It would be nice if the Almanac could run these commission and council meeting articles several days ahead of the meetings. Day of doesn't give enough time to comment to the city or make plans to attend.

the city publishes a calendar of it's meetings @ menlopark.org. you can it to plan ahead if you have a meeting you'd like to attend

I'm glad the Planning Commission is taking another look at the downtown plan. Whenever the topic of the Downtown plan or development comes up in conversation with neighbor friends, school parents, etc., everyone is concerned about the growth and overcrowding. 100%. Nobody is saying, "you know what we really need is more growth." There's just not enough people in the City yet. The traffic really isn't congested enough -- let's add to it.

@MPer "the city publishes a calendar of it's meetings @ menlopark.org. you can it to plan ahead if you have a meeting you'd like to attend"

Well, not really. The meeting dates are published, but...there isn't any indication on the city calendar about the subjects so people can plan ahead when there is a topic of interest.
In years past, the City Council published a Tentative Calendar of topics by date so the public could plan around those. Not so under the current Council and City Manager. We need more transparency for the community to be able to participate.

The Planning Commission agenda about the DSP was issued Thursday night, the minimum notice required by law. If the city wants civic engagement (if), a topic like this should be well-advertised and a study session scheduled at a time when community members are likely to participate.