Highlights this week:
Amazon not Apple moves to Pacific Avenue, Omei closed forever, Martine Watkins mayor after Terrazas, Car deal worked, Hot Damn String Band at Bookshop…Greensite researching…Krohn about library Garage, Save Santa Cruz SRO meeting…Steinbruner on Swenson’s Pacific Avenue condos, Aptos Village and no affordable units, Santa Cruz Metro Bus Stop, that $3 million dollar stop light pricing…Patton and our Political World…DeCinzo and weather…Eagan’s profound Subconscious Comics…Jewel Theatre’s Award and Patsy Cline Play…Jensen and The Florida Project…I critique Mark Felt, The Florida Project and NOT Sunburbicon…Quotes for Election Day.
UCSC STUDENTS PROTESTING THE UC REGENTS ON CAMPUS Oct. 18. 1968.
The regents wanted to ban Eldridge Cleaver the Black Panthers leader from speaking on campus. According to this year’s UCSC Primer more than 1000 students, 20 faculty members, two horses and a pig went to Crown College to share their beliefs.
ANIMALS just LOVE kids!!! And note the political ad that comes up first!!!
SAD DRONE FILM OF SANTA ROSA FIRE DESTRUCTION.
FROZEN DRONE FOOTAGE OF NIAGARA FALLS.
DATELINE October 30, 2017
OCTAGON PLATZ and PLANS. Geez, yes, and thanks to everyone — like former mayor Bruce Van Allen— who wrote to tell me that I mixed up my tech companies. I wrote here last week… “With Apple employees now ensconced in the top two floors of the O’Neill Building (formerly Cooper House) we can only wait and wonder —(1) how many were locals,(2) how many moved here, and (3)how many more will be coming here, and where will they live?” B. Van Allen wrote… “Amazon, not Apple, is in the top floors of that building where the Cooper House was. They have been recruiting locally to some extent —a lot of us in the geek worlds of SC heard about it (and some applied). Think of the disparity between the earnings of someone upstairs there and almost anyone working on the street level downtown —retail workers, restaurant and coffee shop workers, clerical workers in ‘old economy’ offices such as banks, insurance agencies, non-profits, and so on. Then project that disparity in ability to pay onto our local housing market”. B. Van Allen makes a strong point…and I sit corrected.
Yes, I read in Christina Waters’Good Times column that the Omei Restaurant is officially closed for good! (or in Grigsby’s case, closed for evil). I wonder just how many of the folks who did eat at the Omei would stay in a Trump Hotel? Will we ever know?
Who becomes Mayor after David Terrazas, you ask? Well, the City Council will muck it over and will most likely decide on Martine Watkins. I really believe we should start voting directly for Mayor. We also need to keep track of just how much Terrazas actually accomplishes in his term. Most folks don’t expect much.
THAT BIG BLACK “M”. Ed Penniman emailed to opine… “Regarding the ‘M’ at the MAH, I think that few people realize the the ‘M’ stands for MacPherson —Fred and Linda — who were nice enough to financially underwrite the institution. So in my mind, it seems disrespectful to just jettison it or use it as a planter or whatever, a trophy in someone’s backyard?!” BUT Ed, — and I think, most of us — were wrong!!! Historian and MAH stalwart Stan Stevens tells us… “I agree with Ed Penniman insofar as this M should have a more prominent place. I wish to clarify for Ed and your readers, however, that the M is (or was) for Museum — the Museum of Art and History — not for McPherson (although both are appropriate). Although I do wish to point out that it was the entire McPherson family (note that it isn’t Mac, it’s Mc) contributed to MAH, not just Fred III and Linda. It was primarily Lillian McPherson Rouse, Mahlon McPherson, and Fred D. McPherson Jr. — sister and brothers — that were the primary-generation contributors.
DON YOUNG DIED…DAMNIT! Harry Meserve wrote to say:“Donald J. Young, a founder of the Saturday Shakespeare Club and Cabrillo College Professor for thirty years, died today in Aptos California at the age of 94. He was an extraordinary teacher, both in college and in the club, with a sense of humor and eagerness to work with anyone who wanted to think and to write. There will no doubt be many remembrances of him, not least from club members who shared with him a love of Shakespeare and of drama.
He taught many of us to think, and challenged us to write, especially in the context of a breakfast group that met every Wednesday, at Severinos in Aptos — and even in his own living room. There are no words to express how each of us will remember him. I am sure that there will be opportunities to say more in the near future. Don leaves a daughter, two sons and grandchildren, as well as his wife and close companion for over 50 years, Viviane Young — a force for good in her own right”.
Personally I’d add that Don was not just brilliant and witty, but an inspiring human being…I’ll miss him, and so will thousands of former pupils and friends.
CAR DEAL COMPLETED!!! Thanks very much to BrattonOnline reader, Universal Grapevine interviewee, and activist for Live Oak neighborhood preservation, Bob Morgan. I’ll soon be driving his 2010 Honda Civic. I’m lucky because as predicted I received exactly 2 responses and Bob’s worked perfectly.
HOT DAMN STRING BAND AT THE BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ…AGAIN/STILL. None of us remember what year our Hot Damn String Band played at The Bookshop Santa Cruz’s annual birthday. It was before we helped organize the book drive and survival party that made it possible for the Bookshop to open in the tent (pavilion) right after the 1989 earthquake. Well, The Hot Damn’s are playing again (and still) this year, at 7:30 on Friday Night November 10. That definitely includes Jim Reynolds on guitar, Annie Steinhardt on fiddle, me on washboard, Gary Cunningham string bass, Dave Magram banjo, and Dore Coller mandolin. The real deal is that book prices will be the lowest they get all year that Friday and Saturday. See you there!!!
GREENSITE’S INSIGHT. Gillian is probably deep into research…and will return here next week.
(Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild).
JUST THE FACTS MA’AM!
Sgt. Joe Friday on the old cop show, Dragnet, used to say, “Just the facts ma’am,” which is pretty convenient when you might not want to hear the quilt of stories behind how the facts became facts. But without context, facts are like vacuum cleaners sold to people who don’t have access to electricity: convenient machines, but not very useful without a power source. There’s quite a few “facts” running around Santa Cruz inside the housing, homelessness, and UCSC conversations, but often a context, the stories behind the facts, is lacking. Having stated the obvious, I am going to now put out a bunch of factoids that happened this week — and in the interest of time, let you draw your own conclusions. It’s a kind of, do as I say not as I do, column this week.
Packed Save Santa Cruz eastside meeting, over 200 in attendance!
Stellar performances by eastside community members at the Save Santa Cruz forum (L-R): Gary Patton, Jerry Christiansen, Walt Wadlow, Dolores Salazar Talbert, Deborah Marks, Dawn Norris, Candace Brown, Bob von Elgg, and Cyndi Dawson. Kudos!
Library-garage architects (advocates?) presented three plans recently to the Library Committee. (1) $37.7 million to renovate existing library; (2) $47 million to build a new, one-story library, (3) $49 million to build a new two-story library…but, lo and behold, if it is put inside of a five-story parking garage, the price magically comes down to $26 million. BTW, none of these buildings would be “net zero energy”, which is really sad in 2017.
Just the facts ma’am: Six undergraduate women were evicted by the city this past week from 102-104 Hillcrest Terrace, below the University, just off Highland Avenue. They were given 36 hours to vacate and not offered any alternative housing opportunities as far as I’ve been able to ascertain. One of them said to me when I stopped by to see what could be done:”We can kiss tomorrow’s midterms goodbye.”
In the new movie, Mark Felt (Watergate’s Deep Throat character) the main character, FBI second-in-command to J. Edgar Hoover, Mark Felt— played by Liam Neeson —goes through a long list of communes where his runaway daughter might be, and he lands on one in Ben Lomond of all places, on Bear Creek Rd. In the next scene he is retrieving her and bringing her back to Washington, D.C. just in time to see Nixon walk across the tarmac and get on that infamous helicopter just after resigning.
SC4Bernie member and UCSC student leader, Jeff Stoll talked to City on a Hill Press recently about housing and his comment as one of now 19,000 hill-dwellers bears repeating. “At the end of the day, housing is the issue that unites the campus and the community…it’s an issue related to campus development and the way we want to see the campus expand or not expand in a sustainable way.”
UCSC Prof. Adam Millard-Ball reported that in the transportation research he is conducting, “traffic sprawl” in the United States peaked in 1994, although not in Atlanta, which seems to still be in “sprawl” mode. He also said that car ownership peaked in 2005. Interesting.
Just the Facts Ma’am: The top issues of concern by residents in the Prospect Heights neighborhood, voiced at a forum on public safety at DeLaveaga School hosted by SCPD Chief, Andy Mills, were: Isolate aggressive transients, form private sector partnerships for patrolling, focus on community safety — wellness and quality of life, make mental health collaborations between city and county, connect crime to campsites, there needs to be more visible patrols — get out of the car and more citizen involvement, use compassion when confronting homeless, police need to be proactive vs. reactive, and we need to find better ways of managing mental illness. Chief Mills also said that “80% of the calls for service by PD are for homeless-related issues.”
Just the Facts Ma’am: Talking Points from Eastside “Save Santa Cruz” meeting last Thursday night, at 411 Roxas Street:
“Anyone here play poker? Well, the Corridors Plan is currently on ‘hold,’… we need the city to ‘fold’ the Corridors Plan.” (Jerry Christianson)
Farrell’s Donuts vs. Dunkin’ Donuts (corporations certainly know how to vulture local businesses)
— Habit Burger? Where did that come from?
The goal of developers is to maximize profits…and we get that. The goal of the city council should be to maximize the quality of life for residents, and THEY should get that!
Is a 340 square feet unit renting for $1700-$2000 really “affordable by design?”
“We need housing for people who live here now.” (Dawn Norris)
City has approved over 500 hotel rooms in the past three years. Where will the wait- staff, gardeners, bartenders, and chefs all live?
Gary Patton hit it out of the park at the Eastside “Save Santa Cruz” meeting when he said: “Let’s make this city the way we want it to be, not the city someone tells us it should be.” And on the accusation of NIMBY-ism, Patton said:”We have nothing to be ashamed of if we fight for our community…we can’t have self-government if we don’t get involved ourselves.” Patton seemed to throw down the gauntlet when he said if developers really want to build in Santa Cruz, they can build 50% market rate and 50% affordable…the crowd went wild!
Okay, Patton and the rest were all really good, but Carmela Weintraub, who wrote “The Spirit of Santa Cruz” statement, had the quote of the night when she stood up from the audience and announced: “Okay, we saved the Pogonip, we saved Lighthouse Field, we saved Wilder Ranch…now we have to save the whole god-damned city!” (Applause!!!)
Finally, I planted a redwood tree and a sequoia tree in my backyard this week…I really felt powerful, and can’t wait for the grand kids figure out how to save them from over-development!
Bernie Tweet of the Week… “Are you truly free if you work 100 hours a week because you can’t find a job with a living wage? Are you free if you have no health care?” (October 29) ~(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).
IN OBSERVANCE OF AFFORDABLE HOUSING WEEK, SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL VOTES FOR ZERO AFFORDABLE UNITS TO HELP “PENCIL OUT” 79 CONDOS DOWNTOWN FOR BARRY SWENSON BUILDER.
Thanks to Councilman Chris Krohn for pulling Item #9 off the Consent Agenda (saved for non-controversial issues) to allow public discussion about the five-story mixed-use Subdivision Map for 1547 Pacific Avenue. He and Councilmember Sandy Brown lobbied the rest of the Council to reconsider the earlier approval that waived the 12 affordable rental units that could have been required, if the Council followed their own regulations and Strategic Plan goal to provide more affordable housing to residents.
“We have to be consistent with our decisions,” said Mayor Cynthia Chase. “We can’t hold up a good plan because it isn’t a perfect plan and I think this is a good plan,” said Councilmember Martine Watkins. “Any units are good units,” said Councilmember Michelle Noroyan. The Council refused to require Barry Swenson Builder to include the 12 required affordable units, even though members of the public also spoke out to ask that they reconsider. One member of the public called the Council “a bunch of hypocrites” for pretending they want to increase affordable housing but not having the actual will to act accordingly.
As the guillotine of votes passed the Subdivision Map approval, Jesse Nickell, the Vice President of Barry Swenson Builder, stepped to the podium and thanked the Council. “This will fill a big hole in housing,” he said. I think it will mostly fill his wallet.
COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS CONSIDERS CHANGES TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENTS
It worried me to hear County Planning Director Kathy Previsich say “We want to change things so the developers can do what they want to do.” She was referring to the Code Modernization that will change County Zoning and General Plan policies. Item #30 before the Board at last Tuesday’s meeting presented a good opportunity to examine a Planning Department presentation about proposed changes to affordable housing and Measure J requirements of developers. There was good discussion about the effectiveness of the current ability of developers to pay in lieu fees instead of actually building 15% of a 5 or more unit development as affordable housing units. The Planning Department also proposed increasing developer fees for affordable housing from commercial developments, in order to house prospective employees, and for remodel additions of over 500SF.
The Board asked lots of questions about how increasing the fees might affect developer feasibility. There was also discussion about developers “gaming the system” by offering rental units instead of selling units, to escape having to offer 15% to affordable deed sales or pay the in lieu fee. Here is what the Planning Department staff recommended:
It is therefore RECOMMENDED that your Board provide direction, in concept, that staff prepare drafts of proposed regulatory amendments consistent with the following changes:
Update Santa Cruz County Code Chapter 17.10 to require on-site inclusionary units at 15% of total units for projects of 7 or more units (with the Board of Supervisors having authority to approve alternative of AHIF payment);
Revise the Affordable Housing Impact Fee schedule to apply to net new square footage over 500 square feet for additions, replacements and remodels; and to raise the Fee on Projects of 2 to 4 units as recommended in this report;
Revise Commercial Impact Fee to develop categories based on occupancy so that net new square footage or a change to a more employment intensive occupancy would pay higher AHIF;
Require AHIF payment at building permit issuance rather than through escrow, unless an alternative timing is approved by the Board of Supervisors; and
Require all projects, including mapped subdivisions being used as rental housing, to pay fees and utilize affordable units consistent with the Affordable Housing Guidelines.
The Board agreed to ask staff to examine the economic impacts of the proposed changes, and report back with a draft policy change. Stay tuned. Meanwhile, it was stated in the staff report that the Aptos Village will provide 10 affordable units (mostly 600SF) of the 65 approved units. Wait a minute, the Board added more housing at the May 5, 2015 Project Changes Appeal for a total of 69. Does that mean that Pete Testorff and Joe Appenrodt’s four exclusive units with ocean views will not have any affordable units included?
HOW COULD SANTA CRUZ METRO APPROVE WHAT IS NOT YET DESIGNED?
I finally received documents from the Santa Cruz Metro Public Records Act request regarding the Aptos Village #71 Inbound stop relocation. I really wanted to verify that the leader of the Bus Drivers Union, Mr. Eduardo Montesino, had approved the new location and bus bay design. Well, he did but it was back in 2015 before the Public Utilities Commission approved any designs of the project. I wondered why on earth he would, when the design will pose such a safety hazard to drivers and passengers.? His memo to Mr. Ciro Aguirre, Operations Official, noted that he had driven by the general area and thought the proposed location would be workable “if the County actually comes through with a bus turnout and a shelter.”
How could he really approve the project if he had not seen the actual plans, which did not get approved by the Public Utility Commission until 2016? Further, the specifications keep changing because of problems related to the rail utility right of way setbacks. That is why the proposed bus bay is shallower than originally bid upon last summer….the contractors at the bidding meeting pointed that little problem out to County Public Works staff at the site meeting last October.
At Last week’s Santa Cruz Metro Board meeting, I asked Mr. Montesino if he has seen the current bus stop relocation design and specifications? “No,” he said, “That seems to be a moving target.” The Metro Safety and Training Officer, Ms. Sharon Toline, only recently visited the relocation site on September 11, at the request of County staff on April 7, 2017. She determined there would be no safety problems for Metro. Really? Poor line of sight and congested traffic, coupled with the fact that the bus will stick out in the lane of traffic when stopped and there will no longer be bike lanes in that area of Soquel Drive…all that will not pose a safety problem? Hmmmm…..
And there remains the issue of the non-ADA compliant 100′ long 5% grade sidewalk leading to the bus stop, coupled with 8% and 7% grade ramps. Assistant Public Works Director Mr. Steve Weisner admitted to the RTC Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Commission that access “will be a tight fit.” You and I are paying for this, not the Aptos Village Project developers.
I then asked the Metro Board to issue a ‘Stop Work Order’ on the bus stop work, to allow proper review of the design being developed as you read this. The Board did not take any such action. Therefore, I asked that the Board amend the September 22 Board minutes to include the forthright questions posed by Director Dan Rothwell: “Why are we moving the bus stop anyway?” Because the County isn’t going to build any sidewalk to the existing stop. “Well, why not? Aptos Village traffic is a nightmare now…how will our drivers safely re-enter traffic at this new spot?” I also requested the Board include Director Mike Rotkin’s interjection at that meeting: “Well, we just have to take what the County hands us. We have no choice.” That could be a critical phrase to have on record for any future lawsuits related to accidents at the bus stop site, don’t you think? Well, the Board did not take action to amend the Minutes as I had publicly asked.
WILL THE RTC APPROVE A $3 MILLION TRAFFIC LIGHT AT APTOS CREEK ROAD FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS?
And the mess may continue, with County Public Works asking the Regional Transportation Commission for another $3 million to fund a second traffic light in the Aptos Village area, again without the developers contributing to the cost of traffic mitigation. “We can’t ask the developers for any money for this,” said Public Works Director Mr. John Presleigh recently, outside the Board of Supervisor Chambers.
How can a traffic light cost $3 million? I submitted a Public Records Act request to review the preliminary designs that support the RTC grant application. Public Works staff, Ms. Christine Berge, informed me that I am not allowed to see the plans because a code allows that whenever the benefit to the public of withholding documents outweighs the benefit to the public of disclosing them, the government agency does not have to provide the public documents in question. I wrote Ms. Berge and asked her to explain the public benefit analysis…she has yet to answer. I wonder whose benefit the County Public Works Dept. is really protecting?
In the meantime, call and write the RTC Committee Staff that will be reviewing all RTIP grant applications, and attend the meetings if you are able (all will be in the RTC Office, 1523 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz):
November 13, 6pm, Bicycle Advisory Committee Cory Caletti ccaletti@sccrtc.org 460-3200
November 14, 1:30pm, Elderly & Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee Grace Blakeslee gblakeslee@sccrtc.org 460-3200
November 16, 1:30pm, Inter-Agency Transportation Advisory Committee Yesenia Parra yparra@sccrtc.org 460-3218
Copy CEO George Dondero and Deputy Director Luis Mendez lmendez@sccrtc.org
Don’t forget County Supervisor Zach Friend zach.friend@santacruzcounty.org 454-2200 because he says he loves to hear from you.
STAYING WARM THIS WINTER
I am really glad the County Board of Supervisors approved funding an extra 22 nights of shelter this winter for the burgeoning homeless population. They only addressed the issue in North County. The Salvation Army will handle that under contract this year in both North and South County areas. The City of Watsonville will handle the contract for South County, but nothing is set up yet. I wonder why the North County contract will get $485,000 (some being paid by Capitola, Scotts Valley and Santa Cruz) but South County contract will only get $47,000?
I wish there were a shelter in the San Lorenzo Valley to help there. Last winter, I met a Veteran in a wheelchair who lived under a bridge in Felton. He said he had no other choice. Will the many homeless who live under the bridges in Felton, Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek be able to make it down into Santa Cruz’s winter shelters at Laurel Street and 7th Avenue Veteran’s Building?
And what about the Mid-County area? There are more homeless encampments in Nisene Marks State Park and along the railroad tracks than you would think, some of which cause problems for the neighbors in the area. What’s the answer? I don’t know.
MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER AGENCY’S FIRST SUSTAINABLE PLANNING COMMITTEE GOT OFF THE GROUND.
The freshly-appointed group of volunteers who will write the plan for how water is distributed and how much it will cost met last week at the Community Foundation to discuss their charter and rules. It was a lively session, and I think the group was wise to spend time laying the foundation for how it will function cooperatively. The County Board of Supervisors had just approved allowing an alternate for the position held by their Board. Supervisor Zach Friend’s aide, Allyson Violante, announced that she was replacing Supervisor John Leopold on the Committee. She admitted she knows nothing about water but is interested in policy-making. During the meeting, she seemed mostly interested in making sure things were kept under rigid control.
I really appreciated that as the only member of the public who had questions/comments, I got to ask them all at the end and not before. I guess the reason I had to write them down and submit them to be read was to eliminate any possibility of dialogue. For some reason, most public meetings I attend these days actively discourage dialogue with the public. Sigh.
However, I was very grateful when the the facilitator made sure my questions and comments were addressed by the Committee before the meeting ended. Even though the Committee did not seem to like my suggestion that the representatives of the various interest groups be required to meet with those they represent, it seems they may consider it next time. Many thanks to Ms. Rosemary Menard, Director of Santa Cruz City Water Dept. for reminding the group that considerable weight was given to selecting the individuals based on their representative interests.
It is rare to get answers to questions posed at public meetings. I have often wondered why those public agencies pretend to call their meetings “public meetings” and say the public is welcome?
MY NEIGHBOR, MATT, BRAVELY SAVED MY NEIGHBORHOOD AND NISENE MARKS STATE PARK FROM BURNING UP
Last Thursday night, my neighbor Matt noticed an orange glow coming from a house nearby that was on everyone’s radar as suspicious. The house was unoccupied at the time. Matt investigated and saw flames licking up the exterior wall and flaming material dropping below into the woods. We had red-flag fire conditions that night. He called 9-1-1 and rushed over with his fire extinguisher. It wasn’t enough to stop the flames. His roommates arrived home just then and helped form a bucket brigade that was able to quell the fire enough until multiple fire engines arrived and doused the flames.
It was then that he and the firefighters discovered small mountains of butane cannisters nearby and throughout the house, along with massive amounts of drying marijuana hanging thickly throughout every single room. Yep, it was a large refinery and extremely dangerous. Then Matt understood why the 9-1-1 dispatcher advised him NOT to approach the house to try to put out the fire. It also explained why the fire engines were accompanied by multiple sheriff units.
The firefighters told Matt that the house came dangerously close to reaching an explosive condition. He unknowingly had risked his life to fight the fire and save the neighborhood. Wow. He is my hero.
We have all felt shaken since, realizing how close our community and the State Park came to being a conflagration. How much did law enforcement know about this situation beforehand? This is the second time in three years that a fire has begun due to drug processing in my community. I wonder how the Cannabis legalization and County’s permitting will affect the drug refining landscape in rural areas like mine? There are industry people who are conscientious and will do things well, yet the Black Market will persist, possibly being bolstered by the onerous 31 pages of mitigations set forth by the County for those who want to gain a legal cultivation and processing permit. It would help neighborhoods like mine if those legal operations were somehow identified.
The comments are due by October 31, and further public meetings will follow the CEQA process.
TOTO, WE’RE NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE.
I attended the “Stop Overbuilding Santa Cruz” gathering last week, along with about 200 others. We heard community speakers explain what the City of Santa Cruz is really up to with the Corridor Plan, how traffic levels are already at the limits of what the 2006 studies supporting the traffic plans projected for future growth, and no one is mentioning the groundwater overdraft crisis. We agreed on the fact that the quality of life is about to change and citizens need to get to work now to have any effect at all.
Somehow, I was hoping to hear how the group plans to accomplish having a meaningful and effective voice at the table of Sustainable Santa Cruz and Vision 2030 and all those studies and charettes steamrolling along. What troubled me as I left is the stark realization that, based on my experiences with local government agencies, attitude toward the public has deteriorated. By and large, the elected officials making policy affecting the lives of others have a palpable disregard and disrespect for members of the public who attempt to take an active interest in government. As I mentioned earlier, public dialogue is openly and admittedly discouraged. Those who ask questions are ignored or dismissed, unless you are a large developer.
This is a big change from how elected officials regarded the public’s involvement 25-30 years ago. What does that mean for those who are concerned by the steamroller tactics of local government officials who throw themselves at the feet of AMBAG and the State bullwhips? It means, in my opinion that we have to make our voices louder and even more persistent, backed by reliable information and documentation. It also means, in my opinion, that it is time for some citizen initiative actions to put more issues on the ballot for the people to examine, discuss and vote upon. There have been too many back-room deals made and it simply must stop.
Cheers,
~Becky Steinbruner
(Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes).
As Jennifer Szalai noted in an article published last Sunday (10/29) in The New York Times Magazine (the article was titled “Cheap Trick” in the hard copy version), politicization is not held in high repute:
Politicization is the last refuge of the scoundrel.To “politicize” something — hurricanes, intelligence, science, football, gun violence — is to render it political in a way that distorts its true meaning. That, at least, seems to be the reasoning of those who use the term as an insult: We adhere to pristine, unadulterated facts and call for unity; they politicize those facts for partisan gain and divide us even more.
As I read those introductory words, I immediately began writing (mentally) my opposing Op-Ed. In fact, since we do “live in a political world,” meaning that the social, economic, and cultural aspects of our civilization depend on the political choices we make, “politicization” is hardly negative. In fact, “politicization” means that we are collectively debating, and ultimately deciding, what we are going to do about something. We need more, not less, of that.
By the time I reached the end of Szalai’s essay, I had calmed right down. Szalai finished her discussion by citing to Hanna Arendt, who always deserves the last word:
According to popular lore, part of what made totalitarianism so dangerous was its “politicization of everything,” but Hannah Arendt, who should know, insisted in a 1958 essay that the opposite was true. It is “depoliticization,” she wrote, that “destroys the element of political freedom in all activities”. Depoliticization is what makes political action seem futile and moot. To strip an issue of its political dimension is to assume it’s settled or to try to make it so — not by argument, which would be to politicize it, but by blithe dismissal or brute force.
(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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Everybody talks about the weather but DeCinzo illustrates the problem…scroll below
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s always profound Subconscious Comic, 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.
JEWEL THEATRE COMPANY RECEIVES RECOGNITION FROM THE AMERICAN THEATRE WING
The Jewel Theatre Company wins prized National Theatre Company Grant honor from Founder of the Tony Awards. Their announcement reads…Jewel Theatre Company is pleased to announce that the American Theatre Wing, best known as the creator of the Antoine Perry “Tony” Awards, is awarding the Jewel Theatre Company with one of the 2017 National Theatre Company grants. Created by American Theatre Wing to recognize and support the most promising emerging theatre companies, the 2017 grants for Initial Support are being presented to nine companies from around the country”. That’s great and well deserved news. Jewel Theatre opens their next play “Always…Patsy Cline” starring Diana Torres Koss and Julie James on Thursday Nov. 9 and it plays through December 3. It’s at the Colligan Theatre in the Tannery and if you haven’t been there yet…just go!
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “My response to The Florida Project was so lukewarm; I decided not to even post it on the blog. Read all about it in this week’s Good Times, instead, but please do keep checking out Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/) for future updates!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
THE FLORIDA PROJECT. Willem Dafoe heads the cast of unknowns in this depressing almost-documentary of a six-year-old girl and her little friend’s sad lives, as they eke out an existence living in motels near Disneyland in Orlando. Their lives and the fragments of the other neighboring families are sad from start to the finish of this film. It’s a saga, and it’s well done, but for sure it’s a feel-bad film.
MARK FELT: THE MAN WHO BROUGHT DOWN THE WHITE HOUSE. We thought we knew enough about Watergate, but this story of the “Deep Throat” behind the revelation of Nixon’s involvement, is involving and interesting right from the start. Liam Neeson plays the stiff, moral, upright tightlipped Mark Felt, and does it well. Diane Lane plays his boozy wife and doesn’t get a chance to add much. It’s a learning experience and you’ll become even more concerned over the current relationship between Trump and the FBI. Go for it.
SUBURBICON. I have not and will not see this movie. Never, ever have I read and received so many bad warnings about a cruddy movie. George Clooney directed it, Matt Damon has the top role, and Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 27. Julianne Moore and Oscar Issac are in it too. Never mind about the plot, too many friends and readers have warned me…and I’m passing the word on to you, DON’T GO!
BLADERUNNER 2049. Denis Villeneuve directed this sequel with advice from Ridley Scott and it has many hidden plot lines from the original (try to see it before you see 2049)…it’s an unique addition to science fiction films. Dystopian is a very overused word describing a disaster based future. This film again has Los Angeles totally transfigured…and even darker and more devastated and bleak than the first one, was set in LA 2019. Ryan Gosling carries the entire story, with Robin Wright and Harrison Ford doing fine acting jobs too. I have rarely, if ever, seen or felt a theatre audience so still-so hypnotized-awed-puzzled-and silent as the one I joined last week. I’ve seen it 2 ½ times now… it needs two viewings on as large a screen as possible, because the photography is so impressive and important.
LOVING VINCENT. The first movie ever to have been made with 1000’s of oil paintings, to create an animation of Vincent Van Gogh’s life and questionable murder or suicide. You’ll see dozens of his and your most favorite Van Gogh paintings “come to life” — plus an intriguing story line. The animation is so good that fans (I’m one) of PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre Poldark series will recognize Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza) playing Adeline Ravoux in this absolutely beautiful film. It has a 77 Rotten Tomato rating! See it ASAP because Landmark doesn’t keep masterpieces long unless audiences show up the first weeks. ENDS THURS. NOV. 2
IT This broke all box office records the weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on a Stephen King novel, IT is chapter one of a two-part nightmare/daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s also got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT — but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. The veddy-veddy British story of A.A. Milne and his son that inspired the “Winnie The Pooh” books. Milne suffered greatly from his war time service — as did Britain —and the Pooh books made Milne millions of dollars, while ruining his son and the mother’s lives. The accents are hard to understand in parts and you’ll end up feeling sorry for everyone in the story…IF you go see the movie. ENDS THURS. NOV. 2
BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Billie Jean King plays against Bobby Riggs in this easy-going tennis and sex movie. Billie Jean has an internal battle with her own sex, which adds a deeper and more involved plot than the 1973 match which we’ve all been reading up on, or remember from those days. Emma Stone— reputedly the highest star in the world — acts perfectly with Steve Carrell, and the movie is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I didn’t recognize Sarah Silverman as the women’s coach because she wears sunglasses all through the movie. I liked Little Miss Sunshine better.
VICTORIA & ABDUL. Almost everyone knows that Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria in this cute, warm, cuddly feel-good movie. Eddie Izzard plays the Prince of Wales (Edward VII), but you won’t recognize him. I didn’t, and I’m a big fan of Izzard’s. Stephen Frears directed it. He did My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up your Ears, Philomena and some more great films but this isn’t in that category. Aside from the cuteness, it ignores the cruelty of the British rule over India during the almost 30 years.
MARSHALL. This movie almost takes us back to Raymond Burr and his role as Perry Mason the Lawyer in the Perry Mason 1957 TV series …it’s a courtroom drama. More importantly, it’s based on an early case that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall handled for the NAACP in Connecticut. You’ll recognize Kate Hudson as the “victim” and James Cromwell as the racist judge. Fine story, good cast…not the most memorable film in history, but you’ll like it. ENDS THURS. NOV. 2
LUCKY. This is Harry Dean Stanton’s last film and he was 91 years old when they filmed it. He died in September. He also played and sang in Santa Cruz a few times too. This is a sad saga of an old man who never married, wandering around his desert town yakking and gossiping with his crony friends. He talks about death, tortoises, and the things you’d imagine a 91 year old would talk about. The cast includes Transcendental Meditation’s David Lynch, plus Ed Begley Jr., and Tom Skerritt. Probably no Academy Awards, but it’s a pleasant film. 98 on RT.
AMERICAN MADE. Is NOT another dopey, violent Tom Cruise superhuman action flick. This one is based on an unbelievable probably half-true story about a guy who becomes an international drug runner, and then gets involved illegally with our CIA and the Iran Contra affair that almost got President Ronnie R. evicted. It’s probably Scientology that gives Tom Cruise that certain extra something…and I have to admit I like watching the buy. 87 on RT.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this second installment of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie looks like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself, and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrassing.
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. Halloween night Oct. 31st has Jean Brocklebank and Judi Grunstra talking about the Santa Cruz Main Library plots and plans. Then dramaturg Victoria Gardiner and friend talk about UCSC’s production of Berthold Brecht’s play, “Resistable Rise Of Arturo Ui” playing Nov.11-19. On November 7 Dr. Suzanne Kerley talks about plastic surgery, hand surgery and the dangers of trusting what you see on the internet. Then Scott McGilvray from Water For Santa Cruz straightens the record on our water problems. November 14 is KZSCs PLEDGE DRIVE night and historian Ross Gibson will keep us up to date on what old news is new! The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
I realize now why, and how much, I really like her. Spend the time to watch this (I’ve fixed the video that didn’t work; give it a second to load).
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
QUOTES. “ELECTION DAY” “The politicians were talking themselves red, white and blue in the face”, Clare Boothe Luce
“Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other’s speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in”, H. L. Mencken
“Republicans are relentless and they’re smart, too – they’re not all dumb – and on Election Day, they’ll be up at five in the morning”, Michael Moore
“An election is coming. Universal peace is declared, and the foxes have a sincere interest in prolonging the lives of the poultry”, George Eliot, Felix Holt, Chapter 5
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
Highlights this week:
Don Lane Bearcat out on attack last week!, Santa Cruz and Watsonville are almost the happiest places (it says), Lou Harrison fought the Cabrillo Music Festival, J.M. Brown running again for City Council…Greensite On Weinstein, Weiners and Women …Chris Krohn about City Council Agenda problems, Swenson’s Pacific Ave hole condos and nada affordable, City ambulance service questions, planning dept exodus by Rebagliati and more questions, Odd and unusual cuts in City budget…Becky Steinbruner deals with County contracts with SALINAS Yellow Cab-why?, More on Swenson’s black hole condos on Pacific ave., united Corridor Study problems, Aptos Village developers illegal moves, $3 million for a development stoplight and we pay for it!!…Patton reports on Chris Hedges and world future predictions…DeCinzo and Highway 17 …Eagan depicts our nationwide heart attack…Jensen reviews Goodbye Christopher Robin…I critique Lucky and G’bye Christopher Robin…Quotes for Halloween.
SEA BEACH HOTEL. Built in 1870’s and it burned down at 3:30 am, June 12, 1912. It had 170 rooms and stood about where the Casa Blanca Inn & Motel are located on Main Street by the Boardwalk. photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.
CRAZY INVENTIONS OF 2017. There are 100’s more these came up first.
BUILT IN GOTHENBURG SWEDEN IN 1914 this cargo ship was in use till 1939, then abandoned and sailing the seas on its own for 38 years(!).
SANTA CRUZ AND HIGHWAY 1. Looks like a Russian tourist view of our
extremely happy town!!!
DATELINE October 23, 2017
OCTAGON PLATZ. One of the first things I heard at the Octagon Platz last week was that Don Lane’s Bearcat Police Attack Vehicle was used once again on October 19 to deal with a robbery at Outdoor World. I somehow missed any Santa Cruz Sentinel coverage of that war zone incident. With Apple employees now ensconced in the top two floors of the O’Neill Building (formerly Cooper House) we can only wait and wonder —(1) how many were locals,(2) how many moved here, and (3)how many more will be coming here, and where will they live? When you look closely at the proposed Downtown plan — which is mostly about ruining the area with expensive high rises — you’ll see that one idea is to turn an area of Front Street in front of the Post Office into an extended plaza that sort of connects to the Town Clock space. That part doesn’t seem too bad at first squint. On Wednesday I met with novelist Michael Marshall Smith. He’s going to help me get little things like the difference between comas and commas and punctuation gizmos such as syntax into this space. He’s courageous; I gotta say that about him. Truly amazing how many dozens or more folks stop by The Octagon daily to say how they miss Manthri Srinath’s Lulu’s Coffee House at that location. Another MAH employee told me it looks it’ll remain empty into next year, before two locally-owned restaurants open in what was the historic Octagon/County Hall of Records. Much, much kudos to the Digital Design and Brand Surgery folks, who had the historic Leonard Building (1894) at the corner of Cooper Street and Front painted last week. By the way, Cooper Street was named after the Cooper Brothers, who came here in the 1850s from Gettysburg, and were related to James Fennimore Cooper.
STOP LAUGHING AND BEING SO HAPPY. Be sure to click and read the link below that reveals Santa Cruz to be the second happiest city in the United States! Britain’s Daily Mail had the article; I just clipped parts of it to post here…
“America’s top 25 happiest cities revealed: Boulder in Colorado is named as the place with the most satisfied residents. The metro area of Santa Cruz-Watsonville California came second in the list, followed by Charlottesville, Virginia, Fort Collins, Colorado, and San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles-Arroyo Grande in California.
It tops a list of 25 of America’s happiest cities, revealed in new book The Blue Zones of Happiness. Written by National Geographic Explorer Dan Buettner, it reveals ‘the secrets of the world’s happiest places’. California has no less than eight cities in the top 25 list, including the metro area of San Diego-Carlsbad.
CABRILLO FESTIVAL OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC HISTORY. I had lunch last week with very long-time friend Alyce Vestal Caudil. She and Ted Toews, who taught at Cabrillo College, started the Cabrillo Music Festival. Along with stacks of newspaper articles documenting the very first Cabrillo Festival —and showing Alyce’s and Ted’s incredible energy and foresight — Alyce has related over and over again that Lou Harrison “fought the Cabrillo Festival tooth and nail” right up to close to the opening concert, and finally joined in”. Lou was a wonderful guy and an inspiration to musicians and music lovers all over the world, but to keep reading endlessly misleading stories concerning his alleged early support of the Festival seems more than ridiculous.
J.M. Brown is strongly rumored to be running for Santa Cruz City Council. He didn’t make it the last time. Take a look at some of the folks who endorsed him…see just a hint of anything here? Cynthia Mathews, Zach Friend, Steve Reed, Santa Cruz Realtors, Hillary Bryant, Bike Santa Cruz, Bob Bosso, Cynthia Chase, Santa Cruz Sentinel, Robert deFreitas, Geoffrey Dunn, Doug Ley, Matt Farrell, Carol Fuller, Bud Colligan and Robert Singleton — for starters. Chris Krohn wrote about Drew Glover’s big campaign kickoff party here last week. Please send me any/all the 2018 Council candidates names you hear of…it’s going to be a crowded race.
WEINSTEIN, WIENERS AND WOMEN
Does the massive reaction to Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexually abusing women signify a cultural shift in the norms of sexual violence? Or is it a momentary focus, soon to be lost in the next news saga? A few reflections from the past may help illuminate its significance in the long struggle for gender equality.
In 1991, during the Senate hearings for the Anita Hill testimony of sexual harassment against Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas I was glued to the television, declaring excitedly that there was no turning back. The revolution had arrived! A tad premature to be sure, since at the same time Harvey Weinstein was probably cornering another young woman in his hotel room with penis erect and male privilege intact.
Anita Hill brought the issue of sexual harassment into the light of day and on a global level. This crucial step is a prerequisite for change. But cultural change is often slow, accompanied by the expected backlash. It requires constant work by engaged people to keep it moving. Two decades earlier, Lin Farley had coined the term, “sexual harassment” to describe the shared experiences of countless women who had received unwelcome sexual attention at work from men, usually their supervisors, with firings and poor performance evaluations a result of their non-compliance. It wasn’t long before universities were also under scrutiny for routine sexual harassment. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, universities and workplaces scrambled to put policies in place and educate their workforce under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The fact that 40 years later, universities are still being sued and investigated, including UCSC, for sexual harassment violations is a reminder that social change is never easy or automatic. In my experience, which includes 30 years at UCSC in rape prevention education as well as years on the city’s commission to prevent violence against women, institutions strive to bury, not solve, the issues. Public Relations, not prevention is the goal. Of course no one will admit to that but working from the inside I can attest that’s the case. It’s rare to find institutions, which sincerely want to change. I had to travel to Tanzania, Malawi and South Africa to find them and the difference was tangible. While sexual and interpersonal violence against women in these countries far outstrips the norms in our own country and national leaders are often the perpetrators, in every country I found sincere efforts for change at the institutional level. Hopefully this will lead to change at the personal level.
Whether the outcry over Harvey Weinstein’s long history of sexual abuse will lead to institutional change or window dressing remains to be seen. Much depends on shifting the economic and social power imbalance between women and men. Much depends on how males react to this wake-up call. Much depends on our ability to move beyond revenge and tackle the changes needed to ensure boys are raised to relate to girls as equals and girls are raised as equals. Only then can we ignore gender as the great un-equalizer.
It is significant that a dominant reaction to Harvey Weinstein’s sexually abusive behavior focuses on the yuk factor. Yes he was a powerful man who abused his power and the women whom he sexually abused are brave to come forward, but bathrobes, massages, voyeuristic showers and that he is SO ugly titillate the world. As for that Anthony Wiener, his sharing images of his own genitals are what did him in. Had either been your “normal” sexual abuser it is doubtful we would have paid a passing glance. It was Clarence Thomas’s placing a genital hair on a can of coke for Anita Hill to see that caused the most negative reaction. It is still sex, particularly kinky sex not gender power imbalance that we as a society find most troubling.
We can cheer as the Weinstein pedestal is toppled but if we can’t see the dilemma in Chief of Staff John Kelly’s statement that in the 1950’s we put women on a pedestal then real change is still far ahead. We can pretend that warnings about pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections and abstinence is sufficient for sex education for our youth but until we allow that they will be sexual and educate them about relationships, respect and consent, then real change is difficult. That many males abuse their power to obtain sexual favors is not inherent in males or their biology. Historically, cultures without rape and abuse of women were widespread. That in such cultures women, men and other gender arrangements shared power is not incidental but is key. For the opening created by the Weinstein moment to have lasting significance we need a more far reaching response than outrage and one that penetrates all corners of our culture. One that examines gender relations and power rather than one that further exploits our sexuality.
~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.
Good Development
Ribbon cutting for thirty-nine new affordable units on Soquel Avenue near 7th Ave.
Bad Development
Single-family monster home on Getchell near the corner of Wanzer Street
Ugly Development
Everyone asks me, ‘What is this?’ It is a soulless hotel on Mission Street Extension. No emoji can express our collective community angst and sadness.
HIDDEN AGENDA OR OPEN AGENDA? WHY NOT JUST PUBLISH AN “AGENDA FOR DUMMIES?”
So much of the Santa Cruz City Council agenda is made up of snooze items. For example, the “Reconciliation of Private Encroachment on City Watershed Lands,” might be one. The issue is that years-ago somebody paved over city land to put in a private driveway and now they want to trade two of their acres to the city for the driveway land. Then there’s approving grants for Water Department “technical assistance contracts,” worth a couple of million dollars. Of course, many agenda items are snooze items until something goes wrong resulting in a law suit. The city is often involved in suing and being sued. Turns out though that so much of municipal substance is shrouded in the bureaucratic word blather that makes up each agenda item. This week’s city council agenda was of particular note. It was seemingly filled with insignificant and tedious snooze items, but in fact reflected a great deal about of our current collective anxiety around affordable housing, healthcare, a planning department that sees things differently than the community, and a city budget deficit. Perception and deception are unfortunately often by-products in our representative democracy.
Still No Affordable Rental Housing at Swenson 79-condo Project at 1547 Pacific Avenue, Why?
Not to beat a dead horse, but there they were, 11.85 units (15% of 79) of affordable rentals right there on the table at the last two city council meetings. The majority decided not to demand these units because it “just won’t pencil out” for the developer. On the Tuesday, Oct. 24th agenda, Barry Swenson and company was asking the council for a final condo map for their Pacific Park project (the old Bookshop Santa Cruz site). Seems like they need the map in order to rent the units at market-rate and avoid selling them to further avoid having to sell the affordable ones. If you are confused, then this complicated scheme is working. It’s the eleventh hour or the bottom of the ninth or nearing the end of overtime, whatever metaphor works, and the city council needs to decide which side of the affordable housing debate they are on. Either find developers who only build affordable, or continue making deals with devils who have their bottom lines, or shareholders’ concerns, first. Hoping for affordable units isn’t the same as making them build the units. The council is responsible to the housing needs of the community, not to the 20-30% profit margin developers expect.
Public Ownership of Ambulance Services
Can the Santa Cruz Fire Department add a countywide ambulance service to its workload? The short answer is, maybe. But, there is a $70,000 consultant contract on the agenda to evaluate the potential to make this happen. It would mean not having to take a huge fire truck out with the inevitable private ambulance service, usually AMR, following close behind. Instead, SCFD would leave the fire truck at the station and operate its own ambulance. In fact, if Fire Chief, Jim Frawley’s dream is realized we just might better be able to attend to our “unhoused and economically disadvantaged populations…” A part of Frawley’s dream bears repeating here from the city council staff report he submitted for this council agenda item:
“Because they (homeless and economically disadvantaged) are not able to address small health issues while they are small, their conditions worsen to the point where emergency 911 service is needed. As a part of the (new city) ambulance transport service, a special unit that actively and proactively engages with these communities can dramatically alter the response needs by providing mobile health services, referrals, and connection to other services like mental health experts, substance use disorder counselors, and social service case workers.”
Can I get an Amen?! Wow, yes, a fire chief with vision. Go Chief Frawley! The only drawback is that to implement this it will take a variety of finance and IT city staff to assess and get the project up and running. The downside is that there are tradeoffs in workloads being discussed. One is that the finance director is suggesting that a way to free up the 1,350 person-hours the start of the ambulance endeavor may take is to delay moving on finding new banking services. Earlier this year the council gave direction to find an alternative to the now tarnished and disreputable current service provider, Wells Fargo. Another choice offered would have the city not moving forward until 2018 on a Parks and Recreation fee study. What would the public say about this? What’s more important, not giving city money over to a disreputable bank, or not performing a fee study? I think I know which one the public would choose. Yes, the ambulance idea is a worthy one and we need to move ahead with all deliberate speed, but we also need to find a path sooner than later in withdrawing city support of a failing financial corporation.
A Report that Sent a Planning Director Packing?
Again, here’s an agenda item you would never know is a follow-up, “status update’ that was ordered by a previous city council. It was the outcome of a rather scathing outside consultant in-depth report on “Improving the Planning and Community Development Department.” The report was issued on March 16, 2015 at the behest of city manager, Martin Bernal and likely a majority of city council votes at the time. I believe this 31-page report is the first time it’s ever appeared in a city council agenda.
Go here, click on item #16, and then go to the right column to see the document. The report states on page 11, “A common customer comment is that the Planning and Community Development Department is not doing an effective job of communicating with the public about the planning and building process. As a result, some customers are frustrated with the department, calling it ‘bureaucratic,’ ‘rigid,’ ‘not helpful,’ and similar comments.” The Conclusion reads like this: “Without measurable customer service objectives and measures of workload or service activity, it is difficult to confirm the quality of service that staff believes they are providing or hold them accountable if they are not. And, based on customer interviews, there is room for improvement.”
Folks, this is not pretty stuff, and likely led to the demise of former Planning Director, Julianna Rebagliati. But what I fear is that her ouster came about more because she was going too slow in approving for-profit development in Santa Cruz, which may actually be a desire more in line with the present wishes of the community, i.e. reign in the developer-class. What I hear from the community is yes to affordable housing and no to second-home large profit-driven development; severely limit the number of short-term rentals, and engage with the university to house ALL of its students over 19,000 on their beautiful campus. Is “planning” just about building and economic growth? Since when did planning become synonymous with being responsible for lining the pockets of this developer class? Air quality, water quality, care for the bay and our redwood groves, being good stewards of the resources we have…shouldn’t this be the bedrock mission values of our “planning and community development” department?
City Manager (CM) Suggested Budget Cuts You May Want to Know About
The cuts the city manager is asking the council to make by January aren’t pretty either. Under the agenda title: “FY 2018 Proposed Budget Balancing,” CM Bernal put forward a list of nine pages of line item cuts totaling $2,278,219. Some of the cuts are as follows, and remember this is from the City Manager and his department heads. As far as I know, there have been no public meetings, neighborhood meetings, consultation with the various city commissions, nor has the city council suggested any of these cuts. There are more, but the following seem “short-sited”:
$124,000 from the elimination of on-site probation officers. This may delay probation related reviews.
$43,725 in various reductions to Recreation programs and facilities including youth & teen programming, sports and general classes, special events, and support for Louden Nelson community center, the City Museum, and Harvey West pool.
$27,000 in reduced capacity for City Council special projects (who knew we had this money?!?)
$35,250 in Wharf maintenance and technical services. This will impact various levels of commerce, utility or the public’s safety.
These are just a few of the cuts I am concerned about. Please email me (ckrohn@cruzio.com) any ideas you might have on cuts the city might make given the $2 million-plus current deficit.
To see list, go here and click on item #18 then look over to right column and click on documents to see list of cuts.
P.S.
Over 500 people came out this past week at the Civic Auditorium to hear Professors Steve McKay and Miriam Greenberg present their findings on how crazy bad our housing market has become. They had an army of over 200 students interview 1700 renters across Santa Cruz county. You can see their work at http://noplacelikehomeucsc.org/en
P.P.S.
This Thursday at 6:30 p.m. the Santa Cruz Community Church at 411 Roxas Street on the eastside will be buzzing with Save Santa Cruz people advocating for the final entombing of the “Corridors Plan.” Many believe it is not dead yet, but still limping along. I suggest Save Santa Cruz people look at Item #23 “Density Bonus Ordinance Amendments” on the Oct. 24th council agenda and see how even without the Corridor Plan, a nasty for-profit developer genie is working over-time.
Bernie Quote of the Week
Sen. Sanders on Trump’s tax plan: “It is a Robin Hood proposal in reverse…it must be defeated”
~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.
COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVES 5-YEAR CONTRACT OF $86,000 per YEAR WITH SALINAS YELLOW CAB!!
The owner of the consolidated Yellow Cab Company for Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito Counties could not explain to me how the $86,000 per year dollar amount for the proposed 5-year contract County Health Services recommended that the Board approve. The recommendation to the Board stated that Yellow Cab is the only cab service that can provide what is needed to transport clients from the Behavioral Health facilities to appointments locally.
“THAT IS NOT TRUE,” said local Green Taxi Cab owner, Mr. Brian Lister, who attended the October 17 Board meeting and testified that he was not even made aware of the potential contract. He is a local business owner, and his cabs run on bio-diesel. That should have made the Supervisors pause and agree to Mr. Lister’s and my request to either postpone the approval for further discussion, or to award the contract for one year, rather than five. That would have made a lot of sense, given the Health Service staff that, in answering Supervisor Caput’s question about the economics of the arrangement, said laws are changing at the State level that will most likely change what the County can allow for transportation of these clients.
NOPE. “Well, we could use the ambulance service or law enforcement to transport people,” the staff member said. “Well, what about having the attendant that gets paid $65/hour to help the clients who are able to instead learn to navigate the public transit system? These people will most likely not be able to afford a taxi when they are no longer under County care,” I said.
NOPE. The Board approved a 5-year contract with Salinas Yellow Cab for $86,000/year. That will make the owner of Yellow Cab happy. He was not at the meeting, but had told me on the phone “Uber has made it really hard for cab companies to survive, but this County contract will save me.” He plans to buy more cabs, just for the County work. Mr. Lister, Green Cab owner, said he would sure appreciate a shot at the County’s contract, too. However, it seems the Board of Supervisors could not be bothered, and instead handed the 5-year generous paycheck to an out-of-County conglomerate with a fossil fuel-powered fleet. It seems a bit hypocritical, don’t you think?
MEASURE J AND DEJA VU
In 1978. Santa Cruz County voters passed this legendary Ordinance to address the rapid growth rate (Santa Cruz County was the fastest-growing county in the state while being the smallest, next to San Francisco), and lack of affordable housing due to high housing prices. Doesn’t this sound familiar?
The County Planning Commission will consider the Santa Cruz County Unincorporated Area 2018 Growth Goal Report on Wednesday, October 25, 9am at 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz. It was presented to the Board of Supervisors at the October 17 meeting. The interesting Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments (AMBAG) population forecast for 2035 (Table 3 on Page 3) for Santa Cruz County is interesting:
City of Capitola 1.71% increase rate
City of Santa Cruz 27.94% increase
City of Scotts Valley 2.01% increase
City of Watsonville 28.44% increase
Unincorporated 11.1% increase
WOW.
According to the Growth Goal Report, AMBAG is updating forecasts for population, employment and housing for the region for 2015 through 2040, and should be out for adoption in June, 2018. Here is the link for the Growth Goal Report (Item #29)
WHY IS SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL WAIVING 15% AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENT FOR BARRY SWENSON BUILDER AT 1547 PACIFIC AVENUE 5-STORY, 79-CONDO UNIT SUBDIVISION WHEN THEY HAVE THE LEGAL ABILITY TO REQUIRE THEM?
At last week’s “No Place Like Home” Affordable Housing Week kick-off event at the Civic Auditorium, there were five of us with lime green protest signs, asking for the City Council to be held accountable on this issue. I had the opportunity to ask Council member Ms. Cynthia Matthews to explain this puzzling action.
“I just don’t understand why you would vote to waive affordable housing. It does not make sense,” I said.
“It did make sense,” she replied as she left the Auditorium during the student presentation,” But I don’t have time to explain it to you.”
One must ask: if the County is in an affordable housing crisis, why is Item #9 on this Tuesday’s Santa Cruz City Council meeting agenda going to allow owner Barry Swenson builder to not provide 12 inclusionary affordable units? How come this was published on the “non-controversial” Consent Agenda???
Attend the Tuesday, October 24 City Council meeting, Council Chambers, 12:30 pm or call 831-420-5020
I think we need multiple ways for people to get where they need to go in an affordable manner. I think building high density mixed use development along the Soquel Drive and Water Street corridor is a mistake…the bus system is broken already without adding massive numbers of people that are expected to ride the bus exclusively to get around.
What do you think?
APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT DEVELOPERS VIOLATE COUNTY REQUIREMENT FOR ENCROACHMENT PERMIT TO DESTROY PUBLIC ROADS.
Why is Santa Cruz County Public Works allowing Swenson and the other Aptos Village Project developers to dig up Trout Gulch Road, Cathedral Drive and Aptos Creek Road without first getting an Encroachment Permit? This permit is required, under Santa Cruz County Code 9.70, of any and all projects within the County right of way and is important because the agreement legally relieves the County (that’s you and me) of any liability associated with the work. It also allows the County to oversee proper restoration of the damaged road surfaces.
I think that’s important, especially when the developer (Barry Swenson Builder) has just been issued a Judgment for $125,000 by the County District Attorney for violating multiple public health and safety laws. What do you think?
Here is what County Counsel Mr. David Nefouse, wrote in response to my Public Records Act request for the encroachment permits between the Aptos Village Project developers and the County for work on Trout Gulch Road, Cathedral Drive, and Aptos Creek Road:
After a review, the County has determined it does not maintain and/or possess the records you have requested, as the County does not have any encroachment permits secured by Aptos Village LLC or parties involved in the Aptos Village Project.
Kind regards,
David Nefouse
Assistant County Counsel
Office of the County Counsel, County of Santa Cruz
701 Ocean Street, Room 505
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
(831)454-2069 (Direct Line)
(831)454-2115 (Facsimile)
9.70.050 Permit—Required when.
It shall be unlawful for any person, firm, company, corporation, association, political subdivision or organization, without first obtaining a written permit, to encroach upon, or make or cause to be made any encroachment over or under the limits of any County-maintained road in the unincorporated territory of the County, or to make or cause to be made any alteration of any nature within, upon, over or under such County-maintained road. [Ord. 3197 § 2, 1982; prior code § 8.75.060].
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS APPROVED GRANT APPLICATION WITH RTC FOR $3 MILLION TRAFFIC LIGHT AT APTOS VILLAGE (THE SECOND ONE)
I asked to pull this item off the October 17 Consent Agenda and place it on the Regular Agenda, which allows for public discussion and further public scrutiny. This “non-controversial issue” was a Consent Agenda item on the October 17 County Board of Supervisor agenda? How can asking the taxpayers to gift Swenson and the other Aptos Village Project developers an additional $3 million for improvements to support their disgusting development not be considered controversial? Trying to sneak this past the public is egregiously poor government transparency.
When I asked that Public Works explain why the bulk of the District 2 proposed Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) grant application money be devoted to a $3 million traffic light for the Aptos Village (never mind that the rest of the application would fund street improvements in Supervisor Zach Friend’s neighborhood), Mr. John Presleigh, Director, told the Board that he had to submit this project because the RTC was pressuring him to complete this Project and “get it off his plate”. Really??
The Board accepted that weak answer and approved the ability for Public Works to apply for the RTC grant. When I followed him out into the hallway, asking how much the Aptos Village Project developers were going to pay for this traffic light to mitigate the effects of the anticipated 8,000 additional vehicles/day (according to retired County Traffic Engineer Jack Sohriakoff in last year’s RTC grant application), Mr. Presleigh said “We can’t ask the developer for money for this.” Wow.
When I asked what the $3 million traffic light project involved…paving Aptos Creek Road? Constructing the new Parade Street railroad crossing and premier gateway to the development? Mr. Presleigh told me he could not say. When I asked how I could find out, Assistant Public Works Director Mr. Steve Wiesner said “Write down your request and send it to us.” So I did. No response.
The County has no Development Agreement to lock the Aptos Village Project developers into paying for improvements. There were two versions of that Agreement that got kicked around, both included the County refunding Swenson for anywhere from $2 million (County’s version) to $10 million (Swenson’s version, which also limited their paying only $15,000 for paving Aptos Creek Road…that’s about three potholes-worth of work), but County Counsel has confirmed via my Public Records Act request that there is NO Development Agreement for the Aptos Village Project. Doesn’t that give you a warm, fuzzy feeling?
IF YOU DON’T WANT TO PAY $3 MILLION FOR A TRAFFIC LIGHT BENEFITING THE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT DEVELOPERS, YOU NEED TO CONTACT THE RTC NOW!
The RTC Board will consider all RTIP Grant applications at the December 7 meeting, but the time to speak out loudly against this continued rape of the Aptos community and County taxpayers is at the sub-committee meetings during November: (all meetings at at the RTC Office, 1523 Pacific Avenue, Santa Cruz 95060)
Copy Mr. Luis Mendez, RTC Deputy Director, on all communication; Luis Mendez lmendez@sccrtc.org
“WE’VE LOOKED INTO IT AND FEEL THAT EVERYTHING IS OKAY.”
That is what Soquel Creek Water District’s General Manager, Mr. Ron Duncan, said when I asked at last week’s Board meeting whether any staff was investigating the attached ‘General Parcel’ of residential land and the Scotts Valley mobile home, both of which were attached to the District’s new well parcel within the Aptos Village Project. The Board accepted this nebulous answer and adjourned the meeting. I wonder what explanation Mr. Duncan will send me…I did ask for a response to my inquiry. Oddly, all that information seems to have disappeared from the County Assessor’s data base. I am glad I took some screen videos before that happened.
THANKS, DIRECTOR BRUCE DANIELS, FOR SHOWING UP AND SPEAKING OUT.
I really appreciated the great effort and dedication that Soquel Creek Water District Director Bruce Daniels showed when he arrived at the October 17 Board meeting, just hopping off an international flight in time to appear at the meeting. He raised some excellent questions during the presentation by Carollo Engineer, Mr. Andy Salveson, reporting on the contaminant study conducted of the Santa Cruz City sewage water. The District’s proposed PureWater SoquelProject would inject about 3 million gallons of treated sewage water /day into various well sites in the District (mostly around Cabrillo College area) to push back sea water intrusion.
Director Daniels astutely observed that the contamination list did not include NDMA (N-nitrosodimethylamine), a carcinogen that cannot always be removed from sewage water by the purification processes used in advanced purification treatments. (This report begins on page 96 of the agenda packet) Mr. Salveson said that NDMA had not been included in this study, but could be added if the Board requested it. Here is information from the State Water Resources Control Board website about NDMA that will help you also appreciate Bruce Daniels’ request for NDMA to be added to the tests that will continue:
Many thanks to Mr. Salveson for taking the time to answer my questions…he was the only one who did so during the entire meeting.
Later, Director Daniels also explained that he always votes NO on adding new service connections because the District continues to collect $55,00 per Acre Foot for new water development demand but has no projects the money is actually being used for to offset the new demand. The District declared a GROUNDWATER STATE OF EMERGENCY in 2014, yet continues to approve new service connections as the sea water advances due to over-pumping of the aquifer. By all objective criteria, the entire County needs to declare a Groundwater Emergency, under the 1987 County Well Ordinance.
STATE OF THE MID-COUNTY BASIN PUBLIC WORKSHOP THIS WEEK
The second public educational workshop for the MidCounty Groundwater Agency will be this Wednesday, October 25, 7pm-9pm at the Community Foundation building in Aptos. The Groundwater Sustainability Planning committee will have it’s first meeting that same day (4pm-6pm) and is open to the public. Get involved here, folks, and have a say in how the area’s water policies will be shaped.
WHY WON’T THE COUNTY PLANNING DEPARTMENT COOPERATE WITH THE WATER DISTRICT?
Soquel Creek Water District Staff discussed the challenges new State Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) laws will present to the District. Under SB229, the District must provide water for ADU construction, cannot require a new or separate utility connection but the District still will apply the Water Demand Offset (WDO) requirements for conservation measures in order to grant new service approval.
Staff explained that “the City and County will no longer require the conversion ADU applicants to produce a Will Serve letter before a building permit application is accepted. The best solution to this issue is to be added to the land use agencies’ check off/ routing process, similar to other agencies such as fire and sanitation districts. District staff has made this request of the County on multiple occasions in the past; however, the County has been reluctant to add the District to this process. Until this occurs, it will be a challenge to inform the conversion ADU applicants of the WDO requirements. Naturally, alerting development project applicants late in the process can be a surprise, resulting in unanticipated costs and delays.”
“Why do you think the County is so resistant to working with the District?” I asked. Staff looked at the Board and remained silent. No one answered my question. So, I will ask you, the reader, why you think the County wants to maintain this disconnect between land use and water policy? Write your County Supervisor (or call 831-454-2200) and ask for this to change:
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT BOARD WILL RECONSIDER PUNITIVE RATES FOR LEAKS
An elderly lady on a fixed income came to the Board meeting October 17 and pleaded for a variance of the District’s Leak Adjustment Policy. It nearly broke my heart to listen to her beg for financial help with the $1500 punitive bill she received for a leak that she could not have known was occurring until she got a shocking bill. The District charges $39/unit instead of $6/unit for excessive water use. The Board decided to allow her an adjustment on her bill, and will reconsider their 2015 leak adjustment policy at a future Board meeting.
With all the worry in the air over fires, infrastructure and world events, I hope you will all take time to walk on the beach or in the beautiful forests to appreciate the exquisite beauty of where we live.
Cheers,
~Becky Steinbruner
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
Chris Hedges (pictured right) authored the essay mentioned in my blog posting yesterday. He conveys a rather daunting message:
The American empire is coming to an end. The U.S. economy is being drained by wars in the Middle East and vast military expansion around the globe. It is burdened by growing deficits, along with the devastating effects of deindustrialization and global trade agreements. Our democracy has been captured and destroyed by corporations that steadily demand more tax cuts, more deregulation and impunity from prosecution for massive acts of financial fraud, all the while looting trillions from the U.S. treasury in the form of bailouts. The nation has lost the power and respect needed to induce allies in Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa to do its bidding. Add to this the mounting destruction caused by climate change and you have a recipe for an emerging dystopia. Overseeing this descent at the highest levels of the federal and state governments is a motley collection of imbeciles, con artists, thieves, opportunists and warmongering generals. And to be clear, I am speaking about Democrats, too.
I can’t say I disagree with Hedges’ analysis. How about you? Is the American Empire “coming to an end?” If it is, and I have already said that I personally think that Hedges’ analysis is on target, here is question number two: Would that actually be a bad thing?
The cartoon that headed up my blog posting yesterday has Uncle Sam, in the guise of a homeless person, holding up a sign that says, “Will Destroy The World For Money.” To the extent that this is what the American Empire does (and there are some pretty good arguments that this is an accurate description), it would be hard to mourn that “End of Empire.” So, here is question number three: Is Hedges offering a “prediction” or a “prophecy?” In other words, is Hedges claiming to outline what must and will happen – as “predictions” do – or is he providing us a warning about what could happen? If the latter, that would make Hedges’ essay a “prophecy,” at least in the way I draw a distinction between these two different words that both relate to a forecast of the future. It is probably relevant that Hedges is a Presbyterian minister. He must certainly know about those prophets in the Bible. Those Biblical prophets typically forecasted doom, unless the people repented. Generally, as I’m recalling the Bible stories, the people didn’t repent, and the projected doom arrived, in spades!
After the listing reproduced above, here is what Hedges says about the coming of the End of Empire:
Short of a sudden and widespread popular revolt, which does not seem likely, the death spiral appears unstoppable, meaning the United States as we know it will no longer exist within a decade or, at most, two. The global vacuum we leave behind will be filled by China, already establishing itself as an economic and military juggernaut, or perhaps there will be a multipolar world carved up among Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, South Africa and a few other states. Or maybe the void will be filled, as the historian Alfred W. McCoy writes in his book “In the Shadows of the American Century: The Rise and Decline of US Global Power,” by “a coalition of transnational corporations, multilateral military forces like NATO, and an international financial leadership self-selected at Davos and Bilderberg” that will “forge a supranational nexus to supersede any nation or empire.” That introductory phrase (“short of….”), which is in the nature of a call to repent, tells me that Hedges is speaking in the prophetic tradition. Bad things will happen, and our doom will come, unless we do something now.
Hedges calls that “something” that we might do a “popular revolt.” I call it a “revolution.”
The changes we need don’t have to be violent. In fact, to be truly an avenue to change, they can’t be, because violence has permeated everything we do, today, and it will be “the revolution” when we eschew violence for a nonviolent future.
Is that possible? You bet it is!
It’s not “inevitable,” though.
The future is never “inevitable,” because human beings are possessed of the gift of freedom, and can always inaugurate something completely new, and create a “New Order In The World,” a Novus Ordo Seclorum.
Hey, we did that once before, remember?
(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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo’s historical view of Highway 17…see below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Heart Attack 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 that contains his piece “Like A Rug”
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Find out how filmmaker Simon Curtis gets an author’s biography right in Goodbye Christopher Robin, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). Also, my next novel, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, may not be coming out until 2018, but it’s already available for pre-order online at an insane discount! ” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
LUCKY. This is Harry Dean Stanton’s last film and he was 91 years old when they filmed it. He died in September. He also played and sang in Santa Cruz a few times too. This is a sad saga of an old man who never married wandering around his desert town yakking and gossiping with his crony friends. He talks about death, tortoises, and the things you’d imagine a 91 year old would talk about. The cast includes Transcendental Meditation’s David Lynch, plus Ed Begley Jr., and Tom Skerritt. Probably no Academy Awards but it’s a pleasant film. 98 on RT.
GOODBYE CHRISTOPHER ROBIN. The veddy-veddy British story of A.A.Milne and his son that inspired the “Winnie The Pooh” books. Milne suffered greatly from his war time service as did Britain, and the Pooh books made Milne millions of dollars, ruined his son and the mother’s lives. The accents are hard to understand in parts and you’ll end up feeling sorry for everyone in the story…IF you go see the movie.
BLADE RUNNER 2049. Denis Villeneuve directed this sequel with advice from Ridley Scott and it has many hidden plot lines from the original (try to see it before you see 2049)…it’s an unique addition to science fiction films. Dystopian is the very overused word describing a disaster based future. This film again has Los Angeles really transfigured…and even darker and more devastated and bleak than the first one which was set in LA 2019. Ryan Gosling carries the entire story, with Robin Wright and Harrison Ford doing fine acting jobs too. I have rarely, if ever, seen or felt a theatre audience so still-so hypnotized-awed-puzzled-and silent as the one I joined last week. I’ve seen it 2 ½ times now… it needs two viewings on as large a screen as possible because the photography is so impressive and important.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Billie Jean King plays against Bobby Riggs in this easy going tennis and sex movie. Billie Jean has an internal battle with her own sex, which adds a deeper and more involved plot than the 1973 match which we’ve all been reading up on or remember from those days. Emma Stone reputedly the highest star in the world acts perfectly with Steve Carrell and the movie is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I didn’t recognize Sarah Silverman as the women’s coach because she wears sunglasses all through the movie. I liked Little Miss Sunshine better.
ITThis broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
LOVING VINCENT. The first movie ever to have been made with 1000’s of oil paintings to create animation of Vincent Van Gogh’s life and questionable murder or suicide. You’ll see dozens of his and your most favorite Van Gogh paintings”come to life” plus an intriguing story line. The animation is so good that fans (I’m one) of PBS”s Masterpiece Theatre Poldark series will recognize Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza) playing Adeline Ravoux in this absolutely beautiful film. It has a 77 Rotten Tomato rating! See it ASAP Landmark doesn’t keep masterpieces very long unless audiences show up the first week.
VICTORIA & ABDUL. Almost everyone knows that Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria in this cute, warm, cuddly feel good movie. Eddie Izzard plays the Prince of Wales ( Edward VII), but you won’t recognize him. I didn’t, and I’m a big fan of Izzards. Stephen Frears directed it. He did My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up your Ears, Philomena and some more great films but this isn’t in that category. Aside from the cuteness, it ignores the cruelty of the British rule over India during the almost 30 years.
MARSHALL. It almost takes us back to Raymond Burr and his role as Perry Mason the Lawyer in the Perry Mason 1957 TV series …it’s a courtroom drama. More importantly it’s based on an early case that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall handled for the NAACP in Connecticut. You’ll recognize Kate Hudson as the “victim” and James Cromwell as the racist judge. Fine story, good cast, not the most memorable film in history but you’ll like it.
AMERICAN MADE. It is NOT another dopey, violent Tom Cruise superhuman action flick. This one is based on an unbelievable probably half true story about a guy who becomes an international drug runner then gets involved illegally with our CIA and the Iran Contra affair that almost got President Ronnie R. evicted. It’s probably Scientology that gives Tom Cruise that certain extra something…and I have to admit I like watching the buy. 87 on RT.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this part 2 of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie looks like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrassing.
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. Tuesday October 24 has City on A Hill editors in chief Nicolette Nodine and Michael Kushner talking about their publications. Then BrattonOnline columnist and area activist Becky Steinbruner brings us up to date. On November 7 Dr. Suzanne Kerley talks about plastic surgery, hand surgery and the dangers of trusting what you see on the internet. Then Scott McGilvray from Water For Santa Cruz straightens the record on our water problems. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
Some of these Mondegreens you can’t unhear! 🙂
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
“I’ll bet living in a nudist colony takes all the fun out of Halloween”, Author unknown “At first cock-crow the ghosts must go Back to their quiet graves below”, Theodosia Garrison “Never let your kids buy an off-the-shelf Halloween costume. Forbid it, no matter how close you may be to the witching hour. Instead, help them make their own. Encourage them to use their imaginations and their ingenuity. Show them that what can be created is often better than what can be bought. And besides, don’t the darkest, most frightening things live inside us anyway?”, Joe Kita Wisdom of Our Fathers, 1999 “‘Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world”, William Shakespeare, Hamlet [III, 2, Hamlet] “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
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
Highlights this week:
More about the MAH Black “M” and Abbott Fountain, Omei Boycott in effect, Save Santa Cruz meeting,…Debbie Bulger and mountain bikers… Greensite on Downtown Recovery Plan finale at Planning Commission…Krohn and what affordable housing crisis? our “crazy” police chief, Drew Glover running for City Council, why Robert Singleton for Planning Commissioner? …Steinbruner and why are we paying $3 million dollars for an Aptos Village Stoplight?, Aptos Village developer Testorff breaking rules, still no permits for Rancho Del Mar demolitions, historic 1890 Milsap House destroyed, and she too asks why Robert Singleton for Planning Commissioner …Patton about “Better Living Without Chemistry”…deCinzo and cyclists…Eagan and Ducking the issue…Munching with Mozart…Santa Cruz Chamber Players new season concert on 10/22…Jensen and Rotten Tomatoes symbols…I critique Loving Vincent and Marshall…Quotes on Forest Fires.
AERIAL VIEW DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ 1946. Look closely… see the post office, McHugh Bianchi Store, The Civic Auditorium, The Cooper House, the original pre-Catalyst building, just a bit of the Octagon,…a great photo.
NIAGARA FALLS COLLAPSE.
Having grown up in Buffalo, New York we went to the falls every time relatives visited. This footage is shocking and looks like our West Cliff Drive.
BLADERUNNER 2049. I’m just trying to get everybody to go see this brilliant film.
STEPHEN COLBERT’S FAKE INTERVIEW WITH TRUMP.
DATELINE October 16, 2017
OCTAGON PLATZ. Being back sitting near the front door of The Octagon not only re-opens contact with dozens and dozens of old and new friends, it creates grand new items to write about. Again the question came up about…”whatever happened to the big, tall black letter “M” that stood at the corner of Front and Cooper Street”. As I reported a couple of weeks ago Nina Simon MAH director replied…
…”When we designed and built the new deck wrapping around the corner, we wanted to invite people to easily hang out and people-watch from there. We also wanted to make the deck as big as possible”. What I learned last week from one of those reliable sources is the the big black letter M at last sighting was in Nina and her husband’s back yard!
I also learned that the Chuck Abbott Square Fountain, the only fountain in Santa Cruz was originally built with the original steps to The Octagon itself. The Octagon was our original Hall of Records in 1882. Alan Counahan who designed and built that fountain cut those stairs into the sides of that fountain over at Angelo Grova’s Michangelo’s studios on River Street. Where are those steps now? Who knows?? Somehow many folks keep forgetting that MAH, the entire Abbott Square operation all are under County not Santa Cruz City control.
OMEI BACK OPEN AND BOYCOTT?? According to once again located in Santa Cruz…Sentinel, Roger Grigsby has opened the Omei on a limited basis. As you probably remember Grigsby donated $500 to the 2016 U.S. Senate Campaign of David Duke the former head of the Ku Klux Klan. As Grigsby stated, “It would be really interesting if these people really listen to David Duke himself, rather than listening to what other people say about him,” Grigsby said of Duke, who led the KKK from 1974 to 1978′. It’s all about the supremacy of the white race and especially the males. Many folks stated that a boycott closed the Omei…I don’t think so. Grigsby himself stated it was the quitting of his staff. Now we have a chance to see if a BOYCOTT of the Omei will keep it closed. You probably remember Greenpeace boycotting Exxon, boycotting Nestle for their artificial breast milk, Wal-Mart and their gun sales, Gallo wine and Cesar Chavez’ protest? Well check inward and figure out if you want your money going to the Ku Klux Klan or whatever right wing organizations your Omei bill goes to.
I STILL NEED A CAR. I got one response from Ralph Williams who is trying to help me find a reasonably priced car. If any reader of friends of readers knows of an automobile for sale please get in touch as soon as possible. It’s easy just email me at bratton@cruzio.com . My 1998 Honda has about 205,000 miles on it and……please???
“SAVE SANTA CRUZ”. Stop Overbuilding, stop rezoning. As their face book page says, “Who is being served here & who is making money? Please attend these housing events & ask tough questions “The development on tap all over the City is not required to include below market rate housing & provides HUGE breaks to developers”.
There’s a meeting for everyone who cares about the character and community of Santa Cruz. It’s Thursday October 26 at The Santa Cruz Community Church 411 Roxas Street 6:30 -8 p.m.
Click the image on the right to see what Seabright and Soquel corner (Charlie Hong Kong) would look like
Hear more from your neighbors and find out ways you can get involved and TAKE ACTION!! The Church on 411 Roxas Street is between Trevethen Avenue and Park Way.
“MOUNTAIN BIKERS WANT MORE”. That’s what Debbie Bulger told me at The Octagon Platz last week. Debbie is the coordinator of “Mission: Pedestrian“, the Santa Cruz pedestrian advocacy group and local affiliate of California Walks. Write it up I said…she did!
MOUNTAIN BIKERS WANT MORE…Debbie Bulger.
Mountain bikers want more places to play in Santa Cruz. In fact they have displaced those on foot in park after park yet represent only one quarter the numbers of residents who prefer walking and hiking for recreation.
Right now Santa Cruz is a “Mecca” for mountain biking. Don’t take my word for it; listen to the mountain bikers themselves and the folks who track them: Singletracks.com lists the Soquel Demonstration Forest/Forest of Nisene Marks as #2 in their posting of the BEST Mountain Bike Trails in California. That’s right, #2 in the whole state.
Stacy Peterson reports on santacruz.org : “From mellow rollers beside the ocean to technical singletrack through the redwoods, Santa Cruz is a mountain bike Mecca with spectacular terrain and views to match.”
Dan Palermini says this about the Soquel Demonstration State Forest on mtbr.com. “Boasting some of the best legal mountain biking in the San Francisco Bay Area, “Demo” is a regional riding hotspot . . . .”The Soquel Demo Forest above Nisene Marks has the Flow Trail, an almost 4-mile long technical screamer featuring banked turns and jumps.
The Mountain Bikers of Santa Cruz (MBoSC) website enthuses “We are blessed with a multitude of options for riding here in Santa Cruz County.” Additionally they assert, “Santa Cruz County is quickly becoming a bike park mecca.”
These sentiments explain the comments I receive whenever I’m out of town and mention to a new acquaintance that I’m from Santa Cruz. “Santa Cruz is a biking Mecca,” they invariably say whether they are from Orange County or Vermont.
MBoSC, on its own website, identifies over 200 miles of mountain bike routes in or near Santa Cruz at Wilder Ranch, Henry Cowell State Park, UCSC campus, Big Basin, Pogonip, and DeLaveaga Park not counting the miles of new trails to be created in the next few years in the San Vicente Redwoods (former Cemex). This plethora of trails does not count those in Monterey County such as the over 100 miles of trails on Fort Ord National Monument.
MBoSC is a well-funded non-profit with multiple paid staff members and numerous local partners in the bike industry such as Fox Shox, Santa Cruz Bicycles, and Ibis Cycles among others. Santa Cruz Bicycles has donated $500,000 for new trail development in the San Vicente Redwoods area. Some of these trails will be designated for mountain bike use alone.
I am not arguing against mountain biking as a sport or “wholesome family activity.” I am arguing against misrepresentation of the facts. It is critical that decision makers objectively analyze the situation and not be swayed by false claims of paucity of mountain biking trails.
In testimony before the Santa Cruz City Council those lobbying for more mountain biking trails in City parks claimed there are fewer than “40 miles of trails open to cyclists” in Santa Cruz. They derive that number because they don’t count fire roads. Many of those testifying were from out of town.
Despite the bikers’ public testimony, they actually have it pretty good in Santa Cruz—more than pretty good. What is threatened is the peaceful experience and serenity hikers’ desire. Few hikers crave the adrenalin surge of spotting a bike and rider hurtling downhill towards them at 30 mph or more. Officially, the bike rider is supposed to yield to the hiker. How many hikers choose to test this right of way challenge?
Because of such conflicts most hikers have been displaced on trails at Wilder Ranch, the Aptos Creek Fire Road, and the McCrary trail at Pogonip. Indeed, Pogonip and Moore Creek Preserve are part of a dwindling resource for hikers and dog walkers: a place to walk where they don’t have to worry about being run over. The stress is almost unbearable for elderly walkers who just want a quiet stroll in a natural setting.
The fact is the city of Santa Cruz residents overwhelmingly prefer hiking, running, swimming, surfing, and soccer over mountain biking. A random sample survey of community preferences for fitness, athletic, or sports activities conducted for the City showed that the greatest percent of respondents (37%) preferred hiking or walking. Next came swimming and running at 17% each. Further down on the list after road biking, surfing and soccer was mountain biking at 9%. Despite the many mountain bike opportunities in the Santa Cruz area, mountain bikers want more. That is understandable; it is human nature to want more. They are lobbying the City of Santa Cruz to build additional trails in the Pogonip and at DeLaveaga Park Wilderness.
The City will be studying proposed new trails in our open spaces. If you are concerned about the loss of quiet, natural places for people to walk without fear, sign up for info on Walking in Nature at missionped.org and talk to your Santa Cruz City Council members.
HIGH RISE GAMBLING
Surveying the near empty council chambers at the last Planning Commission meeting for a final vote on the Downtown “Recovery” Plan (DRP), the chair of the Commission declared, “no one here means the community is ready for the Plan and supports it.” A convenient forgetting of the scores of people who have showed up and voiced their opposition to this rezoning of sections of the downtown for future building heights of up to 70 feet abutting the river levee between Soquel and Laurel and up to 85 feet on the west side of Front and between Pacific and Front for selected parcels: such heights way beyond those recommended in the post-earthquake DRP. I attended most of the meetings on this project, including this final one. I can attest that when the topic of building heights was on the agenda, public opposition was vocal and strong and ignored. When the public is ignored, they either get organized and push back or drift away. I was the only person who spoke against the project.
Most commissioners had nothing but praise for the DRP. Commissioner Conway did acknowledge that this “represents a significant change for our town” and “we’ll be counting on talented architects” to make it work. Commissioner Spellman is often the lone voice expressing a modicum of reservation for the overbuilding of Santa Cruz. His cautious critique of the DRP passed into the void, as did the CA Coastal Commission’s concerns, which were reframed by senior planner Ron Powers as “encouraging active uses of the river walk.” The CA Coastal Commission concerns were actually about the height of the buildings and the need for more community serving uses but no mind; this is about selling the private development agenda not communicating the facts. Tall building heights are no problem, says the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) since we look at things “at eye level”. The EIR also concluded that the increased traffic from the project cannot be mitigated. This inconvenient truth was swept away by a Statement of Overriding Considerations, the means by which significant environmental impacts can be ignored in an EIR if other needs are deemed overriding. Chair Mesiti-Miller, noting that the traffic impacts from the project are unavoidable said, “I rejoice in that. It may get people out of their cars.” A unanimous vote of approval sent the DRP to city council for a meeting and vote on November 14th.
If you clear away the smoke of details, the Downtown Recovery Plan, the Wharf Master Plan, the Corridors Plan and other re-zoning is at its core an attempt to change the social class of Santa Cruz. For decades the business/tourist industry has looked with disdain on working class families from over the hill who bring coolers and spend the day at the beach. They prefer a higher class of people who spend money at preferably higher end restaurants. I recall the consultant from ROMA, the SF urban design firm who was paid handsomely for both the DRP and the WMP saying about Gilda’s restaurant on the wharf, “not exactly a destination…we can do better.” Talk about throwing locals under the bus! This desire for a class shift was in evidence at the Commission meeting. Four or five stories of housing above retail are needed first, it was said, so that the retail that follows has consumers. No pretense that this is housing for workers who will serve the consumption needs of these higher class newcomers. Displacement of lower income workers is a direct result of increasing density of new housing at market rate and is well recognized in urban planning circles.
Commissioners gushed over what this project will mean for the San Lorenzo River. Accolades flew about how it will “activate the river; take the river back; incentivize the river walk; take back the river; embrace the river.” I was surprised at no suggestion to take a walk and plunge headlong into the San Lorenzo in ecstatic embrace for its future. And what does this future look like along the banks of our river? First, no blinds. Very important that blinds are up because we need “eyes on the river.” Everyone liked that. So no housing on the ground floor facing the river since that may mean blinds closed. Maybe “game rooms and exercise facilities” offered staff. Many sweaty eyes on the river. Maybe a bar? offered a commissioner. Never mind that consultant, ROMA advised the city that retail facing the river would not work. Never mind that at this same meeting, commissioners approved language that alerts businesses selling alcohol or fixing cars in this zone: Bonesio Liquor Store; Andy’s Auto Supply; New Leaf; CVC; Trader Joes that they will be out of business by 2020 or have to greatly reduce the sale of alcohol and stop fixing cars. (We’ll all be out of our cars by then so no worries). This zoning restriction encourages the class of people who can afford to drink inside restaurants and discourages the class who can’t: affluent over poor; tourists over residents. Not to mention putting at least one small business owner out of business. According to the owner of Bonesio’s, he got the notice about the meeting the day before. He pleaded with the city and police to work together to solve any problems associated with his business. “Further discussions on this will be between the police and the city”, stated the chair, giving the business owner a clear message of where he stood.
I’m reminded of a comment by local historian Sandy Lydon. In essence he said that Santa Cruz has always been the beer side of the bay and Monterey the champagne side. Despite all attempts historically to change this class arrangement, Santa Cruz has never succeeded in doing so. While beer has become more trendy than champagne, the class comparison still holds, for now. Bulldozing familiar low-rise businesses and replacing with high-rise mixed-use market rate housing and trendy retail will only accelerate this class shift, driving local workers further afield and eventually away altogether. One downturn in the economy, empty high rises, closed businesses and the last thing we’ll be concerned about is “eyes on the river.”
~ 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.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS? WHAT AFFORDABLE HOUSING CRISIS?
Well, this week is being dubbed, “Affordable Housing Week” by the city of Santa Cruz. So, it’s official, a result of Affordable Housing Crisis Month(s), I guess. It begins this Thursday at the Civic Auditorium. Expect an inside look at our county’s housing crisis from UCSC sociology professor’s, Miriam Greenberg and Steve McKay. They will tell us things like how much people pay to live here (50-70% of their salary), and how many residents live three-to-a-bedroom (27%). The stats won’t be pretty, but then so many Santa Cruzanos live the housing nightmare each day, and having a pair of capable and well-versed academics sum up the pretty dismal Surf City housing scenario may feel like a special salve applied to a particularly nasty gash. They’ve been doing research and employing dozens of undergraduates to walk neighborhoods and collect up data and stories about how people survive here in, arguably the most difficult of housing markets in California. Doors open at 6pm and there will be plenty of organizers, activists, and nonprofits present to offer you opportunities to get involved. Other groups will be present too, representing homeless issues, climate change, and transportation among other themes that directly and indirectly affect our housing market. Greenberg and McKay go on at 7pm.
The face of Homelessness this past Saturday morning on Chestnut Street
Our “Crazy” Police Chief
Well, you may be hearing this for the first time, but our Police Chief, Andy Mills, went and penned an editorial that appeared in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. It states that the Santa Cruz Police Department will not issue camping citations between 9pm and 6am.
How crazy is that? Not very. There isn’t any room at the inn, so what he’s done is essentially taken a step back from the abyss of criminalizing people who are homeless, who need a legal place to sleep, and offered them some breathing room. The last homeless count in Santa Cruz was around 1500 and there are not enough shelter beds for even 30% of those experiencing homelessness. Here’s an excerpt from the chief’s Op-Ed:
“From 9 p.m. until 6 a.m. SCPD will not issue camping citations unless there is a complaint by someone in control of that property or some other crime or nuisance behavior is taking place. Instead, the police will turn their focus to finding those stealing out of your yards, cars, and homes during the night. SCPD will pursue them with vigor. I believe we can break the cycle of reactionary homeless policy.”
Drew Glover and his campaign manager, Juliette Lyon in a fun moment this past Sunday (10/15) when Drew hosted a “Campaign 2018” brunch. He’s officially running for Santa Cruz City Council. Go Drew!
That’s a wow! In my 35 years of living in Santa Cruz I’ve never heard a chief of police state such an obvious truth so intelligently and also, compassionately. Now it is up to the city and county to approve the resources to fund the necessary programs, transitional housing, and addition shelter services so desperately needed. Hopefully this stirs the pot a bit and will lead to meaningful change in our community.
Is the City Council Earning It’s Keep? “Listening” Is Not the Same as Acting
The current Santa Cruz city council spends a good deal of time talking about affordable housing, but without yielding up much results. In the past year, the council has left more than a couple dozen affordable apartments on the table because the developers they chose to do business with said it would not “pencil out”, or the banks just won’t loan us money…in this the hottest of housing markets! So, the majority of the council, instead of telling staff go back and find us a developer who has experience building affordable housing and who will work with the city, they relax our rules and allow builders to pay a pittance of what an “affordable” unit is worth into a housing fund. Folks, we’ve got to get serious about housing.
The council needs to hear from you, so call (831.430.5020). Don’t let the developers off the hook! A couple dozen units were lost at 555 Pacific where it meets Front Street, and at 1547 Pacific, the site of the old Bookshop Santa Cruz. These are Barry Swenson properties that bookend our Pacific Avenue. And then there’s also the 17 units above the Catalyst night club, which will contain not one affordable rental unit. To top it off, city staff came to the council in September and said our 15% affordable inclusionary ordinance just doesn’t work because developers don’t like it. What’s their fix? Cut the percentage in half, but please don’t exactly demand they build the units, just politely ask for 7.5%.
Folks, the situation is out of hand, and whatever metaphor you want to use–foxes in charge of the hen house or a kind of Reverse Robin Hood scenario–it’s not working. The city council in Santa Cruz has to find developers who are willing to build affordable units in this city, and the council also has to figure out how to help finance it–bonds, increase in hotel tax, or a speculation tax on those who flip houses. Solutions exist; it’s time for the council to vote. It’s also time to vote, not only because it’s “Affordable Housing Week,” but because real people are suffering in this crisis.
Finally
The Good: Drew Glover is running for city council in 2018. You can find out more at his Facebook page.
The (sort of) bad: I counted 58 individuals milling around their tents that were situated on the Benchlands next astride the backside of 701 Ocean Street last Sunday night at around 6:15pm.
The Ugly: The city council majority appointed their seventh (out of seven), planning commissioners last week. He is Santa Cruz Business Council stand-in and wannabe Real Estate entrepreneur, Robert Singleton. Sandy Brown and I nominated Candace Brown, Faz Faisal and Zav Hershfield to fill the seat, but the majority was having none of it. They wanted all the seats for themselves, I guess. Maybe there are too many renters, tenant’s advocates, sociologists, psychologists and community studies majors already on the commission. Ooooh, it was ugly. As Woodrow Allen’s character, Fielding Mellish once stated (in Bananas), “It’s a travesty of sham of a mockery of a sham of two mockeries…”
Bernie Sanders Quote of the Week
“Trump might be unaware that Puerto Rico is part of the US, but Congress must move as quickly as possible to pass a disaster relief package.” (October 12)
~ 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.
TAXPAYERS WILL HAVE TO PAY FOR A SECOND $3 MILLION STOP LIGHT FOR APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT DEVELOPERS????
The County Department of Public Works wants taxpayers to spend nearly $3 million more to help Barry Swenson, Joe Appenrodt, Pete Testorff and other unseen Aptos Village Project developers and have asked the Board of Supervisors for permission to apply for grants to do so from the Regional Transportation Commission. Item #26 on the October 17 Board Agenda spells out the shocking request, at the expense of other much-needed road improvement projects in Supervisor Zach Friend’s District, such as Freedom Boulevard, San Andreas Road, Trout Gulch Road and Soquel Drive that are absolutely failing in places, but are receiving NO ATTENTION.
Write the Regional Transportation Commission and demand that the $3 MILLION Aptos Creek Traffic Light be dumped from the consideration table completely. It is time that the Aptos Village Project developers pay for the impacts of their disgusting development that will add 8,000 vehicles/day.
George Donderos, Executive Director gdonderos@sccrtc.org, Luis Mendez, Deputy director lmendez@sccrtc.org, Daniel Nikuna dnikuna@sccrtc.orgSanta Cruz Regional Transportation Commission, 1523 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz, CA 95060 or call 831-460-3215. The RTC Board meets November 2, 9am, location TBD. The RTC Budget and Administration Committee meets November 9, 3pm in the County CAO Conference Room (5th Floor) at 701 Ocean Street, Santa Cruz.
“SOMETIMES THE COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS TELLS US TO JUST APPROVE PROJECT PERMITS” EVEN WHEN THERE IS NO PARCEL NUMBER ASSIGNED.
Why did the Santa Cruz County Planning Department issue building permits for Aptos Village Project developers Barry Swenson , Pete Testorff, and Joe Apppenrodt when the permit applications had expired? (Check the County Planning Department “Permit Status” for APN 041-011-41, 041-011-42 and APN 041-011-51). That is what I wanted to know last week as the excavators were digging up what could have been remnants of the 1880’s railroad turntable near the historic Bayview Hotel. The kind lady at the Building Counter had no explanation, and said it was odd. She asked her supervisor.
“The last plan review for those got done on the day the permit applications expired, so it was okay.” he said “We cut them some slack.”
When I asked why a concrete building pad is being built in the Phase II Project area “Remainder Parcel” without permit or an approved Final Map,(and in a mapped archaeologic site) he said “Well, sometimes the Board of Supervisors just tells us to approve things when they are sure it will go through.” He looked again at the computer screen and said it seemed that there might be a parcel split happening, but he did not have the new parcel numbers.
“Well, how does one research that?” I asked. He sent me to the Assessor’s Office. An incredibly kind lady there spent a lot of time trying to find out why none of her maps showed any new parcels carved out of the Aptos Village Project area since early 2016. “There must be some kind of a hold-up because the new maps are not being forwarded to our books or to the County GIS. March of 2016 is old and should have been updated” she said. Hmmmm….
She referred the mysterious matter to her co-worker, who was gone for the day. I have not been able to contact her yet….stay tuned.
APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT DEVELOPER PETE TESTORFF VIOLATES CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL BUT SHERIFF REFUSES TO RESPOND.
As a condition of the Aptos Village Project Approval, no construction crews are allowed to work on weekends. Even Barry Swenson abides by that rule, but not developer Pete Testorff. His crews worked all day immediately next to the Bayview Hotel last Saturday as some friends and I were helping out Bayview Hotel owner, Ms. Cristina Locke, work in the back garden to prepare for her late husband’s Celebration of Life gathering next week. I had to ask the workers twice to do something about dust control, because one of my friends was having trouble with her asthma amidst all the construction dust.
He finally turned on the hose, connected to an UNMETERED SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT WATER CONNECTION (that’s the second one within the Project being allowed free water this year). Ms. Locke finally phoned the sheriff to ask for some assistance to request that the construction stop, as per the Project Conditions of Approval granted by the County Board of Supervisors.
Deputy Lopez (Badge # 13632) called her back and informed her that he could not enforce the County Noise Ordinance for the situation. Ms. Locke handed me the phone. Deputy Lopez read the full text of the County Noise Ordinance to me while I politely listened amidst the dust and tractor exhaust. “Thank you for reading that ordinance, but that is not the problem. The crew is not allowed to work today, as per the Project Conditions of Approval. No construction work is supposed to happen on the weekends.” I explained.
Deputy Lopez told me that if I had an issue with the agreements I had made with the developers, I should hire an attorney and sue them. “I didn’t make the agreements; the County Board of Supervisors approved the agreement. Can you come help us enforce it?” I politely asked.
“No.”
“Can you come ask the developer if he has permission to be working today?
“No.”
“Can you please come to the front of the Bayview Hotel and talk with me about this?” I asked, hoping that a sheriff car would scare the wits out of the crew and send them packing.
“No.”
“Well, could you please call the 24-hour answering service for the Project and leave a message with Barry Swenson’s foreman to ask if they have restrictions? Here’s the number 427-8050.”
“No, I’m not going to leave a message. Why don’t you call them?”
So much for law enforcement’s long-lost “Protect and Serve” motto that disappeared from all government vehicles years ago.
THE REAL REASON COUNTY TAXPAYERS ARE FUNDING THE RELOCATION OF THE APTOS VILLAGE METRO BUS STOP.
Why would the County insist on making taxpayers move a perfectly good, Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)-compliant bus stop to a location that has contaminated soils, “a tight fit” and steep slope for those Metro riders with mobility issues and poor line-of-sight for approaching motorists with the bus stopped in the lane of traffic? It was a deal cut to appease the existing Aptos Village merchants who were not happy about losing what little parking along Soquel Drive that their customers have if the Parade Street connector gets built to act as the gateway to the disgusting Village with soil contamination problems. I was glad the County Public Works Assistant Director Steve Weisner and Metro Operations Officer Ciro Aguirre finally attended the RTC Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Committee meeting to answer their many questions.
Mr. Weisner informed the group that there is a difference between a “ramp” and a “sidewalk”: sidewalks do not have to meet ADA requirements of slope and resting platforms. That is what is going in…a 100′ run of 5% grade sidewalk without any resting pads for the mobility challenged. He could not answer why the site being excavated for the stop was chosen over the other site possibility that would have been level, closer to the Aptos Village Project and existing businesses, and had good line of sight. He could not tell us how wide the bus bay will be, but the engineer designing it was there and grabbed a ruler to measure the drawing’s space. The bus will be sticking out in the lane of traffic when stopped at the relocated site.
Bus riders who have been discussing the relocation with the #71 Metro drivers report that most of the drivers say “That’s an accident waiting to happen.”
Well, never mind. “We needed to create parking on Soquel Drive for the business owners along there,” said Ciro Aguirre. “Was that a requirement of the Project or a concession?” one of the Committee members wanted to know. Neither Mr. Aguirre nor Mr. Weisner had an answer.
LOWER RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER BEGINS DEMOLITION AND ASBESTOS REMOVAL TRC Retail still has no building permits for the remodel work at Rancho del Mar Center but does have a demolition permit. Work began on that last week. Aptos/ La Selva Fire crews were allowed to do some rare trainings there, such as forcible entry of masonry walls. Still no word on if the demo or construction crews are local workers…probably not, according to information from Carpenter Local 505.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT DEMOLISHES HISTORIC 1890 MILLSAP FAMILY HOME, SALVAGING NOTHING.
The Board of Directors could care less if the 1890 home of the very prominent Soquel Village Millsap family got preserved or even salvaged. Apparently, one of the demolition workers saw the value of the two 20′ virgin redwood 8″ x 8″ timbers that were under the newest of the two houses, and set them aside.
I was video documenting the barren lot and multiple dumpsters when a man appeared with a long metal probe. He was a long-time Soquel resident and was looking for old bottle and artifacts on the land. I enjoyed talking with him from behind the chain link fence at the lot’s perimeter. “That Millsap house was really old,” he said. I replied that the County records showed it built in 1890. “No, it was older…more like 1860,” he said, “What a shame nothing got saved.” Indeed.
So, if Soquel Creek Water District Board of Directors insists no decisions have been made about whether the land will be used for the West Annex sewage water treatment station for the PureWater Soquel project, what was the rush to demolish a very significant piece of Soquel Village history? I guess it was just in the way. and the District could not be bothered to make any effort to move or salvage any part of it. A sad commentary on the values of the Soquel Creek Water District management.
LEARN MORE ABOUT MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER OVERDRAFT AND DISCUSS SOLUTIONS.
Plan to attend the MidCounty Groundwater Agency’s Drop-In discussion session Thursday, October 19, 10am-noon, at the Community Foundation in Aptos. It is refreshing to ask a question and actually get an answer with opportunity for open discussion longer than 3-minutes of ty so speak longer than 3 minutes.
APTOS/LA SELVA FIRE DISTRICT BOARD OF DIRECTORS WANTS TO DEMOTE LOCAL 3535 PRESIDENT…IS THIS RETALIATION??
It certainly seems so. The Board hired a private investigator to look into some e-mails that Captain Ryan Peters sent out last year to all firefighters to advise caution when interacting with Ms. New, the Administrative Manager. She had just filed a sexual harassment complaint against the firefighters who dared to question the Board about the wisdom of approving a 47% pay raise for Ms. New when then-Chief Jon Jones had just informed the Board (and firefighters) that there was not enough money for new equipment and trainings for certain programs (Surf Rescue, Car Seat Safety, etc). Captain Peters eventually, as President of the Union Local 3535, organized members to vote a unanimous (and unprecedented) “Vote of No Confidence” against Chief Jones and asked the Board not to extend his contract if he asked (and he did).
Well, it appears now that the Board is taking legal action against Captain Peters and SEEKING TO DEMOTE HIM because of the e-mails. They acknowledge that they could FIRE HIM, but have chosen demotion because he has a squeaky-clean record of selfless public service and supportive leadership for fellow firefighters. The District’s legal counsel served Captain Peters with notice of the legal action, leaving him only three days to respond in writing with anything that could be used for his defense. Further, the District’s legal counsel refused to submit the entire record of materials and the full text of Ms. New’s accusations for consideration in the case calling for his demotion.
Does this make sense to you? It is both ludicrous and disappointing that the Aptos/La Selva Fire District Board of Directors refuses to show leadership and wisdom to promote actions that could heal and unify the District after the destructive mayhem of (now retired) Chief Jon Jones. Instead, they granted a one-year severance pay package to Chief Jones with full benefits, and a 10% bonus for serving for five years in good standing. What???!!!
Please read the information below and consider writing a letter of support for Captain Ryan Peters by October 19. Even if you read this message after that date, send a letter of support anyway, because the hearing date keeps getting pushed back.
**************
Greetings,
I am sending this message Bcc to those whom I think would want to be aware of the continued problems at the Aptos/La Selva Fire District in the aftermath of Chief Jones’s contract severance. Now it seems that the Board of Directors has voted to hire a private investigator to examine complaints against Captain Ryan Peters, President of the Local 3535 Aptos/La Selva Firefighters Union.
The Board is considering demotion of Captain Peters to the rank of Firefighter/Paramedic because he sent e-mails to fellow firefighters to be careful when interacting with Chief Jones and Administrative Manager, Ms. Tracy New, who had filed a sexual harassment complaint (after Union members simply questioned the wisdom of the Board approving a 47% salary increase for her at a time when Chief Jones said there was no money for necessary equipment and certain training programs). Making no accusations or negative remarks whatsoever, Captain Peters simply advised union members to take a buddy if it was necessary to interact with Chief Jones or Ms. New.
Captain Peters was served the legal notice of this action and given only three days to respond in writing, with any information that could be used to support his defense. Further, the District’s attorneys, with Board consent, have withheld the full record of information that would include information supportive of Captain Peters. This is ludicrous…a minimum of seven days is standard legal time for response to being served notice of action. The full record of information must be submitted for legal consideration to determine grounds for demotion. There are other actions that could be taken as action to address any protocol violations, such as mediation, additional training, etc…but the Board has chosen to pursue DEMOTION
Captain Peters has a spotless record and a long history of selfless dedication to the public and support of fellow firefighters. However, because of this legal action to demote him, he has stepped down as President of Local 3535. To me, this appears to be retaliation for Captain Peters’ leadership in organizing Local 3535 action last spring to vote unanimous “Vote of No Confidence” against Chief Jones and urged the Board not to extend his contract for an additional two years.
The Board did issue a severance agreement with Chief Jones to continue paying him $225,000 with benefits for another year, plus a 10% BONUS to reward him for working five years in good standing. He has been on paid administrative leave since the Board agreed on August 10 not to extend his contract, but he officially retires October 19, 2017. Here is a link to the recent Sentinel article.
I HOPE YOU WILL CONSIDER WRITING A LETTER TO SUPPORT CAPTAIN RYAN PETERS AND PASS THIS INFORMATION TO OTHERS WHOM YOU FEEL WOULD BE INTERESTED IN SUPPORTING HIM AND THE APTOS/LA SELVA FIREFIGHTERS.
Thanks so much. Please feel free to contact me if you have questions.
Sincerely,
Becky Steinbruner
Begin forwarded message:
From: (I have omitted this source to preserve privacy…Becky S.)
Date: October 13, 2017 at 4:44:05 PM PDT To: (I have omitted this to preserve privacy….Becky S.) Subject:***L3535 Call to Action***
L3535,
Many have been asking what can we do to help our union brother and president Ryan Peters in this time of need. After consultation with our legal team, it has been determined that the single greatest thing we can do for him right now is write a letter of support that will be given in a packet to the Skelly officer during his hearing.
This letter should be address to “Whom it may concern” and it should be a personal testament to the type of public servant, community advocate, cooperator, fire captain and leader RP is. This should be quite easy, as I know we are all better for having the opportunity to work and learn from Ryan. This letter can talk about your experiences with RP and how he interacts within this agency, its membership, his superiors and with the public.
This is absolutely safe for probationary firefighter to do as well…. and it can be as simple as describing the leadership qualities you have seen in RP and the type of mentor he has been to you.
Although we can not demand this of anyone, PLEASE show up for our brother who has sacrificed so much to protect our union, our benefits and our culture at ALSFD. If members have wives (or husband) that would like to write letters, that would also be greatly appreciated. This letter can be done in microsoft word or pages for apple.
Please sign your name, rank and years with Aptos and total years in the fire service at the bottom and if you need assistance, please contact one of your eboard members and we will be happy to help. Please feel free to leave your contact information should the skelly officer choose to reach out about your experiences with RP.
PLEASE SUBMIT LETTERS NO LATER THAN OCTOBER 19th
Completed letter can be sent to our attorney Sean Howell at showell@mastagni.com
In Solidarity,
PS- For those of you currently on a strike team, you can just send your letter via email to Sean and he can format it into a word document.
***************
Finally, send good thoughts to all those in the areas of the State continuing to burn that have lost their homes, their lives and for which life will never be the same. Send thoughts of gratitude for the hundreds of emergency responders working around the clock to protect and serve, and will also be affected by the devastation.
I find myself appreciating the true beauty of our area, and wondering how best to fight and to save it from the Barry Swensons and tax-hungry governments steamrolling zoning changes and ignoring building codes to push through massive San Jose-like developments that will forever change the quality of life as we know it in Santa Cruz County.. Read the story of WHY the non-profit is moving here Nonprofit to move to Santa Cruz Delaware Project, making way for housing downtown Join me October 19, 6:30pm in front of the Civic Auditorium to protest the Santa Cruz City Council waiving a 15% affordable housing requirement for Barry Swenson’s 79 condos in the five-story building on Pacific Avenue. Attend the October 26, 6pm “Stop Over-Building Santa Cruz” at 411 Roxas St. in Santa Cruz. Do you think it is a good sign that Robert Singleton, a young aggressive pro-development-at-any-cost person just got appointed to the Santa Cruz City Planning Commission?
Cheers,
~Becky Steinbruner
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
When I was growing up, the DuPont Corporation told us we could achieve “Better Living…Through Chemistry.” That was sort of like the statement in The Graduate, advising that “plastics” was the “one word” that would open up a positive future for all aspiring young people, and for the nation at large. Chemistry and “plastics” definitely do go together.
As time went on, I became deeply skeptical about “plastics,” and chemistry, and about all “synthetics,” as the way forward to a better living or a better future.
A few weeks ago, in an article in my local paper, I learned that strawberry growers have discovered a “natural fumigation” technique, eliminating the need for methyl bromide and other synthetic chemicals dangerous to all life. The article is worth reading.
Isn’t it time that we abandon our quest to build a “synthetic” world, and realize that our lives will be better without chemistry?
I’m pleased to find that this is what local strawberry farmers are starting to understand”.
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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. “Cyclist’s Mecca”..see DeCinzo’s true view of the scene just scroll below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Ducking The Issue” 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. This free concert series happens the third Thursday of every month in the upstairs meeting room of the threatened Santa Cruz Main Library. This Thursday October 19th Daniel Lewin, solo violin plays Johann Sebastien Bach’s Violin Sonata No. 3 in C major, (BWV 1005) Adagio Fuga Largo Allegro Assai. That happens at 12:10 p.m.
SANTA CRUZ CHAMBER PLAYERS START NEW SEASON. On Saturday and Sunday Oct. 21 and 22nd,MUSA the Bay Area ensemble Presents “Smörgåsbord Baroque”
Music by Antonio de Salazar, Teodorico Pedrini, Georg Philipp Telemann, and more
Derek Tam, concert director and haprsicord, Cynthia Black and Addi Liu, Baroque violins and Gretchen Claasen, Baroque violoncello.
“Smörgåsbord Baroque” features Baroque and Classical music from unexpected places! From the imperial Chinese court to the cathedrals of Guatemala, composers drew from European and indigenous sources to create music that dynamically captured the first wave of globalization from the 16th through 18th centuries.
That’s Saturday, October 21, 7:30 pm and Sunday, October 22, 3:00 pm at the Christ Lutheran Church 10707 Soquel Dr. Aptos, CA. Tickets just maybe at the door or… http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3094600
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “What separates a big red tomato from a (dreaded) splat over at Rotten Tomatoes? Find out this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). And celebrate the upcoming publication of Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge (coming in 2018) with another beauteous Beast of the Month!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
LOVING VINCENT. The first movie ever to have been made with 1000’s of oil paintings to create animation of Vincent Van Gogh’s life and questionable murder or suicide. You’ll see dozens of his and your most favorite Van Gogh paintings “come to life” plus an intriguing story line. The animation is so good that fans (I’m one) of PBS”s Masterpiece Theatre Poldark series will recognize Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza) playing Adeline Ravoux in this absolutely beautiful film. It has a 77 Rotten Tomato rating! See it ASAP Landmark doesn’t keep masterpieces very long unless audiences show up the first week.
MARSHALL. It almost takes us back to Raymond Burr and his role as Lawyer Hamilton Berger in the Perry Mason 1957TV series …it’s a courtroom drama. More importantly it’s based on an early case that Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall handled for the NAACP in Connecticut. You’ll recognize Kate Hudson as the “victim” and James Cromwell as the racist judge. Fine story, good cast, not the most memorable film in history but you’ll like it.
BLADE RUNNER 2049. Denis Villeneuve directed this sequel with advice from Ridley Scott and it has many hidden plot lines from the original (try to see it before you see 2049)…it’s an unique addition to science fiction films. Dystopian is the very overused word describing a disaster based future. This film again has Los Angeles really transfigured…and even darker and more devastated and bleak than the first one which was set in LA 2019. Ryan Gosling carries the entire story, with Robin Wright and Harrison Ford doing fine acting jobs too. I have rarely, if ever, seen or felt a theatre audience so still-so hypnotized-awed-puzzled-and silent as the one I joined last week. I’ve seen it 2 1/2 times now… it needs two viewings on as large a screen as possible because the photography is so impressive and important.
VICTORIA & ABDUL. Almost everyone knows that Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria in this cute, warm, cuddly feel good movie. Eddie Izzard plays the Prince of Wales ( Edward VII), but you won’t recognize him. I didn’t, and I’m a big fan of Izzards. Stephen Frears directed it. He did My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up your Ears, Philomena and some more great films but this isn’t in that category. Aside from the cuteness, it ignores the cruelty of the British rule over India during the almost 30 years.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky, it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Billie Jean King plays against Bobby Riggs in this easy going tennis and sex movie. Billie Jean has an internal battle with her own sex, which adds a deeper and more involved plot than the 1973 match which we’ve all been reading up on or remember from those days. Emma Stone reputedly the highest star in the world acts perfectly with Steve Carrell and the movie is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I didn’t recognize Sarah Silverman as the women’s coach because she wears sunglasses all through the movie. I liked Little Miss Sunshine better.
IT. This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
AMERICAN MADE. It is NOT another dopey, violent Tom Cruise superhuman action flick. This one is based on an unbelievable probably half true story about a guy who becomes an international drug runner then gets involved illegally with our CIA and the Iran Contra affair that almost got President Ronnie R. evicted. It’s probably Scientology that gives Tom Cruise that certain extra something…and I have to admit I like watching the buy. 87 on RT.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this part 2 of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie looks like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrassing.
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. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. Also on the 17th Sheila Carrillo and Muna Alsheikh from The Muslim Solidarity Group (part of Santa Cruz Sanctuary) will talk about their aims, goals, and issues. City on A Hill editors in chief Nicolette Nodine and Michael Kushner talk about their publications. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
The very best part of this is the last minute and 15 seconds.
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. ‘FOREST FIRES’
“She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful”, Neil Gaiman “Among the environmental trends undermining our future are shrinking forests, expanding deserts, falling water tables, collapsing fisheries, disappearing species, and rising temperatures. The temperature increases bring crop-withering heat waves, more-destructive storms, more-intense droughts, more forest fires, and, of course, ice melting. We are crossing natural thresholds that we cannot see and violating deadlines that we do not recognize”. Lester R. Brown “No time to grieve for roses when the forests are burning”, Zbigniew Herbert
Read this next one twice… “The forest fires are the worst disaster in California since I was elected”, Arnold Schwarzenegger
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Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Highlights this week:
ICE Raids here?, Homeless UCSC students hiding?, Voting for Mayor, Abbott Square Fountain distruction, County Jail volunteers quit, Community TV getting worse, I NEED A CAR …Greensite on the rail/trail environmental review …Krohn about loaded City Council agenda, future of City Manager, Homeless Task Force, going to Texas…Steinbruner reports that State Historic Preservation Staff says, “Santa Cruz County Is A Black Hole for Historic Preservation“, Bulldozing Hirahara Barn, Swenson and Pacific hole condos get affordable units requirement waived by City Council, still no building permits at Rancho Del Mar, fees charged at Privates Beach just like Martin’s Beach issue ?…Gary Patton and “The Low Road” poem…DeCinzo and our Earthquake’s 28th anniversary…Jensen reviews Blade Runner 2049…I critique Blade Runner 2049 and Victoria & Abdul…Quotes about Earthquakes.
Norman Lezin addressing a “Civil Rights Sympathy” demonstration in front of The City Hall on March 13, 1965. Norm was formerly Chairman of the Board of Directors of Salz Leathers and Salz Tannery. Salz closed in 2001. The leather industry was one of Santa Cruz County’s most important businesses. Norm was our Mayor 1964-1965 and he was one of the few Democrats in the area back then 😉 !!
Today I found out… This is a great show on Youtube – this episode is about why some people sneeze from the sun.
They don’t make ’em like this anymore…
DATELINE October 9, 2017
OCTAGON & MAH MUSINGS. As I mentioned in the last two weeks I’m now back to sitting in front of the once meaningful Octagon building two or three afternoons per week. Folks ask and tell me all sorts of things. For example will there be more ICE Raids in Santa Cruz as Trump has now amped up DACA? Will our City Council take any stand on ICE Raids? What’s going to happen with that huge “homeless recommendations list” survey the City did about homeless? Is it just a council hype job? What about all the UCSC Students who are homeless…where and when are they entered into the statistics? Any chance there will ever be another push to have rent control put on our ballots? Any possibility of us ever actually voting for the mayor position in Santa Cruz instead of the City Council choosing among themselves?
ABBOTT SQUARE FOUNTAIN. Long time friend Nick Royal emailed me and asked … in the little courtyard (now eating places) was a nice fountain by Alan Counahan. I wonder if it still exists, some place? I liked it”. Nick added that he knows Alan and his wife Gypsy who now live in Ireland.
MAH’s Nina Simon replied…”I met directly with Alan onsite regarding the fountain in 2014 and he agreed that it could and probably should be removed. Because it was poured in place, it was not easily moveable to another site – all but the central column would have been irreplaceable. We did actively pursue the possibility of recreating it with several other sites around the county, but ultimately, no one wanted to do that heavy reconstruction.
Alan preferred for it to be destroyed rather than re-sited as he saw it as a site-specific piece. It was a few years ago, so I don’t remember his precise words, but Alan said something lovely about the idea that the fountain was built to commemorate an important time around the Earthquake, and that now downtown was in a new phase, a new time, time to move on… something like that.
VOLUNTEERS AT THE COUNTY JAIL
Rick Longinotti stopped by the Octagon Platz to tell us that he and the Roman Catholic group of volunteers have stopped counseling, and helping at the County Jail because the officials tried to force them to sign a form freeing the County from any problems the inmates might either cause or be the result of. In a letter to the County he wrote…”I’m hoping that the County really doesn’t expect its jail volunteers to take responsibility for any damage that the inmates might do to one another while they are in our groups. Could you please ask the Sheriff Dept. to edit out the following paragraph in the waiver and I’ll be happy to sign it?
“I further agree to indemnify, hold harmless and defend the County, its officers, agents, employees, and volunteers from any and all claims, demands, actions, judgments, costs, attorney’s fees and damages of any kind for liability which the County may incur arising out of or in any manner related to the performance of voluntary service
He added…”The Catholics still aren’t going to the jail and it’s been six months since they raised their objection. See the Sentinel article here.
COMMUNITY TELEVISION & CLASSICAL ARTS? Far too many friends and locals are wondering what’s happened to our Community Television Station. Yes, it still runs the local meetings and Amy Goodman but what happened to Classical Arts ? It was the only cultural saving grace we’ve been able to enjoy over the years of cutbacks. The last on screen notice was that “Classical Arts no longer links to Dish Television” but CTV isn’t a Dish owned station. And of course we get the exact same daily movies over and over…what’s really happening at CTV? Why are they so bad at communicating? Why aren’t they more public?
APOLOGY ABOUT EDITING. Mea Culpa all over the place. Last week’s BrattonOnline had way more than the usual errors, misspellings and goofs. I wish there was time each Monday morning to have some editor go over all the words that come flying in. Back in the day I had a few really great, supportive editors. Tom Honig, Buzz Bezore and Rob Pratt were the most memorable. Many errors are also due to lousy linking between Mac and PC. For example the 26 actual pages that made up last week’s edition took way more nerves and naps to produce…thanks for bearing with me, it and us all these years. [Webmistress adds: Mea culpa as well! I’ve had less time to edit – I used to do much more of it, and I’ll try to get back to it!]
I NEED A CAR. Over the more than 42 years that I’ve been writing a weekly column (12 of them online) I’ve posted a “car wanted plea” three times and each time it worked wonderfully. What I need is not an “affordable” car but “middle to low income” priced car. Also each time I’ve asked through this column many folks think that everyone else will respond…they don’t!!! I need you or any friend of yours who wants to sell a car to email me at bratton@cruzio.com and we’ll talk it over. Please??
TALL TALES AND RAIL~TRAILS
Until last Thursday, I hadn’t paid close attention to the controversial rail/trail project beyond the knowledge that some strongly support both rail and trail and some strongly support only the trail. Arguments seem persuasive on both sides.
When I read that the environmental review for Phase 1 of Segment 7 of this 32-mile project, the 1.36 mile section from Natural Bridges to Bay and California Streets was on the October 5th Planning Commission agenda, I thought it wise to take a closer look. The city has a poor track record with environmental reviews or lack thereof. It took a lawsuit to convince the city that yes, if it was going to weaken its Heritage Tree Ordinance it needed to conduct an environmental review and its claims of CEQA exemption were unfounded. It took 2500 petition signers and a letter from an attorney to convince the city that an EIR was needed to adequately assess the environmental impact of changes proposed for the Municipal Wharf under the Wharf Master Plan. So I was keen to read and spot any inadequacies in the environmental documents for this segment of the rail/trail project. It did not take long.
The plan is to construct a 4.5 feet tall safety fence to separate the trail from the rail. It is to be made of steel posts and wire with the lowest rung 6 inches above grade. A friend commented that such a fence would be a disaster for animal migration, including skunks, coyotes, possums and the occasional deer on the far west side. With that in mind I was surprised to read under Section IV: Biological Resources on page 3-22 of the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that: “The Project is located within an urban area and there are no wildlife corridors within the Project area.” Anyone living for a while on the lower Westside knows that’s not true. The MND follows that misstatement with: “Arroyo Seco and Neary Lagoon are not wildlife corridors for migratory fish species.” That’s true. It’s called Arroyo SECO for a reason. What about other species using the supposedly non-existent wildlife corridors? Not mentioned.
Such sloppy environmental review was sufficient to get me to the meeting. The room was crowded with the opposing camps of trail only defenders and rail/trail defenders. One fact is obvious. The rail/trail proponents or at least the many who wrote emails and those who attended the meeting have no interest in potential environmental impacts to animals or the loss of 25 trees due to the project. They applauded the MND and urged swift approval. The trail only proponents expressed concern regarding trees and used that issue to support the trail only option, which minimizes tree loss. No one mentioned animal corridors. When it was my turn to speak, I pointed out the incorrect entry regarding animal corridors. The planner in charge of the project shook his head as I was speaking. I hate when they do that. It’s a signal to other staff and commissioners that the speaker is wrong and is misquoting, which in this case was not true. Despite that tactic, when commissioners deliberated after public comment, three of them expressed concern regarding animal corridors and the impact of the linear fence. While they unanimously approved the project, one asked for that issue to be better addressed in the MND. We’ll see how that is handled when the MND goes to council.
Personally, this closer examination of the project has raised red flags. The 32 miles of the rail line from Davenport to Watsonville bisects many animal corridors, especially in the open space areas. A continuous steel fence running that distance should be of concern for animal migration. Besides that, many areas along the rail are lined with groves of trees providing immense habitat value. If you sight along the tracks in some places, to accommodate the widened rail/trail, all trees will be removed. Many are Monarch butterflies overwintering sites whether designated or not. At the Monarch Festival at Natural Bridges on Sunday, October 9th, the lead interpreter noted not only the decline of this iconic species but underscored the need to “help with trees on the coast and conserve tree groves” if we are to share a future with Monarch butterflies. How will further environmental reviews of the rail/trail handle this dilemma?
An environmental review manipulated to promote a project needs to be called out, whatever side of the issue you support. Otherwise such review is meaningless. In the long run we all lose… butterflies, trees, animals and ourselves.
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.
“It is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma, but perhaps there is a key.”
–Winston Churchill referring to Russia, but perhaps he could’ve been talking about how the issue of homelessness is addressed in the City of Santa Cruz
Vice Mayor David Terrazas and Council member Chris Krohn cycling through the streets of Houston on a bike-share program. The Santa Cruz version of bike share starts this spring.
City Council Agendas
If you throw in the Parks Master Plan, the report on Short Term Vacation Rentals and its dozens of resident emails, and the “2017 Homelessness Recommendations” list, this city council agenda is well over 1000 pages! Whaaaat! It’s true. You receive the agenda on Thursday night and, voila, by Tuesday morning at 11:30am you have totally digested it, or not…and that’s after the daughter’s Saturday soccer game, a 3-hour council steering committee panel of village elders meeting, a Friday night date with spouse, and of course, the usual Monday meeting with department heads, city attorney and city manager mad-dash…it ain’t pretty, but I know what you are thinking. This is why they pay us the big bucks, about $1500 take home pay each month. I can live with it, but it doesn’t necessarily assuage those self-inflicted guilty feelings of not getting the job done.
But Why?
Why are council agendas so hefty at certain times of the year? We’ve had so many off-Tuesday night meetings cancelled, and at the twice monthly official meeting there’s often been no 7 o’clock session. Why so much on this one agenda? Poor planning? Staff necessities? Is it a chess game–overload councilmembers when you want to get something through? Is the word out? Or is it simply that the city doesn’t sleep, so get used to it rookie!? Okay, the council was able to pivot somewhat and meet this past Monday in closed session for two hours to discuss the future of the city manager. It was the only thing on the agenda. So, it is possible for the council to meet and mediate the work load, sometimes. Is it possible to meet on all the off-Tuesday council meeting nights and take up an issue like homelessness or housing, or a combination of the two…and actually make some decisions? And, how about meeting in a different neighborhood each of those off-Tuesdays? You know, bring the city council to the people similar to the Mayor’s valiant efforts of holding “City Hall to You” meetings in different parts of the city. Why not go the distance and hold an “official council meeting” on the Westside to discuss, and decide upon, an aspect of university growth? Or meet on the eastside to debate the final fate of the “Corridors Plan?” Or meet in any neighborhood and discuss homelessness and what is to be done?
We need to find meaningful responses to homelessness, it’s what’s on everyone’s mind and often outside their front door, but it seems to currently linger like the white elephant in the room. When the agenda is so loaded, as it was this past Tuesday, many residents often head home before their item comes up because meetings are so long. It is even more ironic that if residents wished to register a comment about such a tiring experience, they used to be able to do so at the 7pm, “Oral Communication”, the public podium in other words. That is a time for the council to hear about issues of concern, but the ones that are not on the official agenda. Now, there is no fixed time for Oral Communication. It floats. It might happen at its 5pm scheduled time, or at 5:30pm or 5:45pm as it often does. In addition, if we were serious about creating more affordable housing–as was described in item 17, which was about closing the affordable housing loophole and demanding developers build the legal 15% the community is entitled to asking–it would not have been taken off this week’s agenda. In fact, we could’ve passed it two weeks ago, but who needs housing? City councilmembers all have houses, some have multiple ones. (Full disclosure, I have the one I live in and one that I rent out.) Only Cynthia Chase (looking for a house she says) and Sandy Brown (priced out of the rental market) are the lone councilmembers who rent. I guess my point here is, we need to get some perspective of what is possible in a city council meeting and remain mindful of the public’s ability to participate in meaningful ways.
“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.” (Matthew chapter 25, verses 35-36)
Homeless Issues Task Force
Everywhere I go I hear about the high cost ofhousing and, can’t we do something to help the homeless come in off the streets of our city? Those are by far the top two issues. So, it appears to be “wrapped in a mystery,” as Churchill states above, why we cannot as a council and a community muster the cajones to build a 24/7 shelter with the attendant wrap-around services like drug and alcohol counseling along, and also identify the transitional housing that is needed. In my first nine months on the city council, round 2 (I also served 1998-2002), we are failing at alleviating the plight of our homeless and not providing much affordable housing to speak of. The staff report for this week’s council meeting says “staff are pleased to report substantial progress…” on homeless issues. I kid you not. The Benchlands, alongside the county building at 701 Ocean Street, is housing 40-50 campers per night I’m told. The US Post Office on Front Street is surrounded by campers now that they’ve been unceremoniously removed from the grounds of city hall. Just off the bike path below highway one that runs next to Holy Cross church often holds a dozen campers, many in tents. Combined with the Food Not Bombs weekly feedings, this picture attests to a great need for items 17 (Shelter!), 18 (year-round shelter!),19 (year-round homeless shelter), and 20 (day services with basic services and case management) listed in the Task Force report. All of them were in the report, but, are now strangely deemed too hard to do. While it is laudable to charge the electronic devices of the homeless, help store their belongings, and offer showers, and I support all of them, but they barely scratch the surface and it’s been well over a year of talking, meetings, more talking and more meetings. The staff even describes these above four points as “Long-Horizon Solutions.” I believe they are the really necessary elements of the 20 points, the ones you hear your neighbors talk about, the ones that are even discussed at the bars and cafes around town, not to mention at every public meeting I’ve been to recently. Housing and counseling services have somehow been left to the auspices of divine intervention…too tough for mammon, too intractable for us in 2017, and too controversial for the meager city resources that currently spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on consultants, facilitators, and job head-hunters (see memo below). Please notify the assistant city manager, Tina Schull who is in charge of putting together the most recent homeless report. She can be reached at tshull@cityofsantacruz.com, or 831.420.5020. Please demand that housing and mental health services be the number one priority when it comes to city funding for homeless services.
“Stuff” Department Odd Stuff
Councilmember Chris Krohn accompanied Police Chief Andy Mills and Vice Mayor, David Terrazas on a trip to Houston, Texas last week to attend a POP conference, “Problem-Oriented Policing.” I will leave it to the mind of the reader why this might be odd, but it was quite the informative conference, bordering on some rigorous intellectual training. It was actually a joy to see a curious, inquisitive, and passionate Santa Cruz police chief interact with his mentor of 27 years, Herman Goldstein, Professor Emeritus in criminal law at the UW Madison law school. Goldstein literally wrote the book on POP in 1990, Problem-Oriented Policing. He knows his stuff and is quite the lecturer.
Hot Stuff
UCSCS sociology professors, Miriam Greenberg and Steve McKay will be hosting a “No Place Like Home” talk and question session at the Civic Auditorium on Thursday, October 19th at 7pm. It is free to the public, so mark your calendars and come prepared to talk housing!
Sleeper Stuff
I’m already receiving another round of emails supportive of the developer give-away Downtown Recovery Plan Amendments slated to be before the city council sometime soon.
Amber Blizinski resigned from the Planning Commission and the council majority gets to choose yet another commissioner this week…It only takes FOUR votes on the council to pick all SEVEN commissioners on every city commission. It’s an inherently unfair process. We need to bring back the one councilmember-one commissioner appointment process and restore not only fairness and balance to the commissions, but a diversity of views as well.
Bernie Quote of the Week “Despite the Trump administration’s destructive efforts, we will not stop fighting for women’s rights and full reproductive justice.” (Oct. 6)
~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.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY PLANNING DEPT. WANTS TO BULLDOZE HISTORIC REDMAN-HIRAHARA BARN IN WATSONVILLE.
“You have legal ability to require the barn be re-built rather than demolished. You do not have to be the beggars at the table here,” local historian Mr. Ross Gibson wisely told the County Historic Resources Commission at their October 2 meeting. His sage words went unheeded.
Here is the video of that disgusting County Historic Resources Commission meeting last week.
Last week’s County Historic Resources Commission meeting was a real eye-opener. Assistant Planning Director WandaWilliams insisted the wooden barn (built around 1900) next to the Nationally-Registered Redman-Hirahara house on Lee Road in Watsonville has no significance and in fact, informed the Commission that an over-the-counter demolition permit is in the works This was a visible shock to the Commissioners, especially Ms. Carolyn Swift, who was aware of the 2010 archaeologist report recommending the barn also be placed on the National Historic Registry because of the incredible significance the barn played in housing many Japanese-American families returning to the area after forced incarceration during World War II. Luckily for the Hirahara family, their neighbors had paid the taxes on their farm while they were imprisoned, but many other families were not so lucky. The barn housed them until they could get re-established.
The Santa Cruz County Planning Director, Ms. Kathy Previsich, could care less. Neither her Assistant, Wanda Williams, nor the Historic Resources Special Projects Planner, Annie Murphy were willing to acknowledge the importance of the barn, the significance of the 2010 archaeologist report or the blunder on the part of the Planning Dept. to follow through with the National Registry designation when it was professionally recommended. Instead, without notifying the Historic Resources Commission, staff is working diligently with the owner/developer Tut Family and Elite Developers to finish knocking the barn down, splintering the wood and any possible artifacts, and sending it all down the road to the dump. And gee, wouldn’t it all be a shame if the demolition crew accidentally backed the dozer into the house? That pesky historic house is in the way of a profitable new hotel or two, just like what is currently in the works on their other parcel across the road. At the behest of Commissioner Swift, the Planning Dept. staff will ASK the developers if the Commissioners could be notified of the demolition date so as to possibly be present with archaeologists to retrieve historic morsels from the wreckage.
Keep watching it and you will see the brilliant argument that local historian Mr. Ross Gibson made to have the Bob Merriman family home at 1438 Capitola Road saved from the bulldozer. That is on County-owned land slated for a hotel or maybe dense development. Bob Merriman was the real-life hero that Ernest Hemmingway based his “For Whom the Bell Tolls” novel upon…the Planning Dept. does not think that is significant either. The site is also the birthplace of the farmer’s cooperative model that took flight around the nation to help small farmers prosper while working together. That explains why the historic lots in Live Oak are very deep, doesn’t it? Well, the Planning Dept. doesn’t think that is significant, even though that model spawned a rich agricultural heritage of small, very successful poultry farmers in Santa Cruz County. In the early 1900’s, Santa Cruz was second only to Petaluma for the economic value of poultry in the State, and the University of California encouraged an agricultural advisor to work with poultry farmers to build a National Egg Laying Contest Center on the banks of the San Lorenzo River, today the home of Riverside Lighting. Does the Planning Dept. care about this bit of significant County history? NOPE!
Is it any wonder that staff from the State Historic Preservation Office recently said “Santa Cruz County is a Black Hole for historic preservation.”?
Does any of this bother you? Call your County Supervisor: 831-454-2200 and the Director of State Historic Preservation
And the Director of the National Historic Registry: “Jaime Loichinger” jloichinger@achp.gov
(According to Ross Gibson, all structures on a property within the national Historic designation are protected. Wanda Williams would not listen to this or even attempt to investigate the issue.)
Demand that the historic carriage barn at the Redman-Hirahara house be rebuilt, not demolished. The professional survey and recommendation to do so exist from 2010 but the County Planning Dept. never followed up on the recommendation. Also demand that the Bob Merriman home be elevated from an NR-6 historic status (no significance) to an NR-5 status (local historic status and worthy of preservation) and be preserved. The County wants to bulldoze it to make way for dense tax-rich development.
IS ANYBODY PAYING ATTENTION IN SANTA CRUZ?
Two weeks ago, Santa Cruz City Councilman Chris Krohn wrote in BrattonOnline that the City Council had waived for Barry Swenson Builder the City’s requirement to include 15% of the new five-story 79-condo unit development on upper Pacific and Cedar Streets (the hole next to Lulu Carpenters) be dedicated to affordable units. I was shocked. How could the Council throw away 12 affordable residential units when their highest priority in the City’s Strategic Goals is to add more affordable housing for residents?
I wrote the “Affordable Housing NOW!” group to ask their thoughts and was puzzled as to why the leader, Mr. Tim Willoughby, seemed rather unconcerned, stating “there seems to be some confusion about the 15% requirement issue.” But he did acknowledge that 15% of the units will have to meet the affordability requirement when they are sold. (This is technically a condominium project)The council chose not to add any requirement on renting a percentage of the units at restricted rent levels while they are in the rental market.
Here is what Councilmember Chris Krohn had to say:
“The city council CAN demand the builder include “up to 15%” affordable units in a “planned development” (condo project). We have the right and it is legal according to the city attorney. The council had that opportunity, but not the will, to tell Jesse Nickell of Swenson to build them, 12 units. Our community lost.”
Maybe we will see more responsible action from the Council during Affordable Housing Week, October 19-26, with a nice event planned for October 19, 7pm-9pm, at the Civic. JOIN ME FOR A STREET PROTEST THERE TO LET THE SANTA CRUZ CITY COUNCIL KNOW PEOPLE WANT MORE THAN JUST LIP SERVICE TO AFFORDABLE HOUSING REQUIREMENTS. Bring your own signs or make one there. I’ll see you on the sidewalk in front of the Civic at 7pm
BARRY SWENSON’S SLAP ON THE WRIST FOR VIOLATING MULTIPLE VIOLATIONS OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY AND CONTAMINATING APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT SOILS.
As was reported here recently, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney fined Barry Swenson Builder a measly $125,000 for the multiple public health and safety laws that the Swenson crew broke, at the behest of foremen Keith Henderson and Jim Lynn, along with the aid of Santa Cruz Underground Paving (SCUP). Here is the communication from Mr. Ed Browne, the DA, regarding the case:
Ms. Steinbruner,
The case number for the matter is 17 CV 02333. Any negotiations are confidential pursuant to Evidence Code section 1152. However, the attached Complaint and Judgment clears set out the violation and resolution. There are no liens since all penalties and costs were paid prior to the filing of the case.
Ed Browne
LOWER RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER FENCED OFF…DEMOLITION PERMIT ISSUED WITHOUT BUILDING PERMITS APPROVED.
Well, here we go, folks, the Planning Dept. gave TRC Retail a demolition permit, but no building permits yet. I guess that’s the “tight construction timeline” that County Supervisor Zach Friend held onto in order to help boot out the merchants with a 30-day notice. Take a look for yourself at what the Planning Dept. issued just last Thursday, October 5, 2017
You can see the lack of building permits issued if you look at the permit status for APN 039-221-11, advancing to Page 4 of the history. NO PERMITS YET APPROVED.
THANK YOU RTC COMMISSIONER JACQUE BERTRAND FOR INVESTIGATION OF APTOS VILLAGE BUS STOP RELOCATION PROBLEMS!
I spoke before the Regional Transportation Commission Board last week, asking for some accountability of the County’s use of RTC grant money (over $2 million total) to fund all the Aptos Village Traffic Improvements to benefit the developers, but especially the Metro inbound #71 bus stop. Recently, Metro Operations Official, Mr. Ciro Aguirre told the Metro Board that the County plans to pay for the new bus bay that will not allow bus drivers to entirely exit the lane of traffic when stopped, nor will there be a sidewalk leading to the bus stop! How can that be? Thankfully, Mr. Bertrand, the RTC Commissioner representing Capitola, asked staff to investigate and report back.
The RTC Elderly and Disabled Transportation Advisory Commission meets this week…maybe County Public Works will finally explain the reasoning behind this bus stop relocation and lack of access for those with mobility challenges. Stay tuned!
HOW IS MARTIN’S BEACH DIFFERENT FROM CAPITOLA’S “PRIVATE’S BEACH”?
Maybe you saw the headlines in newspapers last week (Santa Cruz Sentinel, 10/5/2017 Page A1) about the Coastal Commission forcing the owner of an access road to Martin’s Beach up north to open the locked gate to once again allow the public free access to the public beach. The Coastal Commission threatened to impose $11,000/day fines if the gate remained closed to the public. So, how can the local Opal Cliffs Recreation District be allowed to continue restricting public access with a locked gate, forcing the public to purchase a $100 key pass to enter the public Private’s Beach? The parcel of land is supposedly owned by the County of Santa Cruz, but the members of the Opal Cliffs Recreation District pay to have access to the beach and also fund improvements at the entry site, located at 4524 Opal Cliffs Drive, Capitola. Why did County Sheriff Jim Hart write and post a letter at the gate last year to support the continued locked gate and paid membership access?
The Santa Cruz Sentinel article (6/17/2017) reported that the County struck a deal with the Coastal Commission to allow free public access from Memorial Day through Labor Day, and to allow the exclusive paid membership access the rest of the year. WHY IS THIS DIFFERENT THAN MARTIN’S BEACH? It is impossible to research much about the ownership of the parcel…County Assessor data show it was recorded on July 4, 1776 and is not traceable. Just like the Soquel Creek Water District’s new Granite Way Well site in Aptos Village Project…..
YET ANOTHER NEW MOBILE HOME ASSOCIATED WITH THE SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT WELL SITE?
Strange but true…last week when I was verifying information at the County Assessor’s office public computers regarding the Soquel Creek Water District’s new Granite Way well site (APN 041-011-54), the same “GENERAL PARCEL’ in a residential zone information came up as had previously, but now it has been given an address: 123 Parcel Ave., but no city. Hmmmm…… The other change I observed was that the previous Scotts Valley mobile home information has been replaced with a different mobile home…this one in Aptos.
I asked County Assessor Mr. Sean Saldavia about the irregularity. He was not familiar with a “GENERAL PARCEL” on the data base entries, so asked for a staff person to join the discussion. This woman seemed to be unconcerned with the fact that a residential parcel (now with a mailing address of 123 General Parcel Ave. but no city and no site address) was connected with the APN of a tax-exempt well parcel owned by Soquel Creek Water District, and that a different mobile home was also connected with this piece of Special District owned tax-exempt land. Now, the APN 038-081-14 (site #98, address 220 Mar Vista Drive, Aptos) is attached to the Granite Way well parcel, located within the Aptos Village Project. The General Parcel is also tax-exempt with no assessed value according to 2013-2014 data shown.
Both Mr. Saldavia and the staff person took note that the public computer screen did not print out entirely when the command was issued….removing on paper any connection with the Well Parcel 041-011-54 and the General Parcel of residential land (recorded on July 4, 1776 with no traceable document), and the mobile home personal property recorded July 13, 2017, with document 2017-MHA022 (not available at the County Recorder’s Office).
“What would you think, if you were a common citizen, and saw this information on a County data base?” I asked. “Well,” the woman said, ” I would be curious, but I would not speculate.” Hmmmm……
If it were your property that seemed to have irregular information attached, would you shrug your shoulders and move along? Maybe so, especially if you were the Soquel Creek Water District Board. They still have not responded to my letter to them with documentation of the issue and request for explanation. Are you a ratepayer? Maybe they will have an answer for you if you try contacting them:
COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS CLOSING APTOS VILLAGE TRAFFIC TO ONE LANE THROUGH DECEMBER, 2017.
The massive storm damage to Soquel Drive just at the underpass entering the Aptos Village will be repaired, beginning this week. That has been a worry to many, and the FEMA repair will be welcome. What will make it all a challenge for the area’s residents and businesses is the closure to one-lane of traffic until December 15. That is in addition to the nightmare already in progress, for which there is little public information, in the taxpayer-funded County Phase I work to benefit the Aptos Village Project developers (http://aptosvillageimprovement.blogspot.com/) AND the mess on Trout Gulch Road, Cathedral Drive and Aptos Creek Road that Barry Swenson Builder is creating, with absolutely no public information.
Please contact Supervisor Zach Friend and let him know your thoughts. He loves to hear from you.
~Becky Steinbruner (Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes).
The Sun magazine, which I have recently discovered, and which I find remarkable, has printed “The Low Road,” by Marge Piercy, in its October 2017 edition.
The following is almost the whole poem, but I am ending where I have often said, in this blog, we must all begin. Marge Piercy says it more powerfully. She says it better than I ever could: “The Low Road”
What can they do
to you? Whatever they want.
They can set you up, they can
bust you, they can break
your fingers, they can
burn your brain with electricity,
blur you with drugs till you
can’t walk, can’t remember, they can
take your child, wall up
your lover. They can do anything
you can’t stop them
from doing. How can you stop
them? Alone, you can fight,
you can refuse, you can
take what revenge you can
but they roll over you.
But two people fighting
back to back can cut through
a mob, a snake-dancing file
can break a cordon, an army
can meet an army.
Two people can keep each other
sane, can give support, conviction,
love, massage, hope, sex.
Three people are a delegation,
a committee, a wedge. With four
you can play bridge and start
an organization. With six
you can rent a whole house,
eat pie for dinner with no
seconds, and hold a fund-raising party.
A dozen make a demonstration.
A hundred fill a hall.
A thousand have solidarity and your own newsletter;
ten thousand, power and your own paper;
a hundred thousand, your own media;
ten million, your own country.
It goes on one at a time,
it starts when you care
to act, it starts when you do
it again after they said no,
it starts when you say We …
~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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. See and appreciate DeCinzo’s very serious 1989 earthquake vision just a few scrolls downward.The earthquake happened October 17, 1989 at 5:04 pm.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Worshipping What?” 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 some “Dotard” concepts.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Catch up with one of Santa Cruz’s most beloved Open Studios artists this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). And life is still mysterious for human and replicant alike in the thoughtful 30-years-late sequel, Blade Runner 2049.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
BLADE RUNNER 2049. Denis Villeneuve directed this sequel and it has very little visually or plot wise in the way of continuity…it’s an unique addition to science fiction films. Dystopian is the very overused word describing a disaster based future. This film has Los Angeles really transfigured…and terrible. Ryan Gosling carries the entire story, with Robin Wright and Harrison Ford doing fine acting jobs too. I have rarely, if ever,seen or felt a theatre audience so still-hypnotized-awed-puzzled-and silent as the one I joined last week. I’m going again, it needs two viewings on as large a screen as possible.
VICTORIA & ABDUL. Almost everyone knows that Judi Dench plays Queen Victoria in this cute, warm, cuddly feel good movie. Eddie Izzard plays the Prince of Wales ( Edward VII), but you won’t recognize him. I didn’t, and I’m a big fan of Izzards. Stephen Frears directed it. He did My Beautiful Launderette, Prick Up your Ears, Philomena and some more great films but this isn’t in that category. Aside from the cuteness, it ignores the cruelty of the British rule over India during the almost 30 years.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Billie Jean King plays against Bobby Riggs in this easy going tennis and sex movie. Billie Jean has an internal battle with her own sex, which adds a deeper and more involved plot than the 1973 match which we’ve all been reading up on or remember from those days. Emma Stone reputedly the highest star in the world acts perfectly with Steve Carrell and the movie is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I didn’t recognize Sarah Silverman as the women’s coach because she wears sunglasses all through the movie. I liked Little Miss Sunshine better.
This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
AMERICAN MADE. It is NOT another dopey, violent Tom Cruise superhuman action flick. This one is based on an unbelievable probably half true story about a guy who becomes an international drug runner then gets involved illegally with our CIA and the Iran Contra affair that almost got President Ronnie R. evicted. It’s probably Scientology that gives Tom Cruise that certain extra something…and I have to admit I like watching the buy. 87 on RT.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this part 2 of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie looks like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrassing.
FLATLINERS. Ellen Page who looks like she’s about 18 and is really 30 has the lead in this potentially interesting but terrible mess of a movie. She and some fellow Med students try flatlining (killing) themselves then bringing each other back to life a minute or two later. They have death visions, the equipment fails, they chicken out, and they suffer night and day- mares. But IF there was a director (;-) he or she completely blew it. Don’t go…you won’t be able to make any sense of it either. ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER12.
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 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. Following Phyllis, Katie Hansen and Sierra Ryan two of the authors of the new MAH book Harvesting Our Heritage will discuss our County crop history. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. Also on the 17th The Muslim Solidarity Group (part of Santa Cruz Sanctuary) will talk about their aims, goals, and issues. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
Tutorials are one of the best things about Youtube, for reals!
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. “EARTHQUAKES”
“Playing polo is like trying to play golf during an earthquake”, Sylvester Stallone “The safest place to be during an earthquake would be in a stationary store.” George Carlin, “The earthquake, however, must be to every one a most impressive event: the earth, considered from our earliest childhood as the type of solidity, has oscillated like a thin crust beneath our feet; and in seeing the laboured works of man in a moment overthrown, we feel the insignificance of his boasted power.” Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle “Southern Californians freak out when it rains, yet when there’s an earthquake they’re like ‘pass the salt”, Gregor Collins, “An earthquake is such fun when it is over“, George Orwell, Burmese Days
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
Highlights this week:
Read about Garfield Park Circle Church sale being fishy, Abbott Square and more news re Octagon changes, Buffalo Bill’s visits to Santa Cruz, Wilder Ranch & S.F. Chronicle…Carmella Weintraub about The Spirit of Santa Cruz…Greensite on rape rendered invisible in local crime stats…Krohn (from Texas) about Sanctuary State, ICE Raids, Bail schedule, planned development loopholes, Quality of Life Plan, rent control, moratorium on UCSC growth…Steinbruner writes on Rancho Del Mar’s sad day, Supe Zach Friend not helping businesses, cannabis growing and manufacturing problems, “Affordable” housing & Barry Swenson, Sentinel avoids reporting on Trump’s Mexico wall…Patton and our history lessons…Eagan and the jerking of the knee…DeCinzo and KSCO history…Jensen and Battle of The Sexes…I critique American Made, Battle of the Sexes, Flatliners, and Woodshock…Quotes on Puerto Rico.
“Buffalo Bill Cody in parade on Pacific Ave. between Lincoln Street and Cathcart…Friday May 7, 1915”. With Buffalo Bill is his sister Mrs. Lydia Goulding who lived on Seabright Avenue. He visited here here in 1910, April 18,1914 and the above in 1915, his last visit, he died January 10, 1917.
photo credit: photo and Buffalo Bill data courtesy of David Terrazas
BILLIE JEAN KING TODAY. A foolish interview, but we get to see what she looks like after all these years
SANTA CRUZ CLIFF JUMPING. Looks familiar…like maybe I ran this before??? AND it’s still thrilling!!!
This enthusiastic British girl tells us a few things that are neat about Santa Cruz.
DATELINE Oct. 2, 2017
GARFIELD CIRCLE CHURCH SALE. “Something’s fishy about the sale of the Garfield Park Christian Circle Church” is what I heard over and over again from some residents who live in and on the circle street (Errett) that surrounds the church. Why was the selling price so far below the market value? It sold, and is in escrow for a listed price of $2,995,000. Who bought it? Is there a brewery owner involved in the sale and purchase? Where is the money going from the sale? Why are they ripping out the church pews? Many complaints from the treatment of the community from Pastor Steve’s time as head guy to Christopher Drury who runs it now. There was no debt on the building, the neighbors say. It had wide community use by all sorts of groups, now available times are severally limited. Why the new paint job on the church since it was only five years since the last one? There are more questions and because this is such a prime piece of Santa Cruz community and such a piece of our history…these questions and many more need answering, and more publicity shed on this sad Drury dilemma.
NINA SIMON ON OCTAGON AND MAH CHANGES. I mentioned last week that I’m back sitting in front of The Octagon a few random hours each week. It’s great…folks stop by and give me all sorts of topics, secrets, and ideas for BrattonOnline. I also get plenty of questions about the changes that MAH and Nina Simon made to “the MAH-ABBOTT neighborhood” In answer to my query to her about what happened to the huge black letter M that stood next to the red ball at the corner of Cooper and Front Street she replied…”When we designed and built the new deck wrapping around the corner, we wanted to invite people to easily hang out and people-watch from there. We also wanted to make the deck as big as possible. We found a way for the ball – which is iconic to the site and beloved by many – to remain. But not the M. It was removed as part of the project”. In answer to even more questions about what’s going into the Octagon itself she emailed…” The Octagon is leased as part of Abbott Square Market and it is my understanding that they are actively developing it with local chefs, to open in 2018″. As it happened after her reply I asked two guys working inside the Octagon…they said that TWO locally owned restaurants will be opening in there by (next month) November!! I guess we’ll wait and see.
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BUFFALO BILL AND SANTA CRUZ VISITS. David Terrazas and I got to talking (not about politics!!!) about Buffalo Bill (William F. Cody) and his visits to his Santa Cruz sisters. I’d never seen or heard about Bill visiting here…and had never seen any local photos…or knew that he was one of seven children. Sophia M. Decker and Lydia Goudling were his Santa Cruz sisters. Sophia died here at her sister’s home on Seabright avenue. David T. also had the library print copies of his PEERLESS PAGEANT OF PLEASURE appearing at the Liebrandt Circus Grounds. His Sells-Floto Circus featured “his Indians, Zora Bravest woman in the world, Ranch Girls, and Beasts of the Jungle performed by MME. Ricardo and Captain Dutch. Before all of that happened they would stage a Circus Parade two miles long!!!
WILDER RANCH HISTORY AND THE S.F. CHRONICLE. Tom Stienstra in his OUTDOORS column for the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, September 28 wrote a great piece about Wilder Ranch State Park. He titled it “A Hidden Gem for Bikers and Hikers”.
He describes not just the scope of the park but the protocol for hikers, horse people and mountain bikers. That is bikers give way to hikers and equestrians; hikers give way to horses. He repeats Ranger conversations and it’s all very nice BUT never once does he or any ranger tell of the huge battle and victory we locals had in fighting the development of 10,000 homes there. No mention of the $121,000,000 lawsuit that Bob Bosso and The Hollywood Turf Club that he represented slammed on us that we had to fight (we won). That battle against development was significant. I wrote Stienstra about all of it. We should wonder now what would our City Council or Board of Supes do today if Apple, Microsoft, Google wanted to build the equivalent of 10,000 homes here…like a Silicon Beach Ranch or some such monstrosity??
THE SPIRIT OF SANTA CRUZ by CARMELLA WEINTRAUB. My decade’s long- time friend Carmella Weintraub wrote this piece and sent it to Gary Patton and me. Carmella is a long time Santa Cruzan, mother and designer. Gary ran it on Facebook and I want to share it with all of you here. It’s so well written and covers the beliefs and feelings so many of us have. Don’t miss it…read it all…
“SAVING THE SOUL OF SANTA CRUZ”
Carmella Weintraub
It is said that the soul of a place is the sum total of the essence of its highest ideals and should be an expression of its commitment to the good, the true and the beautiful. This quality of soul comes only after the evolution through phases of its development, some of which is challenging and some a natural progress. Then, on both the personality level and the cultural level, integration comes and the soul essence solidifies into a clear and palpable sense of integrity and direction. After facing many changes and challenges in the last 25 years, I feel the soul of Santa Cruz in on the line and I want respectfully offer my perspective.
I came to Santa Cruz in 1969, the year of the Woodstock Festival, an event that heralded the arrival and growing strength of the counterculture and the beginning of the Aquarian Age. This coincided with my serendipitous landing in a town that seemed on the verge of virtually living the values of that time. I must say, I resonated. The energy here was so positive and real.
The town, which I had known since the 1940’s – my great aunt and uncle lived in Paradise Park – had not changed that much since that time. It was still a sleepy little burg, full of senior citizens, retirees in their quaint little one of a kind cottages and students and faculty of the newly minted University and a main drag that sported some nice stores, Leasks and the Morris Abrams store in addition to the Cooper House and numerous small businesses.
I found a city that was bordered on one side by the Pacific Ocean and on the other by giant redwood forests. Between these was a magical strip, which included many charming homes and multiple historic public buildings, built between the Victorian age and the 1950’s. In addition, there was a huge amusement part called the Santa Cruz Boardwalk, an iconic symbol of the natural and playful part of human nature. The City on the Hill, the University community, overlooked this whole picture. The arts community, music and entertainment and surfers, boaters and colorful hippies rounded out the palpable spirit of Santa Cruz.
How could one go wrong? Unparalleled pristine beauty, intelligence on the hill and creative energy all around. How could one resist all of that? I moved here. I was 30 years old, give or take a few, and made a life here, knowing this place was special. Finding a job in social services saved me from living on the edge in a place without a huge economic base to support its populace.
The scene blossomed in the 1970’s, in the middle of some awesome cultural institutions, both of the Catalysts (old and new), the Cooper House, with live music and dancing by Ginger, Bookshop Santa Cruz, The Teacup Restaurant, the annual Spring Fair and lots and lots of live music groups, art and literary groups. People “owned” the town. Pacific Ave. was turned into the Pacific Garden Mall in 1968 (originally called Downtown Oasis) a plan inspired by Chuck and Esther Abbott.
The mall was basically a non-stop party of music, mirth and exchange of ideas and provided a place where town residents started to mix with University students and their professors, several of whom held forth at the Pergolesi coffee shop behind Bookshop Santa Cruz to lead a weekly forum of the latest ideological point of view. Hanging out at Logos book store was the pastime du Jour. People were out in droves to see and be seen, to enjoy Don McCaslin, the Brothers Karamozov and to enjoy the radically individualistic social scene that was fueled by the general zeitgeist of the times. Tom Noddy, the Bubble Man, even made it to the Johnny Carson show.
It was a fun, unselfconscious time, and even with the advent of recreational drugs, it was still slow, but upbeat, rich and enjoyable, a culture of free spirits, unfettered by the strictures of a culture of conformity.
Perhaps feeding off of some present, but unacknowledged, understanding of what we really had here, social action began to take place in the mid- 1970’s, focused on preserving the natural settings of Santa Cruz, for all time. During this magnificent period, many Open Spaces were saved for the enjoyment of future generations. Pogonip was saved and annexed by the City in 1978 and would not be developed for housing. In 1974, a committed group of Santa Cruz citizens organized to keep Wilder Ranch from the ravages of north coast development. Later, in 1978, Lighthouse Point was saved, also from development, and later converted to a State Park, a status which endures until now providing perhaps the most beloved gathering spot in our city. Even later in the ‘70s Arana Gulch became a permanent greenbelt and would remain committed to its pristine original nature- green, wet and wild.
Money was beginning to creep into the culture of Santa Cruz, but not in a greedy or ostentatious way. Houses on Westcliff were sold and other large ones built but still, there was the original feeling of Santa Cruz. A place for many people, visitors and residents alike to enjoy a place of rest, rejuvenation, relaxation and renewal. It was a magical time and things were about to change dramatically.
At the end of the 1980’s, there occurred a sudden and major shift. The Loma Prieta earthquake hit, decimating the Pacific Garden Mall and killing 3 people. I was downtown with my young children at the time and witnessed this tragic event. The damage was so extensive that the Mall lost its Historic status because 19 of 36 buildings that qualified for the appellation just two years prior to the quake were lost. Future generations would never see the examples of 1890s to 1929 architecture. The Cooper House, deemed unsafe by City officials, came down, despite the protests of hundreds of tearful onlookers.
This loss was a metaphor for much more that was lost in the Earthquake because in the ensuing years many aspects of Santa Cruz changed. In the nanoseconds following the earthquake, the town was plunged into a crisis of major proportions. The town was in shambles and soon so was the spirit of Santa Cruz. We had lost our center.
Very quickly, outside professional urban planning consultants were called in to consult on what our town should look like, despite their lack of familiarity as to what the DNA of Santa Cruz had always been. Our hip little town soon became a “chic” little town and started a trend that was to continue until this very day.
After the earthquake the local ambience and architecture changed very rapidly and often surprisingly with less public input than was probably fair.
Costco, our first city big box store, opened in 1994. A few years later, in a sudden departure from our historic heritage, Gateway Center opened in 1997, much to the chagrin of the small business owners who had their charming and historic buildings knocked down. Replacing these historic businesses with what turned out to be a strip mall in the shape of a square, housing businesses at the gateway to our town, in non-descript box like stores with no apparent nod to the look and feel of our town. As if that were not enough shock. Soon modern design, coupled with a garish green paint on metal standards, appeared in the form of lighting on River St., ostensibly to create a welcoming look to the historic center of town. In the opinion of many citizens, this goal was never achieved.
There were many shocked people, including myself, but as local architect–activist Mark Primack stated, at the time, after only two people showed up at the design review planning meetings, “the citizens of Santa Cruz will get what they deserve”. I am recalling all of this because I believe we are at a similar juncture now. If we don’t get actively involved in setting the course of development in this town, we will again be the recipients of something we do not want nor deserve.
After this particular surprise, more change came about and currently continues to come about, fast and furiously as the City fathers (and mothers) move quickly to fill in every empty space in Santa Cruz city limits with high density potentially generically designed “infill”, a phenomenon that is currently in process now, led by the Santa Cruz City Council and City Planners.
To that end, currently on the table or in process are these projects:
The Corridor Plan, putting high density, tall buildings and hotels on Ocean St. Soquel Ave, Water St. and Mission St.
The Active Transportation Plan, a plan containing 260 separate projects all over the city to encourage bicycle and walking transportation and safety. Some of the projects disturb neighborhood unity, safety and aesthetics with signage and changes the neighborhood residents do not want to see in their established places of habitation. Other projects invite unbidden crime to enter quiet neighborhoods that are particularly vulnerable.
The Wharf Plan, potentially putting high density, tall buildings on the wharf, creating issues in congestion, questionable aesthetics and future dangers if sea levels do rise,
The Hyatt hotel in place of the former Unity Church, out of place in this particular crowded neighborhood with congested streets.
Potentially moving the present downtown City Library to the space displacing the Farmer’s Market and putting in a multilevel parking garage where none currently exists, at that site.
Increased non-aesthetic designs (so far) on the planned San Lorenzo River high-end housing development.
Increased development of the tech industry coupled with high speed Internet cable.
Destruction of more historical housing and buildings, especially on high profile streets.
More freeway lanes going to and from Watsonville, yielding more pollution and greenhouse gases
Private development of housing that does not meet the economic needs of most local citizens, low income and homeless populations.
Why is this all-important and where are we going with this? And why?
What can we do?
Taken together and followed by potentially more changes, these planned projects would change the face of our city in radical ways. We need to determine our personal response to these intended changes and act on our convictions on behalf of all stakeholders, including visitors and future children. We need, as a community, to take stock of exactly what values we hold dear and exactly what we are losing by not honoring these values.
First, let’s be clear, these concerns are not about maintaining the status quo or about nostalgia. They are about maintaining our spiritual, aesthetic and moral center in the face of an increasingly inhuman environment which is killing people and compromising the sanity of many our of citizens, young and old and obliterating natural resources and open space.
There are many practical issues associated with planned changes for Santa Cruz, many of which are long term concerns . First, can the infrastructure we have now support new development, especially those that will house many residents or visitors? Currently, our infrastructure of roads, sidewalks and buildings need repairing before money is spent on private development. Secondly and importantly, can we continue to supply water and other resources to new development and still service existing citizens? While new hotels can support the sagging tax base, the concern that current water users have is valid. We have contributed here for years. Thirdly, why are taxes not levied on the multi-million dollar homes that are being built? The alternative, sales tax, creates an overdependence on materialism and shopping. Fourthly, how are all economic levels of citizens going to be able to remain here to enliven the mix of cultures and points of view we have historically enjoyed?
These are all valid, reality-based concerns for our citizens but there are also meta-issues which cannot be addressed at town hall meetings and these involve concerns that are often talked about in private conversations and they affect a large constituency of residents, visitors and future generations of same. Let me express, as a long term resident of this town, how I experience the many hidden values of our town and what we can do to save these before it is too late.
I feel Santa Cruz (Holy Cross) is a sanctuary, a holy sacred space for all who venture into these environs. The operative word here is ALL. Over the years, we have developed something special here and Santa Cruz’ charm and values are a magnet for people all over the United States and the world as well. I submit that Santa Cruz is a center of counter culture for a reason and is known worldwide for the way we live. As our mainstream culture speeds up, creates crowded, concrete communities overloaded with technology and cars and speed, we have maintained a commitment to something slower, saner and unique. It is perhaps a one-of-a-kind experience. Indeed, Santa Cruz IS an experience, a state of mind that is almost indescribable. We have much to offer a world-weary population and we must adhere to the core values and the gifts we offer to the planet. And they are many. Our human lives actually rely on the necessity of regeneration, relaxation, recreation and rest. Our nervous systems actually demand this and the price we pay for not adhering to these necessities is illness, sometimes severe and often expressed as continuing low grade stress.
We have many healers here and it is, in my opinion, because we are a healing community. People need what we have, all people. We must remain faithful to the part we play in healing the homeless, the frazzled, the young and the restless and let’s not forget our seniors, the original inhabitants of this retirement community. We owe this to them as well as our children and future generations.
The chance to experience nature at its finest on miles of currently protected beaches and hundreds of square miles of redwood forests is priceless and nurturing and is, in essence, the basis of our healing atmosphere. The pace in Santa Cruz is not syncopated or staccato but, instead, more lyrical and softly entrained to the rhythm of the ocean and its playful inhabitant creatures. This is our DNA. Nature is our “brand” and in keeping with that, countless human beings can remain a natural human and even more can come here and remember what it is to be fully human. Through the enjoyment of our natural resources, we can experience the joyful and natural state that is evoked by our beautiful beaches and the countless other recreational opportunities that our environment offers.
In a time when cultural mania is increasing to megalomania and the metropolis becomes megalopolis; we have an example, here, of how to balance this trend. Hyperactivity is a national illness and it is up to us to remain a clear beacon for an alternative way to live. Indeed, Santa Cruz has the ability to provide an active model for a viable life-style alternative. A lot is riding on our commitment to modeling how it is to be fully human, related to nature, to each other and our fellow inhabitants of the planet. In these meta-respects, we are a model city.
Coupled with our natural resources, our University culture and our small, human size homes and public buildings, each with its individual look, we have created a culture of connected individualism, environmental sanity and ecological consciousness. Artists, musicians, creators, imaginers, young and old, people of diverse orientations, rich and poor, come together to create a culture of character and diversity which is unmatched anywhere. Why would we want to ruin this by importing any of the insanity that is what ruins most other large communities. To do so would, in and of itself, be insanity of the highest order.
We should not become a Silicon Beach. We do not need to be a bedroom community of Silicon Valley and we do not necessarily need to grow. We should not become Monterey and we are not Carmel with its quaint arts community. We simply need to continue to be ourselves and honor what has come to be an amazing place centered as we are on the edge of the Pacific Rim.
I believe we are here with a spiritual charge to balance the insanity of the techno, bureaucratic, corporate industrial complex. With the protection of the forest on one side and the sea on the other, we are a virtual island of sanity. We are a true oasis of intelligence and creation and beacon of individual freedom to each be who we are as essence and to also share in the rich and diverse community that we share. We must as what we can do to retain the paradise that we have. In the spirit of dialogue, I humbly offer the following suggestions to perhaps stimulate a discussion about how we can help maintain a commitment to existing beauty and value in this town,.
OUR TASKS
Support activities and leaders who will not gentrify, technologize, monetize or materialize (nor caffeinate) our community nor exploit human or natural resources to these ends.
Support the continuance of spiritual development and higher consciousness here, thus encouraging each individual to reach his or her full potential.
Support spontaneous grass roots level creativity, especially collaborative kinds of projects and events for all ages and stages of life..
Support those activities, which do not exploit our natural and historic collective resources on behalf of a few, whether that is government, private citizens or outside developers.
Support aesthetic building and public art and design which is in keeping with our historic legacy. This entails keeping the landscape “low rise” as opposed to high rise.
Support those policies which do not allow crowding out the citizens of this area who are operating in the lower socio-economic levels.
Support those changes which do not increase speed, concrete, cars or exclusive money. Economic development must be based on values of economic moderation and inclusiveness of all levels.
Support activities, people and policies that allow us to keep our natural rhythm, size and connectivity. Choose that which supports harmony, diversity, inclusiveness and diversity.
Support the development of a process for ongoing public input and voting on each proposed development that has the capacity to change the DNA of our community. Encourage referendum process.
Support density in what is already here, change zoning laws to allow development of the many small outbuildings that abound in the city of Santa Cruz.
Support individuals to accept responsibility and accountability for the role he or she plays in the evolution of our planet and indeed, our very existence.
This includes responsibility for not over-populating the planet, for not condoning any form of violence or brutality and for respecting all beings as worthy of dignity and acceptance.
We need to unify our energies and goals for this town and listen closely to every voice. The planet and we have a lot at stake. It is not too late to save what we have created in this village by the sea. We are capable of leading the nation in propagating values that lead to quality human lives as well as the other kingdoms with whom we share the planet, lives unburdened by values not developed in our true interests- that of being happy, healthy and connected with our whole planet and Universe.
Lastly, it is important that we elect leaders who understand the language of the soul. This means making collaborative decisions and working through a channel of what feels right, not only what a few think is right. Leaders need to listen carefully to all citizens who choose to speak up and it is my feeling that it needs to be longer than 2 or 3 minutes per speaker (as it currently stands in the City Council). Santa Cruz people know the language of the soul and we need to speak up on behalf of what we might lose if we don’t make our values known. We have way too much to lose if we stay silent. Many citizens, present and future are depending on us to serve the highest good of all.
RAPE RENDERED INVISIBLE
It’s that time of the year. When the FBI releases its Uniform Crime Report tracking crime data for cities and counties nationwide, as predictable as fog in July, Santa Cruz officials distort the data by making rape invisible.
Last Saturday’s Sentinel covered the story of the FBI’s annual release of violent and property crimes with a focus on the rise of property crimes in Santa Cruz County and the reduction in violent crimes, both the reverse of national trends. While the nation has seen a 4.1% increase in violent crimes, Santa Cruz County has seen a 5% decrease. Property crimes fell nationwide by 1.3% yet have increased significantly in Santa Cruz County. Law enforcement spoke to the issues with the crime analyst from the Sheriff’s office Josh Pastor quoted as saying that “the rising property crime numbers are offset by the low levels of violent crimes.” He commented that “the area has experienced a decline in violent crimes for decades” and “you’d have to go back to the 1950’s to find a time with a lower crime rate.” He added that when he visits conferences in CA metropolitan areas his colleagues are surprised at the low rate of violent crimes in Santa Cruz County. Reassuring to a community worried about violent crime but is it true? It is, unless you examine the data on rape.
The federal Uniform Crime Report collects data on all violent crimes, including rape. According to the data, Santa Cruz County had a rate of rape at 44 per 100,000 people. This compares to Oakland/Haywood at 35; San Francisco at 34; San Diego at 32; LA at 41 and to venture out of California, Michigan at 32 and Miami at 29 (numbers rounded). Seems we have quite a high rate of rape per head of population, in fact, one of the highest.
It is instructive to compare cities, although the FBI warns against reading too much into such comparisons. So let’s not read too much into such comparisons, let’s just compare. In 2016, Salinas with a population of 159,000 had 86 reported rapes; Santa Monica with a population of 93,000 had 40; Huntington Beach with a population of 204,000 had 55; South San Francisco with a population of 68,000 had 25; Davis with a population of 68,000 had 26; Scotts Valley with a population of 13,000 had 1; Capitola with a population of 10,000 had 4; Watsonville with a population of 54,000 had 26 and Santa Cruz with a population of 65,000 had 45. For all cities, the percentage increase in rape was 4%, notwithstanding the change in the definition of rape in 2013.
While our murder rate is low, our rape rate is high. Reducing the data to averages may be politically expedient in a tourist town but is not helpful in directing law enforcement and community attention towards addressing our high rate of rape. Behind every statistic is a person whose life has been forever transformed by rape. We owe it to every person who has reported a rape to not render her or him invisible. Otherwise we are saying that rape is not a serious crime and we are setting the stage for the next victim.
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.
“New York (Santa Cruz too?) in its current dissonant form, is at ease with a disturbingly paradoxical identity, as a place that says yes to every branch of Dunkin’ Donuts and no to the people whose fortunes consign them to working there.”–Gina Bellafante, N.Y. Times Book Review of Vanishing New York
I offer an update about several issues that went before the Santa Cruz city council last week. Here’s the recap…
Ya Win Some…
There was unanimity on the Santa Cruz City Council to support Senate Bill 54, which essentially declares California a sanctuary state. It is such a positive step in the direction of providing a commitment to some of the “huddled masses yearning to be free.” It is a bill that affirms our commitment to immigrants, and it is also in keeping with our American heritage, culture, and traditions. Although it is essentially a symbolic gesture unless the state also offers sanctuary cities legal support in defending ourselves against the Immigration and Customs Service (ICE) raids. These ICE raids continue to take place across the country. To also make it real, our Santa Cruz city council needs to set aside some money during the mid-year budget review in January to help pay the legal bills in defending our residents and their DACA offspring, which leads me to the next win. This same city council voted 7-0 to also stand firm with the Dreamers, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Perhaps nothing the Trump administration has done is more insidious and wrong than trying to end the DACA program. But there is hope. There are conversations going on between Republicans and Democrats that we hope will continue this important program. Our council resolution calls on congress to renew this program. Please call US Rep., Jimmy Panetta today and urge him to stand firm and support the program.
There is “…complicity between municipal government and big private money to reconfigure whole sections of a city, with dubious consequences, chief among them the ceding of space, goods and social currency from the ordinary classes to the ruling order.” (Bellafante, Times Book Review)
Ya Lose Some...
We lost on bringing some sanity to the Santa Cruz bail schedule. Sandy Brown and I vote “to not approve this bail schedule and ask staff to bring it back with information about a sliding bail schedule that does not adversely hurt poor people.” The vote was 5-2. The other notable council agenda item was a recommendation by staff to close the inclusionary loophole for planned developments. Most of the time, developers choose to pay into an affordable housing fund or rent to Section 8 voucher-holders instead of renting the required 15% as affordable units. City staff came and unfortunately recommended 7.5%…maybe…if it’s not too much of a burden on the developer the head of Economic Development department indicated. Since the staff report for this item was obfuscating, the council chose to punt and wait on a final inclusionary decision until the next council meeting…it could be in this week’s rainout category too. (too many sports metaphors I know, sorry.)
It’s about “…the hand of menacing greed and self-interest.” (Bellafante, Times Book Review)
And Some Get Rained Out…
No doubt my agenda item to oppose SB 35, the so-called, “Affordable Housing” bill was nothing short of a rainout. On the face of it, this measure is a pro-developer one. Good things are actually present in the bill: developers must pay prevailing wage, requires a 10% inclusionary, and Sacramento acknowledges there is a severe housing crisis in this state, especially along the coast. But why does the state have to tell us to require a 10% inclusionary in all developments when Santa Cruz already has a 15% inclusionary? The bad stuff in SB 35: it allows multi-family development in single-family neighborhoods, it also would tie the hands of local decision-makers in making land-use decisions, and it is bad for democracy. This bill also provides no money. What is it that conservatives often rail about, “unfunded mandates?” This bill was opposed early on by two groups who often do not see eye-to-eye, the League of California Cities, because it puts constraints on what cities can decide, and the Sierra Club because SB 35 seeks to undermine the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The council finally voted to change the “we oppose this bill” resolution to a rather milk-toast just tell Gov. Brown that we want to let you know we don’t think it’s such a good thing to do to put mandates on cities and undermine CEQA. Our resolution is now moot as Brown signed it last week and it is now law. Another rainout may happen with the repeal of SB 1, the gas tax. It passed the legislature this past April. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1
As California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra and the anti-gas tax petition gathers continue to wrangle over what the initiative will exactly be named, many cities including Santa Cruz are already spending some of the money that is anticipated to be collected, that is 12 cents per gallon. The tax kicks in beginning Nov. 1st. How many signatures do they need to get the repeal on the ballot? Only 365, 880, statewide.
News of the Most Vulnerable Food Not Bombs Feeding the Poor Last Sunday at Post Office
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (sound familiar?!)
Truly Affordable Housing Now! A 10-Point Plan
Get ready; we could be in for a roller-coaster of a ride if we hope to make any kind of dent in the currently insufferable pro-seller-landlord housing market in Surf City. There are so many first-course menu items vying to get on the table that it’s hard to keep up. So, here it is, a TEN-POINT Santa Cruz Quality of Life Plan that not only looks to lift all boats, but seeks to protect the most vulnerable and offer everyone a pay raise as our community approaches the stark reality that there is an actual “carrying-capacity” in our ecological hot-spot. Who will tell the people that there are limits? The following 10 points are not only the jagged pieces to the Santa Cruz housing puzzle–each not THE answer but rather a constituent part–but also its what I’ve been hearing from the multiple voices within the various social and political bubbles that I inhabit.
Santa Cruz Quality of Life Plan
Placing a housing bond before the voters and it’s got to be in the hundreds of millions to even make a dent. (Santa Clara County passed one last year with 68% of the necessary two-thirds vote. It was for around a $1 billion.)
Enact rent control complete with a “just cause eviction” ordinance along with an elected rent board. It failed twice before in Santa Cruz, but that was a long time ago when there were less than 50% renters, now tenants are near 60% and rents are at an all-time high.
A five-year moratorium on growth at UCSC. Is it time for the gown to take a time-out so the town can recover, work on its own housing needs and shore up the transportation, and water infrastructure?
Should the community demand that at least a full 50% of the thousand units of housing now being envisioned along Front and Pacific, between Soquel and Laurel, be truly affordable housing? Not by “design” or simply called, “workforce housing,” but by law and HUD standards of between 30% and 80% of the median county household income?
San Jose to Houston for the P.O.P. conference–“Problem Oriented Policing.”
Notice this is how they rope you in…there’s that first box of donuts, then…who knows what’s next.
(L-R) Councilmember Chris Krohn, Chief of Police Andy Mills, Cathy Mills, Principal Management Analyst Lupita Alamos, and in the back, Santa Cruz Police Sergeant Bill Azua and Lt. Jose Garcia. [edit: Vice Mayor David Terrazas is also in the photo!]
I’ll tell you about the conference in next week’s post and how many donuts I ate!!
Continue the “Fight for $15” and demand it be on the ballot in 2018!
The city should implement the UCSC model of faculty housing by building low-cost for-sale units, which only increase in price at the local cost of living rate.
The city must work with the school district to create affordable housing for teachers. The city of Santa Cruz has land that could be “donated” to the school district to construct teacher housing. The school district holds land that the city can help with the permitting process.
Enact a real estate transfer tax, a special “Airbnb” tax, and a 3% hotel tax to support homeless services and a permanent fund for affordable housing.
The UCSC administration must lower its $1700 per month, per student dorm fees. It is the most potent force in driving up rentals all over town.
Elect a city council majority in 2018 that will help advocate, enact, and enforce the housing measures above; candidates who promote student concerns, uphold the values of labor, and place social justice, fairness and an open political process, first.
Bernie Tweet of the Week “At a time of massive inequality, the Republican budget takes from the middle class and those in need, and gives huge tax breaks to the rich.” (Sept. 29)
Correction(?) Who knows how old UCSC is? Raise your hand. I know they had a 50th anniversary that lasted like, two years. In my column last week, I said this was the 51st year. (opened in 1965) Well, it turns out that 2017-1965 = 52. Someone wrote in to say UCSC is actually 53. So how old is it? You’d think you could Google the answer, but it’s not so easy.
(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).
SAD DAY FOR RANCHO DEL MAR MERCHANTS AND THE APTOS COMMUNITY
I stopped in last Saturday evening at lower Rancho del Mar Center to offer help and good wishes to the independent small business owners on their final day allowed by TRC Retail. Keang and DeeDee Lee were working hard to load fixtures they had sold into a trailer to clear out Le Chef Kitchen Store. Lee’s Baskin-Robbins was already closed, but posters on the window held hand-written sentiments from the customers who have appreciated Keang’s friendly manner and delicious ice cream for 14 years. Showtime Pizza owner Jose Gonzalez served a loyal customer the last piece of pizza and shook hands. Sofia’s Taqueria owner, Robert Cordova, who started as a teenage dishwasher there and bought the business 12 years ago, talked casually with the many loyal customers who came for dinner before the restaurant is shuttered.
WHY IS DEVELOPER TRC RETAIL BOOTING THESE FOLKS OUT WHEN THERE ARE NO BUILDING PERMITS ISSUED? WHERE IS SUPERVISOR ZACH FRIEND?
I asked the merchants what they would like to have from TRC Retail?
Showtime Pizza owner Jose Gonzalez: “Nothing.” He got lucky and will move to the nearby Aptos Village Square and re-open next month.
Sofia’s Tacqueria owner Robert Cordova replied “Please talk to me.” He said TRC Retail would not answer his many requests for information and updates about the remodel timeline, and thought he had more time to find another place. When he received the 30-day eviction notice, he said he asked about the projected price of the spaces after remodeling is complete: ” They said $4/SF…that’s too much for me.” He pays $1.75/SF now.
Baskin-Robbins and Le Chef owners Keang and Dee Dee Lee were working too hard to talk much, but said they really don’t know what to do. TRC Retail has not replied to their repeated requests for information either. “It would be nice if we had first option to locate back into the Center after the remodel is complete” Keang said earlier. Maybe he does not know the $4/SF price tag. “I am beginning to think that TRC Retail does not want a Baskin-Robbins in their shopping center,” he added.
Erik’s Deli was already closed up.
Senior Benefits Insurance Services owners Ken Cook and Bill Weber, the last business to occupy the vacant theater building, were not around.
Call TRC Retail Project Manager Scott Grady 949-500-6192 Scott Grady sgrady@trcretail.com and ask that TRC Retail to at least give the tenants compensation for moving costs…after all, TRC Retail’s property managers (there have been three of them!) did not respond to the tenant’s questions and Mr. Bruce Walton, TRC Retail management, admitted “We dropped the ball on communication.”
TOTO, WE’RE NOT IN APTOS VILLAGE ANYMORE…..
Work on the Trout Gulch/Soquel Drive intersection in Aptos Village is looking more like downtown San Jose every day. Take a look at this great photo by Aptos resident Holger Blech. The railroad crossing towers are not yet in place but are stored on the Aptos Village Project premises and ready for Collins Electric to hoist them into place. What is missing in this photo is the gridlocked traffic in all directions.
I WANTED TO BUY A GOOD BOOK, SO TRAVELLED TO KELLY’S BOOKS IN WATSONVILLE.
I asked Kelly (of Kelly’s Books) about the scenario when she was given a 30-day eviction notice by Kaiser Medical last year. She had an interesting story. It seems that well-meaning efforts by elected officials actually were not so helpful, but the additional time and $2/SF moving cost re-imbursement was better than nothing. What surprised me was that those elected officials never once asked the affected business owners what they wanted in the process. She also said that there is a legal requirement that businesses must be given 60 days notice to relocate, even if their rents are month-to-month. I want to investigate that…..
COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT REPORT PRIORITIZES COUNTY STORM-DAMAGED ROADS FOR REPAIR.
Last Tuesday’s Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisor meeting included a report from Department of Public Works (Item #38 on the Consent Agenda) that prioritized all 207 projects (page 1407 of the agenda, if you are interested). I am happy to see that the precarious southbound Soquel Drive in the Aptos Village underpass area is #8 on the list and should be fixed by December 18, at a cost of $717,801. The #1 priority of the County is Valencia Road in Aptos, now up to a grand total of $5.2 million after the Sups approved doubling the budget the week before.
Even though Supervisor Zach Friend curtly announced at that meeting that he was tired of having me bring up the subject of Nelson Road in Scotts Valley and comparing it to the Valencia Road repair, I’m gonna do it again. It needs to be pointed out (again) that the Nelson Road repair is a nearly-identical situation to the Valencia Road culvert repair but now at #156 on the County’s priority list for repair and is listed at costing $305,000 to repair. Wow. Why the difference? Supervisor Bruce McPherson got Anna Eshoo up there right away, and the temporary bridge that had been sitting in the Public Works yard, according to Director John Presleigh, got installed within three weeks after the storm made the creek crossing impassable. Supervisor Zach Friend waited over a month to give Jimmy Panetta a tour, and the temporary bridge finally went in six months after the storm collapsed the culvert and Valencia Elementary School closed.
I am sure it will all look good someday on Zach Friend’s political resume.
SHOULD LOCAL FIRE AGENCIES BE ABLE TO BID ON PROVIDING EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORT?
That was the big question and I was glad the Board of Supervisors had pulled that “non-controversial” Consent Agenda item off to be discussed in more depth as a regular agenda item. So were the dozen or so fire and emergency response staff that attended. It seems the County hired Abaris Group consultants for $100,000 to write a Request for Proposal (RFP) for providing emergency medical transport for Santa Cruz County residents. The consultant met with emergency responders and related EMS staff to help craft the content of the RFP and had told the fire agencies they would be able to apply. However, the actual wording of the document excluded the fire agencies, seemingly at the recommendation of the County Health Services Director Ms. Giang Nguyen. After much discussion, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to accept the RFP wording and “get the process started.” Only Supervisor Greg Caput looked out into the sea of dark blue uniforms and asked “Is this motion (to approve the RFP) what you want?” Several heads shook ‘No”, but only Supervisor Greg Caput paid attention. He was the lone “No” vote. Stay tuned to possible delayed response times in a neighborhood near you….the bids close December 19.
COMMENT PERIOD EXTENDED FOR THE COUNTY DRAFT EIR FOR CANNABIS CULTIVATION & MANUFACTURING LICENSES
Thanks to County Cannabis Licensing Director Ms. Robin Bolster-Grant for listening to the many residents who asked for more time to read the two-inch-thick Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Now you have until October 31, 2017 to read and submit comment regarding this document that spells out significant impacts of the new County licenses for Cannabis Cultivation and Manufacturing. The mitigations along are 33 pages long.
Several County Commissions and staff have spent hundreds of thoughtful hours working out the details to address both the needs of the Cannabis industry, for which the County has already budgeted $1 million in anticipated tax revenue, and the mountain residents who worry about fires, water, erosion and trash. The trick will be striking a balance that is not so onerous that the Black Market flourishes at the expense of the people dedicated to trying to do the right thing.
It seems that the Second District special overlay that Supervisor Zach Friend pushed through at CEO Susan Mauriello’s bidding will remain in effect…no outdoor Cannabis cultivation allowed in his District. Ms. Mauriello lives in the Second District and did not like the smell of Cannabis growing in her neighborhood. Never mind that forcing growing operations inside buildings increases the risk of electrical overloads and fires. My neighborhood nearly burned to the ground in 2013 for that very reason.
WILL THERE EVER BE ENOUGH AFFORDABLE HOUSING?
With Governor Brown signing into law several bills aimed at increasing the state’s affordable housing problems, it merits thought as to what is behind the problem. Is it lack of housing, or lack of housing that local people can AFFORD? Santa Cruz City Councilman Chris Krohn’s article last week in Bratton Online really upset me…why wouldn’t the City leaders choose to require Barry Swenson developers to make 15% of the 79 residential units approved for the FIVE-STORY mixed-use building on Pacific Avenue and Cedar Street affordable? Mr. Tim Willoughby of ‘Affordable Housing NOW!’ replied to my query to that group on this topic that the City only can require 15% affordable units that are to be sold, but not if they are for rent.
Now, however, that may change with AB 1505, which restores the ability of local governments to require developers to include affordable rental units after a 2009 appellate court had nixed it. This seems like a good thing for the public benefit, as fewer people are able to afford to buy a home. Notice, however, that the local governments MAY require but, if the process follows past patterns, local governments will not, because they seem to covet the “developer’s feasibility and flexibility.” In other words, the developer gets to call the shots and make as much profit as they can, and often are awarded grand concessions to boot. Not good for the taxpayers, or the general public benefit.
Other laws that Governor Brown just signed have me worried:
SB 167 will fine cities that do not comply with a court order to build developments at a certain rate would be hit with automatic fines of $10,000 per housing unit not built.
SB 35 will require cities to build at the rate dictated by faceless regional agencies, such as Associated Bay Area Governments (AMBAG). It will target cities that fall short of the quota and require them to approve more housing developments that fit the criteria until they are caught up with the mandated numbers.
SB 540 will allow cities to essentially create planned unit developments for certain areas, possibly waiving public hearings and environmental reviews. This is intended to speed up the approval and construction process.
SB 2 will impose taxes of up to $225 on some real estate transactions (but not home purchases) to collect $1.2 billion over the next five years to address homeless issues.
A thought-provoking article in the Mercury News discussed the idea that constantly increasing taxes on the population only worsens the poverty levels and makes affordable housing further out of reach for more people. Here is the link
BUILDING THE GREAT BIG WALL
I have been somewhat surprised that the Santa Cruz Sentinel has not been covering the progress of Trump’s Wall at the Mexican border, but I am grateful that the Mercury News and many other newspapers have. According to the media, work is beginning this week on the prototypes by companies selected by the Homeland Security administration. Several environmental laws have been waived to expedite the work. Here is a link to just one article
Also of note are articles about ICE arrests increasing 43% but fewer have criminal records. Here is a link
It seems that maybe our government could effectively put more effort and resources into helping undocumented residents hop on the pathway to citizenship.
What do you think?
~Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
Rod Dreher, a self-declared “American Conservative,” was profiled in The New Yorker in May, 2017. That is when I became aware of Dreher’s blog, which is apparently followed by something like 200,000 people.
On September 20th, Dreher posted a long reflection on the state of our present-day society, economy, and politics, with the following title: “This Crisis? It’s Nothing.” I’ll include an excerpt, below, so you can read some of Dreher’s thoughts without having to track down the original. He ends up concluding that, “compared to 1968-73, today is a total cakewalk.”
While I agree that the years from 1968 to 1973 were filled with all sorts of stresses and strife, I am not really willing to call our present situation a “total cakewalk.” Read Dreher to make up your own mind.
Here’s where I DO agree with Dreher: He says we are all too much consumed with the “present,” and that we all need to “study history.” He’s right about that. That actually does help!
Imagine that the US was involved in a major overseas war in which over 11,000 American soldiers died in one year alone (1967). For a point of comparison, fewer than 7,000 US troops have been killed in Iraq and Afghanistan over the past 14 years of combat there.
Imagine that 17,000 US soldiers would die in 1968, and 12,000 in 1969 fighting that war.
Imagine that you might be drafted to go fight there.
Imagine what it would be like if you were convinced the war was profoundly immoral, and you had to choose between deserting the country and bearing arms in that war.
Imagine that many college campuses had become hotbeds not of snowflakey sit-ins, but of serious violence.
Imagine that two of the nation’s most prominent political leaders (MLK and RFK) Bobby were gunned down three months apart.
Imagine that your government and military were lying to Congress and to the American people about the war, and had been for years (as was revealed with the 1972 publication of the Pentagon Papers).
Imagine that major American cities were burning in race riots.
Imagine that cops in a major American city staged what was later called “a police riot” outside a political party’s national convention, and beat the hell out of protesters.
What’s harder to imagine is the historical context in which these shocking events were taking place … The country in 1958 was relatively stable, settled, and buttoned-up. A decade later, it was ripping itself apart, and would continue to do so for years to come.
Americans at the start of that period trusted our institutions, including our government. To watch protesters in the street demolishing universities (figuratively, mostly, but not always) and in some cases carrying communist flags into protest — that had to have been a terrible shock to the system. The template for US involvement in war was still World War II, a “good” war; most people could not grasp that Vietnam was not that kind of war. (Indeed, the film keeps pointing out, importantly, that for most of the war, the American people were solidly behind it and the president; this was Nixon’s “silent majority”). Families were falling apart as the divorce rate soared skyward, beginning a steep rise that would not peak until the early 1980s. The churches were also crumbling. Drug use was going mainstream. Watching The Vietnam War, even as I felt within myself a growing revulsion to the war, and even rage at the US government officials prosecuting it, and sending those young men into that meat grinder, I also felt total disgust at the images of the blissed-out college student freaks. I can only imagine what ordinary conservative people like my folks must have thought from 1968-73, watching this play out on American streets …
My point is that these radical changes were all taking place very quickly, in a society that was in no way prepared for them…
And Watergate was yet to come, as was stagflation.
The point is this: compared to 1968-73, today is a total cakewalk. This is not to minimize the very serious problems we face, politically and otherwise. In fact, some of the moral breakdown that seemed so traumatizing back then has been normalized by our society, such that we don’t feel the pain of fracture as Americans did back then. Still, you want to talk about an American hell? It was then. Watching The Vietnam War is like seeing the history of some other country, not our own. Yet it happened within my own lifetime. When my children are middle-aged, as I am today, they won’t have any films like this to watch about our own period of American life, because for all the corruption and decadence and foolishness afoot, it’s not like those horrible, horrible days.
This is why we should study history.
~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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. A not very historic visit to KSCO!!! Scroll below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s “Taking The Knee” 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 and “Hoot Culture”
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “It’s game-on when Billie jean King meets Bobby Riggs on the tennis court of honor in Battle of the Sexes, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). And kudos to the Santa Cruz Actors’ Theatre for bringing an intriguing new play about Martin Luther King to our little town!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
BATTLE OF THE SEXES. Billie Jean King plays against Bobby Riggs in this easy going tennis and sex movie. Billie Jean has an internal battle with her own sex, which adds a deeper and more involved plot than the 1973 match which we’ve all been reading up on or remember from those days. Emma Stone reputedly the highest star in the world acts perfectly with Steve Carrell and the movie is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I didn’t recognize Sarah Silverman as the women’s coach because she wears sunglasses all through the movie. I liked Little Miss Sunshine better.
AMERICAN MADE. It is NOT another dopey, violent Tom Cruise superhuman action flick. This one is based on an unbelievable true story about a guy who becomes an international drug runner then gets involved illegally with our CIA and the Iran Contra affair that almost got President Ronnie R. evicted. It’s probably Scientology that gives Tom Cruise that certain extra something…and I have to admit I like watching the buy. 87 on RT.
FLATLINERS. Ellen Page who looks like she’s about 18 and is really 30 has the lead in this potentially interesting but terrible mess of a movie. She and some fellow Med students try flatlining (killing) themselves then bringing each other back to life a minute or two later. They have death visions, the equipment fails, they chicken out, they suffer night and day- mares. But IF there was a director (;-) he or she completely blew it. Don’t go…you won’t be able to make any sense of it either.
WOODSHOCK. Kirsten Dunst parades and mopes, and staggers, through this entire flop of a movie in a wide selection of slips, bras, and panties. She is stoned in a Humboldt or Oregon cabin and neither you nor Dunst will ever figure what the point of this weed-hazed movie is about. I tried for the first half hour and gave up. Luckily it …ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
DOLORES. See both Chris Krohn’s and my “advice” and “promotion” of this very necessary documentary up above. We all have some opinion of Dolores Huerta based on rumor, poor memory and the ignoring by media. That’s why we should all see this film. It’s also strong on feminism and Gloria Steinem along with Angela Davis have much to add to Dolores’ near overwhelming labor organizing. Then too you’ll learn just how much aid and direction that Bobby Kennedy gave to Dolores. See this film and bring a good friend…or Republican. 100% on RT!!! ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare-daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
BRADS STATUS. Ben Stiller is at his very best acting here and it’s a touching, involving, magnetic film. It’s about a dad and his son and the all too real complex relationship between parent and offspring. Austin Abrams plays Stiller’s son and he is quite simply great in the part. I cringed a lot due to reality, and it’s a fine film. ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
STRONGER. Jake Gyllenhaal is the spectator at the 2013 Boston Marathon who got hus legs blown off. What takes this movie out of the soupy heart puller category is that Jeff Bauman the victim was apparently a goof and fairly nasty guy. So you get booze, fighting, fuck words, lots of anger but because it’s Jake Gyllenhaal you come out liking the show. It’s a feel good film and barely shows anything of the marathon. Go if you like that sort of thing. ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score. Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
STRONGER. Jake Gyllenhaal is the spectator at the 2013 Boston Marathon who got hus legs blown off. What takes this movie out of the soupy heart puller category is that Jeff Bauman the victim was apparently a goof and fairly nasty guy. So you get booze, fighting, fuck words, lots of anger but because it’s Jake Gyllenhaal you come out liking the show. It’s a feel good film and barely shows anything of the marathon. Go if you like that sort of thing. ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
VICEROYS HOUSE. When you have Hugh Bonneville (from Downton Abbey) playing Lord Mountbatten it would seem to guarantee a masterpiece but this saga about Britain leaving the control of India in 1947 and dividing that part of the country into Pakistan and India, but it’s dull and near-boring in its’ accuracy. You’ll see Ghandi, Churchill, newsreels, and corpses…and learn a lot of history about oil deposits in Pakistan. Go warned. ENDS THURSDAY OCTOBER 5.
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this part 2 of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie look like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore, Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrassing.
ANNABELLE:CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
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. October 3 has Denise Gallant talking about her Tom Scribner documentary, and then we’ll talk with Erik Gandolfini and Avondina Wills about TheMountain Top play at the Center Stage. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. Following Phyllis Katie Hansen and Sierra Ryan two of the authors of the new MAH book Harvesting Our Heritage will discuss our County crop history. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
This is uplifting. More people like this in the world, please!
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. “PUERTO RICO”
“American imperialism is often traced to the takeover of Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii in 1898.” Noam Chomsky “In Puerto Rico, we have a lot of traditions. We eat a very typical thing that’s called ‘pasteles’ – it’s almost like a tamale made of bananas, and we make it all together. Like, all the women of the family unite, and it’s a very big deal, a very big thing”. Joyce Giraud “After four centuries of Spanish rule, Puerto Rico was ceded to the United States in 1898. Residents were granted U.S. citizenship in 1917, and the federal government has allowed Puerto Rico to exercise authority over its local affairs in a manner similar to the 50 states.” Pedro Pierluisi
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Highlights this week:
About Rape and Sexism…Back to the Octagon and the missing M and next Octagon occupant..Angelo Grove leaves FashionArt Show…”Greensite offline this week. Returns next week.”…Krohn about UCSC growth, EDGI forum, Homeless garden project, Short Term Vacation Rentals, Jail bail schedule…Steinbruner and irritated, angry, accusatory Supervisor John Leopold, Supe Zach Friend fails residents of Rancho Del Mar, Tom LaHue says Steinbruner is lying and she replies…Patton and Trumps mental state…Eagan and The National Health Alert…DeCinzo and private Trump school.. Jensen and Rebel In The Rye…I critique Brads Status, Rebel In The Rye, Stronger, Polina and Kingsmen #2…plus Quotes for October.
HINKLE’S CASH STORE.circa 1894 to 1923. At the corner of Pacific Avenue, Mission and Water Streets. Read more about this once great and important corner two paragraphs below.
SAN LORENZO RIVER WALK. Check out Alan Martin his video and his music too.
We gotta do something to bring our river up to its beautiful potential.
LITTLE BOY’S UNBELIEVABLE STUNTS.
SANTA CRUZ MUNICIPAL WHARF. This wharf is an integral part of our
community. Let’s keep it that way…and vote against the touristy plans the
City Council is thinking about.
DATELINE September 25, 2017
ABOUT RAPE AND SEXISM. Last week in BrattonOnlineGillian Greensite enclosed a paragraph in her column that not only bears repeating but it should be memorized. It says so much about rape and sexism that still isn’t said , admitted and practiced enough. Read it again…
“This developer friendly view of the high cost of housing brings to mind a similar distortion when people discuss why we have a high rate of rape in Santa Cruz, in California, in the US and globally. The usual list includes: women wearing skimpy clothes; women drinking; women going out alone; women partying; women not using the buddy system; women flirting…you get the picture. The main cause of rape is masculine sexual aggression, which is rendered invisible and thus assumes the status of a force of nature that women must navigate around, alter their lives around and suffer the guilt and blame if they fail and are raped. We will never radically reduce the incidence and trauma of rape if we ignore the cause and focus on extraneous factors that are at best, irrelevant, at worst victim-blaming. We need to re-focus attention on creating the social conditions for boys to be raised in a culture where “being a man” is not equated with being aggressive and in which all genders respect and support each other. No, not easy, we don’t have a good role model at the top right now and it won’t happen overnight but at least we can stop looking in all the wrong directions while ignoring the only one that will make a difference”.
BACK TO THE OCTAGON. I seriously have no idea how many years I’ d enjoyed sitting in front of the Octagon working on this column and my radio shows. In front of the Octagon is a great place to observe the passing parade and to get hundreds of confidential tips on what’s happening. While the de-construction of Abbott Square and the con-struction of MAH’s courtyard happened, I mostly stayed home for those hours. I went back last week, met dozens of long time friends, and got some ideas and opinions you see here. The two biggest questions I was asked and I’m asking too, were…. what happened to the giant black “M” that stood so tall next to the Red Ball at the corner of Cooper and Front Street. Where did the M go and why was it removed? The probably more often asked question was when or who is opening what inside the Octagon…the most historic building in our Downtown? I’ve asked Nina Simon director of MAH……as of this printing (downloading) no response from Nina. But we’ll hear soon, I’ll bet.
HISTORICAL MISTAKE. I wrote some awkward words about the McHugh Bianchi Building that I pictured last week. Eagle eyed Steven Bignell wrote to say, “As I’m sure other have already commented (and of course you know), the late and lamented McHugh and Bianchi General Store was actually demolished not in 2011 but back on August 20th, 1974. John Chase’s Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture gives a good summary of the losing battle that ultimately helped create the City Historic Preservation Commission and the Santa Cruz Historic Building Survey”. He’s right of course and Chase’s book tells us that specific corner building started out as a barbershop, a candy factory, a stove store, and then a bunch more businesses. From 1894 to 1923 it was Hinkle’s Cash Store. It was McHugh and Bianchi’s from 1946 to 1974. There was a huge battle to save McHugh’s and when I ran Henry Faitz’s campaign for State Assembly in 1974 we made it a big part of the campaign platform. We lost, and Bank of the West built what we now see at the Pacific and Water and Mission intersection.
FASHION/ART SHOW AND ANGLO GROVA’S GOOD BYE. For what seems to be obvious reasons the annual FashionArt Show at the Civic is another one of those Santa Cruz things. It’s silly, beautiful, erratic, artistic, and has become in its 12 years very successful, and I’ve been to every one of them…including the first one in Angelo Grova’sMichael Angelo Gallery parking lot in 2004. Angelo gave a serious and heartfelt 37 second speech last Saturday night at the end of the show. He’s retiring and turning it all (almost all) over to Christina Morgan Cree who will executive direct it. So plan on attending next year…she’ll do a great job too.
GREENSITE’S INSIGHT.
Gillian emailed to say… “Greensite offline this week. Returns next week.”
(Gillian Greensite is a long time local activist, a member of Save Our Big Trees and the Santa Cruz chapter of IDA, International Dark Sky Association http://darksky.org Plus she’s an avid ocean swimmer, hiker and lover of all things wild).
I Dreamed I Saw Some Affordable Housing Last Night… “EDGI” at the Cutting Edge of Climate Justice
Most locals agree that UCSC growth is out of control. You’ve probably noticed that students are back! Some are still in pursuit of non-existent apartments and the cars most off-campus dwellers bring to town are beginning fill that brief street lull that locals relish between Labor Day Boardwalk closure and the first day of school. The rush on and off-campus begins in earnest this Thursday, Day 1 of Year 51. And, if you ask old-time watchers, those who monitor the student stream flow on and off the city-on-a-hill, it has only become more intense–more crowded, congested, and often bumper-to-bumper–on Bay, Story, and High Streets. Of course, it’s not just the estudiantes, its larger numbers of faculty and staff who serve them and travel from as far away as Hollister and Gilroy, and from Livermore and Walnut Creek too.
Bernie Quote of the Week
“We must work toward making health care a right. But right now, our job is to save our current system which Republicans are trying to destroy.” (Sept. 18). Bernie was hot this week. He spoke at the California Nurses Association (CNA) conference in San Francisco. See the video here:
If politics, the housing crisis, car traffic, or the latest rent increase has you down, just take a hike across the UCSC campus. It’s still filled with deer, bobcats, incredible bird life, a bunch of wild turkeys, and even a few rarely-seen pumas.
So, it was with those foreboding thoughts in mind that I attended a recent UCSC, Friday “The Original Thinkers” Forum. What drew me to this event was the mildly politically-charged title, “Meaningful Activism in the Trump Era,” and it was being officially sponsored by the University of California. And “meaningful” it was. Seems that the keynote speaker, sociology Prof., Lindsey Dillon is part of an international group named EDGI, Environmental Data and Governance Initiative whose charge is to save U.S. government agencies’ data from the likes of Trump and his ilk. Plus NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Osha, Occupational Safety and Health Administration, the Department of Energy, and the EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency were a few of the “guv” agencies that scientists were worried about as Trump era troglodytes began to leave their caves and roam about freely in the capitol. Outfitted with IT scrubbing brushes, and their nefarious form of electronic Windex, they are still out looking to obliterate words like “climate change,” and all the data that comes with it that’s taken years to compile, Dillon said. The EDGI data collecting was a monumental job that began shortly after election day and continued until May 1st of this year. Her task originally was to create “data rescue events” in which dozens of people with laptops would assemble and download government data before it could be erased or rearranged. Now, EDGI’s work is directed at creating access points for scientists and all members of the public to view the data. They also are writing reports on how these government agencies are going through unprecedented change with the new Administration. One of their reports, The First 100 Days and Counting Part 1: The EPA Under Siege, “is an in-depth analysis of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under Trump and administrator Scott Pruitt” according to EDGI’s web site. Part of group’s work too has been to conduct confidential interviews with scientists and other employees of these government agencies to find out what change looks like from the inside.
How does EDGI “organize and collaborate?” Dillon said they use programs like #slack, peerio (end-to-end encryption software), zoom (video conferencing software), GitHub (“data folks use it”), Versionista (“to track changes on-line), and the more well-known, Google Drive so every team member can work on tasks together she said. The data itself is set to be stored at the University of Pennsylvania, Dillon revealed. It was refreshing to see a host of local academics and pols offer Proffessor Dillon kudos. As Chancellor George Blumenthal opened the Hotel Paradox 8am breakfast event, I looked around at the faces of the 50 or so packed into a smallish conference room. Among those present were former Santa Cruz Mayor Don Lane, Supervisor Ryan Coonerty, former Redevelopment Director Ceil Cirillo, new UCSC Dean of social sciences, Katheryn Mitchell, and former city council candidate Robert Singleton also came out. It was a good audience for Dillon, and she knocked it out of the park. It is also good to know activist-scientists like Dillon and her crew are working, like our state and federal court system, to combat all the seeds of badness and chaos that the Trump gang continues to sow. Yay Lindsey, keep it up!
Homeless Garden Project–Back from the Brink and Prospering
I met with Homeless Garden Project’s (HGP) board chair, Cathy Calfo, along with HGP executive director, Darrie Ganzhorn, to get briefed and updated on where their capital campaign and future are headed. They offered me some impressive numbers: 17 current trainees; 2,188 total garden and store volunteers last year alone; and a healthy $750,000 annual budget. The HGP ain’t going away anytime soon! In fact, it appears to be thriving as its board carries out a formidable capital campaign–as was done not too long ago at UCSC’sCommunity Agroecology and Sustainable Farm Systems (CASFS) led by the Prof. Daniel Press–to stabilize and grow the program as they make their seismic move to the Golf Club Drive side of the Pogonip. They are more than a third of the way to their $3 million-dollar goal and local heavyweights who form the capital committee include Patrice Boyle (Soif), Scott Roseman (former owner of New Leaf Market) and Calfo herself (Executive Director of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)).With the HPG, CASFS, Life Lab, and the explosion of our local farmer’s market, Santa Cruz is continuing to lead the way in organic agriculture and consumer products. This is all the more reason that we have to carefully till the social, political, and agricultural soil of the newly legal cannabis culture. If the cannabis commercial newbies (CannaCruz, Kind Peoples, WAMM you listening?) take a page from these three successful organically grown (pun intended) venerable organizations, our Santa Cruz will solidify its position at the forefront of the organic movement right where it belongs, and continue to create good jobs and attract grant money as well.
What do STR’s, Closing of the 15% Inclusionary Loophole, SC City Bail Schedule, and Affordable Housing Week Have in Common?
They’re all on the September 26 Santa Cruz city council agenda. Of course, STR’s (Short-term Vacation Rentals) far and away leads the pack for now. I’ve received over 200 email messages on this subject and they are running about 60-40 in favor of clamping down on STR’s in order to free up more housing for locals. The Planning Department staff report seems on the surface to be a reasonable one: supports limiting STR’s before they completely overwhelm Santa Cruz; all STR’s must be “hosted,” meaning owner has to live on premises; expresses concern about “unhosted” STR’s and suggests severely limiting their number by not issuing any new permits to the unhosted; and limiting the number of new “hosted” permits to 200. But, when joined with the existing STR’s this would give us around 500 (? still not clear) legal short-term rentals in the city of Santa Cruz. Is that too many or too few, or should government not get involved in telling people what they can and can’t do with their property(s)? Aside from the fact that government already has lots of rules around how people can develop property in the city, there are many heart-breaking and uplifting stories contained in those correspondences that support few limits. Mom visits for three months a year, Son comes home during summer…Can’t afford my mortgage without the STR…This is my retirement income you’re playing with…We get a better “class” of people to rent to (not fooled on that one)…I get to meet so many interesting people in a short period of time, and on and on go these stories. And most of them I take pretty seriously and have great sympathy. But folks, the community comes first, and really, we are talking currently about a very small group changing, whether they realize it, the very character of this town. Yes, it has been a tourist town at least since the first railroad steamed in during the 1880’s, but there has always been protection, preservation, and dedication by the city council concerning neighborhood integrity. If let to its own devices, the short-term rentals market would be, if it is not already, an unwanted mainstay in every neighborhood. And rental property is the most pressing need in this community, not short-term, but long-term rentals. If you need to house your son, daughter, granddaughter or grandfather at various times during the year then why not rent your place out as a sublet? Given the housing market and how long people search and have to wait to occupy a long-term rental, sublets could be a very necessary piece of our housing puzzle. Two, three, and four-month sublets are in short supply. It seems to me that by limiting the number of short-term rentals, the city council is sending the message to most year-round residents that they’re doing their job by protecting local housing stock for locals. Look for an update on STRs here next week…this issue will likely not become moot any time soon.
Look at right sidebar and click on the icon titled, “September 2017 Bail Schedule” to access the 15-page document.
Affordable Housing Week Oct 19-26 is getting closer and Steve McKay and Miriam Greenberg’s“No Place Like Home” project will kick it off on October 19th at the downtown Civic Auditorium. Mark your calendar, much more to come. We need to arm ourselves first with information, organize into small groups and large groups, and then get out and make some demands on councilmembers, supervisors, assembly members, and state senators. As Margaret Mead once said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Together, we can do this.
Odd Stuff
Are there really over 500 short-term rentals in the city of Santa Cruz?
Seventeen condos are proposed to go in over Old School Shoes on Pacific Ave., right next to the Catalyst. Will it be spelled out in the lease that ear protection will be provided by the landlord for every tenant?
Did anyone pony up the hundred bucks to attend Chip’s, “Downtown Party” last Friday night? (How was it?)
Two thousand and one-hundred beds are supposed to be coming on-line at UCSC by the year 2022, but the Family Student Housing complex–at $1658 per month for a 2-bedroom arguably one of the best deals in the city–will be shut down in order to rebuild it. Won’t that be a temporary loss of several hundred beds? So, not so big an increase in bed space then?
Hot Stuff
It’s amazing to watch NFL football players, and now fans too, “taking a knee” during the national anthem. Somebody proposed that city councilmembers “take a knee” during the flag salute at the beginning of each meeting in support of our Black Lives Matters’ brothers and sisters.
Sleeper Stuff:
The Looming, But Not-forgotten Issue of Next Month
Sign of the times…forty proposed condos at 1930 Ocean Street Extension. Housing for the second-home crowd?
~ (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).
NO BUILDING PERMITS HAVE YET BEEN ISSUED FOR RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER REMODEL.
So, why couldn’t Supervisor Zach Friend negotiate more than a paltry 10 days beyond the 30-day eviction date given the lower Rancho del Mar Center merchants? He claims that owner TRC Retail is on a tight construction timeline and therefore he could not push for anything more. Really? How can that be true if TRC Retail has NO permits yet?
Because I have recently been accused of telling lies here, I urge all readers to take a look at the Santa Cruz County Planning Dept. website: http://www.sccoplanning.com/
Click on the box “Check Application Status and Permit History” and enter APN 039-221-11 in the search box that appears. Lots of permit history comes flying up for this old shopping center, but at the bottom of the page, click on page “4” and take a look at what comes up. Master Applications 171014 and 171015 are still pending, having only been submitted July 19, 2017, the day before the Zoning Administrative Hearing when TRC Retail asked for a sign variance to allow four massive 12′ highlighted signs (which Administrator Wanda Williams thankfully rejected and applied reasonable modifications). The most recent comments by planners are listed on August 18, 2017….lots of comments, in some cases.
So, no permits…what was the rush to push out the tenants? Baskin-Robbins owner, Mr. Lee, cannot find a location suitable for relocation. Even if he could, it would require approval from corporate headquarters that usually takes two months. What did County Economic Development Director advise him to do? Call Barry Swenson Builder and try to get into the Aptos Village Project! Supervisor Zach Friend did nothing to help the merchants but certainly could have.
To make matters worse, the Aptos Chamber of Commerce organized a “Rally Around Rancho del Mar Merchants” last weekend. With the crowded rally, shoplifters stole hundreds of dollars in merchandise from Le Chef Kitchen Store, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Lee.
What is a saddened citizen who supports their independent small business family to do? Call Supervisor Zach Friend 831-454-2200 and write him at Zach Friend zach.friend@santacruzcounty.usand let him know how you feel about his glaring lack of leadership that could have helped the Rancho del Mar merchants and citizens had he taken his dutiful role of negotiator last summer. And while you’re at it, ask why he could not insist on more time for the merchants to relocate SINCE THERE ARE NO PERMITS FOR THE REMODEL PROJECT ISSUED.
Call TRC Retail Project Manager Mr. Scott Grady 949-508-6192 or write Scott Grady sgrady@trcretail.com and ask why TRC Retail gave the Rancho del Mar merchants a 30-day boot when the remodel project has no permits for the work.
“YOUR WRITING IS FULL OF LIES… AND I WANT YOU TO STOP IT RIGHT NOW!’
Those were the words of Soquel Creek Water District Board Chairman Tom LaHue when he approached rate payer Mr. Tom Stumbaugh and me after the September 19 Board meeting. No Community TV video or microphone recorded that angry conversation, wherein Chairman LaHue directed Mr. Stumbaugh and me to “just move on” from the issue of all the free water that the District staff knowingly allowed Aptos Village Project developers to take for dust control throughout the construction areas and for concrete curing. He told us to stop being so negative and look for solutions. Gee, one would think that Soquel Creek Water District Board members and staff would thank watchful citizens and rate payers that call out irregular service connections and water leaks. Not the case here…I got called a liar.
WHY IS THERE PERSONAL RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY (WITH NO ADDRESS) AND A MOBILE HOME IN SCOTTS VALLEY ASSOCIATED WITH THE GRANITE WAY WELL PARCEL IN APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT???
Well, that may be a deep subject and worthy of the Grand Jury investigating. Look for yourself:
Visit the Santa Cruz County Assessor website.
Under the left-hand ‘Quick Links’ box, click on ‘Parcel Information’
In the Parcel APN search box, enter 041-011-54, which is the parcel number of the Granite Way Well within the Aptos Village Project.
You will see the parcel information, listed as a ‘Well Site’ and no address.
Click on the green parcel number, and a screen stating there is ‘no assessed value’ appears, being under the column ‘Assessed Value and Taxes’, and sure enough, no taxes are assessed on this Special District government land.
Click on the next column heading , ‘Parcel Addresses’ and you see the mailing address of Soquel Creek Water District.
Now, click on the next column, ‘Splits & Combos’ and you see a green “GENERAL PARCEL” appear, with the recorded document 2015-0045724 and the date of November 13, 2015 when the deed for the new well site was recorded.
Click on the “GENERAL PARCEL” and take a look at what comes up closely, still under ‘Splits and Combos’. Now you see the General Parcel is listed as a Residential Lot, and has a new active APN of 023-121-08-32, with an odd recorded document ‘2017-MHA-043″, that was recorded May 1, 2017. That’s after the Granite Way Well parcel was deeded, isn’t it? That is a mobile home document, and is not available at the County Recorder’s Office (I asked). Also observe that the parcel number is in a different geopgraphical numbering area, and has an extra two numbers (-32) at the end…it turns out to be the space number of the mobile home located in Scotts Valley…somehow connected with the Aptos Village Project Granite Way Well. Hmmmmm…..
Click on the green parcel number and this is verified…the address is 6011 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA, and is classed as MH/Personal Property (remember, MH=mobile home).
Click on the next column, ‘Transfers’, and see that the mobile home, with it’s recorded document of May 1, 2017 has NO VALUE.
Click on the column ‘Characteristics’ and see that this mobile home was made in 2017, has 972SF Main area, 252SF carport, 24SF deck, forced air and a composition roof. No land.
Now, click back on the ‘Assessed Value and Taxes’ column, and see that there is NO ASSESSED VALUE OR TAXES FOR THIS MOBILE HOME PERSONAL PROPERTY, BECAUSE IT IS OWNED BY A SPECIAL DISTRICT GOVERNMENT THAT MAKES IT EXEMPT. Hmmmm….
Click on the column ‘Parcel Addresses’ and see that the mailing address for the mobile home is 6011 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA 95066. Wait a minute, that is not Soquel Creek Water District’s address… Hmmmm…..
But if you click back on the ‘Parcel List’ column, you see that the Granite Way Well APN (041-011-54) with address as unavailable, the GENERAL PARCEL with address unavailable but classed as residential zone,, and the APN 023-121-08-32 mobile home at 6011 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley, CA are all connected and exempt from tax assessment.
Now click on the green GENERAL PARCEL and you see that land has no assessed value either, even though it is in a residential zone, with address unavailable. Isn’t this interesting?
But wait, it gets better! Click on the ‘Transfers’ column and see that this residential property reappraisal transaction ($0 price) was recorded on JULY 4, 1776 and has an odd document number CONV000000777713. There are two irregular things about this: California did not become a state until 1850, so how could a document be recorded on July 4, 1776? Also, the County Recorder’s Office staff told me that documents with “CONV——-” do not exist in the Recorder’s files and ARE NOT ABLE TO BE TRACED. Hmmmmm….
Now, if you do this search anywhere but the County Assessor Office public computers, you will not see the owners of these properties. The County cannot make that information public except on its own computer system. Try doing this search from the public computers at the County Building’s first floor Assessor’s Office and you are in for a real shock.
There, you can see that the owners of the Scotts Valley mobile home are Robert Castillo and Denelle Huff, listed in conjunction with Soquel Creek Water District’s Granite Way Well and the mysterious GENERAL PARCEL, but all properties are tax exempt. The Recorder’s transfer fee on the Granite Way well parcel deed is $0, because Soquel Creek Water District is exempt from the usual $1.10/$1000 sales price of the transaction. I wonder if the mobile home sales transaction was also tax-exempt?
The new mobile home does indeed exist at the Mountain Brook Mobile Home Park, 6011 Scotts Valley Drive, Scotts Valley in space #32. But why is it connected with the Soquel Creek Water District well parcel in Aptos Village Project? All tax exempt? Who bought that new mobile home and why?
Call Soquel Creek Water District 475-8501 and ask, or better yet, write the Board a letter and ask them those questions (and any others you might have):
I hope Chairman Tom LaHue doesn’t accuse you of being a liar, too.
EXPERT PANELISTS FROM NATIONAL WATER RESEARCH INSTITUTE EXPRESS RESERVATION ABOUT SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S ABILITY TO MANAGE A COMPLICATED SEWAGE WATER TREATMENT PLANT.
I attended the September 20 Expert Panel from the National Water Research Institute (NWRI), sponsored by Soquel Creek Water District. Two of the five experts (Nelson and Cotruvo) expressed some reservation about Soquel Creek Water District being a relatively small water purveyor and possibly being challenged by the high level of technical expertise required of such advanced water treatment facility operators. If the system functions perfectly, the water is safe, they said. I think that “IF” is a huge “IF”. Given the lack of transparency the District has shown so far regarding this PureWater Soquel (notice they keep changing the name of the Project), I would not trust the District to be transparent with the public about any possible problems encountered with the operation of the proposed facility. Look at what the poor people of Cambria are experiencing for just this reason and have water rates also skyrocketing as a result.
The public workshop last Wednesday morning allowed members of the audience to hear presentations from District staff and NWRI scientists and recycled water experts and submit written questions before the Panel convened in closed session. The public session was recorded and is available in the information I have copied and pasted:
NWRI Independent Advisory Panel for PUREWater Soquel Groundwater Replenishment Project
Video and Presentation Slides Available from Public Meeting held September 20, 2017
The NWRI Independent Advisory Panel created to provide expert third-party review of the PUREWater Soquel Groundwater Replenishment Project met on September 20, 2017, at Capitola City Hall.
During the meeting, Soquel Creek Water District staff and their consultants provided an overview of the PUREWater Soquel Groundwater Replenishment Project, and community members in the audience submitted written questions to the Panel during the public question-and-answer period. The Panel responded verbally to questions that were within the scope of their charge, and will include written answers in the recommendation report that will be prepared for Soquel Creek District Staff. Written questions on the project will continue to be accepted through Wednesday, September 27, 2017, via email ssharkey@nwri-usa.org, or USPS
Contact/Submit Written Questions To:
Suzanne Sharkey
Water Resources Scientist and Project Manager
National Water Research Institute
18700 Ward Street
Fountain Valley, CA 92708 ssharkey@nwri-usa.org
(714) 378-3278
Mr. Doering owns the Provision Glass Shop on Chanticleer Avenue that is within the area Soquel Creek Water District has marked as “affected property” for their proposed advanced water treatment plant currently under environmental review by consultants at ESA. The problem is that neither Mr. Doering nor his adjacent property owner are willing to sell their land or businesses to the District, should ESA make the determination that the Chanticleer Avenue is the best location for the District’s “preferred supplemental supply solution”. It seems, in talking with Mr. Doering, that representatives of the District have visited his business and told employees that the water treatment plant is going to be built there, and that they will have to move. Stressful, don’t you think?
Meanwhile, neighbors in the residential community surrounding the District offices are continuing to express their opposition to having an industrial water treatment plant in their midst. The District has not handled this well, failing to be transparent with these people, and shoving a handicapped tenant out of the Section 8 affordable housing in the home on the property purchased with the treatment facility in mind. And don’t forget that the other home Soquel Creek Water District intends to demolish is the significant Millsap house, built in 1890. Who cares about preserving local history?
Well, ESA is due to release the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) Scoping Report soon. That will have a public comment period, then scurry away for further study. The final EIR will be released sometime next spring, with what I am sure will be a shocking surprise that PureWater Soquel (or whatever name the District has given the project by then) will be the best choice for a supplemental supply. But don’t worry, the Board constantly assures the public that they have not made up their minds about a project until the EIR is complete. Meanwhile, the District has already hired a full-time engineer to begin developing plans for the PureWater Soquel project. Transparency???
MIDCOUNTY GROUNDWATER AGENCY APPROVES PLANNING COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Last Thursday, the MidCounty Groundwater Agency (MGA) Board approved the Nominating Committee recommendations for members of the Groundwater Sustainability Planning Committee. There were 30 applicants and nine were chosen. I thought it was interesting that NONE of the chosen applicants has ever been to a MGA Board meeting. Some attended last Thursday’s meeting, but not all. Neither Supervisor Zach Friend nor Supervisor John Leopold was there to represent the County government.
That group will begin educating themselves about the groundwater problems and issues with the first in a series of informational workshops that will be open to the public. This is will be a two-year commitment for these folks, with important work to define what will be done to heal the critically over drafted aquifers in the area by 2040. Oddly, the State defines the sustainability goals to be measured by actions that do not cause any “undesirable conditions”. These “undesirable conditions” include significant sea water intrusion, lowered groundwater levels, reduction of groundwater storage, land subsidence, negative impacts on local surface water environmental habitats, and degraded water quality. All must be quantified and measurable.
If you want to be notified of future workshops and meetings, contact Julia Townsend and Darcy Pruitt and ask to be put on the “Interested Parties” list for notification.
“YOU’RE TAKING UP A LOT OF TIME”
Those were the words of County Board of Supervisor Chairman John Leopold at last Tuesday’s meeting when I stepped up to the podium to ask questions about the first of three items that I had asked to have pulled from the Consent Agenda and placed on the Regular Agenda for discussion. I learned awhile back, quite by accident, that members of the public can do that if they have a question about a Consent Item and want to get an answer publicly. Consent Items are supposed to be non-controversial, but usually anything controversial, such as the Aptos Village Project, gets put on as a Consent Item in order (my opinion) to keep it from being discussed publicly.
Usually, such items requested to be placed on the regular agenda would be placed at the VERY end of the agenda, requiring one to wait until the end of the meeting. However, Chairman John Leopold did me a kind favor and placed the three items before the one item on the day’s Regular Agenda. I appreciated that, and said so.
Here are the items I wanted discussed and the questions I wanted answered:
1) Ambulance Operators Certification. I thought this was approval related to the extension of the American Medical Response (AMR) contract and I wanted answers about the response time problems and why Aptos / La Selva Fire’s Medical Response Unit gets paged out so often, effectively taking the main fire engine out of service for Aptos. I misunderstood, and the item was about having a licensed operator certification, not about the contract. Now I know but it was not clear from reading the information in the agenda packet documentation..
2) Increasing the budget for the Valencia Road repair in Aptos by $2.5 million for a total of nearly $5.2 million. I wanted to know exactly why the project budget had to be doubled? I wanted to know why a similar project in Scotts Valley, on Nelson Road, was completed within three weeks and cost (according to Dept. of Public Works Storm Damage Report submitted to the Board in June) about $350,000 and the FEMA account has been closed? Dept. of Public Works Director John Presleigh gave very vague reasons for the huge Valencia repair cost increase and reported that when Nelson Road’s culvert is eventually replaced, it will probably cost about $1 million.
Supervisor Zach Friend stated then that he had heard Dept. of Public Works explain Nelson Road three times now, and he understands the situation and wonders when I will? What an effective elected representative he is, don’t you think?
3) I wanted to know why the Dept. of Public Works was asking for Board approval of $1 million/year to each of five engineering firms (none local) for the next three years (that’s a total of $15 million!) for outside engineering contract to help with designs for storm-damaged road repairs. Wow, that is a lot of money for a small county already $7.4 million in budget deficit, especially when the Director of Public Works stated a few months ago at a Board meeting that all engineering would be done in-house to save money. Mr. Presleigh denied saying that, and stated that in order to get the damaged roads fixed quickly, more engineers are needed. I guess the 22 on payroll just are not enough (that number was supplied to me by a Public Records Act request document from County Counsel). If climate changes models are correct, last winter could become the normal winter…maybe it would be cheaper and more effective to hire more staff onto County Public Works? I wonder if the engineer, Mark Christensen, who stands all day watching the contractor crews work at the Aptos Village Traffic Improvement Project could help out?
Here is a list of engineering consultants your tax dollar is hiring for $3 million each:
Dokken Engineering (Folsom, CA)
Drake Haglan Assoc. (Rancho Cordova, CA)
TY Lin International (San Jose, CA)
Quincy Engineering (Pleasanton, CA)
WSP USA (Los Angeles, CA)
Also, your tax dollars have hired Hagerty Consultants to manage the FEMA reports (Evanston, IL)
The Board approved all of the above, but not without first getting into an argument that should embarrass Chairman John Leopold. During the discussion regarding storm damaged roads, Supervisor Greg Caput had questions for Director Presleigh. This seemed to irritate Chairman John Leopold inordinately, and he repeatedly tried to shut Supervisor Caput up. Supervisor Caput persisted with trying to get answers to his questions, quickly leading to Chairman John Leopold interrupting and asking County Counsel Dana McRae what discussion is legally allowed? She replied that all discussion had to be kept to items on the agenda, in order to satisfy the Ralph M. Brown Act requirements. Supervisor Caput’s questions did pertain to the agenda item, but once again, Chairman John Leopold tried to shout down the discussion. “Well, in the interest of avoiding a food fight, I’ll stop,” consented Supervisor Greg Caput.
What disrespectful manners. Cover your teenagers’ ears when you watch that video:
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS HEAR $30,000 CONSULTANT DESCRIBE NEW STRATEGIC PLAN PROCESS.
In a truly symbolic gesture, the full Board of Supervisors moved to tables arranged on the floor at audience level. We all watched a TED Talk video about motivation and success, and then a new strategy for Departmental direction and successful measurements rolled out. “Vision Santa Cruz County” is a brainchild of new CEO Carlos Palacios for involving staff and the public to develop a strategic plan for what the County will look like in five years and how the government process will effectively accomplish and measure those goals.
Chairman John Leopold wanted to know how much the public would be involved and to what degree their input would be incorporated? Good question.
The consultant explained that there had already been a weekend retreat for department heads to discuss the new strategic planning process, and 40 staff members have begun a LEAP Program, learning how to implement these ideas. Another 30 will be trained next year, so that eventually, all interdepartmental staff will be working together under the same mindset.
Public comment was interesting. The few members of the public who had stayed to listen wanted to know if there truly would be a shift in government responsiveness to reflect the opinions and concerns of the public expressed at public meetings. Some pointed out that the Board of Supervisors had destroyed the very effective Citizen’s Building Code and Fire Code Appeal Board, and now require citizens who want to appeal government decisions to pay large sums of money to be heard. Another pointed out that the County does not always follow its own guidelines, for example granting demolition permits and waiving staff time when an historic building is demolished yet claims on websites to value historic preservation.
Chairman John Leopold did not appreciate those public comments, some of which I made while reminding him that he had told me earlier in the meeting that I was taking a lot of time by asking to have staff publicly answer my questions. Public input and active involvement welcome??? Not really.
TRAFFIC SIGNALS UP IN APTOS VILLAGE BUT GRIDLOCK PERSISTS
Last week, the new traffic signals got installed at the Soquel Drive and Trout Gulch Road intersection, as part of Phase I of the County’s project to benefit Swenson developers and others destroying the Aptos Village area. It’s a lot like having to pay for the bullet to kill a family member. Former Supervisor Ellen Pirie told me last year that she has full confidence that the traffic engineers at the County have solved any potential traffic problem associated with the Aptos Village Project by adding two traffic lights to the area. Will this really effectively handle the 8,000 additional vehicles per day that County Traffic Engineer Jack Sohriakoff anticipated on his grant application to the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to fund this mess?
Jack Sohriakoff retired about a month ago. Ellen Pirie might still be hiding in Africa. Who will be accountable if the traffic lights don’t fix the gridlock problem???
~
METRO OPERATIONS CHIEF OFFERS SHOCKING INFORMATION ABOUT APTOS VILLAGE BUS STOP RELOCATION.
Many thanks to letter-writer extraordinaire Mr. Tom Stumbaugh for making sure there was written correspondence in the Metro Board agenda packet last Friday regarding the inbound #71 bus stop relocation in Aptos Village. Because that correspondence was on the agenda, the Board had to get an answer from Operations Chief Mr. Ciro Aguirre when several members of the public spoke up at the public communication time asking questions about the relocation. Mr. Aguirre’s answer was not always audible, but what I heard was that early versions of the bus stop design submitted by County Public Works were NOT handicap-accessible and failed to satisfy the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements. The County dropped the federal funding portion of the Phase I Aptos Village Traffic Improvement Project and subsequently, local engineering firm Bowman and Williams submitted plans for the bus stop that were ADA-compliant but that did not include sidewalks. Wow.
Mr. Aguirre went on to admit that the specifications for the new bus bay had to be changed because of the intrusion into railroad right-of-way, and therefore the bus will not be able to get completely out of the lane of traffic when stopped. He acknowledged that there is limited line of sight visibility for motorists approaching the bus stop from the westbound Soquel Drive, but assured the Metro Board that the bus driver Union Leader had signed off on the project, so it all would not be a problem. Wow, again!
“Why did Public Works ask us to move this bus stop? Traffic in Aptos Village is crazy and I just don’t see how a bus driver will be able to get back out into traffic. It’s ridiculous!” said Metro Director Dan Rothwell. Mr. Aguirre could not answer why Public Works had asked for the bus stop to be moved from the current level and highly-visible location, but assured the Board that the Metro drivers are all trained in defensive driving techniques and would deploy the flashing “YIELD TO BUS” sign on the back of the bus.
“We really don’t have any say in these matters,” Director Mike Rotkin said. “Public Works maintains the roads and we just have to put up with what they hand us.” He might not be so agreeable if he had mobility issues and had to get on the #71 bus at Aptos Village to get to Santa Cruz.
Write the Department of Public Works and ask why the inbound #71 Metro stop in Aptos Village is being moved at taxpayer’s expense. All questions have to be directed to Ms. Christine Berge mailto:christine.berge@santacruzcounty.us or phone 454-2160. Maybe ask County Supervisor Zach Friend, too. He attended the closed session meetings when all this was decided, and allowed the Aptos Village Project developers (Swenson, Appenrodt, Testorff) to get all this work done at taxpayer expense to benefit their disgusting development. Call 454-2200 or write Zach Friend mailto:zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us. Maybe also ask when the disruptive County Public Works road work in the Village that is really hurting business for the existing merchants will be finished??? As always, Zach says he loves to hear from you.
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
(Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes).
On August 29, 2017, The New York Times ran an Op-Ed by Peter D. Kramer and Sally L. Satel. Kramer is an emeritus professor of psychiatry at Brown. Satel is a psychiatrist and resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. These psychiatrists addressed the following question: “Who Decides Whether Trump Is Unfit to Govern?” Kramer and Satel concluded that “the medical profession and democracy would be ill served if a political determination at this level were ever disguised as clinical judgment.”
On August 31, 2017, reader Ken Lefkowitz fired back a response. His letter to the newspaper strongly disagreed with Kramer and Satel:
“May I respectfully disagree with the esteemed psychiatrists, whose position is that politicians and not mental health professionals should decide on President Trump’s fitness for office. They write that “many experts believe that Mr. Trump has a narcissistic personality disorder.” These experts are concerned about his mental and emotional instability.
People with this disorder distort reality to meet their extreme ego needs, rendering them blind to other views and facts but their own. Mr. Trump is capable of any belief or action that feeds his extreme narcissism, no matter how absurd. His actions are driven by his obsession to gain the praise and adoration of others.
This inability to understand reality and the truth, which we have clearly seen in Mr. Trump, renders him incapable of evaluating situations and making informed, appropriate decisions. It is time the mental health community step up and join, if not lead, [sic.] the effort to remove our president from office”.
Let me weigh in on this timely topic, made even more timely by the fact that our president is clearly trying to match craziness with the Supreme Leader of the Democratic Republic of North Korea. If we truly believe in “self-government,” and a government “of, by, and for the people,” then “the people” must be in charge of deciding who is competent to be president. Expert opinion can be solicited and employed as the people make decisions, but decisions about who should run our government, and what our government should do, are not susceptible to delegation to experts. “We, the people,” need to decide.
We have set up political mechanisms to make the political decisions that determine who is in charge, and how the government will operate.
I conclude that we should stop looking for someone other than ourselves to save us. “We, the people,” is not a fictional entity. It’s a genuine political reality. I am voting for Kramer and Satel, on the question, “Who Decides?”
We decide! That’s what “self-government” means. I think we made a bad decision last November. If we want to reverse that decision now (which would be a good thing to do, in my opinion), we’d better start making our political system work, instead of hoping for some expert to come in and solve our problem for us. (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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. DeCinzo Looks at what could now be a Trump approved private school!!! See below.
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” National Health Alert #9” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Look, Ma, I’m on Rotten Tomatoes! Here’s the link, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). Also, Rebel In the Rye, the new movie about the life and times of J. D. Salinger: perceptive or phony? Read all about it in this week’s Good Times.” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
REBEL IN THE RYE. Unfortunately this excellent film, especially if you’ve ever thought about writing for a living leaves on Thursday. It’s about J.D.Salinger and THE BOOK and what the writing and the success afterwards did to his life. A chubby Kevin Spacey plays J.D.’s mentor and Nicholas Hoult is J.D. See it quickly, or sometime for sure.
ENDS THURSDAY September 28.
BRADS STATUS. Ben Stiller is at his very best acting here and it’s a touching, involving, magnetic film. It’s about a dad and his son and the all too real complex relationship between parent and offspring. Austin Abrams plays Stiller’s son and he is quite simply great in the part. I cringed a lot due to reality, and it’s a fine film.
STRONGER. Jake Gyllenhaal is the spectator at the 2013 Boston Marathon who got hus legs blown off. What takes this movie out of the soupy heart puller category is that Jeff Bauman the victim was apparently a goof and fairly nasty guy. So you get booze, fighting, fuck words, lots of anger but because it’s Jake Gyllenhaal you come out liking the show. It’s a feel good film and barely shows anything of the marathon. Go if you like that sort of thing.
POLINA. The plot is from a book and it’s another will the poor kid struggle into fame against the odds….except that most of the “odds” here are created by Polina. It leaves Thursday so no big problem here. The dance photography isn’t much to watch either…and it should have been.
ENDS THURSDAY September 28.
KINGSMEN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE. I wished I’d remembered that this part 2 of an ongoing series comes from comic books. The entire movie look like an animated cartoon. It’s violent, murderous, and plain goofy. Elton John plays himself and there’s a warning right there. To watch such good actors as Julianne Moore , Halle Berry and especially Colin Firth jump around for their million dollar salaries is embarrasing.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
DOLORES. See both Chris Krohn’s and my “advice” and “promotion” of this very necessary documentary up above. We all have some opinion of Dolores Huerta based on rumor, poor memory and the ignoring by media. That’s why we should all see this film. It’s also strong on feminism and Gloria Steinem along with Angela Davis have much to add to Dolores’ near overwhelming labor organizing. Then too you’ll learn just how much aid and direction that Bobby Kennedy gave to Dolores. See this film and bring a good friend…or Republican. 100% on RT!!!
This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
WIND RIVER. Jeremy Renner and young beauty Elisabeth Olsen track down a killer on an Indian Reservation in the very cold Wyoming winter. Much better than average, you’ll stay with the plot and quite decent acting…all the way. It males some obvious social comment along the way, and that works too. The conclusion is a bit crude and drunken, but Renner is almost always worth watching. ENDS THURSDAY September 28.
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score.
Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
VICEROYS HOUSE. When you have Hugh Bonneville (from Downton Abbey) playing Lord Mountbatten it would seem to guarantee a masterpiece but this saga about Britain leaving the control of India in 1947 and dividing that part of the country into Pakistan and India, but it’s dull and near-boring in its’ accuracy. You’ll see Ghandi, Churchill, newsreels, and corpses…and learn a lot of history about oil deposits in Pakistan. Go warned.
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
ANNABELLE:CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
THE TRIP TO SPAIN. This is the third supposed comedy that two British actors, comics, impressionists… Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have made, and they shouldn’t make any more. These guys go on supposedly food tasting trips to restaurants in England, Italy and now Spain. In each restaurant and on the road they do imitations of famous British actors…James Bond, well Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Mick Jagger and try very hard to be funny. I haven’t laughed once during any of these contrived messes and find the two actors just about nauseating. Don’t blame me if you do decide to go. ENDS THURSDAY September 28.
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 26 has Conductor, artistic director Michel Singher talking about the next Espressivo Orchestra Concert, after Michel, Betsy Anderson and Alison Carrillo talk about Museo Carrillo. October 3 has Denise Gallant talking about her Tom Scribner documentary, and then we’ll talk with Erik Gandolfini and Avondina Wills about the Mountain Top play at the Center Stage. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. Following Phyllis two of the authors of the new MAH book Harvesting Our Heritage will discuss our County crop history. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
This is cute 🙂
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. “October”
“October is the month for painted leaves…. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight”, Henry David Thoreau, “Autumnal Tints”
“October, tuck tiny candy bars in my pockets and carve my smile into a thousand pumpkins…. Merry October! ~Rainbow Rowell “On October 15, 1965, an estimated 70,000 people took part in large-scale anti-war demonstrations“, Noam Chomsky “Chicago is an October sort of city even in spring”, Nelson Algren
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Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Highlights this week:
Griggs and Vulnerable Santa Cruz…True story of Barry Swenson’s Illegal Tank Removal…Nestlé’s buys vegan biz (like Coke buying Odwalla)… Peter Bartczak mural’s demise… Warning against Western Service Workers Association …Dolores the movie, reviewed by Krohn and Bratton…Greensite on Housing Costs…Krohn and affordable housing, and the Pacific Ave. hole and Swenson plans…Steinbruner and true story of Swenson and Aptos Village development problems, Rancho Del Mar fighting TRC developer, Zach Friend not responding or caring or helping… Patton and DACA deal…DeCinzo and school time…Eagan and Medicare…Mark Stone Party Thursday…FashionArt show next Saturday…Jensen and a movie hint…I critique Mother, Dolores, Viceroy House and Beach Rats…Quotes, an amalgam of.
McHugh & Bianchi General Store. November 1972. This grand identifying structure was replaced with Bank Of The West in 2011. It was right across the street from Scribner Square at the corner of Pacific and Mission.. It was once known as the Hotaling Building and Hinkle’s Cash Store.
SANTA CRUZ TIME CAPSULE 1979-1999. As created and filmed by LBJohnson.
THE HUMANS 1979 from their album. Early Santa Cruz music!!!
Larry Hosford and Jeff Cruse on KUSP at General Feed and Seed in Soquel.
DATELINE September 18, 2017
VULNERABLE SANTA CRUZ. UCSC Earth Scientist professor and former director of the Institute of Earth Sciences Gary Griggs and I talked about the official City of Santa Cruz Vulnerability Study that he and Brent Haddad were commissioned to do. Paid for by FEMA money, it was also known as the Santa Cruz Climate Adaptation Plan. It laid out the dangers of flooding Pacific Avenue, floods filling Neary Lagoon, shores crumbling, on and on it reads. What’s the City ever done in reaction to the study, what has the City ever done by way of the evacuation plan it urged…nothing, just nothing. It’s the same as back in 1988 one year before the 1989 earthquake when the city commissioned experts to detail the possible earthquake dangers. That study said that almost all the business on Pacific Avenue needed re-shoring, needed huge new support systems. The businesses on Pacific and the City Council paid the study fee and sent the experts back out of town and almost all the building owners did absolutely nothing. Except oddly enough Max Walden who owned The Cooper House did the necessary re-structuring. But after the 89 quake local “experts” said the Cooper House did get damaged and because the new owner wanted the FEMA money he let the historic building be destroyed. Are we still in the same boat? Will the next tsunami, tidal wave, or quake destroy more of our community because the City Council again ignores all the warnings? We’ll see, won’t we? Listen to the Griggs interview at … http://www.radiofreeamerica.com/dj/bruce-bratton and click on “September 12”.
BARRY SWENSON GOT CAUGHT AND FINED! Becky Steinbruner has again, scooped everybody in her BrattonOnline column long ago and told all of us about Barry Swenson and the ILLEGAL TANK REMOVAL…this week she tells us the entire story that the Sentinel missed completely. Read it just below.
NESTLE’S BUYS IN. Read in The Monterey County Weekly how Nestle’s bought out a Moss Landing organic vegan business. Read the details here… Read the details here…
A fond farewell to Moonlight Dance, located at Scope Park, with artist Peter Bartczak and the Santa Cruz Arts Commission. Moonlight Dance has been a poignant symbol of the accepting and diverse culture of Santa Cruz for 24 years. The community shared fond memories and thoughts of the mural.
PETER BARTCZAK & MURAL. Like destroying the Cooperhouse, the closing of Logos, losing the Pergolesi, losing the Art and History from the McPherson Museum of Art and History, the painting over Peter Bartczak’s “Moonlight Dance” mural in what used to be Scribner Square (SCOPE PARK) means losing more of the spirit of Santa Cruz. That’s the spirit that identifies us as a community and bonds and binds the folks who have chosen to live here. It is the same spirit that preserved the Town Clock….watch Peter
BEWARE THE WESTERN SERVICE WORKERS ASSOCIATION. This cult of young adults are back again (Trader Joe’s downtown) asking for spare change and trying to get more young people to join their group. Controversy follows them everywhere and always read this website before you get involved …or donate… Anybody know anything about the western service workers association?
CHECK YOUR FINGERS. Under no circumstances should anyone go see the movie “Beach Rats” now showing at the Nickelodeon. (see critique down below). But the one thing I did remember from critiquing it last Sunday is just one statement in the film. “If your index finger is longer than your ring finger, that means you’re gay”.
DOLORES…MORE THAN A MOVIE. Two more than salient topics are dealt with in this long overdue tribute to Dolores Huerta. One is to realize what history (and all of us) has done to motivated women. Obviously Hillary C. but add in Elizabeth Roosevelt, Elizabeth Warren, Nancy Pelosi and on and on. Huerta is shown to be a monumental force in spite of all odds, most of which are sexist. The second feature of this documentary is the power and strength and validity of The Boycott and its place in our history. From Delano and the grape boycott, to General Motors, Safeway, Nestle, Luis Valdez, Angela Davis are featured
HOUSING COST SHIBBOLETHS
A recent Sentinel editorial noted that California’s high cost of housing, including rents, hinders economic growth and is the major factor behind the high cost of living in the Golden State (As We See It 9/14/17). The editorial laid out the reasons for the state’s high housing costs as seen by the editorial board, namely: zoning restrictions that limit the amount of developable land; NIMBYS (Not In My Back Yarders); high development impact fees; overly strict building codes and labor rules; CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) abuses and inclusionary zoning measures (requiring a development to include a certain number of below market-rate units.) Wow, their list neatly summarizes factors that protect the environment; ensure building safety; respect the right to protest gentrification and overbuilding in neighborhoods and provide for some (never enough) lower-than- average priced (never low enough) housing units in multi-unit developments. Conspicuously absent from the Sentinel’s list is any mention of investors, speculators and developers whose right to profit from a basic human need for shelter is never questioned.
This developer friendly view of the high cost of housing brings to mind a similar distortion when people discuss why we have a high rate of rape in Santa Cruz, in California, in the US and globally. The usual list includes: women wearing skimpy clothes; women drinking; women going out alone; women partying; women not using the buddy system; women flirting…you get the picture. The main cause of rape is masculine sexual aggression, which is rendered invisible and thus assumes the status of a force of nature that women must navigate around, alter their lives around and suffer the guilt and blame if they fail and are raped. We will never radically reduce the incidence and trauma of rape if we ignore the cause and focus on extraneous factors that are at best, irrelevant, at worst victim-blaming. We need to re-focus attention on creating the social conditions for boys to be raised in a culture where “being a man” is not equated with being aggressive and in which all genders respect and support each other. No, not easy, we don’t have a good role model at the top right now and it won’t happen overnight but at least we can stop looking in all the wrong directions while ignoring the only one that will make a difference.
And so it is with housing. The invisible, major driver of housing costs is that housing is a commodity designed to generate profits usually tied into global financing and capital. For local flavor, add a few factors such as a growing demographic of high tech, high salaried consumers; UCSC’s continued expansion; global marketing of Santa Cruz’s natural/cultural environments and the result is that the value of land and rents on that land will be pushed as high as possible. Remember not long ago when $350 a month for a one-room apartment seemed high? No amount of building will lower the ever-increasing cost of housing under conditions of unlimited demand, which is to live in Santa Cruz, so long as housing is a commodity. In fact, building more will only raise the cost of housing by raising the value of property just as Accessory Dwelling Units (ADU’s) raise the cost of housing while not providing working class/blue collar affordable rentals. Well-off, single millennials soon tire of dense apartment living and look for single -family homes, further driving up the price. Of course, an economic slump in global capital will chill the housing market for a while, allowing the big financiers to buy up stock and wait out the slump until the next boom.
Taking housing out of the capitalist market is probably not a popular option but like health care, is probably the only way to lower the cost and ensure that everyone has access to truly affordable shelter. Short of that there are some ways to better regulate the market other than leaving it up to financiers with their shills in Planning Departments and compliant elected officials to make decisions that pretend to nibble at the cost corners but in fact just smooth the way for more development. Inclusionary zoning, seen by some as a solution, encourages dense development, which placates some housing activists but does not deliver the “affordable” goods. It does raise the value and therefore the cost of the surrounding properties.
Since Santa Cruz properties are being snapped up as second homes by the wealthy, legislation that heavily taxes such unoccupied dwellings would help. Rent control would help. Stopping UCSC growth would help. A heavy tax on flipping properties would help. What won’t help is to follow the Sentinel editorial board down the garden path to open the gate wider for developers by eliminating the few avenues the public has available to temper the excesses of profiteering and protect what’s left of Santa Cruz as a town with a distinct character rather than a corporate brand.
~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.
Who Will Hold the City Council’s Feet to the Affordable Housing Fire?
“If Not Now When? If Not Us, Then Who?”
(Outrageous) Photo of the week Your tax dollars at work! What happened to the smaller Ford Rangers, or even the Toyota Tacoma’s? What message is the city sending? What about an E-truck? Try jogging, biking, or strollering around this F-150 behemoth!?! Difficult at best. Why is the city purchasing such bloat? Just a couple of months ago I saw Park Rangers patrolling the river levy driving an electric golf cart. These carts are maneuverable and provide plenty of room to get around the recreating residents. Somebody has too much money in the city, and I have a homeless shelter that needs funding.
Brother, Can You Spare a Condo?
The housing “buck” that’s supposed to stop at the Santa Cruz City Council this week came and went. It came in the form of a Barry Swenson 79-condo project at 1547 Pacific Avenue; the site of the pre-earthquake Bookshop Santa Cruz. Our housing hyper-sensitive community was entitled to 12 units of affordable housing in this project. There it was on the table, but upon voting, our community was left hung out to dry and the 12 units disappeared into that same black hole of council misses: 555 Pacific Ave., 1800 Soquel Ave. 716 Darwin Street and the recent dubious additions to 630 Water Street. Somehow TWELVE bedrooms and studios just slipped through the folded arms of a compliant, developer-first five-two majority city council. Folks, our city council is just not holding developers accountable.
In this case, Swenson front man, Scott Connelly, was not offering any affordable units, and the Council Five wasn’t demanding any. In fact, Scotty will build a completely unfriendly-family project with NO 3-bedroom units, while at the same time turning several two-bedroom units into studios and more one-bedrooms in this “Santa Cruz hot, hot” housing market. How hot is it? I asked a simple question: Scotty, before you beam me up, how much will the rent be at 1547 Pacific Avenue? After all, it’s the location where I was introduced to caffeine during my UCSC undergrad days at Caffe Pergolesi, and where the Penny University was founded, and also where I was recently told, Supervisor Gary Patton held his Monday agenda review sessions before Tuesday County supervisor meetings. Well, it took Scott about ten minutes to get to the, er, actual, illusory maybe, rent prices. But finally, he did reveal some numbers to gaping mouths, dropped jaws, and bystander gasps. In a doctor’s voice charged with telling the patient she’s got incurable cancer, Mr. Connelly stammered and finally arrived at the price tags: Studios for $2000, 1-bedrooms for $2800, and 2-bedroom units as high as $3800…and “our” Santa Cruz City Council scored zero affordable units that day.
I often feel like I am living in a parallel universe while occupying a seat on the left side of city council dais. Some 58% of the community members that occupy some part of the universe I’m also apart of are renters. And those renters were looking to the council last Tuesday afternoon to help level this insane Santa Cruz rental market. I am deeply sorry to say the council failed this rather simple test because guess what? There’s hundreds more units of housing being contemplated along Front Street and the river, and achieving deep levels of affordability does not look very promising at this point.
Public Wants Council to Demand Developers Build the Affordable Units
To top it off, 28 of 29 members of the public who wrote in pleading with the council to demand that the developer at least take some time and come back to the council with the requisite number of affordable units were almost completely ignored. “Just figure it” out they wrote in unison. The city is entitled to 15%, or 11.85 units under the “Planned Development” scenario that the developers agreed to enter in. Perhaps the correspondence is best summed up by what retired teacher, Ruth Valdez, wrote:
“As a retired-teacher I am finding it nearly impossible to afford housing in this area where I’ve lived and worked since 1985. Is this any way to treat us? In your approval of 79 condos on Pacific Ave at the old Bookshop Santa Cruz site, your Council needs to demand that the developer build the 13 inclusionary units as per our ordinance for Planned Development units. The Council has discretion to demand this. I urge you to demand that these affordable units be built as part of the development. We need all the affordable housing possible in our city.”
As a matter of fact, the city council a couple months back, passed a Two-Year Work Plan Strategic Goals, and guess what is stated as the number one goal of this city council? Come on now…did it say to make developers happier and wealthier? Nope. On Page 7, the Strategic Goal numero uno, is housing and “creat[ing] pathways for housing development that maintains our community character while supporting affordable housing goals…” But, not on second Tuesdays in September, I guess. Basically, what I learned from this resulting council vote was that there would be no “public benefit.” A public benefit finding is negotiated with the developer when the council offers permit relief or land or certain permissions. The council can demand the developer build affordable units, or put in extra trees, or require bicycles on premises to cut down on car trips, or put in a rooftop garden, or make the building a Leeds-certified design, or obtain an easement through the property to provide the public with access between Pacific Avenue and Cedar Street, in this case…but no, no public access to this building at all was required by THE FIVE who voted to approve it. Game On folks, NOT Game over!
Dolores
I’m not trying to steal thunder from Bratton’s movie reviews here, but if you want a shot in the organizer arm, go see Dolores at the Del Mar Theater before it leaves, or rent it on-line if it’s gone. This movie is one we need to take notes from because the 2018 city council elections are right around the corner, and if we are to get better affordable housing negotiators we need to elect councilmembers who turn their talk into deeds. It’s a fine film portrayal of what a terrific organizer, Dolores Huerta was, and still is, up to this day! The story is personal, political, and we hear some tear-jerking moments from her eleven kids about a mom who was away for most of their childhood years organizing farm workers and feminists, running picket lines, and later teaching younger organizers. Local Santa Cruzan, Tatanka Bricca, wrote me an email recently about Dolores:
“Dolores lives in Bakersfield. We talk frequently. I am godfather to a couple of her grandkids and good friends with Camila (in the movie) and her husband and their children. Camila is her youngest daughter who runs the Dolores Huerta Foundation. It’s been an amazing journey–my life, that is, and Dolores is the one who recruited and trained me. Grateful every day of my life for that!”
Santa Cruz History of Housing
That same Swenson condo giveaway day, the council also heard a staff report about the sorry state of rental and for-sale housing in Santa Cruz given that prices rise exponentially compared to local wages. In the twenty-four- page report, “Community Engagement, Housing History & Affordability,” there are a few eye-opening bits of information.
In the Mayor’s “listening tour” under “Challenges,” more people have brought up the combination of “traffic” and “corridors development” than any other issue (p.3), and under “Solutions,” rent control and funding for a housing bondmeasure together are the big winners.
“To afford the average Santa Cruz rent of $3,187 [per month], you need to earn $8,400 per month…or $100,800 per year.” (p. 9)
“About 8% of the City’s Housing stock is deed-restricted affordable units.” (p. 12)
Recent housing bonds passed in the Bay Area: Alameda County for $580 million, Santa Clara County for $600 million, City/County of San Francisco “repurposed $261 million in existing bond issue to acquire and rehabilitate units for affordable housing” (p. 14)
What’s not so clear on page 20, “City Population and UCSC Enrollment” is that student enrollment has doubled in size whereas city population as a whole has grown by less than a third. (p. 5)
What might Santa Cruz County voters approve in the way of a housing bond? We probably need between $200-$300 million to even make a dent in our housing needs. And how might the bond money be repaid? Generally, from a parcel tax on homeowners.
Affordable Housing Week
Get out your calendars now, and block out Affordable Housing Week for Oct. 19- 26. There will be discussions, debates, deliberation, and hopefully some decision-making about how Santa Cruz will address its housing crisis. Be ready to make some demands and work for some changes (Go Dolores!) in the face of the outrageous rents being charged. Where will we end up on the short-term vacation rental issue? Can we put forward a real estate transfer tax to penalize house-flippers and fund affordable housing? Can we raise the minimum wage?…build a 24/7 homeless-houseless shelter with mental health and addiction services?…and what to do about that 19,000-pound gorilla called:
U-C-S-C?
Get ready, get set, go! We need everyone on alert and active if we are to tackle this housing crisis.
~Bernie Quote of the Week
“A great nation is not judged by its billionaires, but by its compassion.”
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.
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY FINES BARRY SWENSON BUILDER $125,000 FOR ILLEGAL TANK REMOVAL & SOIL CONTAMINATION AT APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT
The Santa Cruz Sentinel reported Sept. 16, Page A4 that Barry Swenson Builder agreed to pay $125.000 environmental fine related to a major Aptos development (notice the name is missing) for “improperly handled and disposed of” underground storage tank. Here is the link.
Well, in my opinion, the articles do not report the whole truth of this story. Here is what really happened:Barry Swenson Builder (the articles say the company is now called “Swenson”) and Santa Cruz Underground Paving crews came upon a buried metal tank in the Aptos Village Project on March 1, 2016. By law, the crews should have stopped work, notified County Environmental Health and Aptos/La Selva Fire staff that the tank was there. Did that happen??? NO. Crews, at the direction of Barry Swenson Builder project foremen Jim Lynn and Keith Henderson, continued to extricate the tank. The tank ruptured and spilled hundreds of gallons of old diesel fuel, probably associated with the historic Lam-Mattison Apple Dryer and Vinegar Works, the foundation of which was adjacent to the tank.
I happened to drive by just then and saw the workers furiously channeling the liquid into a trench that SCUP had hastily created and I saw the large metal tank on the ground nearby. I saw the liquid welling up from the hole where the tank had been, all next to the intersection of Village Drive and Granite Way. I did not have a camera, but went back the next day and found NO TANK, and the trench filled in. Hmmmm….
I contacted Assistant Planning Director, Ms. Wanda Williams, about the tank. It took nearly a month to get an answer. She assured me that all was well, that Barry Swenson Builder had a permit from County Environmental Health to remove the tank. What caught my attention, however, was that the copy of the receipt for the permit was for March 8, 2016 (not March 1 or before) and that double fees for the permit were levied. Hmmmm….
Luckily, I found out the shocking truth from some honest County staff:
Barry Swenson Builder and SCUP violated the law by removing the underground storage tank without permit
Their environmental consultant, Comprehensive Construction Consultants, did not arrive until March 2 and did not notify County staff
Barry Swenson Builder/SCUP crews hauled the tank away the evening of March 1 (several eye witnesses confirm and the tank was gone when I went March 2 to photograph it)
The tank had not been cleaned or certified legal to transport on public roadways.
County grading inspectors noticed the strong smell of diesel March 4 and asked County Environmental Health about the problem….THAT WAS THE FIRST THAT THE AGENCY IN CHARGE OF HAZARDOUS MATERIALS SPILLS AND PERMITTING HAD HEARD ABOUT THE INCIDENT.
A metal tank arrived at A & S Metal Recycling in Castroville the morning of March 2, cut up and without any permits or documentation normally required of such tanks. It was held for 3 days, then destroyed. This all happened before County Environmental Health was contacted by Barry Swenson Builder or SCUP representatives about the issue.
County Environmental Health Hazardous Materials Specialists Mr. John Hodges and Mr. John Gerbrandt met with Swenson’s environmental consultant and received an erroneous timeline of events, with a claim that the tank left March 2, rather than in the night of March 1 (same day as extrication). Swenson paid double fees to get a retro-active tank removal permit….a mere $2000.
Environmental Health staff site inspection revealed fresh soil work, with a large area of oily sheen on the surface. REMEMBER, THE TANK WAS GONE AND SWENSON/SCUP CREWS HAD COVERED EVERYTHING UP…INCLUDING THE TRENCH FULL OF DIESEL AND THE HOLE LEFT BY THE TANK.
About a month later, sampling took place in the soils that had the sheen, and the location of the tank CLAIMED BY KEITH HENDERSON, PROJECT FOREMAN. However, this tank location was NOT the location that multiple eye-witnesses told Environmental Health about.
Many diesel and gasoline-related contaminants were detected at very high levels. Crews were ordered to tarp the disgusting-smelling soils and label “Hazardous Waste” a tank of effluent that the environmental consultant had collected before the trench was filled with soil prior to the Environmental Health specialists’ site visit. The tank never got labeled because, as Keith Henderson told County staff, he did not want the neighbors to see it.
Despite repeated requests by eye witnesses and community members, Environmental Health did not require further testing to determine if there was contamination at the location where the tank was actually located, next to Village Drive and Granite Way, some 75′ upstream as the groundwater flows. Barry Swenson Builder and Aptos Village LLC developers refused to allow an independent soil sample and test to be conducted under County Environmental Health supervision, but paid for by private citizens.
Oddly, this all was happening at the same time as the We Are Aptos group was filing Petition for Writ of Mandate against the County and the Aptos Village developers. Attorney Bill Parkin felt this soil contamination and illegal removal of the tank was “NO BIG DEAL. IT’S JUST SOIL REMEDIATION, BECKY”. Those were his exact words when I questioned him about the incident and how it might be applied to our Writ. Instead, he pressured our group to settle out of court. When I refused to agree to remain silent forever on the Aptos Village Project, he asked what it would take to get me to sign it. I mentioned my concerns remaining about the diesel tank contamination. The next day, the County Environmental Health Department CLOSED THE DIESEL TANK AND SOIL CONTAMINATION CASE, claiming the problem was taken care of. But the normal process required for this type of case closure was not followed. There were no “punch tests” to ensure the contaminants had not entered the groundwater. This is especially odd, given there are TWO public wells (both owned by Soquel Creek Water District) nearby and the contaminants found included gasoline-related organics, which travel widely and freely in groundwater.
I met last spring with the new County Environmental Health Hazardous Materials Specialist, Mr. Tim Fillmore, and the newly-appointed Director of Health Services, Dr. Arnold Leff, to discuss the issue of soil contamination at the Aptos Village Project. I had seen another tank noted on the 1902 Sanborn Insurance Map for the area, and I wanted to ask the County to require Swenson and SCUP to use Ground-Penetrating Radar to scan the area of the development to assure there would not be a repeat of the problem last year. Dr. Leff asked me “If we agree to require this Radar survey, would you drop your complaint (to State Regional Water Quality Control Board) about the other diesel tank site?” I replied that I would not. Mr. Fillmore hastily said, “Well, we are not here to negotiate anything.” Dr. Leff refused to require any further examination of the Aptos Village Project soils or require a Ground Penetrating Radar Study to be done. He also refused to require Barry Swenson Builder to allow citizens to institute an independent soil contamination study at the TRUE TANK LOCATION.
I was contacted soon after by Mr. Ed Browne, the newly-hired County District Attorney investigating environmental and consumer affairs issues. He wanted to talk with me about the Aptos Village Project diesel tank issue. When I met with him in his office, he said he had already interviewed all of Swenson’s staff associated with the case, and that they had admitted guilt of violating the laws. He said the Swenson staff did not aware that they were to have contacted County officials when crews found the tank. Mr. Browne assured me he would bring Barry Swenson Builder and all associated sub-contractors (SCUP) to justice, and would consider making an independent soil test at the disputed tank site part of the settlement, with an injunction issued. He asked me to keep him informed of other issues related, but that he would not be able to take much action on the case until September because he was so busy with bigger cases.
So, when Barry Swenson Builder crews started excavating the contaminated soils from the true tank location in order to build the 17 foot-high retaining wall, I phoned Mr. Browne and begged him to issue an injunction. The crews were smearing the diesel-smelling soils throughout the Project area, which drains into Aptos Creek. He did not return my call. I went to his office. He met with me and said he couldn’t do anything about it just then. I reported the diesel-smelling soils to Environmental Health’s NEW Hazardous Materials Specialist, Ms. Rebecca Supplee. She replied that staff did not detect any diesel odors and that I must report all problems via the County website.
Last summer, I received a copy of the pre-maturely issued County judgment against Barry Swenson Builder regarding the illegal diesel tank removal and associated contamination. I again met with Mr. Browne. I asked why the penalty fee ($125,000) was so low when, by law, he could impose $25,000/day of violation? He said he talked with some people who felt the $125,000 was appropriate. I asked why there was no requirement to have independent further soil study done at the TRUE TANK LOCATION? He said Environmental Health staff did not think it was needed. I asked why SCUP was not also named in the penalty? He said he talked with some people and they felt that was not necessary. I asked what was left to be negotiated and why the press release had been immediately revoked? Well, the dollar amount is not up for negotiation, and someone just thought they were being helpful.
IS THERE STILL SOIL CONTAMINATION AT THE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT? I THINK SO.
RANCHO DEL MAR SAGA CONTINUES IN APTOS
Many thanks to the 521 people who signed the online petition to County Supervisor Zach Friend, asking him to take leadership and negotiate with Rancho del Mar Center owners TRC Retail to allow the merchants who were given a 30-day eviction notice until the end of the year to stay in business through the busiest shopping season and find suitable re-locations. It seems that the merchants are being told by County Economic Development Director Barbara Mason to CONTACT BARRY SWENSON BUILDER ABOUT GETTING SPACE IN THE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT. Do you smell a rat or two?
Meanwhile, Zach Friend’s mouthpiece, Doug Deaver, Business Counselor who resides in Rio del Mar, has told the merchants there is really nothing that Supervisor Friend can do to help them because construction schedules for TRC are rigid. REALLY?? What about giving them some concession if the project is delayed…The County has given Barry Swenson Builder lots of those at the Aptos Village Project.
As usual, Zach Friend has not held any meetings with the Rancho del Mar merchants or the public to discuss the issue. Where is this “leader”? I had so hoped that he would follow the excellent example of Watsonville City Mayor Felipe Hernandez last year when this same issue came up with the Crossroads Center merchants. I guess it’s just too much to ask Zach Friend to show up unless there is a camera and the opportunity to further his own political career. What a shame.
KEEP THE PRESSURE ON ZACH FRIEND TO DO HIS JOB AND HOLD A DISCUSSION WITH RANCHO DEL MAR MERCHANTS AND TRC RETAIL. Call 454-2200 or e-mail Zach Friend <zach.friend@santacruzcounty.us> and insist he bring these parties together for negotiation…TRC Retail VP Bruce Walton acknowledged that their company has fallen down on the communication job with merchants. Many merchants tried contacting the company numerous times via phone and e-mail, asking for information about the project timeline, to allow them to plan their merchandise orders and look for new locations. TRC Retail staff NEVER responded. Supervisor Zach Friend could go to bat for these merchants on that alone…and at least negotiate that the existing merchants get first priority to sign leases when the remodel project is done. Right?
TRC RETAIL BREAKS YET ANOTHER PROMISE TO APTOS COMMUNITY…NO LOCAL CONSTRUCTION JOBS DURING REMODEL
When TRC Retail held two community meetings to discuss the Rancho del Mar remodel, they told the people that the work would be given to local construction companies. Now, thanks to Carpenter Local 505 on-site awareness actions, we know that is not the case.
The CLOSEST COMPANY CONSIDERED FOR LABOR BID IS SACRAMENTO. TRC Retail is not requiring any construction company doing the work to pay workers the area wages nor to require there be apprentice and training positions included for the trades. That hurts local workers and their families. What about those TRC Retail promises to the Aptos Community?
Contact Mr. Scott Grady, the TRC Retail Project Manager, at 949-662-2100 and let him know your thoughts.
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
Did President Trump make a deal on DACA? A deal that actually involved working with Democratic Party members of Congress? Yesterday, the media said, “Yes,” or at least, “we think so.” Of course, nothing is done until it’s done; we will all have to wait to see what ultimately happens. Nonetheless, the news stories raise an intriguing possibility. Could it be that we are finally moving away from a politics that is so hyper-partisan that it might be possible to contemplate a Congress that will play the role it is supposed to play in our governmental system?
After the election of President Obama, in 2008, the Republican Party took the position that all Republican Party members of Congress would vote, en bloc, against anything that President Obama proposed. And the Party acted accordingly, with the Republican Party leadership ruthlessly enforcing that hyper-partisan “party line.” That meant, as a practical matter, for the last ten years of the Obama presidency, that nothing could happen on any significantly controversial matter.
Any legislation passed by the Republican-controlled Congress could be vetoed by the President, and any program that the President favored would simply not be enacted by the Congress, no matter what. In the latter category were immigration reform, and specifically any program that would try to find ways to allow children who had been brought to the United States without proper authorization to stay in this country, and to continue to contribute to it. The President’s “Deferred Action on Childhood Arrivals” program, carried out by Executive Order, was one of the “work arounds” that resulted from the Republican Party’s unwillingness to work with a Black President.
With the election of President Trump, the Republican Party assumed complete control of the Executive and Legislative branches of government. It seemed pretty clear, as well, that the appointment of Justice Gorsuch to the Supreme Court also put the Judicial branch into Republican Party control. The DACA program was an easy target. Its existence came about through an Executive Order from a Black President, and now the Republicans could get rid of it. Not unexpectedly, President Trump did, in fact, indicate that he was going to shut the program down, but he put a little spin on the pitch. Maybe, the president suggested, the Congress might want to legislate itself on this topic.
As I noted in this blog on September 5th, it seemed to me that there was a hopeful aspect to the president’s action. If the news reports from yesterday pan out, that hope will have proven to be not unfounded.
Our governmental system, as outlined in the Constitution, is premised on the idea that the Congress, with representatives supposedly responsible not to a national party ideology, but to local voters, will propose legislation to address issues of national concern. That legislation will have to pass muster with the president, who is elected “nationally,” not locally, so both “national” and “local” political opinion and perspectives will be decisive in the enactment of any law. That’s the way “it spozed to be.” Hyper-partisan political ideologies are not supposed to be the key factor in the governance of the nation.
As I said in my earlier blog posting, if President Trump’s actions on DACA can actually demonstrate that our political system can work in the way it is supposed to, his ability to have saved the “Dreamers” will keep the “American Dream” alive in more ways than one. If the DACA deal comes off as advertised, I think it would be fair to record the President’s actions as a “good deed,” and to post this fact in the “give the president some credit, where credit is due,” column!
~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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Scroll below to see De Cinzo’s opinion of students …and fall!
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Medicare For All ” 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 CONCERT. Not a bit of Mozart or classical music for some reason this Thursday. Here’s what they sent…”Jazz standards form the basis of the musical tradition that has been called “America’s Classical Music,” with jazz bands interpreting the songs in an endless variety of ways. Persephone (featuring guitarist and vocalist Suki Wessling and drummer Jen Bruno) presents these songs stripped back down to their essence, with the songs’ musical and lyrical context. (For more information, visit PersephoneBand.com.) Join us for a celebration of pan-American song! Thursday, September 21st 12:10 – 12:50 Santa Cruz Public Library Downtown Branch – Meeting Room.
BIG MARK STONE PARTY THIS THURSDAY (9/21). Join almost every thankful resident and voter in the 5th Annual Party in Support Of Assembly member Mark Stone. Mark has been a great County Supervisor, near-perrfect Coastal Commissioner and has been taking good care of us in Sacramento. Please Join Friends, Supporters, and Hosts, Les and Nancy Gardner, George Couch, Democratic Club of North Santa Cruz County, Democratic Women’s Club of Santa Cruz County for The Thursday, September 21, 2017 5:00pm to 7:00pm party at Bruno’s BBQ 230-G Mt. Hermon Road • Scotts Valley, California.
Sliding Scale: $30 – $50 Supporter: $250 Sponsor: $1,000.
Checks can be made payable to Friends of Mark Stone PO Box 81, Monterey, CA 93942 or contribute online at www.FriendsOfMarkStone.org For More Information Or To RSVP Please Contact: 831-234-5885
FASHIONART…THE 11th ANNUAL!!!
FashionART Santa Cruz brings together the very best of fashion and wearable art to create a one of a kind, unforgettable event. In 2006, Angelo Grova, of Michaelangelo Gallery, hosted a fashion show in the parking lot outside his gallery to help support a friend studying fashion design. Much to Grova’s surprise, more than 400 people showed up in his parking lot that night… and so, FashionART Santa Cruz was born. Encouraged by the overwhelming success of that evening Grova, along with a dedicated group of volunteers, moved the show to the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium. Now an annual event, FashionART Santa Cruz showcases exquisite creations by emerging designers and spectacular, wearable art pieces. FashionART Santa Cruz takes the very best of fashion and art and brings them together to create a unique, colorful production full of surprises and creative talent. FashionART Santa Cruz is a full blown multi-media runway show featuring ready to wear from local and Bay Area designers and unique, one of a kind art pieces, all strutting down the runway for a truly unforgettable event. FashionART Santa Cruz 2017 will partner with non-profit organization, the Santa Cruz Education Foundation, who will receive partial proceeds from ticket sales. General Admission/Reserved Tickets. Tickets can be purchased from the Civic Auditorium by phone (831) 420-5260, in person, or online using the button below. It happens Saturday September 23, at the Civic Auditorium starting at 7 p.m. To purchase Premium Runway Seating tickets the day of show, contact FASC by phone: (831) 426-5500 or email: fashionartsantacruz@gmail.com And for sure don’t miss the TRUNK SHOW in the Civic parking lot that opens at 7 and goes on until after the Runway Show.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: Lisa writes: “Check out the newest trailer from what may be one of my favorite movies of the year (hint: it’s from Guillermo del Toro) this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). And if you’re feeling blue that the final season of Game Of Thrones won’t be broadcast until (gah!) 2019, cheer up with this on-set blooper reel!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
MOTHER. An excellent, genius- directed, absolutely intelligent plot, best-acted…what more can you ask from a movie?? Jennifer Lawrence, plus two of my favorite actors Javier Bardem and Ed Harris, Brian Gleeson, and a darker Michelle Pfeiffer make a perfect cast for this challenging film. Not a scary, boo-type, odd, weird, what’s that?, cellar stairs type of film. It’s more like “what is going on”, “I can’t imagine what’s happening next kind of film, Directed by Darren Aronofsky it’s a winner, and you’ll remember seeing it. So go. RT calls it a “psychological thriller” I agree.
DOLORES. See both Chris Krohn’s and my “advice” and “promotion” of this very necessary documentary up above. We all have some opinion of Dolores Huerta based on rumor, poor memory and the ignoring by media. That’s why we should all see this film. It’s also strong on feminism and Gloria Steinem along with Angela Davis have much to add to Dolores’ near overwhelming labor organizing. Then too you’ll learn just how much aid and direction that Bobby Kennedy gave to Dolores. See this film and bring a good friend…or Republican. 100% on RT!!!
VICEROYS HOUSE. When you have Hugh Bonneville (from Downton Abbey) playing Lord Mountbatten it would seem to guarantee a masterpiece but this saga about Britain leaving the control of India in 1947 and dividing that part of the country into Pakistan and India, but it’s dull and near-boring in its’ accuracy. You’ll see Ghandi, Churchill, newsreels, and corpses…and learn a lot of history about oil deposits in Pakistan. Go warned.
BEACH RATS. This is a very gay movie so… if you’re not gay don’t go, it’s a terrible movie. If you are gay really don’t go!!! The acting the plot, the shallowness, will or should, infuriate you. There is no depth, no background, lots of violence, crotches, lying, but mostly bad acting. And don’t forget about the length of your index vs ring finger (see above). ENDS THURS. SEPT.21.
This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
THE BIG SICK. Kumail Nanjiani the Pakistani jerk from the “Silicon Valley” tv sit com not only wrote this plot but he and his real wife lived it. The film is a bit long but it’s well worth seeing. It’ll grab you when you least expect it. He’s a standup comic and falls in love with Zoe Kazan, a “white” girl. It’s heart rending, funny and a tale told of cultural differences between his traditional Pakistani family and her very contemporary Mom (Holly Hunter) and dad. Go see it…it’ll surprise you.(and I’ll predict some Awards around December-January). ENDS THURS. SEPT.21.
WIND RIVER. Jeremy Renner and young beauty Elisabeth Olsen track down a killer on an Indian Reservation in the very cold Wyoming winter. Much better than average, you’ll stay with the plot and quite decent acting…all the way. It males some obvious social comment along the way, and that works too. The conclusion is a bit crude and drunken, but Renner is almost always worth watching.
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score.
Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
ANNABELLE:CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
HOME AGAIN. Some friend used the word “torpor” in a meeting I attended last week. Torpor fits this movie almost perfectly…so does, stupor, inanity, vapid, fatuous and it stars Reese Witrherspoon. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy and not serious enough to be even close to a drama. A 40 year old woman (Witherspoon) rents/shares her house to three young guys and they have sex…you shouldn’t watch. RT gives it 35 but it shouldn’t have. ENDS THURS. SEPT.21.
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
THE TRIP TO SPAIN. This is the third supposed comedy that two British actors, comics, impressionists… Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have made, and they shouldn’t make any more. These guys go on supposedly food tasting trips to restaurants in England, Italy and now Spain. In each restaurant and on the road they do imitations of famous British actors…James Bond, well Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Mick Jagger and try very hard to be funny. I haven’t laughed once during any of these contrived messes and find the two actors just about nauseating. Don’t blame me if you do decide to 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. . Jane Mio and Barbara Riverwoman from the San Lorenzo River Mysteries group start the hour on Sept.19. After which Christina Morgan Cree and Jenny Sandrof reveal the fashion secrets of the annual FashionArt show happening Sept. 23. September 26 has Conductor, artistic director Michel Singher talking about the next Espressivo Orchestra Concert, after Michel, Betsy Anderson and Alison Carrillo talk about Museo Carrillo. October 3 we’ll talk with Erik Gandolfini and Avondina Wills about the Mountain Top play at the Center Stage. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
If I didn’t post this before, I’m posting it now. And if I did, it’s worth watching again. This guy is hilarious 🙂
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. “AN AMALGAM”
“Man is by nature a political animal”, Aristotle “People who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do”, Isaac Asimov
“The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom”. Isaac Asimov
“Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former”. Albert Einstein
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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Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Earthquake hole on Pacific Avenue getting new development??..Garfield Circle Church reactions…Steve Pleich running for Supe in 2019…Greensite with updates on the Wharf and Hyatt…Krohn about marijuana concerns, the Mayors feedback session at MAH, plans for Downtown…Steinbruner deals with Taxpayers paying for Aptos Village road work, “Denser housing does not mean Affordable housing” sez County official, tough County pot laws developing, WILPF mtg. coming about water, drinking sewage water, lets help save Rancho del Mar businesses…Gary Patton and Inescapable Trump facts, plus military equipment coming to our cities…DeCinzo and annual Civil War Tribute in Felton… Eagan and Global Warming and warning…Lisa Jensen asked to be Official Rotten Tomatoes Critic!!… I critique “It”, Home Again, and A Trip To Spain…and quotes about FALL.
PACIFIC AVENUE PLAZA FOUNTAIN, August 23, 1967. The real name is The Morris Memorial Fountain. The Town Clock that towers over the fountain now was added July 4, 1976. Then on August 5, 1995 E.A. Chase’s statue “Collateral Damage” was placed a little to the east of the Clock Fountain.
10 Amazing Science Tricks Using Liquid These are fun!
Cloying DELIVERY But fascinating famous painting mysteries
HOW TO SURVIVE WHILE IN A FALLING ELEVATOR
DATELINE September 11, 2017
PACIFIC EARTHQUAKE PIT UP FOR DEVELOPMENT. It’s that last and most noticeable 1989 earthquake hole on Pacific Avenue where BookShop Santa Cruz used to be. Developer Bill Brooks and Geoffrey Dunn tried to develop it awhile back, that didn’t work. Prior property owner Ron Lau had a tough time working with Neil Coonerty trying to rebuild something there…that flopped. Now developer Barry Swenson has glorious concepts for that prime location. He wants to develop 2 bedroom suites, all high priced rentals. Building right up to the sidewalk, and more than likely chopping down the historic Black Walnut tree on Center Street near Locust. Let’s see what our City Council does with this one.
STEVE PLEICH RUNNING FOR THIRD DISTRICT SUPERVISOR. Never saying die, Steve Pleich announced that he has already taken out papers to run for the Third District Supervisor’s job. In case you just got here, the Third District covers some of Santa Cruz city, Bonny Doon, Davenport, Swanton Road and Ryan Coonerty heads it up now. Ryan’s term ends January 7, 2019.
GARFIELD CIRCLE CHURCH. Sheila Carrillo wrote to tell us that a friend of hers “and one of the current tenants at the Circle Church is hopefully going to make an offer. It would be a performing arts/education complex and maybe even some co-housing. In the meantime, let’s let the church know that we don’t want a big development going in there. I suggest we start by calling the church–the pastor is Christopher Drury and the assistant is Kristen 426-0510 and let them know that our community wants the church to work with a buyer who will save the historic buildings, continue the church’s stewardship mission, and maintain the character of the neighborhood.. A bonus would be to continue to serve the current tenants who are primarily children and special needs groups. Hopefully, someone will set up an online petition. Si se puede!”
Then Sheila added, “Unfortunately, it seems like the Circle Church is (and always was) a done deal. The whole thing was handled very sneakily by the church. The other thing you might want to explore, in a different direction, is the fact that some cities (Venice, Cal. and Hollywood for example) are building (REAL) affordable housing above city owned parking lots”.
STEVE PLEICH RUNNING FOR THIRD DISTRICT SUPERVISOR. Never saying die, Steve Pleich announced that he has already taken out papers to run for the Third District Supervisor’s job. In case you just got here, the Third District covers some of Santa Cruz city, Bonny Doon, Davenport, Swanton Road and Ryan Coonerty heads it up now.
REVISITS AND A CORRECTION
First a correction: In the August 30th issue of BrattonOnline I wrote on the proposed building of 3000 beds on the west side of campus at UCSC. From information shared by UCSC at a scoping meeting and confirmed by someone who attended a different meeting with UCSC, I noted that 900 of these beds will be new and the other 2100 will be to relieve pressure on converted lounges and doubles that are being used as triples. That information was incorrect.The 2100 beds will be new and the 900 will be to relieve pressure on existing resources. My apologies for the error.
Second, an update on the Don’t Morph the Wharf campaign: the Environmental Impact Report, which you may recall was a direct result of community and legal pressure on the city, has not yet been released. It most likely will be ready within the next couple of months. Meanwhile hundreds of people, most of them from Santa Cruz, are eagerly signing the Don’t Morph the Wharf petition. Many are prominent Santa Cruz natives, many are old-timers and most have never heard of the Wharf Master Plan. All are adamantly opposed to the particulars of the Plan when shown the consultant’s renditions of the proposed changes. The overwhelming sentiment expressed is, “We love the wharf the way it is: don’t mess with it!” When they hear that federal Tsunami Relief funds were obtained to pay for the Plan with the false claim that the wharf was “severely damaged” from the tsunami, a certain level of disgust is expressed. If you would like to gather some signatures on the petition, email me at gumtree@pacbell.net.
The former Unity Temple and late Red Horse Chestnut on Broadway
Their replacement: Hyatt, Queen Palms
and Red Horse Chestnut sapling
Lastly, it’s time to revisit a tree issue. The first photo above is of the iconic 110 year-old Red Horse Chestnut tree that the city failed to protect under its Heritage Tree Ordinance and which was sacrificed, as was the neighborhood, for the recently completed Hyatt Hotel (at Broadway and Ocean Streets) as seen in the second photo. Such is how the character of Santa Cruz is changed: for the worse in my opinion. If you squint you can spot a Red Horse Chestnut sapling planted in the far right hand side of the property, a required mitigation for the loss of the 110 year-old tree. The original tree inspired an outpouring of love and a fierce devotion to try to save it. The sapling is cramped in a far corner with too little room to spread its future crown to the sky. No love lost there.
I had a chance to raise the issue of heritage tree protection with the newly hired Planning Director Lee Butler. I shared the observation that by the time a developer brings in a design to planning staff the process is well under way. Delineating heritage trees on a property early and before a design is contemplated is key. Sometimes that happens and sometimes it doesn’t. Developers should be alerted by planning staff that they are required under the ordinance to accommodate heritage trees wherever possible in their design prior to their spending time and money on its creation. That if they fail to do so they will be sent back to the drawing board. It should not be acceptable to create a design that fails to accommodate a heritage tree and then claim the tree is in the way and has to be cut down, which is what happened with the Hyatt design. By the time the public is made aware of a development a few days before it reaches city council for a vote it is usually too late to make significant changes. Well, council does have that power but few are prepared to wield it to save trees. Only Katherine Beiers, who was on the city council when the Hyatt was initially approved, voted against its approval over the tree loss issue. Bravo Katherine! Director Butler agreed that early timing is crucial and said he would look into it.
Follow-up and scrutiny are also key. On a number of occasions I’ve had to contact the city to save a heritage tree that is slated for removal but which could easily be saved (the Frederick Street project) or to alert them that ground has been broken on a project and the heritage trees earmarked for protection are being damaged. The Seaside Company back-hoed trenches a few feet from the trunks and right through major roots of the 5 heritage trees earmarked for protection during their remodel of the Sea and Sand Inn on West Cliff. A few years later, the city gave them an emergency permit to remove all 5 trees on the grounds of safety.
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.
Can’t believe another week went by and it’s already Sunday afternoon and here I am trying to churn out something at the Coffee Roasting Company (now that Pergolesi is no more) and going over my notes from another hectic week of meetings, forums, and get-togethers. Meetings with the new Planning Director, Lee Butler, the Mayor, the city manager, Beach Hill advocate and sometimes activist Don Webber, with Team WAMM and Team Planning Department on a new Marijuana ordinance coming soon, and with the redoubtable and always entertaining old-time Santa Cruz rabble-rousers of the Community Water Coalition. Pleasant Get-togethers included sit-downs with former Assembly Speaker Pro Tem and Santa Cruz County Treasurer, Fred Keeley who’s working on a county housing bond…and the other one with John Leopold, a Santa Cruz County Supervisor who had some push-back at me from my comments here last week, ‘So what’s the county doing on homelessness?’ John says county is doing plenty beginning with the success of the “All-in Plan,” hiring a full-time coordinator on homeless issues, and building transitional housing. And the main forum this week was a 50-resident discussion at the MAH, part of Mayor Cynthia Chase’s “listening tour” on housing. Even got to be on John Sandidge’s radio show with Culture Czar Grant Wilson and abogado extraordinaire, Ben Rice. (p.s. I’ve taken up “free yoga” too at Patagonia, 8:30a on Sundays.)
Team WAMM
The Wo/men’s Alliance for Medical Marijuana is the real deal. Their deeds are the stuff of legend. Their mission, to offer care, medicine, and concern to many sick and dying people, is more awesome, complicated and necessary now than it’s ever been. In case you just got to Santa Cruz, WAMM has been a force for peace, spiritual and mental healing, and patient’s rights going on 25 years. They were the major force behind passing California’s Prop 215, “the Compassionate Use Act,” in 1996, and then they were forced to take on the bullying tactics of John Ashcroft’s Attorney General’s office after their farm was raided in 2002 by the DEA (yes, that Drug Enforcement Agency). Mike and Valerie Coral, the founders of WAMM, were even detained and taken to a San Jose holding facility, their 136 plants pulled up, but it all ended on a “high” and defiant note. The WAMM club’s weekly patient distribution of medical marijuana took place on the steps of city hall in front of a thousand residents as a DEA helicopter flew overhead. Fast forward to today and WAMM is still fighting to be a licensed dispensary in the city of Santa Cruz, and it will be on the council agenda this week. In case you are wondering, ganga is now legal in California and the law is set to take effect January 1st. Questions apart from licensing WAMM, abound: 1) residents are allowed to grow six plants in their garden, but they must be out of sight from other humans. Why? 2) dispensaries must be 600 feet apart in the local ordinance, but I believe only 300 feet apart under state law…why? 3) There is farmland within the city of Santa Cruz where pot could be grown, but the local ordinance being proposed outlaw’s “cultivation” within city limits. Why? 4) Will plant nurseries be able to sell “six-packs of marijuana plants, in the “open?” 5) Smoking rooms are not allowed in the proposed Santa Cruz ordinance. Does this unfairly discriminate against the poor who have fewer options, and as a result will people be smoking marijuana openly on the streets where it is also not legal? 6) And perhaps most importantly, we need to demand that an organic product be the only kind of marijuana product allowed to be manufactured, processed and packaged here within the confines of Surf City. Branding is important, and if the Santa Cruz brand is not organic we stand to lose not only a part of our values, but a piece of the market as well.
La Crisis Santacruceñade Vivienda (y el salario mínimo?)
Every week there are a new set of housing stories in Santa Cruz, and this week was no different. The Mayor Cynthia Chase called for a forum at the MAH (Museum of Art and History) for residents to come and share with her their housing crisis stories, and ideas about how to solve the crisis…and people came out. She began the “listening conversation” by first talking because the first question was, ‘So what do you think, Mayor?’ Some of what she said she was hearing about in her previous twelve meetings was that tenants say they are being priced out, students living next door are causing problems, home buyers are being priced out, and there is a “widening demographic of homeowners.” Around fifty residents were present, and I counted 26 who were able to offer questions and comments. Not bad. The group talked it up about several aspects of the housing crisis: how is affordability defined? And what about homelessness and transitional housing, the increased traffic around the beach area, the impacts of UCSC on our housing stock, and a few reasons why people are not supporting and using the Metro bus system, en masse. Strangely, NO one seemed interested in the plight of the poor, profit-driven condo developer. Go figure.
Some housing-related comments:
the idea of affordable housing is a kind of joke. What it leads to is the city must become a developer of affordable housing, and that seems to be running counter to the city’s ‘corridor’ and ‘downtown” plans.'(I did not understand this comment even though I liked it.)
…7-9-story buildings are not okay…
Failure [to deal with homelessness] is not an option…
Can we tax second homes and absentee homeowners?
Council needs to implement the [the council’s own 20] recommendations on homelessness…staff is stalling.
We actually have a lot of solutions on the table…our values is what really makes Santa Cruz special.
I grew up here. I’ve seen so many of my peers move away because they can’t afford it.
We need a very good bus system, but buses run empty, except to UCSC…
Concentrate university housing on the Westside…
…eliminate sidewalk and driveway requirements in the ADU (accessory dwelling unit) ordinance…
And finally, an observation on short-term vacation rentals: More people are walking by my house dragging luggage.
After an hour and a half of conversation on the Secret Garden patio of the MAH, ‘da Mayor asked people to break into small groups and talk to their neighbors. People seemed to do so, milling around for another half-hour.
Over Two Hundred Year of Activism in One Room
Without naming names, I was present in a room full of planning activists and advocates this past week. I calculated there was over 220 years of collective political advocacy experience within The Eleven present. It may have been daunting for our new Planning Director, Lee Butler, to take The Eleven’s tsunami of issues, but it turned out…by meeting’s end, er, a bit underwhelming. Truth be told, Lee Butler was the city manager’s third choice, the first two bowed out after being asked to take the job. But, the meeting began on a bright note with Lee describing his interests and immediate goals: Housing, the environment, “making sure we have homes for our residents,” and to be “an attractive city for tourists and tourism.” He said he’d like to explore a housing impact fee that was assessed in Santa Clara where he previously worked. Developers would pay essentially a fee, depending on the square footage of their project, into a fund to buy up existing units, or build new ones, and keep them affordable.
But for some of the big issues on people’s minds, Planning Director Butler had little to say: Rent control (there’s “positives and negatives”); is it merely a supply and demand situation here in Santa Cruz? (“If we are not building housing now we will have a problem” [in the future] …; suggestions for a revenue stream for affordable housing (“I think a lot of options need to be explored.”); what is good planning? (“First and foremost, it is the General Plan…”); and…he never said a word about university growth except to say, “It’s important we have a seat at the table…” He also said when pushed on growth, “Change is inevitable…” and “…our fiscal health is tied to our industrial lands.” The general consensus from the Santa Cruz grey beard activists present was that we need more meetings like this, both with Lee and other department heads, in order to begin, and maintain, a dialogue between the community and city leadership. I second that if it’s a motion on the floor.
The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s production of “Walls,” was welcomed back to San Lorenzo Park by over 400 residents this past Sunday.
Odd stuff: If you look at the published minutes of last week’s city council closed session agenda item B, #2 you may wonder. I can’t say anything other than what is stated on the agenda, “Donald Harman v. City of Santa Cruz, et al. Northern District Court of California, Case No. 5:16-cv-034361.”
Hot stuff: The Downtown Recovery Plan Amendments and Downtown Association Executive Director, Chip!’s “Party” downtown on September 22nd. No one is sure what it is, but tickets cost $100. The locations to be visited from his web site look to be the new Glow Candle Lounge, MAH Secret Garden, and this just in from Chip!, “Downtown is constantly being redesigned. Representatives from Santa Cruz Economic Development Department and others will be on hand to talk about some of the exciting possibilities for Downtown including a Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium renovation, a permanent Kaiser Permanente Arena a renovation of SC Pacific Station and some very exciting housing projects right here in Downtown Santa Cruz.”Kinda makes you wonder what’s up that it costs a hundred bucks to see our downtown on that night and being ex-ed out of a discussion on some pretty big topics? Why wouldn’t they want to share this evening with everyone…for free?
Sleeper stuff: This is when those in power want you to look over there at the spot on the wall, while they’re downplaying (hiding?) what they are doing right in front of you. This week’s candidates for “Sleeper Stuff”…my fellow Santa Cruzans, keep your eyes on the Wharf Master Plan, the marijuana dispensary conversation and the subsequent ordinance(s), and the Downtown Recovery Plan.
~Bernie Quote of the Week “I will do everything I possibly can to protect the DREAMers from being thrown out of the only country they have ever known.” (Sept. 8)
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.
SIGN AN ONLINE PETITION TO SUPPORT RANCHO DEL MAR LOCAL BUSINESSES
TRC Retail, the owner of the Rancho del Mar Center in Aptos, has given the boot to all tenants in the old theater area, with a deadline of September 30 to be out. That is no way to treat tenants who have reliably paid their rent and whom you want to support during a very disruptive remodel project, don’t you think?
You may recall that when Kaiser bought the CrossRoads Center in Watsonville last year, those tenants also received a 30-day eviction notice. You may also recall that then-Mayor Felipe Hernandez stepped up to the leadership plate and negotiated a 90-day termination notice with Kaiser, which allowed the merchants to find new retail space and relocate in an organized manner that preserved their businesses and served the Community well.
Where is Supervisor Zach Friend????? Silent, as usual, and smiling for the Aptos Times cameras. Please sign this online petition that I was somehow able to create (technology is not my forte) and let Second District County Supervisor Zach Friend know you want him to help these people who will suffer great financial hardship. He needs to negotiate the ability for them to stay in their current locations until the end of December. Some, such as the Baskin-Robbins owner, must first secure corporate approval to relocate his franchised store, which can take two months alone. A 30-day eviction notice is unacceptable and borders on cruel, especially considering that TRC Retail has known for many months that eviction would be the plan.
ZACH FRIEND <: SUPPORT LOCAL MERCHANTS IN RANCHO DEL MAR CENTER
So where is the County Economic Development Advisor, Ms. Barbara Mason? It is her job to help merchants like these. Our tax dollars pay her to do this. She recently sat next to the TRC Retail people at the County Zoning Administrative hearing when they were seeking a variance for their four 12-foot-tall entrance signs. Call 831-454-2100 and ask for Barbara Mason’s help to ensure that these small local business owners get help, too. She has not responded to my multiple calls and e-mails, nor to those of the Rancho del Mar merchants who have been given the 30-day boot.
While you’re on the phone, give Mr. Bruce Walton at TRC Retail a jingle (858) 442-9960 and remind him that he and other TRC staff assured the 300+ Community members at the public meetings that the existing tenants would be treated fairly. Ask him to keep that good-faith promise to the public who supports those retailers and ask that the existing retailers be allowed to remain until the end of December, with first priority to move back in after the remodel is complete.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT’S “INVISIBLE” ( TRANSPARENT) FIRE HYDRANT IN APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT
Last week, I reported about the free water that Barry Swenson Builder crews enjoyed with full knowledge of the Soquel Creek Water District management. I also reported the significant water leak and pond adjacent to Granite Way and within the Aptos Village Project boundary but across from the two new houses being built by Pete Testorff (one of the developers). I brought this before the District Board last Tuesday, and asked for an explanation.
I got none there, but two days later received a response from General Manager Ron Duncan that really puzzled me. Here it is:
“Dear Ms. Steinbruner,
Thank you for your email (dated Sept. 1, 2017) to the Board of Directors regarding what you perceived as a leak at the Aptos Village improvement project area.
On behalf of the Board, I wanted to assure you that we are aware of the situation and have taken appropriate action. On Wednesday, 8/30, we investigated what was reported as a leak/water waste in the vicinity of 457 and 461 Granite Way. A fire hydrant had been accidently hit and our staff responded to the situation. Unfortunately such fire hydrant collisions and associated water loss do happen all too often and we have just had to develop standard ways to handle these accidents. By the time we responded, water had run down the same side of the street, and had also run across the street in the vicinity of what you term the “irregular service connection”. The larger pool of water along Granite Way and the smaller pool near the “irregular service connection” were remaining from the 8/30 fire service leak. No additional leaks or breaks had occurred at this location as verified by staff on the afternoon of 8/31. If you can provide photos documenting that water waste occurred, we may be able to send out a first violation notice in accordance with our water waste enforcement protocol.”
The problem with Mr. Duncan’s explanation of the large pond at the Aptos Village Project is that THERE WAS NO FIRE HYDRANT IN THE AREA. How could one get “accidently hit” when it does not exist? This explanation must be part of the Soquel Creek Water District’s Transparency Award protocol. Hmmmm……
It was unfortunate that testimony of two members of the public regarding this issue were not video recorded at the September 5 District Board meeting. Chairman Tom LaHue adjourned the meeting without allowing public comment on the written correspondence in the Board agenda packet. He agreed to allow the people to speak but made no action to remedy the fact that the testimonies were not getting recorded even though it was made apparent. That is just evidence of more inspiring transparency award stuff at work.
EXPERT RECYCLED WATER PANEL WILL CONVINCE YOU THAT DRINKING TREATED SEWAGE WATER IS GOOD FOR YOU.
The Soquel Creek Water District has hired a panel of recycled water proponents from the National Water Research Institute to speak on Wednesday, September 20, 10am-1pm, in the Capitola City Council chambers (that is a time of day when working people cannot attend).
The time is not given here nor on the main website announcement, but you can verify it by clicking on the agenda. Here is the agenda
Notice that this is the SECOND meeting of these experts. The first one was NOT public, and was a telephone conference call to discuss strategy, ie, how to deal with the public and keep things under tight wraps.
So, why is Soquel Creek Water District so intent on shoving the PureWater Soquel project through and paying so little attention (and money) to any of the alternatives? The Board denies having made any decisions regarding the proposed project until the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) comes out next spring. But if that is true, why has the District already hired an engineer dedicated to the PureWater Soquel sewage water injection project? Why will a 17.5% customer rate increase take effect January 1, 2018, with another to follow later next year? Why has District staff been intimidating property owners on Chanticleer Avenue to sell property for the PureWater Soquel sewage water treatment plant currently under environmental review? Hmmmm…..it’s all transparent.
DRUM ROLL, PLEASE….THE NOMINATIONS ARE……
The MidCounty Groundwater Agency Board will meet Thursday, September 21, 7pm, at Simpkins Swim Center to discuss a number of issues, and to accept recommended nominations for the Groundwater Sustainable Plan Committee. It should be no surprise that very qualified and solution-oriented applicants, such as Mr. Scott McGilvray, a former State Water Advisory Commissioner and founder of Water for Santa Cruz County, has heard absolutely nothing from the MidCounty Groundwater Agency Nominating Committee. Neither have I. Not even a “thanks for your interest” letter. Nada.
Well, it would make sense that the Committee would have to be comprised of people who really don’t know what is happening and therefore need to “be brought up to speed” regarding the issues and proposed solutions, and that would not ask pesky questions about carcinogens that persist in the advanced treated water. I guess Mr. McGilvray and I just forgot to check the box that we like to drink treated sewage water and pay exorbitant sums of money for projects, consultants and Washington, D.C. lobbyists. Maybe the box was transparent and I just missed seeing it on the application? Hmmm….
WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS…PERSPECTIVES ON REGIONAL WATER SUPPLY SOLUTIONS.
The Women’s International League of Peace and Freedom (WILPF) will moderate this excellent public discussion Monday, September 25 at the Aptos Library, 7pm-9pm. The event coincides with the educational display at the Aptos Library this month, organized by the Water for Santa Cruz County group.
Agencies invited to attend include Soquel Creek Water District, Santa Cruz City Water Dept., Central Water District, MidCounty Groundwater Agency, Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency, Scotts Valley Water District, San Lorenzo Valley Water District, Santa Marguerita Groundwater Agency, Santa Cruz County Environmental Health Water Dept., Santa Cruz County Resource Conservation District, Private Well reps., and Water for Santa Cruz County. Each agency will have 5-8 minutes to present an overview of their organization and projects. The audience will then be given the remainder of the evening to publicly of the Panel or specific agencies, with a total of two questions per person.
Please join this much-needed conversation about how we can work cooperatively to solve the critical groundwater overdraft problems and find creative solutions for safe and affordable drinking water and healthy stream flows. Many thanks to the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom for moderating the discussion.
NEW CLIMATE CHANGE MODELS PREDICT CENTRAL COAST WILL BE WETTER.
I learned so much at last week’s County Water Advisory Commission meeting, but perhaps the most amazing was that a new climate change model recently released indicates that California could become wetter in the future. Take a look at this.
That model is being closely monitored by Santa Cruz City Water Dept. staff to plan accordingly for storm water runoff issues. The MidCounty Groundwater Agency’s groundwater model being developed by HydroMetrics (originally hired by Soquel Creek Water District) is using a different set of data, and will most likely produce a different outcome, according to County Water Director Mr. John Ricker. I wonder if that model will support the necessity of PureWater Soquel injection of treated sewage water into the aquifer to solve the supply problem???
LET’S MAKE THIS EXPENSIVE AND DIFFICULT FOR EVERYBODY.
I attended the public meeting discussing the draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) the County’s Cannabis Cultivaton and Manufacturing licensing procedure. This 800+ page document is available here, and it is also at all of the County public libraries. What I thought interesting was the 31 pages of mitigations that must be followed in order to obtain a license. Take a look at Chapter 6 in the document.
The list of requirement is amazing:
Growers must provide 120,000 gallons of water stored exclusively for fire fighting and cannot be used for irrigation.
Growers and manufacturers must construct 20′-wide roads leading to all facilities.
No generators will be allowed, and all growers & manufacturers must use 100% renewable energy sources.
Any structure 50 years old or more must be reviewed by the Planning Department Historical Resource Planner and with the California Register of Historic Resources criteria.
Growers must provide bike lockers and carpool vans for workers to reduce greenhouse gas emission effects.
The list goes on… Oh, and the Second District Special Overlay that prohibits outdoor cultivation looks like it would REMAIN, thanks to Supervisor Zach Friend and retired-but-still-influential County Administrative Officer (CAO) Susan Mauriello. She lives in the Second District and really does not like the smell of Cannabis farms in her area, so she has rewarded Zach Friend somehow for his acquiescent actions, apparently supported by the rest of the Board of Supervisors.
There will be a public informational event Wednesday, September 13, 7pm at the Resource Center for Nonviolence. Meet the new County Cannabis Licensing Manager, Ms. Robin Bolster-Grant, and learn about the latest state and local regulatory actions as well as the County Draft EIR.
There will be another Public Meeting October 2, 6pm-8pm at the 5th Floor Chambers (701 Ocean St.) when the public can ask further questions and submit written comment on the EIR. Final comments are due by October 16 at 4pm.
I really am glad the issues of environmental damage and fire risk are being carefully examined, but it really seems heavy-handed to me. Stay tuned.
“DENSER HOUSING DOES NOT MEAN AFFORDABLE HOUSING.”
I was amazed to hear Santa Cruz County Housing Manager Ms. Julie Conway say those words at last week’s County Housing Advisory Commission meeting. I have observed that creating affordable housing is the driver sanctioning the dense, multi-story housing complexes currently proposed throughout the County and Santa Cruz City. Watch for the Affordable incentives coming down the pike to help out developers like Barry Swenson Builder get maximized profits on towering hotels while little crumbs of affordable housing get built.
I am heartened that the in lieu fees will allowed on a case-by-case basis, with the Board of Supervisors being able to decide who gets the exceptions. Hmmmmm…..
APTOS VILLAGE TRAFFIC WORK BACK IN ACTION AT TAXPAYER’S EXPENSE.
Construction crews returned late last week to the Aptos Village road work project that has been stalled unexplainably for nearly three months. Supposedly soils contaminated by lead and other pollutants caused delays, but the workers shoveling alongside the suspect railroad bed soils last week had ZERO dust control and were kicking up quite a dust cloud. Where is Cal OSHA when an unsuspecting worker needs them?
The County Department of Public Works website blog finally got updated ( well, sort of …June 9???) with a couple of photos of crews removing the railroad signal arms. Why are the taxpayers funding this work that is to benefit the Aptos Village Project developers? Other developments are required by the County to pay 100% of the costs of improvements that support the development impacts.
County taxpayers should be worried about this cozy arrangement with Barry Swenson Builder, Joe Appenrodt, Pete Testorff and others because those developers are reaping the benefits of improved infrastructure supporting the Project but not paying for it.
For example, just last week, County Counsel confirmed this is NO Project Development Agreement between the County and the Aptos Village Project developers. Here is the definition of that important document:
“A development agreement is a voluntary contract between a local jurisdiction and a person who owns or controls property within the jurisdiction, detailing the obligations of both parties and specifying the standards and conditions that will govern development of the property. Although the agreements are voluntary, once made they are binding on the parties and their successors.
A development agreement provides assurances to the developer that the development regulations that apply to the project will not change during the term of the agreement. The city or county may require conditions to mitigate project impacts, as well as clarification about project phasing and timing of public improvement.”
What bothers me is that as a result of Public Records Act requests, I have seen two different drafts of the Aptos Village Project Development Agreement. One presented by the County Public Works Dept. and the CAO proposed that the County repay Barry Swenson Builder $2 million for the cost of BSB constructing roads within the Project. Barry Swenson Builder staff rejected that version and proposed their amendments of the County paying $10 million to BSB and limiting the contribution of only $15,000 for improving Aptos Creek Road. Wow.
“There is no Development Agreement but there are unwritten agreements,” said Mr. Jack Sohriakoff, Sr. Traffic Engineer with County Public Works. I asked him about the Aptos Village Project Development Agreement a couple of years ago. After that, his supervisors would not allow me to speak with him. Hmmmm….
So now, there is no Development Agreement, as confirmed by County Counsel, and yet the County is undertaking the massive and getting-more-massive cost of moving the Metro bus stop into polluted soils and not being ADA-compliant, removing and replacing 200′ of railroad track with excavation to 31″ in contaminated soils, installing brand new railroad crossing arms and a brand new traffic light at Trout Gulch Road and Soquel Drive that will magically handle the 8,000 additional vehicles/day predicted by Mr. Jack Sohriakoff at Public Works in his application for nearly $2 million in taxpayer-funded grants with the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) to help pay for all this work. And that is all just Phase I.
Why has the County consistently placed grant applications for the Aptos Village projects as TOP priority and requested the highest dollar amount of any project application submitted? Why has the RTC consistently funded these projects? Maybe Zach Friend has some answers…if only he were publicly available to ask. I wish former Supervisor Ellen Pirie would come back from Africa and explain this all publicly to the taxpayers…..she made some amazing deals.
A Federal audit concluded that $50 million in taxpayer money was used improperly by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation to subsidize San Joaquin Valley irrigation districts. The money helped subsidize planning the water tunnel project when the irrigation districts were supposed to pay for the work. According to the audit findings, only a small amount of the funds would be required to be repaid by the irrigation districts, under a special agreement. Further, one of the chief Directors of the Westland Irrigation District, Mr. David Bernhardt, involved in the illegal $50 million deal, has been chosen by Donald Trump as the second in command for the Interior Department, which oversees the Bureau of Reclamation. That places him in a position to give the irrigation districts preferential treatment in how the Interior Department implements the 2016 water legislation and permitting for the proposed tunnels.
Handy, don’t you think? I wonder if Mr. Bernhardt has an office in Africa, next to Ellen Pirie’s? It seems a safe place for hiding when the deals made become public.
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
FROM GARY A. PATTON From Gary’s “We Live In A Political World” website…
We’re including two of Gary’s Two World’s this week…
From Monday, September 11, 2017
“UNMINCED”
This is the inescapable fact: on November 9th, the United States elected a dishonest, inept, unbalanced, and immoral human being as its President and Commander-in-Chief. Trump has daily proven unyielding to appeals of decency, unity, moderation, or fact. He is willing to imperil the civil peace and the social fabric of his country simply to satisfy his narcissism and to excite the worst inclinations of his core followers.*
____________________________________
* David Remnick, “The Divider,” The New Yorker, August 28, 2017
And from Sunday, September 10, 2017
#253 “I HAVE JUST A FEW SUPERFICIAL CONCERNS” The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump has “reinstated the ability of local police agencies to receive surplus military equipment, including grenade launchers….” See above for a picture of a grenade launcher. Click the link above for the entire article. Click here for a commentary!
Quoting again from The Wall Street Journal article, “Civil-rights activists criticized the move, saying having military vehicles and similar equipment in local communities … suggests a police force at war with residents. They also said the programs have few rules to control how the equipment is used and ensure officers are trained to use it properly.”
And here is one final quote from the article, outlining the position of the Trump Administration:
Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the change in a speech before the National Fraternal Order of Police, the nation’s largest police union. “We will not put superficial concerns above public safety,” Mr. Sessions told police officers, according his prepared remarks.
If you think it is a “superficial concern” that the federal government apparently wants to turn our local police agencies into armed combat units, with full military capabilities, then you will probably go to sleep tonight feeling safer, understanding that your police department may soon be mobilizing grenade launchers (and similar military equipment) against civil rights demonstrators and other kinds of bad guys.
I have an opposite opinion. It’s like they say about the movies, or a play: “Once you show the audience the gun, you know it has to be used.”
I don’t want my city to end up looking like some town in Syria. Think about what kind of damage a “grenade launcher” can do on your city streets.
I have been urging, for some time, that we put the “war metaphor” to rest, as a fundamentally inappropriate way to understand the reality of our life. Putting military combat gear in the hands of our local police is a non-superficial escalation of violence in the heart of our local communities. That’s my opinion, at least.
Despite the federal government’s desire to outfit our local police with military equipment, local police departments and other law enforcement agencies don’t have to participate in the program. Contact your City Council and County elected officials. Get them to adopt an official policy for your community that will prohibit the use of any military equipment by local law enforcement (and may I say, especially “grenade launchers”).
(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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. Reliving and paying tribute to the the Civil War in Felton (Roaring Camp). Scroll downward a ways…think about it!!!
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” Global Warming/Warning” down a few pages. As always, at TimEagan.com you will find his most recent Deep Cover, the latest installment from the archives of Subconscious Comics, and the ever entertaining Eaganblog.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Feast your eyes on the fabulously dark and romantic new cover of my next book, Beast: A Tale of Love and Revenge, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). Also, take a look at my newly arrived Advanced Reader Copies, for a first glimpse of Beast in book-like form. And don’t look now, but yours truly has just been invited to join the roster of “Tomatometer-approved” movie critics over at Rotten Tomatoes!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975
This broke all box office records last weekend when IT opened…and IT should have. IT is a well made, very scary movie. Based on some Stephen King books, IT is chapter one of a two part nightmare- daydream that will grab you when you are least prepared to be scared. It has all the clichés…BUT it’s got tension, mystery, and perfect timing along with excellent acting. Just go see IT but only if you truly enjoy being scared. 86 on RT.
HOME AGAIN. Some friend used the word “torpor” in a meeting I attended last week. Torpor fits this movie almost perfectly…so does, stupor, inanity, vapid, fatuous and it stars Reese Witrherspoon. It’s not funny enough to be a comedy and not serious enough to be even close to a drama. A 40 year old woman (Witherspoon) rents/shares her house to three young guys and they have sex…you shouldn’t watch. RT gives it 35 but it shouldn’t have.
THE TRIP TO SPAIN. This is the third supposed comedy that two British actors, comics, impressionists… Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have made, and they shouldn’t make any more. These guys go on supposedly food tasting trips to restaurants in England, Italy and now Spain. In each restaurant and on the road they do imitations of famous British actors…James Bond, well Sean Connery, Michael Caine, and Mick Jagger and try very hard to be funny. I haven’t laughed once during any of these contrived messes and find the two actors just about nauseating. Don’t blame me if you do decide to go.
MENASHE. An excellent story about life in a Hasidic Jewish community in New York. A young father tries with all his might to raise his young son in this orthodox world. It’s subtitled and all in Yiddish with subtitles. Go see it. ENDS THURS. 9/14
TULIP FEVER. Christopher Waltz and Alicia Vikander have the leads in this complex, twisted plot that somehow is based on a legendary tulip mania in Amsterdam in the 1700’s . It has beautiful costumes and ok photography but the story line is so pointless, that you’ll sleep during ¾ of the film. A sad disappointment. 10 on RT. ENDS THURS. 9/14
WIND RIVER. Jeremy Renner and young beauty Elisabeth Olsen track down a killer on an Indian Reservation in the very cold Wyoming winter. Much better than average, you’ll stay with the plot and quite decent acting…all the way. It males some obvious social comment along the way, and that works too. The conclusion is a bit crude and drunken, but Renner is almost always worth watching.
THE BIG SICK. Kumail Nanjiani the Pakistani jerk from the “Silicon Valley” tv sit com not only wrote this plot but he and his real wife lived it. The film is a bit long but it’s well worth seeing. It’ll grab you when you least expect it. He’s a standup comic and falls in love with Zoe Kazan, a “white” girl. It’s heart rending, funny and a tale told of cultural differences between his traditional Pakistani family and her very contemporary Mom (Holly Hunter) and dad. Go see it…it’ll surprise you.(and I’ll predict some Awards around December-January).
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score.
Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
THE GLASS CASTLE. Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and especially Brie Larson bring this autobiographical life story to the screen. “Dysfunctional family” doesn’t come close to describing their family problems. The problem is that Woody Harrelson almost always plays exactly Woody Harrelson (as do John Goodman,Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, etc.) He’s an incurable drunk and takes his family on his 100’s of trips through hell. It qualifies as a sob story except that Brie Larsen is just mesmerizing and perfect in the role. Plus you have to believe that Naomi Watts is an old wrinkled mountain woman married for life to Woody. ! Go see it and bring a hanky.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
PATTI CAKES. A youngster in New Jersey tries to make it in show biz…you’ve seen this 100’s of times before only not with an overweight unloved pudge as the star. It’s too corny and too predictable and too sad to be a comedy. If you like, or better yet if you LOVE rap music you’ll like this film much more than I did. ENDS THURS. 9/14
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
SPIDERMAN: HOMECOMING. Michael Keaton completely steals every movie he’s ever made and he sure does playing an evil “Vulture” in this latest version of the web spinner (there have been at least 13 versions of Spidey on TV and the movies!!) Spidey is a high school student with Teresa Tomei as his mom. Robert Downey jr. is back as Iron Man. It doesn’t matter much but Gwyneth Paltrow is in it too. It’s a little better than most of the Marvel Comics hero movies but not much.
ANNABELLE: CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
I DO…UNTIL I DON’T . It’s supposed to be a comedy about a documentarian making a film about marriage. It stars Lake Bell, Ed Helms, and mostly Mary Steenburgen. Miserable acting, pointless plot twists about fidelity and marriage and goes in absolutely no direction with a boring ending. ENDS THURS. 9/14
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. UCSC’s Professor of Earth Sciences Gary Griggs discusses his newest book, “Coasts In Crisis” on Sept.12. Then Patricia Rain talks about her 2nd annual Vanilla Festival. Jane Mio and Barbara Riverwoman from the San Lorenzo River Mysteries group starts the hour on Sept.19. After which Christina Morgan Cree reveals the fashion secrets of the annual FashionArt show happening Sept. 23. September 26 has Conductor, artistic director Michel Singher talking about the next Espressivo Orchestra Concert happening Oct.15. October 3 we’ll talk with Erik Gandolfini and Avondina Wills about The MountainTop play at the Center Stage. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. Gary Patton gives info and background on the Save Santa Cruz Organization on Oct.17. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
I love this guy 🙂 He brings me back to my adolescence 🙂
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. “FALL”
“Spring passes and one remembers one’s innocence. Summer passes and one remembers one’s exuberance. Autumn passes and one remembers one’s reverence. Winter passes and one remembers one’s perseverance.”
Yoko Ono
“At no other time (than autumn) does the earth let itself be inhaled in one smell, the ripe earth; in a smell that is in no way inferior to the smell of the sea, bitter where it borders on taste, and more honeysweet where you feel it touching the first sounds. Containing depth within itself, darkness, something of the grave almost.” ? Rainer Maria Rilke,
“What makes a hero? Courage, strength, morality, withstanding adversity? Are these the traits that truly show and create a hero? Is the light truly the source of darkness or vice versa? Is the soul a source of hope or despair? Who are these so called heroes and where do they come from? Are their origins in obscurity or in plain sight?” ? Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Notes from Underground
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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Santa Cruz, CA 95060
Highlights this week: Omei’s closing not from boycott!!…Shelley Berman memories…Rancho Del Mar shoddy development moves…Santa Cruz Nutritionals 500 plus employees and their cars … Garfield Park Circle Church up for sale and development?… Main Library warnings…Greensite on How Change Happens…Krohn on spending funds for housing and mental health…Steinbruner and safe place for addicts, Soquel Water bills to rise, more favors for Barry Swenson….Patton and Schafly and Kessler…DeCinzo and our friendly ocean, Eagan and what climate change?…Mime Troupe coming here…Jewel Theatre opens new season…Jensen takes off… I critique Menashe, Tulip Fever, Patty Cakes, I Do Till I Don’t….Quotes on “HEAT”
DAVENPORT TRAIN STATION. This was taken April 25 1948. It’s a passenger NOT a freight train…and it worked. Save the rails!!!
FIREBALL RIDE AT THE BOARDWALK. I think I ran this one before, but it’s still scary!!
EARTH VIEWS FROM OUTER SPACE
PYRAMIDS IN ANTARCTICA!!
Buddy Rich & Jerry Lewis – Drum Solo Battle (1965)
DATELINE September 4, 2017
OMEI’S CLOSING – NOT FROM ANY BOYCOTT. Everybody got really jumping about the so-called BOYCOTT of the Omei Restaurant because owner Roger Grigsby had, and has been a long time right wing financier and donated $500 to David Duke the former head of the Ku Klux Klan. If we stop and think about it…it wasn’t the boycott that did the closing, it was the entire restaurant staff quitting all at once. Any boycott even in Santa Cruz would have taken days longer.
SHELLEY BERMAN DIED. Back in 1964 my trio “The Goodtime Washboard 3” opened for Shelley Berman at the “hungry i” in San Francisco. We’d finished a long run at the Purple Onion (almost across the street) and just the chance to go big time at “the i” loomed large. This was the time of Mort Sahl, Tom Lehrer, Lenny Bruce and other geniuses. Shelley had just experienced that terrible documentary showing him losing his temper somewhere backstage…and we were all terribly afraid of him losing it again, he didn’t. Matter of genuine fact he had Enrico can the vocalist that filled between us and his act. He gave us dozens of pointers, hints, and ideas…a real pro. And of course it was at the hungry i where he made his big hit comedy album in 1957. Footnote: our trio also played at the newer hungry i out at Ghirardelli Square and Charles McCabe “The Fearless Spectator” was a regular fan…ahhh those days, and nights!!!
RANCHO DEL MAR DEVELOPMENT. I hope everyone reads Becky Steinbruners weekly article…weekly! When you read her news last week you saw that the TRC developers were going to shut down existing, operating businesses in the Rancho Del Mar plaza. The Sentinel caught onto it and did a front page story a few days ago. Folks who care about Aptos and South County news should keep up with Becky S. she keeps us well informed. If you too are wondering what the future of Rancho Del Mar will look like since TRC (Terramar Retail Centers) bought out Safeway take a look at any one of their schlocky plaza re-dos…
http://www.trcretail.com/sf-east-bay Safeway’s plans don’t look quite so bad in hindsight do they? The latest news is that none of the carpenters that TRC Developers hires to work on the Rancho development will be local!! Lower labor bids are coming in from the Sacramento area. More than that as we have read TRC is evicting most of the lower level merchants so they can begin “renovating”. For example Baskins Robins Ice Cream store will not be allowed to move into the upper level of the Rancho but the Kitchen Store has been given the ok.
SANTA CRUZ NUTRITIONALS IS HIRING!!!….and??? Santa Cruz Nutritionals has about 500 employees now and the good news is they have new management and they are hiring “for all shifts”. Wouldn’t it a great and environmental concept if they started using employee buses to pick up their employees from an easy to park location and dropped them off at their Westside factory? The Westside is getting more and more full of traffic and this could be a giant step forward. Especially so since the Garfield Park Church Circle will soon be up for development.
GARFIELD CIRCLE CHURCH FOR SALE FOR $2,995,000. The David Lyng/Redfin real estate ad reads… “Large lot in the heart of Westside Santa Cruz with large ocean view! The lot currently has a church on it, but is zoned for residential use, and is R-1-5 which will allow for ten 5,000 Sq. Ft. Lots. Truly a one of a kind lot that will make for a one of a kind investment!”. With our Santa Cruz City Council making decisions and especially with Mayor David Terrazas heading the dais next year you can bet your top and bottom dollars that the existing Disciples of Christ Church will vanish into real estate heaven in weeks. Huge high rising floors of stucco and cheapness will replace the 1000’s of square feet of community meeting rooms and and hope of meditation space for any reason. We need to make bets on which developer will get there first. Check out the ad… then you’ll see what I mean.
LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT Jean Brocklebank of “Don’t Bury The Library” committee writes..We took a thorough tour of the present Main library, all 44,000 sq. ft. of it, during the second Downtown Library Advisory Committee (DLAC) meeting. I noticed a lot of inefficient use of space and a lot of sloppy housekeeping. That on top of years of deferred maintenance was annoying to witness.
The library does not need “more” storage, just better management of existing storage space.
The main problem is that many people want to turn the library into a community center, a museum, a day care center, a homeless services center, a place for at risk children to read a book aloud to dogs. a co-working space for chatting and a cafe. Everything BUT a library! We already have a museum, co-working space, dozens of cafes, a homeless center and the Boys and Girls Club downtown … all within a few blocks of the library. We don’t need to repurpose the library for all of those things. What we need is a library where patrons can find information, do research, read, use a computer, print materials, check out materials and have it quiet so they can concentrate on information gathering and absorption.
The City received $27 million of Measure S money and the City decided to allocate $23 million to a new library. No one is suggesting a 3rd or 4th story to the existing library, which has 44,000 sq. ft of space already. Besides, structurally, the bottom two stories will not be able to bear the weight of two more stories.
The date of the Downtown Library Committee meeting is September 13 between 6 – 9 pm in the upstairs meeting room of the library and our Don’t Bury The Library web site
AGENTS OF CHANGE September 4, 2017
Wallace Baine, commenting on the closing of Caffe Pergolesi and Logos Books, coinciding with the opening of Abbott Square, writes, “But change has little respect for nostalgia and those of us around today can watch it unfold—with melancholy or excitement or a tincture of both, as we see fit.” (Sentinel 8/31/17) This way of thinking obscures the human agency that orchestrates change and elevates it to a force of nature to which we must adapt. Thus, only our attitudes towards it are within our power to control. Such a worldview is a boon to those who wield the batons of change. It ensures that most will accept change albeit grudgingly and a swift kick in the nostalgic pants will keep the rest in line. The closing of Logos had more to do with changing buying habits and Pergolesi had more to do with the property owner’s (as distinct from the business owner’s) interests, but nevertheless, such changes are human driven. Had we known, we might have made a difference.
Currently in Santa Cruz, significant change is being imposed from a combination of large-scale property, speculative development interests and the city’s Economic Development Department. Boosted by UCSC growth, Silicon Valley, global marketing, tourism and a growing income divide, Santa Cruz is ripe for the picking. The casualties will be the locally owned, small, long-time businesses including the wharf, low- income workers and the familiar town we know and love.
The agents of change, in this case, the city’s top management staff, are adept at giving us spin. Consider the following statement from the city’s Economic Development director, Bonnie Lipscomb, commenting in the Sentinel on the height and density changes to downtown that are in the wings: “Being able to be at the forefront of adding critically needed housing for our community is part of the larger revitalization effort. Having more people living downtown will help strengthen vitality of our downtown into the future, particularly with the challenges of online retail right now — you can definitely see how having more bodies downtown and having retail surrounded by downtown and residents is going to be very helpful.”
This is not “critically needed housing for our community” but market rate housing for those who don’t yet live here, predominantly new students and tech workers, all of whom will strain our available, finite resources. Students and techies living downtown will not only “strengthen the vitality of downtown” but also change the nature of downtown. Such is how change happens: from department stores selling sheets and bath towels to boutiques and coffee shops. Not inevitable, not natural but rather contrived and implemented by those holding the batons of change. Nostalgia is a sop to the disempowered.
Even the democratic avenues available to hold such economic self-interests accountable are open to spin if the public loses interest. Take only one example from the draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) on the Downtown Recovery Plan amendments (DRP), to which Ms. Lipscomb was referring, which will allow 85 feet tall buildings on the west side of Front St. and 70 feet tall buildings next to the levee and which will be considered at upcoming Planning Commission and City Council meetings. Assessment of the availability of parks for the expected growth due to the project is a requirement under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
The DEIR notes that: “The City is currently underserved for neighborhood and community parks and requires a total of 57 acres to meet these goals (City of Santa Cruz, February 2017)”and “Based on the City’s parks standards set forth in the General Plan, the indirect population that could result from the project would result in the need for approximately 4.5 acres of additional park land.” Given those facts, a reasonable person would conclude that the project is either untenable or will create a significant impact with respect to parks, not to mention traffic, crowding, loss of views and habitat but let’s stick to parks. Not so says the DEIR, which concludes “no significant impact” and writes: “There are several neighborhorhood (sic) and community parks within proximity to the downtown area. The Mimi de Marta Dog Park is located in the vicinity of the project area.” If you know that pocket sized park, this is either an attempt at humor or an attempt to mislead and I suspect it is the latter.
Rather than passively watching change unfold, if we don’t agree that such change is in our interests as a small town community, we can impact the process by our involvement and collective action. It’s up to us.
~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.
While I agree on the Santa Cruz troubles, which Terrazas writes about including “chronic drug use, recidivism and untreated mental illness,” I part company with his main solution of “increasing police staffing” and waiting for Samuel Beckett’s local version of Godot, the county board of supervisors, to act. Increasing the number of police has been tried before and the fact now remains that we have a problem attracting qualified officers to one of the region’s most expensive housing markets. At least six funded sworn officer positions have yet to be filled.
So maybe we can go a different route back to the future. Why not use the money that’s in the budget to fund a social worker in every police car? a 24/7 emergency shelter? drug and alcohol treatment facilities? and increased mental health programming?
Don Williams of the UCSC theater department re-reading and re-membering Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” speech at Santa Cruz clock tower last week.
Santa Cruz has a rich history of progressive politics. Some people in the Santa Cruz city government might hold the position that the city should only act in a serious way to address homelessness, petty crime, drug and alcohol addiction, and our mental health crisis if, and only if the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors acts. Councilmember Terrazas clearly outlined several of the problems our city faces, but simply waiting for the county to act while throwing more police at an intractable social problem are not the answers. While I agree that county resources would help, the city of Santa Cruz has forged ahead before, and now is not the time to wait for the county’s help if they are an unwilling partner.
Back in the 1970’s when local progressive government was being birthed, it was the Westside Community Health clinic and saving the Garfield Park Library that the progressives road to the rescue. Bruce Van Allen and Mike Rotkin were surprise victors in the 1978 city council election. Later, into the 1980’s, they were joined by Mardi Wormhoudt and John Laird to form a council majority and make city support for social services sacrosanct, complete with line items in the city budget. The current city council would do well to replay those tapes and commit significant city resources to taking care of the most vulnerable in this community. The progressives of yesteryear didn’t wait for county government to step in as they responded to the needs of the community in their day.
Now, it’s time for the current Santa Cruz City Council to respond to the legitimate demands of neighborhoods, mental health providers, and the many members of this community who live outside each night. Nobody wants people sleeping in doorways, stooped over and carrying bundles, as Paul Cocking pointed out on the same Sentinel editorial page last week, or dealing with the illegal drug and property crime activities that Councilmember Terrazas discusses. The $buck$ stops with the city council, and there’s $105 million in the city’s general fund budget that requires some rearranging to meet the needs of city neighborhoods and the destitute. The current council must, with or without our county supervisors, address the street crisis our community is now suffering through.
The county supervisors are welcome to join the city council in designing and funding housing and mental health programs, but just like the earlier generation of Santa Cruz progressives who directed city money towards social services because city voters demanded it, this city council has to be willing to go it alone. We are already spending close to $20 million in policing the homeless as Terrazas also points out. What if we spent half that on creating more healing places for them to go? What if the city set as a goal to house 500 more homeless each night, AND provide what is called “wrap-around” services to help insure people will not have to return to the street? This is not avant-garde Santa Cruz somehow inventing something new. It is following past experience, and a proud tradition, of taking care of the most vulnerable in this community while also preserving neighborhood integrity. Please call the Santa Cruz City Council, 420-5020, and tell them to act NOW to end our housing and house-less crisis!
Bernie Sanders Tweet of the Week “We stand with the immigrant families who are scared to death, to young people on the DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) program for whom America is their home.” (Aug. 28)
And, if you want to read about some activist’s push-back on Bernie’s weakened single-payer bill, as opposed to John Conyers’ House Version now supported by 116 other members, read this thought-provoking piece.
~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.
SHOULD TAXPAYERS PROVIDE A PLACE TO SAFELY INJECT ILLEGAL DRUGS?
That is a good question…considering there is no money for local infrastructure to serve the general population. AB 186, co-authored by Assemblywoman Susan Eggman (D-Stockton) and Senator Scott Wiener and Assemblywoman Laura Friedman , would fund a pilot study in seven counties, including Santa Cruz County, and is now under consideration by the legislature.
Here is the essence of the bill:
“AB 186, as amended, Eggman. Controlled substances: safer drug consumption program. Existing law makes it a crime to possess specified controlled substances or paraphernalia. Existing law makes it a crime to use or be under the influence of specified controlled substances. Existing law additionally makes it a crime to visit or be in any room where specified controlled substances are being unlawfully used with knowledge that the activity is occurring, or to open or maintain a place for the purpose of giving away or using specified controlled substances. Existing law makes it a crime for a person to rent, lease, or make available for use any building or room for the purpose of storing or distributing any controlled substance. Existing law authorizes forfeiture of property used for specified crimes involving controlled substances. This bill would, until January 1, 2022, authorize specified counties or cities within those counties to authorize the operation of supervised injection services programs for adults that satisfies specified requirements, including, among other things, a hygienic space supervised by healthcare professionals or other trained staff health care professionals, as defined, where people who use drugs can consume preobtained drugs, sterile consumption supplies, and access to referrals to addiction substance use disorder treatment. The bill would require any entity operating a program under its provisions to provide an annual report to the city, county, or city and county, as specified. The bill would exempt a person from existing criminal sanctions while he or she is using or operating a supervised injection solely for actions or conduct on the site of a safer drug consumption services program for adults authorized by a city, county, or city and county.”
The bill passed in the Assembly on 6/1/17 with a vote of 41-33. Local representatives Mark Stone and Anna Caballero both voted in favor of the bill. The bill has been amended by the Senate and is now in its third reading, which means it will be voted upon soon. You might notice that the amended version requires approval of the respective County Boards of Supervisors and City Councils. If the County representatives deny the project, can the cities within the chosen County still approve a pilot project within the city boundaries? I think so. How would something like that be funded? How would the pilot study injection center location be decided upon?
How were these seven pilot counties chosen? Oddly, they are NOT the locations where there are the highest drug overdose death rates. Look here.
Here are the counties included in the pilot study, with drug overdose death rate based on 2012-2014 information: Alameda (10), Fresno (10), Humboldt (33), Los Angeles (7), Mendocino (20), San Francisco (17), Santa Cruz (19). WHY NOT TRY THIS PROJECT OUT IN THE COUNTIES WHERE THE DRUG OVERDOSE DEATH RATES ARE THE HIGHEST: Plumas (49), Lake (46), Lassen (32), Butte (30), Mariposa (28), Amador (27)???
You can read the legislative analysis here., and read more here. Assemblywoman Eggman states in this article that she was surprised by the push-back NIMBY response she received from Santa Cruz County. She has been working closely with representatives in our area since first introducing the legislation. Again, since the ultimate approval will rest with County Supervisors and City Councilmembers, I suggest you contact yours now with your thoughts.
SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT NEW RATE STRUCTURE… INCREASES COMING YOUR WAY
The Soquel Creek Water District will roll out its new rate structure increase plan at the Board meeting September 5. The plan, discussed by a special Rate Advisory Committee recently, has devised a flat-rate charge tiered system that allows ratepayers to choose which plan they want to have. Customers can change plans only once/year without financial penalty. If customers use less than the allowed number of units in their plan, they would get a rebate. The details of that reward for conservation are to be discussed at the Board meeting.
WHY DID SOQUEL CREEK WATER DISTRICT ALLOW BARRY SWENSON BUILDER FREE WATER FOR THE APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT CONSTRUCTION SITE THIS YEAR?
At their August 15 meeting, the Board of Directors told a ratepayer who had questioned the irregular service connection on Granite Way that “you can ask all the questions you want but you can’t demand answers.” That was in response to General Manager Ron Duncan saying that “appropriate action had been taken” regarding the unmetered subterranean connection that Barry Swenson Builder crews have been using all year for dust control and concrete curing work THROUGHOUT THE CONSTRUCTION SITE all year long. In the September agenda packet (Item # 7.3 on page 65) you can read Mr. Duncan’s letter to that ratepayer, wherein he states: “I will inform you of the following findings: 1) the water service was a legal, active service meaning that the customer of record was continually paying their bill; and 2) the meter had been removed from the service. In response to these findings, the service was promptly locked off and will remain locked until it is either reactivated by the account holder, or formally decommissioned/abandoned as part of the Aptos Village project improvement plan.” I wonder what Mr. Duncan really means by “locked off”? The only thing that has changed is that there is now a lid on the connection so no one can see what is going on.
~
Take a look at the history of the District’s response (Page 58 of the agenda packet) to my repeated earlier requests for action on this irregular unmetered service connection that lacked anti-contamination devices. For weeks, the District staff replied “we are taking appropriate action” to my inquiries (which were copied to all members of the Board) while continuing to allow Barry Swenson Builder crews to use the water from this unmetered connection.
I wonder if the District’s ratepayers know about this? Which Plan do you think Barry Swenson Builder would choose?
APTOS VILLAGE PROJECT POND ON GRANITE WAY: PETE TESTORFF’S QUESTIONABLE CONNECTION?
Pete Testorff is one of the Aptos Village Project developers, and he also owns a parcel on Granite Way, adjacent to the development. He recently demolished a 1906 house and is building two huge houses on the parcel. Last week, a significant pond of water appeared within the Aptos Village Project boundaries, directly across from Testorff’s new houses. There is a new service connection on that edge of Granite Way with a lid marked “FIRE”.
The pond persists, so one must assume that it is a leak related to this new connection. Did Soquel Creek Water District technicians do this work? When I reported the leak to staff last week, with photos of the pond, the answer was “We’ll get a technician right out.” I wonder what “appropriate action” will be taken? Hmmmmmm……
Cheers, Becky Steinbruner
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
On Saturday, August 26, 2017, I read an article by Vivian Gornick that mentioned Phyllis Schlafly. For any who may not remember Schlafly, here’s a brief biography from Wikipedia:
“[Schlafly] was known for her staunchly conservative social and political views, her opposition to feminism and abortion, and her successful campaign against the ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Her 1964 book, A Choice Not an Echo, a polemic push-back against Republican leader Nelson Rockefeller, sold more than three million copies. She co-authored books on national defense and was highly critical of arms control agreements with the former Soviet Union. Schlafly founded the conservative interest group Eagle Forum in 1972 and remained its chairperson and CEO until her death”.
On Saturday, August 26th, I also read a commentary published in my hometown newspaper, the Santa Cruz Sentinel, by one of the Sentinel’s favorite cultural commentators, Stephen Kessler. Kessler’s column was called “Open letter to a so-called ‘white supremacist’,” and was a pretty much unexceptional and rather condescending denunciation of those persons who would fit that category.
As I said in my blog posting on August 25th, I am no fan of white nationalists or white supremacists, and it may be that the Kessler column wouldn’t have struck me as perhaps a bit off-base if I hadn’t just read Gornick’s thoughts about Schlafly.
Schlafly exemplifies another politically objectionable species (at least from my point of view), as an outspoken, right-wing, pro-military anti-feminist. Gornick, though, in this article, was kind of “soft” on Schlafly, and this was somewhat surprising, because I feel certain that Gornick largely shares my own political point of view, and certainly would not be positive about Schlafly’s political positions, any more than Kessler or I would be warm and friendly to white supremacists.
So….here is Gornick’s point (which I believe she has drawn from Sagan’s book):
The struggle of any society—but especially that of a society that calls itself a democracy—is to honor the existence of the one not like ourselves. Now, much like in ancient Athens, our own democracy is teetering: a moment when so many of us have become unreal to one another.
Can we “honor the existence” of the white supremacists and the right-wing, pro-military, anti-feminists, even while we reject their views? Gornick suggests that our ability to maintain democracy in our country may hinge on the answer to that question.
As we debate whether or not “free speech” should include our ability to tolerate objectionable, hate-filled arguments that we abhor, it’s a question worth thinking about!
~ 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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. See DeCinzo’s “Our friendly oceans” just a scroll below, a twist or two and there you are!
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. See Eagan’s ” What Climate Change?” 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. The San Francisco Mime Troupe will be here again performing their newest play, “WALLS“. It happens Saturday September 9 and Sunday September 10 at 3 p.m. in San Lorenzo Park on the flatlands. Bring a chair and a blanket to sit on and a generous donation to help this brave band of actors continue bringing us great commedia and a healthy look at our government. Get there at 2:30 to hear the band play…you won’t forget it…or them.Go here for more data on “WALLS”.
JEWEL THEATRE. Santa Cruz’s own Jewel Theatre opens their 2017-2018 season with Arthur Millers “ALL MY SONS’ September 6th through October 1. If you haven’t attended their plays now in the Colligan Theatre in the Tannery you’ve been missing something. Go here for tickets and info… http://jeweltheatre.net
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa is taking a sort of vacation to work on special things and will return next week. Read her latest stuff this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). Also, discover the evocative and fanciful pastels of her Beauty and the Beast illustrator of the month, Binette Schroeder (as the countdown to her own Beast book continues)!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
MENASHE. An excellent story about life in a Hasidic Jewish community in New York. A young father tries with all his might to raise his young son in this orthodox world. It’s subtitled and all in Yiddish with subtitles. Go see it.
TULIP FEVER. Christopher Waltz and Alicia Vikander have the leads in this complex, twisted plot that somehow is based on a legendary tulip mania in Amsterdam in the 1700’s . It has beautiful costumes and ok photography but the story line is so pointless, that you’ll sleep during ¾ of the film. A sad disappointment. 10 on RT.
PATTY CAKES. A youngster in New Jersey tries to make it in show biz…you’ve seen this 100’s of times before only not with an overweight unloved pudge as the star. It’s too corny and too predictable and too sad to be a comedy. If you like, or better yet if you LOVE rap music you’ll like this film much more than I did.
I DO…UNTIL I DON’T . It’s supposed to be a comedy about a documentarian making a film about marriage. It stars Lake Bell, Ed Helms, and mostly Mary Steenburgen. Miserable acting, pointless plot twists about fidelity and marriage and goes in absolutely no direction with a boring ending.
WIND RIVER. Jeremy Renner and young beauty Elisabeth Olsen track down a killer on an Indian Reservation in the very cold Wyoming winter. Much better than average, you’ll stay with the plot and quite decent acting…all the way. It males some obvious social comment along the way, and that works too. The conclusion is a bit crude and drunken, but Renner is almost always worth watching.
THE BIG SICK. Kumail Nanjiani the Pakistani jerk from the “Silicon Valley” tv sit com not only wrote this plot but he and his real wife lived it. The film is a bit long but it’s well worth seeing. It’ll grab you when you least expect it. He’s a standup comic and falls in love with Zoe Kazan, a “white” girl. It’s heart rending, funny and a tale told of cultural differences between his traditional Pakistani family and her very contemporary Mom (Holly Hunter) and dad. Go see it…it’ll surprise you.(and I’ll predict some Awards around December-January).
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score.
Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
THE GLASS CASTLE. Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and especially Brie Larson bring this autobiographical life story to the screen. “Dysfunctional family” doesn’t come close to describing their family problems. The problem is that Woody Harrelson almost always plays exactly Woody Harrelson (as do John Goodman,Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, etc.) He’s an incurable drunk and takes his family on his 100’s of trips through hell. It qualifies as a sob story except that Brie Larsen is just mesmerizing and perfect in the role. Plus you have to believe that Naomi Watts is an old wrinkled mountain woman married for life to Woody. ! Go see it and bring a hanky.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
SPIDERMAN:HOMECOMING. Michael Keaton completely steals every movie he’s ever made and he sure does playing an evil “Vulture” in this latest version of the web spinner (there have been at least 13 versions of Spidey on TV and the movies!!) Spidey is a high school student with Teresa Tomei as his mom. Robert Downey jr. is back as Iron Man. It doesn’t matter much but Gwyneth Paltrow is in it too. It’s a little better than most of the Marvel Comics hero movies but not much.
ANNABELLE:CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
THE DARK TOWER. How can a movie from books by Stephen King, and produced by Ron Howard, and which stars Mathew McConaughey and Idris Alba be so bad?? (18 on RT). It’s intergalactic, bloody, complexly stupid plot…and it’s filmed mostly in the dark. That saves tons of money spent on special effects. McConaughey is the bad guy and Alba is the good guy, in case somebody forces you to go. It’s more depressing than watching Fox news!!
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
GOOD TIME. One of the darkest, mean spirited films of the decade. Robert Pattinson (“Twilight” star) does all he can to get his demented brother out of jail. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the old mentally disturbed girl friend. It’s not exciting or meaningful but it does have some excellently hand- held filmed scenes. Not my kind of movie by any means.
INGRID GOES WEST. It’s being billed as a dark comedy, and I didn’t laugh once. A deranged teen ager is totally hooked and dependent on any and all social media…especially her iPhone. She haunts and threatens her equally nutty celebrity heroine and it all takes place in around and about Venice Beach. I suggest you skip this one. I didn’t forget any star names, there aren’t any.
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 5 has Lisa Hadley and Davis Banta previewing their Quality Of Life play. Then therapist Alexandra Kennedy talks about her Awakening to Life In Transition retreat. UCSC’s Gary Griggs discusses his newest book, “Coasts In Crisis” on Sept.12. Then Patricia Rain talks about her 2nd annual Vanilla Festival. Jane Mio from the San Lorenzo River Mysteries group starts the hour on Sept.19. After which Christina Morgan Cree reveals the fashion secrets of the annual FashionArt show happening Sept. 23. September 26 has Conductor, artistic director Michel Singher talking about the next Espressivo Orchestra Concert happening Oct.15. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
This goes to show, sometimes opportunities you think you’ve missed come back around.
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. “HEAT”
“When the water starts boiling it is foolish to turn off the heat”, Nelson Mandela “It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility”, Yogi Berra “Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself”, William Shakespeare “Those who cannot understand how to put their thoughts on ice should not enter into the heat of debate”, Friedrich Nietzsche “I am not bound for any public place, but for ground of my own where I have planted vines and orchard trees, and in the heat of the day climbed up into the healing shadow of the woods”, Wendell Berry
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
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Highlights this week: Omei boycott a success!!!…Greensite writes in vacation mode…Krohn and Pergolesi closing, his letter to the City Council,important dates for activists…Steinbruner and Senator Bill Monnings bill to help CalAm and polluters and to gouge taxpayers, more on Aptos Village Traffic and Barry Swenson Builders get fined, and long time Rancho Del Mar businesses to get “evicted”… Patton about Political change and the effectiveness of Protesting…DeCinzo and welcome back UCSC students…Eagan and that painful Trump itch…Jensen and The Only Living Boy In New York…I critique Whose Streets, Good Time, The Only Living Boy In New York and Ingrid Goes West. Check out Quotes about September.
DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ’S “COOPER HOUSE”. Back on October 30 1961 this was of course our Santa Cruz County Court House. As you can see it was “Civil Defense Week”. And the Defense Week was sponsored by the Santa Cruz Junior Chamber of Commerce. The sign says this basement fallout shelter (from which the girls are peeking) would cost $35. That’s a shelter shell on the left that could be dropped in the hole in your backyard and covered with cement…and no more worries about any old Atomic Bomb!!! Nope, no info on the young women’s identities.
2013 World Synchronized Skating SP-3 Team Russia 1
Fantastic little girl! The best talent in the world 2016 Rollerblade Freestyle Slalom Dancing
DATELINE August 28, 2017
OMEI BOYCOTT WORKED!
It is encouraging to see that the Omei Restaurant is now closed. It truly is the power and the will of the people that accomplished this. Omei owner Roger Grimsby has been a long time backer of right wing causes and a Republican student newspaper on the UCSC campus.
When enough folks learned that Grigsby contributed $500 last year (2016) to David Duke’s campaign for the U.S. Senate they too decided to stop eating at the Omei. More than that I’ve been told that the Omei staff quit in protest to his support of Duke and the KKK.
In 2002, Duke pleaded guilty to defrauding supporters by claiming to be in dire financial straits, and asking them for money to help him pay for basic necessities. At the time, Duke was financially secure, and used his supporters’ money for recreational gambling.
We’ve experienced decades of boycotts against grapes, oil companies, Nestles, Tyson Foods, WalMart, Coors, Chevron, and on and on. One website states, “The word boycott actually comes from a person. Charles Boycott evicted those who couldn’t pay rent on the land he owned. The result was that all of his workers downed tools, delivery people refused to work with him and he found himself outcast from his local community. ‘Boycott’ quickly became the word for a form of economic protest. With a country built on capitalism and economic freedom, Americans see the value of taking economic action against those who don’t play fairly or break the law”. Then that site says, “Activists say that it encourages people to pause to reflect on what they are spending and the environmental and ethical consequences of what they are buying”. One misguided soul lamented the Omei closing and she said “the mob ruled”…I call it democracy and a positive demonstration of the will of the people who care where their money is spent.
CORRECTING THE RECORD
Three unrelated topics recently caught my eye. Each contains misleading content. Some appear intended to deceive. All need correcting before they are accepted as fact and form the basis for decisions and points of view.
The first is the statement from Sarah Latham, UCSC Vice Chancellor of Business and Administrative Services in a recent letter to the editor in the Sentinel on the topic of student impact on the local housing shortage. Dr. Latham notes that the provision of 3000 new on-campus bed spaces, which are expected to be built and fully available by 2022, will relieve the student pressure on the local rental housing market. She says this is good news for the community. Since many have criticized UCSC’s failure to provide sufficient on campus housing, such information blunts criticism and at first glance does seem a significant step forward. What Dr. Latham neglects to include in her letter is that only 900 of the 3000 beds will truly be additional bed space. The other 2100 will be bed space for those occupying converted lounges and converted doubles into triples. This is according to the manager overseeing the project and was shared with the public that is the four of us who attended the scoping meeting on the project. “Decanting the pressure” on existing facilities was how the 2100 bed distribution was described. And since UCSC continues to add students, by 2022, the 3000 additional beds will at best maintain the current stranglehold on the local rental housing market rather than in any way offering any relief. Since Dr. Latham was described as having “great skills and an inexhaustible enthusiasm for UCSC” when she was hired, one can assume she knows full well that her statement is misleading.
The next is a line item in the survey of 400 residents conducted by the city in the context of a possible quarter cent city sales tax increase that may be placed on the ballot for a vote. I tend to oppose all sales tax increases with rare exceptions since they are a regressive form of taxation impacting disproportionally those at the lowest economic levels. That, plus the fact that the city keeps padding at the top level of management at very high salaries, keeps hiring consultants for all sorts of projects but puts on a poor man’s cap when there’s a budget shortfall and claims that all sorts of vital services will be cut unless the sales tax is approved. The one liner that caught my eye is the entry that asks respondents if they think the following need was one they could very strongly support, strongly support or not support. The need described is to fix the “damaged and deteriorating municipal wharf infrastructure.” Of course most respondents checked the first two categories and who wouldn’t with images of crumbling wharf pilings evoked by such wording. What deceit! The city well knows from its own engineering study paid for by federal funds obtained by phony claims of tsunami damage to the wharf that the wharf, including its pilings is in excellent condition with only 5% of the pilings needing replacement and funds have already been secured for that work. And if the surface road needs repair, that is part of ongoing maintenance and should be paid from the $26 million annual profit that the wharf businesses generate. Besides Don’t Morph the Wharf! perhaps we need to add Don’t Fool the Public!
The final topic that stood out for me is an entry in Stephen Kessler’s otherwise fine piece titled “An Open Letter To White Supremacists” in the August 26 edition of the Sentinel. Mr. Kessler writes: “Races have been mixing in this country since the Indians welcomed the British immigrants, and since the first Africans were brought in chains as slaves, and since the Spanish mated with indigenous Mexicans and settled the Southwest.” The words “mixing” and “mating” could not be more misleading and betray the all too common ignorance of the systematic, condoned brutalization and rape of indigenous and African women at the hands of the conquering European colonial males. The attempt to erase from history the global and systemic rape of girls and women needs correction whenever and wherever it rears its ugly head.
~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.
They Partied Like It Was 2017 Cafe Pergolesi’s front door slammed shut just before midnight on Saturday, August 26th. But it did not go gently into that good night. Nope, not the Perg crowd. The evening was a final sweaty, throat-clearing, song and tears-filled dance jam. As more than 500 crammed into the old Dr. Miller’s building one last time to hear the sometimes smooth and sometimes ear-piercing band of Perg’s longtime barista, Hiram Coffee, few believed what they were witnessing. The twenty-five year-long run (Started in the old Bookshop SC courtyard, remember?! where the Penny University began too!) of Cafe Pergolesi was winding down. This was it. The oldsters and youngsters, some heavily tattooed, others sporting hipster beards and multiple piercings showed up one last time to pay homage, dance, receive free Rebecca’s cookies, drink one last beer from a pirate keg, and just share stories with friends and strangers about what Pergolesi meant to this town. Was the event really a harbinger cog in the capitalist wheel running over Santa Cruz? What most present understood too well was that along with Logos bookstore, Pergolesi was yet another casualty of “$the market$.” While the ribbon-cutting at the 106-room Broadway Hyatt hotel will soon take place, and the 95 $market-rate$ condos at the end of Pacific nears completion, some at this cafe-wake suspected more condos coming here to the Cedar Street corner, while others said the old Victorian house would likely come down to provide some more surface parking for SC Warrior fans. Ahh, Surf City is riding one of its most gnarly socio-economic waves in recent memory. With the loses mounting up for bohemian Santa Cruzanos I offer below some upcoming events where you can get involved, get (or stay) active, and let your voice be heard about the kind of city you want to live in.
Not Without Your Voice
Get out your calendar. Here are the dates you should be aware of…and either write a letter, an email, or come out to a meeting and express your First Amendment rights by advocating and commenting on the kind of Santa Cruz you want help create. The city you see today is not necessarily the city that developers, the UC Regents, 1960’s conservatives, and real estate-mongers somehow bequeathed us. It took work to create and preserve Lighthouse Field, Wilder Ranch, the Pogonip, Del Mar Theatre, the Moore Creek Uplands, Tannery Arts Center, contra-flow bike lanes, keeping Santa Cruz Shakespeare in Santa Cruz, passing a Sanctuary City ordinance, and support for a killer Museum of Art and History (MAH). We can do more, but not without more community voices. Will we continue to bleed more Logos and Pergolesi’s, or can we work now to create the kind of future we want to live in? Protectionist? Activist? Socially just? A movable feast celebrating diversity?
Sept. 8th–LAST day to comment on Downtown Recovery Plan Draft EIR, http://www.cityofsantacruz.com/government/city-departments/planning-and-community-development-2/environmental-documents
Sept. 9th—Mayor Cynthia Chase is at the MAH to discuss, what else? HOUSING, at 10a.m.
Sept. 12th, There will be an official Santa Cruz City Council meeting. Agenda items may include Marijuana dispensary licensing
Sept. 12th—SC4Bernie Meeting will be at the Live Oak Grange, 1900 7th Ave., 6p. The Bernies, like the Indivisibles, are not mourning, they’re organizing.
Sept. 13th—Downtown Library (Garage?) Committee meets upstairs at the library, 6pm to decide how to spend the $23 million library bond money and whether to include it in a parking garage atop the downtown Farmer’s Market. You help decide.
Sept. 21st–Santa Cruz Planning Commission, 7p, City Council Chambers. Agenda items include–limiting, or expanding, MHCAN’s hours of operation. MHCAN is one of the only peer-to-peer mental health programs we have in the city. It works and it’s being threatened.
Sept. 22nd–“Downtown Engagement” Event put on by the Downtown Association for “stakeholders” is said to be a $100 per head affair on the old Thrift Center store site, downtown.
Sept 23rd—Santa Cruz Indivisible’s “Political Art” event will be on Cooper Street, 2-6p.m.
Sept. 26th–Another official Santa Cruz City Council meeting. Agenda items may include a decision on STVR’s–Short-Term Vacation Rentals.
Sept. 28th—Santa Cruz Planning Commission meeting, items may include: Downtown Recovery Plan amendments to change building heights and densities in downtown SC.
Oct. 4, 11, 18, 25–Brown Bag housing discussions at city hall, noon
Oct. 14th—Santa Cruz City Council meeting, agenda items may include closing the inclusionary loophole on planned developments, i.e. demanding developers build the 15% affordable units in every project.
October 15-24, SANTA CRUZ HOUSING “WEEK,” stay tuned! Workshops, speakers and rallies…
Nov. 14th—Santa Cruz City Council meeting, agenda items may include: Downtown Recovery Plan amendments to change building heights and densities in downtown SC.
ALSO, COMING to the city council in November and December–40-unit condo project at 1930 Ocean Street Extension, a possible housing bond ballot measure, the Parks Master Plan, UCSC Long Range Development Plan meeting schedule…and discussions of why rents are too damn high in this town and what WE can do about it!
Fun Stuff that Will Help You Recharge Your Activist Involvement Batteries.
Aug. 31-Sept. 3rd, will be the Santa CruzShakespeare final performances of 2017. I’ve seen them all and they are terrific…39 Steps is my favorite, really funny if you like slapstick comedy. www.santacruzshakespeare.org
Aug. 31st-Sept. 3rd–The real, super, spectacular grand opening, with a few plants too, of Abbott Square at the MAH, 5p. https://santacruzmah.org/
Sept. 9 and 10–Free SF Mime Troupe at San Lorenzo Park, music begins at 2:30 p.m , performance is at 3p. http://www.sfmt.org/schedule/
And don’t forget, you can get involved with all the groups working on AFFORDABLE HOUSING. They include: Santa Cruz Tenant’s Rights, Affordable Housing Now, SC Organizing Circle, SC4Bernie, and Students United with Renters (SUR).
Finally, an Open Letter to my Colleagues on the Santa Cruz City Council
“Tequila Festival and San Lorenzo Park’s Houseless”
Dear Mayor and Fellow City Councilmembers,
I am perplexed. I’ve recently received three inquiries about the “Tequila Festival” taking place this (past) weekend in San Lorenzo Park. Forgive me, but I do not recall this item coming up before the city council for approval during these past eight months. (Perhaps last year’s council approved it?)
An issue two constituents wanted to bring to my attention was about the displacement of the people who sleep in the park nightly, between 50-100 individuals do so – they said. The indigent people were simply ordered to leave and not directed to any other area where they could be, no alternative shelter space was mentioned when the “Tequila Festival” fencing was erected Thursday afternoon. “The fences just went up,” one of them told me.
We need to fund a 24/7 shelter as soon as possible, not just in winter, but year-round. It could be an entry point to direct the houseless to other services as well. We really need to stop the presses. Stop what we’re doing. Perhaps delay downtown development, wharf and civic auditorium remodels, and stop the library-garage projects’ work flow and FIRST, find shelter for the most vulnerable among us. I believe this is our duty as councilmembers.
I stand ready to work with all of you on finding housing for our homeless population. I am open to hearing about timelines, sites, funding sources, and discussions with county officials. I know I am not the only one of us feeling this urgency, I just wanted to emphasize this aspect, perhaps most significant, that homeless people are the most vulnerable population in our Santa Cruz housing crisis puzzle.
Sincerely, Chris Krohn
~Bernie quote of the Week: “By pardoning Sheriff Arpaio, President Trump has once again made clear where he stands: on the side of racism and discrimination”.
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.
A STATE TAX ON DRINKING WATER? Senator Bill Monning wants to impose a first-ever drinking water tax with his SB 623, under the pretense of bringing in over $100 million in new funding for water improvements for disadvantaged communities suffering from nitrate in their wells. Bill Monning says the General Fund is just not a reliable fund source. In my opinion, this is nothing more than a money grab to benefit big water business, such as CalAm, pad the state coffers, exempt polluters and gouge the common people for life-sustaining water.
SB 623 would ALSO tax all fertilizer materials (“fertilizer fee”) and tax all milk produced (“dairy fee”) and allow voluntary contributions, gifts, settlements, grants and bequests to go to the Safe & Affordable Drinking Water Fund. Hmmm…
In exchange for these new taxes, SB 623 PROHIBITS the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) or Regional Water Quality Control Boards from specified enforcement actions against ag operations FOR EXCEEDING NITRATE GROUNDWATER OBJECTIVES OR OTHER GROUNDWATER POLLUTION STANDARDS as specified “if the operation demonstrates certain mitigation requirements are met, INCLUDING TIMELY PAYMENT OF FERTILIZER OR DAIRY FEE UNTIL 1/1/2033.” Senator Monning’s bill states the ag operations are entitled to “receive SWRCB enforcement relief”.
Read that shocking bit of verbiage yourself on page 4, ‘Polluter Pays Principle’, here in the 8/22/2017 bill analysis
The proposed legislation is in the Assembly Appropriations Committee until hearing on September 1, 2017. Because of recess, the actual text of the bill will only be available in print three days before it goes to hearing. Isn’t that handy? It imposes a 95 cents per month tax on all metered and unmetered customers of public water systems and up to $10/month for customers with larger diameter service connections. It exempts low income customers, fire flow and non-potable uses (aka, recycled water) until July 1, 2020.
SB 623 would allow the SWRCB to take charge of administering these new taxes after July 1, 2020, at which time, in working with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the tax rates could double. It would also REQUIRE that the tax rate be increased regularly, but maintain exemption for low income customers.
The stated intent is to raise money for funding system improvements for communities with nitrate problems, but nothing is mentioned about stopping the pollution and in fact, allows without impunity the ability of ag operations to continue to pollute as long as the tax monies roll in to the State. However, SB 623 would require all public water systems to submit an updated map of the aquifer in areas of high risk of contaminant levels above drinking water standards.
Groundwater mapping is expensive…what will that requirement accomplish other than digging a deeper financial hole for small water agencies already struggling to meet the increasing number of tests and reports to file with the State. This fits nicely with the State’s MANDATORY CONSOLIDATION OF SMALL WATER AGENCIES that I discussed here last week.
So, here is how I see all this fitting together: Senator Monning’s SB 623 would bring in over $100 million/year on the backs of the common people, fund CalAm and the likes to get free money to acquire struggling small water agencies, and allow big ag operations to pollute without any worry of the State enforcing the laws that would stop them. Now do you understand why SB 623 has support of the ag and dairy industries?
Oh, and after July 1, 2020, SB 623 would allow the SWRCB to adopt all water fee regulations as EMERGENCY REGULATIONS, which means environmental reviews, analyses and maybe even public process would be waived. Does SB 623 seem like a good idea to you? If not, you need to speak out and let your thoughts be known as soon as possible. Contact members of the Assembly Appropriations Committee by this Friday, September 1. http://apro.assembly.ca.gov/membersstaff
For questions about the analysis of SB 623, contact Approppriations Committee Deputy Chief Consultant Ms. Jennifer Galehouse 916-319-2081 Assembly Appropriations Committee, State Capitol, Room 2114, Sacramento, CA 95814 FAX 916-319-2181
According to the article in the Mercury News, Senator Bill Monning has support of Republican Senator Andy Vidak from the Central Valley, also a cherry farmer. “This is very, very important to my constituents,” he said. “This is one of the most important things in my district.” Hmmm….sounds like he might be taking a cue from Trump’s profound Tweets.
SPEAKING OF SOIL CONTAMINATION…COUNTY PUBLIC WORKS CONTINUES TO STALL APTOS VILLAGE TRAFFIC AND STRAIN EXISTING LOCAL BUSINESSES
What IS going on??? Still no public information from Santa Cruz County Department of Public Works about why the Aptos Village road work has been stalled for two months without explanation. Here is the only source of information for the public.
The County has not updated the site in five weeks and yet this is the source promised by Supervisor Zach Friend publicly to be maintained for public information updates. NADA!! The interactive blogs have not received any County answers in nearly a month. The Village merchants and residents beyond are tired of the disruption that is making life difficult.
We can thank the County Public Works folks for not considering the possibility of soil contamination associated with railroad bed soils to even add that little detail into the project bid description. Apparently, the contractor, John Madonna Construction of San Luis Obispo, did not check into the detail either, and excavated soil for the inbound #71 Metro bus stop relocation site. Thankfully, County Environmental Health staff was paying attention and required testing in the small mountain of soil that John Madonna Construction had stockpiled on the Aptos Village Project construction site ( on top of the buried 1880’s railroad turntable and near the Bayview Hotel).
Here is a recent judgment announcement that was quickly rescinded:
LOCAL BUILDERS TO PAY $125,000 SETTLEMENT IN THE MISHANDLING AND DISPOSAL OF AN UNDERGROUND STORAGE TANK AND HAZARDOUS WASTE Santa Cruz County District Attorney Jeffrey S. Rosell, announced today that the Santa Cruz County Superior Court has ordered Green Valley Corporation dba Barry Swenson Builders, Inc., to pay $125,000 as part of a settlement of a civil-environmental prosecution.
According to the District Attorneys’ complaint filed with the Courts, Barry Swenson Builders unlawfully handled and disposed of an underground storage tank and related hazardous waste on March 1, 2016. This information was identified during inspections conducted by investigators from the County of Santa Cruz Health Services Agency – Environmental Health Division at a construction site at Aptos Village in which Barry Swenson Builders was acting as the general contractor.
Under the Court order, Barry Swenson Builders must pay $115,000 in civil penalties, $435 in court fees, and $9,565 to reimburse the costs of the investigation, designed to prevent Barry Swenson Builders from committing similar violations in the future.
Prosecutor Ed Browne indicated that Barry Swenson Builders cooperated throughout the investigation and quickly responded to enhance their policies and procedures designed to eliminate the improper disposal of underground storage tanks and hazardous wastes at its construction sites.
District Attorney Rosell stated “Today’s settlement is a significant victory in our effort to hold businesses accountable for any unlawful actions, and in protecting the environment and the citizens of Santa Cruz County.”
Well, the tests of the County’s project along Soquel Drive showed indeed the soils were contaminated with arsenic and several other pollutants. Good thing Barry Swenson Builder and Pete Testorff had not yet smeared the contaminated soils all over the site, as was done with the diesel contamination soils near Granite Way. But wait, Public Works sort of followed in Barry’s footsteps by hauling off the contaminated railroad bed soils to a land fill that is not registered to accept those contaminated soils, and did not even bother to notify County Environmental Health staff supervising the remediation efforts. Hmmmm….
Meanwhile, Aptos Village continues to be gridlocked and torn-up. Barry Swenson Builder regularly stops and delays traffic to chew through Trout Gulch Road to install storm water drains leading to Trout Creek and Valencia Creek. Where is the County-required construction notice signage with delay dates and a disturbance coordinator number? It is indeed difficult to decide who is the most arrogant and egregious about disregarding the law…Barry Swenson Builder or County Public Works (cuddled by County Administrative Officers Mauriello and Palacios and Supervisor Zach Friend)?
Well, maybe an El Nino will wash everything away into the Bay and we can all just breathe a sigh of relief (except if you’re on Granite Way, you’ll cough and sputter because there is NO DUST CONTROL THERE).
TRC RETAIL READY TO TERMINATE LEASES FOR EXISTING MERCHANTS SOON.
Sad but true, according to Mr. Bruce Walton, TRC Retail hopes to begin remodel work in October and plans to “terminate leases of some of those businesses who are struggling”. He insisted no one will be evicted…I guess that’s different than terminating a lease? The list is confidential but Mr. Walton did divulge that Erik’s Deli will close for a complete interior remodel project. The entire $10 million remodel project will take 12 months to complete.
Where will those existing businesses go? How will those merchants be able to handle relocation during the busy holiday shopping season? I asked Mr. Walton if the remodel project could be postponed until January. “No.” Will there be any reduced rents? “Lease renewals will be evaluated on an individual tenant basis.” Why are the tenants not receiving any communication about the remodel schedule and plans? “Well, TRC is aware there have been problems. We have gone through turnover of three different people who are supposed to be in charge of front line communication, but we have just hired a new person.” Oh, what is that person’s name? “Shannan. I don’t have her last name with me, but tenants will be hearing from her soon.” (Uh-oh!)
Can the theater space be restored to a performing arts venue, modeling from the Rio Theater in Santa Cruz?
“Our sources tell us the Rio is a labor of love by a benefactor who loses money. If you can find a benefactor that could pay the rent, we would consider the idea, and could probably figure a way around the use restriction of the permit.”
IS THERE A BENEFACTOR IN THE HOUSE? Is there anyone who would be be willing and able to take on the project of developing a performing arts/conference space at the former Aptos Cinema, maybe on the Rio or Kuumbwa Center models? If so, please contact Bruce Walton, BWalton@trcretail.com
FIRE SERVICE VELO RIDES THROUGH TOWN, RAISING CANCER AWARENESS
Last week, a team of 21 firefighters bicycled through with a mission to raise public awareness about the unusually high cancer rates throughout the fire service. The Register-Pajaronian’s excellent coverage reported a very sobering statistic:
“In the fire service industry, some 63 percent of firefighters are being diagnosed with some form of cancer, said Cindy Ell, founder and president of Fire Fighter Cancer Foundation, Inc.” 63%??? Wow. The riders began in Sausalito and ended 484 miles later at the Santa Monica pier. Each rider raised at least $1000 to support firefighters diagnosed with cancer. Make sure to wave heartily at the women and men who are true public servants in fire and emergency response.
METRO BUS RIDERS AND DRIVERS PROTEST CEO’S 10% PAY INCREASE AMIDST ROUTE CUTS AND STALLED DRIVER PAY INCREASES
I attended the Santa Cruz Metro Board meeting last Friday (8/25) because I wanted to remind them that the Aptos Village #71 Inbound bus stop relocation is a taxpayer-funded project to benefit the Aptos Village Project, is not necessary, and is not ADA-compliant. I was greeted by a crowd of SEIU 521 workers protesting the 10% pay increase the Metro Board unanimously approved in closed session for CEO Mr. Alex Clifford.. Here is a link to the Sentinel article
The 2016-17 County Grand Jury report discusses the budget and other problems that Metro has experienced: The “FY 2017 & FY 2018 Budget” states that even with anticipated revenue from Measure D the district will return to a structural deficit in FY 2019.
At last Friday’s Board meeting, members declared there are glaring inaccuracies in the Grand Jury Report, but did not elaborate. Look for their upcoming responses
Clifford would become the district’s CEO/general manager under a new six-step schedule that starts at $172,000 and tops out at $220,000. He would start at step two, which pays $181,000.”
When Mr. Clifford was hired on by Santa Cruz Metro in 2015, he was given a healthy pay step-increase built-in with time. Although he declined that increase last year, along with the bus drivers in SEIU 521, he accepted double the step increase this year and the Board conducted that pay raise increase behind closed doors. “No one spoke out at the June meeting about Mr. Clifford doing an unsatisfactory job, so we had to approve a step increase associated with his evaluation.” said County Supervisor John Leopold.
Metro CEO was adamant that the report was full of glaring inaccuracies, but did not elaborate. Stay tuned for those official responses on the Grand jury website.
OVERSIGHT, ANYONE? The Santa Cruz Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) Board met August 17 and discussed, among other things, the formation of the Measure D Oversight Committee. Here is the link to that agenda packet that contains applications for the members of the public to volunteer. (page 32)
While you are browsing that, make sure to look through the proposed projects that will inhale the projected $4.5 million supplied this year by SB 1 funds (page 17). Do you think we will ever see those bicycle/pedestrian bridges over Highway 1 that County Supervisor Zach Friend promised years ago when first elected? Let’s cut him slack…he has been busy helping Barry Swenson Builder at the Aptos Village Project and flashing big smiles for the cameras at Valencia Road’s temporary bridge….
ONE QUICK FLASH ON YOUR DNA, PLEASE
The Mercury News featured an article last Sunday (page B1) about the passage of the Rapid DNA Act that will allow law enforcement, under FBI guidelines, to collect DNA samples from everyone arrested, even though they are not convicted of a crime. That will greatly increase the data base of DNA identification information, and understandably has civil rights organizations worried. I am worried, too.
One has only to be arrested or maybe even stopped by a law enforcement officer. The swab of your cheek collects the data, which is then sent to companies such as Pleasanton-based IntegenX and one can be detained (or not) until the results come back in 90 minutes.
Somehow, I just cannot believe information like that would be used for anything good.
Cheers,
~Becky Steinbruner
Becky Steinbruner is a 30+ year resident of Aptos. She has fought for water, fire, emergency preparedness, and for road repair. She ran for Second District County Supervisor in 2016 on a shoestring and got nearly 20% of the votes.
I was very happy to read the name of Zeynep Tufekci in a recent New Yorker article, “Is There Any Point to Protesting?” As you will see if you click the Tufekci link, above, I have long thought that Tufekci has a very accurate understanding of what it actually takes to make a revolution. Most recently, she has published a book on the subject.
Tufekci’s prescription is the same prescription that Hannah Arendt identified in her book, On Revolution, and that Margaret Mead has captured in a quote that everyone (I hope) will recognize:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.
The New Yorker article, by Nathan Heller, quotes Tufekci extensively on what is needed to achieve real political change. Ad hoc, large scale protests won’t do it (at least not by themselves). That is her main point:
The missing ingredients, Tufekci believes, are the structures and communication patterns that appear when a fixed group works together over time. That practice puts the oil in the well-oiled machine. It is what contemporary adhocracy appears to lack, and what projects such as the postwar civil-rights movement had in abundance. And it is why, she thinks, despite their limits in communication, these earlier protests often achieved more.
Tufekci describes weeks of careful planning behind the yearlong Montgomery bus boycott, in 1955. That spring, a black fifteen-year-old named Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on a bus and was arrested. Today, though, relatively few people have heard of Claudette Colvin. Why? Drawing on an account by Jo Ann Robinson, Tufekci tells of the Montgomery N.A.A.C.P.’s shrewd process of auditioning icons. “Each time after an arrest on the bus system, organizations in Montgomery discussed whether this was the case around which to launch a campaign,” she writes. “They decided to keep waiting until the right moment with the right person.” Eventually, they found their star: an upstanding, middle-aged movement stalwart who could withstand a barrage of media scrutiny. This was Rosa Parks.
In other words, if we are serious about making real and significant political changes (and that is how we create the world we inhabit), we need to organize ourselves in small groups, decide that we will plan on how to take real power, mobilize the resources that will allow us to implement our plan, and then work unremittingly, persistently, until we have succeeded. Generally speaking, the time required is measured in whole lifetimes. That’s what it means to be “serious.”
Protests in the street? That can be good, but that’s an activity, not a plan.
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 his blog at www.gapatton.net
CLASSICAL DeCINZO. It’s Fall again and welcome back students…scroll below and check out DeCinzo’s take on our influx!!
EAGAN’S DEEP COVER. You should be itching to see Eagan’s “Crab Louse 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.
LISA JENSEN LINKS. Lisa writes: “Jeff Bridges has way too much fun as an irascible old Yoda, mentoring a footloose young man in the school of life, in The Only Living Boy In New York, this week at Lisa Jensen Online Express (http://ljo-express.blogspot.com/). Also, discover the evocative and fanciful pastels of my Beauty and the Beast illustrator of the month, Binette Schroeder (as the countdown to my own Beast book continues)!” Lisa has been writing film reviews and columns for Good Times since 1975.
WHOSE STREETS. A brilliant well done documentary with a 98 rating on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s about the Ferguson, Missouri riots following the killing of teenager Michael Brown. It’s important that all us liberals see this film…especially since we think we know all there is to know about race relations. We don’t. It has many well placed interviews with participants from all angles. See it before Thursday. ENDS THURSDAY AUGUST 31
ONLY LIVING BOY IN NEW YORK. Most critics didn’t like this New York City family drama…I think it’s one of the finest films I’ve seen all year. It stars Jeff Bridges, Kate Beckinsale, Pierce Brosnan and Cynthia Nixon (from Sex and The City). The tricky, intelligent plot revolves around a teen ager growing up in a family with complications. See it before Thursday…please??ENDS THURSDAY AUGUST 31
GOOD TIME. One of the darkest, mean spirited films of the decade. Robert Pattinson (“Twilight” star) does all he can to get his demented brother out of jail. Jennifer Jason Leigh plays the old mentally disturbed girl friend. It’s not exciting or meaningful but it does have some excellently hand- held filmed scenes. Not my kind of movie by any means.
INGRID GOES WEST. It’s being billed as a dark comedy, and I didn’t laugh once. A deranged teen ager is totally hooked and dependent on any and all social media…especially her iPhone. She haunts and threatens her equally nutty celebrity heroine and it all takes place in around and about Venice Beach. I suggest you skip this one. I didn’t forget any star names there aren’t any.
WIND RIVER. Jeremy Renner and young beauty Elisabeth Olsen track down a killer on an Indian Reservation in the very cold Wyoming winter. Much better than average, you’ll stay with the plot and quite decent acting…all the way. It males some obvious social comment along the way, and that works too. The conclusion is a bit crude and drunken, but Renner is almost always worth watching.
THE BIG SICK. Kumail Nanjiani the Pakistani jerk from the “Silicon Valley” tv sit com not only wrote this plot but he and his real wife lived it. The film is a bit long but it’s well worth seeing. It’ll grab you when you least expect it. He’s a standup comic and falls in love with Zoe Kazan, a “white” girl. It’s heart rending, funny and a tale told of cultural differences between his traditional Pakistani family and her very contemporary Mom (Holly Hunter) and dad. Go see it…it’ll surprise you.(and I’ll predict some Awards around December-January).
DUNKIRK. Acclaimed auteur Christopher Nolan directs this World War II thriller about the evacuation of Allied troops from the French city of Dunkirk before Nazi forces can take hold. co-star, with longtime Nolan collaborator Hans Zimmer providing the score.
Dunkirk is a city in France and during WWII the Nazis drove the allied troops to Dunkirk’s beaches. There were 400, 000 troops stranded there with no ships to take them to safety. Tom Hardy, Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance are in the film briefly and do fine acting jobs. The film is all war and is well made and directed…better than most war films. But with City Of Ghosts playing now that’s the one to see IF you like genuine war films.
MAUDIE. A 90 on Rotten Tomatoes and Sally Hawkins plus Ethan Hawke play a severely crippled arthritic and her cruel, stubborn husband…and it’s a true story. The film is sad, poignant, heart gripping and maybe even mawkish. Other than some fine acting by all involved I’m not sure why they made this film, or why you might enjoy it. Me? I’m not sure if I did.
ENDS THURSDAY AUGUST 31
THE GLASS CASTLE. Woody Harrelson, Naomi Watts and especially Brie Larson bring this autobiographical life story to the screen. “Dysfunctional family” doesn’t come close to describing their family problems. The problem is that Woody Harrelson almost always plays exactly Woody Harrelson (as do John Goodman,Vin Diesel, Sylvester Stallone, etc.) He’s an incurable drunk and takes his family on his 100’s of trips through hell. It qualifies as a sob story except that Brie Larsen is just mesmerizing and perfect in the role. Plus you have to believe that Naomi Watts is an old wrinkled mountain woman married for life to Woody. ! Go see it and bring a hanky.
ATOMIC BLONDE. Charlize Theron does a nearly perfect job as the Blonde in this James Bond – Berlin Wall era action movie. Very well done fight scenes, complex spy loyalty plot, John Goodman is getting more and more difficult to believe, and he’s in it too. James McAvoy is there too but he doesn’t matter much. It’ll be the first of many sequels believe me, even though it didn’t do that well on opening weekend. Charlize T. also produced the film, and it’s based on a graphic novel.
WONDER WOMAN. IF you like comic book heroes or heroines (hope its ok to use that term) Wonder woman is several cuts about the usual no brainer/ violent/monster filled box office smashes we keep seeing. Gal Gadot is a former Miss Israel and we keep hearing about that. She plays W. Woman. Robin Wright, is in it too and she is a long time favorite of mine. She is Sean Penn’s ex. Chris Pine just jumps around looking like the usual Hollywood cutie pie. If you remember that she’s a comic book star and is supposed to battle, fight and pose in tight pants all the time you could enjoy this more than most of that ilk. Do remember too that Wonder Woman is a DC comics creation NOT a Marvel Comic character…there’s a big difference, and I was recently corrected on KZSC’s Bushwhackers Breakfast Club.
LOGAN LUCKY. This film has just about everything that should guarantee greatness or at least give you two hours of “Good Movie”. It’s a robbery movie that takes place at the annual Coca Cola NASCAR race in Concord North Carolina. Channing Tatum isn’t very impressive, but Adam Driver steals many, many scenes with his one arm. Katie Holmes is in it too but it’s Daniel Craig who is most watchable. It’s odd and weird but Hillary Swank shows up in the last few minutes that must hint that there’ll be Logan Lucky 2. Steven Soderbergh has done better.
SPIDERMAN:HOMECOMING. Michael Keaton completely steals every movie he’s ever made and he sure does playing an evil “Vulture” in this latest version of the web spinner (there have been at least 13 versions of Spidey on TV and the movies!!) Spidey is a high school student with Teresa Tomei as his mom. Robert Downey jr. is back as Iron Man. It doesn’t matter much but Gwyneth Paltrow is in it too. It’s a little better than most of the Marvel Comics hero movies but not much.
ANNABELLE:CREATION. This is supposed to be the prequel to the Conjuring series (in case you’ve seen this haunted doll series). You can stay home and write the tired old script in seconds. Dark cellar stairs, creepy doll in closet, innocent orphan girls, scarecrows, dumbwaiters, you’ve seen it dozens of times if you haven’t been careful.
THE DARK TOWER. How can a movie from books by Stephen King, and produced by Ron Howard, and which stars Mathew McConaughey and Idris Alba be so bad?? (18 on RT). It’s intergalactic, bloody, complexly stupid plot…and it’s filmed mostly in the dark. That saves tons of money spent on special effects. McConaughey is the bad guy and Alba is the good guy, in case somebody forces you to go. It’s more depressing than watching Fox news!!
THE HITMANS BODYGUARD. Samuel L. Jackson probably says “motherfucker” at least 100 times in this car chase, bloody, violent flick. Audiences laugh nowadays at the violence and I have a tough time with that. Jackson is the Hit man and Ryan Reynolds is supposed to be his body guard for some reason that I slept through. Salma Hayek is supposed to be Jackson’s wife and I guess to prove it, she too says “motherfucker” at the very end of the movie. Don’t expect to enjoy Gary Oldman, because he only has about 10 lines.
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 August 29 The San Francisco Mime Troupe’s Marilet Martinez tells us about their 9/9, 9/10 performances here. She’s followed by UCSC Astrobiologist and author David Deamer talking about new theories on the Origin Of Life . September 5 has Lisa Hadley and Davis Banta previewing their Quality Of Life play. Then therapist Alexandra Kennedy talks about her Awakening to Life In Transition retreat. UCSC’s Gary Griggs discusses his newest book, “Coasts In Crisis” on Sept.12. Then Patricia Rain talks about her 2nd annual Vanilla Festival. Jane Mio from the San Lorenzo River Mysteries group starts the hour on Sept.19. September 26 has Conductor, artistic director Michel Singher talking about the next Espressivo Orchestra Concert happening Oct.15. On October 10 Phyllis Rosenblum discusses the Santa Cruz Chamber Players 2017-18 season. The top winners of the Bookshop Santa Cruz Young Writers contest read their works on November 28. 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
BBC3 did this whole series of “Things Not To Say To…” You should check some of them out; they vary from humorous to very thought provoking.
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” “That 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 “We know that in September, we will wander through the warm winds of summer’s wreckage. We will welcome summer’s ghost”. Heny Rollins “My favourite poem is the one that starts ‘Thirty days hath September’ because it actually tells you something”, Groucho Marx
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