The Burlingame Voice

High Cost Rail - Part 75 A 2nd Vote? Why not?

We've been tracking the effort to have another vote on High-cost Rail and now is the time to make an appeal for funds.  This is an excerpt from the appeal that is circulating around the state on behalf of State Senator Doug LaMalfa (R-Richvale) and former U.S. Congressman George Radanovich's fundraising effort.  You can find the donation tab on the website www.ReVoteRail.com.

You may have the impression that High Speed Rail is ‘dead’.  Quite the contrary, it is still alive, although maybe not too well. But it is still a reality.  Soon, the state legislature will likely vote to approve issuing up to $2.7 Billion of Prop.1A bonds for the project in order to meet the matching requirement to use the available federal funds. This money will be spent largely in the Central Valley on the infamous ‘Train to Nowhere’.  In all likelihood the project will proceed since the Governor, hence the Democratic Caucus and the Obama Administration are putting maximum pressure on the State’s Legislators.

Recently, a petition drive has been initiated that will result in a ballot measure, in 2014, to stop any further spending of Prop. 1A bonds, thus lessening the potential negative impact on the state’s bonding capacity and future General Fund expenditures.  There is a 150-day window for gathering over 800,000 signatures.  To do this requires considerable upfront funding.

Polls have shown that 2/3 of California voters having seen the differences between the expectations set forth in Prop 1A and what has transpired since then are ready to kill the project.  However, special interests are pushing to move the project ahead.  The only sure way to forever stop the project is by passing the proposed initiative. 

Numerous law suits may delay or impede the progress of the project but unless it is taken off the books altogether it will continue in some form continuing to spend tax payer dollars and put the state further into debt.  The project can only be stopped by completely cutting off use of the Prop. 1A funds.

They have until October 15, 2012 to collect signatures of 504,760 registered voters in order to qualify the measure for a revote.  Since it is highly unlikely that our elected officials in Sacto will do the right thing on their own and kill this massive waste of taxpayer money that will harm the environment as a side-effect, it looks like a ballot measure is the next best hope.  Www.ReVoteRail.com. 

Summer Planning

Now that our overcast, chilly Memorial Day weekend is over, it's time to start planning the summer schedule.  Here are a few events you want on your calendar:

Sunday afternoon Music in the Park:  July 1 is Swing, July 8 is Ragtime, July 15 is Top Hits, July 22 is Latin and July 29 is Classic Rock

Lion's Club Car Show in Washington Park:  July 28

ArtzFest on the Avenue:  August 12

Movie Night in the Park:  August 17, September 7 and 21

You will notice there is no Art in the Park this year since the event planning company has declined to run the event.  I have to say I will miss it as a tradition that goes back to the '60's, but back then it was a much smaller, more local event.  Perhaps there is room for that sort of event to return.  Does anyone remember this poster from 1971?

Feeding Screaming Eagles

San Mateo has the distinction of being the first local town to adopt a unit  of the 101st Airborne--the Screaming Eagles--but B'game adopted another company in 2004.  That would be the Bushmasters of B company.  42 members of the 101st are in town for Operation Eagle Visit to celebrate the sister cities of San Mateo, B'game and Hillsborough (who also adopted a unit in 2007) support.  Here's our mayor presenting to the five Bushmasters who are on this trip.

There was a fun, heart-warming reception at Hiller Air museum last night and a barbeque on the lawn of our City Hall today with the Central County firefighters using the mobile Lion's Club grill to serve up burgers, tri-tip and sausages to the hungry troops, visiting vets and various other dignitaries.  Tomorrow there will be big parade to replicate the one San Mateo held after the troops came home from Vietnam (the only such parade in the country)!  It starts at 11am at the SM Caltrain station, goes down Ellsworth, up 4th Ave. and into Central Park for another barbeque.  Chow down with the Screaming Eagles!

Burglaries Still Up?

I have not been keeping a close eye on the police reports, but I have heard first and second hand of a couple of expensive burglaries in B'game lately so perhaps the anecdotal trend continues.  Here's the report on yesterday's capture

On Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 11:30am Burlingame Police responded to an in progress residential burglary on Los Altos Dr.  Police units responded to the area and confirmed that a resident had arrived home to discover unknown suspects had entered her home and stolen several items.  A witness reported a suspicious vehicle seen leaving the area of Los Altos Dr. during the time of the reported burglary.  The vehicle was described as a silver 2002 Mercedes Benz 2 door, tinted windows, with chrome 20” rims. Police units located this vehicle on Loma Vista Drive.

In addition, police detained a female found walking away from the vehicle, and later identified evidence that linked the female and the vehicle to the burglary on Los Altos Dr.  This female was arrested for residential burglary and possession of stolen property.  Based on witness reports it was determined that a second male suspect had fled the area of Loma Vista Dr., and was reported seen running between two homes on the south end of Loma Vista.  A search of the area was conducted on Loma Vista and Skyview Drive, important evidence was located by police at that location, the second suspect was not located.

One hopes a single capture might solve multiple incidents.  All the usual warnings apply--lock doors and windows, use lights at night and report suspicious activity.

Friends With Benefits - Part 17 Legislative Proposal

There is an interesting piece in today's S.F. Examiner by state senator Bill Emmerson (R - Riverside County) regarding pension reform.  I have not seen an update to the half a trillion estimate, but there are other tricks being performed with the money.  Emmerson writes

Both the governor’s proposal and Senate Constitutional Amendment (SCA) 13 would offer new employees a hybrid between the traditional defined benefit pension and the 401(k)-style defined-contribution plan. This would help ensure the sustainability of our pension system while protecting taxpayers from rising costs. Pension spiking — the practice of artificially inflating an employee’s final compensation to maximize retirement benefits — would end along with double-dipping to prohibit the collection of a pension while simultaneously earning a government salary.

The Assembly and Senate appear to have time for lots of nearly trivial legislation.  Isn't it time to do something substantive about this ticking timebomb?  This is also the state legislators that unilaterally borrowed $1.1 million of B'game's sales taxes two years ago during an "emergency" and may or may not pay it back next July.  One man's emergency is another's......oh, nevermind.

High Cost Rail - Part 74 Kafka Express

The Wall Street Journal is not letting up on Moonbeam's support for high-cost rail.  This weekend's editorial is titled "California's Kafka Express".  If you have forgotten the Franz Kafka reference, Webster notes it means "having a nightmarishly complex, bizarre, or illogical quality."  The Journal is on the money as usual especially when it notes

Environmentalists may even file suit if the state uses revenues from its new cap-and-trade program to finance the train.  That's the Governor's back-up plan when Washington and Mr. Zuckerberg ignore his pleas.  State law requires that the government spend cap-and-trade fees on activities that mitigate carbon emissions, but operating and constructing the bullet train would actually increase greenhouse gas emissions for the next 30 years.

The Zuckerberg note refers to Facebook's recent IPO and the hope that employees' and investors' capital gains and regular income taxes will save the state budget.  Fat chance of that happening (see Apple's tactics and Facebook investor Eduardo Saverin moving to Singapore and renouncing his US citizenship).  The Journal does finish off with a suggestion for the Guv:  "Maybe the state could pay contractors in Farmville currency."

New Category: B'game Wildlife

I've been meaning to start the "Wildlife" category for some time and the appearance of a flight of mallard ducks cruising through my yard has finally made me do it.  Spring has sprung in B'game.  The hummingbirds are out in force which surprises out of town guests who are not so lucky in the hummingbird department.  Yesterday I also saw a huge tufted bluejay and a cute red-tufted woodpecker along with the usual chickadees.

Does anyone know what bird it is that feels the need to chirp at about 5:40 am every morning?

Drive-in Driving Ahead

One of the longest running sagas in town (from before 2006) moved another step towards putting shovels in dirt on Monday.  As the Daily Journal is reporting

A proposal to build a series of large office buildings, possibly the home to biotech companies, at the now-vacant former Burlingame Drive-in, received unanimous approval by the Planning Commission Monday and will now go to the City Council for final approval.

Millennium Partners, New York-based developers of mixed-used properties, applied in April 2010 to develop the 18.13-acre site — a project now known as Burlingame Point, located at 300 Airport Blvd. (also known as 350 Beach Road). Plans call for 689,810 square feet of office space in two five-story buildings, one seven-story building and one eight-story building. In December 2010, the City Council approved an agreement to conduct an environmental review of the project, which became available for review late last year.

We will have to see how the windsurfers react to the idea that "One of the biggest challenges, which Millennium is still trying to work through, is the disruption in wind patterns."  This one almost landed in court the last time around.

Moonbeam Still Confused...But Plunging Ahead

The SacBee is highlighting Gov. Moonbeam Brown's recent realization that

Gov. Jerry Brown said in a video release today that California's budget deficit has mushroomed to $16 billion, nearly twice as high as the $9.2 billion he estimated in January.  Brown blamed a slow recovery from the recession and the federal government's blockage of state spending cuts for the widening gap.

Yeah, right, Governor.  You are off by 74% in just four months!  Anyone who is paying any sort of attention knows he is way over his paygrade as he tries to "fix the economy" with more taxes, higher marginal tax rates for "the rich" and his union-pandering on High Cost Rail.  Very sad what he is doing to this great state, but we get the government we deserve.

Postal Backtrack

The Wall Street Journal edition of May 10th describes some of the backlash agains the USPS move to close 3,700 rural post offices and 223 mail-sorting plants (like the one on Rollins Rd).  The report states that "the United States Postal Service on Wednesday backed away from its plan to close as many as 3,700 rural post offices starting next week".  Unfortunately our downtown post office is NOT in that category and, in fact, the City has received word from David Rouse, the realty asset manager, that our PO "will be actively marketed within the next 30-45 days".  Apparently the thirty day window for additional comment after the April 16th Public Meeting has been tossed in the dead letter file as this notice was dated May 2nd.

The Journal goes on to note

The (U.S.) Senate two weeks ago approved a bill that would trigger early retirement for as many as 100,000 postal workers, put off closing post offices and distribution centers for two years, and continue Saturday mail delivery.  Another bill is pending in the House.

That tells me, it's time to slow down on the sale of the Primrose Post Office as well.  Support for that idea comes also from a Letter to the Editor in the same edition of the WSJ.  A Paul Dickson from South Carolina writes about an earlier article

The Journal ignores the most important reason for the Postal Service's financial troubles: a $5.5 billion annual mandate to prefund 75 years of future retirees health benefits in just 10 years.  This onerous requirement, unmatched by any entity in the private sector or government, is responsible for more than 80% of the Postal Service's debt.  But for this pre-funding mandate, the Postal Service would have posted a profit of $700 million from 2007-2010 and a $200 million profit in the first quarter of this fiscal year.

No one is more interested in getting government and pseudo government agencies' pension and health costs back under control than I am.  You can read about this here, here and here.  But if Mr. Aiken's numbers are correct, this may be too fast and certainly jeopardizes downtown B'game for very poor reasons.