The Burlingame Voice

Caltrain Tax?

Yesterday's Daily Post had an article about CEO Jim Hartnett's "sweeping reorganization" of SamTrans and Caltrain including the news that former "chief executive officer of public affairs" Mark Simon will become the "senior advisor for strategic initiatives.  Simon will focus on identifying 'a dedicated funding source for Caltrain and working towards a regional consensus to support it' according to an agency press release."

The agency is considering a tax which could potentially hit the ballot in 2016.

In related news -- because the monies are all related -- the city newsletter announced

CA High-Speed Rail Open House

Wednesday, October 7 from 4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.

Burlingame Auditorium at 850 Burlingame Ave

The California High-Speed Rail Authority will present information on the statewide program and provide information about the next phase of planning and environmental review. For more information go to www.hsr.ca.gov or call (408) 277-1086 or email [email protected]

We'll get more information on whatever the CHSRA wants to alert us to, but it can't be good.  One local wag noted elsewhere that

What good is a pyramid scheme, without going back to the well periodically to squeeze out a few more drops? HSR is coming back to Burlingame for an Open House. 3 full hours of goodness knows what. I guess that means 3 hours, billable to the taxpayers for maybe 8-10 people on the “HSR payroll”. Maybe they’ll take their cue from Caltrans by making it easy on themselves: Posters to hide behind, and no program.

Bottom line:  If Caltrain wants "regional consensus" to support a new tax it should cut its high-cost rail apron strings. 

Rec Center - Same Story, Different Day

At Fred's insistence, here is a fresh post on the Rec Center design plan from the latest Daily Journal article.  I still don't see anything new except the conceptual drawing (click through to see it) and the off-hand comments from four council members -- two of whom choose to ignore all the community input to date that the architects used.  For example

Councilman Michael Brownrigg said he felt the proposed designs were uninspired, and encouraged the architect to take a more creative approach.  Brownrigg suggested the building styles looked dull, which is likley a byproduct of crowdsourcing design suggestions.

“When you have a bunch of people it always comes down to the lowest common denominator. You can’t expect something really interesting to come out of the democratic process” he said. “I just find this boring.”

He said the building in many ways looked too similar to some school buildings in Burlingame, and suggested the planners draw inspiration from the architecture found on Burlingame Avenue for a more creative and interesting vision.

I guess the concept of neighborhood consistency goes out the window.  I also wonder where the desire for an interesting vision was when the Soviet-style "The Trousdale" was in front of the council--and had funding?

The bottom line is still the same as it was back in September or January 2013.  And I'm still pondering which model of Ferrari to not buy.  Will B'gamers go for a parcel tax for this?  Maybe the community outreach should first answer that question to the tune of $15, $20, $25 or the original $30 million estimate.

Wildlife Run Amok?

I put the question mark in the title since it is not clear that the wildlife is running amok or just doing what wildlife does.  We have two great pieces to tie together today.  The first is from the Wall Street Journal discussing a problem I have had for years

At one point, “I had like 12 raccoons on one bin trying to get in,” said Ms. MacDonald, an animal behavior researcher who was testing bin prototypes for the city (of Toronto). None succeeded, she said, but “they did try mightily.”

Ms. MacDonald is on the front lines of Toronto’s war on raccoons, which are ubiquitous in the backyards, ravines and alleys of Canada’s largest city. Although their exact number isn’t known, they are accused of ripping up lawns, destroying gardens, and defecating in garages and on rooftops and decks.

The battle between the city’s residents and its backyard wildlife is increasingly playing out over the disposal of organic waste. Residents’ green bins—which the city collects weekly at the curb—offer a smorgasbord for raccoons and have helped their numbers increase. Torontonians say it is tough to keep the bins sealed and the animals away.

The second point is from our very own John Horgan discussing a more disgusting problem

This involves something far more pressing here on the Peninsula: the Canadian goose problem. Surely, you have experienced the slimy depredations produced by this infernal creature, which migrates south from colder climes to linger in the warmer precincts of places like San Mateo County.

Now, however, there might be light at the end of the avian tunnel. Officials in Ottawa are considering something new as they grapple with their goose problem: drones.  It turns out that these remote-controlled aircraft are quite effective in keeping the geese out of areas deemed unfit for their presence. Great.

We will skip the back and forth about whether drones to scare geese is humane or not, but if you have stepped in the stuff often enough, you probably have a point of view on that.  To me, the raccoons are a bigger challenge.  Bungee cording my bins to trees seems to have fooled the B'game bandits but perhaps they will get as smart as the Toronto bandits soon?

 

 

City Clerk - The End of Two Eras

Yesterday was City Clerk Mary Ellen Kearney's last day as clerk.  That is the end of her era in City Hall, but it is also the end of the era of elected city clerks in B'game.  Way back in 2009 that issue was decided by an election and the position transitioned to an appointed post the next time it came around--that was yesterday.

You can read about the 2009 election here.  That post garnered 63 comments to date for good reasons that I won't recap here, but Russ did a great job laying it out in the original post.  I met the new City Clerk, Meaghan Hassel-Shearer, on Thursday at Mary Ellen's retirement party and I wish her all the best.  It is an important position both in election season and year round documenting how things happen at the Council.  As an elected official, Mary Ellen was totally independent of council and staff pressure.  Meaghan will have to walk a slightly different path, but she can count on watchful citizens to help out if the going gets rough.  And as I mentioned to the city manager Thursday night, all it takes is another Measure to bring back elected clerks.

While I toasted her last week in person, here's a electronic toast to Mary Ellen as we wish her a great retirement.

Dog Abuse

This is a weird local story as reported in today's Daily Journal.  I normally wouldn't post it except for two things that make it even weirder

The Peninsula Humane Society is seeking the public’s help in bringing charges against a Burlingame dog sitter who was allegedly caught on camera abusing an animal.

A resident witnessed a neighbor, who runs a dog sitting and boarding business out of her home near Burlingame High School, jerk a cowering dog up by the neck, slam the small dog to the ground and then slap it multiple times while it was pinned to the ground, according to PHS spokesman Scott Delucchi.

The neighbor filmed the incident from a cellphone July 30 and turned it over to the PHS, which is now seeking help in locating the animal. This was not the first time the PHS has received complaints about the woman, but it is the first time the local nonprofit has obtained evidence it now believes will allow prosecutors to file charges, Delucchi said.

Because formal charges have not been filed, the PHS has not yet released the name of the alleged abuser or her business. However, the PHS is seeking the public’s help in both identifying the abused animal and finding other potential victims.

Aside from the really sad part about abusing multiple dogs, who knew you could run a dog boarding business with (it sounds like about 15 dogs at a time) in a single-family residential neighborhood behind BHS?  And how can they find other owners whose dogs may have been abused if they don't release the woman's name?  The description is pretty complete, but without the name, who really knows?

Drought: Trees in Peril, Duh!

As a public service, I will retype some of the front page article in today's San Mateo County Times because the Times/Merc website is such a disastrous affair that only us print subscribers will see it if I don't retype it.  The headline is a classic Law of Unintended Consequences screamer "Trees in Peril Across the State".  While the City Council ponders its navel about how to get Caltrans to leave 14 healthy eucalyptus trees on El Camino alone, the Time is highlighting the 12.5 million trees that have passed due to the drought.  Anyone who actually owns trees already knows this, but here is one pertinent detail

So many trees are dying in the fourth year of this historic drought that some cities have begun delivering truckloads of water in an effort to save them.  In Palo Alto, where groundwater is pumped out during basement excavations (hey, is there any excavating going on in B'game??), the discarded water is collected in the city's 2,700 gallon water truck (hey, do we got one o dem?) and then used to irrigate trees.

The piece goes on to note that 

Experts say the fragile and nonnative species that dot our urban landscapes -- the ginkgos, magnolias, lindens, maples, liquid ambers, European beeches, and out-of-place coastal redwoods, all accustomed to routine irrigation--are suffering the most with extreme conservation.

I love that last bit, "extreme conservation".  So if we are in extreme conservation, why are we approving hundreds of new condos with 2-3X hundreds of new bedrooms and baths.  Even more new office buildings are in the works.  Why is that?  My advice---ignore the current two day per week watering restriction and Save Your Trees.  When the Council figures out that water really is a Zero Sum Game and plays the game to the benefit of the residents of Burlingame, then you can go back to complying.  In the meantime, here is the skeleton of my favorite fruitless mulberry tree in my yard, taken tonight as I was watering the poor thing to save its life.

Nov. 3 Council Ballot Order

The Secretary of State did the random drawing this morning to establish ballot order of candidates for the whole state.  The results are here and they set our order as:

Emily Beach

Nirmala Bandrapalli

Eric Storey

Donna Colson

In past years with seven or nine names on the ballot the order was a bigger deal.  Some staffers believe the top spot is worth about a a 5% bump, but with only four to choose two from, I think it will have less impact.  Here is the prior post on the election.

Mighty eucs on El Camino scheduled to fall.

For several years now, Caltrans has wanted to design a left turn lane on El Camino Real at Floribunda, at the entrance to Hillsborough's City Hall. They have come to the residents and leaders of Burlingame to solicit opinions. At the meetings I attended the message from both was clear. "Do not remove our trees."

Despite that clarity, Caltrans has returned with their grand plan to remove 14 trees at this intersection.

I am reposting some comments made recently on this blog under an old post border to call attention to this important issue. If we oppose this action again, more strongly and more forcefully, I would like to hope that Caltrans will listen this time.

Please read further for ways you can oppose:

THEY’RE BACK! 

After almost 2 years of inaction, and in particular, no response to Burlingame and Hillsborough’s request for a “tiered approach” including using Operational Changes (ie. No Left eastbound, signal adjustment,  one-way, or any combination thereof ) to reduce left-turn related accidents at Floribunda, BEFORE resorting to the permanent, irreversible widening of the highway, and tree removals to make room for a fifth lane,

 

Caltrans has notified the Cities of its Application for concurrence in "Finding of No Effect" regarding the widening of the highway for a length of 644 ft. on the eastside of El Camino Real, and 427 feet on the westside. This is essentially confirmation that the widening project is proceeding as Caltrans had planned. 

 

It will result in the permanent loss of 14 trees, (only 5 of which they propose to replace elsewhere) and even worse, a significant change of character for that area, that likely not be last widening project planned. It will just happen in small increments over the next decades, until one day, it will all be gone.

 

Comments to the contesting the Finding of No Effect (FOE) should be submitted  to the State Office of Historic Preservation, (referencing FOE for Floribunda Project)- by August 21.  This item will be on the Council agenda this coming Monday, August 17th, 7pm. City Hall.

Julianne Polanco
[email protected]
Office of Historic Preservation
1725 23rd Street, Suite, 100
Sacramento, CA 95816  Attention: Natalie Lindquist

Drought in the Sierra

It's one thing to look at a website and see the water level in the Hetch Hetchy.  It's much more impactful to stand on the dam at the outlet of Lake Tahoe and see.........rocks.  That is the view below.

That is the lake "shore" in the distance and the locals tell me that there has been some rain in Tahoe this summer including a very good storm last week..  Yet up and down the Peninsula city planning commissions and councils continue to approve new hotels, office buildings and higher density housing.  It makes one wonder what they are thinking since we will never have enough water in California.

Friends with Benefits: Prepping for the 2016 Election

The SacBee got out its calculator today and determined that

the latest federal figures show California’s public pension debt in 2013 stood at $4,425 for every man, woman and child in the state, despite strong investment returns by public retirement funds.

The per-capita obligation ranked 11th highest among U.S. states, according to a Sacramento Bee analysis of latest data by the U.S. Census Bureau. California’s total pension debt, $610.3 billion, is the largest in the nation.

The Bee also notes that the stats are timely since

Such statistics will likely pour into a complex debate over state and local public retirement benefits in the new few months. The ballot proposal aimed for the November 2016 election would, among other things, change California’s constitution to require that voters approve public pension enhancements. Unions oppose the measure as an attack on working people disguised as voter empowerment.

Now the first week of August is about the least noticed time to alert people to this or any other issue even if we are talking about a $136B shortfall, but since we are talking about 2016 there is plenty of time to fill the airwaves with fear, uncertainty and doubt.