a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Volume ı ı2 Number 7 | 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

Editorial a 4A | Weather & Tides a 5A | Police Log a 5A | A&E a 2B | Sports a 5B | Real Estate a 1C | Classifi eds a 3C

a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l ea n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

| 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

Marchi violations prompt pledge of tighter oversightINSPECTIONS

SHOW ONGOING HEALTH DANGERS

By Mark Noack[ mark@hmbreview.com ]

San Mateo County health inspectors are re-examining their system for moni-toring agricultural work camps after dis-covering dozens of South Coast farm workers had been exposed to contaminat-ed water.

Based on the recent discoveries of high nitrates and bacteria in drinking water at Marchi farms, government inspectors are planning to put more responsibility on farm owners to prove their facilities are safe.

County health offi cials will require farm work camps to annually demon-strate their water is suitable for human consumption before housing permits are renewed. Health offi cials also plan to

more closely monitor sewer handling and disposal during inspections performed three times a year.

For decades, the county Department of Environmental Health has required

farms that house laborers to provide po-table water that meets state drinking stan-dards. But county health inspectors have left it up to farmers to verify their on-site

Work camp inspections fall short

throughout stateCalifornia does little to assure that farmworkers have

adequate housing. San Mateo County Environmental Health offi cials in-

spect the living conditions at farm work camps once a year, but that level of oversight is better than most other areas of the state.

San Mateo County is one of only nine counties in Cali-fornia with jurisdiction over farm labor camps. The coun-ty has opted to handle enforcement of California health and safety codes for at least the last 25 years. Most of the state is patrolled by agents from the California Depart-ment of Housing and Community Development.

For their part, offi cials at the cash-strapped state agen-See CAMPS a 6A

See MARCHI a 6A

Lars Howlett / Review

Tenants at Marchi Central Farms say they have long used bottled water rather than wa-ter from the taps.

[ a g r i c u l t u r e ]

Timeline of events

at Marchi

Farm

1977 – Coun-ty began in-specting living conditions for the 10 em-ployees resid-ing at Marchi Farm.

1981 – Drink-ing water found to be below minimum stan-dards. Farm owners fi x wa-ter system two years later.

1986 – Health in-spectors urged Marchi to evict tenants be-cause a sewer leak is fl owing into a nearby creek. One year lat-er, offi cials noted that tenants were still liv-ing there.

1991 – County of-fi cials re-port that the farm’s living standards are showing im-provements.

1997 – A hot-dog cart and grocery store at the farm shut down by health offi cials be-cause they have no county per-mits. Offi cials noted that parts of Marchi farms “still don’t have a verifi ed water supply and waste system.”

1999 – Marchi fam-ily applied for two more work camps at the Bean Hollow and Marchi Central Farms parcels in Pescadero. The two properties eventually house about 60 tenants.

2000 – Multiple trail-ers at Marchi farms were overwhelming septic system intended for only one. Natalino Marchi requests three extensions to address the problem.

2001 – Fire start-ed at Bean Hollow employee home af-ter a tenant puts a towel over an ex-posed light bulb.

2002 – Penin-sula Open Space Trust representa-tives complained about illegal con-struction on houses at the Bean Hollow property.

2010 – Permits re-voked for employee housing at Marchi Central Farms and Bean Hollow after inspectors fi nd toxic nitrates in drinking water.

A NOVEL APPROACHCoastsider sits down for academic assignment, emerges with book > 4B

a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l ea n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e

Volume ı ı2 Number 7 | 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com

PITCH! HIT! RUN!Hatch fourth-grader headed to AT&T Park regional > 5B

HORSLEY AND VARGAS HEAD TOWARD RUNOFFNO CLEAR

VICTOR FOR COUNTY

SUPERVISOR

By Lily Bixler[ lily@hmbreview.com ]

For the fi rst time in more than 15 years, the San Ma-teo County Board of Supervi-sors’ race will go to a runoff.

This November, former Sher-iff Don Horsley and Coastside resident April Vargas will face off in an election to represent the county’s third district.

At 10 p.m. Tuesday, when about one-fi fth of the precinct votes were tallied, Horsley had just less than 40 percent of votes; Vargas had more than 23 percent. Fifty-one percent of the votes are required to

take the seat from Supervisor Rich Gordon, who was termed out of offi ce.

Tuesday night Don Hors-ley was way ahead of his op-position, and even though he

didn’t meet the required 51 percent, he was feeling good.

“I’ve been in four county-wide elections in the past and my experience is (the num-bers) don’t change that much,” Horsley said.

“As the sheriff, (the Coast-side) was my jurisdiction and I spent a lot of time over on the coast and I knew I would have a lot of support from a myriad of organizations,” he said.

Outspending all other candi-

dates and garnering endorse-ment from U.S. Reps. Anna Eshoo and Jackie Speier, Hors-ley campaigned on supporting schools, health care and en-hancing public transportation systems. Horsley was the only candidate who supports an at-large election.

Vargas, the only Coastside

resident in the race, was like-wise energized at the news of a runoff.

“My ever-growing army of supporters are rearing to go,” Vargas said. “We have a strong team of people — some I’ve known for 30 years, others I’ve just met, and we just really

Missing ballotsSan Mateo County rushes to get ballots to hundreds of Coastsiders after addressing mistake. See story, Page 3A

Measure E gets well over two thirds

Parcel tax supporters expend-ed a lot of pent-up energy Tues-day night at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. After fi ve failed attempts, the Cabrillo Uni-fi ed School District and its sup-porters convinced a two-thirds majority to pay more toward Coastside public education.

Supporters thought they had it wrapped up within an hour of polls closing. While the offi cial vote dragged on, measure sup-porters traveled to each of 29 precincts on the coast to tally the unoffi cial vote.

The party was on fairly early, with victory videos playing and bottles of Mavericks’ “Budgetary Alement” beer quickly draining.

— from staff reports

70.3% YES

29.7% NO

Don Horsley April Vargas

VOTERS THROW CABRILLO A LIFELINECOASTSIDE GIVES

GO-AHEAD FOR SCHOOL

FUNDINGBy Mark Noack

[ mark@hmbreview.com ]

For Coastside schools, the sixth time appears to be the charm.

In a stunning success for public education, voters appear to have given the green light to the Coastside’s fi rst successful parcel tax measure for the Ca-brillo Unifi ed School District.

A lightning rod for public debate, the Measure E parcel tax was showing strong signs of success with 70.3 percent of the vote as of 9:30 p.m. Tues-day night. The total was unof-fi cial and came from jubilant tax supporters who gathered the numbers from individual precincts. The offi cial count dragged on into the night.

[ m e a s u r e e v i c t o r y ]

[ s u p e r v i s o r r a c e ]

See MEASURE E a 6A

Election 2010

Election 2010

See SUPERVISOR a 6A

Lars Howlett / Review

Measure E supporters gather around a white board used to track results Tuesday night at the Half Moon Bay Brewing Company. They proclaimed victory early, long before numbers fi nished trickling in over the Web.

as of 9:30 p.m. tuesday