The Coastside Fire Protection District board of directors appointed J. B. Cockrell of Montara as its ninth member on Tuesday. Cockrell told the board that he supported contracting services to Cal Fire. Union representative Tony Slimick threatened a recall as a result of the appointment.

Slimick and Alan Davis of IAFF Local 2400 addressed the Board a couple of times each. They both appealed to the Board not to promote acting Chief Cole and not to appoint a ninth member, until the new Board is seated in December.

In last week’s election, four union-backed candidates defeated four pro-Cal Fire candidates for positions on the fire board.

Directors Silva, McShane, Burke, Lees and Donovan (Cal Fire supporters) voted for Cockrell.  Directors Eufusia and Riddell (both Cal Fire critics) voted for volunteer firerighter Matt Connors of Half Moon Bay.  Director McKimmie (Cal Fire supporter) voted for Michael Gaynes, of Moss Beach.

The ninth position is the swing vote on the board. Once the newly elected board members are seated, there will be four union-backed Cal Fire critics and five Cal Fire supporters including Cockrell.

Following its investigation of incidents at a football game against Sequoia High School, the Cabrillo Unified School District has concluded there was no evidence of “any retribution in any manner by the Half Moon Bay High School football teams towards the Sequoia football teams” for personal fouls by the Sequoia team. This conclusion is based on statements by the game referee and the Half Moon Bay High coaches. You can download the press release from Coastsider [pdf]. This file also includes copies of the district’s and students’ apologies to Sequoia.

According to the release, “Sequoia has identified an incident” during the game that is still under investigation, saying that if there is substantive evidence, any discipline would have to remain confidential

The district says did not investigate reports of rock and egg throwing, which took place off school grounds, but that all evidence will be turned over to the Half Moon Bay Police.

In the latest vote count from San Mateo County Elections, union-supported HMB fire board candidate Gregg A. Hosfeldt now has more votes than incumbent Bert Silva. Silva led Hosfeldt for third place as of Wednesday. All four union-backed candidates for the Coastside fire boards (three in Half Moon Bay, one in Pt. Montara) are now the vote leaders.

The union candidates gained ground late Tuesday night as the county continued to count mail-in and absentee ballots. The latest count was published at 5pm Friday, Nov 9.

A recount is still likely. The Review has reported that if the margin of victory in any contest is less than 0.5%, the county plans to perform an automatic recount. Hosfeldt, Silva, and Donovan are separated by only 0.3%.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story said that this mean there would be three pro Cal Fire board members and five who were against. The ratio is actually four to four under the current results.

Contracting of fire services is the only real issue in the 2007 elections for the Coastside fire boards. It is essential for Coastsiders to turn out in this election to vote for the three candidates in Half Moon Bay who support contracting:

• Jerry Donovan


• Ron Taborski


• Bert Silva

...and the one candidate in Point Montara who supports the contract:

• Vince Williams

The Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District and the Point Montara district have merged as of October 1, so this is the last election for separate boards. The new Coastside Fire Protection District board will inherit a department in crisis. The good news is that the combined boards have agreed to the one solution left to us: contracting out services to Cal Fire.

This crisis has been building for years.  Eighteen months ago, interim Fire Chief Peter Bonano wrote a blistering assessment of the state of the department in Half Moon Bay following years of unrest.

I’m very concerned with the Department’s ability to provide a level of service consistent with the Mission of the Fire Service,” he says, and goes on to cite problems with the Fire Prevention program and say that the San Mateo City Fire Marshal has provided him with a five-page list of deficiencies.

As if this were not enough, “Morale is low, resulting in a culture of lawsuits, grievances and excessive sick leave use. ... While there are many shining stars in the workforce, we have our share of firefighters who are unmotivated, disgruntled and well versed in throwing up roadblocks.”

On July 10, 2006, following Chief Bonano’s evaluation, The San Mateo County Grand Jury recommended contracting for services. The Montara station has been successfully staffed by Cal Fire since Mid-September, 2007

In the year and a half since Chief Bonano’s report, continued turnover has greatly increased the department’s costs and affected its readiness.

Poor morale in the firehouse has been the heart of the matter for years. It has persisted through multiple boards and fire chiefs and years of turnover among the rank-and-file personnel in the department. In the last year, it has resulted in acts of vandalism and harassment against members of the board and their Fire Chiefs for supporting the contract with Cal Fire.

No one in particular—the boards, their management, or the firefighters—is responsible for the crisis. But it’s time to end it, and both fire boards agreed to a solution: contracting out services to Cal Fire. The union-backed candidates in this election are attempting to derail the only solution we have.

It would be a different matter if the firefighters or their union had offered some solution to the chaos in the department in the last year.  They have offered salary concessions, but they have offered no alternative to contracting other than business-as-usual backed with appeals to our emotions and fears. No firefighters will lose their jobs due to contracting, and they will continue to be represented by a union.

This is not a happy solution.  I strongly support small, local government, but this chaos has gone on too long. This is no endorsement of the boards themselves. The fire boards have pretty much shown they can’t manage the firehouse. They should be able to manage a contract with a professional firefighting organization.

For the next three weeks, motorists should expect one way traffic control between Montara and Gray Whale Cove as PG&E upgrade the electrical transmission system along Highway 1.  Day and night work is scheduled and one way control will be in effect Monday through Friday from 9am to 3pm and Sunday through Thursday 9pm to 5am.  

Expect minor delays if you are traveling on Highway 1 during these periods and please allow more time for your journey.

The Half Moon Bay Fire District is having a big year--and a controversial year. It is, essentially at the same time, merging with the Point Montara Fire District and contracting out all of its fire-fighting and medical services to CalFire, the state fire-fighting agency. This has not been a smooth process and it follows upon years and years of acrimony between firefighters, their management, and their governing board and enough intrigue to make fans of Richard III blink.

This debate among the candidates for the Half Moon Bay fire district was held by the Midcoast Community Council meeting Wednesday, Oct 3. Candidates for the Point Montara Fire Board are running in a separate election. The two boards will soon merge together to form a “super-board” of eight members governing all of the coastside, then the board will appoint a ninth member (an odd number of members allows tie breaking votes) before shrinking down to five members at some point in the future.

But don’t give up--watch the videos, at least a few where the question seems especially interesting. You’ll care when you smell smoke. Videos by Darin Boville and reproduced with permission from Montara Fog.

Opening Statements:  | Quicktime | Flash |

What do you consider to be the root cause of problems in the Fire Department , what do you plan to do to fix them, and--not at all coincidentally--how many meetings of the Board have you attended in the last two years?  | Quicktime | Flash |

A public agency board of directors is there to represent the public. Please comment on the conflict-of-interest with having fire fighters, paid or volunteer, or labor union representatives, serving on the Board. And, are you a fire fighter? Are you a Union member?
| Quicktime | Flash |

The current Board has voted to contract fire services to the State based upon financial reasons. The budget report from the October 1st board meeting shows that the District has a healthy financial status. Do you agree with the current Board’s reason as to why they should contract out fire services to the State?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Do you believe that the Department of Forestry is the long-term solution for management problems in our District and how do you intend to end the long-standing management failures that have led to law suites and settlements with fire fighters?  | Quicktime | Flash |

How important is employee retention to you? What do you plan o doing to get employees to stay?  | Quicktime | Flash |

As a fire district board member would you continue to send crews over the hill to train or would you advocate construction of a fire tower, as currently proposed in the District? Would you express reservations about the District’s ability to handle emergencies in buildings of a certain height and if so what height?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Do you feel that board members who receive lifetime medical benefits from the District should be able to vote on health-care increases for retirees?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Closing Statements:  | Quicktime | Flash |

On October 10, Point Montara Fire Protection District board candidates Vince Williams and Christopher Cilia answered questions from the audience at the meeting of the Midcoast Community Council. One of these two candidates will sit on the merged Coastside Fire Protection District board. Videos by Darin Boville and used with permission of Montara Fog.

Opening Statements:  | Quicktime | Flash |

What are the challenges facing the Coastside fire board and what would you do to meet them?  | Quicktime | Flash |

With the so-called emergency staffing at Station 44 Half Moon Bay was staffing your station, Montara, with some overtime employees. Now CalFire is staffing your station with overtime employees. Why do you feel it was a necessary move when both departments are filling the station with overtime personnel? Could it not have waited until the districts were merged?  | Quicktime | Flash |

How many meetings of the Fire District Board have you attended and why do you want to be on the Board?  | Quicktime | Flash |

This year’s budget has over three million dollars in reserves. The $430,000 loan for the land under Station 41 will be paid off year. Do you believe that we can’t afford to run a local fire department?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Are you aware of ex-convicts working for CDF and do you know if any are currently working at Station 44?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Should the current board have ignored the petitions that taxpayers and voters of the District signed? | Quicktime | Flash |

How important is employee retention and what are you going to do to retain employees of the district?  | Quicktime | Flash |

The money saved from year directly benefits some of the directors who are retired from the Half Moon Bay Protection District. Do you consider issue a conflict of interest? Should those directors that benefit from such issues be allowed to discuss and vote on them?  | Quicktime | Flash |

Closing Statements:  | Quicktime | Flash |

A missing 75-year-old man who disappeared from the HMB Pumpkin Festival around 5pm Saturday near the IDES Hall. was found around midnight at Kehoe Avenue and Highway 1, reports KCBS.

“He was a little disoriented, but fine,” O’Keefe said.

[Chin-Yi ] Liao was reunited with his family and “is safe now,” [Police Chief Don] O’Keefe added.

Officers had posted flyers throughout the downtown area after Liao was reported missing, which prompted the resident who spotted Liao to call police, according to O’Keefe.

A student was struck by a car in front of Cunha Intermediate School as school was letting out, at about 3pm today.  According to witnesses, a boy was crossing Kelly street when he was struck by a car and rolled or fell under a van parked at the curb.  The boy was conscious and alert and taken by ground ambulance to Stanford Hospital, according to the Half Moon Bay Fire Dept.

No names have been released.

Darin Boville has taped two of the seven candidates for the Half Moon Bay fire board and one of the two for Point Montara (now merged as the Coastside Fire Protection District). Candidates who have not yet agreed to be taped are still welcome to participate. Republished with permission from Montara Fog.

There’s a lot going on at these fire stations (not fires, but politics) but it is almost impossible to figure out. You may have questions: What’s that about a merger? Do firefighters really make $140,000 on average--and up to $200,000? Is the new contract a major disaster for the coast? Who is Calfire? Did firefighters really urinate on the Fire Captain’s bed, break his headlights, pour solvents on his car, and make death threats in a public meeting? Did the higher-ups really falsify documents? Are these just rumors? What the heck is going on?

If you are like me, almost totally confused, then you’ll need to watch these three videos. I invited all of the candidates for both Fire Boards (soon to be merged into one board anyway) to make a five-minute video to introduce themselves to the voters and to describe their views. Three of the candidates eventually agreed to participate.

It might seem complex at first but, after making these videos, the basic framework is starting to fall into place. I think.