Mr. Silverfarb's article in the Daily Journal:

When Burlingame Mayor Joe Galligan announced he wasn't running for re-election I thought the council race had lost all its fun. Boy was I wrong. On Monday the Daily Journal received a packet of information on City Council candidate Gene Condon that contained information regarding a drunken brawl and arrest that occurred in 1994 at a San Jose Sharks game. It was obviously sent by someone who doesn't want him to win a seat on the council. I say it is a statistical probability that someone affiliated with Citizens for a Better Burlingame sent the court and arrest records to the local papers.

What does a newspaper do in a situation like this? Well, we called Condon ourselves and got the story straight from the horse's mouth. Condon readily admitted his past indulgences and said he had no regrets. His candid response was refreshing. He didn't hide the truth and essentially shrugged off the incidents. He told reporter Dana Yates, I'm no angel and if that's all they have on me, God bless them. Do you want someone to stand up for you or someone who will walk away??

On Tuesday, however, a gentleman named Mike Shea posted some comments to the Daily Journal's Web site on the community forum that made me very upset. Shea wrote, I talked to Gene tonight. Gene was never interviewed by the Daily Journal.? Shea alluded that the Daily Journal and CBB were somehow in cahoots to malign Condon before Thursday night's candidates forum. The Daily Journal and CBB, coincidentally, co-sponsored the forum. My suggestion is to call or e-mail Gene yourself and not to let yours or anyone else's opinion be influenced by a newspaper that doesn't do its job right,? Shea continued. So, I took Shea's advice and called Gene myself. My conversation with Condon, I'm afraid, didn't go so well. He told me he didn't remember talking to Yates. He spoke to another newspaper but not the Daily Journal, he told me. I was dumbfounded by his remarks; flabbergasted, shocked and enraged. How could a man forget talking about serious allegations with a reporter that occurred just one day ago? My desk sits right next to Yates and I overheard her end of the interview with Condon. It was a pretty extensive interview and Condon spoke freely of a 1997 incident in which Burlingame police charged him with battery at a local tavern that involved a cordless screw gun. But Condon couldn't recall the interview despite my prodding. I realize Condon is no angel. Neither am I. And yes I prefer a candidate who will stand up for me and not walk away. But most importantly I think I'd like a candidate whose memory is more than a day long.

Unbelievable.

In a letter published in Thursday's Daily Journal, another Burlingame Elementary School District Board candidate, Dennis Zell, said the real bad guys behind this Condon mudslinging were the individuals who illegally disseminated the candidate's arrest records.? Zell wants the Daily Journal to cooperate in an investigation to determine who broke the law and disseminated confidential government arrest records which are supposed to be maintained for investigative purposes not for the purpose of public humiliation.? OK Dennis. Who's conducting this so-called investigation? Will it be you? Just give me a call and I'll help you all I can.

,,, And after Burlingame City Council candidate Gene Condon said he couldn't remember speaking to the Daily Journal about his past arrests, he lost my vote, too. I'm running out of candidates to like. Will someone please stand out at the local level and give me a good reason to vote for you?

I too look forward to Zell's investigation and we can find out if "disseminating" the truth was done by a member of the Rotary, the CBB, the Lions, the Scottish Rite, the democratic party, the republicans or – heaven forbid – a regular ol' resident!

Hope Mr. Silverfarb was at the debate last night because there are some very smart intelligent educated candidates standing up for Burlingame.

– Written by Fiona

Heather's article in th Daily Journal today:

Broadway focus of forum

Visions of a walking downtown area and restoring public transportation were the focus of the first Burlingame City Council candidates' forum Thursday. The council has four of its five seats up for grabs and eight of the nine candidates shared their thoughts with the city in the first of three forums to be held before the Nov. 8 election. Don Lembi and Russ Cohen are both running for the two-year seat vacated by Mike Coffey, who resigned this summer, while the other seven candidates are vying for the three open four-year seats. Lembi was not at the forum because of a family emergency.

Last month, Caltrain service through the Broadway station was cut back to weekend-only service. Almost all of the candidates said they had spoken up against the reduction of the Broadway Caltrain station schedule. The station was closed because of low ridership. Incumbent Rosalie O'Mahony said the current council worked valiantly to keep the station open and passed money in the June budget earmarked for the restoration of the Broadway station platforms. Many candidates, like Cohen, John Root, Gene Condon and Dan Andersen, said the fight to reopen the station would be a difficult one. This is a time where we as a community need to come together. This is the sort of thing you don't see coming and is slowly creeping up,? Condon said. While most the candidates agreed the reopening of the Broadway station should be a priority, how to handle the Broadway retail area brought up some different ideas.

Planning Commissioner Ann Keighran said the key to making it work is a balance between the small independent stores and national stores. Keighran would like to see the various boards overseeing planning within the city and downtown areas to come together and work toward a common goal. Vice Mayor Cathy Baylock brought up property tax abatements made available to owners of historical buildings. We need to think outside the box. I think there should be a balance of stores but mom and pop stores need to have a fighting chance,? Baylock said.

Paul Prendiville said the city should think about subdividing buildings and putting in businesses that followed more of the current market trends. Root said the main problem occurs because the city has an old overall plan. We've got to get with the program and get ahead of these things instead of always reacting,? Root said.

Sticking with the plan idea, Cohen said looking at what other cities have done would be a way to figure out how to get the Burlingame downtown plan right. He suggested it would be better to have national stores on the outskirts of downtown, giving prime location to the smaller stores. But since the set up downtown already doesn't accommodate this idea, Cohen suggested limiting store sizes. O'Mahony, however, said she would be against forcing property owners to a set given area.

Discussion of downtown brought up ideas on making better use of the side streets like Howard Avenue in downtown and create a walking environment on Broadway. We need to find ways to move pedestrians down the side streets. When more residents will walk to shops we can address the economic feasibility,? Andersen said

– Written by Fiona

There was a nice crowd tonight at the middle school to see eight of the nine candidates stake their claim to a Council seat. Don Lembi apparently had a family emergency and was absent. Not that it mattered since Russ Cohen is clearly plugged-in and ready to take his rightful seat.

For the full term seats, the ladies showed much better than the men. Rosalie seemed a bit anchored to the past and lacked vision but has a grasp on the mechanics, while Ann and Cathy were at the top of their game–well-informed, involved in the community and ready with creative insights and real backbone.

The men on the other hand disappointed. John was a bit vague, wrong on Safeway and managed to assign blame to others for the current Council's lack of collaboration. Not a good start. Dan was down in the weeds unable to connect with people and clearly unaware of the financial situation the city is in. Poor Gene. Even with some specially imported union and gang member support in the face of recent news, he was completely unable to articulate any position on anything. And he needs to lose the fighting and boxing references, if he can. One liner slogans are not going to win this election and that's all he had tonight.

Chapter 2 comes in a week.

– Written by anson

by Joanne Garrison
In an article in yesterday's (9/27) San Mateo Daily Journal, Gene Condon stated, in response to an inquiry about 1 of 2 assault and battery arrests, that the incident occurred when he was "forced to defend his family" in a business dispute. Even though the incident resulted in a plea and a fine, he was quoted as saying "Would he do it again? Absolutely!" The following article from the Boutique and Villager dated Wednesday, June 11, 1997 was under the Police File section.

Boutique and Villager, Wednesday, June 11, 1997 under Police File
Assault With a Deadly Weapon
The new owner of Rusty's Restaurant allegedly pulled a woman to the ground by her hair and held a running power drill to the side of her head at 11:10 p.m. May 30 inside the restaurant at 1300 Howard Avenue. The 26-year-old woman was an employee of the previous owners, working in the restaurant that night. The former owners were having a private going-out-of-business party in the bar before the new owners took over a midnight.

At about 9:30 p.m., the new owners arrived and began working in the restaurant area. The previous owner became upset at the work being done before midnight and asked the woman to lock restaurant doors. As she was walking back into the bar, she said one of the new owners, Eugene Condon, 37, of Burlingame, grabbed her by the hair and pulled her to the ground. He then allegedly held the drill about an inch away from her head. The suspect then began to leave the restaurant, the woman said, and she followed him, punching him and kicking him until he was out the door. Condon told police the woman tried to block his exit and he pulled her to the ground because he feared if he left through the party area, he would be attacked. He said the drill was in his hand at the time, but that he never put it near her head.

Witnesses interviewed by police support the allegations by the victim, said Police Commander Jack Van Etten. Officers are still seeking other witnesses. Condon was arrested for alleged assault with a deadly weapon.

After reading the article, given his past actions and the cavalier attitude (as expressed in yesterday's SM Daily Journal article) one has to ask why anyone would vote for this man when there are so many other choices?

– Written by Pete

There are three seats open on the San Mateo Union High School District School Board and four candidates running for office. Three candidates, Linda Lees Dywer, Peter Hanley, and Robert Griffen have experience, know the issues, and want to serve on the board.

The fourth candidate, Sammy Coach? Goldberg is running to advance his own agenda of how the schools are responsible for teen obesity. He does not have a child in school, doesn't know any of the issues, and doesn't even know the home school for his attendance area. There are allegations that Mr. Goldberg doesn't even live in the district. Mr. Goldberg knows nothing about the SMUHSD, yet he wants to serve on its governing board. He is not interested in the SMUHSD but he is interested in advancing his own agenda at the cost of the taxpayers.

It is reported that the SMUHSD will have to contribute over $100,000 to fund the school board election. If there were only three candidates for the three open seats, there would be no need for an election and the district could put the money to use educating our children. The other candidates would also be relieved of a need raise and spend money on a campaign.

While Sammy Goldberg may have an issue to advance, it should not come at a cost of over $100,000 of our children's education money. This is not the first time that Sammy Goldberg has pulled this stunt. Last year he ran on the same platform for a seat on the San Mateo County Board of Education.

If Sammy is going to run, then he should learn the issues, establish a campaign staff, distribute information and meet the voters. If Sammy isn't willing to run, he should step aside and let the SMUHSD save the $100,000. The money raised by the other candidates can be donated to hurricane relief. There is no time to waste limited public funds.

– Written by JC