San Bruno B.A.R.T.

  At first glance, Joe Welch and Miguel Araujo may seem like an unlikely pair.

  Welch, owner of San Bruno Investments, is 78 and owns a good chunk of commercial property on San Mateo Avenue that he has amassed over the past 50 years. Araujo, whose family owns a taqueria on San Bruno Avenue, is only 27.

  Despite their differences in age and cultural background, the two men share some of the same beliefs - including the disdain for San Bruno's elected officials and their inability to balance the city's budget.

  Welch, who ran unsuccessfully for mayor in 1999, and Araujo, who recently lost a bid for City Council, have a solution to fix San Bruno's ills - term limits.

  Araujo, who campaigned vigorously against a sales tax on last November's ballot, is now in the beginning stages of putting an initiative on the ballot calling for term limits of San Bruno's council members and mayor.

  And he has the full blessing of Welch, who calls the council incompetent.

  Welch supports his incompetence claim by pointing to Mayor Larry Franzella's recent State of the City address where it was revealed the city faces another $500,000 deficit.

  The failed Measure F, a half-cent sales tax, was meant to shore up the shortfall but its narrow defeat in November has left the city scrambling for ways to balance the budget for next year.

  In Franzella's address on Jan. 15, he noted the addition of up to 300 housing units to the city in the upcoming year will bring extra tax dollars and growth to the city, but the additional revenue won't be realized for quite some time.

  For his part, Welch said he would write the city a check for $500,000 or more to balance its budget if it sells him a vacant lot in downtown formerly occupied by Wells Fargo that is under the control of San Bruno's Redevelopment Agency. The lot now houses a small park but is closed off to public use.

  The city was in negotiations with a developer in 2004 to build a mixed-use housing complex on the site but the deal fell through and the city rejected Welch's bid for the property at the time.

  "I'd buy it tomorrow and have a building up in four months," Welch said.

  "The city has been talking about fixing up downtown for more than 20 years but nothing has happened," Welch said.

  The city is in the process of developing a downtown corridor plan, Franzella said during his State of the City address, but neither Welch nor Araujo think the plan will be successful.

  "This council wants to see a street lined with condominiums. It doesn't want a downtown," Araujo said. "They will push out the small business owner eventually."

  Araujo, who garnered 26 percent of the vote in his November council seat loss, also intends to run again for council again in the future and Welch supports his candidacy.

  Welch, after all, has virtually seen the younger Araujo grow up before his eyes. Araujo's father opened up a taqueria in San Bruno in 1980, right across the street from Welch's San Bruno Investments office on San Bruno Avenue.

  Araujo remembers Welch from his childhood.

  "He extended a hand to my family," Araujo said. "I have lots of respect for him. It's more than respect. He inspires me."

  Mayor Franzella, the target of much of Araujo's and Welch's disdain, does not support term limits for the council.

  To say term limits would somehow bring about a balanced budget is just wrong, he contends.

  "I'll resign if that will fix the budget," Franzella said.

  Welch and Araujo have personal agendas, the mayor contends.

  "Who are the other people unhappy with the city?"

  Welch hasn't gotten over his bitter loss from the 1999 mayor's race in which he spent $60,000 and lost by a 3-1 margin, Franzella said.

  "Experience matters and term limits take that away," he said.

  Negativity at any level doesn't make things work and that's the tact the two men are taking, the mayor said.

  "If they have solutions let them share their ideas," he said.

  Franzella was elected to his fifth two-year term as mayor in November.

  "If it's so bad why do they keep voting us in?" he said. "And we are not the only city in a deficit."

  Councilman Ken Ibarra is also opposed to term limits.

  "I believe our voters are smart enough to decide every two years on the makeup of their governing board. Yes, there are some that may have to be endured or tolerated for the entire four-year term - but, that's why we have five members on the board. The pundits feel that one can "buy" an election or it's just a popularity contest. I think there are enough examples that prove that wrong," Ibarra said.