Service League - The Spectrum Magazine - Redwood City's Monthly ...

Service
League
“The average person’s view of criminals is to lock
them up and throw away the key.”
“A lot of what we get, other people who need it
don’t get.”
Also in this issue:
From Beauty School
To Tasty Food
Turning 50 and
More in “As I Was
Saying…”
Are You Ready
To Show Your
Redwood City Pride?

Redwood City's New General Plan Community Workshop
Saturday, September 27 th
Drop in any time from 9 am – noon
San Mateo County History Museum &
Courthouse Square
Help create the blueprint for Redwood
City’s future - interactive exercises,
discussions, presentations, refreshments,
displays, activities and fun - yes, we said
FUN – with prizes and giveaways! Bring the
family for kids' activities on Courthouse
Square.
You’re Invited to
B e a
P a r t
o f t h e
P l a n !
The City wants to know what you think
about alternative land uses around the Bayfront,
El Camino Real, Woodside Road, and
neighborhood areas – and your thoughts on
other General Plan issues.
Join friends and neighbors to hear about the
new General Plan, visit workshop stations, and
offer your thoughts and comments to City staff
on the new General Plan.
Visit www.redwoodcity.org/generalplan
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

The Spectrum.AUG.08
Steve Penna
Owner and Publisher
penna@spectrummagazine.net
Anne Callery
Copy Editor
writers@spectrummagazine.net
Judy Buchan
Contributing Writer
writers@spectrummagazine.net
Valerie Harris
Contributing Writer
writers@spectrummagazine.net
Michael Erler
Contributing Writer
writers@spectrummagazine.net
Nicole Minieri
Contributing Writer
writers@spectrummagazine.net
James Massey
Graphic Designer
James R. Kaspar
Cover/Cover Story Photography
Contact Information:
Phone 650-368-2434
E-mail addresses listed above
www.spectrummagazine.net
As students return to school, summer vacations come to an end and our community gears up for
the November election, we welcome you to another edition of The Spectrum Magazine.
Our cover story this month is on a longtime community nonprofit organization called the
Service League of San Mateo County. This group gives former inmates a chance at “re-entry.”
But, as you will read in this piece by contributing writer Michael Erler, they do so much more,
accomplishing things that make us all better community-minded individuals. After reading, you
might want to help out too.
Our business profile this month is on downtown restaurant La Tartine. Open for about two
years now, they recently added an outdoor dining section that has spruced up Theatre Way. This
former beauty school site now features some of the most beautiful eating in town.
Publisher Steve Penna talks about political conflicts and the media and informs his readers of
his decision to get involved in this November’s election in his column, “As I Was Saying….”
What will he focus on for the next few months?
We also bring you our regular features on community interests, senior activities, financial
advice by David Amann, “Redwood City Through the Years,” information from the Redwood
City School District, popular feature “A Minute With” and information on how one nonprofit
group has made a difference in our community.
We encourage you to support our advertisers by using their services when you are out shopping,
dining or enjoying yourself with friends and family. Many of them have special offers for you,
so please take the time to look over their ads this month and use their coupons and discounts.
Our community has so much to offer its residents. Get out and enjoy some of it!
Contents
Inside The Spectrum – 4
The People Speak – 5
“As I Was Saying...” – 6
RCSD Corner – 7
My Favorite Public Servant – 7
Homeless Shelter Kids’ Room – 8
La Tartine Bakery – 10
News Briefs – 13
Redwood City Through the Years – 16
Public Input into Jail Site – 17
Nonprofits in Action – 18
The Service League Way – 20
Nonprofits in the News – 23
Cultural Events – 28
Redwood City Pride – 30
Community Interest – 36
Finance: Balance Retirement, College – 37
Senior Activities – 37
A Minute With John Seybert – 38
The Spectrum

Inside The Spectrum: Cover Story Photo Shoot
Fundraisers are always the highlight of any nonprofit organization’s season. They
bring people who care together for a common cause, and that is usually the desire
to help others. We had originally intended the story on this month’s cover subject
— the Service League — as a story to inform our community of its major event this
September.
But after publisher Steve Penna read contributing writer Michael Erler’s story, he
quickly made it the main feature of our August issue. So Penna arranged a cover photo
shoot with KC Clapper, the assistant to the executive director, for Wednesday, Aug. 13,
at 2 p.m. at the Service League office on Middlefield Road.
Penna and cover story photographer James Kaspar arrived at almost the same time
and started shooting pictures of the outside of the building. They were soon met by
program director Mike Nevin, whom Penna and Kaspar have known for years. They
were then joined by Clapper, and the four shot in different areas of the building.
After those pictures were completed, Kaspar and Nevin made a trip to the Friendly
Acres neighborhood, where the Service League’s Hope House is located, to complete
the shoot. Penna had a pressing deadline and could not make it.
Upon arrival, Kaspar and Nevin were greeted by Hope House director Karen
Francone and the residents who live there. There was a lot of laughter while they shot
inside and outside the home. The women seemed to be proud of where they were, and
Nevin and Francone shared the feelings with constant smiles and hugs.
The entire shoot took around two hours, and everyone left inspired and supportive of
each other.
The Spectrum salutes the Service League for not only their commitment to our
community but to the people they provide services for. The Hope House is described as
a residential treatment program for women; that is its crowning achievement. But it and
the Service League are so much more. It is home to so many!
San Mateo County Historical Association
Invites you to
D i s c o v e r
a n O l d P l a c e
i n a N e w W o r l d
San Mateo County
HISTORY MUSEUM
Friday, SEPTEMBER 12
11 am & 2 pm A CALIFORNIA RANCHO
STORIES FROM THE PAST PROGRAM presents a story of Secundino Robles
and his family’s life on a California rancho. Crafts and exhibit tour included.
Sunday, SEPTEMBER 14
Noon—4 pm
VICTORIAN DAYS
A new play set in the 1890’s, Gossip Behind the Gates, is the story about people
who lived their lives “Behind the Gates of the Great Estates.” FREE ADMISSION
Thursday, SEPTEMBER 25
HISTORY MAKERS GALA
Tribute to the Historic Lane Family of San Mateo County. Gala will be held inside
the History Museum and then screening of film at the Fox Theatre.
All association members are invited.
More than you expec ted . . .
Surprise Yoursel f !
ADMISSION
$4 Adults
$2 Student/Senior
Children 5 and under FREE
Members always FREE
San Mateo County
HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION
2200 Broadway, Redwood City
Tel: 650-299-0104
Web: historysmc.org
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

P.S. The People Speak: Letters to the Editor
OSV requires a vote for change
Dear Editor,
The Open Space Vote (OSV) initiative has qualified for the ballot and, if
passed, will give citizens the right to vote on any proposal to develop open
space lands, including Cargill’s 1,433 acres of former salt ponds. With over
6,500 Redwood City voters signing the OSV measure, it’s clear this is a vote
that Redwood City residents absolutely want.
Residents should know this vote extends only to changes in open space
zoning or General Plan uses. Legal analysis of OSV clearly states that all
uses allowed under current zoning can be permitted without a vote. For
example, existing uses allow expanding the Redwood Shores wastewater
plant or the Red Morton Park senior center without a vote. OSV cannot
legally take this permitting authority away from the city. OSV requires a vote
only for changes that would allow development of open space inconsistent
with existing zoning.
Lynne Trulio & Judy Serebrin
Redwood City
Open Space Vote protects neighborhood parks
Dear Editor,
Neighborhood parks are constantly being eroded — for a new fire station,
or day care, or a museum. (All apple pie — how can you oppose these!)
However, these take away open space and recreation area forever. Because
park land is “free,” city councils find it easier to use this land to launch
other needed projects. The latest trend is taking park land for developing
“workforce housing.” (Also apple pie!)
Redwood City’s Open Space Vote measure is visionary in that it protects
parks as well as critical baylands. This is why 20 percent of the registered
voters signed the petition in such a short time to put it on the November
ballot. The council should listen to its constituents.
Gita Dev
Cargill’s infamous corporate environmental record
Dear Editor,
Cargill, Inc., a privately held, multinational corporation, which owns 1,433
acres of Redwood City’s baylands, would have us believe they are good
environmental stewards. Their track record says otherwise.
In 1992, the Council on Economic Priorities (CEP) said that the company
had the worst environmental record in the agribusiness industry. Cargill’s
record was tainted by the 1988 spill of 40,000 gallons of phosphoric acid into
the mouth of the Alafia River in Florida, which killed a large quantity of fish.
A subsidiary, Gardinier, paid a $2 million fine.
In 1995, Cargill and other companies agreed to pay for the cleanup of a
Superfund site along the Fox River in Illinois, where toxic chemicals had
been dumped for many years.
In 1997, Cargill’s Ladish, Wis., malting unit paid $450,000 for criminal
violations in connection with the death of a worker who fell from a grain
elevator fire escape.
In 2000, Cargill’s beef, pork and poultry operations in Waco, Texas, had to
recall 17 million pounds of turkey products after an outbreak of listeria.
In 2001, Cargill’s North Star Steel subsidiary paid $7.7 million to settle
allegations that it misled Arizona officials about emissions from the
company’s plant near Kingman.
In 2001, Cargill paid an administrative penalty of $60,000 to Linn County,
Iowa, for failing to file required air pollution control reports.
In 2002, Cargill Pork paid a $1 million fine for illegal dumping of hog
manure at its facility near Martinsburg, Mo.
In 2004, a Cargill fertilizer plant in Hillsborough, Fla., dumped 60 million
gallons of toxic wastewater into a creek that feeds into Tampa Bay and was
fined $270,000.
In 2005, Cargill signed an agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice
and the EPA that settled charges that the company’s plants throughout the
country had violated the Clean Air Act. Cargill agreed to pay a fine of $1.6
million and to spend $130 million on pollution reduction.
In 2006, Greenpeace protested Cargill’s destruction of the Brazilian
rainforest to allow expanded soybean production.
In 2007, Cargill Salt’s plant in Newark, Calif., was the site of a series of
spills of toxic brine into a canal. The company has been fined several times
over the incidents, the latest being a $228,000 penalty.
In 2007, Cargill announced recalls for 2 million pounds of ground beef
after outbreaks of E. coli poisoning. The recalls included beef that had been
treated with carbon monoxide — a process that makes meat look fresher longer.
The Cargill salt marsh lands are our last remaining bayland parcel, which
should be restored to full tidal wetlands like the South Bay Restoration
Project. This area is highly valuable for recreation, flood protection and
carbon sequestration as well as the migrating birds and wildlife.
Voters in Redwood City need to have a say about their future, not just
Cargill and seven members of the City Council.
Cynthia Denny
Redwood City
Not about open space
Dear Editor,
There are a couple of misconceptions in the Redwood City charter
amendment debate that really need clarification. First, some proponents state
that the homes affected by the measure are really “not affected” because
zoning regulations protect them. This would be true if the measure under
consideration addressed zoning. It does not, however. It specifically addresses
the general plan. While the general plan is a foundation of zoning, it is an
entirely different discussion.
The proposed amendment requires a two-thirds voter approval in Redwood
City on building and improvements on hundreds of acres of private property
designated as potential park and open space in the general plan, not land that
has been zoned park and open space.
These letter-writers also claim that the simple fix would be to redesignate
the property in the general plan. However, the amendment locks all that land
into the current designation, so if the amendment passes, redesignation is not
possible.
That needs to be clearly stated not only in these letters to the editor but in
your news pages as well. I don’t think it has been clearly reported as such, or
we might not be having this discussion.
Second, the amendment is reported to be a protection of city parks and has
been incorrectly reported as such in the Aug. 11 edition of the Daily Journal
(“County to comment on change”). In fact, it only protects half the parks, and
approximately 90 percent of the land covered is actually private property,
much of which is currently used for industrial purposes.
We need to make those distinctions very clear in this debate. This is not
about open space or parks. Those issues are afterthoughts. This is really
about how the citizens of Redwood City can use their own private property.
Lou Covey
Redwood City
What are we thinking?
Dear Editor,
In reading the newspaper a few days ago, I saw an advertisement for voting
“no” on Measure W, which has to do with the subject of open space in the
city of Redwood City. I saw that the Redwood City Parks and Recreation
Department and members of the Parks and Recreation Commission are
all endorsing and asking voters to say “no” to Measure W and not allow
outsiders like a company and/or group from Oakland to purchase the open
space and maybe build something such as a factory and/or plant that might
(continues on page 23)
The Spectrum

As I Was
Saying…
Publisher | Steve Penna
I recently celebrated my 50th birthday or, as
everyone seems to refer to it, “the Big FIVE-O.”
Numbers have really never meant that much to
me, and I am not going to freak out because I am
turning a certain age or whatever those people do
who make this number so important and dreadful.
I guess having a major health crisis and lifealtering
surgery a year ago kind of causes one to
want to celebrate no matter what number it is, and
celebrate I did.
I threw a party for 130 of my closest friends,
many of whom were turning “the Big FIVE-O”
themselves this year because they are family and
friends from grade school and high school. I am
fortunate to have a very eclectic and wide-ranging
group of friends. I can easily go from having an
intense conversation with a political figure and
then turn around and have a similar one with a
student volunteer I might be helping out. It is
what I enjoy and keeps me from not feeling 50. So
throwing a party was more about celebrating that
they are special to me.
But the whole number thing has really got me
thinking about the role it/they play in my life.
Take, for instance: I wake up to a number on my
clock, take a certain number of pills each morning
to keep me alive, make sure I am on time for a
meeting at whatever time controlled by numbers,
as is the money I spend, a four-digit number for
my ATM card to work, go to the gym and have
my membership number scanned for entrance,
have to watch my weight so I am controlled by
the numbers on the scale, have to count calories
all day and not go over a certain number of them,
have to have income to pay my bills — both of
which are numbers, driver’s license number, social
security number and then, before I fall asleep, the
last thing I look at is the clock. Get the picture?
No wonder one feels like a number and thinks they
are so important.
Oh, getting back to “the Big FIVE-O.” I read in
a magazine that if a man is not married, which I
am not (at least once, another number) by the time
he is 50, he is either afraid of commitment (oh,
don’t go there; I could talk for days), gay (I know
it is not politically correct to deny such things, but
as far as I can tell so far, I am not) or a “player,”
meaning he has a lot of sexual relationships and
is not content with just one (sounds like fun but
is not my style, at least not at 50). The article did
not mention that the one turning 50 may just be
content with his life and his career and that having
fantastic family and friends is fulfilling. Go figure!
Why would you want someone to feel that way
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
and not live a stereotypical life of marriage, kids
and things you should have accomplished by 50?
If numbers tend to control our lives, I guess I
can see how a birthday could affect one’s mindset.
I choose not to live in that world anymore and
simply don’t care. I feel great at 50. Yes, I could
lose a few pounds, vacation more, I guess do a lot
more of whatever I am supposed to. But for now
I am content with what I have and whom I spend
my time with. Fifty is not the new 30 or 20 or 40.
It is 50, and thank goodness I am there and feel the
way I do.
I guess it could be worse and expectations
higher. I could be a female turning “the Big FIVE-
O.” Have you noticed all the international press
about Madonna doing so? It is like everyone does
not want her to be successful, healthy and kickin’
ass on the world at 50. “Looks good for 50.” Go
figure! Why would you want someone to feel that way
and not live a stereotypical life? We are not alone.
.…
Now, the number 50 may not mean a lot to me,
but it will to our community in this November’s
election. Undoubtedly you have heard about
the two measures on the ballot concerning our
community and supposed open space. Haven’t
you? Let me bring you up to speed.
After the Open Space Coalition (OSC) gathered
the required signatures to qualify their issue for
the ballot, and the City Council accepted it, it was
given the title Measure W. (Measure W deals with
making a change to our city charter.) Not leaving
well enough alone and going against all political
advice and, to tell the truth, common sense, the
City Council decided to place another on the same
ballot, and it is called Measure V. (Measure V will
require any development on the Cargill Salt land
to be voted on by us.) The latter was seen as a way
to deal with the homeowners in our community
that, according to the city attorney, will be affected
by the first measure, should it pass. Now, because
whichever measure gets 50 percent plus 1 vote of
approval and has more votes than the other, that
measure will go into effect. Confused? Don’t feel
alone, as many in our community are, and that is
what the OSC wanted, and the council gave it to
them. Divide and conquer. Confuse and defuse.
Had there been only one measure on the
ballot, the sides would have been organized and
campaigns would have been waged clearly for us
all to understand. Why confuse the voters with two
when so much is at stake?
Now the groups against Measure W are waging
different fights. Some of the neighbors affected
in Docktown, on Valota Road and in Redwood
Shores have splintered off from the two main
groups — the Citizens to Protect Redwood City
and the Citizens Against Costly Initiatives — and
started their own minicampaigns. So basically you
have the OSC united for Measure W and against
Measure V, while the other groups are divided and
campaigning for different outcomes for V with the
one common thread that they want W to fail.
Got it? So we have a clear fight for and against
Measure W, and the ones for and against Measure
V are coming from both sides. How bizarre
is that? The ones campaigning for W are still
claiming that this is all about open space — it
was but is not now. It is about changing the city
charter and using a new method of government
with regard to development issues. It is not only
about the Cargill property; it is about some parks
and supposed open space in our community, and
it does affect some of our neighbors’ property,
according to our city attorney. Regardless of the
outcome, this is just an attorney’s dream come true.
The ones campaigning against W are touting the
fact that the OSC is led by an “out-of-town” group
from Oakland, the Save The Bay group. They do
not tout that that group has, according to them,
“several hundred” members in our community, as
does the Friends of Redwood City, who defeated
the Marina Shores Measure a few years ago. So
both sides will be issuing statements that are filled
with half-truths and made to draw you to their
side. Get ready; it has already started.
It is going to be a bloodbath of an election with
hundreds of thousands of dollars spent to sway
your vote. That is a fact.
.…
As we all gear up for this November’s election
to change our city charter, I have been conflicted
as to what role I am to play, if any. I was taught
very early in my media career that the relationship
one holds with one’s readers should be of honesty,
integrity and complete openness — I guess it is
like all relationships in our lives.
I have always respected my role and the
relationship I have with my readers. I respect the
fact that you can make your own decisions and
are intelligent enough to dissect dishonesty and
character flaws. That is one of the main reasons
neither The Spectrum nor I have never endorsed a
City Council candidate or city measure or election
(continues on page 35)

RCSD Corner: News From the Redwood City School District
Redwood City Students Gain Math Edge in Stanford Program
When Steven Povedo’s mother first signed him up to participate in the Pre-
College Math Institute (PCMI) a few years ago, run jointly by the Stanford
School of Engineering and the Redwood City School District, he didn’t like
the idea of spending long summer days studying math. But after completing
the program in the summer of 2006, there was no question about how he
would spend the summer of 2007.
“My son kept asking me not to forget to sign him up,” said his mother,
Anna Solorio. “Now my daughter can’t wait for her turn to go, after listening
to her brother talk about the program. Even though she saw her brother
working hard, and doing homework during the summer, she wants to go.”
Steven’s mother added that math is now her son’s favorite class and his
strongest subject.
For 17 years, PCMI has given middle school students in Redwood City
the opportunity to gain up to one year’s growth in math ability during an
intensive six-week program.
The program is the brainchild of Dr. Noe Lozano, associate dean at the
Stanford School of Engineering. In 1992, Lozano and his wife, Vira, who
at the time was a teacher at Hoover School in Redwood City, envisioned a
program that would give local students skills and passion for math, which
opens the door for myriad academic opportunities in high school and beyond.
“We know that the level of math students are at in 8th grade determines
their course of study in high school,” said RCSD Deputy Superintendent John
Baker, who as principal of Hoover School in 1992 worked with the Lozanos
to get the program launched. “If they have completed algebra by the end of
8th grade, they are able to register for honors classes in high school. Without
8th grade algebra, their options are more limited. Dr. Lozano has a passion
for building academic competency through math skills, so that students who
might not otherwise consider a college-prep course of study have the academic
building blocks they need to succeed later.”
PCMI is designed to inspire students who never dreamed they could pursue
a career in math, science or engineering by building confidence in their math ability.
“What we want to do is make students who are just average in math into
math nerds!” said Lozano. He added that for many first-generation Englishspeaking
students, math provides a common language that acts as an
equalizer in academic achievement. “Math skills are tangible and concrete,
and provide the basis for logical thinking in the humanities, as well as
providing the fundamental building blocks for the sciences.”
Stanford student tutors work alongside teachers from the Redwood City
School District in classrooms on the Stanford campus. Math instruction is
combined with special projects such as construction and launching of bottle
rockets and recreational activities such as swimming and walking on the
Stanford campus. Besides learning math, students also work on study skills,
test taking and building a work ethic that will help them succeed in high
school.
Classroom teachers recommend students for the program, and the
students selected are those whose math skills are just under grade level but
who show potential for stronger academic performance. The 130 students
who participated in the program this past year represented a diverse group
of students from many backgrounds throughout Redwood City. Stanford
hosts and provides supplies for the program, which is funded by the school
district’s summer school funds. There is no cost for students to attend.
Over the years, more than 2,000 Redwood City students have completed
the program. Students’ math skills are assessed by a test before they start the
program and another after they complete it. Most students make significant
progress, and some students score as much as 100 percent higher on the postassessment
test than the pre-assessment test.
Lozano has been proven right about inspiring students to dream big.
Over the years, graduates of the program have gone on to attend Stanford,
Berkeley and Ivy League colleges. Several former students have served as
student tutors at Stanford’s PCMI program to a new generation of aspiring
“math nerds” from Redwood City schools!
My Favorite Public Servant: Dewey Duran & Ernie Gomez – Redwood City Firefighters
By Lori McBride, Redwood City resident
As soon as I read the request to submit a story about my favorite public
servant, I knew immediately whom to write about.
In April 1995, my husband, Dennis, took our son Cory, who was almost
9, to story time at Secret Staircase Bookstore, which was in downtown
Redwood City. They read a book about firefighters to the children. Both our
boys loved reading books about firefighters and knew the names of all the
types of trucks, engines and equipment firefighters used.
Two Redwood City firefighters, Ernie Gomez and Dewey Duran, were
there. They spoke with the children about fire safety. Dennis and Cory spent
some time talking with them, and Ernie and Dewey invited them to come
to the main station for a visit. Dennis and Cory headed right over there and
spent four hours (from 1 to 5 p.m.) having a memorable experience. Cory
had a full tour of the fire station, learned about all the tools on the trucks and
engines, got to wear the turnout gear with air pack and got to help shoot water
from the water cannon on the engine. On the way home, he told Dennis,
“This is the best day of my life.” They came home, baked chocolate chip
cookies and took them, along with ice cream, back to the fire station that night.
Since I had been home with Casey (age 5) and missed this experience,
Ernie and Dewey invited us to come the following Saturday, which we did.
For a couple of hours, Cory and Casey had an incredible experience, and
Dennis and I had so much fun watching them. They were shown every
apparatus. They even got to sit in the tiller rig and help spray water!
Dennis and I were impressed with the kindness, warmth, patience and
sense of humor these firefighters had with our children.
We became friends with both Ernie and Dewey, and our sons have many
wonderful memories of visiting the fire station, riding on the historical
engine in the Fourth of July parade, and riding on an engine to deliver
holiday gifts.
Casey decided he was interested in becoming a firefighter and when he
was a senior in high school, trying to decide which path to follow, Ernie
suggested Casey come talk with him at the fire station. We went to visit Ernie
and spoke with him and the other firefighters at the station to get their advice
about pursuing a career in firefighting. Their advice was very helpful in
Casey’s decision about which direction to take with his college career.
In addition to touching our family’s lives, I can only imagine how many
others have benefited from their interactions. They go above and beyond any
expectations the public might have for Redwood City firefighters. We feel
blessed to have them as our friends.
Tell our community what you think!
Express your opinion by writing a “Letter to the Editor.” If you want to
comment on anything in our community, send your correspondence
to The Spectrum Magazine, Letter to the Editor, P.O. Box 862,
Redwood City, CA 94064, or writers@spectrummagazine.net. Let your
voice be heard!
Who’s your favorite public servant?
We ask our readers to submit their stories about a favorite Redwood
City public servant in 500 words or less. Do you want to recognize a
police officer, firefighter or any city/county employee who has gone far
and beyond their job responsibilities to assist you or who is making
a difference in our community? Let us know by sending your story to
The Spectrum Magazine, P.O. Box 862, Redwood City, CA 94064, or
writers@spectrummagazine.net.
The Spectrum

Children’s Room Opens at Redwood City Homeless Shelter
A children’s room designed by experts in early
childhood development and dedicated to a family
who lost their infant son opened at a Redwood
City homeless shelter.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held at the
Shelter Network’s Redwood Family House
homeless shelter, and the shelter’s children rushed
into the new room, known as Maxwell Soke
Brenner Memorial Bright Space, to explore the
new furniture, books, computers and toys, Shelter
Network Development Manager Amy Wright said.
“The whole space just looks so warm and
inviting,” she said.
Wright said Shelter Network runs six homeless
shelters, including four family shelters, in San
Mateo County. The Bright Space at the Redwood
Family House is the first of four that will be
opened at each of the nonprofit’s family shelters.
The spaces are a project by the Bright Horizons
Foundation for Children in partnership with
community agencies across the county.
The foundation was started in 1999 as a way
for Bright Horizons Family Solutions Inc.,
which operates hundreds of employer-sponsored
child care and early education centers in the
U.S., Canada and Europe, to serve communities
where its employees work and live, according to
spokeswoman Karin Weaver.
The foundation creates Bright Spaces
— comfortable, welcoming areas for at-risk kids
and families to learn and play — as one of its
programs, Weaver said.
Shelter officials had heard of the Bright Spaces
program, and the foundation was enthusiastic
about Shelter Network’s work and agreed to create
the rooms at its facilities.
The Maxwell Soke Brenner Bright Space is part
of an effort to pay tribute to the family of Susan
Brenner, a senior vice president of operations for
Bright Horizons Family Solutions, Weaver said.
Brenner’s grandson Max was born with a
medical condition that claimed his life when
he was only 3 months old, Weaver said. Bright
Horizons staff raised about $20,000 to open a
Bright Space at the Redwood Family Home in the
infant’s name, she said.
Wright said the child’s parents live in the Bay
Area, providing an opportunity to pay tribute to
them through the Bright Space at the Redwood
Family home.
“It all just kind of came together for them and
for us, and it was just a really great connection,”
Wright said.
Brenner family members traveled from
across the country to attend the ribbon-cutting
Wednesday morning, the culmination of an effort
Weaver said has been “a healing process” for the
family.
The Maxwell Soke Brenner Memorial Bright
Space was designed, as are other Bright Spaces,
by experts to specifically meet the educational
and developmental needs of children of all age
groups, Wright said.
The Redwood Family House, home to nine
homeless families with children ranging from
infants to teens, is happy to have a space specially
designed for children going through stressful
times, she said.
Bright Horizons has also provided children
at the shelter with backpacks filled with books,
art supplies and other materials, according to
organizers. The next three Bright Spaces at
Shelter Network’s other family shelters will
be completed over the next 12 to 18 months,
according to Wright.
Additional information about Shelter Network
is available online at www.shelternetwork.
org, and information about Bright Horizons
for Children is available online at www.
brighthorizons.com/foundation.
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www.SpectrumMagazine.net

The Spectrum

“We Really Believe in This Place”:
La Tartine Bakery
By Judy Buchan, Contributing Writer
As I walked into La Tartine Bakery in
downtown Redwood City, my mind flashed
back to at least 40 years ago, when the
Redwood City Beauty School occupied the site.
And I recalled the morning when a budding
student stylist managed to take a small chunk
out of my ear while she tried to cut my hair.
Thank goodness, times have changed.
Walk into La Tartine today and you’ll
find the noise of old-fashioned hood hair
dryers and the smell of peroxide have been
replaced with music and the sumptuous
smell of great food.
“We had a couple of small, Asian-style
coffee shops,” said owner Monique Nguyen.
She and her fiance, Drew Nguyen, whose
family has 20 years of experience in baking,
wanted their next culinary venture to be
along the lines of a European cafe — “nice,
elegant, casual.”
So they traveled to France and came back
with ideas that have been brought to life in
their venue at 830 Middlefield Road.
The richly paneled walls exude the
elegance Monique and Drew were searching
for. Add to that the large windows that open
to Theatre Way and the pleasant outdoor patio,
and you couldn’t ask for more.
La Tartine opened on July 4, 2007, and is
fast becoming a downtown place to be. Their
Peninsula patrons agree. Here’s a sample of
online reviews:
“I love this place and seem to end up
here at least once a week. First perk is that
its open good and late! If you are going
to catch a movie or come out from one at
night, chances are you can get something
sweet from La Tartine before heading home.”
(Belmont)
“Great focaccia sandwiches (vegetarianfriendly
options too), yummy soups, delicious
pastries and the coffee is pretty darn good.
Staff is always friendly and efficient. Great
ambiance and convenient downtown RWC
location. I’ve eaten there at least a dozen times
now and never a bad experience.” (San Carlos)
“This is a wonderful place to do my work
on the laptop, as yesterday I was on ATT
G3 laptop support for four hours!” (San
Francisco)
“Moving from SF to the Peninsula has
been hard, but I love love love how much
Redwood City is changing and growing. I
love that there are places like Tartine where
you can sit outside and enjoy the sun, sip
a cafe and [eat] a delicious French pastry!
Tartine won’t kick you out and be rude;
they let you chill out and enjoy. Also, the
food is fantastic; it’s half ambiance and half
wonderful pastries. Go and check it out, but
give yourself time to chill out and chat with
your friends. It’s not fast food!” (Burlingame)
Why Redwood City? “We were looking
for a really good spot,” Nguyen said. “We
were impressed with what’s happening in
downtown, and we wanted to bring a unique
spirit to Redwood City.
“We came from San Jose,” she continued,
and “we’ve found that people in Redwood
City are very genuine. We want this place to
be like family.”
Initial plans called for La Tartine to take a
space in the cinema project. Those plans
eventually fell through, so “we called John
[Anagnostou]. And he said, ‘Do I have a
place for you!’”
Indeed he did, and the past year has
seen the joys and frustrations of getting the
business up and running. “Things [are] not
happening fast enough,” Nguyen admitted.
The Century 12 complex remaining open
and the bugs to be worked out of the new
parking meters and parking plan were two
items of concern.
“We heard a lot of complaints from our
customers about parking. People wondered
why it was being made so difficult,” Nguyen
told me.
In addition, she said it took a year to get
their outdoor patio approved. Theatre Way
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

pavers had to be cleaned from car oil stains,
and the approval for planters seemed to take
forever. Fortunately, the process was helped
along by Mayor Rosanne Foust. “She really
pushed hard for us,” Nguyen said.
The menu includes coffee, breads,
pastries, soups and sandwiches.
“Sandwiches make up one third of our core
business,” Nguyen told me. “They are really
unique.”
And ooh la la, the pastries! “We hired a
French pastry chef to design our pastries,”
Nguyen told me. “The French chef trained
our pastry chef.
“Everything is fresh here, with natural
ingredients. We have organic milk and
organic coffee.”
Also on tap are beer and wine, a menu
addition that Nguyen described as “the best
investment we’ve made.”
Nguyen is also proud of La Tartine’s efforts
to go green. “We use all recycled products here.”
One would think that the current
troublesome economy might affect business
at La Tartine, but Nguyen hasn’t seen any
indication of that happening. “There’s
been no drop-off,” she told me. “We are
reasonably priced, right in the middle.”
Of course, it helps to be right across the
way from the Century 20. With late hours
and live music on the weekends, La Tartine
captures moviegoers who need a bit more
great food and nightlife before heading home
for the evening.
La Tartine’s hours: Monday–Wednesday
7 a.m.–10 p.m., Thursday 7 a.m.–11 p.m.,
Friday–Saturday 7 a.m.–midnight, Sunday
7 a.m.–11 p.m. Call 650-298-8278 for more
information, or visit them on the Internet at
www.latartinebakery.com. And be sure to be
put on their e-mail list.
Above all, once you visit La Tartine, you will
soon become part of the family. “We’ve met
so many great people here,” Nguyen said
with a smile.
“We want people to know each other and
build relationships. We are family, and we
want everybody to be family.”
Right now, their advertising is, as Nguyen
put it, “by word of mouth.” You need to
visit them and help spread the word that
the stinky old beauty school has become a
shining gem in downtown.
“We believe in this place — our business
and Redwood City,” Nguyen said with a
definitely positive attitude. With that strong
belief in themselves and in the future of
Redwood City, and knowing that all good
things usually take more time than planned
on, Monique and Drew should have a bright
future ahead.
La Tartine Bakery
830 Middlefield Road
Redwood City, CA 94063
Phone: 650-298-8278
Fax: 650-298-8379
www.latartinebakery.com
monique@latartinebakery.com
The Spectrum 11

San Mateo County History Museum
presents
Come inside the History Museum
• Victorian crafts for kids
• History buffs on History Lane
• Victorian lace gloves, tea sets
and vintage jewelry in Museum
Gift Shop
Thanks to our members,
FREE ADMISSION
SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT
NOW PLAYING
&
GOSSIP
Behind the Gates
A New Play Inspired by True Events
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

News Briefs
Escapee Kills Redwood City
Resident
A 16-year-old who walked away
from a juvenile detention camp in
San Mateo County was arrested on
suspicion of fatally stabbing a 23-
year-old in Redwood City.
Adrian Sedano, 16, a resident of unincorporated
San Mateo County, and Christian Lopez, 16, were
arrested at approximately 4 a.m. after killing a
23-year-old outside an apartment complex at
551 Geneva Ave. in Redwood City. Both were
arraigned as adults on murder charges.
Sedano is allegedly a recent walk-away from
Camp Glenwood, a San Mateo County honor
camp in La Honda. Law enforcement officials
would not release details of his walk-away or the
crimes that put him there because laws prohibit
disclosure of juvenile criminal records.
This is the second case this year in which
a juvenile escaped from a San Mateo County
detention facility. In February, 17-year-old Josue
Orozco escaped from the San Mateo County
Juvenile Hall, where he was awaiting a murder trial.
Law enforcement was already looking for
Sedano when the incident occurred.
The fight allegedly started between a group
of girls at the 7-Eleven at the corner of Hess
and Woodside roads in Redwood City. The fight
continued to spark up during the evening and
resulted in Sedano, Lopez and the 23-year-old
getting into an altercation in front of the apartment
on Geneva Avenue. Police quickly obtained a
search warrant for one of the apartments. Inside,
police found Sedano and Lopez arguing with two
girls from the earlier fight, said Redwood City
police Sgt. Sean Hart.
A history of run-ins made Sedano a familiar
face to law enforcement. His previous arrests most
recently put him in Camp Glenwood.
Camp Glenwood is a dorm-like facility that
houses up to 62 wards who would otherwise be
shipped off to state facilities for their crimes.
Wards are usually serving sentences for minor
crimes like substance abuse, petty theft or lowlevel
burglaries and “can’t work well” in their
normal environment. They are not there for assault
or battery convictions, said Jim Nordman, deputy
chief of institutions for the San Mateo County
Probation Department.
Sentencing to Camp Glenwood is at the
discretion of the San Mateo County judge
overseeing the juvenile’s case, said Chief Deputy
District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.
There is no indication what judge sentenced
Sedano to Camp Glenwood.
The camp has one probation employee per 15
wards in addition to other administrative and
service employees, Nordman said.
The low-security camp is located in La Honda
west of Skyline Boulevard and was originally run
as a summer camp. Wards awake every morning to
a series of chores and are placed under a structured
schedule during the day. With good behavior,
wards earn weekend passes home, Nordman said.
However, it is not unusual to have a youth walk
away without permission, Nordman said.
Nordman could not say how often youth walk
away. However, many are caught.
“It’s fairly remote. There is only really one
road to civilization — either over the hill or to the
coast,” Nordman said. “You either have to walk,
hitchhike or have someone pick you up.”
The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office is
notified when a ward walks away from one of the
two San Mateo County honor camps.
The Sheriff’s Office was notified of such a
situation, said Lt. Ray Lunny.
More information was not available about that
notification, Lunny said.
It is unclear whether Sedano was the same
ward who escaped. Another unconfirmed report
indicated he left the camp in July.
Construction Worker Injured
in 101 Hit-and-Run
The California Highway Patrol is
reporting a hit-and-run collision on
northbound U.S. Highway 101 in
Redwood City that caused moderate
injuries to a construction worker.
According to CHP Officer Robert Haven, a
silver Dodge sedan struck the construction worker,
who was on the highway in an area just north of
the Whipple Avenue exit.
All lanes except for the No. 1 lane were closed
on the highway overnight due to construction,
Haven said. The vehicle apparently swerved
into the construction area and struck the victim,
according to the CHP.
The victim was transported to an area hospital
with moderate injuries, Haven said.
The vehicle that struck the victim is missing a
right side mirror, according to the CHP, which has
no further information about the vehicle.
Drive-By Driver Gets 40 to
Life Sentence
The 24-year-old Sureño convicted
of second-degree murder for
driving fellow gang members to
kill who they thought was a rival
Norteño in Redwood City received
40 years to life in prison.
Faustino Ayala received a sentence of 15 years
to life for the murder plus an additional 25-year
term for the use of a firearm in the 2005 death of
21-year-old Francisco Rodriguez. On June 23,
after a 19-day trial, jurors found Ayala guilty.
Ayala’s defense maintained he didn’t know a
passenger in his vehicle was carrying or planning
to use a firearm. The alleged actual shooter, Josue
Orozco, escaped from the Youth Services Center in
February while awaiting trial and remains at large.
On July 12, 2005, Rodriguez was working in
his carport at 475 Redwood Ave. with his family
just inside when the car driven by Ayala stopped.
A masked passenger in the back, Orozco, then 14,
stepped outside the car and allegedly fired a shot
into Rodriguez’s head while the man, slowed by a
deformed leg, limped away.
After Rodriguez’s shooting, the men stashed
the guns in East Palo Alto but were arrested
within the next day. Prosecutors charged Orozco
as an adult, making him the youngest murder
defendant charged as such in county history. The
three juveniles involved — Edgar Alvarez, 17,
Juan Orozco, 16, and Daniel Vargas, 17 — were
convicted of first-degree murder in March 2007
and sentenced that fall to incarceration at the
former California Youth Authority.
During Ayala’s trial, prosecutor Josh Stauffer
told jurors he had to sanction the shooting as a
so-called made man in the gang and was well
aware of the purpose when the group headed
out. Ayala, according to Stauffer, drove by once,
circled the block and came back again slowly to
accommodate the shooting.
Rodriguez had been a Norteño but since left the
life in 2001 for marriage and family.
Defense attorney Vince O’Malley told jurors
Ayala was intoxicated and thought the gang
wanted a fight. He conceded knowing there was
a baseball bat in the car but was unaware of a
firearm, according to the defense.
Although he didn’t pull the trigger himself, he
was considered equally culpable under the law.
The defense called no witnesses and O’Malley
asked jurors to keep an open mind despite Ayala’s
admitted gang affiliation and prior record.
After Ayala’s arrest, he was also charged with
another crime while at the jail. He and convicted
murderer Brian Dean Hedlin, 26, were charged
with battery and assault for allegedly attacking a
correctional officer in the jail in April 2007. Ayala
won’t be transferred to San Quentin Prison until
after the completion of that trial.
Advertise With
The Spectrum
Give Us a Call
650.368.2434
The Spectrum 13

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Peter and Paula Uccelli Foundation
650-366-0922
The Spectrum 15

REDWOOD CITY
THROUGH THE YEARS
Ghosts on Wheels
By John Edmonds and the Archives Board of the Redwood City Public Library
John Poole, Civil War veteran, driver for
Knights Stage Line, member Grand Army
of the Republic, Redwood City chapter
Knights stage at Cavello’s, formerly Sears, store in La Honda
The Knights family moved
into their new residence
on Sausal Creek in the
town of Searsville in the
early 1850s. Abel Knights
worked in the lumber
industry, which was the
primary employment in
that area at the time. Abel
and Elizabeth Knights
had a son they named
Simon, who grew up to
be one of the best-known
men in Redwood City and
throughout southern San
Mateo County.
Simon worked, when he became
of age, in the lumber business as
so many of his neighbors did, but
rather than going west when the
timber ran out on the east side of
the mountain, he chose a different
business.
The San Mateo County Gazette
wrote about Simon Knights’ first
efforts on June 29, 1869: “S.
L. Knights has put on a stage
between Redwood City and
the Summit House on the San
Gregorio Turnpike. The stage leaves
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
Redwood City every afternoon on
the arrival of the first train from
San Francisco and returns from
the Summit House in the morning,
arriving in Redwood City in time
for the 9 o’clock train for San
Francisco. By this arrangement
passengers can make the trip from
the Summit House and Woodside to
the city and back on the same day.”
Simon and his family were still
living in their home at Searsville
when his new career began. He
established an office in the
American Hotel at the foot of Bridge
Street, now called Broadway. A
Street stopped at Redwood Creek
and Bridge Street continued on
the eastern side to dead end at the
American House. Soon Mound
Street, or Main Street, was added in
front of the hotel.
The Summit Springs Hotel
opened in 1868 and became
something of a small city about a
half mile east of the ridge on what
we now call King’s Mountain Road.
The hotel originally opened because
it took all day to cut and mill the
lumber and haul it up from west
of the ridge to the top. The only
way down was on the established
logging road where the hotel was
established. It had a stable, a
Chinese laundry, a saloon and very
nice accommodations.
Simon Knights purchased lots
1, 2 and 3 in the block bounded by
Phelps (Middlefield), Beech, Heller
and Cedar Streets in Redwood
City. It was here that he constructed
his stables and kept a substantial
number of horses and wagons.
Simon Knights’ stage line was
not the first stage line that traveled
from San Francisco to San Jose. The
first was the Whistman, Hall and
Crandall stage line. It drove and
established the route, overcoming
the difficulties of the large number
of creeks that had to be crossed.
The first line started in January
1855, five years after California was
admitted into the union. This route
continued with several different
companies running it until the San
Francisco and San Jose Railroad
was established in 1864.
A poem written by a passenger
describes, to some extent, the
experience that many felt in riding
the stage coach. It doesn’t compare
well with the description of the
experience on Simon Knights’ stage
coaches.
Creeping through the valley,
crawling o’er the hill,
Splashing through the branches,
rumbling o’er the mill;
Putting nervous gentlemen in a
towering rage,
What is so provoking as riding in
a stage?
Spinsters fair and forty, maids in
youthful charms,
Suddenly are cast into their
neighbors’ arms:
Children shoot like squirrels
darting through a cage —
Isn’t it delightful, riding in a
stage?
Feet are interlacing, heads
severely bumped,
Friend and foe together get their
noses thumped;
Dresses act as carpets — listen to
the sage:
“Life is but a journey taken in a
stage.”
(continues on page 34)

Parties Around Town
Thank you for being supportive
of our restaurant.
Please be our guest to celebrate
New Kapadokia’s fifth anniversary.
Cocktails at 6 p.m.
Dinner at 7:30 p.m.
P.S. Please let us know
if you can attend.
August 17, 2008
Owners: Meral Güvenç & Celal Alpay
2399 Broadway St.
Redwood City
Telephone 650-368-5500
www.newkapadokia.com
Public Will Give Input Into Redwood City Jail Site
County staff expect to have a short list of possible
sites for a new jail by the end of the year and hold
at least three different forums in the fall to hear
from the public, many of whom have made it quite
clear they do not want such a facility in Redwood City.
The Board of Supervisors’ recent opposition to
a Redwood City initiative crimping development
on land deemed open space threw a new wrench
into the debate over location. If the county can’t
unload the current jail site on Maple Street in
Redwood City, the supervisors surmised at their
last meeting, the jail will undoubtedly be rebuilt
on the land. The parcel is untouchable as county
land but if sold to another party would be affected
by the initiative if it passes.
As a result, the county fears the land would not
bring in the bids, or the profit, needed to relocate
the jail to a new location.
The argument over the jail location turned into
a public war of words between Redwood City and
San Mateo County. Other issues — particularly
the charter change initiative — have since pushed
it out of public view, but the discussion is very
much alive.
County staff are currently outlining objective
criteria to rank the options and should head back
to the Board of Supervisors later this year with a
winnowed list, Board President Adrienne Tissier
wrote in an Aug. 5 update to the Redwood City
Council.
Specific dates aren’t yet set, but the goal is to
set the meeting up in the north, central and south
county, said county spokesman Marshall Wilson.
Any public hearing is expected to be
particularly watched in the southern portion of the
county because that is where the current women’s
and men’s facilities are currently located. Coupled
with the possibility of the Redwood City land
initiative passing, the discussion over the new
jail location could ask residents to prioritize the
issues.
Timing is critical to building a new jail because
of rising construction costs. The current $140
million price tag could balloon to $180 million
by 2012 if the county doesn’t act quickly for the
planned five-story building.
The state denied the county’s application for
up to $100 million in funding toward a new
facility, leaving the county faced with traditional
financing options like bonds. Purchasing land
rather than reusing the Maple Street site increases
the price tag.
The push for a jail is not a new issue but took
on new life earlier this year when the supervisors
considered buying the former Cemex parcel
near the current facility. The land, at 1402–1450
Maple St., is less than 1,000 feet away from
the already-approved 800-unit Peninsula Park
mixed-use development. The developer reportedly
grew incensed at the idea of a new multi-story
jail so near and threatened to pull out of the
project. The council in turn directed its wrath at
the county, accusing officials of jeopardizing its
hard-earned redevelopment plans and making
decisions without input from either the council or
the community. A grassroots group of opponents
established www.nonewjails.com and continues
pushing back at the idea of a new or bigger
facility in their backyard.
Ultimately, the negotiations fell through and
Cemex came off the table. The county has since
said it was not trying to make deals without public
consideration.
The Spectrum 17

Nonprofits in Action
Advocates for Children
For as little as 10 hours a month, you could make
a lasting difference in the life of an abused and
neglected child.
Each year, 600 to 800 San Mateo County
children enter the foster care system as a result of
abuse and neglect. Advocates for Children, CASA
of San Mateo County, is actively seeking caring
and consistent adults to mentor and speak up
for the best interests of these children. Over 130
children are waiting for someone who cares.
If you would like to become a volunteer
advocate, or just want to learn more, please attend
an orientation held in their San Mateo office. Visit
their Web site (www.AdvocatesFC.org) or call
650-212-4423 for more information.
City Talk Toastmasters
Join the City Talk Toastmasters to develop
communication and leadership skills. The club
meets Wednesdays 12:30–1:30 p.m. in the Council
Chambers at City Hall, 1017 Middlefield Road.
Call Manny Rosas at 650-780-7468 if you would
like to check out a meeting or just stop in. Visit
www.toastmasters.org for more information about
the Toastmasters public speaking program.
CityTrees
CityTrees is a nonprofit working with the Public
Works Department to enhance and care for
Redwood City’s urban forest. They usually plant
or prune on the third Saturday of each month.
Check their Web site (www.citytrees.org) for a
listing of events and dates.
Family Service Agency of San
Mateo County
Looking for a dependable source of skilled,
reliable workers? Family Service Agency of San
Mateo County provides employers with mature,
ready-to-work, experienced workers who are 55
years and older. Employers contact the service
because they appreciate the superior work ethic
and the commitment to quality that mature
workers possess. There are no fees for hiring
candidates. Contact Barbara Clipper at 650-403-
4300, ext. 4368, to place your job order.
For those who are looking for work and are
at least 55 years of age, Family Service Agency
provides a range of services, including referrals
for classroom training, vocational counseling,
job referrals and on-the-job training for qualified
participants. Contact Connie Tilles at 650-403-
4300, ext. 4371, if you are looking for work.
Friends for Youth
Do you like to play video games, shoot hoops,
watch baseball games or just have fun? Then you
have what it takes to be a mentor!
As a mentor, you can hang out with a young
person like Reggie. He’s a 12-year-old who
loves pizza, baseball and cars. He lives with his
grandmother and three sisters and would love to
hang out with a guy and have fun. There are 30
boys like Reggie waiting to be matched with a
mentor like you. Most of the boys wait more than
a year to meet their mentors.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
As a mentor with Friends for Youth, you will
have access to group activities like bowling,
miniature golf and camping trips, plus free tickets
to Giants, 49ers, Warriors and Sharks games and
more. In just a few hours a week you can make a
difference in the life of someone like Reggie.
If you are interested in becoming a mentor,
you are invited to attend a one-hour information
session in Redwood City. For upcoming
sessions, call 650-482-2871 or e-mail mentor@
friendsforyouth.org.
Funders Bookstore
If you haven’t wandered into the Funders
Bookstore, you have missed one of Redwood
City’s hidden treasures. This project is a
volunteer effort by a group of dedicated people
interested in supporting the San Mateo County
History Museum and simultaneously providing a
community bookstore for everyone’s pleasure. A
large collection of hardback first editions, trade
paperbacks, children’s books, cookbooks and an
entire room of $1 paperbacks are featured.
Bookstore hours are Tuesday through Saturday,
11 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is on the lower level of the
San Mateo County History Museum at 2200
Broadway, with the entrance facing Hamilton
Street. Stop by for a browse!
Hearing Loss Association of the
Peninsula
Hearing Loss Association is a volunteer,
international organization of hard-of-hearing
people and their relatives and friends. The
nonprofit, nonsectarian, educational organization
is devoted to the welfare and interests of those
who cannot hear well but are committed to
participating in the hearing world.
A day meeting is held on the first Monday of
the month at 1:30 p.m. at the Veterans Memorial
Senior Center, 1455 Madison Ave. Educational
speakers and refreshments are provided. A
demonstration of assistive devices is held on
the first Wednesday of the month at 10:30 a.m.
in the second-floor conference room at the
Redwood City Public Library, 1044 Middlefield
Road. Please call Marj at 650-593-6760 with any
questions.
Nursing Mothers Counsel
Nursing Mothers Counsel, a nonprofit
organization since 1955, provides free
breastfeeding education and assistance by highly
trained counselors (moms who breastfed for at
least six months). To speak with a counselor (no
fee), call 650-327-MILK (327-6455).
NMC also offers free breastfeeding classes.
Moms (including babies), dads, grandmas and
friends are welcome. Classes are held the first
Saturday of each month at Mills Hospital in San
Mateo from 10 a.m. to noon. Call 650-327-MILK
(327-6455) to RSVP.
NMC also has breast pumps and breastfeeding
supplies available for purchase and rent. Call
650-364-9579. If you’d like to become a trained
counselor, call 650-365-2713. Visit their Web site
at www.nursingmothers.org.
Optimist Club of Redwood City
The Optimists invite you to become a member of
Optimist International, one of the largest service
organizations in the world, where “bringing out
the best in kids” has been their mission for over
80 years. Whether you’re a club officer or a club
member who enjoys the fellowship and friendship
of others with a common greater good, Optimist
International needs and wants you as a member.
The Optimist Club of Redwood City meets
every Tuesday at 12 p.m. at Bakers Square, 949
Veterans Blvd. For information, call President
Anita-Mae Lollar at 650-366-7515 or John
Butterfield at 650-366-8803. Or come join them
for lunch to learn more about how you can make a
difference.
Peninsula Hills Women’s Club
Founded in 1960, Peninsula Hills Women’s Club,
a member of the General Federation of Women’s
Clubs and the California Federation of Women’s
Clubs, is a philanthropic organization serving the
community through charitable, educational and
service programs. Meetings are held the third
Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. For additional
information, contact PHWC, P.O. Box 1394,
Redwood City, CA 94064.
Peninsula Humane Society & SPCA
In addition to sheltering and finding new homes
for stray and unwanted animals (100 percent
placement for healthy dogs and cats since 2003!),
PHS/SPCA has vital programs for people. The
shelter drives its mobile spay/neuter clinic into
low-income neighborhoods, offering owners free
“fixes” for their pets. PHS/SPCA also provides
a free animal behavior help line in English and
Spanish. Call 650-340-7022, ext. 783 or 786.
And domestic abuse victims who wish to leave
their abusive situation but are fearful of doing
so because they have pets can receive temporary
sheltering for their pets through PHS/SPCA. Call
650-340-7022, ext. 330.
Peninsula Sunrise Rotary Club
The Peninsula Sunrise Rotary Club was chartered
in April 1988. In the years since that time, the
club has met weekly at 7:30 a.m. for breakfast and
to hear a speaker at the Waterfront Restaurant at
Pete’s Harbor in Redwood City. The club, with
22 members, has frequently been honored as an
outstanding small club by Rotary District 5150,
which includes San Mateo, San Francisco and
part of Marin counties. For more information or
to join, call Brandy Navarro at 650-367-9394.
Redwood City Education Foundation
The Redwood City Education Foundation is an
all-volunteer, nonprofit organization dedicated
to providing students in the Redwood City
School District with a strong education that lays
the foundation for future success. They raise
private money to provide enrichment programs
to all students in the district. Their funding is
focused on academic achievement, music and
art, and health and wellness. They are currently
(continues on page 24)

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The Spectrum 19

Rescue From the Abyss, the Service League Way
By Michael Erler
This is a story about re-entry.
Karen Clapper and Mike Nevin
Karen Francone-Hart
Re-entry is an odd word and an odder concept, far more complex and versatile than
we give it credit for. Ask the average person on the street about re-entry and more
likely than not they’ll talk about space shuttles and astronomy. Perhaps the history or
movie buffs will mention the Apollo 13 mission. Their words will center around the
concept of returning home from the moon, repenetrating Earth’s atmosphere, flying
through the heat and the fire and landing safe and unscathed, good as new.
This story, about a group of women living
in Redwood City and the program and
the people making it possible for them to
do so isn’t about that kind of re-entry, but
perhaps the description isn’t too far off.
It involves a group of people — inmates,
addicts, convicted criminals — who have,
through a series of circumstances, been
jettisoned from the rest of society. They’re
not in outer space per se, yet they exist in a
cold vacuum, adrift and weightless, a void
separating them from us. If they even bother
to scream anymore, they’re certain that no
one will hear; they’ve been ignored for so
long that how can it be any other way?
These women want to return home on solid
ground, to see their loved ones again, to feel
safe and secure, anchored and important.
They yearn to be subject to the rules of
gravity but bosses of themselves. They strive
to be in control of their fates and to pilot
their own lives. Most of all, they want to be
citizens of Earth again, the same as you or me.
All they have to do to get there is to make
it through the fire. That would make Mike
Nevin, in a way, Mission Control.
Nevin is the executive director of the
Service League, a nonprofit agency that’s
been around since 1960 for the purpose
of assisting and rehabilitating inmates,
probation cases and recent parolees of
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
the local county jails. He’s been on both
sides of the political fence when it comes to
observing and reacting to criminal behavior,
first as an inspector for the San Francisco
Police Department for 27 years and then as
mayor of Daly City between 1984 and 1989,
placed in that seat by his peers after winning
election to the City Council. He has served
on the Criminal Justice Council of San
Mateo County and the Narcotics Task Force,
a subcommittee of the Criminal Justice
Council. He’s forgotten more about the dark
world we see depicted through the soft lens
of TV and movies than we can ever learn. A
life spent in law enforcement has taught him
many lessons, but it hasn’t hardened him to
human nature.
Actually, the opposite happened.
“The average person’s view of criminals
is to lock them up and throw away the key,”
Nevin explained from behind his desk at the
Service League offices at 727 Middlefield
Road, his head shaking from side to side.
“They want to feel safe. But the average
person in county jail is getting out after six
or seven months. The average person even
in San Quentin is getting out in three to
five years. Whether you like it or not, these
people are getting back out into the street,
so from a safety standpoint and from an
economical standpoint, it makes more sense
to see what we can do to lessen the ration
for aggressive behavior, to lessen the odds
of violence.”
Nevin, long accustomed to public service
and making a difference, joined the Service
League a year and a half ago and has used
his Rolodex and his connections to take the
program to unseen heights.
“The majority of our funds come from
the county jail. We have a contract with the
Sheriff department to provide our services
to the jail. We get funds from the county’s
A&D [Alcohol and Drugs] Program. We’ve
gotten more intensely involved in getting
grants. We’re getting now between 1.5 and
2 million dollars in grants. We also get state
and local funding, but very limited federal,
maybe $50,000 in HUD money to help with
the homeless. We have to raise the rest,” he
said, undaunted.
To that end, the Service League is hosting
a fundraising gala, dubbed “An Evening for
Hope,” on Sept. 19 on the campus of Notre
Dame de Namur University in Belmont.
KC Clapper, the assistant to the executive
director, brought into the fold at the Service
League after her success in streamlining
the efficiency of several nonprofits, says
that Ralston Hall will be “a great site for an
event; people love to go there. We’ll have
the Magnolia Jazz Band; the catering will be

done by Continental Caterers; there will be a
light cocktail supper; we’ll have a variety of
raffle items for people to look at; we’ll have a
wine tasting, thanks to a donor, a live auction
with Mike [Nevin] conducting that (he’s very
good at that and we’re looking forward to
being entertained by him ourselves). After
an hour to an hour and a half, the program
will commence in the ballroom, where we’ll
have several speakers. Our target is to raise
$100,000 with that money going toward
supporting our Hope House programs
as well as the purchase of two new Hope
Houses.”
After spending nearly half his life in the
pursuit of rustling up the guilty, Nevin has
grown weary of the never-ending cowboys
vs. Indians game, the pointlessness of it
all. Now he thinks the best way to win is to
discourage the opponents from playing. And
if it means clowning around as an auctioneer
to the amusement of the well-heeled and
bejeweled, he’ll swallow his pride and do it.
“It’s very clear to me that for us to make
our traditional programs and services in
jail work, that most people need help on
the outside when they get out. We can’t
release somebody from jail, put them out
on the street with two bucks in their pocket
and expect them to be all right. That’s not
going to happen,” he explained, unable to
process why something so simple to him is
so complicated for others.
“The whole point about re-entry is that
with all the work the Service League does,
both when the inmate is in and out of
custody, it greatly reduces the odds that,
come their first night outside, a person falls
back into the trap of recidivism. California
has the highest recidivism rate in the nation,
about 75 percent of those arrested in
California return to commit another violation
and end up in jail again. So our job is to lift
them up, help them out, help them with job
training, find them jobs, counsel them, house
them.”
The biggest challenge for Nevin and his
employees comes from explaining to people
that just because all criminals wear the same
uniforms, it doesn’t make them all alike.
“If your sentence is over a year, you go to
a state prison. If your sentence is less than a
year, you stay in county jail. So we’re dealing
with people who have either committed
minor offenses [or] have not been arrested
several times. We’re getting them at a time in
their lives where there really is a chance for
rehabilitation. The focus is to point someone
in the direction for success, to take someone
that is jobless, who is homeless, who is a
drug addict, an alcoholic, and to turn their
lives around. It’s hard for the public to get
this concept. People have an idea that
everyone who has worn a prison jumpsuit is
dangerous, that they’re violent felons, that
they’re beyond saving or not worth the effort,
and that is simply not the case, especially
with those in county jails. The problem for
us begins in that instead of trying to save
our program as the right thing to do from
a Christian-Judeo perspective, now we’re
trying to hammer through to people and
show people that it makes economical
sense. If someone is getting into trouble
and they’ve been in trouble once or twice,
there is a chance at turning them around. It’s
smart economically, because we’re turning
them into society, into people with jobs who
are back on the tax roll instead of costing
taxpayers money in jail,” he sermonized.
The Service League has many facets,
mostly dealing with inmates still in jail,
helping those interested in reaching out
to and reuniting with their families, or in
achieving personal goals such as learning
how to read, obtaining a GED or even
registering to vote. However, it is Hope
House, a residential treatment program for
women, that is their crowning achievement.
“The Residence Treatment Program
includes a full day of classes for all the
women, and they attend class and live in two
houses that are side by side in Redwood
City. Some of the classes include cooking,
nutrition, basic life skills that help them
refocus and be able to function in regular
home life,” explained Clapper.
Sixteen women are currently living inside
the twin houses, sharing in all the chores on
a rotational basis. They lean on one another
for support and companionship, comforted
by the fact that there is always someone
around — an instructor, a counselor — to
listen. Nevin believes the program to be a
more influential form of law enforcement than
anything he did with a badge.
“I was a police officer for a long time in
San Francisco and we went from person to
person and from case to case, but we never
had the chance to interact or help people
on this level,” he recalled. “We never had
“The whole point about re-entry is that with all the work the Service League does, both
when the inmate is in and out of custody, it greatly reduces the odds that, come their
first night outside, a person falls back into the trap of recidivism.”
The Spectrum 21

Rescue From the Abyss, the Service League Way: Continued
the chance to delve into the complexity of
a person’s life. We have alumni nights every
Wednesday for the women at Hope House,
where some of our successful clients come
back and volunteer their time. They mentor;
they give back. When someone completes
their stay with us, we don’t just shake their
hand and say, ‘Have a nice life.’ We stay in
contact with them and make sure they know
we want to be updated on their lives and that
they’re always welcome here.”
One day, while a stranger looked on,
the women in class — mothers and even
grandmothers — were engaged in cognitive
therapy, being taught about personality
types such as directors, socializers and
thinkers, and learning about which molds
they fit in and the positives and negatives
that come with those. Like in a typical
classroom, there are the kiss-ups, the
cutups, the chatty Cathys and the quiet
types. Everyone seems at ease and relaxed
instead of closed off and paranoid. Clearly,
trust has been built here.
“I came here because my life was a mess,”
said a woman named Gloria. “I went to
another program at first, but it wasn’t suited
for me, and a friend of mine told me about
this one, and in three days I was admitted
here. I like that it’s not a lot of people and we
get one-on-one counseling. They’re helping
me understand myself and why I need drugs
and alcohol and get to the root of my problems.”
Ray-Ray, a woman young enough to be
Gloria’s daughter, volunteered that in “other
places you get more freedom and this is
more structured. I prefer the others, but I feel
like I’m getting more out of this one, if that
makes sense. They really help you get inside
your core issues. We have computer classes
like Windows and Excel, in case you want
to be a secretary or whatever, and later they
help you with a job search and they give you
tests to show what jobs you’d be good at.”
Meanwhile, Tracy, a recovering heroin
addict, said, “I told someone the other day
that we’re really lucky. A lot of what we get,
other people who need it don’t get. We get
all these different kinds of training programs,
so we’re very fortunate.”
How fortunate Tracy and those who follow
her, eating in the kitchen where she eats,
sitting in the classes she takes, sleeping
in the beds she makes, continue to be
will depend in part on how successful the
fundraiser is. There are 200 seats, going
for $100 each, and so far half have been
sold. The money won’t do anything one
way or another for these women; they’re
already here, soaring below the atmosphere,
readying themselves for re-entry, to be
counted and counted on, bracing for impact.
The only question that remains is: How
many future lost souls can be saved?
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

Nonprofits in the News
Rotary Pays Out $72,390 to 10 Local Charities, Hands
$15,000 to Local Realtor
Money flowed into the coffers of 10 Redwood City service organizations
when the proceeds of the sixth annual Redwood City Rotary raffle were
handed out and the $15,000 raffle prize was awarded to local real estate agent
Brad Shepherd.
Since its inception, Rotary’s annual car raffle has netted the local charities
$380,000.
Ten local nonprofits received a share of the proceeds. Once again, the
Police Activities League pulled in the largest share, having sold $25,000 in
tickets. Family Connection and Pets in Need sold more than $8,000 each
and Rotary’s own foundation received $9,400. Other beneficiaries were the
Salvation Army, Kainos Home and Training Center, Boys and Girls Club,
Sequoia YMCA, St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room and Casa de Redwood.
Rotary Club members, along with volunteers for the participating charities,
spend more than half a year hawking raffle tickets. Ticket buyers check a box
on each ticket to determine which organization benefits from their bet.
“The real secret to the success of this raffle is our sponsors,” said Rotarian
Pete Hughes, who chairs the raffle each year. “Our sponsors pay all the costs
so that all the proceeds can be given away. It’s a great partnership and they
deserve a big thank you,” he added.
All proceeds of the raffle go directly to the participating charities,
thanks to the generosity of the 19 sponsors, who underwrite all of the raffle
expenses. Sponsors are the Danford Foundation, San Mateo Credit Union,
Peninsula Park, Dooley Insurance, Pete and Ginny Hughes, Strathdee Design
and Development, Bill Nicolet, BKF Consulting Engineers, T&H Building
Supply, Roos Dental Care, Wells Fargo Bank, Boardwalk Auto Center,
Redwood General Tire, Norcal Waste Systems, attorney Wm. R. Conklin,
real estate agent Brad Shepherd, The Baucis Group, Craig Templeton
Insurance, Redwood City Saltworks LLC and Peter Liebengood.
The first year, the raffle netted $38,000, then $56,000, $61,000, $63,000
and $83,000 in 2007.
P.S. The People Speak: Continued
just bring jobs to Redwood City. What are we thinking? Jobs and prosperity
on the Peninsula are unbelievable! Listen, Redwood City residents, we must
progress with the times and let our lovely city grow and allow the building
and transition of growth for companies and businesses that would like to
make their home here in our beautiful city. I hate to remind all of you of
the past, but remember we had the San Francisco 49ers and Marine World/
Africa U.S.A. at one time. But because of our sheer ignorance, we let them
get away. Besides, the Redwood City Parks and Recreation Department and
Commission should stop worrying about the open space issue and instead
concentrate on trying to get the youth basketball leagues and program from
being the worst in the entire San Mateo County to possibly being the most
well-run youth basketball league, like they happen to have in the city of
Burlingame. Because I believe that there should be growth in Redwood City,
I am voting “yes” on Measure W — our city’s future depends on it.
Francisco L. Anton
Redwood City
The Spectrum 23

Nonprofits in Action: Continued
seeking new board members. Board members
are responsible for attending monthly meetings,
chairing board committees, participating
in fundraising and outreach activities, and
promoting RCEF in the community. If you are
interested in the possibility of serving on the
board, please contact Adam Borison at 650-363-
7271 or vp@rcef.org. For more information on
RCEF, check out www.rcef.org.
Redwood City Rotary
Redwood City Rotary performs many service
projects, provides college scholarships and
donates to international relief efforts. The 50-
member club meets in a spirit of good fellowship
and fun each Tuesday at 12:15 at the Sequoia
Club, 1695 Broadway, to hear speakers and plan
community benefits, including the annual July 4
raffle that raises $80,000 for 12 local charities.
For more information about joining, contact
President Alpio Barbara at 650-369-0351.
Redwood City Sunrise Lions Club
This group is small but has a growing
membership. All members either live or work
in our community and share a common goal of
making our city a better place to live. This club
is one of over 44,000 Lions Clubs in 199 nations.
Chartered in 1966, the club has been vigorously
active helping eyesight-impaired youth in our
schools and seniors who are hearing-impaired.
Join them for breakfast! The Lions meet every
Wednesday at Bob’s Court House Coffee Shop,
2198 Broadway, beginning at 7:15 a.m. Call Bill
Gibbons at 650-766-8105 for more details.
Redwood City Women’s Club
Redwood City Women’s Club meets at the
clubhouse, 149 Clinton St., the first Thursday of
each month September through June. Social at
11:30 a.m. and lunch at noon, followed by meeting
and program. For information, visit the group’s
Web site at rwcwc.com.
Sequoia High School Alumni
Association
The group meets the fourth Tuesday of each
month at the Sequoia District Board Room, 480
James Ave., at 7 p.m. All alumni and friends
of Sequoia are welcome to attend. For more
information call Nancy at 650-592-5822, visit the
Web site at sequoiahsalumniassoc.org or e-mail
sequoiaalumni@earthlink.net.
Sequoia Stamp Club
This club was established in 1947 and invites
community members to visit. The club meets
at the Community Activities Building, 1400
Roosevelt Ave., every second and fourth Tuesday
at 7:45 p.m. There is a program every meeting and
refreshments are served. The dues are only $3
per year. Contact Hank at 650-593-7012, e-mail
sequoiastampclub@yahoo.com or visit the group’s
Web site at www.penpex.org. Sequoia Stamp Club
sponsors a free stamp show at the same location
on the first weekend in December.
Soroptimist International of South Peninsula
The Soroptimists invite you to become a
member of Soroptmist International, the world’s
largest service organization for business and
professional women, where “improving the lives
of women and children” has been their mission
since 1921. Soroptimists work through service
projects to advance human rights and the status
of women locally and abroad. Soroptimist
International of South Peninsula needs and
wants you as a member. While helping women’s
and children’s causes, you will enjoy fellowship
and lasting friendships. They meet the second
Thursday of every month. For more information,
please call their president, Maria, at 650-366-
0668, Monday–Friday between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Woodside Terrace A.M. Kiwanis Club
Since October 1956, the Woodside Terrace A.M.
Kiwanis Club has been devoted to community
service in Redwood City. Through the decades,
the club has provided funds to help many worthy
community programs and continues to add more
community projects. The Key Club of Sequoia
High School, sponsored by the Woodside Terrace
A.M. Kiwanis Club, was chartered in 1994 and
has been involved in raising money and donating
time and effort to many programs.
The Woodside Terrace A.M. Kiwanis Club
meets every Tuesday evening 6–7 p.m. at Harry’s
Hofbrau, 1909 El Camino Real (one block north
of Woodside Road). They invite you to come to
their meetings and check out the club’s Web site at
www.wtamkiwanis.org.
Woodside Terrace Optimist Club
This is a unique club made up of senior citizens
who want to stay involved. Most, but not all, come
from the residence at Woodside Terrace. The club
is open to all of the community and provides an
opportunity for seniors to be useful.
The club’s funds are raised by a card, candy
and necklace sale held on the fourth Wednesday
of each month in the main lobby at 485 Woodside
Road, open to the public. All greeting cards are a
dollar each. They sell See’s and other candy bars
and hold a See’s fundraiser for holidays. One of
their members makes beautiful necklaces and
sells them for $10 or more if one wishes to make a
larger donation to the club.
The club has a tutoring project at Taft School
and has contributed to school libraries, the
Children’s Cancer Campaign, the Optimist
Volunteers for Youth Camp near La Honda
for needy children, the Optimist Jr. World
Golf program, Challenge Day and many other
programs for kids.
Lunches/meetings are at 12:30 p.m. on the
second and fourth Wednesdays of each month in
the Assisted Living Dining Room at Woodside
Terrace. Guests are welcome. Please call president
Jack Murphy at 650-780-9891 or Millie Cole at
650-366-1392 for reservations.
YES Reading
This local organization is dedicated to
empowering students through literacy and
investing community members in underserved
public schools. YES Reading recruits and
trains community volunteers to provide oneon-one
tutoring for elementary and middle
school students reading below grade level.
The organization partners with historically
underresourced public schools and works closely
with classroom teachers to provide curriculumbased,
results-oriented intervention for lowperforming
readers.
YES Reading operates several reading centers
on the Peninsula and in the South Bay, including
a site at Selby Lane School in Atherton. If you
are interested in becoming a reading tutor for a
child who needs your help, please call 408-945-
9316 or email info@yesreading.org. Visit the YES
Reading Web site at www.yesreading.org.
Editor’s note: If you are connected with a
nonprofit organization and want your information
printed in The Spectrum, send it to writers@
spectrummagazine.net or The Spectrum Magazine,
P.O. Box 862, Redwood City, CA 94064. Let our
community know your contributions and maybe
they will want to join you.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

Redwood City Pride Meets Redwood City Residents
By Nicole Minieri
Thursday, Sept. 4 is the kickoff date
for the acceptance of submissions
to the first annual “Show Your
Pride Redwood City” contest. This
writing and photo contest is both
a creative challenge and an open
invitation for locals to share what
makes this city such an exceptional
place to reside. So ready, set,
go, Redwood City residents! You
have just been given the golden
opportunity to show how much you
have to be proud of living in the
newly restored “climate best by
government test” city.
The writing portion of this contest is open
only to children in grades 6 through 12. Each
contestant is encouraged to write a 400-word
essay or poem on what makes living in Redwood
City so special. People of all ages are welcome
to participate in the photo part of the contest.
Photographs should capture and exhibit the things
around town that make the photographer, whether
novice or skilled, proud. The deadline for all
submissions is Monday, Oct. 20.
The concept for this exuberant and artistic
competition was born on April 3. While speaking
to an audience of business leaders at a Partnership
Academy for Community Teamwork (PACT) City
Hall event, Mayor Rosanne Foust declared that
the theme for her two years as mayor of Redwood
City was “Redwood City Pride.” She then asked
the attending spectators, “Exactly what is it about
Redwood City that makes you proud?”
Upon hearing this query, Dave Karow,
Redwood City native and business owner,
automatically began to think about how he could
find a way to bring Foust’s inspiring words to a
considerably larger audience.
“I thought to myself, Wow, what a great
question. I remember when I first heard the word
‘proud,’ I instinctively visualized writing and
photos that just about everyone in town would
want to share about the city,” Karow said in a
recent interview. “I have always kept myself
very active in Redwood City by centering my
professional and community focuses in and
around town. I also had a developing desire
to take my community service involvement
in Redwood City up a notch, and thought
constructing a creative competition would
definitely have a direct impact on the community
and be fun at the same time. Then I challenged
myself to work overtime and create a tangible
reflection out of Mayor Foust’s words,” he
explained.
Within a short time frame, Karow created the
“Show Your Pride Redwood City” contest and
carefully wove together a committed, volunteerbased
staff including Foust, whose main mission
is to bring Redwood City people together,
publicize all of the good things the city has to
offer and cultivate civic pride.
“Redwood City is the most vibrant, balanced
community on the Peninsula, and I want people
to stop and notice that, write it down or take
a picture which represents that as well,” said
Karow. “I want kids and adults to get in touch
with their creative side, have fun, get noticed and
maybe experience a little time in the limelight
and win some cool stuff in the process. Plus, I
am very eager to see what today’s kid has to say
about what is so great about Redwood City.”
Foust, who shares the same profound feelings
about Redwood City, added, “This contest is one
more positive effort in building up a strong body
of good people together, and I am here to fully
support that.”
Karow is the founding sponsor of the contest
and continues to work diligently on recruiting
additional contributors. So far, all of his hard
work in drafting potential financial supporters
has paid off. Heading the impressive financial
roster alongside Karow and Foust are several local
Redwood City businesses — such as Redwood
City Funding, Edward Jones, Pete’s Harbor,
Young’s Ice Cream & Candy Bar and San Mateo
Credit Union — with the family foundation of
Dani Gasparini and Alyn Beals rounding off the
monetary roll.
“We really want to make sure that everyone
who enters in the contest will receive a prize
even though they may not be a semifinalist,”
said Karow. “Although the basics for the contest
are still fresh in the planning, we have already
decided that every contestant will be getting
an envelope in the mail from me with a free ice
cream card from Young’s.”
The top three prizes for the contest have
already been determined as well. In each
category, the first-place winner will receive a
generous prize of $500, second place $250 and
third $100. “We have cash prizes at the top and
ice cream at the bottom,” said Karow. “We are
now working on middle prizes, so the need for
more sponsors is crucial. Actually, the contest
committee will remain open to any kind prizes,
donations and financial support right up through
judging at the end of November.”
Contest submissions will be judged during
the month of November and the winners will be
announced on Saturday, Dec. 6, at the annual
Redwood City Hometown Holidays event.
However, a sneak preview of the semifinalists
will be posted on the “Show Your Pride Redwood
City” Web site (www.redwoodcitypride.org) the
week before Dec. 6.
“We are looking for essays and photos that
display creativity, skill, and show the side of
Redwood City that we residents love. We will
have a panel of judges rate the content in those
three areas and then vote on the top three prizes,”
said Karow.
In fact, the most unique prize of all is media
exposure for the semifinalists. Winners of
both contests will be featured on local cable
stations 26 and 27. The contest committee will
be publishing a coffee-table book using the
best writing and photo submissions. “People
who submit to our contest should know that we
could use their material in that book, as well as
material concerning future contests, and possibly
[in] future books,” explained Karow. “We have
a main interest in selling the coffee-table book
to the public. The proceeds of this book will
go to support this contest in the future, and
any additional proceeds will be donated to the
Sequoia Awards and Redwood City PAL.” Karow
has also arranged for the best contest submissions
to be displayed on plasma TV screens at the
library and City Hall, as well as on the “Show
Your Pride Redwood City” Web site.
Intending this creative contest to become an
annual event, Karow is very optimistic about the
anticipated turnout. “I would love to see several
hundred entries and will be extremely thrilled to
see 500 to 1,000. If we have a big turnout, I have
supporters who are already willing to step in and
provide additional funding as needed,” he said.
Karow is also currently seeking people to
volunteer to assist with school outreach. “It is our
goal to reach every middle and high school in
Redwood City, including students in the private
sectors, and encourage participation,” said Karow.
“Right now, one of our main vehicles of reaching
students is through all of the English teachers,
principals and school superintendents by way
of fliers and posters.” For the photo contest,
Karow is relying on the Internet to appeal to
photographers via Flickr.
With Karow as the main mastermind behind
“Show Your Pride Redwood City,” the contest is
destined to dominate in citywide participation. He
and Foust will do whatever it takes to make this
an enjoyable, successful yearly endeavor because
they both strongly believe that people are catching
on to the sentiment of Redwood City pride.
“Life is much sweeter when you live, work
and play with people you know and care about,
and Redwood City is a place where all of that is
really possible. People who live here love living
here,” said Karow. “It is an embracing, closeknit
society, and it often feels like we are a real
democracy making our way forward together.
Many people think Redwood City is a special
place, and this contest is the perfect chance to
show others why!”
Send photo submissions to photo-entries@
rwcfunding.com. Send writing submissions to
writing-entries@rwcfunding.com. Alternatively,
mail submissions to Show Your Pride Entries,
Redwood City Funding, P.O. Box 1085, Redwood
City, CA 94064-1085.
The Spectrum 25

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• Classes for all fitness levels
• Personal training
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any personal training package.
Available to members and nonmembers.
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Offer expires 9/30/08.
Skin Care
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Facials, waxings, and
brow/lash tinting
Drop-in hours
4:30-7:30 p.m. Tues., Wed., Thurs.,
10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday
9 a.m.-12 p.m. Saturday
Other times available by appointment.
New Class
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Join us for Zumba, Belly Dance,
Yoga, and more!
Open to members and non-members.
Buy a class series or punch card,
or just drop-in.
650-364-9194 611 Jefferson Ave., Redwood City, CA 94063 www.everywomanhealthclub.com
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

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The Spectrum 27

Cultural Events
Kennedy Jr. High Graduate Brad
Wilson to Perform Locally
Saturday, Sept. 27
Broadway Lounge
700 Winslow St. (downtown)
650-365-3353
Recording artist Brad Wilson, an award-winning
singer/songwriter/guitarist, and his band will be
performing at the Broadway Lounge in Redwood
City on Saturday, Sept. 27. Wilson is a Kennedy
Jr. High School graduate who still has many
friends in the area.
Wilson’s music has been featured in John
Carpenter’s last two films and soundtracks
(“Vampires” and “Ghosts of Mars”), and the
NBC soap “Passions” has used his music for
years. ABC’s morning show “Live With Regis
and Kelly” played one of Wilson’s songs,
“House of Love,” a fun, summertime song that
has been described as power rock, reminiscent
of Springsteen. Said the music programmer, “I
always try to find new music to play during our
show, and Brad’s music fit the bill.”
He has opened for many top-name artists. Many
of his songs are about his travels on the road; he
has toured throughout the U.S. more than a dozen times.
Wilson and his band play every weekend, over
150 shows a year, appearing at music venues,
clubs, city events, casinos, motorcycle rallies,
fairs and festivals, including the famous Gilroy
Garlic Festival, the legendary Hollister Rally, the
Laughlin River Run, Visalia’s All Music Festival
and the Thunderfest/Bluesapalooza Festival. The
crowds love them. Wilson’s Web site has all his
tour dates: www.bradwilsonlive.com.
All Access Music Awards in Los Angeles
voted Wilson “Best Songwriter,” and he’s also
won “Best Blues Band” at LA’s Rock City
News Awards three times. He is a very talented
performer and a crowd pleaser!
San Mateo County History Museum
2200 Broadway St., Redwood City
650-299-0104
www.historysmc.org
Tuesday–Sunday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
$2–$4; free for children 5 and under
The History Museum is housed inside the historic
1910 County Courthouse. Over 50,000 people
visit the museum each year, and the number of
local residents who hold memberships is growing.
The History Museum teaches approximately
14,000 children each year through on- and offsite
programs. The museum houses the research
library and archives that currently hold over 100,000
photographs, prints, books and documents collected
by the San Mateo County Historical Association.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
Ongoing Exhibits
The Grand Rotunda is the architectural highlight
of the restored 1910 building. Its stained glass
dome is reported to be the largest on the Pacific
Coast in a public building.
Courtroom A, restored to its 1910 appearance,
features a stained-glass ceiling and is the oldest
courtroom in San Mateo County.
Living the California Dream is an object art
theater exploring the development of the suburban
lifestyle on the Peninsula. Sit down and enjoy the
show.
Land of Opportunity: The Immigrant Experience
in San Mateo County features the cultural groups
that formed the county, including the Irish,
Filipino, Portuguese, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese
and Italian.
San Mateo County History Makers:
Entrepreneurs Who Changed the World follows
a timeline of innovation in business and industry
with “touch-and-learn stations” about computer
technology, medicine and finance.
Nature’s Bounty explores how the earliest people
of the Peninsula used natural resources and how
those resources were utilized to help build San
Francisco after the discovery of gold in 1849.
Includes interactive displays for young children.
Journey to Work describes how transportation
transformed San Mateo County from a frontier
to a suburb with “touch-and-learn stations” and
historical photo opportunities.
Charles Parsons Ships of the World features
24 historic model ships hand-crafted by Charles
Parsons of San Carlos. Based on the historic plans
for the ships, each model is completely unique and
intricately pieced together.
San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame honors
athletes who have made significant contributions
to their sport. The exhibit pays homage to John
Madden, Barry Bonds and Tom Brady, among
others.
Politics, Crime and Law Enforcement is the
theme of the Atkinson Meeting Room, including
a display of the Walter Moore Law Enforcement
Collection of historic badges.
Changing Exhibits
Outstanding African-Americans of San Mateo
County (through Oct. 5). View artifacts, photos
and memorabilia from local community members
who have observed the impact of the African-
American people upon this county.
Behind the Gates of the Great Estates on the
Peninsula (through Nov. 9). Enter the world of
refined Victorian mansions, elaborately carved
furniture and formal dining that set the tone for
gracious and elegant living, where good manners
were highly valued while questionable behavior
was not discussed in polite conversation … except
in secret, behind the gates.
Gabriel Moulin’s Photos of San Francisco
Peninsula from 1910 to 1930 (through Nov. 9).
Be transported back to the days of elegant living
by viewing photographs of the great estates in San
Mateo County by Gabriel Moulin (1872-1945),
California’s premier society photographer. The
treasures of his photographs are the most beautiful
mansions we will never see except in rare photos.
It is an era that is gone with the wind.
The City of Redwood City presents
the following summer activities on
Courthouse Square in downtown
Redwood City:
Music on the Square
Free concerts
Fridays 6–8 p.m.
9/5 Evolution
9/12 Aja Vu
9/19 La Ventana
9/26 Unauthorized Rolling Stones
10/3 Ze Bop
Lunchtime on the Square
Free afternoon concerts
Mondays and Wednesdays 11:30 a.m.–1:30 p.m.
Through Sept. 29
Art on the Square
9/19 La Ventana (with Music on the Square)
9/20 Redwood City Salsa Festival
Visit www.redwoodcityartwalk.com for more
information.
Angelica’s Bistro
863 Main St.
Downtown Redwood City
650-365-3226
Dolly Rappaport Band
Saturday, Sept. 6, 8 p.m.
$5 cover charge, kids free
Dinner with live music and dancing (inside dining
room) For guaranteed seating, call 650-556-1793
and make your dinner reservations
Featuring the music of Dolly and Mitch Rappaport
Dolly Rappaport’s artistry and musicianship have
attracted fans from around the globe. Based in
the Bay Area, Rappaport released her first album,
(continues on page 33)

Half page 8.25 x 5.25 inches
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is more vital than your child’s future. That’s why at
Edward Jones we can help you put together a strategy to
pay for college.
Using our college calculator, we can estimate future
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For a free personalized college cost report, call
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Member SIPC
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702 Marshall Street Suite 515
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650-365-3618
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Page 4 of 4 EDS-1879-A MAR 2007
The Spectrum 29

www.SpectrumMagazine.net

Volunteer
Coaches Needed!
Redwood City PAL is looking for enthusiastic community
members to coach in the After School Sports Program!
• 8 Week Seasons-All games in Redwood City.
• Practice times & dates based on coach’s availability.
• 2 games a week. Game times at 4, 5, or 6pm.
• All equipment provided.
All Applicants must complete a volunteer application
form. All applicants must be fingerprinted and have pass a
background check by Redwood City Police Department.
The Spectrum 31

Redwood City homeowners, parks advocates and neighborhood activists gathered at Red Morton Park on August 6
to begin an educational drive for a NO vote on Measure W. A committee called “Citizens Against Costly Initiatives” will
be leading a campaign for a NO vote on Measure W. For more information, go to www.VoteNoMeasureW.com
“Measure W is sponsored by an Oakland–based group
that spent $178,000 to put their proposal on the ballot,” said
homeowner and committee member Jeff Austin.
“It’s disturbing that an Oakland-based group would try to
change our City’s Charter,” Austin continued. “Their real goal
is to take away from our community the ability to make key
planning decisions. Why should a group from Oakland tell us
how to run our city?”
Official records show that 99 percent of the money behind
Measure W is from the Oakland based group.
Pat Dixon is one of hundreds
of Redwood City homeowners
targeted by Measure W.
The definition of
“open space” in
Measure W includes
hundreds of individual
homes, businesses,
a church and other
DEVELOPED sites.
Why is this important? Because, when a
homeowner wants to make an improvement that
is considered “open space” by Measure W the city
has to hold an election. And the homeowner must
convince TWO of every THREE voters to approve
their home improvement!
Shawn White, Chairman,
Redwood City Parks,
Recreation and Community
Services Commission, asks for a
NO vote on Measure W at rally.
“If your aim is to protect
parks then why not cover
ALL of our parks? The truth
is that Measure W will
make it harder to build
NEW parks and it will drain
away resources we need to
maintain existing parks.”
— Shawn White, Chairman, Redwood City Parks,
Recreation and Community Services Commission*
To learn more, please visit www.VoteNoMeasureW.com or call (650) 368-3554
The sponsors of Measure W claim they are trying to “protect”
city parks and open spaces from future development. But the
official legal analysis of Measure W tells a very different story.
Measure W EXEMPTS 18 parks in Redwood City from its
“protections.” In fact more than half of the city parks are
exempt from the measure.
Sound ridiculous? You bet. That’s why homeowners and
neighborhood activists all over Redwood City are educating
people about Measure W.
Sound costly to taxpayers? Absolutely. Measure W will cost the
city and the taxpayers millions in lawsuits and election costs.
It will drain money from efforts to fight gang violence, improve
streets and maintain parks.
Join the campaign for a NO vote on Measure W. Sign up at
our website at www.VoteNoMeasureW.com
Citizens Against Costly Initiatives, No on W, a coalition of homeowners, public safety
leaders, recreation groups, senior citizens, businesses, labor and local landowners,
with major funding by DMB Associates and Oracle USA, Inc.
* Title for informational purposes
FairOaks_DMB_AD.indd 1
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
8/15/08 11:11:14 AM

Cultural Events: Continued
“Here to There,” which earned critical acclaim
and numerous awards and was the impetus and
inspiration for her subsequent albums. With a rare
combination of an unforgettable voice, worldclass
saxophone and masterful piano highlighting
her live performance, Rappaport’s original songs
glide easily across several genres including pop,
rock and jazz. As a result of her unique blend of
storytelling and spiritual harmony, Rappaport has
been blessed as well with a steady and loyal fan
base, industry support and a fantastic community
of musicians. More than 50 songs are available for
download on iTunes!
Brassworks
Saturday, Sept. 20, 7:30 p.m.
$15 cover charge
Dinner with live music and dancing
For guaranteed seating, call 650-556-1793 and
make your dinner reservations
The Brassworks quintet will give you a great
variety of dinner music, from Renaissance,
Baroque and classical to ragtime, jazz, blues,
swing, Motown, R & B and Broadway show
tunes. The Brassworks band consists of the
quintet plus drummer, making it the ideal “little
big band” for after dinner dancing. The band’s
repertoire includes Dixieland standards, classics
from Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and the swing
era, Motown, rock ’n’ roll, waltzes and polkas,
rhumbas, sambas and tangos, and traditional
Oktoberfest music. Float around the dance floor
to romantic Strauss waltzes and tender ballads.
Kick up your heels to quicksteps, polkas, lively
Dixieland and swing. Groove to rock, Motown and
soul music, and heat up with tangos, sambas and
hot Latin numbers!
COLUMBUS REPLICA SHIP
THE ‘NIÑA’ TO VISIT
PORT OF REDWOOD CITY
September 24 – October 14, 2008
DISCOVER THE NIÑA
While in port, the public is invited to visit the ship for a
walk-aboard, self-guided tour. The ship is open daily
from 9:00a.m.–6:00p.m. Prices are $5.00/adults,
$4.00/senior citizens and $3.00 for students. Children 4
and under are Free. Public parking is Free.
Teachers wishing to schedule a 30-minute guided tour
with a crew member should call the ship directly at
Phone:1-787-672-2152. Minimum group size is 15.
No Maximum. Visit www.thenina.com.
DIRECTIONS: from Hwy 101, Exit onto Seaport Blvd,
Left turn at Seaport Ct, The Niña is docked at far end of
parking lot.
Port of Redwood City, 675 Seaport Blvd., Redwood City, CA 94063 ~ Tel: 650-306-4150
The Spectrum 33

Through the Years (continued from page 16)
The east–west route was a
different matter. Since most of the
people lived in Redwood City and
Searsville, and there was substantial
demand for a mail system, the post
office chose the stage company as
their postman. The stage company
decided to purchase two larger stage
coaches and to run to Woodside and
Searsville in addition. They then
decided to extend their route even
farther.
The new route went from
Redwood City to Whiskey Hill in
Woodside, then to Searsville. Over
Old La Honda Road to the Weeks
ranch on the La Honda Road, then
west to La Honda, where they
changed horses at the Sears Stables.
Then on to Bell, west of La Honda,
and San Gregorio, then over Stage
Road to Pescadero. The coach
stopped at each of the points listed
and people were able to get out,
stretch and visit the saloon briefly.
Leonard Fisher and Samuel
Murch were expert wagon builders
who had a wide reputation for their
highly competent work. They had a
building on Cassia Street between
Heller and Mound Streets. The
stages were constructed on the
second floor of this large building,
and they were very large coaches
carrying nine passengers inside and
eight passengers outside, behind the
driver. The coaches worked with
four horses in good weather and six
horses in poor weather. The coaches
weighed 1,600 pounds, considerably
less than the burdensome Concord
stages, which weighed 2,200
pounds.
The only mishap on record
occurred as one of the coaches
caught a rear wheel over the side.
It was immediately pulled up and
nobody was injured, but people
were a bit shaken by the incident.
There are no holdups or robberies or
any other incidents on record. The
new coaches were built by Fisher
and Murch in 1873 and were used
until the motor vehicle came into
existence.
When the two new coaches
were put in service, the Gazette
was lavish in its praises: “Daily
connection with Pescadero will
commence on the 26th May.” John
Poole was the regular driver for the
Knights stage line, although Simon
Knights himself often took the reins.
Passengers described the
experience on Knights’ coaches
as “exceptionally comfortable,
very competent drivers and very
reasonable fares when compared
to other stage coaches.” (Redwood
City Democrat, Jan. 28, 1892.)
In 1874 the stage line was turned
into a joint stock company with a
capital stock of $12,000 divided into
120 shares of $100 each, all of which
were taken up by the new board of
directors including Simon Knights,
E. M. Armstrong, Hugh Kelly and
Dr. A. T. McClure.
In November 1875 the entire stage
line went up for auction and was
purchased by a new partnership
of Simon Knights and George
Wentworth.
Times and Gazette, June 2, 1877:
“Redwood City and Pescadero Stage
Co, Simon L. Knights Proprietor.
Stage leaves the Southern Pacific
Railroad Depot every morning
at 10 o’clock for Pescadero via
San Gregorio Creek Road. The
stage leaves Pescadero at 9 AM
connecting with the 3:49 PM
train for San Francisco. Fare from
Redwood City to Pescadero is
$2.50.” This was the ad that the
stage company placed in the paper.
One of the interesting stories that
comes from the days of competition
between Knights Stages and the
Levy Brothers Stages in San Mateo
is the anxiety that was created when
the passengers from the two stage
lines met in Pescadero, usually at
the Swanton Hotel. It seems that
many passengers got off the train in
San Mateo when the Levy brothers
announced “the quickest and most
reliable route to Pescadero.” The
folks who traveled from Redwood
City spoke of the “beautiful
redwoods, the pleasant stage stops
and the beautiful grassy hills from
La Honda to the coast.” There was
often a very pleasant picnic lunch
prepared in La Honda, and the
passengers were very impressed
with John Sears’ service. Many
returned just to La Honda to stay in
the hotel there several days to enjoy
the fishing and hunting and the
pleasant time in the redwoods.
In the early 1880s the Knights
Stages received the Wells Fargo
contract as well as the mail service,
so the profit margin increased. The
number of passengers increased
again substantially after oil was
discovered in Bell, at the Bell
Ranch, and engineers and others
came over to that location by droves.
The early 1890s were profitable
years, but toward the end of the
century, things were changing.
More people were living on the
coast in places like Purisima,
Lobitas, Pigeon Point and Tunitas.
The Ocean Shore Railroad was
being built. The business of the
stage line dropped off and Simon
was getting older, so he retired. He
turned the stage line over to his son
Walter, who operated it to fewer and
fewer customers before the First
World War.
Simon Knights, Leonard Fisher
and Samuel Murch are buried in
Union Cemetery on Woodside Road
in Redwood City, along with many
other pioneers from the decades
discussed in this article.
Top left: Knights stage with Simon Knights driving in Redwood City. Middle: The American House at the foot of Bridge Street, Redwood
City, c1860s. Above: Fisher and Murch shop on Cassia Street, where the stage coaches where built.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

As I Was Saying…
(continued from page 6)
issue. I, and we, would have no credibility with
you if we did. Our stories by our writers have
always reflected balanced coverage and will for
this November’s election as well. In my column,
I just try to be candid and give some opinions
so you can make up your own mind. I have felt
comfortable in that role, as I hope you have.
Other local county publications do endorse
candidates and take sides on most issues in our
community. The fact that those doing so usually
do not live in our community and yet try to tell us
what is best for us when they do not actually know
because they do not experience it on a day-to-day
basis, I think is wrong. If we don’t like outsiders
coming into our community and telling us what to
do, why is that acceptable?
The reason I feel conflicted now is that this
election is so vital to the future of our community
that I feel I cannot do that anymore — not taking
a position and not voicing my opinion. I am a
lifelong resident of this community. Thus I am
going to take an active role in one of the campaign
groups and work as hard as I can to inform my
neighbors and friends of my opinions and how
I feel Measure W will affect our community. I
am not saying whether that will be positive or
negative, or if I will be encouraging a Yes or No
vote. I am just getting involved.
Therefore, I will not be writing in my column
on either Measure W or Measure V until after
the Nov. 4 election. I strongly feel that if I
continued to do so, giving my opinions and
then campaigning for one side, that I would lose
all credibility with you, my readers. You can,
however, expect The Spectrum and our writers and
editors to provide fair coverage of both measures
and to inform you of how both sides state their
cases. We will have special election issues for the
next two months, and I hope you will tell your
neighbors about them because you will not be able
to gather the extensive information we will be
offering from any other source.
I encourage all my neighbors, friends and
readers to get the facts on these measures. The
possible outcomes of the vote going either way
will have dramatic effects in our community for
years and even decades to come. Take the time to
inform yourselves! Most of all, vote on Tuesday,
Nov. 4.
Now I have to find some others things to write
about. This will be fun.
As I was saying…
.…
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The Spectrum
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“Mortgage services best, as clients attest”
California Secretary Of State File: # 200701010052
CALDA (California Legal Document Assistant) Member
NALDP (National Legal Document Preparer) Member
Get ready! In August: “Show Your Redwood City Pride”
Photo & Writing Contest – prizes for K-12 + adults!
The Spectrum 35

Community Interest
Port of Redwood
City Reports Third
Highest Tonnage in
Modern History
Maritime business for the fiscal
year that ended June 30 at the
Port of Redwood City was the
third highest in modern history
at 1,487,064 metric tons, up four
percent from last year. The increase
follows two years of declining
tonnage due to the slump in demand
for building materials.
Port Operations Manager
Don Snaman reported to port
commissioners that the overall
tonnage increase was despite a
significant decrease in imported
cement tonnage from the prior
fiscal year by 205,885 metric tons.
The drop-off was offset by large
increases in imported sand and
aggregates, a combined 424,000
metric ton increase over last year.
This ranks sand and aggregates,
imported from British Columbia,
as the port’s largest volume
commodity at 39 percent of total
tonnage. It is followed by ferrous
scrap metal exports at 22 percent.
Gypsum imports from Mexico
were 211,118 metric tons for FY
06–07, a 23.8 percent decrease.
Pabco Gypsum Company uses the
gypsum to manufacture wallboard
in Newark for the building industry,
and as for cement, the decrease
reflects the decline in the demand
for building materials. Cemex
imported 59,800 metric tons of
cement from Asia during the
fiscal year, a 77 percent decrease
over the previous year and down
dramatically from two years ago,
which was a record 602,000 tons.
Yet other building materials were
up significantly. Imported sand was
up 177 percent to 318,532 metric
tons, bauxite was up 18 percent to
81,888 metric tons and aggregates
were up 423 percent to 272,112
metric tons.
SimsMetal exported 332,595
metric tons of scrap metal to the Far
East during the fiscal year, an 8.2
percent decrease over the prior year.
The scrap metal includes thousands
of abandoned cars that in days gone
by were stored in junkyards or
discarded in local landfills. Fiscal
year 2008 saw 115 ships and barges
call upon the port.
www.SpectrumMagazine.net
Peter B. Diaz, CPA,
Receives 2008 Best
of Redwood City
Award
Peter B. Diaz, CPA, has been
selected for the 2008 Best of
Redwood City award in the Tax
Return Preparation & Filing
category by the U.S. Local Business
Association (USLBA).
The USLBA “Best of Local
Business” award program
recognizes outstanding local
businesses throughout the country.
Each year, the USLBA identifies
companies that they believe have
achieved exceptional marketing
success in their local community
and business category. These are
local companies that enhance the
positive image of small business
through service to their customers
and community.
Various sources of information
were gathered and analyzed to
choose the winners in each category.
The 2008 USLBA award program
focused on quality, not quantity.
Winners are determined based
on the information gathered both
internally by the USLBA and data
provided by third parties.
The purpose of USLBA is to
promote local business through
public relations, marketing and
advertising. The USLBA was
established to recognize the best of
local businesses in their community.
The organization works exclusively
with local business owners, trade
groups, professional associations,
chambers of commerce and other
business advertising and marketing
groups. Their mission is to be an
advocate for small and medium
size businesses and business
entrepreneurs across America.
Dodge Named
Port’s Chairman for
Ninth Time in 28
Years
Dick Dodge, one of the longest
serving port commissioners
in American history, has been
elected chairman of the Board
of Commissioners for the Port of
Redwood City for the ninth time.
Dodge is in his 28th year as a
commissioner and his current fiveyear
term expires in August 2010,
when he will be in his 30th year.
He is past president of the
Pacific Coast Association of Port
Authorities and has served on the
board of directors and as a regional
representative. He also is a member
of the San Francisco Bay Area
Water Transit Authority Technical
Advisory Council.
In his professional life, Dodge is
president of Redwood City–based
T.H.E. Office City, which he has
grown over the past 30 years from
a one-employee operation to one of
the three largest independent office
product dealers in Northern California.
Dodge earned a degree in
business administration (marketing)
from University of Southern
California. He and his wife of 43
years, Ginny, have three married
daughters and seven grandchildren.
Prior to joining the office
products industry, he was the
western regional manager of
Airborne Express. He oversaw
the company’s marketing and
operations efforts for an area
extending from Alaska to San
Diego and from Denver to Hawaii.
Meet BABI
Peninsula 2008
“Empowered
Parents, Healthy
Families”
Sept. 27, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Downtown Redwood City Public
Library, 1044 Middlefield Road
Library phone number 650-780-7018
Free to public
About BABI: Bay Area Birth
Information (BABI) promotes
awareness of evidence-based care
and options in order to reduce
unnecessary birth interventions,
improve breastfeeding success
rates and preserve healthy mother/
baby/family attachments. BABI is
a 501(c)3, tax-exempt organization
with chapters on the San Francisco
Peninsula and in the South Bay region.
Please join us for an open house
connecting parents with birth and
parenting professionals, services and
information, covering pre-conception,
pregnancy, birth and parenting.
Connect with products and
services that provide you with factbased
options during pregnancy,
birth and postpartum. Meet with
acupuncturists, chiropractors,
childbirth educators, doulas,
midwives, massage therapists
and others. Learn about healthy
pregnancy, birth and parenting
practices, caring for your newborn,
infant massage, wearing a sling,
soothing your baby, healthy
nutrition, going green for baby, how
to take care of you and much more!
Bring the whole family and
join us for door prizes, personal
consultations, kids’ activities,
refreshments, demonstrations and more.
For more information, contact
Sandy Caldwell at 650-261-9008 or
caldwell.sandy@gmail.com. Online
application available at www.
bayareabirthinfo.org.
Sequoia Counseling
Services
Informational Fair
Saturday, Sept. 27, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
165 Arch St., Redwood City
Life is stressful and sometimes
we don’t know where to go to get
the help we need when we need it
most. Sequoia Counseling Services
is sponsoring a free, no-obligation
community service fair designed
to introduce the many forms of
therapy and their usefulness for
various issues. Twenty-minute
demonstrations and presentations
will be held throughout the day in
seven therapy rooms.
For more information, call 650-
363-0383. Visit sequoiacounseling.
com for a detailed schedule.
Peninsula Hills Women’s Club
Multi-family Garage Sale
1686 Carleton Court, Redwood City
September 6th
9:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

Finance: Strike a Balance Between Saving for Retirement, College
By David Amann, Special to The Spectrum
If you have young children, you
may want them to attend college
someday, and you may want to
help them pay for it. At the same
time, you also need to save for a
comfortable retirement lifestyle.
Are the two goals compatible?
There’s no easy answer to this question. But one
thing seems clear: For many parents, saving and
investing for their children’s future is every bit as
important — and maybe more so — than saving
and investing for their own. In fact, two-thirds
of parents said they would postpone retirement if
necessary to help pay for their children’s college
education, according to a survey by Alliance
Bernstein Investments, Inc.
Parents have good reason to believe that
investing in a college education will pay off for
their children: Over the course of their lifetimes,
college graduates will earn, on average, about
$1 million more than high school graduates,
according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
So, since a college education appears to be
quite valuable, shouldn’t you do everything you
can to help pay for it?
Ultimately, you’ll have to weigh your potential
college contributions against your need to save
for your own retirement. On one hand, you’d
like to help your children as much as possible; as
a parent, you don’t want your children saddled
with enormous debts when they leave college.
But on the other hand, that type of reluctance
may be based more on emotion than on a sound
financial strategy. After all, college graduates
seem to find a way to eventually pay off their
loans. Furthermore, your children may be able
to find grants, scholarships and work-study
opportunities. Many students can earn a decent
amount of money at summer jobs, too.
Nonetheless, you still may feel obligated to
pay something toward your children’s college
education. But if you’re going to help pay for
college, be smart about it. For example, think
twice before borrowing from your 401(k). Such
a move will slow the growth potential of your
retirement funds and it could prove costly in other
ways, too. For one thing, if you leave your job,
voluntarily or involuntarily, you’ll need to repay
your 401(k) loan completely, usually within 60
days. If you can’t, the balance will be considered
a taxable distribution, and you may even have to
pay a 10 percent penalty on it.
Instead of tapping into your 401(k), IRA or
other accounts you’ve designated for retirement,
look for other ways to help build your children’s
college funds. You might decide to open a
Section 529 plan, which offers tax-free earnings
potential, provided the money is used to pay for
higher education costs. You can put whatever
you can afford into a Section 529 plan, along
with gifts from grandparents or other relatives.
Contributions are tax-deductible in certain states
for residents who participate in their own state’s
plan. Please note that a 529 College Savings Plan
could reduce a beneficiary’s ability to qualify for
financial aid. You might also want to consider
a Coverdell Education Savings Account, which
offers another tax-advantaged way to save for
college.
As you already know, much of your life
involves balancing acts of one type or another, so
you should be able to handle one more — college
for your kids against a comfortable retirement for
you. By making the right moves, though, you may
be able to reach an “equilibrium” that works for
everyone.
Senior Activities
The Veterans Memorial
Senior Center, 1455
Madison Ave., Redwood
City, is providing the
following activities that are
open to the public.
Monday Morning Movie Madness
(MMMM)
September is Shirley Temple Month!
Every Monday, 10 a.m.–noon
Enjoy a free classic movie in our state-of-the-art
movie theater! After the movie, enjoy a hearty
lunch for only $4.50. Mmmm good! Call Michele
at 650-780-7344 for more information.
Monday, Sept. 8: “Heidi”
Monday, Sept. 15: “Baby Take A Bow”
Monday, Sept. 22: “Poor Little Rich Girl”
Monday, Sept. 29: “Little Princess”
Wednesday Wii Bit of Fitness!
Every Wednesday, 9:30–11 a.m.
This ongoing program utilizes the latest and
greatest Nintendo technology to help you focus on
your fitness goals while having fun. Check out the
latest craze with the Fitness Wii. Free for all! For
more info, call Michele at 650-780-7344.
National Senior Center Week
Monday, Sept. 8, through Saturday, Sept. 13
Today’s senior centers are evolving to reflect
a new view of aging that empowers the people
they serve. They’re connecting older adults with
meaningful work and volunteer opportunities,
and increasing their access to valuable benefits
and resources. Through evidence-based
programs, they’re helping them manage their
health and finances so they can continue to
live in their homes as long as possible. From
career counseling and financial planning to
tools for staying healthy, there is no doubt senior
centers work. Mark your calendars for all of our
upcoming events commemorating National Senior
Center Week in September! For more information
regarding National Senior Center Week activities,
please contact Merrylen Sacks at 650-780-7320.
Grandparents Day Celebration
Monday, Sept. 8, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.
Refreshments, music and more.
Let’s Talk Cars
Monday, Sept. 8, 1–2 p.m.
Free lecture in the Sunset Room.
Relief From Shingles
Tuesday, Sept. 9, 1–2 p.m.
Free lecture in the Sunset Room.
Medicare Part D
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 1–2 p.m.
Free lecture in the Sunset Room.
Nutrition for Your Health
Thursday, Sept. 11, 1–2 p.m.
Free lecture in the Sunset Room.
Walk for the Health of It
Community Celebration
Saturday, Sept. 13, 8 a.m.–noon
Get your walking shoes ready! The VMSC is
proud to host its first annual Walk for the Health
of It Community Celebration. Festivities will
include a community walk (registration begins at
8 a.m., walk begins at 9 a.m.), health and wellness
demonstrations, petting zoo, food and beverages,
music and more! Event is free and open to
everyone. Celebration will be located at Red
Morton Park and the VMSC. No pre-registration
required. Come out and join the fun! For more
information, please call Bruce Utecht at 650-780-7306.
To learn more about the Veterans Memorial
Senior Center, call 780-7270. Redwood City
Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Department provides recreational facilities and
activities for all ages and interests, and supplies
building and custodial services for city buildings.
Redwood City Parks also operates the Veterans
Memorial Senior Center and the Fair Oaks
Community Center, providing social, educational
and cultural activities, as well as information,
referral and counseling services to persons living
in Redwood City and neighboring communities.
Redwood City Parks is more than you think! Its
Web site is located at www.redwoodcity.org/parks.
The Spectrum 37

A Minute With: John Seybert
What is the main purpose of the Planning
Commission?
To oversee the process of not only the
development of the city’s general plan but its
implementation as well.
What project are you excited about?
The full realization of the Downtown Precise Plan.
Redwood City is?
Headed in the right direction.
Which living person do you most admire?
My mother and father.
John Seybert was born in Concord, Calif. He moved to Redwood City in 1997.
He and his wife, Melanie, have been married for 21 years. They have three
daughters: Jessica, 15, Heather, 12, and Meagan, 9.
Seybert attended college in Texas and Santa Cruz. He is the operations
director at Peninsula Covenant Church on Farm Hill Boulevard, where he has
been employed for 11 years.
Currently in his third term as a planning commissioner (each term is three
years), Seybert is active in the Chamber of Commerce and Juventus Sport Club.
He is a graduate of the chamber’s leadership program, the city’s Partnership
Academy for Community Teamwork (PACT) program and the Citizen’s Police
Academy.
Seybert is also a member of the Serve the Peninsula organization, whose
primary focus is supporting schools, working with Habitat for Humanity and
bringing churches together for special causes. He also serves on the Sequoia
Union High School District bond oversight committee.
Seybert has announced his intention to run for a City Council seat in 2009.
Something no one knows about you?
When I was 14, I once walked from Santa Barbara
to Tijuana, Mexico, in 10 days. (250 miles.)
Which words or phrases do you most overuse?
No.
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Three very unequally individual daughters that
have something different to offer the world.
What is your greatest regret?
Not having taken the opportunity to play an
instrument. My whole family plays something.
Anyone you got on your mind?
My wife.
Last person you said “I love you” to?
My daughters when I left this morning.
Do you believe in love at first sight?
Yes.
Memorable moment?
Childbirth — times three.
First word that comes to mind?
What?
What is your most treasured possession?
My faith.
What talent would you most like to have?
To be musically inclined.
What is your motto?
Fight the good fight.
Why do you get up in the morning?
The chance to do something new every day.
You currently feel?
Blessed.
Sunday, September 7
8:00 A.M to Noon
Broadway at Middlefield
Pancakes
Sausage
Orange Juice and Coffee
$5.00 “at the door”
Street Chalk Drawing Contest
Age group categories
3-5 6-8 9-10
First Prize winner per category to receive a $10.00 Gift Certificate to Target
Second and Third Prize Winner
Certificate of Recognition
Entry forms available at
Bob’s Court House Restaurant
Broadway and Hamilton
Redwood City
Space is limited, so register early!
SPONSORS
Bob’s Court House Restaurant
Redwood City Fire Department
Redwood Associates Realty
www.SpectrumMagazine.net

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