EDITOR’S NOTE: We’re sorry it took a week to get this story online because of the holidays.  We won’t tag this one "Why wait till Wednesday?", but we still beat the Review by a day.

The Half Moon Bay City Council moved ahead with its plans to restructure the city’s Planning Commission at its December 20 meeting.  By a vote of 3-to-2, it directed the City Manager to bring back a draft ordinance that would reduce the size of the planning commission from 7 to 5 members and align the terms of the commissioners to run concurrently with those of the Council members who appointed them. Council member Patridge, Fraser, and McClung voted for the motion, and Grady and Gorn voted against.

Thirteen out of the eighteen speakers argued against changing the structure the planning commission. Included in this group were five sitting planning commissioners [HMB Planning Commission] (Joe Falcone, Jack McCarthy, James Kellenberger, Kevin Lansing, and James Benjamin). Four members of the public argued in favor of the proposed restructuring. Included in this group were George Muteff, the fifth-place finisher in the November 2005 City Council election [Muteff’s smartvoter.org page] and Chris Mickelsen, President of the Coastside County Water District and Chair of the Governmental Affairs Committee of the Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce . A full list of speakers with quotes from their public testimony can be found at the end of this article. 

Before to voting on the motion,  Patridge responded to accusations of playing politics by saying "Everything we do up here, most of the time, is politically motivated." Bonnie McClung said "This Council needs to be reflected on the planning commission—-five works better than seven in terms of staff time." Marina Fraser said "There is a real problem with the planning process. People are disgruntled." Later she asked "Do we really need seven people’s opinions on the planning commission? I think it should go to five."

David Gorn said that he thought the majority was pushing a pre-cooked solution, not addressing a real problem. He said "Independence of the planning commission is why the staggered terms are there. When this was brought up eight years ago, there was a referendum. To bring it around again eight years later seems wrong."  Jim Grady said "The planning commission’s purpose is the rule of law. It is not there to represent any perspective of the community. It navigates the details of the California Coastal Act for the City."

Click "read more" to see summaries of the statements of members of the public speaking before the City Council.

The Sheriff’s Office is asking the coastal communities help in locating fugitive Christopher Diamond Campbell of Moss Beach.  He is wanted on a $200,000 arrest warrant for weapon charges.  During the past week, 40 year old Campbell has been sighted in the South Coast area, specifically around La Honda.  If you have any information on Campbell’s whereabouts, you are encouraged to call the Sheriff’s Office at 650-363-4911 or Detective Kelly Smith at 650-363-4057.

Campbell is wanted in connection with stolen goods found in a storage locker in Princeton.

For the rest of the Sheriff’s blotter for the week of Dec 18 to 23, click "read more"

At a special public meeting held on Skyline, the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD) Board of Directors last night unanimously voted to purchase the 151-acre Rapley Ranch and 50-acre Portola Lookout Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) properties. The Rapley Ranch property is an addition to Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve and Portola Lookout is an addition to Long Ridge Open Space Preserve, and represents the third and fourth purchases within the Coastside Protection area.

Click "read more" to see the rest of the release.

The Daily Journal and the County Times each have stories on the Mike Ferreira’s decision not to take the recount to the next stage. The Daily Journal had a good quote from Bonnie:

“We had a really, really straightforward conversation. We connected and I thought he was most gracious,” McClung said. “There’s a great feeling of relief and a little bit of awe that this has really happened and I feel really honored.”

The Daily Journal story also ends on a nice note:

Ferreira hasn’t ruled out another run for council in the future. For now, however, he plans to relax and enjoy the holiday.

As a friend and supporter of Bonnie’s, I don’t hesitate to support the proposition that Mike should have his recount payments to the County refunded.
It turns out that the certified count was not nearly as accurate as the County believed it to be.  The tally of the of votes cast in person was spot on.  The tally of absentee votes was not.
Were it not for Mike’s recount, the County would not have learned that accurately counting absentee voting is considerably more difficult than counting votes cast in person.
When absentee voting accounts for ten percent of the total vote, it is unlikely that a to be a problem.
However, with absentee voting accounting for nearly half the votes this election and trending upwards, we owe a debt of gratitude to Bonnie and Mike for maintaining a great deal of civility towards each other during the process thereby keeping the spot light on the accuracy of the vote tally.
Thanks to the recount, the County now knows something that only experience can teach, namely that the trend towards absentee voting has created an unprecedented challenge to those who tally the votes.
George Cresson
Burlingame, CA

A deputy stops a cyclist for not using a light and it turns out that there is a warrant for his arrest, a man is arrested in Princeton for possession of crack and meth, a Moss Beach resident discovers their credit card is being used in Mississippi without their permission, and a man is arrested under the influence of narcotics in Moss Beach.

Click "read more" for details.

Mike Ferreira has ended his recount of the ballots in the Half Moon Bay City Council election. "It was a very close election," he said, but "Bonnie and I agreed that the stress and turmoil of carrying the process into the next steps would not do the community any good." Today’s announcement was something of an anticlimax after McClung’s come-from-behind victory and the early results in the recount.

After recounting all the ballots resulted in a seven-vote gain for Ferreira, there was an uncertified eight-vote gap and contested ballots with another eight votes at stake. Ferreira’s decision precludes any official assessment of the challenged ballots and means that Ferreira will not be moving to the next step of the process which would follow a recount—an election contest in the courts involving other issues.

Ferreira expressed admiration for the way county elections officer Warren Slocum and his staff conducted themselves during the recount and said that Bonnie McClung had set a good example for everyone by her civility during a very stressful recount process.

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

Everyone who lives in Half Moon Bay should be at Tuesday’s City Council meeting, at 7:30pm at the Adcock Center.

The new majority of the Half Moon Bay City Council plans major changes to the Planning Commission, and they will have repercussions for years to come.  Even more troubling than the specifics of the proposal (see Lani Ream’s letter on Coastsider) is the complete surprise up and down the Coastside that this is the first priority of the new council.

Bonnie McClung ran on platform that featured openness and an end to secrecy in government. But she somehow forgot to tell us the first thing she was going to do once she got into office was cut the size of the Planning Commission and eliminate its independence. Two weeks ago, she told the County Times it was part of her campaign platform. It would be interesting to know to whom she made that promise. It wasn’t the citizens of Half Moon Bay.

The new configuration of the planning commission will be discussed on Tuesday’s City Council meeting. It’s item number 10: "Discussion and Direction Relative to City Code Chapter 1.24 - Planning Commission and Chapter 2.26 - Park & Recreation Commission". I don’t know how you missed it.

Tuesday night is the time for the citizens of Half Moon Bay to tell the new City Council that they shouldn’t begin their term by delivering on a secret campaign promise.  It will also be the first opportunity for the Review to demonstrate that they’re serious about demanding openness in government, regardless of who is in charge.

ALERT - URGENT - ALERT

They’re at it again. Seven years ago, in 1998, Naomi Patridge and Jerry Donovan, along with Betty Stone, tried to gut the Planning Commission and replace them with their own people. People got mad, gathered signatures for a referendum and stopped them in their tracks.

Pay attention: Naomi is trying to do the exact same thing again.

This Tuesday, the new City Council meets for its first full Council session - with now-mayor Marina Fraser, now-Vice Mayor Naomi Patridge and Bonnie McClung leading the way.

The first order of business: dump the planning commission.

Currently there are 7 Planning Commissioners, and the Council majority wants to eliminate two of them to make it a 5-person commission.

If they’re successful, say goodbye to Kevin Lansing and Planning Commission Vice Chair James Kellenberger.

Worse, Naomi and friends want to make the terms of the commissioners coincide with City Council elections - which, surprise, means that Naomi and McClung get to fire two more commissioners and replace them with whomever they want.

If they’re successful, say goodbye to Sofia Freer and Jack McCarthy.

If Naomi Patridge, Marina Fraser and Bonnie McClung have their way, the Planning Commission is completely gutted in the first meeting of the new City Council. This is a blatantly political, cynical and aggressive move to undermine the Coastal Act and get pro-development people running the Planning Commission.

This cannot happen. They’re trying to do this during the holidays when people aren’t paying attention.

We need your help. This is urgent.

Please come to the City Council meeting on Tuesday, December 20 and make your voice heard. These three Council members need to hear you say:

• No, I do not like sneaky, underhanded politics. Naomi Patridge and Bonnie McClung ran on a platform of open government. this is open government? It’s the epitome of back-room, manipulative politics.
• No, I do not want the Planning Commission changed. The seven-person commission is necessary to allow maximum input into the decisions that affect our coastal area.
• No, I do not want the staggered terms of the Planning Commission to change. These staggered terms are the commission’s only guarantee of independence and objectivity. You can’t rig the Planning Commission to suit your politics.
• Yes, I will sign a referendum - just as hundreds and hundreds of Half Moon Bay citizens signed a referendum eight years ago when you tried this before - because these blatantly political moves must be stopped.

Your participation is vital in this fight. We stopped them on the exact same scheme eight years ago, and we MUST stop them again.

John Lynch
Half Moon Bay