Punk rock was built on anti-authoritarianism, but what’s a longtime punk rocker to do when the powers that be suddenly look less scary than the anti-vax, QAnon and other various creepy conspiracy theorists who oppose them? For Seized Up frontman Clifford Dinsmore, it’s a weird place to be.
“I’ve always written about mistrust of the government,” says Dinsmore. In fact he’s been doing so for almost four decades, since his group Bl’ast formed in 1983 and became the defining band to come out of the early Santa Cruz punk scene with albums like The Power of Expression and It’s In My Blood. Despite their reputation in the national hardcore scene, Bl’ast never really got the larger recognition they deserved, although Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl (who has been a fan since his own days as an ’80s punker in the D.C. band Scream) gave their legacy a huge bump when he played on their reunion EP For Those Who’ve Graced the Fire in 2013.
In 2019, Dinsmore was recruited into the Santa Cruz punk supergroup Seized Up by bassist Chuck Platt of Santa Cruz’s Good Riddance; guitarist Danny Buzzard, who played in the ’90s Bay Area punk band All You Can Eat; and Andy Granelli, who drummed with L.A. punkers the Distillers in the early 2000s. More recently, Platt, Buzzard and Granelli had played together in the thrash-y Santa Cruz hardcore band Fast Asleep, and when they had an idea for a new project, Platt says they had to get Dinsmore because “nobody writes lyrics like he does.”
So now Dinsmore finds himself reflecting on this upside-down political landscape, where “what’s scarier than anything is these meatheads all over the place ready for some kind of civil war.” He’s unnerved by how anti-vaxxers on both the left and right, rather than embracing the opportunity to do the right thing for their community, falsely claim vaccines are some kind of rights issue to be debated.
“We have vaccines for a reason,” he says. “It’s not about control.” But he wonders if anti-vaxxers’ paranoia will be a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the rest of society has to enact stricter and stricter measures to limit the damage from vaccine ignorance. “People’s lack of ability to govern themselves and take a little bit of responsibility on their own means it’s going to have to get more and more extreme,” he says, bewildered. “The more people keep being stupid, the more it provides the basis to be controlled.”
It’s a nuanced argument, but then Dinsmore has never been one to oversimplify things. On Seized Up’s debut album Brace Yourself, he takes on issues that have torn apart Santa Cruz, like gentrification (“Taking Back the Neighborhood”) and the homeless problem (“Tent City Exodus”), without shying away from any of the brutal reality—but also without pretending there’s some easy solution.
“It’s more from an observational point of view, not a blame game,” he says.
Though Brace Yourself came out last year, it never got a proper release show; in fact, Seized Up only got to play three gigs total before the pandemic shut everything down. Now the band will finally get a chance to give it one when they play Moe’s Alley on Sept. 17. Unfortunately, the issues Dinsmore sings about on the album have only gotten more relevant since the album’s release.
“It’s the super-rich and the super-poor,” he says of the Santa Cruz extremes he wrote about on Brace Yourself. “It doesn’t seem like there’s going to be room left for anything in between. If you’re just working a normal job, how do you even think about paying rent in this town?”
What Dinsmore’s approach ultimately speaks to is the humanism that transcends punk rock’s supposedly knee-jerk approach to rebellion. Yeah, there are plenty of reasons to give the middle finger to the Man, but when the protests start making less sense than the policies, the real punks are calling it like they see it—for the people.
Seized Up will play on Friday, Sept. 17, at Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. Enemy of My Enemy and Mondo Chaga open. Doors 8pm, show 9pm; $15/$20. Proof of vaccination or negative Covid test required for entry. moesalley.com.
One surreal moment for singer-songwriter Darrell Scott was watching the 2016 Country Music Awards where the Dixie Chicks joined Beyonce on stage for a rousing rendition of her country tune “Daddy Lessons.” For a moment, everyone dipped into the Dixie Chicks’ 2002 hit “Long Time Gone”—a song originally written by Scott.
“It was odd to me when it happened. That was kind of a big deal,” says Scott, who will be performing at Kuumbwa on Sept 19. “I get to do my songs with whatever size megaphone I have, and then people who have a large megaphone want to say that, and off they go. They do way more than I could possibly do.”
Scott has released over a dozen records, been a “Music Row” session player for several years, and racked up several famous fans—like Brad Paisley and Faith Hill—who have covered his tunes, and occasionally made them hits. The Dixie Chicks’ version of “Long Time Gone” hit #2 on the country charts. This was never intentional on Scott’s part. He dabbled with songwriting for other musicians, but it never worked out. Instead, bigger musicians discovered him on their own and covered songs he already released on his records.
“Any time I’ve tried to sit down and write for somebody else, it sounds like a song that I wrote for somebody else. We all can tell that it’s not authentic. It’s not genuine. It’s not honest. And it sounds like more of the same,” Scott says.
During the pandemic, Scott released two records, Sings the Blues of Hank Williams and the live album Jaroso—and as he returns to the stage, he’s going to hold off any new releases for a while.
“I need to give those two records a chance at these shows,” Scott says. “I’m finding that people need music more than ever. What I’ve been seeing since June from audiences is ‘Oh my God, I can’t believe how much I missed this.’”
Darrell Scott plays at 7:30pm on Sunday, Sept. 19 at Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz, $36-$50. 831-427-2227.
Re: “Growing Pains”: I am a rural resident in the Pajaro Valley and am very concerned about decisions being made by the Pajaro Valley Water “Sustainability” Agency that negatively impact rural residents who are on a private well or on a small water system. “Sustainability” criteria is being defined as a groundwater level that goes below the roughly 2015 level, which was at the end of a four-year drought, and then continues below for an additional four years. This would be equal to an eight-year drought. How is that a “sustainable” groundwater level for rural residents who live in the areas and hills upland from the agricultural areas? A few of us are trying to push back, but we need other rural residents to help get the “sustainability” criteria re-defined to a level which protects us … not hang us out to dry. To find out more about how you can help, please send an email to ru******************@gm***.com as soon as you can, before the final decisions are made. Don’t let the proposed “Sustainability plan” negatively affect your water future.
Marla Anderson
Watsonville
This letter does 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*****@go*******.sc.
Thank you for the “Growing Pains” article (GT, 8/25). Great reporting. Showed many takes on what is at stake.
Greenway is an organization that promotes removing the rails from the train right of way. I heard that the financial backing comes from some big ag interests. They stand to gain acreage from the right of way along ag land in Watsonville area if trains no longer use it. My supervisor, Manu Koenig, was strongly connected to Greenway before he ran for office. Greenway promoted a successful City of Capitola measure three years ago which attempted to stifle plans for keeping the trains on the right of way.
I favor keeping train options on the right of way, knowing what commute problems exist on Highway One.
Pam K.
Capitola
This letter does 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*****@go*******.sc.
I didn’t realize how dire things had gotten at our local reservoir until March, after we’d run an aerial photo of Loch Lomond. Reader Pamela Morgan from Ben Lomond wrote in and said, “That was not a current photo. As of March 7, this is what the Loch actually looks like—almost 20 feet low. I’ve never seen it this low, even in October.” The accompanying photo she sent was unsettling, but what was even more so was the fact that our photographer Tarmo Hannula had taken his aerial shot fairly recently, in December—certainly not long enough that the contrast between the two should be so stark. “Wake up Santa Cruz,” Morgan wrote. “This is your drinking water!”
Erin Malsbury starts her cover story this week at Loch Lomond, which is now an alarming 60% low; so depleted that the City of Santa Cruz is worried about their construction equipment getting stuck as they try to replace the pipeline. But her story is about the fact that Santa Cruz has indeed woken up—to a water nightmare. How we might be able to turn this situation around is the focus of her piece, and what makes it all the more compelling is the signs she points to that the current drought is already having a concerning effect on our ecosystem.
I’m glad to hear that they are taking precautionary measures to preserve what was found, and that descendants of local tribes were consulted during the process of excavating.
— Rodney Sablan
“European occupiers?” I think you mean “immigrants,” you bigot.
— Frank
Sure, they “immigrated” and everyone had a great time /s.
— Tom
Why do people get so upset at presumed intentions of word meanings? So weird. They found old remains, pretty interesting, and now Santa Cruz sits on top of what used to be tribal lands that were taken by Europeans. It’s not conjecture, it’s a fact. Why is that bigotry? I’m confused what the issue is with the article.
— Marie
Re: Ride Out
So what, Santa Cruz was clogged for one day out of the year. Be thankful we have the kind of community turnout for these unique events. It’s what keeps the city alive.
— Josh
Re: Palace Closing
Those of us who value this store, it’s familiar shopping experience and personal service should vow to support them by bringing any and all possible sales to them, at least as an expression of our appreciation. But even moreso, as a hope for our succeeding in making the difference for their being able to stay open. Because just like when tearing down a beautiful old building, they will never come back. And if we don’t protect these things we value in life, no one else will.
— Lauren Casey
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GOOD IDEA
STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW
Santa Cruz’s Chadeish Yameinu Jewish Renewal (CYJR) is currently accepting late donations for the United Way’s “Stuff the Bus” campaign. Every fall, “Stuff the Bus” (STB) hands out backpacks stuffed with school supplies for thousands of students in Santa Cruz County, especially those experiencing homelessness and/or other hardships. CYJR will be collecting items at its in-person High Holy Days services Sept. 15-16 and Sept. 20-27 at the Center for Spiritual Living, 1818 Felt St., Santa Cruz. Donations can also be dropped off at CYJR’s synagogue at the Galleria, 740 Front St. #170, Santa Cruz. For information, visit cysantacruz.com.
GOOD WORK
EXPANDING HORIZONS
Santa Cruz–based nonprofit Limitless Horizons has won the 2021 UNESCO Literacy Prize for its work supporting children’s education in Chajul, Guatemala during the pandemic. In 2010, the organization opened Chajul’s first public library where Indigenous staff help children learn to read in Spanish and Ixil. When Covid-19 hit the community, the library developed remote programming, providing science and literacy lessons to students. Now, the organization is raising funds for its new secondary school that will emphasize Ixil culture and address gender educational disparities. Learn more at limitlesshorizonsixil.org.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.”
From the top of Newell Creek Dam, the water level of Loch Lomond Reservoir looks particularly low. Steep, gravely banks stretch between the trees and the water.
On one side of the reservoir, a crane and a drilling rig sit on floating docks, surrounded by shipping containers and other heavy machinery. The City of Santa Cruz is replacing the pipeline that brings water in and out of Loch Lomond. But the project managers worry that if the water level drops much lower, the construction equipment could get stuck.
After two dry years in a row, Loch Lomond sits at just under 60% full. The reservoir is the only major water-storage site for Santa Cruz, and it holds about a year’s worth of water when full.
“We never want to use it all, because we don’t know what that next year is going to bring,” says Heidi Luckenbach, deputy director of engineering with the City of Santa Cruz Water Department. “So we’re always hedging our bets against what the demand is and what the weather patterns are going to look like.”
Across the county, water management agencies are preparing for increased droughts and the challenges of climate change. Various climate models differ on whether our area will get slightly wetter or drier with rising temperatures. But they have one prediction in common: greater extremes.
Dry years will be drier. Rainfall could come all at once in a few large storms rather than spread across a season.
“We have to be ready for variability,” says UCSC Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences Andrew Fisher. “It’s in the record. It’s here now—we see it. And the models predict it. They all say it is extremely variable year by year, within a year, decade by decade.”
Santa Cruz County is the second-smallest county in California by area, but its diverse geography—from redwood-shaded rivers to marshy mudflats—makes it one of the most complicated when it comes to water.
“We are not connected to the big California water system,” says Fisher. “We are off the grid. We’re gonna have to figure this out on our own.”
Several of California’s large counties share the same huge groundwater basins—underground aquifers that store water. In contrast, Santa Cruz County’s water is fragmented across three small basins. Each area faces different challenges.
With this in mind, water managers are designing and implementing projects to capture, store and access clean water. Some irrigation for crops in the Pajaro Valley might soon come from lake water rather than groundwater. A project in Soquel will use recycled water to replenish a groundwater basin. Another project in Santa Cruz will inject excess runoff from winter storms into wells.
“A project that might be hugely beneficial in Watsonville may not have any benefit, or have minimal benefits, up in Scotts Valley,” says Sierra Ryan, the interim water resources manager for Santa Cruz County. “Because they’re just completely different. It’s not just the habitats—the geology is completely different.”
Several of the water agencies in the county collaborate, but “we have to treat each situation independently, and make decisions on a hyper-localized basis,” says Ryan.
The decisions might be hyper-local, but they’re anything but small.
“We have not seen water supply projects of this scale since the Newell Creek dam went in in 1960,” says Ryan. She emphasizes that these infrastructure projects are the only serious way to prepare for the future.
“This isn’t something that we can conserve our way out of,” she says, adding that residents have already done a great job. “We have some of the lowest water use in the state.”
In 2018, California established a goal of 55 gallons per person per day by 2025 and 50 gallons by 2030. In Santa Cruz, the average is already in the mid-40s.
“It’s really remarkable what the community has done, but it’s not going to be enough,” says Ryan. “What we need to see is these big water-supply planning projects. And they’re underway now.” She expects the community to start seeing the benefits within the next five years.
From the Ground Up
One major determining factor in what sort of project will work for an area is whether the community relies mostly on groundwater or surface water. Groundwater, as its name suggests, comes from underground aquifers. The water gets pulled up through wells. Surface water is diverted from above-ground sources such as rivers and lakes.
In Santa Cruz County, one major problem with relying on surface water is storage. To take advantage of storms and make it through droughts, it’s necessary to have a way to capture and store runoff before it flows to the ocean.
Relying on groundwater comes with its own set of challenges. If over-pumped, aquifers tend to refill extremely slowly. And if they’re near the coast, saltwater can seep into the empty space.
This contamination—called seawater intrusion or saltwater intrusion—can ruin enormous areas of land and prove difficult to reverse.
Local agencies have explored several options for sustainable water management—the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency alone evaluated 44 different programs. But a few main strategies underlie most of the current projects: transfer water seasonally, capture and inject water into aquifers or increase storage.
“There’s one that is referred to as “in-lieu” recharge, which basically means you rest wells and use the excess [surface] water in the winter,” says Gail Mahood, a retired Stanford geologist and president of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District. “In the winter, there’s way more water coming down the creeks than we could ever use. But we don’t have any place to store it, so it just goes out to the ocean. We could create inter-ties where we brought water up from Boulder Creek or from Fall Creek and Felton and in the winter, when we have plenty of it, send it to Scotts Valley, to our south system. And that way, they don’t have to pump during the winter.”
One inter-tie—essentially a large pipe—already exists between the San Lorenzo Valley and Scotts Valley water districts. But it’s only ever been used during emergencies.
“For us to routinely send water, even within our own water district, from Felton to Scotts Valley, we have to change our water rights. And we are in the process of that right now,” says Mahood.
Santa Cruz, almost entirely reliant on surface water, is also exploring water transfer options.
Diversion Tactics
On the opposite end of the county, the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency works towards a similar goal of resting wells.
“Our approach has been to deliver these supplemental water resources to farms along the coast,” says Brian Lockwood, the agency’s general manager. “So they can use water that the agency produces—for example, recycled water—instead of pumping their wells as much.
The agency also diverts surface water from Harkins Slough when they can. A new similar project called the Watsonville Slough System Managed Aquifer Recharge and Recovery Project would divert freshwater during high-flow winters to underground aquifers.
Putting water back into the ground poses more technical challenges than simply using runoff or recycled water in lieu of groundwater. Injecting water could change the chemistry of the aquifer and alter water composition.
But the effort is worth it for Santa Cruz, where storage space is limited, and Soquel, where seawater intrusion threatens the integrity of groundwater.
After extensive modeling to understand the underground aquifer system, Santa Cruz will test a program this winter called the Aquifer Storage and Recovery project. The water agency will treat excess surface water during the winter and use a well to inject it into the groundwater basin.
“We will use the four existing wells and then add to it up to four, or even six, wells to recharge the mid-county basin, and then extract when we need it,” says Luckenbach.
The demonstration was originally scheduled for 2023, but the city collected enough data and advanced the project to help manage water in case the current drought continues. The city plans to implement the entire project over the next five years.
The Soquel Creek Water District also plans to replenish its groundwater basin in a project called Pure Water Soquel. Soquel Creek’s groundwater basin was categorized as critically overdrafted by the state and is in danger of seawater intrusion.
“Replenishing, creating a hydrologic barrier, is the proven method,” says Ron Duncan, the general manager at Soquel Creek Water District. The agency will treat recycled water to drinking standards before putting it back into the ground.
“The locations were strategically chosen by a hydrologist to halt seawater intrusion,” says Melanie Schumacher, the special projects communications manager at the district, adding that the district has worked closely with the community to determine which project best fit the goals and values of the residents.
“This is not a new technology—it’s been used all over the world and in California,” says Schumacher. “In fact, Disneyland has on their website that all the water they use is recycled.”
After approving the sustainability plan, the state used it as a showcase for other groundwater basins across the state.
In tandem with increased surface water use and injecting into aquifers, the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency is also attempting to increase above-ground storage.
College Lake, about a mile from Watsonville, gets drained each season and farmed. The water agency plans to halt the drainage and farming and instead capture inflows to the lake over the summer. Officials expect the project to yield between 586,531,800 gallons and 749,457,300 gallons of water per year, with a peak yield of up to 977,553,000 gallons.
“This last year, we pretty much only got two rainfall events. So it’s now more important than ever that we utilize those two rainfall events or whenever we do get rain to capture it, slow it, spread it, and sink it,” says Marcus Mendiola, water conservation and outreach specialist with the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency. “We need to make sure that we’re developing infrastructure to utilize the rain when it does fall.”
To add to the growing number of projects, the Pajaro Valley Water Management Agency is also working with Andrew Fisher and colleagues at UCSC and the Research Conservation District of Santa Cruz County to encourage landowners to create groundwater recharge sites. The program creates an area for stormwater to flow to, where it then percolates into the ground. A meter measures how much water flows in, and landowners get a certain amount taken off their water bill.
“It’s effectively like running their meter backwards,” says Fisher. As far as he knows, the program is the first of its kind. He feels optimistic about it. So far, landowners like it, and so does the agency. But he keeps his expectations metered.
“Some of the projects will work better in some years than others,” he says. “Some projects may work better than planned. That’s great. Others may not work as well.”
The solutions to climate change and sustainable water systems, he says, will come in pieces.
Newell Creek Dam
Metered Expectations
Unfortunately, the pieces are pricey.
“These projects are really important. We absolutely need them to be able to maintain our quality of life here,” says Ryan. “They are going to be really expensive. And on top of them, a lot of the water infrastructure in the county is reaching the end of its useful life and is needing to be replaced or rehabbed.”
Replacing the main pipe from Loch Lomond and recovering from fire damage in the San Lorenzo Valley are two major examples. In addition to working around normal water operations—fixing the bike while riding it, as Heidi Luckenbach puts it—the agencies must operate under the strained conditions of the pandemic. The price of materials skyrocketed, crews shrank and protocols changed.
Some of the water agencies secured state or even federal funding for sustainability projects, but “people are going to see rates go up… There isn’t a way out of this that doesn’t involve large infrastructure upgrades,” says Ryan.
“One of the biggest misconceptions that I hear when I’m talking to the public is the idea that if we just stop allowing development, that somehow that would be enough to solve our water problems,” she says.
She emphasizes that population growth is not the main problem for the city right now. The state requires areas to take on a certain amount of population growth, and the new buildings use less water than single-family homes.
“In 2001, the state set out requirements for very large housing projects—over 500 units and large shopping centers, etc. And they had to demonstrate a long-term water supply availability before these projects would be approved,” says Ruth Langridge, a senior law and policy researcher at UCSC who specializes in land use, groundwater, climate change and drought.
In 2018, the state added that all urban suppliers, regardless of size, must provide water-shortage contingency plans and drought risk assessments. Langdridge says this policy spurred cities and counties to start addressing looming water shortage problems.
“Population [growth] will add a small number of people who are going to be using water, and they’ll be using that water efficiently in these new houses,” says Ryan. “It’s very low water use compared to when we have a dry year like this, we have a 60% reduction in our water supply in one year… The thing that we need to be concerned about is climate change.”
Larry Ford, natural resource management consultant and one of the creators of Friends of San Lorenzo Valley Water, agrees that addressing climate change is the solution. He has spent recent water district meetings discussing a surcharge for fire recovery. He worries that things will be much worse ten years from now.
“People really need to know that this is something that they need to pay attention to. This is not just some fad… it’s going to affect water supplies, it’s going to affect agriculture, it’s going to affect biodiversity conservation and all these other really important things in our daily lives.”
The droughts already affect biodiversity. In addition to preparing communities for a more sustainable future, these projects will also help threatened and endangered species.
“Santa Cruz County is home to dozens of aquatic species that rely on our rivers and streams,” says Ryan. Steelhead and coho salmon attract the most attention and are considered umbrella species—when their habitat needs are met, so are the requirements for most of the other species.
Ryan worries that this year might end catastrophically for the fish populations.
“We’re definitely seeing higher water temperatures and lower flows than are optimal at this time of year,” she says.
Usually, the county waits until the end of summer to check stream gauges, but they pulled a few out early this year to compare to years past. It doesn’t look good.
In the San Lorenzo River, the flow “might not be sufficient to sustain any of the fish born in the creek this year,” says Ryan.
As climate change intensifies and temperatures rise, evaporation from water sources will increase, and fish, as well as plants, will need more water to survive.
After the statewide drought declarations earlier this summer, some residents expressed concern that further reducing water consumption would make it impossible to grow food.
Cynthia Sandberg, the owner of Love Apple Farms in the Santa Cruz Mountains and a gardening teacher for 20 years, encourages people to give up on lawns but not gardens.
“Please still have a garden,” she says. “There are ways to do this with a lot less water than you think.”
A home vegetable garden, she says, uses about half the amount of water a lawn does, “but you can still reduce that in times of drought, probably by another 50%.”
She suggests mulching around plants with straw, cardboard, mulch, even plastic. Watering in the early morning with drip irrigation or by hand rather than with sprinklers further reduces evaporation. When she can, Sandberg also uses graywater that’s free of soap or cleaning products. And adding mycorrhizal fungi to roots helps plants absorb more water and nutrients from the soil.
“It’s a symbiotic fungus that attaches to the root system of the plant and grows along with the plant. And this starts to create a sponge-like mass around the root,” she says. “That sponge-like mass can actually hold and retain water, lessening the number of times you have to water and the amount you have to water.”
But even with several tricks for conserving water, she worries about long-term drought.
“When farmers can’t get the water they need, then we’re all going to be in big trouble,” she says.
With several large water projects ongoing around the county, one can hope the problem, at least for a time, will soon be dammed.
The hubbub at the Santa Cruz County Courthouse on Sept. 7 was so loud a sheriff’s deputy had to tell the 50-plus Bonny Doon community members to pipe down.
They were awaiting a hearing on whether or not convicted rapist Michael Cheek would be allowed to move in, upon release from a state psychiatric institution, and they were united.
“He just doesn’t belong in the neighborhood,” said John Ancic, a 74-year-old Bonny Doon resident of the Pine Ridge area, on the concrete steps outside the courthouse. “It’s just not a place for him to be.”
Reminiscent of an airport checkpoint, the metal detector line snaked out to the courtyard.
Outside Department 6, 60-year-old Stephanie Jessen, who’s lived in Bonny Doon for 40 years, said the crowd size surprised her—but not because so many showed up.
“I was expecting a little bit more,” she said. “When things come down the pike, we stand together.”
In August 1997, Cheek was committed to the Department of State Hospitals in Coalinga, and in 2009 was officially deemed a violent sexual predator.
Officials say Cheek has been successfully progressing through the state’s rehab program for sex offenders, and Santa Cruz County Superior Court Judge Stephen Siegel ordered Cheek’s conditional release on Oct. 7, 2019.
But Bonny Doon residents are outraged about his possible move to the area, particularly given the realities of life in the remote reaches of the Santa Cruz Mountains, where families are still reeling from last year’s devastating fires.
Santa Cruz Superior Court Judge Syda Cogliati ultimately gave Cheek and his representatives until Sept. 30 to address the additional questions raised about the location and set the next hearing for Oct. 14 at 9am. She also ordered the company representing Cheek to seek another home for him as an additional option.
When Judge Cogliati called Cheek to court via Zoom around 9am, he was nowhere to be found.
“I’m reluctant to go forward,” the judge said.
Rob Cureton, the clinical director of the state’s Conditional Release Program for Sexually Violent Predators (CONREP SVP), said he’d try to reach Cheek.
The judge ordered him to do so and called the opposing lawyers to her chambers.
Around 9:20am, Cureton was able to patch Cheek through.
“OK, I’m on the phone,” Cheek said. “Sorry.”
The judge started by giving those in attendance a heads-up that she wouldn’t be dealing with whether or not Cheek should stay locked up in a mental health care facility—that had already been decided (and not appealed to a higher authority) two years back.
And, she said, the same thing goes for his ability to reside in Santa Cruz County, and whether or not the government should have to pay his rent.
What is left to be determined, she explained, was if she should approve Cheek’s proposed move to a Wild Iris Lane address.
Judge Cogliati acknowledged the “hundreds” of messages she received from the community—none of which supported Cheek’s plan to move in.
“I did read, and consider, that public comment,” she said, adding that while it’s “extremely important” she doesn’t allow them to sway her perspective, they did raise important points.
“Today’s hearing is about those issues,” she said.
This step was to decide if Liberty Healthcare Corp., the company in charge of CONREP for sex offenders since 2003, could properly supervise Cheek at the remote Santa Cruz Mountains site.
Judge Cogliati had received, within the previous 24 hours, responses to questions about how Liberty might manage Cheek’s release effectively.
“I just want to say there’s still additional issues outstanding,” she said.
Psychologist Cameron Zeidler, the SVP CONREP Community Program Director for Liberty, talked up the company’s 24/7 security detail provided automatically during the first month of release, a “GPS dome” that creates a geofence with a 75-foot radius around the house, and video monitoring she could order.
Judge Cogliati asked about the policing response time in the area, which the sheriff’s office has admitted is quite slow, given Cheek’s crimes put him “on the very high, high end” of the sex-predator spectrum.
Zeidler said while it’s “not at all ideal,” 35-45 minutes is not out of the ordinary for some of the places they place reforming sex criminals.
Judge Cogliati asked how the company would monitor Cheek if the power went out, eliminating GPS capabilities.
The rep explained there would be a generator on the property Cheek can turn on with the flip of a switch.
A slight gasp was audible from the crowd, where about 20-30 people had squeezed in under modified Covid-19, 3-foot social-distancing rules.
“You’re not in the courtroom to hear the sounds that just went through the courtroom,” Cogliati said, asking for further clarification.
“We believe that Mr. Cheek will comply with the terms and conditions,” Zeidler said, promising the company would dispatch someone to the location “as soon as there’s an electrical outage,” and pledged they’d establish a line of communication via satellite telephone.
“This is a highly compliant individual, and a highly treated individual,” he said.
According to the judge, community concerns not addressed by Liberty’s assessment included a home-based school in the area, a bus stop for school children nearby and the trailhead of a popular hiking route located not far from the residence.
Zeidler said their investigations turned up no evidence of a school on the street, and said Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park appeared to be quite far away.
Deputy District Attorney Alex Byers asked the rep to confirm that, if Cheek somehow dropped out of the treatment program, “his risk would be high” to reoffend.
“That is correct,” Zeidler said.
Byers said there were more than 900 public comments submitted.
“They brought forth most of the issues we’re talking about today,” he said. “These issues can’t be remedied.”
After all, it’s not like you can suddenly make Bonny Doon less remote, he said.
“Those roads close all the time; the power goes out all the time,” he said. “We share the Bonny Doon community’s concern that this is a high risk.”
If, indeed, there is a school nearby, placing Cheek on Wild Iris Lane would technically be illegal, he added.
“I see a one-size-fits-all plan,” Byers said, adding locals weren’t happy the company’s approach wasn’t more tailored to the reality of life in the Santa Cruz Mountains. “This is our place. This is Bonny Doon.”
After the hearing, 58-year-old Laurie Sage, who lives just over the ridgeline in Brookdale, said she believes Cheek doesn’t belong in her neck of the woods.
“I’m actually for rehousing criminals that need another chance,” she said. “I absolutely believe in it.”
But, she says, Liberty’s current plan isn’t realistic, something that was underscored for her by a PG&E outage she says she experienced that very morning.
“There are 30 trucks on my road trying to restore the power today,” she said. “It goes on and off, on and off, on and off.”
As a grief counselor who’s been quite busy in the last year, Sage says there’s plenty of anxiety rippling through the redwoods already.
“We can’t have this in our community while we’re still in crisis from the CZU lightning fire,” she said.
But the day’s hearing hit even closer to home—literally—for the teenage girls in the hallway pondering the judge’s ruling. That’s because 14-year-old identical twins Zoey and Nina live on Wild Iris Lane.
It was Zoey’s first time attending court, so on the one hand she said it was “very cool” to experience such an official process in person.
But on the other hand, it was under “less than ideal” circumstances, considering the case was about whether a sexual predator gets to live down the street from her and her sister.
Plus, Zoey says she didn’t appreciate what appeared, to her, to be “deflecting” comments by the Liberty reps.
“This situation is really chaotic,” she said, thinking ahead to what they might do if Cheek gets his wish. “We’re going to have to move out.”
That’s because of how far away it is from help, her sister Nina chimed in.
“It takes, like, ages to get up there,” she said, “—30 minutes on a good day.”
But they feel even worse for their 14-year-old neighbor Elise. She lives right across the street.
“It’s completely ridiculous,” Elise said of Liberty’s plan. “Any other place would be better than that one.”
Elise says she felt the judge handled the case “pretty well” given the heightened emotions at play.
However, she wishes Cheek wasn’t given more time to argue why he should be allowed to become her newest neighbor.
“I wouldn’t feel safe at all,” she said. “And that’s not fair.”
After 14 years of living in Santa Cruz, a woman who asked to be identified as April Ross says her family was forced out of their home because the landlord wanted to sell the property and cash in on the rising real estate market. At the time, the Ross family bought a recreational vehicle (RV) that they thought would serve as a transitional space while they found a new permanent home.
Four years later, Ross is still one of the many longtime Santa Cruz residents who no longer have traditional housing. She, instead, lives out of her RV with her husband and two young children.
According to the Association of Faith Communities of Santa Cruz (AFC)—a collaborative faith-based nonprofit dedicated to helping Santa Cruz residents below the poverty line—30% of adults experiencing homelessness in Santa Cruz live out of their cars, and one-third of them live with their children.
Ross considers herself one of the lucky ones. After a long effort of applying to various RV parks throughout the county, Ross’ family was accepted to one the very day they bought their recreational vehicle.
“The whole time, we didn’t know [where we were going to go],” she says. “We were just praying and hoping.”
They now reside in a mobile park where Ross says she feels safe. She has a small yard she can escape to when feeling claustrophobic, and is surrounded by neighbors who she says help keep an eye on each other—mainly elderly people and other families.
“There are so many people that live in our park that are in the same situation,” she says. “Just in the last six months we’ve had more and more families move in. Before it was just us and maybe one other family. Now, there’s like six.”
The long-debated issue of where residents living out of their cars and oversized vehicles, like RVs, should be allowed is expected to return to city leaders later this year. Near the end of the Santa Cruz City Council’s 13-hour June 22 meeting, Vice Mayor Sonja Brunner proposed a motion directing staff to work on designated areas for RV parking that would align with current camping services and ensure there would be adequate sanitation, waste dump and trash sites. The motion passed unanimously.
“I’ve heard from many concerned constituents about some of the harmful impacts on the environment and on human health with current RV sites and dumping of human waste and trash,” Brunner writes in an email to GT, adding she believes community involvement will be important in further discussions concerning a new RV ordinance.
Readers will remember the 2015 RV ordinance—commonly referred to as the RV ban—that halted oversized vehicle parking in selected areas between the hours of 8pm and 8am. But that rule was overturned by the California Coastal Commission (CCC) in August 2016, following an appeal from local advocates for people experiencing homelessness.
The CCC, voting 11-1, said the ban restricted coastal access. It was a controversial and raucous meeting, with ex-City Council member Richelle Noroyan and three others ejected for yelling at then-Coastal Commissioner Martha McClure.
“In the time since then, we’ve told the city if they want to come back to the commission, to come back with evidence concerning two issues,” CCC Central Coast District Supervisor Ryan Moroney tells GT. “What’s the need for this restriction? And also a plan on where people displaced are supposed to go.”
Moroney acknowledges the CCC has heard about the issues Bruner highlighted to GT, but says the state-wide agency needs hard data in order to make informed decisions.
“Not ad hoc or anecdotal evidence,” he says. “People are saying there’s trash, defecation and drug use, but there wasn’t a whole lot of hard evidence of that.”
Currently, there are anti-RV parking signs in certain areas of the Westside—near the intersection of Almar Avenue and Rankin Street, for example—that are legally posted, as they fall just outside of the CCC’s jurisdiction. In other areas of the city, however, there is little clarity about where and when people living out of their vehicles can park.
On Aug. 24, the Santa Cruz Police Department did a citywide sweep and towed four RVs that were reported as nuisances, including one that was leaking sewage, according to an SCPD social media post.
“Vehicles in violation came to our attention after being left in place for much longer than 72 hours,” it read.
Lee Butler, the city’s director of Planning, Community Development and Homelessness Response, told the City Council on June 22 that Santa Cruz is only in the beginning stages of a new RV-related ordinance. Butler told the council that as of June 1 the city allowed the expansion of the number of overnight safe parking spaces from three to six on religious assembly sites, and from two to three at business locations. This was in accordance with the Camping Services and Standards Ordinance (CSSO) passed on June 8.
“I also want to note that we have been having conversations with the Association of Faith Communities about a pilot program for on-street, safe parking spaces,” he told the council. “AFC does operate a lot of the safe parking places at churches and other religious assembly sites in the city.”
Butler says his department could have an updated report regarding RV parking for the City Council as early as September.
“The direction that we have from council is specifically to conduct research on processes and procedures from past history, and bring that information back to them in October,” he says.
In an email to GT, Butler wrote that neither the private businesses nor the religious sites needed permits to operate their SafeSpaces programs, so the city has no record of exactly how many spaces are available.
AFC SafeSpaces program manager Father Joseph Jacobs says there are currently nine religious sites within the city offering overnight parking for vehicles. Combined with the two city-run sites at Lot 17 behind Wheel Works and the Police Department parking lot, Jacobs says there are 45 total spots that he is aware of. However, of those 45, only a small number are specified for self-contained vehicles that have their own sanitation management, such as RVs.
“Maybe nine parking spaces are for RVs,” he says.
Butler also noted the recent CSSO does not affect on-street parking regulations for RVs, meaning as long as there is no new ordinance, current parking conditions will remain.
Since the 2016 CCC decision, there have also been major changes to homeless issues on a national level. In 2019, the Supreme Court upheld the 2018 Martin v. Boise decision, which ruled cities cannot approve anti-camping ordinances if they do not provide enough shelter beds for homeless populations. How that decision will affect people living in their vehicles is a legal gray area actively being explored across the country by homeless rights activists and lawyers. In the city of Lacey, Washington, a lawsuit filed last year is presently challenging that city’s RV ordinance, passed in 2019, based on the Martin v. Boise case.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): “Books are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you,” wrote author Carlos Zafòn Ruiz. Let’s take that a step further: “Other people are mirrors: You only see in them what you already have inside you.” And even further. “The whole world is a mirror: You only see in it what you already have inside you.” Have fun playing with these meditations, Aries. The coming weeks will be a fertile time to explore how thoroughly your experiences reflect the activity transpiring in your own brain.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): Some spiritual teachers say things like “I am not my body” or “This body is not me.” I don’t understand that. It’s an insult and disparagement. It’s dismissive of our bodies’ sublime beauty and our bodies’ inspired role in educating our souls. I agree that we are not ONLY our bodies. I agree that a part of us is eternal, not confined to flesh and blood. But hell yes, I am my body. You are your body. It’s a glorious aspect of who we are. It’s a miraculous creation that has taken millions of years to evolve into the masterpiece it is. So yes, you are your body, and yes, this body is you. I hope you love your body. Are in awe of it. Are pleased to be inside it. If anything is lacking in this department, now is an excellent time to make corrections.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): “I know someone who kisses the way a flower opens,” wrote poet Mary Oliver. I’d love for you Geminis to have that experience. The astrological omens suggest it’s more likely than usual to occur sometime soon. Other experiences with a better-than-average chance of unfolding in the coming days: allies who speak of intimate subjects in ways that resemble a flower opening; partners who co-create with you in ways that resemble a flower opening; spiritual helpers who offer guidance and help in ways that resemble a flower opening.
CANCER (June 21-July 22): “I lie to myself all the time, but I never believe me,” writes Cancerian author S. E. Hinton. Ha! As a Cancerian myself, I confess to the same crime. But I am looking forward to a shift in the coming weeks. I suspect we Crabs will be inspired to cut way back on the fibs we try to get away with. You know what that means, right? We’ll be more inclined to trust ourselves, since we’ll be more likely to tell ourselves the truth. Our decisions will be shrewd, and our self-care will be rigorous. Hallelujah!
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): My object in this horoscope is to stimulate your imagination in ways nobody else in your life will. You need an influence like me, from outside your inner circle, to administer friendly, playful shocks to jolt you out of habitual ways of thinking. Here we go. 1. If you were to stow seven parts of your soul in seven objects, what objects would they be? 2. If you could change one thing about your past, what would it be? 3. If you were a character in a fairy tale or a movie, who would you be? 4. If you could travel to a place that would teach you what you most need to know, where would it be? 5. If you had a magical animal as your special ally, what animal would it be? 6. If you could sing a song with uncanny healing power for someone you care about, what song would it be? 7. If you could improve your relationship with some part of your body, what would it be?
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): “There’s nothing wrong with reading a book you love over and over,” writes Virgo author Gail Carson Levine. Adding to that encouragement, I offer you the following authorizations: There’s nothing wrong with seeking a pleasure you love over and over; or doing a necessary task you love over and over; or performing an energizing ritual you love over and over; or expressing key truths you love over and over. And these permissions will be especially crucial for you to exult in during the coming weeks, dear Virgo: because it’s a time when mindful repetition will be one of your strengths and a key to stimulating the deepening experiences you need.
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): “If I’m a bitch and a fake. Is there nobody who will love a bitch and a fake?” Libra author Graham Greene wrote that in his novel The End of the Affair. Here’s my extrapolation: I believe that every one of us, including me, is a bitch and a fake now and then. We all go through periods when we are not at our best, when we fail to live up to our own high standards. Is it possible that you have recently flirted with such a phase? If so, the cosmos has authorized me to absolve you. You are free to reclaim your full exquisite beauty. And if you haven’t been a bitch and a fake, congratulations. It means you have weathered a gnarly storm.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Poet Yves Olade writes, “I’ve started thinking of people as wounds that don’t heal.” To me, that idea is idiotically cynical. Moreover, I think it’s wrong for most of us. The truth is, humans have a natural instinct for healing. They are predisposed to attract experiences that might aid their recovery from difficulties—that might teach them the healing lessons they need. I believe this will be especially true for you in the coming weeks. (PS: Dr. Andrew Weil writes, “Any level of biological organization that we examine, from DNA up to the most complex body systems, shows the capacity for self-diagnosis, for removal of damaged structure, and for regeneration of new structure.”)
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): Research suggests that most people think everyone else has more fun than they do. But I’m guessing that only a small percentage of Sagittarians feel that way. You tend to be extra alert for fun, and you have intuitive skill at tracking down fun. In addition, you often take the initiative to precipitate fun. You understand you have a responsibility to generate fun, and you have a talent for generating it. All these capacities will serve you well in the coming weeks. I recommend you raise your mastery of the art and science of having fun to a new level. Be the Champion of Fun and Games for your entire circle.
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): I’m not engaging in empty flattery when I say that you are unlike anyone else who has ever lived in the history of the world. Your absolute uniqueness is a fundamental fact. Maybe you don’t reflect on this truth very often. Perhaps you feel that it’s not helpful to think about or that it’s irrelevant to your daily decision-making. But I propose that in the next three weeks, you give it a central place in your understanding of your destiny. Allow it to influence everything you do. Make it a major factor in your decision-making.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Welcome back from the underworld, Aquarius. I hope your time wandering through the maze-like twilight brought you as many fascinating mysteries as confusing questions. I trust you took advantage of the smoky riddles and arresting dilemmas to fortify your soul’s wisdom. I suspect that although your travels may have at times seemed hard to fathom, they have provided you with a superb education that will serve you well in the immediate future.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): In Oscar Wilde’s novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, the lead character says to a friend, “You filled me with a wild desire to know everything about life.” Is there a person who might inspire you like that, Pisces? Maybe a person from your past with whom you’ve fallen out of touch? Or is there a person hovering on the outskirts of your life who could stimulate you to have such feelings? Now is a favorable time to seek these influences. I advise you to be bold in your quest to associate with allies who will stimulate your lust for life and teach you crucial lessons. (PS: For extra credit, make abundant use of another theme from Wilde’s book: “The search for beauty is the real secret of life.”)
My timing was good when I went to Stockwell Cellars for a tasting. They were just about to release their 2018 Pinot Grigio Orange ($28). Orange, you might ask! Yes! Eric Stockwell’s copper-colored beauty is made with Regan Vineyards’ white Pinot Gris grapes. The release party featured pairing the wine with oysters by Parker Presents, aka Bill the Oysterman.
“We call this wine Pinot Grigio Ramato,” says Stockwell. “Ramato means copper in Italian, which refers to this wine’s beautiful color”—hence naming it “orange” for non-Italian speakers. The wine’s color comes from 30-60 days of skin contact during fermentation. “It is produced by leaving the skins of white wine grapes to ferment with the juice instead of removing them, essentially making white wine in the same manner as red wine,” explains Stockwell.
Pinot Grigio is a favorite for summer sipping, and it partners well with a wide array of foods, especially white meats and cheeses. It comes with easy-drinking flavors of passion fruit, blood orange and apricot.
Stockwell Cellars is always a hive of activity—one reason: They have a thriving wine club membership. Food trucks regularly appear on weekends and for special events. Scrumptious Fish & Chips sells their British favorites, Drunk Monkeys serves up Asian-inspired food, PANA makes delicious Venezuelan arepas, Saucey’z has smoked-meat sandwiches and Union Foodie offers an assortment of grilled-cheese melts.
Stockwell says he was “bitten by the winemaking bug” in the early 2000s while running a welding and metalworking business. He eventually turned his workshop into the industrial-chic Stockwell Cellars tasting room that he now runs with his wife, co-owner Suzanne Zeber-Stockwell.
Check out the local art, get comfortable on one of the relaxing sofas snuggly between dancing firelight.
“It’s a little like gathering at a modern version of the village smithy,” the website states. It’s not surprising, therefore, that Stockwell’s old anvil is still on display.
For upcoming live music and other events, visit the website.
Stockwell Cellars, 1100 Fair Ave., Santa Cruz, 831-818-9075. stockwellcellars.com.
