In the first of my monthly missives, I want to again thank all of the Redwood City officials and Council Members who took time to be at our Annual Meeting in February. I continue to be impressed with all of those who serve the City, and with their willingness to listen and have a conversation with us about our concerns and theirs. Same for our School District Superintendent and school staffs.

One of RSCA’s primary roles is advocacy for the interests of Shores residents and businesses. But our strong advocacy can sometimes be mistaken for an adversarial role, and I don’t think that describes our relationship with the City or the School District over the past few years. We have found City staff cooperative at all levels in listening to and dealing with our concerns, and we have an ongoing, positive dialog with our School District.

We don’t say “thank you” enough to those who serve us. Let’s change that. If you see any Redwood City employee here in the Shores – whether it is our police, fire, public works, maintenance, or other City staff – walk up and say “thank you for being here.”

Same for our teachers and school personnel. Take the time to say it.

Our Little Island

Redwood Shores is an island. We are surrounded on three sides by water and on the fourth by Hwy. 101.

We live on an island. Although we are part of Redwood City, there is no boundary of the Shores that borders any other part of Redwood City. You have to travel 1? miles on a freeway to get from any part of the Shores to the closest part of Redwood City.

You realize just how isolated we can be whenever there is an accident on either the Dumbarton or San Mateo Bridges or on Hwy.101. Travel to and from the closest part of Redwood City can take 10-20 minutes, and sometimes it can take as long just to get to the other side of the freeway on either Ralston or Holly.

We don’t yet have the 2010 Census data, but the best estimates are that we have over 15,000 residents in the Shores. During the business day we probably have as many people coming into the Shores as leave to work. That means there are 15,000+ people here in the Shores at all times – days, nights, or weekends.

There are only two ways to get in or out of the Shores, and both involve overpasses that could be seriously compromised in a major seismic event. That would leave 15,000+ people stranded without City services or any other service that would need to come from the other side of Hwy. 101.

I make this point because we have a continuing discussion about a permanent public safety presence (i.e., police & fire protection) in the Shores. We have a fire station located in the Shores, and it is fortunate that the station was manned at the time of a recent fire at Lighthouse Cove, a condominium complex with 4-to-12 residence units in each building. (And we have many, many similar multi-family residential buildings in the Shores.) The quick response from the Fire Department’s Station 20, just a few blocks away, limited the damage to a single unit. Had the response come from the other side of Hwy.101, FOUR families might have lost their homes.

(The recent events in Japan have also reinforced the need for each household to be prepared for an emergency on “our little island”. More on that in coming issues of the PILOT.)

RSCA’s 60 Second Survey

We do appreciate all of you who made time for our “60 Second Survey” of issues affecting the Shores, and we especially appreciated those who took time to offer additional comments. I will try to provide some details next month. We will ask for your input on other issues when we open another survey later this spring.

Tree Roots, Street Repairs & Sidewalks

In December, one of our members raised the issue of tree roots damaging the pavement along sections of Marine, Bridge, and Redwood Shores Parkways. The City has responded quickly to repair the pavement along those sections, so you should have a smoother drive now. Weather permitting, most of the work should be completed by the time you read this.

— Harris Rogers, RSCA President