Redwood City voters facing a double-dip

They have placed a pair of construction bond packages on that November ballot. Whether this combination is a smart move by the two districts remains to be seen.

Asking Redwood City citizens to open their wallets wide in a double-dip fashion is coming at a time when inflation is surging and stock markets are falling. Household budgets are being pinched.

By any reasonable reading of the situation, this two-pronged taxing effort is a gamble, even though the approval threshold for both measures is only 55%.

If given the go-ahead by the electorate, the elementary district’s Measure S, which seeks $298 million, will cost property owners $24 for each $100,000 of assessed value and the high school district’s Measure W, with a price tag of $591.5 million, will come in at $14 per $100,000.

As a pair, the back-to-back bonds (worth a combined $889.5 million) would total $38 per $100,000 if both get the voters’ OK. A home assessed at $1 million would see a tax increase of $380 going forward.

There has been voter goodwill in evidence for public schools in Redwood City in the past. Let’s see if it continues in a challenging economic environment.

A BIT OF BALM FOR FANS OF SSF: The last several years have not been kind to the once-proud football program at South San Francisco High School.

Coaches have come and gone. Roster numbers have been very low. There weren’t enough players to even field a varsity team in 2021. Interest has dwindled dramatically. Defeats have piled up.

The Warriors’ unfortunate losing streak is now at 26 contests in succession as of last Friday when the Warriors were beaten by Cupertino, 25-14. The situation is grim.

But not to fret. Evidence of past football (and basketball) glory is available at Vintage South City Games on YouTube. Videos, some grainy, of dozens of contests from 1956 to 2013 are available.

The effort is the laudable work of South City Video Arts. The upbeat videos are balm for the souls of SSF alums in need of some positive athletic news these days.

COMBINED REUNION SET SEPT. 24: High school class reunions can become rather problematic as the decades proceed and alumni move away, pass away or become too infirm to attend these events.

The graduating classes of 1957 from San Mateo and Hillsdale highs have a partial solution. They have combined their 65th reunions into one affair on Sept. 24 at noon at Harry’s Hofbrau, 1909 El Camino Real in Redwood City.

It’s a combination that makes sense since those individuals started their prep careers together at San Mateo, just prior to the opening of Hillsdale in 1955 when the student bodies were split between those campuses.

Contact John Savage at (650) 455-6131 for more information.

WRITERS GROUP MEETING AGAIN: It’s back. The local Writers’ Club that uses the Redwood City Veterans Memorial Senior Center as its base has returned to its regular weekly schedule.

The participants had paused their activities during the pandemic. But it’s up and running now. The club welcomes any and all visitors interested in the written word and the creative process.

The group meets at 10 a.m. on Thursdays at the center, located at 1455 Madison Ave. Just be aware and mind those dangling participles.

THROUGH RAIN, SLEET AND OT: Let’s hear it for the U.S. Postal Service and its overworked carriers.

These diligent employees, with whom we can all sympathize, set a fresh record for dogged midweek devotion to duty late last month when our mail was delivered to our residence at 9:05 p.m.

How did we know? We thought a possible burglar was skulking outside. But it was the determined carrier who found the mail slot with the help of a beacon from a makeshift miner’s hat.

Through rain, sleet … and overtime.

Email John Horgan at johnhorganmedia@gmail.com.