The following letter was printed in San Louis Obispo Tribune by Andrew Carter, a San Luis Obispo city councilman. You can read the whole letter by following this LINK

A major points made in the letter:

Like most citizens, local officials throughout California have lost all confidence in state government, in particular its ability to deal effectively with the current budget crisis. What’s more, local officials are painfully aware that Sacramento’s efforts to deal with this mess rely primarily on diverting (read, stealing) or borrowing (perhaps never paying back) revenues that either are legally obligated or traditionally obligated to local government — cities, counties and schools. The impact is cuts to local services like education, police and fire protection, parks and recreation, and street maintenance — the very services that local residents count on the most and believe in the most.
…it’s because we recognize our responsibility to local residents’ demands that we take direct action now against state raids on local revenues and the local services those revenues support.

Perhaps one of the most disturbing bits of news reported last night was the raid on Redevelopment Agency money.  Essentially – the state has declared our city’s general plan, economic development and other priorities can simply be scuttled in favor of a ponzi-scheme so ridiculous even Bernie Madoff would blush in embarrassment.

In a previous attempt to steal Redevelopment money the state was turned away by the courts who declared the grab illegal.  We will likely go through this wacky bit of theater again.  But if you get the notion I’m getting irritated, you’re right!

Assuming the state wants to take the local funds of San Carlos, can we just send them one of these? Seems like it was good enough for the state to hand them out to vendors and employees. Candidly, our city has other uses for our money…

You have to admit – the resulting schadenfreude imagining the faces of legislators getting these from cities across California does give one an opportunity at a good belly laugh…

It appears Sacramento has come to a “deal” regarding a state budget and ending the wacky practice of handing out IOU’s instead of checks. The people at the table were partisan leaders – but it is our money which was being played with. While aiming considerable bile at those in Sacramento would help quiet my liver, it is clear to all the issues at stake were largely those of partisanship and neither what Californians needed nor a demonstration of leadership.

To make the news more local: As predicted our local revenues will be “borrowed” by the state.

It (the budget) also calls for the state to divert more than $2 billion of tax receipts meant for local governments, redevelopment agencies and transportation districts.” Bloomberg

I wish I had a non-profane way of describing my anger, but it eludes me at the moment. Sorry folks, the leadership in Sacramento basically handed us (local governments) their problem by taking money we use to pay for police, fire, critical infrastructure maintenance, etc. in the interest of putting together their deal. All the while – they are happy to shove more spending mandates down our throats.

I suppose if you have had a thief break into your home, you get angry, then you take inventory and make plans on how to move forward…

Sheriff Greg Munks
San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063

Dear Sheriff Munks,

The following thoughts are mine and not the official remarks of the council. The Council’s official remarks were sent to you following a unanimous vote to do so. I acknowledge your desire to keep citizens safe, the required regulations and the difficult task before you. I appreciate your dedication and service to the citizens of San Mateo County.

I am opposed to consideration of the sites in San Carlos (345 Shoreway and 767 Industrial) for a replacement jail.

The project outlined would be a 648 bed, Type II jail. Type II jails house both pre-trial and sentenced inmates. This project is neither appropriate based on the information outlined by the Replacement Jail Site Criteria Evaluation nor the San Carlos General Plan, nor the San Carlos Economic Development Plan, nor does it serve the interests of the residents surrounding these sites.

Points of consideration in the Replacement Jail Site Criteria Evaluation include:

Minimum traffic issues
Traffic impacts will be significant. 767 Industrial is in the middle of a retail/business corridor already in need of traffic mitigation for retail, scheduled construction and residential uses. 345 Shoreway is in need of significant mitigation and upgrade as many trucks and a new waste/recycling operation is moving forward to help the member cities of SBWMA and San Mateo County address state mandates for waste diversion.

The addition of traffic for employees, inmates, family, counselors and other activities will severely impact these critical areas.

Public transportation availability to the site (visitors and staff)
Shoreway has no public transportation available and pedestrians would have to cross Highway 101 from the Caltrain Station. Sam Trans offers no service along Industrial Road – and given the SamTrans budget it is not likely to be introduced. This means significant traffic for transportation needs surrounding the jail and pedestrian traffic going through long-established residential areas.

Surrounding considerations
767 Industrial is in the middle of our retail corridor which is surrounded by industrial uses and a long-established residential area. San Carlos has spent many years and millions of dollars redeveloping this area into an economic engine for our city while balancing the needs of the residents and local businesses. A jail would significantly compromise residential values while simultaneously throwing away years of work by the city, the RDA and the millions invested already.

To underscore our resolve on this point, when a developer tried to get a zoning exception to develop housing in the retail corridor, the San Carlos Council voted unanimously to adhere to codes & intentions described in new general plan and economic development plan. The plans and actions by the GPAC, EDAC and the Council are clear: this area is to be used for retail economic development.

345 Shoreway is by our new, proposed recycling center. This center represents a joint venture of the 12 SBWMA cities and the County to build a center to address state mandates for diversion. The further intent with this new development is to attract green/cleantech companies to the adjacent area. A jail would effectively kill the work which has taken years of difficult negotiations to craft together.

Sheriff, based on the criteria used for site selection and the significant harm to property values, economic development and traffic I will reiterate my strong opposition to further consideration of sites with San Carlos for a replacement Jail.

With kind regards I wish you

All the best,
– Omar Ahmad
San Carlos City Council Member

And after long discussions on revenue last night – there is much more to say. I will be putting the slides I showed at the meeting online with commentary in the next few days.

That aside – I wanted to share a bit of tech which has captured my heart. I have a hard time finding shirts which fit well and have collars capable of staying in place. Enter the Wurkin Stiffs collar stay! An idea so straightforward – you’ll wish you thought of it. A collar stay of metal and a small, wacky-strong magnet completes this package. Simply insert the metal collar stay into the collar as you normally do. The position of the collar is set by placing the magnet under the shirt. All the fun of a button-down without the hassle!

Ahh…. Life is better with technology!