Why I Want Your Vote
October 12, 2026
Dear Friends and Neighbors,
I have had the pleasure of representing you as a community activist, a Half Moon Bay City Council member, and a civil servant for the Coastal Conservancy. I have raised my family here and spent most of my life protecting what makes our coastal town special.
This election, we are at a crossroads. The federal government and oil companies are attacking the Coastal Act which protects our beaches, farmland, and open space. New state laws are challenging the protections we have put in place to curtail growth, prevent sprawl, and manage our limited resources. Our local economy is driven by tourism, retail, and agriculture, which creates instability in City finances.
With these headwinds, ask yourself, what direction do you want to take Half Moon Bay? Do you want the cookie cutter strip malls and high rises that other coastal towns have surrendered to? Do you want us unprepared and underfunded for natural and manmade disasters? Do you want to give up local control for one-size-fits all policies from Sacramento?
I do not. I have spent my life pushing back on this nonsense. I have stood in front of bull dozers and lobbied governors. I put in place legal protections and gotten funding to pay for it. I have found solutions through compromise, when others abandoned hope. Sometimes it has been messy. At times I have been the only adult in the room.
Until now, we have prevailed. Today, I need your help to continue that work.
I have deep and practical experience developing and implementing land use policy and addressing natural resources issues in the Coastal Zone as a grants manager and legislative analyst with the State and as an elected official.
I have developed trusted relationships and partnerships with other public agencies and officials and non-profit organizations that help bring funding and technical assistance to my community.
I do my homework, make tough decisions, and get stuff done. What we do not need now, is inexperienced and fanciful thinking from people who have never shown up when it mattered.
The community can depend on my skills, relationships, and know-how to help us deal with the challenges we will continue to face. I am asking you to vote for my reelection to City Council this November.
With great respect and sincerity,
Debbie Ruddock
