Action Alert: Council Abandons Sidewalk Repair Cost Sharing Discussion
I’ve written a number of posts and articles in the last year or so about the City’s policy requiring property owners to pay 100% of repair costs for sidewalks fronting their property (you can read the earlier pieces here and here). In a nutshell, it’s unfair and inconsistent with the law.
If We Really Want to Protect our Downtown…
Last night we discussed whether or not to extend or let expire our anti-chain store ordinance. These are the comments I made during the discussion. Needless to say, there are much, much, much better ways of protecting the downtown than this hollow ordinance. This text is slightly edited from the
Choosing What Kind of Community to Be
Last night we agreed to roll back the changes made in 2011 to the rules governing residential lot splits in San Carlos. I made the following comments out of concern for something I didn’t hear during the community dialog, and from my colleagues: that San Carlos is the people who
You Can’t Lead From Behind
This op ed was published on September 19, 2016 in the San Mateo Daily Journal. If, like me, you think the Council should endorse Prop 63 on behalf of San Carlos, please email or write the Council and let us know. You can find all our email addresses at http://cityofsancarlos.org/depts/mayor_council/default.asp.
Money Is More Important Than Protecting Lives?
At tonight’s City Council meeting I asked my colleagues to consider endorsing Proposition 63, Safety for All, a statewide ballot initiative that aims to put a few, simple additional protections into California’s gun regulations, aimed at reducing the potential for mass shootings. Sadly, only Ron Collins supported the idea. Matt
Change Sidewalk Repair Policy Petition
Sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/san-carlos-city-council-stand-up-against-unfair-sidewalk-repair-costs?recruiter=176010379 Cities used to repair sidewalks out of their own budget. But years ago the California Legislature gave cities the option of assigning that obligation to the adjacent property owners. San Carlos, like many cities, made that choice. I was okay with that for several years as