The San Bruno Beacon

By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon

Money won't solve the problems infecting the San Bruno Park School District. The problem lies with the SBPSD Board of Trustees and the Superintendent they refuse to fire.

Two Members of the SBPSD Board of Trustees, Henderson and Hanley, have been taking up space on the Board and causing problems for the SBPSD for several decades. They need to go. These two people have had decades to provide solutions to the problems we have been and are now facing in the SBPSD. As evidenced by the current state of affairs in the SBPSD they have not only done nothing to solve the SBPSD's problems, but have created even more problems for the SBPSD and the students it serves. We need some creative, well educated, hard working people to occupy the SBPSD Board seats currently being occupied by these two.

During these very hard economic times, most families in San Bruno have to live on a tighter budget. To do this, families cut back on their spending and learn to live on the money they have available to them. However, the SBPSD doesn't think that the laws of economics apply to them. The SBPSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent see San Bruno's taxpayers as suckers they can fool into providing them with an endless supply of money to pay for their incompetence and waste.

As evidenced by the defeat of the ridiculous Measure F tax scheme last year, San Bruno's taxpayers want off the sucker list of never ending taxes used to pay for wasteful spending, government incompetence, fat government employee paychecks, benefits, and lifetime retirement and medical plans paid for at taxpayer expense.

To save the SBPSD from more waste and mismanagement, it is imperative that every San Bruno resident vote against the parcel tax being put on the November 2008 ballot by the SBPSD Board of Trustees. We must hold these people personally accountable for the money they are wasting on this tax measure and also consider filing a taxpayer lawsuit against the appropriate parties for, what in my opinion is, their grossly negligent mismanagement of SBPSD taxpayer money and assets; making sure that they pay for their legal defense out of their own pockets.

If the San Bruno Park School District wants to balance their budget, here's a suggestion: cut costs and stop wasting money.  

By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon

Barry Marchessault, a San Bruno resident and Beacon reader, sent me a copy of a letter, addressed to him, that he received in the mail from Pastor Daniel Krajicek. Pastor Krajicek is the Pastor at the Crossroads Christian Center (an Assemblies of God Church).

According to the letter Barry received, Pastor Krajicek doesn't want the Buddhists to open a Buddhist Temple near the Crossroads Christian Center where Krajicek is the "Pastor".

In his letter, Pastor Krajicek uses the word "Regrettably" when referring to the Buddhist's plan to open their facilities to the public 24 hours per day every day for those who desire to pray, meditate, and chant. [I guess God only works the 9-5 shift and Sunday services so we can't have any 24x7 praying, meditation, or chanting]. The Pastor's letter also states that they (the Buddhists) plan to hold Temple services at the same time on Sunday mornings as his AOG Church and St. Bruno's Catholic Church and that this will cause a parking problem [I don't think Krajicek's "no parking, no Buddhists" argument will pass Constitutional muster].

Pastor Krajicek's letter also states, in part:

"...If you agree that allowing another religious institution in an already congested area is not in the best interest of our neighborhood, and don't want people freely coming and going throughout the night, you must let your concerns be heard."

In the part of his letter that appears in the previous paragraph, Pastor Krajicek is saying that his neighborhood isn't big enough for the Buddhists to share with the Catholics and Krajicek's Crossroads sect. In my opinion, Krajicek's statement is the same as posting "Buddhists not welcome signs" up and down the street where his Christian sect is located. Pastor Krajicek also states in his letter that he doesn't want "people freely coming and going [to the proposed Buddhist Temple] throughout the night". Really? And just how does Krajicek think he is going to stop people from going to their Temple throughout the night to practice their religion?

Pastor Krajicek's Assemblies of God USA (AOG) Church, a "Protestant fellowship", exists in part because it is protected under the First Amendment to the Constitution allowing the free exercise of religion. Does Krajicek not think that these same rights under the Constitution, that allow his Church to exist, apply to the Buddhists who want to open their Temple near his church?

If Pastor Krajicek doesn't think that different religions can exist in close proximity to each other, he should take a little trip to Brotherhood Way in San Francisco.

As far as other religions are concerned, the official position of Krajicek's Assemblies of God Church is that they do not accept non-Christian religions as valid means of salvation and access to God. As a matter of fact, the Assemblies of God Church has published the following statement as part of their position on religious toleration:

".............the Assemblies of God disavows universalism and the toleration of worldviews that do not require entering the kingdom of God through the narrow gate of the God-man, Jesus Christ."

So, at Assemblies of God churches, like Krajicek's Crossroads Christian Center, it appears that there is no toleration of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Confucianism, Taoism, Shintoism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, etc. Oy vey

Let me conclude by saying that even if Pastor Krajicek and the Assemblies of God folks "disavow the toleration of worldviews that do not require entering the Kingdom of God through the narrow gate of the God-man, Jesus Christ"; there are other Christians, like me, who do believe in the toleration and understanding of all religions.

I hope that the AOGers will seek and find a path that will lead them to a higher level of compassion for and understanding of their fellow human beings with whom they share the world we all live in. A world in which bigotry, hate, violence, and other injustice carried out in the name of religion needs to disappear before it destroys us.  

By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon

The San Bruno Park School District (SBPSD) Board of Trustees was going to put a parcel tax measure on the November 2008 election ballot. However, knowing that they had a snowball's chance in Hell of passing a parcel tax, during a high turnout Presidential Election year, the San Bruno Park School District (SBPSD) Board of Trustees decided to fold up their tents and try their luck in a low turnout March 2009 election. This laughable move on their part shows that this Board is dysfunctional, has no credibility, and a weak almost nonexistent case for a parcel tax.

This parcel tax, that the SBPSD Board is too dysfunctional and afraid to put on the November Ballot, is nothing more than an attempt by them and their Superintendent to pay for their collective mismanagement of SBPSD funds and assets.

The SBPSD Board of Trustees is trying to sneak this ridiculous, burdensome tax past San Bruno's voters in a low turnout March election.

Instead of spending their time scheming to find new ways to bleed more money out of San Bruno's residents, the SBPSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent should be spending all of their time using the large amounts of taxpayer money, that they already have, to provide our children with a focused, quality education.

In a June 12th Daily Journal article, SBPSD Board Member Russ Hanley stated that he suggested the March tax election date, that was approved by the Board, so that the SBPSD Board could "rally" parents and SBPSD staff. In other words, the SBPSD Board plans to use SBPSD public schools as campaign central for their tax campaign.

Before Mr. Hanley and his Board colleagues start using SBPSD school property, staff, and/or taxpayer money to promote their tax campaign, I would strongly suggest that they consult with their attorney.

Undoubtedly, the campaign for this tax scheme will result in disrupting the educations of the children who attend the SBPSD as these children are dragged into the tax campaign. The children whom the SBPSD is supposed to be educating will have a harder time focusing on their school work as this tax campaign drags on consuming the time and resources of the SBPSD. To add insult to injury, the mismanagement of school funds and assets will continue even as this Board and Superintendent attempt to bleed more money out of San Bruno's residents.

Poor planning and mismanagement of SBPSD funds and assets, by the SBPSD Board of Trustees and Superintendent Hutt, have created the mountain of problems that the SBPSD is dealing with today. These people are not going to suddenly change, get smarter, or receive some divine inspiration or revelation that will make them better at their job; they are going to keep making the same mistakes over, and over, and over again. No matter how much money you give these people, things will never get better as long as they control the SBPSD.  

By Bill Baker, J.D.
Editor and Publisher, The San Bruno Beacon

As an investor, I have to see things coming long before they happen. The equity markets are forward looking instruments and to be successful you need to act on information long before a crowd gathers around a targeted equity and destroys the potential profit in any position you may want to build. When it comes to taking advice, you learn who the winners and losers are.

That being said, I have a very high degree of confidence in the economic research team at the Royal Bank of Scotland. Simply stated, when it comes to economic matters, these are the folks you want to listen to.

In a 06/18/2008 Telegraph story, it was reported that Bob Janjuah, the chief credit strategist for the Royal Bank of Scotland warned clients that:

"A very nasty period is soon to be upon us - be prepared"

Mr. Janjuah believes that a serious crash in the global stock and credit markets is looming just over the horizon.

Mr. Janjuah went on to say,

"Cash is the key safe haven. This is about not losing your money, and not losing your job"

While I agree with Mr. Janjuah that cash is the key "safe haven" I would also point out that the anticipated volatility in credit and equity markets creates a need to hedge risk with derivatives and find other stores of value. In a word; diversify.

However, the point of this article is not to discuss investment strategies but to heed the warning of these three paragraphs included in this Telegraph article:

"US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank both face a Hobson's choice as workers start to lose their jobs in earnest and lenders cut off credit.

The authorities cannot respond with easy money because oil and food costs continue to push headline inflation to levels that are unsettling the markets. The ugly spoiler is that we may need to see much lower global growth in order to get lower inflation.

The Fed is in panic mode. The massive credibility chasms down which the Fed and maybe even the ECB will plummet when they fail to hike rates in the face of higher inflation will combine to give us a big sell-off in risky assets."

From a local perspective, I would strongly urge both the City of San Bruno and the San Bruno Park School District to immediately put their financial houses in order, create budget surpluses, and build strong cash positions.

We may be heading into an economic depression. Pay close attention to coming economic developments as they unfold. This is not about politics, this is about survival.