February 15 – 21, 2023

Posted on February 17, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Earthquakes and our new high-rises, UCSC’s East Meadow update. Last week’s photo data correction.  GREENSITE…on West $Cliff Drive: Erosion of Public Trust. SCHENDELDECKER…Of consent agendas and river levees, or is the San Lorenzo River a person? STEINBRUNER…Becky had a concussion and will return ASAP. HAYES…February’s Flower. PATTON…David Brooks and the “Bright-icize” bias. MATLOCK…will be back next week. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…pick of the week: fireworks!!!. QUOTES…”Beaches”.

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ELEANOR ROOSEVELT AND ERVA BOWEN MEET MAYOR BERT SNYDER. This was April 26, 1962.  FDR served four terms as president and died in 1945. Eleanor was a very unusual first lady and remained active during and after her years as first lady. Erva Bowen was the president of our local NAACP and she died in 2011  Erva was the first African American to be elected to office in SC when she won a seat on the Board of Trustees for the Santa Cruz City Schools in 1978.”

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com
photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE February 13

OUR NEW HIGH RISES & SAFETY. There have been almost enough pro and cons about the many new high story structures going up around our Santa Cruz Downtown area…and elsewhere nearby. Now when we have the near hell that earthquakes caused in Turkey facing us, how can we be sure that every new high floor apartment is safe from the often predicted earthquakes that can and already caused so much damage to our community? Shortly before our 1989 earthquake structural engineers hired by our county told us our building were unsafe. What did we do in view of professional warnings? Ignored them completely and laughed about such dangers. Now, with experts warning us so often about even larger/longer quakes headed our way, what are we doing about it?

Are all of the high rises even those containing almost acceptable affordable rates being inspected and triply checked for earthquake safety? Too many times our local officials bend to developers’ sad pleas about affordability with regards to building in extra protection, especially in the upper floors. We need to keep asking and demanding our rights to safety and health and prepare for those San Andreas faults that can level us so quickly….remember 1989.

EAST MEADOW NEWS….A very concerned and heavily involved campus oriented organization The East Meadow Action Committee got organized to protect the campus and the community against what the Board of Regents so often approved way too rapidly. They just released their latest newsletter…

East Meadow Update, 2/13/23

Friends of the Meadow:

The East Meadow remains intact – no bulldozers in sight.   What is less immediately evident, however, is why that is so.  Why has an administration so hell-bent on destroying the meadow been unable to do so?

There are two impediments to those bulldozers:

First, way back in March 2019, when UCSC first pitched the project to the Regents, Chancellor Blumenthal claimed that Student Housing West would produce student rents well below what students would pay off-campus.  It was a completely unrealistic claim, but it sounded great, and the Regents remembered it.

In October 2020, with the help of so many, EMAC won a court verdict that ordered the UC Regents to vacate their approval of the project.  The Regents were required to reconsider and re-approve the project.  When that question came before the Regents in March 2021, it would have been possible to modify the proposal, keeping construction out of the meadow, but instead UCSC requested reapproval without changes. The Regents complied.

However, remembering those earlier UCSC claims about project rents being substantially below rents off-campus, the Regents made their re-approval contingent on a commitment to keep rents “30% below market.”

The UCSC administration got reauthorization of the project as they wished, but with a precondition they cannot possibly meet or even come close to satisfying.  They have an approval they can’t really use, and it is unclear how they plan to deal with that impasse.

Second, while EMAC is no longer litigating, others are.  Just a couple of weeks ago, (January 17, 2023) yet another brief was filed in the Sixth District Court of Appeals (one of two that are currently pending at that appellate court).  It will take this latest case more than a year to work its way through the system, so at the very least the project will be in court well into 2024.  Because it is dependent on bond financing, and because bond buyers will not finance a project with pending litigation, it appears that there will be no construction for many months to come.

These are two big reasons why the bulldozers are not warming up.

It should be remembered that all this delay is a consequence of long-standing administrative incompetence dating back to the Fall of 2017.  At that time, UCSC had been working for months on the original version of a project that would have been entirely on the west side of campus – none of it in the East Meadow.  This early version met with no opposition of consequence.  But to save an estimated six months on the project schedule (by avoiding a negotiation with US Fish and Wildlife over accommodation of a listed species) the administration abruptly decided to modify the plan and sprawl a portion across the East Meadow.  A storm of protest from many sources erupted, and as a result, the project is now headed for at least six years of delay.

If the planners had, instead, continued along the lines of the original version of the project, it would have been completed last month (January 2023, by their own schedule).  Students would now be enjoying thousands of new beds of on-campus housing.  Instead, construction has not begun, and who knows when, or if, it will start?

This was not a one-and-done mistake.  Over and over, from the Fall of 2017 to the present, the administration has had (and it still has) the opportunity to go back to the original version, eliminating opposition and getting the project moving forward.  It has never been necessary to put any of Student Housing West in the East Meadow.  Due to the administration’s stubborn insistence on building there, they own the delay to date and the delay yet to come.

EMAC
East Meadow Action Committee
eastmeadowaction.org

LAST WEEK’S HISTORIC PHOTO. If you scroll down to last week’s BrattonOnline you’ll see the startling photo of post rain disaster and the trolley tracks floating in midair. Thanks to eagle eyed reader Mike Hess we all now know that was the view in 1915 looking east along 12th avenue. Those are the trolley tracks that ran from Twin Lakes Beach. Thanks Mike.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

VENGEANCE. (PRIME MOVIE) (6.6 IMDB). Set in Texas it’s billed as a comedy, but I didn’t laugh once. B.J. Novak gawks and mugs his way through solving the murder of an ex-girlfriend. He’s now a writer for the New Yorker which is impossible to believe, and his relating to Texas ways are equally impossible but still not funny. Ashton Kutcher plays an important role and really stands out from the rest of the cast. Save your time and money.

HIGH WATER. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.2 IMDB). Our recent/present Santa Cruz worries and dealings with flood waters makes this a thoughtful movie. A Polish film based on Warsaw’s handling of an oncoming flood wave in 1977 keeps you involved through the politics, the relationships, and the health issues that must be decided before the waves hit the city. It’s a true piece of history except that all the human stories are fictional but well scripted and acted. Well worth watching.

DEAR EDWARD. (APPLE + SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A 12 year old boy is the only survivor of a huge passenger plane filled with folks going to LA from New York City. How he deals with his survival and the support group he attends are pretty convincing. It’s about diets, debts, even sex and how the relatives of the casualties handle their losses.

SERVANT. (APPLE + SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). This 2019 series directed by M. Night Shyamalan has been revived and new episodes are released each Friday.  A young couple lose their baby and mom started to go crazy in the worst way.  A baby doll becomes part of the plot and you’ll have a tough time figuring out who is the craziest. The photography is great and it’s a Shyamalan movie…that should tell you enough.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

LIVING. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (7.5 IMDB). Bill Nighy who’s actually only 77 plays a much older rigid, tightly controlled city worker who gets the news that he has just six months to live. How he handles the rest of his life and the changes he makes creates a heartfelt and super movie. The acting is award winning and the plot touches every one of us. It’s actually a re-make of Kurosawa’s “Ikiru” (1952) and it’s even more personal.

THE SNOW GIRL. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.8 IMDB). A Spanish movie about the kidnapping of a six year old girl. The story goes back and forth between the real parents who are searching for her and the detectives and a reporter who keep on the trail for many, many years. It turns into a mystery and has a melodramatic ending but it keeps you awake and involved.

THE WATCHFUL EYE. (HULU SERIES) (6.4 IMDB). Only the first two episodes have been released so far and they look promising. It takes place in New York City in a haunted but classy old fashioned apartment building. It has many shots reminding us of The Shining with people appearing and disappearing in hallways. It’s not near any Hitchcock film but there are minutes that will keep you glued to your screen.

MY NAME IS VENDETTA. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.6 IMDB). Yet another Mafia movie and yet it has minutes that are exciting, well-acted and quite watchable. From Italy and taking place in Milan, a father and young daughter work hard to escape the Mafia who are determined to seek revenge on the father for an evil deed he committed years before. It’s violent, bloody, nearly predictable but well worth watching IF you like that sort of movie.

HOW I BECAME A GANGSTER. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.9 IMDB). The biggest problem with this version of the movie is that it is dubbed in English from the original Polish. For me that’s a loss both visually and acting wise. We learn that still another country has a Mafia or a branch of it and there’s not much else to discuss, we’ve seen it all before.

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February 13

WEST $CLIFF DRIVE: EROSION OF PUBLIC TRUST

It is more than a little disconcerting when considerable public monies are spent, months of consultants’ field work undertaken, scores of public workshops organized, and finally a city council unanimous vote approving a Plan, to have the manager of the Central Coast District of the CA Coastal Commission (CCC), Kevin Kahn declare that “coastal commission staff have not received a final version of the Plan”, that what they received was only a “draft version.” Really?

I’m referring to the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan, approved by city council in April 2021 and sent for approval to the CCC which has sat on the Plan ever since.

This Plan, requested by the CCC, was funded by a $342,000 Caltrans grant with an additional $43,000 from city monies. Developing the Plan spanned the years from 2019 to 2021. I was one of the 17 Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) members, representing the Parks and Recreation commission. The consultants included experts in geology, coastal erosion, and transportation. Months of field work was undertaken. The final document headed for council approval was 213 pages long with 4 Appendices and 3 pages of Tables and Figures. Public input was captured at numerous workshops, at a Planning Commission hearing and finally at city council. The Resolution adopting the City of Santa Cruz West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan as an “official plan in accordance with the CA Coastal Act” was signed and voted in by council on 20th of April 2021. Doesn’t sound like a draft plan to me.

In claiming that the city council Resolution is not the final version, the CCC manager is playing fast and loose with the public trust. Whether the city staff who worked on the Plan will cave to his influence remains to be seen. Meanwhile the movers and shakers in the newly formed Save West Cliff group have no doubt met with CCC staff, the city manager, the economic development director, city council members and state park officials. This is how the democratic process is eroded. While the group is coy in public about their agenda, given the quotes I shared in last week’s column from their founders, you can bet it involves a radical make-over of West Cliff Drive as an economically driven recreation and commercial hub, marketed to attract thousands.

Amidst this hoopla and much more to come, the words of the city’s Public Works senior civil engineer, Josh Spangrud, should not be buried. In assessing the damage to the 3 main areas of West Cliff Drive, he points out that these are all places that had already sustained the loss of some of their coastal armoring which has not been fortified since the 1990’s. That the areas with armoring are still in good condition and saw little damage; that armoring does work. In an interview with Max Chun of Lookout, Spangrud says “regardless of what the future use of West Cliff is, what has washed away has to be replaced now, or we’ll lose the entire road.”

It appears the CCC does not favor armoring and would like to remove some of it along West Cliff to open access to pocket beaches. This explains part of their desire to revise the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan or “the draft” as they are calling it. Given that position, it will be illuminating to read their recommendation for the application #3-22-075 on behalf of 1307 West Cliff, the sole house on the ocean side of West Cliff Drive. Previous CCC conditions of approval for renovation of that house included removal of all the armoring. The application into the CCC is a request to modify that condition and shrink the area requiring armoring removal.

Whatever that outcome, one thing is clear, only continued armoring will buy us time to claim human access to West Cliff Drive, whether one way or two ways, cars, or no cars. Without armoring, future storms will eventually render access a non- issue.

There really is no basis for opening another discussion of the future for West Cliff Drive. That issue has been decided and is codified in the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan, voted on by city council following an exhaustive public process and awaiting CCC approval. It is a Plan developed to last until 2034 and allows for events such as the January storms which provided an opening for exploitation of the issue, and some are jumping on the bandwagon. The fear is that accuracy, integrity, democracy, and concern for those most impacted, including wildlife, will be the casualties in the stampede.

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.
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Dateline: February 13
OF CONSENT AGENDAS AND RIVER LEVEES, OR…
IS THE SAN LORENZO RIVER A PERSON?

As you walk, bike, or drive along or across the San Lorenzo River between Highway 1 and the trestle bridge this week, until mid-March, you may see increased activity on the levees: mowing equipment and contracted workers with hand tools, tagging to preserve or removing most plants between the ground and five-feet high. The city is under the gun to carry out an intense campaign to control plants and animals in order to keep local control of our levee infrastructure.

But there is an irreconcilable conflict between protecting our river’s ecology from human impacts and protecting people and their built environment from the river itself.

For 230 years, non-Indigenous settlers of Aulinta(k) have repeatedly attempted to exploit and control the river and her floodplain. The powerful try, fail, and try again–even to this day–with earth, pumps, bigger buildings, and now the city council majority’s Downtown Expansion Plan right against the levee and in one of our most flood-prone areas (Mayor Keeley likes to call it a “new neighborhood”).

At the city council meeting of December 13, 2022, Consent Agenda Item 26 to approve vegetation management and rodent control for our FEMA levee maintenance accreditation was passed. Thanks to the vigilance and persistence of everyday people, the item was pulled for public comment and council discussion.

Of course we want and need our levee to be in compliance with safety standards, especially with thousands of residents living in areas that could be devastated by levee failures.

So what’s the conflict?

The crux of the issue is that the upper 20 feet of the inboard/riverside/inside slopes and the entirety of the outboard/landside/outer slopes of the levee must be open to visual inspection in case of failure like sand boils, especially during storms. On the other hand, we have a decades-long history of community planning and action around the river’s habitat and ecosystem restoration, calling for improved biodiversity, aesthetics, and public access. There has been a sometimes-cooperative effort by city government and residents, occasionally supported by federal funds, to plant and maintain riparian, riverine, and estuarine habitats with native plants and to control invasive weeds. Check out the San Lorenzo Urban River Plan (SLURP). The online document is missing page 72, the Beach Flats recommendations. If you’ve got a paper copy that could be scanned, let me know!

Sadly, much of the SLURP and similar plans have been mothballed, like the 1996 Jesse Street Marsh Management Plan which called for the marsh’s restoration in a tradeoff with the wastewater treatment plant’s expansion in Neary Lagoon. Instead, Jessie Street Marsh has been treated as a zone for both organized abandonment and control through prison-labor vegetation management.

Like so much public land, there is a complex web of jurisdictional responsibilities for the levee. While the inboard slopes of the levee are under the jurisdiction and regular maintenance of public works, they have been subjected to annual vegetation management by city-contracted workers to US Army Corps of Engineers specifications for years. At the same time, a lengthy area of that inboard slope plantings is under the watch of the Coastal Watershed Council and their volunteers.

The outboard slopes of the levee are under the jurisdiction of the parks department, with a section under the care of Jane Mio, Project Director of the Valley Women’s Club’s Native Habitat Restoration Program’s “San Lorenzo River Estuary Re-vegetation Project,” or The Estuary Project, and more volunteers.

The current FEMA accreditation plan calls for removal of many existing plants at ground level and “limbing up” of tree branches to above five feet to create open space for easy visual inspections. Intentionally planted low shrubs like manzanita and coyote bush would be cut to the ground annually, or removed and replaced with native grasses and wildflowers that can be mowed. Specialists would reserve the option of using herbicides on invasive plants.

In spite of the California Fish and Wildlife’s rules on protecting nesting sites, the deadline for work to be completed is long before nesting season is over. While there will be a biologist survey done to mark nests to avoid during work, the work itself will eliminate currently established, potential nesting areas.

Does it really make sense to “manage” or even destroy a significant number of native plants that were put there on purpose, for good reason, often with public funds?

Burrowing animals, especially the ground squirrels, will primarily be controlled with rodenticides. So far, the ground squirrels and gophers have frolicked for generations without breaching the levee, though they do present some risk, however small, of tunneling through and weakening the entire structure. A far less toxic, more effective, cheaper, and fun option would be to use raptors and other birds of prey as “integrated pest management.” Habitat restoration, perches and nesting boxes have proven effective elsewhere.

Even while the city is under a tight deadline to contract and complete work for FEMA accreditation, government leaders and agencies are reevaluating how this kind of work is done. Times may finally be changing, with ecological, decolonial, and antipatriarchal practices (perhaps) finally trickling up to the establishment from decades of radical thought and activism, even if they co-opt these practices for their own neoliberal, rather than liberatory, ends, as the Biden/Harris administration did at COP27 last November.

Included in that Biden/Harris document: “Nature-based solutions in floodplain management: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is revising its floodplain management requirements to require consideration of nature-based solutions as alternatives for all projects that have the potential to affect floodplains or wetlands. This action is in response to Executive Order 13690, which established the Federal Flood Risk Management Standard that requires federal agencies to amend their floodplain policies to consider the use of nature-based solutions. Interim program policies are underway.”

The US Army Corps of Engineers’ partnership with the Network for Engineering with Nature website describes, “Engineering With Nature® [as] the intentional alignment of natural and engineering processes to efficiently and sustainably deliver economic, environmental, and social benefits through collaboration.”

Aside from the ludicrous trademark on “Engineering With Nature (™),” and the offensive assumption that we can continue to engineer nature at all, this time with her, even to maintain the military-industrial complex and protect private real estate, there are useful recommendations here. Many are low-tech, managed retreat options that many of us on the ecological-left will see as common sense: give rivers room to roam again (via levee setbacks), restore carbon sinks and improve water quality with wetland restoration (including removing hardscapes like parking lots), improve species survival and diversity with reforestation projects (aids integrated pest management).

Perhaps our next ballot initiative could be to recognize our river’s rights of personhood, as the people of Toledo, Ohio, did for their portion of Lake Erie and its watershed in 2018.

A year after its establishment near the present-day clock tower in 1791, Mission Santa Cruz was destroyed in a flood. Only needing to learn that lesson once, missionaries retreated and rebuilt on top of the nearest terrace. Instead of me rehashing it, you can read The History of Floods on the San Lorenzo River in the City of Santa Cruz, a mid-length online article by Daniel McMahon.

I thoroughly agree with Daniel McMahon’s conclusion: “A reading of the history of a town developing in a floodplain, and struggling to cope with the floods of 120 years suggests that there is a relationship between the river and the city, and that this has always been a changing relationship. Some balance can hopefully be found between the protection of the City of Santa Cruz from the San Lorenzo River, and the protection of the natural aspects of the river from the city.”

It seems to me a huge folly to establish a permanent human settlement in a flood plain, and then to increasingly armor that settlement each time it floods again. Once built, we’re largely locked into the logic of that infrastructure, and it becomes less and less likely that we will pivot to respect the logic of the land.

With catastrophic climate change happening now, globally and in Santa Cruz, we already live with “weather whiplash,” unprecedented proximity of wildfires, faster-than-modeled sea-level-rise, and intensified beach and cliff erosion. With downtown residents’ recent evacuation warning, West Cliff Drive crumbling into the sea, and the lucrative Steamers Lane losing cliff chunks, which logic will prevail?

A fortress isn’t going to save us from the changing climate. Managed retreat is the reasonable response, given that unmanaged retreat is the only other option.

To get involved with current river restoration work, contact:

Barbara Riverwoman, Protect Our River, river@cruzio.com, 831-346-8944

Jane Mio, The Estuary Project, slvhabitatrestoration.org

Coastal Watershed Council, Get involved, volunteer!

And don’t forget to keep reading those consent agendas, you never know what gems you’ll find!

Also on this week’s city council agenda:

So much for increased transparency, accountability, and participatory democracy under Mayor Keeley’s tenure! I guess from now on if we want to know the rationale behind councilmembers’ votes, we’ll have to remember to track down the meeting minutes two weeks later, instead of hearing their thoughts during the meeting or in the easily available online recording. This item also snugs up language around disruptions to council meetings.

Consent Agenda Item 10: Changes to the Councilmembers’ Handbook (CN)

The proposed resolution would amend the Councilmembers’ Handbook (on page 23 at “Remarks of Councilmembers Entered in Minutes”) so that it contains the following language: “In response to a roll call vote, Councilmembers shall respond with “yes”, “no”, or “I am disqualified.”

If a Councilmember wishes to have an abstract of their statements on any subject under consideration by the Council entered in the minutes, they may submit those statements in writing to the City Clerk Administrator within 48-hours after the relevant Council meeting ends, and those statements shall be included in the minutes.”

We also received the police chief’s terse responses to the auditor’s report, including a 2019 death in custody. I’ll keep saying it: we need a community police oversight body, not just a single independent auditor.

General Business Item 27: Response to 2021 Independent Police Auditor Report (PD)

In 2022 the Independent Police Auditor (IPA) presented its 2021 annual report to the Public Safety Committee (March 23, 2022) and City Council (August 23, 2022). The report addressed the IPA’s review of thirteen formally investigated public complaints, administrative investigations involving an in-custody death and a vehicle pursuit, and two other concerns regarding SCPD performance.

The report notes that many files reviewed reflect “thorough investigations and sound conclusions” but also outlines 26 recommendations to strengthen accountability systems, including ways that SCPD can improve investigation and review of critical incidents.

And in the budget adjustments, $35,000 for a new SCPD indoor shooting range? That amount of money could help at least 10 residents avoid eviction, access reproductive health care, or get seniors rides to appointments if it was shifted from the police budget to CORE funding for social services.

General Business Item 30.1 FY 2023 Budget Adjustments and Information

Joy Schendledecker is an artist, parent, and community organizer. She lives on the Westside of Santa Cruz with her husband, two teens, mother in law, and cats. She was a city of Santa Cruz mayoral candidate in 2022.

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Becky had an accident and will return as soon as possible.

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
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February 13

FEBRUARY’S FLOWER


Margaret Warriner Buck, artist; from The Wild Flowers of California; by Mary Elizabeth Parsons; 1916

Pink-red tassels catch your eye from sunlit patches of forest or woodland edge. Hummingbird wings buzz loudly as battling birds chirp sharply, guarding the precious earliest spring nectar from spectacular pendulous flower clusters. Hiking to get closer, you catch a sweet resinous scent in the gentle breeze. Long ago, this plant was called ‘incense shrub.’

You may recall from my early January column that I am challenging readers each month of 2023 to learn about and seek out one impressive flowering plant each month. As February’s flower, I am naming flowering currant, a shrub that is mysteriously not easy to find, but one that has many good stories. This plant ought to be considered akin to backyard bird feeders – there are always so many things showing up to interact with these colorful shrubs that it is a ‘must have’ for any good viewing space from living room windows.

Highlight in the Garden

Flowering currants are easy to grow and a very rewarding garden plant. Once established, they don’t need any irrigation. It’s not a favorite of deer or gophers. And, although winter deciduous, it is a great summer hedge plant. Because it flowers so early, it brings color to the garden when little else is in bloom. The bright pink flower display can complement the simultaneous flowering yellows of daffodil, acacia, and Jerusalem sage. Together, these flowers brighten the early spring. Even out of bloom, the scent of flowering currant’s resinous leaves is alluring and memorable.

Cultivars

In the garden Plant Hunters seek out unusual forms of species, or odd-ball types that work more spectacularly in gardens. The collector, or the horticulturalist they work with, get to name the “cultivar” and hope that their legacy is maintained in the horticultural trade. Those plant hunters have had particularly good luck introducing forms of flowering currants…because this shrub has long been such a popular garden plant. So, there are many named cultivars…

‘King Edward VII’ has the darkest pink flowers of any cultivar of flowering currant. On the other end of the color spectrum is ‘Ubric’ or ‘White Icicle,’ pure white flowering forms.  ‘Inverness White’ is a white-flowering form that fades to pink as the flowers age. ‘Claremont’ is a typical pink flowering form but has unusually long, full flower clusters. Other cultivars are ‘Elk River,’ ‘Pokey’s Pink,’ and ‘Pulborough Scarlet.’ I bet there are even more; one day, there’ll be ‘heritage’ varieties that someone has to rescue from near extinction.

Pruning

Unlike many popular horticultural native shrubs (manzanita, Ceanothus), flowering currants live longer and do not produce as much dead wood as quickly. Still, you’ll want to trim out bigger stems as they get to be 10 years old or so, because older branches die. Each shrub normally continuously sprouts new, more vibrant stems from the base, so keep some of those when thinning out older wood. If you want more blossoms next year, the recommendation is to prune back older growth right after flowering – this triggers side branch development: doing so though will eliminate the berry production that birds so enjoy (more on this below). Flowering currants are a pruner’s delight- they are very amenable to shaping.

Raising Butterflies

By growing flowering currants, you will be raising several types of moths and butterflies that feed on the leaves as larvae. If you are lucky, you will attract the giant, velvety red-brown (with striking silver highlights) Ceanothus silkworm butterfly to lay eggs on your currants. Adults are as big as your hand! I took the photo of an individual on a barn along Swanton Road.

The curiously scalloped-winged satyr comma may also appear- this one is bright orange with black patterns. A smaller, duller orange butterfly, the tailed copper, also feeds on flowering currant as a caterpillar. There may be more in the lineup of currant-feeding butterflies. When people ask, ‘why grow native plants?’ I say, ‘because they host native insects, which feed native birds.’ Western bluebirds’ favorite food are caterpillars.

Hummingbirds and Bumblebees

Anna’s hummingbirds are our only winter season hummingbird species. They need nectar year-round, and that supply is not always easy for them to find in February. When flowering currants first burst into bloom, Anna’s hummingbirds must rejoice. At this same time of year, they are feeding on manzanita blossoms, which are nearly simultaneously flowering…way up on the ridge lines, normally far from flowering currant. I wonder if Anna’s hummingbirds zip to and fro between those patches of nectar-rich flowers?

Bumblebees also love flowering currants. There is a particularly large bumblebee that comes out early each season. I suppose that their body mass allows them to be more comfortable during the short, cooler days of February – I don’t see other kinds for a few weeks. When flowering currants first blossom, these huge bumbles bomb about, klutzily bumping into flowering currant blossom clusters, noisily feeding. After the flower clusters elongate and only the last half of the cluster is in bloom (at the tips), other bumblebees – and many other pollinators – are emerging and showing up for currant nectar.

Berry Bonanza

I don’t enjoy the insipid taste of the shiny, black, juicy flowering currant berries, but other things do. The berries are most popular with robins. Robins can’t resist them, but robins are jumpy. If you plant flowering currants near your door, some poor robin is going to panic and fly away from your currant bush fast, whenever you go outside during the day. I imagine that they get stomach cramps from so much exercise with such full bellies. Black headed grosbeaks also very much enjoy flowering currant fruits. In other words, if you grow one of these shrubs, you are growing a backyard bird feeder for big, beautiful berry eating birds.

Resilient Shrub

When your landscape catches fire. One thing I learned (the hard way) is which plants live and which ones die in a wildfire. Flowering currant (mostly) resprouts after burning, as long as it doesn’t really roast. Same goes for native hazelnut, by the way: not so much for ceanothus. I’m hoping more people are thinking about what to plant that can weather wildfire and return without replanting. From iNaturalist, I notice that flowering currants are spreading from places of obvious introduction, like around the UCSC Arboretum/Farm. So, you might start a node of invasion into the wildlands from your planting place.

Where to Look

I looked at iNaturalist locations as well as herbarium specimens on record through the CalFlora website, and those confirm my impression that this flowering shrub isn’t easy to find. Perhaps flowering currants were eradicated in the push to address an invasive pathogen that infects 5-needle pines, white pine blister rust, which it hosts. Some of the more major drainages have populations – along the San Lorenzo, Butano Creek, and Soquel Creek, for instance. The flowers should stand out from a distance – go have a look!

Other February Flowers

I had a hard time deciding what would be the feature flower of February. I had previously written of some likely suspects. Taken at landscape average, brittle leaf manzanita will enter peak bloom in February; but I previously wrote about that one‘s habitat. Milk maids, hound’s tongue, understory violets, and redwood sorrel are also flowering in February; I wrote about those already here.

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
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February 13

#44 / David Brooks And The “Bright-icize” Bias

On the left is New York Times’ columnist David Brooks. On the right is Peter Marks, one of Brooks’ dearest, long-term friends. Marks, in fact, was a friend that Brooks knew from the time that Brooks and Marks were both eleven years old.Today, Brooks is sixty-one.

In its February 12, 2023, edition, The Times printed a heart-rending column about the friendship between Brooks and Marks. The title of Brooks’ column was, “How Do You Serve A Friend in Despair?” Brooks’ column reported on the death of Marks, by suicide, after a long struggle with depression. If The Times’ paywall prevents you from using the link above to read the column, you might try this link as an alternative.

One of Brooks’ phrases struck me. Telling his readers that he “did not understand the seriousness of the situation,” Brooks confessed to a temperamental bias. “Some people catastrophize and imagine the worst,” Brooks said, but Brooks reports that he does the opposite: “I tend to bright-icize.”

One lesson I draw from Brooks’ column is that trying to “bright-icize” things for persons who are battling depression is probably not a helpful strategy. The problem, of course, is to figure out some other strategy that might be more effective. Unfortunately, Brooks’ column doesn’t offer up any real help, which I was hoping it might, since I have had, and I do have, friends who are struggling with depression and despair, just as Marks did.

I had a more general reaction to Brooks’ discussion, as well – and particularly to his reflection about his tendency to “bright-icize” things. It strikes me that many of us do what Brooks reports: we “bright-icize” events. We provide (to ourselves and others, but to ourselves, above all) the most “positive” possible interpretation of events and circumstances. That is a technique and tactic that we use to avoid an otherwise inevitable confrontation with the truly difficult and oppressing realities that we routinely encounter. Of course, we also, sometimes, embrace the exact opposite tendency, finding a way to engage in “doomscrolling,” bringing to the forefront all the “negatives,” as we contemplate the realities of our lives, and of the world in which we live.

I would like to suggest that we need to avoid BOTH tendencies.

The “bright-icize” bias, conveyed to friends and acquaintances who are trying to deal with genuinely oppressive realities might push them in exactly the wrong direction. Similarly, rehearsing all the horrible realities of our existence, and projecting the “doom” that may shortly fall upon us, poses exactly the same danger. And it is we, of course, not just our friends and acquaintances, who are put at risk by both the “bright-icize” and the “doomscrolling” bias.

The last line of a favorite Bob Dylan song popped immediately into my mind, as I considered the importance of avoiding both tendencies just discussed. “It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” is the song I’m talking about, and here’s the last verse:

If my thought-dreams could be seen
They’d probably put my head in a guillotine
But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only

Click the link above if you want the complete lyrics. You can listen to Dylan sing the song by clicking on the link, below. For what it’s worth, I do think that Dylan provides us with some pretty good advice in his song. We are here. We are alive, and why and how that’s true is just a mystery we can never fathom. Neither bemoaning our fate, or “bright-icizing” it, is anything but an effort to ward off accepting the life we actually have, whatever it is, unasked for as it was.

Every one of us, I think, can understand the reason we try to dodge the actual realities of the life in which we find ourselves. And this is true whether our natural tendency is towards a “bright side” or a “dark side” bias.

Times are bad. And they’re golden, too. Same for me, as it is for you. We can see life as a blessing, or a burden if we choose. We can try to avoid what life presents us, or be devoted to the news. We can contemplate the darkness, or try to conjure up the light, but it’s life, and life only. Bob Dylan has it right.

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
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February 13

Dale will return next week

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. 
 
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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.

“Beaches”

“Babies don’t need a vacation, but I still see them at the beach… it pisses me off! I’ll go over to a little baby and say ‘What are you doing here? You haven’t worked a day in your life!’
~Steven Wright

“A man should never wear shorts in the city. Flip-flops and shorts in the city are never appropriate. Shorts should only be worn on the tennis court or on the beach”.     
~Tom Ford

“Sometimes ideas are coming so fast that I have to stop doing one song to get another. But I don’t forget the first one. If it works, it will always be there. It’s like the truth: it will find you and lift you up. And if it ain’t right, it will dissolve like sand on the beach”. 
~Prince

“Every time we walk along a beach some ancient urge disturbs us so that we find ourselves shedding shoes and garments or scavenging among seaweed and whitened timbers like the homesick refugees of a long war”.    
~Loren Eiseley

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This week I am in Lake Havasu City, AZ for a pyrotechnics convention. It’s called Western Winter Blast, and has been happening for 34 years now. This video is from 2019 (I was here then as well). Enjoy!


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

February 8 – 14, 2023

Posted on February 10, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Keeley and Warriors and Cynthia Mathews, Marilyn Liddicoat’s gun, blue spy balloons, parking garages, gun manufacturers. GREENSITE…on West $Cliff Drive. SCHENDELDECKER…housing and shelter, police murders, public safety. STEINBRUNER…Cabrillo name, fire rebuilds, general plan, zoning changes, Aptos historic property, goats. HAYES…Fire lines. PATTON…What Dr. Swenson said. MATLOCK… Trial balloons and porker indictments. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS…doesn’t really wanna do the work today… QUOTES…”Balloons”

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AN EARLIER STORM. To be honest, I have no date or even an accurate location on this photo. It’s either Capitola or Pleasure Point and obviously it’s soon after an earlier storm. Any facts are welcome.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE February 6

KEEN ON KEELEY? We’ve had our first taste and views of Fred’s Mayoral talents. In addition to his approval of Cynthia Mathews to the Downtown Commission we remain alert to his pro Warriors development. As I’ve said before many times Fred’s a full time Warriors fan. He flies to their out of town games, attends as many as possible right here. But it again is the proposed development of the south of Laurel properties that need research relating to Keeley’s attachment. In addition to all of that much ire and questions were raised relating to our new city districts and their representation…stay tuned. Do remember that Cynthia Mathews is a downtown property owner and should be prevented from voting or influencing any changes in our downtown as she has been doing for decades.

OTHER VIEWS ON PARKING GARAGES. Longtime friend and tech wizard Patrick Casey sent this article from Ars Technica.   Among other thought provoking zingers are statements like…

Ars Technica: City planners are questioning the point of parking garages.

“Yet parking garages and parking lots end up using precious land to house cars instead of people at a time when cities are confronted with a severe housing shortage and skyrocketing housing costs“. “Only 20 percent of homes for sale are affordable to people making average incomes. And “Parking requirements are a particular burden at many affordable-housing developments, where low-income residents are less likely to own cars. It goes on to tell what has been done in cities that found better uses for already built garages. We need to consider all of above with the proposed development of the South of Laurel- Warriors-and Keeley- territory.

ABOUT MARILYN LIDDICOAT. The January 28 Santa Cruz Sentinel ran a lovey-dovey piece on our former County Supervisor Liddicoat, who died in December 2022. What they didn’t mention, and what tells us more about her personally, is that she carried a pistol in her purse!!

SPEAKING OF GUNS. As a way of keeping political relevance I read the Berkeley Daily Planet weekly. Their issues, especially as they relate to their relationship to the University of California, are very similar to our local problems. They quoted… “for the record: According to the Violence Project and Everytown for Gun Safety, the five companies whose weapons are most often used to commit America’s mass-murders are: Smith & Wesson, Rutger, Bushmaster, Sig Sauer, and Daniel Defense”.

SPY BALLOONS. We’ll be hearing, reading and watching soon to find out just what the contents of that Chinese balloon really are/were? An obvious question that I haven’t heard anyone ask is why they didn’t paint that balloon blue instead of that brilliant white that stands out against any sky?? Suggestions welcome!!!

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

LIVING. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (7.5 IMDB). Bill Nighy who’s actually only 77 plays a much older rigid, tightly controlled city worker who gets the news that he has just six months to live. How he handles the rest of his life and the changes he makes creates a heartfelt and super movie. The acting is award winning and the plot touches every one of us. It’s actually a re-make of Kurosawa’s “Ikiru” (1952) and it ‘s even more personal.

THE SNOW GIRL. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.8 IMDB). A Spanish movie about the kidnapping of a six year old girl. The story goes back and forth between the real parents who are searching for her and the detectives and a reporter who keep on the trail for many, many years. It turns into a mystery and has a melodramatic ending but it keeps you awake and involved.

THE WATCHFUL EYE. (HULU SERIES) (6.4 IMDB). Only the first two episodes have been released so far and they look promising. It takes place in New York City in a haunted but classy old fashioned apartment building. It has many shots reminding us of The Shining with people appearing and disappearing in hallways. It’s not near any Hitchcock film but there are minutes that will keep you glued to your screen.

MY NAME IS VENDETTA. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.6 IMDB). Yet another Mafia movie and yet it has minutes that are exciting, well-acted and quite watchable. From Italy and taking place in Milan, a father and young daughter work hard to escape the Mafia who are determined to seek revenge on the father for an evil deed he committed years before. It’s violent, bloody, nearly predictable but well worth watching IF you like that sort of movie.

HOW I BECAME A GANGSTER. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.9 IMDB). The biggest problem with this version of the movie is that it is dubbed in English from the original Polish. For me that’s a loss both visually and acting wise. We learn that still another country has a Mafia or a branch of it and there’s not much else to discuss, we’ve seen it all before.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

YOU PEOPLE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (5.6 IMDB). A huge cast of stars in this attempt at a comedy. Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, Elliot Gould, Richard Benjamin, and even David Duchovny and not a laugh amongst them! It focuses on relations between Blacks and LA’s Jewish populations. Family issues, religious differences and it’s just sad…not funny.

THE ENDLESS NIGHT. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.1 IMDB). This is an incredible re-enactment of a fire in 2013 in a Sao Paulo Brazil nightclub where and when 242 people died. The flammable ceiling was the cause and to this day the club owners have not been held guilty. Survivor families have banded together, hired experts and struggled to have justice and this movie details all of that. Tragic and spell binding.

JUNG-E. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.4 IMDB).It’s all about interactions between robots and humans. It’s a Korean sci-fi adventure and is technically excellent. We soon lose interest in the re-creating of more robot tricks and fewer human skills. It’s probably 80% action, chase, violence and 2 % human. Don’t plan to stray up late to watch it.

SHRINKING. (APPLE TV+) (7.7 IMDB). Big money was spent to attract Harrison Ford, Jason Segel and Jessica Williams to this touchy, feely un funny comedy. Set in Pasadena Ford and Segel are therapists with many more issues than their patients. Harrison Ford does what he was supposed to do with this script and does it well, but aside from the fact that he’s actually shorter than you’d think, he doesn’t get laughs either. You must have more interesting things to do than to watch this one.

NARVIK. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.7 IMDB). Narvik is a small town in Norway that was the site of the first defeat of Hitler’s battles in 1940. The main story centers on a soldier and his wife and how he has to take arms and go into battle. His wife has to defend her household and young son and was forced to make plans that helped the Nazi attackers. Loyalty, patriotism, love, and brutality are the issues and it’s an excellent movie.

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WEST $CLIFF DRIVE

This Great Blue Heron is hunting in Lighthouse Field on a day of calm weather between the January storms. West Cliff Drive and Monterey are in the background. As I stopped and watched this magnificent bird I thought about its future, with entrepreneurs swooping in from all sides to “re-envision” West Cliff Drive as an economic asset.

The storm damage to two sections of West Cliff has spurred the formation of a group calling itself Save West Cliff.  Wallace Baine interviewed two founders of the group for the February 5th issue of Lookout Santa Cruz. The list of other “founders” is long and replete with big names, most with self-congratulatory monikers. Their newsletter invites others in the community to add their names and emails to receive updates, which I did. Apparently I didn’t meet with approval since I have received nothing, while others I know who signed up, have. This suggests the founders’ claim of bringing the community together is about building a single-minded force for developing West Cliff into an enhanced commercial zone.

One of the founders interviewed and quoted by Wallace Baine is Nik Strong-Cvetich, CEO of the non-profit, Save The Waves. This outfit travels the world promoting what it terms, World Surfing Reserves.

In 2012 civic leaders accepted the 7 mile stretch from Natural Bridges to Pleasure Point as a World Surfing Reserve. Besides surf breaks east to Pleasure Point, it includes Cowell Beach, Steamer Lane, and West Cliff Drive to Natural Bridges.

In December 2021, the city council approved an MOU between Nik Strong-Cvetich of Save The Waves and the City of Santa Cruz Parks & Recreation Department. The MOU includes language that says the “parties” have a shared interest to “manage West Cliff Drive and nearby parks; bolster surfing locations; plan and promote events; reap economic rewards and invest in local surfing.” Part of the mission of a World Surfing Reserve is to “quantify the economic contribution associated with Santa Cruz’s quality surf environment.” For West Cliff, it states it will “undertake an economic valuation study.” Huntington Beach is cited as an example bringing in $55.3 million and 375,000 attendees when it hosted the US Open of Surfing.

In January 2023, Nik Strong-Cvetich was nominated by council member Scott Newsome to the Parks & Recreation commission and council unanimously voted him in. I also applied to be appointed to the commission, having just completed a four-year term (two terms are allowed) and elected unanimously as commission vice chair. That aside, the new commissioner will have to recuse himself from discussion and vote on any issue that comes before the commission involving West Cliff Drive, Cowell’s, Main Beach, nearby parks, and related budget items since he has an economic conflict of interest as CEO of an organization with an MOU with the city involving those areas. Despite that limitation in the public arena, back-channel communications will likely be in full swing as the West Cliff Drive repair project moves ahead, for which the city Public Works department should be commended. It’s clear to me that the groups named above are exploiting the current erosion and repairs of West Cliff Drive to move surfing to a modern digital sport which drives economic development on steroids.

And the future for the Great Blue Heron? Its hunting in Lighthouse Field is tenuous given the current human impact. Add thousands more people for special events as West Cliff becomes commercialized and this beautiful bird along with other species will likely leave us, leaving us poorer in spirit while some richer in profits.

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.
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February 6

WHO GETS A BREAK?

This week I plan to visit my partner in Berlin for 9 days (where he is in the middle of a 3-month fellowship), I am relieved that there’s no city council meeting this Tuesday. No agenda to study: no summary sheets, resolutions, ordinances, or budgets to scrutinize and respond to; no immediate issues to rally around for a social media campaign or call to public comment. It’s nice to get a little break from this variety of unpaid community care work.

But we all know who never gets a break from the city: People without housing. People who live completely unsheltered, in tents, or in vehicles.

Thanks to the dedication of Reggie Meisler, we have documentation of the continued harassment and ticketing of vehicle residents throughout the series of storms and cold weather over the past six weeks.

Thanks to the attention of “Jet Silver” we have several first-hand accounts of people’s recent experiences with emergency shelter and collective camp care.

I wrote an op-ed for Lookout a few weeks ago on our city and county’s shared failure to adequately plan for people with disabilities and “access and functional needs” during and after emergencies. Literally all of us experience access and functional needs when we are infants and children. If we’re lucky we’ll be in that official status again if we reach our elder years. And most of us will experience temporary, chronic, or permanent disability at various points throughout our lives. People without housing by definition experience disability or access and functional needs all the time.

As it continues to sporadically rain, and many nights are especially cold, city-funded emergency and respite shelters aren’t opening. Footbridge Services has scaled back their programs, and though their coldest/wettest nights Warming Center remains operational, capacity is limited and only open when temperatures are 36* or lower. For vulnerable people, hypothermia can occur even indoors when temperatures are as warm as 60-65*. So just imagine how difficult it must be for people living outdoors or in vehicles to stay warm enough–when even daytime temperatures may be lower than 65* and everything is damp–how easily core body temperatures could drop to unhealthy or deadly levels.

Despite official talking points that shelter is available, people are on waiting lists for shelter and safe parking programs. Whatever local progress has been made, we must do better, faster, without further harming people through policing.

*****

There also has not been a break from white supremacy or police violence for BIPOC communities, migrant workers, or activists.

Police murdered 20 people in the US this January, including forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Esteban Paez Teran, Keenan Anderson (beloved teacher and cousin of BLM organizer Patrisse Cullors), Tyre Nichols (creative soul and father, with a chronic illness), and Anthony Lowe Jr. (father and wheelchair-using double amputee). These killings amount to extrajudicial execution.

There were an inconceivable 56 mass shootings in the US this January, including Monterey Park and Half Moon Bay. Addressing the shootings in Half Moon Bay on Instagram, Campesina Womb Justice began a post with these words: “Today Chinese and Mexican Farmworkers were killed by White Supremacy. Blame the White Men creators of weapons of mass destruction. Blame Settler Colonialist Structures that breed hate, greed, violence, and destruction.” The shooter was a victim too, of white supremacy and exploitation.

Gun violence in the US is inextricable from white supremacy and patriarchy. We must address these issues together with a commitment to intersectionality and building solidarities that cut through our multiple identities. We must not see ourselves in a special enclave that’s outside of these systems of oppression, or immune from internalizing them no matter our complex and hybrid personal stories.

And dear white people: when we are called-out or called-in to our own racism, we must be humble and attentive to the harm we have caused, even if unintentionally.

The murder of Tortuguita should touch everyone who says they value environmental protections. Aside from the continued and intensifying use of repressive police and paramilitary violence, and domestic terrorism laws to harshly penalize peaceful land and nature defenders, the US has now joined the list of countries including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, and the Philippines that have used state-sanctioned murder against journalists and land defenders.

As we work towards the ultimate horizons of Abolition and universal liberation, we must avoid non-reformist reforms that are ineffective, maintain the status quo, or increase police budgets and profits for corporations that make reformist tech-fixes like body cams.

In 2012, Santa Cruz was the birthplace of PredPol, celebrated as a better way to reduce crime. Eight years later, in the wake of calls for police reform after the 2020 murder of George Floyd, we were the first US city to ban predictive policing. PredPol, still based in Santa Cruz county, rebranded in early 2021 as Geolitica, and continues to do business with dozens of cities around the country (according to one of their blog posts, 1 in 33 Americans is “protected” by their tech, more than 10 million people), and many more around the world. I’d guess it’s no coincidence that they rebranded and pivoted their promotional language after 2020’s uprisings and increased scrutiny of PredPol and data-driven policing. Seems like it worked and business is still strong, but as a privately held company, there’s no real transparency. And yuck!, just look at this LinkedIn post from two weeks ago trotting out MLK even as they’ve been found to uphold practices that violate civil rights.

What can we do here?

We need to make changes to our Public Safety programs and policies, and we need to have the people most impacted by those policies not just at the table but centered in those discussions and decisions. We can’t continue to exclude people because their ideas are inconvenient or challenging. For example, our BIPOC residents who want more radical alternatives to policing should have just as much representation as those who are in positions of power and advocate smaller reforms. Our unhoused neighbors need a seat at the table for every decision that affects their ability to survive. Our residents who advocate for re-allocating some police funds to a non-police alternative emergency response program should be taken seriously by our Council and Police Chief.

We must shift our focus on policing to align with our values of community care with new programs for neighborhood Community Care Emergency Response Teams. Starting with downtown and city workers, we can use our highly capable community of mental health care professionals to train and support residents to help their neighbors with non-police problems.

Reducing our arsenal of military-grade equipment and chemical weapons will save us money, benefit all living things, and increase public safety. Now that we have more transparency because of federal law AB481, we can insist that our police department’s equipment aligns with community values, international law, civil rights, and a sensible budget. We need an independent citizen oversight body with teeth, for review, accountability, and recommendations for SCPD budget, policies, actions, and equipment.

We can find the links between our community and Atlanta’s Cop City, like the Atlanta Police Department’s use of PredPol/Geolitica technology. We can put pressure on local leaders in positions of power–business, governance, and organizations–to pull any support of and make explicit statements against the Cop City development. Watch the webinar Cop City: The Wrong Response to Racist Police Violence to educate yourself and others, and to inform our collective response.

What I’m reading: “An Abolitionists Handbook: 12 steps to changing yourself and the world”, by Patrisse Cullors. This book has been on my bedside table for a few months now and I’ve been reading it casually, but in this moment I commit to reading it more carefully and earnestly.
What I’m watching: “Star Trek: Voyager”. In every series they really get knocked around a lot during turbulence and conflict. Why don’t they have seat belts?
Joy Schendledecker is an artist, parent, and community organizer. She lives on the Westside of Santa Cruz with her husband, two teens, mother in law, and cats. She was a city of Santa Cruz mayoral candidate in 2022.
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February 6

A BIZARRE ANSWER TO DEFEND A SENSELESS ACTION

Cabrillo College Trustee Dan Rothwell wrote a Guest Commentary in the February 1 Santa Cruz Sentinel that really made no sense and cements my opinion that the current Board of Trustee decision to change the school’s name was a stupid thing to do.

“Why I Voted to Change the Name of Cabrillo College” outlined Trustee Rothwell’s thinking:

1) Disregarding the public survey that clearly opposed the name change was okay because surveys don’t matter… people can change their mind later: “The data are merely suggestive of a point of view but certainly not definitive.” and “In a democracy, we do not mindlessly follow the majority.”

2) Changing the name won’t adversely influence passage of future bonds because those are just anti-tax voters anyway,

3) No school money will be spent because the school plans to seek donations from anti-racist and equity issue groups;

4) Wokeness is just a word;

5) Changing the school name despite the overwhelming opposition stated by alumni who donate might cause donations for scholarships to drop, but oh, well; and

6) Putting the matter to the vote of the people was not necessary because “State law gives the board singular authority to change the college’s name.”

Honestly, Trustee Rothwell’s logic is both bizarre and shocking.  Please write the Sentinel  and the Board of Trustees with your thoughts.

One subsequent letter by Warwick Boulton of Aptos suggested keeping the Cabrillo College name but re-name buildings after California Native American tribes.  Each building’s lobby could feature information about that tribe to help educate the public.  I hope Mr. Boulton will serve as a Trustee in the near future!

ARE WE REALLY HELPING PEOPLE?

That was the question Supervisor Bruce McPherson asked of County Planning staff last Tuesday, after actually pulling Item #38 that would have been swept through on Consent, but that merited public discussion about whether or not the 4Leaf Consultants are actually helping people in the CZU Fire area to rebuild, and should the County extend their contract to help recent storm victims rebuild.  The good discussion became public under Regular Item 11(b).

Supervisor McPherson cited interesting facts that show many CZU Fire rebuild permits have not been issued, or have been issued but not picked up.  Only 600 of those whose homes burned are even shown as trying to work through the permit system, even though the County is paying a lot of money to 4Leaf consultants to “streamline” the permitting process.

Hmmmm….  Listen for yourself here, beginning at minute 2:23:05, and pay special attention to what Supervisor McPherson says at minute 2:26:30 when he asks for a full report on February 14 to explain the problem before expanding 4Leaf’s contract with the County.

“These are questions I am asked every day, but I don’t have any good answer for,” ended Supervisor McPherson.

CONFUSING TALK THAT SAYS NOTHING

Last Tuesday’s County Board of Supervisor agenda item #10 was deceptive and a blatant tactic to keep the public misinformed, and therefore, not participating.

Tell me, what in the world do you think this means:

“Consider approval in concept of “Uncodified Ordinance of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors Amending Ordinance 5423 Related to the Effective Date of Amendments to the Santa Cruz County Code Chapter 13.10 as part of the Sustainability Policy and Regulatory Update of 2022,” and schedule the uncodified ordinance for second reading and final adoption on February 14, 2023, as outlined in the memorandum of the Deputy CAO/Director of Community Development and Infrastructure”     ?????????

What it actually refers to is shoving through the massive changes in the County’s General Plan and Zoning ordinances that will dictate what you can and cannot do on or with your property and where extremely dense developments will be focused.  Why can’t the Board of Supervisors use plain English and better-inform, and therefore involve, the public?

Take a look at what County Code 13.10 is:

Chapter 13.10 ZONING REGULATIONS

If you take the time to dig into the Staff Report, it becomes clear that this confusing and vague language is used to cover up a mistake made in an earlier Board action that would approve some of the Zoning changes outside of the Coastal Zone, making them effective after 30 days, but the other changes in Zoning within the Coastal Zone not be effective until blessed by the Coastal Commission.

Here is what the correction will accomplish and why it is necessary:

“In order to maintain consistency between the General Plan and SCCC Chapter 13.10, the proposed Ordinance will correct the [inadvertent] error, ensuring Ordinance 5423 goes into effect throughout the County once it is certified by the Coastal Commission, along with the General Plan amendments and other implementing ordinances.”

Why not just explain that up front in the Agenda Item description?  CYA, I suppose.

Incidentally, a member of the public testified regarding this item that originally, there was little documentation available to the public in the December, 2022 agenda when the inadvertent error action was taken by the Board, at the behest of the Planning Department staff leaders.  He wrote to the Planning Dept. and was provided an additional 2,000 pages of documentation that was not linked to the agenda at the time.

Hmmm….

A MISTAKE OR CENSORSHIP?

The County Board of Supervisor meetings are video recorded and made available on the website for those who cannot attend their Tuesday, 9am meetings.  As one who is able to participate regularly in these meetings, I can tell you that they are VERY POORLY ATTENDED by the public.

So, it is very unfortunate that none of comments made January 10, 2023 by people who took time to actually attend the meeting were recorded, and all but the last 17 seconds of my remote Public Comment at the meeting seems to be missing.  One would think the Board would take special care to make sure the recordings are complete and accurate.

Was that a mistake to omit nearly all of the public comment, or was it censorship??

Please write your Supervisors and ask.

Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisorsboardofsupervisors@santacruzcounty.us or call 831-454-2200.

It is amazing to see all five men actually showing up in person at these meetings!

Last Tuesday’s Board meeting recording was better, but had many gaps of silence throughout.  You might appreciate the Public Comment from the Corralitos resident who actually came to the Supervisor meeting because no one from the County ever responded to her community’s multiple requests for help from her Supervisor (Zach Friend) or Public Works in guidance for removing a storm-damaged private bridge and rebuild primary access for 31 homes.  (see minute 11:25)

click here to continue (link expands, click again to collapse)

REMOVING THE LUNGS OF THE EARTH



 Last week’s trip to Santa Cruz on Highway One Northbound was a shock for me to see the miles of areas once lined with lovely trees but that are now bare and littered with stumps.  It got depressing at the Fish Hook to see the piles of logs and mountains of sawdust that represented the trees that used to line the highway, converting CO2 to oxygen.

This is the first of three phases to widen Highway One and will include a bicycle/pedestrian overpass near the Sheriff Center on Chanticleer Avenue.

Santa Cruz Local: Highway 1 Widening

SCCRTC: Hwy 1 corridor

The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) just announced receiving an award of a $72.6 MILLION for the next phase of this project: three miles of widening between Bay Avenue/Porter to State Park Drive in Aptos.

[Fact Sheet: Hwy 1 aux lanes Bay/Porter updated]

The RTC also received a $3.3 million grant for Pedestrian Safety Improvements on Highway 9 in Felton:

The project proposes to construct pedestrian and bicycle facilities to improve safety on Highway 9 near Felton from Kirby Street to north of Fall Creek Drive. For more information about the project, visit the Caltrans project website.

For some historic analysis, here is a good article….from 10 years ago.

What’s changed?  Voters passed Measure D in 2016 that helped fund highway widening, and other transportation projects, such as bike lanes and buses.

ARE YOUR WATER RATES UNAFFORDABLE?

Many thanks to the reader who sent this information.  Tune in, if you can to the free webinar this Friday:

Water Equity, Affordability and Climate Change

SANTA CRUZ VOICE GOES LIVE SOFTLY THIS WEEK ON INTERNET RADIO

Many popular programmers from KSCO radio and other radio vets have migrated to a new local internet radio platform called “Santa Cruz Voice”.

The group is launching a “soft opening” this week.  Stay tuned.

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A MEETING AND ASK QUESTIONS.  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
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February 6

FIRE TIME

With the rain and cool weather, for many reasons….it is fire time. How do we weigh the balance between the benefits of burning wood for heat and wildland fuel reduction with the drawbacks of indoor and outdoor air pollution and atmospheric carbon additions/global warming?  This moment in this season is a good time to enter that reflective space.

Thinking Ahead

February is historically the wettest time of year on California’s central coast. The most rain falls in February, and the days are still short and the air is cool, keeping the environment moist between rainstorms. In just a handful of months, it will be dry and hot and fire weather will return. Anyone with responsibility to manage any vegetation must regularly plan for fire. Fire storms now march right into towns and so the smallest yard keepers have to think about the flammability of their situation. Why wait until the fiery weather is upon us? Cool days make for excellent outdoor working weather, and the wet environment opens up all sorts of opportunities for biomass processing.

Our Cultural Controls on Pile Burning

The native peoples burned dry natural vegetation, and so must we. With the rains and surrounding vegetation so moist, it has been an excellent time to do ‘pile burning.’ The CZU CAL FIRE unit, which oversees Santa Cruz and San Mateo County, started allowing rural residents to burn dry piles of vegetation starting last November 11, but how long that permission will last depends on the weather. CAL FIRE says, “Dry, natural vegetation, grown on the property may be burned outdoors in open piles unless prohibited by local ordinances.”  But first you have to apply for a CAL FIRE permit using an online system; and then you can only burn on a day that the Air Resources Board says is okay – when the smoke won’t be too much of a health hazard. You’ll need to do another permit application from them using, again, an online system. Interestingly, while CAL FIRE allowed burns a few weeks earlier, the Air Board burn season is December 1 – April 30.

Burning Assistance

This past December, and maybe again in the future, the Central Coast Prescribed Burn Association hosted workshops teaching “the foundational concepts of safe pile burning.” They offer this online resource for more guidance.

What About Composting Woody Debris for Fire Safety?

There is an understandable uprising against burning given concerns about climate change. Many people are suggesting composting biomass instead of burning it.

If you are in town, you can meter out your green waste bins by pruning out any dead or overgrown plants, a little at a time …. week by week. If you live out in the countryside and have to deal with a lot of woody biomass, you haul it to the dump or think of other solutions. How the dump manages to dispose of that much composted biomass is a conundrum.

There are permaculture folks and other Hügelkultur practitioners who suggest burying woody material beneath agricultural or horticultural beds, taking advantage of rotting wood for soil carbon benefits including increased water retention. This is a lot of work so it is applicable for only small amounts of woody debris in specific situations. Others suggest burying biomass to reduce erosion in down cutting drainages. My limited experience suggests caution with this approach as any wood that appears out of the soil will probably ignite during wildfire, burning and cooking the soil in the drainage. I share the same experience and caution for Hügelkultur: bury it well and hope it rots fast (you’ll need to keep it moist)!

What About Chipping?

With diesel or gas-guzzling chipping machines, it is questionable whether chipping is any better than burning biomass for atmospheric carbon impacts. There is also a concern about the wood chips catching fire in wildfires. One person I know had a nice pile of chips slowly disappearing into their grassy yard soil until someone built a warming fire on top of them…which ignited a few days later into a large conflagration that was difficult to extinguish. Best to bury chips, too – but not so easy to do! The same cautions apply for the practice of mastication- those big machines that chip vegetation ‘in place.’ Masticated material lying in carpets across the ground are less dangerous, but they still carry wildfire. And so, let’s turn back to the burning option.

Burning in Santa Cruz

The CZU Lightning Complex Fire burned 85,000 acres….mostly incompletely. That’s the region’s biggest, most obvious UH-OH! If you look at most of that acreage, you will see thousands and thousands of dead trees, which are slowly falling and creating a giant fire hazard. Do you recall the Creek Fire pyrocumulonimbus cloud and extreme fire behavior, including tornadoes of flames? That fire and other fires in the Sierra Nevada were greatly exacerbated by large numbers of trees killed by drought and beetles. We are facing the same danger in the footprint of the CZU Lightning Complex Fire. State Parks and other landowners have been using pile burning to reduce fuels to mitigate such a catastrophe, but a lot more needs to happen: the ‘treated landscape’ is much smaller than the untreated areas at this time. Still, I know of more than 500 burn piles having been ignited this season, so there is hope.

Another method of burning involves using an ‘air curtain burner’ or a ‘carbonator.’ These both look like large metal shipping containers. Air curtain burners use high powered fans to contain sparks while logs get incinerated. Carbonators use more controlled air exchange so that they create ‘biochar’ – charcoal that can be used in agriculture or horticulture. Vineyards have been experimenting with biochar as a soil amendment that holds some promise for increased soil water retention. Horticulturally, biochar may substitute for carbon- and nature-unfriendly (mined) peat moss. We need to study biochar to see how long it retains carbon in the soil – long- or short term – to understand its potential for helping global warming by sequestering carbon.

Burning Wood: Carbon Neutral?

There is a movement afoot to reduce the use of wood for fuel, but to what end? In the San Lorenzo Valley and elsewhere, folks have long complained about air quality degradation due to badly managed wood heating apparatus. Unfortunately, folks use old wood fueled heaters and/or burn poor quality wood. As with burn piles, folks should be careful to burn only dry wood: there ought to be some rules for firewood sales to disclose percent moisture content in fire wood. Also, firewood needs to be stored so it doesn’t get wet after it is delivered to someone’s home. Wet firewood smokes a lot. Dry firewood burned in a modern woodstove, using smart fire building and maintenance methods can greatly reduce pollution while using a sustainable fuel source. The California Air Resources Board has a great website on cautions about, and helpful tips for, using wood for heating, and as an alternative suggests using electrical heaters.

Two thirds of California’s electricity comes from natural gas – fossil fuel! That figure is more hopeful in our region if you choose to get your power from Central Coast Community Energy, which is shooting for 60% renewable by 2025. Heating with wood is considered by many to be carbon neutral because the carbon that cycles from the atmosphere into plants, and then into wood fuel, isn’t fossil carbon but natural-cycling carbon. Plus, harvesting that woody carbon has a potential around here of being part of the solution to our current, catastrophic wildland fire fuel problem.

I hope you will carefully consider the right way to use wood for heat

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
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Saturday, February 4, 2023

#35 / What Dr. Swenson Said

That is Dr. Robert Swenson, pictured above. Sandy Lydon, who has been known to call himself “The History Dude,” has a website that provides us with a little background about Dr. Swenson, informing us that Dr. Swenson was the founding president of Cabrillo College in 1959. Dr. Swenson retired in 1976, and he then served as the Executive Director of the Community College Accreditation Commission, a position he held until 1986. Swenson died in 2007 at age 89, two months short of his ninetieth birthday.

Back at the end of December, at the swearing-in ceremony for two newly-elected members of the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors (Justin Cummings and Felipe Hernandez), an old friend who knew Dr. Swenson told me something that Dr. Swenson once said. I thought that Dr. Swenson’s commentary was worth passing on:

There are just three kinds people, Dr. Swenson said:

First, there are the people who make things happen.

Second, there are the people who watch things happen.

Third, there are the people who say, “What happened”?

I hope you’re with me when I say, let’s all shoot for that first category!

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
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February 6

TRIAL BALLOONS AND PORKER INDICTMENTS

As the country looks up to the sky searching for more Chinese surveillance balloons, the accident rate remains pretty much unchanged from the days when everyone looked down at their cell phones. The balloon’s trip across the USA resulted in ripples in the fabric of international relations, as well as a domestic brouhaha in Washington, DC. The PRC called the balloon a civilian craft, a weather balloon that the US had no business destroying, and precipitating a cancelation of the planned visit by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to China. Speculation that the ill-timed launch of the balloon was done by the hard-line component in the Chinese military as a poke in the eye to US…or maybe it was simply done in error through non-communication within the governmental departments. Intelligence has determined that the PRC has a ‘fleet‘ of thirty to forty of these spy craft, and that they have been tracked around the world, notably, at least three sailing over this country during the Trump administration. The Donald responded, “The Chinese had too much respect for me to do that…I know nothing of the kind!” Of course, you don’t, Donnie Dotard! Why would you, never having read any of the daily intelligence reports?

The Republican contingent tried to make hay over Biden’s allowing the balloon to cross the continent before taking it down over the Atlantic where it fell into shallower waters, allowing for retrieval of the fallen elements. Left unsaid was the attempt to take down an unidentified balloon over Wyoming, which drifted toward the Dakotas and the Mount Rushmore area. Later, a yellow Baby Trump Balloon was found draped over the outsize nose of a stony-faced George Washington…not a pretty sight and one incident to surely put a lid on. There was no evidence that the ‘mothership‘ was dispersing smaller devices, but as the real balloon drifted toward Missouri, a takedown was ruled out just in case a similar incident fell upon the St. Louis Gateway Arch. Senator Marco Rubio says China is telling the world, “We can do whatever we want and America can’t stop us.” Senator Ted Cruz told CBS, “I think this entire episode telegraphed weakness to President Xi Jinping and the Chinese government,” as he exited a wintry Texas for parts unknown. Count on six more weeks of winter for Texans!

An official with the Department of Defense speculated the balloon’s capabilities did not appear to be “over and above” those of Chinese satellites and other methods of surveillance, though better granularity is provided with lower altitude imagery. President Biden opted to have the balloon shot down over open water to minimize the unwarranted risks of injury to Americans and their properties had it been dispatched over populated areas. Ohio Representative Michael Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, compared Biden’s decision to “tackling the quarterback after the game is over.” Because the remnants of the destroyed interloper fell into water, resulting in a softer landing, they should remain reasonably intact, allowing intelligence to examine and reverse-engineer the Chinese systems, with Pentagon officials hoping that this country gains more information than did The PRC. Biden’s reticence as the airship traversed the country, rather than making threats to destroy it, may have prevented the Chinese from triggering a self-destruct mechanism, which could have endangered citizens, and finally prevented the military from finally making a recovery attempt, not to mention any data resulting from our observations in its travels.

It remains to be seen if Biden picks up any ratings points from this Chinese incursion, but regardless, voters have little enthusiasm for a Biden/Trump rematch in 2024, both of whom are the current leaders in their respective parties. In fact, neither engenders a high preference quotient, and Americans overall would feel let down or irked if either one wins the general election. Biden at this point has not formally announced a run, nor does he have any challengers; Trump, on the other hand has made his early announcement and can expect a handful of challengers, the first speculated to be Nikki Haley in the coming days. Another eight or so are biding their time as they quietly explore any support lurking in the wings, with Ron DeSantis being the most prominent in early polling. The President has a 31% preference in his own party, but WAPO/ABC polling finds that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents prefer another nominee.

Republicans and Republican-leaning independents want someone other than Trump with 49% expressing their inclination, countered by 44% who are hanging tough with the Former Guy. Neither the midterm’s elections success of Biden and the Dems, nor the classified documents investigations of both men has changed the overall judgements of the two. Trump’s whining and droning on and on with false claims about a stolen election has grown tiresome, with many Republicans blaming him for the poor midterms results as they attempt to come up with a believable agenda. Biden and the Dems are looking for a boost following the State of the Union address to overcome a 53% disapproval rating among voters, 42% of whom disapprove strongly.

Radio host John Fredericks, who has been a rabid supporter of DJT, has taken issue with the former Commander-in-Tweet over his “petty media feuds and grievances.” His message to Trump is, “Nobody cares!” He feels that political issues are being ignored as attention is focused on far-fetched lawsuits and rants about “fake news.” Fredericks was also dissatisfied with the former prez’s support of Ronna McDaniel as she won the re-election for the RNC chair, expressing his views that The Don “should have stayed out of it and let the chips fall where they may… the same with the House Speaker chair.” Far-right GOPers supported conservative activist Harmeet Dhillon, who lost by a wide margin, but beating MyPillow guy Mike Lindell who only got four votes. Fredericks goes on, “I’m telling you, folks, I’m just telling you. Nobody cares. I mean, they just don’t care. I just don’t care!” We get it, John…if only it would soak in a bit deeper!

Trump’s 2016 campaign will have to void hundreds of non-disclosure agreements to settle a suit brought by a former campaign aide, a settlement providing $450,000 to campaign workers for abusive treatment, and opening up the way for them to speak out regarding events about the 2016 election. Jessica Denson alleges the campaign tried to quiet her when she went public over her treatment, being abused by another worker, for which she was awarded $25,000. Hundreds of other workers and volunteers are now released from their NDAs, as attorney David K. Bowles announced, “The Trump NDA is invalid and unenforceable, and the campaign workers should never have had to live under its shadow.” Now, what about the NDAs that the Trump Syndicate forced people to sign reaching back years, and into his presidency? May the floodgates open wide!

‘Imminent.” We keep hearing that word in connection with all of Trump’s legal troubles, and it popped up again last week as Georgia’s Fulton County District Attorney Willis said her probe into DJT’s activities were advancing, putting him squarely into being criminally charged in three different jurisdictions in 2023. Bill Palmer in his The Palmer Report says, “Once Donald starts getting hit with these indictments, we’ll hear about how ‘unprecedented’ it is that a former President of the United States is being put on criminal trial. But that’s not the story. Not really. The real story is that a career criminal, who should have been put in prison several decades ago, who managed to steal the presidency and use it as part of his lifelong crime spree, is now finally facing criminal justice. The only reason Donald Trump never went to prison during his lifelong crime spree is that he was never indicted. Now he’s being indicted by three different sets of prosecutors, likely on a wide variety of criminal charges. The odds of him being fully acquitted of all charges, in even one of the three jurisdictions are infinitesimally small. Trump is going to prison. It’s the only fate he was ever going to face once he was booted from office, and now he’s facing it.” Best prediction of the week!

Former Trump personal attorney, Michael Cohen, recently appeared for testimony in the Manhattan DA’s probe into the $13,000 hush money paid by Trump to Stormy Daniels for her silence in their affair during the 2016 presidential campaign. At this juncture, it only indicates that the office is close to making a decision about charges against the Former Guy. Cohen is slated for further questioning, in addition to others, and in his mind, “I don’t believe they would have called me in at this stage if it was merely for show.” Cohen has already served time for some of his activities under Trump’s employ, so if Cohen is guilty why wouldn’t the same apply to Trump? During an appearance on MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace program, Cohen stated, “You know how they say a grand jury would indict a ham sandwich? In this case they’re gonna indict the whole pig!” Sounds like the real deal…oink, oink!

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. 
 
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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.

    “Balloons”

“BALLOON, n. A contrivance for larding the earth with the fat of fools.”
~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

“No air, no balloons!”
~Ljupka Cvetanova, The New Land

“To millions of children, a condom is nothing but a balloon.”
~Mokokoma Mokhonoana, On Friendship: A Satirical Essay

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I love this song 🙂 It expresses how I feel at times… If you want to see the entire musical, here’s a link to it: Firebringer


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

February 1 – 7, 2023

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…our county farm workers lives, movie theatre news, city managers salary increase. GREENSITE…On West Cliff Drive. STEINBRUNER…Cabrillo’s name, RTC and Aptos property, thanks Carolyn Swift, no water transfers, faux tech tree dead in Aptos. HAYES…Newt and salamander weather. PATTON…Ninety seconds till midnight. MATLOCK…Groundbreaking work with imaginary numbers. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…pick of the week: click click!. QUOTES…”GUNS”

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THE SECOND GRAND CAPITOLA HOTEL 1910. This was the second Capitola Hotel and was built in 1895. It burned in 1929. Like Santa Cruz, Capitola worked and built rapidly to attract the tourists away from Carmel and Monterey. It never worked and to this day there’s more money south of our bay.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE January 30

OUR LOCAL FARMWORKERS CONDITIONS. With the very recent and tragic unrest reported in farmworker communities, I realized that we hear and see very little of the conditions our Santa Cruz County farmworkers and families face in their lives. Not just the physical condition of their homes but the protection against pesticides, the care of their children. Who do we turn to? Who do they turn to? Who is responsible for overseeing those living conditions and needs? I would guess that each of our County Supervisors would be the most responsible, but are they? Becky Steinbruner referred me to the Center for Farmworker Families and Ann Lopez as a responsive director. She can be reached from the website farmworkerfamily.org

Let’s get the questions answered.

THEATRE NEWS. Sad to say that Berkeley just lost the last of its three movie theatres and it’s got a 2023 population of 127,843 or if you look it up elsewhere it’s 117, 911!!! Locally we have our local Landmark’s Del Mar theatre stopping its last matinees last week which were happening on Sundays. Santa Cruz’s City 2023 population is stated at 63,859.

MATT HUFFAKER’S SALARY, MORE OF. In a recent BrattonOnline I mistakenly mentioned that our current City manager Matt Huffaker had a salary of $22,199 PER WEEK!! I’m grateful to all the readers who pointed out my egregious error. It’s $22,199 PER MONTH. Now this week I received a kind email from a reader stating…”In last week’s (1/24) Council meeting, the City Council voted to approve a 5% annual raise for City Manager Matt Huffaker. He got a $14,000 bump. His pay went from $23,089 a month to $ 24,241 a month. This is an annual merit increase. It was discussed in open session at the Council meeting”.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

YOU PEOPLE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (5.6 IMDB). A huge cast of stars in this attempt at a comedy. Eddie Murphy, Jonah Hill, Elliot Gould, Richard Benjamin, and even David Duchovny and not a laugh amongst them! It focuses on relations between Blacks and LA’s Jewish populations. Family issues, religious differences and it’s just sad…not funny.

THE ENDLESS NIGHT. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.1 IMDB). This is an incredible re-enactment of a fire in 2013 in a Sao Paulo Brazil nightclub where and when 242 people died. The flammable ceiling was the cause and to this day the club owners have not been held guilty. Survivor families have banded together, hired experts and struggled to have justice and this movie details all of that. Tragic and spell binding.

JUNG-E. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.4 IMDB).It’s all about interactions between robots and humans. It’s a Korean sci-fi adventure and is technically excellent. We soon lose interest in the re-creating of more robot tricks and fewer human skills. It’s probably 80% action, chase, violence and 2 % human. Don’t plan to stray up late to watch it.

SHRINKING. (APPLE TV+) (7.7 IMDB). Big money was spent to attract Harrison Ford, Jason Segel and Jessica Williams to this touchy, feely un funny comedy. Set in Pasadena Ford and Segel are therapists with many more issues than their patients. Harrison Ford does what he was supposed to do with this script and does it well, but aside from the fact that he’s actually shorter than you’d think, he doesn’t get laughs either. You must have more interesting things to do than to watch this one.

NARVIK. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.7 IMDB). Narvik is a small town in Norway that was the site of the first defeat of Hitler’s battles in 1940. The main story centers on a soldier and his wife and how he has to take arms and go into battle. His wife has to defend her household and young son and was forced to make plans that helped the Nazi attackers. Loyalty, patriotism, love, and brutality are the issues and it’s an excellent movie.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

WOMEN TALKING. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (7.5 IMDB). Based on a true story about a group of Mennonites in Bolivia in 2010 when the men were drugging, raping and abusing the women and children. This movie is adapted to an unknown location and stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand and even co- producer Brad Pitt (in a 5 second appearance). It’s about how the eight women decided to either stay or leave the colony and whether to take up arms and defend themselves. It all takes place in one barn room and it’s well worth watching. The issues, feelings, and prejudice that are dealt with are always with us…don’t miss it.

THE LORENSKOG DISAPPEARANCE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.1 IMDB). A Norwegian series about the kidnapping of a billionaire’s wife. The kidnappers send messages, the police are stymied, and puzzles erupt in every episode. It’s about the ransom being in crypto currency and it drags on forever. Folks who watched through the conclusion (not me) say the ending is ridiculous and superfluous.

ILLUSION. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.2 IMDB). This film from Poland is the near believable story of a mother’s search for her missing daughter. Her boyfriend is a suspect and so are some other dark possibilities, but this is centered on how the disappearance affects her as a mother and as a person. There are psychic overtones and some mysterious possibilities which make it magnetic and long lasting.

THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.6 IMDB). It all happens in Italy in the 1990’s. A teen age girl searches for her “true self” either in the well to do classes and rich settings in the city of Naples or a darker more fun self in the wilder and darker areas of the alleyways. It’s complex, fine acting, and well-directed.

BLACK BUTTERFLIES. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A French film about a retired old man who hires a novelist to write his life story before he dies. The story is full of sex and murders and how he loved his one girlfriend and how they spent their strange times together. The   relationship between the writer and the old man grows very deep and involved and you’ll become totally immersed in how his biography unfolds.

THE LAST OF US. (HBO SERIES) (9.5 IMDB). I heard that this movie is based on a video game…I know nothing of the game. It starts off in Texas when there is a virus or parasite attack. A father and his son are the leads in this zombie takeoff. It later jumps 20 years later to Boston and a battle against the fireflies. It’s just another rip-off of the zombie attack movies except that it centers on the good people instead of the raging beasts.

TRIAL BY FIRE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.6 IMDB). A dramatic version of a very real tragedy, a fire in a movie theatre that killed 59 people in India in 1997. More than just the fire, it’s the story of how the victims banded together to seek justice against the wealthiest owners of the Mall where the theatre was located. Being an Indian movie it has its own style of camera work and acting. A fine movie, just terrifying if you go to movie theatres.

NOISE. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.2 IMDB). Produced in Mexico, this is the story of a 25 year old daughter who disappears for more than two years. It’s very grim and deals in sex trafficking, and how the area police handle or ignore the issues involved. Many mothers and their daughters are involved and they all have intricate stories to tell. A fine film.

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January 30

WEST CLIFF DRIVE: KEEPING IT TWO WAY

West Cliff Drive took a beating from the recent storms. Some spots were significantly eroded as shown in the photo, leading to street closure in one section from Woodrow to David Way and a temporary one-way section at Columbia St. Even before the rain stopped, voices were raised urging that the entire West Cliff Drive be made into a one-way street.

Those agitating for a one-way West Cliff overwhelmingly live somewhere else. That’s understandable. If I lived somewhere else, I might join the choir. But I don’t. I live in one of the lower west-side neighborhoods that would be severely impacted by the thousands of cars that would try to find a return route to the beach area, having reached the end of the road at Natural Bridges, should West Cliff ever be made one-way.

Public Works staff are busy repairing the areas that caved in. According to the city engineers, the areas that collapsed were the oldest armored sections. The areas with more recent armoring stood up well to the pounding waves.

I had a chance to study the whole issue of West Cliff Drive and erosion as a volunteer member of the Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) for the city’s West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan. Work on the Plan was completed and presented to city council in April 2021. My academic background includes coastal landforms and erosion, so I had a basic understanding of the issues to be studied and evaluated. Some in the group were keen to make West Cliff one-way even before the results of the field research were in and before other options were considered, an a priori agenda that was concerning.

Despite a flurry of organized letters at that time advocating for a one-way West Cliff, city staff and city council understood that the impact of such a decision on the lower westside would be of gargantuan proportions with a guaranteed push-back from the thousands of affected residents. Besides which, there were other options available. The final vote by council did not include a one-way West Cliff in the short- or medium- term goals.

That was then and this is now. Mother Nature has left her imprint on West Cliff Drive in dramatic bites out of the alluvial deposits. Such damage can be repaired and strengthened. Some would say, don’t bother. Just let nature take its course and close the road to all cars. Problem with that approach is that without repairs, the path, road, and all access would eventually be curtailed. So doing nothing is not a workable option. And you can’t fix it in half-measures. Once the two damaged portions are repaired, two-way traffic can resume.

To discuss West Cliff Drive and its recovery efforts, the city is offering a zoom meeting on February 13th from 5:30-7pm. It is titled West Cliff Drive, Community Conversations. One hopes it will be a conversation, but one expects it will be a monologue from one-way advocates. Or that’s been my experience so far.

For those who are open-minded or who haven’t given the issue much thought, here are some things to consider.

West Cliff Drive is a visitor destination. It draws people from around the region, the state and the world, who mostly come here by car. Visitors like to drive West Cliff both ways. Make it one-way and they will speed along the nearby neighborhood streets that are currently relatively quiet, where children play and walk in safety. All that would change with one-way on West Cliff. Mission St. is not a viable alternative. Delaware is an Avenue that children cross on bikes either to go to the three public schools or to visit friends. Channeling the thousands of West Cliff cars to Delaware would be a safety nightmare. There are far too many neighborhood streets to close off as a workable option. People cite East Cliff Drive which has a section made one-way, but that is comparing apples and oranges. It is a far shorter length with different road configurations.

Should the path and road be further impacted by erosion, there are other options available long before a one-way option is considered. The city has a 5-foot easement for all properties facing West Cliff Drive on the inside of the road. That, plus eliminating parking on that side of the road frees up sufficient width for any future path and road relocation. Obviously, we are not talking centuries. You can see remnants of the old road to know that yes, eventually even the houses will have to go. But we are not there yet, and that specter should not be used as a basis for unwise decisions now.

A few years before he died, Al Mitchell (Mitchell’s Cove) and I were discussing West Cliff Drive over breakfast at Gilda’s on the Wharf. As a result, he drew up plans showing how West Cliff could be kept as a two-lane road with a narrowing of each lane, still within legal limits, more like it used to be in the old days. I still have his plans.

Then there is the question of federal aid. The city is expecting some federal relief monies to pay for the repairs. A one-way road may not qualify for federal funds.

Amidst all the emails in 2021 there was a gem that stood out. It was from local historian Ross Gibson. He gave voice to those who are rarely heard from and whose needs should be centered. Here is a paragraph from his email:

“Having taken care of the disabled, and been associated with the Cabrillo College Stroke Center, I know how important having auto access to West Cliff Drive is for the disabled, as it is not always pleasant weather, or easy for some disabilities to get out on the path, but the sights can still be enjoyed from a car. Many people take the drive in both directions, because the views are different looking east, or looking west.”

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.
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January 30

A VOTE FOR RECONSIDERATION

Last November, the Cabrillo College Trustees made a big mistake, voting to change the name of the College, despite overwhelming public survey responses wishing to retain the name.  The Trustees need to take a deep breath and reconsider that folly.

But will they?  The College just released a survey for the Community to weigh in on what the new name should be.

We are instructed that any potential name must reflect the mission and goals of the College, and not be named after a person.

How about “None of the above” and keep the name voted upon decades ago that unified the County voters to agree to fund having the Community College in Santa Cruz County?

Well, all responses are due by February 22.

You can also sign up to serve on a 25-member Task Force Committee to sift through the names submitted by the Community, as well as the “long list of possible names” the College leaders already have in mind.

Hmmm…..

The Trustees who insisted at last November 14 meeting that no College money will be spent on the name change have already broken their promise, because the College website is hosting the survey process.  Those IT services are never free.

Well, take the stupid survey and use it as a platform for your opinion.  Sign up to serve on the Committee.

Write the Trustees with your thoughts…maybe they will come to their senses and reconsider the whole debacle.

WHAT WILL THE RTC DO WITH THIS HISTORIC APTOS PROPERTY?

Last month, the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)  voted to purchase historic property at 7992 Soquel Drive in Aptos as a solution to a right-of-way problem for Highway One expansion and to build a 16′-wide trail next to the railroad tracks in that area.

Last week, the County Historic Resources Commission met to discuss the potential threat to this property, known as the Rice House, with the RTC statement that when their Project is done, the historic house could be “repurposed or sold.”

Take a look at why this house is important to preserve as historically significant for our County.

The Commissioners agreed that this merits their watchful eye, and discussion will continue at their next meeting in April.

You can watch the Commission’s recorded meeting and listen to their discussions here.

Many thanks to the Commissioners for sending a letter to the Board of Supervisors to request funding three activities that will greatly help the Community to learn more about and therefore foster appreciation of our County’s history and places that merit preservation

Please write your District Supervisor and the entire Board to urge them to support this reasonable expenditure to benefit the public and our valuable historic and cultural resources.

THANK YOU, CAROLYN SWIFT

One surprise in the above meeting was that Ms. Carolyn Swift, well-known and respected Historic Resources Commissioner for the Second District, has stepped down from her appointed job in watching over our County’s historic preservation.  She will be greatly missed by many as a source of information for the Commission, and one who really knows the historic importance of our local gems.  She was formerly the curator for the Capitola History Museum, and led regular walking tours of neighborhoods.

I hope that she will continue to write her regular column for the Aptos Times.  Here is one that I found really interesting:

Pictures From the Past: A Familiar Location?Times Publishing Group, Inc.

It is important that the Second District continue to have a Commissioner who is willing to be outspoken and work to preserve our historic resources.

The new Commissioner, Kevin Newhouse, was approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.  See consent agenda item #40: Approve appointment of Kevin Newhouse as the Second District appointee to the Historic Resources Commission, for a term to expire April 1, 2025, as recommended by Supervisor Friend – Santa Cruz County, CA

I hope he will team up with the other good Commissioners and press the Board of Supervisors to approve an ordinance that would prohibit Demolition by Neglect…letting an historic structure fall down rather than preserve it.  This is exactly what is happening in our County to some places, such as the historic Redman Hirahara house in Watsonville.

Know someone who would be a good public servant as a Commissioner?  Applications for all Commission vacancies are available in the lobby of the Clerk of the Board, 5th Floor, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz, and HERE

NO WATER TRANSFERS LIKELY

Last week, I wrote Ms. Rosemary Menard, Director of Santa Cruz City Water Dept., and Mr. Ron Duncan, General Manager for Soquel Creek Water District, to ask if the two agencies would initiate water transfers, now that Loch Lomond is full and overflowing.

True to District form, Mr. Duncan never responded, however, Ms. Menard did.  She let me know that the two agencies have considered sharing water this year, allowing the District to decrease pumping from the Purisima Aquifer, claimed by the State to be in critical overdraft.

However, she let me know that because the City water system experienced infrastructure damage in the recent storms, the water from the streams on the North Coast and other surface water supplies cannot be used to provide City customers full water demand.  That has caused the City to actually pump water from the Beltz Wells in Soquel, and the system cannot handle providing Soquel Creek Water District with any water to share.

According to Ms. Menard, the District, in a few words, just doesn’t have the time or resources to add water transfers to their busy staff plate, so there will likely be no water sharing in the foreseeable future.

Hmmm….

That’s really too bad.  In my opinion, the real problem is lack of will on the part of the District to make this happen.  Instead, they are focused on the very expensive and chemical/energy dependent route of injecting treated sewage water into the Purisima Aquifer, then pumping it out and making customers pay top-dollar to drink the stuff.

What a shame.

If you are a customer of Soquel Creek Water District, please write the Board and ask that they initiate regional water sharing with the City of Santa Cruz this winter, just as soon as the City completes the repairs of the North Coast stream supply pipes that were damaged in the storms.

Board of Directors bod@soquelcreekwater.org and copy Emma Western emmaw@soquelcreekwater.org

Sharing water regionally when it is available just makes sense, don’t you think?

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS GLOSSED OVER AN EXCELLENT COUNTY WATER SUPPLY REPORT THAT MERITED PUBLIC DISCUSSION

In my opinion, the County Board of Supervisors ought to give the status of our regional water supply priority in public discussions, and could have done so by requesting that Ms. Sierra Ryan, County Water Resources Manager, discuss the County Water Resources Report for 2022 publicly.  Nope…it was buried in the Consent Agenda as Item #56.

These annual reports have really improved in recent years, and Ms. Ryan, along with other Environmental Health staff, did an outstanding job presenting the status of water and infrastructure for the public to review.  It was a lot of work.  Take a look and let her know your thoughts.

Sierra Ryansierra.ryan@santacruzcounty.us, and copy your County Supervisor to make sure he reads the Report.

PUBLIC MEETING FOR NEW VERSION OF MASSIVE PROJECT ON OCEAN STREET, WHICH WILL DEMOLISH HUBBARD STREET AND MAY AVENUE NEIGHBORHOOD

I happened to see a Legal Notice in a recent Santa Cruz Sentinel Classified section alerting the public to a hybrid Public Meeting on February 9 to provide input on the new version of the massive proposed development between Water Street and Ocean. The new project would demolish 12 homes and eight businesses on Hubbard and May Avenue, and remove an unknown number of Heritage Trees.

This Project has been changed and has a new Pre-Application for a mixed-use development with 351 units (including a 35% density bonus from a base density project of 260 units).  The environmental determination for CEQA is pending.  I wonder if the very shallow water table and impervious soils prone to liquefaction will be discussed?  Traffic?

The in-person location will be at the Resource Center for NonViolence. (612 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz)

Here is the link to the City’s Planning Dept. information as one of many large development projects on the table:

Addresses of affected units are 908-1020 Ocean Street, 108-130 Hubbard Street, and 417-457 May Avenue.

See what else is on the permit application table…it is shocking:

Active Planning Applications | City of Santa Cruz

HOW COME THE BULLDOZER IS WORKING WITHOUT ANY PROJECT AGREEMENT APPROVED?

On Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors approved, via consent agenda item #59, to delay for another month any approval of a Project Agreement for the Park Haven development in Soquel, as one of the three Project Homekey grant recipients in the County.

Ratify California Housing and Community Development (CA HCD) Project Homekey Park Haven Plaza Standard Agreement # 21-HK-1274 for Park Haven Plaza executed on December 15, 2022; and defer to on or before February 28, 2023, ratification of the Project

So, why does it matter?  A Project Agreement is critical to have in place because it is a clear document identifying who will do what and how much it will cost.

A project agreement is a legal document outlining the terms and conditions between two parties as they enter into a business partnership focusing on a particular project. They are typically used between contractors and companies or between companies and trade unions to determine the rights and responsibilities of parties involved.

A project agreement typically covers terms such as the scope of the work involved, project budgets, pricing for services rendered, and any supply and material requirements.

Project agreements are also sometimes used to develop real estate projects between the developer and the construction company.

That is why I think it is odd that the excavators have already started the job…well, started, then stopped.  Take a look here:

If you are curious to understand how this could all happen, contact Supervisor Manu Koenig and ask.

THIS IS ONE UGLY TREE TOWER IN APTOS

How come the cell phone companies are allowed to keep this ugly faux tree in the scenic view corridor of Aptos, adjacent to Resurrection Church and the Seacliff Inn near Highway One at State Park Drive?  It was one of the first cell towers in the MidCounty area…but now has no electronic equipment on its ugly bare plastic branches.

Please contact District 2 County Supervisor Zach Friend and ask what can be done to send this ugly thing packing.

Zach Friend, zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us Maybe he will answer from some sunny beach in Southern California.

MAKE ONE CALL.  WRITE ONE LETTER.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING, ASK QUESTIONS AND INSIST ON ANSWERS.
MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK, AND JUST DO 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
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January 29

Newt and Salamander Weather

We live in a very rich area for salamanders and newts. And, when it starts raining, everywhere becomes newt and salamander habitat.

The Menagerie

Right nearby, if you went searching, you could find 8 salamander species: Gabilan and California slender salamanders as well as arboreal, California giant, Santa Cruz black, Santa Cruz long-toed, and tiger salamanders, and then the oddly-named yellow-eyed Ensatina. Add to that our two local newt species – rough skinned and Coast Range newts – and you will realize how much there is to learn about these 10 species.

Where do you find these creatures? Well, that depends….let’s start by thinking about their most vulnerable life history stage, when these creatures are teeny tiny eggs.

Pond Breeding

The newts and some of the salamanders depend on aquatic habitats for breeding, and that’s where they lay their eggs.

Dark, long-lasting, deep shaded ponds are the easiest place to find newts. Interestingly, both the rough skinned and Coast Range newts are found in our area. Some ponds have both species, but other ponds just have one or the other. These newts attach balls of eggs to sticks, roots, and such to make sure that the pre-hatched babies are nurtured in the right depth of water, in the right amount of shade, with the right amount of cover. In the right part of the Monterey Bay, those same egg-laying spots in shady ponds are also coveted by another salamander…the endangered Santa Cruz long-toed salamander, which is found only in southern Santa Cruz and northern Monterey Counties.

Those 2 newt species also can raise babies in warmer, sunny ponds, where another species of salamander is also found. California tiger salamanders love those warm pools, rubbing elbows with western pond turtles, western toads, and California red-legged frogs. These are often grassland ponds managed by ranchers to provide water for cattle. Tiger salamanders like to attach their eggs to pond debris, and you can find their eggs in ponds from southern Santa Cruz County into ponds across Fort Ord and beyond. Our population of California tiger salamanders is protected by the federal government because they have been listed as Threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

Spring and Creek Breeding

Those 2 species of amazingly adaptable newts can also raise eggs in stream pools, but streams aren’t the best place for wee newts or salamanders. As you might have seen from this winter, streams get flowing pretty fast, and eggs would soon be headed into the salty sea! So, newts head to streams in the spring as soon as the storms calm down where they raise a summer brood. That spring movement also coincides with the mysterious migration of California giant salamander larvae. The biggest of our local salamanders, the rare California giant salamander probably raises most of its eggs in the muck, under the gravels and among the woody debris of near-stream springs and seeps, safe away from raging floods. Once hatched, the larvae must wriggle and flop downslope into streams. Head upslope, and there are still more odd salamander egg-raising habits.

Eggs Out of Water

A few salamanders raise eggs on what is broadly known as ‘debris,’ but they are probably more picky than we understand. I’ve seen and heard about the rare and only recently described Santa Cruz black salamander tending eggs in gaps on pieces of hard rock…near streams or in moist areas. Those beautiful star-studded sallies are nearly impossible to spot, and there are so few places known that I can’t share a place that you could go to spot them. You are much more likely to encounter arboreal salamanders, maybe even in your neighborhood park if there are native oaks nearby. Those toothy arboreal salamanders place their eggs in moist tree cavities…or ‘in debris.’ Similarly, California (northern Monterey Bay) and Gabilan (central Monterey Bay) slender salamanders place eggs ‘in debris.’ Then there’s the yellow-eyed Ensatina, which I’ve only found in holes and bark of big, rotting moist logs – again ‘debris.’ In case you haven’t gathered – there is a lot to learn about ‘upland’ salamander egg placement and what constitutes nesting ‘debris.’ Share your observations with me on this group, if you’ve seen something interesting!

Groovin’ and Movin’

Their eggs need water or at least moisture-laden debris, but when it is raining newts and salamanders are EVERYWHERE. That’s bad news for them because of the many roads replete with squashing tires of fast-moving vehicles. But, let it rain and adult newts and salamanders take the opportunity to move around, and they sure can move!

In the pouring rain, I’ve encountered California giant salamanders hiking streamside redwood fire roads. In the middle of stormy rainy nights on several occasions, I’ve found arboreal salamanders on my porch. By the second winter of age of a brush pile, slender salamanders have somehow used the cover of drizzly nights to find their way under the stacked branches…hopefully not going to get cooked by a feckless fuel reducing pyromaniac. On those same rainy nights, yellow-eyed Ensatinas stretch their tiny legs to crawl across the forest floor to crawl up and then wedge themselves in just the right rotten bark plate of a 3-year old downed fir.

Meanwhile, the first winter storms see California tiger salamanders hiking along cattle trails in the meadows to find new ground squirrel holes to call home for a while. Because of their rarity, scientists have actually monitored this salamander’s movements…up to 1.2 miles out of ponds and then across the wide-open grasslands! Like tiger salamanders, newts also move far across the uplands. Newts, tiger salamanders, and perhaps Santa Cruz long toed salamanders tend to move in great big groups during the nights of the first biggest rains. Along Carmel Valley Road – and hopefully in more places, soon – you can see signs warning about newt migrations. Migration areas aren’t extensive: they are normally fairly concentrated. Some folks are trying to create underpasses where rare salamanders can safely cross roads…the problem being how to guide them to those narrow culverts or bridges.

They Need Your Help

How can you help our area’s rich newt and salamander diversity? If you live in the country, the first best thing you can do is to not drive at night during the first 3 storms of the winter. You can see the weather forecast…get your groceries early and cancel your evening appointments. Then convince your neighbors and friends to do the same…figure out a way to remember this next rainy season! This past year, the migration was narrowly restricted to the early December storms in our area. Since then, there have been very much fewer newts and salamanders on the roads.

Likewise, watch where you walk in the forest- newts are constantly wandering around dark, moist forest trails all winter.

Oh, and did you catch that need for debris? It seems our inclination to ‘clean up’ debris. Wherever you can keep debris around – logs, sticks, brush – those are newt and salamander habitat. Likewise, for those of you looking to do some fuel reduction, it is best to move the contents of your brush pile, branch by branch, onto a burn pile a few yards away from where it has been stacked for more than a month.

Finally, whenever or however you can…let’s restore more native plants to our landscape- the newts and salamanders all eat bugs and there are more bugs emanating from diverse, native ecosystems.

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
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January 30

#30 / Ninety Seconds Till Midnight

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has set its “Doomsday Clock” to 90-seconds to midnight, the closest to “midnight” that it has ever been:

WASHINGTON, D.C. – January 24, 2023 –The Doomsday Clock was set at 90 seconds to midnight, due largely but not exclusively to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the increased risk of nuclear escalation. The new Clock time was also influenced by continuing threats posed by the climate crisis and the breakdown of global norms and institutions needed to mitigate risks associated with advancing technologies and biological threats such as COVID-19.

A “rogue journalist” I mention from time to time, Caitlin Johnstone, has also made note of this fact. As she puts it, “Hardly Anyone Is Thinking Logically About The Danger of Nuclear War.”

I certainly agree with that observation, and it seems to me that hardly anyone is thinking logically about anything! Republican politicians, in control of the House of Representatives, seem to support the idea that the United States government should repudiate its promise to pay off the debts that the nation has incurred, even though everyone knows that the impacts of doing this would be terrible.

And then, in various places around the country (including specifically in Half Moon Bay, just up the coast from my hometown of Santa Cruz), disgruntled persons are increasingly working out their distress by killing multiple people and then sometimes (but not always) killing themselves, too.

Income and wealth inequality persist. And increase.

The “Sixth Extinction” continues (and accelerates).

And global warming is increasing, too, with all the horrible impacts that we have been told will, inevitably, accompany our continued use of hydrocarbon fuels.

If it’s not the end of the world as we know it, it’s getting pretty close!

Do you think that there is anything we might be able to do about this?

I am willing to suggest that we do need to give it a try. And this means that each one of us needs to think about the kind of direct actions we can take (which will, almost certainly, require communicating with and working with others, in person, and not by firing off internet memos).

I tend to think in metaphors, and one of my favorite metaphors for dramatic change is the “supersaturated solution.” Click that link to learn all about it.

I think we’re there!

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
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January 30

GROUNDBREAKING WORK WITH IMAGINARY NUMBERS

With all the publicity being generated by the discoveries of classified materials in the possession of former government officials, many politicos are waving their hands to the FBI to be raided next. To date the agency has found that some of the relinquished folders, documents, and envelopes have been stamped with a commonly available ‘Classified‘ rubber stamp from OfficeMax, Amazon.com., or from one of the many gag gift websites. Some say that Donald Trump has been quietly offering some of his stash to the highest bidders, but has limited the sales to insure that he will be the record-holder in both quantity and quality in the final synopsis. At the same time he is looking askance at Mike Pence’s newly discovered document trove and wondering if there is anything his VP took that was ‘rightfully’ a Mar-a-Lago trophy.

Former VP Mike Pence was quick to jump into the melee, seeking to boost his flagging, but still undeclared 2024 presidential nomination effort. As The New Yorker satirist, Andy Borowitz, writes, Mike had to defensively shield his face from fawning women with classified documents when dining alone in restaurants. ‘Mother‘ had suggested he have his attorney suddenly discover and announce that forbidden documents were found in his files at their Indiana home, while being quite agitated that Biden had scored a coup in beating him to the punch. With classified documents recently being found in Biden’s various haunts, in dribs and drabs over several days, in addition to those found prior to the midterm election, Joe has practically had the press at his beck and call. Pence hopes that his earlier televised interviews denying that he had removed important documents, and his denunciation of Biden’s indiscretions, will get repeated airplay to keep his face before the electorate in the run-up to 2024.

House Speaker McCarthy is fielding requests from the likes of Lauren Boebert, Matt Gaetz, and Marjorie Taylor Greene to work his magic with the former president to give at least a token number of low-key classifieds to each of them to play show-and-tell with the press. And, Mac is pedaling as fast as he can to keep the hostage-takers from pulling the trigger on his tenuous speakership position. Newbie George Santos mockingly announced to them that he already had his collection started, finding a short stack on his office desk following the swearing-in ceremony, along with a wad of cash secured in a g-string. Some people have all the luck!

The George Santos adventure continues with McCarthy appointing him to two committees: the Committee on Small Business, and the Committee on Science, Space and Technology. Congressman Bill Foster commented, “As the only recipient of the Wilson Prize for High-Energy Particle Accelerator Physics serving in Congress, it can get lonely. Not anymore! I’m thrilled to be joined on the Science Committee by my Republican colleague Dr. George Santos, winner of not only the Nobel Prize, but also the Fields Medal – the top prize in Mathematics – for his groundbreaking work with imaginary numbers!” Foster is only adding to the many kudos that fraudster Santos has bestowed upon himself with his wide array of campaign claims. McCarthy and the House GOP are still fully embracing Santos in order to hold their fragile caucus together, even as the NRCC looks to be ready to dump him by 2024, with the snake-oil promoter asserting he will run to hold his office.

Every story that Santos has concocted has more holes than the proverbial sieve, and CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski has, at last count, found at least eight names that he has gone by in his illustrious career. Satirist Andy Borowitz in the New Yorker quotes Rudolph Giuliani saying, “It’s time for Republicans to pass the torch to a new generation of liars. I get why some Republicans are knocking the kid – they are envious of his raw talent…he could turn out to be the Michael Jordan of lying…personally, I can’t wait to see what he does next. Just put him out there and watch the magic happen.”

Attention has started shifting from his questionable credentials to questionable finances, with more serious revelations that he has probably violated campaign finance laws, posing civil penalties, criminal prosecution, or expulsion from Congress. Santos‘ claim that he had loaned his election campaign funds of over $700,000 from personal accounts doesn’t ring true as his personal situation is examined, with local and federal investigators delving into his finances. A financial disclosure form filed in 2020 says he made $55,000 from LinkBridge Investors, with no other listed assets, income or liabilities. He has disclosed little, except to say that his referral fees connecting wealthy buyers and sellers have resulted in high commissions. One of his positions was with Harbor City Capital, which the Securities and Exchange Commission designated as a Ponzi scheme and the business was shut down in 2021. The case is still open, Santos has not been criminally charged and he claims to have no knowledge of any wrongdoing.

Columbia Law School professor Richard Briffault, who specializes in campaign finance said any loans to the Santos campaign may be consequential pieces from a criminal standpoint, especially if they are found to have been “an illegal means of disguising illegal contributions.” Further, he says, “If it turns out that this was a device for donors to funnel money to the campaign, that itself is illegal – Santos would be a ‘straw donor’ falsely claiming he provided the money when it really came from someone else.” The legal limit is $2900 per donor per election cycle, and the case would be compounded if donors were corporations or foreign entities, which could result in a felony charge if Santos knowingly accepted this scheme. Also being scrutinized are filings of dozens of campaign expenditures of $199.99 – no proof of purchase needed unless $200.00 or more!

All this scrutiny led Santos to resubmit his campaign finance report, unchecking the box indicating his $700k was from personal funds, and changing the name of his campaign finance treasurer – which is not illegal, but forging the electronic signature of the new treasurer is a no-no! The name of Thomas Datwyler, a veteran campaign finance treasurer, resulted in Datwyler’s denial that he had ever been treasurer for the Santos campaign. Serious trouble on the horizon, with two broken federal campaign laws, a maximum sentence being five years in prison with a guilty conviction. What is the 118th Congress to do? Losing Santos would result in a third New York district election, and who in that district will vote for the GOP candidate? Bye, bye Speaker McCarthy! Kev knew about the Santos campaign problems, as did Representative Elise Stefanik of New York, and they could have headed off problems early on, but now the chickens have come home to roost. Can you say, ‘Speaker Matt Gaetz?’

One event that will pass Santos by is the visit to the White House to be congratulated by the President, a tradition for all newly elected Congressional members. The holdup being that he doesn’t have a verifiable birth date – no birth certificate!? He needs to get Trump’s crack team of people who can search this out for him – if he wants to share that info. The team at last contact was still in Hawaii on the Obama record hunt. Santos also lacks a social security number, so lacking these two bits of documentation won’t allow the Secret Service to approve a security clearance, so poor George will have to miss this glorious part of his Washington initiation.

The Federal Election Commission had started an investigation into irregularities but was told to hold off on any enforcements by the DOJ, signaling that it has started its own criminal investigation into the matter. DOJ also asked FEC to provide any relevant documents as they move forward. A former FEC commissioner, David Mason, indicates that the DOJ doesn’t need two sets of investigators tripping over each other, or having the possibility that the FEC, a civil agency, complicates the process.

The Former Guy in the meantime is attempting to ease into his reelection campaign, making two recent appearances, and posting videos to his Truth Social site despite the many ongoing legal problems lined up on his docket. Upon hearing the rumor that Mars, Incorporated was introducing an M&M for Tucker Carlson, he immediately felt he also deserved one – “Where’s mine?” So can we expect an orange-coated nut to be marketed in his honor? Mrs. Betty Bowers aka Canadian comedian Deven Green, after viewing a recent Trump video, says, “Always match your liquid foundation to your skin tone, not your handbag.” And, Aldous J. Pennyfarthing adds, “Granted, he always gravitates toward earth tones when he unsheathes his makeup trowel in the morning, but lately it looks like he’s trying to match his skin tone to his toilet so he can sit on it all day unnoticed.”

The National Review’s Charles Cook seems to think Trump is “deteriorating.” He says that the latest rants on Truth Social are “ranting like a deranged hobo in a dilapidated public park.” Can Marjorie Taylor Greene be far behind?

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. 
 
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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.

“GUNS”

“Gun control? We need bullet control! I think every bullet should cost 5,000 dollars. Because if a bullet cost five thousand dollar, we wouldn’t have any innocent bystanders”.
~Chris Rock

“You must get an education. You must go to school, and you must learn to protect yourself. And you must learn to protect yourself with the pen, and not the gun”.
~Josephine Baker

“It’s one thing to shoot yourself in the foot. Just don’t reload the gun”.
~Lindsey Graham

“America… just a nation of two hundred million used car salesmen with all the money we need to buy guns and no qualms about killing anybody else in the world who tries to make us uncomfortable”.     Hunter S. Thompson

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Here is a video that actually teaches you HOW to do the clicks in the Xhosa language. As a bonus, here is a link to why you’d want to be able to… which is obviously so you can sing along to Miriam Makeba in the Pata Pata Song. She was 35 in that viceo. As bonus #2 (don’t say I never gave you anything!), here she is performing that same song at 74! Man, I want her poise and grace when I’m 74.


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 25 – 31, 2023

Posted on January 26, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Ryan Coonerty’s new job,  and Bonline thanks to Chris Krohn. GREENSITE…Downtown Plan Expansion Project. STEINBRUNER…Estrada Ranch sale, Pajaro Area lockdowns, what new weather radar? Santa Cruz water to Soquel. HAYES…Action Alert!! Cotoni-Coast Dairies follow-up. PATTON…New Zealand and “the News”. MATLOCK…Fun, Fun, Fun ’til Daddy takes the Stingray away! EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…pick of the week. QUOTES… “Rain”

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SANTA CRUZ’S BOARDWALK PLEASURE PIER 1953. First built in 1904 this “Electric Pier” was the setting for many, many events. It was removed in 1964 when they also filled in the “plunge baths” in the Casino building.                                                    

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE January 23

RYAN COONERTY’S NEW JOB. ‘Twas nearly impossible to get final details on the new job Ryan’s taking over in San Jose. Apparently he’s going to be a part time legislative assistant to the new 40 year old mayor Matt Mahan. Just how much time and power he’ll have is still debatable but he’s going for it. Let’s hope he makes more of a difference in San Jose than he did as one of our supervisors.

CHRIS KROHN HAS LEFT THE WEBSITE. Chris tells me he gave it much thought and decided to shift priorities and won’t be writing for BrattonOnline anymore. Chris was mayor of Santa Cruz in 2002. And I can’t track back to when he started his writings here they date back at least 7 years and that’s one hell of a lot of energy, commitment, opinions and much care for the community. Thank him when you see him next time.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

WOMEN TALKING. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (7.5 IMDB). Based on a true story about a group of Mennonites in Bolivia in 2010 when the men were drugging, raping and abusing the women and children. This movie is adapted to an unknown location and stars Rooney Mara, Claire Foy, Frances McDormand and even co- producer Brad Pitt (in a 5 second appearance). It’s about how the eight women decided to either stay or leave the colony and whether to take up arms and defend themselves. It all takes place in one barn room and it’s well worth watching. The issues, feelings, and prejudice that are dealt with are always with us…don’t miss it.

THE LORENSKOG DISAPPEARANCE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.1 IMDB). A Norwegian series about the kidnapping of a billionaire’s wife. The kidnappers send messages, the police are stymied, and puzzles erupt in every episode. It’s about the ransom being in crypto currency and it drags on forever. Folks who watched through the conclusion (not me) say the ending is ridiculous and superfluous.

ILLUSION. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.2 IMDB). This film from Poland is the near believable story of a mother’s search for her missing daughter. Her boyfriend is a suspect and so are some other dark possibilities, but this is centered on how the disappearance affects her as a mother and as a person. There are psychic overtones and some mysterious possibilities which make it magnetic and long lasting.

THE LYING LIFE OF ADULTS. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.6 IMDB). It all happens in Italy in the 1990’s. A teen age girl searches for her “true self” either in the well to do classes and rich settings in the city of Naples or a darker more fun self in the wilder and darker areas of the alleyways. It’s complex, fine acting, and well-directed.

BLACK BUTTERFLIES. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A French film about a retired old man who hires a novelist to write his life story before he dies. The story is full of sex and murders and how he loved his one girlfriend and how they spent their strange times together. The   relationship between the writer and the old man grows very deep and involved and you’ll become totally immersed in how his biography unfolds.

THE LAST OF US. (HBO SERIES) (9.5 IMDB). I heard that this movie is based on a video game…I know nothing of the game. It starts off in Texas when there is a virus or parasite attack. A father and his son are the leads in this zombie takeoff. It later jumps 20 years later to Boston and a battle against the fireflies. It’s just another rip-off of the zombie attack movies except that it centers on the good people instead of the raging beasts.

TRIAL BY FIRE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.6 IMDB). A dramatic version of a very real tragedy, a fire in a movie theatre that killed 59 people in India in 1997. More than just the fire, it’s the story of how the victims banded together to seek justice against the wealthiest owners of the Mall where the theatre was located. Being an Indian movie it has its own style of camera work and acting. A fine movie, just terrifying if you go to movie theatres.

NOISE. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.2 IMDB). Produced in Mexico, this is the story of a 25 year old daughter who disappears for more than two years. It’s very grim and deals in sex trafficking, and how the area police handle or ignore the issues involved. Many mothers and their daughters are involved and they all have intricate stories to tell. A fine film.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

THE PLAYLIST. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A dramatized story of what happened to the music business after and during the time CD’s were popular. How Spotify grew, who Sony made and lost millions, and most importantly how the recording artists make money. It’s a Swedish movie and will keep you surprised referring to the vicious music business and how it works.

THE KINGS OF THE WORLD. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.3 IMDB). Five teen agers in Columbia decide to take a very long trip to seek their friend’s inherited property. The camera work is near perfect, the acting is right on and the relationships between the five boys is at least meaningful.

BROKER. (DEL MAR THEATRE) (7.1 IMDB). Deep and meaningful this Korean film goes deep into the adopted baby business in Korea. It details the love, the disrespect, the care all humans give to our newborn. It’s complex but reveals family connections and legal barricades in our civilization. Brutal, tender, revealing and well-acted it’ll keep you remindful of your own family relationships.

WOMAN OF THE DEAD. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.8 IMDB). An Austrian movie centering on a woman who owns a funeral home in a ski resort and is determined to find out who ran over her husband while he was motorcycling. It’s available in a dubbed version which is distracting. Of a sudden she becomes a target herself for a mysterious reason. It’s slow moving and drawn out and requires patience.

NEW AMSTERDAM. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.0 IMDB). A handsome new Doctor takes charge of the oldest hospital in the USA/New York City the New Amsterdam based on the Bellevue. Like all good Doctor dramas he gets involved deeply with young kids issues, old people problems, drugs, and even a patient with a gun. It’s fast paced, well-acted and nearly believable. No big names but solid performances.

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January 23

WHEN MORE IS LESS

This is a partial view of the newest building under construction downtown. The actual mass is three times as wide as the center section in the foreground. The city’s website states it is 6 stories high. The building borders Pacific, Laurel and Front streets. When completed it will provide 205 apartments plus ground floor commercial.

Moving south of Laurel towards the Wharf is the area delineated by city planners for the most extensive, massive private development project in the history of Santa Cruz. Named the Downtown Plan Expansion Project, its goal is to finance a new Warriors Arena through the real estate market, with the Warriors as the developer, by providing 1600 or 1800 housing units, 8 times the capacity of the above building.

When first presented to the public, the tallest building proposed by city planners for this project was 20 stories or more than 3 times the height of the building above (twice as tall as the Dream Inn). Council balked at 20 and scaled it down to 17 stories or just under 3 times the height of the building above. Mayor Keeley’s and Council member Scott Newsome’s proposed amendment at the January 10th meeting scaled it down further so that 12 stories or twice as high as the building above will also be studied in the environmental review which is underway. There is no indication at this point how many 12 story buildings are contemplated for this 29- acre site.

Attitudes and opinions about this project cover the spectrum from horror to hurrah! While both were expressed at the council meeting, my hunch is that most residents are unaware of the sheer scale of the project. Cheerleaders include the building trades, certain labor unions as well as prominent business leaders, real estate developers and some housing activists. At the other end of the spectrum are those who see this project and other projects in the pipeline as signaling the end of the unique character and human scale of Santa Cruz, which was the blueprint for rebuilding the downtown after the 89 earthquake, a consensus reached by the diverse members of Vision Santa Cruz and passed into law by the then city council.

Of course, that was then, and this is now. Rents and housing prices then were affordable for most working people including blue-collar workers.  Since then, the major systemic change is that real estate has moved to #1 in investment portfolios and large investment syndications owning $60 billion worth of single-family homes is not unusual. With unlimited demand for real estate speculation in pleasant Santa Cruz, generated by the trifecta of UCSC growth, Silicon Valley, and the ability of high-tech workers to work from home, the cost of rental and for-sale housing is whatever the market can bear. Both have skyrocketed, putting home ownership out of reach for most of the middle class and all of the lower income working class. With unlimited demand, speculation in the driver’s seat, supply is no longer a price stabilizer.

To their credit, Mayor Fred Keeley and Council member Newsome’s amendment raised the percentage of affordable to market rate units to 20% of the whole project. While this sounds promising, it needs careful analysis before concluding that the project will do more good than harm for housing affordability and retention of existing service workers. To listen to the project supporters, these 320 below market rate units will enable our children to stay and live in Santa Cruz after High School graduation; will enable our workforce of teachers, firefighters, nurses, janitors, and service workers to live and stay in Santa Cruz, retaining diversity and inclusivity and ending long commute times. This claim is not supported by the facts or research.

Consider that in this project 80% (1280 units) will be market rate and above. Many will be luxury apartments. The view from the 12th story is sure to be stunning. Research from various cities’ Nexus Reports documents that people who can afford to buy or rent these high-priced units have equally high-end consumption tastes which generate the need for additional service workers to cater to the consumption needs. These new service workers also generate the need for additional affordable housing unless they are going to commute from Salinas or Hollister. They will compete with existing service workers and low-income students for the 320 affordable units and also compete with teachers etc. depending on which low- income category the units are slated for. In other words, 20% inclusionary doesn’t cut it.

New projects with 80% market rate units and 20% inclusionary will worsen, not improve the existing housing affordability crisis.

Nexus Reports project how many units are sufficient at the affordable level in a project consisting of both market rate and affordable units. While the figure varies by project it is usually in the 30% range. And that is the figure to house the increased number of lower income workers needed to cater to the new high-income residents. It does not include existing lower income workers who are leaving Santa Cruz as I write. Have you noticed the plethora of Help Wanted signs in restaurants, businesses, schools etc.?

There are solutions, not favored by developers and out of the scope of this column but 20% inclusionary is not one of them. Yes, better than no inclusionary, however a little less worsening of the housing cost crisis is still worsening it.

This well-documented reality and possible solutions should be the central discussion for city planners, city council and the community. If we allow feel-good empty rhetoric such as, “This housing is for human beings who need a place to stay” to define the discourse, we are participating in the immiseration of the working class while patting ourselves on the back for our largesse.

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.
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January 23

WHY CAN’T THEY JUST ANSWER MY QUESTIONS?

“Who serves on the Santa Cruz County Treasury Oversight Commission?  How can I find the Commission’s minutes?”   Those were my questions to Mr. Brandon Marquez, the staff contact for the Santa Cruz County Treasury Oversight Commission

Here was his reply:

The commissioners are listed within our Quarterly Investment Reports. These are published on the County Treasury website. Be aware that our IT team has been in the process of restructuring the Treasury Oversight Commission website to include agendas and minutes of past meetings.

Thanks,

Brandon

Notice that he did not provide a link to those County Quarterly Investment Reports.

What I did then receive was a notice of a Public Records Act request launched to provide the answers to my questions. https://santacruzcounty-ca.nextrequest.com/requests/23-14 The initial County response is due within 10 days…Hmmmm….

Why didn’t Mr. Marquez just answer my questions?

The County’s new Public Records Act request system is interesting and not easy to access.  You have to create an account to access any responsive materials, and it is nearly impossible to access the information of other Public Records Act requests that are supposed to be publicly-available.  https://santacruzcounty-ca.nextrequest.com/

On January 17, I received the following Public Records Act request answer to my query about the Treasury Oversight Commission:

After a review, the County has determined that it has non-exempt records responsive to the Request, which are enclosed. The County did not locate any exempt records. As always, the County reserves all rights.

The next Treasury Oversight Commission meeting is on 1/25 @ 3PM. It will be virtual. The agenda with meeting materials should be posted on the commission website mid next week.

Per your request, see the latest minutes approved by the Treasury Oversight Commission attached. Be aware that our IT team is in the process of refurbishing the Treasury Oversight Commission webpage to include a year’s back of agendas and minutes for public review.

Kind regards,

Laura Bowers, CPA

Chief Deputy Auditor-Controller

Here is the link to the Minutes of the April 27, 2022 Treasure Oversight Commission:

TOC Minutes 042722.pdf – NextRequest – Modern FOIA & Public Records Request Software

Really?  Note that Ms. Edith Driscoll, Director of the Auditor-Controller and Tax Collection Dept., made the recommendations of who would be the officers of the Commission.

Role of the Treasury Oversight Commission

The Treasury Oversight Commission provides oversight to the County Treasury by reviewing the quarterly investment report provided by the County Treasurer, reviewing the annual Investment Policy and directing the County Auditor to conduct an annual Treasurer’s compliance audit.

The Commission is supposed to meet in January, April and October, but it appears the Commission has not met since last April.

Treasury Oversight Commission

I think these Commission meetings need to have better public participation, and encourage you to listen in on January 26 and ask questions.

ACCESS DENIED

Recent lockdowns of the Pajaro area were a bit curious.  All roads accessing the town were blocked and guarded, supposedly due to potential flooding.  However, as I traveled Highway 129 on business, I noted the Pajaro River was not dangerously high.

I looked up the FEMA 100 year flood map to try to understand the reasoning.  It is interesting, and somewhat explains the heightened level of concern about the Pajaro areas flooding, but the River levels at the time did not seem to warrant the tight access lockdown of the residential areas in the neighborhood of a friend who lives in the agricultural areas against the eastern hills.

ArcGIS Web Application

I checked the rainfall and stream gauge levels, and saw they were not near flood stage.

Also, much of the area showed no evacuation warning or order on ZoneHaven: AWARE – Zonehaven

When I asked my friend “Do you think the County feels the River levee is going to fail?  I can find no warnings at all about this.  What are the law enforcement officials telling those no longer allowed to go to their homes in higher-ground areas is the reason people have to stay out of the Pajaro area completely?”

She replied that it is a not-so-secret plan if the levee looked as though it were going to breach, the County would blast an opening in a strategic spot to flood the ag fields as a pressure-relief for the potential urban flooding devastation, but it depends on what the farmers have planted and where, and the amount of damage that would be sustained if the County flooded the land.

Wow.  Now I better understand the situation.  Well, flooding the ag fields would help with groundwater recharge, wouldn’t it?  However, who knows how it would affect any certified organic farms, due to the unknown contaminants in the flood waters.  Hmmmm…

Learn more about the history of flooding and damages in the County here

You may also find the County’s 2021-2026 Local Hazard Mitigation Plan (LHMP) of interest: Local Hazard Mitigation Plan

DID THE COUNTY USE THE NEW WEATHER RADAR IN RECENT STORMS?

The quick answer is “No”, but not sure why. According to the installation’s director, Dr.  Mark Strudley, it just was not ready to activate yet.

LOCH LOMOND NOW AT 102% CAPACITY…WILL SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT TRANSFER WATER AND REDUCE PUMPING IN THE OVERDRAFTED AQUIFER?

Today’s Sentinel reported that Loch Lomond is 102% full…that means it is overflowing.  That means that the conditions are right for the City of Santa Cruz to sell water to Soquel Creek Water District as part of an Agreement that has been in place for a few years, allowing for water transfers when water is abundant.  That means that Soquel Creek Water District can greatly reduce pumping from the Purisima Aquifer, deemed in critical overdraft by the State Water Board, and help the groundwater levels recover.   Right?

So, why wasn’t that even on the January 17, 2023 agenda for the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors to discuss?

Here is a link to the Water Transfer Pilot Project evaluation in 2019 by Black & Veatch Engineering that deemed the transfers a success

Drought conditions since then have precluded the regional transfer of potable water but now the transfers COULD resume, if the Soquel Creek Water District requests that it does….

Please write the District’s Board and make this request, because it will support aquifer recovery in a manner that does not pollute the groundwater like the PureWater Soquel Project has great potential of doing when operational.

Here is a link to the Santa Cruz City Water Dept. Weekly Water Supply data: Weekly Water Conditions in Santa Cruz | City of Santa Cruz

Consider adding discussion of harvesting stormwater when it is available, such as Southern California is now planning to fund with a series of small to medium collection basins and percolation ponds (many thanks to the Bratton Online reader who sent this link):

In a Drought, California Is Watching Water Wash Out to Sea

Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors bod@soquelcreekwater.org  and  Emma Westernemmaw@soquelcreekwater.org

and also please write a letter to the editor of your favorite local news source or on social media
Submit Letters

Submit letters to the editor (150 words maximum) Please submit your letter to the editor to editorial@santacruzs…

https://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/letters/

Letters to the Editor | Good Times

Letters to the Editor | Good Times

Letters to the editor written by local Santa Cruz county citizens. Read about community issues here.

JUST CHARGE MORE FOR WATER

What WAS on the agenda was Item 7.5: Initiating a Rate Increase Study and Approving a Request for Qualifications to pay up to $150,000 for a consultant to work out a new round of rate increases.  See page 178

Somehow, the District did a smoke and mirrors analysis to show that their bloated rates are affordable, but insist that the expensive PureWater Soquel Project debt and cost-overruns have necessitated the need to continue to raise rates.  The last five-year annual 9% annual rate increases just wasn’t enough, and the final round of increases will take effect next month.

Wow.  If you are a Soquel Creek Water District customer, ask the District to serve on the Water Rate Advisory Committee (WRAC) that will likely be hand-picked by staff to serve as the customer advisory group moving the new rate increases forward.

Soquel Creek Water District Board and Leslie Strohm

Attend any of the current Standing Committee meetings that you can, especially the Finance Committee

It is interesting that the District’s Board approve Consent Agenda Item 4.10 to spend $27,392 for Knowlton Construction to remodel the District Office lobby to add 25 caliber bullet-proof glass protection windows at the counter? (see page 143 of the agenda packet)

Hmmmm….

HISTORIC ESTRADA RANCH SOLD TO PENINSULA OPEN SPACE PRESERVE FOR $10.6 MILLION WITH FURTHER SALES PLANNED

This amazing bit of news was in the San Jose Mercury News this morning.

The Estrada Family essentially was handed $10.6 Million by POST to stay on their farm for free and no longer have to pay property taxes.  The ranch will not be open to the public as a park.  The Santa Cruz County Land Trust is negotiating a deal to buy more adjacent parcels of the ranch.  Same sweet deal.

No mention of reparations for the controlled burn that got out of control in 2021, but maybe that was the leverage the POST and State used to force the sale?  Also, what about the Estrada Deer Camp Event Center that has no record of permits for the commercial-grade refrigeration or electrical improvements, and has never been permitted for special events?    Will that get to continue and bring revenue to …..someone?

Hmmmmm…….

I also believe the County will lose a lot of property tax revenue in this deal because lands owned by these agencies are tax-exempt.

What a sweet deal for the Estradas, don’t you think?

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING AND ASK QUESTIONS.

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING SOMETHING THAT IS MEANINGFUL TO YOU.

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
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January 23

ACTION ALERT: COTONI-COAST DAIRIES

In my last column at BrattonOnline.com, I outlined the tragic history of the 5,600 acre Cotoni Coast Dairies property leading to BLM’s takeover of managing the property and urging readers to pay more attention and to be more active in the evolution of that management. January 30th is an important deadline that provides you an opportunity to help better protect the property: BLM is proposing sweeping regulations that supposedly ‘protect’ this public land, but they are acting prematurely.

After reading this, I am hoping that you will write a public comment note suggesting a delay for BLM’s rulemaking until that agency completes its required planning process for protecting Cotoni Coast Dairies as it is supposed to be with its designation as part of a National Monument. If you want to cut this read short and write comments, skip the upcoming critique and go to the last section below for more guidance.

Designed to be a Federal Yawner

If you were managing BLM and you didn’t want anyone to comment on your oversight of Cotoni Coast Dairies, you’d design public comment period notifications to be filled with confusing jargon, contradictory statements, and pointless direction for commenters. Here’s a link to the current set of rules which would govern Cotoni Coast Dairies in perpetuity and which BLM has published for public review through January 30.

Confusing Jargon

The press release announcing this public comment period opens with this typically confusing jargon: “The supplementary rule would provide consistency and uniformity for visitors.” Huh?

And there’s more confusing jargon – the comment period is about a ‘supplementary rule‘ – supplementary to what, you might ask, aren’t all rules supplementary? This seems either deeply philosophical or something that might better contemplated by Zippy.

Contradictory Statements

The press release for this public comment period begins with a curious and confusing quote from Acting Central Coast Field Manager Shekeetah Allen Genoway:

“We believe this plan will help…”    (emphasis mine)

Errr…I thought this was a ‘supplementary rule‘ not a plan?? Someone at BLM might be reading this and scoffingly muttering ‘Big Deal!’ ‘What’s the Diff?’ or ‘Who Cares!?’ Well, there is a big difference between a rule and a plan, and it is BLM’s duty to engage with and educate the public about said differences.

Pointless Direction

Acting Central Coast Field Manager Shekeetah Allen Genoway’s quote goes on to give very narrow advice on what the BLM hopes the public will comment about:

“We are seeking public comments to help us clarify language in the rules to ensure they are easily understood by users and public.”

(Jargon note: anyone who might visit the property is known to BLM as a ‘user,’ but I’m unclear about the difference between ‘users’ and ‘public’)

In short, BLM says that if the rules aren’t clear, then please give them feedback on how to make them clearer. In other words, don’t question the rules…don’t think about why such rules are necessary…don’t suggest better rules or how to improve the rules-making processes, etc. However, the rationale for public comment periods in a democracy is to open up all of those subjects for discussion.

The Wizard of Odd

Don’t pay attention to the man behind the curtain!

If you are brave enough to open the Federal Yawner ‘Supplementary Rule,’ you can get to the root of what I see as the Big Problem by reading the ‘Discussion’ section. There, you will find a profoundly deceptive misstatement:

“The BLM completed the Cotoni-Coast Dairies Resource Management Plan (RMP) Amendment on June 23, 2021, to establish land use decisions that protect the objects and values of the Cotoni-Coast Dairies unit of the California Coastal National Monument and support responsible recreation opportunities.”

In fact, the RMP did not contain a list of the ‘objects and values’ called out in the Obama Administration’s Monument designation for the property. Therefore, the plan could not and did not ‘establish land use decisions that protect‘ them.

Moreover, the RMP’s recreational planning analyses harkened back to pre-WWI-style parks planning with no mention of modern recreational planning principles: social carrying capacity analysis (to avoid overcrowding and user conflicts – for instance, mountain bikers vs. family hikers with small children, or natural resource carrying capacity analysis (to avoid disturbing sensitive wildlife, etc.). So, the plan could not and did not ‘establish land use decisions….{sic}(that) support responsible recreation opportunities.’

In sum, this current proposed “supplementary” rule compounds and builds on the shaky house of cards that has been BLM’s balderdash-based planning for Cotoni Coast Dairies. And, it is on that level that I urge you to give feedback to BLM.

What to Do?

The best current direction for BLM is to keep the property closed until the requisite planning processes have been completed and there is a credible approach from which to establish regulations for the property.

According to BLM’s guidelines for managing National Monument properties (Manual 6220), the agency is required first to undertake studies inventorying the ‘objects and values’ of the Monument and determining how best to protect them. And yet, BLM has been opposing conservationists and the State of California’s natural resource protection agencies in its attempt to avoid such work.

The proposed “Supplementary” Rule compounds BLM’s prior mistakes, and in doing so confuses the public into thinking they are embarking on good conservation work by limiting visitor use. You might find it confusing to oppose such a ‘supplementary’ rule when it allows BLM to enforce off-limits areas if what we are looking for is to protect the large swaths of Cotoni Coast Dairies from being ‘loved to death’ by visitors. Perhaps they might need some rules like this, but the BLM’s decision to make these rules is premature. They must first recognize, list, and analyze the human impacts on the ‘objects and values’ protected by Monument designation. For now, if we show BLM we aren’t fooled by their tactics and demand that they do a more complete job of protecting resources, BLM will be forced to follow its own guidelines and get the planning right.

And so, I urge you to please write the BLM and let them know that they should complete the planning and analysis outlined in their guidelines for managing National Monuments (Manual 6220) before they create regulations that may or may not be necessary. A short note would suffice: Bureau of Land Management, BLM Central Coast Field Office, 940 2nd Ave., Marina, CA 93933, or emailed to: blm_ca_cotoni_coast_dairies@blm.gov    or https://www.blm.gov/

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
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January 19

#19 / New Zealand And “The News”

That is Auckland, New Zealand, pictured above. The picture reminds me of my trips into San Francisco on Highway 101. There are really some striking similarities in the way the cities look, seen from this perspective. I don’t know what they call the outsize tower in the middle of this photo of Auckland, but it seems to dominate the Auckland skyline the way the Salesforce Tower dominates the San Francisco skyline.

At any rate, my blog posting today is not about Auckland (or San Francisco), and it’s not about office towers and their priapic city displays, either. Auckland is the most populous urban area in New Zealand, and so this picture seemed suitable to draw attention to a blog posting prompted by a recent Wall Street Journal news story about New Zealand.

Specifically, I am referring to an article about how New Zealand is planning “to require online platforms like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc. to pay news publishers for content.”

Click the link to read the entire story (the WSJ paywall permitting, of course). I think it’s good that New Zealand is going to try to make the giant online platforms pay local newspapers and other news sources for “the news” which we now read, increasingly, only on those online platforms.

What interested me most about the article, though, was not so much the specifics of New Zealand’s plans to make the giant online platforms compensate those who actually produce “the news.” I got to thinking about the “principle” involved. The “principle,” in my mind, is that those who actually help produce something that has value should be compensated for the value they produce.

What about workers in general? We have recently heard about the outsize profits of the railway corporations, as their workers go on strike. The oil companies are in the same position. The incredible profits that have gone to the giant corporations would not have appeared without all the workers who work for those companies. Yet, the “workers” don’t get to share, very significantly, in the business profits that their labor has helped create.

Here is a quote from the article about New Zealand’s plans to make the online mega-platforms pay for “the news” that they provide to those who visit their sites (and who, by visiting those online platforms, to get “the news,” create big profits for the platforms):

“It’s not fair that the big digital platforms like Google and Meta get to host and share local news for free,” Mr. Jackson said Sunday. “It costs to produce the news, and it’s only fair they pay.”

Like legislation elsewhere, New Zealand’s proposal would allow Google and Facebook to negotiate with publishers without government intervention. But if no agreement is reached, then the law would plot out a mandatory negotiating process.

Recognizing the massive income and wealth inequality in the United States, isn’t it about time that we set up just such a system for workers in general? In other words, because we are “all in this together,” it is appropriate for all major corporations to be sure that their workers get a fair share of the profits that are generated, ultimately, by the work those workers do.

The New Zealand proposal allows an initial negotiation, but with the government stepping in to make the allocations if the workers and the corporations don’t agree what’s “fair” to all involved.

Sound good? Worth thinking about, in my opinion.

Worth working for!

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
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January 23

FUN, FUN, FUN ‘TIL DADDY TAKES THE STINGRAY AWAY!

The fun continues at the Biden Delaware home with FBI searches turning up more classified documents from the president’s Senate and VP stints, along with some written notes which were also removed. While the prez has assured us that “there’s no there there”, he has concern about his ’67 Corvette Stingray which got a thorough going-over by the squad of investigators who revealed, to Biden’s complete consternation, that the turn-signal lever is from a ’68 Corvette Stingray! His car club buddies are now considering disciplinary action for this deception, but in light of the discovery are taking it seriously enough to examine their own autos with more rigor. Now that’s thinking ahead!

Biden’s poll numbers had been riding a bit higher following the midterm elections, and many Democratic Party leaders had generally positive feelings toward his pending announcement for running again in 2024, but the classified document stashes have lowered the poll ratings and party stalwarts are having second thoughts about a second term in office. Chief of Staff Ron Klain’s resignation takes some of the shine off the administration’s reputation and is viewed as a major change in the fortunes of the incumbency. Attorney Klain gained traction serving under VP Gore and VP Biden, and had maintained a TV presence in the years before joining up with Biden again. His successor, Jeff Zients, part of the transition team leading up to the inauguration, has held several jobs stemming from his business acumen, rather than a political background. He gained prominence when he took charge of correcting the bungled HealthCare.gov website release under the Obama administration, which led to Biden’s appointing him as coronavirus response coordinator. His executive and management skills make him the wealthiest member of Biden’s coterie.

Overall, party loyalists feel Biden has done a good job, has made competent appointments, and should be able to run again as is his prerogative. Despite the advantages of incumbency, can he beat Trump, or a Trump-like candidate, a second time. Many feel that Joe should step aside and let a younger candidate step up due to the difficulties and pressure in the job, the big question being ‘who?’  Should the GOP put up a younger candidate, the issue of age will loom large.

The laid-back Trump campaign has gained a foothold with Biden’s classified materials fiasco, but the first campaign swing into South Carolina reveals complications as they find support for his early candidacy to be less than enthusiastic. Efforts to drum up endorsements or attendees to the event are lacking, with calls for a more competitive nominating process. Complicating the issue are former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley who has serious plans, as well as Senator Tim Scott, both seeking to possibly challenge Trump. It is expected, of course, that Senator Lindsey Graham will maintain his loyalty to the former president, as will Governor Henry McMaster, but Trump’s dominance has taken a hit. As Dave Wilson of the Palmetto Family Council, a prominent evangelical group, says, “There is more than a little bit of softening in Trump support in South Carolina,” many being turned away by comments made by DJT, questioning the loyalty of the evangelical crowd.

Republican state party chairman, Drew McKissick will not be attending the January 28 rally as he goes to California’s RNC meeting, Representative Ralph Norman, ally of both Haley and Trump has a prior commitment. Hope Walker, executive director of the state party, was offered a job on the Trump team, but turned it down to remain in her current role. Other party lawmakers in the state have disclosed that they will be unable to attend despite Graham’s arm-twisting and warning to get onboard now for the likely nominee. It appears that Florida’s Governor DeSantis has support equaling that of The Donald. Former Trump secretary of state Mike Pompeo has filled Facebook with his ads, with promises of helping “principled conservatives in South Carolina restore the American Dream!” And, Mike Pence has shown his smiley face, especially to church leaders in the evangelical-heavy state. The word is out, “Gentlemen (and gentlelady) – start your engines!”

The US Extreme Court released its report last week revealing that after the months-long investigation into the leak to the press of the Alito draft opinion in the Dobbs v Jackson/Roe v Wade decision, no leaker was identified. The report concluded that it wasn’t hacked, while it laid out steps taken to arrive at a more conclusive result. No relevant information was found on court-issued computers or mobile devices among personnel, or in call and texts records examined from those who had access to the opinion. Nearly 100 employees of the court were interviewed to solve this “extraordinary betrayal of trust” with Donald Trump calling for the jailing of the Politico journalists who exposed the document “until they reveal their source(s).” Most critics of the unresolved report lay the problem at the feet of the court’s marshal, Gail Curley, who had no business ‘investigating’ an internal problem, even though Michael Chertoff, former head of the Department of Homeland Security declared it to be a thorough investigation, and having no suggestions of useful measures that could have been undertaken.

Employees were threatened with losing their jobs if they refused to answer questions, so were the justices themselves questioned – dismissal not being relevant here? Ahem, Justice Alito! He is under heavy suspicion as being the culprit, having reasons for doing so, with a previous incident hanging over his unrepentant head. ‘Cover up’ is the watchword since the ‘investigation’ was not done by an arm of the law or the FBI, and Curley’s bosses are – the supreme court justices! So, the report is a standing joke for the masses, regarding a body which is too embarrassed to expose one of their own. It has marked the court as incompetent and afraid, being involved in a dirty business. A possible solution for Roberts and his henchmen could have been hiring a retired FBI agent, but, darn! –  a likely contender was just arrested. Former official Charles McGonigal of the FBI’s counterintelligence division in New York was found to have taken payments from a Russian oligarch to investigate one of his rivals. Probably could have worked for the Supremes pretty inexpensively since they know all the angles for absolution of guilt. Pity!

The court’s Roe v Wade decision gave wings to the pro-life movement over the weekend with marches and speeches around the country to celebrate their victory. In force also were pro-choice demonstrators showing their dissatisfaction with the court’s leanings. As satirical character Betty Bowers, the creation of Canadian comedian, Deven Green, says, “Texas doesn’t have a hotline if you see a man go into a kindergarten with an AR-15, but it does have a hotline if you see a woman go into a Planned Parenthood parking lot with her car.” Where is George Santos when you need him?

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. 
 
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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.

“Rain”

‘Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet’.    
~Roger Miller

‘Predicting rain doesn’t count. Building arks does’.    
~Warren Buffett

‘One can find so many pains when the rain is falling’.     
~John Steinbeck

‘Don’t threaten me with love, baby. Let’s just go walking in the rain’.
~Billie Holiday

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This is one of my favorite Youtubers. She is just the right amount of goofy when talking about serious issues. Check out her channel, Ask a Mortician


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 18 – 24, 2023

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON… Downtown Santa Cruz, Cotoni-Coast National Monument,  City Manager Matt Huffakers salary, GREENSITE…no power, no column. STEINBRUNER…no power, no column. HAYES…some Cotoni-Coast Dairies reflections. PATTON…Talking with Tom. MATLOCK… smokescreens and spirits in the dark. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…pick of the week. QUOTES…”FLOODS”

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RAILROAD WHARF & SEA BEACH HOTEL. That’s the Sea Beach Hotel just behind the two story building with the horse and buggy in front. The hotel was built as a great tourist attraction and hope in 1888 then burned down in 1912.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE January 16

NEW YEARS ISSUES. Aside from the hundreds of problems our rains have caused and will continue to create…two issues keep me concerned over and above flooding problems. The first and for me the most important is how and what Mayor Fred Keeley will do to bring much needed life (business) to our downtown. Pacific Avenue has never looked so desolated, not even after the earthquake. It would seem that working with the Downtown Association and even the Chamber of Commerce the costs and hazards of owning and operating a business on Pacific would and could be more rewarding.

Second is the rapidly approaching takeover of Davenport and adjacent lands by the Cotoni-Coast Dairies National Monument. Go to their site and check out the scope and sheer size of this “monument”. I’ve addressed this before many times but the expected car traffic on our narrow Highway 1, the 500 car parking lot, just the impact of such a huge threat to the wild life that roams there makes me wonder why more objections haven’t changed any government plans. Once again I say that new County Supervisor Justin Cummings who has responsibility for that area has a lot of work and calculating to do.

CITY MANAGER MATT HUFFAKER’S SALARY. Last week in BrattonOnline while wondering what’s going to happen with our current City Council and the la tee dah ladies under Mayor Fred Keeley I mentioned  that our current City manager Matt Huffaker had a salary of $22,199 PER WEEK!! I’m grateful to all the readers who pointed out my egregious error. Its $22,199 PER MONTH. In checking up just to make sure I found….”I’m very humbled and excited to have the opportunity to serve as Santa Cruz’s next City Manager. Santa Cruz has tremendous opportunities before it, and I look forward to working with the Council, community and City staff to advance the many important initiatives underway. I think my local experience and established regional partnerships will allow me to hit the ground running. I’m ready to get to work,” said Huffaker. Huffaker will assume the role of City Manager effective Jan. 3, 2022″. (That’s $266,388 per year or $5,123 per week!!)

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

THE PLAYLIST. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A dramatized story of what happened to the music business after and during the time CD’s were popular. How Spotify grew, who Sony made and lost millions, and most importantly how the recording artists make money. It’s a Swedish movie and will keep you surprised referring to the vicious music business and how it works.

THE KINGS OF THE WORLD. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.3 IMDB). Five teen agers in Colombia decide to take a very long trip to seek their friend’s inherited property. The camera work is near perfect, the acting is right on and the relationships between the five boys is at least meaningful.

BROKER. (DEL MAR THEATRE) (7.1 IMDB). Deep and meaningful this Korean film goes deep into the adopted baby business in Korea. It details the love, the disrespect, the care all humans give to our newborn. It’s complex but reveals family connections and legal barricades in our civilization. Brutal, tender, revealing and well-acted it’ll keep you remindful of your own family relationships.

WOMAN OF THE DEAD. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.8 IMDB). An Austrian movie centering on a woman who owns a funeral home in a ski resort and is determined to find out who ran over her husband while he was motorcycling. It’s available in a dubbed version which is distracting. Of a sudden she becomes a target herself for a mysterious reason. It’s slow moving and drawn out and requires patience.

NEW AMSTERDAM. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.0 IMDB). A handsome new Doctor takes charge of the oldest hospital in the USA/New York City the New Amsterdam based on the Bellevue. Like all good Doctor dramas he gets involved deeply with young kids issues, old people problems, drugs, and even a patient with a gun. It’s fast paced, well-acted and nearly believable. No big names but solid performances.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

CORSAGE. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (6.7 IMDB). An extra fictionalized version of Empress Elisabeth of Austria during the year of 1877. Complicated, fanciful and an excellent movie. The acting is perfect, and the director has taken great pains to make her story applicable to today’s world. Corsage can and does mean both a floral corsage and a corset, and Elisabeth’s corset gets much attention. You’ll never take your eyes off Vicky Krieps who plays Elisabeth. She is being touted for many cinema awards in the next few weeks.

IN THE DARK. (PRIME SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A waste of both film to make this rip-off and your time to watch it. The actress playing the lead is supposed to be blind and she finds a friend murdered. She drinks too much and stumbles around unconvincingly to find the murderer. The plot is so over used and the acting and dialogue is so simple minded that I could only watch one and 1/4 episode.

THE PALE BLUE EYE. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.6 IMDB). There is a character named Edgar Allen Poe in this fascinating murder comedy. Plus the considerable talents of Christian Bale, Robert Duvall, Timothy Spall and Toby Jones. Great costuming, fine acting and a plot that will keep you completely involved.

THE MENU. (PRIME SERIES) (7.4 IMDB). This bizarre plot has Ralph Fiennes as a crazed billionaire chef creating a last meal for a number of eccentric guests. Those guests include the wide eyed Anya Taylor-Joy and John Leguizamo. Fiennes and the cast do almost believable jobs of acting out this crazed plot which centers on making fun of haut cuisine and the moneyed class. See it and you won’t forget it.

BABYLON. (Some theatres only). (7.4 IMDB). This heavily hyped movie stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde and a lot more stars in this impossible to follow history of Hollywood and the movies from the silent days up to references to today’s movie product. It’s three hours long and seems longer as about six characters stories are detailed back and forth. The off screen wheeling’s and dealings of the film business are hinted at but not detailed enough to make it worthwhile. It’s one of the biggest box office flops in recent years.

THREE PINES. (PRIME VIDEO SERIES)) (7.3 IMDB). A genuine murder mystery that will have you guessing. It’s slow and even boring in parts but Alfred Molina as the investigating officer from Quebec leads us through some tricky and puzzling possibilities. There are four mysteries in the eight episodes and it involves protestors and stories about Indigenous women who face entire lives of trying to save their children. Complex, interesting and thought provoking.

EMANCIPATION. (APPLE MOVIE) (6.1 IMDB). It’s almost Simon Legree from Uncle Tom’s Cabin trying to catch Uncle Tom as we watch Ben Foster gunning after Will Smith who is a runaway slave from a large plantation. About 90 percent of the movie is Smith being chased through swamps, up into trees, across streams…just chase after chase. Will Smith does his best to look like a slave and keeps his jaw stuck out at a weird angle through the entire film. Don’t expect much.

WEDNESDAY. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.3 IMDB). Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Morticia, Lurch is in there too, plus Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams and yes it’s all based on brilliant cartoonist’s Charles Addams family cartoons. Tim Burton directed it so one would think it would be sharper humor and not so idiotic, but there we are.

THE GLORY. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.1 IMDB). A deep and nearly painful ten age abuse movie from Korea. A student is unmercifully abused, burned, branded and punished by her schoolmates. The film goes back and forth over the next ten years as she plans and plots some devilish and brutal revenge on each of her former bullies. A tough but well done movie that will leave you thinking about your early years in school.

KALEIDOSCOPE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.1 IMDB). The engaging Rufus Sewell leads the cast in this bank robbery saga. What’s unusual is that there are eight episodes telling how the robbery is planned and we can watch the episodes in any order! There’s deeply involved treachery, lies, and betrayal among the team of would be robbers and more than enough suspense and fine acting to keep you completely attached.

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Gillian couldn’t submit her column due to power outages.

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.
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PG&E power outages got Becky as well this week!

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
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January 16

SOME COTONI COAST DAIRIES REFLECTIONS

Ever since the United States Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) took control of 5800 acres of northern Santa Cruz County, conservationists have been asking themselves “what have we done?” The fateful transfer day was in 2014 when a private land trust, the Trust for Public Land, donated the property to BLM. It would be years before the negative repercussions of that handover were obvious. 7 years later BLM unveiled a draft management plan for Cotoni Coast Dairies, a document rife with errors including tables cut-and-paste from other plans from faraway places, lists of misidentified species, and proposals with little analysis and findings absent scientific rigor. How did such a bungling land management agency gain control of such a precious part of California’s coast? The story unfolds…

BLM’s Standard Bearers Support Poor Standards

As one comes to expect in our community, unctuous support for BLM’s draft plan for the property was lugubriously lauded by affiliates of profiteering recreational industries and their political hacks while conservationists carefully documented voluminous errors and omissions and suggested reasonable improvements to protect natural resources while providing access to open space. Subsequently, BLM perfunctorily changed the plan to address only the most egregious errors and, as expected, chose the ‘moderate use’ alternative, publishing an Environmental Analysis (EA), the easy, low-input, and cheap means for the agency to officially finalize approval. Shortly thereafter, conservationists filed an appeal to the Department of Interior and BLM asked for two extensions of the appeal window. During those extensions, and before the appeal was settled, BLM staff bulldozed areas of the property to prepare for one of its planned, but not yet permitted, parking lot. We don’t yet know which BLM official ordered that disgusting and undemocratic act, but we will find out. Conservationists won their appeal, but meanwhile the BLM had destroyed sensitive coastal prairie and cut trees that had long supported the federally threatened monarch butterfly. Meanwhile, it became clear that the only other parking lot location that BLM’s faulty plans had analyzed could not progress as planned because the road to the parking lot traversed private property without the consent of the owners. That was almost as surprising as the Coastal Commission’s allowance for that access road, which would have also paved a stream channel. It seems wherever one looks these days, the Coastal Commission pushes for maximizing public access even if it means careless destruction of natural resources. That matches well with BLM’s management philosophy.

No One Home and No Friends Left

Back in 2014, someone working at BLM told me that their office was ill-prepared for Santa Cruz. For years, their staff had managed land where there was no conservation constituency, where nature degrading recreational activities and other “resource” uses were unquestioned. Since BLM moved into Santa Cruz County and took control of Cotoni Coast Dairies, they have been unable to retain consistent managers: two field managers overseeing the property have departed and the newest one is rumored to be ‘remotely managing’ the property while living far away from the region. And yet, our community has long offered BLM friendship.

At first, BLM welcomed enthusiastic friendships, signing partnership agreements with the University of California at Santa Cruz and the Amah Mutsun Tribe. Now, BLM only admits to being partners with the group previously known as Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (see sidebar, from BLM’s Cotoni Coast Dairies property homepage). Why has BLM rejected its tribal and science partners in favor of the mountain biking industry? We need to go back to the beginning of the story to understand.

Swiss Dairyman and Subdivision Moguls

The Cotoni Coast Dairies got its two last names from a Swiss dairy and land investment company, which started in 1901 and ended in 1998 when the investors sold to the Trust for Public Land instead of a subdivision mogul. For 97 years, the land referred to locally as ‘Coast Dairies’ was managed by farmers and ranchers who made it clear that the public was unwelcome. Much of the rest of the County had been explored by botanists and wildlife experts whose wisdom and documentation led to so many parks purchases. But this was not the case with this huge part of the County: it had remained largely uncharted. In 1997, real estate magnate Brian Sweeney announced that he had an option to build more than a hundred luxury homes on the property. The owners were able to quote extravagant property value, so conservationists had to raise a lot of funding to conserve the property and thwart the threat from development. Without biological surveys, conservationists had to convince funders about the value of the ‘spectacular views’ and recreational potential instead of conservation values. That seems to me to be how the seed was sown for how people came to value the property in the years to come.

Trust for Public Land: 14 Years at Coast Dairies

After purchasing the property, for 14 years the TPL managed the property while trying to find a way out. TPL managed to give State Parks the ocean side of the property, including the beaches. State Parks opened those beaches to public access without any planning or environmental review. It took many more years to find any organization willing to own the inland portion of the property. TPL solicited proposals from various potential landowners. UC Santa Cruz made a proposal, which didn’t work out. Meanwhile, it was costing TPL a lot of money and headaches to retain the property and the funders wanted it opened for public access. As a last resort, TPL turned to the federal land management agency that had long served as property managers of the last resort: BLM…there didn’t seem to be another option. Besides, some of the illuminati of open space purchasers thought perhaps it could soon be a part of The Great Park, owned and managed by the National Park Service.

The Great Park

For a while after TPL purchased the property, the Open Space Illuminati advertised something called “The Great Park,” an expansive interconnected park system, with a National Park nucleus derived from Coast Dairies and the adjoining San Vicente Redwoods. For a while, it seemed like this idea had become fet a compli, but enough powerful opponents started asking questions…politics changed…and perhaps funders’ willingness waned. After some time, the Great Park was a dim memory held only by a few.

A National Monument

As the Great Park idea waned, a new idea dawned: Cotoni Coast Dairies could become part of a National Monument! Charged up with a great deal of funding from the Weiss Family Foundation, the Open Space Illuminati parachuted in something that appeared to be popular movement: glossy brochures and websites popped up and The Monument Campaign was born. When conservationists exclaimed concern at the number of visitors that would be attracted to the property with such a designation, the Illuminati said ‘Shut up! This is the only way to make BLM accountable to protecting the property!’ They succeeded: in the last days of the Obama Administration, the president decreed that the property would become part of the California Coastal National Monument.

Post Monument Blues

Shortly after the President’s decree, the BLM dissolved the only staff positions whose work entailed guaranteeing protection under National Monument regulations. Since then, the BLM has refused to abide by its own regulations for managing National Monuments. Meanwhile, the Great Park and Monument Campaign Illuminati have likewise disappeared from the scene, their concerns for protecting the land swept away as they entered the next funding cycle’s focus in some other arena. Enter stage left the influential Outdoor Industry Association where business and profits pour from Nature commodified. Advertisements for ‘rad times’ on Santa Cruz County trails bring thousands of visitors, supporting a ‘green’ economy. Sales of super-expensive bikes skyrocket. Many conservationists are getting too old for the fight. It is easy to see what we have done, but what’s next is anyone’s guess. Best to stay apprised and keep asking questions; perhaps this is a good time for a renewed conservation movement in Santa Cruz County.

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
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January 14

#14 / Talking With Tom

David Marchese is The New York Times’ “Talk Columnist.” If you click that link to Marchese’s name, The Times’ paywall permitting, you should be able to sample a wide variety of Marchese’s interviews, including his interview with playwright Tom Stoppard, who is pictured above. The Stoppard interview appeared in The New York Times Magazine on December 4, 2022, titled as follows in the online version: “Tom Stoppard Fears the Virus of Antisemitism Has Been Reactivated.”

I love Tom Stoppard (and all his plays). Stoppard’s latest play, “Leopoldstadt,” does confront antisemitism. What I found most interesting in the interview was how Stoppard intimates that an effective way to deal with hateful and objectionable behavior (both conduct and speech) may be simply to call it out, and, having done so, to “shrug it off,” turn one’s back on it and walk away, much more than by trying to extirpate the evil in an agitated and aggressive confrontation.

Stoppard does not say that this way of confronting evil (including both antisemitism and other evils) should be some sort of “rule.” He just evidences his own confidence that he (and we) can prevail over evil, and hateful and objectionable behavior, without moving to immediate hyperventilation and direct conflict.

Here is a sample of what I mean, focusing on both antisemitism and hate speech, coming out of the Marchese talk with Stoppard:

I hate to ask such a blunt question, but apparently this is where we are these days: What do you make of the increase in antisemitism that we’ve been seeing? Does it feel like more of the historical same or is something different going on? I don’t profess to know anything that anybody else might not know, but my own feeling is that marginal social attitudes never go away. They’re something like a latent virus that becomes activated under certain conditions. For my money, which is the mot juste in this sentence, it has a lot to do with the polarity in the economics in America and Britain — the inequality. When the economics that are supposed to bind us together become so divisive, anger breaks through. This virus wakes up, and it’s a displacement of the anger that is always lying underneath. As I listen to myself talking like a pundit, I don’t actually know if any of that is true. It’s just an intuition I have. It’s as if at the bottom of the mythic melting pot, which your nation wants to be, there’s a deposit of sediment that isn’t buying into the idea of being in the pot. It stays silent and mostly invisible until you poke it with a stick and suddenly, as you say, here we are. The last thing: My friend David Baddiel wrote a book called “Jews Don’t Count” —

A few years ago, yeah. I’m familiar with it. Oh, good. Then as you know its point is that antisemitism is not being properly acknowledged, and that Jews are not being properly acknowledged as being one of the many oppressed minorities. Jews don’t seem to count, David Baddiel objects. He’s a friend of mine, and I have arguments with him about various things. He didn’t need me to point out that one doesn’t think of Jews as being an oppressed minority because, paradoxically, the objection is that they’re altogether too successful. When I was writing the play, there was a kind of local disturbance concerning antisemitism in the British Labour Party, and it didn’t seem to be an overriding problem, and I kind of ignored it. It seemed to be not widespread.

I’m not sure whether that would apply anymore.

I know that free speech has been an important issue for you over the years. It’s impossible to argue that social media isn’t a fertile breeding ground for, as you put it, the virus of marginal social attitudes. Do we need to more strictly police the speech on those platforms? I would like to be in a society that pretty much refrains from stopping people saying what they want. Hate speech always strikes me as being self-evidently gibberish and deranged. I don’t think that it’s an equal participant in some kind of debate. I don’t like the idea of law deciding whether something is sayable or unsayable. I’m sure that there’s a line that shouldn’t be crossed, but like all such lines, there’s no one person whom you know whom you would want to draw it, and I’m not sure that any two people would ever draw it in the same place. I would prefer to meet hate speech with derision and better arguments. That is the tradition I’ve grown up in: that you can say anything you like as long as it doesn’t break the law. It’s rare that you get some nutso being explicit about prejudice and bigotry which the law might well take account of. But you can get into a shadowy area where interpretation becomes as important as speech itself. The people who are canceled in our society, in many cases it’s hard to say definitively what the offensive words were or what they intended. I don’t even know where I would personally draw my lines, but I think antisemitic speech is very offensive, it ought to be very offensive to society, and society should show its contempt for it. I hope, broadly speaking, society still does.

So what, to your mind, would be the best response to antisemitism? I have absolutely no doubt what the solution is, but it’s very long term, and it’s not a solution that you can simply adopt. The solution is to develop a society in which these issues barely arise because the society is fair. In many issues, I think, God, if only we could start education again from the bottom up. Just now begin with the next generation of 5-year-olds and teach them the philosophy of life. But the glib and undeniable answer to your question is to create a society where you don’t have to deal with antisemitism because it’s simply not part of anybody’s consciousness. It’s a utopian idea.

Confrontation escalates. A simple insistence on decency and fairness can have the opposite effect. I think that is what Tom Stoppard is suggesting in this short little discussion with David Marchese.

Gets me to thinking! And I hope you the same!

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
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January 16

SMOKESCREENS AND SPIRITS IN THE DARK

The documents marked ‘Secret’ and ‘Top Secret’ are proliferating by the minute in Joe Biden’s stashes, and it is rumored the team from the “French Connection” will be removing the door panels from his ’67 Corvette Stingray in search of more. As another batch was discovered, Jimmy Kimmel joked that America is “one episode of ‘Storage Wars’ away from finding out who killed J.F.K.” And now House Speaker In Veritate, Matt Gaetz, sees another hostage situation to sate his appetite for involvement in embarrassing situations after his successful fifteen-episode pummeling of Kevin McCarthy.

While it is believable that Biden is in the dark about how and why the documents were found in his possession, at least he hasn’t whined that they were ‘planted’ by the FBI, or that he had performed a mind-bending performance in declassifying them, or that they ‘obviously’ belonged to him since they were in his files. Perhaps a better choice of words could have allayed some fears when he said, “people know I TAKE classified documents and classified material seriously.” This turn of events has provided a goldmine of fool’s gold for the GOP to begin their game of performance art. Fake investigations will be launched as they begin yet another version of pretending righteous indignation, as they lie their way toward tarnishing Biden and the Democrats on the way to 2024.

In order to ward off the anticipated howls about unfairness to the Former Guy’s “persecution,” Attorney General Garland announced the appointment of Special Counsel Robert Hur to look into the document brouhaha, but also to signal that he too takes the discoveries seriously. With new blood on the floor the press corps has unmercifully pounced on Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre in her outings for the daily briefings, and Biden has been silent, ignoring shouted questions in recognition of the sensitive investigation. Of course, the MAGATs will never be satisfied – they are perpetually angry about everything. “If Trump had done what Joe Biden did with the recovered classified documents and contacted the National Archives right away, he’d be in the clear. Republicans should know that pointing to Biden doesn’t create an equivalency, it just highlights what Trump did was wrong.” – Brian Tyler Cohen.

The successes of the Dems in the mid-term elections, the declining rate of inflation, the consumer economic improvements, the Republican infighting, and the eclipsing popularity of Trump even as Biden’s ratings slowly climbed were seen as positives for the coming months – with momentum now being blunted, the golden ring just out of reach, as the Prez prepares his announcement for reelection. GOP strategist Susan Del Percio said the revelation of the documents was a gift to Republicans. “If Biden wanted a reason not to run, this is a pretty good one,” Del Percio said. “He’s not going to want this kind of campaign … if you’re explaining, you’re losing.” Washington’s press corps will have none of it however, as they slip and slide in the slime provided courtesy of the GOP. Does this signal another go at Hillary’s emails? Senator Ted Cruz made a joke about Hillary’s server being found in Joe’s garage – a clue? And will Bill’s files be subject to a search? Surely, Obama is on that list although Trump’s crack-team of investigators are still lost among the palm trees in Hawaii as they search for a missing birth certificate.

Faux House Speaker Kevin McCarthy addressed the possibility of expunging the two impeachments of Trump, a subject which came up in the previous Congress but got no traction, saying that he understands such a move and “we’d look at it.” “It is outrageous that Speaker McCarthy would consider expunging Donald Trump’s impeachments,” wrote Noah Bookbinder, the president of watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, in a tweet Thursday. “Trump incited a violent insurrection and tried to overturn an election he lost. Congress should have barred him from office.”

The unhinged Clodwork Orange, in a radio interview, had a meltdown about Special Counsel Jack Smith assigned by AG Garland to investigate the former president. First, he suggested that ‘Smith’ is a fake name, is an “unfair savage,” and then accused him of being a “terrorist”, after which he attacked Smith’s wife and her sister for being “Trump-haters.” Observers have concluded that he has realized he is going to be indicted, and is powerless to prevent it, hence the ‘poor me’ whining act.

In another of the countless cases against Trump, where he is being accused of a mid-1990s rape by writer E. Jean Carroll, a federal judge rejected efforts by Trump’s lawyers to keep sealed a portion of the transcript of his Mar-a-Lago deposition. The papers show the accused making persistent comments, insulting Carroll, her attorney, President Biden, and whining about “hoaxes” of false claims about him. Trump denies her claim, and says that in an interview she had indicated that “she loved it,” a total misstatement. Despite his infamous ‘Access Hollywood’ braggadocio of grabbing women and kissing without consent, he denied he had ever done so. “It’s a false accusation. Never happened, never would happen,” he says. “I will sue her after this is over, and that’s the thing I really look forward to doing. And I’ll sue you too,” he fumed at Roberta Kaplan, Carroll’s lawyer. Kaplan also represents Trump’s niece, Mary, who is also suing him for swindling her share of the family’s wealth. During the deposition he was asked about a post on his social media site – “Ms. Bergdorf Goodman case is a complete con job. She completely made up this story that I met her at the doors of this crowded New York City department store and within minutes ‘swooned’ her.” Trump confirmed the post saying, “Great statement, yeah. True. True. I wrote it all myself.” Kaplan asked if he had talked to anyone about the content of his post, with Trump answering, “No, I didn’t need to. I’m not Joe Biden.”

The MAGATs in the newly-constituted House of Representatives are ranting about impeaching the LIBs, launching retaliatory investigations and other childish actions as they prepare to fight over the budget and the debt limit. They will continue to erode a woman’s right to choose, and make efforts toward reducing social programs though McCarthy has refused to comment on any of the closed door sessions that have taken place. The current smokescreen for hiding any unpopular decisions involves railing against the report that natural gas stoves are endangering our health by giving off gas emissions even when not in use. Many municipalities have already specified the installation of electric stoves in new construction, prompting Trump’s former White House physician, Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas to proclaim in a tweet, “If the maniacs in the White House come for my stove, they can pry it from my cold dead hands. COME AND TAKE IT!!” And, Ron that may be exactly what will be necessary, but in the meantime, we can tell you where to stick it.

The rumor mill never stops: Mars, Incorporated is said to have added a Tucker Carlson M&M to its candy line. They’re all-white, extra bitter, and will melt down when mixed with multi-colored M&Ms. Don’t be the first on your block to try them!

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. 
 
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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.

“Floods”

“Years of drought and famine come and years of flood and famine come, and the climate is not changed with dance, libation or prayer”.
~John Wesley Powell

“The only thing that stops God from sending another flood is that the first one was useless”.
~Nicolas Chamfort

“People shouldn’t be living in certain places – on earthquake faults or on flood plains. But they do, and there are consequences”. 
~Vaclav Smil

“There’s no such thing as a 100-year flood”. 
~Andrew Cuomo

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This teeny, tiny bird looks like a bug! It’s totally adorable, take the time and watch this. It’s worth it 🙂


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 11 – 17, 2023

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Fred Keeley as the mayor, the Warriors, new towers? GREENSITE…will return next week. KROHN…still on vacation. STEINBRUNER…Keith McHenry’s Arrest, Watsonville Hospital takeover, Aptos Village issues. HAYES…January’s Flower. PATTON…Dwight was right! MATLOCK…Groundhog Day and the Battle of the Concessionaires. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS…more on waste. QUOTES…”Piers”

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THE SS PALO ALTO OIL TANKER. 1947. The Palo Alto Oil tanker was built in 1918 by the US Government for $2 million and was part of a concrete fleet. It was completed so late it wasn’t used in WW1. It was beached in Aptos in 1930 and broke in half in 1932.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

DATELINE January 9

OUR NEW MAYOR. Fred Keeley has sure been around and accomplished a lot in all those elected positions he’s held and expectations are sure high about his ability to take our local City Council and City to new heights. Buzzing’s around our city are watching extra closely to see how he works with Matt Huffaker the city manager. Our past history shows the City Manager as the real governing power behind and in front of the scenes. That’s largely because the mayor was only in office for a year now that Fred’s sitting there for four years who’s going to be in charge? Huffaker was making a salary of $22,199 per WEEK according to city records back in 2021.

Can we look forward to much needed attention to the sorry state of our downtown with all the shuttered businesses? Can Fred make waves and progress to assisting Pacific Avenue in coming back to life?  With the water deluge creating such destruction on and under our piers/wharves will the money interests back off with their ceaseless battle to add more businesses on to our Municipal Wharf? Can they be convinced by nature that development isn’t a wise move?

Mayor Fred Keeley is a Warriors fan, pure but not simple. He doesn’t just attend the games, he pushes the condominium development near their Arena. What promises has Fred given the Warriors, why his pushing of the Towers, and just who owns those would be monstrosities? And just what percent will be truly affordable, and not the affordable that only Silicon Valley escapees can afford.

Yes, we have a new mayor and the potential of a new direction of our city government…let’s hope and let’s hope together.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

CORSAGE. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (6.7 IMDB). An extra fictionalized version of Empress Elisabeth of Austria during the year of 1877. Complicated, fanciful and an excellent movie. The acting is perfect, and the director has taken great pains to make her story applicable to today’s world. Corsage can and does mean both a floral corsage and a corset, and Elisabeth’s corset gets much attention. You’ll never take your eyes off Vicky Krieps who plays Elisabeth. She is being touted for many cinema awards in the next few weeks.

IN THE DARK. (PRIME SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). A waste of both film to make this rip-off and your time to watch it. The actress playing the lead is supposed to be blind and she finds a friend murdered. She drinks too much and stumbles around unconvincingly to find the murderer. The plot is so over used and the acting and dialogue is so simple minded that I could only watch one and 1/4 episode.

THE PALE BLUE EYE. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.6 IMDB). There is a character named Edgar Allen Poe in this fascinating murder comedy. Plus the considerable talents of Christian Bale, Robert Duvall, Timothy Spall and Toby Jones. Great costuming, fine acting and a plot that will keep you completely involved.

THE MENU. (PRIME SERIES) (7.4 IMDB). This bizarre plot has Ralph Fiennes as a crazed billionaire chef creating a last meal for a number of eccentric guests. Those guests include the wide eyed Anya Taylor-Joy and John Leguizamo. Fiennes and the cast do almost believable jobs of acting out this crazed plot which centers on making fun of haut cuisine and the moneyed class. See it and you won’t forget it.

BABYLON. (Some theatres only). (7.4 IMDB). This heavily hyped movie stars Brad Pitt, Margot Robbie, Olivia Wilde and a lot more stars in this impossible to follow history of Hollywood and the movies from the silent days up to references to today’s movie product. It’s three hours long and seems longer as about six characters stories are detailed back and forth. The off screen wheeling’s and dealings of the film business are hinted at but not detailed enough to make it worthwhile. It’s one of the biggest box office flops in recent years.

THREE PINES. (PRIME VIDEO SERIES)) (7.3 IMDB). A genuine murder mystery that will have you guessing. It’s slow and even boring in parts but Alfred Molina as the investigating officer from Quebec leads us through some tricky and puzzling possibilities. There are four mysteries in the eight episodes and it involves protestors and stories about Indigenous women who face entire lives of trying to save their children. Complex, interesting and thought provoking.

EMANCIPATION. (APPLE MOVIE) (6.1 IMDB). It’s almost Simon Legree from Uncle Tom’s Cabin trying to catch Uncle Tom as we watch Ben Foster gunning after Will Smith who is a runaway slave from a large plantation. About 90 percent of the movie is Smith being chased through swamps, up into trees, across streams…just chase after chase. Will Smith does his best to look like a slave and keeps his jaw stuck out at a weird angle through the entire film. Don’t expect much.

WEDNESDAY. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.3 IMDB). Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Morticia, Lurch is in there too, plus Luis Guzman as Gomez Addams and yes it’s all based on brilliant cartoonist’s Charles Addams family cartoons. Tim Burton directed it so one would think it would be sharper humor and not so idiotic, but there we are.

THE GLORY. (NETFLIX SERIES) (8.1 IMDB). A deep and nearly painful ten age abuse movie from Korea. A student is unmercifully abused, burned, branded and punished by her schoolmates. The film goes back and forth over the next ten years as she plans and plots some devilish and brutal revenge on each of her former bullies. A tough but well done movie that will leave you thinking about your early years in school.

KALEIDOSCOPE. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.1 IMDB). The engaging Rufus Sewell leads the cast in this bank robbery saga. What’s unusual is that there are eight episodes telling how the robbery is planned and we can watch the episodes in any order! There’s deeply involved treachery, lies, and betrayal among the team of would be robbers and more than enough suspense and fine acting to keep you completely attached.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.4 IMDB). A star studded semi comedy about a murder and who done it? Daniel Craig is back in this part two of Knives Out and again has a western accent plus a surprising relationship with a surprise guest star. Serena Williams, YoYo Ma, Kate Hudson, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke all mug a lot around Ed Norton the mysterious billionaire host. It’s diverting and worth a smile or two.

GODS CROOKED LINES. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.0 IMDB). A genuinely thoughtful film dealing with truth. A therapist is sent undercover to a psychiatric hospital to find a murderer. She herself gets involved and has to prove her own innocence. But who is lying which court case do we believe? The ending will leave you absorbed and curious, go for it.

BARDO: FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.0 IMDB). Another cinema well done puzzle piece directed by Alejandro Inaritu. It starts off in Santa Monika of all places where a Mexican author and filmmaker returns to his native country to receive an award. There’s a series of painful flashbacks nightmares and visions as he faces the future. One funny but strange inside joke is that Amazon (yes that Amazon) is about to buy Baja California. It’s about the media, government, and fame and it’s an excellent movie.

TREASON. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.2 IMDB). Ciaran Hinds plays the government official who is almost poisoned and Oona Chaplin (Charlie’s granddaughter) is his aide de camp. It’s a tricky trio of investigators with Russian backgrounds and connections trying to determine who is really guilty. Its politics, loyalty, love and espionage all wrapped together. Thoughtful, well done all wrapped together in a fine movie.

THE LOST PATIENT. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.3 IMDB). A teen ager wakes up in a hospital after three years to eventually remember that his entire family had been murdered in their house. Who did it? There’s a black hooded maybe killer, a woman therapist or who else? Much mystery, a lot of flashbacks and it’s almost believable.

ATTACK ON FINLAND. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.3 IMDB). There’s a big celebration in Finland’s palace and the president is shot and dies. Who dunnit is the big question. There’s armed guards but some of them are very suspicious. Guests are taken as hostages and threatened. It’s about changing the way all of Europe is controlled…a huge problem but this movie doesn’t add much in the way of tension or drama.

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Gillian will be back 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.
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Chris is still on vacation

Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and a Santa Cruz City Council member from 1998-2002 and from 2017-2020. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 16 years. On Tuesday evenings at 5pm, Krohn hosts of “Talk of the Bay,” on KSQD 90.7 and KSQD.org His Twitter handle at SCpolitics is @ChrisKrohnSC Chris can be reached at ckrohn@cruzio.com

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 9

TEN POLICE OFFICERS SHUT DOWN FOOD NOT BOMBS FOR SERVING FOOD IN COVERED PARKING GARAGE DURING RAINSTORM?

On the morning of December 27, 2022, no less than 10 Santa Cruz City Police officers arrested Food Not Bombs leader Keith McHenry for occupying a parking space in the River Street parking garage where he and other volunteers were serving daily hot meals to homeless under the cover of the garage during a heavy winter rain.  Usually, the group is at the Town Clock, but relocated to the unused area of Lot 10 to get out of the rain.

“I don’t care if Food Not Bombs has to stand out in the rain to serve food,” said Officer Denise Cockrum.

The 10 officers arrested Mr. McHenry and other volunteers at about 10am on a misdemeanor charge and confiscated tables and serving equipment…for blocking a parking space and loitering. Mr. McHenry was released from the jail that night at about 9:15pm.

Mind you, Food Not Bombs had just served over 500 free hot Christmas Day dinners to homeless people in the City of Santa Cruz.

Do you think the arrest and confiscation of food serving equipment was necessary?

For a City that claims to espouse equality and restorative justice, what went wrong here?

Contact the City Council with your thoughts: Santa Cruz City Council citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com

AMAZING STORMS BRING WELCOME RAIN BUT WITH DAMAGES


 The two photos on the left are both from Beach Drive in the Rio del Mar area after the recent storm last Wednesday, and were taken by a friend.

Here is his description:

“Here are the photos, one being the pylons where the house was located and the other being the house. I spoke to the owner and he said the house was built in the 1950’s. Also that it was the surge in the height of the ocean that simply lifted up the house and it floated to where you see it in the photo. Amazing.”

Below is a photo of the Laurel Street Bridge in Santa Cruz on Monday, January 9.  Notice that the points of attachment that Soquel Creek Water District has installed for their large pipes of chloramine-laden pressurized sewage effluent (for the PureWater Soquel Project) is at a level on the bridge BELOW the top of the levee.  I saw many large logs floating in the swift San Lorenzo River flood currents as I took this photo…what would one of them do to partially-submerged effluent pipes on the Bridge?  Chloramine is toxic to all aquatic organisms…and does not dissipate with exposure to air.

SAVING SOME RAINWATER TO RESTORE THE AQUIFERS

Last week’s column here by Grey Hayes was excellent, with discussion about flooding, and   the importance of saving rainwater.

The County of Santa Cruz requires all new development to retain rainwater on site for a two-year storm.  Last week’s storms were real whoppers…obviously more than a once-in-two year event.  What can we do to save that volume of water to benefit the aquifers in a way that does not require high amounts of energy, chemicals, and technology dependent on foreign-imported components?

Dr. Andy Fisher’s Recharge Initiative has provided a map of the best soils in the County for percolation and rainwater collection projects that could promote cumulative groundwater health.

Take a look at the map of these recharge areas…could one of them be in your neighborhood?

  1. ANDY FISHER: Enhancing groundwater recharge with stormwater

Dr. Helen Dahlke at UC Davis is working with farmers in the Central Valley to explore the idea originally promoted by one of the farmers there to

let their farms flood in the winter storms, benefiting the groundwater table.

Here is a link to some of Dr. Dahlke’s recent podcasts

I have requested many times that the Midcounty Groundwater Agency and County Water Advisory Commission, and also the Flood Control agencies invite Dr. Dahlke to speak about this locally.  With the exception of Mr. Brian Lockwood, Manager of the Pajaro Valley Water District, none of the people serving on those agencies ever expresses an interest in learning about the potential benefit of flooding areas in the winter.

LOCAL WATER LEADERSHIP SEEMS TO BE SWIRLING

Last week’s Santa Cruz County LAFCO meeting brought interesting information and helped me connect some dots and come to the conclusion that the Scotts Valley Water District may be consolidating with Soquel Creek Water District.

LAFCO just hired Ms. Piret Harmon, who retired last month as Manager of Scotts Valley Water District, to act as a consultant for “two potential water district consolidations” anticipated in 2023.  Ms. Harmon now lives in Sacramento and, as an expert in the area’s water issues. would be paid $100/hour and up to $20,000/year to assist Mr. Serrano with these two potential consolidations.  One of the Commissioners stated that Operations Manager, Mr. David McNair, is serving as the Interim Manager. Scotts Valley Water District – Staff

I wonder why there is no announcement of Ms. Harmon’s retirement on the Scotts Valley Water District website?  Nor could I find anything about it in a local media search.

However, the Scotts Valley Water District website did provide this interesting archived interview from last September, with Ms. Harmon sharing an interview with Soquel Creek Water District Manager, Ron Duncan, and Ms. Melanie Mow-Schumacher, Special Projects leader for Soquel Creek Water District.: Scotts Valley Water District – Piret Harmon, General Manager discusses water on KSQD’s “Talk of the Bay” news program

Remember that Scotts Valley Water District is paying for a feasibility study that would analyze the benefits of consolidating that District with Soquel Creek Water District.

Remember that while the Soquel Creek Water District Board was not happy about the lack of control, their General Manager Ron Duncan was very supportive of the action.  He also presented the Board with adopting a new Assistant Manager title, and asked the Board to approve Ms. Melanie Mow-Schumacher, leader of the PureWater Soquel Project, for that job.  As a member of the Ad Hoc Committee that has been examining the Scotts Valley Water District collaboration, he explained that he already shares a lot of information with Ms. Mow-Schumacher, but crowning her with this new title as his official Assistant  Manager would allow him to share information on a deeper level.  Hmm….

She has been receiving a monthly $1600 bonus for her work on the PureWater Soquel Project since January, 2021, along with two other top departmental heads ($1000/month each to Ms. Leslie Strohm in finances, and Mr. Taj DuFour in Operations).  These whopping bonuses will continue until the Project is completed, and that now looks to be delayed out to sometime in 2024.  Aren’t bonuses usually awarded at the end of a job well-done???

When I asked LAFCO Director Mr. Joe Serrano during the Public Comment time about the two potential water companies consolidating, he explained to the Commission that Soquel Creek Water District and Scotts Valley Water District are currently examining sharing administrative duties.

Are you now connecting some dots here?  Stay tuned.

Here is the link to the LAFCO Agenda Item 7a, where the staffing issue was discussed

LAFCO STILL HAS NOT SEEN ANY BUSINESS PLAN FOR THE NEW WATSONVILLE HOSPITAL TAKEOVER

Last week’s LAFCO meeting also brought to light that the leaders of the new Pajaro Valley Health Care District still have not provided him with a business plan for how the Watsonville Hospital will operate financially.  Nonetheless, he was required by the Cortese-Knox-Hertzberg law to seek approval of the Commission to formalize the boundaries of the new Health Care District.  However, a formal Service and Sphere Review will not happen until December, 2025.

The boundary lines of this new potential tax area were drawn by California State Senator John Laird when he provided $25 million in tax payer money for funding the Hospital purchase last year.  Like me, Commissioner Roger Anderson had questions about the overlap with the established sphere of influence to the south with the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital District.

You can take a look at those mapping issues by comparing the Vicinity Map and the Proposed Sphere Boundary Map, whose hyperlinks are provided at the bottom of the Agenda Item #6b

Mr. Serrano agreed that it was an issue to get cleared up, and he is working with Monterey County LAFCO to address the problem.  He explained that it appeared the new Pajaro Valley Health Care District lines were drawn on top of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District boundaries.

This doesn’t make a lot of sense, and brings to light the fact that this Hospital buyout was done very hastily, and without regard for following proper process to create a new Special District that most certainly will be used for future taxation to support the Watsonville Hospital’s operational finances.

While Mr. Pimental, one of the newly-elected Directors for the Pajaro Valley Health Care District, assured the public and County Board of Supervisors recently that the District does have a Business Plan in place, and we are welcome to attend their meetings, it is curious that no one thought to provide Santa Cruz County LAFCO with the actual information necessary to follow the law regarding the formation of the new District.

Here is the link to SB 418, the bill that Senator Laird pushed through in record time. (I wonder… was it a gut-and-amend job?)

You can read the SB 418 description of the new Special District boundaries created in this section:

CHAPTER  9. Pajaro Valley Health Care District

32498.5.

 (a) A local hospital district designated as the Pajaro Valley Health Care District is hereby formed within the Counties of Santa Cruz and Monterey.

NEW PLAN UNVEILED FOR CENTRAL FIRE DISTRICT 

A new Strategic Plan for Central Fire District is on this week’s District Board agenda item 8.1, but I really wonder how on earth those consultants can actually expect anyone to make sense of the mountain of words filling 240 pages….and this is only the beginning, with a further analysis to determine what actions the Central Fire District (CFD) will actually need to take!

Here is an example:

“CFD has not recently completed an environmental study, but one was included in the 2018 feasibility study. However, they have contracted with AP Triton to better understand the environment post-merger to update its awareness. This assessment will be completed as part of this master plan and further defined during the community-driven strategic plan. During this and the next phase, AP Triton will conduct evaluations.”

(page 84

Take a look for yourself.  Much of this data is a repeat of the feasibility study documents that were approved prior to the consolidation of Central Fire and Aptos/ La Selva Fire Districts.

However, fast-forward to the Findings, on agenda page 280 and see these eyebrow-raisers:

**The Thurber Station has structural problems on the living quarter’s side, likely because the station is settling. 

**The Capitola Station is inadequate in design and size, while it is also located in a flood zone. However, the necessity of this station location was demonstrated during the site visit because of the traffic situation.

**The Aptos station’s sewer situation is inadequate. 

**The Aptos station is not adequately designed to house the height of the current truck apparatus.

**The Rio Del Mar station is not a good design for a fire station. Crews should have better access to the bay floor and additional space to address health and safety concerns.

**The La Selva Beach station is insufficient in design and size. It is also located inappropriately to serve the District’s response needs.

**The five water companies’ agreement with the District has been in place for many years, and they all need to be reviewed.

Well….there is more that you need to read if you are served by the good people of Central Fire District.  Please take time to read through this Strategic Plan Draft and participate in this Thursday’s (Jan. 12) hybrid Board meeting.

The Report begins on page 49 of the Board agenda packet, trundling along through page 289 as Item 8.1 Long Range Master Plan.

You might find this of interest:

The map of number of  Emergency Medical Response (EMS) Incident Demand is interesting (page 126), and reflects the earlier feasibility study’s recommendation to close stations in Soquel and Capitola Villages and post Rapid Response Units in the areas where medical responses are greatest.  The addresses of some of those frequent call locations are on page 128 of the packet.

Page 131 shows ladder truck response times…and shows nothing at all for the Aptos Village Project, which has three-story structures in Phase I, with many, many more planned for Phase II.  Maybe the ladder truck (housed at the Thurber Lane Station) just cannot navigate those narrow roads and reduced turning radii on corners that the County gifted Swenson Builders as concessions for density?  Take a look at the map of three-story buildings in the District on agenda page 261. I don’t see the proposed four-story Kaiser Medical Facility or it’s parking garage.

The remarkably low reliability rates for response (ie, how likely is it that the crew will be able to respond when called) on page 139 troubles me, and I wonder how AP Triton developed that data?

Take a look at the traffic county numbers at 41st Avenue, Soquel Avenue and Highway One on page 267 of the agenda. Do you think they are accurate?  There is no source of the data provided, and the years of data collection also are also not included.

Look at the surprisingly high number of arson fires on agenda page 276.

Spend some time with this important, albeit word-speak, document…it will be guiding local Central Fire District operations…eventually.

WILL IT EVER OFFICIALLY OPEN?

Many wonder why the Aptos Village Project’s Parade Street entrance from Soquel Drive seems completed but remains closed…with occasional public outbursts of tossing the barricades aside.

Hmmm…What could be the reason?

STORING 50-100 RAIL CARS FULL OF CORN AND SOY OIL ON WATSONVILLE TRACKS WOULD SUPPORT LOCAL BIO-FUEL REFINERY

Thanks to Brian Peoples for alerting me to this proposal on the RTC agenda this Thursday.  Progressive Rail seeks to store 50-100 rail cars on tracks sitting unused and vacant in Watsonville.  Progressive Rail gets paid a lot of money for sideline storage, but under the agreement, the RTC would get a 3%-5% commission, generating a few thousand dollars monthly.  The cars would contain corn and soil oil headed to Martinez for biofuel processing and would stay 2-8 weeks, regularly being cycled in and out. There could be as many as a total of 1,000 cars cycled in and out in 2023.

“…rail cars stored between MP 3 and 4 would be where the track runs along farm fields and visible from West Beach Street and Lee Road.” (see map on page 65) 

“Progressive would take full responsibility for maintenance of the rail line up to MP 4 for the initial one-year term, 

  • The initial one-year period will provide the opportunity to assess the condition of the rail line up to MP 7 for repairs and maintenance that may be needed for possible storage and expansion of Progressive Rail’s repair and maintenance responsibility beyond MP 4, 
  • Progressive Rail and Roaring Camp would work with RTC to ensure that any rail car storage would not be an impediment to any work done by the RTC for development of potential rail and trail projects or other work associated with the section of the rail line used for rail car storage.”

If approved, the cars could begin arriving this month.

However, there are some interesting disputes regarding who is responsible for maintaining the rail easement.  See page 60-63.

“A more significant fiscal impact may be savings associated with a potential resolution to the dispute over maintenance responsibilities. Savings to the RTC for one year of maintenance of the full section (MP 3.0 – 7.0) is estimated to be at least $50K, based on an RTC contract this past fall to remove fallen trees, cut back vegetation and clear ditches and culverts between MP 4 and MP 7.”

Here is what Progressive Rail is proposing and why:

“The request for SIT railcars comes from Marathon Oil who recently converted its Martinez, California, refinery from crude oil to liquid biofuels in an effort to help meet California’s carbon emission reductions by 2030. The two-year refinery conversion has just been completed in December of 2022, and Marathon is scheduled to begin production of biofuels in January 2023, with a target of 260 million gallons during its first year of production. The newly converted refinery has a limited amount of railcar storage at its Martinez facility and will need local Short Lines to provide SIT for inbound Soy Oil and Corn Oil tank cars in order to meet production projections.”

What do you think?  Write the RTC before Thursday, January 12:

Yesenia Parra yparra@sccrtc.org

RTC WILL USE $1.2 MILLION IN ANTICIPATED MEASURE D MONEY TO BUY HISTORIC APTOS PROPERTY FOR TRAIL AND HIGHWAY ONE WIDENING

The RTC wants to buy historic property at 7992 Soquel Drive for the sole purpose of controlling the right-of-way during construction of the 16′-wide bike trail alongside the railroad tracks in the Aptos Village area, on the inland side of the tracks.  To fund the $1.2 million purchase, the RTC will grab Measure D money it does not expect to have until 2025 but spend it now anyway as an all-cash offer.

The parcel is 0.16 acres zoned neighborhood commercial with a 1,205 square foot office/residential building and a 2,167 square foot garage/shop.

“Upon completion of construction of the Project, remaining property, which is expected to include the residual land with one commercial/ residential building, can be repurposed or sold.” 

(See page 15 [pdf] )

Notice the 2,167 SF garage/shop are not mentioned, so likely will be demolished.

Hmmm….

 See page 55 for an aerial photo of the property area [pdf]

Here is what is coming for the Aptos Village area with the RTC’s Segment 12 Project:

“The Phase 3 project includes auxiliary lanes and bus on shoulder improvements between the State Park Drive and Freedom Boulevard interchanges, widening of the Highway 1 bridge over Aptos Creek & Spreckels Drive, reconstruction of North Aptos & South Aptos Railroad Underpasses, and 1.25 mile Segment 12 of the Coastal Rail Trail along the Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line between State Park Drive and just south of the Rio del Mar Boulevard Overhead structure.”

According to the RTC website, this Project has just been awarded $30 million in public grant monies from the U.S Dept. of Transportation

The environmental analysis of this phase of the Project is due out next month.  Stay tuned.

A PROPOSAL TO CREATE A TRAIL ON THE RAIL CORRIDOR

Even though voters whole-heartedly approved Measure D last November, asking the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to move forward with developing the public rail transportation, some still feel that a trail could be built on the rail corridor while the RTC completes yet more expensive studies, taking decades to actually get anything done to benefit the people.

Brian Peoples, the leader of Trail Now which supports removing the railroad track and installing a trail, shared this interesting proposal he has sent to the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC), and hopes they will consider it.  Please see the attached plans and specifications for a pilot program between Watsonville and La Selva Beach.  Hmmm….

Iron Horse Preservation Society, Inc. is the expert consultant named in the proposal, but the name is a bit deceptive.  This consultant strives to remove rail components and build trails on the railroad bed, not really preserving any “iron horse” (train) at all. Our Philosophy | Iron Horse Preservation Society, Inc.

However, the company claims they would remove the rail tracks and ties, deriving the funding for the project from the sale of the materials.  It is an interesting proposal that merits consideration.

Would the RTC allow the work to be done on the rail corridor?  If it takes 20 years, as the RTC is claiming, to actually start building a passenger rail system, would they have a legal battle to remove the trail built by Iron Horse Preservation Society, and possibly have prescriptive rights?

I think this Demonstration Trail Proposal may have some merit in the areas of Aptos Village on the two trestles where Segment 12 requires new trail components be added.

Personally, I still strongly feel rail offers the widest opportunity for public transportation available to all members of our society…blind, handicapped, and young families who need to commute in all types of weather and are not physically able to bicycle from Watsonville to Santa Cruz for work and school daily.

Furthermore, I really think the RTC and Metro need to team up right now and install some rail conversion kits on a few busses that could travel the rail corridor then drive onto roadways to major bus hubs…or even major employment centers, such as the County Government Building, Dominican Hospital, Cabrillo College or UCSC.

But I try to have an open mind.  So tell me, what so you think of the “Demonstration Trails” Proposal?

MAKE ONE CALL.  WRITE ONE LETTER.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING AND ASK QUESTIONS THAT YOU SHOULD EXPECT TO BE ANSWERED.

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
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January 9

JANUARY’S FLOWER

For me, each month has its signature flower, one that I look forward to as a sign of the changing season that I can find as predictably as the sunrise and sunset. If you follow this BrattonOnline column in 2023 and are up for the challenge, I’ll give you 12 flowers to seek out, and I’ll describe the ways that it is emblematic of its given month. January’s flower is called Scoliopus bigelovii, Fetid adder’s tongue a.k.a. slink pod.

Stinky Lily

The name is not alluring, though perhaps you may find it beguiling: fetid adder’s tongue is the first wildflower of the New Year. It is a lily, but not your typical lily, so you might not recognize it as such. I judge how good I have been at being a naturalist each year on the basis of my having seen and smelled this distinct flower. The flowering period is brief. Too often, I find the plant after the flowers have faded, when I then recall its alternate name ‘slink pod’ for the seed pods that slink across the ground on long sinuous stems.

This is a very short plant, so you will have to bend nearly to the ground to put your nose to the maroon striped flower. The scent is like not very fresh fish, hence the ‘fetid’ part of its name. Those of us who sniff old mushrooms are familiar with the old fish smell of many mushrooms that are past their prime. The similarity of scent is not an accident…it is co-evolution.

Fungus Gnats

This year’s prize for my spotting this deep-shade wildflower was seeing its pollinator in action. Flies! “Of course,” I thought, “that smell and that maroon color are diagnostic for fly-pollination!” Reading up, I discovered that fungus gnats are important pollinators of fetid adder’s tongue, which needs to receive pollen from another plant in order to produce viable seed. The pods won’t slink unless the flowers get pollinated!

This flower appears in the darkest, coldest part of winter in the most shady, moist habitats around – not good conditions for most pollinators. Bumble bees, honeybees, and butterflies wouldn’t find enough to eat in the cold forest to warrant forays. On the other hand, moist soil and mushrooms are the perfect combination to support healthy populations of fungus gnats. As weak sunlight filtered through a rare patch of open sky, I watched slow-flying fungus gnats hovering around patches of the stinky fetid adder’s tongue flowers, dipping down to sip nectar, clumsily bouncing into the pollen-bearing stamens.

Ant Plant

As if specializing in dank forest fly pollinators wasn’t enough, fetid adder’s tongue also needs another insect helper to survive: ants. Once the fungus gnats have pollinated the flowers, the plant starts pushing the seed pods across the forest floor, far from the mother plant to ensure that any offspring don’t compete for the same rare forest floor nutrients. The pods ripen with seeds that have ant-food attached. The part of a seed that is ant food is known as an elaisome: it is sweet and fleshy and nutritious. To get the tasty parts, they haul off the seeds and, as ants will do, bury them in their colonies. This is particularly handy for the fetid adder’s tongue as then the seeds escape both hungry deer mice and scorching fires.

Conserving a System

Fetid adder’s tongue’s natural history illustrates the interconnectedness of nature and the reasons we need to think broadly about what it takes to conserve species. To conserve this amazing plant requires having large enough slink pod populations for cross-fertilization and big enough populations and diverse enough species of fungus gnats for pollination. How large and diverse those populations should be is unknown. Those ants, fungus gnats, and fetid adders tongue populations require shady forests and rich soil covered with moist thick duff: those elements speak to not too much soil disturbance…think trail or logging disturbance management. How does wildfire play with these factors? Fire can’t be too catastrophic, and patches need to be burned less for shade, soil, and duff: that might take forest fuels and other wildfire management. Also, there are issues about invasive species: invasive fungi, weeds, and invasive ants could all negatively affect components of this ecosystem that would trickle into the health of slink pods. This all points to the wisdom of our community in fighting so hard for so many years to protect vast areas of redwood forests – we are seeing the patchy but catastrophic fires, invasive Argentine ants invading forest edges, and expansive soil disturbance from trail networks. Do we have enough forest set aside so that future generations will be able to witness the complex relationships between fungus gnats, ants, and fetid adder’s tongue? Are enough people now appreciating and viewing these amazing interactions? Let’s get out there and see…

Sleuthing Locations

Slink pod is not easy to find, though with a little effort you can do so. The trick is to be on time (January!) and to know where to look.

When I want to research exactly where to go to look for a plant, I turn to a database called CalFlora. This amazing online resource often has great photographs of each species, the Latin and common name(s), and an interactive map of locations. Click on a dot on the map and out pops a window telling you how it was documented there. In some cases, that allows you to see a scanned image of the herbarium specimen of the species. By looking at that map, I can suggest the best places to see this species in our region. The Forest of Nisene Marks and Big Basin State Parks have many records of this plant.

Plant People

If you click on that ‘scanned image’ link above, and examine the herbarium sheet of the plant, you’ll notice that it was collected in 1991 in Nisene Marks by Larry Kelly, now a leading international botanist at New York Botanic Garden. Clicking on other specimens, you’ll encounter other famous botanists going back in time, including Dean Taylor, an Aptos resident who was one of the cornerstones of California botany (1986), David Self, a founder of ecological restoration in California (1975), Deb Hillyard, for years our region’s protector of plants via the California Department of Fish and Game (1975), Ray Collett, long-time Director of the UC Santa Cruz Arboretum (1966), John Hunter Thomas, the author of the go-to regional plant book ‘Flora of the Santa Cruz Mountains’ (1954), and Milo Baker, one of the State’s early famous botanists (1896).

Join In!

The Cal Flora website has recently begun to host observations from people posting on iNaturalist, an online forum for documenting and learning about nature. Download the application to your smart phone, take a photo of the plant, and you have an easy catalogue of your nature observations. You can also ask for help identifying a species. This crowd-sourced scientific catalogue can help others find a plant for which they are looking and provide scientists with long-term data on the population trends of species. Plus, because there are so many people placing observations at the site, it is mesmerizing to virtually explore the photographs, maps, and conversations about species – already there is a lifetime of things to learn and the site is young.

If you are up to my challenge, take a deep, dark forest stroll soon and try to find fetid adder’s tongue in bloom…and maybe enter that into your iNaturalist account.

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
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January 7

#7 / Dwight Was Right!

Dwight David Eisenhower

Caitlin Johnstone, who identifies as a “rogue journalist,” and who sends out periodic bulletins called, “Notes From The Edge of the Narrative Matrix,” has been mentioned in some of my earlier blog postings. Click that link for one of them.

Johnstone published one such “Note From The Edge” back in mid-December, specifically on December 17, 2022. Here is the first paragraph:

Johnstone’s “they” includes pretty much everyone in charge of the United States Government – all those people who explain (usually very patiently) why the United States of America has to spend more money on its military than the next nine nations combined, and why it is imperative that we risk nuclear war to bring assistance to Ukraine.

Johnstone is suggesting that maybe the reason that all these people keep telling us these things, keep insisting, so patiently, that we need to be engaging in military actions everywhere in the world – por todos lados, if you want to say it in Spanish – is actually that they are just “warmongers.”

When I read that, I wondered if Johnstone might have her finger on something important, and to pursue my thought, I decided to look up the word “monger,” to see how it is defined. Here’s how:

monger
noun
mon·ger ‘m??-g?r
: broker, dealer, peddler
: a person who attempts to stir up or spread something that is usually petty or discreditable
—usually used in combination
warmonger

As it turns out, a former United States Army General (and the President of the United States at the time the above photo was taken) told the nation, back in 1961 (the year I graduated from high school), that we needed to be worried about a so-called “military-industrial complex” that was going to be trying to influence us in just the way Johnstone is talking about.

Dwight was right!

All these people who so patiently explain to us just why we need to build bombs (and then use them) all over the world are just “warmongers.” They are just peddling military involvements so they can make money.

Shame on us if we let them!

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
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January 9

GROUNDHOG DAY AND THE BATTLE OF THE CONCESSIONAIRES

Instead of the Game of the Week: Mock the Mac, being over in one session, it stretched into four days of fifteen ballots in the House of Representatives efforts to select a House Speaker. The ‘one, two, three strikes…you’re out!’ reached the equivalent of five innings to get past the MAGA Holdouts, and not before harsh words and finger pointing almost ended in fisticuffs in full view of the families and pets present, and a worldwide television audience. Check out Bad Lip Reading’s interpretation of the Gaetz-McCarthy-Rogers encounter on the House floor preceding the fifteenth ballot, on YouTube for a good chuckle! Who brought the tiger?

“But remember, there’s more important things in life than winning or losing – there’s making fun of Kevin McCarthy for losing,” said Stephen Colbert in a monologue. It was fun watching the Kevin and the Holdouts Show for a few days, but now it gets serious for us, and Mac as well. Hostage McCarthy is closer to the MAGA credo than his opponents let on, but he is still untrustworthy for them, being more of a ‘big government’ politician to their ‘burn down the house’ aims. Probably a “Lucifer in the flesh” feeling similar to former Speaker Boehner’s attitude toward Senator Ted Cruz? We can bet that the feeling is mutual. When McCarthy tried to convince his opponents that he had “earned” the Speakership, Lauren Boebert of Colorado yelled, “B.S.”

Matt Gaetz commented that he “had run out of things to ask for” as he and his colleagues extracted concessions from the beleaguered Kevin, who will be hard pressed to meet all the demands now hanging over his head. In a weaker starting position than any previous Speaker, he laid out in his opening speech a MAGA-heavy wish list of vengeful actions awaiting Biden and the Democrats. Later, as he spoke to reporters, he made sure he mentioned the former president for sticking with him through the selection process while arm-twisting representatives to stay faithful to Kevin’s goal. Now if they could only come up with an agenda, a vision within a party controlled by a group of twenty who don’t believe in anything. Seems highly unlikely, and in the meantime Hunter Biden, Dr. Fauci, Attorney General Garland and the J6 Committee members are supposed to be quaking in their boots.

“McCarthy is going out of his way to gush over Trump at a time when his influence is clearly diminished and political brand is more toxic to mainstream voters than ever – especially on the anniversary of the insurrection – it’s notable and indicative of who he’ll be beholden as speaker,” says Aaron Rupar of Public Notice. It doesn’t seem likely that Kevin and the MAGA Holdouts are going to make much headway with their extremism in converting the public based on election results of the past couple of years, so voter restrictions will have to be the key to their success.

Trump called Gaetz at one point to urge him to find a resolution and end the stalemate, but he remained adamant that McCarthy would not receive this vote. After the third day of balloting, Gaetz had Mac supporters yelling at him, calling him a ‘clown,’ and walking off the House floor in protest. In one significant action caught on camera, the Flaxen Klaxon, Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, attempts to hand her phone to anti-McCarthyite Matthew Rosendale of Montana, a ‘DT’ showing prominently on the screen, but he waves her off, not wishing to hear what the former president had to say to him. Rosendale, among others, tauntingly announced their votes for “Kevin”, then grinning, added “Hern” to indicate a vote for Representative Kevin Hern of Oklahoma.

The Democrat’s amusement at the GOP disunity was not appreciated, prompting GOP Representative Kat Cammack of Florida to describe the dilemma as “Groundhog Day,” accusing the Dems of breaking out the popcorn, blankets and alcohol for their viewing pleasure. Of course, the Democratic side took offense at the accusation, asking that it be struck from the record, but alas and alack, without a Speaker in the room that couldn’t be accomplished.

A bit of racist rhetoric had to arise to make the event a part of the American quilt. MAGA Republicans nominated Representative Byron Donalds of Florida for Speaker on day two, the first time historically the two parties had nominated a Black American for House Speaker. Taking offense, Democratic Representative Cori Bush of Missouri tweeted that Donalds is “not a historic candidate” as she accused the GOP of “perpetuating white supremacy” in using Donalds as “a prop.” Next, White Republican Dan Bishop of North Carolina accused Bush, a Black woman, of “grotesquely racist rhetoric.” Insert laugh track here!

That the majority party was unable to unite behind McCarthy, or any candidate, while the Democrats stood solid behind Representative Hakeem Jeffries speaks volumes – volumes of ridicule nationwide. Mac’s blood, sweat, and tears spectacle can only be seen as a fail, even as he tried to cast it in a positive light to reporters by saying, “This is the great part…because it took so long, now we learned how to govern.” WAIT! WHAT? Is this admitting that all this time the country has paid top salaries to a bunch of learner-permitted-legislators? Good one, Kev…good to know we can put our trust in you now!

Standing head and shoulders above McCarthy during the proceedings was Democrat and House Minority Leader Jeffries who used his ceremonial speech preceding his relinquishment of the gavel to the new Speaker. Speaking extemporaneously for several minutes, he schooled the GOP alphabetically on the core principles of the Democratic Party, contrasting them with the sore and bruised MAGAt’s tenets…a speech to behold, with several million views to follow online. During his presentation he was met with hoots and hollers from the GOP side of the chamber, but the lengthy standing ovation by the Dems wiped away any notion that it had no value.

How McCarthy overcomes the humiliations and hard feelings of the week, the concessions he had to make, and the hard choices he must make on critical items, such as the debt ceiling, remains to be seen; the popcorn and blankets must be put away to begin the difficult task of coping with a cantankerous and rebellious group within the unreasonable GOP. Start raising funds for the ransom, now!

Old joke: An Oxford professor meets an American graduate student and asks what he’s working on. Student says, “My thesis in on the survival of the class system in the United States.” Perplexed prof replies, “Oh really, that’s interesting. One didn’t think there was a class system in the United States.” To which the student says, “Nobody does. That’s how it survives.”

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. 
 
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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.

“PIERS”

“A life spent at the edge of the pier is a life full of regret, a life full of fear”.
~Ryan Lilly

“Piers are good places for pondering the eternal enigmas of the universe”.  
~Howard Rodman

“Despite their popular association with fun and frivolity, the function of piers is both an amusement centre and landing stage”.    
~Martin Easdown

“Some people wait so long for their ship to come in, their pier collapses”.   
~John Goddard


“Old Nick, the sea captain, was a rough, tough, jolly sort of fellow. He loved the life of the sea, and he loved to hang out down by the pier where the men dressed as ladies…“.
~Graham Chapman

“The piers that remain continue to be the focal point of their towns and are, on the whole, much cherished”.  
~Martin Easdown

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I went down a massive rabbit hole about recycling, etc, on youTube, but it was very interesting and mostly worth it. This bit is about Veena Sahajwalla, who invented “Green steel”, and continues to come up with ways to recycle plastics and other materials.


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 4 – 10, 2023

Posted on January 7, 2023 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…more on the dangers from Lockheed Martin missile making. GREENSITE…on saving heritage trees, then and now. KROHN…on vacation. STEINBRUNER…local radio stations, Watsonville floods, State Resilience Centers, recycled water usage, coastal wind energy. HAYES…Our storms and floods. PATTON…”Alone?” MATLOCK…loving the smell of sausage McMuffins in the morning. EAGAN… Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS…on donating clothes. QUOTES…”Floods”

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KNIGHT’S OPERA HOUSE IN SANTA CRUZ 1877. This lovely addition to our local culture opened November 23, 1877. It was hauled to Capitola in 1921 and burned up (and down) in 1961. While in operation locals were privileged to see and hear such stars as classical pianist Ignacy Jan Paderewski, author Jack London and even John L. Sullivan who was the last of the bare-knuckled boxers. It cost $4,200 to build!

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE January 2

MORE ON LOCKHEED MARTIN. My last column December 21-January 3 contained a lot of concerns, warnings and plain fears about the danger of such little attention or awareness being paid to our very local Lockheed Martin Missile producing plant on Empire Grade in Bonny Doon. The response from readers was and is encouraging. I stated…

“I’ve copied details from the NY Times and Wikipedia and Lockheed Martin right here…

“Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest military contractor, had booked more than $950 million worth of its own missile military orders from the Pentagon in part to refill stockpiles being used in Ukraine. Lockheed Martin is listed as the largest U.S. government contractor and ranks first for the number of incidents, and fifth for the size of settlements on the ‘contractor misconduct’ database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. Since 1995, the company has agreed to pay $676.8 million to settle 88 instances of misconduct.”

According to the magazine Politico, Lockheed Martin has “a political network that is already the envy of its competitors”, and its contracts enjoy wide bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress thanks to it having “perfected the strategy of spreading jobs on weapons programs in key states and congressional districts”. The company’s 2010 lobbying expenditure by the third quarter was $9.9 million (2009 total: $13.7 million).

Lockheed Martin employs approximately 115,000 employees worldwide, including about 60,000 engineers and scientists as of January 2022.

According to a Lockheed Martin brochure about the Santa Cruz facility, local work projects include the U.S. Navy’s Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Programs such as Peacekeeper and the space shuttle have been worked on at the Santa Cruz facility in the past, according to the brochure.

It only takes a few minutes to check up on Lockheed’s current products and to realize how little protection or awareness we have about our dangerous neighbor.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

GLASS ONION: A KNIVES OUT MYSTERY. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.4 IMDB). A star studded semi comedy about a murder and who done it? Daniel Craig is back in this part two of Knives Out and again has a western accent plus a surprising relationship with a surprise guest star. Serena Williams, YoYo Ma, Kate Hudson, Hugh Grant and Ethan Hawke all mug a lot around Ed Norton the mysterious billionaire host. It’s diverting and worth a smile or two.

GODS CROOKED LINES. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.0 IMDB). A genuinely thoughtful film dealing with truth. A therapist is sent undercover to a psychiatric hospital to find a murderer. She herself gets involved and has to prove her own innocence. But who is lying which court case do we believe? The ending will leave you absorbed and curious, go for it.

BARDO: FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (7.0 IMDB). Another cinema well done puzzle piece directed by Alejandro Inaritu. It starts off in Santa Monika of all places where a Mexican author and filmmaker returns to his native country to receive an award. There’s a series of painful flashbacks nightmares and visions as he faces the future. One funny but strange inside joke is that Amazon (yes that Amazon) is about to buy Baja California. It’s about the media, government, and fame and it’s an excellent movie.

TREASON. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.2 IMDB). Ciaran Hinds plays the government official who is almost poisoned and Oona Chaplin (Charlie’s granddaughter) is his aide de camp. It’s a tricky trio of investigators with Russian backgrounds and connections trying to determine who is really guilty. Its politics, loyalty, love and espionage all wrapped together. Thoughtful, well done all wrapped together in a fine movie.

THE LOST PATIENT. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.3 IMDB). A teen ager wakes up in a hospital after three years to eventually remember that his entire family had been murdered in their house. Who did it? There’s a black hooded maybe killer, a woman therapist or who else? Much mystery, a lot of flashbacks and it’s almost believable.

ATTACK ON FINLAND. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (5.3 IMDB). There’s a big celebration in Finland’s palace and the president is shot and dies. Who dunnit is the big question. There’s armed guards but some of them are very suspicious. Guests are taken as hostages and threatened. It’s about changing the way all of Europe is controlled…a huge problem but this movie doesn’t add much in the way of tension or drama.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF THE WATER. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (8.1 IMDB). This 3D and 3 hour movie is a technical marvel. The plot and main thrust of the movie is bewildering and pointless. It appears that humans once invaded Pandora and are attempting to invade Pandora again. But Pandora’s tribes fight each other keep trying to make peace. It’s 95 % battles and violence and killing with bows and arrows and the latest/future type high tech weapons, which is baffling. Names lie Tuk, Lo’ak, Spider, Mo’at, Recom, fike and Aoning don’t make the story any easier to follow. It’s funny to actually see Edie Falco from the Sopranos as a general and Sigourney Weaver reassembled as a 14 year old. Rumors have it that are some sequels planned, so be very aware.

AMSTERDAM. (HBO MAX) (6.1 IMDB). It’s billed as a comedy and the actors work hard to make it light but the setting is so serious you can’t forget it. Taylor Swift is purposely pushed under a swift moving car and three friends spend the movie trying to figure out who did it and why. It’s got Robert De Niro, Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock and Anya Taylor Joy all mugging their ways against some neo-Nazis who manage to remind us of Donald Trump followers and their tactics…go for it, you’ll have some laughs.

RECRUIT. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB).If you read ahead on this one it’s listed as a thriller and drama. It isn’t either one; it’s a dud, flop, it’s a non-holiday turkey and I couldn’t take more than 20 minutes of the terrible acting, poor photography, and ridiculous story line.

PELOSI IN THE HOUSE. (HBO DOC.). (4.4 IMDB). Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra had, and still has very exclusive privileges that allowed her to film her Mom under some life threatening circumstances including the January 6 attack on the White House. Nancy was the speaker of the house and drew some highly threats while doing her job. It starts in 2017 when she takes her oath of office and because Alexandra was there we see the armed Trump lovers attack with some previously unseen footage. Even if she wasn’t from what we call our home town of San Francisco we can share her fear as she and Mike Pence flee and hide during that Trump war.

THE DROPOUT. (HULU SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). Another very serious and devoted woman’s career is dramatized here as Elizabeth Holmes played by Amanda Seyfried is brought to justice. Elizabeth Holmes is the young woman who invented the Theranos blood testing device that was a scam. William Macy, Bill Irwin, and Sam Waterston portray such figures as Larry Ellison along with Steve Jobs and their dreams of glory and stockpiling mountains of money. It’s well documented, it does drag on a bit as they stretch it into eight episodes but what a story.

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January 2

SAVING HERITAGE TREES: NOW AND THEN

The public’s determined battle to save some of the heritage trees that grow on Lot 4, site of the current Farmers’ Market and the proposed site for the city’s library/garage/housing project has a historic antecedent.

The Cork Oak pictured, planted in 1879, is one of the oldest trees in Santa Cruz. It would have gone the way of so many of our big trees, cut down to make way for human development, had public outcry not been raised loudly and clearly in 1970 to save the tree. In response to the public outcry, the developer altered the project design to preserve the tree. Thanks to that community effort fifty years ago, and a responsive developer, the tree still lives with at least another century of potential life left. Birds still flit amongst its branches, and we still get to enjoy the tree as we hurry along Soquel past 7th Avenue, an area now dominated by development and mostly denuded of trees.

The difference between then and now, apart from far fewer heritage trees left standing, is that there are city laws that protect heritage trees. Or should protect heritage trees. Or would protect heritage trees if the city followed its own laws.

Notice that in 1970, before any city ordinance was written to protect heritage trees, the developer at that time altered the project design to protect the heritage cork oak tree in response to raised community voices in defense of the tree.

In 2022, we have a city ordinance and resolution to protect heritage trees. It states, as one of three removal criterion and the only relevant one in this case, that a heritage tree can be cut down, “if a project design cannot be altered to accommodate the heritage tree” 1 (c) (3).  Despite this clear directive, no attempt was made by the city or its hired architects to design in such a way as to preserve even one of the nine heritage trees onsite. Despite the many iterations of design presented to council and the public from 2021 to 2022, with reduction in the number of parking spaces, the addition of housing units, commercial and child-care space, the only living things onsite, the heritage trees, legally protected, did not rate a mention during the design process.

It’s hard not to be cynical when laws are passed only to be ignored by city management staff who are tasked with their implementation.

There is one last chance for the city to do the right thing. One last chance to save at least two of the nine heritage trees on Lot 4.

On the city council agenda for the first meeting of 2023 on Tuesday January 10th, Mayor Fred Keeley and Councilmember Scott Newsome are asking city council to support a council review of the Parks and Recreation Commission’s approval of the tree removal permit for the nine heritage trees on Lot 4.  That this review should take place when the full project is brought before council for deliberation and approval. That date is uncertain at present.

This recommendation, if approved by council, is a step in the direction of proper procedure. However, and it is a big however, if it is not accompanied by a recommendation that in the interim, the design be altered to accommodate at least the two heritage liquidambars, both deemed worth preserving by the consulting arborist, then it is just delaying the inevitable tree removals. At the final hearing of the project, no design change will be entertained. The time is now.

This is where you come in. Just as in 1970, when the community made its voice heard to save the Cork Oak, you need to make your voice heard if you want future generations in 100 years and beyond to read a plaque under these trees in front of the library that reads, Saved by the Community in 2023.

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.
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 (Chris is on Vacation)

Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and a Santa Cruz City Council member from 1998-2002 and from 2017-2020. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 16 years. On Tuesday evenings at 5pm, Krohn hosts of “Talk of the Bay,” on KSQD 90.7 and KSQD.org His Twitter handle at SCpolitics is @ChrisKrohnSC Chris can be reached at ckrohn@cruzio.com

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 2

SAVING COMMUNITY RADIO

Supporting local radio stations has never been more important than now, given the myriad of local issues and the ever-present natural disasters, such as the recent flooding, and during the past wildland fires.

KSCO radio has served the public need for local people discussing local issues, and has provided reliable up-to-the-minute information for the public during emergencies.  Now, it is for sale, with a few offers coming in, but not acceptable.  In order to keep a local flavor to the station’s broadcasts while reducing costs until a purchase agreement happens, Station owner Michael Zwerling has developed a very affordable and scaled program fee schedule, and welcomes anyone who would like to purchase air time to contact him.  The more often someone purchases air time in a week, the more affordable it becomes (only $100/hour if you purchase seven or more hours weekly!) and the host can keep 100% of any advertising money pledged for supporting their program.

Sound interesting?  Contact Michael Zwerling to learn more about how you can keep local radio alive in Santa Cruz County that will benefit everyone.  Michael Zwerling

Here is a link to a recent interview with MZ: Is the end near for local radio at Santa Cruz’s KSCO?

Many of KSCO’s long-time local show hosts have banded together to launch an online radio platform called “Santa Cruz Voice”. You can learn more about that soon-to-be-online digital platform here

Our Community is lucky to have other great local radio stations such as KZSC.  Listen in on Friday mornings to the Bushwhacker’s Breakfast Club with host Dangerous Dan to hear interviews with Bruce Bratton, and local elected officials including State Senator John Laird, and newly-elected State Assembly member Gail Pellerin.  kzsc.org

And a very active newcomer is KSQD, featuring “Talk of the Bay” daily, with local hosts such as Chris Krohn: ksqd.org

SOMETIMES, THERE ARE PROBLEMS WITH LOCAL RADIO STATIONS….

A friend who regularly listens to radio station KPFA let me know there were some recent problems with that station’s financial matters.  The KPFA bank account seized by federal marshal to collect settlement fines related to WBAI lawsuit

KPFA GM and Business Manager Funded WBAI Shutdown | Pacifica In Exile

As with all things, we must be vigilant.

FLOODING IN WATSONVILLE 

Winter arrived on New Year’s Eve with a real Hoorah in our County.  Although local news reported the evacuation and flooding at areas along the San Lorenzo River, less was reported about the Watsonville flooding in areas predominantly inhabited by senior citizens.  A friend sent the photos below of areas near downtown Watsonville.  She had earlier witnessed sedans being swept aside on Holohan Road.

Here is a link to photos and a video taken by Mr. Bob Wiser, near the old Watsonville Hospital area at Green Valley and Holohan Road

On the left is a picture of Aptos Creek at the Esplanade…where major flooding also occurred.

While I was clearing culverts and directing emergency traffic on our privately-maintained mountain road that day, a long-time resident told me it brought back memories of the 1982 storms.

STATE RESILIENCE CENTERS…WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

The California Strategic Growth Council has released the Draft Guideline for Community Resiliency Centers, with Public Comment open until January 27, 2023.  There are also a number of regional virtual Public Meetings on this 75-page document and the one for our area is January 17, 2pm-4pm.

What exactly IS a Community Resiliency Center, anyway?  Take a look at the description and Draft Guideline.  I think that community colleges, library meeting rooms and county fairgrounds need to be included in the list of eligible locations for public information centers and shelter.  I think that the shelters need to include accommodation for pets and livestock, especially in rural counties.  What do you think?

I hope you will participate in the January 17 Public Meeting and submit your comments on how the State will fund Community Resiliency Centers.

CITY OF SANTA CRUZ HAS A PLAN FOR FUTURE USE OF RECYCLED WATER FOR IRRIGATION?

I attend most meetings for the City of Santa Cruz Water Commission, as well as the County Water Advisory Commission meetings, but did not know about the City’s Engineering Report for Recycled Water plant being built at the wastewater treatment plant that may produce recycled water in the future for irrigation but that is currently part of the treated sewage water system sending effluent to Soquel Creek Water District’s PureWater Soquel Project facility in Live Oak.

I discovered it by accident while researching a document on Soquel Creek Water District’s website. The Report is dated August, 2022

Page 1.1 states:

“The disinfected tertiary recycled water produced at the NPR facilities will initially be used for on-site plant uses. Future intended uses include landscape irrigation and a truck fill station. The City is currently evaluating the plans for recycled water distribution and NPR uses; thus, review and conditional approval for the General Order (State Water Resources Control Board Order [SWRCB] WQ 2016- 0068-DDW) or other order specific to the distribution of disinfected tertiary recycled water is not being sought at this time. A supplemental Engineering Report will be submitted to DDW by the City in the future, seeking approval for the future recycled water conveyance system and users.”  ….and …. 

“A new 6-inch recycled water pipeline will be installed and capped at both ends to allow for future connection and distribution to offsite uses.”

Previous discussion about the PureWater Soquel Project and CEQA Addendums included language that the City of Santa Cruz would receive 360 Acre-feet annually from Soquel Creek Water District’s expensive treatment project in exchange for supplying the source sewage water.  The 2021 Project Addendum stated that the City would install the 6″ purple pipe to convey the water back to Santa Cruz from the Live Oak treatment plant.  I have not observed any such pipe being installed in monitoring the installation of Soquel Creek Water District’s large pipelines throughout the City and the unincorporated street areas.

When I wrote Ms. Menard in November to ask for an update, she acknowledged my question but stated the holidays were busy.  I wrote again last month, and received the following answer:

The Pure Water Soquel Project utilizes the secondary treated effluent from the City’s Wastewater Treatment Facility as source water to the Advanced Purification Treatment Facility located at the Chanticleer site.  To move the water from the WWTF to the Chanticleer site a new pump station is being constructed at the WWTF and its construction is temporarily displacing an existing tertiary system owned and operated by City staff.  This tertiary system is not permitted Title 22 water and therefore can only be used on site at the WWTF for the purposes of operations (cleaning, etc.).  Its use offsets up to 200,000 gallons of potable water use each day.

A new tertiary system will be constructed as part of the PWS project and is sized to replace the volumes of water previously used on site and will have some additional capacity for off-site purposes such as irrigation and truck fill station.  And, should additional capacity be needed, the new system could be expanded to a certain extent.

The new system does meet the treatment requirements of Title 22, but will require permitting through the RWQCB before becoming an authorized off-site use.  And of course will required City approvals consistent with the WSAC (Water Supply Advisory Committee) recommendations and agreements.

In 2018, the City completed a two-year study of potential recycled water uses, described on page 1-4 of the Engineering Report:

Irrigation Projects:

  • SCPWD Title 22 Upgrade Project (This has been renamed the City of Santa Cruz NPR Project, the subject of this Engineering Report.) – This project would meet in-plant demands, develop a bulk water fill station and serve the nearby La Barranca Park. Public Works staff is advancing this project. 
  • BayCycle Project – This project would expand the Santa Cruz NPR Project to increase production and non-potable reuse to serve UCSC and City customers along the way. This is a longer-term project that would require partnerships with end-users to be successful. 

Groundwater Recharge Reuse (GRR) Projects:

  • Coordination with Pure Water Soquel – This project would entail continuing to work closely with SqCWD to support the evaluation of the Pure Water Soquel project. 
  • Explore GRR at Beltz Wellfield – This project would replenish the Santa Cruz Mid-County Groundwater Basin in the Beltz Wellfield area, through a collaborative project with Pure Water Soquel or as an independent City-led project. 
  • Explore GRR in Santa Margarita Groundwater Basin (SMGB) – This project would replenish the SMGB through a potentially regional project with the potential to make the region more resilient in the long term.

The feasibility study showed that the groundwater recharge projects listed have merit but need further study and likely are dependent on California water authorities approving direct use of treated sewage water for drinking.

That may happen by the end of this year.

So, I guess we will not be seeing purple pipe connected to the Soquel Avenue Bridge along with the large blue (purple tape-wrapped) pipes containing chloramine-laden treated sewage water associated with Soquel Creek Water District’s expensive and questionable project anytime soon.

Personally, I hope the recycled water is only used for irrigation because there are inadequate long-term health studies in populations who drink this treated sewage water containing low levels of contaminants that cannot be removed by existing treatment methods.

LET’S DO ANOTHER STUDY 

Last November, Soquel Creek Water District Board authorized another study to analyze the behavior and movement of the injected treated sewage water planned at three locations in Aptos with the PureWater Soquel Project.  The previous model by HydroMetrics (aka Montgomery & Associates) showed customer water use had substantially declined since 2014 and the projected future water demand was less than initially planned.

It also showed that groundwater would flow to the surface if the PureWater Soquel Project operated concurrently with the City’s Aquifer Storage Recovery (ASR) injected potable water project.  Information provided in the City’s recent water supply update to the City Council revealed that the Project agreements between the City and Soquel Creek Water District have been delayed, due to this modelling problem.

Take a look at the Report and Scope of Work for the newest RFP and model that will likely be reviewed by the District’s Board later this month (the RFP applications are due January 3)

Applicants have the option of using the existing model, or starting all over from scratch.

I think it is curious that the District’s newest Granite Way Well in Aptos Village is not included in what is to be added to the new model: (see page 5)

  1. Scenario Development 
  2. As-Is Operations (Based off item A.2. Datasets) 
  3. Add Pure Water Soquel, new groundwater well (Cunnison) and several various pumping regimes for modeling future scenarios (Alternate facility set) 

iii. Create Winter, Average and Summer Demand Set 

  1. Conservative Fire Flow Scenario for gravity fed portions of system, boosted zones, and areas served by fire pump.

The real topic of interest here is found in the Phase 2 Scope of Work Description (See page 7):

Questions that the phase 2 integrated model may need to answer include, but are not limited to, the following: 

  • Evaluating System Capacity to transfer water between agencies.
  • Water transfers need to be supported by Winter or Summer Demands of both agencies.
  • Water transfers need to consider various pumping goals and pumping regimes that will be provided by groundwater modeling scenarios. These annual pumping goals need to be translated into control sets.
  • Evaluate any facility capacity issues/limitations that may identify future capital improvement projects related to transmission, storage, pumping, etc. 
  • As part of a risk or sensitivity analysis, certain scenarios may be developed to find failure points or identify infrastructure weak points or ‘bottlenecks.’ 
  • Evaluating Water Quality Concerns including:

    • Water age and development of disinfection byproducts 
    • Source Water tracking and time it is expected to stay in certain areas of the system
    • Ammonia & Chlorine interactions: 
    • Evaluating detention times in system, chloramine formation and degradation 
    • Evaluating System Energy demand for various scenarios

Write to the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors with your thoughts about this and plan to participate in their next meeting on January 17.

Board of Directors and Emma Western

[Board Meetings and Agendas]

IF YOU BUILD IT THEY WILL COME…BUT WILL THE WATER BE THERE?

Many thanks to the reader who sent this interesting article:

Thousands Will Live Here One Day (as Long as They Can Find Water)

In my opinion, this mirrors the Aptos Village Project and the planned massive development in Live Oak.

WIND ENERGY UNITS OFF THE COAST OF CALIFORNIA?

The first floating offshore wind lease just happened, as U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy  auctioned off the rights to the Golden State Wind lease area, off the coast of Morro Bay. It includes three of the five areas to be auctioned.

The new owner of these rights, Ocean Winds, is a consortium of wind energy companies headquartered in France, Spain and Portugal, and is the fourth largest in the world.

According to the Bureau of Ocean Energy website, the remaining two lease areas were sold in an area offshore of Arcata and Eureka.

Will the floating structures handle tsunami activity….given the recent activity of the Juan de Fuca Plate?

Will there be mitigations for migrating seabirds and whales?

Contact the Bureau with your questions

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ENJOY THESE WONDERFUL RAINS AND CHECK IN ON THOSE IN THE FLOOD ZONES.

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK BY JUST DOING SOMETHING.

Cheers and Happy New Year,

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
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January 2

Storms and Floods

The sky has been raining sweet water across our landscape. What happens once that precious water hits the ground? Is rainwater welcome where it flows and where it ends up? Our collective actions make a big difference about how to answer these questions.

Stormy Times and Mud

For a while in the recent past, the ocean has been stormy with massive wind-blown, white capped waves. We get outdoors when we can and gaze out to sea from the bluffs, noticing bands of brown water coloring the otherwise steel gray ocean. Even streams draining relatively pristine watersheds are pulsing sediment now, providing the sand that will replenish beaches. Our mountains are naturally erosive, but humans have been adding to that erosive potential to our own detriment for far too long.

Do We Need Reminders?

Most years, winter storms remind us of certain places that routinely make the news. Suddenly, people remember that they live in drainage basins also known as “watersheds.” As winter rains commence, more people recall more often the names of rivers and streams. It is flooding time. The flooding San Lorenzo River often threatens Felton Grove and Paradise Park, causing mandatory evacuations. The Pajaro River, Corralitos Creek, and Salsipuedes likewise often pose flooding threats in Watsonville.

Floods: Non-Natural Disasters

Government and the media have trained us to call flooding a “natural disaster.” As with most disinformation, such “fake news” coalesces on grains of truth. Rain is natural. Atmospheric rivers are normal. Flooding happens naturally. Landslides and debris flows occur without human mistakes. If we didn’t have a deep geological history of erosion, some say that the Santa Cruz Mountains would be as tall as the Sierra Nevada. And yet, the frequency, severity, and impacts of damaging flooding is nearly entirely the fault of humans, resulting from poor decisions, often due to greed exercised through political power.

US Flooding History

For the USA, the best documented history linking damaging flooding to greed and political power has been focused on the floods along the Mississippi River. No one should unquestionably call floods ‘natural disasters’ after the investigations and media about Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans. I am disappointed by the cultural amnesia of the import of George W Bush’s admission that the sole book he recalled reading was John Barry’s Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America. That book documented how the Mississippi’s 1927 flood propelled popular sentiment to supporting federal assistance programs for flood-ravaged communities. And so, was it any coincidence that decisions at the highest level of that Bush administration delayed federal assistance for Hurricane Katrina preparation, creating predictable levels of death, destruction, and suffering? Did these officials actually think this was a good way to drive home the Republican party’s political message that Americans should not depend on federal governmental assistance? To shirk collective responsibility of such human-caused disasters, we must be trained to look past the decisions that ‘We the People’ made that are responsible for flood suffering. Our third-rate democracy allows greed-driven political decisions to create unsustainable levees to support short-term profits for commerce and real estate, benefiting the very few with disastrous long-term impacts disproportionately borne by the poorest, most marginalized communities. For this economic model and democratic structure to keep some semblance of function, some in power recognize that governmental assistance disaster recovery programs are important. I urge you to think about the lessons from Mississippi’s floods and national politics when thinking about local flooding and the political and media messages that entertain us during such disasters.

Recent Watsonville Flooding

Low-income housing areas in Watsonville recently experienced ‘unexpected’ flooding after levee failures. Why weren’t the residents notified? To believe the media, the fault was theirs: some hadn’t signed up for reverse 911…there was a warning! We pride ourselves with our disaster management systems. The Federal National Weather Service office in Monterey has highly skilled personnel who turn their full attention to flood monitoring, drawing data from radar, real-time rain, stream, and river gauges, and powerful computing. Flood watches come first then flood warnings. Interagency cooperation allows reverse 911 messages to be broadcast via cell phones and land lines, dedicated weather radio channels create alarms, and social media and web posts get regularly updated including pickup locations for sandbags. Emergency personnel deploy quickly to close off flooded neighborhoods.

Recent Rural Road Collapses

Landslides and trees fell across roads, blocking transportation routes for rural communities. Sometimes, the downslope side of the road collapsed. First cracks appeared, running parallel to the slope; then the side of the road slumped lower than the rest; after that, the section of road slid down the hill. Two lane roads will now have only one lane sections until The County can afford expensive repairs. Other times, the hill above the road slid down onto the roadbed, sometimes right across the road. Soil, gravel, rocks, and boulders blocked roads.  You might be able to see the top of the landslide, bare rock or dirt scalloped away, a boundary of precarious bared roots now reaching into the air. Somewhere, someone in the County is mapping the obstructions and prioritizing the deployment of detour signs and earth moving equipment while road closure maps are posted online. Meanwhile, rural residents tap into reserved groceries and try to figure out how to get to town for their jobs and supplies.

What Do We Ask?

The questions we ask about how these flood or landslide disasters occurred says a lot. Do we ask why people chose to live in such disaster-prone areas? Do we ask what history made such areas disaster prone? Do we ask how we can make people safer in the future? Do we ask how we can avoid repeating poor historical decisions that lead to such disasters? How do we prioritize which questions to focus upon? Who should be asking which questions? All these questions have answers including economic, political, and social dimensions.

Pursuing Answers

By law, real estate sales must disclose known disasters, so peoples’ choices about where to live should be well informed, but are they? It would be interesting to examine the history of the Watsonville levee failure: who built the levee – how and why? Did decision makers ask levee engineers to propose designs that accounted for historic flooding, maintenance expenses, and upstream development/land management constraints? If historical decision making was faulty, how has current decision making improved? As we recover from disasters, do we ask our elected officials to prioritize not only emergency response but also improved resilience?

Restoring Floodplains

As old, poorly designed levees fail across California and locally, we should be thinking about floodplain restoration wherever possible. Why do we continue pouring money into developing flood prone areas with real estate improvements that benefit the very few? I have been reflecting on the upswing in development of downtown Santa Cruz, which clearly is unsustainable both from river flooding and sea level rise…there are other town centers to develop that are safer! Instead, the City is pursuing treating the San Lorenzo like a big flood conveyance culvert instead of the river it is…as short-term ‘fix.’ To our south, the Pajaro and Salinas River floodplains could be restored to provide more flood protection for surrounding communities: there are many farmers willing to sell their land, but who should pay?

New Construction

As we develop new roads, trails, and other infrastructure, we should be mindful of their contribution to flooding. Is the City of Santa Cruz integrating rainwater catchment with their new developments? I see no evidence of flood mitigation with the ongoing, endless Highway 1 ‘improvements’ near Santa Cruz. The rail trail developments certainly don’t adequately address hydrological impacts. In our natural lands, there is no consistent approach to trail use to assure recreational impacts address flooding. Meanwhile, at Cotoni Coast Dairies, BLM bulldozed acres of bare soil just before this winter’s rains without any erosion control – slurries of mud and debris are flowing into streams and wetlands.

Next Steps

We can do better. Previously, I urged everyone to be involved with rain gardens – either as volunteers in public spaces or on their own lands. Cry out to the right people when you see bare soil – on farmlands or in construction zones. Only support trails groups like the Santa Cruz Mountains Trail Stewardship if/when they create soils saturation and trail use indexes that inform conservation lands managers to close and then re-open trails as appropriate and according to their purported mission to create ‘responsible outdoor recreation.’ Hold elected officials responsible to improve the resilience of infrastructure repairs/construction, enforce adequate disclosure notifications during real estate sales, and shunt new development to better areas. Together, we can be effective land stewards by fighting the greed that would otherwise cause un-natural flooding and landslide disasters in the future. We should never be cursing the rain.

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
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December 23, 2022

#358 / Alone?

On the day before Thanksgiving, economist Bryce Ward wrote a column in The Washington Post that was headlined as follows: “We are spending scary amounts of time alone.” The pandemic has made things worse, of course, but Ward’s column asserts that “our social lives were withering dramatically even before covid-19. Between 2014 and 2019, time spent with friends went down (and time spent alone went up) by more than during the pandemic.”

Here is the statistic I thought most telling:

The percentage decline is … similar for the young and old; however, given how much time young people spend with friends, the absolute decline among Americans age 15 to 19 is staggering. Relative to 2010-2013, the average American teenager spent approximately 11 fewer hours with friends each week in 2021 (a 64 percent decline) and 12 additional hours alone (a 48 percent increase).

What’s going on here? Well, here’s my bet:

Human contact that is mediated through a screen feels like real contact (so we don’t feel alone). However, that kind of contact is what I’d call “empty calories” in terms of genuine human interaction. Ward notes that market penetration for smartphones crossed 50 percent in 2014. I am pretty sure it’s near 100% now. So, we are alone more, but we don’t necessarily “feel” alone, since we are in contact (or in what feels like “contact”) almost 24/7.

We have a problem here, Houston. And we have the same problem in New York City, LA, Paris, Geneva, Santa Cruz – and everywhere else. Ward thinks we should be doing something about it. I do, too!

My suggestions have appeared in my blog postings on a regular basis:

  • Talking to strangers
  • Physical proximity to other persons
  • Small group meetings
  • Real life
  • Political engagement

That’s my prescription!

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
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January 2

LOVING THE SMELL OF SAUSAGE MCMUFFINS IN THE MORNING

Aldous J. Pennyfarthing writes on Daily Kos, “Maybe we should have stopped being surprised about all the things Trump doesn’t know after he suggested bleach injections were the best way to keep Frederick Douglass from dying of COVID-19…but it still boggles the mind how pig-ignorant he was about matters pertaining to his own supposed job.”

Aldous J. is referring specifically to the daily schedule DJT pretended to have during his time in office. When he found that his daily activities were public knowledge, he insisted the staff release a schedule that claimed he worked in his office “from early in the morning until late in the evening,” and “make many calls and have many meetings.” We all know that his “public schedule had long consisted of vague generalities,” and his “executive time” is a mystery to this day. “It could have been anything from eating Egg McMuffins in bed to eating Sausage McMuffins on the toilet to eating Sausage McMuffins with Egg White while being languorously sponge-bathed by Reince Priebus,” says Aldous J. Seems like a lot to be accomplished in the thirty minutes he actually allowed to morning time which in reality started at 11:30.

The absolute silliness of The Don’s NFT hero cards, which sold out immediately at $99 apiece got a more serious evaluation by Meidas Touch on Patreon. Seems that the mechanics of the sales can be related to historical frauds, which fits right in with the Grifter-in-Chief’s M.O. The difficulty in tracing either buyer or seller allows the card to be resold at an ever-increasing price from which Trump gets a share of the selling price. This would allow a dark money MAGAbacker, or perhaps several, to continuously increase the value of the card(s) with each sale, dumping untraceable cash into the faltering presidential campaign. The card we all should want to see is the one with the Former Guy boarding Air Force One with toilet paper stuck to his shoe…get the petition started!

The Orange One can’t seem to get his campaign started, however. It has been met with mockery and non-committal commentary by the GOP stalwarts which must be a heavy burden for the former prez considering all the legal arrows coming his way. Twitter has had a field day with his announcement, “In order to make America great and glorious again, I’m announcing my candidacy for President of the United States.” Jokers immediately pounced, declaring that the former MAGA acronym would be replaced by the MAGAGA acronym. Comedian John Fugelsang says, “I tried to say #MAGAGA and activated by gag reflex.” Anticipating MAGAGA hats, law professor Laurence Tribe said, “if it makes you gag, get used to it.” The very thought of it makes you…well, you get it.

As might be expected, Baby Fingers blasted out on his Truth Social platform a threat to the unenthusiastic GOP that he will continue to devastate the party by exploring a third-party run at the high office. Probably because he was unable to write a coherent ultimatum, he referred to an article by Dan Gelernter from American Greatness, a pro-MAGA website, entitled ‘The Coming Split.’ “I have no intention of supporting a Republican Party that manifestly contravenes the desires of its voters,” Gelernter writes. “The RNC can pretend Trump isn’t loved by the bases anymore, that he doesn’t have packed rallies everywhere he goes. But I’m not buying it: Talk to Republican voters anywhere outside the Beltway, and it is obvious that he is admired and even loved by those who consider themselves ‘ordinary’ Americans.”

Gelernter pledges his support, as many Trump enthusiasts will do, if a third-party candidacy is necessary. He doesn’t believe such a move would be successful, stating that he is “not interested in propping up this corrupt gravy-train any longer,” as he portrays Mitch McConnell as completely out of step with the party base. Because Moscow Mitch has lost his control over the party, he and his cohorts would be immediately overrun by the alternative MAGAGA horde, reducing the GOP to ashes, whereupon, Trump will launch a revenge campaign to turn the GOP ashes into dust. Those millions of voters he brought into the Republican fold will follow him unhesitatingly, assisting him in his quest of utter destruction. If it isn’t MINE, it will belong to NOBODY! Gonna be a grand ol’ party!

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is still insisting that only he is qualified to be the Speaker of the House, but is having a tough time driving that home to his associates. Arizona’s Representative Andy Biggs and House Minority Whip, Steve Scalise are seeking the position, so things are a bit confusing for Kev as he tries to carry the MAGA banner, unable to convince a hard-headed contingent to support him in his quest. He speaks of “passing the big bills,” and “changing the course of history,” but we all know the one-trick pony GOP is about cutting taxes for the wealthy, as they have proven each time they are in power. Their entire agenda can be boiled down to three words: ‘Own the libs,’ according to Dartagnan on Daily Kos. Kevin and the Kohorts really don’t have an agenda aside from attempting to stir the masses with their unimportant diatribes on FoxNews against Hunter Biden, immigration, persecution of Trump and the peaceful J6 rioters, Benghazi, energy independence, or Afghanistan (which wasn’t important to them until Biden got us out of there). Dartagnan goes on to say, “But hey, Kevin, thanks for the laugh.” If only…

MoveOn.org lists the five most-watched cable news shows in America as 1) The Five, 2) Tucker Carlson Tonight, 3) Jesse Watters Primetime, 4) Hannity, 5) Special Report with Bret Baier – all on FoxNews! With this far-right domination of cable news pushing their agenda of COVID lies, election conspiracies, and attacks on LGBTQ+, we have seen a rise (thanks go to Elon Musk, also) in racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and transphobia – lies fed to a receptive public which lead to disruptive and destructive behaviors. After his Twitter takeover, Musk has shown that he has no concept of the principles behind the First Amendment, by allowing conspiracy theorist and neo-Nazis to proliferate on the site, while he recklessly bans responsible journalists and posters. You’d think that fleeing advertisers would convince him that he has lost his way, and a downturn from neglect of his Tesla auto business would surely be an attention-getter. Must be an ashes to ashes, dust to dust philosophy resembling The Donald’s?!! The first man in history to lose $200 billion!

Meanwhile, Trump’s taxes have been released to the world, and Ginni Thomas has expressed regret for her role in the J6 Insurrection, so 2023 is off to a wonderful start. Let’s work to bring that to fruition…with issuance of a few orange prison jumpsuits! Happy New Year to all!

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. 
 
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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.

    “Floods”

“Years of drought and famine come and years of flood and famine come, and the climate is not changed with dance, libation or prayer.”
~John Wesley Powell

“It’s a relief to hear the rain. It’s the sound of billions of drops, all equal, all equally committed to falling, like a sudden outbreak of democracy. Water, when it hits the ground, instantly becomes a puddle or rivulet or flood.”
~Alice Oswald

“People shouldn’t be living in certain places – on earthquake faults or on flood plains. But they do, and there are consequences.”
~Vaclav Smil

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We all have too many clothes it seems, and instead of throwing them away, we should (and do!) donate them, right? Right. The question we often don’t ask, however, is what happens with the clothes that get donated and don’t sell? Watch this documentary, and think about what you can do.


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

December 21, 2022 – January 3, 2023

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…About Lockheed Martin in our neighborhood, our heritage trees. GREENSITE…on preserving heritage trees: how a city violates its own laws. KROHN…Paul Lee tribute, UCSC strike update, covid making. STEINBRUNER…Soquel Creek Water district issues, new library, LAFCO agenda, Measure D monies, Board of supes all attend. HAYES…is still on vacation. PATTON…One of the reasons I like Joe. MATLOCK…A major announcement spawns a major announcement. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…New Year, as they do in Sweden QUOTES…”CANDLES”

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Best and Biggest happy wishes for your Holiday season from BrattonOnliners!!

Standing in back left to right that’s Dale Matlock, Gary Patton, Chris Krohn, Gillian Greensite and Grey Hayes. Seated in front left to right that’s Gunilla Leavitt, Yours truly, Becky Steinbruner and Tim Eagan. We’re going to take next week off to celebrate but we’ll be back before you know (or forget it).

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE December 19

LOCKHEED MARTIN, OUR LOCAL WAR SUPPLIER.
The New York Times reported last week.. WASHINGTON —” The prospect of growing military threats from both China and Russia is driving bipartisan support for a surge in Pentagon spending, setting up another potential boom for weapons makers that is likely to extend beyond the war in Ukraine”. We here in peace loving Santa Cruz should take the time to consider our long time (since 1959) local weapons manufacturer Lockheed Martin at 16020 Empire Grade. They make and sell Trident and other missiles.

Let’s hope that our newly elected Third District supervisor Justin Cummings takes a close look at this potential target and much overlooked danger point and keeps us safe. What’s really curious is that no-one, and that means none of us, ever mentions Lockheed and its Bonny Doon closeness and the inherent dangers.

We try to limit the donation pitches to once a month-ish, and here’s the last one for this year. You’ve seen it; none of the writers get paid, but website costs are still a thing. We appreciate your help.

The button below will take you to the secure donation form.

Thank you, and happy holidays!

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I’ve copied details from the NY Times and Wikipedia and Lockheed Martin right here…

“Lockheed Martin, the nation’s largest military contractor, had booked more than $950 million worth of its own missile military orders from the Pentagon in part to refill stockpiles being used in Ukraine. Lockheed Martin is listed as the largest U.S. government contractor and ranks first for the number of incidents, and fifth for the size of settlements on the ‘contractor misconduct’ database maintained by the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group. Since 1995, the company has agreed to pay $676.8 million to settle 88 instances of misconduct.

According to the magazine Politico, Lockheed Martin has “a political network that is already the envy of its competitors”, and its contracts enjoy wide bipartisan support in the U.S. Congress thanks to it having “perfected the strategy of spreading jobs on weapons programs in key states and congressional districts”. The company’s 2010 lobbying expenditure by the third quarter was $9.9 million (2009 total: $13.7 million).

Lockheed Martin employs approximately 115,000 employees worldwide, including about 60,000 engineers and scientists as of January 2022.

According to a Lockheed Martin brochure about the Santa Cruz facility, local work projects include the U.S. Navy’s Trident II D5 Fleet Ballistic Missile (FBM) and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency’s Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system. Programs such as Peacekeeper and the space shuttle have been worked on at the Santa Cruz facility in the past, according to the brochure.

OUR HERITAGE TREES. (Don’t miss Gillian Greensite’s report on these trees just a scroll down…) Bob Morgan from “Our Downtown” wrote this “news item”:

On Monday, December 12th, the Parks and Recreation Commission majority denied our appeal of the Lot 4 heritage tree removal permits.

Thank you to the 3 commissioners who voted to uphold our appeal and to honor our Heritage Tree Ordinance: Gillian Greensite, Jane Mio, and Jacob Pollock. Unfortunately, the other 4 commissioners sided with the permit applicants (the developer and City) even though the facts prove the applicants’ actions indeed violated the ordinance. Stay tuned for more tree updates. It’s not over.

To view the full agenda packet, including the appeal documents and written public comment (75% in support of our appeal), see the commission’s webpage. A video recording of the meeting will also be available there soon.

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

AVATAR: THE WAY OF THE WATER. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (8.1 IMDB). This 3D and 3 hour movie is a technical marvel. The plot and main thrust of the movie is bewildering and pointless. It appears that humans once invaded Pandora and are attempting to invade Pandora again. But Pandora’s tribes fight each other keep trying to make peace. It’s 95% battles and violence and killing with bows and arrows and the latest/future type high tech weapons, which is baffling. Names like Tuk, Lo’ak, Spider, Mo’at, Recom fike and Aoning don’t make the story any easier to follow. It’s funny to actually see Edie Falco from the Sopranos as a general and Sigourney Weaver reassembled as a 14 year old. Rumors have it that are some sequels planned, so be very aware.

AMSTERDAM. (HBO MAX) (6.1 IMDB). It’s billed as a comedy and the actors work hard to make it light but the setting is so serious you can’t forget it. Taylor Swift is purposely pushed under a swift moving car and three friends spend the movie trying to figure out who did it and why. It’s got Robert De Niro, Christian Bale, Margot Robbie, Chris Rock and Anya Taylor Joy all mugging their ways against some neo-Nazis who manage to remind us of Donald Trump followers and their tactics…go for it, you’ll have some laughs.

RECRUIT. (NETFLIX SERIES) (7.5 IMDB).If you read ahead on this one it’s listed as a thriller and drama. It isn’t either one it’s a dud, flop, it’s a non-holiday turkey and I couldn’t take more than 20 minutes of the terrible acting, poor photography, and ridiculous story line.

PELOSI IN THE HOUSE. (HBO DOC.). (4.4 IMDB). Nancy Pelosi’s daughter Alexandra had, and still has very exclusive privileges that allowed her to filmher Mom under some life threatening circumstances including the January 6 attack on the White House. Nancy was the speaker of the house and drew some high threats while doing her job. It starts in 2017 when she takes her oath of office, and because Alexandra was there, we see the armed Trump lovers attack in some previously unseen footage. Even if she wasn’t from what we call our home town of San Francisco we can share her fear as she and Mike Pence flee and hide during that Trump war.

THE DROPOUT. (HULU SERIES) (7.5 IMDB). Another very serious and devoted woman’s career is dramatized here as Elizabeth Holmes played by Amanda Seyfried is brought to justice. Elizabeth Holmes is the young woman who invented the Theranos blood testing device that was a scam. William Macy, Bill Irwin, and Sam Waterston portray such figures as Larry Ellison along with Steve Jobs and their dreams of glory and stockpiling mountains of money. It’s well documented, it does drag on a bit as they stretch it into eight episodes but what a story.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

WHITE NOISE. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (6.6 IMDB). Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig along with Don Cheadle lead the cast of this so called comedy. It has laughs but at our expense while the director makes great fun of our consumerism, our fear of death, our politics, and our family issues. It is also sad, tragic, and bitter and it’s from a book that I haven’t read. It’s hard to follow the varying numbered parts but you’ll stay with it just to see how it ends. The institution that Driver teaches at is called “College on the Hill” which of course reminds us locals of “City on the Hill”. Go for it, you’ll be puzzled, curious, and dubious.

HARRY & MEGHAN. (NETFLIX SERIES) (3.2 IMDB). As one observer said the Brits pay taxes to keep the Royal Family in their castles and lives. So that justifies why and how the British press has the privilege of maintaining the paparazzi attacks on their lives. Netflix paid $100-150 million $ for the filming rights to this series! These six documentary episodes give us Harry and Meghan Markle’s view of their lives on and under the throne. Meghan the duchess of Sussex was born August 4, 1981 in Canoga Park, California. Yes, there’s quite a bit of Harry’s mom Diana AND the paparazzi.

TELL ME LIES. (HULU SERIES) (6.7 IMDB). A very silly movie about a group of college freshmen girls and how they handle the foolish sorority rules and just why they band together at all. Their names are Pippa, Bree, Macy and so forth. Macy dies in the first episode and the series gets more ridiculous after that.

INSIDE MAN. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.6 IMDB). Stanley Tucci and David Tennant star in this tricky and complex drama. Tucci is a former professor of criminology who is on death row in an Arizona prison because he strangled his wife. But he’s so good a crime investigator that all kinds of people come to him for advice while he’s on death row. There’s even some laughs and centers on examining why we do the seemingly strange things we do.

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December 19

A CITY VIOLATING ITS OWN TREE LAWS

Preserving heritage trees in the city of Santa Cruz did not come about by wishful thinking. The effort to save the city’s trees of stature required a vision and much hard work in the early 1970’s by neighborhood activists, in particular Carole De Palma who was ultimately elected to the city council. Her work was furthered by various city council majorities and supported by an environmentally aware community who saw the importance of heritage tree preservation long before it became the norm in neighboring towns. Even today, the county lacks such heritage tree protection outside of the narrow coastal zone in the unincorporated urban areas.

Thus, the city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance has a long history. Not nearly as long as most of the trees it aims to protect but long enough to establish precedent, acceptance and compliance. Or so one would think.

The biggest test of the city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance is playing out right now as the city clears the deck for its proposed library/garage/ affordable housing project on Lot 4, site of 9 heritage trees growing on this 1.55-acre piece of public property used mainly as a parking lot and current weekly home of the Farmers’ Market.

To understand the depth of the city’s violation of its own tree laws it is important to know some of the basics. Relevant here are the criteria on which a heritage tree can be cut down. Contrary to popular belief, mostly held by people who care little for big trees, it is relatively easy to obtain a permit to cut down a heritage tree in the city of Santa Cruz. We lose approximately 30 heritage trees a month to the axe (according to the last available data). That’s a lot of mature tree loss in a 13 square mile town. Planting a few replacement saplings is no equivalence in terms of carbon sequestration, beauty, habitat, or sense of place.

One of the 3 criteria that allows a heritage tree to be cut down and the only one applicable to the trees on Lot 4 is contained in the Heritage Tree Ordinance Resolution, or Criteria and Standards for removing a heritage tree. It states that a heritage tree can be cut down if:

(3) a construction project design cannot be altered to accommodate existing heritage trees

 

At this point it is worth looking at the photograph above. These are two of the nine heritage trees growing on Lot 4. They are Liquidambars. How much square footage do you think they occupy? Maybe 200 square feet? Let’s be generous and give them room to grow, protect their roots and allow space for their canopies, so accommodating them may require 500 square feet. I’ll go out on a limb and suggest we allow them 1000 square feet of space.

Lot 4 has a buildable area of 58,000 square feet according to senior planning staff.

The way the Heritage Tree Ordinance Resolution is supposed to work is for the Planning Department or Economic Development Department in this case, to alert developers about the heritage tree requirements and the need to design in such a way as to preserve existing heritage trees. Several organizations, including the Sierra Club had written to the Economic Development director early in 2022 reminding her of the heritage tree preservation requirements when the project design was in its early conceptual stage. The city’s urban forester had also written to the director asking what steps were being taken in the design process to preserve some of the heritage trees? She received no written response according to the public record.

What is not supposed to happen but did, is for a developer (in this case the city) to ignore the heritage tree preservation requirements in their design development and present a final design that covers the entire 58,000 square feet without any trees preserved. And then when challenged by an appeal of the tree removal permit, state that said design cannot accommodate any trees, when they never tried a design to achieve that goal in the first place. A Public Records Request revealed there was no record of the issue of heritage trees ever being discussed among the various parties, save the emails of enquiry listed above.

This charade played out at the last Parks and Recreation Commission hearing on December 12th. Full disclosure…I am a Parks and Recreation (P&R) commissioner and am speaking only for myself here. The agenda item at the commission meeting was a formal appeal of the permit to cut down all the heritage trees on Lot 4, granted by the P&R director. The appeal was filed by many local environmental groups and individuals.

The appeal lost on a 4-3 vote, after time limits and right of rebuttal for the appellant (in the city code) were suspended and changed at the whim of the chair as is her right but displayed a clear bias. The clock was allowed to run out with extra time given to the city planner and a leisurely questions time, mostly allowing the city planner to speak at length with the chair cutting off one of the appellants who attempted to answer a commissioner’s question that was not directed to any person. Deliberation time for commissioners was truncated by the chair for the last ten minutes of the two- hour meeting.

The staff Agenda Report falsely listed there were 3 reasons for granting the tree-removal permit despite a clarification by the city attorney at the beginning of the meeting that criterion (3) above was the only one that applied and that comments should be limited to that criterion. Much time was spent by staff detailing the problems exhibited by the nine heritage trees. By contrast, the city’s consulting arborist, while also noting existing problems, concluded that 5 of the 9 trees were “worth preserving” including the two Liquidambars above, a fact that was never acknowledged by the city. City planning staff adopted a “sky is falling” approach, noting how little of the project could be achieved if all the heritage trees were preserved. No-one was suggesting that all the trees be preserved, but it made for an easy straw man argument.In response to a question of why they were planning for ten thousand feet of commercial space when city council was satisfied with seven thousand (leaving three thousand for the Liquidambars, maybe?) the staff response was they had no intention of scaling that down. Nor apparently were they about to reconsider the space in the library for a ping-pong table, a grand piano, and an art gallery.

It is likely the commission’s decision will be appealed to council. The test for the new mayor and council will be whether they will continue this charade or whether the city’s Heritage Tree Ordinance Resolution will be respected and followed, even if that requires a re-set. A re-set is needed only because the right thing was not done in the first place. Should council have the integrity to admit a mistake and do the right thing, the community would still have all the desired aspects of this project, perhaps with a bit of commercial scaled back to the level that council supported PLUS retaining the two trees above as proof that the values of this community and this council, as well as its laws, still protect and preserve its heritage trees.

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.
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December 19

“BON VOYAGE 2022:

Oh, How We Wish the Pandemic Was Over

Paul Albert Lee

Paul Lee was an out-sized figure in the Santa Cruz intellectual, social, philosophical, and do-gooder pond. He was a local who possessed a resume of national import. Not only was Paul a scholar on the works of his mentor Paul Tillich, he wrote a memoir on Alan Chadwick and the organic movement in California, he penned children’s stories, but perhaps most importantly, his life was kind of societal moral compass that continually shone a light on how we treat the most vulnerable among us, namely the homeless and houseless. Paul Lee had an incredible track record in the area of raising awareness, funds, and resources for addressing the needs of homeless people in Santa Cruz County. From being on the original “Citizens Committee for the Homeless” back in the 1970’s to helping start the vital Homeless Garden Project on Shafer Road, Lee’s footprint on this region’s social services was enormous. Paul died on October 18th at his home on Spring Street and he was memorialized this past Sunday by friends, family members, and colleagues at of all places, the Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Soquel.

Who’s Who?

Present at the Paul Lee memorial was a who’s who in the philanthropy, philosophy, academia, politics, and social service-provider worlds. Mathematician and counterculture writer, Ralph Abraham remembered when he and Paul protested the Regents and Ronald Reagan’s visit to Santa Cruz in 1968, not long after the ill-fated Democratic National Convention took place in Chicago. Retired Ecology and Evolutionary Biology professor, and expert on Elephant Seals, Bernie LeBouef recounted the day his neighbor Paul brought Timothy Leary by and asked if he had any LSD lying around the house. LeBouef said yes. They were in the form of several tabs he had kept since receiving them from acid guru Augustus Owsley Stanley years before. LeBouef went on to recall the many late-night conversations he and Paul engaged in with former History of Conscious Ph.D. student and Black Panther Minister of Information, Huey P. Newton. Homeless advocate Rowland Rebele recalled vividly the vow he made while Paul lay on his death bed, Rebele told him he would do as much as he could to help address homelessness in Santa Cruz after Paul was gone. Theatre Arts Professor Jim Bierman recounted wistfully and enthusiastically the history of Penny University in all its incarnations, from the powerful triumvirate of Historian Page Smith, Art historian Mary Holmes, and stout-figured Lee himself holding court at the old Café Pergolesi when it was located inside the old Bookshop Santa Cruz, to the final end when only Lee and Bierman presided over the weekly 15-30 students at the Red Church downtown. Filmmaker Eric Thiermann brought tears to everyone when he presented a two-minute version on Paul Lee’s vision of “grace” under a great oak tree adjacent to Schwan Lake. Also present were an array of local luminaries, political and social co-conspirators in Lee’s gentle, persistent, and sometimes rather loud march towards social justice, they included: Gary and Marilyn Patton, Keith McHenry, Ken Foster, Ron Slack, Denise Elerick, Ruth and Nick Royal, Frank Baron, Nigel Sanders-Self, Rachel O’Malley, Bruce Cantz, Danny Sheehan, Brent Adams, Paul’s daughter Jessica Lee, Nada Miljkovic, Rev. Herb Schmidt, Virginia Wolska, Rev. Joel Miller, Richard Baker, Cedric Petty, Ann Thiermann, and Garrett Stephens. Of course, I am remiss, as I have left out over 100 others who celebrated an only-in-Santa-Cruz story of contemplation, action, moral courage and merriment, which was the life of Paul Albert Lee, rascal, sermonizer and mirth-maker without equal. Adios Paul.

UCSC Strike Update

The UC Regents has struck a bargain with the Academic Student Employees (ASE) and Student Researchers (SR) bargaining group’s majority, although the UCSC bargaining team (BT) members all have voted not to ratify this agreement. They are: Jack Davies Unit Chair, UAW 2865; Stefan Yong Recording Secretary, UAW 2865; Jess Fournier; Bargaining Team Alternate, UAW 2865; and Sarah Mason, Bargaining Team Alternate, UAW 2865. Read HERE the statement for a yes vote on the agreement. Read HERE on why members should vote no on the current agreement on the table. There is an obvious divide within these bargaining teams. This latter group, the no-vote bargaining team members. in their statement wrote: “We are Bargaining Team members and alternates who voted against this agreement based on our belief that the UC’s mediated proposals fail to deliver on the major demands of the strike. More importantly, our assessment is that our strike remains very strong, and has unfulfilled potential to extract a better offer from the UC.” While the ASE voted 11-8 in favor, the SR bargainers voted 13-7 for ratification. So the final vote being carried out this week may be close among rank and file members. The vote opened on Monday, Dec. 19 at 8am and will close Friday, Dec. 23 at 5pm, so we may have a result by the end of this week. Many undergrads have not yet received their final fall quarter grades throughout the 10-campus UC system. Whether they are to be filed, or not, by academic workers appears to hinge on this vote’s outcome. Readers can stay up to speed, if Elon Musk does not totally dissolve the Twitter-verse, by following UAW 2865’s Twitter feed and also at UAW 2865 homepage HERE.

How To Protect Ourselves

I have a friend who is now going into his 11th day of testing positive for the Covid virus. He sits alone, away from his family. His wife leaves him care-packages outside a door at a friend’s spare room and texts him when they’ve arrived. He simply took a trip to San Diego to visit his ailing Mom, masking the entire time, except he says, for a brief moment while on board the plane back to San Jose. He removed his mask to sip on a cup of coffee. I can’t help dwell on all the people, parties, and mall-ing I’ve been doing over this time my friend has been isolated. It can happen to any of us, but we can minimize the risks. As much as we do not like masking we inhabit an era of uncontained infection. I’m convinced we are safer with the mask than without it, but it certainly is a social and cosmetic disrupter, which also might help avoid the near two-week alone period that accompanies a positive test. Happy Holidays?!

“Hoping this doesn’t happen, but just in case: it’s been wonderful tweeting with y’all! As a backup, follow me on Instagram, same handle: @AOC – it’s really me there, as it is here.”

Check out the Beat Museum at 540 Broadway near City Lights Bookstore, of course. Lots of memorabilia and displays. At least four woman Beat writers are also given space including Ruth Weiss, Joyce Johnson, Jan Kerouac, and Diane di Prima. Of course, some stuff of Ginsberg, Ferlinghetti, Corso, Burroughs, and that other Kerouac are there too!

Diego Rivera’s mural painted for the Pan American Exposition in San Francisco in 1940 is not to be missed. It is on loan from SF City College at the SFMOMA and it’s free. Bring your phone because with audio and historical information from Google, prepare to stay for a couple of hours and enjoy this painting and political history by one of our hemisphere’s best muralists.

Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and a Santa Cruz City Council member from 1998-2002 and from 2017-2020. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 16 years. On Tuesday evenings at 5pm, Krohn hosts of “Talk of the Bay,” on KSQD 90.7 and KSQD.org His Twitter handle at SCpolitics is @ChrisKrohnSC Chris can be reached at ckrohn@cruzio.com

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 19

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT COLLECTS MILLIONS OF DOLLARS BUT SPENDS NONE ON CAPITAL IMPROVEMENTS THE FUNDS SHOULD SUPPORT

Soquel Creek Water District appears to be collecting millions of dollars in Water Capacity Fees from new customers or those who want to add an ADU, with the purpose of funding Capital improvements that will benefit those who pay the significant fees.  But the District has not spent any on such improvements since 2018, and continues to amass the funds.

Consent Agenda Item 4.6 sweeps this all under the rug, and fails to comply with Government Codes that require outlining how the money…over $4 million…will be spent in the next fiscal year.

STILL WORKING TO ATTACH LARGE PIPES WITH CHLORAMINE-LADEN SEWAGE WATER TO THE SOQUEL AVENUE BRIDGE

Soquel Creek Water District contractors are still working to attach 14″-16″ pipes that will carry pressurized treated sewage water containing chloramine to the Soquel Avenue bridge in Santa Cruz.  If the pipes leak, the chloramine will be toxic to all aquatic life.  Does that concern you?

If so, please write the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors bod@soquelcreekwater.org

Will the work be done by February, when the Cliff Swallows migrate back from Argentina to build their nests and raise their young?

SMOOTH PAVING AND NEW SPEED BUMPS ON CLARES STREET NEAR THE NEW LIBRARY

If you travel on Clares Street in Capitola, you no doubt appreciate the recent paving improvement to the pothole-ridden corridor.  If you bicycle between 41st Avenue and Wharf Road, watch out for the three new speed bumps along the way that have not yet been painted to alert folks to their existence.

Three of these speed bumps now on Clares Street between 41st Ave. and Wharf Road…I wonder what the Fire Dept. thinks of these?

I enjoy the very colorful crosswalk on Wharf Road at the new Capitola Library / Rispin Mansion intersection.

Likely this paving was funded by Measure D sales tax money.
Thank goodness, the Water District timed their work so as not to tear up the brand new paving on Clares Street and Wharf Road in Capitola.

APPLY NOW TO OVERSEE HOW YOUR MEASURE D MONIES WERE SPENT

If you live in the First or Second Supervisorial Districts and want to help ensure your half-cent countywide sales tax monies for Measure D transportation projects are being spent according to what voters were promised, apply now for the job.

The Measure D Taxpayer Oversight Committee meets to examine the annual audits of the funds,   as was provided in the 2016 ballot measure.

Maybe you can help determine why in June, the County suddenly moved thousands of dollars in Measure D paving for an expensive change order in Aptos Village to help Barry Swenson Builder get their new Parade Street intersection at Soquel Drive readied???

Their meetings are open to the public, so if you can’t be part of the formal Committee, you can still participate.  Sign up for automatic notifications of their meetings via the link above.

Not sure which Supervisorial District is yours?  Take a look at the new map, complete with names of the two new County Supervisors.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the County Board of Supervisors upheld their promise to the voters in their 2018 Measure G sales tax increase ballot initiative?  No such integrity…their claim is that the June Budget hearings and website information are good enough.  I don’t agree…and neither did the recent County Grand Jury Report

LAFCO WILL HOLD PUBLIC HEARING TO CONSIDER FORMATION OF NEW PAJARO HEALTH CARE DISTRICT FOR FUTURE TAXATION AND REPRESENTATION

Many areas of Aptos and Corralitos will be included in the new Pajaro Valley Health Care District and taxed to support the Watsonville Hospital operation in the near future. The public hearing on January 4 at the 9am Wednesday virtual LAFCO meeting may be your only opportunity to have your say about this.

It has all been done backwards, due to the County’s sense of urgency to acquire the hospital.  Only now is the new tax district coming before LAFCO, which normally would be the first step.

Senator John Laird pushed through SB 418 as emergency legislation last February to provide $25 million in state public monies to purchase the Watsonville Hospital, and

in that emergency legislation, also described the boundaries of the new Pajaro Valley Health Care District for future taxation.

The map in the LAFCO agenda packet is difficult to read, but gives an idea of the general boundaries.  It is curious that the southern boundary line overlaps with the Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital District service area, and that there are areas of southern Santa Cruz County that are omitted.

Please attend the January 4, 2023 Santa Cruz County LAFCO virtual meeting, or write the Commission with your thoughts.

[Agenda]

AN AMAZING SIGHT LAST TUESDAY AT COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS MEETING

It was an amazing sight to actually see all five County Supervisors physically present at last Tuesday’s Board meeting morning session at 701 Ocean Street.  That has not happened for nearly three years.

Take a look for yourself, and note the difficult opening by Supervisor Bruce McPherson as he recognized the December 10 passing of Superior Court Judge Paul Marigonda.

Note that Supervisor Zach Friend was again absent in the afternoon session of the Board proceedings when the massive Climate Action Plan presentation occurred.

Also note that all plexiglass barriers between Supervisors and staff members have been removed, but the one at the public speaking podium remains….that is a bit symbolic, don’t you think?

IT’S AGAINST THE LAW TO CHARGE UNREASONABLE FEES FOR COUNTY BUSINESS

That was the response of Board Chair Manu Koenig last Tuesday when I asked for a staff explanation of item #7 Unified Fee Increases for increases that made no sense to me.  Among others, the use fees for County Parks and community gardens will increase, and the Sheriff Dept. will increase application fees for concealed carry permits from $25 to $474.  How can these increases be justified, especially given the fact that Measure G sales tax monies fund both departments significantly?

Rather than ask any staff to explain, Chair Koenig merely stated that the law prohibits the County from charging any fee that is unreasonable or unfair.

Listen for yourself at minute 44:34 here in Item #7

Hmmmmm…..how can that be justified at the Planning Dept. counter?

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS DELAY CONSIDERATION OF NEW KAISER MEDICAL FACILITY AND 700-CAR PARKING GARAGE

Planning Staff let me know last week that the Kaiser Medical Facility project on Soquel Avenue Frontage Road, due to come before the Board of Supervisors last week, has been postponed for reasons that staff could not divulge.

Keep your eye on this one…it’s a whopper.

COUNTY WILL BUY MORE PROPERTY IN LIVE OAK FOR CHILDREN’S CRISIS RESIDENTIAL CENTER

Last Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors approved purchase of a large commercial property in Live Oak at 5300 Soquel Avenue, next to the County Sheriff Taj Mahal of 5200, to establish a new Children’s Crisis Residential facility.   The $7,900,000 purchase will be 100% grant-funded, and the Board approved the unanticipated $10,680,958 grant money revenue.

Read more about it in the Staff Report here.

The current property owner, Bay Federal Credit Union, no longer needs the entire second floor for their staff, since they are happily working from home, and agreed to sell directly to the County.

Hopefully, the County Risk Manager will take a hard look at this building before signing off.  The sister building, also constructed by Barry Swenson Builders, has had many, many problems that have cost the taxpayers dearly to repair.  Cracks in the edifice, poor drainage problems, leaking window casements…on and on and on…will this also be a problem at the 5300 Child Crisis Center?

Let’s hope not.  The staff person I spoke with at BayFed was very familiar with the sale transactions, but felt there were no problems with the building.

Maybe Swenson sold the lemon to the County?  Whatever the issues, the County General Fund receives ZERO property tax from 5200 and now 5300 Soquel Avenue.  The latter supplied over $92,000 annually, but that will now disappear.

The good news is that kids in mental crisis won’t be shipped over to Fremont or Napa, Fremont or San Jose.  The bad news is that there is no bus service for families to use to visit their kids housed (hopefully not drugged out of consciousness) in the Crisis Facility that will be run by an independent vendor…there is NO bus service to that area.

What remains to be seen is which independent agency will manage and operate this new Children’s Crisis Center, as staff divulged in the public hearing before the Board of Supervisors.  Let’s hope it is not Telecare, the subject of many public complaints and recent investigations

JUST DON’T GROW FOOD?

Is fallowing prime agricultural land the answer to potential future droughts?  The Dept. of Water Resources seems to think so.   Please submit your comments by December 29 as directed below. Take a look at this information, recently posted on the Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC): DWR Releases Draft Guidelines for LandFlex Program Aimed at Drought Relief & Protection of Drinking Water

The Department of Water Resources (DWR) is offering a new, short-term land fallowing program in certain Groundwater Sustainability Agencies (GSAs) in critically over drafted basins. The goal of the LandFlex Program is to provide immediate drought relief by reducing groundwater use in drought-stricken areas, which will help protect drinking water wells in vulnerable communities.

Under LandFlex, GSAs will work with farmers to identify land to reduce groundwater pumping impacts to nearby dry wells. The program will provide $25 million in block grants to eligible GSAs and farmers will receive financial incentives for each enrolled acre. The program is focused on small and mid-sized farms, with eligibility limited to farmers with a 3-year average Adjusted Gross Income of $2.5 million or less.

For those interested in applying for a LandFlex grant, DWR will host an Applicant Workshop on Thursday, January 19, 2023. To register for the workshop and learn more about the LandFlex program and how to apply, visit water.ca.gov/landflex.

DWR’s draft LandFlex Program Guidelines are available here. The Public Comment period closes on December 29th. Comments may be submitted via email to sgwp@water.ca.gov.

For more information or questions, contact RCRC Policy Advocate Sidd Nag.

THE NEW APTOS LIBRARY WILL COST OVER HALF A MILLION MORE THAN THOUGHT

Consent agenda Item #80 on last Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors agenda dropped this little tidbit:

Due to Building Permit requirements, connections to existing infrastructure systems including stormwater, and unforeseen site conditions, the project will need to take on additional project scope resulting in a change to the existing construction contract already in place. With the additional funding recommended in the action above for the construction of a new Aptos Branch Library, the new total project cost (D-B contract plus additional soft costs) would be $14,786,828.

Approve contract change order in the amount of $539,205 for the Design-Build Contract with Bogard Construction for the Aptos Library project, adopt resolution accepting unanticipated revenue in the amount of $101,409 from Libraries Facilities Financial Impact

Of course, the Board approved it without any discussion regarding where the money will come from in the face of a looming Recession.

A NEW MODULAR SOBERING CENTER ON WATER STREET, SANTA CRUZ

And yet another major expenditure item was waved through in Consent item 81 last Tuesday….

Approve plans and specifications for the Recovery Center Modular project; set bid opening for 2:15 p.m. February 2, 2023; direct Community Development and Infrastructure to return on or before April 11, 2023, for ratification of the contract award, a

Spending $545,000 for a 10-bed site to have a place for intoxicated men and women to sleep it off?

It seems like it would have been worth discussing the use of the property for a Pallet Shelter Village to provide the homeless some transitional housing.

NEW FIRE HAZARD MAP IS OUT FROM CALFIRE

CalFire has just updated the Fire Severity Risk Map for the entire State, which will influence insurance rates, but likely be a real wake-up call for the areas near urban development.

Type in your address here and find out your new risk level

There will be public hearings next month in every County to give people a chance to ask questions and offer comment.   Here is the information for Santa Cruz County:

County: Santa Cruz Hearing Date & Time: 1/10/23 at 1:30PM
Hearing Location: Ben Lomond Training Center, 13575 Empire Grade. Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Local Contact Person: Frank Rodgers (831) 254-1728 frank.rodgers@fire.ca.gov

It’s a long journey up to the Ben Lomond Training Center, but well worth your participation.  I assume the conference center at Felton is not large enough to accommodate the crowd expected?

: Take a look at other local hearings here (counties listed alphabetically)

Some questions I have include: What is the data based upon?  How granular is it?

DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ THESE DAYS

If you haven’t been downtown in Santa Cruz lately, you may be saddened to see this:

I expect the demolition will begin soon to make way for yet another seven to nine story tower.

Wouldn’t it be nice if the County Board of Supervisors upheld their promise to the voters in their 2018 Measure G sales tax increase ballot initiative?  No such integrity…their claim is that the June Budget hearings and website information are good enough.  I don’t agree… and neither did the recent County Grand Jury Report

MAKE ONE CALL.  WRITE ONE LETTER.  TAKE A GOOD WALK WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS AND ENJOY OUR BEAUTIFUL COUNTY.

Happy Holidays and All the Best in the New Year!

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
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Grey Hayes is still on vacation…he’ll be back.

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
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 December 14

#349 / One Of The Reasons I Like Joe

Joe Biden, pictured, is the President of the United States. The political right, understandably, doesn’t much like Joe. Less understandably, at least to me, is the fact that lots of Democrats, and those on the “Left,” don’t really feel very positive about Joe, either.

Joe, of course, is “old.” That could well be part of it. The picture above, in fact, came from an article titled, “Joe Biden: An Old Man Trying to Lead a Young Country.” “Old” always finds difficulty in whipping up enthusiasm among the “Young.”

Since I am only slightly less “old” than Biden, the “he’s an old man” justification for not liking our current president doesn’t carry much weight with me. While Biden can be a “bumbler,” particularly verbally, I feel about Joe what the voters in Pennsylvania must have felt about John Fetterman, when they voted to elect Fetterman to the United States Senate. Verbal facility is not the only thing that’s important. Character, for instance, counts for a lot.

An article in the November 12, 2022, edition of The New York Times, “Biden and Xi Share Long Relationship Infused With Rising Suspicion,” told a little story about Joe Biden that I found not only endearing, but profoundly moving. Just as I loved what Arthur Miller had to say about our human obligation to try to change the world, I liked what Joe Biden told China’s President, Xi Jinping:

“I was with Xi Jinping in the Tibetan plateau,” Mr. Biden recalled at a fund-raiser in October, reciting a story he has shared at least 13 times this year, according to an analysis of his speeches. “And he turned to me and he said, ‘Can you define America for me?’ This is the God’s truth. He’s repeated it. I said, ‘Yes, one word: possibilities.'”

Anyone who has read my blog postings, on any kind of a consistent basis, will likely remember that “possibility” is my lodestar.

Together, we create the human world in which we most immediately live, and within that world – that world of our own creation – anything is possible! We can (and have, throughout human history) made both our dreams and our nightmares come true.

It is nice to think (as Joe Biden really suggested) that an understanding of “possibility” is a particularly “American” gift to the world. In fact, though, in so many ways, “possibility” is the world’s gift to us.

To all of us. To Americans. To Chinese. To everyone.

I have to say, the fact that Joe Biden recognizes this – and is promoting this understanding of our human situation on the other side of the world – is one of the reasons that I like Joe!

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
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December 19

A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT SPAWNS A MAJOR ANNOUNCEMENT

Well, the J6 House Committee just wrapped up its final meeting, televising a review of previously released footage of that infamous day at the Capitol, including segments of interviews conducted in their month’s long investigation. And, who would have suspected that they might end up referring Hunter Biden to the Justice Department for criminal charges? Nah, that didn’t happen, but if on January 3 the newly seated Republican House has their way that is what will happen.

As had been speculated, the Committee voted to send their recommendation to DOJ prosecutors that former president Trump be charged with four crimes: inciting or assisting an insurrection, obstruction of an official proceeding of Congress, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and conspiracy to make a false statement. This action has no legal weight, but is significant in that it is the first time Congress has initiated a referral for a former president.

The Committee revealed that DJT raised about $2.5M between 2020’s Election Day and January 6, 2021, as the Trump camp promoted their claims of election fraud that did not exist, even after 61 lawsuits across the country were thrown out for lack of evidence. Cited were millions of emails sent by the Republican National Committee to supporters, with claims of a ‘rigged’ or ‘stolen election’ which would give power to an ‘illegitimate’ Joe Biden. According to Zoe Lofgren, Trump used these funds in “concerning” ways, such as to “provide or offer employment to witness”…as in bribery?

The House Committee is also referring four GOP House members to the Ethics Committee for ignoring subpoenas: Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, Representatives Jim Jordan, Scott Perry, and Andy Biggs. Representative Mo Brooks of Alabama, who lost reelection, ignored a subpoena but was not named, though he could still be subject to questioning by the Ethics Committee. The first part of the final report has been released, with Chairman Bennie Thompson saying all ‘non-sensitive’ evidence and transcripts of depositions will be publicly available by year’s end.

The January 6 rallying cry, “Hang Mike Pence” must have slipped out of Pence’s memory bank, because he was quoted as saying, “Congress has no formal role in Justice Department decisions. When it comes to the Justice Department’s decision about bringing charges in the future, I would hope that they would not bring charges against the former President.” Has he donned the mantle of President Gerald Ford? What does ‘Mother’ and the rest of the family think about this, Mikey?

And, curiously, Mr. T had no comment about the criminal referrals, but chose to criticize Biden’s plan to end Title 42, the pandemic era policy that allows the government to expel immigrants quickly. Trump’s suggestion is that recommending “CRIMINAL PENALTIES” for senior officials participating in “the mass release of illegal aliens” be levied. MSNBC even says that the far-right blogs and social media sites are quiet about the J6 Committee recommendations, but we can be sure it’s only the quiet before the storm, because The Don isn’t going anywhere. His base is still with him, and you can bet that they are angry, which only intensifies their aim to get him on the ticket for 2024.

Any House committee hearings we have in 2023 will be digging into Hunter Biden’s laptop, or investigating ‘grooming’ by the LGBTQ community. And look for Steve Bannon and Marjorie Taylor Greene to be smuggling arms from Nicaragua to head up the next Capitol insurrection.

Meanwhile, in the NFT world of digital scams, Little Donnie Dotard is grifting away in his Mar-a-Lago hideaway, his latest “Major Announcement” being that he has absolutely gone off the deep end by issuing digital trading cards. In his announcement, Donnie wrote, “These limited edition cards feature amazing ART of my Life & Career!” The amateurish Photoshopped images depict him playing golf, posing as an astronaut with lasers beaming from his eyes, as a cowboy, ad infinitum. The $99 cost gets the buyer a ‘non-fungible token,’ which exists only in the digital world, and which may be resold at a mark-up, giving Trump another 10% for his coffers per the initial agreement. Trump makes a point of informing buyers that the money does not go to his presidential campaign, but directly into his pocket…to pay for attorneys? Or at least to those who are lucky enough to get paid!

In addition to the $99 NFT, buyers get a raffle ticket, with chances to dine with Trump, golf with Trump, or have a ZOOM meeting with ‘the man, the myth, the legend!’  Aldous J. Pennyfarthing writes in Daily Kos, about the convoluted chain of grifters involved in issuing the NFTs, which makes a good gangster tale in itself. An entity, CIC, was set up earlier this year and holds rights to the imagery and Trump’s name. A group called NFT International, LLC is licensed to distribute – which turns out to be a mailbox at a UPS Store in a Utah strip mall. From there it can be traced to an office building in Wyoming, and finally to a small brick house in Cheyenne, a corporate ‘home’ to scores of business entities, including fraudsters and international criminals.

Aldous goes on to reveal where much of the imagery featuring Trump’s head was stolen (?) – some from Amazon’s website were altered, a Shutterstock image was taken (was it licensed?), a Men’s Wearhouse tux, Scully Leather on Amazon, race driver Charles LeClerk’s body, and on and on. Imagine a tacky post-presidential pursuit, say if Jimmy Carter stopped building houses and started selling fake Rolexes out of his van to approximate what The Don has done. But the grifting will go on and we should look forward with bated breath for his next “Major Announcement.”

Here’s a grift missed by Trump (so far): A phony astronaut scammed a woman into sending him $30,000 (actually 4.4 million yen), which left her heartbroken and broke. The scammer claimed to be a Russian astronaut, stranded on the International Space Station in need of funds to hitch a ride back to Earth. What a guy!

Quite an exciting week to contemplate as we end 2022, so let’s raise a glass as we tiptoe into the next year, hoping for less contentious times and for justice to take a peek outside the blindfold – just this once! Happy New Year!

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. 
 
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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.

    “Candles”

“My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends – it gives a lovely light!”
~Edna St. Vincent Millay

“How far that little candle throws its beams! So shines a good deed in a naughty world.”
~William Shakespeare

“To light a candle is to cast a shadow”.
~Ursula K. Le Guin

“Sure, jets are fast and economical, but, oh my, what fun we’ve lost and what leisure we’ve sacrificed in the race to efficiency. Somehow, stepping onto a plane and zooming across the United States in a matter of hours doesn’t hold a candle to the dear, old-fashioned train ride.”
~Ginger Rogers

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Going into a new year makes me think of celebrating New Year’s back home in Sweden, where I grew up. One of the traditions were watching this skit on TV every year. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!

Of course, before New Year’s comes Christmas. One of the hardcore (and I mean hardcore – nothing disturbed this, ever!) traditions was watching Donald Duck on TV at 3pm on Christmas Eve. This is the day we celebrate, Christmas Day is just for lounging around and complaining about eating too much. What was watched religiously every year was the “From all of us to all of you” special that Disney did in 1958. Each year there was some addition because of new movies, etc, but the core bits were the same. Here is a link, and you’ll see a few clips of the TV presenter that did this every year for 30 years, Arne Weise. The cartoons start about 2 minutes in. You can also find articles about this phenomenon online, here for example. I swear, I’m not making this up!


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
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All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

December 14 – 20, 2022

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Webmistress
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Cotoni Coast National Monument/park disaster, save the trees, save Santa Cruz, Paul Lee tribute. GREENSITE…will return next week. KROHN…top city bureaucrat rakes it in. STEINBRUNER…City water rates rising, new water treatment plant $$, Ryan Coonerty and fire costs, Aptos historic homes, climate change. HAYES…on a brief vacation. PATTON…”Me Inc.”. MATLOCK… smelling rich on that midnight train to Georgia. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover WEBMISTRESS’…pick of the week: another famous Swede… QUOTES…”Traffic”.

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WALT DISNEY AT OUR BOARDWALK 1962.

Here’s the famous Uncle Walt Disney scoping out the rail car ride at our Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Yes, that’s him sucking on a cigarette.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE December 12

COTONI COAST NATIONAL MONUMENT /PARK ISSUES. Now that we (well most of us) have elected Justin Cummings as our new Third District Supervisor there may be hope that some of the issues connected with the soon to be opened Cotoni Coast National Monument Park can be handled with more focus, interest and determination than County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty ever gave this onslaught. The lack of direction from the Bureau of Land Management, no news to Davenport residents about the 500 car parking lot or the much needed answer to their local water supply, and on and on. Of course there’s the 50 to 100,000 visitors that will jam our narrow Highway One (Cabrilho Highway). Time’s a wastin’ and hordes are coming.

SAVING THOSE SPECIAL TREES. So many of our active locals are working hard to save those trees that border the proposed new library/parking garage. It is a perfect example of just how far removed our present City Council is from the wishes of the people they are supposed to represent. Pauline Seales led the following 12 organizations to jointly file this appeal on October 27th.Santa Cruz Climate Action Network, The Sierra Club Santa Cruz, Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Santa Cruz., Yes on Measure O for Our Downtown, Our Future, Campaign for Sustainable Transportation, Downtown Commons Advocates, Youth for Climate Justice, Santa Cruz for Bernie, People’s Democratic Club of Santa Cruz County, Eat for the Earth, Ecosystem Restoration Communities, Electric Vehicle Assn CA Central Coast Chapter.

SAVING SANTA CRUZ. As we look over our shoulders or even stare straight ahead we see and live with homelessness, never-ending high rise monstrous high priced apartment buildings, ever growing traffic jams, over dosing drug addictions, guns, violence and murders and still more. As we face the New Year we should also take a broader view and ask ourselves what cities or towns in the USA aren’t facing the very same issues? Has any government anywhere solved these problems? Think again while we continue to suffer under an abysmal city government what possible solutions exist anywhere? Santa Cruz still has very special somethings, and we shouldn’t forget it!

PAUL LEE TRIBUTE. Manuel Zavala was one of Paul Lee’s good friends and a caretaker/scribe for Paul’s Penny University. He sent out announcement stating a memorial celebration of the life of Paul Lee will take place at the Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Soquel on Dec. 18, from 2 to 4 p.m. You can reach Manuel at wizofmoz@cruzio.com

I search and critique a variety of movies only from those that are newly released. Choosing from the thousands of classics and older releases would take way too long. And be sure to tune in to those very newest movie reviews live on KZSC 88.1 fm every Friday from about 8:10 – 8:30 am. on the Bushwhackers Breakfast Club program hosted by Dangerous Dan Orange.

WHITE NOISE. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (6.6 IMDB). Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig along with Don Cheadle lead the cast of this so called comedy. It has laughs but at our expense while the director makes great fun of our consumerism, our fear of death, our politics, and our family issues. It is also sad, tragic, and bitter and it’s from a book that I haven’t read. It’s hard to follow the varying numbered parts but you’ll stay with it just to see how it ends. The institution that Driver teaches at is called “College on the Hill” which of course reminds us locals of “City on the Hill”. Go for it, you’ll be puzzled, curious, and dubious.

HARRY & MEGHAN. (NETFLIX SERIES) (3.2 IMDB). As one observer said, the Brits pay taxes to keep the Royal Family in their castles and lives. So that justifies why the British press has the privilege of maintaining the paparazzi attacks on their lives. Netflix paid $100 million for the filming rights to this series! These six documentary episodes give us Harry and Meghan Markle’s view of their lives on and under the throne. Meghan the Duchess of Sussex was born August 4, 1981 in Canoga Park, California. Yes, there’s quite a bit of Harry’s mom Diana AND the paparazzi.

TELL ME LIES. (HULU SERIES) (6.7 IMDB). A very silly movie about a group of college freshmen girls and how they handle the foolish sorority rules and just why they band together at all. Their names are Pippa, Bree, Macy and so forth. Macy dies in the first episode and the series gets more ridiculous after that.

INSIDE MAN. (NETFLIX SERIES) (6.6 IMDB). Stanley Tucci and David Tennant star in this tricky and complex drama. Tucci is a former professor of criminology who is on death row in an Arizona prison because he strangled his wife. But he’s so good a crime investigator that all kinds of people come to him for advice while he’s on death row. There’s even some laughs and centers on examining why we do the seemingly strange things we do.

SPECIAL NOTE….Don’t forget that when you’re not too sure of a plot or need any info on a movie to go to Wikipedia. It lays out the straight/non hype story plus all the details you’ll need including which server (Netflix, Hulu, or PBS) you can find it on. You can also go to Brattononline.com and punch in the movie title and read my take on the much more than 100 movies.

PINOCCHIO by GUILLERMO del TORO. (DEL MAR THEATRE). (8.1 IMDB). No laughs, no cartoons, just perfect stop motion serious action during Benito Mussolini’s reign in Italy. Voices by Ewan McGregor, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, Cate Blanchett, Tilda Swinton and more. War, bloodshed, death and dying…this is no Disney version. del Toro is a serious director and his interpretation will make you dig deep and think through every frame of this two hour treatise.

LADY CHATTERLEY’S LOVER. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.8 IMDB). This ancient shocking outré sex book was written in 1928 but no English versions appeared in the USA until 1960 and it hit thee fan and more than 3 million fans. Many filmed versions have lit up our screens and this one is super good. It’s a period piece taking place on a huge estate complete with a grounds keeper who is seduced by the Lady of the manor. Excellent sex scenes, super costumes, fine acting, even what are now common swear words, no big star names, and you won’t take your eyes off the screen for a second.

THE NOEL DIARY. (NETFLIX MOVIE) (6.2 IMDB). This is a futile attempt to create another big deal, feel good Holiday movie. It’s Chicago, the authors mother dies, he has been separated from his dad and will they get back together again…I’m sure no one cares. It’s corny, stilted, forced, and just plain bad acting too.

THE SWIMMERS. NETFLIX SERIES. (7.5IMDB). Two sisters who are Olympic swimmers lead this true story of their escape from Damacus in Syria in 2016 where the war rages on while they work to stay in athletic shape. Their goal is Rio and the 2016 Olympics. It gives us a small picture of what life in like as a refugee and what inhuman ways our fellow humans take advantage of people trying to find a better life. It’s excellent, heartfelt, sincere, well-acted…don’t miss it.

THE WONDER. NETFLIX MOVIE. (6.7 IMDB). This saga and I mean saga is the story of an English nurse who was sent to a small town in Ireland in 1862. Her job is to watch full time a young 14 year old girl who hasn’t eaten any food for four months. It’s a mystery we don’t find out the answer to for ¾ of the movie. It’s tight, mysterious, and also stars movie favorites like Ciaran Hinds and Toby Jones. It’s very serious but gripping, watch it.

FIRST LOVE. HULU MOVIE. (4.7 IMDB). This is a story focusing on two youngsters and their first loves. It’s more about middle class values and how finances separate us. The two leads are not convincing, the story is too superficial and there are no reasons to watch this fatal family drivel.

THE FABLEMANS. DEL MAR THEATRE. (8.3 IMDB) This is the heavily publicized half true biography of famed director Stephen Spielberg‘s life up to the point he starts making movies. It goes from Cincinnati to Phoenix, Arizona and even to his brief time in Saratoga before going to Hollywood and meeting John Ford who is played by David Lynch. Michelle Williams and Paul Dano are his parents and much of the plot centers on the Jewish aspect of his life. Its

2 1/2 hours long and feels like it at times but it’s a fine film.

WELCOME TO CHIPPENDALES. HULU SERIES. (7.4 IMDB). It’s the back stage story of how the once famous nightclubs called Chippendales got its start. One very open minded smart promoter tried many versions of nightclubs that failed until some friends suggested he try a club with male strippers and even a male chorus line. Juliette Lewis is back onscreen again as another advisor who helps the club succeed. It all depends on how much you like watching male strippers, and you’re on your own.

GOODNIGHT OPPY. PRIME. (7.8 IMDB). Angela Bassett narrates this documentary featuring the twin robots that were sent to Mars starting back in 2003.  The rockets roamed and stuttered around part of Mars for nearly 15 years and this movie treats them like childlike human beings. The entire experiment was to learn if there was water now or ever on Mars which would have allowed life to exist there. It’s a cute, human, unforgettable look at the humans at Pasadena’s Jet Propulsion Lab who created it. It’s also mildly diverting.

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December 12

Gillian will return 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.
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December 12

TOP CITY BUREAUCRAT RAKES IT IN.

Note to reader

With picketers at UCSC hoping to see a fair and just contract offered to their membership, and in light of the miserly wage increase earned by the city’s lowest paid workers this past October, city management continues to secure large pay increases. Here is a BrattonOnline column that ran in May of 2021 and reflects how city tax-payer money continues to flow towards the top.

Hey City Manager, Can You Spare a Dime?

In 2019, Santa Cruz City Manager, Martin Bernal, was paid $233,628 in salary and $284,868 when benefits were added. In the years 2015-19, $1,347,498 changed hands between Santa Cruz tax payers and the chief city decision-maker. It is so much money that middle-aged Bernal can now finally retire as he will be receiving around $250k each year for the rest of his life…for a job well done? Meh. If it was well-done, then the past three city councils would not have created the soft ramp for his ever-so soft exit from the city’s base salary top-earner spot. The city of Santa Cruz had an “adopted budget” for 2021 of $323,190,000, and around 800 employees. Bernal’s job was to manage all of that. Now, compare his salary and responsibilities with that of Governor Gavin Newsom. In the same year that Bernal received $284k, the governor was paid $191k in salary and a total of $270k in salary and benefits. By the way, the governor of California manages a budget in excess of $267 billion with 237,826 active employees. So, along comes item #20 on this past Tuesday’s city council agenda, “Resolution amending the Classification and Compensation Plan for the City Manager classification.” Seems like $284k just ain’t enough for the next city manager. Not competitive enough, avers Bernal’s own appointed Human Resources Director, Lisa Murphy. She concocted a resolution that somehow maintains the next city manager ought to be paid $28k more in salary and benefits, sending the position to a $300k stratospheric place in the salary universe. Murphy’s prepared city council resolution reads: “NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Santa Cruz, that the City Council hereby approves increasing the City Manager salary range by 10% effective upon the appointment of a new City Manager which is anticipated to occur in August 2021.”

Is Lee Butler Qualified?

Oh, yes, administrator insiders will argue that we must be competitive. Other cities will steal away “highly qualified” future managers, like Bernal I guess, and we will have to live with the dregs of city CEOs. Heaven forbid, does this mean the door is open for current Planning Director and likely Bernal’s fave choice to succeed him, Lee Butler? Butler has never been a city manager before, but that did not stop him from becoming a planning director with no planning director experience. And why not appoint Butler, he’ll take the “low” pay and city admin people would argue, no one would come to Santa Cruz because of the abysmal city manager salary. Just ask the two planning director candidates before Butler. They told the city it was too expensive to live in Surf City, so Butler was chosen instead. He already had a house on the upper Westside. Now, the time looks ripe for him to swoop in and claim the city manager mantle because the advertisements in Western City magazine (ever hear of that one? It circulates among the city administrator glitterati the world over, a very miniscule readership.) aren’t bringing in enough qualified candidates. Why not advertise in the New York Times, or on university job boards like Harvard, UCSC, and UC Berkeley? What about not hiring someone who went to city manager school, someone who might bring a fresh perspective to local government, has expertise working with homeless populations and managing budgets, a people person with a sense of humor, and an advocate for open and transparent government? What about just placing an ad in the Santa Cruz Sentinel? Ever see a want-ad in the Sentinel for a city manager? That’s because the city manager handles the outreach. He uses city funds, usually totaling around $25-$30k, to advertise the job to people like himself, people who will want (demand!?) over $300k in salary and benefits, or they will say the job simply isn’t worth it. The beach, the redwoods, a vibrant downtown, a diversifying population that is politically engaged and environmentally-minded, a city with its own fire, police, and water departments, and a cute Monterey Colonial Revival-style city hall office. Who wouldn’t want to lead this community? Let’s limit compensation to $200k, which is more than double the median income in Santa Cruz county, because if someone cannot live on that, they will have really lost touch with the people who live here. Oh god, I can see city administrators everywhere furrowing their collective $brow, squinching up their noses, and puckering their lips before asking: Why would someone ever want to run a city on $200k per year, which is about 10% more than the state’s governor is paid? Who indeed!

Addendum

Well, it is now nearing the end of 2022 and yes, an inside baseball city manager was in fact, chosen to lead Santa Cruz. Do you know his name? It’s Matt Huffaker. And last week, he was just given yet another raise, which sends the city manager salary ever higher into the stratosphere, way past $300k in salary and benefits. Guess what? Not only was it higher than what SEIU city workers received in percentage, but in sheer dollars it was ginormous. To see where the bulk of Santa Cruz tax-payer dollars go, just click HERE, or Google Transparent California. I think you may be surprised dear reader that there is a certain Santa Cruz chief of police in total salary and benefits received $423,084 in tax-payer money in 2021. Where does the buck$ stop? I guess in the bank accounts of some heavily compensated city employees.

“The staff at The New York Times are fighting for a living wage and fair pay — something that is not so radical when the company just approved $150 million in stock buybacks for its investors.” (Dec. 10)

The numbers of strikers are holding on the picket line at High and Bay streets while the salary numbers the UC negotiators offer continues to be pitiful. Is there an end in sight? Will fall grades be turned in before a contract is ratified by UAW strikers? Will UCSC winter quarter classes be disrupted?

Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and a Santa Cruz City Council member from 1998-2002 and from 2017-2020. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 16 years. On Tuesday evenings at 5pm, Krohn hosts of “Talk of the Bay,” on KSQD 90.7 and KSQD.org His Twitter handle at SCpolitics is @ChrisKrohnSC Chris can be reached at ckrohn@cruzio.com

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 12

SANTA CRUZ CITY WATER RATES GOING UP…WITH GREAT FINANCIAL BURDEN TO MANY

The City Water Commission heard some very grim news last week with analysis showing that by 2026 when the rates have significantly increased, the number of households that will struggle to pay their water bills will nearly double (Item 5 on the agenda).

 Take a look at the maps showing the stark news (pages 56 through 58 in the packet)

Note the increasingly large areas of red, orange and yellow…people who will struggle to pay their water bills.

Look at the maps on pages 73-79 for some real eye-opening data of low income areas that are struggling now.

Write the City of Santa Cruz Council with your thoughts: citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com

NEW TOOL TO COMPARE COST OF WATER BETWEEN JURISDICTIONS

One presentation to the Santa Cruz City Water Commission last week was from David Mitchell of Oakland’s M. Cubed Consulting, who described the looming economic burden rising water rates (and other utilities) will bring, citing a new nationwide data dashboard tool for comparing affordability among areas.  Oddly, the City of Santa Cruz data is not included in the dashboard, but Watsonville and Scotts Valley are, as well as Soquel Creek Water District.

Duke University created the website tool that allows comparison by adding in filters for jurisdiction and size.  If you hover your mouse over the various census blocks that are color-coded for level of economic burden, you see information about number of households and average income levels.

Take a look

Do you see that areas of Soquel Creek Water District (with about 14,000 customers) are already highly burdened or moderately burdened?  Their rates will go up 9% on January 1, 2023, the fifth consecutive rate increase the Board approved in order to help pay for the bloated PureWater Soquel Project cost.  The Board has discussed selecting a new Rate Increase Ad Hoc Committee next year to shove yet another rate increase through next year.

Write the Soquel Creek Water District Board with your thoughts: Board of Directors bod@soquelcreekwater.org  and copy Administrative Clerk Emma Western emmaw@soquelcreekwater.org

NEWS ABOUT ISSUES WITH PUREWATER SOQUEL PROJECT

While the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors prefers to remain publicly silent regarding the expensive modified PureWater Soquel Project to inject treated sewage water into the aquifer, last week’s Santa Cruz City Water Commission agenda documents provided some interesting updates on the Project:

See page 37 of packet

Construction of the Pure Water Soquel (PWS) project is progressing with installation of the City’s new tertiary treatment system and conveyance pipeline at the WWTF, and the advanced purification treatment facility at the Chanticleer site shown below. 6″ RW pipeline at WWTF

Next Steps:  

Staff and Kennedy Jenks to revisit alternatives and portfolios for WSAIP. 

  • Work with Soquel Creek Water District to define groundwater modeling scenarios. Contract Update(s): Consultant: Kennedy Jenks, Recycled Water Feasibility Study – Phase 2 
  • Contract Signed: December 20, 2019 
  • Project Partners: City Public Works 4.7 
  • Engaged Stakeholders: Scotts Valley Water District, Soquel Creek Water District, County of Santa Cruz 
  • Original Contract Amount: $260,000 
  • Contract Amendment No. 1: $496,205 
  • Contract Amendment No. 2: Administrative only 
  • Contract Amendment No. 3: $350,000 
  • Contract Amendment No. 4: $358,282 
  • Amount Spent: $627,323 
  • Amount Remaining: $837,165 
  • Schedule: Contract is seeing an ongoing delay due to issues related to groundwater modeling, and overall alignment of all components of the supply augmentation analysis. 

CITY WILL SPEND $153 MILLION ON NEW GRAHAM HILL WATER TREATMENT PLANT, DOUBLING TREATMENT CAPACITY

The City Water Commission heard a thorough presentation from the engineer, Mr. Matt Zenar, about the plans for the new enlarged Water Treatment Plant on Graham Hill. The $153 million project will have a Final EIR complete early next year, and construction will begin in 2024 New treatment processes, such as centrifuges to remove sediment from San Lorenzo River during storm events, will not only enable the City to treat more water when it is readily available, but also reduce the amount of chlorine used that causes disinfection by-product water quality problems.

The new large pumps, ozonation type Beltz wells santa Cruzand future UV treatment will really increase the energy demand of the treatment facility.  There will be a new very large (8200SF) covered building over the settling basins to prevent outside contamination.

I asked if there could be solar panels placed on the roof areas, with potential lithium-iron-phosphate battery banks for energy storage and use at night?  No answer.  No one bothered to answer my question about any laboratory upgrades either, even though there had been mention of contaminants of emerging concern (CEC’s) and the fact that the staff report stated Giardia and Cryptosporidium are not effectively treated with chlorine and would require the new treatment processes of Granular Activated Charcoal (GAC), Ozone and later, UV light.  Will their new lab be able to test and determine whether those organisms are present in the water?

With the new treatment plant on board, the City will be able to send water to inject in the Live Oak area Beltz Wells to recharge the aquifer.  Also, once the new Water Rights to the San Lorenzo River are approved by the State Water Board, the City can sell potable water to Soquel Creek Water District in a more regional water sharing scenario.

NEWS ABOUT WATER RIGHTS CHANGES FOR THE SAN LORENZO RIVER TO SUPPORT REGIONAL WATER SHARING WHEN WATER IS AVAILABLE

Until the City’s Water Rights to the San Lorenzo River are changed, the City of Santa Cruz can only sell water taken from the River to customers in its service boundaries.  However, that will change soon, with the actions described below, and support regional water sharing when there are wet winters and water is abundant.

Santa Cruz Water Rights Project. The Santa Cruz Water Rights Project Final Environmental Impact Report was certified by City Council on December 14, 2021, concluding the City’s CEQA process. The State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) process to amend the City’s post-1914 water rights has not been completed, although recent communications indicate a draft Order could be out the first of the new calendar year. 

UPGRADING THE WATER PIPE ROUTE BETWEEN LOCH LOMOND RESERVOIR AND THE CITY WATER TREATMENT PLANT

Many thanks to a reader who pointed out that on Tuesday (12/13), the Santa Cruz City Council will consider Closed Session discussion to negotiate easement agreements on 28 parcels to help improve the pathway for the new 24″ pipeline from the intake in Felton, traveling along areas of the Big Trees Railroad: [Agenda Packet]

Here is a link to the Newell Creek Pipeline Replacement Project

Santa Cruz City Water Dept. Manager Rosemary Menard kindly answered my question e-mailed to her about the easements and whether the new pipeline would be buried:

Hi Becky, there are two segments of the Newell Creek Pipeline involved.  The segment from Newell Creek Dam to the Felton Booster is not in a public right of way but is in an alignment that goes through multiple properties from Glen Arbor to the Felton Booster.  We’re replacing that segment with a directional drilled pipeline that is designed specifically to address the earthquake hazard/fault situation in that area.  Hence, many easements over private properties, although realistically little to no surface disturbance will occur. 

The second segment is from the Felton Booster (corner of Graham Hill Road and E. Zayante Road) to the Graham Hill Water Treatment Plant.  This segment is currently in Pipeline Road in Henry Cowell State Park for much of its alignment and is being moved to Graham Hill Road due to the difficulty of maintaining the pipeline in its current alignment.  Fewer easements are required for this segment due to it being in a public right of way for much of its length. 

All segments of the Newell Creek Pipeline, with the current exception of stream crossing segments on Pipeline Road, are buried. 

Rosemary

This cleared thing up for me, but if you have questions, write to Rosemary Menard rmenard@cityofsantacruz.com

CHANGING THE RULES OF THE COUNTY FIRE ADVISORY COMMISSION WILL HARM THOSE WHO PAY FOR THE FIRE SERVICE

…AND SUPERVISOR RYAN COONERTY JUST DOESN’T CARE

The Board of Supervisors changed the rules so that Fire Dept. Advisory Commissioners no longer have to live in the area served by County Fire, and in fact, don’t have to be in the Supervisorial District they represent.  This was done to allow Mr. Carey Pico, an appointee of Second District Supervisor Zach Friend, to continue to serve on the Commission, even though he lives in Rio del Mar (served by Central Fire District) and not in the boundary of County Fire.  He is clueless about what rural residents need in local emergency response, but it doesn’t matter because he is a close friend of Supervisor Zach Friend.

The item was the final matter to be considered on the December 6 Regular Agenda.  I sat through the Flood Control Board meeting, and two proclamations presentations, and the County Green Business Awards, waiting to address the Board on the Fire Dept. Commission Ordinance matter.  Even though I was the only person left in the Board chambers, and no one else wanted to speak on the item, Chairman Manu Koenig refused my request for one additional minute past the two-minute restriction.

After the meeting, I saw Supervisor Ryan Coonerty in the hallway.  I reminded him that the Fire Dept. Commissioners make crucial recommendations to the Board about financial matters, and it was the Commissioners who did the heavy lifting to get a Special Benefit Assessment tax for emergency response in the County Fire Dept. area, and that those Commissioners need to live in the service boundaries and pay those taxes, too.

“Becky, you are just one person, and you think everything has to be your way.” he said.

“So, you don’t think it matters that a Commissioner can make financial recommendations to the Board and not live in the tax district?”

“NOPE!”

“You don’t think it would better serve the people in County Fire area to have a representative that also lives in the rural area and understands what County Fire Dept. actually is?”

“NOPE!”  he replied as he ducked into his secured office doorway.

“Well, in that case, I guess I am glad you are leaving.”  I said, shocked that an elected Supervisor really doesn’t care about the people he serves, and as a lame duck, has finally admitted it.

RTC MAY PURCHASE HISTORIC HOMES ADJACENT TO RAILROAD IN APTOS

Maybe this will be the passenger rail station area?  Dec. 1 added this to the Closed Session meeting:

Home built in 1916.

  1. Conference with Real Property Negotiators (Pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.8) Property: 7992 Soquel Drive 7992 Soquel Drive (APN 039-232-03), 7994 Soquel Drive (039-232-02), 7996 Soquel Drive (APN 039-232-01) Aptos, CA 95003 Agency Negotiators: Guy Preston, Luis Mendez and Sarah Christensen Negotiating Parties: SCCRTC and The Oak, LLC, Dennis and Julie Ann Jacobsen Under negotiations: Price and terms for acquisition of property

[Agenda]

CLIMATE CHANGE OR CHANGING THE CLIMATE?

I am concerned about the federal government’s 5-year Plan to shade the Earth with aerosols that would cloud things, with the idea of reducing global warming.  [White House is pushing ahead research to cool Earth by reflecting back sunlight]

But will it have other impacts?  

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING.  GO VISIT A GOOD FRIEND.

MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE THIS WEEK AND JUST DO 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
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December 12

Grey is on a brief vacation…he’ll be back soon.

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
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December 5

#340 / Me, Inc.

The New York Times ran an article that was titled as follows, in the October 23, 2022, hard copy edition: “Sick and Tired of Me Inc.” Online, as is so often the case, there is a completely different title: “Burned Out On Your Personal Brand.” That’s the headline you will see if you click that link, above.

The article, which runs to a full page and one half in the hard copy version, outlines the downsides of deciding to make one’s living by becoming a social media “content creator.” That’s a real job, nowadays, as is the job of helping people to become a social media content creator.

As might be expected, The Times’ article contains lots of specific examples of how the initially attractive task of promoting oneself to millions of strangers ends up not being quite as satisfying or enjoyable as the various content  creators thought it would be.

Kahlil Greene has built his brand as “the Gen Z historian,” and has over 500,000 followers on Tik-Tok. “There is no clear delineation between my work life and my personal life,” he told The Times. “Sometimes it can be exhausting.”

Jesse Israel, who lives in Los Angeles, has “a mindfulness brand.” He told The Times about a “period of loneliness, illness and career instability,” in which his social media work undermined his mental health.

Alexa Heller, “a millennial who built a yoga teacher brand,” felt that she should be totally candid with her followers on Instagram. “She posted about making efforts to stay celibate, taking months off from sex and dating.” She also disclosed “the insecurities bred by her acne.” As Heller amassed thousands of followers, she felt “the angst of compressing every strand of her personality, from the professional to the highly personal, into a single persona.” She has since gone into real estate.

Kanchan Koya, whose brand is “Chief Spice Mama,” has accumulated over 230,000 Instagram followers, but when she is “superhonest,” Koya admits that “if my business wasn’t intertwined with my social media presence, I would be on it 90 percent less. I just don’t feel like it’s natural for us as humans to have so many people in our lives.”

I think Koya is right that it isn’t “natural” to have 230,000 or more people “in one’s life.” In fact, though, I would like to ask the question whether one’s followers on a social media platform are really “in one’s life” at all.

I also want to suggest that the kind of relentless self-promotion required of social media content creators is similarly “unnatural,” and is quite likely to lead to the kind of mental health issues experienced by Jesse Israel.

Besides yoga, cooking, mindfulness, and social commentary, of course, “politics” is another area in which various social media content creators are trying to establish themselves as “pundits,” or “commentators,” or “rabble-rousers,” or in some other way to claim both credentials and a following.

Since I think I do know something about politics, here is some advice. If anyone is genuinely interested in practicing politics effectively, I recommend real life interactions with real people, carried out through in-person meetings, and in small groups. Margaret Mead, in other words, the American anthropologist, continues to provide us good advice:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

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
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December 12

SMELLING RICH ON THAT MIDNIGHT TRAIN TO GEORGIA

Despite the sweep of GOP candidates in Georgia’s midterm elections this year, Senator Raphael Warnock managed to earn a runoff spot against Herschel Walker, and by winning, proved himself to be a worthy office holder to the state’s electorate who voiced their warning that imperfect right-wing extremist candidates are unacceptable. In his Senate role, the Reverend Warnock as a politician came across as a moderate, sensible unifier who showed concern for those issues which pertained to Georgians.

By spending tens of millions of dollars in his campaign, he was able to convince voters that Walker had deficiencies in his personal life, and was unable to express a coherent purpose to his quest for high office.  The Donald’s imposition of the football hero onto the GOP ticket proved to be as faulty as most of the other endorsements the former prez made, and despite popular Governor Brian Kemp’s efforts to boost Herschel’s candidacy. Consider President John F. Kennedy’s statement, “Sometimes party loyalty asks too much.”

Trump recruited Walker to play football in his USFL (now defunct) New Jersey Generals, and the relationship has remained since that time, with Herschel appearing later on TVs ‘Celebrity Apprentice.  Contestant Hersch didn’t make it there either, with Trump using his classic line, as he said, “You know how much I like you. I love you. I love you. I am not a gay man, and I love you, Herschel. Herschel, you’re fired.” It didn’t matter that Trump’s pick to run for the Georgia seat lived in Texas, though was a property owner in the Peach State. He was a celebrity! And he was Black!

Certainly, Walker must have appreciated folksy Louisiana Senator John Kennedy’s contribution to his campaign in Loganville, GA two days before the election and wearing a ‘RUN HERSCHEL, RUN’ sticker on his jacket, when he said, “These high IQ stupid people have an answer for everything. You know why? Because they think they’re smarter and more virtuous than the American people.” Got that? “These woke high IQ people are easy to recognize. They hate George Washington. They hate Thomas Jefferson. They hate Dr. Seuss, and they hate Mr. Potato Head. These high IQ stupid people walk around with Ziploc bags of kale that they can eat to give them energy. If you want to eat kale, that’s up to you. I don’t eat kale. You know why? Kale tastes to me like I’d rather be fat.” Don’t watch out for them at the Farmer’s Market!

Georgia GOP operative, Dan McLagan termed Walker’s campaign, “…like a plane crash into a train wreck that rolled into a dumpster fire, and an orphanage, then an animal shelter. You kind of had to watch it squinting with one eye between your fingers.” A Walker staffer told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution the campaign was like a “death march,” even though the Heisman trophy winner earned 48.6 per cent of the vote total. The Republicans being unable to find a suitable White candidate, decided with a racist move to pit a Black man against a Black Democrat opponent in an attempt to split the Black vote, knowing full well that Herschel would be an embarrassment if he should win, but with Mitch McConnell calling the plays, what could go wrong? Luckily, capability and sensibility won the day.

The celebratory aura that the GOP/Dem tie had been broken with Warnock’s victory was soon faded a bit, with Arizona Senator Kyrsten Sinema’s announcement that she would be leaving the Democrats, registering as an independent. Though it is expected that she will caucus with the Dems most of the time, while retaining her committee assignments, VP Harris will see her importance as a tie-breaker unchanged for the most part. Sinema’s stubbornness has been a thorn in the side of Democrats during her time in office, being arrogant, and craving for attention – as exhibited in this change of registration. Many say that she is concerned about running with the Democrats in 2024, and a three-candidate race might give her a better chance of staying in office, though she has worn so many faces in her tenure that she is not trusted.

Senator Bernie Sanders calls Sinema a ‘corporate Democrat,’ ignoring party priorities and lacking the guts to take on special interests. He criticizes her “going along with Senator Manchin, sabotaging enormously important legislation.” An unconcerned Senator Jon Tester believes Sinema’s switch does not “functionally” change the Senate. Prior to her announcement, polling in Arizona showed her favorably at 37% with Dems, 36% with GOP, and 41% with independents – likely to be little changed with more recent polling. Democrats could run a candidate against her in ’24, and may do so if her poll numbers stay this unimpressive; and, depending on her performance until then, they may decide to let her run against a right-wing GOP opponent, and stay out of it.  Otherwise, her incumbency is all she has going for her.

As Bocha Blue on The Palmer Report says, “The GOP insults the intelligence of their voters time after time. They showed it in the midterms. They showed it in the Georgia special election. They continue to show it in their inability to denounce people like Kanye West, Donald Trump, and Nick Fuentes. If the GOP wants to court minority votes, they need to understand minorities. If the GOP wants to court females, they need to understand them. But they do not.” In campaign commercials of some Republicans, they have reportedly darkened the skin of candidates Val Demings and Mandela Barnes, along with other racist nuances. The LGBTQ community has been treated contemptibly, as has the Jewish population. The GOP deserves to lose for aligning with one group – White Christian men.

The GOP goes on to show its compassion in the release of Brittney Griner – a Black female – who’d a thunk it? An American comes home because that’s the only deal offered and the wing nuts go ballistic. If Trump had been in office, the gloating and cheering would have been sugary and loud, but Biden did it, and Trump didn’t give his permission for the GOP to be compassionate. Even the family of Paul Whelan, who is still imprisoned in Russia, understands the dynamics of the situation as they look forward to a day when their loved one is back home. Trump claims that he had an opportunity to bring Whelan home, but turned it down, being the hard-nose, toughie negotiator that he has proven to be.

Speaking of compassion, both Dems and Republicans have been quite respectful in dealing with news in a family matter concerning Senator Ted Cruz’s daughter being found with self-inflicted stab wounds outside the home. Over the past year or so, she has been very outspoken in her criticism of her father and his political smarminess, so let’s hope this is one incident that the family can get beyond – without mentioning Ted’s mockery of Paul Pelosi being attacked with a hammer, or his calling for the blood of Hunter Biden. Bite your tongue!

On the lighter side, for those who have yet to wrap up shopping for holiday gifts, consider Elon Musk’s venturing into the fragrance field (read the last line). This appears on JokeTown’s website:

“Scent has no equal. Elon’s Musk conveys the fragrance of power and electricity, like your first whiff of Martian air or when you realize your net worth has eclipsed your self-worth. This holiday season, give them the gift of billionaire-like confidence. Elon’s Musk is formulated from the tears of haters (and other botanicals) so you can experience what it is like to smell rich. This very real fragrance is exclusively offered by JokeTown for $75 in very limited quantities. Available on planet Earth today. Order yours now and get free shipping. 

This holiday season, give the man who has nothing…everything! Smell rich!

Finally, a fragrance perfect for every event, from black tie galas to posting ‘420’ memes on Twitter. Forget about your one-comma net worth, by elevating your self-worth with every spritz. 

There are approximately 1,375 people in America named ‘Elon’. This is directly affiliated with none of them.”

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. 
 
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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.

    “TRAFFIC”

“They say the universe is expanding. That should help with the traffic”.
~Steven Wright

“Americans will put up with anything provided it doesn’t block traffic”.
~Dan Rather

“Remove all the traffic lights, yellow lines, one-way systems and road markings, and let blissful anarchy prevail. I imagine it would produce a kind of harmony”.  
~Sadie Jones

“Despite the debt, the traffic, the one-party rule, the taxes, and the eagerness of politicians to overwhelm small businesses and large corporate job producers with red tape and unnecessary regulations, the Golden State is still the most beautiful place to live and work in the United States”.   
~Richard Grenell

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Ann-Margret, no last name, is a living legend. She burst on the scene in Bye Bye Birdie in 1963, and she hasn’t really stopped working since. This is a sweet little piece on her that I found entirely by happenstance.


COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Subscribe to the Bulletin! You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!), and the occasional scoop. Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
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