Minutes of OMVNA Steering Committee Meeting April 25, 2022 (via Zoom and
recorded)
PRESENT
Steering committee and subcommittee personnel: David Lewis, Robert Cox, Susan Bickford, Larry Rush, Jamil Shaikh, Lorraine Wormald, Jerry Steach, Max Hauser, Annette Nielsen, Kristen Bailey
Community members: Nancy Stuhr, Jamsheed Agahi, Maureen Blando,
Bill Lambert, Robin Lin, Hala Alshahwany, Louise Katz, Bruce England,
Diane
AGENDA
- Call to order: Chair David Lewis. Meeting came to order at 7:36 PM.
- Call for additional agenda items: Chair David Lewis—None
- Approval of minutes from last meeting: Secretary Annette Nielsen.
- Minutes approved after motion and second by Robert and Jamil
- Confirming the time and place of the next OMVNA Steering Committee meeting: Chair David Lewis. Next meeting will be on July 25th [Susan’s Birthday].
- Announcement—Second Harvest wants to harvest your fruit trees: Vice Chair Robert Cox. Vice-Mayor Allison Hicks suggested our OMVNA may want to participate. Second Harvest can pick up your fruit and distribute it to the needy. Cuesta Park Neighborhood is already doing it.
- CERT update: Chair David Lewis reported that the trailer has no liability insurance since it is not operating. After Susan moved and Lorraine seconded, motion to have David discuss with Aaron and transfer ownership of trailer to OMVNA passed.
- Guest Presentation and Q&A: Robin Lin and Bill Lambert of the Parkland Ballot Initiative Committee, a 501(c)(4) whose goal is to set high level policy objectives for current and future residents; for a more comprehensive and holistic plan (like Palo Alto has); for the City to be honest about the amount of land they actually own; and for the City to go out to the community to talk with neighborhoods. They reported on the effort to qualify a measure for the November 2022 ballot to secure five acres of city-owned park land within a 15-minute walk for every 1,000 residents. School lands are not always accessible, and it’s only getting worse for developing areas that are already park poor. MV counted school district properties for 2/3 of park lands, so they need to develop own lands. Bill added that the City does not want this on the ballot. He noted that almost nothing has been accomplished on the Parks & Rec Plan of 2014. Max asked about small postage-stamp sized parks and if the City has policy to buy up small parcels to make mini-parks but larger space for football, dog park space, etc. In lieu fees from developers are not enough to purchase park space—woefully small to address because low-income housing is exempt.
- Jamil suggests going to Parks & Rec. Kristin asked Bill and Robin to send this info to her to put on the web site.
- Report on Annual Neighborhood Grant: Chair David Lewis. Dave submitted the proposal for next year’s grant. The City has received it. Dave will send out details of the new application. There have been three claims submitted for reimbursement out of last year’s grant. The City wants claims submitted quickly. One has been reimbursed and two are outstanding—roughly $1500.
- Report on recent social events—dubbed the Buena Vista Social Club..
- Chalk It Up to Spring: Fifteen families participated in the activity with about
$180 spent with chalk left for next event. The Egg Crawl cost about
$123.72: 81 hunter families, 136 hunters, 35 hider locations, 1680 hidden
eggs, over 1/2 children were under five. Kristen received feedback from 48
families: majority learned of the activity from the sidewalk signs. Yes for
this activity for next year. - Formation and funding of a social committee: Kristen Bailey. Steering
Committee voted to approve after motion by Annette and second by Max.
Kristen requested that money be budgeted to cover expenses for about 5
or 6 events/year (c. $2500): signage, supplies to make signs work, supplies
for events (like chalk, eggs), permits, and insurance for special events.
Susan commented that we need to spend the money that the newsletter
ads bring in. - Green Streets Jams OMVNA Participation: Bruce England (Whisman
Station) spoke about the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition’s desire to have an
event (similar to San Jose’s Viva Calle events) where a stretch of roadway
between Sunnyvale and Mountain View would be closed so people can
walk, bike, etc.—like a huge block party. Maybe do slow streets instead of
closed streets. Lorrie questioned him about the number of people that
would participate, how long the event would last, and when it would occur.
He replied that the target number is 1,000 participants, that the event might
span 9 am to 2 pm or 10 am to 3 pm, and that August or September are
possibilities—although he said maybe a June event this year. He also
proposed that OMVNA tie such an event to our Ice Cream Social. Lorrie
and Annette both expressed negative thoughts about connecting the street
jam to the Ice Cream Social. Robert proposed a next step: Bruce will send
a proposal to Robert for how he would want OMVNA to participate. - Planning for Annual Ice Cream Social: All. We don’t yet have a chair for
this year’s event. Kristen will talk to the new social committee group as a start to the search for someone to chair. The selected date needs to avoid conflict with other neighborhoods. Perhaps Sunday August 14 or August 21 [August 21 has been selected. - Vice Chair Robert Cox: 590 Castro Street (Sobrato) final council hearing
continued to May 24; 843 Castro St (Castro Commons) is seeking to buy
Gateway Park and parts of Fairmont & Hope Streets from the City; 740 W
El Camino—the Chase Bank redevelopment plan to redevelop the property,
making the bank a small part of an apartment complex—Zoom meeting
May 11. - Treasurer Larry Rush—Old business: Should we post the treasurer’s
reports on the website? Susan was in favor of public notice. Robert
proposed that for now it not be shown, noting that the report is available at
the annual meeting. - Downtown Committee Jamil Shaikh: The April 27 meeting will be a
collaborative meeting with Downtown and Art Committees to discuss how
to beautify the downtown and empty store fronts with murals, public art, etc. - Newsletter Susan Bickford: No new ads; election issue is two from now;
next issue will be 4,000 words (including an unsolicited poem “Ode to MV”,
a gender tolerance article, and Susan’s 300 word opinion poll—testing the
new “Lamppost” title and soliciting info regarding readership). Susan feels
an energy drop and will bow out unless the money the newsletter
generates is spent. She asks: So what’s next? Lorrie proposes that SC
members have a discussion to consider using the money to mail out the
newsletter perhaps two times a year instead of the door to door. Perhaps
we could try this once. Door to door distribution is down (2500 to 2300).
Fewer and fewer places we can deliver so a number of residents not
receiving. Lorrie also spoke of a need to document the list of deliverers for
the website. - At Large Lorraine Wormald: Lorrie pointed out that people need to be
reminded that OMVNA is not a political action group—some people
misunderstand. Individuals wishing to be active should join a Livable
Mountain View type group to address the issues like “How is development
going to happen?”. There are 7-8,000 residents in OMV. - Social Committee Kristen Bailey: Kristen requested formation of a subcommittee to share and discuss ideas for spending money on the neighborhood. Subcommittee members will be Robert Cox, Annette Nielsen, Kristen Bailey, Susan Bickford, and Larry Rush.
- (1) Adjournment: Chair David Lewis. Meeting adjourned at 9:43 PM.
- Respectfully submitted by Annette Nielsen, OMVNA Secretary
