[Post removed. Personal attacks violate terms of use.]

Residentialists and pro growth factions did not wait until the 2014 election to surface. Perhaps this is when Ms. Brundage noticed the divisions between the moderate office development residents and the pro office development residents. In the spring of 2012, before the Specific Plan was finally approved, it was becoming clear that the City Planning department and Stanford University had hijacked the Specific plan and made revisions that were either popped on the Council in April of 2012 or slipped in without council participation. The Specific Plan was certified in July of 2012 and within 8 to 10 weeks, Stanford had a full design concept for an office development that was mysteriously within 20,000 sq ft of the amount of office studied in the Plan's EIR. The projected office square footage in the Specific Plan area was used by one developer, Stanford/Arrillaga. That is when the moderate growth residents implored the Council to fix the Plan. Had only the Almanac listened then, we might not be facing a 1.5 mile strip of El Camino Real that will have 400,000 sq. ft of office development.

The Almanac was asleep at the wheel and when it woke up, all it could see was the sparkle of Stanford's pretty pictures and the vague renderings of some mysterious developer calling itself Greenheart. At least we know Stanford. We have been up against Stanford's relentless development impacts for years. It's an enemy we know. Stanford expands and the region eats the added traffic. Stanford intentionally leaves its ECR properties neglected and lets Menlo Park residents believe that if it doesn't get what it wants, it will continue to leave the properties empty. Stanford plays dirty. Menlo Park knows it.

Greenheart is an unknown, except for the likes of Tim Tosta, an attorney who has been representing the development interests of Bohannon, Facebook, Google, and now Greenheart. Who the partners in Greenheart are is a mystery. It's troubling why Menlo Park residents voted to allow two large developers to come into our city and build large office complexes that are more suited to San Jose.

So, here we are with a council in lock step with developers and a City administration that worked diligently to defeat Measure M and it did it while holding hands with the Measure M opponents. Our staff helped and advised Measure M opponents and did so while keeping some of the council members in the dark. Our staff also met with and took advice from Measure M opponents when crafting messaging for the City's web site that was to be a source of neutral analysis of the Ballot Measure. Our elected council members claim they were not told about the team inside the administration building that was working with Measure M Opponents to craft talking points and messaging that would sway voters to vote against a citizen's initiative.

It's a sad day in Menlo Park.

In sum, then, little in the way of good happened this year, but here's to a better 2015 all the same, with or without reason for optimism.

Gern