Wernikoff and her council colleagues now hope the town can resolve the most-recent concerns expeditiously so they can approve sending a state-compliant draft at their Jan. 24 meeting.
Wernikoff also has to shepherd Town Hall through a major restructuring effort following an unprecedented rate of staff departures last year and to address long-running deficiencies in financial operations such as being behind on annual audits and bank reconciliations.
Wernikoff was elected to the council in 2020 and served as vice mayor the last two years. Last month, the council unanimously chose her to be mayor this year. Her term on the council ends in December.
The Almanac asked Wernikoff about the concerns ahead and what else she envisions for her mayorship.
The Almanac: Does being vice mayor for two years make you even more prepared to lead the town?Sarah Wernikoff: I'm honored to have been unanimously elected to the position of mayor by my colleagues on the council. This year is the start of my fourth on the council, and all the experience and learnings from the last three years have prepared me for the role.
Q : How confident do you feel the town can still make the state deadline for the latest draft housing element given the additional work requested?
A : I won't sugarcoat it. I'm very frustrated with the process and in particular the last-minute and what seems to be entirely new feedback we received from HCD (the state Department of Housing and Community Development) last week.
Our staff met regularly with our HCD reviewer ??" a total of six times over the fall ??" on changes requested in their July 25 response letter, and throughout those meetings, we were led to believe we were in alignment and on the right track. To be given seemingly entirely new feedback just a few weeks before the deadline is confusing and discouraging.
We now find ourselves with very limited time to work with HCD to understand their new requests and make the necessary changes on time to meet the Jan. 31 deadline.
We've worked extremely hard on our housing element for nearly three years, starting in February 2021, with over 150 hours of public discussion and debate in over 50 public meetings, leveraging the input of hundreds of community members, our town committees and planning commissioners, and input from geologic and wildfire experts. It's an effort that has overwhelmed our small town, our staff and town budget.
We are now one year into the sixth RHNA cycle (current 2023-31 period of the state Regional Housing Needs Allocation program) and have a critical need to move onto implementation of our plan if we are going to succeed in getting actual housing built.
Q : How will you help ensure that the Town Hall restructuring brings the stability and operational fixes sought?
A : The most important thing we can do as a council to ensure the operational turnaround of our Town Hall is hire the right leadership. I think I speak for all of my colleagues in our support of our new town manager, Sharif Etman, who has been a quick study on our challenges and has taken a pragmatic approach with his "PV Refresh" program to "reset, refocus and restructure" town operations and cultivate teamwork and efficiency at Town Hall.
After spending his initial few months doing a 360-degree assessment of our operations and finances, we are now in the restructure phase and implementing plans to shore up our foundation. I look forward to working with Sharif and my colleagues on the council over the next few months to continue this positive momentum.
Q : It seems the town can get pretty divided over matters from housing and emergency preparedness to even the selection for mayor. Do you feel a need to help bring more unity to Portola Valley?
A : We have a very engaged community and had a pretty divisive election in 2022, primarily related to housing topics. I think the council and majority of community members have moved past that, embrace the spirit of our "PV Refresh," and prefer to look forward to and emulate our staff's new value statement, which is focused on teamwork, efficiency and respect.
Q : What are some of the other issues you see the town needs to address?A : While I wish we could work on things like an overdue master plan for the Town Center or a town-wide effort to bury PG&E lines, for now we need to focus on fundamentals.
We need to continue to recruit great new staff members to help us rebuild our operational and fiscal foundation. Our town is not unlike a small business in that to be successful we need strong operations, fiscal stability and great customer service.
We need to pivot from the bureaucratic process of the housing element to the harder work of getting actual affordable housing developed ??" housing that enables a more diverse community while upholding the town's rural character.
We need to lead by example by working hard with kindness and respect. The deterioration of civil discourse is well-documented at all levels of government, and our small town is no exception.
I have a sign on a wall that my kids pass by as they leave the house that says: "Work hard and be nice to people." It's a simple concept. There are many things that are unique and special about our town. Let's add the ethos of working hard with kindness and respect to that distinction.
Q : Are there some things you like to highlight in which the town is going in the right direction and want to continue or build upon?A : I feel a lot is going in the right direction! Much of it is stemming from our current rebuilding at Town Hall.
Anyone who follows the news in our community knows it's been a rocky few years, but I feel we are better positioned now to make lasting progress than at any other time during my council term.
Sometimes you need to take a step back before you can move forward, and I feel we are well on our way to moving forward.
Portola Valley was incorporated in 1964, so this year marks our 60th anniversary as a town. I look forward to celebrating this milestone with our community. Stay tuned for details to come.
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