Bruce Bratton hosts University Grapevine, linking local and campus issues, every Thursday 4-5 p.m. on KZSC 88.1 fm.
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POGONIP PROPERTY, PURLOINING OF. A huge development and destruction of the Pogonip Property which is an integral part of our Green Belt is being promoted. Pat Matejcek environmentalist and member of The Sierra Club, Save Arana Gulch and more wrote the following for BrattonOnline....
"Inquiring minds want to know how the City plans to reconcile an updated new General Plan which proposes a buildout that exceeds the AMBAG 2030 forecast by 4,100 DU's (Dwelling Units) and 5,400 people with the Climate Action/carbon footprint reduction policies which are also being developed? Shall we assume those policies will have to be part of the new General Plan. Is the AMBAG forecast just being ignored; or will it be reviewed as an alternative in the EIR? Where are all these people working? Where are the children going to school? Among the areas proposed for development is Golf Club Drive, the only paved public access road to the lower Pogonip and to the Clubhouse. City Staff is supporting a proposal for 100 dwelling units, generating hundreds of auto trips/day on North River/lower Hwy 9. There is no water infrastructure to serve these proposed homes. When the Tannery housing units are filled, how will this severely constrained roadway and Hwy1/Hwy9 intersection accommodate the present Harvey West residents and small businesses, sports teams and park users, Hwy 9 tourists, Costco shoppers, the Metro bus yard traffic and the additional trips that would be generated by these residents when there is no public transportation North of Encinal?
There is important language in the existing General Plan protecting not only riparian corridors in this area but also agricultural land and community gardens. Much of the land along GC Drive is considered prime agricultural land, just like "mirror" properties across the San Lorenzo River along Ocean Street Extension; because of the richness of the soil in the HW Park area, it, too was farmed until enveloped by commercial development. Golf Club Drive has been farmed for a long time, and is a resource that deserves protection as we urge people to "eat local, shop local" and reduce our carbon footprint by avoiding foods flown in from distant fields. Additionally, portions of the GCD area may be part of a groundwater recharge formation, a classification excluded from development in the current General Plan, as well as wetlands and neither of which have been properly mapped to date.
A thorough environmental review process should guide the location and intensity of any use in the GCD area; a Specific Plan, with full environmental review, is the best mechanism to ensure resource protection in this unique area of the city. The number of
100 (a theoretical maximum at 10 dwelling units per acre over 10 acres) may be a great overstatement of the actual potential as the six parcels should not develop individually at that density.
There should be no additional development permitted until the costs and feasibility of creating adequate road and water infrastructure, as well as the source of the funds and a timeline, has been calculated.
Please do not support the staff recommendation as proposed for the Golf Club Drive area.(end of Pat Matejcek' s report...we should all thank her for the work she does on issues like these).
KATHERINE BEIERS KICKS OFF. Katherine Beiers marathon runner, former City Council person and ex-mayor got her brand new campaign for City Council off to a "running start" and the kickoff party was last Thursday. It was quite a party, from what I've been hearing. Reports say that Don Lane, Denise Holbert, Christopher Krohn, Bob Lee, Tim Fitzmaurice, Gary Patton, Herb Schmidt, Reed Searle, Bill Domhoff, Sally Di Girolamo, Carol De Palma, Peter Beckman, Gail Page, Don Webber, Mitchell Page, Linda Bixby, Emily Reilly, Ed Porter, Celia Scott, Peter Scott, Alberto Rafols, Richard Scott, Steve Hahn from Metro Santa Cruz and Mardi Wormhoudt (who gave the appeal for funds plea) were all present and accounted for along with more than 100 happy folks. (I was in SF watching Eddie Izzard, with tickets obtained months before her party was planned)
LA BAHIA. I asked Don Webber to write an update on where the La Bahia project stands now. He wrote the Historic preservation Committee a report on July 20, 2008 you can read it all here. Note the two main facts 1. The La Bahia is an Historic Landmark that Barry Swenson wants to demolish. 2. Our zoning laws say that building height limits are set at 43 feet. Barry Swenson and Charlie Canfield want to build the new La Bahia at 73 feet. Click here to see what the real concerns are.
UCSC SERVICE WORKERS STRIKE. (BrattonNote....I'm reprinting this article from the Thursday July 17, 2008 issue of the San Francisco Chronicle. Local Dana Frank is an author and a history professor at UCSC. She presents this strike in such a clear and forceful way it needs to be read by everybody)
"Yet another scandal is erupting at the University of California. Rich UC executives are denying decent, livable wages to the 20,000 workers who clean the university's toilets, serve its food, and clean its bedpans. And when those workers have resorted to a strike to try to use their basic civil rights to do something about the situation, the university has gotten yet another nasty legal injunction to try and stop them. In the UC system, Local 3299 of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees represents 20,000 service and patient care workers at all 10 campuses, including the UCLA and UCSF Medical Centers. Since bargaining began in August, 2007, the workers have been pleading with UC to pay them decent wages. Current wages are 25 percent below those paid to comparable community college workers.
UC's wages are so low that approximately 96 percent of all UC service workers are eligible for food stamps, WIC, or some form of public assistance. At UC Santa Cruz, I know workers who have been cleaning dormitories in the middle of the night for more than 15 years, and still make only $14 an hour - with no prospect of a raise, despite the stratospheric prices of housing, gas and food. These workers work two, three, or four jobs, moonlighting in gas stations, washing dishes, or watching other people's children. They rarely see their own. Yet UC executives still refuse to offer any guaranteed raise at all to most service workers. They won't give them a meaningful merit increase system, either. Just as bad, they're refusing to lock in workers' payments into the health care and pension systems, so that UC is free to let those fees skyrocket in the future whenever and however it wants.
How do these executives sleep at night? Do they think UC's service workers are somehow lesser human beings who don't deserve to go home at night and see their children? Reluctantly, after months of trying to get UC negotiators to move, after trying every other strategy they can think of, UC's desperate service workers decided to strike throughout the state system, beginning July 14. Patient care workers aren't striking, but many are respecting picket lines. UC's response, for the second time, was to scurry to a judge and get a legal injunction barring the workers from striking. UC argued that the union didn't give "adequate" notice before its strike; therefore it's acting "in bad faith" and refusing to negotiate. But there's no actual law defining "adequate notice" in the public sector. And the union did - as a courtesy - officially notify UC with five days' warning. The union, though, never even got a chance to present its counter-arguments before the judge.
It's UC that's got the corner on bad faith. Once again, it's spending tens of thousands of dollars getting expensive anti-union law firms to invent the law in UC's favor. By attacking the union with an injunction, UC is reverting to a draconian and long-outdated weapon from the late 19th Century, when employers had judges in their pockets and used them to unilaterally slap down injunctions against striking. UC is trying to deny the American workers' basic First Amendment right to strike - upheld by the Supreme Court's 1939 Thornhill decision, which affirmed that picketing was free speech.
Meanwhile, UC executives, wallowing in their half-a-million-dollar salaries, are using the state budget crisis to mask their own greed. There's plenty of money around for anti-union lawyers and PR spin. And there's enough money to pay the most bloated salary of all: $940,000 in total compensation for new President Mark Yudof. As state-appointed fact-finder Carol Vendrillo put it, "it is not the lack of state funding but the university's priorities" that have put service workers' wages at the bottom.
Let's hope President Yudof is brave enough to end UC's moral corruption and immediately grant union members a decent wage and lock in their benefits. One thing's for sure: Union members are being magnificently brave in defying UC's corrupt injunction. Thanks to UC, the workers are so poor and so desperate, they have no choice but to disrupt the university to which they're giving their life's work. That's the real scandal. Dana Frank is a professor of history at the University of California, Santa Cruz. This article appeared on page B - 7 of the San Francisco Chronicle 7/17/08.
MANNY SANTANA'S FINAL AWARD. Manny never liked award ceremonies when they were for him and the one last Friday night was when he was supposed to receive the Santa Cruz County Artist of the Year award, but of course he died two weeks before. So his close buddy Alfred Navarro read a lot of the notes Manny had prepared for the evening and talked about Manny's devotion to CCCDC as well as his better known cultural side. About three hundred friends jammed into the atrium of the Museum of Art & History to say goodbye to Manny. Al Johnsen came down from Gig Harbor and talked about their early days together. Artist Hildy Bernstein whose studio is and was located exactly next door to Manny's told about what an inspiration and tutor Manny had been. Bernstein, Johnsen and Santana made up the never to be forgotten "Ketel Three"...ask Hildy or Al about it). Neal and Ryan Coonerty represented along with John Laird the political side and gave tributes. In thinking about what Manny did for our community maybe only Page Smith was his equal, in talent, intelligence, vision, and in caring for his fellow humans.
"A Car Story"
Between the years of 1950 and 1965 the car in this story lived in San Jose where we lived from 1960 to 1970. We answered an ad in the San Jose Mercury for a 1950 Ford convertible, "excellent condition, etc. etc." in the summer of 1964. It so happened that the seller lived only a few blocks away, and in a matter of minutes we owned it for a fair price of $300.
Fast-forward to summer, 2008, the '50 Ford is still in the family, and has been rewarded for all these years of service with an almost complete restoration. Hats off to Rick Erlin and his crew of automotive artisans at Autorella who did most of the work. There were others involved, mostly the crew at Quality Automotive who went out of business in the last year. Another company that kept the '50 Ford alive (also long since gone away) was McGee's Automotive on Soquel Avenue who put a rebuilt engine in the car in 1975. McGee's was on the ocean side of Soquel, somewhere near where Takara restaurant is located now.
We've had so many happy memories with this car, from driving our kids to school events and birthday parties in San Jose, to helping pack the car (and rental truck) for our permanent move to Aptos in 1970. We have pictures taken over the years, from beach parties, to a picnic at the Salinas rodeo with our children's grandparents. I gave my son his first driving lessons in the ‘50 Ford in Cabrilho's parking lot, probably around 1974. We were "stopped" by a Cabrilho security person who wished us well with the driving lessons, saying, "This is a good place to learn to drive". That's not going to happen any more!
My attraction to 1950's cars started before I was old enough to drive. In 1949, U.S. automakers started coming out with the first really new cars since before WWII. It was Studebaker who beat the others out of the gate, with a brand new design in 1946, while the others kept their pre-war styles for a while longer. I always felt it was the automobile industry's way of celebrating the ending of WWII, by building all-newly designed automobiles, helping the public forget about not seeing any new cars during most of the war years.
It was love at first sight when the 1950 Ford hit the market. I managed to buy a used one in 1957 while in the U.S. Navy stationed in our nation's capitol. It's hard to believe, but some long weekends were spent driving that Ford from Washington D.C. to Grand Rapids, MI. over the turnpike toll roads and early Interstates. No real speed limits were enforced, then, and we averaged 75 MPH for the trips, including time for food and gasoline stops.
So what's in store for the current "50 Ford"? Fix the tube radio, complete the new soft top boot, and just enjoy driving around in it. If you see an old red/maroon Ford convertible in town, with shiny new paint and front end chrome-work looking like a grinning face, check the driver's grin too. That's me.
DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE CANCELS BROWN ACT TRAINING FOR PV SCHOOL BOARD MEMBERS. After the filing of the two Brown Act lawsuits and criticism by the Santa Cruz County Grand Jury, the Board of Trustees of the Pajaro Valley Unified School District had finally placed mini-Brown Act training on last Wednesday's school board agenda. However, the Santa Cruz County District Attorney's office pulled out from doing such a training program at the eleventh hour, and cited a possible conflict of interest. The PVUSD claims the training was not a result of the lawsuits and that they will now try to find someone else to do the training. However, such a training was part of settlement negotiations before the first lawsuit was filed, but the district refused to hold one for the school board. Two months after the filing of a second lawsuit, the PVUSD then put the training on their agenda despite the board not ever having a previous training on the Brown Act in the past. The timing, only two months after a second lawsuit, certainly speaks volumes.(end of South County Report)
Patton, consciences of our environmental community Celia and Peter Scott and co-candidates for City Council Tim Fitzmaurice and Don Lane. Emily Reilly and Ed Porter both of whom are term-limited this year may or may not have been delighted that they are not facing the rigors of an election campaign. All were surrounded by a hundred or
so of Katherine's friends. As we all know, Katherine runs marathons and with Council meetings the length they are, marathon training might well be appropriate.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Professor Eagan explains to us how the Presidents vote of confidence works...scroll you know where!!
PATTON'S PROGRAM. Former Santa Cruz County Supervisor Gary Patton, leader of many successful Santa Cruz county land use battles has a radio show on KUSP every weekday. You can read his script for these programs here. This week he talks about Monterey County wanting to speed up their establishing a General Plan to make developers happy...sounds like home doesn't it?? He discusses the Santa Clara County Open Space Tax. Later in the week he tells of developers and how they manipulate affordable housing requirements. Then he tells of Senate Bill 97 the Greenhouse gas emissions bill. And closes with Open Space and land Use policies...
LANDAU'S PROGRES. In case you've forgotten or didn't know Saul Landau is a very funny guy with a odd sense of humor read his take on the deaths of Jesse Helms and George Carlin...here.
WATERS WEIGHS IN. Christina covers great wine tasting at Hollins House, a dining-with-cocktails bargain at Clouds, and more late-breaking details on the Fresh Mint gelato front - all at christinawaters.com. And yes, Christina DID relish (her word) the new SSC production of "Romeo & Juliet" - read her review in this week's Metro Santa Cruz.
PAUL COCKING PIECE. In answer to the many who asked what was Paul Cocking trying to say in his email in last weeks column printed here...I gotta say I have no idea either. I asked him to clarify, he re-sent it and I still don't get it. Next time you're in Gabriella's you might ask him...then let me know too.
EDDIE IZZARD. It dawned on me last week that I'd seen some of the world's best stand up comics of the last century perform LIVE in my lifetime. Jack Benny, Bob Hope, Mae West, Eddie Cantor, Chico Marx, Abbott and Costello, Martin and Lewis, Victor Borge, Danny Kaye, Lenny Bruce, Lord Buckley, and more than that, I met most of them and still have their autographs. That's how much a fan I was and am. When daughter Hillary her husband Martin invited me to see Eddie Izzard last week in San Francisco on his opening night of the four sold out performances, I was delighted. Hillary had seen him three other times, she saw him before the HBO shows had even come out. He ranks near the top of the list above. He structures his act much like Lenny Bruce who I'd seen many times. Topical, political, and the scope of what he finds funny and absurd is pure genius. His audiences agree. Wearing a cut-away beat up jacket and Levi's he made references to material from some of his older shows but makes it work. If you get a chance watch him on TV, (not necessarily on "The Riches" where he co-stars with Minnie Driver because he doesn't try to be funny there) on his HBO specials are a treat beyond compare. I'll remind you if I hear of them ahead of time...Hillary says he's on Netflix and she says he's also on iTunes, where she works so you can watch him there too.
THE DARK KNIGHT. The darkest film noir superhero movie yet. More of a story line than any superhero movie (not film). Heath Ledger is every bit as good as the Joker as you've been hearing. Christian Bale as Batman does an admirable job but its Heath's picture. The action and evilness get in the way of it being an excellent piece of cinema but its well worth seeing and only on a big screen. You'll talk about it for days, and certainly longer than Iron Man deserved.
HELL BOY II. One of super cool slapstick action films with fabulous characters. It's all visual, all digital, so it's more cartoon than movie. Ron Perlman as Hell Boy is perfect if you still collect comic books.
TELL NO ONE. What a movie (not film). One of the cleverest, most mysterious murder mystery's ever produced (not filmed) Kristin Scott Thomas who speaks fluent French is the only name you might know. It's better than the contrived Hitchcock movies back in the day. Go see this movie, you'll love it.
CSNY DÉJÀ VU. Never being a huge fan of Crosby, Stills and Nash I went through neither shock nor awe watching this documentary about their 2006 Free Speech tour. They seem to be sincere, a lot older than their hay days, and definitely opposed to the war in Iraq...you're on your own here.
MAMMA MIA. This ABBA song musical is completely nuts. Meryl Streep proves again that she can do and act anything on screen and be excellent at it. Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth, and lots of people are in it. It's not quite bad OR good enough to allow you to just sit back and enjoy the craziness of the faux plot but almost. Rent it later and make some mojitos to go with it...they'll help.
BUSTIN DOWN THE DOOR. This documentary is about the Australian and South African surfers attempt at making the sport of surfing into the billion dollar business it is today and almost getting killed by the Hawaiians who didn't want surfing exploited. Names like O'Neill's, Rabbit Bartholomew, Quicksilver Mark Richards are all in it as is some very rare surf footage. Even if you don't know or care about surfing this is an absolutely absorbing and educational film. Opens Friday August 1st at the Del Mar.
MEET DAVE. Once again Eddie Murphy screws up and does a stupid movie that is a complete waste of his talents. The plot, albeit weak, could have been wild and imaginative instead of just stupid. Don't go whatever you do. Maybe Murphy has some kind of self destructive thing going?
ENCOUNTERS AT THE END OF THE WORLD. I loved and reviewed this movie a few weeks ago. Then Simon Kelly sent this link to Roger Ebert's website. It contains a letter from Ebert to Werner Herzog it's beautiful...and sincere, be sure to open it and think about what Ebert says. Read it here
MAD MEN ON TV. The first season of this show Mad Men centering on the 1960's New York advertising men- in- Grey- Flannel- Suits scene won 16 Emmy nominations last week. I never saw it so I watched most of a marathon session last Sunday...it is an excellent program. It's on AMC On –Demand so you can see it any time and skip the miserable commercials except for Romney Dunbar's. The cutthroat, merciless, business world, the odd sexual attitudes were, and are real. Watch it; a new season starts pretty soon July 27. It's on channel 49 AMC. Sunday nights then you can also watch an even better program,. HBO's Generation Kill (beginning of the war in Iraq) at 6pm Sundays.
HILDY BERNSTEIN SHOW. Hildy is producing what I consider the most exciting painting in the County sin duda. She has a show coming up titled "Witness". I asked her to write something about it, she wrote..."For many years I have been intrigued by the human form. More specifically the face or portrait, and what is both revealed and hidden in a simple gesture. Here's one painting she calls "Three Stooges/me myself and I" 
The "More Friends" series (or paintings) are responses to both world and personal events. These figures are autobiographical and imaginary at the same time. Beginning with a quick gestural drawing of my own face, I begin to paint direct, bold, and impulsive marks, waiting for each new character to reveal itself. The result is a series of portraits, or "friends", that reflect the moods of these curious and uncertain times. "More Friends" quietly erupt from a two dimensional surface revealing known and unexpected stories".
The show is at The MichaelAngelo Gallery, 1111 River Street, Santa Cruz across from the Old Salz Tannery. The Show runs August 1-31 opening reception Friday August 1st 6pm -8 pm. Regular gallery Hours sat and Sun 11am -5pm or by appointment. call 831.426.5500 contact people: melissa mendel 426.5500 (or hildy@247.3473)
MARV KAPLAN SENDS AN EMAIL.... "Time For Peace" a concert - Saturday, August 16, 7:30pm, at Temple Beth El. In Santa Cruz for one night only, their only performance in the Bay Area, Yair Dalal, Dror Sinai , Naser Musa, and Souhail Kaspar play music for peace. The two Israeli and two Palestinian musicians play music that is a deep, beautiful, soothing journey, with a humanitarian message.
Tickets are $15 and can be purchased at Temple Beth El, or at Rhythm Fusion, 1541-C Pacific Avenue, in downtown Santa Cruz; (831) 426-7975, rhythm@rhythmfusion.com. Cash or check only (sorry, no credit cards accepted).
"Time for Peace" is co-sponsored by Chadeish Yameinu. It will be a musical experience for the whole family!
EMAIL FROM SCOTLAND. Regular reader Bill Findlay who lives near Ayr in Scotland writes.... "Hi Bruce, Just saw Tim Eagan's cartoon about Gas being $5 a gallon in the USA. Over in old UK the latest price is $10.50 a gallon so drive carefully, we can't drive at all. Bill".
SPAM NAMES. T. Bubbles Noddy sends in Isacco Dilip, Mr. Freddie John, Miss Glory Hull, and Your Sister in Christ Mrs. Philomina Titus Timothy. My contributions from my emails (filter's not working) are...Fidelio Huxley, Berkes Ieder, Domenico Absalom, Boote Ojrind, Lima Light, Imelda Nix, Avis Abel, Blaine Jabez, Humfried Ivan, Caleb Colon, Cassie Santisuk, Aubera Beppi, Alicia Butts Ikey Wai, Bram Glanda and my favorite of the week... Pansy Lunsford.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. I host University Grapevine on KZSC 88.1 every Thursday from 4-5p. This Thursday my first guest will be Cynthia Mathews. We'll be talking about Measure T which ensures funding for our 9-1-1 emergency center. In the second half hour Judy Steen will talk about Historic preservation, what it is and how much it contributes to our community.
QUOTES."Among the great things which are to be found among us, the Being of Nothingness is the greatest", Leonardo Da Vinci. "He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder", M.C. Escher. "One hand washes the other, but both wash the face", Zen saying. "There seems to be no plan because it is all plan; there seems to be no center because it is all center", C.S. Lewis
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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SPECIAL NOTE: This BrattonOnline is of necessity briefer (and a tad "groggy"), I've just spent 3 straight days and nights in San Francisco at 13th Annual Silent Film Festival. After more than 31 hours and 12 feature length films in the Castro Theatre it takes a while to re-adjust. More on the Festival and Silent Films later.
OFFICIAL CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES. As of this morning (Monday July 14) Katherine Beiers, Don Lane and Ryan Coonerty had taken out the necessary OFFICIAL papers to run for Santa Cruz City Council.
2120 DELAWARE. Fred Geiger sent this in...ALREADY APPROVED BY PLANNING COMMISSION!!! 2120 DELAWARE AVE. Proposal LARGEST DEVELOPMENT IN WESTSIDE HISTORY!!! Council Meeting on July 22 @ 7PM could give FINAL approval!!! 5,000 + vehicle trips a day projected (in addition to other projects in the area that will produce 15,000 additional trips). Hundreds of residential and small industrial units will be created. How will this impact on the neighborhood be mitigated? No provisions are proposed!!!! There is a parking shortage of over 300 spaces. Where will the cars park??? Financial impact on the City based on developers promises not facts!!! Increased demand on already inadequate park space (as per the General Plan) City admits no adequate water supply exists. (Staff Report) 50 foot buildings in a two story neighborhood!!! What if the University buys into this residential/industrial condo project? FOLKS THIS IS OUR LAST CHANCE TO INSIST THAT THESE PROJECT SHORTCOMINGS ARE DEALT WITH OR WE WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES. Please attend and let the Council know about your concerns. See Ya There!!! ( EIR @ www.ci.santa-cruz-ca.us/).
Fred's completely serious about this and we all should demand that the community has input on this huge development that will change our city forever. Note especially the reality that UCSC could easily take over this development and lose all the tax revenue that the city is planning on. See you at City Hall, Tuesday July 22 at 7 pm.
US GOVT RETURNS SEIZED COMPUTERS FOR CUBA!!!
The Pastors for Peace US/Cuba Friendshipment Caravan returned to the US on Monday June 14 after delivering nearly 100 tons of humanitarian aid to Cuba. Late breaking news has it that the 32 donated computers for Cuba that were seized from their caravan by US officials on July 3 have been returned to Pastors For Peace. Pastors for Peace will then attempt to once again take them across the border into Mexico. Mexican Longshoremen will make sure they are sent to Cuba.
The members of the caravan had an eight-day educational program in Cuba that included visits to different provinces, to homes for the elderly and health care facilities. They also visited the Latin American School of Medicine, where students from 30 nations are studying free of charge to be doctors, in order to serve their communities in their home countries. More than 100 of those students are from the US. The caravan is returning to the US on the same day as the Venceremos Brigade and several other organizations engaging in challenging US restrictions on travel to Cuba. "We will continue to challenge this dumb, foolish, petty, counterproductive, mean-spirited, and immoral blockade until it is ended," said Rev. Lucius Walker, Jr., executive director of IFCO/Pastors for Peace.
Pastors for Peace is a project of the Interreligious Foundation for Community Organization (IFCO), which has a 40-year history of work in favor of social justice. Activists say it was the letters and emails to Sam Farr and congress people we wrote that created the pressure to return the computers. More information about the caravan and photos can be found at www.pastorsforpeace.org.
Another big item for city and county residents who shop at the Wednesday Farmers Market in downtown Santa Cruz is the plan to use this space for (gasp), yes, another high-rise parking garage! Word has it that this has been put on the shelf until September, which is not that far off. Santa Cruz is really under siege by the "economic developers".
The unincorporated part of the county faces just as much, if not more pressure from this group. A good place to see what's being proposed throughout the county is the County Zoning Administrator's agenda. You can view them here . The 2nd District seems to be a popular area to tear down small homes and rebuild them as big monsters. Note the request to remove a home at 660 Bayview Drive and replace it with a 5,000 sq. ft. structure. A 3,000 sq. ft. home is a huge structure; can anybody see a 5,000 sq. ft. home being built in a close neighborhood like Bayview Drive in Rio Del Mar? Want one next door to your home?
The developer behind 10 condo units on the acre or so previously used by the Hospice Caring Project at the corner of Soquel Dr. and Haas Dr. near Cabrillo is still pushing but ran into some legal opposition, thank goodness.
A few things much have changed recently besides getting new Planning Directors in the county and city. Elected officials seem to be bowing to the recommendations of staff more and more. General Plan amendments are regularly proposed to allow more construction to take place where it was not permitted before. It's hard to tell who's causing this problem, but it just may be us! Do we really have the same sense of community that many of us worked to create over the years? Unless we wake up, we're going to become that San Jose-by-the-Sea that we were concerned about back in the 1970's.
Here's comes Plasma Arc. Nope, it's not a new TV model, or a welding tool. The manufacturer of a device that destroys waste that is currently filling our landfill has approached our county leaders. Sounds too good to be true, right? But where does all that "stuff" go? Here's a website with an excellent report on what Plasma Arc "incinerator" is about. Kurtis Alexander of the Sentinel ran an excellent article on this back on June 9th. Shouldn't something that requires temperatures of 3,000 degrees to produce a substance that then is burned away in some kind of an internal combustion engine be subject to an environmental report?
NATIONAL RESOURCE DEFENSE COUNCIL GETS INVOLVED IN PLASMA INCINERATOR DEBATE. The National Resources Defense Council, along with the newly formed Pajaro Valley Coalition for Environmental Justice, sent a letter to the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District and the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors last week urging them to abide by the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and obtain an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the proposed plasma trash incinerator the County wants to place in the Pajaro Valley. Local residents are gearing up to oppose the incinerator and will be doing outreach to residents of the nearby Buena Vista Migrant Labor Camp who would live right next to the incinerator. Meanwhile, GreenAction for Health and Environmental Action finally received some documents it requested as part of permit application for the plasma incinerator, pursuant to the Public Records Act, but many documents and information are missing or where intentionally withheld. That only raises even more concerns for local residents who are not getting all the answers from the County or the MBUAPCD. The next stop will be on Tuesday, August 12th when this issue will be back on the Board of Supervisors' agenda starting at 9am in Santa Cruz.
LOCAL ATTORNEY AND ACTIVIST LUIS ALEJO TO RUN FOR WATSONVILLE CITY COUNCIL. Local attorney and activist Luis Alejo is running for Watsonville City Council. Alejo was born and raised in Watsonville, and currently works as a staff attorney for the Monterey County Superior Court in Monterey, where he assists thousands of low-income residents who cannot afford private attorneys. His academic credentials are impressive. He has a law degree from UC Davis School of Law, a master's of education degree from Harvard University and two bachelor's degrees from UC Berkeley. He previously worked as a legislative aide for former Assembly member Manny Diaz (D-San Jose) and has experience working at the State Capital in Sacramento. Alejo says his long history of advocating for the needs of Watsonville residents as a public interest attorney, former high school teacher, advocate, and community activist has allowed him to deeply understand the many challenges local residents face. The seat is currently held by Councilmember Oscar Rios, who has not completely made up his mind about whether he is running again after serving on the council for nearly 14 years. Alejo, the current vice-chair of the Watsonville Planning Commission, says he wants to continue to serve local residents on issues such as improving local schools, attracting good paying jobs, creating affordable housing, reducing crime, and strengthening the city budget. This will be a campaign to watch out for.
PVUSD SCHOOL BOARD TO RECEIVE MINI-TRAINING ON THE BROWN ACT. The Santa Cruz County District Attorney will be providing a mini-training on the Brown Act to the Pajaro Valley Unified School District Board of Trustees at this week's meeting. The training came about shortly after the filing of a lawsuit in May in the Santa Cruz County Superior Court against the District for alleged Brown Act violations when the school board approved several assistant superintendent contracts in closed session, which is prohibited under the state's open government law. The District immediately responded by stating there was no violation. However, last June 25, the school board re-agendized the very contracts at issue in the lawsuit, but this time the board did it in open session. The district later used the re-agendized action in its answer to the lawsuit in a late effort to show the court that the correction of the violation was made even after the fact. Now, they are also putting a Brown Act training on the agenda. Critics claim the timing is no coincidence and that these actions were already being requested before the filing of the lawsuit. Just goes to show that, sometimes, litigation is the only language that some people will listen to.
EAGAN'S DEEP COVER. Scroll below to see Tim's new version of McCain's version of what the surge is all about.
WATERS WEIGHS IN. This week Christina discovers a major new gelato, swills scallops at Soif and checks out a few farmers markets. At www.christinawaters.com.
PATTON'S PROGRAM. Gary tells of big highway plans happening in San Juan Bautista that will bring in massive housing developments and how it can be changed. Monterey County's pro development officials are working on their General Plan. AB32 needs your participation. The Santa Cruz County Planning Commission is going to discuss the development of Golf Club Drive on the Pogonip property and Gary too is concerned about our City Council's meeting on July 22 about 2120 Delaware.
STOP THE INCINERATOR IN DISGUISE.(the so called "arc-plasma gasification plant") at WATSONVILLE'S BUENA VISTA LANDFILL! (Lisa J. Bunin sent an email to SCPEL (The Santa Cruz Progressive Email list. It was so on target I'm reprinting all of it here...)
The County Board of Supervisors has approved the installation of an incinerator to burn municipal waste at the Buena Vista Landfill in Watsonville!! Incineration of municipal waste is hazardous to human health and the environment because combustion of the wide range of toxic products contained in municipal garbage invariably releases toxic pollutants into the atmosphere For the past two decades, citizens around the country, and the world, have successfully halted the construction of incinerator because they threaten the health and welfare of their community. We must do the same here in Santa Cruz!
Protect the Air & Health of Santa Cruz County Residents
Here are the facts: A company called "adaptive ARC" wants to site an "arc-plasma gasification" facility at the Buena Vista Landfill in Watsonville to treat municipal solid waste (garbage) and sewage sludge. Don't be fooled by the name -- it is incinerator technology in disguise and its pseudonym is "plasma-arc gasification" that internally combusts "syngas." The proposed incinerator would be located close to the Pajaro Valley High School and to a large farm worker labor camp in Watsonville that houses hundreds of people. Contrary to claims by the company and the Santa Cruz County Public Works Department, all incinerators release toxic and other pollutants into the environment. They also produce a solid, ash or sand-type by-product which may contain concentrated toxic residues. The plasma-arc technology is not "closed loop" because the syngas is vented directly to an internal combustion engine and burned, emitting pollutants into the air. Santa Cruz County and company officials may fast track approval of the project without conducting a full Environmental Impact Report (EIR) by claiming that this is just a small "demonstration project." Failing to conduct an EIR, as required by state law, undermines the public's right to know all possible risks. This same fast-track tactic was used by the CA Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to force the aerial spraying of pesticides on our communities to combat an "emergency" outbreak of the Light Brown Apple Moth (LBAM).
The proposed "demonstration project" is slated to last 2-3 years -- that's a long "demonstration!" It would be more appropriate to call it an "entrenchment project" because once the incinerator has been operational at our County landfill for 2 or 3 years, there will be no turning back.
The third phase of this "demonstration project" calls for the installation of a larger -- twice as big -- permanent facility at the proposed "Eco-Park" next to the landfill, as stated on the company's website.
The "permanent facility," proposed to be installed after 3 years, would have three plasma reactors-- incinerators--with two gen-sets, treating up to 400 tons of waste per day -- more than double the amount of waste incinerated during the original demonstration project." This will allow the County to accept waste from surrounding areas that are suffering from shortage of landfill space," according to the company website. CONTACT THE SANTA CRUZ COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND TELL THEM THAT YOU WANT A HALT TO THIS INCINERATOR IN DISGUISE!
Contact the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District at lericksen@mbuapcd.org and request to be notified of opportunities for public comment, request a full EIR and public hearings, and register opposition.
For more information: Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice www.greenaction.org (415) 248-5010 x 101
GABRIELLA'S OWNER PAUL COCKING EMAILS...by the numbers:
parking on meter at center and walnut...ONE HUNDRED YARDS from downtown in a COASTAL town in CALIFORNIA: 25 CENTS per HOUR. Number of meter readers passing my restaurant every hour: TWO. cost for citation on my seldom driven pick-up with expired tags: ONE HUNDRED THIRTY DOLLARS. Price to park in structure at cedar and church fifty yards from down town: 0 number of cars paying two dollars an hour in structures aligning downtown Santa Monica: twenty thousand per day (my estimate)
number of Volvo drivers who can't find a place to park downtown Santa Cruz: ten thousand per day
parking money available to downtown association for advertising: 0
number of vacancies in SCPD: ten !!!
PAUL COCKING, GABRIELLA CAFÉ 910 CEDAR ST SANTA CRUZ, CA. 95060
BRICK LANE. Muslims in London before, during and after 9/11. Young 17 year old married to an older fat guy moves their family from Bangladesh to Brick Lane. It's about all those problems and more and is excellent. Don't wait and rent it, support your local movie house and see it on the big screen.
TUYA'S MARRIAGE. Mongolian life as the government tries to get these herders to change lives and live in 2120 Delaware type apartments or even worse! Young Mongolian girl won't leave her older husband but wants to get ahead; they face all sorts of problems. Great on the wide screen.
UP THE YANGTZE. Released in 2007, this is a documentary of the building of the Three Rivers Dam that gorged up the Yangtze and forced the displacement of over 2 million people. It's also the story of a very poor family who have to make a living and their daughter gets a job on a tourist river boat loaded with tourist wanting to see the old China before "it disappears". The movie shows us that the old China disappeared many many years ago. A "Must See" for any Santa Cruzan with interests and/or ties in China.
BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ LAUNCHES COUNTDOWN TO PRESIDENT OBAMA CLOCK. (Here's the complete press release from the Book shop)
Santa Cruz – Two years ago, Bookshop Santa Cruz unveiled the George Bush Countdown Clock to help depressed Americans know that there will be an end to the national nightmare that is the Bush presidency. But now is a time for hope. Today, Bookshop Santa Cruz released their newest incarnation – the Countdown to President Obama Hope Clock. The clock counts down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States. The clock reads "Countdown to President Obama" and includes a quotation from Senator Obama. "We are the change we have been waiting for." It will retail at Bookshop Santa Cruz for $9.95 and will be sold online at www.bookshopsantacruz.com and www.hopeclock.com. It will also be sold at other independent bookstores across the country.
"We believe that people are ready for hope and there is nothing more hopeful than watching the time disappear until President Obama replaces George Bush in the Oval Office. This is a great gift for friends, family, even Republicans that are going to vote for Obama" says Bookshop Santa Cruz owner Casey Coonerty Protti. Bookshop Santa Cruz will donate 10% of the profits from the Obama keychain to the Obama for President Campaign. (Bratton says...read this part closely...
Since the launch of the George Bush Countdown Clock Keychain in 2006, Bookshop Santa Cruz has sold more than 63,500 clocks around the world garnering over a half a million dollars in revenue. Clocks have been sold to fans in China, Germany, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, England and New Zealand, and have sold from over 80 outlets across the country. Many famous people have the clock including Former President Bill Clinton, the Dixie Chicks and US Senator Barbara Boxer.
Bookshop Santa Cruz has a long history of involvement in political issues. In 1993, Bookshop Santa Cruz sold Rush Limbaugh's book, See I Told You So, for the price of baloney and then donated the difference to the National Organization for Women and the Santa Cruz AIDS Project. In 1995, when Newt Gingrich was named Time magazine's Man of the Year, Bookshop Santa Cruz sold each copy of the magazine with a custom-made barf bag. Bookshop Santa Cruz is also the makers of the "Keep Santa Cruz Weird" bumper stickers, t-shirts and mugs.
DOMHOFF'S DREAM LECTURE ON COMMUNITY TV
G. William Domhoff
Research professor G. William Domhoff's recent campus wide lecture about dreaming will be broadcast on Community TV of Santa Cruz County several times in July and August. The lecture is scheduled to air on the following days:
• July 28 at 12 a.m. • July 29 6 a.m. • July 30 at 1 p.m. • July 31 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
• August 1 at 9 a.m.• August 2 at 3 a.m. • August 3 at 1:30 p.m.
Domhoff, a research professor of psychology and sociology, delivered the annual Emeriti Faculty Lecture in March to a capacity crowd. His talk, "The Awesome Lawfulness of Your Nightly Dreams," highlights his findings over several decades of research. In the Santa Cruz area, the broadcasts will be aired on Comcast Cable channel 25; in the South County area, on Charter Communications channel 71. (Bratton note....I attended this lecture and it's well worth your time to see/hear Bill's talk).
SOQUEL, SAKEL, SAUQUIL, SHOQUEL,SOKELLE, SOUCAL, AND OF COURSE OSOCALES OR EVEN ZOQUEL?? (All those spellings are from Don Clarks book of local place names) Carolyn Swift of The Capitola Museum emails to tell us...Is Cabrillo College in Soquel or in Aptos? History can add shadows of doubt to what may seem to be an easy reply.
The answer will be related on Saturday, July 26, when Sandy Lydon, Cabrillo College history professor emeritus, explores this and other puzzlements about Soquel. As speaker for the 70th annual Soquel Pioneer and Historical Association (SPHA) potluck picnic at Pringle Grove, Lydon will hold a conversation with the audience to make decisions once and for all about some basic questions regarding the town and its past.
Since the association represents the historic voice of the community, picnic attendees—including those brand new to the community-- will have a chance to sound their opinions on whether Soquel was at one time a person for whom the place was named, how to say it, and what it really means. Lydon also plans to give picnickers the chance to decide what they'd like to be called, whether its "Soquelians," "Soquelites," "Soquelers," or something with real zing, like "Soquelistas."
The people of Soquel have been holding potluck gatherings at Pringle Grove for 150 years, although it's only been for the past seventy that the annual pioneer event has been held at the grove, located off North Main Street, across from Bargetto's Winery. This year the event will start at the traditional time, 1 p.m., although many will arrive early to peruse volumes of old scrapbooks, see panels of historic photographs, and trade stories with longtime friends.
No fee is charged and the event is open to everyone interested in Soquel. Because of the popularity of this year's speaker and topic, persons planning to attend may wish to arrive earlier and bring additional chairs as well eating utensils and a potluck dish to share. Seating and parking are limited. Carolyn probably meant to spell it Cabrilho.
SPAM NAMES. Buford Goff, Engelbert Suvendee, Josefina Capps, Darla Capps, Colon Ox. I'm not convinced that Colon Ox is a genuine fake name and is more likely an ad for something we don't want to know about.
UNIVERSITY GRAPEVINE. Every week I host this one hour interview program on KZSC 88.1 fm Thursdays from 4-5 pm. This week Nikki Silva (one half of NPR's award winning Kitchen Sisters) and some members of her class in the Community Studies Social Documentary Masters program will play excerpts and talk about their recorded programs covering a wide range of social issues. It's a repeat broadcast of this April program because my daughter Hillary and family gifted me with a ticket so we all are going to see Eddie Izzard live in SF at the Warfield Theatre.
QUOTES. "I'm not against the police; I'm just afraid of them", Alfred Hitchcock. "A silent majority and government by the people are incompatible", Tom Hayden. "If a guy wants to wear his hair down to his ass, I'm not revolted by it. But I don't look at him and say, "Now there's a fella I'd like to spend next winter with". John Wayne.
Deep Cover
Bruce critiques films every Friday on KZSC-FM (88.1) on The Bushwhacker Breakfast Club at 8am.
It's free! Click here.
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