Date: November 7, 2012 8:22:41 AM PST
To: "Athertonians Athertonians"
Subject: [Athertonians] election
Good morning,
Congratulations to Elizabeth Lewis and Cary Wiest! They won last night and will be the new city council members.
No on measure F won with 68.94% of the vote.
Thank you all for the interest and help! Hopefully now the Town will have a master plan phase that will engage many residents .
Thank you. Didi Fisher
Date: November 7, 2012 9:10:07 AM PST
To: Athertonians@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Athertonians] Election Results
Atherton Residents:
The people have spoken on the Library, Ballpark and New Town Center. During the development of the ballot measures I insisted these be binding meaning your vote sets firm parameters for the Council to follow. This is why I wanted votes on all three of these key issues. This provides us all with a clear direction moving forward.
My vote of support on the Library measure was inline with my 2010 campaign platform. It is clear that my position misread the community. Please rest assured I will ensure my actions are inline with the voter mandates on this issue as well as on the other two.
I congratulate Elizabeth on her re-election and our new Council member, Cary, whom I am looking forward to working with.
Bill Widmer
From: Bill Schroeder
ReplyDeleteCc: "Athertonians@yahoogroups.com"
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 10:28 am
Subject: Re: [Athertonians] Election Results
Thank you for listening to the voice of the people! We appreciate your message and will count on you carrying thru your commitment thru the balance of your term.
Bill
Sent from my iPad
From: Regina Riviello
ReplyDeleteDate: November 7, 2012 10:59:25 AM PST
To: WRWidmer , "Athertonians@yahoogroups.com"
Cc: Didi Fisher
Subject: Re: [Athertonians] Election Results
Dear All,
I would like to take a moment and thank Didi Fisher for her tireless efforts on Measure F and congratulate her on a solid victory for our town.
Without her leadership, our pleas, as a community, would have continued to fall on deaf ears, which no amount of back-peddling now will be able to erase. We will remember long into the future what took place and Mrs. Fisher's legacy will serve as a model for my children and beyond.
Many Thanks.
Regina Riviello
45-year resident
From: Suzanne Mohan
DeleteCc:
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 11:32 am
Subject: RE: [Athertonians] Election Results
Hear, hear!
From: Christopher H. Joy
DeleteCc: WRWidmer ,
"Athertonians@yahoogroups.com" Didi Fisher
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 12:12 pm
Subject: Re: [Athertonians] Election Results
I too would like to thank Didi and all the bloggers who kept us up to date. I think this is an excellent model for communication going forward.
Two thoughts: Can we create a 21st century virtual library with high quality purchased content that could be shared by Atherton residents using password/login; if a building is done, it should be multipurpose.
Chris Joy
Sent from my iPhone
Bill,
ReplyDeleteNice words, but there are still concerns.
The town wasted several thousand dollards by having these ballot measure elections that "you insisted" on having.
The library vote only resulted after a year of refusal by you to put it on the ballot, a survey to the Athertonians showed the same results- 70% of the people did not want the library in the park, and a petition by 250 residents.
Likewise you could have asked the Atheronians to send out a survey on the other two measures instead of ballot measure. When 70% or more of the town wants something it should be clear.
You have meantioned you want to "Sunset" the Parcel Tax, but have not indicated how you will make up the difference in revenue. Why not draft a question and have the Athertonians send it out?
Maybe ask what the residents are willing to pay. That is a almost free activity as opposed to several thousand dollars.
The council did not approve for you to do a mailing or instruct staff to do so. Mr. Way has a point you should have used your own campaign dollars as the objective of the mailing was to influence the election.
You stated on You Tube that the APOA endorsements of Lewis and Wiest come with expectations on contracts. These comments by you will require some effort to regain trust.
From: Rick DeGolia
ReplyDeleteDate: November 7, 2012 1:00:19 PM PST
To: "Athertonians@yahoogroups.com"
Subject: [Athertonians] Re: election
Yes, this is what democracy is about!! The flip side of winning is responsibly representing what the electorate wants.
A broadly engaged citizenship requires a process that will give us the opportunity to voice want we want. The Town Council has to work very hard to find the best process to keep people engaged. I think that this can be an important turning point for Atherton.
Congratulations to everyone that worked so hard on this election.
Rick DeGolia
Sent from my iPhone
__._,_.___
From: Sharon Shenk
ReplyDeleteCc: "Athertonians@yahoogroups.com"
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 2:06 pm
Subject: Re: [Athertonians] election
Our hope is that the work that went into this election . . . the informing all
residents of the issues and of the impact of their votes . . . will give impetus
to a rise in resident participation in the "workings" of the Town of Atherton.
We have quite a few decisions yet to be made, plans to be developed and approved
and funds to be raised. Going forward, resident participation is absolutely
necessary!
Atherton has long been a community where a Council made up of 5 residents has
continuously provided direction and made decisions. I agree with Rick DG that
this may be an important turning point. Wake up, all of you busy people! Attend
some meetings. Become informed. Be a difference maker! This is the place where
we and our families have decided to put down our roots. Let's all be vigilant in
determining "the will of all the people" before major decisions are made!
Thanks everyone for working with such conviction!
Sheri Shenk
From: "John Worthing"
ReplyDeleteCc: "'Didi Fisher'"
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:28 pm
Subject: RE: [Athertonians] Election Results
Amen to that Regina. Both John and Didi are to be commended for their leadership.
John
John L. Worthing
Worthing Capital
845 Oak Grove Ave. Suite 105
Menlo Park, CA 94025
(650)327-6677 fax (650) 327-6699
From: Steve Dostart
ReplyDeleteCc: "Athertonians@yahoogroups.com"
Date: Wed Nov 7, 2012 5:46 pm
Subject: RE: [Athertonians] Re: election
I think that it makes a huge difference that the matters are now being shared online in an active and balanced way, which enables conversations like this.
Hopefully, that trend will continue.
-------------------\
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Steve Dostart | President | Dostart Development Company, LLC
650.322.0739 (direct) | 650.644.0333 (fax) | steve@dostart.com
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Didi and all,
ReplyDeleteMany thanks, Didi, for your leadership and hard work bringing about the overwhelming defeat of Measure F.
Despite that victory, I think we need to be concerned that the County Library authorities and Atherton Library Steering Committee will now focus on trying to maximize the library size in whatever new location is selected.
They seem determined to spend all the available funding (from Atherton taxpayers) to develop a showcase library, justified by an unrealistic "requirement" to serve unincorporated County areas remote from Atherton. I believe that most Atherton residents prefer our small community library to serve primarily our small town. Non-residents would continue to be welcome.
The growing use of electronic books suggests we won't need more shelf space for printed books. In my opinion, the only space increases we might need are for:
- More computers, including E-book readers
- Program room for children's story time, library lectures and programs, which could also serve as a community meeting room.
- Administrative space for librarians to handle phone calls without disturbing library quiet areas.
- Absorbing Heritage Room spaces.
I think 7,000 square feet, or about a 50% increase from the current library size should be the maximum size considered. This compares with 11,500 square or a 125% increase that the Steering Committee advocated.
Perhaps library users should be surveyed to determine what activities and functions they really want rather than what library administrators want them to have. Do we want the library to be a "gathering place" or primarily a quiet place to read, research and borrow books?
Jack Ringham
Jack, your comments and cautions are very good. It points out the need for a master plan for the whole town and park. The library is part of it and the ALSC needs to be disbanded as it an infected group organized by the County JPA. Until we get away from the JPA we will always have the "county" running the Atherton library and their mission is at odds with Atherton's residents (as we have found out).
DeleteIn many communities in California and in the USA the library operations have been outsourced when financial burdens have made it no longer practical to support the overhead of public library staff. The biggest private and successful operator is LSSI. We need to get out of the JPA group and use our money wisely and for Atherton residents only.
Here are the detials about LSSI
http://www.lssi.com/management.html