Welcome!
My name is Mark Olbert, and I’m a member of the City Council in San Carlos, California. This is my site for staying in touch with my constituents.
Here you’ll find my blog, links to articles about municipal issues, and material that will help you understand my take on the Council’s work. All these can be accessed through the menu links at the top of every page.
If you’d like to be automatically notified when new content is added to this site just click the Subscribe button at the top of any page. If you’re already a subscriber you can use the Subscribe button to edit your subscription options.
Enjoy! And if you have a moment, drop me a line to let me know what’s on your mind.
A Matter of Public Health
I shared this information, in abbreviated form, at last night’s Council meeting. While it doesn’t directly involve City business, it does involve the public health of San Carlos. The recent measles outbreak in Disneyland vividly demonstrates what can happen when we collectively fail to take advantage of vaccination technology. Getting…
Don’t Second Guess Voters
This ran in The Daily Post as an op ed piece on January 14, 2015. It was written by Tom Quiggle, Seth Rosenblatt and me. I am including it in my blog because it makes a number of points about governance, and relationships between elected officials, that are important. What…
Eastside Questions on NextDoor
Patty Marsters posted a lengthy response to something I wrote on NextDoor recently. Because I think her questions may be of interest to a broader audience, and because NextDoor offers limited formatting capabilities, I’m excerpting and replying to them here. Depending upon what “NextDoor neighborhood” you belong to you may…
Getting It In Writing
This op ed ran, in substantially similar form, in the Daily Post on Wednesday, December 10, 2014. When the Constitution was being drafted there was a debate about enshrining various rights in the document itself. Some felt it unnecessary because they were such a fundamental part of American culture. It’s…
Honoring Those Who Stood Up
I opened last night’s Council meeting with this. We’re going to do something a little different tonight. We’ll be having the Boy Scouts of Troop 321 lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance. But first I want to share something else. Philosophers and historians describe peace as an ideal whose existence…
The Big Lights of a Small City
Recently, the Carlos Club changed hands. The new owner wants to make the site into something more like a sports bar, or perhaps a restaurant with a bar. As part of that shift he’s also changed the name of the business, from The Carlos Club to The Rail Club. This…