Residents give Millbrae mayor an earful

“I was very clear on my inauguration day … we need to listen to our people,” he said. “People took that as an opportunity to let their mayor know how they feel … that’s a good thing. That’s a reflection that the community wanted to be a part of the process.”

Residents want to see increased pedestrian and transportation safety, Fung said, alongside the reduction of traffic congestion and reliance on private vehicles. Recent e-bike programs should help reduce downtown traffic, Fung added.

Public safety remains a concern in all aspects, Fung said, noting that it’s Millbrae’s goal for public transit riders to have a positive and safe experience.

“We want to make sure all transit riders have a safe, good experience … to bring transportation ridership back to a normal level. People want to use public transit as a way to get to and from work to home,” he said. “It needs to be safe, people need to feel safe, it needs to be clean.”

Fung — who grew up in Hong Kong, where 90% of residents don’t own a private vehicle — said he’s familiar with the importance of high-quality public transport, which will continue to remain a high priority as mayor.

He noted continued partnerships to make sure individuals experiencing homelessness receive the help that they need and don’t use BART trains or stations as shelter.

“We want to work with BART and encourage BART to step up on their enforcement,” he said. “Whether it is through new fare gates, to ensure everyone who rides BART is paying their fair share and those who are unhoused do not use our public transit as a daytime shelter and instead receive the proper assistance they deserve.”

Fung acknowledged that Millbrae’s ongoing legal battle with San Mateo County officials to prevent the purchase of the Millbrae La Quinta Inn and Suites for low-income housing without taking the issue to vote is “weighing on peoples’ minds,” but said that the city remains committed to working with regional entities to eliminate homelessness.

“We’re ready to work with anyone and everyone to deliver solutions so we can deliver functional zero homelessness,” he said.

He added that Millbrae residents are excited by new economic developments, including the upcoming Alexandria Life Sciences campus and Gateway at Millbrae Station, a mixed-use development with housing and retail near the BART and Caltrain transit station.

“Between transit and new life science office buildings, 4,000 new high-paying jobs, people are excited about it, bringing in all these new daytime additions,” Fung said. “We want to encourage more of these opportunities. Our constituency is quite pleased and quite happy with the new developments.”

The city has been working diligently to bring economic growth to the forefront and are happy to see residents able to reap the benefits, he added.

“To continue to pay for much of [Millbrae’s] services ... requires revenue to pay for that. We’re working hard in terms of economic development and have shown results,” Fung said. “As these economic developments come to fruition, [we’re] able to provide better and more direct services to residents.”

Ultimately, the listening forum was a success, Fung said.

“This particular listening forum is a good start, goes to show community is engaged, active, want to be heard, want to be listened to, want to talk to the mayor, to the city manager, want the city to be well,” he said.