SAN BRUNO CITY COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING
February 25, 2025
Public Comment(s)
1 Lupita Huerta
From: Matt Jones < >
Sent: Monday, February 24, 2025 10:34 AM
To: Marty Medina; Rico Medina; Sandy Alvarez; Tom Hamilton; Michael Salazar Cc: City Manager; City Clerk; Matthew Lee; Peter Gilli; Subject: Public Comment on 7a - adoption of complete streets committee Hello Council and staff,
I am commenting today in my capacity as a longtime resident of San Bruno, a former San Bruno BPAC member, and former San Bruno BPAC staff liaison for the planning department, and the Director of Advocacy for the Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition.
I have reviewed the staff report for the creation of the Complete Streets Committee and am generally in favor of the merger of TSPC and BPAC into this new committee. I have the following comments and questions that I encourage staff and Council to consider.
First, a bit of background: when I joined BPAC in 2014, and staff from 2015-7, the Public Works divisions and Planning divisions were siloed. BPAC was staffed by Planning and TSPC was staffed by Public Works.
The City Manager at the time (Connie Jackson) had a policy in place where staff were forbidden from collaborating with other departments without department head approval. Staff were forbidden from communicating with other organizations or cities without City Manager approval. I have since worked with over a dozen other cities in the Bay Area and had never seen anything like this. The result was that staff were not empowered to collaborate or learn from models of other cities. The impact of this model on street design meant that two departments were receiving completely different feedback from TSPC and BPAC. Moreover, there was little collaboration between planning and public works staff on these issues on day to day projects and public works staff were deeply skeptical of incorporating bike ped planning into their work.
When I viewed this staff report, by contrast, I felt hopeful that this is a major step forward for the City.
This consolidation will allow Public Works staff to have more direct engagement with bicycle and pedestrian advocates since they are the department staffing this committee and are most directly responsible for designing safer streets. The city management has completely turned over, and the new public works director, Matt Lee, is a former colleague of mine at OakDOT, a Bay Area leader in transportation planning. Harry Yip has been a positive presence in the department. All of this gives me hope about how we can design safer streets together with a new staff and new vision for the City.
A few comments/questions on the staff report:
The existing committee would be composed of TSPC and BPAC members. How do we ensure a balance of voices on the commission moving forward? BPAC brought in people who were focused on biking and walking in San Bruno. How can we educate all stakeholders, including members of the public, about complete streets best practices?
Can we more explicitly include conversations around shared mobility, micromobility, shuttles and paratransit, and ADA compliance and ensure we are bringing in a balanced set of commissioners that reflect these perspectives?
2 I strongly encourage that staff build language into the charter around Vision Zero, with a goal of eliminating traffic deaths.
I believe that TSPC and BPAC should have been notified before this went to Council to solicit their feedback and incorporate it into the staff report. Please ask for their input as you draft the charter.
Please build in interdepartmental coordination into the complete streets committee as much as possible so other departments are not left out of the process. Formalize the process for how the Complete Streets Committee interacts with staff, Planning Commission and City Council and ensure all parties are clear on their role. Set goals for how the city will integrate complete streets design into the planning process and outcomes for success. For example, I have seen other BPACs weigh in on 65% design drawings for streets before they are finalized but I never had this experience with San Bruno BPAC. Would the commission be tasked with this type of work?
With TSPC sunsetting, where will conversations around parking live? It is a hot button issue in the city and we should be thoughtful about what forum people are directed to. I would be disappointed if the complete streets committee meetings turned into par king complaint sessions,
detracting from other priorities such as street safety.
Thank you for your work on this important transition. I look forward to staying engaged in the conversation.
Best,
Matt Jones
Registered voter in District 3
Director of Advocacy, Silicon Valley Bicycle Coalition