This Wednesday, September 9th the Midcoast Community Council (MCC) will discuss the council’s effectiveness.

What is the Midcoast Community Council? 

A.  An elected Municipal Advisory Council with tarnished reputation.
B.  Group of agenda driven NIMBY’s with conflicting points of view grandstanding to an empty room.
C.  Poorly produced local reality TV show with bad ratings.
D.  Small pack of coyotes barking at the moon.
E.  All of the above.

It’s time to get council members out of their little corners and address credibility, redefine the MCC mission and set goals. 

What do you think it would take to reengineer the MCC into a worthwhile organization? 

Should disbanding the MCC and forming a new local advocacy organization be considered as an option?

I sold my home in Moss Beach in 2005 and moved away. On my recent visit to see friends on the Coastside, I was surprised and bemused to see a water drilling operation on the property at the corner of Admiralty and Stetson.

I was one of the lucky homeowners in Moss Beach with municipal water service. My next door neighbor to the south was not so lucky, and I was regularly forced to violate the law and connect his home with my garden hose, out of a sense of human decency. The house to north, built recently, was a product of an elaborate scheme by local Moss Beach firemen, involving the PUC and the County, to swap a water meter on a Montara property and drill a well. The property to the north of me had been drilled numerous times and come up dry. That scheme was the last of its type as the water board put an end to that loophole.

So it was with no small amount of bemusement and surprise that I had a deja vu moment at the sight of another drilling rig in Moss Beach. One of the same local conspirators involved in the last scheme is the suspect. So, I for one am hoping for a bit of poetic justice and that he comes up dry and loses his investment…as Stetson Street has that reputation for water wells…as well as a reputation for water monkey business at the expense of everyone else in the community.

David Mayes

The following letter has been distributed to the community by Rob Gaskill, superintendent of the Cabrillo Unified School District. There will be a second "Town Hall Meeting on Adequate School Funding" sponsored by the Cabrillo Education Foundation from 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 23 in the Cunha Intermediate Library.

As a direct result of what Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi recently deemed "the worst recession since the Great Depression," funding for schools in the State of California (previously ranked an abysmal 46th nationally) is headed even lower.  The agreement reached between Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and legislative leaders last month virtually guarantees it.  In the span of less than twenty-four months, the State Budget has shriveled from over $100 billion to $85 billion.  As a result of a combination of cuts, deferrals, and IOU’s (deficits) applied to the revenue limit guarantee, the already underfunded per student "guarantee" of $6,366.74 that schools should be receiving this year will instead amount to $5,198.12… a reduction of over 18%!  Given these facts, it should surprise no one that the Cabrillo Unified School District Budget that was just under $30 million in 2008-09 will level off at approximately $25 million next year.  As you might well imagine, school districts across the state are scrambling to "make do" with much less… and valuable programs (and staff members) are falling by the wayside. 

This is certainly not the first time the District has faced a budget crisis and it might not be the last.  But this one is the most challenging to date. This "for the foreseeable future" reduction in state funding has created a structural deficit for most districts… and structural deficits are serious matters. If you are taking in less money than you are spending, you have a problem and that problem can grow exponentially over time.  The other challenge posed by a structural deficit is that the response nearly always requires reductions in on-going expenditures and that almost always translates into program and people; reductions that can remain "off the table" indefinitely until funding levels increase or new funding sources are identified. 

We have taken a number of proactive steps to address this growing crisis along the way.  Our classrooms are currently at, or near, the maximum class sizes stipulated by contract at all levels.  We have been operating under a "hold" on state categorical program carryover amounts and a freeze on non-essential purchases and travel for over a year. 

Last year’s (08-09) budget was reduced by $497,483 via staffing to ratio, serving students with specialized needs within the district, freezing non-essential travel and purchases, and reducing Fund 17 reserves by $1.0 million.

This year (09-10), the District Budget was further reduced by $440,476 via:

• $137,188 in reduced administrative staffing at the District Office
• $  60,000 in reduced athletic funding
• $  70,000 in reduced classified staffing at the District Office
• $  53,037 in reduced classified staffing at elementary school sites
• $  42,394 in reduced classified staffing at secondary school sites
• $  28,843 in reduced counseling (.5) at Half Moon Bay High School
• $  25,000 reduction in consult support
• $  20,000 in projected energy savings
• $  4,284 in miscellaneous program cuts

The Bay Area Ridge Trail Council’s fourth annual Ridge Trail Cruz is planned for Saturday, September 12 in the Santa Cruz Mountains. This event is a fun opportunity for the public, families and outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy trails and stunning views while raising money and support to complete a public trail encircling the ridgetops around the San Francisco Bay. The event features hikes, horseback rides and mountain bike rides for all levels, ages and experiences including a special tot-friendly family hike.

A full volume test of the coast side tsunami warning sirens is scheduled for 10am on Wednesday  

Seven sirens will be tested on Wednesday: in Princeton, El Granada and Miramar, Pescadero, Linda Mar Beach, Rockaway Beach and Sharp Park.   An eighth siren is operational in Half Moon Bay but will not be sounded during this test. 

Sirens are tested monthly for 15 seconds at low volumes at 10am on the first Wednesday of each month.  The full volume test will last about one full minute and allow the sirens to reach their peak sound level.

In an emergency, the sirens will sound continuously for several minutes.  Should this occur, people should listen to their radios (KCBS 740 AM or KQED 88.5 FM) for official information and instructions.   

The new siren units are far more sophisticated than the old "Civil Defense" sirens of decades ago.  Computer modeling was used to determine the appropriate volume for the given environment.  The sirens use computer controllers to provide constant monitoring of their vital systems.  They also incorporate "green technology" as they derive all of the power they need to operate from solar panels.

There has been a report of a mountain lion sighting by a single observer in the creek area south of Cañada Cove mobile home park at 8am Sunday.

The Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) is holding its second annual digital photography contest. Photographers of all levels are invited to participate. The contest is open to photographers at all levels creating digital images taken on District preserves that "capture the diversity of wildlife, plants, natural landscapes, weather, or people interacting with nature".

The deadline is November 15. Winners will be announced before March 1, 2010.