Comments by JB Cockrell

Photos: Montara tree brought down by storm and winds in Montara

December 31, 2010
When will we wake up and start managing all of these exotic invasive species?

Power returning to parts of Coastside after one hour outage

December 29, 2009
Came home at 1430 to find power out. Called airport and found out power out there and that the problem was near Coral Reef and Sonora. Drove down to see what was up. Got home at 1530 and power was on.

Photo: Jackie Speier’s health care town hall in Montara

August 23, 2009
I would estimate the crown at about 450. Judging by the questions and responses, it was about 95% in favor of health care reform with 5% against.

Montara fire contained to half acre

August 19, 2009
Cal-Fire is our organization and they did one hell of a job. I was there & took pictures. It was good to watch professionals at work. Since the Coastside Fire Protection District contracts with Cal-Fire, valuable time was saved in ordering in the necessary resources to keep the fire small. Immediately, two fire bombers and a helicopter were ordered in. Several Cal-Fire Brush Fire Engines were there from the beginning and were able to drive right up to the fire with their crews. As I was leaving,…

Letter: Thanks to the pilots who flew over today….......

September 19, 2008
Also a thanks to all the large trucks and other vehicles who keep driving north and south on highway 1. The noise bothers me and my family. Can anything be done to stop this nuisance? When we moved here (1976) there was only an occasional car and truck, and it was almost always during the day. Now it's deafening 24/7.

Opinion: SamTrans sneaks bus route onto Montara neighborhood streets

July 07, 2007
Wow! Bus service in Montara that makes sense. I'll probably use it. I only wish it stopped in front of my house so it would be even easier to use. JB

Fire boards vote to contract with CDF

February 07, 2007
This vote is good news for the coastside. It's about time. It should have been done years ago before things got so bad. JB Cockrell

Opinion: Thursday’s fire board meeting is critical

August 17, 2006
All: At this evening's meeting, Aug 17th, both the HMB and Pt. Montara fire boards voted to accept the San Mateo County (CDF) proposal to provide emergency services to the coastside. The combined vote was six to two. I commend both boards for making the right decision. I know it wasn't easy and I thank them for the time and effort spent in reaching that decision. JB

Photo: Devil’s Slide ribbon-cutting

August 03, 2006
I can see Devil's Slide from my office window. It's been open since 2148PDT Thursday the 3rd. JB

Grand jury says Coastside fire districts should merge and outsource services

July 16, 2006
Mark: We have firefighters who would rather go to court than go to a fire. Why "must" we pay what other departments pay? We should pay what we can afford. That's one of the problems here. The firefighters want max pay with no work. I think it would be fair to compare our pay with CDF or the pay at San Mateo Highlands for example. I think it's past time for the boards to start considering the interests of the tax paying public. JB

Grand jury says Coastside fire districts should merge and outsource services

July 14, 2006
Mark: I'd do it tomorrow. How much time do they spend asleep? How many tax paying coastsiders make $170,000.00 per year. I don't make $170,000.00 per year and none of my tax paying friends friends do. JB Maybe we should let the firefighters union run the fire district. (some say they do already)

Grand jury says Coastside fire districts should merge and outsource services

July 14, 2006
Wow! $170,000.00 per year. Now I know why the firefighters don't want our fire and EMS service contracted out. Too bad, they're killing the goose who lays the golden eggs. (us, the tax payers) Now they seem to be mad as hell. I guess I would be too. JB

Grand jury says Coastside fire districts should merge and outsource services

July 14, 2006
Brent: So far we are on our third chief in less than a year. Obviously the chiefs are not the problem. According to Pete Bonanno, the chief who succeded Asche, "while there are many shining stars in the work force, we have our share of firefighters who are unmotivated, disgruntled and well versed at throwing up roadblocks." Who do you suppose he's talking about? JB

Grand jury says Coastside fire districts should merge and outsource services

July 11, 2006
I have been saying for years, even before Proposition H passed, that the coastside fire protection and EMS should be contracted out to San Mateo County Fire (CDF). Sounds like that may finally come to pass. That is if we can persuade our two dis-functional boards to get their collective heads out of their collective asses. JB

Letter:  Why hasn’t anything been done about the evening commute?

July 12, 2006
I left Montara at 1000. At 1010, or so, I came to a stop at Capristrano. After sitting there for 3 lights I called KCBS traffic to find out what the problem was. They didn't know about any particular problem, but they did know that the police had been pulled on the 11th. It took me an hour to get to Hwy 280. I saw the rudest driving I've seen since the slide closed last time (more than 10 years ago). JB

Caltrans seeking consensus, not approval, from HMB on traffic light

June 02, 2006
The intersection in question is CA 1 and CA 92. Neither of these are HMB 1 or HMB 92 therefore why should CalTrans have to ask HMB if they can activate the lights? JB Cockrell