BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Newly released documents shed light on why a sewage processing agency, Silicon Valley Clean Water, paid its general manager $875,000 as part of a severance agreement, and it appears a big part of that was equity the agency gave him in a $4.5 million, six-bedroom home in the hills overlooking Redwood City.

The agency — which is owned by the cities of Redwood City, Belmont, San Carlos and Menlo Park’s West Bay Sanitary District — has refused to say why it paid General Manager Dan Child $875,000 when he left the agency.

The Post filed California Public Record Act requests for several documents from the agency. While most of the paper’s requests were denied, the agency did provide his employment contract and a highly-redacted attachment to his settlement agreement — and both offer clues behind the unusual payout.

The employment contract indicates that upon leaving the district, he would get 38% of the appreciation in a home at 379 Greendale Way. The district bought the home for Child in 2010 for $2,540,000. Under his employment contract, his equity in the home increases year by year. He personally didn’t contribute to the purchase price of the home, so it was essentially a gift to him.

The home is now on the market for $4,598,000. If it sells for that price, the appreciation (the difference between the purchase price and the sale price) would be $2,058,000. Under his contract, he would be entitled to 38% of that or $782,040.

The Post asked current general manager, Teresa Herrera, if that figure was correct. She said she hasn’t done the calculations herself, but the figure “appears to be close.”

Did he resign or was he fired?

But there’s a question about whether Child would automatically get that money.

If the agency’s board fires him “for cause,” he isn’t entitled to the money, his employment contract says.

The settlement agreement said that the board fired him “for cause” and that Child insists that he resigned.

The distinction is important because if he resigned, he would be eligible for his 38% share of the home’s appreciated value. If he was fired for cause, he gets nothing.

His employment contract describes “for cause” as “negligence, gross insubordination, conviction of a felony, conduct unbecoming employment with the authority, professional misconduct that reflects adversely upon the authority” or a breach of the employment contract.

The board appears to have fired him around May 2018, but the severance agreement that both sides signed was reached in late April of this year. That would suggest that the two sides argued behind the scenes about whether he resigned or was fired for long as 11 months.

If, in the end, the board gave him the entire $782,040, that would be 89% of the $875,000 check he got as a result of the severance agreement.
What about the remaining $92,960?

His contract said that if he was fired “for cause,” he would get no severance pay. But if the dismissal was without cause, he was eligible for up to a year’s worth of pay.

In 2017, his last full calendar year, he was paid $330,213.

It’s possible that the $92,960 is a portion of the year’s pay that he would get if he were dismissed without cause.

Claim had been filed against Child

Documents given to the Post by the agency hint at why the board in May 2018 decided to fire him for cause.

An attachment to the settlement agreement indicates the agency settled a claim against Child by another employee for an undisclosed amount. The nature of the complaint and the employee’s name were redacted. In fact, 13 of the 24 pages of the attachment were redacted by the agency either in whole or in part. Some of the pages were completely redacted, with a large black box covering all text on the page.

In a letter to the Post, Herrera said the redactions applied to information that could be legally withheld under the open records act because it was an unwarranted invasion of privacy or that the “public interest” in concealing the information outweighed reasons not to disclose it.

Herrera gave the same reasons for refusing to release any claims made by Child against the agency.

Among the claims, he alleges the agency’s board violated the Brown Act, the state law that regulates public meetings. The San Mateo County District Attorney’s office said yesterday it had not been informed of any Brown Act violations regarding the sewer agency.

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By Elaine Goodman
Daily Post Correspondent

Faced with residents’ concerns that houses are becoming too large and out of character with their neighborhoods, the City Council in Redwood City tonight (Aug. 26) will consider a square footage limit on single-family homes.

The council could even go so far as to approve an emergency ordinance, which would take effect immediately. That way, the size limit would apply to any newly submitted applications for new homes or additions, as well as applications that have been submitted but haven’t yet been deemed complete. The so-called urgency ordinance would require six of the seven council members to vote in favor.

The size limit that’s been proposed for single-family homes is 2,500 square feet or a floor area ratio of 0.4, whichever is larger.

Floor area ratio, or FAR, is the square footage of the building divided by the size of the lot. So under the proposed 0.4 FAR limit, a house of up to 4,000 square feet could be built on a 10,000-square-foot lot.

The city’s Planning Commission recommended those size limits for single-family homes in June. But the council could decide to approve a different size limit, or implement a sliding scale with different FAR maximums for lots in various size ranges.

Another question is whether some square footage shouldn’t count toward the limit, such as space taken up by basements, unenclosed decks, or granny units, which in city-speak are called accessory dwelling units or ADUs.

Many other cities use FAR in determining the maximum size for single-family homes. In Mountain View, for example, a maximum FAR of 0.45 is allowed for lots up to 5,000 square feet, or an FAR of 0.4 for lots 10,000 square feet and larger.

Currently, Redwood City restricts lot coverage, but not FAR. A home could meet its lot coverage limit, but continue to grow through the addition or expansion of a second story. FAR takes into account the home’s total square footage.

“Our lack of FAR is pitting neighbors versus neighbors, and that just isn’t right,” Kris Johnson, a resident of Redwood City’s Mount Carmel neighborhood, told the Planning Commission in May.

Johnson pointed to data compiled by city planners, showing that in 2017 and 2018, 30 homes were proposed throughout the city with an FAR over 0.5, and many of those had an FAR of more than 0.6. Among all existing homes in the Mount Carmel neighborhood, the average home size is 1,758 square feet and the average FAR is 0.29, according to the city.

Starter homes bulldozed

“The data only reinforces what many of us see happening to our neighborhoods with our very own eyes,” Johnson said. “Profit-driven developers bulldozing what has historically been starter homes or that missing middle … and replacing them with enormous homes with no regard to the neighborhood or the neighbors.”

The Mount Carmel neighborhood has been at the center of the home-size controversy. A particular concern has been the “teardown” phenomenon, in which a developer buys a home, tears it down, and sells the larger house that replaces it. Some have even proposed turning some or all of the neighborhood into a historic district to protect the older homes.

“Many of the concerns originated in the Mount Carmel neighborhood, where neighbors were concerned that existing smaller homes were being demolished, and larger incompatible homes constructed in their place,” Redwood City Associate Planner William Chui said in a report to the City Council for tonight’s meeting.

In addition, “An unusually high number of applications have been initiated by developers, as opposed to homeowners, in recent months,” Chui said.

The Mount Carmel neighborhood is bounded by El Camino Real, Myrtle Street, Whipple Avenue and Jefferson Avenue.

The city requires a homeowner to obtain an architectural permit to build or expand a second-story addition, or to construct a new two-story home.

In 2017 and 2018, the city received 98 permit applications for new homes or second-story additions. The largest number of applications, 21, came from the Mount Carmel neighborhood. Another 14 were from Farm Hill.

Size limits may drive up prices

But some are opposed to the proposed size limits for single-family homes. Jim Tierney, principal and broker with San Mateo-based NetEquity Real Estate, said in an email to the City Council that the limits would reduce property values. That’s especially a concern for seniors living in smaller homes, he said.

Tierney said the size limits would drive up home prices, by forcing developers to enlarge houses by building basements, a more costly strategy than building a second story.

The proposed FAR would discourage telecommuting, Tierney said, since telecommuters might not be able to have a spare bedroom to use as their home office due to the size limit. That in turn could increase traffic.
And a low FAR would discourage families that live with extended family, such as aging parents, from moving to Redwood City, he said.

“A cap of 40% of the lot area or a home size of 2,500 square feet would drive away jobs and development in Redwood City,” Tierney said. “It would also do nothing to make homes more affordable.”

Some homeowners won’t be able to expand

Under the proposed size limit for single-family homes, houses that are already larger than the cap wouldn’t be allowed to add any square footage. Six percent of single-family homes in the city, or 731 houses, are in that situation, including 414 houses in Redwood Shores, 69 in Farm Hill and 62 in Mount Carmel.

“Even small additions such as adding or enlarging bathrooms or extending a kitchen would be prohibited for homes that meet or already exceed the FAR limit, even if they pose little impact to neighborhood compatibility,” Chui said in his report.

If the council went with a traditional, rather than an emergency ordinance, the size limit wouldn’t take effect until Oct. 9 at the earliest.

The city has received 13 permit applications for new homes or second-story additions that would likely be issued or deemed complete by then, and to which the new size limit therefore wouldn’t apply, according to Chui’s report.
Six are in the Woodside Plaza neighborhood, four are in Mount Carmel, two are in Eagle Hill, and one is in the Roosevelt neighborhood.

The post Is city going to FAR with house size limits, or not FAR enough? (If you don’t get the pun, read the story) appeared first on Palo Alto Daily Post.

BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A Menlo Park man who works as a photographer in a Redwood City studio is facing multiple criminal charges alleging that he raped and sexually assaulted at least four women in their early 20s, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Some of Chad Miller’s victims knew each other, and started an online chatroom to talk about the abuse they suffered, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe. After talking about Miller in their group chat, they decided to report him to police.

In each case, Miller is accused of telling the victim he was a modeling photographer and wanted to take their pictures in a Redwood City studio, according to Wagstaffe. Then he would offer them alcohol and once they were too intoxicated to object, he would force himself on them, the DA said.

The women were ages 21, 23 and two were 24.

Miller assaulted two of the women once, and assaulted the two other victims repeatedly between August 2014 and June 2016, according to charging documents.

Most of the assaults occurred either in his Menlo Park home or at his Redwood City studio, according to the DA. At least one assault occurred in Miller’s car outside of the Dutch Goose in west Menlo Park.

Miller is charged with 11 felony counts which include rape, sodomy, forcible oral copulation and sexual penetration. Most of the counts include allegations that the crime occurred while the victim was incapacitated or drunk.

Miller is out of jail on $350,000 cash bail and is expected to appear in court on Nov. 18.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Two dentists in Redwood Shores pleaded no contest yesterday to charges that they committed insurance fraud by, among other things, billing an insurance company for dental work that wasn’t done.

Rocky Dhaliwal, 52, and his wife, Jesse Dhaliwal, 44, operate Redwood Shores Dental at 278 Redwood Shores Parkway and between May 2012 and February 2018, engaged in numerous types of billing fraud, according to District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

Delta Dental Insurance contacted Wagstaffe’s office and the two agencies investigated the Dhaliwals together, comparing patient files with insurance bills submitted to Delta Dental.

Wagstaffe said the investigation revealed that the Dhaliwals committed numerous types of insurance fraud, including:

• submitting the work that other dentists had done as Rocky Dhaliwal’s work,

• reporting false dates of service of patients,

• billing patients for unnecessary services, and

• charging for services that were never completed and charging patients more than what their work was actually worth.

It was discovered that the Dhaliwals had charged $226,103 in fraudulent bills to Delta Dental, and $195,561 had been paid out to them, Wagstaffe said.

Rocky Dhaliwal pleaded no contest yesterday to two felony counts of insurance fraud, and on Nov. 5 will be sentenced to a year in county jail.

Jesse Dhaliwal pleaded no contest yesterday to one misdemeanor count of insurance fraud and will be on probation for two years. Both will have to pay restitution to Delta Dental.

Both are under investigation by the California Dental Board. The Dhaliwals also each have restrictions on their practice from the board mandating that they must have another dentist, who does not work with them, look over their billing statements twice a month.

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BY JEN NOWELL
Daily Post Correspondent

Some Redwood City residents may soon find themselves paying a $60 fee to park on the street in their own neighborhood as the city looks to strengthen its residential permit parking program.

City council votes tonight (Sept. 9) on whether to approve amendments and updates to the city’s permit parking program, and it will provide feedback to city officials on proposed fees for permit holders.

The city’s permit parking program was established in 1985 as a way to discourage long-term parking in neighborhoods by people who do not live in the neighborhoods, such as workers and shoppers, according to a report from Christian Hammack, Redwood City’s parking and transportation demand manager.

This is still a concern today, however, the city has discovered that other factors may be adding to the parking congestion, Hammack said. Residents are using their garages for storage or to house people instead of cars, he said. Some residents own more cars than they have spaces for, and the city is seeing a rise in commercial vehicles connected to home-based businesses, he said.

The city has seen an increase in complaints from residents about the difficulty of finding parking on the streets in front of their homes, Hammack said.

As for the fee, the city completed a fee analysis and determined it currently costs the city about $36,000 a year to run the permit parking program, Hammack said. It costs about $15,000 to establish a new permit area, but this can change depending on the size of the area, he said.

Proposed fees include:
• $60 for the first and second residential parking permit — $30 each year after to renew;
• $130 for the third residential parking permit — $65 each year after to renew;
• $25 for a 14-day visitor parking permit;
• $4 for a one-day visitor parking permit; and
• $25 to replace a lost or stolen permit.

If approved by council, residents will start seeing these charges on permits issued on or after Jan. 1. Council will not vote on a permit fee tonight, but it will provide feedback to city officials who may return to council later this year for a vote.

Paying for the permit program

The money from these fees would not cover enforcement, which costs about $270,000 annually with two parking enforcement officers dedicating half their time to the permit parking areas, Hammack said. To recover this cost with the fee, city officials determined it would add $355 to the cost of each parking permit on an annual basis, he said. City officials are not recommending this, and instead suggest that revenue from parking citations could help pay for enforcement costs.

“The cost of the permits would be prohibitive for many residents and hinder the program’s ability to provide parking relief to residents,” Hammack said.

As it is today, the city’s permit parking program includes the following guidelines:

• On-street parking permits may be issued to property owners and residents within the program’s area;
• Up to three annual permits may be issued to a single address;
• Up to 10 24-hour guest permits may be issued per address per year;
• On-street parking time limits are set when the Residential Parking Permit area is established and are typically two hours; and
• The city may charge a fee for the permits, but so far, no fee has been established.

Flexibility for council

At tonight’s meeting, city officials are recommending council approve changes to the current permit parking program that would allow the council to:

• set the days and hours when parking is restricted;

• decide the maximum number of permits every household can get, and the number of visitor permits;

• and create a new permit that allows visitors to park for up to14 days.

With city council able to make changes to the program by passing a resolution, Hammack claims it will create more flexibility in providing changes that fit the needs of the residents.

If council approves the ordinance, city officials will meet with residents in each of the permit parking areas to discuss potential changes to the program, including enforcement times, and adding or removing streets from the permit area.

Any proposed adjustments will need to come back to council for approval.

Four permit areas

Redwood City currently has four residential permit parking areas:

• Area A near the south end of Broadway in the Friendly Acres neighborhood;

• Area B near downtown in the Stambaugh/Heller neighborhood;

• Area S which surrounds Sequoia High School, and

• Area C which surrounds Sequoia Hospital.

Parking restrictions are in place Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Cars without permits may receive a $40 ticket for violating the time limit.

There are currently no requests to establish residential permit parking programs in any other neighborhoods in the city, but Hammack said there are requests to expand two of the existing areas. By the end of this year, the city will look into eliminating or reducing the area around Sequoia Hospital at the request of residents, he said.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Redwood City residents will likely not have to pay $60 to park in their neighborhoods as part of a parking permit program amid concerns the fee will hurt low-income residents.

The City Council on Monday (Sept. 9) expressed disdain for charging residents to park and said they would like to see the amount of a parking ticket raised.

“I have a philosophical issue with charging folks to park on public streets, which we are already paying for with new taxes,” said Mayor Ian Bain. “I have no problem with increasing fines.”

Reasons for parking crunch

The council was discussing charging residents whose neighborhoods are part of a parking permit program because there has been a parking crunch.
It may be caused by residents using their garages for storage or to house people instead of cars, said Christian Hammack, the city’s parking and transportation demand manager. Some residents own more cars than they have spaces for, and the city is seeing a rise in commercial vehicles connected to home-based businesses, he said.

Hammack recommended the fees because the city’s current program — which is free to residents — does not cover the cost of enforcement — about $270,000 annually.

The city also wants to add two parking enforcement officers who will spend half their time patrolling permit parking areas. The $60 for two permits may not seem like a lot to some, but that money could pay for dinner for a family of four, Councilwoman Janet Borgens pointed out.

Stambaugh Street resident Pedro Sanchez told the council to reject the fees, because many residents in his neighborhood are low-income and barely able to pay rent and their bills.

“Charging people when they’re trying to get by is just cruel,” Sanchez said, pointing out that the residents who could apply for low-income waivers probably won’t because they’re “already in the shadows.”

Councilwoman Shelly Masur also pointed out that the city has parking permits in mostly high-density, lower-income areas, while other residents, mostly those who live near Sequoia High School, are OK with the fees. She suggested that perhaps some parts of the city could be charged for the permit program while others are not.

Most support program

All of the eight residents who spoke at Monday’s meeting were in favor of the permitted parking program, with about half against paying and the other half supportive of fees.

Isabella Chu said the only reason she keeps her car is because she has a free place to store it — on the street. But she also said charging a fee would ease the parking crunch in some areas because some people will start parking in their driveways to avoid paying.

Most of the council was in favor of increasing the $40 parking ticket fees. Both of the issues will be revisited later this year.

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A Redwood City police officer struck and seriously injured a pedestrian on El Camino Real while responding to a report about a possible home invasion robbery in progress this morning (Sept. 18).

A call came in at 9:47 a.m. reporting the home invasion in the 300 block of Poplar Avenue involving four masked male suspects, police said.

An officer with 12 years on the force for Redwood City had a police dog in a patrol car and lost control of the vehicle as it traveled south on the wet roadway of El Camino Real south of James Avenue, across from Sequoia Station, according to police.

The patrol car struck the center median of the roadway and a man standing on the median. The police vehicle then continued into the northbound lanes of traffic where it hit two other vehicles before coming to a stop on the east sidewalk, police said.

The pedestrian was taken to a hospital to be treated for what are believed to be serious injuries. An update on his condition was not immediately available Wednesday afternoon.

The officer involved was also hospitalized as a precaution, and the police dog did not appear to be injured but will be examined by a veterinarian, police said. The drivers of the other vehicles hit by the patrol car were assessed at the scene and then released.

No other information about the robbery the officer was responding to have been released by police.
— Bay City News

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A developer has proposed Redwood City’s largest project yet — a complete replacement of Sequoia Station with six buildings, including a 17-story tower, that could bring in thousands of employees while housing just hundreds of people.

The redevelopment of Sequoia Station and the nearby SamTrans and Caltrain lots is being proposed by Los Angeles developer Lowe Enterprises, which wants to build 1.6 million square feet of office space, stores and apartments. The development would include 175,000 square feet of retail space and 440 apartments.

The jobs-to-housing ratio for the entire project is 12 jobs to one home.

At 1.6 million square feet, this is the third largest proposed development in the mid-Peninsula. Facebook wants to build 1.7 million square feet for its Willow Road Village campus in Menlo Park. And Stanford is proposing to build 3.5 million square feet under a proposal submitted to Santa Clara County.

Documents filed with the city show that the Lowe’s project is split up onto three lots — Sequoia Station, the lot owned by A-1 Party Rental and Caltrain and a Caltrain parking lot.

The largest portion of the project is the 1.4 million square feet of office space and 225 apartments at Sequoia Station. How much retail space will be included in that portion of the project is yet to be seen. However, Lowe’s proposal says the current Safeway and CVS will be revamped.

Assuming that the 1.4 million square feet of office space portions out to 200 square feet per employee, that would add 7,000 new workers.

But there would only be homes for 322 people, using the estimation that about 1.5 people live in each new apartment.

For the Sequoia Station portion alone, the jobs-to-housing imbalance is 20.7 jobs for every one new home.

Six buildings are proposed for Sequoia Station, ranging from seven stories at the corner of El Camino and James Avenue to 17 stories at the corner of James and the railroad tracks. The rest of the project would be eight to 10 stories tall.

Heading north, the next portion of the project is bounded by James Avenue, California Street and the railroad tracks. It is currently owned by Caltrain and the owners of A1 Party Rentals and Events. That portion of the property is proposed to be 10 stories tall, have 235,000 square feet of office space and 215 apartments. The jobs-to-housing ratio for this portion of the project is 3.6 jobs for every one home.

Nothing is proposed for the Caltrain parking lot that runs between the railroad tracks and Perry Street.

Lowe says in its project proposal that it wants to explore putting a “future transit facility” where the parking lot currently is.

The project also proposes to extend Franklin Street north into Sequoia Station and to extend Harrison Street to El Camino. However, in order to extend Hamilton, a bridge or tunnel would have to be built around the train tracks.

In order to submit a formal application with the city, Lowe is asking the City Council to change its current zoning in the area to allow more offices and homes. The city’s current downtown zoning plan is maxed out on office space and market-rate housing.

“Without a (zoning change), Sequoia Station cannot be redeveloped and will remain in its current state — an outdated, car-centric, neighborhood-serving commercial center,” Senior Vice President Alan Chamorro wrote in a letter to council about the project and asking for the zoning change.

But with the 12-to-1 jobs-to-housing imbalance for the entire project, it’s unlikely the proposal will make it past the scrutiny of the city’s Planning Commission or City Council, both of which have repeatedly told developers to add more housing to projects.

On Sept. 9, council told developer Greystar Real Estate to add more housing to its six-block office, housing and retail project that would add 4.7 jobs for every one home.

No meeting to discuss the zoning change is scheduled with either the Planning Commission or council, according to the city’s website.

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BY JEN NOWELL
Daily Post Correspondent

The Redwood City School District is asking voters this November to approve a $149 parcel tax to help its schools, but an opponent is questioning the need for the money given that the district just closed four schools.

Measure H, which needs at least 66.7% of the votes to pass, would be in place for 12 years, raising an estimated $3.4 million dollars per year. If approved, this would be the district’s second parcel tax. In 2016, voters approved an $85-per-parcel tax that brings in about $1.9 million a year.

“The district closed four campuses in response to a drastic decline in enrollment,” wrote Jack Hickey in his argument opposing the parcel tax. “The economies from those closures should have balanced their budget.”

Last November, the school board decided to close four schools — Fair Oaks Elementary School, Orion Alternative Elementary School, Adelante Selby Spanish Immersion School and Hawes Elementary School — due to shrinking enrollment.

The district has lost about 1,500 students in six years. Those students have either switched to charter schools or left the area, causing the district to lose money. The school district receives money from the state based on the number of students enrolled and how many show up to class.

According to the ballot measure, the district plans to use the funds from the tax “to attract and retain highly-qualified teachers; support quality reading and writing programs; maintain science, technology, engineering and math instruction; and reduce class sizes in kindergarten and first grade.”

Job benefits for teachers

Hickey addressed the need for teachers, writing, “The district and others like it should offer teachers, who have difficulty finding affordable living quarters, increased current income in exchange for concessions in their platinum retirement benefits.”

In a rebuttal to Hickey’s argument against the measure, the proponents of the parcel tax argue Measure H provides a dedicated source of funding the state can’t touch.

“The lone author of the argument against Measure H routinely opposes local education funding measures regardless of need,” proponents said. “This ideologue is not invested in our school or our students’ future.”

This rebuttal was signed by Rick Hunter, CPA; Jennifer Overbey, a teacher at Clifford Elementary; Redwood City Councilwoman Giselle Hale; Ann Hynecek, founder of Redwood City Parents for Better Education Funding; and Veronica Escamez, founder of the Redwood City nonprofit Casa Circle Cultural.

In an argument in favor of the tax measure, proponents wrote that Redwood City School District’s elementary and middle schools are among the lowest funded in San Mateo County.

The argument was signed by former Redwood City Mayor Jeff Ira; resident Brenton Britschgi; Sarah LaTorra, parent of a Clifford student; teacher Rita Melton; and Amy Buckmaster; president and CEO of the Redwood City Chamber of Commerce.

‘We can’t rely on the state’

“We can’t rely on the state to ensure our children have access to the same quality of education as in neighboring communities,” they said. “Our kids deserve better.”

Earlier this year, the school district had Burlingame-based pollster Godbe Research conduct a poll in which 72% of respondents said they would approve an $85 or $149 parcel tax.

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BY JEN NOWELL
Daily Post Correspondent

An appeals court has ruled in favor of a former Redwood City high schooler, overturning the teenager’s convictions for battery and resisting arrest after he “lightly brushed” an officer’s hand in the school hallway.

The First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled last Wednesday that the 17-year-old student’s touching of Redwood City Police Officer David Stahler was “incidental” and not “intentional” as Stahler initiated contact.

The appeals court slammed Stahler for elevating “what should have been a minor school disciplinary matter into one with potential criminal implication,” and the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office for pursuing the case in juvenile court where Judge Elizabeth Lee convicted the teenager.

The April 2017 incident began when Frank A. and three of his friends ditched class. The teen’s last name was concealed because he was a minor at the time of the incident.

A campus aide found Frank sitting at a computer in the library, and he asked the teen to go with him to the administrative vice principal’s office, which is where students are taken when they miss class.

At first, Frank refused to go with the aide, but agreed once the aide called Stahler for assistance. As he was leaving the library, Frank called his father using his cellphone and told the aide he wanted to go to the principal’s office instead.

Student told to put down phone

Stahler testified that he met Frank and the aide outside of the principal’s office, which was closed, and he saw the teen on his phone in violation of school policy. The officer said he “verbally encouraged” Frank to listen to the aide’s directions to go to the administrative vice principal’s office and to put down his phone, yet Stahler added that he was not enforcing the school’s cellphone policy.

“If a police officer tells you that you have to do something, you should do it,” Stahler said he told Frank. “I want to make sure you understand I’m a police officer and I’m asking you to do what I’m telling you right now.”
Stahler said Frank remained outside the principal’s office and on the phone with his father, with whom Stahler refused to talk to despite Frank’s urging.

The officer told the juvenile court that he then put his left hand on Frank’s back while standing to his right and used an “extremely light amount of force, just touching to encourage (Frank) to walk down toward the (administrative vice principal’s) office.”

The situation escalates

Frank “moved his arm back and away just to get my hand off his back,” Stahler said, and in doing so, he “kind of brushed me, but to me that was, you know, basically a form of battery on me.”

The teenager’s upper arm or elbow “lightly brushed” Stahler’s left hand as he moved away from Stahler, the officer said in court.

At that point, Stahler said he thought the teen was becoming a disruption by talking loudly on his phone in the hallway with classrooms nearby.

Stahler said he “decided … to escalate (his) force,” and he grabbed Frank’s wrist in order to take him to the administrative vice principal’s office.

“When Frank tried to pull his arm away, Stahler, thinking that Frank had committed battery by brushing Stahler’s left hand and resisted a peace officer by trying to pull away when Stahler grabbed his wrist, forced Frank to the ground, handcuffed him and arrested him,” according to the court filing.

At this point, the bell rang and students were entering the hallway.

‘A problem with authority figures’

A prosecutor argued in juvenile court that Frank “has a problem with authority figures and not just Officer Stahler, but authority figures at the school.”

According to the prosecutor, “there was clearly a violation of the cellphone policy, which seems to have started… this whole incident and series of events.”

A ‘minor touch’

Stahler tried to get Frank to put his phone away and listen to the aide, but Frank did neither, the prosecutor said. Stahler used a “minor touch,” but Frank brushed the officer which is battery, the prosecutor argued.

On appeal, the teenager argued that Stahler did not have the authority as a police officer to touch him the way he did, but the prosecution claimed that as a school resource officer, Stahler did have the authority.

The appeals court ruled there was no evidence to suggest Frank acted “willfully or unlawfully” to touch the officer.

“Stahler did not testify that Frank brushed Stahler in a rude or angry way,” according to the appeals court filing.

Frank’s attorneys argued that the prosecutor was using Frank’s “defiant words and history of defiance and all this stuff… to build this up.”

Previous incident

Prior to this interaction, in August 2016, Frank had another encounter with Stahler right after he started as the school’s resource officer. This incident led the teen’s father to file an official complaint alleging Stahler had physically handled his son in an “unlawful manner.”

There was an investigation, but Stahler continued working at the school.

The teen’s attorneys argued that he cooperated with the aide in the more recent incident to the point of wanting to go to the principal’s office, possibly because Frank had an issue with Stahler in the administrative vice principal’s office.

Frank’s attorneys also argued there was no evidence that the teen “willfully or maliciously engaged in unreasonable noise” that disrupted other students; he did not commit a battery because he came in contact with Stahler’s hand as the result of “a reflective motion” when he was touched; and Frank did not resist Stahler because the officer testified that he did not enforce the school’s cellphone policy, which would have led to detention and not arrest.

No evidence of resistance

The appeals court also found no evidence to support the notion that Frank resisted Stahler.

“There is no indication Stahler was enforcing any disciplinary rules in his encounter with Frank,” the court determined.

Stahler testified that he did not attempt to enforce the cellphone ban.

The appeals court also found through Stahler’s testimony that he only “encouraged” Frank to follow the aide’s instructions.

“We fail to see how a student can be found to have resisted a peace officer’s encouragement and requests,” according to the filing.

No direct orders

The appeals court determined that Stahler failed to give Frank any clear or direct orders, and he failed to give a warning or command before grabbing Frank’s wrist.

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By the Daily Post staff

Authorities have revealed the name of the Redwood City police officer whose car accidentally killed a pedestrian on El Camino Real, but the investigation of the incident will take months.

Angela Wittman, a 12-year department veteran, has been on paid leave since the Sept. 18 collision, said Redwood City police Lt. John Gunderson.

On Sept. 18, Wittman was responding to a report of a home invasion robbery when her car slid on some wet pavement and struck Alex Camron Hill, 25, of Redwood City, according to police.

After hitting Hill, Wittman’s police car collided with two vehicles moving in the opposite direction, police said.

CHP Officer Art Montiel said it can take six to eight months to determine the cause of an accident and if anyone was at fault for it.

He said a special team that investigates complicated crashes has taken over the case. The investigation will take a while because of the team’s workload and the fact that it will need to reconstruct the scene of the crash.

Once the investigation is completed, it will be handed over to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office, which will decide if any criminal charges ought to be brought.

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Correction: An earlier version of this story said that the incident occurred in the Kaiser Redwood City Emergency Room. That was based on a statement from Redwood City police that, at one point, said the incident was in the ER and then said it occurred in the lobby. Kaiser’s spokesman, Karl Sonkin, told us that the incident happened in the lobby to the ER, not the ER itself.

BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A man with a knife and replica gun walked into the emergency room lobby at Kaiser Hospital in Redwood City and threatened employees, police said.

The incident happened at 6:30 a.m. Friday (Oct. 11) at the hospital at 1100 Veterans Blvd.

Arrested was Thomas Smith, 56, of Redwood City, police said. Kaiser said he was not a patient.

“The man proceeded to throw the knives, which did not hit anyone, and to damage the lobby walls and windows with the butt of the pellet gun. The security supervisor called 911 and Redwood City police arrived within two minutes,” a statement from Kaiser said.

Officers ordered Smith to drop the fake gun and knife, and he complied with the order.

No one was injured, other than Smith, who had a minor self-induced cut, according to police.

Smith was later booked into jail on suspicion of attempted murder, burglary, vandalism, criminal threats, exhibiting a weapon and being under the influence of drugs.

Smith is in jail on a no-bail status, and will be in court on Tuesday (Oct. 15).

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A woman wanted for allegedly cheating a 66-year-old Redwood City woman out of her home in a reverse mortgage scam appeared on the game show “Deal or No Deal” and won $400,000 before getting arrested, a prosecutor said.

Tonika Miller, 34, of Studio City, appeared on an episode of “Deal or No Deal” that aired on June 12. Miller told host Howie Mandel that she loves playing the board game Monopoly with her family and that she plans to go all-in just like she does with her family.

Ultimately, Miller won $400,000 and a 2018 Chrysler Pacifica on the game.

After winning, Miller told CNBC that she plans to create a nonprofit that provides low-cost housing for homeless veterans and the elderly.

“Growing up in poverty can make you live according to how you think you’re going to survive or how you’re going to get by. But because I had a childhood where I had to grow up fast and be responsible fast, it’s going to help me appreciate this experience like 10 times more,” Miller told CNBC.

Miller was arrested over the summer, after which authorities learned about Miller’s TV appearance, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

“She knew the cops were looking for her. It’s kind of ballsy to hop on a game show,” Wagstaffe said.

Actor was involved

Miller was wanted in San Mateo County at the time of her “Deal or No Deal” appearance in connection to a scam she and actor Justin Hall, 37, of Van Nuys, allegedly pulled on a 66-year-old woman.

The scam is believed to have begun on July 23, 2018, just a few weeks before the tax collector was to auction the victim’s home. That day Miller took the woman to Applebee’s, bought her two margaritas and then offered her a $500,000 reverse mortgage, according to Wagstaffe.

The reverse mortgage, Miller told the woman, would allow her to live on the property until she died. When the woman agreed, Miller gave her $1,000 in cash and had her sign a grant deed in favor of Rex Regum LLC, which is owned by Hall, Wagstaffe said.
The deed claims that the woman was paid $800,000 for her home, but she says that she never received the money, nor did she know what she was signing at Applebee’s. Hall recorded the deed on July 23, 2018, and paid off the late property taxes.

County employee had a suspicion

But something looked suspicious. An employee in the county Recorder’s Office noticed that the $800,000 was far below the market value of the house, which was assessed to be between $1.5 million to $1.7 million. So the recorder’s office contacted the DA to look into the situation.

DA’s Inspector Dave Wilson interviewed Miller about her role in the transaction. A few days after that initial interview, Miller told Wilson that she “cleared everything up” with the victim.

Miller “cleared everything up” by giving the victim another $1,000, according to the DA.

On Aug. 22, 2018, Hall sold the property to someone else for $997,000.

On Aug. 31, 2018, Miller went to the woman’s house with a U-Haul and tried to get her to move out, said Wagstaffe. Miller brought a real estate agent with her to help the woman find a new home in Auburn.

However, the real estate agent became suspicious of Miller and called the Redwood City police.

Officers came to the home and ordered Miller to leave, according to the DA’s office.

‘Star Trek’ role

Hall was arrested earlier this year, and it was discovered that he has a Hollywood background, serving as a producer of a Dave Chapelle special and performing in a “Star Trek” movie.

Hall had a career as an actor, stuntman and producer from 2002 to 2009, according to his IMDB page. He had bit parts in the 2009 Star Trek “The Future Begins” movie as a Starfleet security officer, and was an extra in “Dreamgirls,” “Akeelah and the Bee,” “The Terminal” and “Coach Carter.”

Hall also did stunts for movies such as “The Italian Job,” the 2008 “Incredible Hulk” and “Spider-Man 3.”

Hall was a producer for Dave Chappelle’s TV Special “For What it’s Worth,” his IMDB page states.

One’s jailed, the other bailed

Hall is out of jail on a $1.1 million bail bond and Miller is in jail in lieu of $300,000. Both are slated to appear in court on Nov. 22.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A San Mateo County Sheriff’s Sergeant is facing DUI charges after running into a tree when a Redwood City police officer tried to pull him over, a prosecutor said.

On Sept. 14 at 11:30 p.m., a Redwood City police officer saw Sgt. Luis Aquino, 50, driving his Jeep Cherokee near the intersection of Broadway and Marshall Street, nearly hitting the curb twice before running into a tree, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

The Post only learned of this arrest once Wagstaffe’s office yesterday arraigned Aquino on the charges of refusing to submit to a Breathalyzer test and DUI. The Post routinely gets lists of recent arrestees from Redwood City police, but Aquino is not listed on the log for either Sept. 14 or 15.

The officer tried to pull Aquino over, but soon after he turned his lights and siren on, Aquino’s car ran into a tree, Wagstaffe said.
Aquino smelled of alcohol, had bloodshot eyes and was showing all objective symptoms of being drunk, Wagstaffe said.

Aquino refused to do a field sobriety test, where the Breathalyzer is done and police ask basic questions, Wagstaffe said. Aquino was arrested and again refused to submit a blood test to determine his blood alcohol level.

Typically, those who refuse to submit a blood alcohol level test get their licenses suspended for at least six months. It is not clear whether Aquino is appealing the suspension.

Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Detective Rosemerry Blankswade said that for anyone who is involved with a DUI case, there is a hearing with the DMV where the person has the opportunity to fight getting their license suspended.

Officers took Aquino to a treatment center, but because Aquino was so uncooperative, the people at the center had officers take him to jail instead, Wagstaffe said.

Aquino is out of custody on his own recognizance and his next court date is March 2.

Blankswade said in an email to the Post that the sheriff’s office is conducting an internal investigation, which she said is “standard practice for any situation like this.”

Blankswade did not respond to questions as to whether Aquino was put on leave after his arrest on Sept. 14.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Redwood City Police have arrested a man who had been seen slamming a dog into the pavement.

On Oct. 27, a resident heard an odd noise coming from the trail just off of Avocet Drive in Redwood Shores. The man checked his security cameras and saw a man, later identified as Michael Fore, pulling a chihuahua by its leash, swinging it into the air, and then forcefully slamming the dog into the ground, said Capt. John Gunderson.

The resident went outside and tried to chase Fore, but he got away.

On Wednesday (Oct. 30), police asked for the public’s help by posting a photo of the man with the dog on Facebook and other social media platforms. Redwood City detectives got many tips as to Fore’s identity and were able to arrest him yesterday at his East Palo Alto home, Gunderson said.

When officers arrived at Fore’s Newell Road home, Fore climbed out of his balcony onto the roof of his apartment complex, according to Gunderson.

Officers were ultimately able to arrest Fore.

Officers also found out that the dog Fore brutalized wasn’t his, but in fact belonged to an acquaintance who did not know about the mistreatment at all. The dog appeared to have no injuries.

Fore was booked into jail on suspicion of two counts of animal cruelty. He is expected to be in court tomorrow and is in jail in lieu of $50,000.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A parcel tax that could bring in $3.4 million annually to Redwood City elementary and middle schools is inching closer to victory, being just .46 percentage points away from passage yesterday, according to an update from the San Mateo County Elections Office.

Measure H was at 66.21% approval, up from Tuesday’s initial reporting of the tax at 65.36%. Parcel taxes require a two-thirds majority, so the measure needs 66.67% approval to pass.

The district was asking voters to approve a $149 parcel tax, which would be in place for 12 years.

At least 947 more ballots need to be counted, according to the county’s elections department. However, it is possible that even more will have to be counted because mail-in ballots will be accepted until today as long as they have a postmark from on or before Election Day.

The Yes on Measure H group posted on Facebook that they’re “optimistic Measure H will pass once the votes are counted.”

Proponents of the tax say the district plans to use the money “to attract and retain highly-qualified teachers; support quality reading and writing programs; maintain science, technology, engineering and math instruction; and reduce class sizes in kindergarten and first grade.”

However, opponents led by local Libertarian Jack Hickey argued that the district closed four schools because of a steep decline in enrollment, and because of that, the district’s budget has balanced itself.

Earlier this year, the school district hired Burlingame-based pollster Godbe Research to conduct a poll. Godbe found that 72% of respondents said they would approve a $149 parcel tax.

This is not the first time that a measure was failing on election night but was passed when last-minute votes were counted. Measure W, the half-cent sales tax that funds SamTrans and local transportation projects, skirted to victory last November with a late surge of votes in its favor. In June, Measure K, a $118 parcel tax for the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District, was failing on election night, but ultimately claimed victory after the results showed they had 67.5% of the vote — above the 66.67% threshold.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

A Redwood City babysitter has been sentenced to nine years in prison for touching two boys inappropriately and sending 14 others inappropriate messages, a prosecutor said.

Angel Leopoldo Gutierrez Monney, 33, cannot contact any of his victims for 10 years, the maximum length of a restraining order, and will have to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, said District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe after the sentencing on Friday in San Mateo County Superior Court.

Monney found his clients through a child care website, said Wagstaffe.

Some of Monney’s clients included five boys who attended Terra Linda Middle School in San Carlos, Wagstaffe said.

Monney had been hired by one of the boy’s families, then he befriended the child’s friends and their parents, leading to him babysitting other children, according to Wagstaffe.

Monney is said to have touched two of the boys inappropriately, and he had been sending the other boys messages on Snapchat and other apps, possibly in an attempt to coax the boys into letting him touch them, Wagstaffe said.

Monney had 16 victims in total, ranging in age from 10 to 16, according to charging documents.

Monney also sent an inappropriate picture to at least one of the boys, Wagstaffe said.

Monney preyed on teenage boys from about January 2017 to September 2018.

Mooney was arrested in September 2018 after one of the boy’s friends grew suspicious. He thought it was odd that a man 20 years older than his friends was sending them messages and buying them video games. That boy’s parent contacted the Sheriff’s Office.
Monney had pleaded no contest to six felonies on Aug. 20.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

The sewage processing agency that paid its former general manager $875,000 to leave his job without suing has now received two bids for the Emerald Hills home the agency bought for him.

Silicon Valley Clean Water bought the house for former General Manager Dan Child for $2.54 million in 2010 — and nine years later, the agency is bound to make a seven-digit profit.

The agency’s board will discuss the two bids for the house at 379 Greendale Way at its meeting on Monday (Nov. 18).

The two bidders are identified on the agency’s agenda only as “Ishida” and “Wall.”

The house has been on the market since June. The initial asking price was $4.5 million. But the list price appears to have fallen. Online real estate sites now show the listing price is $3.9 million.
Still, if Silicon Valley Clean Water got $3.9 million for the house, that would represent a $1.36 million profit.

Four-car garage

The home has six bedrooms and five-and-a-half bathrooms with 6,183 square feet of living space. There are two laundry rooms, one on each level of the home, a hot tub, emergency generator and built-in sound system. The garage fits four cars.

The Greendale Way home was actually the second home the agency had bought for Child. According to previous employment agreements between Child and the agency, when Child was hired in 2006, the district agreed to pay for half of a home in an amount not to exceed $750,000.

As a result, Child bought a home at 551 Highland Ave. in Half Moon Bay.

In 2010, Child wanted to move, and got the agency to agree to buy him the Greendale house for $2.54 million.

Child’s employment contract indicates that upon leaving the district, he would get 38% of the appreciation in a home at 379 Greendale Way. Under the employment contract, his equity in the home increases year by year. He personally didn’t contribute to the purchase price of the home.

Child goes to court to keep documents secret

Child left the district in May 2018 for reasons that remain unclear.

The Post asked the sewer agency for a separation agreement of another employee, which might shed light on why Child was paid to resign. The employee’s complaint against Child was serious enough that it was mentioned in Child’s separation agreement.

Silicon Valley Clean Water decided to release that document and others to the Post. Then Child filed a lawsuit to stop the Post from getting the documents. Child claimed in his lawsuit that his reputation would be “irreparably” damaged if the separation agreement of the other employee becomes public.

Attorneys for the Post have notified the court that they intend to intervene in the lawsuit in order to get a judge to rule whether the documents should be released.

A hearing is set for Jan. 7 in Santa Clara County Superior Court.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Election results released yesterday (Nov. 19) show voters have rejected a parcel tax for the struggling Redwood City School District, which was forced to close four schools earlier this year due to declining enrollment.

Opponents of the $148 per parcel tax, led by Libertarian Jack Hickey, argued that the closure of the schools should have reduced the district’s expenses, eliminating the need for the 12-year tax.

The tax would have brought in $3.4 million a year.

To pass, the tax needed two-thirds of the vote, or 66.7%.

However, as the ballots were counted, Measure H never got above 66.2%.

As of yesterday, Measure H had received 10,880 “yes” votes compared to 5,550 “no” votes. To reach 66.7%, the measure would have needed 10,954 votes.

So, at this point, it’s 74 votes shy of that threshold.

The county still must count 236 additional ballots, said Assistant Chief Elections Officer Jim Irizarry. These mail-in ballots don’t have the signature of the voter, so the county Elections Department is trying to track down these voters.

But the 236 voters are from throughout the county. There were elections on Nov. 5 in Brisbane, San Bruno, Burlingame, San Mateo, Foster City and Half Moon Bay in addition to Redwood City. There’s no way of knowing how many of those 236 ballots are from Redwood City, but it appears unlikely that Measure H could pick up the necessary votes to win.

People who are notified by the Elections Office that they did not sign their ballots, are sent a form to correct the issue, and must send it in by Dec. 3, Irizarry said.

Irizarry said the issue of people not signing their ballots is common, and the number fluctuates every election. He said that next year the numbers of those who don’t sign their ballots may go up because of “voter fatigue” where people do not fill out their ballot properly because it is too long and they just want to get it done.

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BY EMILY MIBACH
Daily Post Staff Writer

Stanford has bought a 175-apartment complex at Franklin and Monroe streets in Redwood City from Greystar Development to serve as housing for employees and postdoctoral students.

Because Stanford is a non-profit, the Elan apartment complex will contribute less or perhaps nothing to the city, county, local schools and other agencies that receive property taxes. For the city, the hit will be about $100,000 a year. Its impact on the schools wasn’t immediately available.

Stanford in a statement said it will work with both Redwood City School District and Sequoia Union High School District on ways to “expand opportunities for students and educators.”

Redwood City School District decided to close four schools last November due to shrinking enrollment, which led to decreased funds. The school district receives money from the state based on the number of students enrolled and how many show up to class.

City Manager Melissa Stevenson-Diaz told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in September that the city could lose up to $100,000 yearly in tax revenues if the building is taken off the property tax rolls.

Stanford is offering 138 of the apartments to Stanford employees or students. The other 37 apartments will be deed-restricted for people who earn between 50% and 80% of the area’s median income. That means a family of four who earns between $80,600 and $129,150 a year can apply to live in one of the 37 apartments.

Since the project is about a 10-minute walk from the Redwood City Caltrain Station, Stanford intends to have most of its tenants walk to the Caltrain station to catch the train to Palo Alto, or take the shuttle to Stanford’s 35-acre campus at Douglas Avenue and Bay Road. When Stanford built its Redwood City campus, it provided no additional housing.

Stanford has already re-named the apartment complex at 1 Franklin Street from Elan Redwood City to The Cardinal Apartments.

Leaving campus

This isn’t the first time Stanford has purchased an apartment complex off campus. In 2015, Stanford bought a 167-unit apartment complex called The Colonnade at 4750 El Camino Real in Los Altos, across the street from the San Antonio Shopping Center.

“It did represent a significant impact on our city,” Los Altos City Council member Anita Enander told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in September. “Not only did that take $60 million of assessed valuation off of the books to affect our city’s taxes and our schools, but that in fact, Stanford has in excess of $100 million of property in the little tiny city of Los Altos that is exempt on the tax roll.”

Enander’s testimony came during hearings the county was holding on Stanford’s request for a permit to build 3.5 million square feet.

Stanford later withdrew its request for the permit four days before the supervisors were to decide how the university should mitigate the impact of its project on housing, traffic and other concerns.

While Stanford has withdrawn the permit application, it continues to build 215 apartments and office space at 500 El Camino Real in Menlo Park and is seeking permission to build 27 homes and 12 apartments near the Alpine Inn in Portola Valley.

Stanford is also buying up single-family homes. Palo Altan Pria Graves, the College Terrace Residents’ Association’s Stanford Observer, said in a Post guest opinion piece last year that the university had purchased 30 homes.

“Once the university owns these properties, they are only available to Stanford employees and will never again be accessible to the rest of the public,” Graves said in the opinion piece.

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