Two weeks after state senator Scott Weiner’s visit to Burlingame I am still marveling at how smoothly he can speak out of both sides of his mouth in a single meeting. Weiner was invited to the Lane Room by Thrive which is a consortium of non-profit organizations. He was invited to discuss the problems non-profits are having retaining staff as the cost of housing rises. Weiner’s Senate Bill 50, discussed here and here, appeared to be popular with some in the audience of about 60 people.
In an interview by Samaritan House CEO, Bart Charlow, Weiner comes off as a tall, skinny, somewhat geeky attorney with a heart of gold. He’s a man on a valiant mission. Yet I saw in him a streak of progressive fascism interested only in consolidating power in Sacramento by any means necessary. After describing the “carnage” that is happening in California and is “hollowing out even the middle class”, he excoriated the “No Growth” people for “adopting progressive talking points” such as “we need to build only affordable housing”. He believes that will never happen without market-rate housing to subsidize it, but others think differently. To him, it is better to demolish the concept of R1 zoning in the six most populous counties in the state via SB50 thus hurting the middle class homeowners who rely on their single-family homes as their largest investment. Weiner’s claim that “this is not about getting rid of single-family homes” rang hollow after he said “single-family homes are a ban on affordable housing”.
When asked about SB50 excluding less populous counties, particularly Marin County, Weiner spoke “bluntly” about needing to do that to get the bill through a Senate committee headed by a Marin senator. So much for principles of “fairness” that one hears so much about from progressives.
When asked about the housing quotas cities have been given (known as the RHNA formula), Weiner complained about how the formula has been gamed by some cities and two-thirds of cities don’t meet their low-income targets. It didn’t seem to occur to him that perhaps that state-imposed process should be fixed by the state Legislature. Better to scrap the whole idea of city zoning and let anyone build anything anywhere. Nice leadership.
Someone other than me asked Weiner where all the water will come from? He responded that “we have a structural deficiency” on water infrastructure and then made the ridiculous claim that “building housing doesn’t drive population growth” or water consumption. He really said that. After the obligatory comments on low-flow toilets and water reuse (“we are way behind Australia and Israel”), one was left to wonder how he would keep the middle-class in California without consuming more water. It must be nice to live in the fairyland of the state senate and not have to worry about fixing “structural deficiencies” before plunging ahead with massive growth laws.
When asked about the impact that AirBnB and VRBO have on permanent rental housing and whether something should be done to limit those businesses, Weiner magically turned into a private property rights advocate. He didn’t even seem embarrassed by the switch. He then proceeded to say that “cities have ample tools to ban or restrict” AirBnB, yet he’s quite comfortable completely overriding these same cities’ zoning ordinances. I almost had to admire such blatant hypocrisy spilling out in a single meeting.
The most revealing comment of the 90-minute session was buried in one of Weiner’s asides about Area Median Income (AMI) ranges and which income range was most “deserving” of subsidies. He noted that this was a problem until we tackle “the long-term project to realign our capitalist society and socialize housing”. There you have it.
Weiner?
Posted by: [email protected] | June 21, 2019 at 05:33 PM
The answer to the housing shortage is obvious. There are several million people here illegally. If they were not here there would not be a shortage. And wages would rise to help the working class even more than the housing availability. Obvious.
Posted by: Phinancier | June 21, 2019 at 08:39 PM
^^^Deporting the low paid dish washers, cooks, house cleaners, and child watchers will not magically solve the affordability problem we all live with. Under what formula does the above poster believe that millions of "illegal" people are competing at just under the $61/hr income level to afford rental property here (SM county) thereby competing for space against equally salaried "legal" residents?? (See the latest figures on the least affordable counties in the US. Spoiler: San Mateo loses). I'd wager those UBER low paid workers triple and quadruple on "cheap" rent to stay in this area and work at thankless jobs that make your life more seamless. They simply do not occupy space that would otherwise be held by some imaginary low-paid "legal" worker. Show a little humanity and start thinking outside the Fox News box.
Posted by: Fugit All | June 21, 2019 at 10:21 PM
The fact that you put "illegal" and "legal" in quotes tells me you are an MSNBC drone so please don't preach that sh*^%t to me.
Posted by: Phinancier | June 22, 2019 at 12:18 AM
LOL, sick burn Phinancier.
Posted by: Fugit All | June 22, 2019 at 04:25 AM
@hollyroller
Illegal Immigrants Cost the State of California $30.29 Billion Annually
Illegal immigrants and their children cost the State of California a net $30.29 billion per year. This equates to $7,352 per illegal alien, or roughly 17.7 percent of California’s state budget.
While many of these costs are absorbed by the federal and local governments, the drain on the State of California remains significant. Increasingly, the question is no longer whether California ought to give illegal immigrants sanctuary—it’s whether they can afford it.
Posted by: BIDDY | June 22, 2019 at 10:15 AM
Scott Weiner has consistently had all of his campaigns funded by the real estate industry.
He is a bought and paid for lifetime politician who cares not about true American democracy.
The man has never worked a day in his life in our free enterprise system.
Posted by: D | June 22, 2019 at 01:46 PM
However, I believe Scott's Grandfather: Oscar Myer/Weiner, worked all his life, everyday not only driving a 30 foot Weiner, but selling Weiner too.
Good Luck Mr. Weiner.
Bring Back the Wiener....There are a lot of "Buns" in Burlingame, CA.
Posted by: [email protected] | June 22, 2019 at 06:15 PM
Weiner, that same POS that championed lowering the penalty for knowingly giving HIV/AIDS to someone down from a felony to a misdemeanor. Knowingly ruining another person's life is now a misdemeanor in democrat controlled California. Weiner is truly evil.
I'm born and raised here and I am shocked and saddened how far we have fallen with demons now in total control.
Posted by: unhappy camper | June 23, 2019 at 10:55 PM
He said 70% of homeless people are NOT suffering from addictions or mental illness! He doesn't site sources.He truly must live in a bubble. He is an ignorant hack.
Posted by: It Don't Come Easy | June 26, 2019 at 06:25 AM
Politicians like Weiner, who love to spend other peoples money, is exactly why my wife and I are leaving California and Burlingame after 50+yrs of living, raising children and grandchildren in Burlingame. With legislation like this being shoved down our communities throat and the changes that are sure to come to Prop 13 in the coming years, our time has come to make the change.
Wife and I worked too hard for a lot of years(me as a diesel mechanic, my wife as a dental assistant. We met @ CSM in the fall of 1968), with lots of struggle mixed in, to have a politician(s) who has never had to work in the "real" world, continue to push policies and legislation and short minded voters continue vote in, that take from my family and our hard work for over 50 yrs, and give to others. Because making 160k a year is considered to be the poverty line now in the Bay Area.... In 43yrs of both my wife and I working, we never once made that combined, not even close to it.
2020 will be that last time I vote in the state of California(my voting and what I vote for, has been in the minority for years anyway) since 1968, when I first moved here and registered at the age of 20. In 1970,we bought our house in Burlingame, with a little help from my in-laws and a VA Loan('66-'68 USMC). Now @ 71 years old, 72 by next election, the cost of living and extreme political views has taken it's toll on us at our age.
Yes, it will be extremely hard to leave a place we've called home for such a long time , especially with 2 children, their wives and 5 grandchildren in the immediate area, but we won't be going far... 4hrs by car, 45 min by plane to a state with ZERO state income tax, ZERO inheritance tax, ZERO corporate tax. Yes, leaving my family a house in Burlingame would have been nice,especially for my grandchildren, but 1031 exchanging our Burlingame house for a house on the North(Nevada) side of one of the most recognizable lakes in the world, Lake Tahoe + a 3 bedroom townhouse(with no stairs!) on a golf course right over Mt. Rose in Reno, sounds to our family a much better option for the future. Leaving our children and granchildren (2) getaways, away from the rat race in the Bay Area, where they can ski or put an umbrella in the sand with an ice chest full of beer @ Sand Harbor, and the tax benefits to go with it, has made this decision much more easy.
We are looking forward to starting the last years of our life living, not trying to survive in our "golden years". We did that for 50+ years. The last 10+ years of policy, tax code changes, ballot measures passed, voter ignorance, has put a big hurt on our minimalist lifestyle, that we wanted to live during our retirement yrs.
We are so very grateful that us and for our 2 kids growing up(both college grads, used Federal loans to pay for, paid back by my wife and I + our kids TOGETHER. But, that's a different debate/venting session!), were part of the Burlingame community. We couldn't have asked or prayed for any better. We never had any plans to move out of the house, we made a home,that we were never late with a mortgage, state or federal tax payment, over the course of 50yrs. Our plan was to die in it, to be blunt. It's unfortunate that the state, in a way, has "pushed us out", but we are more than excited to start the last chapter of our lives elsewhere and also knowing we have left our family something that they will enjoy for PLEASURE for as long as they chose, and that the long arm of the tax man of California and its new wave of politicians can't touch, once my wife and I are long gone. I hope when I am looking down from above in the years to come I can still see the beauty and opportunity of California and the Bay Area, and won't be looking at a west coast Detroit, where I see the area heading....
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 01, 2019 at 01:02 PM
Barking Dog, you have described what is happening to our beautiful Burlingame and the state of CA so well. I truly hope you have a fabulous retirement in Lake Tahoe and enjoy the fruits of YOUR labor...
Posted by: Cathy Baylock | July 01, 2019 at 10:51 PM
Barking dog, my sentiments exactly and the area where you are moving is one of the areas I'm looking to go in the very near future. So sad to have to leave an area I've grown up in and have been fortunate to live in over the years. However, the changes and things happening in our town\State, make it impossible to stay. My fear is that fellow Californians will move there too with their stupid,uninformed voting and change those areas too. Enjoy your retirement...
Posted by: Laura | July 02, 2019 at 05:50 AM
Thanks Cathy and Linda. Retirement started 7 years ago for us, and we are enjoying it ,even tho most of our time is occupied shuttling a couple grandkids around to different activities after school! The move is going to impact our kids and grandkids lives more than ours quite frankly, and for us, that's the saddest part of the move.
If it wasn't for family friends(whom still live in Burlingame and we met when my oldest was in Kindergarten in 1977 @ Washington with Miss Storms, who just recently passed) really opening our eyes to the amount of money that would be put in OUR pocket from our current income and not the state's, and their recommendation of a tax attorney, we probably would have never been making this move in Jan 2021...but already making plans for Easter 2021 in Reno playing golf with the kids and grandchildren. Memorial Day, 4th of July and Thanksgiving 2021 with kids and grandchildren in Incline Village, Tahoe...is making the coming move so much easier on my wife, kids and grandkids, which makes life so much easier for me!
From what I understand Laura, lots of "baby boomer" transplants from California and Oregon in the Reno / Sparks area. Most all moves tax related.
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 02, 2019 at 11:57 AM
Good luck to you and your family barking Dog. Unless you have to work in the Bay Area there is absolutely NO reason to stay here any longer than you have to. Especially if you folks move to North Shore, Lake Tahoe. You sound reluctant to be leaving. However you will be "living the dream" in Tahoe. If you ever feel "too happy" in Tahoe, you can always make the 3 hour drive to Davis, CA. and spend another 3 hours driving from @ Davis, CA. to San Mateo County.
Laura, Laura, Laura, you are a "Fellow Californian" thereby, according to your opinion/post, are "Stupid, Uninformed, as well as being unable to comprehend Social Issues when going to Vote...
"Just Sayin'
Maybe California is not for you, or Nevada... Have you looked for property in Iran yet?
Posted by: hollyroller | July 02, 2019 at 12:26 PM
Hollyroller - Of course I'm reluctant/nervous/saddened to be leaving my house that my wife and I made into a home for our family for 50yrs and our immediate family who will still be in Millbrae and Burlingame. Who wouldn't? Unless your heart is really that cold Hollyroller... My wife has been in the San Mateo/Burlingame area since the day she was born(1947), myself since I got out of the USMC in 1968. "Living the dream" as you put it in Reno and Tahoe, was never the dream. "Living the dream" was being around my family and living in my home in Burlingame, that I paid TWO mortgages off , insurances and taxes on for the last 50 years.. for the rest of our lives.
Paying for other's health care, school, housing, etc., legal or illegal, in my retirement years, wasn't part and shouldn't be part of my retirement plan. Others "living the dream" in Burlingame or California, shouldn't come at mine and others expense. But it has and will continue to do so. Yes, there are many people that need legitimate help, and those person's deserve all the help they can get....but moving to California, legally or illegally, shouldn't ENTITLE them to the right of health care, housing, schools etc. Especially at my expense.
Our up coming move to Nevada is purely economics, not social issues.The progressives, lefts, Democrats...whatever you wish to call them, have the mindset that since I own a 94010 address, I have the means to fund their programs and should think the way they do. The state would love nothing more than me going in debt at my age, just to help them fund their legislation. The state loves to operate in debt, why not have it's residents in debt too. I was in debt for 40+ yrs of mortages and student loans, that I paid back every dollar of. I'm mentally and emotionally done being in debt. If I don't think the same as their views, I am labeled a racist, bigot, white privileged, old man. The only thing that is correct is that phrase is, yes, I am an old man. When in fact I am the son of a legal Honduran immigrant(father in 1937,full citizenship in 1948, the year I was born), raised by a multicultural family in the south and southwest United States,raised a multicultural family and have a gay daughter and daughter in law raising bi-racial kids in Burlingame. They choose not to listen to that part of my story in Burlingame or of my life, because it doesn't help progress their cause.
Again, move is strictly due to economics. The state and progressives are almost asking me to apologize for taking ALL the risk(2 mortgages and taxes) in 1970,(Interest rates in the 70's and early 80's were well above double digits)and buying my house, and not giving them what they think is there fair share of what it's value is in 2019, to fund the issues they push through in Sacramento. I'm sorry, but I can't and won't do that anymore. Like any investment,(as Joe states above, house is most families biggest investment/asset), I got lucky, plain and simple, as to where I chose to take the risk and purchase a house. There isn't one person around my age, who can say that they thought/knew that their Burlingame 1600 sqft home they bought in the 60's, 70's or early 80's, that it would be worth 2.5 mil+ in 2019...would only be on the market for a week and the new owners would put a bulldozer to it and rebuild it for millions more. Not one. I tell my family and friends from other parts of the United States whats going on in our neighborhood and they think I am lying or just telling stories. When I show them the facts, they think we are all crazy...I politely tell them not to lump me into the crazy group.
I will not apologize to anyone for my economic views and how I chose to spend my EARNED money. Or me putting the house that I took the risk to purchase and pay for, on an OPEN free market to get the best return possible. No apologies here. And use the tax code and laws that are currently(Prop 13 next to go) in place to our advantage. Again, no apologies here.
Best 4 checks I have already happily written:
1)Last check to the bank on my 1st mortgage
2)Last check to the bank on my 2nd mortgage
3)Last check for payment to the Feds for my 1st child college loan(son and us paid off together)
4)Last check for payment to the Feds for
my 2nd child college loan(daughter and us paid off together)
4 checks that I am happily waiting to write:
1)Last check to Sandie Arnott
2)Last check to Betty Yee
3)Final payment to tax attorney recommended to us
4)Check to credit card company for payment of a weekend of golf, wine, food and good company in the Napa with the couple who recommended the tax attorney. My thank you to them!
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 02, 2019 at 03:45 PM
From the bottom of my heart, thank you for sharing your life with "us." This "life description" should be a "Template" for anyone considering moving to any place in San Mateo County.
Unfortunately, you have staid here too long. Life lessons at 71 years old is better than 72 years old..
When you get to Tahoe, send us a Photo of you "Piloting" your New Cris Craft Boat.
Clothing Optional. Check out Hidden Beach too.
PS Have you ever looked at homes in Southern Oregon?
Posted by: [email protected] | July 02, 2019 at 07:06 PM
Thanks Holly....I'm happy you read me venting a little and you took amusement by it. God knows I've been amused by reading your venting and b******t over the years.
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 02, 2019 at 07:18 PM
Just remember that you can take BV anywhere you go.
Posted by: [email protected] | July 03, 2019 at 09:32 AM
I am writing this on our second trip to a suburb of Charlotte where we have friends. Last trip was during a snow storm in December and now this is in the heat and humidity of July. Not the times to go if you were just trying to have a comfortable vacation.
We've picked these extremes because we are trying to figure out if we can handle leaving the perfect weather of Burlingame.
Born and raised in the bay area and have lived and worked here my whole life. Barking Dog's experiences and attitude describe mine to some degree except my smaller family also wants to leave.
About that tax attorney?….. is he/she/they in Burlingame?
Posted by: Unhappy Camper | July 04, 2019 at 05:59 AM
While I certainly understand the tax implications of moving to Nevada, there are many places in California where you can live very nicely for signficantly less money and NOT move to a location with extremely high temperatures.
Posted by: Steve Kassel | July 07, 2019 at 07:05 PM
Minneapolis
https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2019/07/11/housing-crisis-single-family-homes-policy-227265?utm_source=pocket-newtab
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 15, 2019 at 02:34 PM
Hi Barking Dog,
I am actually serious in requesting a reference to a tax attorney. I don't have one and would like to find one. I imagine they are everywhere but if you'd like to recommend somebody I'd be interested.
Posted by: Unhappy Camper | July 25, 2019 at 10:38 AM
Kassel....yes I can agree with you that there are other places in California to live significantly less money than Burlingame, but I'm done giving my money to the California politicians to do with what they chose, especially to those whose chose not to work or dont want to go through the legal process to immigrate here legally an. Reno and Tahoe aren't extreme temperatures SK....also I'm selling my house here and getting 3 piece of property in Nevada. House by the lake in Tahoe, flat(no stairs!)3br condo on a golf course in Reno and a small piece of commercial property for rental income in Reno...1031 exchange so the tax man in California isnt getting a dime of the capital gains from the sale of Burlingame house.
Unhappy camper, no problem with a recommendation, would prefer to due offline though. Just let me know how and will do.
Posted by: Barking Dog | July 27, 2019 at 04:04 PM
I immediately thought of Scott Weiner when I read Beth Spotswood's column in the Chronicle. She and her family are leaving San Francisco for Marin because conditions have gotten so bad. Check this out from her
Finally — and I hate that this is a reason but it’s a reason —the active drug use and crime in our neighborhood has multiplied in recent years. I took Leo for a midday stroll last week, and we passed a woman with what looked like all of her heroin paraphernalia carefully placed on the sidewalk. Midway through her use process, with her needles a foot or two from my precious baby, this woman was preparing to shoot up. There are neighborhoods in San Francisco where this isn’t a common occurrence, but we can’t afford those neighborhoods.
Oh, and when we do make that two- or three-block trek to our car, it’s always a pleasant surprise to find its windows intact. I know, I know. That happens in every San Francisco neighborhood. You know where it’s more unlikely to happen? In our garage in Novato.
That's what Weiner wants for us. He should fix his own district before ruining others.
Posted by: Sign me up | July 29, 2019 at 11:48 AM