The Burlingame Voice

Not Boringame

"Boringame" was not boring last night as the 10th Annual Halloween Pub Crawl kicked off at Sixto's at 5pm.  I'm pleased to report that for the first time, I made it all the way to the end, from Sixto's thru Barracuda, Barrelhouse, La Corneta, the Alibi, Coconut Bay and the Vinyl Room.  The night picked up steam and costumed crawlers as we were shepherded from start to finish by Brenda, who manages Barrelhouse and the Vinyl Room, and who kept everyone on pace.

Coconut Bay and the Vinyl Room had DJs.  Coupled with a great World Series game 5 that went more than 5 hours and saw Houston come back three times to win it in ten innings over the Dodgers ("Beat LA" rang out often), a good time was had by all.  I did not see any bartenders dancing on bars like six years ago.  Here's Brenda in a light saber battle at Barrelhouse.

More Coffee and Juice, Really?

The most fun thing about gathering items for the Voice are the man-on-the-street conversations that occur when people see me taking pictures of seemingly mundane things.  That happened last night as I was taking this photo of the sign announcing the arrival of Joe & The Juice at the former Plant location on the Avenew.  Last night's woman-on-the-street version went like this

"Ugh.  Don't we have enough of these kind of places already?  Why can't they put a great restaurant in there instead?"

As much as I like the name, I just nodded my head, said "Really!" and thought it probably won't even last as long as the Plant did.  We'll see.

And there is still no regular entertainment venue anywhere in sight..............
 

Sudden Oak Deaths Rise

While I wait for that awesome Fall foliage photo that will lead to the autumn tree hugger post, let's beware of the spreading Sudden Oak Death.  The Mercury News is reporting on it here.

A highly contagious disease that has already killed millions of rural California trees is spreading into urban areas in the East Bay and on the Peninsula, according to a major new University of California survey.

The “Sudden Oak Death” pathogen, which emerged in 1995, was found in 13 percent of all samples in central coastal California, up from only 3.7 percent two years ago. That’s more than a three-fold jump — and the highest rate ever recorded.

But in the low-lying and urban eastern Peninsula, infection rates jumped far higher, reaching 36 percent in 2017, up from 2.5 percent in 2015.

The high rate of infections puts these Peninsula communities at risk for the first time: Palomar Park and Emerald Hills in San Mateo County, and Los Altos Hills and Saratoga in Santa Clara County. Other Peninsula communities that were already at high risk — Burlingame Hills, Hillsborough, Woodside and Portola Valley — remain at high risk. 

And here is what to look for although the article doesn't say what can be done about it

The most obvious and useful symptom to look for on oaks is a canker on the trunk. Cankers have red-brown to black discoloration. They usually develop three to six feet off the ground, although they can also be at soil level, or as high as 4 meters or greater. They do not extend below the soil line.

No on "I"

The voting rubber is about to hit the election road as the heft of the flyers in my mailbox can attest.  Two weeks from tomorrow is Election Day, but the absentee voting causes the candidates and issues advocates to be ahead of the fixed date.  I've given the Measure I tax proposal some thought and have come to a different conclusion than many of my friends (and my wife).   I do believe before one comes out against something one should be able to state the supporters' point of view, so as I understand it these are the main points:

• It's a tiny tax of a quarter of a percent
• Our sales tax rate is lower than some neighboring cities
• It will be mostly paid by non-Burlingamers shopping here
• We need the money for streets, policing and other General Fund expenses hence the tree, the streetlight and officer's cap on the lawn signs
• We can borrow against expected proceeds to accelerate stuff we want

First I'll stipulate that taxes that stay local to where they are raised are better than the other kind.  The leaky sieves that are the County and Sacramento are a crying shame.  It is a tiny tax increase, but nonetheless it's going in the wrong direction after numerous other taxes (direct and indirect) passed like:  the gas tax, the Prop 55 income tax on incomes above $250K, bond measures, Cap and Trade, the impending Caltrain tax, bridge toll increases and the distinct possibility that state and local tax deductions on Federal returns could be killed.

If our sales taxes are lower than our neighbors, I say "Good" especially since we have a nice slug of high-value sales happening on Auto Row.  Why aren't we advertising THAT instead of trying to erase the advantage?  And the fact that out-of-towners also shop here doesn't obviate the desire to "Shop Local" for B'gamers.  Why push more people to on-line?

Then there is the "We need the money" argument.  In the big picture, we are a pretty fiscally solvent city.  We also have a building boom happening.  While residential costs us money (even at B'game prices), commercial contributes and big commercial like we are seeing now should contribute big.  Have we looked at increasing the business license fee/tax?  It was traditionally $100 regardless of whether you were a donut shop or Virgin America!  And a new Top Golf money machine is due out on the Bayfront.  To top it all off, the street that is most in need of repair is El Camino and this tax won't help that since it is the State's responsibility.

I'm not too worried about accountability for the funds should "I" pass.  And if the revenue stream exists, borrowing against it will seldom be better timed than now.  I do worry that a big chunk of new money might cause the new Rec Center to be over-designed, but again it's the principle not the implementation.  Getting nickel'ed and dime'd to death appears to be a California specialty and we should not just play along.  No on "I".

Poor El Camino

It's funny how certain concerns simmer in the citizenry.  At least six times in the last couple of weeks I have had the conversation about how bad the road surface is on our section of El Camino Real.  It's certainly no road for a king--more like a peasant's mule-drawn cart.  The latest flurry of comments came as I spent the weekend up near Murphys and Arnold in the Sierra.

As you drive east through Stockton and Copperopolis and up into the mountains, Highway 4 is pristine.  It's a gorgeous band of perfect asphalt.  I make the trip most years at this time and the whole road appears to be freshly resurfaced about every two years.  It's really beautiful all the way up to Bear Valley ski area.

Contrast that with El Camino.  It's crappy.  That is the nicest word I can muster to describe the potholes, ruts, plugged drains, Euc droppings, and weeds.  It's really terrible and it's Caltrans fault since it is a state highway.  We get the occasional tiny patches by a mobile team, but nothing like the Highway 4 black carpet.  What's up with that?  Where are our Assemblyman and State Senator?  They must drive the same bumps.  A new low-profile tire for the sleek cars favored by mid-Peninsulans is about $300 and sometimes you have to change two even when one is damaged.  Please Caltrans, stop by now and then to inspect!

$20 Million Shelter Breaks Ground

The Daily Journal was on hand for the groundbreaking of the new Humane Society building out at Coyote Point that is replacing the old facility in the same spot.  The DJ hits the high points here

(President Ken) White estimated some 6,000 animals’ lives have been saved at the county’s current shelter, where he said a spay and neuter clinic and education programs, among other services, have offered pet owners and residents ways to provide good care for the county’s animals. He expressed gratitude to the estimated 1,400 volunteers, 120 staff members and city and county officials he said have supported the shelter in the past.

Though White acknowledged the new facility will be smaller than the existing one, he said it will help facilitate an ongoing shift of the nonprofit’s charitable services, which includes animal adoption, to the Tom Lantos Center for Compassion, a Burlingame facility it opened in 2011. With fewer services to accommodate at the San Mateo location, White said the new space will be designed specifically to house stray animals and provide better care for them using updated tools and technologies.

Here's the B'game facility on Rollins that allows for a smaller, more focused facility on the Bayfront.  All of this has not happened without controversy as we noted here.  I haven't heard any follow-up on those concerns.

Dining Bookends: Millbrae and San Mateo

The foodie news this week was the release of Michelin's 2018 Bib Gourmand winners.  The Bib is the "affordable" level below the first Michelin star--"affordable" being in the eyes of the diners.  Michelin puts it at or below 40 bucks a head before tax and tip.  B'game has previously had a starred restaurant in Rasa as I noted here and it appears to be still going strong.  But this time around we got shut out of the Bib.

Millbrae has two-- Wonderful and new entrant Royal Feast.  San Mateo picked up one as Pausa on E. Fourth Ave. got the nod.  I've eaten at Pausa twice and can verify that not only is the food excellent, but owner Steve Ugur has assembled a lovely Italian wine list and knows his stuff.

It's been a common complaint over the years that B'game plays second fiddle in the fine dining arena.  Maybe it's the rents on the Avenew.  Maybe it's the reluctance to move off the Ave., although the new Park & Howard Bistro is getting some good reviews (I haven't been yet).  I love eating in B'game, but it has been more tempting to turn south on El Camino lately.

Kendall for School Board

I got my Sample Ballot in the mail today so "game on".  Let's face it:  the City Council race is a snooze.  Steve Duncan hasn't built the network of supporters needed to knock off an incumbent.  I should know since my wife knocked off three of them in succession, but it took several tries to get it right.  On the other hand, the B'game School District  (BSD for short) is shaping up to be a real race.  There has not been an actual election in 12 years for BSD Trustee but this year we have four candidates for three seats.  Even if you don't have kids or they are out of the elementary system, you should still care.  I won't bother to go into why here.

I don't endorse new candidates that I don't already know without sitting down for a talk.  Elizabeth Kendall came highly recommended and agreed to a sit down chat last week after several mutual friends assured her I don't bite--at least on first meeting.  We had a far ranging conversation with some mutual ground around our engineering backgrounds (hers is more in depth than mine) and how things work on the ground at Washington School where she has three kids enrolled.  That fact alone is a differentiator.

You can read her short statement in the Sample Ballot or you can go here.  I think she understates her level of commitment and ideas for improvement in the statement--sort of a rookie error.  She left out the use of Measure M funds that should mostly benefit the south end of town at this point.  The south end has seen under-investment even with the McKinley addition and with the City Council's move to add way too much "affordable housing" on public parking lots downtown, things could get urgent sooner than later.

I particularly liked her commitment (made public here since it is not in her statement) to meet with each school's PTA and site council every year.  That's just 12 meetings a year, but have the incumbents been doing it?  I don't know, but I like the initiative.  Kendall is also technically capable.  Getting the Member Hub going at Washington was good.  Spreading it to the rest of the schools is not complicated but someone has to push it.

Lastly, speaking of incumbents.  I had a short chat with Davina Drabkin yesterday in my front yard.  (School board candidates walking precincts--how great is that?)  She told me she encouraged Elizabeth Kendall to run.  And she is running on a slate with Kay Coskey, so where does that leave Doug Luftman?   He may be the odd-man out in more ways than one.  Note to Luftman who I don't know and have not met--you cannot run for "reelection" when you were not elected in the first place.  As an appointed incumbent, you have to run for election not reelection.  All of the candidates are rookies at running and he isn't the first one to make that mistake and probably won't be the last.

Bottom Line:  I think Elizabeth Kendall deserves a shot at B'game School Board trustee.