Comments by Ray Olson

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

Yes, the slide has impacted us tremendously, but that is not all that I am talking about. Even with the slide open, we continually have problems. Saturday and Sunday tourist traffic is horrible. In addition, we constantly have severe traffic accidents (not just fender benders) which often result in fatalities. Then there is the problem of trying to ride a bike or walk from the east side of 1 to the beach. These are all problems that have existed for some time now. Does anyone disagree with these…

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

I agree with you Barry, if that is what is being stated. But I don't hear that. I hear name calling and a dismissive attitude, and that is all. Other than the wetlands issue, I haven't heard any other responses that are objective. The issue of cost is somewhat subjective and bears argument, although any solution will require costs. I am very interested in hearing any and all other alternatives. Of course school busing is a separate issue and will only marginally help out with commuter traffic (which…

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

Ken, Why do you keep referring to Wavecrest II? Do you have some grudge that you just cannot let go?? Why do you never supply constructive ideas? It is just way too easy to be critical, and I think you can come up with more than that. Again, everytime I read your posts I think of "obstacle" or "roadblock", and not a participant or person that wants to be part of any solution. Ray

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

Wholeheartedly agree with you Mary. I have not participated in any of CCF's meetings/discussions but from this website I have to say that they are doing what should have been done at least 10 years ago. Most folks here on the coastside feel like they don't have the time it takes to confront those few folks that are against any sort of road improvements (again all about the no-growth agenda). My guess is you will find the vast majority of coastside residents want improvements made so that they can…

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

My guess is that the majority of the community is sick and tired of things never improving. I bet if you poll the community you will find out that the majority desperately wants better road in our community, including a very efficient path between 92 and the rest of the area (both north and south). What I find is that it is only a select few that are against any sort of improvements, for fear that their coast (like they really own it) will be opened up to the broader community. These select few are…

Coastal Commission alerts HMB to problems with Foothill Bypass

With regards to the "wetlands" designation in the areas of HMB that are at issue: Can someone tell me who performed that work, and where I can find the documentation as to the results of that work? It would also be nice to know for those folks that have been commenting on the negative aspects of the proposed bypass: Are you against any sort of bypass, or just this this one particular solution?

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Carl, First, thank you for toning down your posts. I for one really appreciate it. Just to let you know... I am a very level-headed person who has a deep commitment for my children's education. My goal is not to change the state's method of funding schools. However, you are correct in suggesting that the typical voters are the ones that have the most vested interest in the outcomes, which happen to the folks that own property. For our small community I don't think it takes a rocket scientist to figure…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Carl, It sounds like you do not want to accept the facts that were presented to you. In our district our revenue per child is 2nd from the bottom of other like districts in our state. Compare this to the fact that as community we generate more income on avg then the rest of the state. The Median family income was stated to show perspectives relative to the other districts and state avg. None of my numbers were false, they are all accurate and you can find them yourself. I find your comments above…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Don: I wanted to comment on your opinion of yours you stated above. You state this: "* We insist on “class size reduction”, when the evidence is that especially in middle and high schools, teacher quality, rather than class size, best determines outcomes. " Per the studies that were done (the Star study for example), they were inconclusive as to the middle and high school grades. But, every study reported that Teacher Quality improved with a smaller class size. That is why smaller class sizes…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Matt: wholeheartedly agree with your comments especially item 7. It makes perfect sense and is totally logical. I think some folks just want to believe what they believe. In regards to the Yes/No statistics, what makes it difficult to determine is because of the amount of people that did not vote. Still, it would be very appropriate for the Board to open up discussions with the community to see what it would take to get the remaining 5-6% of votes. Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Carl, I'm sorry that you just don't get it. Of course the majority has spoken, they agree we need to improve our schools. And, I figured I would get this kind of response from you. Measure S failing really will impact our kiddies in a negative way. Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Carl, You need to open the spreadsheet I attached in a post above. Here is the link: https://coastsider.com/images/uploads/schools/data/districtfinancialcomparisondata.xls The numbers do not lie. Our community is not contributing near enough to our public schools. But I am guessing no amount of evidence will convince you of that. Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Matt, I know of several teachers that are in a similar situation as you, only they have been teaching for just a few years (3 to 7 at most) and so their pay is on the lower end. Thanks for your rebuttal: it really puts the folks against measure S in their place. It is sort of like a slap in the face of our teachers when there are comments like: "I didn't pay a single penny to campaign against measure S". Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Don: I know see the numbers you are referring to. Under the Revenue Limit sources in says: Local Taxes CUSD: 4,042 while State Avg: 1,857 But that in now way tells the real story. The real story is that the "State Aid" numbers are 1/3 for CUSD vs state avg (1,126 is CUSD vs 3,205 in state). The reasoning is simple: We have to draw from the local tax pool because the state is not giving us near enough. But even with us having to draw funds from this local tax item we are still poorly investing per…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

I just now read Don's post above. Basically what you are saying is that your numbers do not add up. Jonathan: Everything you stated in your last comment is dead-on. I admit that I do not know how best to manage a school system, and that it does seem logical that a parcel tax would only be a band-aid. Frankly however, We elect the board to do this, and if there are problems with the board lets fix it. But we still need that band-aid. I really would like Ken and Don to run for the board as I (and my…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Just to re-iterate my point on how poorly we as a community our investing in our local schools I'd like to show a comparison report I ran on ed-data. This report shows the finances of our district as compared to finances of "like" districts. You can find the spreadsheet here: https://coastsider.com/images/uploads/schools/data/districtfinancialcomparisondata.xls In cell H7 of this sheet you will see the local revenue per child we generate for our schools. It ranks 2nd to last of the other like districts.…

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Don: Tell me the Object Code for the line item you are referring to in the Fund Revenues Detail found here: http://tinyurl.com/pxzkv I do not see the numbers that you are stating. Again, my numbers are taken from the above page which breaks down the revenues for the district. Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

I agree with what you are saying Jonathan. But because there are a lot of numbers, I see that the only way to make sense of them is to compare them to like communities. I did that in a prior thread to show we as a community do a bad job in generating the needed revenue per child. Don: you just keep spinning a tale but avoiding the facts, which are the numbers. I guess there is no getting through to you. Ray

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Robert: Can you tell me what private school you send your kids to where the tuition is less than $7K annually per child? I am truly interested. Unfortunately in the US it is every citizen's responbility to invest in our public schools. Oh, and we don't own the coast. We are all lucky to be living on the coast, but it is everyone's right to come over here and visit.

Measure S loses with 61% of the vote

Brian G. You are dead-on with your assessment of Ken. Ken... I am still waiting? Don: Again you are wrong. Maybe I can come over to your PC and show you.. Go here please.. http://tinyurl.com/pxzkv [ed-data.k12.ca.us] [Huge url replace with tinyurl in order to fit on page] look for the line item that say "Subtotal Other Local Revenue" it states. $427 in the column "This District" $418 in the column "Statewide Avg, All Districts"

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