The Burlingame Voice

High Cost Rail - Part 100 Sensible Ruling on Lawsuit

It has been almost three months since our last real High Cost Rail post, but our centennial post is a rare bit of good news on the costly boondoggle thread.  As reported by our intrepid colleague at Examiner.com one of the anti-HSR lawsuits has been cleared to proceed.  Kathy Hamilton writes

Michael Brady, co-counsel on the Tos/Fukuda/Kings county case commented on the court’s action on April 15, 2014:  "The plaintiffs are gratified by the court's ruling; this will allow us to proceed to an actual trial on important remaining issues, such as:

*The Authority will be unable to meet the mandatory requirement of Proposition 1A that the trip from LA to SF must be made in less than 2 hours 40 minutes;

*The project will be unable to operate without a state, local, or federal subsidy, which it is required to do;

*The Authority is planning to use the bond proceeds for purposes not authorized by the bond Act (1A), and this violates the state Constitution.

*Any of these (and other) violations means that the project is INELIGIBLE to receive Proposition 1A bond funds, our contention from the beginning."

The best way to strangle this boondoggle is by closing the wallet on it.  Let's hope that comes to pass.

 

Our New Post Office

The sale of the downtown Post Office was reported awhile back and I had heard rumors of the new location for as well, but this letter posted near the mail slots confirms it.

If you are having trouble reading that on-line, it says 1100 Howard Ave. is the new location.  That is the current Calico Corners site shown here

One has to wonder if this move needs some sort of permit from the City.  Afterall the parking on this corner can't come close to that available at the current location.  Straightforward prediction:  we will have a traffic mess on our hands at Howard and Highland.  You read it here first.

Sign Clutter

Big signs are an issue for sure, but of all the little things that I can get peeved about, few match illegally placed signs.  I guess it's has to do with it being so visible and the fact that the enforcement agency knows EXACTLY who to chase down--unlike graffiti.  The Great Clips signs spread all over the Howard Ave block where the shop is located are one example.

And now here is another example.  Perhaps this candidate has permission from Safeway, but I doubt it.  Safeway has never given any other politician or wannabe politician permission that I can recall.  Most corporations have a policy against it.  So does this candidate have the experience to know better or the integrity to fix it if that is the right thing to do?

We'll see.  If not, I know how I will be voting.

Wetlands Parcel Tax? Soggy Idea.

The Daily Post has a long article on a proposed parcel tax that would raise $150 million over ten years to restore wetlands.  Apparently the windbags at ABAG spun off another bureacracy named the San Francisco Bay Restoration Authority back in 2008.  No mention was made of how they had authority to make a new "authority" but the Post did spend a couple column inches on other criticism of ABAG--most of which is on the money.

So the proposed parcel tax would be on the November ballot and cover nine counties requiring the two-thirds majority to pass.  It would be $9 or $10 per parcel and the proceeds would be doled out in grants by the new Authority.  Our own Supe Dave Pine is on this Authority and described how the grants would be multiplied by Federal grants....maybe.  We are seeing how well that works with High-cost Rail which is to say it isn't working.

We know what it takes to pass a very local parcel tax for something that many people are passionate about like the local schools, so the wetlanders will need big money from somewhere if they hope to cover nine counties.  Color me "opposed" right now. 

Sign of the times

Decided to start another post on the subject because I don't think an important point has been discussed. That point is that currently Burlingame not only has an ordinance against electronic signs, more importantly, it has an ordinance against "Off Premise" signage. What that means in layman's terms is that if you have a business in one part of town, you can not advertise that business with a sign in another part of town. The intent of the ordinance is to deter the proliferation of advertisments springing up on every corner.

That said, someone mentioned the Mike Harvey Acura sign in a previous comment on the other post on this subject, and that particular sign was the subject of an article during the print days of the B-Voice. So it is wholly appropriate to show that the Harvey sign is not only one of more egregious examples of what not to do with electronic signs it is also today breaking the law when it comes to off premise advertisments as it promotes a local jeweler and Mike Harvey Honda both establishments on the other side of town.

So,it is clear that either the ordinance needs stronger enforcement or the ordinace needs to be changed.

To further clarify what the council is thinking about, it is my understanding that they are only investigating an electronic sign along highway 101, not anywhere in the midst of Burlingame.

However, if you look closely at the new downtown streetscape, you will notice four platforms that will eventually accommodate kisoks, ( should have taken a photo, but didn't think of that.) These kiosks can display static directories or display electronic directories, the thought being that advertisng would help defray the costs of the kiosks over time. This notion too seems to avoid the issue of off premise signage.

One philosophical question regarding revenue is that as in this case the public is subjected to the advertisment, should the public not benefit in some financial way? In other words, even though this billboard is on private property, it is selling ad space to others...should the city be handed a small fee? Just asking?

Sign, Sign, Anywhere an Electronic Sign?

The Council agenda item to accelerate looking at electronic signage is described in today's Daily Journal piece.  It's a bit of a trade-off between visual clutter (especially really bright clutter) and dollars of city revenue.  There are at least two electronic signs already in town--the car dealership monster sign on B'way and the somewhat restrained one at BHS.  There have also been issues with what ads appear on the car dealer sign.  As this goes forward, and I'm guess it will go forward,:

Staff would also advise to conduct a web-based survey of the community to determine public opinion and/or also conduct public meetings once sufficient information has been acquired; identify any potential city of Burlingame-owned sites that meet the location criteria for digital billboards and infrastructure and evaluation based on traffic, visibility, Caltrans requirements and proximity to planned or existing digital billboards in other communities; prepare a map that shows potential sties; identify potential regional impacts; and conduct a legal review of any proposed models for permitting signs and/or leasing city property, according to the staff report.

I just hope we keep Caltrans out of it as much as possible so we minimize the chances of more idiotic signage like this.  

Controllers Self-Fund, So far.

I'm just a slightly interested observer in the County controller race due to our former mayor's candidacy and strategic moves.  Some of those are described in the first post on the topic.  Today the SM Times has tracked down the initial campaign funding statements for Juan Raigoza and Joe Galligan

According to campaign disclosure statements filed for the period from Jan. 1 to March 17, former Burlingame mayor Joe Galligan loaned his campaign $50,000 and raised $450 for a total of $50,450. Assistant Controller Juan Raigoza poured $25,000 of his own money into his campaign and raised $7,201 for a total of $32,201.

Those numbers are interesting because we here in B'game know that Joe Galligan can raise more than $450 from donors, so one has to wonder what he's waiting for?  Given the news that the two incumbents for County Supe (Groom and Horsley) have raised big money against newcomer opponents, the controller race looks like the one to watch for political junkies this year.

More Wildlife: Mountain Lion

From the SMC non-emergency email distribution, we learn:

At 11:45 this morning a mountain lion was seen in the vicinity of 6220 Skyline Blvd. in Burlingame, California. Fish & Game and Sheriff's Deputies are on scene investigating. 

If you see a mountain lion DO NOT APPROACH IT, especially one that is feeding or with offspring. Most mountain lions will try to avoid confrontation. 

Here are a few tips: Avoid hiking or jogging when mountain lions are most active—dawn, dusk, and at night. Keep a close watch on small children. If you encounter a mountain lion, do not run; instead, face the animal, make noise and try to look bigger by waving your arms; throw rocks or other objects. Pick up small children. For more information about mountain lions click here www.keepmewild.org

I'm not so sure about the "throw rocks" part but the rest sounds like good advice.  This is the kind of cougar we don't want to see in B'game.

A sale of historic proportions

I don't normally post calendar items to this blog, but this one should be fun and it's a fundraiser too!

On Sunday, April 6th, there will be a sale of historic proportions. The Burlingame Historical Society Rummage Sale will feature items of historical interest as well as household items. Sale items include: vintage Burlingame city directories, mannequin parts, antique adding machines, rare books, sheet music, vintage luggage and much more. You don't want to miss this one!! It all starts at 9am at the Burlingame Ave train station where the museum is located.

Here are a few sample items, but know that there will be much more. C'mon down.

Everyone needs one of these, right?

Don't miss it!

Designing Design Tech into Mills

Today's Daily Journal article on where a new charter school will be located was very timely.  I had just finished reading a Wall Street Journal article about the New York State governor and legislature's deal to smack down the new NYC mayor who is anti-charter school.  New York State passed a law requiring NYC to find rent-free space for charter schools in government buildings--with a stick that if no room can be found "the city would be required to pay up to $40 million for the charter to rent private space."  The piece mentioned that California has a very similar law except California school districts can charge charter schools rent.  The DJ article notes

A new charter school focused on hands-on projects and design concepts could soon be occupying space at Mills High School starting this fall.

Although Design Tech High School’s leadership wanted it to be housed at Burlingame High School, the San Mateo Union High School District said there isn’t space at the growing Burlingame school. Last week, the district approved sending a letter to the charter offering six classrooms, each with 960 square feet of space, at the Mills location for the new school. The school initially requested at least eight classrooms and the district previously had offered five.

You can click through for the financial details, but the Mills vs. BHS location negotiation boils down to this

“Burlingame is a built-out site,” said Liz McManus, deputy superintendent of business services. “There’s a bubble going through the Burlingame Elementary School District. We have to look at our long-term projections with our capacity. In the 2014-15 school year it will flow into our schools and continue to grow for the next 15 years. We don’t anticipate the growth pattern to be as strong at Mills and it’s a beautiful campus.”

It sounds like the SMUHSD is being much more reasonable than the new major in New York City--not that it's hard to pass that hurdle.  I've also been thinking about the "bubble" Liz identifies.  It may be more like a giant, hot air balloon if this, this, this and this all progress the way these project could go.