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Half Moon Bay Review By Emily Wilson On Tuesday the Board of Supervisors voted unanimously against a proposal for a second advisory vote on Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District (MROSD)'s
Coastal Annexation program. The annexation would extend the boundaries of the district to the coastline, from just south of Pacifica to the Santa Cruz County line. The supervisors also voted against accepting
funds to offset the cost of the vote. The district, which currently extends from San Carlos to Los Gatos and manages 26 open space preserves, held an advisory vote in 1998, which lost in the rural southern part of
the Coastside, but passed by 55 percent overall. Members of the Pescadero Municipal Advisory Council (PMAC) asked for another vote, but San Mateo County Supervisor Rich Gordon sent a letter saying that the cost
of another vote would be prohibitive. When the group offered to raise money to pay for the vote, Gordon agreed to put two issues on the agenda: deciding whether the supervisors could accept a gift of funds to
offset the costs of the election, and a resolution calling for another advisory election. Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, the executive director of the Committee for Green Foothills, a group that supports the annexation,
attended the meeting to speak against a second vote. "I think there was real recognition that this is a process that is in place," she said. "There is ample opportunity for pubic input and
certainly LAFCo is one place where a vote might be called for, but not now, not outside of the process that's been prescribed." Kersteen-Tucker was also pleased with the decision not to accept funds to finance
an election. "The supervisors recognized that that would set a very frightening precedent if anyone who wanted a vote could just pay for it," she said. Maeva Neale, the chair of PMAC, said that the
group supported a second vote to show how strong the opposition to the annexation is on the South Coast. . Pescadero needs infrastructure, not an open space district, Neale said. "We don't even have a
public toilet in Pescadero," she said. "To bring in more hikers and bikers would be fine if we had the facilities to accommodate them." Neale said that people in the Pescadero area are against the
annexation for a variety of reasons, including loss of agricultural land and affordable housing. "The PMAC, even though there are people from pretty far left and pretty far right, are unanimously opposed,"
she said. Lennie Roberts of the Committee for Green Foothills said that MROSD officials have gone out of their way to solicit and respond to local opinion, and she points out that the district waived its
power of eminent domain after strong opposition on the South Coast. That was an example that showed those voices were heard, she said. "A lot of people signed a pledge saying that, if you give up eminent
domain, we'll support you," she said. "Now they're thinking of other reasons why they don't want this. The other argument I find so funny is that it's taxation without representation. It's really
representation without taxes; if the area annexes - there are no taxes and if it is annexed, people will then be able to vote for their director on the board." Michael Murphy, who was one of the leaders in
the fight against the district coming to the coast, signed the pledge saying he would support the district if they gave up eminent domain. And he's standing by that, he said. He understands the opposition to
MROSD coming in, he said, but thinks this is the best deal the coast will get. "I am in favor of proceeding with the annexation," he said. "I know a lot of my friends in the rural district are
against it, but strategically it is the opportunity to bring them in without eminent domain and once they are here, there's no reason for anybody else to come in." Pescadero resident Irma Mitton also signed
the pledge, but she said now she has more questions and concerns. "When you say 'Do you support open space' well, of course, everyone supports open space - but when you start digging, it's not so
simple," she said. "Signing that original pledge, people were unaware of all the consequences of the annexation and now we're finding out more." The point of asking for a second advisory vote was
to make their concerns heard, said Mitton. "The main thing, since we are so underrepresented in this county, is that we feel they've heard our concerns," she said. |
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