Posted by Mary Murphy on Aug 02, 2017

Pledge and Invocation

Mary Murphy lead the pledge.
 
Pierre Bouquet gave the invocation which was a bid departure from his signature super loquacious deliberations. 

President Mike Horwitz was his usual sunny self.

Guests and Visiting Rotarians

John Manning was guest of Pierre Bouquet.  Assemblyman Kevin Mullin was guest of the club and the speaker for the day.
 
There were no visiting Rotarians. 

 

Announcements

In 2015 the Burlingame Rotary Club gave a gift of $30,000 to Apple Tree Dental whose mission is to improve the oral health of all people, including those with special access needs who face a barrier to care. Cheryl Fama, CEO of the Peninsula Health Care District, and a Burlingame Rotary member, gave us the news that Peninsula Health Care District and Apple Tree Dental have announced a leadership transition, with with local leaders from the Peninsula Health Care District and Half Moon Bay now leading the organization. Beginning August 1, 2017, an expanded team of local leaders will begin governing and managing the innovative nonprofit organization which was launched in 2015, as a partnership between the Peninsula Health Care District and Apple Tree Dental, based in Minnesota. Serving 30,000 patients each year Apple Tree Dental is an amazing success and they serve everyone; transcending age, ability, and need. We are proud to have contributed to their success.
 
GOLF SIGN UPS: Nancy Bush stop the meeting to demonstrate how easy it is for members and their friends and associates can sign up for Dinner, Golf, and Contribute to our annual Golf Event to benefit local scholarships. Thanks Nancy
Past President Stan Moore, who as of July 1st has too much time on his hands, begged each member to bring a bottle of wine ($30 or over) to the next meeting. The wine will be utilized to accompany the dinner menu at the Golf Event - for more news refer to the Burlingamerotary.org webpage.
Past President Stan also asked for members to call or email him with opportunities to help in our local community. Stan is working with Sheryl Young and they need volunteers and your ideas.  Stan and Sheryl, thanks for all you do.
 
WineMaker's Dinner, Charity Dinner and Wine Paring, August 17, 2017
Bob Doerr reminded us that the DoubleTree Hotel, Burlingame is holding a "Winemaker's Dinner, Charity Dinner and Wine Paring' on August 17, 2017 beginning at 6pm. The $100 per person is all inclusive for wine and a 4 course meal and $25 of the first 50 sign ups will go to the Burlingame Rotary. Get your tickets today.
 
Call 650-344-5500 or Find them on Open Table.  
 
 

Program

Our speaker today was Assemblyman Kevin Mullin.  He lives in South San Francisco with his wife Jessica and rescue beagle, Sunshine. Kevin and Jessica are expecting twins in January and we thank him for making time to talk with us. He has a large district from Brisbane to Redwood City and he loves what he does. He is proud of the fact that the District has a balanced budget for 5 years in a row and that California is doing great at the moment. San Mateo County has the lowest unemployment in the US and we are booming. S. San Francisco alone boasts 200+ bio tech companies. The Democrats, of which he is one, have a 2/3rds majority but he is proudest of the fact that they work along side their Republican colleagues.  
Kevin talked about the challenges of our success; housing, transportation and the difficulty of finding people wot work in the service trade because of the high cost of housing and the availability.  He mentioned a bill to repair streets and roads that passed by both parties and a cap and trade bill that received bi-partisan support. He is super proud of the civility in the Assembly and the relationships between members on both sides of the aisle. He mentioned the unfortunate 'nasty tone' in Washington, but assured us that State government is working. He is excited about the fully funded electrification of CalTrain, and stated that our biggest challenge is how do we expand economic prosperity for everyone. A note was made of the 2018 Governor's race and the two players - Gavin Newsom Democrat and Antonio Villa Regosa, Republican. He closed out the meeting with a Q & A session with our Rotary members and covered such topics as elections and how they are covered, transportation, housing and a general observation  that we are at a unique moment in History - we cannot control Washington D.C. we can only control California. The positive side of all the chaos is that more people are getting involved at the local level and this is re-energizing our democracy.
 
Thank you Assemblyman Kevin Mullin for your insights and your tireless work.