2 in running for San Bruno District 2 seat

“I’m not a commercial real estate agent, but I’m very much in touch with that industry and what it will take to earn that reputation back,” he said. “I think it’s often underestimated what the blow that decision by Marty made in 2019. It set us back probably 15 years.”

His election to the council would intrinsically make the case that the city was ready for a more pro-development stance, Marshall said, also noting he would advocate for the rehiring business development director to act as a “sales rep” for the city.

Development

The City Council is taking actionable steps toward increasing citywide development, Hamilton said, noting that there were no denied projects in San Bruno — including a redesigned version of Mills Park with 427 housing units on El Camino Real. San Bruno has struggled to find an appropriate candidate for the business development director, Hamilton explained, but said he was supportive of the position.

If reelected, he would support an expansion of the transit corridor plan to the north and south of El Camino Real to help increase the city’s inventory of buildable lots.

“If we increase our inventory of places where this development can take place, then we can encourage more of those to happen,” Hamilton said.

Both candidates agreed that the Tanforan redevelopment project could be a boon for San Bruno as they work to catch up with neighboring cities, with Hamilton calling the mix of biotech, housing and retail a project he’s proud of.

“They’re building exactly what we asked for,” he said. “There’s nothing but opportunity there. I wish it was happening a little faster, and hopefully if the economy turns around they’ll step a little harder on the gas.”

Tanforan is an opportunity for the city to have a redo on a project the size of Mills Park, Marshall said, adding that it could bring more visitors to the city’s downtown merchants as well.

“I think Tanforan is an awesome opportunity for us to kind of have a second chance of the failed Mills Park,” he said. “It gives me even more reason I would love to see a voice like mine on the council, with experience and understanding of that type of development.”

Downtown

But the city’s downtown is where Marshall and Hamilton’s views sharply contrast. Marshall eschewed the city’s downtown beautification efforts — including newspaper racks, garbage cans and the new Centennial Plaza. That money would have been better spent on fixing the parking, potentially turning the Centennial Plaza lot into an entrance for a parking garage, and incentivizing property owners to beautify their lots.

“There’s just no common vision and no laid-out plan to do this,” he said. “You’re buying a house and it has $40,000 worth of dry rot, you don’t fix it by painting the outside of the house. We have to work from the inside out.”

Hamilton said the idea that the beautification money could have funded a parking garage was financially ludicrous. He defended the smaller-scale efforts, like the newspaper racks and garbage cans, as a way for the City Council to offer incremental wins for merchants during the COVID-19 pandemic.

As for Centennial Plaza, a project he was deeply involved in — it’s nothing but a positive for the city, Hamilton said.

“I see this as an absolute win. We need to attract visitors to our downtown,” he said. “We can’t force people to sell their buildings. What we’re trying to do is encourage more business by making things more vibrant.”

Currently, the most pressing issue for downtown merchants and visitors alike is the city’s troubled parking meter system, which has faced complaints around an unreasonable pricing system and nonfunctional kiosks, among other concerns.

The parking meter situation is another example of the city moving toward a project it can’t afford to do right, Marshall said.

“If you’re going to do it, just do it the right way. You should have meters at every spot. The kiosks are a total disaster,” he said. “I’m almost at the point, my thought process is, we just cover up all those kiosks, cut our losses and hopefully get out of this contract until we can think of the right way to do it.”

The intention behind the parking meters was to create turnover in downtown parking spots based on complaints that it was too challenging to find parking, Hamilton said, a goal he maintained is being met. He acknowledged the meters have serious issues and said he would advocate for creating working kiosks.

“The idea of parking meters was a good one,” he said. “The rollout has been a complete and unmitigated disaster.”

Budget issues

Hamilton is also a strong proponent of Measure Q — an infrastructure bond that voters will also decide on this election — as a way for the city to begin addressing more than $550 million in unfunded infrastructure needs. Aside from that measure, Hamilton pointed to his own advocacy for the council to streamline budget priorities and address unexpected financial situations.

The city should look to streamline expenditures and eliminate wasteful spending, Marshall said, citing an example from his time on the Parks and Recreation Commission where money was requested for unnecessary supplies.

“I understand it’s going to be a learning curve for me, coming from the private sector to the city but this issue has to be brought up. It’s getting to a point where a lot of these enterprises in San Bruno have to be run like a business,” he said.

He’s not a fan of asking residents for increased property taxes through Measure Q because he feels the city has been wasteful with current taxpayer dollars, he said, a perspective Hamilton disagreed with on the premise that San Bruno needs to begin addressing dire infrastructure issues immediately.

“It’s a question of scale. The needs are enormous and we need to make big swings in order to meet those needs,” Hamilton said.

Cease-fire resolution

The candidates also diverge on the issues of a cease-fire resolution, which Hamilton brought up for potential agendization. It was voted down, a decision that many Palestinian San Bruno residents continued to protest months after.

Marshall suggested that Hamilton’s decision to broach the topic was political in nature, designed to garner support during an elections cycle. He doesn’t believe the City Council was qualified to weigh in on the topic, he said.

“At first I heard, ‘oh cease-fire, who doesn’t want a cease-fire?’ Everyone wants peace. But what I’ve learned from exploring both sides of this issue is that the term cease-fire is not really a term of peace and it is very offensive to others,” Marshall said. “As a city councilman in San Bruno, I want to be focused on San Bruno. I don’t want to do anything that’s going to divide this community.”

Councilmember Michael Salazar’s absence from the vote and subsequent decision not to issue a yes or no opinion until months later dragged the issue out and made it more painful for the community, Hamilton said. He originally broached the issue after hearing from hundreds of residents on the topic, not as a political maneuver, he said.

“I absolutely saw [the cease-fire resolution] as a complete political liability. As soon as you tread into it, you’re going be pissing off half the electorate,” he said. “After educating myself about the issue and seeing the sheer numbers of people, all the San Bruno residents coming and asking for it, I thought it was the right thing to do.”