“It’s a good position and I’m looking forward to it,” Hill said Thursday.

Hill’s position will entail heading up caucus meetings and trying to forge agreement among Assembly Democrats on key issues, among other duties.

The assemblyman will be in town for two events Saturday. 

First up is “Java with Jerry” from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. . at Il Piccolo Caffe, located at 1219 Broadway in Burlingame. It’s an opportunity for constituents to discuss issues of concern with their state rep in an informal setting. 

And from 10 a.m. to noon, Hill will help out at a free child car seat safety check at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center at 725 Monte Diablo Ave. in  San Mateo.

UPDATED BELOW

As you probably know, Rep. Jackie Speier (pictured above at a town hall meeting last year in Montara) is pondering a bid for California attorney general after a poll showed her having an advantage over other Democratic candidates, and with the candidate filing period opening Feb. 15, a decision is expected soon.

So which way is she going to go? It’s clear she’s fed up with Washington and the Senate in particular. Being a junior member of the House at a time of partisan gridlock has been difficult for her, especially when financial reform proposals she’s worked hard to pass are being tossed aside in the Senate, where Sen. Chris Dodd is in the process of caving in to Republican demands.

On the other hand, there is still a slim chance to enact historic health care reform legislation as well as contribute to a moment of great importance for Democrats, who have as good a shot as they’re going to get to enact significant policies on climate change and other issues. San Mateo County residents need leadership from Washington as far as stimulating the economy and creating jobs. And doesn’t every newbie in Washington have to pay his or her dues before rising in influence and seniority?

But Speier, 59, doesn’t have unlimited time left in public office. So she has to figure out how best to use that time, and maybe spending five years working her way up the ladder in the House isn’t it. And perhaps Capitol Hill really is so “dysfunctional,” as she put it, and the Senate is so corrupt and useless, that there’s no legitimate hope of winning important legislative battles or making a difference there.

If she runs for attorney general and wins, Speier will be able to spend much more time with her husband and two children — Jackson, 21, and Stephanie, 15. The commute to and from Washington has been a strain for her, newly hired spokesman Nathan Ballard confirmed this week. As attorney general, she’d also be able to focus on many of the consumer protection issues that are so important to her.

The hunch here is that Speier will run for AG. Maybe she’ll decide she has unfinished business in Washington. Perhaps her family could talk her into sticking with it, if that’s what they feel. But if we had to guess, we’d say her clear distaste for what’s going on in D.C., particularly the sausage-making that takes place in the Senate, combined with the need to be closer to her family, will tip the scales in favor of leaving the House and heading back to Sacramento.

UPDATE: Wrong! Speier released a statement today saying she will not run for attorney general.

“I am thankful that so many supporters came forward to urge me to run for statewide office, but after talking it over with my family, I have decided to stay in Congress,” Speier said in a statement. “I am convinced it is the right thing to do for my family, and I believe I can best serve my constituents by remaining in Congress and working hard on consumer protection, financial reform, jobs, and health care.”

So don’t ever listen to us again.

The legislation, which also allows people who give money via cell phone text messages to use phone bills as proof of their donations, passed unanimously. 

“Bay Area residents know, all too well, the devastating aftermath of earthquakes,” Congresswoman Speier said in a statement.  “What makes this situation all the more distressing is how little the people of Haiti have even in good times.  I am heartened that the Congress came together on a bipartisan basis to support this worthy piece of legislation.  I urge my friends, neighbors and constituents to dig deep – as I know a great many already have – to help our brothers and sisters in Haiti.” 

We also have a call in to Speier’s office regarding the election in Massachusetts that has sent Democrats into a tailspin.

One of two new river otters at Coyote Point Museum in San Mateo. The museum also recently introduced two new bobcats. For information, visit www.coyoteptmuseum.org or call 650-342-7755.

So here, belatedly, are some notes from the Dec. 3 meeting of the Foster City Planning Commission, during which the commission voted to recommend that the City Council certify a final environmental impact report for Gilead Sciences’ campus expansion and approve a development agreement with the biopharmaceutical company.

Two neighbors of Gilead Sciences expressed over the “significant and unavoidable” noise that will accompany the renovation of Gilead’s campus. The women live across Mariner’s Island Boulevard from Gilead, just over the San Mateo-Foster City border. They were worried that their lives will be disrupted by the construction, which is scheduled to last 10 years, and their property values will be depressed.

Charlie Bronitsky, appearing as a planning commissioner for the last time before being introduced Dec. 7 as a new member of the City Council, sympathized with the women’s concerns and assured them that, as the project moves forward, city officials will do what they can to keep construction noise in check.

Commissioner Ollie Pattum didn’t say much, other than to note that all construction projects create noise. C’est la vie. Commissioner Bob Werden engaged the women, but he may have made matters worse.

“You moved next to a commercial area,” Werden admonished the women, who vociferously objected to that and other points Werden made while addressing them.

“Property in Foster City is worth millions of dollars,” he later added. “We can’t afford not to build there.”

One of the women, Gail Benson, said the following week that, although she moved into her condo 9 years ago, the buildings have been there for 30 years, meaning the Mariners Reef condo complex predates Gilead, which formed in 1987.

Benson told the Planning Commission she has nothing to against Gilead, but she would “like them a lot more if they were 100 miles away.”

Benson’s friend, Diane Gyuricza, told the commission she took exception to the “statement of overriding considerations” it signed off on. The statement expresses, in essence, that the project is worth doing despite its negative impacts on the city in terms of traffic congestion and noise pollution.

“I’m really offended by that term,” she said.

Commissioners Ron Cox and Noemi Avram had to recuse themselves from the Gilead discussion due to conflicts, so the final vote was 3-0 in favor of the various Gilead recommendations.

Cox didn’t return a phone call inquiring about what his conflict is. Avram, an architect, responded to an e-mail, indicating she recently did an interior residential remodel for the president of Gilead, John Gilligan.

There’s another Gilead meeting tomorrow. Here’s the Gilead page on the city’s Web site.

Burlingame’s Museum of Pez Memorabilia (currently embroiled in a copyright infringement lawsuit with Pez) even got a shoutout.

The Times ran a story Monday on the Bay Area Heart Gallery, a photo exhibit that highlights the importance of families taking in foster children.

A photo of two foster kids mentioned in the story — sisters Ann, 17, and Daniece, 12 — was originally intended to accompany the article. The photo, courtesy of Madeleine Tilin Photography, didn’t make the cut, but it’s so good we had to show it to you, and we’ve reproduced it above. The sisters live with San Mateo resident Margie Chop, a registered nurse.