Friday, June 12, 2009

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.12.09: All Male Election?

There is a group of gray whales just off the coast of Pacifica and marine mammal officials warned surfers and others to stop (unintentionally) harassing them... Respect Moby...

Speaking of surfers... one saved another off the Miramar coast yesterday... dude...

Millbrae is in the middle of an "all mail" election (which is very different than an all male election) to renew its fire assessment tax. If that doesn't pass, the financial outlook for Millbrae looks a lot worse, according to Mayor Gottschalk at his State of the City address yesterday.

A Daily Journal Editorial chimes in on the school-site battle raging between the San Mateo-Foster City Elementary School District and the City of Foster City. Watch Dog has written about this before, and we both agree and disagree with the Daily Journal. We agree that the issue should be resolved by conversations between the City and the School District, but we disagree with the City's stand, thus far.

Redwood City School District + Failure to Pass Parcel Tax = "Massive" Budget Cuts

San Mateo County's local airport is getting $15 million of new baggage screening equipment thanks to Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, who was in town for the photo-shoot/announcement.

It looks like San Mateo need not start looking for a new Police Chief. San Francisco's search for a new Chief seems to be winding down (in typical San Francisco fashion) but Susan Manheimer doesn't seem to be in the running anymore...

You think schools have it bad during this Great Recession, developers are also taking it on the chin. (Can you hear the violin music?) Greenbriar Homes, who were going to build 37 homes as part of the Alma Plaza project in Palo Alto, backed out of the deal. The future of the Alma Plaza project is now uncertain...

Thank goodness we can soon start covering politics as well as bad economic times... In Palo Alto, there will be a City Council race. Karen Holman just threw her hat in the ring. Holman is a Planning and Transportation Commissioner. She joins School Board member Gail Price in the election. So here is the breakdown about what the current City Council will be doing: Jack Morton and Yoriko Kishimoto are termed out (Kishimoto is running for Assembly), Larry Klein is not running again, and incumbents John Barton and Peter Drekmeier will likely run for re-election. So that means there will be three open seats and four people running, if Watch Dog's math is correct... It should be interesting.

No comments: