The meeting started at 12:15.

 

Chris Ramirez, and his “Double Mint twin,” led the 34 participants in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Marilyn Orr gave the invocation. Three quotes…

The first from Martin Luther King, Jr., “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is… what are you doing for others?”

 

Then one from Mother Teresa, “We are called upon to do small things with great love.”

 

And, the last from Winston Churchill, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”

 

Ann Ritzma, Hillsborough city manager and our speaker

Christine Krolik, former mayor of Hillsborough and candidate for Hillsborough city council

Terry Trumbull, Palo Alto lecturer and environmental attorney

Chris Mount-Benites, Burlingame School District superintendent

 

Jim Shypertt’s sunshine report was that Tom Chakos is doing very well at 92.

 

Alex Buljan started to announce Hillbarn’s 80^th Anniversary Gala virtual event, but Zoom was not behaving. So, Christine Krolik stepped in and told us about Hillbarn’s largest fundraiser of the year, which is going virtual this year. It will be Friday night. All proceeds support programming, artists, and the continued presence of Hillbarn in our community. You can get more info here—https://www.hillbarntheatre.org/.

A nice surprise, Alden Cunningham joined us from Pennsylvania. 

 

Fritz started the newscast by asking if anyone knew what next week’s program and Alfred Hitchcock had in common. Cheryl Fama was first to correctly guess—Psycho. Cheryl wins the special prize—a plastic pink flamingo. Congratulations Cheryl. Please bring your flamingo to lunch next week. I think Icabod might be interested in meeting her. What do you think, Michael Kimball?

 

Fritz complimented Mike Kimball on his excellent writing of last week’s High Gear, and then read his “Rotarians in the News” segment—“Flocking Craze Sweeps Nation!” Very funny, Mike.

 

Flamingo Fun Facts were next.

 

Adult flamingos are 4-5 feet tall and weigh 4-8 pounds. That means if Fritz were a flamingo he would be about 182 feet tall. Huh?

 

Where do flamingos get their pink color? From the beta-carotene in crustaceans and plankton—Mike Kimball correctly shouted out “shrimp”. We also learned that a group of flamingos is not a herd, clutch, or flock. They are a flamboyance. And, the plastic flamingo was made the official bird of Madison, Wisconsin by the Madison City Council in 2009 (a 15-4 vote).

 

Many of you remember our long-time member Bob Davidson who was Hillsborough City Manager for many years. Today, we welcomed Ann Ritzma, the current Hillsborough City Manager, who has served in that role since March of 2019. Ann is also a member of the Foster City Rotary Club—the club that cooks.

 

Ann told us about Hillsborough’s fire-prevention and preparedness programs, which are done in collaboration with CCFD. One of the most exciting is the County-Wide Evacuation program—Zone Haven. This public and first responder website provides detailed information by pod (neighborhood) to share information about what to do and where to go in case of an emergency—fire, earthquake, and others. Zone Haven will launch this fall. It was tested during the first month of shelter in place to share information, such as what stores were open and when senior hours were.

 

She also invited everyone to join the Hillsborough Neighborhood Network on Sunday, September 13, for its annual NeighborhoodFest, which will be held virtually. It’ll be a great opportunity to get information and participate in a fun scavenger hunt.

 

More wireless equipment will be coming to Hillsborough as part of a settlement with Crown Castle—they can apply for 13 sites (down from 16). And, as part of an FCC Declaratory Ruling, wireless providers will be able to add equipment to “eligible facilities.” Hillsborough also has two applications from AT&T for 911 3G/4G facilities at town-owned water tank sites. This will increase wireless 911 coverage to address gaps.

 

As part of Ann’s water and waste update, we learned that Hillsborough recently upgraded its water system by rebuilding the Cherry Creek pump station and completely filing the Vista Water Tank.

Hillsborough also has the distinction of having the highest use of automated water meters. 77.9% of residents utilize Water SMART (automated meters) to get real-time information about water usage to identify water leaks in the home or irrigation systems early—especially if they are out of town. Hillsborough’s Summer Smoke Testing, a proactive program to identify server lateral defects and failures, also helps with leak identification. By pumping smoke through the lines, leaks are found and repaired to prevent “inflow and infiltration” of groundwater and rainwater into the system.  

 

Hillsborough has made donating non-perishable food and other household items to Samaritan House super easy. You can now drop donations at Hillsborough’s Town Hall, the Hillsborough School District’s office, or West School. Volunteers come each week to pick up donations and bring them to Samaritan House. We were encouraged to add to the more than 800 bags already collected—just grab an extra bag of good when you’re shopping and drop it off on your way home.

 

 

Ann also gave us a COVID update. As of the morning of August 5, San Mateo County had 5,758 cases and 120 total deaths. Information related to COVID-19 in San Mateo County can be found at https://www.smchealth.org/coronavirus-health-data. When looking at the COVID-19 dashboard, the R-eff number is important—if below 1 we’re on the downhill side of the curve. If above 1, we’re increasing in cases. As of August 4, San Mateo County’s R-eff number was 0.98.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

San Mateo County has done a good job of keeping the “curve” flat. So far, we haven’t had huge peaks. However, we did make it back on the State’s restricted list because our cases were 140.9/100,000—to get off this list, we must be below 100/100,000.

 

 

Finally, Ann summarized the Board of Supervisor’s urgency ordinance that established fines for not wearing masks in public. People may now be fined hundreds of dollars if they refuse to wear a face mask or violate other public health orders related to curbing the spread of the coronavirus. The Board of Supervisors also extended the eviction moratorium. San Mateo County has also launched a marketing campaign to help stop the spread of COVID-10.

 

 

Ann answered questions from the audience. Former Hillsborough mayor, Christine Krolik, also helped with Q&A.

 

Emily thanked Ann for coming, and the meeting was adjourned with a ring of the bell at 1:16.

 

Access a recording of the meeting, including the pre-meeting banter here:

https://zoom.us/rec/share/2MJFPqra1lhOHKfN72PBZa57LIq4X6a81idN86YIxB5_6x8IEF8duym0bgkSXJVt Password: +&HJL7Er