Monthly Archives: November 2009

28. Medical Academy

Original Photo: Flikr user U.S. Army Africa. Used under Creative Commons license.

Progress towards healthcare for all could be furthered by the creation of a United States Medical Academy which would provide free education for those willing to serve for, say, 4 years as doctors in places where they are needed, with a strong focus on preventive medicine.   The purpose of this opportunity would be to improve the health of all citizens.

Those who would and will cry “socialism” would hopefully come to recognize that the military academies provide us with an excellent “socialized” military which protects us from threats to our national security and that the very notion of national security must involve a population free from threats to the health of our citizens.

– George Cattermole

27. Election Technology

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

Make sure we are utilizing best election methods, practices and systems.

San Mateo County is located in the heart of the leading technology geographic area-  but we use voting systems that have been reported as deficient by government study.  We should lead the country toward less expensive, more secure, open source / paper ballot voting systems.

– Brent Turner

26. Create a Festival Celebrating Diversity

Original Photo: Flikr user Mira (on the wall) from Columbia University.  Used under Creative Commons license.

South San Francisco is a city of many diverse cultures with a large Mexican and Latino population in particular.  There are few festivals in South San Francisco but today I saw the Fiestas Patrias at S.S.F. City Hall.  There was some great singing, musicians, and colorful Folklorico dancers.  They were so good they reminded me of the renowned Folklorico dancers I had seen many years ago in Ghadalahara, but I found out they were a South San Francisco troop of high school performers.  This colorful enjoyable performance on the City Hall steps, brought pride to a poorer culture that works hard to succeed in their new country.  It brought acceptance and admiration from people of other cultures.  It brought some money to the vendors, and enjoyment to brighten up the community.  The performance itself I thought was quite exceptional.

Their intent was to broaden it to other South American countries, and this is a very good idea.  Let’s create festivals for different countries to celebrate our cultural diversity and our differences. Lets enjoy the dance, music, art, and entertainment and the different ethnic food, and drinks.  Lets promote cultural tolerance, pride in different cultures at an early age, and more harmony in our community.  There could be multiple venues for the different cultures along Grand Ave and other sites.  One particularly successful example of this kind of multi cultural celebration is the 40 year old two week Folklorama festival in Winnipeg, Canada.  Whether it is a large festival with many venues such as this, or a smaller localized one, everybody benefits, economically, and by promoting understanding and tolerance of different cultural values.  It would certainly be well suited and benefit the multi-cultural community of South San Francisco.

– Z Corda

25. Tipping Fees

Original Photo: Flikr user Sean Dreilinger.   Used under Creative Commons license.

Increase area tipping fees to make deconstruction feasible. Fees should be over $150/ton.
–Gladwyn d’Souza

Tipping fees (sometimes called gate fees) are charges levied at disposal sites such as landfills for dumping waste.  By increasing tipping fees, those working in building and infrastructure demolition would have incentive to salvage reusable materials and fixtures for later use rather than dumping them as waste.  Such reusable materials include plumbing fixtures, cabinetry, flooring and scrap metal.