School Parents Beware This City Council

Do not feel bad if you missed the discussion about affordable housing in downtown Burlingame during the last two election cycles.  You missed it because it never happened.  Your 2015 City Council has conjured this issue up on its own and appears bound and determined to proceed on its own.  Forget transparency (beyond random files buried on the city website).  Forget accountability.  Forget fiscal responsibility.  Forget water conservation.  Forget street infrastructure.  And especially forget the Burlingame schools' capacity.  They appear to just not care.

It is incredibly ironic that this Council votes to select a developer to build on city parking lots on July 6th

Though some details of the proposal are still up for negotiation, the development brought forth by Pacific Companies offers to construct 66 affordable and market rate units for seniors and 78 affordable housing units, which could be set aside for city employees, teachers at local schools, emergency response personnel and others who wish to live and work in Burlingame.

since the Daily Post ran its annual report on Burlingame city salaries on July 3rd.  Overall it was a reasonably good report- 2014 total salaries up 2.8% over 2013- but you quickly see there are 201 people making more than $40,000 which is about half of the County moderate income level.  Many of the other 181 are part-timers.  Having just approved about 450 new bedrooms of development on Carolan Ave. with much more on the horizon for the South end, one has to wonder why bother having a North end specific area plan when the Council just ignores it.  I really hope that five years from now I don't have to link back to this post and say "I told you so".  Wanna bet?

Comments

[resident]

These clowns proved they were real estate rubes on the post office deal when they tried to steer the purchase to some preferred developer and a totally different buyer won out. Have they learned nothing from that embarassment?

[Russ]

I will go on record here as saying I think adding 700+ units, including this and other developments in the pipeline, with the accompanying traffic and parking and infrastructure challenges, including the strain on our schools, is of great concern. I am not sure why there is such a push for more density, especially in our downtown. Quite frankly, I think many people live here because it has density in the right places, i.e. along ECR, and that Burlingame has a small town charm. The push for density cannot contribute to our charm it can only take away from the very essence of why people have been attracted to Burlingame.

To be be clear, it’s not that Burlingame can't handle more density. (For the record, when I was on council, we designated key areas through the North Burlingame specific area plan specifically to add density.)

What struck me about the Post's list was not so much that top tier salaries are being enjoyed by some, but rather the rhetoric I have heard lately from many current city council members that all the density that they want to see added to our city would help Police, Fire Fighters and Teachers afford to live in Burlingame. According to the listng of salaries, many of our public employees including the PD enjoy salaries above $100K annually. I also read a recent report (can’t remember where, sorry) that teachers salaries have increased over the least several years as well, hovering near the $100K mark in some school districts in Northern CA.

Te developer himself stated at the meeting that teachers and public safety workers would most likely not be eligible for Below Market Rate housing.

The impacts that Joe eludes to are accurate, further many of the impacts will be on the East side of Burlingame. Something none of the current council members care about. Perhaps that's because none of them live on the East side and apparently don't come a visiting very often.

[fred]

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't the state mandate that a certain number of units must be added or the city will lose out on state funds? Aren't state funds also distributed to schools based off enrollment and attendance? I understand cities like Hillsborough and Woodside don't care about the state funds because of the wealth in the area but while Burlingame has increased their tax base the unfunded pension and infrastructure needs demand that they comply with state mandates. As far as where in the city the density is added, I would think the city is not in the drivers seat and has to wait until developers present options to the council (outside the unwise ability to give up public land in order to get development).

[hillsider]

Whoa, Nelly. Did you read the other article in yesterday's paper? They want 25 mil to complete the downtown streetscape. Didn't the whole project cost 15 mil? What in the world is going on here?

[Laura]

Russ, totally agree with you. People love Burlingame because it still has the small town charm and not because we are filled to the brim with high density housing. The council all live west of California, or should say west of El Camino and I'm starting to believe, they don't give a crap about the east side. The development they all love to talk about and have planned, is for the east side, our neighborhoods, and not theirs! I bet it if was reversed, we would not be seeing the huge projects they have planned for our side of town. I hear nothing about traffic calming devises with these huge developments as the cars will eventually be racing down our streets, past schools and homes to get to the freeways as not many are going to take the train that they keep talking about. Time for a change with this next election!

[Joe]

Fred, the difference between real leadership and rote obeisance to some poorly thought out state mandate is what is missing here. There are ways to manage this issue and, if necessary, litigate the demand to add massive amounts of school space (not just classrooms, but fields, parking, etc) in a town where an empty 50' x 100' lot costs $1.7M. Lets see some judge buy into the state's argument before we ruin the whole town. And by the way, what happened to taking inventory of granny units and counting them towards any mandate? Where is the real leadership and creativity? No where. Very poor fig leaf, IMO.

[Bruce Dickinson]

Guys, I gotta tell ya, Russ and Joe have hit this nail on the head, as it were. I challenge Burlingame to ignore the "State Mandate" which only requires one to identify potential housing sites, not build them. What happens if you don't build? Who's gonna force Burlingame to do something? Show Bruce Dickinson an example of forced coercion to build if a city has identified the site per the State rules. Folks, do some real research here, as Russ and Joe have and you will find that there is so much more Burlingame can do to not be subject to the "rules" put out these non-elected agencies such as MTC and ABAG. There are precedents with other cities.

Also, I don't believe that assisted housing counts as additional housing in Burlingame. This could be easily changed, just as counting in-law units is in some cities.

In the past year, Bruce Dickinson has had my tech guy compile a lot of footage from the City council meetings, snippets as it were on issues that I see are important and here is what I see: Brownrigg seems smart, but needs to get out of "there is a diplo-solution to everything" mode; Keighran actually seems to care a lot about Burlingame and is not afraid to break away from the rest; Ortiz likes to go along with the majority rules; Root also seems to do that, but what is interesting about him is that he seems to say pretty much the same thing another council member said earlier but says in a way that makes it seem like he came up with the idea and was the first to say it; Nagel wants to give the appearance of accomodation by asking soft-ball questions and making non-committal statements with no real content but you can pretty much predict how she's gonna vote.

I think this Bruce Dickinson has gotten tired of the eating the same old wieners and I'd rather sink my teeth into a nice juicy filet mignon...something different and more fitting of Burlingame fine dining. We all deserve better. In other words, Russ, you need to run for City Council!

[Lazy voter malaise...]

Give me a red pen...we need 2 police chiefs?

Jeez, I'd recommend that Burlingame go the way of Millbrae and San Carlos and merge with the San Mateo County Sheriff's department, but then rather than being overstaffed and overpaid, we'd just be dealing with pay-offs, hard-asses with no community relationships, and a Sheriff who got busted for prostitution.

I got it! When a public official gets busted, then they can keep their job (add the Sheriff of San Francisco to the list!), but they have to wear a clown suit on the job!

I saw one of the police chiefs today at Copenhagen...he DID look rich!

[J]

Another attempt by the 'elites' to force us into a utopia of their making; exempting themselves of course.
Do as I say, not as I do. Thanks Jerry.

[Joe]

We only have one chief, Eric Wollman, who came was promoted around Nov 1st of 2014

http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2014/11/welcome-new-chief-eric.html#comments

The salary report is for 2014 so both appear (Ed Wood retired) on the list and both carry the chief title although one was only chief for two months that year.

@Bruce: More great ideas from you: research precedents from elsewhere and look at counting more of what we already have, along with identifying sites--although as Russ notes, we already did that in the North End plan. Again, this is a fig leaf for poor leaders who cannot see the forest for the trees.

[D]

Speaking of assisted living...

If you peruse the June 29th Peninsula Healthcare District minutes, Joe Galligan was appointed to a seat on the oversight board of the successor RDA.

Strikes me a bit... conflict of interest since he wife sits on the board.

We deserve better everywhere in San Mateo County frankly than this "status quo".

[P]

For some reason I am not able to comment on the Burlingame web site.
Can anyone please tell me the benefit to the City of Burlingame sharing this personal information with the community?
I would also like to read an "in depth" response from the AFSCME 2190 Union, as well as the Teamsters Union that represents all City of Burlingame 911-first responder emergency personnel.
PLEASE SHARE SO WE DO NOT HAVE TO SHARE WITH THE WORLD HOW PETTY A CITY WHERE THE MIDDLE CLASS-FAMILY OF 4, AND ONE PUREBRED DOG MAKE BELOW 1.3 MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR, PICKS ON SEWAGE WORKERS THAT MAKE $55,000.00 A YEAR.
SHAME.

[hillsider]

Answer (Why publish?): because it is the law.

You must have a whole lot of misplaced envy pent up inside since

Burlingame Estimated median household income in 2013: $87,856 (it was $68,526 in 2000)

Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Burlingame-California.html#ixzz3gJhwy48S

[A]

How many city employees make over $100,000 plus benefits and guaranteed pensions? How many firemaen and police have pensions over $100,000 thanks impart to our taxes?

[A]

Is our former dire cheif still getting full salary? What is the status of his charges?

[A]

What are the qualifications to be a sewage worker in Burlingame?

[A]

How much should a sewage worker make including benefits and pension money?

[A]

Is the librarian still earning over $170,000 per year?

[A]

Is the sports director sill making over $140,000 per year?

[A]

Can we raise the parking rates, hotel taxes parcel taxes, garbage rates, water rates to continue this great Burlingame Obama society?

[Bruce Dickinson]

Spam-I-Am alert! To the "A" poster above, Dr. Dickinson gives you an "F" for website protocol! Bruce Dickinson requests a "perma-ban" of the above individual, who seems to have had a little too much to drink and let the envy issues get past already questionable "filters" of protocol, as it were.

It's all relative folks, a lot of government workers who have been around a long time do appear to make some decent middle-class type salaries. But to the poster above, to get your panties in a bunch and fester even more Dickinson envy, I could show you what a Dickinson-sized paystub looks like! But for reasons that are obvious, that probably wouldn't be a good idea!

[Mom]

I can remember the large classes during the late Baby Boom era and how schools went to staggered schedules to fit everyone in. If we get even some of the new housing that it seems is coming I predict Burlingame will have to do something similar. I doubt the teachers will like it but I could see classes running from 8 to 4 or 4:30 at the elementary grades. At BIS it gets more complicated because of sports but at least there is room to build on campus.

[Life is good.]

Weird. FYI. The A above wasn't me.

Probably see you at the Artzfest tomorrow.

Life is good.

[Dad]

You can't keep looking at new problems with old solutions. The size of the building does not matter if the kids can't get the classes. Everyone looks at Burl Elementary and BIS but those schools do not get your kids to college. If you are going to BHS you better start putting in the work right now. All of those students will get showed into the high school. The current principal has no idea what she is doing and the students can't get the classes (or quality teachers) they need. My kid was assigned to be an Office Assistant because they could not put him in a class. A group of students were not able to enroll in AP Chemistry becuase BHS would not offer enough classes to meet the need. The overcrowding is already here and its going to cost your kid their chance at college.

[all the promises of a good and honest community - shattered]

Dad,

Exactly. Quit voting for politicians that will overspend, overextend with debt, overpromise, overreach by committing felonies themselves, overallow everyone in the world to enroll in our local schools even if the politicians are aiding and abetting criminals/felons, which is a felony (yes folks, the law is the law, it's not available only at your whim).

The result is tens of millions in unfunded budget liabilities at the Burlingame level and hundreds of millions at the County level PLUS billions at the State level and trillions National levels, overcrowding at your schools, unaccountable people in our society - all the promises of a good and honest community, shattered by Jerry Brown & Co.

Over-promised and under-delivered.

And, you continue to vote for it.

Sure, government employees definitely deserve a market salary and benefits based on their skills and experience, but the government just needs to be run with a 100 year++ perspective (don't hire unnecessary employees, quit inviting the entire 7.3 billion people in the world to be hosted to free stuff at our expense http://www.worldometers.info/world-population/ and stop funding unnecessary capital projects).