Lynn Rennshaw’s letter to the editor (GT, 7/20) corrected several errors in Ms. Moya’s story. Unfortunately, Ms. Moya’s response contained even more errors.
Without acknowledging her error, Moya tacitly agreed with Rennshaw’s correction that the EHT requires all homeowners—not just landlords—to file an annual affidavit (under threat of criminal penalty) swearing to occupancy. This has nothing to do with being a landlord or owner-occupier. However, Moya made numerous other errors and other misleading assertions.
Ms. Moya falsely states that the tax applies to “Airbnbsunoccupied for at least 120 days” (i.e., occupied for 8 months). This is untrue for several reasons:
1. EHT Section 3.38.040(G)(1)(h) exempts all registered short-term rentals regardless of the number of days of occupancy.’
2. Properties do not owe the tax if they are occupied for at least 120 days/year, not if they are “unoccupied for at least 120 days.”
3. About half of the city’s STRs are so-called “hosted,” which by definition means that the owner lives in them at least half the year. That itself would make those STRs exempt from the tax regardless of the other exemptions I describe.
4. Properties that are unregistered vacation rentals are already in violation of city ordinance, and the city has been actively enforcing this ordinance for years. Regardless, if there still are any that exist, they would not be in violation of the EHT even if they’re rented unlawfully and otherwise occupied for at least 120 days/year. If Ms. Moya is referring to these properties (if there even are any) she certainly doesn’t make that clear in her story. Furthermore, these property owners are already defying the city’s laws and could hardly be expected to comply with the EHT.
As Lynn Rennshaw pointed out, Ms. Moya used the term “empty vacation rentals” several times, when it does not apply to them. Perhaps she was confused about this because many of the EHT proponents also incorrectly believe that the EHT applies to vacation rentals when it does not.
Eric Grodberg
Santa Cruz
RESPONSE:While the original article explained the regulation accurately, Eric is correct. The phrase “unoccupied for at least 120 days” in our reporter’s response should have been “if they are not in use for at least 120 days per year, or empty for more than 8 months.” We regret the error. — Editor
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Perhaps, like me, you’ve followed the local music scene for a long time. Perhaps, like me, you’re familiar with the success of the band Sound Tribe Sector 9, which has seen its devoted following swell to the level that people are starting to talk about it the way they do Phish, or even the Grateful Dead. You still, like me, probably had no idea that STS9 has been a Santa Cruz band for more than 20 years.
This is not how things usually work. In the rare instance that a Santa Cruz band finds national success (or, let’s face it, even significant regional success), it’s usually a huge deal here. True, STS9 are transplants, but so were (for instance) the members of The Devil Makes Three—and local music fans lost their minds when that band got national attention in the late ’00s. Good Riddance’s critical acclaim and huge legion of fans around the world have been a source of civic pride for two decades. Hell, Snail got some nationwide notice in the late ’70s, and we’re still talking about it. Maybe it’s because we’ve seen so many great local bands regularly pack the Catalyst, seem primed for bigger things, and then … never quite make it. We can’t help but stan hard for the ones who do.
So how has STS9 slipped under the radar as a Santa Cruz success story? Adam Joseph finds some answers in this week’s cover story, and also explains why the group’s two nights of shows at the UCSC QuarryAmphitheatre this week are a sort of coming-out party for STS9 as a Santa Cruz phenomenon—complete with festivities. Read on!
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ONLINE COMMENTS
We All Suck
A recent letter writer (GT, 7/27) spent her time trashing the “fossil fuel industry” while conveniently ignoring her—and by extension, our—contributions to climate change. I wonder, does she drive? Does she turn on her lights, watch her TV, power up her computer, heat and cool her house? Does she buy any pre-packaged food, or indeed any food at all at the supermarket? What about the clothes she wears? Are they made from petrochemical fabric? I could go on and on, but the truth is obvious and impossible to refute: We all suck at the teats of Big Gas, Bil Oil and Big Coal, and to blame the FFI exclusively is like the addict blaming the pusher for all his woes. If we held up a mirror to the real villain in this dystopian nightmare, I’m afraid he would look a lot like us.
SUPER CONDUCTOR Maestro Cristi Macelaru and the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music Orchestra made a triumphant return to the Civic Auditorium last month after a two-year hiatus from live music. Photograph by Don Eggers.
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GOOD IDEA
SOMETHING DOESN’T STINK
The UCSC corpse flower, which emits a decaying stench when it blossoms and was set to bloom Friday night, was declared an actual … well, corpse, after it failed to bloom at the UCSC Arboretum over the weekend. The flower’s cause of death will be investigated during an autopsy this Wednesday at 10am at the Arboretum. More details about the flower’s mysterious death to come.
GOOD WORK
WHERE’S WINNER?
After hiding Waldos around downtown Santa Cruz throughout the month of July, Bookstore Santa Cruz will be hosting a Grand Finale Party this Saturday, where whoever found the most Waldos will be deemed the grand prize winner. The jackpot might not be a billion dollars like last week’s Mega Millions, but Waldo himself will be there. Find details at: bookshopsantacruz.com/waldo-grand-finale.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The ache for home lives in all of us, the safe place where we can go as we are and not be questioned.”
How do you describe the music of Sound Tribe Sector 9, aka STS9, to someone who’s never heard it? Sometimes their songs morph into lengthy grooves that enter the jam band zone. At others, the group unleashes unpredictable jazz-fusion tangents informed by Weather Report and Return to Forever. There are elements of trip-hop, acid jazz and electronica—dubbed “livetronica” or “post-rock dance music”—that fuel full-on dance parties among audience members. It’s a soundtrack to a movie that has yet to be made. I can go on. But really, the music that STS9 has spent a quarter of a century making is something you have to hear for yourself—preferably live.
For a quarter of a century, the Georgia natives have been creating something more extensive than a signature sound; they’ve cultivated a one-of-a-kind experience. Thousands of fans follow them nationally and beyond—it’s a phenomenon akin to Phish or even the Grateful Dead. These fans know it’s not just a concert, it’s an all-encompassing intergalactic experience.
STS9’s songs don’t have vocals, but guitarist/keyboardist Hunter Brown, drummer Zach Velmer, bassist Alana Rocklin, keyboardist David Phipps and percussionist Jeffree Lerner are storytellers. Wistful soundscapes intertwine with the vibrant colors and optical illusions provided by masterful lighting designer Tiberius Benson—the quintet considers him their sixth band member.
“When you’re playing live, there’s a microscope when you’re in the studio, there’s a microscope when you’re rehearsing, and you can stop and be like, ‘Oh, look at this or look at that,’” drummer Zach Velmer says. “When performing live, you play through [mistakes], but you learn so much about yourself, the process and the musical conversation you’re having with your brothers and sisters. Then when you’re recording, and you’re under a microscope, it’s all about what the conversation and the music need, so it’s all very dynamic. Each part just plays on itself, so magically.”
One of the keys to the band’s dynamic connection is their ability to get out of their own way, especially during improvisational journeys. Everyone knows when a tune has run its course—the story has been told, and the song is ready to end.
“When we’re in the moment, it’s a feeling we all get,” Velmer says. “It goes beyond using a period just because it’s grammatically correct.”
Bassist Alana Rocklin adds, “I think there’s a flow to it. On Sunday, we did a Wave Spell set, which is a completely improvised set of music for the fans. Wave Spell started in our studio. Instead of just rehearsing and writing songs, we started to feel a need to play whatever was in our hearts and communicate with each other. Wave Spell took on a life of its own through our recordings. We got together and happened to record it, and when we listened to it, we were like, ‘Wow, we should share this.’ Then we started doing it live. In this last set we did, there was this one improvisation, and I didn’t know the end was coming, but Zach played this thing, and because we were listening so intensely, we all just stopped, and that was the end of it. For me, it was one of the best musical moments of the weekend because we were listening so carefully, and I think I looked at him, then I looked at Hunter, and we were all like, ‘Yup, that’s it. It’s done.’ Then, we just laughed.”
“It’s like having this amazing conversation back and forth,” Velmer says. “And you’re feeding off each other’s energy. That’s what it feels like anyway. We just changed the trajectory of the energy in this macro moment. It’s pretty cool.”
Hiding in Sight
For more than 20 years, Sound Tribe Sector 9 has called Santa Cruz home. It’s where the band members live with their families. It’s also where they have their studio. Santa Cruz is their “sacred space.”
“We keep a low profile, but it’s not secretive,” Velmer says. “We love our community. When we’re home, we work in our studio or spend time with our family. Our roots are definitely from the East Coast, but most of our time has been spent here in [Santa Cruz].”
In the summer of 2000, guitarist Hunter Brown drove from his West Athens, Georgia home to Santa Cruz to visit a friend. He dug the area so much that he stayed, and convinced the band to join him. Brown was 22, and at that age life changes like that are pretty easy without families or any real responsibilities. Before hitting it big, the group lived in a dilapidated home in Watsonville.
Sound Tribe Sector 9 outside Days Market in Seabright. Despite their international success, even many locals who know their music don’t realize the band has lived in Santa Cruz for over 20 years.
“I think we’ve always had a difficult time promoting ourselves outside of the music, and the art that comes from the music,” Brown says. “Maybe that’s why nobody really knows we’re here. But Santa Cruz is our favorite place in the world. We’ve been here for almost most of our lives at this point, which is crazy. [Santa Cruz] has been a crucial part of our development as a creative force. We can’t say enough about what this place means or has done for us.”
Throughout the last 20-plus years that Sound Tribe has lived in Santa Cruz, they’ve gone from club act opener to selling out three-night runs at Colorado’s famed Red Rocks Amphitheater, which holds about 10,000. Around the time they released their masterpiece, Artifact, in 2005, Sound Tribe began regularly filling Santa Cruz’s venues, including the Catalyst, the now-defunct Palookaville and headlining the Santa Cruz Civic Center. Santa Cruz is where they started 1320 Records, a niche label for artists—they now have a roster of more than 40—making similar music.
Hello, Alana
Regarding personnel, Sound Tribe hasn’t changed much over the years, which has helped their musical conversations remain consistently fluent. In 2014, when one of the band’s founders, bassist David Murphy left, Alana Rocklin came on board. Rocklin had known and sat in with the group since 2000, so the transition was seamless.
“From the moment we had our first rehearsal, it was an amazing vibe,” Rocklin recalls. “Knowing the music, loving the music, being friends and already loving each other as people made that transition super natural. We’ve just kept it going.”
“It was as effortless as possible,” Velmer adds.
As someone who was initially on the outside, Rocklin can perfectly convey what the band is all about.
“How you are as a human being comes out in the music,” Rocklin says. “Whatever you’re going through in your life, whatever path is happening is reflected in what you’re playing. Coming home after you play and seeing your family and everything that we’ve had to go through, even the pandemic, has been an exciting experience that’s brought us closer and influenced our creativity, and made us want to just get back to the roots of playing music at the most basic level, just like improvising together. One of the most beautiful things about music is that it reflects who you are as a band; that’s something we love about music, so we try to stay true to that.”
Brown adds, “There was no one else that we considered because we knew Alana was who we wanted. It was natural to fall into this new reality together. It’s been incredible. Thank you, Alana.”
For the Fans
Velmer says STS9 has been a “passion project of storytelling since day one. It’s something that has always been a part of us.” And the band’s 2005 opus, Artifact, is a large part of their story, as mentioned earlier.
“Making music in the state of a Tell-a-Vision nation, this album is an ode to change and preservation,” read the record’s original liner notes.
About two weeks ago, just before STS9’s three-night run at Red Rocks, the band released a 43-minute documentary, Artifacts, via YouTube. The short film documents the band’s 20th-anniversary show in 2017 at Red Rocks when they performed Artifact in its entirety, which they had never done. The complexity and the orchestration of the album’s 20-plus songs made it a daunting task—many of the tunes on the record hadn’t even performed live before.
“I think we got to a place where we were finally comfortable performing that album in a way that we felt paid homage to the original creation,” Brown explains. “It just took us a while to get there, and we genuinely wanted to put our time into making it happen. That was a big part of it.”
Velmer adds, “We usually don’t just go out and play an album. We’re telling these stories, and it’s not just a story of an album; it’s a story of the whole existence of STS9, a story that’s beyond the universe we’re all in and compiled of different records. For many of our fans, that was a gateway album that led to consuming more STS9. There are over 20 fucking songs on it, which helped make it such a good show. We knew it was a fan favorite. [Fans] are a huge part of what we do, why we do what we do and how we do what we do. We’ve had this relationship with fans for decades now, which is weird to say, but we’ve learned and grown together, and we’re constantly trying to give them what they want but also surprise them in new and interesting ways.”
“It always comes back to [the fans] in some way,” Brown says. “Each night is a new story. We’re excited to create a new one for Santa Cruz.”
The Quarry Shows
Sound Tribe has had their eye on UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheatre for a long time. The canopy of towering redwoods caressing the former lime quarry’s layout provides natural acoustics similar to Red Rocks, one of Sound Tribe’s favorite venues. Following the theater’s upgrades, it’s even better. Also, it now seats 2,700, making it Santa Cruz’s largest outdoor venue. They even have close friends that have been a part of its restoration.
“There’s been a magical dream manifesting for years, so we’re ecstatic,” Brown says. “We haven’t played in Santa Cruz for a long time, and to have this be where we play? We were patient with where we wanted to play and how we wanted to do it. This is beyond our wildest imagination. It will be a huge family affair, because that’s what Santa Cruz is. We couldn’t be more excited to finally put on the kind of show in Santa Cruz that we’ve wanted to do for so long.”
“It’s really neat to read online conversations from our fans,” Velmer says. “There is this mystery of, ‘I wonder what they’re going to do in Red Rocks?’ and we just did four nights in Atlanta, and now, [fans] are talking about Santa Cruz. For this kind of event, we like when it’s a little bit of a spectacle for fans not to know what it will be. Since we’re always picking up new things, our shows are never the same thing twice. Even with the lighting effects. You get these people conversing. Like, ‘this one’s called this, and they did this, and the rig lifted like they were pushing the sky. Then they were in the sky, and there were clouds.’ The kids are really into what we’re laying down and the creative side. It’s pretty fucking cool, man.”
Like all Sound Tribe shows, no one will know what to expect until the show starts. All that’s learned: “They will be special shows,” Velmer says.
Also, there may be some new music. Brown says they’re about 90% finished with a new record. He can’t give a release date yet, but it’s so close they’ve already begun to debut some of the songs live.
Following both of Sound Tribe’s Quarry performances, there will be afterparties at the Coconut Ballroom featuring Quadraphonic (surround sound) Funktion, the Chambers Project’s psychedelic art and music from Mr. Carmack, Sunsquabi, Machinedrum and several other acts, all curated by STS9. Additionally, there will be local dance performances, floral displays, crystal and mineral displays, local vendors and much more. It’ll basically be a two-day festival between Sound Tribe’s shows and the after-parties.
Give Back
Since Sound Tribe began in the late ’90s, giving back has always been a big part of what they’re about. Spanning back to helping Hurricane Katrina victims, the band has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours of volunteering for multiple organizations.
“We’re a community beyond the five of us and the 20 of our crew members, and we try to do the best we can to help as much as we can,” Brown says. “We’ve been lucky to do a lot of great projects, most that people don’t know about, like local things and places that we love and people that have connected with us. It’s something we will continue to do. Over the past few years, we’ve been inspired to work with the Save the Redwoods League, which fought to save Big Basin. We want to continue to help because we’re devastated by what we see—just the changes we’ve witnessed here in California since we’ve been here. We’re always trying to find ways to be engaged and do whatever we can.”
STS9 provided the original score for ‘#ReGeneration,’ a documentary about the Occupy Wall Street movement featuring Howard Zinn and Noam Chomsky, narrated by Ryan Gosling.
The band’s Just Thanks nonprofit is used as an umbrella to support initiatives and organizations they’re passionate about. Sound Tribe teamed up with Save the Redwoods League recently to purchase a piece of property that used to be a logging camp, but has thousands of giant Sequoias on it. According to Brown, the land will be turned into a park connected to a more extensive park system.
“We’re focused on women’s rights and getting our healthcare rights back,” Rocklin says. “We also did an initiative for the CZU fires, which affected all of us. We constantly remind ourselves to be engaged because it’s just who we are. And we feel fortunate to be able to play music and have this community of people who share in that love of the earth and people.”
The band has collected thousands of pounds of food donations from fans. Bring canned goods to the Quarry shows and get a poster in return. Also, a portion of each ticket sold for the after-parties will go to benefit GrassRoots Alliance.
STS9 plays Friday, Aug. 12 and Saturday, Aug. 13 at 7pm. One night $47.50/$54.50; $77.50/premium; $37.50/students plus fees. 2-day pass $95; $155/premium; $77.50/students plus fees. Quarry Amphitheater at UC Santa Cruz, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. quarry.ucsc.edu.
Official STS9 After Parties with Mr. Carmack, Sunsquabi, Potions, Machinedrum and more, 11pm at Cocoanut Grove, 400 Beach St., Santa Cruz. $35 plus fees; 2-day pass/$55 plus fees. 21 and over. sts9.com.
STS9 Free Skate Session on Saturday, Aug. 12, is sold out.
Visit sts9.bandcamp.com to listen to and download all music STS9 releases, plus bonus items from their back catalog.
The City of Santa Cruz is gearing up to disband the Benchlands encampment in San Lorenzo Park, which has drawn controversy and criticism from all corners as its homeless population swelled over the last two years. But even as officials move to relocate the people who reside there, some big questions remain about the city’s plan.
From homeless advocates to city officials to those who have lived in it, most agree that the encampment needs to be closed. But at the same time, some question whether the city has the infrastructure and services to support this closure, and if this move will truly help curb homelessness—or exacerbate an already volatile situation.
Perhaps the only thing generally agreed upon is that after the Benchlands encampment is closed, “people can expect homelessness to become a lot more visible,” says Santa Cruz Free Guide Executive Director Evan Morrison.
Morrison has worked in the homeless sector for the past five years. In his current role, he is helping the city set up a safe parking area for RVs. He says it’s likely that unhoused people will end up in neighborhoods, downtown and on benches—anywhere they can find a place to sleep. It’s not ideal for them or other city residents, he says.
“If we’re dispersing a giant encampment, you’re more likely to see someone who’s homeless while you’re dropping your kid off at school,” says Morrison. “Where can our homeless residents go, and be safe? We’ve never truly answered that question.”
Moving the Benchlands
Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker announced during a city council meeting in April that the closure of the Benchlands encampment would begin in earnest in July. But the city’s new chief executive backtracked on those plans at a subsequent city council meeting, saying that the closure would happen in “late summer.”
The city is still a few weeks out from starting to move people out of the Benchlands, as it waits to finalize a contract with the Salvation Army that will provide 60 additional shelter spaces at the National Guard Armory. The Armory will also be home to a city-funded 24-hour safe parking program for people who live in their cars.
Currently, the city has an outdoor camp at the Armory Overlook in DeLaveaga Park, where 65 to 75 tents are set up, and another outdoor program with 30 spaces at 1220 River St.
The plan, says Santa Cruz Deputy City Manager Lisa Murphy, is to slowly clear out sections of the Benchlands, ensuring that as they move through the encampment, there will be shelter spaces available for those being moved. As for how long the process will take, there is no official time frame, says Santa Cruz spokeswoman Elizabeth Smith. The move will be put on pause as shelter spaces fill up, or as the city tries to get new programs online, Smith says.
She adds that the city will use a van to transport those interested into shelters,, and everyone will have the opportunity to meet with a case manager who can connect them with the right services.
“The city has not stood up proactive services in this way, in its history,” says Smith. “And so, just in its very nature, the closure is different. Our approach to contingency of the offer of shelter and the focus on case management, it’s different.”
Brent Adams, who operates the Santa Cruz Warming Center, and other homeless advocates, are skeptical that people will take up the offer to go to shelters. This is despite the fact that the shelter at the Armory is low-barrier, meaning it’s open to any gender, people can bring one pet and there will be an option for people to bring their things (as long as the personal items can be stored inside their tent).
Adams believes this will likely be another in a long line of failed encampment closures.
Before the Benchlands, there was the Ross Camp, which began accumulating dozens of tents, clustered between Highway 1 and the Ross discount store on the outskirts of downtown Santa Cruz, in 2018. The city tried and failed to close that encampment for months, and in April 2019, city officials reopened the Benchlands camp in an attempt to direct people away from Ross Camp. Even after the city closed the Ross encampment in May 2019, it reopened as a smaller camp in November. The city once again removed the campers, suggesting the people there move to the shelter options at the Armory.
“The city’s closing it because this is the long slow train that they’ve been doing,” says Adams. “This is the end of a long story—and this is the most ridiculous ending that anybody could have ever imagined.”
Smith says the city knows closing the Benchlands will not “magically cure homelessness.” Homelessness is a systemic issue that needs state and federal intervention, experts say.
But after disbanding the encampment, she says the city will be enforcing its overnight sleeping ordinance to help manage the impacts of closing the encampment. The ordinance, a controversial rule approved by city council in 2021 that allows Santa Cruz to restrict people from sleeping on public property after establishing 150 safe-sleeping sites, will be used on a case-by-case basis, enforced and determined by police.
“There’s no illusion that by creating shelter at the Armory, encampments are magically going to not occur anymore,” says Smith. “These are all tools in this toolbox to help people get housed, people get shelter and to manage the negative impacts that come from encampments, but there’s not one solution that’s going to make encampments go away.”
Where to Go?
Lemon, a woman in her early 30s who asked to have her last name withheld, was hesitant to go to a shelter when she was previously homeless. She says she was concerned for her safety and afraid of having her personal belongings stolen, and was also just embarrassed to go to a shelter. When she decided to seek out a place at a shelter, she says she was grateful to have a roof over her head, but her experience wasn’t all good.
Lemon lived in an individual room that she described as a large metal container shed without ventilation. In the summer, temperatures inside her room would become unbearably hot, so she would spend all day outside, while nights were ice cold.
“It’s pretty miserable in the summer,” Lemon says. “And despite it being a blessing to have it all, it’s still not fit for human habitation … especially [for] people with disabilities.”
While some people working at the shelter were sympathetic to Lemon’s situation, some treated her poorly, she says.
“It seems like [some of] the people who work there are very, very into the cause. And some of the people who work there almost have some sort of stigma or, like, hatred or prejudice against homeless people,” she says.
Asked what the plan is for those who decide to not move to the new shelter, the city asserts that that is an individual decision and “not something the city can comment on.”
In the weeks leading up to the clear-out, officials are working to count the people in the Benchlands, and will try to keep track of them so that case managers can connect them to services.
But officials acknowledge these plans might be temporary; the new shelter spaces and the staffing to move the encampment and provide services are being funded with a one-time, $14 million state infusion. With the failure of the sales tax measure in June, which would have provided $80 million in new funding for the city over the next decade, whether or not the city can see this plan through is still to be determined.
“The $14 million has already been programmed out to help with a variety of services that are not one-time services, like the shelters, that are ongoing operations,” Deputy City Manager Murphy says. “So without an ongoing stream of revenue to fund ongoing costs, we have a real problem.”
An ‘Inhumane’ Encampment
“The Wild West.” “A crime haven.” A “drug city.”
These are just a few phrases Adams uses to describe the Benchlands encampment. He provides shower services there once a week, and also walks through the Benchlands nearly every day on his way to work.
“These are spaces where people are allowed to be with no management whatsoever,” says Adams. “So it’s a scenario where the most aggressive people control the space. You can feel good vibes there from time to time. But it’s really focused on fentanyl, methamphetamine and opium, and access to that, so it’s quite desperate.”
In one week alone, Santa Cruz Police have responded to just over 40 calls related to incidents at the Benchlands. Twelve of those calls were related to assaults and overdoses.
“It’s inhumane conditions,” says Adams. He says the encampment needed to close months ago, and the city should have opened transitional shelters like the one on River Street years ago—and with more than 30 spaces.
“Living in the Benchlands is not appropriate for any human being,” says Adams.
When City Manager Huffaker announced that the city had postponed the closure of the Benchlands encampment at a city council meeting in June, he said that disbanding the camp hinges on the city having enough staffing and contract support, as well as police enforcement.
The announcement came around a week after six city vehicles were torched on June 2 at the municipality’s Parks and Recreation yard in Harvey West Park. Along with the fire, which city officials deemed suspicious, police also found spray-painted messages reading “Leave homeless alone” and “Stop sweeping.” These incidents are still under investigation, according to the Santa Cruz Police Department, but Huffaker said that afterward, city employees were concerned for their safety and expressed a desire for more police enforcement.
Security at the encampment has increased, with three officers every day patrolling San Lorenzo Park. Smith says police will be present during the move, and the city is working with the Sheriff’s Department to supplement security. But just how many officers will be available during the move is still unknown.
“We’re not to that level of detail on the plan,” says Smith.
Planning Project
In October of 2021, the county operated 638 shelter beds, in large part thanks to one-time pandemic funding; now, that number is down to 386.
Because of the limited capacity and the restrictions on shelters, homeless advocates say that even the opening of new, city-run shelters is not enough to keep people off the streets. They assert there needs to be a long-term, comprehensive plan that will prevent other unmanaged encampments from arising to fill the gap in services.
Those gaps can be exacerbated when encampments are closed—it becomes much harder for case managers to stay in contact with people they were helping to access services or find housing.
“Even if, or when, folks get settled again, it’s a crapshoot of whether or not service providers will be able to find them,” says Morrison. This is why it’s critical that the city identifies safe, overnight areas that homeless people can rely on for more than a year, he says.
Overall, Morrison says, the city and the community need to work together to help address homelessness if both want to keep people out of the streets and prevent another large-scale encampment. That means saying yes to affordable housing programs, it means education around temporary shelters in neighborhoods and providing services that aim to get people housed, in addition to offering people a safe place to sleep.
“What’s missing? An overall community plan to end homelessness, what the steps are,” says Morrison. “And then, we need to think, ‘Does closing this encampment fit into that plan or not?’”
The Santa Cruz County Regional Transportation Commission on Thursday will consider releasing a request for proposals (RFP) for an engineering company to conduct a study intended to prepare for electric passenger rail along the county’s 32-mile track system.
The study would cover the 22-mile stretch between Pajaro Junction in north Monterey County and Natural Bridges Drive in Santa Cruz.
With a cost estimated at around $17 million, the study would help county transportation officials define their vision for how an electric rail system would look, including the number of stops, how frequently the train will run and what the potential ridership will be, says RTC Senior Transportation Engineer Sarah Christensen.
Also included will be a detailed study of how to convert the single-track freight line to a rail transit system, Christensen says.
The report would also include an environmental impact report for segments of the track between Rio del Mar Boulevard and Lee Road, and between Beach Street and the Pajaro Junction.
If the Commission approves releasing the RFP, Christensen estimates the RTC will likely vote on possible proposals in November. The study would then take at least one year to complete.
If approved by the Commission, the RFP would be the most significant step on the controversial rail project since the resounding defeat of Measure D in the June 7 election, which would have changed language in the county’s general plan to focus on a trail-only model. It would also likely have resulted in “railbanking” and the removal of much of the track along the line.
More than 73% of voters rejected Measure D, despite a media blitz by proponents powered by more than $300,000 in campaign contributions.
But the idea of a passenger rail system—an end-of-the-rainbow project still far in the future—has divided the county, with dueling utopian visions for the existing countywide rail line. While many hope for a pedestrian-bicycle path to replace the tracks, others see the possibility of a system that could conceivably connect to the greater Bay Area transportation network and help alleviate gridlock traffic on Highway 1.
RTC officials have said it could cost as much as $60 million to make the needed improvements on the track, even before a rail system can be considered.
Last year, SCCRTC Director Guy Preston recommended that the county not pursue a partnership with a company hoping to provide passenger service between Capitola and Santa Cruz, citing the cost and scope of the project.
If the RFP is approved, the project could not be funded entirely by funds from Measure D—a half-cent sales tax approved by voters in 2016 that has raised millions for transportation projects countywide.
RTC officials have identified the competitive State Rail Assistance Program funding to pay for the rest, with a required local match of 20%.
Commission staff is recommending that the projects currently under development would continue as separate contracts.
This includes the nearly one-mile stretch currently under construction between the intersection of Bay and California streets and Beach Street in Santa Cruz. When completed in 2023, it will connect with the 1.2-mile trail completed in 2020 that runs from the Bay-California intersection to Natural Bridges Drive, which, the RTC says, serves more than 800 cyclists and pedestrians per day.
Together, they make up Segment 7 of the Coastal Rail Trail, and will create 2.1 miles of the project’s spine between Natural Bridges Drive and Pacific Avenue at the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf.
The RTC will work with the City of Watsonville to determine whether the stretch of the track there—known as Segment 18—will be included in the study.
The SCCRTC will meet Aug. 4 at 9am in room 525 of the County Board of Supervisors Chambers at 701 Ocean St. in Santa Cruz. It will be the commission’s first in-person meeting. Participants can also attend remotely via Zoom at bit.ly/3zIGfFd.
Two more potential candidates have emerged for the Nov. 8 election, which could see the Santa Cruz City Council welcome two new council members, as well as a directly elected mayor.
Joy Schendledecker pulled papers to run for mayor, while Scott Newsome pulled papers to seek the District 4 city council seat, which will oversee downtown and the Beach Flats and Mission Street neighborhoods when Santa Cruz changes to district elections following the election.
Schendledecker, on her website, says she is a community organizer, artist and parent who lives on the westside. Her website also states that she is a member of the Working Families Party and the local Democratic Socialists of America group. In addition, she is on the organizing committees of Sanitation for the People and Santa Cruz Cares, according to her website.
Newsome is a UCSC lecturer in the political science department and an author who earned his Ph.D. in politics from the school in 2020.
Schendledecker joins former State Assemblymember Fred Keeley, who has also served as Santa Cruz County treasurer and supervisor, in pulling papers to possibly run for the new at-large mayor position. Keeley told GT last week that he has not yet determined if he will run for office.
Newsome, meanwhile, could face off against either Gregory Hyver or Bodie Shargel, a 19-year-old UCSC student who has already qualified for the Nov. 8 ballot, according to the city website.
Candidates have until Aug. 12 to turn in various election department forms to qualify for the ballot.
District 6 is also up for grabs in November, and current councilwoman Renee Golder is the lone person who has been issued candidate nomination papers as of Monday. This district will encompass neighborhoods west of Columbia Street and south of Younglove Avenue and Highway 1, as well as a portion of UCSC.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Aries poet Ada Limón advises us to notice and love “the music of the world.” She says that praising and giving attention to the good things “are as important and necessary as witnessing and naming and holding the grief and sorrow that comes with being alive.” This is always a crucial principle to keep in mind, but it will be extra essential for you in the coming weeks. Your ability to attract the influences and resources you need most will thrive if you focus on and celebrate the music of the world. PS: I encourage you to sing more than usual, too.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Here’s my hope for you in the coming months: You will cultivate a specialty for connecting people and situations that need to be affiliated but aren’t yet. You will regard your flair for blending as a gift you offer generously. Can you picture yourself doing that? I think it will be fun and will also benefit you in unexpected ways. So here’s my proposed plan: Conspire to heal fragmentation and schisms. Unite heavenly and earthly things. Keep the far side and the near side in touch with each other. Never let the past forget about the future, and vice versa. One more thing, Taurus: Be gleefully imaginative as you mix and conjoin and combine.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): In a play by Gemini philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre, a character says, “Hell is other people.” What did he mean by that? One interpretation is that our fellow humans always judge us, and their judgments rarely align with who we really are and who we imagine ourselves to be. Here’s my solution for that problem: Choose allies and companions whose views of you match your own. Is that so hard? I suspect it will be easier than usual for you in the coming months, Gemini. Take advantage of life’s natural tendency to connect you with cohorts who appreciate you. Be picky as you avoid the hell of other people.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): The people most likely to succeed as entrepreneurs are those with a high degree of analytical intelligence. Right? Well, it’s more complicated than that. Reasoning ability and problem-solving skills are key skills, but not as important as emotional intelligence: the power to understand and manage feelings. I mention this, Cancerian, because the coming months will be a favorable time to advance your ambitions by enhancing and expressing your emotional intelligence. Here’s some reading to foster your powers:
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): In the coming weeks, Leo, I urge you to always be confident that YOU ARE THE PARTY! Everywhere you go, bring the spirits of fun and revelry. Be educationally entertaining and entertainingly educational. Amuse yourself by making life more interesting for everyone. At the same time, be kind and humble, never arrogant or insensitive. A vital part of your assignment is to nourish and inspire others with your radiance and charm. That formula will ensure you get everything you need. I foresee bounty flowing your way! PS: Regularly reward your admirers and followers with your magnanimous Chesire-cat grin.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): In my Astrological Book of Life, here’s what I have inscribed about Virgos: You may not always find the perfect solution, but you are skilled at finding the best solution available. This will be an especially valuable knack in the coming weeks, both for yourself and others. I trust you will scan for practical but compassionate answers, even if they are partial. And I hope you will address at least some of everyone’s needs, even if no one is completely satisfied. You can be the master of creative compromise that we all need. Thanks in advance for your excellent service!
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Everyone knows that “balance” is a keyword for you Librans. However, there are many interpretations of what balance entails. Here’s how I define it for you during the coming weeks: 1. an openness to consider several different ways to capitalize on an opportunity, but to ultimately choose just one way; 2. the ability to see and understand all sides of every story, while also knowing that for pragmatism’s sake you must endorse a single version of the story; 3. the capacity to be both constructively critical and supportively sympathetic; 4. the facility to be welcoming and inviting while still maintaining healthy boundaries.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “Life is enchanting for me because I have so much control over what I think,” my Scorpio friend Daria told me. “If I decide to flatter myself with comments about how attractive I am, I can do just that. If I would like to imagine a good fairy visiting me while I sleep and giving me a dream of having an orgasm with my lover while we fly over the Serengeti Plains, I can.” I asked her about the times when worries gush forth unbidden from her subconscious mind and disturb her joy. She said, “I simply picture myself shoving those worries in a hole in the ground and blowing them up with an exploding rose.” I bring Daria’s mind-management expertise to your attention, Scorpio, because the coming weeks will be an excellent time for you to raise your mastery over what you think.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): People might impatiently advise you to relax and settle down. Others might tell you to stop dreaming such big visions and formulating such adventurous plans. Still others might give you the side-eye because they imagine you are having too much fun and brainstorming too wildly and laughing too loudly. If you receive messages like those, give the complainers a copy of this horoscope. It will tell them that YOU WILL NOT COMPLY WITH ANY INHIBITING DIRECTIVES. Your astrologer, me, authorizes you to be as vast and venturesome and enterprising and spontaneous as you dare. In doing so, I am speaking on behalf of the cosmic rhythms. Your plucky audacity has been heavenly ordained.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): In accordance with astrological omens, I hereby authorize you to worry, worry and worry some more. Stew and simmer and ferment as you weigh all the options and mull the correct actions. But when the time is right, end your fretting with crisp decisiveness. Shake off any residual doubt that still clings to you. And then undertake robust action to transform the situation that provoked your righteous brooding. In my astrological opinion, what I have just described is your best plan for success in the coming days.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): “I was looking for a love unlike my parents’ love or my sister’s love or the love on a foreign kitchen floor,” writes Rebecca Dinerstein Knight in her novel The Sunlit Night. “I wanted to forgive my mother and father for their misery and find myself a light man who lived buoyantly and to be both his light and his dark.” I offer you her thoughts, Aquarius, in the hope of inspiring you to expand and deepen your ideas about the love you want. The coming weeks will be a favorable time to revise and reinvigorate your definitions of intimacy and togetherness. You will have extra power to see new truths about how best to create maximum synergy and symbiosis.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): “Even raw and messy emotions can be understood as a form of light, crackling and bursting with energy,” writes Jungian psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés. For example, “We can use the light of rage in a positive way, in order to see into places we cannot usually see.” Likewise, confusion might be a healthy sign that a long-held misunderstanding is dissolving. Disappointment may herald the demise of an unrealistic expectation. So let’s unleash a big cheer for raw and messy emotions, Pisces! I suspect they will soon be your gateway to clarity and renewal.
When visiting our friends Anne and Lee in Deming, New Mexico, my husband and I were surprised to find a thriving wine industry.
Three days in Deming gave us plenty of time to experience the town, including lunch at the Wild West-like restaurant called the Adobe Deli, which lives on in fame and glory after four decades.
Showcasing what Deming has to offer, our friends took us to a wine tasting at Lescombes Family Vineyards. We loved every wine we tried, including a delicious 2021 Brut Sparkling Wine ($22).
“We proudly use only the finest early-harvest fruit from our family-owned vineyard to produce this sparkling wine of great character,” says proprietor Florent Lescombes. “Beautifully soft, fine bubbles dance on your tongue and reveal a perfectly crisp, clean finish.” She recommends serving it with hors d’oeuvres, which we enjoyed for our couple of hours in the tasting room.
Lescombes recently won several awards against stiff worldwide competition at a premier wine event in Croatia. You can buy Lescombes wines online or take a trip to Deming.
Lescombes Family Winery and Tasting Room, 7075 Hwy. 549, S.E. Deming, New Mexico, 575-546-9324. lfv.wine.
Outstanding in the Field Dinners
The founder of the famous Outstanding in the Field dinner series, Jim Denevan, returns to where it all started to prepare a fine feast—his brother Bill’s apple orchard in Santa Cruz.
“The idea for Outstanding in the Field was born with this place in mind,” says Denevan, “one long table right here, where these heirloom apples were planted several generations ago along the Santa Cruz Coast.” Expert local winemaker Ryan Beauregard will bring elixirs from his namesake Beauregard Vineyards and serve them for your absolute pleasure. What a glorious time this will be. Denevan’s dinners are now widely held, including in Europe and Africa.
Outstanding in the Field, Wednesday, Oct. 5, 3pm. Happy Valley Farm, Santa Cruz. $385. outstandinginthefield.com.
In the mid-1990s, Derek Rupp lived in Pleasure Point and worked around town in restaurants. Then in 2000, a friend of his became a chef at Google (then a small company of only a few hundred people) and brought Rupp on as a cook. The company soon blew up, and Rupp rode the wave of success, eventually becoming an executive chef. But he became less and less hands-on with food, and he wanted to cook again and work locally. As fate would have it, in 2009, he saw an ad to buy Pleasure Pizza and jumped at the opportunity, excited to live and work in his home community and own a business he had frequented as a customer for many years.
He describes the spot as “casual, wetsuit-welcome and no shoes required”—the surfboards and vintage Pleasure Point photos adorning the walls add to the vibe. Rupp’s favorite pie is the Telecaster with tomato cream sauce, pepper jack cheese, chipotle pesto, pineapple and bacon. Meanwhile, the Santa Barbara boasts artichoke hearts and spinach, and the Pleasure Combo is loaded with an assortment of meats and veggies. They are also known for Rupp’s killer homemade ranch dipping sauce—that doesn’t skimp on the dill. “It’s out of this world dill-icious,” he jokes.
Hours are 11am-9pm every day. Rupp took a slice out of his day to speak with GT about working for Google and what makes his pizza distinct.
What sets your pizza apart?
DEREK RUPP: The crust, for sure. It’s almost like focaccia bread, substantial and thick with a little more oil. This creates a nice textural contrast. You get the very crunchy and crispy bottom, paired against that nice soft bready inside. And since the crust is heartier, this allows us to add more toppings.
What was it like cooking for Google?
There were two really cool things about it. One was the fact that they pushed us to cook the best food possible for thousands of people, and also that we had so much creative freedom and got to cook different things every day. They questioned the status quo of a typical corporate cafeteria, constantly asking, “Does it have to be this way?” And out of that, we created these very unique cafés that were delivering food of incredible quality to employees and guests.
Pleasure Pizza, 4000 Portola Drive, Santa Cruz, 831-475-4002; pleasurepizzasc.com.
Embracing your inner Costco? You bet you are. One look at the shelves in most grocery stores will have you running to the largest food stores you can find. A friend of mine recently returned from Costco having scored an enormous rack of ribs for $16. “Enough for a week!” she cried triumphantly.
Well, I don’t shop at Costco, so I’ve had to rethink my menus on a day-by-day basis.
My overall pro-tip: leave the grocery list at home. Throw away your preconceived notions; i.e., what you thought you wanted for dinner. Let the prices be your guide, and see what’s on sale. That’s what you’re having for dinner. You’re not imagining things. The cost of meat, poultry, fish and eggs is 13% higher since February 2021, says the USDA. Anyone who’s watched the price of free-range organic eggs zoom upwards knows this only too well. You want to eat eggs from happy chickens? You’ll pay a dollar per egg.
And it’s not just inflation that’s affecting consumers. Some brands are turning to “shrinkflation”—you’ve noticed it happening, where the price stays the same on your favorite box of sea salt crackers, only there’s half the amount of crackers in the box. Or a variation I’m seeing more of this year: the box is shrinking, hence less product inside, but the price stays the same. Manufacturers have done their research, and they’re betting consumers would rather have smaller quantity than bigger prices. And how about those toilet paper rolls! Same size on the outside, but lo and behold the cardboard roll inside has expanded.
Some anecdotal responses from near and dear included these kvetches: “Jameson’s Irish Whisky is $5-10 more than last year.” From an old schoolmate in Massachusetts: “Dinners in restaurants at the Cape were about $8 more than last summer.” From Corralitos, a professional chef reveals that sugar costs are way up: “50 lbs. of cane sugar pre-Covid was $23, today $40. Organic sugar has doubled. Dried figs, $350 for 30 lbs., pre-Covid $220.” Andre Beauregard at Shopper’s agrees that “everything has gone up, but some things more than others and for a combination of reasons, including supply chain, availability and inflation. All the conventional milk prices have risen to almost organic prices, and along with that came higher ice cream prices and dairy prices. Oats, oils, condiments, breads, pretty much everything.” Nothing is forever, but while these insane price hikes and inflation strategies hit us in the face, try to stay flexible. And remember, there’s always scrambled eggs. Terrific with a robust red wine.
Taste of Terroir Salon
Head up to the pastoral vineyards of Lester Estate Wines for an enjoyable and enlightening tasting tour of the Corralitos growing region. Over 12 wineries of Corralitos and environs will be pouring at the afternoon tasting salon from 2:30-5pm, featuring Alfaro Family Vineyard, Aptos Vineyard, Bargetto Winery, Beauregard Vineyards, Farm Cottage Wines, Ferrari Ranch, La Vida Bella Vineyard, Left Bend, Lester Estate Wines, Regan Vineyards Winery, Sandar & Hem and Sante Arcangeli Family Wines. Tasting will be accompanied by appetizers prepared by the always remarkable chef Brad Briske and HOME Restaurant. Salon tickets are $65.
Fish the Markets
Look for the H&H folks, with their table of ice well-stocked with fresh-caught seafood items. I’m fond of their various salmon, halibut and whole rockfish. At your local farmers markets. Westside, Saturday 9am-1pm; Felton, Tuesday, 1-6pm; Aptos, Saturday 8am-noon. hhfreshfish.com.
The world-known group has lived and recorded under the radar in the community for over 20 years. Their two-night run at UCSC’s Quarry Amphitheatre will mark an unofficial coming-out party
