Bratton Online

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.

photo credit: Covello & Covello Historical photo collection.

Additional information always welcome: email bratton@cruzio.com

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 BrattonOnline Gillian 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’s Michael 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).

By: Chris Krohn    Email Chris at ckrohn@cruzio.com

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!

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

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.

Bail Schedule needs reforming now. When a $20 fine for smoking ends up costing $152 after court costs, something is terribly wrong. Enough said. See the entire list of crazy, outdated, and sometimes outrageous acts you can commit and be fined for here.

It’s Agenda item #1.

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).

By: Becky Steinbruner    Email Becky at KI6TKB@yahoo.com

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.us and 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.

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

“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):

Tom LaHue toml@soquelcreekwater.org, Bruce Daniels bruced@soquelcreekwater.org, Carla Christensen carlac@soquelcreekwater.org, Bruce Jaffe brucej@soquelcreekwater.org, Rachel Latherrachell@soquelcreekwater.org, Karen Reesekarenr@soquelcreekwater.org (Ms. Reese will see to it that your letter is included in the Board agenda packet and becomes public record for discussion at the board meeting).

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

Video of the meeting may be viewed online here

Download the presentation slides, reports, and other materials distributed at the meeting here

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

PUREWATER SOQUEL SITE ON CHANTICLEER AVENUE NOT WELCOME BY LOCAL LAND OWNERS
Included in the Soquel Creek Water District September 19 Board Agenda packet was a letter from Mr. Doug Doering (page 183) http://www.soquelcreekwater.org/sites/default/files/documents/board-meeting/packets/09-19-17%20Board%20Packet_secured.pdf

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:

http://santacruzcountyca.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1593&Format=Agenda

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).

By: Gary Patton    Email Gary at gapatton@mac.com

#267 / Who Decides?

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

COLUMN COMMUNICATIONS. Subscriptions: Click and enter the box in the upper right hand corner of each Column. You’ll get a weekly email notice the instant the column goes online. (Anywhere from Monday afternoon through Thursday or sometimes as late as Friday!) Always free and confidential. Even I don’t know who subscribes!!

Snail Mail: Bratton Online
82 Blackburn Street, Suite 216
Santa Cruz, CA 95060

Direct email: Bratton@Cruzio.com
Direct phone: 831 423-2468
All Technical & Web details: Gunilla Leavitt @ godmoma@gmail.com

Blog Archives

September 26 – October 2, 2017

BEST OF VINTAGE STEVEN DeCINZO.

Deep Cover by Tim Eagan.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply