The San Mateo Daily Journal editorializes that the city of Half Moon Bay blew its chances of getting a bailout from the state by acting like it didn’t need the money.

With the state’s attention on its own budget deficit, the bill faced an uphill fight — but it was one Hill was willing to wage. However, that fight came abruptly to an end when the council made cuts and elevated its bond rating and voted to move forward with issuing its own bonds to ensure it could meet a Aug. 29 deadline or face interest penalties in case the state legislation failed. The vote to give Dolder his raise was the nail in the legislative coffin as Republicans in the Legislature got hold of the news — giving the bill its highest negative attention. Hill saw the writing on the wall and decided to cut his losses this week while expressing disappointment the city made the decisions it did. ...

Self reliance is a virtue, and the city should make every step necessary and available to solve its own problems. But acting like a political novice is now requiring them to.

What the Journal misses is that the city wasted the entire 2008 legislative session on the cynical and hopeless AB1991.

Last night at El Granada, the multi-day charratte style workshop, Traffic and Trails on the Midcoast: What Would You Do, opened at El Granada Elementary School.  The evening began with an engaging presentation by charrette leader Dan Burden of Walkable Communities.  Dan used well framed descriptions and photographs from other projects to illustrate the possibilities locally and reviewed the design elements that will be used to develop a final plan.  Participants expressed strong support for the approach taken by the charrette to listen to and involve the community.

In a series of exercises audience had opportunity to effectively express viewpoints, vision and values.  All participants had the opportunity to vote (see photo) on most valued elements that will shape the final design.

The charrette continues on Saturday with a walking tour that will leave from El Granada school shortly after 9am.  The session continues into the afternoon and a BBQ lunch (courtesy of the Half Moon Bay Lions chapter) will be provided.

Starting on Saturday, more information on outcomes from the charrette sessions will be available at the web site:  http://mprc.sanmateo.org/charrette.html .

The county is holding Green Building workshops on Monday June 30 at 6pm, in the multipurpose room in the Library (new location), Room D-4 at El Granada Elementary School. The purpose is to discuss possible revisions to current regulations, include additional types of building, and set new standards.

Read the County’s staff report on green building [pdf] for more information on what is being considered.

The county’s Green Building Task Force and the Planning and Building Department are the sponsors.

The Liars And The Sages: Telling The Truth From Nonsense In The Era Of Post-Sustainability
Presented by Surfrider Foundation, Sierra Club & League for Coastside Protection

Thursday, July 2, 2009
At 7:30 P.M.
Half Moon Bay – Ocean Shore Train Depot
(Near Johnston House, Higgins-Purisima Road

Join us for an informative and stimulating presentation by one of the world’s leading experts in the field of sustainability. Ed Quevedo, Senior Counsel.  Ed will discuss the meaning of sustainability in today’s world. In this era where just about every product or company now claims to be “Green”, Ed will give us some guidance on how to distinguish Nonsense from the Truth.

Ed Quevedo is Senior Counsel in the Paladin Law Group LLP, and Chair of the firm’s Sustainability Practice Group. He has over 25 years of experience advising clients on domestic and international environmental and health & safety (EHS) law compliance and litigation matters, sustainability planning and program development, and strategic EHS program development and performance counseling, both as an attorney and consulting advisor.

During his legal career, Mr. Quevedo has argued cases before the California Supreme Court, the International Board of Arbitrators in The Hague, and the European Court of Justice. He has led high-impact pro bono litigation teams in important Civil Rights, Clean Water Act, and environmental damages recovery litigation in public interest cases brought in state and federal courts.

He is the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Environmental Partnership (http://www.svep.org), serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance (http://www.mswg.org), and is Past President of the Pacific Industrial & Business Association (http://www.piba.org).

The Coastside Film Society presents “A film so enchanting one hates to see it come to an end.”—Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times

Travellers & Magicians (108 minutes) Deep in the Himalayas, in the Buddhist kingdom of Bhutan, two men seek to escape their mundane lives. Dondup is a university graduate who hopes to dump his job as a government official and emigrate to the USA, the land of his dreams.  He plans to support himself in the US by working as a farm laborer. While waiting for the bus out of town he bumps into a monk who responds to Dondup’s comments by spinning the tale of Tashi, a handsome young apprentice magician, who is just as frustrated with his own life as Dondup is with his.

The film deftly cuts back and forth between the tales of these two restless young men, both with girls on their mind, both with a deep longing to discover a world of more fun and action, and both so preoccupied with their own concerns that they can’t appreciate just how lucky they are.  Advisory: This film contains scenes of sensuality.

Friday June 26, 2009 at 7:30 pm.
$6.00 adult donation.
Community United Methodist Church Sanctuary.
777 Miramontes at Johnston), Half Moon Bay.
More info at:  www.HMBFilm.org

The county civil grand jury has just issued a report chastising the Board of Supervisor for filling Jerry Hill’s old seat by appointing his replacement, rather than holding an election [pdf].

Democracy was suspended by the San Mateo Board of Supervisors in December 2008, due to an economic downturn. On November 4, 2008, a San Mateo County Supervisor for District 2 was elected to the California State Assembly. There were two years left on the Supervisor’s term. Three of the four supervisors decide that an estimated $1.6 million during the economically troubled time was too much to spend on an election and, therefore, made an appointment to fill the vacated seat. 

Noting that “Since 1980, in San Mateo County, incumbents seeking reelection have been reelected 100% of the time”, the Grand jury recommends that open seats should be filled by election, or if the seat will be up for election in less than a year, appointment of a provisional member prohibited from running for that seat in the next election.

Dave Pine has been conducting a series of meetings with various groups of citizens on the issue of supervisorial election reform in San Mateo County - with the idea of trying to bring the process closer to the voters. Pine is an elected board member of the San Mateo Unified High School District and a volunteer board member of several civic organizations.  He has agreed to bring his presentation to the Coastside Democrats on June 24, 2009, at the Johnston House Depot from 7:30 - 9:30 pm.

Dave’s style is to engage with his audience by encouraging comments, questions and suggestions. He has compiled some surprising statistics and thought-provoking analysis about how things have been done and undone over the years and - if you’re interested in politics - you won’t be bored.

Coastside Democrats

Julia Scott’s article about the death of AB650 does an unusually good job (for daily journalism) of laying out the subtext of the city’s failure to get relief from the state.

A year ago, City Council members were frequently quoted as saying they feared for their city’s solvency if forced to pay the entire $18 million debt. But the city ultimately earned a better bond rating than the state itself and, after some painful staffing cuts, is projecting a narrow budget surplus for the next few years.

The “collective actions of the City Council” at last week’s meeting refers to a controversial 4-1 vote to give the city manager a 25 percent raise just a few weeks after the city cut or froze 15 staff positions to save money. Mayor John Muller defended the vote, which also awarded a raise for the interim finance director, because they were contract positions already up for renewal and because both men were deserving of a raise.

Councilman Jim Grady voted against the raises, just as he cast the lone vote against settling with Keenan in 2007 and against issuing the bonds to pay him in the end.

The political schism wrought by the first Half Moon Bay bill, AB 1991, still resonates in this town, and the divisive rhetoric employed by city lobbyists at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe still makes Grady cringe.

“We vilified the Coastal Commission,” said Grady. “And I think trying to exempt Beachwood from the Coastal Act was a mistake.

The article goes on to note that the city accused the Coastal Commission of making “false and misleading” statements, and that the city will have to work with the Coastal Commission to get the maximum value out of the parcel.

Lizanah, Nomi Harper and Mark Kostrzewa, featuring edgy original lyrics and acoustic guitar will appear at Caffe Lucca, Hwy 1 in Montara, Saturday, June 27, 2009, 5 to 8pm.

Dan Burden (along with other experts) is coming to the Coast, to help us plan bike paths, safe highway crossings, and make our community more pedestrian friendly.

Burden is an internationally recognized planner and was cited by Time Magazine as one of the nation’s top innovators.

This first phase focuses on Miramar to the Airport, which includes one of the most problematic areas, Surfers Beach. The project is sponsored by San Mateo County and is headed up by Dave Holland, the Director of Parks and Recreation.

Everyone has an opinion—make sure yours is heard—starting June 25th (this Thursday) 7-9 PM at El Granada Elementary School.

Reprinted with permission from Montara Fog.