Be careful what you wish for. Maybe that ought to be the mantra for those investigating the possibility of adding multi-story buildings in what are, essentially, small-town business districts. A number of San Mateo County suburbs are considering making that shift. Their argument can be compelling: Tall structures can include both commercial and residential components while increasing the tax base. All well and good, at least on paper. But, in reality, things don’t always work out as planned. Take Burlingame for example. There, a major debate on this issue is heating up. There is a very tentative proposal to permit certain areas of the hamlet’s downtown area to have buildings as high as 75 feet. That would be a significant and rather stark change for a century-old place that prides itself on its cozy, tree-lined atmosphere. Ironically, within a block of what is technically defined as downtown, a massive, eight-floor apartment building on El Camino Real a block from Chapin Avenue already appears to tower well over that height limit. It sticks out like a sore thumb. So do two old, smaller AT&T switching facilities masquerading as office buildings near the corner of Burlingame Avenue and El Camino Real. It is highly unlikely that either of those structures would be allowed today. The point is that, in spite of these obvious anomalies, tinkering with a thriving low-rise formula would be dicey. Towns like Burlingame (and Menlo Park, San Carlos, Millbrae, San Bruno, Half Moon Bay, etc.) have long tried to maintain a friendly village ambience based, in part, on maintaining a non-city look and feel. Isn’t that the point of the suburbs in the first place? People move to the Peninsula to escape life in the city, whether it’s San Francisco, San Jose or Oakland. Things tend to slow down a bit here. There is a certain undefined intimacy involved. Seven-story buildings, if they do come to pass in any great numbers in Burlingame, would alter that in fairly dramatic ways. The betting in this corner is that, in the end, they won’t see the light of day. The change would just be too much. Smaller will wind up being better. By the way, for further comparison, check out the closed Benjamin Franklin Hotel in downtown San Mateo. That building is eight stores tall, plus a penthouse. The shadow cast by that structure is considerable. Imagine that edifice in the middle of Burlingame Avenue. Ouch.

The latest statistics regarding high school dropouts from the state’s Department of Education were sobering to say the least. In San Mateo County, one of the most affluent areas in California, nearly one in six teens did not finish high school. The public high school dropout rate was highest among Latino and black youngsters, 24 percent and 36 percent respectively. It was lowest, 5 percent, among Asians. Pacific Islanders had a 21 percent failure rate; whites came in at 10 percent. Ethnic background was just one way to look at the depressing numbers. Economics was another. Generally speaking, students (or former students) tend to struggle in the classroom if they came from relatively poor or uneducated backgrounds. That’s not a new deduction. It’s been well-known for decades. Kids who come from families with academic backgrounds and who live in comfortable surroundings have a leg up in school. Test scores, college admissions and other results verify that thesis. In fact, an ex-University of California admissions officer, a San Mateo High School alum, once noted that one of the most accurate predictors of a successful application to UC was a young person’s ZIP code. Public high schools are always an easy target when the subject of academic failure is broached. You don’t hear much about the raw material, the individual kids and where they are coming from (or, for that matter, their elementary schools, or lack of same). An awful lot of them, especially those who eventually fail in the classroom, start out with their hands tied due to socio-economic and family issues. That doesn’t mean the schools can simply bail on these students. Not at all. But it does mean the challenge to educate them is much tougher. Talk to teachers about the many and varied differences involved in working with youngsters from Hillsborough and East Palo Alto. It’s not the same by any stretch of the imagination. For an instructor, it can be a stark case of apples and oranges. That’s the nature of public schools today in San Mateo County and in other parts of California as well. Like the rest of our society, we are being divided into the haves and the have-nots. And money, along with family education, has a great deal to do with that. It’s not fair. But no one ever said life was fair. Not even close to fair.

State Sen. Leland Yee is at it again. He has thrust himself into another dispute where his presence is, frankly, unnecessary, misguided and counter-productive. His latest foray involves a strike by members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees against the University of California’s system of taxpayer-funded schools. Yee, not surprisingly given his track record, has joined the picket lines to support the public employee union. But there’s a problem. The strike, as currently waged, is illegal. A Superior Court judge ordered AFSCME not to take the action. The union disagrees. Yee, in essence, is backing a move specifically prohibited by a court of law. Further, by taking sides in this matter, he is failing to represent taxpayers who foot the bills for the very same strikers who are flouting the court’s order. Yee, a Democrat whose district includes a portion of San Mateo County, is pandering to a special interest group at the expense of everyone else. His Peninsula constituents would be far better served if he played the role of a constructive mediator in this case. Instead, he has chosen to be a blatant partisan. As this spectacle has proceeded, Yee has damaged his own credibility. He should back off immediately. If his track record of behavior is any guide, the chances of that happening are slim and utterly non-existent.

Followers of the San Francisco 49ers who dwell on the Peninsula have long relied on special SamTrans bus service to Monster Park, or Candlestick Park if you prefer, on game day. It’s been a convenient, inexpensive and practical transit option which has allowed customers to avoid traffic and parking fees. It also has been a solution for those football fans who like to imbibe before, during and, yes, after contests. But it may be about to end. That’s because of new federal regulations that bear directly on the charter bus industry and how publicly-funded competition, like SamTrans, may affect the private side. Local SamTrans officials are trying to figure out if they can continue to provide express buses to Niner ballgames in light of the federal rules. According to Christine Dunn in SamTrans’ San Carlos headquarters, a final decision has not been reached. The first 2008 San Francisco home exhibition game is scheduled in mid-August.

Not long ago, the 20th annual San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame induction banquet was held at the San Mateo Elks Lodge. Once again, the level of interest was striking. The affair sold out, with more than 300 souls attending. This occurred in spite of deep and growing troubles in the economy and in the newspaper business in particular. That latter truth is worrisome because The Times has presented this event since 1989. Since then, the daily journalism business has suffered enormous setbacks. Cutbacks, consolidations and layoffs have become sadly commonplace. However, the Hall of Fame dinner, with the newspaper in the forefront along with the First National Bank of Northern California as sponsor, has continued to carry on. There appears to be a hunger for it. As it has in the past, the affair engendered more than its share of good will. In many ways, the banquet has become a kind of yearly reunion for many in the Peninsula’s athletic community. And that’s a healthy thing. Preserving local history is not to be sneezed at. Forgetting the past would be extremely lamentable. The San Mateo County History Museum, beneficiary of the dinner’s net proceeds for the last several years, now displays more than 200 Hall of Fame plaques at its glittering Redwood City digs on Broadway. Check ‘em out at your leisure. The Caltrain station is but a long block away so access is easy.