Betty Meltzer: Betty has been instrumental in organizing and coordinating the Trees for El Camino Real effort. Trees for El Camino Real is a private organization whose mission it is to landscape this main thoroughfare. To achieve this goal, the group has been working with City staff and other interested individuals to develop landscaping plans and fund raising strategies. Betty has been a member of our Palo Alto community since 1948. A teacher by trade, she is a board member of the Peninsula Conservation Center Foundation, a graduate of Leadership Palo Alto, and a member of the Urban Design Committee.
Stew Plock: Stew has played a vital role in the Family Resources program as an exemplary member in the Ambassador's Club and a fine writer and editor of the Ambassador Gazette. Stew has an undergraduate degree from Penn State and a MBA from Wharton. He spent thirty years in marketing with the computer-related industry, most recently (1999) retiring from Sun Microsystems. In Stew's other spare time, he is, and has been for 15 years, a soccer coach to six-year old girls, spends a half day a week in the computer club at the Boys and Girls Club in E. Palo Alto, and most recently has become a farm tour guide at Hidden Villa in Los Altos Hills. He is an active participant in his neighborhood projects where he can put all of his Ambassador education to use. Stew and his wife, an elementary school teacher in Palo Alto, have three grown sons, one of who is being married in Ireland this August, and an adopted granddaughter.
Roche Pharmaceuticals-Palo Alto: Roche Pharmaceutical has become the pacesetter for volunteerism and environmental awareness in the local business community. Each year the Palo Alto division of Roche Bioscience takes the initiative to scout out community projects that it can solidly support with both physical labor and financial backing. Three years ago, as part of their Earth Day celebration, Roche enlisted 45 volunteers to help with the strenuous labor of removing invasive, non-native plants at the Arastradero Preserve and with trash clean-up at the Baylands Nature Preserve. Last year Roche returned to the Baylands and Foothills Park with an even greater cadre of employees eager to volunteer to clear trails and help restore damaged habitat areas. This year, 85 volunteers voraciously removed 35 dump loads of threatening weeds from three acres of the Baylands and Foothills. Roche coordinates these projects entirely from the initial scoping of the site, to equipping their employees with tools, conducting on site supervision and the complete wrap-up of the project. For every employee who participates in the volunteer project, Roche also donates $50 to the City. Their generosity last year paid for a new microscope equipped with a video camera and large screen monitor for the Baylands Nature Center. Our thanks to Roche for their outstanding commitment to the environment and education through their leadership in coordinating this dynamic program.
Judith Wasserman: Judith was originally appointed to the Public Art Commission in May 1993 where she served with distinction for seven years. During her tenure as a Public Art Commissioner Judith was largely responsible, along with current Mayor Sandy Eakins, for guiding the Public Art Commission to a place that enjoys a high degree of respect and credibility throughout the City Organization as well as the Palo Alto Community. When Judith was first appointed to the Public Art Commission the annual budget, which had been unchanged in 13 years was a mere $20,000 annually. By the time she had resigned her position with the Public Art Commission to take a position as a member of the Architectural Review Board she had persuaded City Management and City Council to increase the Art in Public Places budget to $60,000 annually. In addition to that increase, Judith was instrumental in initiating the new City policy that requires the introduction of public art in all new major Capital Projects. If that were not achievement enough, during Judith’s service as a Public Art Commissioner she participated in the acquisition of eight sculptures (including the Washing Machine Woman) and 22 two-dimensional works. Judith was also instrumental in ensuring that a formal program of maintenance, funded separately from acquisition, was initiated and carried out. Judith first applied for service on the Public Art Commission because she sees value in volunteering and giving back to the community; and she has served the community well.
Judith, who was originally educated and trained as a physicist, works professionally as an architect. She was elected twice elected as Chair of the Public Art Commission; she is active in many civic and professional organizations including the American Institute of Architects, Santa Clara Valley Chapter and was Program Committee Chair, from 1989-92. Judith is also an accomplished artist in her own right and her work has been exhibited at Bechtel International Center, Gallery House, Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Palo Alto Main Library, and NASA-Ames Research Center.
Ellen and Tom Wyman: The Wyman team, as Friends of the Palo Alto Library book sale managers, steadily and strategically built the program to the whooping success that it now is. Over time, they have incrementally and continually improved every book sale operation. During their stewardship, the annual sales have grown from approximately $10,000 to over $100,000. The number of volunteers to support the sales growth has grown from 4 persons to over 90 who collect, sort, price, label, and sell items, then deposit the funds collected. Along the way, they have deliberately contributed to a community goal to reduce the amount to material going into the Palo Alto landfill. The Wymans were instrumental in developing alternative ways to recycle unsold items after each monthly book sale, setting up systems to give books away to non-profit organizations in the community, California, and oceans away (Latvia and Morocco, to name two countries receiving items).
