Muller appointed to fill Gorn’s city council seat

The Half Moon Bay City Council appointed "Farmer John" Muller to fill the position vacated by David Gorn at tonight’s special meeting.

Six candidates interviewed for the council position vacated by David Gorn. After hearing the candidates discuss their qualifications and answer the four sitting council members’ questions, the council nominated only two, Jack McCarthy and John Muller, then unanimously selected "Farmer John" to fill the remainder of Gorn’s term.  The vote was declared unanimous by the council after Grady voted for McCarthy, and then voted with the Patridge, McClung, and Fraser for John Muller.

John Muller is best known as a local pumpkin farmer. But he also has broad public experience. He emphasized his eleven years on the Regional Water Quality Control Board for nine counties—five times as chairman, service on an EPA advisory board, and past presidency of Coastside Community Water District.

While all of the volunteer candidates presented themselves well, George Muteff may have been more disappointed by the outcome than the others, since he had run alongside, supported, and held his election night party with Naomi Patridge and Bonnie McClung in their council run in 2005. Neither Patridge nor McClung nominated Muteff for the Planning Commission earlier this year.

John Muller would "triage a lot of issues to shorten the list" so more time could be spent on priorities. He thought building a new police facility was a key issue. He stressed that he is a consensus builder and likes to get things done.

George Muteff wants to see a better quality of life for everyone by protecting property rights, providing more openness in government, and improving infrastructure. Muteff says that he wants to educate the public on the issues.

Kevin Lansing felt the city could do better in counseling applicants for development about the legal constraints of the Coastal Act so they did not run into a brick wall later. He also expressed concern about the city’s structural deficit because of the 7% annual compounded growth of its salary and benefits.

Jim Marsh stressed "public service" over politics, citing the split political affiliations of the four current council members, which simulates the national split and gives citizens "business as usual," the local split politics. Marsh says that Half Moon Bay should lead because the county is derelict in its land use and road development policies. He believes in smart growth, concentrating development where it already exists.

Jack McCarthy said he is a moderate and has broad experience because of his years on the planning commission and having to balance the environment with development. Jack spoke about "following the rules," in reference to the Coastal Act and Measure D. "We need to grow Half Moon Bay in a way that doesn’t ruin it."

Susan Suer is a new face in the public sphere but has lived on the Coastside nine years. She has no long-term political ambition, but likes the idea of filling in a term. Her background is in business strategy development and teamwork. She thinks Half Moon Bay spends too much time, to its detriment, on land development issues, and counseled that the city needs to focus on expanding its revenue base. She wants to see more compromise, co-operation, openness, and a team spirit from the council.