Tracked Issues
Editorially curated live civic issues linked to meetings, organizations, statements, and news.
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November 2026 Elections — Three Council Seats & the Town's Future Direction
active • Governance, Elections, and Civic Process
Last activity: Jun 13, 2026
Half Moon Bay's November 2026 City Council election will determine the direction of every issue described above — housing compliance, farmworker dignity, Measure D reform, and coastal resilience. Three Council seats are up for election in N…
Coastal Erosion & SR-1 Vulnerability — California's Most At-Risk Highway
active • Traffic / congestion
Last activity: Jun 13, 2026
Half Moon Bay's relationship with the Pacific Ocean is existential — and Highway 1, the community's only coastal artery, is increasingly vulnerable to the same forces eating away at Pacifica's cliffs to the north. Caltrans is managing multi…
Measure D — A 1999 Growth Control Law Colliding with 2026 State Mandates • Featured
active • Housing Affordability
Last activity: Jun 13, 2026
Half Moon Bay's most fundamental housing constraint is a voter-approved growth control law that has been on the books for 27 years. Measure D, passed by Half Moon Bay voters in 1999, limits annual population growth to between 1% and 1.5% by…
Farmworker Housing — A 555 Kelly Avenue Project Three Years in the Making • Featured
active • Housing Affordability
Last activity: Jun 13, 2026
The 555 Kelly Avenue senior farmworker housing project is simultaneously Half Moon Bay's most important affordable housing action and its most politically painful civic saga. Born from the shock of the January 2023 mass shooting that killed…
Governor Newsom's "Final Warning" — Housing Compliance on the Brink • Featured
active • Housing Affordability
Last activity: Jun 13, 2026
Half Moon Bay is the only Bay Area city named in Governor Newsom's March 2026 housing enforcement action — a distinction that carries serious legal consequences. Newsom gave Half Moon Bay and 14 other cities 30 days to respond to notices be…
Housing & The Largest Upzoning in County History
active • Development & Neighborhoods
Last activity: May 24, 2026
San Mateo County is making a historic housing bet along its transit corridors. On April 21, 2026, the Board of Supervisors adopted an amended Housing Element on a 4-1 vote, creating three new high-density zoning districts near Colma BART — …
Sea Level Rise — California's Ground Zero
active • Climate, Environment, and Resilience
Last activity: May 24, 2026
San Mateo County has been formally identified as the most vulnerable county in California to sea level rise — a designation that carries enormous long-term policy and financial stakes. The county's bayfront communities, including Redwood Sh…
Youth Mental Health Crisis — Alarming Data Demands Action
active • Mental health
Last activity: May 24, 2026
San Mateo County is confronting a youth mental health emergency that elected officials described as "sobering" even during a ceremonial Mental Health Month proclamation. A representative from the Peninsula Suicide Prevention / Felton Instit…
Sheriff's Office Aftermath — Rebuilding Accountability & Trust • Featured
active • Police accountability
Last activity: May 24, 2026
San Mateo County is still working through the fallout of one of the most dramatic law enforcement governance crises in the Bay Area in recent memory. In May 2025, an independent investigation found evidence of conflicts of interest, misuse …
The VLF Funding Crisis — A $157 Million Injustice • Featured
active • Budget priorities
Last activity: May 24, 2026
San Mateo County is fighting one of the most consequential — and least publicized — fiscal injustices in California. The dispute centers on "in-lieu VLF" replacement funding that counties and cities receive tied to a vehicle license fee red…