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| Vote for Kowalczyk, Patridge, Ruddock for HMB City Council Published/Last Modified on Thursday, October 15, 2009 2:41 PM PDT It’s been a while since this many talented people have wanted to serve on the Half Moon Bay City Council. After a draining 2005 election that required weeks and a recount to decide, the City Council election was scrubbed in 2007, when incumbents were the only ones to step forward. Today there are eight candidates seeking three seats and a robust back-and-forth has revealed real, reasoned differences in approach and direction for a city working to recover from years of acrimony surrounding Beachwood. The editorial board of the Half Moon Bay Review interviewed all of the candidates. While we were impressed with the knowledge and passion of all of them, three leaders emerged. Today we are happy to recommend Rick Kowalczyk, Naomi Patridge and Deborah Ruddock for council. n n n Every once in a while, a candidate for local office emerges who seems to have the perfect mix of financial savvy, professional skill, personal charisma and good ideas. Kowalczyk is such a candidate. Though a newcomer to politics, Kowalczyk has a history of working for the betterment of the community. He has done so through his church and as a founder of Aspire, an after-school college preparatory program for talented students who need additional challenges. The fact that he is on the board of directors of the private fundraising arm of local schools, the Cabrillo Education Foundation, portends a new era of cooperation between the city and Coastside schools. While Kowalczyk is endorsed by some of the most well-known names in Half Moon Bay politics, he doesn’t appear to be beholden to them. All of the incumbents support his candidacy, and so does Steve Skinner, a one-time candidate who was popular with environmentalists on the other end of the political spectrum. Kowalczyk has a wealth of real-world business acumen to draw upon. He has an MBA from Dartmouth and is a business consultant by trade. Those are credentials lacking among current council members. He says he would promote downtown business by “getting out of the way of business,” meaning he would work to limit the rigmarole that surrounds, for example, sign regulations. He says he would seek to get the “highest and best use” out of Beachwood, but agrees with other candidates that that goal is shapeless pending biological studies and community input. n n n Patridge is the most popular candidate on the coast for good reason. She can point to a lifetime’s service to the community — through schools, athletics, the county Farm Bureau and more — and is as knowledgeable as anyone in Half Moon Bay when it comes to the history of local governmental decisions. Her regional contacts are also important. She’s been appointed to the Local Agency Formation Committee, recycling and hazardous waste task forces, transportation and recreational commissions and a host of Bay Area planning boards. It’s a tough year to run as an incumbent in Half Moon Bay but Patridge had her hand in some notable achievements that eased the city’s financial condition substantially. She pushed the city’s insurer, the Association of Bay Area Governments, to pay the city for legal expenses related to Beachwood. After losing a similar case in Pacifica, ABAG relented and gave the city $5 million toward Beachwood expenses. She also worked behind the scenes to get the Peninsula Open Space Trust to take back the white-elephant parkland on Highway 92, saving the city $3.1 million. We have not agreed with everything Patridge and the City Council majority did in the last couple of years. The city spent far too much time and money chasing unpalatable legislative solutions to the Beachwood drama. Giving an interim city manager a five-figure raise weeks after laying off a third of the staff was the wrong thing to do. But those decisions do not erase decades of good work nor the unique knowledge and contacts Patridge has amassed over a lifetime. n n n Ruddock is another well-rounded citizen who knows the players and politics in Half Moon Bay. Having served three terms on the City Council previously, she has been a leader in the Coastside’s environmental movement and was an architect of some of the area’s existing protections. She has raised children on the coast and speaks intelligently about what we need to make the city more hospitable for families. She has helped find money for the Coastal Trail, and her experience in writing grants as a grant project manager and legislative liaison for the Coastal Conservancy may lead to additional projects in the future. She has the support of important regional political leaders, including county Supervisor Rich Gordon and Assemblyman Jerry Hill. There is no question that Ruddock is a polarizing figure on the coast; she is one of those people detractors want to blame for everything that goes wrong. That is only a testament to her leadership. She is not afraid to champion causes she thinks important. There are two concerns worth mentioning when it comes to Ruddock’s campaign, and they are related. Much of her campaign war chest comes from people outside the city. While that is a little peculiar, Half Moon Bay is beloved by people far beyond city limits, so the influx of money isn’t that surprising. She put our minds at ease, saying emphatically, “My first bosses are the residents of Half Moon Bay.” In addition, her job at the Coastal Conservancy could pose a conflict of interest. We trust that she will remember who her first bosses are and do the right thing if such a conflict arises. — Half Moon Bay Review |