Eccentric British songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is the master of the unexpected lyric. Take the opening lines of “The Man Who Loves the Rain” from his exceptional 2022 album, Shufflemania. Over gentle psychedelic guitar playing, he sings, “respect the dead,” followed by the sucker punch: “you will be joining them soon.”
When asked how those lyrics came about, Hitchcock, who is on the phone from London, credits them to an unknown force. “My thoughts, my ideas, my words come from my own head, but I don’t know what puts them there,” he says. “They may all be planted by an external agency.”
The prolific songwriter, whose career began in the late 1970s with English psychedelic rock band the Soft Boys and has released solo albums since 1981’s Black Snake Diamond Role, had an uncharacteristic dry spell of creativity the years after his 2017 self-titled release. “I was writing songs, but I wasn’t really ever finishing them,” he says of this period. “I wasn’t very convinced. I spent a long time working on a collection of piano songs, which I still haven’t finished.”
Thankfully, inspiration struck again after a trip to Mexico and a visit to the palace of Quetzalpapalotl. “I don’t know if I was brushed by the wings of Quetzalcoatl, the feathery serpent god, but I definitely felt some sort of charge when I was down there,” he says. “That actually got me finishing songs again, for which I’m very grateful.”
Hitchcock recorded his part of the album at his home in Nashville before sending it to various musician friends for their contributions at the start of the pandemic lockdown in 2020. The resulting 10-song Shufflemania is immediate sounding and a late-career highlight. It includes stellar special guests, including Johnny Marr, Sean Lennon, Pat Sansone (Wilco) and more.
It all begins with the rollicking opener “The Shuffle Man,” where Brendan Benson of The Raconteurs plays bass, drums, guitar and sings harmony vocals, while Hitchcock sings lead and plays guitar. From there, shadowy characters haunt the album, including a detective that pops up in the pleasing psychedelia of “The Inner Life of Scorpio” to the atmospheric “Noirer than Noir” and “The Man Who Loves the Rain,” which tips its fedora to the detective fiction of Raymond Chandler.
Another lurking presence in Shufflemania is death itself. It makes an appearance in “Socrates in Thin Air,” which recalls the solo work of John Lennon and the bluesy shuffle “Midnight Tram to Nowhere.” Hitchcock says the subject is not new to his work. “My songs have always had a fair amount of death in them,” he says. “Death is the last gift you open. Nobody really wants to open it, but everyone has to.”
The driving rocker “The Sir Tommy Shovell” was inspired by a simple wish during the Covid lockdowns. “‘Sir Tommy’ is definitely an imaginary pub,” he says. “I was sitting in Nashville thinking, wouldn’t it be lovely to be back in a British pub right now.”
The closing number on Shufflemania is Hitchcock’s own take on the hopeful rock ballad in the tradition of Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind” and Lennon’s “Imagine.” In it, there’s hope for a future when “bullies will not run the human race” and “the color of your skin won’t be the great divide.” “Some people think it is very optimistic, and other people think it is a despairing song,” Hitchcock says. “In a way, it shows what your own mindset is thinking.”
Longtime listeners may be surprised that Hitchcock has lived in Nashville since 2015. His songs are so distinctly British. “I may well have been rewired in a lot of ways to be American, but, at heart, I’m British,” he says. “I have to return to the underworld. I have to go back where it’s damp and dismal. I have to water my roots.”
Hitchcock will perform songs from Shufflemania and other albums from his storied career with a band by San Francisco songwriter Kelley Stoltz for his Santa Cruz show. Hitchcock is turning 70 in March and plans to keep writing songs, though he says he will most likely perform less frequently. “I don’t know how much more I’m going to be doing any of this,” he adds. “So, I would say if you want to see me with a band, this is a very good opportunity. I don’t think there will necessarily be another one.”
Robyn Hitchcock performs Wednesday, March 22, at 7:30pm. $36.75 plus fees. Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. folkyeah.com
Officials have said it’ll be months before many homes in the area will be habitable again. Meanwhile, an entire community is under putrid water tainted by various chemicals. Even if residents can reach their homes, wading through the rancid standing water is unsafe. Oh, and the stretch of Hwy 1 that was closed off on Sunday, March 12, due to the breach makes it more difficult for Pajaro residents to navigate to safety. The flooding has also impacted the Pajaro Water System, which is likely contaminated. Pajaro residents have been advised to avoid tap water—even if boiled for cooking—until further notice.
If the area wasn’t made up of primarily low-income migrant farmworkers, would action have been taken to repair the levee? According to records and interviews spanning decades, the answer is “yes.”
In addition to constructing an adequate, permanent levee, which should have been done years ago, there’s a very costly mess that needs to be cleaned up and the possibility of a class action lawsuit. The multi-million dollar question: Who should be held accountable?
Those who wish to help are asked to direct gifts specifically to the Pajaro area by noting “Pajaro” in the comment field of the donation pages: cfmco.org/storm relief or cfscc.org/disaster
218 Main St. It is a hidden gem full of local artists for 47 years. They have 20 artists: painting artists, jewelry artists, potters, fiber artists, photographers and a mosaic artist. Sunday-Thursday: 11am-3pm; Friday: 11am-6pm; First Friday 5-8pm; Saturday: 10am-6pm. —Salinas Valley Art Gallery
Old town is our favorite place to be. I always say, “you could really be here all day and walk around trying new things, new cocktails!” I love every one of these new spots! —Calyssa, The Cheese Fairy Charcuterie
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
East Lake Avenue at Holohan Road in Watsonville on Friday, March 10. Photograph by Tarmo Hannula
Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.
GOOD IDEA
Santa Cruz Community Health (SCCH) and Dientes Community Dental are celebrating their hundredth day of care at their new facility on Capitola Road. Since opening the new building, Dientes and SCCH have served 6,000 patients. The duo provides health services to low-income patients, with the care center staffed with dentists, pediatrics, family doctors and more. dientes.org
GOOD WORK
Shopper’s Corner, Santa Cruz’s oldest grocery store, is hitting a milestone: 85 years in the biz. The store, which features a hearty wine selection, a butcher and fresh produce on par with farmers markets, is a longtime local fave and winner of several Best of Santa Cruz County awards. Andre Beauregard is now at the helm, taking over for his recently retired father. Help keep Shopper’s Corner going for another 85 years! shopperscorner.com
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Low-income neighborhoods and communities have always historically been ignored by state and federal governments.”
The long-running controversy over UCSC’s Student Housing West project resurfaces this week, with UCSC taking a partially revised proposal back to the Regents for the third time in four years—they meet on March 15 and 16.
The latest proposal does not change what is planned—17 acres of the iconic East Meadow will still be torn up, which has long been the focus of the controversy—but it changes the financing so construction can begin before pending litigation is concluded.
This is risky business and, therefore, not usually done. The project will still destroy 17 acres of the East Meadow, but the financing plan has changed radically. That radical change is a desperate attempt to get this project out of the box. The proposal, as written, is designed to obscure what they are proposing, but here are the key facts: Trying to launch this revenue-bond-financed project before pending litigation is dealt with is a departure from standard revenue bond practice. The bond buyers will not accept that litigation risk, so UCSC is proposing to load that risk onto all its on-campus students, potentially at a high cost. The students would be made to bear that risk to pull this project out of the mess campus administrators drove it into. If the financing proceeded as proposed, and the project was not completed because of litigation outcome or any other reason, the project itself did not produce rent revenue. All the other students on-campus would increase their rents substantially to repay those bonds. The core mistake that the administration made on what was previously a widely supported project was not corrected. Instead, the original project site was cut in half, which wasn’t necessary. They were trying to avoid a six-month delay, causing at least a six-year delay; they’ve been trying to correct that mistake ever since. That would take this project out of the East Meadow and be the best path forward. They are still not willing to admit that mistake and correct it.
The portion of the project in the East Meadow, they now estimate, has risen by roughly 60%. Still, we estimate approximately a 50% increase to around a billion dollars, and students would ultimately pay for it plus financing costs as rent. This project started as a winner and should have remained a winner. The five-and-a-half-year history of mistakes, misinformation and missing information continues. [Edited for clarity and length].
Paul Schoellhamer, on behalf of the East Meadow Action Committee
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On Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved an ordinance prohibiting companies from forcibly transporting children. Also, under the ordinance, families could sue transport companies that use force against their children for $10,000, plus legal costs.
The issue came to the attention of county officials on Oct. 20, 2022, when two children were forcibly removed from their grandmother’s Santa Cruz home as part of a contentious custody dispute and taken to a “reunification” program in Los Angeles with one of their parents.
Good Times is not naming the children by request of one of the parents.
The kids’ friends recorded the incident and depicted the children screaming as agents from New Jersey-based Assisted Interventions, Inc. dragged and carried them to a waiting car. Posted to social media, the video has garnered thousands of views.
Representatives from Assisted Interventions have not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Under reunification therapy—an intensive, court-ordered program that generally lasts four days—counselors help young people rebuild relationships with an alienated parent. But critics say the for-profit industry often ignores what the children want and can be used as a weapon by abusive parents who claim parental alienation to have a judge rule in their favor.
While the County has no jurisdiction in custody proceedings, Supervisor Ryan Coonerty said he wanted to give the county a way to protect the rights of young people. The Supervisors passed his resolution on Jan. 31 to urge state legislators to craft laws outlawing or regulating reunification programs.
That could happen this year with Assembly Bill 1019, which would regulate youth transportation in child custody cases involving reunification. It would also mandate training and education on youth trauma related to using force, said Assemblywoman Gail Pellerin, who authored the bill.
AB 1019 is expected to be published later this week and begin going through the legislative process soon.
“I’m proud of our County Board of Supervisors for stepping up and taking action,” Pellerin said. “I think we’re all interested in ensuring this never happens again. No child should be subjected to such trauma. Never.
Supervisor Justin Cummings, elected to fill Coonerty’s District 3 seat in November, called the ordinance a “good step forward” in addressing concerns raised from the October incident.
“If the courts are ordering a child to hand a child over to another parent, there needs to be some respect for that process,” he said. “But I think we need to find better ways for that to happen.”
Human Services Department Director Randy Morris told the Supervisors that the new rules do not allow the County to regulate private businesses, such as transport companies, or enforce the ordinance.
Instead, he says that it gives families the right to seek compensation for transport companies that violate the rules and cause possible trauma to the young people involved.
“We see this as a really nice balance in response to the direction, and honoring what happened to the family, and then really continuing our focus with our state legislative delegation to really push for state laws, which I think is the right place to make this a matter of law throughout the state,” Morris said.
It will return for a second reading and final adoption on March 28.
The Santa Cruz Warriors’ brand of basketball can be all kinds of crazy.
The occasion of their 10th anniversary season—which concludes a historic decade with a trio of home games happening this month—presents a timely opportunity to unlock that happy madness.
Here it is, played out in six parts:
Crazy fun.
It’s still early amid a midseason tilt against the Texas Legends when 7-foot-tall Jayce Johnson makes a nimble putback in traffic. That’s when PA announcer Brian Day yells, “Ice creeeeeeeam.”
It’s not your typical sports call. But when the Warriors score 100—and on this night, they explode for 130—everyone in attendance can get a free scoop from Penny Ice Creamery.
The moment presents one small taste of the Wave City Warriors’ festive traditions.
Fans stand until the team’s first bucket. Everybody loves the fundraiser ball toss between closing quarters. On this night, there are races on miniature bikes; a shooting contest a mohawked man wins; recognition for a local teacher of the month; dance-cam celebrations that get the gym grooving; and a chance for kids to take shots after the game.
Make no mistake: The main attraction is basketball, from some of the better players on the planet. A poll of team officials reveals that the biggest surprise for newcomers to the S.C. Warriors experience is the sheer quality of play.
But there’s other intrigue afoot, including price points on tickets, popcorn and craft beer that doesn’t require a second mortgage.
Santa Cruz Mayor Fred Keeley is all about it. He rarely misses a home game and says the Sea Dubs are his favorite team in the world, tracking ahead of the San Francisco 49ers and perhaps his family.
Speaking of family, he believes that element is what makes the so-called “Sea Dubs,” and the wider experience, so special.
“It’s a family-friendly team, and that means ‘family’ any way you want to understand it,” he says. “It means the fans, the team, the vibe. Everyone checks their politics at the door, and we’re all part of something together.”
For this contest against the Texas Legends—who the Sea Dubs play to wrap up the season on March 25—he’s sporting a yellow shirt and blue tie (team colors), a leather jacket, pot leaf-rainbow socks and vintage Jordan sneakers.
From his midcourt seat, he greets the visiting players, coaches, staff and returning referees too: “Hey! Welcome back to Santa Cruz!”
Keeley’s in the moment, talking at length about how the team cultivates both good footwork and good citizen-athletes, which leads him to the past.
He was an early adopter in the push to build a stadium and was deployed by the City Council to lead a fiscal task force. He contends it would’ve been a no-brainer even when rounding down potential revenues by half.
But there was push-back.
“People said, ‘We’re an individual sports town—we surf, we climb, we mountain bike—is this really going to work?’” he recalls. “Not only do the finances work, but the wonderful relationship between team and the Warriors is unlike anything we have in town.”
The way the “Sea Dubs” play, any given possession can approach mystical flow or unravel, making them mad fun and maddening to watch simultaneously. PHOTO: Mark C. Anderson
Crazy chaotic.
On this and many nights, the Sea Dubs orchestrate a game like a symphony conductor on LSD.
One moment an errant Warrior pass flies into the front row of fans. A moment later, densely woven defense creates a turnover that leads to five laser-precision passes and a dunk.
The individual next to me at the press desk, who attends every game he can on behalf of UCSC’s City on a Hill Press, grunts in appreciation.
“They can be a little sloppy,” Nico Santiago says. “But take away the risk, and you take away the joy. They take risks and play with freedom.”
Following the win, head coach Seth Cooper describes how he cultivates that.
“Last year, we ran more [scripted] plays,” he says. “Now I focus more on moving the ball and playing for each other.”
Former Santa Cruz GM and current Golden State Executive Vice President Kirk Lacob calls coaching the G League as hard as any gig he knows. That’s because Cooper has to juggle competitive excellence with developing specific players and keeping everyone on the roster happy. And if his players succeed, they move on.
“There is no more challenging league to coach in,” Lacob says. “The better you do, the more likely you are to lose.”
Cooper handles that with his own form of Zen, not focusing on outcomes like wins or the playoffs (the Sea Dubs are in contention for the last playoff slot as the season concludes).
He’s about processes, not perfection.
“Can we avoid those little lapses and stack good days on top of good days?” he asks. “I want our players to play as hard as they can, play together and play with urgency. Let’s not worry about the score and just be good on every possession.”
Two main things they share with the parent club contribute to their on-court sizzle.
One, they use the same strategies as Golden State, so fans are treated to many quick decisions and zippy ball rotations.
“The goal is to play the right way,” Cooper says. “To play Warriors style of basketball.”
Versatile wingman Elijiah Pemberton adds big-league context: “We play this way because they can’t teach you everything the day they call you up.”
Thing number two comes written on the wall in Kaiser Arena (followed by other ideals like “compassion,” “competition” and “mindfulness”) and drips from franchise culture setter Steph Curry: joy.
“Joy comes first—it’s a pillar of Warriors basketball, something that permeates the organization,” Lacob says. “At the end of the day, it’s really about people. We try to bring in those who live the key characteristics. And Steph is the start and end of all of this. He plays basketball and lives his life with so much joy.”
For Coach Seth Cooper, sharing minutes without knowing who will be on the roster on a given night presents a unique challenge. PHOTO: Mark C. Anderson
Crazy competitive.
There are things to like about Bismarck, North Dakota, between the Missouri River, soaring Art Deco capitol building and retail mall complexes. That said, temperatures can dip below zero, and the beach scene isn’t exactly lit.
On June 27, 2011, then-new Golden State Warriors owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber purchased Bismarck’s Dakota Wizards and moved them to Monterey Bay, within a full-court shot of its Golden State parent club.
Like many Golden moves, it proved prescient. Back then, a sliver of NBA teams owned their farm team. Then-Santa Cruz president Jim Weyermann predicted once other organizations realized its benefits, they’d follow suit, telling me in 2012, “Every team in the NBA is going to want a development team. It only creates additional opportunities.”
A lot has happened to vindicate that and allow Golden State to be not just the best pro basketball team across that time but the best team in all of sports: The Warriors were named “Franchise of the Decade” by the Sports Business Journal in 2019, an award that encompasses all 123 teams in the NBA, National Football League, Major League Baseball and National Hockey League.
What mainstream fans might miss is how big a role Santa Cruz played in all of that. Team President Murphy is fond of pointing out that 10 of the 2022 world-champion Golden State Warriors played in Santa Cruz.
In addition, a strong case can be made that essential contributors to their playoff push, stalwart center Kevon Looney and sharpshooter Jordan Poole, wouldn’t have developed without extended time with the Sea Dubs. Two other key rotation players from the 2022 world champs, Juan Toscano Anderson and Damien Lee, represent more Santa Cruz successes.
“Take JTA, a local product who made the roster as a G leaguer, was a consummate professional in the community, and worked to be a glue guy—bringing defense, being a facilitator, being a great teammate,” Murphy says. “Now he can be an NBA player and change his life and the lives of others.”
Meanwhile, the Santa Cruz Warriors have earned their own awards, including G League Franchise of the Year honors three times.
Murphy was tabbed the NBA G League “Executive of the Year” in 2017-18 by the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce “Person of the Year” in 2022.
From 2016–22, Kaiser Permanente Arena sold out 110 straight games, which would’ve stretched longer without a global pandemic.
As Golden State racked up four world championships, Santa Cruz claimed one of its own in 2015. Kirk Lacob, then GM, celebrated the win by doing snow angels in the confetti on the Santa Cruz floor.
Chief Operating Officer David Kao—who started with the franchise selling tickets in Oakland—layers on more wow: Santa Cruz ranks number one in the G League in revenue, sponsorships, ticket sales and average ticket yield.
“The Warriors brand has gone from a Bay Area brand to a global brand,” Kao says. “That’s a change of landscape.”
Kevin Danna is well-suited to put it all in perspective. As Wave City’s pre-game, play-by-play and post-game announcer, he’s watched and analyzed every game in the team’s history.
“It’s a place where a lot of individuals have gotten their start, whether as a player, a coach or a front-office person,” he says. “It’s a launching pad for a lot of people.”
On the player side, Santa Cruz just promoted its 30th, Lester Quiñones, who happens to go bonkers in the game versus the Legends.
He works inside out, drilling four of six three-pointers and repeatedly finishing with force in the lane, scoring 30. After the game, he talks on the court with popular Santa Cruz Warriors sideline reporter Zena Keita—herself a rising star with potential to graduate to San Francisco and beyond.
“[I’m] just trying to make the right play,” Quiñones says. “Playing hard, making reads and finding the open guy.”
Dubs like Brazilian native Gui Santos leave to play for their country’s World Cup teams, making team chemistry that much trickier to engineer. But the fan chemistry stays constant. PHOTO: Mark C. Anderson
Crazy involved.
This whole endeavor goes bigger than basketball, which rings cliche but becomes more evident with every moment around Santa Cruz’s Warriors.
That involves 29,928 square feet, which makes Kaiser Permanente Arena the largest indoor sports venue in Santa Cruz, and the largest green-certified venue in the Monterey Bay Area. (Meanwhile, the city is in talks with the SCW about a new stadium nearby.)
Willie Nelson sold out the place in 2019. For the 2021-22 season, it hosted over 80 outside events, including UCSC men’s and women’s basketball and volleyball matches. But all that rises to small consequences compared to what else it provides.
When fires and floods ravage Santa Cruz communities, it provides a shelter and a resource recovery center; when Covid raged, it served as a vaccine site. When elections arrive, it becomes the largest polling place in the county.
“The Warriors are involved in a lot of things that people wouldn’t think about,” Murphy says.
Last month’s calendar of Black History Month community activities provides an example.
It included benefit auctions of player uniforms, a coaches’ surf session with Black Surf Santa Cruz, a book discussion with How to Be a (Young) Antiracist authors Ibram X. Kendi and Nic Stone and additional book readings at an area elementary school. It closed with a panel webinar featuring Golden State Warriors player development coach Anthony Vereen, two-time WNBA champion and Olympic gold medalist Jewell Loyd and aforementioned sideline star Keita.
“Our [team] is in the community all the time—in schools, working in different forums,” Murphy says. “They are part of the community and love living here, and their development off the court is important.”
Crazy futuristic.
Several bizarre things happen every single S.C. Warriors game, not including the antics of the sea turtle mascot Mav’Riks.
When a player is fouled in the act of shooting, he only takes one free throw, which is worth two points. If a game goes to overtime, the clock shuts off, and the teams play to seven points. At one point, players were allowed to commit offensive interference, which makes for more action around the rim.
The atypical regulations are designed to make the game more streamlined and entertaining while testing out rules to adopt in the NBA. Past trials have led to improvements in both leagues, including coaches’ challenges and shorter shot clocks. Insiders believe the G League midseason tournament will soon find traction in the big leagues.
Still, more future-focused plays are well-established. One subsidiary endeavor the Dubs invest in is a full-on eSports squad playing different video games professionally with a complement of coaches, trainers and scouts.
“Something we want to be is on the cutting edge of innovation to reach new fans,” Murphy says, “and eSports is a way to do that.”
Crazy existential.
Kirk Lacob cites an exciting conundrum the Wave City Ws encounter more often than teams based in Stockton or Sioux Falls. The launch-pad plan gets complicated.
“People say, ‘I want to stick in Santa Cruz!’” he says. “But it’s not supposed to be the end of your basketball journey. The whole point is to get you to the next level. It’s a testament to the city and the organization and a good problem to have: ‘I know you love it here, but this is not going to be your life.’”
The opposite can be true for players, which presents another existential challenge: Zero among them really want to be in Santa Cruz, even if they’re enjoying their stay.
According to Coach Cooper, navigating that sanely is only possible with the right group of players. He credits his GM, David Fatoki, with curating individuals who are cool with keeping personal dreams sacred while staying team-centric.
“[Fatoki] is really focused on trying to find these guys who will play a selfless style of basketball and not put their ego in it,” Cooper says. “That’s what we’ve found builds a successful team.”
At 25, Pemberton serves as a wise elder of sorts for the Sea Dubs, equally versatile on the floor and in the community.
Before the Legends game—Pemberton hits a huge three while getting knocked into the bench, only to rise smiling and high-fiving—he waxes poetic about his appreciation for his adopted home.
“I just stay ready to perform and try to enjoy a place that’s brought me a sense of peace,” he continues. “There are so many unique personalities here, and everyone’s free. When I think of Santa Cruz, I think of free. There are a lot of genuine people out here.”
With any other team and any other city, that type of thought—coming from an athlete talking basketball—might sound a little strange.
With Santa Cruz and its Warriors, it makes crazy good sense.
The Santa Cruz Warriors’ final regular season games happen on March 17, 18 and 25. More at santacruz.gleague.nba.com and @santacruzwarriors.
In January, Justin Cummings was sworn into office as the third district county supervisor, days after New Year’s Eve storms flooded the county, destroying homes and businesses.
Just over two months into the job, Cummings is committed to fulfilling his promise on the campaign trail: ensuring residents seeking rebuild permits from the CZU Lightening Complex Fires from 2020 are getting them. The commitment is even more daunting now that the county is still confronting damage from recent—and ongoing—storm damage.
The county budget is still in a recession, and the recent disaster damage is estimated to cost the county $76 million. That’s on top of the $67.7 million the county shelled out after the CZU fires, which it is still waiting to be reimbursed for from FEMA.
Good Times sat down with Cummings to discuss his plan for helping CZU fire victims, what it’s been like assuming this position during a natural disaster and how he will prioritize issues with a restricted county budget.
What will you focus on for your first year as a supervisor? Have the storms changed any of the initial goals that you had?
JUSTIN CUMMINGS: I’m committed to focusing on the issues in the mountains related to rebuilding, along with emergency response. A big part of my focus, and the storms definitely made this one of the top priorities, is communication. With the power outages in the mountains, just making sure that we can get people’s information ahead of time is a huge priority of mine.
In regards to rebuilding efforts after the CZU fires, we’ve been able to make some progress with 4Leaf—the outside agency that the county hired to help residents get their building permits— We reassigned a staff person who was in charge of septic permitting: there were a lot of disputes between residents and this staff member, so we had 4Leaf reassign that position to someone else. People are hoping that it might be easier for them to work with the new person, in terms of trying to get in the waivers for the enhanced septic systems.
We also provided direction to the staff to come up with a process for appealing decisions that 4Leaf makes. One of the things that did come up was a dispute, for example, between an individual and a leader, but how does that get resolved? And it wasn’t clear when I started what that process would be.
Permitting for septic or geological, there would be straightforward guidelines for what qualifies for permitting or not. How does the permitting process become subjective?
There are some state laws for new buildings, and then there are many different waivers if you’ve been a victim of a disaster. So, depending on who’s there, they can give different interpretations of if someone qualifies for those waivers or exemptions.
What kind of resources and support are you providing the CZU fire victims who have been without a house and unable to rebuild for the past two years?
Right now, for people without their homes, we are encouraging folks who are having issues to reach out to our office so we can try to help resolve some of these problems. We’ve been dealing a lot with the storms, so we haven’t been hearing those complaints come to our office. And so that’s why I’m just encouraging folks to let us know what challenges they’re running into.
The county recently had budget hearings and is still waiting on reimbursements from FEMA for the CZU fires. How do these substantial budget deficits play into what issues you prioritize in the county and your district?
I think to some degree, if we want to, for example, try to implement new programs that are going to cost money. It really puts us in a pretty bad spot. We need to be cautious because we have to maintain our general services. It’s a challenge, and I don’t think we’re the only ones facing those challenges.
That’s why I think it’s really important that we’re also working with our federally elected officials to make sure that we communicate with them, like, here’s where we’re at, and here are our needs. We need to make sure that FEMA will be able to process these types of reimbursements more quickly. We don’t want to find ourselves in a financially strained situation solely due to the fact we’re trying to help people during difficult times.
You became mayor at the start of the pandemic for the city of Santa Cruz. And now you’re a supervisor kind of in a natural disaster situation. Is this state of emergency that the county has been in since you assumed your role reminiscent of when you entered your position as mayor?
Yes. It’s a little different, but the common thread is communication and trying to get people resources. I think that’s the number one thing, whether you have a storm coming or whether it’s a virus threatening public health. The questions are the same: what are the things that we can put in place to keep people safe?
When my office heard that there was another atmospheric river, we immediately reached out to the county and public information officer and confirmed that with him. He sent me the link from the National Weather Service, and we put it online and sent out the photos. I think just having that connection and trying to get information to people so they can prepare as best as possible and just kind of be on the lookout for different types of ways of relaying information, whether it’s email or social media, or other forms.
You mentioned email and social media to communicate with folks in the mountains. What about those folks who have power outages, etc.? What do your on-the-ground efforts look like?
We should be looking at some low tech ways of communicating with folks. Because most people—and most of the time when I’ve been driving in the Third District—you can get radio signals. So one of the things that I suggested was that we try to find a radio station that we can work with that will be willing to help us get information out over the radio. I encourage folks to have backup radios in the house. So if power goes out and you don’t have access to the internet, at least we can get people’s information on the radio.
We’ve heard these accounts of people in the mountains who have gone without power or heat for weeks. I know your district doesn’t cover most of the San Lorenzo Valley, where many of these people live, but what efforts is your office making to ensure people in the mountains can resolve these issues of power or heat being out?
Because of the storms, we kind of have an opportunity to see where the gaps in the system are. After all these storms we will be in a position where we can start having those discussions around finding out how long people had to go without heat or power.
I know there’s been some issues with propane delivery and propane supply. So we need to talk to those companies as well to ensure that they’re going to be able to provide people with propane on a fairly regular basis, and also that there’s some confidence that they’re going to be able to get these resources when they need them most.
How much time have you had to do normal onboarding processes?
[Laughs] Yeah, none. It just keeps getting pushed off.
County Budget Breakdown
In late February, Santa Cruz County Budget Manager Marcus Pimentel presented what he described as a “doom-and-gloom” financial outlook, saying that a recession will last through 2024/25 years, after which the economy will recover.
In his mid-year report, during which he outlined the county’s $712 million general fund budget, Pimentel said that the triple disaster of the CZU fire, the January floods and the ongoing effects of climate change had taken a toll on county resources.
Pimentel said the county is “struggling, struggling, struggling” to get $67.7 million in unpaid FEMA claims, with just $5 million expected to come this year.
While the county will finish this year with a balanced budget and has a healthy 10% reserve, Pimentel predicts deficits over the next five years, topping out at $19.3 million in 2027/28.
Supervisor Bruce McPherson said that the county might have to look at ways of raising additional revenues soon.
“If we want to provide the services we do to the half of Santa Cruz County that’s in the unincorporated area—and throughout the county—we’re going to have to take some serious and not pleasant actions, I think, this year in our budget sessions,” he says.
The University of California Observatories (UCO), headquartered at UCSC, recently received $5.4 million from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation to support new education and outreach programs at Lick Observatory. The 130-year-old observatory sits atop Mount Hamilton, just east of San Jose.
The grant will establish the Scientific Teaching through Astronomy Research (STARs) programs. STARs will bring astronomers and equipment to K-12 schools around the Bay Area and create partnerships with nearby community colleges and California State University campuses.
“In almost every astronomer’s backstory, there’s this moment when you’re at a real telescope for the first time, and you see something that you’ve seen in a book, like the moons of Jupiter or the spiral arms of some other galaxy, and you realize it’s actually real. It’s not just stuff that lives in books; it’s things you can see and interact with yourself,” says UCO director Bruce Macintosh. “The goal [of STARs] is to bring that to as many people as possible.”
The new programs will collaborate with and build on existing astronomy education and outreach programs at UCSC, including La Noche de las Estrellas, a Spanish language program for families, and Lamat, a program for students at community colleges. The Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE) at UCSC will help train scientists and shape STARs. ISEE and UCO will hire two new employees to lead the programs.
But before new education programs take off, UCO faces the challenges of updating Lick Observatory’s 130-year-old facilities.
“It is not an easy drive up to Lick Observatory, and the dorms and kitchen are in need of restoration,” says Anne Metevier, an astronomer-educator with ISEE and lecturer at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College. “This makes it challenging to bring groups of students up to the mountain for overnight observations or other education and outreach opportunities. STARs will improve the infrastructure for these programs.” The grant will help refurbish dormitories and create classroom spaces on Mount Hamilton.
Lick Observatory, though still powerful, is no longer the primary research site for UCO. Its proximity to San Jose makes light pollution a problem but also presents an opportunity for outreach.
“You could think of it as, ‘oh, my telescope has too much light pollution,’ or you could think of it as, ‘my telescope is a two-hour drive from three million people … many of whom might actually want to use the telescope,’” Macintosh says.
The motivation for the new STARs program is to broaden and diversify the “science pipeline” and to make scientific disciplines look more like the population in California, Macintosh says.
STARs will bring students from Cal State Sonoma, Cal State East Bay, San Jose State University and a few other community colleges to Lick Observatory as part of astronomy and physics classes.
“Many Bay Area students who are interested in learning about and doing astronomy live very close to Lick Observatory but until now have had little to no access to the research and education going on up on Mount Hamilton,” says Metevier. She adds that everyone at UCO is very excited about the new programs and that STARs will benefit Lick Observatory by increasing the kinds of studies done with the telescopes. The Moore Foundation grant covers four years of the new programs.
“I know that STARs will provide exciting, authentic and impactful astronomy opportunities for local college students and faculty, as well as K-12 learners,” Metevier says. “We are grateful to the Moore Foundation for their generosity.”
ARIES (March 21-April 19): I highly recommend the following experiences: 1. ruminating about what you learned in a relationship that ended—and how those lessons might be useful now. 2. ruminating about a beloved place you once regarded as home—and how the lessons you learned while there might be inspiring now. 3. ruminating about a riddle that has long mystified you—and how clarifying insights you receive in the coming weeks could help you finally understand it.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): For “those who escape hell,” wrote Charles Bukowksi, “nothing much bothers them after that.” Believe it or not, Taurus, I think that in the coming weeks, you can permanently escape your own personal version of hell—and never, ever have to return. I offer you my congratulations in advance. One strategy that will be useful in your escape is this idea from Bukowski: “Stop insisting on clearing your head—clear your f*cking heart instead.”
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Gemini paleontologist Louis Agassiz (1807–1883) was a foundational contributor to the scientific tradition. Among his specialties was his hands-on research into the mysteries of fossilized fish. Though he was meticulously logical, he once called on his nightly dreams to solve a problem he faced. Here’s the story: A potentially crucial specimen was largely concealed inside a stone. He wanted to chisel away the stone to get at the fossil, but was hesitant to proceed for fear of damaging the treasure inside. On three successive nights, his dreams revealed to him how he should approach the work. This information proved perfectly useful. Agassiz hammered away at the slab exactly as his dreams suggested and freed the fossilized fish. I bring this marvel to your attention, Gemini, because I suspect that you, too, need to carve or cut away an obstruction that is hiding something valuable. Can you get help from your dreams? Yes, or else in deep reverie or meditation.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Will you flicker and sputter in the coming weeks, Cancerian? Or will you spout and surge? That is, will you be enfeebled by barren doubts, or will you embolden yourself with hearty oaths? Will you take nervous sips or audacious guzzles? Will you hide and equivocate, or else reveal and pounce? Dabble gingerly or pursue the joy of mastery? I’m here to tell you that which fork you take will depend on your intention and your willpower, not on the caprices of fate. So which will it be: Will you mope and fritter or untangle and illuminate?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): I applaud psychologists who tell us how important it is to feel safe. One of the most crucial human rights is the confidence that we won’t be physically or emotionally abused. But there’s another meaning of safety that applies to those of us who yearn to express ourselves creatively. Singer-songwriter David Bowie articulated the truth: “If you feel safe in the area you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re in the right place to do something exciting.” I think this is a wise strategy for most of us, even those who don’t identify as artists. Almost everyone benefits from being imaginative and inventive and even a bit daring in their own particular sphere. And this will be especially applicable to you in the coming weeks, Leo.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): You are in the sweet, deep phase of the Receiving Season. And so you have a right and a duty to show the world you are ready and available to be blessed with what you need and want. I urge you to do everything necessary to become a welcoming beacon that attracts a wealth of invigorating and healing influences. For inspiration, read this quote by author John Steinbeck: “It is so easy to give, so exquisitely rewarding. Receiving, on the other hand, if it be well done, requires a fine balance of self-knowledge and kindness. It requires humility and tact and great understanding of relationships . . . It requires a self-esteem to receive—a pleasant acquaintance and liking for oneself.”
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Libran poet E. E. Cummings wrote that daffodils “know the goal of living is to grow.” Is his sweet sentiment true? I would argue it’s only partially accurate. I believe that if we want to shape our destinies with courage and creativity, we need to periodically go through phases of decay and decline. They make periods of growth possible. So I would say, “The goal of life is to grow and wither and grow and wither and grow.” Is it more fun to grow than to wither? Maybe. But sometimes, withering is educational and necessary. Anyway, Libra, I suspect you are finishing a time of withering and will soon embark on a series of germinations and blossoms.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): All of us have elements of genius. Every person on the planet possesses at least one special talent or knack that is a gift to others. It could be subtle or unostentatious, like a skill for communicating with animals or for seeing what’s best in people. Or maybe it’s more spectacular, like composing beautiful music or raising children to be strong and compassionate. I mention this, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time to identify your unique genius in great detail—and then nurture it and celebrate it in every way you can imagine.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): The emblem associated with Sagittarius is an archer holding a bow with the arrow pointed upwards. This figure represents your tribe’s natural ambition to always aim higher. I bring this to your attention because your symbolic quiver is now full of arrows. But what about your bow? Is it in tip-top condition? I suggest you do some maintenance. Is the bow string in perfect shape? Are there any tiny frays? Has it been waxed recently? And what about the grip? Are there any small cracks or wobbles? Is it as steady and stable as it needs to be? I have one further suggestion as you prepare for the target-shooting season. Choose one or at most two targets to aim at rather than four or five.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): It’s prime time to feel liberated from the urge to prove yourself to anyone. It’s a phase when your self-approval should be the only kind of approval you need, a period when you have the right to remove yourself from any situation that is weighed down with gloomy confusion or apathetic passivity. This is exciting news! You have an unprecedented opportunity to recharge your psychic batteries and replenish your physical vitality.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): I suspect you can now accomplish healthy corrections without getting tangled up in messy karma. Here are my recommendations: 1. As you strive to improve situations that are awry or askew, act primarily out of love rather than guilt or pity. 2. Fight tenderly in behalf of beautiful justice, but don’t fight harshly for ugly justice. 3. Ask yourself how you might serve as a kind of divine intervention in the lives of those you care about—and then carry out those divine interventions.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In describing her process, Piscean sculptor Anne Truitt wrote, “The most demanding part of living a lifetime as an artist is the strict discipline of forcing oneself to work steadfastly along the nerve of one’s own most intimate sensitivity.” I propose that many Pisceans, both artists and non-artists, can thrive from living like that. The coming weeks will be an excellent time to give yourself to such an approach with eagerness and devotion. I urge you to think hard and feel deeply as you ruminate on the question of how to work steadfastly along the nerve of your own most intimate sensitivity.
Homework: What element is most lacking in your life right now? Your assignment: Get more of it. Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com
Chef Jessica Yarr is about her roller skating. She’s about her heritage, which figures into her habit-forming street knishes and loaded pierogies for the popular pop-up project Chicken Foot. She’s about fun and flavorful fare like the deviled egg flight she features at The Brunch Shift every Sunday.
And, as much as anything, she’s about Felton, where she debuted The Grove Cafe and Bakery last week. She was born there, raised there and her parents still own and operate the town’s iconic Bigfoot Discovery Museum there.
The cafe-bakery will spotlight her gift for organic and predominantly plant-based pastries and bread. Think including porridge bread, brioche tarts and gourmet toasts like a creamy polenta with roasted root vegetables, herbed feta and poached egg, topped with chimichurri and arugula.
That will come complemented by additionally inspired foodstuffs that hint at her uncanny creativity. The mango curry chicken salad and smoked beet Reuben are among many items that leap off the menu. There are also housemade yogurts, smoked trout bagels, chicory Caesars, quinoa bowls, seasonal fruit pops, ice cream sandwiches, drinks by Coffee Conspiracy, squeezed-to-order juices, tea spritzers and, once the permit arrives, craft beer and local wine.
The soul of it all, though, will be a sense of place. “I’m taking inspiration from the redwoods and people of Felton,” Yarr told me when she hatched her plan last fall, “focusing a lot on my bakery and pastry passion and just trying to make it as warm and welcoming as possible.”
The Grove Cafe and Bakery, 6249 Hwy 9, Felton, 7:30am-6pm daily, 831-704-7483, thegrovefelton.com
Maná and Alejandro Fernández —whose combined album sales are more than 50 million—will donate a portion of ticket proceeds from their upcoming Bay Area shows to the Santa Cruz nonprofit Community Bridges, a Santa Cruz Gives participant.
“At the heart of Maná is the belief that our music can be a vehicle for social good,” the group’s lead singer Fher Olvera said in a press release. “When we heard about the devastating storms and saw our people in Pajaro suffering, we knew we had to help. We encourage our fans to help in any way they can.”
By “our people,” Olvera refers to the thousands of Latino farmworkers living in the Pajaro Valley.
According to the press release, Maná and Fernández will also dedicate their Bay Area shows to “Latinos impacted by the California storms.”
“My heart breaks thinking of the people of Pajaro who are displaced by these storms,” Fernández added. “I’m honored that my music and concerts can be a catalyst to bring comfort and aid to this hardworking Latino community, and I hope others will join us in helping too.”
Maná performs Friday, March 17, at 8:30pm at the SAP Center in San Jose and Saturday, March 18, at 8pm at the Oakland Arena; Alejandro Fernández performs Saturday, Sept. 9, at the SAP Center. ticketmaster.com
