If you missed the Annual Meeting, feel free to watch the Zoom recording by clicking the link below and entering the Passcode:
Passcode: 19@dux.w
Mar 282023
Mar 042023
ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BARRON PARK ASSOCIATION
In Person and Zoom
SUNDAY, MARCH 19TH 2PM TO 4PM
BARRON PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
Zoom Link- https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86559394485
PROGRAM:
Welcome and Introductions
Palo Alto Mayor Lydia Kou
Palo Alto Utilities Director Dean Batchelor
Home Electrification Retrofits- Hilary Glann
Bring Treats to Share!
Mar 132021
Jan 072017
Dear Barron Park neighbor,
I hope you had a joyful and relaxing holiday season and are starting a health and happy new year. I am writing this email as the immediate past President of the Board of the Barron Park Association. I am happy to announce that Richard Elder has been elected as the new President by the Board and has started in this position at the beginning of 2017. Rich has been on the Board since 2014 and has lived in Barron Park with his wife Linda for over twenty years. The Board also elected Jon Affeld into the position of Vice President.
I’ve been on the BPA Board since 2010 and President for the last three years. I enjoyed the work (and I will stay on the Board), but I feel it is important that we turn over this position on a regular basis, ideally every year. This way, new ideas and new energy are constantly brought to the fore on the Board, and no one person remains in this position for too long. Most of the BPA’s work gets done by the committee chairs and their committees, but the President runs the monthly meetings and represents the BPA toward the public, so he or she sets the tone and the pace for the BPA to some degree.
We are fortunate to have a strong board, with several new members and candidates joining over the last two years. As you hopefully know, there is a lot of activity around various kinds of events, the environment, membership development, business relations, the newsletter, our website, community outreach, and much more. I’d like to thank the members of the Board and the committees for their hard work and for their support over the years!
As regular readers of our newsletter know, I believe that the BPA has a very important role to play in building community in Barron Park. The BPA does this through neighborhood events, communication and education, and collaboration with the City. The BPA has been successful in helping to improve infrastructure, bringing ideas and concerns to relevant organizations and businesses around us, and bringing Barron Park residents together.
If you are a BPA member, you can support this work by maintaining your membership and encouraging your friends and neighbors to become members. In fact, this is the only way that the BPA can be successful. If you can do more, please volunteer in whatever capacity you are able to help. And I hope you support Rich, Jon, and the rest of the board however you can! (If you are not a BPA member, please join!)
See you around the neighborhood!
Markus Fromherz
Jul 032016
As many residents know, the City of Palo Alto is working on a 25-year Parks, Trails, Open Space and Recreation Master Plan for Palo Alto, including Bol Park. For each park, the city is proposing a variety of upgrades in response to today’s requirements and interests of our population, and the city has been reaching out to ask for community input and feedback on the proposals (e.g., community workshop on 2/11/16, community meeting on 5/25/16, online review at the above website, and more to come).
Overall, this is an exciting long-term development for our city, even as some of the concrete proposals for Bol Park may not fit our environment (e.g., the heritage of this park). In order to ensure organized involvement, the Board of the Barron Park Association has authorized the formation of a committee to study this issue, prepare a response, and work with the city to ensure appropriate upgrades that reflect community-wide concerns. The board appointed long-time resident and former BPA President Dick Placone as chairperson.
Dick will reach out with further information in the coming days and weeks. We are hoping for wide-spread input and participation, from long-time residents to newcomers, and from our youth to families to senior residents, reflecting the diverse community of our neighborhood using this park. We believe that we need to strive for a balance between remembering our past and providing for today’s needs. And, while Bol Park will be the focus, we believe that it may also make sense to think beyond it, in particular to Juana Briones Park and “Strawberry Hill” (the triangle area on the edge of Gunn’s property), where some of the proposed features could be implemented. Note that there is plenty of time, as even the short-term work is scheduled for around a 5-year time frame.
Further options to be involved is to provide feedback to the city online and to attend some of the community meetings. You can also sign up for emails from the city to stay involved and updated with the city’s process.
Markus Fromherz
BPA President