Category archive

Featured - page 71

San Mateo County pledging another $27M for affordable housing

in Community/Featured/Headline by

San Mateo County has pledged to invest another $27.6 million to help nonprofit and mission-driven for-profit housing developers build and preserve affordable housing in the county.

In a statement Monday, the allocation, about $25 million of which will come from Measure K funds, was described as the County’s largest contribution to affordable housing to date. It will increase the amount raised in the Affordable Housing Fund, established in 2014, to $136 million — funding that has created 1,828 new units and preserved 288 units serving about 4,700 residents, according to the County.

The investment aims to ensure families of all income levels can reside in a County that “has become one of the most expensive housing markets in the nation,”  the County said in a statement.

The statement cited data that lists the median sales price of a home at $1.7 million and average monthly rent at $3,310.

The $27.6 million will be available to qualified developers through a competitive process and is expected to attract further investment and financing in affordable housing.

“Ensuring we have a supply of affordable housing reduces stress, improves health and allows individuals of all means to live close to transportation and job centers where families can enjoy good schools and safe neighborhoods,” said Carole Groom, president of the Board of Supervisors. “We can start to push the needle and provide opportunities for families at all income levels, including teachers, veterans, police officers, and our most vulnerable residents.”

More information and links to the application are available here.

Above Photo: Courtesy of San Mateo County, posted to Facebook May 20 showing a lot at 777 Bradford St. that will become the Arroyo Green apartments featuring 117 affordable units for seniors and an 8,000 square foot child care facility on the ground floor. The project received Measure K funds.

Pride events happening in Redwood City through Monday

in A&E/Featured/Headline by
Redwood CIty Pride flag raising ceremoney

Starting tonight through Monday, there will be plenty of opportunities to celebrate LGBTQ+ Pride Month in Redwood City.

At Courthouse Square at 9 a.m. tonight, Saturday and Sunday, folks are encouraged to watch the Petals of Pride Projection on the exterior of the San Mateo County History Museum, 2200 Broadway. The Pride-themed 3-D projection is presented by the Redwood City Improvement Association and Fresh AV.

On Saturday, June 22, the City of Redwood City will host a flag-raising ceremony at 6 p.m., followed by a performance by the 60-member Redwood Symphony at 7 p.m. The concert, part of Classical on the Square, will feature “Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue with piano soloist Tamami Honma, Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 and John Williams’ Devil’s Dance, organizers said.

Then on Monday, June 24, the Redwood City Council will announce a proclamation at their regular meeting recognizing Pride Month.

76 sheriff’s office vehicles to receive AEDs

in Featured/Headline by
Sheriff’s attorney calls for end to Batmobile investigation

Seventy-six San Mateo County sheriff’s office vehicles will be equipped with automated external defibrillators (AEDs), “covering the entire county” with the life-saving tool, the county announced Thursday.

This AEDs, which are medical devices used to reestablish heart rhythm in those experiencing sudden cardiac arrest, were jointly funded by the Sequoia Healthcare District (SHD) and Peninsula Health Care District (PHCD). PHCD will invest $57,000 and SHD $68,000 for their respective purchases, while the County will fund the roll out and training as well as ongoing maintenance.

The two districts previously purchased AEDs for K-12 schools in its district and trained students and staff on using them.

“These AEDs are a critical tool to protect the health and safety of those living, working and visiting our county,” said Supervisor Carole Groom, president of the Board of Supervisors. “This is another way we are able to bring emergency response a little closer to where someone is who might need immediate aid.

Political Climate with Mark Simon: A life well lived, a life well loved

in Featured/Headline/PoliticalClimate by

We must have met for the first time at John Muir school in San Bruno, when I was in the 4th grade and Chuck was in fifth. He was Charlie then, Charlie Cline.

Before I met him, Chuck had had polio. Those were the days before we all lined up outside a local school to be given a vaccine-infused sugar cube. Just like that, one of the scourges of generations was gone. The illness left one of Chuck’s legs withered, but not his spirit. Never his spirit.

Maybe we didn’t meet in school, maybe it was at a local playground, because what I remember about Chuck from those days was that we played sports together. Not organized sports, but daylong neighborhood games of basketball or baseball, one of the ways we would fill day upon day in summers before organized camps and travel teams in time so removed from now as to feel tinged in sepia.

We played sports through high school just for the fun of it. We played even a year or two after, Chuck playing 1st Base on a rec league softball team. Chuck couldn’t run fast or jump, but he held his own and he never talked about his leg as if it was a hindrance or that he required special consideration. In fact, he didn’t talk about it all. Neither did we. Not out of any kindness. We didn’t think of Chuck as anything other than just like the rest of us. And he was, of course.

As we got older and started high school, Chuck developed into a highly talented guitarist and singer with a warm and sweet tenor voice. With two other good friends, Steve Rapalus and Ernie Sandoval, they formed a folk group, The Townsmen, and they played local gigs and school events and they were very good. Chuck remained a lifelong devotee of The Kingston Trio and Gordon Lightfoot. Chuck’s love of music was infectious and undoubtedly genetic – his sister also was an accomplished singer. By the end of high school, Chuck was voted Most Talented by his classmates, one of those senior year awards – Best Couple, Most Likely to Succeed — that rarely foretell an accurate future. In Chuck’s case, it was spot on.

Chuck made an award-winning career and a life out of music, performing with other groups and solo, often getting gigs at local night spots such as the Purple Onion. He recorded extensively, often writing his own music.

He was an avid Bay Area sports fan and his Facebook page includes a photo of Chuck singing the national anthem before a Giants game at Candlestick Park, which he said was a highlight.

The last several years have included some tough health issues, complicated surgeries. But he was always – it’s impossible to exaggerate this – always upbeat and positive and optimistic. He usually came out of the hospital praising the staff and the care they gave him. His optimism was native – there was nothing forced about it. One of those online quizzes scored him 220 percent passionate. He was a dedicated Christian in the best sense. He was kind and loving and cared about others and was a soul at peace, forgiving of his friends’ foibles and flaws.

It’s hard to know whether his faith was a natural extension of who he was, or whether who he was led naturally to his faith. It doesn’t really matter, I suppose.

As his health issues mounted and it became more difficult for him to move around, Chuck became a poster boy for the positive value of Facebook. It was his community, how he stayed in touch. He would post astonishingly beautiful scenery pictures, just because they were beautiful and he thought people would like to see them. He posted jokes and photos from his life and photos of friends and family. He would send holiday greetings. And always, he would post music – by The Kingston Trio, by groups, that carried on their tradition, by Gordon Lightfoot and by himself. In an era when social media seems to give license to every negative impulse, Chuck never said a negative or critical word about anyone. His friends came to look forward to the next picture he would post. They were always beautiful. So was Chuck.

I’m sure by now you can tell from the tone and the verb tense what’s coming. Chuck Cline died Monday night shortly after being diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, his family standing vigil over this warm and wonderful and kind soul who never wore his courage on the outside. A life will lived. A life well loved.

Contact Mark Simon at mark.simon24@yahoo.com.

Second homicide on Skyline Boulevard in two days

in Crime/Featured/Headline by

Authorities are “actively looking into a connection” between two fatal stabbings that occurred in two days in a remote area of Skyline Boulevard in unincorporated San Mateo County. An arrest was made after deputies located the second homicide victim Tuesday night. The suspect has been identified as Malik Dosouqui, 26, of Pacifica.

The first homicide was uncovered Monday night about 11:09 p.m. when a sheriff’s deputy responding to an unrelated, non-emergency call found the body of a stabbed man in a dirt area west of Skyline Boulevard just north of Reid’s Roost Road. The discovery led to an investigation involving two SWAT teams, several tracking dogs, a helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft that searched for a suspect throughout the night into Tuesday afternoon. While the suspect wasn’t located, tracking dogs managed to located evidence believed to be related to the homicide, sheriff’s officials said. The victim of this homicide was identified as Abdulmalek Nagi Nasher, 32, of Pacifica, who worked as a cab driver.

The second homicide occurred about 11 p.m. Tuesday night when detectives directed patrol deputies to respond back to the homicide scene for additional evidence, the sheriff’s office said. During the search at the scene about 11:55 p.m., deputies heard a person calling for help about 50 yards away and found a man suffering from stab wounds on the ground in a turnout off Skyline Boulevard. The victim, identified as , identified as John Sione Pekipaki, 31, died at the scene.

At the same time, near the scene in the remote area deputies saw a man fleeing in a vehicle who they believed to be the suspect. The vehicle was driving toward the victim and both deputies, prompting a deputy to open fire on the vehicle. The vehicle went off the roadway into a ditch. The suspect was taken into custody with a laceration to his arm, but was not struck by the gunfire, the sheriff’s office said.

“Investigators are actively looking into a connection between the two homicides,” the sheriff’s office said.

Further details were not immediately available.

 

Sheriff’s office investigating homicide on Skyline Blvd.

in Crime/Featured/Headline by

The San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office was investigating a homicide early Tuesday after a body was found in the area of Skyline Boulevard north of Reid’s Roost Road.

The sheriff”s office published the above photo from the crime scene at about 8:50 a.m. and warned drivers to avoid the area, as the roadway was temporarily closed in both directions for the investigation. Authorities were canvassing the area for a suspect, but no arrests have yet been made.

The body of a male victim was discovered by a deputy responding to an unrelated, non-emergency call at 11:09 p.m., Sheriff’s Office Lt. Stephanie Josephson said. Further details weren’t immediately known.

Four dads on fatherhood

in Community/Featured/Headline by

According to various sources, Father’s Day started in medieval Europe, in conjunction with the March 19 feast day of St. Joseph.  Its first celebration in the U.S. is said to have been on July 5, 1908, at a church in Fairmont, West Virginia.  Father’s Day is recognized on various dates throughout the world, and in the U.S. takes place on the third Sunday in June.  We asked four fathers from around the Redwood City area to reflect on the meaning of fatherhood and family.  Here are their stories.

Dan Smith: Like Fathers, Like Sons

Like his father, Sergeant Dan Smith of the Redwood City Police Department chose public service as a career.  (Smith’s father, Jim, was city manager for Redwood City during the 1980s.)  And like their own father, who played on two national-championship rugby teams at Cal in the early 1990s, Smith’s twin sons, Austin and Frank, are now competing in the sport at Sonoma State.

“Rugby’s a great game,” says Smith, who’s proud that Frank was just selected for a regional all-star team (in rugby, it’s called a “select side”).  He’s enjoyed helping his sons play the sport he loves, although he admits that these days, “I’m just an old boy – I’m a spectator.”

Being there for Austin and Frank has been a priority for Smith, who coached their youth sports teams, led their Cub Scout pack, chaperoned school trips to Washington, D.C. and Yosemite, did elementary-school show-and-tells about working as a police officer and provided morning drop-offs at school in his squad car.  (Later, in high school, the boys asked him to park down the street.)

Not that it was always easy.  Shift work limited Smith’s ability to see his sons, and he and his wife, Kem, eventually became estranged.  Still, they stayed together to raise the kids, and as Smith says, “We might not have agreed on a lot of husband-and-wife stuff, but we were in agreement on a lot of mom-and-dad stuff.”

That included that the twins should stay busy and out of trouble.  They earned good grades, played sports and music, and participated in drama and other school activities.  All the while, there was another backup family – the Redwood City PD.  Smith recounts that, while Austin and Frank were in high school, a group of officers broke up a party the boys were attending, and one called them out by name.  That, Smith says, sent a double message – the boys were being watched, and also watched out for.

Austin and Frank came along fairly late, when Smith was 38.  He had served in various overseas postings while guarding embassies with the U.S. Marine Corps, then returned at age 26 to attend Cal on the G.I. Bill.  He joined the Redwood City force in 1993 and the boys arrived just in time to stave off middle age.

“Kids keep you young,” Smith says.  “You participate with them, they keep you active.  You know, two boys – you’ve got to wrestle with them, you’ve got to play sports.”

As a police officer, Smith has seen young people achieve great things and also get into terrible trouble.  And as a father, he’s felt a profound responsibility to help his sons make wise choices.

“My kids are the biggest joy of my life,” Smith says.  “I kind of work for them now, so to speak – give them guidance, give them information, tell them the road that I went down, tell them that’s not a good road over there, try this one over here – just be there when they need you.

“My experience was, just participate,” Smith adds.  “With two boys, I had to participate and be involved.”

Rafael Avendaño: New Dad

For Rafael Avendaño, fatherhood has been a new experience, in a couple of ways.  His daughter, Alana, is just eight months old.  Moreover, Avendaño’s own father left the household when Rafael was 12.  (They’ve since reconciled.)  Becoming a dad has been a steep learning curve, but one he has welcomed.

“One of the greatest takeaways so far has been that I’m a coach – I’ve been coaching for the past 20 years – and I’ve had great coaches during my life.  But when you have a child, you have one of the greatest accountability coaches.”

Avendaño, director of the Siena Youth Center, part of the St. Francis Center on Redwood City’s east side, describes Alana as “a gift from God” and “Mommy’s little angel.”  So far, he says, she’s been a dream baby, crying only occasionally and now sleeping several hours during the night.

“She’s really happy when she wakes up,” Avendaño says.  “She smiles every time she sees Mom or Dad when we go get her from the crib.  That’s really fun, just to know she’s thinking, ‘I’m up, I’m ready, let’s get going.’  It’s great just to have a little buddy.”

Using a chest harness, Avendaño takes Alana hiking at least once a week, exploring local open spaces and state and county parks.

“That’s something I want to make a part of her life early, is getting her outside,” Avendaño says.  “I want her to see the animals, the trees, the colors, the difference of environments.  I don’t believe in just keeping your child indoors.  We all started outside, so keeping that ritual of where we all started is really important to me.”

An immigrant from El Salvador and now a U.S. citizen, Avendaño is conscious that he has more resources for his daughter than he had as a youth.

“I have to hold myself accountable to making sure I do my best,” he says.  “And have fun with it, too, right?  Enjoying the process of learning every day and being aware of those things.”

When it comes to working to improve their situation, no one could accuse Avendaño and his wife, Ana, of giving less than their best.  Rafael earned his bachelor’s degree online from Colorado State University while living in the East Bay and toiling at three jobs.  After that came a master’s degree in education from the University of San Francisco.  Ana, meanwhile, is currently pursuing a doctorate.

Realizing that having a child didn’t spell the end of ambition has been a relief to Avendaño.  As a coach who had worked mainly with boys, he also feared terminal cluelessness with a baby girl.

“I thought, ‘Oh, my God, this is going to be a true challenge,’” he says, adding, “I thank God for my wife, because she’s amazing.  The mom is at least 75 percent of it, at least in the beginning.”

With that, Avendaño may have just cracked the code to this fatherhood business.

Gary Gaddini: At Home with the Feminine Mystique

At least this much can be said of Gary Gaddini:  He’s the man of the house.

That is, he’s the only man.  The lead pastor at Redwood City’s Peninsula Covenant Church, Gaddini is surrounded by six women – his wife, Anne, and the couple’s five daughters.

And, perhaps like another father of many girls, the constantly beleaguered and bemused Mr. Bennet in Jane Austen’s novel, “Pride and Prejudice,” he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“At its best, it’s dynamite,” Gaddini says.  “We have a great relationship, which is such a gift.  The ability to have fun, to see the power in the feminine gender, to watch these girls grow, to have three who are really adults and see who they are as strong women, is just a thrill to me.  I am not missing out at all, not having sons.”

Of the five daughters, two – Hannah, 27; and Mary Courtney, 23 – are, as Gaddini proudly puts it, “off the payroll.”  Hannah does website analytics in Bend, Ore., and Mary Courtney, whom Gaddini describes as “our horse girl,” works at a commercial thoroughbred farm in Kentucky.  Elizabeth, 21, is an international-affairs major at the University of Georgia, 17-year-old Isabella is a junior at Notre Dame High School in Belmont, and 10-year-old Joella – known as JoJo – is a fourth-grader at Clifford School in Redwood City.

Gaddini calls Jojo “our encore.”  Seven years ago, the family was helping to build an orphanage in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and became attached to a toddler in the village.  Soon after, they adopted her and brought her to Redwood City.  It was, Gaddini says, an act of fortitude – not for the family, but for JoJo.

“Imagine coming here, not speaking any of the language, never having slept in a bed, never having had shoes or running water or electricity,” Gaddini says.  “And then we show up and take her halfway around the world and plop her into the Peninsula.  The courage that this girl has is amazing to me.”

For the girls, Gaddini says growing up as “preacher’s kids” has had both advantages and disadvantages.  Among the former – Gaddini has regularly paid them modest royalties for the many times he has mentioned them in a sermon.  They have also had godparents from PCC, and a large church community that knows them and in certain ways looks after them.  As for the disadvantages, Gaddini says, “Sometimes they have Pastor Gary for a dad, and they just want a dad.”

A family tradition has been coffee or hot chocolate – or, in Isabella’s case, Boba tea – for half-an-hour or so for each daughter every week.  The girls are free to say whatever’s on their minds, and conversations have ranged from movies to boys, spirituality and social issues.  Gaddini jokes that he thought the girls were in it mainly for the free coffee, but was touched recently by a card from Hannah that told him she had cherished her dedicated “dad time.”

For his part, Gaddini says, “I never knew I that could have it like this with these girls.  Anybody can be the pastor of PCC, but these girls only get one dad.  It matters a lot that I don’t fail at that role.”

Dave Miller: Family Act

Lawyer by day, jazz pianist by night, with a wife who’s an organist and two grown daughters and two grandchildren who all sing up a storm.  That’s the life of Dave Miller, a New York native who came to California as a young attorney and has made his mark both at the legal bar and the piano variety.

Several nights a month, Miller leads his jazz trio at venues such as Angelicas in Redwood City and Savanna Jazz in San Carlos.  The band is fronted by Miller’s daughter, singer Rebecca DuMaine, who offers both swinging and sensitive interpretations of the Great American Songbook along with the impeccable diction one would expect of a professional drama coach.  DuMaine’s children, 13-year-old Jackson and 10-year-old Kealy, also occasionally join the act with considerable humor and stage presence.

Miller’s other daughter, Stephanie, is a solo singer and guitar player in San Francisco who tends toward folk and rock.  And in addition to playing the organ, Miller’s wife, Elizabeth, has sung in numerous choirs while coping with the emotional demands of her other passions – teaching English and French and rooting for the San Francisco Giants.

DuMaine first sang with Miller at age 16 at the old Trader Vic’s restaurant in San Francisco.  Since then, they’ve recorded numerous albums together.  The latest, called “Chez Nous,” will be featured at a CD-release party at Angelicas in Redwood City on June 15.  Miller also has another, instrumental-only, album due out – a tribute to the late pianist George Shearing called, “Just Imagine.”

“There’s no way to put words around what it means,” says Miller about passing the heritage of American popular music to his extended family.  “Family is everything.  But to be doing something that at the same time is part of our profession – it’s Rebecca’s daily profession and it’s mine more and more – Rebecca and I approach what we do as professionals.  When we’re together, it’s not father-daughter.  We’re putting arrangements together as people would in any business in which they’re working with their family.

“But there are times when we’re performing, and I look up and it hits me – ‘Holy cow, this is my daughter, and we’re doing this together.’  I don’t have words to describe what it means to be connected that way.  It just adds a dimension to the relationship.  And then to see it passed along to my grandkids and doing it with them – these are memories I’m sure they’ll have for the rest of their lives, three generations performing together.  But for me, it’s a joy that keeps me young, I think – feeling young and very motivated to keep doing what I’m doing.”

Growing up on Long Island, Miller was the grandson of a concert pianist.  He started picking out tunes by ear on the piano when he was three, and studied classically until jazz and popular music took over in his teens.  He had a jazz band in college at Alfred University in upstate New York, where he met Elizabeth in a music-theory class.  But along with music, the law also beckoned.

“I’m blessed to have had a career in law, which has been my passion,” Miller says.  “But to have music as something that is so prominent in my life – it’s not just a question of doing something with my children and grandchildren.  Music keeps you young.”

This story was originally published in the June print edition of Climate Magazine. 

SRO program credited for continued reduction in police interventions at Sequoia High

in Community/Featured/Headline by

Last school year, 51 incidents at Sequoia high required police intervention, a 41 percent drop from a high of 87 incidents during the 2008-2009 school year, according to the Redwood City Police Department. In the 2013-2014 school year, there were 66, according to police data.

Redwood City police say the reduction is in large part the result of the School Resource Officer (SRO) program that has been staffing a cop at the campus four days per week since 2000.

At Monday’s meeting, City Council voted to approve a funding agreement with the Sequoia Union High School District to continue the SRO program next fiscal year.

The partnership between Sequoia High and Redwood City police “has reduced campus criminal activity and held gang related activity to an extremely low level,” according to Lt. Casey Donovan’s report.

The SRO program aims to break barriers between police and youth and heighten the police department’s community outreach efforts. On-campus officers help supervise sporting events and other school functions.

“Having a dedicated officer present on campus on a daily basis is invaluable to students, staff, and the Police Department,” the report states. “Due to this consistent contact, the School Resource Officer is uniquely positioned to serve as a mentor and role model for at risk students at a critical juncture in their lives. The opportunity for the officer and students to interact on a daily basis in a positive context cannot be easily duplicated or replaced through other programs.”

The cost for four days per week of the SRO program is about $210,000 for a fiscal year, of which the school district will fund $30,000. The remaining funds have already been included in the police department operating budget.

San Mateo County LGBTQ+ Pride celebration set for this Saturday

in A&E/Featured/Headline by

The San Mateo County 7th Annual LGBTQ+ Pride Celebration is set to take place this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at San Mateo Central Park, 50 East 5th Ave. in San Mateo.

The event, which this year is themed “Rooted in Resilience,” celebrates and recognizes the LGBTQ+ community through live entertainment, family-friendly activities such as free Zumba! and storytelling for youth by the County Library, food trucks and LGBTQ-friendly vendors and resource booths.

Jesús U. BettaWork is the event MC, and performers include DJ Lady Char, a Beatles sing-a-long band and more.

For more information visit the celebration’s website at smcpride2019.com.

Political Climate with Mark Simon: An unexpected controversy surrounding motherhood

in Featured/Headline/PoliticalClimate by

The beauty of baseball, it is said, is that at every game you’ll see something you’ve never seen before. Even as 19th Century political philosopher Mr. Dooley observed that “Politics ain’t beanbag,” we can safely assert a 21st Century corollary: City Councils ain’t baseball.

Which is to say, far from seeing something you’ve never seen before, the famous assertion about baseball, the more likely city council scenario is that the status quo will be played out, over and over, in all its mind-numbingly status quo-ness.

Still, rescuing the status quo can come in surprising forms. Which brings us to the surprise provided us this week by the Redwood City Council, which split right down the middle on motherhood.

Lest you rush to judgment and assume it was the same old male-dominated political structure again refusing to acknowledge a changing world, this is a seven-member council with six women, all of whom were at the meeting, while the lone male, Mayor Ian Bain, was absent.

The split unfolded – it might be more accurate to say it spilled out – when the council took up the issue of whether new mothers should get special consideration when serving on local boards, committees and commissions. The clear message from half the council was that child-bearing women need not apply. These boards, commissions and committees, it should be noted, include the Housing and Human Concerns Committee. I reviewed all of this year’s committee meeting agendas, and not once did they take up the issue of motherhood.

The council was trying to set some rules for attendance on these boards, commissions and committees – miss a quarter of the meeting and you’re gone. Into the fray rode newly elected Giselle Hale, mother of two girls, who only several days ago was outraged that a woman had to sit on the floor of the restroom at the state Democratic convention and express milk from her breasts. Hale noted at the council meeting that when the breasts get too full, it’s painful and women are advised to tap the keg.

Hale proposed that new mothers be given a three-month leave from a board, commission or committee seat. A maternity hall pass, as it were. In fact, Hale would like it to be six months because the American Pediatric Association recommends newborns should nurse for six months.

This touched off a discussion that can only be described as an interesting display of how the status quo asserts itself.

Councilwoman Janet Borgens went first and because she’s such a genuinely likable person, a viewer might watch this with a mixture of amazement and sympathy.

In lengthy and somewhat meandering opposition to the Hale proposal, one comment by Borgens jumped out:

“I do respect the rights of a mother who has just given birth and has to nurse. I sit up here before you having gone through the same thing. But I made a decision during that time what my priorities would be. It wasn’t to take on something that was going to put me in an uncomfortable situation.”

Too late, it appears.

Here at Political Climate, we like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but it sure looks like Borgens was saying new mothers who want to serve on these boards, commissions and committees have the wrong priorities.

Other comments didn’t approach Borgens’ level of fascination, but Vice Mayor Diane Howard did speak about how the city has more applicants than slots for all these boards, commissions and committees, and aren’t we lucky? In essence, don’t sign up if you can’t meet the exacting standards of this entirely voluntary activity, we have plenty of people who will be more than happy to take your place.

The council burbled about other seemingly related matters involving single fathers or parents who want to get home to see their kids and get restless when a Board of Building Review meeting runs past 10:30 p.m. and unconscionable delays to the city business because sometimes these boards, commissions and committees fail to have a quorum.

The central message was clearly that, even as a new, young generations asserts itself in Redwood City, the status quo is not ready to make accommodations for young mothers.

In the end, it was clearly 3-3, with Borgens, Howard and Diana Reddy uneasy about making exceptions for women with newborns, and Alicia Aguirre and Shelly Masur siding with Hale.

At Howard’s suggestion, the council put the matter off until Mayor Bain can return and add his voice to this discussion. Yes, they’re waiting for the lone man to come back and resolve this matter.

Contact Mark Simon at mark.simon24@yahoo.com.

*The opinions expressed in this column are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Climate Online.

Photo credit: City of Redwood City

1 69 70 71 72 73 146
Go to Top