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New Council: Beach and Colson Bring it Home

In what was really a three-way race for two seats, Emily Beach and Donna Colson are about 200 votes apart with a more-than-comfortable 1,000 vote lead over Nirmala Bandrapalli.  Unlike many prior elections, this one was over at 8:05 pm when the first results were posted here.  These results were in-line with my take on it and after watching the candidate forum (Part 1 here, and especially Part 2 which has 55 comments here) there shouldn't be any surprise.  There was a dramatic separation of skills, experience, communications, and campaign expertise.  There appear to be about 1,077 bullet voters (those who used only one of their two votes) so the real separation is probably even greater than the 1,000 vote leads.

The minor hubbub from the Burlingamers Urging Renters Protections (BURP) over rent control turned out to be a tempest in a teapot.  Their whining about who did and didn't come to their poorly described, hastily organized forum put on by a bunch of amateurs with no ground rules and a clear agenda ended up swaying no one.  The incessant letter writing to the Daily Journal that glossed over the issues in favor of smearing also swayed no one.  In the end the BURPers had nothing constructive to say and no one to say it to.

Now on to actually governing on issues that matter.  Capital budget shortfalls for a number of desired projects, traffic and parking, overpasses, intersections and interchanges, stopping high-cost rail, and keeping the growth in line with school capacity (listed here) and street capacity are good places to start.  The Daily Journal has this piece with the winners' comments and here is the Peninsula TV screen that first showed the good news.  Kudos to Emily and Donna.

PenTV 2015 results

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42 responses to “New Council: Beach and Colson Bring it Home”

  1. hillsider

    Nice blowout! Did Nirms get any more votes this time than last time. No endorsements = no votes = no seat at the table. “L”oser

  2. Samiselfie

    Let’s be kind and start this thread with congrats to both women.
    Take a deep breath and exhale Hillsider. It’s a new day.

  3. JROC

    It is not easy to stand up and run for office. It is easy to throw stones from behind a pseudonym however. It took a lot of effort and resources for Nirmala to run. Yes the voters chose otherwise but her participation made the process stronger by adding different views and ideas. Burlingame is better because she ran and we should salute her and thank her. God forbid we should discourage candidates so we end up with uncontested elections with little discussion of the issues. Thank you Ms. Bandrapalli for having the courage to stand and Hillsider you should take a moment to reflect on your anger and its source.
    Renters are truly suffering in ths time of rising rents and the comments above are incredibly insensitive. Renters joined together and attempted to bring light to their cause. You can’t fault them for that. Preservationists do it all the time. The campaign is over and these comments are salt on very fresh wounds.

  4. Laura

    JROC, Nirmala’s problem was she lied. She lied to renters that she was for rent control and told others she was against rent control. She told me personally she was for small growth. She told others she was for building high rise apartments/condo’s on any lot available in the City. She lied to my neighbors that she could get them a stop sign in 30 days and lied her way all over town to whatever group she was in front of. Yes it takes courage, resources and effort to run for office. It takes courage to stand for what you believe in no matter what group you are in front of. Nirmala did not have that courage as she changed her positions for whatever group she was in front of. That was her problem and that was why she lost. Lying gets you no where and luckily for Burlingame, the citizens realized that and voted accordingly.

  5. Anita

    Renters are suffering way less than prospective home buyers who want to make a long term investment in Burlingame. Not only are they taking the risks on home prices that are way bigger than how much rent might go up they also have to worry about being able to get into the local schools as overcrowding and over development change Burlingame’s reputation. For the last five years or more Burlingame home prices have closed in on Hillsborough but that is probably going to change back. Congratulations to the winners. Now do the right thing. I like that both winners were very involved with the schools since they are at risk.

  6. dewey cheatam

    Laura, give it a rest. Your candidates won. Must you kick people when they are down? Practice kindness.

  7. Cathy Baylock

    Thursday afternoon update
    Here is the 4:30 update:
    Beach (37.85%) 2916
    Colson (34.89%) 2688
    Bandrapalli (21.17%) 1631
    Storey (6.09%) 469

  8. just asking

    Does that last post have a picture of the former City Councilwoman Baylock? Wow!!!

  9. old guy

    Do not forget these clowns also want to give away public land (parking lots) to developers so they can build a couple of feelgood affordable units downtown. More traffic. More crowding. More school kids. Less water. There is no “give it a rest” for those weary of how the last set of clowns operated.

  10. resident

    Amen

  11. Bruce Dickinson

    Listen, guys, I gotta tell ya, Bruce Dickinson is surprised at what appears to be a case of sore losers! Yes, it takes courage to run for office, but guess what? It takes even MORE courage to tell the truth as you see it and display what I would call trust-building behaviors. I can’t say whether Nirmala lied, but the record has shown her views to be very inconsistent and flip-floppy. The record has also shown her expertise on the Planning Commission to not be at the same level as some of her colleagues. Doesn’t mean that you can’t commend her for trying, but we in the community deserve what we think are the best people for the job. I’m sure she is better at other endeavors compared to the two election winners. Everyone has a circle of competence and compared to her competition, Nirmala, was unable to sell a compelling circle of competence to the public at large.
    Folks, whether in business or government, making connections with people and commanding strong leadership involves building trust, first and foremost. Trust is built when you are sure of a person’s motives, competence and reliability. With Nirmala, I think there were issues with all three aspects. Bruce Dickinson even had my A/V guy pull the video from the last debate a couple of years ago and Nirmala made some comment about the need to have high density housing and that like it or not, it was here to stay. Is that an indication of reliability compared to what she said in this election? There are many other documented and witnessed examples of such inconsistencies, as have been thoroughly documented. Also her tenure on the Planning Commission is very well documented, has numerous witnesses, and video exists for all the sessions that anyone can watch. Watch them, see the relative contribution of the members. Again, approach it with a truth-seeking mentality and judge whether she is as competent in planning and design review as her colleagues.
    Rather than make an issue out of “hiding behind pseudonyms” or “kick em while they’re down”, which really have zero to do with why a candidate did or didn’t get elected, try to engage in some truth seeking behavior and see why the other candidates were able to make a stronger trust connection with the electorate. Of course, the proof will be in the pudding, as it were, as to whether this relationship will be maintained as we see the performance of Beach and Colson. Think about it this way, what if two medications were developed for an ailment and one of them caused a serious side effect. Wouldn’t you want to understand the truth as to why this was the case? Seriously, if all were unable or unwilling to seek the truth and rely solely on emotion to make decisions, we’d still be in the stone age. But what do I know, I’m just a caveman record producer who has produced albums that sold over 100 million copies!
    Just look at the national elections. Bruce Dickinson thinks Donald Trump’s and Hillary’s problems with many of the American people center on trust. Do we think Trump has the competence to make calm, collected, non-emotional decisions? Do we trust Hillary when it appears that her statements about Benghazi and her emails on a compromised server are truthful considering her very strong motive to win this election? Is this a win at all costs? Have her statements been reliably consistent?
    Guys, seriously, why would we not want the most qualified people to represent you and make the right decisions for this town. Yes, there is always the chance that we got it all wrong and put the wrong person in office, but again, use as much corroborating or dissenting evidence to draw a conclusion versus solely relying on gut feeling. The very fact that sore-loserism and accusing people of not having courage indicates that emotions are getting the better of you. Truth seeking behavior and fact finding was performed by yours truly and my team of assistants, and i didn’t do this for just this election, but for any important decision in my legendary career.
    So take this lesson home from Dr. Dickinson: seek the truth, be truthful, and establish trust. Only with this attitude can you hope at being a successful leader in any endeavor involving relationships!

  12. Joe

    Thanks for this Bruce, esp. the first paragraph. I agree that it is not easy being the messenger either!
    @just asking: Cathy’s picture appears because she uses Facebook access to enter her name and email address and the photo comes along with it.

  13. Gracious in victory

    Her qualifications were an issue during the election. We analyzed them measured them up to the others and elected what we all thought were the best. Now it’s over. My candidates won but I don’t feel compelled to continue the battle. We should be graceful in victory as well as defeat.
    Bruce-yours was a long winded nothing. Do you agree with continuing to throw punches after the bell? Seems tacky to me and it cheapens the great victory of our newly elected.

  14. dewey cheatam

    Bruce the DICKinson – Could you please shorten up your comments and use bullet points.

  15. J

    Speaking of High Cost Rail, has anyone seen Amendment 434 by Jeff Denham? It was included in with the bill so I guess that’s good news.
    (https://www.congress.gov/amendment/114th-congress/house-amendment/434)

  16. Bruce Dickinson

    Again, sore-loser syndrome, reeks of insecurity on betting on the wrong horse. Who cares, so you were wrong in your choice, just move on and go about your business, or better yet, learn from your mistakes. You think that Bruce Dickinson has never been wrong or made a mistake? No way, failure is a necessary condition to learn and come out stronger!
    Anyone who doesn’t understand what it means to develop trust relationships just isn’t ready or able to understand what it means to be a leader. Joe seems to get it, but again, different echelon compared to Captain “Gracious” (oh the irony given our Captain has been censored here more than all combined!). Thats ok, leadership is not for everyone, just be comfortable with where you are, at least there’s an upshot to it: it’s a lot less stressful!
    BTW, when Bruce Dickinson “writes” it’s actually a transcription from my secretary Julie who types what I say, which naturally is stream of consciousness. Again attacking something that has zero to do with the actual election and my dynamite points (trust me, books have been written on the subject, ask any captain of industry) is your coping mechanism, then fine, lash out and pout all you want.
    If your skin is too thin to deal with the anger that your loss or my comments have caused, maybe the BV isn’t for you. Lots of self-soothing blogs on this kinda stuff. Don’t make your own life miserable..that’s in your control, my friend!

  17. Bruce Dickinson

    By the way, folks, let’s not forget our Captain “Gracious” flat out called Nirmala a racist. And as you can see, it was Bruce Dickinson that proposed a ZTP or Zero Tolerance Policy about playing the race card in any way shape or form, thereby coming to her defense! All my comments were focused on qualifications for office, and you can read all the well-thought out commentary in comparison to the poster under the “fraudsters” and “white people” handles that captain “gracious” used in the thread below (I assure you, it’s the same person)
    http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2015/10/council-candidate-forum-part-2/comments/page/2/#comments
    Guys, seriously, now that Captain Gracious has played the race card, and the race is over, now seems to pontificate using some sort of moral high ground to take stabs at Bruce Dickinson!?! That’s like trying to win at a one-legged as$-kicking contest, ya know what I mean?
    I’ve got a better word to describe our captain more appropriately:
    DISGRACE

  18. aLICKs Kent

    You are spending too much of Julie’s time on someone who is not worth it. Great point on the racist accusations though, so maybe not!

  19. HS2

    AK must like being a nudist given how many times Bruce Dickinson undresses him in public. Keep it up BD. Its quite entertaining.

  20. Gracious in victory

    Did a post get drleted? Where’s the racist acusation? Vinyl poisoning is exacerbating his dementia? I never posted that comment.
    Bruce you are off here. Not as sharp as you’ve been in prior posts. Usually they’re entertaining, these are just long. You failed to address the issue here: is it proper to use this forum to continue attacks on Bandrapalli and her renter supporters now that the election is over?
    …or just deflect it with another attack on Alex but this time try to be funny not mean. It suits you better.
    Captain Gracious-I like that!

  21. HS2

    AK, a post didn’t get deleted as you allege, BD provided a link to the entire thread and suggested that people read the thread and judge for themselves. But since your trying to manipulate other readers, here is the direct quote from you aka “fraudster”:
    “And, the icing on the crap cake, is that Nirmala actually hates white people. But, the voters of Burlingame are too brain-washed by the left to even care.”
    Caught with pants down again. Captain Gracious? Not!

  22. Gracious in victory

    Are you suggesting that the same Alex is now standing up for Nirmala? Really?
    THINK! Could this be an entirely different person? This poster made no derogatory remarks about the States Democratic leadership. Made no attempt to educate the masses in the benefits of the libertarian way. Did not drop any names of saling partners or mention pending school site sales.
    NEWS FLASH: Captain Gracious is not AK

  23. HS2

    No, same person. We all know.

  24. Joe

    OK, OK. I am having trouble keeping up here since I do have other things to do on occasion. No posts have been deleted….yet.
    Let’s keep it clean. One screen name is close to being deleted so please refrain from that.
    By the way, it would not be unheard of for one poster to change his or her mind on who to defend or not on a regular basis 🙂

  25. Bruce Dickinson

    I hear ya Joe. Let’s put it nicely: if Bruce Dickinson had a vote, it would be PERMA-BAN, ya know what i mean?

  26. I couldn’t be happier.

    This is why we really should just get together for some drinks and dinner sometime, perhaps as part of a fundraiser.
    Bruce, or Fake Bruce, as I like to point out to the world, NOT a single post on this thread is from “me”, AK.
    So, once again, you’re just wrong.
    Apology accepted.
    I’m happy with the Burlingame City Council election results. And, with another 1st place yesterday at the GGYC midwinter regatta, on my team’s Farr 52, I couldn’t be happier.

  27. Joe

    Do we now have Farr ari 52’s in the storyline?
    One thing I have neglected to say since I have been busy is this:
    I reject the notion that Nirmala’s city council loss means we should just go silent (“be gracious” is just a head fake). I have heard firsthand and read enough other disturbing things that I continue to believe she is unfit to serve on the Planning Commission. It is my contention that the new Council needs to address this unfit-for-service concern.

  28. “Term Expires: 4/8/2017″…

    It’s a new day with a new city council…as the planning commissioners are appointed by the city council, and…really the planning commission is like a jr. city council.
    Joe, I’m amazed at your bravery to strongly call out Nirmala on her flip-flopping and really her lying to people like a chameleon. Who gave her that advice? Was it her party, or her up-bringing, or both?
    Wow, and you want the new city council to potentially ask her to step down?
    I don’t disagree. I admire your resolve to defend the hood.
    “Term Expires: 4/8/2017″…

  29. hillsider

    Terminated for cause 1/1/16?

  30. Bruce Dickinson

    Joe, Bruce Dickinson cannot believe why anyone would criticize your treatment of Nirmala for several reasons: 1) it’s your website, you can say what the F&^! you want; 2) it’s freedom of speech, so it’s protected; 3) you provided facts and backed up your research; 4) others corroborated the same thing; 5) no one else provided contrary evidence; 6) if there is anything approaching libel is those accusing her of hating white people or implying some racist comment saying she wasn’t “raised the right way” (we all know what that implies).
    Folks when Bruce Dickinson has my secretary Julie open the BV and print out the articles and responses, I expect nothing less than rigorous journalism, with hard hitting articles, always challenging the status quo, and having dynamite contributors who know Burlingame best and not accepting the garbage that is oftentimes forced down our throats. Plus, we are graced with the presence of the lovely Mme. Baylock, who governed with real principles, had a fighting spirit, and was nice to watch *wink*, ya know what I mean?
    If you don’t like it, go put on your slippers, get a warm blanket, make some chicken soup, and go watch re-runs of Matlock or Full House, or buy something on QVC after talking to the host on TV.
    Folks, the world out there is ugly and gritty, and if you don’t like seeing the underbelly of bad government, bad policy, and dumb actors, then don’t complain. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. This is a democracy and if you don’t like how your vote went, then get off your derriere and do something about it rather than constantly whine.
    Believe me, whining and playing the victim all the time isn’t going to put a set of Ferrari keys in your hand. By the way, I love how Ferrari envy has now pervaded that 80’s Miami Vice seafoam green and peach retro scene other wise known as the SF Yacht Club, but you want a ’52 Ferrari 212 Inter, you better have about $2.5 million dollars of a credit line on your Discover Card. Only thing is, it’s tough to sleep in one in the parking lot, ya know what I mean?

  31. Clear thinking…clear writing.

    Bruce, were you stoned when you supposedly dictated your yapping above?
    Your logic is getting pretty shaky in your old age.
    I love how a liberal will write something with quotes when just above, it’s clear that that’s not what I said. Classic deceptive rhetoric.
    Yes, when a candidate HERSELF makes a very racist comment at my children’s school function, and I hear it a few feet away, then it IS appropriate for me to report that, don’t you think?
    And further, I wasn’t criticizing Joe’s statements about Nirmala having a different mask / policy position for each group that she spoke to – telling them what they wanted to hear.
    Bruce, perhaps you should downshift to Lite Beer.

  32. Bruce Dickinson

    Listen little fella, you are the one who has the reading comprehension issues (and a persecution complex)! Look at whom I address, namely Joe and the “Folks” clearly referring to those who are criticizing his bringing up the issues associated with Nirmala. I do not know where you fit in all this and quite frankly, really don’t care.
    Bruce Dickinson wouldn’t think that anyone would be confused by whom I was addressing, that is, until now.
    “upbringing” “raised the right way” same difference and same implication (actually upbringing is even more of a condemning word). As all on here know, that I use quote marks for substitution (in a “what have you” sorta sense) and couldn’t remember exactly where I read it. I’m not reading the website, as everyone understands (it is printed out for me or read to me). Again, everyone knows the meaning of what I said and where the REAL transgression was (talk about diversion tactics!)
    Guy, the fact that Bruce Dickinson made some statements about the Yacht Club was a direct response to Joe’s Ferrari comments. Also using the “Nirmala hates white people” allegation was to prove a point as to what is considered appropriate or inappropriate behavior vis-a-vis what was being hurled at Joe. Again none of us know the context of what she said. Maybe she said it, but maybe it was a joke. Without context, we know nothing unless the source is trustworthy and I have yet to hear any corroboration. And by the way, trustworthy sources aren’t regularly rebuked or censored.
    So because you seem to think that you are actually worth my significantly higher opportunity cost of time, make no mistake, I was not addressing you (we all know Julie’s feelings about that), in spite of the fact that I used your statements to prove multiple points? It’s not my fault that you have a bad case “diarrhea of the keyboard” (and no that’s not a DIRECT quote from anyone, as yet another example of how I use quote marks among my many colloquialisms and technically grammatically incorrect ways of putting things…everyone knows Bruce Dickinson has superior command of the English language when duty calls). It is clear that you have an issue with the readership and owners of this site, and many seem to be fed up of your toxicity, plain and simple.
    Bruce Dickinson was told the other day that Belmont is actually on bedrock, so there should be plenty of rocks to crawl under, ya know what I mean?
    So remember little fella, the only thing you CAN assume about a broken down old man, is that he is a survivor (and quite a successful one, if I may say so myself).
    (Sorry Julie, I swear, I’ll stop!!)

  33. Joe

    Back on topic, this would appear to be the final results from Shape the Future:
    EMILY BEACH 2,916 37.85%
    DONNA COLSON 2,688 34.89%
    NIRMALA BANDRAPALLI 1,631 21.17%
    ERIC STOREY 469 6.09%
    So as I said right off, about 200 votes separating the winners and 1,000 vote separation from the top also-ran. We’ll be analyzing the substantial bullet voting for years to come, but it wasn’t nearly enough to accomplish what I believe it intended.

  34. Cathy Baylock

    Far be it from me to point out a “mistake” from Joe, but the results you posted are from the semi-official report November 5th! Here is the latest update from November 9th: http://racetracker.shapethefuture.org/election_results.aspx?cID=17&eID=1
    The final update will be posted at 4:30 this afternoon, unless the vote counting is not completed. If not completed by today, then the next report out will be Monday, November 16 at 4:30 p.m.

  35. Cathy Baylock

    All the votes have been counted and the voters have had their say: 5948 people voted (15,702 were sent ballots) for a 38% turnout. Here is the final outcome:
    Emily Beach (37.65%) 3921
    Donna Colson (34.23%) 3565
    Nirmala Bandrapalli (22.06%) 2297
    Eric Storey (6.06%) 631. There were 1482 bullet votes meaning that many people only voted for one candidate. Congratulations to all candidates on a hard fought campaign and for keeping things positive.

  36. Celebrate the results!

    Narcissistic Codgers aside, thank God for the election results!
    Like I said, Emily Beach is going to kill it – and she did!
    Congrats to Emily and Donna. And congrats to the citizens of Burlingame for delivering a solid voter response.
    Now then, what’s the deal with the Motor-voter initiative?
    Can you say…ignore the rule of law and voter fraud galore?!

  37. Peter Garrison

    Yay for our new council.
    Just read in The Daily Post that the FAA will consider calming Palo Alto and San Carlos’ nerves by having more easbound flights depart runway 10. Theae are the departures which rattle the windows and nerves of Hillsborough, Burlingame and Millbrae until 2 AM.
    Go council, go.

  38. Lowlander

    http://www.flysfo.com/community-environment/noise-abatement/file-a-complaint

  39. resident

    We need to get to Eshoo and make sure that doesn’t happen on runway 10. It is bad enough already. Palo Alto should share the burden for 30 years like we have.

  40. Peter Garrison

    Former pilot here: The Daily Post had an article showing the variations in flight paths approaching SFO. Pilots can vary the approach over different cities and throttle back for a higher and quieter descent.
    Of course, there would be no variation of take-off pattern if the 10 runways are used more often; the Peninsula cities can share the approach noise but we would get all the departure noise at full throttle.
    Write Speier and Hill; Eshoo won’t answer you if you’rw out of her email constituency…

  41. Joe

    Let’s put the SFO comments here:
    http://www.burlingamevoice.com/2015/07/sfo-noise-survey#comments

  42. Esther Williamson Bryant

    Will somebody tell the past Mayor Nagel she is not Mayor anymore. She is still stating she is Mayor on her terrynagel.com website.
    Website Content:
    Terry Nagel was elected to the Burlingame City Council in 2003 and was re-elected in 2007 and 2011. She is currently serving her third term as Mayor. She has been a Burlingame homeowner and active community volunteer since 1978.
    Thought we got rid of her for good.
    Yuck

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