March 17, 2010
Ok, I normally don’t pass things on like this, but I enjoyed this.
Irish College Entrance Exam–Four Questions Answers at the bottom. If you think the SAT and ACT are hard …..Ha!
Irish moonruth; College Entrance Exam
That’s all right…I didn’t pass either…
“May the Good Lord take a liking to you…
but not too soon..”
March 15, 2010
Belmont, CA (population 26,000) is situated half-way between San Francisco and San Jose, in San Mateo County. Known for its wooded hills, views of the San Francisco Bay and stretches of open space, Belmont is a quiet residential community in the midst of the culturally and technologically rich Bay Area.
March 10, 2010
If you are heading up to the city to enjoy the parade, here are a few pubs to enjoy along the way…. Happy GREEN day.
San Francisco Kells Irish Restaurant & Pub
San Francisco Kate O’Briens
San Francisco Johnny Foley’s
San Francisco O’Reilly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant
San Francisco The Blackthorn Irish Tavern
San Francisco The Chieftain
San Francisco The Field
San Francisco The Irish Bank
San Francisco The Liberties
March 8, 2010
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| May 16, 2010Crown Plaza in Foster City |
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Time: 5:00 p.m. – 9:00p.m.
Joy Prom is a full-scale, first-class prom for people with special needs.
This community-sponsored non-profit event will give 150 individuals
(ages 15 through senior citizen) a night to SHINE. Guests will receive star-quality
treatment and will be paired with a trained host or hostess for the evening who will
escort them as they have their hair and makeup touched-up (ladies) or their shoes shined (men),
receive a corsage or boutonniere, ride in a limousine, walk down the red carpet (surrounded
by paparazzi and cheering fans), have formal prom portraits taken, enjoy a meal, and dance the night away.
If anyone has any left-over prom dresses or tuxedos. I will be collecting them to help defray the costs for this special group.
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March 7, 2010
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City Manager Offers “Two Paths” to Close $3.5 Million Budget Gap
Major Decisions Face San Carlos at Upcoming Budget Workshops |
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| San Carlos City Manager Mark Weiss unveiled his Proposed 2010-11 City Budget today in preparation for City Council Budget Workshops scheduled in March. Copies of the proposed budget staff report are available for review at City Hall and on the City’s Web Site.
The budget workshop, to be held on Saturday, March 13th at noon in the Community Rooms of the San Carlos Library, 2nd Floor, 610 Elm Street, will enable the City Council and community to hear a detailed budget presentation, offer public comments and hear City Council thoughts on the proposed budget.
The City Staff has also reserved the Community Rooms at the San Carlos Library for March 22nd starting at 6:00 pm in the likely event that the Council Budget Workshop is continued. Input from the workshop will be used to prepare the 2010-11 Budget to be presented to the City Council for review and approval in early May.
The City’s Proposed Budget for 2010-11 features “two paths” to a balanced budget. The recommended path involves City Council authorization for the City Manager and City Department Heads to prepare service agreements for receiving Police and Fire services from neighboring agencies and to explore contracting for parks maintenance services.
This option is projected to save the City approximately $5 Million or more per year and would cover the City’s budget deficit without necessitating additional cuts to City services. A second path features a series of major service changes in many City service areas. This option will save the City $3.5 Million per year and would close the City’s budget gap for 2010-11. Some of the key service reductions that would occur with the second option include:
- Cutting 9 Full-Time positions including 2 Additional Police positions plus numerous Part-Time support personnel
- Closing the Youth Center and Eliminating Administrative Support for Special Events in San Carlos (including Hometown Days, Art & Wine Festival and Summer Concerts at Burton Park)
- Reducing City Counter Service Hours to 3 Hours Per Day and Closing the City Clerk’s Counter with Service Provided by Appointment Only
- Freezing the City of San Carlos Contribution to the Funding of the Belmont-San Carlos Fire Department at the 2009-10 Budget level
- Discontinuing Funds to Record and Broadcast City Council Meetings on Cable TV and the Internet
City Manager Mark Weiss said “Two years ago I indicated that the City of San Carlos was at a “Tipping Point” and asked the City Council to declare a fiscal emergency. Last year a local one-half cent sales tax designed to preserve City services (Measure U), was placed on the November ballot and was rejected by San Carlos voters. Thus, the major steps proposed in this budget to bring it into balance will not be surprising to those who have been following the local, state and national economy and the City’s fiscal status.”
Weiss added that “This is the 11th year in a row that the City of San Carlos will be making program and service cuts in the annual budget. Even though there were two rounds of budget cuts last year, the City’s General Fund Budget deficit has grown by almost $1 Million (from $2.6 Million last year to $3.5 Million this year) even after all of these cuts were implemented. This confirms the projections made last year that the current approach of making modest budget cuts each year and tapping into reserves is no longer sustainable.”
“What I am proposing in this year’s budget is a paradigm shift in how we view City services in San Carlos. Rather than continue to attempt to provide the full range of City services mostly in-house, I believe it is time to accelerate the use of contract services in several areas in an effort to improve efficiency and take advantage of economies of scale, while embracing a regional service delivery model.”
“With the help of the City Department Heads, we have developed a menu of options for the City Council to consider in the upcoming budget to fully close the $3.5 Million per year budget gap. The recommended path involves contracting out or outsourcing Police and Fire Department services in a more sustainable manner. Additionally, choosing this option would allow the City to preserve all services, including public safety, facilities and community events at their current, albeit already reduced levels. This approach addresses the budget deficit in an aggressive manner and avoids closure of facilities and continued deterioration of all City services.”
“This budget includes tough choices and offers a different view of the City’s future as we move forward. I envision a vigorous discussion as the Council explores and decides the road San Carlos will follow into the future. I invite San Carlos residents to attend and participate in this vital process.”
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March 5, 2010
I know this is a little dark, but I did not want to interrupt the GAME. This has reminded me of being in Europe and the population taking time to enjoy someone else’s company and enjoy a game at the same time. Let’’s see who wins. Awesome, isn’t it?…
Nice to have that kind of friend when you are young or old… Redwood City at the Court House. What a better place to be with great weather.
March 4, 2010
Ok, this has been going on for a long…………time. Does anyone have an update for me……
The Pre-Construction Meeting for the Emmett House Project took place on July 14th. During this meeting the contractor representatives, designers and members from Police, Community Development, Public Works, Belmont/San Carlos Fire and Mid-Peninsula Water District discussed key issues associated with the project. Currently, City staff and designers are in the process of reviewing multiple submittals with special emphasis given on exterior color selection. City staff also met with City arborist to receive recommendations on tree protection. The Notice to Proceed will be issued on July 27th. Contract construction time will begin on August 3rd with contractor mobilization which shall include providing temporary power, storage equipment, fence installation and erosion control measures. Contract construction time is 260 working days.
February 28, 2010
REMINDER….. all cell phone numbers are being released to telemarketing companies and you will start to receive sales calls. …. YOU WILL BE CHARGED FOR THESE CALLS.
To prevent this, call the following number from your cell phone: 888-382-1222. It is the National DO NOT CALL list. It will only take a minute of your time. It blocks your number for five (5) years. You must call from the cell phone number you want to have blocked. You cannot call from a different phone number. PASS THIS ON ………..
February 27, 2010
Fifteen months after beating back a challenge from environmental groups at the ballot box, an Arizona developer’s plans to build the largest housing development on the shores of San Francisco Bay since Foster City was constructed 50 years ago are running into an increasing headwind.
On Thursday, 92 current and former elected officials from all nine Bay Area counties signed a letter opposing the project — which would construct up to 12,000 homes on vacant land owned by Cargill Salt into a community of 25,000 people.
Those coming out in opposition to the project — which would be east of Highway 101 next to the Port of Redwood City — included longtime Silicon Valley conservation leaders, such as former state senators Rebecca Morgan and Byron Sher.
Redwood City is undertaking an EIR process,” Hillan said. “That is the place where all comers are going to have their concerns raised and vetted in an open and transparent process. We’re disappointed that any elected official would seek to circumvent the process by which the public can seek to become more informed about not only the benefits, but the impact, that our project would have.
In November 2008, Redwood City voters defeated Measure W, an initiative backed by environmentalists that would have required a two-thirds vote of city residents for any development on open space such as the 1,436-acre salt evaporation pond site at issue. Cargill and DMB then submitted a development application to the city in May.
But in the past six months, the project has faced a number of substantial new obstacles that foreshadow years of challenges, political headaches and almost-certain lawsuits if Redwood City eventually approves the plan.
On Feb. 9, the City Council of neighboring Menlo Park voted 4-1 to formally oppose the project
On Jan. 5, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which will have to issue a permit for development to go forward, wrote in a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers about the proposal that “San Francisco Bay and its adjacent waters are critically important aquatic resources that warrant special attention and protection.” The letter, from EPA regional water chief Alexis Strauss, also noted that any federal agency considering a permit must take into account “the recent successes in restoring aquatic functions to salt production facilities elsewhere in the San Francisco Bay Area.”
In September, the leading shipping industry organization in Northern California came out in opposition, asserting that the project would create conflicts by putting new residents adjacent to the industrial facilities at the Port of Redwood City. Mike Jacob, vice president of the Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, called the project “a direct threat to the port’s operations and its long-term viability” in an editorial published in the Palo Alto Daily News.
Hillan said that the project, which developers hope to start in 2013, remains on track.”It’s moving forward,” he said. “I wouldn’t characterize these as major bumps in the road.” He said the project is environmentally friendly because DMB and Cargill will build on only half of the site, used for salt crystallization for a century, and convert the rest to wetlands and parks. It also will provide infill housing, Hillan added, so Silicon Valley workers don’t have to commute as far to their jobs. And he noted that the Silicon Valley Leadership Group, Redwood City-San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce and other organizations support the plan. The environmental opponents say the salt ponds are essentially part of the bay and none of them should be developed.
“This project is DOA,” said Lennie Roberts, with the Committee for Green Foothills in Palo Alto. “There are huge hurdles that are becoming more and more evident.”
February 25, 2010
My daughter is in heaven. In-N-Out is her favorite burger joint. This one might be a little to close to home though.
On February 24, 2010, representatives from In-N-Out Burger filed their application with the City to open a new In-N-Out Burger restaurant on the City-owned surplus parcel located at the northeast corner of Holly Street and Industrial Road.
The City’s Planning Division staff will now process the application in preparation for its consideration by the Planning Commission. Staff anticipates bringing the proposal to the commission later this year, likely by this summer.
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