City of Menlo Park seeking feedback on next city manager
People who live, work or use services in Menlo Park are invited to provide feedback on what qualities they think the next city manager should possess. The city manager is appointed by the City Council and serves as the chief executive of the city.
With the upcoming retirement of current City Manager, Starla Jerome-Robinson, the City Council has retained The Hawkins Company to conduct an executive search. As part of the process, the city and The Hawkins Company are asking for community input via a brief, five questions survey about the desired qualifications and attributes for the next city manager.
Responses will help the search firm to identify, recruit and evaluate candidates. The survey is available in English and Spanish on the city website through September 30, 2021. All responses are anonymous.
In addition to the survey, the public is also invited to participate in one of the following community forums listed below. The purpose of the forums is to provide the public with more information about the search process and to learn more about what community members are looking for in the next city manager. All forums are virtual and will take place on the following days:
Saturday, September 25, from 11:00 am–Noon, via Zoom
Thursday, September 30 from 6:00 to 7:00 pm via Zoom
Stephanie Breitbard September 29, 2021 at 4:19 pm
As a business owner on Santa Cruz, we need to come together as a community to improve this street. There are way too many vacancies. What is the city doing to encourage owners to fill vacancies and to fill them with quality businesses that the surrounding residents will want? There should be more quality restaurants, boutiques, coffee shops, book stores, etc. This could be a much more thriving destination than it currently is.
Karsten Iwers September 30, 2021 at 5:36 pm
I strongly recommend that we reopen Santa Cruz Avenue. The current blockade keeps patrons away, denies access to the street, and forces both locals and visitors through a maze of various difficult-to-navigate parking lots. The street closure favors two businesses: Vida and Left Bank, while it hurts (to varying degrees) the other 60+ businesses on the street, such as bagel shops, Boulanger, hair dressers, nail salons, sporting goods stores, ACE hardware, and the over 30 interior design/home furnishings/art retailers. We appreciate the restaurants as much as the patrons, but this is beyond favoritism, and it is causing animosity among the members of the downtown Menlo Park community. It is also devastating financially to the downtown business community and fails to attract new potential downtown businesses.