President Jerry Winges called the meeting to order.
Supervisor Jackie Speier led the Pledge of Allegiance.
Guests of the Club: Paul Watermulder introduced Patrick Constantino for his second visit. Joe LaMariana introduced his colleague Dolores from Rethink Waste. Bret Johnson introduced his sister Janine Johnson. Marc Friedman introduced his guest Diana Harris, a school teacher who is running for a seat on the San Mateo Union High School District Board of Trustees. Former Rotarian Joe Galligan reintroduced himself as he’s now a member of a club in North Carolina, where he lives part of the year. Former Rotarian Bryan Neider, CEO of Ability Path, reintroduced himself, while Christine Krolik welcomed back longtime member Bonnie Bertetta.
Invocation: President Jerry discussed 9-11 and asked the question, “What did we learn from it?” He then talked about the value of Rotary in bringing people from all over the world together.
Announcements: Susan Baker thanked Rotarians for helping at Burlingame on the Ave. Susan presented Rotary with a check for $2,400.
Sheryl Young and Cheryl Fama talked about people struggling in San Mateo County because of the high cost of living here. They announced the importance of the Sequoia High School and Jackie Speier Foundation Diaper Drive, which will be on Saturday, September 19, 9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m., at Sequoia High’s James Street parking lot. Please volunteer with food set up and break down, welcoming donors dropping off diaper boxes, and working alongside students managing the event. Cash donations are also needed. Samaritan House is helping vet recipients to make sure the diapers go to folks in need.
The District-wide Coastal Cleanup Day is September 19, 9 a.m. to noon, at Seal Point Park in San Mateo. This is a District-wide event. Please sign up to help if you’re available.
There is a District 5150 trip to Chicago September 26-20 to visit One Rotary Center. President Jerry will be attending. All are welcome. And check out Paul Watermulder’s pictures from his recent trip to One Rotary Center in Chicago!
Paul Watermulder asked everyone to mark their calendars for Sunday, November 15, 4 p.m. – 7 p.m., for a fundraiser at Topgolf. Tickets are $150 per person. The event features two hours of golf, a buffet dinner, non-alcoholic drinks, a no host bar, prizes, and fun. The committee is hoping to raise $25,000 for scholarships. Please buy your tickets! And if you want to sponsor the event, you’ll get two free tickets!
The Rotarian of the Month is Bobba Venkatadri! Bobba is inviting all Rotarians to join him in India for the dedication of some of the schools that the Club has helped.
Our Rotary District is responding to the Nepal Floods. President Jerry shared links to different websites that are providing funding to help, including ShelterBox. Bob Doerr is the District’s ambassador for ShelterBox. Bob reported that Charity Navigator has given ShelterBox a 4-star (out of 4) rating. By day three after the Nepal floods, ShelterBox was already helping 450 Nepali families. It’s an incredible organization.
Fellowship Moment: Mark Johnson announced that Baskin Robbins on Burlingame Avenue closed last night after 62 years on the Ave. Father Michael gave $100 in honor of Our Lady of Angels’ 100th birthday last Sunday. Bob Doerr gave $10 in honor of his 47th wedding anniversary. Congrats to the Doerrs! Paul Watermulder gave happy dollars in honor of his visit last week to a Rotary Club in Illinois. Bryan Neider gave happy dollars in honor of his daughter, who is in labor right now with baby Jack, Bryan’s fifth grandchild. Congrats to the Neiders!
Program: Christine Krolik introduced Supervisor Jackie Speier and her program, “Before Crisis Strikes: Strengthening San Mateo County Families.” Sup. Speier talked about the great wealth in San Mateo along with the difficulty large swaths of the population have in paying for housing, food, and other necessities.
For example, San Mateo County has 42,000 residents who are making over $500,000, and 22 billionaires. The median price of a home is $1.9 million. That requires an annual income of $500,000 to qualify for a loan. While some people can afford that, many can’t.
52,000 people in SM County live below the federal poverty level, even with at least one working adult in the family. The costs of housing and childcare are extraordinarily high. The cost in San Mateo County for an infant to be in childcare is $36,000 a year. For many people, they are spending 20% of their disposable income on childcare, and 14% on diapers. If families don’t have diapers to bring to the childcare center, they can’t go to work because they can’t leave their child at the childcare center. Childcare and diapers are basic infrastructure.
Birthrates in San Mateo County are dropping, families are leaving, and school enrollments are declining. Meanwhile, the number of homeless seniors has increased 141% in the recent past.
Another significant issue is that the fiscal foundation of San Mateo County and its cities is crumbling due to the loss of vehicle license fees. San Mateo County lost $119 million this year due to this problem, though $79 million of that was reinstated. On July 1, 2027, we will lose $236 million, which is more than 20% of the County’s budget. Cities and the County will need to lay off personnel to close the gap. The County is negotiating with the State to try to fix this problem. Without a fix, there are fewer dollars available to spend on basic services for County residents.
So, what is the County doing to address these issues? Over the last 18 months, the County has built over 466 low-income housing units, including 69 units in Burlingame at the Eucalyptus Grove development, on California Drive at Murchison.
When people think about where to spend their charitable dollars, they should think about the Core Services Agencies in San Mateo County, such as Samaritan House, which is helping to feed people and provide basic services.
In terms of childcare, the County has committed $10 million to this issue and has created a portal on their website where families can go to find out what childcare centers have availability and whether the parents qualify for any type of subsidies. The County is also setting aside $9 million for the Tri Care program in which the County, employers, and employees jointly pay for childcare. This will help employers retain workers and attract employees.
The Jackie Speier Foundation is working on the diaper issue. Their goal is to have diapers for all Medicaid-eligible children aged 0-3 for free. It will cost $3-5 million each year. The County is working on building housing for homeless seniors, and they are also working on providing rental assistance to keep seniors from being evicted.
Sup. Speier finished her talk by noting that these are daunting issues. But they're not too big, and they're not too hard for us.
President Jerry adjourned the meeting after thanking Supervisor Speier and presenting her with a certificate noting that Burlingame Rotary is donating polio doses in her name.
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