The Burlingame Voice

Unleashing the Dog Discussion, Again

At the risk of starting another catfight, I am going to link to the Daily Journal piece about off-leash pooch privileges.  It notes

In the recent past, the city has heard from the dog community that it’d like more options on city-owned land for dogs. Pilot programs at Washington Park field on Burlingame Avenue and Cuernavaca Park field for off-leash dogs hours were approved by the council for the school year only, 7:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Monday through Friday and launched at the beginning of April. 

“The pilots are great,” said Recreation Supervisor Nicole Acquisti, who is in charge of the pilot programs. “We recently reached out to all the neighbors, so far nobody has had any complaints, which is nice.”

I hope the Rec Dept. keeps an eye on this post because I will bet you we hear some complaints.  I'm not weighing in pro- or con- but I believe plenty of folks will.  They certainly have in the past.  The sports teams that use the same patches of ground have had problems with lack of clean-up, but who knows maybe people have gotten more responsible.

H2 No - Part 2

My original H2 No post talked about the drought, the Hetch Hetchy water levels and some of the metrics the experts use.  Back on April 16th we were at 210,000 acre-feet and today the website shows 327,000 acre-feet.  I imagine that is due to fast melting snowpack as the last Tahoe ski area closed two weeks ago and Sierra snowpack was at 4% of normal on May 20th.  But that's not my main point today.  In the weekend Wall Street Journal, U.S. Congressman Rep. Tom McClintock has an opinion piece about the amount of reservoir water that has been released to help salmon migrate.  He discusses "pulse flows" that "generate such switch currents that local officials issue safety advisories" downstream.  The water releases also keep the river temperatures down to salmon-friendly levels since the reservoir water is cooler.

Last month the Bureau of Reclamation drained Fulsom and other reservoirs on the American and Stanislaus rivers of more than 70,000 acre-feet of water--enough to meet the annual needs of a city of half a million people.

McClintock's basic point is that the state government and local municipalities are going to have a hard time getting people to buy into super-strict conservation measures (which are probably coming) when pulse flows and stalled legislation on new storage capacity are happening.  He notes that Fulsom authorities have warned residents to expect rationing down to 50 gallons per person per day--a 60% cut from average household usage.  The dry season is just starting and at least six months long, so this could get real bad.

Honoring our heros ( or not. )

It's not often this forum becomes a pulpit for what irks me, but one of my pet peeves is seeing flagpoles with no American flags in important holidays like this one, Memmorial Day. I have posted shots of many a pole around Burlingame with no flags displayed. All photos were taken today, May 26, 2014, Memorial Day.

For the record, today, flags are to be displayed at half mast in honor of our military service men and women. Some got it right, for example, The Burlingame Police Department and City Hall. The Fire Dept, had a flag but not at half mast, so did many others. I'll let the half mast thing slide as long as there is a flag displayed.

Here however are some embarrassing empty poles. If you know anyone who can rectify it for the next American holiday. Let them know.

Above are examples showing many public buildings and a few private businesses, in my opinion, there are no excuses, like "we're closed on the holiday" or "we don;t have staff, etc." after all, when do we normally put up the flag? On holidays!

Here is what I think is the most egregious. Why? Because at the base of the pole is a war memorial.Located at Burlingame High track.

And to be fair, here are a couple who got it right. Broadway Avenue and a private residence on Carmelita.

Happy Memorial Day everyone. We salute those who have served.

Quake Reminder

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal reports on a study in the Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America that indicates we may be faced with not one but a series of Big Ones.  It says

The study reveals a previously unknown tally of very large quakes occurring close together in the Bay Area going back to the year 1600.  From about 1690 to 1776, six large quakes ranging from magnitude 6.6 to 7.8 on five different faults runbled through the region...

The lead author is quoted as saying

It was along the San Andeas fault that the 1906 quake, the most powerful in Northern California's recorded history, broke.  That quake had the effect of releasing enough pent-up energy tp "relax" other faults around it, according to Mr. Schwartz.  Since then, the region has been "seismically quiet," meaning that stress has been rebuilding on the fault line over time.

The U.S. Geological Survey says there is a 63% chance of one or more magnitude 6.7 or larger quakes striking the Bay Area in the next 30 years.

I don't think I have reminded you to update your quake kits in about three years.  Do the shoes in the kit still fit?  Are the spare eye glasses the right prescription?  Do you still own the same car as the one you put the extra key in the kit for?  When was the last time you changed the water?  Do you have charcoal and lighter fluid handy?  A can opener?  Where is the special wrench to turn off the gas?  Do you have a generator?  Have you started it in the last six months?

Remember:  if we get a Big One or two, you and yours could be On Your Own for two, three, four days or more.  While Moonbeam (and the press echo) frets about global warming causing more droughts over the next 30 years, you have the personal responsibility to take care of yourself after a quake.  If you are prepared enough to help out an elderly neighbor or two that would be good also.

Rare Sight on the Avenew

This struck me as a very funny sign.  You won't see it again for a long time.  I can definitely appreciate the merchants' dilemma, especially those near the El Camino intersection who have to live with this weird anomaly, but nonetheless a "U-turn Only" sign is not something you will see on the Avenew again.

Electoral IQ Test

I filled out my ballot today.  If you are voting absentee you have about a week to do the same.  The Big Question in my mind is how many voters will have absentee brains?  What is an absentee brain, you ask?

Leland Yee is on the ballot running for Secretary of State while under indictment for this.  He has seven opponents.  I bet there are enough "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe" voters that Leland gets 10 percent or more!

Anyone care to bet a drink at Sixto's?

Surplus, What Surplus?

I appreciate the SacBee's Dan Walters.  He really tries to present the facts and an balanced viewpoint.  But sometimes he just lets the Capital vortex off too lightly.  This week's example is his piece titled "Even in times of surplus, Brown facing challenges".  Forget the headline, Walters probably had no input on that, but when he writes

Brown inherited a whopping budget deficit from predecessor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who had inherited one from Gray Davis after the latter was recalled....

Brown recounted fiscal history, indirectly criticizing Davis and Schwarzenegger, as he unveiled a revised 2014-15 budget that raises spending a bit, mostly to cover bigger health and welfare caseloads....

But where is the real fault in the last decade's deficits and spending?  Well, who has been in charge?  As Walters notes, Brown is "throwing cold water on Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's push for universal prekindergarten".  That is like throwing a ladle of water on a bonfire.  The Senate and Assembly have been a one-party system for a couple of decades or more and have spent us into the poor house.  And Jerry hasn't thrown in the towel on his "crazy train" yet.  If we are going to talk about who inherited what, let's at least be accurate about who held the purse strings the whole time.

 

 

Controller Battle: Joe v. Juan

Six months ago I bet very few people could name the SM County controller, but the race to replace old what's-his-name is heating up.  The endorsements are splitting down the middle, the DJ has gone for Galligan and the rhetoric is racheting up.  This piece in the Mercury Times gets some great on-the-scene quotes on the record including

"Didn't you have a property and you went to San Bruno and said 'We shouldn't have to pay property taxes'"? Raigoza asked. "Maybe I should do more research on you, Joe."

I don't mean to take that out of context--and the context is extensive-- so you should click through and read the whole thing.  It's just a great quote.  I had another kismet moment today when I picked up the DJ on B'way.  I opened the newspaper box to get my copy and someone had carefully ripped off the Joe Galligan banner at the top of the edition and left it in the box when they took their copy.  That's a gut reaction.  Here is the banner on my copy--still intact.

I did notice some Juan Raigoza signs popping up in places here in B'game today.  But if Juan plans on "doing more research" on Joe he better get on it because it looks like he is behind on that score--he has three weeks not counting the absentees/mail voters.

BCE Rock$ $ilicon Valley Give$

The San Jose Mercury News-San Mateo County Times website is a disaster but with multiple searches on the dysfunctional site I finally found the piece from Thursday titled "Nonprofits receive $7.9M".  It was the front page of the Local News print section and should have popped right up, but perhaps the Merc will get a grant too.  So the good news is that among 700 recipients

The biggest winner Tuesday was Burlingame Community for Education, which provides support for the Burlingame School District. It raised $184,438, more than any other participant. And with 275 donors, it ranked No. 1 among smaller nonprofits, which earned the foundation a $250,000 technology-and-consulting services package from Microsoft.

From the looks of other events BSD is involved in, this will be a welcome stop gap financial measure.  Congrats to those residents who reinforced one of the most attractive aspects of B'game.  Our schools. 

Bogus B'game Reality

I'm a little behind on my reading and viewing, but I do enjoy a few of the "reality TV" shows and record them for later viewing.  Back on April 22nd, the "Flip It to Win It" show on HGTV caught the eye of my eagle-eyed wife and me when a house came up for foreclosure auction in Sunnyvale.  On the show, the bidders go by and visit, but are really buying blind since they cannot go into the houses they are bidding on at the courthouse steps.  So this "Sunnyvale" house on Montana Way caught our attention because it was right on the Caltrain right of way and the video showed eucalyptus trees and oleander bushes as the train went by.  Don't get me wrong: Sunnyvale is a lovely town, but not as lovely as this clip showed.  Here is the house in Sunnyvale and the TV bidders.

The house supposedly sells on the courthouse steps for $810K.  I repeat, Sunnyvale is a nice town, but....   By now the B'game antenna are up.  Sure enough this lovely TV couple are shown walking into the house they won and we see a Michael Brownrigg for Council  sign on the lawn behind them!  Too funny.  This little charmer is at 1038 Montana Morrell Ave. in Sunnyvale B'game!

But wait, the story gets better.  The TV bidders say they budgeted $100K and 33 days to renovate this house and flip it.  I nearly spit out my pinot noir at their cluelessness.  Sure enough as the show progresses, they get caught for numerous lack-of-permit violations and the house gets tied up past the filming for the show so they cannot tout their profits and "lose" to another TV contestant.  Here is the house at the end of the show

Our TV wizards are discussing how to cut their losses at the end of the show and are considering selling it without a kitchen as a second-round spec house.  Well, that didn't happen since the listing is still active seven months later here, but the finished kitchen looks lovely!  Seeing ain't believing these days.

If anyone goes by the open house this weekend, let us know what you think.