Monthly Archives: August 2009

23. Protect San Mateo’s Endangered Species

SFGSnakeOriginal Photo: Flickr user Silvain de Munck  Used under Creative Commons license.

We need those who supervise us to have an understanding and appreciation of those species which were here before supervision was needed. Endangered species need to be protected by those who have the power to protect them. April Vargas understands this. Few in power these days do.

– George Cattermole

The San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) pictured above is found only in San Mateo County and bits of far nothern Santa Cruz County.  This subspecies of the common garter snake is considered one of the most colorful snakes in the world.  Classified as endangered since 1967, only 1,000-2,000 individuals are predicted to remain.

Find out more about San Francisco Garter Snakes and efforts to protect them on Wikipedia , Don Robertson from Monterrey’s website, or the Center for Biological Diversity.

22. Places for People

PlacesforPeople

Original Photo: Flikr user hildgrim.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Promote opportunities for people only spaces in commercial areas complete with benches, places for bicycles and lots of trees.  This is a great way to increase foot traffic in retail areas while at the same time creating great places for people to meet, exchange ideas and sip on their favorite beer or coffee.

– Larry Jacobs

21. Better Bus Service Along the Coast

BusonCoast

Original Image: Flickr user CbCastro  Used under Creative Commons license.

Improve public transportation on the Coast: more frequent buses, free or cheaper transfers, better weekend service, service continuing later at night.

– Patricia McKowen

20. Beautify 101

Bilboards-and-trees

Original Image: Flickr user occam.  Used under Creative Commons license.  Tree: Public Domain.

Many people use Hwy. 101 and it is really a boring drive and frustrating.  If we could make it more beautiful and relaxing, perhaps we could lessen the road rage, etc.  Also, this greening of the highway by planting more trees would bring more rain to this desert state (as trees attract more rain).  I, for one, take Hwy 280 because it is such a lovely drive and never go on Hwy 101 unless I have no alternative.  Once the trees are planted, they should not need any upkeep.  Nature would provide that.

- Ron Meier

Thanks for this opportunity.
My main concern is the ugly billboards.
Get rid of them.

- Rick Gilbert, Redwood City

19. Better North-South Bus Service

bussign

San Mateo County residents need to be able to get to work.

Current bus service is inadequate and leaves people stranded for us to 5 hours because it doesn’t run at night.  The bus ride from north to south is two hours. When the bus doesn’t start until 5 am in the north, a person can’t get to work until 7 am in the south.

Higher paying jobs are 9-5, lower paying jobs, the jobs that support us all, can be any time, day or night. These are service jobs, and many start much, much earlier.  Yet, low paid workers who desperately need to work more than one job, cannot get to 2nd and 3rd jobs.

Also, people going out at night are stranded if they don’t catch the midnight bus. This encourages drunk driving.

We basically only have one street in San Mateo County for north-south transport. Can’t we cover El Camino at least every 30 minutes?

-Dana Callen

18. Build Medians into Gardens & Parks

STREET-Rendered-670x453

“Regenerative Suburban Median” designed by Brian Alessi.  From the Reburbia Suburban Design Competition sponsored by dwell magazine and Inhabitat.com.

Create more median strips, and allow gardening there. In San Carlos, we have many overly wide streets like Laurel Street between Oak Street and Spring Street. Those couple of blocks, for example, are a massive, ugly expanse of pavement. In spots like this, we should add wide medians with parks/community gardens. This would enhance pedestrian safety by slowing down cars, and it would make the town much more beautiful.

Here’s a description of how this might be done: Brian Alessi’s “Regenerative Suburban Median”

- Arley Lewis, San Carlos

17. Fund HIV / AIDS Prevention and Education

AIDSRibbonOriginal Image: dbmatthews.com. Used with permission.

I would like to see funding for AIDS agencies to do prevention and education for those at risk as well as those who have already been infected.  This is extremely important in order to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS in our communities.

- Ginny W.

16. More Road Signs for When Devil’s Slide is Out

DevilsSlideOriginal Photo: Flickr user Airplane Journal.  Used under Creative Commons license.

It would be wonderful if there were more signs that tell you when the Devil’s Slide is closed. Also, on the week-ends having more signs that tell you how long it will take to get to HMB using 92. - Larry Kleinman

The Devil’s Slide Tunnel Project April actively advocated for should solve the problem of an impassible Highway 1 come 2011.

15. Fund Regional Transportation with Express Lanes

Express LaneOriginal Photo: Flickr user rutio. Used under Creative Commons license.

Charge solo commuters to use the express “carpool” lane and use that money to help fund SamTrans and Caltrain. – Elizabeth Lasensky

The VTA Express Lane project in Santa Clara County already follows a similar model.

Assembly Bill 2032 directs that revenue from express lanes operations be reinvested in projects and services that provide traffic congestion relief in the express lanes corridor. This will include operation and maintenance of the express lanes and expanding public transit service within the corridor.  This may allow funds collected to be invested in SamTrans and other transportation within the county.

14. More (and Better) Bus Shelters

BusShelter

Original Photo: Flickr user crderivative.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Install bus shelters that provide shelter from the weather, not advertising space.

Recently many of the bus shelters which had provided shelter from summer hot afternoon sun and winter rain and wind, we removed and replaced with more open shelters which provided illuminated billboards for advertising, but which do not provide protection from weather.

Since a rider has to wait for up to an hour, sometimes more, for a bus, don’t they deserve some protection? It gets pretty rough out there. The old shelters should have been kept in place which would have increased the number of shelters. – Dana Callen

13. Bring Real Green Jobs

greenjobs

Politicians want to promise “green jobs” for their citizens, but “green jobs” is an ambiguous term and too often the only green workers you see today are those collecting bottles and cans to recycle.

Let’s make San Mateo County a center for real, sustainable, green jobs by supporting educational and vocational training programs for environmentally responsible work.  Such programs might train people in solar panel installation and design, organic farming and ranching methods, manufacturing with recycled materials, safer waste disposal methods, sustainable forestry and open space maintenance, etc.

With a well-trained and talented work force, we can employ our citizens for years to come and attract new green businesses to the county.

12. Build a Bypass Near Half Moon Bay

HMB-Map

Every time I’m creeping along on Rte 92 approaching HMB, I think how wonderful it would be to have a by-pass from Rte 92 about 1/2 mile or mile east of town that would connect with Highway 1 north of town.
I’ve seen signs hinting that this may have been considered, but nothing to indicate that there’s any serious planning going on. – Carole Kleinman

11. Keep the Levee Safe and in Repair

SMBridgeLeveeOriginal Photo: FosterCity.org.

In San Mateo we have a problem with keeping the levee on the bayside safe and in repair.

My so-called flood insurance goes up every year (it has NEVER flooded here to my knowledge [by DMV.]) I pay $500 to $600 a year for fire insurance (more likely, more devastation) and over $1500  going close to $2000 a year for flood-ins. – Arlene Horan

10. Keep the Parks Open Clean and Safe

SMCounty-ParkOriginal Photo: Flickr user Kevin.  Used under Creative Commons license.

-Ann and Alan Fleisman

9. Solar Panels on All County Buildings

solarpanels

Original Photo: Flickr user Pink Dispatcher.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Install solar panels on all San Mateo County buildings to achieve an economy of scale.

We must act to mitigate global warming. – Charlie Nordlinger

8. Fix Potholes

Potholes

Original Photo: Seattle Municipal Archives.  Used under Creative Commons license.

-Ann and Alan Fleishman

7. Medical Care for All County Residents

Disability-AccessOriginal Photo: Flickr user Steve Rhodes.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Plan now to make sure that San Mateo medical personnel and facilities will be able to provide first class medical care to all county residents when Congress passes and the President signs medical reform legislation.

The closure of the Coastside Family Clinic earlier this year in Half Moon Bay  focused attention on the fact that medical care is not readily available to all county residents, particularly those who lack mobility because of disabilities, cannot drive, or live in remote areas.

Planning and preparations are also needed to deal with the potential influenza A (H1N1) pandemic that may hit this fall. – Avis Boutell

6. Pedestrian and Bike Bridges over 101

Arlie ped and bike bridge over 101I work two miles from home, but I cannot bike to work because it’s too dangerous to get across 101.  Both the Holly Street overpass and the Ralston overpass are too dangerous for bikes and anyway the  bikes impede the flow of traffic. – Arley Lewis