Tonight I went to see a terrific film entitled The Visitor. This film was written and directed by Tom McCarthy who also wrote and directed the terrific film The Station Agent. McCarthy was onhand for a discussion afterward and provided some terrific insights to the choices he made in telling this touching story.

The Visitor is about a college professor who travels to New York to attend a conference and finds a young couple living in his apartment. The story gives another view into the challenges many face in a post 9/11 world.

I won’t give away too many details and will let you enjoy the experience.

NYT Review of the Visitor

I want to congratulate the good folks who put in so much hard work for the 2008 Chickens Ball! It was the first time I’ve had the opportunity to attend, and I was honored to serve as a judge.

The performances were terrific and if you were in the audience – you know how much fun everyone had!

Congratulations again for a job well done and your support of San Carlos schools!

Please note tonight’s meeting will start at 6PM and take place in the San Carlos Library.

I’ve been reading all your emails and taking phone calls from many folks regarding proposed budget cuts. There are no easy options this year.

I’ll add more on this topic tomorrow after the meeting. I hope to see you there.

I love flying. I suppose it started when I saw astronauts and wondered with awe how they became superheros. Mom told me that astronauts are great pilots. I became a pilot and love flying.

Ned Snyder was my instructor when I first joined the flying club in the mid 1990′s. Ned’s boyish face always had a big grin, a big laugh and a handshake that could crush coconuts. He loved flying. His passion for flying oozed out of his pores and infected everyone around. Ned was always there with his huge smile generating excitement of the flight we were going to take.

Ned introduced me to the wonderful flying community of NorCal – many of those folks have become good friends. Some of my fondest experiences are about flying – and Ned was a huge part of them.

Ned went on to fly “with the majors” as a captain for United Express, but then recently opened up his own business – a flight school. He bought a float plane and with stunning enthusiasm brought the joy of flight to many many more people.

Today my friend Todd told me that Ned’s plane had crashed into a mountain late Friday leaving no survivors. Ned’s wife and young son are left with a large hole in their family – and those of us who knew Ned are looking at the sky and wishing we could share one more laugh with our friend.

I don’t think Ned had any idea how much he would be missed, but I know today the sky is crying…

Link to Ned’s Memorial Site

I’ve had an interesting few days. Late last week – I had the opportunity to meet several members of a group called “The Elders.” The reason I bring this group up is to bring out the notion of resolution and coming together. I look forward to members of our community expressing their views with civility and the hope we will all show respect to those who hold other views by listening and searching for common ground. Emails to me are regarding this issue are running even.

I am looking forward to the discussions of the field situation on Monday. I am diligently reading all emails coming to me and have found a few recurring questions:

Why are we spending money of fields when we need (other priorities)?
I find government finance confusing at best and have shared your feelings of being dumbstruck that discussions of fields would supersede other critical city services. As I started to go through the funding I learned the following:
Funds being discussed for fields/parks are restricted and cannot be used for other purposes. Specifically, Measure G was a parcel tax San Carlos voters approved for the exclusive use of parks/fields. Park-in-Lieu fees are put against developers and those fees are restricted. Lastly – there is the $1M gift from PAMF. This gift is restricted to fields.

So as the discussions of park improvements move forward – we are not making decisions between parks and other city priorities.