Notes, quotes and dust motes

At its most recent meeting, the nine-member board voted 5-3 (one absence) to oppose Senate Bill 1031, which authorizes a 2026 ballot measure to consolidate transit agencies under one authority, approve a tax that would generate massive funding for transit, and shift significant authority to the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. The MTC is a policy and funding agency and has never operated a single bus or train.

The Caltrain board vote took much dramatic wrangling, including a last-minute call-in by Mountain View Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga, who also is running for Santa Clara County supervisor, and who cast the fifth vote opposing the measure. Also voting against were San Bruno Mayor Rico Medina, Redwood City Mayor Jeff Gee, San Mateo County Supervisor Ray Mueller and Palo Alto Councilmember Pat Burt. Voting for the measure were two San Francisco representatives, Supervisor Shamann Walton and mayor’s appointee Monique Zmuda; and San Jose Councilmember Dev Davis.

The even greater irony is this: The San Francisco representatives pushing for consolidation are the same ones who forced the break up of the one truly consolidated transit agency in the Bay Area — the management of Caltrain by SamTrans.

HALL OF FAMERS: The late Sam Goldman will be part of the 2024 class inducted into the Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in June. He is being singled out for his prodigious work as a sports information resource for dozens of Bay Area teams and events. His greatest impact, however, was as a journalism teacher at San Bruno’s Crestmoor High School and Skyline College, where he steered dozens of people into the business, including me. Even more than that, he was a friend, a mentor and a true teacher. He was a second father to me. A more dynamic person I have never known. … Notre Dame High School in Belmont honored the inaugural class of its Athletics Hall of Fame and one of the inductees is Bill Harke, who grew up working for newspapers on the Peninsula and was the final editor of the late, lamented Peninsula Times Tribune. When the paper closed, Bill served at Notre Dame as its athletics director and launched many of the school’s sports programs. We have been friends since our days together at San Jose State University.

BIRD DROPPINGS: When I read a recent headline about Bird scooters, it was disappointing to read that it was only about those electric scooters dotting the countryside. I had hoped Foster City had found a solution to its problematically poopy geese — just scoot them away.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Last weekend in Santa Rosa was the annual gathering of San Mateo County business, government, labor and community leaders known as the Progress Seminar, now in its 55th year. The attendees meet to discuss the critical issues facing their communities.

A few quotes and notes: Silicon Valley Community Foundation President and CEO Nicole Taylor, speaking in a Saturday morning general session, said that of the $2.5 billion managed by SVCF, only $14 million is available to be spent at the discretion of the foundation. The rest is designated for specific uses or programs. … Panelist Tom Schnaubelt, assistant director of the Hoover Institution Center for Revitalizing American Institutions at Stanford University, noted that the U.S. Senate, where every state gets two senators regardless of population, creates a host of fundamental inequities. His illustration: Every Californian is equal to three-fourths of a Texan. … East Palo Alto councilmembers Lisa Gauthier and Antonio Lopez, running for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors District 4 seat, met in a Sunday morning forum where their distinctions were on display. Gauthier is in her third term on council; Lopez in his first.

When Lopez said it has been “an intense four years,” Gauthier quickly corrected: “Not four yet — three and a half.”

LOOKING AHEAD: Rep. Anna Eshoo, retiring from the aforementioned 16th CD, told the San Mateo Rotary Club Tuesday that the job of serving in Congress “sucks the air out of the room. Anybody who thinks you have a balanced life, it’s just not so.” She has made “no commitments to anyone” for life after Congress. “My life has been filled with have-tos from morning until night,” she said. “I’m looking forward to not so many have-tos.”

Mark Simon is a veteran journalist, whose career included 15 years as an executive at SamTrans and Caltrain. He can be reached at marksimon@smdailyjournal.com.