Burlingame candidates offer different paths to more and preserved affordable housing

Candidates at the Burlingame forum agreed on the need for more housing but proposed different ways to produce and preserve affordability.

Donna Colson, the mayor and a two‑term council member, pointed to city revenue already collected for housing preservation. “We have 15,000,000,” she said, referring to commercial linkage fees the city has collected and is exploring using to preserve existing affordable units. Colson also noted that state rent‑control rules currently exclude some fee‑restricted units, and suggested extending protections.

Several candidates — Desiree Thayer, Hadia Koury and Nirmala Bandrappali — emphasized transit‑oriented development and mixed‑use projects near Caltrain or North Rollins Road to concentrate growth away from single‑family neighborhoods. Andrea Papajan proposed using local sources such as the Hope Fund to incentivize upgrades that keep older housing affordable (for example, seismic retrofits), and Rachel Nee said infrastructure upgrades must accompany new construction.

Tony Paul questioned how “affordable” is defined and urged setting clear price and eligibility targets before claiming success. Thayer highlighted the region’s housing shortage and referenced state programs such as Homekey Plus as additional funding sources.

The candidates also discussed protecting “naturally affordable” units along El Camino Real and supporting programs that keep residents housed, such as Samaritan House, which Colson named.

No formal policy was adopted at the forum; candidates framed their approaches as priorities they would pursue if elected.