The Buzz 09.17.15

WHO’S IN TOWN?

The California Special Districts Association represents more than 1,000 district-members, including a bunch of local groups, like the Cypress Fire Protection District, Marina Coast Water District, Moss Landing Harbor District and more than a dozen others. Hundreds of officials repping hundreds of acronyms gather for their annual conference in Monterey this week, where they’ll hear updates on lobbying and advocacy efforts from CSDA. For an extra $45 fee, members can attend a tour of Pure Water Monterey, a recycled water project, led by two member agencies – Monterey Peninsula Water Management District and Monterey Regional Water Pollution Control Agency.

Monday Sept. 21-Thursday Sept. 24. Marriott Hotel, 350 Calle Principal, Monterey. $600/CSDA member; $800/non-member. (916) 442-7887, www.csda.net.

WHAT’S UP WITH THAT

Locals understandably want to know more about would-be Olympic boxer Jamie Mitchell of Pacific Grove as she navigates extensive qualifying tournaments, including one in Baltimore, Maryland, last week. Visit www.mcweekly.com/boxer for more.

OVERHEARD

“Is that the problem, we maybe have too many lawyers?” 
- Fort Ord Reuse Authority board member Ian Oglesby, speaking about the board during a contentious legal discussion at its Sept. 11 meeting.

GOOD WEEK / BAD WEEK

GOOD: The prospect of maintaining a local, sustainable fishing community got a big boost Sept. 11 when the Monterey Bay Fisheries Trust acquired more than $1 million in groundfish fishing quota from The Nature Conservancy. The trust, a local nonprofit aimed at preserving the region’s groundfish fishery, was formed in response to a federally-mandated “catch-share” quota program implemented in 2011. While the system has proven an ecological success, it has a downside: Fishermen who were allocated quota shares in 2011 can sell them on the open market, meaning local fishermen may sell some of their quota to out-of-state interests. MBFT Executive Director Sherry Flumerfelt says the $1 million from TNC amounts to about 4.2 million pounds of catch, bringing MBFT’s total quota holdings to 4.7 millions pounds. MBFT will now lease out the quota, and Flumerfelt says negotiations with local fishermen have already begun.

BAD: While thousands of area residents rejoiced as construction of an In-N-Out Burger began this week on Del Monte Boulevard in Seaside, dozens of residents located close to it – conveniently enough – took the news hard. They live in Monterey’s Del Monte Grove Laguna Grande neighborhood, which borders Laguna Grande Parkand includes major Del Monte Boulevard and Fremont Boulevard connector Casanova Avenue. They expect dramatic traffic increases as In-N-Out obsessors travel Casanova and other narrow neighborhood streets, and decry the fact the Seaside-centric environmental impact report didn’t include adjacent areas. They are scrambling to organize their own traffic analysis for future comparison. Seaside’s EIR did, however, project significant and unavoidable traffic impacts on Del Monte Boulevard, particularly the southbound Highway 1 on ramp and intersection with Canyon Del Rey. Commuters in the area, be prepared: Bad will get worse.