The Burlingame Voice

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.

Coping With Quarantine

I really don't want to add to the concerns that people already have about the Covid-19 virus, the actions we all must take or the longer-term effects on society.  But I do think it would be helpful to local businesses if the word got out on what was open, partially open (e.g. take-out only, curbside delivery sorts of things) and any other tips for coping.  So here is sort of an "open thread".  If you have any helpful tips, please feel free to add them.  I wish Safeway had a webcam upfront so I could check the lines before I walk over.  The shortened hours shown below should help the staff keep up.  Molly Stone's was pacing customers' entry yesterday and I have not been up to the North End yet.

Reminiscencing running.

Seeing the campaign lawn sign sprouting and having attended the recent Burlingame City Council Debates, my thoughts turn nostalgic.

A few differences between council races of the past 15 years or so and this one were the noticeable lack of candidates, the lack of audience members and the lack of any media covering the event.

Why only three candidates for two open seats? (Two of whom are incumbents.) In the past, there have been 6-9 candidates vying for two open seats. Perhaps it's the lack of issues? The questions the candidates fielded were almost exclusively centered around one subject—housing.

Back in the day, (hey I’m waxing nostalgic here) there were all kinds of questions on a great variety of topics. During my multiple runs for a seat on the dais, I can recall having a stack of 3 x 5 cards with bullet points and notes outlining issues that I anticipated might be asked that were important to Burlingame. One of my fellow candidates saw my notes and leaned over and whispered, “Hey, do you already know what’s going to be asked?” My reply was, “No, but I can sure make a pretty good guess.” The questions ranged from what was the council going to do about the constant filth on Burlingame Avenue to why Burlingame didn’t have free Wi-Fi to why the city wasn't going to pay for sidewalk repair anymore to bay front development to of course the architectural plan for a massive 63,000 square foot downtown Safeway. ( Simply look at the Burlingame Voice categories in the sidebar to get a sense of the issues that have been bantered about.) There were lots of concerns the residents wanted council candidates to address, more than the aforementioned short list. There were lots of residents who showed up to hear what the answers might be. Standing room only as I recall. Not to mention that if they could not attend the debate at City Hall, they could attend the debate at Burlingame High or the one at Burlingame Intermediate or the one at First Presbyterian Church. Once we even had a debate at the Atria Senior Center.

There were no reporters in attendance—at least none that I knew about. I know the media can watch a recording of the meeting, but that doesn't give a reporter the opportunity to “carpe diem” and ask follow-up questions of the candidates on the spot. In fact, it’s been a few days now and I have not seen a single article about the differences between what one candidate said and what the others said. Wait, aren't they called “debates?”

In the spirit of nostalgia, the debates I participated in were truly that—a variety of candidates with a variety of perspectives. They were lively affairs; some might even say, “Heated.” A debate could make or break a candidate. The aftermath and local media coverage, from several local newspapers, were important litmus tests. Gone are the days when the local newspaper, The San Mateo Daily Journal sponsored and ran the debate. Apparently they aren’t even covering it anymore. Thank goodness for The Burlingame Voice!

Also gone are the days when local races were won and lost by a few votes, (for example, I lost once by only 8 votes! Another candidate lost by only 21.)

Maybe all the concerns from the past have been addressed? Maybe the only questions left are where to build, how much to build and how high to build. At least that was my impression.

Here’s to the good old days.

 

10 lbs of Vehicle in a 5 lb Sack

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on the dissonance between Americans love of ever-larger vehicles and the ever-shrinking parking spaces they hope to squeeze into.  This has been a pet peeve of mine for sometime so indulge me for a moment while we look at the Journal's facts

Many downtown garages and parking lots sprouted in the late ’70s and ’80s when sales of smaller cars were on the rise. The standard parking spot in the U.S.—about 8 feet to 9 feet wide and nearly 18 feet deep—has budged little since.

Compact-car spaces, generally 7 feet to 8 feet wide and 15.5 feet deep, are becoming more commonplace in some congested cities, as builders try to squeeze in more parking.

Ford Motor Co., which recently announced it was killing off several slow-selling car models, expects nearly 90% of its North American sales will come from SUVs and trucks by 2020.  Drivers of more diminutive rides are equally frustrated by the parking pinch. Taller trucks and SUVs block views, park at weird angles and make it difficult to get in and out. 

B'gamers are susceptible to the problem in older and in newer parking lots.  The Safeway lot is a great example--tons of SUVs in "compact" spaces.  In a perfect world--or at least my perfect world-- planners would not even consider "compact" spaces.  They should just assume every space is going to be used by all sizes of vehicle and force the parking requirement to comply.  It will only get worse too as we dig deeper for more parking a la California Ave. and the other huge developments coming soon.

Honoring a Mentor: Charles Voltz

This post is originally from April 5, 2018.  Updated January 7, 2023:  Our dear friend Charles Voltz passed on Christmas Day.  RIP, my friend.

The City Council honored local activist and frequent mentor to other activists, Charles Voltz, last Monday night at the council meeting.  The list of Charles' notable contributions in the Proclamation are long and deep--from co-founding the Washington Park Society with Dan Anderson to the Citizens for a Better Burlingame (CBB of Safeway fame--read the 74 posts here) to High-speed Boondoggle and several groups in between.  As an active Rotarian and man-about-town, Charles has epitomized the type of civic engagement that helped Burlingame through some very tough issues--and he will continue to do so because that is the kind of guy he is.  Several people, including several council members, noted that Charles is generous with his time and knowledge when mentoring people.  It was great to see him and his significant other Mary Hunt honored at a council meeting.  You can watch the accolades on the City website here.  And here is Charles with Mayor Michael Brownrigg who put the ceremony together and ran it with panache.

Charles Voltz and Michael Brownrigg

Safeway Snarl - Part 2

Like Samiselfie who posted about last night's checkout snarl on the parking lot post, I was in the right place at the wrong time (about 5pm).  It was something to behold as you can see in the photos below.  The top one is the regular checkout line extending back into the wine department.  The second one is the self-checkout line going half way back up the aisle.

I did not mention it in the parking lot post, but during that visit I heard a patron complain to the store manager that she had experienced a ridiculously long line a few days before and had called Safeway headquarters to complain.  His response was that he "has a financial plan that he has to meet".  I don't think this is a cost of living on the Peninsula issue for unionized employees as much as a Safeway profitability issue.  Either way, when you need hydration in line at the grocery it might be time to go to a different store.

The new card reader machines for chip cards that cannot read the Safeway Club card don't help speed things up either!

Safeway Snarl

Things were getting ugly in the Safeway parking lot this afternoon--and that was at 2:30 before the dinner time rush.  The lot is being repaved and re-striped but someone forgot to tell the paving contractor that having a single way in/out was a bad idea.  You can see from the photo that the right side passage way towards the bank and Yogurtland is roped off as is the access from Primrose.  With no rooftop parking available either for a couple more days, drivers will have to get creative about street parking--or walk.  A little notice would have been good.

Rotisserie Chicken on the Way

For everyone pining for the old Chicken! Chicken! rotisserie fare (which ended up being the cause de feu of the restaurant's demise), the old Kabul location at the corner of the Avenew and California Dr. across from the train station will be the new hangout.  The alcohol license transfer is up indicating that Limon Rotisserie is moving in and their website confirms that a B'game location is coming.  Personally, I'm looking forward to the ceviche since the Safeway chicken is hard to beat for six or seven bucks!

Safeway Buy-out?

After all of those years following Safeway including posts up to Part 74 on the new building it's almost reflexive to post on any news that is Safeway-related.  It appears from news reports that Safeway is about to be taken private by Cerberus.  The stock has done OK over the last year (NYSE: SWY, low about $22, currently about $37-38), but there must still be some meat on the bone for the private equity guys.  There are a couple of PE bloggers who read the Voice--any thoughts?

I'm glad we got the new store done when we did two and half years ago.

Post on Kent

Next up in today's Daily Post is their interview with Alex Kent who they describe as "a commercial real estate broker".  We know from the candidate's debate post on the Voice that Alex doesn't believe he is a realtor, but the real gem of the interview is his strategy for dealing with "the union"

He said the city should really get to know its union members, and have members know the community better.

"Why aren't those union leaders participating in our fresh farmers markets?" Kent said.

I'm not sure where to start here.  Perhaps the leaders of the nine unions in town already have all the fresh bell peppers and kale they need?  I have to wonder what special talent Mr. Kent has for negotiating with unions?  And given that union negotiations happen in closed session, how does Mr. Kent know how well the city staff and council members know or don't know the unions?  I won't even bother to retype his naive comments about the Safeway project, but he would definitely benefit from read this set of posts.