Morning News Round-Up -- 1.12.10: EPA vs Army Corps & Belmont vs San Carlos

It isn't just Belmont that is concerned about the Cargill Saltworks development in Redwood City, it seems another government agency (the EPA) sent a strongly-worded letter to the Army Corps of Engineers talking about how the Corps needs to account for sea level rises when talking about the restoration of wetlands. In regular-people terms, it sounds like the EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers don't see eye-to-eye on this -- sort of like Belmont and Redwood City... oh, and Menlo Park is jumping into the fray as well, and not on the pro-development side.

Speaking of Belmont, the opposition to the Cargill project will come with a (sort of) new Mayor -- Dave Warden...

And Belmont's Mayor Dave Warden will have to deal with a challenge on the Fire Board front as well. You see, Belmont shares that cost with San Carlos, and San Carlos has been unhappy with the way that Belmont is sharing (or not sharing) the cost. San Carlos' Mayor Randy Royce has taken an interesting step by replacing Councilmembers Matt Grocott and Bob Grassilli on the Fire Board with Councilmembers Omar Ahmad and Andy Klein. In San Carlos, this passes for political intrigue. Expect fireworks (that's a pun) at the Fire Board as San Carlos tries to lower its cost...

Safeway + Burlingame = Fun, Fun, Fun... and 19 more trees than originally planned. It passed the Planning Commission yesterday with flying colors.

Local leaders are mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore... so they held a press conference. Oh, and they joined with the California League of Cities to support an initiative (awkwardly) titled the Local Taxpayer, Public Safety, and Transportation Protection Act of 2010 to try to stop the State from taking more money. We just like the idea of someone standing a post and protecting transportation...

2,000 tons of riprap are in place near the 330 Esplanade Avenue apartments in Pacifica. That's the good news. The bad news? Well, it probably won't be enough as another storm approaches...

And even though the big waves may take out 330 Esplanade, there will be no Mavericks Wednesday.

Not actual waves, but political waves in this coastside story. The San Mateo County League for Coastside Protection (a political action committee) will be fined $3,500 for violations in the 2005 election cycle. It is good to know that the Fair Political Practices Commission works quickly...

Coastsider has a breakdown of the story too...

You have got to love the ever-vocal Lee Duboc. And finally, she is taking action by pushing a pension reform initiative in her Menlo Park. If you want to email Lee, her email is menlofuture@gmail.com.

Bruce at the PP Examiner has been busy typing... he provides us all a Top Ten Political Stories of 2009... number 1 is Pay-Gate... number 10 is Lee Buffington "retiring"... click through to the see the rest.

Morning News Round-Up -- 7.6.09: Campaign Season Starts Early...

Election season... seriously, it is upon us. Usually the official season starts post-Labor Day, but 4th of July sounds good for the purposes of good blog material... The San Mateo Union High School Board of Trustees race could be a good one -- if Trustee Bob Griffin decides not to seek reelection. It would be for his fifth term...

Which brings up this question: Could there be worse time to be on a school board? Cut, cut, cut... then hold your breath that the State doesn't screw you any more than it already has...

While we are on campaign talk, David Lim, who is gunning for a seat on the San Mateo City Council, raised over $13k during the fundraising period that ended July 1st. We guess he must proud of that number (or it is intended to scare off folks) because he had a press release announcing it...

Sue Lempert writes in today's Daily Journal. Of note, she speculates that the recent findings of the Civil Grand Jury (District elections for Supervisor/Pay-Cut Gate) "...may stimulate action and change..." Perhaps she could help push the Civil Grand Jury to release the Grand Daddy of Civil Grand Jury reports (garbage) soon.

Craig Baker, the interim Superintendent for the San Carlos Elementary School District, gets a write up in the Daily Journal.

The "Susan Manheimer for San Francisco Police Chief" story also gets some ink in the Daily Journal, as the paper tries to unpack what happened because she wasn't even a finalist... the SF Chronicle's Matier & Ross come off as ill-informed gossip mongers. (But that is supposed to be Watch Dog's role...)

There is a new history book out about Atherton. Watch Dog has to wonder if the political in-fighting in recent history made it in. We doubt it...

A pipe-bomb was found during a traffic stop on 280. Seriously. But that's about all the information this story contains right now...

Morning News Round-Up -- 6.26.09: A King of Pop-Free Round-Up...

Dr. Ayres' trial is picking up steam. Coverage from the Daily Journal and other main stream media... but William Ayres' Watch is much more in depth...

In an (un)related case, a San Mateo County man was sentenced to 24 years in prison for molesting his granddaughters... Perhaps he and Dr. Ayres will meet someday?

Budget problems:

• San Mateo Union High School District = $3.5 million.
• We'll put this Editorial from the Daily Journal under budget problems, but the problem in Half Moon Bay is not just about the budget, it is about "political naivety" according to the Journal...
• Congratulations Shaun Bishop. The County Supervisors are (finally) looking at their expenses during this economic downturn...

It wasn't just Unelected Supervisor Carol Groome who got Civil Grand Jury attention this week. Pay Cut Gate got some love as well. Not surprisingly, the Civil Grand Jury found that the Daly City City Council wasn't justified in cutting the City Clerk's pay. PP Examiner chimes is as well...

Watch Dog spies tell us that the Civil Grand Jury report that we've all been waiting for is coming... it can't come soon enough. That said, we hope that the Civil Grand Jury doesn't cave to PR pressure and release it in the dead news cycles of the July 4th long weekend...

Atherton. How we love thee. The trial of a Public Works Supervisor who is facing misdemeanor assault and battery charges against a female Atherton Police Officer started yesterday.

The Coastside Family Medical Center's bankruptcy could be dismissed. Watch Dog is no lawyer (obviously) and the details seem sketchy in this story from the HMB Review. Hopefully more will come out...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.7.09: What an odd day...

Swine flu. Again. One case in San Mateo County. You can take your mask off Michelle...

The next step in the take-over of Sharp Park Golf Course happened at the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco this week. Supervisors are looking to "study" the issue and begin discussions with the Golden Gate National Recreation Area about restoring the course to its natural habitat. Get your rounds of golf in now fellas... (Thank you PP Examiner and Riptide...)

Congratulations Burlingame, you are getting $39 million in new storm drains. (Your "fee/tax" is also going up...) You passed that measure with 63 percent of the vote on Tuesday.

But don't get too excited Burlingame, or any other local agency for that matter, the State has plans for your local tax dollars, and (surprise!) it isn't to spend them locally. The Governor's "May Revise" of the budget has a $2 billion property tax grab from Sacramento. Get ready for deeper local cuts...

Even before the State's tax grab, San Carlos had a lot of stuff on the chopping block -- $2.7 million worth, to be (close to) exact.

Pacifica has some serious cuts coming too... Thanks to Riptide, we know about all $177,000 of them...

Watch Dog is feeling bad today for Jefferson School District's failed election on Tuesday. They are trying to figure out the next steps...

The Peninsula NIMBY Coalition has decided against that name, instead, Peninsula cities that are upset/anxious/panicked about High-Speed Rail have given themselves a name: Peninsula Cities Consortium... Perhaps they also want to disband the High-Speed Rail Authority?

Here's a crime story you might remember. A series of gas station robberies got progressively more serious last year and culminated in a robbery and rape in San Bruno late last year. Sione Motuapuaka now stands trial on 21 felonies (and one misdemeanor).

The "Reporters Notebook" in the Daily Journal has a bunch of stuff you probably read already on Watch Dog (or elsewhere): San Mateo County Democrats called on the Daly City City Council to reverse Pay-Cut Gate and David Lim was endorsed by John Lee in San Mateo. (There is other stuff there too, but...)

Animal cruelty and San Mateo County. We've talked about the disturbing trend before. But the 19 Shih Tzu Lady pleaded not guilty on Wednesday of animal neglect...

Drama and intrigue seemed to take the day at the Menlo Park City Council meeting on Tuesday. A woman was forcibly carrier out after she disrupted the meeting... Perhaps she was inspired by this video? No charges will be brought against the woman...

The Half Moon Bay Bailout a.k.a. the Beachwood Bill, passed the Assembly Local Government Committee yesterday... Watch Dog is sure that Assemblymember Jerry Hill is to thank...

Morning News Round-Up -- 5.5.09: Cinco de Mayo (and Mask Hysteria and Elections and High-Speed Rail)

Swine flu - Week 2: Michelle Durand addresses the "Mask Hysteria" in her Daily Journal "Off the Beat" column... she also dons a mask in her picture... (That isn't your best look Michelle.)

In addition to the Mask Hysteria, today is also the final day to vote on a bunch of local measures (San Carlos School District, Woodside Elementary School District, Jefferson Elementary School District) and the Burlingame storm-drain measure. You should have received your ballots in the mail, but you need to return them in person today...

Here's some (unsurprising) news. The County's in-home healthcare workers are getting a pay cut. Not quite Pay-Cut Gate, but more a sign of the times...

But there is a bright spot related to County health -- the County's Health System (and Supervisor Rich Gordon) announced that the Coastside Clinic in Half Moon Bay will expand pediatric services. Some good news on a rainy day...

Speaking of things with the word "Coastside" in them... the Coastside Farmers' Market will open tomorrow at Rockaway Beach in Pacifica and run through December on Wednesdays between 2:30 and 6:30. Let's hope for sunshine...

Burlingame is mad as hell and they aren't going to take it anymore (from the California High-Speed Rail Authority)... They want a tunnel or nothing at all. According to Councilmember Jerry Deal, "...We don’t need to look at all options. We want a tunnel. We want it out of the way..." I guess the current train tracks are "out of the way" too?

Another unreasonable way to deal with High-Speed Rail emerged in Palo Alto yesterday... Palo Alto Vice Mayor Jack Morton called for the High-Speed Rail Authority to be disbanded and replaced with some other agency, like CalTrain... Really? Perhaps that would have been a stronger argument before the State (and a majority of folks on the Peninsula) voted FOR High-Speed Rail last November...

If you read Watch Dog, you already knew this, the next chapter in the Sequoia Union High School District battle with Everest Charter School may end up in court. From Watch Dog's perspective, this is more about Everest not wanting to be in East Palo Alto than anything else... in other words, not something that is lawsuit-worthy, but that's just one Dog's opinion...

In other (far less litigious) Charter School news, the Magnolia Educational and Science Foundation has won a State Board of Education decision to open 10 Charter Schools up and down California. One will be in San Mateo County and they want to be in East Palo Alto and are looking for space. Take THAT Everest!

Good thing San Mateo County isn't Berkeley. 100 trees are slated to be cut down to make way for CalTrain to seismically repair some bridges. No tree-sitters...yet...

Good thing Palo Alto isn't Berkley either... Six large "stone pine" trees are coming down in Mitchell Park. Again, no tree-sitters...yet...

Bruce at the PP Examiner breaks down the Sharp Park issue... again. Including details from last week's SF meeting.

Morning News Round-Up -- 4.16.09: Slocum to the rescue...

Pay-Cut Gate is back in the news. This time, San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder Warren Slocum is coming to Daly City Clerk Annette Hipona's defense and questioning the legality of the actual pay cut...the story continues...

It ain't COSCO Busan, but it is a boat that hit a bridge. Yesterday the U.S. Coast Guard minimized the threat of a fuel-spill from the boat that crashed into the San Mateo Bridge earlier this week because of high-winds.

The wind is causing problems Coastside as well...

The Guaranty Bank in Burlingame was robbed on Tuesday for the second time in three weeks. It is unclear if the bank is one targeted on www.EasyBanksToRob.com...

"At the end of the day" Michelle Durand sounds off in today's Daily Journal on sin taxes...Which is appropriate "in this economy"...

The local part of $4.4 billion Hetch Hetchy water system upgrades will break ground today...expect lots of politicians, shovels, and the usual back-slapping...

A former Reporter/Editor of several local papers was arrested (again) on drug charges. Brian Bothun was picked up on April 5th in Palo Alto. This just proves that Reporters/Editors love writing about Reporters/Editors. Hell hath no fury like former newspaper rivals...

Assemblymember Jerry Hill (a.k.a. The Bearded One) will honor Nona's Kitchen in Pacifica on Friday...Watch Dog hearts Nona's Kitchen -- and shopping for NorCal gear next door...

The Peninsula Health Care District is headed for a Board shake-up. Sue Smith has tenured her resignation...the Board will decide how to replace her Board seat on April 23rd...David Lim -- get on it! (Thank you Bruce...)

Woodside (and Concerned Citizens therein) are giving props to the Woodside Library's 150th anniversary...they are not, however, taking Watch Dog's advice to cut out the corny puns.

Pay-Cut Gate...an apology to Ms. Hipona

Pay-Cut Gate has received much attention here and elsewhere. When Watch Dog wrote about it most recently, however, we made a mistake and we'd like to correct it. Here is what we wrote referring to this story:

--

More important than the Pay-Cut Gate story today, someone's grammar was way off in this piece: either Hipona, reporter Christine Morente, or the County Times Editor left their grammar checker off. (Watch Dog's money is on Hipona...) The story has this gem of a quote, commenting on the fact that it won't matter what the Attorney General says about Hipona serving in two elected capacities, because:

"It's now a mute point..."

Really? A mute point Ms. Hipona? Not a moot point?

--

That quote should be attributed to Jefferson Elementary School District Governing Board President Hans Hansen, not Ms. Hipona. Our money was on the wrong person because the quote didn't belong to Ms. Hipona. Our apologies.

That said, it is still unclear who made the error: Mr. Hansen, Ms. Morente, or the County Times Editors...Watch Dog will not place bets this time, because we lost our shirt last time.