Sunday, August 31, 2014

Look back at results of last city council election, 11/6/12


San Mateo County Shape the Future, official election results of November 6, 2012 election (recorded December 4, 2012).

CITY OF PACIFICA MEMBERS, CITY COUNCIL Full Term  
Number To Vote For: 2
Completed Precincts: 28 of 28
Vote Count Percentage
KAREN ERVIN 10,290 38.9%
MARY ANN NIHART 9,354 35.4%
SUSAN VELLONE 6,779 25.7%
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CITY OF PACIFICA MEMBER, CITY COUNCIL Short Term
Completed Precincts: 28 of 28
Vote Count Percentage
MIKE O'NEILL 5,302 35.0%
VICTOR A. SPANO 4,060 26.8%
RICHARD CAMPBELL 4,037 26.6%
GARY J. MONDFRANS 1,765 11.6%  
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Posted by Kathy Meeh

Saturday, August 30, 2014

Anti-Highway 1 widening lawsuit ruling delay, and plan to eat the project


PH1A plan to fix forever 
Highway 1 improvement
Pacifica Riptide/Peter Loeb, Correspondent, 8/30/14.  "Pacificans for a Scenic Coast gets its day in Court."

".... The judge has 90 days after the hearing to deliver her ruling, so the outcome may not be known until the end of November. But a ruling could come much sooner than that.

 .... The PSC lawsuit is unlikely to stop the project, but a second group, Pacificans for Highway 1 Alternatives (PH1A, is doing a variety of things to stop the project, including trying to get the city to apply for grant money to hire a traffic consultant to evaluate all alternatives for reducing traffic, raising the issue in the current City Council race, and considering a referendum or initiative on the project."

Fix Pacifica referenceHighway 1 lawsuit continues, 8/29/14.

Graphic from a Mother Jones article, "Justice Delayed."

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Labor Day weekend, annual Kings Mountain Art Fair - day trip


San Mateo County Times/John Horgan column, 8/26/14. "Kings Mountain"

6 miles south on Skyline Blvd from Highway 92   
Redwoods, free parking, bring money
"The Kings Mountain Art Fair is the well worth the effort to visit. It's been conducted beneath the redwoods since 1963 off Skyline Boulevard high in the quiet hills of Woodside on the Labor Day weekend. Traffic and parking can be a bit daunting, but the free fair can be a rewarding experience. It's being held this weekend, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (breakfast at 8 a.m.) Saturday through Monday at 13889 Skyline Blvd. (six miles south of the Highway 92 intersection).

Proceeds benefit the Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade, Kings Mountain Elementary School and other worthy community entities."   Read more. 

Reference Kings Mountain Art Fair/About.  "The Kings Mountain Art Fair is an annual event, held every Labor Day weekend. The Art Fair benefits the Kings Mountain Volunteer Fire Brigade and other community activities, including the Kings Mountain Elementary School, and is staffed completely by volunteers from the local community. Known for its stunning location among the redwoods and for its unique and varied artists (selected by jury), the Kings Mountain Art Fair celebrates 50 years of art and ambiance. Come visit! Fair admission and parking are free."


Posted by Kathy Meeh

San Mateo, New Community Development Director, hello George White


Posted on Topix 8/29/14.  City of San Mateo Press Release, "City hires new Community Development Director." 

Jane Northrop - staff photoPlanning Director George White, left, with City Planner Lee Diaz
Pacifica Planning Director vacancy.
Goodbye George White...
"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE.  City of San Mateo Hires Pacifica’s Planning Director, George White as new Community Development Director.

San Mateo, CA (August 2014)… Following an extensive recruitment, the City of San Mateo announces that George White, Planning Director for the City of Pacifica will begin the next phase of his career as San Mateo’s Community Development Director.

White will begin his new role with San Mateo on September 22nd and brings 26-years of community development and planning experience to the position.   White is familiar with the Bay Area and in addition to Pacifica also worked for the cities of Saratoga, Palo Alto and Petaluma as well as the counties of Monterey and Calaveras."   Read more.

RelatedPacifica Tribune, 1/13/11. "New Planning Director hired." "After a three month recruitment process, the City Manager, Stephen A. Rhodes, is pleased to announce the hiring of George White as the city of Pacifica's next planning director. White will join the city's management team on Jan. 31. He fills the recent vacancy created when Michael Crabtree retired on Dec. 29."

 Pacifica Tribune/Jane Northrop, Staff, 4/7/14. "New planning director takes the help in Pacifica." "While he's excited to come on board in Pacifica, he named the economy and the budget as the greatest challenges facing him."

Note photograph of Planning Director George White with City Planner Lee Diaz by Jane Northrop from the related 4/7/14 Pacifica Tribune article.   

Posted by Kathy Meeh

Friday, August 29, 2014

Spindrift Players' 'Meet Me in St. Louis' clangs to life

 



Clockwise, from top left, Sven Schutz, John Espejo, Nicole Lopez-Hagan and Isabel To appear in the Pacifica Spindrift Players’ production of “Meet Me In St. Louis.” Image courtesy Michael Lodick. 

Pacifica Spindrift Players director Jenny Hernandez thinks “Meet Me in St. Louis” has endured because audiences like its theme of love conquering all.

Although the musical about a family preparing for the 1904 World’s Fair seems quaint by modern standards, the humorous way the Smiths deal with adversity and each other was charmingly unconventional when the iconic film starring Judy Garland debuted in 1944, says Hernandez, who is at the helm of the show’s local production, which runs through Sept. 7.

Originally based on a series of short stories in The New Yorker, the plot’s conflict arises from the family’s impending move from St. Louis to New York City, which threatens to separate the Smith girls from their love interests and force them to miss the World’s Fair.

While many of the movie’s outdoor scenes, such as Garland singing “The Trolley Song” on a moving streetcar, cannot be recreated on the Spindrift Players’ intimate stage, Hernandez still manages to place the characters at the big fair, albeit without a Ferris wheel or similar props.

Some of the show’s chorus numbers boast added town folk, to highlight the fact that, after the World’s Fair, St. Louis was a “pretty poppin’ place to be,” Hernandez says.

Read more...

Posted by Steve Sinai

Fremont is building a downtown, 58 years after becoming a city


KQED News Staff, 8/27/14. "Fremont's search for a downtown - and for stronger link to Silicon Valley."

One view of proposed Fremont downtown.
Project groundbreaking ceremony, 7/25/14
.... "Fremont was born when five different communities merged in 1956 for fear of being annexed by Hayward. Those five areas — Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles and Warm Springs — had their own centers, but the new city of Fremont never had a real heart.

....  At a groundbreaking for the city’s downtown initiative in July, food trucks and live music were on hand to give residents a taste of the more urban feel that Fremont seeks. “I’ve been waiting forever for a downtown,” said Sally Morgan, a resident of 27 years who attended the event. “I just would love to live near a downtown. I mean, that’s part of the community, right? 

....   The funding for the first step being celebrated at the groundbreaking comes from a $5.8 million One Bay Area Grant awarded to the city in 2013. The project will extend Capitol Avenue, connecting employment and retail centers and developing, Mayor Harrison promises, a real Main Street feel." Read article.

Reference - City of Fremont, Downtown Community Plan, pdf pages 168.  City of Fremont Capital Avenue extension groundbreaking event 7/25/14Note the artist rendering of the future Fremont downtown is 1 of 5 from this event article.

  Related articles San Francisco Chronicle/Carolyn Jones, 3/9/13. "Fremont leaders want a downtown - again." ... "For 50 years we've grown out. Now it's time for us to grow up and mature," said former mayor Gus Morrison. "Having an identity is important to us. We need one." ... The city plans to spend about $15 million on acquiring property, but most of the project will be done by private developers. Some of the project is already under way; the rest is in the planning stage."

 San Jose Mercury News/Chris De Benedetti/The Argus, 7/11/14. "Fremont moves to create new downtown's 'Main Street'."  "...  Fremont is finalizing details on using eminent domain to acquire a commercial building that must be torn down to make way for the project, city leaders said. ...The longer Capitol Avenue will create a visible gateway to the 110-acre area anchored by City Hall near the Fremont BART station. ... The project's groundbreaking ceremony is scheduled at 5 p.m. Friday, July 25, on Capitol Avenue, near City Hall and the Fremont Family Resource Center."

Submitted by Bob Hutchinson 

Posted by Kathy Meeh

HMB, two years for State Parks to replace a foot, bicycle bridge


Half Moon Bay Review/Mark Noack, 8/27/14.  "State Parks:  Fixing Coastal Trail bridge will take 2 years."

Foot and bicycle bridge takes two years for to replace,
and no current money to do the project.
"In their first appearance before Half Moon Bay leaders, California State Parks officials said that fixing a broken Coastal Trail bridge was among their highest priorities. If last week’s assertion was meant to ease Coastside minds, it failed as badly as the Pilarcitos Creek bridge itself.

City leaders blasted the state agency for failing to take any steps to replace the bridge in the four months since it failed. Then the City Council sought to take matters into their own hands.

On Monday the City Council answered by unanimously approving a $100,000 check to help jump-start the process. It wasn’t immediately clear whether State Parks would take the money or when it would begin authorizing permits let alone work on the bridge."   Read article.

RelatedSan Mateo County Times/Aaron Kinney, 8/26/14.  "The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to allocate a pile of sales tax revenue to the cash-strapped state agency. The council wants State Parks to use the money to kick-start the project to replace the decaying Pilarcitos Creek Bridge, which the department closed in April after an employee damaged it with a tractor. The decision came one week after State Parks officials alarmed the council by saying it might take two years to replace the bridge -- and perhaps longer if funding wasn't readily available. .... State Parks hired a consultant to analyze the bridge this summer. The analysis concluded the bridge, though just 21 years old, is irreparably corroded. The agency estimates replacing the bridge will cost roughly $1.8 million. The city pledged $100,000 on Monday to begin the process of applying for environmental and other permits to rebuild the structure. City officials said they would prefer that State Parks repay the money, but they will simply give it away if necessary."

Note photographs/graphics:  Half Moon Bay aerial view of the coastal trail/bridge closed overlay is by Bill Murray from the Half Moon Bay Review, (the link includes pictures of the bridge).

Posted by Kathy Meeh