Dear City Council,
Please see the attached memo with questions and related background information. I plan on attending your meeting too. For convenience sake, I will also paste my main questions below. My memo also includes background information from the City Manager recruitment brochure and my research regarding the Citys mission statement.

1. What do you consider more important? a full-time, senior-level emergency manager or more staff in the Library and Community Services Department? When considering Maslow’s hierarchy, what are your thoughts about the citys "foundation?" How well have we covered "safety and security" when considering the shared seismologist belief that we are overdue for a major quake, likely on the Hayward fault? (Note: you might not agree with Maslow, but I consider the hierarchy a useful framework when considering priorities.)
2. What role could the Library Foundation, and the Friends of the Library, play in raising the needed money for the Community Center? Have volunteers from these organizations been approached on the idea of helping to staff the Center as volunteers? What about the Library and Parks and Recreation Commissioners?
3. What other models could be explored regarding how to staff and run the city’s delivery of community and library services in Menlo Park? For example:

* What benefit might there be in possibly joining the San Mateo County Library Joint Powers Association to share programming ideas and to reduce the need for administrative staff?
* What value might there be in asking Belle-Haven based community groups to take a leadership role in helping to develop and implement programming and staffing at the new community center?
* What value might there be in exploring a stronger volunteer-based model in Menlo Park, including at the city’s libraries?
* What value might there be in asking the 2024 Menlo Park Community Grant recipients to help staff the Community Center and deliver programs there?

Lynne Bramlett