Morning News Round-Up -- 1.2.09: Love that murky water...

Expect your water to be murky starting Monday…that’s right, murky. All this will start Monday and is part of upgrades to the water delivery system. Watch Dog is absolutely positive that this will be a big, huge issue for residents...in fact, Watch Dog already wrote about this relating to Palo Alto, so I’ll just quote myself from December 12th on this one:

In a story Watch Dog guarantees will come back with a vengeance at some point -- the City of Palo Alto warned residents that they may see a slight change in water quality for a few months because of maintenance issues. What?! I guess a small mention in the Palo Alto Weekly ought to make people feel at ease when murky water comes out of the tap in Palo Alto. Brace yourself Palo Alto City Council -- this will be an issue, even though the work is being done by the San Francisco Public Utlities Commission. In case you are wondering, the water may seem milky or have a slightly different taste...

Ditto this whole thing for everyone in government in San Mateo County. Brace yourself folks…nothing whips people into a frenzy like water that looks or tastes different than it should. Watch Dog will be excepting, and posting, murky water photos for those that wish to send them here.

Foster City has decided to wait to implement garbage rate increases until at least next year. They plan to cover the cost using reserve funds. Watch Dog will report later today (or tomorrow or the next day) on the recent Civil Grand Jury report that looks into ‘pilfering’ of recycling. How does this relate? Well, it seems some cities have been subsidizing their garbage pick-up for residents with revenue from recycling – but that subsidy could become much less because of dropping commodity rates. It's complicated, but stay tuned.

Foster City isn’t the only government agency dealing with garbage and the new proposed contract. A County Committee comprised of Supervisors Rich Gordon and Mark Church recommended Thursday to wait until the final cost of the new proposed contract comes in before making a final decision about a new garbage company. Garbage in San Mateo County just never ceases to produce news…

All this garbage news (and this and this and this and this) brings us to Daily Journal Editor Jon Mays, who does his best to forecast issues that will likely dominate the political landscape in the County this year. Weird that he left out the garbage stuff that has filled so many column inches in his paper (and this blog). On the garbage front this year – cities will be deciding about a new vendor...and new rate increases to cover the new service. And oh yeah, the Civil Grand Jury is also looking into to how a government agency, the South Bayside Waste Management Authority (SBWMA), doled out the $700+ million contract…so Mr. Mays, perhaps your piece needs a bit of updating…And if Mr. Mays doesn’t believe Watch Dog that residents are paying attention to garbage rates, he should check out his own Letters to the Editor today…

Burlingame has about a $5 million budget shortfall next year. Like every other government agency (except the State of California) they are planning ahead. And like every other government agency (except the State of California) their plans call for cuts in services and “revenue enhancements.” Revenue enhancements are government agency's way to increase fees (and sometimes taxes) without calling them fee hikes or taxes. Some of the enhancements are moving construction and demolition fees to the City’s general fund, increasing the cost of classes (what classes does Burlingame offer?), increasing rent for City building space, and increasing parking and red-light-running fines. Careful when parking in Burlingame next year – they are relying on your bad parking to fill their budget gap…sort of.

Two (reported) gang members pleaded no contest this week to charges stemming from a fight they tried to have with an electrician wearing a red shirt. No kidding. Their gang, the Surenos, hates the Nortenos. The Nortenos wear red. Unfortunately for a couple of electricians working on a McDonalds in Half Moon Bay, they were wearing red as well. The gang members tried to pick a fight and generally caused a ruckus that lasted 45 minutes and ended with the police arriving at the restaurant. Oh yeah, one of the gang members works in the McDonalds…one has to wonder if he has been fired. And don’t McDonalds employees wear red also?