Say it isn’t so Joe — The end of the Pac-12

Five members of the Pac-12 left to join other conferences leaving Stanford, Cal, Oregon State and Washington State as the remnants. Or to put it bluntly, the more powerful teams followed the money. (“Say it ain’t so Joe” is a fictional phrase attributed, in American legend, to a young fan speaking to Shoeless Joe Jackson after Jackson’s indictment for throwing the 1919 World Series).

Nothing shady about the Pac-12 demise but it was about money.

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Politics is all about money, or is it? Sometimes the candidate without the big bucks wins. District elections at the local level may make big bucks less important. At least that was the intent. You can’t avoid it at the state level. At one time in my life, I was considering running for the state Assembly. The only reason I didn’t was because I hated the idea of dialing for dollars. I was advised by a senior member of the Democratic Caucus I would need to spend my mornings and weekends walking precincts (something I love to do) and dialing for dollars the rest. I decided that was not for me.

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The city of San Mateo has issued its general plan and a vision of where future development will take place. The big surprise is how many housing units are envisioned for Bridgepointe shopping center — 8 acres of the existing parking lot. Meanwhile, the center which contains big box retail versus traditional department stores is still thriving with new tenants: Hobby Lobby, Chick-fil-A and Kelly Moore Paints signing 20-year leases. The height limit around Bridgepointe is seven stories but expect to see nine stories in a modified Measure Y before voters in 2024.

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The Rotary Club of San Mateo has much to celebrate. It has just elected its new president, John Barrett, and is looking forward to hosting the international president of Rotary as part of its centennial celebration. A group of Rotarians are busy planning the event. The dinner will be Wednesday night, May 15, 2024. The current Rotary International President Gordon McInally will be there to help celebrate and there are already signups for Rotary Clubs throughout the Bay Area. 

John Barrett was born and raised in San Mateo. He attended Serra High School, and Loyola University and graduated from the University of San Francisco with a Bachelor of Art in accounting in 1975.  He and his wife live in Burlingame and have four grown children.  He spent 20 years in the custom tire and wheel business and later became a property manager and mortgage broker.

He joined Rotary in 1995. He assisted in the distribution of wheelchairs in Mazatlan, Mexico and in 2004 in Mongkol Borei, Cambodia. That visit was a turning point. He and some fellow Rotarians noted the lack of education facilities and rented a mostly empty school building and started an elementary school for the poorest children in the province — the Cambodia Academy of Mongkol Borei with 50 children attending first and second grade.

Today, there are 330 children in grades one through nine and 22 teachers. With Barrett’s help, the Academy has purchased 4 acres and built three schools.  There are plans to increase the student body to 500 in grades one through nine.

Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs on Mondays. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.