City Council: Old (i.e. tenured) and New

Last night's city council swearing in and rotation session mimicked those of the past--and I've been to a lot of 'em.  Real locals who are invested in the community show up along with a variety of county pols and their support staffs.  The pols have varying levels of "investment" in B'game.  Speechifying happens--some good, some eh.  I will have a few posts to follow with more specifics about what transpired over the two-plus hours, but this photo I took before the proceedings proceeded says a lot about transitions.

Pictured are the newly elected, first-time city council woman, Desiree Thayer, who was in chambers; standing in front of a screen with our longest serving council member, Michael Brownrigg, who was travelling and attending via video.  Times have changed.  The B'gamer on the street has always been a bit removed from who is on council at the moment, who is the mayor, and who is spearheading which issue.  District elections make it even less clear and convincing.  Desiree wins the seat with 1,259 votes.  I'll bet more than half of B'gamers can't ID their district rep--or even their district.  We have Sacramento Stupidity to thank for this maze, but on a classic night of swearing to the US and State Constitutions-"against all enemies Foreign and Domestic"--the mood was positive and even a bit traditional.  Here are Desiree and Michael "side by side".

 

Comments

[Mark Lucchesi]

Joe, we were out of town visiting our children and grandchildren or I would have enjoyed the moment. Congrats to all Council members for their dedication, loyalty and time given to Burlingame. Special shout outs to newly elected Desiree Thayer, Peter Stevenson, our newest Mayor and to Donna Colson for her hard work as our out going Mayor, but re-elected to Council. Great job all and good luck in 2025. Mark at the Mic

[Joe]

It was a good night for basking in the localness of B'game, so you would have loved it. More to follow about some of the presentations.

[Grace]

Actually I do not think highly of Desiree. I was seriously thinking about showing up to the swearing in to bring up my concern, but did not want to ruin the night for the others. Then last month I understand (based on her comment during the council meeting) that she refused to meet with the opponents of the Mercy gym use as a rental. And after meeting Desiree again earlier this week in her position as council member, it reminded me of the poor behavior I witnessed during her campaign. She lacks the maturity to be on the Council in addition to the morals and thus, should resign.

[Phinancier]

It's highly doubtful any of them will resign for anything short of malfeasance. But I agree they should be willing to meet with constituents for a reasonable amount of time with reasonable notice.

[Grace]

Based on this definition of race-baiting. I can positively say that Desiree is a race-baiter. [Race-baiting involves exploiting racial or ethnic sensitivities for personal gain, political advantage, or to incite hostility.] Her partner is also a liar who gets enraged when caught in lies and then tries to deflect by mocking mental illness. I’m not sure which one is worse, but she should resign.

[Editor]

You are very close to a Terms of Use violation. Desiree is a public figure now and can be criticized for things related to public service and council votes and decisions. Her partner is not as far as I know and should be left out of ad hominem attacks unless he enters the public realm with comments.

There are plenty of things to critique without resorting to the personal axe grinding here.

[Grace]

I apologize but my criticism is about her since she stood there and watched. (I will gladly reword it if you would like?) She could have spoken up to defuse the behavior. No axe to grind. I’ve been silent on this issue which happened during their campaigning, but when she refused to meet with the opponents of the Mercy gym use as a rental and can’t even properly greet me like the rest of the council when I am meeting with them tells me she does not have what it takes to represent everyone in Burlingame. It was all caught on 2 different cameras.

You might find this article interesting. https://hemibowman.substack.com/p/the-myth-of-liberal-empathy?utm_campaign=post&showWelcomeOnShare=false

[Editor]

Vagueness is getting in the way of what you appear to want to say. Just spell it out. Where was he (guessing a "he") and what did he say that she did not speak up to? One hopes it has something to do with running the City.

[Grace]

I want to say that I think she is a phony who only represents special interest YIMBYs and does not have the capacity to have an open mind. Why else refuse to meet with the leader of the group that opposed using Mercy’s gym as a rental? Plus she could not even fake being professional with me when I met with the entire council. Everyone approached me to shake my hand coming and going, but not Desiree.

As far as my experience with her, I saw her group standing on Broadway organizing to canvas the neighborhood. So I introduced myself and asked if I could ask her a few questions despite not living in her district. She said yes so I asked a few questions including whether she would attempt to agenda a cease fire resolution because it was really divisive in San Bruno and why didn’t she know that the City was using reserves (in her interview with Mark she claimed the City was operating within budget). Her responses were vague and I felt demeaning. During this conversation a man got in my face, told me to leave and started to tell me his opinion-but Desiree was still talking to me. I had to tell him to back away 3 times before I basically said I know all I want to know about you. After all she was the candidate not him. But he kept pushing and wanted to know what I knew about him. So I said I know you hang out with the biggest activist YIMBY in the area. He denied knowing this activist, at which point I said I have pictures of you hanging out with him so please stop. He continued to deny it, telling me to prove it, while Desiree just stood there and watched. Being a little flustered with this man in my face, I decided to walk away. A few minutes later I ran into an elderly lady that had been part of the group and showed her the pictures I had just found of this man. She encouraged me to go back and show Desiree because it was not appropriate to lie. I did not know this guy was her partner at the time. As I approached the group, I had my arm extended out to show the pictures and avoid getting close-at which point the guy charged towards me instead of admitting that he lied, walking the other way or around me. I back peddled to avoid contact. He walked about 60 ft away and started to ask people if they knew me because he thought I needed psychiatric help and they talked about doxxing me. (This was caught on tape by someone recording right behind him.) At this time I was talking to Desiree and did not hear him say these things. Desiree admitted that I was telling the truth and I walked away again. Later I ran into her again where she claimed that I scared Jewish people which is a joke because I was strongly against bringing a cease fire resolution to Burlingame which was my whole point of asking her the original question. I had even told her how my Jewish friends felt scared due to the rhetoric that was spewed during the San Bruno and Millbrae council meetings. While she can illogically claim that belief, I find it to be race-baiting; when you don’t have a valid argument and your partner is caught in a lie, claim the other person is an evil racist. This is exactly what she did. I guess I had to explain his bad behavior to be fully transparent about her behavior. I could have come out with this info during the election but let it go until seeing her unprofessional behavior this last month on council. She should resign. It’s all on tape.

[JP]

At least you got that off your chest.

[Grace]

JP this is not about getting this off my chest. If it was, I would have done it a long time ago. After hearing her interview with Mark I felt she was unfit for the Council but since we had other people strong in finance it could be overcome. Her treatment of me was horrific but she was not representing the Council at that time. Her behavior during her representation is the problem. She claims to be collaborative and inclusive but failed to meet with the opposition to the Mercy gym rental. And her failure to treat me respectfully shows that she is spiteful and immature. I’ve publicly criticized Michael and Donna, yet the 2 could not be more polite. How can we have faith that Desiree will work in good faith on issues she might not agree with? Desiree is unfit.