The Thunderbolt Editor Team reached out to the 2020 Millbrae City Council Candidates to complete a voluntary online Questionnaire. All responses are copied directly from each candidate (unless otherwise stated). Answers may have been edited for minor spelling/grammatical errors or translated in the best way fit.
Questions Addressed:
- What values and plans do you have that separates you from other candidates? Emphasize how your plans differ from theirs.
- What past experiences do you have with local government and/or the Millbrae City Council?
- The community of Millbrae has been awaiting plans for the recreation center near Central Park for around 4 years now. What will you do for the recreation center to ensure there’s funding for a new project and actual implementation of it?
- What are your thoughts on the new developments near Bart? How do you believe this will affect transportation in Millbrae?
- What do you think is more important to our community, building new commercial spaces and homes, or better using our own storefronts and homes?
- How do you feel about our current zoning code? What could be improved?
- Do you think that the downtown area and Broadway function safely and successfully? How can we better support struggling businesses during this era of COVID-19?
- If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city in any way possible, what would you build or invest in and how would you decide whether the facility would be successful or not?
- How would you suggest addressing racial inequalities in schools/communities?
- What values and plans do you have that separates you from other candidates? Emphasize how your plans differ from theirs.
Anders Fung: I’m running to be your next Millbrae City Council member for one simple reason: I am a parent raising two kids here in our town. When I talk about public safety, education, transparency, or any other issues that I see here in Millbrae, I speak because, like you, I have a personal stake in these matters. As the only candidate raising their kids in Millbrae, I take the responsibility of properly representing our town seriously. That’s why, way before entering politics, I spent my time as a member of the Millbrae Lions Club, and as director of the Peninsula Chinese Business Association where we helped raise money for schools and provide scholarships.
But I’m not just running because I recognize issues in Millbrae. What is more important to me is that I feel I have real, serious solutions. I spent the past year serving as Millbrae’s Planning Commissioner, a position I earned after a career spent in real estate development. During my time, I listened to the concerns of citizens, many of whom identified the same set of issues plaguing Millbrae: rising utilities expenses, a stagnant tax base, and under-utilization of valuable real estate (particularly in our downtown area). Upon further exploration, I’ve come to believe that all these issues spill over into one another. Therefore, the best approach to alleviating these issues is through a holistic and unified approach to expanding and developing our town—the very issue I’ve spent my life working on.
I have no doubt in my mind that my experiences as commissioner and a developer make me uniquely qualified to tackle this issue as a councilmember. In my mind, there is a right way and a wrong way to develop—I’ve done my homework and I hope to use my experience to help Millbrae grow in a positive, sustainable way.
Gina Papan: My combination of experience as an elected Council Member and Mayor, Deputy Attorney General for the State of California, Nonprofit Director for local organization John’s Closet, and regional transit representative give me a unique perspective in this race, and at City Hall.
Now, more than ever we need experienced leadership. I have the tested and proven experience to make a difference. I understand the challenges of the job and have effectively championed such goals as increasing our disaster preparedness, community health, public safety quality of life services that protect children, families, local businesses and economic vitality, particularly in light of the challenges with COVID-19.
During this unprecedented time, I have worked every day with fellow elected officials, dedicated community members and agency professionals to keep our city safe and healthy. I have ensured emergency food distribution, senior safety, planning for childcare and assisted remote distance learning. I have continued efforts to provide healthcare professionals and essential workers with PPE, funding small businesses with emergency grants and finding ways for Millbrae to endure and come back from the economic impacts of the pandemic.
My plans to ensure the future are to continue supporting local businesses and move our economic recovery with responsible developments that do not increase traffic or burden local schools; increase childcare, programs for seniors and youth, repair of our crumbling streets and infrastructure, and provide housing working families can actually afford. I will also continue to ensure Millbrae is ready for any health or 911 emergencies, so our communities and families receive the help they need, anytime they need it.
I am also continuing to plan for Millbrae’s future, at the forefront of funding and replacing our recreation center, which will break ground this week and is scheduled to open in 2022.
Ann Schneider: I am trained in environmental science and my worldview is protecting the environment is a part of every action a city takes. When we delayed repairing our sewer, stormwater and water delivery systems during previous economic downturns we first passed the cost to future generations and we also in the long run increased the cost to maintain critical City systems. So, I believe we spend money for long term maintenance. I also know that there will never be enough money to do everything our residents want us to do, or that we should do to improve our economic base. To do this we need to all work together. We need more “public private partnerships” to spread every public dollar as best we can.
Many of my plans I’ve outlined below, but I think the main difference I have with the other candidates is I have worked in economic development and in creating and running public projects. I bring that philosophy with me as my world view and in planning projects or supporting your funds in city projects.
Now onto a much more difficult topic. I was bullied by my fellow council members and by a group called Better Millbrae who used every tactic to make me recuse from voting for the project currently under construction on the east side of the Millbrae Station. This project “Gateway at Millbrae Station” would have been a 2-2 split vote had Better Millbrae’s horrendous bullying against me worked. But it did not and the project, once completed will bring in needed property tax, sales tax, transient occupancy taxes (TOT known as hotel tax), and new residential and commercial customers to our restaurants and retail establishments. It will also bring in 400 new housing units, 20% are in the affordable range and 80 of the units set aside for Veterans Preferred.
Now, I am going to say this loud and clear, this behavior, the tactics used by Better Millbrae are wrong and they are active in this current election telling lies, and bullying Millbrae residents who are asking questions about a specific candidate. This candidate has not stopped his supporters from bullying others or from telling lies. This candidate has signed the election Code of Ethics but will not respond to members of the public to whom his followers are bullying. This is not the way candidates should behave. And if this is how they behave during the election, how will they behave should they get elected? This is a real threat to Millbrae’s future just as threatening behavior has become a National issue.
I will tell you now, I do not tell lies. I will take the time to meet with and speak with anyone and everyone, and I will take the time to explain issues and how I have come to the decisions I have made. I will never treat anyone the way I was treated by Better Millbrae.
There is ugliness in Millbrae, and it is our duty as citizens and residents to tell the truth and not bully those who disagree with us. We can respectfully disagree with each other. We must demand the truth. Underhanded tactics should not be tolerated. Quieting public comment is wrong. Free speech is an American right and it is the duty of all of us to defend that right, even when we disagree with what is being said.
Your elected officials need to be good examples not just to young people but to all. It is reflected in how we treat each other and the public. It is reflected in the amount of homework we do on issues. And I will tell you the issues are not simple and homework and asking questions is an important part of being your elected official. I count on you holding all of us accountable. Always feel free to call me or email me. I want to speak with you.
You You Xue: *Response has been edited by The Thunderbolt Editors. The entire answer is not shown here as per candidate request. I believe that local government should be as simple as possible. You’re working for your neighbours, people that you will run into downtown and see whilst driving around. This is not a job to make a profit off of, or to earn anything other than an occasional handshake and thank you.
I am one of the only candidates who is making lowering water bills a topic priority for this election. Water bills are out of control and they are still rising. I have come up with new ideas, like the implementation of smart meters, to reduce operating costs and past savings onto residents. I also want to deliver a fairer billing system in the form of a tiered metering system. In other words, if you use less water, you should expect to pay less fees. Right now, the majority of water bills are consumed by expensive fixed charges, leaving some residents paying $800-$1000 on their monthly bills.
I am a strong believer in advancing social justice in government. We have the power as a local government to address many of the larger inequities plaguing our country. I want to empower young people, women, and people of colour to run for office by reforming our campaign finance laws to stem the incessant flow of dirty special interest money, and I want to adopt lifetime term limits to ensure new voices can be heard at the highest levels of government. One of my opponents believes the opposite, that the way to get into politics is to cosy up to the establishment – in other words, play the game and kiss the rings. I believe this type of politics only excludes great people. It’s this type of politics that is shutting out politicians that are inspirational to me, like Bernie Sanders and AOC.
I am the only Millbrae business owner to run for City Council in a generation. We all know that Millbrae’s downtown needs improvement and it needs it quickly. We cannot afford another term of politicians promising to take action to improve our downtown but making it a non-priority once they get into office. I have a long-term plan for our downtown district that I want to implement on day one. I believe that my plans will give merchants the stability they’ve been asking for, and will give our residents the confidence they needed to continue spending money in support of our small businesses.
I believe in investing in our community’s mental health. This issue has vastly been ignored in our local political dialogue, but I think that we have a tremendous opportunity to make a difference in our residents’ lives. I want to start in our schools and increase access to anonymous and effective counselling for students experiencing difficulties with their mental health. I will then move on to making sure we have properly trained law enforcement officers who are capable of diffusing situations involving those experiencing psychiatric emergencies, not escalating them. Safety in our community can not continue to be one-dimensional, in other words, more cops = more safety. We need to view it in a more holistic way and I am committed to doing that.
I will bring issues important to young people to the forefront of Millbrae’s government. I am literally half the age of the next youngest candidate. I left Mills just a half decade ago. I know what young people are going through because I live through it everyday. I know what it means to not be able to afford to live on your own and buy your own home. I know what we need to do to build a city that works for all demographics and ages, not just those who have traditionally controlled our politics. I see local politics as a conduit in which young people can really have an impact. I am personally disheartened by the fact that we have two presidential candidates who both require me to question their mental health and fitness to lead. Our Congress is led by those in their 80s, this is outrageous and is the result of the establishment propping up people way past their expiration date. I think that the more we can make local leadership relevant to young people, the more responsive our government will be to the needs of younger generations.
Errol Zshornack: I believe that being in public service is a great responsibility because it involves trust. The constituents of Millbrae have to trust you. I don’t believe in spending so much just for the campaign to earn the people’s trust. The people have to like you, trust you, when they know who you are. Lawn signs, banners and flyers can only do so much. I have the fewest and also the smallest lawn signs. I have gone house to house introducing myself to the residents of Millbrae. I believe I am the only one who has made a pledge to myself to spend no more than $1,000. When you look at what the position of city council member pays, it’s ridiculous to even think of spending more than $10,000 for a campaign. It’s not sound for business, so it makes one think that there could be a “return on investment” when a candidate spends huge amounts of money either on his own or by means of donations to win a seat on the council.
- What past experiences do you have with local government and/or the Millbrae City Council?
Anders Fung: This past year, I served as chair of the Millbrae Planning Commission. During my year-long term, Millbrae approved 2 transit-oriented development projects. I have negotiated for additional below market rate housing units, pushed developers to increase the sustainability of their buildings, and advocated for union labor and teacher housing. I also made it my goal to increase transparency in the permitting process for development.
Gina Papan: My experience as a State’s Attorney and former Deputy Director of a state agency have informed my ability to make positive governance changes including helping to implement the Amber Alert program and supporting programs against child and elder abuse, domestic violence, technology crime prevention, as well as establishing child care in California courthouses.
I have had the honor of serving as a Mayor and current Councilmember in Millbrae. During my service on the council I championed bringing new businesses to Millbrae, initiated a littering ordinance, plastic bag ban, numerous environmental quality initiatives, and infrastructure improvements related to streets and roads, as well as the safety and security of our water system. I also advocated to improve public spaces, including obtaining land for a future dog park, rebuilding the recreation center, and further expansion of city- school partnerships.
As your councilmember I also serve on regional boards including the City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG), Congestion Management and Environmental Quality (CMEQ), Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Blue-Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force. In this service I was proud to have been a part of the creation of the Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District organized to address this real and growing climate threat. I have also been tasked to address issues related to traffic, reduction of greenhouse gases, and the recovery of public transportation devastated by health and safety concerns caused by COVID-19.
Ann Schneider: I have served on Millbrae City Council for the past 5 years, currently as Vice Mayor. This has given me a depth of knowledge on how Millbrae works that most are not privy to from how budgets work to how we can incorporate the public into city projects so we can stretch public dollars. I am the liaison to Millbrae’s Cultural Arts Advisory Committee where we have brought back the annual Millbrae Art Show and the Utility Box Mural Project (see Mills High School Utility Box at the Farmer’s Market Parking Lot) and now working on the pilot Wall Mural Project. I am also the liaison to the Community Enhancement Advisory Committee (Environment) where we built the Community Garden, working on a Master Urban Forestry Plan, a Heritage Tree Ordinance and the Climate Action Plan as well as the soon to be released “Adopt a Spot project” that will allow members of the public adopt specific public areas to improve so Millbrae will look better.
And announcing first to you, I want to create a “Climate Corps” of young people who will help me push Millbrae to do more carbon sequestration actions like planting hundreds of trees per year, to reducing hardscapes and implementing carbon farming in our parks, reaching out to neighbors to install solar and get solar on public building rooftops and parking lots. So much to do and the need to do it quickly will require the City, your elected representatives and the public to work together to both absorb carbon, reduce oil dependency and work on resiliency issues to protect our homes from fires and floods.
What most don’t know is much of the work of your City Council is what they do on regional Boards and Committees. For example, I serve as Millbrae’s representative on San Mateo County’s Emergency Services Council that works on disaster preparations and recovery projects; on the City and County Association of Government’s (CCAG) Bike & Pedestrian Committee where we give out grants and work on planning how to make is safer for pedestrians and cyclists to safely use our roads; San Francisco Airport Noise Roundtable where we try to work with SFO to reduce noise created by air travel. In this last capacity I’ve worked to create and now Chair, the Ground Based Noise Committee that looks at the noise created by buildings at SFO and the low frequency noise aircraft give off on the ground and during departures. That is the low and loud rumbling sound and vibrations you can hear from Burlingame to Brisbane.
I have also worked for several City governments. I was the Commercial Recycling Manager for the City of San Jose where I planned numerous recycling projects from parks recycling to airline recycling. I also worked for the University of California, Santa Cruz in a joint project with CalRecycles to assist businesses, schools, institutions and industry in greening their operations.
Prior to my career in Zero Waste, I worked for the Cities of Daly City, San Mateo and Foster City as a lifeguard, swim instructor, coach and pool manager. Running recreation programs is something I learned when I became a lifeguard for Daly City when I was 16.
You You Xue: I’m a frequent attendee at the City Council meetings, and it’s mostly to complain about something that hasn’t been fixed. I follow all the meetings from the sidelines, that’s all everyday residents can do. The City hasn’t created the types of meaningful opportunities that I have been calling for to give constituents more of a voice when it comes to making changes or shaping the future policies of the city.
My government experience would be strictly limited to my 2018 campaign for Millbrae City Council, a campaign that I neither want to exaggerate nor downplay. At the age of 20, I decided that I would try to launch a campaign focused on unseating one of two incumbents and bringing in a more responsive and accountable leader who would solve long standing issues, everything from safety to crime, and from economic revitalisation to reducing cost of living. I put on my walking shoes and knocked on every single door in Millbrae. If you lived in Millbrae in 2018, then I’ve been to your house. I couldn’t even get a call back from some politicians that I wanted endorsements from. I ran the campaign with zero campaign staff, less than $500 of fundraising, and I managed to secure over 25% of the votes, the strongest showing for any first-time candidate in Millbrae’s history. I think my message resonated with people and even though I wasn’t successful in securing a seat, I was able to make many of the issues I talked about in my campaign top priorities for our current City Council.
Errol Zshornack: None whatsoever. I am running for the first time here in the City of Millbrae.
- The community of Millbrae has been awaiting plans for the recreation center near Central Park for around 4 years now. What will you do for the recreation center to ensure there’s funding for a new project and actual implementation of it?
Anders Fung: I am happy to report that the recreation center is finally a reality. The ground breaking ceremony will be Oct 1st 2020.
The new recreation center will be a gathering place for kids, for fellow Millbrae citizens, and for future generations. If there was ever an issue that should bring us all together, I think this would be the one.
From a long term operational consideration, I understand that increasing the tax burden is not a sustainable proposition, particularly not one while our economy is still recovering from a historic hit.
Thus, our solution for any capital project such as this should be to focus on increasing our tax base. I have a three part plan: (1) creating new taxpaying entities, (2) increasing development, and (3) focusing on our downtown.
Broadening our current tax base will be crucial. However, this does not necessarily mean increasing taxes on our current residents. Rather, the focus should be on increasing the overall number of taxpaying entities in our city. This is particularly true of new businesses. So, it is clear that we must evaluate how our city views its revenue streams. In order to transition into a strategy predicated on growth and burden-sharing, the City must work to incentivize a creation economy.
One way of doing so is increasing new development. Not only does this work to create new taxable entities, but we would also be able to capitalize on valuable real estate in our town. Developers get the opportunity to develop on tremendously profitable land, and Millbrae gets to collect “Development Impact Fees.” I believe Millbrae must recognize just how valuable our real estate is, particularly because our location is so optimal for the type of high-density, transit-oriented development we strive for. In short, developers want to come to our town, so funding should come from raising development fees. When accompanied with a streamlined permit process, collection of development fees can become an efficient mode of raising funds.
This leads gracefully into the final point. In terms of where to develop, we should focus on our downtown. Having a centralized business district allows for businesses to thrive off of proximity to other goods and services. Millbrae has for the past couple of years suffered from having too many empty storefronts, quiet businesses, and underutilized land along Broadway and El Camino Real. By instituting a Business Improvement District (BID), we can encourage new investment and businesses into this core business area. By maximizing the mutually beneficial effect of mid-density, close proximity business, we will be able to raise funds for projects such as rebuilding the recreation center. But, perhaps more important, we also open the door for pushing Millbrae forward.
Gina Papan: I am excited to announce that we will be breaking ground at the Millbrae recreation center this week, with expected completion in early to mid-2022. I helped obtain funding needed to keep the project moving forward, while proudly serving on the sub-committee which has made the new recreation center a reality. Community input and feedback was necessary and helpful in order to provide Millbrae with a space that everyone desired and would accommodate the community’s needs. Millbrae Recreational Center will restore a vital community resource which provided a common meeting place, programs, and social setting for everyone to enjoy.
Ann Schneider: We are breaking ground on October 1, 2020. It has been a long and frustrating wait to rebuild after the old recreation center was destroyed by unintentional arson (as it was ruled by the Courts). The City has had to be highly creative in coming up with the funds after Measure ii failed in 2018 and the County of San Mateo rescinded their offer for a loan. What we have done is quite ingenious, we are borrowing from our own funds and paying ourselves back at the rate we would be paying an investment company. The funding to construct the building is secure.
Now some things had to be cut in our “design build process”, items like a big “specimen tree” for the new courtyard. And I have a plan for that. I hosted Millbrae’s first Martin Luthor King Day of Service this past January 2020. Over 40 members of the public attended and we dug out and moved hundreds of plants from roses to lilies and brought them over to the new Community Garden. With the help of our Community Enhancement Committee and volunteers we have been growing these and other plants and will be hosting a plant sale in November (with social distancing) with the money to go to the specimen tree. We also need to
fund raise for what is called “FFE” Furniture, Fixtures and Equipment”. As a Millbrae Lion/Leos Cub Advisor, I will be working with the Leos and other youth groups to fundraise for the furniture and equipment for the new Teen Room that is part of the new Recreation Center. I will also be working with other community groups, residents and business so they can “adopt” different parts of the building to purchase the FFE needed for say the Senior Center, the kitchen, and murals and other artwork to add to the building. I believe that working within the community, with all of you, will give all of us a sense of ownership of the new Recreation Center. If the students at Mills High School have ideas, please call me, let’s work up a plan together.
You You Xue: I’m curious to see how the other candidates answer this question. The City of Millbrae officially calls the building the community center (and not the more colloquial recreation center). It is breaking ground on the morning of 1 October and will thereafter be under construction. The site has already been fenced off in preparation for the work.
The current City Council moved too slow to get a community center rebuilt, and their first attempt to fund the project through 2018’s Measure II, a $12M public bond measure, failed miserably. The measure would have added $87 of taxes per $1M in assessed value, per year, for thirty years, on Millbrae property tax bills, which was obviously a small amount to pay to ensure the funding of a vital community resource. However, voters struck down the attempt after revelations of irresponsible spending, mismanagement, and waste at City Hall. I wasn’t surprised at all. There was a huge but mostly silent crowd (it was unpopular to oppose building the community center through taxation) that I kept encountering who said they would vote against Measure II, yet these were people who would support schools and other public services through taxes.
The City resorted to other measures to fund the community center. The City Council decided to sell what they call “surplus land”, or publicly-owned parcels of empty land to pay for the project. This land actually includes a lot adjacent to the Mills baseball field right past center field. I have always objected to the sale of public land to fund budgetary deficits of any kind,
whether it’s to build a public building or to fund our police services. The reality is, short-term sacrifices like this are not sustainable. Once we’re done selling all of the City’s assets to pay for our debts, what are we going to do next? We also took out debt against one of our sewer enterprise funds. This is just a feat of creative financing by city staff. The City still has not come up with long-term economic development plans to actually increase revenue to the community so that when something like this happens again, we don’t have to be clawing around and cutting back just to come up with the bare minimum amount needed to build a building.
Anyways, I think it’s time to put the community center fiasco behind us. It’s starting to get built. It will be a nice building and asset for the community. I predict it will go over budget significantly. Let’s wait and see.
Errol Zshornack: I will have to study the budget Millbrae has for the rec center. I understand that the money is there already, but the city is still short. Alternative sources of funding will have to be resorted to. I intend to tap into the brains of the members of the council who are experienced in business as well as consult our residents who are business people. Funds will have to be managed well to ensure maximum returns while unspent.
- What are your thoughts on the new developments near Bart? How do you believe this will affect transportation in Millbrae?
Anders Fung: Millbrae’s key strength is its location as a center of the Bay Area’s public transportation. How we equitably take advantage of this growth opportunity is the central question of my campaign. I believe the new developments will be key to us taking advantage of our great location.
First and foremost, transit is a valuable tool for providing meaningful employment opportunities to citizens, and is thus a public good that everyone benefits from. Increased access to public transportation allows greater numbers of people to connect with a wider array of jobs, which is shown to generally increase wages and economic activity. So, being a public good that everyone should access, and a key economic tool that we should take advantage of, it is key for Millbrae to eliminate as many barriers as possible for accessing our transportation hubs — everyone should have equal access.
This means that we must make sure that we have the infrastructure in place to handle increased density around our public transportation hubs. As a developer, I strongly feel I can lead in this area. For me, part of the solution is creating walkable and bikeable pathways to our transportation hubs. This means focusing on the corridor between BART and our downtown area. This region mainly consists of flat land that is prime for development, easing this type of transit-oriented development. The important part is making sure that we organize our development so that traffic congestion is minimized, allowing for safe increases in pedestrian and biker traffic.
Gina Papan: I am enthusiastic and excited about new developments coming to the Millbrae Bart station area. Millbrae’s station is the largest transportation hub west of the Mississippi. With this being said, my vision for the station was to transform it into the Grand Central Station of the West Coast. This would have included housing, a luxury hotel, shopping, and restaurants integrated into the design. However, the majority of the council did not share this vision. Under the current development plan, the access for cars, buses, shuttles and ride share providers at this station will be more difficult and likely cause greater traffic congestion.
Transportation at the station needs to be seamless, coordinated and convenient, and improving our station would enhance access to individuals that must use and are considering public transportation. This year, I facilitated the installation of accessible signage placed in the BART station to assist commuters and travelers on their journeys.
Ann Schneider: I support Transit Oriented Development (TODs) that build housing with commercial office space along with retail and restaurants. One reason is this type of construction grows a neighborhood in that there will be people there day and night. This is different from building office parks, which create human deserts on weekends and at night making it difficult for local businesses like restaurants to survive. I also just do not believe but have seen the data that by building TOD housing, people who choose to live in this type of housing, will drive less. Significantly less. Bay Meadows projects in San Mateo on the old horse racing track have data to support this.
I am aware that many residents of Millbrae are worried about the traffic on Millbrae Ave and even El Camino Real. However, much of that traffic is people from other cities who drive through Millbrae to get to SFO or the Millbrae Train Station. To reduce this Millbrae needs to work with adjacent cities (Burlingame and San Mateo, but also cities on the west side of 280 in Santa Clara County) to get their residents to go to their own local train stations rather than driving to the Millbrae Station. We need Santa Clara to create a shuttle system for west side residents to commute to our train station rather than drive by themselves to Millbrae. In addition, the City was one of the first to sign onto the Bay Area Seamless Transportation Act which seeks to ensure that for example the Caltrain arrival and departure is scheduled to allow people to easily make their BART train connection. Sadly, Caltrain is not supportive of this action so it will take lobbying to make this happen and then people can catch the train in Sunnyvale or San Mateo and know they will make a timely connection to BART.
You You Xue: Millbrae has approved two transit-oriented developments (TOD) known as TOD 1 on the west side, and TOD 2 on the east side. As you know, TOD 2, also known as Gateway, is already under construction. We’re already seeing the various structures take shape. Soon we will have hundreds of apartments, including below market rate (BMR) apartments, as well as Class A office space and retail.
There was a ton of misinformation and lies spread when the TOD 2 project was going through review at the Millbrae City Council. One of the other candidates, Anders Fung, helped create and lead a group called “Better Millbrae”, a NIMBY (not in my backyard) anti-housing organisation. They spread concerns that Mills test scores would fall due to an influx of students, even though studies commissioned by the various school districts showed that even at full occupancy the number of high-school aged students would be negligible. They also talked about trading affordable veterans housing for a “luxury premium outlet” – I can’t make this stuff up. A study revealed that the location, being small and close to an airport, was not a suitable location for such a project.
I don’t believe that the project was a perfect fit for Millbrae. However, we needed to do something with that empty parking lot and help address the housing crisis we see in our region. Transportation will be enhanced if more riders depend on Millbrae station. The current station is sleepy and dilapidated, and requires a lot of enhancement.
People often get hung up about the micro impact of a development, and that is evidenced by the discussions about how traffic on Millbrae Ave or the 101-S exit would get congested. However, the same people are ignoring the fact that through the construction of TODs, we can take more and more private automobiles off the road, reduce the amount of hours wasted on the road, and deliver social justice to those who work in our communities. If we are seriously committed to the idea that “if you work here, you should be able to afford to live here”, we have to back that up with the types of developments that can support new families.
One of the new issues popping up now is TOD 2 and how long it’s taking to get built. We need to move this faster, and I will talk to the project owner, Vince Muzzi, soon about this. California High Speed Rail (CAHSR) has recently released a proposed report which calls for the entire TOD 2 project, consisting of so many of offices, apartments, and retail, to be converted into a surface parking lot for 200 cars (for a future high-speed rail station that’s planned for Millbrae). This is outrageous but it shows the consequences of moving slowly. Moving slowly with development means we will miss a lot of critical opportunities and will jeopardise the reputation of our city for being able to approve and build quality projects.
Errol Zshornack: These are certainly welcome developments. My understanding is that these are going to be low-cost housing units and that would certainly be a big help to those who are struggling to have a home of their own. It will certainly serve the needs of many who work elsewhere and whose places of work are accessible via the bart. They don’t even need to worry about bringing any cars to work because they would live very close to the bart. I don’t expect any effect on the transportation situation right now in Millbrae.
- What do you think is more important to our community, building new commercial spaces and homes, or better using our own storefronts and homes?
Anders Fung: This is a great question, but also one where I believe there doesn’t have to be an either-or. I believe that Millbrae’s stores and homes are a huge part of what makes our town such a great place to be. And I also believe that we have failed to grow and develop our town in such a way that helps our existing community.
What we should be doing is building new commercial spaces and housing areas that fuel growth in our downtown area, where many of our stores are ailing. As I’ve previously mentioned, I think this growth-focused strategy allows us to break through the deadlock that our city often experiences. Growth should not come at the expense of what exists now—growth should come in the aid of what exists now.
Gina Papan: We must do both. Millbrae is a small community of only 3.2 square miles, disproportionately made up of housing units with little-to-no city owned land for development. Every potential development is of significant importance – because we only have one chance to get it right. Consequently, revitalizing our store fronts and building new commercial spaces and homes are equally important.
Currently, we have up-zoned our business district to allow new building developments that would provide more housing and commercial spaces along the transit quarter, and clarified regulations to allow the construction of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) on current residential parcels.
Ann Schneider: I don’t think it is one or the other. We need to update, redevelop El Camino Real and turn small retail space that is not large enough for new retail into larger more in demand spaces. Millbrae like all cities has to build housing and building housing along transit corridors both reduces vehicle miles traveled (and related greenhouse gas generation), supports mixed use retail and brings ridership to mass transit and that helps fund mass transit. Much of our El Camino is under-utilized and can be changed from one story old non historical properties to taller mixed-use properties to meet state mandated new housing creation and economic growth for the city.
We also need to enact a local ordinance on empty storefronts. It is one thing for a store to be empty for a few months like the Verizon location was as it was remodeled from the former Hallmark Store. But then there is the example of the original Millbrae Fire Station (258 Broadway) which has been vacant for a decade if not longer because the owner can use it as a tax right off. So, this ordinance would give a landowner X amount of time to find a tenant, and after that time, they need to bring a tenant in, or remodel the space to attract real tenants, failing that, they pay a fee to the City. San Francisco and Emeryville have such an ordinance (local law) and have been successful in bringing barren storefronts back to productive uses.
As for better using our homes, I’m not sure what you mean. The City allows auxiliary dwelling units (ADUs) but not turning a single-family home into boarding houses or permanent short-term rentals. Residential neighborhoods are zoned as living spaces although many people run home based businesses, and now during COVID many of us are working from home. But that is not the same thing as turning a single-family home into a boarding house. If that is what you are asking, I would say no. We have other parts of town zoned for different housing types, like apartments and even single occupancy small units.
I would like to strengthen our neighborhoods, encourage local projects like local art installations on public land, park improvements, block parties (when social distancing rules relax) and other activities to bring all of us together.
You You Xue: The answer is undoubtedly both. If I had to pick, I would say building new spaces. Let’s examine the first one. We have limited space in our city, and through civil planning, we’ve outlined our plans for specific areas of the city. For example, we want to see higher density development, including commercial development, near our transit corridors. Transit corridors include El Camino Real (the whole length), anything near a bus station, and the entire area around the BART/Caltrain station. Building new spaces doesn’t happen without investment from developers who believe they can make a return on their money by building something in our city. I also believe that without building new spaces, we won’t attract the type of young, innovative, and dynamic workforce that other cities are seeing. Millbrae has not attracted tech companies of any size, even though cities around us are quickly becoming homes to the hottest names in Silicon Valley. We simply don’t have the Class A office space nor vital city infrastructure to support anything more than a few family-owned restaurants and boba shops.
I try to drive this point home all the time. Development comes in a large and encompassing package. Start with the goal of attracting a big name in business and work backwards. To get a big name, you need to have office space. To have office space, you need housing in the region to support the people who will be working in those office spaces. To have these people come into the city, we need to have better city services, including police, fire, schools, garbage, water, sewer, and public facilities. To get all of these services, we need to increase economic development and bring in more business. I guess I just showed how everything depends on each other.
My point is, growth isn’t and cannot be selective. Other candidates are making wild and absurd claims like how they want to “preserve the small town feel of this city”. Many people understand what this means: keep Millbrae a city of predominantly homeowners (of single-family homes), and avoid bringing in certain demographics of people. This of course exacerbates existing social inequities and doesn’t do anything to help increase equity in our communities.
We also are powerless to stop the building of new homes, specifically those that include affordable housing components. Aggressive housing legislation reform, primarily led by local
figures like Sen. Scott Wiener, has led to the enactment of bills like SB35 and SB330, which essentially say that if a developer is trying to build affordable housing and has met all local zoning requirements, the City Council cannot attempt to stop such a project. In San Bruno, councilmembers were opposing a new development called Mills Park Center. They said things like “this isn’t good for the community”, or “it’s too tall”, or things like that. The developer got frustrated and invoked state law. After quite a bit of theatrics and political acrobatics, the City Council had no choice but to approve the project.
We can’t forget about the existing residents though, and we have a responsibility to derive the greatest benefit possible from our current land, homes, and businesses. Sometimes “better using” something means making it more useful to more people. In the case of homes, this would mean re-zoning single-family areas to allow for duplexes to be built. We also have aggressive state legislation (California SB13) which allows for homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) which are basically mini-homes in people’s backyards. This allows for yet another family to live and thrive in our city by making better use of existing land.
Office Depot is having their closing sale, and they’ll be closed before the end of the year. The owners of that property want to redevelop it into a mixed-use retail and housing project. This is an example of an instance in which we’re “building new” but also “better using” an existing resource. Office Depot was a single-story warehouse-style building sitting on a massive plot of land with an equally large parking lot that was mostly unused. With the redevelopment of this store, we can create hundreds of new opportunities, not only for new residents but also for businesses. Parking will be contained on-site so that a separate surface parking lot wouldn’t be required.
Errol Zshornack: I can’t really say which is more important. Both are important and both projects can be pursued simultaneously.
- How do you feel about our current zoning code? What could be improved?
Anders Fung: Increasing housing supply is key to making housing more affordable. I support strategically increasing existing density in neighborhoods currently only allowing Single Family zoning. It is my belief that the future of Millbrae lies in us revitalizing key sections of our city through increased housing and commercial development. Thus, I would also support other types of rezoning, particularly mixed-use development. During my tenure as a planning commissioner, I
have approved a new ADU ordinance that enables each residential R1 property to be able to implement one detach ADU as well as one attached Junior ADU.
I also wholeheartedly support streamlining all processes relating to development. In fact, as planning commissioner I worked to increase transparency in the permitting process. Taking office as a city councilmember will only strengthen my desire to make development an efficient process, one that acts to accelerate equitable economic growth.
Development is particularly poignant in Millbrae due to our location within the Peninsula. Our city is the key link between BART and Caltrain, and our singular prominence in this regard will only grow with future plans to link Bay Area public transportation with the rest of the state. Millbrae must take advantage of these developments by focusing on dense, Transit-Oriented Development.
Gina Papan: We have increased zoning along the transit corridor to increase housing and provide new businesses in Millbrae. Along with California’s Energy Codes and Standards, Millbrae is implementing reach codes on all new building developments. I am facilitating an architectural review board system be implemented in Millbrae.
Ann Schneider: That is a huge question. In general, I would like our zoning codes to be greener, we need to adopt REACH codes that go beyond the State of California’s current standards. We need to understand how building codes drive climate change, for example tearing down a home to rebuild from scratch rather than doing a remodel. Even if the old building is recycled, almost all the embodied energy in buildings and building materials are lost. New materials for new construction require large amounts of energy from raw material extraction (think iron mines) and logging to processing to manufacturing to all the transportation bringing building materials around the world to build when a remodel have a much smaller climate change impact.
We need to update our code for green infrastructure for things like keeping storm water on residential properties. During heavy rainfall, stormwater will drain and flood our lower lying neighborhoods. Creating swales, temporary ponds allows rainwater to seep slowly into the ground and slowly drain to lower parts of the City. Actions like this by those of us who live in the uplands, can reduce the flooding risk to those of us who live in the lowlands closer to 101 and the edge of the Bay. The city has a green infrastructure plan for city properties, now we need to make this a city-wide set of codes.
You You Xue: Millbrae is extremely overdue for a General Plan update. We’ve been talking about doing it for a decade, yet it doesn’t seem to get done. The Station Area Specific Plan took a good decade to be updated. As I mentioned in the answer above, I want to see better use of existing land. I want to allow the building of multi-unit family housing in areas that are currently single-family zoned. State law allows for the building of ADUs where they were previously prohibited.
We can reimagine our zoning codes surrounding parking. I believe that especially in transit areas like where our TODs are situated, we can reduce our emphasis on parking and instead create new opportunities for development. Parking requirements often stifle projects and force developers to sacrifice valuable space to accommodate private automobiles.
We have to increase density in specific and appropriate areas. We have to make it clear that Millbrae is open for redevelopment. We need developers to come in and invest money to renovate what are currently underutilised or neglected properties. They aren’t going to do that unless zoning codes allow for a profit to be made and for a return on their capital.
Increasing density is controversial for the same reasons as growth – people think that with more people comes more problems. However, I think there are sacrifices to be made when we want to attract the type of tax revenue and quality housing opportunities that we keep talking about.
Errol Zshornack: I have much to study to prepare for this election. Sadly, the current zoning code has yet to be reviewed by me. I am not aware though of any zoning issues in Millbrae. I would like to look into height restrictions along El Camino Real and if they are being obeyed or if a variance was applied for, I would like to make sure it was done properly and passed through the proper channels such as the council.
- Do you think that the downtown area and Broadway function safely and successfully? How can we better support struggling businesses during this era of COVID-19?
Anders Fung: As with any town, we have areas we have to work on. For us, we have yet to fully support the development of a full-fledged core business center. As I’ve stated before, I feel like the downtown and Broadway area can push forward with our support. My strategy works because there is so much untapped potential in our town, thus tapping into that potential should help our businesses fight through this COVID-19 recession.
I have a two-pronged approach to this: implementing the aforementioned Business Improvement District, and developing using the “urban village” model.
A Business Improvement District would funnel money into our core business areas, helping improve our infrastructure and making us a more attractive destination overall. Given how central we are to the Bay Area public transportation system, we have the opportunity to also attract consumers from neighboring towns such as San Bruno.
Regarding how we can structure new developments to support our businesses, I strongly feel that we should take an “urban village” approach. This means having residents housing and jobs intentionally built to be in close proximity. This is an approach we should take in our downtown and Broadway areas. This type of development is unlocked by the influx of activity that is possible via proper use of our public transportation, which allows for capital to come in that can further sustain this business growth. There is also an indirect way this type of development can provide equitable growth in our town: bringing in new business and commercial activity through increased population will help broaden our tax base, such that we can further develop our infrastructure and offer more public services to our residents.
Gina Papan: During these unprecedented times of Covid-19 Millbrae business owners suffered immensely. Covid-19 has exasperated issues related to public health and safety. We must work hand in hand with the businesses, to ensure their economic survival and prosperity
The Millbrae City Council is committed to supporting our small business and has committed $100,000 in small business grants through San Mateo County Strong. We have simplified and implemented permits that allow restaurants to expand their seating building parklets to be able to safely serve more patrons.
We are continually looking to improve our downtown business districts. Millbrae’s downtown cannot afford anymore long-term vacancies. Absentee downtown property owners who have not filled their property store fronts or maintained their buildings need to be held accountable. I would propose, post Covid-19, charging building owners for long term vacancies and neglected property maintenance. This would not only bring more infrastructure, but beautify the downtown area. We need to re-envision downtown Millbrae as an area with extended sidewalks for more accessibility and outdoor seating for restaurants, diverse businesses, and an overall bustling prosperous destination for all community members.
Ann Schneider: I support allowing outdoor dining and see this as a good experiment for the City and our residents to see how Broadway could be redeveloped to create more public gathering places, with COVID-19 restrictions but in the future too. I would like to see us redevelop Broadway, making the sidewalk broader so walking is easier, and merchants can bring the inside of their shops outside. I also want to add more public seating and more public art and much more vegetation to better street trees to more flowering plants. These spaces can be used for
small social gathering and small-scale entertainment from music to puppet shows. I went to school in Italy where piazzas are common and provide places for relaxation and socializing. I dream of the day, when the Office Depot site is redeveloped to mixed use with I hope a plaza, a piazza where groups can host events, like the Lion’s Halloween Carnival and Monster March, a project I have co-chaired in years past as a Millbrae Lion and Millbrae Leos Advisor.
The City was moving forward to go to the vote of the business owners to create a Downtown Improvement District (BID) where each owner would pay into this BID and get services in return, including what I listed in the paragraph above but also do things like pressure washing the sidewalk and special events to attract people downtown to eat and shop. With the pandemic lead recession, the BID is unlikely to pass at this time. I have always felt that downtown improvements should be a public-private partnership. The City should kick in some funds, the businesses some funds so together we improve the customer experience which in turn should bring in more customers and more revenue for our businesses and more revenue for the City.
You You Xue: Absolutely 100% not. I actually just had a call with Alvin Jean-Baptiste, a resident of the downtown area (people live upstairs from businesses) who said that his apartment complex was just ransacked by a trespasser and thief who entered his building and stole everyone’s packages. He agrees with me that not only is downtown not the safest place to be, it is also falling behind and is not successful.
I am a restaurant owner in Millbrae’s downtown district. I reject any person who tells me that Millbrae has a successful downtown district because I know first-hand that it isn’t. Businesses are struggling and they were already struggling even before COVID began. Downtown Millbrae is probably one of the worst business districts on the Peninsula. It’s so bad that even Millbrae residents are running to Burlingame and San Mateo to spend their money. I think back to my days at Mills – Old Town Sushi (SM), Tpumps (SM), Crepevine (B), Bay Watch (B), the theatre (SM), we didn’t spend much time in Millbrae. Students, parents, families, they all have little reason to come to Millbrae to spend money.
Our downtown is like a mirror reflecting a City Council that has not had a downtown business owner elected to it for a generation. I’m trying to think back to at least the early 2000s, and I can’t think of anyone who actually represented the business community. I am the only candidate in this year’s election to have experience running a business in Millbrae, and that’s why I believe I am best suited to address the issues that plague our merchants.
Take for example, dining during COVID. We knew from the beginning that restaurants and hospitality would be hit hard by the shutdowns and lockdowns imposed by local and state governments. Other cities moved extraordinarily quickly. San Mateo cordoned off their streets and Burlingame came up with an outdoor dining programme on the weekends for both their business streets. In Millbrae, I wanted to build an outdoor dining platform, and I was met with such immense opposition that I was honestly baffled. When I asked for the street to be closed to vehicular traffic so I could set up tables outside, my request was shot down. Over six months into the pandemic, we are finally seeing some restaurants get outdoor dining patios built, but we still haven’t shut down our streets a single time, and many big restaurants are still shut down (possibly permanently).
There is no coordination and no long-term plan. In response to the question about supporting businesses, the answer is to give them optimism and hope when there is none. The City Council should be coming up with new ideas to promote merchants, such as shutting down the street and designating certain days and nights as “outdoor dining nights” to encourage residents to come and spend money in a safe and comfortable environment. The City let some merchants build outdoor dining platforms, but told them they would have to take it down by 31 December of this year. This is the exact type of short-sighted vision I think has led Millbrae into the mess it’s in today.
We need to actually act on establishing the Business Improvement District (BID) that everyone is now talking about. I brought the issue of creating a BID to the forefront of our political conversation when I was running for office in 2018. A BID is a specific district within a city where property owners agree to pay more taxes every year (an amount proportional to the benefit they receive from the new District). The taxes are collected and managed by a Board of Directors that is non-governmental and strictly concerned with the District’s business. A BID exists in Burlingame, and they used their extra tax money to promote the downtown, to run a trolley that goes between the various airport hotels and the downtown area, and to keep the entire area looking clean and well-maintained. Other cities that have BIDs include San Francisco (many of them), San Mateo, and Redwood City.
Other candidates run their mouths about creating a BID, but when asked about how they’re actually going to do it, they’ve only referred to giving the job to a consultant to have them research the issue further. I know what it takes to create a BID and to get enough property owners to agree to form a BID because I actually work in this area and have the reputation and credibility needed to convince stakeholders of the benefits of having a unified business
district. Just to be clear, the City has been talking about forming a BID for the good part of a decade. The same people who say they will form a BID are the ones who have failed to do it for so long, I don’t see why that’s going to be any different now.
Errol Zshornack: I believe so. We can support struggling businesses by approving licenses or permits for restaurants. For example, to serve its customers using the sidewalks of Millbrae. Subject to a review of the current budget of the City of Millbrae, if businesses may be given relief from payment of their annual business license fee during this era of COVID-19, that should be studied and if found worthwhile, implemented.
- If you received a $1 million grant to use for the city in any way possible, what would you build or invest in and how would you decide whether the facility would be successful or not?
Anders Fung: If I received this grant, I would create a fund that allows for equitable technology access for students. The Bay Area is the global center of innovation, and we should be channeling this ethos into our education system. Not being able to afford laptops or having unstable internet
should not prevent students from pursuing good careers in any field, particularly those in technology.
I take this issue pretty closely to heart, and so I believe this would be successful if it manages to help students.
Gina Papan: With a one-million-dollar grant, I would expedite the building of the recreation center to include more community benefits. Ultimately, I would let the community decide how to invest such a generous grant.
Ann Schneider: Great question, sadly a million dollars isn’t a huge amount of money. For example, to update our sewer treatment plant to process wastewater that is currently treated to secondary standards and bring it to tertiary, so the water could be reused to water Green Hills Golf Course, will take $30,000,000.00. There are so many things that need to be repaired or replaced in Millbrae, a million dollars is a drop in the bucket. Cities have been starved of revenue for decades, that is why for example, our streets look so bad.
OK I’ve set the stage, so I would say our number one priority is climate change. And the number one issue we can do city wide is to complete our urban forest inventory/health study, compare it to the new heat island studies (parts of a community heavy with asphalt and limited tree cover creating very hot parts of town that
become dangerous to seniors, young children and people with health issues). Then I would spend the money doing massive tree planting throughout Millbrae in all neighborhoods and use the money to cover the cost of new trees, watering the trees and maintenance. That way the million dollars is spent in every neighborhood and will provide long term carbon sequestration, cool the city by providing shade, slow traffic (yes street trees have been shown to slow speeding on city streets), and raise property values (up to 10% for trees planted in front yards).
I grew up in Meadows, granted I am older than all of you, but in my day, every house in Meadows had a flowering plum tree. Most are gone now. I now live in the lower Millbrae Highlands neighborhood that used to have many more sycamores. The City is trying to replant trees lost in this neighborhood with London Plane Tree, a sycamore variety that is less susceptible to disease. I would like to bring each neighborhood together and have them participate in choosing one or more tree species so each neighborhood can add to their own special feel, their own identity. And bring the community together by hosting community workdays where we come together to plant trees.
And I’ll still go searching for grant funding so we can modify our sewage treatment plant to create reusable water. That will leave more “potable water” for residential and commercial purposes (like restaurants).
You You Xue: This is a slightly silly question because one million dollars is nothing for a City. Just to be clear, we have spent nearly a million dollars preparing to build a community center, and not a single brick has been laid. If you want great returns, I would invest it in index funds like SPY or QQQ and just let it grow in reserves. If you want to spend the money in a way that impacts the most people, I would use the money to host downtown events. I believe that the money can be spent on outdoor dining benches, tables, and furniture, as well as heating and lighters. We can help raise the community’s spirits whilst supporting struggling merchants at the same time.
A recent anecdote: Millbrae was asked for a $100,000 donation from the San Mateo County Strong fund which was giving out $10,000 grants to any businesses that applied for it (first-come, first-served of course). I opposed the decision, because the $100,000 could go to any business, including those who didn’t actually need the money. I proposed investing the $100,000 into our downtown and giving grants to certain merchants, for example, restaurants and cafés who wanted to build outdoor dining facilities but didn’t have the initial capital to do so. We could’ve sponsored an outdoor dining space as a City, or we could have provided case-by-case targeted grants. I believe that it isn’t wise for the City to dish out money without measuring the results, so I appreciate the second part of the question which asks about the criteria used to assess the utility of any money spent.
Errol Zshornack: I was tempted to say use it for the construction of the rec center, but there are funds already for that. I would study the feasibility of the city acquiring motion sensors and cameras in bulk from the manufacturers of these products which may in turn be given or sold to the residents in order to help fight and deter crimes.
- How would you suggest addressing racial inequalities in schools/communities?
Anders Fung: Many of these issues must be forcefully met at the national or state level. For education, schools should be encouraged to enact anti-racist teaching sessions for administrators and educators. Governments must also make a greater effort to provide technology access to students — digital literacy is increasingly important, yet some communities are being left behind without a chance to pursue these lucrative careers.
Policing must also evolve. In Millbrae, I have maintained constant communication with the San Mateo County Sheriff, Carlos Belanos, and have discussed ways to change how policing works locally. I am an advocate for rethinking the way Millbrae is policed, including a focus on community efforts such as neighborhood-watch. I believe this issue is important to Millbrae, as Chinedu Okobi was killed by officers here a couple years ago, a fact that has only recently become more widely known in our community. I’ve said from the start that I want to build an even closer relationship between our local police and our citizens—a goal of mine that will be reflected in my actions if I hold office.
I’ve also personally tried to address racial inequalities in my campaign. There definitely exist bad faith perpetrators of racism; there also exists the daily, subtle perpetrators of racism. I’ve tried to address both in my campaign. I’ve been unabashed about my Asian-ness. This is for a specific reason: representation is sometimes a buzzword, but proud representation (using my Chinese name in advertisements, openly putting second-language posts on my website, etc.) forces others to reckon with the fundamental humanness of myself.
As an Asian American, I hope that my campaign will act to push my community further. Young Asian Americans are growing up in a time of increased political awareness without correlated increases in API elected representation. This is a pressing issue; pessimism is the enemy of growing working coalitions. I strongly believe this issue is accentuated here on the Peninsula, where Asians are a large population yet are still historically marginalized.
Gina Papan: By expanding and enhancing the education in our schools and communities society will be more compassionate, able to prosper and make our world a better place for everyone. But we must address where our efforts have fallen short.
Racial inequalities in schools and communities need to be met with education and accountability to raise awareness, understanding, and to abolish the impacts of racism and intolerance.
Classrooms should have to meet the criteria of equity in teaching social justice, having materials accessible for the disabled, and having culturally competent materials that help students build impactful relationships in their learning environment. They should also be provided the funding to do so. Lastly, we must better bridge the gap between technological inequities. Especially in this era of COVID-19, the digital divide has provided a stark reminder of the inequities many students face. We must do better.
Our curriculum should also be evaluated and reassessed for adequate historical representation in order to reflect the narratives of all the individuals that encompass the United States.
Our success depends on all of us coming together, being involved, and being the change we wish to see in the world. Our schools, and the generations to come, continue to inspire my faith in the future.
Ann Schneider: The City can work with San Mateo Unified High School District and Millbrae School District in creating the space to talk openly and freely about racial inequalities that exist in Millbrae. We’ve already done this with our first Town Hall meeting on Racism and Bullying. And have been and am working with Millbrae’s new Anti Racism group to identify structure problems within our government that we need to eliminate to become a more just government.
I would also open the conversation up to bullying and harassment in general. The City will continue to work with the Sheriff’s Department to remove racial profiling and other forms of discrimination against people of different races. We will also continue to push the County Health Department and the Sheriffs Department to develop new protocols for dealing with people who may be suffering from a mental health issue or a drug issues and get them the help they need rather than taking more aggressive methods of subduing people like tasers or guns, or chokeholds which have already been banned by the Sheriff’s Department.
The City cannot tell schools what to do. We are separate entities. But I would encourage our school districts to look at how disciplinary actions are handled differently based on race. How encouragement is given out differently based on race. And I would ask that our school districts do much more to stop in person and cyber bullying.
One of the reasons Cities are required to build more housing is to reduce the cost of housing and the portion of a family’s income that must be spent on housing. In our area people making good livings still qualify for “affordable housing”. When housing takes so much of a family’s income, they have less to spend on food and clothing and that can lead to the inability of students to concentrate and can make it harder to succeed in school. And that can lead to being bullied by other children who may just think this student isn’t trying hard enough or isn’t bright. Finding affordable housing also means some families must move more often, their children changing schools more often. Being the new kid in school can be scary and can subject new kids to social segregation.
Part of creating a more equitable society is ensuring we have housing for all income levels and that all income levels have access to the internet and devices to be able to connect via the internet. This is not just during COVID-19 but in general. Access to technology is critical to all in the 21st century. COVID-19 has made the need so much more apparent. I serve on a COVID-19 recovery team working on infrastructure and our first project was working to bring the internet and technology to all members of our greater community.
You You Xue: I’m a founding member of Millbrae’s new Anti-Racist Coalition (ARC), an organisation that put together Millbrae’s first-ever Black Lives Matter (BLM) protest, a protest that attracted a crowd of over 500. One of my opponents has avoided these protests and any affiliation with
BLM like the plague. It’s not surprising considering his wife is on private WeChat groups spreading articles from Breitbart about Black on Asian crime. I remember being attacked by one of these groups when I was helping to organise the first BLM march, and one of the participants asked “where’s the march for Asians that are getting robbed by Blacks?”
I believe there is a lack of understanding in our communities, especially my community (East Asian) about what structural and systemic racism means and looks like in everyday life. Racial inequities are the reason why we see the demographics we do at Mills, because underprivileged populations are priced out of the area. ARC is taking action to ensure that the curriculum in our schools is not only accurately portraying the racist history of this country, but also anti-racist in a way that doesn’t lend credibility to those who are seeking to divide us with false information about race. You have wackjob teachers like B.C. who are trying to put their own spin on state curriculum, so I suppose a large part of addressing racial inequalities in schools involves students speaking up as well and taking action into their own hands.
I do have to acknowledge the words of President Obama, who said (I’m paraphrasing here) that we shouldn’t forget that the reason our generation (I’m 23, class of 2015) takes certain civil liberties almost for granted, like the right to marry who you love, or the right of women to vote, is because of years of formidable action by activists. I think we should empower more students and promote more civic education in our schools. We should have political clubs on campus that are dedicated to mobilising students for and against causes that enhance equality in our communities.
Even in the wider community, the focus has been on education. ARC has helped put together town halls where people can learn more about the experiences of others and how we as individuals can take action when we see something wrong before us.
If I am elected, I would be only the third non-Caucasian to be elected to Millbrae public office in a City that is majority non-Caucasian. I believe that a huge part of solving racial inequalities is electing governments that look like their constituents. This applies both locally and at all higher levels. I support the adoption of district elections (instead of at-large elections) to help the voices of people of colour be heard at the ballot box.
Errol Zshornack: That’s a tough one! It seems that even our country is struggling to put an end to racial inequality and discrimination. People need to be educated about this. People need to be urged to make a commitment to end racial inequality.
