Julia Scott’s article about the death of AB650 does an unusually good job (for daily journalism) of laying out the subtext of the city’s failure to get relief from the state.

A year ago, City Council members were frequently quoted as saying they feared for their city’s solvency if forced to pay the entire $18 million debt. But the city ultimately earned a better bond rating than the state itself and, after some painful staffing cuts, is projecting a narrow budget surplus for the next few years.

The "collective actions of the City Council" at last week’s meeting refers to a controversial 4-1 vote to give the city manager a 25 percent raise just a few weeks after the city cut or froze 15 staff positions to save money. Mayor John Muller defended the vote, which also awarded a raise for the interim finance director, because they were contract positions already up for renewal and because both men were deserving of a raise.

Councilman Jim Grady voted against the raises, just as he cast the lone vote against settling with Keenan in 2007 and against issuing the bonds to pay him in the end.

The political schism wrought by the first Half Moon Bay bill, AB 1991, still resonates in this town, and the divisive rhetoric employed by city lobbyists at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe still makes Grady cringe.

"We vilified the Coastal Commission," said Grady. "And I think trying to exempt Beachwood from the Coastal Act was a mistake.

The article goes on to note that the city accused the Coastal Commission of making "false and misleading" statements, and that the city will have to work with the Coastal Commission to get the maximum value out of the parcel.

This coming Saturday, June 27th, the League for Coastside Protection will give away free Compact Fluorescent Lights at the Farmers Market, Shoreline Station, Half Moon Bay.

We’ll be there from 9:00AM until 1:00 PM or until we run out of the CFL’S.

Folks! Remember that CFL’S contain Mercury and are not allowed in the garbage. They must be disposed in accordance with disposal laws.

Ocean Shore Hardware and Half Moon bay Electric will recycle your CFL’S

John Lynch

There will be a Groundbreaking Event at Quarry Park Community Garden In El Granada on Sunday, June 28, from 10am to noon.

Please bring shovels, rakes and gloves, if you have them, and lunch. Drinks and snacks will be provided

Scott Boyd is a member of the Montara Water and Sanitary District board.

Thursday night Montara Water and Sanitary District cleared the way for a new bathroom at Moss Beach Park.  Five years ago a broad coalition of community members came together to build the park, but at the time there was no provision for a bathroom.

Since then park usage grew, and the need became more pressing.  San Mateo County Parks and Recreation Department recently offered to fund the construction and maintenance of the bathroom with funds collected from park mitigation fees. In late April, Coastside Preservation and Recreation (CPR) brought news of the funding opportunity to the MWSD board.  CPR expressed concerns that the County needed to see that the bathroom project was reasonably free of problems and likely to reach completion or risk having the money allocated to some other project.

CPR, County Parks and Rec, and MWSD board members and staff all helped pull together a good bit of background information about the park property.  MWSD staff televised the sewer main on Virginia Avenue, and located evidence of an old connection.  In the 70’s the old school burned to the ground.  Precious little hard evidence remained, so this new find was great news.

Because of these special circumstances, MWSD’s board was able to approve a variance that will allow CPR to proceed with design, permitting, and construction of this long-awaited addition to Moss Beach Park, and to demonstrate to the County that they were right to put this project at the head of the list of worthy local projects to fund.

Video of last night’s meeting is available at http://mwsd.montara.org/?5234960

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District is holding a regularly scheduled board meeting in Half Moon Bay on June 24 to consider the purchase of two properties on the Coastside from the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST).

The 32-acre Roberts property is located at the end of Miramontes Street, 1.5 miles east of Half Moon Bay in unincorporated San Mateo County. The property is adjacent to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Mills Creek Open Space Preserve.

The 260-acre Bluebrush Canyon property is located on Purisima Creek Road, seven miles southeast of Half Moon Bay by road in unincorporated San Mateo County. The property is adjacent to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Purisima Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve.

Wednesday, June 24, 2009
6:30 p.m.
Community United Methodist Church
770 Miramontes Street
Half Moon Bay                    

POST is a private, non-profit land trust that protects local land in order to preserve it as parks and open space. When POST acquires a piece of land, the organization’s goal is to transfer it to an entity who can manage it in perpetuity, often to public agencies like the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District.

Prior to the meeting, additional information and the agenda will be posted to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District’s Web site at www.openspace.org.

Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin are expanding their Pescadero organic farm to meet growing demand, reports Julia Scott in the Mercury News.

When Larry Jacobs and his wife Sandra Belin bought a small Pescadero farm in 1980 with the intention of growing produce without pesticides, the farmers in the area laughed at them. Literally.

"They said, ‘It’s not possible to do that without spraying.’ One guy told me, ‘I put this stuff on my cereal. It’s not going to hurt you," recalls Jacobs. "Now he’s been asking me about how you get certified organically."

Thirty years later, the couple has had the last laugh. Jacobs Farm is the largest culinary organic herb grower in the country, with seven organic farms spread out across San Mateo and Santa Cruz counties as far south as Watsonville. Their other company, Del Cabo, imports 19 million pounds of sweet, organic cherry tomatoes and other vegetables from their partner co-op in Mexico, where farmers earn good profits for their work.

This is an interesting profile of a company that has made sound agriculture work on the Southcoast.

Coastside Land Trust hosted a bird walk on Sunday afternoon June 14, 2009 as the second half of the Songbird and Seabirds Workshop.  The co-leaders on the outing were Alvaro Jaramillo, who lead the classroom portion of the workshop earlier in the day, and Gary Deghi. 

The trip began at the end of Redondo Beach Road where a group of about 30 people looked for birds out over the ocean.  A number of Western Grebes and Western Gulls were joined by Double-crested and Pelagic Cormorants, Brown Pelicans, Caspian Terns and a single adult Heerman’s Gull.  Pigeon Guillemot and Common Murre were scoped well offshore.  The best sighting here was not a bird but a mammal, as most in the group were able to see a Stellar’s Sea Lion just beyond the breakers, a rare sighting for this part of the coast.  Just as we were getting ready to start our walk towards the arroyo, we noticed two Black Oystercatchers flying north just offshore.

Once out in the Wavecrest grasslands we had a chance to start separating the different kinds of swallows present, and the group learned how to identify the Barn, Tree, Violet-green, Cliff and Northern Rough-winged Swallows that were flying around taking insects on the wing.  The group was able to study a variety of songbirds along the arroyo within the willow riparian habitats and adjacent coastal scrub including Mourning Dove, Anna’s and Allen’s Hummingbirds, American Crow, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, Bushtit, American Robin, Wilson’s Warbler, California Towhee, Song Sparrow, White-crowned Sparrow, Red-winged Blackbird, Purple Finch, House Finch and American Goldfinch.  We could hear Swainson’s Thrush calling from within the riparian vegetation.  A number of Red-tailed Hawks and a single Turkey Vulture were observed flying overhead.

Once back at Redondo Beach Road and walking toward the parking area, many in the group enjoyed close-up studies of several Savannah Sparrows along the roadside.  Shari met the group in the parking lot with refreshments to end the trip as a Red-tailed Hawk joined us on a nearby telephone wire and a Common Raven flew overhead.  This was a great outing with many beginning birders and a good number of very enthusiastic kids, great weather, plenty of birds and friendly people.

Gary Deghi

The county Board of Supervisors will be holding a hearing on the county’s update of its Local Coastal Program at 5pm today at Half Moon Bay High School.

The Coastal Commission staff returned the update to the County with about 300 pages of recommendations and background. The county will respond to the staff report at the Coastal Commission, probably at the August meeting in San Francisco.

This is an opportunity to tell the county whether you support either the county’s version of the LCP, or the Coastal Commission staff’s recommendations.

The county is holding Green Building workshops on Wednesdays June 30 and July 28 from 6 to 9pm, in the multipurpose room at El Granada Elementary School. The purpose is to discuss possible revisions to current regulations, include additional types of building, and set new standards.

The county’s Green Building Task Force and the Planning and Building Department are the sponsors.

Imagine transforming your water-guzzling, herbicide-dependent lawn into a beautiful flowering landscape of drought-tolerant native plants with seating areas, play areas for kids and animals, and your own organic fruits and vegetables.

Please join us for these four intensive sessions on converting your lawn into a landscape of water-conserving native and/or edible plants. Registration deadline is this coming Wednesday, June 17th. 

Four Saturdays: June 20, July 11, Aug 1 and Aug 29, 9 am to 4pm

Resident $70; Non-resident $75 per class. Resident $240; Non-resident $245 for all four classes (Class code 712254.14). Spouse/Domestic Partner: Half-price if space is available. Contact Shari Deghi: 650-208-9020. Train Depot, 110 Higgins Canyon Rd, Half Moon Bay.  The classes are offered exclusively through the Half Moon Bay Parks and Recreation Department. To register, go to http://www.hmbcity.com or call 650-726-8297.

• Saturday, June 20, 9 to 4. Overview of sustainable residential landscaping. Site analysis. Design. (Class code 712254.10)
• Saturday, July 11, 9 to 4. Foundations of permaculture. Soil preparation, grading, drainage, roof catchment and other irrigation systems. (Class code 712254.11)
• Saturday, August 1, 9 to 4. Selection of drought-tolerant, wildlife-attracting and edible plants. Best practices of composting. (Class code 712254.12)
• Saturday, August 23, 9 to 4. Creating year round interest in native gardens. Sustainable practices for edible gardens. (Class code 712254.13)