Progress towards healthcare for all could be furthered by the creation of a United States Medical Academy which would provide free education for those willing to serve for, say, 4 years as doctors in places where they are needed, with a strong focus on preventive medicine.   The purpose of this opportunity would be to improve the health of all citizens.

Those who would and will cry “socialism” would hopefully come to recognize that the military academies provide us with an excellent “socialized” military which protects us from threats to our national security and that the very notion of national security must involve a population free from threats to the health of our citizens.

– George Cattermole

Make sure we are utilizing best election methods, practices and systems.

San Mateo County is located in the heart of the leading technology geographic area-  but we use voting systems that have been reported as deficient by government study.  We should lead the country toward less expensive, more secure, open source / paper ballot voting systems.

– Brent Turner

South San Francisco is a city of many diverse cultures with a large Mexican and Latino population in particular.  There are few festivals in South San Francisco but today I saw the Fiestas Patrias at S.S.F. City Hall.  There was some great singing, musicians, and colorful Folklorico dancers.  They were so good they reminded me of the renowned Folklorico dancers I had seen many years ago in Ghadalahara, but I found out they were a South San Francisco troop of high school performers.  This colorful enjoyable performance on the City Hall steps, brought pride to a poorer culture that works hard to succeed in their new country.  It brought acceptance and admiration from people of other cultures.  It brought some money to the vendors, and enjoyment to brighten up the community.  The performance itself I thought was quite exceptional.

Their intent was to broaden it to other South American countries, and this is a very good idea.  Let’s create festivals for different countries to celebrate our cultural diversity and our differences. Lets enjoy the dance, music, art, and entertainment and the different ethnic food, and drinks.  Lets promote cultural tolerance, pride in different cultures at an early age, and more harmony in our community.  There could be multiple venues for the different cultures along Grand Ave and other sites.  One particularly successful example of this kind of multi cultural celebration is the 40 year old two week Folklorama festival in Winnipeg, Canada.  Whether it is a large festival with many venues such as this, or a smaller localized one, everybody benefits, economically, and by promoting understanding and tolerance of different cultural values.  It would certainly be well suited and benefit the multi-cultural community of South San Francisco.

– Z Corda

Original Photo: Flikr user Sean Dreilinger.   Used under Creative Commons license.

Increase area tipping fees to make deconstruction feasible. Fees should be over $150/ton.
–Gladwyn d’Souza

Tipping fees (sometimes called gate fees) are charges levied at disposal sites such as landfills for dumping waste.  By increasing tipping fees, those working in building and infrastructure demolition would have incentive to salvage reusable materials and fixtures for later use rather than dumping them as waste.  Such reusable materials include plumbing fixtures, cabinetry, flooring and scrap metal.

Develop and carry through on a plan for the Princeton waterfront that deals with erosion, illegal/haphazard riprap, and construction at the shoreline, all of which impact public access and enjoyment of this coastal resource.

- Lisa Ketcham

We need those who supervise us to have an understanding and appreciation of those species which were here before supervision was needed. Endangered species need to be protected by those who have the power to protect them. April Vargas understands this. Few in power these days do.

– George Cattermole

The San Francisco Garter Snake (Thamnophis sirtalis tetrataenia) pictured above is found only in San Mateo County and bits of far nothern Santa Cruz County.  This subspecies of the common garter snake is considered one of the most colorful snakes in the world.  Classified as endangered since 1967, only 1,000-2,000 individuals are predicted to remain.

Find out more about San Francisco Garter Snakes and efforts to protect them on Wikipedia , Don Robertson from Monterrey’s website, or the Center for Biological Diversity.

Original Photo: Flikr user hildgrim.  Used under Creative Commons license.

Promote opportunities for people only spaces in commercial areas complete with benches, places for bicycles and lots of trees.  This is a great way to increase foot traffic in retail areas while at the same time creating great places for people to meet, exchange ideas and sip on their favorite beer or coffee.

– Larry Jacobs

Original Image: Flickr user CbCastro  Used under Creative Commons license.

Improve public transportation on the Coast: more frequent buses, free or cheaper transfers, better weekend service, service continuing later at night.

– Patricia McKowen

Original Image: Flickr user occam.  Used under Creative Commons license.  Tree: Public Domain.

Many people use Hwy. 101 and it is really a boring drive and frustrating.  If we could make it more beautiful and relaxing, perhaps we could lessen the road rage, etc.  Also, this greening of the highway by planting more trees would bring more rain to this desert state (as trees attract more rain).  I, for one, take Hwy 280 because it is such a lovely drive and never go on Hwy 101 unless I have no alternative.  Once the trees are planted, they should not need any upkeep.  Nature would provide that.

- Ron Meier

Thanks for this opportunity.
My main concern is the ugly billboards.
Get rid of them.

- Rick Gilbert, Redwood City

San Mateo County residents need to be able to get to work.

Current bus service is inadequate and leaves people stranded for us to 5 hours because it doesn’t run at night.  The bus ride from north to south is two hours. When the bus doesn’t start until 5 am in the north, a person can’t get to work until 7 am in the south.

Higher paying jobs are 9-5, lower paying jobs, the jobs that support us all, can be any time, day or night. These are service jobs, and many start much, much earlier.  Yet, low paid workers who desperately need to work more than one job, cannot get to 2nd and 3rd jobs.

Also, people going out at night are stranded if they don’t catch the midnight bus. This encourages drunk driving.

We basically only have one street in San Mateo County for north-south transport. Can’t we cover El Camino at least every 30 minutes?

-Dana Callen