The Burlingame Voice

Broadway intersection: From bad to worse?

First in April and then again back in July we broached the question of whether it was wise to grab a lane of car traffic and some parking spaces to accommodate a new bike lane on California Ave. south of Broadway.  The early controversy was about the loss of store front parking for many small merchants on California, but now that concrete has been poured and stripes have been laid, the issue of car traffic safety has burst into the discussion as well.

Last week we had the first accident at the tighter B'way-California intersection when a Samtrans bus turning left/south from B'way to Calfornia clipped a car in the northbound California lane.  At least it was the first accident someone paying attention saw and photographed.  See below for the photos I received that also appear on Nextdoor where the commentary has been, shall we say....less than supportive of the lane changes.

This intersection has had an F grade for years.  Maybe decades.  It's not like the new B'way bridge did anything but bring more traffic to a failing intersection.  Caltrain will be giving the city council a presentation on its electrification project Monday night.  Buried in there is this on grade separation--another long running issue:

• Broadway Avenue grade crossing is heavily congested
• LOS F operations during peak hours
• #1 priority in CPUC grade separation priority list

• City and Caltrain advancing design towards 100% design in 2024
• City continues to seek funding to fully fund project, recently received large TIRCP award

It also asserts "Project Complete- Spring 2029.  There have been statements that once grade separation is complete the lanes will change again, but unless someone changes their mind in City Hall, we will have this configuration for years to come.  The last big project that was completed on time was a 101 upgrade in EssEff or SSF that had a massive contractor bonus for early completion.  We're not likely to be that lucky.

One wonders if the city council really understood what they were voting on.  When I asked one member if this was just striping that could be swapped back easily, they said "yes".  Now we see that the answer is "no" due to the concrete islands that have been added.  Other inquiring minds want to know how police, ambulances and especially fire trucks will proceed on California when some sections have nowhere for cars to pull over?  If they get some response to the question, we will post it here as a public service to help drivers pass this "B'game IQ driving test".  Here's the accident scene that closed southbound California for a half hour.

 

Volunteer Profile: BCE President Jen Faber

I recently had a chance meeting with the current BCE president, Jen Faber, and after a pleasant conversation she agreed to do more of an in-depth "interview" for the Voice.  Afterall, why let "Mark at the Mic" Lucchesi have all the fun profiling people in town?  We talked for about an hour about her background (molecular biology and history), why she passed up a chance at med school, and worked in a medical lab and for J&J.  But BCE was the topic du jour and you can find more details here.

Once your kids are out of BIS and especially after they are out of BHS, you tend to lose touch with the organization.  I have.  I still believe it is a critical contributor not just to the school system, but to the overall quality of life and our shared investment in B'game.

As the mother of three boys, Jen started as a BCE donor, then volunteer and eventually became a board member.  She was a site director at Hoover which is often a jumping off point to further BCE involvement.  As Covid hit and some people moved out of B'game, BCE experienced some turnover which may have contributed to Jen taking on the presidency after only four years in town.  See what can happen when you raise your hand?

The main function of BCE-- raising money and granting it back to the schools--is pretty stable.  With a fiscal year starting July 1, the funds granted have been between $2.6M and $2.7M for the last three years --the Covid years.  There are expenses and the endowment needs to be maintained in case there are more economic disruptions.  The grants have funded 19 additional teachers which is why multi-year stability (or better yet growth) is important.  The additional staff are teaching music (7), PE (5), language (2) and five other assignments.

Jen revealed that she has a "challenger" mentality--probably why we got along right off.  She sees the BCE board and presidency as a political position in the sense that one needs to know how to influence other bodies like the District, the Trustees and the City while understanding where to pick one's fights.  We didn't get into that too much, but if and when one arises, I will know who to ask about it.  Here's our selfie taken during the interview in case you want to say hi when you see her around town.

Solar: My, what big batteries you have

That 50-hour power outage in January that sent me off to buy a generator also motivated me to finish the solar installation I started two years ago.  I did the panels first as it was a big job ("might as well do the roof first") and decided with local Mr. Solar Steve Pariani's input to wait on the batteries.  Two sleepless nights in January drove me to finish the project and Steve has just completed it--again on time and on budget.

Readers asked how much it cost and what is the warranty on the batteries.  The two Enphase batteries and some more associated interconnection devices came to a shade under $30K including the plans, the permit, installation and sign-off.  They also qualify for the federal tax credit ("ITC") of 30%.  The good news is that two years ago Enphase was only offering ten-year warranties, but now I have a 15-year warranty.  Here are the batteries as installed and the new Enphase app screen that comes with the batteries (as opposed to the simpler one for just having panels.)

1912 Historic Sidewalk

The city's sidewalk replacement project to fix uneven panels has rolled around to my neighborhood.  There must be 100+ panels in Burlingame Park that will get replaced.  My house (seen here) actually predates my sidewalk by a couple of years.  We were once like H'borough ("No sidewalks here"), but my block got sidewalks in 1912.  I know because they imprinted the year in the concrete and it's still there.

This is a "they don't make them like they used to" post.  The 1912 panel is not marked for replacement, but the newer one right next to is marked.  I hope the historic panel is safe and will be watching the jackhammer.  At least the contractor (R & S Contruction) is imprinting "2023" on the new sections so we can track how well they hold up.  I'm betting it won't be 111 years.

Supervisor Jackie...Again?

I know well the exact sentiment of working a job I love but having to deal with the need to be on the East Coast 10, 15 times a year.  2500 miles out, 2500 miles back, rinse and repeat.  SFO-JFK..gag me with a plastic United Airlines spoon.  U.S. Reps must do that 30+ times a year-- or more.  So the Mark Simon bombshell column in today's DJ struck me differently than most people.  Here's the nub from the column:

Sources close to former U.S. Rep. Jackie Speier confirm she is on the brink of entering the race for San Mateo County Supervisor in District 1.

That would be our district where the Papan-Beach catfight has barely started.

Close associates of Speier, who agreed to speak about her plans if they remained unidentified, said she has decided she will enter the race. This comes less than three scant years after she announced she was leaving Congress, opting out of certain reelection to an eighth term representing the bulk of San Mateo County in Congress.

Speier has been urged to run by longtime friends and allies, who have become alarmed by the seemingly leftward direction of the Board of Supervisors and a loss of civility and decorum among the supervisors, particularly Supervisor David Canepa, according to sources.

How left is too left has to be the question of the year?  If you were paying attention at the time, this bit from Simon's column was not news, but it bears repeating

In the same ICE debate (that is linked above), Canepa also sharply criticized ABC-7 investigative reporter Stephanie Sierra, who had conducted interviews with Canepa in which he seemed under-informed on the issue. Sierra is Speier’s daughter.

The drive down to Redwood City takes about as long as clearing TSA at SFO.  Let's see wait one minute to see if Mark Simon's sources are pseudo-authorized, but the political theater demands a ticket.

Update: Sept. 21   Rather than start a new post or just put this in the comments, I'll add it here.  It's important.  Speier has joined the race and effectively ended the race since Papan and Beach have dropped out.  Mark Simon at the DJ has a column today noting this about Supe collegiality:

Speier clearly was referencing a board debate in April over county cooperation with ICE and an outburst by Supervisor David Canepa in which he attacked Supervisor Ray Mueller as racist. She declined to single out a board member. “We don’t move forward if we start pointing fingers. I worry that’s diminishing,” Speier said.

Speier also said if Mueller were to reintroduce his amendment to the ICE ordinance, which prompted the Canepa comments and which was defeated 4-1, she would support it, and seek to add additional amendments allowing the county to cooperate further with ICE.

And, asked if she thought the board was shifting too far to the left, Speier said, “If I’m basing it on that one decision, I’d say yes. When you’re more left than San Francisco, you’re too left. I think we’ve just got to use a little more common sense.”

Bingo.  I wish I had heard that from either Beach or Papan.  I did not.  If I missed it let me know.  I would rather not wait a year for movement on this, but at least there is hope. 

Tech Stuff category renamed

One of the least used categories on the right-hand frame used to be called "Spam Control".  It was a bigger deal a few years ago.  TypePad has improved since, but some legit comments still get caught in the net.  It may take us a week or more to check and release.  Comments that are long and have embedded links seem more prone.

We've renamed the category to "Tech Stuff:  Spam Control, etc" as the place to put.....tech stuff of all flavors.

This morning TypePad was running slow and rendering some error messages when things timed out.  That happens now and then--sometimes it's their platform and sometimes it's a symptom of a larger internet or cloud provider issue.  Please be patient.

State home insurance slipping down the slope

While the retreat by home insurance companies in California hasn't been top of mind for Bgamers, I watch it also as a Tahoe homeowner where it is very much top of mind.  The retreat is real--the public statements from insurance companies match my anecdotal evidence from Tahoe.  The local retreat might start in Hillsborough since the fire danger is greatest there.  With the Legislative session ending tomorrow for the year, the ball is back in Insurance Commissioner Richard Lara's court.  He has to navigate the insurance industry and the "consumer watchdog" industry.  Good luck with that.  The Merc has more details:

“I have always been clear, legislation is one of many options that we have been pursuing,” Lara said. “We also are moving forward with a package of regulatory solutions that will streamline the department’s rate review process, opening it equitably to public input — not just the entrenched interests that have benefited materially from the status quo. We will continue moving forward. Together, we can create a sustainable and resilient insurance market to protect Californians, our communities and our environment.”

While consumer advocates cheered the collapse of a “half-baked bailout” of insurance companies, no deal means no relief yet for consumers, especially those living in wildfire-prone regions who either can’t find an insurer or can’t afford escalating rates. Participation in the state-sponsored, last-resort FAIR plan, intended to provide temporary basic coverage in areas insurers deemed too risky for standard policies, has doubled.

Do you care to guess who is covering the liabilities stemming from FAIR claims?

Easton Euc decision: Stay in the Euc family

Listen closely and one can hear the distant echo of the Tom the Tree controversy from sixteen years ago.  Tom Jr. reached adolescence six years ago to the day here.  Now Tom Jr. will be getting some young siblings--almost like surprise babies as part of Easton Ave. is de-Eucified and re-Eucified with a different Euc species.  The DJ has some pithy quotes from our city elders about the decision to go with lemon-scented gum Euc.  Our City Arborist, Rich Holtz reiterated what our local, amateur tree expert Jennifer Pfaff recently said elsewhere on the Voice:

Holtz said the lemon-scented gum is a cousin of the eucalyptus tree but is smaller.  “There are some benefits to it, like they are very well suited to our climate, they are drought tolerant, they have low root infrastructure conflict, this particular species is aesthetically valued as a striking white bark, it tolerates pruning well and has a long-life expectancy,” Holtz said.

And the mayor weighed in with

“This is not an ordinary street,” Mayor Michael Brownrigg said. “This is a place to showcase the treescape, and so because it was set as a public space, I think we need to honor creating a special public space.”  Brownrigg said the 28-foot setback from the curb to the residents’ homes makes him believe the designers of the city intended Easton Drive to be a special place to showcase landscaping.  “To me, as soon as you have a mix of trees you just have any old street on Burlingame, which are all beautiful but it’s not special,” Brownrigg said.

I'm a fan of "theme streets" like the one I live on designated for sycamores.  We have to be vigilant because sometimes the designation is lost or forgotten in City Hall, but fortunately we have a few people with long, accurate memories around town.  Tom is looking on and is pleased.

PG&E refund for storm outage

There are probably a lot of B'gamers who just got a refund check from PG&E to compensate for the storm-driven power outage(s) in January.  I was out for 50 hours in January after I jinxed myself.  You have to laugh though when you get a $25.22 check because it probably cost them more than $25 to cut and mail the check.  Why  wouldn't they just credit it on my bill?  My solar batteries went in last week and I still have the portable generator so I should be all set.  Wait, did I just jinx myself again?

New water rules: a "budget" for all seasons

Just because it rained a lot last season doesn't mean we are out of the woods on water scarcity.  Apparently, Sacramento put in some rules five years ago that are just kicking in.  Per today's Merc piece

Dozens of California cities could be required to impose permanent water conservation measures starting in about a year — and keep them in place even when the state is not in a drought — under proposed new rules from state water regulators.  The landmark rules are required by two laws that former Gov. Jerry Brown signed in 2018 after a severe five-year drought.

Under the new rules, roughly 400 of the California’s largest cities and water districts are required to come up with a water-use budget every year beginning Jan. 1, 2025. They could eventually face fines of up to $1,000 a day — and $10,000 a day during drought emergencies — for failing to set and meet appropriate targets.

The targets will vary by community. They are based on a formula made up of three main factors: a standard of 47 gallons per person per day for indoor water use — dropping to 42 gallons by 2030; an amount for outdoor residential use that varies by community depending on regional climates; and a standard for water loss due to rates of leaks in water system pipes.

The Bay Area is considered to be doing an OK job of conserving now, apart from some East Bay communities. The first round of cuts in 2025 are not expected to hit nearby including the SF PUC where B'game gets its water.  The chart in the Merc piece appears to say SF PUC is fine as is through 2035.  That may be true if interest rates stay about 7 or 8% for years.  The Merc noted elsewhere

In fact, no apartment projects with market-rate units broke ground in Silicon Valley during the first half of 2023, according to data from CoStar, an international real estate analytics company. Compare that to the last six months of 2022, when developers started construction on at least 5,298 multifamily units in the region.

But

By 2030, the state water board estimated, only 97 agencies representing 28% of the state’s urban population would escape additional conservation requirements. Another 88 with 18% of the state’s urban population would see cutbacks of 10% to 20%, and 134 representing 19% of the state’s urban population would see required cutbacks of 20% or more.

There was more handwringing over how much building new storage or desalinization plants would cost.  We need to constantly keep Ben Franklin's advice in mind:  "When the well is dry, we know the value of water".

Bgame is for the birds

A friend turned me onto an app that has brought a lot of enjoyment lately.  Cornell Lab's Merlin uses your phone's microphone to record bird calls and references their database to identify the bird.  Thus far, in my very bird-friendly yard it has identified:

Dark-eyed Junco        Chestnut-backed Chickadee

Oak Titmouse            Nuttall's Woodpecker

Bewick's Wren            Lesser Goldfinch

Canadian Goose         House Finch

Steller's Jay               Bushtit

American Crow

I haven't bothered to record the Mourning Doves that have been around for several years and mating seasons or the random Seagull that flies by.  And while you are looking up in the sky, another app to enjoy is Flightradar24.  It maps the aircraft in the area, and you can click on any of them and see the flight number, origin, time en route, altitude, etc.  All of the airliners that fly south over Bgame and make a U-turn in the South Bay to land on 28 L & R show up nicely.

Millbrae mayhem or County disdain?

“Information is power and I understand the emotion around it, I expected it, but I want people to understand housing the homeless is the responsibility of everyone,”

                    San Mateo County manager Mike Callagy

That is a quote from the Daily Journal's article titled Mayhem in Millbrae about the proposed purchase by the County of La Quinta Inn to convert it to a homeless project.  One has to wonder where these people in positions of authority come up with these look-down-their-noses ideas of what is and isn't someone else's responsibility.  The statement just oozes with disdain and a strong sniff of elitism.  "I understand, but...."

And then there are the financial consequences as laid out by the Millbrae city manager:

City Manager Tom Williams said the city is on track to receive around $540,000 in TOT from the La Quinta Inn in this year and taking on the inn’s potential residents will cost the city around $168,000 a year in services.

“The hotel market is becoming healthy and it’s a productive hotel,” Williams said Monday. “Every penny counts for this city. I am just worried we are taking three steps forward and four back.”

The county will reimburse the city for one year of TOT, and at the same time either supply it with a sheriff deputy and a mental health clinician, which the city said it needs, for 2 1/2 years or the cash equivalent, Callagy said Tuesday.

Permanent revenue losses and permanent additional costs, but short-term reimbursements.  What could go wrong?  This mindset seems to be pervasive at the County as more free money flows at every opportunity.  This letter writer to the DJ this week hit the nail on the head regarding the Jackie Speier plan to partially fund more welfare--50/50 with her foundation and County taxpayer monies:

Not to sound cold, but the new program announced by county officials doesn’t make sense. The pilot plan will give $300 a month to 200 families with children ages 0-3 who meet income requirements.

I see a couple of problems with this. First, a number of families who would qualify for this program are probably already on at least one form of assistance. Second, does this not further preach a lack of self accountability this country is sorely lacking? If you can’t afford to raise a child due to financial or time restraints, it should not be up to local taxpayers to fill the gap. Furthermore, as we’ve seen with the current welfare system over the last few generations, there will be plenty of people who will take advantage of assistance provided and use it as a lifestyle.

Joe Guttenbeil

Redwood City

I think he understates the number of programs that make up the free money flow.  They are everywhere at the federal, state and county level.  Food, health care, bus tickets, childcare, tuition, electricity, tax "credits" without paying any taxes--you name it there is a subsidy for it.  All the while more housing is shoved down our throats making it more expensive for everyone else to live here.  That's the real mayhem hidden behind the curtain.