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| 'Locals Only:' Graffiti or Coastside pride? By Ryan Mac Published/Last Modified on Wednesday, July 22, 2009 2:13 PM PDT After braving the congested trudge over the hill, beachgoers, out-of-towners and weekend warriors now read the words: 'LOCALS ONLY.' The less-than hospitable message has been tagged between a worn-out 'Welcome to Half Moon Bay' sign erected long ago by civic leaders. While graffiti has become more prevalent over the last few years on the Coastside, the problem has not been the tagging necessarily, but rather its ominous message. 'Locals Only' has been a standard with deep and often negative implications. Originating on the beaches of treasured surf spots, the message is a reversion to human territorialism: Stay off our beach and out of our water if you're not from out of town. From the beaches of Santa Cruz to Malibu, any coastal community with a decent break has had its share of surfer localism. On the Coastside, however, the phenomenon has risen up out of the water, becoming an undercurrent in the community mindset. Here on the Coastside, 'Locals Only' doesn't carry the same connotation it has elsewhere. On Oahu's North Shore, and at countless beaches in Southern California, surfers have been beaten up for visiting the wrong beach. It is a reaffirmation of local pride, soured by a menacing moniker and a small minority who has attempted to 'protect' their home with violence. Earlier this year, local authorities identified a group called Half Moon Bay Locals Only, They say this minority has caused the majority of problems, including a number of altercations with non-Coastside residents. While cautious in associating the recent graffiti to the group, Half Moon Bay Police Detective A.J. Johnson characterized of these delinquents. 'The motive of the gang is to keep the Coastside for locals only,' he said. 'I wouldn't call them a surfing group and their only tie seems to be a very dysfunctional sort of love for the Coastside.' 'Locals Only' made a quasi-official appearance at Half Moon Bay High School last year. In the 2007-2008 academic year, the school printed about 200 sweatshirts with the phrase 'Locals Only.' Hugely popular, the sweatshirts eventually had the phrase removed before their second printing after discussion between administrators. 'I don't think that kids that created it had any idea that it was going to be a negative thing at all,' said Shawna McCartney, an English teacher. 'We didn't want anyone to be unhappy and the school never sold sweatshirts anywhere else.' 'I think that they're not really serious and they're not saying that people who aren't from here aren't welcome,' said Lena King, who was a freshman when the sweatshirts were sold. 'It's about pride. When the town is overrun with tourists it gets annoying and as long as it doesn't lead to anything violent I don't think they're that bad.' Police haven't found any reason to connect the high school sweatshirts to the random flare-ups and altercations with the Half Moon Bay Locals Only, and reaffirmed the idea that the apparel was an honest attempt to display 'love for the community,' Johnson said. Surfers haven't made too much of the whole 'Locals Only' message either. 'I pretty much think that it is a farce,' said respected Mavericks surfer Ion Banner, who assures that localism was far worse in other places. 'There is no 'Locals Only' (in Half Moon Bay.)' In the community, Banner believed that negative associations with localism had been unfairly relegated to surfers. 'All I can say is that localism is everywhere. It's not just surfers, but also farmers, fisherman, those are the locals,' he added. For Banner and fellow surfer, Matt Ambrose, it all came down to a matter of respect. Local or not local, surfers who are often caught up in conflicts are those who are ignorant or simply inconsiderate of those around them. Ambrose had witnessed the surfing hierarchies of the 1970s and '80s and says he has 'paid his dues.' While he still felt that those who lived in a community should be the first to reap its benefits, he was resigned to the fact the beaches can't be controlled by 'Locals Only' factions. 'Personally, it's pretty much come down to ignorance,' he said. 'Know what the hell your doing, have respect '- and you're welcome to surf anywhere I live.' The message of respect also seems to have resonance with others. Scott Cowen, born in Half Moon Bay and a self-proclaimed 'Coastside ambassador,' was proud of his town's history, yet discomforted by the town's rapid transformation in the last decade. 'Half Moon Bay is a very unique area,' he said. 'Where we are and the culture here and the history here, it's very different from other areas.' Outlining what it means to be a local, Cowen felt it was a matter of having a sense of local identity, especially in a time when the town is catering more to tourism. 'It's about appreciating that beauty and protecting that beauty,' he explained. 'I don't want someone to come from another area and say '- 'it's too small, there's no mall, there's no movie theater.' Their opinion has no value.' Cowen's message for locals was simple. 'It's a sense of respecting the community as a whole'- represent your community in a positive way,' he said. For some, however, it was a matter of semantics. Mark Weisbarth, also known as 'Maleko,' disagreed with the use of the expression 'Locals Only,' but thought its point was clear. 'I don't like the term 'Locals Only' because it means that only the people that live there should be there,' he said. 'If it was local pride I'd get a damn tattoo of it. Let's stand up and represent the coast in a positive way.' |