January 29 – February 5, 2020

Posted on January 29, 2020 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Santa Cruz United and Santa Cruz Together financed the recall campaign, Brand New County Democrats, 908 Ocean development getting bigger, Roberta Bristol dances away. GREENSITE…is in Costa Rica. KROHN…Mayor Cummings uniting letter, No on Recall News, No on M campaign, Development in Santa Cruz and VOTE ON MARCH 3. STEINBRUNER…2nd District Campaign news, Becky on Pleich’s Community TV Voices show Feb.2 @ 7 p.m. Traffic relief? RTC progress (where ?) Rural Fire Tax. PATTON…Wealthy people and income inequality. EAGAN…Sub Cons and Deep Covers. JENSEN…reviews The Song Of Names.  BRATTON…I critique Clemency UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…”Owls” 

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FRONT STREET AND SOQUEL. January 9, 1957. This is now the CVS store facing us, the Soquel Bridge going off to the upper center.   I can’t see any gasoline prices on the Shell Station, It’s just as well, we’d just feel bad!.                                       

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

TOM NODDY ON JOHNNY CARSON SHOW (1983)
STUPID HUMAN TRICKS. ( 2004)

DATELINE  January 27

SANTA CRUZ UNITED AND SANTA CRUZ TOGETHER FINANCED THE RECALL ELECTION. 
We’ll be reading all the necessary details in a few days but read these notes and realize just how important the money and influence behind these two groups have become in our community. Here is a preview of some of the facts showing the connection between the two money laden groups and how it was spent.

Santa Cruz Together was initially formed to oppose Measure M (a rent control initiative) in the 2018 election. In 2019, the City Council became more progressive with the election of Justin Cummings and Drew Glover. Then SCT –dominated by contributions from real estate, large property owners, and developer interests –largely underwrote payments per signature to individuals to circulate petitions calling for a recall election. The finances amount to a real shell game, but it is now possible to understand how the scheme worked 

Santa Cruz Together directly or indirectly paid recall signature gatherers $104,561,which would be more than $4 for every petition signature turned in, whether by a professional or a volunteer signature gatherer. A portion of these Santa Cruz Together expenditures on behalf of Santa Cruz United, $29,000 went for “Campaign consultant and petition circulation” to the consulting company Dynami Athens Corporation, incorporated on July 18, 2019 and run by Robert Singleton as the CEO, Secretary, and CFO. The rest of the SCT expenditures funneled to the benefit of SCU went directly to petition gatherers”. More to follow.

BRAND NEW COUNTY DEMOCRATS. Check out their website. Look at their candidates for the Democratic Central Committee. Better yet, join these folks in getting our county and country back on track. Check out who’s running from your County district and support them.   brandnewcountydems.org 

COMMOTION ON OCEAN, Number 908 OCEAN. This is from BrattonOnline March 12 2019. There was much anti-action to this development, now the developers have added even more apartments, plus changes to this mess. “This is one of those many developments being shoved through our system. 333 small Silicon Valley or student apartments being promoted as having three 3 three levels of “affordability”. This “housing” is proposed for the block across Ocean Street from Santa Cruz Diner. It includes Togo’s and Doc Auto…which are not necessarily great architectural monuments that need preserving…but it’s the community that will suffer. One reader wrote.. “It’s the same message from developers and the city; it will all just magically work out wonderfully. What is the summer daily car count for Ocean Street that we’re not supposed to worry about adding to with all these projects? The thousands of cars idling on Ocean and all the way to the beach creates ever MORE Green House Gas (GHG) emissions, not less GHG, so this is working against what the General Plan specifies should occur, a reduction in GHG emissions.” Now (1/27/20) the developers have increased the number of units to 405 units. 
 
The Single Occupancy Units Ordinance (SOU) is flawed for multiple reasons as we are discovering with the proposed 908 Ocean Street project:

  1. The Density of 90 units per acre is more than allowed in the General Plan for the zoning in that area now or even if it was zoned (40 units if 1-bedroom) with the Corridor Plan (55 units per acre)….and yet how is that possible?
  2. It only allows 1 bedroom units of 400-650 feet.  It does not allow for any other option such as 2 or 3-bedroom units for families.  Of course with 908 Ocean Project they could split the project parcels on May and provide that type of housing but they would rather not as they can have more units this way. 
  3. When you have 333 units vs. 166 2-bedroom you can have more people by State law — 1-bedroom allows 2+1 and 2-bedroom allows 2×2+1 so if you roll the numbers you get 999 for 333 SOUs and 830 for 166 2-bedroom units…
  4. The parking allowed is only 1 space per unit and no guest parking.  However, the Architect for 908 Ocean realizing that flaw did allow for some guest parking (and sharing of the commercial parking for guests too).   But again, the code does not allow for guest parking while only allowing one parking space per unit.  
  5. We don’t yet know if there is on-site property management for this massive proposed project at 908 Ocean — consolidation of 19 parcels at Ocean, Hubbard May and onto Water..  
  6. Breaking parking models is the gateway to higher density.  The City Council just did it on a one-year pilot basis for detached ADUs.  And now they are doing it with 908 Ocean Street with multi-car parking racks by a company called Klaus – German company with US office in LaFayette, CA, http://www.klausparking.com/. Can parking racks be considering parking spaces–seems like a grey area? 
  7. This is meant to be the City classic “affordable by design” ideal because they are small units.  However, if you have 2-bedroom units instead, you would have 166 less kitchens and 166 less bathrooms and that would make the units overall more affordable.  The logic doesn’t hold but they persist in making this argument because the price per unit is less.  However, 555 Pacific is 94 SOUs and touted as “luxury urban living”….So that idea of “affordable by design” has not played out that way in practice by the developer/owner Swenson.  Bush shouldn’t get quoted, but this comes to mind, “fool me once, shame on–shame on you.  Fool me–you can’t get fooled again”.  
  8. The 908 Ocean project units may also possibly be half rental and half for sale.  If that is the case, then the loan options for those that may need to get a loan is constrained to possibly a 7-year loan at 6.5% rather than 4%.  When  555 Pacific was researched this was the case in 2016 and this 908 issue needs checking.  We were alerted to this by an article by Jim Chubb of Pacific Inland in 2015.

The Architect, Salvatore Caruso, of the Salvatore Caruso Design Corporation in Santa Clara  is very smooth, and we can be sure he was brought in as much because of his ability to “sell” the project.  Check out Caruso multi family structures here  https://www.caruso-designs.com  . They’ve changed the 908 designs once but what will this add to our sense of Santa Cruz Community…or just plain “Looks” and appeal? If you know any member of the Santa Cruz City Council get to them quickly. Even if you don’t know them , you should tell them what you believe anyways’ end of March item. 

The developers have increased their numbers to 405 units they have also added another parcel on Ocean. They also added Ground floor retail plans. This of course will be decided by the City Council. It’ll be decided BY us too when we vote on March 3rd to keep common sense on the Council.

ROBERTA BRISTOL DANCES ONWARD. Word spread fast among the music-dance community. Roberta had such a huge influence on everyone who cared about dancing. She was generous, patient to a fault and loved by everybody.

January 27.

Gillian Greensite is in Costa Rica for two weeks with little/no internet.

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 KROHN. MAJORITY REPORT.

January 27 

“To succeed, we need to work together. Unfortunately, the recall seriously undermines this effort and our democracy. For the good of our community, the recall should be defeated.” —Santa Cruz Mayor Justin Cummings

Never a Dull Moment
The barnstorming campaign to Vote No on the Recalls continues in a big way this weekend. Meet at the Tabby Cat Cafe at the corner of Cedar and Union streets on Saturday. and Sunday at 10 am. We will be walking neighborhoods. There are two kinds of walkers needed, 1) knock and talk to people about No Recall campaign, and 2) just dropping literature off that has been prepared and waiting to be delivered. If walking is not your thing, we can set you up with a phone list to remind people when the election is–March 3rd–and when the vote-by-mail ballots go out–Feb. 3rd. If you would like to table at the Farmer’s Market Westside or Downtown we can set you up. Go to sign up  https://stopsantacruzrecalls.org/events  

Mayor Justin Cummings Says No on the Recalls
Here is a thoughtful and detailed letter that Mayor Justin Cummings put out this past week to let people know where he stands on the recall. It is on-point and informative. Have a read:

“In a democracy, candidates are elected to represent the broad range of beliefs and opinions of those who live in the community. As Mayor, I work with all members of the City Council to try to find common ground on many of the complex issues our community faces.  Disagreements and different perspectives are not only to be expected, but provide an opportunity for us to work towards consensus on policies that reflect the broad interests of the entire community. While our elected officials may have very different perspectives and policy beliefs, these differences are not grounds for a recall.  

On March 3rd, voters in the City of Santa Cruz will be asked whether or not to recall and remove from office two members of the City Council.  Recalls are intended to remove elected officials who commit crimes or who abuse their powers in office. Regular elections, not recall elections, are the way that members of the public are supposed to make clear their various policy priorities. What is happening in this recall is an attempt to preempt and undermine the normal electoral process, and the voters should reject it. The following highlights what is really happening.

Who’s Behind the Recall
On December 4, 2018, after the results of the last City Council election were certified, although the rent control ballot measure (Measure M) did not pass, two candidates who supported rent control were elected. This created a majority on the City Council in favor of protecting tenants, providing affordable housing, and preserving neighborhoods. While there were provisions in Measure M that made it less appealing to many voters, the success of the “No on M” campaign can also be attributed to the enormous amount of funding that came largely from outside real estate investors.  

Here are just some of the contributions to the No on M campaign:

  • National Association of Realtors (Chicago, IL) – $287,500
  • California Apartment Association (Sacramento, CA) – $68,000
  • Pacific Shores (Belmont, CA) – $18,450
  • 1010 Pacific Investment (Belmont, CA) – $10,350

To see all donations, go to this dropbox

Many of these outside investors viewed the new majority on the city council as a threat to their investments, especially with Santa Cruz as a site for speculative housing investment, which has resulted in exorbitant housing costs.  Given the discussion of recalling two progressives on sites like Next Door immediately after the new council was seated, it was only a matter of time before two members of the pro-tenant and affordable housing City Council majority were singled out for recall. We now see the same group and outside funds being used towards this recall effort.  

Factors to consider 
It is important that we take into consideration the voices of working-class people in our community, not the big money interests that are trying to buy our community and our government. The City Council majority, made up of predominantly renters, recently put a stop to the so-called Corridors Plan, which supported very high-density housing development on the east side of the city, putting local neighborhoods in jeopardy. The Council majority has also increased the amount of affordable housing that developers must provide, in order to assure that new housing doesn’t serve only those with high incomes.  Additionally, the new council has been working on policies that protect tenants, the environment and novel approaches to addressing homelessness in our community.  The Council majority has made the protection of our neighborhoods, local businesses, and tenants one of the highest priorities as additional market rate, luxury housing development is proposed.

Conclusion
The recall election scheduled for March 3rd is extremely divisive and makes it very difficult for City Council Members to cooperate and collaborate successfully. After the adversarial Measure M election, the community needs to heal, not fracture further. While Council Members sometimes disagree on issues, we all share a love of Santa Cruz and the desire to make it the best that it can be for everyone. To succeed, we need to work together. Unfortunately, the recall seriously undermines this effort and our democracy. For the good of our community, the recall should be defeated.

“Our campaign is about doing something different. It’s about lifting up the voices, struggles and power of working people. When we are in the White House, we will double union membership. We’ll do it for workers like Alex, fighting for unions like @SEIU.” (Jan. 27)
(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 27

CAMPAIGN FOR SECOND DISTRICT COUNTY SUPERVISOR IS GOING WELL!
I am running against the incumbent for County Supervisor in the Second District, and am meeting many people far and wide who support a change of elected leadership in local government. I have the support of hundreds, but no organizations are willing to endorse me because of the real possibility of retribution. Isn’t that sad? It does not deter me, but rather only compels me to work harder to be a voice for all people.  

INTERVIEW ON COMMUNITY TV ON SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 2 ON ‘VOICES OF THE VILLAGE’
Because Community TV interviewed the incumbent in late December, 2019 to discuss his candidacy, I am entitled to the same time upon my request.  Community TV has been really wonderful in providing quick response and a great live interview opportunity this Sunday, February 2, at 7pm.  The host, Steve Pleich, let me know that he ran against County Supervisor Ryan Coonerty in 2018 because he also feels that an important elected position should not run unopposed.

It also appears that Steve Pleich intends to run again in 2022. 

All elections need people to step up and run, not to be discouraged by what ‘experts’ claim the financial cost has to be, or whether or not you think you can win.  If you run for an office, we all win.

WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT ANOTHER YEAR AND ANOTHER $1 MILLION STUDY WITH NO TRAFFIC RELIEF ACTION?
The Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) voted to spend another $1 Million in public money to do another year-long study of the Transit Corridor Alternatives.  The Commission wants your input on this and is offering two Open House gatherings for the public to tell them what they think about this.  

  • February 11, 6-7:30pm, at the Live Oak Grange ( 1900 17th Avenue)
  • February 12, 6-7:30pm, at the Watsonville Library Community Room (275 Main Street, on the 2nd Floor)

Read more here

Deadline for public comment is February 13, 2020.  I think the RTC has no intention of ever actually doing anything….expensive studies keep many people employed, and the money pot to fund this seems bottomless.    The California Rail Plan for 2040 makes it clear that the State intends there to be rail connection between Santa Cruz and Monterey, with a link to high-speed rail servicing the Bay Area.  Look at the map on page 9.

This will take time, and a lot of money.  But we could build a serviceable trail alongside the rail NOW and at least offer people an option to use bicycles, electric carts/pod cars to use that neglected rail/trail corridor just sitting there being vandalized.  Can’t we just DO SOMETHING to provide another choice for traffic relief?!

In terms of a fast rail service in the future, it seems to me a tall order.  What about all the crossings and curves along the way?  Maybe we should be again looking at the monorail along Highway One to provide a faster connection for those people who live in the Watsonville area and beyond and currently sit in traffic for hours both ways.  And what about the hundreds of people who commute over Highway 17 everyday?  They need safer, faster transportation as well.

Do try to attend those RTC Open Houses, and learn more.  Speak up!  It’s your only chance….until the next study begins.

WILL THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS REALLY CERTIFY THE NEW RURAL FIRE TAX CAUSING ADVERSE ECONOMIC HARDSHIP FOR SENIORS AND OTHER FIXED INCOME PROPERTY OWNERS?
The Santa Cruz County Election Dept. has sent a letter of certification for the County Service Area (CSA) 48 Fire Department Benefit Assessment ballot measure, and the Board will consider Tuesday, January 28, whether to certify the results and impose the new large tax.  This tax would be in addition to what CSA 48 property owners are already paying, about $159/house/year.  

Featured as Item #8 on the Agenda, the report by County Clerk about the number of ballots is disturbing.  The report does not include the total number of ballots mailed out to CSA 48 property owners that would be assessed, and does not include the number of ballots that were returned by the postal system as invalid or in error. It concerns me that 101 ballots were received after the close of the January 14, 2020 public hearing, and therefore were not even tabulated in the results.

Because I observed the ballot counting process on January 14, 2020, I know that the actual ratio of ballots returned of the total mailed is only about 25%.  I know that most of the ballots that were returned were sent within the first three weeks after the ballots were mailed from Sacramento by the SCI consultants.  I know that the County changed the information available to the public on the County Fire Dept. website about one month after the ballots were mailed, so the early voters did not have the advantage of the added information before they cast their votes.  I know that, although the Election Dept. has done a stellar job in verifying the accuracy of whether a parcel owner voted yes or no, there has been no verification of the software supplied by SCI consultants that was used to determine the weight of the votes by scanning in the bar code of the ballots.

Does this seem transparent or legally-defensible to you?  I don’t think so, and have sent written comment to the Board of Supervisors to ask that they defer certifying the results and imposing the draconian new tax on rural property owners.  It took County staff nearly one week to post my comment for the Board to see when the matter was before them on January 14, 2020.  I hope my concerns will get before the Board in time now….

Read the materials for Item #8 here  

POTHOLE RELIEF COMING FOR NISENE MARKS STATE PARK ENTRANCE
While the lack of parking for Nisene Marks State Park is still a safety issue for visitors and local residents alike, State Parks Director Mr. Chris Spohrer has assured me the potholes will be filled soon.  He also let me know that there will be 3000SF of new paving soon that will address major road issues between the Park entrance and the kiosk.    Stay tuned.

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING.  RUN FOR AN ELECTED OFFICE OR HELP SOMEONE WHO IS.  BUT JUST DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK AND MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE!

Cheers,

Becky Steinbruner

Vote4BeckySteinbruner@gmail.com

BeckyforCountySupervisor.com 

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 is running again for Second District County Supervisor right now!!

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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January 25
#25 / Why It Matters

I subscribe to a web-based news service called Axios. That means I get daily bulletins on a wide range of topics that reflect the current preoccupations of the public – or, the preoccupations of the public as the Axios editorial staff believes such preoccupations to exist. Usually, Axios is pretty good about identifying my own preoccupations!

On December 28, 2019, my “Axios AM” bulletin highlighted six items of interest. Item #1 was about the NBA. Item #2 was headlined, “Richest gained 25% this year.” Here is a quote from the lead paragraph in Item #2: 

The world’s 500 wealthiest people tracked by the Bloomberg Billionaires Index added $1.2 trillion [in 2019], boosting their collective net worth 25% to $5.9 trillion…

The next paragraph in this Axios report started out with this phrase: “Why it matters.” Well, why does it matter, as Axios sees it? Here’s what Axios said: 

Why it matters: Such gains are sure to add fuel to the already heated debate about widening wealth and income inequality.

The fact that the net worth of the ultra-rich and “the billionaire class” increased by twenty-five percent last year will, I am certain, “add fuel to the … debate about … income inequality.” Axios is certainly right about that. But is the fact that there will be increased debate about income inequality really what matters most about the fact that income inequality is escalating in such unprecedented ways?

There is, I would argue, a substantive reason to be concerned about what is happening here. The photo at the top of this blog post, coming from the Axios AM bulletin, depicts a scene from the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, held last October. The picture below, from my hometown, Santa Cruz, California, depicts a scene from the so-called “Ross Camp,” as more than a hundred homeless persons were dislodged from a camp they had set up behind the Ross Dress For Less store in Santa Cruz. 

On a number of occasions, I have written in this blog about the concept of the “Commonwealth,” urging that we start understanding our politics and economics from a perspective that admits that the wealth that our society produces is a “common” achievement. In other words, we are all contributors to the creation of wealth. 

If that idea permeates, then the fact that the wealth being produced by our common efforts is being allocated, increasingly, to a very few individuals, should tell us that something is wrong. Moreover, the substantive impact of our current practices is to create a world that is less “clean,” less “safe,” and less “satisfying” for all of us than the world we could create if we used our commonly created wealth to benefit more of us, instead of fewer of us. 

Whether we focus on infrastructure, on health care, on child care, on environmental protection and global warming, on housing, on education, on the drug crisis, or on whatever we might care about, ALL of us benefit when we invest in ALL of us! That’s why the spiraling income inequality that Axios has reported actually “matters.” Our world is falling apart presbecause our current economic and political arrangements have failed to direct our commonly created wealth to our common problems and to maximizing our common opportunities. 

In a country in which it is “possible,” though not inevitable, that we can, collectively, determine what happens to us, the bulletin from Axios should “matter” because that bulletin tells us that changes need to be made. There is an election in California on March 3rd, and a couple of the presidential candidates on the ballot have made a commitment to try to reduce income inequality – and to use our commonly created wealth to benefit ALL of us, focusing on the issues identified above. If you vote absentee, you’ll get your ballot in a very few days. Do you need the names of the presidential candidates who are committed to doing something about income inequality? Let me know if you haven’t already figured it out!

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. More sidelong glances at our mostly hidden sub-cons…which can mean so very much…or not!!!

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Carl and the foreign policy” 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 with the new poem “Nice To Meet You”. 

THE OTHER PLACE. The Jewell Theatre’s production of “The Other Place” (now though Feb. 16 –Colligan Theatre- Tannery) is a haven for anyone involved or immersed in Dementia, Alzheimer’s, or the so called prescription “cures“.  Julie James plays the nearly charismatic business woman who goes through dementia episodes she can’t identify or deal with. The Other Place name most likely could refer to her going to the crazed, unexplained place of her demented seizures.  It’s a very serious, one act play (1 ½ hours) and you’ll play it over and over again during your own questions of reality. Go see it.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “We’re all waiting for the Oscars, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). But meanwhile, consider The Song Of Names, an often moving meditation on the purpose and privilege of artistic expression about a Polish violin prodigy in postwar London. Read all about in this week’s Good Times.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975. 

CLEMENCY. Alfie Wodward has rarely been better in any role and she’s deep and magnificent in this one. She plays the warden of a prison and presides over executions by lethal injection. We watch her as she watches and is deeply affected, by these legal and approved deaths. She should have been entered into the Oscars last year and won one this year on Feb. 9th. CLOSES THURSDAY JANUARY 30

THE TWO POPES. Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Based on a terribly troubled time in the Catholic Church namely 2005 these two leaders argue and discuss their personal and public issues that become completely absorbing. Yes, child abuse is in there too. Just to watch these tow master actors is a reminder of what and where good acting can take audiences. Go see it, but do hurry.

UNCUT GEMS. 92 RT. Adam Sandler is amazingly perfect in this role of a New York City Jeweler/ gambler who risks his family and his own life to make a quick (two days) bundle of money on a gem sale. You will never forget Sandler in this film. Exciting, tense, and believable. Don’t miss it. Sandler’s acting talent is surprising, especially when we have become so used to his comedy roles.

  1. Do not see this film if you expect to watch much of Benedict Cumberbatch. IF he’s in it more than 2 minutes I’ll eat my helmet!!! I also wouldn’t give this movie ANY ” best of” awards, and am surprised at what it’s won so far. It’s the story of two foot soldiers slogging through, under and around enemy lines to deliver an important life saving message. It’s an impressive hunk of movie making and yet it won’t really draw you into the story. 89RT

JUST MERCY. A fine film starring Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan, and an excellent role for 

Tim Blake Nelson. A true story about a guy (Foxx) being sentenced to the chair for a crime he didn’t do. This sounds like a dozen films we seen before BUT it’s better,  go see it. 99RT. 

 MARRIAGE STORY. A fine and well acted film about a show biz couple, their children , divorce, and some odd choices by Scarlett Johansson the wife to Adam Driver’s husband. Laura Dern does her best role in decades. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta have some small scenes. You are guaranteed to relive some of your own poor choices in your marriage too! 84 audience score on RT.A Netflix production.

HIDDEN LIFE. If and that’s a big IF you are a Terrence Malick fan you’ll love this masterpiece that he directed. Malick directed Paradise, Amazing Grace, The Tree of life, The Knight of Cups, The New World and other lengthy cinematic statements. Hidden Life is almost exact;ly 3 hours long. It’s totally beautiful and is about a family man who refuses to enter the German army during WWII. I tried to like it, but Malick takes so much screen time to get his complex internal messages out I lose contact. I predict that future generations will “discover” Malick’s films and give them the attention he’s not getting from us. CLOSES THURSDAY JANUARY 30

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

AERONAUTS. Felicity Jones plays a very cute and Disney like character matching Eddie Redmayne’s equally sweet and nerdy partner in this supposedly true story of an early hot air balloon ascension in Britain’s Victorian age in 1862. It’s cute, some funny parts a bit scary due to heights of the balloon.  Being such a cute movie… they actually changed the sex of the person accompanying Redmayne , it was really a male friend of his. It’s on Amazon.

STAR WARS. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. 54 RT. George Lucas’ Star Wars empire started 42 years ago with wildly clever and intelligent twists and an absolutely brilliant story line. We watched politely while some sad sequels stained our screens, now thanks to Disney buying and producing this concluding finale we have an ending to the saga that isn’t worth your time or expectations. Trite, predictable, and sad to see our old heroes and heroines suffer with a plot as dull and unrewarding as this one. You have to go if you’ve seen more than one of the series…just don’t expect to be satisfied with the conclusion.

CATS. Hard to believe this insanity of a movie is from a book by T.S. Eliot. It’s even more difficult to acknowledge the amazing stage history of the musical. Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and dozens more stars wore whiskers; and danced and made fools of themselves only for millions of dollars in salaries. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself refuses to talk about this flop. It got an 18 RT. As a play it has also been playing on stages around the world for 40 years!!! They spent $95 million dollars to make this movie. I wouldn’t see it if I were you. When D.B. and I saw it we were the only two people in the theatre.!!!

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Linda Berman Hall reveals secrets about The Santa Crux Baroque Festival’s new season on Jan.28. She’ll be followed by Chris Connery talking about the UCSC East Meadow Action Committee. Peter Klotz- Chamberlin from the Resource Center for Non Violence guests on February 4. After which Nancy Macy who is  Environmental Committee Chair of the Valley Womens Club talks about PG&E and other problems. Jean Brocklebank talks about our Santa Cruz Public library issues on Feb 11. 

OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

Don’t try this at home. Or, if you have the appropriate space and safety gear, do try this at home. Watch an intrepid Youtuber make a coffee table out of 20,000 matches…

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    “OWLS”

“Like some winter animal the moon licks the salt of your hand,
Yet still your hair foams violet as a lilac tree
From which a small wood-owl calls.”  Johannes Bobrowski 

“Owl,” said Rabbit shortly, “you and I have brains. The others have fluff. If there is any thinking to be done in this Forest–and when I say thinking I mean thinking–you and I must do it.”  A.A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner 

“Sometimes an owl is just an owl.”  Mark Frost, The Secret History of Twin Peaks 


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82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 22 – 29, 2020

Posted on January 24, 2020 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON… abortions services now at UCSC, $5000,000 kickback to city rom Dream Inn Developers, big L.A. money developer buying into Circle Church. Church would be developers and landscape issues, Billionaires amongst us. GREENSITE…on rape. KROHN… MLK Weekend, Vietnam War memories, No Recall Report, Krohn Ballot Statement. STEINBRUNER…2 County candidates forums, Soquel Creek rates rising, no EIR with Soquel Creek, Rancho Del Mar and invading chain stores, Aptos Village plans and no feedback. PATTON…Trump- cause or effect? EAGAN…Sub Cons and Deep Cover JENSEN…Take Away Art To Go show. BRATTON…no new movies but many greats still showing. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…”DRONES”

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KNIGHT’S OPERA HOUSE. Union and Center Streets. This 800-seat venue cost $4,200 to build in 1877, and opened with a performance of “Bohemian Girl”. It lasted 44 years, until 1971, when it was hauled to Capitola on June 7,1961. The posters show John. L. Sullivan as an attraction.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

DATELINE January 20

ABORTION SERVICES AT UCSC. I was really surprised, moved, curious — but mostly surprised — to read Julian Barragan’s article in last week’s City on A Hill, titled “ABORTION SERVICES TO COME TO UC and CSU CAMPUSES”. It said: California is the first state in the nation to REQUIRE on-campus abortion medication services. On Jan 1, Governor Newsome signed a bill that says all California State University and UC campuses must provide students with access to abortion services. Before this, no public universities had student abortion services. The article goes on to state that abortion services are a constitutional right. Read all the details here. Was it just me or did everyone miss that powerful news?

$500,000 KICKBACK TO CITY FROM DREAM INN DEVELOPERS. Last Tuesday night on my Universal Grapevine radio program, Julie and Stu Phillips talked about the $500,000 “donation” to the city from the Ensemble developers IF their Dream Inn expansion was passed. Little note was made of this, and the question does nag…Is this any way for a city council to stay honest? What accounting will be made of the money? Who decides this? Will we see, or have we overlooked, other such donations from other developers…under other titles? Who’s looking into this?

CIRCLE CHURCH AND GOOD TIMES OPINION LAST WEEK. Sue Powell, one of the very energetic and driven leaders of the Circle Neighborhood, wrote this powerful letter to Good Times last week. “The current owners have abandoned landscape maintenance and have let the buildings fall into disrepair. This formerly vibrant and lively property has become neglected and underutilized. Neighbors and friends of the Circle Church want to protect the Church from demolition and support revitalization. We want to see the Circle Church return to its full glory as a thriving spiritual and community Center, the heart of the Circles Neighborhood, and a hub for classes, gatherings, and events. We have been active for over a year and have more than 1050 petition signatures and a large email list. 

We were especially concerned about the developers’ first historic report for the property. Guild’s article has incorrect information about the historic report. The developers’ historic report uses the California State document number of DPR523. The State did not prepare this report—the developers paid a consultant to prepare it. This first historic report was critiqued by members of the Santa Cruz City’s Historic Preservation Commission and found to be inadequate, incomplete, and full of errors. The developers were required to submit a second historic report.

The Santa Cruz City Council voted on December 10th to ask the HPC to review the second historic report at a Public Hearing on Thursday, January 30, 7pm, at the City Council Chambers (note re-scheduled date). The City Council has also asked the HPC to provide a recommendation as to whether the property merits designation as a Local Historic Landmark. We are convinced that the property will receive historic designation and will be spared from demolition.

Sue Powell | Circles Neighborhood

MORE ON GOOD TIMES & CIRCLE CHURCH. In that very same issue, Jennifer Smith wrote…Re: Circle Church. As a member of the Circle Women’s Coalition, a group that has come together to preserve and develop this property as a community center, I am aware that a very purchasing offer was made to the Circle of Friends. And they refused. Also of significance is the fact that a huge L.A. developer, Alex Hakakian is the major shareholder of this development. And that’s being buried in the greenwashing of this project. We all agree housing is an issue. But hitting a community for the financial benefit of a few very privileged people isn’t folksy. And neither is this project. There’ll be a Public Hearing – Historic Preservation Commission. Thursday, January 30th, 7 pm. City Council Chambers. The Circle neighborhood needs your support…don’t miss this meeting .

162 BILLIONAIRES HAVE THE WEALTH OF HALF OF HUMANITY In a stark reminder of gaping global inequality; a new report says 162 billionaires, including Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, have as much wealth as the poorest half of the world. There are 2,153 billionaires globally, and, in 2019, they held more wealth combined than 4.6 billion people, according to the report. I found this on [HuffPost] 

January 20

RAPE: THE UPHILL BATTLE FOR JUSTICE.
Photos of Harvey Weinstein, grey, rumpled and hunched over his walker are pathetic. As in designed to evoke pathos. They are similar to images of Bill Cosby during his trial, blind with white cane, barely able to walk, supported by family and friends. Poor accused men! 

To bring any powerful man to justice is an uphill battle. Scores of women have to risk reputation, privacy and overt hostility to create a critical mass of credibility. The reporters bringing the stories forward have to be meticulous in their documentation.  And still, the scales of justice are weighted towards the powerful men, often through the patriarchal institutions that have to be navigated.

The recent story of sexual assault shared by Evelyn Yang, wife of Presidential candidate Andrew Yang is one example. She was pregnant with their first son in 2012 and under the care of OB/GYN Dr. Robert Hadden of Columbia University’s New York Presbyterian Hospital. Now there’s a few patriarchal institutions for you: ivy league university, church, medical establishment.

During her appointments, Dr. Hadden made inappropriate sexual innuendos, escalating with each visit and finally sexual assaulting her when she was 7 months pregnant. She, like so many victims of rape told no one, not even her husband.  In all there were 32 women who accused Hadden. He had been arrested in his office in 2012 on a woman’s charge that he sexually assaulted her but the arrest was voided. He went back to his job, examining women with no required aide in the room, which as Evelyn Yang shared, would have prevented him from sexually assaulting other patients including her.  Eventually multiple victims came forward and the case was taken up by Manhatten DA Cyrus Vance, the same DA who gave Jeffrey Epstein a light sentence. Despite the charges, which included a felony, the DA opted for a plea agreement allowing the good doctor to serve no prison time although he did have his license revoked. Take a moment to reflect on how much prison time a poor black man would serve for a fraction of similar crimes. Seems the Scales of Justice has taken her blindfold off.

I am not unsympathetic to the difficulty of achieving a conviction in a rape trial. Many times a DA opts for a lesser charge to get any conviction at all, especially if the accused is well off, white and professional or any one of such status symbols. If this were 1950 or even 1980 such miscarriage of justice would be the norm. However this is a new millennium and norms are changing as we saw in the Brock Turner/ Stanford case. Despite the fact the victim was severely intoxicated, a condition that in earlier decades would have earned her derision and instant sympathy for the male, comparatively little victim blaming ensued. Not that justice was done but public sympathy was in her court. I’m also aware of false reports, (which are not the norm) and how lives can be ruined by such accusations. There are black men who have served decades in prison on the false charge of rape or through the heavy hand of racist law enforcement professionals. This discrepancy only highlights the difficulty of bringing powerful men to justice for sexual assault when the institutions give them cover. 

Then there’s the President with multiple accusations of sexual harassment, sexual battery and sexual assault against him with his own corroboration for some of the charges on tape. While Weinstein and Cosby were on the way down when the charges were finally taken seriously, it seems the President is riding high, and so far, beyond the reach of justice. 

Perhaps the kernel of this story is the 6 years of silence within which Evelyn Yang endured the knowledge and bodily memory of what the doctor did to her. It takes thousands of women’s voices to break the code of silence. Even in bucolic Santa Cruz rape is silenced. Last year there were 29 rapes reported to SCPD. Did you ever read about a single one in the local press? Neither did I. Did you know that SCPD has changed its reporting methods on its website so that no information is available save quarterly total numbers of rape and percentage changes? Prior to that, there were monthly tallies, with numbers of arrests and disposition of cases. Just a small step backwards but all regressive journeys start with a single step.

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 20
“Tonight, however, I wish not to speak to Hanoi and the National Liberation Front, but rather to my fellow Americans. There is at the outset a very obvious and almost facile connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I, and others, have been waging in America.” (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Martin Luther King Weekend in Santa Cruz
We tried our best to be our best this past Saturday. Hundreds marched down Pacific Avenue with the intended purpose of reaching the London Nelson Community Center where an array of talent was on display. Singer Tammi Brown brought the house down–twice–with her music, the last one being a Marvin Gaye song, What’s Going On?, which she sang acapella, oohh…With her on the stage were local luminaries, Pastor Deborah Johnson, Prof. David Anthony, SC Warriors coach Chris Weems, Mayor Justin Cummings, and NAACP president, Brenda Griffin. The packed auditorium ate it up as we were all trying to practice community, support diverse voices, and come together.

The unjust immoral war taking place in Vietnam, 
“…my conscience leaves me no other choice…”

Part of how I celebrate the life of King is to listen to my favorite speech, Why I Am Opposed to War in Vietnam. He gave this 40-minute address at the Ebenezer Baptist Church and again under the 1st Ave and 47th Street signs in NYC to a crowd of over 100,000. It was truly his break from any of the safe liberals who may have been on the fence in supporting him.  He said, I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America.  What he did best in this speech was to draw parallels between that war and the poverty and turbulence in many U.S. cities at the time. The Pentagon’s “vital interest” should not have been in Hanoi, but in Detroit, Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles. While I listened this time, I realized how long it takes to get to a place of peace. King offered us these words in April of 1967. The war did not end until January 27, 1973. Here is a recording of that speech:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyE4eo_leX8 

I also urge everyone to go and visit the King Center in Atlanta, Georgia. Your life will not be the same.

The No Recall Report
I have lived in Santa Cruz since the fall of 1983. In all that time, I have never had so many well-wishing residents approach me with condolences about being on the recall ballot, and then they muse out-loud words about being baffled as to why and how it got to the ballot, and lastly, the conversation usually ends with kind words of cheer to keep on fighting, that’s why we elected you, many say. I cherish these encounters and realize how blessed I am to live in this community where people think so deeply, and sincerely, about their political, spiritual, and social lives. I’ve written a ballot statement that will go out on February 3rd to all Santa Cruz registered voters. I truly believe this recall is about raising uncomfortable issues, perhaps not always in the most politic of ways, I can learn, concerning who gets to live in Santa Cruz. The last two elections have yielded new voices with potent views around how difficult it is to make it here in Surf City. The rents are too damn high and the salaries too damn low. I have always felt a responsibility to speak out, especially in support (council votes) of affordable housing because I like many in this community actually bought a three-bedroom house on Barson Street back in the day, 1991 in my case, and had a mortgage payment, under $2000 that was reasonable. It is my pursuit as a member of the city council in supporting affordable housing, services for the houseless, support for neighborhood preservation, and taking a firm stand against any UCSC growth that has led to this political recall. It is not about any abuses or illegal activities that I am aware. The recall is over political disagreements, and political disagreements are usually settled by the next election, not a $150,000 tax-payer funded recall vote.

My Ballot Statement
The City of Santa Cruz is swept up in a well-funded, multi-city, developer-backed campaign to remove elected leaders with records of standing up for tenants and neighborhoods. These interests are targeting me because I ask for expansive neighborhood input on development proposals, I fight for low-income housing, and I defend preservation of neighborhoods – including our urban tree canopy.

Resisting entrenched interests, the council majority elected in 2018 passed an ordinance that requires developers to provide 20% affordable units in new construction. We increased access to medical services for downtown residents. We passed a climate emergency declaration and secured support for tenant legal services. Our council majority created emergency shelter funding to support people seeking housing and employment, and I led the effort to increase the wages of the lowest-paid city workers.

What will the recall do to Santa Cruz? If voters do not take a stand, the pay-off for real estate and developer interests will be green-lighting high-density luxury development with few affordable units for working families, and our main library will be moved into a new, unwanted six-story garage, displacing our popular Farmer’s Market. My bottom line: Santa Cruz is not for sale! 

Please vote NO on both recalls.

stopsantacruzrecalls.org

“What Dr. King understood is that the only way you make real change—whether it is racial justice, social justice or economic justice—is when millions of people come together, stand up and fight back”.
(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 20

TWO CANDIDATE FORUMS NEXT WEEK
With ballots arriving in mailboxes in two weeks, the forums and discussions around many candidates and issues is steaming.  I am running for County Supervisor in the Second District against incumbent Zach Friend.  I hope that he is available for the two excellent candidate forums next week…reliable inside information is that he is flying all over the country.  Hmmm….  It would be nice if he stayed around and took care of local problems, don’t you think?

Mark your calendars for these great opportunities to learn more about candidates and issues:

1) Monday, January 27 at 6 pm, Corralitos Women’s Club (33 Browns Valley Road, Corralitos)  hosted by the Corralitos Women’s Club, and includes several candidate offices

2) Wednesday, January 29 at 6:30 pm,  Cabrillo College lecture hall 454   “Supervising Santa Cruz County”  hosted by the Santa Cruz Sentinel

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT RAISED RATES AGAIN!
If you are a Soquel Creek Water District customer, watch out for an even HIGHER water bill next month!  That’s because the rates went up another 9% on January 1, in order to pay for the expensive and potentially very risky plan to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the aquifer that supplies drinking water for most of the MidCounty area.  The Board is considering a resolution on January 21 to agree to pay back a $36 million loan from the State for this Project, adding more debt burden for the ratepayers.

Write the Board and let them know what you think: Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors bod@soquelcreekwater.org 

They rarely answer, and the new policy shoves correspondence into a separate place on the website so that it is not included in agenda packets.  Nevertheless, they need to hear from you.

APPEAL OF PUREWATER SOQUEL PROJECT EIR IS UNDERWAY AND RECLASSIFIED
The Board of Soquel Creek Water District will also consider authorizing another $175,000 to pay Best, Best & Krieger attorneys to fight my request that the District just do a decent Environmental Impact Report (EIR).  My primary request is that there be full analysis of the Project Alternative of conjunctive use and cooperation with Santa Cruz City instead of dismissing it.  There are eight other violations alleged as causes of action named in the Petition for Writ of Mandate.  I am not asking for money…just a better level of environmental review that would probably show this expensive Project is unnecessary.

I have appealed the Order to Deny the Writ of Mandate.  I learned last week that the attorney from Best, Best & Krieger had incorrectly classified the case as “Limited” when it should have been classified as “Unlimited” by definition of being an environmental case, and therefore the appeal action is being transferred to the Sixth District Court of Appeals in San Jose.    

I really have to wonder about all that. The District hired Best, Best & Krieger because of their expertise in environmental law and has paid the firm hundreds of thousands of dollars to defend the matter.  

On January 21, the Board will consider an additional $175,000 to fight the appeal.  All I want is for the District to do better environmental analysis and address the allegations of multiple violations of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) law, such as a Final Analysis of how injecting treated sewage water into the aquifer would affect the aquifer and the quality of water should something go wrong, and to also go back and provide proper notification to the local schools within 1/4 mile radius of the project to let know of the hazardous chemicals that would be stored on site.  The later was required to have been done in writing 30 days before the Board certified the EIR, but was not.  To a large extent, that is why the residents of Live Oak, where the District wants to build the Advanced Water Treatment Facility, knew nothing about the plan until the Board had already approved it.

You can read the report to the District Board on the cCae #19CV00181 and Appeal #19AP00031, and the Best, Best & Krieger plea for $175,000 in Agenda Item #6.4 (page 221) here 

WHY DOESN’T SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT APPLY FOR WATER RIGHTS?
I attended a State Water Board Workshop in Paso Robles on January 8 and learned that the laws regarding issuance of Water Rights changed in September, 2019, streamlining the process and reducing fees to apply.  Why isn’t Soquel Creek Water District pursuing this available water source that would not require such enormous energy demand and degrade the environment (causing their approval of a Statement of Overriding Consideration)? 

I was able to do some research on the State website and found the information 

Apparently, changes were approved in September, 2019 and include fee reductions of 25% and 75% for filing and processing for temporary water rights for surface water diversions and groundwater recharge.  The greatest change is that the Temporary Emergency Water Right Permits have been extended to last from 180 days to FIVE YEARS!

Also, the way that the State allows there to be a determination if there is enough water has changed and is based on taking stream flows over a 30 year period and setting the stream flow requirement for surface water diversions to the 90th percentile of that average.  Diversions would be limited to December through March, and could not exceed 20% of the total stream flow.

The State developed this Fact Sheet discussing “Beneficial Uses” and underground storage projects. 

I think this is exciting news.  I spoke with the State Water Resources Control Board attorney who worked on the new regulation.  Her name is Nicole Kuenzi.  She told me there was an excellent presentation about this given at the ACWA conference last fall.  I have looked for this presentation but I think it is available only to those who paid to attend.  I have written Ms. Kuenzi to ask for a link to the material.  The presentation given at yesterday’s SGMA Workshop will be available by the end of next week on the Waterboard website.

All of the Soquel Creek Water District Board members attended the ACWA conference, and their trip was paid for by the District ratepayers.  Perhaps they attended a different module of presentations, so I will bring this information that I learned yesterday to their attention at the next Board meeting, scheduled for January 21, 6pm. 

RANCHO DEL MAR SHOPPING CENTER UPDATE
Many are happy to see the empty stores in the newly-remodeled Rancho del Mar Shopping Center slowly filling.  Sadly, however, the TRC Retail owners have contracted with chainstores that will directly compete with the existing Ace Hardware and the Showtime Pizza locally-owned businesses.  Take a look at the roster

You can write the TRC Retail Project Manager, Mr. Scott Grady with your thoughts: Scott Grady   

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVE PHASE 2 FINAL MAP OF APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT WITHOUT ANY COMMENT
On Tuesday, January 14, the County Board of Supervisors approved the Aptos Village Project Phase 2 Final Map as part of the 58-item Consent Agenda.  Members of the public spoke during the allotted two minutes for general public comment on all Consent Agenda items, bringing critical information regarding the legal cloud existing. 

Supervisor Zach Friend made no comment at all about the issues, listed as Item #61 on the Consent Agenda.  Nor did he respond to my earlier written request that the item be pulled for better discussion.

Hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil.

NISENE MARKS STATE PARK CONTINUES TO HAVE PARKING AND ACCESS PROBLEMS
A resident of the Aptos Creek community has sent me information about the continual problem with insufficient parking now that the winter gate is closed, and thus causing visitors to park haphazardly along the road into the Park.  The road is full of potholes, making it nearly a slalom course, that is further exacerbated by poor parking jobs all along the way.  I have written Park Supervisor Mr. Chris Spohrer and asked for a meeting.  I encourage you to also  contact him and ask for a community meeting to help creatively problem-solve this issue so that visits to Nisene Marks State Park continue to be both safe and enjoyable. Chris Spohrer chris.spohrer@parks.ca.gov  

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’s running again right now!!!

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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January 17
#17 / Cause Or Effect?

One of the biggest divides in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination is whether Donald Trump is a cause or a symptom of the current dysfunction in American politics. Joe Biden has argued the former — replace Trump and everything will go back to normal — while the likes of Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders have based their campaigns on the need for “big, structural change.”

I am quoting from a book review written by Ari Berman. Berman’s review appeared in The New York Times Book Review on Sunday, December 22, 2019. It is titled, in the hard copy version, “How to Mend Our Broken Politics.” Berman reviews the following two books: They Don’t Represent Us: Reclaiming Our Democracy, by Lawrence Lessig, and The Great Democracy: How to Fix Our Politics, Unrig the Economy, and Unite America, by Ganesh Sitaraman.

So, what is the right answer? Is Trump the “cause,” or is his presidency an “effect” of what is wrong with politics in the United States of America? I tend to think that the Trump presidency is much more “effect” than “cause,” but the right answer is probably “both.” At any rate, what I noticed as I read Berman’s review was the way he describes the central thesis of the Lessig book. Lessig is definitely in the “effect” camp. Here is how Berman synopsizes what Lessig has to say:

“The crisis in America is not its president,” Lessig writes in his opening pages. “Its president is the consequence of a crisis much more fundamental.” That crisis is the state of democracy itself. 

You could fill an entire bookshelf with works about the crisis of democracy in the Trump era, but Lessig, a professor at Harvard Law School, has been eloquently hammering this point longer than most. He isolates the problem with American democracy to one word: “unrepresentativeness.” Voter suppression undermines free and fair elections, gerrymandering allows politicians to pick their preferred electorate, the Senate and the Electoral College favor small states and swing states over the rest of the country and the post-Citizens United campaign-finance system gives a tiny handful of billionaires far more clout than the average small donor. “In every dimension, the core principle of a representative democracy has been compromised,” he writes (emphasis added).

I haven’t read either of the books reviewed by Berman, but I am prepared to agree with Lessig, based on the above description of his views. However, in thinking about how the compromise of our representative democracy has occurred, I want to suggest that “the fault,” as Cassius says to Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, is “…in ourselves.” 

In a representative democracy, elected officials are supposed to represent the people who elect them, but it is the responsibility of the people to insist that they in fact do that. “We, the people,” in other words, are the source of the power wielded by our representatives, but we often act more like petitioners and protesters than like those who are actually in charge. Various structural reforms can help, but what is mainly necessary is that we decide that we are, and should be, “in charge” of our government. To make any such decision “real,” and not just “theoretical,” we must then spend the time and effort necessary to make sure that the people we elect do what we want. 

When the people act like “pussies,” it’s no wonder that our so-called “representatives” start representing themselves, not us! Trump’s ascendency comes right out of a deep-seated frustration that the government is beyond our control, when we know it should be doing what we want. Trump is an “effect.” 

President Trump is not, of course, the solution to the problem of our failing democratic institutions, and no other candidate will be, either. What might work is the so-called “political revolution” that Bernie Sanders talks about. Such a “revolution” would require that we, the people, reassert and effectuate, as a reality, our own primacy on the terrain of politics. 

Ojalá!

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. More inside views of our little movers and shakers….scroll downwards.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Socialized medicine” 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 with his thoughts on Whatever!!!

JEWEL THEATRE. The real details to follow soon. “The Other Place” by Sharr White is the next production starting Jan. 22 through February 16. It’s about a woman scientist who deals with internal and external problems. Great reviews.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes, “It happens every January, the popular Art Exhibit: Take Aways; Art to Go opens this week at Pajaro Valley Arts in Watsonville. This annual show features the works of 70 local artists – including this year, a few last pieces by James Aschbacher – all priced at $300 or less! Read all about it – and find out why my Art Boy loved this show – this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo:expressblogspot.com)  Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

 

It’s January, one of the worst months of the year for films and I didn’t see any new ones!!

JOKER. I wrote this in October  2019…JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes, this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) b ut it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest money-making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!.  Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars. 

THE TWO POPES. Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI, and Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Based on a terribly troubled time in the Catholic Church — namely 2005 — these two leaders argue and discuss personal and public issues that become completely absorbing. Yes, child abuse is in there too. Just to watch these two master actors is a reminder of what and where good acting can take audiences. Go see it, but do hurry.

UNCUT GEMS. 92 RT. Adam Sandler is amazingly perfect in this role of a New York City jeweler/gambler who risks his family and his own life to make a quick (two days) bundle of money on a gem sale. You will never forget Sandler in this film. Exciting, tense, and believable. Don’t miss it. Sandler’s acting talent is surprising, especially when we have become so used to his comedy roles.

1917Do not see this film if you expect to watch much of Benedict Cumberbatch. IF he’s in it more than 2 minutes I’ll eat my helmet!!! I also wouldn’t give this movie ANY ” best of” awards, and am surprised at what it’s won so far. It’s the story of two foot soldiers slogging through, under and around enemy lines to deliver an important life saving message. It’s an impressive hunk of movie making, and yet it won’t really draw you into the story. 89RT

JUST MERCY. A fine film starring Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan, and an excellent role for Tim Blake Nelson. A true story about a guy (Foxx) being sentenced to the chair for a crime he didn’t do. This sounds like a dozen films we seen before BUT it’s better,  go see it. 99RT. 

 MARRIAGE STORY. A fine and well acted film about a show biz couple, their children , divorce, and some odd choices by Scarlett Johansson the wife to Adam Driver’s husband. Laura Dern does her best role in decades. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta have some small scenes. You are guaranteed to relive some of your own poor choices in your marriage too! 84 audience score on RT.A Netflix production.

HIDDEN LIFE. If and that’s a big IF you are a Terrence Malick fan you’ll love this masterpiece that he directed. Malick directed Paradise, Amazing Grace, The Tree of life, The Knight of Cups, The New World and other lengthy cinematic statements. Hidden Life is almost exact;ly 3 hours long. It’s totally beautiful and is about a family man who refuses to enter the German army during WWII. I tried to like it, but Malick takes so much screen time to get his complex internal messages out I lose contact. I predict that future generations will “discover” Malick’s films and give them the attention he’s not getting from us.

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

AERONAUTS. Felicity Jones plays a very cute and Disney like character matching Eddie Redmayne’s equally sweet and nerdy partner in this supposedly true story of an early hot air balloon ascension in Britain’s Victorian age in 1862. It’s cute, some funny parts a bit scary due to heights of the balloon.  Being such a cute movie… they actually changed the sex of the person accompanying Redmayne , it was really a male friend of his. It’s on Amazon.

STAR WARS. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. 54 RT. George Lucas’ Star Wars empire started 42 years ago with wildly clever and intelligent twists and an absolutely brilliant story line. We watched politely while some sad sequels stained our screens, now thanks to Disney buying and producing this concluding finale we have an ending to the saga that isn’t worth your time or expectations. Trite, predictable, and sad to see our old heroes and heroines suffer with a plot as dull and unrewarding as this one. You have to go if you’ve seen more than one of the series…just don’t expect to be satisfied with the conclusion.

CATS. Hard to believe this insanity of a movie is from a book by T.S. Eliot. It’s even more difficult to acknowledge the amazing stage history of the musical. Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and dozens more stars wore whiskers; and danced and made fools of themselves only for millions of dollars in salaries. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself refuses to talk about this flop. It got an 18 RT. As a play it has also been playing on stages around the world for 40 years!!! They spent $95 million dollars to make this movie. I wouldn’t see it if I were you. When D.B. and I saw it we were the only two people in the theatre!!!

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. .  Michel Singher conductor and artistic director of the Espressivo Orchestra talks about their concerts on Jan. 21 followed by Barry Scott from Coastal Rail Santa Cruz and the Rail Plus Trail benefits. Linda Berman Hall reveals secrets about The Santa Crux Baroque Festival’s  new season on Jan.28. Peter Klotz- Chamberlin from the Resource Center for Non Violence guests on February 4. After which Nancy Macy w Environmental Committee Chair of the Valley Womens Club talks about PG&E and other problems. Jean Brocklebank talks about our Santa Cruz Public library issues on Feb 11.

OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

QUOTES. “DRONES”

In the Age of the Almighty Computer, drones are the perfect warriors. They kill without remorse, obey without kidding around, and they never reveal the names of their masters” Eduardo Galeano 

We have no regulation of drones in the United States in their commercial use. You can see drones someday hovering over the homes of Hollywood luminaries, violating privacy. This question has to be addressed. And we need rules of operation on the border, by police, by commercial use, and also by military and intelligence use”. Dianne Feinstein 

“They were drones, men costumed in independent thought who’d become slaves of party groupspeak”.  Jonathan Lethem, Dissident Gardens 


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
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 15 – 21, 2020

Posted on January 16, 2020 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Show up and Save the church, meet Krohn and Glover personally, The DWC club of Santa Cruz. GREENSITE…on Santa Cruz: a sense of place. KROHN…Council agenda this week, tone of the City Council, 2020 and the differences. STEINBRUNER…Supes and Aptos Village project, Anne Isaacs passed. PATTON…Hot Mess America. EAGAN…Sub Cens and Deep Cover EVENTS  Munching With Mozart, Tandy Beal’s Scoville Units. JENSEN…2019’s lack of films. BRATTON…I critique1917, Just Mercy  UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES… “Whales”

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EQUAL RIGHTS SYMPATHY MARCH. March 13 1965. This very behaved and organized march was at Lincoln and Center Streets. I can’t read many of the signs they are carrying, but one says “WRITE AND TELL WALLACE TO STOP”. Another says “WRITE TO Pres. JOHNSON, KATZENBACH, WALLACE, SHERIFF CLARK”

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

Sally Rand a great old time burlesque dancer. Not quite Sin Sisters Burlesque.
TWO HUMPBACK WHALES DANCE

DATELINE January 13

SAVE THE CIRCLE CHURCH. Sue Powell, one of the staunchest leaders of the community group working to save the Errett Circle Church from destruction by money-centered developers, sent an email saying… “The Santa Cruz City Historic Preservation Commission Public Hearing on the historic significance of the Circle Church and property at 111 Errett Circle has been RESCHEDULED to Thursday, January 30th, at 7 p.m. in the City Council Chambers Please attend!! The HPC will consider making a recommendation to the City Council to list the property on the City’s Historic Building Survey and to designate the site as a Local Historic Landmark.

The HPC wants to hear community concerns about the historic and cultural importance of this property. Please attend to speak or support speakers. We need a huge turnout!!

At the HPC meeting, public comments may be limited to 2-3 minutes, so be prepared to keep your speeches short. If you can’t attend, please submit your comments in writing to the Historic Preservation Commission, c/o Planning Department, 809 Center Street – Room 206, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Comments can also be sent by email to cityplan@cityofsantacruz.com.

There is an 11-page review of the developers’ first historic report. Historic Preservation Commissioners Joe Michalak and Jessica Kusz wrote the critique, and concluded that the report was inadequate, incomplete, and full of errors. At the Public Hearing, the HPC will review the developers’ second historic report. The developers’ historic reports and other documents can be accessed via this link  

MEET COUNCILMEMBERS CHRIS KROHN AND DREW GLOVER.  The Coalition For Glover and Krohn — plus the many friends and supporters of both Krohn and Glover — have worked hard to create a great opportunity to actually talk with and discuss whatever you’d like to talk about with these two city Council members on January 17. They have also gathered some art pieces that are really worth looking at (and taking home). We have heard these two councilmember’s names banged around for ages. Talk to them; ask them your most serious questions. We elected them, and they’ve done tremendous jobs representing us. They are friendly, caring, serious, and very dedicated. See for yourselves. This evening represents a unique opportunity to speak to them directly about the issues that concern our beautiful city. Art submitted for a contest on the theme Representation for All will be exhibited during the evening. You will be invited to choose your three favorite pieces, which will be printed on postcards and distributed to the community. Friday, January 17, 5:30 to 9 pm, The Palomar, 1336 Pacific Ave, Santa Cruz, CA 95060. Hors d’oeuvres and drinks will be served. There is no charge for this event.

THE DEMOCRATIC WOMEN’S CLUB OF SANTA CRUZ. No one should be surprised by any move Mike Rotkin makes to get on or back into our political scene. And yet I was surprised to see that Mike is now on the Democratic Women’s Club board. That’s Cynthia Mathews long-time hiding ground, with Carol Fuller holding forth for years. The DWC also came out and endorsed the recalls of Glover and Krohn….skipping a beat….Sheila Carrillo wrote to remind us… “People have no idea that if they are opposing the recall, it is Critical that they vote for Tim Fitzmaurice and Katherine Beiers also. That is very confusing and needs to be spotlighted!! They are the only people that are running as No on Recall candidates and thus placeholders for the progressive torch. But really folks need to know that if Tim doesn’t win, a registered Republican will take over Drew’s seat!  

January 13

A SENSE OF PLACE
San Francisco essayist and author Rebecca Solnit has a quote that resonates with me. “Sense of place is the 6th sense, an internal compass and map made by memory and spatial perception together.” I recently saw the quote and have yet to read the book “Savage Dreams” which contains it, so cannot speak to its significance in that context but I can speak to its significance to me in Santa Cruz.

For me, a sense of place includes all of nature that is familiar as well as structures that have some history, however modest and are of human scale. In the natural world, it includes the weather patterns, the ocean tides, the changing beach profiles, the trees and migratory birds to name a few. It takes time for these to become an internal compass. When I first arrived in Santa Cruz in 1975 I had yet to internalize a sense of place. The birds were sparse compared to Australia, the water cold, and what was this stuff called fog? Yes it was objectively pretty but it was not yet a part of me that I would fight to defend. That would soon change.

“Oh you’re the tree lady?” is a frequent query when introduced to someone new. I say “yes” but sometimes think, “I wouldn’t need that identity if you bastards cared more for big trees.” The number of big trees, especially cypress and eucalyptus that graced the lower Westside in the 1970’s was prodigious, with many close to a century in age. Now they have all but a few been cut down. Gone with them are the owls and hawks. Bearing witness to their removal is not easy and I feel the needle of my compass de-center with each death.  

A sense of place is personal and to each their own. Many prefer a city with bright lights, hustle and bustle. Fortunately for them, no one is working to knock down the tall buildings, turn off the lights and plant trees. My preferred sense of place has sunshine, trees and skies dominant, with human buildings small. Unfortunately for me, there are those who are working to knock down the old buildings, yank out the trees and urbanize the town, destroying my sense of place and imposing their own. That others have done this before to indigenous peoples does not make it more tolerable.  

I didn’t come to Santa Cruz, look around and decide I’d prefer it if the town were bigger, more upscale and then set about to achieve that vision. I should have moved on if Santa Cruz were too funky. I allowed Santa Cruz to reach into my heart and build a sense of place for me. Not so the new urbanites. Where I see familiarity and feel comfort in the small-scale businesses on Soquel, Water, Mission and Front streets they see “underutilized space,” “dated buildings” and apparently feel nothing in their heart. Perhaps the most blatant example of heartlessness was when the head of ROMA, the San Francisco firm hired for a million bucks to write up the Wharf Master Plan, which would morph the wharf into an unrecognizable upscale tourist destination, said over his power point: “And here’s Gilda’s (mispronouncing the name) not awful but we can do better.” My internal compass swung wildly at that insult. If Santa Cruz is in the heart, then the wharf and especially Gilda’s is its center.  

The city’s Economic Development Department and Planning Department are central players in this transformation of Santa Cruz city with developers courted to sit at the table as they figure out how to make the most money out of urbanizing the town.  That most don’t live in the city helps explain their surprise that some of us care about the old buildings and familiar places. Accusing us of “nostalgia” is a cheap shot at dismissing a sense of place that is Solnit’s sixth sense. Destroying our sense of place is like tearing out our eyes. Tearing down the Circles Church is but the latest in a long list of transformative city planning projects. The passion that motivates residents to try to save this iconic center of the lower westside wells up from a deep and sacred place. It should not be underestimated.

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 13

SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL AGENDA
It’s what might be called a medium hot city council agenda this week. That does not mean there are not some very significant issues, but just not so many. Here’s a summary look:

  • 125 Coral Street is on the closed session agenda, “Under Negotiation: Price, terms of payment, or both for potential property purchase” by the city of SC (This property is in the Harvey West area situated next to the Homeless Services Center.)
  • There will be a presentation on the “Three-year Strategic Plan.” This current council has not met to discuss a 3-year strategic plan, so I am not sure if this is just a creation of the city manager’s office, or a new initiative. Do organizations do 3-year strategic plans anymore? The first step of an organization, the city, should be to decide whether a strategic plan is called for. The current city council has not yet had input into whether it should be a 1, 2,3, or 4-year plan. Perhaps we will on Tues., but no vote will be taken as it is a “presentation.”
  • A Long-Range Development Plan Advocate has been hired jointly by the city and county and she, Morgan Bostic, will be introducing herself. Bostic will work “on the implementation of the Council-approved strategy” vis-a-vis University growth. The voters passed Measure U in 2018 with 77% voting in favor of “giving the city council sole authority to implement policies intended to limit enrollment growth and to establish infrastructure requirements…” In other words, as I read it, cap growth at the current 19,500.
  • There are three feel-good, well-intentioned resolutions, two opposing human trafficking and fracking statewide, and a third resolution “Calling for the California Public Utilities Commission and US Bankruptcy Court to fully consider a proposal to transform PG&E into a customer-owned utility.” How about that!
  • The Circle Church, 111 Errett Circle, is back on the council agenda. The reason, writes the Planning Director in an email, is “[Assuming HPC (Historic Preservation Commission) provides a recommendation on 1/30, this will be on the Council’s 2/25 agenda. The Council has an agenda item this Tuesday related to the HPC’s deliberations on the subject site, and the movement of the HPC meeting to 1/30 is noted in that report. 
  • A $235,439 contract forTasers for the Police Dept. is also on the agenda. Seems like the current ones are wearing out? Estimated life of a Taser? I guess five years since the contract is for five years…
  • $10,000 for the Warming Center…the needs of those living in the street are real and Brent Adams has been helping address those needs of storage, showers, and warmth from cold winter nights. It seems to be a good investment and many I have spoken to say why not fund this program even more as he helps alleviate wear and tear on city parks and streets by helping provide shelter and few minor, but very needed services.
  • “Authorizing $6.25 million to remodel the Branciforte and Garfield Park libraries” also is a wise investment of a different kind.
  • The last item on the evening agenda is about the “City Council Request Process.” I am not sure exactly what it is, but it may be seeking to address the historic Byzantine process that seems to change with every new council on an age-old conundrum, how does a city councilmember get something placed on a city council agenda? Stay tuned!

I know, you might be thinking now…this seems like a lot for one agenda, and it is.

Tone of the 2020 Santa Cruz City Council
Oh, it will be different. There is a new mayor and it seems to appear the arrow is pointing up from where we were last January. I look forward to regular meetings with the mayor (any mayor should be meeting regularly with councilmembers who you agree with or not); smoother meeting agendas and realistic time allotments for agenda items; a fairer and more balanced way of calling on councilmembers; regular bathroom breaks; and of course, placing items that affect regular working-class Santa Cruzans on an evening agenda so they can get to the meeting after work. The newbie Mayor, Justin Cummings, may make all the difference in the world concerning the output, tone, and demeanor of this 2020 SC city council, although rainbows and unicorns are unlikely to appear in council chambers anytime soon.

And It is 2020…
I woke up on January 1st and realized it was 2020. It has been 52 years–1969— since earthlings stepped onto the moon and the New York Mets stepped all over the Baltimore Orioles to win a Cinderella World Series when the Cinderella metaphor seemed more real. When I was a high school senior, 1976 that was THE year we were all waiting for, 200 years of official country status. Then Orwell’s year, 1984, just zipped right past us, but Big Brother has become a reality with license plate readers, facial recognition software, and video cameras everywhere. Next was 2000, the millennium, Y2K, and the dawning of the age of Aquarius. As each BIG date played out, a feeling of overhype washed over me. The Mets did win it as Neil Armstrong stepped into the Sea of Tranquility, but Jimmy Carter’s environmental planted seeds quickly faded into a Reagan quagmire of fear. It’s all culminated in a Trumpian free-fall into an abyss defined by an all consumption is good consumption ethos. We have the opportunity locally and nationally to turn a corner in 2020.

So, Why Should 2020 be any Different?
Because it’s about the environment. We have about 10 years to get this climate crisis right. We know that coal, natural gas, petroleum, and everything plastic, has to go. Voters might want to be thinking, which city council will be more willing to take the steps that are needed to not give variances when solar is now required; to offer alternatives to the automobile; to install electric charging stations all over town; to not build any more last-century parking garages; to form city-university partnerships with the best minds on the UCSC campus who are thinking about our climate 24/7; to implement not only a downtown employee eco-bus pass program, but a citywide free-fare box, as Kansas City just did; and to continue aggressive water conservation, and maintain and enhance greenbelt protection. Which city council will be willing to say NO to developers who only want to build more over-priced condos for people who do not live here. Which council majority will take more seriously human rights, voting rights, and housing rights of city residents? These are the political, social, and emotional issues and questions before us as we head into the March 3rd 2020 election, which by the way begins Feb. 3rd when “vote by mail” ballots go out. See you at the ballot box, or at least on the corner by the post box!

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 13

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TO APPROVE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT PHASE 2 ON CONSENT AGENDA
The Consent Agenda, by definition, is meant to quickly handle non-controversial and low-dollar matters that are considered more like housekeeping.  However, the County Board of Supervisors likes to do quite the opposite, and shove things that ARE controversial quietly through as items buried in the Consent Agenda, approved without discussion and in one fell-swoop.  

So, here they are, approving the Phase 2 Aptos Village Project Final Map as Consent Agenda Item #61 on Tuesday’s meeting plan.  Disgusting.  This is the last time the public will have any shred of an opportunity to publicly comment on this massive project that few in the community want.  All of Phase 2 is three-story dense development, with reduced setbacks and very little landscaping, thanks to the design modifications the County approved with a discretionary wand three years ago

Drainage plans show the parking lot storm water going into Aptos Creek.  The County gifted the developers the easement across the County-owned Aptos Village Park to dump that oily water into the southernmost stream for Coho salmon.  

The County taxpayer-funded traffic light at Aptos Creek Road is currently out to bid, estimated to be a $2.5 million project that will benefit the developers.  

How sad that neither the County nor developers ever listened to any of the extensive comments voiced by the public.  Clearly, those meetings were all perfunctory.

You can watch a video of Anne describing her passion for the Aptos Community and all the hard work and fun she and her friends had (Anne’ s interview begins at about minute 7:00)

APTOS LADIES TUESDAY EVENING SOCIETY CO-FOUNDER ANNE ISAACS PASSED AWAY
I am saddened to have learned that the wonderful Anne Isaacs, who conspired with Lucille Aldrich back in the day to form the Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society and ultimately the Aptos Parade, has passed away.   Anne and Lucille led the fight against a cement batching plant being built in Aptos Village, and laid down on the railroad tracks to stop Southern Pacific Railroad’s plan to thwart the Aptos Community Picnic.

I met Anne many years ago, and have treasured her spirited outlook.  She inspired me in many ways with her kind, fair and humorous views of the world.  I was honored to have Anne and her husband, Albert, be the first to sign my nomination papers that enabled me to become a candidate for Second District County Supervisor now.  

Anne’s services are scheduled for Saturday, January 18 at 11am in her beloved St. John’s Episcopal Church 9125 Canterbury Dr., Aptos) with internment to follow.  There will be viewing on Friday, January 17, 2pm-8pm at Pacific Gardens Chapel (1050 Cayuga St., Santa Cruz).  

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  BE COURAGEOUS AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE. Cheers, Becky Steinbruner 

(Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes). She is running again for Second District County Supervisor right now!!
Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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January 8 #8 / Hot Mess America?


New York Times’ columnist Timothy Egan says America is a “hot mess”. That term is defined as follows by Dictionary.com: 

Hot mess is used to describe a particularly disorganized person or chaotic situation.

As we venture into an election year, and a year in which the political stakes are extremely high, such a description of the “state of the union” does not, exactly, inspire confidence and an optimistic sense of our future possibilities. However, I think that a thoughtful read of Egan’s opinion-editorial comment might be somewhat comforting.

Egan’s column ran in early December of last year, and in the online version of the column, the “hot mess” aspect of America’s current situation is headlined. Since Egan’s column was written well before President Trump’s assassination by drone of Iranian Quds Force commander Qasem Soleimani, it is fair to say that the “hot mess” Egan mentions is even “hotter” and “messier” now. Let me alert you, however, to the fact that in the hard copy version of the newspaper, which was delivered to my home on December 7th, the headline doesn’t use that “hot mess” language. It reads a little bit differently, and I think we should pay attention to that original headline: 

America Still Has a Story To Tell

I believe that the hard copy headline gets it right. Overcoming adversity is always the way that we find a new way forward. Won’t it be great when we not only “survive,” but “overcome” our hot mess condition, and start leading the world towards a democracy based on the full engagement of ordinary people in the challenges that confront us?* 

Is there any reason to believe that we can’t do that? Here’s some positive language from Egan’s column:

Today, there is no external enemy to unite us — not the British Crown, Nazi Germany or a Communist Soviet Union. For much of the world, and more than half of the United States, Trump is the uniter — the repellent-in-chief. As we saw again this week in Europe, the president is a laughingstock, mocked for his buffoonery, ignorance and bluster. In just a few days abroad, he made 21 false statements, a microcosm of his presidency. 

At home, he wages war on American institutions: the military, the courts, Congress, the press, respect for truth, the Constitution itself. But he also faces certain impeachment, because what he did warrants no other choice. Though he most likely won’t be removed, a majority of Americans say he has committed an impeachable offense. He will be forever remembered for the gross violations of his oath. 

We should be loud and proud with this to the rest of the world: L’état, c’est moi is nowhere in the founding documents. That’s another story America can yet tell.

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Visit our inner selves and bring your friends. Wild, deep and wooly/….that’s Sub Cons!!! See below.

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. 

MUNCHING WITH MOZART AND FRIENDS. Every Third Thursday like this

Thursday, January 16, from 12:10 – 12:50p.m. there is a free concert upstairs in the threatened Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown Branch in the Meeting Room. This week’s concert is titled The Folk World Meets the Classical World. The musicians will be Linc Russin, mandolin • Nick Royal, mandolin and Lynn Kidder, piano. They’ll play J.S. Bach, Mozart, Johnny Mercer, Gounod and some 17th Century Jewish Mystic plus Jay Unger.

TANDY BEAL & JON SCOVILLE PRESENT… Tandy Beal and Company presents Scoville Units – a celebration of Jon Scoville’s extraordinary music—on January 18th and 19th, 2020 at the Cabrillo Crocker Theatre – for two shows only!  That’s Saturday night at 7:30 and Sunday at 2 p.m. His music and artistic insights have inspired dances for not only Tandy Beal, but for choreographers around the world. Named after the scale of spiciness for peppers, Scoville Units is a multi-arts celebration of Scoville’s beguiling compositions from cool to hot, with unique films and performances by 30 musicians and dancers. I’ll save you a seat!!!

JEWEL THEATRE. The real details to follow soon. “The Other Place” by Sharr White is the next production starting Jan. 22 through February 16. It’s about a woman scientist who deals with internal and external problems. Great reviews.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “If you read my last blog post, you might understand why I didn’t see enough movies last year to compose a traditional Best of 2019 list. However, among the various small, weird, and/or esoteric movies I did see, I have a few favorites! Find out what they are this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

1917Do not see this film if you expect to watch much of Benedict Cumberbatch. IF he’s in it more than 2 minutes I’ll eat my helmet!!! I also wouldn’t give this movie ANY “best of” awards, and am surprised at what it’s won so far. It’s the story of two foot soldiers slogging through, under, and around enemy lines to deliver an important life-saving message. It’s an impressive hunk of movie making, and yet it won’t really draw you into the story. 89RT

JUST MERCY. A fine film starring Jamie Foxx, Michael Jordan, and an excellent role for Tim Blake Nelson. A true story about a guy (Foxx) being sentenced to the chair for a crime he didn’t do. This sounds like a dozen films we seen before BUT it’s better — go see it. 99RT. 

JOKER. I wrote this in November 2019…JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!.  Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars. 

THE TWO POPES. Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Based on a terribly troubled time in the Catholic Church namely 2005 these two leaders argue and discuss their personal and public issues that become completely absorbing. Yes, child abuse is in there too. Just to watch these tow master actors is a reminder of what and where good acting can take audiences. Go see it, but do hurry.

UNCUT GEMS. 92 RT. Adam Sandler is amazingly perfect in this role of a New York City Jeweler/ gambler who risks his family and his own life to make a quick (two days) bundle of money on a gem sale. You will never forget Sandler in this film. Exciting, tense, and believable. Don’t miss it. Sandler’s acting talent is surprising, especially when we have become so used to his comedy roles.

MARRIAGE STORY. A fine and well acted film about a show biz couple, their children , divorce, and some odd choices by Scarlett Johansson the wife to Adam Driver’s husband. Laura Dern does her best role in decades. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta have some small scenes. You are guaranteed to relive some of your own poor choices in your marriage too! 84 audience score on RT.A Netflix production.

HIDDEN LIFE. If and that’s a big IF you are a Terrence Malick fan you’ll love this masterpiece that he directed. Malick directed Paradise, Amazing Grace, The Tree of life, The Knight of Cups, The New World and other lengthy cinematic statements. Hidden Life is almost exact;ly 3 hours long. It’s totally beautiful and is about a family man who refuses to enter the German army during WWII. I tried to like it, but Malick takes so much screen time to get his complex internal messages out I lose contact. I predict that future generations will “discover” Malick’s films and give them the attention he’s not getting from us.

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

AERONAUTS. Felicity Jones plays a very cute and Disney like character matching Eddie Redmayne’s equally sweet and nerdy partner in this supposedly true story of an early hot air balloon ascension in Britain’s Victorian age in 1862. It’s cute, some funny parts a bit scary due to heights of the balloon.  Being such a cute movie they changed the sex of the person accompanying Redmayne , it was really a male friend of his.It’s on Amazon.

STAR WARS. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. 54 RT. George Lucas’ Star Wars empire started 43 years ago with wildly clever and intelligent twists and an absolutely brilliant story line. We watched politely while some sad sequels stained our screens, now thanks to Disney buying and producing this concluding finale we have an ending to the saga that isn’t worth your time or expectations. Trite, predictable, and sad to see our old heroes and heroines suffer with a plot as dull and unrewarding as this one. You have to go if you’ve seen more than one of the series…just don’t expect to be satisfied with the conclusion.

CATS. Hard to believe this insanity of a movie is from a book by T.S. Eliot. It’s even more difficult to acknowledge the amazing stage history of the musical. Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and dozens more stars wore whiskers; and danced and made fools of themselves only for millions of dollars in salaries. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself refuses to talk about this flop. It got an 18 RT. As a play it has also been playing on stages around the world for 40 years!!! They spent $95 million dollars to make this movie. I wouldn’t see it if I were you. When D.B. and I saw it we were the only two people in the theatre.!!!

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. . Peter Klotz-Chamberlin from The Resource Center for Non Violence guests on Jan. 14. He’s followed by Julie and Stu Phillips talking about saving the Tule Elk and the issues at Point Reyes.  Michel Singher conductor of the Espressivo Orchestra talks about their concerts on Jan. 21. Jean Brocklebank talks about our Santa Cruz Public library issues on Feb 11. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

This I can relate to…

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    “WHALES”

“There are people in this world who can wear whale masks and people who cannot, and the wise know to which group they belong.” Tom Robbins

“If you swim with sharks, make sure you have the appetite of a whale.” Matshona Dhliwayo 

“It’s time to end the cruel slaughter of whales and leave these magnificent creatures alone.” Paul McCartney


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
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Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

January 8 – 14, 2019

Posted on January 9, 2020 by Bruce

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Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Whale City Bakery and Bar for sale, Bruce McDougal died, Brommer and 17th architect, Save Errett Circle Church public meeting, Jack “Broken Egg” Churchill’s birthday party. GREENSITE…on protecting our open space lands. KROHN… Chris Krohn is off this week and will return next week. STEINBRUNER…Campaign news, 17th and Brommer building, Don’t bury the Library, 908 Ocean Street project, CSA Rural tax illegal?, Nisene Marks closed to traffic. PATTON…on Dementia. EAGAN…patriotism. JENSEN…links to reviews.BRATTON…I critique Two Popes, Little Women, Uncut Gems, Marriage Story, Aeronauts, Star Wars. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…”2020″

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SEABRIGHT AND SOQUEL AVENUE CIRCA 1949. That’s a ’49 Studebaker and a ’49 Oldsmobile and what appears to be one huge flood. Now it’s Lillian’s Italian Kitchen, The Post Office and Ace Hardware.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

LEARN TO YODEL. Long time friend Bob Armstrong on guitar.
OPTICAL ILLUSIONS.

DATELINE January 6

WHALE CITY BAKERY BAR & GRILL FOR SALE!! The near legendary success of this warm, friendly stopping point right on historical Highway 1 keeps on going upward. Finally after many long years of the Raugust/McDougal ownership and managing they are tired and have just announced that it’s for sale. Check out the Facebook page and the great customer comments.

If you want to know more call Chris Shoemaker at (831) 476-8194.     

BRUCE McDOUGAL DIED. Bruce fought Alzheimer’s, his only enemy in this life, and lost on Monday, December 30 at 5 am. Bruce and Marcia McDougal had been my closest and dearest friends since 1962 in Berkeley. Bruce’s remarkable pottery artistry led them to open Big Creek Pottery School back in the late 60’s and 70″s. I’ll bet that more than 3/4 of the pottery you see in this county was directly inspired, or is related to, Big Creek Pottery. After Big Creek Pottery, Bruce and Marcia opened The Davenport Cash Store as a pottery studio and restaurant. Bruce taught me and influenced me more than anyone I’ve known. 

SWENSON’S BROMMER AND 17TH ARCHITECT? Many friends and passersby and me too thought that the new building at the corner of 17th and Brommer was so ridiculous (ugly) that it must have been designed by Mark Primack, especially if you look at his buildings over on the west side. But nope, it was Daniel W. Sells. And I’ll bet Sells knows Primack. Be sure to read Becky Steinbruner’s more complete piece below on the Brommer Bummer, and see the one page from Swenson here.

PLEASE HELP SAVE THE ERRETT CIRCLE CHURCH ON JANUARY 15. . Now’s the time when all of us can act as a community and attend a meeting that will help save an important part of our community. There will be a public hearing at the City Council Chambers at 7 p.m. on Wednesday January 15th to hear from concerned community members and determine the historic significance of the Circle Church and the property at 111 Errett Circle. Here’s what Sue Powell from Friends of the Circle Church sent….
The Historic Preservation Commission could recommend that the property should be listed on the City’s Historic Building Survey or be designated as a Local Historic Landmark. 

Please attend to speak or support speakers. We need a huge turnout!!

At their December 10th meeting, the City Council voted 4-3 to refer this issue to the Historic Preservation Commission. Christopher Krohn, Sandy Brown, Drew Glover, and Justin Cummings voted in favor of referring the developer-paid historic report to the HPC for their review and recommendations. 

Special thanks to all who showed up and spoke in favor of the agenda item at the City Council meeting!! Speakers included: Janet Bryer, Karolyn Ronzano, Andrea van de Loo, Bruce Thomas from Dufour Neighbors, Candace Brown from Save Santa Cruz, Freya Sands, Artist of the Year and former Poet Laureate Ellen Bass, Ron Pomerantz, Jan Chaffin, Jennifer Smith, Marilyn Garrett, John Sears, and Hilary Martisius. Speakers were passionate and persuasive – and very effective!

At the upcoming Historic Preservation Commission meeting, public comments may be limited to 2-3 minutes, so be prepared to keep your speeches short. If you can’t attend, please submit your comments in writing to the Historic Preservation Commission, c/o Planning Department, 809 Center Street – Room 206, Santa Cruz, CA 95060.

The developers’ historic reports can be accessed via this link

Please email friendsofthecircles@gmail.com if you would like to receive the 11-page review of the developers’ first historic report.

Historic Preservation Commissioners Joe Michalak and Jessica Kusz wrote the critique and concluded that the developers report was inadequate, incomplete, and full of errors.

To be added to the email list, please send a message to friendsofthecircles@gmail.com 

We have 960 petition signatures at www.change.org/p/save-the-circle-church, and 55 paper-petition signatures.

Our Facebook page is “Save the Circle Church” 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACK CHURCHILL. Long timers will certainly remember the Broken Egg Omelet House on Front Street.  Jack Churchill managed it for years around the early 70’s . He lives in Hawaii now and was back here last week to greet family and friends while he turned 90.

January 6

PROTECTING OUR OPEN SPACES
A small entry in the most recent Sierra Club Magazine caught my eye. It read: A crash in the elk population in the vicinity of Vail, Colorado, appears to be related to an upsurge in the number of hikers and mountain bikers in the region. We are facing the same issue on the central coast (not elk but other species) and especially Santa Cruz County, which is fast becoming the most popular mountain biking destination in the region. Popular, not only due to the relative abundance of state, regional and local parks but also to the absence of restrictions that face mountain bike riders in other counties. There, land managers are aware of the negative impact on the natural environment (as well as the impact on other users) by the ever-increasing numbers of mountain bike riders and are taking steps to address the impact. Here, land managers appear indifferent to the impact and actively court the well-funded mountain bike organizations. And well funded they are, compared to the cash-strapped local and state government entities that are responsible for our open space lands. Mountain Bikers Of Santa Cruz (MBOSC) showcase twelve staff on their website. Plenty of human resources to court the decision-makers at this critical time when new open space lands such as San Vicente, acquired through years of effort and at great expense are coming online for public use. 

Open space land managers are constantly lobbied to develop new trails for mountain bike access and to allow mountain bikes on trails currently restricted to hiking only. Castle Rock State Park for example is currently considering what is termed a Change In Use (CIU) to allow mountain bike riders on trails previously restricted to hiking only, including the iconic Skyline to the Sea trail. Despite the fact that hiking is far ahead of mountain bike riding in any survey of popular usage of open space (almost 4 times as popular in a local random survey), hikers lack well-funded organizations to lobby on their behalf. This lack of political clout might be compensated for if more land managers cared about other users of open space and the care of the open space itself but they don’t. The result is that hikers have been pushed out of many parks and the open spaces have become crisscrossed with eroded dead zones wherever scores of bike riders have access. Include technological additions such as night-lights to bikes and even the nocturnal species such as mountain lions have no respite from the incessant intrusion into their habitat.

I was thinking about all this on a daylong hike at Mount Diablo State Park this past Saturday. Fortunately that day there were no bikes on the narrow, steep trails although evidence of their damage was clear. Wherever there were switchbacks there was evidence of shortcutting by bicyclists. There was also evidence that State Parks maintenance crew had tried to prevent further damage by installing barriers but the bike riders had just gone around the barriers and created new ruts. The photo shows typical mountain bike erosion on a section of Wilder Ranch bluff trail. Despite its being a flat trail, since there is no restriction on bike access after rain, the soft sandy soil is easily eroded. In parts the cliff has collapsed due to bike riders widening their tracks to avoid the areas damaged from years of bike use. In the face of clear evidence of the disproportionate trail damage created by mountain bike tires as they wear the telltale longitudinal grooves that channel water downhill, the industry and the organizations produce “scientific” documents purporting to prove that mountain bikes cause no more damage to trails than hikers. If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you. 

This year will see increasing pressure from the mountain bike industry for more access and more trails. No one expects anything less. What we should expect is that land managers whether local, regional or state will do their job, which is to protect the natural environment and evaluate without bias, the impact of the various land users. And sometimes they will have to say no, even to those who have money and influence.

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 Krohn is off this week and will return next week.” 

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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January 6

THE RACE FOR COUNTY SUPERVISOR IS ON!

With the help of my neighbors and friends, there are now a large signs for my campaign up prominently in the Aptos Village and Rio del Mar, with requests pouring in for others and for yard signs. A post on NextDoor last Saturday caused an explosion in posts (mostly good!) from people throughout the MidCounty area. 

It is humbling, and also enforces what I have known: the people of the Second District want and deserve responsive leadership with respectful equality for all. I would certainly do my best if honored with this job. 

I will be available this Friday, Jan. 10, at Peet’s Coffee in Rancho del Mar Center in Aptos from 6pm-8pm, and Saturday, Jan. 11, 10am-noon. Stop by if you would like to ask questions, discuss matters, and perhaps take home a yard sign.

You can e-mail me at Becky Steinbruner . My website will be up in the near future. HUZZAH!!

HOW DID THAT UGLY BUILDING AT 17th & BROMMER EVER GET APPROVED?
I have wondered this as I travel past the new multi-use development on this busy Live Oak intersection. Someone contacted me to ask about the architect responsible for this ugly beast? I did a bit of research, and learned the public process was anything but robust, and seemed to change the design mid-stream. That sounds a lot like the Aptos Village Project process, too.  


We can only hope that Swenson has perhaps learned that it is smart to pay attention to the triple bottom-line early on, getting important public input and actually incorporating it into the proposed project.

The architect for the 2014 amended design (what we are gagging over now) is Daniel W. Sells. It appears that he is (or was) an in-house architect for Barry Swenson builder but I cannot find any other mention of him in the architectural field. That says a lot right there.  

In the Planning Commission staff report (10/28/2015), there are notes from the one and only community meeting for the project (seven people attended). A Swenson architect named Jeff Current presided there. I found a news release that shows he had worked for Barry Swenson for 28 years as an in-house architect, but launched his own business in January of 2014. He is married to Barry Swenson’s daughter.

I did a search of the County Planning Dept for the address and application and found that the mixed use project (1155 17th Ave., APN 026-311-33) was originally approved in 2008 for eight for-sale apartments and some retail space.  There was some environmental analysis, but it got approved with a Negative Declaration.

The permit approved in 2008 languished, due to economic downturn, but came back to the Planning Commission on October 28, 2015. Swenson wanted to increase the number of units to 13, making them smaller, but only adding two bedrooms total (14 increasing to 16 total), and also making them rental units. The design included seven retail spaces.

It seems that the roofline architecture really changed with this design re-working. Public comment at the community meeting included statements that they liked the roof lines of the other design better.  

I found it shocking that the planner, Annette Olson, stated that the design of the structure “will enhance the aesthetic qualities of the surrounding properties.” “The bulk, massing and scale of the structure will be minimized by using varied roof and wall planes and different finish materials…making it compatible with existing built environment..” (page 26 of the October 28, 2015)

In looking at the architect’s plans (an example on pages 45 and 57 of the Planning Commission staff report) 

The County actually did create an environmental review for it, but it, like the Aptos Village Project, got away with just a Negative Declaration. The biggest issue is increased storm water runoff from the impervious surfaces but also the increased sewage to an area that had a moratorium on new sewage service.

The County wanted Swenson to install pervious paving to reduce storm water runoff, but Swenson hired a new soils engineer that submitted a report claiming there is a clay layer that would not permit proper drainage from the (more expensive) pervious paving. So, the County required Swenson to install a storm water treatment unit on site to improve the water quality before it is discharged into the storm water drain. This was on page 15 of the staff report. ( I wonder if that is getting built and if so, who will monitor it’s function?)

There was no traffic study required, just a general trip study to calculate developer fees.

The notes included from the one community meeting held on May 22, 2014, which only seven people attended, noted that people said they liked the old roof lines of the 2008 design better. The response was that the building design had been altered to create an interesting space in the units and provide large windows overlooking the streets. (page 184 of the staff report) There is a note on page 185 that says the previous design was a combination of shed and roof gable design, but it was altered in the 2014 design. According to Barry Swenson Builder website, the in-house architect Daniel W. Sell’s phone number is 408-938-6338. Planning Dept. staff report claimed this project will revitalize the area..I think it will increase traffic speeds as people try to race at top speed past this ugly eyesore and try not to look at it!

WHY WE SHOULD NOT BURY THE LIBRARIES.
Both Jean Brocklebank and Becky Steinbruner worked on the large, expensive and suspicious plan to spend large sums of money on our Downtown library and its future. Jean wrote “In my opinion, the similarities are basic for all branches, even the two that were clearly identified for new construction during the Measure S campaign (Felton and Capitola). Rather than having the branches repaired, upgraded and modernized, we’ve witnessed manipulation of a public fervor for architectural grandeur. Plans call for substituting sleek for cozy, snazzy for practical, brand new loud colored furnishings for all branches, entertaining for informing, loud and noisy for quiet contemplation, and social services for informational services. More empty space than peopled space, for a sense of expansiveness, which is energy foolishness in cities and counties with Climate Action Plans and Climate Emergency Resolutions (e.g., replacement of eleven foot high ceilings with eighteen foot high energy-inefficient ceilings, while even the new shelving will only be six feet high). 

All branches are way over budget totaling millions of dollars throughout the system and that is not due only to the escalation of construction costs, as some would have us swallow. It is due to asking too much and not being content with sufficiency. This constant voracious societal demand for more and bigger is what drives destruction of the environment, locally, nationally and globally. Apparently decision-makers can’t connect the dots. But that may be because they are too busy providing for entertainment rather than education.

The shocking plan to build a large new library downtown beneath a parking garage continues. The proposed parking garage is senseless, and would destroy the space that has hosted the weekly Farmer’s Market providing a wonderful community connection beneath graceful Magnolia trees. The fight to remodel the existing library and thereby save not only the Farmer’s Market, but also lots of taxpayer money, goes on. Many wonder if the parking garage idea is simply to provide parking that is absent from planned dense developments nearby. Below is a thoughtful response from” Don’t Bury the Library” leader, Ms. Jean Brocklebank, remarking on my comparison of the similarities of the Aptos Library’s remodel plans to demolish what is structurally sound in the name of modernization, when remodeling is less expensive and can accomplish the goals intended . Jean kindly gave me permission to share all of what follows: 

Dear friends of the Downtown Library ~

This Update is devoted solely to Stephen Kessler and his latest exquisite column in Saturday Jan. 4 Sentinel. What a pleasant surprise to read it earlier!

Be green now. Save Lot 4. Rebuild the library” by Stephen Kessler 

Stephen captured all aspects of the matter before us and articulated them clearly. It would be well for everyone involved — from the City Council and City Manager, to staff of the Economic Development Department, and the Library System administration — to read and digest this column. 

WHAT MAY BE ON THE HORIZON IN DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ…ANY TREES?
A BrattonOnline reader contacted me about a proposed project at 908 Ocean Street, wondering if I thought the parking at the County Government Building might become shared parking for the 333 new residential units?  The mixed-use development would swallow the 19 parcels encompassing the area from Marianne’s and extend nearly to the Sewing Center at Water Street. Indeed, how will this all work?

You can read more about the proposal here: Designer responds to Ocean Street 333-unit condo project concerns

What made me catch my breath was when I investigated the City of Santa Cruz Planning & Development website, and saw that the large 908 Ocean Street project is only the tip of the iceberg for what is in the works!

Take a look:

Development Projects | City of Santa Cruz

While it is encouraging that the 908 Ocean Street project would provide 15% or 50 of the units to be affordable, one wonders why the percentage is not higher? These are to be 600 SF units for living a quality of life that is something different than what Santa Cruz has known and come to treasure.  

Will there be large trees to provide shade and a sens of nature nearby? Will the parking be waived, as has occurred for the Laurel Towers development? Is there enough water in prolonged periods of drought for all this development without forcing people to drink treated sewage water that requires massive amounts of energy to process and yet may not be reliably clean? Traffic is already a congested nightmare. Are these part of the 700 new units the City has promised to the big tech companies, as City Economic Development Director Bonnie Lipscomb stated on local television two years ago? I suggest you add your contact to the project notifications lists for the project near you…make a big difference by showing up, and speaking out.

ABOUT THAT PROPOSED CSA 48 RURAL TAX…IS IT LEGAL?
The Board of Supervisors will hold a public hearing on January 14 to consider the final public input and voting on the proposed County Service Area (CSA) 48 County fire benefit assessment. This new tax could be substantial, and would be levied in addition to the current CSA 48 property tax. The Board voted October 22 to move forward with this ballot action, referring to the staff’s claim that “County Fire recommends” the Board do so. However, maybe that letter of recommendation and all that staff claimed is not legally correct.

The “Letter of Recommendation” came from FDAC.  However, I attended the meeting at which the FDAC supposedly voted unanimously to make this recommendation and it was not at all what was represented in the staff report to the Board. The FDAC never saw the engineer’s report before it went to the Board. There were only three FDAC members that attended the meeting, but there were other non-voting staff present. Doug Aumack said that the FDAC could not make any recommendations, but Michael Beaton insisted that they do, and pressured them to do so.  

The three FDAC members approved IN CONCEPT action to augment County Fire revenue, but never explicitly recommended the ballot action at hand. Michael Beaton wrote in his staff report to the Board that there were 10 members of FDAC present at the meeting and the vote was unanimous to send the ballot to the property owners.

Here is a link to the minutes of that FDAC meeting (it does not include members of the public who were also present).  I have just noted that the vote recorded for the Item included a vote in favor by Alex Leman. However, the minutes note that Alex Leman was absent.

Also, I think it needs to be pointed out that Carey Pico, the Second District FDAC representative, does not live within the CSA 48 boundaries, and therefore cannot legally support a tax increase for CSA 48.

This was recently established in Santa Cruz County Superior Court by Judge Paul Burdick when residents of the San Lorenzo Valley School District argued that Supervisor Bruce McPherson could not legally sign on to the Measure S school bond ballot measure as a supporter because he does not live in the school district boundaries.  Therefore, Carey Pico should have abstained from any vote on the CSA 48 tax issue.

I submitted a letter that is attached to the October 22 hearing item about the incongruity of what the FDAC actually had done and what Mr. Beaton’s report stated to the Board.

At the October 22 hearing, Supervisor John Leopold did ask Michael Beaton about the FDAC recommendation, and I believe that Mr. Beaton just stated that there had been a quorum present and the vote was unanimous. Doug Aumack, dressed in his County Fire uniform, testified in support of the action. I think it would be worthwhile to review the video of this public hearing (Item #12 at the 1pm hearing) 

I think there are some very serious issues we need to raise in writing. In my experience, it is best to send these issues to the Board early because they will not do anything at the hearing to make staff look questionable if we wait to bring it up at the hearing. 

Write your County Supervisor and raise question of legality in this very vaguely – calculated tax that has rounded UP all acreage to a whole acre amount for assessment, which can mean substantial tax difference for “invisible land”. 

NISENE MARKS STATE PARK CLOSED TO TRAFFIC FOR PAST TWO WEEKS
A reader who lives in the Nisene Marks State Park area let me know that for the past two weeks, the road leading into the Park has been posted daily with the sign you see below, barring visitors from driving to the hiking trail heads, and forcing them to park dangerously alongside the pothole-filled road. I wanted to see if the sign were removed one evening, so drove in on Aptos Creek Road at dusk. The sign was indeed folded and stowed, but there were hikers and bikers dodging potholes in an effort to return to their vehicles parked behind the Aptos Station Center.  

I gave one such young woman a ride. She was grateful because she had not come prepared to have to walk alone at night in the woods for an extra couple of miles to return to her car in Aptos Village. It would seem that perhaps it is time the State Parks considers providing a shuttle bus for such vulnerable visitors at the end of the day when the “PARKING FULL” signs have to go up. Write Mr. Chris Spohrer chris.spohrer@parks.ca.gov with your thoughts.

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.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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January 1, 2020
#1 / Dealing With Dementia: Walk And Write

Happy New Year to all!

A whole new calendar awaits us, and for those of us who just had a post-Christmas birthday (and even for others, who didn’t, but who do approach a New Year with the thought that they are getting older), visions of dementia float through our heads.

Of course, I am exaggerating! How to deal with dementia isn’t, actually, the very first thought that came to mind as I woke up on this January 1st. Still, while I can’t speak for anyone else, I am almost positive, as John Lennon might have said, that “I am not the only one.” I am not the only one who does consider the possibility that dementia is an issue to which I should pay some increasing attention as I get older.

Because certain mental failings and lapses do come to my attention from time to time, I am comforted by the thought that I am not so far gone that I don’t even realize that I have a bit of a problem in coming up with the right word, or name, as quickly as I’d like, and as quickly as I used to. Again, however, the idea that age and dementia are related is not a new idea for me. How to deal with it?

The Wall Street Journal ran a story last November titled, “What Science Tells Us About Preventing Dementia.” Presuming you can slither past a possible paywall, I recommend the article. Here’s a pretty adequate summary:

When it comes to battling dementia, the unfortunate news is this: Medications have proven ineffective at curing or stopping the disease and its most common form, Alzheimer’s disease. But that isn’t the end of the story. According to a recent wave of scientific studies, we have more control over our cognitive health than is commonly known. We just have to take certain steps—ideally, early and often—to live a healthier lifestyle.

In fact, according to a recent report commissioned by the Lancet, a medical journal, around 35% of dementia cases might be prevented if people do things including exercising and engaging in cognitively stimulating activities. “When people ask me how to prevent dementia, they often want a simple answer, such as vitamins, dietary supplements or the latest hyped idea,” says Eric Larson, a physician at Kaiser Permanente in Seattle and one of a group of scientists who helped prepare the report. “I tell them they can take many common-sense actions that promote health throughout life.”

My personal take-away from the article (confirming what I have learned from my own experience), is that Walking and Writing are two important ways to make sure I stay connected with the world. For what it is worth, if you are thinking about those oft-adopted, seldom achieved, “New Year’s Resolutions,” I would like to suggest walking and writing as two ways to deal with and defeat dementia (and the threat thereof).

For me, because I do take seriously that “writing” part, you can look forward to another 365 days of “We Live In A Political World.”
God Willing / Inshallah!

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Scroll below for yet another Sub Con and a peek way inside our driving forces. 

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Terriorism and Violationism” 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. 

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS Concert #3. The concert title is From the Old World to the New:Schubert and 21 st Century America

Music by Schubert, Rebecca Clarke, Henry Mollicone, John Wineglass, Emily Wong  

It happens Saturday, January 11, 7:30 pm and Sunday, January 12, 3:00 pm. The musicians are;Kristin Garbeff, Concert Director and cello; Cynthia Baehr-Williams, violin; Chad Kaltinger, Viola; Kumiko Uyeda, Piano.

Travel through time as we begin with Schubert in 19th century Europe and emerge in California in the 21st century. The program begins with Schubert’s masterful Piano Trio No. 1 in B-flat Major then moves to the new world with Morpheus, Rebecca Clarke’s impressionist-inspired work for viola and piano. From there we explore the beauty and tragedy of 21st century American composers, all of whom have ties to Santa Cruz and the SF Bay Area. Henry Mollicone’s heaven-inspired work for violin and piano was written in remembrance of his dear friend. John Wineglass’ piano trio explores new soundscapes with haunting melodies as it depicts the last days of Diana, Princess of Wales. Last on the program is Emily Wong’s jazz-influenced tribute to the victims of September 11th. Their concerts are at Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Drive, Aptos (Off Highway 1 at Freedom Blvd.) 

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: ” ‘Tis the season when we get all nostalgic about the year that’s just ended. I beg to differ. Fast away the old year passes, and it couldn’t happen soon enough for me! Find out why, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). What kind of a year did you have?” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

 

THE TWO POPES. Anthony Hopkins plays Pope Benedict XVI and Jonathan Pryce is Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio. Based on a terribly troubled time in the Catholic Church namely 2005 these two leaders argue and discuss their personal and public issues that become completely absorbing. Yes, child abuse is in there too. Just to watch these tow master actors is a reminder of what and where good acting can take audiences. Go see it, but do hurry.

LITTLE WOMEN. Another movie version of the classic Louisa May Alcott book. Greta Gerwig was the new director and she cut up the timeline, added some modern dialogue in spots and it’s well worth seeing. Saoirse Ronan heads the cast with Emma Watson and Laura Dern filling in the family members. 95 on RT. CLOSES THURSDAY JANUARY 9 

UNCUT GEMS. 92 RT. Adam Sandler is amazingly perfect in this role of a New York City Jeweler/ gambler who risks his family and his own life to make a quick (two days) bundle of money on a gem sale. You will never forget Sandler in this film. Exciting, tense, and believable. Don’t miss it. Sandler’s acting talent is surprising, especially when we have become so used to his comedy roles.

MARRIAGE STORY. A fine and well acted film about a show biz couple, their children , divorce, and some odd choices by Scarlett Johansson the wife to Adam Driver’s husband. Laura Dern does her best role in decades. Alan Alda and Ray Liotta have some small scenes. You are guaranteed to relive some of your own poor choices in your marriage too! 84 audience score on RT.A Netflix production.

AERONAUTS. Felicity Jones plays a very cute and Disney like character matching Eddie Redmayne’s equally sweet and nerdy partner in this supposedly true story of an early hot air balloon ascension in Britain’s Victorian age in 1862. It’s cute, some funny parts a bit scary due to heights of the balloon It’s on Amazon.

STAR WARS. THE RISE OF SKYWALKER. 54 RT. George Lucas’ Star Wars empire started 42 years ago with wildly clever and intelligent twists and an absolutely brilliant story line. We watched politely while some sad sequels stained our screens, now thanks to Disney buying and producing this concluding finale we have an ending to the saga that isn’t worth your time or expectations. Trite, predictable, and sad to see our old heroes and heroines suffer with a plot as dull and unrewarding as this one. You have to go if you’ve seen more than one of the series…just don’t expect to be satisfied with the conclusion.

RICHARD JEWELL. Once again right wing conservative Clint Eastwood directs a film with his usual hidden political statements. This time it’s based on a true story about a security guard who discovers a bomb hidden in an Atlanta park in 1996. The FBI decides that the guard planted the bomb himself. Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates do super jobs in the totally exciting movie. Eastwood twisted the story to have reporter Olivia Wilde swap sex for a tip from FBI guy Jon Hamm. It wasn’t true and folks are really upset that Eastwood made up this indignity. And it’s an exciting movie….go anyways. 96 audience score on RT. 73 RT from critics. CLOSES THURSDAY JANUARY 9.

A HIDDEN LIFE. If and that’s a big IF you are a Terrence Malick fan you’ll love this masterpiece that he directed. Malick directed Paradise, Amazing Grace, The Tree of life, The Knight of Cups, The New World and other lengthy cinematic statements. Hidden Life is almost exact;ly 3 hours long. It’s totally beautiful and is about a family man who refuses to enter the German army during WWII. I tried to like it, but Malick takes so much screen time to get his complex internal messages out I lose contact. I predict that future generations will “discover” Malick’s films and give them the attention he’s not getting from us.

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

CATS. Hard to believe this insanity of a movie is from a book by T.S. Eliot. It’s even more difficult to acknowledge the amazing stage history of the musical. Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and dozens more stars wore whiskers; and danced and made fools of themselves only for millions of dollars in salaries. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself refuses to talk about this flop. It got an 18 RT. As a play it has also been playing on stages around the world for 40 years!!! They spent $95 million dollars to make this movie. I wouldn’t see it if I were you. When D.B. and I saw it we were the only two people in the theatre.!!!

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. January 7 Kara Guzman and Stephen Baxter from Santa Cruz Local open the show. Then Tandy Beal and Jon Scoville talk about “Scoville Units”. Peter Klotz-Chamberlin from The Resource Center for Non Violence guests on Jan. 14. Michel Singher conductor of the Espressivo Orchestra talks about their concerts on Jan. 21. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

Sin Sisters Burlesque! Come check it out this weekend – always on the second Saturday of every month. This is a burlesque show that has graced the stage in Santa Cruz monthly for going on 9 years!

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    “2020”

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead 

“Begin anywhere.” – John Cage 

“What the New Year brings to you will depend a great deal on what you bring to the New Year.” – Vern McLellan


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
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Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

December 25, 2019 – January 8, 2020

Posted on December 26, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…No On Recall news, latest on Errett Church’s hope. GREENSITE… on the UCSC Graduate Students’ Strike. KROHN…City Council thanks, COLA and student strike, more No on Recall STEINBRUNER…Cabrillo College bond, Bob Bosso retires, water rates rise, water with added sewage, Valencia Road barn saved, Aptos Village project, Zach Friend from Mountain View? Campaign signs ready to spread. PATTON…When we can’t trust our Government. EAGAN…Deep Cover and Subconscious Comics. JENSEN…prepares for holidays. BRATTON…I critique Cats and A Hidden Life. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES… “New Years Eve”

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MISSION AND WATER STREETS (aka Front & Pacific) 1957. That was the famed — and now demolished — McHugh & Bianchi Store, that carried about everything. Now it’s Bank of the West                                                     

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

Russell Brutsche’s “Council Members Games” song.
POSTMODERN JUKEBOX. They are coming to the Rio in February!! Get your tickets here 

DATELINE  December 23

RECALL AND ELECTIONS..

As the Sentinel said last week…

“Former city mayors Katherine Beiers and Don Lane, both historically aligned with the city’s politically progressive factions, are contenders for what would be the remaining nine months of Krohn’s seat. Former progressive mayor Tim Fitzmaurice will face off against recall organizers’ favorite and local teacher Renee Golder for the nearly three years remaining to Glover’s seat. Both Glover and Krohn are considered members of the sitting council’s progressive bloc”. Aside from being a Republican Renee Golder has voted No on M and is supported by Greg Larson, Hilary Bryant, David Terrazas, and Pam Comstock. If those names don’t define which sector of our community they represent you must be very new or uninvolved here. Tim Fitzmaurice on the other hand states on his site…” I have served on many commissions, Bus Board, Transportation, Farmers Market, Criminal Justice, City Schools, Arts Council, among others, and on the City Council (1998 to 2006) as Mayor in 2000-2001. I am married to Laurie Brooks. I have been a union officer, and coached youth soccer and baseball. I teach ethics and writing at UCSC and in state prison near Soledad. I garden, bake bread and write poetry”. 

ERRETT CHURCH & PRESERVING HOPE.
Santa Cruz has seen many preservation battles lost to developers and greed, so this City Council decision is a great victory in preserving an historic landmark. Would this be another City Council display of who supports developers, money and to hell with community? Read on and see. I asked Sue Powell, one of the leaders of Friends of the Circle, to give us her view of the City Council’s action. She wrote… “Update on Community Efforts to Save the Circle Church On Tuesday, December 10, the Santa Cruz City Council voted 4-3 to direct staff to refer the developer-paid historic report for the 111 Errett Circle property to the City’s Historic Preservation Commission for review and to make a formal recommendation to the Council as to whether the site should be listed as a Local Historic Landmark. This is a major victory for community members that have been working for nearly a year to protect the Circle Church from demolition. Since last January, neighbors and friends have gathered over 1000 signatures and have addressed the City Council during Oral Communications many times about our concerns. We have also made presentations to the Historic Preservation Commission, and listened to Commissioners state that they wanted to review the developers’ consultant historic report at a public meeting. They are interested in the historic significance of the site and want to advise the City Council about the adequacy of the historic report. In response to community and HPC concerns, Councilmembers Chris Krohn, Drew Glover, and Sandy Brown requested that an item be placed on the City Council Agenda to refer the issue to the HPC. They submitted an Agenda Report to the Mayor, and the item was placed on the Agenda for December 10. Speakers in favor of the Agenda item included representatives from Friends of the Circles, Karolyn Ronzano and Jennifer Smith from Circles Women’s Coalition, Candace Brown from Save Santa Cruz, and Bruce Thomas from Dufour Neighbors. Santa Cruz City Council Members Chris Krohn, Drew Glover, Sandy Brown, and Justin Cummings voted in favor of the item. 

We expect that the item will be on the Agenda for the Historic Preservation Commission on Wednesday, January 15.”

December 23rd 2019

Let History Be a Guide

The current UCSC Graduate Students’ strike is a demand for a significant increase in pay for graduate students who work as Teaching Assistants (TA’s) for professors of undergraduate classes. The basis for their demand is that rents in Santa Cruz, whether on or off campus, have risen faster than have annual cost of living increases. Graduate students are quoted as saying they pay over 75% of their monthly paycheck in rent. This is not news in Santa Cruz. What is news is that graduate students are striking to pressure the UCSC administration to act to remedy the situation.

While such a strike is news it is not new. I helped organize a successful strike over rents at UCSC in 1978. It might encourage the current strikers to hear that story.

When we first moved into Family Student Housing (FSH) at UCSC in 1976 (the same housing complex the Administration wants to now bulldoze and build anew, albeit with fewer units, on the East Meadow) the monthly rent was $110. That is not a typo. That was the typical rent at the time for a two- bedroom apartment or house in town as well as on campus. Many rented for less. If I remember correctly, the monthly pay for a TA working 20 hours a week was about $800: a one to seven ratio of rents to paycheck.

Today, the rent for the same 2 bedroom apartment at FSH is $1,767 and the monthly pay for a graduate student working 20 hours a week as a TA is $2,364: a one to one and a third ratio of rents to paycheck. The imbalance is self-evident.

In 1977, the administration proposed raising the FSH rents from $110 a month to $145. We were stunned! Word spread quickly among the residents of the 199 apartments at FSH. We were a fairly tight community and some of us were activists. We had organized and raised funds to build a playground for the children of FSH and many of us belonged to radical groups of the time. We were not about to take a rent increase lying down.

A core group met and after much discussion (decision by consensus was the norm at the time) we decided to assess if the majority of residents would be willing to withhold rents as a protest. They were. Over 90 per cent agreed to put their monthly rent into a collective bank account and withhold paying UCSC until our demand for no rent increase was met. (We also demanded to take over the budget for FSH, which was met and proved to be far more difficult in practice but that’s another story.)

After delivering news of our rent strike to the administration, we asked for a meeting with Chancellor Robert Sinsheimer. Since many of us were spouses of graduate students and with young children, it was decided that a small group with toddlers in tow might illuminate for the Chancellor that our concerns were real.

We decided on an approach that was valid and persuasive: that UCSC was no different from a factory town in that it controlled both wages and housing costs. Given that analogy, if UCSC wanted to raise rents it should also raise wages. Whether this was a convincing argument or whether the Chancellor was eager to usher us and the kids out or both, his decision was that there would be no rent increase for FSH. And most importantly, that FSH would be taken out of the formula whereby new campus housing cost debts were (and are) spread across all current students, the major driver of rent increases on campus and by extension off-campus and an inevitable result of UCSC growth.

Clearly rents have risen at FSH since that time and institutional memory has erased our successful strike. However I believe FSH is still exempt from the new housing debt formula and $1,767 a month for a 2- bedroom apartment is low by current Santa Cruz and UCSC standards. That is not the point. The only relevant point is the rent to pay ratio and by that metric, a significant pay increase for TA’s is more than warranted.

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Correcting the record: I ended last week’s column with a paragraph on the Sierra Club’s ballot for election to the local Executive Committee. I critiqued a flyer being circulated and passed out at a Sierra Club event, which proclaimed the three male candidates as the only ones serious about the climate crisis and by inference, demeaning the two female incumbents. This was not fair. My mistake was assuming the male candidates were distributing the flyer at the event when in fact it was their supporters from FORT (Friends Of the Rail Trail) who were the distributors. That one of the male candidates endorsed the flyer may have led me to make an incorrect assumption. My other mistake was assuming this objectionable flyer was also the campaign mailer the slate of three male candidates sent to all members. The mailer, which arrived after my writing the piece, is not the flyer and is not objectionable. I apologize for these mistakes.

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 23

LAST COLUMN OF THE YEAR.
There is so much to be thankful for my friends. My family, a roof over our head, a great community to live in, and of course great people active in the political life of this town. Yes, getting beyond the recall and all that innuendo surrounding it is something, but it pales in comparison to all of the wonderful community members who have stepped up these past months and continue to support the Brand New City Council majority, which took two elections to create. And of course, y’all know it will take winning two more elections–2020 and 2022–to maintain the majority and create some real balance in advocating for the needs of this community. When I write balance, I mean bringing the issues of renters, students, neighborhoods, and local business owners to city hall and implementing policies that support their needs and reflect a fair and transparent local government. Right now, our city seems locked in struggle over Santa Cruz values and who gets to live here. The question before us in the electoral arena is how is the city council going to ensure this is a community that is open, just, and caring, which are all values that made many of us want to live here in the first place.

Cola4All
There’s a minor revolution going on up on the UCSC Hill. Graduate students are on “grade strike” and asking everyone not to cross the “cyber” picket line. Graduate students, over 500, have signed onto a pledge not to turn in their final grades–they of course do a lot of the teaching at UCSC in case you are wondering–until they receive a cost of living increase. The university administration claims the grad union signed a contract and they need to abide by it. Grad students are affiliated with UAW Local 2865. When their current contract was first approved, over 80% of UCSC’s grad students voted no, simply because it costs so much more to live in Santa Cruz than say Riverside or Merced. They are calling this a “wildcat” strike and withholding their labor until a cost of living increase is approved by the UC Regents based in Oakland. The Cola4All Campaign being waged also includes university staff and that is a smart move on the part of grad students so as not to alienate all underpaid workers on campus. Gp here for more information about the strike.

Letter in Support of a COLA for All
The following is a letter of support that I wrote to graduate students and was also endorsed by Councilmember Sandy Brown and Mayor Justin Cummings last Tuesday, the deadline for submitting grades. That deadline came and went and grad students are still on strike as far as I am aware as BrattonOnline.com  goes to press.

Dear Graduate Students,

I bring you greetings and support from Mayor Justin Cummings and Councilmember Sandy Brown. All three of us have been graduate students, two of us here at UCSC, but being a graduate student now in Santa Cruz has never been more difficult. We acknowledge that, we support graduate students, and we support your campaign for a COLA4ALL!

In a recent letter to the campus community, EVC Kletzer wrote that the campus administration is “continuing to develop solutions…in the face of the severe housing crisis.”  It is critical that she share those “solutions” with us and the timeline for implementation. The problem we face is that there is not only a housing shortage in Santa Cruz, but there are also some landlords who are charging too much, including the University. The rent-burden solution for students has to begin with the University. Graduate students along with UCSC staff are facing an extreme rent-burden and the City Council stands ready to work with UCSC to make housing more affordable.

We—Mayor Justin Cummings and councilmembers Sandy Brown and Chris Krohn–believe it is critical that the UCSC administration sit down with graduate student representatives and begin mediating this crisis as soon as possible.  As we all said on the campaign trail, “not all housing is equal” and there is not a “housing” crisis in Santa Cruz, there is an AFFORDABLE housing crisis. We urge the administration to resolve this issue as soon as possible. 

Secondly, we need the UCSC administration to take a longer view and consider drastically lowering dorm fees. For example, an email just went out from the Summer Session office advertising dorm fees at HALF-off for summer session students. If you can do it for summer session students you can do it for all students. 

As city councilmembers, we stand with over 500 graduate students and 400 faculty members in demanding an immediate resolution to this matter. We support the COLA4ALL campaign.  As elected officials wanting to see the best outcome for all, we support a COLA increase and a speedy resolution to this matter. If you would like to call on the auspices of the Mayor and City Council we stand ready to assist in any mediation effort as the resolution to this issue moves forward.

Best,

Chris Krohn
Sandy Brown
Justin Cummings

No Recall Campaign Rolls
Thirty community members showed up last week to walk precincts, organize, make phone calls, and get the No Recall campaign off the ground. The past two weekends Santa Cruz4Bernie has been out canvassing and supporting Bernie Sanders for President, No Recall, Annrae Angel for Judge and Adam Scow for US Representative. It is comforting, consoling, and a real treat to be among active and passionate people who want to change the direction of their local and federal government. 

Here is some information about the No Recall Campaign:

We’ve been raising money, but the shortened timeline of this election makes it even more difficult to get the word out before February 3rd when vote by mail ballots go out, even though Election Day is March 3rd.

Please click here to donate

What are we spending money on?

  • Filing fees and ballot statement—$1650.
  • Two Mailings—$10-$15,000 each
  • Yard signs—$2000
  • Campaign walking pieces—$2000
  • Campaign Coordinator–$2000

As you can see, there is no fat in this budget. We’re hoping to do a couple more walks even though the holidays are upon us. There’s no other choice. You are welcome to join us.  You can sign up here

It would be great if you could go online now and send in a donation today, so we can get the NO RECALL message out to a wider audience. 

StopSantaCruzRecalls.org/donate/

Or, you can do it the old-fashioned way too, here’s the mailing address.

Checks can be made out to:

Committee to Stop the Recalls of Councilmembers Glover & Krohn
P.O. Box 839
Santa Cruz CA 95061

FPPC ID # 1419490

As we approach the New Year, let us reflect on the values Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez puts forward every day. I repeat her tweet from July 16:

Reminder of what people are calling the “radical, extreme-left agenda”:

  • Medicare for All
  • A Living Wage & Labor Rights
  • K-16 schooling, aka Public Colleges
  • 100% Renewable Energy
  • Fixing the pipes in Flint
  • Not Hurting Immigrants
  • Holding Wall Street Accountable 

Aren’t these Santa Cruz Values too?  

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 23

TAXES, TAXES, TAXES…
Yet another tax for Cabrillo College will be on our ballots in March, 2020.  Measure R would ask you to approve a third bond for Cabrillo College…before we even have the other two paid off.  This proposed $274 Million debt would last for 30 years…wow.  The existing budget allows only 0.37% for maintenance, yet the College claims this new bond is required for critical maintenance projects.   

It would spend $23 Million to buy land in Watsonville to build a new training center for law enforcement and firefighters.  Why expand in Watsonville when the Aptos Campus is available due to current and projected declining enrollment? 

Did you know that parts of Monterey and San Benito Counties are included in the Cabrillo College Assessment boundary?  However, I find it odd that Cabrillo College cannot provide me with an accurate map showing names of roads or boundary delineation.  I will most likely have to consult with the County Assessors.

How many more taxes and tax increases can the people be expected to burden when it is already a struggle  for many to survive?

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT HONORS RETIRING COUNSEL BOB BOSSO’S 50 YEARS 
The District Board presented Mr. Bob Bosso a resolution last week to honor his 50 years of legal expertise and defending the District’s legal interests.  That is a notable accomplishment.  Although I have not enjoyed the court room battles waged by Mr. Bosso against my legal demands that the District simply conduct full environmental analysis of the surface water transfer agreements with the City, and other major violations, I have come to appreciate that he is much better with connecting on a human level than the Best, Best & Krieger counsel who flies up from Riverside.  The District ratepayers have written him a monthly check for $8,000 for his services for a long time.  I wish Mr. Bosso well.  

The District has hired Best, Best & Krieger to take his place.  That firm now sends two attorneys who attend the Board meetings, driving from Walnut Creek. 

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT RATES WILL INCREASE AGAIN IN JANUARY, 2020
If you are a District ratepayer, watch out for yet another rate increase that will pop out on your February, 2020 bill.  This is the second of five years that you will pay a 9% increase for water, and even more than that if your household uses more than 5.99 units of water.  THIS IS HURTING FAMILIES AND IS UNFAIR.  At last week’s meeting, a couple of rate payers testified they have been careful to conserve water, but have multiple people living in the house.  They asked the Board to reconsider the rate increases and be fair. 

Later in the meeting, after the ratepayers had left, Chairman Bruce Daniels scoffed that people who are getting these big bills just use too much water.

Write the Board with your thoughts: Soquel Creek Water District Board bod@soquelcreekwater.org and copy Emma Olin emmao@soquelcreekwater.org  Ask for a written response…they never respond, but do ask.  Maybe the League of Special Districts who keeps handing out the Transparency Awards will take notice. 

WATER TRANSFER VOLUME THROTTLED BACK BUT EXPANDING TO SECOND SERVICE AREA IN MID-COUNTY
Engineer Director Taj Dufour told the Soquel Creek Water District that the water transfers have begun, but the initial transfer amount at the inter-tie connection linking the District’s system with the City’s was letting too much water in too quickly.  The City Water Dept. staff asked the District to throttle the transfer rate back a bit, but the plan is still to send the water to Service Areas 1 and 2, and allow the District’s wells to rest.  You can listen to this explanation beginning at minute 46:03 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xDuMNOgYFuY&list=PLo9N9AsVOVvSoD4ukIIU2-1n-SpSLmwFt&index=1 

Write a letter to the Board to support this low-energy demanding regional water management project that will allow groundwater levels to rise naturally and not inject pharmaceuticals into our drinking water.

NOTICE OF APPEAL FILED

Last week, I filed the Notice of Appeal regarding Judge Schmal’s Order to Deny Petition for Writ of Mandate against Soquel Creek Water District for the un-necessary, expensive and environmentally-degrading project to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage into the drinking water supply of the MidCounty area.  I also filed a Motion to strike the nearly $2,400 the District wants me to pay for costs that I think are not reasonable or necessary, and certainly not due them.  I am also filing a Motion to disqualify presiding Appellate Division Judge Tim Volkmann, former law partner of Judge Schmal.  The Motion to Strike Costs will be heard on February 7, 2020 by Judge Schmal.  The appeal for the Denial of the Writ will be heard at a future date under a new case #19AP00031 by the Appellate Division, a tribunal of three.

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

SIGNS UP FOR SUPERVISOR 
The yard signs for my campaign for Second District County Supervisor are in and look great!  Please contact me if you would like one or more.  Many thanks to all of you who wrote and asked for one in your yard.  Becky Steinbruner vote4beckysteinbruner@gmail.com  or phone 831-685-2915.

I AIM TO WORK HARD AS YOUR PUBLIC SERVANT AND VOICE OF REASON

My campaign website is under construction, but in a nutshell, here is why I am running for County Supervisor in the Second District.  Above all, I think people deserve a choice at the ballot box.  It is never a healthy situation for democracy when questionable elected representatives are unopposed.

  1. The people in the Second District deserve an elected representative who will respond to their concerns.  The incumbent usually does not answer e-mails or phone calls, unless you are someone who will help him climb his political ladder to higher places.  The rural residents in particular have suffered from lack of representation and responsive public service.  I will work hard to change that.
  2. County Fire and emergency response to the rural areas must be funded from Prop. 172 money that the County receives annually.  Last year, that was $18 million from this permanent statewide half-cent sales tax to help fund emergency response and public safety.  The County Board of Supervisors refuses to give any to fund County Fire protection.  Instead, the rural property owners are currently being asked for a hefty benefit assessment levy.  I feel that protecting the rural areas will also protect the urban interface areas because wildland fire can blow right into the urban areas if conditions are right.  All you have to do is look at what happened in the Santa Rosa and Chico areas during those conflagrations.  Protecting the rural areas also protects the natural beauty and habitats in the County, and also our watersheds. utilities and communications infrastructure that we all rely upon.  
  3. County road repairs are woefully behind schedule.  That needs to change. Storm repairs are just happening now on Eureka Canyon Road from damages in 2011.  Some of the 2016-17 winter repairs may not get funded because the work to get them ready for bid has taken so long, even though the County hired five outside engineering contractors for $25 million to expedite the work, so FEMA and the State Highway Administration may no longer fund the repairs.  I think the Dept. of Public Works needs to be held accountable, and to offer incentives to the staff who get things done efficiently and well.
  4. I would work to negotiate benefit reductions for top level management and apply the savings to the looming CalPERS unfunded benefit debt due to hit in 2020/2021.  County Administrative Officer (CAO) Carlos Palacios has warned the Board that the budget deficit could reach $9 million-$15 Million.
  5. The Grand Jury needs to have more teeth to actually work with the District Attorney to force actions that would remediate the problems brought forth by the investigations.  I would work to make that happen.
  6. I would work to re-establish the Building and Fire Code Appeals Board, which was abolished by the County Administrative Officer Susan Mauriello, and handed to the Board of Supervisors, who are not experts in the field. 
  7. I would reduce appeal fees in general for matters contested by the public.  Currently, one must pay $1200 to appeal a Zoning Administrative matter to the Planning Commission.  If the matter is to go before the Board of Supervisors, one must pay $1800.  The Board always refuses to even take jurisdiction over matters brought before them, in essence, rubber-stamping support for whatever has taken place against the appellant.  In my experience, the Board does not even read the materials presented to them, never asks questions, and just does not care.
  8. I would work to establish a staking and flagging ordinance in this county so that when a building permit is in the works, the applicant must put up flagging to show the dimensions of the proposed building.  Monterey County requires this, and I think we should, too, in order to let people know what is being proposed for their neighborhoods and not have to rely on plan drawings that are difficult to interpret.  This would help communities get involved earlier in the planning process for projects that would affect them.
  9. I would work hard to get funding for the pedestrian/ bicycle over passes in Aptos (Mar Vista)  and for the Pajaro Valley High School students to get built.  Both of these have been promised for nearly decades, but little action to move them forward.  The Mar Vista overpass should be closer to Cabrillo College and Mar Vista School for student safety.
  10. I would work to support building a trail along the rail corridor without disturbing the contaminated soils.  I support leaving the rail open as an option for public transportation, whether with a hydrogen fuel cell technology train, or electric carts, with a strong focus on linking the Watsonville residents with a cost-efficient and practical alternative to a bus system that is stuck in congested traffic and provides no service on holidays.
  11. I would like to consider the possibility of re-tooling the County General Plan, which is still in process of being updated, to include clusters of denser affordable housing along the rail corridor, to encourage and support possible rail uses in the future.
  12. I would work to require County building codes to include double plumbing and water recirculation features to reduce water use.  I would support rainwater catchment systems for landscape uses, and stormwater recharge features when soils support percolation rather than sending polluted water from streets and parking lots to local creeks.
  13. I would add a Youth in Government Commission, with representatives of local high schools and Cabrillo College serving as liaisons with the Board.
  14. I would work to establish the Mills Act in the County to provide owners of historically-significant properties to preserve and maintain them, rather than demolish them, and to receive tax reductions for doing so.
  15. I would work to amend the County Significant Tree Ordinance to protect the historic trees that are important in our communities and that help sequester carbon and provide habitat for wildlife.  I would work to re-forest County-owned areas, such as the monolith at 701 Ocean Street Government Building where all the mature trees were cut down mysteriously and there is no plan to replant them.
  16. I would allow free parking at the County Government Building for the public doing business.  I would work to build a secure parking structure for County staff who work in the court and judicial system and currently face physical threats when accessing the government buildings.
  17. I would hold regular public town hall meetings and constituent meetings at locations and hours that would encourage people to attend and participate in local government.   Despite many people asking for a public town hall meeting regarding the Aptos Village Traffic Improvement Project, the incumbent has refused to hold any such meeting.  Now, the Public Works Dept. has issued a call for bids on the $2.5 million project for the second traffic light at Aptos Creek Road and pave the way for the Aptos Village Project’s Phase 2 subdivision without any public input whatsoever.
  18. I would again allow members of the public to be able to pull items from the Board’s  Consent Agenda and place them on the Regular Agenda for better public discussion.  I would uphold the spirit of the Brown Act and make sure that people who address the Board at meetings are acknowledged and their concerns addressed /clarified.
  19. I would publish a monthly newsletter to keep constituents apprised of events and public hearings, with links to information.  I would try to establish a weekly radio program for call-in discussions and brain-storming solutions to local issues.
  20. I would be honored to work hard as a public servant, with no interest in climbing political ladders to higher places.  I would donate a significant portion of my salary every year to public charity and student scholarships.  I would recommend to the Board that all Supervisors take a pay reduction, but I realistically doubt that would ever fly.

YOU CAN SERVE, TOO
There are many commissions in the County government that need to have people who care and are willing to serve as a liaison between the public and make recommendations to the Board and staff.  Take a look at this long list of commissions, and consider  applying with your Supervisor for a position on one of them!

WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING.  THANK A PUBLIC EMPLOYEE WHO IS DOING A GOOD JOB. Cheers, and Season’s Greetings to All, Becky Steinbruner

Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. She’s running again for Second District County Supervisor.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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December 22
#356 / When You Can’t Trust The U.S. Government


The Wall Street Journal is, I think, a “go-to” source of information for the business class. I don’t qualify in that category, but I read The Wall Street Journal, too. On Friday, November 29, 2019, The Journal ran an article titled, “Boeing’s Next Jet Faces Scrutiny.” I think that the article is, or should be, instructive for American business, which has celebrated, for the most part, the fact that the United States government is increasingly ready to accept business claims about product safety without independently verifying their veracity.

Take Boeing’s 737 MAX airplane as a prime example. The Federal Aviation Administration “delegated” safety checks of the airplane to the manufacturer, which sped the plane into service without additional pilot training, and with what turned out to be a massively defective software system that helped crash two of the planes, killing hundreds of people.

“My bad” Boeing has now admitted.

Well, it turns out that other nations have relied upon the integrity of the FAA, and have heretofore assumed that if the FAA has certified a plane as safe, then the plane is, in fact, safe. That reliance on the United States’ regulatory process has significantly benefitted Boeing.

No more!

If I were a business person in the United States, I would take a lesson from this recent article, and realize that when foreign nations can’t trust the United States government (which more and more, under the current administration, is removing or weakening regulatory reviews of all kinds) the end result, in a global economy, is not “good,” but “bad,” for American business.

I, for one, don’t trust Boeing, period. And, of course, I now don’t trust the FAA, either, having learned that the FAA thinks it is just fine to delegate its responsibilities to the corporations that the FAA is supposed to regulate. I guess I am now going to have to rely on foreign government airplane safety reviews, instead of safety reviews by our own government. And I don’t trust those other governments very much, either. Is the fact that the world can no longer trust the integrity of the United States government good for United States corporations?

I doubt it.

Just a thought for all those corporate types – and all their lobbyists, in every industry, seeking to weaken governmental regulatory reviews! 

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS.  Scroll below for yet another Sub Con and a peek way inside our driving forces. 

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Trump forsight and prediction ” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent  Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog. 

LISA JENSEN LINKS. . Lisa’s reviews are at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

CATS. Hard to believe that this insanity of a movie is from a book by T.S. Eliot. It’s even more difficult to acknowledge the amazing stage history of the musical. Judy Dench, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Hudson, James Corden and dozens more stars wore whiskers, and danced and made fools of themselves, only for millions of dollars in salaries. Andrew Lloyd Webber himself refuses to talk about this flop. It got an 18 RT. As a play it has also been playing on stages around the world for 40 years!!! They spent $95 million dollars to make this movie. I wouldn’t see it if I were you. When D.B. and I saw it we were the only two people in the theatre!!!

A HIDDEN LIFE. If and that’s a big IF you are a Terrence Malick fan, you’ll love this masterpiece. Malick directed Paradise, Amazing Grace, The Tree of life, The Knight of Cups, The New World and other lengthy cinematic statements. Hidden Life is almost exactly 3 hours long. It’s totally beautiful, and about a family man who refuses to enter the German army during WWII. I tried to like it, but Malick takes so much screen time to get across his complex internal messages that I lose contact. I predict that future generations will “discover” Malick’s films, and give them the attention he’s not getting from us.

RICHARD JEWELL. Once again right wing conservative Clint Eastwood directs a film with his usual hidden political statements. This time it’s based on a true story about a security guard who discovers a bomb hidden in an Atlanta park in 1996. The FBI decides that the guard planted the bomb himself. Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates do super jobs in the totally exciting movie.  Eastwood twisted the story to have reporter Olivia Wilde swap sex for a tip from FBI guy Jon Hamm. It wasn’t true and folks are really upset that Eastwood made up this indignity. And it’s an exciting movie….go anyways. 96 audience score on RT. 73 RT from critics.

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. .  I’m taking Christmas Eve (12/24) off from G’vine . New Years Eve (Dec. 31) has surprises as of this printing.. January 7 Kara Guzman and Stephen Baxter from Santa Cruz Local open the show. Then Tandy Beal and Jon Scoville talk about “Scoville Units”. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

If you survived Whamageddon (go ahead, google it), this is for you!

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    “New Years Eve”

“Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man.” Benjamin Franklin 

“May the New Year bring you courage to break your resolutions early! My own plan is to swear off every kind of virtue, so that I triumph even when I fall!” Aleister Crowley, 

“Sometimes too much to drink is barely enough”. Mark Twain 


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


Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

Posted on December 17, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Page Smith and Rebele Shelters are infested, Stop the Recall. GREENSITE…on Who Sets Policy at City Hall, and other corrections. KROHN…will return next week. STEINBRUNER…Water transfers begin, Steinbruner Supervisor signs available, hydrogen train coming to Santa Cruz, New Leaf now owned by South Korean Corp., Ellen Pirie and Aptos Village question, Aptos Library demolished. PATTON…vanishing animals EAGAN…Sub Comics plus Deep Cover. JENSEN…holiday distractions. BRATTON…I critique Richard Jewell and Frankie. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES… “HANNUKAH”

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TAKING CARE OF JOHN, JESUS AND FRIENDS. This shows Kathleen Stubergh working on John, who sat to Jesus’ right. The Last Supper waxwork was created sometime in the late 1930’s by two Struberghs, a mother and daughter artist team from Los Angeles. The photo was taken April 23, 1954.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

THE REAL MISTER ROGERS.
TOM HANKS TALKS ABOUT CLINT EASTWOOD’S DIRECTING.

DATELINE December 16 

PAGE SMITH AND REBELE INFESTED SHELTERS.
Alicia Kuhl, the president of the Santa Cruz chapter of the California Homeless Union, a homeless mother of three young children, was my guest (7:30-8 p.m.)on last week’s Universal Grapevine. Hear it here…  and click on Universal Grapevine listen to and follow the Natural History Museum interview (7-7:30). I asked her to repeat her experiences with the Rebele Family Shelter and the Page Smith Community House at the Homeless Services Center. She sent this email…

“It’s my understanding, and people have reported bed bugs at the Page Smith and at the Rebele Family shelter.

There were reports of scabies several months ago at the 1220 River Street city-sanctioned camp run by the Salvation Army but the staff denied it. It was reported to environmental health. As well as people are vomiting due to the “shuttle drivers driving” there. People are not allowed to walk in and out of the camp they have to get on a shuttle.

And I hear stories of the Laurel Street Shelter almost always being full, taking hours to get into, you have to wait out in the cold for hours for the shuttle to come, and then you get a mat on the floor about 8 inches away from another person sleeping next to you. Keith McHenry (Food Not Bombs) has photos. Disabled people have a really hard time with mats on the floor.

People should know that the Page Smith shelter has a long waiting list and so does the Rebele shelter, so although the conditions are harsh it’s also extremely hard to even get in there  Those places used to offer a lot more services at the Homeless Services Center now called Housing Matters. They used to offer daily meals, a clothing closet, and expanded shower service. It also never had a gate around it in the past; it’s more like a highly regulated hostile facility now, rather than a place for homeless people to seek services and refuge.

I have also received reports about people being kicked out for taking too long of a shower there. (Lucero Luna)
I also know that the people working at the Salvation Army operated  1220 River Street camp make good money $28 to $34 an hr. The camp costs  nearly $80k monthly, yet the camp has almost no budget for helping it’s residents. All that money goes into paying the staff to micro manage 60 people sleeping in tents. It’s ridiculous”. These infectious and unclean charges have been made before but little or nothing has been done to change them.

It’s time for Santa Cruz to unite behind some solid homeless programs, forget the never ending committees assigned to investigate and do something even if it’s copying other cities that have made far more progress than our city by the bay. 

STOP THE KROHN GLOVER RECALL…As most locals have figured out, the recall is the perfect example of class warfare. It’s the financially secure against the renters. It’s the “democrats” versus the Progressives. It’s the Democratic Women’s Club (supports the recall) versus the Peoples Democratic Club (opposes the recall). Bruce Van Allen of the Stop the Recalls Steering Committee sent an email. I’m re “printing” it here… 

“Join Us in Defeating the Santa Cruz Recalls. The campaign to defeat the recalls of Drew Glover and Chris Krohn can only win with everyone’s help. The campaign is calling for volunteers – mostly for canvassing, plus some phoning and office work. Voting starts February 3rd, just 7 weeks from now. In that short period, every volunteer makes a difference as we contact voters citywide. To win, we want to match the amazing 2016 and 2018 campaigns for progressive change that put Chris and Drew in office. 

Check here to see the endorsements… 

You can be part of this short but crucial campaign. Here’s how you can get involved:    

  • Sign up here (If you are already on our email list, you’re part way there: just click that link and then follow the instructions to update your profile to sign up for volunteer activities.)     
  • Share this message with your friends, organizations, and social networks.
    Let’s defeat this recall and keep our city moving forward!

Thanks, Bruce Van Allen, on behalf of the
Stop the Recalls Steering Committee 

  • Lee Brokaw
  • Sheila Carrillo
  • Jessica Chuidian-Ingersoll
  • Brett Garrett
  • John R. Hall
  • Shelley Hatch
  • Rick Longinotti
  • Micah Posner
  • Dawn Schott-Norris
  • Bruce Van Allen
  • Amy Lebichuck, Treasurer
  • Jeffrey Smedberg, Asst. Treasurer

Stop the Recalls of Councilmembers Glover and Krohn
FPPC ID #1419490 • PO Box 839, Santa Cruz CA 95061 • www.norecall.org

Our mailing address is:
Stop the Recalls of Councilmembers Glover & Krohn
PO Box 839, Santa Cruz, CA 95061-0839

Correcting the Record

A huge error leaped off the page from Stephen Kessler’s weekly opinion piece in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. An error so glaring it helps explain that writer’s frequent chastisement of the two council members facing a recall and indeed, the recall itself.

Kessler writes:
“In our city manager form of government the mayor’s powers are limited to setting agendas and running council meetings. Policy, for better or worse, is largely driven by professional staff employees of the city based on their knowledge and experience.”  Sentinel 12/14/19 (my emphasis)

Kessler is correct in the first sentence. Setting agendas and running meetings is the role of the mayor. He is incorrect in his second sentence. Policy is set by city council not by staff. Staff carries out the policy set by the elected officials. Or that is the way it is supposed to work. That Kessler got it wrong is probably because for the past few decades, policy has been staff-driven with council deferentially nibbling around the edges. Staff is not and should not be the policy-makers. Past councils have basically given over their power to the bureaucrats who have come to expect that role and who bristle at any challenges, which have been few and far between… until now.

Criticism is leveled that Glover and Krohn are too demanding of staff, not sufficiently cordial and horrors, one apparently  “smirked” when a staff member began their presentation with “in my expert opinion” despite no smirk apparent in the video of the meeting.  That such minor transgressions can be elevated to charges serious enough to warrant a motion to censure and fuel a recall is explainable only when power and a developer friendly status-quo is being challenged. This creates friction, which is personalized, misinterpreted and used as a means to get rid of the council members most critical of the status quo. Add a dose of misinformation such as the false claim by the recall backers that Glover wanted to put a homeless encampment in every neighborhood and friction fuels flames of anger and hostility. Calls to return to “civility” are calls to return to staff at the helm with council the obedient crew. “Civility” in this context means no challenge to “business-as –usual.” Is that what we really want from our elected officials? Is critical analysis spoken with vehemence unacceptable in politics? And if not there, where is it acceptable? To those who say, one can be civil and challenge staff, I say, that is not how the system works. I know, I’ve been there. As chair of the city Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, when I challenged the SCPD, staff and council in 2005 to take more seriously the issue of rape in the city, I was swiftly labeled as disruptive, not a team-player, hostile to staff, a bully…you name it…and I was just as swiftly not re-appointed to the Commission. It is sad to see that the Commission has been invisible since then and is now being misused to vilify Glover and Krohn.

Another needed correction. This is in regards to the Sierra Club Santa Cruz Group ballot, which those of you who are current members will have recently received.  This ballot is to choose members to fill 3 vacancies on the Group’s Executive Committee. The number of open seats is noted on the ballot as 4. There are in fact only 3 seats open.  If you vote for 4 your votes are valid and will be counted. The top 3 vote getters will be seated at the February meeting. As a member of the Elections Committee I am unable to recommend candidates and am not doing so here. However I am concerned at the misinformation being circulated by the 3 males who are running as a slate against the two female incumbents. In the slate’s literature, which is posted on Next Door and being mailed to members, it incorrectly asserts that the Sierra Club is involved in “frivolous lawsuits” against the rail trail and by implication, that the incumbents support such efforts. That is untrue. The Sierra Club is not involved in any lawsuits against the rail trail. The incumbents have not taken a position against the rail trail but do want proper CEQA review of the environmental impacts involved. Rail trail supporters spreading this misinformation claim that exhaustive environmental review has already been done. Not true but just like the recall effort, distortions, untruths and misinformation feed the passions and sway the results. To read the 5 candidates’ full statements on the issues check out the Sierra Club website 

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 16, 2019 

Chris will return next week.

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 16 

REGIONAL WATER TRANSFERS BEGAN 
Thanks to the recent rains, the City of Santa Cruz gave the green light on December 6 to begin sending treated surface water to Soquel Creek Water District customers, allowing the District to stop pumping from the aquifer and thereby allow groundwater levels to rise naturally.  Last year was the first year the Pilot Project actually transferred water, and would have been a good test had Soquel Creek Water District not decided to begin pumping from their large O’Neill Ranch Well only two weeks into the Water Transfer Pilot Project.  That decreased the amount of water that the District could accept from the City.

It will be interesting to see what tricks the District uses this year to obfuscate any possible success and benefits of the conjunctive use.  It is unclear if the District actually intends to expand the boundaries of the Pilot Project to include Service Area 2 as well as Area 1.  The District only prepared the supply pipelines in Area #1, according to the November Operations & Maintenance Report. 

CURIOUS WATER DISTRICT REPORTING
I have been watching Soquel Creek Water District for a few years, but never have seen their agenda include as many financial disclosure reports as what is on the December 17 Board Agenda.  I think it is curious that the Water Demand Offset reports include NOTHING shown from Barry Swenson Builder for the Aptos Village Project. 

The service capacity fees for the Aptos Village Project, while reported, seem to have been given a discounted rate.  (see item 3.8 on item 65)

Also, take a look at Item 6.6, page 230, where the District plans to pay the Raftelis rate consultants $32,838 to study whether or not to reduce customer rates now that the District got awarded the money from the State.   Water sales revenue is down, and the cost of supplying water to customers is higher, due to the inclusion of the exorbitant costs of preliminary work for PureWater Soquel Project to inject treated sewage water into the drinking water supply for the MidCounty region.   The poor ratepayers haven’t seen anything yet…let’s hope this unnecessary project just does not get built.          

SUPERVISOR’S SIGNS UP!
I am running for Second District County Supervisor and will have signs ready to place in the next week.  Please let me know if you would like one or more.  I would also like to hear from you if you would like to host a neighborhood gathering to allow me the opportunity to meet your neighbors and friends.  There may some candidate forums next month, but it seems that many political organizations have already held them and/or made their endorsements.  Please respond to Becky Steinbruner  vote4BeckySteinbruner@gmail.com  >   Thanks!

HYDROGEN FUEL CELL PASSENGER TRAIN COMING TO SANTA CRUZ IN FEBRUARY!
Supervisor John Leopold told the Campaign for Sustainable Transportation Board last week that the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) will be bringing a hydrogen fuel cell passenger train to the rails of Santa Cruz County in February, lasting into March.  It will come into Watsonville by rail, with a ceremony there, then placed on a flatbed truck to be ported to somewhere in the MidCounty area…maybe Live Oak… where there will then be a demonstration of passenger service to an undetermined location in Santa Cruz.  The train cannot proceed north of Watsonville because the tracks along San Andreas Road that were washed out in the 2016-2017 rains have not been repaired. 

The idea is to demonstrate that passenger rail service can be clean, quiet and ecologically sustainable (this train will run on water and the exhaust will only be steam).  “Then we have to see if people are willing to pay for such service.” commented Supervisor Leopold.  Take a look at what the City of Redlands is doing with this Hydrail…planning to put the zero emission train into service in 2014  

NEW LEAF MARKET IS NOW OWNED BY SOUTH KOREAN CORPORATION
A friend sent me this interesting information about New Leaf Market and parent corporation  New Horizons Market getting sold to a large South Korean corporation. 

The picture is not rosy…and may not bode well for the future of this Market that claims to be environmentally-conscious and practicing social equity..

WHAT WAS COUNTY SUPERVISOR ELLEN PIRIE REALLY THINKING?
My friend also sent a link to a archived local news blog from May 8, 2015 where retired Second District County Supervisor Ellen Pirie discussed the background of the Aptos Village Project. This was just after the world-famous bike jumps had been illegally bulldozed, and the entire Project changed without proper California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review.  I remember that time, because I paid dearly to appeal the major design approvals but the Board of Supervisors denied it with a sham of a hearing.

It is interesting to note that Ms. Pirie states the biggest obstacle to developing the Aptos Village Project was that developers did not want to have to pay to provide the infrastructure.  What has in fact happened now is that the County taxpayers have paid for all of the infrastructure to support the Aptos Village Project.  That included the County Public Works Aptos Village Traffic Improvement Phase 1 Project that installed the Trout Gulch Road and Soquel Drive traffic light and crossing, and moved the Metro bus stop for the developers in anticipation of their sought-after new Parade Street crossing to Soquel Drive.  That Phase 1 publicly-funded project cost taxpayers about $3.5 million.

On December 10, the County Board of Supervisors approved $2.5 Million for the Aptos Village Traffic Improvement Project Phase 2 work that will add the second traffic light in the Village at Aptos Creek Road, and reconfigure Soquel Drive to accommodate the Aptos Village Project developers’ proposed new Parade Street railroad crossing to Soquel Drive.  What no one is discussing is that the condition the Public Utility Commission (PUC) has required in order to grant the new Parade Street crossing is that there be two similar private crossings closed.  County Public Works arbitrarily chose to close the crossing in front of the Bayview Hotel in Aptos Village, and also the Warrenella Road crossing in Davenport.  While the Davenport community has begun promised improvements in the Cement Plant Road pedestrian and bicycle access as a mitigation, the property owners in Aptos Village are getting kicked in the teeth.   What the County and PUC are ignoring is that the land under the railroad tracks is actually owned by the property owners adjacent…and the 1876 Easement Deed between Jose Arano and the Santa Cruz Railroad stipulates that the crossing must stay open and unobstructed in perpetuity.  

Does the County care?  NO.  Public Works is adamant that the crossing is not being taken, but rather just moved.  What?!  The developers are silent, but are legally responsible.

Going back to the archived interview with Ms. Pirie, it is shocking to read that she assured the interviewer that Swenson got no favors….it just is not true.  The County is leading the work on all the infrastructure improvements, waived encroachment permits for Phase 1 of the subdivision that connected into County road right-of-ways in multiple areas, waived the $1000/bedroom developer fee for parks, and waived the drainage easement costs to have all the storm water runoff from the Project dump into Aptos Village Park and Aptos Creek, a sensitive riparian habitat for Coho salmon.   Also, the roads in the subdivision are not wide enough for trucks to park on the new streets…don’t even ask about safe thoroughfare widths for fire engines.  The list of concessions goes on and on and on…and Supervisor Zach Friend is marching along in fine form to push the approval sometime next month of the Phase 2 Development Final Map that will intensify traffic even more with the solid three-story mixed use ghetto-ization of Aptos Village.  It is disgusting.

To the right is a photo of a County-owned truck that is too wide to fit in the parking spaces on narrow Aptos Village Way.  This photo was taken before the developers painted over both sets of parking space delineations to erase any sense of parking width or length restriction.  Who knows how many parking spaces there really are in the development, when they are no longer marked and cannot be counted?

APTOS LIBRARY TO BE DEMOLISHED
The Behren-Kim consultants unveiled a nebulous plan last week for a full-house meeting at the Aptos Library, but had no real plans to show anyone, other than the bubble diagram that the Library will be demolished and rebuilt to be over 11,000SF.  It is more cost-effective to remodel, but the consultant pointed up to the lovely large ceiling beams in the meeting room and said it would cost too much to try to enlarge the library and connect with those beams.  Wouldn’t any expansion take place on the opposite side of the building, away from the busy Soquel Drive?

The consultant stated afterward that there will be CEQA review regarding traffic and subsurface water/storm water drainage.  However, it seemed the RFP (Request For Proposals) will go out as soon as the Board approves the concept.  What a lot of building material to send to the landfill when it could be saved and remodeled for less money.

At the meeting, Alysson Violante, the aide to County Supervisor Zach Friend, announced that the Supervisor had just approved an additional $1.5 Million for the Project at the December 10, 2019 Board of Supervisor meeting.  Without this extra money, the library would not have been able to consider expansion.  A lot of people in the audience clapped.  I wondered where the extra $1.5 Million came from???

In looking at the item that had been buried in the Consent Agenda Item #33, the Library Director, Ms. Susan Nemitz, wrote to County Administrative Officer (CAO) Carlos Palacios to ask that an additional $1.4 Million be allowed to be taken from the Library Reserve Fund in order to have the revenue necessary to tear down the Aptos Library and rebuild an 11,700 SF structure.  She explained that construction costs, due to County Public Works Dept. increased overhead charges, were now going up 20% every year.  Because the Aptos Library project is the last one on the list of capital improvement projects, it is disadvantaged, and requires the extra $1.4 Million.

Apparently, the CAO agreed that Ms. Nemitz’s claim that because “property tax growth will remain strong for the next five years” and therefore the risk of depleting the Library Reserve Fund now (rather than postponing the Aptos Library project until the money is actually available) is a reasonable risk.  

What I found interesting at the Aptos Library’s public meeting was the announcement that a “select committee” will decide what plan for the new library will actually be selected, as there is no plan at this point.  The committee will select the three best proposals submitted by contractors, using guidelines for what is to be included in a “best-value design” process, and then the select committee will decide which of the three further proposals would be selected.  “Unfortunately, there will not be any public input beyond tonight,” announced the consultant.  He encouraged interested members of the public to sign up to be considered for inclusion of the small (“to facilitate decision-making”) select committee, but Ms. Nemitz stated that she had already been given a list of suggested members of the select committee.  The consultant said the bubble-diagrams of general uses and requests for the design will become a public document after the Board of Supervisors approves it sometime next month.

The Felton Library is nearing completion and will officially open on January 25, 2020.  The cozy and quaint library closed November 1, to begin the transition.

Here is an interesting link to construction photos of the new Capitola Library

A 6,000+ SQUARE FOOT HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN HISTORIC APPLE ORCHARD NEAR APTOS VILLAGE
If you enjoy traveling through the bucolic Valencia Valley in Aptos (once navigating the congested traffic in Aptos Village), and imagining the simpler life of the historic apple growing industry as you wind through apple orchards, you may be interested to know that the lovely little yellow house set back against the redwoods is about to explode into a very large structure.  Hopefully, the historic barn adjacent will be spared damage.  On December 20, at 9am, the Zoning Administrator will consider this project at 1400 Valencia Road that would remodel the roughly 2,500 SF house, rebuilt after the 1989 earthquake damaged the original farmstead, to instead make it a 6,154 SF two-story mansion with a swimming pool.  Ten apple trees will be cut down to make room for the new pool and big house.  

https://sccounty01.co.santa-cruz.ca.us/planning/plnmeetings/ASP/Display/ASPX/DisplayAgenda.aspx?MeetingDate=12/20/2019&MeetingType=2

There was an archaeological survey conducted, but it determined the construction project would not disturb the site.  The barn is the gem that needs to be saved.  It is a likely historic and cultural resource that relates back to the Frederick Hihn apple magnate and Aptos Apple Warehouse business in the Village.  It relates back to the farm life that was key to the post-lumbering era of Aptos.

Here is a link to the Zillow post when 1400 Valencia Road sold for $2.3 Million: 1400 Valencia Rd, APTOS, CA 95003 – 3 beds/3 baths
(MLSListings) 3 beds, 3 baths, 4184 sq. ft. house located at 1400 Valencia Rd, APTOS, CA 95003 sold for $2,300,0…

You can submit comment on this proposed Large Dwelling Project by writing Planner Evan Ditmars  evan.ditmars@santacruzcounty.us  by this Friday December  20..  Mr. Ditmars has been very responsive to questions.  Here is one of the comments I have submitted regarding the historic preservation:

What is the historic significance of the house and barn?  Will the County Historic Resources Commission review this project?  One property description states the house was built in 1940.  Valencia Valley was an historic apple growing area and was supported by Frederick Hihn.  The Aptos History Museum website describes: 

1945 – About this time the last two remaining Aptos Native Americans had a heated argument and one slew the other. The remaining Native American, Jimmie, worked on the Hihn Ranch and died about 1951.  

https://www.aptoshistory.org/aptos_history.html

In the book “Images of Aptos” by Kevin Newhouse and the Aptos History Museum, a photo of Jim shows him standing in front of a wooden barn in Valencia (page 98).  Is the barn associated with the proposed large dwelling of possible historic significance and therefore to be protected during construction? 

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING AND SPEAK UP.  JUST DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK!
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner • 831-685-2915 

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.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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December 12
#346 / Let’s Not Get Outfoxed!

The image above came in an email asking me to subscribe to National Geographic. The text of the email told me that foxes are “vanishing before our eyes.” 

I was somewhat taken aback by this news, though not exactly surprised. We are, as I hope we all realize, in the midst of a mass extinction event – the Sixth Mass Extinction in the history of the planet. You can click right here to get a brief summary of the five earlier mass extinction events. Unlike those events, the current mass extinction event is essentially human-caused. No asteroid from outer space has been needed to put most of the species of life on our planet in desperate peril. We are taking care of that ourselves!

On the day I got the “foxes are vanishing” email, I was actually thinking about bird extinctions. The United States and Canada have lost three billion birds since 1970, according to recent reports. I had been thinking about that – and also about the insect extinctions that threaten the collapse of nature. Now, I learn that we have to add foxes to the ever-growing list of endangered species. 

You may remember (if you read this blog regularly) that I have been making reference to reindeer, as a way to talk about how our refusal to submit ourselves to the primacy of the Natural World is putting human civilization in danger. After I heard about the 200 dead reindeer, which starved to death, I heard about the insects; then I heard about the birds. Of course, birds and insects do go togehter. No insects, no birds. That’s pretty clear. Now, I am adding foxes to the list of species that we should be trying to keep around. 

As our human activities take us toward a “collapse of nature,” it is always appropriate to realize that we’re next! 

You could say that our commitment to human activities that help advance species extinction is a demonstration (smart as we think we are) that we are just outfoxing ourselves! 

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. More inside views of our little movers and shakers….scroll downwards.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Eternal Truths” 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 with his thoughts on HOPE!!

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa’s reviews are at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

 

RICHARD JEWELL. Once again right-wing conservative Clint Eastwood directs a film with hidden political statements. This time it’s based on a true story about a security guard who discovers a bomb hidden in an Atlanta park in 1996. The FBI decides the guard planted the bomb himself. Jon Hamm, Olivia Wilde, Sam Rockwell and Kathy Bates do super jobs in a totally exciting movie. Eastwood twisted the story to have reporter Olivia Wilde swap sex for a tip from FBI guy Jon Hamm. This wasn’t true, and folks are really upset that Eastwood made up this indignity. But it’s an exciting movie… go anyways. 96 audience score on RT. 73 RT from critics.

FRANKIE. Isabelle Huppert, Greg Kinnear, Marisa Tomei, Jérémie Renier. With a cast like that, it’s a shame that it’s tough to sit through a movie that is so complex. Huppert plays is a big-time movie star with cancer. It’s also about how three generations of family and lovers handle that news, all the while being in lovely Portugal. Not much will keep your attention. CLOSES THURSDAY DECEMBER 19.

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

WAVES. A very dramatic, heart-breaker film about a Florida black family and its troubles. That includes a heavy father and children who want to escape something — and make mistakes. It’s got some very serious near-corny music that drowns out almost all of your built-up emotions, and some visual camera sweeps that don’t help much either. Go at your own risk. CLOSES THURSDAY DECEMBER 19. 

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

QUEEN & SLIM. Some character in this movie calls Queen and Slim the “Black Bonnie and Clyde”,and it fits. It’s a long chase featuring this mostly likable couple, caused by Slim killing an insane cop, and their adventures on the lam. There’s even some jokes and humor in it. But it’s really a vivid reminder of the police brutality, racism, and violence we read and hear about daily under the Trump administration. Go see it.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I think Americans now regard Mr. Rogers as our own Dalai Lama. Tom Hanks is the only actor in the world who could take and do so well in this movie. But before you go, if you haven’t already, emember that this is not really about Mr. Rogers, but about an Esquire magazine writer who interviewed Rogers and his rigid, tormented life and choices. Chris Cooper is back as the writer’s father. It’s an oddly structured film, with many unusual directors’ touches. After skimming around the internet to see what the real Mr. Rogers was like, all I found was that he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and went to Dartmouth. His mom knitted all his sweaters, he liked his wife’s dirty jokes, he had fun farting and he was a registered Republican. 

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!. Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars.

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Sarah Mason brings us up to date on the UCSC Grad Students Strike on December 12. Then environmentalist Grey Hayes returns talking about saving our local environment.  I’m taking Christmas Eve (12/24) off from G’vine . AND …if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

Jonathan Van Ness from Queer Eye talks to Stephen Colbert. This is great.

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 


“Hannukah”

“Still ours the dance, the feast, the glorious psalm; the mystic lights of emblem, and the word”. Emma Lazaru 

“Most Texans think Hanukkah is some sort of duck call”. Richard Lewis

“Let the straight flower bespeak its purpose in straightness – to seek the light.
Let the crooked flower bespeak its purpose in crookedness – to seek the light.
Let the crookedness and straightness bespeak the light”. Allen Ginsberg, “Psalm III” 


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


Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

December 11 – 17, 2019

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…UCSC Grad student strike, Annrae Angel for judge, Sierra Club elections, Errett Circle Church and the City Council. GREENSITE… on ADU’s and other matters. KROHN… Chris Krohn is off this week and will return next week. STEINBRUNER…running for County Supervisor, SEIU endorsements, recycled water and health , Soquel Water district lawsuit. Aptos Village bailout by us taxpayers, UCSC long range Development plan. PATTON…Young Republicans and democracy. EAGAN…Deep Cover and Subconscious Comics. JENSEN…reviews Waves. BRATTON…critiques Honey Boy, and Waves. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES… “Christmas trees”  

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TRADITIONAL WINTER HISTORICAL PHOTO. This was 7:46 am, in the winter of 1957. The Town Clock was in its original space. Leask’s on the right turned into Urban Outfitters. The Cooper House on the very left turned into stucco and temporary plaster.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

THE ROYAL FAMILY DOCUMENTARY 1967.
QUEEN ELIZABETH AND FUNNY MOMENTS

DATELINE December 9 

UCSC GRADUATE STUDENTS ON STRIKE NOW. UCSC graduate student workers who are members of UAW 2865 began a strike Sunday (12/08). They want a cost of living adjustment (COLA) from the university administrators. It’s finals week, and the grad students aren’t going to submit grades until the COLA is met. They claim that the more than 1,400 graduate students will be more able to live with paying rent, and want wage parity with grad students at UC Riverside. Approximately 200 UCSC Faculty members have signed a supporting letter for a cost of living adjustment. Go to www.payusmoreucsc.org to stay in touch.

ANNRAE ANGEL IN, ARIADNE OUT. Now that Ari Symons said she isn’t running for re-election as Santa Cruz County Superior Court judge, which is only decent and smart for her to do, Anrae Angel has announced her candidacy. I started to write down the names of folks I’ve known and trusted who endorse Annrae. Names like Celia Scott, Sandy Brown, Stacey Falls, Chris Krohn, Tim Fitzmaurice, Ron Pomerantz and organizations like People’s Democratic Club and Santa Cruz for Bernie — the list goes on and on. Read her endorsements here, then read the rest of her website. To quote her website… “A Central Coast native, Annrae completed a double BA in Political Science and Business Management at Sonoma State University and a law degree from McGeorge University in Sacramento, before returning home 27 years ago to raise her two children here in Santa Cruz with her late husband, environmental attorney Keith Sugar“. We’re lucky to have the chance to vote for her. 

SIERRA CLUB EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE ELECTIONS.
The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here — but the Santa Cruz Sierra Club has probably contained more battles within its walls than the ones they fight in the surrounding environment. Executive Committee Elections are running now. Jane Mio, Erica Stanojevic are incredibly involved, devoted, and 100% perfect for Sierra Club Executive Committee. Be sure you vote for them before January 12TH. The Santa Cruz Bird Club also urges everyone to support Jane Mio.

ERRETT CIRCLE CHURCH. It’ll be too late by the time this gets online, but check out how the City Council voted on whether or not to save the historic Circle Church or let the developers have it. It’s been the spiritual and cultural center for the Circle community for decades, and still is. 

December 9

HERE AND THERE
A three weeks absence from Santa Cruz politics is a blessing and a curse. The latter because there is no time to alert you of the item on the upcoming council agenda related to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s). Whenever you are reading this, the votes will have been cast. At issue is whether to go further than the new state legislation abolishing the current requirement that property owners live in one of the two dwellings should an ADU be built in addition to a main house on a single-family lot. Besides relaxing all current criteria for ADU’s such as parking, size and number of additional units, the state is requiring the removal of owner-occupancy for all ADU’s built from 2020 until 2025. Bad enough but it gets worse. The city Planning Commission, displaying a complete disregard for the impact of this change on the sustainability of our neighborhoods, voted for the following: 

In the interest of making as many units as possible available for rent, the Planning Commission passed a motion to recommend removing the owner occupancy requirement for all ADUs, not just those built within the next five years, as is required by the pending state legislation. 

In case the impact of removing past or future owner-occupancy isn’t immediately obvious, consider that 56% of houses in the city of Santa Cruz are owned by absentee landlords and are rented. Until now, such property owners could not build an ADU since they do not live in the main house or the ADU. This restriction has resulted in a manageable increase in ADU’s so that their addition has not overwhelmed existing neighborhoods with problems that accompany increased density such as parking, loss of privacy, loss of sunlight, increased noise, light pollution, dogs barking etc. Lift that restriction in an era of sky high rents, and why wouldn’t every absentee landlord opt to build one or two ADU’s in addition to the main house, all market rate rentals? Consider also how this change will raise property values, making it harder for first-time homebuyers to afford a down payment while speculators with ready money buy up all available housing stock to turn into ADU land. Exploiting this bonanza, how many will soon become short-term rentals?

City Planning staff does see a problem with extending the state requirement and is not supporting the Planning Commission recommendation. Instead, staff is recommending conducting community outreach to get input into whether to lift past and future owner-occupancy requirement beyond the state mandate. In the past, council member Mathews has been a reliable supporter of owner-occupancy. This should be an easy one for council members who profess to care about existing neighborhoods but one never knows. To me, it is inconceivable to go beyond what the state is forcing us to endure. More market rate housing will not solve a housing cost crisis. It will change the character of Santa Cruz, leading to transitory, overcrowded neighborhoods while the underlying causes of ballooning housing costs remain solidly in place and unexamined. 

By contrast, growth in the northern beaches of Sydney is better managed, as is transportation, even viewed through smoke-covered glasses. In areas similar to Santa Cruz, heights of apartments are capped at 3 stories and the number of units proposed even in controversial developments is around 20 not 100 + as is being proposed and built in Santa Cruz. Size and scale matter.

Since my last visit 3 years ago, a bus system called the B-line has been brought into service. With a dedicated lane, these new bright yellow double-decker buses are a joy to ride and all classes of people use them. Digital signs at brand new sheltered bus stops tell you exactly when the next bus will arrive. I missed the first one. The next one was due in 8 minutes. If I were a local senior, I could ride any bus or train within a 200-mile radius for a total of $2:50 a day. Not being a local, the cost for the 20-mile trip into Sydney was $4. I then caught a train for a 2-hour trip to visit my sister in the Blue Mountains at a cost of $7:50. The photo is taken from my seat at the front of the top deck of a B-line bus. When I asked the meaning of the name, locals shrugged. Took me a few seconds to realize…it makes a beeline for wherever you want to travel!

Transportation, like schools are funded by the state so there is no disparity between high and low-income communities with respect to school quality and resources, nor with transportation services. Gasoline is expensive (more than double) due mostly to gasoline taxes, which go towards funding the transportation infrastructure. A minimum wage above $20 an hour helps those on lower incomes. Still, the service is costly to run and there is a move to privatize the system, a big mistake in my view. 

I found myself puzzling over our inadequate bus system. Some is due to our being a relatively small town although there seems no shortage of state money for the rail trail. Ten million dollars for a three quarter mile section anyone? Apart from the infrequent service and old buses it is impossible to know the schedule. The postings at bus stops, often without shelter, tell you only the estimated time a bus left a distant station. Absurd! 

Lots of issues: good to be home.

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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Good News: 

20% Inclusionary Passed by City Council
This was a long day in coming. It was near the pinnacle, or THE pinnacle of concerns expressed by voters over the past two election cycles: how do we significantly raise the amount of affordable housing units that housing developers are required to build? The past city council hit a new low when they negotiated a less than 6% inclusionary agreement within a mammoth 205-unit housing project at the corner of Laurel and Pacific Avenue. The reason: requiring 15% would just not pencil out the developer said, which is a constant refrain we hear often from the developer class who are looking to cash in on the hot Santa Cruz housing market. In fact, the past city council accepted a property trade–the old Tampicos site in lieu of requiring Devcon to build even the meagre 10-12 units they should’ve at least built in this project. (Actually, if they adhered to the city’s 15% inclusionary ordinance, it would’ve been something like 32 units of affordable housing.) A law suit was subsequently filed by Shelley Hatch and Ron Pomerantz, and with legal help from Bill Parkin it resulted in the reincarnation of the 15% inclusionary ordinance, which by the way was passed by the people of Santa Cruz in 1979. While the settlement did not require Devcon to build the units at 208 Laurel Street, it restored the 15% inclusionary city-wide as it had been previously lowered to 10% by a former city council vote. The lowering of the inclusionary percentage should’ve been placed before voters, but wasn’t. 

Heaven Sent
The 20% inclusionary housing ordinance passed on a 4-3 vote, BUT IT PASSED! It has not been easy getting here. I was elected advocating for 25%. Many in our community want 50% inclusionary. They ask why do we continue to build so many more unaffordable units.

Rick Martinez, Deputy Chief Advocates for Affordable Housing Too
Earlier in the day, Deputy Chief of Police Rick Martinez offered a tearful (for me) farewell after 30 years of service to the city. He said he lived in Section 8 housing with his single-mom while growing up in Surf City. Martinez is a home-boy and these personal aspects sound similar to Councilmember Drew Glover’s upbringing here. Martinez urged the city council to step it up in our efforts at creating more affordable units. He also strongly encouraged us to protect the most vulnerable in this community. Twenty-percent inclusionary is a big step in that direction. I believe the Deputy Chief might agree. (He did not say it officially, but he hinted at it.)  

Don’t Pat Yourself on the Back Just Yet
The good news is that we voted to require 20% affordable on all new for-sale and rental units built in the city of Santa Cruz. The bad news is that this still means that 80% of all new construction will be unaffordable and out of reach for most teachers, nurses, mechanics, and librarians. Candace Brown, speaking to the city council, made it abundantly clear that the more market rate units that are built the more this drives even higher the area median income (AMI) needed to qualify for an affordable unit. Gary Patton the former 20-year 3rd District Supervisor wrote to the council: “More housing emphatically does not mean more “affordable” housing, but increasing the Citys inclusionary requirement will do that!” As stewards who are blessed to live in such an amazing city, councilmembers really have the duty to carefully shepherd our community resources and try even harder to ensure that there will be places for moderate and low income community members to live and thrive. That’s part of our job, isn’t it?

More Good News: 

Circle Church Residents Will get their Day in Court
Neighbors from the westside have come to city council meetings several times during this past year advocating for the city council to direct the Historic Preservation Commission to review the developer-paid for historical report concerning the Circle Church. That report produced a this is not a historical structure analysis. That report paved the way for possible demolition and a major development project to be built on the current 111 Errett Circle site. Councilmembers Sandy Brown, Drew Glover, and me placed an item on today’s city council agenda, which I thought was innocuous-enough to be placed on the “Consent Agenda,” which is the part of the city council agenda where usually uncontested items land. Well, this item became if not a brawl, then an engaged and perhaps unwelcome robust civil discussion about whether to support the neighbors who reside in the Circles, or to assist the would-be developers who wanted to “continue” this item to another meeting because all their consultants could not make this meeting. I have been on the city council for almost seven years and these kinds of issues never cease to amaze me. What were we talking about? We were talking about having the Historic Preservation Commission, a commission under the city council’s authority, take up an issue that scores of neighbors are interested in, and that over 1000 signed a petition to get the city to consider granting historic status to this 130-year old site now known as the Circle Church. It came down to the 4-3 vote. Why? Call it politics or call it incomprehensible posturing, but at the end of the day this issue was sent to the commission’s agenda for their first meeting in January. Done. The community asked their council majority for a discussion, a potential for historic designation and the developers of the property cried foul, as did their three councilmembers. 

Addendum
This my friends is what a council majority can do…20% inclusionary and also offer neighbors a fighting chance, a voice, to have input on decisions that affect their neighborhood. I call that letting the people lead and the leaders following, democracy in action. See you at the Historic Preservation Commission meeting in January, y’all. It’s days like this that being on the council is nothing short of joyful.

“I dont want us to just go back to where we were before Trump. I want us to ask some hard questions that we as a nation rarely do: How is health care not a right in the richest country in the world? Why do one in six of our children go hungry? Why are 500,000+ people homeless?” (Dec. 10)
(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. Hes been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 9

RUNNING!
In the space of 24 hours, I pulled nomination papers, gathered 25 qualified signatures, wrote a Candidate Statement, and filed to run for Santa Cruz County Supervisor in the Second District. As I read the oath to protect the Constitution, I was near tears. I felt the enormity of the spirit, intention and dedication of those who founded this marvelous country and significance of the moment as I stepped up to place my name on the ballot. My platform is not quite complete, but below is my Campaign Statement. I was limited to 200 words…mine is 199! Next week, I will write more fully about issues. Huzzah!

Becky Steinbruner age: 64 Occupation: writer, researcher, activist, Mom 

My family and I have lived in rural Aptos for 35 years. I would be honored to be your elected public servant, representing your voice in local issues. I am fully capable. I understand equally the issues of rural residents, urban residents and businesses. I am a voice of reason and integrity. I am a leader that will be responsive to your concerns and ideas. I will accomplish solutions, without interest in climbing “political ladders”. I ran for this office in 2016, earning nearly 20% of the votes. I understand many local issues, attending and speaking at nearly every Board of Supervisor meeting for the past four years, and Commission meetings regarding water, fire, housing, transportation, and historic preservation, and report weekly on “Bratton Online”. I actively participated in MidCounty Groundwater planning. Recently, I acted as my own attorney in action insisting Soquel Creek Water District conduct environmental analysis. I criticized associated rate increases. I successfully defended my community against fraudulent utility practices via formal Public Utilities Commission complaint. I have organized my rural neighborhood’s road repairs, and lead fire clearance projects. I currently serve on the FireSafe Council Board and Education Committee, and President of the local amateur radio club. 

Please vote for me to improve government transparency and responsiveness.

WHAT VALUE ARE POLITICAL ENDORSEMENTS WHEN THEY ARE NOT FAIR?
As I was filing my papers for candidacy, I recognized a fellow who heads up the local labor union policies and actions. He had arranged the candidate forum in 2016 that I participated in when I ran for Supervisor in 2016. Friday, he let me know that the local labor unions had already made their candidate endorsements, and done so a long time ago.

I asked him why the unions had taken the action so early, before the close of candidate filing? He admitted it was a controversial action among the membership, but the leaders felt they needed to get ahead of the election schedule, especially since primary elections are in March instead of June.

I feel this is not a fair practice. If you are a member of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), I hope you will ask that this policy be revisited before future elections.

DRINKING RECYCLED WATER COULD BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH
Recent studies show that drinking water standards may not be adequately protecting your health when recycled water is injected in the source of your water supply. Soquel Creek Water District Board and staff always tout the established practice of Orange County water municipalities injecting the recycled water into the aquifer when trying their best to alleviate public concerns about their risky PureWater Soquel Project process. “Legal does not necessarily equal safe“ said the researcher.

Read this and consider writing to the Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors

MY LAWSUIT AGAINST SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT
I was contacted by the Times Publishing Group about my lawsuit against Soquel Creek Water District. The editor requested I write a letter to be included in a future edition that would also be featuring information about the recent grant the District received for their project to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the local drinking water supply.

I did so, and it was printed in entirety December 1 in the Aptos Times. However, the copies of this free paper that are usually available at the library and other public places disappeared after a few of days. 

I have copied the text below, as the Aptos Times website does not seem to yet include the full content of the paper. I think it is very interesting that the Aptos Times is suddenly in short supply, when usually readily available.

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

WRITE ONE LETTER. MAKE ONE CALL. ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING. BUT JUST DO SOMETHING. YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE! Cheers, Becky Steinbruner

Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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December 9
#343 / Young Republicans On Democracy

I really like The Sun magazine. In its November 2019 issue, The Sun published an article entitled, “An Imperfect Union – Astra Taylor on the Inherent Conflict Between Capitalism and Democracy.”

Taylor is a young activist filmmaker who has recently directed a documentary film, “What is Democracy?” The film is based on conversations that Taylor had, on camera, with all sorts of people, from throughout the United States. The article in The Sun is a transcript of a conversation between Taylor and Finn Cohen, who is a Professor in the Journalism department at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. If you check out Finn on “Rate My Professors,” you find that Finn is “caring,” a “tough grader,” “inspirational,” and that if you “skip class you won’t pass.” Sounds like my kind of a guy!

The picture above, from the article, is supposed to illustrate the “democracy” part of “democracy versus capitalism.” In The Sun, the pictures are always pretty extraordinary. You get the feeling with this one that “democracy” is kind of isolated, forgottten, and alone – but still made out of solid brick!

Here is a quote from the Cohen-Taylor conversation that made me scared. Taylor said it made her scared, too: 

When I was making What Is Democracy? I interviewed some young Republicans. I don’t normally talk to twenty-two-year-old Trump supporters, and I assumed that they were going to give me the conservative spiel that democracy is free markets and everyone having a chance to duke it out in the marketplace and trickle-down economics and blah, blah, blah. Instead they told me they don’t like democracy, because democracy is about the majority wanting to improve their situation, and they, the young Republicans, are part of a minority of affluent white people. They literally mocked democracy on camera; that scared me. 

They see capitalism as more valuable than democracy, because capitalism benefits them. And if the masses are empowered, they’re going to want to take rich white people down a peg. These young Republicans recognize that their status is dependent on others being impoverished. They recognize that if we had a popular vote in this country, and not the Electoral College, Republicans would not win the presidency. They recognize that controlling a majority of seats on the Supreme Court is essential to imposing their agenda. It’s not going to happen through mobilizing voters, because the policies they support are genuinely not popular. 

What’s increasingly clear is that the far Right is abandoning democracy. It sees democracy as the enemy. It is a politics of aristocracy, a politics of hierarchy. I have gone on deep dives into far-Right subcultures online, and what they hate about democracy is the idea of equality at the center of it. 

I do not see the problem of our time as one of populism and an overly passionate majority. I see the problem as an affluent minority who are tired of democracy and the equality that it demands. You find this in the bowels of the Internet, but you also find it in mainstream conservative thinkers like George Will. On the surface his new book looks like a standard-issue political treatise, but he’s basically saying that democracy has gone too far and is at odds with American conservatism. During the Cold War it was easy for conservatives to promote U.S. democracy over Soviet communism, but now that democracy means including all these groups and sharing resources and expanding the government, conservatives are going back to their roots and saying democracy is a problem.

“Democracy” is premised on the proposition that we are “all in this life together,” and that this existential reality is the basis for the need to provide equal treatment to all. 

The corrosive nature of “individualism,” of an analysis that seeks to understand all things from an “individual” perspective, and that rejects the idea that we are “in this together,” is a prescription for the end of the human world. 

And why is that? Because some things are true and other things are false. It is false to believe that we can survive if we act only on the basis of what gains we might make individually, failing to notice that we all, as individuals, will survive or perish only as we can act in ways that provide common benefit. 

And what’s the proof that I am right? 

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you global warming (covered at length in The Sun’s October 2019 issue, from which the picture below is taken). 

We will either find ways to cooperate, and change what we are doing, collectively, on a worldwide basis, or we will all perish in the aftermath of heat waves and fire, hurricanes and floods!

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Scroll below for yet another Sub Con and a peek way inside our driving forces. 

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. Especially check out …”Don’t tempt me” with a deep nod near Satan.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “If you blink, you might miss it, so better rush out and see the intense, but exceptional family drama Waves while it’s still here — by Friday it might be gone! If not, my review should run in this week’s Good Times; otherwise, look for it at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975. 

 

HONEY BOY. This is Shia LaBeouf’s movie. Not only does he star, but he wrote the screenplay and plays his own father’s role. It’s about LaBeouf’s life in show biz and the bad and good influence his dad had, and has, on him. Very few, if any, laughs — but a well done search into what fame and no fortune can do to you. Go for it!

WAVES. A very dramatic, heart-breaker film about a Florida black family and its troubles. That includes a heavy father and children who want to escape something — and make mistakes. It’s got some very serious near-corny music that drowns out almost all of your built-up emotions, and some visual camera sweeps that don’t help much either. Go at your own risk.

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

QUEEN & SLIM. Some character in this movie calls Queen and Slim the “Black Bonnie and Clyde”,and it fits. It’s a long chase featuring this mostly likable couple, caused by Slim killing an insane cop, and their adventures on the lam. There’s even some jokes and humor in it. But it’s really a vivid reminder of the police brutality, racism, and violence we read and hear about daily under the Trump administration. Go see it.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I think Americans now regard Mr. Rogers as our own Dalai Lama. Tom Hanks is the only actor in the world who could take and do so well in this movie. But before you go, if you haven’t already, emember that this is not really about Mr. Rogers, but about an Esquire magazine writer who interviewed Rogers and his rigid, tormented life and choices. Chris Cooper is back as the writer’s father. It’s an oddly structured film, with many unusual directors’ touches. After skimming around the internet to see what the real Mr. Rogers was like, all I found was that he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and went to Dartmouth. His mom knitted all his sweaters, he liked his wife’s dirty jokes, he had fun farting and he was a registered Republican. 

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!. Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars.

THE GOOD LIAR. Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen two of the finest actors in contemporary films had never made a movie together. It’s too bad that this one wasn’t the predictable, slow moving cute product that it is. It is a treat to watch these pros work together; they are as great as almost every movie goer knows but the script is a poor copy of a plot that deserved to be better. But, in spite of all that, go see it…they are perfect in their parts. CLOSES THURSDAY DECEMBER 12

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Alicia Kuhl from the Santa Cruz Homeless Union opens the December 10 program. She’s followed by Felicia Van Stolk, executive Director of the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum, talking about their new exhibits and some exciting changes. Environmentalist Grey Hayes returns December 17 talking about saving our local environment. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

Standup comedy, this woman is great 🙂

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

“CHRISTMAS TREES”

“Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard or too sad when you’ve got a Christmas tree in the living room. All those presents under it, all that anticipation. Just a way of saying there’s always light and hope in the world”. Nora Roberts 

“If my Valentine you won’t be,
I’ll hang myself on your Christmas tree.”
– Ernest Hemingway, 88 Poems 

“I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.” – Shirley Temple 


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


Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

December 4 – 10, 2019

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Update on UCSC’s East Meadow plans, Chip visits from Boulder. GREENSITE…“Only one more week without a piece from Greensite”. KROHN…about weather, and water, the March 3rd primary, recall notes and fact-checking. STEINBRUNER…Her own Supervisor campaign news, Soquel Creek Water District plans and plots. PATTON…why he’s voting for Bernie. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover. JENSEN…Me and My Girl. BRATTON…I critique Dark Waters, Queen & Slim, A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…”RAIN”
                                 

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GALA CHRISTMAS DECORATIONS, PACIFIC AVENUE DECEMBER 2 P.M. 1946. Don’t overlook the “majestic” St. George Hotel and the “Monkey Ward” catalog store. I think Bookshop Santa Cruz is where we see the Beauty Salon Sign. Any additional info would be appreciated.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

THE MOST UNUSUAL INSTRUMENTS IN THE WORLD.
KPIX NEWS AND HOMELESS ON THE BEACH. This is from Sept.1, 2019.

DATELINE December 2 

UPDATE ON UCSC’S EAST MEADOW DEVELOPMENT. The East Meadow Action Committee or (EMAC) issued an email last Friday (11/29). It talks about a lawsuit, the Long Range Development plan, and because they are talking about the next 20 years they ask for our financial help. Read the complete email…

“Thanks to all who have worked to protect it, the East Meadow is still undeveloped, a year and a half beyond its originally scheduled destruction. We can be grateful for this. But the struggle continues. Last August, a group from EMAC met with UCSC’s new Chancellor Cynthia Larive and new acting Vice Chancellor Lori Kletzer. Its administration might be open to a reconsideration of its plans for Student Housing West. It was also clear, however, that the presence of a lawsuit has been an important factor in keeping alternate possibilities alive.

Now, several months after that meeting, with no word from the administration, it seems clear that litigation is probably the only way to spare the meadow. We and our attorneys believe that we have a strong case that will prove the university violated California environmental law when it rushed to put prefab sprawl in the meadow. We are now preparing our legal brief, due in mid-January. The court date is scheduled for May 1, and we anticipate a ruling later that month. 

The upcoming phase of the process will be costly, and we are therefore asking for your further support. The fight could have implications beyond the meadow itself. The university has been holding discussions on its new Long-Range Development Plan, to guide campus growth for the next twenty years. By continuing to hold the administration to account we help ensure that further development will adhere to environmental law and good planning principles.  Saving the East Meadow is a victory for the campus, for what makes UCSC special.  Your support will be decisive.

With thanks,

East Meadow Action Committee (EMAC)

CHIP AND BOULDER THAN EVER.
Chip, our dedicated and devoted executive director of the Downtown Association, moved on to become chief executive officer (CEO) of the Downtown Boulder Partnership, in Boulder, Colorado. I bumped into him and his family when they were visiting here last Friday. I asked for a quote re his new job. He said, “Boulder is like Santa Cruz with a budget”. Now we know.

GREENSITE’S INSIGHT. She’s still in Australia but says, “Only one more week without a piece from Greensite”. (ie. Dec. 9)

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 2 

Winter of Our Content
Now, it is suddenly winter. The rain is here and we are so luxuriantly content, at least if it does not all fall at once. It certainly has been coming down. Nothing for months and then an avalanche of water. I’m loving it so far because it means the wildfire effect is minimized and things begin to turn green and greener. Life is a bit slower. Getting around is slightly impaired by all this water that is replenishing Loch Lomond Reservoir (that needed only a bit of replenishing), groundwater aquifers, and rainwater run-off systems are all revived. Lying in bed listening to the thud, thud, thudding of rain is so glorious that rest itself increases.

Politics of Water
The good news is we won’t be talking about drought for a while and the Fire Department just might get a deserved rest after fighting the blazes of autumn. The bad news is the Water Department infrastructure has to be maintained and Santa Cruzans have become so adept at conserving water, the same water that the system sells less of and therefore has to contemplate raising fees even with all this water around. We have entered a decade-long upgrade of city water infrastructure and over $100 million is planned to be spent on improving the system. So, water bills are not going down anytime soon.

March 3rd Primary
CA is in play! The California primary is now March 3rd and it could be a bell-weather state for Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, or Elizabeth Warren. It appears that Joe Biden has given up on the Golden State for now having chosen to skip two Democratic Party conventions this year. His handlers generally keep him away from any direct policy questions. Biden is likely banking on prevailing in two or three of the first primaries–New Hampshire, Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada–building his Joe-mentum thing and then asking California voters: who has the best chance of beating Trump? Harris is not doing so well in state polls and is likely banking on second or third place finishes in Iowa and South Carolina in order to get some traction in CA. Pete Buttigieg is seeking to do an Obama and be so many things to so many people and it just might work. His resume–military, mayor of small American city, boy-genius– is still pretty slim. He’s probably thinking if only I was a billionaire…

Santa Cruz, March 3, 2019
There will be local issues too on the primary ballot, the Recall being most close-up and personal to me. How it got this far is quite the discussion, but how to run and defend my record while combating many of the lies told to petition-signers is what is now most important. Here is a three-parter, number one is my record, number two is a plan for the rest of this year, and number three, is a way to disseminate the facts from the fiction and ultimately create more openness and transparency in local government.

Record

  • More general fund money went to projects and programs supporting kids, workers, and tenants than would have otherwise if the four-person majority had not been elected;
  • The Service Employee International Union (SEIU) received one of their largest raises in years–10% over three years;
  • All downtown employees now have access to free Metro bus passes;
  • Kaiser-Permanente’s 13 doctors and their staff now have a home in downtown Santa Cruz at the Cooper House;
  • Tenant Sanctuary received funding to work with struggling renters when they have disputes with landlords;
  • This council recently passed the state’s rent control and just cause eviction legislation, several weeks earlier than it would have taken effect otherwise throughout the state
  • on (Jan. 1);
  • Two new pro-affordable housing Planning Commissioners were appointed by our majority;
  • A climate emergency was passed;
  • stopped the Corridors Plan and redirected staff’s work;
  • Oral Communication was moved to the 7pm session so more residents could have access to the city council.

Plans for 2020

  • Direct Economic Development and Planning staff to begin negotiating with non-profit housing providers to initiate affordable housing projects on three city-owned downtown parcels;
  • Renovate the Downtown Library;
  • Go forward with plans to acquire a much needed 24/7 emergency homeless shelter;
  • Form a resident Climate and Bio-diversity Commission to help assist and plan for climate change;
  • Bring together all city commissioners for a retreat on how commissions can integrate their work with each other, and with the city council;
  • Continue working on Traffic Demand Management strategies to bring traffic relief to neighborhoods while offering alternatives to resident’s use of single-occupancy vehicles;
  • And of course, BEAT this recall through vigorous discussion, debate, and information-sharing.

StopSantaCruzRecalls.org

This is a fact sheet prepared by the Stop Santa Cruz Recalls group. It is on their web site at stopsantacruzrecalls.org

The California Constitution does not provide a legal remedy for false claims in recall petitions. Hence the voters need to educate themselves about the facts. 

Allegation: “[Councilmembers Krohn and Glover] repeatedly voted against closing the Ross Camp, while failing to pursue legal, realistic, and humane solutions to homelessness in the City of Santa Cruz. By opposing the closure of the Ross Camp, he contradicted the recommendations of Fire Chief Hajduk and County Health Officer Leff, and endangered the health and safety of Santa Cruz residents, both housed and unhoused.”

Fact Check. 

Councilmembers Krohn and Glover:

  • voted with the Council majority not to close Ross Camp until other locations were in place for residents to go.  When other locations were identified, the Ross Camp was closed. 
  • sought increased health and safety measures at the Ross Camp pending its closure.

Allegation: “[Councilmembers Krohn and Glover] attempted to establish permanent RV parking sites and permanent homeless encampments in residential neighborhoods and city parks in Santa Cruz, without regard for public safety or potential damage to local businesses, and without consulting neighborhood residents, the Fire Department, or the Police Department.”

Fact Check: At Council request, City staff presented several possible alternative locations to shelter Ross camp residents.  Many members of the public expressed concerns about all the locations.  As a result, the Council, including Krohn and Glover, dropped consideration of all locations other than re-opening the Salvation Army camp on upper River St. 

Allegation: “Councilmember Krohn betrayed public trust and violated the Brown Act by requesting closed city council sessions to discuss relocation of the Ross Camp.” 

Fact Check: The minutes and video of the City Council meeting on April 23, 2019, record Councilmember Krohn voting against a motion to go into closed session to discuss the Ross Camp closure.

Allegation: “Council member Glover participated on behalf of the plaintiffs in a federal suit against the City to keep the Ross Camp open.  In a sworn declaration, Glover falsely claimed that there was no health and safety risk at the Ross Camp, contradicting the Fire Chief and County Health Officer.”

Fact Check

  • Freedom of speech and public trust in government requires that elected officials be permitted to testify when called in a lawsuit, even when it is against their City.
  • Glover did not deny health and safety risks at Ross Camp. He testified that those risks could be corrected in order to avoid dispersing hundreds of people back onto the streets and into parks and open spaces.

Allegation: “Councilmember Glover has introduced a culture of chaos, bullying and disruption to public meetings and general City business.”

“Councilmember Krohn… has failed to abide by the Rules of Procedure for Conduct of City Council Business by refusing to treat his fellow Councilmembers with respect.” 

Fact Check: The City hired an investigator to study allegations of misconduct against Krohn and Glover. The investigator’s report found:

  • The sole substantiated allegation against Krohn was that he uttered a sarcastic laugh during a staff person’s presentation to the Council. 
  • The sole substantiated allegation against Glover is that he got angry with a fellow Council member over the scheduling of a conference room. 
  • There is no evidence to substantiate that these incidents were motivated by gender. 
  • The investigator recommended that, “Councilmembers should avoid making public accusations of misconduct or bad faith against one another and against City staff without first privately and internally addressing these concerns and attempting conflict resolution and rectification when possible.”

Conclusion:Our community needs to come together to solve our challenging problems.  The diversity of representation on the Council may be the best way to solve our problems in a way that the needs of all people are addressed. Diverse points of view can sometimes lead to conflicts around policy.  Factual distortions and groundless accusations damage the community’s ability to successfully resolve difficult problems.

Look out for those in politics who like to label themselves “fiscally responsible,” yet only seem to care about the price of justice – not the cost of oppression. Everything has a price. And an unjust society is far costlier than one that invests in & values all people. (Nov. 27)
(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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December 2

READY TO RUN!
Many thanks to all who donated money and good wishes for my campaign to become the  County Supervisor  in the Second District.  I will have enough money to take out nomination papers and will officially be a candidate by Friday, December 6.  I look forward to working with those interested in supporting my campaign and intend to run with a serious intent of winning.  There are big problems not only in the Second District, but throughout the County that I feel need better leadership that represents and is responsive to the concerns and needs of the people in rural areas as well as the urban parts of the County. You can look forward to reading more about who I am and what I stand for in next week’s column.  

GAVIN NEWSOM RELATED TO NANCY PELOSI?
In doing more research about political process, and listening to some excellent radio programs, I learned an odd bit of trivia…Gavin Newsom and Nancy Pelosi are related.  While it may not affect Santa Cruz County infrastructure and housing problems, I think it is interesting to ponder.

Take a look here and see what you think 

CHANGING THE CITY’S CHARTER TO ACCOMMODATE SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S TIME CONSTRAINT FOR CONSTRUCTION?
This week’s  City of Santa Cruz Water Commission agenda included the informational item 6.6 that would place on the March, 2020 ballot the initiative to change the City’s Charter regarding how Public Works projects are handled.  It would allow the City to no longer be required to put projects out to bid and accept the lowest bidder. as is the current language in Section 1415.  It would instead allow the City Manager to approve a public works project contract using vaguely-defined “best alternative delivery model”, that would seemingly cater to Soquel Creek Water District’s recently-funded project to inject treated sewage water into the drinking water supply of the MidCounty.

 Governor Brown signed SB 785 five years ago to allow cities to use this alternative bidding method.  Why would the City just now decide to change the City Charter to be able to use this method?  In my opinion, it’s all because of Soquel Creek Water District, and the agreement the City has with them to build the tertiary treatment plant for the PureWater Soquel Project on the premises of the City’s wastewater treatment facility.  The $50 Million state grant that the District just got requires that they MUST have their Project online by 2022.

Soquel Creek Water District has already issued a call for RFQ (Request for Qualifications) for the Project treatment plant in Live Oak and conveyance system from Santa Cruz to Live Oak.

The District has also have issued an RFQ for the company that would manage the very risky business of making sure the treatment processes work properly and not inject contamination into the aquifer….what a tragic and irreversible disaster it would be to inject treated sewage into the aquifer. 

Now, it seems the City of Santa Cruz is willing to change the City’s Charter, just to accommodate the Soquel Creek Water District’s misguided focus to inject treated sewage water, using vast amounts of energy, cause significant negative damage to the environment during construction,  and potentially causing irreversible contamination of the aquifer if there were system malfunctions.  Doing so, however, would allow the City to keep it’s agreement with the District, approved by the City Council on June 27, 2019, to share the tertiary treatment facility at the City’s wastewater treatment plant.  The District would build the plant, the City would operate it (unless some design-build-operate model were used, but is currently not allowed by the City’s Charter), and the City would provide the sewage water to the District for free.

Look at page 140 of the City Water Commission December 2, 2019 agenda packet.  It is nearly the exact same slide as was shown to the Soquel Creek Water District Board in July, 2018 when they were considering how to build the PureWater Soquel Project by 2022 and thereby get the State to help pay for it:

http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Home/ShowDocument?id=78246

Take a look at page 13 of the Soquel Creek Water District Special Board Meeting held on July 24, 2018 agenda when the Board met with a consultant to outline the various “fast-track construction” options the District could take in order to get the PureWater Soquel Project online by 2022. https://www.soquelcreekwater.org/sites/default/files/documents/board-meeting/meeting-minutes/07-24-18%20Special%20Meeting%20Minutes_final.pdf   We should also note that the Board was considering all this at a time when they were telling the public that they had not made any decisions about action on the PureWater Soquel Project, which was still undergoing environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process.

Write the Santa Cruz City Council and ask for justification of this proposed City Charter amendment Section 1415 that would, in my opinion, not encourage a level playing field for local construction contractors, and would remove the transparency of the public works bidding process.  You can compare the new language with the existing on page 144 of the Water Commission agenda packet: http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/Home/ShowDocument?id=78246

Santa Cruz City Council <CityCouncil@cityofsantacruz.com>

COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HOLD SPECIAL MEETING TO DISCUSS LEGISLATIVE PRIORITIES
The Board of Supervisors scheduled a Special Meeting on Monday, December 2, at the County Sheriff Center in Live Oak.  The agenda posted was rather vague, but I attended as well as submitting written comment in advance.  I was surprised to see a full house…mostly County staff.  Congressman Jimmy Panetta, State Senator Bill Monning, State Assemblyman Robert Rivas, and State Assemblyman Mark Stone all spoke about legislative priorities that affect our area.  County Supervisors then each spoke.    I will report more about this next week….it was audio recorded by CTV.  

As usual, Chairman Ryan Coonerty would not grant me an extra minute to speak when I asked.  He wanted to give everyone a chance to speak; he said…all four of us.

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND ONE PUBLIC MEETING.  DO SOMETHING! Cheers, Becky

Becky Steinbruner is NOW running for Second District County Supervisor. She 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.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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Saturday, November 30

#334 / Why I Am Voting For Bernie Sanders

Bernie Sanders, in Burlington, Vermont, from an article in The New York Times

Today’s blog posting is a kind of “follow-up” to my blog posting yesterday. In that Friday blog post, I suggested that our political system (at the national and state levels, though not at the local level, of course) operates as if we had a “parliamentary” system of government. And we don’t have a parliamentary system of government; at least, that is not the way the United States Constitution indicates that our governmental system is supposed to work.

When I read The New York Times on Thanksgiving, I was struck by an article on Bernie Sanders’ first successful political campaign, as Sanders ran for Mayor in Burlington, Vermont, and won. Here is a link to the article, which is titled “Sanders Forged Idea of Change Inside City Hall.” Actually, that is the title I found in the hard-copy edition that showed up on my front walkway. Online, the article is called, “Bernie Sanders vs. The Machine.” The article focused on Sanders’ campaign for Mayor, outlines a theory of political change that is most definitely not “parlimentary,” or “partisan.” I think it has a lot to tell us about how we could change our politics today – and how that would be a huge improvement.

I have some positive feelings about the presidency of Barack Obama, but anyone who cares about putting the “people” over “party,” in the politics of our nation, probably understands the following comment by Sanders, which indicates why he regards the Obama presidency as a lost opportunity for the restoration of democracy in our country: 

Throughout the 2020 campaign, Mr. Sanders has sounded like an echo of his younger self … He has pledged to campaign in even the reddest of states against lawmakers who oppose his ideas, including against conservative Democrats. It is a method of governing untested in the modern presidency. 

Mr. Sanders suggested in the interview that the last Democratic president, Mr. Obama, would have done well to apply relentless pressure of the kind he envisions, rather than seeking “middle ground” with Republicans. 

“Obama ran one of the great campaigns in American history — a brilliant campaign,” Mr. Sanders said. “Do I think he should have maintained that grass roots support and activism in his first term, in a way he did not do? Yeah, I do.” 

Mr. Sanders said he had discussed the subject with Mr. Obama in a private meeting. “He will tell you that it’s harder than it looks, which it is,” he said. 

He declined to elaborate on the details of their discussion. But asked whether Mr. Obama had raised any doubts in his mind about his theory of power, Mr. Sanders answered in a word — “No” — and pointed to Burlington. 

“At the end of a few years,” he said, “a sleepy political city became one of the most politically conscious and progressive cities in America.”

I was a Sanders’ delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 2016, and I am supporting his presidential candidacy this year, too. The Times’ article outlines why. I believe that the kind of politics that is described in this article can work, even on the national level. I hope those reading this will review the article, and consider its argument as they cast their votes in the California Presidential Primary election on March 3rd. Incidentally, since The New York Times maintains a “paywall,” and that may prevent some or even all persons reading this blog posting from clicking through to the online version of the article, I have not only included a significant quote, above, but have also downloaded the article as a PDF. No pictures, but you can click right here to read the text if The Time’s paywall prevents you from reading the article on The Times’ website. 

I formed my own idea of how politics works (or can work) in local politics in Santa Cruz County during the 1970s and 1980s. I know what happened here, and it was very much like what happened in Burlington, Vermont. Our experience in Santa Cruz County indicates that politics can produce truly “revolutionary” changes in the way our communities operate. Measure J, the Growth Management Referendum Measure enacted by the people of Santa Cruz County in 1978, fundamentally changed land use policy in our local community.

I agree with Sanders that we need to try to bring the techniques that worked in Burlington (and in Santa Cruz County in the 1970s and 1980s) to the national level. 

President Obama is right, as Sanders says, that this is “harder than it looks.” Admitted. But the stakes are pretty high. For instance, this upcoming presidential election may well determine the possibility of a continued commitment to democracy in the United States of America. This, also, may be an election that will decide the fate of human civilization, given the reality of global warming, and the fact that the United States must radically change what it does, and lead the world in making comparable changes, if we wish to stave off the growing likelihood of a civilization-ending environmental disaster. 

To be successful with the kind of politics that Sanders is advocating is definitely “harder than it looks.” But I think it’s worth a try. Think about that. Without going too “religious” on you, and with the recognition that Sanders is Jewish, consider this timeless observation, from Rabbi Hillel, as you cast your vote: 

“If I am not for myself, then who is for me? 
If I am for myself alone, then what am I?   
 If not now, when?”

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Just a peek at what makes everything so obvious and confusing. scroll downwards.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Classic Covers ” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent  Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Hands up, everybody who remembers Fat Freddy’s Cat! Why am I hanging on to this recently unearthed relic of hippie nostalgia? It’s a souvenir of the day I first walked into Atlantis Fantasyworld and met my future. Read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also: only one more weekend to catch Me And My Girl, the cornball but lavishly entertaining holiday musical from Jewel Theatre Company!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

DARK WATERS. You’ll never look at your Teflon or DuPont products the same way after seeing this fine film. Mark Ruffalo plays the real-life attorney who finally wins his case against DuPont, with the political and financial odds stacked 100% in favor of DuPont, the world’s largest chemical company. Just in case you want to stop supporting DuPont, stop using Kevlar, Styrofoam, Corian, Dow Corning, Great Stuff, Prima Green and many more names you can find on their website.

QUEEN & SLIM. Some character in this movie calls Queen and Slim the “Black Bonnie and Clyde”,and it fits. It’s a long chase featuring this mostly likable couple, caused by Slim killing an insane cop, and their adventures on the lam. There’s even some jokes and humor in it. But it’s really a vivid reminder of the police brutality, racism, and violence we read and hear about daily under the Trump administration. Go see it.

A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD. I think Americans now regard Mr. Rogers as our own Dalai Lama. Tom Hanks is the only actor in the world who could take and do so well in this movie. But before you go, if you haven’t already,  emember that this is not really about Mr. Rogers, but about an Esquire magazine writer who interviewed Rogers and his rigid, tormented life and choices. Chris Cooper is back as the writer’s father. It’s an oddly structured film, with many unusual directors’ touches. After skimming around the internet to see what the real Mr. Rogers was like, all I found was that he was an ordained Presbyterian minister, and went to Dartmouth. His mom knitted all his sweaters, he liked his wife’s dirty jokes, he had fun farting and he was a registered Republican. 

JOJO RABBIT. Centered on Nazi Germany, this is very rare political comedy with funny scenes. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom, and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!.  Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars.

THE IRISHMAN. When you have Robert De Niro , Al Pacino , and  Joe Pesci in a mobster film directed by Martin Scorsese you have a monumental achievement in motion pictures.  Yes it’s 3 ½ hours long and you’ll love every minute of it. It’s a gang driven recalling of their past by these masters,  all in their 70’s. Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa and at long last we find out what happened to Hoffa’s body (at least according to this film adaption from a book) when he disappeared in 1975. Go online now and see that people are still today wondering and predicting where Hoffa’s body is, but see the movie first. 96 on RT. (CLOSES THURSDAY December 5)

THE GOOD LIAR. Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen two of the finest actors in contemporary films had never made a movie together. It’s too bad that this one wasn’t the predictable, slow moving cute product that it is. It is a treat to watch these pros work together; they are as great as almost every movie goer knows but the script is a poor copy of a plot that deserved to be better. But, in spite of all that,  go see it…they are perfect in their parts.

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. Actor Edward Norton not only plays the Tourette syndrome plagued detective posing as a reporter but he directed the movie too. It takes place in NYC in the 1950’s . Alec Baldwin plays a character based on Robert Moses the evil developer of NYC. Willem Dafoe and Bruce Willis have small parts. The movie is not only confusing, but it drags on and on with little if any conclusion. And no, you won’t believe Norton’s actors version of faked Tourette’s either.  (CLOSES THURSDAY December 5)

HARRIET. A real Hollywood tear jerker of Harriet Tubman’s amazing life and what she accomplished fighting slavery. Cynthia Erivo is excellent as Harriet and even looks like her. However the crashing crescendos of sobbing music, the homey corniness of so much of the plot and much of the acting makes this look and feel like a 1940’s Hollywood soap opera.

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Young Writers program read their entries on December 3. Alicia Kuhl from the Santa Cruz Homeless Union opens the December 10 program. She’s followed by Felicia Van Stolk, executive Director of the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum, talking about their new exhibits and some exciting changes. Environmentalist Grey Hayes returns December 17 talking about saving our local environment. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc  You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

I love her accent so much…

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourneon Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011.

“RAIN”

“A bank is a place where they lend you an umbrella in fair weather and ask for it back when it begins to rain” Robert Frost

“I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying.”  Charlie Chaplin 

“Being soaked alone is cold. Being soaked with your best friend is an adventure.” Emily Wing Smith, Back When You Were Easier to Love

“It was a rainy night. It was the myth of a rainy night”. JACK KEROUAC, On the Road 


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


Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

November 27 – December 4, 2019

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Saving the historic Merriman House from the Fire Department. GREENSITE…Still in Australia…still no internet. Next week for sure! KROHN…Letter to Justin Cummings and Sandy Brown for Vice Mayor. STEINBRUNER…Announcing her new run for County Supervisor, Aptos Village and Zach Friend, Zach’s trash talk, UCSC’s LRDP. PATTON…Politics and power and Fun! EAGAN…Deep Cover, Subconscious Comics JENSEN…Reviews the Good Liar and Pain and Glory. BRATTON…no new ones and some critiques of excellent “old ones”. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…”COLLEGE”

                                 

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SANTA CRUZ’S HISTORIC MERRIMAN HOUSE. Robert Merriman lived here on Capitola Road. He was a Spanish Civil War (Lincoln Brigade) hero, and an inspiration to Ernest Hemingway for the hero and lead in “For Whom The Bell Tolls”. Developers and our fire department want to destroy/burn the house down.                                               

photo credit: a Bratton photo –  taken 11/23/19

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

THE QUEEN AND HER THRONE.
ORIGINAL VIDEO: WILSON, KEPPEL & BETTY, Sand Dance 1933.

DATELINE November 25

FIRE DEPARTMENT TO BURN HISTORIC MERRIMAN HOUSE!
Joe Michalak, the Commissioner of our Santa Cruz County Historic Preservation Commission,
has been working and researching hard for years now to save the Robert Merriman House. Last week he wrote to BrattonOnline… “Thanks for your mention of the Merriman House. After we lost the battle with the County, I received a call from the Planning Department informing me that I could have the house if I’d be willing to move it at my own expense. She even gave me the name of a house-moving company. That possibility wasn’t in the cards. If I didn’t want the house, she informed me that the Fire District wanted to use it for a “burn” exercise. I told her that burning down the Merriman House would not be a good look. Just to clarify, the Merriman House came under County jurisdiction, and is not regulated by the City of Santa Cruz. The County Historic Resources Commission had oversight”.  

Joe Michalak continued… “here is the document that Judy Steen and I researched and wrote to County Supervisor John Leopold and county staff, regarding our rationale for saving the house and turning it into a community resource that could be integrated into the Dientes Health project. It is a little detailed, but contains a history of Robert Hale Merriman and his subsequent impact. John Kenneth Galbraith praised his heroism and character. John McCain, looked to Robert Jordan (the fictional character based on the life of Merriman), the hero of For Whom the Bell Tolls as his lodestone. After reading the Hemingway novel at the age of twelve, McCain was inspired by Jordan’s deeds and dedication to “a cause greater than oneself.” McCain asserted in his biography that the Jordan character inspired him during the most horrific moments of his captivity in a North Vietnamese prisoner-of-war camp.
One of the best books on the Spanish Civil War is the one written by Adam Hochschild, Spain in Our Hearts: Americans in the Spanish Civil War, 1936–1939 (Houghton Miffline, 2016). You must also read Marion Merriman and Warren Lerude, American Commander in Spain: Rober Hale Merriman and the Abraham Lincoln Brigade, (U. Nevada, 1986). Marion, Bob Merriman’s widow recounts their life together in Berkeley and the battlefields of Spain”.

Santa Cruzans who care about tradition, honor, and community should care about this fatal attack on our history. From what I surmise the best action we can take is to write, email, call County Supervisor John Leopold and let him know how disappointed we are in his actions. It was more than kind of John Laird to send BrattonOnline this note last Thursday. “Bruce You mentioned Robert Merriman in your column.  There’s a great book – Spain in Our Hearts – 2016, by Adam Hochschild (involved with Mother Jones – his wife Arlie Hochschild taught at UCSC in the early years).  The book is about Americans in the Spanish Civil War, and has great info on Robert Merriman, including the end”. John is of course running for 17th district California State Senate. Bill Monning is termed out. Our bizarre district includes Atascadero, Pismo beach and 11.7% of Santa Clara County.

GREENSITE’S INSIGHT. Skips a week. She’s in Australia and not near a computer.

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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Nov. 24, 2019

AN OPEN LETTER TO JUSTIN CUMMINGS.

Dear Justin,

Thank you for allowing me to join you today. I appreciated seeing everyone, and I am glad you are meeting regularly with these folks. I regret that my passion is likely to have made you uncomfortable.

Giving Thanks

A lot has happened this year. We have made some terrific strides in what I call, “the progressive project.” 

  • More general fund money went to projects and programs supporting kids, workers, and tenants than would have if the four of us had not been elected. 
  • The Service Employee International Union (SEIU)received one of their largest raises in years–10% over three years;
  • all downtown employees are now eligible for Metro bus passes; 
  • Kaiser-Permanente’s 13 doctors and  their staff now have a home in downtown Santa Cruz at the Cooper House; 
  • Tenant Sanctuary received funding to work with struggling renters; 
  • we passed the state’s rent control and just cause eviction legislation several weeks earlier than it would have taken effect otherwise; 
  • two new pro-affordable housing Planning Commissioners were appointed by our majority;
  • a climate emergency was passed; 
  • stopped the Corridors Plan and redirected staff’s work;
  • and Oral Communication was moved to the 7pm session so more residents could have access to the city council.
  • Further, plans are afoot to go forward with a very needed 24/7 emergency homeless shelter.

There was, of course, more, but in the history of the Santa Cruz City Council these accomplishments will be considered significant progressive gains, ones not seen in more than a decade. Of course, it does take a village of organizers, some prodding and others pushing, to make such strides, because four councilmembers alone cannot do it.

Issues on the Progressive Table this Thanksgiving

The Harvey West Pool, the Delaveaga Golf Course, 20% inclusionary ordinance, transparency in the way city council agendas are put together, appointments to seats on the Metro and other boards, the city manager’s job status, 0% carbon emissions by 2030, and run-away executive pay are all issues where many residents still seek relief. Many are calling for a different path, a politically progressive path, one that re-orients the old ways of doing the city’s business and makes amends for previous one-sided policies that favor a minority. These issues all involve choices. They are most often political choices, not choices limited to staff expertise.

Politics is About Making Choices
We have a choice before us on Tuesday night. It’s about who will lead the city of Santa Cruz. Will it be just another rubber-stamping experience? Or will it be a Mayor and Vice-Mayor leading a solid progressive majority trying to help our city hold back some pretty powerful players from the real estate and developer sectors? Yes, things have been stirred up, because that is what voters were looking for both in the national and local 2016 election and again in 2018. This past November, to the north of us, a solid progressive city attorney was elected against the wishes of an entrenched mainstream, and the SF Board of Supervisors now has a left-of-center majority. There is a trend here. We can be part of that trend, or not. We make choices. We can choose a Mayor and Vice-Mayor that will lead our progressive coalition, first to a recall victory then to a strong majority in the November 2020 elections. I believe you and Sandy can do that.

Sandy Brown for Vice-Mayor
If we back off now, we will lose ground. Supporting a hostile Vice-Mayor now would not bode well for the recall election or for a progressive victory in November. We have made gains this year, but many more can be made in the year to come if we progressives take and exercise the power voters have given us. In contrast, 2020 will be a rocky year if it is marked by this division. We need to hang on to our tenuous majority of 4 and strengthen it. Sandy as Vice-Mayor will help do that.

Why Sandy?
I take the time to write to you on this spectacularly beautiful Sunday afternoon because I care about this city, about the progressive legacy of this town, about your mayoral year, and about moving the ball up-field and accomplishing what we are capable of this coming year. 

Starting off by selecting for the Vice-Mayor’s seat someone who has voted against almost every significant progressive issue we have been able to pass, who has not stood up for workers or renters when given the legislative opportunities, who I am convinced was not completely honest about my so-called “sarcastic laugh,” and who also has deep tentacles inside the recall camp would be a bad omen. Choosing this candidate over our reliable colleague would signal that we are not only giving up our power, but that their recall strategy is working. Our opponents will not take their foot off the recall gas pedal. They will not stop with the constant stream of untruths. They will continue to seed the undermining of our agenda. There is even an announced candidate for council who wants to reinstate the old wildly unpopular Corridors Plan. It would be too much of a minefield to allow her to be in the position of Vice-Mayor. 

In Closing–City Council Will Select Mayor and Vice Mayor Tues. Nov. 26 at 8p
Yes, my comments here are filled with “inside baseball,” but that is what we all play, as councilmembers. We must let people outside of the stadium know what is going down inside.

The progressives should accept our power now, and exercise it with great care, justice, equity, and fairness.I look forward to working with you this year as Mayor and Sandy Brown as Vice-Mayor. It should be a great year!

Sincerely,

Chris Krohn

Public education, libraries, & infrastructure policies (which we‘ve had before in America and elsewhere in the world!) are not “free stuff.” They are PUBLIC GOODS. And they are worth investing in, protecting, & advancing for all society and future generations. (Nov. 25)

 

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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November 25

STEINBRUNER FOR COUNTY SUPERVISOR !
I have been watching the County election website to see what choices voters will have at the polls next March.  There is no choice for County District Supervisor in the Second District, other than a trash-talking incumbent whose primary interest seems to be climbing the political ladder.  That is no choice.  

Because I feel the people in the Second District deserve a choice, I have decided to run for Second District County Supervisor. Unfortunately, in order to even take out nomination papers to have the necessary 20 supporters for my candidacy sign for me to submit by December 6, and therefore officially declare my candidacy, I have to pay $1232.38, non-refundable.  

I do not have that money.  If you would like to help me scrape that together and give the Second District voters a choice at the polls next March, and support having someone in the office who will listen to what all constituents say, try to honestly help, and not spew vulgar language back at them….I would welcome any and all monetary donations.  

Please send checks made out to “Becky Steinbruner” with a notation of “political donation” and mail to 3441 Redwood Drive, Aptos, CA   95003.  If you are good at creating websites, I would welcome your help.  

I am honest, polite, and sincere. I really care about the people and the environment in this County…and I am worried.  I ran for this office in 2016 and was terrified.  This time, I am not afraid.

TRASH-TALK BY A COUNTY SUPERVISOR IS FUNNY?
Last week’s Good Times reporter Jake Pierce wrote a glowing report about how funny it is to hear County Supervisor Zach Friend pretend to be a comedian by using foul language and piercing criticism.  Is that supposed to be funny?  Maybe for some, but many of Supervisor Friend’s constituents have reported he uses the same trash-talk to them when they bring concerns before him and ask for his help.  

Wow.  What happened to integrity and basic human respect?  Apparently Supervisor Zach Friend thinks it is important and acceptable to appear on stage and shock people with filthy language…and treat his constituents as if they are in and of the same.

I think it is odd that Friend was recently featured on Fox News TV discussing the impeachment proceedings.  I could not get my old computer system to play the audio…It is probably just as well because I find vulgar language offensive.  What a carpetbagger.

WILL SUPERVISOR FRIEND VOTE AGAINST APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT’S PHASE 2?
Recently, Supervisor Zach Friend voted against the Nissan auto dealership in Soquel because, he said, he could not support building something on the site that could not be torn down 15 years from now when the County wants to build something differently there.  His words and logic were shocking (luckily, he did not use vulgar language that day).

So, as the Aptos Village Project’s Phase 2 monstrous development nears coming before the Board of Supervisors for approval, will Supervisor Friend vote against it with the same logic as he used regarding another inappropriate and massive project?  Will he take into account all the common people who have voiced protest over the disastrous traffic congestion that Phase 1 has imposed, or the outrageous amount of money that the County has paid to put in one (soon to be two) traffic lights in the Village to mitigate the traffic disaster of the subdivision?

It likely comes down to how much the Aptos Village Project developers and Aptos Chamber of Commerce members donate to his 2020 re-election campaign.   Stay tuned…the matter may be before the Board of Supervisors as early as December 10.  Do you think it will be on the Consent Agenda?

Take a look at page 3 here to see what’s proposed (try not to use vulgar language when you see this)

You might find the 2003 Market and Financial Issues of Aptos Village Project of interest  especially the discussion on page 8 about it being a mistake to try to work with State Parks to supply 100 parking places for Nisene Marks State Park visitor overflow, and to instead build an overpass to the Cabrillo area on the Kock/Carmichael Property.  Also of interest is the economic need to have a mini-anchor store…the space that was to be used for that has now been taken over by the MidCounty Safety Center and Supervisor Zach Friend’s office (3220 SF).  Some mini-anchor, don’t you think? 

Also on page 8 is the opinion that “The development should preserve and expand on the local, small town flavor and quaintness that currently differentiate the Village from other retail centers in the trade area…”   Take another look at page 3 on the Phase 2 proposal documents above and tell me that the developers have or will accomplish any of that.

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT GETS LOTS OF MONEY TO HELP YOU DRINK EXPENSIVE SEWAGE WATER
I think it is no coincidence that immediately after Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Timothy Schmal denied my legal environmental action against Soquel Creek Water District, the State Water Resources Control Board granted them lots of money to fund their treated sewage water injection project.  Soquel Creek Water District was awarded the last of the Prop. 1 grant money, $50 million, and the remainder of teh low-cost 20-year loan money pot: $36 Million.  The State had been holding off on awarding them the money because, as Director Bruce Daniels stated,  they were very concerned by the legal action and the project being controversial.  Hmmmm….  I have alerted the State that I am appealing Judge Schmal’s ruling.

Soquel Creek Water District convinced the State that people just love the idea of drinking expensive treated sewage water, and got 100 of their friends to write letters of support to the State claiming such.  I wonder how many of those supporters are paying the exorbitant water bills the District now imposes?  

The group photo shown at last Tuesday’s Board meeting showed the entourage that had been to Sacramento that day to testify before the State Water Resources Board and accept the golden ticket.  Among them was the $325/hour attorney from Best, Best & Krieger who flew up from Riverside.  Also included was Robert Singleton, Director of the Santa Cruz Business Council.  He ran unsuccessfully for the Santa Cruz City Council…so he does NOT pay Soquel Creek Water District’s financially punitive and unfair water rates.  I wonder why he was invited to join their party bus to Sacramento?  Maybe he helped get all those 100 letters of support?  Hmmmm….

CONNECTING THE DOTS…..
If think about this, and consider the massive growth the City wants to pound in,  you too will see that the PureWater Soquel Project to inject treated sewage water into the MidCounty aquifer is being supported and fast-tracked to remove barriers to increased development in the MidCounty area, and perhaps beyond.

Read what the County 2020 Growth Goal Report states on page 2:

Potential Impacts from Population Growth 
“The growth management system was instituted to address resource and public services impacts of growth in the County. The most significant concern regarding resources and infrastructure has been the potential and actual water supply shortfall.”

  
This report came before the County Planning Commission on October 23, 2019.

Now, review what County Planners submitted in a federal grant application for the Aptos Village Project area to fund traffic lights to mitigate the congestion caused by the development:

“Aptos Village will be the first segment of the Soquel Drive corridor to implement sustainable transit options in advance of new development, and in this way will serve as a model for the rest of the 7-mile corridor.”    (page 4 of the 2012  TigerIII grant application)

So, now it becomes clearer why they Soquel Creek Water District is pushing this project to inject 1.3 million gallons/day of treated sewage water into the aquifer for local residents to drink after it sits there for two months.  Never mind the huge energy demands and healthy risks…

COMMUNITY MEETINGS TO DISCUSS UCSC 2040 DRAFT PROPOSED LAND USE MAP
There are big plans afoot for UCSC, but will they take the load off the strained housing market?  What about environmental impacts? There are three community meetings planned with the goal “to collaborate with the campus and local community to address issues of mutual importance.”  Here they are:

1) Monday, Dec. 2, noon-2pm   Stevenson Event Center, 1156 High Street
2) Monday, Dec. 2, 6pm-8pm    Seymour Marine Center, 100 McAllister Way, Santa Cruz
3) Tuesday, Dec. 3, 6pm-8pm    Capitola Community Center, 4400 Jade Street, Capitola

The proposed Project has two lawsuits pending against it

What do you suppose it would take to get the UC leadership to sit down at the mediation table with the local City and County leaders and work out something amazing such as what happened in Davis last year?  Not only did the University agree to house 100% of all new students and make up for some of the back-log, but also agreed to contribute $2.3 Million to infrastructure improvements near the campus! 

Attend the meetings next month, but in the meantime, insist that City and County leaders to step up and follow the good example that the City of Davis and County of Yolo leaders provided.  Do we really want to just make the lawyers richer???

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND A PUBLIC MEETING.  MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE. BUT JUST DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK! Cheers, Becky Steinbruner 831-685-2915 

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.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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Monday, November 18, 2019
#322 / Political Hobbyism? Give It A Pass!


A friend recently sent me an excellent article published in the Boston Review, “Politics is For Power, Not Consumption.” I have a feeling that if you read the article you won’t need to buy and read the book shown to the right. I haven’t read the book, but I am definitely recommending the article!

Eitan Hersh, who is an Associate Professor in the Department of Political Science at Tufts University, says that when people engage in genuine political work there is only one reason they do that: they want power. If you aren’t trying to obtain political power then you are not really engaged in politics, according to Hersh. Instead, you’re a “political hobbyist.” Hersh thinks that this is not a good thing. His article explains why.

I tend to think that those engaged in what Hersh would call “genuine,” non-hobbyist political work are not so much seeking out power as they are exercising power they already have. If we want to take self-government seriously, then we need to understand that we (both individually and collectively) have power already. One person’s power is relatively small, of course, but in the course of political organizing, as we combine our individual political power to achieve a particular political purpose, we increase our power. In other words, I basically agree with Hersh, but I want to start from an acknowledgement that we are not “lacking” power which we want to acquire; instead, we are mobilizing the power we already have. 

At any rate, my main point in publishing this blog posting is to encourage anyone reading my blog to read Hersh’s Boston Review article, too. Here is a small sample from the article, which I particularly liked: 

Each vote may seem like an insignificant drop in a 135-million-vote bucket, but the group labors with the knowledge that it is working in concert with like-minded organizations across the state and country each doing its part. The group also knows, and sees, that opposing groups, with very different values, are also getting supporters for the other side. They are in a pitched battle with one another, each seeking political control. 

What they’re all doing, that’s politics. 

I often think of groups like this during evenings I spend on my couch. As I fold laundry half-heartedly, I watch TV and clutch my phone. I refresh my Twitter feed to keep up on the latest political crisis, then toggle over to Facebook to read clickbait news stories, then over to YouTube to see a montage of juicy clips from the latest congressional hearing. I then complain to my family about all the things I don’t like that I have seen. 

What I’m doing, that isn’t politics. 

Most of us are engaging with politics to satisfy our own emotional needs and intellectual curiosities. That’s political hobbyism. 

What I’m doing I call political hobbyism, a catchall phrase for consuming and participating in politics by obsessive news-following and online “slacktivism,” by feeling the need to offer a hot take for each daily political flare-up, by emoting and arguing and debating, almost all of this from behind screens or with earphones on. I am in good company: these behaviors represent how most “politically engaged” Americans spend their time on politics.

I think Hersh’s analysis is right. If you are truly politically “engaged,” that means that you are in actual, personal contact with other real people, working together to accomplish a political goal. 

Would you believe me if I told you that real politics, as Hersh defines it, is lots of fun?

I’m telling you! It is!!! Better than a hobby!

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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EAGAN’S  SUBCONSCIOUS  COMICS.

EAGAN’S  DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s classic 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. 

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “With the names Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan above the title, who cares about the rest of the movie? Only us pesky critics. Dame Helen and Sir Ian are delightful, of course, but find out why their towering performances are built on an increasingly unstable story in my review of The Good Liar in this week’s Good Times. Also, since my review of the marvelous Pain And Glory didn’t make it into print last week, it’s going up in its entirety this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975. 

 

PAIN AND GLORY. This is probably my favorite film of 2019. I do not state that lightly, I mean it. It was directed and written by Pedro Almodóvar and stars Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Julieta Serrano. It’s about a film director who has lost his energy and drive to make films. He gets into heroin, same sex love, booze and ultimately back into film making. The acting is perfect, directing is shockingly tight, and a masterpiece. See it as soon as possible. 

JOJO RABBIT. A very rare political comedy with numerous funny scenes centered on Nazi Germany,. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!.  Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars.

THE IRISHMAN. When you have Robert De Niro , Al Pacino , and  Joe Pesci in a mobster film directed by Martin Scorsese you have a monumental achievement in motion pictures.  Yes it’s 3 ½ hours long and you’ll love every minute of it. It’s a gang driven recalling of their past by these masters,  all in their 70’s. Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa and at long last we find out what happened to Hoffa’s body (at least according to this film adaption from a book) when he disappeared in 1975. Go online now and see that people are still today wondering and predicting where Hoffa’s body is, but see the movie first. 96 on RT. 

THE GOOD LIAR. Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen two of the finest actors in contemporary films had never made a movie together. It’s too bad that this one wasn’t the predictable, slow moving cute product that it is. It is a treat to watch these pros work together; they are as great as almost every movie goer knows but the script is a poor copy of a plot that deserved to be better. But, in spite of all that,  go see it…they are perfect in their parts.

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. Actor Edward Norton not only plays the Tourette syndrome plagued detective posing as a reporter but he directed the movie too. It takes place in NYC in the 1950’s . Alec Baldwin plays a character based on Robert Moses the evil developer of NYC. Willem Dafoe and Bruce Willis have small parts. The movie is not only confusing, but it drags on and on with little if any conclusion. And no, you won’t believe Norton’s actors  version of faked Tourette’s either.

HARRIET. A real Hollywood tear jerker of Harriet Tubman’s amazing life and what she accomplished fighting slavery. Cynthia Erivo is excellent as Harriet and even looks like her. However the crashing crescendos of sobbing music, the homey corniness of so much of the plot and much of the  acting makes this look and feel like a 1940’s Hollywood soap opera.

THE LIGHTHOUSE. Robert Pattinson plays the young, innocent, naïve and new lighthouse keeper wannabe. Willem Defoe works very hard to be the ancient, hard to understand keeper from the old days. Neither of them are likable, and they don’t like each other. And I didn’t like this movie because they were so unlikable. It doesn’t matter much but it’s set in the 1890’s in New England. It’s screened in black and white and in a small square frame. 

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. November 26 has Rick Longinotti for the full hour. Rick is with Stop The Recalls and Campaign for Sustainable Transportation. We’ll talk about Highway One and the library garage proposal. Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Young Writers program read their entries on December 3. Alicia Kuhl from the Santa Cruz Homeless Union opens the December 10 program. She’s followed by Jane Mio talking about The San Lorenzo River and related topics. Environmentalist Grey Hayes returns December 17 talking about saving our local environment. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com 

I don’t understand a word being spoken, but this is the cutest thing ever! Wait for it… 🙂

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    COLLEGE

“Here is a lesson in creative writing. First rule: Do not use semicolons. They are transvestite hermaphrodites representing absolutely nothing. All they do is show you’ve been to college.”  Kurt Vonnegut, A Man Without a Country 

“But if you tell folks you’re a college student, folks are so impressed. You can be a student in anything and not have to know anything. Just say toxicology or marine biokinesis, and the person you’re talking to will change the subject to himself. If this doesn’t work, mention the neural synapses of embryonic pigeons.” Chuck Palahniuk, Invisible Monsters 

“Usually when you ask somebody in college why they are there, they’ll tell you it’s to get an education. The truth of it is, they are there to get the degree so that they can get ahead in the rat race. Too many college radicals are two-timing punks. The only reason you should be in college is to destroy it.” Abbie Hoffman, Steal This Book 

“I was not a good student. I did not spend much time at college; I was too busy enjoying myself”. Stephen Hawking  


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


Posted in Weekly Articles | Leave a comment

November 20 – 26, 2019

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Bruce
Highlights this week:

BRATTON…Camp Ross and Phoenix destroyed, Top Ramen and real danger, saving Mauna Kea from UC, Merriman and Pitt’s Houses. GREENSITE…No dispatch this week from Australia. Greensite out of Internet range. STEINBRUNER…Soquel Creek request denied, City Council and water commission, fire tax and our schools. PATTON…Attorneys and Land Use battles. EAGAN…classic Sub Con and Deep Cover comics. JENSEN…reviews Pain and Glory. BRATTON…critiques The Irishman and The Good Liar. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES… “Thanksgiving”
                                 

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BEFORE THE DREAM INN. 1955. Long regarded as the biggest loss to our community by environmentalists, you can see what our beachfront looked like before the developers got here. Notice all the trees on Lighthouse Point, and the undeveloped lands surrounding West Cliff Drive.                                                        

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email photo@brattononline.com

PROFESSOR PREDICTS LAST 9 AND THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS, SORT OF. Candace Brown was kind to send this one…
MONTY PYTHON COMMUNIST QUIZ SKETCH.

DATELINE November 18

CAMP ROSS & PHOENIX DESCENDING. The self-appointed directors/managers of the return to Camp Ross last week (Nov. 10-13) created a genuine and positive concept for solving the homeless problem: not just for Santa Cruz, but with worldwide potential. They established ground space rules, entry regulations, were bringing in toilets, creating food sources, and all of it on territory that was — and is — of no use to anyone. Santa Cruz police entered and ended Camp Ross last Friday morning (Nov. 26), saying it was all about trespassing. It was agreed by an unanimous vote that the City Council will take up this homeless matter again on Tuesday Nov. 26. The council hopefully will at least copy or use the plans from Camp Phoenix as a near-perfect model for a homeless camp. Many have suggested that they use property that is further from the public eye, which seems halfway cruel and a little illogical.

RAMEN WARNING!! I bought a chicken and a beef ramen last week. It had been ages since I depended on them to get me through UCBerkeley. For some reason I looked up ramen on the internet. I guarantee if you read anything online about ramen you’ll never touch it again. It’s chemically dangerous. Look it up…please.

PROTECTING MAUNA KEA FROM UC. We need to consider what our reaction would be if Tesla or Apple or CalTech wanted to build on Our National Cemetery, Mt. Vernon, or Gettysberg. Those are special places for US Citizens, just like Mauna Kea on the Big Island of Hawaii is to the locals living there. I got an email stating…Come listen to indigenous elders and cultural practitioners of Hawai’i and learn why they are calling on the UC to withdraw from plans to construct the Thirty Meter Telescope (TMT) atop Mauna Kea.

The event happens Monday, November 25th, 2019 5:00pm—8:00pm @ College 9 & 10 Multipurpose Room UC Santa Cruz/Free admission

Free dinner, live music & speakers: * Liko Martin— elder songwriter & storyteller of Hawai’I, and 50-year veteran of Hawaiian resistance movements. * Kealoha Pisciotta— Mauna Kea Hui spokesperson, cultural practitioner & former telescope systems specialist. * Laulani Teale— frontline Kanaka Maoli activist, musician, traditional herbalist and peacemaker. * Valentin Lopez— Chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, whose tribal territory encompasses Santa Cruz. Chairman Lopez will speak about the Amah Mutsun struggle to protect Juristac, the tribe’s sacred grounds currently threatened by a proposed sand and gravel mine.
This event was organized in response to an urgent request for support issued by Hawaiian cultural practitioners to University of California students. UC provides funding and key leadership in the TMT project as a founding partner. [see GSA resolution link below for more details] 
Kia’i (protectors) of Mauna Kea have maintained a peaceful camp at the base of the mountain since July 15, preventing construction of the TMT from proceeding. Tensions are high, winter is coming, and the State of Hawai’i is threatening to use police or National Guard to remove Hawaiian elders and kia’i by force.
Check it out on Facebook…https://www.facebook.com/events/460236838177382/

More info: 

UCSC Resource Centers joint statement on TMT: https://resourcecenters.ucsc.edu/about/Statements%20of%20Support/maunakea.html

 EVENT SPONSORED BY:   Mauna Kea Protectors at UCSC • Pepper-Giberson Endowed Chair • Colleges 9 & 10 • Asian American/Pacific Islander Resource Center • Environmental Studies Department • Community Studies Department • History of Consciousness Department • Feminist Studies Department • People of Color Sustainability Collective • Student-Worker Union UAW 2865 • Center for Political Ecology • Everett Program • Roots & Routes Intercultural Collaborations • Amah Mutsun Land Trust • Cantu Queer Center 

DESTROY MERRIMAN HOUSE & REVERE ZASU PITTS HOUSE??

Robert Merriman according to Wikipedia… Robert Hale Merriman (November 17, 1908 – c. April 2, 1938) was an American doctoral student who fought with the Republican forces in Spain during the Spanish Civil War. He was killed while commanding the Abraham Lincoln Battalion of the International Brigades. He grew up in Santa Cruz, and graduated from Santa Cruz High School in 1925. “Because he was so talented, and because he died so young, and because Hemingway immortalized him, Merriman must be given the first position in any roll call of Californians in battle against the ultra-Right,” California historian Kenneth Starr later wrote. 

According to our Historic Resources Commission notes…This house (at 1938 Capitola Road) was the boyhood home of Robert Merriman, who was involved in organizing anti-Franco forces and fighting in the Spanish Civil War, and who was the model for a character in Ernest Hemingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Now, as of last week developers have won the battle. The house will be destroyed and the developers really, really promise to erect a plaque with Merriman’s name on it. We have to wonder how and why Cynthia Mathews’ owning of house that movie star Zasu Pitts lived in is so carefully treated. Zasu was born in Parsons, Kansas and went to high school here.

November 18.

No dispatch this week from Greensite in Australia. Greensite out of Internet range. 

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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November 18

Explaining The Donald

Is Trump a Phenomena?
There is no way to explain the “Trump Phenomenon.” Or, is it a phenomenon? It seems there are multiple parts to the definition of the word, “phenomenon.” One is, in a scientific context, something that is observed to occur or to exist. Of course, in this context since Trump is real and can be observed, he becomes a phenomenon. The Cambridge Dictionary also offers this: “someone or something that is extremely successful, often because of special qualities or abilities.” The Beatles were a music phenomenon, Mohandas K. Gandhi was a political phenomenon, and Mother Teresa was a humanitarian phenomenon. A reasonable person could observe that each had special qualities and all possessed exceptional abilities. The latter definition is clearly not the case when judging one Donald J. Trump as a phenomenon. But the former? Well, he can be observed and he does exist so how does one explain his behavior, which is ultimately the key take-away for any observer of this man? Especially, how would you explain Trump to people in another country? How would Hungarians explain Viktor Orban, or Philippine’s, Rodrigo Duterte, or if the Russians were asked to explain Vladimir Putin? It could be a national quandary for each country’s paisanos, but still, it would seem more difficult to explicate very clearly how Trump rose to the presidency.

Scientific Phenomena?
Explaining the Trump Phenomenon in the scientific context, one which he himself would be loath to consider simply because science does not come up very often on “Fox and Friends,” is a kind of predicament most would rather not take on. Explaining Trump is more akin to cleaning a cat box, or perhaps, scrubbing the area just below the kitchen sink where the compost bucket sits, a place that has not been attended to in years. How The Donald arrived to the white house is a subject that has mere mortals gasping for breath, as if dissecting a flat worm in a Petri dish without the aid of a respirator. The stench of formaldehyde just might be suffocating. As you sliced and diced what in observing Trump might be like, unlike the flat worm’s gastrovascular cavity with one opening, Trump’s single orifice is really his mouth. To fathom the utterances coming out of this cavity is to be present immediately after the second plane has struck the South Tower and the many victims are anxiously hurling themselves out of windows from the upper stories. Trump’s verbal detritus is unlike any sensory phenomenon that humans might encounter except for maybe outside of a pub filled with soccer hooligans.

Trumping La Virgen
Mexicans are used to explaining all manner of phenomena, including how the Virgin Mary, La Virgin de Guadalupe, was able to leave her imprint on Juan Diego’s atilmàtli (cloak) in 1531. It would likely be too difficult to explain this president to a Mexican audience. That piece of clothing and imprint of La Virgin exists today and is daily viewed by thousands of observers from the moving sidewalk at the Basilica on the outskirts of Mexico City. Trump has labeled Mexicans as “rapists” and “drug addicts,” and he still expects them to pay for his dream of a wall of separation. Come again? At this moment in history both Americans and Mexicans would have an easier time explaining how the virgin’s image actually came to be imprinted onto Don Diego’s cream-colored cloak than they would in throwing any light on the Trump Presidency.

Out-Frenching the French
The French might have an easier time persuading Americans of the “French Phenomenon,” namely that all manner of French behavior–philosophy, food, and political values–are somehow the pinnacle of human existence, than Americans would in explaining away how Trump arrived to the White House. Even the Joan of Arc story becomes a metaphor for truth when laid alongside trying to explain, without twitching, how this reality TV Grinch ascended the steps of American power. Of course, with his first $100 million securely stashed in a Fifth Avenue vault, the reception of a low draft number and a failed draft physical during the Vietnam War didn’t hurt. This was followed by a series of Studio 54 visits only to arrive at his peak performance: the quest to find Obama’s Kenyan birth certificate. The average American could explain, even to the French, the French phenomenon with a straight and unhinged face, much more readily than they could offer a competent reason, even with the aid of several bottles of run of the mill French wine, as to what gave rise to the Trump Presidency.

Boris Can Explain Trump?
Now perhaps, someone from this side of the Atlantic would have an easier time explaining how the 45th President could have given Britain its own Boris Johnson Phenomenon. Frankly, we should know. It is clear that a role reversal has occurred here and the US has become perhaps a political mother country to Britain. It is in Johnson where an American can possibly settle on equal footing. We just might grasp the Johnson phenomenon as progeny of Trump. The American people are likely aware of the fact that the US has a President who does not read much, seems to be informed only through Fox News and other authoritarian state leaders, authors daily baby-nuke pronouncements the length and depth of a fortune cookie, and according to the Washington Post, has uttered a total of 13,435 “false or misleading statements” by Oct. 9, 2019, his 993rd day in office. Possibly Johnson’s thoughts on Libya, voting Tory, and Hillary Clinton are reflective of a Trump afterbirth. I offer three examples from Johnson: 1) The Libyan city of Sirte would have a more robust future as a luxury resort once investors “cleared the dead bodies away.” 2) “Voting Tory will cause your wife to have bigger breasts and increase your chances of owning a BMW M3.” and 3) “She’s (Clinton) got dyed blonde hair and pouty lips, and a steely blue stare, like a sadistic nurse in a mental hospital.” Clearly, if the Trump Phenomenon is to be comprehended by anyone outside the US, the Brits are the most likely patsies.

“Over and over, the corporate establishment has tried to convince people that we have no chance. Well, we just passed 4 million individual contributions—faster than any campaign in history. That’s a pretty powerful movement and we are ready to take on the billionaire class.” (Nov. 19)
(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, and was on the Santa Cruz City Councilmember from 1998-2002. Krohn was Mayor in 2001-2002. He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 14 years. He was elected the the city council again in November of 2016, after his kids went off to college. His current term ends in 2020.

Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com
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November 18 

JUDGE DENIED MY REQUEST THAT SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT JUST FOLLOW ENVIRONMENTAL LAWS
Judge Timothy Schmal denied my request and complaint that Soquel Creek Water District’s environmental impact report for their project to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the MidCounty area drinking water.  I do not feel I got a fair trial on November 8, for many reasons.  Therefore, I will appeal this judgment.  Stay tuned.

SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL AND WATER COMMISSION APPROVE REVISED WATER PLANS
In a joint meeting held last Tuesday, the Council adopted the City Water Director’s updated version of the Water Supply Advisory Committee (WSAC) plans for solving the water storage problem.  The Plan still includes regional surface water transfers from the City to Soquel Creek Water District that would allow the later to just stop pumping so much from the aquifer, but also would inject potable water into the aquifer via City wells in the Capitola area.  It is unknown when the water transfer phase 2 pilot program will begin…it depends on when the rain comes to increase water flows in the streams north of the City.

MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER AGENCY BOARD WILL APPROVE THE PLAN FOR SUSTAINABLE GROUNDWATER MANAGEMENT
This Thursday (11/21) the MidCounty Groundwater Agency (MGA) will approve the Plan to manage the groundwater supplies in the MidCounty area.  The MGA is a consortium of representatives from all water providers in the MidCounty area, and also has reps for private wells and small water companies.  The Plan will next go to the State Dept. of Water Resources, and hopefully be approved next year.  You can read the Board agenda packet and the Sustainability Plan here  

What concerns me is that it appears that the MGA is one and the same as Soquel Creek Water District, even though the other three main water providers are supposedly equally represented.  The Plan is also, in my opinion, very biased toward reliance on the District’s plan to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the aquifer for all of us to drink and to financially burden their ratepayers, causing great hardship to many.

WHAT WILL THE PROPOSED NEW COUNTY FIRE TAX MEAN FOR NON-PROFITS AND RURAL SCHOOL DISTRICTS?
The County Board of Supervisors want to levy yet another tax on rural property owners to pay for emergency response.  They continue to refuse to allocate any of the $18 Million the County receives every year from a statewide sales tax for Public Safety Support (Prop. 172).  Instead, they hand it all over to the Sheriff, Probation and District Attorney, and are now prodding property owners for more tax money to fund County Fire services.  

This assessment would be in addition to what is already being paid in County Service Area (CSA) 48 taxes, and will really hit rural school districts and non-profit camps hard: 

Bosch Baha’i School  $3,054.06
Bonny Doon Elementary School District $2,340.02
Central Cal. Conf. Assn Seventh Day Adventists  $16,828.17
Camping Unlimited for Retarded Children $3,101.38
Corralitos Union School District $3,120.03
Loma Prieta Joint Union School District  $4,985.26
Pacific School Trustees $2,527.23
Roman Catholic Bishop of Monterey $5,647.24
Poor Clares of California $3,120.03
Daughters of Mary Help of Christians $2,620.82
Corp. Pros. JC of LDS Saratoga Ca Stake $2,578.63 (actually higher, if you add in the 13 other parcels assessed at $5-$33 each)
Skyland Community Church $1,460.85
First Free Methodist Society of Corralitos $1,599.96
Vajrayana Foundation $2,651.93 (and more with other parcels assessed smaller amounts)
Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council Inc. Boy Scouts $1,595.29
Girl Scouts of Northern California $2,280.57

And then there is:
Westcoast Pre-Cooling Watsonville LLC $2,919.37
Bonny Doon Airport LLC $18,720.22
Lonestar California $24,501.96
Lockheed $58,104.39 

The Loma Prieta Defense Fire Team will have to pay $780.01 for their fire station protection!
The Corralitos Grange (barely able to hang on) $780.01
City of Watsonville (I think this is the Padres Community Center) $657.92 

If County Supervisors would allocate even just 8% of what the State spends annually from the Prop. 172 money, it would provide the $1.5 Million that they are asking rural property owners to pay.  The excuse is always that law enforcement needs it more….

Contact the Supervisors and ask them if they will be liable for lack of funding basic medical and fire response to rural constituents?  Call 454-2200 or email…

Write your County Supervisor:

WRITE ONE LETTER.  MAKE ONE CALL.  ATTEND ONE PUBLIC MEETING.  JUST DO SOMETHING THIS WEEK! Cheers, Becky Steinbruner

Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.

Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com
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#321 / When You’re Facing A Land Use Battle

I was asked, recently, about what local groups and individuals facing an upcoming land use battle should know, as they think about getting help from an attorney. Here are some thoughts. 

If an individual or group learns about a potential land use “battle,” that usually means that there is likely going to be a major disagreement about some proposed action by a governmental entity that will probably have adverse impacts on a local neighborhood, or on a river or creek, or on a piece of natural land, or that might involve the use of toxics, or that might otherwise pose a potential public health danger. In general, such land use “battles” usually involve a proposed project that would adversely impact the natural environment. 

Even “private” proposals – like the construction of a new home – almost always require governmental approvals of various kinds, so while it makes sense to approach and have discussions with the private parties involved in a proposed project, it is most important to understand what governmental approvals will be necessary, and to focus on affecting those. A local City Council, or a Board of Supervisors, or the Coastal Commission, or a host of other governmental agencies, including state and sometimes even federal agencies, are almost always going to play a central role. The “battle” will be fought out on the terrain established by the governmental rules and regulations that apply to the proposed project. When you first conclude that you are going to be facing such a “battle,” it is most important to “get organized” as soon as possible. “Groups,” not individuals, do better in such battles. So, step one is to form a group, and to learn in great detail what the rules will be. Know in detail just how the process will move forward.

Decisions made by governmental bodies are, by definition, “political.” Thus, garnering widespread support from those who will be affected by the proposed project, or who share a common appreciation of the environmental dangers or community impacts involved in the proposed project, is absolutely key. One person who raises legitimate concerns is good. A well-organized group of ten, or twenty-five, or fifty persons or more will have a much greater “political” impact, and elected officials will pay much more attention to the concerns advanced by such a group than it will pay to the very same concerns when expressed by a single individual.  

“Legal” issues, while they will play a role in the decision-making process, are almost always less important, in the end, than the political decisions made by elected officials. This is not only pragmatic “political advice,” it is also pragmatic “legal” advice. Those opposing proposed projects should NEVER assume that the courts will correct bad decisions made by elected officials. In our system of government, we expect disputed and “tough” decisions to be made by our elected representatives. Thus, the courts will almost always “defer” to elected officials, and the courts will uphold a governmental decision if there is “any” substantial evidence in favor of the decision. Again, the courts “defer” to the decisions made by elected officials, and a mistake often made by those opposing a destructive project is to suppose that the courts will “correct” a decision made by an elected body, or by some non-elected governmental agency that approved the project. Is that true? Not usually!

I encourage all those facing land use “battles” to review my earlier blog posting on “Deference.” That blog posting makes clear just why the courts will, in most cases, be willing to uphold governmental decisions (even when the courts think that the governmental decisions were “wrong”).

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

The most important thing to decide, when you think you may be facing a land use “battle,” is whether or not you really want to get into the “fight.” You need to be “serious.” A lot of time and money may well have to be spent. It is NOT easy to stop proposed projects, but such projects absolutely can be stopped, and environmental and neighborhood battles can be won. But let me say it again, you do need to be “serious.” Many assume that because a proposed project is pretty clearly a “bad” idea no governmental agency, in the end, will approve it. Such people think they shouldn’t really have to spend their own money, or spend a lot of time in opposing what is clearly a bad idea.

Big mistake!

Get organized. Get an attorney. Win. And keep this in mind: You can’t win a “battle” unless you fight! 

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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EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Classic time tested views of Eagan’s and our Subsconscious…scroll below.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s Vintage 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 with the slightly slanted “DEAR HILLARY. 

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS. Their second concert this season is titled “Virtuosity Defined” or Musical Creativity and Artistic Expression Beyond the Flying Fingers. Thery’ll be music by Bach, Paganini, Javier Contreras, Piazzolla, and Justin Hurwitz. Featuring Kris Palmer, Concert Director and flute; Steve Lin, guitar; Isaac Pastor-Chermak, cello. They are the Black Cedar Trio. The Black Cedar Trio brings their award-winning blend of flute, cello, and guitar with “Virtuosity Defined.” The program includes music of Bach, Paganini, and Piazzolla, plus new music by San Jose composer Andre Gueziec and Chilean composer Javier Contreras. After the trio’s recent San Francisco concert, The Rehearsal Studio blog wrote, “Contreras’ music was an examination of not only the unique sonorities of each of the three instruments but also a rich study of how those sonorities could be blended in different combinations…clearly a major undertaking; but those willing to listen to it attentively were richly rewarded.” The concerts happen in the Christ Lutheran Church in Aptos, near the freedom Boulevard turnoff. The concerts are Saturday, November 23, 7:30 pm and Sunday, November 24, 3:00 pm. 

Lisa writes: ” Don’t look now, but I may have just discovered my favorite movie of the year: Pain And Glory, by the ever-intriguing Pedro Almodovar. Find out all the reasons why, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also, an impromptu tribute to one of the most prized (if unexpected) possessions James Aschbacher brought across the Rockies to Santa Cruz with him, once upon a time. And if you feel like a few laughs (and who doesn’t these days?) consider the Jewel Theatre Company’s tuneful production of Me And My Girl, reviewed in this week’s Good Times!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975. 

THE IRISHMAN. When you have Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, and Joe Pesci in a mobster film directed by Martin Scorsese, you have a monumental achievement in motion pictures. Yes, it’s 3 ½ hours long — but you’ll love every minute of it. It’s a gang-driven recalling of their past by these masters, all in their 70’s. Al Pacino plays Jimmy Hoffa, and at long last we find out what happened to Hoffa’s body (at least according to this film adaption of a book) when he disappeared in 1975. Go online now and see how people are still today wondering and predicting where Hoffa’s body is, but see the movie first. 96 on RT. 

THE GOOD LIAR. Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen, two of the finest actors in contemporary films, had never made a movie together. It’s too bad that this one is the predictable, slow-moving cute product that it is. It is a treat to watch these pros work together; they are as great as almost every movie-goer knows, but the script is a poor copy of a plot that deserved to be better. But, in spite of all that, go see it…they are perfect in their parts.

JOJO RABBIT. A very rare political comedy with numerous funny scenes centered on Nazi Germany,. A little boy has Adolf Hitler as an invisible buddy. Scarlett Johansson plays the little boy’s mom and does one of very finest acting jobs, ever. Hitler and the screwed up political/ military scene will make you think of Trump and our own screwed up political/ military scene. A wonderful and rare film, do not miss it!! 

PAIN AND GLORY. This is probably my favorite film of 2019. I do not state that lightly, I mean it. It was directed and written by Pedro Almodóvar and stars Antonio Banderas, Penélope Cruz and Julieta Serrano. It’s about a film director who has lost his energy and drive to make films. He gets into heroin, same sex love, booze and ultimately back into film making. The acting is perfect, directing is shockingly tight, and a masterpiece. See it as soon as possible.

JOKER. Joaquin Phoenix should just be given the Oscar now, instead of all that fuss in January. Yes this is the origin of why the Joker haunts Bruce Wayne (Batman) and it’s so much more than that. The film is deep, dark, brilliant, violent, clever, absorbing, haunting, and will move you into a different perspective. Forget the criticism about protesters; the Joker is insane and magnetic. See this film if you like films beyond what’s acceptable! It just became the biggest – money making attendance record R-rated film ever!!!.  Now (11/18) it’s taken in over 1 billion dollars.

PARASITE. South Korean director Bong Joon-ho outdid his other international screen successes with Parasite. Wikipedia calls it a dark comedy thriller and so do I. It’s winning awards everywhere and deserves them all. There’s brain surgery, murder, basement dwellers, numerous surprises, even some shocks and well worth your seeing it ASAP.

MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN. Actor Edward Norton not only plays the Tourette syndrome plagued detective posing as a reporter but he directed the movie too. It takes place in NYC in the 1950’s . Alec Baldwin plays a character based on Robert Moses the evil developer of NYC. Willem Dafoe and Bruce Willis have small parts. The movie is not only confusing, but it drags on and on with little if any conclusion. And no, you won’t believe Norton’s actors  version of faked Tourette’s either.

HARRIET. A real Hollywood tear jerker of Harriet Tubman’s amazing life and what she accomplished fighting slavery. Cynthia Erivo is excellent as Harriet and even looks like her. However the crashing crescendos of sobbing music, the homey corniness of so much of the plot and much of the  acting makes this look and feel like a 1940’s Hollywood soap opera.

THE LIGHTHOUSE. Robert Pattinson plays the young, innocent, naïve and new lighthouse keeper wannabe. Willem Defoe works very hard to be the ancient, hard to understand keeper from the old days. Neither of them are likable, and they don’t like each other. And I didn’t like this movie because they were so unlikable. It doesn’t matter much but it’s set in the 1890’s in New England. It’s screened in black and white and in a small square frame. 

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UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE. Each and every Tuesday from 7:00-8:00 p.m. I host Universal Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 fm. or on your computer, (live only or archived for two weeks… (See next paragraph) and go to WWW.KZSC.ORG. On November 19 Kelly Damewood C.E.O. of the California Certified  Organic Farmers (CCOF) talks about local and national food issues. Then John Aird, local activist discusses UCSC growth and our water problems. Winners from Bookshop Santa Cruz’s Young Writers program read their entries on December 3. OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… https://www.radiofreeamerica.com/schedule/kzsc   You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. Do remember, any and all suggestions for future programs are more than welcome so tune in, and keep listening. Email me always and only at bratton@cruzio.com

Some food for thought from The Atlantic

UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 9 years here’s a chronological list of some past broadcasts. Such a wide range of folks such as  Nikki Silva, Michael Warren, Tom Noddy, UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal, Anita Monga, Mark Wainer, Judy Johnson, Wendy Mayer-Lochtefeld, Rachel Goodman, George Newell, Tubten Pende, Gina Marie Hayes, Rebecca Ronay-Hazleton, Miriam Ellis, Deb Mc Arthur, The Great Morgani on Street performing, and Paul Whitworth on Krapps Last Tape. Jodi McGraw on Sandhills, Bruce Daniels on area water problems. Mike Pappas on the Olive Connection, Sandy Lydon on County History. Paul Johnston on political organizing, Rick Longinotti on De-Sal. Dan Haifley on Monterey Bay Sanctuary, Dan Harder on Santa Cruz City Museum. Sara Wilbourne on Santa Cruz Ballet Theatre. Brian Spencer on SEE Theatre Co. Paula Kenyon and Karen Massaro on MAH and Big Creek Pottery. Carolyn Burke on Edith Piaf. Peggy Dolgenos on Cruzio. Julie James on Jewel Theatre Company. Then there’s Pat Matejcek on environment, Nancy Abrams and Joel Primack on the Universe plus Nina Simon from MAH, Rob Slawinski, Gary Bascou, Judge Paul Burdick, John Brown Childs, Ellen Kimmel, Don Williams, Kinan Valdez, Ellen Murtha, John Leopold, Karen Kefauver, Chip Lord, Judy Bouley, Rob Sean Wilson, Ann Simonton, Lori Rivera, Sayaka Yabuki, Chris Kinney, Celia and Peter Scott, Chris Krohn, David Swanger, Chelsea Juarez…and that’s just since January 2011. 

    “Thanksgiving”

“It’s not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it’s the seconds”. Author    Unknown

“After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations”. Oscar Wilde

(I’ve used this one before but it’s so good…)

“My cooking is so bad my kids thought Thanksgiving was to commemorate Pearl Harbor”. Phyllis Diller

“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough”. Oprah Winfrey


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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