The La Honda Voice

When All Else Fails, Ham Radio Is There

Have you ever wished, during a storm, that you could get a local traffic report for where we live?  Do you wish that you had a cell phone that worked where you hike and ride, just in case?  Have you ever lost phone service for days and wished that you had some kind of backup available?  Amateur radio might be your answer.

Amateur radio, or "ham" radio, is the original electronic, social medium.  Modern ham radios fit in a pocket and with a modest investment in gear, anyone can communicate with other hams from a few to many hundreds or even thousands of miles away, without depending on cell towers or internet infrastructure.  Hams communicate by text, voice, and video, and when radios share a frequency, they are literally networking.

April 2 & 3 the SC4 Amateur Radio Club will hold a two day, licensing exam prep class in Pescadero for everyone who would like to get their Technician's license. A class fee of $25 includes text book and study materials, and the class is taught by your neighbors here in the South Coast, South County area.   The class runs from 9:00 to 4:30 each day and we cover the entire pool of questions that may be on the exam over two days.  The following Saturday you may take your exam in Sunnyvale ($15 exam fee). Other days and locations are available for exams: email for details.  There is no Morse code requirement to get a license.   For more information, or to register for the class, please contact Peter at [email protected] or phone 747-0316 before March 28.  For information about the SC4 Amateur Radio Club, please visit http://www.sc4arc.org/.

Working Towards a Healthy San Gregorio Lagoon

You can help protect the health of our precious lagoon!  Artificial breaching may be the single most damaging factor to the health of the lagoon environment.

 

The lagoon and estuary are located under the Hwy 1 bridge at San Gregorio State Beach. In a natural, healthy state, the lagoon is a critical interface between ocean saltwater and the fresh waters of San Gregorio Creek. Fresh and salt water mingle throughout the season in this area, providing species like Coho and Steelhead Salmon, as well as the Tidewater Goby, a place for successful spawning and rearing.

 

The sandbar is the seasonal barrier between the ocean waves and lagoon waters. When the sandbar is artificially breached, whether by accident or on purpose, an entire season of spawning can be comprised in minutes.  The public can be a great help in preventing artificial breaching by being aware of the dire consequences to the fish and wildlife of unnatural opening of the sandbar to the ocean.

 

The lagoon is opened naturally to the sea when wave action during the winter months break down the sandbar.  At the same time, there is pressure from the creek side as winter rains move great volumes of water downstream into the lagoon.  Once the sandbar is sufficiently weakened, water built up on the lagoon side pushes through and drains into the ocean (see photos).

 

We were fortunate this year to have numerous people watching the lagoon as it swelled to unusual proportions. Some were present with a camera when the breach occurred in late October capturing the event in photos. Within approximately 1/2 hour, the lagoon went from a small bay to a gently meandering stream.

 

As part of San Gregorio Environmental Resource Center’s (SGERC’s) current grant from the Environmental Protection Agency, daily and weekly monitoring of the San Gregorio lagoon began in October 2010.  Monitors began noting both the condition of the sandbar (open, closed, about to breach etc.) as well as water quality parameters at three locations in the lagoon.

 

The monitors check water quality at just below the surface and just above the bottom at three sites in the lagoon.  They also note the level at which the water column changes from fresh to salt water (stratification layer). Using a kayak, a handheld YSI meter, a camera and data sheet, these monitors spend several hours a week collecting data in the lagoon.  This monitoring will continue throughout the year, at which point our project partners will compile and analyze the data. SGERC will continue to share data throughout the year with our technical advisors and members of the public through our Watershed Working Group.

 

Our goal is to understand the temperatures and water quality conditions that exist in the lagoon throughout the season, and compare them to the needs of various species. This will enable us to determine if something can be done to improve their spawning and survival.  Please help us protect this important research as well as the health of the lagoon and stream system by refraining from damaging the sandbar.

 

Feel free to contact SGERC with any questions about the lagoon or our ongoing work in the San Gregorio Watershed. Call (650) 726-2499 or email Neil at [email protected].

 

Oct. 2010 Lagoon breach photos courtesy David & Sandra Zink

 

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The Tax Assessor

by Joe Cottonwood

True story:  Exactly 30 years ago, I finished the construction of my house in La Honda.  We had the final inspection.  Next, the tax assessor came out to take a look.  Let's call him "Earl."

When Earl knocked on my door, he said, "Before I assess your house, come on out to my car for a minute.  I want to show you something."

At the car Earl pulled out an assessment list for La Honda.  He pointed to some entries.  "See this lot?  One acre, kinda hilly but you could build a nice house there.  The assessment is forty thousand dollars.  Then here, look at this.  I rated this one myself.  Also one acre, almost level, horse property, lots of sunshine, great view, fit for a king, and the assessment last year was for ten thousand."  Earl shook his head.  "A bit of variation, wouldn't you say?"

Next, Earl walked through the interior talking about how he could give us a break on one thing or another, like counting the unfinished half bathroom as a storage closet, and then he said, "Come on back to the car."

Earl got into the driver's seat.  Reaching across, he opened the passenger door.  "Come on in," he said.

I sat inside.

"Close the door," he said.

I closed the door.

"Well?" he said.

It was pretty clear that this was the moment when I was supposed to hand over a bribe.  Or was this a trap?  I'd always heard that government in California was clean, not like Chicago.  I'd never heard a word about scandal in San Mateo County.  But here was Earl.  Here was I, in his car.

"Uh, thanks for looking at my house," I said, and I got out of the car.

Earl drove away. 

In the mail I received my new tax assessment, and it seemed to be on the high side. 

Thirty years later, it still rankles me.  I don't mind paying my fair share, and yet…  If I'd slipped him a few twenties, how many thousands of dollars would I have saved over the years?  And how many of my neighbors took advantage of what he was offering?