Thankful

We hope this Thanksgiving holiday left you stuffed, not only with turkey and all the Thanksgiving trimmings, but with thankfulness for all that is around you that you may take for granted. It's holidays like Thanksgiving that allow us a time to pause to evaluate all that we have in our lives and how thankful we really are for it all.

It's not long before one has lived or spent time in Brisbane that they realize the depth of artistry that surrounds them. We have many a writer, painter, and performer residing in town. In order to honor their recognition for their given art, the Mayor's Art Achievement is awarded each year to qualifying applicants. Click here to view more information about the award and how you or someone you know could be a recipient this year. Applications are due to the City Manager's office at 50 Park Place by 5:00pm Tuesday, December 15th. Good luck to all!

Many Hands Make Light Work!

Hats off to the residents of Brisbane who trimmed, dragged, and piled up yard trimmings like the one below for Public Works to haul away over the weekend for the 12th Annual Fall Clean-Up!

This pile was removed yesterday from the middle of Trinity.

Approximately 3.755 tons of green waste was collected by the Public Works Teams in their flatbed trucks...

...which was covered with a tarp and driven over to SSF Scavengers to be properly recycled.

It's true that "many hands make light work!" Scavengers reported to the City Tuesday afternoon that through 24 dumpster loads and 8 truckloads of yard trimmings which the Public Works Teams hauled over, a total of 26.11 tons (that's 52,220 lbs.!) of green waste was disposed of during last weekend's Fall Clean-Up. Great job, everyone, and many next year's number be even higher!

Continuing with the color green and the mention of hands...have you heard of the new mentoring program in town for youth and older adults, called Growing Green Hands? Well in case you haven't, GGH is an intergenerational mentoring program which seeks to empower local youths (ages 8 - 17 yrs.) from disadvantaged circumstances by providing them with mentoring and motivational opportunities that will include:

* one-on-one older-adult-to-child mentoring (based on the principle of reciprocity)
* group educational mentoring (to promote interpersonal intelligence)
* group career mentoring (to increase vocational skills/opportunities)
* environmental education (to increase naturalist intelligence)
* sustainable personal and community living skills (with an emphasis on "Green" living and to promote civic responsibility)

GGH is a non-profit mentoring program, co-sponsored by the City's Parks and Recreation Department. If you are interested in making a profound difference in the life of a young person for one year, and willing to give a portion of your time to meet with your mentee and for mentor training/support meetings, then please contact Tamberly Mott at (415) 632-8702 or Donna Wolfe at (650) 291-2593. To get all your questions answered, there will be a Mentor Orientation (Q&A) meeting coming up on Sunday, Nov. 22nd from 4:00 - 5:30pm. Contact either Tamberly or Donna for more information, or check out the Growing Green Hands website at www.growinggreenhands.org. Remember...many hands make light...and in this case...meaningful work!

Oh, The Weather Outside is Frightful...

...but my dear, such is not true in Brisbane! Though we are still enjoying warm (albeit, short) winter days here, it won't be long before the winter rainy season will be upon us. That is why weekends such as this one are so important. Tomorrow and Sunday, 11/14 and 11/15, will be the weekend that the City holds its 12th Annual Fall Clean-Up. Join your neighbors in dumping yard trimmings from around your home into one of the dumpsters placed this afternoon throughout the City. This will greatly help in preventing the storm drains from getting clogged and areas from flooding once the rains start. If you need assistance or to arrange for pick-up, please call the Public Works Department (508-2130) Saturday, between 10:00am - 3:00pm, or Sunday, 9:00am-1:00pm. Let's all do our part to make a big difference!

Next Tuesday is an important day for Brisbane residents. It marks the date early registration begins for all Winter classes and programs (including Winter Camp) offered through the City's Parks & Recreation Department. Please check out what's being offered in the latest Activity Guide found online. You can then register online, making signing up for your favorite classes easier than ever. But if you have any questions, Nancy is always more than happy to help get those answered for you. She can be reached by calling 508-2140.

Staying fit is one of the ways to maintaining good health...getting the proper immunizations falls right up there as well. If you haven't already gotten your flu shot, you can check out the flu vaccine locator. Find flu clinics near you by entering the zip code and hitting "go". You'll be brought to a Google map which shows whether the pharmacy has the vaccination available for the flu, H1N1, or both. Earlier today, the City recieved a flu update from the County Health Department, stating that mass vaccine clinics for all residents will take place in January or later. For the latest flu information, visit www.smhealth.org/swineflu or call the County Flu Hotline at (650) 573-3927.

Reaching Out!

As part of the Police Department's Community Outreach Program, a Senior Citizen Fraud Prevention Seminar was held yesterday at the Sunrise Room. Fifteen of our seniors made it out for the informative one hour seminar. Officers spoke on topics we all should be aware of, such as: identity theft, lottery and telephone scams, and e-mail fraud.

Great questions were raised at the end, as well as a positive note spoken by an attendee about how impressed she was when her credit card company phoned her immediately about an unusual charge on her card. A representative from Bank of America in town offered his tips to the Seniors, such as carrying a minimal amount of credit cards and cash, or even two wallets - one with very little cash, and one with credit cards and larger bills if necessary.

Thanks to the Police Department, along with caring businesses in town, Brisbane Seniors are now armed with the proper information they need to prevent them from being victims of fraud.

Beth Grossman and her son Avi have set up a Brisbane Food Drive Sculpture. From soup to nuts, please bring canned and packaged foods to City Hall, starting now through December. And when you do, you're free to add your artistic flavor by arranging your food contributions any way you wish...turning this food drive into a daily evolving sculpture!

Second Harvest Food Bank will be picking up our donations before Thanksgiving and the winter holidays, so start reaching out to those with less by coming down to City Hall and take a shot at adding to the Sculpture!

But save your canned goods until at least Thursday. City Hall will be closed tomorrow (Wednesday, 11/11) in observance of Veterans' Day. We'll be back open on Thursday and Friday, 8:00am - 5:00pm, ready to serve you. Thank you to all the Veterans who risked their lives serving this country - we salute you!

A County-Wide Effort

Brisbane, as a part of San Mateo County, has a number of shared services in place with other cities in order to provide a high level of service (while keeping operating costs low) to the various communities. This is also referred to as the groups having a Joint Powers Agreement, or JPA. For instance, Brisbane is a participating city in the San Mateo County Library JPA. Formed in January 1999, and governed by the JPA Governing Board, it is comprised of the County, and City Council members from the 11 cities served by the Library (Councilmember Cy Bologoff is Brisbane's representative).

The JPA provides that the County fund the operations of the libraries and the centralized administration of the County Library System through the County Library Fund (which is primarily funded through property taxes - San Francisco Airport and the various airline carriers are a major source of funds for the library system). Did you know that as a Brisbane resident, you do not have to pay hold fees if you are requesting an item from a different branch? The theory behind this is that Brisbane has a small library with a small collection and therefore has a greater need to access materials elsewhere in the system. So, get on down to 250 Visitacion and visit the library!

While there, you may see a new face. The Board recently selected Carine Risley as the new Branch Manager of the Brisbane and Atherton libraries. Carine joined the San Mateo County Library last February as a Community Services Librarian at Foster City. Her previous library experience includes working at De Anza Community College Library, Santa Clary County Library and several branches of the San Jose Public Library where she was part of the branch's leadership team and leader of the system's cultural planning group. We welcome Carine to Brisbane and know she is a great asset for the community to have!

Additionally, the City of Brisbane - along with all other cities in San Mateo County - contracts with the County of San Mateo Elections Office. The County is in charge of counting and posting then the election results. They have, by State law, up to 28 days to certify the results from last week's Nov. 3rd election. The official results will be adopted by the Brisbane City Council on Monday, December 7th, 2009. And just a note: there are absentee and provisional ballots that were turned in at the polls that still need to be counted and included in the current totals. During the next few weeks the County will be updating the absentee numbers on their website. Therefore, the absentee numbers shown are expected to adjust slightly. Check their website, www.shapethefuture.org, for the latest results.

Please use this next weekend and upcoming week to gather together any fallen dead branches and unkempt plants in and around your property, as the 12th Annual Winter Clean-Up will be taking place the weekend of November 14th and 15th. During these 2 days, dumpsters ONLY FOR YARD TRIMMINGS will be placed throughout town, as close to each street and neighborhood as possible. Please remember,

• Do not place yard trimmings in plastic garbage bags and then into the dumpster, as this will make the entire load un-recyclable.
• All trimmings and branches placed into a dumpster must be less than 4 inches in diameter.
• If you need assistance or to arrange for pick-up, please call the Public Works Department (508-2130) between 10:00am - 3:00pm Saturday the 14th or 9:00am-1:00pm Sunday the 15th.
• For information regarding tree removal, please call the City Manager's Office at 508-2112.

Thank you in advance for your willingness and cooperation in this Citywide effort. If we all pitch in this year, we can prevent problems from occurring during the winter rains that will soon be upon us.

A reminder that City Hall will be closed next Wednesday, November 11th, in observance of Veterans' Day. Hours of operation for next week then will be Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday 8:00am - 5:00pm.

Election Day's in Full Swing!

If you haven't already cast your vote in the November 2009 Consolidated Municipal, School & Special District Election, you'll want to get to the polls by 8:00pm tonight. Brisbane's polling place is located at the Community Center, directly underneath the library at 250 Visitacion Ave. There are two items for Brisbane residents to vote on this election - the three open seats on City Council and whether or not to increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (Hotel Tax) from 10% to 12%. Click here to check out the County's Elections Blog and to read up on Measure G.

Signs showing the election's unofficial results will be posted on the community sign board at the Community Park as well as on the door of the Community Center at approximately 8:30pm tonight.

**(updated Weds. morning, 9:30am)**
A link to the semi-official results has been added to the City's website (official results will not be released by the County until the beginning of December).