The Burlingame Voice

B'game API Scores - No News

I'm a believer in school testing and the validity of test scores.  I believe most parents fall into that same category.  So when the API scores are released, it's news...except when it's not.  Per the Mercury Times here are the B'game scores for the last two years--released today as the kids hit the asphalt yards.

                            2013        2012

Franklin                    962        955

Lincoln                      918        920

McKinley                    887        880

Roosevelt                   917       919

Washington                895        887

BIS                            902        904

Putting my statistician's hat on, the only thing one can conclude from these figures is that things are very stable in B'game schools.  Ok, kids, now get started on the new year.

Avenue's 2nd Block Dig Begins

I notice the excavator was back and beginning phase 2 on the Avenue this morning.

Umland Field?

The Daily Journal has a piece about the possible naming of the BHS football field

The stadium field at Burlingame High School could be named after a champion of the school’s athletic department once the stadium’s bleachers are complete by fall of next year.

Thursday night, the San Mateo Union High School District’s Board of Trustees discussed naming the field after Panther class of 1954 alumnus Peter Umland, who died in September 2001 shortly after being named Alumnus of the Year. He was 66.

Another key part is

Umland and his wife Dolores made the district a residual beneficiary in the Peter S. Umland and Dolores T. Umland Trust. Under the trust, portions of the residual estate are bequest to the district “for use by the Burlingame High School Athletic Department in its athletic endeavors.”

This gets a Gems of Burlingame notation!  Click through and read the whole article about Mr. Umland.  With school starting this week, football is in the air as well.

Avenue Parking Concerns

I know from walking around the Avenew and talking to people and merchants that parking is a big concern with the new plan.  Since even experienced Voice bloggers are struggling to find the right place to post things about this issue, here is a post with a letter from a local to the Daily Journal that can be used to add opinions.  It is tagged to Downtown Specfic Area Plan and Streets of Burlingame in case you are looking for it a month from now:

I question what Syed Murtuza was quoted as saying about parking availability (“Burlingame Streetscape moves into next phases of project” in the Aug. 20 edition of the Daily Journal). I am not aware of any parking being added on Primrose. In fact, 43 spaces of prime parking on Primrose half a block from Safeway have been taken away, nine of which are lost on a long-term basis and 34 of which are gone permanently. That belies his statement that parking has been added in close proximity. Those 43 spaces were in use constantly and their loss will be felt by many. This change was fought bitterly, but in vain by many of us. It was not a decision made in the best interest of Burlingame as a whole but it has been made and is now being implemented. The city should acknowledge the fact of that loss instead of playing a numbers game that is not based on reality. 

Linda Humber

Burlingame

Here and here are a couple of past parking posts as reminders.

Building Fees for the Hills

The SF Examiner is tracking the fee structure for areas like B'game Hills that are County controlled 

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors has chosen to postpone a proposed fee increase for already costly residential building permits and inspections.

In response to growing opposition to fees in unincorporated areas that are already larger than those of nearby cities, Board of Supervisors President Don Horsley requested the delay and commissioned former Burlingame City Manager Jim Nantell to study the fees and the planning department. Nantell will present the findings to the board in about six months, Horsley said.

Jim is on the job!

Crawling the Ave.

I'm not sure about the name "Dishcrawl" but I like the idea as described in this Daily Journal article

Fans of food and good company can find both on the menu of a local venture bringing those core values to Burlingame next month.

San Jose-based Dishcrawl has been running food adventures for three-and-a-half years throughout the Bay Area. On Sept. 11, it makes another stop on the Peninsula. (meaning in B'game)

Each guest pays $45 for the two-and-a-half hour experience which lets them sample fare at multiple venues in a given area. Forty-eight hours prior to the event, attendees are informed of the first stop. Three restaurants follow, with the last including a dessert.

It's sort of like the school fundraising events that go to a few houses for a "progressive meal".  Why not?  Especially now the Ave is a bit challenged for foot traffic.  The company site is here.

Caltrans Help - Part 2 US101 is Right Over Here! No There!

El Camino Real is the backbone of B'game.  But unfortunately B'game doesn't control it because it is a state highway.  Caltrans controls it.  My thanks to a regular Voice reader for pointing out the misleading signage that Caltrans has installed in three spots in town.

The sign shown below is just a half-block south of B'way.  When you see this sign you need to turn right in about 100' at the Chase Bank on the corner to get to 101.  But no--Caltrains put up the wrong sign--sans right turn.  The other two are similarly wrong.......

So Grand Boulevard nonsense aside, can we just get our directions right?

Update August 29th:   Somehow I am just noticing the sign shown below that is at Peninsula and El Camino in front of Crosby N. Gray.  The other signs were confusing, this is just plain wrong.  Unless you know the Peninsula, you will suddenly think that 82 is 101.  Who wouldn't based on this sign.  I think it's time for the Cities (not just B'game) to tell Caltrans to pull these out!

High Cost Rail - Part 93 Sensible Judge

If this kind of common sense weren't so rare in the world of High Cost Rail, today's ruling would qualify as a "duh moment".  But even the plain text of Prop. 1A is subject to CHSRA doublespeak.  The SacBee reports

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Dealing a major blow to California's high-speed rail project, a Sacramento County judge ruled Friday that the agency overseeing the bullet train failed to comply with the financial and environmental promises made to voters when they approved initial funding for the project five years ago.

Superior Court Judge Michael Kenny said the California High-Speed Rail Authority "abused its discretion by approving a funding plan that did not comply with the requirements of the law" and has failed to identify "sources of funds that were more than merely theoretically possible."

And after the doublespeak from Dan Richards in the piece it goes on to note

"The judge indicated that they really had to have the funding for the entire IOS (initial operating segment) that they picked, and that's $31 billion," said Mike Brady, an attorney for the plaintiffs. "They only have $6 billion of the $31 billion, so that's going to be a pretty big hurdle, I think."

Kudos to Mike Brady and the rest of the plaintiffs on the first victory in a long time!

Our November Ballot

Per an analysis by the City Clerk, the upcoming November 5th election will have the most candidates ever for a three seat election.  I told you the starter's pistol went off here.  We have nine certified candidates and the randomized alphabet drawing was held at 11am today.  By my alpha calculation, the ballot order will be:

Russ Cohen - Association Executive Director

Ricardo Ortiz - Businessman

Alexander England Kent - School Real Estate

Ann Keighran - Incumbent

Robert Schinagl - Store Clerk

Steve Duncan - Retail Management

Nirmala Bandrapalli - Mother and Entrepreneur

Michael Brownrigg - Vice Mayor/Business Owner

Andrew Peceimer - Business Owner

The occupations listed come from their filings as listed at www.shapethefuture.org on this page.

 

Tree Alert...Again

Just when you thought it was safe to walk amongst our giant eucalyptus trees because they have been deemed historic, we get news in the Daily Journal of another threat to some of them

Some Burlingame and Hillsborough residents are concerned with the prospect of tree removal along El Camino Real and Floribunda Avenue to rebuild an intersection that is said to be unsafe.

I had heard about this a couple months ago from a resident on the B'game side of the intersection who was very upset.  I drive through that intersection all the time and the comment about not much room to replace any of the trees that might get cut rings true to me.

As the city manager notes and we have seen further north on El Camino

Burlingame City Manager Lisa Goldman said trees do come down occasionally if they are diseased and that the state owns El Camino Real and, thus, the trees along it.

But those get replaced with new eucs or elms--a bit of a natural refresh which is healthy for the grove--and for us.  I recall someone telling me early in my activist days that "the surest way to fill B'game City Hall seats is to threaten the trees on El Camino".  We'll see.  At least CalTrans had the good sense to protect them during the last project on that block.