Blog: I have a Dream … and San Mateo is creating a nightmare

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Lorraine Hotel Memphis — Lorraine Motel in Memphis. Courtesy: Gerd Stieler Credit: Gerd Stieler

It’s Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. week, a great time to talk about education and Safe-Routes-To-School. Last week, we discussed that “School Choice” has nothing to do with educational opportunity but was born out of all kinds of ulterior motives. This week, we do a reality check on our county’s Democrats. Have they been using “Equity” mostly just in pre-election slogans, or can they actually follow through after election season is over?

We will be talking about “Safe Routes To School” and “Slow Streets,” but most of all, we will be talking about the equity problem of “Bicycle Boulevards.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.” [MLK]

Time to get your program and your popcorn; this is a Drama in Four Acts.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” [MLK]

In 2023, San Mateo County politicians were introduced to The Dream. They were taught how their old ways were rotten and that they had to change. Apparently, the politicians that were summoned to take the equity training were Diane Papan, Gina Papan, David Canepa, Lisa Gauthier, Davina Hurt, Karen Cunningham, John Goodwin, Stacy Jimenez, Christine Krolik, Alicia Aguirre, Michael Salazar, Adam Rak, Rich Hedges, Warren Slocum, Mark Nagales, Rico E. Medina, and a few more. It is unclear how San Mateo’s City/County Association of Governments (C/CAG) decided that these people need the training. However, in the end, those students were explicitly mentioned in the disclaimer. We can also assume the framework has been read and ratified by all members of C/CAG, all city managers, all city council members and all San Mateo Democrats until an opposing paper with opposing views is ratified next time. Without this process, the Equity Framework wouldn’t be worth the paper it wasn’t printed on.

If any of the old and newly elected San Mateo County Democrats want to speak out against Equity … speak now or forever hold your peace.

Question: Can you explain the plans behind Transportation Equity again?

That is what this blog is for. So, after years and years of shirking the topic, the County finally took on the challenge of Equity and deserves our praise. Let us all look at the history of systemic racism in this county and how our county leaders are reckoning with said sad history.

In San Mateo County and across the nation, people of color and other underserved and underrepresented populations have and continue to face persistently unequal economic, health, and quality of life outcomes. Public and private institutions have historically contributed to these inequities through laws, policies, investment decisions, and other actions. C/CAG is taking steps to address Equity issues in San Mateo County. [C/CAG]

Can I get a Hallelujah for C/CAG, “historical inequities,” and “taking steps”?

“Equity entails removing systemic barriers and providing customized forms and levels of engagement and support for underserved and impacted communities to remedy past harms and underinvestment.” [C/CAG]

Can I get a Hallelujah for C/CAG and “systemic barriers”?

“C/CAG’s project team conducted Equity Focus Area (EFA) mapping and data analysis based on C/CAG’s program area themes, to identify social, economic, environmental, health, and quality of life inequities in the county” [C/CAG]

Can I get a Hallelujah for “Equity Focus Areas”?

“My community has been underserved and neglected. We don’t have any public parks. We don’t have bike lanes. The lighting is scarce, and some streets are extremely dark at night. Sidewalks are non-existent in some streets. The community is dissected by two train tracks, therefore divided by those and other physical divisions.” [EFA Leader]

Can I get an extra loud Hallelujah for “bike lanes in underserved and neglected communities”?

Now we are all finally on the same page about the fact that Equity requires bike lanes in Equity Focus Areas. Amen. It looks like the County of San Mateo is finally getting it together and is really serious about equity – starting now!
… wait, wait. Starting now!

Act 2: Alexander von Humboldt comes on stage

While the county was still working on an Equity Framework benefitting the Equity Focus Area (EFA) called the North Central neighborhood, San Mateo was prepared and pushed ahead. Mayor Rick Bonilla and his staff used grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to undo some of the injustices done to North Central by previous city councils.
In the racist past of this county, money from grants like this would often go to inner-city highways, jails or parking lots. But not this time. This time, the city promised to install bike lanes on various streets, most prominently on Humboldt Street. North Humboldt Street leads to several schools and connects this neighborhood through the 3rd Avenue bike lanes to recreational opportunities along the Bay. San Mateo’s Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission also endorsed this Safe-Routes-To-School project. The commission cited the health, safety and environmental benefits for the neighborhood. So, basically, it is all the good stuff we would expect from a solid bike infrastructure project.

Nothing is controversial about better health, better education, less car violence, more safety, less air pollution, less congestion, and environmental benefits for low-income children, at least not for your average liberal San Mateo Democrat. So, in the end, then-Mayor Rick Bonilla pushed it through the council with a vote of 3:2. The two council members opposing equity for an Equity Focus Area (EFA) were council members Amourence Lee and Diane Papan – which might have been the reason Diane Papan received the special C/CAG equity training in the first place.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” [MLK]

Anyways, in the end, three city council members did what was right and expected of them, and Humboldt Street in the North Central Equity Priority Area got the long-promised safety upgrades. The kids finally received their equity bike lanes.

Question: Can we quickly dive into the Equity Framework, please.

Oh, sure, we can do that. So, according to C/CAG and the County Board of Supervisors, San Mateo County has several Equity Focus Areas (EFA). The North Central neighborhood is certainly one. Redwood City along El Camino Real and Woodside Road is also one. Big parts of North Fair Oaks, East Menlo Park, and East Palo Alto are also there. All these areas are along the 101 highway and have to deal with more car violence, more noise pollution, more air pollution and therefore higher rates of childhood asthma than other neighborhoods. Anybody attacking those areas is basically attacking Equity and promoting what is known as Systemic Racism.

All C/CAG politicians and city councils were introduced to all the numbers and were made aware of this injustice. And, of course, every present and future council member has promised to remedy this bad situation driven by systemic racism in our city halls – at least during election season, they did.

So, what qualifies a neighborhood to become an Equity Focus Area (EFA):

Zero-Vehicle Households (15% threshold)
Low-Income (28% threshold)
People with a Disability (12% threshold)
Seniors 75 Years and Over (8% threshold)
Single Parent Families (18% threshold)
Limited English Proficiency (12% threshold)
Rent-Burdened Households (14% threshold)
People of Color (70% threshold)

From that, we can tell that the North Central neighborhood has many low-income households with no car access. There are plenty of people with disabilities and seniors who can’t or shouldn’t drive anymore. EFA means that rent-burdened households, seniors with little retirement savings and single-parent families deserve better alternatives so they don’t have to waste all that money on vehicles.

Why this last part is so essential becomes more apparent once you consider today’s cost of owning and driving a car. A new car costs on average >$50,000, a used car >$30,000 and insurance in California is on average >$2,300, with another adjustment coming from SB1107. The yearly cost of owning a car is now >$12,000, and the per-mile cost easily exceeds $2 for many models (source: AAA).

So just to make sure everyone gets the message: Equity Priority Areas (EPA), Equity Focus Areas (EFA), Community of Concerns (CoCs) – and whatever new names and definitions the county can invent for this – require and deserve bike lanes.

Act 3: San Mateo County is still creating the same old nightmares

Of course, the report and the training happened way back in 2023 and before the elections. Let’s see if Equity is still in 2024 and after the election. So 2024 came and went, and just when the year changed to 2025, city manager Alex Khojikian and the San Mateo city council made the New Year’s resolution to put more equity focus on the Equity Focus Area of North Central. Unfortunately, they are using the reverse psychology story again. They are walking back equity like they did with the infamous Equity HOT Lanes.

Our streets are made for Transportation. That is why San Mateo’s municipal code requires 2-4 spots for cars in garages and driveways. But instead of enforcing the rules, the city manager shirks his responsibility and takes the easy route. He thinks it’s OK to take valuable transportation space away from children and give it to the violators with cars. He wants to use more gas tax dollars to subsidize private car storage of a Home/Car Owner Association with too many cars.

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” [MLK]

In America, this kind of behavior is called Systemic Racism in Urban Planning – you know, the thing these guys promised in 2023 to never, ever do again. Plenty of solutions would focus on the bike lanes and compromise between parking and driving lanes. What makes it very questionable is that the city manager and council did not make any strides even to consider any of those solutions. No, they seem to be aiming right at school children and working-class people and with no sign of any remorse or ethics.

Act 4: What actually is Alex Khojikian proposing?

Alex Khojikian is proposing the same failed infrastructure that he proposed as assistant city manager here in Redwood City. He is running the same Big Bikeway Bluff city manager Melissa Stevenson-Diaz has been pulling off in Redwood City. Redwood City’s “solutions” come with nice names like “Slow Streets” (without making them slow), “Bike Routes” (unsuitable for children or older cyclists), and “Bike Boulevards” (that have zero benefits for cyclists). But these solutions never provide more safety.
So we in Redwood City already know that what Alex Khojikian is proposing is not safe for children.

Walk Bike Cupertino agrees: Class III lanes (Bike Boulevards) offer no protection at all and Class IV lanes and Class I trails offer the most.

Any responsible city manager would aim toward the right side of this picture. That is what America’s Bicycle Capital has been doing for 50 years. That is what Europeans and their Vision Zero plans are suggesting as well. Now, when a city manager moves to the left side of this picture – there is a name for that. Whenever children in a low-income neighborhood are concerned, going left is what America calls Systemic Racism in Urban Planning. We have seen this kind of behavior in Redwood City on Vera Avenue Bike Boulevard and Roosevelt Avenue Bike Route. In both cases old plans showed bike lanes and cycle tracks, but in the end all the kids got were “sharrows” aka “sharing the road” aka “non-infrastructure” aka “not safe” aka “systemic racism”.

The only viable “Bicycle Boulevard” in all of America …

… is currently in Berkeley. Not on Bryant Street in Palo Alto, Morro Street in San Luis Obispo, Silver Avenue in Albuquerque, or Berkeley.

Google Maps shows the intersection of two Berkeley Bike Boulevards. Both have bike lanes, both streets have only one parking lane, and there is plenty of high-density housing in this area, too. High-density housing requires high-density transportation options like these bike lanes.

source: Google Maps (https://maps.app.goo.gl/kMXersWEyXCGeMuF9)

After years and years of experimentation, Berkeley finally got smart and found the only solution to making their “Bike Boulevards” viable. At the intersection of Milvia Street and Channing Way, we see two Berkeley Bicycle Boulevards, and both have nice green bike lanes now. We can see a mix of classes II, IIb, and IV, but no class III anymore. Berkeley recognized that they had to move more to the right side of the Cupertino chart to be safer.

Let’s repeat that: only real bike lanes work!

If Berkeley is saying that affluent school children and college students deserve bike lanes to be safer, then the County Board of Supervisors (BOS) should make that a county-wide rule.

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” [MLK]

Would the Good Reverend be happy with San Mateo?

Q: Would the Good Reverend be happy with C/CAG?
A: He would agree that Equity Frameworks mean nothing if they are not lived and enforced.

Q: Would the Good Reverend be happy with the County Board of Supervisors (BOS)?
A: He would agree that if BOS can attack a supposedly independent Sheriff, why not go after systemic racism committed by city managers?

Q: Would the Good Reverend be happy with the City of San Mateo?
A: This depends on Vision Zero city sides with the children, their bike lanes, the rich Home/Car Owner Association (HCOA), and their private car storage.

… To Be Continued

This is a watershed moment for San Mateo Democrats. Let’s take a breather and let’s see how this is developing in February.

Actors to watch on the city council of San Mateo:

Mayor Rob Newsom Jr.
Deputy Mayor Adam Loraine
Lisa Diaz Nash
Nicole Fernandez (newly elected)
Danielle Cwirko-Godycki (newly elected)

Actors to watch on the Board of Supervisors:

David Canepa (Board President)
Noelia Corzo (Vice President)
Ray Mueller (from Menlo Park – a rich community where leaders did provide bike lanes for children from affluent families)
Lisa Gauthier (newly elected from East Palo Alto – an EFA where leaders did not provide bike lanes for children from low-income families)
Jackie Speier (newly elected)

“In order to improve on Equity, you actually have to improve on Equity”
[Zarathustra]

More Information

Editor’s Note: The views and opinions expressed in all blog posts are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Redwood City Pulse or its staff.

Act 1: C/CAG is sharing the Dream