Mike Ferreira has been quiet about his plans, but the deadline for filing for a recount is Monday at 5pm [California Election Code]. Ferreira’s supporters have certainly been urging him to do so, after the post-election vote counts turned his 59-vote election-night victory into a startling 14-vote defeat. A recount request might be in the offing.

Bonnie McClung now leads Mike Ferreira by 14 votes, 1,859 to 1,845 in the Half Moon Bay City Council race, according to today’s update at the County’s election site.  In the Point Montara Fire Protection District, Bruce McKimmie leads Alex King 739 to 734.

The upset in Half Moon Bay was a surprise, because when the polls closed two weeks ago on Tuesday, November 8, Ferreira led McClung 1,549 to 1,490 (51.0% to 49.0%). But in the subsequent counting of provisional and other ballots, McClung led Ferreira 368 to 294 (55.6% to 44.4%).

UPDATE: The county says this is the final vote count. I have also corrected the headline, which originaly said that King was the winner by five votes.

Bonnie McClung widened her lead over Mike Ferreira for Half Moon Bay City Council in the results posted by the County at 4:30pm today. She now leads 1,858 to 1,843 votes.  Meanwhile, Bruce McKimmie now leads Alex King 735 to 730 in the Point Montara Fire Protection District race.

It’s unclear whether these are the final totals, but there may be new totals posted on Monday at 4:30pm.

As of 4:30 Friday, Bonnie McClung now leads Mike Ferreira by 13 votes, 1,853 to 1,840.

Bruce McKimmie leads Alex King in the Pt Montara Fire Protection District race 729 to 727.

The results can be found at the county’s election website. The county is still counting ballots, and expects to post additional results on Saturday and Monday after 4:30pm both days.

Mike Ferreira now leads Bonnie McClung by a scant 8 votes in the Half Moon Bay City Council election and Alex King leads Bruce McKimmie by one vote, according to totals posted today at the County’s official election website.

As the county has been counting provisional ballots and verifying the identity of each voter, they have been posting successive sets of semi-official results.

On election night, Tuesday, November 8, Ferreira led by 59 votes, 1,549 to 1,490. King led McKimmie 599 to 594.

On Friday, November 11, Ferreira led by 30 votes, 1,727 to 1,697. King led McKimmie 648 to 644.

On Wednesday, November 16,  Ferreira leads by 8 votes, 1,780 to 1,772. King leads McKimmie 700 to 699

According to the County’s website:

Provisional Voting is an alternative Election Day voting method used when the voter has not met the new identification requirements or when the voter’s eligibility is in doubt.

Voters will be asked at the polling place to vote a Provisional Ballot if:

• Their name is not on the roster at the polling place.
• They are first-time voters and cannot provide the required identification to poll workers.
• They are listed on the roster as absentee voters, but do not have an Absentee Ballot with them. Voters who do bring their Absentee Ballots to the polls are not provisional voters.
• They moved and did not re-register at their new address.
• They wish to vote on a ballot for a political party with which they are not affiliated.

The County Elections office won’t say how many ballots remain or how long it will take to finish counting, but they hope to finish by Friday. 

I’m meeting with Assembly President Pro Tem Leland Yee Friday. 

He’s meeting individually with all of the Peninsula newspapers to "go over the legislative session and discuss what is ahead in 2006". His office has included Coastsider in that briefing process, which is pretty cool.

While the Coastside isn’t in his district, he is a candidate in 2006 for the State Senate district that includes the Coastside.

I want to give Coastsider readers a chance to participate in the process. What questions do you want to ask the assemblyman and what issues would you like to bring to his attention at our meeting?  Just as I keep Coastsider focused on local issues, I’d like to keep the conversation focused strictly on coastal issues, especially those that affect San Mateo County.

The County Times notes that county election officials are still counting ballots. On the county’s election site, the most recent results, posted on Wednesday, are listed as "Semi-official". The county plans to update its counts on Friday at 4:30pm.

In the closest finish, for Pt. Montara Fire Protection District board, Alex King defeated Bruce McKimmie by a margin of only 10 votes, with King at 623 and McKimmie at 613

The biggest news in Tuesday’s election was the election of Naomi Patridge and the re-election of Jim Grady and Mike Ferreira to the Half Moon Bay City Council.

Patridge, in her first election in eight years, returned at the top of the balloting with a significant lead over second-place Jim Grady.  Third place was a squeaker, with Mike Ferreira defeating second-time candidate Bonnie McClung by just 59 votes.  Newcomers George Muteff and Steve Skinner brought up the rear.  Both Muteff and Skinner ran surprisingly strong campaigns and it showed in the tallies.

The results meant that the LCP-backed group of Ferreira, Grady, and David Gorn will continue to hold a majority of seats on the City Council. Patridge and ally Marina Fraser will be in the minority.  Both advisory measures (O & P) on eminent domain and water recycling passed overwhelmingly.

In the Half Moon Bay Fire Protection District, Gary Burke and former firefighter Lane Lees (who just won a $600,000 settlement against the district) will be seated on the board.

Both incumbents in the Coastside County Water District election, Chris Mickelson and Ev Ascher, will return.

All incumbents in the Montara Water and Sanitary District will return to office.

Ginny McShane will return to the Point Montara Fire Protection District board, but will be joined by Alex King.  Board member Bruce McKimmie was the only Coastside incumbent to be defeated on Tuesday.

There’s really not much more to report. It’s all been said already. Feel free to share your opinions by clicking on the "comments" link above.

Under Half Moon Bay’s new campaign finance ordinance, voters who own companies are able to donate three times as much as voters who do not.

Individuals are limited to donating $250 to a single candidate in a single campaign. "Organizations" are limited to $500.  Several contributors have used companies they own or control to donate $500 to candidates. One has donated $500 from his corporation and $250 individually. Another donated at total of $599 to one candidate.

In addition the political action committees and unions who donated money to the candidates, the following individually-owned companies put money into the campaign.

• Realtor Millie Golder has donated $500 from her business to Naomi Patridge and George Muteff.
• Ken Jones, the wealthy former school board president, used his Western General corporation of Pierre, SD, to donated $500 to each of Naomi Patridge, Bonnie McClung, and George Muteff.  In filings from Muteff and McClung, the ownership of Western General is not listed. Patridge listed Jones as the owner. In last year’s school board election, Jones donated $1500 each to Charles Gardner and John Moseley.
• Premier Termite, owned by Kevin Palmer, donated $500 to Naomi Patridge.
• Kenmark Real Estate, Ocean Colony Partners Golf Links, and Ocean Colony Partners each donated $500 to Patridge’s campaign. These companies are not individually owned, but have few shareholders, and have overlapping ownerships and business interests.
• Canada Cove Mobile Home Park donated $500 each to McClung, Patridge, and Muteff. Only Patridge listed Jack Verderame as the owner on her form.  Verderame also donated $99 to McClung’s campaign individually.
• Branscomb Farms LLC in Woodside donated $500 to George Muteff. K.C. Branscomb Kelley, of Branscomb Farms LLC, donated $250 personally to Muteff.
• Curley and Red’s donated $500 to George Muteff.

Half Moon Bay’s campaign finance law is a good step in the direction of cleaner politics.  But it doesn’t go far enough. It isn’t right that people who have corporations should be allowed to contribute two or three times as much as those of us who do not.

A sound argument can be made that only individual human beings should be allowed to contribute to political campaigns, and that corporations, unions, PAC’s, and other non-human entities that don’t have a vote shouldn’t be permitted to contribute.

I also recommend reading the Review’s two articles on campaign contributions and the No More Delays PAC.

You can download PDF’s of the candidates’ and No More Delays filings from Coastsider:

• Mike Ferreira
• Jim Grady
• George Muteff
• Bonnie McClung
• Naomi Patridge
• Steve Skinner
• No More Delays

San Mateo County and Oscar Braun have settled two civil rights lawsuits that Braun brought against the county, reports the County Times.  The county agreed to process permits for a cell phone tower, horse stable and water system on his ranch, and to study a new local government for the Southcoast.

Any new local government have to be approved by the County’s Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO).