The Executive Board of the Coastside Democrats have asked Supervisor Rich Gordon to hold a public meeting on the Midcoast to discuss his and Supervisor Rose Jacob Gibson’s proposal to keep elected officials from serving on the Midcoast Community Council, and to put the matter to the voters of the Midcoast:

It seems to me that such recommendations deserve a meeting with the community so that you can both explain your proposals, answer our questions, and hear our concerns.  This affects several current board members as well as who is eligible in the future. We would also like to discuss ways to provide more support for this board.  I am requesting that such a meeting be held on the coast side, in the evening, and with adequate notice to the public.  As you know, coming to Redwood City on weekday mornings is very difficult for many who live on the coast, especially for those who are employed during the day. Such a discussion could be held at a regular MCC meeting. 

At such a meeting, it would be helpful to know how many people serve on more than one County advisory council or board, both elected and appointed.  Your current proposal seems to limit citizen choice in an election.  Shouldn’t we decide through the ballot if we want people to serve in more than one role?  I would appreciate more information on the possible conflicts of interest as well as on how you propose to fill the current vacancy in a timely manner so that the MCC can fully address the many issues facing us in these difficult times.

The letter is signed by Coastside Democrats president Brigid O’Farrell.  Click below for the full text of the letter.

The Peninsula Open Space Trust has announced the purchase of three more properties on the Coastside: 17 acres at Pillar Point, the 952 acre Toto Ranch near San Gregorio ("ne of the largest remaining open space properties on the Coastside"), and 32 acres with a view of Half Moon Bay from near the top of Skyline Ridge.

17 Acres at Pillar Point

On December 31, POST purchased 17 acres near Moss Beach at Pillar Point. Informal trails have crossed this private property for years; eventually trails will be improved and opened officially to the public. Said Moore, "The property offers a logical future extension of the segment of California Coastal Trail just completed on POST’s Pillar Point Bluff property nearby."

POST bought the land for $1.825 million from private owners Pillar Point Preservation Partners. Just west of Highway 1, the land is part of the scenic backdrop of open hills visible from Highway 1 near Half Moon Bay Airport. It is adjacent to Fitzgerald Marine Reserve and to land owned by the United States Air Force as well as San Mateo County Parks. Located next to Pillar Point Marsh wetlands, the largely coastal terrace prairie terrain is rich in native plant and wildlife habitat considered rare and sensitive by the California Coastal Commission. "Had POST not stepped in to protect this land, it might have become three home sites blocking access to this portion of the bluff," Rust said.

Toto Ranch near San Gregorio

The largest of the recently acquired properties is Toto Ranch, 952 acres rising up in a series of gentle, grassy slopes along the east side of Highway 1 north of San Gregorio. In a generous bargain sale concluded December 24, Kathleen Scutchfield of Woodside sold the ranch to POST for $3 million. The appraised value of the ranch is more than $7 million; the difference between the appraised value and the sale price is considered a charitable gift for tax purposes.

POST’s purchase of Toto Ranch—one of the largest remaining open space properties on the Coastside—is the result of a longtime relationship with Scutchfield, who last year donated a conservation easement over the ranch to POST. That easement limited the property’s development potential so as to protect natural resources including critical wildlife habitat, important watershed land and panoramic views of the San Gregorio and Tunitas Creek valleys.

"Highway 1 along the San Mateo Coast is a scenic thoroughfare unlike any other in the United States. The acquisition of Toto Ranch, brimming with natural resources, means a significant stretch of this road will maintain its breathtaking impact," said POST President Audrey Rust. "We are immensely grateful to Kathy Scutchfield for her ongoing generosity to POST. Luxury estates could have covered Toto Ranch as a result of subdivision, but thanks to Kathy’s easement gift and now this bargain sale, this sweeping coastal landscape will be protected forever, avoiding any future threat of development."

With nearly 200 acres within the Tunitas Creek watershed, Toto Ranch has significant impact on the health of the watershed and of habitat for threatened and endangered animals such as steelhead trout, Coho salmon and California red-legged frogs. The property is also home to bobcats, coyotes, mountain lions white-tailed kite, peregrine falcons, Cooper’s hawks, sharp-shinned hawks and golden eagles. The ranch has a long history of grazing, with a cow/calf operation, sheep and goats pastured there in recent years. Title to the ranch gives POST a chance to steward natural resources on the land while looking for a new conservation owner capable of managing the property long-term. Said POST Executive Vice President Walter T. Moore, "It is remarkable to find a large, intact property like this on the Coastside with easy access to paved roads that has not been parcelized or disturbed by any kind of building."

32 Acres above Half Moon Bay

POST purchased the 32 acres in Half Moon Bay on December 23 from private owners for $650,000. The land sits near the top of Skyline Ridge and connects Mills Creek Open Space Preserve and Burleigh-Murray State Park. "This strategically located parcel, situated at the heart of 1,600 acres of already protected public lands, shows what a big difference protection of a small property can make," said Rust. "By protecting this land, we can make sure that recreational trails can be connected, animals can roam freely and people can enjoy uninterrupted views of the Coastside."

On a clear day, downtown Half Moon Bay and adjacent open lands including POST-protected properties Johnston Ranch, Madonna Creek Ranch, Pillar Point Bluff and Wavecrest are all visible from the property. Twinberry, coyote brush and lizard’s tongue grow profusely on its steep slopes, and dense coastal scrub and Douglas fir top its ridges. All 32 acres are located within the Arroyo Leon watershed, and seasonal Leon Creek runs through the property’s lower portion, providing habitat for steelhead trout, California red-legged frogs and San Francisco garter snakes. Within the next two years, POST anticipates transferring this property to a public agency for long-term protection.

A mysterious illness is leaving pelicans on the California coast disoriented and eventually dead, probably because they are unable to feed themselves, reports the Merc.

"As a conservative number, we’ve seen over 60 live, sick pelicans in the last five days," said Rebecca Dmytryk, the spokesperson for WildRescue, a nonprofit wildlife rescue organization based in Moss Landing. ...

But there hasn’t been an increase in sick birds in Santa Cruz, said Molly Richardson, the director of the Native Animal Rescue of Santa Cruz. ...

"I’ve been rescuing birds since 1981 and I’ve never seen anything like this," Dmytryk said. "It’s absolutely unusual." The source of the illness that leaves the birds disoriented and starving is unknown.

Save Our Shores is asking the public to report any sick or dead pelicans in the area, the contact number for WildRescue is 866-WILD-911.

This Saturday night (Jan 10) Blue Blanket Improv will be putting on a comedy show to help raise money for the Coastside Mothers Club working moms.  Blue Blanket Improv will be donating ALL profits from it’s ticket sales to the Coastside Mothers Club.  The night is sure to be filled with laughter and excitement as the comedy improv performers build scenes ‘on the spot’ based entirely on audiance suggestions.  Working moms desirve a break and this is expected to be a ‘breakout’ exeperiance for all who attend.  If you wish to add your support to this cause or just want to join in the fun plan now.  Tickets are on sale now on-line at BrownPaperTickets.com or can be purchased at the door for $10 the night of the show.  Doors open at 7:30pm and the show starts at 8:00pm.  Arrive early for the best seating.  Location: Enso, 131 Kelly Ave, Half Moon Bay.  We plan to have a great time and look forward to seeing you there!

Yesterday, I wrote that San Mateo County Board of Supervisors won’t let our elected Midcoast Community Council speak for the unincorporated Midcoast.

For example, at the MCC’s Sept 24, 2008 meeting, the council considered a draft of a letter to the San Mateo County Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo). LAFCo had just made some major recommendations about how the the Coastside should be governed—with limited participation from the public.  Responding to these recommendations is just the sort of situation where the MCC, and not the Board of Supervisors, should be speaking on behalf of the Midcoast community.

After a somewhat confused discussion of the draft letter by the Council, Supervisor Gordon’s Legislative Aide Andrew Berthelsen took the floor to tell our elected representatives that they could not address a letter to LAFCo.

This is followed by a fairly heated exchange in which MCC Chair Leonard Woren tells Berthelsen that a number of people, including Woren himself, are getting "more and more irritated with the way that you try to babysit this Council and tell us what to do."

We may need to get used to it.

Who can speak for the Midcoast? Not our elected officials, according to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors.

The Supervisors are considering a proposal to forbid the election of current members of existing Coastside boards to the Midcoast Community Council. They can do whatever they want. Because they control the Midcoast and the MCC—and we don’t.

Three elected members of the MCC would be affected by this rule: Kathryn Slater-Carter is on the board of the Montara Water and Sanitary District, and Leonard Woren and Gael Erickson are on the board of the Granada Sanitary District.

The MCC has nominated Ric Lohman, another member of the GSD board, to fill a vacant position. I understand the issue with seating three members of the five-member GSD board on the MCC. But Lohman was one of only two applicants for two open positions on the MCC. And by addressing this particular issue with a blanket rule, the Supervisors neglected to check the bathwater for babies.

Because we are ruled by Redwood City, our water and sewer boards are the closest thing the Midcoast has to local government. But the Supervisors want to keep those board members from representing us on matters unrelated to excrement.

The Midcoast is a colony of Redwood City

The Board of Supervisors is the "city council" for the unincorporated Midcoast. Montara, Moss Beach, El Granada, Princeton, and Miramar depend on the county for zoning, parks, roads, public works, and police services—unlike incorporated cities, such as Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.

But our votes don’t matter to the Board of Supervisors. They are elected by the county at large, instead of by the districts they ostensibly represent. The Midcoast has 15,000 of San Mateo County’s 700,000 residents. We’re only 2% of their electorate. They are 100% of our local government. You do the math.

The MCC exists to represent our community to the Board of Supervisors. But as a strictly advisory body, it has no power. We don’t control the MCC, and soon we won’t be permitted to choose who represents us there.  And because the county counsel has already told the Board of Supervisors that it is legal for elected members of local boards to serve on the MCC, the Supervisors have decided to change the rules.

The Supervisors aren’t just moving the goalpost, they’re burning it down.

Who speaks for the Midcoast?

The Supervisors have literally forbidden the MCC to express an opinion that has not been approved by the Supervisors, and only the Supervisors are allowed to represent the views of the Coastside. The Board of Supervisors have already sent one of their staffers to forbid the MCC to send a letter of comment to the Local Area Formation Commission (LAFCo) about the needs of the Coastside.

Does the Board of Supervisors want honest advice from the Midcoast Community Council? Or are they looking for someone to tell them how much we love they way they’re ruling us, and please sir may we have some more?

Instead of trying to undermine self-government on the Midcoast, the Board of Supervisors and our district representative—Rich Gordon—should be working to increase our control of our own destinies.

The Chron reports that Cetrella is going on winter hiatus.

Owner Dave Labuda closed the restaurant on Monday. He plans to reopen on May 1.

"Half Moon Bay is a seasonal town, and our big seasons are spring, summer and fall. So we decided with the recession to shut down for the winter," said the restaurant’s manager for marketing and advertising Jennifer Kyriakakis.

Since Labuda owns the building, he doesn’t have to worry about hanging on to the space.

About 40 people have been let go, with a couple of employees and the general manager staying on the schedule events for the reopening. Chef Blair Warsham will not be returning.

Consideration of the appointments to fill the two open positions on the Midcoast Community Council will be taken off the county Board of Supervisors agenda tonight and deferred until the board’s January 27 meeting.

The item is currently listed on the Supervisors’ consent calendar, but the plan is remove the item for consideration at a later date when the public has a sufficient notice to comment.

Supervisors Gordon and Rose Jacobs Gibson have written a memo to the board saying that members of elected boards should be ineligible to serve on municipal advisory councils because those councils’ recommendations should be based on the interests of the communities they serve, independent of other elected bodies that may have an interest in the recommendations.

There will be a free e-waste recycling day at Shoreline Station Saturday, Jan 10, for 10am to 2pm. The proceeds will benefit the Half Moon Bay Crossfire Youth Soccer team.

You can drop off anything with a plug (computers, televisions, monitors, cell phones, fax machines, stereo equipment, cables, keyboards, telephones, power supplies, cameras)—just anything with a plug working or not working.

Just bring your unwanted electronics to the parking lot at Shoreline Station / Riace Deli. They will unload your car and insure that all items are properly recycled free of charge. Please bag or box any loose items.

If you have some items and can’t make it on that date please call Kathy Winslow at 726.7857 and she will make arrangements for a drop off at your convenience in El Granada or a pick up if you need it.

Teh team is also collecting ink cartridges and cell phones until July. You can either bring them on Saturday or call Kathy Winslow at 726.7857 or Cindy Turgeon at 726.1545 and they will arrange for drop-off or pick up.

We did an analysis of the 2008 vote on the Coastside to see what it could tell us about the politics of our community. We looked at three votes: for president, for Assembly District 19, and on Proposition 8 outlawing same-sex marriage.

The presidential election was about as non-partisan as could have been, with all but the hard core Republicans voting for Obama, but locally it does give you some idea of where the hard core lives.

I know less about state elections, but our assembly election should probably be considered a relatively partisan contest.  Most voters don’t know the candidates and in San Mateo County, the Democratic primary usually decides who gets the seat.

Finally, Proposition 8 yielded the most interesting information on the social attitudes of our neighbors.

You can click on the arrows in the lower right of each slide to view all six charts. The charts use Quicktime, so if you have problems, I recommend upgrading to the latest version. I’ve checked this on Mac and Windows XP versions of Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. But if you’re having difficulties using Internet Explorer I recommend installing Firefox.

• The Coastside is still more liberal the further north you go.  Excluding third-party votes, 80% of Montarans voted for Obama, compared to 72% of Half Moon Bay residents. [Slide 1]
• Half Moon Bay is a little more Republican than San Mateo County as a whole. It was a little more in favor of McCain, and a little more in favor of Republican assembly candidate Catherine Brinkman than the rest of San Mateo County. [Slides 1 & 2]
• The Coastside is more socially liberal than the rest of the county. While 71% of the Coastside (and 66% of Half Moon Bay) voted down Proposition 8, 62% of San Mateo County voted against banning same-sex marriages. [Slide 3]
• The heaviest concentration of Republican voters in Half Moon Bay is in Ocean Colony. While most HMB neighborhoods voted as heavily for Jerry Hill and Barack Obama as the rest of the Coastside or the County, only 61% of Ocean Colony voted for Obama, versus 75% of the Coastside. [Slides 4 & 5]
• Even the most Republican precinct on the Coastside heavily favored Obama, of course. As Mike Ferreira noted on the Midcoast List: "Ocean Colony is the big surprise. Once it was the only Republican majority precinct on the Coastside. Now it’s the only Republican plurality (barely) precinct. The Ocean Colony registration breakdown is [36% Democratic and 38% Republican]"
• Ocean Colony appears to be as socially liberal as the rest of the Half Moon Bay and only a little behind the rest of the Coastside, with 64% of votes going against Proposition 8. [Slide 6]

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this story reversed the county-wide vote on Proposition 8.  San Mateo County voted 62% against banning same-sex marriage.