The Santa Cruz County Democratic Central Committee (SCCDCC) on Wednesday sent a cease and desist letter to Jimmy Dutra, who is running for the Santa Cruz County Fourth District Supervisor seat, after he sent an election mailer bearing the logo of the Democrat party.
The logo, a blue “D” in a blue circle, is a federally registered trademark. The mailer includes a “Democratic Voters Guide,” says SCCDCC President Andrew Goldenkrantz.
The problem, he says, is that including the logo falsely implies Dutra has the endorsement of the party, when candidate Felipe Hernandez has earned that endorsement.
Dutra has not said that he has the endorsement, Goldenkrantz said.
The County Party’s endorsement carries with it endorsements by the California Democratic Party.
Dutra said he is skeptical of the intentions behind the letter.
“When political special interest groups see a risk to their candidate, it is not uncommon for frivolous last minute allegations to be thrown against a wall to see what can stick,” he said. “I have faith in our community to see past these desperate allegations.”
Dutra said he has a wide array of support from all groups in the community, including Democrats.
“I am proud of being the candidate of bringing all of our community members together,” he said. “Special interest groups are upset because they have been purchasing and controlling this county for decades. It is now time to have representation that can bring all of us together to address the challenges in front of us. I am the real voice for the broad and diverse community of the Pajaro Valley.”
Asked about the timing of the letter to Dutra and the SCCDCC outreach to the media—coming as they did less than a week before election day—Goldenkrantz said that the mailer was sent out early this week, and that the organization acted immediately.
“I think Jimmy misrepresented this thing,” he said. “He is clearly intending to show an endorsement that did not happen for him. Politics is an important business, but we expect honesty from our public officials.”
Dutra’s mailer, and the reaction it has garnered, is nearly identical to what happened last month in San Jose, when the Santa Clara County Democratic Party demanded that City Planning Commission Chair Rolando Bonilla, who is running the District 5 seat on the San Jose City Council, stop using Democrat Party logos.
BEDOUINE PLUS SHANNON LAY Azniv Korkejian, the Los Angeles-based artist who records as Bedouine, drew international acclaim with her eponymous 2017 debut with arresting and honest vocals accompanied by simple guitar accompaniment. Fader called Bedouine “a modern folk masterpiece,” and the New York Times referred to the songstress as a “future legend.” Shannon Lay, the former member of the Feels, has gone folk. The Redondo Beach native’s 2021 Geist represents the singer-songwriter’s versatility: The record features collaborations with Devin Hoff and Ty Segall, a cover of Syd Barrett’s “Late Night” and an original tune inspired by Frank Herbert’s sci-fi epic, Dune. $23.10-26.25. Wednesday, June 1, 8pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. folkyeah.com.
‘GENDERATION’ SCREENING Santa Cruz Pride 2022 lifts off with a special dinner-theater screening of Genderation, happy hour and Q&A with Sandy Stone and Susan Stryker follow the film. The documentary set in Santa Cruz and beyond catches up with artists, scholars and visionaries who were part of the trans and queer cultural landscape of San Francisco in the late ’90s. In addition to Stone and Stryker, the doc features Annie Sprinkle, Beth Stephens, Max Wolfe Valerio and Stafford (More in this week’s cover story). $20 (recommended donation per ticket). Friday, June 3, 5:30pm. Hotel Paradox, 611 Ocean St, Santa Cruz. santacruzpride.eventive.org/schedule.
DASHAWN HICKMAN SACRED STEEL FEATURING WENDY HICKMAN AND CHARLIE HUNTER Ever since jazz guitar virtuoso Charlie Hunter moderated a panel discussion at the National Folk Festival with guitar talent DaShawn Hickman and other fingerpickers, Hunter and Hickman have remained in touch and even collaborated on each other’s projects. Hunter, a natural innovator, suggested, “It would be cool to mellow out the pedal steel and see what would happen if it had more presence in the arrangement—put the steel front and center.” Along with Atiba Rorie, a classically trained percussionist in West African and Afro-Latin music, and Breven Hampden, a percussionist who also grew up playing in church and went on to study African, Latin and world rhythms, Hunter’s idea came to fabulous fruition. $22. Friday, June 3, 8pm. Kuumbwa Jazz, 320-2 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. kuumbwajazz.org.
THE ENGLISH BEAT Since the late 1970s, the Birmingham, England outfit’s music has been called ska, new wave and even 2-tone. They’ve toured the world with David Bowie, the Clash, the Specials and Talking Heads and collaborated on stage many times with the Specials. Pearl Jam began playing “Save It for Later” in 1996, mixing it into the end of “Better Man”—it remained a part of their set through 2014. The group’s debut, I Just Can’t Stop, delivered several hits, including “Can’t Get Used to Losing You,” “Mirror in the Bathroom,” “Hands Off…She’s Mine” and “Best Friend.” $35 plus fees. Saturday, June 4, 8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. feltonmusichall.com.
TOMBOY SANTA CRUZ 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY A trio of stellar folk-rock bands come together to celebrate 10 years of TOMBOY Santa Cruz. Larry and His Flask singers Ian Cook and Andrew Carew carry on their songwriting coalition with a brand-new project, Beyond the Lamplight. Meanwhile, another new band, Tejon Street Corner Thieves, is one of the more eclectic bluegrass outfits (More in this week’s arts story). $15/$20 plus fees. Saturday, June 4, 8:30pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. moesalley.com.
SANTA CRUZ LATIN COLLECTIVE Timbalero Jimmy Palafox and local Latin legend Oscar Estrella founded the collective in 2021 with a vision of bringing together a group that could deliver “positive youthful energy and talented professional musicianship.” Specializing in modern and traditional Latin music with influences spanning from Santana and Malo to Fania All-Stars and Eddie Palmieri, the 10-piece operation has succeeded in adhering to their mission. Don’t forget your dancing shoes! $15. Saturday, June 4, 8pm. Michael’s on Main, 2591 Main St., Soquel. michaelsonmainmusic.com.
REDWOOD MOUNTAIN FAIRE Two days, two stages and more than 20 bands benefiting local nonprofits. Some standouts include folk rockers Midnight North, Santa Cruz Mountains Americana favorite the Coffis Brothers, the Grateful Dead’s brothers from another mother, Moonalice, world music collective SambaDa and Wolf Jett featuring special guest Marty O’Reilly. “I realized if music makes me feel good, the people around me who become a part of it will feel good too,” O’Reilly says. The folks behind the Redwood Mountain Faire feel the same way. $30; $55/2-day pass; $20/Seniors and teens; Free/kids 12 and under. Saturday, June 4 and Sunday, June 5. Roaring Camp, 5401 Graham Hill Road, Felton. redwoodmountainfaire.com.
KAKI KING Guitar trendsetter Kaki King’s Modern Yesterdays is a refinement of her signature guitar-projection mapping performance. She releases the unexpected with technicolor imagination, technical wizardry and carefully choreographed guitar and drum playing. Bridging future-forward modernity with contemplative longing, Modern Yesterdays “sends us on an audiovisual journey reset by our recent past, arriving at the emotional place we yearn to visit.” $30/$35 plus fees. Sunday, June 5, 8pm. Felton Music Hall, 6275 Highway 9, Felton. feltonmusichall.com.
BOOKSHOP SANTA CRUZ PRESENTS: LYNNE COX International Swimming Hall of Famer Lynne Cox’s recent release, Tales of Al: The Water Rescue Dog, is an inspiring story of an ungainly, unruly, irresistible Newfoundland puppy named Al, who grows up to become one of Italy’s highly specialized water rescue dogs who plunge out of helicopters and save lives. Free. Monday, June 6, 6pm. Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. bookshopsantacruz.com.
COMMUNITY
SANTA CRUZ RESTAURANT WALK 18 downtown restaurants will open their doors and provide samples of their cuisine to everyone with a passport. A variety of cuisine spanning the globe. Each restaurant will give a portion of a signature menu item. Funds for this event support the Common Roots Farm and several other local nonprofit organizations. $30. Wednesday, June 1, 5:30-8:30pm. Downtown Santa Cruz, 1100 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. eventbrite.com/e/santa-cruz-restaurant-walk-tickets-334707458017.
GROUPS
WOMENCARE ARM-IN-ARM This cancer support group is for women with advanced, recurrent or metastatic cancer. Meets every Monday on Zoom. Free. Registration required. Monday, June 6, 12:30pm. 831-457-2273. womencaresantacruz.org.
LAUGHTER YOGA Having fun, feeling good and relaxing. That’s what Laughter Yoga is all about. Laughing is a form of stress relief. The group laughs as a form of exercise, and through eye contact and childlike playfulness—fake laughter becomes genuine and contagious. The body doesn’t know the difference between fake laughter and the real thing, so chemicals (dopamine, serotonin) are released, easing our minds and bodies. Free. Tuesday, June 7, 3:30-4:30pm. Inner Light Ministries (Fireside Room), 5630 Soquel Drive, Soquel. sa-cc.org.
OUTDOORS
FREE TUESDAY AT UCSC ARBORETUM What’s not to love about Community Day at the UCSC Arboretum? Explore the biodiversity of the lush gardens and the birds or just take some time for yourself on a quiet bench in the shade. Free. Tuesday, June 7, 9am-5pm. UC Santa Cruz Arboretum & Botanic Garden, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz. calendar.ucsc.edu.
Thrown off by the 10-hour time difference, I wake Jagari at 4am Zambia time. I can hear the sleep in his voice. I apologize profusely, and offer to call back at a later time.
“No, no!” Jagari perks up as if he is suddenly infused with strong espresso. “Let’s talk now.”
The exchange represents Jagari as a person and musician—his passion is genuine and ever-present, whether awake or half-asleep. Emmanuel Chanda, aka Jagari—the Africanization of Mick Jagger’s name—explains that a musician never stops being a musician.
“When does a pilot stop being a pilot?” he asks. “When does a doctor stop being a doctor? Do they retire? Musicians don’t retire.”
“It shows you who Jagari is as a person,” says Italian filmmaker and WITCH manager Gio Arlotta.
Jagari and his band WITCH are the dominant force behind Zamrock, a little-known musical genre born in the early ’70s in Zambia, Africa. Zamrock melds the traditional rhythmic backbone of African tribal music with psych, garage rock, blues and funk, resulting in something familiar and completely different from anything else. WITCH albums were reissued in 2010, igniting a renewed adoration for the band and the Zamrock genre—the Beastie Boys’ Mike D included a WITCH tune on his “favorite all-time songs” playlist alongside John Lennon, Miles Davis and Stevie Wonder.
The traditional music in the village of the mining towns where Jagari grew up and the songs he heard from U.K. bands on the radio—the Rolling Stones, the Kinks—informed the WITCH frontman and unofficial Zamrock leader.
“People from South Africa, Tanzania, Congo, Malawi and Rhodesia came to work in the mines where I grew up, so on the weekends, there was a cross-culture of activities and music,” Jagari says. “Those were things influencing me, but I was not conscious of.”
All the musical influences that impacted Jagari would come out during school dances and other social events. Classmates encouraged him to find a band to join. But before he had the chance, Jagari was invited to join the rising Zambia band Kingston Market. Kingston Market became Footswitch, then Switch, and eventually Witch, as in a woman with magical powers who flies around a broomstick. With the name change came a four-year record contract equivalent to 15,000 euros today. Lazy Bones was the first record released under the new contract. In three weeks, an unprecedented 7,000 copies were sold.
“People were excited to have their own band—a local band doing so well,” Jagari says.
Lazy Boneswas unlike any other music at the time; traditional African rhythms fused with heavy organ riffs and early psych/garage-rock sound of Love, Vanilla Fudge and Thirteenth Floor Elevators.
“We didn’t know what name to give [the music],” Jagari says. “Then, a radio DJ called it ‘Zamrock.’”
WITCH paved the way for a barrage of Zamrock bands which formed during the ’70s, including The Peace, Amanaz, Chrissy “Zebby” Tembo and Paul Ngozi and his Ngozi Family.
Thousands attended WITCH concerts every time they played; Jagari became known for his physically demanding onstage antics—think Eddie Vedder climbing the scaffolding during Pearl Jam’s early ’90s Glastonbury show.
“I don’t plan what I want to do on stage beforehand,” Jagari says. “I let the music drive my movements. If I feel something nice, that pushes me to do whatever I want. As the frontman, you have to interpret the music you’re playing; sometimes, people cannot understand what you’re playing until they see your movements or hear words in the songs. I try to relay that to the fans and find a way of making it interesting. They will just go home if they don’t like what you’re doing.”
The music simultaneously blended the rhythms of various African regions and Zambia’s 72-plus ethnic groups with the harmonies of Western music. Jagari says some of their rhythms were inspired by the music of customary funeral rites that encouraged miners to mourn the dead. Whether the Stones were aware of it, “Sympathy for the Devil” uses the same rhythmic pattern.
After hearing Lazy Bones, Arlotta was compelled to jump on a plane to Zambia and make We Intend To Cause Havoc, a documentary showcasing WITCH and Zamrock.
“This incredible music felt both familiar and very exotic at the same time,” Arlotta says. “Once I met Jagari, his persona and attitude towards life inspired me and taught me you should never give up on your dreams because you never know when they will become true.”
But it wasn’t easy. Jagari and Patrick Mwondela (keyboards) are the only original members who remain, and it had been over 40 years since WITCH performed live.
“There was this gap when the [Zambian] music industry sort of died, and HIV and AIDS took a lot of people,” Jagari says. “Many live below the poverty line and fend for themselves by doing small businesses.”
In addition to the onslaught of AIDS and poverty, Zambia was rife with violence, leading to countrywide curfews and blackouts. It became impossible for WITCH to perform live anywhere in the country, and that was their primary income source.
“I had to find something else to live on,” Jagari says. “That’s how I find myself mining gemstones.”
The documentary was released in 2019, but the pandemic prevented any touring until last year. Jagari and Mwondela were joined by bassist Jacco Gardner, drummer Nico Mauskoviç and guitarists JJ Whitefield and Micheal Rault for dates spanning the West Coast, including Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Denver and SXSW. They return to the West Coast this summer, then head to Europe in August, and in October, WITCH will make their East Coast debut.
“Music is like wine,” Jagari says. “The older it gets, the better it becomes.”
The humble Zambian musician isn’t looking for fortune or fame. He wants to open a music school in Zambia and a recording studio that would attract people to record within the country.
“That is my dream,” Jagari says as the sun rises.
‘We Intend To Cause Havoc’ is available on Apple TV and Altavod.
WITCH (L’éclair opens) plays Friday, June 10, 9pm. Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $22/$27 plus fees. folkyeah.com.
Before playing “Love Luck” for Little Hurricane’s Tomboy Session video, singer and guitarist Anthony Catalano takes note of his surroundings. “It’s always fun to play abnormal music venues,” he says. You’d think he’d never played Americana in a vintage clothing shop before!
“I get that a lot,” Summer Duppen, owner of Tomboy Santa Cruz, tells me. She knows her shop is an unusual place to showcase live music, but she’s forged a close link with the local music scene since opening a decade ago. In fact, Tomboy is synonymous with music, thanks to the Tomboy Sessions videos Duppen has been presenting since 2016. The gorgeously produced shorts have featured top homegrown talent like the Carolyn Sills Combo, Jesse Daniel and the Coffis Brothers—whose performance of “Two of a Kind” was just posted last month—as well as visiting performers.
Moe’s Alley has come on board as a sponsor of the sessions, so it’s fitting that the club will host a celebration of Tomboy’s 10th anniversary this weekend. It’s also appropriate that the show’s headliner is the furious, banjo-driven folk-rock outfit Beyond the Lamplight, since the band’s lead singers, Ian Cook and Andrew Carew, did a memorable Tomboy Session back in 2018 with their former project Larry and His Flask.
Duppen says the involvement of Moe’s co-owner Brian Ziel has “helped us breathe life into the sessions.” The club is also hosting the monthly Western Wednesdays, of which Tomboy has long been the unofficial style supplier for both artists and fans.
“It’s all Tomboy’d up,” says Duppen.
She’s grateful to loyal customers for helping get the store through three months of pandemic closures in 2020, allowing her to celebrate this 10-year landmark.
“It was incredible,” she says. “And now business is better than ever.”
The Tomboy 10th Anniversary celebration will be held at 9pm at Moe’s Alley on Saturday, June 4. Beyond the Lamplight and Tejon Street Corner Thieves perform. $15/$20. moesalley.com. See the Tomboy Sessions at tomboysc.com.
Re: “Super Responsive” (GT, 5/25): Thank you for covering the race for District 3 Supervisor and allowing all three of us to speak our minds on crucial county issues.
One important correction: your reporter stated that I “claimed” to have a recording of the Santa Cruz Together PAC meeting. This meeting was recorded by local resident Ann Simonton, who then confronted members of the City Council of Brown Act and other perceived violations at the next Council meeting.
The audio file was posted over a week ago at the Reimagine Santa Cruz website, and prompted broad discussion in our community, including among many former elected officials. I filed an FPPC (not Brown Act) complaint based on apparent collaboration between a candidate and an independent PAC in that recording.
It is up to all of us, IMHO, including our news media, to have broad discussions about the Brown Act, and seeming infractions, as well as possible FPPC violations. Who is funding our elections, and who is playing by the rules or not are all important to voters making a crucial decision in roughly one week.
Ami Chen Mills
Santa Cruz
The article did not intend to imply the recording does not exist; it obviously does. The use of “claimed” in the sentence referred to the allegation that the recording documents improper campaign activity, which has yet to be determined. We regret any confusion. — Editor
Land Grab
Your issue on Measure D (GT, 5/18) was very well done, factual and balanced, each side making their case. As a Greenway supporter, one thing I want to add is that electric light rail for transportation should go down the middle of the freeway, paid for by the feds and the state.
I think Roaring Camp, the largest “No on D!” contributor, did a great marketing job. Last year, they got the option to operate on the coast line (from the latest failed freight carrier), if only someone will pay millions to rebuild it. I think they want to use it for a tourist train, but have pushed “transportation needs,” “land grab” and “Save The Beach Train!” to get people on their side.
We should have a beautiful, continuous Greenway and electric rail transportation between Santa Cruz and Watsonville. A high-impact train (way more “land grab”) next to a peaceful, scenic trail is not the way to do it.
Steven Robins
Felton
It Takes Vision
As the first woman in the U.S. to start an insurance company, I know a bit about executing on a vision that others don’t yet see. I believed in nonprofit organizations and their ability to safely and effectively serve our communities, even when providing care for vulnerable children and frail elderly. The entitled old guard said it could never be done. Then and now, they worked to undermine our success and keep the benefits of this effort from those who need it most. For 32 years, using a cooperative model, the nonprofit insurer I started and headquartered in Santa Cruz, Nonprofits Insurance Alliance, has succeeded and now insures 23,000 nonprofits in 32 states.
That’s why I am so bothered by the matter of Measure D. I now urge every voter to turn away from the naysayers and share my vision for light rail in Santa Cruz. This has been studied thoroughly, resulting in green, efficient Electric Passenger Rail being selected as the preferred transit choice by the Regional Transportation Commission in February 2021. Many of the entitled old guard are trying to distract you from a better vision for the future. I say don’t listen to those without vision—those hoping to foreclose the opportunity for light rail in Santa Cruz. The future belongs to those who can see the possibilities. No on D!
Pamela Davis
Santa Cruz
What No Doesn’t Talk About
It’s incredible to me that the No on D folks continue to assert claims that are so easily proven to be false.
Measure D expressly preserves the rail corridor for future transit—read the measure itself to verify this. Measure D would not stop trail construction; the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC) is planning Greenway’s trail as well as the trail-with-rail simultaneously. According to the RTC, Measure D would not stop planning or seeking funding for future transit on the corridor.
Railbanking is no “scheme,” according to the RTC’s several informational reports on the subject. It’s been used hundreds of times across the nation to preserve rail corridors intact for future transit, and at least 11 trails have returned to rail service.
Health benefits for our county? 200 local doctors agree that outdoor active transportation—protected bicycle and pedestrian trails—is the most significant thing we can do to improve our county’s health and safety.
What do the No on D folks never talk about? How long it will take to build a train! And what it will cost! Good Times has offered several carefully researched articles recently in which to verify these facts. Vote yes on Measure D, based on facts.
Nadene Thorne
Santa Cruz
What Yes Doesn’t Talk About
The one thing Greenway never talks about is that if Measure D passes, not only will the railroad tracks be ripped out and further trail construction delayed for years, we will be stuck with widening Highway One as the only option for addressing our present and future transportation needs. Greenway doesn’t want anyone to know the total cost of widening the highway is more than double the cost of adding passenger rail. Greenway also doesn’t want anyone to know that outside funding for highway widening projects is becoming harder to get because state and federal agencies realize highway widening doesn’t really work over the long haul. Greenway doesn’t want voters to know the truth, because if voters knew their trail only plan was actually more expensive and would just make the Highway One parking lot bigger, no one would vote for Measure D. Stop the deception, vote no on D.
Andy Drenick
Santa Cruz
State of the Rails
I just read Greg Becker’s letter in the May 4 edition of Good Times. It made many assertions. My memory and experience suggested that those assertions were not accurate. So, after reading the letter, I drove through the stop-and-go traffic on Highway 1—traffic that will increase because Measure D removes one of our transit options—and took a look at the actual condition of the tracks.
Now, let me give some background. I’ve been involved in the historical preservation of railroads and rolling stock for several decades. I have carried rails, pounded spikes and restored old equipment to running condition.
The letter suggests that the present line from Santa Cruz to Watsonville is somehow deficient because it is old. Yes, it is old. It is made of used rails that are no longer viable for a Class I railroad such as the Union Pacific. The Union Pacific uses sequences of heavy and powerful locomotives (400,000 lb., 6,000hp each) to haul long and heavy freight trains at 80mph.
Our proposed use of the coast rail line comes nowhere near that kind of intensive heavy use. Rather, our proposed passenger rail cars are roughly the weight of a city bus and move at less than 60mph. They are butterflies compared to the Union Pacific’s elephants.
As anyone who is familiar with rails knows, each rail has the date of manufacture and the weight molded right into the steel. Those numbers may be masked by the light, harmless rust that affects rails, but with a bit of brushing, they can easily be read. Class I railroads generally use rails that weigh as much as 140 lbs. per yard. Ties are usually concrete or high-quality wood reinforced with wire mesh.
Our existing coastal rail is a mix of used rail. I saw rails of 90 lb. per yard and heavier. I spotted dates from 1917 and 1937. Some parts needed some re-grinding—a routine form of rail maintenance. And I am sure that a lot of those wooden ties will need to be replaced and the ballast (the rocks under the tracks) may need some work.
Those rails are heavier, stronger and newer than rail that I’ve laid and seen in actual use in places like Niles Canyon. Even the oldest of those rails are 40 years younger than the steel that holds up the Brooklyn Bridge in New York or the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Sure, our existing coastal rail is not the kind of shiny new, ultra-heavy-duty, sub-millimeter perfection we will have for the California High Speed Rail or the UP and BNSF central valley mainlines. But it is certainly a good foundation for our lightweight needs.
Yes, the federal regulatory apparatus and its definitions are troublesome. But our RTC seems more willing to pull the covers over its head and cry “I am afraid, I am scared” than actually trying to productively engage with regulators.
I noticed that once again the Measure D proponents sweep an important aspect under the rug: That the rail line was purchased for more than $14 million on the express and explicit grounds that the line be used for passenger rail transit.
In other words, the rail line is encumbered and may not be used for another purpose than passenger rail transport. That $14 million would have to be repaid if measure D passes. That money will have to come out of the pockets of Santa Cruz County taxpayers. And even if we were to pay that money back to the State of California, that encumbrance would still remain.
Sure, we expect people like Gov. Abbot of Texas or Donald Trump to use money appropriated for one purpose to pay for something entirely different. But we are better than those people; we should expect that when our government levies taxes on us and spends our money for a designated purpose that that money not be diverted elsewhere.
Karl Auerbach
Santa Cruz
Northern Comparison
Compare the idealistic Santa Cruz hope for a passenger rail service with the realistic outcome of the Marin-Sonoma Smart Train. That train actually goes places, from the San Francisco Ferry in Marin County to the Santa Rosa Airport, a major transit route through counties with 750,000 people. Yet ridership and income are really low and taxpayers are supporting it. Santa Cruz County has 250,000 people and the destinations—Watsonville to Davenport—are even more unlikely to create a sustainable service. The Measure D proposal will create a faster, legally less complicated, cheaper and healthy means for non-automotive transportation through Santa Cruz.
James Rosen
Santa Cruz
Rail-Trail? Bus-Trail!
I’m an engineer with an All-Express Passenger Train patent. Unfortunately, the local application intended over 100 years ago for only slow-moving freight trains and twice a day tourist trains would be better served today by a flexible surface that would be useful over many generations.
One surface worth consideration, already proven on playgrounds, can eliminate “used-up rubber tire wastes” by incorporating them within a gem of a transportation corridor that has been wasted for the past 10+ years!
Rubber-wheel trains throughout Paris, France proved passengers can’t tell the difference from standard trains. That aspect and local interest in TIG’s “wannabe bus of tomorrow” implies genuine buses can be made desirable.
A Strategic Bus-Trail doesn’t have to violate the integrity of a Trail-Only, it can be used in conjunction to more expeditiously transport passengers between Watsonville and Santa Cruz than any Rail-Trail, without involving time-consuming transfers.
Vote yes on Measure D!
Bob Fifield
Aptos
Down to the Wire
It is now coming down to the wire and the fate of the historic Santa Cruz Branch Rail Line is in the voter’s hands regarding Measure D. A yes on D means the potential loss of a very useful and needed rail infrastructure by caving in to the self-serving and elitist anti-rail groups and their deceptive tactics.
Voting no on D will preserve the rail line for future use by environmentally sound electric rail vehicles, which will help to reduce traffic congestion on Highway 1, prevent railbanking, which is a farce anyway, and save the beloved Santa Cruz & Big Trees/Roaring Camp whose operation is in jeopardy should D pass. Furthermore, saving the branch line ensures that existing Watsonville businesses who currently use the line to ship commodities will continue to do so and Santa Cruz County residents who wish to commute and travel will have intercity connections at Watsonville Junction in Pajaro.
In this case, the pros outweigh the cons. Think Rail With Trail and please vote no on Measure D.
Gary V. Plomp
Gilroy
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When GT won its second consecutive First Place award in the California Journalism Awards’ General Excellence category last year, it couldn’t have come at a more important time. After putting our hearts and souls into covering this community through the pandemic and wildfires, the staff was exhausted. To be recognized as the best weekly newspaper in the state again at that moment was not only a validation of the work we do every week, but also a huge morale boost at a crucial time. We’d set high standards for ourselves before the pandemic, and then maintained them through a year of chaos. The only question was whether we could, especially with some new editors and reporters coming on, sustain the quality and depth of news and arts coverage that had made us repeat winners.
And the answer, it turns out, was yes, because last week the California Newspaper Publishers Association awarded GT the First Place award in General Excellence for the third year in a row. You can see a rundown of the 11 awards we won on page 14, but to me perhaps the most meaningful comment the judges made was about GT’s “distinctive community voice.” That’s what we strive to bring you every week, and I think it might be what most sets us apart in the local media landscape. So congrats to the entire GT staff and extended family on this great win!
Speaking of celebrating, it’s the return of Santa Cruz Pride this weekend, and Mat Weir has an excellent cover story on it that also looks at the new wave of queer art in Santa Cruz. Read it immediately.
Lastly, it’s been a long run-up for all of us, but Election Day is finally here, so don’t forget to look over all our coverage and vote on June 7!
STEVE PALOPOLI | EDITOR
PHOTO CONTEST WINNER
GET IN SHAPE What do you see above Twin Lakes State Beach? Bonus points if you can spot Sammy the Slug. Photograph by Michelle L. Moreno.
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
ACHIEVEMENT UNLOCKED
Level Up Video Games, Santa Cruz’s local independent video game store, reached a milestone this month: 15 years in business, the last 10 in Santa Cruz. Owned by Bay Area native Jerry Abreu, the store carries both retro and new games. To celebrate its anniversary, Level Up is hosting a free art show on June 10th from 4-7pm and a charity raffle (featuring a Nintendo Switch prize package) that will benefit the Alzheimer’s Association. Visit the store at 113 Locust Street in Santa Cruz, or go to levelupvideogames.com.
GOOD WORK
SOUND OF JUNE
Soquel High graduate June Cavlan won another jazz award last week, just in time for her headlining debut in the Bay Area this summer. Cavlan’s first experiences singing jazz was as a member of the Jazz Singers at Soquel High. She has won numerous awards from Downbeat magazine, and now has taken home the Downbeat “Best Undergraduate Jazz Vocal Soloist” award, a first in her career. For more information, follow @junecavlanmusic on Instagram.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The support of straight allies has been key, since they’ll be making the gay babies of the future.”
Eli Torres and Suki Berry were downright thirsty for a sickening—that’s drag slang for “amazing”—queer arts scene in Santa Cruz last year.
“We didn’t have that and didn’t think to travel over the hill to find a drag community to latch onto,” says Torres. “So we started one ourselves.”
The two friends founded the drag house Haus of Libations, and Berry quickly took on the role of house mom.
“But I like to joke that she’s more the Peter Pan to our Lost Boys,” Torres jokes. “And I’m Captain Hook.”
Drag houses stem from ballroom drag culture of late-20th-century New York. Queer, Black and Latino members of the scene would band together into households and teach each other how to make outfits and do their makeup, while providing shelter in an accepting, chosen-family setting that was sometimes a stark contrast from their biological families. As the houses grew, they began throwing underground pageants to compete with each other for different prizes in categories like “realness” and “runway.”
The Haus of Libations follows this tradition, as many of the members live under the same roof, and everyone does drag.
“We all live double lives, and we’re all so stupid together,” says Torres, a Santa Cruz local who studied art and art education at Humboldt State, where he originally met Berry.
After graduation, both Berry and Torres found themselves back in Santa Cruz, randomly rekindling their friendship in the most artistic way at the now-defunct Palace Art store on Pacific Avenue.
“We were both like, ‘Please, I need friends so bad,’” Berry remembers. “We were equally crazy, equally gay and coming from a similar background. We both needed an outlet badly.”
That outlet came with wigs, heels and one hell of a fabulous wardrobe.
The pair trace the origin of Haus of Libations back to San Francisco Pride 2018, when they ran around the city together in drag. But it wasn’t until Berry threw a house party in November 2018 that Torres began performing live.
“She told me, ‘By the way, I’m having a drag show and you’re in it,’” he remembers. “And I told her, ‘No, I don’t perform, I just do it for myself.’”
Berry’s response? “Too bad, I already made a flier, and you’re practically headlining it.”
After that, the two began performing renegade shows at other various parties, arriving in costume as their alter egos—”Cherry Cola” for Torres and “Franzia Rosé” for Berry—and taking over.
“We would show up and say, ‘Hand me the auxiliary chord,’” remembers Berry, who performs female drag as a woman, something often judged harshly in the drag community. But she doesn’t let that hold her back.
“A lot of people see it and say, ‘I didn’t know that was allowed,’” she says. “It’s always been allowed. There are so many different iterations of the queer experience I think it’s reductive to reduce drag to just one side of the queer spectrum.”
What Torres and Berry didn’t know at the time was that they were at the forefront of a new queer-art revolution in Santa Cruz, one powered by a river of gender fluidity, humor and a backlash against societal norms. As Santa Cruz celebrates its 47th Pride festival this weekend, this burgeoning movement is injecting new energy into the local queer scene.
OFF THE DEEP END
Torres and Berry will take a victory lap at Santa Cruz Pride this weekend—the aquatic kind. They’re hosting Hotel Paradox’s annual Pride Pool Party on Sunday, June 5 as Cherry Cola and Franzia Rosé.
“We’re going to be off-duty lifeguards who don’t know how to swim,” says Torres.
Everyone is likely to be in a celebratory mood this weekend, as it’s the first full Pride weekend since the pandemic. Just don’t call it a comeback.
“Pride has never gone away,” says Santa Cruz Pride Chair Rob Darrow.
He points out that in 2020, amidst the confusion and chaos of Covid, Santa Cruz Pride held a “virtual parade” complete with interviews featuring local politicians like then-mayor Justin Cummings and Congressman Jimmy Panetta, along with a Queer History online exhibit presented by the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History, and virtual performances by local artists and dancers. Last year, Pride once again pivoted with the changing times and manifested itself as an outdoor picnic at DeLaveaga Park.
Patrick Stephenson, part of the BEARPAD art collective, curates the visuals for the Cherry Pit.
A native Santa Cruzan, Darrow is an educator and historian by trade, and spent much of his career teaching LGBTQ+ history. It wasn’t until he was 50 years old that he also came out.
“I tell some people I lived the first 50 years of my life as a heterosexual, and I’m living the second 50 as a homosexual,” he says with a smile.
He’s now an LGBTQ+ education consultant for the Santa Cruz County Office of Education and works with school districts on how to teach queer history.
“Santa Cruz is what Santa Cruz is because of the LGBTQ community,” Darrow states. “And people from Santa Cruz have contributed to the LGBTQ movement. It’s gone both ways.”
Case in point, this year’s 29th annual Dyke Trans March, which meets at the Santa Cruz Town Clock on Saturday, June 4th at 4:20pm.
“At the first LGBTQ Rights March on Washington [April 25, 1993] there was a group of women on motorcycles that rode it,” Darrow explains. “There were several women from Santa Cruz there, and they brought that concept back with them.”
Along with the Dyke Trans March, several other celebrations will return, like the Queer Men’s Dance at the Diversity Center (also on June 4) and the Pride Parade and Festival, both of which will take place on June 5.
But 2022 also brings new sights, sounds and celebrations for Pride, like the screening of the documentary Genderation on Friday, June 3rd.
“The other thing that’s new is we have a Youth Pride at the Boys & Girls Club on the afternoon of June 5,” says Darrow. “It will be for kids 12-20 to have their own space to play games and participate in activities.”
PIT START
All of this weekend’s festivities will have a little bit extra sass thanks to the local queer-art boom, which has taken off in the past year with drag shows, burlesque, and body-positive art.
Somewhere near the center of it all, appropriately enough, is the Cherry Pit, which is hosted by Torres and Berry.
Billed as a monthly drag and dance party variety show at the Blue Lagoon, the Cherry Pit has become a major hit. Outrageous, flawless and rooted in scandalous humor, its debut show in July of 2021 had patrons lined up out the door, spilling onto Pacific Avenue. Since then, every month has sold out, with a rotating list of drag performers, visuals by queer collective BEARPAD and music by DJ Ayumi Please.
“I could not believe the way we packed that house,” Ayumi recalls of the first Cherry Pit. “It was awesome!”
Born and raised in Salinas, Ayumi has deejayed for the last 11 years. Although he currently lives over the hill and can be found weekly dropping beats at San Jose gay bar Renegades, he’s also an honorary resident DJ of the Santa Cruz scene.
It was Ayumi, along with Patrick Stephenson and Jordan Fickel of BEARPAD, who first came up with doing a drag show at the Blue Lagoon, where Fickel had worked for several years. The idea was born when they all lived together during 2020 and threw streaming dance parties online. When events started up again in 2021, they knew they had to do something big and in-person.
“I was going stir crazy being at home, so from the moment I was able to start working again, I wanted to,” Ayumi remembers. “Because of the pandemic, drag had died a little bit. Everyone was off and there was no place to do it except virtually.”
Ayumi had already known Torres for about a year, and knew his Cherry Cola alter-ego was the perfect hostess with the mostess.
Performers from last month’s Tasty Teaze event, including event creator Selina De Vestige (back row, second from left).
“I loved their perspective on drag, and how campy, goofy and fun it was,” explains Ayumi, saying Torres was also just as stir crazy to start performing again.
The Cherry Pit isn’t the only regular show Ayumi works, but he says it’s definitely the most successful one he’s curated. He believes the reason is two-fold. First, because of its unique flavor. Each month there’s a different theme, ranging from “Fresh Meat” (new performers) to “Drag Kings” (when everyone performed as male drag artists, with Franzia Rosé and Cherry Cola as an absolutely stunning Jareth–aka David Bowie in Labyrinth–and Freddie Mercury, respectively), and every performer also brings a stunning floorshow with one-of-a-kind handmade costumes. Each Cherry Pit also ends in a dance party, with Ayumi spinning a unique blend of punk, emo, k-pop and female rappers.
“I love all music, but also want to play things that don’t get played very often,” he says.
Another reason, he says, is the audience themselves.
“We have an audience who is dedicated to keeping the space open because it’s for everybody,” he says. “Our audience trusts that no matter what, we’re going to have fun, it’s going to be silly and we’re all going to enjoy ourselves.”
Visuals for the Cherry Pit are projected behind—and often onto—the performers, curated by Stephenson. While BEARPAD is an art collective, Stephenson and Fickel are the heart and soul. Since 2020 they have created queer, sexually explicit, pro-bigger-bodied male art in mulitple visual platforms like videos, t-shirts, stickers and four-by-eight-foot wood cutouts.
“Gay bars have a history of wooden cutouts of men who are these traditionally sexualized ideals, and often white, like the art of Tom of Finland,” Fickel explains, adding while they don’t use skin colors, many BEARPAD designs are black or non-white coded, identified by hair patterns or physical features.
“So we’re referencing that, but subverting it by making our characters cozy, cuddly and affectionate.”
“We want queer bodies in public spaces,” says Stephenson. “So I find the stuff we make is too big to hide.”
Since the lockdown lift, BEARPAD has worked nonstop to maintain that goal, with their art featured in everywhere from Something Queer—a dedicated Queer party created by Burning Man faithfuls—to Daddyland, a Southern California pop-up “adult amusement park” art installation.
“It’s like Disneyland, but hornier,” Stephenson chuckles.
MAJESTY AND MORE
Of course, the Cherry Pit isn’t the only show in town offering drag, dance and burlesque—it’s not even the only one hosted by Cherry Cola. The quick-witted queen also hosts a number of other shows, including co-hosting this month’s Pride Majesty dance party and variety show at Motion Pacific Dance with Franzia Rosé, also on June 3.
Unlike many of the other queer shows, Majesty predates the pandemic. A bi-monthly event, its roots lie in 2017, when Motion Pacific put on its first Cabagay, a Queer cabaret and variety show. The next summer they held another, themed “A Midsummer Queer’s Dream.”
“It was so much fun we wanted to do it all the time,” says Motion Pacific artistic director and teacher Melissa Wiley (whose burlesque name is Vyxen Monroe). “So we decided to do a mini-version every other month, and that’s how Majesty was born.”
Like the Cherry Pit, Majesty combines drag and an aftershow dance party, intertwined with burlesque, Wiley’s expertise. Their first show back since the pandemic was last October, held in the Motion Pacific parking lot. Wiley tells GT it was “heartwarming” to see such a robust audience brace the chilly weather, excited for the show’s return.
“It definitely feels like we’re seeing a lot of new energy right now,” she says of the local queer art scene. “I haven’t really felt that since the days of [Club] Dakota.”
On the Eastside of Santa Cruz, there’s a brand new event called the Tasty Teaze cooking up sensual, daytime treats at Greater Purpose Brewery Company with DJ Ayumi behind the decks and Cherry Cola on the mic.
Billed as a brunch burlesque show, it can be found once a month on Sundays at the Greater Purpose Brewing Company (GPBC) on East Cliff Drive. Tasty Teaze combines sweet and savory pleasures mixing drag and burlesque with food from Sweet Bean Bakery, Laurel Bakes and a chosen food truck. It’s the brainchild of Selina De Vestige, who not only produces the show, but performs it as well.
“I realized there weren’t any daytime shows in town and I wanted to bring that flavor to town,” she says. “As far as exposure goes, it’s great for queer culture.”
De Vestige lives and breathes art, embodying flair with diva outfits and glamorous makeup for everyday outings around town. She started doing burlesque in 2018, and says it has given her a sense of body empowerment and confidence not shared in other art forms.
“Everyone’s body is different,” says De Vestige. “And [burlesque] gives a sense of worth to everyone.”
As if three gigs weren’t enough, Cherry Cola also hosts the weekly Drag Bingo, every Thursday night also at Greater Purpose. Not your grandma’s bingo game, Drag Bingo comes with flamboyant style, double scoops of shade and innuendo and topped with a ton of audience participation. Because Santa Cruz lacks a dedicated gay bar or queer cafe, Greater Purpose Brewery has become the defacto place for the community. They often hold Pride Pint Nights, designated nights when part of the money made from beer sales is donated to The Neighbors Pub, an in-the-works dedicated queer cafe/pub.
Still, Santa Cruz’s Queer community is hungry for a space of their own.
“It always feels like you’re a guest in somebody else’s house when you’re anywhere else,” says BEARPAD’s Patrick Stephenson. “It would be great to have a space that felt like ours.”
Yet even with a dedicated queer space, another challenge faces this new wave of Santa Cruz queer artists: availability. Right now, despite all the activity, there is only a small group of individuals at the core of the growing movement, and everyone involved knows that with continued growth comes better representation.
“I hear people say their intersections are not fully represented,” says Ayumi. “So I think it’s very important for others to find a way and make a path.”
“Our hands are full!” Berry admits. “We need the community to step up and go do something fun and weird. We’ll come, we promise.”
Five candidates are currently vying to lead the 30th Assembly District. Redrawn after the 2020 decennial census to include parts of Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties, the district now spans rural, agricultural and urban areas, including more than a dozen cities.
Whoever wins the June 7 election will therefore have to grapple with issues such as water shortages and land use, as well as the worsening homelessness and housing crises. GT spoke to four of the candidates (Vicki Nohrden did not respond to requests for an interview) about the 30th Assembly race.
Jon Wizard has lived and worked in every part of the 30th Assembly district, which he says has prepared him to step handily into the role of Assemblymember.
This, he says, is coupled with his roles as firefighter, 911 dispatcher, police officer and deputy sheriff, and experience with organizations such as Habitat for Humanity.
“I have a personal experience and a relationship with the nonprofit and governmental sectors, and I am going to be able to leverage not only those experiences but those relationships to providing tangible results in Santa Cruz County,” he says.
Wizard’s job as a police officer was cut short when he was injured on the job. Still wanting to serve his community, however, he joined the Monterey County Planning Commission, and then the Seaside City Council.
“My experience in public policy is baked into a regionalist perspective, and I understand the relationships between the small cities and rural suburban counties of the Central Coast,” he says. “I decided that when the opportunity came up to run for Assembly and to work in a district with 15 cities, the opportunity to serve our greater community and leverage the political might and resources of our counties to lift up our counties was very attractive.”
If elected, Wizard says he hopes to tackle the ever-worsening homeless and affordable housing crises, a mission he says was precipitated when, as a police officer, he met a family living in their car with their young daughter. Both parents had good jobs, he says, but still couldn’t afford the deposit on a place to live.
“When I think about that, I think about the youth homelessness crisis in our community, where we’re approaching 10,000 kids in our district,” he says.
Wizard also hopes to address water and the ongoing drought, which he says is tied inextricably to the housing crisis.
In addition, the state should do what it can to support small businesses, he says, pointing to companies such as Joby Aviation in Marina as examples of companies that are thriving despite the lagging economy, and to the economic development at the Paso Robles Airport.
“There is a lot of opportunity that is available to the Central Coast,” he says. “There is a lot of potential here to develop industries that are not limited to the tourism and agriculture sectors.
This, in turn, requires addressing water issues and workforce housing, he says.
“If we are going to seize these opportunities, we have to have the infrastructure, and all of the stuff that goes into an environment where people can grow and thrive,” he says.
Wizard has received $207,297 in 228 contributions, including $4,900 from the California African American PAC, $9,700 from the California State Council of Service Employees and the Democratic Women’s clubs of both Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Zoë Carter says hers is the only moderate voice in the race, which she says fills a statewide need for a political shift at the State Capital.
“We need someone who will bring new ideas and be a reasonable voice for our community,” she says.
She says she did not support Assembly Bill 1400—also called the California Guaranteed Health Care for All Act—a proposed law that would have guaranteed medical care for all Californians, but would likely have required raising taxes to foot the $400 million tab. The bill died Feb. 1 on the Assembly floor.
“I don’t believe in putting those types of large tax increases on our citizens at this point, especially coming out of the pandemic,” she says.
Carter says she supports small businesses, and all forms of water supply and all energy production, including solar, wind and nuclear.
“Being more of a moderate, I find myself getting frustrated with regulations on top of regulations on top of taxes and taxes and taxes that don’t always benefit our communities,” she says.
Such political philosophy is not as out of place in liberal-leaning Santa Cruz County as it may seem, she says.
“I’m not here to be another progressive in Sacramento,” she says. “I think that’s what people want, and that’s what people in this district want, too.”
Carter served on Michelle Obama’s policy team at the White House in 2011. She moved to the Monterey area eight years ago to work with former U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and his wife on their nonprofit the Panetta Institute for Public Policy.
She holds a master’s degree in international relations from London’s Hult International Business School.
Carter serves as director of operations at the Monterey County Business Council. She formerly chaired the City of Monterey Architectural Review Committee, and is a member of the City of Monterey’s Architectural Review Committee.
Carter lists among her legislative priorities affordable and accessible education, clean water and mental health. She also hopes to tackle infrastructure such as housing, high-speed internet for rural areas and fixing the state’s crumbling road system.
She would also support small businesses coming out of the pandemic so they can be successful and help the state rebuild the economy, she says.
Carter has raised $53,166 in 73 contributions, including $9,700 from the California Real Estate Political Action Committee (CREPAC), $2,500 from the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Indians and $2,000 from Brindeiro & Danbom Dairy Farms.
John Drake
At 21, John Drake is the youngest candidate, and if elected would be the youngest Assemblymember in the state. Assemblymember Alex Lee of Los Angeles became the youngest in 2020 when elected at age 25.
But Drake says his youth is not a barrier to his ability to hold the position.
“A lot of people like the fact there is a young person running,” he says.
Too many people, he says, assume young people don’t understand how public policy works, or don’t understand the importance of holding public office.
Drake is currently studying public policy and public administration at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He says this, coupled with the fact that he is working to pay his tuition and living costs, gives him a boots-on-the-ground understanding of what working-class people need.
“I think the best way to solve these issues is to have someone who is in the throes of these issues, that solves these issues,” he says. “I would never expect someone who is making $100,000 a year to understand the plight of someone making less than $20,000 a year and experiencing rising costs of living.”
Drake says he is the only candidate who will not accept corporate money for his campaign. Those that do, he says, become beholden to their benefactors.
The California Secretary of State did not have a list of Drake’s donations.
“Frankly, I don’t trust the people who are currently running to represent my generation and the people in Assembly District 30 in general,” he says. “I am representing everyone who is tired of corporate influence in Sacramento.”
Drake serves as Housing Policy Director for Homeless-r-Us in Lancaster, which he says inspires his desire to take on the homelessness crisis, helping both the people and addressing the underlying issues.
“There isn’t enough being done in the Central Coast to mitigate or eliminate homelessness,” he says.
He says he would also address affordable education, healthcare and the environment.
“You have unaffordable education, you have unaffordable housing, you have unaffordable healthcare, and the biggest thing many young people are stuck with as they are moving into this economy is debt,” he says. “That’s what hinders [them] from being able to climb the economic ladder.”
Drake says above all that he will be a “bold voice,” ready to work for consensus, but willing also to push for change, which may occasionally make people uncomfortable.
“I’m all for compromise and working with people, but at the same time I am going to drag someone through the mud if they are going to absolutely abandon their promises to their constituents in order to gain political points or please their donors,” he says, referring in part to AB 1400. “You do not campaign for 30 years for universal healthcare, and then shelve it. The people who author the bills should not fold so easily.”
Clockwise from left: Assembly candidates Jon Wizard, Zoë Carter and Jon Drake.
Dawn Addis
Dawn Addis calles herself a “proud Democrat,” the only one endorsed by the Democratic Party in Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Luis Obispo counties.
She currently holds a seat on the Morro Bay City Council. She also served on the Citizen’s Finance Advisory Committee there.
She says she would be a “champion in the State Legislature” for the people of Santa Cruz and the Central Coast.
“The Central Coast deserves a leader who works as hard as we do,” she says. “As the cost of living rises and we face some of the most difficult issues of our time, I want to solve problems and make our home an even better place to live.”
Addis also ran in 2020 for a seat in the former Assembly District 35, losing to Republican incumbent Jordan Cunningham, 45% to 55%.
She worked as a special education teacher and program developer for San Luis Coastal Unified School District, and is a mother to two sons. She holds a bachelor’s degree in art education and Spanish, and a master’s in special education.
She is also a founder of the San Luis Obispo Women’s March.
That experience, she says, will inform her work on the Assembly.
“I have a strong record of success, and my campaign has demonstrated a level of integrity that sets me apart from other candidates pursuing this seat.”
If elected, Addis says she will address issues such as ocean acidification and increasing green energy production. She would also look into increasing mental health care care and lowering prescription drug costs.
In addition, she would tackle affordable housing, and address rising rents and homelessness.
Her priorities also include increasing access to career technical programs, and lowering the costs of college tuition. Water and other infrastructure projects are also on her list, as are improving the state’s roads and boosting economic development and job creation.
The clear front-runner in fundraising, Addis has received $499,308 from 666 contributions, including $4,900 from the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 3299, $3,000 from the United Nurses Association of California, $9,800 from the California Corrections and Peace Officers Association and $2,500 from the California Federation of Teachers.
Vicki Nohrden
The only Republican on the ballot, Vicki Nohrden is also the only candidate who did not respond to requests for an interview.
On her website, she writes that political leaning should come secondary to the job, and wonders why the focus so often is on what “side” one stands on. Instead, she believes the Assembly member should focus on helping the people who live here.
“We are all neighbors,” she states. “We want the same things—thriving businesses, job opportunities, safe neighborhoods and more educational opportunities for our kids.”
Nohrden has served on the Monterey County Inmate Welfare Fund Advisory Committee, with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Santa Cruz County and as a youth director at the Presbyterian Church in Carmel. She also was a family liaison in the juvenile justice system. She began her business career as a realtor.
Nohrden ran unsuccessfully for the 29th Assembly District in 2018.
On her website, she writes that she is “running against a dysfunctional legislature in Sacramento, against agenda-driven policies being passed by a two-thirds majority instead of delivering solutions to the issues facing us, like our children’s education, mental health, 10,000 more homeless people on the streets in one decade, and a tax exodus of businesses and jobs.”
She lists supporting families and education among her priorities, along with the economy and businesses. Like her running mates, she also hopes to address the homelessness and housing crises.
But she also says she wants to support the religious community.
“For far too long, our religious community has been under attack by government restrictions, shut downs [sic] and being pushed aside,” she writes. “Now it’s time that we stand up together to make our voice heard.”
Nohrden has raised $230,177 from 628 contributions. This includes $500 from the California Narcotics Officers Association, $1,000 from Republican Central Committee of San Luis Obispo County and $1,000 from Salinas Valley Ford Sales, Inc.
oters in Santa Cruz are set to decide on a handful of measures at both the county and city levels—one of which will radically reshape the way city leaders are chosen.
Other measures include various ways for jurisdictions to raise much-needed revenue, including increases to the county’s Transient Occupancy Tax and ways to split the fee for disposable cups. A half-cent sales tax for the city is also on the menu.
And then there is Measure D, which could affect the county’s plans for its rail line, and which has indelibly divided the county along ideological lines. Will the county continue to pursue a rail-trail model, with passenger rail a future possibility? Or will this measure rewrite the general plan to focus solely on a trail-only model?
If approved, this measure would increase the Transient Occupancy Tax (TOT) hotels and vacation rentals would charge their guests from 12% to 14%.
County officials say the increase would raise an estimated $2.3 million annually, and help fill a $301 million budget gap for unfunded projects, as well as $29 million from recent storm response and roughly $44 million for homeless services programs.
The revenue also funds wildfire prevention and response, street repair and public health services.
The last increase was in 2012, when the TOT increased from 9.5 to 11%.
When the 25-cent fee for disposable cups at food establishments in the unincorporated parts of the county was approved in 2019, the businesses were slated to receive the entire amount.
The Board of Supervisors heeded calls by environmentalists to help reduce waste and plastic pollution, and to encourage consumers to use reusable cups.
If Measure C passes, the fee would be split evenly between the businesses and the county, which stands to gain an estimated $700,000 annually.
That revenue would fund areas such as water quality, public health, marine life, in addition to public education and other general services.
Also called the “Santa Cruz County Greenway Initiative,” this measure would change the county’s General Plan to include language supporting the Greenway vision for development of a multi-use bicycle and pedestrian trail between the San Lorenzo Bridge in Santa Cruz and Lee Road in Watsonville. It would also alter the plan to allow for the removal of existing railroad tracks, advocating for the “railbanking” of the existing rail line. Since the Regional Transportation Commission (RTC)—the agency which has been developing plans for rail-and-trail for several years—is not bound by the county’s General Plan, it is unclear to what extent these language changes will actually impact the future of rail in Santa Cruz County, if at all.
Passage of this measure would shift the City of Santa Cruz to a six-district system, with an elected mayor that would serve a four-year term.
The city is set to change its leadership structure, whether this measure passes or not. If voters reject Measure E, the city in November will be under a seven-district voting system, with each district having its own representative and an at-large mayor.
Councilmembers could run for mayor immediately after two terms, and mayors could run for a district seat immediately after two terms as mayor. Both positions would term out after 16 consecutive years in office.
These changes are prompted by litigation filed under the California Voting Rights Act.
Measure F would impose a half-cent sales tax on non-grocery purchases—from 9.25% to 9.75% on purchases—generating an estimated $6 million in additional revenue for the City of Santa Cruz.
Because it is considered a “general tax,” the city could use the revenue for purposes such as recreation programs, homelessness, affordable housing, maintaining city streets and public safety services.
