summa despite the election outcome. "I felt that Doria was hidden, so I would encourage everybody who felt cheated to take action and let the county supervisors, as well as the register of voters, know that this is completely unjust,” Kou said. Doria Summa and the Santa Clara Registrar of Voters did not respond to The Campanile’s interview request.
Meryem Orazova & Shaurya Thummalapalli Staff Writer & Guest Writer
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City to relax regulations, allow chain stores to help fill retail vacancies As a part of a package of changes aimed at filling retail vacancies and stimulating consumer spending in Palo Alto, the Palo Alto City Council unanimously approved zoning changes to relax restrictions on chain stores at its Nov. 19 meeting. In the first quarter of 2024, retail vacancy rates were at about 15.1% on University Avenue and 9.6% on California Avenue. This is higher than the national vacancy rates, which are on average, around 5%. Previously, the city restricted leases to businesses with fewer than 10 locations in California, but now, chain restaurants with fewer than 50 locations in the state will be able to establish a location in the city. Additionally, the council reduced the need for conditional use permits, which were previously required when businesses wanted to move into an area that didn’t allow a certain type of business to reside there, simplifying the permitting process across the city. Assistant to the City Manager Steven Guagliardo, who coordinates the city’s economic development, said the goal of the zoning changes is to help revitalize commercial areas in Palo Alto. “There's great interest in the city in addressing vacancies in our commercial cores,” Guagliardo said. “We're facing many of the same challenges that other cities up and down the Peninsula and across the state are facing. Retail is changing as an industry, and these changes are really designed to help keep Palo Alto competitive
with other cities as a place to locate or site a new retail or retail-like business.” Guagliardo said increasing customers in business corridors, which would equate to more consumer spending at small businesses, is a major goal of the zoning changes. “Our hope is that allowing for a wider variety of uses will help attract a wider variety of customers and increase foot traffic, thereby increasing the economic vibrancy of our commercial cores,” Guagliardo said. “The goal here is not to adversely impact those small businesses, but rather to kind of raise the tide for everyone and just get more businesses operating.” Michael Fechete, owner of California Avenue Hardware, said he welcomes the new regulations and the potential chain stores they may bring because California Ave’s closure to cars has reduced foot traffic and subsequently the business of stores like his. “Chain stores are welcome,” Fechete said. “I would be happy to have more big stores around us because the small stores can thrive under the shade of the big stores. It won’t affect us negatively, and it might help to bring more shoppers.” Still, Fechete acknowledged that small businesses play a vital role in creating a vibrant, connected and unique community. “Small businesses bring way more variety than the chain stores,” Fechete said. “People come to us more for advice than the actual products. People
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want to know, ‘What kind of soil do I use in that pot? Can I put that outside or inside?’ Places like Home Depot have good people too, but the stores are too big to be able to spend time on personal connections.” Other small business owners — such as Timi Todor Manchev, the owner of Town and Country’s Tennis Store — agree. “We take care of our customers one by one,” Todor Manchev said. “Eighty percent of our customers are returning customers, and because of that, the customer community is growing to be our family. It’s very special to be in that position, and I don’t think any chain can offer that.” Guagliardo said the city will closely monitor the impact of the changes on small businesses. “We think it's going to be something that enables a wider variety of options for smaller and local chains to potentially sit there — previously they would have had that uncertainty of a conditional use permit,” Guagliardo said. “They still have to have fewer than 50 locations in California. So when you think of real, true chains, they're still prohibited from being able to go without a conditional use permit, but it does allow a wider variety of uses.” Because her business is a specialty store, Todor Manchev said she doesn’t think the zoning changes will significantly affect her business. “We increasingly, as people, are looking for more connections, and that’s something that we offer as small businesses,” Todor Manchev said. “But I’m sure some businesses will be affected because prices matter, and it’s easier for chains to have lower costs.”
Elise Andrade Staff Writer