The Burlingame Voice

220 Park Rd: From Post Office to Class A Space

Wednesday was the official groundbreaking ceremony for the Old Post Office property; now dubbed "220 Park Rd."  About 50-75 people turned out to hear some speeches, tour the historic lobby that is undergoing asbestos removal and watch The Claw take the first bite out of the old garage.  The long saga documented here, here and here is moving into the final chapter.  There seems to be consensus among the cognoscenti that this is the best design B'game could hope for-- it is certainly better than the last proposal.

The lobby will be partially preserved in the sense that it will be modified with three doorways where the large windows are now.  The plan is to pick up the poured concrete structure, turn it slightly and move it 100' towards the Avenew, put it on piers and move it back near the end of the project (projected to be March 2024).  We'll keep an eye out for the date since that will be a bring-your-popcorn event.  There will be underground parking and the Town Square will feature amphitheater-style seating for concerts and the like.  The Daily Journal has some of the details

The ground floor, including a portion of the existing post office, will comprise 15,000 square feet of retail and dining space. Office space above will feature terraces at each level and larger patios on the third and sixth floors. The two-level underground parking garage will have room for 275 cars and be open to the public on weekends and evenings.

Construction of the project will be handled by Sares Regis Group and Dostart Development Company, which will provide $2 million to the city for the town square development, as well as an additional $3.5 million in assorted fees to go toward affordable housing in Burlingame.

Click through if you are a subscriber so you can see the photo of Yours Truly in my chapeau and shorts along with my lovely bride in the left background.  Here is Dave Hopkins of Sares Regis, the Claw doing its thing and the official groundbreaking line-up.

Music in the Park: Get Your Reservations

The city e-newsletter has music to my ears with the announcement of this year's new Music in the Park series.  The big change is a move to Friday nights from 6-8pm (5pm check-ins) and  

Registration is $5 per person.  Registration must be made in advance. Only one registration is required per group. Registration provides a dedicated space for you and your group.

I envision chalk line circles for each pod and people making more of a night out effort with more food and drink.  I'm not sure what the rules will be about alcohol in the park.  It has traditionally been OK in San Mateo's Central Park series, but B'game can be more strict sometimes.  Here is the line-up

June 18 - The Sun Kings (Beatles Tribute)

July 9 - The Houserockers (Rock & Soul)

July 23 - New American Villains (Modern & Classic Rock)

August 13 - Pride & Joy (R & B & Soul)

I've seen all of these bands at least once, but I'm still excited.  Keep an eye on www.burlingame.org/rec for more info.  Here is a past Sun Kings show.

The Man Behind Mollie's is Ringing Out

Austin Walsh at the Daily Journal has delivered an outstanding piece about the impending retirement of one of the most well-liked people in town -  Mark Lucchesi.  Click through here to read it; I'll just grab a couple bits for the historical record.

But with almost two decades of work in the industry beyond his 28 years at Mollie Stone’s, Lucchesi has seen more than his fair share of grocery store wars. As a youngster, he took his first job out of college working for his father who owned two markets – Jim’s Super in Burlingame and Capuchino Market in Millbrae. Following his term in the family business, Lucchesi pivoted to working at Petrini’s before eventually matriculating to Mollie Stone’s.

He worked for a while at the company’s Palo Alto location but jumped at the opportunity to manage the Burlingame store when it opened in 1999, excited to take a job back in his hometown and work close to where he lived.

Mark has been integral to a number of local events and charities-- Taste of the Town and charity auctions for the schools come to mind and I'm sure you can recall others as the Lion's did.  "He won the Burlingame Lions Club Citizen of the Year Award in 2017 for his philanthropic endeavors."

He also brings back the memories of the Safeway rebuild that you can revisit by working backward from here.

Lucchesi said in that role he has encountered a great many skirmishes over the years, first recalling the rivalry formed with the construction of a new downtown Safeway in Burlingame. Reflecting on initial fears that the titan’s competition would topple Mollie Stone’s, Lucchesi is proud of the way his independent outlet sustained itself.  About a decade after the new Safeway arrived in Burlingame, Lucchesi said the potential blood feud has since evolved into something more closely resembling a friendly rivalry.

Speaking from experience, I think Mark and Kathy are going to really enjoy retirement.  With their network of friends in a town they love, they'll never be short of a friendly face to have a chat with.  The next time I see Mark I will snap a photo for this post.  Hopefully he will be in an aloha shirt and looking relaxed.  Congrats, man.

All Gave Some, Some Gave All

I'm relieved that Veterans Day is still a valid holiday of remembrance in the U.S.   During my professional career I often happened to be in Europe on November 11th and always found the wearing of poppies on lapels to be a visible sign of remembrance that we don't see as often here.  Wikipedia offers some background

Veterans Day (originally known as Armistice Day) is a federal holiday in the United States observed annually on November 11, for honoring military veterans, that is, persons who have served in the United States Armed Forces (and were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable).^[1][2] It coincides with other holidays including Armistice Day and Remembrance Day which are celebrated in other countries that mark the anniversary of the end of World War I. Major hostilities of World War I were formally ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918, when the Armistice with Germany went into effect. At the urging of major U.S. veteran organizations, Armistice Day was renamed Veterans Day in 1954.

The remembrance poppy is an artificial flower worn to commemorate those who died for their country. Veteran's associations exchange poppies for charitable donations used to give financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the armed forces.

Let's take some time to remember our vets.  All gave some, some gave all.

Hating...Well, Just Disliking Propaganda

You have to wonder who comes up with some of the stuff in city government and who especially approves it to go out in the city e-newsletter?  I hate dislike propaganda of all kinds.  Propagandizing about "hate" is just another form of propaganda.  So this week's e-newsletter brings us

As the dangers of hate, racism, and bigotry grow more apparent every day, the need for local action to counter hate is urgent. Our City Council and Burlingame's United Against Hate (UAH) Committee invite you to join us for a week of civic action to stop hate and build inclusion.

Do we have an urgent need to address hate in town?  I must have missed that somehow.  I can only recall a couple--and I mean two--instances of hate in town. Both at BHS in the form of hateful graffiti and both committed by misguided teenagers.  One was dealt with efficiently by the police and I'm not sure where the other one stands.  Is hate "growing more apparent every day in town"?  I doubt it.  It's not a category in the daily crimegraphics report, but maybe it should be.

This seems eerily reminiscent of the police use-of-force hubbub we had that led to a townhall in July.  We learned that we didn't have anything close to a use-of-force problem in town.  Let's be thankful for that.  We were told there was a public outcry about it and we need to DO SOMETHING.  Here's what I did.  I submitted a Public Records Act request for city communications related to several aspects of police use-of-force, training, etc.  So far I have gotten back hundreds, maybe more than a thousand, electronic communications with city officials mostly around the weeks of the townhall.

Here is what I found.  As I worked through the “real” emails from people in Burlingame, I found 65 -- after attempting to account for reply-all’s etc.  Of those, 43 made some attempt to write something original or at least customize something from the e-mail mills that are active around the country.  Even more insightful was that 24 of the 43 showed unequivocal support for our police or concerns about looting!  There were dozens of cut-and-paste emails from Fremont, Berkeley, Santa Rosa and as far away as the East Coast; many suggesting we do what we have already done.

Do 19 residents expressing a general, but uninformed concern about police use-of-force justify all of the staff and police time and effort that went into that string of events?  Maybe, but in the end it was a non-event.  Will the movement against hate be the same or just more propaganda?

Cruising El Camino Real: San Mateo

Although I am a member of the Bay Area Cruise Night Facebook group, I did not realize last night was on the event schedule.  We happened to go to All Spice for dinner (highly recommended) and could hear plenty of muscle cars on ECR as we ate in the back parking lot.  After dinner we joined the parade for one circuit and it was fabulous!  It felt like about 1972.  Bel Airs, El Caminos, GTOs, Falcons, vintage pick-ups and a gorgeous California Special Mustang.  I couldn't get a pic of the Special, but I did capture this sparkly ride.  Could not help but think there were more than a few people out last night who would like to show the Gavinor where their tail pipes are.

The Facebook page sponsor thanked SMPD for being out there and helpful.  They set up shop in front of the Safeway and drew a supportive crowd.  Maybe B'game's stretch of ECR will be next.

The BAAZ is Dead. Long Live Parklets!

The two-month-old experiment I dubbed the Burlingame Avenue Autonomous Zone (the BAAZ) came to a screeching halt Monday night.  I noted a number of reservations on the original post here.  The Daily Journal piece today highlights some of the same issues that I was concerned about as well as a few noted later by people venturing into the BAAZ-- like speeding skateboarders and bikers.

Burlingame’s outdoor dining scene proved too popular for its own good, according to frustrated officials who pulled the plug on a program promoting inappropriate partying during the pandemic.  “It just kind of turned into a festival out there with people not doing what they need to do,” said City Manager Lisa Goldman, in advance of councilmembers voting 4-1 to reopen Burlingame Avenue to traffic.

Furthermore, critics pointed to a recent survey of local businesses which offered mixed perspectives on the success of the closure program, with some merchants claiming it made their lives more difficult.  So rather than provide a forum for unhealthy behavior, Ortiz said he favored a proposal for establishing a network of parklets where restaurants and eateries could set up tables in a more controlled environment.

I'll just file that away in the I Told You So folder.  The piece doesn't mention the Broadway BRAZ but a quick look at Monday's agenda shows the BRAZ was also up for discussion and most likely met the same fate as the BAAZ.  If you are able to access the DJ piece as a subscriber, you will read about some council members suggesting more police enforcement of masks and distance while others think they have more to do than enforce such rules.  I didn't note any discussion of the much ballyhooed "community social worker" idea-- a la Berkeley's idiotic approach to handing out traffic tickets.

Parklets live on as they should have from the beginning.  I saw a couple new ones just sprouting, like Five Guys', and no doubt there will be more now.  Recall the estimate back in July that "the creation of parklets will result in a parking loss of up to approximately 60 to 70 spaces on side streets in the downtown area on both weekdays and weekends."  I'm thinking that will be more like 100-120 now that parklets are the only alternative.  The new parking structure is coming along (the second story is up) so perhaps by the rainy season, we will have more spaces.  Here's hoping our parklets designers have the resources to build nice ones like Truckee.

Here's an update photo.  I have to say, it's a little weird walking by the pedicure stand, but they were full so I guess it's just me.

BPD Use of Force Townhall Questions

Next week the City and the B'game Police Department will be holding a Zoom Townhall meeting on the "use of force" and will be responding to questions from the public.  While it's tempting to question if this topic should be our first priority for BPD community outreach, I decided to go ahead and submit my questions.  Here they are:

• What are BPD’s responsibilities for mutual aid to neighboring cities that “defund” their police when we are fully funding ours?  Have we notified those city councils of the potential for reduced aid?
• If the city allocated 10% more funding to BPD today, how would it utilize the funds?
• What evidence exists to support Councilman Brownrigg’s public assertion that “so many of our neighbors and friends and residents fear the police”? (Daily Journal, June 19, 2020)
• Please describe in detail what the City Council would like to see happen when:

    -A 6’2” 220 lb. male reacts physically to a 5’6” 145 lb. female BPD officer?

    -A driver with fully opaque windows refuses to lower all windows?

• What is the risk of senior, tenured officers taking early retirement or filing for disability due to the demonization of police nationally, in the Bay Area, and in Burlingame?
• How many slots will there be in the training program for new officers in the next three years?
• What are our current capabilities to repel a violent outbreak in Burlingame?  What Police PPE, vehicles, canine support, etc. is fully operational?
• In the event of a natural disaster or violent outbreak, how many hours or days will it take to have at least 80% of the entire police force in town and on duty?
• How many of Burlingame’s 23,000 adult residents have been issued active concealed permits (CCW) today?  What are the requirements for a Burlingame resident to obtain a concealed carry permit today?  Does the city offer training classes to provide the skills required to be granted a concealed carry permit?

The meeting is on July 23 at 6:30 pm and the City is requesting questions by 4 pm the day before at publiccomment@burlingame.org.  We'll see how many questions can be addressed in the 90 minutes allocated.  If you want to ask the council why they sold the Measure I sales tax as a new BPD funding source for two more uniformed officers if they were unhappy with the force, now would be a good time to do so.  The times they are a'changing especially for those with short memories.

Tweaking The BAAZ, Creating The BRAZ

Tomorrow night the City Council will consider making some changes to the Burlingame Ave Autonomous Zone (the BAAZ).  We're just finishing the third weekend of the BAAZ so Council will be looking to extend it to the end of September and add parklets on the side streets.  Back in May when the original plan surfaced, I had several concerns: impact on non-restaurant businesses, non-BAAZ restaurants, parking, handicap access and the cost.  It appears I was prescient since the proposed tweaks start to address some of these, especially the fairness issue. Non-BAAZ restaurants that want a parklet on Primrose, Park, Lorton, Howard, and Chapin would get permanent ones (meaning seven days a week) since they are too expensive to put in and take out often.  The parklets would be created using heavy duty industrial plastic hydro-barriers -- the ugly orange blocks.  San Mateo went the parklet route but only uses the hydro-barriers on the on-coming traffic side as shown below (upper right).  I hope we do the same.

To further address fairness to our "other" downtown, the one that often feels under appreciated by the City, the BRAZ is under consideration -- the BRoadway Autonomous Zone.  It involves Saturday-Sunday closure of Broadway between Chula Vista and Capuchino -- the three middle blocks; attempting to leave some traffic circulation since, you know, it's a 101 exit.  Anecdotally, the Broadway restaurants took a bit of a beating the last two weekends--akin to the non-BAAZ restaurants.  One non-BAAZer used the word "disaster" when I asked how it went the first weekend.

As to parking, the Staff Report notes

In addition to the previously estimated loss of parking on Burlingame Avenue of approximately 150 to 160 parking spaces when the street is closed on the weekends, the creation of parklets will result in a parking loss of up to approximately 60 to 70 spaces on side streets in the downtown area on both weekdays and weekends.

Approximately 50 to 60 parking spaces would become unavailable on weekends if the City Council approves the temporary weekend closure of Broadway. As with the Burlingame Avenue commercial district, there are nearby parking facilities on either side of Broadway, but parking will become tight on busy weekends.

I might suggest putting a cover over most of the EV charging stations in Lot Y so GV's (gas vehicles) can use them because we know EV usage has been quite low. 

Now the costs:

Staff estimates the cost of setting up and removing the street closure on Broadway to be similar to Burlingame Avenue, which is estimated at approximately $10,000 to $12,000 per month. Additionally, staff estimates the cost of renting and setting up barriers to create parklets is $20,000 to $30,000 per month. Regarding loss of parking revenue, staff estimates the overall loss is approximately $20,000 to $30,000 per month. The overall total fiscal impact of the pilot program is estimated to range from $60,000 to $80,000 per month. The actual figure may vary and will be determined after the completion of the pilot program.

We may have our very own Summer of Love.  Like the original one in '67, it would be fun but comes with a price.

Covid-19 Tracking and Planning

It's time to start a new thread on our tracking of the coronavirus.  You can see the prior post from March 24th and the path of the virus' growth in the County here.  Today's County report at SMChealth.org shows 16 new cases in the County for a total of 767.  67 cases are currently in hospital and 7,295 total tests have been done with a 10% positive ratio.  Recall there are about 769,000 people in the County so the testing rate is still minuscule.

There was a great human interest story in the Daily Journal yesterday about Officer Steve Vega.  I've chatted with the officer on the street before (the last time was in front of the Apple store during the on-going patrol there) and I'm thrilled to hear he is better.  He may be down at Stanford right now donating

After recovering from COVID-19, Burlingame police Officer Steve Vega is hoping the antibodies in his blood can be used to treat others infected with the disease.  Vega, 55, is among the first participants in a new effort by Stanford Blood Center to treat COVID-19 patients while the world waits for a vaccine to be developed.

The 22-year Burlingame officer is set to donate his plasma, the liquid in blood, at Stanford this Thursday and however many times is needed after that.

Also in the news is some data on how the work-at-home trend for self-isolating plays out across the economy.  Having worked full-time from home for more than a decade one article about the trials the newbies are discovering was gratifying to read.  On the data side, the Wall Street Journal has a piece titled "The Lucky Stay-at-home 37%"

A newly released study called “How Many Jobs Can Be Done at Home?” reckons that 37% of all U.S. jobs can plausibly be done at home, meaning that nearly two-thirds cannot. The study’s authors, from the University of Chicago’s Becker-Friedman Institute, add that their 37% estimate is at the “upper bound of what might be feasible.”  Along with other studies, this one also finds that those in jobs that can be done from home “typically earn more.” By their calculations, for example, 37% of jobs that can be done at home account for 46% of all wages.

Those who have stressed the need to get our economy up and running again are sometimes criticized for favoring profits over people. But the Becker-Friedman paper underscores that those lower down on the socio-economic scale are most in need of a re-opening for their livelihoods.

That's an important point that can be missed during the high-anxiety zeitgeist we are in.  Here is the Avenew showing that zeitgeist.