It’s called Kyiv now but when we visited Russia in the early 1990s Kiev was still part of Russia. Boris Yeltsin had just been reelected in tumultuous times. The economy was in free fall and ordinary people were begging on street corners, in front of churches and tourist attractions. We were on a six-person tour of St. Petersburg, Moscow and Kiev. By the time we reached Kiev, only my husband and I remained. The city was in terrible shape, much worse than St. Petersburg or Moscow. We stayed in a Stalin design hotel — 40 plus floors without any attempt at artistic flourishes. It was huge. There were not many guests but we had to wait over an hour before we were able to go to our room. I believe we were the only American tourists there.
We had a guide from the tour for one of the three days we were in Kiev. My husband wanted to see Babi Yar (where 33,000 Jews were lined up, shot and tossed into a massive trench) but our guide didn’t know where it was. But she did take us to one of the large open air markets where all kinds of food — meat, vegetables, etc. — were available. She just shopped at one counter devoted solely to cucumbers. She bought 100. Told us, before we could ask, that her mother would pickle them and that is what they would eat all winter.
Ukraine seemed to be the bread basket for the entire country. As the train pulled into the station we saw a long line of women with baskets of food they hoped to sell in Moscow. But the city itself was drab. We walked the main street (although there must be many main streets today). There were others walking but I don’t remember any restaurants or much activity around stores. There was a plaque about Chernobyl, which is about 69 miles away. If you ever watched the documentary on Chernobyl, you know that is not far enough. Ukraine seemed a very sad place. And even sadder place today.
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South San Francisco is the Peninsula city most intent on doing something about affordable housing. Officials there are discussing increasing densities, reducing parking requirements and maybe even separating the cost of providing parking from the amount of rent. For years, I was an advocate and still am. But when the San Mateo City Council tried to reduce the parking requirements for Hayward Park Green, across from the Hayward Park Caltrain station, the bank financing the project objected. We could reduce the parking requirement but we had to retain the space for parking in case it was needed in the future. We landscaped instead. In Arlington, Virginia, where many residents work in DC and take the Metro, some apartments do separate the cost of renting and parking. Many residents don’t own cars or just own one car and appreciate the more affordable housing.
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The California Democratic party has endorsed Kevin Mullin in the race for Congress. But it looks as if labor and the democratic party will not make single endorsements in the crowded race for the 21st Assembly District to replace Mullin. That means the party will not endorse in a contested primary and that individual labor unions are free to endorse one of the candidates. Giselle Hale has been endorsed by the Sacramento powerhouse California Teachers Association which means big dollars and help with phone banks and mailers. But not everyone loves CTA especially supporters of charter schools, including Facebook where Hale used to work.
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I always thought Laura Ingraham of Fox News was toxic but I didn’t realize how toxic she was until I clicked on a pop-up article about why at 57 she was still unmarried when the bells started ringing to alert me I was being hacked.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs every Monday. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
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(1) comment
Sue - Regarding our comment that Laura Ingraham is toxic, perhaps the pot (you) is calling the kettle black.
Also, what Peter says about Paul says more about Peter than it does about Paul.
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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