Goal Session Meeting Last Saturday

The Goal Session is a very exciting workshop and, in my opinion, the best city meeting of the year. It is full of important ideas with reality checks about what can be done and - more importantly - not done. It also highlights that we have a fantastic city staff and the majority of our council members are also professional, do their homework and know their stuff. In fact some of them are >:XX goooooood! The next important meeting - the City Budget Session - is at 6:00pm on February 27. #### Arts, affordable housing priorities for Burlingame (by Mark Abramson / Daily News) Creating more affordable housing and additional parking, and establishing an arts commission to inject some more culture into Burlingame topped a list of priorities outlined in a special goal-setting workshop Saturday. Such workshops are held annually to help the city identify priorities for the coming fiscal year. Council members invited residents to show up and weigh in; together, they came up with 10 goals. "It is essential; we've got to know this so we know what we are going to budget for," City Manager Jim Nantell said. In addition to the priorities identified last weekend, each city department has its own goals, Nantell said. Those will also be taken into account when the city's budget is created later this year. Residents have told the city that building more affordable housing in Burlingame should be a focus, Vice Mayor Ann Keighran said. "I think public input is very important because (those people) live in this community," Keighran said. Keighran and Nantell pointed out that one obstacle to getting more affordable housing is that Burlingame, unlike other local cities, does not have redevelopment funds, which would help pay for below-market-rate housing. Nantell said the city could encourage developers to build affordable housing by selling the airspace rights over city parking lots to allow residential construction over those lots. That would give Burlingame's firefighters and police officers an affordable place to live so they wouldn't have to commute from the East Bay or farther away, he said. Parking for those residents could be created by building underground lots below the existing lots. Spaces also could be added by building garages over some of the city's existing lots, Nantell said. All of the city's lots are now only one level. Another goal that Council Member Cathy Baylock said she backed was creating an arts commission, which could help add art to the city or attract performing artists. "I think that is important, especially the public art. It could be (adding) murals or a centennial memorial," Baylock said. "We have a very active artist community in Burlingame." Other goals established included developing a 10-year strategy for funding Burlingame's most important projects and starting public education efforts about community development. Whether all of the goals will be accomplished this coming year remains to be seen because the city is still working on meeting last year's goals. "We also have to be realistic about what we could accomplish," Keighran said. "I think it is better to have less and accomplish them."

- Written by Fiona

Comments

*** SUPPLY DEMAND ***
"Affordable housing" in Burlingame is not the answer. If only a certain population can afford to live here, so be it. It's a luxury and a blessing to be able to live here, and unfortunately, it's not for everybody. I have the same argument on the mass foreclosure issue - not everyone was meant to own a home - some just have to accept being a renter, or at least buying within their true means (and don't forget to read the small print!). That's America, and that's just the way it is. I also can't imagine, as City Mgr Nantell states, that police and fire would truly choose to trade their mansions and 1/4 acre lots (albeit 1-2 hours away) for moving their families to apartment-style "affordable" living just to be closer to work. Perhaps higher salaries and other incentives would allow them to buy closer to Burlingame and other SM County agencies and keep them from buying so far away in the first place. With this, they may stick around as long term employees rather than continuing to leave after getting their foot in the door (recent article reflects this point on there being so many vacancies - unable to retain police employees)... Again, "supply demand" says it all... Leave our Burlingame alone - don't try fixing what isn't broken.

[Terry Nagel]

By making "attainable" housing a goal (I don't think housing can ever be called "affordable" in Burlngame), the City Council is trying to make more housing options available. Surely you know families whose grown children can never aspire to live here and older couples who would like to downsize in Burlingame but have no place they can go.

We also need to provide housing for employees in beginning and middle salary ranges in order to keep our local economy viable. If we don't create housing opportunities for these workers, businesses will begin to move away from the Peninsula and set up offices closer to where these workers live. And good workers will abandon the Peninsula. I have seen at least six excellent teachers leave Burlingame because they could never aspire to home ownership in this area.

Without more housing options, our local economy will no longer thrive. We will not have the workers and services available that we expect. People may drive long distances to work on the Peninsula for a while, but higher gas prices and gridlock and state-mandated requirements to cut carbon emissions will defeat them in the end.

There are creative ways to make home ownership a possibility for more people without adversely impacting the qualify of life for those who already live here. If we don't, people may wake up in 10 years and say, "What happened to the Peninsula? It's just a bunch of old people rattling around in big houses!"

Shutting the gates to Burlingame with the attitude of "We've got ours. Who cares about anyone else?" is not a responsible way to deal with the housing crisis we face on the Peninsula. We need to begin planning now for the housing needs of the future.

There is a great saying (maybe English) that says:

"I am alright Jack, pull up the ladder"

I always think of that expression when affordable housing is discussed especially by those who have their plot of Burlingame soil with the ladder and are not open to ways of welcoming those into our community who do not want to drive three hours to "service" our community and cannot afford $1+ million for a Burlingame home.

Thank you to our present council for considering this important issue.

[jean]

What do you consider attainable..at what price point?

[Bobbo]

There is attainable housing in Burlingame. They're called 2 bedroom, 1 bath single family homes. The problem: spec builders come in and tear them down at an alarming rate. In the not so near future, those attainable homes will be gone. What Terry Nagel is suggesting can only manifest itself in higher density housing. That is what will result in the "What has happened to Burlingame ?" reaction she alludes to.

[jaggy]

So, Terry Nagel accepts donations from high density condominium developer CHS Developer. Interesting.

Come on Terry. Don't "pee on our leg and tell us it's raining"

Burlingame's Historic Mural noted recently in local papers pretty much sums it up... "Living in Burlingame is a Special Privilege." ... Key word being "privilege", not "right."