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A seemingly simple question, often asked by small children. It’s also a question we hear with increasing frequency from Los Altos residents.
As the Board of Friends of Los Altos, we reach thousands of residents through our newsletter and website. Over the years, we have received hundreds of questions about what is happening in our city across a wide range of subjects. Increasingly, however, those questions boil down to one word:
At its April 28, 2026 meeting, much to the shock and chagrin of residents, the Los Altos City Council voted on consent (without any discussion) to give away our two fire station buildings and the land surrounding them to the Santa Clara County Central Fire Protection District (CCFD). This agreement provides no guarantee that the Santa Clara CCFD will continue to staff or operate the two stations. At a time of statewide economic uncertainty and stringent housing mandates, the land transfer gives CCFD collateral worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $20 million (Council provided no valuation) to borrow against and leaves Los Altos with reduced assets and no decision-making power for future land use of these two sites. Continue reading “City Council Fire Sale of……our two Fire Stations”
As residents consider the draft Vision and Guiding Principles, an important question deserves thoughtful discussion: What kind of community do we want Los Altos to be over the next twenty years?
The future of Los Altos is being shaped today through the City’s once-every-twenty-years General Plan update. This document is more than a planning exercise—it is the legal framework that will guide land use, development, transportation, parks, and community priorities for decades to come. Continue reading “Will Los Altos Grow Gracefully—or Become Something We No Longer Recognize?”
The unintended consequence of our move to district elections
Usually when someone runs for office and loses, they don’t get to serve in that role. But because of an unintended consequence of Los Altos’ transition from at-large elections—where everyone votes for every City Council member—to district elections—where only residents of a district vote for their district’s representative—we could end up with exactly that result.
How is this possible?
Council Member Larry Lang’s current term doesn’t expire until 2028. He has now filed to run for the open District 4 seat, a different council seat with a new four-year term that would run from 2026 to 2030. According to Lang, he does not plan to resign his current seat before the election.
That means one thing is certain: regardless of the election’s outcome, he remains on the City Council.
If he loses the District 4 election, he simply continues serving the remainder of his current term through 2028.
If he wins, he moves into the District 4 seat, creating a vacancy in the seat he was elected to serve until 2028.
Heads I win, tails I win?
But as residents, we lose.
If Lang wins the District 4 seat, the City Council would then have to either appoint someone to fill his former seat until the 2028 election or call a special election in early 2027 at an estimated cost of $50,000 to $100,000. Either way, voters lose the opportunity to be represented in a timely and cost-effective manner.
We appreciate Council Member Lang’s desire to seek another term on the City Council. But if he intends to run for a different seat, we believe he should resign his current seat in a timely manner. That would allow candidates to run for the seat he is vacating and give voters the opportunity to elect the entire City Council they will be represented by in November 2026.
If he chooses not to resign, then we hope voters conclude that democracy is better served by electing someone else to represent District 4.
Los Altos adopted district elections to give voters more direct representation and a stronger voice in choosing their council members. That goal is undermined if an avoidable vacancy allows the remaining council members to appoint one of their own colleagues’ successors instead of letting the voters decide.
In the spirit of fairness, this unintended consequence of district elections shouldn’t become a feature that benefits one candidate.
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What I learned collecting ballot initiative signatures outside of Draeger’s last week
Most of us are familiar with the expression, “killing the goose that laid the golden egg.” It’s a classic fable by the ancient Greek storyteller Aesop about a man whose goose lays a golden egg daily, but his greed leads him to kill the goose to get all the eggs at once, only to find nothing inside and losing the source of his wealth. The story teaches that being greedy and disregarding your good fortune will leave you with nothing, hence “killing the goose that lays the golden egg”.
So, what does this fable have to do with my Easter Sunday spent in front Draeger’s Market collecting signatures to put the downtown parking plazas initiative to a resident vote? As it turns out, everything. Bottom line: both Draeger’s and the parking plazas are incredible assets to Los Altos and a major draw for both Los Altos residents as well as the broader surrounding community. My newfound understanding is something I am afraid our City Council may be not completely recognize or appreciate. The majority of people, residents, as well as those from surrounding cities are not supportive of plans to eliminate many if not most of the parking plazas. And perhaps even more important, residents want a real say (read that as a vote) on what major changes, if any, occur. Continue reading “The Goose that Laid the Golden Egg”
William Shakespeare was a prolific playwright, having written a total of 39 plays and 154 sonnets. Many of his plays have memorable lines, including “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players” (As You Like It), “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them” (Twelfth Night), and “What’s in a name? A rose by any other name would smell as sweet” (Romeo and Juliet).
But for this article we will focus on “To be or not to be—that is the question,” a line from Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 1. Our riff on that is “to park or not to park—that is the question?” But while perhaps not appropriate for a noble play, a play on words is indeed appropriate for the current City Council “scheme” (British for plan, by the way) to replace one or more of our parking plazas in downtown with a park and an above ground parking garage. Continue reading “To Park or Not To Park — That is the Question?”
Our Early Holiday Gift…
The kids are back in school. Autumn is upon us, stores are filled with Halloween costumes, and Christmas decorations and holiday gifts will soon fill shelves.
Autumn also means that election season is upon us, and the promises and lies of campaigning politicians will become even more prominent at the federal, state, and, yes, even local levels. We don’t want to wade into that morass but instead will provide our list of hopes for the next Los Altos City Council which we be seated in early December. Sort of an early holiday present, as it were.
So, what do we hope and wish for our community of Los Altos? Continue reading “Our Early Holiday Gift…”
Los Altos Apricot Orchard – Facts, Folklore and Inconvenient Truths
Even if you are a carnivore you need to read this article
We’ll get right to the point. The History Museum (and many believe the City as well) want to cut down 25 apricot trees behind the Police Station claiming they are diseased and will hurt the portion of the historic orchard currently under a 3-year maintenance agreement between the Museum and the City of Los Altos. There is no plan to replant new apricot trees or maintain this area as part of the City’s historic resource, but rather replace the removed trees on a two-for-one basis elsewhere in the City with something other than apricot trees. Advocates for saving the trees (and the remaining orchard) are crying foul, asserting the trees and the orchard land is protected as part of the City inventoried historic orchard, and the Museum has no standing to even request a permit for the trees be cut down or permanently removed. Continue reading “Los Altos Apricot Orchard – Facts, Folklore and Inconvenient Truths”
By the way, we are selling two of the downtown parking plazas.
Did we forget to mention that to you?
Yep, you heard it. The City of Los Altos Staff sent out a letter dated July 16th stating that two public parking plazas in downtown are available for purchase or lease. The two parking plazas, labeled “surplus property” by the city, are located behind State Street stores between First and Second. Each is approximately an acre in size; together they provide 226 parking spots for the downtown. The letter, a “notice of availability,” was sent to a list of over 560 developers and government entities. Continue reading “By the way, we are selling two of the downtown parking plazas.”
As regards zoning changes that will affect every Los Altos resident
This is a letter to our City Council on the subject of making critical and impactful changes to our zoning laws which will have considerable permanent, long-term effects on Los Altos. It’s written as an Open Letter because of the importance to every resident in our community and to how much we should all be aware of what these changes will mean for our town. Continue reading “An open letter to the Los Altos City Council”