The Burlingame Voice

B'game Night: When trivia takes center stage

It was a standing room only crowd at the historic Burlingame Women's Club Wednesday night as newly minted 2024 Citizen of the Year Russ Cohen and past Citizen of the Year Mark "Mark at the Mic" Lucchesi led the crowd through more than an hour of entertainment and education.  The first ever Burlingame Trivia Night hosted by the Historical Society and some local partners saw attendees vacillate between nailing trivia answers and flailing away until Russ gave mercy answers.

It's one thing to know there are seven creeks in B'game.  It's quite another to know all seven names.  Same goes for the decorative sculpture above the door of the Old Post office that lives on in the new building--it's called "The Letters".  Nobody got that one!  Russ has a true skill with the microphone, a la Phil Donahue, that kept everyone engaged and entertained.  It's just one example of the many contributions to community spirit he has made and continues to make.  The Citizen of the Year nomination noted his work leading the Historical Society Museum refresh, donating poster designs (like the Pet Parade), serving as a city council member and, of course, co-founding the Voice as noted here.

In his acceptance speech last week, Russ quoted Mark Twain's obituary description of Anson Burlingame (they were friends) as one of his aspirations.  Twain wrote “In every labor of this man’s life there was present a good and noble motive.”  Mr. Cohen is well on his way to achieving that life goal.

The Dairy Boy was a featured question at Trivia Night.  The treasure chest of questions is deep enough for a repeat performance in the future.

 

Bay Area "Labor market malaise" to continue?

It's best to take the long view when watching the economic dynamics of the Bay Area.  Point in time measures can't tell the whole story but do provide some sense of the state of things.  $12 billion dollar state budget deficit?  Check.  Transit "fiscal cliff" that sends politicians running for more taxes?  Check.  Massive Bay Area employers backing off of paying for huge residential housing projects?  Check.  Employment down? Check as the Merc is reporting today:

The Bay Area lost 14,700 total nonfarm payroll jobs in all categories over the first four months of 2025. Over the same time, California lost 32,300 total payroll jobs, official reports from the state Employment Development Department show.

“There is little doubt that federal government job losses will be an important contributor to the labor market malaise that already appears to be falling over the Bay Area,” said Scott Anderson, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets.  In sharp contrast, state and local government agencies have increased hiring, but that may soon change.

Let's hope so.  The Merc doesn't provide the denominator to the fraction, i.e. how many nonfarm jobs are there?  But a $12 billion deficit is not a chump-change.

Job losses within the federal government could become far worse in the months ahead, some experts warn.  “These numbers are the tip of the iceberg,” Levy said. “The majority of federal job cuts are not reflected in the April data.”

A $2.4 trillion-dollar federal deficit ain't chump-change either so I take issue with the characterization of federal RIFs becoming "far worse".  Right sizing government and bringing some sanity to the Bay Area jobs-housing ratio that might stop the "Wienerization" of the suburbs is to be encouraged.  Want to stop the $inkhole sucking taxpayer cash that is the high-cost rail project?  It's only claim to fame so far is that it "creates" a lot of new jobs.  I'm sure we could put a few to work on the Broadway grade separation for a tiny fraction of what is being wasted in the Central Valley.  Don't hold your breath.

Safeway - Part 75: The Grand Re-opening

Yesterday was the grand re-opening of the newly refreshed Safeway that was last re-opened in 2011.  It's been a six-month project, and I would say it's better, but not any sort of total game changer.  The biggest difference is probably energy efficiency as a lot more refrigerated items are behind doors instead of in open shelving.  It all looks bright and shiny.

I didn't realize it was the re-opening, I just needed groceries, but the balloons, a DJ, food sample tables all over the store, a Burlingame ice carving (I missed whatever was being served) and the local street names on each aisle's signage made for a festive occasion.  Everybody got a Safeway scratcher ($2, $5, $10, etc) and we now have a B'game Concierge!  Kathleen B was near the front door doing conciergy stuff.  The mailer that went out to nearby residents has her email:  [email protected].  That could come in handy.  Here's the scene

Spring Treehugger post: Dogwood

Here is the bookend treehugger post to the early Spring post back in March.  This dogwood's blossoms have held on for weeks even with all the wind.  Just a stunning bit of arbor beauty.  The long evenings of sunlight make it even better as you can see here:

Reopen the Broadway Station? The BID is in.

John Kevranian of the Broadway BID is raising the issue of full, weekday service being restored by Caltrain at B'way.  We can go back in time to August of 2015 when the tenth anniversary of the weekday closure happened here.

It's been 20 years, but John has the institutional memory of what was promised and now wants to call in the chips.  It's going to be a bit of an uphill battle, but with the electrification and the quicker start/stops, now is the time.  Here is his letter to the DJ

It is time for Caltrain and the city of Burlingame to reopen the Broadway Burlingame Caltrain Station for weekday service. There is no money to do the grade separation. Seventeen years ago, when Caltrain decided to close the weekday service at the Broadway station, It devastated the small businesses in the Broadway business district. On average, over 2,000 people would take the train every week. Passengers would walk through Broadway, grab their coffee, breakfast and take the train to go to work. In the evening, passengers would get off the train, grab their dinner, groceries and other essentials and walk home. The Broadway business owners and the Burlingame Community were promised that when the Caltrain electrification was completed, it would reopen the weekday service.

Surrounding the Broadway District are thousands of apartments and many new developments that are happening very near Broadway station. Many biotech businesses around Bayshore are in the development stage and were told that Broadway station would reopen its weekday service once electrification was done, in order to facilitate their employees' commute. Two apartment complexes consisting of over 800 units are steps away from Broadway Caltrain.

Reopening the Broadway station will not cause an additional safety or traffic issue. The Broadway station platform would be extended an additional 50-100 feet closer to Carmelita Avenue and once the train crosses the gates, the gates would immediately open. This is not difficult engineering. Caltrain has to service the needs of the Burlingame Community.

John Kevranian

President, Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District

The letter is buttressed by outreach to KRON 4 news who came to B'game for some interviews you can watch here.

"Compact" parking spaces: Nobody is watching

We love parking anomalies here at the Voice.  The more difficult the maneuver the better as we saw here on Broadway.  Or headscratchers like this wrong way, parallel in an angled spot trick.  And then there are the imaginary spaces that get taken like here.  But the myth of the "compact" space is the most common parking irritant.  Safeway is aptly doing some random parking enforcement against people poaching spaces to shop elsewhere.  In a perfect world, the agents would also be able to ticket full-sized (or even bigger) vehicles in the little spaces.  Safeway put in plenty of them to slip through the full parking requirement back in 2011.  Check out this special "compact edition" of a RAM 2500 Powermaster.  The rear view camera must be pretty good as he has about 5 inches to spare on either side.  You better be pretty skinny to park in either adjacent space.

Bumpingame - Part 3 Car..melita speed humps de-installed

Carmelita Ave. is a pretty important street for travel and as the Little BIg Dig gets closer it will become even more important as a way to get to California Dr. and avoid the congested Broadway blocks.  We tracked the unfortunate addition of 12 non-standard rubberized speed humps here and more here.  Twelve was overkill for sure and it looks like TSpoon and Public Works have come around to that thinking since four of the 12 have been taken out.  My least favorite set, about 30 yards from the California Dr. stop light, are still there, but there's progress.

The non-standard design is thoroughly uncomfortable to drive over and now we discover the bolt holes have to be filled before the road surface degrades further.  The DJ is reporting on our fiscal health:

A planned $9.9 million transfer to the capital improvement fund — which will focus on the city’s potable water system and sanitary sewers this year — plus more than $3 million for debt services, will leave Burlingame at a $2.7 million net operating deficit. 

I have no idea if speed humps are considered operating or capital expenses--one would think capital, until they start getting removed after a year in place.  Either way, it's just not a good use of city funds and this design ain't great for your suspension or spine either.  Here's the de-install.

And the bolt holes...got any epoxy?

Memorial Day 2025: Parading through H'borough

Just like two years ago as noted here, the light drizzle cleared, and the sun popped out right at 10am as the parade started.  The BHS band lead the way, but let's give equal time to the San Mateo Bearcat band and especially the kid who lugged the baritone sax the distance.  It's not like carrying the Sousaphone on one's shoulder.

It was nice to see the World Champion Iron Panthers robotics team and the robot in the parade.  You can read up on the win on the "B" here.  They came away with gold in a field of 601 teams from all over the world.

The procession was light on politicians compared to some years and unfortunately very light on veterans' groups.  But police and fire were well represented.  The BPD California Special Mustang cruiser was out as well as a very cool BPD horseless carriage that I haven't seen in a long time.

The County sheriff soap opera took another turn during the parade.  When the sheriff's department vehicle rolled by the sheriff was nowhere to be seen.  I might be mistaken, but I thought I spied her driving an all-black, unmarked SUV as the very last vehicle in the procession.  There without really being there? 

SALT: Watch the SF Comicle's spin

The spin emanating from the SF Comicle is a daily occurrence, but some cases are so egregious that we just have to marvel at them.  Back in December, we looked at some of the non-mortgage costs that are driving up housing costs and the "affordability crisis".  Another factor in the Total Cost of Home Ownership are taxes separate from property and school taxes.  The State and Local Tax (SALT) deduction off of one's federal tax calculation has been in flux since 2017--"flux" in a bad way as the deduction was capped at $10,000 and not even inflation-adjusted.

Today's big, front-page headline above the fold was "Trump tax bill details: Measure passed by House to have outsize impact on Californians" by Shira Stein, Washington Correspondent.  She's supposed to be one of the Comicle journalists with some financial background and knowledge.  After numerous paragraphs, and I do mean numerous, about the bill's effect on Medi-Cal without describing the scam that sits at the core of the federal funding of state's Medicaid ploys, she gets around to the SALT changes:

Bay Area taxpayers would also see disproportionate effects from Republicans’ permanent cap on how much of the taxes paid to state and local governments can be written off on federal taxes.

Before 2018, taxpayers could deduct their state and local taxes from their federal income. With the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, Congress capped that at $10,000 each year through 2025. The bill passed by the House on Thursday makes that cap permanent and increases it slightly, to $40,000, for people who make less than $500,000 a year — a cap that would grow 1% annually.

Dear Shira, in what universe does quadrupling something and adding an annual inflation factor constitute a slight increase?  The fight over the SALT deduction was brutal with low tax states' politicians asking why they are subsidizing high tax profligate states (like ours).  It's a strong argument, but the arm-twisting that goes with a big bill landed on the quadruple change.  When someone talks about "disproportionate effects" it is generally bad effects.  Not here courtesy of Shira.  Where are the calming words that Bay Area homebuyers just caught a break?  And the $500K limit means everyone up to $500K which is a lot of people, even here.  Why the spin?  I'll bet if the Comicle quadrupled her expense account she would be over the moon.

ECR: The Big Dig schedule eases into next year

The massive project to "fix" El Camino Real known around town as The Big Dig after the Boston tunnel project has slipped to a Fall 2025 start with the PG&E part slipping into 2026.  The Axeman still cometh for 90% of the eucalyptus, but it looks like they may live to see another winter.  Finalizing the easements from ECR property owners is causing the slippage.  Per the DJ piece

There are two major elements to the project. One, a Caltrans effort to repair the road, sidewalk and street lights that will span from Millbrae to San Mateo, may begin work by fall of this year, however, that construction may start in one of the other cities first. 

The second aspect of the project is a Burlingame-specific push for PG&E to underground utilities. The construction start date for that work has been delayed to the second quarter of 2026, Okada said. 

Delays to Caltrans’ work on the road revamp are being caused in part by the need for signed reconciliations that affirm property owners are aware if their driveways, gardens and retaining walls in the public right-of-way will need to be removed to make way for sidewalk work.

The city has committed to paying for the reconstruction of those facilities if property owners allow them to be temporarily removed, Burlingame Councilmember Donna Colson said, but has still run into trouble obtaining all of the necessary documentation of the easements.

Slipping timelines equate to slipping funding and budgets even though inflation is moderating.  Thus, this uncertainty could be concerning as the undergrounding of the power lines is where the hidden problems like 1920's buried fuel tanks and other obstructions surface.

On the PG&E side, the paperwork for procuring a contractor has been delayed, Okada said. 

The count of trees to be removed is also a moving target.  It's still a lot of big, beautiful trees, but how many appears to have changed

The tree removal aspect of the project has long been controversial in Burlingame, which is well-known for its forestry. Plans to take down 382 trees, plant 429 and retain more than 193 trees have slowly come together with input from groups like the Burlingame Historical Society.

While we wait for the Big Dig to start perhaps Caltrans could throw us a bone and fix the potholes?  The City should formally request a Spring patch along the whole stretch.  I would also like to see the surviving trees be marked as such well before the project begins.  That's just good transparency.  A constant finding in talking to B'gamers is very few have any idea that hundreds of trees are on the chopping block.

Water, water, everywhere: What I learned on tour

It's somewhat easy to forget about the Pacific Palisades and Altadena fires and all the others that preceded it in California when we are personally unaffected.  It was only four months ago, but it caused me to wonder about how well B'game is set up to deal with something like that?  There is a lot of fuel in Mills Canyon and there is at least one large 50-acre tract in Hillsborough that could foreseeably be a starting point.  And if the wind were blowing just so.....

It's one thing to assess our resilience to a long-term drought which I did here after reading the City Urban Water Management Plan.  That's for drinking, showering, cooking and irrigation.  It's something entirely different to consider a conflagration response.  The B'game Water Department was kind enough to accommodate my curiosity with a two-hour field tour of our water system.  I had some basic understanding from the UWMP, but seeing the network of feeder pipes, distribution pipes, pumps, pressure regulators, tanks, reservoirs, generators and SCADA monitoring was enlightening.  Major pieces of the system are all around us.  One just might not realize it until pointed out.

Three major pipes bring us the SFPUC feed.  They are about a block apart running north-south through the city in the flat lands near ECR.  There are six pumping stations, seven water storage tanks (above ground like the one shown below on Rivera) and reservoirs (below grade) that feed ten pressure zones.  The history of the system closely tracks the history of the city since development moved up the hill and city water followed along replacing wells.  Hence the need for pump--big pumps.  The top-most reservoir is on the west side of Skyline Blvd.

Unlike the LA fire when the Santa Ynez Reservoir, with a capacity of 117 million gallons, was out of service due to repairs needed on its cover, ours are more distributed and have some back-up capability.  I have a lot of confidence that our staff can move water around to the best of the system's design capability.  The question is "would it be enough" if we had a fast-moving multi-acre fire?  My best guess--and it's my guess--not any input or comments from staff, is probably not.  If Central County Fire rolled three or four trucks and all tapped into nearby hydrants, the system would likely struggle to supply them for very long.  Again, that's my layman's guess.

Furthermore, what could we do about it in the absence of a gusher of new money?  There's no appetite for higher water rates that are already in an uphill trend.  And even if there were, the design improvements are far from obvious.  Some of B'game might be ripe for the Zone 0 five-foot vegetation clearance requirement and they probably know who they are.  You can look here for the official risk map.  In the meantime, let's hope the state figures out a middle ground on insurance and we get lucky.  At least it appears the Hetch Hetchy is about 90% full.  Here's one place where we keep our portion.

 

 

 

911: An hour of rerouting calls

If you are on the SMC Alert system via text and/or email you got this notice last night at 1:31am:

SMC Alert: The City of Burlingame Phone lines are currently down. 911 lines are being routed and answered by Redwood City Police Dept. For all non-emergency calls, please contact the City of San Bruno's business line # 650-616-7100. San Bruno and Redwood City will be able to forward information to Burlingame Police so officers can be dispatched accordingly. Thank you for your patience while this problem is being worked on.

Thankfully it was followed by the All-clear email about an hour later at 2:27am:

SMC Alert: All Burlingame Police lines are back in service. For non emergency calls, dial 650-777-4100 and for emergency calls dial 911.

I know a bit about how the 911 system and call centers and phone lines work so if I get any details from BPD, I will pass them along.  I like having our own dispatch since the dispatchers know their way around B'game.  There is no substitute for local institutional knowledge.  You should also keep the non-emergency number in your phone.