The Burlingame Voice

Memorial Day Parade 2023

The chilly marine layer we have been shivering through for the last week cleared just in time for the Hillsborough Memorial Day parade to be a bright, sunny affair.  I love the small town feel of this short little parade populated by kids' activity clubs, a few vets and antique cars along with fire trucks and convertibles with politicians sitting on the back decks.  We had all of the electeds at the state and federal level, except for DiFi...including the other Diane (misspelled Papen on the sign), Kevin Mullin and Josh Becker; plus all five H'borough council members.

But the highlights were the San Mateo High and B'game High marching bands.  San Mateo looked noticeably sharper in the marching category, but B'game held its own and played more songs along the route--always a plus regardless of how much you like the drummers' street beats.

I noticed many neighbors had made the effort to put out their American flags and one can only hope all of us will take some time to remember those who gave all.  I don't think of it as "Happy Memorial Day" but rather reflective Memorial Day7.  Here is a fully equipped US Marine Corps jeep that spurs reflection and the B'game band.

The BAAZ is back--for a couple of weeks

With a hat tip to Thin Lizzy, here is an ode to the Burlingame Avenue Autonomous Zone--the BAAZ:

Guess who just got back today?
The wild-eyed BAAZ that had been away
Haven't changed, had much to say
But man, I still think them blocks are crazy
They were askin' if you were around
How you was, where you could be found
I told 'em you were livin' downtown
Drivin' all the merchants crazy

The BAAZ is back in town (the BAAZ is back in town)

I said (the BAAZ is back in town)
(TheBAAZ is back in town)
The BAAZ is back in town...ow..ow.owwn

 

As reported in the Daily Journal here, the council has voted to bring back the BAAZ for two weeks in August--exactly three years after it was stopped as we noted here.

 

The closure will take up two blocks of Burlingame Avenue east of Primrose Road, west of Lorton Avenue and a small portion of Park Road. The Park Road segment will be a small portion of the road ending before the city-owned parking lot, so vehicles will be able to park or turn around. The council also agreed to start the two-week street closure after the Burlingame on the Avenue festival, Aug. 19, which is hosted by the Chamber or Commerce, and reopen the streets Labor Day, Sept. 2.

 

There was council commentary on the thing we need most on the Avenew--live music.  I'm not sure it needs to be taxpayer subsidized beyond waiving the entertainment permit and encroachment permit fees, but 5 grand is a modest amount either way:

 

(Council member Emily) Beach said the city could work with the downtown businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to provide a musical ambiance the remaining two weekends.  “Quite frankly, the smaller single [or] duo instrumental might create exactly the right ambiance as opposed to a big loud band that some people may like the style and some people not like the style,” Beach said.

One option, she suggested, would be for the city to set aside $5,000 to match restaurants or businesses who may want to hire a small band for the night and then the city would reimburse the business up to $500.

Mark your calendars for Art on the Ave Aug 19-20 followed by two weeks of strolling the BAAZ for dining, tippling and hopefully some good music.  Maybe we will even see our guitar-strumming council member out busking on the Ave.

Water Rates: Drip, drip, water torture

The SF Comicle is giving us the unfortunate preview of coming water rate increases.  Reporter Kurtis Alexander's piece titled "Storms replenished California’s reservoirs. So why are Bay Area water bills about to soar?" brings the bad news into focus:

The SFPUC, which directly serves nearly 900,000 people in San Francisco (Ed: and most of the Peninsula including B'game), is scheduled to vote on its higher water and sewer rates Tuesday. Under the proposal, both the fixed base rate and the amount charged for the volume of water used, or discharged in the case of wastewater, will rise, resulting in an average 8.3% annual increase over three years for single-family households...or a cumulative 27% increase.

“We get this question a lot: Why raise rates if we have this abundance of water?” said Christopher Tritto, a spokesperson for EBMUD. “Well, what we’re really paying for is all of the infrastructure to store the water, to transport it to the Bay Area and to distribute it. … The water we get from the rain and snow is essentially free.” 

“Even with these proposed rate increases, our services are a tremendous value,” said John Coté, spokesperson for the SFPUC. “One gallon of our world-class tap water would cost only 2 cents, while a gallon of bottled water costs $1.79 on average. Our services are also competitive with our peers.”  The agency did not raise rates last year. Over the previous four years, rates rose an average of 8% annually.

Get your calculator or spreadsheet out, add in the coming sewer rate increases we wrote about in October 2021 here and revise household budget accordingly.  The other front-page article in today's Chronicle was about the impending transit system "doom loop" being nearer than believed.  The sad thing is anyone could see that the "doom loop" started the day we went into Covid lockdown; when the managements of all these systems stuck their head in the sand and stuck out their hands for $4.5 billion of federal "aid" to keep empty trains and buses running.  Now they want more even though BART ridership, for example, is still 60% down from pre-Covid.

If the trade-off is water system reliability vs. 95% empty SamTrans buses running up and down El Camino--and it might just be given the $31.5 billion and growing budget deficit--I'll take water reliability for 500, Alex.

E-bike litter arrives promptly

The Spin e-bike rental program has kicked off in B'game and Millbrae and already I have seen several bikes left in random spots around town.  One was left right on a corner on Carmelita blocking the sidewalk.  Another was deserted in Heritage Park.  The Daily Journal noted aspects of the program that would mitigate e-bike littering:

Burlingame installed around 20 bike corrals around transit areas, downtown and major parks. City officials hope riders use the corrals to park bikes after use and has incentive alternatives if needed.  “We just hope that the corrals will be used,” (Burlingame Sustainability Program Manager Sigalle) Michael said. “We are trying to avoid bike litter and we are trying to incentivize it by using the corrals, luckily, the program is very adaptable and it’s easy to make adjustments on the app.”

Burlingame and Millbrae plan to slowly integrate the bikes inventory as the program begins and there will eventually be more than 200 bikes available between both cities.  Spin was awarded the contract by both cities because of its lower user fees and competitive pay to local employees. It will hire two local employees between both cities who will move the bikes to heavily used locations, charge them and fix any issues. It will be moved within two hours of it being reported as somewhere a resident doesn’t want.

The DJ article did not explain how to get the litter bikes removed.  The city e-newsletter may have included that information, but if it did I missed it.  So here is what I found elsewhere:

Feel free to reach out to us via these two methods:

1. Call us: 1-888-249-9698
2. Email us: [email protected]

Before contacting us, please have the below information readily available so we can relocate our vehicle in the fastest & most efficient way possible:

• Approximate address or crossroads to where our Operations Specialists can accurately find our vehicle.
  • Example: 123 Blueberry Lane, San Francisco, CA
  • Example: Off 1st St & Bran Muffin Rd, near the alley way

• If you can, feel free to include the vehicle’s unique 7-digit ID#  
  • Found on the handlebars -> underneath the QR code

We shall see if that two-hour turnaround time is met on a regular basis.  In the meantime, put Spin's number in your phone.  You will need it when people fail to park inside the white lines like these on Broadway.

New word for the week: Presentism

I came across a new-to-me word that captures a social phenomenon that is infecting a lot of interactions and policies in current society.  The word is "presentism".  The minute I read it; I instinctively knew what it meant.  But rather than do the homework to craft my own definition, I asked ChatGPT to do it for me.  I think the bot did a nice job of defining it:

Presentism refers to the practice of interpreting or judging historical events, people, or ideas through the lens of present-day values, beliefs, and perspectives. It involves applying contemporary moral, cultural, or social standards to evaluate the past, often disregarding the historical context and the complexities of the time being examined.

Presentism can be problematic because it overlooks the historical, cultural, and social conditions that shaped people's actions and decisions in the past. It assumes that current beliefs and values are universal or superior to those held in the past, which can lead to a distorted understanding of historical events and figures.

By imposing present-day perspectives on the past, presentism may lead to misinterpretations, unfair judgments, and a failure to grasp the complexities of different eras. It disregards the fact that societies and individuals change over time, and what may be considered unacceptable or morally wrong today may have been widely accepted or even considered morally right in the past.

Historians and scholars strive to avoid presentism by using primary sources, contextual analysis, and a thorough understanding of the historical period under study. They aim to understand events and people within their historical context, taking into account the prevailing beliefs, norms, and social conditions of the time.

Recognizing and avoiding presentism is important for developing a nuanced understanding of history, appreciating the diversity of human experiences across time, and avoiding the imposition of anachronistic judgments on historical figures or events. It allows for a more accurate and empathetic interpretation of the past, fostering a deeper appreciation for historical complexities and facilitating a more informed understanding of how societies and cultures evolve over time.

The bot warns of the flaws of presentism, and we see those flaws all over the state, across Northern California, and yes, in Burlingame.  Look no further than the mural in the main library--well, you can only see part of the mural because the original caption has been covered over by misguided presentists.  Now that we have a word for it, we can look for more examples and call them out for what they are.  Is "Berkeley" next?

Remembering a community leader: Suzanne Tateosian

Family and friends of a local leader in disaster preparedness joined together on Saturday in the Fragrance Garden at the far northeast corner of Washington Park for a memorial service.  Suzanne Tateosian passed away suddenly and unexpectedly more than a year ago.  As a key member of the Burlingame Neighborhood Network and proprietor of Earth Shakes, Suzanne was a forward-looking can-do person.  I met Suzanne years ago when I went looking for my 50-gallon emergency water drum and an assortment of other sensible things to have ready.

BNN board member, Anne Hinckle, led off the memorial comments followed by board member David Harris.  New city councilmember Peter Stevenson concluded the remarks.  Our local woodcarver, James Delaney, recently restored the Fairy House that is tucked away in the Fragrance Garden and now bears a plaque to Suzanne.  You can see the Fairy House in the background behind Anne.  Stop by and check it and its new plaque out as well as the other carvings in the Park.

P.S.  I inadvertently omitted board member Rik Kasuga as a speaker at the event.  He had a number of insights about how Suzanne was a glass-half-full person.  Apologies.

Housing policy: Some thoughtful ideas

We have some thoughtful council members here in Ole B'game.  I don't always agree with their priorities or their approaches, but in the case of Mayor Brownrigg and Vice Mayor Colson, there is recent evidence of thoughtful housing proposals.  For the moment, let's put aside whether or not there is a "housing crisis", whether or not the local population will return to positive growth, whether or not the RHNA numbers driving policy (and the Big Stick from Rob Bonta) are reasonable and just look at the Brownrigg/Colson proposals as shown in a recent Guest Perspective in the Daily Journal.  I will boil them down a bit or you can click through for all of it:

1.  Sacramento could waive capital gains taxes for property owners who sell land to affordable housing developers.

2.  The state could streamline eminent domain for housing on underutilized parcels and then subsidize a city’s acquisitions.

3.  The state should help market-rate builders include more affordable housing units with tax rebates or direct cash subsidies.

4.  Faster than cities can create affordable units, we are losing even more “naturally affordable” units in older buildings when they get sold.  Indeed, the state does not even count a deed-restricted preserved affordable unit toward a city’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation requirements. That has to change.

5. The state’s housing targets seek a 15% increase in Bay Area housing. Punitive and prescriptive state housing mandates should be waived for cities issuing building permits exceeding a 10% increase in units.

6.  Water allowances should be prioritized for cities that undergo a 10% increase in actual occupied housing units. (see the post directly below)

7.  Infrastructure spending should be directed to communities that are getting housing built.

8.  And for social mobility, let’s reward cities that create more affordable family units (two bedrooms or more). 

Number 2, easier eminent domain, is the only one that raises a "Hell no" from me.  That is just replacing one big authoritarian stick with another.  Missing is my number 9:  introduce a pause in commercial development to give the housing market time to catch up.  That is really the only feasible way to bring back some balance without demolishing single-family zoning and quality of life while overstressing our infrastructure.  All of the others "just take money" that the state doesn't have.

Water ideas: Is anyone listening?

I hope no readers have been lulled into mistakenly thinking our water woes are over.  They aren't.  I have taken four months off the topic last addressed here.  That was when they were letting water out of Crystal Springs and warning people who live along the San Mateo creek.  Now a thoughtful piece in the Wall Street Journal by Edward Ring of the California Policy Center merits some mention.

With the nation’s two largest reservoirs, Lake Powell and Lake Mead, drawn down to historic lows, the seven states that use water from the Colorado River have failed to agree on how to adapt to its dwindling flow. The impasse pits California against everyone else. If California’s political leaders had the political will, they could solve the problem for every member of the Colorado River Compact by developing infrastructure to use untapped sources of water. But to do that, the state Legislature would have to stand up to a powerful environmentalist lobby that views humans as parasites and demands rationing as the only acceptable policy.

The Colorado crisis underscores California’s grotesque failure to upgrade its water infrastructure for the 21st century. Since 1980, Californians have endured five droughts, and politicians are predicting worse in the future. With groundwater aquifers dangerously depleted and access to Colorado River water imperiled, rationing won’t be enough.

There are two major projects that could unlock millions of acre-feet of new water for Californians. The first is to eliminate nutrient pollution in the San Francisco Bay, which feeds toxic algae blooms that kill aquatic life. The solution so far has been to dilute the nutrient loads in the bay by requiring massive diversions from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta—a little like flushing a toilet. But upgrading the urban wastewater-treatment facilities surrounding the bay would eliminate nutrient pollution, permitting more delta water to be directed to California’s farms and cities—a lot more water.

Another piece by CalMatters mentions that eliminating nutrient pollution is actually getting harder and more expensive:

As Californians replace their water-guzzling household appliances with more thrifty devices and let the yellow mellow before flushing, the waste stream becomes more concentrated — which could lead to higher treatment costs, more contaminants and less recycled water overall.

Notice the Law of Unintended Consequences at work?  The rest of the CalMatters piece is good for data, but basically rehashes old ideas, so back to the Ring piece:

The second major project, then, would be for Californians to build new ways to extract and store water from the delta during atmospheric river events. A new technique, already demonstrated on the Tuolumne River, creates channels in some of the delta islands so that huge perforated pipes can be installed under a gravel bed. Fish aren’t endangered by such installations. This water could be rapidly transferred to aquifers south of the delta via surface percolation and deep injection. Unused aquifer capacity in the San Joaquin Valley is conservatively estimated at more than 50 million acre feet.

We shall see if any of the "human parasites" that populate Sacramento are listening.  There's more from Edward Ring of the CPC on water here.

Our own Kardashian: Who knew?

Here at the Voice we cover all things Burlingame--the good, the bad and sometimes the sad.  Yesterday's Daily Post front page article about the passing of a B'game woman who worked as a Kim Kardashian impersonator is in the sad category.  The Post writes:

San Mateo County authorities are extraditing a Florida woman who is accused of injecting silicone into the rear end of Kim Kardashian lookalike from Burlingame who died.  Christina Ashten Gourkani, 34, was a social media influencer and model who was best known for her work as a Kim Kardashian lookalike.

Vivian Gomez traveled to a Burlingame hotel and gave Gourkani "several injections" of what is believed to have been just silicone on April 19, according to DA Steve Wagstaffe.  The coroner's office is still investigating Gourkani's death, Wagstaffe said.  Shortly thereafter, Gourkani began having health issues, according to her family's GoFundMe, she died in the early hours of April 20 from a heart attack.

There are at least a few lessons in this sad tale.  Most of them should be obvious.

Spring Treehugger Post: Gimme a double

Happy May Day everyone.  It feels like it has been a long time coming.  I happen to be in Tahoe and there is still a 6-foot snowbank next to my walkway!  Spring skiing has been excellent with enough sunscreen on.  We have a double shot of tree hugging this Spring-- something old and something new.  First up, my brand-new street tree.  The old sycamore had reached its time and the city tagged it for removal and replacement.  It was a smooth operation.  Mark all the utilities which are numerous and very colorfully marked.  Cut it down one day, grind the stump another and plant a new one another day.  We paid the fee to get a larger tree.  Hard to tell from the photo, but my neighbor also got a replacement--standard, no charge size and there is a difference.

The second photo is a lovely apple blossom from my really, really, old Gravenstein apple tree.  A family of squirrels has taken up residence in the trunk, but that has not affected the blossoming thus far.

Watching the new sheriff in town--or trying to

The editor at the Daily Post, Dave Price, has taken a good amount of interest in local police departments and county sheriffs' departments over time.  He's covered the move to encrypted police radios, the general crime beat and whatever else pops up including sheriff elections and the funding for said.  Since we just elected a new San Mateo County sheriff, Cristina Corpus, Price is still on the beat.  He's also apparently a cartoonist--who knew?  Next to his column this week was this cartoon.

The adjacent editorial didn't mention anything about the sheriff's department, so this looks more like an early warning signal.  One thing is for sure; once Dave Price grasps a thread he doesn't let go easily.

Living in Burlingame is a special privilege, really

Living in Burlingame is a special privilege.  That is obvious to most of us.  There is even a great video titled "The problem with spending time in Burlingame is you don't want to go anywhere else".  It wasn't particularly controversial either until some library employees tried to make it so.  John Horgan at the Daily Journal first brought this to the public's attention a couple of weeks ago here.  He has done us all a great service by shining light on the absurd and insulting move by the library to cover up the caption on the mural with a shroud that now says "Living in Burlingame is for everyone".  Here's one long-time resident's take on it in a letter to the DJ

I recently learned in your newspaper that a folk art mural from the early 1960s that has hung in the library reading room for years has been altered. The mural depicts various buildings, churches and streets from that era.  According to Burlingame City Librarian Brad McCulley, some members of his staff took issue with the slogan at the bottom, which said “it’s a privilege to live in Burlingame.”  The library created their own slogan, which states “Living in Burlingame is for everyone.”  Their new slogan now covers up the original slogan from the 1960s. In other words, they have desecrated a work of art.

Apparently, the staff took issue with the word “privilege.” Here is another instance of cancel culture and censorship. People rewriting history. It’s easy these days to summon groups to condemn words. But it takes guts to stand up to the rhetoric. I have a pin that the Burlingame Library gave out last year. It says “I read banned books.” Kind of ironic.  Over the years, I have heard countless people say “it’s a privilege to live in the United States.” I guess we can’t say that anymore, according to the standards of our city librarian.

Constance Quirk

Burlingame

Covering the mural caption is the kind of nonsense one would expect from San Francisco (e.g. the Washington High School shenanigans that helped get some school board members recalled).  Covering it with a ridiculous motto that is patently untrue is a sign of managerial incompetence.  John Horgan concluded his piece thusly:

Ironically, even that attractive sentiment has a ring of inaccuracy and false hope since housing prices in the city are extremely high and only some people can afford to dwell there. But at least the new motto cannot be viewed as elitist.  On further review, however, maybe a more accurate sentence would be: “Living in Burlingame is for everyone who can afford it.”

John's being polite with the "ring of inaccuracy".  People have earned the special privilege of living here.  Some few may have inherited the privilege, but that just means their parents or grandparents earned it.  If we have city employees (employees we pay!) who think differently, we need some new employees.  Any library trustee who went along with this needs to rethink their responsibilities and priorities.  I've also heard the library foundation paid for the shroud.  If that is the case, donors may choose to find a more worthy charity--there are lots to choose from.  I've been told this issue did not come before the city council, but it should.  The Voice blog will turn 20 years old in a couple of months and until now I didn't think we needed a specific category for the library.  We do now and so one has been added.  It's time for more oversight and it's time to take down this insulting shroud.