The county’s Charter Review Committee is holding its next public hearing in Half Moon Bay at Cunha Intermediate School, on Wednesday March 10, from 5:30 to 7:30.
 
The Committee is reviewing the county’s charter and, after public hearings, will make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for amendments to be submitted to county voters.
 
The general purpose of a county charter is to provide a measure of home rule to the counties of the state. The charter defines San Mateo County’s structure, powers and functions. It’s akin to a local constitution.
 
In its review of the Charter, the Committee will specifically address the Civil Grand Jury recommendations regarding Board member elections and filling Board vacancies, and  the method of electing members of the Board of Supervisors from the current “at large” system to a “by district” system. In addition to other items the Committee will consider consolidation and reorganization of departments and other organization improvements requiring a Charter amendment.
 
The Committee will meet at least once in each of the five supervisorial districts in addition to meetings held at the County seat in Redwood City.  The schedule and all materials provided to Committee members are available at its Web site.
 
Video recordings of each meeting will be posted on the Charter Review Committee’s Web site:   
http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/CharterReviewCommittee.
 

Please take ten minutes to join us in an effort that we think can save the State of California from budget gridlock and cuts to essential services, and restore Democracy to California.  The California Democracy Act, a volunteer, grassroots effort, that is not backed by any special interest money whatsoever, is fourteen words long; probably the shortest initiative petition in state history:

“All legislative actions on revenue and budget must be determined by a majority vote.”

This simple initiative would end the 2/3 rule that has left the state in the hands of a minority of legislators who have prevented the government from doing what it was created to do: protecting and empowering its resident. This has resulted in a tyranny of the minority.

Here’s what you can do to help:

Download the petition and print it (do not shrink or enlarge it; print it only at 100%, single sided, on white, 8.5” X 11” paper only) sign the petition and send it to the campaign (instructions provided) send the petition to your friends, urging them to support this measure. 

We must collect over a million signatures by April 5, and we need everyone’s help.

If you’ve ever thought you’d be interested in serving on the Grand Jury, now’s your chance. Those who’ve served tell us it’s a very rewarding experience, and we could use more Coastsiders on the panel.

The county is now accepting applications for service on the 2010-2011 Grand Jury. The deadline for application is April 23. The grand jury year begins July 1.

Any resident of San Mateo County for more than one year who is a citizen of the United States, 18 years of age or older, of ordinary intelligence, sound judgment and good character, with sufficient knowledge of the English language is eligible for selection. Elected public officials are not eligible. The Court strives to obtain a cross section of the county population. After the completion of an interview process by Joseph E. Bergeron, jurors will be selected through a random draw.

Application forms can be obtained by writing Grand Jury Clerk, Court Executive Office, 400 County Center, Redwood City, CA 94063 or telephoning (650) 599-1200.

Residents of a mobile home park are the most recent Pacificans to be threatened by the erosion of wave-battered cliffs, reports Julia Scott in the County Times.

The waves took out a 3-foot-wide, 20-foot-long section of blufftop and shattered the living room windows of at least one home facing the ocean at Pacific Skies Estates, a mobile home community perched precariously near the edge of the cliff less than a mile south of the apartment building that was evacuated in mid-December due to cliff erosion.

Only four of the 12 homes that face the ocean across a narrow cliffside road are occupied, said mobile home park manager Steve Kester. He closed the road and boarded up the west-facing windows of many of the homes on Monday, but said residents should have nothing to fear despite Sunday’s events. [...]

Some of the mobile homes now have no more than 17 feet between their backyards and a sheer drop to the ocean. But Doug Rider, Pacifica’s chief building official, said he isn’t looking at evacuating them.

Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office will be holding their monthly office hours this Thursday, February 25, from 10am to Noon at the Sheriff’s Coastside Substation in Moss Beach.

This is a good opportunity to get a message to the Midcoast’s local government.

The county’s 16-member Charter Review Committee met Wednesday for the second time, reports the Mercury News.

The biggest issue before the committee is district elections for the Board of Supervisors.  San Mateo is the only county in California that elects its supervisors at large.

Other topics proposed Wednesday by committee members include:

• Consolidating county departments
• Redrawing supervisor district boundaries
• Establishing new campaign finance rules
• Revising or creating qualifications for certain elected offices
• Eliminating redundant boards and commissions

The committee will hold meetings every other Wednesday now through June and is expected to eventually forward its recommended changes to the board of supervisors, which could then choose to place them on the ballot. Charter changes require 50 percent voter approval.

The committee’s next meeting will take place Feb. 10 at 5:30 p.m. at 455 County Center, Redwood City.

The charter was last reviewed in 2002.

Blogged live from the Supervisors’ Chambers in Redwood City

The Pelican Eye: Jan. 27, 2010

Gail Slocum, Commissioner, Fourth District had questions for County Counsel regarding the sale of the four proposed office buildings.

She is attempting to better understand what will happen to the office buildings, the storage building and parking lot once they are sold.

Project Phasing

Camille Leung, County Planner said the Wellness Center and Office Park construction will be based on demand.

The developers plan to rough grade the whole site and put up one building at a time. The parking lot would also be phased to provide parking for the building constructed.

Phase One of Construction

Building A would be built first (building closest to Pillar Ridge) and parking lot to the north of building A (closest to Pillar Ridge).

Scott Holmes, Engineer for the Big Wave development said building A is for mixed use, light industrial so it might need less parking? He also said agricultural farming would continue while construction is in progress.

- Hard to imagine how all this multitasking would work for the farm.

Holmes said they plan to switch to organic farming and plan to continue farming during construction.

Camille Leung said, “The agriculture is proposed for the Wellness Center site.” Holmes said, “The farming would continue on both the Wellness Center and Office Park site.”

Dave Byers of McCracken, Byers and Richardson said, “A banker will decide how the sites will be used. The construction loan will decide how the land is farmed during construction. We intend to keep farming the land during construction.”

Leung said that if the office park was a flop the Wellness Center would still be built but would not serve low income developmentally challenged people. Leung then went on to say, “Those living on just SSI payments are below the poverty line.”

Holmes said, “The cost to lease office park space would be $3.00 per sq. ft. and the purchase cost would be 1.5 times higher.”

Holmes, “A tenant will be secured before the structure (Building A) is built. The building would be customized to fit the tenant/customer. Each building permit would shift depending on the needs of the tenant.”

Story Poles

Leung said, “The developer will start construction of the story poles next week.”

Supervisor Rich Gordon’s office will be keeping their regular Coastside office hours today from 10am to noon at the Sheriff’s substation in Moss Beach. As always, it’s a good opportunity to raise issues with our county representative.

Those 243 comments on the Big Wave Draft Environmental Impact Report also came with a stack of attachments, including presentations from previous planning commission hearings and technical appendices. You can download the appendices to the comments from Coastsider [64mb].

The presentations from November 18 Planning Commission hearing (Appendix B) are particularly interesting, and contain some excellent feedback about the development from community members.

Click below for the detailed list.

You can now download a copy of the the county planning staff’s report on the Big Wave development from Coastsider. We don’t yet have the attachments, but wanted to get this piece into the public’s hands as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, Jan 27, at 8am, the San Mateo County Planning Commission will hold a study session on the proposed development.  The attached document covers some areas of the project, such as: the project description, the business plan, subdivision of the property, why no story poles have been put up, what utilities and districts are involved, tsunami hazards, effect on population and housing, and the need for police support.

The staff document doesn’t address zoning, effects on local biology, traffic impacts, or other issues that have been raised in more than 200 comments filed with the county.

The Planning Commission has also apparently not been sent copies of the public comment on this project [Download or read individually on Coastsider].

We’ll have more on this document and the upcoming study session, but this will get you started.  Post your comments and questions here.