Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFebruary 17 1 Town of Los Altos Hills Community Relations Committee Meeting Minutes Tuesday, February 17, 2004 Council Chambers 1. Roll Call The meeting was called to order at 7:35 PM by Chairman, Roy Woolsey. Present: Chairman, Roy Woolsey. Members, Duffy Price, Patty Woolsey, Bill Kerns, Karen Emerzian, Roger Burnell. Associate member, Dan Alexander. Visitor and candidate for Youth Commissioner, Wei Wei Liu. Council Liaison, Bob Fenwick. 2. Review of Prior Committee Minutes Minutes of the last meeting were approved as distributed. 3. Welcoming of Town Newcomers Patty Woolsey reported that 11 newcomer names were received in the past month, and mailing labels will be prepared as soon as a total of 20 names are available to make one sheet of mailing labels. 4. Los Altos Hills Town Newsletter Duffy Price summarized developments relative to the Town Newsletter policy since the last Committee meeting. Duffy will redline the proposed modification to the Town Newsletter policy, and then a brief meeting will be held involving Duffy, Roy Woolsey, Council liaison Bob Fenwick and City Manager Maureen Cassingham to finalize the policy prior to presentation to Council for approval. Duffy circulated a copy of the March Newsletter, which went to film on February 19. Duffy thanked the associate editors for their review. A short paragraph on Proposition 218 in the article about undergrounding should have been deleted but was not. The Newsletter will be mailed in a large envelope along with the Parks and Recreation Activity Guide, the Public Education Committee insert, and the Fun Run flier. The Newsletter looks like it will be the newsiest and snazziest Town Newsletter yet. 5. Committee for Public Education Insert in Town Newsletter Roger Burnell discussed the insert in the March Newsletter, which was developed by the Committee for Public Education in Los Altos Hills. The amount Los Altos Hills pays per student is truly astonishing compared with the amount paid per student by other cities. Roger observed that residents tend to either read the Town Newsletter right away, or throw it away. He presented a request by the Public Education Committee that the Community Relations Committee phone perhaps 125 residents (15 residents per Committee member) to encourage them to watch for the insert and take a few moments to fill out the survey and mail it to Town Hall. Phone calls should be made the week of February 23 to 27, just before the Newsletter is scheduled to arrive. The Committee agreed to make these calls. Roger also reported that the Public Education Committee would welcome another member or two from the south part of town, living in the Loyola Elementary School district. 6. Supplement to Town Handbook Duffy Price incorporated information provided by the planning department in an update to the existing Town Handbook supplement. Duffy will enlist the help of City Clerk Karen Jost regarding updates of telephone numbers and related information. The title and introduction to the supplement should indicate that the supplement modifies portions of the text of the original handbook, in addition to providing current contact information. The supplement would be provided along with the basic handbook 2 in the newcomer packets. Bob Fenwick will discuss the handbook and supplement with Council. Bill Kerns suggested that the content of the handbook could be on the Town website. The Committee might follow-up with newcomers after they receive the newcomer packet. 7. Initial Planning for 2004 Town Picnic Roy Woolsey reported on his recent telephone conversation with Art Marshall; the firefighters are planning on the Town Picnic from 1 PM to 4 PM on Sunday, June 6. Roy described his contact with Jerry Rosenblum, the manager of Ye Olde Town Band; up to 45 band members may perform for two hours over the three-hour period of the picnic, and will have lunch during the long break for the entertainer. The band does not require electric power, which allows greater flexibility in its location. The Committee agreed to try to have the same magician as last year, David Wilson; Roger Burnell will make arrangements. Dan Alexander is working with the Golden Gate Lionel Association to have model trains at the picnic. Roy distributed a draft memo to other committee chairs, requesting participation of other committees. The memo was approved, and the Committee agreed that Roy should invite Jimmy Forbis and the co-chairs of the Parks and Recreation Committee to the next Community Relations Committee meeting. Duffy Price will get one of last year’s picnic banners from Town Hall and arrange for three more banners (total of five) to be made for this year’s picnic. The Committee reviewed and approved the proposal for the 2004 Town Picnic. It will be presented to Council for approval and authorization for expenditure at the next Council meeting. 8. Proposal for 2004 Newcomer Welcoming Reception The Committee reviewed a draft proposal for a Newcomer Reception and that the proposal should be modified to indicate a preference for holding the event at the Mayor’s home. Roy Woolsey will communicate with Mayor Pro Tem Mike O’Malley regarding opening his home for the event. 9. Brown Act Briefing by City Attorney Bill Kerns reported on the Brown Act briefing by the City Attorney. Two handouts from the meeting summarize the Act. Rules for ad-hoc committees are different than those for standing committees. Items cannot be added to an agenda, except by emergency vote. Bill reported that much of the meeting was devoted to a discussion of e-mail. E-mail to Committee members can be informational, but cannot form a consensus or agreement. 10. Additional Items or Contributions from Committee Members Wei Wei Liu was introduced to the Committee. She is a Junior at Los Altos High School interested in the position of Youth Commissioner. She is Junior Class secretary and a writer for the school newspaper. Duffy Price had met the editor of the newspaper, and provided the editor with information for an announcement about the Youth Commissioner vacancy that was published in the paper. The Committee discussed Resolution No. 23-89 creating the position of Youth Commissioner, and Roger Burnell will take the lead in developing a proposed update to the resolution. The Youth Commissioner should be an associate member of the Committee, can help get high school students involved in the Town, can contribute articles on youth to the Town Newsletter, and can obtain volunteers from the high school to help with the Town Picnic. 11. Date for Next Meeting and Adjournment The next Committee meeting will be held at 7:30 PM on Tuesday, March 16, 2004. The meeting was adjourned at 9:00 PM. Minutes prepared by Roy Woolsey, February 22, 2004.