Politics is in Burlingame mayor's blood

"I think it would have influenced him positively or he wouldn't have run for City Council," 77-year-old Joe Galligan Sr. said this week. Being on a City Council can be rough, he said.

"You have to be kind of a nut to go out there and ring doorbells, get beaten up every two weeks and get calls and e-mails in between. It's kind of masochistic," he said.

Father and son work at the Galligan building on the 600 block of San Mateo Drive in San Mateo where Galligan Sr. is an attorney, and his son Joe is an accountant.

Joe Galligan, 49, was named Burlingame mayor Monday night in a scheduled rotation, taking the seat of Councilwoman Rosalie O'Mahony. It is the second time Galligan has been mayor of the city, with a previous stint in 2001. He joined the council in 1997.

Tuesday morning, after a tense yet diplomatic City Council meeting the night before on the controversial hospital project, Galligan looked relieved with the results.

"To say we've finished the Peninsula Hospital, to me that's huge," he said. "I have to give credit to the entire council."

Things were not always so nice.

Five months ago, the council split on whether crossing guards should be eliminated, and ongoing plans for a larger Safeway on Howard Avenue bitterly divided the council and the city.

This year Galligan may be able to heal his wounds with, ironically, a more grandiose plan for Safeway. That plan was reviewed by the council and approximately 60 residents in a special session Wednesday night.

Local architect Don Ionescu's mixed-use plan is sitting well with the council, and Galligan sees the plan, which would build about 300 condominiums above shops and a series of pedestrian-friendly arcades in downtown Burlingame, as a feasible future for the city.

Getting the project approved will be his biggest task.

Terry Nagel, his rival in the Safeway standoff, is on his side.

"We all seem to agree we would like to have Safeway back to the table," Nagel said. "We all seem to have pretty much the same goal of good development."

In her year as mayor, O'Mahony tried her best to bring the Safeway issue to a peaceful conclusion. She believes Galligan represents the majority of Burlingame residents' views and has confidence he can bring a resolution to the Safeway project.

"Joe's a highly respected accountant," she said. He brings organizational and financial strengths, she said, "And I have full faith in his ability to woo Safeway to the table."

The ambitious plan calls for an underground parking garage that could potentially close the grocer for up to two years, but Galligan said Ionescu could make it work. O'Mahony said the problem was further compounded by the diagonal waterway running underground there.

Still, both are optimistic.

Galligan said the key to new development in Burlingame would be to bring housing, and the project would help.

The biggest obstacle in being a public official, he said, is conquering residents' fear of the unknown. Whether it be a new house or a new hospital, people usually fear change.

Galligan doesn't see much change for himself, shunning offices in Sacramento or Washington to work for Burlingame where he was raised. He said he wouldn't like the political quid pro quo in those towns.

More government work would also mean more time away from his five children and wife. Two of his children are from his previous marriage.

"There are times I know my wife feels like she's a single mother," he said.

Galligan gets a lot of feedback from Burlingame residents and said he will look to residents for direction in this new term as mayor.

He also said he gets advice from his father every day, though Galligan Sr. denies it.

But, "sometimes he'll stick his head in my office," Galligan Sr. said, adding that people tell him his son acts intelligently, which he sees as a big compliment.

After witnessing recent conflict between his son and other members of the community and the City Council in recent years, Galligan Sr. said he hopes this year will be a smooth one.

"I would like to see him come out unscathed," he said.

Stephen Baxter can be reached by e-mail at stephen@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 109. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.