The 2019 city council election that has been idling for a couple of months shifted into gear yesterday with councilwoman Emily Beach's campaign kick-off party.  Beach drew a good crowd of locals and neighboring city elected officials along with Assemblyman Kevin Mullin who provided a strong endorsement for our first term councilmember to be re-elected.  Several of Emily's council assignments have given her exposure to neighboring council members and H'borough, Belmont, Redwood City and Foster City were represented–they actually far outnumbered B'game electeds and commissioners.

Beach's speech emphasized quality of life for all Burlingamers which she noted she thinks of as "casting a wide net" that includes teachers, restaurant workers and the like.  The rezoning of areas in the north end and the development of city lots F &N into senior and affordable housing are intended to improve the "quality of life".  Regular Voice readers know I'm skeptical of dense development ever being enough to change the overall macro climate for the housing/jobs ratio and is more likely to exacerbate the traffic, bike and pedestrian danger, school crowding, water shortages, etc.  But with SB50 looming at least B'game can point to some moderating efforts.  The biggest murmurs of approval from the assembled crowd came with the mention of more parking downtown and the need to fix El Camino Real.  The ECR Task Force was invoked and I really look forward to something actually happening to the pavement–it's taking way too long!  There is a message for every candidate here–fixing known problems takes precedence over adding new things.

Recall I endorsed first-timers Emily (and Donna Colson) last election.  Once we see the full slate of candidates, which right now includes those two and Mike Dunham but may expand further, and we get some sense of positions on the key issues of the day, I'll make another set of endorsements–for whatever they are worth.  Here's Emily Beach addressing her supporters.