East Palo Alto Council examines priorities
- Srishti Prabha
- 58 minutes ago
- 4 min read
The East Palo Alto City Council is finalizing its strategic priorities for 2025–2027 and it has been gathering community input since February. During a study session on April 22, 2025, council members reassessed ongoing projects and how well they reflect resident needs.
Final adoption of the plan is scheduled for late June, as the current strategy cycle concludes.
The outgoing 2023–2025 plan included 94 proposed projects. Of those, 24 were completed, 12 are operational, 48 remain in progress and 8 are on hold — meaning roughly 40% of the projects reached completion or operational status.
Some previously emphasized priorities, such as transportation, mobility and public safety, appear to be giving way to new focus areas like civic engagement and emergency preparedness.
The current draft priorities include: public infrastructure and utilities; land use, economic, and workforce development; livability and community quality of life; housing; governance and organizational strength; emergency and disaster preparedness; and civic engagement.
Recommendations for the next two years suggest continuing 39 existing projects. Nineteen are expected to wrap up by December 2025, while 20 will extend beyond that due to complexity and scope. At the same time, 11 previously proposed projects may be cut, including the acquisition of the county-owned Beech Street property. New initiatives under consideration include installing smart streetlights with surveillance capabilities.
Several federally funded infrastructure efforts will move ahead without interruption. These include $1.6 million for a new turf field at McNair, $850,000 for improvements to East Bayshore Road, $1 million for water infrastructure upgrades and $2 million for Woodland Avenue safety improvements.
As part of the strategic planning, council members discussed how local nonprofit and community services would align with the updated priorities.
Vice Mayor and Councilmember Mark Dinan raised concerns about potentially defunding longstanding community organizations.
“One thing that's very popular with East Palo Alto residents is funding institutions like the YMCA and EPACENTER,” he said.
Most council members expressed hesitation about moving forward without a complete financial analysis. Councilmember Carlos Romero emphasized the city’s limited fiscal flexibility.
“Even though I know the vice mayor's fund is saying that we have $150 million, $135 million in the bank to spend, we don't,” said Romero. “What we know is that it may be somewhere between 35 million and maybe 40 — I’m trying to constrain our appetite to have all of these new projects or even move on existing projects that have not totally been funded.”
Councilmember Webster Lincoln echoed that sentiment: “The rubber doesn’t hit the road until there is a budget for it.”
During public comment, several residents called attention to the region’s ongoing housing crisis.
As the council considers which programs to scale back or invest in, resident Kenia Najar urged leaders to focus on preventing displacement and protecting renters.
“One way to do this is by addressing the relocation concerns that have been raised by residents living on the Westside,” she said. “And revisiting and updating the Westside Area Plan to better reflect community needs.”
She also stressed that “strengthening the tenant registry programs,” already part of the proposed plan, is essential for improving communication with residents.
Housing conditions were also raised by renter Laura Rubio, who addressed the council in Spanish: “They should improve the program of rental registry [to document] the owners that do not live there and … [so] the tenants could be protected and to be able demand annual safety inspections for the owners of rental units — many units are in very bad conditions.”
Both Rubio and Najar called on the city to use funds from Measure JJ — which passed with 77% voter approval in November — for rental assistance to support East Palo Alto tenants. Preventing the displacement of residents and small businesses emerged as a key theme during the public comment period.
In response, council members discussed how to better integrate housing strategies within the broader framework. Councilmember Lincoln called for a review of the city’s inclusionary zoning ordinance, which requires developers to designate a portion of new housing units as affordable.
Councilmember Dinan pointed to zoning barriers that limit denser housing construction in residential neighborhoods.
“Despite us having sometimes upwards of 25 people living in single-family homes, it's illegal to build an apartment in that same neighborhood,” he said. “I think we should review permits and financing process to speed up housing production.”
Lincoln also flagged concerns about weak enforcement of existing building codes, echoing comments made by Rubio. East Palo Alto currently uses a three-tier system to assess housing code violations. Both Lincoln and Councilmember Ruben Abrica voiced the need to modernize that system.
“I'm not against code enforcement, I just felt that the last decision was a little rushed and was not very well thought out,” said Abrica.
After reviewing potential project additions and re-categorizations, each councilmember voted independently on their priority items. Twenty-seven projects received support from at least three council members, indicating majority backing. Two projects — launching a home repair program and developing a citywide sewer master plan — received unanimous support from all five council members.
The final Strategic Priorities and Work Plan is scheduled for adoption on June 3. Community members can still complete the city’s survey to share feedback through May 14.
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