BY SHAUN BISHOPDaily News Staff Writer

After hearing emotional pleas from Sequoia High School parents and faculty to preserve the school’s dedicated police officer, Redwood City council mem-bers decided against eliminating the position as partof a budget-cutting plan.

The city council voted 6-0 Monday night to go forward with$561,000 in cuts for the rest of this fiscal year, but opted to save the school resource officer position. Next year, the same package will save under $1 million.

City officials said the reductions will give the city a head start on cutting its costs in an-ticipating of having to cut millions from next year’sbudget.

BY DIANA SAMUELSDaily News Staff Writer

The Palo Alto Unified School District would spend an extra $740 on benefits for each of its employees under proposed con-tracts the school board is slated to review tonight.

The proposed 2009-13 contracts do notgive raises beyond scheduled “step-and-lad-der” annual increases, and aim to lessen the impact of a $1.3 million rise in health care

costs through such measures as increasing co-pays for doctor visits and giving retirees incentives to opt out of the district’s healthcare coverage.

Without those cuts, the district would have to contribute “significantly higher” amounts

for benefits, said Scott Bowers, assistant su-perintendent for human resources.

Proposed contracts for the Palo AltoEducators Association that represents teach-ers, the California School Employees As-sociation that represents classified staff,and for non-represented employees will be presented at tonight’s school board meet-ing and are scheduled for a vote on Nov. 17.Both employee unions have ratified the con-tract, Bowers said, and the board’s approval

DOWNTOWN PALO ALTO

Broken and chipped teeth. What can be done?Broken or chipped teeth can be unsightly, unhealthy and damaging to the soft tissue in the mouth.

There are a number of ways to fix broken teeth:

Composite resin fillings which are bonded to the tooth and performed inone visit.The advantage is they are completed in one visit and the disadvantagesare they have a shorter lifetime and are not suitable for larger breakages.

Porcelain veneers for front teeth which are performed in two visits. Theadvantages are porcelain veneers have a longer lifetime and tend to look betterbut the disadvantages are that two appointments are required and a small layerof tooth needs to be removed.

Crowns may be another option for front and back teeth which havebeen heavily filled or decayed. The advantages are that they tend to bestronger than fillings and veneers and have a longer lifetime, but the

disadvantages are that they require two appointments and also requiremore tooth structure removal.

If you or anyone you know could benefit from any of these services, pleasecontact Dr Ravi Sahdev at 650. 566. 0999. Please mention this ad to takeadvantage of any special offers.

Dentartiste

882C Emerson Street

Palo Alto, CA 94301

650-566-0999www.cosmeticdentistpaloalto.com

DailyNewsDailyNews150

BUSINESS

FUSION

IndexAbby .....................................B9Business ...............................A8Comics/Crossword ...............B8Letters...................................A9Lottery...................................A2

Full weather report, B12

BUDGETBLUNDERMenlo Park

council meetsto discuss

$400K error, A3

Low-income housing winscouncil’s OKn 50 apartments approvedover neighbors’ opposition

School board to review union deal tonightn Employees still would get

‘step’ raises but pay morefor health care if ratified

THE

NOVEMBER 10, 2009 Tuesday Vol. 14 No. 259baydailynews.com

ATHERTON EAST PALO ALTO LOS ALTOS LOS ALTOS HILLS MENLO PARK MOUNTAIN VIEW PALO ALTO PORTOLA VALLEY REDWOOD CITY SAN CARLOS STANFORD WOODSIDE

ELECTRONIC ARTS TO LAY OFF 1,500 Redwood City game company reports losing $391M A8

MOSTLYCLOUDYHigh: 66; Low: 48

Deadly S-curveDriver dies when he goes toofast on Bay Bridge temporary extension; officials plead withcommuters to drive slowerREGION, A6

Good vibrations

BY WILL OREMUSDaily News Staff Writer

A nonprofit’s plan to build 50 low-income apart-ments in downtown Palo Alto won final approval from the city council on Monday after more than three hoursof debate.

Eden Housing and the Community Housing Allianceare hoping to build the four-story complex at Alma Street and Homer Avenue by October 2011 in order to secure a $1 million state grant. The one-, two- and three-bedroomunits would be rented to families making about half or less of the median income for the area.

Council Members Larry Klein and Pat Burt wanted to send the project to the city’s planning and transporta-tion commission for further review. But the majority of the council said the project had been reviewed enough, noting that any further delay could cut into its funding.Council Member John Barton’s motion to approve it passed 7-2.

In fact, the project approved Monday was less than half the size of the original proposal, which would have also included 48 apartments for low-income senior citi-zens and a new home for Palo Alto Hardware, among other shops. Several supporters said they were disap-pointed that opposition from neighbors and the planningcommission forced the developers to drop those plans.

Opponents on Monday continued to argue that the project was too large, would overcrowd local schools and lacked sufficient parking and open space. Meanwhile, anattorney working on their behalf contended it should be rejected because it was actually not large enough to meetthe requirements of the state’s density bonus law.

Several critics said the project ought to go back to the planning and transportation commission. The com-mission did review the original plans, but did not see the reduced plans because city staff said they fit within the site’s existing zoning rules thanks to the density bonuslaw.

“When the process is cut short, projects go wrong,”said Joop Verbaken, one of the residents of the

FREE

AMERICANGIRLFASHION FUN 56 local girls to model for anAmericanGirl fashion showFriday and Saturday B7

School officer spared inbudget cutsn Redwood City hears pleas fromSequoia High School parents

PALO ALTO UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT

Kassy Davis of Sunnyvale and Alex Edidin of Portola Valley

BY RICHARD SCHEININBay Area News Group

OK, let’s figure this one out. Here we are in the age of cutthroat Internet retail sales — low prices, no service — and here, still, is little Gryphon Stringed Instruments, as fine an example as you will find of that endangered species known as the neighborhood guitar shop.

This one turned 40 years old this fall. Off the beaten track in Palo Alto,it is more than a shop, and better than an Internet chat room. It’s a cozy institution, a gathering spot for beginning guitar strummers, advancedpickers and a cadre of vintage instrument collectors. They all drop by because they speak “the same secret language,” says Richard Johnston,who cofounded the shop in 1969 with his pal Frank Ford. “Guitars are a world.”

And world-famous Gryphon is a magnet for folks interested in all sorts of acoustic, fretted stringed instruments. A woman walks in at 2 p.m. on a Monday: middle-aged, carrying her Gibson J-45 acoustic guitar. She bought it in 1967. She may want to sell it on consign-ment. She hands it across the counter to Johnston for inspection.

“There’s something funky going on,” she tells him.Johnston gently spins it in his hands, looks over its mahog-

any back and the sunburst finish on its face. He peers inside to check the internal bracing. Instant diagnosis: It’s worth about $2,200 and fixing it is no big deal.

Mind you, Johnston, 62, is a foremost expert on vintage American acoustic guitars, banjos, mandolins and ukuleles. He is co-author of two authorized histories of Martin guitars. He ap-praises instruments for “Antiques Roadshow.” And here he is, after 40 years, still behind the counter of the shop he helped start fresh out of college, when revolution was in the air and he was smitten with the country blues of Mississippi Fred McDowell.

Thing is, Johnston, who grew up on a peach farm in the Central Valley, is still smitten with acoustic sounds. As is Ford, son of a Menlo Park pharmaceuticals manager who came home each night to fix everything in sight, his true avocation.

Gary Reyes /Bay Area News Group

Frank Ford checks a guitar in the showroom at Gryphon Guitars in Palo Alto on Nov. 4. Ford and Richard Johnston opened this unique guitar store in 1969 and have built a reputation as one of the most respected acoustic guitarretail and repair shops in the nation.

40-YEAR SALUTE: GRYPHON STRINGEDINSTRUMENTS THRIVES IN PALO ALTO

HELP NEEDYFAMILIES

Starting today, TheDaily News will track howmuch money is raised forneedy families. Look for the ornament each week until the Christmas Bureaureaches its goal: $100,000LOCAL, A2

STANFORD GETS RANKEDSPORTS

TEACHERS, page A4

GRYPHON GUITARS, page A4

REDWOOD CITY, page A4

PALO ALTO, page A4

INSIDETODAY