With the recent resignation of two of its board members, the San Mateo County Transit District is looking to bring on a few new public members from different San Mateo County regions.

After resigning in early November to pursue a career in the state Legislature, board member Mike Nevin left a public member seat available on the nine-member board, transit district spokesman Jonah Weinberg said Monday.

Applicants for Nevin’s old position must reside in central or southern San Mateo County in cities such as Atherton, Belmont, East Palo Alto, Burlingame and Half Moon Bay, the transit district reported.

As well, the applicant must not have held any elected public office position within the last 12 months, and they must submit their official application for the position by Dec. 30 at 5 p.m., according the transit district.

The second public seat on the board was made available with the resignation of board member John Barbour, according to Weinberg.

A person that resides in the coastal region of the county must fill that seat, and the application for that position must be submitted by Jan. 20 at 5 p.m., according to the transit district.

According to Weinberg, the only requirement to apply for either board seat is that the applicants reside in the aforementioned area attached to the board seat.

Both of these public members will be appointed by six members of the SamTrans board, three of whom have been appointed by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and another three of whom were appointed by the Cities Selection Committee, according to the transit district.

Once elected the new board members will assist in the making of decisions regarding the SamTrans bus service, which stretches from San Mateo County into parts of San Francisco and Palo Alto.

As well, the transit district manages the Caltrain rail service, which is governed by the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, and it partners with Bay Area Rapid Transit, which travels to the Caltrain Millbrae Station, according to the transit district’s Web site.

They are going to act as the equivalent of a city council and determine "what needs to be done and how to do it," Weinberg said.

Thus far the transit district has only received three applications looking to fill Nevin’s former seat, according to Weinberg.

"We want the residents of San Mateo County to be active participants in the future of transportation in this county," Weinberg said.

Interested parties can retrieve an application for the board positions on the transit district’s Web site, http://www.samtrans.com

At the end of the day Friday, seven of eight precincts have been counted in the Half Moon Bay City Council recount. While neither Bonnie McClung nor Mike Ferreira have gained votes, the number of challenged ballots has increased to eight.

One precinct’s non-absentee ballots remain to be counted on Monday.

Bonnie McClung’s lead over Mike Ferreira has been reduced to 8 votes in the recount of Half Moon Bay City Council ballots, as of the end of the day Thursday. This is an "informal" count which is not official until the recount is completed.

The counting of absentee ballots yielded more votes for all candidates, as the counters discovered many ballots with markings so faint that they were not captured by the optical scanners that read them.  Mike Ferreira gained seven more votes from these sources than did Bonnie McClung.

Non-absentee ballots are easier to count, less likely to have these kinds of errors,  and less likely to yield additional votes. At the end of the day on Thursday, all absentee ballots had been counted and the recount of non-absentee ballots had been completed for two of eight precincts. The recount is expected to be completed Friday.

Also in play are four additional challenged ballots, with five additional votes at stake, which could become the subject of dispute if the gap between the candidates narrows further.

The recount of Half Moon Bay City Council ballots is continuing.  At the end of today, seven of eight precincts’ absentee ballots had been counted.  With one precinct remaining, it’s likely that the counting of absentee ballots will be complete in the middle of the day on Thursday.

At that point, Mike Ferreira will be faced with deciding whether to recount non-absentee ballots.

After two days of recounting the ballots, Mike Ferreira sees no reason to stop.  So far, the county has recounted the absentee ballots from three of eight precincts. Although Ferreira can stop the process at any time, the counting will continue for a third day.

We’ve just put up a album of candid portraits of the nearly 70 coastsiders and carpetbaggers who spoke at the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors hearing on the proposed revisions to the Local Coastal Program.

This is an experiment in citizenship and journalism. It’s also a work in progress that you can help with.  Montara photographer Darin Boville took the pictures, which are amazing. I have added names and a brief note about what each person said.  I got the spelling right in most cases, but there are some where I misspelled or simply missed the name.  If you have corrections to the names, or my account of what people said, please email Barry Parr using the link in the left-hand navigation bar.

You’ll notice that many speakers wear yellow tags. These say "The Coastside belongs to everyone".

IT’S NOT TOO LATE TO BE HEARD: The next hearing on the LCP revisions will be Tuesday at 10:30am in Redwood City. If you haven’t spoken yet, it’s critical that you speak at this meeting. Supporters of increasing the Midcoast’s growth rate were badly outnumbered at this meeting and they’re sure to show up in force on Tuesday.

The recount of ballots for the Half Moon Bay City Council election will begin at 8:30am, Monday, Dec. 12 at the Elections Office at 40 Tower Road in San Mateo, according to the Daily Journal.

A meeting with Half Moon Bay council candidate Mike Ferreira and the San Mateo County Elections Office was held on Wednesday to set the ground rules for the recount. Recount law was designed to give all candidates an opportunity to review, challenge and reach or alter the conclusion that the Elections Office reached when they counted and certified the election results.

“Mr. Ferreira is exercising his right to a recount and review of the votes cast in this very close election. In doing so, he has given the public a chance to learn or be reminded of this legal avenue that’s available to challenge the outcome of close elections,” said Chief Elections Officer Warren Slocum. “We welcome his request.”

This raises an interesting question about choice of words.  Coastsider’s headline when Ferreira announced his recall was "Mike Ferreira asks for recount", the Chronicle didn’t put it in a headline, but their story said Ferreira "asked San Mateo County elections officials for a recount", the County Times said "Defeated councilman seeks recount", and the county Elections Office said "Half Moon Bay Candidate Requests Recount of City Council Race ". 

But the Review’s headline was "Ferreira demands a recount".  "Demands" is an interesting choice of words for two reasons. The first is prosaic: it’s a howling cliché. The second is more significant.  It’s the wrong word. Ferreira was entitled to ask for a recount and the county "welcomed his request". The Review’s headline makes him look like a sore loser, when his request is appropriate, within the rules, and what any sane person would do under the circumstances.

Mike Ferreira has asked for a recount in the Half Moon Bay City Council election.  He has hired political attorney Peter Bagatelos of San Francisco to assist him the process.  Because there were only about 4,000 ballots, it’s unlikely that the recount will take long. Also, because the biggest questions surround the smaller number of absentee and provisional ballots counted after election night, the Ferreira team’s questions might be satisfied without recounting all 4,000 ballots. But if more questions emerge during the recount, it’s difficult to predict where it will lead. From the county’s release:

According to the Chief Elections Officer, “After the request has been filed, the California Elections Code provides the registrar with seven days to begin the recount. The first step will be for the parties to sit down and go through all the ground rules for the recount—how many observers, the hours, the breaks, the people, the questions, etc.”

“A number of questions relative to the recount will be decided by Mr. Ferreira, including what kind of recount will be requested. It could be a manual count, a machine count, or both. In some instances, a candidate will request that the precincts be recounted in a certain order,” explained Slocum.

The person requesting the recount is responsible for the cost of the recount. Recount costs vary depending on the type of recount requested and the size of the district and number of votes that are being recounted. The person requesting the recount posts a deposit at the beginning of each day for estimated costs for the vote counting to be performed. If the recount is completed, and the results of the election are reversed, the person requesting the recount is refunded the money they placed on deposit.

The person requesting a recount can decide at any time during the recount to halt the recount. They are charged for the time and labor involved in the recount up to that point.

Today was the deadline for filing a recount request. For more information on election law and recounts, see the county’s election website.

Click "read more" to read the county’s press release on Ferreira’s request.