Open Letter from SSF Neighbor Seeking Answers on City Issues

South San Francisco, CA              July 28, 2015        Letter to Editor from a South San Francisco Resident

 UPDATE BELOW

Everything South City,

I have lived in South San Francisco for many years, and have come to love the city I have called home. However, I had a number of questions about things that I have seen around the city, which have caused me to have concern about the state of the city and what is currently happening to it:

1) One issue I would like to know or ask about is the plans that the city seems to have for the downtown region near city hall. Every day it seems like they plan to move new, more grandiose buildings into the downtown region. While I understand a city grows, it seems like they kicking out the smaller mom and pop shops that exist there and have been there for decades now. This includes many of the local residents who live down there as well, whom I am concerned could be displaced due to these “expansions” across the city. The large, new parking tower is one such example, which rarely seems to be used whenever I have gone past it.

2) The roads around South City are also a concern to me. I’ve come to find out that many roads are part of the county, which I can understand the city might not have control over. However, why can the city not explain that better to residents? If that is the case, then the citizens should be able to know who to ask for help in repairing the roadways we use every day.

3) While the city certainly has grown under Biotech businesses and trades, I also find it concerning that the city leadership seems to be catering more and more towards these businesses. While I understand they provide jobs, they seem to employ more workers who come from outside of South City rather than from within.

4) Many of the people who are in city leadership positions right now have been there for multiple years. In doing so it seems as though they have become more “set in stone” with what they want to see done, rather than what could help the city. It’s very upsetting, especially knowing that their job is to help the citizens, not just keep making choices for money or because they believe in issue is of greater importance. Especially of concern to me is that the leadership roles, such as Mayor, seem to just shuffle between members as though they were playing musical chairs.

5) The libraries I believe have just purchased new, 3D printers. Why do the libraries need such advanced pieces of machinery? While I understand they are unique, what use could a set of smaller city libraries have for expensive 3D printers? I would expect these to be seen in a business in the Biotech region, not for a local library.

6) Multiple gangs and break ins have me concerned about the safety of the city. The violence and problems should be going down, not up. Yet every week, even on the Everything South City page on Facebook, people post again and again about more scams and break ins happening all over the city. This includes the family that panhandles as though they are poor with children, yet then get into an expensive car afterwards. How is the city trying to fix these problems?

7) The last major concern I have is the amount of families I see working for the city. Now just to clarify, I’m not saying that are in any way bad at their jobs or do not deserve them. My concern is for the potential for nepotism, and that these jobs are not being made available to everyone through job posts. If parents are helping their children gain the jobs, it becomes a concern.

I love the city, and I wish for it to grow and become a better place. Concerns like these however make me worried with the direction the city is going.

Thank You again for the help

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 UPDATE: The City of South San Francisco has issued a response to these inquiries, via our City Manager Mike Futrell. Those responses can be found CLICK HERE