I put this off as long as I could.  Effective immediately, all comments posted to stories will be reviewed before they’re released on the site, and all people posting comments are required to use their real names.

I’ve been considering it for a while, but decided to wait until after the election because several pseudonymous posters were posting pretty heavily and critically on the site. I didn’t want anyone to get the impression that we were suppressing opinions.

Then, last weekend, someone posted something genuinely disgusting on the site while I was out of town.  By a stroke of luck, we managed to remove it pretty quickly, but I never want to repeat the experience.

This is a big step, so I hope you’ll be patient as we get the bugs worked out of the system.  My main goals are to avoid a repeat of what happened last week, and to lift the quality of the discourse by making posters responsible for what they say.

We will review new posts as quickly as possible.  We will require that posters get their facts straight and not make personal attacks. There will be more leeway in commenting on officeholders and candidates, but you will be expected to follow the Golden Rule.  If you don’t know what that is, ask your mom.

I will try to verify identities of posters.  If you’re going to post, you will need to click on the “Your profile” link in the left-hand navigation bar, and enter your real name in the field labeled “Name on your posts”.  If I don’t know you, I may ask you to verify your identity.

I’m sorry I had to do this. But, I believe this will improve the quality of the conversation on Coastsider in the long run.

The County Times takes a look at the decision to reduce red-legged frog habitat by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

The Service seems mainly to be concerned with avoiding litigation. According to spokesman Jim Nickles:

“There’s lots of things we’re doing to recover the species. Critical habitat is a very expensive, time-consuming, litigious process,” said Nickles.

Nickles says that it’s better to work with private property owners.  The Coastal Commission seems less certain.

Chris Kern, district manager of the California Coastal Commission, said that he was certain that the coastal provisions would shield the frogs’ habitat from harm. The rest of the county was a different story, however.

“The loss of critical habitat beyond the coastal zone could affect the future of the species very strongly,” he said.

Furthermore, the federal agency’s proposal wouldn’t help take the red-legged frog off the threatened species list, said Kern.

Coastsider wrote about this decision on November 5.

Mike Ferreira now leads Bonnie McClung by a scant 8 votes in the Half Moon Bay City Council election and Alex King leads Bruce McKimmie by one vote, according to totals posted today at the County’s official election website.

As the county has been counting provisional ballots and verifying the identity of each voter, they have been posting successive sets of semi-official results.

On election night, Tuesday, November 8, Ferreira led by 59 votes, 1,549 to 1,490. King led McKimmie 599 to 594.

On Friday, November 11, Ferreira led by 30 votes, 1,727 to 1,697. King led McKimmie 648 to 644.

On Wednesday, November 16,  Ferreira leads by 8 votes, 1,780 to 1,772. King leads McKimmie 700 to 699

According to the County’s website:

Provisional Voting is an alternative Election Day voting method used when the voter has not met the new identification requirements or when the voter’s eligibility is in doubt.

Voters will be asked at the polling place to vote a Provisional Ballot if:

• Their name is not on the roster at the polling place.
• They are first-time voters and cannot provide the required identification to poll workers.
• They are listed on the roster as absentee voters, but do not have an Absentee Ballot with them. Voters who do bring their Absentee Ballots to the polls are not provisional voters.
• They moved and did not re-register at their new address.
• They wish to vote on a ballot for a political party with which they are not affiliated.

The County Elections office won’t say how many ballots remain or how long it will take to finish counting, but they hope to finish by Friday. 

Crab season has opened, but no one’s catching anything. Crabbers and processors are still negotiating on price and there is concern about the quality of current crabs, according to the County Times.

The principal issue is that the big producers from up north and big processors are locking the smaller local crabbers out of the market.  Governor Schwarzenegger’s recently vetoed of a bill that would have limited the number of crab pots on fishing boats, according to the Chronicle.

“A few years ago, San Francisco Dungeness crab was a gourmet delicacy that was usually enjoyed fresh by local residents,” said Zeke Grader, the executive director of the Pacific Coast Federation of Fishermen’s Associations, a commercial fishing advocacy group.

Now, Grader said, the big processors have turned California Dungeness into a canned and frozen commodity that largely is consumed on cruise ships and in casinos.

I’m meeting with Assembly President Pro Tem Leland Yee Friday. 

He’s meeting individually with all of the Peninsula newspapers to “go over the legislative session and discuss what is ahead in 2006”. His office has included Coastsider in that briefing process, which is pretty cool.

While the Coastside isn’t in his district, he is a candidate in 2006 for the State Senate district that includes the Coastside.

I want to give Coastsider readers a chance to participate in the process. What questions do you want to ask the assemblyman and what issues would you like to bring to his attention at our meeting?  Just as I keep Coastsider focused on local issues, I’d like to keep the conversation focused strictly on coastal issues, especially those that affect San Mateo County.

Two upcoming meetings, one Wednesday and one on December 6, will determine development on the unincorporated Midcoast for the foreseeable future.

The County has released the preliminary staff report on the proposed Midcoast Local Coastal Program (LCP) update.  This is a crucial process in determining the future of development on the unincorporated Midcoast (Montara, Moss Beach, and El Granada). The LCP is used by county and the Coastal Commission in evaluating development decisions.

The original proposed update was written by the Midcoast Community Council (MCC), which was elected by the residents of the Midcoast.

The County Board of Supervisors has been reviewing the proposal and created a subcommittee to write a set of guiding principles to be used in evaluating it. The subcommittee has met five times and made some recommendations to the full Board, and the Board has taken tentative action on some recommendations and asked for additional staff research on others.

The original proposal, background, staff responses and recommendations are all reviewed in a staff report released November 9. You can download the 50-page report from Coastsider [PDF].

The MCC will discuss the report on Wednesday, November 16 at 7:30 PM at the 3-0 Café at the HMB Airport.

The Board of Supervisors will meet on the Coastside at a location to be chosen on Tuesday, December 6 from 2pm to 5pm.

Local Coastal Programs (LCPs)  are the basic planning tools used by the Coastal Commission and coastal communities.  According to the Coastal Commission:

LCPs identify the location, type,  densities and other ground-rules for future development in the coastal zone portions of the 73 cities and counties along the coast. Each LCP includes a land-use plan and its implementing measures (e.g., zoning ordinances). Prepared by local government, these programs govern decisions that determine the short- and long-term conservation and use of coastal resources.

After an LCP has been finally approved, the Commission’s coastal permitting authority over most new development is transferred to the local government. The Commission retains permanent coastal permit jurisdiction over development proposed on the immediate shoreline (tidelands, submerged lands, and public trust lands).

Please review the report and attend the meeting on Wednesday.  Let’s discuss the LCP revision here, and let’s work to get a big turnout for the Board of Supervisors Coastside meeting on December 6.

Did you leave a wallet at the Easy Mart in El Granada? If so, the Sheriff has your wallet at the Moss Beach substation.

In other action, A DUI leads to a crash in Princeton,  a missing girl is located,  a missing kayak is reunited with its owner, a suicide threat is foiled, cars are broken into at Skeggs Point (on Skyline) and La Honda.

Click “read more” for details.

Friday, November 18, at 8pm, the Coastside Film Society presents a classic film about insane obsession.

Werner Herzog is one of our most obsessive directors. When he heard the tale of an opera lover who built a concert hall in middle of the Amazon jungle he knew it to be a story he had to tell. To realize his vision, the opera buff had to haul a riverboat across a mountain.  Herzog decided he had to duplicate this insane endeavor.  So the film was shot in and around a real 300 ton steamship as it was dragged up a real mountain by the sweat labor of local Indians. The conditions under which the film was shot proved to be too harrowing for the first crew.  So filming started all over again with Klaus Kinski, an actor who matched Hertzog obsession for obsession.  The end result is a visually arresting trip through the jungle that feels insanely real because it is insanely real.

“Fitzcarraldo” is a movie in the tradition of grandiose cinematic visions. Like Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” or Kubrick’s “2001”.—As a document of a quest and a dream, and as the record of man’s audacity and foolish, visionary heroism, there has never been another movie like it.—I would not have missed for the world.” Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Fitzcarraldo
1982, 157 mins.
$6.00 donation per person
Friday, Nov 18, 8pm

Community Methodist Sanctuary
777 Miramontes, Half Moon Bay
Corner of Johnston & Miramontes.
Half Moon Bay

Wal-Mart is expanding in the Bay Area, adding to the big-box pressure on Coastside retailers.

“Wal-Mart: the High Cost of Low Prices” is a powerful exposé on the toll the Wal-Mart behemoth has taken on workers and communities across the country, and how we can help turn the tide. It will be shown Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ted Adcock Community Center, 535 Kelly Ave., Half Moon Bay. And it’s free.

The film is from the director of “Uncovered: The War on Iraq” and “Outfoxed”.  Wal-Mart is going into attack mode. The company has literally created a war room, staffed with political consultants who are working day and night to undermine the movie and spread pro-Wal-Mart propaganda. But it’s not working: thanks to the questions raised by the film, national media are tuning in to Wal-Mart’s high cost to American families—and last week the movie was featured on page 1 of the New York Times.

Nancy Schaub has purchased the film for our showing next week. She has spoken with the Chamber of Commerce in Half Moon Bay who is very supportive of our efforts. We hope to open a dialog about creating a more sustainable Coastside environment, by shopping locally and making sustainable choices every time we spend our dollars.

The DNC (Democratic National Committee) has asked grass roots Democrats in all fifty states to hold house parties or other events next Tues night, Nov 15th, and to hear a live conversation with Howard Dean, DNC Chair.

I will host a party here on the Coastside. You are invited to celebrate our recent successes and join a discussion about next year’s campaign.

We will start at 6:30 pm. The Dean phone call will start about 7:30. We will be serving pizza courtesy of the Coastside Democrats to those who RSVP. You can use the DNC web site:

  http://www.democrats.org/page/event/detail/wfm

for details and to sign up for this event or call me at 712-0498.

To learn more about the Coastside Democrats or to join the club, visit:

    http://www.coastsidedemocrats.org

We do accept credit cards.

Thanks,

Dennis Paull
President, Coastside Democrats