BRATTON…Greg Larson and other scares, Santa Cruz and the rich vs. the poor, Terrazas and my 2011 prediction, Halloween and our police state. GREENSITE…on Town and Gown Rents. KROHN…about rent control and detractors, minority politics and a new majority council. STEINBRUNER…No on Measure H and big money, zoning code changes, No on measure G because it’s deceptive, vote for Gary Lindstrum, Rancho Del Mar needs night lights. PATTON…about Gandhi and Satyagraha and political sickness. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover. JENSEN…reviews Happy Prince and Tea with The Dames BRATTON…I critique Free Solo, The Sisters Brothers, Tea with the Dames, Mid 90’s, Happy Prince and Halloween. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…about “November”.
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DUMBO OCTOPUS IN MONTEREY BAY. Another Ralph Davila discovery and current too! |
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Jack Teagarden & Louis Armstrong doing “Old Rockin’ Chair” |
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TOP TEN GREATEST STREET PERFORMERS. They missed the Karamavovs and Tom Noddy but these are pretty good too! |
DATELINE October 29, 2018
BEWARE OF GREG LARSON AND OTHER SCARY ITEMS. Never in my 48 (forty eight) years of voting in Santa Cruz have I watched a more desperate candidate than Greg Larson. I’ve never seen more money spent by an individual than Greg Larson, either. We need to ask why he has such desire, drive and — and such questionable financial backing. That includes every major developer, and of course the Boardwalk, franchises, the real estate conglomerate…think for a second what that means for Santa Cruz’s future. Larson has a long history in dealing, controlling, and manipulating city governments. He’ll apply that manipulation around our Council and staff, making even Cynthia Mathews decades-long backstage maneuvers look like Mary Poppins stuff. Larson lied about getting Democratic endorsements, he treated a woman Council candidate crudely and unfairly…what’s really behind Greg Larson’s driving campaign? Can we afford to find out? Think at least twice before voting next week or whenever.
DIVIDING SANTA CRUZ…THE RICH VS. THE POOR. Santa Cruz has changed a lot in the last 50-plus years, going from a quiet Republican town to a bustling Democratic University City. It is now changing from a middle class income level to land lords & land owners versus the working class. Look again at the campaigns against Rent Control…it’s the home owners and real estate investors against the students, staff, strikers, and it’s sad. We are seeing Santa Cruz go belly up to Silicon Valley’s selfish, demeaning and demanding territorial claims. It’s not the Santa Cruz so many of us moved here to support. Think about that too when you vote.
A TERRAZAS PREDICTION. Way back in my February 7-13 2011 “BrattonOnline” I wrote…
“TERRAZAS BET. WHAT HE WROTE, WHAT HE’S PLANNING. David Terrazas fooled a lot of friends and folks during his first campaign. They thought maybe, just maybe he would represent the progressive part of our community. I never did, and now we’ve just begun to see his pro-development, pro-business stand. Terrazas’ op-ed in Sunday’s Sentinel when he said things like “Enhance our town’s business environment”, and “simplify the process to obtain business permits” means just that. Like Berkeley’s Developing Democrats both Terrazas and Ryan Coonerty will be teaming up to bring us more big time development than we’ve seen in decades. Locally owned — hah! Watch and see. I shuddered when one friend even thought Terrazas was “naïve”. Not so, watch his pro-LOBA, pro-Chamber of Commerce votes and positions from here on out. I’ll tell you what, why don’t we make a bet…every time Terrazas votes WITH Ryan Coonerty on a meaningful issue, you pay me $5, every time he votes against RYAN I’ll pay you $5. Sure, add in Hilary Bryant and Lynn Robinson as part of RYAN’s voting followers”.
What I didn’t predict was how many photo-ops Terrazas would sneak into. Probably even more than Hilary Bryant…and she was much easier to look at than David. Before I forget…just what did Terrazas accomplish while in office? Like for instance Don Lane brought us the Police Bear Cat.
HALLOWEEN AND OUR POLICE STATE. Speaking of Santa Cruz City changes, doesn’t anyone dare point out that every step up in “POLICE REINFORCEMENT” produces worse results? Just like our local police dealing with Fourth Of July issues, these “situations” get worse instead of better each year. Can’t the city take some new stand or position in dealing with two of our supposed-to-be -un holidays? Fences, patrol wagons, batons and spotlights are not signs of a friendly city!
HOW UCSC GROWTH FUELS RENT INCREASES
When the UCSC Student Union Assembly (SUA) planned to circulate a campus wide email in support of the rent control ballot Measure M, the administration stepped in to (correctly) inform them that the use of university resources is not allowed for non-university political campaigns. The SUA is allowed to take a position on Measure M but not allowed to inform students who elected them of that position.
While UCSC spokespersons have not weighed in on Measure M, my assumption is they would be opposed to stabilizing rents in town. That is because UCSC depends on the smallest gap possible between town and gown rents to entice students to live on campus. In other words, a rise in town rents is essential to keep the gap small as campus rents rise which they do with every new campus housing development. Campus rent increases motivate a rise in town rents as landlords adjust accordingly. This upwards rental spiral is endless so long as UCSC continues along its growth path. Build more housing on campus as a rallying cry from the town will not solve the cost of housing crisis but paradoxically will worsen the situation, absent some form of rent control and/or UCSC capping its enrollment.
The reason for this unfortunate situation is twofold. It is expensive to build on campus for a variety of reasons involving a complex geology of underground caves and fragile soils. The cost to build on-campus housing is paid for by the students who subsequently live in them. Ever since the campus started to expand with College Eight (Rachel Carson College) then Colleges Nine and Ten, the rent for students has risen each year, fuelling a rise in town rents. The other reason is that in order to keep the costs as low as possible on campus, every bed must be filled or as close to full capacity as possible. This is called the occupancy rate and ideally is at 98% or higher. If the occupancy rate falls, then fewer students are shouldering the debt, meaning higher costs per individual student. If the gap between gown and town rents widens, more students opt to live off-campus, lowering the occupancy rate and raising campus rents for individual students, further motivating students to move off-campus. A vicious cycle if there ever was one!
The occupancy rate should not be confused with the percentage of the student body living on or off-campus. This proportion has historically hovered around the fifty % mark, which UCSC never tires of telling us is the highest in the UC system. Maybe, but it’s still only half and half of a future projected goal of 28000 students is 14000 students looking for off-campus housing. Currently approximately 18500 students attend UCSC and 8-9000 of them rent off campus. Ask yourself…can we accommodate another 5000 students on top of the current 9000 looking for off-campus housing if UCSC continues to grow? The town sent a strong message in the negative with the passing of Measure U, which so far has been largely symbolic. Add to the equation that city planners, city planning commissioners and current city council majority seem favorably inclined to essentially re-zone single family neighborhoods with second units, remove parking requirements and re-define owner occupancy to cover family members. If you don’t think there are wealthy UCSC students’ parents who can well afford to buy a house, add an ADU and have Junior and friends rent for four years and then flip the house then you don’t know the entire spectrum of UCSC students’ economic status. The discussion at planning commission meetings never includes the above scenario but is couched in terms of a poor property owner with ADU who has to enter a nursing home and so needs a family member to occupy one of the dwellings and pay rent, a violation of the current ADU Ordinance and part of the proposed changes. These changes plus the hundreds of market rate units about to be built downtown plus whatever Measure H adds in housing stock are more about housing students than housing low income work force. If the city wants to refute that claim, then they should conduct a survey of all housing complexes built over the past two decades and assess the percentage rented by students. It’s no coincidence that such developments offer 9-month leases.
As the campus gears up to develop 3000 bed spaces on the west side and build on the sacred East Meadow (pictured), the city is embarking on a similar growth path. The resulting increase in rents on and off the hill should test that old saw of supply and demand. The demand is bottomless. The supply rides roughshod over a town that is fast losing its character along with its working class.
| 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. |
RENT CONTROL AND ITS DETRACTORS
The seven members of the Santa Cruz city council vote unanimously often. It’s probably 80% to 90% of the time on issues concerning water, sanitation, traffic, and public safety. But it is that other 10%-20%, the stuff of ideology, common sense, and political ill will, that can really fire up the base and likely contributes to forging the on again-off again iconoclast character of this town. Take rent control, probably the most contentious, debatable, and compelling issue to hit Surf City at least since desalination, remember that? Rent control is the former desal debate on steroids. Can’t get away from it, at New Leaf, Staff of Life, the Nickelodeon, strolling on Pacific Avenue, or standing in line at CVS, the conversations rage on while signs are torn down and landlords openly deny their tenant’s rights of putting up signs the owner disagrees with, even if state law deems it political free speech. A huge, perhaps long-festering wound has been opened anew in Surf City. While many university classes teach and preach about class struggle, all students need do is walk around town and there it is, “No on M, too expensive, too extreme.” For who? Thank goodness, the election season has an ending, although later and later each year. I queried Gail Pellerin, our county clerk who counts all the votes, when she might be finished itemizing results. She was quick to point out that she has 30 days after Nov. 6th to certify the election, and from what I gathered she will want the whole month. So, Dec. 6th is thirty days out from Election Day, and by then we should have the final results.
Minority Politics, What’s Been Done?
This will likely be my last column before the Nov. 6th election, so I want to recall what has been possible to accomplish as a member of the often 5-2, sometimes 4-3, minority on the Santa Cruz city council. Of course, I am hoping for majority days ahead with the results of the upcoming election, but now might be the right time to see what was actually accomplished by the political maneuvering and negotiating by the minority, usually Sandy Brown and myself. I will follow this by what might be possible if Drew Glover and Justin Cummings can join us in the next term. Perhaps the greatest accomplishment of the 2016 Brand New Council Campaign was getting a rent freeze and a just cause eviction ordinance enacted. The freeze passed with a unanimous 5-0 city council vote earlier this year after much community organizing and political wrangling, and although Councilmember Cynthia Mathews and me could not vote on the rent freeze, as we rent out property, the city attorney ruled that we could vote on the just cause eviction ordinance. Neither of these two laws had ever been passed in the city of Santa Cruz by anyone’s recollection. Another never-before-done successful resolution was the establishment of a first-time city sanctioned campground for the homeless. Even though freighted with a hefty monthly price tag (around $80k-90k) the experience proves that a homeless campground can operate viably in the city and not be a recurring annoyance to neighbors and constant concern for the police. The majority, prodded by the minority, came to see all three of these measures as necessary in doing our job and protecting the most vulnerable residents of our community. Maybe the sleeper “big issue” is the 76% yes vote that Measure U received in the past June election. Through the elbowing, pushing, and sometimes rhetorical outcry of both the community and our council minority this issue got in front of the people of Santa Cruz and the clear message was: stop the growth now, it’s too much, and the community would like the council to push back. On this issue, clearly the majority and minority agree that the growth of the university is at the root cause of every major traffic, housing, water, and transportation issue in this town. What’s the next council going to do about it?
Other Minority Stuff
This is my top ten list of issues that just might never have arrived to the city council agenda unless two members of the Brand New Council, which ran in 2016, were not elected.
- Sanctuary city ordinance was passed. It prohibits city employees from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents.
- Sanctuary city resolution declares Santa Cruz a Sanctuary city, which means in essence we—local government, police, and community—have an obligation to assist, protect, and shelter undocumented people living and working in Santa Cruz.
- The community came together after the ICE raid and demanded answers because of the organizing of SC4Bernie. Councilmember Sandy Brown and myself asked questions of the police such that then police chief, Kevin Vogel distanced himself from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) on National TV, and in the pages of the NY Times. He denounced DHS’s detentions of Santa Cruz residents during the February raid in Beach Flats. We were able to expose the fact that Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) had a desk at the Santa Cruz Police Department.
- We brought a resolution forward supporting the Standing Rock Sioux community in North and South Dakota and stated that the community of Santa Cruz, Ca. opposes the Dakota Access pipeline (DAPL) going through the reservation’s property.
- A resolution supporting the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and to “recognize, acknowledge, commend, and fully support the Amah-Mutsun Ohlone Tribe (Amah Mutsun Tribal Band) and other California tribes, bands, and nations, in their stand to obtain formal recognition at the Federal level and by the United States Congress…” was also passed. It was a first for the tribe!
- We were also able to maneuver the SF Mime Troupe through the red tape thrown up by this city’s Planning Dept.–two years in a row–so that they were able to perform two shows in the San Lorenzo Park each year.
- Restated that juggling is NOT a crime in Santa Cruz and got a fine rescinded and downtown deputies made aware of this non-law.
- Arranged a meeting between former Seattle chief of police and now police reformer, Norm Stamper, and our city manager Martin Bernal and police chief Andy Mills in order to discuss “community policing.”
- With the assistance of the Branciforte Action Network, Save Santa Cruz, and the Community Water Coalition Councilmember Brown and I were able to get the city council and Planning Department to begin rethinking the Corridors Plan (“on hold”).
- Although the “library-garage” plan on the site of the current Farmer’s Market passed in September, we were able to get planners to contemplate including affordable housing as part of the project.
What Could a New Majority Do?
Wow, wouldn’t that be something to get Dr. Justin Cummings and Drew Glover elected to the Santa Cruz city council? My friends, you can help make it happen, especially if you are interested in any of the following issues:
- The new majority could reshape the recently passed “library-garage” project and bring greater scrutiny and advocacy to maintaining the library exactly where it is and making a permanent home for the Farmer’s Market right there at the corner of Lincoln and Cedar Streets.
- The next council can negotiate with the Seaside Company and purchase the entire Beach Flats Community Garden for the people of Beach Flats and the city of Santa Cruz.
- The next city council can demand 25% affordable inclusionary units in every market-rate housing development that takes place in the city.
- The new majority council will designate and open a 24/7 homeless facility.
- The new city council will negotiate with the regents of the University of California a no more growth policy between the city of Santa Cruz and UCSC.
The next city council has the opportunity of making the golf course pay for itself; pursuing co-op housing and “tiny homes” projects; pairing social workers with police officers in every car; putting Planning Commission meetings on Community Television; revamping the city’s bail schedule; and perhaps revisiting one of the bigger elephants in the room, returning the BearCat Tank to where it came from, the Dept. of Homeland Security. A lot is on the table in this election, not to mention, the implementation of rent control. Please vote and please volunteer for Justin or Drew or Measure M or ALL 3!
- Drew Glover for City Council: https://www.drewgloverforcitycouncil.com
- Justin Cumming for City Council: https://cummingsforcouncil.com
- Yes, on Measure M: https://santacruzrentcontrol.org
- Yes, on Prop. 10: https://voteyesonprop10.org
Volunteer, donate, VOTE!
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(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 |
BIG MONEY BEHIND MEASURE H CAMPAIGN AND CONNECTION WITH PLANNING DEPARTMENT PUSH FOR COUNTY NEW ZONING CODE CHANGES
The County Board of Supervisors agreed to put a proposed $140 Million bond measure debt burden to all property owners on the ballot as Measure H. Who is behind that effort? Big money. Monterey Bay Economic Partnership is the group that ran all the “community meetings” last year for Fred Keeley and Don Lane, crafters of the initiative, while they also had FREE administrative help and meeting space support by the Santa Cruz Community Foundation.
Who is the money behind Yes on Measure H? Take a look!
Why would PG&E donate $50,000? Out-of-town developers and construction companies have contributed tens of thousands of dollars and local developer contributions are well over $20,000. There is big money to be had in any future San Jose-like boom growth that the Monterey Bay Economic Partnership is also pushing. According to the website, that group of bankers and developers partnered in 2016 with Housing Trust Silicon Valley to create Monterey Bay Housing Trust. They have since raised over $12 Million and funded three projects.
Vote NO on Measure H because it violates State law (AB195) by omitting the duration of the debt to voters, is vague and poorly-written, and would place yet another 35+ year debt burden on every single piece of property in the County, residential and commercial alike, with NO exemptions for seniors, fixed incomes or disabled property owners who struggle now to pay mounting property tax assessments.
Now, how does this fit with the concurrent push by the Santa Cruz County Planning Department to shove through massive changes to zoning codes that would allow developers to decide where to build extremely dense (30 acres/unit) multi-story infill projects that do not event have to be within the Urban Services Line? Again, look again to the Monterey Bay Economic Partnerships group, who recently held a Community Meeting on October 17 at Simpkins Swim Center in Live Oak. This meeting was announced by Supervisor John Leopold at the October 16 Board of Supervisor meeting as a method of familiarizing his constituents with the proposed Enhanced Density Bonus and R-Combining District changes to County Zoning Codes. He made the announcement in response to a citizen public testimony revealing that the Board’s Consent Agenda Item #25 setting a Public Hearing for November 20 to consider these massive changes to codes did not even describe what the changes are, but rather simply listed “consider changes to Santa Cruz County Chapters 13.10, 13.10, 17.10 and 17.12 and declare CEQA exemption”.
The meeting Supervisor Leopold announced was in fact organized by Monterey Bay Economic Partnerships, a private non-governmental organization, with an opener by Supervisor Leopold. Here is the website for Monterey Bay Economic Partnerships, but the October 17 meeting was recently removed from the “events” listing
Where is government transparency?
Do you feel like Santa Cruz County is being sold out to big development with the complicity of local elected officials? I do! Santa Cruz City is also moving forward on identical sets of changes, and in fact, refers to recommendations of County Planning Department proposals to make City proposals consistent. Contact your County Supervisor and / or City Council representatives to ask about why such changes are being pushed through. The common answer is that it must be done to comply with new State requirements, but the fact is, many changes are admittedly beyond those requirements.
For example, the new changes would not only allow developers to get direct permission from the Board of Supervisors to designate selected areas as R-Combining Districts that would be extremely dense in-fill and not necessarily be served by sewer or water districts or with good transit connections, but would also allow developers many concessions (increased height and size of structures, less parking, and reduced setbacks from neighboring property lines) for initially including affordable housing in the mixed market rate housing project. However, developers could later decide NOT to build all of the affordable housing but keep the benefit of the concessions. Another proposed change is to allow developers to delay paying project impact fees (road improvements, sewer improvements, park and school impact fees) until AFTER the units have sold and are occupied. And it would all be CEQA exempt, to allow fast-tracking.
You can listen to Supervisor Leopold’s announcement during Public Comment on the Consent Agenda Items (#25) following the comments that I made.
I urge all to attend the November 20 Public Hearing before the Board of Supervisors, 5th Floor, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz. Why is this Public Hearing not being held during evening hours so that more people can attend???
County Supervisors: 831-454-2200
- Greg Caput greg.caput@santacruzcounty.us
- Ryan Coonerty ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us
- Zach Friend zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us
- John Leopold john.leopold@santacruzcounty.us
- Bruce McPherson bruce.mcpherson@santacruzcounty.us
COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION WONDERS WHY SO FEW PEOPLE ATTENDED PUBLIC HEARING RE: COASTAL DEVELOPMENT, NOISE AND FIRE CODE CHANGES
The Planning Commission wisely asked the Planning Department to continue a Public Hearing earlier this month when virtually no one from the public attended. These are significant changes in development. The Commission asked that the Planning Department notify potentially affected groups. That Public Hearing went before the Commission on October 24, and brought a vocal contingent from Pajaro Dunes and other coastal dwellers, but few others (possibly because the groups notified by the Planning Department, such as the Fire Safe Council, had not met yet).
Those who attended pointed to the complexity of the 700-page document staff initially presented to the Commissioners on October 10. Commissioners were perplexed about the late updates to the proposed changes they were being asked to now consider due to the fact that Planning Director Kathy Molloy had sent them out at 7pm only the night before. Copies were not made available for the audience to view, but Commissioners asked for a recess to give Planning staff the time to make copies of the document for the 20+ people in the audience.. Thanks to the Brown Act, the Commissioners could not take action but had public discussion on these very significant issues included in “The Public Safety and Hazard Management General Plan, Local Coastal Program and County Code Amendments”. These changes would also be CEQA-exempt, so regular public noticing may not be required. Thankfully, the next continuance of the Public Hearing will be December 12 before the Planning Commission.
These County Code changes affect all parcels in the County, whether in the mountains (new fire defensible space requirements and road clearance issues), coastal and riparian areas, and all others (new noise levels that are often the result of developers invading neighborhoods or commercial permits being given to rural area businesses, such as wineries and breweries). Take a look at the October 24 Public Hearing documents here.
Please attend the December 12 Public Hearing before the Planning Commission, 9am, 5th Floor, 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz.
MEASURE G COUNTYWIDE SALES TAX INITIATIVE IS DECEPTIVE
If you have not voted yet, I urge a NO vote on Measure G, a half-cent sales tax increase for 12 years countywide. The language is deceptive, leading voters to believe that the tax increase would benefit fire departments, but the truth is, none of the fire departments are funded from the County General Fund. Measure G sales tax increase would NOT benefit County Fire Department’s budget. For those of you living in the rural areas, a County Service Area (CSA) 48 increase was prepared to be on the November 6 ballot, but was shoved off the table until next spring’s elections by County Administrative Office (CAO) Carlos Palacios, with no notification to County Fire Administration. Doing so allows the CAO to prey upon current public concerns about fire danger in order to pass the proposed sales tax increase.
The proposed Measure G sales tax increase would fund some County Parks projects, such as Aptos Village Park, where such improvements should have been funded by developer fees associated with impacts of the massive Aptos Village Project but for which the County Planning Department waived all park development fees ($1000/unit). The County also granted the Aptos Village Project developers FREE drainage easement rights across the park’s land for storm water events, dumping parking lot and roof drainage water into Aptos Creek.
The proposed Measure G sales tax increase would also pay to replace a pedestrian foot bridge at the Farm Park in Soquel. According to local residents, that bridge fell apart in the 1980’s. The County currently has a monstrous bridge stored in the backyard view shed of locals in the Hardin Way neighborhood at the site that is not at all in keeping with what the County staff had assured them at Community meetings. Residents were told there would only be a small foot bridge but the County later abruptly brought in a crane and hauled in the five sections of 20’+ wide metal beam bridge “that was a good deal”. Now, residents report that civil engineers visiting the site report major concrete abutments would have to be constructed to support the weight of the “good deal” bridge, and it may not even fit together properly or fit the site. Some “deal”, huh?
Why throw more money in this with Measure G sales taxes?
Sadly, the wonderful LEO’s Haven All Abilities Park on Chanticleer Avenue would suffer with a NO on G vote, but with all the hard work the supporters have done to raise nearly $2 Million, surely CAO Palacios can find the money in the Budget to fund this great park.
SUPPORT A SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT CANDIDATE WHO HAS GOOD COMMON SENSE
If you or someone you know is a Soquel Creek Water District ratepayer, vote for Gary Lindstrum, candidate for the Board. Here is why:
Soquel Creek Water District Board is moving fast to shove through the very expensive and risky PureWater Soquel Project to inject 3+ million gallons/day of treated sewage water into the area’s drinking water supply. Staff and the Board have refused to allow the issue to go to ballot, to canvass ratepayers who will be saddled with over $200 Million debt at a time when District rates are already second-highest in the state for a system its size.
Gary has studied the water transfer agreements with Santa Cruz City, and is supportive to the Pilot Project that will begin November 26. The safety studies showed no problems, and the infrastructure is in place…the valve just has to be opened. Groundwater studies have shown the local aquifer is remarkably resilient and even in drought, the levels rose with good conservation. Gary insists that pursuit of the regional solution first, coupled with better use of rainfall when it comes via stormwater collectors, would be a wiser plan than burdening ratepayers who already struggle to pay their water bills. PureWater Soquel would impose an additional $200+ Million debt and an increase of $2.5 Million to the annual Operations Budget, along with health risks. The only other candidate to even ask “What will this mean for our ratepayers?” is Bruce Jaffe.
RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER HAS A FEW TENANTS WAITING IN THE DARK
I have been happy to see the “Erik’s Deli Now Open” signs on Soquel Drive in Aptos at the Rancho del Mar construction site. I am sure people who want to go there at night would appreciate TRC Retail turning on the parking lot lights to give customers and tenants a sense that it is indeed open and secure. Contact TRC Retail Project Manager Scott Grady sgrady@trcretail.com and demand security lighting be re-established. Read the article here and support these brave tenants if you can
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
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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, October 28, 2018 #301 / The Cure
An article on Gandhi that appeared in the October 22, 2018, edition of The New Yorker suggests what we must do to restore and revivify our failing political order:
Activists fighting for the environment, for refugees’ and immigrants’ rights, and against racial discrimination and violence continue to be inspired by satyagraha, Gandhi’s neologism meaning nonviolent direct action. The aim of satyagraha was to arouse the conscience of oppressors and invigorate their victims with a sense of moral agency….
Satyagraha, literally translated as “holding fast to truth,” obliged protesters to “always keep an open mind and be ever ready to find that what we believed to be truth was, after all, untruth.” Gandhi recognized early on that societies with diverse populations inhabit a post-truth age. “We will never all think alike and we shall always see truth in fragments and from different angles of vision,” he wrote….
No one would be less surprised than Gandhi by neo-Fascist upsurges in what he called “nominal” Western democracies, which in his view were merely better at concealing their foundations of violence and exploitation than explicitly Fascist nations were. He thought that democracy in the West was “clearly an impossibility so long as the wide gulf between the rich and the hungry millions persists”….
True democracy, or swaraj, involved much more participation from citizens, he believed; it required them to combine self-rule with self-restraint, politics with ethics. Turning his back on his middle-class origins, he brought millions of peasants into political life. To him, the age of democracy—”this age of awakening of the poorest of the poor”—was a cause for celebration, and he conceived of democracy as something that “gives the weak the same chance as the strong,” in which “inequalities based on possession and non-possession, colour, race, creed or sex vanish.” ….
His unabashed invocation of quasi-religious values in politics and his key value of self-sacrifice are also likely to disconcert many readers today. Such assertions as “Just as one must learn the art of killing in the training for violence, so one must learn the art of dying in the training for non-violence” set him in stark opposition to the utility-maximizing premises of Western political economy. But Gandhi’s radically different conception of the human being, and its relationship with others, gives his ideas an inner coherence….
At every point, Gandhi still upends modern assumptions, insisting on the primacy of self-sacrifice over self-interest, individual obligations over individual rights, renunciation over consumption, and dying over killing….
Karl Polanyi, a refugee from Fascist Europe, became convinced that Fascism, “the most obvious failure of our civilization,” was the consequence of subordinating human needs to the market, and he called for “freedom from economics.” Gandhi likewise argued that, “at every crucial moment, these new-fangled economic laws have broken down in practice. And nations or individuals who accept them as guiding maxims must perish.”
Gandhi was obsessed with the dangers to human freedom from hyper organized states, economic calculus, and technocracies, and he anticipated the many mid-century American and European intellectuals who grappled with the most obvious failure of their civilization: the eruption of barbarism in the heart of the modern West….
All this seems far removed from the rational debates and discussions that we assume are the way to build public consensus and inform government policy in democracies. But Gandhi realized that democratic politics, as the philosopher Martha Nussbaum has pointed out, “must learn how to cultivate the inner world of human beings, equipping each citizen to contend against the passion for domination and to accept the reality, and the equality, of others.” Moreover, a profound philosophical conviction lay behind the communal endurance of pain and the refusal to retaliate. Gandhi believed that society is much more than a social contract between self-seeking individuals underpinned by the rule of law and structured by institutions; it is actually founded upon sacrificial relationships, whether between lovers, friends, or parents and children.
What is wrong with our politics? It is not the fact that we are “divided.” We are inevitably “divided,” and politics is the arena in which we seek to make collective decisions notwithstanding the fact that we do not agree, and must nonetheless live together, despite our disagreements. The secret to a decent politics is that our struggles must be motivated by that “neologism,” satyagraha, “holding to the truth.” We must respect those with whom we have differences, and acknowledge that we may be wrong about our own position, but never stop clinging to what we believe – unless and until we are convinced that it is we, not those with whom we disagree, who are in error.
Are we willing, in fact, to sacrifice our own lives to advance what we believe to be the truth? By that I do not mean, primarily, our continued physical existence, though Gandhi did counsel that we should be prepared even for that. By “our lives,” I mean the conventionalities of our existence, our “routines,” our normal expectations and assumptions.
It does not take much by way of research to realize that we are in extremis. Our human civilization, which respects no limits (also mentioned in the article about Gandhi) is destroying the Natural World upon which our human civilization depends. Our willingness to allow the incredible productivity of our organized human efforts to benefit not most of us, but only the smallest slice of us, those 1%-ers at the top, will lead to violence, repression, and social and economic breakdown. It is already leading to death and disease around the world, and in our own country, too, the richest nation in history.
The cure for the life threatening political sickness that afflicts us will require radical change. Those who see a way towards a truth that can change our current realities must cling to that that truth strongly, and give it “agency” within the human world we share in common.
That does mean me. That does mean you.
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Gary 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 Ava, The Boys and still deeper in this week’s classic Subconscious Comics…just a scroll away.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “National Health Alert # 22 ” 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 “Fork It Over” a brief treatise on taxes , the rich and us too!
NEW MUSIC WORKS & SO DOES THE SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS!
Sunday, November 4 at 4 p.m. is the 40th Anniversary Shebang for The New Music Works and The Santa Cruz Chamber players. It’ll be at Peace United Church 900 High Street. Special foods by India Joze, Tickets at BrownPaperTickets.com
BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ’S BIRTHDAY PARTY. The Bookshop celebrates 52 years in business on Friday November 9. Bookshop readers card members will receive a 20% discount all day. That night there’s a birthday cake and ice cream for everybody plus the annual and once per year only appearance of The Hot Damn String Band. That’s Jim Reynolds guitar, Annie Steinhardt fiddle, Gary Cunningham string bass, Dave Magram banjo, Stuart Evans mandolin and as per usual I’ll be playing washboard. see you there!!.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Things aren’t so cheery for Oscar Wilde in The Happy Prince, a disturbing, yet utterly engrossing look at the disgraced author’s final days, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Meanwhile, acclaimed British actresses Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, Joan Plowright, and Eileen Atkins, get together for an afternoon of tea and conversation — always, trenchant, often hilarious — about life, love, friendship, and the craft of acting. Refresh yourself at Roger Michell’s irresistible documentary, Tea With the Dames.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
THE SISTERS BROTHERS. An unique film starring — and really, really starring — Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly as two cowboy brothers in California’s gold rush in 1851. Also in the cast (but not much) are Jake Gyllenhaal, Carol Kane and even Rutger Hauer! It’s funny, serious, preachy, bloody, and has some deep moments that will surprise you. Go prepared, but go see it!! 85 on RT
TEA WITH THE DAMES. Yes, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Joan Plowright are formidable actresses and Eileen Atkins probably is too, but I couldn’t remember seeing “anything of hers” in this documentary. The four sit and talk about their careers. Joan Plowright never reveals anything much about being married to Laurence Olivier. Folks still wonder if Laurence was gay and in love with Danny Kaye. Maggie Smith has never watched any of Downton Abbey! And Judi Dench has gained a lot of weight. Other than that, there’s no reason to go see this waste of time. CLOSES THURSDAY NOV.1ST.
MID 90’S. Comic Jonah Hill directed this mid 1990’s near-documentary of skateboarder teen agers coming of age in Los Angeles. My grandsons are going through the same period of life, and in the same area right now — but I could not sense what point or comment Jonah Hill was trying to make with this short (84 minutes) drama. The story seemed disjointed and pointless, but maybe that was the point?
THE HAPPY PRINCE. Rupert Everett wrote the script, and plays Oscar Wilde in this sad, dreary, tragic, depressing, story of Oscar’s life after his two years in prison for being gay. Colin Firth, Emily Watson, and Tom Wilkinson are in it too…but to no avail! It is the saddest and most unrewarding film I’ve seen in years. Besides all that, it looked to me like Rupert Everett had very fake looking stuffing to make him look like a depressed Wilde. But 70 on RT!. CLOSES THURSDAY NOV.1ST (AND A GOOD THING IT DOES!)
HALLOWEEN. Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis and her nemesis Michael Myers are back in another awkward attempt to make money…not cinematic progress. The usual scare attempts are used over and over, and they just plain flop. There isn’t a single reason to see this latest version of the 1978 original. Save your money for Candy Corn.
OLD MAN AND A GUN. Sissy Spacek (and her well-known nose) play foil to Robert Redford, in what he says will be his last movie. He’s 82 (and was born in Santa Monica, by the way). Sissy is 69 years old and is from Texas. Based on a true bit of muck, this movie has Redford as an old man who can’t quit robbing banks, or being very nice to everybody involved. Tom Waits is in it but I didn’t notice him! Casey Affleck is Redford’s foil, and does a brilliant low-key job. Danny Glover is in it too, and it’s good to see him working albeit in a very small part. Don’t miss this film. It’s cute, charming, friendly, and nicely done.
COLETTE. Dominic West from HBO’s The Wire (filmed in and centered in Baltimore) Eleanor Tomlinson from Demelza Poldark (filmed in and centered in England), and the lead Keira Knightly all play French people but have British accents. The music score is by Thomas Ades who was here once with the Cabrillo Festival of Music. It’s an almost trite and overused true story of a woman who does all the writing while her husband gets the credit. It’s veddy, veddy British, clever, lightweight, fun, go for it.
FIRST MAN. 88 on RT. Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong steals this saga about our landing on the moon in 1969. He’s nowhere near the type of human that Armstrong seemed to be, or must have been, to carry off this moon landing, marriage, fame, and some failures too. Claire Foy (The Queen) is wasted here as Neil’s wife. The movie is tense at times, nerve-wracking at others and is a full two hours and 18 minutes long. Armstrong died in 2012. It is such a tribute to our US space program, and such a hunk of our national pride, that it’s impossible not to enjoy. Go see it. Nope, they didn’t include the planting of the American flag.
A STAR IS BORN. Yes, the crowds are right: Lady Gaga is a genuine actor now. She takes almost all the movie away from Bradley Cooper. Cooper directed, financed most of it and plays and sings too. It’s a saga, a melodrama, and shares almost zero with any of the other 4 or 5 Star is Born flicks. Go see it, even if like me you’ve never seen or heard Lady Gaga before. According to Wikipedia… Lady Gaga is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986 in NYC)
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE. Once upon a time there was a hotel at Lake Tahoe named the Cal Neva. That’s because it was located right on the state borderlines of California and Nevada. It was cheap, shady, and gaudy — and so is this movie. Jeff Bridges plays a former bank robber dressed as a priest, and Jon Hamm is an FBI agent who for some reason uses a terrible southern accent. Chris Hemsworth plays a weird killer, and for some reason that makes the plot even odder. Its two and a half hours long and has more plot holes than I’ve seen in years. Don’t go unless you love old Motown hits and soul and rock n roll.
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. Jack Bowers and Dennis Morton describe their prison Art and poetry programs followed by City Councilmember Chris Krohn talking about voting and still more local issues on October 30. Environmentalist Grey Hayes takes the full hour on Election Night November 6. UCSC teacher Maria Herrera and her student talk about campus issues on Nov. 13. They are followed by Ken Koenig and Judy Allen discussing the Common Ground part of Santa Cruz Indivisible. November 20 has author George Fogelson talking about his book, “Jews Of Santa Cruz”. Bookshop Santa Cruz’s traditional night featuring the winners of their Young Writers Contest happens Nov. 27. Tandy Beal talks about her special performances on Dec. 4th. Then Carla Brennan shares news about her Insight Meditation workshops. 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
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This week’s fun and useful! 🙂
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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. “November”
“Wind warns November’s done with. The blown leaves make bat-shapes, Web-winged and furious.” Sylvia Plath, The Collected Poems
“There is October in every November and there is November in every December! All seasons melted in each other’s life!” Mehmet Murat ildan
“The house was very quiet, and the fog—we are in November now—pressed against the windows like an excluded ghost.” E.M. Forster, Howards End
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
October 17 – 30, 2018
BRATTON…a sad Greg Larson incident, latest news on UCSC’s East Meadow development. GREENSITE…on Housing for Whom? KROHN…10 reasons to vote YES on rent control, M campaign signs vanish. STEINBRUNER…Forums for Soquel Creek Water Board, Aptos/La Selva Fire Board, greedy Aptos Chamber, No on G. PATTON…about Trump rallies. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover. JENSEN…reviews Colette. BRATTON…critiques 22 July, Old Man and A Gun, First Man, Colette, Bad Times at the El Royale. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE guest lineup. QUOTES…on Halloween.
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PEE WEE HERMAN & TEQUILA. |
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JOHN OLIVER & DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME EXPLAINED |
DATELINE October 15, 2018
A VERY SAD GREG LARSON INCIDENT. Monday morning (10/15) I received this email…
“This past Sunday evening (10/14) after the filming wrapped at the local CTV community television headquarters for “Meet The Candidates,” Santa Cruz City Council Candidate Greg Larson singled fellow candidate Ashley Scontriano out for questioning regarding what could be done to put a stop to negative publicity. The conversation – which took place in a dark parking lot – began innocently with shared experiences of typical campaigning growing pains, but took an accusatory left turn when Larson told Scontriano to manage her “core” campaign supporters and prevent them from highlighting facts Larson felt undermined his efforts as a viable candidate. Scontriano felt cornered and blindsided by the false accusations. However, it was the next statement that had Scontriano floored by the gravity of Larson’s direct threat: “Depending upon who gets elected…If you do, I will want to continue to work with you on policy. But if I get elected, I won’t want to work with you and I will make it very hard for you to get anything done.”
Another female candidate who was present for the incident was so concerned for Scontriano’s safety she stayed around to make sure that Scontriano made it to her car safely. Going forward, Scontriano will make sure to have multiple supporters accompany her to her car after forums.
In a political climate that is already wrought with polarizing topics and alienating opinions, it is disheartening that a male candidate would use his power and control to intimidate a female candidate in this day and age”.
First I established the identity of the sender, and then I asked Ashley Scontriano if it was true. She replied…
“Hello Bruce,
All of it is true and another female candidate witnessed the whole thing.
Thank you,
Ashley Scontriano”
Now voters in Santa Cruz need to decide if that’s the kind of behavior we want to represent our city.
EAST UCSC MEADOW. Along with Chancellor George Blumenthal retiring there’s a lot going on at the UC campus we should all know more about. Here’s a good summary of the proposed project for the main entrance to the campus. On September 17, UCSC announced that it was going ahead with the development of the East Meadow project. Here’s the response of the East Meadow Action Committee (EMAC) to that announcement by the University of California Santa Cruz (UCSC). Regarding the Student Housing West Proposal…
“During the late summer, there were no new developments in the University’s “Student Housing West” project. On September 17th the administration released a newly revised DEIR (Draft Environmental Impact Report) and began a new 45-day comment period.
The project as described in this newly released document is essentially the same, with building in the East Meadow retained. Some changes have been made to the West campus structures, lowering their height somewhat but not reducing the number of beds. Cosmetic grading changes in the East Meadow portion, and discussion of an augmented number of alternative sites are the other significant changes.
EMAC is studying the very long and complex document, working to prepare a revised comment by November 1st, the deadline for responses. We urge everyone who has previously submitted a comment to re-submit, and if appropriate, revise, their text. The University will not respond to prior comments, but only to comments on the latest DEIR.
Two public meetings have been scheduled for week-after-next (see details below). We don’t see these as opportunities to change the University administration’s mind, since every indication is that it is fully committed to its plan. But we hope that as many people as possible who are concerned about the project and especially by its careless development of the East Meadow will attend and be heard. It’s important for the University and the general public to know that resistance to their ill-conceived project has not waned.
Going forward, during the months of November and December, the University will prepare formal responses to the many critical comments it will certainly receive. A final document will then be prepared for submission to the UC Regents at their January meeting. EMAC and its allies among UCSC’s Alumni and Trustee groups are strategizing to find ways to influence the Regents decision. (We will inform you of how to register your opinion in a future update.)
If the final proposal is approved in January, anyone who wishes to begin litigation to stop the project has thirty days to do so. EMAC and at least two other groups are currently engaged in consultations with lawyers. But no decision on legal action is possible until the final proposal can be analyzed and the Regents have acted.
According to the present plan, bulldozers will begin work in the meadow in June.
The current Draft Environmental Impact Report is available for download here (bottom of page). It is a very long and sometimes technical document. EMAC recommends special attention to the section on alternative sites (section 5.0 of volume one), which lays out seven alternatives to the proposed project, all of which spare the East Meadow, and 5 of which provide just as much new housing for students as does the administration’s proposed housing.
From all the possibilities, the University has chosen the least responsible option. This is not simply because it sacrifices the meadow for the sake of a very small number of student beds (less than 5% of all the beds proposed for the entire project), a wasteful use of a precious campus resource. It also delays the alleviation of the current crisis by bundling most of the needed student housing into a single massive complex. Several of the alternatives in the DEIR would be more flexible and could bring new housing to campus sooner. As documented on the EMAC website (eastmeadowaction.org), in June several of these alternatives were proposed to the Administration by knowledgeable campus planners representing the UCSC Trustees and EMAC. But apparently to no avail.
The current intolerable overcrowding in campus residence halls was created by Administration mismanagement (see the attached Press Release, also posted on the EMAC site). Over the last decade we have seen a relentless expansion of enrollments ahead of resources. Now 3000 new beds are being proposed, less than a 1000 of which would be needed to alleviate current overcrowding and to satisfy the 2008 agreement with the City to provide on-campus housing. Evidently, the large scale of the project reflects not an efficient response to the present crisis but rather an anticipation of student growth in the future. So far, the University has shown no interest in limiting enrollments or pausing to repair damage before continuing to make the housing crisis worse.
Common sense would dictate that future projects of this scale should be undertaken with broad consultation and in the context of transparent long-term planning. A new Long-Range Development Plan (LRDP) is currently under discussion, a process that will necessarily include negotiations with the City. In this context, “Student Housing West” looks like a hurried, careless undertaking.
The project in its current form should be resisted. We need to convince the Regents and the University Administration to turn to more flexible and effective alternative responses to the current housing situation.”
All things considered, it is not surprising that, in a rare move, the university’s own Design Advisory Board, comprised of prominent California architects selected by the university, has voted unanimously to oppose putting that 5% in the East Meadow.
(For further information about the East Meadow Action Committee, visit our website at eastmeadowaction.org.)
Important information for current action. Public Comment Opportunities
Tuesday, Oct. 23, 2018, 6:30-8:30 PM?
Louden Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St. Santa Cruz, CA
Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2018, 5-7 PM?
Kresge Town Hall, 510 Porter-Kresge Rd., UC Santa Cruz main campus
Written comments on the Revised Draft EIR may be submitted to: Director of Campus Planning, UC Santa Cruz, Physical Planning & Construction, 1156 High St, Mailstop: PPDO, Santa Cruz, CA 95064, or via email to eircomment@ucsc.edu. The comment period closes on Thursday, November 1, 2018, at 5:00 PM.
Link to revised Draft EIR is here at bottom of page. 1600 pp.
HOUSING FOR WHOM?
There’s no shortage of housing in Santa Cruz. Right now you can rent a well-appointed one bedroom, one bath unit in a great location and there are plenty available. Only snag. The rent is $3000 a month. Well I did round up. It’s actually $2975 a month. I’m referring to 555 Pacific, the recently built new housing complex near the first roundabout. It’s safe to say that none of these units will be rented by local service workers. Safe to say they will be snapped up by highly paid professionals from over the hill and those seeking a second unit by the beach. If the goal is to attract more wealthy people to come live in Santa Cruz, and make a profit for the developers and their investors, then such developments make sense. If the goal is to provide affordable housing for local low -income workers then such developments should never get the green light. Or at least we shouldn’t kid ourselves that one equals the other.
The chairman (sic) for Affordable Housing Now in an op-ed in Monday’s (10/15/18) Sentinel wags his finger at those he imagines responsible for holding back the creation of affordable housing and as usual, points in all the wrong directions. It is narrow-minded at best to excoriate locals who have lived here for decades for daring to oppose 6 and 7 story complexes that butt up to their modest single-family homes and provide little in the way of anything but market rate housing. Neighbors rightly have a stake in reviewing/critiquing plans for new developments that impact their lives and the General Plan requires that new, higher density developments be compatible with existing neighborhoods, although that side of the equation is always ignored. When a truly affordable dense complex is built you don’t hear much neighborhood opposition even if it is felt, as is the case for the development currently under construction on Water Street. The re-zoning for the tidal wave of new 70 and 80 feet tall housing/commercial construction for downtown with the required bulldozing of the older historic low rise buildings has already been approved. If you look at the city’s data for housing under construction or approved for construction there seems no shortage at all: just a shortage for low-income workers.
| 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. |
ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL
I have been participating in local political campaigns for more than 30 years and I’ve never seen the number of political signs, specifically Yes on Measure M, that have been torn down. I do not condone the tearing down of signs by anyone on any side of M, the rent control ballot initiative now before voters. Yes on Measure M signs have gone missing on California, Delaware, King, and Barson streets. They’ve been replaced too, at great effort. People power is what put rent control on the ballot, and people power is the only resource that will carry it over the finish line on November 6th. It is a grassroots campaign that has tapped into a trove of raw emotions around the rental market. The anti-rent control crowd on the other hand has enormous resources (see campaign statements here), and this money machine is heading north of $1 million. They’ve already spent more money than any other local political campaign, EVER. The housing playing field is obviously tilted in favor of apartment owners. Property owners own multiple properties, and thus place multiple signs around, in front of, and sometimes high above their rentals. Property owners often do this without consulting tenants, and it’s frequently contrary to the political views of these same renters. Those who pay the high Santa Cruz rents have told me they are afraid to put up a sign supporting Measure M, or that the landlord prohibits them from exercising their free speech because of a clause in the lease. But in fact, there’s a state law that protects renters’ ability to practice their free speech. It’s in California Civil code 1940.4 here. Landlords should not remove, or order tenants to remove political signs during the campaign season, it’s against state law. Yes, the deck is stacked high against the interests and desires of renters in Santa Cruz, and the accumulation of these tenant grievances is what coalesced all that energy to go out and collect over 10,000 petition signatures to place Measure M, “The Santa Cruz Rent Control and Tenant Protection Act,” on the ballot.
It’s Like a Trial Being on the Campaign Trail
Lots of information is flying around about rent control and how it will help or hurt, revive or break, protect or destroy the very fabric of our town. While rent control is not THE only solution to Santa Cruz housing woes, it is a just and hard fought piece of a rather difficult Surf City housing puzzle. If Measure M wins, it must be followed up with funding for affordable housing and homeless services (Measure H), investment in a local Department of Housing that might foster land trusts, ADU development, and the buying of current housing units to maintain their affordability in perpetuity. And if the affordable housing bond measure, Measure H, fails we must look towards ongoing funding mechanisms such as an increase in the real estate transfer tax, business license fee, and the hotel tax because one-time money injections such as the one SC county will receive after January 1 from the state, will not be enough to confront the lack of housing that’s led to a homeless crisis, which has been years in the making.
Top Ten Reasons for Passing Rent Control in Santa Cruz
Number 10–Because the economic theory of “supply and demand” does not work here. We will not build our way out of this crisis, unless we kill the patient too and make the future quality of life rather unpleasant given our natural carrying capacity. We need to live within our limits in terms of available water, access to roads, available land, and some people’s ability to own as many cars, and houses, as they wish to.
Number 9–The rent control movement is growing and students–high school, community college, and UCSC–have been a big part. They understand something must be done. They understand this is not the only vehicle for achieving fair and just housing, but they also get it that Measure M is not only one small step towards housing sanity, but one giant leap in bringing to fruition a goal which the previous local political generation could not accomplish: rent control.
Number 8–There’s been pushback towards the anti-M-ers, “too expensive and too extreme” mantra. Obviously, it is RENT that is in fact, TOO EXPENSIVE and TOO EXTREME. I see this one now scrawled on placards around town as well. (See video)
Number 7–Follow the money. A carpenters union friend recently said to me that he was on the fence about Measure M and was tending to vote against it until he saw their campaign statements with $200,000 coming in from Chicago, and hundreds of thousands more outsider money bankrolling Anti-M. He finally said, Go ahead, put the sign out front. I’ll just douse it with Tanglefoot. They just won’t know what hit ’em if they try and take it!
Number 6–I met a father of two young daughters who attend Westlake school. He works in a cabinet shop in town and recently found himself on disability. His family lives in one of the five or six large apartment complexes in the city. He said they moved into a one-bedroom paying $1400, about six years ago. Now he’s paying $2000, but the new people moving in are paying between $2600-$2800 for a similar apartment. Rent Control would offer immediate help to this single dad. It would offer him housing stability by keeping rents within the cost of living index.
Number 5–Measure M will help keep literally thousands of community members in their homes. A bus driver recently penned an Op-ed. He wrote, Whatever is on the ballot may not be perfect, but it is our best shot at addressing a very real problem. It is a problem with costs and consequences that far outstrip the costs and consequences for landlords if proposition M passes. And it is way overdue. Waiting for perfection is not an option.
Number 4–Average rents have increased more than 50% in the past four years and wages have barely moved. A friend who manages a local Italian place told me he informed his chagrined boss recently that most restaurant managers are in favor of rent control because they can’t find any employees.
Number 3–Believe it or not, our state Democratic Party platform supports rent control. The detractors say, “but just not this rent control measure.” But the Democratic Party also supports Proposition 10, while the Apartment Renters Ass. and California Real Estate Ass. pour money in against Measure M, and Prop. 10. The latter initiative would repeal Costa-Hawkins and allow all California cities to decide their rent control futures.
Number 2–Measure M seeks to level the now disheveled state of the landlord-tenant playing field. Of course, not all landlords are bad actors and some rarely even raise their rents. These landlords should not fear rent control. But if you are a tenant who’s gone from one apartment to another, who lives in fear of reporting a leaky toilet or window that won’t close because you do not have $10,000 or $12,000 to find another place, you will likely vote YES on M because it’s about fairness too.
Number 1: The number one reason for voting Yes on M is that it will keep many, many people in their homes now. These are our neighbors. It is about stability and community empowerment. If Measure M prevails, tenants may finally get some relief after years of stagnant wages and double-digit rent increases.
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(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 |
CANDIDATE FORUM FOR SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT BOARD
Please mark your calendar for Monday, October 22, 6 pm-8 pm for a Candidate Forum at the Aptos Library that will allow all members of the public to meet and ask questions of the Soquel Creek Water District Board Candidates. Three of the five Board offices are up for election. This event is being sponsored by the Santa Cruz Chapter of the Sierra Club and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom Environmental Committee. Make sure you read Sentinel reporter Ms. Jessica York’s excellent article in Sunday’s paper
It would be a good time to ask the Candidates about the impending rate increase next March to pay for the $200 Million PureWater Soquel Project that would pump 3+ million gallons of treated sewage water daily into the area’s drinking water supply. It would also be a good time to ask the incumbent candidates why their recent mailer states their platform: “Solutions grounded in science, NOT ones that won’t hold water”. Do they mean the water transfer project with Santa Cruz? Hmmmm….
WHY IS SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT DRAGGING THEIR FEET ON ACCEPTING WATER FROM SANTA CRUZ THIS WINTER?
With a Pilot Project agreement in place to be able to accept water from Santa Cruz City’s North Coast stream sources on November 1 and decrease pumping in the over drafted MidCounty groundwater basin, why has Soquel Creek Water District not been working on the requirements to be able to accept the water until very recently? This became known last week at District Public Outreach and Supplemental Supply Committee meetings when a member of the public asked the staff about the status of the water transfer agreement requisites.
Staff replied that plans for the required four-week water monitoring in the pilot test service area were recently submitted to the State Division of Drinking Water but had not been approved. The monitoring must occur in advance of accepting any surface water from Santa Cruz. Soquel Creek Water District has known since last June that there would be no chemical problems caused by mixing water from the surface streams. So, why has staff not taken the action necessary in a timely manner in order to accept the water on November 1?
IF YOU DON’T HAVE MONEY, JUST GO AWAY
That was the general message I received last Thursday when I wanted to attend the Aptos Chamber of Commerce Breakfast and hear Santa Cruz County Administrative Officer (CAO) Carlos Palacios talk about local government issues. Breakfast costs $25 but I only had $15. I asked if I could make a $15 donation for a cup of coffee and listen to the program. NO. I asked if I could make a donation, just stand in the back and listen and not drink any coffee? NO. I asked if I could just distribute some flyers on the tables with information about a local issue? NO, but I could put them on the table near the door if people wanted to take it.
I did that and left…..maybe hearing the sound of a shredder as I departed? I was painfully reminded that these Aptos Chamber of Commerce meetings were included in former 2nd District Supervisor Ellen Pirie’s list of PUBLIC MEETINGS held to unveil the Aptos Village Project during her reign. Transparency at its worst.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY ACLU TO HOST COMMUNITY FORUM ON POLICE USE OF FORCE
Mark your calendar for Thursday, October 18, 7 pm, at the Resource Center for Non Violence (812 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz) for the local ACLU Community Forum on Police Use of Force. There will be some excellent and well-known public rights defenders and law enforcement officials on the panel. Here is the link: https://www.santacruzaclu.org/events
VOTE NO ON MEASURE G
Measure G is a proposed half-cent sales tax increase for 12 years that is being sold as funding mechanism for 9-1-1 response and fire, along with a lot of other things. As I have written here before, a sales tax increase would add ZERO DOLLARS to fire agency budgets. The Farm Park did not have a bridge to replace, nor is the Aptos Village in need of our tax $
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
#288/Honest Don?
The New York Times ran two stories on Sunday, October 14, 2018, spotlighting our president’s penchant for barnstorming political rallies. One article was titled, “The Trump Rally: A Play in Three Acts.” The other article was titled, “A Guide to Trump’s Stump Speeches for the Midterm Campaigns.” They are both worth reading.
I remember back to the presidential primaries, in 2016, before now-president Trump had secured the Republican Party nomination. I almost accidentally ended up watching a complete Trump rally, and my heart sank. Just looking at the rally, as someone with political experience, I had to admit that Mr. Trump was really good at what he was doing, building a strong political base of support for himself, and energizing voters for the things he was advocating.
He is still doing it, and I am similarly nervous about the current primary season. The fact that our barnstorming president is back on the road, whipping up the voters and demonstrating his political fervor for the political goals he is advancing, is not good news.
In connection with what I could call my version of the “Worried Man Blues,” because I am worried, I must report on a column by Marc Thiessen, also appearing in my Sunday newspapers. Thiessen is a conservative columnist for The Washington Post, and his column on Sunday was called, “Trump could be the most honest president in modern history.”
Considering that the president is so well known for his consumate and seriatum prevarication, what could Thiessen possibly be talking about?
Well, Thiessen is talking about the fact that President Trump appears to be carrying out his campaign promises – or at least he is trying to (which is exactly what our elected officials are supposed to do, and something that they rarely do in fact).
I am not about to start calling our president “Honest Don,” but I do think Thiessen’s point is well-taken. The American people are sick up to here with a politics that doesn’t live up to its purpose, which is to reflect and accomplish the hopes and aspirations of the voters. A politician and an elected official who does that is rare.
I, personally, think that what the majority of the American voters hope for and aspire to is a future quite different from the future that is featured in the Trump rallies. But if those with different hopes and dreams want to have a government that can (and will) accomplish them, we’re going to need candidates who seem “honest” in the way that Donald Trump seems honest.
I’m looking at what happens to Beto O’Rourke, in Texas. He strikes me as another one of those “honest politicians,” but one with much better values.
We need a lot of those!
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Gary 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. Trip the light fantastic inner views…scroll below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Climate Changing” 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 in the upstairs meeting room of our threatened Public Library there’s a free concert. This Thursday, October 18, 2018 from 12:10 – 12:50 solo pianist Ben Dorfan will play Schubert and Chopin. The program will be
Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Impromptus Op. 90 No. 1, 2, 3 and Impromptus Op. Posth. 142 No. 2, 3. Then he’ll play Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849) Preludes Op. 28 No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, 20, 22. Coming Soon November 15: Celebrate Piano Ensemble
December 20, Josef Feinberg, cello. January 17: Carol Panofsky. Piano. February 21: Michael Tierra, piano.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Author, cabaret performer, sexual adventuress, and advocate for equality, Colette dominated French arts and letters in the first half of the 20th Century. Now she gets her own biopic, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). (And star Keira Knightly convincingly captures the author’s rebel spirit — even if you were expecting someone more, you know, French.) Also, the spirit of Art Boy lives on at Hestwood Park in Live Oak, where the vandalized animals in James Aschbacher’s public art project have been given new life by local art restorer Robert Echols. Go check it out!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
22 JULY. On that date in Oslo, Norway, in 2011, a guy blew up and killed eight people at their Government center. He then dressed as a police man, took a machine gun, went to a children’s day camp and shot 69 children. He surrendered to the police and demanded that he be tried as sane, on the grounds that he deemed his insane action “political”. It was/is also on Netflix. Powerful, very current, thoughtful — and very much worth seeing.
OLD MAN AND A GUN. Sissy Spacek (and her well-known nose) play foil to Robert Redford, in what he says will be his last movie. He’s 82 (and was born in Santa Monica, by the way). Sissy is 69 years old and is from Texas. Based on a true bit of muck, this movie has Redford as an old man who can’t quit robbing banks, or being very nice to everybody involved. Tom Waits is in it but I didn’t notice him! Casey Affleck is Redford’s foil, and does a brilliant low-key job. Danny Glover is in it too, and it’s good to see him working albeit in a very small part. Don’t miss this film. It’s cute, charming, friendly, and nicely done.
COLETTE. Dominic West from HBO’s The Wire (filmed in and centered in Baltimore) Eleanor Tomlinson from Demelza Poldark (filmed in and centered in England), and the lead Keira Knightly all play French people but have British accents. The music score is by Thomas Ades who was here once with the Cabrillo Festival of Music. It’s an almost trite and overused true story of a woman who does all the writing while her husband gets the credit. It’s veddy, veddy British, clever, lightweight, fun, go for it.
FIRST MAN. 88 on RT. Ryan Gosling as Neil Armstrong steals this saga about our landing on the moon in 1969. He’s nowhere near the type of human that Armstrong seemed to be, or must have been, to carry off this moon landing, marriage, fame, and some failures too. Claire Foy (The Queen) is wasted here as Neil’s wife. The movie is tense at times, nerve-wracking at others and is a full two hours and 18 minutes long. Armstrong died in 2012. It is such a tribute to our US space program, and such a hunk of our national pride, that it’s impossible not to enjoy. Go see it. Nope, they didn’t include the planting of the American flag.
BAD TIMES AT THE EL ROYALE. Once upon a time there was a hotel at Lake Tahoe named the Cal Neva. That’s because it was located right on the state borderlines of California and Nevada. It was cheap, shady, and gaudy — and so is this movie. Jeff Bridges plays a former bank robber dressed as a priest, and Jon Hamm is an FBI agent who for some reason uses a terrible southern accent. Chris Hemsworth plays a weird killer, and for some reason that makes the plot even odder. Its two and a half hours long and has more plot holes than I’ve seen in years. Don’t go unless you love old Motown hits and soul and rock n roll.
FAHRENHEIT 9-11. This is more than a movie critique; it’s a plea to you and everyone you know to see Michael Moore’s latest fling and sling against a lot more than just Trump. No matter where you think you are on the progressive scale, Moore shows us data and details on Hillary, Flint water, Democratic Party politics, Super delegates, Jeb Bush, and beyond. Go see it ASAP and remember November 6. That’s’ the most important date for many, many years!
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it. CLOSES THURSDAY OCT.18
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT. CLOSES THURSDAY OCT.18
A STAR IS BORN. Yes, the crowds are right: Lady Gaga is a genuine actor now. She takes almost all the movie away from Bradley Cooper. Cooper directed, financed most of it and plays and sings too. It’s a saga, a melodrama, and shares almost zero with any of the other 4 or 5 Star is Born flicks. Go see it, even if like me you’ve never seen or heard Lady Gaga before. According to Wikipedia… Lady Gaga is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986 in NYC)
PICK OF THE LITTER. A very cute and cuddly documentary about how doggies are trained to be guide dogs for the blind. I liked it more than most folks, perhaps because I trained dogs in the army K9 corps. It did get 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Data and techniques are missing, and you won’t learn much, but you’ll be touched. CLOSES THURSDAY OCT.18
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS. A little 10 year old boy has to live with his creepy, trying to be funny uncle Jack Black. There is some story about the house and why it has so many clocks but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to find out the plot. Cate Blanchett is in it too, but she shouldn’t have been. Stay away. Even the kids probably won’t care for it. 68 on RT.
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 and Curt Simmons talk about the still controversial library garage first then Santa Cruz City Council person Sandy Brown discusses the elections and local politics on Oct.16th. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating with your friends and relatives who like Trump. After that Candace Brown and Shelley Hatch talk about zoning, rent control and many hot voting issues. Jack Bowers and Dennis Morton describe their prison Art programs followed by City Councilmember Chris Krohn talking about voting and still more local issues on October 30. Environmentalist Grey Hayes takes the full hour on Election Night November 6. Bookshop Santa Cruz’s traditional night featuring the winners of their Young Writers Contest happens Nov. 27. 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
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Today marks 29 years since the Loma Prieta quake. I moved here in 1996, visited for the first time in 1992. I had no idea that the earthquake at the time was so recent! It’s always felt like an “a long time ago” event. Except the Cooper House. A building that I never saw, but that I still mourn the loss of. |
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. “HALLOWEEN”
“If human beings had genuine courage, they’d wear their costumes every day of the year, not just on Halloween”. Douglas Coupland
“This Halloween, the most popular mask is the Arnold Schwarzenegger mask. And the best part? With a mouth full of candy you will sound just like him”. Conan O’Brien
“We used to go around tipping outhouses over, or turning over corn shocks on Halloween. Anything to be mean”. Loretta Lynn
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
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Column October 8 – 14, 2018
BRATTON…Greg Larson buying endorsements, Kara Meyberg Guzman quitting, Octagon Sushi Bar someday, Dr. Millers Pizza Shop soon. GREENSITE…on ADU changes. KROHN…Campaign issues now and coming up. STEINBRUNER…Landscapes Book, Soquel Creek Water District secrets and Water Board forum, Historic Resources commissioners, PG&E trees. PATTON…Constitutional Dictatorship. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover. JENSEN…reviews Monsters and Men. BRATTON…critiques A Star is Born, Monsters and Men, A Simple Favor and Pick of the Litter. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…on “RENT”.
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JAMES BROWN & GREAT DANCER. Hillary Bratton found this grand version of HELL!! |
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SAN FRANCISCO, THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE and THE 1989 QUAKE. I think some of this is FX but watch it anyways. |
DATELINE Oct. 8, 2018
GREG LARSON GETTING DESPERATE. By now every Democrat in the city has received one of those 16 inch blue “Santa Cruz Voter Guide” doorhangers. It lists Donna Meyers, Greg Larson and Richelle Noroyan as being supported by Santa Cruz Democrat groups. Greg Larson was never and is NOT now supported by any Democrat groups. Meyers and Noroyan were endorsed by the Democratic Women’s Club and the Democratic Party of Santa Cruz, but NOT GREG LARSON!!! The People’s Democratic Club endorsed Justin Cummings and Drew Glover, but not Greg Larson. If you read the fine print on the back of that doorhanger you’ll see the doorhanger was paid for first by Greg Larson’s campaign committee…and others.
Looking at the campaign financial reports as officially filed you’ll also see that Larson’s campaign is one of the wealthiest, supported by the usual developers and big money investors. Isn’t there some way this Trump-like buying of politics can be stopped? Well, yes — by being very thoughtful on NOVEMBER 6th.
KARA MEYBERG GUZMAN QUITS…WHY? I think that many of us Santa Cruz Sentinel readers hoped that the changes, ideas, and some new directions of Kara Meyberg Guzman the new editor would expand, and give us a daily newspaper we could be proud of. But it was not to be, and just last week she stated…
“The decision to leave was difficult, but due to differences with this company’s management, it’s time for me to move on. I am sad to report that I am resigning from my role as managing editor of the Sentinel, effective Thursday night. The company is recruiting for my replacement…”
And so on. Let’s hope she shares exactly what her “differences” with management amounted to.
In case anyone has forgotten, Sentinel owner(s)? are ?Digital First Media and … Wikipedia says, “The MediaNews Group formed Digital First Media in 2013 when it merged with Journal Register Company. The company is controlled by the hedge fund Alden Global Capital.” Wikipedia also says… “MediaNews Group is known as a cost-cutter in the newspaper publishing industry. The company has a reputation for buying smaller daily newspapers in an area (examples include Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay) and consolidating their operations, including sharing staff writers and printing facilities”. As a result of the cost-cutting, according to an article in the Los Angeles Times,[30] some former employees say that the newspapers are focused on making a profit to the detriment of good journalism.
OCTAGON SUSHI BAR. On one of my weekly sits at the Octagon Platz I asked one of the owners/workers just how long they predict it’ll be before they’ll be opening their new sushi bar. Six months was the answer: six months!!! Then again, I guess you should look inside the Octagon and see just how complex and difficult it must be to figure out the angles inside an octagonal building.
Besides that, I hear that Dr. Millers Coffee House at Cedar and Elm Streets — complete with a new prison wall with eight foot spikes — will become a fancy Pizza Place.
ADU CHANGES: WHAT’S AT STAKE
The deadline for input on the proposed changes to the city’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance came and went before last week’s BrattonOnline was published. The Planning Commission will vote on these changes on Thursday October 18th at 7pm in city council chambers. If adopted, the new ADU Ordinance will forever change the character and livability of our neighborhoods. Below are the comments that I submitted and which are a summary of the major changes proposed.
The counter argument is the ostensible need for more housing, a mantra that has been elevated to a status of apparent crisis. Dare to challenge that assumption and you are an elitist homeowner or worse, a NIMBY. There is much handwringing and exaggerated concern for our police, firefighters and teachers who apparently are out looking for a place to live and can’t find one since we don’t have enough housing. But is that accurate or just an emotional appeal that plays well? Examine the numbers. The total number of currently employed city police, firefighters and teachers is 874 individuals. Police: 94 sworn officers; firefighters: 60 (plus seasonal lifeguards); teachers: 420 certified city teachers plus 300 classified staff. Presumably many have families and presumably most have a place to live. New hires will probably find the cost of housing too high and will commute. However the numbers of new hires in all 3 categories is relatively modest compared to the elephant in the room, which is the approximately 9 thousand (and growing) UCSC student body looking for rental housing in town.
Cramming all this development into our town with its finite capacity to absorb it, whether it be the upcoming 7 story apartment buildings downtown and on the eastside or this ADU stimulus is about one thing only: accommodating the burgeoning UCSC student population. Opposing these ADU changes is not elitist or uncharitable; it is a clear-eyed challenge to a growth model that is out of scale with every measure of carrying capacity and neighborhood livability.
Comments on Proposed Changes to ADU’s
The 2030 General Plan contains language that aims to balance the need for additional housing with the need to protect the character and livability of established Santa Cruz city neighborhoods. The current Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance, which was crafted over many years and with many public hearings, has struck such a balance. These new proposed changes will significantly and negatively impact established neighborhoods, which seem to have been forgotten in the process.
In particular:
| 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. |
Oct. 8
Part II. CAMPAIGN ISSUES
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Santa Cruz City Council candidates, Drew Glover and Justin Cummings serve food at this year’s Labor Day Picnic at the Watsonville Plaza. Labor is supporting both candidates. They were endorsed by the Central Labor Council recently.
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Housing
A precarious, punishing, and close to near zero availability housing situation exists right now in Santa Cruz. A series of events has led to the ridiculous cost of renting in this town. Along with “short-term rentals”–550 is the cap right now–the explosive growth of the Silicon Valley (check out the Google buses every work day on Pacific Avenue), and the wicked price of owning a home all contribute to this community’s housing crisis. But perhaps, the number one reason for the loss of workforce and multi-family housing is the student, staff, and faculty growth of UC Santa Cruz. The next city council has to go back to basics and work on the following:
- Keep up demands on UCSC. The Chancellor is retiring. The next council has an opportunity to foster a clear, firm, amicable, but consistent relationship with the new Chancellor. No new student growth past 19,500 until students are housed on campus must be the continuous council mantra. The next council, from Day 1, has to be ready to work with state legislature and the UC regents in negotiating a deal that is based on the results of last June’s Measure U: 76% voted for no growth.
- Demand 25% Inclusionary! Renegotiate the developer-friendly “density bonus” and inclusionary housing regulations that the current council recently rammed through. We must ask more from developers, at least 25% inclusionary, if they want the right of building more market-rate housing in Santa Cruz. We must build housing for people who live here now.
- Look to… a.) housing land trusts, b.) no-interest accessory dwelling unit loans, c.) non-profit housing providers, and d.) buying up existing rental housing to keep affordable in perpetuity as all parts of a multifaceted solution.
Addressing Homelessness and Houselessness
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- Building a year-round, 24/7 shelter. Our county will be the recipients of more than $9 million in state money come January to address homelessness and our mental health crisis. The next council has to offer clear direction to city staff that this is a top priority, one we can get done within the next year.
- Identify and open a safe and secure vehicle parking area for up to 100 people now living in their cars. We can do this.
- Expand the number of social workers on Pacific Avenue and being paired with police officers. We already know that police, fire, and parks and recreation expend considerable portions of their budgets dealing with the consequences and collateral damages of people not housed and living on the streets. Our city council must confront this situation head-on and provide leadership.
- Raise the hotel tax by 3% to fund affordable housing and homeless services. The next council must place this on the 2020 ballot.
ELEPHANT-SIZED ISSUES LINGERING ABOUT THE ROOM IN THIS CITY COUNCIL RACE.
- Sticking the downtown main library at the bottom of a five-story parking garage on the current site of our enormously popular weekly Farmer’s Market is one BIG issue in this race. Drew Glover and Justin Cummings are opposed, while Greg Larson, Donna Meyers, and Richelle Noroyan are in favor of park baby park. The current city council voted in favor of the library-in-a-garage concept, but the next city council can overturn that decision by electing Glover and Cummings. The “threesome slate” above will leave the library-garage in place, but Glover and Cummings say they lean toward renovating and reusing the existing library ($28 million) right where it is, and not building the parking structure (save $41 million) until a traffic demand management strategy has been put into place. There is much at stake in this election.
- The relationship between the city council and the city manager has been fraught with contentiousness for many years now. The next council will have a chance to really make inroads into the way that power dynamic ensues over the next two years.
- The corridors plan, wharf master plan, renovating the civic auditorium, purchasing the Beach Flats Community Garden, and managing all that housing that’s coming downtown…look out. These will all be thrust onto the agenda of the next city council! And by the way, all city labor agreements will be expiring need to be negotiated again over the next two years.
- Of course, three large issues are on the ballot this fall that could really impact the way the next city council conducts its business: Measure M, a local rent control law; Proposition 10, the repeal of Costa Hawkins anti-rent control legislation of 1993; and Proposition 6, the repeal of the 12 cents gas tax for infrastructure improvements. May we all live in interesting times.
Analysis of Rent Control
The city of Santa Cruz paid a considerable amount of money, $18,500 so far, to a Grass Valley law firm to essentially, analyze the impacts that the Measure M rent control ballot initiative might bring to Santa Cruz. According to the city staff report, “The Council requested a general analysis of the operation and administration of the Act, including (1) rent control and just cause eviction policies, (2) separately elected Rent Board’s powers and duties, and (3) interaction with and obligations on City policy, operations and administration.”The results of that report are available here https://scsire.cityofsantacruz.com/sirepub/cache/2/bioiuo01woue4vd2uym1ycxs/476694710082018103256501.PDF
Besides the report being a hot political potato document that tries at many turns to discredit Measure M, it is an unnecessary intrusion really, coming 30 days before the general election. And guess what? No smoking gun here. Rent control, already in place in 15 other California cities, will not bring down our Surf City, with the exception of hopefully collectively stifling many real estate developers’ get-rich quick schemes. Can I get an ‘Amen’ to that! Here’s what’s in the conclusion of the consultant’s report: “In short, the Act will establish a rent control, just cause eviction, and rental housing regulation comparable to those in the 15 other California cities which regulate apartment rents…. City’s General Fund will be obligated to advance staff and funding to establish the Rent Board and its programs, to be repaid from Rental Housing Fees on landlords when those funds are available. The Rent Board will be an independent policy-maker with budget authority to the extent of its own resources and will have power to appoint some of its own staff.” If you think all that is a pretty good idea as I do, then vote Yes on Measure M.
Stay tuned. In the coming weeks of what’s been a grueling-dueling rent control campaign (this is Santa Cruz, would we have it any other way?) we will see just how “robust,” “mindful,” and downright “plucky” each side will be. As the Movement for Housing Justice gains steam with a broad endorsement list that includes labor, students, the People’s Democratic Club, former Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, and a long list of renters, homeowners and landlords, the Anti M’s are supported mostly by real estate and developer money that is fast approaching $800,000 and counting. This includes a mind-blowing $200k coming in from the likes of the Chicago Real Estate Ass., whatever that is. Much is at stake for some large corporations, remember, Goldman Sachs bought the Outlook, now Hilltop, Apartments last year for over $50 million. As Deep Throat often said to Bob Woodward as he was chasing down the sins of Richard Nixon, “Follow the money.”
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(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 |
Oct. 8
ACTIVISM THAT SHAPED SANTACRUZ COUNTY 1955-2005
On October 20, 2pm-4pm, Kelly’s Books in Watsonville will host Donna Bradford, Chris Johnson-Lyons and Robley Levy, three contributing authors to “Landscapes: Activism That Shaped Santa Cruz County 1955-2005”. This is the ninth book in the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History’s Journal Series. How did these activists organize the communities? Is local government less responsive to the public now? What are these activists doing now, and what words of wisdom might they have for the massive County Zoning code changes the Board of Supervisors will consider next month? I hope you will attend this event, and ask questions. Kelly’s Books is near the Nob Hill Store on Main Street, just across the street from where they used to be until Kaiser gave them and all businesses in the Crossroads Center a 30-day eviction notice a couple of years ago.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT NOT TRANSPARENT AGAIN
Soquel Creek Water District is planning to drill a 1000′-deep pilot injection well near Cabrillo College and not make it public. Public Comment closes on October 12, but the District has kept it secret. Despite releasing the Negative Declaration for public comment in early September, the notice was not published on the District website until just a couple of days ago, and was never disclosed in the customer newsletter “What’s On Tap”.
The Project is part of the expensive and risky PureWater Soquel Project to inject treated sewage water into the aquifer that supplies drinking water for the Mid County region. District consultants, ESA, awarded the Pilot Injection Well Project a Negative Declaration because they determined there will be NO significant impacts. The Initial Study fails to address the long term impacts of injecting millions of gallons of treated sewage water daily into the aquifer, instead focusing only on the short-term impacts of the pilot well study to determine if the soils will accept the water.
The Pilot Injection Well location is at the edge of the Twin Lakes Church parking lot, adjacent to Cabrillo College Drive. The 6-8 Million Gallons of water to be used for the test will come from a hydrant on Rose Marie Lane nearby. Here is a link to the Project information
Here are some questions that beg to be addressed:
VOTE ‘NO’ ON MEASURES G AND H….NEITHER IS WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE.
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
Clinton Rossiter, who was an American historian, wrote The American Presidency (pictured above). I remember reading that book way back when. He also wrote another book, which I just came across in a giveaway book bin: Constitutional Dictatorship: Crisis Government in the Modern Democracies. That is a timely title, of course, so I picked up the book, which I had never heard of.
I have a generally positive recollection of The American Presidency, which I must have read over fifty years ago when I was an undergraduate student. I do not have a similar good feeling about this other book. I was genuinely disturbed and distressed by the edition of Constitutional Dictatorship that I fished out of the book bin. The original edition of the book was written in 1948, immediately after the Second World War. It seems it went out of print pretty quickly. A new edition of Rossiter’s book was then reissued in 2002, right after the terrorist attacks that occurred in the United States on September 11, 2001.
William J. “Bill” Quirk, who currently represents the 20th Assembly District in the California State Assembly, wrote an introduction for the new edition of Constitutional Dictatorship and indicates that he approves the idea that what America really needs right now, in the aftermath of the successful terrorist attacks on 9-ll, is nothing less than a dictatorship:
How shall we be governed during the War on Terrorism? Definitely not as we have in the past. Existing governing practices comprehensively failed to protect the people and cannot be continued. Since we have been forced to face the horrors of terror attacks on the United States we likewise need to consider the sort of government such a war will force us to adopt…
Rossiter’s book is premised on the idea that democratic societies, when they face crises, need to set democracy aside, so they can really get to work on the problems that confront them. Democracies are inevitably unable to deal with crisis. That’s what Rossiter argues, and that is what Quirk says, too.
May I politely and profoundly disagree?
I assume that Quirk’s introduction is, by now, an embarrassment to him. I surely hope so. Do we really want President Donald J. Trump to be our constitutional dictator? I am voting “NO.”
I would vote “NO” on making Barack Obama a constitutional dictator, too.
Please, people, let’s have a little bit of faith in our system of democratic self-government! We have faced a lot of crises, from wars to economic collapse. No dictatorships have been required.
Let’s not start now.
ESPECIALLY now!!
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Gary 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. From the Subconscious classics file see the real relationship between Hope and Fear just a bit more below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Real men” 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.
West Coast Premiere of “Strange Window: The Turn of the Screw” will be presented Saturday and Sunday, October 14, 2018 at UCSC’s Experimental Theater, Theater Arts Center (UCSC). This imaginative and groundbreaking new interpretation of the gothic classic by Henry James is presented by the internationally celebrated, Obie Award-winning theater company, The Builders Association from New York. This new interpretation is directed by renowned stage director and UC Santa Cruz Professor of Theater Arts, Marianne Weems. Presented by the Arts Division in partnership with the Theater Arts Department. Strange Window: The Turn of the Screw provides audiences an exceptional opportunity to see this world-class production locally before it goes on to one of the most important performing arts venues in the world at its New York engagement and East Coast premiere at BAM, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, as part of its prestigious 2018 Next Wave Festival.
Tickets are on sale at ucsctickets.com. General adult: $25 evenings, $20 matinees Students: $10 UCSC Faculty/Staff w/ID: $10 UCSC Alumni w/ Alumni ID card: $10. It’s a small theater. Limited seating for each performance. Purchase tickets in advance to guarantee admission. Tickets are not guaranteed at the door. Performance runs approx 70 minutes. There is NO intermission.
Saturday, Oct. 13 – 3:00 PM matinee, Saturday, Oct. 13 – 7:30 pm, Sunday, Oct. 14 – 3:00 PM matinee. Doors open 30 minutes before curtain. General seating; first-come, first-served. Parking $5
NEW MUSIC WORKS PRESENTS “October Surprise” October ignites with a 40th Season send-off of passion, fearless virtuosities and abundant beauty…the guest artists include
Andy Strain, trombone and garden hose, Andrew Carter, tenor, Lori Rivera, vocalist,
Larry Polansky and Giacomo Fiore, electric guitars…NewMusicWorks Ensemble, with Phil Collins, conducting.They’ll be playing 22 American folk songs (1930-1940) – Ruth Crawford Seeger…Five Songs from Cold Mountain (2010) Bun-Ching Lam…Anagnorisis (1964) Bob Hughes…Coming Together (1971) Frederic Rzewski… and especially Ritmicas: Homago al Roldan (1965) Lou Harrison and Bob Hughes (world premiere).
That’s Saturday, October 13, 2018 | 7:30 p.m. UCSC Music Recital Hall, Meyer Drive | Santa Cruz
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Thumbs-up from an intrepid 9-year-old reader and book blogger (hint; she loves Beast!), this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Also, delve into the human stories behind the slogans of the Black Lives Matter era in the compelling Monsters and Men, reviewed in this week’s Good Times.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
MONSTERS AND MEN. A well-deserved 83 on RT. But a extra foolish title — and NO advance promotion — has it closing this Thursday, Oct.11. Brooklyn police shoot an unarmed black man, and it’s photographed by a young black kid who has to decide whether or not to turn in the evidence. It’s exciting, depressing, painful, and excellent. It feels like it happened yesterday, and will bring out all those suppressed feelings we share over today’s street scenes.
A STAR IS BORN. Yes, the crowds are right: Lady Gaga is a genuine actor now. She takes almost all the movie away from Bradley Cooper. Cooper directed, financed most of it and plays and sings too. It’s a saga, a melodrama, and shares almost zero with any of the other 4 or 5 Star is Born flicks. Go see it, even if like me you’ve never seen or heard Lady Gaga before. According to Wikipedia… Lady Gaga is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta (born March 28, 1986 in NYC)
A SIMPLE FAVOR. Anna Kendrick leads this half-funny tragi-comedy about the disappearance of her next best friend. There are a few (very few) laughs, a bunch of sex shots, and you’ll have a hard time explaining to anybody what this movie is about…or why they made it.
PICK OF THE LITTER. A very cute and cuddly documentary about how doggies are trained to be guide dogs for the blind. I liked it more than most folks, perhaps because I trained dogs in the army K9 corps. It did get 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Data and techniques are missing, and you won’t learn much, but you’ll be touched.
FAHRENHEIT 9-11. This is more than a movie critique, it’s a plea to you and everyone you know to see Michael Moore’s latest fling and sling against a lot more than just Trump. No matter where you think you are on the progressive scale, Moore shows us data and details on Hillary, Flint water, Democratic Party politics, Super delegates, Jeb Bush, and beyond. Go see it ASAP and remember November 6. That’s’ the most important date for many, many years!
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!! Closes Tuesday Oct.9
BLAZE. Ethan Hawke is on his fourth director’s job for this bio-pic of the near-legendary country singer-songwriter Blaze Foley. In all fairness I’ll admit that it got a 98 on RT. I gave it about a 9! I didn’t like the acting, the plot, the music, or the arty-crafty directing. Foley’s real name was Michael David Fuller and he drank himself to death when he was 40. I’ve never heard of his biggest hit songs either: “If only I could Fly”, “Clay Pigeons”, and “Cold, Cold World”. Closes Thursday, Oct.11
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS. A little 10 year old boy has to live with his creepy, trying to be funny uncle Jack Black. There is some story about the house and why it has so many clocks but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to find out the plot. Cate Blanchett is in it too, but she shouldn’t have been. Stay away. Even the kids probably won’t care for it. 68 on RT.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids.
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 October 9 Sean Van Sommeran talks about his Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. He’s followed by Hina Pendle discussing her “Power of the Heart” workshop. Rick Longinotti talks about the still controversial library garage first then Santa Cruz City Council person Sandy Brown discusses the elections and local politics on Oct.16th. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating with your friends and relatives who like Trump. After that Candace Brown and Shelley Hatch talk about zoning, rent control and many hot voting issues. Jack Bowers and Dennis Morton describe their prison Art programs followed by City Councilmember Chris Krohn talking about voting and still more local issues on October 30. 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
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Fould language, but this is hilarious…. She couldn’t get the number for the Coast Guard? 😀 |
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. “RENT”
“Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth”. Muhammad Ali
“I figure if I have my health, can pay the rent and I have my friends, I call it ‘content.‘ ” Lauren Bacall
“I’ve had grand pianos that are more expensive than, like, a year’s worth of rent”. Lady Gaga
“You rarely pay the rent by doing Shakespeare or Ibsen”. Mandy Patinkin
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
October 2 – 8, 2018
BRATTON…money investors behind Donna Meyers, more about Senator Alan Cranston, those phony Measure M phone survey calls, Landmark theaters being sued, and remember October is earthquake month…we could all be homeless in less than 30 seconds! The two strongest recorded earthquakes in U.S. history occurred in this month…and so did Santa Cruz’s Loma Prieta quake in October, 1989. GREENSITE…on the Senate Hearings and Rape. KROHN…on Council Candidates slates and campaigns. STEINBRUNER…Supervisors and shelters, crisis money, when and why, Kaizen events, planning commission and code changes, Rancho Del Mar road hazard, No on Measure H & G. PATTON…about Local Control and Yes on prop. 10. EAGAN…a classic Subconscious Comic and “Those Hearings”. JENSEN…earnest, busy and involved. BRATTON…critiques Blaze. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…on “The Supreme Court”
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PACIFIC AVENUE RIGHT AFTER THE 1989 EARTHQUAKE. |
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SANTA CRUZ STORES AND VIEWS AFTER THE ’89 QUAKE |
DATELINE October 1, 2018
WHO & WHAT’S BEHIND COUNCIL HOPEFULS. The first financial statements have been filed. All of us can, and should, look to see who’s investing in these candidates. Looking at the backers for Donna Meyers (next week Greg Larson) we can predict where and how the candidates will pay back their investors. Developers Doug Ley and Craig Rowell. Real estate interests such as Peter Cook and Karon Properties and Ken Carlson. There’s William and Erica Ow, Geoffrey Dunn, Carol Fuller, Bill Kocher, Greg Pepping, Zach Friend, David Baskin and Marty Ackerman. The big Boardwalk/ Seaside threesome Charles Canfield, Tom Canfield and Karl Rice. Bigger investor/contributors include Reed Hastings and wife Patti Quillan and Julie Packard. Please check them out ASAP. See how similar the above list is to Greg Larson’s
When you open that link go to your candidate and begin checking at form 460 07/01.18 it takes some getting used to but it’s very worthwhile. Remember that we are deciding on the future of Santa Cruz — do we want more growth??? It’s never brought financial security or improvement to any city anywhere…and it won’t be here either. Think about it.
HISTORICAL PHOTO ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS. Under the historical photo last week I stated that Alan Cranston was our U.S. State senator from 1969-1973. That was because the data on the photo was written in 1973. Chris Krohn wrote to remind/inform me that “Alan MacGregor Cranston was an American politician, journalist and world federalist who served as a United States Senator from California, from 1969 to 1993. Born in Palo Alto, California, Cranston worked as a journalist after graduating from Stanford University. He got a degree in English, and later on, according to Wikipedia… “Cranston was a correspondent for the International News Service for two years preceding World War II.[3] When an abridged English-language translation of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf was released, sanitized to exclude some of Hitler’s anti-semitism and militancy, Cranston published a different translation (with annotations) which he believed more accurately reflected the contents of the book. In 1939, Hitler’s publisher sued him for copyright violation in Connecticut; a judge ruled in Hitler’s favor and publication of the book was halted, but by then a half million copies had been sold, helping inform a wide audience about the threat Hitler posed”. Then just at this week’s deadline Eric Fingal photographer and historian at Covello & Covello wrote to tell me that Julian Camacho was running for U.S. Congress not the Senate and also that Eric was the private photographer who took this photo, before he went to work for C&C!!! Other than that I mean it was in front of the Cooper House I’m really sure about that.
PUSH POLL FOR RENT CONTROL. We’ve been seeing and hearing so many ways the National and California Association of Realtors have been spending huge amounts of money on full-page ads, TV spots, mailers, and more mailers, proving just how afraid they are that MEASURE M (the Rent Control Measure) will pass in the city of Santa Cruz. Last week I got a call (so did many, many friends) from Luce Research of Colorado Springs. The call starts out claiming it’s a survey about how I’ll vote on Measure M. IT IS NO SURVEY. It is, according to Wikipedia… “A push poll — an interactive marketing technique, most commonly employed during political campaigning, in which an individual or organization attempts to manipulate or alter prospective voters’ views/beliefs under the guise of conducting an opinion poll”. These push polls should be illegal. They began back in Nixon’s time. The poll people keep zinging you with lying “facts” to convince you to change your vote to NO on M. Realtors, developers, and The Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County all support this very expensive campaign technique…they should be ASHAMED.
Besides earthquakes being a danger this month and next, we must never forget that 22,438 voters in Santa Cruz County voted for TRUMP!!! The total county vote was 132,165.
LANDMARK THEATRE CHAIN LEGAL PROBLEMS. Joe Blackman sent this clipping from today’s (10/01) Hollywood Reporter… “A judge refuses to dismiss a complaint alleging distributors were coerced into exclusive licenses for specialty films. A federal judge in the District of Columbia won’t dismiss a lawsuit accusing Mark Cuban-owned Landmark Theatres of using its nationwide footprint to coerce film studios into exclusive licenses for specialty films. The lawsuit came a year ago from smaller exhibition outfits operating in D.C., Detroit and Denver. It also arrived in court after Landmark struck a settlement in its own antitrust lawsuit against Regal over so-called “clearance pacts” between studios and exhibitors in the movie industry”. There’s more and you can read it at https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/mark-cubans-landmark-theatres-face-antitrust-lawsuit-1148226 . It probably won’t affect our Nickelodeon and Del Mar operations, but I’ll bet it’ll cause Mark Cuban to want to sell them as fast as possible. On a related note, I hear every week from many Santa Cruz film fans about Landmark not showing any foreign (subtitled) films here anymore. It’s certainly true and extra frustrating, but after checking around like NYC and Los Angeles, Landmark isn’t screening foreign language films anywhere.
SOME THOUGHTS ON RAPE
If I was doing my job as your town crier for the latest city overdevelopment plans being rushed through for quick council approval, I’d be writing about the significant changes proposed by city Planning staff for ADU’s (removing any parking requirements for the first ADU for example and yes, they are recommending more than one). But I’m not going to do that. If you care about your neighborhood you might want to check out the link and get your comments in by Thursday October 4th (I said it was on the fast track)
I want to write about sexual assault and whether any progress has been made over the past 27 years since the Anita Hill hearings. At that time I was already 12 years into what was to be a 30-year career as founder and head of Rape Prevention Education at UCSC. Since leaving the campus in 2010 I continue to do rape prevention work in sub-Saharan African countries with colleagues based in South Africa. At UCSC, I listened to stories of rape from thousands of students, often being the first person they ever told. I defended male students if I judged that what happened did not rise to the charge of rape. I carefully observed male entitlement (the confident male students who rushed forward after a presentation to tell me why I was wrong) and defensiveness (the irrational fear that all males will be accused of rape if they even look at a woman) and ignorance (the male student who quietly shared that in high school he had crossed a line he didn’t know existed) and I tailored the education to try to lower the fears and raise awareness for the whole student body.
In 1991, like many others, I was glued to the television watching Dr. Hill be verbally attacked by the all male clueless Senators. This time around, Dr. Ford was spared that humiliation from the (still) all-male Republican Senators (due to a female stand-in) and the Democrats to a person were knowledgeable and kind. Other things were eerily similar, as if in a time warp. The poised and measured victims; (I dislike the word “accuser”. It’s the only time we allow for female subjectivity when in fact they have been used as objects); the angry, defiant perpetrators claiming victimhood; the chorus of outrage that a good man’s name has been destroyed; the incredulity about the fact that a person could remember vivid details of a long-ago attempted rape but couldn’t remember the date or place of the party; the ignorance of the fact that most of those who are raped, especially by someone they know, tell no-one… ever.
Much has been made of the fact that we are in the #MeToo era which many see as a game-changer. Rape crisis hotlines received a huge increase in calls following and during Dr. Blasey Ford’s testimony. There was however a similar reaction after the Anita Hill hearings and survivors of rape have been breaking their silence on college campuses ever since. Perhaps now in far greater numbers and once powerful public men have been toppled by women speaking out about their experiences of male sexual abuse in male dominated halls of power and the ability of social media to amplify the debate is undeniable. However the terms of the debate are troublingly unchanged. People vehemently support Brett Kavanaugh’s story despite his perfect fit as a textbook case of “undetected rapist” both in his outrage, his attitudes towards women and his denial of heavy drinking as likely to cause memory lapses. And that is being generous since I think he is lying just like his counterpart in the White House. Of course we need careful procedures to ascertain the truth but I haven’t noticed a groundswell of outrage when black men are falsely accused of rape and serve 20 years in prison before DNA and determined activists secure their release.
In some respects we have lost ground. A few examples: most states still lack good sex education (beyond disease and pregnancy) in their schools or teach only abstinence; the anti-rape movement has in my view become somewhat bureaucratic and rigid. True, in the 1970’s there was plenty of ideology thrown around and nuance was seen as a sell-out but consider the following: women’s self-defense has all but disappeared from college campuses and communities because it is not labeled as “primary prevention.” Primary prevention is that which stops men raping, so the story goes, and self-defense merely gives girls and women the skills to help avoid being raped. Not good enough apparently. Another example: UCSC has recently been heavily fined for its inadequate response to charges of sexual assault and harassment by a faculty member and the administration promises in future to publish an annual accounting of cases that are reported. What? When I was on campus that was standing operating procedure. Education for all students, staff and faculty was mandatory and dorms were plastered with posters clearly letting students know their rights and resources plus an annual listing of reported sexual assaults and sexual harassments without identifying details was readily available. I recently picked up a pamphlet at the campus bookstore. A professional job, it was all but impossible to know that it was a resource for rape. The very word “rape” has been erased from campus and most campuses. We now have the acronym, C.A.R.E, which includes the words advocacy, resources and education. Not a hint of sexual assault or rape to ruffle a University’s reputation. And despite the fact that over 30 sexual assaults are reported in the city of Santa Cruz each year, when did you last read of a reported rape in the local press?
I’m not trying to be depressing. I try to live by Gramsci’s “pessimism of the intellect: optimism of the will.” We make history in jumps and starts and retreats. However if we are going to make real progress in educating little boys to treat little girls as equals so the boys don’t grow up to rape, then we have to do a whole lot more than we are doing. Few rapes involve a witness. This one did. Unless the White House interferes, a good FBI interviewer will break down Mark Judge’s story and give him a chance to save his soul by telling what he saw.
| 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. |
THE CANDIDATES
To Slate or Not to Slate? Is that the right question?
The Santa Cruz City Council race is now officially on a slow boil, going right past the very hot setting on the political stove top. Are there “slates” in this race? I would say there are slates, duos, and loners. I will offer a perspective on at least four slates that now exist in this race. These configurations consist of The Institutionals, the Conservatives, The Wannabes, and the Superhero Progressives…and, I guess, there are also,The Outliers.
The Wannabes, Looking for a Place to Call Home
Follow the Money$
The yard sign war has No on M’s $half million dollars $ winning that war, but council candidate Greg Larson is likely the top sign-waver so far. Hand-in-hand with the candidate sign wars, Larson has the money advantage too. He’s already reached the agreed to $40.000 fundraising limit, according to the most recent filing. I guess those BIG signs cost a little bit more, but he seems to have enough to project his image around town, and Noroyan and Meyers are both at $26k on their latest financial disclosure Form 460.(See financial disclosure statements here.
Next week: The three hottest issues facing Santa Cruz City Council Candidates.
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(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 |
SUPERVISORS DECLARE COUNTY “SHELTER CRISIS” AS PART OF CONSENT AGENDA?
Last Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors declared our county to be in “Shelter Crisis” that waives all state and local health and safety codes for affordable housing. They took this action without any public discussion or staff report regarding the implications of the action. Why? Because a $10 Million State grant required them to declare the “Crisis” in order to receive the money. Why didn’t the Supervisors or staff discuss it publicly? Because it was on the Consent Agenda, and no member of the public was allowed to pull the item for Regular Agenda public discussion.
Two citizens took time off work to attend the meeting and speak to the issue. Both asked the Board to place the item on Regular Agenda or to postpone action to allow further consideration, due to concerns of building substandard affordable housing. Did the Board oblige? NO. Supervisor John Leopold did comment that he felt compelled to take action to help the thousands of homeless in the County. The staff documents stated there are about 580 homeless in the unincorporated area. The number is higher in Santa Cruz City. There was virtually no discussion on the matter as the Board unanimously approved the Consent Agenda.
The result is that the County now has $10 Million from the State to create affordable housing for the homeless. The County is required to remain in “Crisis” for the next three years, the life of the grant. What that will mean for the Communities will depend on how the money is used and how many actually benefit. How much will the County take in administrative fees? Will this be used to grant developers a gift of health and safety shortcuts and monetary bonuses so that their affordable units “pencil out”, when that really means they just won’t make AS MUCH profit as they would on market rate luxury unit housing? What health and safety codes will the County find are necessary to waive in order to move forward with these projects? Will there be government transparency? Hmmm……..
Contact your Supervisor and ask what projects are planned for your area. The Sustainable Soquel group just learned about a planned Homeless Safe Camp near the high school, possibly at the Seventh Day Adventist Camp on Old San Jose Road. I wonder if there will be public notice and community meetings? Here is the link to last Tuesday’s agenda; make sure you read the documentation for Consent Agenda Item #16.
VOTE NO ON MEASURES H AND G BECAUSE… NEITHER IS WHAT IT APPEARS TO BE.
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
My hometown, Santa Cruz, California, is debating rent control in the context of a voter initiative, Measure M, qualified for a local vote by citizen action. It’s a fierce debate. The need for some sort of action to help ordinary and below average income people survive in the local housing market is undeniable. Even those who strongly oppose Measure M agree to that. Most of those who oppose Measure M are not contending that some sort of regulation of rents would not be justified. Their argument is that Measure M is “flawed.” Maybe a majority of city voters will conclude, as the opponents say, that Measure M is not going to have a positive impact because of problems with its exact language. Maybe they won’t, and a majority will support Measure M, alleged flaws and all.
The fact is, we are not going to know what the local community thinks about Measure M until election night, or even later, depending on how close the vote is.
Whatever happens with Measure M, it is also a fact, as I say above, that some sort of action is needed, to help ordinary and below average income people survive in the local housing market. Whatever a voter’s position is on the specifics of Measure M, that truth remains.
Therefore, this blog posting is my plea for a “YES” vote on Proposition 10. Proposition 10 is on the statewide ballot, and it will give local communities the ability to make local decisions on rent control issues.
When I first served in elected office, local governments at the city and county level did have that power. The State Legislature took away that local control option, providing only a very narrow area within which rent control could be enacted at the local level.
Let’s give ourselves, in our local communities, the right to allow our elected representatives to take the actions they decide are needed. If Proposition 10 is approved by the voters, statewide, our local governments can enact local ordinances that go through the regular legislative process.
If Proposition 10 is approved, local communities, acting through their elected local governments, can do something positive to provide help to those who are being driven out of this community by spiraling housing costs, driven by global speculation in California coastal real estate and by the demand associated with Silicon Valley workers, almost all of whom can “outbid” local working families for rental housing.
I believe in the ability of our local governments to find the right, “unflawed” approaches to our local problems.
Your “YES” vote on Proposition 10 will say that you agree!
| 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. |
EAGAN’S SUBCONSCIOUS COMICS. Down somebody’s memory lane…maybe yours? Check out SubconsciousComics a ways below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” How’s your Hearing?” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog with his poem “He said, She said They Said”.
EVENTS.
West Coast Premiere of “Strange Window: The Turn of the Screw” will be presented Friday, October 12, 2018 to Sunday, October 14, 2018 at UCSC’s Experimental Theater, Theater Arts Center (UCSC).
This imaginative and groundbreaking new interpretation of the gothic classic by Henry James is presented by the internationally celebrated, Obie Award-winning theater company, The Builders Association from New York. This new interpretation is directed by renowned stage director and UC Santa Cruz Professor of Theater Arts, Marianne Weems. Presented by the Arts Division in partnership with the Theater Arts Department.
Strange Window: The Turn of the Screw provides audiences an exceptional opportunity to see this world-class production locally before it goes on to one of the most important performing arts venues in the world at its New York engagement and East Coast premiere at BAM, The Brooklyn Academy of Music, as part of its prestigious 2018 Next Wave Festival.
Tickets are on sale at ucsctickets.com. General adult: $25 evenings, $20 matinees
Students: $10 UCSC Faculty/Staff w/ID: $10 UCSC Alumni w/ Alumni ID card: $10. It’s a small theater. Limited seating for each performance. Purchase tickets in advance to guarantee admission. Tickets are not guaranteed at the door. Performance runs approx 70 minutes.
There is NO intermission.
- Friday, Oct. 12 – PRIVATE EVENT, this performance is not open to the public
- Saturday, Oct. 13 – 3:00 PM matinee
- Saturday, Oct. 13 – 7:30 pm
- Sunday, Oct. 14 – 3:00 PM matinee
Doors open 30 minutes before curtain. General seating; first-come, first-served. Parking $5.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa is rounding up ideas, plans and projects…check out just which ones at her website at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
BLAZE. Ethan Hawke is on his fourth director’s job for this bio-pic of the near-legendary country singer-songwriter Blaze Foley. In all fairness I’ll admit that it got a 98 on RT. I gave it about a 9! I didn’t like the acting, the plot, the music, or the arty-crafty directing. Foley’s real name was Michael David Fuller and he drank himself to death when he was 40. I’ve never heard of his biggest hit songs either: “If only I could Fly”, “Clay Pigeons”, and “Cold, Cold World”.
FAHRENHEIT 9-11. This is more than a movie critique, it’s a plea to you and everyone you know to see Michael Moore’s latest fling and sling against a lot more than just Trump. No matter where you think you are on the progressive scale, Moore shows us data and details on Hillary, Flint water, Democratic Party politics, Super delegates, Jeb Bush, and beyond. Go see it ASAP and remember November 6. That’s’ the most important date for many, many years!
THE BOOKSHOP. (See this week’s “quotes” at the end of Bonline). If you like, love and use bookshops this film will make you appreciate your favorite bookshop all the more. Single woman Emily Mortimer (you’ll remember her once you see her) opens an independent, very independent bookshop in a small town in England. The acting by Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson is absolutely wonderful and this has to be one of my favorite 2018 films. CLOSES THURSDAY 10/04.
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
LIZZIE. We all know the story behind the Lizzie Borden took an axe but seeing it acted out by Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart gives us thoughtful, new sensitive ideas. It’s a tragic true story, it’s beautifully acted and the direction/pacing gets dreary at times but it’s still a good movie.. CLOSES THURSDAY 10/04.
LIFE ITSELF. It got a miserable 12 on RT. I was mystified and bored at first but soon got into what the director was trying to say…and was engrossed. It’s a mite banal, then deeper and sentimental. It stars Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, and Annette Bening,. CLOSES THURSDAY 10/04.
SEARCHING. An nearly-all Asian cast makes this “disappearing child” thriller almost as unusual as does the fact that almost 90% of the movie is on computer and iPhone screens. Facebook, Google, and every contraption we use today is part of this hunt for the guy’s daughter. The ending is a letdown in more than one way. Wait and rent it.
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!!
WHITE BOY RICK. Matthew McConaughey plays a low down lower-class father to Richie Merritt the teenager who gets into drugs. First he’s a user then he secretly becomes an FBI informer while underage. The true story and the movie fall apart when this scheme fails and Richie is sentenced to a long stretch. It’s dull and boring and almost impossible to like anybody in this saga.
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS. A little 10 year old boy has to live with his creepy, trying to be funny uncle Jack Black. There is some story about the house and why it has so many clocks but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to find out the plot. Cate Blanchett is in it too, but she shouldn’t have been. Stay away. Even the kids probably won’t care for it. 68 on RT.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpys but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids.
ASSASSINATION NATION. No stars that you’ve heard of and probably and hopefully never will. This bloody, corny, high school, sex-texting, supposedly scary flick isn’t worth talking about…and definitely not worth you spending your money on…avoid at all costs.
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. “Landscapes” the new book about historical & local land use battles will be covered by co-editors Elizabeth Schilling and Heather Stiles on October 2nd. Then Julie Phillips and George Lewis discuss the proposed Dream Inn development at West Cliff and Bay. On October 9 Sean Van Sommeran talks about his Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. He’s followed by Hina Pendle discussing her “Power of the Heart” workshop. Santa Cruz City Council person Sandy Brown discusses the elections and local politics on Oct.16th. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating with your friends and relatives who like Trump. After that Candace Brown and Shelley Hatch talk about zoning, rent control and many hot voting issues. Jack Bowers and Dennis Morton describe their prison Art programs followed by City Councilmember Chris Krohn talking about voting and local issues on October 30. 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
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Some people are so smart, and when I see neat inventions I often think “Why didn’t I think of that?” 🙂 |
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. “SUPREME COURT”
“Presidents come and go, but the Supreme Court goes on forever“. William Howard Taft
“It’s hard not to have a big year at the Supreme Court“. Ruth Bader Ginsburg
“Free speech has been used by the Supreme Court to give immense power to the wealthiest members of our society”. Noam Chomsky
“The Supreme Court needs jurists, not politicians”. Timothy Noah
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
September 24 – 30, 2018
BRATTON…PDC and City Council candidates, Fahrenheit 11/9 still a must see, UCSC Housing demands, Fed Ex scam happening, Another Wilder ranch? Sustainable Soquel Meeting GREENSITE…on Measure M. KROHN…defines city council job, about endorsements, about campaign managers. STEINBRUNER…Ryan Coonerty, Measure G, Board of Supes and ADU’s , developers bonuses, Nissan dealership lawsuit meeting. PATTON…our City Council and the library decision EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Slipped disc Trump. JENSEN…Fahrenheit 11/9. BRATTON…critiques Lizzie, Fahrenheit 11/9, life Itself, Assassination Nation, The House with a Clock in its Walls. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…on “VOTING”.
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HOVERBIKES. This is what Santa Cruz needs. Think about maybe 100 of them at our downtown Farmers Market!! |
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THE ANDREW SISTERS. I love them, and saw them perform many times and even got their autographs. |
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(Issues with this video last week means a re-run this week! -Webmistress)
UCSC’S BILL DOMHOFF ON HOW SANTA CRUZ CHANGED. |
DATELINE September 24, 2018
CITY COUNCIL ENDORSEMENT EVENING. Monday night September 17 was when our People’s Democratic Club held their endorsement meeting. Only Paige Concannon and Ashley Scontriano didn’t show and they were both invited. All eight of the other candidates were there and gave it their best shots. All eight did agree on Rail AND Trail co-existing in our future. Which reminds me that somehow a week or so ago, I linked Greg Larson with the trail only group Greenway. That was a mistake Larson is for Rail AND Trail. David Lane was good on Rail AND Trail but showed absolutely no promise as a city council person. He had few clues about any issue or question, except for pushing his beer making business! Cynthia Hawthorne came out as a developer’s dream and thinks the relationship of power between our City Staff and the council is just perfect. Just Donna Meyers did a cop out and votes yes while the rest of the candidates oppose the Dream Inn –West Cliff Development, and that’s good news. Myers also wants to attract more high paying jobs here. The People’s Democratic Club endorsed both Drew Glover and Justin Cummings. From the outbreaks of applause after many of Justin’s and Drew’s responses it’s obvious where the progressive-left leaning votes are going. They were better informed and had done a lot of homework in getting ready for the November 6th elections. One endorsement seeker that night even called it the People’s Democratic Coalition! Talk about not being prepared!!
FAHRENHEIT 11/9. This is more than a movie critique it’s a plea to see Michael Moore’s latest fling and sling against a lot more than just Trump. No matter where you think you are on the progressive scale Moore shows us data and details on Hillary, Flint water, Democratic party politics, and more. Santa Cruz County residents should never forget that 22,438 neighbors voted for Trump last time and will probably support all his supporters in these midterm elections.
SUSTAINABLE SOQUEL MEETING. Sustainable Soquel sent this… “Sustainable Soquel is a community group interested in fostering open and polite dialogue in order to stay informed about local issues. We encourage sharing and expression of all viewpoints as long as they are presented with respect and courtesy. You are invited….To a Soquel Community Presentation Sponsored by Sustainable Soquel. There will be Two topics affecting our Soquel Community
- Crime concerns and community challenges, including info about Neighborhood Watch. Presented by S.C. Sheriff Sergeant Shon Leonetti.
- Nissan Project Law Suit Status…and how proposed mitigations for 41st Avenue and impending traffic light at corner of Robertson and Soquel Drive could impact Soquel. Sustainable Soquel members Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan will give brief updates and answer questions.
Bring your questions, concerns and comments (Mingling after presentations will be possible)
Thursday, September 27 @ 5:30 to 6:45 p.m.
Porter Memorial Library located at 3050 Porter Avenue, Soquel. phone (831) 475-3326,
Parking: Parking available behind library. Enter through Bagelry parking lot. Back door to library will be open. Email Sustainablesoquel@gmail.com with questions
UCSC HOUSING & ENROLLMENT. Satya Orion sent this note.
Reading the letter from Dave Keller, Executive Director, UCSC Housing Services (Renting room for a student) I felt stunned by his words that ” we currently have several hundred students without housing guarantees. . . .and not nearly enough rentals offered in our available Community Rentals listings to accommodate these students.” He goes on to say “you may wish to consider offering rental housing in your home for the academic year, or perhaps for a shorter period. The need is real and it is urgent, so I am reaching out to the faculty, staff, and community for help.” Words fail me! Is this the same UCSC that wants to add 10,000 more students? There seems to be a major disconnect from reality here in the UCSC system. We have Santa Cruz community members who cannot find housing as well. We are in a housing crisis!!
I’m wondering what it will take for UCSC to recognize that they need to not only halt additional enrollment, but decrease enrollment as well. It’s not fair to the students and it’s not fair to the community. This letter from Dave Keller should serve as a wakeup call to everyone still not aware of this issue.
ANOTHER WILDER RANCH? With so many of our local elected representatives being pro big business and so lovey-dovey with developers I created a very disturbing question. What if say Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg made a big pitch to build another “Wilder Ranch” size development of 10,000 homes somewhere near our city limits. Wanna bet whether our electeds would go for it? That would be nearly 30,000 more residents. I bet they’d go for it in a flash!!!
FED EX SCAM-BE AWARE!! Last week I received a very authentic looking notice from FED EX saying I owed $04.15 on a package that had been shipped to me. It said to open the tracking number that was displayed. It didn’t seem right so I went to Fed Ex. After much confusion the staffer finally told me that Fed Ex NEVER charges or bills the recipient! And it’s extremely rare that they would ever not bill the sender the correct amount when it’s being sent. SO beware of any bills from FED EX.
September 24
Measure M: A Class Act
My Yes on M sign is lonely. It stands out like a sore thumb in a fistful of No on M signs prominently displayed by those secure in their own homes. The opposition to Measure M is visceral. Friendships are challenged. Heated words exchanged. Yet if the haves changed shoes with the have-nots for a year, saw their incomes shrink to the medium income or less, worked two jobs to make ends meet and still handed over more than a third of their paychecks for rent with annual increases of up to 10%, perhaps their opposition might be tempered with a little more compassion or at least self-interest.
The claim of the prominent opponents to Measure M that they indeed “do support rent control but just not this one” rings hollow: easy to say, hard to prove. The pleas from “Mom and Pop” landlords that their future security is in jeopardy should Measure M pass, smacks of privilege not poverty. No one is taking away their right to rent or sell: both are lucrative investments. To someone who will never afford a house, those who do and who have an extra one or two or twenty others in order to make money off tenants are in a different class. And that is exactly what this rent control issue is about: class interest.
Students who rent, and that is almost all of them except a few whose wealthy parents buy a house in Santa Cruz as an investment and a place for their offspring to live while attending UCSC, are a divided class on this issue. Many come from families whose parents can afford to pay their rent even in expensive Santa Cruz: others work two part time jobs to afford rent and food as well as handle a full class load. And ironically, it is the ever-increasing UCSC student numbers that have created a rental housing shortage in the first place, with the high on-campus rents stoking the fires of rent increases in town. About fifty percent of the city of Santa Cruz’s population growth over the past 40 years is attributable to student growth at UCSC, with roughly half living off-campus. Half of 5 thousand (the student population when I started work at UCSC) is different from half of 19 thousand (the current student population). Yet the finger of blame is always pointed at slow growth activists who are charged with standing in the way of housing development, as if without rent control that would have solved the problem.
It is low-income, largely Latino workforce and families who rent who bear the brunt of the artificially created escalating property values that allow for ever-increasing rents. They do the work that allows the privileged among us (myself included) to enjoy a reasonably priced meal, enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, stay in a clean hotel or keep our houses clean. Without rent control they are at the mercy of the market and will be forced to move further and further away from their jobs in Santa Cruz, ultimately moving away for good. Who will cook dinner for you at your favorite restaurant if that happens? Ultimately it is in all of our interests to pass Measure M even if it falls way short of keeping all rents in the affordable range.
Opponents raise the fear that Measure M will lead to less rental -housing availability. Perhaps yes but consider why: because rental property owners fearing they will make less money, threaten to sell their rental properties, which just proves the class nature of this struggle. There are other gripes about “just cause” evictions that on close examination are far less draconian than the opponents claim.
The Sentinel deserves congratulations for its in-depth coverage of the details of Measure M and research into the impacts of rent control in other communities. Sunday’s Sentinel (9/23/18) researched the issue of whether less rental units are a consequence of rent control. While the answer is a nuanced yes, meaning landlords made that decision, one conclusion stood out for me: in San Francisco “rent control lowered displacement (of renters) from San Francisco, especially for minorities.” Now that’s an impact worth voting for.
| Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |
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This is the SC Neighbor’s forum compiled list of issues. “Y” is Yes, “N” is no, and “—“ means no opinion. Look closely on who is supporting the over $60 million+ parking garage atop the current site of the Farmer’s Market…and, only Councilmember Noroyan voted to keep the River Street Camp, while others seemed to believe that $80,000-$90,000 per month for 60 campers is exhorbitant to say the least.
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The Process
Wow, there’s already been at least six Santa Cruz City Council candidate forums–Labor (SEIU), Santa Cruz Neighbors, Peoples Democratic Club (PDC), Democratic Central Committee (DCC), Democratic Woman’s Club (DWC), and Campaign for Sensible Transportation (CFST). Candidates for city council not only have to attend these forums, and usually turn in responses to a lengthy questionnaire, but also have to find time to walk neighborhoods and meet voters. Throw in fundraising, keeping up with the FPPC form 460 filings, while a walking piece, and one or two targeted mailings, it becomes quite a rigorous vetting process that tends to draw out all the fortitude the candidate might possess. In fact, he or she usually comes to more than one soul-searching moments about both politics and people, while usually realizing they have stores of energy to call upon that they never knew they had previously. It is a marathon and not a sprint, a steady pace not a dash, but when vote by mail ballots go out, October 8th this year, the carefree and careful planning that took place back in early July or August is a distant rear view mirror memory. Now, it’s a mad dash up to the election day’s official day, November 6th. If you have a serious chance of being elected, and you usually have an inkling of where you fit in as November arrives, this process is nothing short of grueling. If a candidate tells you they are not tired most days, mixing up words at family meals, or late for at least a few of the fifty-plus meetings that dot your Google Calendar, then it’s usually because they are not yet aware of how all-consuming, or what’s expected in running a winning city council race in Surf City.
Do Endorsements Matter?
Well, yes, they do because the members of the community and community organizations who are able to endorse candidates because of their by-laws can lend a veneer of integrity and approval of each endorsed candidate. Can any one individual endorsement make or break a candidate? Likely not, unless it’s Barack Obama, Elizabeth Warren, or Bernie Sanders’ direct intercession on the candidate’s behalf with the electorate. The Dems and the Left-Dem Bernies endorse, but it’s not the actual celebrity coming and anointing the Santa Cruz City Council candidate. But if any of the three–Sanders, Obama, or Warren–actually came to Santa Cruz and campaigned for any council candidate, I’m fairly certain they would win. What about other endorsements? The statewide Democrats endorse both rent control and the repeal of the 1994 anti-rent control bill known as Costa-Hawkins, or Proposition 10, on the November ballot. Our notoriously middle-of-the-road (see Jim Hightower quote) local Dem establishment failed to endorse either Measure M or Proposition 10 at a recent forum. They did support the institutional (establishment?) slate of Greg Larson, Donna Meyers, and current councilmember, Richelle Noroyan.
(Next Week, “The Candidates: Slates, Sub-Slates, and Loners”)
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(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 |
SHOCKING BEHAVIOR FROM SUPERVISOR RYAN COONERTY REGARDING COUNTY REPRESENTATION AND JET NOISE
Residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains have been plagued for three years with deafening noise of jets flying at low altitudes and braking on approach to San Jose Airport at a rate of about one every minute, day and night. Supervisor John Leopold held meetings locally and travelled to the Bay Area, along with constituents, to discuss the problem with federal officials who had changed the flight path of incoming jets. Why on earth did Supervisor Ryan Coonerty fight so hard to not allow Supervisor John Leopold to represent the people at a newly-forming Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Roundtable Working Committee when it is so obvious that Supervisor Leopold is the best-qualified and has shown diligent leadership on the issue?
There were over 50 people who took time off work to attend the meeting to ask that Supervisor John Leopold represent the area, but Supervisor Coonerty refused to pay heed. Instead, he criticized the ability of Supervisor Leopold to effectively be able to represent the County’s interest: “If I had 100 constituents crying, I couldn’t be an effective leader.” Coonerty said.
Instead, he made the motion to have County Administrative Officer (CAO) serve as the Santa Cruz County representative on the Committee. That began an appalling series of actions that eventually led to the Supervisors voting in agreement with a ridiculous decision to send CAO Carlos Palacios to represent County residents, even though he will not be able to vote on anything. Supervisor John Leopold pointed out that the bylaws of the Working Committee stipulate that only elected officials from the various jurisdictions would be able to vote on any agreements, and that the CAO is not an elected official. “Well, that will probably change,” said Ryan Coonerty.
What needs to change is the leadership on the Board of Supervisors. I hope that Supervisor John Leopold will attend the FAA Roundtable Working Committee meetings despite the corrupt decision made by rest of the Board to send Carlos Palacios.
MEASURE G COUNTYWIDE SALES TAX SEEMS FRAUDULENT
Last week, County Fire and Emergency Response Directors were shocked to learn that the Board of Supervisors approved placing a half-cent sales tax increase on the November ballot and sell it by claiming it would fund fire and other emergency response. It was news to them because ZERO of the money would actually go to fund County Fire…it is not funded at all by General Fund money. Further, it recently was made known to them that Carlos Palacios, the County Administrative Officer who has written Measure G sales tax increase language, chose to postpone placing a measure on the ballot this fall that would have increased funding for County Fire via a property tax increase. This is the sole funding mechanism for County Fire.
What is really going on here???? It appears that Carlos Palacios, as County Administrative Officer (CAO) has willfully postponed placing a funding increase to support County Fire in order to opportunistically prey upon the public’s heightened concern about wildland fires in order to sell the half-cent sales tax increase to offset the looming $9-$15 Million debt the County will face next year to fund retirement pensions. That is exactly what he mentioned in his mid-year Budget Report last spring.
How would voters next spring view a tax increase for County Fire when they were told six months earlier that a sales tax increase would pay for fire and emergency response?
CHEERS,
BECKY
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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 |
#261 / Rule #2: A Reconsideration
After serving in local government for twenty years, I retired. As I looked back at my time in elected office, I found there were Five Simple Things that an elected official needed to do, if that elected official wanted to do a good job. I usually call them my “Five Simple Rules.” Here is Rule #2:
Rule #2: “Remember You’re In Charge.” There is a bureaucratic momentum present in every institution (certainly including government). An elected official needs to remember that he or she was elected to run the bureaucracy not the other way around.
Unfortunately, I have to say that members of the Santa Cruz City Council don’t quite seem to understand this basic concept. Voters elect local officials to listen to them (the voters and residents), and then to try to operate their local government in ways that best respond to what the local voters want. City officials and consultants, of course, can provide invaluable assistance, and often have worthwhile suggestions, but who should be steering the ship?
Not the bureaucrats!
Recently, I watched the Santa Cruz City Council decide (with two dissents) to abandon its downtown library (pictured above). In 2016, voters passed a library bond issue to “support the modernizing, upgrading and repairing of the Aptos, Boulder Creek, Branciforte, Capitola, downtown Santa Cruz, Felton, Garfield Park, La Selva Beach, Live Oak and Scotts Valley library branches, as needed.” This description of the objectives of the bond issue comes from a pre-election article in the local newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel. No mention of a new library was ever suggested, as the voters authorized money for needed “upgrading, repairing, and modernizing.”
After voter approval, with something like $23 million dollars made available from the bond issue, the City Manager suddenly decided that idea of “upgrading, repairing, and modernizing” our existing downtown library was not what should happen, at all. Instead, the City Manager decided that the city should build a brand-new new library, which would be located in, under, or in conjunction with a huge, multi-story parking garage.
This Garage/Library plan, if implemented, will completely abandon the current downtown library site (with no announced indication of what might happen to that site, located immediately across the street from City Hall). The plan would also require the destruction of an existing city-owned surface parking lot that has served as an informal “community plaza,” where an extremely popular weekly Farmers’ Market is held. Huge and beautiful heritage trees (a couple of hundred years old, by some estimates) will have to be destroyed to turn that informal plaza and surface parking lot into a multi-story parking garage.
The plan to “bury the library,” as opponents designated it, was wholly derived from ideas coming from the City bureaucracy, and most notably from the City Manager, who then enlisted a brand-new Library Director, the City’s Public Works Department, and the City’s Economic Development Director to say that this was a super good thing for the city, particularly because it would stimulate economic growth and (allegedly) provide assistance to affordable housing developments. Those with just the slightest degree of skepticism, despite bureaucratic claims to the contrary, looked upon this plan as the City Manager’s way to rip off library funds to help build a parking garage much needed by development interests, who didn’t want to pay for required new parking themselves.
In all fairness, there were some good arguments advanced by the staff, and there was some community support for this plan, too. What struck me, however, was the way that the Mayor and City Council rolled over and brushed aside heartfelt community objections. After giving the city staff a long opportunity to say why their idea was so good, individual members of the public were then each given 90 seconds to raise concerns. As soon as the public comment period was over, the Council quickly moved to adopt the City Manager’s plan.
Maybe the City Manager’s plan is a good plan (though I truly doubt it), but what was most disheartening to me was to see the way that the plans of the bureaucrats were elevated so much above the quite legitimate concerns voiced by members of the public (even though members of the public got only a 90-second snippet to make their points).
I keep a pretty close watch on what my local City Council does, and how it operates. Unfortunately, this recent decision is one of many in which I can’t help but conclude that the Mayor and Council Members (with a couple of dissents) essentially see their role as telling city voters how great the city is being managed by the city staff, instead of telling the city staff what the public wants.
I personally think that every one of my “Five Simple Rules” provides good advice for locally-elected officials. In terms of making democratic self-government work, however, with elected representatives making the key decisions on how the resources of local government should be used to achieve community objectives, Rule #2 should perhaps be reprioritized:
Rule #1:
“Remember You’re In Charge.” There is a bureaucratic momentum present in every institution (certainly including government). An elected official needs to remember that he or she was elected to run the bureaucracy not the other way around.
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Gary 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. View once again our weekly tripping inside our minds with our deeply attached friends.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Slipped disc Trump” 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 his “Wulf at The Door” it actually contains just a smidgen of hope during this political nightmare we’re all having!!
SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS. The first concert of their 2018-2019 season is… “Brahms, Beloved” Music by Brahms. The players will be Roy Malan, concert director and violin; Robin Sutherland, piano; Polly Malan, viola; Susan Freir, violin; Stephen Harrison, cello; Carlos Ortega, clarinet. There is no composer more beloved than Brahms! The concert season starts with his poignant melodies and rich textures to touch the heart. At this concert you will hear and enjoy three of the most profound masterpieces of the chamber music repertoire: Sonatensatz for piano and violin; Sonata in E Flat Major for Clarinet and piano; and Clarinet Quintet in B minor.It’s happening Saturday, September 29, 7:30 pm and Sunday, September 30, 3:00 pm. All their concerts are at Christ Lutheran Church Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Drive, Aptos (Off Highway 1 at Freedom Blvd.)
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Got some rabble to rouse? No matter what side of the political “aisle” you’re on, you’re bound to come away fighting mad from Fahrenheit 11/9, the latest plunge into the dark heart of American politics from documentary provocateur Michael Moore, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ).” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
FAHRENHEIT 11/9. Repeat from top page… FAHRENHEIT 11/9. This is more than a movie critique it’s a plea to you and everyone you know to see Michael Moore’s latest fling and sling against a lot more than just Trump. No matter where you think you are on the progressive scale, Moore shows us data and details on Hillary, Flint water, Democratic Party politics, Super delegates, Jeb Bush, and beyond. Go see it ASAP and remember November 6. That’s’ the most important date for many, many years!
LIZZIE. We all know the story behind the Lizzie Borden took an axe but seeing it acted out by Chloe Sevigny and Kristen Stewart gives us thoughtful, new sensitive ideas. It’s a tragic true story, it’s beautifully acted and the direction/pacing gets dreary at times but it’s still a good movie..
LIFE ITSELF. It got a miserable 12 on RT. I was mystified and bored at first but soon got into what the director was trying to say…and was engrossed. It’s a mite banal, then deeper and sentimental. It stars Oscar Isaac, Olivia Wilde, Antonio Banderas, and Annette Bening,.
ASSASSINATION NATION. No stars that you’ve heard of and probably and hopefully never will. This bloody, corny, high school, sex-texting, supposedly scary flick isn’t worth talking about…and definitely not worth you spending your money on…avoid at all costs.
THE HOUSE WITH A CLOCK IN ITS WALLS. A little 10 year old boy has to live with his creepy, trying to be funny uncle Jack Black. There is some story about the house and why it has so many clocks but I couldn’t stay awake long enough to find out the plot. Cate Blanchett is in it too, but she shouldn’t have been. Stay away. Even the kids probably won’t care for it. 68 on RT.
THE BOOKSHOP. (See this week’s “quotes” at the end of Bonline). If you like, love and use bookshops this film will make you appreciate your favorite bookshop all the more. Single woman Emily Mortimer (you’ll remember her once you see her) opens an independent, very independent bookshop in a small town in England. The acting by Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson is absolutely wonderful and this has to be one of my favorite 2018 films.
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
SEARCHING. An nearly-all Asian cast makes this “disappearing child” thriller almost as unusual as does the fact that almost 90% of the movie is on computer and iPhone screens. Facebook, Google, and every contraption we use today is part of this hunt for the guy’s daughter. The ending is a letdown in more than one way. Wait and rent it.
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!!
WHITE BOY RICK. Matthew McConaughey plays a low down lower-class father to Richie Merritt the teenager who gets into drugs. First he’s a user then he secretly becomes an FBI informer while underage. The true story and the movie fall apart when this scheme fails and Richie is sentenced to a long stretch. It’s dull and boring and almost impossible to like anybody in this saga.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpys but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids.
THE PREDATOR. It all started in 1987 with the first Predator starring Arnold “the Governor” Schwarzenegger. It took place in a jungle. It was quite good if you like that sort of thing. This re-make has Olivia Munn as a biology teacher traipsing along with army veterans trying to destroy another predator from outer space. Very much violence, terrible photography, and a plot that is completely unfathomable. Don’t go.
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. Stacey Falls and Tom Donahue are guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. Then Sarah Mason and Julian Parayno-stoll from Democratic Socialists of Santa Cruz talk about their political views. “Landscapes” the new book about historical & local land use battles will be covered by editor Elizabeth Schilling and Heather Stiles on October 2nd. Then Julie Phillips and George Lewis discuss the proposed Dream Inn development at West Cliff and Bay. On October 9 Sean Van Sommeran talks about his Pelagic Shark Research Foundation. He’s followed by Hina Pendle discussing her “Power of the Heart” workshop. Santa Cruz City Council person Sandy Brown discusses the elections and local politics on Oct.16th. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating with your friends and relatives who like Trump. Jack Bowers and Dennis Morton describe their prison Art programs followed by City Councilmember Chris Krohn talking about voting and local issues on October 30. 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
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Here’s the latest Randy Rainbow!
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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. “VOTING”
“Dear Jack: Don’t buy a single vote more than necessary. I’ll be damned if I’m going to pay for a landslide.” JFK reading a note from his father in 1958.
“Half the American people never read a newspaper. Half never vote for President — the same half?” — Gore Vidal
“Every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.” H.L. Mencken
“A vote is like a rifle: its usefulness depends upon the character of the user” President Theodore Roosevelt.
“It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.” — Winston Churchill
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
Column September 18 – 24, 2018
BRATTON…Council candidates capers and new endorsements , Circle Church territory and development, Ocean Extension news and plea, Thomas Pynchon’s Aptos house. GREENSITE…with alert on changes to ADU ordinance. KROHN…Takes a week off with just a few notes. STEINBRUNER…Santa Cruz zoning changes, County Planning dept and creating ghettoes (or ghetti), Aptos Village hole gone, Aptos’ Manresa restaurant to expect more fires? No on Measure H. PATTON…about how “we’re all going to die”. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover. JENSEN…reviews We The Animals. BRATTON…The Predator, White Boy Rick, We The Animals. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…on “Hurricanes”
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UCSC’S BILL DOMHOFF ON HOW SANTA CRUZ CHANGED. |
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28 MINUTES OF RARELY SEEN SANTA CRUZ. |
DATELINE September 17, 2018
FODDER FROM THE FORUMS. The Newest news is that both City Council member Martine Watkins and former mayor Celia Scott endorsed Justin Cummings. One (or many more) must wonder since Richelle Noroyan who was the Developer Relations Manager for Apple Computer,Inc and the long defunct SCO, Inc and is now an official employee with UCSC ie “Community Relations Representative” why she doesn’t recuse herself from voting on any item involving our shrinking campus and the city? Especially since she’s so happy supporting any and all the new buildings being built. NO on rent control folks and the millions of dollars behind their negative crusade have already placed more than 1200 No On M lawn signs. Donna Myers keeps parading around and about as an environmentalist. Ask her at the next forum if she wasn’t a strong supporter of De-Sal. Have you noticed how the NO On Measure M group mostly landlords and realtors keep repeating “it’s too expensive”. How can they ignore the increasing pleas from our renters who genuinely have larger problems with rentals being expensive? (from an avid reader…” Why would an environmentalist have supported desal for Santa Cruz? I was told that Donna Meyers supported it and I’m not sure that it makes sense. She also gave the thumbs up for support of the library/parking garage at the Elston forum. A good friend made an important point before that vote at the council, which is how can they be working toward a library/garage when the word garage was never included in measure S that was presented to the voters and we generously approved it .The word parking and the word garage did not appear in the text. How can an element that was not voted on become the major part of the plan ? I know Rick L. said a lawsuit is not out of the question, and I will contribute to that one”.
SQUARING THE CIRCLE (CHURCH). A long time and trusted friend sent this…“Circular rumors have it that no permits have been issued, or even applied for, for development of the “Circle Church”. As of this week one of the owners Chris Dreary the former pastor of the Circle Church is living in a mobile home on the premises. I believe London Nelson is so heavily booked that it’s almost impossible to rent space there. I’m wondering if there is any interest amongst the city council to purchase this property as a rented community center? Can this subject be up for public hearing/vote? I’m hearing that the entire structure may be demolished for so called co-housing. Very disturbing. Think we can start some movement in the city to have council purchase? I know it’s probably a long shot, but may be worth some effort Of course you’ve heard about the same Chris Dreary, now with a name change…hmmmmm, is leasing the former Logo’s to open another alcohol outlet called “faith on tap”. Another scam by this scumbag”.
STOP OVERBUILDING SANTA CRUZ. Ellen Aldridge who is a member of the Steering Committee of the Ocean Street Extension Neighborhood Association, and a native Santa Cruzian wrote this excellent plea to got our City Council to protect the Ocean Street Extension neighborhood. (OSX). It’s well worth reading ….and acting on it!
“Are you concerned about the development and overbuilding that is occurring in the City of Santa Cruz? The Ocean Street Extension (OSX) neighborhood on the City’s northerly boundary is experiencing it firsthand.
Developers Moe and Rowell are proposing a 40-unit apartment project, comprised of ten three story buildings on the steep 2.4-acre wooded parcel adjacent to the Santa Cruz Memorial Park located on OSX below Graham Hill Road. Many of you know OSX — it’s a rural, dead end road without streetlights or sidewalks that includes the cemetery, commercial and horse farms, and single family homes on large rural lots. The City Planning Staff have decided, despite uniform opposition from all surrounding neighborhoods, the Memorial Park, the Sierra Club, and other constituents, that it can disregard the City’s General Plan, and rezone this parcel which would allow 9 single family homes and quadruple the density to put in 40 units of San Francisco style apartments which will loom over the cemetery 26 feet from its hillside chapel where families go to pay last respects to their loved ones.
The City Planning Department is clearly determined to build more Google housing, as these two bed-room apartments will rent for $2800 or more per month if rented – although there will be a few affordable units. We all know that housing is a major concern to many — but building more commuter housing in rural neighborhoods would just feed the endless Silicon Valley need for housing and not solve the housing needs of local low income and working families. The City has repeatedly said that its development will be focused on transit corridors or in the downtown — but they are pushing this rezoning for a parcel at the City’s limits without regard to the neighborhood character, parking or traffic gridlock. Commuters from the San Lorenzo Valley will also be impacted as the turn lane onto OSX will have at least 266 more car trips a day turning at this unsafe intersection.
If you’re concerned that this trend will come to your neighborhood, there is still time to voice your opinion to the City Council. Check out www.osenasc.org for detailed information about the neighborhood’s concerns and sign our petition opposing the rezoning of this parcel. The development is scheduled to be considered by the City Council at its September 25th meeting, at a time to be determined. Please write to the Council or better yet — show up at the meeting and voice your concern about this development. Developers should follow existing zoning to keep neighborhood integrity”.
THOMAS PYNCHON & REAL FANS. I’ve written a few times about meeting Thomas Pynchon when he lived here. Here’s a new clue, or hint about his house in Aptos in the 1980’s. He was writing “Vineland” as I remember. If you do go to that site you can also scroll up and down and see the unbelievable search some folks have done just to track down the nearly invisible and illusive Pynchon.
ADU CHANGES THREATEN LIVABILITY.
If you’ve ever complained about traffic in Santa Cruz or noticed how permanently crowded the town has become, hold onto your hats. It’s about to become much worse.
City staff is working on revisions to their Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) Ordinance. This time around there seems little interest in balancing the General Plan directive to preserve existing neighborhoods’ character and quality of life with the supposed need for extra housing stock. It’s all about increasing supply. Since the proponents of increasing supply, including city staff, have an economic interest in that goal, (permits, fees, and job security) it’s up to the rest of us to try to save the town from overbuilding and overcrowding, neither of which will make a dent in the cost of housing which is the only real crisis. Nor will it solve the dilemma of our town becoming the dumping ground for wealthy second homers from Silicon Valley and for a burgeoning UCSC student population at a time when the school cannot provide sufficient housing and is reduced to begging staff and faculty to take them in.
I attended the first workshop on proposed changes to the ADU Ordinance and summarized that experience in a BrattonOnline piece, which you can read here.
The city is holding a further workshop on Thursday September 27th at 6:00 PM in the Police Community Room to share the changes they are proposing in the Ordinance to “encourage the creation of more units to help meet the local need for rental and family housing.” It all sounds so positive and benign. However the local need is not for housing per se but is for housing that is far cheaper than market rate. If it’s market rate it is only meeting the need for folks who don’t yet live here but who have sufficient incomes to move here, impacting every available resource and service. None of the proposed changes listed below protect exiting neighborhoods but the elephant in the room is the one highlighted topic.
Topics to be discussed: Proposed Changes to ADU Ordinance
- Changing parking requirements
- Easing development standards
- Establishing the maximum size of a unit
- Considering changes to the owner-occupancy requirement
- Adjusting the qualifications for reduced fees
- Required changes to the thresholds for public hearings
Unless you’ve had an ADU take away your privacy, sun, peace, parking you might be inclined to not regard them as a big deal. And odds are you have not been impacted since the number of ADU’s has been modest…so far. The main restriction that has kept the numbers reasonable is the requirement that the property owner live in one of the dwellings, either the main house or the ADU. If you would like to make money off an ADU and many would, then you also will be sharing your property with others. That gives enough pause- for- thought so that the addition of ADU’s into single-family neighborhoods has been gradual …so far. If the owner-occupancy requirement is removed, then 56% of single- family homes within the city will suddenly become newly eligible to add an ADU. That is the number of non-owner occupied houses in the city: in other words, investment properties with no on-site owner. Under the current ADU ordinance, such owners are not eligible to add an ADU to the property since they live somewhere else. Living somewhere else they are not concerned with the impact to the neighborhood of adding another house full of people…it’s all about money. In a hot rental market, even with rent control, I predict most will add an ADU. With the other changes proposed in parking, setbacks and size, the impact to the town becomes suddenly significant and negative and does nothing to add to affordability.
The artist’s rendition of an ADU on the city’s website is deceptive. It shows a cute ADU with roof top garden, a couple enjoying a meal in their backyard open space with two high-end dogs inside their spacious ADU. With owner occupancy a requirement, such a scene may mirror reality although I doubt the unit is affordable. Without owner occupancy, reality is far more likely to be a dozen students in the ADU with even more in the main house. If you think I am exaggerating then read the article from Sunday’s Sentinel under the heading, “How many people can live in a unit?” Citing Section 503 (b) of the Uniform Housing Code, the author, attorney Melia Powell spells out the space requirements for each resident. A 600 square foot apartment, about the current size of an ADU may allow up to 12 people to live in it. Theoretically, if owner occupancy is removed as a requirement, many of you in single- family neighborhoods could have a couple of dozen new next- door student neighbors on the one lot. And if you live next to a two-story house, the ADU can also be two- story. Good-bye sun, goodbye privacy.
Probably a good idea to attend the meeting on September 27th IN THE Police Community Room.
| 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. |
September 17, 2018.
Chris was away this week taking his daughter to college in Chicago..but he did have time to mention…
“The 1930 Ocean Street Extension development is coming to council next Tuesday. And the 40 market rate condos planned for that area will devastate it. Met with cemetery owner too and he is upset. He added that Bill Parkin is representing the Ocean Street Extension Neighborhood Association (OSX).
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(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 |
September 17, 2018
SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL APPROVES ZONING CHANGES TO CREATE GHETTOS
The Santa Cruz City Council last week swept approval of the major zoning changes in on the Consent Agenda, ignoring the well-documented presentation by residents of the Branciforte area and members of “Save Santa Cruz”. These changes would significantly and negatively change the quality of life for all in the County, while affording higher profits for developers who claim building affordable housing “just doesn’t pencil out”.
If you have not seen the documentary “Citizen Jane”, which describes the efforts of a neighborhood to fight back against this kind of local government disregard for community in the interest of partnering with developers, watch it here
Here is the slide presentation made to the Council by the Branciforte residents
Here are the approved Zoning Code changes that give developers lots of concessions, allow 35% reduction in green space and instead allow 35% increase in building footprints, reduce parking requirements without any documentation of public transportation availability or level of service, and more….
We have a battle for our neighborhoods before us.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION WILL CONSIDER SIMILAR GHETTO-INDUCING CHANGES NEXT WEEK
Attend the PUBLIC HEARING before the County Planning Commission when they will hear these same recommendations. The Public Hearing will be Wednesday, September 26 at 9am in the County Building (701 Ocean Street, 5th floor). This is a continuation of the August 22 Public Hearing on the issue.
Here is a link to the audio recording of the August 22 presentation and public discussion
Here is a link to the documentation
One really has to wonder why the County and City of Santa Cruz are so willing to allow developers to dictate what we will all be expected to live with and pay for.
MEASURE H IS A NEBULOUS MONEY GRAB FOR WHOM?
Read the full text of Measure H, the Affordable Housing Bond Initiative on your November ballot. Ask yourself these questions:
- Can the County’s property owners already struggling to pay high property taxes now afford to take on an additional 35-year debt of nearly a quarter BILLION DOLLARS?
- Why are there no exemptions for seniors, disabled and fixed income property owners?
- The Property Tax Postponement Program is restrictive and costs 7% for those who are lucky to be approved, with an annual requirement to re-apply. Is that any relief for seniors and disabled property owners? Will the legislature again suspend the Program in the next 35 years, as was done 2009-2013?
- What would the administrative fees be for the four cities and County to handle this money?
- How would the Oversight Committee, which would have the power to approve changes to the distribution of the money, be chosen and be accountable to the property owners paying the taxes?
- How can we trust that this would all be administered with transparency and legally, when THE BALLOT LANGUAGE ITSELF VIOLATES AB 195 REQUIREMENTS TO STATE THE TERM OF THE DEBT?
Make no mistake, this is a money grab to benefit developers who claim that building affordable housing “just doesn’t pencil out”. That is why the County Board of Supervisors, since 2015, has allowed developers to decide whether or not to build affordable housing, or just pay a small fee. DOES THAT MAKE SENSE TO YOU? Does this help the “affordable housing crisis” at all?
Vote NO on Measure H and give your Supervisor a call. 831-454-2200.
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
September 13, 2018
Ok, Ok! My headline is wrong! We ARE all going to die, but not (as John Oliver seemed recently to announce) because our president is a “goddamn dumbbell.”
If you haven’t watched John Oliver discuss the anonymous New York Times Op-Ed, by someone deep inside the Trump White House, and if you haven’t yet heard what Oliver has to say about Fear, reporter Bob Woodward’s latest book, then by all means click on this link and watch the 2:26 minute segment from one of his recent shows. It’s funny, and it casts our president in a very bad light. The segment ends with this statement:
The president’s a disaster; we’re all going to die.
Let’s stipulate to that first assertion, but let’s remember, as well, that our government, in the end, is NOT some sort of monarchial state. That went out with Louis XIV of France. The president (disaster that he is) is only one person, and “we,” citizens of the United States of America, are going to be around a long time after he is gone (though not likely forgotten, I am afraid).
In other words, while our president is “a disaster,” that isn’t the reason that “we’re all going to die.” Could we take our eyes off that rubber balloon of a Chief Executive for a minute or two? We are all paying way too much attention to someone whose own lawyer calls him a “dumbbell.”
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Gary 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. Enjoy the weekly trip through only you know where when you see his classic inner trips.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “The Adults In The Room” 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 there’s a FREE concert up stairs at the threatened Santa Cruz Main Library. This month its.. Thursday, September 20, 2018 from 12:10 – 12:50 The performers will be Jeff Gallagher, clarinet , Carol Panofsky, piano. Laureen Herr, piano, Nicki Kerns, mezzo-soprano and Lynn Kidder, piano Robin Murray Charlotte McManus-Guthrie, clarinet and Lynn Kidder, piano.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “A boy on the brink of manhood tries to piece together his own identity in the lyrical We The Animals, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Meanwhile, my Art Boy is entered into the Congressional Record by Congressman Jimmy Panetta!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
WE THE ANIMALS. It has a 90 Rotten Tomatoes score and deserves every one of them. It’s a very sensitive, touching story of three young brothers coming of age. Sons of a sad, misguided, and maybe doomed marriage the boys face the real world with dreams, practicality, and hope. It’s very much worth seeing. One of my favorites. CLOSES THURSDAY SEPT.20
WHITE BOY RICK. Matthew McConaughey plays a low down lower- class father to Richie Merritt the teenager who gets into drugs. First he’s a user then he secretly becomes an FBI informer while underage. The true story and the movie fall apart when this scheme fails and Richie is sentenced to a long stretch. It’s dull and boring and almost impossible to like anybody in this saga.
THE PREDATOR. It all started in 1987 with the first Predator starring Arnold “the Governor” Schwarzenegger. It took place in a jungle. It was quite good if you like that sort of thing. This re-make has Olivia Munn as a biology teacher traipsing along with army veterans trying to destroy another predator from outer space. Very much violence, terrible photography, and a plot that is completely unfathomable. Don’t go.
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it.
THE BOOKSHOP. (See this week’s “quotes” at the end of Bonline). If you like, love and use bookshops this film will make you appreciate your favorite bookshop all the more. Single woman Emily Mortimer (you’ll remember her once you see her) opens an independent, very independent bookshop in a small town in England. The acting by Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson is absolutely wonderful and this has to be one of my favorite 2018 films.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
EIGHTH GRADE. A 99 on RT and the lead actor Elsie Fisher deserves at least an Oscar for her role as a conflicted and nearly typical eighth grader. The incredibly talented, funny, and profound Bo Burnham directed it. (See his Comedy special on Netflix!). You’ll relive the anxiety, insecurity, and fears we all had in eighth grade. It’s billed as a comedy and some of the audience laughed when I was watching it…but see it for the insights, the reality, and the remembrances of those times.
OPERATION FINALE. Ben kingsley and Oscar Issacs head the cast of an almost documentary of how Adolf Eichmann was found in Argentina and brought to Israel to face an international exposure and jury for his role in Hitler’s extermination of the Jews. If you were of voting age back then 1960 you’ll remember almost all the details surrounding his capture and trial. But see this film by all means…it’s a lesson that still hasn’t been learned by enough humans. . CLOSES THURSDAY SEPT.20
SEARCHING. An nearly-all Asian cast makes this “disappearing child” thriller almost as unusual as does the fact that almost 90% of the movie is on computer and iPhone screens. Facebook, Google, and every contraption we use today is part of this hunt for the guy’s daughter. The ending is a letdown in more than one way. Wait and rent it. CLOSES THURSDAY SEPT.20
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!!
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpys but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: FALLOUT. Another Tom Cruise do it yourself stunt movie. Simon Pegg and Alec Baldwin are back again too. It has some wild and inventive stunt scenes that we’ve never seen before. Plus a music score that keeps almost all of the movie at a very intense level. It’s thrilling, mindless, pointless, but full of kicks. It’s made for the big screens.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN. It’s all of the original cast (even Meryl Streep for two songs) and ABBA music. It’s mindless, pointless, meaningless, and lacks almost all of the charm or naiveté of the first one. If you wait until almost the end you can watch a 72 year old Cher in tights singing to her daughter Meryl Streep — who is 69 years old!!! You could also watch Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters embarrass themselves in this strictly for-the-money prequel. Or I could say, “here we go again… BUT you shouldn’t”.
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. Sept. 18 has Don Stump pres. and CEO of CCH housing returning to discuss HUD, affordable housing and senior issues for the full hour. Stacey Falls and Tom Donahue are guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. Then Sarah Mason and Julian Parayno from Democratic Socialists of Santa Cruz talk about their political views. “Landscapes” the new book about historical & local land use battles will be talked about by Elizabeth Schilling and Heather Stiles on October 2nd. Then Julie Phillips and George Lewis discuss the proposed Dream Inn development at West Cliff and Bay. On October 9 Hina Pendle discusses her “Power of the Heart” workshop. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating with your friends and relatives who like Trump. City Councilmember Chris Krohn talks about voting and local issues on October 30.
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I wonder if that lady held on to her opinion… |
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. “HURRICANES”
“I’d always thought hurricanes were romantic, with pretty feminine names like Celestine“. Mark Shand
“Everyone except the far right wing of the Republican Party realizes that oil, gas and coal burning are the main activities that have sent the climate into bigger floods, droughts, hurricanes, and El Niños”. Donella Meadows
“You can dance in a hurricane, but only if you’re standing in the eye”. Brandi Carlile
“Even in the middle of a hurricane, the bottom of the sea is calm. As the storm rages and the winds howl, the deep waters sway in gentle rhythm, a light movement of fish and plant life. Below there is no storm”. Wayne Mulle
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
September 10 – 16, 2018
BRATTON…Santa Cruz changes this week, Rent control, library Parking garage, Groppetti gives up and details, Pelagic shark research. John Sandidge and the Grand Ole Opry. GREENSITE…on the library/garage issue. KROHN…Rent Control, library parking garage STEINBRUNER…Soquel Water District’s false claims, Aptos Village’s illegal excavations plus their traffic problems, County Ballots M & G need examining, Cannabis Director changes. PATTON…Library/Parking garage and Democratic Socialists of America EAGAN… Subconscious Comics and Kavanaugh’s baggage. JENSEN…she’s back and reviewing Juliet, Naked. BRATTON…critiques The Wife, The Bookshop, and Skate Kitchen UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…about Bookshops.
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LIVE CAMERA IN VENICE. This is the first I’ve seen of live camera stuff on You tube. And Venice is/was one of my favorite visits. |
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UKUKELE ORCHESTRA OF GREAT BRITAIN. There’s almost enough Ukukele players in Santa Cruz. This should provide new possibilities. |
DATELINE September 10, 2018
SANTA CRUZ IS CHANGING…THIS WEEK!!! Our city council handles two incredibly community-changing issues this Tuesday, Sept. 11. RENT CONTROL and MOVING THE LIBRARY. The Rent Control issue splits Santa Cruz into two groups…home owners vs. renters, rich vs. poor, and thinkers and community believers vs. the wealthy real estate corporation’s millions of dollars they are still spending to fool, lie and convince landlords to ignore the pleas and equal rights of renters. I hope everyone has seen the Sentinel column (9/9) by Rick Longinotti that points out — and proves in solid detail — the many City Staff errors that have been made in their push to move the library. Check it out…
Chris Krohn, Gillian Greensite and Gary Patton have all stated the issues clearly in their columns this week…check them out. AND attend the City Council meeting Tuesday night (9/11)at 7 p.m.
LIBRARY PARKING GARAGE & CITY COUNCIL MAYDAY. Tuesday (Sept. 11) is the deadline to get your emails to the City Council. The Don’t Bury The Library group has been strong, consistent, and unnerved in its opposition to this battle against the City Staff. It’s the City Staff that has been behind this wasteful plot all along. Here’s what Don’t Bury The Library sent out…
Keep the Downtown Library Branch in its current location — remodeled, renovated, revitalized, and renewed.
Please remind the Council in your own words why you are opposed to the abandonment and ultimate destruction of the historic, seismically sound downtown library building, be it environmentally destructive, civically destructive, culturally destructive, or financially destructive. It is a hugely wasteful example of city planning.
We’re down to the wire. Many of you responded to the plea for letters & emails to the City Council. Thanks to all who did! Although it may seem like a waste of time, and even if it does not change votes, the Council must be deluged with your individual emails. Otherwise it will be able to say that only a few residents were behind “Don’t Bury The Library” ( DBTL’s) goals.
Here’s their email: citycouncil@cityofsantacruz.com . Send emails by 7 pm on Tuesday.
From the beginning, Don’t Bury The Library had a mission. It has not changed: Our purpose is to unhinge the library from the proposed parking garage for all the right reasons; thus our campaign name Don’t Bury The Library (DBTL).
The Mayor has granted DBTL a 4 minute comment period. We’ll see you at the Santa Cruz City Council Meeting this Tuesday at 7 p.m”.
That’s from Jean Brocklebank, Judi Grunstra and Michael Lewis.
GROPPETTI NISSAN GIVES UP. I asked Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan — two important leaders from Sustainable Soquel — to bring us up to date on Groppetti not opening a new Nissan dealership at 41st and Soquel, and also giving up his older and smaller Nissan place on Soquel. Trent Dilfer must be very disconsolate. Here’s what Lisa and Robert reported.
“The Battle is not over, lawsuit against county continues. It’s a shame Groppetti feels he has to blame a local group of community-minded folks for his troubles. He should be mad as hell at the county for ignoring the sustainable plan and not telling him about it before his project was designed planed and approved. The county should have been informing him about the sustainable plan from day one. The Santa Cruz County administrative office and planning department clearly don’t care about long-range planning. They only care how to justify their salaries. Soquilian contributed to 18 months of public hearings and $600,000 of taxpayer money for a forward-thinking plan. The sustainable plan should not be squandered by our politicians or by a flawed interpretation of an environmental impact report.
It’s too bad the CAO’s office didn’t consider something like senior housing on a bus line, where cars are minimized or office space with needed community commercial which is badly needed. The sustainable plan premise was based on creating a walkable community, placing goods and services nearby residential areas, not to support regional business that attracts more traffic from throughout the region.
Local business and local needs were ignored over a sales pitch of bogus and inflated county tax benefits which were spun like a web by our county officials.
It’s time to hold our officials accountable. Groppetti will have great sales in Gilroy, and Santa Cruz residents have fantastic local mechanics to fix their Nissans. Sustainable Soquel needs your financial help to fund their lawsuit. Go to their goFundMe page, and also their email at susuainablesoquel@gmail.com
Robert Morgan adds… Summing up: Groppetti made a decision to leave his older and smaller 1605 Soquel address in Santa Cruz City. Groppetti still owns the parcels on the corner and is challenging our lawsuit to keep them zoned C-4 so he can develop. We think he’ll lose and not be able to develop — in which case he’ll sell. Someone can come in now with an offer to Groppetti — any development would need to conform to C-2 or go through the legal (county) process for an “overriding consideration” like Groppetti did. Doubt anybody’s gonna do that.
He abandoned his clients because he feels his bottom line is too thin — -he maintains his lease is too high (euphemism for he’s not making enough money). So, Groppetti closes and anybody who owns a Nissan drives to Gilroy to get it serviced. Now, that’s keeping the community’s interests in the forefront when deciding how he will serve residents!
At the same time Groppetti leaves the community, he wants to fight the lawsuit by Sustainable Soquel because he wants the space at the corner of 41st and Soquel — even though residents asked him to respect the Sustainable Plan and not build there. Again, he fights community well-being.
County Supervisors, the Planning Commission and Groppetti ignored residents’ wishes. Those wishes were expressed through the resident-generated process creating the Santa Cruz County Sustainable Plan; namely, intelligent, community-orientated land use in alignment with low-impact community development, sustainable transportation strategies and climate change goals set by the state. So, residents sued. The court will decide if the County and Groppetti will be able to ignore the wishes of the people and build a dealership on an impacted traffic corner in lieu of housing and retail. Sustainable Soquel believes the court will side with our arguments.
PELAGIC SHARK RESEARCH FOUNDATION & FUNDING.
Sean Van Sommeran and his Pelagic Shark Research Foundation group have given incredible support to the Ocean community…often against both natural and organizational odds. They are asking for just a few dollars to continue their work. They stated… “We are in need of funds to repair vehicles and acquire more supplies, plus recoup and bolster fuel and transportation costs. It’ll go toward phone and Communications costs, replacing worn out VHF marine radios and Rescue and our Specimen Collecting Unit equipment and supplies. We’ll also add photography and videography upgrades plus Additions.
We need public support and are hopeful that this request works. We’ve never “fundraised” before, but after three long and busy seasons we are experiencing logistical and financial difficulties and hope this plea may be a practical solution.
If you are interested in supporting our efforts by making a donation or contribution, please do not hesitate to respond to this request and/or contact us directly. Check our Facebook Page or via Email psrf@pelagic.org – or call us at 831 459 9346″.
JOHN SANDIDGE & THE GRAND OLE OPRY. John “Sleepy” Sandidge has been honored to be a guest host at the world famed Grand Ole’ Opry in Nashville Tennessee!! It’s happening either October 18 or 19. They’re even flying him back there! Steve Palopoli is going with him. Looks like Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers will be the headliners. That’s gotta be a once in a lifetime experience.
September 10, 2018
THE LIBRARY/PARKING GARAGE VOTE: A WATERSHED MOMENT FOR SANTA CRUZ
Tuesday night’s council decision on the library/parking garage issue will be a watershed moment in the history of Santa Cruz. Much like the tearing down of the Cooper House forecast a change in the character of Pacific Avenue, the tearing down of the city’s main library will forecast a decisive shift into a more modern, high-rise, glass and steel, car-centric built landscape for downtown. Given the vocal, widespread opposition to building a 5-story parking garage on top of a new library, the vote will also test the council’s ability to grasp the sentiment of the people it represents, rather than its select committees and upper management.
It’s hard to determine how everyone feels about this issue since the Downtown Library Advisory Committee went out of its way to avoid letting the community know it was considering getting rid of the library. When people did show up to testify, the Committee voted on their own recommendations first, then opened the floor for public comment. Not good democratic process. I know how specific groups and individuals feel. I listened to the testimony at the last council meeting. I know my gut wrenches at the thought of losing the downtown library and the vision of a new 5-story parking garage, with the attendant loss of some of the most beautiful downtown heritage trees evokes a string of adjectives. I also hated to lose the Card Room and the Broken Egg to the current 3-story parking garage on Front St. The former was the spirit of the town for me: the latter, no soul, no spirit. I guess I prefer small-scale, familiar, bit worn down at the heel human-sized places to that which replaces them. And it’s not a question of giving time for the new to acquire the feel of the old. They never can. Such sentiments are dismissed as nostalgia by the glass and steel people. Not so. It’s a legitimate sentiment to want to preserve what little remains of the old, the familiar, and the places full of character, which are on the chopping block all over town. Whether it’s bucolic Golf Club Drive, the historic Municipal Wharf, the funky retail and restaurants on Front St, all are slated for urban renewal. And this is the thin end of the wedge. Given current zoning, there’s a whole lot of the eastside to destroy with high- rise, dense development. And let’s not forget the plans for high-rise and retail for Bay and West Cliff Drive.
There’s something corrupt about changing the character and feel of a town to serve the interests of investors and the needs of people who don’t yet live here. If you’ve ever travelled to small, centuries-old European towns and villages, have you wondered how they have survived for so long? I guess because people treasured what they had and still have and their elected representatives respected their wishes.
Tuesday night we will get to see whom our council represents.
| 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. |
RENT CONTROL, “21ST CENTURY” LIBRARIES, AND FIVE STORY GARAGES.
Oh My!?!
There are two significant issues coming to the Santa Cruz city council this week. In the afternoon, “city staff” is returning to council with “a draft city ordinance stipulating that a rent increase of more than 10% in one year or more than 15% in any two consecutive years will trigger relocation assistance” from landlords…and they are calling this “assistance to tenants.” Well, with friends like these, tenants should be hunkered down into their housing bunkers (if they have housing) and get ready for the long march (slog, really) home to the November 6th election, which actually begins October 8th when the first absentee ballots will be received by city voters. This latest staff initiative appears to be an end-around Measure M, the rent control ballot initiative now being discussed and debated in our community. But the irony here is that the kind of rent increases allowed by this proposed “ordinance” will continue seeing most residents using over 50% of their incomes to pay the rent. This city council agenda item appears to subvert the will of the electorate. Why now? Because real estate $$cha-ching$$ interests are running scared and trying to convince a few more liberal voters who may be on the fence that they, the real estate community, has our community’s best interests in mind. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even with this initiative in place, market-rate rents will prevail and rents will continue their upward spiral. I have faith in voters, both on the council and in the community, that they will not be fooled by these kinds of cheap tricks that bring no relief to tenants, but seek to obfuscate the pocket-picking that’s gone on unabated for so many years.
Oh, Oh My!!!
The city council will devote an entire evening to discuss (and vote?) the proposed five-story garage atop a relocated library on the site of the current downtown Farmer’s Market. Many questions remain and are highlighted by two opinions in Monday’s Santa Cruz Sentinel. I suggest you take a look. But the questions that I am concerned about… 1) the use of consultant Nelson/Nygaard data that on one hand, city staff are using to justify a 600-space garage, but on another hand portray a scenario that the city could avoid building this garage by implementing real “traffic demand management” strategies such as offering parking passes to all downtown city workers which would be paid for by parking funds as the current proposed $41 million garage is to be financed; 2) does this now $68 million project make economic sense? 3) who is actually a “friend” of the library? and 4) What is a 21st century library, given that so many of us would like to bring back the downtown Carnegie Library structure that was torn down so many years ago? (See op-eds here )
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(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 |
September 10, 2018
“LET’S JUST GET THIS DONE BEFORE ANYONE ELSE SHOWS UP TO PUBLICLY QUESTION IT”.
That is how it seemed to me at last Tuesday’s Soquel Creek Water District Board meeting when I discovered that Chairman Bruce Daniels had re-arranged the order of items covered on the agenda so that the PureWater Soquel Project’s Public Benefit Report was presented first, rather than nearly last, as was listed on the public agenda. Silly me to think that I could arrive at a time that would correspond with an item scheduled to be heard near the end of the meeting.
Chairman Daniels did allow me to address the Board regarding my concerns about what I consider false claims in the Report when I was granted the opportunity at the end of the meeting during public comment regarding correspondence. The entire analysis was predicated on the claim that there is NO ALTERNATIVE to the PureWater Soquel Project. That is simply not true, with the District even planning to begin accepting water from Santa Cruz City’s North Coast sources this November, if the water is available. The agreement will be re-negotiated (hopefully) before December, 2020.
The Report also fails to address the health risks of injecting treated sewage water into the groundwater drinking supply for the MidCounty region. Carollo Engineering admitted in a report given the last year that there are contaminants such as some pharmaceuticals and carcinogenic nitrosamines (NDMA) that cannot be completely removed by the energy-intensive purification process. There are no State Safe Drinking Water Standards established for these contaminants. The absence of this public health and safety risk in the Report is unacceptable.
Did the Board respond to my comment? No.
Contact the Board with your thoughts about this seemingly false Public Benefit Analysis Report for PureWater Soquel Project. Here is a link to the September 4 Agenda Packet with the Report documentation beginning on Page 107
COURT ORDER TO REDUCE INVALID WATER RATES
Many thanks to Mr. Jon Cole, a Soquel Creek Water District ratepayer who sued the District on nine counts of invalid and illegal rate structuring and won. He could not afford legal counsel, so represented himself in Santa Cruz Superior Court before Judge Paul Burdick. As a result, the District must adjust rates to Tier 2 customers and cease charging all fire service connections an extra monthly fee. Send a wave of gratitude to Mr. Jon Cole for his persistence and hard work after the Board dismissed his plea for their consideration and investigation into the matters.
CLARIFICATION OF EARLIER CLAIM RE: NUMBER OF CANNABIS LICENSING DIRECTORS
I would like to correct information I wrote a couple of weeks ago regarding the turn-over rate of the Santa Cruz County Cannabis Licensing Directors. There have been only two official Directors, not three, as I had earlier understood and reported here. The first Director, Mr. Dan Petersen, was hired in October, 2016 and resigned nine months later for ethical reasons. I had understood, in talking with him, that his assistant Ms. Loretta Moreno would assume the job. She did, but as was pointed out to me, she served only as the Interim Cannabis Director. Ms. Robin Bolster-Grant was appointed as the Director in September, 2017. She resigned last month.
Here is a link to a good discussion of the inherent (unethical?) matters involved in the County collecting massive fees from the industry, possibly encouraging a black market trade and danger in the rural areas of our County.
The CAO is definitely hoping the revenues from this industry will bail the County out in the next year of CalPERS debt coming due. Here is the Job Recruitment Announcement
THANK YOU TO THE PAJARO VALLEY UNIFIED SCHOOL DISTRICT FOR SUPPORTING CLIFF SWALLOW NESTING AT PAJARO VALLEY HIGH SCHOOL
Last weekend, volunteers from Pajaro Valley Unified School District , Watsonville Wetlands Watch, and the community at large cleaned selected areas at Pajaro Valley High School where Cliff Swallows were allowed to successfully raise their young in mud nests under the building eaves. The birds, protected by the International Migratory Bird Act, have now left the School grounds and are heading back to Patagonia. They will return next spring to raise another clutch or two of young.
Many thanks to District Business Operations Director Mr. Joe Dominguez for his fabulous support of staff and student health and safety issues at the School while creatively supporting the Cliff Swallow nesting activity. He participated in the workday, as did District Trustee Ms. Leslie DeRose. Thanks to all students and staff who volunteered! (picture right)
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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 |
#246 / DSA
Kate Aronoff has written a good story about the DSA (the Democratic Socialists of America). You can find a copy in the September 2018 edition of In These Times. The title of Aronoff’s article is, “Why the Democratic Socialists of America Won’t Stop Growing.” It is well worth reading.
A recent article in The Washington Post is also worth reading. It is titled, “Democratic socialists are conquering the left. But do they believe in democracy?”
Aronoff traces the history of the DSA, and reports on its latest political successes, most notably the primary victory of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who soundly defeated a high-ranking Democratic Party Member of Congress in a recent Democratic Party Congressional primary. Arnoff’s article reveals, among other things, that In These Times has been, from the start, closely allied with the two groups that merged their organizations in 1982 to found the DSA: the Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee (DSOC) and the New American Movement (NAM).
I have been a longtime subscriber to In These Times, and I have probably always been a little “soft on socialism,” but I never joined up with DSOC, NAM, or the DSA, and I never much thought about why. The reason struck me as I read Aronoff’s article. She said this about how she went about reporting on the DSA:
For this story, I spoke with around two dozen DSA members from chapters around the country. The primary source of their excitement was that DSA chapters seemed to be actively working on something, not just sitting around reading Marx.
“Sitting around reading Marx” has never much appealed to me. If that is a fair characterization of how the membership of the various explicitly socialist groups have tended to spend their time (at least until recently), I can see why these organizations have never been that appealing. My brand of left-wing political activism has had me “sitting around reading the Constitution.”
My commitment to “revolution,” and it’s sincere, has much more to do with 1776 than with 1914, or even with 1789 (see Hannah Arendt’s book, On Revolution). The American version of revolution is not likely to be of great interest to those who “sit around reading Marx,” and that’s their loss, in my view.
My advice for the DSA is pretty simple (and it definitely includes a commitment to democracy). I suggest that if the DSA would like to keep growing, its members should start reading the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address. If lots of people start doing that, I think the DSA will have a bright future.
In other words, in thinking about the future, I think that the DSA should not forget to put some emphasis on the “A.”
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Gary 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. Look below for Eagan’s visit and probing into our once upon a time mysteries…Hero, Boss and Ava are our long beloved guides.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “KAVANAUGH’S BAGGAGE” 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.
ESPRESSIVO. Presents their first concert of the season Sunday, September 16, 2018 at 3pm at the Peace United Church of Christ, 900 High Street, Santa Cruz, California
they’ll play/perform; J.S. Bach Brandenburg Concerto Nr. 3, Igor Stravinsky Dumbarton Oaks Concerto , Igor Stravinsky Concerto in D , J.S. Bach Suite Nr. 2 and with Lars Johannesson, playing flute.
PIVOT: The Art of Fashion presents “Hall of Fashion” – A Runway Show in collaboration with the R. Blitzer Gallery on Saturday, September 22, 2018. Hall of Fashion – A Runway Show begins at 7:30pm. Designer’s Market open to the public following the show. VIP Reception and Designer’s Market preview 6:00-7:30pm. The Blitzer Gallery is in the Old Wrigley Building.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “A obsessed music fan, his neglected girlfriend, and the has-been rocker he idolizes set the stage for wry comic turmoil in Juliet, Naked, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). And big thanks to everyone who turned out to honor my sweetie at the Celebrating James event a couple of weeks ago. The Rio was packed! Relive those moments of laughter and tears (but mostly laughter) with these new pics from the event. Thank you, Santa Cruz!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
THE WIFE. Glenn Close, Jonathan Pryce and Christian Slater — along with a sensitive plot/script — make this another great 2018 film. Pryce wins the Nobel Prize; his wife Glen Close has a deeply involved and serious role as his lodestar. An excellent film, go see it. You’ll love it.
THE BOOKSHOP. (See this week’s “quotes” at the end of Bonline). If you like, love and use bookshops this film will make you appreciate your favorite bookshop all the more. Single woman Emily Mortimer (you’ll remember her once you see her) opens an independent, very independent bookshop in a small town in England. The acting by Bill Nighy and Patricia Clarkson is absolutely wonderful and this has to be one of my favorite 2018 films.
SKATE KITCHEN. A near-documentary focusing on a teenage skateboarders (who aren’t very good by Santa Cruz standards). The director gave a some New York City girls a bunch of lines to act out, and they tried, but it’s awful to listen to. It lacks plot, realism, and any reason to spend your ticket money. CLOSES THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 13.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
EIGHTH GRADE. A 99 on RT and the lead actor Elsie Fisher deserves at least an Oscar for her role as a conflicted and nearly typical eighth grader. The incredibly talented, funny, and profound Bo Burnham directed it. (See his Comedy special on Netflix!). You’ll relive the anxiety, insecurity, and fears we all had in eighth grade. It’s billed as a comedy and some of the audience laughed when I was watching it…but see it for the insights, the reality, and the remembrances of those times.
SEARCHING. An nearly-all Asian cast makes this “disappearing child” thriller almost as unusual as does the fact that almost 90% of the movie is on computer and iPhone screens. Facebook, Google, and every contraption we use today is part of this hunt for the guy’s daughter. The ending is a letdown in more than one way. Wait and rent it.
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!!
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE :FALLOUT. Another Tom Cruise do it yourself stunt movie. Simon Pegg and Alec Baldwin are back again too. It has some wild and inventive stunt scenes that we’ve never seen before. Plus a music score that keeps almost all of the movie at a very intense level. It’s thrilling, mindless, pointless, but full of kicks. It’s made for the big screens.
INCREDIBLES 2. I liked Incredibles 1. Now Pixar/Disney has shifted to centering on Mrs. Incredible as a Wonder Woman who goes through numerous violent bloody battles against the one concept I thought was funny…the evil Screenslaver. Very little of the original charm, family stuff, human frailties, it’s another cutesy version of the Marvel Comics blockbusters. I’m guessing that these Marvel movies are best enjoyed by eight-year-olds. If you’re older than that, think at least twice before attending.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN. It’s all of the original cast (even Meryl Streep for two songs) and ABBA music. It’s mindless, pointless, meaningless, and lacks almost all of the charm or naiveté of the first one. If you wait until almost the end you can watch a 72 year old Cher in tights singing to her daughter Meryl Streep — who is 69 years old!!! You could also watch Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters embarrass themselves in this strictly for-the-money prequel. Or I could say, “here we go again… BUT you shouldn’t”.
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. September 11 Michel Singher from the Espressivo Orchestra will describe their upcoming concerts. Then Julie James from The Jewel Theatre shares news of their new play season. Sept. 18 has Don Stump pres. and CEO of CCH housing returning to discuss affordable housing. Nora Hochman guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. “Landscapes” the new book about historical & local land use battles will be talked about by Elizabeth Schilling and a friend on October 2nd. Then Julie Phillips and George Lewis discuss the proposed Dream Inn development at West Cliff and Bay. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating you’re your friends and relatives who like Trump. 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
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Did you know…? 🙂 |
UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE ARCHIVES. In case you missed some of the great people I’ve interviewed in the last 12 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. “BOOKSHOPS”
“What I say is, a town isn’t a town without a bookstore. It may call itself a town, but unless it’s got a bookstore, it knows it’s not foolin’ a soul.” Neil Gaiman, American Gods
“I love walking into a bookstore. It’s like all my friends are sitting on shelves, waving their pages at me.” Tahereh Mafi
“It is clear that the books owned the shop rather than the other way about. Everywhere they had run wild and taken possession of their habitat, breeding and multiplying, and clearly lacking any strong hand to keep them down.” Agatha Christie, The Clocks
“To walk into a modern-day bookstore is a little bit like studying a single photograph out of the infinite number of photographs that cold be taken of the world: It offers the reader a frame.” Nicole Krauss
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
September 3 – 9, 2018
BRATTON…Santa Cruz Indivisible event & open house, Greg Larson loses Democrat support, Dream Inn development battle just beginning, Save Scotts Valley event, Salmon fishing in Santa Cruz. GREENSITE…on Learning to love Trees. KROHN…City council biz, killing the giant Sequoia, water bonds, developers and $$Density Bonus$$, UCSC and no growth issue, Homeless housing debacle, vote on Library/garage on Sept.11. STEINBRUNER…Soquel’s drinking sewage water to save money? Soquel water Board shutting up citizen input, Monning’s Water Bill loses again — hooray!, County Supes stop public input. PATTON…on Presidential lying and honesty. EAGAN…classic Subconscious Comics and new Deep Cover. JENSEN…still has visitors and will return next week. BRATTON…critiques Little Stranger, Searching, and Juliet, NakedUNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…about September.
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Lincoln Taiz found this Trump tribute!!! |
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LU WATTERS AND HIS YERBA BUENA JAZZ BAND. Not enough people know that Lu Watters was born in Santa Cruz. He is solely responsible for the 1940’s-1960’s San Francisco revival of New Orleans jazz. He was also instrumental in the fight against PG& E’s Nuclear Power plant in Bodega Bay, which we won!! |
Photo Caption
(photo courtesy of Covello & Covello Historical photos)
DATELINE September 3, 2018
SANTA CRUZ INDIVISIBLE. Trying to find a way to get involved and help the battle against the Trump forces? Want to meet friends and neighbors who share your interests? Go to the Santa Cruz Indivisible Blue Wave Show at the Civic this Saturday. Here’s what they sent out…
“Can’t get involved during the summer? Don’t worry, on September 8th at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, SCI will be having a general meeting from 10-11:30am, followed by a day of Blue Wave volunteer recruitment from 1-5pm, where you will be able to take short training sessions about canvassing, phone and text banking, GOTV, and writing postcards to voters. Before you leave you will be able to sign up for any Blue Wave actions that fit your schedule and interests.
Feel intimidated about participating, or don’t know how to get involved? Don’t! To help guide you we will have continuous, revolving, 20 min. intro sessions to learn how to effectively connect with voters using various electoral tools like: canvassing, writing postcards to voters, phone and text banking. Attend for 20 minutes or two hours, whatever fits your schedule!”
This is the time to find folks and neighbors who share your concerns. S.C.I will have Active issue teams at the Civic representing Local politics, Freedom of the press, LGBTIQ, gun violence, Black lives matter, California single payer, common ground, climate solutions, public lands, water issues, wildlife, children and education, economic policy, voter suppression, and of course Trump politics. It’s a perfect way to get involved. That’s 10am to 5p.m. at the Civic. Go here to get the info and go there to help our country get back on track.
GREG LARSON’S CITY COUNCIL CAMPAIGN. Is anyone else surprised that Greg Larson got NO endorsements from both the Democratic Women’s Club and the Democratic Central Committee? What is equally surprising is that he’s pushing his endorsements from so many of the the police groups — such as Santa Cruz POLICE OFFICERS Association, Santa Cruz POLICE MANAGEMENT Association, Scott Seaman, Past President of CA Police Chiefs Assoc. Kevin Vogel, Past Police Chief, City of Santa Cruz. That puts him way into the Terrazas-Cynthia Mathews camp, instead of where so many of us hoped otherwise. At the next forum be sure to ask him where he stands on Rent Control or West Cliff Dream development. Don’t let him cop out like so many are doing by saying … “oh yes I’m for rent control, just not this measure”.
DREAM INN DEVELOPMENT DISASTER. Tourists are already trying to avoid the enormous traffic problem at West Cliff Drive/Dream Inn/ West Cliff Villas corner. Soon tourists will start avoiding that entire area of our fair city. Dream Inn owners are pushing developer Ensemble Real Estate to get this project moving ASAP. It’s the 4 story, 47 foot tall town house building with two underground parking levels. As Save Santa Cruz Westside’s website says, that’s… “89 Luxury Condos, Minimal Local Housing, and 15,790 square feet of commercial retail space at a critical intersection”. So many of these units will be escape destinations for wealthy Silicon Valley escapees… and won’t help our housing crisis at all. Many, many of the immediate neighbors are fighting this. For sure the trailer park folks behind the site are worried about it, but neighbors in the West Cliff Villas right there at that Dream Inn corner are fighting just as hard to prevent this destruction of our threatened environment. Join in… It’s our community.
SAVE SCOTTS VALLEY TOWN GREEN EVENT. This is from an email in this week’s mail bag. “Our invitation to one of the most important discussions in the history of Scotts Valley was buried on page 15 of the latest Press Banner. The city has known about this for weeks, yet has made minimal effort to spread the word. If you live in Scotts Valley or the San Lorenzo Valley, and are concerned about this high density housing mega-project which will crush the Mt. Hermon corridor and impact the safety of our Middle School kids, spread the word and attend the meeting Saturday September 8th from 11-2 at the SCOTTS Valley Community Center. The meeting coincides with the Farmers Market “Apple a Day” Festival, so bring a few extra bucks and plan to stick around after we tell the developers our downtown is the WORST LOCATION for hundreds of high-density housing units”.
SALMON FISHING IN SANTA CRUZ. Last week I ran a video clip of some guys just sweeping salmon out of the water somewhere in Santa Cruz. I asked if anyone knew where this bizarre event took place. I got much more than that from Jean Brocklebank. She wrote… “The video was taken a couple of years ago at the upper end of the harbor, where the once lovely Arana Creek fed a natural wetland/lagoon system. Nowadays, salmon are artificially raised at a hatchery, then released into harbor waters to head for the ocean and return for sport fishing. Thankfully, the Port District has since stopped the absurd practice of fishing off the end of the upper harbor, where — once the word got out — dozens of people showed up and did what the video shows so well. It became a human feeding frenzy and ruined the upper harbor. Landscaping was trampled. Guys were peeing into the water. There was trash left behind, including fishing line (of course). No fishing there for the past two years and that’s fine by me!”
LEARNING TO LOVE TREES.
I grew up around trees. Very tall trees. When I was about 8 years old my family moved from the state of Victoria to the state of New South Wales on Australia’s east coast. I recall my father telling us why he chose to buy the modest weatherboard two-bedroom house, which cost $2,000 at that time, sold for $20,000 in 1970 when my father moved to New Zealand and today the same house is worth well over a million dollars. Housing speculation has similar impacts on both sides of the Pacific Ocean.
The first house my father looked at was a well-made larger house that would have been ideal except for the fact that its spacious yard was full of mature trees. My father wanted a large vegetable garden, which required sun. He therefore chose instead the lesser house on the other side of the valley with only native brush, no trees and full sun. Cutting down the trees for more sun never entered his mind. That early lesson and countless others instilled in me a respect and love for trees that is deeply rooted. It has fuelled a passion to save trees from human selfishness and ignorance both of which abound in Santa Cruz, more so than in other places I’ve visited. When I revisit my hometown in Australia, the trees from my childhood are still there, only much bigger after 50 years. I joke with friends that after being away from Santa Cruz for a month, I expect to see any number of big trees gone on my return. Sadly that is often the case.
As properties change hands in Santa Cruz, as second units are approved on single-family lots, we are fast losing our mature trees, sometimes for frivolous reasons. Just two examples: one involves a house on my street where a heritage tree grew in the front yard of a house that recently sold. The tree, when just a six inch slip, was brought from Indiana in the back pocket of a man who loved trees and wanted to plant it as a reminder of his previous home. It was a mature tree when I moved to the lower Westside 40 years ago. The property has changed hands a few times and new owners cared for the tree until the present owner moved in. Within a few months, and conveniently when I was out of town, he cut down the tree without any permit, ripped out the landscaping to make room for another car, forever changing the look and feel of our street. The other example involves a large Sequoia tree growing in a private yard on King St. The new owners who purchased the house a year ago decided after buying that they wanted to get rid of the tree. The city’s urban forester denied them a tree removal permit since the tree is healthy, not a danger and not damaging a structure; all conditions that would warrant a tree removal permit. Contrary to popular belief, very few tree removal permits are ever denied by the city’s urban forester and there are hundreds of such requests each year. When one is denied, it’s a guarantee that the tree is worthy of saving. The property owners appealed the denial, won at the Parks and Recreation commission level and the issue headed to council on appeal for the August 28th meeting. The vote was split. With Mayor Terrazas absent, council members Krohn, Brown and Chase voted to save the tree while council members Mathews, Noroyan and Watkins voted to let the owners cut it down.
One expects property owners who wish to get rid of a heritage tree to use fear-based hyperbole and nasty personal attacks as their weapons and both were in no short supply in this particular presentation to council. One expects council members to understand that a Heritage Tree ordinance exists to protect trees, especially from those who hold no love of trees in their hearts; who find trees a nuisance, dirty, in the way, out of place. One expects that council would respect the expertise of their staff who had her decision peer reviewed and supported by one of the leading arborists in Santa Cruz. Not so for the council members who voted to take the tree down. Employing that trite expression, “it’s the wrong tree in the wrong place” council member Noroyan voted to end the life of this majestic tree as casually as if she were pulling a weed. Given a tie vote, the issue will return to council sometime in October.
Watching the council meeting online from Florida, I was reminded of my father’s example from long ago. If you are looking to buy a house and you don’t like trees or a particular tree is not what you want in your yard then don’t buy that house. Look for a different house. Trees are not objects to be disposed of as casually as a used tissue. They are living species. While worshiping trees was a hallmark of other cultures and times, the least we can do in our over-mechanized, increasingly warming world is to show them a bit of respect. Our future may depend on it.
| Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |
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CITY COUNCIL BIZ-LAST WEEK’S VOTES
I told you I’d get back to you with news on various city council votes from our last meeting on August 28th. The Giant Sequoia tree appeal at 1420 King Street near the corner of Baldwin (Item #21) proved to be contentious and ended with at 3-3 vote. Mayor David Terrazas was absent, so it will be heard again on Oct. 23rd, according to city manager Martin Bernal. The three yes votes were cast by Sandy Brown, Cynthia Chase and me. There were moments during the discussion when I thought there would be four votes to maintain this grand tree. In fact, Councilmember Cynthia Mathews ambled on about how she too was a tree-lover and has shelled out a mountain of money to maintain her árboles. But, in the end she voted to cut it down. Now the fate of this beautiful and “healthy” specimen, according to city arborist Leslie Keedy, is up to the mayor, I guess, unless another councilmember changes her mind.
Proposition Political Posturing.
On item #21, no one had the stomach for taking on the staff recommendation of council-support for Proposition 3 water bonds, which both the Sierra Club and the League of Women Voters are firmly opposed to. I did get the council to agree to place Proposition 10, the repeal of the Costa-Hawkins bill that currently limits all rent control in the state after 1994, onto the next city council agenda for a discussion.
Developers Developing Santa Cruz for Developers
The big agenda item outcome–read $$$–of course, was council approval of item #20, the developer-friendly “density bonus” plan. The key provision for developers is ” Increasing the number of units (density bonus) up to 35% more units…”The reason it proved complicated was perhaps the “modifications to the minimum square footage,” or completely throwing out the “tier system” of incentives, but likely it was “Changes to the definition of transit stop…” Are your eyes glazing over yet? Well, most council eyes were possibly bored to tears on this one. The give-away passed by a 5-2 vote with councilmember Brown and me, the only ones to have posed questions for staff, and then we came out firmly opposed to gifts for developer.
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(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 |
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT JUSTIFIES ECONOMIC BENEFIT OF INJECTING TREATED SEWAGE WATER INTO LOCAL DRINKING WATER SUPPLY
Why is Soquel Creek Water District working so hard to shove treated sewage water into the MidCounty drinking water supply and now using an erroneous report (my opinion) to justify the economics of doing so? Why does the District insist on burdening ratepayers with perhaps $200 MILLION IN DEBT and threaten the entire region’s drinking water supply with pharmaceuticals and unknown contaminants, including carcinogenic nitrosamines (NDMA)??? (There are no drinking water standards established for these toxins).
The District’s Cost Benefit Report, done to support their PureWater Soquel Project, is flawed because it assumes erroneously that “no readily available feasible alternatives” exist. “Several decades of alaysis and regional efforts at implementing other options have not resulted in a substantial water supply coming online.” (pg. 1 of the Report).
How can the District Board accept such false information when this November, Santa Cruz City will begin sending hundreds of thousands of gallons from North Coast sources to Soquel Creek Water District customers, allowing the over-pumped aquifer to recover? Further, the agreements between the two jurisdictions will be re-negotiated in 2020 and could allow for more water to be sent to the District during high-flow storm events. Also, other “place of use” water rights for the San Lorenzo River are currently being amended to allow Santa Cruz to send excess water to Soquel Creek Water District, allowing the over-pumped areas to recover. The pipelines needed for this are already in place, and are used during emergencies between the two jurisdictions.
The District already submitted this bogus Cost Benefit Report to the feds last July for a $20 Million grant application, two-thirds of which relies upon this type of information. The Board is only now being given the opportunity to review the Report at this Tuesday’s meeting (see Item 6.5 beginning on page 107)
The Report was created by Dr. Brent Haddad, Professor of Environmental Studies (NOT Economics) and graduate student Mr. Bryan Pratt (in Economics Dept.), both at UCSC, operating under the comparison of Orange County studies. The Report was reviewed by Mr. Cameron Tana, Hydro geologist (not an economist) for Montgomery and Associates, the company developing the models to support the PureWater Soquel Project. Doesn’t that seem odd to you?
Why does the Report claim an annual Operating & Maintenance Cost of $1.9 Million from figures supposedly given by Project consultants Brown and Caldwell, but never provides the actual document reference information? Why does the Soquel Creek Water District document presented to the Board at the August 21, 2018 by District Financial Manager Ms. Leslie Strohm at the Special Board Meeting (NOT video recorded for the public) state “Supplemental Supply operating costs beginning FY 2023-2024 estimated at $2,440,000 per year” (page 6 of 25)???
NO COOPERATION FROM COUNTY SUPERVISORS TO INCREASE PUBLIC INPUT AT BOARD MEETINGS
Last Tuesday’s (8/28)County Board of Supervisor meeting Consent Agenda #62 approved an exclusive contract with Swenson Builders to move forward on a hotel at the 7th Avenue and Brommer Redevelopment parcel above the Santa Cruz Harbor. Because I can no longer pull Consent Agenda items for better public discussion at Board meetings, I followed the newly-approved Board rule and wrote Supervisors Ryan Coonerty and John Leopold to ask that they pull the item for me. I got no response from either until they both responded via e-mails sent moments before the Board meeting began that they would NOT honor my request and pull the item.
Well, that action will help support County Administrative Officer (CAO) Carlos Palacios’ criteria for the success of the new Board policies regarding public input. According to his staff, the changes will be successful if there are fewer Consent Agenda items pulled. Does that seem like better public participation in local government to you? That was one of the features of the “Vision Santa Cruz Strategic Plan” approved by the Board last June.
I think the Grand Jury needs to hear about this, don’t you? What will be the next method of further stifling public participation? Contact your County Supervisor and ask.
Cheers,
Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
September 2, 2018
The Saturday-Sunday, September 1-2, 2018, edition of The Wall Street Journal carried an excerpt from Kenneth Starr’s new book, which Starr has titled Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation. The Journal called its piece, “The Impeached President.”
I have recently written in this blog about impeachment, and initially minimized the significance of the “high crimes and misdemeanors” with which President Bill Clinton was charged.
Almost immediately after writing a blog post to that effect, I had second thoughts, based on a column in The New York Times. I then restated my position, as follows:
I really believe I stand corrected. I don’t want to be associated with any claim that when the President of the United States lies (particularly under oath), that such lying is in any way “ok.” We can’t allow any of our elected officials to operate under a “truth-optional” standard.
Naturally, I was interested to see the article in The Wall Street Journal, which is essentially a justification by Starr of his pursuit of President Clinton on the basis of the president’s lies about his sexual contacts with Monica Lewinsky. For any who lived through that part of our history, I imagine that the Starr justification will be worth reading.
What I thought most noteworthy in the excerpt published in The Journal was the way it concluded. Starr says that he did not like the independent counsel law under which Starr’s investigation operated; he thinks the “special counsel” regulations under which Robert Mueller is operating are better. Nonetheless, Starr says:
Even with the reformed structure for appointing and overseeing special prosecutors, the cries are once again heard throughout the land: “Witch hunt!” The struggle for assuring integrity and honesty in government is being played out all over again.
The way I read this, Starr is legitimating the investigation of our current president, Donald J. Trump, and is saying that when the president violates standards of integrity and honesty it is perfectly appropriate to impeach the president on that basis.
I agree!
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Gary 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. Check out Nemo and Boss and especially Ava as they traipse through land that is all too familiar to most of us!!! Scroll down.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Bearing with the G.O.P.” 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. Containing his new poem/saga “Them”.
SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE RETURNS. We are really fortunate that the San Francisco Mime Troupe continues to make Santa Cruz one of their traveling stops. They’ll be performing their original time – traveling musical “SEEING RED” twice in San Lorenzo Park for free. That’s Saturday/Sunday September 8th & 9th. The great Mime troupe band starts at 2:30 the play is at 3 p.m.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa’s taking another week off and enjoying a visit from her relatives. She says she’ll be back online and in print next week. See her blog at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
LITTLE STRANGER. A carefully, slowly paced, haunted version of “Downton Abbey”. A spirit haunts an old mansion, never really shocking anyone, but keeping the movie audience in quiet suspense. Charlotte Rampling provides her usual perfect acting, and you’ll leave the film remembering this plot for a very long time.
SEARCHING. An nearly-all Asian cast makes this “disappearing child” thriller almost as unusual as does the fact that almost 90% of the movie is on computer and iPhone screens. Facebook, Google, and every contraption we use today is part of this hunt for the guy’s daughter. The ending is a letdown in more than one way. Wait and rent it.
JULIET, NAKED. Nope, it’s not reference to Shakespeare, darn it — but the title of a song that has been/legend Ethan Hawke recorded years ago. It’s got some laughs, many impossible plot twists, and you’ll have to be a full-time Hawke fan to sit through some very slow development. He’s done better…and so have you!!!
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
EIGHTH GRADE. A 99 on RT and the lead actor Elsie Fisher deserves at least an Oscar for her role as a conflicted and nearly typical eighth grader. The incredibly talented, funny, and profound Bo Burnham directed it. (See his Comedy special on Netflix!). You’ll relive the anxiety, insecurity, and fears we all had in eighth grade. It’s billed as a comedy and some of the audience laughed when I was watching it…but see it for the insights, the reality, and the remembrances of those times.
BLINDSPOTTING. Has a 93 on RT…and deserves it. A “blindspot” as we learn in the film, is when something is right in front of you and you can’t see it. In this case it’s the racial scene in Oakland and the rest of the USA. Violent, conflicted, heartwarming, well acted, and painful. It’ll leave an impression on you long after you leave the theatre.
PUZZLE. A perfectly acted, extra sensitive story of a woman finding her way to empowerment . It’s also a view into the little known world of Jigsaw Puzzle addicts and experts. Go see this quickly, it probably won’t last long on Santa Cruz screens.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpies but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
PAPILLON. This isn’t just a remake of the 1973 original starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman — the two new actors look just like them too! The acting is terrible, the camera work jarring, and it’s a very boring movie. I dozed several times. It’s all about Devil’s Island, prison life, and how to escape. Rent the original, which is a much better film.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. This means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
EQUALIZER 2. Denzel Washington is back again as a vigilante. Unlike all the rest of the bloody, violent, killing, revenge movies, Denzel makes this one a little deeper, more thoughtful, and yet at the same time heavy-handed. There’s nothing new, imaginative or startling in it, but because it’s Denzel you’ll be able to sit through all of it.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE :FALLOUT. Another Tom Cruise do it yourself stunt movie. Simon Pegg and Alec Baldwin are back again too. It has some wild and inventive stunt scenes that we’ve never seen before. Plus a music score that keeps almost all of the movie at a very intense level. It’s thrilling, mindless, pointless, but full of kicks. It’s made for the big screens.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. It’s embarrassing to watch Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne and especiallyMichelle Pfeiffer having to take roles in yet another factory-produced Marvel Comic mass-produced monster hit. (85 RT) Paul Rudd is back in this sequel, and does the best possible job as the Ant-Man. He shrinks; he grows, flies around on the Wasp’s back and does what little he can with this comic book movie. I’m guessing that these Marvel movies are best enjoyed by eight-year-olds. If you’re older than that, think at least twice before attending.
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play buddies from LA who for some kinky reason become involved with an international killers. The two of them go toHolland, Hungary, Berlin, Austria, Denmark and Atlanta, Georgia. After more than two hours those locations plus the foolish, overused dialogue between the two women aren’t enough to make this flick worth paying to see.
INCREDIBLES 2. I liked Incredibles 1. Now Pixar/Disney has shifted to centering on Mrs. Incredible as a Wonder Woman who goes through numerous violent bloody battles against the one concept I thought was funny…the evil Screenslaver. Very little of the original charm, family stuff, human frailties, it’s another cutesy version of the Marvel Comics blockbusters
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN. It’s all of the original cast (even Meryl Streep for two songs) and ABBA music. It’s mindless, pointless, meaningless, and lacks almost all of the charm or naiveté of the first one. If you wait until almost the end you can watch a 72 year old Cher in tights singing to her daughter Meryl Streep — who is 69 years old!!! You could also watch Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters embarrass themselves in this strictly for-the-money prequel. Or I could say, “here we go again… BUT you shouldn’t”.
A.X.L. This bizarre drivel didn’t deserve even the 22 it got on Rotten Tomatoes. The army developed a secret mechanical dog as a modernized K9 corps tracker and killer. In case you forgot, I was in the U.S. Army K9 corps as a dog trainer…seriously! So I’m an expert on K9 dogs! This movie wouldn’t be worth watching even if it was free. The plot is absolutely beyond understanding, the special effects are poorly carried out, and it’s a waste of your time and admission charges.
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 September 4 Rotimi Agbabiaka from The San Francisco Mime Troupe discuss their performances here on Sept. 8 & 9. Then Rose Sellery and Tina Brown share style scoops from their PIVOT: Art Of Fashion show happening 9/22. September 11 Michel Singher from the Espressivo Orchestra will describe their upcoming concerts. Then Julie James from The Jewel Theatre shares news of their new play season. Sept. 18 has Don Stump pres. and CEO of CCH housing returning to discuss affordable housing. Nora Hochman guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. October 22 has Ken Koenig and friend talking about communicating you’re your friends and relatives who like Trump.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
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I love the stuff… 😀 |
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. ” SEPTEMBER”
“[T]hat old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air … Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year’s mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.” Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose
“The old summer’s-end melancholy nips at my heels. There’s no school to go back to; no detail of my life will change come the onset of September; yet still, I feel the old trepidation.” Sara Baume, A Line Made by Walking
“High up on Monte Salvatore the window of some shepherd’s hut opened a golden eye. The roses hung their heads and dreamed under the still September clouds, and the water plashed and murmured softly among the pebbles of the shore.” E.L. Voynich
“I used to love September, but now it just rhymes with remember.”Dominic Riccitello
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
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August 28 – September 3, 2018
BRATTON… report on City Council candidates forum at SEIU, Amazon, Landmark and subtitled movies, the next Amazon, Sustaining Soquel. GREENSITE…on the Wharf Master Plan. KROHN…City Council agendas, UCSC growth, conflicts of interest, developer favors, city manager issues. STEINBRUNER…a new hotel at 7th and Brommer?, Planning Commission favorites, Aptos Village project, Cannabis licensing manager quits, Soquel and smart Water Meters. PATTON…about impeachment. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics & Deep Cover. JENSEN…relaxes after James’ party and her birthday. BRATTON…critiques Papillon and A.X.L. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…about Earthquakes and Impeachment.
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WHAT DO YOU SEE? Be careful they get really, really difficult about half way through. |
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SALMON FISHING IN SANTA CRUZ? Can anyone tell where this was taken? |
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KIM NOVAK TALKS ABOUT MARILYN MONROE AND SEX. |
DATELINE August 27, 2018
THE VERY FIRST 2018 CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATE FORUM.
Because the general public was not invited to this forum last Thursday night (8/23), I asked friends who did attend for a report, and their opinions of what went on. The following is that “report”…. “Out of a total of 10 registered candidates, 8 were present for the SEIU-Central Labor Council forum last Thursday night at their union hall on Mission Street. Candidates Paige Concannon and David Lane were absent. This was the first candidate face-off in what appears to be a grueling campaign schedule for candidates — likely 9 or 10 more of these will follow. It was clear that a real race for three council seats is officially on. All 8 candidates seemed ready and prepared to talk about city business, although there were of course varying perspectives. This is Santa Cruz.
Placing this group on spectrum…The far-right (for SC) definitely has a candidate. Perhaps it was the most newsworthy (in SC) story of the night, that is the Trumpian tendencies of one Ashley Scontriano—(“safety,” police, home-girl, police, terror on the streets, police) Rumor has it that she vied for a place on the Cynthia Mathews slate, but missed the cut as Greg Larson (who would not utter the words “Los Gatos,” but said he has the experience of being a city manager, at least five times, but just where was he the city manager? (answer: Los Gatos). (Do we want to be Los Gatos?) Also on the Mathews team is Donna “support-the-city-manager-council-institution-at-all-costs” Meyers, and incumbent Richelle “never met a market-rate unit I did not approve” (and TBSC stealth candidate) Noroyan. That appears to be the institutional-city staff slate as chosen by the Cynthia Mathews-Carol Fuller machine. I also heard that former SC school board member Cynthia Hawthorne was also bumped from the Mathew slate.
Candidates Justin Cummings and Drew Glover hit homeruns all over the place. They were both honest and had a firm grasp of the issues, clearly outpacing the rest of the pack at this first forum. Justin is basing his campaign on “community stability”, wanting to house the homeless, lower rents considerably, and make Santa Cruz a place where union families can afford to live and raise their children. Drew Glover, when asked if he would talk to unions during contract negotiations (every candidate responded “yes”) went beyond the usual programmatic yes, to outline a strategy of creating and fostering community—raising wages, lowering rents, taking care of the homeless, and meeting union members and their representatives anywhere and any time.
Perhaps what separated this group more than anything was when SEIU board member Matt Nathanson asked candidates to respond to the question: “Which city council candidate would they endorse?” Simple enough question. Justin and Drew were forthright: they endorsed each other and outlined what a council majority might look like if they are elected and how it would benefit Santa Cruz. The Cynthia Mathews slate—Greg Larson, Donna Meyers, and Richelle Noroyan—responded rather disingenuously, preferring not to endorse or support each other, much less even acknowledging that they perhaps even know each other. They just get along with everyone, they are ‘independent and will work with other councilmembers once they’re elected.
Of course, the path of what differentiates Justin Cummings and Drew Glover from the Mathews slate is clear: rent control. Glover and Cummings were clear, cogent and enthusiastic in supporting tenants and the most vulnerable in this community in standing up to landlords and addressing the dire housing crisis in this town. The Cynthia Mathews slate waffled from no support to ‘I support rent control just not this one,’ — to which Glover stated that over ten thousand had signed a petition to get it on the ballot, and it’s an issue people want addressed.
Grey pony-tailed candidate-lawyer, Phillip Crawford, besides being opposed to rent control, made a good case for being a friend of labor, but also it became clear as the night wore on that he is not tethered to anything Santa Cruz. All his good work took place on the other side of the hill, as did Greg Larson’s.
You can see information about all candidates on the city’s web page here
It is not clear once you arrive at this page, but just scroll down and click on each candidate’s name”.
End of report. Another attendee asked “when Santa Cruz is having so much trouble dealing with our city managers and their influence on the council, do we want Greg Larson with his long experience as a City Manager of Los Gatos actually on our Santa Cruz City Council?”
MORE ABOUT AMAZON, LANDMARK, DEL MAR AND OUR NICKELODEON. No more definite news about Amazon buying the Landmark 50 theatre chain (del Mar and Nickelodeon), but I sat with Bill Raney — who created/built/established The Nick back in 1969 at Jim Aschbacher’s tribute last Saturday night. I told him that cinema trade experts are predicting Amazon might be mainly interested in owning theatres where they can show their own Amazon-produced films. That just might bring a slightly better selection of movies. Bill Raney added the main concern …will they be bringing any more subtitled films? Landmark brings us very few…but at least only rarely do they show “dubbed” films.
MIND-BOGGLING AMAZON QUESTION. Amazon’s marketing techniques have shut down thousands of brick-and-mortar stores, such our Sears and Orchard Supply stores, Toys are Us, Circuit City, Sports Authority, Borders and plenty more. The challenge is to think who, what and how somebody will come up with the business that will ruin Amazon? This is America, so you know our great American tradition has it that somebody will invent, create some new cheaper product service (even beyond drone shipping) that will shutter Amazon…wait for it!!!
HELP OUR NEIGHBORS WITH THEIR LAWSUIT. “Sustainable Soquel” is a group of neighbors and residents of Soquel who care a lot about their community. Teachers, lawyers, clerks, birders, and students have joined together to protest the Countey’s not just allowing, but even pushing a new GROPETTI NISSAN DEALERSHIP to open on the corner of Soquel Drive and 41st. Avenue. There are many better uses for that almost 3 acre site, such as senior housing with a small locally-owned handy food store, or other retail and community business to fill in gaps that the neighborhood needs. Sustainable Soquel has hired an expert attorney from San Luis Obispo, and is taking Santa Cruz County to court for at least three pro-Auto Row actions they consider illegal. It costs lots of money to protect neighborhoods, and Sustainable Soquel needs your and my financial help. Being part of this Soquel community movement now will mean we all benefit from the legal changes it will bring…and your neighborhood could be next. Get in touch with Sustainable Soquel’s Go Fund account http://bit.ly/2MPIIm1stopautorow
DATELINE FLORIDA.
Two years ago almost to the day, the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf was saved from a morph-over by the timely birth of my only grandchild, Calliope. Had she been born on a Monday rather than a Tuesday, the historic wharf would now be unrecognizable. Forty foot tall buildings, three in all, one covering the sea lion viewing holes; landings on the east side for big boats, perhaps tenders for cruise ships; infill buildings for more retail shopping on the Westside; a lowered walk and bike way under the restaurants, facing the elements, blocking access for migratory birds that nest under the wharf; twelve automated pay machines spaced along the half mile wharf replacing the workers staffing the kiosks; reduced sized parking spaces. Just a sampling of the changes proposed by the SF urban design firm ROMA, who were paid a million dollars for the Plan alone, with most of the money coming from the federal government via the city’s dubious if not fraudulent claim of tsunami damage to the wharf, with the remainder of the money from city Parks and Recreation funds.
In Florida, August 22nd 2016, sitting, waiting for my grandchild’s birth, I decided to see what was on the Santa Cruz City Council agenda for the next day. I was shocked to see the Wharf Master Plan on the agenda. Shocked because it was unexpected; shocked because approval by council meant a green light for all of the above with only the funding to secure, a not insurmountable problem given the tourist industry and available grants. With limited time but with a 3 hour east coast advantage, I quickly read the agenda report and the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), spotted the lack of mention of the Puget Sound migratory birds annual spring nesting under the wharf, fired off emails to 7 of the most reliable environmentalists I could think of, all of whom wrote emails to council. At their meeting the next day and recognizing the MND’s omissions, council voted to continue the item for a month. In the meantime, a legal letter recommending the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and a petition drafted by a member of the Valley Women’s Club that garnered 2500 signatures under the title Don’t Morph The Wharf! was sent to council. Council member Richelle Noroyan dissed the petition for its inclusion of out of state signers, not reading in their comments that many were transplanted Santa Cruzans and out of state visitors who knew and loved the current wharf. Advised by the city attorney, council voted for the preparation of an EIR.
The EIR has apparently been long completed, reviewed by department heads but has not yet been released for public review. There is a temptation to hope that this widely unpopular project has been scrapped. Wish it were so. If wishes were horses then beggars would ride.
Writing from Florida, recalling that fateful day two years ago, I suggest if you care about saving the wharf from the changes proposed in the Wharf Master Plan that you ask the current city council candidates where they stand on this issue. And don’t accept weak, evasive responses. If they say they haven’t read it, ask them to do so and request a response within 3 days. If they say they are waiting for the EIR ask them to read the Plan and respond, irrespective of environmental impacts. If they say it may be good for the city’s economy, ask for proof (long time locals won’t support a morphed wharf) and take that as a yes. Then vote accordingly.
| 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. |
August 27, 2018
Making San Lorenzo Park Safe for Tequila (festival) Again! Pictures of the week—contrast the one from the homeless encampment last winter with this past Saturday’s Tequila festival
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LAST WEEK THIS WEEK ON THE CITY COUNCIL
Because of BrattonOnline deadlines, I often cannot relate to you, dear reader, what happened at the city council this week because the column sometimes comes out the same day as we have the council meeting. So, let me lay out what was on the meeting agenda this week. Every agenda has something of consequence. That is, the public’s money gets spent, decisions are made about various neighborhoods, downtown and the beach area, and an item, strange and interesting, often appears on the agenda, but shrouded in bureaucrat-ese.
The Hidden
Item #7 was a “Resolution amending the current “Conflict of Interest Code.” There are 10 pages of “disclosure categories,” 1 thru 4, but no real information or ways councilmembers might evaluate why a “Buyer” in the Finance department is now a “3” (“city/Department-Related Income”), and the “Sustainability and Climate Action Manager” will be in the “1” disclosure category (“Full Disclosure”).
The Staff Being Too Political?
Item #8, also on the “consent agenda,” (which usually indicates there will be no discussion and council likely all agree on passing the item) was a bunch of recommendations by the city manager that the council endorse certain state propositions, “1, 2 and 3,” and “oppose props 5 and 6 on the November 6, 2018 General Election Ballot.” Of course, I wanted to know why he wasn’t making a recommendation on Proposition 10, the repeal of the onerous Costa-Hawkins bill that prohibits any sort of rent control statewide on any units built after 1994? You can go to the League of Woman Voters recommendations: https://lwvc.org/news/our-voting-recommendations-november-ballot-measures And why did he recommend the council support Prop. 3 when the League of Women Voters is firmly opposed?
Developer-Friendly City Council?
Item #20 is the “Density Bonus Zoning Ordinance Amendments.” Folks, we have a Planning Director who receives his marching orders from a City Manager (who believes he has them from a council majority) to develop anywhere, anytime, and on almost any property in this city. Nothing seems to be sacred, or off-limits, whether they’re proposing to build 400 units on Golf Club Drive right up to the Pogonip, or Forty condos along Ocean Street Extension, which is currently more like a country road. Six-hundred units downtown, where many believe the bulk of any development should go, might be acceptable, but only if half of them were actually affordable. “Density Bonus” is a cha-ching, cha-chinging sell-out musical show for developers, but it’s likely to be “a hard rain that’s gonna fall” on the rest of us. There is much to be aware of with this developer-giveaway ordinance. Be warned, if voters wish to max out market-rate development in a once beautiful beach town, then vote for the incumbent and her slate running in the next election. But if you seek a council majority that will protect our environment, negotiate with developers for more affordable units, protect local business over corporate crap while standing up to city planning staff and soliciting neighborhood input, then check out council candidates, Justin Cummings and Drew Glover. If they win, they would help form a council majority come November to halt the current sell-off of Santa Cruz to out of town (and some local) developers.”Density bonuses” should ONLY be used to create more, not less affordable housing.
The OMG! Item
Another heritage tree (item # 21) will be felled if the city council takes the word of a 6-1 Parks and Recreation Commission vote over the advice of its own urban forester and allows this 50-foot Giant Sequoia with a 53-inch trunk to be cut down. It now stands tall, proud, and healthy in front of 1420 King Street near the corner of Baldwin. Here’s hoping for an 11th hour reprieve…
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(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 |
COUNTY WANTS TO LET SWENSON BUILD A HOTEL ABOVE THE HARBOR
The County Board of Supervisors are trying to sneak the contract with Barry Swenson Builders to build a HOTEL at 7th Avenue and Brommer, above the Harbor, even though the public was adamantly opposed to such a use when asked at the April 27, 2017 Public Meeting. Call Supervisor Ryan Coonerty and ask him who he is really representing here?
At the public meeting last year, people were clear they want the original open space and park agreements of the Redevelopment Land to be honored, to respect the neighborhood’s needs and complex issues of the property, and to accommodate the needs of the fishermen at the Harbor. THEY DID NOT WANT A HOTEL TO BE BUILT THERE! But that is exactly what the Board of Supervisors is shoving through under the cloak of this Consent Agenda item, which is supposed to be reserved for “non-controversial matters” and of insignificant dollar amounts.
Under the new rules imposed by Supervisors, citizens are no longer able to pull Consent Agenda items to be placed on the Regular Agenda for BETTER PUBLIC DISCUSSION. Now, people must rely on a Supervisor to accommodate their requests for such, which must be made in writing by 5pm the day before the meeting. As you read this, it may be too late to take that action (I have already done so within the required time limit) but our County Supervisors need to hear from you regarding this proposed Swenson Hotel at the Harbor.
Here is the link to the Consent Agenda Item #62
Here is a link to an excellent Letter to the Editor by Jean Brocklebank and Michael Lewis on the public’s input regarding the 7th & Brommer
Here is the information on the County website regarding the history of this Swenson-hugging deal
Call Ryan Coonerty at 831-454-2200 or write him at ryan.coonerty@santacruzcounty.us
Hold this elected official accountable!
Cheers,
Becky Steinbruner
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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 |
# 238 / A Quick Reprise On Impeachment
In suggesting, yesterday, that we should not be clamoring for the impeachment of President Trump just quite yet, I made a passing comment about the impeachment of President Clinton, which I characterized as “nothing more than political gamesmanship.”
When I read yesterday’s edition of The New York Times (which I read after having posted to this blog), I felt like I received an instant, and condign, rebuke*. Bret Stephens, writing on “Sex, Lies and Presidents,” said this about the Clinton impeachment hearings (emphasis added):
Liberals now calling for Trump’s impeachment ought to rethink the excuses so many of them made for Clinton 20 years ago. That it was “just sex.” Or that “lying about sex” doesn’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense (even if it’s lying about sex under oath). Or that “character doesn’t matter” so long as the administration produces peace and prosperity. Or that the motivating animus of the president’s critics is reason enough to dismiss the criticism.
These excuses were toxic not because they had no merit, but because they sidestepped the core of the issue: that the survival and ennoblement of democracy depend on holding people in high office to higher, not lower, standards.
Clinton’s supposedly “small” lie about sex (like Trump’s “small” violation of campaign finance laws) was not so small coming from the one person uniquely entrusted to uphold and enforce the law. It sent a signal that lying would be politically acceptable and legally tolerated. Clinton’s lawyerly prevarications helped create the truth-optional standard by which the Trump presidency operates. The claim by Clinton’s defenders that his job performance immunized him from impeachment sowed the seed for Trump’s remark, in an interview with Fox News this week, that “I don’t know how you can impeach somebody who has done a great job.”
Then, too, the Clinton machine’s relentless efforts to delegitimize the independent counsel by claiming Starr had gone far beyond his original remit to investigate the Whitewater case mirror the Trump machine’s attacks on Robert Mueller today.
Yet what Starr did then is what Mueller and other prosecutors are doing now: uncovering wrongdoing where they find it. That Trump’s hush money to two women has nothing to do with Russia makes the wrongdoing no less contemptible, illegal — and, because it’s about the president, impeachable.
Because the Clinton impeachment saga is still relatively recent, it’s been depressing — and instructive — to watch the two sides in that drama conveniently adopt the other’s former rationale for their own partisan convenience. (Lindsey Graham, this means you.)
But anyone who now calls for Trump to be judged severely should acknowledge that we would have been in a better place today if Clinton hadn’t been so fervently defended back then. Among other things, it might have dissuaded other sexual predators and congenital liars from running for high office.
We can still get it right. Some intellectual consistency would go a long way.
I really believe I stand corrected. I don’t want to be associated with any claim that when the President of the United States lies (particularly under oath), that such lying is in any way “ok.” We can’t allow any of our elected officials to operate under a “truth-optional” standard.
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Gary 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. Carefully check out the latest re-issue of Tim’s Subconscious Comics…just below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Deep Cover”down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE. We are really fortunate that the San Francisco Mime Troupe continues to make Santa Cruz one of their traveling stops. They’ll be performing their original time – traveling musical “SEEING RED” twice in San Lorenzo Park for free. That’s Saturday/Sunday September 8th & 9th. The great Mime troupe band starts at 2:30 the play is at 3 p.m.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa’s taking a week off to just enjoy the experience of James Aschbacher’s tribute last Saturday and her own Birthday last Sunday!!! See her blog at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
PAPILLON. This isn’t just a remake of the 1973 original starring Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman — the two new actors look just like them too! The acting is terrible, the camera work jarring, and it’s a very boring movie. I dozed several times. It’s all about Devil’s Island, prison life, and how to escape. Rent the original, which is a much better film.
A.X.L. This bizarre drivel didn’t deserve even the 22 it got on Rotten Tomatoes. The army developed a secret mechanical dog as a modernized K9 corps tracker and killer. In case you forgot, I was in the U.S. Army K9 corps as a dog trainer…seriously! So I’m an expert on K9 dogs! This movie wouldn’t be worth watching even if it was free. The plot is absolutely beyond understanding, the special effects are poorly carried out, and it’s a waste of your time and admission charges.
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
EIGHTH GRADE. A 99 on RT and the lead actor Elsie Fisher deserves at least an Oscar for her role as a conflicted and nearly typical eighth grader. The incredibly talented, funny, and profound Bo Burnham directed it. (See his Comedy special on Netflix!). You’ll relive the anxiety, insecurity, and fears we all had in eighth grade. It’s billed as a comedy and some of the audience laughed when I was watching it…but see it for the insights, the reality, and the remembrances of those times.
BLINDSPOTTING. Has a 93 on RT…and deserves it. A “blindspot” as we learn in the film, is when something is right in front of you and you can’t see it. In this case it’s the racial scene in Oakland and the rest of the USA. Violent, conflicted, heartwarming, well acted, and painful. It’ll leave an impression on you long after you leave the theatre.
PUZZLE. A perfectly acted, extra sensitive story of a woman finding her way to empowerment . It’s also a view into the little known world of Jigsaw Puzzle addicts and experts. Go see this quickly, it probably won’t last long on Santa Cruz screens.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpys but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. Which means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
EQUALIZER 2. Denzel Washington is back again as a vigilante. Unlike all the rest of the bloody, violent, killing, revenge movies, Denzel makes this one a little deeper, more thoughtful, and yet at the same time heavy-handed. There’s nothing new, imaginative or startling in it, but because it’s Denzel you’ll be able to sit through all of it.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE :FALLOUT. Another Tom Cruise do it yourself stunt movie. Simon Pegg and Alec Baldwin are back again too. It has some wild and inventive stunt scenes that we’ve never seen before. Plus a music score that keeps almost all of the movie at a very intense level. It’s thrilling, mindless, pointless, but full of kicks. It’s made for the big screens.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. It’s embarrassing to watch Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne and especiallyMichelle Pfeiffer having to take roles in yet another factory-produced Marvel Comic mass-produced monster hit. (85 RT) Paul Rudd is back in this sequel, and does the best possible job as the Ant-Man. He shrinks; he grows, flies around on the Wasp’s back and does what little he can with this comic book movie. I’m guessing that these Marvel movies are best enjoyed by eight-year-olds. If you’re older than that, think at least twice before attending.
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play buddies from LA who for some kinky reason become involved with an international killers. The two of them go toHolland, Hungary, Berlin, Austria, Denmark and Atlanta, Georgia. After more than two hours those locations plus the foolish, overused dialogue between the two women aren’t enough to make this flick worth paying to see.
INCREDIBLES 2. I liked Incredibles 1. Now Pixar/Disney has shifted to centering on Mrs. Incredible as a Wonder Woman who goes through numerous violent bloody battles against the one concept I thought was funny…the evil Screenslaver. Very little of the original charm, family stuff, human frailties, it’s another cutesy version of the Marvel Comics blockbusters
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids. CLOSES THURSDAY AUGUST 30
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN. It’s all of the original cast (even Meryl Streep for two songs) and ABBA music. It’s mindless, pointless, meaningless, and lacks almost all of the charm or naiveté of the first one. If you wait until almost the end you can watch a 72 year old Cher in tights singing to her daughter Meryl Streep — who is 69 years old!!! You could also watch Stellan Skarsgård, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters embarrass themselves in this strictly for-the-money prequel. Or I could say, “here we go again… BUT you shouldn’t”.
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. . Aug. 28 has Lisa Rose and Ken Koenig from Santa Cruz Indivisible talking about their latest plans and events. Then Phyllis Rosenblum president of the Santa Cruz Chamber Players talks about their new season (2018-2019) concerts. On September 4 Rotimi Agbabiaka from The San Francisco Mime Troupe discuss their performances here on Sept. 8 & 9. Then Rose Sellery and Tina Brown share style scoops from their PIVOT: Art Of Fashion show happening 9/22. September 11 Michel Singher from the Espressivo Orchestra will describe their upcoming concerts. Then Julie James from The Jewel Theatre shares news of their new play season. Sept. 18 has Don Stump pres. and CEO of CCH housing returning to discuss affordable housing. Nora Hochman guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. 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
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Cutest photo-bomber ever! 😀 |
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. Earthquakes & Impeachment.
“Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes”. Voltaire
“How terribly downright must be the utterances of storms and earthquakes to those accustomed to the soft hypocrisies of society”. John Muir
“I think it absolutely necessary that the President should have the power of removing his subordinates from office; it will make him, in a peculiar manner, responsible for their conduct, and subject him to impeachment himself, if he suffers them to perpetrate with impunity high crimes or misdemeanors against the United States, or neglects to superintend their conduct, so as to check their excesses”. James Madison
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
August 21 – 27, 2018
BRATTON…Amazon buying Del Mar and The Nick?, Greg Larson supporters, West Cliff Drive & Bay street development, Monterey and De-Sal, Good Times apology, KSQD update. GREENSITE…Gillian is traveling. No piece this week. KROHN… is also “off this week, but he will be back with news and views from the Santa Cruz city council, next week”. STEINBRUNER…Planning dept. to increase dense developments, Public Works Director and disconnect, Soquel Water District and public comment time and being forced to reduce rates and to install Smart Meters. Gary Lindstrum a great candidate for Soquel Water Dist. PATTON…and Delegative Democracy. EAGAN…Subconscious Comics and Deep Cover.JENSEN…her secret and James Aschbacher’s event. BRATTON…critiques Puzzle, Alpha, Crazy Rich Asians and Never Goin’ Back. UNIVERSAL GRAPEVINE GUEST LINEUP. QUOTES…about BORDERS.
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MAJOR EARTHQUAKE FOOTAGE. |
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CURRENT VOLCANO NEWS |
DATELINE August 20, 2018
AMAZON BUYING OUR LANDMARK THEATRES? At first I was very worried to hear from Joe Blackman that Amazon was “thinking and not responding” to rumors that they might buy the Landmark theatre chain. We should remember that Jim Schwenterley and Bill and Nancy Raney lived here and had a wonderful and genuine ability to judge which films would “go over” in Santa Cruz. They ran our three independent movie theatres (Aptos included) with insight and concern. Landmark, with 52 theatres and 200 screens, books by numbers as we’ve experienced.. Read the Chronicle or any film online page and see just how many great independent, art and foreign films we have been missing since Landmark took over. So maybe Amazon would be different? Maybe even better? We really don’t get to say much…or even vote on it, but just maybe?
GREG LARSON AND SUPPORTERS. With high profiled Greg Larson entering the City Council race, naturally everyone wants to know where he stands on issues. Next time you see him, ask him how he’d vote on the West Cliff-Bay Street Development or how he’s going to vote on the Rent Control measure. I’d be very surprised if you get a straight answer on either one of those. Take a look at who we know supports him already: Hillary Bryant, David Terrazas, Fred Keeley, Richelle Naroyan.and Geoff Dunn. Most bets are saying he’ll be right in the middle of the Council and will support all the proposed development and growth, just like his friends and supporters.
WEST CLIFF DRIVE & BAY STREET DREAM INN DEVELOPMENT. Neighbors, environmentalists, hundreds of concerned citizens are gearing up for a genuine battle against the proposed development by Ensemble Real Estate Investments. They are going full steam on their huge commercial/residential development across the street from the Dream Inn. Traffic at that corner has always been a serious problem and with this four storied distraction it’ll be nearly permanently grid locked. They also plan on a two story underground parking lot. How tourists and residents will be able to drive into that underground space has yet to be determined. Stay tuned…and involved!!
MONTEREY, MARINA AND DE-SAL. If you want to bring back some de-sal memories read this article from the Monterey County Weekly… think about Bill Kocher and those days.
GOOD TIMES & APOLOGY. Dan Pulcrano the CEO and executive editor of Metro Newspapers emailed to tell me that I erred in stating that “Ownership” of Good Times had changed. I knew better, I was careless in using that word. Dan is now listed as publisher of Good Times. Metro Newspaper Group acquired Good Times in 2014. Dan tried to get a job with Jay Shore’s Good Times back in 1977 but was turned down. That was about the time that Jay Shore and Neil Coonerty co-owned Lulu Carpenter’s Café now a coffee house up there on Pacific avenue, next to Barry Swenson’s development.
KSQD UPDATE. I mentioned last week that KSQD fm would go on-air Sept. 1st. Nope, according to a press release they immediately sent out they’ll go on air and live “this October”. They also sent out a on air schedule listing some very familiar names of the new programmers. That includes Wallace Baine, Jim Emdy,Charlie Lange, Leigh Hill, Rachel Goodman and quite an impressive longer list. They are apparently still dealing with tower leasing problems with UCSC. Then they’ll purchase their license and start the building of their studios on Encinal Street.
BERKELEY’S BRENNAN’S TO CLOSE. Larry Peterson sent this one…Berkeley standby Brennan’s Irish Coffee & Restaurant is closing on September 15 after 60 years of business. I lived there and was going to U.C. Berkeley when Brennan’s first opened in 1958. Along with Larry Blake’s Rathskeller and Spenger’s those drinking establishments were an integral part of our lives. Read this …if Brennan’s rings your bells.
More of the story here…”Brennan’s, the decades-old family-owned Berkeley hangout, will close on Sept. 15. Brennan’s is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The hofbrau-style joint joins a growing list of East Bay landmarks that have shuttered over the last few months — Hs Lordship closed after 50 years in July, and Oakland’s Mexicali Rose lasted 91 years before bidding farewell in June. According to Margaret Wade, the granddaughter of John Brennan who built the Berkeley hangout in 1958, the closure is a sign of the times. “We have a 25 percent rent increase coming in October,” Wade said. “Everything when it comes to the expenses associated with running a business just goes up and up”.
SANTA CRUZ POTTERY TO CLOSE. Joel Magen opened the Santa Cruz Pottery in 1974. It’s that fine looking brick building at Mission and Olive streets (on the corner next to CVS). Rumors have it, and I’m still working on it, that Kevin and Nina Wahl the present owners are having problems with the lease. Stop by, buy some pottery and find out the real story.
Gillian is traveling. No piece this week.
| Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild. |
August 20
Chris Krohn is off this week, but he will be back with news and views from the Santa Cruz city council, next week.
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(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 |
THE QUALITY OF LIFE FOR SANTA CRUZ COUNTY RESIDENTS IS BEFORE THE COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION THIS WEDNESDAY 8/22.
The County Planning Commission will hold a Public Hearing and consider the Planning Department’s proposed changes to County General Plan and Zoning Codes that will allow very dense developments throughout the County and change the way it may be processed. Please attend the Hearing Wednesday, August 22, 9am, in the 5th Floor Supervisor Chambers at 701 Ocean Street. The quality of life as we know it in Santa Cruz County will drastically change with what the developers have cooked up here with the Planning Department without regard to the necessary infrastructure to support such dense growth.
These significant changes, if approved by the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors, WOULD ALL BE EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) PROCESS OF PUBLIC AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW.
Note the reasons for CEQA exemption on pages 100-101: “There would be no potential to create a physical effect on the environment” with the proposed changes. What?!
The Planning Department is recommending the issues below be considered now by the Planning Commission in Public Hearing, but that other affordable housing issues (farm worker housing, permanent room housing in hotels & motels, and affordable housing projects on publicly-owned sites, i.e, the Consolidated Redevelopment Agency) require full environmental review and will be presented this winter.
Here is the essence of what is being proposed now:
- Allow up to 75% more units/acre if the development is 100% affordable. This exceeds the current State-required “Density Bonus” levels of a 35% density increase for affordable projects. The current County cap on density is 17.4 units/acre. The proposed 75% density increase would allow 31 units/acre. Wow.
- Change the process to initiate re-zoning for R-Combined Districts that can be even denser development with reduced setback requirements from neighboring property boundaries and possible parking reduction requirements. This would allow disgusting ghetto developments such as the Aptos Village Project to go up all over Santa Cruz County, with the ability of the developers to identify the locations for these new R-Combined Zones. This could be done, like the Aptos Village Project that Swenson has created, with a Planned Unit Development (PUD) agreement, which basically allows the developer to disregard most of the County Codes that specify setback, density, building footprint/lot size ratio (floor area ratio or FAR), parking requirements, and curb turning radius for emergency vehicles. According to the staff report, under these proposed developer-initiated actions, “it is anticipated that the areas will probably be smaller infill sites”, and not the larger subdivision sites the County apparently identified in 2007/2008 work. Hmmm…was that the pre-cursor of the Sustainable Santa Cruz County Plan that is still undergoing environmental review in the Planning Department?
- Change the inclusionary affordable housing requirements to require any development of seven or more units to get Board of Supervisor approval to pay the in lieu affordable housing fee instead of actually building it in the development (right now, as of 2015, the developers can arbitrarily decide what to do) but if the Board approves the in-lieu payment option, the developer would not have to actually pay the fees until the final building inspection is signed off. That could be a really long delay in actual payment to the County for affordable housing to get built, and the cost of building that housing would most likely have increased substantially.
I have attended the County Housing Advisory Commission meetings when developers and real estate agents showed up to lobby the group to recommend these developer-friendly proposals to the Board of Supervisors. There were many questions and some hesitation on the part of some of the Commissioners, but eventually, everyone approved it. Here is a link to the audio file for that meeting.
THESE CRITICAL CHANGES WERE INITIALLY PRESENTED FOR BOARD APPROVAL ON THE CONSENT AGENDA (Item 57) THAT WOULD HAVE HAD MINIMAL PUBLIC SCRUTINY had Supervisor John Leopold and members of the public not requested it be pulled and discussed more thoroughly as Regular Agenda Item 75.1. (Note: the Consent Agenda is for non-controversial and small financial matters???)
The Board hailed this “unanimously-approved” set of recommendations during their consideration of the matter. Here is the documentation from that Board consideration before the public on June 12, 2018
Please take note that only the written comments are included in the documentation. The minutes for that meeting, to my understanding, did not include note of any public testimonies (that policy has recently changed to at least include speaker name and summary of testimony). To watch the Community Television recording, click here
Contact the Planning Commission and your County Supervisor and let the know your thoughts. Attend the Planning Commission Public Hearing if you can. Hmmm….I wonder how the public was notified of this Public Hearing? I was sent a notice by the Planner Suzanne Ise (suzanne.ise@santacruzcounty.us). I suggest you get on her notification list, too.
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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 |
#226 / Delegative Democracy
We are running into a problem, Houston! The New York Times publishes “The Interpreter Newsletter,” written by columnists Amanda Taub and Max Fisher. The Newsletter is distributed by email. Click this link to sign up. In a recent edition, the Newsletter made some important observations about American democracy:
American democracy is built, in large part, on an assumption … that the three branches of government would jealously guard their power and co-equal status. It’s a reasonable thing to assume. People — particularly politicians and judges — like having power and status and generally aren’t keen to give them up. Human nature, the founders reasoned, would naturally lead the branches to check and balance one another, as much out of self-interested competition as constitutional duty.
As the Newsletter notes, “that assumption is looking a bit shaky these days.” It asks, “What happens if that foundational democratic assumption in the separation of powers collapses? What would American democracy become?” The answer, according to the Newsletter, is delegative democracy:”Delegative democracy is an old concept in political science,” Amy Erica Smith, an Iowa State political scientist, told us. It emerged after a series of Latin American dictatorships transitioned to democracies in the 1980s — but to a sort that seemed less than fully democratic.
“There was this collective head-scratching over what sort of democracy we have in Latin America,” said Dr. Smith, who studies the region. “We had free and fair elections that met the minimum criteria for democracy. But they didn’t look exactly like what we think democracies are supposed to be.” The key difference, the experts decided, was separation of powers. It existed on paper in Latin America democracies, most of whose constitutions were modeled on that of the United States. But, in practice, the courts and the Congresses did what they were told. They delegated their power to the president — hence, delegative democracies.
These countries, for the most part, were still democracies. But they didn’t function all that well. They had what’s called “vertical accountability” — leaders had to answer to voters, who could kick them out of office — but not “horizontal accountability” from other branches of government. That tends to degrade governance. There’s little to keep the president from putting her interests first. Corruption and abuses of power become more common. Apolitical agencies get politicized, hurting their ability to function. The president’s support base tends to get preferential treatment; those not in her support base can face discrimination or worse.
The Newsletter also denominates this phenomenon as the “presidentialization” of political power. We are definitely running into a possible problem here, and the essence of the problem is that a system that was supposed to keep our government responsive to voters organized on a local basis, through the 435 different Congressional districts spread throughout the fifty states, has become ever more “national,” and the “national” elected official who is most prominent is, of course, the president. The way to make sure we don’t end up with some kind of “delegative democracy” is by making sure that our elected representatives in Congress actually represent their local constituents, i.e., the people who live in their districts.
Our system of representative democracy is intended to make representatives respond to their local constituents, but it has become ever more “nationalized,” and that kind of “nationalized” Congress is ever less willing to check presidential power, which also operates at the national level. More and more, our Congressional elections are presented as “national” contests. We read in our local newspapers about Congressional elections taking place in far-flung states we know very little about, and we get funding appeals from those running for Congress in those states, in places we may never have even visited.
Not to deny that every Member of Congress will vote on issues that will affect everyone in the country; that is certainly true. But our system is built on the idea that local people will be able to “terrorize” their local elected representatives, and make those representatives accountable to their local constituents (and not to some national political party).
We have a problem, and it’s not just in Houston. It’s everywhere.
Delegative democracy? I think that’s an oxymoron. If we want the kind of democracy that our Constitution contemplates, we can’t delegate our control over our own elected Congressional representatives to anyone – not to a national political party, and certainly not to the president!
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Gary 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. Check out the new classic Subconscious Comic just a scroll downwards.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Deep Psychosis Trump” as part of his national Health Alert series #20 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.
CELEBRATING JAMES ASCHBACHER. Many, many of Jim Aschbacher’s friends are putting together a memorable celebration of his life. Free champagne, free event, lots of music, talks by some good friends, collections of photos and a great sense of community will all happen August 25 at the Rio Theater from 6-9 p.m.
SAN FRANCISCO MIME TROUPE’S “SEEING RED”.
We are really fortunate that the San Francisco Mime Troupe continues to make Santa Cruz one of their traveling stops. They’ll be performing their original time – traveling musical “SEEING RED” twice in San Lorenzo Park for free. That’s Saturday/Sunday September 8th & 9th. The great Mime troupe band starts at 2:30 the play is at 3 p.m.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Everybody keeps telling me how brave I am, after the unimaginable loss of my Art Boy. It’s not true, but I do have a secret weapon against too much sadness! Find out what it is this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com ). And don’t forget to join me at the Rio this Saturday, August 25, to celebrate James Aschbacher’s inspiring life!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
PUZZLE. A perfectly acted extra sensitive story of a woman finding her way to emporment. Also a view into the little known world of Jigsaw Puzzle addicts and experts. Go see this quickly, it probably won’t last long on Santa Cruz screens.
ALPHA. 88 on RT. A live action Ice Age cave man meets a dog for the first time. It does lack Raquel Welch or any cave babes in leather skimpys but it is fascinating….and you can take the kids. I’m serious about the man meets dog story. That’s the only plot it has.
CRAZY RICH ASIANS. A Hollywood movie with an all Asian cast. It’s about the same as “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, except Asian Americans instead of Greeks. The plot, laughs, and acting are all typical Hollywood re-hash. It doesn’t need your ticket money…it’s breaking many, many box office records already. Which means of course that there’ll be a dozen look a like sequels.
NEVER GOIN BACK. Two Texas teen age girls try to make sense of their lives. It’s one of the worst movies I’ve seen. Pointless, not funny, not serious, no plot. And the ending is meaningless too. (CLOSES THURSDAY, AUGUST 23)
BLACKKKLANSMAN. Spike Lee’s newest and most effective critique on what’s happening in America. It’s the progressive Democrats best statement since Michael Moore’s last film. Not subtle, even funny, bitter, and painfully true. It’s based on the true story of a black police officer who finagles a way to get a white guy into the KuKluxKlan. More than that he has meetings with David Duke, head of the KKK. Alec Baldwin has an opening scene Adam Driver is the “hero” and you have to see it. It earned 97% on RT
EIGHTH GRADE. A 99 on RT and the lead actor Elsie Fisher deserves at least an Oscar for her role as a conflicted and nearly typical eighth grader. The incredibly talented, funny, and profound Bo Burnham directed it. (See his Comedy special on Netflix!). You’ll relive the anxiety, insecurity, and fears we all had in eighth grade. It’s billed as a comedy and some of the audience laughed when I was watching it…but see it for the insights, the reality, and the remembrances of those times.
BLINDSPOTTING. Has a 93 on RT…and deserves it. A “blindspot” as we learn in the film, is when something is right in front of you and you can’t see it. In this case it’s the racial scene in Oakland and the rest of the USA. Violent, conflicted, heartwarming, well acted, and painful. It’ll leave an impression on you long after you leave the theatre.
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU. A 95 on Rotten Tomatoes, this is a crude take-off on telemarketers and their lowly status in life. It takes place in Oakland and is nearly all African-American themed. That means that to be a successful telemarketer you have to use your “white voice”. Danny Glover has a small part, and we can only hope he gets some decent roles again. This wasn’t one of them. There is too much racism, role-playing. and politic switching played as humor for me to really like this movie. You are on your own. (CLOSES THURSDAY, AUGUST 23)
EQUALIZER 2. Denzel Washington is back again as a vigilante. Unlike all the rest of the bloody, violent, killing, revenge movies, Denzel makes this one a little deeper, more thoughtful, and yet at the same time heavy-handed. There’s nothing new, imaginative or startling in it, but because it’s Denzel you’ll be able to sit through all of it.
MISSION IMPOSSIBLE :FALLOUT. Another Tom Cruise do it yourself stunt movie. Simon Pegg and Alec Baldwin are back again too. It has some wild and inventive stunt scenes that we’ve never seen before. Plus a music score that keeps almost all of the movie at a very intense level. It’s thrilling, mindless, pointless, but full of kicks. It’s made for the big screens.
ANT-MAN AND THE WASP. It’s embarrassing to watch Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne and especiallyMichelle Pfeiffer having to take roles in yet another factory-produced Marvel Comic mass-produced monster hit. (85 RT) Paul Rudd is back in this sequel, and does the best possible job as the Ant-Man. He shrinks; he grows, flies around on the Wasp’s back and does what little he can with this comic book movie. I’m guessing that these Marvel movies are best enjoyed by eight-year-olds. If you’re older than that, think at least twice before attending.
THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME. Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon play buddies from LA who for some kinky reason become involved with an international killers. The two of them go to
Holland, Hungary, Berlin, Austria, Denmark and Atlanta, Georgia. After more than two hours those locations plus the foolish, overused dialogue between the two women aren’t enough to make this flick worth paying to see.
INCREDIBLES 2. I liked Incredibles 1. Now Pixar/Disney has shifted to centering on Mrs. Incredible as a Wonder Woman who goes through numerous violent bloody battles against the one concept I thought was funny…the evil Screenslaver. Very little of the original charm, family stuff, human frailties, it’s another cutesy version of the Marvel Comics blockbusters
CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. Ewan McGregor does the best possible job he can with a boring, depressing, and very commercial attempt to make more money from A.A. Milne’s Winnie The Pooh books. It isn’t even Disney cute or Pixar creative it’s simply not interesting. And old Christopher Robin is forced by animated versions of Eeyore, Piglet, Tigger and other stuffed toys to remember how much fun he had as a boy. Don’t even send the kids.
MAMMA MIA! HERE WE GO AGAIN. It’s all of the original cast (even Meryl Streep for two songs) and ABBA music. It’s mindless, pointless, meaningless, and lacks almost all of the charm or naiveté of the first one. If you wait until almost the end you can watch a 72 year old Cher in tights singing to her daughter Meryl Streep — who is 69 years old!!! You could also watch Stellan Skarsgard, Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Julie Walters embarrass themselves in this strictly for-the-money prequel. Or I could say, “here we go again… BUT you shouldn’t”.
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 Aug.21 cardiologist and Doctor Neil Sawhney talks about heart problems. Then Lisa Sheridan and Robert Morgan from Sustainable Soquel talk about car dealerships and Soquel traffic. Aug. 28 has Lisa Rose and Ken Koenig from Santa Cruz Indivisible talking about their latest plans and events. Then Phyllis Rosenblum president of the Santa Cruz Chamber Players talks about their new season (2018-2019) concerts. On September 4 Rotimi Agbabiaka from The San Francisco Mime Troupe discuss their performances here on Sept. 8 & 9. Then Rose Sellery and Tina Brown share style scoops from their PIVOT: Art Of Fashion show happening 9/22. September 11 Michel Singher from the Espressivo Orchestra will describe their upcoming concerts. Then Julie James from The Jewel Theatre shares news of their new play season. Sept. 18 has Don Stump pres. and CEO of CCH housing returning to discuss affordable housing. Nora Hochman guests on September 25 to talk about rent control and Housing Justice. 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
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This is sooooo cute!! 🙂
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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. “BORDERS”
“Cinema is universal, beyond flags and borders and passports”. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu
“Security is a double-edged sword: While a fence sure protects the fenced; it also imprisons the protected.” Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Let borders become sunlight so we traverse this Earth as one nation and drive the darkness out.” Kamand Kojouri
“The moment you cross the border of your country to another, nature will blow you the breeze of revolution, no matter how long you may spend abroad, you will never return back home the same again, it is either greater or worse.” Elijah Onyenmeriogu
“Climate change knows no borders. It will not stop before the Pacific islands and the whole of the international community here has to shoulder a responsibility to bring about a sustainable development”. Angela Merkel
COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!
Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com
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