September Board Meeting Summary
The
Board of Directors of the San Bruno Community Foundation met on
September 3, 2025, at the San Bruno Recreation and Aquatic Center.At the meeting, the Board received a series of reports, including:
Investment Update from Sand Hill Global Advisors: The
Foundation's investment adviser, Sand Hill Global Advisors, LLC, made
its annual presentation to the Board. Sand Hill CEO Brian Dombkowski
gave the firm's assessment of the economic and market outlook, noting
remarkable economic growth in the first half of 2025 despite challenges
and anticipating interest rate cuts in the second half of the year.
Characterizing the portfolio structure as well-constructed for the
Foundation's purposes, he reviewed performance of
the three pools of the Foundation's investment funds. He noted the
Board's decision to early June to transfer all funds in the
Quasi-Endowment Pool (which has a long-term time horizon) to the
Strategic Pool (which is intended to be spent down over the next
several years) and reported that the Quasi-Endowment's final balance
before transfer, on June 5, was $24.9 million, with returns of 8.63%
over the past year and absolute performance of 89.02% since inception.
He then reported that as of the end of the fiscal year on June 30, the
balance of the Strategic Pool was $31.2 million, while the Liquidity
Pool (meant to cover the Foundation's short-term cash needs) had a
balance of nearly $750,000. He explained that the portfolio has
provided $23.8 million in additional net value in the past nine years
since the Foundation took possession of the restitution funds in May
2016, factoring in $61.8 million in withdrawals to support all of the
Foundation's investments in the community.
Report on SBPSD School Athletic Field Improvements Grant: San
Bruno Park School District Superintendent Matt Duffy reported on the
$150,000 grant awarded to the San Bruno Education Foundation to support
improvements to the athletic fields at Belle Air Elementary School,
John Muir Elementary School, and Parkside Intermediate School. He
explained that for years the poor condition of the John Muir field had
prevented students from playing on it, and the grant funding allowed
the district to transform the field into a safe, beautiful
grass-covered field that is now used by both John Muir students during
the school day and local youth soccer teams after school and on the
weekends (photo below left).He explained that funds
designated for Parkside's fields have been used to upgrade the fencing
and netting at the two softball diamonds. Describing issues at the
Belle Air field as the most complicated of the three sites,
Superintendent Duffy reported that grant funds are being spent on new
soil, irrigation repairs, and significant fencing upgrades to protect
the grass field between the Pony baseball field and Lions Field. He
noted that the school district has partnered with San Bruno Girls
Softball League, San Bruno AYSO, Lowen Soccer Club, and San Bruno Pony
Baseball on the field renovations at the school sites.
Report on SBPSD School Field Trip Grant: Superintendent
Duffy reported on the $35,000 grant awarded to the San Bruno Park
School District to underwrite field trips for classes at all district
schools. The grant reflects the Foundation’s belief in the value of
field trips for San Bruno’s students – the chance to leave the school
campus and be exposed to new experiences – especially after the
pandemic. Superintendent Duffy said that all of the grant funds had
been expended over the past three years, with grant funds supporting 14
field trips in the 2024-2025 school year. He noted that the grant funds
were particularly helpful in covering transportation
costs, which can be expensive and are often a barrier to teachers
planning off-campus trips. He expressed appreciation to the Foundation
for the grant, which pushed the schools to explore off-campus learning
opportunities and enabled students to have memorable and eye-opening
experiences through the fifth grade Outdoor Education Program and at
such Bay Area venues as the Lawrence Hall of Science, SFMOMA, and the
Exploratorium.
Report on the San Bruno-Narita Sister City Program Grant:
Superintendent Duffy and Brian Adam of the San Bruno City Manager's
office reported on the three-year grants totaling $109,000 supporting
San Bruno's sister city relationship with Narita, Japan, which has
included a cultural exchange program since 1990. They reported that in
the first year of the grant, San Bruno hosted a delegation of middle
school students and city representatives in March, with the Japanese
students staying with Parkside Intermediate School host families. A
delegation of 10 Parkside students, several Parkside teachers, and
a City staff member visited Narita in July, where they participated in
the annual Gion festival, attended a Japanese middle school, and
learned about Japanese cultural traditions. In addition to underwriting
the San Bruno delegation's travel expenses and the costs related to
hosting the Narita delegation, the grant is supporting efforts to
develop sustainable, ongoing sources of funding to support the program
once SBCF funding sunsets. The City, the school district, and the San
Bruno Education Foundation are planning the first Narita Alumni Dinner
as a community-building and fundraising event, to be held in late
January 2026.
Report
on San Bruno Recreation and Aquatic Center Startup Programming Grant
and Approval of Modification of the Grant Disbursement Schedule: San
Bruno Community Services Deputy Director Damian Sandholm reported on
the City's use of grant funds to support startup programming and
outreach activities at the new San Bruno Recreation and Aquatic Center.
The grant, which totals up to $2.25 million over three years, is
allowing the City to test various marketing, outreach, recruitment,
scholarship, and other initiatives to encourage community members to
use the facility and ensure that it generates sufficient revenues to
sustain its operations for the ongoing benefit of the community.
Director Sandholm highlighted uses of the grant funds in the first
year, including underwriting events such as the Monster Mash Bash and
the Polar Bear Plunge, subsidizing new programs such as Child Watch and
the Inclement Weather Walking Program, launching a new RAC website, and
analyzing facility fees and pricing strategies. The
City reported spending approximately $185,000 of the grant funds in the
first year and requested rolling over the balance of the year 1
allocation to the second and third years of the grant. Director
Sandholm reported on plans to use grant funds in the grant's second
year, including continuing many programs started in year 1,
underwriting Community Day (photo below right), providing membership
incentives, and adding new events and fitness programs. The Board voted
to approve the City's request to modify the grant disbursement
schedule, adjusting the allotments each year and maintaining the
overall grant amount of $2.25 million.
President
Malissa Netane-Jones also reported that over the summer the Foundation
finished paying out the eight grants totaling $51.5 million to support the design and construction of the RAC.
Report on Downtown Beautification Grant: San
Bruno Community Director Travis Karlen reported on progress on the
City's downtown beautification efforts, which the Foundation is
supporting with $350,000 in grant funding. This initiative consists of
a series of projects to improve the visibility and appearance of San
Bruno’s downtown, including improvements to the planters and medians
along San Mateo Avenue and the installation of new street pole banners.
He noted that the City developed three sets of banners, two of which
have already adorned the street poles along San Mateo Avenue
(photo below center). He reported on the revitalization of the planters
and medians on San Mateo Avenue, including significant irrigation
improvements, and highlighted the various plants and trees that will be
planted. He reported that the San Bruno City Council approved the
contract with Marina Landscape, which also includes improvements to
Posy Park, with work expected to begin in the second half of September.
Report on Crestmoor Fields Project Grant: Director
Karlen provided a brief update on the development of a new soccer
complex on the site of the former Crestmoor High School, which the
Foundation is helping fund with a $3.4 million grant. He reported that
the City is working diligently with the developer, Toll Brothers, which
is building the fields as part of its development of the entire site
into a new neighborhood of single-family homes. He noted that the
design of the soccer fields is 30% complete. Acknowledging that the
Foundation Board has expressed a willingness to consider funding
permanent lighting at the complex, Director Karlen said that the
engineering estimate of the cost of installing the lights is $1.7
million and that the City will be requesting that Toll Brothers provide
a more definitive cost estimate based on the 30% design plans.
Report on Florida Avenue Park Grant: San
Bruno Park Services Manager Dan Venezia reported on the construction of
Florida Avenue Park, to which the Foundation, as one of its first
grants, contributed $200,000. Mr. Venezia provided a thorough overview
of developing this park on the east side of San Bruno, from the City's
purchase of the land in 2014, to several challenges the project faced
during the design and site planning phases, to the construction of the
park over the past nine months. He reported on the well-attended and
celebratory grand opening and ribbon-cutting ceremony
on August 14, 2025. The park includes a children's playground, adult
fitness equipment, picnic seating, and a large grass area (photo above
right).
Report on Other Programs: Executive
Director Leslie Hatamiya gave a brief report on the Community Grants
Fund and the Crestmoor Neighborhood Memorial Scholarship, both of which
the Board decided to discontinue in the current fiscal year. She
highlighted the $15,000 Community Grant awarded to Circus Bella in the
2024-2025 cycle, noting the successful partnership between Circus Bella
and the City to hold two circus performances in San Bruno City Park on
June 28, which were supplemented by food trucks
and children's activities and which were attended by about 2,000
community members of all ages (photo above left). She also noted that
because in past years the Foundation opened the Community Grants Fund
application period in July, she responded to many inquiries from
community organizations about the program over the summer. With regard
to the Crestmoor Scholarship, she reported that she distributed nearly
all 2025 scholarship payments since June, including those to the 2025
Crestmoor Scholars (photo above center) and has reached out to the few
remaining Crestmoor Scholars who have not submitted their documentation
for this year's payments.
Report from the Ad Hoc Committee on Strategic Planning: As
Committee Chair, President Netane-Jones reported on the Committee's
activities over the summer following the Board's decision in May to
spend down the bulk of the Foundation's remaining total net assets in
the next several years on a small number of large legacy projects and
wind down all other programs. First, she reported that the Committee
reviewed the Foundation's Program Strategy Framework and concluded that
the Board’s recent strategy decisions do not warrant any changes to the
document, as the Board’s decision to focus on a few remaining legacy
projects, including Fire Station No. 52, fall within the Framework’s
current parameters. Second, she reported that the Committee has been
monitoring the City’s progress on the Fire Station project, with the
San Bruno City Council agreeing to have the Foundation serve as a
funding partner. She explained that the City is
in discussions with Caltrans on acquisition of the property at the
corner of San Bruno Avenue and Skyline Boulevard that is the City’s top
choice for the location of the new fire station. Third, she reported
that the Committee has been considering other options for final legacy
projects for the Board to consider, including but not limited to the
installation of permanent lighting at the Crestmoor Fields soccer
complex and a large, final legacy project investment benefiting the San
Bruno Park School District. In response to a suggestion from a Board
member, President Netane-Jones said that the larger legacy projects
mentioned above are the first priority, but if there are available
funds remaining, the Committee will look into options for finding
another organization to relaunch the Crestmoor Scholarship.
At
the beginning of the meeting, the Board recognized San Bruno Fire Chief
Ari Delay, who is retiring in October. The Board presented Chief Delay
with a proclamation acknowledging his support of the Foundation and the
San Bruno community. In addition, President
Netane-Jones noted the 15-year anniversary of the gas pipeline
explosion in the Crestmoor neighborhood and dedicated the meeting to
all those affected by the 2010 tragedy.
Riechel
Reports - Events
- City
of San Bruno CA
