That’s pretty cute. I don’t see a way to refine their street numbering, though.
The charter review folks weren’t exactly impartial—they had definite views on the question, not so far removed from the supes. But they had the sense to recommend a popular vote anyway.
Perhaps we should look at it from the supes’ point of view, though: how could any system that had the good sense to anoint these noble fellows our leaders be anything less that ideal?
“Arrogance” is the word that comes to mind, watching the supes sitting there congratulating themselves on how well they represent all of us.
A proportional representation system would be fairer and more democratic than single-member districts, but the current at-large system is the worst.
For more on the subject of proportional representation (PR), see my PR Foundation site.
I rather like the idea of small, local schools like Kings Mnt. Under the current circumstances, though, I don’t see how the district can justify extracting an extra quarter of a million dollars (their figure) from the other sites to subsidize it. It should really be a charter, perhaps associated with Woodside if CUSD won’t have it.
WRT CSR, I’d like to see classes of maybe 12-15 students, but that’s obviously a pipe dream. If there were better evidence that 20 had an academic payoff, then CSR generally would be more attractive, but as it is, I can’t see prioritizing CSR over, say, counselors.
I voted for E, somewhat reluctantly, given my general dislike of parcel taxes <http://pragmatos.net/2006/08/09/school-parcel-taxes-are-bad-public-policy>.
I agree with Carl to this extent: it seems to me that CUSD’s budget priorities are not tied very tightly to academic performance concerns. According to the district’s numbers, it spends twice as much per student at Kings Mountain as at the other K-5 sites, which strikes me as indefensible. Yet Kings Mountain wasn’t on the table. (It seems to me that if Kings Mountain is to remain open, it should do so as a charter school.)
Likewise, K-3 class-size reduction is politically popular, even though it’s expensive and there’s no convincing evidence that it contributes to better academic outcomes. (What evidence there is suggests that, to be effective, CSR requires classes considerably smaller than the current 20.)
Even so, I voted for E because there doesn’t appear to be any other means of shoring up the budget in the foreseeable future, and in the faint hope that future budget choices will be accompanied by explicit evaluations of their impact on academic performance rather than political expediency. After the school board election, perhaps?
Good to know….
Kevin imagines that because there’s one way of collecting data from cell phones (Google Maps) it must be the only one.
Nah. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS140402+23-Mar-2009+BW20090323
BTW, Lee, if you’re concerned about being tracked (and I’m not unsympathetic with that concern), you might want to turn off your cell phone when you drive. A private outfit is tracking your phone’s continuously broadcast unique ID and selling the data commercially. That’s how Google Maps shows traffic data on Hwy 1 south of 92, on Hwy 84, El Camino, etc.
Of course, we’d all be safer if we all turned off our phones while driving, so maybe it’s not that big a deal.
I"ve been using the graphs for a long time now (as well as 511.org) and they’re pretty good. The main limitation is that they measure end-to-end transit time, no actual vehicle speed, so there’s a lag between a traffic blockage and when it gets ‘seen’ by the system. There’s a surprising number of transponders going over the hill, it appears.
Lee: you did, when you accepted the privacy notice: http://www.511.org/privacy.asp
The Coastside Land Trust has a wildflower workshop and tour this Saturday: http://coastsidelandtrust.org/newandevents/current.html
Speaking of winner-take-all, I’ve been working on a new website aimed at education on the subject of proportional representation. It’s a work in progress, but I invite you to have a look: http://prfound.org
If winner-take-all is unfair at the state level, it’s just as unfair at the congressional district level; you’re just disenfranchising a different set of voters.
The NPV looks like the best shot we have at a solution, barring a constitutional amendment.
I’ve had essentially the same experience as Tim, driving in rural and semi-rural Sweden. Small-scale roundabouts are a blessing, and I’d much rather encounter one than a conventional intersection.
Large-scale roundabouts (I’m thinking Charles de Gaulle-étoile, which has pedestrian underpasses btw) can be a little scary. But I’d expect to get used to them pretty quickly.
NWS at 11 (more detail; no real change).
Tsunami Warning center. Biggest concern will be south to southwest facing beaches. Outside of our area the latest model runs show a 4.6 foot wave at Pismo Beach in San Luis Obispo County. No real change in wave arrival times with 12:31pm at Santa Barbara and 1:26pm at San Francisco. Forecast wave heights still 3.3 feet for Half Moon Bay and 0.7 feet for San Francisco. Local areas of increased concern would be north side of Monterey Bay in the vicinity of Santa Cruz/Capitola. Also San Mateo coast and Half Moon Bay as well as the Marin coast. Hopefully the fresh images of the Mavericks wave event will help to keep people clear of the area beaches. Even though intitial waves will arrive after midday… the peak wave action may be delayed several hours. Best course of action will be to stay away from the coast the rest of today… including surfers. Please help local officials by taking this tsuanmi advisory seriously and resist the urge to visit the beaches/coast. Coast guard and other agencies are already swamped. More information as it becomes available.
NWS at 10:10: “Latest intel from the Tsunami Warning center brings initial waves into Santa Barbara at 12:31pm this afternoon… reaching San Francisco around 1:26pm. Forecast wave heights along the California coast include 4.6 feet at Pismo Beach… 3.3 feet at Half Moon Bay and 0.7 feet at San Francisco.”
Oh, and the spelling:
A wonderful bird is the pelican,
His bill will hold more than his belican,
He can take in his beak
Enough food for a week
But I’m damned if I see how the helican!
Poetry credit to Dixon Lanier Merritt, 1910.
This list is obviously not meant to be taken seriously. Or, if it is, it does its audience a disservice.
Click here to post your own letter to Coastsider.
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...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...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...
In the past month my housecat has been severely sliced up twice. I wondered if a bobcat and he now had overlapping territories. Then yesterday afternoon I found this hybrid cat, (I believe it is a Savannah cat which is a hybrid between a Serval and a housecat) just outside my front door.
The cat has a blue collar with a bell attached. No normal cat could stand a chance against him. Triple check your chicken enclosures and do not leave windows open. I read in Coastsider someone in
Read more...
This Afternoon: Sunny, with a high near 69. West wind between 3 and 5 mph.
Tonight: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, increasing clouds, with a low around 54. West wind at 5 mph becoming south.
Friday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 64. Calm wind becoming west around 6 mph.
Friday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 53. West wind between 3 and 8 mph.
Saturday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 62. West wind between 5 and 9 mph.
Saturday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Sunday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 63.
Sunday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Labor Day: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 63.
Monday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 54.
Tuesday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 61.
Tuesday Night: Patchy fog after 11pm. Otherwise, mostly cloudy, with a low around 55.
Wednesday: Patchy fog before 11am. Otherwise, partly sunny, with a high near 60.
PFC: 10:52am; AFD: 10:43am
Miramar area DSL problems, Sep 2 8:58am, Kevin Barron — >>more likely to cause AT&T to make the necessary investment Frankly, you are asking AT&T to sink a ton of money in a subscriber base that is very small, and require a very expensive infrastructure investment w/ predictably inverse ...
Miramar area DSL problems, Sep 1 7:12pm, Benjamin Grant — Michael, I had AT&T copper in my previous place but it was close to the CO and we had really good DSL throughput via DSLExtreme. I was also told the copper was fairly new-ish. Apart from the condition of the wires and the CO distance itself I ...
Miramar area DSL problems, Sep 1 10:38am, Steve Portigal — Do you have a thread going on the relevant forum on broadbandreports.com? It may catch the attention of someone who does care and wants to fix this. Hope you can get some resolution! ...
A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?, Aug 31 6:49pm, Bob Poole — Thanks for the heads up about San Mateo ...
A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?, Aug 31 5:21pm, Barry Parr — 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% ...
A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?, Aug 31 5:14pm, Bob Poole — At least to San Mateo, as we do so often now, and it wouldn’t be just $1.00 on groceries. ...
A ballot measure to increase HMB sales tax?, Aug 31 4:22pm, Barry Parr — How far would you drive to save $1.00 on a $100 grocery bill, or $.03 on a latte? ...