A group of people affected by the storms and floods that occurred in the area between Dec. 31, 2022 and March 11, 2023 have filed two lawsuits against various government entities alleging they did not take the proper measures to stop the damages caused by those disasters.
The lawsuits, filed on Dec. 22, 2023, was brought against Santa Cruz County, Monterey County, the City of Watsonville and the California Department of Transportation
The plaintiffs allege that the defendants allowed the flood control systems of the lower Pajaro River watershed to remain in a “state of complete disrepair,” even after 10 flood events that occurred in the decades after the levee system was built in 1949.
More than 500 plaintiffs are named in the lawsuits, from both Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. This includes property owners, renters and business owners. The suits were filed by Los Angeles-based Kabatek LLP, and El Segundo-based Greenberg and Ruby Injury Attorneys.
“One of the most tragic parts about this is that the same thing happened decades ago, should have been fixed, should have been prevented, this was absolutely foreseeable and preventable,” says attorney Emily Ruby, whose family lives in the Royal Oaks area.
The lawsuits took shape after the March 11 flood, during an informal community meeting–during which no more than 15 people were expected–which instead drew more than 70, Ruby says.
“We just realized there was a huge need for help in that area,” she says.
Governmental officials and agencies typically do not comment on pending litigation. As of press time Thursday, none had responded to requests for comment.
Ruby says the attorneys are seeking financial compensation for their clients that includes their losses, and for emotional damages.
“We want to obtain justice for our clients, and for the community as a whole,” she says. “We want to have them compensated financially for all their damages and all their losses.”
The trouble began on New Year’s Eve 2023, when an atmospheric river storm swept through the Central Coast, swelling rivers and streams.
The Corralitos and Salsipuedes creeks overtopped their banks, sending flood water into several Watsonville neighborhoods, and filling many homes with mud, leaving residents with unlivable houses and hefty repair bills.
“The community was completely shell-shocked and obviously devastated by what happened,” Ruby says. “And there was no immediate response or support for them by the government entities who were responsible for this, and should have been jumping to be proactive about taking care of them.”
At the heart of the lawsuit is the claim that after 10 flood events spanning from 1955 to 2018–with a major one in 1995–state and local officials should have been prepared to lessen or prevent the 2023 flood.
By the early 1990’s, the lawsuit alleges, the Pajaro Flood Control Project reached an “unprecedented state of disrepair,” which heightened flood risks.
“This never should have happened in 1995, and it never should have happened after 1995,” Ruby says. “We really want to make sure that this never happens again, that this community is never victimized again.”
The Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass a version of the Wharf Master Plan that removed proposals for a controversial pedestrian pathway or large warehouse at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.
The decision comes after years of litigation, with council members expressing a desire to move forward on applications for Federal and state funding. To do so, they removed plans for a controversial ‘Landmark Building,’ a 35 ft. warehouse at the end of the wharf, and a ‘Western Walkway,’ a low-lying pedestrian pathway that would have also acted as a protective-barrier
The city has $6 million in funding from the Coastal Conservancy lined-up, pending the dismissal of the on-going lawsuit from Don’t Morph the Wharf.
In 2022, a court ruling found that the Wharf Master Plan violated the California Environmental Quality Act. Community-founded group Don’t Morph the Wharf brought forward the litigation, but agreed to forgo any future lawsuits if the Western Walkway was removed from the plan.
Supporters of the walkway, like ex-wharf Superintendent Jon Bambaci, marshaled a defense for the path, explaining its importance to the wharf’s structural integrity. The walkway would act as another emergency access point and block ocean-debris.
“While I like the Western Walkway, I am also going to support this because it is time we move on. We just need to protect the infrastructure,” said Council Member Renee Golder.
Council Members Golder and Martine Watkins had not previously supported this version. Golder apologized to Council Member Sandy Brown for not supporting a similar measure Brown brought two years before.
In 2020, Brown was part of a minority that voted against the Wharf Master Plan, on the grounds that the Western Walkway and landmark building were opposed by members of the community. Brown expressed relief that now, her fellow council members and staff agreed with her.
The city plans to focus on new parking gates and expanding the Eastern Promenade for a 2026 construction start date, if the Coastal Commission approves the plan.
Gillian Greensite, leader of Don’t Morph the Wharf, said she was “surprised and very pleased” with the council’s decision. According to Greensite, “by dropping the walkway, the city has fulfilled the Writ. Nothing more to pursue.”
The Santa Cruz City Council meeting erupted in emotion early Wednesday morning as attendees supporting a council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war lambasted the city council for passing an amended version.
At around 3 a.m.—after 10 hours of a public comment period that began at 5 p.m.—the city council passed a resolution in a 5-2 vote that did not call for a ceasefire, but “affirmed our shared humanity and wish for peace,” and emphasized the city’s commitment to peace.
The original resolution, drafted by council members Sonja Brunner and Sandy Brown, included language supporting a ceasefire. On Dec. 9, the city council directed Brunner and Brown to draft a resolution that delineated the city’s stance on the Israel-Gaza war. The direction came in response to hours of public comment where attendees called upon the council to formally declare a ceasefire.
The initial version of the resolution called for “a permanent, sustainable, and immediate ceasefire by all parties such that a future can be created where Palestinians and Israelis can live together with dignity in peace, equality, and justice.” Additionally, it urged for the release of all hostages and for humanitarian aid to be let into Gaza.
Around 300 people spoke during public comment, with the majority making statements supportive of the ceasefire resolution as it was originally drafted.
Sometime around 3 a.m., council member Scott Newsome made a motion to replace the original resolution with a substitute version drafted ahead of the meeting. No language related to a ceasefire was included in that version.
In response, pro-Palestinian activists in attendance then proceeded to shout at the council members in a show of dismay over the move. In a video posted to Palestine Solidarity Central Coast’s Instagram page, people can be heard in the council chambers yelling and denouncing individual council members.
There were multiple police officers at the meeting, and as the crowd became agitated, officers stepped in to clear the chambers. During the uproar, individuals in the crowd also threw objects at council members.
“Officers were on scene all night, people were throwing food and their signs,” said Santa Cruz Police Department spokesperson Joyce Blaschke.
Blaschke also said that two windows were broken inside the council chambers.
After the chambers were cleared, the council approved Newsome’s motion and proceeded to vote on the amended resolution. The council voted to pass a ‘Peace Resolution.’ Brunner and Brown opposed the resolution.
Mayor Fred Keeley was among those that voted in favor of the amended ‘Peace Resolution.’
“We received 10 hours of testimony on both sides of this and then the council made their decision. I’m comfortable with the decision I made. I very much support peace in the Middle East. I think it is a resolution that makes it clear that Santa Cruz is on the side of peace. I can also understand the disappointment of those who wanted a ceasefire resolution rather than a peace resolution,” Keely said.
“I took the vote that I’m comfortable with that states my values,” he said.
Meanwhile Brown said she was disappointed with the vote’s outcome.
“It’s hard to find words to describe the feeling of last night’s council meeting. Of course I was disappointed by the outcome, after spending so much time in dialogue to try to craft a resolution that responded to differing perspectives and concerns. However, I’m heartened that so many people showed up (many standing outside in the rain and cold for over 7 hours) to share their experiences and pain over the violence, suffering, and profound humanitarian crisis unfolding in Palestine and Israel,” said Brown.
Every year, California’s legislators send a flurry of bills to the governor.
In 2023, lawmakers sent off 1,046 bills, of which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 890 into law.
Often, these affect everyday life, impacting such areas as criminal justice, food safety, traffic, education and civic life.
But occasionally, they do none of these. That’s the case with Assembly Bill 261, which establishes the golden chanterelle mushroom—Cantharellus californicus—as the state’s official mushroom.
The edible fungus is the largest chanterelle in the world and prized by foragers.
In an online post, author and fun guy Ash Kaira said the bill “seeks to enhance biodiversity education to better protect our fungi.”
This is a refreshing change from the often tedious nature of lawmaking. Tongue-in-cheek jesting aside, many of the laws taking effect in 2024 are worth noting.
Minimum Wage
California’s minimum wage, already among the nation’s highest at $15.50 per hour, goes up to $20 on June 1, thanks to Assembly Bill 1228 by Assemblyman Chris Holden. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill in September.
Also on June 1, Senate Bill 525 will increase the minimum wage for health care workers to $25 per hour
Crime and Drugs
Assembly bill 701 increases the punishments for Fentanyl dealers, and sets harsher penalties for those caught with more than one kilogram of the drug.
Newsom also signed bills that require amusement parks and stadiums to carry overdose reversal drugs, and colleges to have Fentanyl test strips on hand.
Healthcare
California already protects doctors from prosecution who provide abortions to women that come from other states.
Senate Bill 345, authored by Nancy Skinner, furthers that protection by shielding doctors who mail abortion pills to other states.
The law also bans authorities from cooperating with out-of-state investigations, and bars social media companies from complying with subpoenas.
Assembly Bill 616, by Lorena Gonzalez, raises the number of sick days to which employees are entitled from three to five, and prohibits employers from retaliating when workers take sick days.
Smoke Up–In Your Free Time
Californians legalized recreational marijuana in 2016, but the stigma surrounding its use remains. That includes from employers, who until now could consider cannabis use in employment consideration.
AB 2188 prohibits employers from using urine or hair follicle tests—which can detect traces of marijuana for weeks—from firing or punishing employees, and from using those results when making hiring decisions. Federal workers and those in the construction industry are excluded. Under AB 700, employers cannot ask about applicants’ past pot use.
In The Workplace
Senate Bill 848, by Susan Rubio, requires employers to provide five days of bereavement leave for a parent who suffers a “reproductive loss event,” which can include a failed adoption, failed surrogacy, miscarriage or stillbirth.
For Rent
Under Assembly Bill 12, authored by Matt Haney, landlords can charge no more than one month’s rent for security deposits. Previously, new tenants could face up to three months rent for their security deposits.
Senate Bill 267 prohibits landlords from requiring credit reports as part of the rental process, and instead can ask for alternative means of proof of ability to pay.
Assembly Bill 205 mandates that electricity bills be based on income levels rather than usage. Under the law, low-income customers will save roughly $300 a year, while households earning more than $180,000 would pay around $500 more per year.
In The Shop
Assembly Bill 1084 requires retail stores with 500 or more employees statewide—and which sells children’s items—to have a gender-neutral section.
On The Road
Under Assembly Bill 256, police cannot use an expired registration tag as the sole reason for stopping a vehicle for two months after its expiration.
Assembly Bill 413, written by Alex Lee and sponsored by Streets For All, prohibits vehicles from being stopped or parked within 20 feet of a marked crosswalk or intersection. This pedestrian safety measure, known as “daylighting,” is believed to make all forms of transportation safer for everyone.
In a blow to all those who hate joy and fun, Assembly Bill 436 removes the authorization from local jurisdictions to enact cruising bans. Lowrider cruising is a culture unto itself, created after WWII by Mexican-Americans. Cruising bans, therefore, are believed to have primarily affected Latinos.
In an interesting change to the way traffic stops are conducted, law enforcement officials will no longer be able to begin with the question, “Do you know why I pulled you over?” under Assembly Bill 2773.
Instead, they must state the reason for the stop.
Responding to rising instances of catalytic converter thefts, Assembly Bill 641 makes it a misdemeanor crime for unlicensed automobile dismantlers to possess nine or more that have been cut from vehicles. Repair shops and other legitimate businesses are exempt.
Senate Bill 55, meanwhile, makes it a misdemeanor to remove the serial number of a catalytic converter.
Assembly Bill 1125 repeals a court’s ability to take away a person’s driver’s license if they cannot pay court costs and fines. Authored by Gregg Hart, the law is intended to reduce the harm to low-income people who rely on their vehicles.
In 2017 the Soquel high football program was struggling, ranked #950 in the state. This year they ended their season ranked at 70 and last month, they won the state championship.
The shift towards success can be attributed in part to the leadership of former NFL defensive back Dwight Lowery and his coaching staff.
Lowery, a Santa Cruz local and former NFL defensive back, played for the Jets, Chargers, Jaguars, and Falcons between 2008 and 2017.
Before his time with the NFL, Lowery began playing football at Soquel high school in the early 2000s. When he returned to Santa Cruz after retiring from the NFL, Lowery was offered the football head coach position. Now, Lowery is coaching kids who are walking the same halls he did, in the place where his career began.
Since he took over the program in 2018, Lowery has led the team to the Central Coast Section playoffs—the local football tournament. In four out of the six years, he’s been the head coach. Most recently, the team steamrolled Jurupa Hills and won the first football state championship brought back to Santa Cruz.
Coaching teens comes with challenges as well as rewards, Lowery said. He enjoys watching his players succeed on and off the field. The most rewarding feeling as a coach is watching his players see the results of their actions, whether it be positive or negative, and seeing them learn.
“Communication off the field that doesn’t always have to do with football, and one of the challenges is that they don’t always understand that we have their best interest in mind and are looking out for them,” Lowery said.
With Soquel’s first state championship behind them, Lowery thinks the team’s success will impact the community by inspiring more kids and parents to have a conversation about playing football.
“We got a couple of four-year varsity players, lots of experienced big-game players for three years since we’ve been in contention for League,” Lowery said. “Opening at Los Gatos helped a lot by putting them in extremely competitive environments. Plus these kids just really like football.”
Lowery is already preparing for next season with no plans of slowing down the momentum they’ve gained over the last few seasons.
“We’ve got lots of development ahead to maximize our younger players,” Lowery said. “We can’t do the same things we did with our seniors so we are looking to change things.”
Join Soquel football and the Soquel community on Saturday, Jan. 13 in Capitola village for a parade to celebrate the team’s state championship. It will begin at 11am at the police station and end at the Capitola bandstand pavilion, there will be floats, speeches and a performance by the Soquel High band.
The Santa Cruz Gives 2023 holiday campaign raised more than $1 million for 65 local nonprofits during the last six weeks of the year for the third year in a row.
The funds support nonprofits that serve all types of needs across the county, and while the campaign is closed for donations, it can be viewed throughout the year at SantaCruzGives.org. The online platform creates a marketplace of giving that makes it easy for donors to learn about each participating organization with an individual profile page that summarizes their work.
The key findings from the first seven years of the campaign, collected from data and nonprofit reports, demonstrate that Santa Cruz Gives attracts new donors and younger donors, and also mirrors a national trend toward increased family giving, as more families allocate some of their gift budget toward charity.
If you donated, thank you! If you did not, please consider visiting the site mid-November to the end of December.
Santa Cruz Gives is funded by the generosity of Good Times, Volunteer Center of Santa Cruz County, Community Foundation Santa Cruz County, Applewood Foundation, Joe Collins, Driscoll’s, Inc., Monterey Peninsula Foundation, Comcast, Santa Cruz County Bank, Wynn Capital Management, The Pajaronian, and Press Banner.
Just over 10 years ago, reporting by The New York Times and ABC News revealed that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had for several years been collecting billions of American phone records. The government was paying AT&T to do the work.
The DEA and other agencies could then collect whatever information they wanted through an “administrative subpoena,” meaning that they didn’t need a court’s permission. At that point the DEA had free access to records dating back to at least 1987. The data indicated when calls were placed, by whom and for what duration.
There was, of course, a huge outcry. The Obama White House insisted that the program, called Hemisphere, did not raise privacy concerns, which led the American Civil Liberties Union to observe that perhaps “one reason for the secrecy of the program is that it would be very hard to justify it to the public or the courts.” In any case, President Obama withdrew funding from the program soon after it was revealed.
But now it’s back, according to Sen. Ron Wyden, Democrat from Oregon, a longtime proponent of drug-policy and criminal-justice reform, and a leading proponent of legal cannabis. Wired magazine obtained a letter Wyden sent on Nov. 19 to Attorney General Merrick Garland saying he had “serious concerns about the legality” of the program—now named Data Analytical Services and managed through the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
Wyden noted in the letter that he’s received “troubling information” about it that is considered “sensitive but unclassified,” meaning that he, as a senator, cannot reveal it to the public, though doing so would pose no national-security risks.
The program was resurrected under the Trump administration. The Biden administration then paused it, according to Wyden, but then resurrected it yet again. Of particular concern is the fact that law-enforcement agencies around the country can tap into the data, and Wired reports that requests have come from police departments in Oakland, Daly City and San Jose.
What’s more, the data collected includes that of people who are not suspected of any crime, including people whom criminal suspects have talked to and, in turn, phone calls between those people and others. The program does not involve wiretapping. Despite being run by drug-enforcement agencies, the data can, and is, used for all manner of criminal investigations.
According to Wyden’s letter, AT&T collects 4 billion records every day, though the actual number of calls involved is likely substantially less than that because a record is created on each side of a given call.
Referring to the program by its former name, Wyden wrote in his letter that “the scale of the data available to and routinely searched for the benefit of law enforcement under the Hemisphere Project is stunning in its scope.”
Given the continued illegality of cannabis at the federal level and in many states, it’s conceivable the program has been and still could be used to enforce cannabis laws.
Earlier this month, before sending the letter, Wyden and three colleagues from both parties in both the House and Senate introduced the Government Surveillance Reform Act to shore up privacy protections. Passage of the bill would likely effectively end DAS and would tie the hands of officials who are still making use of other programs—some of them technically illegal already—that pry into Americans’ personal business, often without a court-obtained warrant.
Many of those programs were created by panicked legislators in the wake of the 9/11 attacks, and were meant to strengthen our defenses against terrorism. But they have since often been used for purposes that have nothing to do with terrorism, and reforms so far have failed to adequately protect Americans’ civil rights, Wyden said.
“Our bill,” the lawmakers said in introducing the proposal, “continues to give government agencies broad authority to collect information on threats at home and abroad, including the ability to act quickly in emergencies and settle up with the court later. But it creates much stronger protections for the privacy of law-abiding Americans and restores the warrant protections that are at the heart of the Fourth Amendment.”
To get an idea of how widespread the problem is, just take a look at the bill: It’s 200 pages long.
There’s gold to be found in the car culture of the Central Coast. It offers a wealth of stories and histories, told by endearing people, generous with their time—in addition to being a feast for the eyes, with a myriad of lovingly restored treasures on wheels. Our car culture spans demographics and geographic location, and car lovers embrace the old and the new.
In a different time, every car had a very distinctive look. A kid could name every car as it passed on the street—the elegant Lincoln Continental, the exciting Jaguar XKE, the comical Edsel.
As a teenager, I lived in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley. “The Valley” depicted in movies like Fast Times At Ridgemont High, and most importantly, American Graffiti, George Lucas’s pre-Star Wars ode to ’60s car culture, featuring a young Harrison Ford as a daring Hotrodder. Central to Lucas’ story is cruising night, and as I grew up, among the most distinctive cruisers were the Lowriders.
Now a transplanted Santa Cruzan, my memories of cruising nights were awakened every time I would pass a beautiful bright red convertible Chevy Impala lowrider, immaculate, with a pristine white interior, always parked at the same place, on my drive home. I knew that I had to know the story of this gem. But before I did, making some wonderful friends in the process, I was bound to visit a local mecca of the local car scene–an early-morning gathering of the faithful at my local mall.
REVELATIONS
There’s an apocryphal story from the days of the Soviet Union about a Russian émigré who visits an American department store, and faints dead away upon seeing aisle after aisle filled with an overwhelming array of treasures to be had.
I imagine I felt a similar sense of wonder when I entered the parking lot of Santa Cruz County’s Capitola Mall and stared, wide-eyed, at row after row of the most beautiful—no, dazzling—cars of all descriptions. It was a revelation, and it was where I learned that the people who own these marvelous machines are a source of oral histories—social and personal—that I invite everyone to discover.
These are the stories of some of the hundreds of car enthusiasts on the Central Coast.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST
Tom and Pam Standen are the proud owners of one of the most iconic cars of all time, a 1962 Corvette, similar to the one immortalized in the TV show Route 66.
Tom, 70, from Midpines, is a former earth-moving contractor turned designer, now retired. Tom and his wife Pam, 68, have shared a passion for cars since they were married in the 1970s.
Tom’s first car was a ’67 Ford Mustang coupe that he and Pam dated in. He helped her repair her ’67 Wildcat, and has been into cars ever since. Tom and Pam were married in 1974 when she owned a ‘72 Ford Pinto. He put a 289 V8 engine into it. He says it was one of the fastest cars he ever drove.
While buying a ‘56 Chevy Bel Air to restore, Tom found his prize Corvette in a barn buried underneath a pile of newspapers—with a little piece of a bumper showing. Tom recognized the bumper and he wanted the car. But the owner was saving it for his daughter as a graduation present.
One day he called and said, ‘My daughter doesn’t want it, she wants a BMW. Bring back that Bel Air and some money and I’ll trade.’
KICKS “Get your kicks on Route 66” sang a pop music hit of the time. The Standen’s 60s era Corvette embodies the freedom of cruising the nation’s highways. Photo: John Koenig
Tom bought it in 1993 and has restored it twice, with a 5-speed transmission, and rack and pinion steering.
“I took out all the old stuff to make it drivable,” he says. “Back in the day it drove like an old truck, but now it drives like a new car.”
Tom and Pam put it on the show circuit for a time, and finally brought it to the beach, because, as he says, “it’s a beach car.”
Oh, and the Standens also own a 1934 Ford Cabriolet coupe, like the one made famous in the “Legs” music video by the band ZZ Top, parked beside the Corvette.
“It’s got suicide doors,” Tom explains, showing how the doors are hinged to open backwards toward the rear. “Back in the day they would play chicken.” A prominent scene in the James Dean film Rebel Without a Cause depicts young hot rodders “playing chicken,” driving head-on toward each other, with predictable results.
IT’S GOT LEGS A ZZ Top music video made this car an icon of pop culture. The Standens display its distinctive “suicide doors.” Photo: John Koenig
Tom looks back on the unique car culture of the Yosemite area where he grew up.
“In high school, we put V8s in 1950s Chevrolets. We would take them to the airport and race beside the runway, on a road we called the “quarter mile stretch.” Back then there were only two highway patrolmen, and my dad was one of them, back when you’d get strangled for smoking cigarettes. It’s completely different now.”
BACK TO THE FUTURE
At the opposite end of the spectrum, but equally crazy for cars are Kathleen and Dennis Griggs, arriving in a 2021 mid engine Corvette. The sleek, futuristic car would seem out of place, but for the sheer variety of designs on display.
“I always loved cars,” says Kathleen. “I’m a child from the 50s and early 60s. Cars were it!”
Kathleen and Dennis Griggs are devoted ‘Vette lovers, with his-and-hers Corvettes. Photo: John Koenig
Kathleen, 68, has driven the Corvette as fast as 118mph. “I was up to 100 without realizing it,” she says.
“Top is 150 miles per hour or something, but I wouldn’t go that fast, that’s kinda crazy.”
She learned to drive in an old Dodge station wagon, and grew up all over the world as an Army brat, exposed to the cars of many countries.
“Best cars are here, American made,” she says.
Dennis had corvettes all his life, and in 2004 she got her first Corvette, fell in love with it, and upgraded in 2008 and 2016.
“If I could have a 63 Corvette that would be nice. Best corvette, you couldn’t do better unless you spend a couple hundred grand on a Ferrari.”
FROM JUNK TO JEWEL
Dennis Gagne (pronounced gahn-yay) was raised on the family apple orchard on Corralitos, and started driving at the age of nine. He learned to love cars and machinery from his dad, who worked on all sorts of cars and built his own tractor. His first car was the ubiquitous Chevy Impala, followed by a British MG Midget, a car that he says spent less time on the road than off in repairs.
He loved the 1951 Ford F-1 pickup truck with the iconic bullet-front ever since seeing one on “Sanford and Son,” a 70s TV show about a grouchy junk dealer.
He finally found one, in dire condition, and trailered it back to Scotts valley where it took six years to strip down to the frame and get it back up. The strength and thickness of the metal from that era required a professional body shop to bend, and the rotted wood and rails of the bed were replaced. The lime green paint it was found with was replaced with an original factory color called Sheridan Blue, deep and dark.
With all that, Dennis seems most excited to show the smallest of items. The original, tiny key, and the original log booklet that its first owner had meticulously filled with dates of tune-ups and fill-ups–70 years ago. [Dennis and his F-1 are seen in this issue’s cover photo]
Although the bullet-nosed Ford is currently Dennis’s only vintage car, he recently restored a 1989 Airstream.
A GOLDEN ERA
Garrett Gettleman served the community as a probation officer for many years, before retiring to head his own business in the solar energy sector. A common theme among members of these senior car collectors is a tendency to have had careers in public service, whether in government or private practice.
Garrett’s passion is for American muscle cars, vintage 1970 and earlier, ’70 being the last year of the high-powered car.
Gettleman owns a Pontiac Firebird, a GM stablemate of the Chevy Camaro, and a Plymouth Fury, the car featured as a murderous machine in the Stephen King movie Christine.
“I grew up with these cars. The golden era of GM spending big bucks on car design, making Firebird and Camaro different,” he says.
He explains how the necessity for smog regulations in 1971 “killed the party” after a decade in which General Motors spent heavily to make each of their car brands distinctive and competitive.
“1970 was the highwater mark for American performance cars. It was the last chance for automakers to do it all. 70 was a wild year.”
FIREBIRD SWEET Garrett Gettleman with his high-performance Pontiac Firebird, one of the “pony cars” that followed in the market niche of the Ford Mustang. Photo: John Koenig
SUNSET OF THE WONDERFUL WOODIE?
Dave Welles, 75, has a long history of fond relationships with vintage cars. He remembers the nights cruising on summer nights with the windows rolled down in his hometown of Riverside.
His dad had a couple of Model A automobiles, one for street and one for racing on the flats at Bonneville. He had his first car, a ‘31 Chevy roadster, at 15 yrs old. Because he was a surfer, his next car was a 57 Ford ranch wagon two-door, and a string of VW buses came after that.
He always wanted a Woodie, but they were always more than he had saved up. He finally found one that needed everything in a garage in the hills of Ben Lomond. He tore it apart, spent four years on it, and as of today, it’s logged 50,000 miles.
Welles is a member of the Santa Cruz Woodie Club, well versed in the lore of the Woodie and its place in surfing history. He explains how the first of their kind were built out of necessity when the state of manufacturing technology didn’t allow for metal panels big enough to assemble a practical delivery truck. Steel chassis were sent from the car factory to shops that previously built wooden carriages where they were finished in the desired length.
HIGHWAY HYBRID An original woodie: half 19th century coachworks and half steel automobile. Photo: Santa Cruz Woodies
By the time the wood-paneled Woodie had become unfashionable and undesirable because of its need for maintenance, it was cheap enough to be the perfect surfboard-carrier.
“Surfers saved the woodie,” he says, but he fears their days may be numbered.
“There’s not a generation behind us that cares about them.”
LOWRIDER LOVE AND BUG BUGGIES
From where car culture meets the surf of the Santa Cruz coast, I headed to my final destination, to visit a hub of Latino car culture, a culture with deep roots from Watsonville to San Jose.
It was where I had first seen my dream lowrider, the Impala in red.
I discovered that she is owned by Edwin Landeros at Central Coast Audio and Tint, a family run business. Not only is Edwin an active participant in lowrider culture, but he’s also a leader of a club for VW Bug devotees, and enjoys restoring vehicles of all kinds.
Edwin hails from Mexico, where his mother ran a yogurt business. The family owned several “bugs” that they used for deliveries, VWs being very popular in Mexico for their affordability. It was here that Edwin learned how to work on cars.
When the big earthquake of 1985 destroyed his grandmother’s dentistry business in Mexico City, the family moved to America, where Edwin learned the business of installing car stereos. After years of hard work and determination, he built his successful business–now run by his son, Edwin Jr.
His eccentrically restored vintage bug can often be seen displaying its stenciled hand flashing a peace sign on the door. It’s a bug with a colorful history, as Edwin tells the story.
“I gave it to my dad, and he told me ‘You gave me a piece of shit! This thing’s all rusted!’”
Edwin was undeterred. “I took it home, rebuilt the engine, and I didn’t want to put money in it, so I sanded it and I clearcoat it, so all the dents and rust and patina still show. My daughter Jasmine, 13 years old, falls in love with it. She says, ‘You can’t sell it, you’re gonna give me this car.’ She was offered $20,000 and she won’t get rid of it.”
Too young to drive it for several years, Edwin says, “She’s tried!”
NO SALE 13 year old Jasmine loves her Bug, and no offer to buy it is enough for her to part with it. Edwin Jr’s Mustang is parked behind. Photo: John Koenig
His generosity didn’t stop with his daughter, as he has given something special to his loved ones in the event of his passing–a vintage Ford lowrider named “Bambita” to his wife, a restored Mustang to his son Edwin Jr, and coming soon, a ‘64 Impala for son Brian.
“Everybody’s gonna have a car so if I ever pass away, they will have something that I built,” he said. “You can give money, or anything, but something like this, they know that I put my hands on it, and they’re never going to forget that.”
Edwin enjoys driving all of the family cars and chooses them to fit the moment.
“In Watsonville I’ll bring the Bombita, and in Santa Cruz I’ll bring the bug. In Scotts Valley I’ll take the Mustang. Everyone likes their different flavors, you know?”
At gatherings of Latino car clubs, whether Bugs or Lowriders, the presence of families is a noticeable difference compared to the vintage car gatherings of Anglo seniors, where a common refrain is that the kids spend more time indoors with games and devices.
Asked about it, Edwin explains why.
“We don’t give the kids a choice,” he says with a laugh. “We say, get in the car, we’re going! And they have a great time.”
LA BAMBITA Edwin Landeros customized this vintage Ford lowrider as a gift to his wife. Photo: John Koenig
JOINING IN
The gatherings of car enthusiasts in the Central Coast are some of the most unsung (and free) opportunities for families to spend time together while appreciating some of the most beautiful historic artifacts to be found outside of a museum. The stories of passion and persistence to be told by vintage car owners could be a valuable lesson for young people whose future is already dominated by apps, A.I. and virtual reality.
The opportunity may not last long either, as the generation that grew up in the Golden Age of car culture passes on without an heir. Like the kids uninterested in maintaining the labor-intensive Woodies, their peers aren’t learning the art of classic car maintenance from their parents as the Boomers did.
For those who dream of joining the ranks of classic car owners, the price of admission can be low or very high, depending on one’s ability and patience. A restored 1955 Chevy will cost between $50,000 and $100,000. Most owners bought their beauties cheap as rusty relics and restored them slowly, investing time and money over the course of years, ultimately, putting more money into the restoration than they will ever get back by selling.
The cars of the 21st century still spark the excitement of the open road, and inspire creative customization and modification–but there’s something special, a kind of class and elegance and creativity in the design of the cars of yesteryear. We can rejoice that they still roam the streets, still inspire delight at a rare glimpse of them, and still gather for all to witness and admire while their owners remain.
As this story goes to press, there is good news for a revival of the ritual of cruising. California Assembly Bill 436 that prohibits anti-cruising ordinances and lowrider bans was enacted on Jan. 1, and cars and clubs were quick to take to the streets to celebrate.
So much more might have been shared in this issue if space permitted. The tale of the local dentist who chased the car of his dreams for years until chance brought them together; the wonderful lady of Capitola who collects Fiats and arrives in one so rusty it’s wrapped in caution tape; the lore of the post-WWII cars made in Germany by Messerschmitt that look like fighter planes on wheels.
These stories and more await those who spend a morning with the motorists of our Central Coast car culture.
LOCAL CAR EVENTS
Woodies on the Wharf, June 24, Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf https://www.santacruzwoodies.com/wow-2022-june-23rd-26th/
Ronnie’s Morning Get Together is a car show in San Jose on every second Saturday of the month at the Starbucks on Hillsdale Ave. FREE COFFEE & DONUTS
Cars & Coffee convenes every Saturday, 7:00–10:00 am, Rain or Shine Capitola Mall Parking Lot (near Starbucks) at 41st and Clares St
17th Annual Hot Rods on the Green July 6th, 2024 – 9 am to 4 pm A fun event at Twin Lakes Church for the whole family.
San Jose Classic Chevy Club @ sanjosechevys.org
United Lowrider Council of San Jose @ ulcsj.com
BEFORE STAR WARS George Lucas depicted “cruising night” in his hometown of Modesto. Suzanne Somers was the elusive “Blonde in T-Bird,” driving a pink beauty seen here at the 2023 Cops and Rodders gathering. Photo: Tarmo Hannula LEARN BY DOING An essential skill for many vintage car owners is replacing an entire car engine, like the one in this early 60s Ford Ranchero, a DIY philosophy learned in their teens. Photo: Tarmo HannulaROAD READY Restored to their original glory, bigger new engines are must for driving modern highways. Photo: Tarmo HannulaCADDIE CHROME Chromed metal was popular until the 70s when issues of weight, cost, and safety led to plastic and rubber bumpers. Photo: John KoenigDREAM MACHINE This ’57 Cadillac looks like it was made to be a lowrider. Photo: John KoenigTHE END The trunk of this 53 Cadillac rivals the size of some Santa Cruz apartment rentals. Photo: John Koenig
When my 5-year-old son gouged his head on a park bench, we sat outside Dominican Hospital’s emergency room for four hours waiting to be treated.
I’m not complaining. I understand things take time and there were higher priorities than a face that needed seven stitches. But as I waited, I would have paid anything to jump ahead of the line.
I think of that when I see that the struggling Watsonville Hospital is asking for a $116 million bond measure to keep its emergency room and bring its services to the highest level possible. The money will come from South County homeowners at a rate of $24 a year for every $100K for which their homes are valued.
It’s not a bad request even at a time when dollars are hard to come by. The value we’d get as a community is worth far more.
How many times have your lives and health been saved in a local emergency room? Mine has been more than a few times and I’m grateful for the work they did every time. I wouldn’t be writing this without the nurses and doctors who treated me. I’d bet most of you have also been there and done that.
The numbers are staggering: 32,000 people came through the emergency department in Watsonville, a number that is now inching toward 35,000, according to a great article by Todd Guild in Good Times Jan. 3.
That’s compared to 52,000 at Dominican Hospital and 60,000 visits at Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula.
The idea of losing that South County life-saving service is frightening and should be enough to convince you to vote for the bond during the March 5 primary election.
Some other benefits of the bond include the purchase of the building, saving $3 million of rent; and expanding the building for additional state-of-the-art services, making it a top hospital.
You don’t have to wait to vote in person.
County election guides will be mailed out to all active voters by Feb. 5. Some 90 percent of voters mail back those ballots. In person voting starts then at two locations, the County Clerk’s office and the Watsonville City Clerk’s office. On Feb. 24 three more locations open, the Scotts Valley Library, Temple Beth El and the community room at the sheriff’s office. On March 2, 13 more locations open and four more on March 5. There are fewer locations than the 140 in the past, but there are more days to vote.
Thanks for reading.
Brad Kava
Photo Contest
DOG DAY AFTERNOON Chula on a West Cliff car ride. Photo by Zoe Garcia
Good Idea
Cabrillo College has been selected to receive funding under the U.S. Department of Education’s Basic Needs – Supporting Student Success Program. The three-year grant of $633,334 will help support programs that address students’ basic needs and improve graduation and transfer outcomes.
The grant will help the Nourishment and Essential Supports Team (NEST) Resource Center improve students’ social, emotional, academic, and career development by creating a more deliberate and centralized navigation system for students to connect with resources for food, housing, transport, and technology, as well as health and wellness services.
Good Work
At noon Saturday Jan. 20 Santa Cruz’s Romero Institute and its Lakota People’s Law Project will join UCSC’s American Indian Resource Center to host a free screening of Oyate at the Del Mar Theater. Oyate is a powerful documentary which features activist attorney Chase Iron Eyes, who will join filmmaker Brandon Jackson for a Q&A following the screening. The entire event will be live-streamed to viewers around the world. The Santa Cruz community is invited to participate in this free event (donations welcome; tickets available here).
Quote of the Week
“It was a place where some people have two houses and some people have two jobs.” from the Netflix show, Outer Banks.
Since 2020, the Speak For Change podcast has been a local go-to for everything from self-help tips on navigating life to critical analyses of race and culture in modern America. This Thursday, host Thomas Sage Pedersen helms a live concert and discussion with local musician Summer Red, a lifelong musician and the owner and lead producer for Sonivore Studio. Red is also an Event Coordinator on staff at UC Santa Cruz, where he creates conversations about art and community by featuring local voices across different mediums. Thursday’s event at the Tannery Art Center’s Indexical venue will focus on the role of music in modern culture, promising a night of stimulating conversation and song. MAT WEIR
INFO: 7:30pm, Indexical, 1050 River St., Santa Cruz. $5-$20. 475-9600.
FRIDAY
BLUES
COCO MONTOYA
California-based singer-songwriter and guitar slinger Coco Montoya learned from the best when he played drums behind Telecaster master Albert Collins several decades ago. A southpaw guitarist, Montoya has taken Albert’s high-energy “play what you feel” approach to heart, winning the Blues Music Award for Best New Artist with his debut 1995 album. In 2019, Alligator Records released his most recent album, Comin’ In Hot, which showcases his steadily improving songwriting and road-dog grit. DAN EMERSON
Born in Georgia and based in Nashville, singer-songwriter Molly Parden croons sweetly through life with her guitar in hand. Her 2020 EP Rosemary is a vulnerable postmortem of a relationship, featuring devastating lines like, I hardly ever think of you/ Only when I use my legs to walk/ Only when leaves do somersaults. Her 2023 follow-up, Sacramented, brings elements of her Christian upbringing into her present. With heroes like Chet Baker and folk rockers of the past, Parden has an indie sound reminiscent of Feist, Faye Webster and Phoebe Bridgers. ADDIE MAHMASSANI
What would Santa Cruz be like without the Fungus Fair? The annual event, copresented by the Museum of Natural History and the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz, took a three-year hiatus but is back and better than ever for its 50th anniversary. This beloved tradition is a weekend-long celebration of all things fungi: speakers share their thoughts, local foragers display their finds, enthusiastic volunteers lead kids and adults through fungus-themed arts and crafts and vendors sell their spore-born treasures. More than one red amanita hat will be seen floating through the crowd; its white polka dots like a beacon of the weirdness and wonder of the natural world. AM
INFO: Fri 2pm, Sat-Sun 10am, London Nelson Community Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. $10/Fri, $15/Sat-Sun. 420-6115.
SATURDAY
COUNTRY
Jenny Don’t and the Spurs
JENNY DON’T AND THE SPURS
Take two teaspoons of Neko Case’s vocals, measure out a cup of spaghetti western guitar licks, sprinkle in a pinch of rockabilly attitude, and season to taste with cowboy boots. This recipe created the sounds of Jenny Don’t And The Spurs, a western cow-punk band based in Portland, Oregon. Their songs would not be out of place in a Clint Eastwood classic, but perhaps they’d be better suited in a Kill Bill-style western. If the Bride ever rides again, she’ll be driving along to the tune of “Fire on the Ridge,” a honky-tonk number about blazes, lightning and chasing home. JESSICA IRISH
Following a setlist that includes classic bluegrass and old-time standards, as well as original songs by banjoist Don Mackessy and multi-instrumentalist S. T. Young, the Post Folk Revivalists pay tribute to the music that has formed the American landscape. They recognize the folk legacy that lives on, even in contemporary hits, and perform them accordingly, interpreting bluegrass favorites through a new lens. Leland and Caleb Mackessy round out the band on mandolin and bass, fingerpicking and jamming like the folk legends that came before them. They may not be performing at a coffee shop in Greenwich Village, but the sound is close. JI
Pulitzer Prize Proxies, part of the path-breaking New Music Works 2024 season, provides choice virtuosic chamber music by Pulitzer Prize-winning composers, each the first of their race, gender, ethnicity or age to be awarded contemporary music’s top honor. The event features work from the first Native American Pulitzer recipient, Raven Chacon, music by the first Latin American woman recipient, Tania León and the first Asian Pulitzer winner, Zhou Long. Du Yun was the first Asian woman awarded the prize, and George Walker was the first African American to win. This will be an eclectic musical evening of live contemporary music—an evening of firsts! Exactly what you’d expect from NMW. CHRISTINA WATERS
INFO: 7pm, UCSC Music Center Recital Hall, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. $20-35. 459-2292.
WEDNESDAY
AMERICANA
RAINBOW GIRLS
There are many ways to describe the Rainbow Girls; however, their Facebook page says it best: A gang of sweet angels punching you in the heart. Initially formed in Isla Vista in 2010, the Rainbow Girls was a collective group of sorts, performing with a rotating cast of musicians. Their core has remained strong with Vanesa Wilbourn, Erin Chapin, and Caitlin Gowdey at the center, who have performed everywhere, from farmers’ markets and open mics to venues and festivals. Since their 2013 debut album, The Sound of Light, the Rainbow Girls have taken their audience on an audible journey through folk, country and more. Now, their latest album, last year’s Welcome to Whatever, dives deep into an underground indie rock sound. MW
The great Gypsy jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt invented a style that influenced generations of musicians and spawned tribute bands in almost every major city. One of the most authentic is Quebec-based Django a Gogo, led by virtuoso guitarist-composer Stephane Wrembel. Wrembel has recorded over a dozen albums’ worth of impeccable Gypsy jazz in the past 20 years. Django a Gogo also has a blood connection to the Gypsy genius in the person of Simba Baumgartner, another peerless six-stringer who is the great-grandson of Reinhardt. The band also features French violinist Aurore Voilque, who performed with the Sinti (French Gypsies) and classical orchestras before starting her own Aurore Quartet in 2003. DE
INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. $36.75/adv, $42/door, $21/student. 427-2227.
The Santa Cruz City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to pass a version of the Wharf Master Plan that removed proposals for a controversial pedestrian pathway or large warehouse at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.
The decision comes after years of litigation, with council members expressing a desire to move forward on applications for Federal and state funding. To do...
The Santa Cruz City Council meeting erupted in emotion early Wednesday morning as attendees supporting a council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the ongoing Israel-Gaza war lambasted the city council for passing an amended version.
At around 3 a.m.—after 10 hours of a public comment period that began at 5 p.m.—the city council passed a resolution in a 5-2...
Every year, California’s legislators send a flurry of bills to the governor.
In 2023, lawmakers sent off 1,046 bills, of which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 890 into law.
Often, these affect everyday life, impacting such areas as criminal justice, food safety, traffic, education and civic life.
But occasionally, they do none of these. That’s the case with Assembly Bill 261, which establishes...
In 2017 the Soquel high football program was struggling, ranked #950 in the state. This year they ended their season ranked at 70 and last month, they won the state championship.
The shift towards success can be attributed in part to the leadership of former NFL defensive back Dwight Lowery and his coaching staff.
Lowery, a Santa Cruz local and former...
The Santa Cruz Gives 2023 holiday campaign raised more than $1 million for 65 local nonprofits during the last six weeks of the year for the third year in a row.
The funds support nonprofits that serve all types of needs across the county, and while the campaign is closed for donations, it can be viewed throughout the year at...
Just over 10 years ago, reporting by The New York Times and ABC News revealed that the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration had for several years been collecting billions of American phone records. The government was paying AT&T to do the work.
There’s gold to be found in the car culture of the Central Coast. It offers a wealth of stories and histories, told by endearing people, generous with their time—in addition to being a feast for the eyes, with a myriad of lovingly restored treasures on wheels.
When my 5-year-old son gouged his head on a park bench, we sat outside Dominican Hospital’s emergency room for four hours waiting to be treated. I’m not complaining. I understand things take time...
California-based singer-songwriter and guitar slinger Coco Montoya learned from the best when he played drums behind Telecaster master Albert Collins several decades ago. A southpaw guitarist, Montoya has taken Albert’s high-energy “play what you feel” approach to heart
