Monta Loma

The MLNA Ice Cream Social is our biggest social event of the year, and our best opportunity to meet our neighbors.  This year it will be on Sunday, August 30, from 3:00 to 5:00 in Monta Loma Park.

Make your first stop at either of the two Welcome Tables.  Sign in, fill out a nametag label, and pick up a ticket for a free frozen treat for each member of your group.  One Welcome Table faces Thompson Avenue, and the other is where the paths from the back entrances converge near the restrooms building.

Things to see and do after you’ve signed in:

• • Bring your ticket to the ice cream table for an individually wrapped frozen treat.  Non-dairy treats are available for the lactose intolerant.
  • Meet representatives of the Mountain View Whisman School District.
  • Look for Police Chief Mike Canfield and other officers of the Police Department.
  • Chat  with  members of the Mountain View City Council, who have been invited as guests.
  • Pick up copies of City information on the Sustainability Initiatives and Programs.
  • Learn more about the city’s Zero Waste and Food Scraps & Recycling programs.
  • Visit the Recreation Department’s table for upcoming classes and events.
  • Learn about the city’s Multicultural Engagement Program that offers information in Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
  • Check out a Fire Department engine and crew when they stop by.
  • Volunteer to help our Monta Loma Elementary School at its PTA table.
  • Update your voter registration, if necessary, and find information about the upcoming election from the League of Women Voters.
  • Visit the Mountain View Historical Association‘s display.
  • Visit the Living Classroom display.
  • Bring your tree questions to the Canopy table.
  • Meet members of the Community Action Team (CAT).

… and don’t miss our neighbors’ contributions to the event:

• • Visit our Community Emergency Response Team’s (CERT) display for emergency-preparedness information.  (CERT members)
  • Bring your new neighbors to the Welcome Team’s table for information about the neighborhood.  (John Canata, Nirvana Nwokidu, and Andrea Thomas)
  • Ask for a balloon creation from Gizmo Gary Heyman and his daughters.   (This is Gary’s 27th year of twisting at the ICS.)
  • Contribute some local lore or artifacts to Tom Purcell’s Monta Loma History display.
  • Learn about about Monarch and Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies and their host plants from Alan Whitaker.
  • Learn about the El Camino Hospital Volunteer Auxiliary from Beverley Engelmann.
  • Create a journal page for Grateful Garment.   (Linda Powers)
  • Watch a buggy pulled by robot horses driven by Wouter Suverkropp.
  • Enjoy Gloria Jackson’s pink cotton candy after 4:00.
  • Notice the City/MLNA notice board on the restrooms building, kept updated and clean by Silke Gürlich.

Photos of the 2024 event are here.
Photos of the 2023 event are here.
Photos of the 2022 event are here.
Photos of the 2021 event are here.
Photos of the 2019 event are here.
Photos of the 2018 event are here.
Photos of the 2017 event are here.

Plan to participate in this year’s Citywide Garage Sale.

Monta Loma uses the Citywide Garage Sale to publicize our own neighborhood garage sale and driveway giveaway.  For us, it’s a popular social event as neighbors stroll the streets, admire front gardens, and chat in driveways.  Kids set up lemonade stands.

Having a high concentration of dots on the city’s sale-locations map attracts many shoppers from outside Monta Loma.  In recent years, when neighbors who hadn’t planned to participate saw the huge number of shoppers, they also set out their no-longer-needed items.

Registration information is at https://www.mountainview.gov/our-city/departments/public-works/recycling-zero-waste/events/citywide-garage-sale.

Tips on planning and publicizing your sale and disposing of the leftovers without sending them to the dump are at https://www.mountainview.gov/our-city/departments/public-works/recycling-zero-waste/events/citywide-garage-sale/seller-tips/-fsiteid-1#!/.

Registration closes on Tuesday, September 8.

More than 40 residents attended the Annual Meeting and Board Election at Monta Loma School on June 3, 2026, to hear guest speakers City Manager Kimbra McCarthy and Community Development Director Christian Murdock.  They showed slides as they discussed projects that will affect our neighborhood:

• • The City of Palo Alto’s San Antonio Road Area Plan (SARAP).
  • SB 79, which allows more density near mass transit, including the San Antonio Caltrain station.
  • Parks and open space, including the mini park at Thompson and Middlefield.

Mayor Emily Ann Ramos also attended, although she had a 5:00 a.m. flight the next morning to attend a conference.

The slate of board candidates was elected by acclamation.
President – Andre Valente
Treasurer – Andre Valente
Secretary – Natalia (Natasha) Chuprakova

Members-at-Large
Tricia DelGaudio  (Newsletter Layout)
Robert Engelmann
Silke Gürlich
Cheryl Smith  (Newsletter Editor)

The new Board took office on July 1, 2026, the beginning of our fiscal year.

The May 2026 issue of the Monta Loma Neighborhood newsletter includes an article on page 5 about the City of Palo Alto’s San Antonio Road Area Plan (SARAP).  The area to be affected borders Monta Loma, so residents will be affected.  

See Palo Alto’s plan and diagrams here.  The South San Antonio area of the plan (shown in light tan) borders Monta Loma.

The March 2026 issue of the Monta Loma Neighborhood newsletter includes an article on page 5 about the impact that California Senate Bill 79 (SB-79) can have on Monta Loma homes. 

Effective July 1, 2026, the properties within the areas designated in the accompanying map will be subject to mandatory density rezoning to allow for 90- and 70-foot-high buildings, respectively.

The City’s map in the newsletter shows plots located within a quarter mile and a half mile from the entrance to the San Antonio Caltrain Station.  A larger version of the map is here.

Update:  The Monta Loma Neighborhood Association (MLNA) gathered feedback on this legislation.  The results of the survey were inconclusive.

John Bianco once again ran his dad’s model trains at the Bianco home on Adele for six evenings every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve.

You can see a photo of the three upper-level trains by scrolling down to page 25 here, in the November 15, 2024, edition of Palo Alto Online.  Two larger trains run on separate tracks at ground level.

Other past articles about Ernie’s trains appeared in the Mountain View Voice in 2010, 2012 (pages 1 and 9); 2016; and 2018 (pages 1 and 17).

A 2015 article in the San Francisco Chronicle features photos by James Tensuan, son of neighbor Donna Tensuan.

*****
Karla Valente again created a page to encourage Monta Loma neighbors to donate to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.  Our contributions provided a nutritious mix of fresh produce, protein, and pantry items so that local families could enjoy a holiday meal together.  Each dollar helped provide food for two meals.  This year’s fundraiser raised $1,971.

The MLNA Ice Cream Social is our biggest social event of the year, and our best opportunity to meet our neighbors. This year it was on Sunday, August 24, from 3:00 to 5:00 in Monta Loma Park.  Among the things to see and do were:

• Meet your neighbors, both long-time and newcomers.
• Bring your new neighbors to the Welcome Team’s table for information about the neighborhood.
• Visit the ice cream table for a free individually wrapped frozen treat.
• Learn about a proposed collaboration with the Police Department to share outdoor security-camera footage when relevant.
• Meet representatives of the Mountain View Whisman School District and Monta Loma Elementary School Principal Meghan Jinguji, and visit their combined display.
• Volunteer to help our Monta Loma Elementary School at its PTA table.
• Volunteer to help Crittenden Middle School at its PTA table.
• Chat  with  members of the Mountain View City Council, who have been invited as guests.
• Pick up copies of City information on the Sustainability Initiatives and Programs.
• Learn more about the city’s Zero Waste and Food Scraps & Recycling programs.
• Visit the Recreation Department‘s table for upcoming classes and events.
• Learn about the city’s Multicultural Engagement Program that offers information in Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
• Check out a Fire Department engine and crew.
• Visit our Community Emergency Response Team’s (CERT) display for emergency-preparedness information.
• See a demonstration of ham radio by Stiv Ostenberg.
• Learn about birds from Dotty Calabrese and the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance.
• Receive a balloon creation from Gizmo Gary Heyman and his daughters.
• Contribute some local lore or artifacts to the Monta Loma History display.
• Receive gardening advice and free plants at the plant-exchange table.
• Chat with Robert Cox about the Mountain View Historical Association.
• Learn about about Monarch and Pipevine Swallowtail butterflies and their host plants from Alan Whitaker.
• Watch (or ride in) a buggy pulled by robot horses driven by Wouter Suverkropp.
  • Enjoy Gloria Jackson’s pink cotton candy after 4:00.

   

More than 50 residents attended the Annual Meeting on May 28 to hear guest speaker City Manager Kimbra McCarthy.  She showed slides as she explained how the City works and the council’s seven Strategic Priorities, then addressed three topics that will affect our neighborhood.

– The future park at 538 Thompson Ave.  Monta Loma residents will be invited to participate in the design, scheduled to begin later this year.  The City has purchased one adjoining property, 2231 W. Middlefield Rd., and hopes to purchase adjacent properties to enlarge the future park.

– The Rengstorff Avenue Grade Separation Project.  Due to the increase in cost, the project to lower Rengstorff Avenue to pass under the Caltrain tracks has been postponed.  The City is looking for Federal money to fill the gap.

– The San Antonio Corridor Plan.  This will impact our neighborhood directly due to our proximity.  Monta Loma residents were urged to participate in Palo Alto’s planning process by applying for a seat on the Community Advisory Group by the May 30 deadline.

Police Chief Mike Canfield came with Kimbra and explained the newly installed ALPRs (Automated License Plate Readers) with FLOCK brand cameras.  Working with other police departments, the MVPD tracked a car that had been used multiple burglaries.  When the car was identified, a SWAT team was sent to the driver’s location, where jewelry and firearms were found.

The Mountain View Transparency dashboard.  Monta Loma is in Beat 3.  This shows a decrease in the number of crimes in our area.  Chief Canfield encouraged residents to use the Portal and to give feedback.

The Monta Loma Community Portal.  Monta Loma is the first neighborhood to pilot a portal to upload digital evidence to the Mountain View Police Department.  Content would include footage from Ring or security cameras that may be useful to track down burglary suspects. Feedback is encouraged.

Mountain View Police Chief Mike Canfield, Lieutenant Evan Crowl, and a dozen other members of the MVPD came well prepared to discuss local property crimes with the more than 50 neighbors who attended the March 26 meeting at Monta Loma School.

Links to the crime prevention and reporting information presented by various Police Department staff members is here on the Department’s website.

A printable color handout of Burglary Prevention Tips is here.

An article summarizing the information presented is on page 6 of the May newsletter.

John Bianco once again ran his dad’s model trains at the Bianco home on Adele for six evenings every week between Thanksgiving and Christmas night.  The children of several families came every evening to see the different train sets.
*****
Karla Valente was able to reinstate the Holiday Progressive Dinner, with ten attendees who enjoyed a wonderful evening hosted by Olga and Tony Bright and Linda and Pat Harvey.  Photos are here and here.
*****
Karla also again created a page to encourage Monta Loma neighbors to donate to Second Harvest of Silicon Valley.  Our contributions provided a nutritious mix of fresh produce, protein, and pantry items so that local families could enjoy a holiday meal together.  Each dollar helped provide food for two meals.  This year’s fundraiser raised $2,130, well over last year’s total of $1,050.