Why didn’t the Review endorse Jim Harvey for MWSD?

In its endorsements for the Montara Water and Sanitary District, the Half Moon Bay Review seems to have gotten confused.

In endorsing Paul Perkovic, Bob Ptacek, and Peggy Ruse for seats on the board, the Review concluded:

That leaves Jim Harvey the odd man out. He was appointed to his current seat three years ago and generally agrees with the other incumbents on issues of planning and water supply. He has been a good steward; we simply found him the least strong of four good candidates.

Actually, although Jim Harvey was appointed to his seat three years ago, it was a two-year seat and he stood for election in 2003. In that election, he was endorsed by the Review over Peggy Ruse [Review’s 2003 endorsements], who was running against him for the two-year seat, and Harvey soundly defeated Ruse [PDF of election results], with 55% of the votes to Ruse’s 8% (she was fourth in a four-way race).

Coastsiders have written to the Review to set the record straight, but none of their letters appeared in Wednesday’s paper, the first after the paper’s MWSD endorsement appeared.

Review Managing Editor Clay Lambert replied to Coastsider’s email asking what happened:

I think even the folks who complain about the newspaper (at least those who take the time to correspond) know that I print virtually every letter I get—including those that are critical of me. Frequent writers also know that I print them in the order in which they are received. I ran out of room for about a half-dozen last week. I will make every effort to get them all in this week.

Jim Harvey, a good and thoughtful man who impressed me very much during our interview, was originally appointed and subsequently elected. That could have been more clear in our endorsement.