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1. What is the Community Vision and why are we doing it now?

The Belle Haven Community Visioning process is a current effort led by the City of Menlo Park to involve local residents in identifying the Belle Haven neighborhood’s priorities, values, community assets and resources. This process will engage residents and stakeholders in identifying the highest-priority services and programs for the Belle Haven community and create an action plan to guide future implementation.
Recognizing significant recent changes in and around the Belle Haven neighborhood, the City of Menlo Park began a neighborhood-wide Community Visioning process in January 2013. The City Council will consider this information in the spring of 2013 as they begin to address funding and program decisions. This process also seeks to organize and position the community to work effectively with the City and other groups to advocate for its needs and priorities now and in the future.

2. Haven’t we done this type of visioning process before in Belle Haven?

In the past, the Belle Haven neighborhood has been involved in planning and priority-setting efforts, including regular updates to the Redevelopment Plan when the neighborhood was part of the Las Pulgas Community Development Area / Redevelopment Area (RDA). However, in 2012, RDAs were eliminated by state law. This resulted in significant budget cuts that have impacted the services the City is able to provide.

Many other changes are also impacting the Belle Haven neighborhood, including new land uses (the Facebook campuses and Menlo Gateway), changing demographics, and rising housing costs. With all of these changes, the City wants to have an up-to-date understanding of neighborhood needs, issues and priorities so it can consider this information in its decision-making.

The Visioning Process is unique in that it will identify a set of priorities with City decision-makers, identify specific actions and roles, and help build neighborhood capacity so that residents can work effectively with the City to realize the vision.

3. Who is leading this effort and who will be involved?

The Menlo Park Community Services Department is working with a consultant team to conduct extensive neighborhood outreach to gather information from as many neighborhood stakeholders as possible. Four Belle Haven residents have been hired to join the consultant team to conduct outreach including community events, small group conversations, and gathering data and ideas through a questionnaire. Youth, seniors, families, business owners and workers in Belle Haven will all be included in the process. All materials will be available in English and Spanish, and hard copies can be provided to neighbors who don’t use computers.

4. How can I keep track of what’s going on or get involved?

The best way to stay up-to-date is to visit the City website to find more information on the project, upcoming events and opportunities for input. All of this information plus key program contacts are available on the

Belle Haven Community Vision Process web page.

5. What happens when this process is over? How can we make sure something gets done?

The results of the neighborhood outreach will be documented in a Community Vision and Action Plan that will guide future work by the neighborhood and City. Since there is no dedicated City or consultant support for this project after July, it will be up to Belle Haven leaders, community organizations and residents to keep the momentum going.
For that reason, the goals of the visioning process include developing a structure and framework for future community work with the City as well as a list of prioritized actions for the community to follow up on and resources to support that work.

6. What does the City’s Community Services Department do?

The Community Services Department is responsible for providing recreational and cultural programs for children, adults, and seniors. It manages facilities including parks, community centers, swimming pools, child care centers, and gymnasiums. The Department also offers a variety of classes and organizes community events.

In Belle Haven, the Community Services Department oversees Kelly Park, the pool, senior center, library, Onetta Harris Community Center, and the Child Development Center and is a partner at the Community School. Many programs and services at these facilities are supported by the Community Services Department.

7. How is the Community Services department funded?

Services are funded by a combination of tax dollars and fees paid by residents who use services. Specific funding sources vary by the type of service or facility, the amount of fees charged, and the availability of other funding sources (such as Foundation grants).

City services like Police and Public Works are all funded by Menlo Park’s share of tax dollars, including sales and property taxes and other revenue sources. Community Services, like recreation programs, the Menlo Children’s Center (including the after-school program), the pool and other activities on the Burgess Campus are largely funded by the fees participants in these programs pay. Community Services in Belle Haven, like the Onetta Harris Community Center, the senior center, the after-school program and the Child Development Center are more reliant on tax funds since user fees are typically lower in Belle Haven.

8. Why have some services and programs been eliminated in recent years?

Prior to 2012, Community Service funds were allocated from both the General Fund and RDA budget, but since the RDA was dissolved, over $3 million in services per year has been eliminated from the budget, including the City’s Housing Division which was eliminated in order to preserve Police services, such as the Narcotics Enforcement Team. Tight City budgets in recent years have forced other cutbacks, including the elimination of the Belle Haven Summer School, periodic closures of the Main Library, elimination of business development and other positions as well as over $3 million in other expenses, citywide. The City makes these decisions with resident input, typically at City Council meetings.

9. Does Belle Haven receive the same level of services as other Menlo Park neighborhoods?

The Community Services Department strives to provide services throughout Menlo Park that best meet local needs, desires and funding opportunities. Belle Haven has historically received a higher allocation of funds per resident when compared to the rest of Menlo Park. For example, in 2010, the City allocated $1,666 per resident to services in the Belle Haven neighborhood, while other areas of the City received $1,176 per resident. The higher-than-average allocation was based on greater demand for services in the Belle Haven neighborhood and community-wide support for allocation of resources to the neighborhood.

10. How can we make our voices heard at the City?

In addition to participating in focused outreach efforts like the Belle Haven Community Vision or the Housing Element Update (@Home in
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Menlo Park), you can attend meetings of and provide comments to the City Council and many City Advisory Committees, including the Parks and Recreation Commission and Planning Commission. City Council meetings are also streamed online so you can watch from home. All meetings are open to the public. Meeting agendas and materials are available on the City’s website or by calling 650-330-6610. The City also relies on Open City Hall, an online engagement forum. You can view meeting agendas online.

11. Why do Belle Haven students go to different schools than the rest of Menlo Park?

When Menlo Park originally became a City in the late 1920’s, the eastern part of the community was still referred to by its original name of Ravenswood, which dates back to the early 1800’s. Two school districts formed separately to address the needs of families in these two areas all the way back into the early 1900’s.

Several schools draw students from the Belle Haven neighborhood, such as Belle Haven and Willow Oaks Elementary Schools. These schools are part of the Ravenswood School District, while other Menlo Park neighborhoods are part of the Menlo Park City School District. Students from the whole city come together to attend high school at Menlo-Atherton High School beginning in 9th grade.

The Tinsley court-ordered desegregation program allows students of color living in the Ravenswood City School District attendance area who will be entering kindergarten, first or second grade in the following school year to apply for transfers to the following seven districts: Belmont-Redwood Shores, Las Lomitas, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Portola Valley, San Carlos and Woodside. Non-minority students in those seven districts and Redwood City may apply for transfers to Ravenswood.

12. What is the City doing to support quality education for students who live in Belle Haven?

In 2005 the Belle Haven neighbors voiced their desire for the City of Menlo Park to increase its role in improving education, primarily at the local public school, Belle Haven Elementary. A year later, with a significant investment and backing from the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Bohannon Family Foundation, the City of Menlo Park and the Ravenswood City School District entered into a formal partnership to convert Belle Haven Elementary into a “full service” community school that places a strong emphasis on improving student academic achievement coupled with addressing the social / emotional needs of students and their families.

Coordination of the “full service” school approach is led by the City through the Community School Director, who works side-by-side with the school principal. The Community School Director is tasked with addressing the barriers to learning, providing access to vital services and forging strategic partnerships so that the principal can focus on student achievement, teacher performance, increasing test scores and improving the school climate.

13. What’s being done about recent crime in the neighborhood?

In response to violent incidents in late 2012, the City of Menlo Park hosted a series of meetings to address the problem with Belle Haven residents in an effort to prevent future incidents and to address community concerns. In addition to these community dialogues with City officials and the police department, a Gang Awareness workshop was held at Belle Haven School in November 2012. Police Chief Robert Jonsen will continue to meet with Belle Haven residents to explore ways to improve public safety. Existing programs and resources include the Blackboard emergency notification program, Five Minute Stops, Nextdoor, and Neighborhood Watch groups.

14. How can we work with Facebook and other developers coming to the neighborhood?

Given the amount of change that is planned for the neighborhood in the near future, residents should consider engaging in the Belle Haven Community Vision process to define what, as a community, is most important to them. Residents can also begin to work together to form neighborhood structures, like block groups or associations, that can work with Facebook and other developers on issues of mutual interest. City staff have contact information for all major business owners and developers in the area and are happy to help convene meetings with neighborhood groups that have defined a common interest.