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.

 

Comments

[local motion]

I would like to know why Nirmala Bandrapali thinks donations to her campaing are tax deductible. Go to her website and you will see this

Law requires we ask for your employer and occupation. If you don't have an employer or are retired, put N/A, and if you are self-employed put "self-employed" in employer and describe your occupation.

This is a contribution from a business.

Contributions are tax deductible.

It is news to me that contrubtions are tax deductible. Can anyone confirm this before I give to my favorite.

[fred]

Mr. or Mrs. Bird I am not threatened, I'm not quite sure how you came to that conclusion. You've posted here for a while, you used to post on threads at times when Fiona posted:

http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2009/09/new-hospital-new-er.html
http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2009/11/and-the-winners-are.html

I'm not implying you have ties to anyone, but you certainly have always had a lot of contempt for Keighran. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, we all have them.

I think what is best for council is people who are fiscally responsible and don't look at the pocketbooks of residents, property owners and business owners as the solutions to the long term pension and benefit concerns. Seriouly, what is with the parking rates downtown? Six minutes for a dime? Really? It's not the fricking Embarcadero. It's Burlingame Ave.

Joe, sorry, I didn't mean to knock your website. I've always enjoyed it and I appreciate the opportunity to voice an opinion.

[alittlenird]

Names are different, but there are definitely shared sentiments. I choose my name because of that. By the way Fred, did you see that the streetscape taking place on the avenue made the local news the other evening, with merchants talking about lost income. Just as you said.

[fred]

It's a shame, I don't know how it should have been done, but this way seems too extreme. Was walking down the street today and some guy is telling two people, "Yeah they keep opening up more restaurants but there's never anywhere to park". I defy anyone to come down to Burlingame on a Friday at noon and find a parking spot. Come look and see how many cars are circling the sidestreets searching. They said in the article this week they made up the thirteen (now ten?) lost Avenue spots with parking on Primrose and Highland, I don't believe that. I'll look up the news story online, thanks!

[alittlebird]

Have to put on my two cents too. Saw the ice cream truck with a keighran sign plastered on it. Guess the ice cream guy is getting some payment for that show of support.

[Holyroller]

If the Ice Cream truck is not getting support in the way of "payment."
The Ice Cream Truck is benefiting.
Doing bisiness in the City of Burlingame requires a business licence,Health inspections,and paying taxes too. Does Elder Kerrigan endorse this "ever expanding" underground finacial position?

Should Elder Kerrigan continue to ignore the blatant disregard of San Mateo County Health codes, State and Federal tax laws?
When will it stop?
FYI
Are the "housekeeping service women" at the Kerrigan homes undocumented?
Not the business owner, the employees?

[pat giorni]

Just for the record, the Ice Cream Man in the Park (pushcart) pays his yearly $100. business fee per Jesus Nava's report to Council and is a legitimate business enterprise. I'm betting the Ice Cream Trucker-man is also paying his fee; therefore, ditto. Do your due diligence through the Granicus tapes on the city website and find the meeting where the topic was revision of the fee structure and possibility of amnesty for the scofflaws "working at home" who avoided and resented paying it....about 3-4 years back. Or call City Hall and simply ask if the truck driver has paid his fee before you impune his honesty.

Oh, and by the way please find out what the Mayor is paying for votes because this retired person on a fixed monthly nut is looking for supplemental income.

[fred]

Letter from San Mateo Daily Journal
Burlingame parking debacle

Editor, 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

[Editor]

Thanks for the pointer, Fred. You will see that I made a full post out of the letter.

Holyroller, you are very, very close to violating the Terms of Use with the last comment you made on this thread. Don't be surprised if the next one like it is deleted per those Terms.

[fred]

Thank you editor Joe, but this experienced Voice blogger wasn't struggling to find a place to put this letter. I meant to put it here as it is germane to the parking issues I had discussed earlier in this thread.

Most importantly, it is a very important election issue. Parking has always been an issue downtown, soon it will be a severe problem.

[Tom Hornblower]

I live at 2100 Easton Dr. and I was going up Easton last week and when I got to Columbus and Easton, there obstructing/littering my view of our beautiful neighborhood, was/is a 2ft x 4ft campaign sign of Ann Keighran on a fence. The election is not until Nov. 6, meaning it will be an eyesore for over two months. In a neighborhood of 1 to 3 million dollar homes and beautiful trees/foliage, it's a crying shame that this type of "in your face" campaign practice is allowed. Small lawn signs are bad enough. Hillsborough requests that their candidates campaign signs be limited to 12"x15" and that request is respected; the city of Burlingame should advise their candidates in a like manner.

[alitllebird]

Agreed, Tom Hornblower. This is small town politics and the sign war has already begun. It is shameful in my littlebird opinion, as well as an eyesore.

[Tom Hornblower]

P.S. I just went down Easton toward El Camino and Ann Keighran has a whole bunch of her 2ft x 4ft signs on every available corner fence; how rude!

[alittlebird]

Yeah it is pretty moronic, I agree. Do you even see such huge banner like signs during a presidential election? I think not.

[j.m.]

League of Women Voters 2013 Candidates' Forum
Date: 9/19/2013 6:30 PM - 8:30 PM
Location: Burlingame City Hall, Council Chambers
501 Primrose Road
Burlingame, California 94010

[local motion]

What a spectacle tonight at the debate. These newcomers are so uninformed it is scary. If I were Keighran or Brownrigg, I would have had to excuse myself and go out and scream. Cohen sounded like what he is. A experienced past council guy. The rest were pretty pathetic.

[neighbor]

Does anyone know what Alexander Kent means when he says he wants to represent the 50% of town that are renters? Do renters have some special need that I don't know about?

[Pete Garrison]

Yes- they get to vote for parcel taxes that they don't have to pay for directly.

Last night's debate used buzz words for tax increases such as "sustainability" and "seismicly unsafe" in the way they used to say, "Won't someone think of the children?"

[fred]

I think calling those individuals running for council pathetic is just not right. While I've only watched half the forum so far, I thought they all brought something to the table, some more than others. What I do have a huge problem with is Russ Cohen. First off, he mentions the historical museum in his opening remarks. I should have done this sooner, but this clinched it, I'm calling this out.

The historical museum is open 3 hours a month excluding labor day and I believe one other month, so at best case it is open 33 hours a year. A normal business in Burlingame, let's say is open 10 hours a day six days a week, on average. That is 3120 hous versus 33 hours, of course they pay rent. The historical museum get 1% of the usage of a normal business property. The fact that it could be used in a much better fashion serving a public need while generating private revenue in the form of rent is plain wrong.

[fred]

Problem number two with Russ Cohen: He opposes everything. If it were possible he would return Burlingame to 1950, of course that is not possible change is a constant. You need council candidates who will shape that change in a positive way.

[fred]

Russ Cohen tried to buy votes by saying he would vote to reinstate the city covers sidewalk repairs. That won't happen, he would be the 4 to 1 vote on that issue as well as many others. I believe that Cathy Baylock decided not to run for council due to frustration at often being the dissenting vote on many issues. Being a 1 to the other 4 in voting is not a productive spot to be in.