Morning News Round-Up -- 3.29.10: Home/Loan Gate continues in Atherton...

Well, it was a big day in Atherton on Friday. There was a City Council meeting scheduled to discuss Councilmember Charles Marsala's residency (which allegedly is not in Atherton) and a loan which he (allegedly) sought from a guy that was suing the Town. In any event, there wasn't a quorum so the meeting didn't really happen, but Marsala's foes on the Council, Kathy McKeithen and Jim Dobbie, did hold court and hear from the community (a.k.a. their friends) about Marsala... Home/Loan Gate continues.....

The financial incentives for Menlo Park to approve the Bohannon project look very strong... $1.67 million per year strong. Good luck saying no to that...

Perhaps MP could share some of their wealth to keep County parks from taking a huge hit... but don't bet on it.

The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District has had a tough time of it recently... and by recently we mean the past 3 years. Bond money spent improperly, Superintendent turn-over, being on the State's education shit list... so drastic changes could be afoot. And not a moment too soon...

A San Carlos woman died off Sharp Park Beach on Sunday. She was trying to rescue her dog that had been swept up in a wave...

We end on this enlightening note:

Dude. Cow Palace. April 17 and 18. Just in time for 420...

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.8.09: "Long distance runner, what you standing there for?"

The King of Pop was laid to rest... and Dr. William Ayres trial on child molestation charges continues. Coincidence? Dr. Ayres didn't take the stand yesterday, but it looks like he will today. Follow the play-by-play at William Ayres Watch.

An expensive piece of public art in San Mateo's Seal Point Park isn't working properly -- and the artists who should/could be able to fix it aren't answering the phone. Really.

A woman was sexually battered late Friday night/early Saturday morning in San Carlos. The Police are looking for the suspect. See if a Police sketch helps jog your memory...

Here is the least shocking/most predictable headline of the day, courtesy of the Daily Journal: Officials decry education funding cut proposal.

Jon Mays, the Daily Journal's Editor, uses his column space today for a collection of Deep Thoughts... Thank you?

KCSM, the College of San Mateo's own public television/radio staion, is dropping its affiliation with PBS. This seems like an indication about what is going on with their budget...

A Millbrae man is going to jail for 2 years for "sexting" to a minor. (Yes, we wrote "sexting.")

You might remember this story: two folks at the Roti in Burlingame stole credit card numbers and, using a third accomplice, used them at a Safeway to buy stuff. The third member of the brain trust, Iris Singh, was sentenced to two years.

There will be a (planned) Fire on the Mountain today.

The Palo Alto Utilities Commission will be expanded from five members to seven members. Perhaps they can ramp up their oversight as well?

There is some good news coming out of Atherton today. Incredibly, it actually concerns a City Councilmember and there is no controversy in this story. Jim Dobbie is cancer-free. Welcome back...

Here is a heads-up from Riptide. The Sharp Park Pier is closing for nightly repairs. We wonder, however, who is hanging out on the Pier from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. anyway...

Morning News Roun-Up -- 4.27.09: Atherton's BFF Edition...

Just when you thought all the controversy in Atherton was dying down...it roars again. Watch Dog (and the Civil Grand Jury) wrote about the Menlo-Atherton High School facilities' report that the Civil Grand Jury recently came out with. Well, it seems Atherton Councilmember Kathy McKeithen (and her BFF on the Atherton Council Jim Dobbie) are "disgusted" with the report. However, McKeithen didn't say, "These damn kids make so much noise...don't they know this is Atherton?!" (Ms. McKeithen and Mr. Dobbie, here is what BFF means...)

Congresswoman Speier is busy...really, that's what this story is about. Well, it talks about her first year in office. If you read Watch Dog at all, you know that we know Speier is busy, and effective.

More plans for the (much anticipated/much delayed/much written-about) Burlingame Safeway have been released. Take a peak, pictures and all...

The San Bruno Mountain Watch Conservancy is born. They are trying to raise enough money to buy private property and maintain some sense of nature on the mountain...

Lots of school news to Round-Up today...

• Two Sequoia Union High School District principals have said good bye recently, so two new were just named: Bonnie Hansen at Sequoia High School and Raul Zamora at Carlmont High School. Hansen is already well-known in the District because she has been at Sequioa for 14 years. Zamora, is coming back to the District after a stint in Orinda. Welcome to Watch Dog friends.
• In other (musical chairs) school news, Palo Alto Unified's Assistant Superintendent Scott Laurence will leave the District to become the Superintendent of the San Mateo High School District.
• Hey all you out-of-work Auditors (and CPAs too) -- you should check out the Palo Alto Unified's website, they are looking for folks to give a check-up on their performance related to the spending of nearly $400 million in bond money. Your future starts here...
• The La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District is in trouble. They (seemingly) botched the spending of a bunch of bond money, their Superintendent is leaving, the District is being sued by the local watchdog/lawyer, and the San Mateo County Office of Education has some ideas about they need to do to get their act together. The spot light has been shone upon the La Honda-Pescader Unified...we'll see how they respond.

A Half Moon Bay group of folks concerned with the sudden closure of the Coastside Family Medical Center have launched the "Phoenix Project" to see about re-launching a medical facility on the Coast. Perhaps its time for another Coastside Town Hall Supervisor Gordon?

Riptide delves into some truth: Pacifica is in fiscal trouble if Measure D (the sales tax hike) doesn't pass...but they are in trouble if Measure D does pass too. Sort of like California with Measures A-F...

And it isn't just finances that are on folks' minds in Pacifica, so is the General Plan update.

Redwood City is taking advantage of a down real estate market (while at the same time drawing down some capital funds from a variety of sources). They will purchase a 9.5 acre site for $4.45 million for a water tank (?), a park, a place to park its trucks, public access to the Bay, and a commercial use.

The dusky-footed woodrat will take center stage tonight at the San Carlos City Council...along with NIMBYs and a developer...about the Devonshire Canyon (5-home) development being considered.

Sue Lempert's Daily Journal column today reminds us that there was once a crappy President who wanted to let us put our Social Security money in the stock market...seriously.

San Mateo City Council candidate David Lim checks in through his campaign blog about overcrowding in some San Mateo apartment complexes. It isn't that we are only following David, it is just that other folks don't seem to be that "with it" with their web presence. Supervisor Rich Gordon, who is running for a much higher office than San Mateo City Council, hasn't really updated his site since he announced he was running...

The Big Atherton "I told you so..."

Every city in San Mateo (and California...and the US) is engaged in a budget cutting/revenue raising free-for-all right now. Everyday in our Morning News Round-Up another city, or school district, or government agency is dealing with budget short-falls.

Today is no different. Tonight, Atherton will be looking at their budget and trying to make difficult decisions about what to cut and how to raise revenue.

But Atherton's decisions are made more difficult by some (seemingly) really bad financial management. This bad financial management is -- you guessed it -- related to the Atherton John John's fiasco which has been described here and here. Pointing out this financial mismanagement, last fall Councilmember Charles Marsala warned residents and contractors that refunds were due many folks who may have been (illegally) overcharged for work done in Atherton. And if refunds were coming, that was going to impact the budget.

It wasn't just Marsala saying this either. This bad financial management issue bled into Atherton's campaigns for City Council in June and November...In June, Jim Dobbie and Elizabeth Lewis squared off for an open Council seat left vacant by Alan Carlson's departure. During this campaign, Lewis seemed to agree with Marsala that Atherton's finances were in trouble. Dobbie agreed with Councilmember Kathy McKeithen and claimed that Atherton's finances had never been better. (Lewis ended up running against McKeithen in November -- she now serves on the Council with McKeithen, Dobbie, and Marsala)

Tonight, Watch Dog guesses that Marsala and Lewis will be vindicated and Dobbie and McKeithen will eat a bit of humble pie...and because visual aids are always helpful to prove important points -- here is some archived campaign material from the Watch Dog Hall of Records:

Here is a Dobbie piece from the June election stating: Town Finances -- Continue improvement since 2002.














And one from McKeithen from her election in November stating: Town Finances -- Continue improvements since 2000; Budget Balanced





















Aside from the obvious Cut and Paste Politics at work here between Dobbie and McKeithen...these two seem to be really out-of-step with what is going on with Atherton's finances.

Compare the Dobbie/McKeithen campaign pieces and Elizabeth Lewis's piece where Lewis goes into detail about the problems with the City's finances.

Watch Dog doesn't know for certain, but everything in Atherton seems to come down to John Johns...so we guess this won't be any different.

A few things Watch Dog knows about tonight's Atherton budget session:

• John Johns will be mentioned...
• Marsala and Lewis should feel vindicated...
• Dobbie and McKeithen should explain their campaign material...
• Difficult decisions are about to be made...