Dividing Up the County...Again

Thanks to some hack lawyer from Malibu we are embarking on an expensive and pointless experiment to divide up the City Council and the San Mateo Unified high school district into geographic fiefdoms.  That's what the arcane state law that most think cannot be argued says; so be it.  The San Mateo County Supes are already district-based as befits a big sprawling region like the County of about 750,000 residents. With a new census about to be completed, the district lines need to be updated.  Here is the DJ reporting on the criteria for the 11 people who will work on the redistricting:

“Diversity and inclusion — those are guiding principles here in San Mateo County and those qualities are what we are looking for on this extremely important Commission,” David Canepa, president of the Board of Supervisors, said in a press release.  All applications will be forwarded to a committee formed by and composed of local chapter members of the League of Women Voters.

I can't imagine who thought the LWV was a good screening body for this job.  Their last half dozen debate moderation efforts in B'game city council elections were...underwhelming.  Some years the representative could barely read the questions properly.  The old saw about preferring the first hundred names (sometimes 2,000 names) in the Boston phone book, or in this case, the Burlingame phone book applies.

But there is more

The selection process will prioritize applicants associated with good government, civil rights, civic engagement and community groups or organizations that are active in the county, including those active in language minority communities, with the goal of forming a commission with membership that is geographically diverse and consistent with the county’s emphasis on valuing diversity, equity and inclusion, according to the county.

I'm all for good government (if the LWV and the Supes have stated criteria that one can assess for that) and geographic diversity (duh, that's the point), but what of the rest of the word soup?  How about the ability to parse the past voting data numerically?  Does an applicant know mean from median?  Can they assess the strengths and weaknesses of the census data?  I was required to fill out the Big Census Questionnaire this year and as a former market research professional I can tell you its format was sub-standard against industry norms.

Bottom Line:  The current district lines probably won't change much and it won't make much difference in who wins each seat, but the PR spin still grates on my ears.  When it comes time to do the City Council districts and the SMUSHD districts, I hope the League of Women Voters are relegated to the sidelines.    

Comments

[Phinancier]

So an exclusionary group is going to show us the way to diversity and inclusion. Right.

[Little Maddy Freshmouth]

Another preening millennial is on the scene calling the kettle black

Editor,

Mr. Howard’s letter to the editor “Another misguided vision” in response to Mr. Espinoza’s guest perspective in the June 18 edition was presumptuous and disrespectful. He first cites the district election he vehemently opposed as proof that change is not required and then vulgarly projects his self-image to draw a cynical and moot point. The cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy he expressed are perplexing, to say the least.

What Mr. Howard suggests is problematic because he relies on opinion rather than fact. First, no one is saying that ideal representation can only come from a specific parameter. What Mr. Espinoza said is that successful institutions are those that embrace and promote diversity.

Second, this is not divisive. What might be more divisive is the current standard of etiquette that inadvertently, without any malice, produces a harmful outcome for people from historically marginalized communities.

Nevertheless, I can make allowance and forgive Mr. Howard. However, I invite him to consider that the people who advocate and ask for mere courtesy to change a standard of etiquette so that everyone has a fair opportunity are not asking for much other than a kind gesture.

Ray Larios

Burlingame

[Barking Dog]

Burlingame's newest planning commissioner making his move...
Heavily involved in SMC Democrat politics.
Heavily involved in the COB redistricting boundary process.
Same ideologies as Dumdum and Mads

Going about it way more professional than Dumdum did...

My guess is he will be on the ballot for City Council in 2022....with Dumdum and Mads on his campaign team.

[Barking Dog]

Spring of 2022 Mr. Larios will do a Guest Perspective in the SMDJ like his buddy Mr Espinoza just wrote....or his other buddy Dumdum wrote before he announced in 2019

[Barking Dog]

This buffoon is Mr. Larios' boss...

https://www.state.gov/secretary/

Enough said....

[Paloma Ave]

Diversity and inclusion = reverse racism.

There, I said it. Keep this thought in mind every time you hear these words, straight out of the 'socialist manifesto'!

You have been warned.

Do NOT let these out-of-state complainers decide the agenda. Us locals must defend our way of life (if we don't, who will)?

[BillyGBob]

One of more consistent aspects of the posts and comments on this site is complaining about the “libs”, “left”, “socialists”, “commies”, and “[insert this week’s favorite rightwing button]” as they propose and advocate for solutions to various challenges facing those of us who live here. At the same time, those same posters and commenters offer absolutely no ideas of their own beyond either claiming the issue doesn’t exist, suggesting that other people leave town, clutching their pearls that their cozy insulated existence might change one iota, or suggesting it’s all some sinister plot of Marxists/Socialists/etc. (don’t forget to bash the younger generations while you’re at it). I guess when your paradigm is best aligned with the John Birch Society or the Larouche-ites, you view centrist suggestions as being those of the radical left.

This mostly applies to the 5 or 6 posters who regularly participate in the Burlingame Voice rightwing ..edited..., but comprise 80% to 90% of all comments. Oh, and as much as you complain about Mike and Madeline (those are their real names despite your attempt at playground nicknames...what are you all...5 years old???), I hope you realize that they are going to win. They just need to wait you out, and many of us long-time Burlingame residents are looking forward to that.

[Paloma Ave]

BillyGBob - Burlingame was just named the best city to live in, in the State of California.

WHAT NEEDS FIXING?

P.S. Where the hell did you come from?

[BillyGBob]

Obviously, I’m from your own personal hell where people recognize that population grows, the climate is changing, those screwed by Prop 13 now outnumber those who benefit, being brown is tougher, and that being born in Burlingame doesn’t make your vote or opinion worth more than any other resident’s.

By the way, I’ve been here over 25 years. Do I meet your cutoff for being a legitimate participant in civic discourse, or would I need to be a card-carrying member of the Sons of the Burlingame Confederacy?

[Phinancier]

Nobody has been screwed by Prop 13. Get real. We have one of the top tax burdens in the country, fool. I'm not sure about Larios but Mike and Madeline are lily white and have White Savior Complex. Sounds like you do too.

[Phinancier]

https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101867426/californias-top-1-pays-almost-half-of-the-states-income-tax-is-that-a-problem

[Barking Dog]

Mr Larios is far from having 'centrist' views BillyG. Stop

From what I read he does respect police and military...unlike Dumdum and Mads would like to abolish/defund the police. They have stated this publicly on Twitter and SMDJ.

Yes I will use these playground nicknames for them as they continue to use their own childlike/school yard nicknames toward their neighbors in Burlingame. I will respect them as soon as they respect my family and my neighbors.

Phinancier....BINGO!

[Paloma Ave]

BillyBob - Let's break down your comments.

Obviously, I’m from your own personal hell = No, you are just another whiner and complainer.

where people recognize that population grows = This may not be true in the future. It has been suggested that many younger folks have decided to not have children because of the expense involved.

the climate is changing = When has the climate NOT been changing?

those screwed by Prop 13 now outnumber those who benefit = This is where your ignorance of the past shows. Back when Prop 13 passed, people were forced to sell their houses because they could not afford the rapidly rising property tax bills. The (mostly Democrat) politicians of the day were attempting social engineering where the solution was to throw, other people's money, at a problem (sound familiar?). With Prop 13 you can predict what your expenses will be, a 2% rise per year.

being brown is tougher - What??? Being brown used to mean picking crops. That is hardly the case now. There are more brown people in the middle-class now than ever before!

and that being born in Burlingame doesn’t make your vote or opinion worth more than any other resident’s. - I don't even know what that means.

By the way, I’ve been here over 25 years. - I have been here for 40 years, in the Bay Area for 65 years. (Four sets of great grandparents since the 1870's!)

Do I meet your cutoff for being a legitimate participant in civic discourse - A participant, yes. A constant whiner and complainer like Mads and Dumdum - NO!

[resident]

Burn

[Joe]

Mark Simon is looking out a couple of years at the county supervisor seats and Mullin's seat. I think his list is just the start of the scrum:

Four of the five current supervisors are about to finish their final terms. This means there is a backlog of ambitious candidates stacked up behind these four seats. Two supervisors are termed out next year — District 2’s Carole Groom and District 3’s Don Horsley.

MEANWHILE, IN 2024: Three years from now, three more board seats will stand for election. Two incumbents, Dave Pine and Warren Slocum also are termed out, while David Canepa can run for another term, assuming he does not run for something else.

In any event, 2024 will be a busy year. In addition to board races, Assemblymember Kevin Mullin will be termed out, and there will be a scramble for his seat among several potential candidates, including Pine, Burlingame Councilmember Emily Beach, the peripatetic Canepa and San Mateo Councilmember Diane Papan, who, it is said, would love to serve the seat once held by her dad, Lou.
-----------------
I'm sure there are more people pining for Dave Pine's seat than are listed here, but perhaps the allure of Mullin's open seat will siphon off a few aspiring Sacramento swamp creatures.

[BillyGBob]

To the pre-joe posters: Thank for so willingly proving my point about the ...edited again..... It’s so easy to set the core members off and the results can be quite entertaining. Myopic, but entertaining.

[Joe]

Thanks for the "pre-joe" pointer...I think :-)

[Paloma Ave]

....all edited...........

[BillyGBob]

....more editing...........

[HMB]

Ugh. Burlingame Voice is turning into Nextdoor. Please, folks, just stop the ugliness.

[Editor]

Thank you, HMB. I agree and I should have nipped that in the bud when it started. Folks, the TOU leave a lot of leeway for pointed comments but not in the way that has now been edited down or completely out. Go ahead and "discuss" hard, just try to keep it above the beltline, OK??

[HMB]

Thank YOU, Joe, for the valuable community service you provide with this blog.

[Barking Dog]

According to Mr Larios Twitter he is relocating.

https://twitter.com/Ry_lrs/status/1463706002356940800

Did he resign from his Planning Commission seat yet?

[Joe]

Yes, and it solves this problem as well:

https://www.burlingamevoice.com/2021/08/election-2022-county-sheriff.html#comments

[Mom]

He won't be missed. Lightweights seldom are.