The County Elections office has asked me to try to find some civic minded folks who would agree to spend Election Day, June 8th working at a polling place on the Coastside. At least 6 more workers are needed, maybe more.

The hours are from 6am to 9:30 pm with two one hour breaks. The pay is $125.

There are training classes in HMB on this Sat 11am to 1pm and on next Monday from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm. Training is mandatory. Training is also available at the Elections Office on Tower Rd in San Mateo almost every Mon - Sat up to the election.

I have been the head poll worker (Inspector) at Hatch School for the last 8 yrs and I recommend this work for anyone with the time and interest in supporting their community. Elections are very important in guaranteeing that the government is responsive to the people’s will. Please give it a try even if you haven’t ever done it before.

To volunteer, please call the election office at 650-312-5222, press "0" and ask for Iris.

If you have questions, I would be happy to chat. Give me a call at:  650-712-0498.

Dennis Paull

For the past few years Montara Fog has offered local candidates a free five minute video as a way for them to reach voters without a "media filter." These videos have been published not only on Montara Fog but also on the Half Moon Bay Review web site and on Coastsider.com, offering candidates complete coverage on the coast and maximizing voters’ chance to learn about the candidates.

This year we are expanding our candidate videos to include the race for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. Rich Gordon, who currently represents the Coastside, is "termed out" and his seat is up for grabs. Five candidates are running for that seat. Four of them participated in this project.

Each candidate chose their own location for the video shoot and followed a set of rules to ensure that all candidates were treated fairly. Weather was a factor in recent days—during one shoot I barely had enough time to throw my jacket over the video camera before a wall of rain drenched us. Thanks to the candidates for their enthusiasm and flexibility in overcoming these obstacles.

Click on each photo to play the video.

Candidate Jack Hickey did not participate in this project.

Videos by Darin Boville

During Saturday’s Gardens of the South Coast Garden Tour, the will be a a book signing at the Country Roads Antique store, 320 Stage Rd. in Pescadero as follows from 10:00AM-5:00PM 

The book, Plants and Plant Communities of the San Mateo Coast, is a guide to the most common plants found along the San Mateo coast—mainly between Highway 1 and the ocean. It has photographs of over 100 of the plants and photographs and descriptions of the different coastal plant communities where they can be found. 

The book was written by Toni Corelli, a local botanist and author of several books on the plants of San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, and Avis Boutell and Nancy Frost, who saw a need for such a book while working as California State Park volunteers and trying to answer questions from park visitors about the local plants. Working as volunteers, the three authors have surveyed public lands along the entire coast to develop a complete list of the plants that grow here. A plant list included in the book has more than 600 different species, and the list has continued to grow to over 750 species as the authors have continued their work. 

Profits from the sale of the books go the San Mateo Coast Natural History Association (SMCNHA)—a non-profit organization that raises money to help state parks on the San Mateo coast through donations and sales at stores at Año Nuevo, Pigeon Point Light Station, and Half Moon Bay State Beach. Money raised by SMCNHA pay for state park educational programs for young people, the Junior Lifeguard program, volunteer training, educational exhibits and signs, park visitor centers, and state park programs that help preserve biological diversity and cultural integrity. More information on SMCNHA and its work can be found at smcnha.org. 

Stage 3 of The Amgen Tour of California bike racewill be coming through Coastside Tuesday, May 18.  The race is expected to reach reach the Coastside by 11:30am and leave Half Moon Bay about 12:30pm. 

Highway 1 will be closed as much as an hour before the riders arrive.
 
The Tour of California is a 7 day bike race.  We are in the 3 stage of the race, San Francisco to Santa Cruz.  Start time in San Francisco is 1115 hrs.
If you are interested in more information about the race refer to:  http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/
 

Cypress Meadows will present the next in its acoustic music concert series on Friday, May 14th.  The showcased band is the West Coast Ramblers.  This group of local performers, Robbie Macdonald, Mark Heath, Bob Keane, and Mimi Hills plays traditional blue grass with sweet, strong harmonies.  Also appearing will be Brad Souls and Frank Reisinger.

Food and beverages will be available from 6pm to 7pm.  The music will begin at 7pm. Desserts and beverages are served at intermission. 

Food, beverages, and music for only $25 per person.

Seating is limited.  Reserve a space by calling 650-728-8045 or email [email protected].

Cypress Meadows, a conference and event center, is located at 343 Cypress Ave. in Moss Beach (just behind Cypress Flower Farm).

Recommendations to the Board from Jim Eggemeyer, Interim Director of Community Development/Planning:

Accepting the CCC’s changes would not be in the best interest of the County, and would undermine the balanced approach developed by your Board through the local process. As expressed by the Board on April 13, 2010, negative consequences include:

Concerns regarding the lot retirement requirement, including the application of this requirement to Conditional Certificates of Compliance and the potential problems associated with long-term maintenance of retired lots;

Concerns about instituting a temporary prohibition on wells, particularly in light of the progress being made in advancing understanding and management of groundwater resources;

Concerns about applying the modified amendments to permit applications currently in process; and

Concerns regarding exposure to litigation if the County accepts and applies the modified policies.

In light of these concerns, and in the interest of implementing the beneficial changes included in the County approved amendments, staff recommends that the Board of Supervisors adopt the resolution directing staff to develop an amendment resubmittal that replaces the problematic modifications with alternative policies that are acceptable to the County, and to request an extension of the timeframe required to file the resubmittal. A meeting with CCC staff to discuss this approach occurred on April 30, 2010. At the meeting, CCC staff expressed its interest in working with the County through the resubmittal process to develop alternatives to the suggested modifications of concern to the County.

Shared Vision 2025: The resolution to resubmit an updated version of the amendments is consistent with Shared Vision 2025 because the modifications proposed by the CCC will reduce opportunities for infill development that promotes livable, healthy, and prosperous communities the vision supports. Resubmittal of the amendments also provides an opportunity to promote solutions to the issues identified by the CCC, consistent with Shared Vision 2025 objectives for a livable community.

This report was reviewed by County Counsel and determined to be acceptable in form and content.
FISCAL IMPACT
Resubmittal of the amendments will require the use of limited staff resources that will delay progress on other priority projects.

Link to Board of Supervisors meeting agenda: http://www.co.sanmateo.ca.us/bos.dir/BosAgendas/agendas2010/CurrentAgenda/Frame.htm
Read LCP Update agenda items 12, 13 and 14.
The supporting documents: Executive Summery, Memo, Resolution and Ordinance for each agenda item are included at the above link.

We received this letter and photos from a reader.

A group of children and adults rode horseback for the nine miles from Moss Beach to Pacifica on Sunday May 2. The trip turned a spring day into an exiting experience that all participants will remember for a long time; if not for ever.

Beginning in Moss Beach, the party made up of adults and children from Moss Beach Ranch, rode over the ridges of Montara Mountain ending at Shamrock Ranch in Pacifica.  The riders were accompanied by Moss Beach Ranch staff.
At the trip’s end, after traveling horseback over streets, valleys, ridges and plains, looking over the ocean, some 30 people were hosted to a potluck lunch by Shamrock Ranch’s owners.  The experience was made memorable by the extraordinary profusion of wild flowers:- checker blooms, blue-eye grass, poppies, irises and views of the Pacific Ocean.

I feel that this was a unique and rare experience. If I had a child, I would like this child to have this enriching time: Riding the Bay Area backcountry in ways that are close to nature and the beauty of the Bay Area coast.  It was a special day and sadly enough, only too rare.

More pictures at: http://picasaweb.google.com/Bertillelegrand/MossBeachToPacificaRideMay2nd2010#

Bertille Legrand

Our neighbors across the street invited us over the see these beautiful moths in their yard. A little later we received this email. Caterpillar and coccoon photos after the jump.

If you look closely in the second photo, you can see that there are two moths.  Look for 2 sets of antennae.  One moth (male) is larger and has larger antennae.  The other has a larger abdomen (female).  They were mating on our Ceanothus shrubs for at least 12 hours the other day.  We named them Sting and Trudy. 

The adult moths do not fully develop mouths, so they cannot feed.  They die shortly after they mate.  How sad.  The moths are huge, at least 3 inches long.  The larvae (caterpillars) are also huge.  These were 4 inches long and we took pics of them last winter. 

We saw about three of their cocoons sometime after that.  They are also really large.  The caterpillars feed on the Ceanothus and then make cocoons, pupate and become moths.  Who knew?