SANTA CRUZ COUNTY FAIRGROUNDS. Once upon a time I was treasurer of the Santa Cruz County Fair (really!) This photo from 1956 used to drive me crazier until I figured out it was reversed. It’s from Webber’s Photo Shop that used to be at 1374 Pacific Avenue. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE April 1, 2019

REGENTS OK UCSC TO DEMOLISH AND ADD 3000 BEDS. The following is an “official announcement” from University of California Physical & Environmental Planning in Oakland.

The Regents of the University of California approved the UC Santa Cruz Student Housing West Project on March 29, 2019. The University has issued the attached Notice of Determination for this approval, in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The Environmental Impact Report as well as all of the CEQA notifications for the project are available online. (Go here to figure out the rest of this.)

UCSC CEQA Notice of Determination. Project Description: The Project consists of the construction of housing for approximately 3,000 students at two sites on the UC Santa Cruz main campus. The project will demolish the existing 200-unit family student housing complex and child care center west of Heller Drive, and redevelop the 13-acres site with approximately 2,900 student beds in six apartment buildings. The project will develop approximately 140 units of housing for student families, and a childcare center on a 17-acre site at the intersection of Glenn Coolidge and Hagar Drives. The project includes an amendment to the UC Santa Cruz 2005 Long Range Development Plan to change the land use designation of 17 acres from Campus Resource Land to Colleges and Student Housing.

SAVE HISTORIC CIRCLE CHURCH. The Wilkes Circle or Errett Circle community arms are up and waving, because their historic Garfield Park church is in danger of being torn down and replaced by some possibly 30 very unaffordable housing units. Check out last week’s BrattonOnline and see the many disputes between the present church owners (Circle of Friends) and the community. More than that, there are serious differences between the City’s Historic Preservation and City planning. Also do check out the “SAVE THE CIRCLE CHURCH” Facebook Page . Organizing a neighborhood isn’t easy. How organized is your neighborhood, for example? I attended a meeting of the Friends of The Circle Church last Sunday (3/31). Their petitions are out, around and being signed rapidly. A member/leader of the newest church “The Greater Purpose Community Church” was at the meeting. He said we could see that the church is drawing great-sized congregations there every Sunday, and yet the Circle of Friends wants to destroy all of this. The Circle of Friends consists of Bret Packer, Mark Thomas and spouse, Joe Combs and Tad and Caitlin Davies who are living in the RV on the church property. If you know any/all of this circle of friends, ask them if the money they are investing is worth destroying the church and circle community?

April 1, 2019

LOSING CONTROL.

Ever since UCSC’s expansion plans turned an asset into a liability, Santa Cruz city residents have understood that we have little say over UC decisions that affect our town. Despite the fact that a third of the population growth of the town over the past 20 years is a result of UCSC growth and skyrocketing rents, a result of fifty per cent of an ever increasing student body seeking off-campus housing, local voices of protest have largely fallen on deaf state ears. We have consoled ourselves that at least we have some control over local zoning and planning decisions. All that is about to change if Senate Bill 50 passes the state legislature. Local control over land use decisions and especially zoning will pass to the state, which will dictate where dense, high rise housing is mandated to be built.

The Senate bill, authored by state Senator Scott Wiener, is ostensibly aimed at “solving” the housing “crisis” by building more, especially in communities which are viewed as having dragged their feet in approving denser, infill housing. If you believe pro-growth folks who post on Next Door or speak at public hearings, Santa Cruz is a NIMBY outpost where nothing gets built due to draconian zoning ordinances and stubborn locals who yearn for a former small town era. This, despite the fact that new developments are popping up like mushrooms after rain.

You can get a jaw-dropping preview of what has already been council approved to be built in our 13 square mile city by checking out the city website.

The rendition included here is of the already approved Front St./Riverfront Apartments. They will be built adjacent to the river levee, along with the bulldozing of all the small businesses located there, and you can guarantee that rents will start around $2700 for a one-bedroom unit. Call me a stubborn local but I find such developments out of scale, out of character and out of sight in terms of affordability.  Welcome to Palo Alto by the Sea, minus the majestic trees.

The belief that building more and more and more will translate into lower costs for a commodity, housing, is a pipe dream unless speculation is curbed by legislation. That is unlikely given the influence of financial institutions and business councils on the local and state levels.

If you want to hear what the state has in mind for us, attend the heavily promoted forum entitled “Why Say Yes To Housing” on Friday April 5th, 6-8 pm at Peace United Church, 900 High St. You will notice that the topic is posed as a rhetorical question.  The forum features Senator Scott Wiener as well as a rep from Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP), which I wrote about last week. SB50 has already been endorsed by Santa Cruz County Business Council, whose Executive Director is a city Planning Commissioner. The Council’s Board of Directors includes such entities as UCSC, Bay Federal Credit Union, Driscoll’s, Shadowbrook, Sentinel, Kind Peoples among others. Are you feeling a little bit like David facing Goliath? Just don’t forget who prevailed.

Front St. /  Riverfront Apartments.

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.

April 1, 2019

SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL STRATEGIC PLANNING? NOT YET

The new council is entering its fifth month and still no Strategic Plan in site. It has been a “Waiting for Godot” chess match with the current city manager, Martin Bernal, when and if a council strategic planning session will be held. This council-manager form of government can be tricky. I believe the city council wants to go forward with this session asap, but the city manager needs to be in the room too. The city council hires and fires the city manager and city attorney, but the city manager hires and fires the rest of the 800-plus city work force. The absence of a strategic planning session is not because there is a lack of will on the part of councilmembers. I believe we want to craft a two-year plan now and we are already a half year behind. The traditional “Two-year Strategic Plan” is now looking like a 1.5-year project instead. The clock is ticking and the “other side” knows it. The previous city council’s two-year-old plan is over. The Corridors Plan, Wharf Master Plan, Library-in-a-Garage plan and homeless services non-plan are all either on hold or on life-support. When will a new two-year strategic plan be implemented? The community must be heard from.

New Council, New Plan?
A group of Santa Cruz activists, homeowners, renters, volunteers, and students have now met three times since last November’s election in order to come up with a community strategic plan, or perhaps a People’s Plan. More than 60 people have attended these people’s planning meetings, and a broad range of topics have been discussed including council communication, the Brown Act, rent control, raising the minimum wage, separating the library from the garage, a permanent site for the downtown Farmer’s Market coupled with a community town commons, halting UCSC student growth, implementing effective police review, and how to best address our homeless and houseless crisis. Topics also included how to best spend the gas tax money to support alternative transportation, formation of a people’s budget committee, and how best to allocate parking fund revenue in the pursuit of affordable housing. A single issue kept coming up again and again: if Santa Cruz has a “15% inclusionary” to create more affordable housing then why aren’t we raising more concerns about the “85% unaffordable housing” that is currently being proposed?

A People’s Strategic Plan
What’s possible over the next year and six months? This Community-Council group met three times for a total of 9 hours. Here is a brief summary of issues which might be a part of a city council Two-year Strategic Plan:

• Separating the Library-in-a-Garage Concept
• creating a “town commons-plaza” and permanent farmer’s market space if that is where constituents want to go
• remodeling the current library (pretty big constituency for this, far larger than city manager-staff constituency)
• Homeless Shelter—city put a bid in on Seaborg property next to the current Homeless Services Center…how to get this up and running once the escrow period is over?
• Housing and Rent Stablization Task Force—how do we light a fire and get people moving on this…David Ceppos is the consultant from the Sacramento-based Center for Collaborative Policy (CCP) who interviewed the entire council and now will choose 20 community members to interview to determine make-up of task force.
• Climate and Bio-Diversity Commission—begin with a city council subcommittee and work with current Climate Action Taskforce coordinator, Tiffany Wise-West.

Other honorable mentions
There are so many good ideas out there in our community. At some point, we will have to decide what does a one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-year strategic plan look like. Then, a tentative calendar for moving agenda items forward from the community onto the city council agenda needs to be formed and out of this process it could be determined which issues might be placed before voters. The following is a list of issues under discussion by the Community-Council group, ones that could also go onto the city council Two-Year Strategic Plan agenda if that meeting ever occurs. If not, the community will continue to carry on with its own strategic planning.

• Form a Human Rights Commission and a Youth Commission
• Buy the Beach Flats Garden
• Reform the Rental Inspection Ordinance to favor tenants and keep safe but unpermitted properties in the housing pipeline
• Institute a police review board (“Cop Watch”)
• Pass a $15 an hour minimum wage ordinance
• Pass a “public banking” ordinance
• Write a General Plan amendment restoring urban-rural transition to Golf Club Drive area
• Build a minimum of 200 units of affordable housing on parcels that the city currently owns. These include the NYAC building (between bus station and old Tampicos) and the former thrift store site on Front Street. The city should be receiving some $8.4 million coming into its coffers from the recent sale of the Sky Park property in Scotts Valley.

“How do we have trillions of dollars to spend on endless wars, but we don’t have the money for education and health care? How do we have money for tax breaks for billionaires, but not to feed hungry children? Together we are going to change those priorities.” (April 1)

(Chris Krohn is a father, writer, activist, former Santa Cruz City Councilmember (1998-2002) and Mayor (2001-2002). He’s been running the Environmental Studies Internship program at UC Santa Cruz for the past 12 years. He was elected last November to another 4-year term on the Santa Cruz City Council). Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com

April 1, 2019

WHY SAY YES TO HOUSING (BROUGHT TO YOU BY ONE WHO IS STAMPING OUT LOCAL CONTROL OVER DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS)
This Friday, April 5, State Senator Scott Wiener will part of a panel discussion at Peace United Church (900 High Street, Santa Cruz) with representatives of groups who want development to boom in Santa Cruz County. Senator Wiener has led the charge to push through legislation to force cities and counties to approve developments under state mandates, regardless of whether there exists the infrastructure to support it.  The event is co-hosted by Santa Cruz YIMBY (Yes In My Backyard), the Santa Cruz County Business Council, and the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP) and begins at 6pm.

The panel will include Senator Wiener, Business Council Member and President of New Way Homes, Mr. Sibley Simon (he wrote the enhanced density bonus regulations that many local jurisdictions have since adopted), MBEP President Ms. Kate Roberts, YIMBY Board Member and Co-Founder of Work Bench, Ms. Jamileh Cannon (Work Bench is an architectural/developer company based in Santa Cruz and whose star project is “The Dwellings” in Soquel).

Senator Wiener will be talking about the need for more housing throughout California, and what he hopes to work on as the Chair of the Senate Housing committee this year  He will also be providing an overview of his highest legislative priority, Senate Bill 50, the More HOMES Act, which is an amendment to the State Density Bonus Law that allows for greater densities for more affordable housing.  If the proposed development is within a “job-rich” area (which will be mapped and listed effective January 1. 2020 by the State Dept. of Housing and Community Development) and within a “transit-rich” area, jurisdictional shall waive control over height restrictions, density maximums, floor area ratios, and parking requirements. Here is the text of proposed SB 50 (please note Section 6518.53(a)(1) and (c).

In my humble opinion, this event this Friday is meant to begin beating the drum for SB 50 and the ballot measure that could be on the November 2020 election to make it easier to get the necessary voter approval to fund bonds for single purposes (read more about that below), but   I encourage you to attend this Friday and see what you think.

Take a look at who is behind the Monterey Bay Economic Partnerships, the group who wanted to shove Measure H, a poorly-written and illegal property tax bond measure on all parcels in Santa Cruz County last November, but thankfully, the voters read the measure and rejected it:

SO, JUST MAKE IT EASIER TO PASS BOND MEASURES AND INCREASE DEBT BURDEN ON THE PUBLIC…
That is just what is in the works with a proposed constitutional amendment that would lower how much voter support communities need to get at the polls in order to pass single-purpose bond and tax measures.  Currently, a single-purpose bond or tax measure must get 2/3 voter approval to pass, whereas multiple-purpose tax increases only require 51% (that is how the County slipped the Measure G 1/2-cent sales tax increase through last November).  However, this constitutional amendment, proposed by Assemblyman Todd Gloria (Dem-San Diego) and sponsored by Assemblywoman Cecelia Aguiar-Curry, would lower the required threshold of approval for single-purpose NEW DEBT to 55%.  

“These two-thirds thresholds are meant to enable a boisterous minority to impede progress,” said Assemblyman Todd Gloria.  Sponsors hope to gain the necessary 2/3 legislative approval for this constitutional amendment and place it on the November 2020 ballot, where it would require a simple majority of 51% of the voters to pass.   It would apply to projects including affordable housing, wastewater treatment, fire and police buildings, parks, public libraries, broadband expansion, hospitals and more.  Local governments typically fund those projects through bonds or special taxes, like the parcel ta or a dedicated sales tax.

The Santa Cruz Sentinel featured this information on page A3 on March 28, 2019, but no link for it comes up with a search, so here is a link to another source that seems to have used the same AP report

I suggest you write your representatives now with your thoughts on the matter:

Assemblyman Mark Stone: https://a29.asmdc.org/
State Senator Bill Monning: https://sd17.senate.ca.gov/

“THAT WOULD JUST OVERCHARGE THE AQUIFER”
Amazingly, that is the essence of the report given the MidCounty Groundwater Agency Advisory Committee by consultant Mr. Cameron Tana of Montgomery & Associates (formerly HydroMetrics) last week.  This was part of the blatant commercial praising the virtues of Soquel Creek Water District’s proposed plan to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the drinking water supply for the MidCounty area.  Mr. Tana explained that the hypothetical model he has created (largely paid for by Soquel Creek Water District) to show what would happen if the treated sewage water gets injected AND Santa Cruz City Water Dept. were to also inject de-chlorinated potable water in three possible new wells nearby, the aquifer level would rise to surface levels and become undesirable.  He stated, therefore, that Santa Cruz City’s location of the new injection wells is too close to the Soquel Creek Water District’s three planned treated sewage water injection sites associated with Pure Water Soquel Project.  

This information did not comport with that of other previous presentations where Mr. Tana’s hypothetical models showed increased surface stream flows with increased groundwater levels, and recharge impacts leveling off due to the water “leaking” into streams beds and flowing out under the Monterey Bay.    

I pointed this out to the Advisory Committee, and stated that it seemed the Pure Water Soquel Project was not necessary, given the existing infrastructure for the City to recharge the aquifer in troubled areas, but no one responded.  Members of the public are NOT ALLOWED to ask questions or expect any answers, only to register comment.  

The members of the Advisory Committee were selected to represent specific stakeholder groups who have interests in the MidCounty Groundwater Basin plan that the group is supposed to be formulating and submit to the State for approval in January, 2020.  There is no method for any such stakeholder to directly contact their liaison representative on this Committee, an issue that has been raised since the group formed over one year ago.  Even though the agency’s Board recently approved new policy that would allow such direct e-mail addresses to be issued and posted on the website, the matter was not even on the Advisory Committee’s agenda.  The Advisory Committee will be dissolved in June.  Policy changed a few months ago, such that this citizen-based group will NOT formulate the Plan for sustaining groundwater levels in the Basin, but rather they will only prioritize and rate those recommendations spoon-fed to them from the Executive Committee, which consists of a handful of people who manage the water agencies in the Basin, and whose meetings are never open to the public.

There are no public stakeholder meetings planned until July, after the Plan has been pretty much made a “Done Deal” and the Advisory Committee is gone.  Somehow, this just does not smell right to me.  How can private well and small water company owners and customers be expected to have any trust in this process, and walk smoothly along with the big pumpers like Soquel Creek Water District, whose Junior Water rights legally allow them only to excess water in the aquifer for their sales and distribution (and revenue)?  

If you have concerns about lack of public participation, Soquel Creek Water District’s plan to inject treated sewage water into the area’s drinking water, or the process the MidCounty Groundwater Agency is taking, contact Ms. Amanda Peisch-Derby at the State Water Board:

Amanda Peisch-Derby Amanda.Peisch@water.ca.gov   559-230-3307.

Here is the link for the MidCounty Groundwater Agency, where you can listen to audio recordings of the meetings, and find information about the proposed Plan:

SANTA CRUZ CITY WANTS TO HEAR FROM YOU ABOUT COASTAL RESILIENCE
The City of Santa Cruz is committed to “an inclusive, transparent, thorough, and equitable process” in completing the “Resilient Coast Santa Cruz” Initiative, which will commence community meetings this Spring.  According to information distributed at the recent “State of the San Lorenzo River Symposium”, the West Cliff Drive Adaptation and Management Plan will be available soon here as part of the Development of Local Coastal Program Strategies a& Policies to Support Beach and Public Access Protection.  At the County level, that has meant no new armoring of the eroding coastal areas, and possible sand loss mitigation fees to coastal property owners.  

The City intends to begin holding community meetings soon, and invites the public to also stop by for a once-a-month open office hour at the City Hall courtyard Conference room on the first Thursday of each month from 4pm-5pm to talk about the initiative with the City’s project managers.  You can e-mail climateaction@cityofsantacruz.com  and get on their mailing list.

REAL ALTERNATIVES TO THE FALSE PROMISE OF AUXILIARY LANES
If you are interested in learning more about the very complex problem of local traffic congestion, and to learn more about possible solutions, attend this free event at the Aptos Library, Saturday, April 13, 10:30am.

If you commute to or through the Watsonville-to-Capitola areas of the County, you know it is a nightmare.  Come listen to what local activist and sensible community leader, Mr. Rick Longinotti, has to say.

WHY DIDN’T THE COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH HAZ MAT TEAM GET NOTIFIED ABOUT THE RECENT SUNKEN SHIPS AND FUEL SPILL ON THE BEACH?
Over a week ago, many people saw a sunken ship near the iconic Cement Ship at Seacliff State Beach, and wondered what was going to happen with it.  I asked the State Park ranger about it, and was told the Coast Guard was aware of it, but did not plan to take action.  I called the Harbor Patrol, and got a similarly vague answer.  

Last week, a private salvage company, Parker Diving & Salvage, showed up and pulled a sunken tri-maran and the sunken cabin cruiser to shore for demolition on the beach.  Wow, was the air heavy with diesel fumes from the leaking fuel on the beach by the 35-foot cabin cruiser languishing at the tide level.  Surfers were exiting the water, complaining of fuel on their skin.

I called 9-1-1 to report the fuel spill on the beach.   I received a call a couple of hours later, around 9pm, from the Harbor Patrol, thanking me for my call, and assuring me the Coast Guard would contact me shortly.  No call.  I phoned 9-1-1 again to check up on the progress of addressing what smelled like a major fuel spill.  The Harbor Patrol called back and said that I MIGHT receive a call from someone.  I did….at 2am, from the San Francisco Sector of the Coast Guard, letting me know they were aware of the problem.

The ship stayed on the beach, leaking fuel, and was finally demolished on the beach by the salvage company.  Because the smell of diesel was so unhealthy, yet no officials seemed to be monitoring the problem, I called County Environmental Health to ask about the monitoring.  NO ONE HAD CONTACTED COUNTY ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH to assess the problem or to monitor the fuel leak, later estimated at over 200 gallons.  Wow.

The lesson here is, do not assume that officials charged with monitoring a problem have been contacted, or are even aware that a problem exists.

Here is a photo of the cabin cruiser, compliments of the Register-Pajaronian.   Oddly, Harbor Patrol has been mum, and the owners of the two ships seem unknown.

Cheers! Becky

Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes. Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com

April 1, 2019 #91 /Neighborhood Government

I have been a member of the Mono Lake Committee for many years – perhaps even from 1978, the year it was founded. That is Mono Lake that is pictured above, in a “Photo of the Day” from the National Wildlife Federation blog. 

As a member of the Mono Lake Committee, I receive its periodic newsletters, and I just received the Winter & Spring 2019 issue, which had an article on “Staff migrations.” I don’t know Lisa Cutting personally, but the description of her work with the Committee, presented below, made me think: 

After 17 years as Eastern Sierra Policy Director, Lisa Cutting is moving into a part-time role as Associate Policy Director. Lisa started with the Committee as an intern in 1999 and quickly developed a deep commitment to the protection of Mono Lake and restoration of the tributary streams. She then served as Environmental Resource Coordinator for two years before becoming Eastern Sierra Policy Director in 2002.

Lisa has seen many policy issues during her tenure — from shaping Caltrans projects to incorporate Mono Basin- specific revegetation techniques, to keeping the Mono Lake Tufa State Natural Reserve open, working with state and federal agencies to achieve goals in an era of diminishing resources, and accomplishing the daily work of implementing State Water Board-ordered mandates for Mono Lake and its tributary streams. But her passion has always been stream restoration—specifically bridging the gaps between restoration science, land management, and rules and regulations to achieve the most successful on-the-ground ecological health possible. 

Lisa’s calm and deft approach to complex water issues combined with her ability to bring often-polarized parties together to garner positive results for Mono Lake has set the bar for navigating future balanced solutions. She is excited to have more personal time for fishing, backpacking, and exploration, but fortunately for the Committee Lisa will also continue to put her skills to work on focused projects with the policy team.

Lisa Cutting is employed by the Committee, which is a non-profit corporation. The Committee, and Lisa, and other staff persons and many volunteers, have taken responsibility for the “neighborhood” in which Mono Lake is located. There are physical, social, economic, and governmental challenges that require attention, and the Committee, and its dedicated staff and volunteers, have taken responsibility for meeting those challenges, and for “maintaining, protecting, and improving the neighborhood.” 

Mono Lake, of course, is a rather remote, East of the Sierras environmental and wildlife wonderland. It is quite different from the neighborhoods that most of us inhabit, mostly located in cities or in unincorporated urban areas, but what this “Staff migrations” column got me to think about is the whole idea of “neighborhood government.” 

Almost every neighborhood is beloved by those who live there and know it best. Almost every one of our neighborhoods has some unique and wonderful feature that residents treasure. In the heyday of community-based politics in Santa Cruz, California, which is where I am from, neighborhood associations preserved and protected all that was best in the neighborhood, and the community-based involvement stemming from the neighborhoods is what sustained one of the healthiest and most vital examples of democratic self-government I have ever heard about. That was also, of course, a time in which I was privileged to be personally involved in that effort at self-government. I think the description of what Lisa Cutting has been doing for her neighborhood made such an impression on me because I was a kind of “Lisa Cutting” figure, for Santa Cruz County, from 1975 to 1995.

If government in the United States of America is in trouble (and it is), I think we should start looking  for solutions by developing ways to stimulate, fund, and sustain neighborhood-level community involvement. 

That could be done! No fooling!

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Scroll below to peek inside that other scene of so much activity in our other lives.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Exonerated ” 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 BAROQUE FESTIVAL. Their concert number IV: ‘Bach & the Virtuoso Violin’. Featuring Edwin Huizinga, Baroque violin, Lynn Tetenbaum, Viola da Gamba and

Linda Burman-Hall, Harpsichord. Join us for a walk through the dark and secret heart of the Baroque. Keep your mind balanced on that daring knife-edge of unaccompanied violin tone ~ Heinrich von Biber in his Passacaglia in the 1670s and half a century later J. S Bach in his Chaconne take innumerable risks in building thrilling chords and counter-melodies for a single brave player to deliver. After all the solo miracles, we’ll conclude the evening with buoyantly optimistic mid-Baroque trios for violin, harpsichord and obbligato viol by Bach’s Danish-German hero, Dietrich Buxtehude. presented by the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival Sunday April 14, 2019 –  3:00pm UCSC Recital Hall.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. No words from Lisa this week…must be either cooking or editing. Read her reviews at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com) Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. April 2 has Jena Casey from Africa Matters talking about their organization and goals. April 9 has Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan discussing the Nissan Dealership in Soquel and Sustainable Soquel plans. Then Julie Phillips talks about the proposed Bay and Cliff development across from the dream Inn. Kristin Brownstone and Jerry Lloyd discuss the Actors Theater  “Looking For Normal” play on April 16th. They’re followed by folks from the Reel Work Film Festival listing the screenings around the county and Bay. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd. 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. “Horror Movies”
“Some people ask why people would go into a dark room to be scared. I say they are already scared, and they need to have that fear manipulated and massaged. I think of horror movies as the disturbed dreams of a society”. Wes Craven
“Horror movies don’t exist unless you go and see them, and people always will”. Joss Whedon
“My adult life is filled with the things horror movies are made of“. Tim Kennedy

DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ. FEB 2, 1949. This is the Southeast corner of Laurel and Pacific. Walgreens is there now, and still using parts of this building…from the looks of it.                                                        photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE: March 25, 2019

SAVE THE HISTORIC CIRCLE CHURCH. That is the Errett Circle neighborhood, or Garfield Park Circle Church community.

Sue Powell and her neighbor John Sears attended the Santa Cruz Historic Preservation Commission meeting on March 20. Sue sent BrattonOnline the following… “There were many issues that came up during the meeting that I think are important. Here is my one-sentence summary:

Because the Circle Church is “Unlisted” (not included in the City’s Historic Building Index) and because the history report commissioned by the property owners (DPR 523) incorrectly concluded that the Circle Church has “no historic value,” it is possible that the demolition permit application for the Circle Church could be approved without public review.

1. John Sears and I talked during Oral Communications about the many reasons that the Circle Church should not be demolished. One major concern that we have is that the Circle Church has not been listed by the City in the Historic Building Index. It has been continually overlooked, whereas churches in affluent neighborhoods that were built more recently – and without a depth of history on the site – are listed. This prejudicial omission means that the Circle Church does not have this designated protection that could save it from demolition.
2. We stayed for Agenda Item #8 – “Discuss the Current Process for the Review of Residential Demolition Authorization Permits for Unlisted Structures Over 50 Years Old.” The Circle Church is “Unlisted” and was built over 50 years ago, with a heritage going back to the 1880s, so we thought that this Review Process might apply to the Church.
3. Staff said that when demolition permit applications are received by the Planning Department, staff give them one of three designations: no historic value, questionable historic value, clear historic value. 
4. There was discussion among the Commissioners about the process by which decisions are made for questionable properties. Staff said that they are presently reviewed by the Planning Department, but that they could be reviewed by a HP Commission subcommittee. In my perspective, referring a questionable property in Subcommittee means that there would be no public discussion or input about saving buildings over 50 years old that the community sees as meaningful and important to the character of a neighborhood and a sense of place, such as the Circle Church. 
5. Commissioners asked about the category for the Circle Church. Staff said that a report commissioned by the property owners (DPR 523) showed that the Circle Church has “no historic value.” This DPR was commissioned in 2017 and completed in early 2018. Commissioners expressed concern that report was not provided to them until last month.
6.  We have heard from our historian friends in the community that the report, DPR 523, had incorrect information and faulty conclusions. Rebuttals to the report have been written.
7. Although the Commissioners said that they want the Circle Church to be included in their next agenda, staff did not respond. Staff discouraged holding a HP Commission meeting next month.
8. Historic Planning Commission meetings are often cancelled. In the last six months, four meetings have been cancelled. There were no meetings in October 2018, November 2018, January 2019, and February 2019”.

Sue Powell, John Sears and many community members believe that it is so important that we have full public process on the demolition permit application for the Circle Church.

SAVE SANTA CRUZ WESTSIDE. In my attempt last week to run a list of the huge developments that are in various stages in our end of the county, I missed what could be the most obvious of all — the proposed development at Cliff and Bay by the Dream Inn. Here’s a link and note from the Save Santa Cruz Westside group of concerned locals…and visitors.

“Join our efforts to protect the Westside and surrounding areas of Santa Cruz from this massive 4 story Cliff and Bay project proposed by the Southern California Company, Ensemble, owners of the Dream Inn! The proposed development could: increase traffic and emergency response times, destabilize surrounding hillsides, increase pollution, and does nothing to promote local affordable housing in an important Westside lifeline-corridor while negatively impacting local quality of life.

Check out our website at: SaveSantaCruzWestside.org
You can sign up for our newsletters with updates on critical upcoming meetings as well as donate to this effort! We are opposed to the over-development planned by the Dream Inn at West Cliff  and Bay, which has been submitted to the City of Santa Cruz Planning Department.

CLAIRE BRAZ-VALENTINE POEM. Long time friend Billie Harris sent us this heart-touching poem “Fire” by another long time friend poet and playwright,Claire Braz-Valentine. Claire has lived in Paradise, California for years. She read this poem at the last meeting of the   phren-Z literary magazine group. Click here…

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Check out the perfect woman, in your dreams…!!! Scroll below.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Which Hunt” 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.

EVENTS

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL.

The Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival is now in its 19th year. It presents films free to the public from Saturday, March 30 through Thursday, April 4. The festival opens at the Jewish Community Center in Aptos and continues at the Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, Aegis (EE-gis) of Aptos, and Samper Recital Hall at Cabrillo College. This year’s program focuses on love, reconciliation, and the pursuit of justice for the powerless. For the full schedule, please visit the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival online at  https://santacruzjewishfilmfestival.coM

ESPRESSIVO ORCHESTRA.  Romanticism — Morning to Evening
Espressivo—a small, intense orchestra concludes its fourth season at Peace United Church 900 High Street in Santa Cruz on Sunday, March 31st, at 3 p.m. The program of late-Romantic music includes Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” Arnold Schoenberg’s “Chamber Symphony,” and Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade for Winds, Cello and Bass.” The professional orchestra will be conducted by Michel Singher, founder & Artistic Director. Tickets at www.EspressOrch.org, and at the box office.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “The big movie news for us locals this week is Us, the new fright-fest horror movie with a social conscience from Jordan Peele (Get Out). Santa Cruz co-stars as herself, and the Boardwalk has not been used so effectively as a movie prop since The Lost Boys. No, I don’t review it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ), but check out Steve Palopoli’s review in this week’s Good Times.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. . Sue Powell and John Sears tell us all about Saving the Circle Church (Errett Circle) on March 26. They’re followed by Gillian Greensite discussing city, county and University issues and trees. April 2 has Jena Casey from Africa Matters talking about their organization and golas.Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan discuss the Nissan Dealership in Soquel and Sustainable Soquel plans. Dean Kaufman from the Santa Cruz Vet’s Center talks about Vets benefits on April 16th. He’s followed by folks from the Reel Work Film Festival listing the screenings around the county and Bay. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd.  OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. 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. “RAIN”

“The rain is famous for falling on the just and unjust alike, but if I had the management of such affairs I would rain softly and sweetly on the just, but if I caught a sample of the unjust out doors I would drown him”.   Mark Twain
“The best thing one can do when it’s raining is to let it rain”. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually”. Eeyore
“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby”. Langston Hughes
“I always like walking in the rain, so no one can see me crying”. Charlie Chaplin

BANK OF ITALY – NEW LEAF BUILDING. Built in 1929 by architect Henry J. Minton, this grand edifice won a battle in 1977 against developers who wanted to tear it down. It became New Leaf Market way back in 1995!                                                       photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE March 18, 2019

“R.U.I.N.” REALESTATE UNDER INTENSE NEGOTIATION. I had a lofty plan for this week’s column. Due to our last Santa Cruz City Council majority, and a really permissive County Board of Supervisors, we now have more and larger developments being built and proposed than almost any time in our history. I planned to organize, list, and expose as many of these developments as possible — and then with your help keep tabs on them. It was too big a job to do in one week. So I’ve “printed” as many developments as I could get info together on while still meeting my DEADLINE, which is Monday afternoon.

Please read these over, send me any/all new news you have on each one (bratton@cruzio.com).

We need to realize the enormity and scope of what’s going on in our Town and County. More on this as soon as possible.

DOWNTOWN.

PACIFIC & FRONT PROJECT. Devcon Developers and contractors, with Owen Lawlor as the go between. It was approved in December at the old City Council’s last meeting. (Very careful plotting here). There will 205 Units. No “affordable” units. 2 Floors of  underground parking. Robert Singleton Planning Commissioner supports this one.

UPPER OCEAN STREET.

QUAIL TERRACE. OCEAN STREET EXTENSION.
40 apartments at 1930 Ocean St. across from the cemetery. Idaho Developer

GARFIELD PARK.

Errett Circle (Circle Church) aka. Garfield Park Church.
Preserve historic church and neighborhood. The church is has long been a very active community event center. We’ll have to watch Drew Glover’s vote on this one. He’s long time friends with Chris Drury, the property developer.

YACHT HARBOR.

HARBOR VILLAGE. 7th and Brommer streets.
8.3 ACRES. 40 room hotel. 35 residential units. 265 PARKING SPACES.
Harbor Neighbors vs. Swenson Builders Ryan Coonerty’s  District.

LIVE OAK.

KAISER PERMANENTE MEDICAL FACILITY.
5940 SOQUEL. Four stories high, 720 car parking. 50-60 Doctors. Getting water from Santa Cruz City. Supervisor John Leopold’s district. Leopold has said the traffic will be a problem, and that the frontage road doesn’t work. It’ll be a 150,000 sq.ft. building. John Swift is the local consultant. Pacific Medical Buildings of San Diego are the developers.

March 18

LAST WEEK THIS WEEK ON THE CITY COUNCIL
Closed Session and $ for Tenant Protection
There’s a lot going on this spring, I hope you are getting out to see the buds turn to flowers as you go from meeting to meeting. A friend recently mentioned, “Yeah, right after the clocks sprung ahead summer started, blue skies and seventy-five degree days, what’s not to like?” Well, the city council had another marathon session last week beginning closed session at 10:45am sharp, and ended a few minutes after midnight. Some of the highlights were that the council heard from our labor negotiators and then later that evening one of the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) bargainers, Ted, who negotiates for over 450 city workers who make up the largest part of the Santa Cruz workforce thanked the council for the offer. Now it goes out to the rank and file for ratification, or rejection. On the affordable housing front, we heard a bit about the Shelley Hatch-Ron Pomerantz law suit demanding “the city” enforce the popular 1979 Measure O vote that says all development should include a “15% inclusionary” (affordable) piece in every project. This case continues to unfold. Then, on a 7-0 vote the council decided to set aside $30,000 for legal services for Santa Cruz renters who may require legal assistance with their lease, an eviction notice, or getting stuff fixed in their apartment. It was a major victory for tenants, albeit relatively paltry in terms of real dollars, but it did catch a sometimes-divided council showing unanimity and acting in favor of tenant legal protections, walking the social justice walk and not just talking about sky-high rents.

“The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe,” also known as the Holocaust Memorial in Berlin. Have we moved beyond these catostrophic events as a world culture? Or are we moving toward one with rightwing governments in Philipines, Brazil, and Hungry, all Friends of Trump?

The Role of City Commissions
Three actions by the council happened this week involving city commissions, Parks and Recreation and Planning, highlighting the potential role commissions can play in moving our city forward. When talk of eliminating Harvey West Pool positions, ones that had not been filled for 10 years, came up on the agenda, city councilmembers voted to preserve them and requested that the Parks and Recreation Commission weigh in on status of the Harvey West Pool. For years, the community has wondered why this resource, which sits inside of a beautiful park, is so severely underutilized and run by an outside vendor. I fully expect that parks commissioners will get to the bottom of it and perhaps send it back to the council with information and a budget that we can then chew on during our city council May budget deliberations. We also sent a request to the Planning Commission that they look into two planning issues: the status of the “corridors plan” (some days it is dead, other days it appears all but ready to come back to life…), and the Golf Club Drive “400 units per acre” General Plan amendment that so disturbs many of us who desperately wanted the preservation of an urban-rural transition and not luxury condos built right up against the Pogonip greenbelt. In addition, in a special meeting last Thursday night the Planning Commission took up the nasty, ugly, brutish, and short-sited implementation jiu-jitsu cell plan of corporate America, namely Verizon’s attempts to place cell phone boxes, towers, and fake antenna trees throughout Surf City. This particular case was the placement of one of their cell “radiation boxes” at 117 Morrissey Blvd. With 21 residents voicing opposition in the face of Federal Communications rules that virtually mandates city approval of all things Verizon. The commission at least recommended to the city council that these cell contraptions be placed at least 1500 feet apart instead of the city staff recommended 300 feet. With 5G on the way, cities across California must work through their Washington, D.C. elected representatives to stop telecom companies from having their merry way. This will truly be a David vs. Goliath struggle. But, we did prevail on seat belts, cigarettes, asbestos, and the 8-hour work day. This battle may be right up there for the real control of OUR airwaves. This week it will be the Transportation and Public Works Commission taking up lighted-up cross-walks (Branciforte near Berkeley Way). Not really spell-binding stuff, unless it is taking place in your neighborhood. Stay tuned.

Surf City Tries to Fight Back Against the Empire
To any reasonable mind, the attack that was carried out on the Seabright neighborhood on February 15th by agents from the Department of Homeland [In]-Security was suspicious, specious, and crude in its use of force: 12 vehicles, 20-plus agents and an MRAP tank to detain a couple and their two children. But what it has done is so incense an entire neighborhood that the neighbors want action to protect their ‘hood from future federal incursions. Many of these same neighbors came to speak at the city council meeting on March 12, and the council voted 6-1 to enact the following:

1. a) That the Council express dismay and denunciation concerning the overreaching approach and heavy-handed tactics used by the Federal Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agency on February 15, 2019 on the 500 Block of Windsor Street; and,
2. b) Authorize the Mayor to send a letter to our Federal representatives— Panetta, Rep. Eshoo, Sen. Feinstein, Sen. Harris – expressing grave concerns with the oppressive approach used and requesting oversight as to the appropriateness of the operation; and,
3. c) Request that our Federal representatives working in coordination with those neighbors affected by the raid, the Santa Cruz Police Chief, Santa Cruz County Sheriff, ACLU representative, civil rights attorney, Santa Cruz Community Liaison, US Congress member, US Attorney from San Francisco, and members of the Santa Cruz City Council and the Third District Supervisor, conduct a “Community Conversation,” open to all members of the public.

The mayor is now to appoint a city council subcommittee to work on putting this meeting together.

Houselessness, Camp Ross, and City Council Action(s)
The city council punted and placed any real action with respect to homeless services onto the March 19th special council meeting agenda. The big issues were whether to not declare, but extend, the current “shelter crisis” declaration along with finding a couple of alternative tent sites to the current Camp Ross, which is located near the intersection of Highway 9 and River Street. The houseless campers appear to be organizing. I hear there is a “Five-member Camp Council” negotiating with whoever will negotiate; and a lawyer came to the camp to let everyone know what their rights are vis-a-vis their impending displacement by the police through the actions of city and county electeds. I will report back more next week pending council action, or inaction, on this most pressing issue.

Don’t Mourn, Organize
And organize they did this past Sunday! More than forty activist-types gathered near downtown Santa Cruz to celebrate some of the early victories of this new city council–bus vouchers for all downtown workers, special session on downtown parking and housing, restoring oral communication to 7pm, a renewed conversation about the Harvey West Swimming pool, and the beginnings of a housing task force were a few of the issues cited along with other progressive changes. Planning for future initiatives was also on everyone’s mind. Present were members representing a variety of the Santa Cruz democratic left community: SC4Bernie, Sierra Club, YARR, CFST, Downtown Commons Advocates, DSA, SCCAN, SaveSC, and SanctuarySC. It was as much an informational share as it was a collective political brain storm. The three-hour session began with a local attorney’s tutorial on the Ralph M. Brown Act(California Government Code 54950) followed by report backs from four subcommittees of this group (this being the third “Community-Council” support meeting). The report-backs were from Save Santa Cruz, the Anti-Gentrification-Ordinance Drafting Group, the Downtown Commons Advocates, and the Democratizing and Expanding the Vote for non-citizens, 16 and up group. Other committees were organically forming during this session: a “Council Budget Committee,” a “Climate and Bio-Diversity Committee,” and a “Cop Watch Committee.” Public banking, a renter commission, and data collection committee were other topics broached during the session. These city council support committees will be getting together and reporting back to this larger group–Council Community Group–in at its next meeting in one month.

“Our campaign is about fundamentally ending the disparity of wealth, income and power in this country. But as we do that, we must also address the disparity within the disparity—the outrageous levels of racial disparity that currently exist.” (March 18)

P.S. The Bernie campaign is walking the walk. It’s the first ever Presidential campaign to unionize and this initiative calls on all political campaigns to unionize and pay a living wage to often over-worked (overtime?) campaign staff people. Do you think the others, at least the Dems Greens and Peace and Freedom, will do it?

(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

March 14, 2019
#73 / Irredeemable Capitalism

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, pictured, was recently elected to Congress, and she has got the old boys’ network running scared. In a recent news article, the Dallas Bureau Chief for the Bloomberg news service trumpets a statement by Ocasio-Cortez that capitalism is “irredeemable.” The headline on the article is as follows: “Ocasio-Cortez Blasts Capitalism as an ‘Irredeemable’ System.” Her actual statement is as follows: 

Capitalism is an ideology of capital –- the most important thing is the concentration of capital and to seek and maximize profit. And that comes at any cost to people and to the environment, so to me capitalism is irredeemable.

Ocasio-Cortez then goes on to say, according to the Bloomberg article, that she does not think all aspects of capitalism should be abandoned. The headline, in other words, is probably not a completely fair or accurate representation of what Ocasio-Cortez either thinks, or has said about issues related to capitalism.

I am also tempted to remind us all of the old joke, used when something that is supposed to be “outrageous” has been presented to us for its shock value. One very effective response (and I treasure the few times I have been able to do this), is to say, to whomever has tried to scare you with the horror of whatever outrage offends them: “Wow. You say that like you think it’s a bad thing.”

Trying to discuss politics in terms of “systems,” instead of specifics, can often lead us into fights on unfavorable terrain. I am betting that a lot of ordinary voters are not prepared to be against “capitalism.” They’ve been told for their entire lives that capitalism is what has made this country “great.”  But there are a lot of “not so great” things about our current economy and society that Ocasio-Cortez properly says need to be changed. And I think that there is a strong majority that wants to make those kind of changes. So, let’s talk about the “specifics” and not the “system.”

One way to look at it, in fact, is that we can only find out whether or not the current system is “irredeemable” by trying to redeem it – by trying to make those incremental, step by step, changes that people like Ocasio-Cortez, and Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are advocating.

Let’s focus on the specifics, not on the “system,” and let’s get to work.

There is an awful lot of very specific work to do!

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Tim’s weekly journey into our driving machine pulls your strings and all your other  parts. Scroll below.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Money Corrupts Everything” 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.

MUNCHING WITH MOZART. Every third Thursday of almost every month there is a free concert held in the upstairs meeting room of the threatened Santa Cruz Public Library Join jazz quartet Persephone for lunchtime jazz at the library. They’ll explore songs from the history of jazz music that playfully integrate lyrics about music with musical expression. Songs by Duke Ellington, Fats Waller, George Shearing, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Lionel Hampton and Sonny Burke, and the great Brazilian composer Antonio Carlos Jobim. Learn more about Persephone at www.PersephoneBand.com. Persephone consists of Suki Wessling, guitar and vocals Jen Bruno, drums, David Guzman, bass and Brad Kava, harmonica. That’s Thursday, March 21, 2019, 12:10 – 12:50 Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown Branch – Meeting Room

JEWEL THEATRE’s production of…”Breaking The Code” runs March 20-April 14 at the Colligan Theatre in the Tannery. It’s the story of Alan Turing who broke the German Code during WWII. Part of his life was his homosexuality that brought him to court and was convicted. Last month  he was named (Feb 2019) ‘The Greatest Person of the 20th Century’ by the BBC. Go here for tickets and schedules. https://www.jeweltheatre.net

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL.
The Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival is now in its 19th year. It presents films free to the public from Saturday, March 30 through Thursday, April 4. The festival opens at the Jewish Community Center in Aptos and continues at the Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, Aegis (EE-gis) of Aptos, and Samper Recital Hall at Cabrillo College. This year’s program focuses on love, reconciliation, and the pursuit of justice for the powerless. For the full schedule, please visit the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival online at  https://santacruzjewishfilmfestival.coM

ESPRESSIVO ORCHESTRA. They are calling their next concert “Romanticism — Morning to Evening“. Espressivo is a small, intense orchestra that concludes its fourth season at Peace United Church in Santa Cruz on Sunday, March 31st, at 3 p.m. The program of late-Romantic music includes Richard Wagner’s “Siegfried Idyll,” Arnold Schoenberg’s “Chamber Symphony,” and Antonin Dvorak’s “Serenade for Winds, Cello and Bass.” The professional orchestra will be conducted by Michel Singher, founder & Artistic Director. Tickets at www.EspressOrch.org, and at the box office.

SANTA CRUZ BAROQUE FESTIVAL. “A” North German Abendmusik with Bach”
Is the third concert this season presented by the Santa Cruz Baroque Festival. It features  Margaret Martin Kvamme, and Vlada Moran, on the organ, Saturday, March 23, 2019, 7:30 pm Peace United Church of Christ,  900 High Street, Santa Cruz. A pre-concert talk begins 45 minutes before each concert.

LISA JENSEN LINKS.  Lisa writes: “Big thanks to everyone who turned out for my book talk last week at Porter Memorial Library. It was delightful to meet you all! In case you missed it, you can read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express ( http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also, find out why Anglo-Indian actor Dev Patel is having a moment — even though his new movie, The Wedding Guest, doesn’t quite register. ” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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 March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Sue Powell and John Sears tell us all about Saving the Circle Church (Errett Circle) on March 26. They’re followed by Don Stump president and CEO of CCH talking about senior housing and related issues. Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan discuss the Nissan Dealership in Soquel being turned down on April 9. Dean Kaufman from the Santa Cruz Vet’s Center talks about Vets benefits on April 16th. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd.  OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton You have to listen to about 4 minutes of that week’s KPFA news first, then Grapevine happens. 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. from Donald Trump !!
‘It’s freezing and snowing in New York – we need global warming!’
“Something very important, and indeed society-changing, may come out of the Ebola epidemic that will be a very good thing: NO SHAKING HANDS!’
‘I had some beautiful pictures taken in which I had a big smile on my face. I looked happy, I looked content, I looked like a very nice person, which in theory I am.’
‘I think I am actually humble. I think I’m much more humble than you would understand.’

SANTA CRUZ CITY HALL AND TAXI FLEET. May 17, 1951. The caption says the head of the Yellow Cab Fleet (and some Acme cabs) is receiving an award, from maybe the mayor? The mayor at that time was George M Penniman. Can any local Pennimans (Pennimen?) vouch for this guy? photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE March 11, 2019

LATE BREAKING NEWS RE VICTORY OVER SOQUEL NISSAN DEALERSHIP. It’ll be old by the time this gets online, but Sustainable Soquel and Lisa Sheridan succeeded in stopping Don Gropetti  from opening another car (Nissan) dealership at Soquel and 41st. Lisa’s press release stated… Nissan Dealership Project Halted

A Superior Court judge decided Friday (3/8) to suspend the county’s approval of a proposed Nissan auto dealership at 41stAvenue and Soquel Drive because the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was flawed.

Judge Paul Burdick ruled that the EIR failed to satisfy the informational purpose of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), adding that the County committed a prejudicial abuse of discretion by certifying that the EIR complied with CEQA mandates.

The ruling favors Sustainable Soquel, the group that sued the County. Burdick said that the Santa Cruz County Planning Department’s EIR failed to discuss and analyze a range of reasonable alternatives that could avoid or reduce the development’s potential negative impacts, including intensified traffic congestion”. The press release goes on to tell of Gropetti’s six other dealerships and ,” Judge Paul Burdick ruled that the EIR failed to satisfy the informational purpose of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), adding that the County committed a prejudicial abuse of discretion by certifying that the EIR complied with CEQA mandates”.

This good news should give much encouragement to all the people/citizens/Santa Cruz residents who are fighting so many developments and developers at this time.

COMMOTION ON OCEAN, Number 908. 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.. 
 

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. Look what Sustainable Soquel did stopping Nissan and Gropetti!!!

SAVE THE CIRCLE CHURCH. The group of stalwart community-minded citizens who want to save the neighborhood and the Church will be at the City Council meeting on March 12, to speak at oral communications. We’ll have to wait to see how that worked. Many of the Circle Community were really hurt that the developers were given so much preference and time to pitch at the so-called “Community Meeting”. At another recent “community meeting” — this one for the aforementioned 908 Ocean Street — the City allowed just the architect to appear, not the developer! So of course the architect kept avoiding the important community issues. This phony meeting was then touted as significant. Why is this allowed?

KZSC Reporter, Jasmine Alvergue is interviewing Ross Camp resident, Greg Bengtson at the camp on Monday.

Sherry Conable R.I.P. Our dear comrade, Sherry Conable was celebrated in poetry, song, and proclamation last Friday night at Peace United Church on High Street. Over 200 celebrants cried, sang, joked and hugged as the irrepressible and much loved Sherry was remembered. It was quite a scene, especially the last song, “Imagine”, that was led by local music legend, Keith Greeninger. Watch the video on facebook here – see how many faces you can pick out in the crowd!

March 11, 2019

THIS WEEK ON THE CITY COUNCIL.
I’m on the run and this is going to be rather brief this week…Good news to report, things are going well on the city council. More residents are showing up for oral communication to discuss neighborhood issues; over 40 people made contributions two weeks ago to the homeless discussion and that helped inform the city staff’s agenda reports this week that deal with relieving the plight of the homeless and houseless in Santa Cruz. And then there’s the issues many of us ran on: making climate mitigation a pillar of city policy decision-making, separating the library from a 5-story garage, and increasing the affordable housing inclusionary percentage, these are being worked on and should be before the council quite soon. Specifically, what was on the agenda this past Tuesday was to expand the areas of where the council can declare a shelter crisis as well as “Transitional Encampment and Safe Sleeping Programs.” Also on the same agenda was the third of three “Mid-Year Review” budget study sessions; the 2018 General Plan and Housing Element Annual Progress Reports;” and the council was to discuss how it could help Seabright neighbors cope with the recent Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) raid in that part of Santa Cruz.

Tent Camp? Camp Ross? Gateway Encampment?
I ran into Greg, a 2-month-long denizen of the camp near the intersection of Highway 1 and River Street, at the “Tent Camp” recently. He was quick to offer me a definition of homeless vs. houseless. “I do not have a house, I have a tent. I am houseless and this camp is home for now” he said. Andy, a pastry chef (“been wanting to get over to the Buttery and apply…”) has lived in San Luis Obispo, Monterey and was born in San Diego. He’s been in Santa Cruz on and off for a few years he said. “It’s funny, people waste so much of their energy hating us,” he said shaking his head sideways. “They drive by constantly honking and yelling, ‘junkie,’ and some woman yesterday yelled ‘thanks for stealing my computer.'”

How Much Longer?
The wood chips have mostly been pushed into a wet layer of mud. I counted 164 tent structures, up from the 151 several days ago, and many people living here call it home for now. I accompanied a KZSC radio programmer into the camp this past Monday as she interviewed five campers for her Thursday afternoon radio show. What we found were determined and smiling people who don’t expect the camp to be here very much longer, but they appear to be quite resilient and proud to be a part of the encampment community. The city council was scheduled to discuss permitting several smaller tent encampments at this past Tuesday’s city council meeting. (BrattonOnline deadline is always the day before the city council meeting.) The hope on the part of city staff and council is to dissolve and relocate this now sprawling village of tarps and acrylic tents surrounded by mounds of clothes, bicycle parts, and people everywhere needing alcohol and drug treatment, healthcare, and job placement counseling. I will come back to this 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

March 4, 2019

#63 / Citizens And Consumers

Jason Zengerle has reviewed a recent book by Michael Tomasky. Tomasky’s book is called, If We Can Keep It. The title references a statement allegedly made by Ben Franklin, when Franklin was asked what the Constitutional Convention had produced. “A Republic, if you can keep it,” is what Franklin is supposed to have replied. 

The focus of Zengerle’s review (and maybe the book) is our current experience with “political polarization.” Political polarizatiion is not so unusual, according to Zengerle (and maybe according to the book). 

I liked Zengerle’s review, and I think it is worth reading. Just click the link if you would like to do that. What struck me most about Zengerle’s review, however, was not the discussion about political polarization. I was an elected official in my local community for twenty years. I know how that “polarization” process works. While it can be uncomfortable, sometimes, I am not, actually, too worried about political polarization. A healthy politics is precisely a politics in which there is an “argument” going on, with the idea being that after the discussion and debate, the public makes a decision, and charts its public policy course. You need the debate to be “polarizing” if politics is going to do its proper job. 

What attracted me to the review was a couple of sentences at the end of a paragraph, not central to the argument about political polarization, but central, I think, to our real political dilemma: 

Where Americans had once cherished “thrift, discipline, doing without,” Tomasky writes, “in the late 1970s and early 1980s, Americans started to become a different people than they had been.” He adds: “Our consumer selves have overwhelmed our citizen selves.”

If we care about democratic self-government, we need to remember that we are “citizens” first, and “consumers” very much later on. I am always thinking about how best to explain democratic self-government, at least partly because I do teach Legal Studies classes at the University of California, Santa Cruz, touching on that topic. As is, of course, not surprising, I have decided that Abraham Lincoln has actually given the most succinct and eloquent presentation of what democratic self-government is all about. 

In his famous address at Gettysburg, Lincoln said that it was the mission of our nation to be sure that a “government of the people, by the people [and] for the people shall not perish from the earth.” 

It is my belief that the most important part of this admonition is its statement that the government must be both “of” and “by” the people, and that these requirements come before the suggestion that the government should be “for” the people. 

It is desirable, of course, that our government be “for” the people, but to the degree that we are looking to someone besides ourselves (to the “government,” in other words) to respond to our needs, and to achieve our deepest hopes, we are positioning ourselves as “consumers” of what “the government” gives us. We must, instead, realize that it is we, ourselves, who have the power to create and destroy. We are not “consumers” of governmental good works. Rather, as “citizens,” we are the government. We must never forget that if we truly want our government to be “for” the people, it must first be “of” and “by” them.

Forget about “polarization” as our primary problem. Start focusing in on political participation.

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Scroll below to check out Eagan’s classic 1980’s vintage views of our inner-most innards.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” When Life Gives you lemons” 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. Read Tim’s take on Coyotes and Fox News.

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS. The fifth concert in their season is titled “MUSA—Chinese Baroque” presents music by Rameau, Pedrini, Pu’an, and more. Derek Tam is the concert director and plays harpsichord; Rita Lilly, soprano; Mindy Ell Chu, mezzo-soprano; Addi Liu, violin and viola; Laura Gaynon, cello; David Wong, guqin and guzheng!!  “Chinese Baroque” explores the dynamic and complex cultural exchanges between Western Europe and China in the 17th and 18th centuries, through the lens of music.  Enjoy rare delights ranging from the only Western-style sonatas written in China before the 20th century to a tune played by the Emperor Kangxi! There’s two performances  Saturday, March 16, 7:30 pm and
Sunday, March 17, 3:00 pm. The Chamber Players concerts are all at … Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Drive, Aptos (Off Highway 1 at Freedom Blvd.)

JEWEL THEATRE’s production of…”Breaking The Code” runs March 20-April 14 at the Colligan Theatre in the Tannery. It’s the story of Alan Turing who broke the German Code during WWII. Part of his life was his homosexuality that brought him to court and was convicted. Last month (Feb 2019) he was named ‘The Greatest Person of the 20th Century’ by the BBC. Go here for tickets and schedules. https://www.jeweltheatre.net

JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL.
The Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival is now in its 19th year. It presents films free to the public from Saturday, March 30 through Thursday, April 4. The festival opens at the Jewish Community Center in Aptos and continues at the Del Mar Theater in Santa Cruz, Aegis (EE-gis) of Aptos, and Samper Recital Hall at Cabrillo College. This year’s program focuses on love, reconciliation, and the pursuit of justice for the powerless. For the full schedule, please visit the Santa Cruz Jewish Film Festival online at  https://santacruzjewishfilmfestival.com

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “I don’t know about you, but I couldn’t find anything to watch at the movies last week. Maybe next week! In the meantime, read more about my upcoming book talk at Porter Memorial Library in Soquel, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). And, while the Academy Awards were two weeks ago, my Oscar Barbie, 2019 Edition, is finally ready for her close-up!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. March 12 has Jim Coffis Co-Founder and director of Green Trade talking about cannabis factors. Workmen’s comp. attorney Bob Taren returns to talk area politics and changes in issues following Coffis. On March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Sue Powell and John Sears tell us all about Saving the Circle Church (Errett Circle) on March 26. They’re followed by Don Stump president and CEO of CCH talking  about senior housing and related issues. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd. 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. “DAYLIGHT SAVINGS” (a week late but these are the first quotes I’ve ever seen on the topic).
“I forgot its daylight savings and was really confused how I spent an hour making this waffle”. Chris Demarais.
“An extra yawn one morning in the springtime, an extra snooze one night in the autumn is all that we ask in return for dazzling gifts. We borrow an hour one night in April; we pay it back with golden interest five months later.”  Winston Churchill  
“Daylight time, a monstrosity in timekeeping.”  Harry S. Truman
“Daylight saving time: Only the government would believe that you could cut a foot off the top of a blanket, sew it to the bottom, and have a longer blanket.” – Anonymous

McHugh Bianchi Store January 27, 1967. This interesting, attractive marvel of a store was at the corner of Mission, Water, Pacific and Front streets. It is now the Bank of The West. It was built in 1886. We started a long battle to save it in 1972, but it was torn down in 1974.                                               photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE March 4, 2019

SAVE THE CIRCLE CHURCH. (Errett Circle). A bunch of Errett Circle residents are working hard to save the historic Church from being torn down and replaced with unwanted development. They sent a letter to the City Council, the planning Commission and the Mayor,  and want any and all of us who care about history, housing and community to help them out. Here’s the entire letter…

“We are writing to let you know our concerns regarding the development proposal for 111 Errett Circle. We are advocating for the preservation of the “Circle Church” as crucial to the integrity of our neighborhood and as a significant element in numerous ways within the larger context of the City of Santa Cruz.

You are aware that recently the church was sold and plans are being made to demolish the existing Church building and develop the property as residential. While we are in solidarity with the city and our fellow community members about the need for more housing in our City, we don’t believe that the proposed development provides the type of housing that is greatly needed – on-site low-income housing and housing for students.

We feel that the proposed residential use of this unique property for a small number of people is outweighed by its historical significance as a center for gatherings and activities that we believe should continue into the future to benefit a wide diversity of residents and visitors.

The Planner for this project informs us that soon documents will be available for public consideration. We are looking forward to engaging with that process, but to be clear, our intention is to advocate for the greater good so that The Circle of Friends LLC investors come to understand the negative impacts of their proposal and agree that the neighborhood and community are best served by preserving and breathing new life into this property, not demolishing and developing it into private housing. There are many pieces to be envisioned and negotiated between where this process is today and a fully supported project that serves the larger community, but we are determined and convinced that as our group widens, a sustainable, creative, and compassionate outcome can be attained.

We look forward to collaborating with you further about why it is so important to preserve the Circle Church.

Here is a partial list of our additional hopes and concerns:

1. The property at 111 Errett Circle has been used as a spiritual center and community gathering place since the late 1800s – for over 125 years. A building called the Tabernacle was dedicated in August 1890. A series of circular streets, which are still an integral part of the urban infrastructure of the Santa Cruz westside, were laid out around the Tabernacle. Streets were named for ministers affiliated with the church, and these are still the street names today. When the Tabernacle burned down in 1935, the congregation met across the street on Errett Circle. The center of the circle was used for a recreational area and community gathering location until Garfield Park Christian Church was built there in 1958.
2. From our review of both the California Register of Historical Resources and the National Register of Historic Places, we believe that the Errett Circle Church meets the criteria for historical designation. We would like to start the nomination process, but this would require support from the property owners.
3. We are concerned that the proposed project does not reflect the historic cultural and ethnic diversity of the Circles and lower westside community.
4. We are concerned about the impact that the proposed project will have on our neighborhood. The Circles area is already very dense, with smaller than standard lots. The proposed project would intensify this density, with high use of infrastructure: water, sewer, traffic, parking.

   Errett Circle has a unique urban layout within the City of Santa Cruz. It is a complete circle, with four streets leading to the center, and as such it creates a dramatic landmark, especially when viewed from West Cliff Drive. In urban design terms, Errett Circle creates a “terminating vista” – which is an important method for adding aesthetic appeal to a city and to emphasize historic structures or monuments. Errett Circle is a visual and metaphoric focal point for neighbors, community, and visitors. We believe that focal point should be maintained into the future, encompassing a larger meaning – as a center that draws people together and reflects the diversity of interests of the Santa Cruz community.

5. Community members that have gathered for over 125 years at the Errett Circle church and meeting rooms – for religious services, classes, and activities – have enjoyed the very special opportunity to connect visually with land, water, and sky, with a view south along Woodrow Avenue to the Pacific Ocean. Community members are already reporting a sense of “eco-anxiety” when contemplating the destruction of the church and the use of the property only for a small number of residents.

On November 28 an Outreach Meeting, as required by the Planning Department Community Outreach Policy, was held at the Church by the prospective developers, “The Circle of Friends Community LLC.” The meeting was well attended as reported in an article in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. However many of us came away frustrated that the presentation avoided the intent of the Outreach Policy, i.e., that “The applicant will present the project to the community and solicit input that is intended to improve the project so that the final outcome is more satisfying to both the applicant and the community.”

We think that it is essential that community members be given a voice in visions for the future of the property at 111 Errett Circle. Our concerns are for the preservation of the historic structure so that the larger community can enjoy this cultural treasure for many generations into the future.

Sincerely,

John Sears
Sue Powell
Freya Sands

UCSC AND CLIMATE CHANGE. Chloe Reynolds and Laretta Johnson, the editors of City On a Hill Press, and staff, issued a special edition “The Climate Issue” last week. (vol.53 Issue #18). Its not just a helpful guide to recycling, but also reveals the problems and issues that UCSC has dealt with for decades. We (you) can and should read the entire issue here… . But actually the hard print newspaper is easier to read.

So I’ve picked out a few salient issues and skipped around so you can digest the high points. Such as… 1,800 tons of UCSCs excess waste food went to the dump during the 2017-2018 year. In 2016, 44 percent of UCSC students “experienced food insecurity”.  “Afrikan/Black/Caribbean students experienced it at 62 percent and 51 percent respectively”. UC has a zero waste deadline approaching in 2020 “but last year only 69 percent of total waste was diverted into landfills”. UCSC generates 56 pounds of pizza boxes per year. 100,000 to 150,000 pizza boxes are delivered in Santa Cruz each year. About 80 percent of what Americans throw away is recyclable… yet we recycle only 28 percent of it..

Monarch Butterflies have declined by 86 percent since 2017 in Coastal California. There were fewer than 30,000 in the most recent season. They are more than a tourist attraction. They are vitally important to the ecosystems they inhabit. UC refuses to sever ties with the fossil fuel industry which is largely responsible for the Climate Change. On Climate Changes…July 2018 was Californias hottest month in history, at 79.7 degrees Fahrenheit, 5 degrees warmer than the norm. Santa Cruz versus Ice Plant. Ice plant overpowers native flora on the bluffs near Natural Bridges, and disrupts the breeding of the cormorants in the area. There’s lots more in that City on A Hill issue. Check it out.

UCSCS EAST MEADOW. The East Meadow Action Committee (EMAC) released their latest update last week. It says that the University released the final EIR report for the Student Housing West. It’s been submitted to the Regents for approval at the March 13 and 14th meeting in L.A. and looks like it’ll be approved. If so, then EMAC and the rest of the world can either watch the bulldozers tear into the East Meadow, or file suit under the California Environmental Quality Act. They’ll file suit. EMAC needs our help… go to the funding appeal page on their website (eastmeadowaction.org), or use this direct link to the gofundme here

March 4, 2019

CITY COUNCIL AND FOREIGN POLICY (REALLY) MATTERS

City Council This Week

The city council continues to work well together in the policy realm and is not shying away from tough issues. Of course, homelessness for now has been at the top of our list. These are some of the issues that were addressed at the Feb. 26th council meeting:

• The council affirmed that the Ross Camp will not close until adequate space has been opened for the 150-plus campers;
• city staff will return to council with a list of possible places on city-owned property where transitional encampments and RV parking might go;
• staff will bring updates of those who responded to the county’s RFP process to access the $10 million in state funding that came to Santa Cruz County;
• no homeless emergency was declared, and NO parking of RVs will be permitted on Delaware Street;
• the Verizon proposed cellular project at 117 Morrissey Blvd. was denied an encroachment permit for a second time;
• the city council approved a study session, set for March 19th, to look at
• a) transportation demand management (TDM),
• b) parking, and
• c) housing in the downtown;
• Altaira Hatton was selected for the Parks and Rec. Commission and she now joins Gillian Greensite, Jane Mio, and Dawn Schott-Norris on that commission;
• The Santa Cruz City Public Works Department is recommending raising sewage fees by 32% over the next 5 years (7% in each of the first three years followed by 6% for two years), sounds pretty hefty. Council needs to hear from you as all utility payers will be notified by post card soon;
• there was a budget adjustment of $83,000 related to costs at the Ross Camp since December and these costs include the placement of port-a-potties and hand washing stations, distribution of wood chips, regular garbage pick-up, and the placement of a large Sharps Container;
• city council voted to send the 15% inclusionary ordinance (mandated affordable units in every project) to its closed session meeting on March 12, given a pending law suit filed against the city over the Devcon-Lawlor 205-unit Pacific and Laurel project;
• the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance was finally approved and passed on its second reading. The controversial part here is that it will relieve all detached ADU home builders of building an on-site parking space. The council will revisit this ordinance in one year and evaluate how it is proceeding with the idea of overturning it if it is found that neighborhoods have been adversely impacted.
• City council voted unanimously to place an item on the March 12th council agenda to have the community discuss the Homeland Security Investigations-ICE raid that took place in the Seabright neighborhood at 4am this past Feb. 15th.

Not bad for one a council meeting that began at 12:30pm and ended at 1:05am. Long day!

BRAVE U.S. REPRESENTATIVES OR JUST PURSUING A COMMON SENSE FOREIGN POLICY?
Certain elements within the Trump White House are perhaps seeking to orchestrate US troop deployments either along the Venezuelan-Colombian or Brazilian border, or inside of Venezuela itself, or to act as a support network–“advisors”–to a rebel force. The US government, not the United Nations, has recognized Juan Guaidóas the legitimate president of Venezuela (Oil, Inc.? Largest known reserves in the world). With National Security Advisor John Bolton and “Special Venezuelan Envoy” and war criminal, Elliot Abrams stirring the interventionist pot, it is not much of a long-shot bet to say money, advisors, troops or all three are being decided upon, maybe over Chablis and brie, at the Trump International Hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, D.C. Now, enter a group of cooler-headed congress members who are saying ,’not so fast.’ Without mentioning Mexico, Cuba, and Nicaragua earlier in the century, just since 1954 the US has overthrown, intervened or just screwed with governments in Iran and Guatemala in the ’50’s, Vietnam, Dominican Republic, and the Congo in the 60’s; Chile in the 70’s, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama and Grenada in the 80’s…and more recently Iraq and Afghanistan. All of these ventures saw the US exhibiting an historic imperialist swagger by employing a screenplay ofpolitical rhetoric, often created within the bowels of Langley, Va. and then followed-up by a populist sell-job on the American people. Having been trained in Latin American Studies and having lived through several of these interventions they usually use the following recipe ingredients: 1) identify and make into a hero a local politician or soldier (Guaidó, for example in Venezuela, or former Somoza attaché, Enrique Bermudez in Nicaragua or Jose Napoleon Duarte back in the day in El Salvador), 2) send an aid convoy and have it be rejected (International aid orgs would not even touch US aid destined for Venezuela recently), 3) hope that violence on the part of the government takes hold (and it is very sad that at least two reported deaths happened during the recent aborted food delivery), 4) create a standoff, which usually leads to more violence, or military defections, in hopes of bringing down the government, or create a Gulf of Tonkin scenario or just have the CIA send in an “asset” to kill or be killed, and then later 5) send in advisors and air cover for local rebels, and finally, as Colin Powell famously said before the Iraq invasion, you break it you fix it, and thus 6) the US is “forced” to send in the troops to put the broken pieces back together into a US-style democracy. Seems like any president’s poll numbers almost always go up at the start of any war, no matter how popular or unpopular, just sayin’.

Nope, Just Common Sense Foreign Policy

But wait. There’s a group of at least 47 law-makers, 45 Democrats and two from GOP who signed on to H.R. 1004, which is “to prohibit the introduction of United States Armed Forces into hostilities with respect to Venezuela, and for other purposes.”Here’s the list, hope to see our congress member Jimmy Panetta on there soon. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1004/text?r=11&s=1  It is really not about whether Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is bad or good, incompetent or crafty. It is about sovereignty and letting the Venezuelan people decide their future. Intervention will only bring that country more together around patriotism, and perhaps behind an unpopular president. The Vatican, Mexico, and Ecuador have offered to mediate. Take them up on it.

BERNIE SANDER’S TOWN HALL.
It was a town hall meeting in Washington, D.C and CNN’s Wolf Blitzer was interviewing presidential candidate, Bernie Sanders. About 40 local “Berners” gathered inside the Dem Party headquarters at the Galleria Building in downtown Santa Cruz to celebrate Bernie’s candidacy and listen to him joust with the legendary newscaster. Actually, it seemed at times like Bernie was playing Abbott to Blitzer’s Costello, as he would sometimes end Wolf’s sentences, or begin to tell a story and then say, that’s for some other time. Often Bernie would be interviewing the interviewer too. It was the perfect setting, with mostly graduate students from D.C. colleges seemed to be present to emphasize his single-payer healthcare program (now called Medicare for All), tuition-free state college and university waivers, support for universal childcare, his version of the Green New Deal, acknowledging the gargantuan task that the changing climate presents and begin addressing it, and he also strongly supports ano-interventionist policy in Venezuela “because I’m old enough to remember” all those interventions mentioned above. Right now, among the announced candidates and possible contenders, only Rep. Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, and Bernie support all of these issues that seem to matter most to Americans. There are officially 12 Democratic Party candidates and a few others who have not announced who may not yet be there.

By the way, it is interesting to note that as of March 4, according to Ballotpedia, there are now 581 candidates registered with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to run for President of the United States in 2019. Yes 581. There’s 195 Democrats and 78 Republicans included in that number.

BERNIE’S, um, AOC’S TWEET OF THE WEEK. Since Bernie is running for President I am going to jump on the Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez bandwagon (been there since last July) and begin tweeting AOC’s best stuff.

AOC tweets: “According to the GOP, when poor + working people advocate for themselves, we shouldn’t listen bc they’re ‘irresponsible.’ Yet when higher incomes fight for working people, we shouldn’t listen bc they’re ‘hypocrites.’ How about we fight for the right thing bc it’s the right thing?” (March 3)

(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

March 2, 2019
#61 / Lennie

Pictured is Lennie Roberts. She is “Lennie” to all who have worked with her (and maybe even to some of those who have worked against her). Click that link to her name, and you’ll be able to read a Sierra Club accolade to Lennie Roberts as an “environmental hero.” The write-up might even be a bit understated!

A tribute to Lennie, and a celebration of her conservation work, will be held on June 21, 2019, under the auspices of Committee for Green Foothills. Lennie played a leadership role in preventing Caltrans from constructing a new, growth-inducing freeway to connect the San Mateo County coastside with San Francisco. We have the Devil’s Slide tunnel instead, plus a coastal trail of breathtaking beauty. Take a ride and try it out, if you haven’t already. Thanks to Lennie’s work on that project, the San Mateo County coastside is now better protected from growth pressures originating on the other side of the hill than anyone could have hoped for. You can click right here for some information on the June celebration. 

Lennie has been on the Board of Directors of Committee for Green Foothills for fifty years. She has served as a policy and legislative advocate for the Committee for forty years. Here is a link to an edition of the Committee for Green Foothills’ Winter 2018 Newsletter, documenting Lennie’s contributions. It is well worth reading, and I particularly commend Lennie’s “Ten Tips For Advocates.”  Lennie is trying to “pass on the spirit,” and I am reproducing them, below, to save you a “click.”

My summation? Thank you, Lennie! My suggestion? Let’s hunt down the “environmental hero” possibilities we all have within us. It’s time to start working on the next fifty years!

My Ten Tips for Advocates

    by Lennie Roberts, Legislative Advocate

Here are ten common sense tips that I point to when people have asked me, “how do you do it?”

1. Learn everything you can about your issue. Knowledge is power!
2. Research the decision-making process and timelines for decisions. Find out what is important to people you are trying to influence.
3. Enlist allies to increase your clout. Empowering others is often a critical element in success.
4. Develop relationships with key people. Building trust with others gives you a huge advantage.
5. Never lie or mislead anyone. If you inadvertently use wrong information, admit your errors!
6. Do not attack others personally. Even with the most vexatious provocateurs, you can—and should—strongly argue against ideas, but not the person.
7. Keep your eye on the goal. Your issue may require many years of effort.
8. Maintain a sense of humor. It will keep you going through the most challenging times.
9. Remember that results are what counts, not your personal glory. Work with anyone and everyone you can, and let others bask in the spotlight wherever possible.
10. Celebrate others genuinely and frequently. Gratitude for large and small victories helps sustain and inspire our efforts.

Good luck, and remember that victories are often temporary, but defeats are permanent. A great deal of the environment that we enjoy and depend upon today has already been compromised. It is vitally important to defend what is left in order to provide for future generations.

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. See another view of what and why we tick with our “inner” associates”. Scroll below

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.

SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS. The fifth concert in their season is titled “MUSA—Chinese Baroque” it presents music by Rameau, Pedrini, Pu’an, and more. Derek Tam is the concert director and plays harpsichord; Rita Lilly, soprano; Mindy Ell Chu, mezzo-soprano; Addi Liu, violin and viola; Laura Gaynon, cello; David Wong, guqin and guzheng!!  “Chinese Baroque” explores the dynamic and complex cultural exchanges between Western Europe and China in the 17th and 18th centuries, through the lens of music.  Enjoy rare delights ranging from the only Western-style sonatas written in China before the 20th century to a tune played by the Emperor Kangxi! There’s two performances  Saturday, March 16, 7:30 pm and
Sunday, March 17, 3:00 pm. The Chamber Players concerts are all at … Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Drive, Aptos (Off Highway 1 at Freedom Blvd.)

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa orders…”Save the date! I’ll be speaking at Porter Memorial Library, the tiny treasure of Soquel Village, on Wednesday, March 13. Rain or shine! I’m bringing all my books, along with the harrowing tales of how I got them into print. Read all about it this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also, there’s still time to catch up with Never Look Away, the recent Foreign Language Oscar contender about art and life in postwar Germany. Read my review in this week’s Good Times, then hie thee to The Nick, while it’s still in town!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. Rick Longinotti will be talking about a park, a commons, and downtown on March 5th. Then author and art critic Carolyn Burke discusses her newest book, “Foursome”. It focuses on the relationship between two famous couples. March 12 has Jim Coffis Co-Founder and director of Green Trade talking about cannabis factors. Workmen’s comp. attorney Bob Taren returns to talk area politics and changes in issues following Coffis. On March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Don Stump president and CEO of CCH talks about senior housing and related issues on March 26. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd.  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. “STORMS”
“Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…It’s about learning to dance in the rain.”Vivian Greene
“I
think that the
world should be full of cats and full of rain, that’s all, just
cats and
rain, rain and cats, very nice, good
night.”
Charles Bukowski, Betting on the Muse: Poems and Stories

“The rain set early in tonight,
The sullen wind was soon awake,
It tore the elm-tops down for spite,
And did its best to vex the lake:
I listened with heart fit to break.
When glided in Porphyria; straight
She shut the cold out and the storm,
And kneeled and made the cheerless grate
Blaze up and all the cottage warm;”
Robert Browning

668

BUILDING OUR SANTA CRUZ COUNTY COURTHOUSE. June 30, 1965. You can see Pacific Avenue downtown as it then was, from McHugh Bianchi’s on the right to The Catalyst, The Octagon, The Civic… startling changes.                                                  photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE February 25, 2019

DAMNED OSCARS! I’ve probably watched at least 75 years of Oscars. I cannot remember a worse year than last night. Not just the racist choice of Green Book as best picture, but the pacing, the quality of speeches, the miserable jokes and just plain dullness of the entire evening. Then too — aside from Roma — the quality of the year’s worth of movie was way below even the usual. As we read in film trade business journals and columns, the movie business is going through an enormous upheaval. Amazon, Netflix, and conglomerates are threatening the very existence of our near-hallowed theatre palaces. Admission prices nearing $18 in New York City are not exactly making movie theatres more accessible. Movies were once events that brought not just families but whole neighborhoods together. Now, with more and more of us having our own private screens, that sense of sharing has all but vanished.

February 25th, 2019

THROUGH A KANGAROO’S EYE.

Mountain bikers shred down the Emma McCrary multi-use trail in Pogonip: City on a Hill 2016 by staff writer Celia Fong.

With ever increasing population pressures on Santa Cruz, protecting our open space lands from human overuse becomes even more critical. This is true not only for self-interest in having access to areas where one can find quiet sanctuaries “far from the madding crowd” but also where other species of rapidly diminishing flora and fauna can survive.

It was with that in mind, as well as concern for the homeless amongst us, that I suggested setting aside 20 of the 640 acres of Pogonip for a self-contained homeless village, separate from the rest of the open space and of sufficient size to accommodate all who are currently camping with no toilet facilities in makeshift tents throughout the city’s parks, open spaces and beaches. Until we provide such a haven, there is no solution.

Another threat to our open space lands is arguably more impactful. I am referring to the push to include more of what is politely called “active uses” such as technical downhill mountain bike trails, drone zones and off-leash dog parks, all of which have been recommended for the open space lands in the city’s Parks Master Plan (PMP), currently under environmental review with a deadline for comments by March 12th.  While the document hastens to add that no specific sites have been determined and all will need further environmental review, the bias is clear. Prior to developing the draft PMP and to assess residents’ priorities for use of open space lands, the city hired a consulting firm to conduct a random sampling with hiking and walking a clear favorite at 38% and mountain biking at 11%. Apparently not satisfied with the findings, the city conducted another survey with similar results. Despite this clear message to guide decision making, the PMP and environmental review barely mention hiking but instead highlight and prioritize potential new mountain bike trails for Pogonip and DeLaveaga. The stated goal in the PMP is to “accommodate new and emerging trends and satisfy unmet needs” which is equivalent to saying, “hikers, get out of the way.”

The city’s open space lands are a modest 1,315 acres for a population of 64,000. Add a few million visitors; apply a little marketing and online promotion; invite the participation of mountain bike organizations and businesses and in no time at all hikers and bird watchers will have all but disappeared. Soon the birds and other fauna will dwindle as the “madding crowd” takes over. This is not hyperbole. It has happened in other places and is why some communities are limiting “active use” aka mountain biking in open space while our city promotes it.

The State Parks system also fails to protect open space. They court the mountain bike industry while making their own contribution to degrading the land. On a walk through Natural Bridges State Park yesterday I winced at the trail damage from their vehicle tires visible in the photo. The area is closed to other vehicles so this is in-house negligence.

I get it that “active” uses are popular, fun and marketed to young males for thrills. I understand that ignorance is bliss. I confess to going kangaroo hunting as a teenager, raised as I was as a boy and enjoying the camaraderie and excitement. Now I see the world through the kangaroo’s eyes as well as my own. If the city won’t protect the open space lands, it’s up to us. This is not one to sit on the sidelines with a tsk tsk.

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.

February 25, 2019

SANCTUARY CITY? NOT SO FAST
There’s real trouble in Surf City and it doesn’t stem from recent city council therapy sessions. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents raided a Santa Cruz home in the Seabright neighborhood on Friday February 15th at 4am. Various neighbors and law enforcement officials say that at least 20 agents arrived in 12 vehicles, including an MRAP military vehicle. Under the cover of darkness they broke down the front door of a middle-aged couple and ransacked their home. At least five flash-bang grenades were exploded; electricity was cut as the federal intruders used lasers mounted to their gun sights to search the house. The couple’s 10-year-old daughter and 23-year old son were also present and had guns pointed directly at them. The vehicles were unmarked and most of what the masked federal enforcers were wearing was equally non-identifiable. A few wore bullet proof vests emblazoned with the letters: POLICE. A smaller HSI logo was harder to see. The use of force in this case was aggressive and perhaps more appropriate for taking a hostile village in a war zone, than occupying the wide streets of the Windsor-Cayuga neighborhood. A door knock would likely have sufficed. Neighbors were jarred from their slumber, the families cell phones confiscated, and a table was set out on the lawn as a staging area to go through the family’s papers that were hauled out from the house. After standing outside in the buff for an hour the couple reentered the house, dressed, had their faces wrapped with sweatshirts so they could not see where they were going. They were then taken to what was later told to them was “a Sherriff’s substation on Portola Drive.”(I found no reference on the internet to a Portola substation.) It was there at our Sanctuary Santa Cruz County Sherriff “substation” that the couple was interrogated by HSI. Most of the questions, according to the couple, pertained to their immigration status. They were released at 1pm with no charges as yet filed by any law enforcement agency. This entire situation left many of us wondering if this is Santa Cruz or Tegucigalpa? San Salvador or Guatemala City? What’s driving raids like this, Trump’s border wall? Our declared Sanctuary City status? Or the federal government’s war on cannabis? All of these rumors are out there and the facts are beginning to speak loudly in favor of a federal backlash.

MRAP—Mine Resistant, Ambush Protected military vehicle came to Santa Cruz on Feb. 15th and woke up the Seabright neighborhood. Twenty men, 12 vehicles, and an MRAP…a lot of fire power for a “mission” that yielded no arrests. Could a knock on the door likely worked just as well?

Neighbors Coming Together
As a result of the raid, doors were knocked in, cars ransacked, five flash-bang grenades were exploded, and two people detained but no charges filed. Go figure. Nineteen neighbors jammed into the living room of a Seabright beach cottage this week to discuss “the raid.”People in the neighborhood to say the least, are on edge, others outright scared, but most who attended the meeting were outraged by the events that unfolded that February morning. These neighbors collectively recounted for three city councilmembers their memories of that fateful morning, and this is what they said: “I’m speechless…where were the police?  Why the extreme approach, why such a dangerous approach.” “This was a threat to safety of our community.” “ICE was here and lying to the police about their activities.” “I live down the block. I couldn’t believe what was happening and how heavy-handed it was.” “The flash bangs were so loud. I grew up in Holland and it reminded me of WWII.” “I live next door…sounded like shots fired when the grenades exploded. I ran to my son’s room, he was pretty freaked out.” “So loud. What I saw were the boys using their toys.” “We went outside and asked them to identify themselves and thy said, no.” “I swear, I was standing there at the curb in my jammies and one of the agents asked, ‘Are you with us?'” “We need real clarification of who is culpable and who is accountable.””It was disturbing to see our neighbors taken away; they had been our neighbors for 20 years.” “Every time they come they are going to terrorize us because we are a sanctuary city.”

Bottom Line
The neighbors want answers. The city council members who were present want answers. We resolved to push for another neighborhood meeting with the police chief and city manager; the city council would host a town hall meeting; and the Mayor and City Council would send letters to our Washington representative, Jimmy Panetta, another one to Governor Gavin Newsom, and also send a sharp rebuke to the Homeland Security office in San Francisco, which evidently directed the raid. Friends, stay tuned, as long as Trump is President this issue is not going away.

THERE’S MONEY ON THE TABLE, AND HEADED TOWARDS SOMEBODY’S POCKET TOO!
Swenson’s Five 55 Pacific ($22.9 million) and 1547 Pacific Avenue ($35 million) opened a new era, a floodgate of high end housing coming to a realtor near you. But even bigger ones are on the way. Recently approved are the 205 units at Laurel and Pacific ($90 million), and on the way is a proposed 333-unit mega-complex called 908 Ocean Street. And then there’s the 89-unit ($$$?) condo project at 190 West Cliff Drive across from the Dream Inn. Make no mistake, Santa Cruz is some valuable real estate and there’s some deep-pocketed developers knocking at the door. For some–real estate, banking, and construction sectors, this is welcome news. For others–baristas, mechanics, teachers, and bar tenders–this housing is not for you, unless you can get two or three others to cram into a one or two-bedroom apartment with you and are able to pay half your salary in rent. But guess what? Most of these will be studios or one-bedrooms, not many 2BR’s because that’s not where the market is at. All of this construction is not what you would call “family friendly” either. It contemplates a future that is young, up and coming wealthy, or fast-tracking their way to wealth at Google or Apple or Amazon. These are the $120,000-plus a year twenty-somethings. Because that’s where the market is. This is all fine if you’re bankrolling these projects and pulling in profits, but if you’ve lived here for years, or were born here and just lost your apartment because of a rent increase, these new housing projects are not good news. Why? Because all housing is not created equal. Santa Cruz severely lacks enough moderate and low income housing for the people who live here now and want to stay. This is where local government comes in.

FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Local government can help level the playing field by securing funds for affordable housing, boosting the minimum wage to a living wage, demanding developers build the mandatory 15% inclusionary affordable units in each project, and allow for maximum public input into all development decisions. There is big money flowing to, and through, our Surf City and it likely mirrors what’s going on nationally, less and less people own more and more of our town, state, country, and planet. I am in local government precisely to help level the playing field and include the vulnerable and those historically left out of the decision-making process. Government can be empowering and local government can be especially critical in that process and serving the needs of residents.

“No surprise. Insurance and drug companies oppose Medicare for All. They make billions in profits from our dysfunctional system and pay their CEOs outrageous amounts.” (Feb. 23)

(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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Check a few turns below for this week’s visit to that special inner world and our special faithful friends.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Global Warming ” 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 BAROQUE FESTIVAL…Concert #II is titled “Roots of Bach & Telemann” .It features…The Virtu Ensemble: Claudia Gantivar, Recorder. Angelique Zuluaga, Soprano. Cynthia Black, Violin. Frederic Rosselet, Cello and Bernard Gordillo, Harpsichord Revel in the sensuous early and mid-Baroque Italian melodies of Frescobaldi and Corelli that Bach spent his youth emulating, along with glorious chamber works and a joyous cantata by his best friend Georg Phillip Telemann. A pre-concert talk begins 45 minutes before each concert. It’s happening on Sunday, March 3 at 3 p.m. in the UCSC Music Recital Hall.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa is probably up to her ears editing viewing and may share the world’s bafflement over the last Oscar night. Read her newest at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. February 26 has George Fogelson and Barry Braverman discussing  the book, “Between The Redwoods and The Bay- a History of Jews In Santa Cruz”. Jean Brocklebank and Judi Grunstra discuss Santa Cruz library plans following Fogelson. Rick Longinotti will be talking about a park, a commons, and downtown on March 5th. Then author and art critic Carolyn Burke discusses her newest book, “Foursome”. It focuses on the relationship between two famous couples. March 12 has Jim Coffis Co-Founder and director of Green Trade talking about cannabis factors. Workmen’s comp. attorney Bob Taren returns to talk area politics and changes in issues following Coffis. On March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd.  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. “March”
In March the soft rains continued, and each storm waited courteously until its predecessor sunk beneath the ground. John Steinbeck
March is the month God created to show people who don’t drink what a hangover is like. Garrison Keillor
“Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true.” Alfred Lord Tennyson

A POLITICALLY DIFFERENT SANTA CRUZ. Back on May 22, 1965, these three Republicans stood very tall around here. On the left is Carl Conelly, trustee and co-founder of Cabrillo College. In the middle — in more ways than one — is Gerald Ford, who became our President in 1974 after being VP, and a member of the Warren Commission before that. On the right (but not too far right) is Donald Grunsky, lawyer and Republican State Assemblyman and our State Senator from 1947 to 1976. This photo was taken in The Deer Park Tavern in Aptos.                                            The Aptos History Museum online page says… “1933 – Deer Park Tavern built by N.J. (Shorty) Butriza, a Yugoslavian. The Tyrolean-style building was originally decorated with hunting trophies, and music was supplied by a Hammond organ built for the place. The widening of Highway One in 1947 forced Shorty to move it up the hill to its current location. It’s now known as the Bittersweet Bistro”. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

February 18

RUMORS AND RUMINATIONS. Even the most casual followers of our political scene weren’t surprised by Cynthia Mathews, Mayor Martine Watkins and Donna Meyers voting against downtown employees getting free Metro Bus Passes. We’ve seen some of this same 4-3 vote split before, and we’ll see much more.

Speaking of Downtown, I can’t find the source when I need it but let’s get behind the concept of turning the Cathcart, Cedar, Lincoln, Farmer’s Market lot into something beautiful and useful…like a PLAZA or just a park. It could and would be 100% better utilized and attractive — and even money-making for our City coffers. The Library Garage plot for that space seems to be dying, so let’s get a positive, productive movement on this ASAP.

PAUL HOSTETTER HAS LEFT. Many, many of our Santa Cruz communities will feel the loss of Paul Hostetter, who died last Wednesday (2/13) As a musician, activist and critic, Paul gave more of himself to the world than just about anyone I have ever known.

He moved here from Detroit decades ago, played many stringed instruments, and we sessioned together with Hank Bradley way back starting around 1970. His musically-talented daughters Marandi, and Kaethe and of course his wife Robin Petrie will carry on Paul’s love of music, but we’ve lost much more than that.

Karla Hutton filmed a fine interview with Paul about five years ago. You can see it here…

FEBRUARY 18

CHANGE AGENTS @ CITY HALL

“Camp Ross” continues. This week I counted 159 tent structures, up from 134 two weeks ago. The Council and community continue to work on solutions. All I can say is, soon but we need viable options for all residents before simply closing it.

There’s only been three Santa Cruz city council meetings this year, but political winds at city hall are blowing in a decidedly let’s-get-something-done direction. Recent additions, Justin Cummings and Drew Glover have already created political climate change, Santa Cruz-style, in local decision-making. The February 12 council meeting saw a new majority’s agenda on display. After many community meetings, council discussions, and staff presentations the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance was amended and the city will not require a parking space to be built for a new detached ADU. The vote was 6-1. It was approved as a “pilot project,” and the council will revisit this ordinance again in one year in order to evaluate the impacts of parking on neighborhoods and whether many units were actually developed as a result of the new law. Next, a spirited debate took place about whether to provide Eco Passes, monthly Metro bus passes, to ALL 4000-plus downtown employees. It was a motion endorsed by the Downtown Commission, but not by city staff. The 4-3 outcome was a step in the direction of addressing climate change and downtown traffic congestions by offering residents real encouragement and incentives to leave their cars home by using the bus, or one of the many Jump Bikes around town. Bus passes will be free and the Jump Bike fee will be drastically reduced. It is a big step the council took, but with support coming from the Sierra Club, the Campaign for Sensible Transportation, and Santa Cruz Climate Action Network (SCCAN). It’s a decision, similar to the lifting of parking for ADUs that can be revisited after a trial period, tweaked, even scaled down, or if proving successful, scaled up.

Study Session Anyone?
Towards the end of Eco-Pass discussion, Councilmember Cummings introduced another motion proposing a council-community study session on March 19 that would focus on parking, traffic, and housing in the downtown. It was the new majority (4-3 vote) wanting to get ahead of the building-development curve and becoming proactive hoping to understand all the issues going on downtown and work with the community, especially on parking and housing. From what I’ve been told, downtown goes from Water Street to Laurel Street and from the San Lorenzo River to Center Street. Several speakers are invited to this event including UCSC Prof. Adam Millard-Ball whose essay on driverless cars creating worse parking jams went viral recently.

Rental Housing Task Force
The council agreed in a 7-0 vote to hire a Sacramento consulting firm, Consensus and Collaboration Program (CCP) to assist our city in moving forward to address our housing needs. The charge of this newly formed task force will be:

1. Ensure analysis is data driven
   • Look at what other cities have done
   • Gather info on rent increases and evictions over the past 5 years
   • Develop/utilize landlord database
2. Utilize a variety of communication/outreach tools: Discussion circles, surveys, smaller groups where opposing interests meet together and talk

1. Spell out areas of consensus
2. Develop protections addressing needs of each opposing interest
   • Protect tenants from inflationary rent increases
   • Protect annual return on investment for landlords
   • Develop causes for eviction and terms of no-fault eviction
   • Provide just cause eviction exemptions
   • Consider exemptions for those landlords who are already renting at below market
   • Investigate costs related to making publically available all leases, rent increases and complaints

Response to Homelessness
Tepid. The city council gave staff direction to come back to the council, more blah, blah, but as far as putting real on the ground “solutions” out there, little came out of this agenda item. But if Drew Glover, Sandy Brown, and me have anything to say or contribute, a homeless emergency declaration will be voted upon at our next meeting (Feb. 26) along with opening additional restrooms and washing stations, buying property for an emergency shelter, and identifying an RV parking area (not Delaware Street) will all be in the mix. Stay tuned, February 26! We did award Brent Adams $5k to help support his storage program for homeless people’s belongings and that was positive.

Brand New Majority Commission Appointments
On January 8, the Santa Cruz city council made several commission appointments. If you remember, Councilmember Brown and I have not had any of our nominees appointed to city commissions outside of the Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Woman (CPVAW). But the dam broke during the first month of the year. Here is an impressive list of new commission members. Expectations are high and politics may begin to get more interesting.

Arts Commission—Sean Swain McGowen, Janina Larenas, Owen Thomas, and MK Veniegas
CPVAW—Ann Simonton
Downtown Commission—Brett Garrett
Historic Preservation Commission—Ross Gibson
Parks and Recreation Commission—Gillian Greensite and Dawn Schott-Norris
Planning Commission–Miriam Greenberg and Andy Schiffrin
Transportation and Public Works—Shawn Orgel-Olson

“Before Social Security was created in 1932, about half of seniors lived in poverty. Today, the senior poverty rate is just 8.8% and in 2016 Social Security lifted 22 million Americans out of poverty. Our job is not to cut Social Security. Our job is to expand it.” (Feb. 17)

(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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Get your weekly inner chuckle from Tim Eagan’s classic Subconscious  playground. Scroll southward.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Trickle Down Economics“” 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.

Don’t miss the programming of Robots in his blog.

LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa says, “Return of the Dueling Divas! My slugfest . . . oops, I mean my reasonable discussion with Christina Waters over this year’s Oscar nominees, wraps up this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).  Watch the broadcast Sunday night, February 24, 5 pm, and see how we did!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. Co-Authors and Publishers Doug and Rachel Abrams discuss their new book on finding, maintaining relationships “Eight Dates” on Feb.19. Vets Service Officer Dean Kaufman follows them and talks about many new veterans’ benefits and area events. February 26 has George Fogelson and Barry Braverman discuss the book, “Between The Redwoods and The Bay- a History of Jews In Santa Cruz”. Jean Brocklebank and Judi Grunstra discuss Santa Cruz library plans following Fogelson. Workers comp attorney Bob Taren returns March 5 to share his thoughts on the political scene.  Then author and art critic Carolyn Burke discusses her newest book, “Foursome”. It focuses on the relationship between two famous couples. On March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd. 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. “The Oscars”
“The Oscars are a lot different when you are a nominee. You walk around with this big smile on your face, and everyone, even people who work for rival film companies, tells you they voted for you“. Samuel Goldwyn
“Our minds are big enough to contemplate the cosmos but small enough to care about who wins an Oscar”. Dean Cavanagh
“Nothing can take the sting off the world’s economic problems like watching millionaires present each other golden statues.” Billy Crystal
“I haven’t had an orthodox career and I wanted more than anything to have your respect. The first time I didn’t feel it, but this time I feel it and I can’t deny the fact that you like me—right now, you like me!”
Sally Field, Best Actress, Places in the Heart, 1984

SOQUEL STORM 1955.  Looking east toward Veterle Plumbing & Tile.  On the bridge over Soquel Creek.                                                                                           photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE February 11, 2019

THAT DAMNED De LAVEAGA GOLF COURSE. We should change the name to De La VACANT or De La VACUATE !!!

With Pebble Beach Pro Am winding down and away, we need to look at what should be regarded as one of our largest money wasting facts. A good friend wrote to us… “Our taxes still subsidize every round of golf played at DeLaveaga golf course. Two activists were able to get the residential portion of supporting the harbor to end, but no one has ever succeeded in getting the DeLaVeaga golf course to  be 100% self supporting. Why not, and why is their budget so hard to find or see in print?  It’s always a brick wall topic, shouldn’t  the Grand Jury look at the non transparency of the golf   course operations ?. Most cities are closing their municipal golf courses due to funding problems, we pay for it. And how about  the environmental problems, like poisons for the grass flowing down the many creeks that emanate from there and end up in the Monterey May Sanctuary ?  And that it’s watered with potable water, not recycled water.   Why is the parking free at the golf course, when every other facility in town is not given free parking for customers, or even workers ? Charging for parking to make up the budget shortfall would be a place to start. The Frisbee golfers have to pay to park, why not the undercharged per round golfers? Another unanswered question ….Why and how is   $900,000 of city money going into the DeLaveaga Restaurant? Hopefully the city council will have looked at this on Feb. 12 and have made some definite changes…we’ll see.                                                                                                

SHERRY CONABLE. Sherry Conable certainly deserves all the love, honors, tributes and credit our community has been given to her. She was a truly wonderful and dedicated woman. When she decided to conclude her life it’s just possible that Sherry determined that she had finished the work she set out to do. I think she deserves even extra merit. One friend who read her good bye note said it was surprising how short, simple and lacking elegance the note was.  There was an apology, a good bye, and a love.

February 11, 2019

NOT GOING DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT.
I joined city councilmembers Drew Glover and Sandy Brown this past week in crafting several city council agenda items, which we thought were going to be on the February 12th city council agenda. Much to our collective consternation, the pushing of paper goal posts were moved and we missed a mayoral-imposed deadline to get on the official agenda. The resolutions we intend to put forward include re-opening city restrooms to the public at De Laveaga Park, inside the Louden Nelson center, and at city hall; creating an RV overnight parking area; declaring a “homeless state of emergency” in Santa Cruz; and outlining rules and regulations around “transitional camps” in order to transition away from the chaotic “Camp Ross” behind the Gateway Shopping Plaza on River Street. We are hoping to create a robust council discussion around organized and managed campgrounds. Councilmember Glover posted an insightful piece on Santa Cruz IndyMedia about what can only be characterized as the agenda snafu-doo doo controversy. (It’s titled, “The Fierce Urgency of Now.” )

Glover writes: “We need action NOW in Santa Cruz, not more reports or updates. Conversations and brainstorming is always important, but now is the time we need action. That is why I have been working for the last three weeks, alongside fellow Councilmembers, interns, advocates and people experiencing homelessness, on creating actionable policies that can be implemented now. We have solutions for the camps, solutions for RVs and car camping, solutions for zoning and the bureaucratic obstacles that have slowed action in the past. We have solutions for access to bathrooms and hygiene facilities, survival materials and more. There are those within the City Council that support the items for action at this next Council meeting on February 12th, and I applaud them. However, there are those who are slowing us down. Specifically, it is the Mayor that is making it difficult for us to take any action at the next City Council meeting.” 

Brand New Council Community Meeting No. 2
Another well-attended community-council planning meeting took place on Sunday February 3rd. It was a follow-up agenda-setting meeting from Dec. 2nd. The three-hour marathon session covered issues ranging from affordable housing to homelessness to oversight of the police department to transportation. It was a much-needed brain-storming session. One of the meeting facilitators wrote a follow-up email and characterized it this way:

1)” Networking function–These meetings can be a place where groups can update each other on issues they are working on and ask for support at Council at key times. In order for this to function well, representatives of active groups need to be present at each meeting. The representative can be prepared to make a brief presentation at the meeting. We can think of some groups that were not represented at the meeting on Sunday and invite them. Maybe each meeting can feature a longer presentation by one group with a focus on “How we are working with City Council.  2) “Place to plug in–I got the sense from a number of the working group reports on Sunday that people want to contribute, but they may not be ready to start their own working group. They may be unaware of the work already being done on an issue and unfamiliar with valuable information about that issue. So, with leaders from active groups present, the people who want to plug in will be able to do so.” The next large group community-city council meeting is scheduled for Sunday, March 17th at 10am. Mark your calendar.

Green New Deal
I attended the Green New Deal kick-off at the Walnut Street Commons last week. Great turnout! Over fifty people crammed into to their lounge to watch the Sunrise Movement’s nationwide group-chat about what the Green New Deal is and also to help strategize for getting it through congress. At first blush, 40 congress members signed on, but now it is up to 64 co-sponsors and the group is pushing for more. This week Green New Dealers will be visiting their members of congress who haven’t yet signed on (Jimmy Panetta get ready, we need you!). The Sunrise Movement’s web site reads: “Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Ed Markey have introduced a Joint Resolution for a Green New Deal. If resolutions get enough cosponsors, they can become a major driver of the policy debate! If not, they can get lost in the political shuffle and fade into oblivion. That’s why from Feb. 11-13, we are going to show up in person at our Senators’ and Representatives’ offices and ask them to cosponsor the Green New Deal Resolution.” Best document I’ve encountered, through the Washington Post’s “Energy 202” column, is a Google doc outlining the Green New Deal. It can be located here

What about a city council resolution outlining what a Green New Deal might look like for Santa Cruz?

Sherry Conable
So much has been written this past week about Sherry. We lost her on February 4th. Her body was found at Cowell’s Beach, an apparent suicide. Sherry was a pillar of positive, activist energy in this community whether it was her dogged pursuit of adequate police review, or how better to serve the homeless and houseless community. Perhaps she was most integral and active in the peace movement: Veterans for Peace, Resource Center for Non-Violence and Code Pink. Sherry showed up early and often, and was a shining star. Her words were measured, but forceful, and her resolve and commitment to peace never wavered.  Sherry Conable was a community hero. We’ve lost a friend, a mother, an activist, a kibitzer, a local historian. Sherry was part of every peace effort going back to the NO NUKES Jackson Brown concert in the ’70’s. And as Paula Leroy noted in a recent email, Sherry “organized dozens of rallies and events that helped us voice our views about war, militarization of the police (SCRAM), treatment of veterans, immigration, homelessness, and many more. She brought us together and made our voices and community stronger in beautiful ways. In her glorious pink outfit with flowered wreath, she marched in Gay Pride, Women’s March, Anti-Iraq and Afghanistan invasion rallies and every important cause for decades.”Sherry was the real Santa Cruz deal. We love you Sherry, rest in peace, we miss you already. Sherry Conable presente!

The Go-Figure Department
The city of Santa Cruz through the Public Works Department’s maintenance fund (general fund revenue) has shelled out $300,000 to fix up the restaurant at the DeLaveaga golf course. This comes after a 47-year-long tenant vacated. Well, I wasn’t wholly in favor of that past disbursement of city money, but I learned to live with it. But now, there’s an agenda item, #10, on this week’s council agenda asking for $600,000 more to get the job done. Ouch! With all the needs in Santa Cruz–affordable housing, need for more bus service to the university and other parts of the county, housing for the people at Camp Ross, affordable childcare–someone in the city wants throw $600k more for a 19th watering hole restaurant at the golf course? Doesn’t make immediate sense to this councilmember. You can read the staff report herehttp://scsire.cityofsantacruz.com/sirepub/mtgviewer.aspx?meetid=1162&doctype=AGENDA

The Tweet of the Week space is reserved for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and her relentless questioning of ethics “experts” in a congressional hearing this past week. She eviscerates the notion that $$$ equals free speech in an incredibly entertaining “Let’s Play a Game” way. You gotta see this, it’s just five minutes.

(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

February 5, 2019
#36 / Updating Socrates?

Charles Krauthammer, pictured next to Socrates, was a “leaning right” political pundit who apparently compared President George W. Bush to Abraham Lincoln. Krauthammer died in June, 2018. Abraham Lincoln died in April, 1865. George W. Bush is still alive. 

Krauthammer left behind a set of essays, now published in book form under the title, The Point of it All. I have not read Krauthammer’s book, but I have read a review, published in my local newspaper on Sunday, January 20th. The review, by Daniel Oppenheimer, contained a line that Oppenheimer said was “core” to Krauthammer’s worldview: 

Beware the too-examined life.
According to Oppenheimer, Krauthammer believed that “introspection, self-counsciousness [and] deconstruction…were more likely to be vices than virtues, corrosive to the good life, sound political judgment and global leadership.”

Socrates was one of the founders of Western philosophy. He had a different idea. Here is one of Socrates’ most famous sayings:

The unexamined life is not worth living. 
Krauthammer did have an advantage that Socrates did not. Krauthammer lived post-Shakespeare, and can be expected to have pondered Hamlet’s agonized ruminations about how we often fail to take action, as we ought, when our resolution becomes “sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought.”

Another pundit, Thomas Friedman (still alive), has “debriefed” the Iraq War, one of the main initiatives of President George W. Bush, whom Krauthammer thought was a Lincoln-like hero. Considering the Iraq War, which has been disastrous in virtually every way, Friedman poses this question to past-president Bush:

What were you thinking?
Now, I guess, with the Krauthammer book, we know the answer. Influenced by the kind of “worldview” espoused by Krauthammer, our president wasn’t thinking at all!

As far as I am concerned, Krauthammer’s comparison of Bush to Lincoln is not convincing. With all due respect to Krauthammer (and to Shakespeare), when I think about what sort of leader I would like to have guiding our national policy, it strikes me that it would be an advantage, not a fault, to have a leader who “thinks” before that leader acts.

Just to be clear, in other words, as between Krauthammer and Socrates, I am sticking with Socrates!

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Do check out our weekly visit to our nether regions…and enjoy!!!

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Parading the Truth” 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. “My dialogue with Christina (Waters) over this year’s Oscar nominees continues this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/).  And there’s still time to catch up with two outstanding Oscar contenders in the Foreign Language category, the dark, delirious romantic complexity of Pawel Pawlikowski’s Polish drama, Cold War, and Lebanese filmmaker Nadine Labaki’s harrowing but mesmerizing portrait of refugee children surviving the indifferent grown-up world in Capernaum.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. Authors and Publishers Doug and Rachel Abrams discuss their new book on finding, maintaining relationships “Eight Dates” on Feb.19. Vets Service Officer Dean Kaufman follows them and talks about many new veterans’ benefits and area events. February 26 has George Fogelson and Barry Braverman discuss the book, “Between The Redwoods and The Bay- a History of Jews In Santa Cruz”. Jean Brocklebank and Judi Grunstra discuss Santa Cruz library plans following Fogelson. Workers comp attorney Bob Taren returns March 5 to share his thoughts on the political scene. On March 19 Maestro Michel Singher talks about the Espressivo Orchestra concert happening March 31st. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. May 21st has concertmaster Roy Malan discussing the Hidden Valley String Orchestra concert occurring on June 2nd. 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. 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. “PRESIDENTS & PRESIDENTS DAY””
“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.” – Abraham Lincoln

“We are a nation of many nationalities, many races, many religions — bound together by a single unity, the unity of freedom and equality. Whoever seeks to set one nationality against another, seeks to degrade all nationalities.” Franklin Delano Roosevelt  

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for.”  Barack Obama 

SANTA CRUZ’S CHINATOWN ca. 1905-1955. Known as Birkenseer’s China Lane. That’s the Garibaldi Hotel on the far left.                                                                                    photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE February 4. 2019

JOHN LAIRD CANDIDATE AND HISTORIAN. John was on Universal Grapevine last Tuesday (1/29). We had a fine talk about his campaigning for State Senate. Last week I ran a historical photo here of Thrash Motors that stood at the corner of Front and Cathcart Streets. John sent this neat note re that photo.

“Bruce – I enjoyed the photo of Thrash Motors. I do extensive family history research, and my Danish immigrant great-grandmother had a brother who died in 1903 in Oklahoma and left a widow and four young children. I looked in records, and was surprised to find the widow and one child in Santa Cruz, California in the 1920 census. Further research showed that the daughter, Maree Christensen – married Sylvan “Pop” Thrash. He was the owner of Thrash Motors that you pictured and they lived in Santa Cruz together for fifty years until their deaths in the 1970’s. I don’t think my grandmother ever knew she had a first cousin in Santa Cruz. Great to be on your show last Tuesday”. It’s probably too early for endorsements!!

BORGEN. Borgen translates as “the castle” in Danish, and I must tell you that I’ve been totally immersed in this three season iTunes saga since my daughter Hillary found and recommended it. It’s the story of a woman who becomes the first female Prime Minister of Denmark. If you like politics and wonder what a politician’s life is like, forget any American versions and watch this instead. The show started in 2010, and from what I hear it won’t go past the third series. Forget “Veep”, “House of Cards”, “The West Wing” and the rest… Borgen is far superior. I’d give you your money back IF and etc….but it would be too much trouble, and you’ll love it too.

DICK DOUBRAVA DIED. Dick’s good friend Fred Geiger wrote to tell us that Dick Doubrava had congestive heart failure for a while, it steadily worsened, and he finally went on Tuesday afternoon at home. His wife Diane was with him. Dick was active in the Terrace Point Action Network with Gordon Pusser, and he was also on the City Planning Commission for 5 years, including a term as Chair. Additionally he was part of SCRP for quite a while — including being involved in stopping the massive Dream Inn expansion — and ran for City Council in 2000. He was also active in the Seniors Center for many years, and bus Captain at the Senior Follies at the Civic for quite a few years. A great guy and liked by all who knew him!

February 4th, 2019

WHAT MONARCHS?
Few issues arouse such intense feelings as that of the proposed 32-mile rail trail for Santa Cruz County. Trail only advocates and rail trail advocates square off from opposite sides of the ring, hurling verbal challenges and opposing facts. Into the ring steps the city of Santa Cruz whose job it is to assess the environmental impacts of the rail trail for the segments that lie within its boundary. Theoretically, such assessment should be objective and accurate, allowing for an emotion- free evaluation of how the project will impact the environment, whether the impacts are significant and if they are , how or whether they can be mitigated.  So it was not encouraging that the city’s environmental review of Segment 7 Phase 2, the stretch of rail line that is less than a mile long, running from California and Bay Streets down past the Water Treatment Plant and ending at the wharf roundabout omitted any mention of the monarch butterfly habitat next to the trestle bridge in the eucalyptus grove pictured. There’s even a plaque at the site recognizing it as a monarch site. Somehow the city, in this case Public Works, didn’t notice it, like a referee who fails to notice a strike to the groin.

As is often the case, it took community members, in this case the Sierra Club, which supports the rail trail, to point out the monarch omission and other environmental inadequacies. As a result, Public Works re-circulated the environmental document, this time with the inclusion of the monarch site. If you were expecting a valid environmental review of the butterfly habitat you will be disappointed. Despite this being a recognized monarch overwintering habitat, the city claims, with no evidence, that “the current habitat suitability (for monarchs) is low due to the lack of low branches and nearby nectar sources.” The trees in the grove never had low branches and the nearby nectar sources have not disappeared. The city’s 2030 General Plan on page 127 states that to evaluate the current habitat value for monarch butterflies,  “multi-year surveys are required during the winter roosting season.” Since the city has had this segment of the rail trail on its radar for a number of years, the lack of proper environmental review for this monarch habitat is negligence or indifference or both. When placed in the context of other environmental review shortcomings on the part of the city, (Heritage Tree Ordinance changes for example) it is hard to not conclude that the city is failing in its task of an objective reviewer of the environmental impacts of its various projects. One might even conclude it is deliberate bias to favor pet projects, this being one of them, leaving the community little options other than lawsuits.

The project itself is fraught with environmental and cost problems. Less than a mile long, this Segment 7, Phase 2 is projected to cost $10 million to construct a trail next to the existing rail line. It requires 3,500 cubic yards of earth removal to create the width of the trail into the western bank, a retaining wall between 3.5 and 19.5 feet high to shore up the remaining bank, the removal of 42 trees, many of them heritage size, the channelizing of year-round springs, the removal of riparian vegetation and the displacement of birds, butterflies, amphibians, reptiles and mammals. The suggestion in the city’s review that the aforementioned fauna can relocate suggests a lack of environmental awareness or a lack of caring or both.

Meanwhile up on Bay Street, bike lanes run all the way to West Cliff Drive and another bike/walking path winds through La Barranca Park. Perhaps not ideal but perhaps sufficient if the environmental losses and costs for this project are more carefully evaluated with a cool head and unbiased mind. The Planning Commission is expected to review and vote on the Mitigated Negative Declaration for this project at its March 7th meeting.

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

Feb.4. 2019

THIS WEEK ON THE CITY COUNCIL
Not much in-public council biz is taking place these past couple of weeks, and behind the scenes political chess pieces continue to move lethargically if at all. Our last council meeting took place on January 22nd and at that time I suggested two study sessions, one on homelessness and another on the library-in-a-garage project. The city manager said staff would likely not be prepared for a study session, so I was forced to make a motion that the council place an agenda item concerning homelessness on its next regularly scheduled meeting, February 12. It passed unanimously, but it was unusual to have to make such a motion. I simply wanted to ensure that the council begins to address the critical situation behind the Gateway shopping center, now dubbed, Camp Ross. It has become a metaphor for the houseless in this community. Call me paranoid, but the more the new council wants to move forward on addressing homelessness, tenant protections, inclusionary housing, and the library-in-the-garage project, the more we seem to be met with murmurs of slow down! Not so fast now…got to get the new councilmembers up to speed. But yet we are seeing two separate Tuesdays (Jan. 29 and Feb. 5), days all councilmembers presumably have marked in their calendars for city business, pass by with nary a public meeting. Go figure.

Lawsuits, Lawsuits, Lawsuits
Five major projects are either being threatened with a law suit, or already find themselves in the midst of litigation. Bruce Bratton reported on two of those last week, Sustainable Soquel vs. Nissan Dealership and East Meadow Action Committee vs. UCSC and Regents. What I’ve learned while working in government is that often filing a law suit is the only way to get the attention of either a municipality’s decision-makers or a corporate board room. The stopping of bad, and sometimes a good, projects take time and money, but money is key, you usually need a lawyer. As the former Executive Director of the California Coastal Commission, Peter Douglas, was fond of saying, the coast is never saved, the coast is always being saved. The law suits before us generally offer the picture of a community that cares about quality of life, increasing affordable housing, and providing transportation options. I will offer brief updates on the other three current or potential cases of litigation.

Hatch and Pomerantz v. City of Santa Cruz
Local environmental attorney Bill Parkin states early in his Dec. 11, 2019 letter to the Santa Cruz City Council, “It has become obvious that the City pays lip service to the need for affordable housing and uses the need as a tool to endlessly promote development within the City.” What’s at issue for Parkin and his clients is that they do not believe the city of Santa Cruz is enforcing the will of the voters as enshrined in the language of 1979’s ballot initiative, Measure O. “Measure O’s mandate is clear: It shall be the policy of the City of Santa Cruz that at least 15% of those housing units newly constructed for sale or rental each year shall be capable of purchase or rental by persons with average or below average incomes.” What’s at issue is that Parkin’s clients want the 203-unit Devcon project at Laurel and Pacific Avenue to build the inclusionary units.  The 6-story project was approved last year by the city council majority at zero units of affordability, Measure O seems to indicate that approximately 31 apartments in that project ought to be built as “affordable.” The “Notice of Intent to Commence Litigation” arrived on the council doorstep on January 4th, and this law suit takes issue with ignoring the intent of Measure O and CEQA requirements as well.

Ocean Street Extension
This law suit is over the property at 1935 Ocean St. Extension across from Santa Cruz Memorial Cemetery. It concerns the neighbor’s law suit at odds with a city council-majority approval of a 32-condominium project for that site. The property was originally zoned for nine single-family homes. The case is moving toward the courts, but mediation is always an option. Word has it that the owners of the property have offered it as a temporary camp site to the city for one year as the law suit plays itself out.

Potential Litigation to Stop Highway widening
This is currently only a threatened law suit by unnamed individuals (some who have been successful in the past), if the Regional Transportation Commission moves forward with using Measure D funds to widen Highway 1 all the way south to Freedom Blvd. This battle has been playing itself out over the past 30 years and it is unlikely there will be a resolution soon, but anyone who drives this corridor knows how excruciatingly slow traffic can be during the 7-9 am and 3-6 pm commutes. On one side, there is considerable support to widen the highway to at least three lanes–some would prefer four–each way on this key north-south county artery. On the other side is a vocal and active opposition that sincerely believes widening highways does not work. The opposition wishes to block any more space for cars until a variety of transportation options are put into place including the rail-trail project, on-ramp metering lights, and a bus-on-highway-shoulder configuration. Also, on a side note I wonder if car-pooling is essentially dead, except for UCSC van pools, as I am hearing about it less and less as an option.

“Three people own more wealth than the bottom half of our country. 25 hedge fund managers earn twice as much as all 140,000 kindergarten teachers. One family (Kochs) spent $400 million to buy elections. That’s why we need a political revolution.” (Feb. 4) (Note: Is Bernie in favor of a palace coup in Venezuela? One political scientist I spoke with this past week was convinced he is. Stay tuned.)

(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

Feb. 4, 2019

LEGAL ACTION FILED AGAINST SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT FOR ALLEGED MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF CEQA 
I have filed legal action in appeal of the Soquel Creek Water District Board approval of the expensive Project that would inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water daily into the aquifer that provides drinking water for most of the MidCounty area.  I allege that the Board certified a deficient Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the Project (Resolution 18-30) and approved the Project’s Findings, Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, (MMRP), and Statement of Overriding Consideration, thereby approving the Project (Resolution 18-31).  A Petition for Writ of Mandate is simply a demand that the District follow CEQA law, to correct and cure the violations I feel they have committed.  I am not suing the District for money, other than the costs of my filing and creating an administrative record of documents for the judge to review.

A local grassroots group of well-educated, informed and engaged citizens called ‘Water for Santa Cruz County’ had planned to file this legal action, but as an unincorporated association, was restricted to hiring an attorney to represent them.  Two legal counsels advised the group that the effort would cost $80,000-$100,000, and that was prohibitive.    Compelled by the Board’s actions and the potential negative impacts that are broad and irreversible, I chose to file the action myself, in Pro Per, under Citizen Standing for the public benefit.  The case is No. 19CV00181.  It is not a perfect document, but it was action that was required to stop the District’s arrogant hyper-focus action to shove through the Pure Water Soquel: Groundwater Recharge and Seawater Intrusion Prevention Project on a FAST TRACK CONSTRUCTION model for a Design-Build-Operate scenario.   Mr. Steve Wait, representative for IDE Technologies, a large multi-national company specializing in these projects, has already been circling the Board, attending the November 6, 2018 meeting when the Board approved the proposed rate increases that are modeled solely on whether or not the District gets grant funding for the Pure Water Project, and again, at the December 18, 2018 Board meeting when the EIR was certified and the Project was approved.

The Soquel Creek Water District Board will meet this Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 7pm in Closed Session to discuss the legal action (right after their two-hour Ethics Training).  Under Brown Act Rules, the Board MUST allow public comment on the Closed Session topic in advance of adjourning into Closed Session.  I urge members of the public to attend and testify.  Write the Board with your thoughts about their plan to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the Purisima Aquifer, the drinking water supply for the MidCounty area, not just the District.  Shouldn’t all those people have a voice in this, too?  I think so, and so do the 300 or so people who signed petitions submitted to the District and the MidCounty Groundwater Agency to allow a public vote on this disgusting and arrogant action the District is taking.

Perhaps, in desert areas, this technology makes sense because there is no other potential water supply.  That is not the case in Santa Cruz County, where there is abundant water supply, but inadequate storage mechanisms.  Please look at the Water for Santa Cruz County website to learn more: www.waterforsantacruz.com/

You can write the Board of Directors of Soquel Creek Water District bod@soquelcreekwater.org      and copy the Secretary of the Board,  Emma Olin emmao@soquelcreekwater.org

Here is the link to the Feb. 5 Board Agenda and materials

SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT CUSTOMERS NEED TO FILE SPECIFIC WRITTEN RATE AND FEE PROTESTS
Attend the FREE educational workshop Tuesday, February 12 at the Aptos Library to learn how to file correct written rate increase protests letters to the Soquel Creek Water District.  These rate increases have been calculated by an expensive consultant, Raftelis, to craft the revenue levels necessary for the District’s plan to build a project that will inject treated sewage water into the area’s drinking water supply.  The District hopes to get $70 Million in state and federal grants for the disgusting project, but Raftelis also calculated what rates would have to be in the event that no grant money were awarded for the Pure Water Soquel Project.  The Board selected this most-expensive option, with the idea that if the grant money comes through, they could reduce rates more easily than raise them if the grants did not get awarded.  Mind you, THIS ACTION WAS ALL TAKEN BEFORE THE BOARD CERTIFIED THE PROJECT EIR AND APPROVED THE PROJECT.  

The District Staff also recommended that if the rate increases go through, the District would no longer charge at their Stage 3 Conservation Rate levels, which are HIGHER THAN THE BASE RATE, to make sure that in drought times when customers are conserving and using less water, the District still gets plenty of money for expensive consultants, lobbyists in Washington, D.C. (that’s currently $45,000/year to support Pure Water Soquel),  and monthly Pure Water Soquel Team Meetings in San Jose at expensive hotels.  It is amazing what a Public Records Act request will make known to the people, isn’t it?

Here is the link to the materials from the November 6, 2018 Board meeting, Item 6.2, where Raftelis presents the rate increase scenarios.  

Attend the Workshop at the Public Library so that you can learn more about this, as well as the alternative water supply possibilities if the District would only be willing to work more cooperatively with the City of Santa Cruz.  

Attend the District’s Board meeting and Prop. 218 RATE AND FEE INCREASE PUBLIC HEARING  Feb. 19 at 6pm.  All rate and fee protests must have Service Address, Assessor Parcel Number, and whether you protest the rate AND the service fee increases, with your signature and printed name.  Mail to Protest Officer, P,O,Box 1550, Capitola, CA   95010, or take it in person to the District Office at 5180 Soquel Drive, Soquel, CA, or take to the February 19 Public Rate Increase Hearing.  Submissions by e-mail are NOT acceptable and will not be counted.

If you are able, also attend the District’s Standing Committee meetings on February 12: (both at the District Office, 5180 Soquel Drive, Soquel)

Public Outreach  10:30am-11:30am

Water Resources Management and Infrastructure  4pm-5pm

LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT THE COMPUTER MODEL SHOWS FOR THE MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER LEVELS IN THE FUTURE
Attend the February 11 MidCounty Groundwater Advisory Committee Enrichment Workshop at the Community Foundation, at 5pm to learn what computer models show for water levels in the area, and that are being used to support certain project needs that are not always transparent to the public.

The Mid-County Groundwater Agency is a consortium of water agencies in the MidCounty area that are working to create the plan required by the State to show the agencies will work together to bring groundwater supplies to a sustainable level by 2040.  Because the State has declared the MidCounty Basin in critical overdraft (2016), the group must have this plan submitted for State approval by January, 2020.  Soquel Creek Water District is the largest pumper in the group.  The hypothetical computer model the group is using was initially commissioned by Soquel Creek Water District over two years ago, is still being developed at great expense by a consulting company named Montgomery & Associates, formerly HydroMetrics, and that was co-founded by former Soquel Creek Water District General Manager, Ms. Laura Brown (now deceased).

The model is complex, a “work in progress” and the largely-citizen-based Advisory Committee that is supposed to be formulating the Plan to submit for approval to the MidCounty Groundwater Agency Board and ultimately, the State, is to approve to meet the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Read more here, but do attend if you are able

SHOULD SANTA CRUZ CITY WATER DEPARTMENT AND SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT CONSOLIDATE? 
The short answer is YES!!!  Sadly, the District’s political mistrust of the City is hampering efficient and effective regional water supply management, to the detriment of the ratepayers and and the community at-large, if the treated sewage water gets injected into the groundwater supplies of the region.   The Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCO) is responsible for overseeing efficient local government special district operations and can initiate annexation but can only initiate consolidation when there is a request to do so by the affected agencies OR THEIR CITIZENS.  

Please attend the LAFCO MEETING this Wednesday, Feb. 6,  10 am in the County Building (701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz), 5th Floor and ask (during public comment) for the Commission to place discussion of consolidation of Soquel Creek Water District and Santa Cruz City Water Department on the next agenda.  There are two such letters requesting that action that are included in the Commission packet.  Please send yours in, too!    Pat McCormick pat.mccormick@santacruzounty.us      and copy Debra Means debra.means@santacruzcounty.us   

HOW WILL LOCAL WATER AGENCIES BUDGET HOW MUCH WATER YOU WILL GET?
Attend the Water Budget Educational Workshop this Saturday, February 9, at the Felton Community Center, 9am-1pm, to learn more about how Santa Cruz City and the San Lorenzo Valley water agencies will decide how much water citizens, agriculture and landscapes will be allowed under new state laws coming down the pike.   State Assembly member Mark Stone will be the key speaker.

www.smgwa.org/

The State plans to impose water budget limits on individuals and their water use with two new laws signed by (ret) Governor Brown: SB 606 and AB 1668.  These laws will take effect as early as October, 2021 but in full force by November 1, 2023.  This would ultimately limit individual use to 50 gallons/person/day, and set allowed water use levels for agriculture and landscaped areas.  Read more about this here

PLEASE WRITE TO SUPPORT THE AMAZING SANTA CRUZ COUNTY LAW LIBRARY
Do you know there is a free legal resource for all citizens to use at the County Government Building for times when you need legal knowledge, but perhaps have no money for expensive legal advice, or just want to learn for yourself what the law really is?

I could not have possibly written a Petition for CEQA Writ of Mandate against Soquel Creek Water District without the kind help of the staff at the County Law Library, located in the basement of the 701 Ocean Street Government Building.  Renee and Jose helped me find the laws I needed to read, the guides that showed proper form, and were incredibly patient and helpful with my poor computer abilities.   I witnessed them patiently working with many, many people who were afraid, angry and/or frustrated because the legal system had kicked them around without providing any real help, so they landed at the Law Library to get information.  I witnessed how, when given information and the power to take action themselves, the people calmed down, and became much stronger and focused.  About 85% of the people who visit the County Law Library do not have legal representation and cannot afford to hire expensive legal representation.   

How is this amazing public resource funded?  How can you help keep this wealth of free assistance available to those who need it most?

The County Budget DOES NOT FUND the Law Library.  The main source of funding is from a small portion of the first paper filing fee in civil cases, which has dropped in Santa Cruz County by 38% since 2010, and by as much as 50% in other counties.   This funding mechanism has not changed statewide since 1891 when law established them.  In Santa Cruz County, the Law Library was established in 1896, and the funding mechanism has not changed since.  

Please ask Governor Newsom to allocate a one-time line item in the State Budget to assist all county law libraries who are struggling to keep their doors open to the public.  Also, please contact the Legislature and ask that there be new legislation created to help the law libraries throughout the State by changing the archaic funding mechanism for County Law Libraries.   By and large, it is not attorneys who are using the County Law Libraries, it is the common people.  

Please contact: 

Governor Newsom
Assembly Member Mark Stone
State Senator Bill Monning  

ARE THE PARKING SPACES IN THE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT REALLY GOING TO PROVIDE SAFE PARKING AND THOROUGHFARE?
The Aptos Village Project Phase 1 is complete, including the new 3220 Square foot office space for Second District Supervisor Zach Friend and various law enforcement staff (with two dedicated parking spaces).  However, the widths of the parking spaces that line the new Aptos Village Way thoroughfare have recently been REDUCED.  Hmmm…..  

Take a look….do you think this will be safe for fire engines responding if there are vehicles sticking out into the road way on both sides of the road, like this County-owned pickup in the photo?   I wonder how many bicyclists will get injured by motorists opening their doors into the lane of traffic?  

Shouldn’t the developers be made to fix this before Phase 2 construction in the area behind the pickup begins?  The Phase 2 Final Map approval has not yet gone before the Board of Supervisors, and may still be on the desk of County Public Works.  CONTACT PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR MATT MACHADO and insist the Aptos Village LLC developers tear out and fix this narrow, dangerous Aptos Village Way thoroughfare as a condition of approval for the Phase 2 Final Map.  

It is my understanding that Aptos Village Way will become County-owned once the Project is complete.

This dense mixed-use development has parking spaces calculated only for 61% occupancy to begin with, and the public has been consistently promised throughout the planning process that there will be free and unlimited parking for Nisene Marks State Park users and other public use.  

These parking spaces are just too narrow, and for public safety, must be fixed.  Allowing parking on one side only will only compound the lack of parking that everyone in the area understands will be a problem already.

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Visit our wildest dreams and super projections…just a scroll down.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Flights To…?” 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. “Christina Waters, and I continue our face-off over this year’s Oscar nominees, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). And speaking of Oscar, what do this year’s crop of nominated live-action and animated short films say about the (evidently dire) state of the world? Read my review in this week’s Good Times!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.

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. .  Ellen Grace O’Brian talks about her book, ” Jewel Of Abundance” on February 12. Then Willow Katz discusses Solitary Confinement and prison care. Authors and Publishers Doug and Rachel Abrams discuss their new book on finding, maintaining relationships “Eight Dates” on Feb.19. Vets Service Officer Dean Kaufman follows them and talks about many new veterans’ benefits and area events. February 26 has George Fogelson discussing his book, “Between The Redwoods and The Bay- a History of Jews In Santa Cruz”. Jean Brocklebank and Judi Grunstra discuss Santa Cruz library plans following Fogelson. Workers comp attorney Bob Taren returns March 5 to share his thoughts on the political scene. Then Ellen Primack exec. dir of the Cabrillo Fest of Contemporary Music talks all about plans to upgrade the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. 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. “LOVE”
“Love doesn’t make the world go round. Love is what makes the ride worthwhile.” – Franklin P. Jones
“There are never enough I Love You’s.” – Lenny Bruce
“To love oneself is the beginning of a lifelong romance.” – Oscar Wilde
“Love is what you’ve been through with somebody.” – James Thurber

FRONT & CATHCART STREETS. June 24,1952. Once upon a time we saw Thrash Motors here. Now it’s Surfrider Café, Ocean City Buffet, and The Korean Grill. It still keeps us running on gas!                                                                                           photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

DATELINE January 28, 2019

UCSC’S EAST MEADOW UPDATE. “East Meadow Action Committee” (EMAC)
— a hardworking UCSC Campus group consisting of professors, students, staff members and other folks — has been working hard to preserve certain campus sites from developer-speed-cheap-rushed student bed sites. Their latest Update stated (minus editing)… “We’re sorry to report that the Regents appear unlikely to deflect the University from its plan to begin construction in June”. That refers to just the East Meadow development.

The first Regents meeting was held last Wednesday (1/16).. 

Our alliance opposing the current plan argued its case, though within serious constraints. A hopeful sign was a special session, focused only on the East Meadow part of the University’s plan, that was called for 1/15, prior to the regular meeting. Present at this gathering were: the President of the Board of Regents, the Chair of its Finance and Capital Strategies Committee, several other concerned Regents, members of the UCSC Administration with student and community allies, and four critics of the East Meadow siting. These latter included a former Regent, a former Campus architect, plus the Chair of the Alumni Council, and the Chair of the UC Santa Cruz Foundation, all very well-informed and committed. After a closed-door meeting of the Regents with the campus Administration, a discussion was organized, with speakers for and against the Meadow development. There was enough time for complex issues of cost and alternative siting to be raised, if not explored in depth. The Regents at the meeting were engaged and interested.

This special session, dedicated solely to the East Meadow, showed that our protests had gotten the Regents’ attention. It raised the possibility that they might require UC Santa Cruz to come back with an alternative plan, sparing the Meadow. However, on the following day, the regularly scheduled meeting of the full Board was a disappointment. 

In the Public Comment period, more than sixty people signed up to speak on a variety of important issues. Comments were thus restricted to one minute per speaker. Eight of us spoke about the Meadow. But this, our only chance to address the full Board, was limited to sound-bites which tended to be drowned in a cacophony of other interventions.

That afternoon, at the crucial Finance and Capital Strategies Committee meeting, a more substantial discussion took place. It can be accessed on line: https://regents.universityofcalifornia.edu/meetings/videos/jan2019/jan2019.html#fin

First, a full presentation of the Student Housing West Project by the Chancellor and three senior UCSC administrators made the case for an urgent housing crisis (which no-one contests) and argued for speed and cost containment. A short debate was then organized, in which Paul Hall, a UCSC Alumnus, prominent attorney and former Regent, presented a brilliantly concise statement of the opposition to the meadow siting and the promise of several alternatives. 

The committee discussion that followed was an opportunity to gauge the reaction of influential Regents to the issues that had been raised. Nothing we heard suggested an inclination to question the plan presented by the UCSC Administration. The Chair of the Finance and Capital Strategies Committee asked the Chancellor to provide, by the next meeting in March, cost estimates for the various siting alternatives. These numbers, he said, would help the Regents be more confident in approving a project that was the least costly option. In the past, the University’s estimates have included drastically inflated costs for various alternatives, along with best-case, no-surprises estimates for the East Meadow development. Without access to “privileged” data, it has been impossible to challenge the University’s figures. We will see whether the numbers the University presents to the Regents are more realistic, and, if not, whether the Regents raise doubts or questions.

Beyond their focus on cost, the Finance Committee members seemed unwilling to get involved in the details of the proposal, preferring to defer to the campus Administration. Their proper role, they said, is not to function as a kind of local zoning board, but to oversee broad administrative and financial matters. It was apparent from their comments, moreover, that many of the newly appointed Regents have never set foot on the UCSC campus and have no knowledge of its history or reputation for environmental design. Few had read the materials we sent them. 

Thus, it seems highly unlikely that any obstacle to the Student Housing West project in its present form will emerge at the meeting scheduled for March 13-14. With a deadline to begin construction in the summer season, approval of the project is almost certain. 

This leaves only litigation as a way to stop the destruction of the East Meadow. After March 14th, those contemplating legal action under California Environmental Law must file suit within thirty days. That decision will depend on technical and legal analysis of the Environmental Impact Report once that complex document is finally made public. It will also depend on gathering critical financial and political support.  We’ll be addressing these issues in future “East Meadow Updates.” East Meadow Action Committee (EMAC)

NISSAN DEALERSHIP & SUSTAINABLE SOQUEL PROGRESS! “Sustainable Soquel” sent this email. I edited it just a little.

“We know many of you are anxious to hear how things are going with the legal action against the county. The good news is that we are in the homestretch, with a final court date likely in March. It’s been about two years since our community was first alerted about a Nissan Dealership project at 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive. At that time, many of us were stunned when we discovered there was no public notification, no Environmental Impact Report and no public hearings planned. We later learned the project was quietly being pushed through for approval by our County’s own CAO’s Economic Development Department and the Planning Department. The county ignored our community’s Sustainable Plan and the General Plan and voila – came up with its own plan for an auto dealership for that corner instead.

Our recent legal action has revealed a shocking discovery, including this….
The Planning Department has a subjective policy of purging emails that it believes has no relevance. In our case, the planners conveniently purged thousands of emails that should have been part of the legal record. Fortunately, our attorney was able to recover over 2,000 purged emails from the county’s computer mainframes. This information sent a bit of a shock-wave into our Sustainable consciousness about our local governmental lack of oversight and the lengths they will consider in covering their tracks.

However, we are only halfway to our goal of $20,000 for attorney fees.

It’s been a long haul, and your passionate input at the Planning Commission and Supervisor meetings inspired us to take that step in June when we filed a “Writ of Mandate against the County,” a court order to government agencies to correct their previous illegal behavior in order to comply with the law. It’s very difficult for citizens to challenge actions taken by governments. Many of you have given generously and we thank you. We still need financial support to see this through. We hope we can count on you to consider a second donation to this noble cause that will no doubt impact all of our lives and the Soquel community we leave to future generations.

Please help spread the word – share this with your friends and neighbors. 

Donate now – GofundMe campaign

Send Checks payable to:

Sustainable Soquel 3777 Cherryvale Avenue. Soquel, Ca. 95073  

Best Regards,

Lisa Sheridan – For Sustainable Soquel

Sustainablesoquel@gmail.com

EXTRA SPECIAL MOVIE REVIEW…
STAN & OLLIE. Full disclosure…as you can figure out from the photo nearby, I had a wonderful afternoon with Stan Laurel and his wife in their upstairs beach front apartment in Malibu in the fall of 1962. Stan told me about their European tour in 1953, which is the focus of this new film. He said it gave both of them some much-needed boosting. He also talked about their appearance on Ralph Edward’s “This Is Your Life” in 1954, and how it appearance was. Stan and I sent Christmas cards back and forth for a few years. Stan & Ollie has a 92 on Rotten Tomatoes, and Stan died in 1965. When I find those notes from him, I’ll share.

The movie is “bittersweet”, well-acted and does lay out the semi business-friendly relationship the two comics had all their lives together. Go see it.

P.S. I had an equally enlightened visit with Aldous Huxley and his wife in their Berkeley apartment while he was teaching at UCB someplace around 1962. We talked about my then-recent LSD and psilocybin experiences. He was one of the most friendly, accessible people I’ve ever met and yes, I still have his personally autographed copy of “Doors Of Perception“.

FAREWELL PETER McGETTIGAN. Peter was a videographer, veteran, volunteer, and much more. There’s going to be a special tribute to him: February 9, 2019, 11am – 1pm in the Santa Cruz MAH Garden Room. It’s free, and donations are welcome.
First, Peter’s sister Martha will speak about their Vallejo family. Then others will offer tributes to and remembrances of Peter:

• Stan Stevens on the nomination of Peter for the Distinguished Historian Award.
• Alverda Orlando on Peter’s work filming Davenport oral histories.
• George Ow, Jr. on his friendship with Peter.
• Joe Hall on Peter’s work for Community Television.

Attendees are also invited to say a few words about Peter and his work related to local history.
There will also be a display of some of Peter’s art collection that he donated to the MAH.

Martha’s talk evolves from an artifact in the Vallejo-McGettigan family collection for over 142 years. It demonstrates the diplomatic and respectful connection of the Russians in early California to the Spanish Mexicans of the time, and the Vallejo family. This is a military campaign chest, engraved with the General M.G. Vallejo’s initials and his granddaughter’s, Francisca Carrillo Vallejo. E. Peter Vallejo McGettigan was one of Francisca’s grandchildren and so connected to the Russian silver chest. He passed away June 14, 2018 in Santa Cruz, California, where he had been a resident since 1975. Peter became well-known and recognized for his extensive documentaries, producing, directing, editing and chronicling that community’s history. He made several trips to Russia – first for a Sister City (Alushta) event in 2003, and then again in 2011 in conjunction with a documentary project in Croatia. His obituary can be found here

January 28

ADDRESSING HOMELESSNESS IN SANTA CRUZ.
Who’s not writing about “Camp Ross” these days? It’s the 135-tent (and growing) encampment stuffed between Ross Dress for Less and Highway 1 at River Street. Have we reached our Hundredth Monkey moment in which most all Santa Cruzanos now realize there is a homeless-houseless crisis and are ready to do something? The state of California is sending us $10 million this year and another $10 million next year to help cope with this crisis. There is no better time than now for city and county government to work together and direct these funds in helping address the severe misfortunes of so many of our fellow residents. Not only housing–emergency, interim, and long-term–but funding mental health and substance abuse programs, hiring social workers, establishing a 24/7 homeless shelter with day services, job referral and networking office, installing homeless liaisons to assist those seeking services to actually obtain them. For example, help is needed in filling out paperwork in order to receive food stamps and other needed services. We can do this. It will not be accomplished in a couple months, but if we start now, maybe over the next couple of years, but we must begin. In order to help facilitate that beginning, the Santa Cruz City Council formally passed a motion at its January 22nd meeting that a public forum and councilmember action around homeless issues would take place at its next regularly scheduled meeting on Feb. 12th. The public is invited. Time and place will be posted here on February 8.

Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance Changes
These changes are from an email from Sarah Neuse, city planner in a Santa Cruz ADU Ordinance Update memo. They are also on the Planning Department’s web site.

1. Proposals APPROVED:

State Required Changes

1. Removing parking requirement for Attached ADUs (attached to the primary home, to a garage, or to another legal structure on the property);
2. Removing the Minimum Parcel Size (ADUs can now be added to any size lot);
3. Allowing ADUs by right in all Residential Zones, when built with a single-family home; 
4. Removing requirements for Use Permits/Design Permits for ADUs on substandard lots;
5. Allowing ADUs above garages to provide minimum setbacks of 5 feet to side and rear lot lines (previously required minimum of 10 from the rear).

Site and Building Standards

1. Allowing full reconstruction of Conversion ADUs (previously limited to 50% of the structure);
2. Allowing modest expansions of Conversion ADUs of up to 120 square feet of floor area and 2 feet of height; and
3. Allowing interior connections between an attached ADUs and the Primary Home on the parcel (Building Code will likely require a self-closing, fire-rated door for this connection).

Land Use Policy Items

1. Modifying the definition of Owner-Occupant to include immediate family members (limited to Spouses, Siblings, Parents, and Adult Children).

Additionally, Council passed a resolution reducing the General Plan Maintenance Fee by half for ADU applications.  This could be a savings of $450-$750/ application, depending on size and estimated value of the project.

1. Proposals placedON HOLD:

 Site and Building Standards

1. Increasing Rear Yard Lot Coverage from 30% to 50%;
2. Changing ADU Green Building Standards to match those required for new Single-Family Homes (currently significantly higher); and
3. Allowing attached ADUs to be 10% of lot size (Currently limited to 50%);

Category 3: Land Use Policies

1. Allowing two ADUs on parcels over 10,000 sf; and
2. Eliminating parking requirements for Detached New Construction ADUs.

For these ON HOLD items, Council directed staff to return at a future date with an analysis of the feasibility of requiring perpetual affordability deed restrictions in exchange for each proposed change. 

III. Proposals DENIED:
One item from Category 3: Land Use Policies

1. Proposal to allow a temporary, three-year period of Short-Term Rental activity for newly-created ADUs.  This item will not return to Council. 

And Don’t Forget…ADU Affordability Reality Check
For a reality check, this is where the “market” is today (Jan. 27): $1500/mo. for an ADU with no bedrooms, no laundry, and not even an oven.. And these are some of the jobs being offered: “senior maintenance” job in Santa Cruz is currently offered at $13.70 an hour,  a Beckmann’s Bakery driver, full-time, is being offered at $15/hr.,  Many Santa Cruz jobs pay minimum wage, still.

FlixBus
Wow, a new transportation option is coming to Santa Cruz, and none too soon! The FlixBus will be stopping twice a day at our Pacific Avenue Metro Center beginning, soon. Surf City will be part of a FlixBus itinerary within the San Francisco to San Diego route. Here is what the last Metro Bus Board agenda said about the FlixBus agreement:

“FlixBus is a German owned company, which originated in Munich, Germany offering intercity bus service. FlixBus was launched in 2013 following the deregulation of the German bus market and by 2015 expanded across Europe. On May 15, 2018, FlixBus announced its expansion into the US market. As of May 31, 2018, FlixBus offers 180 connections within the southwest parts of the country, operating from a main hub in Los Angeles. Main cities planned to be served include Las Vegas, San Diego, Tucson and Phoenix, and San Francisco. It plans to have expanded the network to over 1,000 connections by the end of 2018. The service provided to Santa Cruz consists of a route between San Francisco and San Diego.”

This has the chance of helping bridge a very shaky public transportation link for students and other travelers to and from the Bay Area. My hunch is that hundreds of our UCSC students bring cars to town, park them and only use them to go back to the Bay Area or down to Southern California on a couple of weekends each month. If the FlixBus works it could relieve student and parent anxiety about having a real transportation option it also might see less cars parked on the streets of Santa Cruz. I had great experiences with the FlixBus this past summer traveling between Berlin and Paris and Prague. Could it be a transportation game-changer? Only if the current routes were successful and then more buses were added, perhaps for shorter trips to Bay Area. We’ll see.

“Our infrastructure is crumbling. Instead of building a wall on the Mexican border, we should create millions of good-paying jobs rebuilding our roads, bridges, water systems, wastewater plants, schools, airports and affordable housing”. (Jan. 28)

(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

January 28

HOW SHALL THE COUNTY SPEND $10 MILLION TO HOUSE THE HOMELESS?
That is the question being asked, along with Request For Proposals (RFP), issued January 18 by the County.  The County Board of Supervisors had to declare a “Shelter State of Emergency” last fall in order to qualify for the State money.  That action also allows the jurisdictions to WAIVE ALL HEALTH AND SAFETY CODES in order to fast-track construction and use the money quickly.  Hmmmm….

What I want to know is how could the County get a $10 Million Grant without any idea of how it would be used?  Usually, those grant applications are carefully-crafted and specify projects and timelines, with measurable outcomes, and explicit reporting measures.  How can the State just toss $10 Million to the County and say : “Here you go!  Have fun, and don’t forget to write!”  Meanwhile, a “non-conflicted group” has taken half a year to issue the RFP for ideas on what to do, the sad tent city along Highway One’s north portal to the City is growing, and not much is actually getting done to solve the problem or help the people sleeping in the mud.

Here is a good report and photo from the Register-Pajaronian. Write a letter to the editor….or maybe submit an RFP for some Tough Sheds behind Ross and the large plot of land in Watsonville behind the Health Services Agency (where all the FEMA trailers were installed after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake and plumbing still exists).  That’s what the City of Oakland has done, and Mayor Libby Shaaf recently reported that 70% of those housed in the Tough Shed camps last year found permanent housing within the year.

Oakland’s  Northgate Avenue Tuff Shed Camp. (before it opened)

WHY DRINK EXPENSIVE TREATED SEWAGE WATER?
Indeed, why would Soquel Creek Water District gouge customers repeatedly for the next five years just to pay for an expensive and environmentally-damaging project to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water daily into the drinking water supply for everybody in the MidCounty area when there is an alternative?  The Surface Water Transfer Pilot Project has not even been given a chance to work, yet the District wants to FAST-TRACK the construction of the PureWater Soquel Project that will cost ratepayers $200 Million, including debt burden, when the water is available from Santa Cruz  The District just has to ASK but won’t!

We all need to write LAFCO today and insist that the Commission initiate consolidation of Soquel Creek Water District and the City of Santa Cruz Water Dept. for better regional management of water supplies and storage, and to eliminate expensive and redundant administrative costs.  Make no mistake, the District will be asking Santa Cruz City water customers, Central Water District customers, small independent water company customers, and private well owners and the County government officials to help them pay for this expensive treated sewage water with the claim that “it will improve the groundwater levels in the MidCounty Basin and therefore, everyone who benefits should pay.”  The District has already convinced the MidCounty Groundwater Agency to swallow that pill and to approve helping to pay for such large projects, even though the By-Laws of the Agency state that they will not do any projects, but exist only to develop the long-term Groundwater Sustainability Plan that the State requires they submit by January 1, 2020.

Write LAFCO Director Pat McCormick  today:

Pat McCormick pat.mccormick@santacruzcounty.us and copy Debra Means debra.means@santacruzcounty.us 

LAFCO
Room 318 “D”
701 Ocean Street
Santa Cruz, CA  95060

STOP SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S $200 MILLION PLAN TO INJECT TREATED SEWAGE WATER INTO YOUR DRINKING WATER BY PROTESTING EXPENSIVE RATE INCREASES BY FEB. 19
If you or someone you know is a Soquel Creek Water District customer, you need to file written protest of the impending ANNUAL WATER RATES AND SERVICE FEE RATE that will happen for the next FIVE YEARS in order to provide money for the expensive treated sewage water the District staff wants you to drink.  All protest must be in writing, addressed to “Protest Officer”, and include your service address (not a P.O. Box address), assessor parcel number (the number above the name on the bill) and a statement that you protest both the water rate increase and the service fee increase.  Sign and print your name.  DO THIS BEFORE FEBRUARY 19.

Make a copy for your record (just in case we ask for a verified re-count) and mail to:

Protest Officer
Soquel Creek Water District
P.O. Box 1550
Capitola, CA  95010

or

Take it in person to the District office at 5180 Soquel Drive, Soquel

or

Bring it with you to the Rate Increase Hearing on February 19, 6pm, at the Capitola City Council Chambers in Capitola Village. Attend this Hearing if you can.  The Board and staff need to hear from you because they have completely lost touch with the people they are supposed to serve.  Please consider writing a letter to the editor of a local newspaper, too!  In my opinion, this is political insanity.

ATTEND “WATER FOR SANTA CRUZ COUNTY” EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS
Learn more about how to correctly file those Soquel Creek Water District proposed rate and service fee increases and how plenty of water and the pipe lines to move it already exist.   Water for Santa Cruz County is hosting two free educational workshops at the Aptos Library: Tuesday, January 29 and Tuesday, February 12, both at 7pm-8pm.  You can find more information about all this here.  

COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS SUPPORT ANNA ESHOO’S RESISTANCE TO 5G UNTESTED TECHNOLOGY IN PUBLIC RIGHTS-OF-WAYS
Many thanks to County Supervisor John Leopold for recommending the County support Rep. Anna Eshoo’s HR 530 claim of Home Rule Doctrine that would resist the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) mandate to force all jurisdictions to allow unlimited installation of telecommunication industry untested 5th Generation (5G) technology within public rights-of-ways. (Consent Agenda Item #21 on 1/29/2019 Board Agenda)  The new technology would require placement of equipment every 400′-500′ on utility poles, street lights and traffic lights throughout the jurisdictions, without any recourse to resist or regulate the placement for any reason. 

This new technology has not been tested in the U.S.A.  where the regulatory FCC has been captured and held hostage by the telecommunications industry.  However, researchers in other areas of the world have found alarming evidence that the level of electro-magnetic radiation emitted by 5G could cause widespread health problems due to interference with voltage-regulated calcium gate mechanisms within the body that are responsible for proper neurological functions.  That means that people could just drop of a heart attack, and no one is talking about effects on wildlife or other natural elements.

Here is the link to Anna Eshoo’s HR 530

Here is the link to her explanation about why she thinks this matters

Here is a link to a short YouTube video by Dr. Martin Pall, describing to the National Institute of Health the medical insanity of 5G technology proliferation

Contact Anna Eshoo and give her your support!

COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ADOPT NEW CLIMATE CHANGE STATE OF EMERGENCY RECOMMENDATIONS
Read what the County Supervisors John Leopold and Ryan Coonerty are recommending on the Consent Agenda Item # 23 on the 1/29/2019 Board Agenda.  I always pay close attention whenever a “State of Emergency” gets declared for anything, because it usually waives existing regulations and allows for different funding mechanisms to kick in.  Depending on who is driving that bus, and what their intentions really are, it can be either a positive thing or a disaster.  In this case, I am not sure….. Take a look and see what you think

I would appreciate your comments and discussion, especially in light of the action the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) took last week, and the issue of ever-changing housing density codes and agricultural land preservation.   (Becky Steinbruner )

COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION WILL CONSIDER CLIMATE CHANGE PUBLIC SAFETY & HAZARD MANAGEMENT CHANGES TO COUNTY CODE AND COASTAL GENERAL PLAN
The County Planning Commissioners, a very thorough and thoughtful group of citizens who oversee the changes proposed to Planning Department issues, will continue considering the proposed updated changes to the Public Safety and Hazard Management General Plan, Local Coastal Program and County Code Amendments on Wednesday, February 13, 9am in the 5th Floor Supervisor Chambers.  This has been continued a few times because it is so massive, and includes changing how and where people can build in the coastal and riparian areas due to predicted climate change impacts.  You can review the documentation and listen to the audio recording here (take a look at Item #7 on the December 12, 2018 meeting post)

When I attended the December 12, 2018 meeting, the room was filled with people who own or manage property on the coastal bluffs.  Having listened to their concerns, and given thought to the recent action in the Rio del Mar Beach Drive area, I wonder….now that the County and Coastal Commission have reclaimed the thoroughfare access in front of those beachfront homes, will the County be responsible for building an engineered seawall to protect the houses?  I wonder if the rip-rap that now exists, and was probably placed these by the property owners, will all have to be removed and replaced with engineered materials that meet the soon-to-be approved new County regulations responding to climate change hazards.  Hmmmm………    What are your thoughts?

COUNTY WILL HIRE TWO TRAFFIC ENGINEERING CONSULTANTS FOR $600,000
Another interesting Consent Item on the January 29, 2019 Board of Supervisor Agenda is #45, approving contracts for the next two years with Kimley-Horn Associates and Reggeri-Jensen Associates for traffic analysis and design work throughout the County’s unincorporated areas.  The total contract is up to $600,000.  Wow.

What will they do?  Where will that work be focused?   How will the results be used?  Is this tax-payer funded traffic analysis to support large developers?  I asked those questions in a few e-mails to Public Works Director Matt Machado matt.machado@santacruzcounty.us and learned that the areas of highest concern for County officials is Soquel Drive.  The exact project areas have yet to be determined, but the County Public Works Department is really short-staffed right now, and the traffic analysis is needed, he said.  The Phase 2 Traffic Improvements at Aptos Creek Road in Aptos Village are already a done-deal and will begin this year.

How did the County choose those two consultants?  I forgot to ask that, but members of the Sustainable Soquel group, who are taking the County to task with a Writ of Mandate for faulty process and a host of other eyebrow-raising misdeeds regarding the proposed Nissan auto dealership at 41st Avenue and Soquel Drive, have pointed out that Kimley-Horn & Associates were notably sloppy in their analysis for that project.  Kimley-Horn also has done the “traffic study” for the proposed Kaiser Medical Facility and 700 car parking garage on the Soquel Avenue Frontage Road (working with the County, by the way) and used cameras to count cars for two hours for one afternoon on one day.  Hmmmm…..how meaningful can that information be?  

I guess it depends on who is paying them for the study.  So, in this case, you and I will be paying the bill….$600,000.  What should we expect?  Write Matt Machado and ask: matt.machado@santacruzcounty.us

Take a look at Consent Item #45 here

WILL SANTA CRUZ BE NEXT TO GET SUED BY THE STATE?
It is shocking to me that Governor Newsom is suing Huntington Beach for not building enough housing to meet the State’s mandated boom.  Do you think local people can be trusted to do what is best for their own jurisdictions?  That’s the basis of “Home Rule”, and I think it makes sense.  But according to news reports, Governor Newsom wants 3.5 million new residential units to be built and may continue going down the hit list of the other 51 cities and counties like Huntington Beach that are not goose-stepping to his mandate.

The State has for years imposed requirements called Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) on all counties and cities in California, mandating that the jurisdiction build a certain number, based on state population growth and projected housing needs.  Last year, Senator Scott Wiener got a law passed (AB 72) that allows the State to enforce that mandated growth with lawsuits and penalties.  The law went into effect January 1, 2018, but only now, with a new Governor, are we seeing the heavy-handed approach begin. Given that the Santa Cruz County General Plan Housing Element acknowledges that the numbers and tactics EXCEED RHNA REQUIREMENTS,  one would think it not likely that Governor Newsom has our area in the immediate cross-hairs of litigation. However, Santa Cruz County IS on the SB 35 “Hit List” for non-compliance, as is Capitola, Scotts Valley and Watsonville.    However, Santa Cruz City is NOT on the list…it must be those 750 new building permit applications just in that are the counter-weight, but how many of those will be affordable units?  That is the question, isn’t it?

Mercury News article

hcd.ca.gov  

But what about the infrastructure to support this mandated growth?  That was the question posed to Senator Wiener by a Salinas City Councilman last November at the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership “State of the Region” presentation in Seaside.  Senator Wiener’s reply was “talk with me later, and we can work something out.”

Have you been to San Jose recently?  It is shocking.  Do you want to live in a place that looks like that, and has the broken transportation infrastructure that Santa Cruz seems to be plagued with?  Who is driving the local bus to decide how our County will grow?

Based on recent massive changes to County housing codes for “Enhanced Density Bonus” rewards to developers, I think it is the wealthy bankers and developers in Monterey Bay Economic Partnership (MBEP).  That private group wrote the housing code changes that were recently rubber-stamped by Santa Cruz County and City, and also other area jurisdictions.  Senator Wiener thanked them all at the MBEP gathering last November. 

I saw the initial presentation of Sibley Symon’s White Paper get shoved through the County Housing Advisory Commission (HAC) and jettisoned off to the Board of Supervisors for rubber stamping, noting “unanimous approval’ by the HAC.  Planning Department staff advisor for the HAC is Julie Conway, who serves on the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission (which seems like a conflict of interest to me) and handily helped push it through there, too.

Here is a good synopsis of the dizzying new legislation to force local government to ignore local people

Can we build enough?

Call the Governor’s Office at 916-445-2841 and let him know what you think,  or write.  

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

Sunday, January 27, 2019 #27 / The Underbelly Of Mendacity

Instead of the title I chose, I thought about using the following title for this blog post: “Tuck in your shirt!” Pictured above is Roger J. Stone, Jr., whom The New York Times identifies as a “Trickster Who Is Right Where He Wants to Be.” That’s the hard copy version, of course. The online version of the article has a slightly different title.  I was surprised to see that Stone permitted himself to be photographed in such an unflattering way. Look below for the photo that The Times ran with the story that I have linked above. This is how Roger Stone likes to be portrayed. He always seems to be very well put together:

You can see more evidence of Stone’s sartorial sensibilities by watching the video of Stone’s appearance at The New Yorker Festival in 2016. If you click the link, you can see a video of Stone, and others, discussing “What Would a Trump Presidency Look Like?” 

The discussion documented in this video took place on October 8, 2016, exactly one month before the presidential election. Stone is impeccably dressed – far better than the other panelists. I was in the audience, and noted, very particularly, what a sharp dresser Stone was. I also heard him brag, during this appearance, about the upcoming WikiLeaks releases that would damage the Clinton campaign, very late in the campaign season. Later on, Stone claimed to have no insider knowledge. That was definitely not the impression Stone gave to the audience at The New Yorker Festival, and as it turns out, Stone subsequently lied under oath about his supposed lack of inside knowledge – at least that is what the Special Counsel says. 

Like many, I am waiting to see whether any “collusion” between the president and Russia is ever documented so clearly that an impeachment of the president would be appropriate. Whether or not that kind of proof is ever forthcoming, the article that ran in The Times yesterday definitely shows that  lots of those associated with Trump have lied about what happened in the 2018 presidential campaign. There is a little “chart” in the article, showing the connections. Stone is there, as are Paul Manafort, Michael D. Cohen, and others. Everyone shown in the chart has been convicted of a crime, except Stone and Konstantin V. Kilimnik, who is now in Russia and thus not susceptible to immediate prosecution. 

Pundits (on the left, admittedly) are saying that a “coverup” of the Trump campaign’s collusion with Russia will soon be proven. Things are coming “undone,” they say. 

I will wait for actual proof, myself, but in the meantime, the fact that Stone is coming “undone,” and isn’t “covering up” anymore, letting his underbelly hang out as he makes his pronouncements of innocence, seems like some kind of metaphor to me, some kind of indication that lies and mendacity are coming to light!

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

EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Laugh’s and inner thoughts…flick downwards & check it out.

EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Is It Over Yet ” 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: “Hey, movie fans! Now that it’s awards season, my pal and esteemed colleague, Christina Waters, and I are talking Oscars. We try to make sense of this year’s nominees so you don’t have to, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also, find out why the 18th Century French authoress who wrote the first version of Beauty and the Beast in print is considered the godmother of the modern fantasy genre — and how she gets a shout-out in my Beast book!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.  

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. . John Laird discusses his plans to run for Bill Monning’s State Senate Seat on January 29, then Bill Raney talks about his new book, “Beatniks, North Beach in the 60’s”. Linda Burman-Hall discusses the full season of The Santa Cruz Baroque Festival on Feb. 5 followed by UCSC Math prof. Ralph Abraham with news of his two new books on the Hip History of Santa Cruz.  Ellen Grace O’Brian talks about her book, ” Jewel Of Abundance” on February 12.  Authors and Publishers Doug and Rachel Abrams discuss their new book on finding, maintaining relationships “Eight Dates” OR…if you just happen to miss either of the last two weeks of Universal Grapevine broadcasts go here… http://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.   “FEBRUARY”

“February, when the days of winter seem endless and no amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of summer”.  Shirley Jackson

“February, fill the dyke With what thou dost like”. Thomas Tusser

“Groundhog found fog. New snows and blue toes. Fine and dandy for Valentine candy. Snow spittin’; if you’re not mitten-smitten, you’ll be frostbitten! By jing-y feels spring-y.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac

“Good morrow, Benedick. Why, what’s the matter,
That you have such a February face,
So full of frost, of storm and cloudiness?”
~William Shakespeare, Much Ado about Nothing