Harbor District race hotly contested - District race hotly contested

For years, the board has been at odds over anything from bathrooms to personnel appointments. It's been the subject of a Grand Jury report and the target of criticism from fishermen to politicians. Four newcomers and three incumbents are bitterly fighting for the seats on the embattled board.

"I don't think a couple [of members] are honest," said board member Sally Campbell. "Tax payers are spending their hard-earned money now to compensate for it."

The district, formed in 1933, collects tax dollars from residents in the entire county. It oversees Pillar Point, a working harbor at Princeton-by-the-Sea, and Oyster Point, a recreational harbor in South San Francisco.

Campbell is running for her fourth term on the board and claims the only reason she's running is to maintain opposition to board members Leo Padreddii, Pietro Parravano and James Tucker. The trio consistently votes in a bloc against Campbell and Commissioner Ken Lundy.

Their ringleader is Tucker, who serves as secretary of the board, Campbell said. Campbell isn't the only one who feels this way.

"Sometimes it seems like the meetings were plotted out before we even had the meetings," said Beverly Fontana, a candidate for the seat and the former district secretary.

Fontana said her first-hand experience as the district secretary for five years qualifies her for the position. She has seen a number of wrong decisions in the way of personnel appointments and in-house spending.

The board recently hired a personnel director at an $85,000 a year salary to manage 30 employees, Campbell said. The reason, Campbell said, is district General Manager Peter Grenell's inability to work with people. Campbell suggested the district hire a consultant to help Grenell, but didn't have the votes to back her.

Although Campbell has been on the board for eight years and Fontana put in five years as secretary both said business owners wouldn't sign their nomination forms for fear of retaliation. The owners didn't specify what the retaliation would be, Campbell said.

As candidates for the often-overlooked Harbor District, candidates aren't running hard-core campaigns and haven't started trolling for endorsements - except for Will Holsinger.

Holsinger poses the biggest threat to unseating Campbell. He's friends with Tucker and already has an impressive endorsement list including Supervisor Jerry Hill and San Mateo councilmen John Lee and Jack Matthews.

"I am aware there has been factionalism on the commission. I don't think I'll become a part of that," Holsinger said.

The Burlingame attorney recently served on the Bay Meadows phase two Citizen's Advisory Committee, where he worked closely with Matthews. He has served on a number of boards and commissions in the county and is looking for ways to us his free time constructively. So he settled on the Harbor District.

He likes both harbors and has an interest in sailboats. His mother also owned a fishing boat in Marin during the 1970s. If elected, he wants to focus on bringing ferry service to Oyster Point Marina and also building a better relationship with South San Francisco, where Oyster Point resides.

Another candidate is Tom Mattusch, an El Granada charter boat operator, running to get more attention for Pillar Harbor to make it a sought-after tourist destination. He said he's keeping clean and not getting involved with the politics of the board.

The heated race will at least offer residents a glimpse of politics on the board.

"If I get nothing else done this year, I'd at least like the public to know what's going on out there," Campbell said.

Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com.