Category: City Council

  • Contract negotiations: city staff turnover–not a lot to see here

    Unless I missed it, which is possible due to some travel, the news has been quiet regarding the heated contract negotiations at City Hall.  We last covered it in October here.  There was the one-day strike back on December 4th as reported by the DJ here:

    More than 100 Burlingame workers picketed in front of city hall Dec. 4 for a one-day strike based on alleged free speech violations by city management that closed down many city services, including the Community Center, the Easton Library and the finance department.  The strike is the first by Burlingame’s municipal workers since 1981.

    Aside from the "free speech" claims, the more substantive claim was that low pay was causing much turnover of city staff.  As usual, I am reluctant to go along with broad statements when the actual data is easy to get.  With that in mind, a simple inquiry to the city led to the data through mid-December when I made the request:

    • There were 27 CN (casual non benefited) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
    • There were 2 CP (Casual with PERS) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
    • There were 31 FT (Full Time) employees who separated with the City in 2023 to current.
    • There was 1 PN (PERS non-contributory) employee who separated with the City in 2023 to current.

    Is the departure of 31 full-timers a lot?  Normal?  A problem?  I'm not sure, but when you think of all the departments as listed here, it doesn't seem like a crisis.  All of these negotiations rightfully happen behind closed doors, but the public statements–mostly by the union reps–bear examination.  And now you have "the rest of the story".

    Jan 30 update:  There's a bit more to the story.  I was going to use the DJ article about AI and County employees for a separate post, but commenter Timothy Hooker made such an elegant point below about operational efficiency from tech (see Jan 29) that I will just add the headline here.  Supes, please do not make promises to retain long-term headcount that is no longer needed.  Just don't, OK.

    AI job protection

  • City Council: Brownrigg floats term limits

    I'm not sure how widely Mayor Brownrigg sent out the e-mail below.  It's probably fairly widespread, but I spoke to a couple people who are "active" and they have not seen it, so I will go ahead and share it with Voice readers as Michael suggests at the bottom.  My comments below.

    Dear friends of Burlingame civic life:

    I am writing a heads up note to you about an item I put on the agenda for next Monday, December 4, which happens to be my last substantive meeting as mayor.

    And before I explain more, I want to preemptively say that I FULLY understand the irony of my study item!

    So my study item is whether Burlingame City Council and/or its commissions ought to have term limits going forward. Here is why I think it merits a conversation now.

    When I got on Council I asked about the idea of term limits and I was told that, because the elections are at-large, all the voters get to pick who they think are the best 5 people to lead the city, and often that might be someone with a lot of experience and solid track record. After seeing how hard it was to run for re-election, I completely agreed with this point of view. It is hard to run and each election (until the most recent one), I felt I really had to earn my seat against worthy opponents.

    My views changed during the last election, which was our first set of district elections (which I resisted but knew we would have to accept due to state law). In 2022 there were three Burlingame council races without a single competitor; I cannot recall any Burlingame election ever when there was not at least one credible competitor and very often several or even many competitors, creating active debates, giving the voters real choices, and making candidates earn their spot on Council.

    I conclude that district elections — which effectively cut Burlingame down from a city of 30,000 to one of 6,000 for each candidate — significantly diminish voter choice. In the pre-District days, it usually took at least 2,500 votes to win a seat (depending on the number of candidates) and often 3,000 or more; with districts the top vote getter got 2,000 and the others around 1500 each. Had there been competitors, that number would have been much smaller, perhaps in the hundreds.

    So I raise these questions now — yes, yes, after 4 terms — do we collectively worry about a candidate sort of "owning" a district such that opponents do not want to take the field? Are we concerned that there might not always being two people in each district who even want to run, let alone two capable people to choose between? 

    I do not come into this conversation with a point of view — I simply wanted to raise the question while I could. And while I was at it, I decided to also put on the table the question of term limits for commissioners because I can see how very hard it is for Council to vote off incumbents and yet I also see how many more applications we get when there is an actual open seat on a commission. The commissions create our city's bench strength, I think, and therefore also worthy of a conversation about term limits.

    If you want to weigh in, PLEASE DO. You can send a comment to the City Clerk, you can write to the whole Council, or you can show up; sadly, you cannot call in "live" any more because of the zoom-jerks. And feel free to share with anyone else who cares about how we elect our leaders going forward. Again, I am looking forward to the conversation, I am not advocating an outcome.

    If there is sufficient consensus to do something, then staff would be sent away to develop options. If the status quo emerges as the preferred alternative, well, at least I asked!

    Very best,

    Michael

    —————————

    It strikes me that term limits would confuse cause and effect.  The cause of the scarcity of candidates is the lousy election law Michael refers to and we covered here, here and here creating five tiny districts.  It's voter suppression pure and simple and should have caused a consortium of other small cities (<100,000) throughout the state to beg, plead, cajole or sue for exemptions.  Have Diane Papan and Josh Becker scour the halls of Sacramento for support.  It's actually not too late since we are starting to have early data on the deleterious impact.

    Having said that, I go back to my suggestion when this all started.  Instead of five little districts, we could have created two (East side, West side anyone?)  And left 3 seats "at large".  Or cut the city in thirds and leave two "at large".  It's also not too late.  If the SoCal lawyer behind all of this wants to sue, let him.  We wouldn't know how it would play out unless we try.  If someone was put off by a strong district incumbent, they could run at large.  It would be more time consuming and expensive but perhaps easier to actually win.

    The main problem with term limits is the loss of institutional knowledge on council.  Even ten years gone from office now, my wife still has insights from her three terms on council that I believe would take a newly elected council member years to acquire.  The de facto term limit we have now is the often-thankless nature of the job.  My sense is the number of people willing to step up to 12, 16 or 20 year stints is diminishing.  Just a guess.  Thoughts, dear readers?

  • Hookah Hullabaloo on B’way

    In the local version of the national trend of avowed lefties becoming ever more authoritarian, smoking stuff on Broadway has come under the microscope at city council.  The Daily Journal headline notes

    Burlingame moves to allow hookah

    City OKs outdoor smoking ban, moves forward with water pipe exemptions

    You would be excused if you thought the sub-head had something to do with our aging water infrastructure, but it doesn't.  Instead, in a state with legalized weed that you can smell all over town, we are treated to council members and high school students opining about hookahs and shisha…sheesh

    The Burlingame City Council is prepared to allow hookah in two Burlingame locations, despite some concerns about its nicotine use, and also expanded an outdoor smoking ban for its Burlingame Avenue and Broadway retail districts.  Allowing hookah, however, would mean the city could not participate in San Mateo County’s tobacco regulation program, which covers cities’ costs if an ordinance is adopted. Advocates of the exemption say hookah can be a culturally and socially significant practice that legal adults should not be prohibited from utilizing.

    Councilmember Emily Beach said she wished the City Council would remain strong in its decision to ban all flavored tobacco products and thought that participating in the county’s regulation plan would have saved Burlingame taxpayer’s money.  “When I look at flavored tobacco, the big picture is [that] flavored tobacco makes it tastier, more enticing and more fun to smoke. That’s why it was invented, it makes it better,” she said. “Whether that’s adults or kids, is that a good idea? In my opinion, I don’t think it makes a lot of sense to go backwards on this.”

    The ordinance will also clarify that the ban applies only to the public right of way, like streets, parklets and public parking lots, and not private property like outdoor patios of bars and restaurants, Assistant City Attorney Scott Spansail previously said during the council’s Nov. 6 meeting.

    It looks like a 3-2 vote to allow hookahs — Ortiz, Stevenson and Colson for, Brownrigg and Beach opposed to shisha.  The "cultural and societal value" of lighting up was invoked by some commenters.  I can hear the cries of racism off in the distance if this vote had gone the other way.  If you are thinking of jumping into the hookah business be aware that only one more spot is allowed, and it cannot be too close to the Society Lounge on B'way.

    The real question, completely ignored, is how is BPD going to enforce this?  Aside from the area around the Apple store and the occasional parking enforcement officer roaming the streets (who probably cannot issue this sort of ticket anyway) are people supposed to call 911?   Shall we hire a few new foot cops to patrol B'way and the Avenew?

  • City Strike? Free speech for all?

    The only thing I'm certain about regarding this post is that we do not have the whole story.  Kudos to the Daily Journal for running with what they did know yesterday about the potential strike over "free speech" issues among City employees.  The DJ piece starts with

    The union representing 130 Burlingame city workers could strike after complaints allege city managers in various departments are interfering with employees’ rights to free speech.  Rod Palmquist, spokesperson for the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 829, said the city workers have a right to free speech and express their desire for better-paying wages.

    The bit of background we do have is

    The state’s Public Employment Relations Board issued an unfair labor practice complaint against the city Sept. 8. In early June, several employees attended a City Council meeting to speak in favor of fair wages. The next day, an employee at the meeting allegedly asked police Capt. Robert Boll a routine operational question. Boll allegedly said, “Why don’t you ask the AFSCME people.” While speaking to a group of employees who voiced the need for a pay increase, Park Superintendent Richard Holtz allegedly responded that they should talk with him if they didn’t like working for the city for the pay they receive, adding he would help them find another place to work, according to a PERB complaint.

    First, one could ask why there is such a thing as a Public Employment Relations Board, who is on it and how much homework do they do before they issue a complaint?  I'd like to know what the "routine operational question" was and whether it was asked in good faith.  As far as the second comment by Rich Holtz, that sounds like him exercising his free speech, not interfering with someone else's.  And it's not like he gets to decide who gets paid what in town.  For me the kicker is this bit

    City employee Joleen Helley said the city pays 6% less than neighboring cities doing similar jobs, according to the release.

    Blanket statistics like that always concern me.  There are so many variables that boiling a pay comparison down to a single number is impossible.  What about time in grade (seniority), performance reviews, benefit packages and the like?  B'game is in contract negotiations now–did the other cities just finish theirs so raises come at different times?  And the BIg Question is who cares what other cities are paying?  That is a false comparison meant to continue a faster upward spiral than is needed to provide the services.  I recall back in the day, a clerical job opening at City Hall drew more than 200 applicants.  The pay must have been competitive enough.

    This is just a place marker post for when we know more–if we ever do.

    Strike
      

  • Broadway intersection: From bad to worse?

    First in April and then again back in July we broached the question of whether it was wise to grab a lane of car traffic and some parking spaces to accommodate a new bike lane on California Ave. south of Broadway.  The early controversy was about the loss of store front parking for many small merchants on California, but now that concrete has been poured and stripes have been laid, the issue of car traffic safety has burst into the discussion as well.

    Last week we had the first accident at the tighter B'way-California intersection when a Samtrans bus turning left/south from B'way to Calfornia clipped a car in the northbound California lane.  At least it was the first accident someone paying attention saw and photographed.  See below for the photos I received that also appear on Nextdoor where the commentary has been, shall we say….less than supportive of the lane changes.

    This intersection has had an F grade for years.  Maybe decades.  It's not like the new B'way bridge did anything but bring more traffic to a failing intersection.  Caltrain will be giving the city council a presentation on its electrification project Monday night.  Buried in there is this on grade separation–another long running issue:

    • Broadway Avenue grade crossing is heavily congested
    • LOS F operations during peak hours
    • #1 priority in CPUC grade separation priority list

    • City and Caltrain advancing design towards 100% design in 2024
    • City continues to seek funding to fully fund project, recently received large TIRCP award

    It also asserts "Project Complete- Spring 2029.  There have been statements that once grade separation is complete the lanes will change again, but unless someone changes their mind in City Hall, we will have this configuration for years to come.  The last big project that was completed on time was a 101 upgrade in EssEff or SSF that had a massive contractor bonus for early completion.  We're not likely to be that lucky.

    One wonders if the city council really understood what they were voting on.  When I asked one member if this was just striping that could be swapped back easily, they said "yes".  Now we see that the answer is "no" due to the concrete islands that have been added.  Other inquiring minds want to know how police, ambulances and especially fire trucks will proceed on California when some sections have nowhere for cars to pull over?  If they get some response to the question, we will post it here as a public service to help drivers pass this "B'game IQ driving test".  Here's the accident scene that closed southbound California for a half hour.

    SamTrans bus accident Bway California 092423
    SamTrans bus accident Bway California 092423

    Update:  Oct. 2nd.  I have received a report of more confusion on California at Oak Grove where the new lane alignment is apparently giving northbound drivers the impression that they can make left turns from the TWO leftmost lanes.  The traffic light location show below would appear to encourage that.

    Left turn signal misaligned with lanes at Oak Grove and California

     

  • Volunteer Profile: BCE President Jen Faber

    I recently had a chance meeting with the current BCE president, Jen Faber, and after a pleasant conversation she agreed to do more of an in-depth "interview" for the Voice.  Afterall, why let "Mark at the Mic" Lucchesi have all the fun profiling people in town?  We talked for about an hour about her background (molecular biology and history), why she passed up a chance at med school, and worked in a medical lab and for J&J.  But BCE was the topic du jour and you can find more details here.

    Once your kids are out of BIS and especially after they are out of BHS, you tend to lose touch with the organization.  I have.  I still believe it is a critical contributor not just to the school system, but to the overall quality of life and our shared investment in B'game.

    As the mother of three boys, Jen started as a BCE donor, then volunteer and eventually became a board member.  She was a site director at Hoover which is often a jumping off point to further BCE involvement.  As Covid hit and some people moved out of B'game, BCE experienced some turnover which may have contributed to Jen taking on the presidency after only four years in town.  See what can happen when you raise your hand?

    The main function of BCE– raising money and granting it back to the schools–is pretty stable.  With a fiscal year starting July 1, the funds granted have been between $2.6M and $2.7M for the last three years –the Covid years.  There are expenses and the endowment needs to be maintained in case there are more economic disruptions.  The grants have funded 19 additional teachers which is why multi-year stability (or better yet growth) is important.  The additional staff are teaching music (7), PE (5), language (2) and five other assignments.

    Jen revealed that she has a "challenger" mentality–probably why we got along right off.  She sees the BCE board and presidency as a political position in the sense that one needs to know how to influence other bodies like the District, the Trustees and the City while understanding where to pick one's fights.  We didn't get into that too much, but if and when one arises, I will know who to ask about it.  Here's our selfie taken during the interview in case you want to say hi when you see her around town.

    Jen and Joe

  • Easton Euc decision: Stay in the Euc family

    Listen closely and one can hear the distant echo of the Tom the Tree controversy from sixteen years ago.  Tom Jr. reached adolescence six years ago to the day here.  Now Tom Jr. will be getting some young siblings–almost like surprise babies as part of Easton Ave. is de-Eucified and re-Eucified with a different Euc species.  The DJ has some pithy quotes from our city elders about the decision to go with lemon-scented gum Euc.  Our City Arborist, Rich Holtz reiterated what our local, amateur tree expert Jennifer Pfaff recently said elsewhere on the Voice:

    Holtz said the lemon-scented gum is a cousin of the eucalyptus tree but is smaller.  “There are some benefits to it, like they are very well suited to our climate, they are drought tolerant, they have low root infrastructure conflict, this particular species is aesthetically valued as a striking white bark, it tolerates pruning well and has a long-life expectancy,” Holtz said.

    And the mayor weighed in with

    “This is not an ordinary street,” Mayor Michael Brownrigg said. “This is a place to showcase the treescape, and so because it was set as a public space, I think we need to honor creating a special public space.”  Brownrigg said the 28-foot setback from the curb to the residents’ homes makes him believe the designers of the city intended Easton Drive to be a special place to showcase landscaping.  “To me, as soon as you have a mix of trees you just have any old street on Burlingame, which are all beautiful but it’s not special,” Brownrigg said.

    I'm a fan of "theme streets" like the one I live on designated for sycamores.  We have to be vigilant because sometimes the designation is lost or forgotten in City Hall, but fortunately we have a few people with long, accurate memories around town.  Tom is looking on and is pleased.

  • Fighting with firefighters

    As one of the two or three most critical public services in town, the Fire Department merits our attention when things aren't going well–or at least don't appear to be going well–internally.  The Daily Journal above-the-fold headline 'No confidence' in Central County Fire Chief Bruce Barron certainly caught my eye.  I had been thinking about the Fire Department before this piece since there was an earlier piece about the condition of several stations and the admin building on Rollins Rd.  If you recall my fantasy post about keeping the horses in front of the carts regarding East side development of "thousands of new homes" here, I meant to include the idea of a new fire station somewhere on that side of the railroad tracks in the fantasy.  The DJ noted a report about the need a couple weeks ago

    A consultant for the Central County Fire Department Chief wants to reopen station 36 on the eastside of Burlingame as the city plans for commercial and residential development, and concerns are growing over a staffing shortage that could eventually affect service.

    Both Millbrae and Burlingame have planned to redevelop Rollins Road and the eastside into a mixed-use neighborhood, providing thousands of homes and commercial development but the rapid growth concerns Fire Chief Bruce Barron, who told the City Council of the recommendation to reopen station 36, which is being used as an administration building, during a meeting Wednesday, July 5.

    It's hard to argue with the conclusion when you see the amount of over-development going on.  Now in the midst of this comes the firefighter union's lopsided vote of 'no confidence' in the chief

    In June, 85% of the Teamsters 856 Central County Firefighters Union members voted no confidence in Barron’s ability to lead, asking for his immediate removal. The notice was delivered to Lisa Goldman, Burlingame’s city manager and the Central County Fire Department’s chief administrative officer. Shortly after, Barron announced his retirement in October. He has been chief since 2019. But the union members are saying it’s not good enough and want him out immediately.

    Aside from the personnel issues now being aired in public, some of this has to do with the move to three-on-a-truck that happened more than a decade ago.  I had a front row seat to that move since my wife was in office and on the contract negotiating team at the time.  Memory is a little foggy now, but I seem to recall it wasn't as cut-and-dry as this note postulates.

    The department staffs only three firefighters per fire engine when the National Fire Protection Association recommends four person staffing per engine as the standard practice, according to a presentation facilitated by Barron to the Burlingame City Council in July.

    If you spend any time around town, you have seen the impact of the dual roles CCFD have when it comes to emergency medical care for what are now called "mental health crises".  You see the truck, the three firefighters, typically a police car and eventually an ambulance.  That is the three-is-enough scenario, unlike the full-blown fires when four-is-way-better kicks in.

    The issue is whether this is a temporary tempest-in-a-teapot that will be resolved either way by October?  In my managerial experience, some people get wound up when their "open and honest" input is met with similarly open and direct responses.  As you can read in the articles, the next chief will have a lot on their operational and strategic planning/financing plate so the sooner we get on with it the better.

  • Trade: Leaf blowers for furnaces and stoves?

    Leaf blowers are back on the council's radar and there is at least one regular Voice reader who will be thrilled to hear it.  The DJ reports

    Burlingame officials are exploring how to ban gas leaf blowers in the next few years, and are looking into incentive and rebate programs to help commercial landscapers adjust.

    The city passed an ordinance regulating when leaf blowers can be used, after receiving noise complaints from residents in 2012. The ordinance outlined that leaf blowers needed to be certified by the city’s Public Works Department and are capped at 65 decibels. The city later determined certifying leaf blowers wasn’t feasible and it stopped enforcing it. A state law will be in effect January 2024 to ban the sale of new leaf blowers, according to a staff report.

    However, Mayor Michael Brownrigg said the law doesn’t consider the use of previously owned leaf blowers.  “They are not only highly polluting but highly robust and easily repaired, so they aren’t going anywhere unless we make them go away,” Brownrigg said.

    I bold-faced the "wasn't feasible".  I'm not even sure it has proven feasible to restrict which day of the week gardeners can garden.  But that never stopped some from trying even more regulations.  Here's the wrinkly dollar bills

    An electric backpack leaf blower costs about $2,500 and a gas leaf blower costs around $600, according to the report.

    To do a full day's work, throw in a couple of extra batteries and perhaps an extra charger to get them replenished overnight and you're probably closer to $3,500 (and rising as battery materials go up).  Daily cycling of batteries comes with a lot of wear and tear too.  This is going to cost someone a good chunk of money, but it pales in comparison to what it would cost everyone to change out their natural gas stoves and furnaces.  At least the neighborhoods will be a little quieter.

  • The BAAZ is back–for a couple of weeks

    With a hat tip to Thin Lizzy, here is an ode to the Burlingame Avenue Autonomous Zone–the BAAZ:

    Guess who just got back today?The wild-eyed BAAZ that had been awayHaven't changed, had much to sayBut man, I still think them blocks are crazyThey were askin' if you were aroundHow you was, where you could be foundI told 'em you were livin' downtownDrivin' all the merchants crazy
    The BAAZ is back in town (the BAAZ is back in town)
    I said (the BAAZ is back in town)(TheBAAZ is back in town)The BAAZ is back in town…ow..ow.owwn
     
    As reported in the Daily Journal here, the council has voted to bring back the BAAZ for two weeks in August–exactly three years after it was stopped as we noted here.
     
    The closure will take up two blocks of Burlingame Avenue east of Primrose Road, west of Lorton Avenue and a small portion of Park Road. The Park Road segment will be a small portion of the road ending before the city-owned parking lot, so vehicles will be able to park or turn around. The council also agreed to start the two-week street closure after the Burlingame on the Avenue festival, Aug. 19, which is hosted by the Chamber or Commerce, and reopen the streets Labor Day, Sept. 2.
     
    There was council commentary on the thing we need most on the Avenew–live music.  I'm not sure it needs to be taxpayer subsidized beyond waiving the entertainment permit and encroachment permit fees, but 5 grand is a modest amount either way:
     
    (Council member Emily) Beach said the city could work with the downtown businesses and the Chamber of Commerce to provide a musical ambiance the remaining two weekends.  “Quite frankly, the smaller single [or] duo instrumental might create exactly the right ambiance as opposed to a big loud band that some people may like the style and some people not like the style,” Beach said.

    One option, she suggested, would be for the city to set aside $5,000 to match restaurants or businesses who may want to hire a small band for the night and then the city would reimburse the business up to $500.

    Mark your calendars for Art on the Ave Aug 19-20 followed by two weeks of strolling the BAAZ for dining, tippling and hopefully some good music.  Maybe we will even see our guitar-strumming council member out busking on the Ave.

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