The Burlingame Voice

B'game Birds of Prey

The DJ is being very watchful about the Marriott owls

A second family of barn owls has taken up a nest at a Burlingame hotel that has embraced its new role as a protector of wildlife.The San Francisco Airport Marriott Waterfront reported this week that a second family of three young barn owls has been spotted on its balconies.

That's one way to keep the roof rat population in check!

Real Estate: Rental Update

I know someone at HIP Housing and have searched for a house sharing arrangement for an acquaintance using their services, so I found this factual update interesting in the Journal

Rental prices are skyrocketing in San Mateo County, according to HIP Housing, the San Mateo County nonprofit specializing in affordable housing programs.

New rental data released by the San Mateo County Department of Housing reveals that the average market rent for a one-bedroom apartment is now $2,053 a month. This is an 8.2 percent increase from last year.

Rents and home purchase prices are symbiotic--upward pressure on one causes (or at least reflects) the other.  I guess I'm surprised the increase isn't more than 8.2 percent. 

Civil Grand Jury Process

An op-ed in today's Daily Journal by six former jury foremen is instructive.  Let's keep it handy by posting a bit of it and the link here.

The grand jury analyzes whether a government agency is operating in a businesslike manner and providing public services effectively and economically. The grand jury seeks to identify and interview individuals with expert knowledge and diverse views. There would be a chilling impact without the guarantee of confidentiality. The grand jury typically provides its data to the government agency being investigated prior to publishing a report to ensure errors have not been made. Also, every proposed report is reviewed in detail and must be formally approved by at least 12 of 19 jurors.

The piece as a whole sounds authoritative and pretty complete and more "businesslike manners" would certainly be welcome.

Bgame Walking Tour

An update from local historian and author extraodinaire Joanne Garrison:

DOWNTOWN WALKING TOUR - SATURDAY JULY 27, 2013 - 11 a.m to 12 p.m.
Meet Joanne at the train station for a three-block walking tour of downtown. Through stories and architecture, you will learn about Burlingame's explosive growth in the early twentieth century. The Great Earthquake of 1906 transformed this rich equestrian playground into a bustling suburb of 14,000 by 1930. Sponsored by Burlingame Historical Society in conjunction with San Mateo County Historical Association.

Friends with Benefits - Part 22 BART 70% Labor

We last looked at our FWB theme in January.  Mike Rosenberg's article in today SM County Times regarding BART's costs had a couple of interesting tidbits like

The average worker in BART's largest union, the local Service Employees International Union, earned $77,366 in gross pay and $32,235 worth of benefits in 2012. Their average benefits cost is up about 12 percent since 2010, the first year this newspaper began collecting benefits data, while gross pay has remained roughly flat since their last contract was signed in 2009.

Out of the $568 million operating budget for the fiscal year that began this month, BART plans to spend about 70 percent on labor and 30 percent on electrical power, equipment and other programs needed to run service.

That benefit to gross pay ratio is 41.7% or roughly two and a half times (250%) of the US private industry standard.  The top part of the article shows why.  It's definitely unsustainable!

 

Job Posting: B'game City Council

Sixteen years ago when my lovely wife impulsively threw her hat in the ring for a city council seat, I did not think she would ever be the most tenured councilmember in town.  Twelve years ago she won a seat in a much more contentious climate than we have in town now.  Eight years ago after her first reelection, a bright local kid named Patrick Jensen who also ran said "Let no one forget the revolution began on Newlands Avenue."  Newlands is our street.

Yesterday the City Council race starter's pistol went off when my lovely wife announced that she would not be running for reelection for a fourth term this November.  This will be the first "open seat" election in a long, long time.  Today's Daily Journal article about her decision has a couple of her colleagues reactions including

(Ann) Keighran said she was disappointed by Baylock’s announcement since the two work together so well.   “I wish she was running,” Keighran said. “She has been phenomenal. I highly respect her for her dependability and ethics. She was always a councilmember first.”

But change is usually good, too.  So it promises to be an interesting summer.  Stay tuned!  Here's the current council and city clerk after the rotation of four years ago.

Little League Champs

I heard through the grapevine that the B'game Little League 8-year-old team took the County crown this past weekend.  Beating Belmont and Millbrae were part of the route to the championship.  And here is some photographic proof--hardware in hand, smiles all around!

"Top Shops" on the Avenew

The July 14 Sunday S.F. Comicle's Style section gave us some press we do want as opposed to some we don't want.  The stylistas at the Chron highlighted 100 "Top Shops" and included our very own Morning Glory in their Hall of Fame noting

For more than 40 years, Morning Glory's haute boheme aesthetic has owed much to the hippie era when it was opened by sisters Maureen and Paulette Monroe with an emphasis on street-influenced styles.  Nanette Lapore, L.A.M.B., Ivan Grundahl, Frau Brau and Free People are among the brands featured, along with accessories by local designers.

The Chron also saw fit to call out Les Deux Copines in the Peninsula section reminding readers

The name means "the two girlfriends," and fittingly, this 10-year-old Burlingame boutique carries French and European brands like Sonia Rykiel and Vanessa Bruno amont American favorites, including Genetic Denim and Opening Ceremony in this small but chic outpost.

Kudos to both shops for making the cut and let's hope both survive along with all their neighboring merchants as the Ave gets a full face-lift.   Update:  Hall of Famers deserve a photo

Only "One Bay Area"? Not.

There is another great OpEd in the Daily Journal by a guy I don't know named Chuck MacDougald from South City.  Two months ago, I highlighted a similar piece by a Belmont councilwoman here.  MacDougald's piece on the One Bay Area Plan goes a bit further and is worth the read.  Here's  a taste

The Draft Plan Bay Area arose out of the flawed Assembly Bill 32 and Senate Bill 375, which mandated that super regional planning agencies (and not local, accountable governments) draw up plans to reduce greenhouse emissions in their areas. In our area, that’s the nine-county Association of Bay Area Governments, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and others. These bureaucratic behemoths saw their chance, and they took it.

The draft plan is their attempt to remake the populated areas of the nine-county region into clones of downtown San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose. Their chosen weapon of coercion — what, you don’t want to live in some rabbit-warren of a high-rise? — is funding to repair your roads, your bridges and your highways. The MTC website makes it clear; transportation funding will reward “jurisdictions that accept housing allocations through the Regional Housing Need Allocation (RHNA) process.”

It's not one big Bay Area and your own tax dollars should not be used against you to try to make it one.

Watching The Governor Wheel and Deal

The SacBee headline about the California economy moving up to #8 worldwide caught my eye today.  It is here.  It fails to mention that just a few years ago we surpassed France to be #5, but I guess any improvement is welcome.  The tidbit following the headline was especially interesting

Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation overhauling an enterprise zone program that has provided employers in designated areas large tax breaks. The legislation will significantly scale back hiring credits, instead providing a sales tax exemption for manufacturing and biotech research companies and other tax credits negotiated on a case-by-case basis with the administration.

As we think about the Millenium project out on the bayfront that is supposedly targeting biotech, we should be guiding companies to go genuflect to Jerry.  Heckuva way to run a railroad.