Grapes are harvested from Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards in Saratoga for the luxurious 2016 Chardonnay ($45). A beautiful wine redolent with velvet undertones, it comes with more oak and hazelnut than crisp apple. Aromas of cream, toast, and a smidgeon of pear offer clues of what’s to come—a superb Chardonnay by Brandon Armitage of Armitage Wines.
Armitage is a busy man. Not only does he have his own label, Armitage Wines, but he also owns the prestigious Heart O’ the Mountain label—known for producing ultra-premium Pinot Noir—and manages the lush vineyards on the Brassfield family’s Heart O’ the Mountain estate in Scotts Valley. Once home to world-renowned film director Alfred Hitchcock, Heart O’ the Mountain is where famous movie stars were entertained back in the day, and the late Prince Rainier and Princess Grace of Monaco were wined and dined.
It’s on this historic property, not usually open to the public, where Armitage is holding a farm-to-table dinner at 6 p.m. on Bastille Day, July 14. Hollins House Executive Chef John Paul Lechtenberg will feature the bounty of local farms and fresh-catch fish from local waters, with an appetizer hour of fine cheeses and hors d’oeuvres by chef Tabitha Stroup. It will all be paired with Armitage Wines, with music accompaniment from the Drool Pigs. Tickets are $130 all inclusive, and they’re sure to go fast. The event is a benefit for a Tara Redwood School fund.
“It’s what I love to do,” says Armitage of his passion for making wine. “My business philosophy is to mesh the energy of the wine components in a symbiotic relationship that expresses the character of the wine in its purest form.”
When Armitage opened his welcoming tasting room some years ago in Aptos Village, he was producing only Pinot Noir, and stunning Pinots they are. When I visited a couple of weeks ago, I was thrilled to find out he’s now also making a fine Chardonnay. Tasting room manager Jeanne Earley will be glad to pour you some when you stop by.
Armitage Tasting Room, 105c Post Office Drive, Aptos, 708-2874. armitagewines.com.
Grand juries tend to make for splashy headlines—especially over the past nine months, with all of the attention given to Russian collusion in the 2016 election, à la “Federal Grand Jury Indicts Paul Manafort.”
The county’s local grand jury, which is part of the Santa Cruz County Superior Court, is something else entirely.
“Our role is more like watchdog,” explains Lauren Tobin, outgoing foreperson for the Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury. “We look at local government and county government agencies to make sure they are operating efficiently and effectively and ethically, and with transparency. We don’t do indictments. We don’t deal with criminal charges.”
Grand juries date back to the Middle Ages in Europe, but the only countries that use them today are the U.S. and Liberia, off Africa’s West Coast. And although there are plenty of civil grand juries throughout the U.S., California is the only state that actually requires each county to have one of its own.
Until a couple years ago, county grand jurors were picked via summons mailed out to thousands of residents, and each recipient had the option of whether or not to apply to have their name put in a drawing. The jury still does mailings, but now, with public service announcements, it also recruits any resident who has roughly 20 hours to spare per week and an interest in civic issues, and encourages them to apply.
Applications are due in April, and Judge John Gallagher winnows down the field of qualified applicants, with previous jurors pitching in to help with interviews. After narrowing the possible jurors down to 30, 19 names get picked out of a hopper. The 2018-19 jury got seated last week.
Over the next few months, those 19 jurors will brainstorm possible investigations based on complaints, news stories and things they’ve heard in the community. They then split up into a number of committees, with each group doing an investigation and drafting a report that eventually gets read by the entire jury. At any point, an investigation may get dropped, if it doesn’t find much, Tobin says.
The county government funds the grand jury with $52,000 a year, but Tobin says that small dollar amount does not undermine the group’s independence. She says there’s not much risk of ever losing that funding—which isn’t listed under any one department—since the state requires every county to have a grand jury. (Even if the funding did disappear, that wouldn’t stop the grand jury from doing its job, she says.)
A good chunk of the money goes to mailing costs. Each juror, including the foreperson, makes $30, plus per-mile gas reimbursements for driving from home.
Once a report comes out, the agency in question can respond to the findings and recommendations. Then it’s up to other watchdogs to hold them accountable.
“We don’t have enforcement authority,” Tobin says of the jury. “We we can’t make them do what we recommended. The important thing is that the reports bring these things to the eye of the public.”
The jury’s most recent report follows up on reports from two years ago to see if their recommendations were being implemented. Both the county mental health department and sheriff’s office had finished implementing those recommendations, while the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors had finished implementing most of them. The Soquel Union Elementary School District had just begun doing so, and it wasn’t clear if theFelton Fire Protection District had implemented much of anything.
“A lot of people don’t realize that the reports are available for the public to read,” Tobin says. “They read the news stories about them, which is great, so they kind of know, but they don’t read the reports. They’re not that long, and if it’s something you care about, it’s interesting.”
It’s all about the struggle to embrace life and hope in the face of fear and death. But the mood is fiercely positive in Rent, the groundbreaking musical now on the boards at Cabrillo Stage, the opening salvo in its summer musical theater season.
First produced in New York in 1996, Jonathan Larson’s acclaimed musical went on to win the Pulitzer Prize, a Tony, and many other awards for its timely story of impoverished artists and other bohemians living defiantly under the shadow of AIDS in New York City’s East Village. Twenty-two years later, the theme of choosing love over fear is as potent as ever, delivered soundly in this slightly uneven but mostly compelling Cabrillo production.
Like West Side Story before it, Rent is an adaptation of a classic from another medium updated for musical theater. For Larson, the inspiration was the Puccini opera, La Bohème, about artists and poets facing poverty and deadly tuberculosis in the garrets of Paris. The characters in Rent share a freezing loft in the Village; there’s no heat, and they can’t pay the rent, for which they’re about to be evicted to join their homeless friends in the tent city next door.
Our entry into this world is Mark (ingratiating Sean Okuniewicz), observing it all through his videocam, and providing wry commentary. His roommate, rock musician Roger (Joey Pisacane, who has a brooding look and a colorful rock voice), is haunted by the specter of AIDS; his previous girlfriend committed suicide after learning she was HIV-positive. He’s determined to write one great song “to redeem this empty life.” But he keeps getting waylaid by Mimi (powerhouse singer Kiana Hamzehi), the erotic dancer and part-time junkie upstairs who wants to spark with him.
Sadie Rose brings edgy pizzazz to the role of Mark’s ex, bi-sexual performance artist, Maureen, who’s moved on to lesbian lawyer Joanne (Brianne Lopez-Cole.) (Finding common ground in mutual exasperation, Joanne and Mark sing a very funny duet, “The Maureen Tango.”) Meanwhile, gay NYU professor, Collins (the appealing Ronald Johnson Jr.) falls in love with perky street musician/drag queen Angel (a standout performance by Vinh Nguyen, who steals every scene with his exuberance and killer grin).
The complex story is stuffed with subplots and supporting characters; the 18-song opening act feels especially long (even though it takes place over a single day, Christmas Eve). But director Dustin Leonard’s inventive staging and Brance William Souza’s smart choreography keep things moving and on track. And the company makes the most of the best material.
The show’s powerfully simple message—to embrace each day of life and believe in the possibility of love—is delivered con brio in emotional ballads like “Will I?,” “Without You,” and the ensemble anthem “Seasons of Love.” In contrast, there’s the pretentious hilarity of Maureen’s performance art piece, “Over The Moon.” Rose and Lopez-Cole are also particularly effective in their raucous smackdown duet, “Take Me Or Leave Me.”
All that said, there are still a few wrinkles in the production. While it works to have the adroit five-man rock combo onstage the whole time, on opening night, there were occasional issues of relative volume between the band and the singers. Sound clarity could be a problem too; in Mimi’s Act I solo, “Out Tonight,” Hamzehi sings and dances with verve, but it was difficult to understand her lyrics.
But the production gets a grip in Act II: the narrative gains purpose, and the emotions are more incisive. Even the sound cleared up. The peculiar touch of magic realism in the play’s final moments feels at odds with the streetwise sensibility of the rest of the story, but by then, the energetic cast has already won us over.
INFO: The Cabrillo Stage production of Rent plays through July 15 at the Cabrillo Crocker Theater. Call 479-6154, or visit cabrillostage.com.
With rents going up, it came as no surprise when the issues of working people became major campaign issues in the November 2016 election for Santa Cruz City Council.
A progressive slate of four candidates, three of them renters, ran on issues like raising the minimum wage and creating legal places to sleep throughout the city. Branding themselves as the “Brand New Council,” the candidates also ran on affordable housing demands—calling, for instance, for Santa Cruz to strengthen affordability requirements for new housing developments, and increase the required percentage of units deemed affordable in new housing developments up from 15 percent, to 25.
Passing such rules for new rental developments would have been prohibited at the time, but are now allowed, thanks to last year’s housing-related bills at the state level.
Since that 2016 election, the City Council has passed a robust housing package lauded by affordable housing advocates. The ambitious recommendations, approved June 12, relaxed parking requirements, modified accessory dwelling unit rules and tackled density bonuses—and did so all with surprisingly little opposition.
“People came back with support for removing parking requirements for ADUs, removing covered parking—things that I was like, ‘Really?’ We surveyed a bunch of different ways,’” Councilmember Cynthia Chase says of the 18-month process leading up to the vote. “That actually was a really good process to have because then when we came forward with the recommendations, we had virtually no opposition on Tuesday night. We basically said, ‘Are you sure, are you sure, are you sure? OK! We’re gonna go forward with this.’”
Still, the new affordability laws earned a dissenting vote from Councilmember Chris Krohn, who believes they don’t go far enough, and hinted that the affordability requirements—also known as “inclusionary zoning” rules—will be a big issue this election again. As part of the recommendations, the council voted to slightly loosen the inclusionary requirements to as low as 10 percent in some circumstances, in hopes that it spurs smarter housing development.
Krohn isn’t up for election, but two council candidates—Justin Cummings and Drew Glover—are calling for raising the inclusionary requirement, and Glover says he has the skills to bring a more visionary leadership style.
“There is a need for a shift from business as usual to something a little more creative,” says Glover, who also ran in 2016 on the slate with Krohn. Glover, Cummings and Krohn have called also for eliminating the “in lieu” fee that lets developers fund affordable housing off site, instead of building it themselves.
Psychotherapist Cynthia Hawthorne, who’s also running, says she supports the newly approved Housing Blueprint Subcommittee recommendations as written, but also stresses that the council needs to check on the inclusionary aspect in five years, as outlined in the council’s vote.
The thinking behind lowering the inclusionary requirements is twofold; first, it makes it easier for developers to build. Even building market-rate units should create more supply to better meet demand—especially if the city incentivizes developers to build smaller, cheaper units, instead of extravagant, high-end condos by the beach.
The second, as Councilmember Richelle Noroyan puts it, is that “zero percent of zero is zero.” Noroyan, the lone incumbent running, says that if the council gets too idealistic and makes its inclusionary rules too strict, no one ends up building any housing, affordable or otherwise.
Glover says the city simply needs to do a better job of attracting low-income housing developers, but it isn’t clear which ones don’t already have Santa Cruz on their map. On top of that, most affordable developers rely on outside funding. Much of that money—at both the state and federal levels—has dried up in recent years. Lastly, as Noroyan notes, in the aftermath of the Great Recession, lenders are expecting to see bigger projected profits than ever.
In general, although the idea of raising the inclusionary requirement sounds good on paper, there has been little evidence that it’s a good idea in practice. The Bay Area Economic Council found in 2016 that if San Francisco were to raise its inclusionary rate slightly, to 17 percent, it would create unforeseen hardship for more than 2,000 households—and that raising it to 25 percent would be one of the worst things city leaders could do for affordability.
The only two policy suggestions that would be worse for affordability, according to the report, are a building moratorium—which demonstrates the power that building new units can have on prices—and eliminating rent control, which has been in place there for 39 years.
The rent control findings show how much the policy can mean to many low-income residents. What’s less clear from data compiled over the years is what impact implementing a new rent control policy has, with economic analyses showing a clear benefit for some renters, but also a detriment to others. Rent control will also be on the Santa Cruz ballot this year.
The one potential candidate who’s taken the hardest stance against raising the inclusionary requirements is one who may not end up running.
“I’m fully willing to admit that there are no silver bullet solutions,” says Robert Singleton, who filed a Candidate Intention Statement last month, although since then, the increasingly crowded council election field has given him pause. “We can’t pick an inclusionary percentage, and all of a sudden, housing is affordable. Just imposing rent control isn’t going to make housing more affordable. Simple solutions don’t solve complex problems.”
Even though he lauded large portions of the subcommittee’s housing plan at the June 12 meeting, Krohn expressed vague reservations as well, saying he was “not so comfortable being this canary in the coal mine.”
In addition to calling for inclusionary requirements of 25 or 30 percent, Krohn called for an Affordable Housing Commission, instead of the educational Affordable Housing Academy sessions suggested by the committee. He implied the new plan somehow changes the owner-occupied rules for accessory dwelling units—it doesn’t—and that it additionally “props up” the controversial corridor zoning update, which it also doesn’t do.
“It seems to me,” he added at the meeting, “if this plan goes forward, you all are throwing down a gauntlet for the next election. I, for one, say, ‘OK, looking forward to November.’”
It was an odd departure from themes of unity that pervaded the night, an evening during which the entire realm of politics, elections included, had seemed the last thing on anyone’s mind.
On July 4, 1776, the United States of America proclaimed its independence from England by creating and signing the Declaration of Independence. There is a deep esoteric significance to the founding of the United States. Created by the Hierarchy (inner spiritual government), the United States is an experiment in freedom for humanity. Externally, the U.S. was formed in order to liberate itself from England (freedom from the old ways). Spiritually, the United States of America was created in order to “do a Great Work.” That of “Standing within the light and leading humanity within and toward that light.”
Every country, nation, state, person, kingdom is “called to do a specific spiritual work in the world.” It is their spiritual task. The spiritual task of the United States is to be a “Light unto and for the world.” The people of the United States are to personify, bring forth the light and to shine brightly for the world.
The United States was formed under the Light of the Soul of Cancer with the keynote, “I build a lighted house and dwell therein.” The U.S. is the “lighted house for humanity, the Light of the World.” In these polarized and tumultuous times (in between the ages, preparing for the Reappearance), enlightened servers (disciples) are being called to be the Light that nurtures and nourishes.
Our invocative mantra each day, together is. “Help us, O Lord, to know, understand, stand as a light and do our part in the world.” And we remember, at all times, the true Disciples are always known for their kindness.
ARIES: You begin to have a new sense of self-identity, a new belief in yourself, new ways in relationship to others and new ways of cooperatively working in the world. Careful with communication, tend to health, create a time for regular exercise, review supplements and vitamins. Sometimes fiery signs cannot maintain a consistent health regimen. However, it’s vital to your daily tasks, upcoming demands, and essential to longevity.
TAURUS: In many ways you’re becoming more and more sensitive. You’re developing Pisces’ compassionate characteristics. Sometimes it’s difficult to perceive earth realities, difficult to walk a straight line and keep balance. Sometimes you’re clumsy and only the very present moment is real. Even with all these physical obstructions presented by Chiron, you will still “save the world.” Your protector is elephant god Ganesh, remover of obstacles.
GEMINI: The message each week seems the same—the community and groups you participate in, the duality you present, all of these carry the love and wisdom from Sirius. Soon you must begin to discriminate and discern which groups stand with the Forces of Light and who the people of Goodwill are. It is toward these groups that you will be magnetized. They call to you daily, each morning. Remember, always, that disciples are known by their kindness.
CANCER: So many things are culminating. Long held hopes and wishes bring forth new opportunities, aid and assistance. As you study and learn new information, especially about gardening and foods, you’re able to teach others ways to safeguard and sustain themselves. In return, a deep love is given and received. New realities appear, new goals, hopes, wishes and dreams, and a sense that you need subtle healing modalities.
LEO: In the next year, as horizons expand, you will enter new groups and endeavors. You may wonder about unfamiliar places, seeking different cultures, people and places that change your life. You’re prepared for a new reality, new archetypes. See the next year as a philosophical adventure. A companion? I don’t know. You still have relationship wounds hidden away. Warm waters help.
VIRGO: You’re working hard bringing forth all of your hidden values. In the next months those values may change. Be aware of this. You like to be practical and you’re ambitious. What for? Is it money, resources or being seen, known and understood? This is a complex question. Be aware of impatience and impulsiveness. Use resources with deep respect, wisdom and gratitude.
LIBRA: Unusual events occur in the next months (till November). Money and relationships increase, then come and go, creating a deep awareness of resources. Sometimes we don’t know how to use money. Sometimes we give everything away. Talk with your partner, intimate, your “I” and thou “other.” Share goals, dreams, wishes, hopes, fears, and the handling of money. Come from the heart, always. You are fierce and independent. Slow down.
SCORPIO: In all things, but especially food, diet, health, and exercise there must be consistency. This may be a challenge. Uranus is creating unevenness everywhere. Anything in excess over time creates a health situation. Attempt to observe this. Ask if your daily work serves you while also helping others. In the months to come, the work you do and your perceptions about work change. Service is to be your middle name.
SAGITTARIUS: You will have days of transformation amid days of harmony, ease and revelations. It will create a tension that creates attention to the creation of new things (artistic). You will express yourself differently. When in charge (a steward), you will enhance and improve everything and everyone. Simultaneously, you need a new sense of fun, pleasure, and perhaps even a new someone to “relate” to. A group calls.
CAPRICORN: At times being the parent or head of household will feel so vast you’ll want to run away from home. Running is good (for exercise or running a race), but always you come home again. Everyone needs you. Oh, dear, if you hear the words “needs you” one more time, you’ll expire! You’re restless for new realities at home, needing more psychological, physical and emotional support. You need a new yet ancient foundation to believe in. Where’s your mommy?
AQUARIUS: Do you need to make an important decision? Are you learning new information, seeking it out, or is it finding you? Over time the lessons learned now will slowly be comprehended. Be in contact with brothers and sisters, relatives and family. Everyone’s changing. You are, too. Share with them, ask about their lives. You need to encounter everything new. Each week I repeat: careful with money and resources. Careful.
PISCES: You’re in deep waters, on the edge of new archetypes, waiting for new realities, seeking new values, learning how to ask for, gather, receive, and use resources. You pray for Right Stewardship and Right Timing. You want to begin something big, creating a safe haven. Observe all living systems; realize “the most diversity exists at the edges. It is here that change happens naturally.” Remain in the heart yet always at the edge.
ARIES (March 21-April 19): Twentieth-century French novelist Marcel Proust described 19th-century novelist Gustave Flaubert as a trottoire roulant, or “rolling sidewalk”: plodding, toneless, droning. Meanwhile, critic Roger Shattuck compared Proust’s writing to an “electric generator” from which flows a “powerful current always ready to shock not only our morality but our very sense of humanity.” In the coming weeks, I encourage you to find a middle ground between Flaubert and Proust. See if you can be moderately exciting, gently provocative, and amiably enchanting. My analysis of the cosmic rhythms suggests that such an approach is likely to produce the best long-term results.
TAURUS (April 20-May 20): You remind me of Jack, the nine-year-old Taurus kid next door, who took up skateboarding on the huge trampoline his two moms put in their backyard. Like him, you seem eager to travel in two different modes at the same time. (And I’m glad to see you’re being safe; you’re not doing the equivalent of, say, having sex in a car or breakdancing on an escalator.) When Jack first began, he had difficulty in coordinating the bouncing with the rolling. But after a while he got good at it. I expect that you, too, will master your complex task.
GEMINI (May 21-June 20): From the day you were born, you have been cultivating a knack for mixing and blending. Along the way, you have accomplished mergers that would have been impossible for a lot of other people. Some of your experiments in amalgamation are legendary. If my astrological assessments are accurate, the year 2019 will bring forth some of your all-time most marvelous combinations and unifications. I expect you are even now setting the stage for those future fusions; you are building the foundations that will make them natural and inevitable. What can you do in the coming weeks to further that preparation?
CANCER (June 21-July 22): An open letter to Cancerians from Rob Brezsny’s mother, Felice: I want you to know that I played a big role in helping my Cancerian son become the empathetic, creative, thoughtful, crazy character he is today. I nurtured his idiosyncrasies. I made him feel secure and well-loved. My care freed him to develop his unusual ideas and life. So as you read Rob’s horoscopes, remember that there’s part of me inside him. And that part of me is nurturing you just as I once nurtured him. I and he are giving you love for the quirky, distinctive person you actually are, not some fantasy version of you. I and he are helping you feel more secure and well-appreciated. Now I encourage you to cash in on all that support. As Rob has told me, it’s time for you Cancerians to reach new heights in your drive to express your unique self.
LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): The ghost orchid is a rare white wildflower that disappeared from the British countryside around 1986. The nation’s botanists declared it officially extinct in 2005. But four years later, a tenacious amateur located a specimen growing in the West Midlands area. The species wasn’t gone forever, after all. I foresee a comparable revival for you in the coming weeks, Leo. An interesting influence or sweet thing that you imagined to be permanently defunct may return to your life. Be alert!
VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): The ancient Greek poet Sappho described “a sweet-apple turning red high on the tip of the topmost branch.” The apple pickers left it there, she suggested, but not because they missed seeing it. It was just too high. “They couldn’t reach it,” wrote Sappho. Let’s use this scenario as a handy metaphor for your current situation, Virgo. I am assigning you the task of doing whatever is necessary to fetch that glorious, seemingly unattainable sweet-apple. It may not be easy. You’ll probably need to summon extra ingenuity to reach it, as well as some as-yet unguessed form of help. (The Sappho translation is by Julia Dubnoff.)
LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22): Is there any prize more precious than knowing your calling? Can any other satisfaction compare with the joy of understanding why you’re here on earth? In my view, it’s the supreme blessing: to have discovered the tasks that can ceaselessly educate and impassion you; to do the work or play that enables you to offer your best gifts; to be intimately engaged with an activity that consistently asks you to overcome your limitations and grow into a more complete version of yourself. For some people, their calling is a job: marine biologist, kindergarten teacher, advocate for the homeless. For others, it’s a hobby, like long-distance-running, bird-watching, or mountain-climbing. St. Therese of Lisieux said, “My calling is love!” Poet Marina Tsvetaeva said her calling was “To listen to my soul.” Do you know yours, Libra? Now is an excellent time to either discover yours or home in further on its precise nature.
SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov. 21): Have you entertained any high-quality fantasies about faraway treasures lately? Have you delivered inquiring communiqués to any promising beauties who may ultimately offer you treats? Have you made long-distance inquiries about speculative possibilities that could be inclined to travel in your direction from their frontier sanctuaries? Would you consider making some subtle change in yourself so that you’re no longer forcing the call of the wild to wait and wait and wait?
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21): If a down-to-earth spiritual teacher advised you to go on a five-day meditation retreat in a sacred sanctuary, would you instead spend five days carousing with meth addicts in a cheap hotel? If a close friend confessed a secret she had concealed from everyone for years, would you unleash a nervous laugh and change the subject? If you read a horoscope that told you now is a favorable time to cultivate massive amounts of reverence, devotion, respect, gratitude, innocence, and awe, would you quickly blank it out of your mind and check your Instagram and Twitter accounts on your phone?
CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19): A typical working couple devotes an average of four minutes per day to focused conversation with each other. And it’s common for a child and parent to engage in meaningful communication for just 20 minutes per week. I bring these sad facts to your attention, Capricorn, because I want to make sure you don’t embody them in the coming weeks. If you hope to attract the best of life’s blessings, you will need to give extra time and energy to the fine art of communing with those you care about.
AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18): Allergies, irritants, stings, hypersensitivities: sometimes you can make these annoyances work in your behalf. For example, my allergy to freshly-cut grass meant that when I was a teenager, I never had to waste my Saturday afternoons mowing the lawn in front of my family’s suburban home. And the weird itching that plagued me whenever I got into the vicinity of my first sister’s fiancé: If I had paid attention to it, I wouldn’t have lent him the $350 that he never repaid. So my advice, my itchy friend, is to be thankful for the twitch and the prickle and the pinch. In the coming days, they may offer you tips and clues that could prove valuable.
PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20): Are you somehow growing younger? Your stride seems bouncier and your voice sounds more buoyant. Your thoughts seem fresher and your eyes brighter. I won’t be surprised if you buy yourself new toys or jump in mud puddles. What’s going on? Here’s my guess: you’re no longer willing to sleepwalk your way through the most boring things about being an adult. You may also be ready to wean yourself from certain responsibilities unless you can render them pleasurable at least some of the time. I hope so. It’s time to bring more fun and games into your life
Homework: Is there an area of your life where your effects are different from your intentions? Testify at Freewillastrology.com.
Even in 2018, global access to clean, safe drinking water continues to be a major problem. According to the United Nations, four out of 10 people—40 percent of everyone on Earth—are impacted by water scarcity. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates 2 billion people are consuming contaminated water, and 844 million lack even basic drinking water services. Roughly one million people die a year from bacteria and digestive disorders directly linked to contaminated drinking water. Additionally, a recent WHO study theorizes that by 2025, half of the world’s population will be living in water-stressed areas thanks to the rapidly increasing effects of climate change.
In other words, humanity is facing a major water crisis. But the local nonprofit organization Gravity Water is tackling the problem in a completely new way, with a system that builds on the rainwater harvesting that is already being done in communities around the world.
“Gravity Water is a theory,” says founder and Executive Director Danny Wright. “It’s not a machine. It’s an approach.”
And it’s already working. In just one year, Gravity Water has already provided 6,000 students and community members in two countries access to clean, safe drinking water.
“Nobody in the world is doing this,” Wright says. “It’s a brand new approach and something that I knew needed to be done globally.”
It all started in 2011, when Wright was working on his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies at UC Santa Barbara. As part of the final project, he was required to do a field study that involved working with developing communities to achieve sustainable solutions to the problems they faced. Wright decided to go to the Central American nation of Belize, where he worked with a Mayan district that had no electricity.
“The only way they could get water was by going to the river with buckets,” he remembers. “And that was contaminated with pesticides and other pollutants.”
After that, the water was filtered by a hand pump, and contained in plastic bottles for the entire community. Wright says every day 30 to 40 bottles had to be filled, each taking 10 or 15 minutes to filter. He knew there had to be a better way. The problem led him to think about the three things needed for clean water: a source, a treatment, and an energy source for the treatment. That night he sketched a filtration system that collected rain and filtered it using gravity, the first prototype of what would later become Gravity Water.
Realizing he needed to understand more about the problems global communities face concerning water, Wright shelved the idea and went on to earn his master’s degree in International Water Management, graduating in 2015.
“[After graduation] I was traveling and feeling lost,” he says. “I wasn’t getting the jobs I wanted and didn’t know where to go.”
Gravity Water founder Danny Wright (top) works on assembling the group’s water collection and storage system in Vietnam. PHOT: MICHAEL DANIEL/SWANDIVE MEDIA
First Response
Then, on April 25 of that year, a 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked the nation of Nepal, killing an estimated 9,000 people. As weeks of massive aftershocks continued, Wright remembered his sketch from Belize and took a leap of faith to help the people of Nepal. He understood that many in rural communities might not trust an outsider, even if he was trying to help. To avoid the “white savior” complex, Wright went to Nepal and spent almost half a year getting to know people in the Kathmandu Valley District and built trusting relationships with multiple communities. He quickly became friends with local engineers and showed them his sketch of Gravity Water.
“I had no idea if it would work,” he says. “It was a personal investment of $2,000 on something that had never been tested.”
He met Samundra Giri, who now serves as the nonprofit’s Nepali representative. Giri tells GT that even before the earthquake, access to clean water was hard for many Nepalese. In his city of Kathmandu, people can buy drinking water, but those who live in remote areas often have to walk three or four hours to fetch water for their families.
Three years later, Giri describes a country still in the process of rebuilding. He says that many people are still struggling to rebuild their homes—living in temporary shelters built immediately after the quake—while water sources dry up or are contaminated.
“Due to lack of awareness, lack of proper infrastructure, and lack of a proper system, most of the ground water sources in urban areas are polluted,” he says.
By gathering community members and using locally sourced materials—two key points in the Gravity Water mission—Wright and his team were able to build a system that produced more than 1,000 liters of safe drinking water. Giri says the people of Nepal were highly intrigued by the new system—and pleased with its quick results.
“As a whole, we got a very positive response from the community,” he says. “The community and schools where we have installed the system all love Danny, and they really appreciate the hard work.”
In October of 2016, Gravity Water received its 501(c)(3) nonprofit status and continued building water filtration systems in Nepal; Giri says the construction of their next project—located at the Koseli school—will begin soon. Last year, the group expanded its work into Vietnam, after connecting with Danish company Not Just Bamboo (NJB) through Instagram.
Originally founded as Not Just a Bottle in 2015, friends Frantz Pedersen and Martin Jensen created the company to fulfill their search for a sustainable drinking bottle. After spending time in Vietnam and learning about the sustainability of bamboo, they decided to make their first bottles out of it, eventually changing the name of their company to Not Just Bamboo. Because the bamboo plant is durable, antibacterial, releases 35 percent more oxygen than trees, and grows at a rate of 98 feet every three to five years, it is an environmentally friendly source. The company now boasts a variety of products from water bottles to toothbrushes, bowls, cups, soap dishes and straws. One of their main goals is to maintain a “holistic” approach to their products.
“That means the working conditions, processes and materials [used in] making the products are carried out to protect Mother Earth and with zero waste,” Pedersen tells GT—explaining they harvest bamboo from families who have grown it for generations and prioritize the well-being of their workforce.
“We have visited all the families supplying us with bamboo,” he writes. “That gives us clarity and trust in the materials used.”
After seeing pictures of Gravity Water’s work in Nepal, NJB contacted the nonprofit and within six months of weekly Skype meetings, both groups were on the ground in Vietnam. Because their products are made by Vietnamese carpenters, NJB asked Gravity Water to build systems in two schools and a factory where NJB products are crafted, providing 1,250 men, women and children with water.
“For every bottle we sell, we give one U.S. dollar to our water initiatives in Vietnam which we build together with GW,” explains Pedersen. “We plan to build 10 to 15 projects this year.”
Wright says many in the Asian country already harvest rainwater, making it easier for the nonprofit to build their filtration system and an obvious place to continue their work.
“We will be expanding our efforts in Vietnam in September and October to provide 10,000 people access to drinking water,” he says.
Wright spent six months consulting locals in the Kathmandu Valley District of Nepal after the 2015 earthquake, before going on to set up Gravity Water systems in several communities there. PHOTO: MICHAEL DANIEL/SWANDIVE MEDIA
How Gravity Works
To understand Gravity Water’s system, Wright suggests thinking of it “like a giant Brita filter.” First, the company researches the areas in need and picks a local school in which to set up a new system. They choose schools because many already have adequate storage tanks—cutting down on cost—and community members have a better chance at access, avoiding political corruption or systemic caste prejudices.
Rainfall was an obvious source not only because of accessibility, but because the WHO already considers it an improved drinking source as it has not been exposed to contamination from ground level pollutants. If the building doesn’t have adequate gutters, Gravity Water builds them to divert rainfall to their elevated storage tanks that can hold 1,000 to 4,000 gallons. The size of the tank is chosen after analyzing the area’s average daily precipitation percentage going back 10 years. This way, communities can continue to store water even during periods of drought.
After the water is diverted from the gutters, gravity moves it through the tanks, which each contain a triple filtration system of sediment, activated carbon, and a 0.1 micron hollow membrane. This guarantees the removal of 99.9 percent of all harmful bacteria and protozoa. Below the filters is a final storage tank providing people with all-around access to clean water.
The genius of it lies in how it recreates the natural water cycle of rainfall and sediment filtration in its completely sustainable system. Instead of spending $10,000 to $20,000 on drilling wells, paying contractors and building massive storage facilities, each Gravity Water system can be built for approximately $2,000, and only takes three to five days to complete. Unlike other organizations that build pumps and have to be called back to fix machinery when it breaks, Gravity Water uses locally sourced materials and teaches members of the community how to build, operate and maintain each system. This brings maintenance costs down to roughly $20 a year for every 500 people, and guarantees an easy, quick fix if something does break. Wright claims that the most expensive cost for communities is usually the filtration replacement, which comes to $3 every three months.
“Every community has different requirements,” Wright explains. “Every system is used in relationship to the environment and co-created with the community members to understand what is best for them.”
Funding for the various projects comes from a number of sources. As a nonprofit, Gravity Water applies for grants, but they also began a membership club, where anyone can join for $8 a month with 100 percent of the donated money funding new systems. They are also about to launch their Youth Initiative program which allows public schools around the U.S. to hold their own fundraisers for Gravity Water filtration systems to be installed at equivalent schools around the world.
“This gives students a real-life connection to actually help other people their age,” he says. “It also gives them a cultural connection to other people around the world.”
In less than two years, the Gravity Water model has sparked the interest of everyone from diplomats to scientists. Last year, they were one of 15 Solution Organizations—out of hundreds of submissions from all over the world—chosen by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
“We were able to sit at a table with representatives of the U.N. with the 14 other winners for solutions to the global water crises,” he says. “That was pretty amazing.”
Gravity Water was also one of 15 solutions (out of 3,000 submissions) selected to participate in National Geographic’s Chasing Genius Challenge. The general public voted on which organization would win the $25,000 prize and although Gravity Water didn’t win it, Wright recognizes the nomination as a humbling honor. He says the nod gave Gravity Water a huge social media push and more awareness throughout the globe.
Locally, Gravity Water won the 2018 NEXTie award for Nonprofit of the Year. Matthew Swinnerton—founder of Event Santa Cruz, which puts on the yearly award show—says the nonprofit category is the most competitive, considering the number of organizations currently operating in Santa Cruz. Gravity Water was chosen not only for their incredible work but because the award committee felt Gravity Water wasn’t getting enough attention in its own backyard.
“If I was going to do a nonprofit, it would be centered around water,” Swinnerton says. “It’s amazing and sad how there are so many people in the world that don’t have normal access to drinking water.”
After the Storm
As a general rule, Gravity Water only goes into developing areas without electricity. However, after Hurricane Maria devastated the island of Puerto Rico at the end of last year, killing an estimated 4,600 people and leaving survivors without electricity or clean water, Wright—who visited the island in May—knew he had to do something.
“Communities are taking trash cans to catch rainfall just to wash their dishes and flush their toilets,” he says.
With an estimated 11,000 people still without power, this has been the longest blackout in American history. Even those with access to a working power grid still face the problem of finding clean water. Wright says that’s because the hurricane caused major flooding to wash more contaminants into the water supply than the sanitation facilities could handle. After moving to the island on June 11, Wright says he plans to spend the next several weeks building a 4,000 gallon system for the Atalay Barrio, which, as of the 2010 census, has a population of 3,108 residents.
“When you’re doing work you’re passionate about, you’re always thinking of it,” he says. Much of Gravity Water’s success, he says, is due to support from volunteers and communities.
But he notes that it’s also been extremely hard to form an international nonprofit, since everything they do is 100-percent volunteer. Wright has made no money off of the projects, maintaining a day job as a bartender to support himself. But it’s a problem he doesn’t see as a failure.
“Success isn’t a goal you reach for,” he says. “It’s a verb. Either you’re making success or you’re not, and it’s in alignment with your values in life. If you’re an artist, even if you have a day job, if you’re creating art every day, you’re a success.”
For more information on Gravity Water, or to become a donating member, visit gravitywater.org.
As of last Wednesday, it looked like Santa Cruz would be the latest in a series of California cities testing voter appetite for new taxes on soda and other drinks with added sweeteners.
Citing public health concerns like obesity and diabetes, the City Council voted last week to put a 1 cent-per-ounce excise tax for sugary drinks on the November ballot. A city report at the June 26 meeting estimated that the tax would generate up to $1 million per year in unrestricted general revenue, which a new oversight committee would ensure was spent to “promote community health and wellness,” along with unspecified “general revenue” purposes.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” Vice Mayor Martine Watkins, who championed the measure, said Wednesday, June 27, the day after the vote. “Santa Cruz is a unique city that’s very informed.”
The momentum didn’t last long.
On Thursday evening, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 1838, a hastily assembled bill banning all California cities from enacting new taxes on sugary beverages, often referred to as soda taxes, for 12 years. The bill, approved by large majorities in both the state Assembly and state Senate, doesn’t even include the words “soda,” “sugar” or “beverage.” Rather, the bill prohibits local taxes on “groceries.”
At work, Brown said in a brief signing statement, are beverage industry groups that had previously shelled out millions in unsuccessful campaigns to try to defeat similar taxes that ended up passing in San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Now, Brown wrote, the industry has been circulating its own initiative to raise voter approval requirements on all grocery-related taxes from a simple majority to a two-third vote.
“This would be an abomination,” Brown wrote, referring to deficits facing many cities grappling with how to fund city services in an increasingly fragmented economy. Santa Cruzvoters just passed a $3 million quarter-centsales tax in June, but deficits are expected to reappear quickly,due to pension woes.
The Los Angeles Timesreported that lawmakers were especially shaken by the threat of the separate measure to raise requirements for all taxes because the beverage industry has already quietly spent $7 million to circulate petitions and conduct polling on the issue.
At the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce, which did not publicly take a yes or no position on the proposed November tax measure, CEO Casey Beyer says pro-tax lawmakers were simply out-maneuvered.
“They say politics and policy are messy,” says Beyer, a former political staffer in Sacramento. “It’s like a person that plays cards with somebody who’s got a swift hand.”
City leaders certainly felt caught off guard.
“While we are considering a ballot measure, the industry does an end run around and cuts us off at the knees,” says Santa Cruz City Attorney Anthony Condotti. “We were made aware of it over the weekend, when the legislation was first made public.”
Barring any additional changes, Condotti says Santa Cruz will now likely have to reverse course. The measure approved last week by the council three days after AB 1838 was introduced did include a back-up provision directing staff to return to council in the event of such a change in state policy.
“What I expect is that we will be going back to the City Council before Aug. 10,” Condotti says, though the council is currently on a summer recess.
STICKY SITUATION
The new statewide tax ban will not change the rules in cities that have already enacted similar measures. In addition to Santa Cruz, several other cities were also considering their own beverage taxes this November, including Sacramento and Richmond.
California state Senator Bill Monning (D-Carmel), told GT last week he is optimistic there will be “creative solutions” before the new local tax ban is set to expire in 2031. He has also shepherded SB 1192, a bill to make milk or water the default drink on statewide children’s menus, through several legislative hurdles.
Since then, the California Dental Association and the California Medical Association have jointly announced a 2020 ballot initiative for a statewide soda tax.
The stakes of the political showdown from a public health perspective, Monning says, are clear.
“They may have won this battle, but we need to win the war,” Monning says, “or else we’re looking at half the population being diabetic or pre-diabetic.”
For Watkins, the most important outcome of the proposed tax measure would have been the potential for significant new public health funding. A City Council report ahead of the tax vote last week tied sugary drinks to elevated risk of Type 2 Diabetes, cardiovascular disease and obesity, particularly for children from low-income, Latino or African-American communities.
Monning is also troubled by the more systemic issues in play, like the fact that it took less than a week for a powerful industry to completely kill profit-threatening legislation statewide. It’s not as though Big Soda is the first industry to try to mold regulations to its liking, he says, citing examples like Amazon’s 2011 efforts to evade online state sales tax.
“I think about Hiram Johnson, the progressive governor,” Monning says. “I don’t think, when he introduced the ballot initiative process, that he ever would have imagined an industry being able to spend $7 million to gather signatures for a measure on the ballot and use it to get the kind of bill that was passed in Sacramento. It’s a reprehensible side effect.”
Watkins compared the situation to health providers being held “hostage” by industry.
Still, other powerful political interests, including several major labor unions such as the SEIU, backed the deal.
Looking ahead, Beyer says the Chamber of Commerce will wait to see if the council returns to soda tax alternatives or other potential revenue measures in the coming months. “This city and the county have a financial issue,” he says. “They’re running into potential deficits.”
The syncopated imagery for which Kessler’s body of poetic work is known has never felt more effortless than in Garage Elegies, a 125-page collection of musings on the deeper vagaries of life. Kessler probes the revelations of volatile events storming the poet’s vantage point, a garage with an ocean view. Swaying to an existential samba, some of Kessler’s words and lines are blatantly confessional.
From “Tattooed Ladies”:
I inscribe myself as obviously as I can
in order to beat the odds of oblivion.
Most explore enigmatic twists in which an opening question circles back on itself. From “What It Is”:
You have made some thing
of what wasn’t and you wonder
what it is.
“I can’t seem to stop writing poetry,” Kessler confesses with a chuckle in his new studio in an old building overlooking downtown Santa Cruz. “It’s a mixed blessing. The world isn’t crying out for poems.”
Writing poetry has never been a choice for the longtime Santa Cruz resident. Kessler, who left his native Los Angeles for graduate studies at UCSC, abandoned academia to pursue his muses. “I probably would have been an English professor,” he says. “But I love literature too much.” The muses have never left.
“What sparks a poem is invariably a phrase that starts in my head. And I want to see where it will go. It’s a process of discovery, of being open. Writing in public places is great because it gets you out of your routine,” he says. “Travel helps, too, because you notice life in a different way.”
Kessler always writes with pen on paper. “I try to write the first draft without interruption, I just keep going. Then I go back and figure out where the line breaks belong, or choose a different word. I try to leave as much as possible to the unconscious.”
Writing steadily—a pen and notebook are always with him—he reached a critical mass and realized that a collection was building. “It was five years of my life in which some friends died, big losses, and in which domestic crises occurred,” he says. “I didn’t set out to write ‘the ideal poetry book’ filled with MFA-industry poems.”
The poet decided to take a chance placing these works in an anti-poetic setting, “a very American kind of setting—a garage. I’m exploring the human condition from this lowly vantage point.” Kessler, who has styled himself an outlaw from the get-go, enjoys his “anti” persona. “Like the English romantics, and later the Beats—it was all part of the counterculture, not mainstream. And that gives me freedom.”
Anti-establishment attitude defined his personal choices as well as his poetic point of view—a “blues orientation” perfumed by gallows humor, jazz lyricism, and late-career prophecy. Homer and Walt Whitman are influences in the sense that “the way you learn how to write is by imitating others,” he explains, “until your own voice emerges.” Chuck Berry and Bob Dylan are also on his all-star team of influences. He admires Denise Levertov (“her refined lyricisms had a tremendous influence on me”) and Charles Bukowski (“he’s one of the most courageous writers I’ve ever read”).
Work in translation of renowned Spanish poets has provided Kessler with “the greatest workshop I could ever have,” he says. “I got to stretch my own chops by burrowing inside their heads. When you’re living inside their work, you realize how individual they are—it’s the individuals who are out of step who are so great.”
Known for writing elegant, closely argued essays, Kessler describes the form as “a public communication”—whereas “poetry reveals the poet.” And revelation is the subtext of the gracefully edgy poems in Garage Elegies. “These poems are comprehensible. I ask the reader to meet me halfway, to sit with the text long enough to get it,” he says.
Stephen Kessler’s poetry speaks the American vernacular spun through a West Coast sensibility. They are the work of an L.A. bohemian who has spent the past four decades in and around Santa Cruz, savoring the ocean view through a metaphorical garage door. And they swing to the tune of smart-ass perceptions and midnight irony.
Stephen Kessler reads from Garage Elegies at 7:30 p.m. on July 10 for ‘Poetry Santa Cruz: Doreen Stock and Stephen Kessler’ at Bookshop Santa Cruz.
Despite the fact that they hail from New Zealand, Katchafire is no stranger to Santa Cruz; the band has played here more than 15 times in their two decades of existence.
Vocalist Logan Bell says there are “great vibes” here. After a recent tour of the southern U.S., the band is appreciating its Santa Cruz stop more than ever.
“Miami was too hot for me. Arizona was too hot for me. Texas was way too hot for me,” explains Bell. “California feels more like home.”
Formed by Bell and his drummer brother, Jordan, in the city of Hamilton, Katchafire originally started as a Bob Marley cover band. They quickly expanded to include a repertoire of other roots reggae artists, boasting an impressive 80-song catalog into which they would dig deep at every show.
“We used to play four-hour sets back in the day,” he remembers. “So that was our training ground.”
As they continued to play covers of their favorite music, the band began writing original tunes. By 2000, they were playing all originals, which Bell says was a “natural transition.” That year they also dropped their debut album, the critic and fan hit Revival.
Over the years, Katchafire has featured a number of lineups, with the Bell brothers as the two consistent members. Family is an integral element of the band’s music and message; their father, Grenville Bell, also played in the band for a dozen years before returning to his original role as manager—or “the big bossman,” as the singer jokingly calls him. It was an experience Logan loved, but admits he took for granted before realizing how precious that time was.
“It was a pretty special thing I got to do for many years,” he says. “I got to go around the world with my Pop and make people feel good through music for a living.”
Today, Katchafire operates as a quartet featuring Leon Davey on percussion, Wiremu Barriball on lead guitar, and bassist Tere Ngarua (also a founding member, who took a hiatus for a number of years).
While it’s firmly secure in the roots rock reggae sound they’ve perfected, their newly released fifth album, Legacy, is spiced with flavors of jazz, soul and hip-hop. The uplifting lyrics glide over a river of the chilled-out reggae dance beats guided by the flow of talk boxes, horns and backing vocals. There’s even a saxophone solo on the third track, ”I Can Feel it a Lot.” It’s as smooth as it is dirty, reminiscent of your favorite ’80s tracks.
“We’re being a lot more unapologetic about bringing other styles,” he says. “We’re fans of all styles of music, why not show it?”
To capture those styles, a number of extra musicians were brought in to record, which was complicated by the fact that they recorded Legacy while in the middle of a six-month tour.
“We just had to get it done,” Bell explains. “So a lot of it was done on the road, in different studios around the world whenever we had a day off.”
It’s the band’s first original album since On the Road Again, released in 2010. They have released singles in the subsequent years, and dropped a compilation in 2014 called Best So Far, but Bell thinks it was still too long of a stretch between albums. In fact, they’re already talking about their next project; Bell has a few songs written, and they’re looking at different studios throughout the country while completing this tour.
“We’ve got a good momentum for being creative,” he says. “So we want to keep it going.”
Katchafire performs at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 7, at the Catalyst, 1011 Pacific Ave., Santa Cruz. $30adv/$35door. 429-4135.
