Comments by Francis Drouillard

Quiz: What was the HMB city council majority’s biggest mistake?

Joel—Nice spin, but I was referring to the current city council. Yes, they were dealt a bad hand, but then they proceeded to play that hand in the most contemptuous, hostile and incompetent way possible.

There’s a phrase commonly heard in casinos that applies to HMB, namely “woulda, shoulda, coulda.”

Outsiders are not to blame for the Beachwood bailout failure

People that ask for help are usually more humble and less contemptuous of those “outsiders” they need to obtain help.

The councilwoman (in canopy blue) to the right of the mayor was particularly goofy. What makes her think AB 1991 opponents have any financial responsibility for their stupid mistakes?

I hope the citizens of HMB realize they need a new city council that respects state environmental laws and the opinions of those from whom they seek help. That’s not a gamble at all. It’s merely the common courtesy needed to get things done.

Quiz: What was the HMB city council majority’s biggest mistake?

Steven—First, a special interest law, then a $10 million handout, and now an Afghan sweater. Seems to me that you HMB residents always have your hand out. When did self-reliance and accountability go out of fashion on the peninsula?

Yee offers HMB $10 million bill to put park on Beachwood

Hopefully, the HMB city council will recognize that this is the best deal they will ever get.

For a mere $3 million, HMB gets more park space and buries some really bad decisions by city government under the rug.

The citizens of HMB can repay Californian by voting their current city council out of office as soon as possible. I hope they do.

Coastal Commission faces budget cuts

Steven,

The question is what portion of government should be cut. Surely you realize that not all government agencies are wasteful, or that some are more wasteful than others. The smart thing to do is to trim the wasteful agencies first.

It’s pretty clear to me that Caltrans’ is one of our state’s most wasteful agencies. They waste precious transportation resources by the hundreds of millions of dollars, enough to fully fund the Commission for decades.

We also need to recognize that taxes and government services need to be linked. They aren’t separate issues like you and many others present them. We Californians have a tendency to demand lots of government services without paying for them, or to demand lower taxes without saying what we want cut.

I suspect you may want the Coastal Commission completely eradicated, but that doesn’t provide effective enforcement of the Coastal Act nor will it solve the state’s fiscal crisis. One need only know the minuscule portion of the state budget that goes to funding the Commission to see that.

Coastal Commission faces budget cuts

You seem to lump all state employees into the same group without any deference to the services they provide.

I prefer to look at the effectiveness of the state’s employees, and weed out those with poor performance first.

I place Caltrans at the top of my list because I don’t think we get much bang for the buck with them. On the other hand, Coastal Commission staff do a lot to protect natural resources and significantly increase the value of property within the Coastal Zone.

Those same efforts also do much to generate a lot of tourism for the state. I think a fully funded Coastal Commission is a net plus for the state, whereas the bloated Department of Transportation is a significant net minus for the state. They simply have far more engineers than they need.

Coastal Commission faces budget cuts

Caltrans has about 11,000 engineers, which is far more than necessary for the work they do. I would much rather see that unresponsive state agency take the additional cuts needed to provide adequate funding for the Coastal Commission so they can have sufficient staff to meet their legislative mandates.

In my view, the Coastal Commission is an excellent model of small efficient government that is responsive to the citizens of California. Caltrans is a bloated state agency that wastes taxpayer dollars by the billions and is notoriously unresponsive to citizen concerns.

I know what you can do with 131 Commission staff that you can’t do with 85. But what can you do with 11,000 engineers that you can’t do with 10,954?

Letter: Alternatives to July 4th fireworks?

Tim—You’re attacks on a fellow American over a “sacred” holiday seem a bit over the top.

Patriots are more considerate of the wishes of their neighbors and seeking alternatives to traditional fireworks isn’t too much to ask.

Besides, rising to the challenge of develop alternatives to fireworks—particularly when you live in a tinderbox—is the American way, not bullying.

Have a safe and happy 4th!

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

Steven—You have a great deal of contempt for state environmental laws and zero respect for the majority of Californians that want those laws enforced.

Perhaps that’s to be expected from someone that would sell homes built on wetlands to unsuspecting buyers.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

Steven—Your inability to acknowledge the importance of natural resources is not an exemption for you or HMB from laws designed to protect them.

You don’t have to understand the logic behind those laws. But you and HMB have to abide by them like everyone else.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

Steven—Please recall that those “weeds” are wetlands that are necessary for the health of the coast. No need to get a determination from you whether they’re worthy of protection. That has already been codified into law and tested in the courts. Wetlands are valuable resources in need of protection.

A better way to think of the $18 million price tag is that it pays for the land and well as the incompetence of your city government.

Half Moon Bay negotiating its surrender in Sacramento

These developments seem promising. Whatever the final outcome, I hope that the Coastal Commission gets an opportunity to demonstrate the good that can result from cooperating with them. This project has the potential to be a win for HMB, a win for the Coastal Commission and a win for our coast.

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

Dan—Carry on with your thread hijacking. I prefer to keep the focus on AB 1991, which is a very bad bill no matter what you choose to believe about news outlets.

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

Dan Blick—Yawn.

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

Dan,

Re-read what you wrote and you’ll see why I thought you were denying the existence of a liberal media bias. Reading your response, I’m not sure where you stand.

Given the drastic decrease in violence in Iraq, the recent successes of its military, and the advances by its government, the coverage you seek could easily be called biased.

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

What would be the point?

Despite ample evidence that media bias exists at the networks (just like at any other news outlet) and common knowledge of human nature, you’ve already made up your mind on the issue.

Besides that, neither this issue nor your opinion on it are worth the effort required to compile the evidence.

Now, one news outlet may be more biased than another, but to assert that some outlets are bias-free is very difficult to justify.

To turn the tables, show me the evidence that they’re not biased!

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

‘There is no “liberal bias,” Kevin.’

Of course there is, Dan. So sayeth Bernie Goldberg. Tim Russert was concerned by media bias as well.

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

Dan,

‘There is no “liberal bias,” Kevin.’

HMB’s AB1991 representative Lanny Davis joins Fox News

I think once you make the distinction between news and opinion, you’ll see how silly it is to proclaim Fox News as “the worst of a bad lot.”

Not that I don’t despise Hannity and Savage. Those are the two worst proponents of the conservative cause ever.

In my view, PBS is government propaganda by definition, and I hate seeing my tax dollars used to fund them.

AB1991 hearing delayed until next week

The CURRENT BILL STATUS web page indicates the hearing was postponed at the request of the author.

What’s up with that?

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