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Trash Talk

December 2, 2012 by 4 Comments

December brings shopping madness, holiday cheer, snow (at least where I grew up in New York), and, in San Carlos, new trash rates. I suppose that’s a little karmic, since the holiday season generates a lot of trash and recycling, at least in our home.

This year the Council is looking at increasing rates by up to 12% overall. Rates for individual service categories and/or can sizes could go up more or less than that amount, but our total costs are expected to be about 12% higher in 2013 then they were in 2012, and have to be covered somehow.

In this post I’ll try to explain what’s causing this increase. Fair warning: this is a complex topic, so I’ve summarized or glossed over some details. And I’m still actively researching it, so things are subject to change (but hopefully not too much).

So, why are costs going up so much?

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Filed Under: budget, trash

A Not So Clean Sweep

June 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

When people ask me how I like being on the Council, I tell them it’s great, in large part because there’s so much to learn. Having to grapple with issues that are new to me is fun because it’s challenging. Hardly a meeting goes by that I don’t come across an interesting issue, often hidden inside something that looks mundane.

Take this Monday’s meeting. Specifically, whether or not to approve a contract to have our streets swept.

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Filed Under: budget, services

Budget-o-Rama

April 24, 2012 by 1 Comment

Last night we had our second budget discussion, part of the process which will ultimately lead to an adopted budget for the 2012/2013 and 2013/2014 fiscal years (the City’s fiscal year runs from July 1st to June 30th). If you’re ever interested in getting a quick overview of what every part of the City staff does, this is can be a great introduction. While the next detailed overview won’t be until Spring 2014 — because the City has gone back to a two year budgeting cycle — you can watch last night’s meeting on the web. It’ll be available shortly at http://www.epackets.net/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1533&doctype=AGENDA.

Several things stood out in last night’s budget review.

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Filed Under: budget, defining the future, development, reflections

Bar Food and Free Parking

April 16, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The parking study proposal for San Carlos caused a number of people to comment about parking meters. Specifically, about how undesirable or stupid it would be to replace the current free parking with pay parking.

That may or may not be correct (and it isn’t clear to me we even have a parking problem). But the feedback highlights a glitch in how we talk about public services that needlessly complicates public decision-making.

I posted an article on my Council website discussing this and explaining how it’s related to bar food. If you’re interested, take a look at it.

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Filed Under: budget, development, reflections

Overtime and Hiring/Retention

April 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Carlos Club hearing at last night’s Council meeting overshadowed another topic which may be of greater long-term significance to more of San Carlos. That was the Council’s authorization to add three firefighters to the  San Carlos Fire Department.

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Filed Under: budget, staffing

Redevelopment Redux

January 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

At our January 9, 2012 meeting one of the topics we’ll be covering is the next steps, if any, involving the San Carlos Redevelopment Agency in light of two important recent events. Last December, the judge presiding over a lawsuit brought by the San Carlos Elementary School District, the Sequoia Union High School District and the San Mateo County Community College District against the Agency ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding them about $4 million and certain additional payments going forward. Just last week, the California Supreme Court ruled that the Legislature had the constitutional authority to act when it disbanded redevelopment agencies throughout the State last year. That latter decision means RDAs will disappear effective February 1, 2012. This will have some significant impacts on San Carlos.

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Filed Under: budget, rda