Tag Archives: RSOA – Redwood Shores Owners Association

President’s Message: March 2011

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Annual Meeting

A few weeks ago, RSCA hosted our Annual Meeting at the Redwood Shores Library. This is one of our most important regular events as it brings leaders and staff from Redwood City and the Belmont-Redwood Shores School District to the Shores to speak about issues that matter to us.

This year, about 100 community members attended and heard presentations from Mayor Jeff Ira and Council Member Jeff Gee on the state of the City and Redwood Shores and from Dr. Emerita Orta-Camilleri on the School District budget and developments at our Elementary and Middle schools. We also heard from Interim City Manager Bob Bell and Acting Police Chief Ed Hernandez. Their messages were similar — money is tight, and the city and schools will need to approach problems a bit more creatively than in the past. For example, Interim City Manager Bob Bell described how Redwood City is looking into performing some city functions with the help of a corps of volunteers (the Shores’ own Carole Wong is helping to launch this initiative).

While RSCA appreciates that the City needs to live within its budget, we also continue to advocate for basic City services in the Shores, which are our due. For example, we have been concerned for a while about the time needed by Police in Redwood City to respond to incidents in the Shores. Even though the Police Department has had some layoffs, we do not accept that this means that we should accept even slower response times. To the contrary, RSCA is going to continue to press for improved Police response times and coverage in the Shores, as would any City neighborhood. Similarly, we have over the past few months asked the City to replace the many burned-out street lights in the Shores and to smooth the rough spots on our Parkways that wreak havoc on our cars’ suspensions. I am happy to report that the City has recently embarked on a program to address both of these issues — which we appreciate.

Redwood Shores Elementary Matching Funds

Despite the prevailing financial mess, there was one good piece of news – from the School District. As you may have read in our local papers, and as reported by Dr. Orta-Camilleri at our Annual Meeting, it appears that the School District will be awarded $8.75M in matching funds from the State to be used on building projects at Redwood Shores Elementary School.

As a new school with state-of-the-art facilities, Redwood Shores Elementary certainly does not have $8.75 in needs to address. Accordingly, RSCA expects the District to use these funds prudently and transparently, and we specifically want the District to use a substantial portion of these matching funds to pay off some of the $25M in Measure C Bonds that we passed and are paying for with our property taxes. Further, if for some legal reason the District can’t use these funds to pay off Measure C bonds, we want to have a say — before the fact — in how the funds will be spent, to ensure that at least some of the projects will benefit the entire Shores community.

Welcome to the New Officers of RSCA

I have been honored to be President of RSCA for the past two years. It has been a busy and successful two years for RSCA and much of this success is due to your membership support and the outstanding RSCA Board I’ve been privileged to work with. At our February meeting the RSCA Board elected a new slate of officers who will continue to provide strong leadership of RSCA and advocacy for the Shores. Please join me in welcoming our new officers: Harris Rogers (President), Sue Nix (Vice President), Lynn Adams (Secretary) and Ian Gunderman (Treasurer). Godspeed!

— Doug Crisman , former RSCA President

President’s Message: January 2011

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Some Notable Shores Residents

I’ve written many times about different events and meetings sponsored by RSCA as part of our mission to enhance the quality of life in the Redwood Shores. This month, I’m writing about two longtime RSCA Board Members, Pete Hughes and Pat Dixon, who work behind the scenes to make our mission a success. We all owe Pete and Pat many thanks for their years of community service, to which I can’t do justice in this small space.

Pete Hughes. If you enjoy walking or exercising on our pristine levees; or if you attend RSCA’s annual meeting to learn essential information from and question our local officials, you have Pete Hughes to thank. Pete is a longtime Redwood Shores resident with his wife Ginny, and a former successful business owner in Redwood City. Pete’s civic devotion and commitment to the community is truly exceptional. As an RSCA Board member, Pete conceived of and has managed almost single-handedly RSCA’s annual levee clean-up, where scores of community volunteers pick up trash on all of our levees and public areas. Pete is also a regular volunteer at other RSCA events, such as our annual Eggstravaganza and Halloween Walk in Marlin Park, and was the Shores rep to the Shores GID committee. Outside of RSCA, Pete has donated countless hours to the Peninsula Celebration Association, the Police Activities League and Casa de Redwood Senior Housing. He has also served the children and taxpayers of the Shores as a volunteer on New Shores School Advisory Committee and the Measure C Oversight Committee.

Pat Dixon. For many years, Pat has been the resource in the Shores for information on all doings in Redwood City and neighboring cities that have an impact on Redwood Shores, especially in relation to public safety and our infrastructure (e.g., road projects, public transportation, building projects, seniors’ issues, etc.). Pat has kept on top of these issues by attending many public meetings each week, all over the Peninsula. She also has frequent conversations with government officials who work on these issues and knows who to call to get things done, which has been a big help to RSCA and the Shores. You can also thank Pat for the messages you read on the RSCA sign boards on Redwood Shores and Marlin Parkways – she has posted these notices (different ones each week) for years, rain or shine. Pat is also passionate about our local wildlife and is known as the Swan Lady for her concern for and care of our resident Swans that live in the Davit Lagoon. Pat writes a regular Pilot column, On my Soapbox, where she provides information, advice, and her opinions on a wide range of topics.

Annual Meeting

Save the date for RSCA’s annual meeting, which will be held at the Redwood Shores Branch Library at 7:00 pm on February 9, 2011. Come to hear updates from our public officials on issues that matter to the Shores.

RSCA and RSOA

Many of you probably wonder how these two similarly-named organizations differ, and what their primary roles are in the Shores. In the interest of helping you sort this out, Carole Wong, President of RSOA, and I have prepared a table presenting a side-by-side comparison of RSCA and RSOA. You can review the table as well as a map showing geographic coverage of the two organizations, and list of local homeowner associations within respective jurisdictional areas on our respective web sites, www.RSCA.org and www.RSOA.info.

— Doug Crisman , RSCA President