LOCK your Cars, LOCK your Doors !

We have had a string of thefts from homes and automobiles parked in Redwood Shores. Valuables left inside were taken from cars parked in Governor’s Bay and Gossamer Cove. Cell phones, tablet PCs, GPSs and other valuables were left where they were clearly visible, and the cars were left unlocked — none of the entries into the cars was forced!

We’ve also had a few home “break-ins”, but – again – doors or windows were left unlocked. Police are aware of the crimes and have been patrolling the area, but they believe the robbers come by car and are able to move throughout the area quickly.

It seems that Bay Area thieves have begun to realize that we are a vulnerable area due the general safety of the Shores and to our trust in our neighbors. However, these crooks are NOT our neighbors and they are preying on our community.

LOCK YOUR CARS AND HOUSES! Take just a few sensible precautions to protect yourself. Be aware and report any suspicious behavior immediately.

(If you want to see a record of crime & police activity in the Shores, go to CrimeReports.com and, where it says “enter an address”, enter our ZIP, “94065”.)

 

More from 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. Public safety (police/fire) issues were naturally at the top of the list of concerns, but two other items also came up in more than a few comments.

The least controversial of the two items is re-gaining access to the outer Bay Trail (past the dog park behind sewage plant). This is now on RSCA’s list of issues to pursue in the coming year.

 

…and our “resident” Canada Geese

The second issue received several comments, and there are very strong opinions on both sides:

“I have children and the geese are a significant health and enjoyment issue for us, do not want to see people feeding the geese and would like to come up with consistent population control measures.”

And this:

“I believe the problem is out of control and is making RWS less of a desirable place to live. My wife and I can’t walk out onto the our local sidewalks without stepping in geese droppings… they are EVERYWHERE and it’s disgusting. And people complain when dogs aren’t cleaned up after? All the dogs in the community couldn’t match this mess. And forget about trying to enjoy any of the parks. Each square foot of grass will have multiple piles of geese droppings, again disgusting… they are hatching like crazy and very aggressive toward people, often blocking sidewalks and streets… I understand tolerance of these animals, but it is now more like an infestation…”

On the other side of the issue, we have some residents who believe the wildlife was here first and should be protected, as in this comment:

“…the goose population is being depleted by animal control. They are netting the baby geese, loading them into their trucks, they are than taken away to be destroyed! Is this really your interpretation of living in harmony with nature?”

In our 60 Second Survey, nearly 80% felt that the issue of goose feces littering the Shores was “very important” to them, with over 40% of respondents ranking this “extremely important”. Only 8% considered this to be of “little or no concern”. (On a 10-point scale from “no concern” to “extremely important”, this issue scored at 8.3 among all respondents.)

The rapid increase in the numbers of non-migratory Canada geese and the excrement they leave all over the Shores has created a public health hazard in addition to a significant decline in our community’s ability to enjoy our parks and walkways.

This is NOT a problem caused by seasonal migratory & native birds, and we all agree that these species must be protected. The problem is with those Canada geese who decided to settle here only as this community developed. Canada geese are NOT native to this area, and they do not migrate. Current urban landscaping techniques have provided a “preferred habitat”, and Canada geese have become an “overly successful species” without natural predators here. They “crowd out” other native and migratory species by taking their food and habitat.

Many, many other communities – not only in the Bay Area but all across the U.S. – have reached the same conclusion regarding “resident” Canada geese. Federal & state agencies have recognized and adopted regulations to deal specifically with “nuisance Canada geese.” Part of our increasing problem here is due to the mitigation efforts of neighboring communities (Foster City, for example) driving even more of these non-migratory geese into the Shores.

If we are going to keep our neighborhoods, parks, and walkways clean so that we can maintain the highest quality of life in the Shores, this is a problem that must be addressed.

You can help. If you are feeding Canada geese, either at home or in the parks, please STOP! This is the #1 recommendation of both the U.S. and state wildlife agencies. Feeding encourages the geese to stay here, and it also causes them to grow accustomed to human interaction. Not only is this dangerous to the geese, but it can result in more aggressive and harmful behavior by the geese towards humans.

We highly value the Shores’ open spaces and our surrounding wetlands, but when our kids can’t play in our parks without being soiled with bird excrement, when we can’t stroll through our community without constantly stepping in feces, then we have a significant problem that requires action.

Most of what needs to be done will be on private properties in the Shores, and it will require cooperative efforts between the City, agencies such as US Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game, our local businesses, the individual HOAs, and the non-HOA areas of Redwood Shores. RSCA will be working with all involved to clean up our community while protecting our native wildlife and the migratory species who “occasionally” come to visit us in Redwood Shores.

 

RSCA Can Use Your Help

RSCA is entirely a volunteer organization. And the list of things that we “could” be doing – things we would like to be doing – continues to grow.

If you have areas of specific interest in the Shores that YOU would like to see improved, and you have 1-2 hours a week to work with RSCA, let’s talk about how we might help each other. RSCA can provide support and a platform for action that you might not have as a single individual.

There are also specific skills which we could put to good use. We can always use help with publicity, art/graphic design, finance/accounting, and architecture or construction. We can find a way to use just about any skills you might have that you could volunteer for 1-2 hours a week.

Here is one specific example:

Right now we manually keep track of the 5,400+ residences and 700+ businesses in the Shores. We need a better system. If you have experience with CRM or “membership management” systems, especially “cloud-based” systems, please contact me directly. We can always use some fresh thinking as we look for new technology to help RSCA stay in touch with all our Shores neighbors.

 

Join Our Email List

With over 5,400 residents and 700 business in the Shores, we use our email list to keep you informed about our community events during the year. If you would like to be on our email list, simply go to RSCA.org and under “Feedback”, click on the “Join our email list” button to sign up.

Our privacy policy:

Your information is for use only by Redwood Shores Community Association in contacting you. We do not share, sell, or provide our contact list to any other person or organization.