The Burlingame Voice

ECR: The Newest City Dump

I wonder if, like the drain maintenance, Caltrans expects the City to pick up the trash and dumped furniture along El Camino?  In this instance, maybe it's SamTrans responsibility?

It's-It Goes East

The Chronicle picked up a story about our very own ITS-IT ice cream confection starting to be sold on the East Coast.  Here's their take with the key correction

It’s-It, the San Francisco Burlingame ice cream treat little known outside the Bay Area, is invading the East Coast for the first time.  “A taste of the West Coast is making ITS way to the East Coast,” It’s-It Ice Cream announced in a post on its Facebook page earlier this month. The company likes to spell the name of its most-popular product in all capital letters, as if screaming for ice cream.

Since It’s-Its are just starting their assault on the East Coast, it’s unclear how many enthusiasts will be won over. But judging from the reception on Facebook, former Bay Area residents are clamoring for a frozen taste of the region. Dozens of people — from Alabama, Iowa , North and South Carolina and other states — posted requests to sell It’s-Its in their vicinities.

It’s-Its have been around since 1928, when George Whitney scooped some vanilla ice cream between two freshly baked oatmeal cookies, squished them together and dipped the ice cream sandwich in dark chocolate, It’s-It says on its website.  It’s-Its have developed an enthusiastic group of followers that not only buys the sandwiches in bulk (at factory stores now closed by the coronavirus) but buys merchandise including hoodies, caps, T-shirts and onesies and turns the labels into crafty light-switch plates.

I stopped by the Factory Store on Burlway Rd. just north of the Hyatt and directly abutting 101 to snap this photo.  Note the sandwich on the rooftop (upper right).

Economic Lesson for Rent Controllers

I was having a chat with a friend who owns two rental units last week and has been doing some regular maintenance.  He told me generally the same thing that the Wall Street Journal has crisply quantified

Prices are surging for the raw materials used to build American homes.  Lumber, one of the biggest costs in home-building after land and labor, has never been more expensive and is more than twice the typical price for this time of year. Crude oil, a starting point for paint, drain pipe, roof shingles and flooring, has shot up more than 80% since October. Copper, which carries water and electricity throughout houses, costs about a third more than it did in the autumn.

Prices for granite, insulation, concrete blocks and common brick have all pushed to records in 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s producer-price index, which measures the change in prices that producers receive for their output. Drywall and ceramic tiles are short of records but have also climbed.

Building supply chains weren’t prepared when Americans began swarming model homes and Home Depots in April. Sawmills and factories shut down like most other workplaces early in the lockdown.  Suppliers never caught up. Now building permits for residential construction are being issued at their highest rate since 2006.

Can you imagine if B'game had passed rent control?  There would be deferred maintenance all over town.  You have to wonder how the neighboring towns that did (looking at you, Mountain View) will view the creeping neglect that has to occur when prices go up 80%, double, or a third on key materials.  The Law of Unintended Consequences isn't an economic law, but it should be.  I'm unclear on how the Fed can say they don't expect inflation to hit soon.  Oh, and gas is right behind.  "In California, the most expensive market, average prices stand at $3.88, according to AAA."

The Wheels of Justice

I had jury duty yesterday along with about 300-400 other people.  As the courts restart, a few people have noted that lots of people are getting called in, but yesterday was a whole lot more people than I have ever seen called.  It all happens at the San Mateo Event Center and uses the Jockey Club as the entry point.  The photos below don't capture even half of the crowd.  For the size of the group and the Covid state we are in, it was pretty well run.  When we each were asked if we could be available for a six-day trial, I figured we were in for a long day.

The last time I was called, it was an full-day affair just to seat a two-day jury and this looked like it could be several days.  But two and a half hours in, just as the first group of us were being told to turn off our phones and remove any hats to enter, we were all excused.  Now I know why as described here.  Taking the plea was my guess at the time.  If you get called soon, be sure to follow the instructions about dressing in layers, bring snacks and water, avoid 25th Ave eastbound getting there (it's closed) and make sure your phone is fully charged.  The wheels of justice turn slowly, but they do turn.  I just wonder if there isn't a more efficient way that wouldn't violate the randomness of the process.

 

ECR: The Flooding Continues

I feel like a broken record about the flooding in the same exact spots on El Camino every single solitary time it rains.  These last two storms, although pretty modest in precipitation, were no different.  The news is that I happened to be driving by when two B'game Public Works guys were examining the problem so I got the situation straight from the experts.  For the flood zone shown below which looks a lot like the one from last year at this time, BPW has done everything they can to clear the drain, but the partial blockage is too far in from the drain to reach.  It's also not B'game's responsibility--BPW is just trying to do a good deed.

While we wait years for the massive rehab of the whole thoroughfare expected to cost umpteen millions, how about Caltrans gets its act together, bring in some equipment that we don't have--even if that means digging up the street?  It's not like it doesn't need repaving there anyway.  There are at least six other spots on ECR that are about as bad and just as predictable.  Heck they don't take the signs away until the rain stops for the Spring.  I suppose until someone get injured or killed and sues, nothing will happen.  Very sad.

 

The Economics of EVs and B'game

Dan Neil is the automotive columnist for the Wall Street Journal and one of the funniest writers around.  He also has one of the best jobs on the planet as one after another car manufacturer delivers cool test cars to his house and lets him "drive them like he stole them" for a week.  He makes a compelling case that the two main knocks on electric vehicles (EVs)--their cost and range-- will diminish rapidly over time.  He writes

When commercial batteries attain specific energy levels on the order of 500 watt-hours/kg, and when pack-level costs level off around $50/kWh—within a decade—mass-market EVs will be capable of 700+ miles between charges and cost less to build than gas-powered equivalents. With that kind of energy onboard you could make cars fly—and houses and restaurants. Gas-electric technology will become as irrelevant as quadraphonic sound.

Sounds good, but what about the dealers?  A WSJ article notes

As auto executives and investors buzz about the coming of age of the electric car, many dealers say they are struggling to square that enthusiasm with the reality today on new-car sales lots, where last year battery-powered vehicles made up fewer than 2% of U.S. auto sales.  Most consumers who come to showrooms aren’t shopping for electric cars, and with gasoline prices relatively low, even hybrid models can be a tough sell, dealers and industry analysts say.

Tesla Inc.’s influence on the electric-car market has created a new standard for car shoppers, offering an online transaction and a simplified lineup with no price negotiation. Other electric-vehicle startups, like Rivian Automotive and Lucid Motors, say they’ll likewise sell directly to consumers and bypass traditional dealerships.  Some car companies are now following their lead, initially stocking dealership lots with few if any electric models and allowing customers to order more directly from the manufacturer.

Adding to the dealer uncertainty

Electric vehicles typically have fewer mechanical parts and don’t require the same type of service that gas engine cars need, such as oil changes. That work right now is a big profit center for dealerships.

Why do I care here at the Voice?  Auto Row has been a signature feature of Burlingame since, well, there have been dealerships.  My 1939 directory lists 27 Auto Agencies - New and Used including Nash, LaSalle, Packard, De Soto, Hudson and Terraplane dealers.  Autos and Transportation is our number one sales tax revenue source at $1.2M in 2Q19.  That dropped to $800K in 2Q20 as Covid took effect.  It's one thing to dedicate eight off-Broadway parking spaces to EVs that seldom show up for a charge.  It's another thing to see a major revenue source get whacked.  We have a Tesla showroom in town, but I'm not sure if they "make the sale" in B'game or on-line.  This is a very long term trend, but one that bears watching just like the hoped-for recovery in hotel occupancy and ToT. 

Are Neo-racists Attacking Burlingame?

I’m coming around to the idea that there may well be some racists in Burlingame and elsewhere on the Peninsula.  I know it’s hard to believe.  But when you see people judging other people’s motivations, actions or, in the case of city council members, their votes; based on the color of their skin it is hard to avoid the conclusion that they are racists.  This is not the commonly held view of what it is to be a racist.  But when one uses false charges of racism as a cudgel to get one’s way on things that have nothing to do with race one is, well…..a racist.  Let’s call them “neo-racists”.

Cue Daily Journal columnist Mark Simon who felt the need to take the B’game city council and particularly the mayor to task for reacting negatively to a comment at a county Asian Pacific Islander Caucus panel discussion:

One of the panelists, Nicole Fernandez, former chair of the county Democratic Party and now district director for state Sen. Josh Becker, noted that district elections had a significant impact on the election of nonwhites to local city councils. Fernandez eagerly anticipated the implementation of district elections in other cities, including Burlingame, which has begun that process, and which she described as one of the “NIMBYest cities” here in god’s country.

Blending charges of racism and NIMBYism is well…. neo-racist.   Hearing it from a staffer’s mouth for our own state senator (newly elected to replace Jerry Hill) is not a good sign at the start of Becker’s term.  I expect B’game should get an apology from his office for Fernandez' fact-free and neo-racist accusation.  Maybe it’s even time for a new district director that isn’t a neo-racist and doesn’t denigrate whole towns in her boss’ district.

In his Daily Journal column, Mark Simon goes on with this confused bit of rhetoric

Of course, the term NIMBY encompasses much more than housing and a lengthy and vigorous debate can be held on the topic of inclusiveness in Burlingame, or any other city in the county.

Really?  Do tell.  I though NIMBYism was about local development.  Regular readers know that I believe Burlingame, the mid-Peninsula and, in fact, the whole core of the Bay Area are already over-built for our current infrastructure.  Call me a NIMBY, I don’t care.  I haven't exactly been in the majority in town.  I am one although I consider the whole core Bay Area as “my backyard” and so should you.  With more than 1,000 units of housing in B’game approved and in the works over the last couple of years, I would like B’game to take a breather.  Let’s see how this much growth plays out.  There are a bunch of good reasons for a pause if anyone cares to look past the end of their nose.  But why bring race and “inclusiveness” into the discussion unless one is, well…. a neo-racist busy judging whole towns full of people one doesn’t know by their skin colors?

For the Glass House File:  It is easy to toss around the NIMBY label when one lives up in the winding backstreets of Emerald Hills or Farm Hills in Redwood City in a single-family zoned neighborhood on a 9,000 square foot lot like Mark Simon.  “NIMBY” comes easily to your keyboard when you live nowhere near where a spec builder is likely to buy the small house next door and jam in a four-plex or two.  The people on 5,000 square foot lots in Lyon-Hoag, Burlingame Terrace or Burlingame Village near commercial districts and transit feel very differently and it has nothing to do with race. 

Checklist:  How to tell if you are this new strain of NEO-RACIST:

--You think single-family residential zoning is racist.

--You think local parcel taxes to fund local schools are racist.

--You think voting for each of your city council members is racist.

--You think “leafy suburb” is a code word for a racist neighborhood.

--Heck, you think “suburb” is code for a racist neighborhood.

Look in the mirror.  “Crisis nearly of its own making” indeed.

Drought 2021: Here We Go Again

I'm still bothered by state Sen. Scott Weiner's naïve response to a water question he got during his visit to B'game almost two years ago.  When asked "where will the water come from to support all the new housing (and people) you are demanding?" his response landed squarely between "I don't know", "We should look at that" and "It's not my concern".  Two years have passed--both drought years -- and we are no closer to a state-wide plan than we were then.  There's always something "more important" getting in the way and yet the development addicts seem able to press on with their demands.

Here in B'game, the every five-year update to our Urban Water Management Plan is behind schedule.  Public works has been swamped (no pun intended) with parklets, paving projects, going green and adding traffic lights and signage.  The next update will be the first to comply with a new state mandate that it examine a five-year drought instead of only a three-year episode.  That should make for interesting reading when the first draft comes out--hopefully soon.

In the meantime, here we go again according to the Comicle

The state’s monthly snow survey on Tuesday will show only about 60% of average snowpack for this point in the year, the latest indication that water supplies are tightening. With the end of the stormy season approaching, forecasters don’t expect much more buildup of snow, a key component of the statewide supply that provides up to a third of California’s water.

Urban water agencies, meanwhile, are asking customers to think twice about long showers and outdoor watering. The calls for austerity will feel familiar to many Californians who less than five years ago faced mandatory water restrictions during the 2012-2016 drought.  More importantly, the northern Sierra’s 8-Station Index, which tracks rain in the region where California gets the bulk of its water, measured only 45% of average precipitation.  While March and April could still bring rain, the heart of the wet season is over. Much of the state is now poised to have a top-10 dry year.

As an avid skier, I can recall several Miracle Marches and even an Amazing April or two, but let's face it, the people who are trying to overbuild the Bay Area just don't care.  It's time some other leaders stepped in and called for a reset, a review, a plan and compliance.

Update:  Yesterday a huge branch fell off a street tree at Vernon and Clarendon hitting the nearby house.  The drought is stressing trees throughout the state, so expect more of this until we prioritize trees over condos and offices.

Update:  March 24.  In today's Comicle:  "It would have to be biblical to adjust a water allocation at this point," (Karla) Nemeth (director CDWR) said, referring to the end of the winter season.