Brisbane Council (Click here to read our endorsement article) 

• Jameel Munir

Burlingame City Council  (Click here to read our endorsement article) 

• Nirmala Bandrapalli
• Emily Beach

Redwood City Council (Click here to read our endorsement article) 

• Ian Bain
• Janet Borgens
• Shelly Masur

San Mateo City Council (Click here to read our endorsement article) 

2 year term

• Rick Bonilla

4 year term

• Maureen Freschet

San Carlos Ballot Measure V (Bond for Open Space Purchase): (Click here to read our endorsement article) 

• YES

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Endorsement Articles

Brisbane

Knowledgeable and Experienced, Jameel Munir is Needed for Brisbane City Council

By Katja Irvin & Mike Ferreira, Political Committee Members

Perhaps more than any other city in the Bay Area, Brisbane faces a complicated set of development and environmental issues in coming years. The Baylands Project Alternatives are wide ranging and run the gamut from an office-housing complex that could triple the city’s population to a commercial/retail and green energy-production project without housing. A very large factor is that the current zoning on the site‚ a former industrial area and former garbage dump, precludes housing and can only be changed by a vote of the Brisbane citizens. Therefore, whatever emerges will have to please the voters.

Jameel Munir has been a planning commissioner since 1997. He is very familiar with all of the environmental factors and policies that need to be applied. By joining the Council he will bring a planning expertise and an impressive private technical career background to the many discussions that will be needed to shape the future of the Baylands.

A vote for Jameel Munir is a vote for Brisbane’s environmental future.

Burlingame

Burlingame Will Be Well Served by Nirmala Bandrapalli

Sue Chow & Mike Ferreira, Political Committee Members

Planning Commissioner Nirmala Bandrapalli offers a knowledgeable outlook and a familiarity with all Burlingame issues in her race for the City Council. The Loma Prieta Chapter has had an ongoing dialogue with her through recent years, and we have confidence that her service on the City Council will benefit Burlingame’s environment. Transportation issues relative to Caltrain and El Camino Real, local flora protection during the drought, forward-looking concern for Burlingame’s exposure to sea level rise - all of these issues are topmost in her thinking. Nirmala has earned our endorsement and we look forward to working with her in the future. Visit: www.nirmala4burlingame.com

Emily Beach, Eager to Work for an Environmental Future for Burlingame

Sue Chow & Mike Ferreira, Political Committee Members

Emily Beach’s background is in education. She brings high-energy eagerness to absorb input on the environmental issues facing Burlingame. She displays a refreshing willingness to ask questions and to process the answers into further questions before developing an opinion. Emily scores well on answers about the issues that the Sierra Club membership cares about. She also walks the talk by adhering to environmentally conscious activities in her personal and family life. We believe the Sierra Club will have yet another friend on the Burlingame City Council after November 3. For more information, visit: www.beachforburlingame.com

Redwood City

Redwood City Needs These Leaders: Ian Bain, Shelly Masur, Janet Borgens

By Melissa Hippard, team lead

Three candidates for Redwood City Council earned our endorsement for their opposition to residential development on the east side of 101 and supporting Community Choice Aggregation. In addition to these critical policy positions, these individuals have demonstrated a strong commitment to environmental values, and we urge you to vote for them this fall.

Incumbent Ian Bain has demonstrated significant commitment to our policy priorities, particularly with his April 2015 opinion piece opposing residential development on the Cargill property. Ian has long been a champion of environmental issues. He led the city’s Climate Action Plan process and supported the use of recycled water against fierce opposition from some residents. Ian would like to continue to focus on critical issues facing our city including energy efficiency and conservation, water conservation and preservation of the Bay. For more information, see Ianbain.com

Shelly Masur has brought environmental leadership to the Redwood City School District for ten years supporting solar, recycling and composting, and the use of integrated pest management. As a member of the city council Shelly promises to make engaging the community a priority, and addressing traffic and parking challenges by expanding alternative transportation options, growing shuttle service, and expanding bike lanes. In addition, she would like to see new parks and green spaces in downtown and throughout the city. Shelly is very concerned about water usage due to the drought, and while Redwood City is requiring new buildings to install plumbing that will allow for the production and use of grey water, she would like to see the City incentivize grey water system installation in existing residential and commercial properties. For more information, seeShellyMasur.com

Janet Borgens has served on Redwood City’s planning commission for over a decade, was a member of the city’s recycled water task force, and participates regularly in city clean-up days. Janet has long been a community leader and will continue to ensure all residents have the opportunity to be heard. Her priorities include bringing recycled water across town, and requiring all new development to provide a transportation plan with monitoring to make sure the plan is working to reduce overall vehicle use. She wants to make sure we have more open space in our crowded downtown and sees an opportunity in a piece of city owned land. Janet will also encourage the city to look for properties and partnerships to create new parks and use the in-lieu fee to make things happen. She also supports the use of residential parking permits to facilitate parking problems in neighborhoods adjacent to downtown. Learn more at Janetborgens.org

San Mateo

Rick Bonilla and Maureen Freschet for San Mateo City Council

By Adam Loraine, San Mateo Endorsement Team Member

Rick Bonilla has been a Life Member of the Sierra Club since 1994 and has supported environmentally friendly initiatives on San Mateo commissions for the last 14 years. On the Planning and Public Works Commission, Bonilla built a solid track record of advocating for transit-oriented developments along the city’s rail corridor.

Since being unanimously appointed to the City Council earlier this year, Bonilla voted to approve the Climate Action Plan, and he believes its goals should be even more aggressive. A member of the Board of Directors for commute.org, Bonilla wants to reduce San Mateo’s GHG (Green House Gas) emissions from transportation by investing in more TOD (Transit Oriented Development), revising the downtown plan to allow for greater density and encouraging expansion of mass transit. He also supports progressive long-term water management - including recycling and on-site treatment - and reducing energy emissions via Community Choice Aggregation. For more information on Rick Bonilla, visitwww.bonillaforsanmateo.com or call (650) 430-9171.

In her first term on the City Council - and as Planning Commissioner before that - Maureen Freschet has proven to be a key supporter of local green measures.

She voted to approve San Mateo’s Pedestrian and Bicycle Master Plans and its Sustainable Streets Plan. She cast the deciding vote in favor of establishing San Mateo’s Sustainability Commission. Earlier this year, as Mayor of San Mateo, she continued to support the commission’s work by voting to approve its Climate Action Plan. Freschet supports implementing Community Choice Aggregation - critical element of the plan - and she is part of San Mateo County’s task force exploring the best way to do so. She also supports transit-oriented and LEED-certified developments, increasing the minimum wage and a living wage. Learn more about Maureen Freschet at http://maureenfreschet.com, or by calling (650) 520-3070.

Vote yes for Measure V in San Carlos to save Black Mountain

by Gladwyn d’Souza - Chair of the San Carlos Belmont Sierra Club Group.

Please vote yes on Measure V in San Carlos to save Black Mountain. Black Mountain is three lots making up about 25 acres in the middle of San Carlos immediately west of the Alameda.

Saving Black Mountain involves restoring the site, balancing urban development with open space, and putting development in the correct place. Like John Muir did in Yosemite, we must act now to create a legacy for future generations.

The five structures, roads and parking lots on Black Mountain today are easily removed. Once removed, the roads will provide a backbone for future trails across the properties. The San Carlos Belmont Sierra Club group, which has built most of the trails in San Carlos parks, stands ready to develop a trail system on Black Mountain. With these changes, Black Mountain will transition back to the open space it was and the legacy it could be. But only if we buy it today.

San Carlos is currently caught up in a sea of development. Transit Village, Wheeler Plaza and other developments in and around downtown are expected to add more than 500 new units. In addition, the city is looking at a new hotel and large businesses moving into the area such as Lyngso Garden Supplies. Even Devonshire Canyon will see more homes. The health of residents requires the city to balance all this emerging urban concrete with green spaces. Fortunately San Carlos has an opportunity to Save Black Mountain and add a natural expanse as a balance to downtown.

San Carlos has a wonderful opportunity to get it right - development downtown where services exist. And green space elsewhere to reduce costs and improve ecological services. Where as services like water and flood control are increasingly expensive, the largely undeveloped Black Mountain site is a huge sink for rainwater. We all know downstream flooding is an issue for properties on the Bay - for example, Novartis is looking for the city to put millions into flood protection from adjacent creeks. Preserving Black Mountain will provide a natural protection, far more cheaply.

Vote yes on Measure V. Saving Black Mountain will be a legacy for future generations, a precious green space to balance downtown urbanization, and an opportunity to get development right. Like John Muir would do, please vote for open space!

Gladwyn is an environmentalist with the Loma Prieta chapter of the Sierra Club active in energy, waste, and water issues related to land use. He is a hike leader for the San Carlos Belmont group.