Wharf Reopens: Repairs, a Lawsuit and Bird Nests

William S. Woodhams

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January 8, 2025

Wharf Reopens: Repairs, a Lawsuit and Bird Nests

In the aftermath of 150 feet of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf falling into the ocean on Dec. 23—closing the iconic wooden structure for 10 days—questions are still swirling about whether the collapse was preventable.

And with all eyes on Santa Cruz and our unique but battered wharf—who is to blame?

In the first days city staff members blamed the jumbo swell that propelled Mavericks to record heights, litigation from a group called Don’t Morph the Wharf and even bird nests preventing repairs.

“We’ll never know for sure but we do know that the delays of our master plan, largely due to lawsuits against the city that slowed down those important investments, have left our wharf more vulnerable,” City Manager Matt Huffaker said in a press conference on Dec. 27. In an interview, Huffaker added that if the plan had gone ahead, the western walkway, a planned protective barrier dropped by the city, would have been operational in the “early 2020s.”

Gillian Greensite of Don’t Morph the Wharf, who achieved the removal of the western walkway and a 40-foot-high building at the end of the wharf through a successful California Environmental Quality Act case against the city, blamed the city for not repairing the pilings at the end of the wharf sooner and for blaming her.

And the California Coastal Commission is blamed for everything.

For Dan Buecher, who spent many years working on the wharf and then served as wharf supervisor from 1993 to 2009, all the blame was a sign of the times.

“It’s the current world we live in. That’s what it seems people think they have to do, but it’s working together that is the best way, and probably everybody got a part of the right answer. So in the end, it’ll be pulled together by whoever builds it,” he said.

Not that he’s a saint. Back in his day, they were behind on the pillings too. He had a small crew of seven to eight workers and 5% of the pilings needed repair.

Those pilings that everyone is up in arms about needing to be replaced, Buecher says, are also habitats for worms and urchins and thousands of species below the wharf, eating away at the livelihoods of the people above, while feeding the lackadaisical sea lion population and thus contributing to what everyone loves about the wharf.

Nonetheless, whether they ought to have or not, the pilings at the end of the wharf broke off and the harmony of the wharf was shattered, as all businesses closed and workers fell behind on rent.

Since at least 2013, the area that collapsed was known to have damaged pilings that had been recommended for replacement, including 14 original pilings from 1914. Some of these pilings were under the Dolphin restaurant, which was supported by “a-frames,” load-bearing wooden beams, before storm damage in late 2023 doomed the eatery.

The Reasons

Buecher was in Roseville when he saw footage of the floating bathroom.

“I didn’t believe it,” Buecher said in a phone interview. But the more he thought about it, the more he believed that the collapse had to “have been a combination of various things.”

According to Buecher, a major factor in the collapse was the wave action intensifying at the end of the wharf because the pilings there are the longest. Estimates put the waves at 20 to 30 feet high amid a record third year of storms that left piers out of service along the coast.

The beams that the sea lions sleep on further direct wave energy upward, lifting the deck from the piles.

When asked about the issue of the Coastal Commission mandating a 300-foot bird nesting buffer for major construction on the wharf like sinking new piles, Buecher remembers how they used to do it.

Crowd of people on a wharf listening to speakers — **CEREMONIAL** Mayor Fred Keeley and others celebrate the wharf opening. **PHOTO** Tarmo Hannula

“No, the birds were never really a concern. We would maneuver the animals away but you had to maintain it [the wharf],” he said.

This would be news to the staff of the wharf and the Coastal Commission, who strictly follow permits that dictate when and where work can get done following the Coastal Act of 1972.

Staff of the Commission were surprised that the city now seeks to revise a set of agreements they made in 2021 and in February 2024 to make it easier for wharf repairs to get done.

The city and the Coastal Commission are now in discussions to expand the amount of time the wharf staff has to do repairs each year, according to Mayor Fred Keeley. But as of last February, it was only recommended, not required, to avoid construction between March and September.

Restrictions still apply: a biologist must be present during construction and work can only occur within a 500-foot radius of an identified occupied nest for four hours a day for three consecutive days.

“The Coastal Commission wants to work with the city of Santa Cruz to make sure that this repair maintenance work gets done as we have for years now,” said Joshua Smith, spokesman for the Commission. The Commission has approved multiple emergency repairs on the wharf in past years on behalf of the city.

The Future?

After agreeing to settle the lawsuit with Don’t Morph the Wharf in 2024 without the western walkway, the city was awarded $8.9 million from the Coastal Conservancy to complete the projects such as the eastern promenade, new boat landings, entry gates and a welcome sign. The project is underway, if temporarily delayed, according to Development Manager David McCormic.

On the other hand, the work to build a protective barrier on the western side of the wharf is back to square one after its defeat, McCormic said. Meaning the wharf is vulnerable to more big waves.

In the meantime, the wharf will have to soldier on under its normal repair process. A team of 12 people is working to fix the wharf for its 20 businesses, 400 employees and 10% of the city’s restaurant workforce. Despite this the wharf is not a money maker, losing $1.7 million last year.

Not surprisingly there is a backlog of repair projects and maintenance needed on the wharf. This deferred maintenance is estimated at $14 million.

This explains why the piles at the end of the wharf were neglected. More valuable piles under the roadway and businesses were prioritized first as laid out in the 2014 Engineering Report, leaving the lanky end of the wharf without repairs.

“That work was really in the queue,” Parks and Recreation Director Tony Elliot said. “And then we got hit by the storms in 2023 and 2024, so that damaged the end of the wharf, which enabled us to get federal and state dollars to rebuild the end of the wharf.”

Before the wharf collapse, the repairs were expected to cost $3 million. Now costs will be significantly higher if the end of the wharf is rebuilt at all.

But Mark Gilbert, who owns Firefish Grill and Woodies Cafe on the wharf, wanted to build a new Dolphin restaurant but could never get the building off the ground despite growing the Dolphin’s sales by threefold with the city getting a percentage. He is convinced a new Dolphin with new pilings under it might have made a difference.

“I would have fought the Coastal Commission that only allowed us to do this during the winter, because it’s a bunch of crap,” Gilbert said. “And I probably would have gotten year-round construction because nobody gives a crap, because it’s not your money out there.”

The city will also look to recoup lost revenues that businesses on the wharf lost during those 10 days around the holidays by “modification of lease terms” and seeking state and federal money, according to McCormic. Businesses on the wharf have so far been offered a small business loan, owners said. Employees making less than 80% of the Average Median Income are eligible for a $500 gift card through the Community Bridges charity.

Gilbert blames Don’t Morph the Wharf for screwing everything up because his efforts to open a new restaurant at the end of the wharf were stalled while “everything was tied up in litigation.”

Gilbert proposed three restaurants on the site of the Dolphin, including a whale-shaped restaurant which never advanced. On Jan. 14 his lease agreement for a redo of the Miramar restaurant will come before the City Council in closed session.

Gilbert expects more delays because of the emergency state of the wharf but his patience is running short.

“If it gets delayed anymore, I’m just going to bow out,” Gilbert said. “I bought the Dolphin in 2008 to put a new building there. It’s 2025 now, 17 years in April. A new building would have been good. It would have shored up everything out there.”

Buecher wants people in the coming months to think about what the wharf is, and how the ocean, the sea lions, the family businesses, the city and the Coastal Commission can be greater than the sum of their pillings.

“Because if people say what holds the wharf up is in the pilings, no, it’s the love of the wharf,” Buecher said. “The community loves the wharf and wants to have it and support it. And so do new generations every 20 years. I still think it’s a big draw to the city. I love it. My family loves it. My children have moved away. They come back to go there.”

The Editor’s Desk

Letters to the Editor

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January 8, 2025

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Santa Cruz California editor of good times news media print and web — Brad Kava | Good Times Editor

The 2004 movie called A Day Without a Mexican should have been warning enough. This state and this country can’t survive without the immigrants who have made it great throughout its history. California was not only part of Mexico, but Mexicans have always been part of California, and by extension, the entire U.S.

We are a global community and the idea that we can suddenly become isolationist should have been erased in the 1930s, when a similar cry destroyed German culture and gave way to another dictatorship.

Writer Todd Guild, who covers Watsonville, talked to people there about what a mass deportation would mean to them, and the answers are as sad as you can imagine. Can you imagine what a promised mass deportation could mean for all of us? At the very least, let’s face it: your grocery prices would skyrocket. But there are deeper implications for everyone.

Immigration has always made America great, despite the threats and fear-mongering of demagogues.

And to the argument that some immigrants are legal and others not, if you look back in our history, all immigrants were legal because no laws kept them out and the country encouraged them to come and help build a nation. (Until racist moves like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 kicked out the people who built the transcontinental railroad.)

California authorities are doing what they can to keep some dignity in the process for the workers who have done so much for this country, as the cover stories recount.

On the other news front, the Santa Cruz Wharf reopened to much self-back-patting from city officials. Whose fault the collapse was is still being debated, but at the very least one wonders who allowed thousands of dollars of construction trucks to be parked at the end of the structure, which collapsed and dumped them into the Bay. William Woodhams covers the debate in his story.

Need a good time? Check out Dr. Funk and Jet Jaguar in our entertainment section, not to mention a full calendar of local music and events.

Thanks for reading.

Brad Kava | Editor

PHOTO CONTEST

SUNDOWN Jan. 5 Seacliff Sunset. Photograph by Becky Olvera Schultz

GOOD IDEA

The Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce hosts an in-depth exploration of the pivotal legal developments that will impact employers in 2025 on Jan. 8. Michael Manoukian, partner with Lathrop GPM, will lead “Overview of New Employment Laws for 2025,” an annual workshop aimed at keeping you ahead of the curve on crucial legal changes affecting your workplace, including new legislation and regulations; wage and hour developments; and issues related to discrimination, harassment and retaliation. INFO: S antacruzchamber.org/events/

GOOD WORK

Friday from 9am to 10pm you can learn about an intrepid group of artists on bicycles who followed monarch butterflies on their migration route from the Pacific Northwest to the Central Coast of California. The presentation includes original music and educational information about the trip. It will be presented at the Digital Arts Research Center, 407 McHenry Road, Santa Cruz. Reserve a spot at eventbrite.com. From 9am to 5pm, there’s a looping installation of Monarch Waystation Soundmap (film) and Spectre (electroacoustic composition). At 8pm there’s a set by Rodrigo Barriga followed by a live performance by Alejandro Botijo Madrid, Ivan Caramés and Human Hemingway.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”

—Oprah Winfrey

LETTERS

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor

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January 8, 2025

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COFFEE FIX

Your recent article about the church/coffee shops in Santa Cruz County caused me to have some concerns. They are simply serving coffee and other things that would make them seem to be a normal coffeeshop.

Except for the financial advantages given to churches, they could almost pretend to be competing on an even playing field with the other coffee shops in our area.

For example, if you look up the property tax assessment for Twin Lakes Church, they have an assessed valuation that they pay of just over $1 million.

They get the 10% use calculation from the assessor’s office, and based upon their long ownership of the land (tax-free, BTW), their costs of ownership are very low compared to any other REAL business in the area. That you neglected to include this kind of information for your readers moves me to write this for you.

Tom Winsemius | Soquel

EFFICIENT TRANSIT 101

If one strategic bus lane could be squeezed within the middle of Highway 1, it would have potential to alleviate much of the rush-hour congestion.

For starters, by assuring at least 50 MPH nonstop, it would allow means to safely travel between Watsonville and Santa Cruz in less than 20 minutes 24/7.

(By covering ~15 miles in less than 20 minutes, possibilities include only needing one string of [flexible] buses to provide round trips every hour on weekends without having to rely upon returning via the less congested direction on the nearby Highway 1.)

Most passengers riding trains throughout the effective underground transportation network in Paris, France, in 1984 did not realize that they were riding upon rubber tires. One could contemplate, “when does a train become a bus (or a bus become a train)?” Both bus and train functions could morph to where they eventually merge to provide the best of both worlds! (In 1986, I rode upon an impressive prototype of a transportation system that did not have any wheels so that could even make tires as well as rails obsolete in some distant future.)

As an engineer I had over 50 years of experience in our real world by the time I retired. I also earned a patent for an All-Express Passenger Train System conceived while riding both EXPRESS and LOCAL trains throughout Germany. I am, however, 100% certain that implementing the Santa Cruz County version of Trail PLUS Rail would be a mistake! Implementing a strategic bus system would better alleviate congestion on Highway 1 (and at far less cost) as well as free up a Peoples Corridor to FINALLY safely accommodate local traffic of families of bicyclists and those on foot.

Perhaps such real-world “interim” solutions will prove worthy until a means is found to transport people from where they are to where they want to be at the speed of light 24/7 for no cost.

Bob Fifield | Aptos

Street Talk

Street Talk

John Koenig

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January 8, 2025

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If you could live in another country in 2025, which would it be?

Ireland, I would love to go back there. It’s so green and outside of the city the only traffic is cows, it’s funny. My family is originally from a place called Dingle. It’s a silly name, but I love it there. There’s an ice cream shop, and when you walk past they keep giving you free samples. It’s a good time.

Julie Dee, 16, Student

Ireland for me too, my great-great grandparents were immigrants to New York when the potato famine hit, so my heritage traces back there.

Dawson David, 15, Student

Mexico, so I could reconnect with some of my family’s roots down there. I’d like to find some of the family that never came to this country in the state of Nayarit, just north of Puerto Vallarta. Plus, Mexico City is a lot of fun. There’s a lot I haven’t seen there, like more of the ancient ruins. Mexico is an interesting place.

Rafael Silverman y de la Vega, 41, Interdisciplinary Scientist

Either Japan or Denmark. I love Japanese food, that appeals to me, and Japanese people are very friendly. I love the art and the history—and I love karaoke. I’ve been to Denmark and I loved it there—it’s a cool, different place from America.

Nash Karp, 28, Bartender/Gluten-free Baker

The Netherlands, I was there a year ago, and I could see myself living there, biking around, eating good cheese. I love all the windmills, I love all the cows, all the farmlands. They’ve got great museums, health care, transportation, housing, all the things to live a more leisurely life and not have to grind really hard. It’s pretty awesome.

Johanna Johnson, 27, Bartender

Norway or Sweden. My family is from Sweden, so I have a lot of family history there and I’d like to know it better. I’ve never lived in a really cold place and I would like to experience it. It’s a very different way of life, so I don’t think I could commit to living there for my whole life, but I’d love to experience it for a year.

Rebecca Hawkinson, 37, Occupational Therapist

A County Without Immigrants

Cover Stories

Todd Guild

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January 7, 2025

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Two years ago, Leticia Ruvacalba opened La Misma Taqueria in Plaza Vigil, the tiny business park in the heart of Watsonville’s downtown corridor.

The little restaurant is often busy, and by all accounts Ruvacalba and husband Mario are successful members of the community.

But with incoming President Donald Trump’s promises to go after undocumented immigrants and begin mass deportations on his first day back in office, that life has been thrown into turmoil.

Ruvacalba is a naturalized U.S. citizen, but Mario only recently got his green card. Their two children, 5 and 6, attend a local school. It is unclear what will happen when Trump reclaims power.

Because Mario is La Misma’s primary cook, Ruvalcaba is unsure whether she can run the business by herself if he is deported.

“For me, I’m just in the middle,” she says. “What am I going to do if something like that happens? We have a business. I would have to make a very hard decision.”

Ruvalcaba has lived in Watsonville for 35 years, and has long felt like a part of the community. But that has changed in recent years, she says.

This includes hearing her kids describe increasing incidents of bullying at school.

“It’s been really hard, because I’ve been seeing so many things,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of violence lately. It just hurts me, what Donald Trump is doing. I just wish he would change that. Life would be much better.”

Trump says his focus will be on immigrants who have been embroiled in the justice system, but according to immigrationimpact.com, his plans could include tens of thousands of immigrants who have been in the U.S. for more than a decade.

**UNCERTAIN FUTURE** Leticia Ruvacalba and her mother-in-law, Martha Salcedo, talk about immigration issues at Plaza Vigil. PHOTO: Tarmo Hannula

Staggering Cost

If Trump’s plans come to full fruition, they could have massive financial impacts on the state. According to the American Immigration Council, some 10.4 million immigrants call California home, with a combined spending power of $382.7 billion. That population pays roughly $151.3 billion in taxes annually.

That is in addition to the estimated $315 billion it will cost to deport more than 13 million people.

According to U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, undocumented immigrants make up nearly 14 percent of all construction workers and around 42 percent of the state’s agricultural workers.

Local law enforcement throughout Santa Cruz County have said they will not cooperate with federal immigration officials if they come to enforce deportation orders.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors took a stance last month and passed a resolution stating the county’s supportive stance on its immigrant residents and reaffirming its status as a “sanctuary county.”

Supervisor Felipe Hernandez drafted the resolution with Supervisor Justin Cummings. Watsonville passed a similar ordinance in 2017 when Hernandez was a city council member there, and the Santa Cruz City Council approved one of their own.

As part of the resolution, county staff was directed to work with nonprofits to find ways to strengthen resources and to protect immigrant communities.

Hernandez said that, in addition to protecting residents, it’s important to consider the financial impact of deportation, with California’s economy built largely on agriculture.

“And the backbone is the workforce, and that workforce is immigrants,” Hernandez said. “So it’s imperative that we also protect our economy.”

**TRIBUTE** Augie WK and Jessica Carmen work on a mural on an exterior wall of the recently opened Elder Day of Community Bridges on West Lake Avenue in Watsonville. PHOTO Tarmo Hannula

Chilling Effect

The unknown ramifications of Trump’s plans have had a profound impact on the community.

“There is lots of fear,” says Community Bridges CEO Ray Cancino. “People are very genuinely afraid of what’s going to come next and what’s going to change.”

Cancino says Trump’s fiery rhetoric and hardline stance on immigration is having a “chilling effect,” in many cases discouraging people from properly caring for themselves.

Cancino says he has seen a 30% decline in people applying for programs such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Medi Cal and Medicare, because they are scared they’ll be snared by immigration authorities.

“Individuals will stop going to the doctor and stop seeking additional support that is bringing health and wellbeing into their households,” he says. “And I think that for me is the number-one concern. The rhetoric spills over into individuals self-selecting themselves out of services that benefit themselves and their families.”

Most people who are here illegally, Cancino says, want to find a pathway to legal citizenship. But most do not have the ability to wade through years of red tape to make that happen.

“The reality is that most folks cannot operate in that way,” he says.

Cancino says that approximately one-third of the population in Monterey County is undocumented, while in Santa Cruz County about 8%–roughly 20,000—are here illegally.

It is too early to speculate about what impact the new immigration enforcement policies will have, says Claudia Magallon, Santa Cruz County Immigration Project Directing Attorney.

But it is vital for everyone to learn their rights.

This includes the right to remain silent if approached by an immigration officer, and to ask for an attorney.

“It’s the government’s job to prove they are here illegally,” she says.

In addition, there is no requirement to open the door for an immigration officer if there is no warrant signed by a judge.

Residents can also attend the Immigration Project’s presentations with topics such as naturalization and know your rights.

Supervisor Luis Alejo says the Monterey County Board of Supervisors has approved an Immigration Rights Ad Hoc Committee, which at its first meeting included more than 50 stakeholders, such as the Mexican consul general and members of the agriculture community, as well as representatives from hospitality, education, healthcare, labor and public safety.

The committee’s intent is to “bring local stakeholders together to solicit input, facilitate communication, and prepare for any massive federal immigration enforcement actions within Monterey County, and to utilize county resources to educate and advocate our immigrant communities,” Alejo says.

Padilla, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety, has criticized Trump’s plans, which he says will “separate spouses and rip parents away from their U.S. citizen children, while causing massive economic hardship.”

Half a Trillion

News

Mark Kreidler

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January 7, 2025

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In the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, I reached out to a longtime Northern California family farmer to gauge his level of concern.

Trump has, after all, already made full-throated declarations that his administration will conduct the largest deportation of undocumented residents in U.S. history. That should resonate in a place like California, with its estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants — and it certainly would shake up a state agriculture industry in which nearly half of all workers are undocumented.

But the farmer, who asked not to be identified to avoid political conflict with business partners, was unruffled. A self-described social moderate and fiscal conservative, he and his family have spent generations in the business. While his own seasonal employees are on work visas, his understanding of the industry’s historical reliance on undocumented workers runs deep, through direct experience, colleagues and a seat on the board of an agriculture lending institution.

He knows the stakes. Even at a time when some farmers use more authorized workers than ever, the industry overall remains heavily reliant on undocumented immigrants.

“I suspect it’ll be like it always has been: If you’re undocumented but stay out of trouble, not much is going to happen,” he told me. “Dragging hard-working people out of here does not go over well.”

That is hardly a poetic response. It does, however, have the ring of truth.

Trump’s notion to mass deport nearly 5% of the U.S. workforce is a recipe for such economic wreckage that it feels impossible. But that doesn’t mean those who study immigration and try to shape policy don’t take him seriously.

“It is unlikely that a large share of the unauthorized immigrant population will be deported quickly,” said Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research for the Economic Policy Institute. “But there’s a lot the Trump 2.0 administration can do to remove a high number fast.”

Among the possibilities: Trump’s administration could go after immigrants who have received a final order of removal or are in the country under temporary protected status (TPS), which is usually extended to those whose home countries are experiencing problems that make it difficult or unsafe for them to return. Those nations include Venezuela, El Salvador and Haiti.

Costa, a visiting scholar at the University of California Davis’ Global Migration Center, also suggested that Trump could adjust federal policy to expand temporary work visa programs — one way to assuage employers, by theoretically replacing deported undocumented workers with those possessing a legal but short leash to remain in the country.

“Those visas give employers a lot of power and control over workers because their visa status is tied to the employer,” Costa said. “They cannot easily change jobs. And if they get fired, they become deportable, which keeps them from complaining about substandard working conditions or from [trying to join] a union.”

But all of that presupposes that the Trump administration would first locate and then expel hundreds of thousands of undocumented workers in California alone. On both counts, experts say, that’s a long-shot.

Jamshid Damooei, executive director of the Center for Economics of Social Issues at California Lutheran University, has been studying the economic impact of undocumented immigrants in the state for years. To Damooei, the numbers tell the story.

According to the center’s analysis, undocumented immigrants are the source of more than half a trillion dollars of products in California, either by direct, indirect or induced production levels. Their work adds up to nearly 5% of the state’s gross domestic product, or GDP.

And while 46% of the state’s agricultural workforce is undocumented, that’s just the tip of the iceberg. For example, the center’s report found that in Los Angeles County, 28.7% of the construction workforce is undocumented, along with 17.5% in manufacturing, 16% in wholesale trade and more than 15% in retail trade.

“How could L.A. County function with a significant share of its vital workforce being deported?” Damooei said. “In my county, Ventura, 70% of farmworkers are undocumented. In Santa Barbara it’s closer to 80%. Then there is construction, manufacturing, transportation. … Look, this is just incredibly powerful.”

Employers aren’t likely to give up that kind of workforce willingly, especially considering how much less they generally pay undocumented workers than others. That’s one reason the Northern California farmer sounded relatively confident that, all political rhetoric aside, the status quo will hold.

None of this answers the larger questions of what Trump really wants or how his administration would achieve it. But even setting aside the sheer inhumanity of a mass deportation policy, the financial equation makes the idea untenable.

According to the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, undocumented immigrants paid almost $100 billion in federal, state and local taxes in 2022. More than a third of those taxes went to fund programs the immigrants are barred from using, like Social Security, Medicare and unemployment insurance.

Six states raised more than $1 billion in tax revenue from undocumented immigrants that year, the institute found. The leader of the pack? California, at $8.5 billion (followed by Texas, New York, Florida, Illinois and New Jersey). And in 40 states, including California, undocumented immigrants paid higher state and local tax rates than the top 1% of households.

“Undocumented immigrants are not a source of depletion of our tax revenue — they subsidize our benefits,” Damooie said. “They are not the takers of our tax revenue but the makers, who receive very little in return.”

Damooie and others argue that a path toward citizenship, not deportation, ought to be the goal. That’s not a likely scenario over the next four years.

In the meantime, the Northern California farmer said, “These workers are mostly just going to keep working.” It is work destined to be continued in the shadows — where it’s almost always been.

This story was produced by Capital & Main (capitalandmain.com).

Things to do in Santa Cruz

Things To Do This Week

GT Staff

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January 7, 2025

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FRIDAY 1/10

FESTIVAL

FUNGUS FAIR

The annual Fungus Fair is a fung-tastic event for budding and seasoned mycologists. There’s always something new to learn about mushrooms; for instance, there wouldn’t be beer, wine, cheese or bread without fungus. Another fun fact: people interact with fungi daily. The three-day event is perfect for exploring our relationship with fungi; whether learning about rare and exotic species or simply identifying a mushroom found in a local park, there is something for everyone. There will be children’s activities, speakers, shopping, fungi identification and demonstrations throughout the event. Aligning with the Fungus Federation of Santa Cruz’s mission, this event puts the fun in fungi. ISABELLA MARIE SANGALINE

INFO: 2pm, London Nelson Center, 301 Center St., Santa Cruz. $10. 420-6177.

FOLK

CHUCK BRODSKY

Except for a trio of records he released in the final years of the 20th century, Chuck Brodsky has long been the model of the independent, do-it-yourself artist. It’s just that now, the music business as a whole is catching up with his approach. He crowdfunded his last three albums, the most recent of which is Them and Us. He’s a singer/songwriter who pens heart-on-sleeve songs with a social conscience but is equally likely to serve up an original tune about baseball. Brodsky possesses a keen wit that sets him apart from the pack. BILL KOPP

INFO: 7pm, Ugly Mug, 4640 Soquel Dr., Soquel. $25/adv, $28/door. 477-1341.

BLUES

HAMISH ANDERSON & QUINN SULLIVAN

BB King once said, “Blues is a tonic for whatever ails you. I could play the blues and then not be blue anymore.” And if that master is to be trusted, Hamish Anderson knows the blues. Joining Anderson is Quinn Sullivan, the 29-year-old prodigy from Massachusetts whose debut album dropped when he was the ragged age of 12. Read more on page 18. MAT WEIR

INFO: 8pm, Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $23. 713-5492.

SATURDAY 1/11

HARDCORE PUNK

BLACK FLAG

Old punks show their age by how amazed they are seeing Black Flag’s iconic black bars logo go so mainstream, appearing in mall stores everywhere. Geriatric moshers are even more baffled at Henry Rollins, Black Flag’s best-known (but by no means best) singer, becoming a staple on reality television. Black Flag are the “little engine that could” of bands, going through multiple lineups, traveling the country by van, squatting in an old church and now the respected elders of punk rock who hopefully get some of that T-shirt money. They’ll play their first four albums on Saturday in an explosion of early ’80s hardcore. KEITH LOWELL JENSEN

INFO: 7pm, Vets Hall, 846 Front St., Santa Cruz. $34/adv, $39/door. 454-0478.

SUNDAY 1/12

REGGAE

RAGING STONE

Kick-off 2025 with an irie start when Raging Stone plays Discretion Brewery for free Sunday. The Santa Cruz reggae group consists of Lennon Kozlicek on guitar and vocals, Mark Kner on bass and a rotating variety of drummers to keep the beat rocksteady. But in true Santa Cruz style, Raging Stone doesn’t stick to one genre, branching out into elements of ska, dub, dancehall and everything else that came from the islands. It’s a matinee show, so partiers can grab a pint and one of the savory appetizers or lunches made by local Italian restaurant Sugo and enjoy an afternoon of cold brews and hot beats. MW

INFO: 3pm, Discretion Brewery, 2703 41st Ave. Ste. A, Soquel. Free. 316-0662.

MONDAY 1/13

ACOUSTIC JAZZ

CHRIS BOTTI

Grammy-winning trumpeter Chris Botti has cemented his place as a global favorite for nearly three decades, collaborating with countless music icons, including Sting, Paul Simon, Lady Gaga, Tony Bennett, Frank Sinatra, Aretha Franklin and Andrea Bocelli. Renowned for his chart-topping albums and performances, the musician’s career successfully bridged jazz and pop stardom long ago. Now, with his Blue Note debut Vol. 1, Botti returns to his roots in acoustic jazz, stripping away all of the orchestral layers and guest features. Botti’s renewed focus is on pure musicianship, inspired by jazz greats like Miles Davis and Pat Metheny. As Botti enters a new era of creation, the music evokes a refined, sophisticated ambiance apt for any setting or mood. MELISA YURIAR

INFO: 7pm, Rio Theatre, 1205 Soquel Ave., Santa Cruz. $92. 423-8209.

TUESDAY 1/14

DJ MASTER CLASS

JARED GAMPEL

Jared Gampel is a Santa Cruz-based DJ and cofounder of People’s Disco, an all-vinyl socialist dance party that’s continued to spin since its launch in 2016. The artist earned his PhD in the History of Consciousness at UC Santa Cruz, with a dissertation exploring the rise of retro music cultures and how industry shifts have amplified our love for “old” music. Gampel teaches four courses at UCSC, including Learning to DJ and Introduction to Marxism, is a dedicated union organizer with the American Federation of Teachers and is a committed activist with the Democratic Socialists of America. MY

INFO: 7pm, Kuumbwa Jazz Center, 320 Cedar St., Santa Cruz. Free. 427-2227.

WEDNESDAY 1/15

AUTHOR EVENT

LIZA MONROY

Novelist Liza Monroy drew upon her life experiences when writing her debut novel, 2008’s fictional Mexican High. She went on to pen a memoir plus numerous articles and essays in high-profile popular and literary outlets and anthologies. Monroy’s latest and fourth novel, The Distractions, draws from current concerns about social media and the online world and explores how technology enables a host of problematic phenomena: envy, ceaseless comparison, manipulation and even obsession. Monroy will discuss her work with host and fellow Santa Cruz-based novelist Malena Watrous. BK

INFO: 7pm, Bookshop Santa Cruz, 1520 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. 423-0900.

JAZZ

HIGH STEP SOCIETY

High Step Society is here to satisfy anyone who likes a heavy dose of jazz in their electronic music or the synthetic thump of a drum machine in their swing. Are they jazz with techno stripes or techno with jazz stripes? It doesn’t matter; what’s important is that when they take the stage, they play music optimized for dancing one’s ass off. Audience members are encouraged to dress to impress; this may be the chance to wear that suit or dress that friends or partners had the nerve to suggest donating to Goodwill! Just make sure it’s an outfit to groove in. KLJ

INFO: 8pm, Moe’s Alley, 1535 Commercial Way, Santa Cruz. $17/adv, $22/door. 479-1854.

Connection Central

Music

Mat Weir

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January 7, 2025

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As the fledgling new year begins to find its legs, it’s important to remember that we get out of our community what we put into it. One of the qualities so many of us fell in love with about Santa Cruz is its diverse community where artists, creatives, fun weirdos and anyone in between can come together to share ideas, cultures, stories and a laugh or two.

It’s this love for connection and good times that spins at the heart of DJs Efrain Garcia (aka Dr. Funk) and Valeria Jara (aka Jet Jaguar). After all, they even named their KZSC program—where they play funk, disco, electro, dance and cumbia music, and which celebrates its four year anniversary on Jan. 11—the Mothership Connection.

“I love George Clinton, Parliament and the space motif,” Garcia says. “Plus the literal word ‘connection’ is in the name so it really brought together our different passions.”

The duo also deejay under the Mothership Connection moniker throughout the Central Coast with two monthly nights at the Blue Lagoon, spinning funk every first Friday for Funk the First (which celebrates its one-year anniversary later this year) and cumbia every third Friday for Firme Friday (which just celebrated its one-year anniversary in December).

The two originally met in the most unlikely—and also modern—of places: Tinder.

“It’s a tale as old as time,” Jara laughs.

They became friends online first in 2019 and started hanging out right before 2020. They were both interested in one another but neither knew how to approach the subject.

“At that point I had been at the station [KZSC] for about three years and I had a program that played oldies from the 1930s to the 1960s,” Jara remembers.

However, she had grown bored of it and in the fall of 2020 she started a show focusing on vogue and ballroom style music from the queer underground.

“I wanted an excuse to hangout with Ef regularly,” she says. “So I told him about the show and invited him on.”

Shortly after they started the Mothership Connection, blending their love for funk and dance music with the representation of marginalized communities. Over the years the show would grow to a beautifully eclectic blend of funk, disco, dance, lo-fi beat and cumbia.

“Curation is really important to us,” Garcia says. “We’re not just playing tracks. We’re creating a vibe and ambiance to add another layer.”

It’s this attention to detail—understanding the art of DJing to not only beat match but also vibe match—along with their pristine taste in music that makes Mothership Connection stand out in the local club scene (and the drag clown makeup doesn’t hurt, either). It’s also what makes them such great live DJs, with the ability to read a room so the party never stops.

For Firme Friday, the duo digs deep into the rich history of cumbia—a 19th-century style that originated in Colombia and blends Latin American and African traditions—along with current hits in the genre. The two noticed it was a style they loved that was severely lacking in local dancehalls.

“There’s too many brown people in Santa Cruz to not have a cumbia night,” Jara says about Firme Friday. “It’s pretty intergenerational with college folks to older heads.”

“Firme is a love letter to being brown,” Garcia agrees. “Cumbia holds a very close, familial place in my heart.”

Then there’s Funk the First, which the two host with a special set of refined tunes all played on original vinyl, a technique they’ve slowly integrated on their radio show as well.

The idea for a funk night came about as a collaborative team-up with Ruca Records, the womxn deejay collective out of Salinas. Each Funk the First features a rotating cast of local DJs from Ruca Records, along with Mothership Connection and guests Encounters of the Funky Kind (Monterey), Ugle Eye (Watsonville) and more.

It’s all part of a larger scene they all have been slowly curating and growing on the Central Coast.

“It’s lame to have to go to San Francisco for something cool,” Garcia says. “We want Santa Cruz to be a part of the conversation between San Jose and Seaside.”

In that same spirit, Mothership Connection doesn’t just play and support their own nights, but can be found throughout the community on any given month. Along with private events like weddings and corporate gigs, the duo has also deejayed everything from the Cedar Street Faire and the Santa Cruz Rollerderby to burlesque and drag shows like The Cherry Pit.

The last of these provides inspiration for Garcia and Jara to keep creating new environments for the community. Jara quotes the Cherry Pit hosts: “You want more shows? You can do this too!”

Garcia agrees.

“Be the change you want to see in the community.”

“Funk the First” takes place Friday, Jan. 10 at the Blue Lagoon, 923 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Free. “Mothership Connection” airs Saturdays at 2pm on 88.1FM KZSC.

Plugged In

Music

Bill Kopp

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January 7, 2025

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Not so many years ago, the only path to success for a recording and performing artist was to land a record deal. The marketing and administrative muscle of the major labels was essential to getting albums made and tours promoted.

But in recent years, the music industry has undergone seismic changes, and today it’s possible for an industrious artist to make his or her own way without the backing of a record label.

The success of Australian blues rock singer-songwriter-guitarist Hamish Anderson is a case in point. Touring a short run of West Coast dates in support of his latest release, Electric, Anderson comes to the Catalyst Jan. 10.

There’s a blues foundation to Anderson’s original music, but he was raised on a healthy and omnivorous diet of music thanks to his father.

“When I was growing up, my dad listened to all kinds of music,” he says. “Everything: rock, classical, Indian music. But he was very deep into the blues.”

Beyond listening to his dad’s CDs, Anderson’s first exposure to a blues artist was watching a film made more than a decade before he was born: 1980’s The Blues Brothers. “There was just something about John Lee Hooker,” he says. “I thought he was the coolest person I’d ever seen.”

Hooker became a hero of his; the legendary bluesman made an impression on Anderson just as he had done years before on guitarists like Keith Richards and Eric Clapton. Anderson dug deeper into the American music tradition and developed an enduring appreciation for other blues artists including Muddy Waters, Hubert Sumlin and Howlin’ Wolf, going back even farther to explore the work of Robert Johnson.

“I’ve always loved history,” he explains. “So when I discovered blues, it was a perfect [combination] of history and music.”

Anderson’s music is informed by artists who were influenced by those blues greats, too. His website features a playlist of artists whose work has inspired him, and the list includes tracks by T. Rex, Otis Redding, the Kinks, Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, George Harrison, the Beach Boys and Wilson Pickett. He notes that at the end of T. Rex’s “Get it On (Bang a Gong),” Marc Bolan quotes a line from Chuck Berry’s “Little Queenie” (“Meanwhile, I’m still thinking”). “You can find all these little connections between all these amazing artists and amazing music,” he enthuses.

Anderson released his self-titled debut EP in 2013. Since then he’s released another EP and three full-length albums. There are significant threads connecting all five of those releases: one is that Anderson writes all of his own music.

“For me, it all comes down to the song,” he says. “You can’t have a really cool guitar solo [but] a shitty song; it has to all be happening at once.”

He’s a serious student of songwriting, exploring and learning from the nuances in songs by Lennon and McCartney, Joni Mitchell or the Kinks’ Ray Davies. “Just by listening to these amazing songwriters, you get a crash course in how a song should be.”

Another common characteristic of all of Anderson’s music is that it’s self-released. He’s one of the new breed of musicians who have found a way to build a career, tour, release albums and connect with fans, all without signing on the dotted line with a label.

“I’ve come up in an age when you can be unsigned and get your own path going, carve out a little something,” he says. Anderson finds that he’s able to self-release records and focus on playing in front of people. “Especially in America, there’s a real appetite for the live experience,” he says.

For most of his studio releases, Anderson worked with seven-time Grammy winning producer-engineer Jim Scott, renowned for his work with Tom Petty, Foo Fighters, Tedeschi Trucks Band and many others.

“He’s worked with everybody,” says Anderson. “Working with Jim is effortless.”

But along the way, Anderson learned a great deal about production himself, so when the time came to make Electric, he chose to co-produce with David Davis, engineer on The War on Drugs’ A Deeper Understanding, Frank Ocean’s Blonde and nearly two dozen other projects of note.

“I’m influenced by all the classic music,” Anderson explains. “But for Electric, I wanted to bring more of the influence of stuff that’s the modern version of that [music].” He says that he wanted to make a record that would fit on a playlist with artists like Alabama Shakes, Arctic Monkeys, Jack White and Gary Clark Jr.

There’s a through-line in his production approach, though. As with Anderson’s previous records, the tracks for Electric were laid down live in the studio; he believes that approach gives the music a more direct feel. “What my records have in common is that there’s a live band playing,” he says.

Ultimately, that live experience is what the music is all about for Hamish Anderson. For his West Coast tour, he’ll be fronting a classic power trio: guitar, bass, drums.

“It’s very electric, very heavy,” he says. “There are no backing tracks or any of that stuff.” When Anderson describes the music he’ll play, he could just as easily be summing up his music influences: “It’s a mixture of modern rock ’n’ roll, blues and soul.”

Hamish Anderson and Quinn Sullivan play at 8pm Jan. 10 at the Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. Tickets: $22.50. catalystclub.com

Half a Trillion

Cover Stories

Mark Kreidler

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January 7, 2025

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This story was produced and originally published by Capital & Main.

In the days following President-elect Donald Trump’s victory, I reached out to a longtime Northern California family farmer to gauge his level of concern.

Trump has, after all, already made full-throated declarations that his administration will conduct the largest deportation of undocumented residents in U.S. history. That should resonate in a place like California, with its estimated 1.8 million undocumented immigrants—and it certainly would shake up a state agriculture industry in which nearly half of all workers are undocumented.