HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 281
Town of Los Altos Hills
Community Relations Committee
Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 28, 2016
Parks and Recreation Building
1. Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by Chairman, Roger Burnell. Present: Chairman,
Roger Burnell. Members, Karen Emerzian, Ron Knapp, Mansour Moussavian, Roy Woolsey. Associate
Members, Linda Seidel, Neil Rayborn.
2. Introduction of Any Members of the Public. Garo Kiremidjian, candidate for City Council.
3. Review of Prior Committee Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the last Committee meeting were not available for review and approval at the
meeting.
4. Public Comment
Garo Kiremidjian introduced himself as a long-term Town resident and candidate for City
Council, and described his involvement in Town traffic matters and his professional background.
5. Review of Prior City Council Meetings. No report.
6. Subcommittee Reports
See item 7 below regarding the Town Picnic and item 8 below regarding Committee participation
in upcoming town programs.
7. The Los Altos Hills Town Picnic
The Committee conducted a thorough review of the June 5th Town Picnic. A total of 1647 meal
tickets were distributed, down somewhat from last year, perhaps because of the hot afternoon weather and
also the Warriors basketball game later in the afternoon. Registration proceeded smoothly, and the large
canopy in place of several smaller canopies for dining seemed good. A total of 44 vintage cars were
signed up, and 41 actually participated in the classic car show. The small band for the car show was
good, but perhaps it needs a larger platform/stage. The magic show was excellent, including the strolling
portion, where the magician engaged small groups of people. The video game truck seemed popular. We
should try to get the helicopter for next year that was not able to participate this year.
Nick French was an excellent game master, and the Committee should encourage him to be a
permanent master of the games. It was moved, seconded and unanimously approved to create an annual
recognition for the person or vendor who has been a contributor to the picnic who would not otherwise be
recognized, and give that person or vendor a certificate. Nick French would be the first recipient of this
award.
Sarah Gualtieri was not present at the meeting to report on her areas of responsibility. It was
noted that because approximately 200 less people had attended than had signed up, there was a lot of
extra food. The vegetarian food was good and popular, and more will be needed next year.
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Ron Knapp reported on the beverages, which worked out well. He bought lots of soft drinks on
sale from the Sunnyvale Safeway. He said if one tells a store manager about a large order like ours, the
managers will help with processing and loading the order.
The following suggestions were made for future picnics:
1.Arrange for the concessionaire or for members of the Youth Commission to collect meal tickets.
(Note: This may be considered somewhat of a “thankless” job making it somewhat difficult to
assign volunteers.)
2.Several Committee members voiced concern over the volume of the band, that it was difficult to
talk during a meal; next year the large canopy should be substantially further (at least forty feet)
from the band, and the band volume should be lower if possible.
3.Tables in the large canopy should be oriented at 90° to the orientation used this year, so that
everyone having lunch just has to look to the side to see the band, and people are not facing away
from the band.
4.Ice cream was melting by the middle of the picnic, in spite of having $100 to $200 of dry ice.
Next year it is recommended that a freezer be rented for the ice cream.
5.The “train” between the main picnic area and the riding ring was not a train at all, but more like a
chain of four-wheel drive trucks. It would be nice for future picnics to have a cute little train
more like the train used in last year’s picnic.
6.The car show awards were disorganized; the awards were not ready to be given out at the time
slot reserved for them, so more coordination of these awards in the future is required. In general,
the picnic does have to keep to a schedule, so the awards are given during the band break.
7.Committee name tags with ribbons as have been used in past years were not available. Such
name tags should be prepared in future years for identification of Committee members.
8.Some people brought dogs to the picnic, in spite of the town ordinance against dogs at the little
league fields. There need to be signs and more publicity about no dogs at the picnic.
9.There needs to be a very visible sign that the lost and found is at the Registration canopy.
8. Old Committee Business
Ron Knapp reported on beer for the hoe down, which will be provided by Sufferfest Brewing, a
different vendor than for the Picnic, and which will include gluten-free beer.
Roy Woolsey reported on the newcomer welcoming project. A file to print mailing labels for 39
names for newcomers from January to April was sent to Deborah Padovan. Early in July labels for May
and June will be provided. Deborah is mailing a letter signed by the Council welcoming newcomers and
encouraging them to stop by Town Hall for a welcoming packet or phone to have it mailed to them.
9. New Committee Business
The Committee currently has one opening. For the next meeting Roger Burnell will bring a list of
committees and the openings each committee has.
At the next meeting other events such as a Special Event at Stanford University will be discussed.
10. Next Committee Meeting
The next Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 27, 2016. At this meeting, new
Committee officers will be selected. The Committee will not meet in July or August.
11. Adjournment. The meeting was adjourned at 8:50 PM.
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Minutes prepared by Roy Woolsey, July 3, 2016