The White Oaks Blog

Cool Treat, Cooler Idea…

Harmony Yogurt is once again stepping to the plate to help San Carlos Parks.   This weekend, June 27th and 28th,  Harmony will donate $1 from every froyo they sell to the Burton Park Playground Fund.  This fund is critical to support playground maintenance and operations at the park, especially now that budgets are being drastically cut.

This isn’t the first time that Harmony has made such a generous gesture, and it’s a great example for other San Carlos businesses to follow.    Town Restaurant is another San Carlos family-owned business that is always doing fantastic things for our schools and our community too.   So be sure to drop by Harmony this weekend, and treat your park while you’re treating yourself!

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Strange Boundaries…

Here’s a question for you…What do the listings at 2654 Eaton Avenue, 30 Eaton Villa Place, and 105 De Anza Avenue have in common?

Answer:  They’re not in San Carlos.

Even though they sure sound like familiar San Carlos streets, and their neighbors are most certainly in San Carlos, these homes are actually in… Redwood City. If you’ve been shopping for a home up in the Alder Manor district of San Carlos (west of Alameda de las Pulgas, and south of Brittan) you’ve undoubtedly come across this confusing scenario.  So what’s up with this?

Annexation and Incorporation.

The answer lies in the arrowhead shaped section in the map above.  Around 1922, the area around Hilltop Drive was apparently a large farm with a single farmhouse.  A subdivision titled “Carmelita Manor Near Redwood City, California” was recorded in 1927, and a few additional homes were built on Hilltop Drive in ‘29 and ‘30.  Sometime around 1936, the pasture area of this farm that was along Eaton Avenue was subdivided into eight lots (Eaton street numbers 2604 through 2656) and homes were built on these lots.*

How the surrounding areas were annexed by both San Carlos and Redwood City isn’t totally clear, but it appears the while the area around Clifford School was annexed by Redwood City in the 1950’s,  the area that surrounded the “Carmelita Manor” boundary remained unincorporated.   When San Carlos annexed that surrounding area in the 1960’s, it was not possible to “de-annex” that little pocket of what was now part of Redwood City. **

So the end result is that there’s a little “island” of Redwood City that is almost totally surrounded by San Carlos.    It’s confusing, and it’s a big reason why the boundary between San Carlos and Redwood City is so peculiar in that area.

I’m sure this explanation clears things up

Uncommon Cities, Common School.

One thing that these neighborhoods do share regardless of whether they’re in San Carlos or Redwood City, is the school district.  As I wrote about in a previous post, the part of San Carlos that’s west of the Alameda all the way up to Brittan Avenue actually feeds into Clifford School, which is in the Redwood City School District.

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*courtesy of the Redwood City Planning Department

** courtesy of the City of San Carlos Planning Department.

Thanks to the folks in both departments for their contributions to this post…..cg

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California High Speed Rail Initiative

With all of the news about the various fiscal challenges facing San Carlos (Measure B, City Budget Cuts), one critical intiative that will greatly impact all neighborhoods in San Carlos and surrounding communities on the Peninsula seems to almost be flying below the radar:  The proposed California High-Speed Rail System.

With the passage of Proposition 1A on last year’s ballot, the path has been cleared for the development of a high speed rail network that will connect the major cities within California.  This initiative is being aggressively pushed by policitians in California and Washington alike, and seems to moving forward at the speed of….well, a bullet train.   (When was the last time our state government moved that fast on anything?)

Impact on San Carlos

Since the plan is to utilize the existing Caltrain right-of-way, this new rail system will run right through the heart of San Carlos and other Peninsula communities as the map below demonstrates:

San Carlos residents get involved…

The residents of San Carlos who face the greatest impact of the high speed rail system are those on the east side just adjacent to the existing tracks.    The Greater East Side San Carlos coalition, which seems to be very busy lately tackling other issues like the San Carlos Transit Village, has joined forces with other communities up and down the Peninsula to form a unified voice that hopes to influence key design considerations with the new rail system.

Just this past week, San Carlos hosted a meeting with Palo Alto’s brethren group, known as The California Advocates for Responsible Rail Design, which is also actively soliciting the participation of other Peninsula communities.    The hope is that with an increasingly larger voice, they will have input on the look and feel of the rail system that they will ultimately inherit.

Your thoughts?

What do you think about a high-speed rail system running through San Carlos?  Should it even be running up the Peninsula at all?    Weigh in by posting a comment below…

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White Oaks Neighborhood Watch

Recently, a group of concerned San Carlos families took the initiative to start a Neighborhood Watch group in the White Oaks neighborhood.  The kick-off meeting was just this past week, and the turn-out was far greater than expected.    This group was very influential in getting the San Carlos Police Department to endorse a Neighborhood Watch program, and to my knowledge they’re the first neighborhood to organize under the new partnership.

New Website.

The White Oaks Neighborhood Watch is a very well organized group.   They recently launched their new website, which will be one of their main vehicles communicate with their members, the other being an email group list.    The website is actually a blog format, which allows members and citizens to post comments and to keep others informed….(and you know how much I like blogs!)

Check out their new site, and get involved with the White Oaks Neighborhood Watch.   Click here for their site –>  White Oaks Neighborhood Watch.

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Update:  Daily Journal Article 6/1

The Daily Journal wrote a nice piece on the upcoming meeting — click here for the article:  Neighborhood forms first watch group.

Concerned Residents Form Watch Group

Prompted by the recent tire slashing incident and concerned with the uptick in other neighborhood crime, residents of the White Oaks neighborhood have formed a Neighborhood Watch group.  The San Carlos Police Department recently held a public town hall meeting in which they discussed some of the steps required to form a Neighborhood Watch group, and they assigned a neighborhood liason within the department to assist anyone interested in getting their group started.   The White Oaks neighborhood is ready to launch…

First Meeting:  Tuesday June 2.

The White Oaks Neighborhood Watch group is the first that I’m aware of to be formed under this new alliance with the San Carlos Police.   Their inaugural meeting will be held this coming Tuesday, June 2 from 7:00 – 8:30 at the White Oaks School multi-use room.  For more information on the meeting, download the attached flyer by clicking here:   White Oaks Neighborhood Watch Meeting.

If you’re a resident of White Oaks, or a San Carlos resident thinking about starting your own Neighborhood Watch program, I’d highly recommend that you attend this meeting.   The White Oaks group is very well organized, and has some innovative ideas on how to make their neighborhood safer.

You can email the group at whiteoaksorg@gmail.com

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Sweeping Defeat Means More Cuts

Communities throughout California are bracing themselves for the fallout from the resounding defeat of the statewide propositions 1A through 1E on Tuesday.  San Carlos city officials are working up numbers on the impact to both the City budget and to the School District, and the preliminary results are not pretty.

San Carlos City Budget

The defeat of  these propositions leaves the door open for the State of California to borrow from local municipalities to close its own budget deficit.  According to Assistant City Manager Brian Moura, San Carlos could possibly lose $800k – $1M as part of the $22M that San Mateo County will likely be stripped of if the state moves ahead as planned.  For more information on this, click Michelle Durand’s analysis in today’s Daily Journal.

City Council Member Omar Ahmad met with the Governor recently, and penned an open letter to him outlining the impact to San Carlos if they indeed lose this additional $1M — for the context of this letter click here:  Omar Ahmad’s Blog

San Carlos School District

A recent concern that has surfaced for school administrators throughout the state is  Governor’s recent revision to the state budget, which is referred to as the “May Revise.”    This budget revision implements additional cuts in funding to many critical services, including education.  According to School District Trustee Mark Olbert, the outcome of Tuesday’s election will push the San Carlos School District into a deficit of approximately $1,255,500 for the 2009/2010 school year.  Even if they dip into the School Board reserves, they’ll end up with a deficit of $788,000 since they are mandated to keep a minimum of 3% cash reserve.

This issue is scheduled to be discussed in tonight’s board meeting, which is currently scheduled for 4:00 PM today  in the District Conference Room, behind Central on Cedar Street, but it could be relocated to the Central Middle School library if attendance warrants.

For more info about the potential school budget cuts,  click here and reviewing the downloadable documents.

Many Questions, Few Answers

Obviously, this is a very high-level view of a very dynamic and complicated problem, and there are many questions that need to be answered by our elected officials.  But they are united in their warning to the citizens of San Carlos brace themselves for painful cuts that are almost a certainty this year in both our city services, as well as our school district.  Stay tuned for more…

Update: The Daily Journal did a nice job covering this meeting.   Here’s their article —   Police: Watch Out for Each Other.

Concerned about crime in San Carlos?

As much as we pride ourselves in being a sleepy, bedroom community, San Carlos is not immune to crime.   Recently, it seems as if thefts have been on the uptick — especially vehicle break-ins.  And if you couple this with the recent rash of slashed tires and car vandalism in White Oaks,  it’s pretty apparent that the problem is getting worse before it gets better.

Battling these types of crimes is tough for the police department because the crimes are so random in nature, and they also tend to happen in the middle of the night, when staffing is at its lowest.  It’s evident that more eyes and ears to protect our streets — hence the post I wrote about starting a Neighborhood Watch Program in San Carlos.

Police Department Town Hall Meeting

Last month, the police department announced they will host a town hall meeting to discuss crime in San Carlos, and how citizens can work together with the San Carlos Police to help reduce crime in our town.   The meeting is this coming Thursday April 30 at 7:00 PM.  Here’s a flyer with all of the details:

Great Opportunity

If you’ve ever thought about starting a neighborhood watch on your block, or you just want to find out more about how the SCPD operates, this meeting is an opportunity that you won’t want to miss.  Kudos to Chief Rothaus for reaching out to the community in this manner.  I hope this meeting is well attended by the residents of San Carlos.

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Someone is rummaging through your recycle bins…

Whether you know it or not, when you put your recycle bins out at the curb every other week, someone is very likely helping themselves to anything of value in those bins before the Allied Waste truck arrives.   You may have seen or heard them rummaging through the bottles and cans, usually after dark or early in the morning before the  truck arrives.     The most desirable items seem to be aluminum cans and plastic water bottles that have a California Redemption Value (CRV).

Looking the other way.

This isn’t something new.   I noticed that this was happening quite a few months ago.   The people who were toting garbage bags and sorting through the bins seemed to be less fortunate families trying to get some extra cash to make ends meet, and they were very considerate not to make a mess — so it was no big deal.   Like many of my neighbors, we were more than happy to look the other way.    And why not?  If we willingly put money out by the curb every other week, shouldn’t somebody be able to take it?

Why not?

The answer to this question is that it’s not legal. According to San Carlos Police, once the stuff is put into an Allied Waste bin and placed out at the curb, it belongs to Allied Waste.  If someone decides to help themselves to your bin, they’re technically stealing from AW.    When they catch people sifting through recycle bins, they’ll cite them on the spot.

There’s also the issue of privacy.   While most of these people seem to focus on bottles and cans, what about paper products?  We recycle everything, including newspapers, junk mail, and yes…bills.  We try to shred anything that might have confidential information, but you have to wonder what kind of confidential information can be gleaned from junk mail.

Finally, with the recent uptick in crime and vandalism in San Carlos, I imagine some residents aren’t too comfortable having anyone they don’t know on their property, especially after dark or early in the morning.

The Solution…

The first time I came out one morning and found my recyclables scattered all over the sidewalk, I decided enough was enough.   Now, I’m not such an ogre that I would call the police on these people, but this got me thinking that if someone was willing to stand out in the rain and collect cans and bottles, there is probably some decent money in it.

Our solution was to turn this into a recycling lesson and a money making venture for our kids.   Basically, they sort the goods, they keep the profits.    A month’s worth of CRV’s around our household is about $40, which is a gold-mine for a 12-year old.

What are your thoughts?

Is this a problem in your neighborhood?   Should the City be cracking down on people sorting through your bins, or should we just look the other way?  I’d love hear what you think — just click on the comment link below…

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You know the routine…

You’re just sitting down to dinner or a few minutes of TV when there’s a knock at the door.   There you’re met by some kid that you’ve never seen before, who claims to be your “neighbor’s son on the other block” (whom you’ve never heard of before either,) and he is selling magazines for his school to earn money for a trip to Disneyland, Europe, etc….     He might even have an official looking piece of paper that says it’s ok for him to be selling these great magazines to you.   And it’s not just magazines…it’s alarm systems, or a political cause.  Does this ring a bell?  (sorry for the bad pun…)

Pass, or Pay…

At some point in the conversation with this older-than-high-school looking kid, you’re going to have to make a decision: Buy what they’re selling, or potentially face an increasingly aggressive sales pitch.   If you decide to pass, sometimes a simple “No” does the trick –  other times the situation can get downright uncomfortable, especially if you’re someone who’s not big on confrontation.

A Nuisance, or Worse?

Most encounters with door-to-door solicitors are benign — best case, it’s just a pain in the rear having your dinner interrupted and having to listen to a sales pitch that you didn’t ask for in the first place.  But recently there has been an increase in suspicious and illegal activity by people posing as legitimate solicitors.  Just check out this recent account of an incident that just happened in White Oaks, as described by a neighbor who witnessed it:
Click here: Solicitor Alert in White Oaks

So this raises a big security concern:  Are these people truly selling things? Or, are they simply using this as an opportunity to gain information about what possessions you have in your house, who is usually in your home, and what hours you’re normally gone?  Given the state of the economy and how much people need quick cash, that’s not too far-fetched.

Time to Pull the Plug?

I know it’s not fair to lump all solicitors into this category.   The Girl Scouts of America and our local elementary schools rely heavily on going through the neighborhoods to raise funds.  Believe me, when I know it’s the time of year for Girl Scout Cookies I already have the check filled out.   But when I see the aforementioned “neighborhood kid” jump into a white panel van at the corner (with a group of other “local” kids that I’ve never seen before,)  the legitimacy of some of these operations should certainly be called into question.

Is door-to-door selling even relevant any more?   Now that everything you need to buy is on the internet, most people already know where to find what they need to buy, or what charities they’re going to give to.

So, some questions to consider:

• Are tighter restraints needed to control soliciting?

• Should residential soliciting be totally banned in San Carlos?

• Or, is it not an issue to be concerned with?

I’d love to hear your opinion on this one…

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