Comments by Barry Parr
May 09, 2009
I've been treading lightly on this discussion because a lot of useful information is being posting, but I want to repeat my warning that I've made to the participants in email: Please keep it civil. You can dispute the other guy's facts without calling him a liar.
May 06, 2009
I don't see this as punishing the taxpayers. I see sharing the pain as part of the function of government in certain circumstances. An arbitrary federal judgement that exceeds the limits of its insurance is not unlike a natural disaster. What happened was mostly beyond the city's control. Certain members of the community, some of them residents of HMB, have been wallowing in schadenfreude over this. They seem to hope that this will cause the city to stop defending itself against bullying lawsuits…
May 06, 2009
I certainly support fiscal responsibility at the state level, as well as making local governments responsible for their misdeeds. I also believe the city's settlement was a particularly bad piece of work and feel that they should take responsibility for it. Finally, I don't live in HMB, so I have no financial interest in this matter, except as a tax payer. However, having read the Beachwood opinion, it does not demonstrate the bad faith on the part of the city that would warrant the 30 years of punishment…
May 04, 2009
I'm uncomfortable with justifying small-scale actions with the rationale of global warming. HMB used global warming to justify permitting concrete crushing near people's homes last year. Yeah, sure. I can't tell you if the effect of shutting down the fireworks would outweigh the extra vehicle miles incurred by trips over the hill. I have no idea what the greenhouse impact of fireworks is. And I can't install enough compact fluorescents or inflate my tires enough to save the polar bears. Only big…
May 04, 2009
There's more analysis of the politics/policy aspects of this at Bruce Balshone's blog on Examiner.com. I have no idea whether he knows what he's talking about: The GGNRA has not been known to develop property, but act as caretakers. If it were to be converted to a habitat, San Francisco could escape paying property taxes and upkeep but the GGNRA, as a federal agency, has higher authority, and Pacifica would lose land-use jurisdiction over the area if it were turned over to the GGNRA. If GGNRA would…
May 04, 2009
This is going to require a lot more study by an impartial source. It's not obvious to me that the associated environmental costs are greater than the income potential of a properly-run golf course. The numbers Ken cites suggest that the course could make enough money to cover the costs of its maintenance in a sustainable manner. I don't play golf and don't have any particular interest in keeping a course in San Mateo County. And I see no reason why SF should own a course in Pacifica. But I'm skeptical…
May 04, 2009
I've always been a strong supporter of the fireworks. We're not going to be able to reverse consumption of fossil fuels or the warming of the planet by doing away with our little fireworks display. But if we're going to make it as a community in the next century, we're going to have to learn a lot about keeping things local and making our own entertainment. Since the second world war, Americans have gradually lost the ability to amuse ourselves without the assistance of major corporations and their…
May 02, 2009
Welcome to the future. Our notion of what is an acceptable level of noise seems to be shifting, at least for some of us. Of course, if we had a city council, you'd have someone who might have a responsibility to come up with noise ordinance. Somehow I don't see the county doing that. On the other hand, the Half Moon Bay city council approved concrete crushing near homes last year: CCWD commissioner Jim Larimer showed up with an SPL meter to testify that the city’s limit of 65 dB was about what…
April 26, 2009
Clayton - I want you to know that Barry and I and the whole family will be there on Thursday to support you. You were in Scouts with my son Alex Ortiz, and we've been so impressed and inspired with you during your illness. You have an amazing smile, despite all the uphill battles, and you've been a great inspiration for many of us in the community. Now it's our turn to do our part. Like I said, I'll go and I commit to make sure at least 10 other people go too. If we each bring a friend, we'll be…
April 14, 2009
Could competition from Harbor Village be good for downtown?
It seems to me that they're capturing additional customers that may never go downtown. And some aggressive competition might make downtown landlords more responsive to merchants' complaints.
Whenever I talk to downtown merchants, the number one complaint seems to be their landlord.
April 02, 2009
Both of our older kids had a great experience at Cunha. I just wish it was 7th & 8th grade, and sixth graders stayed at elementary school.
April 01, 2009
There are a number of things that must be resolved, including state funding and local negotiations. They're scheduled to be resolved May and June.
However, as the cuts get more painful at the state and local level these things tend to drag past what were supposed to be iron-clad deadlines.
April 01, 2009
Why we published the list: * Everybody who has a student in the school system has an interest in this list. I can tell you that in our household, with three kids in the district, we were very interested in knowing who was on the list. * This personalizes the cuts in the district in a way that its very difficult to understand simply from the abstract numbers. * Because of the way that the cuts were managed, getting laid off says little or nothing about quality of the work by the individuals involved.…
March 27, 2009
Yeah, the Beachwood decision put the value at the maximum profit Keenan could have made had he been able to put the maximum number of houses on the site at the historic high of Coastside real estate prices.
March 26, 2009
Although no one on the Coastside will get to vote when Rich Gordon runs for that Assembly seat. He's a lame duck as far as we're concerned. One thing the meeting did accomplish was to introduce CFMC patients to Seton and a couple of other resources. Another thing it accomplished was to drive home, for at least a few additional citizens, that CFMC is never coming back and that the time for hope is past. It seemed to me that the goal of the meeting was to create the appearance of "doing something",…
March 24, 2009
This was raised at the meeting and at least one knowledgeable person said that after talking to the state he believed it is your right to get the originals of your records at no charge.
Supervisor Gordon said he'd look into this, but we've heard nothing so far.
Right now, we have competing versions of what the law is.
March 21, 2009
Jim, the county released a statement: As part of this, San Mateo County – and by that we mean all San Mateo County taxpayers – have paid the monthly $23,450 rent for the Coastside Family Medical Center since last August. That amounts to well over $150,000 in taxpayer assistance. We have worked closely with Coastside Family Medical Center to help them develop a successful financial strategy to overcome their budget shortfalls. Within the last month, Coastside presented us with a proposal that…
March 21, 2009
Not being a regular Talkabout reader, I haven't followed the ins and outs of threads over there, let alone the stuff that Clay takes down. Clay has his hands full riding herd on that angry mob he has cultivated. The rules here are that you need to be courteous and civil, tell the truth, and sign your own name. Kevin, your post is skirting the edge because you're reposting an anonymous comment under your own name. I don't want to see this become a regular practice, but I'm going to allow it because…
March 20, 2009
A question for readers:
Generally I've discouraged letters promoting single businesses, even from happy customers, because I'm afraid of spam from friends of the owners. I still ask companies to post their own notices in Unclassifieds, except for occasional announcements of free events of general public interest.
At the same time, I like the idea of promoting local businesses among Coastsiders.
I'm interested in hearing from readers whether they find this kind of story useful, however.
March 19, 2009
There's difference now. There will be no place for most of our beaches to move.
We're going to be protecting homes and roads with riprap and armoring. We will have some beaches in much less accessible areas, but we're going to lose a lot of great beaches on the Coastside.
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