Half Moon Bay, San Mateo County: Election highlights Coastal Protection 



"Our charter is very clear. We are going to support candidates who support the Coastal Act."
-Scott Boyd, co-chair, League For Coastside Protection
 
Developers, opponents push same candidates 
By STEFANIE HOFFMAN--Half Moon Bay Review

What do a labor union, a developer and a confederation of environmentalists all have in common?

The unlikely answer is an infatuation with the same incumbent candidates for the Half Moon Bay City Council.

This election season Ocean Colony Partners, the Plumbers, Steamfitters and Refrigeration Fitters Local Union No. 467 and the San Mateo County League for Coastside Protection, three organizations with often diametrically opposing points of view, have all endorsed Mayor Jim Grady and City Councilman Mike Ferreira for re-election.

If there is one issue that has divided these organizations more than any other in the past, it may have been Wavecrest Village LLC. The 217-home development project long has been the centerpiece of environmental debate in the community and has tied the city in litigious knots for more than 10 years.

As a partner in the development project, the plumbers union has been supportive on the theory that the construction would create jobs.

Conversely, the LCP has historically opposed the project on grounds that it has repeatedly failed to comply with the California Coastal Act requirements.

But this election season it has united two of the candidates.

Recently, city officials have been working with the Wavecrest Village LLC after a settlement brought by the developers two years ago. The July 2004 settlement effectively guaranteed the city's amenities, but further work was stalled after the discovery of federally endangered California red-legged frogs on the site.

Both the city and the developers said that the settlement negotiations were a step forward for the project and a victory for the city.

"I think (Grady and Ferreira) really know the ropes," said Bruce Russell, chief executive of Kenmark Real Estate Group and asset manager of Ocean Colony Partners, which owns about one-third of the Wavecrest project acreage.

"And knowing the ropes is really important right now ... even if we don't always politically agree," Russell said.

Russell said that is why Ocean Colony Partners is endorsing Grady and Ferreira, as well as former City Councilwoman Naomi Patridge for election in November.

Russell maintained that, though negotiations could often get contentious, Ocean Colony Partners trusted the more experienced candidates. He said that was a quality that transcended any differences of opinion.

"I think the current council has indicated that they're supportive of the current project in its current version," said Russell. "All three of those people have proven to have that level of commitment and work ethic."
Other, albeit less experienced candidates, also seem to support the current incarnation of Wavecrest. Challengers George Muteff and Bonnie McClung both indicated support. Challenger Steve Skinner did not return phone calls for this story.

The plumbers union is supporting Ferreira, Grady and Patridge after all three received the endorsement of the San Mateo County Central Labor Council.

"We generally endorse labor-endorsed candidates," said Gary Saunders, business manager, financial secretary and treasurer for the union. "Construction jobs are important to them."

Saunders said that all three candidates expressed the most solid support for labor issues during a recent San Mateo County Central Labor Council question-and-answer panel discussion.

Both Ocean Colony Partners and the plumbers union are willing to back up their endorsements with their checkbooks.

According to the financial disclosure forms submitted by candidates Sept. 29, the plumbers union provided each endorsed candidate with $500, the maximum allowed by the city's new campaign finance ordinance.

Russell also gave Grady $250 - the largest allowable donation from an individual.

And some city officials maintain that relations with the developer have recently improved.

"I think we've established and built a very good working relationship through settlement discussions over the last few years," said Grady. "I think Bruce Russell in particular is a breath of fresh air."

The good feelings are relatively recent in the long history of Wavecrest.

Prior to the 2004 settlement, both incumbent candidates expressed opposition to the project as communication deteriorated between the city and the developers.

Grady and Ferreira have been firm on the need for enforcing environmental regulations. They were critical of previous, larger
Wavecrest plans and insisted on such safeguards as Environmental Impact Reports and other environmental studies, including the proper delineation of wetlands.

City officials now say that their role in the negotiations has changed from an enforcer to a referee between the developers and the state and federal agencies overseeing environmental issues on the site.

"We need to be in that process as honest brokers, dealing in something without emotion or commitment," said Ferreira. "To be honest, I think there's still rough edges with all the groups."

"In this process, they're the pitcher and we're the catcher," said Grady. "It's not a matter of supporting or not supporting. It's a matter of working."

Sometimes it's a matter of working with those on polar opposites ends of the political spectrum.

Like the Ocean Colony Partners and the plumbers union, the San Mateo County League for Coastside Protection has also endorsed Grady and Ferreira. Instead of Patridge, it has thrown its support behind new candidate Steve Skinner.

"Our charter is very clear," said Scott Boyd, co-chair of the LCP. "We are going to support candidates who support the Coastal Act."

Historically the PAC has fought against big development, and in particular Wavecrest.

"We've got a long history on specific issues on Wavecrest," said Boyd. "We're actually holding out some hope. It looks like
Mayor Grady and Ferreira have maybe done some things to get the developers more aware of the need to conform to the law."

Financial support for the candidates has come in the form of an LCP mailing and monetary contributions from individuals.
The LCP Web site makes clear the tight rope that Ferreira and Grady are walking as they seek the support from both Wavecrest sides:

"This November, three critical seats on the Half Moon Bay City Council are up for election. Big-developer money stands at the ready to pack those seats with pave-it, build-it, sell-it friends."

But Boyd said the seemingly strange bedfellows are not so strange after all. He thinks the candidates he supports will encourage the developers to comply with the law.

Already, he said, there have been improvements in communication.

"I would say (Ferreira and Grady) have gotten them to the table and gotten them to engage in discussion about what a conforming project would be," said Boyd. "I think we're going to see some changes. 

Posted: Tue - October 18, 2005 at 03:11 PM          

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