Letter to the Editor: Petition to Save the Municipal Services Building (CMS)

South San Francisco, CA March 20, 2023 Cynthia Markopoulos, Community Leader

What happened to South City?

What happened to South City? Well, all the massive development was forced on us by former city manager Mike Futrell, who has now moved on to Riverside – what does that mean for us? We have city staff who don’t invest in our city other than their salary, they don’t live here, and they continue Futrell’s “vision”.

We were told not to worry about the Municipal Services Building, MSB, nothing could happen, although W measure oversight committee member Mike Brosnan said it should be sold, that was Futrell’s plan from the start.

Who do we trust? My bet is on Brosnan.

Let’s look at a bit of history, shall we?

Vice Mayor Nagales is keen to spend $21 million on “East 101 Impact Fees” for bike and walking trails for the East side; city ​​attorney said “the state” says this should be held on the east side;

Developer Kilroy bought a 41-acre waterfront property at Oyster Point and South San Francisco taxpayers paid $38 million for infrastructure and lighting for the $308 million project;

Our taxpayer money is going to pay for the sewer system and pumping station for the 500-room hotel at Oyster Point, which will cost $750,000 to build this sewer system and pumping station, and over the life of the 500-room hotel, the city (we taxpayers ) will maintain and pay for repair costs;

Lindenville’s specific plan – you know this city, as soon as they bring up this topic, it’s underway – “Life sciences use competitive industrial and residential facilities … for development opportunities.” Biotechnology in our neighborhoods;

We all remember that biotech was pushed to the east side and they didn’t allow any housing near their campuses. But now, Safeway’s anchor project at ECR/Spruce has been moved to “life sciences/mixed use,” biotech in our neighborhoods;

How many notifications did you receive from the city to contribute? They say that polls are conducted by only 100 people – 100 out of almost 67 thousand inhabitants? Something is definitely wrong with communications. 100 is not a mandate!

Residents have emailed, signed petitions, called, attended council meetings, and literally begged our city council to return MSB to its original, mixed-use state so that it can be preserved as a mixed-use community building for the elderly.

Maybe our city council and city staff should start representing residents and stop pandering to biotechnology. We are who they should represent!

Save MSB. Please sign the petition. It’s time for the southern city to take care of its inhabitants!

Here is the link:

And please share widely with your friends, family and neighbors. It’s time for our city to start caring about the wants and needs of our residents.

Thank you,

Cindy