High Gear
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
The Club hosted its second online Club meeting via Zoom. President Chèri called the meeting to order at 12:15PM. She led us all in the Pledge of Allegiance. She then addressed us all on these unprecedented times:
Invocation:
The COVID-19 coronavirus is affecting every aspect of our lives in real time, and this puts Rotarians in an unfamiliar place. As People of Action, we are most comfortable when we are fully engaged in the world – moving freely, meeting openly, and offering helping hands. These are very difficult times for people who, like us, are at our best when we are learning, growing, and serving -- together.
We are also leaders in our communities, and these times call for leadership. In many ways, this also is our time. We have proven abilities to reach out and collaborate to offer immediate help to people in need at a rapid pace. These are precisely the skills needed all over the world today. The global effort against COVID-19 depends on actions taken in every country, and in our case following government and CDC guidance for safe distance and shelter-in-place measures by its citizens. As members of Rotary we have the unique ability to help improve those efforts here in our own community.
Announcements:
Chèri then recognized one of our members who has and is currently wearing many hats; Club Secretary and ClubRunner master to mention just a few.
Mary Murphy has now, also, become our Zoom guru and host making these meetings possible. Thank you for all you do, Mary.
Members then heard from
Marc Friedman, Jennifer Pence and Sarah Haas who gave us updates on the high school Rotary exchange program and the current students our club has sponsored. Marc explained that our club has been one of the more active clubs in the district with regards to the high school exchange program.
Mary Rogren of Half Moon Bay has been the District 5150 coordinator for some time. She is stepping down so our district is searching for a replacement. If anyone is interested let Marc know. He also informed us that Rotary has cancelled the exchange program for the '20-'21 Rotary year.
Jennifer reported on the students who spent the academic year here.
Carolina, who is from a Rotary district in Italy, made the most of her time at BHS. She earned straight A's first semester in challenging classes (AP physics, pre-calculus, engineering technology, English, American Government, Digital Photography, and AP Italian), joined the cross-country and basketball teams, made a lot of friends that she feels even closer to than her friends back home, and traveled with her host families and with Rotary to LA/Disneyland, skiing, etc. She is extremely mature and continually expresses her gratitude for this opportunity. Her family has decided she should return home early, so she is planning to go back to Italy next week. Our inbound student from Japan,
Rintao, had to cut his time short here, as well, and returned to his home country a few weeks ago.
Sara gave us some information on the outbound students.
Courtney is in Sicily, Italy and
Vani is in Hiroshima, Japan. Both girls are Design Tech High School graduates; Vani will be heading to UC Berkeley in the fall and Courtney to Northwestern University. They are loving their host countries and they've elected to stay instead of returning to California, even though the program has been cancelled.
Speakers:
Our keynote speakers were Burlingame City Councilmembers Michael Brownrigg and Donna Colson.
Rotarian and Councilman Brownrigg led off with some background on the proposal that he and former Mayor Colson were tasked to design. The goal is to try to create a plan for an economic recovery from the financial devastation that the City is and will be experiencing. The largest source of revenue for Burlingame is the hotel tax. It is expected to be 50% less than before the pandemic. With businesses being closed due to the shelter-in-place orders, sales tax income will also suffer. But the City has a moral and communal as well as a financial responsibility to assist its residents and businesses to weather this major economic downturn. The City is well prepared to assist. Since 2008 Burlingame has built up a substantial rainy-day fund. The current financial effects of the Covid-19 shelter-in-place on businesses certainly warrants dipping into that reserve. The Burlingame City Council has allocated $1,000,000 to help rescue small businesses.
Councilmember Donna Colson gave us a brief overview of this 8-point rescue plan for small businesses.
- Partnering with SAMCEDA, who works with all county Chambers of Commerce, to establish an advisory service as a resource for businesses.This will be staffed by volunteers, most of whom are former CPAs, accountants and lawyers.
- Underwriting for 1 year the Broadway and Downtown Merchants BID fees usually assessed to businesses to support community activities.
- Maintaining the current free parking in the main downtown areas to encourage residents to park and pick-up take-out from local restaurants.That revenue usually amounts to $200,000 monthly.
- A buy-local program to support Burlingame businesses.
- Funds remaining in councilmembers’ campaign accounts to go to the Daily Journal whose advertising revenue has significantly dropped with businesses being shuttered.
- A means-tested stored value card for low income residents to be spent exclusively at local businesses.
- Grant program to small Burlingame retailers.They must have a physical storefront open to the public to qualify.Funds will go to those who have the best chance to succeed.The applicant must show that they were hurt by the current situation, have contributed to the community and their employees.SAMCEDA will handle the distribution.These grants will be between $5,000 and $20,000 and be integrated with any SBA funding the merchant may have received.
The goal is to get this help out as quickly as possible as the need is now for most business owners.
Final Remarks:
Mary then shared some Covid-centric clips from old MASH episodes to add a little levity to the meeting.
For those who would like to view the meeting just click on the link below. Our next meeting will be Wednesday, April 15. The speaker will be Betsy McGinn. principal author of “The Amazon Roadmap: How Innovative Brands Are Reinventing the Path to Market“.
