Note: this was released a couple of weeks ago and I had put it aside until I could spend more time with it. But the governor’s declaration of drought puts this proposed rate increase into new perspective.

Coastside County Water District (CCWD) will be holding a hearing on Tuesday, July 8 at 7pm. According to the district, the proposed increase will be up to 14% or current rates [details], and is due to several reasons, “including, most notably, an increase in the wholesale cost of water purchased from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission.” The reasons cited by the district are:

• Bond costs for Capital Improvement Program over next several years;

• an increase in wholesale water rates from the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission;

• increased costs of compliance with the changing regulatory requirements; and

• an infrastructure upgrade program for our two water treatment plants and distribution system required to satisfy new water quality standards imposed upon all water districts in California.

For many people on the Coastside, every day is “Bike to Work” day.

Many of the farms and ranches of the Coastside are a long distance from town or school, and pubic transportation is limited at best, particularly south of the Half Moon Bay limits. Owning a reliable bicycle is one way to ensure that workers can get to and from these remote locations safely, and that students can get to school.

Puente de la Costa Sur in Pescadero works diligently to provide bicycles to agricultural workers of the South Coast alongside a broad menu of health and human services.

In addition to the E-waste Collection event this Saturday, June 7th at the The Coastside Farmer’s Market in Half Moon Bay in cooperation with Puente de la Costa Sur is also hosting a bicycle drive, serving as a collection site for used bicycles in good condition.

Bicycles in good working order can be delivered to the Market from 8:30 AM to 2 PM, along with obsolete computers, home electronics and microwaves destined for the recycling.

The Market cannot accept bicycles destined for scrap, or bikes that require extensive repairs to be safe and reliable.

Erin Tormey
Coastside Farmers Markets

In Half Moon Bay @ Shoreline Station
Saturdays, 9 am to 1 pm

In Pacifica @ Rockaway Beach
Wednesdays, 2:30 -6:30pm

Last week, Assemblyman Gene Mullin betrayed the core environmental values of the Democratic party by teaming up with Republicans to pass AB 1991. The bill seeks to exempt the 129-house Beachwood subdivision in Half Moon Bay from all state and local environmental and planning laws, so as to make millions for wealthy developer Charles “Chop” Keenan.

Less than half of the Democrats (18 of 48) voted yes on AB 1991, while nearly all of the Republicans (28 of 32) voted yes. Most of the Democrats who supported the bill are from Southern California, while only 4 of 13 Democrats from the Bay Area (including Mullin) voted yes.

The Half Moon Bay City Council has hired ex-Clinton lawyer Lanny Davis to lobby the Assembly for a free pass to do things that are illegal everywhere else in California. The Republicans gladly supported AB 1991, knowing that it would help lay the groundwork for future weakening of our state’s environmental laws.

To make matters worse, Mayor Bonnie McClung, with the high-priced help of spinmeister Davis, harmed the City’s reputation by insulting the official state regulatory agency that is charged with enforcement of the California Coastal Act.

All City Council members swear an oath to abide by the laws of the state and the City. The current Half Moon Bay City Council is spending our money in an effort to undermine those very same laws. Citizens who are offended by these actions should fax a letter to our state senator Leland Yee and ask him to strongly oppose AB 1991.

Kevin J. Lansing
Half Moon Bay

Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a statewide drought today. Here’s the summary from the San Diego Union-Tribune:

"The governor is ringing the bell. We’re heading over a cliff." – Lester Snow, director of the state Department of Water Resources

Water rationing: The state could force conservation efforts on water districts if voluntary reductions don’t succeed.

Water czars: The governor will assign two positions: one to implement conservation programs and the other to facilitate water transfers.

Water bank: The state will begin planning to buy water from farmers to transfer to parched regions and create a reserve in case of emergency.

Appeal to Washington: The governor’s executive order declaring a drought directs state officials to seek federal drought assistance.

New reservoirs: The governor will press lawmakers to approve $11.7 billion in bonds, which would include funding for new storage.

Cape Cod historians for decades thought the 30-foot tall lighthouse that once overlooked Wellfleet Harbor had been taken down and destroyed in 1925.  It turns out it was moved to Montara.

The Wellfleet light’s discovery on Point Montara, just south of San Francisco along the Pacific coast, was a genuine shock, said Wellfleet historian Helen Purcell. "In a way, I don’t know if I ever asked myself what did they do with it."

Some of the confusion surrounding its fate may come from the existence of several lighthouses at different times in the same area, Purcell said. The lighthouse now in California was first erected in Wellfleet in 1881 and was the last one to be built in the harbor area.

It was believed to have been razed in 1939, according to MacNeney. There is no known documentation of any move across the country.

The story includes some great photos of the Pt. Montara Lighthouse in its original setting, as well as in the process of being moved.

Correction: Kevin Barron correctly pointed out in the comments that we should have adjusted produce prices so that we were comparing price per pound rather than total price. We’ve updated the comparison. This brings the numbers for New Leaf and Whole Foods much closer to Safeway, which feels like good news to us.

Ever since Albertson’s closed last year, Coastsiders have been grumbling that the Half Moon Bay Safeway seems awfully expensive. Were they taking advantage of the lack of competition to raise prices? In two weeks in April, we shopped our local Safeway and four competitors, here’s what we discovered.

You can’t really compare the bottom-line prices at these stores fairly. We took pains to buy comparable items between stores, but it’s more difficult than you might think. Also, even though we tried to buy lowest common denominator goods, no two people are going to buy the same basket of goods. For more information, you can download our shopping list and individual prices in an Excel spreadsheet.

Dairy and baked goods were roughly equally priced at all stores, including Whole Foods, which we threw into the mix out of curiosity. Although we were tempted by some of Whole Food’s $20/pound cheddar when our shopping list called for Tillamook.

Household items, like Ziploc bags and foil, are cheaper at Safeway. But they’re even cheaper at Costco.

Meat was much cheaper at Safeway. It looked and tasted like it. Also, the service in Cunha’s and New Leaf’s meat departments was outstanding. If you’ve ever tried to buy anything that wasn’t already shrink-wrapped at Safeway, you know what we’re talking about.

Packaged foods didn’t vary much in price, but this is one area where you can be tempted by some pretty pricey merchandise with charming labels at the alternative markets. But if you’re looking for wide selection of processed food, Safeway is an excellent choice.

Produce was significantly cheaper in San Mateo. However, Cunha’s and New Leaf were highly competitive with Safeway in Half Moon Bay, and this is the other category where Safeway’s quality left a lot to be desired. Also, if we’d shopped at Safeway’s tiny organic section, the prices would have been a lot closer to one another.

The Bottom Line

The bottom line isn’t the price.

Dedicated opponents of a school district parcel tax must be rubbing their hands in anticipation of Thursday’s school board meeting. On the agenda:

ACTION ITEMS

a. Approve Honors Geometry Course at Half Moon Bay High School

b. Approve selection of textbook adoption for honors geometry.

c. Direct the Superintendent, on behalf of the District, to write and submit a letter in support of Assembly Bill 1991.

I needn’t go into the details of AB 1991, Half Moon Bay’s attempt to void the Coastal Act within its city limits. The bill has been well covered in these pages, and has aroused strong opposition on the Coastside and around the state.

As District Superintendent Gaskill writes on the district website,

We are also entering a period of significant economic uncertainty. The Governor’s proposed 2008-2009 budget calls for massive cuts to K-12 education and the potential for mid-year cuts remains a strong possibility. We will need to work harder and more creatively, continue to seek out new partnerships and alliances, and identify new sources of revenue and financial support in the months and years to come if we are to retain our status as a high performing district… and we could use your help along the way.

Indeed they could.

As the state budget goes into the tank, our cash-strapped district will have little alternative but to ask the voters for a parcel tax. This will require that the middle school siting fiasco has faded sufficiently into the distance that the fifth attempt at passage will be the charm. We know from painful experience that parcel taxes are difficult to pass in the best of times, and these are not the best of times. Such a measure would require all the help it can get.

So, why is the board preparing to take this divisive vote on Thursday? I’m frankly at a loss. Superintendent Gaskill can be forgiven for not yet understanding recent district history, especially if we assume that most of his instruction is coming from his board. But the board itself has no such excuse.

If the school board is acting in response to a request from their friends on the Half Moon Bay City Council, then the council will share the responsibility for the school service cuts that will follow the failure of the next parcel tax attempt.

Of course, the district’s endorsement of AB 1991 may simply be an acknowledgment that it has given up on passing a parcel tax in the foreseeable future. If it believes that aggressive development of the Coastside will turn around ten years of falling enrollment and save the district’s finances, it would be would be wrong on at least two counts. First, the changing demographics of the Coastside have produced population growth without enrollment growth. Second, there is no evidence larger enrollment has improved the finances of any school district.

By statute, the district will pass next year’s budget later this month. It won’t be pretty then, and it won’t be any prettier come November.

This is an open house, NOT a meeting.

Come give GGNRA your comments about Rancho Corral de Tierra at Harbor House in Princeton, Wednesday, June 4th (3:30pm - 6:30pm)

The 4,200 acre Rancho Corral de Tierra property located on the Midcoast will transfer from POST to GGNRA possibly as early as this year.  GGNRA is gathering community input regarding the Rancho Corral de Tierra property.  

Rancho Corral de Tierra is one of the largest areas of open space near San Francisco, the 4,200 acre site is managed by the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) encompasses the majority of an 1839 Mexican Land Grant. 

Meeting Announcement: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/meetingNotices.cfm?parkId=303&projectId=15075

General Managment Plan: http://parkplanning.nps.gov/document.cfm?parkId=303&projectId=15075&documentID=23015

Soccer tryouts on Saturday June 7, 2008 Half Moon Bay Sports Club - CYSA

Saturday, June 7, 2008 HMB High School soccer field

1:00-2:30pm

• Cometitas, boys: class 1 team, born after July 31, 1993
• Mavericks, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1994
• Waves, girls, class 3, born after July 31, 1995

2:30-4:00pm

• Mavericks, girls, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1992
• Crossfire, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1996
• Jaws, boys, class 3 team, born after July 31, 1997

Bring cleats, shin guards, ball, and water bottle.

For questions call or e.Mail: 650-726-1545 or [email protected], Websites: http://hmbsc-soccer.com or http://redwoodsoccer.org to learn more about CYSA soccer.