Page 317 | Good Times

Letter to the Editor: Gold Star

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October 5, 2022

“A Letter from the Monarchs” (GT, 9/28) has to be the most informative and beautiful letter I’ve ever read in the Good Times. Give that person a gold star for giving our fine Monarch friends a voice. This is a serious issue and definitely needs to be heard!

Randy Girard

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 Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published).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

Letter to the Editor: Ungrateful

Letters to the Editor

Adam Joseph

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October 5, 2022

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Re: “Tape Heads” (GT, 9/28): It’s so disheartening to see this whole town fall underneath the key of one of the worst bands in history, the Grateful Dead. It’s like a cult town now. You’re lucky to find any blues, and everything else is just amateur regrinding. Anybody ever heard of Joe Sample? Marcus Miller? Anybody ever heard of the Crusaders? Some music that’s actually worth a good goddamn? Santa Cruz, there’s no music. It’s a music dump for the Grateful Dead. Sorry, not sorry. Local music rag Good Times dedicated their whole editorial to the Grateful [Dead]. Whatever. Sad days.

Paul Logan

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 Please include your name and email address to help us verify your submission (email address will not be published).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

Opinion: The Best Q&A Ever?

Adam Joseph

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October 5, 2022

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EDITOR’S NOTE

Steve Palopoli editor good times santa cruz california

When we first discussed this week’s cover story, we didn’t know it would be a cover story. Though George Saunders is a renowned literary figure, our fall story schedule is always packed, and in the run-up to an election it’s even harder than normal to be flexible with the editorial calendar—you can’t move an election story to Nov. 9, after all.

Then when Adam Joseph reached out to Saunders’ reps, they said he only does interviews via email, and that he would need a month to reply. A month? Considering that we’re constantly asking sources to get back to us in a couple of days, or even a couple of hours, it was a stipulation that seemed to be beamed in from another world. Sure, this guy had a new book coming out, but could he really be that busy?

So Adam sent his questions, and waited. It didn’t take a month for Saunders to reply—in fact, it was only four hours! I was obviously curious to see the answers, and I had the same reaction Adam did when he first read them: “Ahhh, this is why this guy writes his answers out, and why he makes a point to ensure that he has all the time he needs to reply.” As Adam notes in his story, Saunders’ responses are crafted with the same wit, insight and attention to detail that he brings to literary endeavors. In the end, we had to find a place for it on the cover this week, even though the event isn’t until Nov. 1 (at the Veterans Memorial Building in Santa Cruz; see the story for details). Is it the best Q&A we’ve ever run? You decide.

STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

**WHAT ALL THE BUZZ IS ABOUT** A hummingbird in the photographer’s backyard. Photograph by Rich van der Linde.

Submit to ph****@*******es.sc. Include information (location, etc.) and your name. Photos may be cropped. Preferably, photos should be 4 inches by 4 inches and minimum 250dpi.

GOOD IDEA

BRING MARY HOME

Longtime Santa Cruz folk musician Mary McCaslin had not lived in Santa Cruz for several years. But when she passed away on Sunday night, her last wish was to return here to be buried. Now her husband Greg Arrufat and friend Ginny Mitchell are raising funds to make that happen through a GoFundMe. Donate at gofund.me/d0ee2a02.

GOOD WORK

SWING BY FOR THE FENCES

Big Basin is on the mend, thanks in part to the creativity of volunteers and State Parks staff. The 2020 CZU Fire burned nearly every structure in the Big Basin, but now hundreds of feet of split rail fence are among the first reconstruction in the park. Crafted by hand by State Parks staff and volunteers, the rails are made from redwood trees that were so fire-damaged they had to be felled. See the new fences yourself by reserving a day-use pass for the park at: thatsmypark.org.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“A short story is the ultimate close-up magic trick—a couple of thousand words to take you around the universe or break your heart.”
– Neil Gaiman

Santa Cruz County Fair Board Fires Manager

Local News

Todd Guild

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October 4, 2022

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Santa Cruz County Fair Board Fires Manager

In a 7-2 vote Tuesday, the Santa Cruz County Fair Board terminated Fairgrounds Manager Dave Kegebein’s employment, a decision that generated an outcry from members of the public.

Board Members Jody Belgard and Loretta Estrada voted no.

“This is probably the darkest and most difficult day this board has ever had,” said Board President Don Dietrich.

It is not yet clear who will now take the reins at the Fairgrounds. Board member Loretta Estrada said that state policy places Dietrich in charge.

The termination came after an audit from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) showed 850 expenditures on a state-issued credit card totaling $108,869 were for “various purchases that were personal in nature, unjustified and/or not supported with a receipt or a vendor invoice.”

Those charges, which occurred between 2017 and 2021, were part of expenses totaling $163,442 that was charged to a CDFA debit card issued to the Fairgrounds, a state-managed organization known officially as the 14th District Agricultural Association.

No allegations of any crimes are alleged in the audit. The audit was largely questioning the fact that no expense reports or receipts were submitted to the CDFA for approval.

Included in Kegebein’s charges was $33,582 in gasoline for his personal vehicle, and 10 maintenance charges of $2,237.

Of the maintenance charges, only five totaling $835 were submitted for state review, the audit states.

Kegebein said that those charges come from the fact that he was using his own pickup, which he purchased solely for his work at the Fairgrounds.

“I put 200,000 miles on my truck on Fairground business,” he said. “All I asked for was fuel, not full reimbursement for the cost of my truck.”

Kegebein reckons he has contributed $660,000 in his personal resources–including a truck that previously wore out.

He acknowledged that he should have submitted the expense reports for his fuel purchases, and said before his termination that he was planning to compile those along with mileage reports after he received the audit. He added that his fuel purchases have never been questioned.

“No one at any time ever broached the subject in the 10 years I’ve been here, or that I had to submit for mileage,” he said.

Kegebein said that he received the audit late last week, and that he never had a chance to respond to it before the Board meeting Tuesday afternoon. As such, its late introduction was “illegal,” he said.

But CDFA Deputy Secretary and Chief Counsel Haig Baghdassarian said that, under the Bagley-Keene Act—the set of rules fair boards follow—a draft of the audit was properly given to the board 30 days before the meeting.

The audit also shows 45 food purchases totaling $5,905 for such things as birthday celebrations, employee lunches, holiday dinners and other functions deemed by the state as “unallowable.”

In addition, the audit shows 23 purchases totaling $4,671 at retail establishments that were not detailed.

“Without receipts or any related documentation, our office cannot determine their appropriateness,” the audit states.

The audit also shows $1,352 in travel expenses for which nobody submitted receipts.

The CDFA in the audit also stated that a lack of an agreement with the Fairgrounds Foundation has led to among other things, the Fairgrounds not receiving a share of the revenue from at least two events, and being underpaid nearly $3,500 for alcohol sales at events.

A lack of oversight at the Fairground’s on-site fuel tank has meant that nearly $6,000 in propane is unaccounted for, the audit states.

The audit also criticizes the fairgrounds for not paying overtime to temporary employees, not keeping track of employee leave and failing to follow rules over contracting.

Jessica Ayala, who says she has been questioning Fair Board activities for years and has been attending Board meetings, said she approved of the decision.

“I am absolutely shocked from what I read in this report,” she said. “This is not something that should happen”

Not everyone agreed with the decision. The meeting, held in the Harvest Building, drew roughly two-dozen members of the public, more than half of whom spoke in favor of keeping Kegebein.

Dennis Osmer, the former mayor of Watsonville who has served on numerous boards including the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency and the Community Advisory Council, said the Fairgrounds is thriving, and praised Kegebein for the years he has put into the facilities.

“Who will fill his shoes,” he asked.

Local conservationist Sally-Christine Rodgers, whose husband Randy Repass founded West Marine, said she has worked with Kegebein for years.

Terminating him was not the answer to the discrepancies, she said.

“You don’t fire your best asset,” she said. “You work with them, you give them performance reviews and you let them do their job.”

Estrada, a longtime Board member, left the meeting in tears after the decision, which occurred in a closed-session meeting that lasted about an hour. She says she plans to resign from the Board over the termination.

“I’m very upset, period,” she said.

She said she did not receive the audit until just before the Tuesday meeting.

“I feel like I was blindsided,” she said. “Dave has done more for that Fairgrounds than anybody else in the Fairground’s history, combined. Everywhere you look you see Dave’s stamp on the things he’s done.”

With only one day to read the Audit, Estrada acknowledged the questionable expenses, and said that Kegebein may have had “bad judgment.”

“I can’t deny what he’s done, but he’s never done anything criminal,” she said. “Everything he’s done has been for the Fairgrounds.”

George Saunders on the Art of the Short Story

Adam Joseph

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October 4, 2022

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George Saunders on the Art of the Short Story

Depending on who you’re talking to, the key ingredients traditionally used to craft a captivating work of fiction include character development, setting, plot, conflict and some resolution. For many great writers, it takes at least 350 pages. George Saunders can do it in 35 pages or less—and he does it artfully, with grace and panache.

“She was small and slight and her eyes were dark beads on either side of a beaklike nose. She moved quickly, head down, as if, we sometimes joked, scanning for seeds. She had a way of seeming to dart from place to place. She had a way, too, of saying the most predictable things.”

After reading those first three lines, we know a lot about the protagonist of “Sparrow,” one of the nine short stories in Saunders’ new collection Liberation Day. “Sparrow” spans a mere 10 pages, about 3,000 words. Saunders uses them with the care of a neurosurgeon; every paragraph is as lean as a giraffe’s neck, each sentence tighter than a sailor’s knot.

“My natural stride is more of a short story stride,” Saunders explains. “Kind of like wind up the toy, then try to get it to go under the couch as soon as possible.”

As with most of his short stories, “Sparrow” is a sprint to get under the couch. And that’s a fine place for a tale so tragically pathetic and uncomfortably ordinary.

Saunders’ first book of short stories was CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, published in 1996. Pastoralia was released in 2000, and In Persuasion Nation in 2006. Liberation Day marks his first collection since Tenth of December, which came out nearly a decade ago, in 2013. It was worth the wait. Like “Sparrow,” the other eight stories in the new book are familiar and haunting. Saunders paints portraits of real people you’ve probably encountered over the years—a concerned mother, a sad grandfather, “Sparrow”’s “everyday” woman looking for “everyday” love, an old-timer grappling with memory loss. The reflections Saunders casts of these real people have an acidic glow with an uneasy laugh on the side.

Since 1997, Saunders has taught in Syracuse University’s creative writing program. But it’s not a “those who can’t do, teach” situation. He’s published 12 books, including the New York Times bestseller and National Book Award finalist Tenth of December; the collection of short stories that won the inaugural Folio Prize in 2013, and the Story Prize. It also led to Saunders being named one of Time magazine’s Top 100 Influential People in the World in 2013.

In 2017, Saunders’ first and only novel thus far, Lincoln in the Bardo, debuted at the top of the New York Times bestseller list and went on to win the distinguished Man Booker Prize; it was also a Golden Man Booker finalist. The Bardo audiobook—which features a cast of 166 actors, including Carrie Brownstein, Miranda July, Ben Stiller, Jeff Tweedy, Susan Sarandon and Don Cheadle—snagged the 2018 Audie Award for “Best Audiobook.” Tina Fey, Michael McKean and Jenny Slate, meanwhile, are a few of many prominent voices in the audiobook for Liberation Day.

“How’s that for a great cast?” Saunders wrote in his newsletter. “I’m so grateful to these wonderful readers, and to the legendary [audiobook producer] Kelly Gildea for bringing this all together so wonderfully.”

Saunders has been dubbed the “godfather of the contemporary short story.” He has solidified his reputation as one of the American masters alongside Raymond Carver, Philip K. Dick, Shirley Jackson, Charles Bukowski and a few others.

For this interview, Saunders responded to my questions over email. As you will read, he put as much thought into crafting his answers as he does with anything else that has to do with the written word.

How do you know when you’re finished with a novel or a short story—not just the writing, but the self-editing that comes afterward?

GEORGE SAUNDERS: It’s just a feeling, to be honest. I go through the story again and again until I feel increasingly satisfied with everything in it. This process tends to happen such that the beginning sections get “done” first, and then that sort of narrows the choices as I near the end, if that makes sense. I’ve sometimes compared it to painting a floor (although I’m not sure that’s really a thing). But … you keep going back and touching up the room until the whole thing looks good to you. Then, at the very end, there’s just that area around the door. You give it one last swipe of the brush as you step out. In a story, it’s a feeling of being able to get through it with pleasure from start to finish—no hitches, no little bumps of resistance. With experience, I think a person can get better at feeling even the slightest bumps. And weirdly, those are places where the story is really trying to ascend to higher ground. It’s kind of amazing how hyper-sensitive you can get to your own prose.

‘New York Times’ bestselling author and Booker Prize winner George Saunders celebrates his recently released short story collection ‘Liberation Day’ with an event on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at the Veterans Memorial Building.

After you complete a manuscript, do you have an “ideal reader?” Someone you trust to give you honest feedback that you take to heart, and whose opinion might inspire you to revisit something in your work that you would have never thought to change?

Yes, for sure: my wife, Paula. She is a very precise reader, emotionally—if I can move her, then I know I’m doing all right. We have, I think, the same idea about fiction: it should have heart and be about things that matter and speak to people at their best. The best note I ever got from her was when I gave her the story “Tenth of December” to read. I had to go out, and when I came back, she’d gone out, but left a note that said something like: “TEARS. Send it out.”

What was the most emotionally challenging work you’ve written?

You know, I have to say I don’t really struggle emotionally with stories. I mean, they sometimes make me feel things, of course, but the process is so repetitive and laborious that I often find myself feeling something early and then just recalling that feeling as I go ahead into subsequent drafts, like, “OK, leave this part alone because, remember? Last year it really moved you.” The main feelings I have while working are frustration when I can’t get something to work, or a growing confidence that the story might be good after all, or little bursts of happiness at a good joke or turn of phrase, and so on.

How do you think your writing has evolved since ‘CivilWarLand in Bad Decline?’

I’d like to think that I’ve grown more comfortable with life’s positive aspects. When I first started out, I was at a place in life where the big thing was the struggle to make a living. We had two small kids and no savings, etc. So, for the first time, I was like: “Dang, life in America can be brutal.” So that found its way into that first book, which is very dark. Then, over the years, that “biggest thing I was feeling” shifted, as, of course, it would. Sometimes (like in Tenth of December), I was feeling very grateful and found myself showcasing moments where people proved themselves capable of rising to difficult occasions. This new book is coming out of a different feeling—the feeling that sometimes systems work against people’s freedom. Sometimes, things don’t work out very well for reasons that are existential—we believe too much in ourselves and our own phenomenon, for example. And what then? And so on. So, in each book, I find out something new about where I was for the period of the writing. I don’t decide any of that in advance, but just try to write the tightest, funniest, most genuine stories I can, and then, at the very end, I read the book and get a feeling like, “Oh, so that’s what was on my (deeper) mind.” So, I just try to work hard and hope that my writing is developing and that it’s becoming more intense and is encompassing more of all that life is: good, bad, funny, grim, you name it.

I find your work to be very cinematic. It’s easy to envision where your characters are in your stories. The scenes in ‘Liberation Day’ are incredibly vivid, giving readers a strong sense of place. Has film informed you as a writer at all? If so, which films have resonated with you most throughout the years?

Well, yes, I was a real TV and movie kid and had some of my most formative, powerful experiences in front of screens—Jaws was huge for me, as were all the Monty Python movies, The Grapes of Wrath. Bicycle Thieves and also Get Smart and Green Acres and the Peanuts holiday specials and so on. I think that’s such a key moment: the first time a work of art blows the top of your head off, you go: “How did they do that? I want to do that.” And you absorb some of the qualities of that work. For example, when I was in seventh grade, I accidentally saw one of the Dirty Harry movies. It was way too brutal and violent for me, but … there I was, sitting there, too scared and captivated to move, and receiving the message (from the way I was feeling: Violence in a work of art can be powerful. I think that partly explains why my stories tend to be so dark.

Besides authoring several short story collections and a novel, George Saunders collected essays on literature, travel and politics in the nonfiction ‘The Braindead Megaphone.’ PHOTO: Alena Saunders

You’re frequently described as a “writer’s writer.” What do you think is meant by that?

I think it generally means: “That poor guy doesn’t sell many books.” Haha. No, I like to think that it means that I write in such a way that other writers notice the hard things I’m attempting that non-writers might not notice. So, I like that. I’d prefer to be, you know, a reader’s writer. But I’m really happy to be considered any kind of writer at all. I remember that line Steve Martin says in The Jerk, as he’s trying to convince the Bernadette Peters character to go out with him. She tells him she already has a boyfriend, and he asks if it might be possible for him to come over and just, you know, watch her and her boyfriend fool around: “I just want to be in there somewhere.”

Do you have any rituals, habits or routines regarding your writing process?

Not really. I wrote my first book at work, and that was no place to be at all precious about the routine. I was just grabbing time where I could find it, at whatever computer terminal was open. I have two little framed things I like to have with me, one by Raymond Pettibone and a photo that one of my daughters took. But basically, I just sort of say to myself, wherever I am, “Go into that space now. Time is short.”

What’s the most common question hopeful writers ask you? What’s your answer?

They tend to ask about the one thing I’d recommend that would improve their writing, and I always advise them to learn to take revising very seriously—accept it as, really, the biggest thing a writer has to learn in order to start sounding like herself. Not just “fixing” problems but really learning to live in the world of the story by going through it again and again, line by line, making those thousands of micro-choices that really make the story sound like one of theirs—taking radical responsibility for every single phrase in the story. This is all about developing and trusting one’s own taste and accepting that iteration—going through the story again and again—is, really, a way of getting the hundreds of people that they are into the story. One day, we’re very tough on ourselves, one day easy; one day we’re serious, the next day funny. All of these writers get a chance to weigh in on the story if we’re patient in revision.

Is there any question(s) you wish aspiring writers would ask you, but never have?

“Mr. Saunders, where should I put this big bag full of money?” It’s funny, but they just almost never ask that one.

Bookshop Santa Cruz will present George Saunders reading from and discussing his new book ‘Liberation Day’ at 7pm on Tuesday, Nov. 1, at Veterans Memorial Building, 846 Front St., Santa Cruz. $34 plus fees. Ticket price includes one signed hardcover cover of ‘Liberation Day.’ bookshopsantacruz.com.

Apprehension Voiced as Downtown Plan Expansion Moves Forward

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October 4, 2022

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Apprehension Voiced as Downtown Plan Expansion Moves Forward

As Santa Cruz’s city staff and consultant team finished up their presentation on the Downtown Plan Expansion process and readied to open up the public comment portion of the virtual Sept. 28 scoping meeting, Bill Wiseman of planning and design firm Kimley-Horn reminded attendees that the purpose of the session was to discuss the environmental impact report (EIR) the city is about to prepare for its much-discussed vision of downtown’s future.

It was, as Wiseman said, not necessarily a venue to discuss the pluses and minuses of the project.

“Those are going to be considered at later meetings as we go through the public hearing process … the development plan is not fixed,” Wiseman said. “It’s an evolutionary process and we’re certainly going to come back for more dialogue.”

This announcement did little to dissuade about a half-dozen callers from sharing their reservations about the proposal that, at this time, calls for the addition of 1,800 housing units, 60,000 square feet of commercial space and a new 3,200-seat stadium and entertainment arena—the proposed long-term home of the Santa Cruz Warriors—on roughly 15 acres of parcels just south of Laurel Street.

Some said that the current plan would further worsen gridlock traffic on the city’s most frequented connection between downtown and Main Beach. Others said that the proposed allowable building heights of 50-175 feet—the tallest building being 17 stories—would ruin Santa Cruz’s skyline. One person said that the proposal would make Santa Cruz look like a “little San Francisco.”

“I’m actually really, really scared of what it’s going to be like to live in this town,” Susan Monheit said at the recent meeting.

For city staff, these comments are nothing new. Ever since the proposal came to the Santa Cruz City Council in June, there has been buzz about “skyscrapers” taking over the city. A blog post from Bratton Online writer Gillian Greensite, a local environmentalist, stirred up the conversation on social media, largely because of its visual content. The punchy piece featured an artist’s rendition of a towering and blocky 20-story building recently constructed in New York. Greensite, who has fought many housing projects in Santa Cruz over the years, wrote about how the Downtown Plan Expansion project, and those that have supported it, didn’t “care much about losing the character, feel and sense of place that is Santa Cruz.”

When asked about these concerns, Santa Cruz City Manager Matt Huffaker said that addressing these worries is at the heart of the proposed expansion of downtown.

“It is possible to support responsible and intentional development, with the housing that our community desperately needs, while also preserving the eccentric charm that makes Santa Cruz special. It’s not one at the cost of the other. It can and should be both,” he wrote in an email. “I would contend that the real threat to Santa Cruz and the quality of life for those striving to make a living and raise a family here, is the lack of available and affordable housing. The ripple effects are enormous. Many of the greatest challenges our community is facing from homelessness to our eroding local workforce and skyrocketing cost of living all ties back to housing.”

Why Downtown?

A little more than a year ago, Santa Cruz applied for and received a grant to reimagine roughly 29 acres of land just south of Laurel Street, downtown’s current official southern boundary. The city embarked on this project, says Lee Butler, Santa Cruz’s director of Planning and Community Development, to accomplish three things: sustainable housing production, preservation of community character and economic stability and growth.

Earlier this year, the city received the news that it must plan to accommodate 3,735 new housing units over the next eight years. That number was five times larger than what the Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments—the regional body that sets how much housing each community is responsible for—had assigned to Santa Cruz during its previous eight-year, state-mandated Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) cycle.

The drastic increase, says Butler, prompted an all-too-familiar question: How could Santa Cruz make a serious dent in its RHNA (pronounced “ree-na”) numbers without altering some of the city’s iconic suburban neighborhoods? It’s a question that municipalities across California are weighing as the state continues to put pressure on local governments to address low housing stock. Most cities are coming to the same conclusion as Santa Cruz: Build the homes downtown, where the amenities are aplenty.

“With [downtown] being the most sustainable place to grow in the region, we wanted to make sure we’re really taking advantage of that opportunity and making sure that we don’t look back a few decades from now and say ‘that was a missed opportunity,’” Butler says. “We don’t want to say, ‘We could’ve really grown in a sustainable location, right next to the transit, in close proximity to the jobs, and grocery stores and entertainment.’ That’s what we’re trying to do as part of this plan.”

After all, Butler adds, although the Downtown Plan Expansion is indeed a way to progress toward their lofty housing goal, it’s important to remember that’s only one piece of the puzzle. The other major objective, he says, is to spur economic growth by leveraging the city’s major tourist attractions: the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, Main Beach and the Wharf.

As it stands today, the project also proposes street and alleyway alterations that seek to create better natural connections between downtown and the coast. For instance, the plan includes improvements to the famed Cliff Street overlook and the sidewalks on Cliff Street leading down to Beach Street.

“What we’re aiming to do with this is provide tangible, visual connections—both in terms of structures and infrastructure improvements—that draw people from the beach area to the downtown,” Butler says. “I mean, we have millions of visitors [to the beach] every year, and many of them don’t know how great our current downtown is. So if we can just draw a small fraction of those visitors to the downtown, they will then say, ‘Hey, let’s stay here,’ ‘Let’s grab a drink’ or ‘Let’s get dinner’ before they head home.”

Warriors, Come Out and Play

Keeping the Santa Cruz Warriors here by helping them and the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, which owns the land Kaiser Permanente Arena sits on, is also a key goal of the Downtown Plan Expansion project, Butler adds. This, however, has proved somewhat controversial, as it is one of the major drivers behind the plan’s proposed increased height limits that have ruffled locals’ feathers.

The Seaside Company, which also owns and operates the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, owns two of three blocks that the Santa Cruz City Council at a June meeting identified as so-called “flex zones.” This includes two flex zones on the parcel that currently houses KP Arena and another on the northern half of the parcel across the street, where Wheel Works currently sits. The two zones on the KP Arena lot would allow for two buildings of up to 150 feet and the Wheel Works lot flex zone would allow the construction of a 175-foot building.

Both Butler and Santa Cruz Warriors President Chris Murphy tell GT that the goal is to construct the arena without a dime of public funding. To accomplish this, however, Murphy emphasizes that the city’s Downtown Plan Expansion must give the Seaside Company and Warriors the opportunity to fund the multi-million dollar project as a portion of a much larger project that includes commercial spaces and several hundred housing units, including a significant number of affordable units.

“The Santa Cruz Warriors business doesn’t have the ability to fund the arena on its own,” Murphy says. “That’s why we’re looking at it as part of a larger project.”

Murphy says the current tent-like facility that was built in a matter of 78 days is supposed to last 15 years. But he explains that while it still has another five years left in its planned lifespan, the venue is outdated. This is especially true, he says, if one takes into account how much the G League has progressed since the Golden State Warriors moved their development team from North Dakota to Santa Cruz in 2012—this past year, 41% of players on NBA start-of-season rosters had G League experience.

Murphy says the storage container locker rooms at the back of the stadium are insufficient, and the lack of practice facilities and a weight room are also an encumbrance for the franchise.

“The fan experience and the people we put in there, that piece is the best in the league, but I think as we think about the fact that we exist for basketball development and helping professional athletes continue to improve and get to the next level, our facilities are pretty subpar,” says Murphy, adding that even as a performance venue, KP Arena falls short because, among other things, it doesn’t have a kitchen.

While there are still several details to be determined around the arena, it is clear that Santa Cruz is playing ball.

Current plans have set aside a large parcel between Pacific Avenue and Front Street for the new stadium, which Murphy says would be more than just a basketball arena, welcoming in other live performances, from comedy shows to concerts—he says they’re in discussions with the Santa Cruz Symphony to make the arena their permanent venue, too.

Butler says that losing the Warriors, who have not publicly voiced any intentions of leaving, would be a devastating economic blow for downtown and the city at large at a moment when the corridor is starting to bounce back after losing around 30 businesses over the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Neither Murphy nor Santa Cruz’s Economic Development Director Bonnie Lipscomb had data on the Warriors’ economic impact on local businesses, but the latter says that there is no question that the team provides a boost to local restaurants and bars on game nights. They have also contributed some $750,000 to the city’s general fund via admissions tax.

Investigation Begins

In her comments during the Sept. 28 meeting, Greensite jumped back into the fray multiple times to say that the city must study how the addition of 1,800 housing units will impact the traffic on Front Street heading toward the beach—which, she adds, is a mess during weekends when visitors travel over the hill to cool off.

“This has nothing to do with ‘Not in my backyard.’ It has nothing to do with that,” Greensite said, referring to the moniker commonly slapped on anti-development groups. “It’s the nature of this area.”

Other callers asked for the city to thoroughly investigate how the proposed growth would impact water use, and some said that because the larger buildings would be closest to the San Lorenzo River Levee, a soil and geological study is needed to determine if the area can support the additional load.

But most callers focused on the same two issues—the proposed height of buildings, and increased traffic.

Laura Lee said that the additions do little to improve the quality of life for existing residents. And, she added, moving forward with the plans would slowly begin to erode the reason why residents choose to live here, and tourists elect to visit: the small, eclectic feel of the city.

“We don’t live here to live in Los Angeles or San Francisco. We live here because we have beautiful trees, we can go to the ocean, we can enjoy the birds and we can have friendly neighbors,” she said. “I don’t feel like you’re really listening. I feel like you’re just going along and doing what you want for the city. People I talk to are not interested in making this San Francisco. And it’s upsetting.”

The final Downtown Plan Expansion document is still several months away from completion—public hearings won’t start until the fall of 2023—but now is the time for the public to task city staff with items to investigate during its preparation.

And while the city, in its Notice of Preparation, has already stated it will investigate several aspects of plan’s impacts, including how increased building heights might impact the aesthetics of the area, it is still encouraging residents to reach out with suggestions, which are due by Oct. 17.

For information on the Downtown Plan Expansion, visit cityofsantacruz.com/downtown.

Santa Cruz County’s Struggle to Hire and Retain Teachers Continues

Todd Guild

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October 4, 2022

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Santa Cruz County’s Struggle to Hire and Retain Teachers Continues

Conditions at Pajaro Valley High School have improved since last year, when a group of teachers filed a Williams Complaint with the Pajaro Valley Unified School District over a staffing shortage that left educators overworked and many students without an instructor.

But PVHS English teacher Greg Tucker says that although there are fewer vacancies—dropping from 20 across the district to roughly three—the complaint did not have the desired effect, as district officials put the bulk of the responsibility of filling the openings on the principal’s shoulders.

“That was not the goal,” Tucker says. “The goal was not to make my boss, who was already working hard, work harder.”

Among other things, that led to the use of long-term subs and student teachers. Existing teachers also worked through their prep periods to fill in the gaps.

Tucker says he doesn’t want to file another Williams Complaint—which can be used as recourse for educators when districts are, among other things, not doing their due diligence to provide instructional materials or addressing teacher vacancy or misassignment—out of concern it will further exacerbate the problem that, coupled with the high cost of living in Santa Cruz County and low pay at PVUSD, have many in education questioning their career choices. In the past year, he says, more teachers have left the district than in any other over the nearly two decades he’s been a teacher.

“You’re left to think, ‘If the system is not going to be fixed, maybe I no longer want to be a part of the system,’” he says. “That’s why we have a lot of people leaving the profession.”

A survey released in July by Edweek.org of 255 principals and 280 district administrators throughout the U.S. shows that schools are seeing far fewer applications for teachers and administrative employees this year compared to 2021. A closer look paints a grim picture, with 86% of those surveyed saying they don’t have enough bus drivers and 72% saying they are short on teachers.

The picture is somewhat better for administrator positions, with just 35% claiming a dearth in that department.

PVUSD spokeswoman Alicia Jimenez said last month that the district is still looking to hire 19 general education and four special education teachers, and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Alison Niizawa told the Board of Trustees during an Aug. 24 meeting that she expects to fill those ranks this semester.

It was at that fall meeting that the PVUSD Trustees approved a series of bonuses and supplemental payments to retain teachers and school employees. Every teacher, school worker and administrator employed since April 1—and who plans to stay with the district through March 2023—will receive a one-time payment of $2,500. The first half of that payment will come in October, while the second will be paid in June 2023.

Seasonal teachers, classified staff and administrative employees will get the same payment.

In addition, the trustees approved one-time $2,500 signing bonuses for new teachers, with an additional $2,500 going to those with bilingual certifications who sign contracts through Dec. 16.

Teachers who sign on at Watsonville High, and at E.A. Hall and Rolling Hills middle schools—schools harder hit by retention troubles—will also get a $2,500 signing bonus.

New school nurses, speech and language pathologists and psychologists will also get a $2,500 signing bonus, and associate teachers can get a $500 bonus.

The Trustees also agreed to raise the daily pay rate for long-term substitutes from $200 to $240 and to pay those teachers $35 per hour when they lead after-school activities and participate in after-hours school events.

The payments and increases—funded by Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief funds—are a way to encourage teachers to stay in the district as the nation battles an ongoing shortage of educators and school employees that was compounded by the pandemic.

Pajaro Valley Federation of Teachers Chief Negotiator Radhika Kirkman praised the decisions, but added that ongoing raises—rather than one-time payments—will attract and retain teachers. PVFT President Nelly Vaquera-Boggs agreed.

“What would really make a significant statement of valuing the educators in this district is putting money on the salary schedule, because we all know that’s what counts for our retirement,” she said at the August meeting. “So that it’s meaningful for teachers to know that they are being taken care of by our district, and they are being paid a wage that they don’t need to stress about working a second job and dedicate their time to working in the classrooms with the students and having their personal lives in the evenings.”

The items were approved 6-0, with Trustee Georgia Acosta absent.

Countywide, school districts are seeing a rosier picture of teacher recruitment and retention than last year, says Santa Cruz County Office of Education spokesman Nick Ibarra.

While the county office is still looking to recruit specialized classified positions such as instructional aides and special education teachers, an effort to attract substitute teachers has made the situation more manageable, Ibarra says.

In August, Soquel Union Elementary School District approved a 15% raise for its teachers, which includes a 3% retroactive increase to last year, and a 12% increase this year.

Santa Cruz City Schools (SCCS) spokesman Sam Rolens says that the teachers’ union there has negotiated a bonus to address the hardships that came with the Covid-19 pandemic. But so far, he adds, the district has not faced a teacher shortage.

Still, SCCS—like most districts in Santa Cruz County and across the U.S.—faces difficulty retaining teachers who accept jobs and meet insurmountable housing costs.

Rolens says that some 95% of declined job offers stem from this predicament. And so the district is hoping to use a parcel of its land on Swift Street on the Westside of Santa Cruz behind the old Natural Bridges campus to create workforce housing for teachers, an 80-unit apartment complex which would be offered to educators and staff members at below-market rental rates.

While no funding mechanism for this project has been officially identified, district officials are eyeing Measure K, a $240 million bond measure that would pay for projects and upgrades in secondary schools, and Measure L, a $122 million bond with similar aims in elementary schools.

If voters approve those measures in the Nov. 8 election, the district will use 5% of the funds for the teacher housing project, Rolens says.

“It is very difficult to find money within the fixed revenue of the school district for salary increases,” he says. “This is potentially a path that we can make all of our offered salaries more lucrative if someone has help in the Santa Cruz housing market.”

Rob Brezsny’s Astrology: Oct. 5-11

Rob Brezsny

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October 4, 2022

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ARIES (March 21-April 19): When you Aries folks are at your best, you are drawn to people who tell you exactly what they think, who aren’t intimidated by your high energy and who dare to be as vigorous as you. I hope you have an array of allies like that in your sphere right now. In my astrological opinion, you especially need their kind of stimulation. It’s an excellent time to invite influences that will nudge you out of your status quo and help you glide into a new groove. Are you willing to be challenged and changed?

TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Author Toni Morrison thought that beauty was “an absolute necessity” and not “a privilege or an indulgence.” She said that “finding, incorporating and then representing beauty is what humans do.” In her view, we can’t live without beauty “any more than we can do without dreams or oxygen.” All she said is even truer for Tauruses and Libras than the other signs. And you Bulls have an extra wrinkle: It’s optimal if at least some of the beauty in your life is useful. Your mandate is summed up well by author Anne Michaels: “Find a way to make beauty necessary; find a way to make necessity beautiful.” I hope you’ll do a lot of that in the coming weeks.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20): Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead said, “It requires a very unusual mind to make an analysis of the obvious.” I nominate you to perform that service in the coming days, both for yourself and your allies. No one will be better able than you to discern the complexities of seemingly simple situations. You will also have extraordinary power to help people appreciate and even embrace paradox. So be a crafty master of candor and transparency, Gemini. Demonstrate the benefits of being loyal to the objective evidence rather than to the easy and popular delusions. Tell the interesting truths.

CANCER (June 21-July 22): Cancerian poet Lucille Clifton sent us all an invitation: “Won’t you celebrate with me what i have shaped into a kind of life? i had no model. i made it up here on this bridge between starshine and clay, my one hand holding tight my other hand.” During October, fellow Cancerian, I propose you draw inspiration from her heroic efforts to create herself. The coming weeks will be a time when you can achieve small miracles as you bolster your roots, nourish your soulful confidence and ripen your uniqueness.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Dear Rob the Astrologer: This morning I put extra mousse on my hair and blow-dried the hell out of it, so now it is huge and curly and impossibly irresistible. I’m wearing bright orange shoes so everyone will stare at my feet, and a blue silk blouse that is much too high-fashion to wear to work. It has princess seams and matches my eyes. I look fantastic. How could anyone of any gender resist drinking in my magnificence? I realize you’re a spiritual type and may not approve of my showmanship, but I wanted you to know that what I’m doing is a totally valid way to be a Leo. —Your Leo teacher Brooke.” Dear Brooke: Thank you for your helpful instruction! It’s true that I periodically need to loosen my tight grip on my high principles. I must be more open to appreciating life’s raw feed. I hope you will perform a similar service for everyone you encounter in the coming weeks.

VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): How to be the best Virgo you can be during the coming weeks: 1. You must relish, not apologize for, your precise obsessions. 2. Be as nosy as you need to be to discover the core truths hidden beneath the surface. Risk asking almost too many questions in your subtle drive to know everything. 3. Help loved ones and allies shrink and heal their insecurities. 4. Generate beauty and truth through your skill at knowing what needs to be purged and shed. 5. Always have your Bullshit Detector with you. Use it liberally. 6. Keep in close touch with the conversations between your mind and body.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): The Libran approach to fighting for what’s right shouldn’t involve getting into loud arguments or trying to manipulate people into seeing things your way. If you’re doing what you were born to do, you rely on gentler styles of persuasion. Are you doing what you were born to do? Have you become skilled at using clear, elegant language to say what you mean? Do you work in behalf of the best outcome rather than merely serving your ego? Do you try to understand why others feel the way they do, even if you disagree with their conclusions? I hope you call on these superpowers in the coming weeks. We all need you to be at the height of your potency.

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): “One bad apple spoils the rest” is an idiom in the English language. It refers to the idea that if one apple rots as it rests in a pile of apples, the rest will quickly rot, too. It’s based on a scientific fact. As an apple decays, it emanates the gas ethylene, which speeds up decay in nearby apples. A variant of this idiom has recently evolved in relation to police misconduct, however. When law enforcement officials respond to such allegations, they say that a few “bad apples” in the police force aren’t representative of all the other cops. So I’m wondering which side of the metaphor is at work for you right now, Scorpio. Should you immediately expunge the bad apple in your life? Or should you critique and tolerate it? Should you worry about the possibility of contamination, or can you successfully enforce damage control? Only you know the correct answer.

SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Of all the signs in the zodiac, you Sagittarians know best how to have fun even when life sucks. Your daily rhythm may temporarily become a tangle of boring or annoying tasks, yet you can still summon a knack for enjoying yourself. But let me ask you this: How are your instincts for drumming up amusement when life doesn’t suck? Are you as talented at whipping up glee and inspiration when the daily rhythm is smooth and groovy? I suspect we will gather evidence to answer those questions in the coming weeks. Here’s my prediction: The good times will spur you to new heights of creating even more good times.

CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): More than you might realize, people look to you for leadership and regard you as a role model. This will be extra true in the coming weeks. Your statements and actions will have an even bigger impact than usual. Your influence will ripple out far beyond your sphere. In light of these developments, which may sometimes be subtle, I encourage you to upgrade your sense of responsibility. Make sure your integrity is impeccable. Another piece of advice, too: Be an inspiring example to people without making them feel like they owe you anything.

AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Rapper-songwriter Nicki Minaj says, “You should never feel afraid to become a piece of art. It’s exhilarating.” I will go further, Aquarius. I invite you to summon ingenuity and joy in your efforts to be a work of art. The coming weeks will be an ideal time for you to tease out more of your inner beauty so that more people can benefit from it. I hope you will be dramatic and expressive about showing the world the full array of your interesting qualities. PS: Please call on the entertainment value of surprise and unpredictability.

PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Author Robertson Davies declared, “One learns one’s mystery at the price of one’s innocence.” It sounds poetic, but it doesn’t apply to most of you Pisceans—especially now. Here’s what I’ve concluded: The more you learn your mystery, the more innocent you become. Please note I’m using the word “innocence” in the sense defined by author Clarissa Pinkola Estés. She wrote: “Ignorance is not knowing anything and being attracted to the good. Innocence is knowing everything and still being attracted to the good.”

Homework: Reward yourself with a gift for an accomplishment few people know about. Testify: Newsletter.FreeWillAstrology.com.

Alfaro’s 2020 Heirloom Clones Pinot Noir is a Palate Party

Josie Cowden

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October 4, 2022

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Alfaro’s 2020 Heirloom Clones Pinot Noir is a Palate Party

Songs of praise go to the 2020 Heirloom Clones Pinot Noir. This magenta-red wine comes from four different estate sites overseen by winery owners Richard and Mary Katherine Alfaro, including two named after their children—Lindsay Paige Alfaro and Ryan Spencer Alfaro. “The clones used are Calera, Mt. Eden, Pommard, Martini and Swan,” the family says. With its deep aromas of licorice and flavors of black olives, cranberry and anise on the palate, this is a simply outstanding wine.

Growing up surrounded by lavish vines and watching his father make wine over the years, Ryan Alfaro jumped on the grape-industry bandwagon. Gaining knowledge and expertise along the way in the fine art of winemaking, he did a stellar job of producing the Heirloom Clones Pinot Noir ($38). Long may he reign! Visit Alfaro’s upbeat and welcoming tasting room to try the rest of their fine wines.

Alfaro Family Vineyard & Winery, 420 Hames Road, Watsonville, 831-728-5172. alfarowine.com.

British Pubs

I was in my homeland of England for three weeks in August. First, making a beeline to a local pub for some good British ale and a bag of crisps, I enjoyed a dry Camden Hells lager made by Camden Town Brewery—a London-based brewery founded in 2010. And then, later, I guzzled a hefty Tetley’s bitter beer, founded by Joshua Tetley in 1822 and made in Yorkshire, my home county. British pubs go back centuries. One of the oldest, Ye Olde Fighting Cocks in Hertfordshire, dates back to 793.

According to legend, the Old Ferry Boat in St. Ives—located in the hamlet of Holywell and complete with a thatched roof—has been serving drinks since 560. Talking of all things old, we went to see the Jubilee Oak Table on display in Ely Cathedral. Made from a 5,000-year-old fossilized black oak tree in one complete piece of wood, it is 42 feet, 7 inches long—a sight to behold!

The Hideout is an Aptos Dining Destination

Andrew Steingrube

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October 4, 2022

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The Hideout is an Aptos Dining Destination

Pete Vomvolakis and his business partner, Austin, had been bartenders in the local restaurant scene for over 25 years. Eventually, they wanted to open their own spot with their own vision. Pete says they were sold on the location that would become The Hideout because of its good bones, patio space and existing liquor license. The restaurant, initially a house built in the 1920s, needed a complete remodel before opening in 2015. The Hideout has endured a large fire—they had to close and rebuild again—and the pandemic, but the resilient restaurant reopened in 2021 and has thrived. Vomvolakis describes it as “the Cheers of Aptos.” He says the cuisine is refined comfort food, with big portions and “something for everyone.” One menu standout is the smoked gouda mac-and-cheese; they also have a popular ahi poke tower and Vomvolakis’ favorite: the salmon risotto. As for their burgers, bacon is cooked onto the patty, adding another layer of crunch and juiciness. The homemade bread pudding tops the dessert menu; they also serve Sugar Bakery cheesecake.
Hours are every day from 11:30am-9:30pm. GT picked Vomvolakis’ brain recently about his thoughts on the restaurant.

What’s your philosophy on hospitality?

PETE VOMVOLAKIS: We sincerely love the community and our customers, and we want to create an environment where they feel comfortable and have a good time. Hospitality is a dying art, but we are doing our best to keep it alive. The new trend in restaurants can feel a little cold, but we are trying to keep it old school and put the customer first.

Where does your passion for the industry come from?

My grandpa George was an owner of the DeLaveaga Restaurant for 46 years, so I grew up watching him do this. It’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. His restaurant was also a local gathering spot, and he was the best at making people feel at home. My business partner, Austin, and I are doing our best to have that same kind of vibe here at The Hideout. We’re blessed to serve such a supportive community.

The Hideout, 9051 Soquel Drive, Aptos, 831-688-5566; thehideoutaptos.com.

Good TimesGood Times

Good TimesGood Times

EDITOR’S NOTE

PHOTO CONTEST WINNER

GOOD IDEA

GOOD WORK

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

How do you know when you’re finished with a novel or a short story—not just the writing, but the self-editing that comes afterward?

After you complete a manuscript, do you have an “ideal reader?” Someone you trust to give you honest feedback that you take to heart, and whose opinion might inspire you to revisit something in your work that you would have never thought to change?

What was the most emotionally challenging work you’ve written?

How do you think your writing has evolved since ‘CivilWarLand in Bad Decline?’

You’re frequently described as a “writer’s writer.” What do you think is meant by that?

Do you have any rituals, habits or routines regarding your writing process?

What’s the most common question hopeful writers ask you? What’s your answer?

Is there any question(s) you wish aspiring writers would ask you, but never have?

Why Downtown?

Warriors, Come Out and Play

Investigation Begins

British Pubs