Comments Archive
The business interests that put building Wavecrest ahead of education and all other public policy goals are experts at the politics of personal destruction. I can personally attest that Jonathan Lundell has spent considerable time over the last three…
It’s too bad that Mr. Gardner evaded the direct question as to whether he knows who was behind the smear ad. How in the world could he not know who was behind it? This was his reserved slot. I think the public has a right to know who is coughing…
While Gardner and Mosely don’t dispute the content of the ad, I certainly do. Here’s a partial list of my objections. The ad claims that the League for Coastside Protection “is about stopping growth and not about what is in the best…
The above article states: “Gardner also received $1,000 from the Committee to Elect Jim Larimer. Larimer is a director of the County Coastside Water District…” Is that legal? How can funds from a commitee to elect Larimer be used to…
I’m grateful for Mr Miller’s support; thank you. I’m dismayed, though, by the Review’s new letter policy. Whatever the paper’s shortcomings, the letters page had been built up under former editor David Gorn to be a lively…
John and Clarence Arata, you are heros for no selling this land to contractors! The Coastsiders salute you!...
Oops. I could have sworn I checked that link. It’s now working....
The PDF comes up 404....
Dear Mr. Gardner, Fighting the fight and seeing the job through is an issue. It’s a character issue, as important to a voter as plans and ideas. Don’t be fooled by the post name. I voted for you for MCC and am further surprised…
Mr. Lundell’s argument seems clear to me. Build an elementary school at Wavecrest, shift from K-5 to K-6, and make Cunha a grade 7-8 JHS. Your retorts seem rather dismissive and rhetorical rather than substantive. Lundell’s plan clearly implies…
Johnathan, I’m writing this from a $30 million dollar “facilities planning school” from which I have been in attendance for over 30 years. Perhaps your philosophy training clouds your perception of reality. Your whole argument for reduced…
Charlie, Say they’re full for the sake of the argument (though the capacity numbers in the FMP contradict that). You’re still saying that reducing the number of students implies that we need bigger multipurpose rooms? Maybe that’s something…
Because they are full...
Charles, I propose to build a new middle school, per the language of Measure K, at Cunha (though I read the measure’s language as permissive rather than restrictive). I’d be happy to provide a copy of my bond counsel’s opinion; if you…
John, Start at the beginning. Your “proposal” does not take into account Measure K Funds cannot be used to build an elementary school.Even if you claim to find a “Bond attorney” that would interpret something different than that…
Hey, Charlie, In several candidate forums, and again last night at the Kings Mountain forum, you’ve complained that under my facilities proposal (build an elementary school at Wavecrest, shift from K-5 to K-6, and make Cunha a grade 7-8 JHS) we’d…
To Claire on English Language Learners: I think we as a Board and teachers collaborate to emphasise the individualism to “meet the needs” (my priority item#1) of our ELL students. We recognize that all parents, from any cultural or socio-economic…
Dear Mr. Gardner, You did not fulfill your commitment as a member of the Midcoast Community Council. As a voter this worries me. Please explain your reasons for resigning your seat on the MCC and how we can be sure that, if elected, you will…
The Midcoast mailing list is indispensible if you want to understand what’s happening on the coast. To subscribe, send a message to <email>[email protected]</email>...
Thank you for your direct response. I look forward to supporting you in the election and on the school board. Good luck....
Mr Gardner plays fast and loose with the facts. First, district enrollment peaked at 3,889 in 1997-98. Our enrollment this year is 3,489 (not counting 41 home schoolers that are receiving services). That’s a fall of 400 from our peak enrollment,…
What is the Midcoast list? How can one subscribe?...
Mr Lansing and all: I apologize for the seemingly untimely responses to this on-line forum. As I explained to Barry Parr, my time is limited in this campaign season, and I would try and address this site on at least a weekly basis. I have been expressing…
Dear Mr. Gardner: I wish you would answer some of the foregoing questions before the election is over. If this is the kind of “response” to citizen concerns that we can expect from Trustee Gardner, then it looks like we are in for “more…
A version of this comment was posted on the Midcoast-List on 10/14/04 I too noticed the glaring whopper in Debra Godshall’s editorial of 10/13/04. Anyone who subscribes to the Midcoast list or reads the Coastsider knows that, in fact, the Coastsider…
The NCLB problem is going to get worse, since the percent-proficient threshold rises from 14% to 23% (approximately) this year. I’d like to see the district using these tests to measure the progress of individual students, and then reporting the…
Dear Mr. Moseley, I am glad you recognize the teachers who work hard in our schools and the parents who are very dedicated fund raisers. I am curious however about your opinion of the least empowered group here on the coast, the Latin population.…
Dear Mr. Gardener, I like your idea to compensate teachers more. As a mother of two here at Cabrillo and a local high school teacher, I see these problems being discussed in this forum from a variety of angles. I wonder if you could…
Dear Mr. Lundell, I like a lot of your ideas; they are innovative and fresh. I wonder if you could comment about an area which I am interested in: English Language Learners in Cabrillo Unified. Recently, the assistant superintendent,…
You write “I am for building a new middle school NOW! ... The debate over the new school site has caused a paralysis in addressing long term critical issues such as adequate funding.” Seems to me that the fact that a succession of incompetent…
I don’t get it, why won’t you give a complete answer the question about the need for the middle school? Are you saying that the published current and future middle school enrollment numbers are wrong? If so, what are the correct numbers? If…
In the candidates’ forum and in your campaign materials you say that the new middle school should be a “jewel”. While I can’t argue with that sentiment, I’d like you to be more specific about what you mean. What is…
Both at the candidates forum at the high school and on the midcoast mailing list you said that a second middle school in El Granada would increase the traffic on Hwy 1. I don’t see how that is possible. Can you point to an analysis that demonstrates…
I too am eager to hear why Mr. Gardner is intent on building an expanded new middle school to the tune of $20÷ million in the face of dropping enrollment. How do we justify investing in oversized, new infrastructure when there are so many other…
Mr. Gardner: I am a resident with two very young children who will no doubt be affected heavily by these decisions. I am getting a lot out of this on-line debate. I can’t attent the CUTA form, and I am hoping you can continue to explain your…
Charlie, Unfortunately, I won’t be asking the questions at the CUTA forum. Hopefully you can find the time over the next week to address the issue here. If I’m making a false supposition, let’s use this forum to clear it up. I’ll…
I will be happy to answer that at the Teacher’s forum on the 18th, as written I believe the question to be based on false suppositions. Back to work…...
We’d build a new middle school at Cunha, incorporating portions of the old structure. And why does Measure K list building a new middle school as one of many uses of the bond proceeds? “...to relieve existing overcrowded conditions and provide…
Unfortunatly your suggestion does not take into account Measure K is for a new middle school, not a new elementary school. That is why I was asking where the money comes from....
Charlie, Funds from where? We have $27-28 million left from Measure K and state matching funds. The Wavecrest Mello-Roos funds will add another $3M, more or less, so let’s say $30M. The proposed Wavecrest middle school, as designed, will cost in…
JLundell: You say,“Building a new elementary school and restoring Cunha will be less expensive…That should leave funds for upgrading the other elementary sites.” Once again,funds from where? As far as your statement regarding riparian…
Charlie, Building a new elementary school and restoring Cunha will be less expensive than building the planned Wavecrest middle school and restoring Cunha as an elementary school. That should leave funds for upgrading the other elementary sites, and perhaps…
Charles, We have split classes because the administration is trying to stay within class size limites (20 in K-3, 34 in 4-5) while minimizing the number of teachers. There are four or five empty classrooms at Hatch this year. At least one or two are being…
JLundell: You float the notion of building a new elementary school (perhaps at Wavecrest to make it more approvable) and the at some point in the future, build a new middle school on the “Midcoast”. Where do you propose to get the money to…
To Barry: 1) I currently manage a budget of $30 million dollars on a lump-sum (hard dollar) public works project. Although the makeup of overhead, plant and equipment, and facilities are of different proportions to the CUSD budget, it is similar in the…
Barry asks if I’ll support lockers at Cunha and the new middle school. Yes. There’s plenty more research. Here’s an article about a paper published in The Lancet in 1999. The size and heft of some of our textbooks are dismaying. We won’t…
It’s not surprising the big backpacks are a health risk. As in all things educational, there’s research to prove it: Hickey conducted a research study on the physically damaging affects of heavy backpacks after witnessing her own children…
It’s not surprising the big backpacks are a health risk. As in all things educational, there’s research to prove it: Hickey conducted a research study on the physically damaging affects of heavy backpacks after witnessing her own children…
It’s not surprising the big backpacks are a health risk. As in all things educational, there’s research to prove it: Hickey conducted a research study on the physically damaging affects of heavy backpacks after witnessing her own children…
Replying to “coastside”: We don’t know for sure why our enrollment has been declining. Certainly the district loses some students to private schools, but I don’t know of any particular reason to believe that this trend has changed…
You make some interesting arguments about enrollment trends and numbers: “seven years of declining enrollment”. This is news to me, and I like your ideas Why are the schools suffering from declining enrollment? Does it correlate with…
The Before picture here shows the first day of construction. For an earlier “Before” picture that gives an idea of what the park used to be like, check out this link: http://www.armadillosoft.com/cv/cvmb.html ...
Now that looks like an accident waiting to happen—the crane and the overhead wires. ...
John, you’re “for building a new middle school NOW!” But all our current school board members said essentially the same thing when they were running, all the way back to 1998. Kids who were in kindergarten when Measure K was passed to…
Charles, you say that we’re “in desperate need to ... provide additional elementary classrooms.” Our budget shortfalls have forced us to reduce the number of teachers and increase class sizes, not because we don’t have enough classrroms…
Barry asks: What experience do you have managing a budget? I’ve had budget experience from two sides. As a line manager (VP Engineering, CTO) I’ve created and then implemented departmental operating budgets. Over more years than I care to…
I’m going to ask this question of all three candidates: 1. What experience do you have managing a budget? 2. What has your pre-election review of the CUSD budget told you about the school district? ...
I’m going to ask this question of all three candidates: 1. What experience do you have managing a budget? 2. What has your pre-election review of the CUSD budget told you about the school district? ...
I’m going to ask this question of all three candidates: 1. What experience do you have managing a budget? 2. What has your pre-election review of the CUSD budget told you about the school district? ...
While it is good to see this story get some press, it failed to explain the main concern of La Honda residents - to reach his production goals, Rodgers plans to plant slopes that are within the watershed from which we collect our drinking water. …
The CUSD school board routinely reconvenes its closed sessions without explicitly agendizing the continuation. I’ve been a critic of the board’s misuse of closed sessions, but neither I nor the Review has complained about this practice. What…
I don’t think it would be helpful for me to speculate about the Review’s motives. Perhaps they can tell us why they did what they did....
So what’s going on? Is it ineptitude, or does the Review have a hidden agenda?...
This is yet another in a series of recent pathetic reporting examples that highlight [for anybody who didn’t already know] the Review’s complete lack of journalistic integrity....
The park effort is in need of tools: hammers, saws, drills, wrenches, wheelbarrows, etc. The complete list can be viewed at http://www.mossbeachpark.com/tools.html If you are willing to loan your tools for the build, please bring them to the…
We also had a blast. It was amazing how, even as new residents (1 year ago last week) we were running into friends at the Wine Walk that we had only met in the last year. We even made a few new friends while we were there! It was really an experience…
For Immediate Release Contact: Rudy Jurgensen Public Affairs Manager 650-691-1200 Open Space District Board Adopts Resolution Supporting Proposition 1A —Measure Will Prohibit the State Legislature from Taking Local Tax Dollars— LOS ALTOS,…
Sorry, I mean that Ms Patridge spoke in opposition and Ms Fraser voted against....
I understand that Naomi Patridge and councilmember Marina Fraser voted against. Any idea why?...
A beautiful photo. I was very happy to see Coastisder.com at the Chili Cookoff and hope to see more of them around town!! Susan Foley...
Beuatiful photograph. I was happy to see Coastsider.com at the Chili Festival!...
That would look great on our wall!...
a very nice photograph....
They stole more than your name and post. They faked a post from me, too. They created a “user” named “Urband Coastider” and reposted one of my comments from the coastsider site as well. Then they signed it “Posted…
you are not dealing with sensible, rational, credible people where RLINC and Braun are concerned. they’re a bunch of whack-jobs and kooks, as you’re discovering. ...
I see that one of the reasons that Wavecrest is deemed to be habitat for endangered Garter snakes is that one was ‘documented, along Pilarcitos Creek, near Downtown Half Moon Bay’. Would that be the same Pilarcitos creek where we have…
That’s a beautiful photo!...
a land grab, by any other name, is a land grab. call me a pessimist but i cannot help but point out that the majority of the voting population of the unincorporated coastside appears to have been strategically excised from the proposed area. perhaps this…
See you at the Cookoff!...
NOTE: This budget includes $2.7 million from MROSD, and the Los Pueblecitos petition says that MROSD lands in the city would be turned over to the city. I asked Oscar Braun about this in email and he wrote: “The mitigation fee schedule…
Hallelujah!...
...board member Dwight Wilson told me that they discussed the contract, instructed their attorney to look into the matter and took no action. Now that’s curious. I’m looking at the agenda for that closed session, and there’s no mention…
re #1: Which governing body do you feel would have a greater “continuity in community and orientation”—the County Board of Supervisors that currently governs us, where not a single Supervisor has ever lived in the unincorporated…
i am certainly a big fan of local control, but certainly not in any manner that further mr.braun’s curious agenda of revenge and spite. i don’t even think the exclusion of the midcoast urban areas from voting is an issue - certainly, if they…
Personally, I am NOT much concerned about the MROSD barony-building (although I wish they’d presented their specific operational plan for the area to the area’s voters). However, I AM concerned about the monumental, byzantine, massively intrusive,…
As an unbucolic Pescaderan, I oppose the Pueblecitos initiative for very practical reasons. The area has no sense of community or connection, it has a miniscule tax base which would result in a loss of the county’s services without a corresponding…
The Santa Cruz Public Workers Department removed these two proposed sites from consideration last night, per John Wade, who attended the hearing. ...
<< There ARE worse things than having rural residents actually able to <gasp!> control their OWN governance >> Yeah, I agree. Like a land grab in the name of liberation from county tyranny. You have to capitalize “OWN”…
I have to comment on Barry’s statement in one of his posts above: “Having said that, it’s also fundamentally different. MROSD is not a government, and “annexation” only gives it the power to buy land from willing sellers.”…
Putting the rural lands north OR south of Hwy i2 in the control of a community COMPOSED of rural lands and rural residents seems much more reasonable and equitable than the current situation. Currently, all of San Mateo County’s rural lands are…
Putting the rural lands north of Hwy 92 in the control of a community centered around Pescadero and La Honda is not local control. It’s not even clear whether the majority of residents of District 2 would be north of the 92. That’s not the…
The opening editorial states: “Voters in Pescadero and La Honda would have more control of the area surrounding Moss Beach, Montara, and El Granada than the people who live there.” Ah…. well, yes. Just as Voters in Half Moon Bay have…
There’s more than a little irony in the fact that El Granada, Moss Beach and Montara don’t get to vote. The folks who are proposing this are the ones who opposed MROSD’s annexation without a vote. It would be imposed on many Coastsiders…
The mis-naming of the MROSD was my mistake. I fixed it in the text. The transfer of MROSD land is not exactly a request. The petition says that the MROSD land “shall” be transferred. I have no idea whether or on whom that would be legally…
It seems that residents of Moss Beach, El Granada and Montara would not even get to vote on this initiative, since it only needs approval by the voters of the proposed incorporation area, and these communities were carefully carved out. Does anyone…
That would be me. I’d use the Potter Stewart standard: “I know it when I see it.” Seriously, my goal would be to get posters to either write their postings as either reporting or opinion. Opinions should be fact-based, but are intended…
Who determines what is opinion and what is fact? Is it simply a matter of how the blogger labels the submission? Is Moore’s “F911” a documentary or is it propaganda? Are there well-defined criteria for when something posted on coastsiders…
Does anyone know what kind of retail stores are planned for Harbor Village? Just a few small boutiques, or a major store in the plans? Will there be a grocery?...
Curiouser and Curiouser: As I understand it, today LAFCo did insist that Judge Holm must inspect all (more than 5000) petitions, not just the ones deemed insufficient by the Elections officials. Does this imply that they now are also dubious of the competency…
I’d like to see more innovation and competition in publicly-funded schools, but not vouchers. I’d like us to be less stingy with education, and less rigid about the way we compensate teachers: more incentive pay and less emphasis on…
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