911 response, street and road maintenance poll high in San Bruno

Residents said that they care most about 911 call response, which they’re somewhat satisfied with, as well as street and road maintenance, local businesses and supporting the local economy, which they’re not as satisfied with, Godbe said. 

While 911 response and police patrols are high-priority items for those surveyed, building a new fire station and upgrades to the police station rank less highly. Councilmember Marty Medina inquired about that discrepancy. 

“I was interested, in your experience, what’s the most surprising thing here that’s maybe unique to San Bruno?” he said. “In particular, with the police station and fire station being so low on the poll.” 

That response is typical for most cities, Godbe said. 

“That’s fairly typical throughout the Bay Area and California as a whole. It’s the service people are interested in,” he said. “It’s the service they’re getting. How they get that is kind of up to you.” 

San Bruno residents also ranked storm drain maintenance, parks and recreation services, street lights and youth and senior services as important, though lower-tier than economic priorities and road maintenance. 

Overall, most people also think life in San Bruno is either excellent or good, Godbe said, which is an improvement from results from a 2024 survey. 

Potential voters also expressed some support for a flat-rate tax to maintain emergency response and enhance voter protection, as well as separate measures to tax nonresidential and multifamily residential buildings and to rescind building height limit options. Based on the polling, that support wouldn’t be enough for the two-thirds majority required to pass a new tax.