Saturday, November 19, 2011

"Our environment is our economy" - Not exactly


From San Mateo County, another view of adding more "open space" and parkland.  Not enough money to fund. 
deer at Sam McDonald County Park
Conversation on the trail

Article from Half Moon Bay Review/Charles Russo, 11/16/11:  "More land than money saps county parks".  County parks will be taking on stewardship of more land in the coming years. The system is on the hook to pay about $2 million in 2013 to open a bike and pedestrian trail on Devil's Slide after the highway tunnels open up. That project is expected to also require hiring a new ranger and more maintenance, costing about $700,000 more each year.
 
Officials are indicating the 15,680-acre parks system is overburdened with too much land to cover and might have to close parks unless more money can be made available. They are requesting the Board of Supervisors provide as much as $2.1 million to keep the parks operating at "minimal" levels.

Delivered last week to the county Environmental Quality Committee, the news could spell trouble for the county's landmark parklands on the Coastside, including Pillar Point Bluffs, Quarry Park and Fitzgerald Marine Reserve. In their report, Public Works officials say the $8.2 million parks system this year acquired responsibility for more properties and trails even as it was simultaneously losing staffing and funding. They system faces immense challenges, said Neil Merrilees, a Coastside resident and Parks and Recreation commissioner. "There's just a couple rangers that go around and manage everything," he said. "It's a tremendous amount to cover."

For this fiscal year, the county Board of Supervisors eliminated the parks department's top director and merged the system into Public Works as a way to save money. The parks' budget was reduced by more than $500,000. Those cuts came soon after the county acquired the 140-acre Pillar Point Bluffs near Princeton.

Reeling from a lack of resources, San Mateo County earlier this year closed a youth camp at Memorial Park near La Honda and Flood Park on the Bayside. Supervisor Dave Pine indicated at a meeting last week that he would try to allocate more money to reopen those parks. County parks will be taking on stewardship of more land in the coming years. The system is on the hook to pay about $2 million in 2013 to open a bike and pedestrian trail on Devil's Slide after the highway tunnels open up. That project is expected to also require hiring a new ranger and more maintenance, costing about $700,000 more each year."

Additional reference: Montara Mountain pictures.

Posted by Kathy Meeh

12 comments:

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=YVTGK1uYqJo

Watch and Share.

Kathy Meeh said...

Okay Anon (903), I got it. What you have posted is an unidentified source, right-wing youtube folklore relating various anti-environmentalism, anti-government messages.

Unnecessary environmentalism and government regulation targets property rights. The government is again the elite bad-guy against "the founders" intention, ultimately turning us all into slaves.

The environmentalism takeover started with President Clinton (Democrat). The government is the communist enforcer cooperating with the communist environmentalist. Whereas, there is no climate change concerns, and the 77% are jammed into 6% of occupied land.

Don't you just love youtube as an alternative to reliable data and in-context discovery? BTW the USA is now 307 million people, rather than about 3 million when there were 13 colonies.

Anonymous said...

Are we surprised a "Fix Pacifica" reader would link to one of the worst troofer/conspiracy wingnuts? No... we are not.

Anonymous said...

Read everything, listen to everything, but believe nothing
until you've researched it yourself.

Anonymous said...

http://www.marinij.com/ci_19345422

Read this and share.

Anonymous said...

Read these articles and share. This is just from this year. Form your own decisions. No need to name call or pit groups against each other. Prepare your children for what has already been decided for them. Your home will be taken from your family. Pacifica has already started regulating your home. It is all part of the plan. The plan is to eventually move all people near public transportation stations and to take away all private property. Don't believe it? Find out for yourself and don't listen to the name callers.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/22/idUS201444+22-Mar-2011+PRN20110322

http://www.planetizen.com/node/46291

http://www.smcta.com/cac/minutes/TA_CAC_MINUTES_11-29-05.pdf

http://www.sfcta.org/content/view/807/408

http://www.sfexaminer.com/local/samtrans-moving-ahead-development-designs

Kathy Meeh said...

"..Fix Pacifica"..would link to... wingnuts."

The difference is Anon (1057), on the "Riptide" blog the linked comment would have been submitted, but probably not posted.

Some points for Anon (903), this city has been subjected to way too much "encouragement" to gift or sell productive property to "open space". And, without economic balance, the sustainable social, civic and environmental issues are short-changed.

From middle, Anon (1057), wingnuts exist in the extremes. And, what point are you making from your article link, Anon (1141)?

Kathy Meeh said...

"Your home will be taken from your family. Pacifica has already started regulating your home. It is all part of the plan."

Sorry to report, your home has been regulated for a whole lot of years, Anon (1201). And, generally most of us like the regulations that protect us. On the other hand, Pacifica has some regulations and fees that exist as the result of the city failing to deliver a balanced economy.

The links you posted mainly concern future San Mateo County growth and larger population planning. The Bay Area will include more transit hub housing, which will improve traffic management and make commuting to work easier.

On the surface, only the 3rd link seems eyeopening. SMCTA/CAC Minutes (9/29/05): "76% of San Mateo County is dedicated and committed to open space". Our county does have a lot of hills, the area is suburban, people like parks, wealthy people and "environmentalists" like "open space" (unproductive and productive land). The apparent trend is that we will be growing our own food locally, because with population growth transport of food across the country is not sustainable. (Supervisor Don Horsley mentioned this at one of his meetings a few months back).

Otherwise, I see nothing in your 5 links that indicates "Your home will be taken from your family". Rather, your 5 web links suggest some people will be able to afford a home (an apartment or condo) with rail or bus transportation convenient to work: 1) Affordable housing near transportation hubs, 2) Environmental lawsuit against high speed rail through Menlo Park, Atherton, Palo Alto (not all peninsula cities joined), 3) SMCTA/CAC Minutes (9/29/05): 76% of San Mateo County is dedicated and committed to open space", 4) San Francisco Bayshore transit multimodial connection design, 5) San Carlos transit hub housing.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlC8YOYs84g

The woman who speaks in this conference video is a lesbian and a democrat. Please watch.

Steve Sinai said...

As if anyone but a wing-nut would care.

Kathy Meeh said...

Tea Party television, Michael Shaw, 44 painful minutes against ABAG regional planning, energy (PG&E), transportation and the UN conspiracy to knock you (the property owner) out. What a total crock, along the the relevance of the 30 seconds introductory speaker.

Really Anon (307), get reality. Regional and national planning is needed throughout the country. This country is no longer 13 colonies. And, "who we hate today" is not going to fix shared city, regional, country and world issues. Shaw even hates the Chamber of Commerce. He calls local government "extra constitutional", he wants to replace all local politicians (probably with people like him).

Among Shaw's slurs against sustainability, he mentioned "humans as livestock". He dismisses the value of regulation, including the monitoring of clean water as rationing. The sustainable world education of children is "brain washing", adding an allegorical audience comment: "wish I hadn't sent my children to school". Direction of the USA: "Home of the enslaved", he also threw-in communist and fascist, (chose one).

Against "the new world order" he contrasts the take-back as "liberty", aka some version of independent property rights. Climate change is dismissed as a hoax. Shaw has no apparent interest in the rest of us, or the world, or how these climate, ecology, social, or civic issues interact.

Thanks for the Tea Party TV education and another look at Glen Beck at the top of the youtube page, but we've probably seen enough.

Anonymous said...

Here is another article from those crazy wing nut kids.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2011/11/the_democrats_were_not_for_me.html

A former democrat writes about why he changed.