Comments by Carl May
January 12, 2009
I'd be very surprised to learn of a county board of supervisors or city council in California that didn't have at least some members sitting on other boards and commissions with potential conflicts of interest. There are untold numbers of such boards at state, regional, and district levels. This resolution by the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors is an attempt to dictate an advisory council that is less bothersome to a county that likes to use the coast to serve its political ends, less representative…
January 09, 2009
Barry, Sure there are other options: secession, revolution, planning on miracles, etc. Setting aside details of timeline and scale, I'd still have to ask "Options for what"? If the answer is "better governance of the midcoast," then only two of your options have any possibility in them as far as I'm concerned: (2) I'd have to make this (2a), because I see two "community services districts" as better than a combined one for the communities served. Both MWSD and GSD do a pretty good job of providing…
January 09, 2009
Good rundown, Leonard. Join with Half Moon Bay? No way! But do you have any reason to believe an inevitably county-dominated study of midcoast incorporation at this time would have a bottom line different from the last one? Are difficulties caused by Cortese-Knox-Herzberg that political opponents to incorporation would employ any less today? Why even bother trying to resolve our internal differences on the midcoast with an eye to incorporation if state law invented to inhibit incorporation, county…
January 05, 2009
This was not a good election for pointing out our differences from the South Coast up through Pacifica. Lots of people who practically come to blows on local issues ended up voting the same way on state and national candidates and issues. In other words, there were not choices on the ballot that differentiated among us. It's a lot of work, but it can sometimes be interesting to see the precinct breakdown for EG, Moss Beach, and Montara as it was done for Half Moon Bay. Also, a lot of us in Moss Beach…
November 26, 2008
Sorry to hear about your TIA, Jim. You have had a doctor check your blood pressure, I assume. When you have one of those things, lie down flat, and you'll usually come out of it faster. Staying in Literalville, my circuits are polluted with "Serramonte del Rey" in Daly City. What does that mean in Tagalog? There is at least one huge bobcat that can be seen now and then in the fields up the Purissima. So big that a friend who first caught a glimpse of it at a distance from a moving car thought it…
November 20, 2008
Mr. Gardner,
Did you bother to read the information sent to ratepayers about these system improvements? Your answer is in there. And, since the info was widely disseminated, I can only assume your message above is merely to harrass Mr. Perkovic on what local developers are trying to magnify into hot-button issues. I'm surprised you failed to mention Moss Beach Park among your trite and previously answered challenges. Oversight?
October 17, 2008
Again, the Imperial Outside telling us what is best for us when we have already shown for decades we can do much better for ourselves. San Mateo County LAFCO demonstrates no depth of knowledge of coastside communities and the special districts that serve them. Whenever they do studies of us curious coastside denizens and our strange (to someone in Redwood City) habitat, it has always been with outside consultants unfamiliar with our communities and geography. The reports of these outfits have always…
October 16, 2008
Just another lump in the slop bucket containing the county's failures to do what is most appropriate for the physical character of our specific communities, most efficient, most cost-effective, and, first in importance, most in keeping with what the knowledgeable citizens of the unincorporated midcoast want for themselves. But, Paul, I find your use of the words "obsolete sphere of influence" somewhat inaccurate. HMB's sphere of influence over the communities to its north was nothing more than a…
September 22, 2008
"There’s barely any flight school lessons run out of HMB, comparatively speaking." Though it keeps a low profile and is almost noiseless, the Elephant Flight Training Center remains active. They ask me to pass on their continuing thanks for the past support by the community that allows them to continue operations.. Speaking of community, there is not much going on in the way of local political races; but the EFTC is, nonetheless, ready and able to again make aerial "deposits" this election season…
September 16, 2008
"So the property owners voted to tax themselves $29 million to make the roadway safer and prettier." “Look at it today,” says Lizasuain. “We have 10-foot sidewalks on both sides of the road. We have bicycle paths, well-lit bus shelters, information-filled kiosks. And that’s not even mentioning the beautiful landscaping that we have out here.” Yuck. How is all that pavement "prettier" than "weed-filled ditches"? Sounds like one kind of eyesore fighting it out with another. Is that the best…
September 05, 2008
Yes, Steve, it does depend on that "definition." You got step one.
Then, as previously shown, you can quickly deduce the definition for the CC majority in the headline from the list of blunders in Parr's editorial--a stunning confluence of missteps, wouldn't you agree? Only one CC qualifies. Get this step, and, by George...
September 04, 2008
OK, Steve, one small step at a time to make it more manageable for you. The headline of the editorial refers to "THE [emphasis mine on the singular article] HMB city council majority's biggest mistake." So the reference is to one, a particular, city council majority. The next step involves deducing which city council majority that might be. See Parr's list? Only one city council majority was involved in those things. Bingo! You have it! It is the current one. Glad to be of help. Unlike Parr's headline…
September 04, 2008
No, Mr. Hyman, a reading of the headline shows that the topic is the HMB City Council majority's biggest mistake. This city council majority. The mistakes made on Beachwood, as Parr's list clearly shows. Mistakes that actually took place and are not in some imaginary, whimsical location. You can get yourself off the hook by focussing on the topic at hand and not every fanciful other-world gripe that pops into your mind for the place you sell real estate. Presumably your acquaintances "Brian or George"…
September 03, 2008
Mr. Hyman's comments are scattered all over the place. He seems unable to focus them on Beachwood in his list. The situation might not seem so confusing to him if he would concentrate on the matter at hand instead of trying to bring everyone's irrelevant Afghani goatherd third cousin into it. There is a concentrated minority in HMB that sees itself entitled to enrich itself using the city proper, its resources, and its people in whatever way it wishes. They have long been able to bamboozle HMB voters…
August 27, 2008
"I understand there is a 10 car dirt parking lot being built on the west side of Airport St. just north of the mobile home park, with a dirt trail for easier access to the bluff area."
There is an upside to such unneeded developments like this and the toilet, bridge, and road on Mirada Surf West. They tell you the sources of funds have plenty to burn and you do not need to vote for more when bond issues are on the ballot.
August 26, 2008
Jim, I'm guessing you do not know about the specific state project known as the California Coastal Trail (CCT) and are somehow extrapolating from HMB's misplaced paved road called the Coastal Trail. The Pillar Point bluffs are not in HMB. Through the Coastal Conservancy, funds are made available for many local stretches of the CCT. The recipients of these funds range from local governments to nonprofit organizations working in concert with local governments. Other funds are often added from other…
August 26, 2008
What needs to be done to provide space (width) and a hard surface for bicycles spoils trails--especially those in open and natural areas--for people on foot. The urban mindset, stuck in its develop-everything mode, sometimes can't see this, so disconnected from nature are such people. There is no statutory requirement, whatsoever, for the state's California Coastal Trail and the monies made available for this specific project to be multi-use. There are those in the Coastal Conservancy who push the…
August 25, 2008
Different from the aggressive bicycle crowd, my worry is that there will not be a path following but set back from the bluff edge that is blessedly unpaved, not so wide that it represents a swath of destruction, and off-limits to bicycles and other mechanical contraptions. Such a path should properly be the Coastal Trail. If a bike or multi-purpose route on the property, and not alongside Airport Road, is an absolute must, it should be separate from the trail for those on foot. It seems to me something…
August 05, 2008
Average home "prices" may or may not have anything to do with what is happening to the average home or with most homes. For example, higher prices for a few homes at the upper end can more than compensate for lower prices for a much larger number of homes in the middle and lower end. And then there are the matters of asking versus selling price and whether or not all the houses that can't currently sell at any price are being considered. Fuzzy statements about prices don't help anyone to know what…
August 05, 2008
"Home prices in both the County and Coast were still up for the first half over last year. Volume, a good indicator of demand, has been declining since 2004 with this year being the lowest level since 1990's." Define "home prices." If this turns out to be the average price--the mean price--the statement may or may not be worthless for the majority of homes because of prices of more expensive homes do not represent what is happening with all homes. Is it asking price or sale price? Big difference…
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