Coastside recall of three fire protection board members succeeds

San Mateo County Times/Aaron Kinney, 4/10/13.  :Coastside Fire Protection District recall succeeds; incumbents are out."

"HALF MOON BAY -- Cal Fire is in, and the incumbents are out.  Three members of the Coastside Fire Protection District board of directors were swept out of office by a roughly 2-to-1 margin in Tuesday's recall election, according to a final tally released Wednesday morning by the San Mateo County Elections Office. 

Half Moon Bay Patch article 4/9/13

The candidates who were chosen to replace them -- Karen K. Anderson, J.B. Cockrell and Harvey Rarback -- plan to sign a new contract with Cal Fire. That process will formally begin once the new board members are seated, which must wait until the election results are certified sometime in the next 28 days.

Coastal Cal Fire stays on the job pending contract agreement

Mike Alifano, Douglas Mackintosh and Gary Riddell were recalled over their push to sever ties with Cal Fire, which has provided fire services for Half Moon Bay and the surrounding area since 2008. Their opponents, and apparently most voters, felt the state agency deserved to stay.  Read article. 

Related - Half Moon Bay Review/Sara Hayden, 4/13/13.  "Fire board hopes to establish Cal Fire contract."  The Coastside Fire Protection District board will meet to take steps toward securing a contract with state fire protection service Cal Fire.  ....Cal Fire has served the Coastside since 2008. As it stands, Cal Fire employees are set to leave by June 30 because the board previously voted to form an independent department instead. ... The change in service plans was at the heart of last week’s election. Thousands voted to recall Alifano, Mackintosh and Riddell from their respective board seats after months of emotional clashes over the future of fire service."  Read article. 

Related - Silicon Valley Mercury News, 4/14/13.  "Internal Affairs:  Half Moon Bay council members strike out in fire district recall."  "Most of the Half Moon Bay City Council threw its weight behind three Coastside Fire Protection District board members who were targeted in a recall election Tuesday.  It didn't do much good. The three directors were ousted in a landslide over their push to get rid of Cal Fire. The state firefighting agency had taken over fire services for 30,000 people in Half Moon Bay and several nearby communities in 2008 after a local department became mired in financial and personnel problems.  But the three Coastside board members pushed to oust Cal Fire despite indications it was delivering better service, prompting the recall effort. Four out of five City Council members had endorsed the "No on Recall" campaign. ..."  Read article.

Reference - Half Moon Bay review, history of the 3 member Fire Protection Board recall.  Note:  upper right photograph is from this series of articles.

Posted by Kathy Meeh