Re: “Fighting Chance” (GT, 3/16): I enjoyed Aiyana Moya’s reporting. Last Chance is an example of the consequences of political and legal contrivances limiting construction. Costs for the necessary road widening and turnarounds for emergency vehicles are significant. We like our no-growth seaside paradise. If folks are displaced by the ever-escalating costs to get through the ever-escalating deliberate barriers—our sympathies.
Last Chance is just litmus paper for so much housing chemistry that is going from acrid to exothermic. We have created an impossible situation. “It shall be the policy of this government to restrict the production of single-family housing to the maximum extent allowed by law.” Too bad the restrictions spilled over into all construction. Thank goodness for the kind rental property owners that can afford to offer less than top-of-market rent. Thank goodness for the hopeful investors and the taxes and fees on people’s income and savings that go into building tiny percentages of highly subsidized housing. Like Goldilocks and porridge, we can find the just-right amount of subsidized housing.
As for the rest of the housing porridge, sorry, excepting limited cases of charity and altruism, it is not possible to have affordable rent and housing prices in a seaside paradise with a “keep out” sign on the gate. Last Chance is just another sorry story about the unavoidable affordability consequences of restricting building—dare I say property rights—to the maximum extent allowed by law and politics.
Michael F. Cox
Soquel
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From a crossword puzzle addict, thanks so much for starting—and continuing—the inclusion of the Sunday New York Times crossword puzzle in the weekly Good Times. I look forward to clipping it every week! And, occasionally seeing the Two Birds Book advert on the same page is pretty neat, too. Nice touch!
Jan Kampa
Soquel
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When I was writing GT’s “Night Moves” music column in the late ’90s, it seemed like punk rock was everywhere. As heady as Fury 66, as crazy as Exploding Crustaceans, as cool as the Muggs, as totally insane as Junk Sick Dawn. Writing about those bands—and the rest of Santa Cruz’s underground music scene—was the most fun part of my job back then, but there was a certain insular feel to the whole thing. We wanted our favorite bands to break big beyond our little coastal burg, and thought they should—to us, they were just as worthy as the other punk bands that record labels were chasing around after the mega-success of Green Day, the Offspring etc.
But only one band had managed to do that: Good Riddance. Why they were so popular was no surprise—their run of albums from 1995’s For God and Country through 1999’s Operation Phoenix was incredible, both sonically and lyrically. They were on Fat Wreck Chords, they were touring the country, and by 2001’s Symptoms of a Leveling Spirit, they had even cracked the Billboard charts. They became the ambassadors of Santa Cruz punk, and it seemed like that might be the local punk scene’s only brush with success.
But it wasn’t. Fast-forward 20 years, and give a read to Mat Weir’s cover story this week about the Santa Cruz bands that are now taking the punk scene around the world by storm. Some of these bands we’ve profiled in these pages before, but this story will give you the proper context for just how big of an impact local bands like Drain, Scowl, Spy and others are having right now—and it’s got a lot of important history of the scene, as well. As Bl’ast’s Clifford Dinsmore sang in “It’s In My Blood” three decades ago, “These times are strange/Transition, change/Leaves falling, fate calling.”
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GOOD IDEA
FUR THEIR HEALTH
Vaccinations are always a good idea, and that includes vaccinations for our furry friends. The Santa Cruz County Animal Shelter is resuming its one-stop, low-cost vaccination clinic for pets, and encourages the community to keep up with their pets’ vaccines, especially to prevent rabies and distemper. Learn more about this program at scanimalshelter.org/vaccines-microchips.
GOOD WORK
BIRDS WATCHING
Two Birds Books near Pleasure Point is receiving the national recognition it deserves. Last week, Publishers Weekly announced the bookstore as one of five 2022 finalists for Best Bookstore of the Year. Local couple Gary Butler and Denise Silva opened the small bookstore during the pandemic, in December of 2020. PW will announce the winner on May 23—stay tuned!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It’s freedom.”
“This is crazy,” Sammy Ciaramitaro exclaims, flashing his signature ear-to-ear grin. “This is totally crazy.”
It’s a sweltering mid-summer day in 2021, and the lead singer of Santa Cruz hardcore act Drain is staring in awe at the throngs of people pouring into a San Jose parking lot. The smell of hot dogs and burgers fills the air from the couple of food booths set up at the last minute. Wave after wave of fans ranging from teenagers to mid-fortysomethings flood the lot, hurrying towards the makeshift wooden stage at the opposite end. It’s an unbelievable turnout, especially considering the location had just been released a mere two hours before.
On June 19th, the RBS (or Real Bay Shit) show instantly became a thing of legend. Woodstock for the hardcore punks. If you know, you know.
It was the first hardcore show in the Bay Area since the 2020 lockdowns, so coordinators and musicians of the completely DIY event weren’t sure how many people would show up. Afterwards, they counted over 2,000 tickets sold–with many more crashing the gig by hopping the fence–and they spoke with several who flew in from other states.
RBS made national news, with national music-media outlets like BrooklynVegan.com and Stereogum.com covering the event. Within hours, videos from the performances went viral on YouTube and social media.
The six-band lineup was predominantly local to what is now being heralded as the “40831 scene”–a name that combines the area codes of the Santa Cruz area with that of Silicon Valley. Santa Cruz bands in the line-up included Scowl, Drain and Gulch, while Maya (originally Maya Over Eyes) and Sunami hail from San Jose.
“It’s hard to put into words just how crazy it was,” recalls Drain founding member and drummer Tim Flegal. “The videos online don’t do it justice. It was nuts!”
RBS broke the new wave of Bay Area hardcore music onto the national level. It introduced Scowl to the world and solidified the place of bands like Drain and Gulch.
“RBS was a turning point for me, personally, in how I see the band and how I thought others saw us,” says Scowl singer Kat Moss. “There were a lot of people I didn’t know, who I had no idea were exposed to our music, singing the lyrics.”
Yet, like all underground music subcultures worth their weight in blood, sweat and moshing, the 40831 scene has been slowly building over the last several years, with Santa Cruz at its epicenter.
CALIFORNIA CURSED
“People think that we’re a newer band,” Flegal explains. “But we’ve been a band since 2014, writing music and playing shows. It’s just that no one was there.”
Flegal–the only original member of Drain–founded the group while a student at UCSC. They played local bars and house shows, influenced by hardcore but heavily dipping into the grimy sounds of heavy metal.
“It was basically a completely different band,” he remembers. “We were just a couple of friends from school who wanted to play together. Our sound was all over the place.”
It wasn’t until 2015, when Ciaramitaro, a friend of a friend through school, joined, that Drain claimed the hardcore scene as their own.
“That’s where we found our home,” Flegal says. “Once we became aware of the hardcore scene around us, it was a pretty natural progression.”
During those first few years, the 40831 was still trying to figure out what it was going to become. Venues like the 418 Project, SubRosa and Caffe Pergolesi were the local spots for the fledgling scene—all-ages venues where kids, teens and misfits could go see some local music for under $20 (sometimes free) and be themselves, just enjoying the moment while moshing out their frustrations.
“Pergolesi was our spot,” Ciaramitaro remembers. “We would go to or throw shows there, and we started seeing other bands come in. There was a whole group of other kids–we didn’t know them and they didn’t know us–but we started talking and realized they liked all the same stuff we did.”
Between 2016 and 2017, Drain released two EPs, Over Thinking and Time Enough At Last. By 2017, bands like Gulch and Hands of God (both featuring Ciaramitaro on drums) along with No Greater Fight and Jawstruck (both with Malachi Greene, and the latter also with Cole Gilbert of Scowl) were making a name for themselves locally. It was around this time that the groups noticed people were paying attention.
“I remember St. Patrick’s Day in 2016 at Pergolesi with us, No Greater Fight and Surf Combat,” Ciaramitaro recalls. “It was a free show and there were 200 kids that came out, filled the room, filled the courtyard and the cafe was booming with everyone buying drinks. There were no fights or problems, just everyone having a great time. That’s when were like, ‘Oh, something’s happening here.’”
Since then, Drain released a full-length on Revelation Records–the largest independent record label focusing strictly on hardcore–2020’s California Cursed. As a promo for the album, they worked with Santa Cruz Skateboards to recreate the 1980s Bl’ast! poster ad of Rob Roskopp launching over the band with his skateboard. This time, it was Henry Garland blasting over Drain, shredding any doubt as to the band’s place in the scene.
In September 2021, Drain announced they were signing with top punk label Epitaph, owned by Bad Religion guitarist Brett Gurewitz. Ciaramitaro says while the band is currently working on new material, it’s a slow process, as their new label wants them to have the opportunity to tour the California Cursed songs in the wake of the Covid-19 lockdowns.
“From the first time I saw Drain I knew they were special,” Spencer Biddiscombe says. “I knew they were going places.”
Ask anyone in the scene about Biddiscombe and you’re guaranteed to hear words like “legend” and “The Man.” He’s been a fixture since the 1990s, when he first started going to Fury 66 and Good Riddance shows as a high-schooler. He promoted his first gig at the Santa Cruz Veteran’s Memorial Hall (aka the Vets Hall) in 1999, and has continued to foster Santa Cruz hardcore as a promoter, fan and musician. His mid-2000s band At Risk earned a following, and his newer project, Give You Nothing, is currently working on their sophomore album.
It was Biddiscombe who first made Revelation aware of Drain by giving their demo to a friend who worked for the label. The rep was interested, and in 2019 he saw them perform at the Sound and Fury hardcore festival.
“He was floored,” Biddiscombe recalls.
Rising Tide
2019 was also a huge year for the 40831 in other ways.
That year, Scowl, Sunami and Spy–a politically minded hardcore group that Gilbert of Scowl also plays in–first formed. It was the same year when Gulch went viral in the most unlikely of ways when they posted a fan-designed, limited Sanrio-style hoodie that broke the hardcore internet. Kids even met the band at the airport on tour just to snag one.
Since releasing their debut full-length ‘How Flowers Grow’ last year, Santa Cruz’s Scowl has been written up by media outlets around the world, appeared on the cover of iconic U.K. magazine Kerrang!, and recently announced they’ll be opening for Limp Bizkit on an upcoming arena tour. PHOTO: CHRISY SALINAS/@CUHHRISSEE
“Alright. So the Gulch hoodie thing was way more ridiculous than I thought it would be,” Gulch guitarist and founder Cole Kakimoto tweeted about the incident.
Kakimoto is also the owner of screenprinting shop, Printhead, which prints designs for most of the 40831 bands, as well as other hardcore acts around the country. Before the RBS show, fans waited hours–some between three and four–to purchase merch for local bands.
“It was close to 1,000 people,” Kakimoto said after the show. “I had to cut the line off.”
When the entire world shut down in 2020, the buzz around the Santa Cruz hardcore scene skyrocketed. With nothing to do at home, people scoured the internet searching for something new to pique their interests and the 40831 did just that.
The lockdown also offered groups the opportunity to write and record new material, like Spy’s debut EP, Service Weapon.
“I originally wrote those four tracks in December 2019,” singer Peter Pawlak remembers. “We had scheduled our recording date for April 2020, then Covid happened.”
Despite the pandemic, Spy still recorded the debut, with only Pawlak, Gilbert and producer Charles Toshio in the studio. Toshio used to play in San Jose hardcore act PCMKR (pronounced “peacemaker”) and is the engineer behind the studio records of 40831 bands like Eightfold Path, Scowl, Sunami and more.
“It all starts with the DIY,” Pawlak says. “It’s crazy to see the rise of this wave from humble origins to the behemoth that it is now. It’s always been exciting for us in the Bay, but now the rest of the world gets to see it.”
Bl’ast! From the Past
When it comes to punk rock and hardcore, Santa Cruz played an essential and often overlooked role in forming the California scene and sound. It quickly became a destination stop for ’80s punks bands touring between L.A. and the Bay Area, with local hardcore heroes Bl’ast!—formed in 1983–a main attraction.
“It all comes back to Bl’ast!,” says Nick Dill, a longtime underground music promoter with Bane Shows and now the Hard Times Shows.
Before their first break-up in 1991, Bl’ast! influenced countless musicians and bands. Dave Grohl–arguably the biggest rock star in the world right now–counts Bl’ast! as one of his all-time favorite bands. He wrote about them in his 2021 memoir, remastered their first two albums in 2013 and even recorded a couple songs with them in 2015.
As with hardcore, in any city, obscure venues allowing all-ages shows nourished the local scene; cafes, pizzerias and house parties are all essential to the hardcore subculture. In 1980s Santa Cruz, Club Culture was the place for these bands.
“The one thing that plagues hardcore, or any heavy music, is the lack of all-ages venues that allow that kind of music,” explains Clifford Dinsmore, lead singer of Bl’ast!. “Club Culture used to bring every band through there–like Corrosion of Conformity and Eye For an Eye–and we’d all just hang out before and after shows. Once that place closed down, there was nowhere to play.”
Today, Dinsmore sings in Seized Up, a hardcore supergroup featuring Chuck Platt (Good Riddance), Danny Buzzard (Fast Asleep/All You Can Eat) and Andy Granelli (The Disillers/Nerve Agents). Their debut album, Brace Yourself,dropped in 2020, and the band followed-up with the three-song EP, Marching Down the Spiral, last year. They’re currently working on their second album scheduled to come out sometime later this year.
“It’s definitely coming along,” he says. “There’s no real rhyme or reason to Seized Up. We write our songs by whatever everyone’s strong points are, and now it’s almost evolving into this post-hardcore sound.”
The ’90s saw a new wave of hardcore and punk in Santa Cruz, with bands like Fury 66, Craig’s Brother and Good Riddance leading the way. At that time, hardcore’s home was in rooms like the Vets Hall, the 418 Project (which was in the old Club Culture building) and Palookaville.
“Most of the bands were fans, going to the shows and contributing to the scene,” remembers Fury 66 singer, Joe Clements. “There was never a rock star attitude.”
Fury 66 lasted a brief six years (1993-1999), releasing only two full-length albums, two EPs and two 7-inch singles. Clements went on to form the Buddhist-focused band The Deathless in 2015. Originally begun as a group, the Deathless has transformed into Clements’ solo project; he released a second EP, Audio Sangha Vol. 1, last year.
“People like Joe are the reason why this town has what it has [in the hardcore scene],” explains Joel Haston.
Since 2004, Haston has promoted hardcore, punk and metal shows throughout the Central Coast and state, first as Arsenic Productions then as cofounder of PinUp Productions in 2008.
“Santa Cruz has a good sense of identity and culture, and we respect those who came before,” he continues. “And because of that reason, I don’t think we’re ever going away.”
By the early 2000s, Numbskull Shows, Biddiscombe, Bane Shows and Haston were the four main hardcore promoters in town. Venues like the Pioneer Street location, Caffe Pergolesi, SubRosa and Jim Dandy’s in Prunedale–a truck rental garage by day and punk venue by night– became the new all-ages spots.
“Before there was a big scene in Sacramento, bands from L.A. would go to Jim Dandy’s,” Haston remembers. “It was this little, tiny, crazy place. Our scene has always been different and unique.”
While all four of those promoters from the 2000s are still a major part of the scene today, a new crop began sprouting up in the 2010s.
“This younger generation of kids were so hungry they started throwing their own shows,” Haston says. “It had nothing to do with previously established promoters. The kids just wanted the punk and hardcore scene so badly they made it happen.”
FLOWERING SCOWL
“If anyone deserves [recognition], it’s Malachi,” Ciaramitaro says of his longtime friend and local scene promoter. “That dude has been in a bunch of bands and has literally carried the scene on his back.”
For almost a decade, Greene has promoted local shows through his Santa Cruz Hardcore Shows brand and social media. Recently he joined forces with a friend to form R’N’RG, which casts a wider net promoting shows throughout the state. But that doesn’t mean Greene is ever turning in his local card.
“I still use the Santa Cruz Hardcore page a lot because I want to promote what friends and other bands from Santa Cruz are doing,” he explains.
Celebrating their third-year anniversary as a band this month, Scowl has blossomed with audiences around the globe. RBS might’ve introduced them to the world, but it was their 2021 full-length, How Flowers Grow, that made them a household name within the scene.
Released in November, it made CVLT Nation’s “Top 10 Albums of 2021” list, and they got noticed in New Noise Magazine, BrooklynVegan.com, Revolver magazine and more. In December, they were one of three acts to be featured on the cover of U.K. publication Kerrang! and recently announced they’ll be playing an arena tour, opening for 2000s nu metal act, Limp Bizkit.
“There’s a feeling of being overwhelmed,” singer Moss explains of the band’s sudden fame. “We’re just riding the wave, because we have no idea what to expect.”
Scowl was born when she approached Greene about starting a project, inspired by Greene and Gilbert’s previous band, Jawstruck.
“Malachi and Cole are a package deal because they’ve been playing in bands for so long,” she says. “So it was pretty easy for them to get together and write our demo, which was in March 2019.”
Greene played bass for that initial recording, but they soon recruited Bailey Lupo for the job. He’d been actively going to shows thrown by Greene and others at Caffe Pergolesi and SubRosa, yet remained on the periphery. However, the band’s first tour solidified their friendship together—a “holy grail” moment, according to Moss.
“Kat and I had a collective moment where we realized, ‘Oh shit, he is just as much of a shithead as Malachi,’” says Gilbert with a laugh.
“I remember seeing them in Jawstruck and thought they were fucking sick. Now we’re in a band together and I hate them,” Lupo jokes.
Their second EP was released in November 2019, with the intent on touring in the spring of 2020. However, the lockdown gave Scowl the downtime needed to focus on what would become How Flowers Grow. It’s a blistering 10-song, 15-minute-and-34-second absolute ripper of an album stripped of any unnecessary fat, delivering a raw and bloody sound.
From the opening on “Bloodhound,” with its slow call-to-war drum beat, to Ciaramitaro’s guest vocals on “Fuck Around” and Moss’ manic growls on “How Flowers Grow,” the debut album burns everything in its path and leaves a scorched earth behind.
Scowl’s rocket to the top of the underground scene is equal parts talent, tenacity and standing apart from the rest of their peers. Moss’ vocals are brutal yet with precise pronunciation making every word clear and distinct. Unlike other bands in the genre who rely on cliché black and white imagery, Scowl simmers in a world of bright colors and flowers. From the dandelion in their logo and psychedelic cartoons imposed over live footage–filmed in Santa Cruz County, of course–in their videos to Moss’ bright make-up and fashion-forward outfits, Scowl is unapologetically themselves.
“I like to present myself this way, it’s part of my identity,” she says.
Identity and personal evolution are the major themes spun throughout the album.
“I had a lot of stuff going on in my life that was pissing me off. I was experiencing a lot of growth and I projected everything lyrically,” says Moss.
“It’s fun to catch people off guard,” Greene says of Scowl’s spirit and sound.
It’s a sentiment exemplified by the track “Seeds to Sow,” when Moss abandons her screams for clean singing, and band friend Adrian Delaney jumps in on the most unlikely of hardcore instruments, the saxophone. Greene points to the founding days of hardcore and punk as a major influence on Scowl breaking down musical barriers.
“Look at bands like Bad Brains doing reggae, or Husker Du, who started as a hardcore band,” he says, adding Scowl will never “pigeonhole” themselves. “Anyone who trips on that never listened to punk.”
FUTURE CORE
“Realistically the scene will not be sustainable at the level it’s at right now,” Biddiscombe answers when asked about the future of the 40831. “That’s not to say it won’t be amazing, vibrant and big. These bands have been building for a little while, but right now there is [an explosion], partly because of the catharsis of everyone going to shows again.”
Just as Covid helped break the scene, it also gave hardcore a giant black eye by closing down many of the all-ages venues that originally fostered this new wave. But venues like the Vets Hall and the Catalyst are hosting more all-ages hardcore shows, and Biddiscombe has recently started throwing shows in Soquel at a new location called the Flo Spot.
Still, the lack of a dedicated all-ages venue is glaring.
“Right now is the perfect time for someone to open up an all-ages venue, because you will corner the whole market,” Dill says. “The whole Bay Area market.”
The spotlight on the 40831 has also changed the dynamic for many of the people in the scene. Last September, Gulch announced they would be breaking up sometime this year, right at the height of their popularity. They currently have only seven shows left, with three of the locations and dates still a secret from the public.
“A lot of bands want attention like this,” Kakimoto says. “But nobody in Gulch is interested in it. We do what we want, when we want to.”
Regardless of the setbacks, the 40831–and specifically the Santa Cruz scene–is showing no signs of slowing down.
Along with Drain’s work-in-progress, Scowl is also working on new material amid the endless short tours and summer European festivals they plan to play this year.
“I can’t stop writing. It keeps me sane,” Greene says before adding with a laugh, “Maybe I should go to therapy.”
Pawlak says that Spy is also working on new material and will release a split single with a band he’s not allowed to disclose yet, along with a “proper hardcore full-length” later this year.
“So maybe 15 to 20 minutes long,” he laughs.
“Spy is the next to blow up,” Dill states. “They were on a lot of top ten albums of 2021 lists—and that was just an EP.”
And while this current wave must inevitably crash at some point, the people who have kept the scene alive all these years don’t worry about it ever truly going away.
“There will always be a different resurgence,” Clements says. “There will always be different incarnations of hardcore, because it’s about what’s happening now, what people are going through. It’s relatable.”
For Ciaramitaro, taking it all one moment at a time is the best way to experience the here and now.
“I wish I could put my finger on what makes everything the 40831 is doing so cool,” he says. “It pops off, I don’t know what it is but I’m stoked for it. It won’t be like that forever. But for now, I’m just loving every minute of it and going to every show I can.”
For the first time in this country’s history, older adults are soon expected to outnumber children. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, by 2030—by which time even the youngest of the Boomer generation will have turned 65—older Americans will make up 21% of the population, compared to 15% today.
This same shift is happening locally, as well.
“More people here are going to be over age 60 than under 18 very soon,” says Alicia Morales, director of Santa Cruz County’s Adult and Long Term Care Division. “In Santa Cruz specifically, by 2030 about 30% of our residents will be over the age of 60.”
With this comes new challenges: How can communities better meet the needs of their older populations? How can cities become safer, healthier, friendlier and altogether more livable places for these residents?
In California, a group of advocates has been working to address those issues. The SCAN Foundation, an independent charity aimed at transforming care for older adults, led an effort to get both of the last gubernatorial candidates to commit to creating a comprehensive Master Plan for Aging (MPA) if elected.
The ambitious 10-year plan, says Morales, aims to provide a framework that communities can use to build their own initiatives and strategies that function on a local level.
“What we want to do is really look at the systems we already have in place,” Morales says, “and focus on improving and reforming those systems in innovative ways, to help promote aging in California.”
Paving a Path
When Gov. Gavin Newsom was elected in 2018, he created a 30-person advisory committee, made up of caregiving and at-home services experts, academics, health care professionals and regional Area Agencies on Aging (AAA), which are tasked with fulfilling the requirements of the Older Americans Act of 1965.
“Our group was in charge of putting together recommendations of things we would like to see in the plan, with public input,” says Clay Kempf, executive director of the Seniors Council of Santa Cruz and San Benito Counties, a local AAA organization. “Throughout the conversation, there was great concern that it not just be a plan sitting on a shelf. That it actually be used. It’s fine for a governor to say, ‘We want to have this plan,’ but somebody’s got to implement it. I think it was brilliant to put that component and document together, just to make it clear: We want to see this become reality.”
MPA includes five broad goals: Housing for All Stages and Ages; Health Reimagined; Inclusion and Equity, Not Isolation; Affording Aging; and Caregiving that Works.
Housing for All Stages and Ages looks at the various types of housing needed to support older adults, including neighborhoods that are accessibility friendly and disaster-ready. Health Reimagined aims to create communities that support healthy aging—that is, access to good medical care, home care and health plans.
The Inclusion and Equity, Not Isolation goal targets job creation, volunteer opportunities and other types of engagement for older adults while protecting them from isolation, discrimination, abuse, neglect and exploitation.
Affording Aging speaks to how the current cost of living is outpacing retirement income. Morales reported that in Santa Cruz County, 42% of residents do not have sufficient income to meet basic needs, and that 11.3% of people experiencing homelessness are now over 65.
The final goal, Caregiving that Works, addresses the ongoing caregiver shortages occurring nationwide and locally.
“Good caregiving is essential for people to live where and how they want to,” Morales says. “This is also about job creation, pay and training. Most caregivers are family members and are unpaid. It’s estimated that there is a couple of billion dollars of care in the U.S. being provided to people for free. We want to build a better system for caregivers.”
With the MPA, agencies and their nonprofits partners hope to tie in budget requests for state and federal funding to these five items.
“That is what the plan helps us do,” Kempf says. “A budget proposal will seem more credible because it ties into something that the governor supports. We don’t have to work so hard. We can just say, ‘Yeah, this ties into goal No. 4 on the MPA.’ You can walk away with support right off the bat.”
Earlier this year, the Seniors Council held a kickoff webinar to introduce the community to the MPA, encouraging more people to get involved. They will be meeting with local leaders every month to discuss how it can be used. In addition, the county has pulled together a governance group that is meeting quarterly about the plan.
“Santa Cruz County really wanted to take the lead,” Kempf says. “So I’m cheering, silently doing a standing ovation that there’s engagement here, and an effort to try and implement some of these opportunities.”
Groundwork
Prior to adopting the MPA, local groups were already looking for ways to help older adults. The City of Watsonville, with the help of Kempf and Older Adult Services Supervisor Katie Nuñez, implemented Livable Communities (LC), an initiative through the World Health Organization that was adopted by AARP. By receiving LC status, a jurisdiction is taking a five-year commitment to becoming a more livable community for older adults.
“It’s about working on housing, transportation, walkability, social programs, health services … basically, the overall livability of a community,” Nuñez says. “It’s about looking through the lens of older adults, and the challenges they face.”
Both Watsonville and the City of Santa Cruz have now moved toward the LC designation, as has the county as a whole. The jurisdictions will soon join forces to conduct a countywide survey to determine what issues are most important to residents.
“We are looking to partner with the county to help with outreach efforts,” Nuñez says. “That way, we don’t have to double up.”
Adds Morales: “As we’re moving forward with the MPA, we’re sort of meeting the Livable Communities goal at the same time. We figured, let’s come together, leverage resources and be as efficient as possible.”
South Santa Cruz County will soon become a regional hub for senior services. Elderday Adult Day Health Care, a program of nonprofit Community Bridges, is moving into Watsonville. On March 25, a groundbreaking ceremony will be held for their new center at 521 Main St.
The $6 million project, aided by a $2.5 million grant from the Central California Alliance for Health, will add an additional 3,600 square feet of space and allow the program to expand its services.
“We’re just really excited because this means that we’re going to serve lots of seniors with medically complex needs, have daily access to nurses, to therapists, social workers, to help support their health as well as their well-being,” says Community Bridges CEO Raymon Cancino. “And it will help families have a safe location for their loved ones during the day, which is incredibly needed.”
Elderday moving to South County will be a boon to the municipality, which is one of the fastest-growing and most densely populated in terms of MediCal eligible patients. The move will decrease the number of cars on the busy Highway 1 corridor, and make it viable for North Monterey County and San Benito County seniors to be served, Cancino says.
“Programs like Elderday are incredibly rare in the State of California,” Cancino adds, “just because the funding has been going down year by year from the federal government. We’re lucky we have great partners [who] understand the preventative health value of adult day health care services that having daily monitoring helps tremendously in health outcomes. We’re excited to have a healthier senior population by relocating to Watsonville.”
Overlooked Issue
Throughout the pandemic, Community Bridges has retained its Lift Line transportation services and adapted its Meals on Wheels program. It also partnered with the county, cities, local libraries and other groups to create Senior Center Without Limits, which offers virtual services to older adults to help them stay connected with activities and friends as they sheltered in their homes.
But more support for older adult-serving organizations and programs is sorely needed. In March 2021, AARP reported that growing feelings of loneliness, abandonment, despair and fear have had a drastic effect on older adults’ physical and emotional health, possibly pushing the death toll of Covid-19 higher, both for those living at home and at long-term care facilities.
In addition, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reported that poor social relationships were associated with a 29% increased risk of heart disease and a 32% increased risk of stroke in older adults, and that loneliness among heart failure patients was associated with a nearly four times increased risk of death, 68% increased risk of hospitalization and 57% increased risk of emergency visits. These issues disproportionately affect people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals and victims of elder abuse.
The MPA, as well as the LC initiative, could help to tackle these issues by prioritizing vital funding and resources that would normally go to other departments or projects.
“The pandemic has really laid bare the bones of concerns and the issues that we have that impact vulnerable communities,” Morales says. “Putting together comprehensive plans like these will hopefully address these disparities. Ageism is one of the last -isms we haven’t really tackled as a society, and this really gives us an opportunity to do that.”
Adds Kempf: “Legislation is becoming more and more senior-friendly. We need to elevate the conversation about older adults. And that has happened. This plan is proof of it.”
A lawsuit against a Scotts Valley Police Department officer and three former officers, as well as a former Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Deputy, is moving toward a possible settlement.
The action, filed in federal court, claims they illegally pulled over and searched a former UCSC administrator’s vehicle.
The four current and former SVPD officers and former Sheriff’s Deputy Steven Carney are set to discuss terms with plaintiff Darin Matthews on May 24. Matthews—previously the chair for the Supply Chain Management Certificate Program at UCSC, and now an admin at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo—says he never gave law enforcement permission to go through his car or belongings during the Feb. 19, 2019 incident.
He claims he was pulled over for no good reason as he headed to his job at UCSC Silicon Valley extension.
Law enforcement didn’t have a warrant authorizing them to conduct the search, although officers claim Matthews gave his consent.
Almost three years later, on Feb. 10, SVPD defendants Wayne Bellville, Michael Birley, Michael Neronde and Paul Lopez demanded a jury trial in the U.S. Northern District of California. But, within a week, Magistrate Judge Laurel Beeler had set a settlement conference.
In an email, Matthews confirmed he is considering settling the case, but adds it could still go to trial.
“The most important thing to me is the truth, which they are unwilling to share,” he says. “I would like to know, who said what to S.C. County Sheriff about drug activity at my home? There was simply no illegal activity going on, so I would like to know: Who fabricated a story to get a search warrant?”
The filing on behalf of the SVPD officers by attorneys Mika J. Frisk and Michael C. Wenzel of San Francisco-based law firm Bertrand, Fox, Elliot, Osman & Wenzel points out that the City of Scotts Valley is no longer technically a defendant in the action, due to the prior ruling that allowed the case to proceed.
But that decision allowed Matthews to pursue the County of Santa Cruz for damages based on the conduct of their employee, under what’s called a “Monell” claim (named after a 1978 case brought against New York’s Department of Social Services).
The SVPD officers, in their filing, reiterated their argument that while Carney did search Matthews’ vehicle, he had agreed to it. The Scotts Valley officers want Matthews to pay their legal fees.
Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin declined to comment for this story. The City of Scotts Valley did not respond to an email seeking comment.
According to his Linkedin, Neronde left the department in 2019 and now works as a middle school teacher. Lopez left SVPD to work at another agency, a former colleague told Good Times. Michael Birley is not listed as a current SVPD officer on the department’s website.
Carney previously worked as SVPD officer. He recently announced on social media that he was retiring from the Sheriff’s Office. He’s been working as a corporate security manager at Trident Security Solutions in Cupertino since January, according to his Linkedin profile.
The search of Matthews’ vehicle (for which they didn’t have a warrant) and of his home (for which they did) didn’t turn up anything illegal, and Matthews was never charged with a crime.
Matthews says he has friends who work in law enforcement, and he knows it’s not easy to get a search warrant.
“Someone has to witness criminal activity occurring and swear to it, either seeing a drug purchase happen or buying drugs themselves,” he says, adding that the explanation he was given for the investigation is that there was a lot of activity in and out of his home—“which is not a crime the last I checked.”
Matthews, who is white, thinks someone may have made an assumption about guests of his, who were not.
“I did have several Hispanic friends visit and stay with me, and some of them had neck tattoos,” he says. “They are all great people that are hard-working and responsible citizens, which is why I welcomed them in my home.”
Police say they pulled Matthews over because he had paper license plates. Matthews says they were perfectly legal.
Several days after the incident, Matthews wrote to the judge that issued the search warrant for his residence. In a letter dated March 13, 2019, Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge John Gallagher wrote back, emphasizing he hadn’t given permission for police to search Matthews’ car and that Matthews should “consider filing a complaint with the Sheriff’s Department regarding that contact.”
Matthews’ lawyer Kathleen E. Wells said officers appeared to be trying to connect her client to a drug bust in Las Vegas. A records check by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, completed April 14, 2019, confirmed Matthews had never been convicted of any felonies or misdemeanors there—or even arrested.
Matthews’ public records request to SVPD resulted in an incident report that confirmed the agency was only assisting another agency.
In a separate case, the City of Scotts Valley is facing a lawsuit from disgruntled former SVPD Sgt. David Ball, who is disputing the city council’s decision to uphold prior City Manager Tina Friend’s decision to terminate his employment.
He’s also seeking damages, claiming ageism. But Scotts Valley’s lawyers say Ball went rogue after a female colleague rejected his romantic advances.
Through court documents, they say that Ball enlisted teammates to help disparage the female officer. Lopez and Neronde were two of the officers Ball relied on to make “derogatory and demeaning comments” about the woman, according to disciplinary records. And Neronde was one of two officers who conducted research in connection with a citizen complaint against her, despite Capt. Mike Dean withholding approval for the assignment—and even cautioning it was a bad idea.
The complaint was ultimately deemed bogus, and appeared to have been seeded from within the police department, investigators found. According to court papers, Capt. Dean noted the complainant “appeared to have an unusual wealth of knowledge of the Department’s internal policies” that a layperson wouldn’t possess, leading him to believe “someone” inside SVPD may have filled him in ahead of time.
The items fill out a ballot that already features the countywide vote on Santa Cruz County Greenway’s controversial “railbanking” initiative and several federal, state and local offices, including the battle for the 3rd and 4th district seats on the County Board of Supervisors vacated by Ryan Coonerty and Greg Caput, respectively.
On June 7, Santa Cruz residents will decide whether the city should create six city council districts, each represented by its own councilmember, and if voters should be able to directly elect an at-large mayor. The alternative, which would take effect in November if voters reject Measure E, would mean the city would be diced into seven council districts and the mayor would be determined on a rotating basis.
Santa Cruz residents will also be asked if the city should raise its sales tax in hopes of stabilizing the municipality’s financial footing. The increase, known now as Measure F, from 9.25% to 9.75% on purchases—excluding groceries, prescription medicine, diapers and feminine hygiene products—would generate an estimated $6 million in additional revenue for the City at a time when it faces a looming budget deficit as a result of the pandemic and CZU Lightning Complex fires.
The Carib people from Surinam quote their mysterious Snake Spirit as follows: “I am the force of the spirit of the lightning eel, the thunder ax, the stone. I am the force of the firefly; thunder and lightning have I created.” I realize that what I’m about to say may sound far-fetched, but I suspect you will have access to powers that are comparable to the Snake Spirit’s in the coming weeks. In fact, your state of being reminds me of how Aries poet Marge Piercy expressed her quests for inspiration: “When I work, I am pure as an angel tiger, and clear is my eye and hot my brain and silent all the whining grunting piglets of the appetites.”
TAURUS (April 20-May 20)
“It’s always too early to quit,” wrote cheerful author Norman Vincent Peale, who first popularized the idea of “positive thinking.” I’m an optimistic person myself, but I think his advice is excessively optimistic. On some occasions, it’s wise to withdraw your energy from a project or relationship you’ve been working on. Struggling to find relevance and redemption may reach a limit. Pushing ever onward might be fruitless and even harmful. However, I don’t think that now is one of those times for you, Taurus. According to my reading of the astrological omens, it is too early for you to quit.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20)
“You can be as earnest and ridiculous as you need to be, if you don’t attempt it in isolation.” So says author Barbara Kingsolver. She adds, “The ridiculously earnest are known to travel in groups. And they are known to change the world.” In my view, this is perfect advice for you right now. If you and the members of your crew focus on coordinating your efforts, you could accomplish blazing amazements in the coming weeks. You may solve riddles that none of you has been able to decipher alone. You can synergize your efforts in such a way that everyone’s individual fate will be lifted up.
CANCERIAN (June 21-July 22)
About 200 years ago, poet William Wordsworth wrote, “Every great and original writer must himself create the taste by which he is to be relished.” Now I’ve come up with a variation on that wisdom: “Every great and original soul must herself create the taste by which she is to be understood and appreciated.” That’s what I hope you will work on in the coming weeks, Cancerian: fostering an ambiance in which you can be even better understood and appreciated. You now have extra power to teach people how to value you and get the best out of you.
LEO (July 23-August 22)
“I hate housework!” complained comedian Joan Rivers. “You make the beds, you do the dishes, and six months later you have to start all over again.” I wish I could give you a six-month reprieve from having to attend to those chores, Leo. In fact, I’d love it if I could permanently authorize you to avoid all activities that distract you from thinking big thoughts and feeling rich emotions and pursuing expansive adventures. But I’m afraid I can only exempt you from the nagging small stuff for just the next three weeks or so—four, tops. After that, you’ll have to do the dishes and make the beds again. But for the foreseeable future: Focus your energy on thinking big thoughts and feeling rich emotions and pursuing expansive adventures!
VIRGO (August 23-September 22)
A British plumber named Kev Crane worked for weeks to install a new bathroom at a private home. As he toiled, he passed the time by singing his favorite songs. He didn’t know that the homeowner, Paul Conneally, was the owner of a music label. So he was surprised and delighted when Conneally offered him a deal to record an album in the label’s studio. There may be a comparable development in your life during the coming weeks, Virgo. You could be noticed in new ways for what you do well. Your secret or unknown talents may be discovered or revealed. You might get invitations to show more of who you really are. Be alert for such opportunities.
LIBRA (September 23-October 22)
It’s the start of the Listening Season for you Libras. I propose a full-on celebration of listening: a three-week Holiday of Paying Close Attention to Important and Interesting Words Being Said in Your Vicinity. Make yourself a magnet for useful revelations. Be alert for the rich information that becomes available as you show the world you would love to know more of its secrets. For inspiration, read these quotes. 1. You cannot truly listen to anyone and do anything else at the same time. —M. Scott Peck. 2. Learn to listen. Opportunity sometimes knocks very softly. —my friend Jenna. 3. Listening is being able to be changed by the other person. —Alan Alda. 4. If you want to be listened to, you should put in time listening. —Marge Piercy. 5. Listening is a magnetic and strange thing, a creative force. When we are listened to, it creates us, makes us unfold. —Karl A. Menninger.
SCORPIO (October 23-November 21)
“Worry doesn’t count as preparation,” writes author Lily Akerman. That sounds wise, but I don’t think it’s true in all cases. At its best, worrying may serve as a meditation that helps us analyze potential problems. It prompts us to imagine constructive actions we might take to forestall potential disruptions—and maybe even prevent them from erupting into actual disruptions. I bring these thoughts to your attention, Scorpio, because now is an excellent time to engage in this kind of pondering. I declare the next three weeks to be your Season of Productive Worrying.
SAGITTARIUS (November 22-December 21)
If I had my way, you’d be a connoisseur of kisses in the coming weeks. You’d make it your intention to expand your repertoire of kissing styles and ask willing partners to do the same. You would give and receive unwieldy kisses, brave kisses, and mysterious kisses. You would explore foolish, sublime kisses and sincere but inscrutable kisses and awakening kisses that change the meaning of kisses altogether. Are you interested in pursuing this challenge? It will be best accomplished through unhurried, playful, luxurious efforts. There’s no goal except to have experimental fun.
CAPRICORN (December 22-January 19)
“Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days,” wrote author Flannery O’Connor. Her observation may be a bit of an exaggeration, but not much. And I’m offering it to you now, as you begin a phase when you can glean many new teachings about your childhood—insights that could prove handy for a long time to come. I encourage you to enjoy a deep dive into your memories of your young years. They have superb secrets to divulge.
AQUARIUS (January 20- February 18)
“Creativity is the power to connect the seemingly unconnected,” said author William Plomer. I agree with that. And I’m pleased to let you know that in the coming weeks, you will have more of this power to connect than you’ve had in a long time. I hope you will use it to link your fortunes to influences that inspire you. I hope you will wield it to build bridges between parts of your world that have been separate or alienated until now. And I hope you will deploy your enhanced capacity for blending and joining as you weave at least one magnificent new creation.
PISCES (February 19-March 20)
“I use my intelligence to discover more ways of appreciating you,” author Piscean Anaïs Nin told her lover Henry Miller. In the coming weeks, I recommend you activate a similar ambition. Now is a time when you can enhance your close relationships with important allies by deepening your insight into them. What magic is at play within them that you haven’t fully recognized before? How could you better see and understand their mysteries? PS: You may be pleased when your deepening vision of them prompts them to extend the same favor toward you.
Homework: What non-sexual experience or adventure do you lust for? newsletter.freewillastrology.com.
Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery site has a storied history. It is named after James Richards Wright who owned a parcel of land there in the 1800s and had a town named after him called Wrights.
Railroad workers were housed in the then-remote area while boring the 1.2-mile Summit Tunnel through the mountains. Completed in 1880, the station in the town of Wrights was “a vital link between the Santa Clara Valley and Santa Cruz.”
Wrights Station Vineyard is making some mighty good wines, including a superb 2018 Zinfandel ($45). Grapes are from Ormsby Trail Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, where the earth and the vines are carefully tended to by hand, resulting in a Zin with intense jammy flavors of raspberry, blackberry, cherry and plum. Underlying hints of licorice, pepper, cinnamon and herbs round out this well-made wine. We have owner and winemaker Dan Lokteff to thank for the excellent wines produced at Wrights. He found his dream property with this bucolic piece of land, and he goes all-out to make rich and rewarding wines of complex flavors.
Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery is a charming place to visit, and you can bring your own food to enjoy with your tasting.
Wrights Station Vineyard & Winery, 24250 Loma Prieta Ave., Los Gatos. 408-560-9343; wrightsstation.com.
Mobile Paella Parties
Throwing a party but don’t want to do all the cooking? Chef Brandon Miller will deliver home-cooked paella to your door. Miller is an experienced and respected chef who has cooked at upscale restaurants in the Carmel area and beyond. Orders must be placed 72 hours ahead of time—email bc*****@ya***.com.
The Santa Lucia Highlands 2022 Sun, Wind and Wine Festival
The Santa Lucia Highlands appellation celebrates 30 years, and more than 100 SLH wines will be poured, paired with bites from some of Monterey Peninsula’s best chefs. Saturday, May 14, 11am-2:30pm. Mer Soleil Winery, 1290 River Road, Salinas. santaluciahighlands.com.
Sam Khanal began working in the industry when he was 16, helping run his family’s restaurant in Nepal. Three years later, Khanal immigrated to the United States to be with his brother in the Bay Area.
He landed a job as a server at the popular South Bay-based Amber India. After noticing an influx of customers were traveling all the way from Monterey and Santa Cruz counties to Amber, Khanal realized the demand for good Indian food on the Central Coast. In 2007, Khanal opened Ambrosia India Bistro in Downtown Monterey and followed with additional locations in Aptos and Scotts Valley—he also has a to-go version in Cannery Row. “Everywhere we opened was based on customer demand,” Khanal explains. The menu boasts traditional North Indian cuisine, including butter chicken in creamy tomato sauce and a roasted rack of lamb marinated in ginger, garlic, yogurt and spices. For dessert, one of the longtime customer favorites is the mango panna cotta, served with a touch of cardamom. Visit ambrosiaib.com for hours at the various locations. Khanal recently spoke to us about his restaurant’s food and the impact inflation has on his business.
How is inflation impacting your business?
SAM KHANAL: Before the pandemic, a case of chicken used to cost $38 for 40 pounds, and right now, the same case is about $120. Shipments of ingredients like rice and spices used to take a month to arrive, and right now, they are taking three-to-four months to get here and also cost three-to-four times more. This is why you see not just Ambrosia but almost all restaurant prices going up. We don’t want to charge more, but in order to be in business and survive, we have to keep up with the market.
Tell me about North Indian food.
It has the perfect blend of spices, and it is considered very good for your health as well. It has heavy amounts of fresh spices like garlic, ginger, turmeric and many more. These spices are considered healthy for the blood and help maintain a healthy body to live a normal life. Whereas Southern Indian cuisine focuses more on coconut and more spice, Northern Indian food is more curry-based and medium spiced.
6006 La Madrona Drive #D, Scotts Valley. 831-713-5594; ambrosiaib.com.
