Why is Pietro Parravano kissing a junior staffer at a Harbor Commission meeting?
The kiss violates the District's Harassment and Retaliation Policy 6.2.5.
Section B:
It is no defense that the recipient appears to have voluntarily "consented" to the conduct at issue. A recipient may not protest for many legitimate reasons, including the need to avoid being insubordinate or avoid being ostracized.
Section D:
Even visual, verbal, and/or physical conduct between two employees who appear to welcome it can constitute harassment of a third applicant, elected representative, officer, employee or contractor who observes the conduct or learns about the conduct later. Conduct can constitute harassment even if it is not explicitly or specifically directed at an individual.
YouTube VIDEO of the Kiss:
You're next Pietro
The Jig is Up
Human nature is a curious thing. Most reasonable folks that get caught with their fingers in the cookie jar, pull their hand out quickly, with an embarrassing blush. Some try to explain off their wrongdoing. That's a normal response to the guilt of getting caught.
Then there are others, fewer in number, that have no conscience, no respect for themselves, and others, and when caught dig deeper into the cookie jar.
Maybe those folks consider it one of two ways:
- They've been caught so might as well go for it...
- They're entitled and screw you if you don't like it. They feel above the law, and will not stop, until stopped by others.
Pietro's Call for Dissolution
In 1992, then-President of the Half Moon Bay Fisherman's Marketing Association, Pietro Parravano wrote a letter to LAFCo requesting dissolution of the Harbor District. LAFCo is an independent commission that evaluates governmental agencies' boundaries and services. The Commission reviews proposals for the incorporation of cities, annexation to cities, detachment from cities, formation of districts, dissolution of districts, annexation to and detachment from districts.
In the letter below, Pietro Parravano expresses frustration with the San Mateo Harbor Commission. His letter complains that the Harbor District is unresponsive to the needs of the people who work at Pillar Point Harbor.
Parravano then goes on to call for the dissolution of the San Mateo Harbor District. That's how bad he felt things had become. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, Mr. Parravano changed his spots.
Real Fishermen Don't Change Their Spots
Embezzler's (Inadvertent?) Accomplice
Later in the decade (1998), over $100,000 was stolen from the Half Moon Bay Fisherman's Association. The theft was enabled in part by Pietro Parravano who signed a stack of blank checks that the embezzler used to steal the money. We can only hope that this was simply stupidity.
Grant Fraud
In the spring of 2011, Commissioner Parravano was approved for a $83,221. Carl Moyer Air Quality Grant from the state that would have replaced his existing boat engine with a reduced-emission 2010 Volvo Penta D5a TA Diesel engine. The grant was designed to aid commercial fisherman who wanted to retrofit their vessels with clean burning engines. The problem was that Parravano was not an active commercial fisherman.
Read the Investigation Emails
Pietro's Response
No Excuses
Flat Busted
What was he thinking?
In early 2012 Parravano's boat the "Anna B" was towed from Pillar Point Harbor to Bay Marine Boatworks in Point Richmond. Technicians removed the 1965 Isuzu DA120 Diesel engine, not an easy task on a 65 year old wooden boat.
When the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the organization that administers the State's Carl Moyer Air Quality Grant, was notified that Parravano was not an active commercial fisherman, they investigated and emailed a request for verification. Parravano ignored the first request. When asked again, he pretended there might be a controversy because he was a San Mateo County Harbor Commissioner, and hinted that he was withdrawing his application to avoid the appearance of favoritism. The truth was that the "Anna B" hadn't been operable for years. Investigators had no choice but to rescind the grant because Parravano was unable to provide Fish and Game landing recipes, fuel receipts, and other documentation. Unfortunately Parravano had already towed the "Anna B" to Bay Marine and the old engine had been torn out. Without the grant Parravano couldn't afford a new engine. The vessel sat in drydock for over a year until Parravano's wife borrowed money to pay Bay Marine. As they say in the boat repair business, "No cash, no splash."
President Parravano
On Wednesday, June 18, 2014, Parravano was installed as president of the Board of Harbor Commissioners. Parravano will preside over a Harbor District that treats fishermen so poorly that they recently wrote a letter to the Federal government asking that a grant application for harbor improvements be denied.
Requested Dissolution & Embezzled from Fishermen
In January 1992, Parravano as President of the Half Moon Bay Fisherman's Association asked that the San Mateo County Harbor District be dissolved because it was not serving the needs of the people who earned a living at the Harbor. Then in 1998 Parravano enabled the embezzlement of funds from the hard working fisherman. Then Parravano tried to pretend he was a fisherman, to score an $83,221. dollar grant for his boat which at the time barely floated, and had to be towed to Bay Marine. Finally, 20 years after he called for the dissolution of the Harbor District, Parravano was elected President of the board of Harbor Commissioners.
The same night Parravano was selected to be President by Commissioner Holsinger and Commissioner Tucker, he voted to keep his $20,000 per year health benefits. Parravano did this knowing that the District he wanted to disband in 1992 has been running a 20% to 30% deficit since the Minnow went on a 3 hour tour.
Read the July 10, 2014 Half Moon Bay Review article about Commissioner Parravano becoming the president of the board.
Pietro Parravano buys wholesale fish and sells it at the Menlo Park Farmers Market and the Palo Alto Farmers Market. He does not catch the fish he sells. He also sits on many Federal, State and Local boards and commissions including the Joint Ocean Commission Initiative, *Roots of Change and the Institute for Fisheries Resources.
*We're delighted to learn that Pietro Parravano was removed from the Roots of Change Stewardship Council in 2011. The reference was deleted from Parravano's bio on the Harbor District website in 2014.
Thanks for the info from Pillar Point Harbor fishermen. Thanks to the Air Quality District for providing emails.
Some of the text content on this page was borrowed from TalkAbout on the Half Moon Bay Review website and other sources.