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Wednesday, February 17, 2010 Editorial a 4A | Weather & Tides a 5A | Police Log a 5A | A&E a 2B | Sports a 5B | Real Estate a 1C | Classifieds a 3C MAVERICKS CONTEST BY THE NUMBERS TOTAL PRIZE MONEY AWARDED TO WINNING CONTESTANTS APPROXIMATE VALUE OF SOUND EQUIPMENT RUINED WHEN WAVE CRASHED INTO JETTY ESTIMATED NUMBER OF SPECTATORS WHO ATTENDED THE EVENT APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF MILES FLOWN BY WINNER CHRIS BERTISH TO ATTEND THE EVENT APPROXIMATE NUMBER OF PEOPLE WHO WATCHED THE CONTEST FROM AT&T PARK IN SAN FRANCISCO NUMBER OF MAVERICKS SURF CONTESTANTS REPORTED NUMBER OF SPECTATORS INJURED ON THE BEACH $150,000 $60,000 50,000 11,400 900 24 13 New model approved for South Coast schools Parcel tax vote set, but hard times coming Cautious city budget not cautious enough By Greg Thomas [ [email protected] ] Plagued by a confluence of budgetary setbacks, the La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District has put in mo- tion a plan to rearrange South Coast students next school year to get the biggest bang for the smallest buck. At a school board meeting last week, board members voted unanimously to recon- figure grade levels at Pescade- ro middle and high schools. The district is transitioning from the traditional sixth-to- eighth-grade middle school and ninth-to-12th-grade high school setups, replacing them with a seventh-to-12 th -grade school at the high school cam- pus and a separate, self-con- tained sixth-grade class. None of San Mateo County’s 24 school districts are employ- ing a similar system, said Pe- ter Burchyns, special adviser to the superintendent at the county Office of Education. La Honda-Pescadero is by far the smallest K-12 school district in the county. “It allows us to fit the stu- dents we have into the facili- ties we have without spend- ing money that we don’t have,” said School Board President Andy Wilson. District Interim Superinten- dent Dennis Dobbs said the district stands to save more than $50,000 a year by consoli- dating the seventh and eighth grades at the high school. The decision is a maneuver to avoid incurring rental costs for five portables when the dis- trict’s lease on them runs out in June. The portables consti- tute most of the middle school now. However, board mem- bers and administrators say consolidating students in such a way has been part of the plan for years — since before bond project mistakes in 2007 and 2008 put the district on shaky financial ground. School board member By Mark Noack [ [email protected] ] Cabrillo Unified School District board members have scheduled a vote on a $150-per- parcel tax, but they know that even if voters approve a new tax in recessionary times, the infusion of cash won’t spare them from making some very unpleasant cuts. The Cabrillo district is one of the largest employers on the Coastside, but the pay- roll will likely be trimmed — with or without the tax. School officials are considering cutting approximately 10 per- cent of Cabrillo’s bud- get. Those cuts will likely mean reductions to school athletic pro- grams and layoffs for school secretaries, cus- todians and librarians. And fear of falling under the proverbial ax is sending vari- ous sectors of the school work- force to implore the board members to spare them. Half Moon Bay High School counselor Mandi Robertson became teary-eyed Thursday as she pleaded with the school board to prevent cuts to her team. “Cuts to counselors will re- sult in fewer students gradu- ating high school and going to college,” she said. “Our stu- dents can’t be academically successful if they’re depressed, angry, hun- gry or scared.” The school board heard similar entreat- ies from representa- tives from Pilarcitos High School, Kings Mountain Elementary and the district’s clas- sified employees union. The best-case scenario for local schools would be to gain additional revenues from the parcel tax. Last week, board members approved a five- year, $150-per-parcel tax mea- sure for the June ballot, which would provide approximately $1.5 million per year, for five years, for the district. The vote HMB REPORTS NEW REVENUE SHORTFALL By Mark Noack [ [email protected] ] The stock market may be healthier, but Half Moon Bay leaders say the reces- sion isn’t over. Heavily reliant on high-end tourism, the city is showing lower than expected returns from local hotel and retail taxes. As a result, Half Moon Bay officials announced last week that new cuts to city services could be immi- nent to help fill a $2.1 mil- lion revenue shortfall due to the area’s ongoing econom- ic slump. City officials originally es- timated they would receive approximately $11.2 mil- lion in revenues when they compiled the current bud- get last spring. At the time, city leaders called the bud- get estimate “conservative.” They believed that tax rev- enues would rebound after months of recession. But that rebound hasn’t appeared yet, according to the new numbers. Receipts from local hotels and hos- pitality businesses were al- ready expected to decline from previous levels when the budget was ad- opted last year, but they came in even lower than project- ed. City officials now estimate a 21 percent drop in ex- pected tax income, or a loss of $846,000 to municipal cof- fers. Similarly, sales tax rev- enues are now projected to be 12 percent lower than budgeted, a difference of $212,113. Property taxes were ex- pected to rise 2 percent, but they instead dropped 10 percent, or $228,000. The new budget report shows a 50 percent drop in revenues from construc- Lars Howlett / Review South African surfer Chris Bertish emerged from the icy water as victor on Saturday. He won $50,000 and bragging rights at Mavericks. Michael Dolder Lars Howlett / Review Kenny “Skindog” Collins is chased down by a mountain of water Saturday at Mavericks, during one of the most memorable big-wave contests of all time. “We need a parcel tax. It’s inexcusable for us not to look at this.” — Kirk Riemer, CUSD board member SCHOOL BOARD APPROVES $150-PER-PARCEL MARK [ schools ] [ half moon bay ] [ south coast ] Kirk Riemer “It allows us to fit the students we have into the facilities we have without spending money that we don’t have.” — Andy Wilson, La Honda-Pescadero Unified School District board president CHANGES RECONFIGURE GRADES IN LA HONDA, PESCADERO a n d p e s c a d e r o p e b b l e BLOWN AWAY T he Mavericks Surf Contest creates its own storm. Giant swells roll in. Surfers scramble. Fans the world over turn their attention to Pillar Point’s craggy coast. Then, like a low-pressure system swinging over California, high drama builds to climax … and is gone. Sunny skies and shared memories are left in the wake. This year, Mavericks left an indelible impression. It will be remembered as the contest that South African Chris Bertish survived rather than won on the February day when many fans got a salty taste of the Mavericks wave. Photos: Two pages of full-color photos inside, 6A, 7A Safety: Organizers may get more scrutiny next year, 6A Commentary: Spectators, contest must share responsibility, 4A Volume ııı Number 43 | 75 cents Serving the entire San Mateo Coastside since ı898 www.hmbreview.com Mark Foyer / Review Spectators scramble for higher ground after a wave crashed over the seawall at Mavericks beach on Saturday. “Everyone says the economy is going upward, but based on these numbers, that’s not true.” — Michael Dolder, Half Moon Bay City Manager See SCHOOLS a 11A See BUDGET a 11A See PARCEL a 11A “CONTEST ASIDE, IT DOES SEEM LIKE IT’LL NEVER BE THE SAME FOR THE SPORT. … THIS WAS PRETTY MUCH UNHEARD OF — HISTORIC.” — GRANT WASHBURN, MAVERICKS SURFER
