Application for Consideration of Appointment to the Coastal Advisory Committee (CAC)
Thank you for your interest in being appointed to the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District's Coastal Advisory Committee. The CAC's job will be to review, discuss, and recommend revisions to specified District policies related to the San Mateo County coastal area under consideration for annexation by the District, and will include the responsibility of gathering input from a wide range of community and special interest groups on the Coastside. The District policies to be reviewed include those concerning eminent domain, land acquisition, and agricultural land use.
Please answer the following questions, which will help the existing members of the CAC to select representatives for the three "at large" seats available. The intent of appointing such individuals is to ensure that there is adequate representation for Coastside interests which are otherwise un-represented, or under-represented, on the CAC. "At large" members must live within the area under consideration for annexation. Please limit your answers to the space provided. Please write legibly. This form must be returned to the District office, 330 Distel Circle, Los Altos, CA 94022-1404 (fax: 650-691-0485) by 5:00 p.m., Friday, February 12, 1999.
1) Briefly describe your reasons for wanting to participate on the CAC.
I have professional and personal interests in the establishment of a coastal presence for MROSD. I have enjoyed hikes, rides, picnics and bird walks on District properties for over 2 decades. As a trail building volunteer, I have worked on at least 7 different preserves. As a land manager, I have admired the District's acquisitions, policies and overall vision of preservation.
I live on the coast, and many years ago recognized the need for a good agency to acquire and manage properties here. The important natural and cultural resources in the area are worth preserving, but no other agency seems capable of the task. Having worked here for state parks restoring habitat and enhancing the visitor serving facilities, I feel I know the types of properties and patterns of use which could best suit MROSD and its visitors, and I hope to help shape the future of coastal use and development by preserving those properties.
2) Please describe your personal or professional interest in and knowledge of Coastside land use and land conservation issues, and what expertise or experience you will bring to the CAC.
I have worked in state parks as a senior park aide on various restoration projects, including Pescadero Marsh, Ano Nuevo Island, Half Moon Bay State Beaches and others. For 2 years I have been a director of Midcoast Park Lands, a small land trust which operates a 40-acre day-use park in the hills of El Granada, and which is pursuing other properties and recreational easement opportunities. I also sit on the Midcoast Community Council's Parks & Recreation committee helping to shape policy decisions on coastal land use issues such as the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve Master Plan, the Mirada Surf development, coastal trail development, park funding strategies, etc. I have a degree in park management and I work for the city of San Jose as a park ranger, and wish to offer that experience to the committee. Field staff can sometimes be intimidated by upper managers or outside advisors to the point where their input may never come forward. I am comfortable speaking up about issues which will have direct bearing on how the interpretive, enforcement and maintenance staff will work on the properties MROSD might acquire.
3) What is the Coastside interest which you feel is un-represented or under-represented on the CAC, and what are your qualifications to represent those interests?
I am particularly struck by the absence of anyone who participated directly in the Measure F campaign to establish community interest in MROSD expansion here. While my role was not large, I discussed and supported strategies with the core members of the FOCOS leadership, tabled an event, wrote letters to the editors of newspapers and contributed money to the campaign. I also note an apparent lack of organized labor representation. I am a member of Operating Engineers Local 3, and a strong believer in union cooperation and leadership on all sorts of political, economic and social issues. The ability of anyone to travel just a short distance from the busy Bay Area community and find respite in open space which once was reserved only for the affluent few is a potent and priceless result of the belief that, in a working democracy, all the people deserve some of those opportunities.
4) Do you own property in the coastal area under consideration for annexation? If so, please briefly describe its location, size, and use. (It is important for the CAC to be aware of any potential conflicts of interest that may arise that might be relevant to its deliberations.)
Other than my house, which sits on only 1 quarter acre of land in El Granada, I own no property. Midcoast Park Lands operates Quarry Park, which by itself is too small for consideration by MROSD, but which is part of a large (400 acre) grove of eucalyptus trees in upper El Granada which is designated as a "pleasuring ground" on the Daniel Burnham historic plan for the community. I could envision a preserve which encompasses all of the grove, plus the rolling slope stretching north and east, reaching from El Granada to Montara and connecting the coast to the ridge.
5) What clubs, organizations, or interest groups do you belong to or are you affiliated with?
6) Please provide a brief description of your desired outcome of the work of the CAC.
Sorting out and resolving the contentious issues of land acquisition so that the coastside residents and landowners all feel that equitable solutions are achievable. Significantly reducing the animosity which exists between the environmental community and the owners/operators of large agricultural properties. Preparing a framework for prioritizing acquisition strategies. Reinforcing the sense of how valuable the coastside is as a place, and encouraging the public to rediscover it. I moved here 8 years ago and do not intend ever to move again. This place is too good to leave. I hope that CAC helps MROSD achieve here the kind of success which the District has enjoyed along the Bay and the ridgelines.
Bern Smith
PO Box 1583
El Granada CA 94018
650 712 0773