Felipe Hernandez’s lead over Jimmy Dutra in the race for 4th District Santa Cruz County Supervisor has fallen slightly in the latest round of results.
Hernandez now leads Dutra with 54.67% of the vote. There have been 3,026 votes accounted for as of 11:23pm.
Original story at 8:34pm
According to initial results released Tuesday night, Felipe Hernandez has taken an early lead on Jimmy Dutra in the race for the 4th District Santa Cruz County Supervisor seat.
Hernandez, the former mayor of Watsonville and current member of the Cabrillo College Governing Board, secured 55.06% of the 1,951 votes that had been counted as of 8:16pm.
The early results are an inverse of the June 7 primary, when Dutra, a current Watsonville city councilman, took an early lead on Hernandez and nearly won the seat outright in a three-candidate race.
But much has changed since then, and Dutra’s campaign suffered a significant blow on Oct. 5 when a man filed a sexual assault lawsuit against Dutra, claiming that the candidate molested him when he was 12.
Dutra has denied the allegations, calling them “baseless.”
Hernandez, 51, served as a councilman between 2012-2020. He ran unsuccessfully for the 4th District Supervisor seat in 2018, taking third in the primary that year.
If he hangs on, Hernandez would be the first Latino on the board of supervisors since Tony Campos was ousted in 2010 by outgoing Supervisor Greg Caput, who elected not to run for a fourth term earlier this year and endorsed Hernandez for the seat.
Dutra, 47, earned his second term on the city council in 2020. He served as mayor last year. His first term on the city council was from 2014 to 2018. He stepped away from politics after running unsuccessfully for the 4th District Supervisor seat in 2018—he placed a distant second behind Caput.
Former Santa Cruz County Clerk Gail Pellerin appears poised to become the first woman from the county to hold a seat on the State Assembly, with early returns showing 62.67% of Santa Clara County voters supporting her run for the 28th District, and nearly 79% doing so in Santa Cruz County.
Pellerin said that the vote will not be certified for 30 days, and that she was staying cautiously optimistic.
“I’m grateful for all the folks that came out to vote,” she said.
If she keeps her lead, Pellerin added, she will have “made history.”
“And while I would be the first, I will certainly not be the last,” she said.
Pellerin’s opponent is Republican Liz Lawler, who currently serves on the Monte Sereno City Council.
Meanwhile, Assembly District 29 incumbent Robert Rivas has an enormous lead over his Republican opponent Stephanie Castro, with more than 74% of the vote.
In Assembly District 30, Democrat Dawn Addis is ahead of her Republican opponent Vicki Nohrden, with 75.6% of the vote.
YUJI TOJO Tokyo guitar master Yuji Tojo says he “always writes or plays with energy, love and peace. I try to make people happy. It’s my destination.” Tojo has been in Santa Cruz since the 1970s, where he’s recorded, produced, taught and performed. The self-proclaimed “nice guy from the east” isn’t an exaggeration. The musician is in his element, grooving with locals at his longstanding Crow’s Nest residency and other Santa Cruz spots. Tojo performs covers of musicians like Ben Harper, but he employs his unique, evolving style. “I have a lot of influences from traditional Japanese music to Indian, European and American music,” he says. Tojo’s live shows are guitar acrobatics featuring harmonics, slaps and tapping—he often plays behind his back and upside down—adding to his Keller Williams-like looping that can make a solo act sound like a full band. $3. Wednesday, Nov. 9, 7pm. Crow’s Nest, 2218 E. Cliff Drive, Santa Cruz. crowsnest-santacruz.com.
A TRIBUTE TO NANCI GRIFFITH “Gulf Coast Highway” is one of many of Nanci Griffith’s classics that is rife with the blue-collar poetry of her Texas roots: “Highway 90, the jobs are gone/ We tend our garden, we set the sun.” 11 of Santa Cruz’s most dynamic vocalists, including Ginny Mitchell, Patti Maxine, Christie McCarthy, Diana Donnelly, Bonny June, Sunshine Jackson and Linsey Wall, will come together to celebrate the legend. In addition to paying tribute to the acclaimed singer-songwriter, the event will also raise funds for local guitar aficionado Yuji Tojo (he has a longstanding residency at the Crow’s Nest), who lost his house and belongings in the CZU fire. It takes a village. $27/$40 plus fees. Friday, Nov. 11, 7:30pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. kuumbwajazz.org.
MELVIN SEALS AND JGB Melvin Seals first met Jerry Garcia in 1980 when a mutual friend invited him to audition for a “project.” “I only knew the name Grateful Dead from living in San Francisco,” Seals says. “I didn’t know when I got called to do this semi-rehearsal that Jerry would be there; I didn’t know who he was anyway, so it didn’t matter.” After three gigs as the Jerry Garcia Band’s new keyboardist, the significance of Garcia, his music and the scene hit Seals like a VW Microbus. He went on to play with Garcia and the JGB for 18 years. Seals continues to carry the JGB torch with John Kadlecik on guitar/vocals, John-Paul McLean on bass and Jeremy Hoenig on drums. From Eric Clapton’s “After Midnight” to the Miracles’ “Second That Emotion,” the outfit’s interpretations are played as Garcia originally arranged them—always leaving room for improvisation. $47.50 plus fees. Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12, 8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Hwy 9, Felton. feltonmusichall.com.
SEIZED UP WITH PULLEY AND NUISANCE IN PUBLIC “I’ve always written about mistrust of the government,” Clifford Dinsmore told GT ahead of Seized Up’s 2021 debut record release show at Moe’s. Since forming Bl’ast in 1983, Dinsmore has been known as the definitive voice of Santa Cruz’s early punk scene, channeling his beliefs and philosophies into now-classic albums like The Power of Expression. Nearly 40 years later, the rocker continues to wave his nonconformity flag with Santa Cruz punk supergroup Seized Up, featuring All You Can Eat guitarist Danny Buzzard, the Distillers drummer Andy Granelli and Good Riddance bassist Chuck Platt, who suffered significant injuries this year after being hit by a car. The group’s 2019 debut Brace Yourself and their 2021 follow-up EP Marching Down the Spiral explode with the themes that have been fueling Dinsmore’s songs since he started; his premises are as relevant as ever. “If you’re just working a normal job, how do you even think about paying rent in [Santa Cruz]?” he exclaimed. Read more. $17/$22 plus fees. Saturday, Nov. 12, 8:30pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. moesalley.com.
‘BAY OF LIFE: FROM WIND TO WHALES’ Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom’s “Bay of Life” mixed-media project celebrates Monterey Bay as one of the world’s most distinct ecoregions that connect land, sea and people with nature. The prominent National Geographic photographer and writer will share images, videos and stories from their new book, Bay of Life: From Wind to Whales. The pair’s work, produced around the Monterey Bay region, highlights Maverick’s renowned surf break to the stunning Big Sur coast to images of the area’s notoriously elusive mountain lions and resplendent blue whales.Additionally, the presentation will showcase images from the colossal 2020 fires and behind-the-scenes coverage of Big Basin’s ongoing recovery efforts.Read story. $25/$50. Saturday, Nov. 12, 3pm and 7pm. Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. riotheatre.com.
LA LUZ WITH NAKED GIANTS La Luz’s Shana Cleveland is adamant about being open to change musically. The singer-songwriter says that fearlessness, which the entire band also embraces, is one of the secrets behind La Luz’s longevity. Throughout the L.A. trio’s decade-long career, they bounce in, out and around the surf, garage and psych rock sound without fully committing to any particular genre—their latest self-titled record includes an electric sitar solo. Cleveland says the Beach Boys’ transcendental acapella version of “Our Prayer” has inspired her to write an acapella song for La Luz’s next record. Meanwhile, through a haze of catchy surf-punk riffs, Naked Giants’ Grant Mullen was dubbed by The Seattle Times as “one of the best young guitarists in town.” Now, that’s a bold statement. Read story. $28/$32 plus fees. Sunday, Nov. 13, 8:30pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. moesalley.com.
COMMUNITY
SECOND HARVEST’S HOLIDAY FOOD AND FUND DRIVE KICKOFF RALLY Join Second Harvest co-chairs Cynthia Larive and Susan True for an “old-fashioned” outdoor rally. Mix, mingle, pick up some fundraising ideas from experienced guest speakers, and, most importantly, have fun. “Let’s feed hope together!” To-go boxed lunches will be provided at the end of the event. $15. Thursday, Nov. 10, 11:30am-12:45pm. The Village Green, 161 Aptos Village Way, Aptos. give.thefoodbank.org.
TILQUIN FRUIT EXTRAVAGANZA Lúpulo Craft Beer House is one of 20 locations in the U.S.—the only in California—hosting the Tilquin Fruit Extravaganza, a project hatched by the renowned Gueuzerie Tilquin. Enjoy a variety of 10 killer lambics exclusively on draft, including white currant, elderberry, gooseberry and quince. The “one-off kegs” were produced solely to be served at the Santa Cruz locale. Special bottles of Tilquin lambic and other Belgian producers will also be available. Read more.Free (VIP sold out). Saturday, Nov. 12, 11:30am. Lúpulo Craft Beer House, 233 Cathcart St., Santa Cruz. lupulosc.com.
DOWNTOWN SANTA CRUZ FALL WINE WALK Sip while strolling through downtown Santa Cruz. At check-in, receive your glass and a map of the pouring locations, and enjoy an afternoon of tasting and discovery. El Vaquero Winery, Windy Oaks Estate, Random Ridge and Burrell School Vineyards represent just a handful of the participating wineries. $40/$45. Sunday, Nov. 13, 2-5pm. Soif, 105 Walnut Ave., Santa Cruz. downtownsantacruz.com.
WOMENCARE ARM-IN-ARM Led by Sally Jones and Shirley Marcus every Monday, the longtime group for women with advanced, recurrent or metastatic cancer is a safe place for those going through similar hardships to find support in one another. Free (registration required). Monday, Nov. 14, 12:30pm. WomenCare, 2901 Park Ave., A1, Soquel. 831-457-2273. womencaresantacruz.org.
OUTDOORS
BIRD AND BLOOMS TOUR Get to know the UCSC Arboretum through the incredible winged creatures and amazing plants that live in the beautiful space. Meet your guide(s) by the big tree in the middle of the visitor parking lot. Walks will be led by bird and bloom enthusiasts.$10; Free/members. Thursday, Nov. 10, 9:15-10:45am. UCSC Arboretum,120 Arboretum Road, Santa Cruz. calendar.ucsc.edu.
A little more than 15 years ago, my love affair with the Mystery Lights began. The Monterey County music scene had been buzzing about the Salinas band; Sam Martinez of the Chicano All Stars, for instance, would regularly praise the band—“These kids the Mystery Lights just have something,” he would tell anyone listening. A good buddy who had been covering the scene for a while constantly hyped the Salinas outfit, as well. “Man, you gotta see these guys,” he told me. “They play this killer cover of the Kinks’ ‘I Gotta Move,’ and their lead singer jumps off the stage. They’re rowdy!”
When I walked in to see them for the first time at the now-defunct Jose’s on Cannery Row—which was a Mexican restaurant upstairs and a live music venue downstairs—the shoebox-sized venue was already packed. The small stage in the back of the room had several floor-to-ceiling mirrors lining the walls, making it seem much larger. The Mystery Lights were in the middle of a soundcheck, jamming out on what sounded like a cover of “Lovin’ Machine” by the ‘60s Aussie group the Easybeats. The band members were the youngest four people in the joint—each had a large Sharpie “X” on their hand, indicating they were under 21.
No one needed to point out who the frontman was; Mike Brandon’s presence was enough. He sported pencil-thin faded black jeans, a red-and-brown striped Freddy Krueger sweater and a burgundy scarf wrapped loosely around his neck—though it felt like it was 90 degrees in the room, with 100% humidity. When the soundcheck was over, Brandon didn’t turn the volume down on his seafoam Telecaster; it continued to reverberate feedback as he leaned towards guitarist L.A. Solano to shout something before yanking his scarf off.
“Two, three, four,” former drummer Steve Miller shouted as he clanked his sticks together. And the quartet was off to the races. The hour-long set was a hyperactive whirlwind of covers and originals; the crunchy garage rock bled seamlessly into pop-punk, then dripped into Nuggets-era early ’60s grooves layered in the 13th Floor Elevators’ brand of psychedelia. As Brandon tore through his catchy original “Don’t Look Back,” he’d punctuate the chorus with Mick Jagger leaps with air splits, slamming his noggin into the low-hanging grid of ceiling tiles. Aside from a quick, “Oh, fuck,” the head collisions didn’t faze him or interrupt the pace of the music. He ran a hand through his sweaty mess of dark brown hair and shook out the perlite he knocked from above as the band closed on an abrupt E chord wrapped in fuzz and feedback.
I was hooked. I knew the band had that “it” factor—the indescribable force that record execs would explain as “you know it when you see it.”
The Mystery Lights outgrew Monterey County quickly, and Brandon and Solano moved to New York City, where they took the band to the next level. The explosive live shows that hooked me ignited throughout Brooklyn, the Bowery, Queens and beyond as they regularly performed seven nights per week, using various drummers and bassists along the way. By 2016, the band had the attention of Brooklyn’s Daptone Records—now based out of Riverside, California—the indie funk and soul record label home to greats like Sharon Jones & The Dap-Kings, Lee Fields and Charles Bradley.
But what the hell would a funk and soul label want with Salinas garage rockers? When Daptone co-founder Gabe Roth, aka Bosco Mann, heard the Mystery Lights, he sensed that “it” factor. While it can’t be verified, the band’s understanding is that Daptone’s subsidiary Wick Records was formed because of the Mystery Lights.
“[Daptone] told us they are starting a subsidiary and gearing it towards psychedelic rock and roll, ’60s style, timeless sounds,” Brandon explains enthusiastically. “They said, ‘Why don’t you guys be the guinea [pig]?’ And we were like, ‘Hell yes! Let’s do it!’ We did a 45 [“Too Many Girls”/”Too Tough to Bear”] that sold out, and everyone was excited. Then we toured, and people were even more excited. Once the first [self-titled] album came out, it got a lot of buzz. Those guys at Daptone like all kinds of music, and they grew up on just as much punk as I did, so Wick has scratched that itch.”
Their sophomore 2019 release Too Much Tension! is a slight departure from the messy punk sound. It’s heavily influenced by Television, namely Marquee Moon, and synth-heavy groups like the Normal. Still, it’s irrefutably the Mystery Lights, especially on “I’m So Tired (of Living in The City),” laden in undertones of the Kinks and the MC5.
On Nov. 10, the group—also featuring Lily Rogers on keys and Zach Butler on drums—heads to the West Coast for a brief six-show tour that kicks off at Seattle’s Freakout Festival; they’ll continue south to Los Angeles, hitting Santa Cruz on the way. The tour is not in support of anything new—the band will begin recording their next album in February 2023.
“It’s been at least 10 years since we played our hometown,” Brandon says. “So, this is a homecoming tour. I’m sure the West Coast would like to see us do our thing again.”
The Mystery Lights (with Bigrig and Winter Wind) performs Friday, Nov. 18, at 9pm. The Catalyst Atrium, 1101 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $16/$18 plus fees. catalystclub.com.
Thank you Tony Nunez for your article on the Downtown Expansion Plan (GT, 10/5). Described is the EIR process and varying perspectives of residents, city council members, planners and consultants. At the heart of the matter is a rerun of an outdated story, well-documented in the movie Citizen Jane: The Battle for the City. I urge everyone wanting Santa Cruz to be more original, nourishing and accessible than other concrete and congested cities to stream this award-winning film. Therein, we are well-advised by the main character, Jane Jacobs: “Cities have the capacity of providing something for everybody, only because and only when they are created by everyone.”
The city council and development teams are reaching for the sky, knowing they can profit well by getting less. But their “less” would still stress water and transportation resources, while obscuring our pressing needs: climate change risks and disaster preparedness, real affordable housing and homelessness. Let’s not succumb to the wedded partnership between our city’s decision makers and developers. “Follow the Money” is another rerun that is not in our people’s best interest.
Laura Lee
Santa Cruz
These letters do not necessarily reflect the views of Good Times.To submit a letter to the editor of Good Times: Letters should be originals—not copies of letters sent to other publications. Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published). Please be brief. Letters may be edited for length, clarity and to correct factual inaccuracies known to us. Send letters to le*****@*******es.sc
If there’s one issue that’s dominated this election in Santa Cruz County, it’s land use. From the divisiveness of Measure O in Santa Cruz to the battle between Measure Q and Measure S in Watsonville, there’s been heated debate over how to make life better for the people who live here while still preserving the qualities that make them want to live here in the first place. The results of these particular referendums on that question won’t be in by press time, so you won’t find the results of the Nov. 8 election in this issue. However, we’re doing extensive coverage of election-night results online at goodtimes.sc; be sure to read our team’s stories there.
Meanwhile, reading over this week’s cover story by Erin Malsburyagain, I’m struck by how it addresses the same issues of nature and culture from an entirely different angle. Frans Lanting and Chris Eckstrom are well known here for their work not only in photography and videography, respectively, but for the way they bring a conservationist’s perspective to their documentation of various habitats and the many varieties of life within them. It’s interesting that for their latest project (documented in the new book Bay of Life, and at their upcoming Rio shows on Saturday, Nov. 12), they’ve focused on their home turf right here in the Monterey Bay. Their work is exploring the same questions about how we shepherd this area into the future as the measures voters are deciding on in the election—but in a far more aesthetically pleasing way than any argument you’ll find in a ballot guide.
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
ONLINE COMMENTS
RE: FAIR CEO FIRING
It seems a bit extreme to terminate Dave after his proven leadership and commitment to the fairgrounds and the community over decades with his family. With the absence of any clear criminal intent, why is Dave not afforded the benefit of the doubt after all these years and the fact the fairgrounds is actually in good shape financially? Why wouldn’t the Board put Dave on administrative leave until they all (including Dave) have a chance to review and respond to the Audit finding,; many of which at first glance are all fairgrounds-related sans receipts?
Where is the responsibility and accountability of the Board? Are they not supposed to oversee expenditures and ensure all paperwork is in order, knowing the audits will come? What is their role?
For those of us that have long benefited from Dave being in charge of the fairgrounds (including emergency response and community support in the midst of many disasters over the years) I believe he deserves better. We all deserve better than this premature and harsh outcome. It is disrespectful and incredibly disappointing.
— Rosemary Anderson
RE: LOCAL HOUSING
Property has long been a pathway to security and some degree of wealth, but the situation today seems out of balance. I do not think it is good for a majority of single-family homes to be turned into moneymaking speculation instead of homes for families. On the other hand, when the individual rooms of former family homes are rented separately, some folks are able to afford the comparatively lower rent. The speculation accommodates some population growth without driving prices to even higher extremes.
Thank goodness for owners of fully paid-off properties that can and will rent at reasonable prices because even at median rents they can make a pretty good profit on a fully paid-off place. If not for them, the problems of affordability and homelessness caused by no-growth policies and the scapegoating [of] housing providers would likely be even worse.
— Michael Cox
CORRECTION
In our Oct. 26 cover story “What the Deck,” Emelia Nahinu’s name appears incorrectly as Emilia Nahinu, and her title should have been Priestess, not High Priestess. Also, one of the quotes attributed to her (“It was hard … I’m all for it”) should have been attributed to Angelique Yvette, who belongs to another coven. These errors have been corrected in the online version, along with incorrect wording in another quote. We regret the errors.
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
SEE YOUR RAY CLEAR A fall breakthrough at Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park. Photograph by Craig Ferguson.
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GOOD IDEA
BANK A BOUNTY
We’re officially in the holiday season, which means we’re also in the season of giving, and food drives are a great way to get in the holiday spirit. Second Harvest will be hosting a fun information rally this Thursday where you can learn how to run your own Holiday Food & Fund Drive. Meet Second Harvest staff, check out a mini donation barrel and pick up a boxed lunch to go. RSVP at give.thefoodbank.org.
GOOD WORK
MOST RESOURCEFUL
We have a local climate change trailblazer in our midst. Last week the state announced that agriculture expert Sacha Lozano, program manager for the county’s Resource Conservation District (RCD), was selected for the 2022 Climate & Agriculture Leadership Award. The awards will be presented Nov. 14 at the 7th California Climate and Agriculture Summit at UC Davis.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Keep your love of nature, for that is the true way to understand art more and more.”
I can almost smell smoke as I stare at one of the photographs on display in Frans Lanting’s westside studio. Deep orange flames swallow a hillside next to the ocean, and thick smoke blacks out the sky. It’s a photo from the 2020 CZU fire.
“We were engulfed by it,” says Lanting.
“Chris and I live in Bonny Doon. And we nearly lost our own home. But we banded together with neighbors to fight off the fire.”
He motions to the photo.
“This is a scene that I captured at Waddell Bluffs the night when the fire exploded. That’s the night when Swanton and Last Chance got hit and Big Basin was completely destroyed. I never thought we’d see something like this, where the fire literally came down to the beach.”
I ask him how he kept his composure.
“As a photographer and as a storyteller, of course, I wanted to be there. But in the back of my mind was, ‘We really need to retreat to make sure that we’re not going to lose our home.’ So it was a really harrowing night, as it was for many people.”
The photo is part of the “Bay of Life” project. Lanting, an internationally renowned National Geographic photographer, set out with his creative partner and wife—National Geographic writer and videographer Chris Eckstrom—to document the area that’s been their home for more than 30 years. The project includes stories about iconic wildlife and endangered species, as well as the voices of local farmers, fishers and foresters.
A book collecting photos and text from the project, also titled Bay of Life, was published last month, and Lanting and Eckstrom are now preparing for a presentation at the Rio Theatre on Nov. 12 and an exhibit at the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History in January. They walk me through their studio, and we pause at a photo of whales feeding.
Redwoods in Molino Creek. PHOTO: Frans Lanting, ‘Bay of Life’
“This is the cover of the book, and a signature image for the project,” says Eckstrom. “Lunging humpback whales with anchovies spilling out of their mouths and gulls circling above. The subtitle of the book and presentation is “From Wind to Whales.” And that is because when the northwest winds kick up in the spring, they push away the surface water, and cold upwellings that are nutrient-rich rise to the surface. That nourishes phytoplankton and zooplankton and everything up the food chain that then leads to the whales that come in summer for that bounty of fish and krill. So we look at this as a seasonality: from wind to whales.”
“What makes Monterey Bay so unique is that we have this abundance of marine life in close proximity to the environment where we all live,” says Lanting. “There are very few places on the planet where you could capture this kind of scene this close to the shoreline. See in the background, we have all the built-up infrastructure. There’s agriculture. There’s residential development. You can see the hills of Aromas there. And yet, there’s this extraordinary scene of humpback whales feeding collectively.”
We continue moving through the studio, passing bobcats, elephant seals, jagged Big Sur coastline and more humpback whales, eventually settling at a desk to continue our interview.
GT: Are all these images from the last few years?
FRANS LANTING:The majority. There are some historical images in the book because I’ve been making photographs in Monterey Bay for as long as I’ve lived here, which is more than three decades. One of the images shows a historic gathering of Monarch butterflies from the 1980s, when there were more than a quarter of a million at natural bridges. And now they’re down to maybe just one or 2,000. So that perspective back in time is one of the dimensions that we’re covering in the book. There’s also historical images by other photographers in the book that go back almost 100 years, from the period when the Santa Cruz Mountains were clear-cut and the bay was plundered for marine mammals and for fish, and so on. And that’s part of the story as well.
CHRIS EKSTROM: A century ago, this was an ecological disaster area in many ways, with the fish depleted and the forest clear-cut, and marine mammals virtually gone. So it’s quite remarkable that we’ve had a period of restoration and resurgence of life. The forests have grown back, the marine life has returned and marine mammals are back. It’s an incredible story that tells you what can happen when people put their minds to making change.
FRANS LANTING: Because it didn’t happen automatically. Nature’s resilient, but people have really made the recovery happen through activism, through legislation, through education, through research. It became a really powerful success formula that enabled the bay to thrive again.
You’ve partnered with several local conservation groups for this project. How did you choose who to work with?
FRANS LANTING: With a number of them, we’ve had long working relationships. We’ve long supported the Seymour Marine Discovery Center, because we’ve done benefit presentations in partnership with them. The same with the Natural History Museum. With others, we really wanted to cover their fieldwork: The Predatory Bird Research Group, which has been responsible for the comeback of the peregrine falcon here. And the Monterey Bay Salmon and Trout Project. It’s a long list—there’s two dozen of them listed in the back of the book. For the event at the Rio, we reached out to half a dozen of them that are important for the educational outreach that we are planning in connection to the exhibition at the MAH. We’ve invited them to join us on stage at the Rio on November 12, and we’re going to announce some exciting new programs.
A fish hatchery worker with a steelhead trout in a still from ‘Bay of Life.’ PHOTO: Frans Lanting, ‘Bay of Life’
What else will you be doing at the Rio event?
CHRIS EKSTROM: We’ve done benefit presentations for the community for more than 25 years at the Rio Theatre. Sometimes we’re telling a story about a project we’ve worked on at National Geographic. But this year, we’re telling the story about Monterey Bay—about home—which is really exciting to us. And we present a show with stories, images and videos, and then we have a brief lightning round with our partners at the end of the show, and a Q&A.
FRANS LANTING: We haven’t been able to do one in three years because of the pandemic. So we really look forward to reconnecting with people in the community. And anyone who comes to the Rio will be invited to join us for an extended conversation via Zoom, because we have a lot of things to share. And we think it’s going to lead to quite an extended conversation that we can’t accommodate in the course of just one show. We’re also going to announce new plans for a Bay of Life charitable fund that we’re establishing with the Community Foundation Santa Cruz County. Chris and I are going to kickstart it with proceeds from the event at the Rio.
You’ve taken photos and videos of amazing scenes all around the world. What’s different about documenting home?
FRANS LANTING: You have to almost pretend that you see this place for the first time. Because when you are curious and you have a sense of wonder about what’s in front of you, that is often a really good starting point for becoming enthusiastic and becoming creative.
CHRIS EKSTROM: You think you know your home until you start to cover it and document it in the way that we are doing. And then you discover that you really have hardly scratched the surface. We reached out to a lot of different scientists and naturalists and connected with them. And they taught us so much that we thought we already knew. Going out with herpetologists and finding crazy salamanders under rocks and in streams, and going out with the ornithologist to search for the marbled murrelet nest fledge—there were so many moments like that that we never experienced until we covered home.
FRANS LANTING: We also reached out to people who have a deep understanding of what it takes to be a farmer, or a fisher or rancher or a forester here. Because to us, it’s important that their knowledge and their point of view is part of this bigger story.
Rumsen basket weaver Linda Yamane in Carmel Valley. PHOTO: Frans Lanting, ‘Bay of Life’
What were the biggest challenges in documenting all this?
FRANS LANTING: The challenges are farther inland. We created a map of all the protected areas in the larger Monterey Bay region. And you can see there’s a lot of them. But they kind of peter out when you get into the Salinas area, and then there’s not much in the Salinas Valley area. And that is a discrepancy that provides a need and an opportunity for new initiatives. Because we feel that every community needs to have places to go where families can take their kids within a reasonable distance. We are blessed along the coast to be able to do that. But not so much in Gonzales or in Salinas, or in Soledad or in Greenfield. And to us, this is all part of the Monterey Bay.
CHRIS EKSTROM: So much of the Salinas Valley is private land. And people don’t have access to the river except at a couple of points, where they can get down to the banks and actually be in a protected place. We want people to look at the Monterey Bay region as a whole, as a bay of life and feel that they are part of the region as a whole.
FRANS LANTING: It’s not just this narrow strip along the coast. The future of the sanctuary will be determined in part by what happens upstream. So what happens in the Salinas Valley really is very important. And that’s why we are defining Monterey Bay in part by the watershed. And the activities of people inland need to be part of this.
What do you see as the biggest issues currently facing the Monterey Bay area?
FRANS LANTING: Monterey Bay—the way it is now—shows that we can heal damaged ecosystems. And that’s really important for people around the world to know, because we’re dealing with this everywhere. There’s very little pristine nature left on the planet.
But looking forward here in Monterey Bay, we know that there are big challenges because more and more people are moving here. So we have population growth to deal with. We don’t know what’s going to happen to our water supplies. In an era of climate chaos—it’s not just climate change; it’s climate chaos—the weather is becoming more and more extreme. In our vision, we define the Bay of Life this way. We created a logo and scripted a credo: “The Bay of life is a unique confluence of land and sea, energized by the sun, shaped by the forces of fog and fire and influenced by the actions of people.” And it’s these dynamic influences of fog and fire that we think are going to reshape our quality of life here. We know what’s happening with fire. And we’re really lucky that there were no disastrous fires in our region this year. Knock on wood.
But we know that fire is a new reality, and we’re going to have to learn how to adapt to fire in our midst. And the same with fog. The fog we take for granted. But without fog, this would be a much harsher place to live and work.
CHRIS EKSTROM: It’s an unpaid ecosystem service. Farmers would not have the same amount of water for their crops, and maybe not even be able to grow the same crops without fog. And redwoods get 40% of their annual moisture from fog. They don’t live where there’s no fog.
FRANS LANTING: So our view is that we need to build resilience into our man-made systems, and we also need to boost nature wherever we can, because when we can do that then nature will be a buffer. We need to help nature so that it can help us.
Lanting and Eckstrom will do two multimedia shows celebrating the “Bay of Life” project at the Rio Theatre on Saturday, Nov. 12 at 3 and 7pm; $25 general admission, $50 gold circle. Proceeds will benefit the newly established Bay of Life Fund. The exhibit at the MAH will run from January 19 to April 30. lanting.com.
Last Tuesday, the remaining 24 people who had called the Benchlands at San Lorenzo Park home for the past several months packed up their belongings and dispersed—some heading to local shelters, and others making their way to other parts of the city.
It’s been almost three years since a long series of city encampment closures resulted in the city-sanctioned camp of nearly 300 unhoused people along the banks of the San Lorenzo River that officials, homeless service providers and residents often described as dangerous and lawless. Two months ago, the city started closing down sections of the Benchlands, going zone by zone across seven designated sections. City Homelessness Response Manager Larry Imwalle says that only a third of the campers—81 of roughly 241—took the municipality up on its offer to move into city-run shelters. Those shelters, including the newly established location at the National Guard Armory in DeLaveaga Park, never reached capacity.
Imwalle says the focus will now be on staying in contact with those who declined shelter and connecting them with homeless resources—and making sure no other encampments spring up around the city.
The city plans to do this by sending its three outreach workers to connect with the campers who have dispersed across the city. There are still about a dozen shelter spots open at the city’s shelter at the Armory, so Imwalle hopes some of the former Benchlands residents might still opt for shelter. Outreach staff will also hold office hours from 11am to 1pm on Tuesdays at the picnic tables behind the Santa Cruz County Government Center.
“This will be the first time that our outreach team has been doing this work and there hasn’t been the Benchlands,” Imwalle says. “But the outreach team has always done outreach throughout the city, going throughout the city and engaging folks and building those relationships and trying to support the homeless getting connected to services.”
People experiencing homelessness can elect to give personal information to the city and county, so that case managers can more easily reach them. Imwalle says around 170 campers from the Benchlands gave the city some sort of information that he says will make it easier to stay in touch.
Santa Cruz Free Guide Executive Director Evan Morrison says it’s unlikely that three workers will be able to stay in contact with homeless people who have now moved throughout the city. He says most case manager models advise a ratio of one outreach worker for every 20 unhoused persons. Also, because of the transient nature of homelessness and limited access to cell phones, once an encampment disperses, so does a home base to find and stay connected to people, he says.
“[Outreach workers will] be able to keep in touch with some homeless people, but to stay in touch for long enough—through everything that those folks go through—to make a difference, it’s not realistic,” says Morrison, whose organization teamed with the city to establish a “safe sleeping site” at DeLaveaga Park for those who are living out of their cars.
The completed clearout comes amidst Gov. Gavin Newsom’s surprise Nov. 3 announcement that the state will withhold homeless funding grants from cities and counties across the state until recipients come forward with more ambitious plans to reduce homelessness.
The plans cities and counties have currently put forward would collectively reduce statewide homelessness by 2% by 2024, a goal that Newsom says is “simply unacceptable.” At that rate, Newsom says, it would take decades to curb homeless.
During the pandemic alone, the state’s homeless population grew by 22,500. In Santa Cruz County, according to a preliminary count done in August, data shows an estimated 2,299 people experienced homelessness, a 6% increase since 2019.
Mayors across the state are pushing back against this announcement, saying that addressing homelessness is dependent in part upon ongoing, steady state funding. Santa Cruz County spokesperson Jason Hoppin says that the county shares Newsom’s frustration, but also hinted at the need for steady streams of state funding for homeless solutions.
“The governor’s frustration around this issue is understandable, and it’s a frustration everyone in this field shares. If this is an opportunity to discuss establishing more substantial, ongoing sources of funding we welcome it,” Hoppin says. “The primary obstacle to both preventing and resolving homelessness is housing affordability. The solution to that problem is building more affordable housing, and local jurisdictions do not have the resources to meet the need in that area.”
According to Hoppin, the state gave $6.3 million in homeless grants to the county last year, money that went to Housing for Health Partnership (H4HP), the county’s local Continuum of Care. The program aims to reduce homelessness by just over 25% between January 2019 and January 2024.
Morrison says he has mixed feelings on Newsom’s action, but ultimately he also wants more drastic results and more effective use of state homeless funds.
“I don’t know that it’s really clear what money is being spent on,” Morrison says. “Ultimately, I actually do appreciate [Newsom is taking] this action. Programs are at stake. But also, our community has been at stake. This has been an ongoing issue for decades. Let’s take this opportunity to do something about it.”
Santa Cruz businesses taking advantage of the move outdoors spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic got good news last month, as the city council approved a trio of extensions that will allow them to continue their temporary outdoor operations for at least another year.
According to city officials, the ultimate goal is to convert most of those temporary permits that were set to expire next month to permanent operations before the extensions approved by the city council on Oct. 25 run out.
Businesses with outdoor operations in the public right-of-way will be able to continue through Oct. 31, 2023, while those on private property can continue to operate outdoors through March 31, 2024. In addition, the city council also extended the partial closure of Cathcart Street between Pacific and Cedar streets through March 2023.
The elected leaders approved the moves unanimously.
The city council also got its first look at the city’s proposed permanent parklet program, which outlines various guidelines, permit requirements and fees and operating standards for the outdoor seating areas that sprung up throughout the city over the last two years.
Those rules were supposed to come back to the council for approval on Nov. 15, but after more than a dozen people voiced concerns about the proposed fees—including an annual $2,000 permit fee for the use of a metered parking space—during public comment, the council pushed the decision to no later than February 2023.
The city council also directed staff to form a subcommittee with local business owners to possibly make alterations to the proposed permanent ordinance.
To date, there are a total of 35 active temporary parklets: 26 in downtown, eight in the beach area and wharf, and one on the Westside.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): When you Aries people are at your best, you are driven by impeccable integrity as you translate high ideals into practical action. You push on with tireless force to get what you want, and what you want is often good for others, too. You have a strong sense of what it means to be vividly alive, and you stimulate a similar awareness in the people whose lives you touch. Are you always at your best? Of course not. No one is. But according to my analysis of upcoming astrological omens, you now have extra potential to live up to the elevated standards I described. I hope you will take full advantage.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): In my experience, you Tauruses often have more help available than you realize. You underestimate your power to call on support, and as a result, don’t call on it enough. It may even be the case that the possible help gets weary of waiting for you to summon it, and basically goes into hiding or fades away. But let’s say that you, the lucky person reading this horoscope, get inspired by my words. Maybe you will respond by becoming more forceful about recognizing and claiming your potential blessings. I hope so! In my astrological opinion, now is a favorable time for you to go in quest of all the help you could possibly want. (PS: Where might the help come from? Sources you don’t expect, perhaps, but also familiar influences that expand beyond their previous dispensations.)
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Sometimes, life compels us to change. It brings us some shock that forces us to adjust. On other occasions, life doesn’t pressure us to make any shifts, but we nevertheless feel drawn to initiating a change. My guess is that you are now experiencing the latter. There’s no acute discomfort pushing you to revise your rhythm. You could probably continue with the status quo for a while. And yet, you may sense a growing curiosity about how your life could be different. The possibility of instigating a transformation intrigues you. I suggest you trust this intuition. If you do, the coming weeks will bring you greater clarity about how to proceed.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): “We suffer more often in imagination than in reality,” wrote ancient Roman philosopher Seneca. That’s certainly true about me. If all the terrible things I have worried about had actually come to pass, I would be unable to function. Luckily, most of my fears have remained mere fantasies. What about you, fellow Cancerian? The good news is that in the coming months, we Crabs will have unprecedented power to tamp down and dissipate the phantasms that rouse anxiety and alarm. I predict that as a result, we will suffer less from imaginary problems than we ever have before. How’s that for a spectacular prophecy?
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Poet Matt Michael writes, “Sure, the way trees talk is poetry. The shape of the moon is poetry. But a hot dog is also poetry. LeBron James’ tomahawk dunk over Kevin Garnett in the 2008 NBA Playoffs is poetry. That pothole I always fail to miss on Parkman Road is poetry, too.” In accordance with current astrological omens, Leo. I’d love for you to adopt Michael’s approach. The coming days will be a favorable time to expand your ideas about what’s lyrical, beautiful, holy and meaningful. Be alert for a stream of omens that will offer you help and inspiration. The world has subtle miracles to show you.
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Virgo author Michael Ondaatje was born in Sri Lanka, but as a child moved to England and later to Canada. His novel Running in the Family describes his experiences upon returning to his native Sri Lanka as an adult. Among the most delightful: the deluge of novel sensory sensations. On some days, he would spend hours simply smelling things. In accordance with current astrological omens, I recommend you treat yourself to comparable experiences, Virgo. Maybe you could devote an hour today to mindfully inhaling various aromas. Tomorrow, meditate on the touch of lush textures. On the next day, bathe yourself in sounds that fill you with rich and interesting feelings. By feeding your senses like this, you will give yourself an extra deep blessing that will literally boost your intelligence.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): You evolved Libras understand what’s fair and just. That’s one of your potencies, and it provides a fine service for you and your allies. You use it to glean objective truths that are often more valuable than everyone’s subjective opinions. You can be a stirring mediator as you deploy your knack for impartiality and evenhandedness. I hope these talents of yours will be in vivid action during the coming weeks. We non-Libras need extra-strong doses of this stuff.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Here are tips on how to get the most out of the next three weeks: 1. Be a master of simmering, ruminating, marinating, steeping, fermenting and effervescing. 2. Summon intense streams of self-forgiveness for any past event that still haunts you. 3. Tap into your forbidden thoughts so they might heal you. Discover what you’re hiding from yourself so it can guide you. Ask yourself prying questions. 4. Make sure your zeal always synergizes your allies’ energy, and never steals it. 5. Regularly empty your metaphorical trash so you always have enough room inside you to gleefully breathe the sweet air and exult in the earth’s beauty.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): “I straddle reality and the imagination,” says Sagittarian singer-songwriter Tom Waits. “My reality needs imagination like a bulb needs a socket. My imagination needs reality like a blind man needs a cane.” I think that’s great counsel for you to emphasize in the coming weeks. Your reality needs a big influx of energy from your imagination, and your imagination needs to be extra well-grounded in reality. Call on both influences with maximum intensity!
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): Sometimes, Capricorn, you appear to be so calm, secure and capable that people get a bit awed, even worshipful. They may even get caught up in trying to please you. Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily—as long as you don’t exploit and manipulate those people. It might even be a good thing in the coming weeks, since you and your gang have a chance to accomplish big improvements in your shared resources and environment. It would take an extra push from everyone, though. I suspect you’re the leader who’s best able to incite and orchestrate the extra effort.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): If you have been posing as a normal person for too long, I hope you will create fresh outlets for your true weird self in the weeks ahead. What might that entail? I’ll throw out a couple of ideas. You could welcome back your imaginary friends and give them new names like Raw Goodness and Spiral Trickster. You might wear fake vampire teeth during a committee meeting or pray to the Flying Spaghetti Monster to send you paranormal adventures. What other ideas can you imagine about how to have way too much fun as you draw more intensely on your core eccentricities?
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): I suspect you will have metaphorical resemblances to a duck in the coming weeks: an amazingly adaptable creature equally at home on land, in the water and in the air. You will feel comfortable anywhere you choose to wander. And I’m guessing you will want to wander farther and wider than you usually do. Here’s another quality that you and ducks will share: You’ll feel perfectly yourself, relaxed and confident, no matter what the weather is. Whether it’s cloudy or shiny, rainy or misty, mild or frigid, you will not only be unflappable—you will thrive on the variety. Like a duck, Pisces, you may not attract a lot of attention. But I bet you will enjoy the hell out of your life exactly as it is.
