City Manager Weekly Blog Series: February 14, 2022

Learn about City of Palo Alto updates and news.

Published in

PaloAltoConnect

5 min readFeb 16, 2022

Each Council meeting, City Manager Ed Shikada provides “City Manager Comments” sharing recent City news, and updates for the community to stay informed on important issues. This blog series summarizes these weekly updates.

You can also watch the City Manager share this week’s updates and news at the February 14, 2022 Council meeting.

Timestamped City Council Video: City Council Meeting — February 14, 2022

COVID-19 PANDEMIC UPDATE

Get Vaccinated & Boosted

Everyone 5 years and older is strongly recommended to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Visit sccfreevax.org to schedule an appointment or myturn.ca.gov.

County Mask Mandate Continues

The County’s mask mandate will continue until certain metrics are met.

✓ 80% vaccination rate for the local population

Low hospitalizations
7-day average of new cases per day is at or below 550 for at least a week

Once all three metrics are met, indoor masking will no longer be required for those who are fully vaccinated.

Read the full news announcement here.

FDA Postpones Discussion of Vaccine Authorization for 6 months to 5-year-olds

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is delaying review of the vaccine for kids 6 months to 5 years old because it was notified that Pfizer received new data about the vaccine.

For more information, go here.

PANDEMIC RESPONSE AND RECOVERY

Library Reopening to Pre-Omicron Service Hours

Starting Wednesday, February 16, Downtown, College Terrace, and Children’s branches will reopen to pre-omicron service levels. Rinconada will return to its previous hours.

Study rooms at Mitchell Park, Rinconada, and Downtown will reopen.

Children’s Library (reopens February 16) Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Saturdays: 1–5 PM
College Terrace Library (reopens February 17) Thursdays & Fridays: 1–5 PM
Downtown Library (reopens February 17) Thursdays & Fridays: 1–5 PM
Mitchell Park Library

o Tuesday–Thursday: 11 AM–8 PM

o Fridays & Saturdays: noon–6 PM

Rinconada Library (starting February 16)

o Wednesdays, Fridays & Saturdays: 10 AM–6 PM

o Thursdays: noon–8 PM

Changes made for the closures, social distancing and limited stays will be made available again on February 16.

More seating at Mitchell Park and Rinconada Libraries
All study rooms will reopen
All public PCs will be turned on. Public WiFi, copy machines, wireless printing and scanning services are still available.

Stay up to date at library.cityofpaloalto.org/current-library-services.

Free Community COVID-19 Testing continues

Curative every Tuesday at Mitchell Park Library parking lot and every Wednesday at City Hall.

County testing continues at the Art Center Auditorium on Feb. 25 (booking opens a week prior to the event).

For more, go here: www.cityofpaloalto.org/testing

UPCOMING COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

Sibling City Kick Off: *On February 15 the community came together with Neighbors Abroad and Sibling Cities for a kickoff celebration event as Palo Alto and Bloomington, Indiana launched the first U.S. sibling city.
Housing Element Progress: The next Housing Element Update Ad Hoc committee meeting is set for Thursday, Feb. 17 at 5 p.m.
Palo Alto Fiber: Join the Palo Alto Fiber conversation at an upcoming Community Information Session on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 5:30 p.m.
Planning Discussion: The next Objective Standards Community Meeting is set on Tuesday, March 22 at 6 p.m.
Fiscal Sustainability: Join the Fiscal Sustainability conversation by attending an upcoming Community Listening Session on March 29 at 6 p.m.

The next weekly virtual meditation session hosted by the Palo Alto Art Center is on February 17 at noon.

Hosted by the Palo Alto Library, learn about Provençal traditions, insight into local culture, daily living tips and more with the author of “An Insider’s Guide to Provence” on Wednesday, Feb. 23 at 7 p.m.

Hosted by the Palo Alto Junior Museum & Zoo, join Naturalist, Corinne DeBra, for a relaxing and fun family walk through the trails of our beautiful Baylands Open Space Preserve on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 10 a.m.

For these events and more, visit the City’s web calendar at www.cityofpaloalto.org/Calendar.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS TRAINING

Join the Office of Emergency Services on Sat. Feb. 19 from 1 to 4 p.m. for an introduction to the Block Preparedness Coordinator (BPC) Program and Neighborhood Watch training. The BPC Program is relevant not only in a disaster but also for everyday activities, building social networks in your neighborhood, deterring crime, and more.

More information and to register can be found at www.cityofpaloalto.org/BPC.

The next Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training begins on Monday, March 7 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. and continues for six sessions. Over the course of three weeks, receive training in disaster fire suppression techniques, disaster medical operations, first aid/CPR, light search-and-rescue, and team organization and management. CERT training culminates with a disaster simulation and comprehensive course review.

Learn more and sign up for the CERT course at www.cityofpaloalto.org/CERT.

NOTABLE TENTATIVE UPCOMING COUNCIL ITEMS

February 28

Public Hearing on Weed Abatement
Civil Grand Jury Response on Housing
Cal Ave. and Ramona St. Temporary and Permanent Closures

March 7

Council/Utilities Advisory Commission Study Session on Sustainability Climate Action Plan
PRC recommendation on a new Community Gymnasium Project (from 1/31 CC meeting)
Foothills Fire Mitigation and Safety Improvement Strategies (from 1/24 CC meeting)

March 14

Semi-Annual Council Discussion with the Independent Police Auditor
Roth Building Lease
City Council Committee Work Plans/ Council Policies & Protocols Update (retreat carryover)