The Burlingame Voice

High Cost Rail - Part 20 Hoover speaks

We took a week and a half off from High Cost Rail, but a piece from John Horgan ends the hiatus.  He writes:

This month, Liam Julian, a fellow at the Hoover Institution, produced a lengthy and devastating critique of the many questionable assumptions involved in the plans for high-speed rail nationally and, in particular, Florida and California.

The Hoover link is here and the report notes that

A September 2008 report from the Reason Foundation concluded that California’s ridership projections at the time were “absurdly high — so much so that they could well rank among the most unrealistic projections produced for a major transport project anywhere in the world.” The report continued: “Under a passenger-mile per route-mile standard, the chsra [High Speed Rail Authority] is projecting higher passenger use of the California system than is found on the Japanese and French hsr [high-speed rail] networks despite the fact that these countries have conditions that are far more favorable to the use of hsr.”

That gets us back to the cost to the taxpayers and Liam notes

The designers of Florida’s and California’s proposed high-speed rail routes say that ticket sales will pay for their respective system’s operating costs. No doubt those who are planning lines in other American corridors will say the same. The claims are surpassingly dubious. Only two dedicated high-speed railways in the world — one connecting Tokyo and Osaka, and the other between Paris and Lyon — have ever broken even on their initial and ongoing expenditures. And many European high-speed rail systems that are deemed cost-effective actually receive lots of extra help.

Having talked to dozens of people at Art in the Park about High Cost Rail, I heard that concern start to come to the fore.

Summer Fun Continues

Today's Burlingame Criterium looked like a blast as kids and serious riders got to take over the downtown streets.  It appeared as if the Farmer's Market moved without a hitch.

So if you are keeping your calendar up-to-date, Music in the Park is starting a week from today (the Fourth of July).  The full schedule is here.  And here is a photo of Bill Toci from Veolia Water presenting a big check to the mayor and Tim Barry of Park & Rec to keep the series afloat.  Veolia has been the anchor sponsor since 2004.  See you there!

Can you hear me now?

Burlingame is facing a major financial meltdown, union contracts are being negotiated, employee layoffs are eminent, high speed rail threatens to wreak havoc on our downtown economy and now one councilmember wants to have the city look into forcing cell phone retailers to post signs announcing to shoppers information about the amount of absorption rate each cell phone contains?

I, for one, understand the intent of this proposal, i.e. if something is potentially harmful, we should protect ourselves against it. But like many proposals, although they are well intended, each proposal has to be given it’s own priority.

That’s why the city holds a meeting each year to decide what their goals will be for that year. I don’t think this one made the list. In fact, it seems this particular protective ordinance is best left to another regulatory agency—perhaps the county or the state, rather than having each jurisdiction throughout the land draft its own ordinance. Maybe this is one for Assemblyman Jerry Hill’s or Senator Joe Simitian’s annual, “There ought to be a law contest?

Although the article in The San Mateo Times, suggested that city staff is working on a proposal based on a similar one in San Francisco, it is my understanding that any new idea must be agendized and its merits be discussed by the council, (and the public) prior to any work staff might need to do to bring it to fruition.

File this one under “D” for “Don’t we have better things to do?”

College Fund$

The Daily Journal is reporting

Measure G, the $34 annual parcel tax for the San Mateo County Community College District, passed by a narrow margin, according to last scheduled update to election results posted last night.

The measure ended Election Night earlier this month with just more than 66.9 percent — giving it passage, but just barely. The measure must pass with two-thirds voting yes. As of last night, the approval rating increased to 67.1 percent, or 81,838 votes.

Passage will mean millions in revenue to the district, restoring funds slated for the chopping block next year. The four-year tax could generate about $6 million annually for the district, according to estimates by District CFO Kathy Blackwood.

I haven't been up to Canada or Skyline's campuses lately, but I have been to CSM's campus and it is undergoing a lot of improvements.  I have heard that it is being prepped to become a Cal State-level institution.  One wonders how that affects future capital expenditures?

Bio'game of the Future

I had heard about some of the work that was happening to highlight B'game's charms to the biotech community from Jerry Deal.  And in driving to Chico this past weekend, I saw a good sized Genentech building off of Hwy 505 north of Vacaville so I know the competition is pretty intense over a large area around South City (the nominal biotech base).  Today's Mercury Times is highlighting this work

Burlingame officials have been meeting with their existing biotech and pharmaceutical companies — they were surprised to find they already have 30 mostly small firms — and are striving to attract more, particularly in the Bayfront area.

We wrote about one of the potential sites recently

The centerpiece of the Burlingame movement would be a potential life-sciences campus at a vacant former drive-in theater on the Bayfront. Millennium Partners, a San Francisco-based developer, in the spring submitted a proposal for a 700,000-square-foot project at Beach Road and Airport Boulevard.

But this challenge was a new one to me

Burlingame biotech companies told officials their biggest problems with the area were the lack of public transit from the nearby Millbrae BART-Caltrain station and the excess amount of moving-company trucks that park on their streets, Deal said.

"There is one truck down there that has graffiti all over it that has been there for weeks," Deal said, adding that they sometimes block signs or entrances to buildings. "And they're not working in Burlingame."

Good luck landing some of these tenant for the bayfront.

County Budget Talk$

The Times and Daily Journal are reporting on the start of the county budget talks.  The essence of the talks is

County supervisors will sharpen their pencils and take on the recommended $1.7 billion budget today, beginning a three-day span of hearings in which department heads will take turns detailing how they plan to meet their bottom line and help plug the structural deficit.

The 2010-2011 budget released by County Manager David Boesch pulled $90 million from reserves and cut $36 million from programs. All together, the county has drawn $248 million in reserves over the last three years to balance its budget. Unless the Board of Supervisors this week  opts to veer from Boesch’s recommendations, the general fund will be left with $209 million in reserves.

And the big uncertainty is

One big unknown in the budget process is exactly how much more or less the state will siphon from county coffers. The May budget revision released by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would take an estimated $116 million from local programs and services but the Legislature is currently haggling over the recommendations.

These are big numbers all around and the trial balloon on higher taxes is still floating around.

High Cost Rail - Part 19 NIMBY Fiction

So that you are not lulled into believing  that only a small group of Peninsula Nimby’s are deniers of the wisdom of California’s proposed High Speed Rail project, I have assembled just a few of the quotes in the news in recent days.   Voices from across the state, for your reading pleasure…

From Bakersfield:

 “The City Council ducked a vote at Wednesday’s meeting to recommend a specific High Speed Rail route through downtown Bakersfield. Hundreds of Bakersfield High School supporters turned out to fight the proposed “blue route,” which would require demolition of historic buildings on campus.”

 

“Instead of endorsing one of two proposed routes for the train — the so-called “blue” or “red” routes — the council voted unanimously to “strongly recommend” the California High Speed Rail Authority comes up with an alternative route through town.”

 

“Bakersfield is not alone in raising concerns about the path high speed rail will take. Farmers up and down the San Joaquin Valley are expressing objections. And battles have broken out in the Bay Area and Southern California.”

 

From the Central Valley:

Jim Erickson, rancher and president of the Madera County Farm Bureau:

The possibility that the rail authority may take his land and then decide that the project won’t work or is too expensive is what really scares Erickson. “Will they get this section built and then realize that they can’t afford it?” he asked rhetorically. “They ruin all these ranches, and then say, ‘Oh well, it didn’t work.’ But they’ve scarred the land forever. It’s a bad situation for us all.”

 

From Gilroy:

“The continuing saga of the California High Speed Rail project in our area has raised many questions (none of which have been answered) and many concerns (none of which have been alleviated), and just seems to be snowballing into a hungry monster. We have all been overtly lied to (there will be no Altamont Route) and covertly lied to (denial of knowledge about things) by the HSR representatives.”

 

And let’s not forget our friends at Union Pacific RR:

“Signaling its most forceful objection yet — and perhaps protracted court battles — Union Pacific has notified the California high-speed rail authority that it will fight the state's newest plans to run bullet trains from the South Bay to the Central Valley, including along Monterey Highway in San Jose.”

 

Has the small ripple that crested as a wave, now become a tsunami for the California High Speed Rail Authority?

 

B'Game Supe - Part 2 Hats in the Ring

Mark Church's successful run for County Clerk et al that we discussed in February has some to pass.  The San Mateo County Times (aka Mercury News) reporter has gotten on the phone to potential candidates with the expected results described here

Burlingame Vice Mayor Terry Nagel, Millbrae Council Member Gina Papan, San Mateo County Community College District Board Member Richard Holober and San Mateo Unified High School District Board President David Pine confirmed Monday they are considering a run for Church's seat if a special election is held.

The tough question is "Is it better to spend the extra money for a special election among an open field or appoint someone who gets the press and support of an incumbent?"  In these times that is a tough question because, as the article implies but doesn't actually state, $500K is "real money".

Helping the Avenew

The Daily Journal is giving a prelude to tomorrow's organizational meeting for a Downtown Business Improvement District (BID).  B'game has one for the Broadway area and has started and stopped several similar efforts on the Avenew.  Here's some of Heather Murtagh's piece

Having a unified voice to fix problems, creating a more festive holiday feel and marketing the Burlingame Avenue area are a few of the benefits those working to create a business improvement district hope to achieve by this winter.

A number of business owners and employees in the Burlingame Avenue area have spent about a year working to start a business improvement district, known as a BID. Similar attempts in previous years failed. Despite this, the group is confident it will be successful by inviting those formerly in opposition to the table and working to assess businesses equitably. At a Wednesday morning meeting, those hoping to start a BID will debut the plan to make it happen by this holiday season.

The general feel of the Avenew hasn't really improved since we wrote this in February and another long-term merchant is closing up soon.

Summer Starts in the Park

When I listed the major summer events in Burlingame, I did not know that summer would start in earnest just in time for Art in the Park.  I was working the High Speed Rail table this afternoon and fully expected the wind to come up around 4pm like it usually does, but it stayed beautiful til the end.  The crowd stayed until the end as well.  My unscientific survey of a few vendors rendered a split opinion on whether business was up or down.  Some thought it was way up, some thought it was down.  These kids thought both!

The traffic for the artists and vendors was good too

Next up is the Burlingame Criterium bicycle race on June 27th.  See you there!