When GT won its second consecutive First Place award in the California Journalism Awards’ General Excellence category last year, it couldn’t have come at a more important time. After putting our hearts and souls into covering this community through the pandemic and wildfires, the staff was exhausted. To be recognized as the best weekly newspaper in the state again at that moment was not only a validation of the work we do every week, but also a huge morale boost at a crucial time. We’d set high standards for ourselves before the pandemic, and then maintained them through a year of chaos. The only question was whether we could, especially with some new editors and reporters coming on, sustain the quality and depth of news and arts coverage that had made us repeat winners.
And the answer, it turns out, was yes, because last week the California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded GT the First Place award in General Excellence for the third year in a row. You can see a rundown of the 11 awards we won on page 14, but to me perhaps the most meaningful comment the judges made was about GT’s “distinctive community voice.” That’s what we strive to bring you every week, and I think it might be what most sets us apart in the local media landscape. So congrats to the entire GT staff and extended family on this great win!
Speaking of celebrating, it’s the return of Santa Cruz Pride this weekend, and Mat Weir has an excellent cover story on it that also looks at the new wave of queer art in Santa Cruz. Read it immediately.
Lastly, it’s been a long run-up for all of us, but Election Day is finally here, so don’t forget to look over all our coverage and vote on June 7!
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
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GOOD IDEA
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
Level Up Video Games, Santa Cruz’s local independent video game store, reached a milestone this month: 15 years in business, the last 10 in Santa Cruz. Owned by Bay Area native Jerry Abreu, the store carries both retro and new games. To celebrate its anniversary, Level Up is hosting a free art show on June 10th from 4-7pm and a charity raffle (featuring a Nintendo Switch prize package) that will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. Visit the store at 113 Locust Street in Santa Cruz, or go to levelupvideogames.com.
GOOD WORK
SOUND OF JUNE
Soquel High graduate June Cavlan won another jazz award last week, just in time for her headlining debut in the Bay Area this summer. Cavlan’s first experiences singing jazz was as a member of the Jazz Singers at Soquel High. She has won numerous awards from Downbeat magazine, and now has taken home the Downbeat “Best Undergraduate Jazz Vocal Soloist” award, a first in her career. For more information, follow @junecavlanmusic on Instagram.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The support of straight allies has been key, since they’ll be making the gay babies of the future.”
Eli Torres and Suki Berry were downright thirsty for a sickening—that’s drag slang for “amazing”—queer arts scene in Santa Cruz last year.
“We didn’t have that and didn’t think to travel over the hill to find a drag community to latch onto,” says Torres. “So we started one ourselves.”
The two friends founded the drag house Haus of Libations, and Berry quickly took on the role of house mom.
“But I like to joke that she’s more the Peter Pan to our Lost Boys,” Torres jokes. “And I’m Captain Hook.”
Drag houses stem from ballroom drag culture of late-20th-century New York. Queer, Black and Latino members of the scene would band together into households and teach each other how to make outfits and do their makeup, while providing shelter in an accepting, chosen-family setting that was sometimes a stark contrast from their biological families. As the houses grew, they began throwing underground pageants to compete with each other for different prizes in categories like “realness” and “runway.”
The Haus of Libations follows this tradition, as many of the members live under the same roof, and everyone does drag.
“We all live double lives, and we’re all so stupid together,” says Torres, a Santa Cruz local who studied art and art education at Humboldt State, where he originally met Berry.
After graduation, both Berry and Torres found themselves back in Santa Cruz, randomly rekindling their friendship in the most artistic way at the now-defunct Palace Art store on Pacific Avenue.
“We were both like, ‘Please, I need friends so bad,’” Berry remembers. “We were equally crazy, equally gay and coming from a similar background. We both needed an outlet badly.”
That outlet came with wigs, heels and one hell of a fabulous wardrobe.
The pair trace the origin of Haus of Libations back to San Francisco Pride 2018, when they ran around the city together in drag. But it wasn’t until Berry threw a house party in November 2018 that Torres began performing live.
“She told me, ‘By the way, I’m having a drag show and you’re in it,’” he remembers. “And I told her, ‘No, I don’t perform, I just do it for myself.’”
Berry’s response? “Too bad, I already made a flier, and you’re practically headlining it.”
After that, the two began performing renegade shows at other various parties, arriving in costume as their alter egos—”Cherry Cola” for Torres and “Franzia Rosé” for Berry—and taking over.
“We would show up and say, ‘Hand me the auxiliary chord,’” remembers Berry, who performs female drag as a woman, something often judged harshly in the drag community. But she doesn’t let that hold her back.
“A lot of people see it and say, ‘I didn’t know that was allowed,’” she says. “It’s always been allowed. There are so many different iterations of the queer experience I think it’s reductive to reduce drag to just one side of the queer spectrum.”
What Torres and Berry didn’t know at the time was that they were at the forefront of a new queer-art revolution in Santa Cruz, one powered by a river of gender fluidity, humor and a backlash against societal norms. As Santa Cruz celebrates its 47th Pride festival this weekend, this burgeoning movement is injecting new energy into the local queer scene.
OFF THE DEEP END
Torres and Berry will take a victory lap at Santa Cruz Pride this weekend—the aquatic kind. They’re hosting Hotel Paradox’s annual Pride Pool Party on Sunday, June 5 as Cherry Cola and Franzia Rosé.
“We’re going to be off-duty lifeguards who don’t know how to swim,” says Torres.
Everyone is likely to be in a celebratory mood this weekend, as it’s the first full Pride weekend since the pandemic. Just don’t call it a comeback.
“Pride has never gone away,” says Santa Cruz Pride Chair Rob Darrow.
He points out that in 2020, amidst the confusion and chaos of Covid, Santa Cruz Pride held a “virtual parade” complete with interviews featuring local politicians like then-mayor Justin Cummings and Congressman Jimmy Panetta, along with a Queer History online exhibit presented by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and virtual performances by local artists and dancers. Last year, Pride once again pivoted with the changing times and manifested itself as an outdoor picnic at DeLaveaga Park.
Patrick Stephenson, part of the BEARPAD art collective, curates the visuals for the Cherry Pit.
A native Santa Cruzan, Darrow is an educator and historian by trade, and spent much of his career teaching LGBTQ+ history. It wasn’t until he was 50 years old that he also came out.
“I tell some people I lived the first 50 years of my life as a heterosexual, and I’m living the second 50 as a homosexual,” he says with a smile.
He’s now an LGBTQ+ education consultant for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and works with school districts on how to teach queer history.
“Santa Cruz is what Santa Cruz is because of the LGBTQ community,” Darrow states. “And people from Santa Cruz have contributed to the LGBTQ movement. It’s gone both ways.”
Case in point, this year’s 29th annual Dyke Trans March, which meets at the Santa Cruz Town Clock on Saturday, June 4th at 4:20pm.
“At the first LGBTQ Rights March on Washington [April 25, 1993] there was a group of women on motorcycles that rode it,” Darrow explains. “There were several women from Santa Cruz there, and they brought that concept back with them.”
Along with the Dyke Trans March, several other celebrations will return, like the Queer Men’s Dance at the Diversity Center (also on June 4) and the Pride Parade and Festival, both of which will take place on June 5.
But 2022 also brings new sights, sounds and celebrations for Pride, like the screening of the documentary Genderation on Friday, June 3rd.
“The other thing that’s new is we have a Youth Pride at the Boys & Girls Club on the afternoon of June 5,” says Darrow. “It will be for kids 12-20 to have their own space to play games and participate in activities.”
PIT START
All of this weekend’s festivities will have a little bit extra sass thanks to the local queer-art boom, which has taken off in the past year with drag shows, burlesque, and body-positive art.
Somewhere near the center of it all, appropriately enough, is the Cherry Pit, which is hosted by Torres and Berry.
Billed as a monthly drag and dance party variety show at the Blue Lagoon, the Cherry Pit has become a major hit. Outrageous, flawless and rooted in scandalous humor, its debut show in July of 2021 had patrons lined up out the door, spilling onto Pacific Avenue. Since then, every month has sold out, with a rotating list of drag performers, visuals by queer collective BEARPAD and music by DJ Ayumi Please.
“I could not believe the way we packed that house,” Ayumi recalls of the first Cherry Pit. “It was awesome!”
Born and raised in Salinas, Ayumi has deejayed for the last 11 years. Although he currently lives over the hill and can be found weekly dropping beats at San Jose gay bar Renegades, he’s also an honorary resident DJ of the Santa Cruz scene.
It was Ayumi, along with Patrick Stephenson and Jordan Fickel of BEARPAD, who first came up with doing a drag show at the Blue Lagoon, where Fickel had worked for several years. The idea was born when they all lived together during 2020 and threw streaming dance parties online. When events started up again in 2021, they knew they had to do something big and in-person.
“I was going stir crazy being at home, so from the moment I was able to start working again, I wanted to,” Ayumi remembers. “Because of the pandemic, drag had died a little bit. Everyone was off and there was no place to do it except virtually.”
Ayumi had already known Torres for about a year, and knew his Cherry Cola alter-ego was the perfect hostess with the mostess.
Performers from last month’s Tasty Teaze event, including event creator Selina De Vestige (back row, second from left).
“I loved their perspective on drag, and how campy, goofy and fun it was,” explains Ayumi, saying Torres was also just as stir crazy to start performing again.
The Cherry Pit isn’t the only regular show Ayumi works, but he says it’s definitely the most successful one he’s curated. He believes the reason is two-fold. First, because of its unique flavor. Each month there’s a different theme, ranging from “Fresh Meat” (new performers) to “Drag Kings” (when everyone performed as male drag artists, with Franzia Rosé and Cherry Cola as an absolutely stunning Jareth–aka David Bowie in Labyrinth–and Freddie Mercury, respectively), and every performer also brings a stunning floorshow with one-of-a-kind handmade costumes. Each Cherry Pit also ends in a dance party, with Ayumi spinning a unique blend of punk, emo, k-pop and female rappers.
“I love all music, but also want to play things that don’t get played very often,” he says.
Another reason, he says, is the audience themselves.
“We have an audience who is dedicated to keeping the space open because it’s for everybody,” he says. “Our audience trusts that no matter what, we’re going to have fun, it’s going to be silly and we’re all going to enjoy ourselves.”
Visuals for the Cherry Pit are projected behind—and often onto—the performers, curated by Stephenson. While BEARPAD is an art collective, Stephenson and Fickel are the heart and soul. Since 2020 they have created queer, sexually explicit, pro-bigger-bodied male art in mulitple visual platforms like videos, t-shirts, stickers and four-by-eight-foot wood cutouts.
“Gay bars have a history of wooden cutouts of men who are these traditionally sexualized ideals, and often white, like the art of Tom of Finland,” Fickel explains, adding while they don’t use skin colors, many BEARPAD designs are black or non-white coded, identified by hair patterns or physical features.
“So we’re referencing that, but subverting it by making our characters cozy, cuddly and affectionate.”
“We want queer bodies in public spaces,” says Stephenson. “So I find the stuff we make is too big to hide.”
Since the lockdown lift, BEARPAD has worked nonstop to maintain that goal, with their art featured in everywhere from Something Queer—a dedicated Queer party created by Burning Man faithfuls—to Daddyland, a Southern California pop-up “adult amusement park” art installation.
“It’s like Disneyland, but hornier,” Stephenson chuckles.
MAJESTY AND MORE
Of course, the Cherry Pit isn’t the only show in town offering drag, dance and burlesque—it’s not even the only one hosted by Cherry Cola. The quick-witted queen also hosts a number of other shows, including co-hosting this month’s Pride Majesty dance party and variety show at Motion Pacific Dance with Franzia Rosé, also on June 3.
Unlike many of the other queer shows, Majesty predates the pandemic. A bi-monthly event, its roots lie in 2017, when Motion Pacific put on its first Cabagay, a Queer cabaret and variety show. The next summer they held another, themed “A Midsummer Queer’s Dream.”
“It was so much fun we wanted to do it all the time,” says Motion Pacific artistic director and teacher Melissa Wiley (whose burlesque name is Vyxen Monroe). “So we decided to do a mini-version every other month, and that’s how Majesty was born.”
Like the Cherry Pit, Majesty combines drag and an aftershow dance party, intertwined with burlesque, Wiley’s expertise. Their first show back since the pandemic was last October, held in the Motion Pacific parking lot. Wiley tells GT it was “heartwarming” to see such a robust audience brace the chilly weather, excited for the show’s return.
“It definitely feels like we’re seeing a lot of new energy right now,” she says of the local queer art scene. “I haven’t really felt that since the days of [Club] Dakota.”
On the Eastside of Santa Cruz, there’s a brand new event called the Tasty Teaze cooking up sensual, daytime treats at Greater Purpose Brewery Company with DJ Ayumi behind the decks and Cherry Cola on the mic.
Billed as a brunch burlesque show, it can be found once a month on Sundays at the Greater Purpose Brewing Company (GPBC) on East Cliff Drive. Tasty Teaze combines sweet and savory pleasures mixing drag and burlesque with food from Sweet Bean Bakery, Laurel Bakes and a chosen food truck. It’s the brainchild of Selina De Vestige, who not only produces the show, but performs it as well.
“I realized there weren’t any daytime shows in town and I wanted to bring that flavor to town,” she says. “As far as exposure goes, it’s great for queer culture.”
De Vestige lives and breathes art, embodying flair with diva outfits and glamorous makeup for everyday outings around town. She started doing burlesque in 2018, and says it has given her a sense of body empowerment and confidence not shared in other art forms.
“Everyone’s body is different,” says De Vestige. “And [burlesque] gives a sense of worth to everyone.”
As if three gigs weren’t enough, Cherry Cola also hosts the weekly Drag Bingo, every Thursday night also at Greater Purpose. Not your grandma’s bingo game, Drag Bingo comes with flamboyant style, double scoops of shade and innuendo and topped with a ton of audience participation. Because Santa Cruz lacks a dedicated gay bar or queer cafe, Greater Purpose Brewery has become the defacto place for the community. They often hold Pride Pint Nights, designated nights when part of the money made from beer sales is donated to The Neighbors Pub, an in-the-works dedicated queer cafe/pub.
Still, Santa Cruz’s Queer community is hungry for a space of their own.
“It always feels like you’re a guest in somebody else’s house when you’re anywhere else,” says BEARPAD’s Patrick Stephenson. “It would be great to have a space that felt like ours.”
Yet even with a dedicated queer space, another challenge faces this new wave of Santa Cruz queer artists: availability. Right now, despite all the activity, there is only a small group of individuals at the core of the growing movement, and everyone involved knows that with continued growth comes better representation.
“I hear people say their intersections are not fully represented,” says Ayumi. “So I think it’s very important for others to find a way and make a path.”
“Our hands are full!” Berry admits. “We need the community to step up and go do something fun and weird. We’ll come, we promise.”
Five candidates are currently vying to lead the 30th Assembly District. Redrawn after the 2020 decennial census to include parts of Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, the district now spans rural, agricultural and urban areas, including more than a dozen cities.
Whoever wins the June 7 election will therefore have to grapple with issues such as water shortages and land use, as well as the worsening homelessness and housing crises. GT spoke to four of the candidates (Vicki Nohrden did not respond to requests for an interview) about the 30th Assembly race.
Jon Wizard has lived and worked in every part of the 30th Assembly district, which he says has prepared him to step handily into the role of Assemblymember.
This, he says, is coupled with his roles as firefighter, 911 dispatcher, police officer and deputy sheriff, and experience with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.
“I have a personal experience and a relationship with the nonprofit and governmental sectors, and I am going to be able to leverage not only those experiences but those relationships to providing tangible results in Santa Cruz County,” he says.
Wizard’s job as a police officer was cut short when he was injured on the job. Still wanting to serve his community, however, he joined the Monterey County Planning Commission, and then the Seaside City Council.
“My experience in public policy is baked into a regionalist perspective, and I understand the relationships between the small cities and rural suburban counties of the Central Coast,” he says. “I decided that when the opportunity came up to run for Assembly and to work in a district with 15 cities, the opportunity to serve our greater community and leverage the political might and resources of our counties to lift up our counties was very attractive.”
If elected, Wizard says he hopes to tackle the ever-worsening homeless and affordable housing crises, a mission he says was precipitated when, as a police officer, he met a family living in their car with their young daughter. Both parents had good jobs, he says, but still couldn’t afford the deposit on a place to live.
“When I think about that, I think about the youth homelessness crisis in our community, where we’re approaching 10,000 kids in our district,” he says.
Wizard also hopes to address water and the ongoing drought, which he says is tied inextricably to the housing crisis.
In addition, the state should do what it can to support small businesses, he says, pointing to companies such as Joby Aviation in Marina as examples of companies that are thriving despite the lagging economy, and to the economic development at the Paso Robles Airport.
“There is a lot of opportunity that is available to the Central Coast,” he says. “There is a lot of potential here to develop industries that are not limited to the tourism and agriculture sectors.
This, in turn, requires addressing water issues and workforce housing, he says.
“If we are going to seize these opportunities, we have to have the infrastructure, and all of the stuff that goes into an environment where people can grow and thrive,” he says.
Wizard has received $207,297 in 228 contributions, including $4,900 from the California African American PAC, $9,700 from the California State Council of Service Employees and the Democratic Women’s clubs of both Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Zoë Carter says hers is the only moderate voice in the race, which she says fills a statewide need for a political shift at the State Capital.
“We need someone who will bring new ideas and be a reasonable voice for our community,” she says.
She says she did not support Assembly Bill 1400—also called the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act—a proposed law that would have guaranteed medical care for all Californians, but would likely have required raising taxes to foot the $400 million tab. The bill died Feb. 1 on the Assembly floor.
“I don’t believe in putting those types of large tax increases on our citizens at this point, especially coming out of the pandemic,” she says.
Carter says she supports small businesses, and all forms of water supply and all energy production, including solar, wind and nuclear.
“Being more of a moderate, I find myself getting frustrated with regulations on top of regulations on top of taxes and taxes and taxes that don’t always benefit our communities,” she says.
Such political philosophy is not as out of place in liberal-leaning Santa Cruz County as it may seem, she says.
“I’m not here to be another progressive in Sacramento,” she says. “I think that’s what people want, and that’s what people in this district want, too.”
Carter served on Michelle Obama’s policy team at the White House in 2011. She moved to the Monterey area eight years ago to work with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his wife on their nonprofit the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.
She holds a master’s degree in international relations from London’s Hult International Business School.
Carter serves as director of operations at the Monterey County Business Council. She formerly chaired the City of Monterey Architectural Review Committee, and is a member of the City of Monterey’s Architectural Review Committee.
Carter lists among her legislative priorities affordable and accessible education, clean water and mental health. She also hopes to tackle infrastructure such as housing, high-speed internet for rural areas and fixing the state’s crumbling road system.
She would also support small businesses coming out of the pandemic so they can be successful and help the state rebuild the economy, she says.
Carter has raised $53,166 in 73 contributions, including $9,700 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee (CREPAC), $2,500 from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and $2,000 from Brindeiro & Danbom Dairy Farms.
John Drake
At 21, John Drake is the youngest candidate, and if elected would be the youngest Assemblymember in the state. Assemblymember Alex Lee of Los Angeles became the youngest in 2020 when elected at age 25.
But Drake says his youth is not a barrier to his ability to hold the position.
“A lot of people like the fact there is a young person running,” he says.
Too many people, he says, assume young people don’t understand how public policy works, or don’t understand the importance of holding public office.
Drake is currently studying public policy and public administration at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He says this, coupled with the fact that he is working to pay his tuition and living costs, gives him a boots-on-the-ground understanding of what working-class people need.
“I think the best way to solve these issues is to have someone who is in the throes of these issues, that solves these issues,” he says. “I would never expect someone who is making $100,000 a year to understand the plight of someone making less than $20,000 a year and experiencing rising costs of living.”
Drake says he is the only candidate who will not accept corporate money for his campaign. Those that do, he says, become beholden to their benefactors.
The California Secretary of State did not have a list of Drake’s donations.
“Frankly, I don’t trust the people who are currently running to represent my generation and the people in Assembly District 30 in general,” he says. “I am representing everyone who is tired of corporate influence in Sacramento.”
Drake serves as Housing Policy Director for Homeless-r-Us in Lancaster, which he says inspires his desire to take on the homelessness crisis, helping both the people and addressing the underlying issues.
“There isn’t enough being done in the Central Coast to mitigate or eliminate homelessness,” he says.
He says he would also address affordable education, healthcare and the environment.
“You have unaffordable education, you have unaffordable housing, you have unaffordable healthcare, and the biggest thing many young people are stuck with as they are moving into this economy is debt,” he says. “That’s what hinders [them] from being able to climb the economic ladder.”
Drake says above all that he will be a “bold voice,” ready to work for consensus, but willing also to push for change, which may occasionally make people uncomfortable.
“I’m all for compromise and working with people, but at the same time I am going to drag someone through the mud if they are going to absolutely abandon their promises to their constituents in order to gain political points or please their donors,” he says, referring in part to AB 1400. “You do not campaign for 30 years for universal healthcare, and then shelve it. The people who author the bills should not fold so easily.”
Clockwise from left: Assembly candidates Jon Wizard, Zoë Carter and Jon Drake.
Dawn Addis
Dawn Addis calles herself a “proud Democrat,” the only one endorsed by the Democratic Party in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.
She currently holds a seat on the Morro Bay City Council. She also served on the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee there.
She says she would be a “champion in the State Legislature” for the people of Santa Cruz and the Central Coast.
“The Central Coast deserves a leader who works as hard as we do,” she says. “As the cost of living rises and we face some of the most difficult issues of our time, I want to solve problems and make our home an even better place to live.”
Addis also ran in 2020 for a seat in the former Assembly District 35, losing to Republican incumbent Jordan Cunningham, 45% to 55%.
She worked as a special education teacher and program developer for San Luis Coastal Unified School District, and is a mother to two sons. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art education and Spanish, and a master’s in special education.
She is also a founder of the San Luis Obispo Women’s March.
That experience, she says, will inform her work on the Assembly.
“I have a strong record of success, and my campaign has demonstrated a level of integrity that sets me apart from other candidates pursuing this seat.”
If elected, Addis says she will address issues such as ocean acidification and increasing green energy production. She would also look into increasing mental health care care and lowering prescription drug costs.
In addition, she would tackle affordable housing, and address rising rents and homelessness.
Her priorities also include increasing access to career technical programs, and lowering the costs of college tuition. Water and other infrastructure projects are also on her list, as are improving the state’s roads and boosting economic development and job creation.
The clear front-runner in fundraising, Addis has received $499,308 from 666 contributions, including $4,900 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, $3,000 from the United Nurses Association of California, $9,800 from the California Corrections and Peace Officers Association and $2,500 from the California Federation of Teachers.
Vicki Nohrden
The only Republican on the ballot, Vicki Nohrden is also the only candidate who did not respond to requests for an interview.
On her website, she writes that political leaning should come secondary to the job, and wonders why the focus so often is on what “side” one stands on. Instead, she believes the Assembly member should focus on helping the people who live here.
“We are all neighbors,” she states. “We want the same things—thriving businesses, job opportunities, safe neighborhoods and more educational opportunities for our kids.”
Nohrden has served on the Monterey County Inmate Welfare Fund Advisory Committee, with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz County and as a youth director at the Presbyterian Church in Carmel. She also was a family liaison in the juvenile justice system. She began her business career as a realtor.
Nohrden ran unsuccessfully for the 29th Assembly District in 2018.
On her website, she writes that she is “running against a dysfunctional legislature in Sacramento, against agenda-driven policies being passed by a two-thirds majority instead of delivering solutions to the issues facing us, like our children’s education, mental health, 10,000 more homeless people on the streets in one decade, and a tax exodus of businesses and jobs.”
She lists supporting families and education among her priorities, along with the economy and businesses. Like her running mates, she also hopes to address the homelessness and housing crises.
But she also says she wants to support the religious community.
“For far too long, our religious community has been under attack by government restrictions, shut downs [sic] and being pushed aside,” she writes. “Now it’s time that we stand up together to make our voice heard.”
Nohrden has raised $230,177 from 628 contributions. This includes $500 from the California Narcotics Officers Association, $1,000 from Republican Central Committee of San Luis Obispo County and $1,000 from Salinas Valley Ford Sales, Inc.
oters in Santa Cruz are set to decide on a handful of measures at both the county and city levels—one of which will radically reshape the way city leaders are chosen.
Other measures include various ways for jurisdictions to raise much-needed revenue, including increases to the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax and ways to split the fee for disposable cups. A half-cent sales tax for the city is also on the menu.
And then there is Measure D, which could affect the county’s plans for its rail line, and which has indelibly divided the county along ideological lines. Will the county continue to pursue a rail-trail model, with passenger rail a future possibility? Or will this measure rewrite the general plan to focus solely on a trail-only model?
If approved, this measure would increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hotels and vacation rentals would charge their guests from 12% to 14%.
County officials say the increase would raise an estimated $2.3 million annually, and help fill a $301 million budget gap for unfunded projects, as well as $29 million from recent storm response and roughly $44 million for homeless services programs.
The revenue also funds wildfire prevention and response, street repair and public health services.
The last increase was in 2012, when the TOT increased from 9.5 to 11%.
When the 25-cent fee for disposable cups at food establishments in the unincorporated parts of the county was approved in 2019, the businesses were slated to receive the entire amount.
The Board of Supervisors heeded calls by environmentalists to help reduce waste and plastic pollution, and to encourage consumers to use reusable cups.
If Measure C passes, the fee would be split evenly between the businesses and the county, which stands to gain an estimated $700,000 annually.
That revenue would fund areas such as water quality, public health, marine life, in addition to public education and other general services.
Also called the “Santa Cruz County Greenway Initiative,” this measure would change the county’s General Plan to include language supporting the Greenway vision for development of a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail between the San Lorenzo Bridge in Santa Cruz and Lee Road in Watsonville. It would also alter the plan to allow for the removal of existing railroad tracks, advocating for the “railbanking” of the existing rail line. Since the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)—the agency which has been developing plans for rail-and-trail for several years—is not bound by the county’s General Plan, it is unclear to what extent these language changes will actually impact the future of rail in Santa Cruz County, if at all.
Passage of this measure would shift the City of Santa Cruz to a six-district system, with an elected mayor that would serve a four-year term.
The city is set to change its leadership structure, whether this measure passes or not. If voters reject Measure E, the city in November will be under a seven-district voting system, with each district having its own representative and an at-large mayor.
Councilmembers could run for mayor immediately after two terms, and mayors could run for a district seat immediately after two terms as mayor. Both positions would term out after 16 consecutive years in office.
These changes are prompted by litigation filed under the California Voting Rights Act.
Measure F would impose a half-cent sales tax on non-grocery purchases—from 9.25% to 9.75% on purchases—generating an estimated $6 million in additional revenue for the City of Santa Cruz.
Because it is considered a “general tax,” the city could use the revenue for purposes such as recreation programs, homelessness, affordable housing, maintaining city streets and public safety services.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Who loves the truth better than you Aries people? Who has the greatest potential to speak the real story in every situation, even when it requires extra courage? Who has more fun than you in discovering and defining and expressing the raw facts? In my Book of Life, you Rams are radiant beacons of candor—the people I go to when I need accuracy and honesty. And all I’m saying here will be especially crucial in the coming weeks. The whole world needs concentrated doses of your authenticity. Now read this pep talk from Aries philosopher St. Catherine of Siena: “Let the truth be your delight; let it always be in your mouth, and proclaim it when it is needed. Proclaim it lovingly and to everyone, especially those you love with a special love—but with a certain congeniality.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Before the 20th century, you couldn’t buy a loaf of bread that was already sliced into thin pieces. Then in 1912, the American inventor Otto Frederick Rohwedder developed a slicing machine. But all his work, including the blueprints and the machine prototypes, was destroyed in a fire. He had to seek new funding and begin again. Sixteen years later, his innovation was finally ready for broad public use. Within five years, most of the bread in the US was sold sliced. What does this have to do with you? I am picking up an Otto Frederick Rohwedder vibe when I turn my visions to you, Taurus. I suspect that in the coming months, you, too, will fulfill a postponed dream.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): A blogger named Sweetlikeacherry reminds us, “Some epiphanies are only possible when you put away your phone and go completely offline for a while.” She adds that sometimes you also need to at least partially avoid your phone and the internet if you hope to incubate new visions of the future and unlock important discoveries in your creative work and summon your untamed genius. According to my astrological analysis, all these possibilities are especially likely and necessary for you in the coming weeks. I trust you will carry out the necessary liberations to take full advantage.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): Poet Carolyn Kizer (1925–2014) won a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry. She was smart! But when she was young and still studying her craft in college, a professor objected to one of her poems. He said, “You have pigs in this poem; pigs are not poetic.” Kizer was incensed at such ignorance. She testified, “I got up and walked out of that class and never went back.” Judging from the astrological omens, I suspect you may have comparable showdowns headed your way. I advise you to be like Kizer. You are the only one who truly knows the proper subjects of your quest. No one else has the right or the insight to tell you what your work (or play) should be about.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Leo author James Baldwin said it wasn’t often “that two people can laugh and make love, too—make love because they are laughing and laugh because they’re making love. The love and the laughter come from the same place; but not many people go there.” Your assignment, Leo, is to be the exception to Baldwin’s rule during the coming weeks. According to my analysis of the astrological omens, there’s a high possibility that interesting eros can converge with humorous fun in a glorious synergy. You will have a knack for conjuring up ribald encounters and jovial orgasms. Your intuition will guide you to shed the solemnity from your bliss and replace it with sunny, carefree cheer.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): I’m worried you will over-indulge in your pursuit of perfection during the coming weeks. It’s fine to be exquisitely skillful and masterful; I hope you do that. But if you get obsessed with flawlessness, you will risk undoing your good intentions. As an antidote, I offer you two pieces of advice. The first is from actor and activist Jane Fonda. She said, “We are not meant to be perfect; we are meant to be whole.” The second counsel is from philosopher and psychologist William James, who wrote, “Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection, we can catch excellence.”
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Author Mustafa Mahmoud described the signs of love between two people: 1. feeling a comfortable familiarity; 2. having no urge or need to lie; 3. being natural, not trying to be different from who one is; 4. having little or no possibility of being embarrassed in front of the other person; 5. experiencing silence as delicious, not alienating; 6. enjoying the act of listening to the other person. I bring these pointers to your attention, Libra, because the coming months will be a favorable time to define and redefine your understandings about the signs of love. How do you feel about Mahmoud’s ideas? Are there any more you would like to add?
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “We do not love each other without changing each other,” wrote author Madeleine L’Engle. Meditate on that gem, Scorpio. Now is a perfect time for you and your loved ones to acknowledge, honor and celebrate the ways your love has changed each other. It may be true that some transformations have been less than ideal. If that’s the case, the coming weeks will be a favorable time to correct those trends. As for the positive changes that you and your allies have stimulated in each other: I hope you will name them and pledge to keep doing more of that good work.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “I always deserve the best treatment, because I never put up with any other,” wrote Sagittarian novelist Jane Austen. Sagittarian politician Stacey Abrams said, “From the moment I enter a room, I am clear about how I intend to be treated and how I intend to engage.” You’ll be wise to cultivate those attitudes in the next seven weeks, Sagittarius. It’s high time for you to raise your self-respect in ways that inspire others to elevate their appreciation and regard for you.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In 1963, Jim Munro and Alice Munro founded Munro’s Books, a store in Victoria, British Columbia. After being on the job for a few months, Alice found she was not impressed with many of the products they sold. “I can write better books than this,” she told Jim. Five years later, she published her first collection of short stories, Dance of the Happy Shades. Fourteen books later, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Will the coming months bring your equivalent of Alice Munro’s pivotal resolution? I suspect they could.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “True love for whatever you are doing is the answer to everything,” proclaimed performance artist Marina Abramovic. Amen to that righteous attitude! I hope you will embrace it in the coming weeks. I hope your heart and imagination will reveal all you need to know to bring tender fresh streams of true love to the essential activities of your life. Now is an excellent time to redefine the meaning of the word “love” so it applies to all your relationships and pursuits.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): A homeless woman in a wheelchair stopped where I was sitting outside a café. She was pushing her belongings in a small shopping cart. “Would you like to go dancing?” she said to me. “There’s a nearby park that has a great grassy dance floor.” “Maybe another day,” I told her. “My energy is low. I’ve had a lot of personal challenges lately.” I’m sure the expression on my face was less-than-ebullient. “Cheer up, mister,” she told me. “I’m psychic, and I can tell you for sure that you will live a long life and have many more fine adventures. I’ll be in the park if you change your mind.” My mood instantly brightened. “Thanks!” I yelled toward her as she rolled away. Now I predict that you, Pisces, will have comparable experiences in the coming days. Are you willing to welcome uplifting surprises?
Good Times has won first place for General Excellence in the 2022 California Journalism Awards, the California Newspaper Publishers Association announced on Friday. This is the third year a row that GT has won the top prize for largest-circulation weekly newspapers in the state.
In announcing the first-place award, CJA judges said of GT: “Attractive, engaging design; great mix of news, features and entertainment; nice photography and other visuals; and packed with information. A solid total package, with a distinctive community voice.”
GT was also recognized for its cover design, with a first-place win in the Front Page Layout and Design category, and its arts coverage, with a fifth-place win in the Arts and Entertainment category.
The paper had two wins in the Feature Story category, with Erin Malsbury winning first place for her cover story “The Secret Life of Sea Snails,” and Steve Palopoli winning third place for his story about the return of Santa Cruz Shakespeare, “Planning Stages.”
Malsbury won another first-place award in the Agricultural Reporting category for her story “Uncharted Water,” about drought solutions being explored in Santa Cruz County, and fifth place in the Coverage of the Covid-19 Pandemic category for her story about the effect of lockdowns on the local ecosystem, “Our Hushed World.” Palopoli won first place in the Best Sports Feature Story category for “Distance Learning,” his story about running in the pandemic. Adam Joseph won first place in the Best Profile Story category for his profile of Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, “Ramblin’ On.”
Tony Nunez won third place in the Best Land-Use Reporting category for his story “Growing Pains,” about Watsonville green space, and Todd Guild won third place in the Best Coverage of Youth and Education category for his reporting on the Pajaro Valley Unified School District’s Board of Trustees scandal, entitled “Worst School Week Ever.”
If you’re looking for a good wine for a special dinner, Beauregard Vineyards has something superb—a 2016 Ben Lomond Mountain Zinfandel ($40). With its dark ruby color and a nose of ripe berries, including cherry and wild raspberry and floral aromas of rose petals, this is one terrific Zin.
“The rich palate boasts incredibly soft tannins and luscious wild berry fruit layers into wild herbs, fresh flowers and an earthy finish,” says winemaker Ryan Beauregard, who has mastered the art of winemaking. His talents are revealed in this robust red wine.
The vineyard where the grapes for this Zinfandel were grown was once an apple orchard, planted in the 1900s, and the sandy loam soil produces wines with good minerality and bold acidity. The vineyard—abandoned during Prohibition—came into the family when it was bought by Ryan’s great-grandfather Amos Beauregard in the 1940s.
Beauregard Vineyards, 10 Pine Flat Road, Santa Cruz. 831-425-7777. The Slow Coast Wine Bar, 450 Hwy. 1, Davenport. beauregardvineyards.com
Pop-Up Party for Aptos Vineyard’s New Releases
Sante Arcangeli Winery’s tasting room in Aptos Village will be hosting Aptos Vineyard for a pop-up tasting for their new releases: a 2020 Rosé of Pinot Noir and a 2020 Chardonnay. Wine club members will enjoy bites and complimentary tastings. Aptos Vineyard was started in the ’70s by the late Judge John Marlo but is now owned by James Baker and Tina Cacace. Sante Arcangeli owner John Benedetti is Aptos Vineyard’s winemaker. aptosvineyard.com.
Chardonnay Wine Cruises
Enjoy outstanding local wines and tasty food as you sail across the briny on Chardonnay Sailing Charters. Through October, a different winery is featured every Friday evening with complimentary hors d’oeuvres. Participating wineries through the end of July include Naumann (June 3), Bargetto (June 17), Roudon-Smith (June 24), Storrs (July 1), Silver Mountain (July 8), Roudon-Smith (July 15), Pelican Ranch (July 22) and Wrights Station (July 29). For reservations, visit chardonnay.com.
Born in Mexico, Sabina Benitez followed her husband to Santa Cruz, where he had a job opportunity. She’s happy to be here—Benitez fell in love with the community almost instantly, referring to the city as “caring with open arms.” Capitola Diner & Sports Bar serves bar fare along with a variety of sandwiches—highlighted by the Philly Cheesesteak and the Monterey Chicken, with bacon, jack cheese, avocado and habanero mayo. They also serve killer Mexican food. A couple of house specialties include chicken enchiladas with homemade green sauce and the chiles Rellenos with rice and beans. The diner also serves traditional chilaquiles for breakfast—and all day. Also, the full bar—featuring a signature chavela (Mexican beer with Bloody Mary mix, chili powder and shrimp)—has six televisions. Hours are every day, 8am-9pm (Friday-Saturday until 10pm). Benitez took some time with GT to talk about a compassionate customer and why she loves Santa Cruz.
Who’s your favorite regular?
SABINA BENITEZ: He is a 93-year-old man, and he gets eggs, bacon, hash browns, an English muffin with strawberry jelly and a fresh cup of coffee every morning. He’s our first customer every day, and sometimes he comes back for dinner with his daughter and usually gets breakfast for dinner. It’s usually big pancakes with lots of strawberries and whipped cream, and also a milkshake and always another cup of coffee too. He always says hi and hugs everyone, and he really makes all of our day.
Why do you love living in Santa Cruz?
All the people and the weather—the weather is really good. And I also have a great community of friends around me that are always there for me, calling to check in and ask if I ever need anything, especially during the pandemic. I also have two daughters that love going to school and living here, and we really love it and never want to move.
Woking the wok on June 5th at the 43rd installment of New Music Works’ Avant Garden Party will be tireless Jozseph Schultz, former restaurateur and eternal catering maestro.
In his hands, catering a large gathering of bohemian music lovers looks both delicious and aerobic. If you’ve never attended one of these incredible afternoon garden parties, then make plans immediately.
In addition to savory foodstuffs by Schultz, the event features a no-host Tiki Island wine and beer bar, Hidden Peak Teahouse tea ceremonies in a quiet garden nook, plus—included in the price of admission—India Joze delicacies.
Oh, and there’s provocative music, including chamber music, jazz, African marimbas, sambas and deeply surreal electric slide pieces from guitarist Cary Nichols and Stan Poplin on double bass. Hot licks! The amazing Lars Johannesson accompanies on flute, and much, much more. Sunday June 5th from 3-6pm at 2888 Sandy Lane, Live Oak Lagoon. Tickets are $15-35 at brownpapertickets.com/event/5331023. For more info, call 831-536-5603.
Non-Pizza Bantam
Wood-fired pizza may be the big draw at Bantam, but it would be a mistake to miss the amazing non-pizza dishes (and cocktails) turned out by this terrific kitchen. Consider this: creamy burrata topped with a crown of tart, sweet kumquat slices and olive oil. Nestling next the snowy white burrata was a pool of beet puree, topped with thick, impeccably cooked asparagus spears. Little slabs of chioggia beets, toasted hazelnuts, fresh sprigs of feathery infant dill and nasturtium blossoms added more eye candy and flavor discovery ($17).
Seated outside in one of those spacious-yet-cozy booths, Jenny and I started out with one of those quarter-loaves of housemade bread and salted butter that is required (in my book) to get things going at Bantam.
Jenny always opts for a white wine, but I’m continually intrigued by the inventive cocktails. Case in point was a Byrrh spritz with a huge spiral twist of orange suspended in the tall glass ($10). More on this excellent and refreshing drink in a minute.
Our other shared plate was a tour de force of broccolini and king trumpet mushrooms, surrounded with squashes, almonds and goat cheese. The foil for these outrageous veggies was a generous side of wild rice ($20). It was a satisfying light dinner without meat, poultry or fish.
Back to the Byrrh, an amaro that hails from the foothills of France bordering Spain. A port-like creation, Byrrh sits on a backbone of quinine (the basis of tonic water) and takes well to clear mixers such as gin and champagne. The Bantam version offered Prosecco as the addition to the pale-peach-colored Byrrh, and the effect was of an incredibly refreshing orange-rhubarb flavored spritz. Tuesday-Saturday, 5pm-9pm. bantam1010.com.
Pinot Time
Looking for a few great pinot noirs made in the Santa Cruz Mountains winegrowing district? Look no further than the June 24 Taste of Terroir winemaker dinner plus tasting. Seven wineries will be on hand pouring Pinot Noir and rosé of Pinot Noir at the Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards. A tasting salon begins at 6pm, followed at 7:30pm by a four-course winemaker dinner created by Ross Hanson of Oak & Rye. Tickets are $170 (15% discount for SCM wine club members). https://winesofthesantacruzmountains.com.
New Chef at New Venus
John Harry will be developing the menu at the new Venus Spirits Cocktails & Kitchen Beachside (that’s the new Rio del Mar location). Venus spokesperson Lauren Long revealed that the wildly popular signature Brussels sprouts appetizer will migrate from the Westside Venus to the Beachside Venus. But we can expect new dishes from Chef Harry.
Meanwhile, Chef Gabrielle Molina stays on as Chef de Cuisine at the Delaware outpost of Venus delights. Thank you, Sean!
When Ashley Raveche and her husband bought their home in Mill Valley, they thought they were doing everything right. The 1,300 square foot house already had vents with screens that make it harder for embers to get in and a tar and gravel roof, top-rated for fire safety. They installed double-paned windows, which are less likely to explode under extreme heat. They cut down four trees within 10 feet of their house. They kept the gutter and roof clear, and the local fire marshal performed an annual inspection.
But their efforts — totaling more than $10,000, by Raveche’s estimation — weren’t enough to insure their home in Marin County. In February, their insurance company said it wouldn’t renew the policy because the “risk is unacceptable”
“I panicked,” she said. “I was just like, ‘This is too much, we are doing absolutely everything we possibly can.’”
It was the second time an insurance company had declined to renew her home insurance coverage in five years, she said.
When Ashley Raveche and her husband bought their home in Mill Valley, they thought they were doing everything right. The 1,300 square foot house already had vents with screens that make it harder for embers to get in and a tar and gravel roof, top-rated for fire safety. They installed double-paned windows, which are less likely to explode under extreme heat. They cut down four trees within 10 feet of their house. They kept the gutter and roof clear, and the local fire marshal performed an annual inspection.
But their efforts — totaling more than $10,000, by Raveche’s estimation — weren’t enough to insure their home in Marin County. In February, their insurance company said it wouldn’t renew the policy because the “risk is unacceptable”
“I panicked,” she said. “I was just like, ‘This is too much, we are doing absolutely everything we possibly can.’”
It was the second time an insurance company had declined to renew her home insurance coverage in five years, she said.
New fire insurance guidelines
The proposed rules, rolled out in February, require insurance companies to do several things, including:
Make the models or tools they use to assess wildfire risk public, and require that companies send individual policyholders their wildfire risk scores on a regular basis
Explain to policyholders what specific factors influenced each consumer’s score, what they could do to lower their score, and how much they can expect to see their premium go down if they take the actions outlined by the insurance company
When setting prices, insurers would have to take into account whether a homeowner or commercial property owner has reduced a property’s wildfire risk by taking specified steps, including clearing vegetation from under decks and installing fire-resistant vents
When setting prices, insurers would have to take into account whether a home is in one of three types of fire risk-reduction communities, such as Firewise.
The state Department of Insurance also proposed giving policyholders the right to appeal their wildfire risk scores.
Part of the goal is to provide incentives to more people to protect their properties from wildfires. “Money is tight for most people,” said Amy Bach, executive director of United Policyholders, a consumer group. “If I have a choice between spending money on taking out my favorite tree, and, like, buying a new flatscreen, I’m going to buy a new flatscreen, right?” There has to be a compelling reason for people to do things they don’t want to do, she said.
“Home hardening” is aimed at reducing a house’s risk of burning during a blaze. There’s evidence to suggest it works, too: A 2020 study from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners found that “structural modifications can reduce wildfire risk up to 40%, and structural and vegetation modifications combined can reduce wildfire risk up to 75%.”
California already regulates insurance more than a lot of other products. Insurers, for example, can’t just increase their prices whenever they want to — they have to submit their pricing plans to the insurance department for approval. But, says Bach, that’s in part because they have an advantage most industries don’t: People must buy their product in order to get a mortgage.
“They sell economic security,” said Bach. “They have a special obligation.”
That’s why it’s stressful for homeowners when an insurance company decides it will no longer cover them.
When homeowners can’t find a private company to cover them, they can turn to the state-created FAIR Plan, which offers bare bones coverage, often at higher cost. Coverage through the FAIR Plan is intended as “a temporary safety net” until a homeowner can find other coverage.
“A loophole that can swallow the rule”
Steve Poizner, who lives 15 minutes from the San Jose airport, said he took some extra steps to protect his home after an insurance agent came out to inspect the property. He said he upgraded his fireproof vents and cleared vegetation around the house, and the company gave him a policy.
“That was that. For years,” Poizner told CalMatters. Then, he said, early this year he got a letter. His insurance company wouldn’t renew his coverage, he said, and he was “stunned.” Poizner is no naif: He was California’s insurance commissioner from 2007 to 2011.
The number of Californians who are not renewed by their insurance companies each year increased in 2019, according to insurance department data, after especially damaging wildfires in 2017 and 2018. It’s a small share of policyholders: less than 3%, according to the department. The numbers are higher in areas with greater fire risk. Temporary bans on non-renewals in areas hit by wildfires, imposed by Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, have helped, although the issue is still a key part of the election race for insurance commissioner.
It’s far from certain the numbers will stay low. The number of California properties facing severe wildfire risk will grow sixfold over the next 30 years, according to projections from First Street Foundation, a nonprofit.
Three consumer groups — Consumer Watchdog, Consumer Federation of America and Consumer Federation of California — sent feedback to the insurance department, pointing to what they see as a loophole: The rules require insurers to take home-hardening efforts into account when setting prices, but not when deciding whether to cover someone or renew a policy.
“A homeowner could literally rebuild their home in concrete, in the middle of a concrete field, and still be non-renewed by an insurance company,” said Carmen Balber, executive director of Consumer Watchdog.
“It is a loophole that can swallow the rule,” she said.
Insurance department spokesperson Michael Soller rejected the term “loophole.” He pointed to the department’s initial reasoning for the rules and expected benefits, which says insurance companies “may become more comfortable writing and retaining policies for properties with completed mitigation actions, even if the property is located in an area with a higher overall risk of wildfire.”
Not wading into coverage decisions may also have been a pragmatic decision for the department. Insurers would be more likely to sue over rules that mandate coverage, since the department’s authority to regulate coverage decisions is not clear cut, said Michael Wara, a lawyer and climate scholar at Stanford Law School. A suit could keep the rules from going into effect for years.
“This may be a situation where you kind of have to choose between doing something that’s sort of pretty good — maybe even really good — but not perfect,” said Wara.
Insurers want to protect their risk tools
Consumer groups aren’t the only ones pushing back against the proposal. Trade organizations representing insurers have their own set of concerns.
One is that the science on wildfire mitigation is still developing, said Mark Sektnan, vice president for state government relations for American Property Casualty Insurance Association, a trade group. That means there may not be good data on exactly how much one strategy — or several — reduces a homeowner’s fire risk, and insurers need data to decide how much of a discount to offer.
The proposed rules, for example, would require companies to take into account whether a home is in a “Fire Risk Reduction Community,” a new certification created by the state Board of Forestry and Fire Protection. The criteria for the certification was finalized last month, according to Edith Hannigan, the Board’s executive officer, and the list of the communities that meet the requirements is yet to be released. There hasn’t been any significant analysis on how much safer certified communities are, since it’s brand new, Hannigan said.
That’s problematic, said Seren Taylor, senior legislative advocate for Personal Insurance Federation of California, another insurance industry trade group, because everything in insurance “is about understanding risk and having data.”
The new program was “established with the expertise of the Board of Forestry, with consideration of community programs like Firewise,” said Michael Soller, a spokesperson for the Department of Insurance.
Another concern Taylor cited has to do with intellectual property. Many insurers rely on models, often provided by separate companies, to assess the risk of wildfire to a particular home or area, taking into account factors like the slope a home is on, or the kind of roof it has. The rules require insurers to make those models public.
“These companies spend tens of millions of dollars building complex computer models,” said Taylor, and they want to create models that are more accurate than their competitors.
“What our folks are concerned about is that these modelers will say, ‘Well, we’re not going to use our most innovative new models, because why would we invest in that technology if we’re just going to have to hand it to our competitors? So we’ll give you version 2.0, but you’re not going to have version 4.0,’” Taylor said.
Still, he said, the federation completely agrees with the goals of the proposed rules — they point in the direction some insurers are already heading.
Currently 20 insurance companies voluntarily give homeowners some kind of discount for reducing their wildfire risk, according to the insurance department.
Still trying in Mill Valley
Raveche’s community, meanwhile, is using some cutting edge measures to prepare for wildfire.
More than 250 Mill Valley residents piled into their cars to simulate an evacuation, with Google researchers standing by and gathering data to model traffic flow. Her community partnered with NASA, so fire officials can access high-quality satellite images during an active fire, she said. Raveche, who is a board member of her fire district, just wrote a guide for short-term rentals so that visitors can figure out evacuation routes and sign up for emergency alerts.
After her insurer declined to renew her policy in February, she was able to get coverage from another company. But despite her many efforts, she’s not optimistic it will last.
“I think it’ll probably be covered for two years, maybe three,” she said. “And then I see them dropping us.”
