Comments by Darin Boville

Letter: Sign stealing

I noticed we had what looked like over-the-hill union guys with Cilia signs staking out the school. They arrived on trucks earlier with many signs on board. When I got near the guy I overheard him talking on his phone to others in his organization, apparently located at other sites nearby.

Don’t know if this is an actual organized labor sort of thing but it looks like it.

The reason I mention this is (having been raised in northern, highly-unionized, Ohio) I think it is a common tactic to remove other candidate’s signs to get rid of the visual clutter--make your guy stand out.

Don’t know if that is the case here…

--Darin

Coastsider endorses Boyd, Slater-Carter for MWSD

Hey Ken,

Don’t worry about me on the Internet. I’ve been active online since the late 1980’s or so, before the Web, before America Online was formed, etc.

I know how it works. :)

--Darin

Coastsider endorses Boyd, Slater-Carter for MWSD

For the record, and I’m the last person to defend Brian Ginna, but he has posted on TalkAbout that he believes in signing posts with his real name. Now, maybe that has changed, I don’t know.

But your general point is, I think, correct. You get a clear sense that there’s a lot of multiple posting going on.

--Darin

CUSD spending per student is near the bottom of San Mateo County

Hey Ken,

Nice data!

One thing interesting (unusual, I think) about our district is that the demographic groups “disadvantaged” and “Hispanic” are essentially the same groups. Is that true for the other districts you cite above?

To me the big obstacle is language skill. According to the tests only a tiny handful of kids at Farallone View (for example) are not “proficient” in English (i.e. are in the Language learner demographic category). But I know from my first-hand experiences there over the last three years, and know from other parents who have interacted and volunteered in the classrooms, that the “language gap"--combined with cultural issues--is a much bigger hurdle than the tests reveal.

So I do think demographics are a big factor and do not understand why you think they are not. I’m not saying they are the *only* factor (I don’t know enough to say) nor am I saying that there is no fault at the board level or staff level (I don’t know enough to say).

Cabrillo has about 50% Hispanic kids, most seem to be from recently immigrated families or illegals. Please compare that to the other districts…

I’m still puzzled why you don’t see demographics as a significant factor--it seems we might disagree on the strength of it as a factor or whether there are other factors, but to dismiss it as a factor seems odd…

--Darin

City and Chamber welcome Peet’s with official ribbon-cutting

Any idea what it costs to buy a place like LaDiDa? I’m curious.

--Darin

Darin’s Tuesday Photo: Ocean from Wavecrest

Thanks for the comments.

To answer a question: It might be hard to see due to the JPEG compression but the colored light on the horizon is a ship and the white dot of light that you can see between the branches is Venus. The more you look the more you see!

--Darin

Letter: Amazing raptor display at Wavecrest now

I was there, too, from 8:30 to 10:30. I walked through Wavecrest then headed north past the Poplar parking area. The harriers are all in the field along the paved portion--at least four of them. Lots of kites (they seem to hate my video camera--maybe the tripod is freaking them out?). A blue heron also arrived at about 10:00--not the usual one--this one was *very* skittish when I got anywhere inside of 150 feet or so...very cool.

Letter: Amazing raptor display at Wavecrest now

Ken’s not kidding--and this isn’t a “birder’s only” sort of thing. I was down there Tuesday shooting video and it was almost too much--everywhere I looked there were large raptors doing their thing.

Ken’s the expert, not me, but the harriers you can pick out easily by the big white spot at the base of their tale and by the amazing, fighter-jet-like flying technique they use. They zoom over the ground, just above grass level looking for prey and make these improbable-looking, hairpin, twisty turns and brief hovers. Astonishing to watch.

The kites are also highly unusual in their behavior. Instead of swooping like the harriers they pick a vantage point about thirty feet up in mid-air and flap their wings against the wind in such a way that they hover in one spot while they scan the ground below.

Well worth the effort to see--even for a few minutes. It’s that easy to find them...(you can go north, too, along the paved trail--there you can be perplexed at the many people who walk by unaware of the nature show taking place just a few feet away...)

--Darin

Letter: Plug-in Prius comes to the Coastside Eco-Energy Expo and Solar Home Tour

If you can’t make the event check out Costco for ultra-cheap fluorescent bulbs--they are subtracting the PG&E;discount at the register--for the price of dinner for one you can convert your whole house...(I was so excited I overbought, I think...)

--Darin

Darin’s Monday Photo: Hawk at Poplar Beach

It lives/lived in the dead tree in the field near the Poplar Beach parking lot. I don’t know who banded it--anyone?

Also, if you look closely at the image (especially the larger version) you can see that it was raining fairly heavily.

--Darin

Video:  HMB government takes on the Coastal Commission and gets nowhere

>>Why all of the background colors in the pictures? Is it made to look cartoonish, and is this real journalism?
<<

I like the colors. Gives a sort of festive feel to the whole affair. You would prefer black and white?

--Darin

Is the HMB police budget out of line?

Hi Dennis,

Thanks for your comment. I am the author of the graphs and would like to make a brief comment.

You label my charts “simplistic” and I’d have to agree. If you go over to Montara Fog (http://www.montarafog.com) where I originally published these charts you’ll see that the headline is “First Approximation” and that the first paragraph reads:

“When I was in grad school my professors, mostly economists and policy wonk types, loved to use the phrase “first approximation.” First approximation this, first approximation that. It was used to refer to everything from an outright guess (without even the pretense of analysis) to a sort-of first pass look at a question, both to get a sense of what the answer might be and to see whether the result was interesting enough to warrant a deeper look. This second sort of “first approximation,” the kind I am utilizing here, doesn’t pretend to be highly refined--it isn’t. It also doesn’t pretend to be error-free. No doubt corrections can be made.”

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s go a little deeper:

To what would you ascribe the rapid increase in HMB’s police budget?

Now that the department’s budget has doubled do you detect any change in public safety?

If I made a third chart that showed “% growth in police budget” over the past few years where do you think (make your best guess) HMB would end up?

The purpose of my charts was not to provide a definitive answer but to instead start a discussion. I would love to have that discussion.

--Darin (Montara Fog)

PS I don’t remember if I passed 7th grade science class or not--what’s your best guess…

Video: Caltrans geologist explains Devil’s Slide

I don’t want to set myself up here as the defender of Caltrans but what I’m seeing described here doesn’t match what I saw at the time.

You’d get the impression from some posts that Caltrans is some monolithic organization with a central brain guiding its minions to deceive the public and accomplish its nefarious goals.

I’ve worked in large government organizations and once-upon-a-time studied government organizations and let me tell you, heads of agencies would *love* to have anything approaching a monolithic organization with a central brain!

Of course, politics plays a role. Of course, organizations act in their own self-interest.

But that doesn’t make them evil, incompetent, or lazy.

As for the Caltrans employees that visited the coast (including the geologist) I had a chance to talk with them and one of their dominant reactions to coastsiders was confusion and frustration. They were hit from all sides from people putting pressure on them to do this or that with no group clearly speaking for the community. Then they tried to do things that they thought were shining examples of good government--cut through the red tape, solve problems (the light in HMB comes to mind)--and to their utter confusion they were attacked for it (not realizing that the light caused controversy in the micro-politics of the coast).

I think to be effective with Caltrans next time we need to have solved some of our internal problems here on the coast--at least to the point where we can speak to them with one (or maybe two) clear voices rather than the babble that happened last time.

We can’t blame Caltrans for everything when our own house is clearly not in order.

--Darin

Video: A visit to the mysterious, forbidden Farallon Islands

Hi Suzy,

I’m glad you like the film.

I should warn viewers--especially if you watch it on a big screen--you’ll need to wear one of those wristbands!

The actual ride was much rougher than depicted--I worked hard to even out the bounces, shot only in smoother spots, etc. I didn’t show it but people were often knocked to the deck on the really big plunges. After an especially big swell the bow of the boat would crash down through the air and smack into the next swell.

Whew!

I don’t know who had the more difficult job: me, trying to keep the camera level or Kenny, making it all look so easy and natural. (He has “the gift,” I think.)

We do it all for you, the viewer!

--Darin

Letter: House exceeds height limit in Montara

Hi Linda,

You asked about a photo from the second story. I did not take a photo there because Mr. Nelson, who was with me, was a little nervous about having a photo shot of his neighbor’s backyard, windows, etc. Given the privacy controversy I could see how not only looking into the yard but letting strangers photograph it might be seen as fuel to the fire!

However, I did carefully observe the view of the yard and house from the second story windows and what I saw was this. While standing I could easily observe that neighbor’s windows, rear door, and almost all of the yard, except for a small portion at the rear of the lot blocked by the trees and rear fence.

From the “on my knees” posture I could still observe the house, windows, doorway, etc. Only a small additional part of the rear of the lot was obscured by my lower position.

My conclusion, therefore, was that in terms of privacy there was no real issue--the same loss of privacy would have occurred no matter the amount of fill. The problem in terms of privacy is that we have a two-story house within forty feet or so of a one-story house.

And, of course, in the future this loss will be mitigated by the growth of the more than two-dozen trees planted along the back edge of the property.

In terms of whether the plans where followed I have no new information. I do not know if there was any deception involved on anyone’s part. I also know nothing about water flow, etc so cannot comment upon run-off and drainage issues. I also suspect that a difference of two or three feet, given the slant of the hillside and given the two-story/one story issue, would not much change the “looming” aspect, but I haven’t investigated this beyond observing the many two story houses in Montara that seem to “loom” over their one-story neighbors.

Whether the law was followed and whether the structure negatively impacts water flow are serious issues that seem very relevant to 1050 and I’d love to see more exploration of those themes.

However, I believe, based on my site visit, that the claims of avoidable loss of privacy and attributing a motive of “getting a better ocean view” to the builder are false claims.

The question in my mind is whether what happened here is the result of a “bad developer” casting aside community concerns or whether this is just the result of “slop” in the law and in the process.

With only limited resources where do we focus our energies?

--Darin

Letter: House exceeds height limit in Montara

Ceilia and others,

While I too am worried about developers ruining the coastside and am willing to spend money and time to make sure the law is followed, I’m not sure that the issues with this house are being characterized fairly.

For example, several descriptions in this thread, including yours, describe the house as if it is on it’s own little hill. But that’s not quite right. The house at 1050 Acacia is level with it neighbor to the right. True, the ground at 1050 is higher than the neighbors to the rear and left--but would be higher with or without fill.  It is also worth pointing out that all of the houses there are on a larger hill which descends roughly to the southwest. Thus there are many cases where lots are a little higher than their neighbors, as the lots “step down” the hill. Perhaps Mr. Nelson, the builder, did not “step down” his lot as he should have, I don’t know, but I don’t see a “hill.”

Another often mentioned issue is the problem of privacy. It is said that the future owners of 1050 will have a generous view of the back neighbor’s house, windows, and yard. Well, maybe. On the 5000 sq. ft. lots here in California houses are awfully close together. So what can be done? Exactly what the builder at 1050 has done--he has planted a dense screen of vegetation along the back fence. Here is the actual view from the first floor window of 1050:

http://MontaraFog.smugmug.com/photos/165551595-M.jpg

Finally, the claim that all of this was done to obtain a better ocean view for the house: Maybe. But if so the builder went to great expense and risked controversy for nothing. I went up to the second floor and looked out the rear windows. You can see the ocean through the trees. Not a great view but a view. Then I got down on my knees to simulate a shorter house and looked out the window again. No change at all in the view as far as I could tell.

I don’t know if Nelson violated any laws. But it does strike me that the house would still “loom,” would still be “invasive” of privacy, etc even if it was shorter--it’s a two-story house build up close next to one story houses.

I’m all for protecting the coast and the character of our community. I’m also for picking our battles wisely.

--Darin

Graphic language

What a great way to depict the HMB local political scene--with Debra Godshall leading the way it all seems a little cartoonish!

--Darin

When did the minimum become sufficient?

“This is my story, and I am sticking to it, unless, of course, “Coffee with Marina” is in the production stages…”

It’s in the pre-production stages, in fact. Hoping to roll tape this summer.

--Darin (video producer of the “Coffee with...” series)

Darin’s Monday Photo: Erosion

Hey Joel,

Glad you liked the shot. I’m not exactly sure where I shot this--I remember the trip--beach hopping down the coast one day.

I believe this was shot after an aborted hike across the street from Pescadero Beach (we call it the “Poison Oak Hike") toward the en dof the day...but maybe not!

--Darin

Neil Merrilees: Right Here In the Middle

In the version of the rumor I heard--again, this is all I am basing this on--Nerhan had plans approved for the current development ten years ago. But as times changed and as he wanted to build somethiing smaller it was impossible to make the changes without going through the whole process again--and putting his entire investment at risk.

Is that true--that a builder who has approval to build structure “A” can’t negotiate to build a smaller structure in an economically feasible manner?

If true it would be interesting to see if policies could be set up to make it easy to “build down” but difficult to “build up.”

As for the Midcoast LCP being the “forum” for changing the zoning I, for one, would love to see a real forum, with people talking to people of differing views, face to face. I’ve seen nothing like this basic democratic process occuring on the coast.

--Darin

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