Comments by Barry Parr

Photo: Accident in Montara knocks over Land Rover

September 05, 2010

Corrected. Thanks.

African Hybrid Cat (Savannah) Roaming in Montara

September 04, 2010

I received letter and some photos of what may be the same cat. I’ve posted them in a separate letter on Coastsider:

http://coastsider.com/index.php/site/news/followup_savannah_cat_in_montara/100904/

A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?

August 31, 2010

Sales taxes in San Mateo County communities:
9.25%  Atherton
9.25%  Belmont
9.25%  Brisbane
9.25%  Burlingame
9.25%  Colma
9.25%  Daly City
9.25%  East Palo Alto
9.25%  El Granada
9.25%  Emerald Hills (Redwood City)
9.25%  Foster City
9.25%  Half Moon Bay
9.25%  Hillsborough
9.50%  Hillsdale (San Mateo)
9.25%  La Honda
9.25%  Ladera
9.25%  Loma Mar
9.25%  Marsh Manor
9.25%  Menlo Park
9.25%  Millbrae
9.25%  Montara
9.25%  Moss Beach
9.25%  Pacifica
9.25%  Pescadero
9.25%  Portola Valley
9.25%  Redwood City
9.25%  San Bruno
9.25%  San Carlos
9.25%  San Gregorio
9.50%  San Mateo
9.25%  South San Francisco
9.25%  Woodside

A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?

August 31, 2010

How far would you drive to save $1.00 on a $100 grocery bill, or $.03 on a latte?

Huge Book Sale This Weekend in HMB

August 31, 2010

This is always a great sale and I strongly recommend getting there early before the folks who know what’s what have had their way with the inventory.

Save The Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

August 16, 2010

Thanks for posting this. We’ve been giving a lot of (justified) attention to the plans to pave the trail at Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, but it’s just as important to understand the modifications to the beach entry and overlook.

GGNRA plans controlled burn for Milagra Ridge in Pacifica

August 13, 2010

George Durgerian, Park Ranger, GGNRA: Ocean District. says, “The Marin burn was delayed at least a week pending better weather.  After that, we’ll move forward with plans for the Milagra burn.”

Half Moon Bay police chief leaving to become US Marshal

August 13, 2010

San Carlos projects 30% savings from outsourcing to the Sheriff. Here’s an interview with the SC mayor on KQED:

http://www.kqed.org/a/kqednews/R201006291730

The arguments for outsourcing are pretty sound. I don’t see how the HMB city council cannot see this as an opportunity to at least consider it.

Coastal erosion, flooding, and sea level rise in Pacifica, Sun, Aug 16

August 09, 2010

Julia Scott wrote a good story on this a couple of weeks ago for the County Times. It would appear that the status of the buildings is, um, up in the air.

Owner misses deadline for plan to save Pacifica cliff apartments

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_15563669

Cliffside apartment building owner Millard Tong failed to meet a deadline to submit a timeline for repairs to the cliff behind his evacuated building Monday, but building officials said they don’t plan to enforce it.

When the city emptied 320 Esplanade Ave. on April 29 because tenants were living in a dangerous building at the edge of an eroding cliff, officials slapped Tong with a notice of violation requiring him to submit a timeline on how to save the building or choose to demolish it. The initial deadline was May 28. It was extended, at Tong’s request, until June 17 and then again to July 19.

...

Both Tong and Farshid Samsami, owner of 330 Esplanade, are struggling to come up with a way to finance an elaborate cliff repair expected to cost $1.5 million to $3 million.

...

Both men have also been sued for unpaid bills by the firm that did the cliff work, Engineered Soil Repairs Inc. On Monday, ESR sued Samsami for $589,589 for work done since 2008. The firm asked a court to place a lien against the apartment building in April. The lawsuit asks the court to seize the building and try to sell it to pay off its bills. ESR also sued Tong for $1.8 million in unpaid construction bills in May.

...

He said he would meet with planning department officials next week to consider the city’s next move. Samsami and several other neighbors are working on putting together a Geologic Hazard Abatement District on Esplanade Avenue that would allow a group of residents to sell bonds to help fund a single engineering “fix” behind several cliffside properties.

Samsami estimated the district is still three or four months away from being approved — which would mean no new construction, and no new financing, until the rainy season begins.

16.5’ wide asphalt trail planned for the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve

August 06, 2010

Carl, thanks for pointing that out. Louie Castoria’s article can be found here:

http://hmbreview.com/articles/2010/08/04/community/quip_tide/doc4c59a9b1e7c5c021612343.txt

From the article:

It’s thus a bit ironic that during that same week people on the Coastside were disagreeing about whether Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, one of the coast’s most beautiful and unspoiled areas, should be made accessible to people with mobility disabilities by resurfacing some of the existing dirt paths with asphalt, crushed concrete, or another surface that wheelchairs can roll on. Other parks and state reserves have wheelchair accessible paths — the Pigeon Point Lighthouse and Point Lobos come to mind — and don’t seem less “natural” for having firm, safe pathways.

Emphasis added.

To my knowledge, no one who opposes the county’s current plan for a wide paved trail at the Marine Preserve “disagrees about whether it should be made accessible”.

Clay shoots down Farm Bureau/Beautification Committee, icon

July 24, 2010

Peculiar admission.

Most of what he’d learn in that class can be found here:

http://multimedia.journalism.berkeley.edu/tutorials/cat/public-records

I spent two years trying to get Clay interested in the governance and intellectual property issues surrounding MCTV and he couldn’t be bothered.

Does the Coastside need another store (gas station) selling liquor?

July 21, 2010

I don’t have a strong opinion on this. But, let’s face it, convenience stores don’t typically sell hard liquor to casual alcohol users. This is about catering to serious drinkers. How typical is it for *gas stations* to sell hard liquor? I don’t know the answer to that.

At the same time, there are currently only two locations in Montara and Moss Beach that sell packaged liquor right now.

The county counsel’s letter and attached application provided too little information for MCC to make any kind of informed decision. What the pertinent regulations and metrics are in a case like this? The county’s not talking. At least, not unless the MCC asks the questions.

Also, why is the “Type of Business” listed on the application as “Liquor Store”?

Balshone: Supervisors’ ugly act of indifference

July 17, 2010

They seriously sued for defamation?  I shocked he didn’t countersue them for a SLAPP suit and attempting to abridge his first amendment rights.

Just to be clear, there’s no question that at-large elections disenfranchise racial and other minorities.  But you don’t have to be racist to support at-large elections. There are plenty of other anti-democratic reasons for supporting them. There are may even be some ostensibly democratic reasons.

Supervisors reject vote on district elections

July 15, 2010

I’m deadly serious.

Clay shoots down Farm Bureau/Beautification Committee, icon

July 15, 2010

Donald:

Clay Lambert’s editorial is based on this news story on the Review’s site:

http://hmbreview.com/articles/2010/07/15/news/doc4c3df2a59c820112041595.txt

It’s an open secret that the Beautification Committee has been processing tons of money with zero public accountability since forever. It’s unfortunate that the Review waited for the possibility of malfeasance before reaching the conclusion that this was a less than ideal way to handle large amounts of cash. It will be interesting to see how the Review handles the Old Guard power structure as this unfolds.

Supervisors reject vote on district elections

July 15, 2010

Jonathan makes a good point.

It’s easy to say this is about power (it is), but it’s also true that the Supervisors no doubt believe in their own sagacity.

I’m sure they believe that the system that created them does a better job of balancing the competing interests in a county as large and diverse as San Mateo than (say) actual democracy.

Balshone: Supervisors’ ugly act of indifference

July 14, 2010

If there were district elections, I’m willing to predict that uncontested or virtually uncontested elections would be a thing of the past.

I’m not willing to predict that hacks from the county Democratic machine would no longer win seats, but they probably would no longer be 100% of the board.

The lawsuit is hardly shocking. At-large elections in diverse districts look like prima facie civil rights violations to me. 51% of the voters choose 100% of the board.

Who are you suggesting paid for the lawsuit?

Supervisors reject vote on district elections

July 14, 2010

Rich Gordon voted for putting district elections on the ballot. The other four supervisors voted to retain the current system, by which they were elected.

Parvovirus on Coast

July 05, 2010

Thanks for the note. I was on that trail with our dog just yesterday!

Sounds like it’s a much bigger problem for puppies than adult dogs. Here’s the link to the article cited above:

http://www.petmd.com/dog/conditions/viral/c_dg_canine_parvovirus_infection

Open letter: Common-sense reforms for MCTV

June 21, 2010

This is a short-term prescription, designed to cover the next year, which is what the county and city are asking for.

I have another piece discussing the short to medium term futre, which clearly goes beyond cable.  I’m trying to stay focused, but I’ll post that in the near future.

However, we’re talking about $100,000 in taxpayer money that goes to MCTV every year.  It’s a not a great deal of money by government standards, but it’s being spent with little or no accountability.

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Followup: Savannah cat in Montara

by Guest on Sat, Sep 4 at 11:16 pm • 1 comments; click to add your own

We’re received the following letter from a reader:

 

I’m writing to send photos and comments regarding the letter/article posted by Margot Lowry on Aug 23,2010 titled “African Hybrid Cat (Savannah) Roaming in Montera”.  I posted the following comment and submitting some of the photos I have of the cat I’m via this email. 

My wife, Patricia, and I identified a new, extremely large neighborhood cat wearing a blue & black collar as a Savannah hybrid. We’ve seen it several times coming

Read more...

Tech Tuesday Coming Up

Letter by Francine Hardaway on Thu, Sep 2 at 01:01 pm • 0 comments; click to add your own

Tuesday evening, Sept. 7th is Tech Tuesday at 6:30 at It’s Italia on Main St, Half Moon Bay.  Come join us for drinks and networking with other Coastside geeks!

Read more...

Poetry Night at HMB Library, Fri, Sept 10

Letter by Joe Toschik on Wed, Sep 1 at 07:41 pm • 0 comments; click to add your own

Everyone is invited to a night of poetry at Half Moon Bay Library on Friday, September 10th at 7:00PM.  Join us as we celebrate the participants in our 13th annual Teen Poetry Contest.

Read more...

A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?

Letter by Bob Poole on Mon, Aug 30 at 01:43 pm • 4 comments; click to add your own

What insanity is this? Raise the sales tax by 1% and drive even more shoppers over the hill. I think that this will kill Main Street shopping for good. Rather than save Half Moon Bay from bankruptcy, I expect it will create a ghost town. Just my opinion.

Read more...

Pacifica DUI checkpoint

Letter by Tim Payne on Fri, Aug 27 at 10:50 pm • 3 comments; click to add your own

I want to start by saying that I think DUI checkpoints are great. They remove dangerous elements from our roadways. What I didn’t like today was being asked to show my drivers license at one tonight.

Under normal circumstances if I commit an infraction and get pulled over I fully understand why I would have to show my papers to an officer in the course of being ticketed. Tonight I was asked to show my papers just because I was on the road. It irked me. I wanted to know if this was legal and

Read more...

Earlier letters

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A Zen Gift
All About Me Retreats
AM 1710 Neighborhood Radio, Half Moon Bay
Annette Merriman, Alain Pinel Realtors
Center for Personal Growth
Coastside Children’s Programs
Coastside Horse Council
Coastside Net, Half Moon Bay
Coastside Pediatrics, Half Moon Bay
Coastside Stuff, T-shirts & apparel, Half Moon Bay
COGL Communications, El Granada
Colquhoun Glass Works, El Granada
Custom Cabinet Refacing, Half Moon Bay
Darin Boville, Montara
Del Mar Properties
EJ Services, Espresso Machine Repair, Pacifica
Ellen Silva Creative Services, El Granada
Gruber Construction
Harbor Vista, vacation home, Half Moon bay
HMB Library, Half Moon Bay
KCD Construction, Half Moon Bay
Marian Bennett, Coldwell Banker, Half Moon Bay
Michael & Kathy Rain, Coastal Real Estate, Montara
Montara Beach Coalition
Montara Dog Blog
Montara.com, Montara
Moonside Bakery and Cafe, Half Moon
Next Step English, Half Moon Bay
Pacifica Gardens, Pacifica
Pacifica Riptide, Pacifica
Patricia McKowen Consulting, Half Moon Bay
Pillar Ridge Manufactured Home Community, Moss Beach
Pragmatos
Pt. Montara Lighthouse Hostel, Montara
Regan Daniels, Photographer
Robertson, Bell & Fisher, Coldwell Banker, Half Moon Bay
Rubber Nation Crafts, Half Moon Bay
San Gregorio Store, San Gregorio
San Mateo - SF Counties Cooperative Extension
San Mateo County Resource Conservation District
Spring Mountain Gallery, Half Moon Bay
Sustainable San Mateo County
The Coast Road
Weddings by the Sea, Half Moon Bay
Wendy Pine Florals, Floral Design, Half Moon Bay
Wild Bay Area Photography

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