February 12 – 18, 2025
Greensite… is out for a bit, but she will be back… Steinbruner… Downtown explosion plan, comment NOW … Hayes… the unfolding of spring… Patton… Get engaged locally… Matlock… cause for panic…mealy-mouthed wobblies…old-time religion… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover…Webmistress serves you… Valentine’s Day origins… Quotes on… “Valentine’s Day”

|
Dateline: February 12, 2025
GREETINGS FROM THE DESERT. It’s almost Valentine’s Day, and as most every year, I am spending this week celebrating pyrotechnics at the Western Winterblast, a gathering of professional and amateur pyros, held by the Western Pyrotechnics Association. This year is the 36th annual event, and it’s days and days of fireworks! Not to mention nights! The displays are fantastic… It’s held at the racetrack in Lake Havasu, AZ, and the locals come watch the fireworks displays in the evenings. The manufacturers and distributors show off their new stuff at this type of event, so the variety and quality is unmatched.
Btw, Lake Havasu is the town whose founder bought the London Bridge and had it shipped over, brick by brick. And no, the story you’ve heard about “some dumb guy who thought he was buying the Tower Bridge” is not true. They knew what bridge they were buying, and in hindsight, it was a very clever move indeed. Lake Havasu is a pretty neat place. Check it out, if you ever get the opportunity.

THE BREAKTHROUGH. Netflix. Series (7.1 IMDb) Thanks to Netflix’s voracious appetite for new material, we’ve had a lot of opportunity to watch movies and tv from all over the place. I’ve been noticing an alarming number of bleak crime dramas from Sweden – one of them was “The Breakthrough”, a police procedural based on a real-life 16 year murder investigation. Though the first 3 episodes were a trifle slow, the final episode finally brings it all together. Peter Eggers stars as a police detective who does a LOT of speedwalking while beating his heart out against an impossible case. ~Sarge
NOSFERATU (2024). Prime. Movie (7.4 IMDb) A darkly delightful remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 original “Nosferatu” (itself, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”). The story points match, down to the use of shadows as characters. The performances by Depp, Hoult, and Skarsgård breathe new life into the story, as do the visual textures of the cinematography and costume design (even the choice of using Dacian – a long dead language from central Europe – for Orlok’s dialogue). Slowly menacing in its pacing, this film builds its mood in a way that most modern horror films fail to. ~Sarge
ERASERHEAD. Max. Movie (7.3 IMDb) In honor of the passing of one of the most individual visions in the film industry, David Lynch, I went back and revisited “Eraserhead” for the first time in 40 years. It would become a cult hit during the late 70’s-80’s. There was nothing like it at the time, with a Buñuel level of slow-paced uncomfortable surrealism, and a story that can’t easily be described. As such, it tends to be shoehorned into the genre of horror, which, on a certain level, is fair, but it is so much more. It will be a slog for the short attention-span set, but worth every unsettling moment. Starring Jack Nance, one of Lynch’s personal ensemble favorites. ~Sarge
FLOW. Apple TV, PrimeTV. Movie (7.9 IMDb) “Flow” is a an amazing journey – animated with a small crew on open-source software, it is a personal exploration by animals in the wake of a global flood. A cat is joined by a capybara, a bird, a lemur, and a dog, as they explore the flooded world together on a boat. No dialogue, but actual animal voices in the soundtrack. A refreshing new animaed film, without the glossy signature stylings of Pixar or Dreamworks. We need more of this. Latvian, but it translates well. ~Sarge
STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW. Disney+ series (7.2 IMDb) It’s refreshing when a big franchise realizes they’ve created a universe big enough to tell other stories (look at Star Trek Lower Decks – a successful animated comedy entrenched deeply in the Star Trek Universe), and that’s what Skeleton Crew does for Star Wars. A quartet of children, chafing at the bureaucratic cloister of their homeworld, stumble on a crashed spaceship and find themselves launched into the rough and tumble Star Wars Universe. Using a rough “Treasure Island” plotline, there’s space piracy aplenty: Jude Law’s character is referred to as Cap’n Silvo (nod to Long John Silver from Treasure Island) and the ship’s yarr-voiced droid is SM-33 (Smee was Captain Hook’s first mate in Peter Pan). Good for adults and children (though not TOO young – plenty of life-taking and intense scenes). ~Sarge
NIGHTBITCH. Hulu movie (5.6 IMDb) This film is ideal for husbands and fathers, capturing the mix of profound and bullshit (and profound again) moments in a woman’s journey from being a successful artist to new motherhood. What begins as a seemingly supernatural plot evolves into a raw, magical realist exploration of the chaos and sacrifice of motherhood and identity. It’s a subjective, visceral experience, navigating the emotional and (literal) physical mess of this transformative stage. ~Sarge
SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE. PrimeTV. (6.9 IMDb) A quietly ponderous Christmas tale set in a small town in Ireland in 1985 (swear to god it feels more like the 1940s…). Cillian Murphy plays a loving father and quietly likable coal delivery man, who comes into conflict with the steely “kind” Mother Superior (Emily Watson) of the local school and “Magdelene Laundry” for fallen girls. A bit of a slow walk, and as heartening as it could be, given the Laundries wouldn’t be eliminated till the mid 1990s. Excellent performances all around, particularlly given how little dialogue there was. ~Sarge
EMILIA PÉREZ. Netflix. (6.8 IMDb) A musical for those who don’t like musicals. Emilia Pérez is a spectacular film with a compelling story. A ruthless drug cartel leader, Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), seeks the help of attorney Rita Mora Castro (played by Zoe Saldaña, who just won a golden globe) to undergo gender affirmation surgery and begin a new life as Emilia Pérez. However, things go awry when she invites her unsuspecting former wife Jessi (played by Selena Gomez) and her children to live with her. The musical numbers are strong and short. ~Jennifer
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. In theaters. (7.8 IMDb) I don’t know what I can say about this movie that you haven’t heard from your friends or read about in social media or reviews. It’s one of best movies I’ve seen in a long, long time – and I’m not a fan of biopics, especially musical biopics, but this one is so well done! Although the director, James Mangold, did ‘Walk the Line’, the Johnny Cash movie with Joaquin Phoenix, and that was great too. Timothée Chalamet captures our vision of a young Dylan to a T. He’s an incredibly soulful actor, and Ed Norton as Pete Seeger is uncanny. They edited the songs down from their original versions, but they did in such a way that they never feel like they’re being yanked out from under you; it just makes you want to go and listen to the originals. My 25 year old son loved it too. Run, don’t walk, and believe all the hype because it’s true. ~Hillary

Gillian is taking a break, but she’ll be back!
Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |

My apologies about the incompleteness of that section of last week’s Bratton Online report about the Eastside BID. I forgot to edit it and include that the information came from Ms. Katie Ferraro, Santa Cruz City Economic Development Director.
The reference to the “engineer’s report” regards an analysis by a licensed engineer that separates general benefit vs. special benefit of the fee and is used to calculate how much the fee would be, based on that analysis. It is a requirement for all Prop. 218 votes, which give weighted voting to those who would pay the most.
YOUR CHANCE TO COMMENT ON THE DOWNTOWN EXPANSION (aka EXPLOSION) PLAN DRAFT EIR IS FEBRUARY 21
The Downtown Expansion Plan more closely resembles an Explosion Plan, and is by far the largest project in the City’s history. Please take a look and submit whatever comment you can.
- Ask for a study of the risk of liquefaction, especially in the face of Climate Change anticipated.
- Ask for a study of the noise that would result from pounding beams to the bedrock to support the structures..
- Ask for an analysis and modeling of flooding risk related to the San Lorenzo River and anticipated climate change sea level rise.
- Ask for an analysis of the connection to the beach and Boardwalk, ie, where would shuttles be located and associated parking for out-of-town tourists be located.
- Ask for an analysis how this massive project is consistent with the character of Santa Cruz and adjacent communities???
Will this really improve the economy by destroying what is left of the beach town atmosphere the tourists (and residents) seek by visiting and living here? Won’t it just be a repeat of dense urban centers in the Bay Area that people want to escape when they come to Santa Cruz????
Send your comments by 5pm February 21
Submit Comments to: Sarah Neuse, Senior Planner, via email: sneuse@santacruzca.gov
OR via US Mail:
City of Santa Cruz
Planning and Community Development Department
Advance Planning Division
809 Center Street, Rm 101
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
SANTA CRUZ AGRICULTURAL POLICY COMMISSION WILL NOT MEET UNTIL APRIL 17…BESS ON THE AGENDA?
Considering the recent Moss Landing Battery Fire and unknown impacts on agricultural land in both Monterey and Santa Cruz Counites, it is curious that the group that would seemingly be most interested in advising the Board of Supervisors on the matter would cancel abruptly. Nothing to consider??? Hmmm…
Here is the reply from County Planner Sheila McDaniel, staff member in charge of the County Agricultural Policy Advisory Commission (APAC), when I sent an inquiry about where the group would be meeting:
The APAC meeting, regularly scheduled for the date of 2/20/2025, has been cancelled due to a lack of items to be heard. The next regularly scheduled APAC meeting is booked for 4/17/2025.
It is even more curious that the APAC will not meet until a few days before the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider a new County Ordinance regulating Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in the County, and potentially approving the permit for the first of it’s kind in the County at 90 Minto Road in Watsonville. This facility would remove many acres of prime agricultural land from production and must be approved by the APAC.
Hmmm….
Please contact your County Supervisor and ask about this…and demand a few town hall meetings.
454-2200 Board of Supervisors
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING
I tried to participate in the California Energy Commission business meeting this week, but they could not hear me, due to technological problems. I wanted to implore the Commission to investigate the Moss Landing Vistra Battery Fire, and to reject all applications for lithium-ion Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) projects.
California Energy Commission : Docket Log
Here is some interesting information that was on their docket:
11. Charge Bliss, Inc. Proposed resolution approving agreement LDS-24-005 with Charge Bliss, Inc. for the first phase of an up to $28,091,162 grant, and adopting staff’s recommendation that this action is exempt from CEQA.
The agreement will fund deployment of a 33 MWh non-lithium-ion Long Duration Energy Storage (LDES) system, with a discharge duration of at least 10 hours, at the Valley Children’s Hospital (VCH) in Madera County. The agreement will initially provide $4,328,572 for the first phase consisting of preliminary engineering, detailed project planning, and commercial scale designs, and up to an additional $23,762,590 may be added, with approval from the CEC’s Executive Director, through an amendment. The LDES system will be operated as part of a microgrid being funded by VCH featuring 2.2MW of fuel cell capacity, 1.2MW of solar photovoltaics, and a 2.8 MWh LDES system. (LDES Funding) Contact: Javier Flores (Staff Presentation 5 minutes)
CENTRAL COAST COMMUNITY ENERGY INVESTING IN BESS IN THE STATE…AND ANOTHER RATE INCREASE COMING
I attended the Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) Operations Board meeting this week. Santa Cruz County CAO Carlos Palacios sits on that Board. Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker was elected as Chair..
I spoke about the need to place a moratorium on lithium-based BESS facilities, and explore safer and more environmentally-friendly alternatives, such as sodium-ion BESS options.
The Board did not respond to my comments, but I noted that the representatives from Monterey County were asking many questions later about the agenda item regarding the BESS project in Tracy.
[Just a heads-up…Director Shaw explained that a rate increase for 3CE customers is coming. He also said that on March 13, 2025, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is expected to have completed an investigation of the Moss Landing Vistra Battery Fire, and is expected to review new safety requirements for such technology.]
This 3CE Operations Board met February 12 and approved spending nearly $800 Million for the hybrid power and battery storage plant in Tracy that will construct a Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility next to an existing natural gas-powered electricity plant. The plant will run on energy from the BESS part-time.
CEO Shaw gave a presentation that included a slide directly addressing the impacts of the Moss Landing Vistra Battery Fire. I asked that the slides be uploaded onto the meeting agenda website…they still are not there.
.
SEE #13
with a power delivery term of 15.5 years with an expected Start Date of January 1, 2027, in an amount not to exceed $783,000,000
BACKGROUND:
At its September 14, 2023 meeting, the Policy Board, relying in part on its earlier policy position to promote low or zero emission conventional generation resources that “serve as a bridge to California’s zero-carbon grid,” voted unanimously to support the innovative hybrid-battery energy storage system approach that can both: 1) reduce existing natural gas facility emissions; while also, 2) secure valuable Resource Adequacy product for 3CE customers. The Policy Board’s direction permitted staff to implement a component of 3CE’s strategic approach to cost-effectively meeting our Resource Adequacy compliance obligations under a slide of day compliance structure. Specifically, to “control […] existing traditional dispatchable resources that can perform in each hour of the 24-hour slice of day paradigm.”
In January 2024, the Operations Board approved, consistent with Policy Board direction, two such hybrid-battery storage Projects (the Panoche and Midway hybrid projects). While these earlier projects added a 1-hour discharge duration battery energy storage system, the Tracy Hybrid project proposed here would add an 8-hour long duration BESS.
In May 2024, 3CE launched a request for offers (“RFO”) targeting procurement of renewable energy and/or storage resources to help meet our internal goals, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and meet reliability requirements.
Approval of the Tracy Hybrid Project accomplishes the earlier board direction to control dispatchable resources to stabilize 3CE’s Resource Adequacy needs on a longer-term basis while reducing existing Low Med High emissions by constructing a battery at an existing natural gas facility. 3CE will be a joint offtaker of this project, with 3CE taking one third of the total capacity meaning 98MW of RA from the CCGT and 13.3 MW of the 8-hour BESS facility. Two other CCAs are finalizing agreements for offtake of the other two thirds. This hybrid resource will provide valuable fixed-price RA benefits to ensure RA compliance for 3CE under the Slice-of-Day (SOD) RA paradigm, which began in 2025. If approved the proposed project would meet approximately 18% of 3CE’s RA obligation at a savings over 3CE’s forecasted RA price. Once the BESS obtains operational status, 40MW of the interconnection capacity currently allocated to the CCGT facility will be redistributed to the BESS.
While not located within the 3CE jurisdictional footprint, the facility is in Tracy, San Joaquin County and grid-tied to the CAISO balancing authority.
The proposed Tracy Hybrid Project would be the third hybrid-BESS project with developer MRP. The earlier projects are scheduled to be operational in 2026 but to date, no development issues have arisen with either project. MRP owns and manages about 2,000 MW of generating capacity in California and 4,000 MW outside of California. Approval of the Tracy Hybrid Project accomplishes the earlier board direction to control dispatchable resources to stabilize 3CE’s Resource Adequacy needs on a longer-term basis while reducing existing Low Med High emissions by constructing a battery at an existing natural gas facility. 3CE will be a joint offtaker of this project, with 3CE taking one third of the total capacity meaning 98MW of RA from the CCGT and 13.3 MW of the 8-hour BESS facility
Environmental Stewardship The project is in an area zoned for industrial uses with other operating power plants nearby. Land, biological and cultural surveys are complete and were included in technical reports to San Joaquin County and no significant impacts were identified. As both the existing CCGT and new BESS facility are on a developed parcel, no significant impacts are anticipated as part of the local planning and entitlement process. The project is anticipated to reduce the CCGT output and thereby lower emissions in the local area.
Here is some background information about the existing natural gas power plant in Tracy:
Tracy Combined-Cycle Power Plant
What about PG&E??? Well, that entity is also charging ahead with nine BESS projects, all of which are lithium-ion technology.
Project Details
The nine projects announced today and listed below all feature lithium-ion battery energy storage technology, each with a four-hour discharge duration. PG&E has executed 15-year Resource Adequacy agreements for each of the following projects:
- Beaumont ESS I, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Terra-Gen, LLC) – The Beaumont Energy Storage project is comprised of a 100 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Beaumont, Calif. (Riverside County) and scheduled to be online by August 2023.
- Sanborn ESS I, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Terra-Gen, LLC) – The Edwards Sanborn Energy Storage project is comprised of a 169 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Mojave, Calif. (Kern County) and scheduled to be online by August 2023.
- Canyon Country ESS I, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Terra-Gen, LLC) – The Canyon Country Energy Storage project is comprised of an 80 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Santa Clarita, Calif. (Los Angeles County) and scheduled to be online by October 2023.
- Moss Landing Energy Storage 3, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Vistra Corp) – The MOSS350 Energy Storage project is comprised of a 350 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Moss Landing, Calif. (Monterey County) and scheduled to be online by August 2023.
- Poblano Energy Storage, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Strata Clean Energy, LLC) – The Inland Empire Energy Storage project is comprised of a 100 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Rialto, Calif. (San Bernardino County) and scheduled to be online by April 2024.
- NextEra Energy Resources Development, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc.) – The Corby Energy Storage project is comprised of a 125 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Vacaville, Calif. (Solano County) and scheduled to be online by June 2024.
- NextEra Energy Resources Development, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc.) – The Kola Energy Storage project is comprised of a 275 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Tracy, Calif. (Alameda County) and scheduled to be online by June 2024.
- Nighthawk Energy Storage, LLC (an affiliate of Arevon Energy) – The Nighthawk Storage project is comprised of a 300 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Poway, Calif. (San Diego County) and, pending required local approvals, is scheduled to be online by June 2024.
- Caballero CA Storage, LLC (a wholly owned subsidiary of Origis USA, LLC) – The Caballero Energy Storage project is comprised of a 99.7 MW stand-alone, transmission-connected battery energy storage resource located in Nipomo, Calif. (San Luis Obispo County) and scheduled to be online by June 2024.
PG&E Proposes Nearly 1600 MW of New Battery Energy Storage Capacity
SANTA CRUZ CITY DOING GOOD WORK TO MAKE USE OF WATER WHEN IT IS ABUNDANT
I attended the Santa Cruz City Water Commission meeting on February 3 and was pleased to see such commitment to projects that will make good use of stormwater when it is abundant.
City staff did discuss a reclassification of Water Year determinations. What would have been a “normal year” will now be classified as a “wet year” under the new five-tier evaluation system (that I still do not understand)
AT LAST! THE WHALE BRIDGE WILL OPEN!
According to Supervisor Manu Koenig’s recent newsletter, the Chanticleer Pedestrian Overcrossing, aka ‘Whale Bridge’, will open
MAY 14 at 5:30pm. I wonder if there will be sidewalks on the inland side to accommodate all the foot traffic to the bridge? Last known, there will be no such improvements for pedestrian safety in that busy Grey Bears corridor.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. REVIEW ONE SECTION OF THE DOWNTOWN EXPANSION PLAN AND MAKE A COMMENT.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING ONE THING.
Cheers,
Becky
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |

The rain started again, restarting the lushing verdancy across meadow and field, spurring the growth and creep of understory carpets. Fortunate are those who can wet their shoes in the droplet covered grass, who can wander into forest to witness the sorrel, ferns, and moss sparkling with moisture. For those who have done so but cannot now, let memories suffice: living those memories is the next best thing. For those who cannot access these places, may my words bring you some sense of the reality of this moment of the progression of the season.
Meadowlands
The open fields, the prairies, the grassy hillslopes are the quickest with rainfed spring. In 2020 and again in 2021, the meadows greened in December and browned again in February for lack of rain…I worried that we might experience that kind of fire-dangerous drought this year, but the rain returned. Mostly cool nights and short days preserved rain’s wetness through the month-long dry spell through January. February brought the rain. In the week since the rain returned, plant height in the prairie nudged higher…4 more inches. Grass leaves proliferate, whorls of wildflower leaves unfold. The leaves sparkle with water drops.
How can the meadows be so wet, even when it isn’t raining? Dewdrops condense from the moisture in the air settling on the cooler ground and the plants growing there. First thing in the morning grasslands are wet from dew just like it just rained. This is compounded when the soil is moist because some plants, especially grasses, soak up water and exude droplets from their leaves. Plant drool.
Telltale circular stunted areas of grasses betray fairy rings of mushrooms forming. Soon a circle of softball sized spherical white puffball mushrooms will emerge at the periphery. Parasols of other mushrooms, brown, gray, red, yellow, and white are the prairie flowers for now, popping up here and there, little surprises for those who wander fields.
The first true wildflowers in the meadows – “footsteps of spring” – can be found in shallow-soiled, short stature grasslands. In preparation for its flowers, the flat, frilly rosettes of leaves have started turning audacious chartreuse, soon to be pure bright yellow to frame buttons of tightly held flower clusters. These plants are often nestled in beds of mosses and liverworts which also proliferate when grasses can’t overtop them on shallow soil or closely grazed pasture. Those bryophytes, though tiny, are underappreciated for their luscious texture and pleasing array of green hues.
Late Winter Forest Show
The moss and lichen gardens are more pronounced in coast live oak forests, which ring meadows in the transition to the deeper, darker redwood or fir stands. Hanging from coast live oak limbs are long, moistened drapes of pale green lichen, swooshing back and forth in breezes. Living mats of a hundred colors and textures cling to the mostly hidden gnarly bark of oaks. Some moss patches seem ancient, inches deep and crawling with tiny critters. Other types of moss are shorter with starfish arms reaching out to claim new territory from the even smaller lichens, stuck like paper art right onto bark. Wait- where’s the bark? Everything that looked like bark is actually lichen – round patches curl at their edges, some types like tufts of feathers, other types with masses of closely ranked, coral-like knobby protuberances. Different lichens can be mustard yellow, sea green, dark almost black green, white, and even red, but you have to get close to appreciate the array of color.
Coast live oaks are evergreen trees, keeping some leaves all year, but this time of year they have shed many of last year’s leaves, so the lichens and mosses inhabiting their branches and trunks get more sunshine. This makes the sunny days between rainstorms the best time to take in the lush moss beds and lichen mats.
Under the Deep Shade
Creeks chatter and sing, spattering high on their banks in the wake of rain. Canyonsides, under redwood, fir and tanoak, sword ferns and redwood sorrel are entering their heyday. Sword ferns unfurl fresh fronds through the center of previous years’ darker, battered leaves. Sometimes stands of these ferns blanket the understory with little else, each plant 3′ across and nearly as tall. These old growth ferns are increasingly rare as they are not tolerant of hot wildfire, which destroys them. Not so with redwood sorrel, which springs back from more protected nooks after fire. In the footprint of the 2020 CZU fire, redwood sorrel has already claimed the extent of its pre-fire understory territory. This sorrel has shamrock clover-like 3-leaflets, from one to the next they touch each other, completely covering the deep, moist redwood duff, forming vast carpets of medium green, uniformly 3” tall. Pinkish white flowers are opening and will soon be quite the display. On trail or roadside, milk maid flowers are ahead of them, already in peak, if subtle, bloom. Milk maids are radish relatives with four petaled nearly white flowers.
With the new wave of rain, mushrooms have begun once again to proliferate in the forest understory. Even if you can’t name them, you might like to take a closer look at their artistry. As with all Life, we are at an epicenter of species diversity like few other places in North America, and the mushroom diversity reflects that. My favorite are the skinny deep purple-red wine-colored ones, the big ones with bright red caps, and the slimy yellow and green ones.
Fresh Air!
The rain has washed the pollen out and breezes carry oxygen rich, moist air that is just right for breathing. Long gone is the wildfire smoke and roadway dust. On a warm day, the sweet smell of bay tree flowers might waft your way. Taking deep breaths of Nature’s air is worth making the trek out of doors and into the wild: it is good for you.
Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.net
Email Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |

Tuesday, February 11, 2025

“Get Engaged Locally”? To be clear, I am not talking about the wisdom of focusing your romantic endeavors, leading to marriage, to people who live in the same Zip Code. I am talking about “politics.”
Pictured is Joyce Vance. As Wikipedia tells us, Vance “is an American lawyer who served as the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama from 2009 to 2017. She was one of the first five U.S. Attorneys, and the first female U.S. Attorney, nominated by President Barack Obama.”
Most important, I think, is the fact that Vance now writes a daily blog on Substack, called Civil Discourse. I subscribe to her blog, and I encourage you to do so, too. There is a “no charge” option.
Vance’s daily postings in Civil Discourse are invaluable in helping people to understand the “legal side of politics and government.” This is increasingly important with Donald J. Trump now serving as President of the United States. The president works for us, of course, not the opposite, but given Mr. Trump’s impression that we are all supposed to take orders from him, it’s important for us to know our rights and powers, and the president’s obligations, and the limitations on what the president is authorized to do, or command.
Vance’s posting on November 29, 2024, was titled, “Wild Accusations,” and commented on a claim made by the president’s friend Elon Musk. Musk claimed that Alexander Vindman, former Director for European Affairs for the United States National Security Council, was guilty of “treason,” and not only “should” but “would” be punished – presumably by imposition of the death penalty. Musk, like Trump, has an elevated sense of his own greatness, and of his own importance, and of his own power. The following statement is an excellent example of claims that are totally unjustified, legally and otherwise.

In her Substack blog posting, Vance quoted from an earlier interview she did with Vindman, and reported on that interview as follows (emphasis added):
In November of 2023, Alex was our guest for Five Questions. His answer to my final question for him is just as important today as it was then:
Joyce: So many people are engaged and want to do whatever they can to ensure democracy survives the 2024 election and Trump. What do you see as some of the opportunities for each of us to get involved and do our part?
Alex: The most important thing we can all do is read your Substack to stay smart on threats to our democracy! But seriously, one thing we can do is get engaged locally. Once people connect with their communities and stay engaged, they will notice that their communities are good; no one is living in a Trumpian hellscape of American decline, and it’s important to push back against this narrative.
Complacency is not an option. Understand the power of your vote. If your vote wasn’t important, foreign adversaries wouldn’t be working so hard to influence your vote. Republicans wouldn’t be removing large swaths of voters from the rolls. Normalize talking to your friends and acquaintances about voting and educate them on candidates and issues. We have just under a year until the election and it’s going to be a marathon, not a sprint….
I endorse Vindman’s recommendation (even though – and perhaps especially because – the 2024 election has now come and gone and our former president, Trump, has been returned to the White House). At the “local” level, people can and will learn that they really are in charge of the government (and not the opposite). I was elected to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors five times, and served on the Board for twenty years. A County Supervisor is one of only five persons who are in charge of County Government, which has the ability to set policy on land use, social and health services, and on virtually every other important area of our community’s life.
My personal experience in local government in Santa Cruz County has absolutely demonstrated to me the truth of what Vindman says.
Get engaged locally!
That’s the important message that comes from a couple of people who are mainly involved with politics and government at the national level. It’s very good advice!
Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.net
Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com |

SPECIAL PROJECTS, SQUIRRELS, MISSING MEL, SELF-LOATHING
On a recent edition of the ‘Late Show,’ Stephen Colbert said in his opening monologue that he didn’t want to “cause panic” as he began to relate all the panic-inducing illegal and unconstitutional actions of the Trump administration. As for the firing of all the Justice Department personnel who investigated the J6 Insurrection case, Colbert said there will be nobody left, necessitating a name change to “the Department-Of-Just-This-Guy,” adding, “The firings are probably illegal, and it’s clearly retribution — unless you ask a Republican like Congressman Dan Crenshaw.” A video clip of Crenshaw, asked about the retribution aspect, said, “Who knows if it’s revenge. I think it’s open to interpretation,” to which Colbert added, “Sure. Who knows? It’s just like that movie ‘V for Vambiguous.’” He decried the administration’s ‘Special Project’ of launching investigations of specific prosecutors who were just doing their job. “Going after honest civil servants doing their job is not a special project. It is a disgrace. A special project is when, to protect you from bullies on the playground, instead of going to recess, you get to help Miss Brogdon clean the erasers,” he explained.
The Bully-On-The-Playground Trump ignores the laws, adhering to the ugly habits that he can’t abandon, even a law that Congress passed as a reform simply because of his behavior during his first term in office. So he charges ahead with his corruption, not caring, joined by an uncaring electorate who isn’t paying attention anyway. His recent firing of fifteen inspectors general, those independent watchdogs heading agencies of the executive branch to monitor waste and corruption, purging some who were appointees from his first term, is only a continuation of his ripping out the guardrails — no walls here, please! The inspectors came into being in 1978 as a deterrent to scofflaw presidencies, such as Richard Nixon’s, against the abuse of executive power. Originally, there were only twelve inspectors, but over the years that number grew to 73 — inspectors general for the inspectors generals? The current issue is that under the law, a president had to give Congress 30 days’ notice regarding an intent to fire an I.G., providing some vague reason why it is necessary. Bob Bauer and Jack Goldsmith wrote at Lawfare in 2022, “More frequently than prior presidents, Trump manipulated vacancies and related laws to fire or dismiss disliked inspectors general and replace them, pursuant to the Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998, with a more like-minded or pliant official.” This prompted Congress to amend the law by replacing the word ‘reasons‘ with the phrase ‘substantive rationale, including detailed and case-specific reasons.’ In spite of the law’s change, strengthened because of Trump’s actions, he has mocked it by flouting the original law. No 30 days’ notice, no rationale — he just did it, telling the press that it was all fine and, “It’s a very common thing to do,” which became the catchword for Republicans, Fox News, Sinclair, and the remainder of the propaganda chorus. As you might expect, Senator Lindsey Graham admitted that Trump broke the law, “technically,” but chuckled that he wasn’t losing any sleep as a result.
We can expect the president’s new I.G. appointees to turn a blind eye to petty corruption, but these dark-of-night actions foretell that more serious and aggressive acts are in the offing a la Project 2025, such as attacking executive agencies, as Michael Tomasky wrote in The New Republic. Tomasky says that’s only a guess, “Not being an evil genius myself, I have trouble keeping up with these people.” He accuses the Democrats of “being their usual wobbly selves, with mealy-mouthed vows to work with the administration, not understanding the situation we’re in.” Sounds very much like most of the media prior to the election, treating the presidential race as a business-as-usual quadrennial event — ho-hum, let’s move along, nothing to see here, it’ll all work out, la-la-la-la-la. Tomasky says, “The situation is this. Trump takes up about 80 percent of the oxygen. His craven party and the right-wing media will applaud everything he does, legal or not, and invent some justification for it. The half of the country who voted for him will agree and approve. They assume, for example in the case of the inspectors general, that these people are corrupt deep-staters who are standing in Trump’s way, so good riddance, law schmaw. They don’t need to be galvanized, in other words. As long as Trump’s getting his way, they’re in the game, and they’re content.” He goes on to say that those who voted against Trump need to be galvanized, but some are still hurting from the election results, others don’t want to engage, while many feel there’s no hope. But somebody needs to step up and lead, choosing issues that will galvanize the anti-Trumpers, instead of ignoring Trump’s missteps as part of the game. Tomasky characterizes this as “such a passive, Democratic way to look at this. There’s always an excuse not to act, if not acting is what you want to do.” He closes by adding, “The president broke the law. Clearly and unambiguously. On his fifth day in office. In what democracy is that NOT an issue? I fear we know the answer.”
To smooth over some of the rough edges of his new tenancy, Trump continues to reach out with his being “saved by God” mantra, which he emphasized in his inauguration “weave.” So now we have, by executive order no less, a new ‘Faith Office’ in the White House to be led by televangelist Paula White-Cain, who has been Trump’s so-called spiritual advisor, with Attorney General Pam Bondi running interference with a task force to root out “persecution” of America’s Christians. These actions will sit well with Christian nationalist cabinet members, and Trumpster Dumpster/Vice President JD Vance, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, despite Trump’s sketchy relationship with religion. His flirting with religion during his first term, is noted by his tear-gassing demonstrators to clear the path to allow him to clutch an upside down Bible in front of a church for a photo-op. Other photo-ops show him praying with evangelicals in the oval office, after which he derided the event, in essence, asking aides, “How do these people believe this stuff?” He recently told a crowd at a prayer breakfast in DC, that he has had a religious awakening, especially since the assassination attempt in Butler, PA during a campaign rally. Evidently, he wasn’t awakened enough to heed Bishop Mariann Budde’s sermon when she called for him to show “mercy” toward immigrants and LGBTQ citizens. Many of his appointees and hangers-on have ties to the New Apostolic Reformation Church, which as a Christian Nationalist movement is calling for government and society come under their control. Notably, House Speaker Mike Johnson is linked to this group, as is ‘Faith Office’ leader Paula White-Cain. Secretary of Defense Hegseth belongs to a church affiliated with the right-wing Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches — you guessed it — a Christian nationalist front, calling for reestablishment of Biblical law, and possible repeal of women’s right to vote. For the moment, Trump is not espousing these views, but he continues to please the religious right with his accommodations — he’s easy! In his prayer breakfast speech, he explicitly called for an increased role in religion, saying, “We have to bring religion back. Let’s bring God back into our lives.” Also hinting that we need to bring him back to a third term in the Oval Office — identity confusion?
Florida’s megachurch preacher, Paula White-Cain, as a proponent of ‘prosperity theology’ fits right into Trump’s credo that God rewards the faithful with material wealth and personal success. Many of Trump’s MAGA supporters are disappointed that White-Cain is now embedded in the Oval Office, considering her theology as heretical by blaming financial woes as a lack of faith, which will only be used to exploit vulnerable churchgoers. Christian podcast host, John Mason, wrote on X, “Paula is a known heretic and known false teacher who has no regard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” Self-described ‘Orthodox Christian’ and leadership coach Scott Ross, agrees that White-Cain is a heretic, calling Trump’s appointment “an abomination, utterly opposed to authentic Christianity, she has had multiple husbands, twisting the Gospel for profit.” Curiously, Paula is currently married to guitarist Jonathan Cain, of the San Francisco-based band, Journey. Ruth Ben-Ghiat whose blog is ‘Lucid‘ via Substack posted on Reddit about an email from a reader recently. The reader states, “I have prayed about writing you. I know you are a liberal but you are also a historian. I want you to know that God himself spared Trump twice from death at the hands of another. This means he has blessing and approval from the Almighty just like George Washington. I think you should recognize that, and admit God wants him as our salvation.” Ruth replied, “Well, Hitler survived six serious attempts and at least 42 plots. God also allowed him to live. Do you think God approved of what he was doing? Do you think he was Germany’s salvation?” Crickets.
The biggest bit of news has been the establishment of a new branch of government to join the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial — the MuskRat, headed by slasher Dork Lord, and now co-president Elon Musk (or Leon, as Trump calls him), and his fake departmental DOGE team of unvetted, non-security-cleared teens and twenty-somethings who are rummaging through the files of governmental departments with their computers and portable hard drives. Hold ’em high guys, for the highest bidder — what say you Mr. Putin? The Blitzkrieg Team has had a field day with access to sensitive Treasury Department data, paramount in that treasury trove being Social Security and Medicare information. Musk and his DOGiEs demanded access to the files, resulting in a refusal from 30-year veteran Deputy Secretary David Lebryk, and upon his refusal to do so, he was put on administrative leave before being forced to resign. Following the DOGE raid, Senator Ron Wyden sent a letter of outrage to Trump’s new Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, indignant that “officials associated with Musk may have intended to access these payment systems to illegally withhold payments to any number of programs. To put it bluntly, these payment systems cannot fail, and any politically motivated meddling in them risks severe damage to our country and the economy. I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access. Sources tell my office that DOGE was granted full access to this system — Social Security, Medicare benefits, grants, payments to government contractors, including those that compete directly with Musk’s own companies.” Wyden goes on to point out that Medicaid portals in all 50 states were shut down when Trump unsuccessfully attempted to freeze all grant and loan payments, and has concerns that Musk is seeking to gain access to and potentially control the Fiscal Service’s payment systems in order to carry out a political agenda in violation of the law. The senator says it appears that Musk is forcing out qualified and experienced public servants in order to get his way and fulfill Trump’s goal of eviscerating the federal budget, including potentially by cutting Social Security and Medicare benefits for millions of Americans. Perhaps instead of four branches of government we are really looking at only one — headed by two individuals? Just remember, Trump’s first lie of his second term was the oath of office.
Elon Musk revealed that he and Trump were in agreement to shut down the foreign aid agency known as USAID, telling employees not to report to work, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio then declaring that he had taken over as acting administrator of the agency, ending its largely independent status. Without warning, senior officials and hundreds of civil servants have been suspended and eliminated, though Rubio said many of the programs would continue, even as he blamed the radical change on “worker insubordination.” Many USAID employees and Democratic lawmakers gathered in front of the agency’s headquarters in DC, denouncing the shutdown as illegal because Congress created, and funds, the agency as a distinct entity. Over the past several months the omnipresent Musk has gained a growing list of critics, but a voice from his past has been brutal in an analysis of his former confidant’s character. CEO Philip Low, of NeuroVigil, a Bay Area startup, posted on Facebook that Musk tried to undermine the business even after investing in it, because of his own rival business, NeuraLink. Low’s post has less to do with the two enterprises, which only have similar products with different marketing bases, than about personality, as he terms Musk to be “a total miserable self-loathing poser.” Low claims that the 14-year relationship of the two allowed them to share personal problems, with both men having violent fathers who lost their fortunes, both being bullied in high school, then ending up in similar environments in Silicon Valley. He portrays Musk as self-centered, believing he is above everyone else, as a power hungry and cynical individual who persuades people toward far-right political leanings world-wide. Low attributes Musk’s two Nazi salutes at Trump’s inauguration festivities, to his being a thrill-seeker who knew exactly what he was doing, as he tried to ingratiate himself to the Nazis in the MAGA movement. He says Musk was likely disappointed when the audience didn’t return his gestures to show his complete control and domination over them — and raising his leverage over Trump in the process. The post ends with Low’s warning that Musk readers should stop working for him, not supporting Tesla and X, saying, “He only wants to control, dominate, and use you — don’t let him. Cut him and his businesses out of your, and your loved ones, lives entirely. Unless you happen to be a self-loathing loser, too, he will be much more afraid of you than you should be of him.” But as Rex Huppke posted on Bluesky, “These are not good people. And the time to panic is right freakin’ now!”
The Little-Day-One-Dictator (you think he meant to say One-A-Day-Dictator?) still has his greedy territorial expansionist gears turning in his head from Canada to Panama to Greenland to Gaza, which can become the Riviera of the Middle East after ethnic cleansing, bomb and land mine clearance, and bulldozing for removal of megatons of debris from demolished buildings. No mention of a wall to prevent residents from returning, or to keep spies, saboteurs and bomb squads at bay. Senator Amy Klobuchar, speaking at the Washington Press Club Foundation Annual Congressional Dinner, mentioned that the organization dates back to a time when the US was comprised of only 46 states, sarcastically joking that the US would be adding more states thanks to Trump’s roving eye to other lands. “Speaking of Greenland, there’s a question for you that I want to pose. What’s the difference between Greenland and Donald Trump? Greenland is not for sale!” she gloatingly cracked. This was met with a chorus of boos from the GOPers in the audience, to whom she said, “OK, to any Republican and Trump administrators out there, who might want to throw eggs at me for that joke — you can’t, because they’re too expensive.” ‘Late Show‘ host Stephen Colbert suggested that Trump probably wants to change Canada’s name should it become our 51st state, and since it’s just above Minnesota, it could be called Maxisota. Then again, Trump might want to investigate leftover names suggested by Thomas Jefferson in 1784, for some of the western territories, a grid divided into sixteen regions. Jefferson submitted ten names, two of which, Michigania and Illinoia survived with editing, but other baroque offerings as Pelisipia, Assensipia, and Cherronesus only made it into the circular file. The Donald will probably grace any new states with names based on his DEI hires: Don, Eric and Ivanka.
President Trump has chosen his next battle to be with paper straws, saying an executive order would “end the push for Paper Straws. BACK TO PLASTIC!” People posting on media could hardly believe it: “This takes an executive order?”, “Clutching at straws, literally,” “Focusing on what really matters!”, “Politics aside, this genuinely reads like a toddler upset at school lunch,” “This is what you voted for?”, and “Congrats, America!” With the flood of executive orders so massive that Trump can’t remember them all, a Congressman said, “They’re running low on squirrels they hope we chase.”
Satirist Andy Borowitz, in his Report a few weeks ago wrote: “In a bid to reassure the nation, Pete Hegseth said if confirmed as Secretary of Defense, he will connect a breathalyzer device to the nation’s nuclear arsenal…instead of being on a car it would be on nuclear weapons. Hegseth added that he would submit to a daily phone conversation with his mother, and ‘if Mom says I don’t sound right, I won’t go near any nukes. Besides, if I’m hung over, I won’t set off anything loud.’ In a final pledge, Hegseth said, ‘I promise the American people: if I’m drunk in the morning, I’ll have someone else drive me to the Pentagon.’” In a subsequent satire, Borowitz indicates things went awry, writing: “Pete Hegseth’s tenure as Secretary of Defense got off to a wobbly start on Monday after he was arrested on suspicion of DUI for crashing an M1A2 Abrams Main Battle Tank into the Pentagon. The arresting officer, Harland Dorrinson, arrived at the Pentagon shortly after receiving reports of a large battle tank making figure 8s in the parking lot. Finding the smoldering Abrams protruding from the side of the building, Dorrinson said Hegseth was ‘extremely combative when I asked him to step out of the tank.’ Hegseth was later booked, released, and driven home by Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.”
Mr. Trump became the first sitting US president to attend football’s Super Bowl on February 9, and amazingly he managed to make it all about him! He erroneously chose the Kansas City Chiefs to win the game in a pre-game interview with Fox News’ Bret Baier, giving high praise to quarterback Patrick Mahomes. He revived his grudge against pop singer, Taylor Swift, when she was shown on the Jumbotron and was soundly booed by Eagles fans in the stands because of her relationship with the Chiefs. Trump turned this negative reaction toward himself when he claimed she was being booed for supporting Kamala Harris in the presidential sweepstakes, saying, “MAGA is very unforgiving! Only the Chiefs had a rougher night.” Raise this man’s golden high chair before he throws another ketchup-laden plate of french fries onto the field! And where was Melania? In the cheap seats?!
Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |


EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. View classic inner-view ideas and thoughts with Subconscious Comics a few flips down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
Valentine’s Day
“Valentine’s Day is a love-note to the rest of the year. Graciously, it comes at a perfect time to be savored — that period of calm between winter holiday commotion and spring enticements.”
~Jo Lightfoot
“Oh, here’s an idea: Let’s make pictures of our internal organs and give them to other people we love on Valentine’s Day. That’s not weird at all.”
~Jimmy Fallon
“Today is Valentine’s Day – or, as men like to call it, Extortion Day!”
~Jay Leno
“Any guy hates Valentine’s Day. Even if you’re in love, you can’t win on Valentine’s Day. If you’re married, you can’t win on Valentine’s Day. Valentine’s Day is like the thing you want to avoid at all costs.”
~Vince Vaughn
“When I got old enough to date, I realized that Valentine’s Day is just a commercial marketing scam to make men feel bad. So I let my boyfriends off the hook.”
~Evangeline Lilly

Encyclopedia Britannica’s 2 minute exposé on the origins of Valentine’s Day. |
Direct questions and comments to webmistress@BrattonOnline.com
(Gunilla Leavitt)

February 5 – 11, 2025
Greensite… is out for a bit, but she will be back… Steinbruner… Downtown Expansion Plan Intel, Battery Storage Updates, Good Job on Water Projects… Hayes… The importance of cows… Patton… Have we lost faith? Failed?… Matlock… will to live…hold your breath…free cake… Eagan… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover… Webmistress serves you… English words left behind by the Vikings… Quotes on… “Football”

|
Dateline: February 5, 2025
FOOTBALL. Being Swedish, to me, football is a game played with your feet, kicking a ball across a giant field and into a goal, trying your best to not be stopped by opposing team members. I’ve never understood American Football. It has always seemed like a lot of “hurry up and wait”. People here sure love it though! Happy Superbowl, to all of you who observe… See you on the other side!

THE BREAKTHROUGH. Netflix. Series (7.1 IMDb) Thanks to Netflix’s voracious appetite for new material, we’ve had a lot of opportunity to watch movies and tv from all over the place. I’ve been noticing an alarming number of bleak crime dramas from Sweden – one of them was “The Breakthrough”, a police procedural based on a real-life 16 year murder investigation. Though the first 3 episodes were a trifle slow, the final episode finally brings it all together. Peter Eggers stars as a police detective who does a LOT of speedwalking while beating his heart out against an impossible case. ~Sarge
NOSFERATU (2024). Prime. Movie (7.4 IMDb) A darkly delightful remake of F.W. Murnau’s 1922 original “Nosferatu” (itself, an unauthorized adaptation of Bram Stoker’s “Dracula”). The story points match, down to the use of shadows as characters. The performances by Depp, Hoult, and Skarsgård breathe new life into the story, as do the visual textures of the cinematography and costume design (even the choice of using Dacian – a long dead language from central Europe – for Orlok’s dialogue). Slowly menacing in its pacing, this film builds its mood in a way that most modern horror films fail to. ~Sarge
ERASERHEAD. Max. Movie (7.3 IMDb) In honor of the passing of one of the most individual visions in the film industry, David Lynch, I went back and revisited “Eraserhead” for the first time in 40 years. It would become a cult hit during the late 70’s-80’s. There was nothing like it at the time, with a Buñuel level of slow-paced uncomfortable surrealism, and a story that can’t easily be described. As such, it tends to be shoehorned into the genre of horror, which, on a certain level, is fair, but it is so much more. It will be a slog for the short attention-span set, but worth every unsettling moment. Starring Jack Nance, one of Lynch’s personal ensemble favorites. ~Sarge
FLOW. Apple TV, PrimeTV. Movie (7.9 IMDb) “Flow” is a an amazing journey – animated with a small crew on open-source software, it is a personal exploration by animals in the wake of a global flood. A cat is joined by a capybara, a bird, a lemur, and a dog, as they explore the flooded world together on a boat. No dialogue, but actual animal voices in the soundtrack. A refreshing new animaed film, without the glossy signature stylings of Pixar or Dreamworks. We need more of this. Latvian, but it translates well. ~Sarge
STAR WARS: SKELETON CREW. Disney+ series (7.2 IMDb) It’s refreshing when a big franchise realizes they’ve created a universe big enough to tell other stories (look at Star Trek Lower Decks – a successful animated comedy entrenched deeply in the Star Trek Universe), and that’s what Skeleton Crew does for Star Wars. A quartet of children, chafing at the bureaucratic cloister of their homeworld, stumble on a crashed spaceship and find themselves launched into the rough and tumble Star Wars Universe. Using a rough “Treasure Island” plotline, there’s space piracy aplenty: Jude Law’s character is referred to as Cap’n Silvo (nod to Long John Silver from Treasure Island) and the ship’s yarr-voiced droid is SM-33 (Smee was Captain Hook’s first mate in Peter Pan). Good for adults and children (though not TOO young – plenty of life-taking and intense scenes). ~Sarge
NIGHTBITCH. Hulu movie (5.6 IMDb) This film is ideal for husbands and fathers, capturing the mix of profound and bullshit (and profound again) moments in a woman’s journey from being a successful artist to new motherhood. What begins as a seemingly supernatural plot evolves into a raw, magical realist exploration of the chaos and sacrifice of motherhood and identity. It’s a subjective, visceral experience, navigating the emotional and (literal) physical mess of this transformative stage. ~Sarge
SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE. PrimeTV. (6.9 IMDb) A quietly ponderous Christmas tale set in a small town in Ireland in 1985 (swear to god it feels more like the 1940s…). Cillian Murphy plays a loving father and quietly likable coal delivery man, who comes into conflict with the steely “kind” Mother Superior (Emily Watson) of the local school and “Magdelene Laundry” for fallen girls. A bit of a slow walk, and as heartening as it could be, given the Laundries wouldn’t be eliminated till the mid 1990s. Excellent performances all around, particularlly given how little dialogue there was. ~Sarge
EMILIA PÉREZ. Netflix. (6.8 IMDb) A musical for those who don’t like musicals. Emilia Pérez is a spectacular film with a compelling story. A ruthless drug cartel leader, Juan “Manitas” Del Monte (played by Karla Sofía Gascón), seeks the help of attorney Rita Mora Castro (played by Zoe Saldaña, who just won a golden globe) to undergo gender affirmation surgery and begin a new life as Emilia Pérez. However, things go awry when she invites her unsuspecting former wife Jessi (played by Selena Gomez) and her children to live with her. The musical numbers are strong and short. ~Jennifer
A COMPLETE UNKNOWN. In theaters. (7.8 IMDb) I don’t know what I can say about this movie that you haven’t heard from your friends or read about in social media or reviews. It’s one of best movies I’ve seen in a long, long time – and I’m not a fan of biopics, especially musical biopics, but this one is so well done! Although the director, James Mangold, did ‘Walk the Line’, the Johnny Cash movie with Joaquin Phoenix, and that was great too. Timothée Chalamet captures our vision of a young Dylan to a T. He’s an incredibly soulful actor, and Ed Norton as Pete Seeger is uncanny. They edited the songs down from their original versions, but they did in such a way that they never feel like they’re being yanked out from under you; it just makes you want to go and listen to the originals. My 25 year old son loved it too. Run, don’t walk, and believe all the hype because it’s true. ~Hillary

Gillian is taking a break, but she’ll be back!
Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |

Listen in Friday, February 7 at 3pm when longtime local activists Frank Barron and Rick Longinotti discuss as Guests on “Community Matters” what they have found tucked away (or absent from) in the Santa Cruz City Downtown Expansion Plan Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR).
If you haven’t yet heard of this massive development in the Laurel Street area, here is the summary from CEQANet:
Present Land Use
Regional Visitor Serving/ Downtown Subdistrict E, Residential High Density/ Residential-Tourist Commercial
Document Description
The proposed project consists of a series of amendments to the City’s Downtown Plan by extending the boundary of the existing Downtown Plan to incorporate the approximate 29-acre project study area and incorporate policies, development standards and design guidelines for the study area in the City’s Downtown Plan (amended January 28, 2020) that will facilitate future redevelopment of the project area. The project also includes amendments to the City’s General Plan 2030. the Local Coastal Program (LCP). the Beach and South of Laurel Comprehensive Area Plan, and the Municipal Code to provide updates consistent with the proposed Downtown Plan amendments, including General Plan/LCP land use designation and zone district changes for parcels within the project area. The proposed Downtown Plan amendments could facilitate additional development as a result of various circulation. land use and infrastructure revisions. For purposes of environmental review, the project area could potentially accommodate a minimum of 1,800 housing units, 60,000 square feet (sf) of gross commercial area, and construction of a new approximately 180,000 sf permanent sports and entertainment arena for the Santa Cruz Warriors basketball team to replace the existing temporary arena. The arena would contain a main event court with spectator seating for approximately 3,200 seats for basketball, and approximately 4,000 seats for concerts and other performances or uses.
Santa Cruz Downtown Plan Expansion 2022090276 – 2025-01-07 – EIR
Comments on the DEIR must be submitted in writing or via email to Sarah Neuse by 5pm Friday, February 21, 2025.Public Review Period: January 8, 2025 through February 21, 2025.
Submit Comments to: Sarah Neuse, Senior Planner, via email: sneuse@santacruzca.gov
Public Comment is open now until February 21….take a look at the map here and just read one section of the DEIR that most interests you…and write one letter.
Downtown Plan Expansion | City of Santa Cruz
Project page for the expansion of Santa Cruz’s Downtown Plan into the neighborhoods south of Laurel Street.
What will this massive development affect traffic, water, and the quality of downtown Santa Cruz? Listen in from your computer or smart device from anywhere in the world at 3pm Pacific Time Santa Cruz Voice – Listen and Be Heard
Join the conversation by phoning 831-265-5050. Listen to the recorded program from the Santa Cruz Voice.com website under “Current Shows” at the bottom of the page, under “Community Matters”.
NEVER AGAIN MOSS LANDING.
Please link arms with this fast-growing grassroots group to learn more about what has happened following the disaster at Moss Landing Vistra Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facility. Never Again Moss Landing
When no government agency was stepping up to sample for metal contamination from the fire, this group dug into their own pockets to fund $7,000 in expert testing of more than 140 samples taken from a wide area to gather information.
Please support them in whatever way you can and consider joining their informational outdoor rally this Saturday:
COMMUNITY MEMBERS WILL ASSEMBLE AND ADDRESS THE VISTRA MOSS LANDING BESS FACILITY FAILURE AND FIRE.
On Saturday, February 8th at 12:30pm PST, community members will assemble and speak in the parking area to the rear of the Whole Enchilada Restaurant in Moss Landing, CA. 7904 CA-1, Moss Landing, CA 95039. Space is reserved for members of the media.
This is a citizen-organized event that will highlight impacts upon the surrounding community and actions being taken to address citizen concerns. Several speakers will present their observations and findings.
Briefing:
- “Never Again Moss Landing” is a Fast-response grass-roots all-volunteer resident group which advocates for our community’s voice and interests in response to the Moss Landing BESS Fire. We believe that a disaster like this must never again occur. We coordinate local citizen efforts to organize and deploy facts that can restore our community’s environment, health, and welfare. We are not affiliated with any other governmental, business, or advocacy groups. Our website is NeverAgainMossLanding.org. Queries: info@neveragainmosslanding.org.
- Our two Facebooks Groups were created in the immediate aftermath of the January 16th fire:
a. Moss Landing Power Plant/Vistra Fire Symptoms
b. Moss Landing Battery Plant Environmental Disaster Community Group - With over 4700 members there are thousands of individual entries at these two sites detailing personal medical impacts, anger at Vistra Corporation and its response, anger at the EPA and its lack of response, fires at other battery plants, impacts upon pets and livestock, fears of general contamination and environmental degradation, uncertainty about what has happened and continues to happen, and distrust of local, state and federal responses. Members of the media are kindly advised to monitor these sites which reflect widespread citizen responses to the fire and its aftermath.
- Founded in 2016 out of the bankrupt reorganization of Texas Competitive Electric Holdings (TCEH), Vistra Corporation (VST) is a retail electricity and power generation company headquartered in Texas with a current market capitalization of over $57B. It has traded between $137 and $191 in the past month and closed at $168 a share on January 31st. The company is the largest competitive power generator in the U.S. with a capacity of approximately 39,000 megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. It was ranked the No. 1 polluter in the United States for the 2024 Greenhouse 100 Polluters Index Report, producing 1.5% of all greenhouse gas emissions generated in the United States of America. Vistra opened the Moss Landing BESS facility in June 2021. There were two emergency mishaps reported at their facility prior to the 1.17.24 fire. The CPUC has granted Vistra a 20-year permit to operate at this location.
- The outcomes sought from this event include:
a. The Moss Landing/Vistra BESS plant fire must be recognized as an unprecedented and extraordinary disaster for the Monterey Bay region and its residents. This fundamental reality must be shared and clarified locally, nationally, and internationally so that communities understand the scope and seriousness of this environmental and health crisis and its causes.
b. Legal, administrative, and oversight requirements must be identified and enacted so that a fire will never again occur at the Moss Landing BESS. The required facility standards for regulation and operation must be greatly strengthened. This facility must not be allowed to reopen until the community is satisfied that these requirements have been met.
c. Local elected officials and our community’s health, educational, and environmental departments need to provide transparency and immediate guidance to residents, businesses, medical and animal welfare facilities, and academic and educational organizations regarding testing protocols and treatment for the ongoing widespread and documented health issues related to this emergency. We are looking for guidance and information from the CA Dept. of Health, the CPUC, and our state elected officials. It is our view that such transparency and guidance have been woefully absent to date.
d. The EPA, FEMA, Dept. or the Interior, and NOAA need to immediately send personnel to measure and monitor air, soil, and water quality in the greater Monterey Bay Area.
e. In addition to immediate assessment and testing of impacts upon human, animal, and environmental health, long-term testing of our region must be developed and instituted. The effects of exposure to heavy metals and other toxic chemicals emanated from the burning of lithium batteries is unknown. Vistra must pay for these expenses which would be implemented and administered by government agencies, our educational institutions, and/or independent third parties.
f. Vistra must immediately be required to release its testing, monitoring, and remediation data including that of third party providers engaged by Vistra. The plant cannot reopen without such full and ongoing disclosures.
g. Dozens of large environmental, medical, corporate, agricultural, and community-action organizations are present in our community. These groups need to coordinate and collaborate their efforts in response to this disaster. Local government can play an important role in coordinating such efforts.
h. Finally, the media as representatives of the public, need to demand answers from Vistra to the many unanswered questions about how this disaster happened. Accountability cannot be replaced by complacency or uncritical acceptance of information being provided by Vistra and the Public Relations company FTI consulting (SC) Inc.
Never Again Moss Landing is a locally created, citizen-led, all-volunteer group facilitating community awareness and response to the Moss Landing/Vistra BESS plant fire.
STATUS OF WATSONVILLE BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM (BESS) IS FURTHER ALONG THAN LEAD TO BELIEVE
On October 29, 2024, Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors approve in concept three sites in the County to locate Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) facilities. Little did we know that New Leaf Energy and Swift Consulting was circling the Planning Dept., and soon after filed an application for a BESS at 90 Minto Road in Watsonville.
This week, I spent quite alot of time researching the proposed Seahawk BESS project and other types of battery technology that would be much safer than lithium.
Here is what I have learned:
Sodium battery technology is much safer, cleaner and environmentally and socially-responsible.
The project at 90 Minto Road in Watsonville is much further down the road to approval than has been made public:
- New Leaf Energy did not purchase the land (37-acres). It remains in a Heritage Trust under Steven K. Dobler, following the death of farmer John Lukrich.
- County Assessor data base information shows five residences on the property, one dating to 1929, yet these are not listed in the Hazardous Assessment Report filed with the Plan.
- Plans submitted December 17, 2024 by Swift Consulting on behalf of New Leaf Energy do not include any information about the required public meeting that was required to be held before filing the application. This meeting was indeed held on December 12, 2024 but it is unknown who received the mailed notice postcard that failed to provide any time of day the meeting was being held at Amesti School.
- Plans submitted show at least 136 battery storage units, each with only 10′ separation from the next.
- In April, 2024, DK Engineering developed the Boundary & Topographic Survey for the site for New Leaf Energy.
- In July, 2024, Dudek Consultants completed a Wetland Stream and Delineation Report for the project.
- On November 6, 2024, County Planner Matt Johnston approved a stand alone biotic report for the project.
- On November 6, 2024, County Planner Sydney Niiyama approved a stand alone archeological Report Review for the project.
- On November 6, 2024, County Geologist Craig Stewart approved a stand alone Geological Hazard Assessment for the project.
- On December 10,, 2024, C2G Civil Consultants in Scotts Valley, CA developed a Stormwater Control Plan for the proposed project.
- On December 12, 2024, Swift Consulting filed the project application that included: Health Risk Analysis (which only addresses diesel particulate air quality during construction), Fire Emergency Response Plan, Hazardous Consequences Analysis, Noise Study, and Decommissioning Estimate. There is NO Neighborhood Meeting Results report.
- Nearby residences on the adjacent downwind parcel will be vacated until the BESS facility is decommissioned in 2050. These two residences (Gomez” and a barn are shown as nearby receptors (285′ and 300′ away), as is the Pajaro Valley Unified School District bus sheds and offices at the end of Grimmer Lane (1,220′ away from the proposed project.
- NONE of the adjacent dense residential subdivisions or Shapiro Knolls affordable housing complex is even mentioned, but are actually closer to the proposed BESS than the Grimmer address.
- The proposed project Plan shows a 12′-14′ high noise wall on the side of the project facing College Lake, but does not include any noise wall for the north side of the project that faces dense residential subdivisions. That area of the proposed project would have a 7′ tall chainlink fence with vegetative landscaping that includes Incense Cedar trees on one page, and Douglas Fir trees on another version of the plan. The landscape plan was developed by Dudek’s office in Portland, OR.
- New Leaf Energy has a local office in Oakland, CA.
- Sequoia Energy Storage LLC is also listed as parties to the project, with the address in Oakland CA 946112, however the principle Mr. Max Christian has the address in Lowell, MA.
- All of the proposed BESS project area is within an existing production orchard, and encompasses two parcels: 05110177 and 05110178, and are zoned for agriculture. The Plan requires significant cut and fill grading. The County must re-zone the land and the County Agricultural Policy Advisory Commission (APAC) must approve taking the land out of agricultural production as well as the required 1:1 conservation agreement inherent.
[NOTE: The APAC was schedule to meet on February 20 but Planner Sheila McDaniel just informed me that “The meeting was canceled this morning due to a lack of items for consideration. The support staff should post a meeting cancellation online shortly.”] - The proposed project Plan indicates the Zayante-Vergeles Fault is nearby;
- The proposed project Plan inaccurately lists Central Fire District jurisdiction when in fact, the project is within Pajaro Valley Fire District (Maybe that explains why Pajaro Valley Fire did not receive notice of the December 12, 2024 public meeting.)
- The proposed project Plan includes only a 10,000 gallon water storage tank on site.
- The project would be unmanned, with a note that cancer is likely over the course of the project for any personnel visiting the site long-term, and would rely on SCADA radio information to relay indications of storage cell venting (the initial stage of battery failure) and smoke detection. Therefore, pg. 322 states the “Health Risk is less than significant, and the chronic hazard index is less than significant.” It is unknown where the information would be received, and how quickly staff could respond, and how nearby populations in adjacent subdivisions downwind would be affected.
- Chemicals listed in the Plan do not include HF gas, which is typical in lithium fires and is extremely hazardous to health and the environment. The analysis only lists hydrogen gas as a byproduct of refrigerant that would be used, and includes a warning that all fire fighter personnel should stay 100′ from the trouble battery container doors.
I spoke with the Project’s Planner, Mr. Evan Ditmars. He is aware that New Leaf Energy did not specify any time on the post cards mailed to what seems to be a very small list to notice the one required meeting before filing the application, and did not seem bothered. He assured me there will be many opportunities for public input because the project very likely will require a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Somehow, I just don’t trust that.
Please contact your County Supervisor, and demand a moratorium on lithium battery energy storage systems until there is a more restrictive Ordinance for our County on this issue, and demand a technical advisory committee be formed that will develop this Ordinance…not the New Leaf Energy CEO or Carlos Palacios, the County Administrative Officer who sits on the Operations Board of Central Coast Community Energy (3CE) and depends on BESS facilities to fulfill the company mission. (Former County Supervisor Bruce McPherson sits on the Policy Board) Governing Boards – Central Coast Community Energy
EXECUTIVE ORDER FOR GROUNDWATER RECHARGE APPLIES ONLY TO 39 COUNTIES
Last week, Governor Newsom relaxed flood measures that allow groundwater recharge without less regulation in place. This does not include Santa Cruz County.
The Executive Order suspends the need for a local or regional agency to determine the imminent risk of flooding based off of local planning documents. While few regional or local agencies have established the specified types of planning documents, local or regional agencies are able to determine the presence of flood conditions by other means. The Executive Order allows local and regional agencies to use readily available information and expertise to determine imminent risk. Local and regional agencies continue to be required to issue a public notification that flows are at imminent risk of flooding and inundation of lands, roads or structures.
Technical Guidance Water Code 1242.1 – Flood Diversions for Groundwater Recharge
Wouldn’t it make sense to allow fallow agricultural land to flood with stormwater when it is plentiful and thereby recharge the local aquifers? Dr. Helen Dahlke at UC Davis has been working on this, upon farmers doing it themselves to raise ag well levels.
Can California’s floods help recharge depleted groundwater supplies?
Take a look…why can’t we do that here in appropriate areas, instead of pumping intreated sewage water that relies on expensive chemical and energy dependent treatment (aka PureWater Soquel Project) with risk of aquifer pollution?
How to Recharge our Aquifers : Helen Dahlke
IS ANYBODY LISTENING?
On May 21, 2024 at the request of the Santa Cruz County Water Advisory Commission, Chair Justin Cummings, on behalf of the Board of Supervisors, sent a letter to multiple state water regulatory agencies and elected officials and asked for a forensic analysis as to why the Big Basin Water Company (BBWC) management problems were not addressed until the point of a Court-ordered receivership resulted.
“As a critical partner in helping to stabilize BBWC and plan for the water and wastewater resilience of thousands of residents, Santa Cruz County sees an opportunity to draw attention to both the successes and shortcomings that have shaped the current situation. The County requests that relevant state agencies and representatives involved in private utility oversight capture lessons-learned so they can be built upon to ensure that the hardships and uncertainties felt by BBWC customers are not repeated around the state, especially following a natural disaster.”
The letter was sent to the following, in an effort to learn how to better serve the public. However, a Public Records Act request with the County reveals that NONE of the recipients has responded to date.
Jennifer Epp
Waste Discharge Requirements Program Manager
Central Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board
895 Aerovista Place, Suite 101
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-7906
Jonathan Weininger
District Engineer, Monterey District Division of Drinking Water
State Water Resources Control Board
1 Lower Ragsdale Drive, Building 1, Suite 120
Monterey, CA 93940
The Honorable Alice Busching Reynolds
President, California Public Utilities Commission
505 Van Ness Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94102
Why does this matter? Because the Big Basin Water Company, a small privately-owned water company is just the tip of the iceberg. Forced receivership and consolidation is on the horizon for others.
Please contact your County Supervisor and ask that they follow up with the officials who received the Board’s May 21, 2024 letter. Better yet, contact the recipients yourself and discuss the issue.
MEANWHILE…LEGISLATION TO FORCE CONSOLIDATION IS MOVING ALONG
The February 5, 2025 Santa Cruz County LAFCO meeting included Item 7c, reviewing a water report from UC Berkeley and UCLA, along with this discussion and recommendation: (pages 15-39)
“In order to address the ongoing challenges in advancing the State’s interest in making public water systems more resilient through consolidations, with a specific focus on disadvantaged and otherwise underserved communities, a stakeholder group was formed with representatives from the two universities, CWC, LCJA, and various LAFCOs. Attachment 2 provides a copy of a joint letter signed by the stakeholders to advance the water report’s recommendations. Specifically, the letter identifies three legislative proposals:
• Amplify MSRs Role in Communicating Community Needs
Amend California Government Code 56430 and its provisions on preparing municipal service reviews to require LAFCOs to take up these studies at noticed hearings as well as require the affected agencies to formally receive the studies at their own noticed hearing and providing confirmation of doing so back to LAFCOs.
• Expand LAFCOs ability to initiate organizations and reorganizations under certain circumstances Amend California Government Code 56375(a) and its enumeration of LAFCO initiating powers to support timely water or wastewater services consistent with community needs.
• Address Service Barriers for Mutual Water Companies and Mobile Home Parks Amend California Government Code 56036 and its definition of “special district” for LAFCO purposes to include mutual water companies. Similarly, amend California Corporations Code Section 14300 to address known gaps.
Next Steps
The stakeholder group is currently developing support documents such as a fact sheet for additional context and a first draft of the proposed bill language. Additionally, the group is searching for possible bill authors. Santa Cruz LAFCO is currently scheduling meetings with our local representatives, including but not limited to Senator John Laird, to discuss the recent water report and potential bill.”
Stay tuned and ask LAFCO to hold a long-promised and required Public Event relating to water issues.
CENTER FOR FARMWORKER FAMILIES AND PFAS IN BUENA VISTA MIGRANT CAMP
The Buena Vista Migrant Camp and adjacent Tierra Alta wells have the highest PFAS levels in the County. Farmworker reality tour
Santa Cruz County Public Library Presentations
All library talks are free and open to the public. We recommend arriving at least 10 minutes early to secure your seat.
Saturday, February 15, 3-4:15pm: Boulder Creek Branch Library
13390 W Park Ave, Boulder Creek, CA 95006
Thursday, March 13, 6:30-7:45pm: Capitola Branch Library
2005 Wharf Rd, Capitola, CA 95010
Thursday, April 24, 6:30-7:45pm: Garfield Park Branch Library
705 Woodrow Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060
*Date TBD*: Live Oak Annex @ Simpkins Swim Center
979 17th Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95062
CAPITOLA WILL SPEND $4.7 MILLION TO RENOVATE JADE STREET COMMUNITY CENTER
Community Center Renovation Project Recommended Action: Staff recommends the City Council:
- approve the construction contract for the Capitola Community Center Renovation Project with SSB Contracting, Inc. in the amount of $4,726,000, including selected additive alternates.;
- authorize the Public Works Department to issue a notice to proceed upon final contract execution;
- approve Amendment 3 to the Professional Services Agreement with Boone Low Ratliff Architects for design consultant services for the Project in the amount of $18,320, for a total contract amount of $579,033; and
- adopt a resolution adopting the NEPA and CEQA determination and amending the FY 2024-25 Budget.
- Community Center Award.pdf (0.09 MB)
- BLRA Amendment 3.pdf (0.02 MB)
- Community Center Award_contract.pdf (0.04 MB)
- Reso.pdf (0.02 MB)
- Budget Amendment – Community Center.pdf (0.47 MB)
- Community Center.pdf (3.55 MB)
Exterior improvements will include replacing the building’s roof and siding, repairing or replacing rafters and concrete piers, and addressing damaged stucco walls. New windows will be added, and all existing exterior doors and windows will be replaced. A shed roof will be installed at the main entry to provide a welcoming and sheltered entrance. Inside the building, the upgrades will include the addition of a single-user accessible restroom, a new office, and a permanent divider between two meeting spaces. Existing offices, the reception area, restrooms, and the kitchen will be enhanced with new finishes throughout. Modern mechanical systems, including a new HVAC system, water heater, and electrical upgrades, will ensure the building operates efficiently.
To improve accessibility, upgrades will be made to the parking area and the paths of travel to ensure compliance with current accessibility standards. In addition to the core project, three additive alternates were included in the bid to provide flexibility based on available funding. These alternates focus on landscaping and irrigation, kitchen and acoustic upgrades, generator enhancements, audio/visual (AV) equipment, and exterior site improvements (such as electric vehicle (EV) charging stations). Although budget constraints prevent the full realization of the outdoor improvements in this phase, the project has been designed to allow for future-phased work as additional funding becomes available.
Regular Meeting of the Capitola City Council – 6 PM, January 30
PROPOSED SANTA CRUZ SEABRIGHT AND MIDTOWN BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICT FEES…MAKE SURE YOU SPEAK UP!
A “No” Vote is Not Enough, California Appellate Court Holds
When it comes to assessments for business improvement districts, voting “no” is not enough to exhaust one’s administrative remedies. For a property owner to preserve the right to challenge a BID assessment, the property owner must provide the reasons for its objection to the assessment during the public hearing on the BID formation, in addition to submitting a ballot opposing the assessment, a California Appellate Court has held.
In Hill RHF Housing Partners, L.P. et al. v. City of Los Angeles, et al., businesses and property owners challenged the City’s recently formed BIDs. The BIDs were formed under the Property and Business Improvement District Law of 1994, and are authorized to fund public improvements benefiting assessed property within the BIDs through the levy of an assessment. Because the assessments would be levied on property, the City was required to comply with the requirements of Proposition 218 in addition to those in the PBID Law.
Consequently, prior to forming the BIDs, the City mailed a notice of public hearing and assessment ballot to property owners within the proposed BIDs’ boundaries. At the public hearing, affected property owners had the opportunity to state objections to the proposed BIDs, and the City was required to consider all objections or protests prior to forming the BIDs and levying the assessments. However, the petitioners did not present written or oral testimony at or prior to the hearing stating the reasons for their objections. PBID Law and Proposition 218 prohibit approval of such assessments if a majority of the ballots returned opposed formation of the BIDs and the assessments. There was no majority protest, and the BIDs were established.
The petitioners then filed a petition for writ of mandate, alleging (among other things) that the assessments’ special benefit allocation was flawed. While the trial court denied the petitions on the merits, the Second District Court of Appeal on June 29 affirmed the judgment on the threshold issue of whether the petitioners had exhausted their administrative remedies.
Parties in California must exhaust administrative remedies before resorting to the courts so that agencies have an opportunity to reach a reasoned and final conclusion on issues being contested. Exhausting administrative remedies narrows the scope of claims on judicial review, facilitates the development of a factual record, gives the agency a meaningful opportunity to apply its expertise and may even render litigation unnecessary.
Accordingly, submitting a “no” vote in the BID assessment did not exhaust administrative remedies, where the BID formation process required the City to consider all objections prior to acting on the BID formation. A “no” vote does not allow the agency to address a property owner’s grievance. Rather, objections must be “sufficiently specific so as to allow the agency the opportunity to evaluate and respond.” At minimum, property owners must submit a ballot and state the reasons for their objections at the public hearing, either verbally or in writing.
Property Owners Must Participate in Public Hearing to Challenge BID Assessments
The Eastsife/Midtown Business Improvement Development Plan came before the City Council on January 23 and the petition process to evaluate the costs is now on the move. It is critical that you speak up about this at every opportunity, or you will not be able to challenge it in the future.
She kindly sent the information below about what residents and businesses can expect going forward. The City Council will review it January 23, along with a review of the Downtown Economic Plan. City Council AGENDA REPORT, Agenda of 01/23/2024
It appears to be scheduled as a benefit assessment and Prop. 218 vote, likely weighted so that those whose assessments would be highest will have more power at the ballot box:
IMPLEMENTATION PHASE
January 2025:
• Final MDP and Engineer’s Report upon City review
• Prepare petitions and petition packets to include Management District Plan
• Summary, PBID newsletter, official petition, and petition instructions
• City Council Study Session – Status Update
February 2025:
• Petition kick-off (allow 3 months)
April 2025:
• City Council approves Resolution of Intention and calls for public hearing;
• Assessment ballots mailed to all assessed property owners
June 2025:
• City Council public hearing, tabulate ballots (45 days later)
This sums up alot….
“Development in the pipeline and currently in construction is rapidly changing our physical environment downtown. As more than 1200 housing units are absorbed into the downtown community over the course of the next five years, we will need to regularly revisit circulation, parking use, and consumer and transportation behavior as needs in our downtown core change.”
(page 6 of the City Council agenda report)
Here is information about a Downtown PBID
Do you think this will help businesses or add just one more financial burden?
A NEW GROUP TO ADVISE ON COUNTY FIRE ISSUES
Next Tuesday , County Board of Supervisors will consider approving the process to form a new Fire Department Advisory Group that will advise the General Services Dept. Director, Mr. Michael Beaton, for the next couple years during what is likely to be major consolidation and reorganization.
“In fulfilling these duties, the FDAG will explore alternatives to the governance structure of County Fire, with a focus on making it more effective. The FDAG will collaborate with other fire agencies and groups concerned about fire and emergency services to examine options for improving services for all who live and work in Santa Cruz County. The FDAG will operate without formal bylaws and will not be governed by the Brown Act. In accordance with Santa Cruz County Code Section 2.38.071(A)(5), alternate procedures concerning public participation, noticing of meetings, quorum requirements, minutes, and any other appropriate matters will be provided.”
See item #10:
Chapter 2.38 BOARDS, COMMISSIONS, COMMITTEES AND DEPARTMENT ADVISORY GROUPS
According to the Operating Procedures in Tuesday’s agenda packet, the new FDAG will meet only on an as-needed basis. FDAG meetings will not require a quorum of its membership, or any minimum attendance of members.
While some FDAG meetings will not be held publicly, the public will be able to access the FDAG meeting notice, standing agenda, and minutes for those meetings by either independently viewing them on the County Fire Department website or by requesting the materials to be sent electronically, as available.
Does this seem like open and transparent government to you?? I just don’t think this is an improvement over the former Fire Department Advisory Commission that the Board and CAO Carlos Palacios dissolved last year. Please write your Supervisor with your thoughts, and participate in the Tuesday, February 11 meeting if you are able.
WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. CONTACT YOUR COUNTY SUPERVISOR ABOUT PROPOSED LITHIUM BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEM PROJECT IN WATSONVILLE…AND DEMAND A MORATORIUM.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING SOMETHING.
Cheers,
Becky
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She ran again in 2020 on a slightly bigger shoestring and got 1/3 of the votes.
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com |

Without large ungulate grazing both wildlife and plant species disappear in grasslands, including California’s coastal prairies. Domesticated cattle (Bos taurus) can be managed in such a way as to provide for those disturbances if wild ungulates have been locally extirpated, which unfortunately they have in many places. People hope that one day native ungulates can take the place of cattle, but those species are nowhere close to being successfully restored in most places. These stories are not told often enough, so many people have opinions about cattle that are unfounded and destructive. Let’s change that.
What Do Cattle Do?
I challenge the reader to compare fence lines or to walk in places with varied cattle grazing regimes. It goes best to slow down and take notes on what you see. Noticing things in nature can be exhilarating; it takes you out of your normal thoughts. Guided and focused investigations are helpful to some people in pursuing this observational state. The following are my observations, which I challenge you to confirm or question.
One Dr. Weiss has wisely proclaimed, ‘Cattle graze globally and deposit locally.’ That “global” grazing removes biomass, reducing thatch aka litter. With too little ungulate grazing, plant litter accumulates for many years, blocking sunlight from hitting the ground. This biomass accumulation can also intercept rainfall, which subsequently evaporates before it reaches the ground. Managed correctly, cattle grazing reduces the growth of taller species, allowing short-statured plants access to sunlight. Very short grasslands are not good for often invasive slugs and snails, which devour wildflowers. Cattle prefer to eat grasses over wildflowers. In the absence of well-managed cattle grazing, a few very competitive, tall stature plants dominate to the detriment of the many shorter and lesser competitive species, especially wildflowers.
What Do Tule Elk Do?
Once upon a time, there were herds of tule elk roaming the Monterey Bay area. I visited an old cabin in Soquel once where there was a hunting trophy tule elk head from the early 1800’s, collected somewhere nearby. Studies comparing tule elk and cattle grazing at Point Reyes suggest that the two species are very comparable in their diet. One can visit tule elk easiest at Point Reyes National Seashore and at Coyote Ridge Trail in Santa Clara. At Coyote Ridge, tule elk are found alongside cattle, which are being managed to restore endangered wildlife and plants.
Touring Elkdom
In order to see how the species is affecting the landscape, I visited a population of tule elk near Limantour Beach at Point Reyes, where the species has long been allowed to roam freely. There is no cattle grazing in the coastal prairies there- tule elk are the only large ungulate at that location. Evidence of the grassland stewardship role of elk was scant: only a few patches were grazed to an appreciable level, so species requiring more grazing disturbance were absent. There aren’t enough elk, or the elk that are there are not concentrated in grasslands enough, to create short stature habitat supporting annual wildflowers. Unlike in cattle-grazed areas of the park, there were no patches of the rare San Francisco owl’s clover or Point Reyes Horkelia and no stands of native violets to support the endangered Point Reyes silverspot butterfly. It seemed to me that coastal prairies at that location were fast disappearing – shrubs like coyote bush were well established and proliferating, and the patches of grassy areas were few and small.
I next explored areas of marsh and dense coastal scrub to see how tule elk were impacting these other habitats. The large marsh that backs up behind the dunes at Limantour beach, at the outlet of a few creeks including Glenbrook Creek, is rife with elk trails. Environmentalists have long proclaimed concern about cattle interactions with wetlands and riparian areas, so much so that miles and miles of fencing has been established to protect those habitats in California. However, I noticed that the trails elk were using through the marsh created habitat complexity, creating patches of deeper, open water that might be conducive to certain sun-loving aquatic species like the rare California red-legged frog.
In the dense scrubby patches, tule elk had roughly bulldozed into shrubs, breaking branches and creating trails in areas that had been otherwise unpassable to larger mammals. I saw grasses and wildflowers establishing along those trails and wondered if coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and more were using those pathways as well to hunt.
Cattle Management
Aren’t cattle unnatural? That’s a question posed by those doubting the role of cattle on conservation lands. The few that recognize the role of grazing at maintaining coastal prairies are mainly comfortable only if this is done my native species…tule elk. Very, very few people appreciate the need to manage cattle grazing to mimic the natural disturbances requisite for ecological restoration and conservation. Those that do have that appreciation know too little about what ‘management’ means.
Managing cattle requires articulating goals, prescribing a grazing regime, monitoring, and adapting management in response to monitoring data. I have heard such unrealistic goals as ‘increase all native grasses’ or ‘decrease all exotic species’ or ‘restore to 80% cover of native species’ or ‘create dense native grasses with healthy populations of native annual wildflowers.’ There are 300 species of native grasses in California; at any site in our region there might be 10. Each native grass species, each exotic species, has a particular life history that responds differently to cattle grazing: we need more specific goals to inform management. Every footprint you make in coastal prairie, even the best examples remaining of that habitat, comes to rest on 80% cover of non native species. We may never return to 80% cover of native species, but if we do it will undoubtedly be of a handful of tall, very competitive grasses rather than a diverse assemblage. To paraphrase the esteemed R. Morgan, grasses aren’t the answer, they are the problem. Even native grasses outcompete native wildflowers.
Cattle grazing regimes are complex to proscribe, but let’s see how that works. Another quote is in order, from Deb Hillyard: “Saying ‘grazing’ is like saying ‘weather.’ You wouldn’t say ‘weather is good.'” These things need some qualification. Grazing regimes alter the number of animals, the breed of cattle (weight, behavior), the ‘class’ of animal (bulls, newborns, heifers, stockers, etc), how long a herd is in what size of pasture, how often they return to that pasture, how long of an interval of ‘rest’ between grazing incidents, how much they move around the pasture, and where water and supplemental food is placed in the pasture (etc). All of those things can drastically affect how the coastal prairie responds. Next time you encounter cattle, see how many of those qualifications you can remember and see if there are clues to help define them.
If we learn to be literate in tule elk…in cattle…in coastal prairie stewardship…we will be a step closer to restoring ourselves alongside this beautiful and diverse landscape.
Grey Hayes is a fervent speaker for all things wild, and his occupations have included land stewardship with UC Natural Reserves, large-scale monitoring and strategic planning with The Nature Conservancy, professional education with the Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve, and teaching undergraduates at UC Santa Cruz. Visit his website at: www.greyhayes.net
Email Grey at coastalprairie@aol.com |


The above picture accompanied an opinion column that appeared in the San Jose Mercury News on Sunday, February 2, 2025. The column was authored by Jeff Smith, who is described as “a lawyer and medical doctor.” We are also informed that Smith retired in 2023, after serving for fourteen years as County Executive of Santa Clara County.
The title on Smith’s column was this: “Empire In Decline: Americans Have Lost Faith In United System Of Governance.” That is a serious assertion. I have reproduced the entirety of the column at the bottom of this blog post, so those reading this blog posting can truly appreciate the implications of what Smith is claiming.
Do let me say that Smith makes no assertion that the picture above should be seen as a group portrait of people who are gathered together in some governmental building to assert their loss of faith in our government. In fact, while the photo is not identified, it appears to me to be a picture of the United States House of Representatives – and maybe Senators are present, too.
I was, I must say, stunned by Smith’s column in The Mercury News. It was Smith’s use of the “past tense” that got me! While Smith holds out a “riduculously small” amount of “hope” for our nation, that smidgen of hope that Smith says we have is absolutely inconsistent with his use of the past tense.
If we have “lost” faith (past tense) and if our system of government has truly “failed” (past tense), then our opportunity to have the kind of government that Smith wants us to have (and that we all want to have) is no longer an option.
Smith either (1) doesn’t really believe that the past tense is being correctly applied in his column (and is using the past tense, presumably, for rhetorical purposes); or (2) Smith is simply unable or unwilling to face the implications of his own analysis. If our system of government has truly “failed,” as he asserts, then the efforts that began in 1776 are now complete. The final report is in, and we have definitively “failed” to establish and sustain a government “of the people, by the people, and for the people,” which is how President Abraham Lincoln described what our government was all about. Indeed, Smith claims that our nation “failed” a long time ago.
Looking at the news reported in the same edition of the newspaper in which Smith’s column ran, it is pretty clear to me that those who have taken control of the Executive Branch of our government, thanks to the election of Donald Trump to the presidency, are acting like the “we failed” analysis is the correct one. As I say, this is really a serious issue – and stipulating to the “we failed” analysis means it’s “Game Over” for self-government in the United States of America.
Before saying more about our alleged “failure,” let me move on to the “lost faith” assertion. Smith asserts that it is a “fact” that the American people, collectively, no longer have any faith that we have a government that is, to repeat Lincoln’s wonderful phrasing, “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” In fact, Smith claims that no one believes that such a government is even possible.
You can check back to my recent blog posting featuring the music of Leonard Cohen, in which his lyrics proclaim that “everybody knows that the fight is fixed; the poor stay poor and the rich get rich.” Smith absolutely agrees with these lyrics, and he doesn’t suggest that we could ever sing a different song. “Everybody knows. That just how it goes.”
Smith uses a strange phrase in making his argument that our government experiment has “failed,” and that we have “lost faith” in the idea that democratic self-government is even possible. Smith claims that this “failure” and “loss of faith” diagnosis is correct because we do not have a “united system of governance.” That’s the strange phrase I am talking about. What does Smith mean by a “united system of governance”? As I read his column, he seems to mean that we don’t have a situation in which everyone agrees that rich White males and other wealthy people should relinquish some of their wealth, power and privilege to benefit society as a whole. “That is not going to happen,” Smith states.
Well, to use a technical term: DUH!
Since when have we ever thought that our system of government was based on consensus, on the idea that everyone will be “united” in agreement? In fact, our politics and government is based on the opposite idea, and on the recognition that people profoundly disagree on just about everything. Our system is supposed to get those who disagree to make decisions that a majority can “accept.” That happens only when those who are dissatisfied with the current situation build their political power. (Hint: you have to get personally engaged if you want that to happen). Given that Smith appears to think that we must have a “united” government, in which people would agree on what he says they will never agree on, it is hard to understand where Smith thinks that “ridiculously small” window of opportunity might come from. If Smith is right about needing a “united” system of governance, you can board over that window of opportunity right now.
Let’s think about how radical Smith’s claims actually are. Smith is basically saying that what most people call “democracy” has “failed” in the United States (not that it is “imperiled,” or “in danger,” but that it has “failed,” and that we have, moreover, “lost faith” that it can ever be restored (although Smith does note that “revolution” may be an available option, which doesn’t sound too attractive to me, if he means that I should find a gun and start killing those rich people with whom I am in disagreement).
When impossibilty is the premise – which is exactly the case with Smith – nothing can be done. If Smith is speaking as a “spectator,” then his predictions of failure may be correct, but when he opines that all of our possibilities are in “the past,” and when he talks like “it’s all over,” then we know that he has missed the truth of our real situation.
In reality, we are facing real, and dangerous, and daunting obstacles to creating the kind of society and government we’d like to make work for “we, the people.” That’s true. That’s the “present tense.” As for the future, our actions now will determine how the future turns out.
Would you like to sit around and feel defeated? Read Jeff Smith!
Would you like to do something about what you don’t like, and what needs to be changed? That requires action – and there isn’t going to be any action, or any “resistance,” if we have truly “lost faith” and stipulate to the fact that we have “failed” in the never-ending challenge of self-government!
Find a small group of friends to support you, people whom you can support, too, and then get to work!
PS: You will have to reallocate how you use your time!
Jeff Smith: We have lost faith in our united system of governance
Bay Area leader says the ‘great American experiment in government’ has failed, and we have been in denial for years
We Americans have a huge problem that we do not want to face directly.We have lost faith in our united system of governance. Only 64% of eligible adults voted in the 2024 presidential election and far fewer vote in gubernatorial elections. A large group of Americans do not believe it matters who is in office or what happens in government.
Even those who vote often make decisions based upon scant or misleading information. In the modern era, “alternative facts” are a shield against reality. Denial is an enormously powerful tool that allows us to avoid any individual responsibility for our situation. The kernel of truth that we do not want to face is that the failure of our nation is our fault.
The “great American experiment in government” failed long ago, and we have been in denial about that for many years.
Why did we fail? Can it be fixed? Should we just start over? I believe the answers to these questions are simple and everyone knows the truth deep down.The answer to the “why” question starts with our founding documents. What the Founding Fathers meant by “all men are created equal” and “endowed … with certain unalienable Rights,” is not what it sounds like today. To them “all men” meant rich, White male property owners — not women, not people of color, not those without property, and certainly not poor people, slaves or Indigenous people.
From the start, our country has struggled to make sense of the inherent conflict between language, practice and intent. Racism, xenophobia, misogyny and unchecked avarice are built into our society and our laws. Indeed, the history of the United States is understood best as a series of conflicts about these very issues. We failed because we have never honestly resolved these conflicts.
Should we burn it down and start a new plutocracy? The answer is also obvious.
We are doing that right now! Many powerful empires/countries have come and gone. Very few lasted more than 350 years. Essentially all failed when the disparity of wealth and opportunity among the citizens became so massive that most felt that revolution was their only practical choice.
The United States is remarkably close to that point now. In fact, we may have already passed it. The nation’s 800 billionaires hold more wealth than half the nation. Those at the bottom have been starved of the opportunity to succeed, and many of them are women, people of color, and stuck in generational poverty created by the wealthy who control government. Remembering Lincoln’s famous quote, “a house divided cannot stand.”? We are there.
Can it be “fixed”? No! Not with the current structure. Fixing the current system would require that rich, White males and others relinquish some of their wealth, power and privilege. That is not going to happen since the system protects them. The only peaceful way to change the entire system requires the participation of all citizens. The privileged class must accept the fact that their behavior is bad for everyone, including themselves.
Is there hope? Yes, but the window of opportunity for change is ridiculously small. The entire world knows that the U in USA is a fantasy. Will we admit it to ourselves and take the action necessary to honestly call ourselves united? I do not know [emphasis added].
Gary Patton is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for individuals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read and subscribe to his daily blog at www.gapatton.net
Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com |

UNELECTED BARNACLE, IT’S A COUP, IMPEACHMENT?
Couple of valid entries on social media last week: “They should invent a January that doesn’t drain your will to live!” Sort of fits in with some of the other mopey posts in evidence. And a perfect companion would be this: “Anyone know which wine pairs with societal collapse?” That one may be more valid when we examine what is coming to pass in DC with King Donald and the unelected co-president Elon Musk. Steve Schmidt on his The Warning blog writes that the two, along with Musk’s goons, are locking government officials out of their computers, offices and buildings as they demand access to the governments payment systems, asserting powers they have no right to assert. To which Schmidt declares, “Heil Trump! King Donald has stomped and huffed and shaken things up.” One outstanding question: Has Musk taken an oath, like the federal workers he has plans to fire, to uphold the Constitution? Musk, an unelected barnacle (as Rolling Stone’s Nikki Ramirez calls him) to King Donald is now ensconced as head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) despite lacking Congressional approval, being tasked by Trump to find ways to slash government spending, reduce bureaucracy, and do away with regulations. As Ramirez notes, DOGE has little legal authority to execute cuts, and no mandate to meddle with the Treasury, but his entanglement with the administration has him influencing every aspect of policy. According to The Washington Post, after Trump’s November victory, Musk and his thug team have been requesting access to payment systems under the Bureau of the Fiscal Service which controls distribution of more than $6 trillion in annual funds, such as Social Security, Medicare benefits, tax refunds, and federal salaries. Now he has crashed through the doorway with complete control.
Treasury official, Mark Mazur, told The Post, “This is a mechanical job, paying benefits, vendors, whatever. It’s not one where there’s a role for non-mechanical things, at least from a career standpoint — your whole job is to pay the bills as they are due. It’s never been used in a way to execute a partisan agenda. You have to really put bad intentions in place for that to be the case.” Which calls into question why Musk/DOGE are seeking access in Trump’s hard-right takeover of the government. According to Wired magazine, Musk has been able to place three close allies at the head of the Office of Personnel Management, who has sent emails to employees encouraging them to resign, offering them several months of paid leave, but as Rolling Stone reports, “While the administration is pitching the resignation offers as ‘a nice vacation,’ they could still be forced to work.” This resignation letter is quite similar to the one Musk sent to Twitter employees after he bought the social media platform — we saw how that all went down — or came down! Musk is getting off on his newfound power, but word is circulating that Trump’s inner circle is getting frustrated with Musk’s abuses of his proximity to the president. One Trump ally said to Politico that abuse is clear, however the president has no leverage over the situation and Elon couldn’t care less. So, here we are with the world’s richest man whose companies have grown fat on US government contracts, and now he has a greater financial interest in how the government operates than your average naturalized immigrant. Rolling Stone’s Ramirez asks, “Is it a blatant conflict of interest to have the world’s richest man continue to profit off his investments while serving in a uniquely powerful and virtually unchecked role over US policy, regulation, government spending, and investment? Yes! Will Republicans do anything to stop it? Don’t hold your breath.”
Back in November, Musk and his then-partner in DOGE, Vivek Ramaswamy, laid out some of their ideas to the Wall Street Journal about their plans. First, mass firings were threatened to reduce employment by resignations to the minimum to accomplish the constitutionally permissible and statutorily mandated functions, after which Trump could suspend worker protections to enforce a “mass head-count reduction across the federal bureaucracy.” In light of recent events, how many air traffic controllers does he think might be the absolute minimum? With help from the Supreme Court they hoped to usurp new power with would allow Trump to ignore Congress and not spend money, something called impoundment. A $500B cut in spending would target items like foreign aid and public broadcasting, already evidenced by Trump’s attempt to throttle federal grants. Some targets might have merit, such as examination of federal contracting and procurement, but when Medicare becomes a subject of discussion it gets scary, despite Trump’s pledge to protect safety net spending. As Senator Ron Wyden said, “I can think of no good reason why political operators who have demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law would need access to these sensitive, mission-critical systems. Americans don’t want an unelected and unaccountable billionaire dictating what working families can and cannot afford.” Fears are heightened that Musk and Trump’s cronies are attempting to gain authoritarian control over the government by ousting or sidelining career civil servants and undermining Congress, which has the constitutional authority to decided how the government should spend its money. Representative Pramila Jayapal wrote, “Musk is rooting around in Social Security and Medicare payment systems. He’s reaching his hands into our pockets and firing anyone who tries to stop him. This reeks of corruption — it must stop.” Senator Elizabeth Warren called for this “alarming” news to be investigated by Congress.
The New York Times was told that no payments had yet been blocked and that the stated mission of DOGE is to review payments, not stop them. Musk suggested on X that he was only looking for inappropriate expenditures, but also that blocking funds might be appropriate. He went on to say that it was discovered that payment approval officers at Treasury were instructed always to approve payments — they literally never denied a payment in their entire career. Former Treasury officials told the Times that funds are dispersed by a comparatively small staff who rely on the agencies that earmark the funds to vet them, and while there are certain automatic safeguards in place, it was not the role of Treasury to approve or reject specific payments. Lindsay Owens of Groundwork Collaborative wrote: “The Treasury system cuts the checks — Musk has infiltrated the system to stop payments. It’s a COUP!” Owens in an op-ed seen on MSNBC outlined three reasons why Musk might want to access the Treasury payment system: 1) Stop payments to certain programs in order to work around the courts’ block on the administration’s spending freeze. 2) Access list of blacklisted federal contractors in order to boost his own or friend’s companies and harm his competitors. 3) Reduce Social Security or Medicare payments as part of DOGE’s goal of cutting $2 trillion from federal spending. Owens notes that Musk isn’t “chasing these cuts for their own sake. He’s helping congressional Republicans attempt to pay for a new round of tax breaks for corporations and the ultra-wealthy — including himself.” A recent poll finding reveals that only around one-third of Americans approve of DOGE and that 52% disapprove of Musk. Olivia Rosane of Common Dreams offers, “If Musk is going to continue running the government like one of his failed businesses, perhaps someone should force his ‘resignation’ too,” and as Michael Phelan of Social Security Works says, “We need to raise holy hell to STOP this.” Asha Rangrappa of The Freedom Academy offers, “In the end, ending this insanity will likely be up to us, the people. Perhaps when people see that their own bottom line is under the control of an unelected, unconfirmed, foreign national billionaire who has no allegiance to the US government, it will spur action in the streets.”
The non-profit Free Speech for People is heading up a new nonpartisan campaign to solicit support for President Trump’s removal from office — ‘Impeach Trump Again’ — with a report that over 100,000 signatures have been obtained on their petition. The group is encouraging Congress to launch an impeachment investigation, claiming that their petition shows “widespread support,” and that the public is unwilling to accept a King Trump. “We need bold leaders in Congress willing to stand up and hold Trump accountable for his abuses of power and initiate an inquiry,” said director Alexandra Flores-Quilty. Sadly, we are in short supply of bold leaders. A post on Quora asks if Trump can be buried at Arlington National Cemetery, drawing this reply: “Last time I checked, it is explicitly illegal to bury someone anywhere who is still alive. However, former presidents CAN be buried there, though it could contaminate the ground, insulting every other human being interred in that sacred ground. Arlington is primarily for military veterans who served honorably, veterans who were decorated during their service; so since Trump is a cowardly, lying draft dodger who has insulted, demeaned, and degraded veterans, having his body anywhere around that hallowed ground would be a slap in the face to every veteran and their family who had ever served this country.”
At this writing, the country and the world, are reeling from Trump’s calamitous misadventure of implementing tariffs upon our three biggest trading partners: Canada, Mexico, and China, all of whom have promised retaliatory measures. Canada and Mexico said their responses would be implementation of their own tariffs against the US, with China saying it would file a lawsuit with the World Trade Organization and enact “necessary countermeasures.” Like taking over the Pana-MAGA Canal? Trump gave a start date of last Tuesday, pronouncing the levies would remain in place “until the crisis is alleviated,” meaning the flow of drugs and undocumented immigrants into this country. Tit-for-tat tariffs from this trio of trading partners could send prices soaring for consumers in the US and world-wide. A press conference by Prime Minister Trudeau indicated Canada would levy tariffs on Tuesday on $30B worth of US goods, with additional tariffs in the coming weeks “to allow Canadian companies and supply chains to seek alternatives.” Trudeau said the long history of the US-Canada alliance should lead to a better path without Trump’s punishment, while warning US citizens that this move “will have real consequences for you, the American people.” He also encouraged Canadians to opt for Canadian-made goods over American products, or changing summer vacation plans to stay in Canada. No comments were forthcoming from the White House.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum posted on X that she has instructed the implementation of Plan B, which has been standing by in anticipation of Trump’s tariffs. The plan includes “tariffs and non-tariffs in defense of Mexico’s interests,” but no details were announced. Sheinbaum slammed the tariffs, saying in her X post, “We categorically reject the White House’s slander of the Government of Mexico alleging alliances with criminal organizations, as well as any intention to interfere in our territory,” adding, “Mexico not only does not want fentanyl to reach the US, it does not want it reach anywhere. Therefore, if the US wants to combat the criminal groups that traffic drugs and generate violence, we must work together in a comprehensive manner, but always under the principles of shared responsibility, mutual trust, collaboration and above all, respect for sovereignty, which is non-negotiable. Coordination, yes; subordination, no.” Trump is probably still wrestling with his Webster’s to understand what she posted, or perhaps texting Elon for answers, but then again, he probably doesn’t care.
China’s filing a lawsuit with the WTO may have little effect since the US has blocked the appointment of appellate judges to the organization for years, which leaves it unable to mediate international trade disputes. Therefore, China’s action may only serve to gather international support against Trump’s tariffs. The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a statement, “China calls on the US to correct its mistakes, work toward mutual understanding, engage in candid dialogue, strengthen cooperation, and manage differences on the basis of equality, mutual benefit, and mutual respect. Additional tariffs are not constructive and bound to affect and harm the counternarcotics cooperation between the two sides in the future.” Of course, none of those words and phrases are in Trump’s vocabulary and it’s way too late for him to implement any of them personally, or in his business practices, or in his destruction of the federal government. Both China and Mexico say they have taken steps to address the flow of fentanyl and to stem international flow of the precursor ingredients, so it’s up to the US to address its own domestic demand for the drug. The Chinese government may try to side-step a trade war, since it is still struggling to recover from the COVID pandemic, but pressure will likely mount, giving the Chinese government the impetus to respond, using a new December 1 law which gives it explicit authority to do so.
As for the tariffs, Trump says, “We will make America great again, and it will all be worth the price that must be paid, we are a country that is now being run with common sense — and the results will be spectacular!!!” No one knows exactly what the impact will be on American consumers, nor how long the tariffs will be in play, but if they should remain if effect for a long period, Trump’s “pain” will become a solid reality. Your next cup of coffee may be more expensive, with prices increasing after Trump and Colombia had a spat over deportation flights — the president reversed a 25% tariff on the country when an agreement was reached. So even though the tariff never happened, coffee markets were rattled by the aspect of tariffs, resulting in price increases in coffee futures. Coffee prices have been increasing over the past several months due to bad weather which has reduced growers’ yield, so Trump’s threat threw unexpected uncertainty into the global trade system which is racing to keep up with increasing demand. Producers will probably continue to gradually increase prices simply as a hedge against the possibility of tariffs, though companies such as Keurig, Starbucks and Nestle lock in prices years in advance which will make them immune, for awhile, to the dynamics of the Trump administration.
About Trump’s tariffs (“the most beautiful word in the dictionary,” he says) announcement, journalist SV Dáte wrote that Trump announced he has increased taxes on Americans by $297B a year. Conservative Bill Kristol said, “If only we had a body, with democratic legitimacy and powers conferred by a Constitution, that could overrule a president who seeks to impose arbitrary tariffs and to deport people who fled here to escape oppression. It could be called the Congress of the United States.” Economist Marc Lévesque chimed in, “So, it’s official. Trump just violated the Canada-US-Mexico Free Trade agreement that he himself signed.” Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers called Trump’s tariffs “a self-inflicted wound to the American economy.” Trump posted, “We pay billions of dollars to subsidize Canada. Why? There is no reason. We don’t need anything they have. Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada…and NO TARIFFS!” To this post, Steve Schmidt says, “My friends, this is vile. In fact, it is evil. They are the words of a Putin or Xi. They are the words of international gangsterism and thuggery. These are the words of a Hitler. They are the words of the president of the United States, and they are repugnant. These are the words of expansionism and tyranny. These are the words of derangement.” Schmidt’s essay is lengthy, but poignantly he declares, “Why is this happening?…it is happening because the American Republic is collapsing. It is being destroyed from within, as Lincoln predicted in 1838: ‘…if destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher…'”
We might reflect on the words of Ronald Reagan who said, “Our peaceful trading partners aren’t our enemies; they are our allies. We should beware of he demagogues who are ready to declare a trade war against our friends — weakening our economy, our national security, and the entire free world — all while cynically waving the American flag.” Or perhaps as Steve Schmidt says, “Fascism has come to America and it is wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.” And as Trump says, “Let them eat cake!”
With markets and businesses awakening on Monday morning to the advent of the tariffs, stocks fell, energy costs surged, but word of an agreement from Trump and Mexico’s Sheinbaum to delay tariffs with Mexico agreeing to place 10,000 troops at the border, securing it from migrants, seemed to calm nerves — for now. Same goes for Canada: a 30 day reprieve with promised border security. But don’t relax just yet! That sound of hammering and objects hitting the floor and doors being slammed? That’s Elon Musk and his goons chipping away at our government. Gosh, if only we had a body we might call the Congress of the United States!
Dale Matlock, a Santa Cruz County resident since 1968, is the former owner of The Print Gallery, a screenprinting establishment. He is an adherent of The George Vermosky school of journalism, and a follower of too many news shows, newspapers, and political publications, and a some-time resident of Moloka’i, Hawaii, U.S.A., serving on the Board of Directors of Kepuhi Beach Resort. Email: cornerspot14@yahoo.com. |


EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. View classic inner-view ideas and thoughts with Subconscious Comics a few flips down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
Football
“You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer.”
~Frank Zappa
“Gentlemen, it is better to have died as a small boy than to fumble this football.”
~John Heisman
“Football is a simple game. Twenty-two men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans always win.”
~Gary Lineker
“Without football, my life is worth nothing.”
~Cristiano Ronaldo
“I was missing out on public school and going to the football games, prom or homecomings. But I’ve been to three World Championships… so I think it’s like a win-win.”
~Simone Biles

Some of the most unexpected words in the English language actually came from the Vikings. Bet you didn’t know, huh? |
Direct questions and comments to webmistress@BrattonOnline.com
(Gunilla Leavitt)
