Westlake Kerfuffle
Happy Tuesday Daly Citizens!
Top of mind today is the Westlake Park deal. It is just such a bad, poorly negotiated deal. We can do so much better.
The most recent status update on the Westlake Park kerfuffle came from the town hall last week on July 29th. Packed room. Standing room only. Awesome work everyone for turning out! Fewer families than I would have liked, though a good number came and then got dragged off to the playground by their own kids. Hard to blame them.
The ironic part: I spent years bemoaning the lack of community in Daly City, and since this whole kerfuffle started I have felt more connected to my neighbors than ever before. Thanks Olympic Club.
To join us and show support visit SaveWestlakePark.com
A quick recap of the meeting
Two Olympic Club representatives, Nick Lusson and his boss Tim Muessle, gave a talk covering their current proposal, which as it stands after that meeting looks like:
The Olympic Club is offering the city:
- A new synthetic turf field
- Covering maintenance of the new field
- New tennis courts and pickleball courts
- $50k a year in rental payments
They want:
- Exclusive access to the field and tennis courts for the best 30% of the hours the park is open.
- The ability to build a private locker room/club on park property that is exclusive to club members
- New security fencing to prevent their new turf field from getting messed up by the public.
- All of this for a minimum of 15 years, up to 30 years.
They also brought Mark Baginski from Verde Design, the firm they have hired to design and renovate the field, to reassure us all about synthetic turf. Nothing says "trust us on the turf" like the guy being paid to install the turf. Let's get some scientists on the stand next.
Obviously hogwash. They stood up there and claimed they were asking for the hours that no one used, while Junior Giants was outside playing four simultaneous games of little league.
The room lost control a little bit. People were impassioned and wouldn't let them finish, but eventually a respected neighbor brought order back to the room and they finished their pitch. I think I counted 2 out of 50+ comments made by the public in favor of it. So pretty overwhelming against it.
For the most up to date info head to the SaveWestlakePark.com website.
Kudos to at least 2 of our City Council members for showing up to the meeting, Teresa Proaño and Pamela DiGiovanni. Where were the rest of them?
Speaking of which, I am starting to keep track of the City Council's official stance on this project as well as the stance of potential candidates. Three of the five city council members are up for reelection this year, great timing for them.
Where they stand
Current City Council and their stance (** means they are up for reelection)
- Glenn R. Sylvester - Mayor - Unknown stance, seems pretty wishy-washy in the last city council meeting
- Teresa Proaño ** - Vice Mayor - I got a response from her, she wants to hear what the people have to say. But won't commit either way.
- Juslyn Manalo - Waiting for a response
- Dr. Rod Daus-Magbual ** - Waiting for a response
- Pamela DiGiovanni ** - Strongly against it.
Candidates (from the city's election page)
- Atanacio "Tony" Bayudan - Waiting for a response
- Ashley Budelli - Strongly against it.
- Thomas A. Nuris - Against it in its current state, but is pro-partnerships if they make financial sense.
- Barry Rodriguez - No campaign site or contact info.
- Asia Su - No campaign site or contact info.
- Rebecca Truong - No campaign site or contact info.
- Daniel Vizcarra - No campaign site or contact info.
I'll be keeping an eye on this election. People want change, let's see who can deliver it.
Enough on that for now.
City Meeting Updates
No meetings in August. Their normal yearly break. Because of that, the meetings in July were maybe a bit more meaty than usual.
On July 27 the council accepted and appropriated $4.5 million in Proposition 64 grant funds in a block vote with eight other items. That grant is genuinely good news: it is the maximum award for a city our size, it funds a five-year youth cannabis-prevention and behavioral-health program called INSPIRE Daly City with the Youth Health Center, the high school district and San Mateo Medical Center. The staff report calls it one of the largest competitive grants the city's economic development division has ever landed. Awesome work getting this done.
On the other hand, in the same block vote, the council approved "replacement kinetic energy platforms for the Police Department," $28k. Forty Mossberg 590A1 shotguns converted to fire less-lethal impact rounds. It required council approval under AB 481, and its use has to be reported publicly every year.
Two weeks earlier the council took three separate steps on police technology in a single night: a new Real Time Intelligence Center operator to run the RTIC seven days a week instead of five, the annual military-equipment report covering 21 drones and 65 patrol rifles and a BearCat, and $73k for two indoor drones that can be flown remotely from the RTIC. It seems a bit excessive for our city, especially the BearCat. Where or when do they imagine they would need these things? I hope they never get used. I want the police to be the best trained out there, but every expense has a tradeoff.
Keeping our Streets Safe
On July 13 the council was asked to approve a $77k amendment to the Safe Routes to School design contract. The added scope would have pulled the planned lane reductions at E. Market Street and Hillside Boulevard out of the design. Both streets are on the city's High Injury Network. Three schools sit on them.
Two people spoke. Alan Uy: "I think that safety should always trump throughput." Rebecca Truong (see candidate list above...), who works as a crossing guard at the affected intersection: "removing the lane reduction actually removes the safety in the plan." The council tabled the item to September.
Attracting new business
On July 27 both Serramonte drive-through restaurants were approved 5-0, and both carry conditions requiring updated traffic counts and an evaluation of a signal at the Southgate Avenue entrance. Those conditions exist because a resident named Melinda Hue sent the Planning Commission two emails in the first week of July. The applicant asked staff at the July 7 hearing whether the traffic study could be dropped. Staff said no.
Your voice matters, show up and speak out.
Other Business
On September 10, Grocery Outlet opens on Mission Street. City staff described that corridor at the Small Business Commission last month as a food and grocery desert whose only grocery was, in their words, the dollar store on the corner. An anchor grocery arriving is a bigger deal for that neighborhood than most things that get a ribbon. (When can we get Berkeley Bowl far west?)
Important dates
Friday, August 7, at 5 p.m., nomination filing closes for the November 3 ballot. Three of the five council seats are up for full four-year terms, and Daly City votes at large, so every one of us votes on all three. Papers come from the City Clerk at City Hall, 333 90th Street, (650) 991-8078.
And of course the town hall next week at Pacelli Center. 5:30pm August 13th.
Around town
School starts, Jefferson Union district Thursday, August 6. Staff development days Tuesday and Wednesday, so no classes those two days.
National Night Out Tuesday, August 4, 5 to 8 p.m. Serramonte Center, parking near Crunch Fitness. Free, all ages. Colma runs its own the same evening at the Serra Center, 5 to 7 p.m.
Fall recreation registration Wednesday, August 5 at 8:30 a.m. for residents, Friday, August 7 at 8:30 a.m. for everyone else. Online at dalycity.org/iplay or in person at 111 Lake Merced Boulevard. Aquatics has its own dates.
Doelger seniors and the Volunteens joint show Tuesday, August 11, 6 to 8 p.m. Octagon Gallery.
Colma summer concerts: Carnaval Thursday, August 13. Colma Community Center, 1520 Hillside Blvd. Free, bring a chair. The series runs Thursday evenings through August 27.
Other Alerts
Street maintenance starts this month in Westlake running through October.
The day your street actually gets sealed, it will be closed from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., your driveway is off-limits for those hours, and anything still parked there after 7 a.m. gets towed at your own expense.
Watch for the temporary no-parking signs; they go up 48 hours ahead. The street-by-street schedule is supposed to land on dalycity.org under Public Works, Construction Projects sometime this month - nothing there as of this posting. Check your mail for more details. The project manager is Benjamin Zee, (650) 991-5796, [email protected]
Until next time!