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The bankruptcy filing by PG&E may protect the company from current and future financial demands, but it should lead to the breakup of the long-established utility, according to state Senator Jerry Hill.

Acknowledging that it goes against his own free-enterprise instincts, Hill said PG&E has proven that it cannot be a private for-profit company and has to be restructured as a public utility.

“Ideally, they should be a public utility. … Every public utility has cheaper rates, more reliability and a much safer system,” Hill said. “Since its bankruptcy in 2001, their focus has been the bottom line. That was their priority, not safety, and their culture shifted that way and stayed that way and that’s why we’re seeing the diversion of funds from maintenance and safety to profits.”

Hill made the comments on The Game, the local public affairs cable show airing now on Peninsula TV and online. The full interview with Hill can be seen here. The Game is co-hosted by Assemblyman Kevin Mullin and Political Climate columnist Mark Simon.

Hill has been PG&E’s toughest watchdog ever since the 2010 gas pipeline explosion in San Bruno that killed eight. PG&E was found culpable in the explosion for failing to inspect and maintain its pipeline system. Hill said he keeps the names of each of the eight victims on his desk in Sacramento as a daily reminder of the need to hold PG&E accountable.

For most of its 104-year history, PG&E had a reputation as a reliable and public-minded utility, with a focus on its ratepayers and service delivery.

After the deregulation of the energy industry in 2000, corporate salaries began to soar at PG&E and the company took on “more of a Wall Street approach and less of a safety approach. … they shifted their culture, their interests and their needs to a more corporate, for-profit.”

The fear is that the bankruptcy filing will mean less support for those who were victimized by the devastating Northern California wildfires of last year, but Hill said because PG&E is a utility, any restructuring of the company has to be approved by the California Public Utilities Commission and is subject to review by the Legislature.

That is likely to mean better protections for wildfire victims who have claims for loss of life and property, Hill said.

And it is likely to mean support for splitting up PG&E and the creation of local public utilities, similar to existing entities such as Sacramento Municipal Utility District or the public utility owned and operated by the city of Palo Alto, Hill said.

San Francisco is considering taking over its portion of PG&E, as is San Jose, he said.

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

Redwood City officials recently scoured city property, even parking lots, for land that can be converted to sorely needed parks and open space. The effort has a back-to-the future ring about it, recalling California Square, a downtown public plaza that was replaced by the San Mateo County Hall of Justice and Records. In retrospect, the swap seems enough to make someone “turn over in his grave,” which, in this case, it did. More about that later.

California Square’s history dated to 1854 when Simon Mezes, who played a large part in establishing Redwood City, donated a parcel of land across the street from the original courthouse for use as a public plaza. Mezes also donated land at Warren and Standish streets for a park dubbed Mezes Park, which is still in use, but is better known as “tank park” for the World War II tank that stands guard in the southwest corner. The two parcels of land are believed to be the first property in California donated for public use and recreation.

California Square, located north of Marshall Street between Hamilton and Winslow streets, resembled the familiar plazas favored in Spanish and Mexican towns; square-shaped with open space to host festivals and other public gatherings, or just a venue for simply walking or relaxing. Walkways radiated from the center where a flagpole stood. Trees, bushes and plants lined the perimeter.

The park was also called Native Daughters Park and with good reason. The Bonita Chapter of the Native Daughters of the Golden West obtained the park on loan from the city. Starting in 1901, the woman’s group raised more than $2,000 for plants, soil, trees, benches and the flagpole to establish Redwood City’s first city park. The park was returned to the city in 1911 and was enjoyed by citizens until it was replaced by the county structure in 1958.

A legal brief filed in the 1950s by San Mateo County District Attorney Louis Dematteis claimed pioneer residents of the county recalled that “farmers and lumbermen usually camped in California Square and kept and fed their horses there.”  Dematteis wrote that “the square was fenced to prevent the horses from straying away.” This, the DA claimed, proved that “the property was used as the dedicators intended it should be – for county purposes.”

Despite the claims by the county, the city had great plans for the square. In 1944, the Redwood City Parks and Recreation Department unveiled plans to improve the square “in order to derive greater benefit from the very limited recreational areas now available.” Among other things, the plans envisioned a playground, benches and a band shell for evening and Sunday concerts. The proposals also called for a clock tower with chimes and “plaques commemorating outstanding events in the city’s history.” The dream never materialized.

The proposal brings us back to today’s aforementioned effort to develop additional parks. Current Park and Rec director Chris Beth reported that the City Council decided to develop the small Rosselli Garden located next to the main library on Middlefield Road along with part of the adjacent Main Street parking lot followed by “a linear trail along Redwood Creek to the Bay Trail.” Beth said the plan will “over time improve our public spaces.” 

Mezes, who was the agent for the Arguello family of land grant fame, called for a townsite survey soon after the Arguello’s claims were approved by the Federal Land Commission. His hopes that the city would be called Mezesville were dashed by the town’s citizens who opted for Redwood City, a name that has stuck.

Mezes died in 1884 and was buried in a crypt at Union Cemetery. He bought the plot when the cemetery was organized in 1859. According to the Union Cemetery history association, his remains were removed in the mid-1950s by his descendants who “were justifiably angry at the County of San Mateo and the City of Redwood City because the entities were successful in having Mr. Mezes’ will broken in order to level California Square so that they could build the Hall of Justice and Records which stands on that spot today.”

The remains weren’t the only thing moved. So was the history marker at California Square, which today is displayed at Mezes Park. The plaque reads:

“In Memory of S. M. Mezes Founder of Mezesville Now Redwood City Donor of this plaza. For the enjoyment of all people”

*This story was published in the January print edition of Climate Magazine

Caltrain and bus rides will be free to all federal government employees affected by the partial government shutdown starting Thursday, Jan. 24, according to the San Mateo County Transit District.

The free service will remain available through the duration of the government shutdown, the transit district said.

To get a free ride, federal workers can show their federal government employee identification cards to bus operators on SamTrans and to conductors on Caltrain.

“We sympathize with the financial burdens that federal employees are faced with due to this unprecedented situation,” Transit District General Manager/CEO Jim Hartnett said. “These individuals provide a great public service to our region and our country, and we want to do what we can to make sure they have access to convenient public transportation options during this challenging time.”