
https://n2v.almanacnews.com/square/print/2014/10/23/gift-or-trade
Town Square
Gift or Trade?
Original post made
by Susan Lacoste, Menlo Park: Downtown,
on Oct 23, 2014
John Arillaga made a fortune converting some of the world’s finest farmland in the Santa Clara Valley into the urban sprawl now known as Silicon Valley. As he was a Stanford graduate, he generously gave University four buildings – the Arillaga Alumni Center, the Arillaga Family Sports Center, the Arillaga Sports and Recreation Center and the Arillaga Gymnasium and Weight Center and provided funding for numerous other buildings on campus. His generosity did not end there; he proceeded to give Menlo Park two buildings – the Arillaga Family Recreation Center and the Arillaga Gymnasium. Since Stanford owns the property on El Camino in Menlo Park at issue in Measure M, and the Menlo Park City Council must approve all major structures in town, and only psychotics do things without a payoff, I can’t help wondering if Mr. Arillaga’s generosity had a quid pro quo attached.
On June 18, Steve Schmidt wrote a letter to the Almanac expressing concern over the financial agreements made regarding the El Camino property and wondered if some Council members were “asleep at the wheel” to allow the agreements to continue as written when the local economy had favorably evolved considerably since that part of the agreement was made. I would suspect that the Council members were not “asleep”, but most decidedly were “in bed” with Mr. Arillaga and Stanford. Unfortunately I fear that it is the people and the city of Menlo Park are the ones who will be s****ed in the process.
Moreover, in the literature opposing Measure M, the threat is put forth that big box stores could be built on the site if Measure M passes. Having seen the artist’s rendering of the Arillaga plan in last week’s Almanac, despite the open space cleverly disguised as balconies, if those building aren’t considered big boxes, I don’t know what would be! Blight is in the eye of the beholder.
Susan Lacoste
Live Oak Avenue
Menlo Park