San Bruno Community Foundation November 2018 Report

Article Source: San Bruno CA Community Foundation

November 2018 Foundation News

A Safer San Bruno for Pedestrians

To increase pedestrian safety in San Bruno, the Foundation and YouTube joined forces to fund the installation of five sets of flashing beacons at high-traffic, unsignalized or mid-block crosswalks. In February, the City installed three sets of flashing beacons at two school sites - two sets at Parkside Intermediate School on Niles Avenue and one near the entrance of Portola Elementary School on Amador Avenue (see photos below). This fall the project was completed with the installation of the final two sets of flashing beacons - one on the southern end of San Mateo Avenue near Roma Deli and one near John Muir Elementary School on Crestmoor Avenue (see photos above). Together, the Foundation and YouTube are contributing up to $263,952 to fund this effort.

November Board Meeting Summary

The Board of Directors of the San Bruno Community Foundation held its regular monthly meeting on November 7, 2018, at the San Bruno Senior Center. President Nancy Kraus opened the meeting with a moment of silence to honor two friends of the San Bruno community who recently passed away - committed volunteer Anna Marie Jones and Barry Marquardt of the American Legion Post 409. Highlights of the meeting included:

Approval of FY2017-18 Audited Financial Statements: Novogradac & Company conducted the annual independent audit of the Foundation's financial statements. Novogradac's Lance Smith presented the audited financial statements for the year ended June 30, 2018, reporting that the firm was pleased to issue an "unqualified or clean" opinion of the Foundation's financial statements. He thanked the Audit Committee, which consists of Chair John McGlothlin and Board Member Pat Bohm, and commended the Foundation staff for its careful recordkeeping and its attention to ensuring that the Foundation's financial internal controls are properly followed. The Board approved the audited financial statements, which can be downloaded here.

Report on Recreation and Aquatics Center Project: On behalf of the Ad Hoc Committee on Recreation and Aquatics Center Project, President Kraus and Executive Director Leslie Hatamiya gave an update on the Foundation's partnership with the City of San Bruno to build a new community recreation and aquatics center in San Bruno City Park. Vice President Hedley also serves on the Committee.

President Kraus reminded the Board that the Foundation awarded a strategic grant to the City for an amount up to $550,000 to cover the costs associated with the conceptual design phase of the project and that the City retained the services of Group 4 Architecture to assist with the phase. In March, the Foundation paid $381,500 of that grant to the City. A recent grant report submitted by the City indicated that the balance due on the grant is $34,608.85; the conceptual design phase came under budget because the City did not hire a project manager for this phase.

She also reported that the project is now in the second phase - schematic design and construction documents - and the City is continuing to work with Group 4. In September, the Board approved a strategic grant not to exceed $5,625,000 to the City to cover the expenses associated with the second phase of the design and development of the recreation and aquatics center. The City is now in the process of selecting a project and construction management firm to assist with the project.

Ms. Hatamiya reported that at the request of the City Manager, the Foundation considered an alternative financing option for the project, by which the Foundation would secure a taxable bond to pay for the new center and use investment returns from the $50 million promised for the project to pay the debt service. This is an option that the Foundation and the City explored - and declined to pursue - in 2015 when the Foundation, at the conclusion of its Community Listening Campaign, understood that there was strong community support for using the restitution funds for a new community facility. With the assistance of Treasurer Tim Ross and Investment Committee Member Mark Hayes, Ms. Hatamiya conducted due diligence on this option, consulting with a public finance investment banker, a municipal financial advisory firm, and nonprofit counsel. The group concluded that the likelihood of success for such a financing scheme, especially with the Foundation as both the borrower of the bond and the investor of the funds, would be extremely low and declined to pursue the idea any further.

Report on Other Programs: Executive Director Hatamiya and Program Consultant Stephanie Rutgers reported on the Foundation's other programs:

• Community Grants Fund: Ms. Rutgers reported that the Foundation received 46 grant applications by the September 26 deadline, nearly a 28% increase over the previous year, and that the applications are being evaluated by a review panel of community volunteers. The Board will consider the panels' grant recommendations at the December 5 Board meeting. With a $100,000 donation from Google.org/YouTube, the Foundation will award grants totaling $300,000 this cycle.

• Crestmoor Neighborhood Memorial Scholarship: Ms. Rutgers reported that the 2019 Crestmoor Scholarship will launch in early December, when the online application will be accessible and updated marketing materials will be distributed to local schools and throughout the community. The application deadline will be March 6, 2019, one week earlier than past years.

• Music Education Strategic Initiative: Ms. Hatamiya reported that implementation of the initiative, which includes three-year strategic grants to the San Bruno Education Foundation and the Capuchino High School Alumni Association to bolster music education in San Bruno's public schools, is proceeding on schedule. She reported that the bulk of this year’s funds to SBEF is dedicated to funding the Music for Minors program at the five San Bruno Park School District elementary schools and that at Parkside Intermediate School and Capuchino High School, grant funds are being used to purchase needed music program supplies and equipment. She thanked Board members who were able to attend the highlight of the year for the Music Education Initiative – “Music in the Air” – which took place on November 3 at the Capuchino Theater. She reported that it was an amazing night of music, with performances by Cap and Parkside students, plus special guest star opera singer Kevin Thompson, who flew in from New York to participate. She then showed an inspiring promotional video that SBEF created with grant funds highlighting the Music Education Strategic Initiative and including interview clips of SBCF Board Member Emily Roberts. She thanked SBEF Vice President Bryan Vander Lugt for all the work he has dedicated to the initiative and to making "Music in the Air" a success.

• SBPSD Schools Transformation Grant: Ms. Hatamiya reported that implementation of the Foundation's $250,000 grant to SBEF to support two projects central to the San Bruno Park School District’s current efforts to transform into “Schools with Tomorrow Inside” - the Sobrato Early Academic Language (SEAL) Program at Belle Air and Allen Elementary Schools and the Parkside Intermediate School Accelerating Student Learning Through Systems Transformation - are underway. The District launched the SEAL program at Belle Air and Allen this fall, with teachers receiving necessary training and coaching. At Parkside, administrators have begun strengthening instructional practices with the support of Partners in School Innovation.

• Pedestrian Safety Initiative: Ms. Hatamiya reported on implementation of the Foundation's strategic grant to the City to support pedestrian safety improvements in San Bruno, including the installation of five sets of flashing beacons at unsignalized or mid-block crosswalks (see photos and blurb above).

• First Responder Effectiveness Strategic Initiative: Ms. Hatamiya reported that implementation of the three first responder effectiveness projects being funded by a grant to the City of up to $160,723 is proceeding on schedule, with the purchase of the emergency shelter supplies and the scheduling of the police mindfulness training in December and January. The Police Department is working with the consultants to complete the critical facilities site assessments by the end of 2018. First Responder donations from Google.org and employees from Google and YouTube have totaled slightly more than $303,000. The City is working on an additional first responder proposal to be funded by these additional funds, possibly for a mobile command vehicle, which staff hopes to bring to the Board for approval in the coming months.

Election of 2019 Officers: In a leadership transition, the Board elected the following officers for 2019:

President Frank Hedley,

Vice President Emily Roberts,

Secretary John McGlothlin, and

Treasurer Tim Ross. Per the Foundation's Bylaws, the City Council will consider approving the slate of officers at its November 27 meeting. After five years in office, current President Nancy Kraus will step down from her leadership position at the end of 2018 and continue serving as a Board member in 2019.

Investment Committee Meeting

The SBCF Investment Committee will hold its next quarterly meeting on Tuesday, November 27, 2018, at 4:30 p.m. at San Bruno City Hall, Room 101, 567 El Camino Real. The meeting packet will be available on the SBCF website by November 21.

SBCF's 2018 Annual Report

Read about the Foundation's activities in the 2018 Annual Report, which is available for download here.

Next Foundation Board Meeting
December 5, 2018 - 7:00 p.m.
San Bruno Senior Center
1555 Crystal Springs Road

Visit us at sbcf.org

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives

Source Credit: San Bruno CA Community Foundation

Leslie Hatamiya - Executive Director

lhatamiya-sbcf@sanbruno.ca.gov

Office (650) 763-0775

Web Site: www.sbcf.org

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