Climate RWC – April 2022 by info-climaterwc

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P u b l i c a t i o n Profile: Steve Wagstaffe Spotlight: Live Music Disappearing Ovation: The Sequoia Awards

ISSUE EIGHTY • APRIL • 2022

Living in the Blind Spot Redwood City's Homeless

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Check out the daily news and read Climate Magazine at: www.climaterwc.com Some of the local businesses where you can pick up a copy: Fox Theatre Fox Forum Stuff on the Square Powerhouse Gym La Tartine restaurant Ralph's Vacuum Nick the Greek Peet's Coffee

Tea Spoon History Museum Sakura restaurant San Mateo Credit Union Phil's Coffee Patty Shack CZI Building Harry’s Hofbrau

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County Courthouse 24 Hr Fitness Noah's Bagels Franklin St. Café Bianchini’s Market Key Market Woodside Deli Hassett Hardware

Breakers Cafe Popeyes Canyon Inn Sanchez Taqueria San Carlos Airport Hiller Museum Devil's Canyon

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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR•

Five years ago, Climate ran a cover story about homelessness, because it was something people were seeing more and more of. This month we revisit the subject—and what’s changed since then? I don’t think anyone would dispute that the problem has gotten noticeably worse, in California’s cities of course but even here in Redwood City. Our April Feature examines why that’s the case, what has been done about it—and will be done, including expanded programs and services aimed at helping those experiencing homelessness to experience something most of us take for granted—having a roof over our heads and a clean and safe environment. Ours is a compassionate community, and I think anybody who gets to know our homeless neighbors empathizes with their plight and wants to help. Lots of money has been spent on well-intentioned programs, though, and the public is justifiably frustrated by seeing more suffering individuals out on the street or camped on cloverleafs. Homelessness is an incredibly complex and difficult challenge which deserves a community-wide response, and I commend to you a report by the Independent Institute referenced in the story. It goes into the myriad factors that have gotten us to where we are, including decades of not producing enough housing, especially for those on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder. Our Feature begins on page 8. San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is the subject of our April Profile by Jill Singleton. Steve came up through the ranks of the department, where he prosecuted lots of murder cases, and rose to chief deputy before he succeeded his predecessor, Jim Fox, in 2011. This is a pretty safe county to live and work in, and Steve says that’s because criminals know they’ll be held accountable. At the same time, he fully supports giving non-violent offenders alternatives to being sent to jail. As he told Jill, crime and law enforcement are in a constant dynamic. "In the 70s and early 80s crime was out of control ... We got tough laws, and crime came down. But too many people were locked up. Now the pendulum has swung back. ... We want to swing back to the middle ground, balancing (incarceration) with services and treatment." The story is on page 20. Scott Dailey, one of our regular contributors, wrote this month’s Spotlight, which is about the shriveling opportunities for musicians to earn a living, whether in live performances or even doing song demos and commercials. Scott, who plays jazz piano and clarinet, was the right guy for the assignment and talked to people connected to the music scene, from instrumentalists to venue operators about these diminishing prospects. As someone who loved hearing live performances at the Fox Theatre, Angelicas and Savanna Jazz, the musical drought of these last two Covid years has definitely diminished my life. So writer Vlae Kershner’s story about the “new” Guild Theatre in Menlo Park offers a hopeful counterpoint. We’re also pleased to be able to present the winners of this year’s Sequoia Awards in this issue. Writer Aimee Lewis Strain highlights two particularly outstanding young people in her story on page 18. Enjoy!

Janet McGovern, Editor April 2022 ·

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TA B L E O F C O N T E N T S •

FEATU RE Redwood City's Homeless

PROFILE Steve Wagstaffe

SPOTLIG HT Musicians on Life Support

OVATION The Sequoia Awards

AROUND TOWN ��16 HISTORY......................30

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Our Amazing Students Are Only Half the Story. •

SPOTLIGHT•

Bright. Committed. Selfless. Passionate. Our Sequoia Awards scholarship winners are all of these things and more.

But they’re only half of our story. The generous support of local sponsors makes our college scholarship program possible. Thanks to them, this year we’ll distribute $210,000 in scholarships to 21 high school seniors, including our two Outstanding Student Award winners. Here are the extraordinary organizations and individuals who come together to allow us honor Redwood City’s most inspiring students.

Platinum Sponsors

Welch-Everett Family Trust Gold Sponsors

Silver Sponsors

Alice W. Coghlan R.N. Scholarship (Liza and Frank Bizzarro, Diane and Dr. Steven Howard) BKF Engineers • Crittenden Family • Dignity Health Sequoia Hospital Greystar • Juva Life • Lyngso Garden Materials Merrill Lynch: A Bank of America Company • Oracle USA, Inc. Richard and Judith Imperiale (In Memory of Jill Imperiale) San Mateo Credit Union • Sares Regis Group Stanford Health Care • The Sobrato Organization Windy Hill Property Ventures

Dostart Development • DPR Construction Franceschini Family Heritage Bank of Commerce • Kaiser Permanente Lori & Dennis McBride (In Memory of Billee Werby) Recology San Mateo County Redwood City Firefighters Association Redwood City Police Officers’ Association Stanford University

Outstanding Student

Daniel Torres Aguilar Everest Public High School

This ad was provided as a courtesy of

Outstanding Student

sequoiaawards.org

Kenzy Mashraki Woodside High School

Neighbors helping - since 1938 April neighbors 2022 · CLIMATE ·5

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C L I M AT E •

CLIMATE M A G A Z I N E Publisher

S.F. Bay Media Group

Dinner & a Movie & More!

Editor

In the heart of the Theatre District, Redwood City.

Janet McGovern janet@climaterwc.com Creative Director

Jim Kirkland jim@climaterwc.com Contributing Writers

Janet McGovern Scott Dailey Jill Singleton Aimee Lewis Strain Vlae Kershner Jim Clifford Photography

Jim Kirkland Editorial Board

Janet McGovern Jim Kirkland Adam Alberti Advisory Board

Dee Eva Jason Galisatus Connie Guerrero Matt Larsen Dennis Logie Clem Molony Barb Valley CLIMATE magazine is a monthly publication by S.F. Bay Media Group, a California Corporation. Entire contents ©2022 by S.F. Bay Media Group. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use in any manner without permission is strictly prohibited. CLIMATE is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork. CLIMATE offices are located at 570 El Camino Real, Ste. 150 #331 Redwood City, CA 94063. Printed in the U.S.A.

6 · CLIMATE · April 2022

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C L I M AT E •

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Street Life Ministries provides free hot meals in Redwood City three nights a week.

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Still Home on the Streets With growing numbers of the visibly homeless comes a pressing need for help and solutions

By Janet McGovern At 6’5” and a “current weight” of 370, Kevin Valley understands the paradox of being impossible to miss but not to be seen. “The problem with homeless people,” says the security and facilities manager for Street Life Ministries, for years homeless himself, “is that when people walk by, they don’t listen to them. So after a while as a homeless person, you think you’re invisible. And it’s horrific. I couldn’t let that happen, but I felt like I was disappearing too, and it drove me insane. “And so I would yell,” Valley continues. “I would be loud and obnoxious. People would know where I was, you know. I would walk into stores and moms would grab their kids … But it was because I wanted people to know I’m here. I exist, (that) there’s a problem and nobody seems to care.” April 2022 ·

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• Yet after two pandemic years, to people who are “housed,” those “experiencing homelessness” have become resoundingly visible. A perfect storm which included Covid-related reductions in jail populations, lost jobs, fewer clean-ups of encampments and other factors have combined to make a chronic and challenging social problem harder to relegate to out-of-sight, out-of-mind territory. Even for those fully owning the role that the “grace of God” played in situating them comfortably under a roof instead of a freeway. Public concern is high. The latest Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll saw Gov. Gavin Newsom’s ratings significantly lower than in September 2020. Unhappiness about how he is handling several festering problems, such as homelessness and crime, contributed to the slide, with 66 percent of voters rating Newsom as doing a “poor” or “very poor” job of handling homelessness. In Redwood City, which always ranks at or near the top of an annual countywide census of “unsheltered” homeless, housing and homelessness were among the top concerns in the city’s latest round of community surveys, at the end of last year. So much so that Mayor Giselle Hale made the issue—and the city’s response—the subject of a March 14 State of the City presentation. The Road to Redwood City As the San Mateo County seat and home to three jails, plus various government offices and social services, Redwood City has always been a magnet of sorts for those a bit on the edge of society. People released from jail, for example, stay on for appointments with public agencies, or seek emergency assistance. “We are a compassionate community,” says the city’s Homeless Services Manager Teri Chin, which is why there are so many nonprofits in addition to government services that are available. What’s more,

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In Redwood City, which always ranks at or near the top of an annual countywide census of “unsheltered” homeless, housing and homelessness were among the top concerns in the city’s latest round of community surveys, at the end of last year.

many of those experiencing homelessness in Redwood City were residents before they moved onto the streets or into their cars, she adds. Police officer Erik Ottersen handles social media for the Redwood City department and consequently takes the calls from upset citizens. He rarely gets stumped with a new question: Whatever happened to vagrancy laws? Why don’t neighboring cities like San Carlos have encampments? Why were the Redwood City campsites around overpasses allowed to multiply in the first place? One reason police can’t just roust people camped on public property, Ottersen responds, stems from a 2018 court ruling over two ordinances in Boise, Idaho, which made it a crime to camp on streets, sidewalks, parks or other public places. A panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals held that such laws were unconstitutional

and the Supreme Court in 2019 declined to review the case. Ottersen cites Boise vs. Martin when he tells callers why people can’t be cited just for being homeless or sleeping in the car. Most of the encampments in Redwood City which have lit up social media sites are along state property under the control of the California Department of Transportation: U.S. 101, Woodside Road and El Camino Real. “Three state highways divide our city,” Ottersen says, which is not true in San Carlos, to name one city. Encampments tend to pop up along shoulders and onramps. Redwood City staff organized a survey a year ago and found 102 individuals living in 25 encampments. Plotted on a map, Ottersen notes, those camps “line state highways.”

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“What we see time and time again is that when anybody does an eviction, whether it’s Caltrans, private property or the City of Redwood City, whosever’s property it is, they simply move to a new location.” Caltrans Clean-ups Pre-Covid, Caltrans did regular clean-ups. But adhering to guidance from health authorities at the state and federal level, to protect its employees and the public, Caltrans proceeded with clean-ups if there was “an immediate safety concern or threat to critical infrastructure,” according to Janis Mara, a Caltrans public information officer. The agency, she says, works in collaboration with local partners and social service agencies to connect people with essential services. “Caltrans is now allowing its districts to address moderate and lower-priority encampments,” upon the availability of such assistance, including various types of shelter. There have been several recent encampment clean-ups in the last few months, including one Feb. 13 at Hazel Avenue and Linden Street just south of the Woodside Road/El Camino Real interchange. The city issued a news release calling on Caltrans to "come to the table" with city and legislative leaders to devel-

op a plan to protect the community from health and safety hazards. Mara says Caltrans is receiving $2.7 million through Gov. Newsom’s California Comeback Plan for safety risk mitigation and clean-up at encampments, as well services for those living in the camps. Three camps in the same general vicinity have been cleared and are now fenced. Inhabitants were given 72 hours to pack up their tarps, tents, mattresses and other belongings and move. But the camps aren’t just on Caltrans land. The city hasn’t cleared an encampment along Redwood Creek in Sequoia Station, where unsheltered residents have settled in with their tents and belongings. Dubbed “Little River Park” in 2001 after a beautification project, it has both a plaque and sign listing standard Parks Department regulations, including being closed from sunset to sunrise and bans on smoking, drugs and alcohol. But Chris Beth, the city’s parks, recreation and community services director, says the site is actually

transit-district-owned land and is not a city park. The whole area, he adds, is slated for redevelopment. Of the police department’s lack of action, Ottersen says, “We need something more than just camping on city property. We need some other health and safety risk violation of the Penal Code that we can utilize … There’s not a Penal Code (violation) that I’m aware of for living next to a creek that we could utilize to enforce it.” No matter which agency clears out an encampment, though, a cycle repeats. “What we see time and time again is that when anybody does an eviction, whether it’s Caltrans, private property or the City of Redwood City,” he says, “whosever’s property it is, they simply move to a new location.” Before the pandemic, Chin adds, “when people were living in encampments, it was in places that people didn’t see.” People may have felt that they didn’t need to be hidden because nothing was going to happen to them. April 2022

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“A guy carrying a bag of dope isn’t going to jail anymore,” Shearin says. “… Homelessness is no longer considered illegal. And since nobody’s getting arrested for drugs, ‘Why would I stop?’”

In 2017, Street Life Ministries pastor David Shearin and Redwood City police officer Bill Cagno spoke with a homeless man living near a bicycle path at the end of Whipple Avenue.

How Many Are There? So are there more people experiencing homelessness or are they just more visible? San Mateo County conducted a biennial census Feb. 24 but the tally won’t be released until later this year. (Some question how real the numbers are, since the count happens on one day—and only of people willing to be seen.) Number one in the 2019 head count, Redwood City’s total (221) was almost double the number two city’s (Pacifica, at 116). This year’s is the first count since 2019, again, because of the pandemic. During that time, Chin says, unsheltered people have been coming into the Fair Oaks Community Center, where she works, needing security deposits for permanent housing,

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and the county has received additional federal housing vouchers. Similarly, a temporary program the city launched two years ago to provide safe RV parking succeeded in helping 19 households move into permanent housing. About 60 percent have also been working with the city’s contractor, LifeMoves, to secure a subsidy and are working on finding a place to live, says Chin. But there may be new arrivals in the city. Lead pastor David Shearin is the executive director of Street Life Ministries, which provides a hot meal program weeknights in Redwood City, Menlo Park and Palo Alto. With his wife, Shawn— both are formerly homeless—they and their team do outreach to help get people

off the streets, and hopefully into productive lives. “I’ve been doing this for 14 years,” David Shearin says. “… I used to know every homeless person by first and last name. … Every single day I’m seeing multiple new faces I’ve never seen before.” He believes a big factor in the explosion of homelessness generally has been the lack of consequences for drug use and low-level crime, reducing penalties from felonies to misdemeanors. The pandemic’s effect on the criminal justice system compounded the situation, which meant fewer people were being arrested or given diversion alternatives in drug court. “A guy carrying a bag of dope isn’t going to jail anymore,” Shearin says. “… Homelessness is no longer considered illegal. And since nobody’s getting arrested for drugs, ‘Why would I stop?’” Partly because of the pandemic, the average daily population at the county’s correctional facilities dropped from 1,106 in 2019 to 705 in 2020 and 744 in 2021. Assistant Sheriff Alma Zamora says police chiefs early on were asked to be cognizant of the need to socially distance inmates and to cite out minor offenses if they could. Some medically vulnerable inmates and those with minor offenses who’d almost finished their sentences were also released. Now, Zamora says, arrest and booking practices are back to normal. Accountability Counts Shearin was a former addict and says if it weren’t for the Salvation Army holding his feet to the fire when he was in a recovery program, he’d never have achieved sobriety. “I don’t believe in sticking somebody with a drug addiction in jail for the rest of their life, but I do believe we should have a penalty. There should be a cost.” That said, much as people don’t like seeing encampments, simply clearing them out is only “kicking the can down the road,” he says. Displaced residents find

• their way back to encampments like “Mud City,” on a narrow pathway just below the Woodside Road expressway near the Burger King. Or next to a sound wall behind Howard Johnson’s. On a recent afternoon, the Shearins called on two men who’ve established homes under the Bayshore Freeway, with an overhead whump, whump of semis as white noise. On the other hand, an encampment called The Treehouse located at 101 and Marsh Road is tidy and almost homey, with some plants and rock landscaping and a solar panel in a tree for electricity. In both 2020 and 2021, the fire department responded to about 1,000 calls for service for homeless people, according to Battalion Chief Dan Abrams. Some calls typically are for fires but many are medical. “(They’re) sick. Tired. Tired. Tired of being cold and sick,” he says. People who ask are transported to the emergency room. “We have a few that will do three, four a day, the same person in and out.” For Kevin Valley, 53, the four-year path back from being homeless was hard. In those days, he “ran” an encampment called The Corridor, a narrow space along Oddstad Road behind a freeway sound wall. With his imposing size and attitude, “I kept all the trouble out. If there was any trouble, there’d be trouble with me. And nobody wants that. I’m good at trouble, ma’am.” His first step up from there was renting a backyard tool shed for $200 a month. Through Street Life, Valley gradually found his footing and today not only is a salaried employee but lives in a two-story house in the East Bay with a pool. Reintegrating into society was the hardest part for him, especially correctly reading social cues. “It was not easy at first because I thought no matter what I said, nobody would pay attention.” He’s an ardent defender of the population the ministry serves and is committed to long-term solutions. “A lot of people

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Kevin Valley manages security for Street Life Ministries.

“A lot of people write them off because they’ve got mental issues or drug issues,” Valley says, sitting next to the tent where hungry denizens of the street line up for a meal. “I used to have drug issues and if they wrote me off, screw ‘em because look at what I’m doing now.” write them off because they’ve got mental issues or drug issues,” Valley says, sitting next to the tent where hungry denizens of the street line up for a meal. “I used to have drug issues and if they wrote me off, screw ‘em because look at what I’m doing now.” Looking for Answers And what about those elusive “solutions?” Starting in 2019, Redwood City began funding the Downtown Streets Team which serves the dual purpose of cleaning city streets and offering homeless people job skills. They now also do trash collection at some of the encampments. The city committed $2.7 million over two years for the streets team, RV programs and staffing. Operated by the nonprofit LifeMoves,

that temporary program is slated to wind down in the fall, Chin says. In the next two years, the city will spend another $2.5 million for those items plus expanded outreach. Another $1.8 million is coming from a state grant. Patricia Baker, a mental health clinician, recently came on board under a pilot program to respond to certain crisis situations. Chin emphasizes that the city works in partnership with San Mateo County, which is building a 240-bed “navigation center” at 1469 Maple St. It will provide temporary shelter and connect people with physical, mental health, substance abuse and other services for those who want to participate voluntarily, according to Michelle Durand, the county’s chief communications officer. Onsite construction will April 2022

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Mary Theroux interviews former firefighter Couper Orona, now a street medic in San Francisco.

To make the information widely accessible, a 38-minute documentary was produced called “Beyond Homeless: Finding Hope,” which debuted in February. begin by mid-year. It’s on an aggressive schedule and the county looks to open in the spring or even sooner, she says. The county has also acquired four hotels as a follow-up to Newsom’s Project Roomkey initiative during the pandemic, which are being repurposed as shelters or permanent housing. The program is now called Project Homekey. Two of the hotels (in San Mateo and on the Coast) are being used for temporary shelter and, combined, have 125 rooms. Since the shelters opened, 300 people have had a place to stay. The other two hotels are in Redwood City, Shores Landing in Redwood Shores, and the Comfort Inn in Redwood City. Both are or will provide permanent housing and have a combined 146 units. Redwood City is contributing $1.3 million to the Comfort Inn renovations. Street Life Ministries, meanwhile, is trying by May to raise the remaining $250,000 to match a $1 million grant from a local family to launch a faith-based addic-

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tion recovery program called Homeless to Healthy. Residents will get job skills training and intensive counseling. Miserable as campsites may be, Shearin acknowledges, it’s hard to take a risk to live clean and sober: “Now I’m vulnerable. Now I’ve got to talk about my issues.” “Beyond Homeless” Film Mary L.G. Theroux serves on the national and San Francisco advisory boards of the Salvation Army, and is senior vice president of the Independent Institute in Oakland. It does research and analysis on a nonpartisan basis to inform the public and help guide decisionmakers on a wide range of issues. Last November the institute released a public policy paper she co-authored called “Beyond Homeless: Good Intentions, Bad Outcomes, Transformative Solutions.” To make the information widely accessible, a 38-minute documentary was produced called “Beyond Homeless: Find-

ing Hope,” which debuted in February. Of the total investment of about $500,000, Theroux says, “It’s a lot of money for us. We’re not a huge organization.” The institute has been reaching out to San Francisco neighborhood associations, but Theroux will network with anyone in the Bay Area interested in collaborative solutions. There’s a dual concern about homelessness: “We are not helping people by letting them live in the street,” she says. “And then meanwhile we’re undermining the quality of life for our children and our merchants and peace of mind and so on by perpetuating a large and growing population living in Third World conditions in the middle of us.” Among the factors the report covers are the high cost of housing in California and regulatory barriers to affordability. “A lot of people say this is a housing problem,” Theroux says. “It’s not strictly speaking a housing problem, but it really has to be solved in order to really solve home-

• lessness.” The report recommends a reexamination of conservatorship laws. It also contends that the “low-barrier, harm-reduction” approach called Housing First has become a one-size-fits-all solution and should be “more modestly scaled back.” The film highlights a project in San Antonio, Texas, called Haven for Hope, which brought 70 service providers onto a 22-acre campus. “They create literally a unique support system for every single individual because everybody is right there,” Theroux says. Haven for Hope’s genesis was Mayor Phil Hardberger’s challenge to the community during his 2006 State of the City address to take on the growing homelessness problem. The next day, William Greehey, founding CEO and chairman of Valero Energy, called the mayor—who he hadn’t supported—to ask if he was really serious helping people make transformational change. Hardberger said “yes” and Greehey became the chairman of the committee; he raised over $101 million, much of it from the private sector. Hardberger says the idea was to “try to see how many of these people we can save.” Since Haven for Hope opened in 2010, the number of unsheltered homeless in downtown San Antonio has been reduced by nearly 80 percent, and the cost of emergency services is lower as well.

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to deal with them in a positive way and not by taking a drink or using drugs.” For information, go to beyondhomeless.com. Homeless for about five months, Anthony Malone started coming to Street Life because he was hungry, bringing his American Staffordshire terrier Luna with him. Both of his parents, Malone says, had histories of drug and alcohol abuse and he’s the only one left in his family. “Maybe I didn’t have the best cards in my hand,” he concedes. Previously a roofer, he’s 38 and wants to get a job and a place to live. Because he can sleep in his car, Malone reckons others are worse off and tries not to ask for help. But it’s been offered anyway. “It’s actually surprised me how many people are out there willing to help people that need a little help,” he says,” a kick in the butt or whatever. It’s been eye-opening.” C

Anthony Malone and Luna

“It’s actually surprised me how many people are out there willing to help people that need a little help, a kick in the butt or whatever. It’s been eye-opening.”

New Plans in San Francisco Theroux says the Salvation Army, which has substantial properties in San Francisco, is also looking at ways to redirect its programs to provide supportive skills, workforce development on a long-term basis to lower the relapse rate. “At the root of a lot of homelessness are some pretty terrible stories and especially terrible childhoods,” she notes, and it’s important for people coming out of that world to be in community, “so that as they hit the little bumps that we all hit as part of our day-to-day life they can learn April 2022

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AROUND TOWN•

San Carlos Kiwanis Celebrates 75 Years The San Carlos Kiwanas Club celebrated its 75th anniversary on March 11. Since 1947, the club has donated labor and financial support to numerous causes in the San Carlos area, including the Kiwanis Building at Burton Park, a baseball field at Highlands Park, a Youth Center in Burton Park, college scholarships and sponsorship of children's sports teams. "Our motto is saving children of the world," says Lucy Solberg, event organizer. "We are constantly holding events to support children. Just last week we sponsored a program for autistic children in Burton Park." The chapter recently collected some 890 pounds of clothes to ship to Tonga in response to the volcano eruption there. With just 38 members, the club has made an outsized impact on the community.

Left: Lucy Solberg and Club President Sandy Abrahamson display the original charter certificate.

Right: Walter Shjeflo, Judy Litteer, Sue Greenberg and Gregory Rubens, past Lt. Governors.

Right: Past presidents gathered for the event

Right: Jimmy Valencia's Cool Jazz entertained with former presidents Scott Dailey on the keyboards and Jimmy Valencia on the drums.

Port Opens New Fishing Pier The Port of Redwood City March 3 hosted a community ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly completed public fishing pier. The new pier replaces an old wooden one built in the 1960s and includes sleek wire cables for optimal waterfront viewing, signage highlighting local fish species, ADA improvements and peek-a-boo decking that allows people to see beneath their feet. Port Executive Director Kristine Zortman said the fishing pier is another step at reenergizing the waterfront by turning this once obscure port into a destination Along with the newly constructed fishing pier, the port in March began hosting Rock the Dock, a live music series at the waterfront. Each concert kicks off at 3 p.m. Food and drinks are available from local vendors.

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Cutting the ceremonial ribbon were (left to right) Redwood City Vice Mayor Diana Reddy, Port Commissioners Ralph Garcia and Lorianna Kastrop and Joan Dentler, representing State Senator Josh Becker.

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AROUND TOWN•

Redwood City Downtown Business Group Gathers Again Left: Downtown Business Group President David Shearin leads the meeting.

The Redwood City Downtown Business Group held its first in-person meeting in two years at the newly remodeled hall of the Odd Fellows Bayview Lodge 109 on Main Street. Future meetings will be held on the first Tuesday of every month. The nonprofit group supports local businesses with consultation, but more importantly by drawing crowds to the downtown area through organized events such as Hometown Holidays, Mardi Gras, Friday Night concerts, car shows, art kiosks and festivals. For more information on how to join contact Regina Van Brunt, Executive Director at regina@redwoodcitydowntown.com.

Chamber Honors Leading Citizens The Redwood City-San Mateo County Chamber of Commerce rolled out the red carpet Feb. 25 with its 124th annual awards and recognition luncheon honoring leading citizens. San Mateo County dignitaries and local business people gathered to honor Jackie Speier for her 14 years as California's 14th congressional district representative. Speier was presented with the chamber's Cornerstone Award. Kristine Zortman, the Port of Redwood City's executive director, was honored as Woman of the Year. Also recognized were the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Consumer Plumbing and Violet King. Person of the Year honors went to Rosanne Foust. Rosanne Foust Person of the Year

Kristine Zortman Woman of the Year

Jackie Speier Cornerstone Award

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Sequoia Awards Winners Named Co-winners share “Outstanding Student” honor

By Aimee Lewis Strain Daniel Torres Aguilar vividly remembers his first experience volunteering as a child. He was 10 years old when he and some of his fellow church parishioners spent Thanksgiving Day searching for local homeless people to provide them with baskets full of water, food and sanitary items. “I remember that it felt amazing to give back,” Torres Aguilar said. Now a senior at Everest Public High School, Torres Aguilar said the values instilled through volunteering have become a part of who he is as a young man. As an explorer with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Office, Torres Aguilar attends twice monthly meetings and spends time learning search and rescue techniques to aid the department in missing persons cases. He also teaches search and rescue classes at Huddart Park. Torres Aguilar is one of two high school seniors this year to be named co-winners of the Outstanding Student Award through the Sequoia Awards, a scholarship given to Redwood City students who demonstrate dedicated volunteerism and community engagement. Woodside High School senior Kenzy Mashraki is the other co-winner of the 2022 scholarship. For the third year in a row, the awards ceremony could not be held in-person, due to the Covid pandemic. Mashraki has been a volunteer since she was 13 when she was assigned to be an earthquake victim through the Woodside Fire Department’s Community Emergency Response Team, or CERT. “The lighthearted atmosphere showed me how fun and fulfilling volunteering can be,” she said of the experience.

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Daniel Torres Aguilar

Kenzy Mashraki

Lessons from Volunteering Mashraki has since blended her volunteerism with several types of groups, which has taught her more about mental health and the importance of balance in one’s personal life. She has arranged a mental health webinar, worked at a vaccination clinic and conducts weekly coastal beach cleanups with the Octagon Club, Woodside’s on-campus community service club.

“Most importantly, I have learned the importance of our community’s health and how one person can make a difference,” Mashraki said. For Mashraki, who was born in Egypt, the experience she has had volunteering has also helped her in her personal life. She recalled when she first joined the youth advisory board for the Sequoia Teen Wellness Center. What she thought would be a neutral addition to her college resume turned out to be an eye-opening experience that would transform her outlook on life. She remembers it was during the height of the pandemic and she hadn’t seen her friends in nearly a year. “It was the second semester of my junior year—a full year away from my school, friends and life,” she remembered. Mashraki hadn’t fully understood why she was feeling so down and soon realized she had crawled into a dark hole of isolation. It was the volunteer work through a mental health initiative that gave Mashraki an opportunity to interview mental health professionals and survivors, which helped her to understand what she was going through and that she was not alone. “I slowly started breaking down the stigma surrounding mental health and accepted my feelings instead of pushing them down further,” she said. The experience Mashraki has had has aided her in life—something she attributes as a benefit of volunteering. “That’s the beautiful thing about volunteering, you never know how much you can impact someone’s life or they can impact yours,” she said. “I learned that there is power in unity, when people come together even if it’s just a handful and work

• toward something that truly matters to them, you can change someone’s life.” Decades Aiding Students Now in its 31st year, the Sequoia Awards brings together local business donors to raise money to offset the rising costs of college. Since 1990, the Sequoia Awards has grown from a single $500 scholarship in its first year to more than $2.2 million in scholarships today. Twenty-one students received scholarships this year ranging from $7,500 to the top award of $30,000, the amount which both Torres Aguilar and Mashraki received. The Sequoia Awards also honors an outstanding individual, who this year was Gloria Kennett, who started volunteering in 1951 with the Peninsula Volunteers. She will turn 100 this year. Costco/Price Club Redwood City Warehouse was named the outstanding business. Costco has been donating food to St. Anthony’s Padua Dining Room since 1983 and provides food three times a week, as well as turkeys at Christmas and Thanksgiving. The board of directors of the foundation volunteer their time to manage awards. With no paid staff members, 100 percent of sponsorships and donations go directly to the scholarships and awards celebrations. Torres Aguilar, who has spent much of his time volunteering through the sheriff’s department, said volunteering is not only personally fulfilling but it makes a difference in the quality of life for all residents.

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2022 Sequoia Award Recipients Chloe Litton Kaylene Lin Xitlali Curincita Kanzi Mashraki Erika Rohlfes Ricardo Hernandez Seona Sherman Maya Kornyeyeva Hilary Rodriguez-Marquez Ryan Yang Kaitlyn Delfs Claire Manuel Shira Futornick Andrew Ghazouli Daniel Torres Aguilar Giselle Ibarra Rianna Grant Melissa Paz-Flores Joanna Sierra Contreras Jessalyn Yepez Mira Bhatt

Carlmont High School Carlmont High School Woodside High School Woodside High School Woodside High School Woodside High School Carlmont High School Carlmont High School Woodside High School Carlmont High School Woodside High School Woodside High School Summit Prep High School Carlmont High School Everest Public High School Sequoia High School Sequoia High School Saint Francis High School Sequoia High School Woodside High School Carlmont High School

He said his parents grew up in a small community where everybody helped each other. “My parents always told me that helping people in need was a kind act. Volunteering isn't some task that is difficult, but instead it is a small courtesy that makes such a huge impact. All it takes to make a change is the correct mindset and an open heart. You’d be surprised at how far one action can go and how many people you can inspire,” Torres said. The scholarship over four years will help Torres Aguilar pursue his dream of earning a college degree in mechanical engineering. A Mentor to Future Winners “Being a Sequoia Award recipient means a tremendous amount to me. I devoted my efforts and energy to helping communities in need and giving back to caring environments. I am honored to become the mentor to many young kids I wished I had had when I was younger. It is a luxury of mine to have the opportunity to give back to my community and generally be able to share my wisdom to help others grow and develop.” Mashraki hopes to attend a school in the UC system and study electrical engineering. “I would not have gotten here without the help of my friends and family. I wouldn't be here without my parents sacrificing their lives and moving to a new country for me to get a good education, or without the Octagon Club, Optimists Organization, or Sequoia Teen Wellness Center's Youth Advisory Board and their members and organizers,” she said. C April 2022

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PROFILE •

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Balancing Justice and Mercy District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe holds to example set by his predecessors

By Jill Singleton

San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe is ever mindful that he walks in the footsteps of history. Son of local civil attorney Gerard “Gerry” Wagstaffe, Steve followed his father into the legal profession after graduation from the University of Notre Dame and Hastings Law School, then took his first and last job as a lawyer in the San Mateo County District Attorney’s office in 1977.

n 2011, 34 years and 34 murder prosecutions later, Steve Wagstaffe was sworn in as the county’s top prosecutor at the old courthouse in Redwood City—the same spot where his father’s law partner and local legend Joe Bullock retired as San Mateo County District Attorney, 100 years earlier. When Wagstaffe begins his fourth (and what he says will be his final) unopposed term in January 2023, he will mark 70 years of leadership by only three top prosecutors. It’s a record unparalleled in the state. There have been only three dis-

trict attorneys in San Mateo County since 1953: Keith Sorenson, who served seven terms; followed by his chief deputy, James Fox in 1983, who also served seven terms; who was in turn succeeded by his chief deputy, Steve Wagstaffe, in 2011. This record of leadership could only be sustained, in Wagstaffe’s view, by a reverence for justice. “We try to treat everybody fairly,” he says. “Prince or pauper, cop or criminal, we treat them all the same. It’s a good standard for this community. That’s why we’ve only had two elections in the past 69 years.

“Keith and Jim were the best prosecutors I met out of thousands,” Wagstaffe continues. “They set a standard for high integrity, high ethics. They wanted a county where people were accountable for their conduct. I am just trying to follow what they taught me.” Viewed from the wrong side of the law, San Mateo County has a notable distinction, according to Wagstaffe. “Number one,” he says, “criminals know that in this county they’ll be held accountable. In San Francisco or Alameda, they’ve April 2022

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got so much murder, rape, and robbery, that they honestly don’t have the resources to pay attention to the quality-of-life crimes. Here we do.” One thing most law enforcement professionals seem to agree on is that the criminal justice system follows public sentiment, much like a pendulum. Crime, especially homicides and violent crime, has soared throughout most of the country in the past two years. George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis policeman sparked months of anti-police protests and riots in 2020. Occupy zones sprang up in Portland, Ore., Seattle, Wash.; and elsewhere. The subsequent calls to defund police and DAs declining to prosecute led to elevated public concerns about a state of lawlessness not seen since the early 1980s. An Eye in a Storm San Mateo County may be the outlier. It is California’s 15th largest by population and second wealthiest, yet remains the second safest per capita, despite troubling incidents of crime and disorder that have rocked other localities around the Bay Area and urban areas nationwide. Anti-police brutality protests which took place in San Mateo County were peaceful. And, the recent, organized smash-and-grab gangs haven’t looted high-end stores and malls, unlike in neighboring counties. “Criminals may not be the smartest bears, but they know they’ll be held accountable in San Mateo County. We set a high standard,” Wagstaffe says, by way of explanation. Sheriff Carlos Bolanos agrees. “We’ve actually had criminals tell us this: ‘We don’t want to come to San Mateo County to commit crimes, because law enforcement will catch us, and the DA’s office will prosecute us.’”

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PROFILE •

District Attorneys Keith Sorenson, Steve Wagstaffe and Jim Fox

“Number one, criminals know that in this county they’ll be held accountable. In San Francisco or Alameda, they’ve got so much murder, rape, and robbery, that they honestly don’t have the resources to pay attention to the quality-of-life crimes. Here we do.” Though police and prosecutorial overreach may make the headlines, less noticed is the long-term trend in law enforcement in favor of rehabilitation and diversion programs for non-violent crimes over incarceration. “There will be accountability for conduct,” Wagstaffe says. “The other side is compassion. You have to have compassion. Only a very small percentage of the criminals we deal with are evil. Most we can help, so no more people will become their victims.” Wagstaffe served eight years on the board of the California District Attorneys Association and as president from 2016 to 2017. In that capacity, he has worked with

other top prosecutors, both state and federal, in supporting a number of criminal justice reforms. But not all. Wagstaffe was a vocal opponent of Proposition 47, a ballot initiative which passed in 2014 that, among other things, reduced certain felonies to misdemeanors. Prop. 47 passed despite warnings by every top law enforcement official in California that it would lead to higher crime, a warning that many say has been proven true. (Others contend that a cause-and-effect relationship can’t be documented.) Alternatives to Jail Creating alternatives to incarceration may seem incongruous for a prosecutor, but it is consonant with Wagstaffe’s upbringing and Catholic education, as well as his childhood impressions of how the law is practiced. “Watching my father, what he was doing for people … I could see how the people really respected him, and my original plan was to go into practice with my father,” Wagstaffe recalls. “When I was 14, I used to ride my bike to Redwood City to watch trials, and I remember a special murder trial. The man was convicted of killing his girlfriend and burying her body up on Skyline. That to me was fascinating.” The prosecutor in that case was a fellow named Bob Bishop who later became the Chief Deputy DA— and Wagstaffe’s first boss. Wagstaffe prosecuted many types of crime through his career as a trial lawyer, but homicides continued to fascinate him, and became his specialty. Winning election to the top job took Wagstaffe out of the courtroom and he devotes his time to administration of a multi-faceted, high-profile department. Since his election in 2010, he has only prosecuted one murder case.

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That was the retrial of Mohammed Haroon Ali, convicted in the 1999 murder of Tracey Biletnikoff, the 20-year-old daughter of Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff. “I tried the original case and convicted the guy,” Wagstaffe says. Though the conviction was sustained through nine years of appeals, eventually a federal panel ordered a retrial. Wagstaffe continues, “I always get to be very close to the victim’s family, and what mattered to me was being there for the Biletnikoff family.” Today, the murderer is serving 55 years to life in prison. Wagstaffe keeps a picture of Tracey Biletnikoff in his office, as he does for all the victims of murder cases he prosecuted. “Everything for me is victim-focused. I’ve gotten to get to know their families and worked to give those people a feeling of justice.” Asked which he values most—mercy or justice—Wagstaffe doesn’t hesitate: “There is a place for mercy. Justice is in every case.” One of the most consequential prosecutions that has come out of his office has been a recent one, a massive case of fraud. It began with a jailhouse telephone conversation, overheard by one of his investigators, which unraveled a conspiracy to swindle state government out of $20 billion in pandemic-related unemployment claims. Wagstaffe quickly notified the state’s Economic Development Department, other DAs, jailers and state and federal prison authorities, launching a major prosecutorial effort led by former U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott. “Steve’s office was really on the front edge of this thing, way back 15 months ago,” Scott says. “He had one of the first real prosecutions around the EDD fraud.” Prosecutions of 21 San Mateo County residents (including 11 inmates) and dozens of others across the state, the nation and the world are continuing, although according

PROFILE •

“When I was 14, I used to ride my bike to Redwood City to watch trials, and I remember a special murder trial. The man was convicted of killing his girlfriend and burying her body up on Skyline. That to me was fascinating.” to Scott “only pennies on the dollar” will be recovered. As DA, Wagstaffe oversees a budget of $47 million and an office involved in approximately 20,000 cases a year, everything from traffic infractions to felonies. His staff of 129 includes attorneys, investigators, program administrators, support staff and victim advocates. Local prosecutors may also bring actions under consumer and environmental laws, and the DA’s Victim Center provides crisis intervention and emergency assistance, including helping victims apply for compensation for crime-related expenses through the state’s Victim Compensation & Government Claims Board. A Road Not Taken Though he came from a family of lawyers (two brothers also followed their father into law), there was a time when Steve Wagstaffe might have chosen a different career path. After graduating from a sixday-a-week college prep school run by Benedictine refugees fleeing Soviet expansion into Hungary, Wagstaffe headed off to Notre Dame. Inspired by President

John F. Kennedy’s famous injunction, “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country,” and with an extra day on his hands; he began volunteering at a residential hospital for kids with intellectual and developmental disabilities. His volunteer work evolved into a fulltime job, and Wagstaffe seriously considered remaining a special education teacher. “I just loved it, loved the kids,” he says. That job is also where he met his future wife, Susan. Married 48 years, the Wagstaffes have two sons (one a prosecutor in Alameda County and the other a high school dean) and four granddaughters. Wagstaffe still volunteers to help kids and the community as a whole, serving on boards for the YMCA of Silicon Valley, the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Activities League and the Service League of San Mateo County. In 2014, he served as president of the 100 Club, which provides financial assistance to families of fallen police officers. He is also involved with several criminal justice task forces. C

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SPOTLIGHT•

A Livelihood on Life Support? Synthetic sound, aging audiences—and then Covid—cloud the outlook for musicians

Charley Lochtefeld, owner of Club Fox

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SPOTLIGHT•

By Scott Dailey

Richard Healy had one hell of a run. For more than five decades, the 69-year-old jazz, rock and blues guitarist performed from Portland, Ore., to Perugia, Italy. Always a backup musician, he accompanied stars such as Melissa Manchester, Neil Sedaka and John Lee Hooker, among others. Throughout much of his career, he worked between five and seven nights a week, often squeezing in a wedding on a Saturday afternoon. He averaged 60 studio sessions a year, playing on local song demos and occasionally traveling to Los Angeles for record company dates with industry giants such as Capitol, Warner, A&M and Motown.

n San Francisco alone, Healy frequently played at legendary venues including Keystone Korner, the Great American Music Hall, the Orphanage and the Fairmont Hotel. He even provided music for the topless dancers at Carol Doda’s Condor Club, though few people may have noticed. Now, it’s almost all gone. His current band, a seven-member jazz-blues-funk group called the Delta Wires, plays every other Saturday night at The Saloon in San Francisco, and once in a while at another nightspot in Hayward. He earns his income mainly by giving guitar lessons at Gelb Music in Redwood City. Still, he owns his home in San Mateo, and considers himself fortunate for a line of work that paid him for what loved to do. Nevertheless, he says, “Making a living as a musician – that's over with.” Others agree. “We’ve seen a steady decline in employment for instrumentalists,” says another jazz guitarist, Pascal Bokar, who was forced to close his Sa-

services. Platforms such as YouTube, Spotify and Apple Music let their audiences customize playlists from myriad genres, ranging from classical to heavy metal to soft jazz. Listeners can keep their favorite music coming all day and all night – for free, if they’re willing to hear commercials.

Richard Healy

vanna Jazz Club in San Carlos in the early months of Covid. Even with the scourge of the pandemic, which drove many music venues out of business, Bokar believes the main culprit is technology “that has made the trios and quartets who used to play at the hotels obsolete,” and has also led to “the complete unraveling of the recording industry as a provider of employment.” For Bokar, the current Musicians’ Enemy Number One is the growing collection of internet-based entertainment-streaming

Streaming to a Trickle With that, say goodbye to CDs and their potential profits for musicians, versus the tiny royalties many artists receive from the streaming services. Whereas it’s the listening public that consumes music from Spotify and similar providers, businesses such as restaurants and hotels are expected to use licensed versions of the streaming services when they craft a musical ambience for their clientele. Different styles played through computer-controlled systems can be programmed to evoke contrasting moods in the bar, the dining room and even the restrooms. And it’s cheap; a Spotify affiliate licenses 51 million songs to businesses April 2022

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• in the U.S. and Canada, starting at $35 a month. Goodbye, lounge bands. For the past four decades, increasingly low-cost electronic music gear has whittled at jobs in the recording business, as well. Today’s synthesizers and software can produce thousands of sounds, from trumpets to violins, oboes to kettledrums. Thus, goodbye to gigs for song demos and most commercials – once staples for musicians nationwide. So long, as well, to considerable record-company and film work. After creating a song on a cellphone, anyone with an internet connection can upload it to a streaming service at no cost. On one hand, that creates access; musicians from beginners to virtuosos can offer their music to the world without a recording contract or the expense of a self-produced CD. On the other hand, streaming royalties for independent musicians are potentially a pittance compared with the revenues that a physical recording might return. Geoff Roach, former CEO of San Jose Jazz and leader of an octet called Octobop, says his periodic statement from Spotify often logs listeners from 50 countries or more. In addition, posting a single avoids the cost of producing a whole album. The flip side: Roach reports that each play brings approximately a tenth of a cent. “Unless you’re someone like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber, it’s rare that you can break even,” he says. More Practice Time Like many musicians during Covid, Roach and his band have gone on a practicing binge, and the group is currently working on its eighth album. Even so, Roach misses playing live. “The feedback you get from an audience, you can’t get anywhere else,” he says. Beyond that, Roach continues, is simply the matchless exhilaration of an unforgettable performance.

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SPOTLIGHT•

“One of the greatest nights of my life was introducing (the late jazz pianist) Dave Brubeck at the Fox Theatre in Redwood City,” he says. That concert, on Sept. 15, 2006, brought roars from a sold-out crowd, which included two 14-year-olds – sons of local jazz musicians – screaming and high-fiving while jumping on their seats. “What does that besides church, and maybe when the Warriors win?” asks Charley Lochtefeld, owner of Club Fox, around the corner from the larger theater. Lochtefeld, 60, saw scores of musicians while growing up in the Bay Area. He recalls counting 32 significant venues in the 1970s – from legendary halls such as Fill-

“Unless you’re someone like Taylor Swift or Justin Bieber, it’s rare that you can break even.” more West and Civic Auditorium in San Francisco to the Circle Star Theater in San Carlos and smaller nightclubs throughout the region. As a teen, Lochtefeld says, he routinely stayed out listening to music until the early hours. That was fine with his father, Chuck. The younger Lochtefeld says his dad, now 90, roamed the San Francisco jazz scene beginning in the 1950s. North Beach clubs such as the Black Hawk and the Hungry i routinely presented greats such as Brubeck, Barbra Streisand, saxophonists Paul Desmond and Stan Getz, pianists Oscar Peterson and Erroll Garner and vibraphonist Cal Tjader. Later came the great rock bands, from the Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead to Journey and Green Day. A Listener Shortfall But since the late 1990s, Lochtefeld believes, the Bay Area’s live-music scene has fallen off dramatically. “When you look at what we had, and where we are now, and compare it to a

place like Austin (Texas), you can’t call it a musical mecca anymore,” he says. “What we have is not a talent problem,” Lochtefeld continues. “It’s an audience problem. We have a deficit of educated audiences that are curious and adventurous. There are plenty of audiences that will go see the Rolling Stones. But what we don’t have is an audience that’s craving the actual music of their community.” San Carlos-based Greg Posten, an independent audio and video engineer who helps produce local events, is even more acidic. He describes the Peninsula as currently “the wasteland of live music.” During the past five years, closures and curtailed music calendars have informed Posten’s view. Along with Savanna Jazz, Backyard Coffee – which Posten describes as “a cool, indie-oriented place” – shut down, first in Redwood City and then again, after being sold, in San Carlos. Chantilly, an elegant continental restaurant near Redwood City’s border with Atherton, featured quiet dinner music played on a grand piano; the establishment closed in 2017 after 43 years in business. More recently, in early March, Max’s in Burlingame was still presenting acts on Monday nights. But citing slow business, manager Martín Acosta was unsure how much longer music would accompany the menu. Denny Berthiaume, one of the Bay Area’s elite jazz pianists, played at Chantilly and other local spots for years. He says two decades ago, he was working “a good three to five nights a week,” not only on the Peninsula but also in San Francisco, where he lives. These days, he plays at a retirement home in Millbrae, and says many other soloists are doing the same. Similar to Berthiaume, San Carlos drummer Michael Bee played often at Max’s and Savanna Jazz. His group, the Four Corners Jazz Ensemble, still performs at Faith and Spirits, a bar on Laurel Street in San Carlos, although now just twice a

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SPOTLIGHT•

month instead of every week. Bee also reports that restaurant and club owners are sometimes paying only $50 per musician – 1970s rates. Not All Gloomy Posten sees “a glimmer of light” emanating from Club Fox and the recently renovated Fox Theatre, along with Menlo Park’s Guild Theatre, a once-dilapidated movie house that underwent a reported $35-million upgrade and reopened in February as a concert space. (See page 28 for the story.) Posten is also encouraged by the return of local festivals such as Portola Valley’s summer concert series, San Carlos Hometown Days and Rock the Dock at the Port of Redwood City. That said, musicians and club owners alike observe that patrons have been slow to return even as Covid-19 restrictions have receded. “There are nowhere near the numbers we had, pre-Covid,” says Bee. “A lot of people are still leery about going out.” At Club Fox, Lochtefeld says his audiences, which before the pandemic filled all or most of the cabaret’s 220 seats on weekends, have reached no more than 50 percent of capacity since the venue reopened at the end of January. He expects full recovery will take two years. With few club dates available, Berthiaume says many local musicians are benefiting from a resurgence of “jazz parties” in private homes. Like the Parisian salons that helped support composers such as Chopin, Debussy and Ravel, the events are enabling players to sharpen their chops, get some exposure and earn a bit of money. Jazz vocalist Teresa Bleux, who performed frequently at Savanna Jazz, has hosted a musicians’ party almost monthly since mid-2020 at her home overlooking the San Mateo Lagoon. Guests drift from the living room to the deck, enjoying the water view as the jazz flows and kayakers paddle by. Asked about her reasons, Bleux

Russ Gold

“It made me double down on my promise of being a professional and a high-level player. I take every gig much more seriously now.” replies, “What are you going to do? There are almost no jazz clubs anymore.” Boomer Bedtimes That has to do not just with Covid and music technology, but also an inescapable fact: The baby boomers who have long formed the principal market for live music are hitting their 60s and 70s. They don’t venture out as much as they once did. Bleux and Posten agree that younger fans who like to go clubbing are more into electronic dance music than jazz or even live rock. Bokar, who holds a doctorate in education and teaches at both the University of San Francisco and City College of San Francisco, isn’t pleased. A self-described traditionalist, he complains, “In 50 years of popular music, we have gone from Duke Ellington to Snoop Dogg. That is not a gain – even though Snoop Dogg is legitimate.”

Inevitably, though, tastes change. New venues emerge. And as local places get going again, musicians are gradually – and gratefully – waking from an enforced hibernation. Dana Bauer of South San Francisco plays five woodwind instruments professionally, mainly in pit orchestras around the Bay Area. After a 16-month layoff, she performed again last summer for a production of “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, followed by a two-week run of “My Fair Lady” in November at the Orpheum Theatre in San Francisco. “Every note was sheer heaven,” Bauer says. Her husband, drummer Russ Gold, adds that the long hiatus sparked a new appreciation for what he calls the privilege of being a musician. “It made me double down on my promise of being a professional and a high-level player,” he says. “I take every gig much more seriously now.” San Carlos percussionist Chris Anthony was luckier than most musicians during the pandemic. A graduate of the Oberlin Conservatory and a music teacher for 22 years, he saw his number of students rise as kids got bored and even their parents tried an instrument. So, finally, the unavoidable question arises. Whether for performers, teachers or fans, can live music survive – even thrive – on the Peninsula? Lochtefeld, who calls himself both optimistic and stubborn, says he would have quit by now if he didn’t think so. Posten adds, “I’m crossing my fingers.” He might want to point them into the wind. Posten’s son, a gifted guitar player in his sophomore year at the renowned Berklee College of Music in Boston, Mass., has decided against concentrating on performance. Instead, 19-year-old Reese Posten is majoring in the business of music. After all, the kid has to eat. C

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SPOTLIGHT•

Menlo Park Gets Its Own Nightspot By Vlae Kershner It’s gotten harder for Menlo Park residents to complain there’s nothing to do after dark. The Guild Theatre at 949 El Camino Real has been reopened as a place for live entertainment. The single-screen movie theater opened in 1926, became famous for midnight showings of “Rocky Picture Horror Show,” and transitioned into an art house. But business declined with the dominance of the multiplex and it finally closed amid widespread regrets in September 2019. The nonprofit Peninsula Arts Guild stepped in to buy the property and won all necessary approvals from the city in a whirlwind 4½ months, said Arts Guild President Drew Dunlevie, a Menlo Park resident. “We aren’t developers, just residents who wanted the project. We told the City Council, ‘If you want it, take it.’ To their credit, they took it.” Construction was completed within 2½ years of the closure despite the pandemic and supply chain disruptions. The Venue Debuts About 150 supporters attended the reopening night event in late February. Appropriately, the first performer was a Menlo Park resident, singer-songwriter Reid Genauer, formerly of Assembly of Dust. He called it “a palatial and wonderful new venue.” The main performer was Wobbly World, a seven-piece Bay Area international music band led by “Segovia on acid” electronic flamenco guitarist Freddy Clarke, who took the state-of-the-art Meyer Sound system up to high decibels. Dunlevie thanked the crowd. “Silicon Valley gets a lot of s— with the TV show but there is so much philanthropy here.” More than 30 donors, mostly couples, contributed more than the $35 million needed for the renovation.

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The outlines of the old movie house are still visible, but with three levels instead of one. Interior designer Ken Fulk retained the classic look with touches like a chandelier in the shape of trumpets. The main level includes two dance floors as well as seating, the control panel, and a disability seating area. The mezzanine has seating and an open area. Both levels have full bars. Décor elements include burgundy plush seats, old-style lamps, and brass railings. Still to arrive was a massive burgundy main-stage curtain and side wall curtains, somewhere in the supply chain. Capacity ranges from around 200 for all-seated shows to about 500 for standing room only. The newly dug-out basement houses an elaborate green room for performers with a big-screen monitor, lounge seating, and a washer/dryer. Local Entertainment Dunlevie said all types of music would be booked. “We’ll try anything.” The idea is to provide Peninsula residents with a convenient alternative to San Francisco venues like the Fillmore. “We love those venues, we’re just tired of having to go for everything.” In March, the first show open to the public featured Grammy-winning jazz pianist Robert Glasper. It drew more than 350

people from as far away as Los Angeles, Oakland and San Francisco, Dunlevie said. The highest ticket prices during that first month were for Three Dog Night, booked for two weekend nights, appropriate for the “One Is the Loneliest Number” vintage rock band. While the Arts Guild puts on only live events, the space also will be usable for media presentations once projectors arrive. For example, it could be rented out to film festivals and pay-per-view sports events. The Guild has hired an experienced general manager in Tom Bailey, a Stanford graduate who has worked at the Fillmore and other local venues and was most recently GM at the Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, NY. The goal is to operate at cash-flow neutral or better based on ticket and bar sales. Still, “If we need to raise a few bucks, we’ll be able to do it,” Dunlevie said. The theater has never had any dedicated parking, but surface parking is available in downtown plazas within two blocks. Dunlevie expects many customers to stroll over from downtown restaurants, and others to walk from the nearby residential neighborhoods, or take Caltrain or rideshares. For the schedule and ticket information, go to guildtheatre.com. C

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H I S T O•R YC LbI M y A J iTmE • Clifford•

Sequoia Football Legend Joe Marvin Remembered The recent passing of Sequoia High football legend Joe Marvin recalled a time when prep football games drew thousands of fans, including those who unashamedly rooted for the Cherokees, a mascot replaced decades later by the more politically sensitive Raven. Marvin was 93 when he died Feb. 23 at his home in Aptos. Between 1958 and 1963 his Sequoia teams won 33 straight games in what came to be called “the streak,” which was ended by a Carlmont High School victory. In all, Sequoia won 51 of 58 games during Marvin’s tenure at the Redwood City high school. The 33 consecutive wins amassed four South Peninsula Athletic League championships from 1958 to 1961, a Peninsula record. In 1960, Sequoia beat Palo Alto 19-7 before 18,254 spectators at Stanford Stadium to become the top-ranked team in Northern California. Marvin was named Northern California Coach of the Year in 1961. Large crowds for the “Little Big Game” between Paly and Sequoia weren’t all that unusual. The 1968 encounter reportedly drew 30,000. The rivalry between the two schools went back to 1927 and ended in 1975 when Palo Alto switched leagues. Football’s Stars Aligned Marvin, who was a tailback at UCLA, may have benefited from what can be described as “a perfect football storm.” He was “the grateful custodian of a unique, five-year Mother Lode of athletic talent whose simultaneous emergence at Sequoia remains unexplained to this day, and likely will never be seen again,” veteran journalist James Gallagher wrote in 1992 when Marvin was inducted into the San Mateo County Sports Hall of Fame.

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vidual, not just an extraordinary coach.” He helped “a lot of boys become men,” Svihus said. “He was a role model to me. My parents were divorced, and I didn’t see much of my father.”

In 1960, Sequoia beat Palo Alto 19-7 before 18,254 spectators at Stanford Stadium to become the top-ranked team in Northern California. Marvin was named Northern California Coach of the Year in 1961. Marvin’s players included guard Bob Svihus, who would go on to USC, the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets; and center Rich Koeper, destined to be an All-American at Oregon State before playing pro ball for Green Bay and Atlanta. And, of course, there was the sensational Gary Beban, a Heisman Trophy winner at UCLA who later played pro ball for Washington. The two linemen were present at the beginning of “the streak,” while Beban saw its end. Svihus, now 74 and living in Salinas, said Marvin was “a true gentleman” who was “an outstanding indi-

Single-Wing Days In a 2011 interview with The Journal of Local History, Gallagher, who passed away in 2014, noted that Marvin used the old single-wing offense that dates back to the “leatherhead” days of football. “Some opposing coaches didn’t know quite what to make of it,” he said. Briefly, the single-wing featured an unbalanced line with two linemen on one side of the center and four on the other. Also, the formation has a long snap from center with no handoffs needed. Gallagher was near poetic in his description of the flight of Marvin’s single-wing when he penned this in the 1992 article: “For an instant, as they veered in unison to the point of attack, three to five blockers would achieve a ballet-like symmetry in advance of the prancing tailback before exploding into the midst of protesting defenders.” Marvin learned the single-wing attack as a tailback under UCLA coach Red Sanders from 1949 to 51. Marvin and his wife, Jean, raised three children in Redwood City before he moved to the college level, where he coached the backfield at Washington State and later at Cal. After moving to Aptos, Marvin coached at Cabrillo College where his record as head coach was 75-22-5. Cabrillo won four Coast Conference championships under his leadership from 1974 to1983 – creating another legacy. C

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