| The Palo Alto History Project |
| City Council Chambers 250 Hamilton Street |
| 2006 |
| Palo Alto City Council Chambers: Expensive Digs It's funny how easily politicians at every level can become out of touch. It seems like every year there's some White House or Congressional mini-gate about some cloistered politician charging his Hawaii vacation to taxpayers or buying his wife (or worse, girlfriend) a mink coat and claiming it as a business expense. In his first year in office, Bill Clinton was crucified in the press, when he reportedly held up airline traffic for nearly an hour as he got a $200 haircut from world-famous stylist Christophe while Airforce One sat on the tarmac at LAX. In local politics, politicians are supposed to be closer to the people---and in most cases they certainly are. But even in a city of less than 60,000 people like Palo Alto, politicians can sometimes seem oddly out to lunch. In 1997, Palo Alto city staff recommended a $320,000 remodelling of the City Council's chambers. Changes included a new carpet, more comfortable public benches, a redesign of the staff area below the council dais, and an upgraded sound system. Fair enough. But the council, without a whole lot of thought or debate, apparently, voted 8-1 to spend 960,000 for a rather more upscale remodelling. This renovation included such technical goodies as a high-tech audio/visual system with a digital overhead projection system as well as individual flat screen monitors for each council member (and this was 1997). When reported in the papers, the public had a major-sized cow. Some assorted comments from Palo Alto citizens that appeared in op-ed pages over the next week: "I thought I was looking at a belated April Fool's Day issue when I read the headline '$960,000 remodel of council chambers approved' " "The Palo Alto City Council has come up with a marvelous economical solution: keep the homeless from becoming visible on the sidewalks, and, presto, you have a budget surplus so large you can go and blow it all at Fry's." "This is not, after all, the UN council chamber. Get real, guys. If you have extra money, give it to the schools, and restore some of the worthy programs that have been eliminated due to 'costs.' " "I think its terrible and its very inappropriate to spend that kind of money. I don't want my council members "surfing the net" during council meetings. I want them paying attention to the business at hand." "I think that's a ridiculous idea and I for one, will not vote for any of the council members who vote for spending that kind of money. Micki Schneider, the one who wants it the most, should be ashamed of herself." After the public outcry, the Council backed off the pricetag, settling on the original staff recommendation. But in the end, the Council bumped up the luxuries again and slipped it into a a last-minute budget amendment buried in the council's consent calendar. Ahhh, politicians... -Matt Bowling |
| Palo Alto: Then & Now |
| A sketch of the PA City Council from the Weekly |
| City Hall, looking grandiose |
| Looking up at City Hall |
| City Hall through the trees |
| 2007 |
1981 |
| City Hall: Built at the height of modernist boxes |
| Inside the Council chambers |
| The map below shows the City Hall Area |
| The sculpture "Filaree" by Gene Flores is prominent in this 1981 photo of City Hall. |
| The plaza now features artist Samuel Yates “portable solar garage," office and headquarters during his twelve-month search for “The Color of Palo Alto.” The project in which Yates was to photograph every parcel of land in Palo Alto and then derive a common color for the city seems to be on hold according to his website thecolorofpaloalto.com |
| Sources: Palo Alto Weekly |