SEABRIGHT AND SOQUEL AVENUES 3:22 pm but CIRCA??? Car enthusiasts should be able to pin point the year this was taken. Maybe these aren’t flood waters, maybe just drain/plumbing water department problems? Do note that Horsnyder’s Pharmacy was located right there where Ace Hardware is now.
ADELE. Since she won so big on the Grammys this week I think we should join the 1,874,170,338 folks who have seen this clip from an earlier album of hers. There’s a bit of acting before she sings. Be patient.
ALL GIRL SWING
SUGAR CHILE ROBINSON. Plus Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn
DESTROYING OUR OCEAN VIEW. Many, many reactions to my words last week (scroll down) about that almost constant addition by our officials of junk and art and exercise equipment and water fountains that subtract and diminish the pleasure of having an ocean view.
Lee Taiz wrote to the City Council, “Hello Council, I dislike having the view from West Cliff Drive disrupted by artwork, even good artwork. There are a great many other places for art. The view of the Bay from West Cliff is a unique treasure, and marring it unnecessarily with human structures of any kind is cruel. I was happy to hear that one of our misplaced, and now deteriorating, artworks was about to be removed at last. Now it seems that not only will it be repaired, and continue to blight the view, but a tall ugly fountain has been added in another spot. A peaceful view of the Bay without human structures is priceless. I don’t understand why humans are so bent on destroying natural spaces with ill-placed human constructs. When you gild a lily, it dies. I hope both the old artwork and the new fountain will be removed”.
Adding to that, let’s be clear it’s not about ART… even statues by masters such as Rodin, DaVinci, Picasso, Moore and Andy Warhol would ruin the view. Sure it’s possible to become attached to almost anything. I’ve got an ugly coffee cup with a broken handle that I’ve kept on my shelf for decades because I used it so long it’s like a friend but I don’t expect others to like looking at it. Another constant reader wrote, ” Count me as one who loves Guardian I on West Cliff. It’s always been a part of my Santa Cruz, for the last 30+ years”. Guardian I is that sculpture that is rotting out and apparently will be refurbished at some cost by our City funds. Let’s not re-live that battle over the tacky, un-necessary Surfer Boy sculpture. Keep our cliffs clean. As I said before tourists do NOT come here to see that huge amount of stuff our City allows to ruin our Ocean View.
ROBBIE SCHOEN’S STROKE. (Felix Kulpa Gallery) Friends and professional connections were shocked, amazed and hurt by the news that Robbie Schoen who runs the Felix Kulpa Gallery had a stroke Friday (2/10) while working at MAH and is still (Monday 2/13) in ICU and is rated CRITICAL at Stanford Hospital. Not only did Robbie hang all the art and do all the booking at F. Kulpa, he also did almost all of the display work at MAH and was very good at it. Friends tell me he had high cholesterol levels before, but this stroke was a total surprise. In the meantime friends are planning to run the Felix Kulpa Gallery just as before and will soon have the schedule figured out. If you happen to know anyone who still prays tell them about Robbie. We are all hanging in there. MAH’sNina Simon adds, ” Robbie has given so much to the MAH and to our artistic community. We want to do whatever we can to help him and his family at this time. Marla Novo is in conversation with his daughter Jett. Jett has encouraged us to set up a fund where people can donate to support Robbie. We are working today on how to do so… We will let you know as soon as we have information on that” Plans are also underway to do a benefit plus a Kickstarter thing. Go to the Felix Kulpa website for late breaking details.
SYPHILIS & GONORRHEA IN SANTA CRUZ COUNTY. Speaking of love, the latest issue of City On A Hill Press (Feb. 9) says…”Santa Cruz county has had a higher percentage increase in cases of gonorrhea and syphilis compared to the rest of the U.S. Nationwide”. The article by Sydney Griffith Gladu also has a chart showing there was a 41 % increase of syphilis in Santa Cruz County (2015-16) compared to a 19% national increase. The chart also shows a 31% increase of gonorrhea in Santa Cruz County (2015-16) compared to a 13% national increase. In case you’re ok as of the moment, the same article leads off with….”Over half of all people will contract a sexually transmitted infection(STD) in their lifetime” . Unfortunately the article doesn’t say why or who…we’ll just have to guess.
POLICE CHIEF RETIRING. Santa Cruz Police Chief Kevin Vogel is retiring in June after 30 years on the force and with no replacement in sight. Yet another reader asks if this is the first time a Police Chief has retired while a killing by Santa Cruz Police is still under investigation. Seems like an awkward move. Any clues on this???
GREENSITE’S INSIGHT. Gillian went to Australia to visit family AND will give us a “down under” view of politics next week.
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).
Feb. 12 “SANTA CRUZ PARKS AND RECREATION MASTER PLAN II”
The Santa Cruz city council chambers was packed last Tuesday night (2/7) with well over one hundred coming to voice their comments and concerns about the future of city sponsored recreation. There was also an overflow crowd of some sixty more who watched the proceedings across Church Street in the ABC Room at the Civic Auditorium. Whether folks realized it or not, political urgency was in the air because this PMP—Parks Master Plan—laid out what some Santa Cruzans believe might be our recreational priorities going forward over the next fifteen years. Of course those priorities took a hit when no clear consensus on what “passive” recreation might be; mountain biking? hiking? bird watching? They’re all listed as “passive” activities in the PMP.
Exactly fifty members of the public addressed the council. They were each given the paltry sum of 60 seconds—one minute each, that’s it—to sum up their thoughts on the 500-plus page PMP document. There have been plans before such as the Pogonip Master Plan, Jesse Street Marsh Plan, Wharf Master Plan and about 10 or 12 others, and this one pretends to merge many of them into one document. These plans have been presented to the city council over the past 20-plus years as defining documents. But were they ever much followed?
Plans come and plans go, and so do city staff members, and with each new era there seems to come another plan. That’s not so much my cynicism as it is an observation. Planning for any future is generally a good thing. Planning for our city parks future is essential for any improvement in our quality of life, the continued expansion and preservation of our green spaces, and a way to analyze the upside and down side of what we think our priorities should be.
From the exactly fifty residents who spoke on a rain-soaked Santa Cruz evening, it appears that hiking, mountain biking, opening the Harvey West pool year-round, expanding community gardens, preserving and maintaining greenbelt lands, not losing any more tennis courts to pickle ball, keeping mountain bikes out of the Pogonip and off some already badly eroded trails, supporting beach volleyball, bird watching, and holding the Parks and Recreation department responsible for protecting our city’s natural resources all were the major issues on this night.
If I plucked the two most popular issues out of the conversation, ones that perhaps might sum up the tension within both the plan and our community, they would be hiking and mountain biking. The large contingent of mountain bikers who came, many representing local companies like the helmet maker Giro (Scotts Valley) and Santa Cruz Mountain Bikes, were organized, friendly, and as a group, on message. The hiking-pedestrian-protect the greenbelt crowd was equally enthusiastic and well prepared if somewhat less numerous. From a councilmember perspective, there was obviously a call within the mountain biker world to write letters and come out to this meeting, which is how people influence decision-makers. The mountain bikers wanted a couple more trails through the Pogonip and they let the council know it.
As I stated in last week’s column, I don’t think mountain bikers should go away (full disclosure: I ride one too, and I love it!), but they can tear up wild lands and natural areas as fast as Donald Trump can tweet nasty hash tags, so I believe the council needs to carefully contain the bikers on very specific trails while also providing for this activity.
What I heard loud and clear from this meeting, and what I saw as bridges that might bring councilmembers together, was hiring a grants writer, placing permanent valet bike parking downtown or by the beach, equality and equity in the siting of new parks spaces across the city, increased funding for community gardens, and placing a focus on the San Lorenzo River corridor in terms of recreation, preservation, housing and future food venues. There seemed to be among these issues within councilmember comments during the meeting.
What I called for, seconded by Councilmember Sandy Brown, was a replacement motion to take additional time to study this voluminous document. While there were many in the audience, they still represented a limited number of issues raised, perhaps no more than fifteen really. There are literally dozens and dozens more that might be addressed, debated and decided upon. I voted against the main motion to pass on the plan to the Parks and Recreation Commission because not enough input was collected by the city council, and not enough direction was offeredas the document now moves on to that commission.
I am especially concerned when it comes to the section on “goals, policies, and actions.” While this was a council study session it had all the earmarks of a narrow debate,with perhaps a set of prearranged findings. We were tinkering around a few edges, more mountain bike trails or pickle ball or tennis amenities, or support for more hiking and pedestrian access. Are these the only issues? Much more is at stake in this plan and we barely scratched the surface.
Hiking has by far the single greatest appeal in resident surveys (38%) collected by the city, but it’s just not clear what the priorities should be in that area. When will Beach Flats enjoy expanded green spaces given its current underserved needs? How is the city to work with the school district and the university in sharing resources? (No one from the latter two entities was present to answer questions or make comments.) And what to make of the amount of persuasion or influence mountain bikers may have had this night in the face of so many past plans calling for increased preservation of our precious resources?
Surely the council needs to hear from more city residents on what they want and what they’re willing to pay for. There needs to be more discussion on how this city will be paying to maintain the present parks and greenbelt lands, and also how we might raise money to expand on what almost everyone at the meeting might agree is a precious and exemplary, if somewhat vulnerable, set of community resources.
No, there will be no film at eleven, nor will they televise this revolution. To make it happen residents must remain engaged and demand more for their tax dollars. The council is here to serve the public, but as Frederick Douglas said in 1857, with no apologies to the current US President, “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.” I urge residents to stay engaged in this Parks Master Plan (PMP) process.
~Bernie Sanders quote (tweet) of the week: “Donald Trump was going to drain the swamp. Well guess who’s running the swamp now? The same Wall Street guys.”
Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, former Santa Cruz City Councilmember (1998-2002) and Mayor (2001-2002). He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 12 years. He was elected last November to another 4-year term on the Santa Cruz City Council).
FIND OUT ABOUT THE NEW PLAN FOR RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER IN APTOS.
Current Rancho del Mar Center owners, Terra Mar Center (TRC) is hosting a public meeting on Thursday, February 23, 6:30pm-7:30pm at Seascape Golf Club (610 Clubhouse Drive, Aptos) to unveil the plans for renovation of what locals call “the Safeway shopping center”.
Doors will open at 6pm with TRC representatives available to discuss the renderings that will be available of what the proposed improvements will look like. TRC executive, Mr. Bruce Walton, has assured me that citizens may photograph the drawings that will be displayed, so that they may be shared with those (like me) who cannot attend.
I have talked with current tenants of the Center who attended the tenant meeting last week with TRC (some did not get the notice). Those who attended felt encouraged that the actual footprint of the development will not change, not even the empty building where Kentucky Fried Chicken used to be. Second-story offices will actually be removed from the area above the “food court” and now-empty theater area. The store fronts of all shops are due for change. The Center will be better for those with mobility issues. The biggest worry of the existing tenants is how the construction will affect their business, and if they will get leases at a price they can afford. That is indeed a BIG worry. I wonder if local construction companies (NOT Barry Swenson Builder) will be doing the construction work? I wonder if there will be storm water catchment facilities for the expansive parking areas that could help recharge the overdrafted aquifer? Attend the meeting on February 23, ask questions, and stay tuned…..
THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS DID NOT APPRECIATE MY QUESTIONS
at their meeting Tuesday, February 7 when I asked that three items from the Consent Agenda be pulled and placed on the Regular Agenda to allow discussion. “Ms. Steinbruner, are you making full use of staff before hand to get answers to your questions?” said Chairman John Leopold, obviously irritated.
I replied that I research the supporting documentation of agenda items and when I am concerned, I bring it publicly before them for discussion.
“Well, you can call the Department Heads and talk with them to get your questions answered,” he replied, “and not make staff wait here to answer questions.” I have two problems with this suggested course of action:
1) How can members of the public actually expect to have their questions answered in a timely manner before the issues come before the Board of Supervisors? My experience is that Department Heads and staff do not always respond promptly, if at all. The Board agenda becomes public on the Friday before the Tuesday meeting. The Planning Department is closed to the public on Fridays. Top staff from some departments, such as Public Works and Planning, have instructed me NOT to ask questions of them or staff, but to file a Public Records Act request for documents that will provide the answers to my questions. That takes at least 10 days, and sometimes 30 days if the department wants to stonewall me (yes, that happens…Assistant Planning Director, Ms. Wanda Williams considers 10 pages of documentation as “voluminous” and therefore can legally extend response time.).
2) What about the issue of PUBLIC discussion and PUBLIC involvement in the Board of Supervisor’s transparent decision-making? When I mentioned this to Chairman John Leopold, he responded “Well, I try not to get into other peoples’ heads to guess at what they want to know.” Well…maybe the Board is used to making closed-door decisions that do not involve public process…..maybe the Chief Executive Officer, Ms. Susan Mauriello, just tells them what she wants to have happen and they are somehow obliged? That’s pretty much what happened behind the scenes in advance of all the large trees being cut down around the County Building last September…stay tuned for more on that issue.
KEEP ASKING THOSE QUESTIONS…..
One question I asked of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors last Tuesday (2/7) during Open Comment Period (when you can talk for 3 minutes about items not on the agenda) was about the process for selecting a new Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to replace Ms. Mauriello when she retires this July. She has held that un-elected office for 27 years. I pointed out to the Board that I have observed that former Watsonville City official, Mr. Carlos Palacios, is a constant shadow of Ms. Mauriello, and I assume that he is in line for her job.
Mr. Palacios was the Watsonville City Manager for 18 years, until he accepted the job in 2015 as County Deputy Administrative Officer. According to a June 28, 2012 article in The Register-Pajaronian (“Grand Jury Again Blasts Watsonville”), there were big problems with city financial procedures and disclosure under Mr. Palacios. The 2012 Grand Jury Report “The Power of Transparency” brought to light many disturbing financial procedural problems, such as paying over $18,000 cash to three bands for performances at the Strawberry Festival, and using $225,000 in Community BLOC Grant money to buy a fire engine that did not get delivered for three years and was laden with problems. The Grand Jury Report stated “The repeated efforts required to get basic information, and the disparity between the initial information provided, and ultimately discovered, painted a disturbing picture.”
At the time, Watsonville City Councilman Mr. Emilio Martinez also repeatedly asked for accountability from the City Manager, Mr. Palacios. Mr. Martinez is quoted in the Register-Pajaronian article: “Every time I asked questions about expenditures, City Manager Carlos Palacios would find a way to either keep information from me, lie to me, and/or find a way to retaliate against me.”
THAT IS, IN PART WHY I told the Board at the February 7 meeting “With all due respect, I would like the selection of a new CAO to be more public, and that the Board advertises for and seriously considers other qualified people from out of the area. I think this County would benefit by a fresh set of eyes and some new ideas.” The Board did not respond. Maybe that was because they are not supposed to during that particular time (but sometimes do).
WHY ARE TAXPAYERS FUNDING CONTRACTORS TO DO WORK THAT COUNTY STAFF COULD DO AND WHO ARE THESE CONSULTANTS?
Last Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors approved, via the Consent Agenda, several large expenditures, but the ones that caught my attention were Items #40 and #45. Item #40 approved $127,675 for Moore, Iacofano and Goltsman, Inc to develop a social media campaign to find foster homes for kids with high special needs. Item #45 approved $158,870 for MIG to develop Countywide Commercial Design Guidelines, a Pleasure Point Commercial Area Vision and a Portola Streetscape Plan. I had several concerns about these two items, so that is why I asked the Board to remove them from the Consent Agenda and place them on the Regular Agenda. That requires the Board and appropriate staff to PUBLICLY answer any questions raised about the Item during the 3 minutes that I am allowed. The first issue that I raised was that Moore, Iacofano and Goltsman, Inc and MIG are one and the same company. I noticed that the address was the SAME for the two company names when I read through the supporting documentation in advance of the Board meeting. Planning staff was not aware of that.
Problems that I see with Item #40:
1) How can social media contacts be thoroughly investigated to make sure this is not setting up a human trafficking network? According to several sources, human trafficking is a very real problem in our County.Social media is uncontrollable. Isn’t this putting vulnerable high-needs foster kids at risk? I looked through the documentation of the contract and noticed that Moore, Iacofano and Goltsman, Inc. will be subcontracting the actual work, and I saw no proof that there are real safeguards in place for local staff interviews of respondents.
2) Why can’t County staff search for potential foster families with local charitable organizations and churches, where local people have known each other for an extended period of time and can offer information about any possible respondents? The Board saw no merit in my concerns and brought no Human Services staff forward to discuss the potential problems within the contract. Supervisor Ryan Coonerty chided me for not understanding that most of the population now gets information via social media. The Board approved the $127,675 contract without any discussion.
Problems that I see with Item #45: 1) MIG is the same company that handled the “public outreach” for the Aptos Village Plan. That was a miserable failure to actually incorporate what people wanted and DID NOT want into a plan. MIG was contracted by the County to conduct the design charettes…and that was a joke. People were railroaded into how they responded (“What kind of a grocery store do you want?” when you really don’t see a need for a third grocery store in the area at all.). Many of those people who attended the charettes felt the process was pointless and did not address their real concerns at all.
But MIG developed the Aptos Village Plan supposedly based on this “robust public input” that really just supported the plan that Barry Swenson Builder and the County staff had already made behind closed doors. Yes, I have the staff meeting notes and agendas that prove it. I told the Board that I do not think that the County should hire MIG again, based on what happened in the Aptos Village Plan. “People did NOT get what they said they wanted in the Aptos Village Plan at all.” I said.
At that point, CAO Ms. Mauriello, made some protest noises and Chairman John Leopold interrupted my comment to explain that he wants to involve the residents of Pleasure Point in an open, public process of developing a commercial plan for their community, and that they have already successfully developed a residential plan. I tried to point out that I had heard otherwise from the Pleasure Point residents when I heard their appeal hearing at the Planning Commission in December, 2015, but Chairman John Leopold said I could not comment further. Even though he had interrupted my comment when I still had nearly two minutes remaining of my three-minute allotment, I was not allowed to speak.
2) Why can’t County staff conduct the meetings with Pleasure Point residents and determine what a responsive plan could be? Chairman John Leopold had earlier directed me to seek out Planner Ms. Paia Levine to answer my questions during a break. I did so. She said MIG is a big company and everybody contracts with them. The Board of Supervisors approved the $158,870 contract with MIG without discussion and did not ask Planning staff to step forward for answers to my questions.
When I later asked Ms. Levine via e-mail about the large outside contractor issue, she wrote: “Staff is often tasked with projects that we are not able to complete within existing staff resources. When a project requires specialized expertise that we do not have on staff, we contract to ensure that the right experience is brought to bear. In the case of Pleasure Point, specialized design expertise is essential to translate the community’s concerns into workable guidelines or ordinances.”
Does this mean that we need to hire staff in the County Planning Department who ARE qualified, and save the taxpayers the enormous expense of multiple large outside contractors from out of our area? How hard is it to listen to residents of an area and, as a QUALIFIED planner, create a plan that works for what people want, need, and are compliant with existing regulations? What do you think?
Take a look at how MIG likes to manipulate public comment in the December 1, 2013 issue of “The Western Planner”. MIG staff Ms. Joan Chaplick, a Principal and Director of Management and Policy Services, and Ms. Ellie Fiore, Project Manager, outline tactics for NOT allowing extensive debate by “agitated community members” who are opposed to plans for dense mixed-use developments in their neighborhoods during public meetings. Are these really the people we want to pay big bucks to listen to our citizens and create proposals for development? Gee, based on the Aptos Village Project, I just don’t think so.
NEW ACCESSORY DWELLING (“GRANNY”) UNIT ORDINANCE COMING ALONG WITH INPUT FROM A SELECT CONSTITUENT…
Last Tuesday’s County Board of Supervisor meeting was also eventful in that the Planner, Ms. Paia Levine, read into the record during her staff report about proposed ADU ordinance to the Board a comment that had been submitted from a constituent. She did not at first identify the constituent, but when Chairman John Leopold asked for the name of the constituent, she replied “Mr. Sokolow”.
Chairman Leopold then directed her to continue reading the comment into the record, and eventually, Mr. Sokolow’s comment became part of the proposed ordinance language.
WOW! I figured Mr. Sokolow must be a building or housing industry professional. He was in the audience, and testified, offering to give the County some template plans for anyone to use when applying in the future for a permit to build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU). I was not able to talk with Mr. Sokolow during the break (I was instructed by Chairman John Leopold to talk with Ms. Levine), but I later learned in an article published in the Santa Cruz Sentinel about the ADU ordinance that Mr. Sokolow is an orthodontist. I guess Sentinel reporter Ms. Jondi Gumz also took note of the unorthodox import of Mr. Sokolow’s comments to the Board. So, I have asked Ms. Levine to let me know the criteria she used for mentioning his comment publicly during her staff report. Usually, constituent comments are completely ignored. Stay tuned on her answer….we all want to be heard, right?
ROLLING GREEN ESTATES RESIDENTS WANT SANTA CRUZ COUNTY SUPERVISOR ZACH FRIEND TO HEAR THEIR CONCERNS
Sunday afternoon (2/12), about 50 residents of Rolling Green Estates met at Valencia Elementary School picnic tables to talk about how to organize their Aptos community of 130 homes to have a voice with their County Supervisor, Zach Friend. Despite multiple requests by the lead resident, Supervisor Friend refused to attend Sunday’s neighborhood meeting or any other meeting they might try to organize. Hmmm…
Last Friday, Valencia Road was blocked at both ends, canceling school and stranding residents. Many phoned Zach Friend’s office and “had a very nasty response.” Their community received no reverse 9-1-1 emergency notification of the dire problem. One woman, determined to get to her 93-year-old Mother who was trapped in and alone, climbed over the fence just erected at the Trout Gulch side, and then crawled under the fence on the other side. Three weeks ago, Valencia Road was closed at Trout Gulch Road when a large culvert began collapsing. That forced residents and school traffic to travel in from Freedom Boulevard, adding 3-5 miles each way to their commutes. Last Friday, that route closed due to fallen trees and road failures. County Public Works and PG&E workers did yeomans’ jobs at re-establishing the road, which now is one lane and very precarious in two spots.
Zach Friend has reportedly told Valencia Elementary School staff that there is no money to fix the first road failure. The alternate route from Trout Gulch Road,Valencia School Road, is also closed. These residents are really worried about being trapped in without emergency response, and worry that the 600+ Valencia Elementary School students and their staff could also be trapped in without emergency response, should the road fail completely in the Freedom Boulevard direction while school is in session. They are worried that when school re-opens this week, buses will navigate over dangerous, possibly unstable road areas, risking the students’ safety while once again possibly stranding their community. Why doesn’t Supervisor Zach Friend seem to care about all this?
One resident at Sunday’s meeting seemed to know about plans for a temporary bridge to span the Trout Gulch side of the closure, but noted that Federal officials will have to sign off on the project, and engineers must declare the still-unstable soil on either end safe. PG&E has already relocated their gas and electrical supplies overlying the failing culvert. How did Superviso rBruce McPherson get such rapid help for his constituents on Nelson Road, faced with a similar catastrophic situation? He invited Congresswoman Anna Eshoo to view the site, and got Fast-Track funding to get things moving quickly. So where is Supervisor Friend?
Write one letter. Make one call. Insist on safe secondary emergency access for Valencia Elementary. Zach Friend <zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us> 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 (831) 454-2200.
Ask why the County has $2 million available to benefit Aptos Village Project developer Barry Swenson Builder to move the westbound Metro bus stop to accommodate the new entrance to the development at Soquel Drive while also replacing 200′ of railroad track and crossing, plus a traffic light. No money for Valencia Road repairs for safe school commutes? Does this make sense to you?
REQUEST THE BOARD TO REVISIT RUBBERSTAMP APPROVAL OF THE 2016 COUNTY WATER RESOURCES MANAGEMENT REPORT.
The County Board of Supervisors gave rubberstamp approval on January 31 to the 2016 County Water Resources Management Report. Given the critical state of overpumping in the mid-County areas, I think the Board needed to take more leadership and action. I asked for that at the January 31 meeting, but got nowhere. So, I wrote a letter to the Board and submitted it at the February 7 meeting with my oral comments. I asked that the Board rescind approval of the Report until the County Water Advisory Commission has had an opportunity to review the Report and make their recommendations. That Commission, a group of citizens and local water experts appointed by the Board, has been established as an oversight body for local government.
However, that Commission never reviewed the Report before it was submitted to the Board by Mr. John Ricker, County Environmental Health Department. That needs to be fixed. The Report had many omissions and misrepresentations of information.
I also asked in my letter that the Board set a public hearing to consider, under their purview granted by the 1987 County Well Ordinance, to declare a Countywide Groundwater Emergency. The County Water Advisory Commission has recommended several times to the Board that they take this action, but to no avail. Soquel Creek Water District Board declared their service area a state of groundwater emergency in June, 2014, just after granting the Barry Swenson Builder the hookups for the Aptos Village Project that will require about 38 acre feet/year. The District just reduced total annual allotments to 4 acre feet/year, because the consequences of overpumping are intensifying, despite admirable conservation efforts of existing customers.
It will be a huge challenge this year to help citizens and tourists to accept the continued need to conserve water, despite the recent deluges. Soquel Creek Water District General Manager, Mr. Ron Duncan, states that to heal the overpumping problem, which is causing irreparable harm to the aquifer and local water supply, their customers would have to double current conservation efforts and maintain that level for 20 years OR the District would have to completely stop pumping for 8 years. Wow. I think the County Board of Supervisors needs to reconsider their rubberstamp approval of that 2016 County Water Report. What do you think?
COUNTY GRAND JURY REPORTS AND WATER ISSUES…..
So, if our area is in critical overdraft, why does the County keep handing out so many building permits? There is a real disconnect between land use policy and the real water crisis much of our County now faces.
The 2004-2005 County Grand Jury Report “Water Planning in Santa Cruz County: Soquel Creek Water District” investigated the overdraft issue back then and determined that “Current demand exceeds the safe yield of local aquifers.” Also, “Santa Cruz County’s 1994 General Plan anticipated that the cumulative demand of growth both within Soquel Creek Water District and outside the urban service line will result in an overdraft of 500 acre feet by 2010.” And, going on, “The Santa Cruz County Draft Housing Element (of the General Plan) would re-zone 44 acres for higher density housing to provide affordable housing. The proposed affordable housing provisions will increase water demand within the district.”
What happened as a result of that Grand Jury Report? Then-County Supervisor Ellen Pirie (remember, it is her area that is in most serious overdraft) got the Board to approve adding a subjective criteria to the 1987 County Well Ordinance that made it more difficult to declare a Countywide Groundwater Emergency. The Board must determine no progress is being made to address the overdraft crisis. Now, is that responsible leadership? And don’t forget that last year, the Board of Supervisors approved the Housing Element Update without any environmental impact report. The revised Housing Element did not address the local water crisis at all, and the document admitted that the increased growth rates surpass what is required by state law.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S ANSWER IS TREATED SEWAGE WATER AND A HUGE ENERGY BILL…
Last week, representatives of Carollo Engineering gave a presentation to the Soquel Creek Water District Supplemental Supply Committee about the risk of contaminants in advanced tertiary treated sewage water. Results showed that low levels of chemical contaminants can sometimes still be present after the disinfection treatment process and that some are a result of disinfection reactions.
The Carollo representatives did admit that the premier disinfection method, reverse osmosis (R/O), is a HUGE energy hog, requiring three to five times more energy than other disinfection methods. How would their proposed “PureWater Soquel” project affect future water rates for customers? How does that concur with the State Dept. of Drinking Water Central Coast Region plans to ensure efficiency and the “Human Right to safe and affordable drinking water” currently under consideration?
The District is hiring Carollo Engineering to conduct a wastewater quality study this summer to determine what contaminants are in the Santa Cruz area treated sewage water. All this for a “preferred project” in the process of the Environmental Impact Report process that is supposed to identify and consider all possible alternatives…. Hmmm…could it be that Soquel Creek Water District has already made a supplemental supply decision and is just going through the EIR process to placate the public? Maybe the District is somehow getting pressure from the State Water Board.
Their December, 2016 Feasibility Report for using advanced tertiary treated sewage water for direct consumption stated (pg. 14): “The policy of the State Water Board includes the following goals related to water recycling:
1) Substitute recycled water for potable water as much as possible by 2030.
2) Increase the use of recycled water over 2002 levels by at least 1-million acre-feet per year (AFY) (3.3-million m3.d) by 2020 and by at least 2-million AFY by 2030 (6.6-million m3/d).”
Santa Cruz City Water Manager, Ms. Rosemary Menard, will present information at the next District Board meeting on February 21 (6pm at Capitola City Council Chambers). Representatives from the DeepWater Desal Project in Moss Landing will be presenting at the April 4 District Board meeting.
WHAT ABOUT TRANSFERING WATER FROM THE NORTH COAST CREEKS? “Water for Santa Cruz” is a group of local people who would like to see quicker action on the overdraft problem but make use of a less-problematic supplemental source. One of their members, Mr. Scott McGilvray, who has served on the State Water Advisory Commission, gave an excellent presentation on February 6 to the Santa Cruz City Water Commission.
The creeks on the North Coast could provide 3300 acre feet/year of fresh water for groundwater recharge in the Mid-County over drafted area while still maintaining healthy stream flows in the creeks. The water agencies are working at securing State approval for transfers from the San Lorenzo River to supply Soquel Creek Water District with treated water. However, water rights laws established in 1914 prevent Santa Cruz City from sending water from the river to customers outside of the City service boundaries, except in emergency. It may take years to get those legal changes made. The water rights for the North Coast creeks pre-date the 1914 laws, so could be available now. Some pipeline and treatment process with phosphate buffers to prevent corrosion in supply pipes would need to be included, but at a fraction of the cost that the PureWater Soquel project would cost and less risk of contaminants posing unknown health problems. I was amazed that none of the Commissioners had any questions for Mr. McGilvray regarding his information. Later in the meeting (which ended somewhere near midnight), Ms. Menard, Director of Santa Cruz City Water, recommended to the Commission that citizens no longer be allowed to give presentations, but instead be limited to three-minute oral comment. After much debate, the Commission approved her recommendation, except Commissioners Baskin and Engfer voting “no”. Maybe you’ll have some questions….take a look at www.waterforsantacruz.com
~WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Cheers, Becky Steinbruner (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).
From Gary’s “We Live In A Political World” website… Feb. 11, 2017
David Talbot is a longtime leftist San Franciscan, journalist and author. His book, Season of the Witch, is a history of San Francisco from the 1960s to the 1980s. Talbot is also the author of The Devil’s Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA and the Rise of America’s Secret Government. Talbot founded the pioneering online news site Salon, and was an editor at the Hearst-owned San Francisco Examiner. He has been published in The New Yorker, Time, The Guardian, The Los Angeles Times, and many other publications. Talbot’s columns are now running three times a week in The Chronicle, found online at SFChronicle.com. That’s where I got this biographical information.
On February 9th, the print edition of the Chronicle put the following headline on Talbot’s column: “The case for calm in resistance to Trump.” I appreciate the sentiment, and recommend the column. “Calm” resistance seems like a good strategy to me. “Resistance,” per se, is what many have identified as the appropriate response to the actions and statements of our current president, but without the modifier, “resistance” could quickly get out of hand. The idea that “resistance” to ill-considered and unconstitutional actions ought to be carried out “calmly” seems like very good advice.
In making his case for “calm,” Talbot specifically references a recent article by Chris Hedges, as distributed by Nation of Change. Hedges, who is also a journalist (and a very good one, in my opinion), headlined his recent article this way: “Make America ungovernable.”
Here is Hedges’ pitch for what might be called the “non-calm” form of resistance:
Donald Trump’s regime is rapidly reconfiguring the United States into an authoritarian state. All forms of dissent will soon be criminalized. Civil liberties will no longer exist. Corporate exploitation, through the abolition of regulations and laws, will be unimpeded. Global warming will accelerate. A repugnant nationalism, amplified by government propaganda, will promote bigotry and racism. Hate crimes will explode. New wars will be launched or expanded. Americans who remain passive will be complicit.
As you will note, Hedges suggests that our worst fears will be realized. We are already cooked. Are we actually willing to concede that?
Talbot not only refers to Hedges. He also refers to a suggestion by Rosa Brooks, a law professor at Georgetown University Law Center who served as a human rights counselor to the Clinton State Department and the Obama Defense Department. Without directly advocating this, Brooks observes that “a military coup” could be a solution to the bad Executive Orders and other “crazy” policies being advanced by President Trump and his cohorts.
So, Hedges says we should be trying to make our nation “ungovernable,” if we don’t like the person elected to be our chief executive. Brooks suggests that we should (implicitly) admit that we can’t govern ourselves, and turn the job over to the military.
I’m with Talbot in wanting to discourage this approach. I don’t think that making the nation “ungovernable” will lead to a good result. I am also with Talbot in thinking that our government is not going to get better if the military takes it upon itself to carry out a “military coup,” and to decide what’s good policy and what’s bad policy for all of us civilian types.
Instead of “calm” resistance, those suggestions sound like “hysterical” resistance to me, and I don’t think that public hysteria is going to make our government better. Quite the opposite. It is precisely when civil life appears to become “ungovernable” that authoritarian dictatorships arise, and these are all too often fronted by military men who promptly put everyone under their military command. Let’s be honest. We are facing terrible times ahead. Our president is, in many ways, “crazy,” a word employed by Talbot. The President’s policies, are, in a very large part, wrong-headed and of dubious constitutionality. What should we do? Let’s “keep calm and carry on,” as the Brits aspired to do just prior to World War II.
It is important to take seriously predictions about all the bad things that can happen to us (and that are being threatened – no doubt about that). But predictions are not the same as destiny. What actually happens to our nation in the future will depend on what we do. “Resistance” to authoritarianism is absolutely required. But let’s demonstrate that the United States can govern itself, even with Caligula in The White House.
That’s what maintaining a government “of the people, and by the people, and for the people” requires of us right now.
~Gary is a former Santa Cruz County Supervisor (20 years) and an attorney for indivuduals and community groups on land use and environmental issues. The opinions expressed are Mr. Patton’s. You can read his blog at www.gapatton.net
EUBIE BLAKE. Great real musical, not like La La Land.
CELEBRATE PIANO ENSEMBLE. Everybody loves piano music and there’ll be a huge piano concert on Sunday, Feb. 19.This annual piano extravaganza presents music for piano 4-hands and for two pianos, featuring 18 of Santa Cruz County’s finest pianists. From Schubert to Gottschalk, the program includes the lively Sabre Dance for 8 pianists. Performers are Amy Beal, Susan Bruckner, Mary Jane Cope, Ben Dorfan, Roger Emanuels, Rose Georgi, Nicki Kearns, Ellen Khayat, Lynn Kidder, Lavinia Livingston, Stefanie Malone, John Orlando, Carol Panofsky, Ivan Rosenblum, Michel Singher, Marina Thomas, Vlada Volkova-Moran, and Leah Zumberge. All proceeds go to the scholarship fund for Santa Cruz County music students, presented by the Santa Cruz Branch of Music Teachers’ Association of California. Suggested donation at the door: $10. It’s at 2 p.m. at the UCSC Recital Hall.
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Scroll down to see one of my favorite DeCinzo rain and flood masterpieces.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “week number 4 ” 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.
LISA JENSEN LINKS Lisa writes: “Now that Oscar front-runner La La Land is racking up the accolades, the inevitable backlash is in full swing. Find out why I still love it, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com). Also, a workaholic daughter copes with her fun-loving father — and vice-versa — in the offbeat German comedy Toni Erdmann.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975. .
TONI ERDMANN.Aside from Billy Wilder and Ernst Lubitsch’s filmsGermany has never been known for producing great comedies…and Toni Erdmann tries very hard to be a funny film. It’s gross and not subtle, it tries total nudity in a stunbling, embarrasing way…plus it’s boring. It’s about a father and daughter relationship, and that’s a very complex topic, no matter how you look at it.
FIFTY SHADES DARKER. I must confess to having seen Fifty Shades of Grey back a few years ago (In the now dead Aptos Cinema). It was beyond dumb and didn’t qualify as a movie. This sequel (9% on Rotten Tomatoes) is even worse. What sex is on scrreen isn’t believable or sexy, the characters are 1) Poor actors and 2) Dull and unbelievable. If you’re out for cheap thrills it would be cheaper to go to Frenchy’s.
JULIETA.We are lucky that directors as good as Pedro Almodovar are still able to make films. His films are usually excellent and have been getting even better over the years. Julieta is a masterpiece.Filmed in Spain and subtitled this is a woman’s film in more ways than one. Deep, complex, heartbreaking, sensitive…it’s a story about a mother and her daughter. Just go see it but only if you appreciate great filmmaking.
PATERSON. Jim Jarmusch is one of a very few directors working today whose films are so unique and so stylized that you could guess who directed them without reading the credits. Think of films such as Sling Blade, Ghost Dog, Mystery Train and Down By Law. More than that, they are major additions to cinema mastery. Adam Driver plays a Paterson, New Jersey bus driver and we become part of his life for a week. That’s all you need to know…just don’t miss it if you appreciate great filmmaking.
MANCHESTER BY THE SEA. Casey Affleck single handidly sustains this deep, emotional film. It’s on the way to several awards and should win them all. It’s an intelligent, beautifically acted in depth portrait of people going through trauma and relationships. Along with Affleck there’s Michelle Williams, Gretchen Mol, even Mathew Broderick in a bit part and especially the 16 year old Lucas Hedges. It’s a cold and unrelenting film that demands your attention especially since you’ve gone through tragedies too. I’m going again, there’s just so much to watch and think about.
MOONLIGHT. For starters, Moonlight has a 98 % on Rotten Tomatoes, so it’s not just me who really not only enjoyed this tale of drugs, gangs, and love, but people who like deep, serious films loved it too. Set in Miami, this sharp, delicate, brilliant story of a Black man’s life is told in three parts. It’s best not to read too much about the plot and just watch with wonder as it unfolds. You’ve never seen a film like this one. Yes, It’s back again…many nominations did it.
20th CENTURY WOMEN. Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Billy Crudup, and Greta Gerwig do award winning roles in this very independent, off kilter story of a “family” group trying to exist in Santa Barbara in 1979. Bening deserves every possible acting award for her role as a mom trying her damndest to raise her son while surrounded by rapidly aging girls. It’s not an easy film to follow and takes twists, turns and flashbacks with little or no warning…but go see it. You’ll be completely intrigued by it.
ARRIVAL. Amy Adams has always been an excellent actor and she’s even better in this pretty sophisticated science fiction spellbinder. 12 alien speceships hover around earth just a few feet above ground while Amy and Jeremy Renner attempt to communicate with them. It’s a thoughtful film and it’ll make you wonder just how would anybody relate to aliens (and vice versa) Like the Trump victory the world is in a state of shock over these visitors. No killings, violence or cheap cliches…a fine film. I forgot to add that like so many Special effects films nowadays it is photographed in a very dark style. (Saves money I guess)
LION. A true story of a little 5 year old boy getting lost in India. At last we get to see Dev Patel portray somebody serious and he does an excellent job. It’s a very cornball plot that you can guess every turn and twist, but still just because it’s India you do stay tuned in all the way through. Rooney Mara is his girlfriend for part of the plot and Nicole Kidman is the Australian wife who adopts him. It’s 100% feelgood and there are much better films out and around now, but it does have a certain charm.
FENCES. Denzel Washington and Viola Davis acted in August Wilson’s play “Fences” in 2010. Now Denzel directed this film version starring the two of them and most of the rest of that NYC cast. It’s drama after drama and is about a dysfunctional black family that takes place almost entirely in their small backyard. To watch the always articulate and brilliant Denzel play a black jerk who is forever down on his luck and is also mean, poorly motivated, and plain nasty was more than I could believe. I didn’t care for this film at all, and it’s doing very poorly at the boxoffice. Yes, it’s back again.
HIDDEN FIGURES. A syrupy, Hollywoody much- altered story of three Black American women who did spectacular mathematical and technical work at NASA while fighting against a lot of racial and female prejudice. All to launch John Glenn into orbit. It’s both a cute and painful story at the same time. It’s a contender and still lacks something that could have made it a classic. It almost outdrew Star Wars on opening weekend!
LA LA LAND. It all depends on how much you remember the glorious and very bright and brilliant days of the Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, Betty Grable, even Barbara Striesand, Judy Garland, and especially Ginger Rogers musicals. La La Land works very hard to convince us that the world hasn’t changed since those days and tries earnestly to recreate the innocence, and obvious genius of those performers. Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone make La La Land fun and happy to a degree, but it’s not the same. The music and songs aren’t anywhere near as good and the photography of today’s LA doesn’t add much either, besides that Stone and Gosling are not professional dancers or singers like all of above. It’s like having Eddie Redmayne play Tarzan.
SPLIT. M.Night Shyamalan makes some pretty weird and frequently awful movies. But Split has James McAvoy playing a very disturbed guy with 23 distinct and split personalities (and most of them are very crazy). He’s lured and locked up 3 teen aged girls and it’s scary and more or less predictable after that, but you’ll stay glued to the screen and your seat…go for it …if you like scary stuff. Not anywhere near as a good as Hitchcock, but he tries. (Shyamalan even makes a secret cameo appearance like Hitch always did).
ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY. We can only guess that now that the Star Wars movie property is Walt Disney Property it would change, but not like this latest mess. Instead of being more cute, cuddly and cartoonish (like traditional Disney films)…Rogue One is darker, colder, meaner and full of war and killing. It has none of the charm, humor, humanity, mystery, history, tradition or fun quirkieness that the original Star Wars films brought us. The plot is tripe stuff about stealing Death Star plans. Darth Vader is back and James Earl Jones voice is too, but he looks thinner and smaller. The biggest afult for me is that it was filmed so dark it’s hard to see details, or look anywhere besides center screen. No great intricate space ships stay in view long enough to enjoy the fantasy. The acting is ok but there’s not much screen time for it to happen. Big disapointment.
THE COMEDIAN. This is a sad movie. Sad because Robert DeNiro is or was a fine actor BUT he’s not funny. He tries hard in this pathetic movie but he’s not any more likable than he is laughable. You’ll cringe a lot at the “jokes” and wish DeNiro once again would be offered some challenging acting roles. Don’t go.
THE SPACE BETWEEN US. In an effort to stop you from seeing this disaster Rotten Tomatoes gave it an 18%. A boy born to an astronaut on Mars goes back to earth when he’s a teenager and meets a girl and it gets even worse than that. Tacky, unbelievable, meaningless, plot holes larger than the Milky Way. Trust me.
GOLD. Mathew McConaughey went to a lot of trouble and looks a lot like Marlon Brando in Gold. He gained 40 pounds and actually shaved most of his hair and added a phoney false front tooth, and the movie still isn’t very good. Not that anybody cares, but it’s based on some real story about bank fraud, gold mining, illegal gold salting, and almost a total cast of illegal characters…with no redeeming interest or plot. Forget about it.
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Feb.14 has Lisa Robinson director of The San Lorenzo Valley Museum talking about their new exhibit re…the Explosive history of the Valley. Then author Dave Evans shares ideas from his bestselling book, “Designing Your Life”. Veterans Advocate Dean Kaufman brings us up to date on veterans issues and programs on Feb. 21…after Dean, Becca King Reed reports in on our Santa Cruz Community Television station. Sculptor, artist Peggy Snider guests on February 28 talking about her political sculpture show opening March 3rd. Then Cynthia Berger and Zav Hershfield talk about the Santa Cruz Tenants Association. On March 7 Newton and Helen Harrison talk about their book, ” The Time of The Force Majeure”. Patrice Vecchione returns March 14 to talk about her one-woman show “Dressed and Undressed” happening March 17 & 18. Espressivo conductor and artistic director Michel Singher talks about their March 30 concert on March 21.Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com
This week’s video is positively hypnotic!
NEW UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVE FEATURE. Stuff changes at KZSC a lot. If you missed either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens.
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur,The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.
QUOTES. “CALIFORNIA”
“Best way to live in California is to be from somewheres else”, Cormac McCarthy, No Country for Old Men “Things are tough all over, cupcake, an’ it rains on the just an’ the unjust alike…except in California”, Alan Moore, Watchmen “If you’ve had good gin on a hot day in Southern California with the people you love, you forget Nebraska. The two things cannot coexist. The stronger, better of the two wins”, Ann Patchett, The Magician’s Assistant “God will break California from the surface of the continent like someone breaking off a piece of chocolate. It will become its own floating paradise of underweight movie stars and dot-commers, like a fat-free Atlantis with superfast Wi-Fi”, Laura Ruby, Bad Apple
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Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
