Voice of the Coast

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That’s ironic, given Half Moon Bay’s small-town, neighborly feeling; you would think that a town with such a strong bond between neighbors would be a place where people work together to get things done.

But here on the coast, divisiveness can easily derail good intentions. We saw this phenomenon recently, when the school board was sailing toward a decision to break from Wavecrest and finally get the new middle school built – a decision that was building a tremendous amount of community good will, and a decision that was scuttled and delayed at the last minute for political purposes (that is, a few divisive, behind-the-scenes people didn’t want good news about the school to make the current City Council look good right before the Nov. 8 election). This divisive element also stymied the process for updating the Local Coastal Plan, and it even denigrated and scoffed at the idea of acquiring and building a new 22-acre park in town.

The point is, it’s easy to be negative and angry and derisive, it’s easy to make snide comments about whatever the city is doing. It’s easy to slightly twist the truth and get people worked up about the city’s plans, no matter what those plans might be.

What is more difficult in this town is bringing people together, building something, making things happen.

In the City Council election Nov. 8, the contrast between candidates is striking. This election is crucial, because the two styles of politics vary so wildly.

One candidate in particular, George Muteff, is the epitome of divisive politics. His recent appearance on inflammatory “Hot Talk” radio showed what he was really about — lots of talk about how “crazy” things are in Half Moon Bay, and bad-mouthing current Council members with the nastiness and derision that are the hallmarks of his speech.

Naomi Patridge supports this guy by passing out his campaign literature. She may be a nice lady, but her politics are not always so genteel. (Patridge, during her previous terms on the Council, from 1985 to 2001, was not known for her inclusiveness; she did not build bridges with opponents. And during those years in office, she managed to approve the building of 1,500 new homes, too. That many homes would have meant about 4,500 new people in Half Moon Bay, and in a town of 12,000 people that’s a pretty significant jump.)

In contrast, there are two City Council members running for re-election, Jim Grady and Mike Ferreira, and a community activist, Steve Skinner, who do things in a different manner.

• The current Council, with Grady and Ferreira leading the way, managed to resolve lawsuit after lawsuit that stemmed from all of those large-residential- subdivision approvals from the Patridge years.

• The current Council, with Grady and Ferreira leading the way, managed to build bridges and settle with Wavecrest Partners – a significant testament to their ability to work with everyone, and made more significant by Wavecrest’s endorsement of the two of them for this election.

• The current Council, with Grady and Ferreira leading the way, also bridged the wide gap with the Cabrillo Unified School District board, to the point where the city and school district are working together on plans to build the new middle school – wherever the school board decides it should end up being built.

• The current Council, with Grady and Ferreira leading the way, have worked with the California Coastal Commission to resolve the Kehoe Ditch problem. Grady and Ferreira have worked with county officials and farmers to fix the failed wells problem. Grady and Ferreira have worked with the Transportation Authority, the county and the state to secure funds for the widening of Highway 92.

All of those accomplishments have come about because the current Council works with neighbors and government officials to resolve problems. It’s a laborious process, building consensus, but it ends up with good results. Extreme politics of divisiveness, however, only succeeds in bringing plans crashing to a halt. The my-wayor- the-highway approach may work with football coaching and with dictatorships, but in democracies, it just makes problems worse.

This election is vitally important, for that reason. We have a similar dynamic in the Coastside County Water District race, as well, where Jim Marsh takes a reasoned, listen-to-all-sides approach – while Chris Mickelson is one of the most divisive, snide and close-minded officials on the Coastside.

No matter how you vote, please make sure you do vote on Nov. 8. This election is important, and we urge you to vote for Jim Marsh for the CCWD water board, Gary Burke and Ron Taborski for Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District, Vince Williams for the Point Montara Fire Protection District, and Jim Harvey, Paul Perkovic and Bob Ptacek for the Montara Water and Sanitary District.

And please vote for Mike Ferreira, Jim Grady and Steve Skinner for Half Moon Bay City Council.

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The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in the Susette Kelo vs City of New London case was delivered on June 23 and runs to 48 pages. I’m not going to bore you with detailed analysis. You can read it for yourself at:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?court=US&vol=000&invol=04-108#opinion1.

But I do want to address the fact that this decision has greatly increased governmental powers in the exercise of Eminent Domain - the Taking of private property for “public use” under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Ammendment to the Constitution - and neither I nor millions of other people in the United States are happy about it. Essentially, the Decision allows governmental bodies to use the mere prospect of increased revenue from a prospective development under transferred ownership to be sufficient to meet the test of “public use”.

Excuse me, but I think the Justices got all tangled in their robes on this one. Just think how that power could play out in small cities across the United States. Sam the Buggy-whip Maker convinces his buddies at the Lesser Peoria City Hall to “take” the Toyota carlot next to his factory so he can increase buggy-whip production. City Hall predicts a revenue increase and the taking is done. The buggy-whip market goes soft, however, so poor old Sam has to build condos on the property instead. Darndest thing, that buggy-whip market. Hard to to predict.

Except when used for roadbuilding, the citizens of Half Moon Bay have had an historical antipathy to Eminent Domain, the most vivid example of which was the twoto- one thumping they gave to the North Wavecrest Redevelopment project in 1995. They went along with the South Wavecrest Redevelopment in the early 90s because it didn’t involve “tax-increment financing” but even that went a bit astray when the Eminent Domain cost projections proved to be underestimated and the City ended up foregoing $2 million in revenue to make up for it.

In almost every state in the Union, there are movements to create laws reducing the impacts of the Kelo Decision. Many of them are, in my opinion, a mixed bag and might create more problems than they would solve, but most of those movements will be played out at the State government level rather than the City level.

So what can we do about this at the City level? We can’t overrule the U.S. Supreme Court and we can’t constrain the State. But we can, if we choose to, pass an Advisory Measure - hopefully by a big margin - advising future City Councils that the citizenry of this City emphatically do not want their City government to take anyone’s property solely on the Kelo Decision’s basis of predicted higher future revenue as constituting “public use”.

The City Council has asked the City Attorney to present a draft of such a measure at the next Council Meeting on August 1. If the wording adequately reflects the intentions of the Council we’ll put it on the ballot. Maybe we’ll have something to vote on in November that will bring all of us together, if only for that moment.

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“I want to thank the Board for all of the hard work, all of the thought, all of the goodwill, that you have put into this effort for our community. We all know that you want to do the right thing, for all of us, but especially for the students. We have an opportunity now to really make the most of something that the community has been waiting on for a very long time. Not only to get the middle school built — which is so important — but also for what that will represent for our community. It will mean that people who don’t always agree, can work together to get something done for the future, for the students.

I honestly believe that if you don’t make a decision about the middle school tonight, it could make people doubt our ability to work together. It could make people doubt what the actual intention is. It could make people doubt whether their children will ever get to attend a new middle school. That may seem rather harsh, I know. But I have talked to so many people who just have this sinking belief that the middle school is never going to get built. People used to tell me that the Devil’s Slide tunnel would never get built. And I say this with all due respect, but we passed Measure T in 1996----the same year that the middle school Measure K was passed----and now it looks like the tunnel is going to be finished before the middle school.

I understand that you have concerns about the financing of the Cunha project. Of course you don’t want to spend money that you don’t have. But I truly believe that — with the weight of the City Council behind you, with the amount of grant funding that can be obtained from other sources, with ideas about energy saving construction — the financing issues can and will be resolved.

If we harness the energy and the intelligence of everybody in the commmunity, many of whom have not been in agreement with the school board over the past nine years, then we know we can make this happen. But we need the school board’s leadership, to say, starting here, starting now, we want the middle school built. And based on the expert information that we’ve received, Cunha is the only viable option.

We haven’t figured out all of the fine details yet. but the school board has to make a decision that something is going to get done. And that is to build at Cunha. We must challenge everybody in the community to come together and actually help with this. To become part of the process. But the school board has to set the tone as leaders.

Sometimes it’s a bit scary to decide things when a lot of the details still have to be worked out. But this is something that has be done. Nothing is going to change by putting off the decision by 4 weeks or 4 months. This just delays the first step that everyone in our communtiy is waiting for you to take. So please take that first step.

Thank you.”

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The Coastside’s two fire protection districts, Half Moon Bay and Point Montara, face new challenges from consolidation. They will be best served by directors with financial, analytical, and community-building skills.

The new directors must be solidly committed to represent all of our residents, and to ensure that the consolidated district respects our Local Coastal Programs.

The Voice of the Coast endorses Gary Burke and Ron Taborski for the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District, and Vince Williams for the Point Montara Fire Protection District.

Why consolidation?

For many years, the contract between Half Moon Bay and Point Montara allowed each district to cooperate but make its own service-level decisions, until the Point Montara board voted to terminate their contractual relationship with Half Moon Bay. For small districts like Point Montara and Half Moon Bay, there are few options to ensure that the community receives superior fire and emergency medical services. Across the county, much larger districts are consolidating in order to provide high quality service.

Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District

Gary Burke and Ron Taborski will bring their strong business and public service experience to the District.

Burke wants the fire district to take a stronger role in planning for major emergency services. He will bring a wide range of experience to a fire district that has suffered from conflict in recent years.

As CEO of the Silicon Valley Manufacturing Group, Burke has a demonstrated talent for taking the lead and building bridges between interest groups. He has a variety of business and government roles, as vice president of NASDAQ, as a board member of the YMCA, a member of the San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board and the Silicon Valley Chamber of Commerce. During his 40 years in the business world, he has managed successful mergers, and has been a strong supporter of environmental reforms.

Ron Taborski wants the consolidation of the Half Moon Bay and Point Montara districts to be fair and equitable for each community. He will work towards creating a better working environment between labor and management. He wants the consolidated district to provide prompt fire and emergency medical service, while making sure the new district protects our coast, observing the Coastal Act and our Local Coastal Programs.

Taborski has participated in business and community activities since he moved to the Coastside 25 years ago. He was on the fire district board many years ago, and notes that many of the same concerns still remain. His experience in building organizations, working with the community, and handling tough negotiations will serve us all well.

Point Montara Fire Protection District

Vince Williams promises to represent all residents in Montara and Moss Beach. He notes that the average household pays $800 per year in property taxes, including the $160 Measure H parcel tax. He wants the district to be financially stable and have a high level of service in the future.

Williams has attended most meetings of the Point Montara district for the last few years. During that time he requested that fire board meetings be televised, allowing the entire community to monitor the decision-making process.

The relationship between the two boards has been strained, with the Point Montara incumbents making unsubstantiated accusations against the Half Moon Bay board. For consolidation to succeed, Point Montara needs Williams’ reasonable voice and moderating influence.

Beyond his commitment to quality fire and emergency services, Williams believes adherence with the California Coastal Act is crucial to preserving and protecting the coast for the public to enjoy.

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Thank goodness for the current school board. The board’s latest decisions – to revisit, once again, the siting of the new middle school, and to lean toward building it at the current Cunha Intermediate School site – these were not easy things to do.

The board has made a move toward pulling out of the Wavecrest decision, and that was a tough choice, too. And the recent tilting back toward the Cunha site, after all these years, was a courageous and bold step.

It’s not this current board’s fault, of course, but this was also a step that could have been made almost a decade ago.

And that point burns. This town has wrangled over where the middle school should go since 1996, when voters first approved the $35 million school improvement bond. There has been fighting over the land swap to swing the deal, there has been outrage over tying our middle school to the fate of a large residential housing development, Wavecrest Village, and there has been exasperation over the repressive and often-nasty posturings of past school boards.

So it’s great that the current school board looks like it wants to build a new middle school at the current Cunha site. But it’s vexing that we had to go through nine wasted years to get here.

And that brings us to the November election, and the race for three seats on the City Council. Of course, the City Council has nothing to do with the school board’s decisions; it has nothing to do with where the middle school will go. But this political wrangling over building the new middle school – and the wasted years those political decisions caused – is part of the political fabric of our town and, for that reason, it has everything to do with the Half Moon Bay City Council race.

One faction wants to spin those lost nine years as the result of “delay” by pro-environmental Coastsiders – and that divisive faction also hopes to paint current Council members with that same broad brush.

What current City Council members have proven, though, is that the way to get things done in this town is to build bridges, work with everyone, work with the community. That’s how the Council got Highway 92 on track, it’s how the Council set up so many plans for trails and parks in our town, it’s how the Council built a strong working relationship with the Wavecrest folks. This is a Council that works with the Coastal Commission, works with developers, works with community members to get things done.

That’s the lesson of these recent school board decisions – and the school board’s decision still to come about building a new middle school back at Cunha.

Everyone in town wants a new middle school. That’s clear from the large percentage of Half Moon Bay voters who agreed to pony up the cash for school improvements. The way to build a new school, though, is through consensus and careful planning – not through the bullying, we-know-what’sbest- for-you attitude of past school boards.

The current school board must be commended for its commitment to move forward, to put good sense above good politics, to do its best to build the middle school without more delay.

The current City Council should also be commended, for managing to get things done in this politically charged town. Its accomplishments are an example of how to make a difference in Half Moon Bay, by working with neighbors and government agencies to shape policy that works, to avoid the divisiveness and delays of the past.

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It’s beginning to look like Half Moon Bay and Point Montara fire protection districts will indeed merge.

After years of bickering, both districts passed resolutions of intent to consolidate and jointly hired a consultant to help with the process.

This is especially important for the Point Montara district, which just last spring was considering building an entire department from scratch after cancelling its service contract with Half Moon Bay.

The goals and proper administration of the consolidation is an important issue in both fire district elections this year.

Improved process

On a Tuesday morning mid-September, in the fourth joint meeting of consolidation committee, representatives from both districts and from labor met with the consultants and set a regular meeting schedule. In addition the committee decided to hold at least 2 evening meetings for the public to hear about the issues, progress and to give public opinion. The consultants are interviewing management, labor and staff, but the opportunity for public comment will be limited to the public hearings

Adding to the already complicated scenario, Chief Asche is retiring in December. The hiring process for a new chief will take 4 to 6 months, maybe longer.

Vern Hamilton, the consultant, recommended hiring an interim chief. Representatives from both boards expressed concern that they did not want just a ‘placeholder’ interim chief. Hamilton explained that an interim chief can be contracted with to assist with the recruitment of a new permanent chief and help implement the consolidation plan in addition to running the department. One advantage to hiring an interim chief is that the process is quick, taking only a few weeks, leaving the board free to concentrate on the consolidation issues.

Hamilton stated that the most difficult issues will be how the new board will be structured and how the new district will be financed.

How did we get to this point?

The need for consolidation began two years ago when the Point Montara Board cancelled the 7-year-old fire management and service contract with HMBFPD. The reasons given for that cancellation have not been made clear to many who thought the level of service was excellent. Circumstances have changed since the contract was entered into — now many other small districts are consolidating to ensure a high standard of emergency services in the future.

When it became clear that PMFPD had decided to “go it alone”, citizens got involved, circulating a petition to the Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) asking for municipal services review of the fire districts. The resulting LAFCo report made it clear that oneengine companies are not financially or functionally viable due to current staffing and training standards. LAFCo recommended that the 2 districts consolidate.

It has not been easy to get to this point. Members of both boards have had to set aside old grudges and move to ensure the future safety needs of the community are taken care of.

It’s time to get involved

Joint committee meetings will be held Oct 5, Oct 21 and Nov 2 at 1 p.m, in Half Moon Bay The public is invited to attend. The evening meetings will be held at the Adcock center, but the time and date are yet to be determined. All meetings will be televised on MCTV.

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When it comes to choices on the ballot, this year’s ballot offers some clear choices. This season we find two philosophies, one roughly “get everything you can out of big development”, the other “find what’s best for the community based on what’s good about living here”. In this and subsequent issues, we will introduce the candidates, their philosophies, and their track records.

We believe that the community benefits when the guiding philosophy strives to make development decisions based on the values that make the Coastside the wonderful place it is to live, raise a family, work, play, and relax.

We urge you to learn about the candidates and then get out and vote! Voice of the Coast’s picks for the community-values candidates are:

Half Moon Bay City Council
Jim Grady
Steve Skinner
Mike Ferreira

Yes on Measure O

Yes on Measure P

Coastside County Water (CCWD)
Jim Marsh

Montara Water & Sanitary (MWSD)
Jim Harvey
Bob Ptacek
Paul Perkovic

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THANK YOU for reading. Seriously. Stay with us, and we’ll make it worth your time.

Thirty-three years ago, our namesake publication promised a paper “that would be newsworthy, fun to read, dedicated to the protection and conservation of the Coastside way of life, and put together by local volunteers.”

“We feel,” they wrote, “that a better informed neighbor will make better decisions on the issues that affect the quality of life here .”

In its 1972 pre-election issue, our predecessor dedicated its front page to a strong endorsement of Proposition 20, the California Coastal Initiative.

“The controversy over Proposition 20 is a symptom of a much greater conflict in our state and nation. The conflict arises from trying to decide if we should consume our resources now, for whatever gain we may presently reap, or if we should conserve our resources in the hope that planning and new knowledge can help us to use those resources better in the future. The problem is essentially a choice between spending and investing.”

Proposition 20 passed by a wide margin, eventually evolving into the Coastal Act, but the conflict between development and conservation is still with us.

The new Voice of the Coast is published by the San Mateo League for Coastside Protection. The League was founded in 2001 to “defend the coast by supporting those who uphold the spirit and substance of the California Coastal Act.” Through this newspaper, we invite you to join the defense.

Read three 1972 issues of The Voice of the Coast at Coastsider.com.

Voice of the Coast welcomes your feedback at .

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Everyone who runs for City Council has Half Moon Bay’s best interests at heart. The problem is that different people have different ideas about what is best for Half Moon Bay.

In the upcoming November election, there are six Council candidates for three seats. And we at the League for Coastside Protection feel that there are striking differences between the candidates.

There are two distinct visions, two different philosophies, for doing what is best for Half Moon Bay. One of those philosophies is to make Half Moon Bay grow quickly — expand its infrastructure, and encourage large developers to build.

The other philosophy, the vision shared by the League and three Council candidates, is to help Half Moon Bay grow while maintaining its special character — its beauty, and its farming, fishing, small-town character.

The three candidates who share this vision are Mike Ferreira, Jim Grady and Steve Skinner.

This election is a vital one. It will decide where Half Moon Bay will head in the next decade, and how fast it will get there.

One philosophy toward growth is to court developers, to encourage large developments in town, so that those developers will provide essential services to the city of Half Moon Bay.

But we believe that the growth of Half Moon Bay should be decided by what makes the most sense for the town — not decided by what snazzy deal can be cut with developers. You don’t get something for nothing, and the cost of large developments is in the huge number of cars on the highway, the higher cost of more children in the school district, the cost of providing services like sewer and water and roads to all of those new people.

Half Moon Bay has the highest rate of growth in San Mateo County in the past 10 years. That huge increase in development was one of the reasons that residents here voted in the current Council, which has diligently worked to undo the damage of all of those approvals of all of those large residential home subdivisions.

That high rate of growth also prompted the citizens of Half Moon Bay to pass two growth measures, the first limiting residential growth to 3 percent (Measure A) and the second limiting residential growth even more, to 1 percent (Measure D).

However, right before the first election, the one for Measure A, the City Council approved the building of 560 homes.

At one point, the 217-home Wavecrest subdivision was going to actually have 750 homes. At one point, the 63-home Pacific Ridge subdivision was set at 213 homes. There’s the 50 homes of the Carter Hill subdivision, the 85 homes of the Beechwood subdivision. All of these tracts of homes were approved by previous Councils, and the current Council has been working to make those numbers more manageable – more in keeping with the slower growth demanded by Half Moon Bay voters.

Think about it: Half Moon Bay has had the highest rate of growth in San Mateo County in the past 10 years — and that’s not counting all of those homes that were approved 10 years ago and not yet built.

That “highest rate of growth” we’ve had in the past decade doesn’t include Wavecrest, or Pacific Ridge, or Carter Hill, or Beechwood.

Think where we’d be as a town right now if, on top of that highest rate of growth, we also had all of those homes that were initially approved, if we had those 560 homes passed right before Measure A, if we also had 750 homes at Wavecrest, as originally planned.

That’s more than 1,300 new homes. Line up the cars from those 1,300 homes and you get about seven miles worth of cars. And those 1,300 homes — that’s on top of what is already the highest growth rate in the county.

And that’s one vision of Half Moon Bay. It’s just not our vision.

We at the League for Coastside Protection would like to urge you to vote to re-elect Mayor Jim Grady and City Council member Mike Ferreira, and to elect Steve Skinner.

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Do you ever stop and think about what you like about Half Moon Bay? Can you easily verbalize it? Does it have anything to do with the mix of open vistas and rural character situated near convenient urban amenities? Do you like this mix enough to want to preserve it for the foreseeable future?

Growth Limits

Things change over time, but residents have increasingly voted to slow down the rate of change, first with Measure A and a 3% annual growth limit, then Measure D in 1999 with a 1% annual limit. The majority on the current council is in tune with the 64% of voters who voted for Measure D.

What does this mean in practice? First it means commitment to adhering to the present Local Coastal Program (LCP) while the council completes its update begun seven years ago. Integrating Measure D into the LCP has proven to be a time-consuming and controversial process requiring hundreds of hours of work and numerous public meetings.

Loyal Opposition?

Old guard politicians, real estate interests, property rights advocates (“I have the right to do anything I want to my property, without regard to community standards”), large scale developers, and Main Street businesses desiring faster economic growth oppose the council and their work on the LCP. Raising countless objections, the net effect is to obstruct the process.

Half Moon Bay’s main media outlet, the Half Moon Bay Review. has waged a clever-yet-undeclared war, with some success. Over the past year, the Review has used its ink to tar the council in a variety of ways, both in its editorials, and in the way it chooses and slants its news coverage.

So what has this council accomplished that earns it the dedicated partisan attack by the Review and its cohorts?

Why the LCP is important

The near completion of the LCP update frightens opponents the most because it diminishes the ability of large-scale developments to control the machinery of growth. Measure D ties infrastructure to specific project approval. Large projects are limited to 50% of available building permits, allowing individual builders to complete their projects. The community can pick and choose the projects that fit the community’s vision and character.

The council passed an under-reported campaign finance law in July. Proposed by Mayor Jim Grady and voted for by everyone except Marina Fraser (Naomi Patridge spoke against it as well), the idea is to lower the potential influence of big money on our elections. Opponents accused Grady, Ferreira and Taylor of self-interest in passing this in an election year, which was an odd criticism since incumbents historically raise more money than challengers.

Who Needs Parks?

Half Moon Bay (and the rest of the Coastside) sorely lack enough parks. Past politicians (notably Naomi Patridge) allowed major developments while negotiating few infrastructure improvements. Consistent with the values of the current council majority, parks are now a priority. For example, the current council acquired and developed the Oak Street Park and secured grants that cover almost $500,000 of the total $600,000 price tag.

Last fall the council achieved a major goal by buying 22 acres near downtown for a community park. (Marina Fraser opposed the purchase.) Nurserymen’s Exchange sold the land for $3.1 million, about $141,000 per acre, coming in at $1.5 million under the appraised value. Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) both acted as broker and provided an interest-free loan for three years (a $400,000 savings at current interest rates).

The Review lost no time in accusing the city of stealth dealings, which has become its central theme for trying to eliminate the council members they don’t like this November.

Federal and state agencies are sanctioning the development plan so far, even with frog habitat in the irrigation pond. Final design before the environmental review process commences is due in November.

Council Momentum

The city council, under the leadership of Mayor Jim Grady and Mike Ferreira, have a head of steam, and are hard at work tackling a wide range of problems. Here is a short-but-representative list of things they’ve done in four short years:

• The council has begun the under-funded and over-designed Highway 92/Main Street improvement project they inherited and which was stalled for ten years.

• For the first time, Half Moon Bay’s streets and potholes are being systematically repaved.

• A stunning new bridge crosses Pilarcitos and links the Strawflower Shopping Center with the adjacent neighborhood. No longer do neighbors face two bad choices – walk out alongside the highway to go shopping, or cross the stream. They can now walk safely and easily across a well-constructed, safe bridge.

• The Coastal Trail now extends near Poplar, and a new trail bridge was added at Seymour.

• New stoplights now protect the public at Ruisseau Français and Miramontes Point Road.

• After Cunha’s general store burned, the council fast-tracked the project and helped Bev Ashcraft get it built in a year.

• The council helped four local families find a cost-effective solution for their failed wells.

• Secured the Railroad Right of Way from Poplar to Kelly as permanent open space.

• A pedestrian safety trail is currently underway and will run alongside the full length of Highway 1, inside the city limits.

These are the kinds of things that demonstrate that this council is serious in their efforts to preserve the look and feel of the town we all love.

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