Morning News Roun-Up -- 4.27.09: Atherton's BFF Edition...

Just when you thought all the controversy in Atherton was dying down...it roars again. Watch Dog (and the Civil Grand Jury) wrote about the Menlo-Atherton High School facilities' report that the Civil Grand Jury recently came out with. Well, it seems Atherton Councilmember Kathy McKeithen (and her BFF on the Atherton Council Jim Dobbie) are "disgusted" with the report. However, McKeithen didn't say, "These damn kids make so much noise...don't they know this is Atherton?!" (Ms. McKeithen and Mr. Dobbie, here is what BFF means...)

Congresswoman Speier is busy...really, that's what this story is about. Well, it talks about her first year in office. If you read Watch Dog at all, you know that we know Speier is busy, and effective.

More plans for the (much anticipated/much delayed/much written-about) Burlingame Safeway have been released. Take a peak, pictures and all...

The San Bruno Mountain Watch Conservancy is born. They are trying to raise enough money to buy private property and maintain some sense of nature on the mountain...

Lots of school news to Round-Up today...

• Two Sequoia Union High School District principals have said good bye recently, so two new were just named: Bonnie Hansen at Sequoia High School and Raul Zamora at Carlmont High School. Hansen is already well-known in the District because she has been at Sequioa for 14 years. Zamora, is coming back to the District after a stint in Orinda. Welcome to Watch Dog friends.
• In other (musical chairs) school news, Palo Alto Unified's Assistant Superintendent Scott Laurence will leave the District to become the Superintendent of the San Mateo High School District.
• Hey all you out-of-work Auditors (and CPAs too) -- you should check out the Palo Alto Unified's website, they are looking for folks to give a check-up on their performance related to the spending of nearly $400 million in bond money. Your future starts here...
• The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District is in trouble. They (seemingly) botched the spending of a bunch of bond money, their Superintendent is leaving, the District is being sued by the local watchdog/lawyer, and the San Mateo County Office of Education has some ideas about they need to do to get their act together. The spot light has been shone upon the La Honda-Pescader Unified...we'll see how they respond.

A Half Moon Bay group of folks concerned with the sudden closure of the Coastside Family Medical Center have launched the "Phoenix Project" to see about re-launching a medical facility on the Coast. Perhaps its time for another Coastside Town Hall Supervisor Gordon?

Riptide delves into some truth: Pacifica is in fiscal trouble if Measure D (the sales tax hike) doesn't pass...but they are in trouble if Measure D does pass too. Sort of like California with Measures A-F...

And it isn't just finances that are on folks' minds in Pacifica, so is the General Plan update.

Redwood City is taking advantage of a down real estate market (while at the same time drawing down some capital funds from a variety of sources). They will purchase a 9.5 acre site for $4.45 million for a water tank (?), a park, a place to park its trucks, public access to the Bay, and a commercial use.

The dusky-footed woodrat will take center stage tonight at the San Carlos City Council...along with NIMBYs and a developer...about the Devonshire Canyon (5-home) development being considered.

Sue Lempert's Daily Journal column today reminds us that there was once a crappy President who wanted to let us put our Social Security money in the stock market...seriously.

San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim checks in through his campaign blog about overcrowding in some San Mateo apartment complexes. It isn't that we are only following David, it is just that other folks don't seem to be that "with it" with their web presence. Supervisor Rich Gordon, who is running for a much higher office than San Mateo City Council, hasn't really updated his site since he announced he was running...

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?