The Burlingame Voice

Pointed Critique of Peceimer

Former County Supe John Ward is well known in B'game political circles having been involved for more than 20 years as an elected official and a paid consultant.  He normally sticks to development issues, but this letter in today's Daily Journal is apparently something he feels strongly about personally.  One of the challenges when someone runs for office is their past comments (especially those that are recorded) become fair game.  I'll let the letter speak for itself:

I arrived home to find a flier from Burlingame City Council candidate Andrew Peceimer, telling me he’d bring a “different opinion” to the City Council. Problem is, I remember Andrew’s opinions from comments he made to the council when he wasn’t running and I was appalled.

It was April 18, 2011. I was watching the meeting at home when he got up to speak. Just to be sure, I went to the public record to quote him accurately here. As he was criticizing public employees, Andrew said,

“Let’s talk about the firemen. Ever since 9/11 I think that there is a certain sympathy that people have for fire or police because of the action that they did. I understand what they were doing, but I don’t want to put them on a hero level. To me, a hero is somebody who jumps into the San Francisco Bay and they’re not being paid for it, and potentially they could die. When the firemen and policemen were running into 9/11, to the best of my knowledge, they were being paid. Nobody knew those buildings were going down. So I understand and respect what they do for a living, but they’re not heroes.” (minute 36.20)

Well, first responders are heroes to me, 9/11 responders especially. Does Andrew think our soldiers are not heroes because they get paid to do their job? Sorry, those aren’t my values. I am a 38-year Burlingame resident and home owner. I don’t think our council needs that kind of “different opinion.” 

John M. Ward

Burlingame

It's hard to say what the impact of this reminder will be on the election, but my guess is whatever the magnitude, the direction will be against Andrew Peceimer.

Daily Post Endorsement

Following the path blazed by the Daily Journal here, the Daily Post has endorsed Michael Brownrigg, Ann Keighran and Russ Cohen for B'game City Council.  The incumbents are both endorsed by Labor which always worries the Post, but it is convinced both have "demonstrated independence".  Necessity being the mother of independence in this case.  For the challenger pick of Russ Cohen, the Post notes

On Council (from 2005 to 2007) he opposed the Peninsula Avenue overpass project that would have resulted in the seizure of dozens of homes and businesses through eminent domain. ...we think Cohen will provide a balanced view between the push for high-density housing and the need to protect Burlingame's charm and livability.

It's not clear the San Jose Mercury Times will even do an endorsement this far north, so that may be the end of the endorsement story--a consensus among the two local editors.  I cannot say for sure it's the first time, but I also cannot recall it happening.  With absentee ballots about to arrive, many voters have what they need. 

Laguna Shout Out

One of my regular correspondents in town alerted me to a possible new tactic in the residential tear down game after he got his blue card from the Planning Dept. about this house.  Apparently this little house on Laguna used to have a ton of lovely flowers and plants on the two levels of the retaining wall.  No one can say for sure why they are gone now, but it does make the house look a lot more forlorn.

 The 1939 reverse directory for B'game shows that Robert and Caroline Swanson lived there that year and he was an assistant cashier at B of A.  That would have been the old B of A, originally the Bank of Italy, and now the Apple store.  Anyone know either of them?  It will be interesting to see if the palm tree survives.

Oak Grove Shout-out

The Daily Journal has a very cute piece on the "new old" 50 year old Oak Grove Market across from the BHS football field and track.  It notes

After multiple changes in ownership, the Oak Grove Market was going downhill and eventually became a place mostly for high school students to hang out and get their chips and drinks after school.

“When I got here, it was dreadful. The previous owner just sort of gave up,” said (Steve) Rich. “It’s about bringing back a corner neighborhood store.”

And the neighbors are positive on the changes

“It has definitely improved from what it was before,” said Charles Chavez, from Burlingame. “It’s convenient and it sure beats a 7-Eleven.”

I can think of two other neighborhood corner markets in B'game--the one on Howard Ave and the Adeline Market, but it sounds like Oak Grove is taking things to a whole new level  Did I miss any other?  Just another thing that make B'game lcoal B'game instead of one homogenous clone of somewhere else.

 

Fun with Campaign Signs

I missed the Thursday Daily Post article on Andrew Peceimer's sign placement contract due to being out of town, but given all of the talk around town about it, I had to go find a copy.  Put this post in the category of just plain fun since I have absolutely no problem with any candidate paying to have their sign hosted on a business or residence so long as the expense is reported properly and the total square footage at the location is within code.  The fun part for me was the negotiation being listed in the such detail.  Steven Yeh owns the Beacon and Valero gas stations on B'way.  The Peceimer-Yeh negotiations went like this according to the article

Peceimer said he went back another day and offered him $2 a day for a sign at each station until the election and Yeh declined the offer.  Yeh made a counteroffer of $10 a day, which Peiceimer said was too expensive.  The two settled on $5 a day, although Peiceimer admitted that he would have gone as high as $7 a day.

A word to the wise, the next time Andrew runs he better be prepared to pay the 7 bucks!  Here's one of the signs

 

Deconstruction Idea

I never know where I will find interesting tidbits for the Voice.  I was flying home from the East Coast last night on American Airlines and found a tidbit in the airline magazine!  In an article titled "The Deconstruction Deduction" author Ken Wysocky writes

So, you're thinking about a home teardown to make way for larger, more modern digs?  Fair enough, but before you hire a guy with a dump truck, here's a tax tip that may seem as improbable as a benevolent IRS man:  It just might be more lucrative to have your abode painstakingly dismantled--stud by stud, floorboard by floorboard, brick by brick--than to flatten it with a bulldozer.  And you will do the environment a huge favor in the process.

The piece goes on to list some real-life numbers about "donating salvageable materials (such as highly prized old-growth lumber or vintage oak floorboards)".  There are lots of classic B'game bungalows that have lots of that stuff along with classic windows, doors, and fireplace mantles that bring big bucks at places like Omega Salvage, Urban Ore and Wholesale Building Supply in San Mateo.  The piece goes on to note a case study from Palo Alto where

Demolishing the home would cost $10,000.  Hiring a deconstruction contactor--in this case, Palo Alto-based Rebuild Green--would cost $21,000.  A certified appraisal of the salvageable items (required for tax filings for deductions larger than $5,000) cost another $1,500. ... When the final figure (value) came in at $117,000--the resulting tax deduction more than covered the initial outlay.

Great stuff from an unexpected source.  I've been talking to a lot of B'gamers lately while walking neighborhoods and it's amazing how often people want to talk about salvage out of the blue!

The Daily Journal Council Picks

The Daily Journal has cemented its position as the only real local paper for San Mateo county.  The Times and the Daily Post are interesting at times, but the DJ is truly local and plugged into the facts and the undercurrent of events especially in B'game.  The paper has upped the ante for this city council election by not only issuing its endorsements (like it has in the past), but also soliciting and publishing answers to a prescribed set of questions to the candidates.

You can read the candidates' answers here.  But more importantly, the endorsement of the two incumbents (Brownrigg and Keighran) along with Cohen for the open seat deserve to be taken seriously given the paper's connectedness with B'game.  Click through and read the whole endorsement, but the Cohen selection is particularly noteworthy.  It says

The other candidates bring unique points of view and ideas. We were impressed with Ricardo Ortiz’s moderate stances and ability to understand city finances and welcome the input of Andrew Peceimer when it comes to emphasizing the need to make the best decisions when it comes to the public’s money. However, former councilman Russ Cohen also holds those abilities and brings a unique perspective as someone who has already served on the council, been involved in the community through countless projects and understands the need to retain certain amounts of the city’s charm and character. Baylock has long been known as the member of the council who would stand up for the city’s history and character and Cohen would carry that mantle with ease.

Cohen has also demonstrated a willingness to stand up for what he believes is right whether it be stopping high-speed rail or ensuring the city’s historic buildings are preserved. Additionally, because of his experience both off and on the council, Cohen is extremely knowledgeable of city issues and would hit the ground running. There have been times in which Cohen has been too strident with misplaced levity, but we sense a new maturity from him that comes from the passage of time.

The city as a whole is the beneficiary of such a large number of candidates and the discussion created by them. However, the city will be best served with Brownrigg, Cohen and Keighran on the council.

To no one's surprise at this point in the campaign, I agree.

 

Thinking Local From Away

My wife and I took a great five day break from everything this week to celebrate our 25th anniversary.  We went to Glen Ellen (Sonoma County) which only takes about 90 minutes but feels hours away. We relaxed by the pool, had some great meals and plenty of time to read.  I'm reading Peggy Noonan's memoirs of her days as a presidential speechwriter and various other thoughts on our culture that occurred to her in 1990 when the book was written.  She nows writes a regular column for the Wall Street Journal in much the same sweeping, first hand style.

Under the sub-head "We're all national.  We're not local anymore", Ms. Noonan got me thinking when I read

The culture of our country used to be made up of the sum total of local pockets of culture.  There was a South and the Deep South and the Breadbasket, there was Out West and Brooklyn, and all these places were different.  The people in these places had accents, regional accents, and they read the local paper and listened to the local DJ and got the news on one of the local affiliates and it was read to them by a guy who had been there for years.  There was local entertainment, the fairs or the grange or the local Y; you read the local columnists.

But now the sheer weight of national is flattening regional, the sheer weight of network is flattening local.

It struck me this week in Glen Ellen, as it often does when I travel, that there is something special about B'game that merits preserving.  Some people say "you preservationists just want everything to stay the same".  I suppose that is partially true although no preservationist I know remotely expects it to happen.  But as things around us change ("national flattening regional" or more likely in our case "regional flattening local"), my sense is keeping some things the same becomes a key differentiator and has value even in a traditional investment sense.  It would be hard to argue our real estate values are suffering even compared to near neighbors.  But certainly some regional initiatives can harm our special character.

So now that I'm back on-line, it's back to opining on such things.  Judging by the pageview data here, more than a few of you like reading local--even if you don't like what you read about it!  Thanks for that.