Along the San Mateo County coast, trained volunteers play a major role in protecting the Western Snowy Plover—a small shorebird that lays its eggs on the sand at a few California beaches every summer.

The snowy plovers, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, may be found on several local beaches during the winter months.  In the spring and summer, the plovers congregate on the few beaches that can provide safe nesting sites, including Half Moon Bay State Beach—a busy recreational beach where a protected habitat is set aside for the plovers to nest.

Volunteers in the Half Moon Bay State Beach Plover Watch program monitor the beach to help protect the plovers and point them out to beach visitors.  Public education—sometimes including presentations for school groups—is an important part of the volunteer program.

When volunteers find a plover nest—well-camouflaged eggs laid in a depression in the sand—they call in help to build a wire “exclosure” around it to prevent predators such as ravens and gulls from taking the eggs.  When the eggs hatch, about four weeks later, the plover chicks are cared for by the male parent for almost a month until they can fly (fledge).  The female parent often leaves for another beach where she may breed with another male.

NOTE: The CUSD board normally meets on Thursdays. This is the regular meeting that was originally scheduled for Thursday, March 11.

The Cabrillo Unified School District board of directors will meet Wednesday to finalize its layoff plans, among other agenda items, at its monthly meeting Wednesday, March 10 at 7pm in the Cunha Intermediate School library.

The agenda includes the following resolutions [pdf]:

• Second Interim Financial Report and Budget Revision for Fiscal Year 2009-2010.
• Enter into a CSBA Sponsored Tax and Revenue Anticipation Note Agreement for 2010-2011.
• Reduction and/or Discontinuation of Classified Positions.
• Decrease the Number of Certificated Employees.
• Criteria for Determining Order of Seniority for Employees with Same Date of First Paid Service.

A protest is planned for the meeting. Parents and interested commmunity members are asked to bring signs and wear pink to protest the cuts.

Signs and pink are also requested for a pink slip protest at HMB High School from 6:45 to 7:45am, at the base of the hill.

The county’s Charter Review Committee is holding its next public hearing in Half Moon Bay at Cunha Intermediate School, on Wednesday March 10, from 5:30 to 7:30.
 
The Committee is reviewing the county’s charter and, after public hearings, will make recommendations to the Board of Supervisors for amendments to be submitted to county voters.
 
The general purpose of a county charter is to provide a measure of home rule to the counties of the state. The charter defines San Mateo County’s structure, powers and functions. It’s akin to a local constitution.
 
In its review of the Charter, the Committee will specifically address the Civil Grand Jury recommendations regarding Board member elections and filling Board vacancies, and  the method of electing members of the Board of Supervisors from the current “at large” system to a “by district” system. In addition to other items the Committee will consider consolidation and reorganization of departments and other organization improvements requiring a Charter amendment.
 
The Committee will meet at least once in each of the five supervisorial districts in addition to meetings held at the County seat in Redwood City.  The schedule and all materials provided to Committee members are available at its Web site.
 
Video recordings of each meeting will be posted on the Charter Review Committee’s Web site:   
http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/CharterReviewCommittee.
 

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is holding a public meeting in Half Moon Bay on March 17 to consider purchasing a 340-acre property known as Lobitos Ridge from the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). Please help the District inform your readers about this meeting to be held:

March 17 at 6:30 p.m.
Coastside Fire Protection District
1191 Main Street
Half Moon Bay, CA. 94019

The property is adjacent to the District’s existing Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve near Half Moon Bay, and is an important link in the goal of connecting “Purisima to the Sea” by preserving a corridor of public open space and agricultural land from Skyline Ridge to the San Mateo County coast. The District purchased an adjacent 260-acre property from POST in June 2009, and an adjacent 450-acre property from the University of California in August 2009. The District hopes to add one final piece of land to complete this project in 2011.

“Lobitos Ridge is a key link connecting public lands together that provide all of us with scenic beauty, as well as vital necessities like clean water and locally produced food,” said District General Manager Steve Abbors.

The District is a public agency whose mission is to preserve open space and agricultural land, protect and restore the natural environment and provide for ecologically sensitive public recreation and education. If purchased by the District, Lobitos Ridge would continue to be grazed and farmed, and would remain closed until a public planning process looks at opportunities to balance public access with environmental preservation and agriculture.

Why can’t our coastside community have legal, open spaces that permit off leash dogs (under voice command) like so many areas around the bay and beyond?  Considering the large number of responsible dog owners (with well-mannered dogs) who frequently use open spaces from Montara to Half Moon Bay to exercise and enjoy a walk with their dogs, I feel that having open space areas that permit off leash dogs is an asset to our coastside community.

One may ask why do we walk our dogs off leash? Why do we risk getting caught for breaking leash laws? Are we born criminals who are just out to break laws?... It’s because we believe in giving our dogs a healthy, happy quality of life that they can only get through adequate physical and mental exercise. As any dog trainer will tell you, a well-behaved dog is a tired dog. It just not the same to chase the ball to the end of a 6’ leash. In addition, well-socialized dogs tend to be less aggressive, and socialization is best learned off-leash. Furthermore, with the obesity epidemic in America,  open spaces that allow off leash dogs are beneficial not only for the dogs’ health and fitness, but also for our own.  Recent research has indicated that people are more likely to walk regularly if they are responsible for a pet.

Unfortunately because of the few aggressive/unruly dogs with irresponsible or ill prepared owners who make it into the news,  ALL dog owners and their dogs are presumed to be a public nuisance at best or a threat to public safety at worst. The overwhelming majority of responsible coastside dog owners have no more desire to step in dog poop or be accosted by aggressive/unruly dogs any more than our fellow coastsiders who don’t own dogs. And the good news is that, despite the widespread publicity given to the relatively few incidents, on any given day, there are hundreds of us on the coastside and in the immediate bay area (Fort Funston and Crissy Field to name a few) walking our dogs off leash uneventfully. However, the move to leash all dogs based on the behavior of a few is the kind of generalization that is not only unwarranted, but unjust. It like saying, “we better not let teenage boys congregate together, because they are going to rape someone!” or should we say that “because of a few bullies and kids who are bent to hurt others, all parents should be leashed to their children so that they can have better control on their kids’ behavior?”

We all need to start taking responsibility for ourselves and not have to rely on legislation or laws to dictate every little thing we do in our lives! We are all fortunate to live in such a beautiful place. I am sure that the coastside community of off-leash dog owners, on-leash dog owners, and non dog owners alike, can come to a solution that can satisfy everyone.

Join Librarian Karen Choy for a Royal Story Time on Monday March 8th at 7:00PM for stories and crafts about knights and princesses.  Costumes are encouraged.

The San Mateo County Transportation Authority (SMCTA) and the City of Pacifica, in partnership with the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) held a “scoping” meeting tonight on widening Highway 1 near the quarry and Rockaway Beach, according to Pacifica Riptide.

The purpose of the project is to reduce congestion on the segment of Highway 1 within Pacifica, from approximately 2,300 feet north of Reina Del Mar Avenue to approximately 1,500 feet south of Fassler Avenue/Rockaway Beach [Google map] [...]

“The project scope may include widening from four lanes to six lanes (three through lanes in each direction) and improvements at the SR1/Reina Del Mar Avenue and SR 1/Fassler Avenue/Rockaway Beach Avenue intersections, including additional lane capacity and signal timing improvements,” Hurley says.

The meeting is the first step to creating a Draft Environmental Impact Report.

Three Coastsiders are among the six women to be inducted into the San Mateo County Women’s Hall of Fame on March 18..

“It is the great privilege of the Commission on the Status of Women to recognize the contributions and achievements of these exceptional women and young women,” said Jei Africa, President of the Commission. “The Women’s Hall of Fame is a reminder of the wealth of talent and generosity women bring to our county communities every day of the year.”  Tickets can be purchased online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/95677.

• Denise Aquila of Half Moon Bay, a realtor who has a passion for helping where there is a need, is nicknamed the “Coastal Soccer Queen” for bringing professional-level soccer to high school students on the Coast by founding a chapter of the American Youth Soccer Organization; she serves as a Commissioner for the Regional Housing Endowment and Trust to help create local affordable housing options, seeks to impact family violence as an Advisory Council Member of Communities Overcoming Relationship Abuse and is a cancer survivor who raises substantial funds for cancer research by running marathons.
• Kerry Lobel of Pescadero, current Executive Director of Puente de la Costa Sur Resource Center in Pescadero, is a nationally recognized leader who is honored for her work developing programs for South Coast immigrant agricultural workers and their families; offering opportunities for empowerment, education, youth summer employment, mental health services, drug & alcohol prevention, legal services, tax preparation and access to dental care.
• Julia McKay McKeon of Moss Beach, who has been a catalyst for improving healthcare and quality of life on the San Mateo Coastside through more than two decades of volunteer and professional leadership resulting in the development of the Sonrisas Community Dental Center and two other health related non-profits serving the health needs of thousands of low-income Coastside residents.