Supervisor Gordon suggests MCC has “outlived its usefulness”

In a letter to the editor of the Half Moon Bay Review, County Supervisor Rich Gordon suggests that the Midcoast Community Council has outlived its usefulness. Gordon’s letter was a reply to Review editor Clay Lambert’s highly critical column about the Council in last week’s review.

Given the numerous paths and methods that now exist for communication between Coastside residents and the County, it may be the case that the MCC has served its purpose and possibly outlived its usefulness in its current form. As this is an issue of critical importance to me I need to hear your thoughts regarding the possibility of disbanding MCC along with any of your ideas for new and innovative ways that we can keep in touch. Again I must re-iterate that the MCC exists today at your request, if it is no longer the form of representation you desire, changes will come from your mandate. I look forward to hearing from all of you and thank you for your support.

Click to read Gordon’s letter, and to comment on this issue.

I read with interest Clay Lambert’s editorial from last week’s edition of this paper entitled: "Midcoast Community Council is not serving the Midcoast community," and felt it necessary to provide a direct response. While I will not specifically endorse or deny any of Mr. Lambert’s statements in the editorial, I do believe that he has struck upon a topic that is of utmost importance to the San Mateo County Midcoast and to me as your County Supervisor.

The Midcoast Community Council (MCC) was established in May 1991 through a unanimously approved Board of Supervisors Resolution called for by Midcoast residents who wanted a representative body of their own. There was then an election in November that provided public approval for the creation of the MCC and elected its first members. Through most of its existence, the MCC has been a successful conduit between Midcoast residents and the Board, providing valuable input on a range of important issues.

In recent years, however, the MCC has not performed its primary functions as effectively, and has often presided over sparsely attended meetings while gathering less than ample input from the general public. Through this period the County has remained supportive of the body by sending staff to meetings, and I have also kept close contact with the Council by either attending meetings in person or providing one of my Legislative Aides in my stead. We have continued to provide this support because the MCC is a democratically elected body that was created at the request of our constituents, but that does not mean I am not acutely aware of its deficiencies.

I have remained optimistic that the MCC has simply been enduring the undulations and periodic transformations that any democratically elected body encounters. During this period, I have trusted in the residents of the Midcoast to elect an MCC that best represents their viewpoints to our Board. Just this past November, rather than appoint the Council’s nominees, I pushed for an election so that the public would be actively engaged in selecting new members to invigorate the Council. What has become clear, however, is that there remains a significant portion of Midcoast residents who feel they are not being adequately represented by the MCC, and that troubles me very seriously.

However, the MCC has never been the County’s only method of communication with residents of the Midcoast. Representatives from our County Departments and Agencies regularly meet with individuals and groups on the Coastside to consult on issues affecting them. In my office we seek input from and provide information to the Coastside through many avenues. We hold Coastside office hours monthly at the Sheriff’s substation in Moss Beach, attend all MCC meetings, publish bi-monthly Supervisorial webcasts and attend numerous community meetings on the Coastside every week. In addition to these efforts my phone number and e-mail address are published on my website and I have always encouraged my constituents to contact me through those avenues at any time to discuss any issue. Finally, the Board meetings are open to public comment and anyone is always welcome to come speak with me, or my staff, in person at my office.

Given the numerous paths and methods that now exist for communication between Coastside residents and the County, it may be the case that the MCC has served its purpose and possibly outlived its usefulness in its current form. As this is an issue of critical importance to me I need to hear your thoughts regarding the possibility of disbanding MCC along with any of your ideas for new and innovative ways that we can keep in touch. Again I must re-iterate that the MCC exists today at your request, if it is no longer the form of representation you desire, changes will come from your mandate. I look forward to hearing from all of you and thank you for your support.