More On our “Resident” Canada Geese

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 problem that requires action. 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.

Because of summer vacations The PILOT is going to press a little early this month, but here’s a little of what’s been going on recently:

I was expecting a higher level of response to my comments last month on this issue. The most impassioned was a “complaint” that we had been talking about this issue for the past two years, yet it appears that still nothing was being done to resolve the problem. And that’s somewhat true.

We did come up with what appeared at the time to be the best solution, and one that’s being used in other parts of the U.S. It involved the use of a “birth-control” bait that would suppress the reproduction of the resident geese. But, unlike other areas of the U.S., we have protected bird species here in the Shores that could have also been impacted, so that solution had to be shelved.

On July 15th I had a first meeting with representatives of U.S. Fish & Wildlife and CA Dept. of Fish & Game to review our situation in and around the Shores. To my knowledge this is the first time that both US & CA wildlife officials have been in the same room at the same time to have a discussion of what can and can’t be done to mitigate our Canada geese infestation without impacting migratory species and native wildlife.

What we’ve tried to do is start a process whereby we can get the FACTS and the best advice from state and federal wildlife departments on what we can/can’t do, then work with the City to put together a plan for “coordinated” action in the Shores.

The City alone can’t solve the problem

Redwood City has been and is actively involved with RSCA to find solutions to our problems with Canada geese in the Shores. Most of what needs to be done, though, will be on private properties in the Shores, and it will require cooperative efforts between the City, state, and federal agencies, our local businesses, the individual HOAs, and the non-HOA residents of Redwood Shores.

RSCA will be working with all involved to develop a coordinated plan to clean up our community. We don’t want to simply move the problem from one part of the Shores to another.

We will also be sharing our plans with neighboring communities. Part of our increasing problem here is due to mitigation efforts in Foster City, for example, driving even more of these non-migratory geese into the Shores.

One of the problems we have faced in getting people to come to terms with and address the severity of problem has been the level of “half-truths” and “old truths” that seem to come up every time any action is proposed. (By “old truths”, I mean things that might have been true 20 years ago that are no longer true in 2011.)

They were NOT here first

Canada geese are NOT native to this area, most here do not migrate, and Canada geese decided to settle here permanently only as this community developed. As I said last month, current urban landscaping provides a “preferred habitat” that invites a normally migratory species to “settle”, and Canada geese have become an “overly successful species” without natural predators here in the Shores. They “crowd out” other native and migratory species by taking their food and habitat.

Federal & state agencies across the country have recognized and adopted regulations to deal specifically with the problems of “resident” Canada geese. They are now considered a “nuisance” species in most areas.

Feeding is ILLEGAL (by Fed, State,& Local laws)

If you are feeding ANY wildlife, either on your own property or in the parks or other public areas, please STOP! Be aware that feeding wildlife is a violation of federal, state, and local laws.

Again, 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. This is not beneficial to the geese (or to any other wild species), and it can result in more aggressive and harmful behavior by the geese towards humans. Any food left outside – whether it’s for pets or wildlife – also attracts rats and other pests.

Help us keep our neighborhoods, parks, and walkways clean so that we can maintain the highest quality of life in the Shores.

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.

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.

Our “Extra” Special Members

Along with our winter letters for 2011 RSCA Membership, we provided the opportunity for Shores residents to volunteer a little “extra” to help fund our activities. We want to acknowledge these Shores neighbors who thoughtfully made that “extra” contribution:

• Anacelis & Michael Adams
• Lou & Bud Bailey
• Judy Chiasson
• Jerry Stout & Sarah Elder
• Saad Saleem & Nosheen Faruqui
• Dr. Edda Gomez-Panzani
• Naomi & Robert Hernandez
• Keith Hunter
• Kent & Helen Lee
• Andrew & Lesli Leong
• Andrew Koch & Mahalyn Lu
• Vincent Mason
• Richard & Jessica Millard
• Karen Siu & Joon Moy
• Ana & Oleg Nickolayeva
• Rick O’Connor, Jr.
• Mirella & Alex Stefan
• James M. Walker
• Kristen Sze & Jason Wong

Our special thanks to all of these people for their generosity and additional support of RSCA’s activities.

What We Do

If you want details of what RSCA tries to do in Redwood Shores, you can go to the RSCA.org web site and, under “Your Community Association,” there is a link to “RSCA Documents”. On page 1 of the original Articles of Incorporation you can read the purpose for which the Association was originally formed in 1970. Also under “Your Community Association” there is a link to our current Bylaws with more detail about our “mission” (Article III).

But I think all of this can be summed up in two words: “Communicate” and “Advocate”.

RSCA communicates by printing and distributing this monthly PILOT magazine. The PILOT is the only magazine, focused entirely on our local community that goes to every residential household and many businesses in Redwood Shores. We also communicate about events of local interest through our roadway signs on Marine Pkwy and Redwood Shores Pkwy. When needed, we send postal mail to every Shores residence on issues of larger importance (like the levees). And we now are expanding our ability to communicate by email to those who join our list.

Our goal is to be informative (without being intrusive) about events and issues specific to the Shores.

As the advocate for Redwood Shores, RSCA has for over 40 years actively supported the shared interests of all Shores residents, including homeowners and renters. We also support the interests of our local businesses who share with us this wonderful community. At its Annual Meeting RSCA provides an opportunity each year for the community to meet and hear from our local elected officials and those city & county employees who serve us. When needed, RSCA provides other forums for united community action.

RSCA is dedicated to preserving the highest quality of life by also promoting activities and events for “our little island.” We work to keep the Shores a GREAT place to live and work.

We Could Use Some 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/construction. We can find a way to use any skills you might have that you could spare for 1-2 hours a week.

Right now we manually keep track of the 5400+ 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. We can always use some fresh thinking as we look for new technology to help RSCA stay in touch with all our Shores neighbors.

A Hole in our Heart & Soul

After 26 years here, Pat Dixon is leaving Redwood Shores. Most of you know Pat only from her “Swan Lady” column in the PILOT. Pat has been a tireless advocate for this community in her service on many Boards and Commissions in San Mateo County. I cannot say more than was in the Proclamation from the RWC Council honoring her service. A copy is on RSCA.org: Redwood City Honors Pat Dixon

Pat is leaving a big hole in the heart and soul of Redwood Shores.

New System for Taking Police Reports…

Like almost every agency in every city in California, our Police Department is working to find new ways to continue to provide basic services more efficiently, even with declining resources. This means finding ways to free officers from lower-priority tasks so they are available for more important duties.

One plan already in place is a voluntary system that would let you “self-report” minor property crimes without the need to have a police officer tied up taking the report. The criteria are that:

1. the property crime is not in progress,
2. the property loss is less than $10,000, and
3. no suspect information is available.

Examples of crimes that could be self-reported would be petty theft, vandalism, hit & run collisions, and auto burglaries. Again, self-reporting without the need to have a police officer on-site to take the report is entirely voluntary. When you make the report yourself, that report becomes an “official police report” and goes into the police crime reporting system just as if a sworn officer had taken the report. You get a copy of the “official police report” for insurance or other purposes, again, just as if a sworn officer had taken the report.

You still have the option of having an officer come and make the report if you wish. But when you make the report yourself, you free up that officer for other duties. More complete information is available at http://www.redwoodcity.org/police/ . Look for “Report Crime On-Line” in the lower left hand corner.

…and for Seeing Crime Report Activity On-line

One of the comments we received in our winter 60 Second Survey was “ability to know about crime in RWS through some pro-active mechanism”. This is an issue RSCA has raised with RWC Police for the past few years. By the time your read this, you should be able to go to CrimeReports.com and search “Redwood City” to see crime reports for the past month. There are tools to the right that will let you select what type of crimes you want to see on the map.

This is a system that the RWC Police command staff are now using, and you can see that many of our neighboring cities are also using this system. While crime report “media logs” have been available on the RWC Police web site for some time, this new tool is a great step forward in increasing the visibility of criminal & police activity in our City. Kudos to the department for making this information more easily available to the public.

Why We Want Your Email

RSCA is required to notify all Shores residents and businesses of specific events like our Annual Business meeting each year. It costs us at least 45¢ to send a postcard notice, and even more if we need to send a letter. We now have over 5,400 residents and almost 700 business in the Shores, so those mailing costs are significant. It costs us much less an one penny each to send an email notice.

We currently have over 600 Shores residents & businesses on our email list, and we use our email list to make sure you are aware of all 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.

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. The results were not surprising, with the highest concern naturally being the levee certification, with public safety issues a close second.

One responder had this suggestion: “It would be nice to hear different view points from the pilot. It seem like the same voices say the same message. How about allowing others to voice their opinion, especially since we don’t all think the same way?”

We agree, and we would like to hear from you. If you would be interested in writing a column for the PILOT, either one time or on a regular basis, simply contact me or PILOT Editor Carol Mertens at

— Harris Rogers, RSCA President

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