Tuesday, the Half Moon Bay City Council announced the new city manager, continued its discussion of campaign finance reform, and came closer to resolution on the parking permits.  [Link to agenda]

Request for feedback:  We’re still experimenting with production and publication of video from meetings, so you may find that our video reports vary in format and turnaround time. You’re invited to give us feedback on these report by adding comments.

• Public comment period [Quicktime | Windows Media ]


• City council member reports [Quicktime | Windows Media]


• Consent calendar [Quicktime | Windows Media]


• Discussion of campaign finance limits, including higher limits on contributions and consolidating personal and business contributions.  This discussion was very interesting and worth watching.  [Quicktime | Windows Media]


• Discussion and vote to limit parking after midnight in Miramar/Naples and Alsace Lorraine neighborhoods. Council member Grady proposed limiting closing Poplar Beach parking after midnight. Council member Patridge explored turning designated open space at 144 Kelly St. into a parking lot. [Quicktime | Windows Media]


• Short, near content-less finance discussion.  The financial statements were in the council members’ packets.  The city has a little more money than expected. [Quicktime | Windows Media]

Tuesday, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors met to consider its update to the Midcoast Local Coastal Program. Coastsider was there, and we’re presenting the complete meeting in three parts.

The Part I [Quicktime | Windows Media] and Part II [Quicktime | Windows Media] are of the public comment period. Many of the speakers focused on the Burnham Strip and upon Big Wave. Each segment lasts about forty minutes.

The third segment is the session where the Board discussed the various issues and heard a presentation from George Bergman [Quicktime | Windows Media]. This segment concludes with the vote.

The Midcoast Community Council held a forum for candidates for the Cabrillo Unified School District board Wednesday night.

For scheduling reasons, only Ken Johnson and Pam Fisher appeared at the event. Former board member Marina Stariha read statements on behalf of the missing candidates. According to MCC board member Kathryn Slater-Carter, who chaired the event, all the candidates will appear at a forum sponsored by the American Association of University Women at the Methodist Church in Half Moon Bay on October 30.

Click the image to see the video.

At Tuesday’s Half Moon Bay City Council meeting, Bruce Russell of Kenmark presented three projects that they are working on, including two that will improve coastal access:

Removal of riprap below the 18th hole of the golf course: The removal of not only the riprap that was dumped on the beach without a permit in 1998, but also riprap that was placed there in 1996 with the permission of the Coastal Commission.

Beach access at Redondo Beach:  They’re building stairways for access to the beach from Redondo Beach Road.

The final 32-unit residential project in Ocean Colony: While this project, called Carnoustie, was originally proposed in July 2000, Kenmark has made some changes since they took over management of Ocean Colony in 2005.  They’ve been working to resolve the Coastal Commission’s issues with the project. They’re considering building a low & moderate income project across the street from Cunha to meet their requirements under the law.

Coastsider is experimenting with fast-turnaround video publishing from local events. Our dress rehearsal was tonight’s Half Moon Bay City Council meeting.  Tonight, Darin Boville recorded the meeting straight to disk, processed it on the spot and uploaded tonight’s clip to the Web from the Coastwave hotspot in front of La Di Da Cafe. Tonight, we present the public comments from the city council meeting still in progress.

This beginning of this school year is an unusual one. Two of our three public elementary schools have new principals.

At Farallone View Elementary in Montara, Suzanne Michelony is the new principal, replacing Mike Bachicha. She is the former principal of Hatch Elementary, in Half Moon Bay. 

Taking her spot at Hatch is Mark Loos, from Jefferson High School in Daly City.

I thought it would be interesting to meet with each of these new principals and let them introduce themselves via video to the parents and students at their respective schools and to the wider community.

For each of the videos I suggested the following topics: 

• Talk about your background and your connection to the community.


• Give a sense of your management style.


• Offer examples of things you plan to change at your school, or things that you specifically plan NOT to change.

A little over five months ago we began offering videos on Coastsider. From important news to everyday life we have been able to bring you an unmatched window on Coastside.

For example, when Devil’s Slide was closed we were there the first full day of the closure, and videotaped the damage. We went back that Wednesday and Friday to show how the damage was increasing, even in the absence of vehicle traffic. Through our coverage readers on the Coastside could make their own assessment of the magnitude of the problem because they could see the damage, in detail, with their own eyes.

By contrast, the local TV stations in the City and over the hill gave a few seconds of video coverage of the damage. Our local newspaper carried a still photo of a locked Caltrans gate during that first critical week.

Viewer response to the videos has been overwhelmingly positive.

Now, as part of Coastsider.com’s upgrade process, we now offer our videos, from those Devil’s Slide videos on forward, in two formats: Quicktime and Windows Media Player (WMP). That means that if you don’t have access to a Quicktime 7 player, you can now see what you’ve been missing. In addition, the WMP files are smaller than the Quicktime files, which makes them especially suitable for those viewers with slower connections.  We still recommend Quicktime 7 for its superior quality, but if you can’t or prefer not to install it, you no longer have to.

Now nearly everyone with a computer should be able to enjoy the videos.

If you’re looking for more, click on the “Video” item on the menu under the Coastsider.com banner to see all of our past stories containing video. Here are a few of the most popular videos that you may have missed-- enjoy!

• Caltrans Geologist explains the geology of the Slide


• Caltrans at work repairing the Slide


• Whales at Montara Beach


• “Oceans Week” at Farallone View Elementary


• July Fourth Parade in HMB