Mostly clear. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low 48F. NW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph..
Mostly clear. Gusty winds diminishing after midnight. Low 48F. NW winds at 20 to 30 mph, decreasing to 10 to 15 mph.
Updated: May 16, 2026 @ 4:01 pm
The signs are up in San Mateo City, but swords are not drawn. It’s a civil discourse between two opposing sides. No one is threatening violence or even a recall.
It’s what democracy is all about. The opponents are civic friends, not enemies.
Whomever wins at the ballot box wins the election. That’s the way it is supposed to be.
In sports you play your best game. You play by the rules. If you lose, you can gripe about it, you can say the calls were unfair. But in the end you admit that you lost. That’s the way it’s supposed to be.
What is Measure T about? It makes changes in a previous Measure Y charter amendment. It expands areas for future development along El Camino Real and Caltrain. Opponents say it will infringe on existing single family homes and change the neighborhood. Measure T supporters say this is smart growth. The proponents have more money and have already sent out mailers with the names of supporters, most of whom are current elected officials, board and commission members. Measure T opponents, primarily those who supported the original Measure H height limit measure, tend to be longtime members of the community. Rick Karp, an opponent and one of the original Measure H team, is walking door to door. So is one of the supporters, Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash.
Is it a YIMBY vs. NIMBY? In some ways. But it is also about how much change a neighborhood wants or can handle. Homeowners and renters often have different perspectives. More housing brings more affordability. Less means keeping things the same.
Neighborhoods are also changing to meet the demand. Owners of single-story homes have added a second floor or expanded, not up, but horizontally. Some have bought the next door house and made it a part of their own. Many single-family home neighborhoods don’t look the way they used to. Maybe that’s progress. Maybe it’s bad aesthetics.
I already voted and mailed my ballot. I voted yes on T because I think it’s best for the community at large.
In a previous column I mentioned the ballot signatories for and against Measure T. Rick Bonilla, former San Mateo councilmember and longtime member of the Carpenters Union, reminded me that when he was on the council he was always a yes vote on any housing proposal. He was. He’s definitely a big Yes on T.
***
An explosive issue that puts Measure T in perspective: the siting of nuclear energy plants. If you don’t live right next to them you may like them because they are good for the environment in that they produce clean energy (Some dispute that). However if you live in Avila, right next to Pacific Gas and Electric’s nuclear facility in Diablo Canyon, you may hope it closes down. PG&E has just decided to keep it open for a few more years.
***
A friend who volunteers for Red Cross emergency services sent me the following last week:
“I started out in Florida where I rode out the hurricane with about 80 people in an evacuation shelter. I then went to North Carolina for a short stay in a shelter that we closed. Now I am in South Carolina. We may close this shelter tomorrow as we have only one person left who hasn’t had his power turned on and it has to do with a transformer.
“I am in a shelter in a middle school that is also housing 500 linemen. I seriously doubt that Dominion Energy and Aiken Energy are footing the bill for cots, blankets, bedding towels, meals, etc for these workers coming from all over! You should see all the utility vehicles.
“Most of the damage I see are fallen trees and power lines. You can see where the trees fell over the highway. It must have been a nightmare for a couple of days but the roads are now clear.”
My friend sent this email last week. She had planned to return home for a wedding but she is back in Florida to deal with the current catastrophe.
***
I usually don’t comment on San Francisco politics but as a former school board member here goes: Shutting schools is traumatic for students, parents, school staff and neighborhoods. I hope today’s school board members in San Francisco rise above politics to make the most responsible decision. I feel for them. It’s by the far the most difficult decision I had to make as an elected official.
Sue Lempert is the former mayor of San Mateo. Her column runs on Mondays. She can be reached at sue@smdailyjournal.com.
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(7) comments
Sue, comparing measure T to a nuclear power plant is over the top exaggerated and not helpful. There are ways to integrate higher buildings into an existing city that do not have to threaten single family homes. It's not a binary choice at all.
Rick Bonilla was all about Rick Bonilla and whatever craft - he grew into in his adult life, right - wrong or indifferent.
Bay Meadows be damned ...we will huff and puff and blow it down, regardless of all the lives it will effect.
https://singersf.com/staff/adam-a-alberti/
OK Mikey, would you care to comment on the facts? Maybe you could say what you would have done if you had owned Bay Meadows and wanted to sell it? You should consider the fact that when most owners sell, they are looking for the top dollar. I’m sure you would not want anybody interfering with your relationship between your property and it’s top value. Please comment!
Sue, I agree with you that Measure T is the best solution for the San Mateo community - development near transit, with density that will help us achieve our affording housing goals (which San Mateo has never achieved), and recenue for our local San Mateo Businesses who will benefit from more foot, bike and transit traffic into their shops and restaurants.
If the businesses do not do well now with 100K people, how does will how dose a 5%-7% increase in population move the needle? Government people are not business people and they have no idea on how to grow a business. Long time existing retail will be replaced with newer more expensive retail that only Starbucks and Chipotle can really afford, nothing a small businesses owner would be profitable in.
There is a broad coalition of folks supporting Measure T (that have not always agreend), but they all say Yes on Measure T! See the wide coalition of endorsements here: https://www.sensiblesanmateo.com/endorse
Sorry, Ms. Lempert, but Measure T is a flawed bait and switch measure and I’d recommend folks vote NO on T. If folks have voter remorse, they can change their vote in the future as I expect there will be future Measure T “clones” in the near and far future. Meanwhile, I’d recommend folks start voting out the folks who decided to put Measure T on the ballot. BTW, Measure T doesn’t make changes to a previous Measure Y amendment, Measure T repeals Measure Y. Vote NO on T
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