Portola Valley Weekly Update February 23, 2023

This week's update:

• Town Manager Jeremy Dennis Leaving Position in March
• Town Council Meeting Summary Feb 22, 2023
• General Plan Discussion Group – First Meeting Feb 28th
• Annual Statistics from San Mateo County Sheriff
• Tonight - Choose Your Climate Future Workshop
• Annual Portola Valley Town Broom Pull
• Wildfire Preparedness Committee Tip- Quick Take-Aways to Increase Resilience
• HIP Housing Volunteer Opportunities
• Free Money for Money for College Through the CalKIDS Program
• Upcoming Events

Town Manager Jeremy Dennis Leaving Position in March

At the February 22 Town Council meeting, Town Manager Jeremy Dennis announced that his last day as a Town employee will be March 17. Jeremy began working in Portola Valley in March of 2016 and will leave the Town after seven years of service.

“For the past seven years, I have had the honor to work with Jeremy Dennis as Portola Valley's Town Manager” said Mayor Jeff Aalfs. “He has guided the Town (and me) through countless complicated situations, perhaps none more so than the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 and the torrent of policies, decisions and communications that came with it. Jeremy's mastery of technical details, combined with his calm demeanor, his unfailing commitment to public service, and his political knowledge and skills have made him invaluable to the Town of Portola Valley, and to amateur elected officials like myself. I thank Jeremy for his years of service and wish him well on his next adventure.”

As Town Manager, Jeremy has been instrumental in modernizing Town systems, policies, communications and the budget process, including the Town's first Capital Improvement Program. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jeremy ensured continuity of services to citizens through the creative and rapid transition of these services online. Jeremy has also been instrumental in ensuring the Town is on the radar of regional and state entities, ensuring needed funding and support in the broader political landscape.

“To the Town Council, each and every resident, the incredible staff, and the many community and regional partners that I have had the distinct pleasure of working with over the last seven years, I simply say thank you” Jeremy said. “I am immensely proud of the work I’ve had the great opportunity to contribute to that I hope has made Portola Valley a better place”.

The Town Council will hold a closed session to discuss the process of finding a new Town Manager on February 24.

Town Council Meeting Summary Feb 22, 2023

A summary of the most recent meeting held on February 22 is now available. The Town Council held a study session with San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller and presented a mid-year update on the FY 2022-23 budget

General Plan Discussion Group – First Meeting Feb 28th

In January, the Town Council endorsed a citizen-formed General Plan Discussion Group that will utilize Town resources to provide educational opportunities and increase awareness and inclusiveness for residents to learn more about the General Plan. The Discussion Group will have the first meeting on Feb 28th in the Buckeye Room. Future meetings will be every 4th Tuesday. The meeting will be limited to 90 minutes.

Annual Statistics from San Mateo County Sheriff

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office has created a report on statistical information related to incidents reported in Portola Valley in 2022. Review the report here.

Tonight - Choose Your Climate Future Workshop

A hands-on workshop to discover how to recover a healthy climate

Thursday, February 23, 7 pm-9 pm, at the Portola Valley Town Center

Join the hands-on event. Refreshments Served!

Join us to play with En-ROADS, a powerful online simulator, to explore how we can ensure a livable, sustainable climate by the end of this century.

This workshop is fun, free and open to everyone with a curious mind! No prior background in climate change is needed. Just come and explore!

Co-developed with the MIT Sloan School, En-ROADS is an easy-to-use planning tool that has been used in workshops in over 190 countries with over 200,000 people, including Members of Congress, community leaders, and the general public. It is based on the latest science and is updated monthly to stay current.

You will have a chance to learn about the most popular solutions to the climate crisis AND to propose and test your own scenarios. This 2-hour session will be lively, as we learn together what works and what doesn’t, and you’ll also hear about possible ways to get involved to make a difference.

Bring your laptop or share with others. Because the simulation tool is online, it’s possible for participants to bring a laptop to the session and concurrently run their own what-if experiments. Feel free to bring your own fully-charged Mac or PC!

This workshop is sponsored by the Sustainability Committee of the Town of Portola Valley.

The workshop leaders will be: Steve Levin, PV resident and En-ROADS Climate Ambassador and Laura Iyer, Leader of the CCL En-ROADS Engagement Action Team and an En-ROADS Climate Ambassador

Annual Portola Valley Town Broom Pull - Sunday, March 5

Please join the Portola Valley Conservation Committee, community volunteers and Scout troops and spend a couple of hours pulling this invasive weed from public lands and rights-of-way.

Meet at 9:00 AM at the Historic Schoolhouse – we will be done by noon.

Bring friends and neighbors – it’s a fun way to contribute a little muscle power and tackle this problem as a team

Please bring water and gloves and wear long sleeves and close-toed shoes

Did you know that Broom is:

• Highly invasive and extremely flammable
• One mature plant can produce 10,000 seeds per season and can live up to 20 years
• The seeds can germinate even after 60+ years
• Seed pods can burst with enough force to fling seeds many feet away
• Outcompetes and chokes out native vegetation
• Poisonous to large domestic animals and makes pastures impenetrable
• Re-sprouts from the roots (pull it out by the roots, when the soil is wet and with a weed wrench)
• Impossible to easily remove once the soil is dry
• DO NOT mow, it will re-sprout and be even harder to remove by the roots

French Broom is one of our nastiest invasive local shrubs. It spreads quickly, choking out both natives and other desirable plants and it is very flammable. It is especially a problem in our Open Space Preserves.

Wildfire Preparedness Committee Tip - Quick Take-Aways to Increase Resilience

The Wildfire Preparedness Committee has created a series of tips to help the community prepare for wildfire season. You can see the current tip and download any past tips on the website.

HIP Housing Volunteer Opportunities

HIP Housing needs your help! Human Investment Project Housing (HIP Housing) is a non-profit organization based in San Mateo County that specializes in affordable and creative housing solutions. Each year, HIP Housing helps 1,400 people find housing or keep their homes through our Home Sharing, Self Sufficiency, and Property Development Programs. We could use your help with program outreach, event support, and more. To apply, please complete our HIP Housing Volunteer application. For more information, contact Laura Fanucchi lfanucchi@hiphousing.org or (650) 348 6660.

Free Money for Money for College Through the CalKIDS Program

CalKIDS, a new children’s savings account (CSA) program provides a jumpstart in saving for college. Learn more about the program and join a webinar on Feb 28th at 6 PM.

Learn more about CalKIDS at www.calkids.org