Campaigning for Measure Q, San Bruno’s proposed infrastructure bond, is underway — and voters will decide if they’re willing to shell out an additional three cents per every $100 of assessed property value to cover stormwater systems, road fixes and fire station upgrades.
Former Mayor Jim Ruane, who is leading the campaign, is hopeful residents understand the city’s need for the infrastructure bond and will be willing to support it.
“The interaction I have had has been positive. People want to improve our city,” he said. “It’s a self-imposed improvement cost, and I think people are willing to do it.”
The City Council unanimously approved the infrastructure bond to go out to voters. Councilmember Michael Salazar — who typically leans on the conservative side of financial and spending decisions — said he was comfortable supporting the measure because the council had proven itself to be responsible with funding from an earlier sales tax measure.
“I believe we’ve established we can be good stewards of those revenues. I feel more comfortable asking residents to fund this additional need — it’s clearly something, when we did the polling, clearly something the public seemed to support,” he said.
Fliers and social media posts will go out to advertise the bond shortly, Ruane said, noting there’s no active, organized campaign against it and groups like the San Mateo County Democratic Party and San Mateo County Central Labor Council are in support.
The only lack of support he’s heard on the measure thus far is from the Realtor community.
“Some Realtors are obviously concerned it’s going to add a few dollars to purchasing a home in San Bruno,” he said.
For a house assessed at $1 million, it would cost $300 per year.
If it passes, the measure — which would authorize the city to take out $102 million in bonds over time — would help to replace the outdated Fire Station 52, which currently needs seismic improvements as it sits along the San Andreas Fault, Salazar said.
For voters, the day-to-day improvements along the streets that the measure could promote are of particular importance, Ruane said.
“Streets, potholes, that’s what mayors and councilmembers hear all the time. Those are the day-to-day issues we see in cities, driving around,” he said. “People see improvements of the streets as huge.”
But he also emphasized the importance of updating San Bruno’s stormwater drain systems as climate change and more aggressive winter weather make their functioning all the more necessary.
“We’re trying to play catch-up with a lot of this. It’s my responsibility, as a homeowner, to put in my three cents, if you will, to improve my city,” Ruane said.
The city needs to fund these projects, Salazar emphasized.
“These are our essential functions. If we’re not able to do those, we’ll fail as a city. And we can’t allow that to happen,” he said.
