Voting Matters - The MJ’s Gwyn Lurie laments the current divisive politics and reiterates the importance of listening to those who have differing opinions (Story starts on page 5). Regardless of who you support, make sure to Vote this November 5th!
RECENT MUS AND HIGH SCHOOL GRAD GARRETT WILLIAMS WROTE THIS CHILDREN’S BOOK ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING, AND WILL BE READING IT TO HIS FORMER THIRD GRADE CLASS. HE WILL ALSO BE WORKING THE ELECTION AS A POLL WORKER ON TUESDAY AND HOPES TO SEE YOU THERE!
Meet and Greet the New GM
The Bacara’s new GM, Bradley Cance, shares with the MJ his goals with the role, and how the hotel is getting involved locally, page 12 Something Wicked Tasty This Way Comes
Bubbling brews, smoking glasses, and more are filling the air at SYR’s Speakeasy at Plow & Angel this Halloween, page 28
TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2024, 7:30PM
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Jerrad Burford Senior Vice President Financial Advisor 805-695-7108 jerrad.burford@ morganstanleypwm.com
Jeanine J. Burford Senior Vice President Financial Advisor 805-695-7109 jeanine.burford@ morganstanleypwm.com
– MJ ’s Gwyn Lurie on why it is good to walk a mile in someone else’s phone and mourning the loss of the Fairness
Beings & Doings – Halloween’s ancient and otherworldly origins run contrary to our hardwon common sense. Unlike the Big Bang and quantum fabulism. Sheesh.
Montecito Miscellany – State Street Ballet’s opening show, An Artful Affair, Cartier & Ganna Walska, and more miscellany
Letters to the Editor – Community input on Sandy Stahl, Miramar, Measure P and more issues on the ballot Tide Guide
Community Voices – MPC Commissioner Sandy Stahl shares her side of what happened at the Miramar hearing Community On Board – The Music Academy will be in front of the Board of Supervisors to have its CUP update reviewed
Our Town – The Ritz-Carlton Bacara’s new GM Bradley Cance talks shop (well, more about sustainability, community involvement and goals), and HWY 101 construction updates
14
Society Invites – A series of celebrations for SEE International’s 50th Anniversary and the supporters that help the organization’s vision
16
The Giving List – CADA is getting more into the ARTS – their adult residency program that is ready to expand
18
News Bytes – CVA updates, Black is Beautiful 2025 Gala, SB Botanic Garden happenings, and an art masterclass at El Encanto
20 On Entertainment – New Beginnings’ newest theatrical fundraiser, plus a full palette of anniversaries and screenings
22 Brilliant Thoughts – Ashleigh reflects on what hobbies and pastimes people have participated in, including himself
26 An Independent Mind – Jeffrey gives his final thoughts on the candidates and his plans to vote
28 All Hallows’ Drink – There’s something bubbling over at SYR’s Speakeasy this Halloween – come inside to see the surprise
30 Dear Montecito – Yvette Vega, a Carpinteria native, catches us up on the catastrophic effects of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina
31
Stories Matter – As fall arrives, these reads are sure to keep you warm indoors and your curiosity piqued
32 Your Westmont – Christmas Fest tickets go on sale, talk examines maternity deserts, and sports updates
Petite Wine Traveler – Get an intro to what makes this area’s wines so special by visiting these hot spots of the vine
33 Elizabeth’s Appraisals – What appears to be an antique, primitive design on a woven basket ends up being a more recent encouragement for the world market
35 Montecito Health Coach – What is there to fear but fear itself? Well … and spiders, too. Fear and spiders. Okay, maybe snakes too. Okay, maybe there’s a lot to fear. Here’s why we do it.
44 Calendar of Events – En Vogue, 13 Tongues, a Plaza Palooza, and other happenings this week
46
Classifieds – Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads
47 Mini Meta Crossword Puzzles
Local Business Directory
Walk A Mile In Someone Else’s Phone
by Gwyn Lurie
It’s hard to break my heart these days. I’ve become so inured to hateful remarks. To bad manners. I know I’m not the only one who feels exhausted by the toxically divisive politics of this moment. The hubris we all bring to every conversation that treads whatsoever into politics. It all feels so depressingly… normal.
But when, two weeks ago, we printed pictures of our endorsed candidates on the Journal’s cover, we awoke Thursday morning to reports that all MJ copies distributed on Coast Village Road had been stolen, defaced and then returned to the stands. At least they returned them. This picture is of one of the defaced papers:
I don’t know about you, but I long for the good old days when we disagreed over things like tax policy, the death penalty, trickledown economics. I miss us engaging with one another with at least some level of decorum.
I miss watching the evening news, however naively, believing I was getting some semblance of the truth. Not having to weed though the strident opinions of pundits to hopefully stumble over an occasional fact. Sure, news has always been biased, simply by virtue of what was and was not included. But I trusted that the facts being presented were, at the very least, verifiable.
Key to that was the Fairness Doctrine – a former U.S. federal policy requiring television and radio broadcasters, “legacy press,” to present contrasting viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance. In 1987, under the Regan Administration, the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine. And with it the option for news consumers to weigh multiple valid but differing perspectives on an issue.
“In 1987… the FCC abolished the Fairness Doctrine. And with it the option for many news consumers to weigh multiple legitimate perspectives on an issue.”
The advent of the internet, and the powerful algorithms born out of this new way of consuming “news,” accelerated this trend of one-sided news. Worse, these algorithms have jumped the rails from our computers into our personal lives so much so that all we see are infinite mirrors of ourselves. These days it takes a concerted, intentional effort to have a nuanced understanding of issues, making it hard to have a real appreciation for the personal journeys that inform the divergent beliefs of others. That would take a willingness to walk a mile in another person’s phone. When I arrived at the Montecito Journal five years ago, I chose a partner (and he chose me), with whom I had very little in common, especially politically; but there was a long list of reasons I teamed up with Tim Buckley, the Journal ’s long-time publisher and son of MJ’s founder and former owner. Topping the list was this: I liked him! He was smart, talented, and surprisingly thoughtful. And funny. And he cared deeply about this community. I still believe all these things. That partnering with him was a good decision. Not just because our company has thrived under our joint leadership. But also because Tim – and the opportunity to better understand his opinions – has helped me grow as a person.
From day one Tim has read every piece I’ve written. He doesn’t always agree with my perspective, but he reads with an open mind and helps steer me towards fairness. Often, he’ll say: “If you
Editorial Page 384
Gwyn Lurie is CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group
805.717.0450 805.755.8283
Beings and Doings We Believe
by Jeff Wing
Many years ago I was gamboling about the Peabody Charter school playground with my toddler, a redheaded sunflower (today a 6’ grizzled Viking). At a given moment, another little boy of about six years old approached out of the blue, stood before me, and without preamble began declaiming.
“There’s no such thing as ghosts or UFOs!” he assured me with adorable shouting. His furrowed little face was strictly business. I had no immediate rejoinder – certainly not one that would have any persuasive effect on this 4’ tall militant rationalist. Sure, kid. Now toddle along and set yourself up with a calming shot of apple juice. Better make it a double.
And where the hell were his parents? The overconfident lilliput glanced downfield and maybe 30 yards away a man, his presumed father, waved. Squinting at this distance, I identified the gentleman’s khaki-colored trousers as probable Dockers® – unofficial uniform of reductionists and enemies of the numinous. “Aaahh,” I thought. “Okay.” I imagined the child having recklessly queried, “Daddy, are ghosts real?” and receiving the sternly-delivered nuts-and-bolts sacrament with which frightened parents have ever kept their little dreamers from dazedly wandering out of the “productive member of society” crosshairs.
Of course, in the fullness of his intellectual fruition, Shortcake Spinoza here would be told by the educational establishment to embrace the quantum superposition (a single particle is in two places at
Wonder precedes certitude, as it should. Some wonder involves heavy lifting. (courtesy creative commons)
No on ghosts. Yes on the beginning of time itself. Ho Hum! (NASA/ WMAP Science Team, Public Domain)
once, each traveling at a different velocity), the Big Bang (the explosive emergence of Everything – including time itself, and ultimately ham sandwiches and Gene Kelly –from a nanoscopic “singularity” which was itself preceded by Absolutely Nothing), and an eternal universe without boundary (a brute fact that our collective imagination is wholly unable to apprehend). *sigh*
As comically fantastical as this stuff is, these established madhouse baubles are received in 5th period “science” class with drooping eyelids and one eye on the clock. We’re not only bored of the Miraculous; we have the uninformed gall to ridicule its frontiers.
I mention all this because we are on the cusp of Halloween; an ancient veneration of the unseen spirit dimension, one which exists adjacent to our mortal world but behind a concealing veil. This veil is at its most permeable on All Hallowed’s Eve – Halloween. Today we commemorate this momentous Otherworld by dressing up as Spiderman and The Brave Little Toaster.
A Hallowed Evening
Halloween is one of those proud holiday traditions whose participants go wild in largely clueless commemoration. “What’re we doing this for again?” “Milky Way and Three Musketeers!” “Our familiar spiral galaxy and Alexandre Dumas’ French adventure novel?” “….yeah!”
As a small-town newspaper columnist I’m here obliged to shorthand the origins of Halloween, this 20th century gift to the
Beings & Doings Page 244
Montecito Miscellany A Fiery Night of Ballet
by Richard Mineards
State Street Ballet kicked off its 30th anniversary season in grand style with an impressive colorful double bill, Scheherazade and The Firebird performed with the Santa Barbara Symphony under maestro Nir Kabaretti at the venerable Granada.
Scheherazade , with choreography by Autumn Eckman and music by Rimsky-Korsakov, was first envisioned by State Street’s managing director Tim Mikel, who wrote the libretto.
State Street Ballet’s performance of the sensual, physical, and electric work premiered in 2014.
Stravinsky’s The Firebird featured dramatic choreography by New York’s William Soleau in telling a fantastical Russian fairy tale of good and evil.
The company’s cast of talented international artists also featured Rachel Hutsell, formerly of the New York City Ballet.
Next up on Dec. 21 is The Nutcracker accompanied by the Opera San Luis Obispo Grand Orchestra with 106 young dancers from the State Street Ballet Academy and the full arsenal of the company.
Yuletide has officially arrived!
Art at Riven Rock
Peripatetic Montecito accountant and Art Foundation of Santa Barbara president Frank McGinity opened the gates of his historic Riven Rock estate – just a
Miscellany Page 424
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Rachel Hutsell, formerly of the New York City Ballet, performing in the star role (photo by Priscilla) State Street Ballet kicked off its 30th season with a double bill Scheherazade and The Firebird (photo by Priscilla)
Staff and crew celebrate a successful show (photo by Priscilla)
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Letters to the Editor
Don’t
Suffer the Same Fate
I’ve lived in Pacific Palisades for 22 years, and lived through Caruso ’s redevelopment of our downtown area into a modern shopping mall. He was clever in his approach – buying up and closing down local businesses for years so that when the time came to present his plans, much of our community supported it, because things had become so desolate downtown. I attended city council meetings where a handful of people pushed back on his plans, but they were largely ignored. Unfortunately, once the redevelopment was finished, many of their warnings came true – traffic in downtown is a disaster now, parking is scarce, and the mall itself is tacky and out of step with our town. As a native Santa Barbarian who grew up there in the 1970s and 80s, I would hate to see my hometown suffer the same fate. Make no mistake, the negative impacts on the Miramar neighborhood will be far greater than whatever positives Caruso’s team have promised. Respectfully, Chris Shiflett
Full Disclosure
In the 30 years I’ve owned real estate in Montecito, I’ve publicly weighed in on various local subjects, only to discover it’s like volunteering your photo for a giant bullseye. So, I promised myself I would not weigh in on the latest Caruso development project. I don’t live near the hotel, and I’m a member of the gorgeous club. So, I wanted to keep my head down and stay as far away from this controversy as possible. Besides, I live by the Biltmore, Coral Casino, and the Music Academy; better to save my self-serving opinion for something closer to home. But then I read last week’s MJ
– plus other local papers, and I became so discouraged by the unsubstantiated attacks on the Montecito Planning Commission (MPC) and planning commissioner Sandy Stahl
I’ve known Sandy, a local Montecito realtor, philanthropist, and longtime volunteer, for over 30 years. I know her professionally – she’s represented my interests in five real estate transactions – and I know her personally as a steadfast friend. If I had to provide four traits to describe Sandy’s character, I’d say: integrity, hard work, community service, loyalty.
In the time I’ve known Sandy, she has raised two children on her own, grown a successful business, and donated thousands – literally thousands – of hours to Santa Barbara community service. Sandy has done so much for our community that she could easily rest on her laurels, enjoying the Karma from a life of public service; instead, Sandy recently accepted an invitation to sit on the MPC – as a volunteer. This commission represents the Montecito community, which means asking tough and controversial questions. It’s a job that few people could do, and even fewer would be willing to do.
I don’t know the ins and outs of the ‘Gotcha’ moment of last week’s MPC meeting when attorney Chris Robertson claimed that Stahl hadn’t disclosed a list of questions from the local church (sounds very sinful). Still,
I suspect that Robertson could have brought this up at the beginning of the meeting when Stahl disclosed that she’d had discussions with various community members. Instead, Robertson waited for her very own Matlock moment. But I do know – beyond any certainty – that Sandy Stahl is one of those rare people who repeatedly shows up for her friends, family, and community again and again while asking for nothing in return.
So, I’m writing to thank Sandy Stahl and all the MPC members for their service, and I hope that others will do the same. Otherwise, we will soon all have the kind of government and community leaders we deserve.
Full disclosure: No one asked me to write this letter.
Jane Walker Wood Orfalea
Correcting Caruso’s Inaccuracies
I would like to correct several inaccuracies floating around in the media, in this journal, and perpetuated by the Caruso team.
#1. This is not just a “church issue” with a few disgruntled local neighbors. There have been comments and letters from dozens of Montecito residents fully opposed to this project and all it represents. They only represent a handful of the hundreds of silent objectors. Many find this project a slap in the face of the Montecito Community Plan, from an L.A. developer and his gang of suits who claim to be so “neighborly.” Yet they don’t live here.
Likewise, it seems the vast majority of the Miramar vocal supporters do not live in the Miramar neighborhood at all. I
Montecito Tide Guide
Nov 5
Nov 8
did not invent the sticker “keep LA 100 miles away.”
I have had more than a dozen strangers approach me in Vons, on the street, in restaurants after meetings and hearings saying, “THANK YOU FOR SPEAKING UP!”
#2. People are AFRAID of confronting Caruso. Probably I am stupid, and I will pay the price. But I was raised to stand up when you see something you believe is wrong. What started as my concern for adherence to the MPC and the impact on our tiny neighborhood
Account Managers | Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Elizabeth Scott, Natasha Kucherenko
Contributing Editor | Kelly Mahan Herrick
Copy Editor | Lily Buckley Harbin
Proofreading | Helen Buckley
Arts and Entertainment | Steven Libowitz
Contributors | Scott Craig, Ashleigh Brilliant, Kim Crail, Tom Farr, Chuck Graham, Stella Haffner, Mark Ashton Hunt, Dalina Michaels, Robert Bernstein, Christina Atchison, Leslie Zemeckis, Sigrid Toye, Elizabeth Stewart, Amélie Dieux, Houghton Hyatt, Jeff Wing
Gossip | Richard Mineards
History | Hattie Beresford
Humor | Ernie Witham
Our Town/Society | Joanne A Calitri
Travel | Jerry Dunn, Leslie Westbrook
Food & Wine | Melissa Petitto, Gabe Saglie, Jamie Knee
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How to reach us: (805) 565-1860; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite G, Montecito, CA 93108; EMAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net
Community Voices Community On Board
Clarification on Recusal from MPC Hearing
by Sandy Stahl
I’d like to clarify a couple of points regarding my recusal from last Friday’s MPC hearing.
I did give an ex parte declaration at the beginning of the meeting as is required. I gave some specific names and also at the end said that I had also spoken with a great many neighbors, especially some from the Hedgerow area. Neither Lisa Plowman nor anyone from Caruso’s phalanx of attorneys spoke up and asked me to be more specific or even to provide a list of names to be added to the record before the meeting concluded. This is the same inaction I experienced after sending an email with a question of my own along with an attachment from Philip Dracht with many pages of his questions. I sent that email with my question and Mr. Dracht’s (as I have been doing, and was instructed to do since my first commission meeting in 2023) to the planner assigned to the project, Willow Brown
The ONLY response I was given by Ms. Brown was a return email which said “Received.” There was no phone call, text or email asking me if the attachment was a group of my own questions or if they were from someone else. If I had been asked I would have gladly said that they were from Philip Dracht, a neighbor of the Miramar.
I would have identified Mr. Dracht as a neighbor because that is how he introduced himself to me. He had previously sent a highly informative, detailed report on the current parking and traffic situation at the Miramar. I thought he was a traffic engineer from the report he sent in. But he never gave any indication on paper or in conversation, as to any relationship he had with All Saints. I have asked him now, after the meeting, to confirm, and he states unequivocally that he has no formal role as an attorney or anything else at All Saints, other than as a Parishioner.
I think it speaks volumes about how desperately no one wants to answer Mr. Dracht’s questions or my own, to have them characterized – as they were by LISA PLOWMAN in your recent article – as “EVIDENCE.”
I understand now, after reading your article and having that paragraph from the MPC Commissioner Manual quoted, why – in a behind the scenes meeting I was asked to attend before we reconvened – I was told that I hadn’t followed the proper procedure when
emailing those questions to the staff. Somehow, Lisa and her staff have confused Questions with Evidence!
All of this finger pointing and accusation regarding my honesty and integrity are based on a set of QUESTIONS I sent to the County. I did not send anything to Caruso or his team. I followed procedure and sent my email to the County staff person assigned to the project. What that person and other staff members and Lisa Plowman directed her to do with the questions was up to them. One thing I can tell you for sure is that no one at County or Caruso has bothered to answer a single one of those questions.
The “controversy” surrounding the submitted questions seems to have handily produced a convenient distraction from the strange unwillingness to answer any and all questions from myself or many community members. Questions such as Why the rush to push this project through without thorough vetting? Why has a Comprehensive Study – of the impact of higher density of projects such as this and the Music Academy – not been required by the County? Why is the County unable to produce any emergency/evacuation plan which looks at these enlarged projects in the context of how county agencies will handle an emergency?
The Biltmore, the Coral Casino and the Miramar rely primarily on Valet parking. How does it look in an emergency when potentially several hundred people are constrained between the 101 and the ocean – and the majority of them don’t know where their cars are or where they are parked? In the event of a true emergency, what is the plan for managing a couple hundred confused resident and non-resident pedestrians and bicyclists? How could emergency vehicles access these sites, which are just two lane roads with cars parked on the sides, not major thoroughfares? How can a traffic study for the Miramar project’s impact on our surface streets not be done to include all of San Ysidro from East Valley to the ocean? How could the plan not include the actual peak hours of 7-9 a.m and 2:304:30 pm, when the five schools – either on San Ysidro or accessed off of it – have drop off and pick up? The current report actually states that there will be negligible impact on our local traffic by a project adding 34 housing units and 17,500 square feet of retail. The application is full of exemptions, waivers, etc. which are still unexplained. Because I couldn’t
Music
by MJ Staff
Academy Hearing at the BOS
The Music Academy of the West will be in front of the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors (BOS) on Tuesday, November 5th to review its request to update the Music Academy’s 2004 Conditional Use Permit (CUP).
The key project changes being requested at this time include:
1. Eliminating the on-site retail shops and reintroducing residential uses to the corresponding structures.
2. Increasing student enrollment from 150 to 175 students.
3. Re-introducing weddings and other “Significant Life Events” that had previously been eliminated as part of the prior approval, all of which would count towards the daily, any-giventime, and annual attendance caps, and towards the broad annual cap of 41 non-conservatory events.
4. Allowing greater use of amplified spoken word and non-amplified acoustic music outdoors while adhering to activity hours and sound level requirements at the property lines.
In a statement to the MJ, MAW President/CEO Shauna Quill shared:
“The Music Academy of the West is grateful to the Board of Supervisors for adding the review of our Conditional Use Permit to their November 5th agenda. This proposal follows the MCP’s approval of the CUP in 2023 which was appealed. Since the appeal, the Music Academy has listened carefully to its neighbors and thoughtfully revised its proposal to minimize impact on our Butterfly Beach neighborhood, while still allowing our organization to deepen its ties to the local community, allow for greater operational flexibility, and add employee housing. For 77 years, the Music Academy has nurtured the lives of the next generation of classical musicians within our gorgeous community. Our fellows across the globe have lifelong connections to Santa Barbara and we are all the more fulfilled because of the music they have shared with us.”
The November 5th meeting will be held at the County Administration Building (105 East Anapamu Street) in the Board Hearing Room on the fourth floor. Send any thoughts or support to sbcob@countyofsb.org by November 1st at 12 pm.
Our Town
In Conversation with Ritz-Carlton Bacara GM Bradley Cance
by Joanne A Calitri
Since his appointment in June, Bradley Cance, General Manager of the Ritz-Carlton Bacara, has been busily connecting with our town and redesigning signature luxury experiences at the resort; a project that includes the appointment of a new Executive Chef, Rebecca Tillman
Clearly one of the elites in hospitality management, Cance comes to us most affably and open-minded about the nods to the Montecito area he can create. A most welcome relationship, given his resort will likely become a frequent destination to call home for private businesses and nonprofit organizations, as the Four Seasons Biltmore plans to focus on select clientele and their families (e.g. not holding corporate events). Cance mentioned to me he has conversed with the GM of the Rosewood Miramar Beach, the GMs of Ty Warner’s properties including the Montecito Club, and has of course dined at Lucky’s Montecito.
For this report and photos, I met with Cance at the resort. Congenial as ever, we started with the photos of himself and with Executive Chef Tillman. Joining us were his Sr. Marketing Manager Julia Solomon, and Leigh-Anne Anderson of Anderson PR. In my brief meeting with Tillman, she shared, “I am currently in the process of designing menus that will enhance the guest experience, whilst taking note of the incredible agriculturally rich area we are in, along with locally sourced sustainable seafood.” – good news for our foodies and fishermen. At lunch, my lively conversation with GM Cance went in-depth, with my key interview questions here:
Q. How will the resort under your leadership interface with Montecito and its metro area?
A. We have a robust Bacara Community Footprint Program with four pillars that mainly support charitable organizations. We start with the Chumash Heritage, as the Bacara Resort is on their sacred ground. We are very conscious to honor
that via teaching their history to our guests, employees, in our Ritz Kids Programs and our AOTC – Ambassadors of the Environment program. We have a display outside our retail shops, and plan to have more displays and partnerships with them.
The second is the Santa Barbara Channel Whale Heritage Area where we are partnering with them on their oneyear anniversary this November 22-23, in conjunction with Hiroko Benko and the Condor Express
Our third is Angels Foster Care to support kids locally. One thing we want to do is a packing party of needed toiletries and school supplies at the start of the school year and around festive holidays.
The fourth pillar for us is the Santa Barbara County Food Bank where our employees volunteer monthly to help pack bags of food for people in need.
Tillman has a “Chefs in Schools” program. Will you bring that to the Montecito schools?
That is in process for 2025. One of the most challenging positions in this resort is finding talented culinarians, both chefs and cooks. The Chef’s goal is to partner with local schools and academies for students to learn and grow from cooks to chefs; hopefully for them to stay with us, and work with our company.
Any news on the Bacara restaurants?
Chef Tillman’s pedigree spans both
restaurants and resorts, balancing culinary arts in restaurants and in banquets. If we do a high-end gala event, we want everyone there to say, ‘that was like eating in a restaurant.’ We’d love to have a Michelin Star Award here. We are introducing dinner service in our Bistro Restaurant to make it very attractive to our local patrons from Montecito through Santa Barbara. I would like a brasserie here [at the Bistro] to feature local wines and craft beers, tying in California coastal cuisine. (Cuisine changes will start January through June 2025.)
Ritz-Carlton Bacara General Manager Bradley Cance (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
Arrive starting at 5:30 PM for a FREE all-ages dance class and music and prizes from
West Coast Premiere / One Night Only!
Dorrance Dance
The Nutcracker Suite
Thu, Dec 5 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre
Trade pointe shoes for tap shoes as Dorrance Dance’s highenergy Nutcracker Suite boogies, slides, struts and dives to Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s extraordinary interpretation of the classic Tchaikovsky score.
Lead Sponsor: Jody & John Arnhold
Dance Series Sponsors: Margo Cohen-Feinberg, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald
30th Anniversary Tour Pink Martini
Featuring China Forbes
Tue, Dec 17 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre
Pink Martini brings its signature blend of jazz, classical and pop music to a festive holiday show, performing classics like “White Christmas” alongside Chinese New Year tunes and a samba-inspired version of “Auld Lang Syne,” as well as fan favorites from their studio albums.
Major Sponsor: Audrey & Timothy O. Fisher
Event Sponsor: Ellen & Peter O. Johnson
KLITE host Catherine Remak
Society Invites SEE International’s 50th Anniversary Golden Gala
by Joanne A Calitri
The 50th Anniversary of SEE International was celebrated with a Golden Gala at the Hilton Santa Barbara Beachfront Resort on Thursday, October 24. Guests arrived in formal attire, with many traveling here from 36 countries and across the U.S.
The gala commenced on the third-floor rotunda area with a photo op, cocktail hour, catching up with friends, and live music. From there we were escorted to the Reagan Room for the formal dinner and program.
The Gala’s Honorary Committee Chair was Keith Moore, with his committee: Mara Abboud, Hiroko Benko, Beverly Cavaliere, Caryl Crahan, Missy Chandler DeYoung, Jody Dolan Holehouse, George Leis, Maria McCall, Katherine Murray-Morse, and Gary Simpson
SEE International President & CEO Donald Bell welcomed the guests and thanked the key sponsors. He said, “Restored sight leads to restored opportunity. SEE International treats the societal impact of those who need eye care but can’t afford it.”
Keynote speaker was Dr. Helena Ndume, SEE’s Volunteer Ophthalmologist from Namibia, Africa, who acknowledged working with the late Dr. Michael Colvard. She recalled meeting Dr. Harry Brown in 1997 which launched her work with SEE International who supports her clinic. She recognized Brown’s children who were at the dinner, namely, Cathi Brown, Kelly Brown, Bradford Brown, and Anny Ashbrook. Ndume said, “I have witnessed first-hand what restored sight means to people, and to be able to see in Namibia is the difference between surviving or not. My clinic has restored sight to over 59,000 people and changed the lives of generations. When each of us, no matter where we are, can do a little bit of good, we can change the world.”
She was followed by Dr. Jeffrey Levenson , who shared his personal experience having cataracts and corrective surgery, which led him to work with SEE International. Dr. Rupert Chowins recognized 24th District former Congresswoman Lois Capps who was present for her work promoting Vision
Society Page 414
Kohanya Groff, Dr. Helena Ndume, Cathi Brown, and Scott Groff (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
Howard and Lynn Hudson with Kate and Don Bell (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
The Giving List Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse
by Steven Libowitz
The Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, aka CADA, is looking to dive deeper into the ARTS. Lest anyone think the seven-decade old nonprofit is planning on building a theater or promoting a series of rock concerts or dance performances, ARTS is the acronym for CADA’s Adult Residential Treatment Services; a residential treatment facility for men and women providing 24-hour withdrawal management and care and supervision from Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselors and on-call medical providers, as well as treating co-occurring psychological problems.
The center opened just a dozen years ago through a collaboration with the City of Santa Barbara, County Alcohol and Drug Program, and the Housing Authority. CADA’s 12-bed center – in a new four-bedroom facility in downtown Santa Barbara – is licensed by the California Department of Health Care Services. The program’s up to 90 days of inpatient treatment begins with data-driv-
en withdrawal management created by a comprehensive assessment from a medical doctor, CADA’s clinical director, therapists, and treatment staff. A discharge plan is developed at intake and serves as the roadmap for each client’s personal journey to recovery. While in residence at ARTS, clients are introduced to local peer support groups that can provide treatment services once they have completed the program and begin aftercare support of their clean and sober lifestyle.
The problem is that the ARTS facility has been bursting at the seams.
“There’s a huge need in our community for this kind of facility, and we have a long waiting list,” explained Victoria Rightmire, CADA’s Executive Director since this summer. “Often people get sent out of the community if we can’t accommodate them, and we really want to be able to serve the needs of our community within the community.”
Which is why CADA has begun a capital campaign to raise funds to expand the 12-bed facility into something significantly larger, Rightmire said.
“We’re looking at 30 beds, or as many as 36, to meet the need, which has only
increased since the pandemic,” she said. “The campaign is one of our primary focuses right now because having a roof over your head when you’re starting your journey in recovering from addiction is vital.”
CADA has its sights set on an enhanced facility that’s both supportive and comfortable, as well as a healthy space for the residents, one that accommodates on-site medication-assisted treatment and all the other necessary services, Rightmire said.
“We’re actually looking at buying a new facility that would enable us to have lots more space, lots more beds.
All Santa Barbara County residents can access programs funded by the Cancer Foundation at Ridley-Tree Cancer Center regardless of your physician or treatment location.
Services include: Genetic Counseling, Wellness, Nutrition, Social Services, Patient Navigation and more.
News Bytes Coast Village Association Updates
by MJ Staff
-Ghost Village Road: On October 31st, join the community for Ghost Village Road family fun on CVR, where the magic of trick-or-treating comes truly alive. Businesses will be generously lavishing the best treats on those in costume, and you’ll love seeing all the creative Halloween outfits ! Some so adorable you’ll be made helpless by the cuteness, others so terrifying you will scream yourself hoarse (there are fewer of these, honestly). If driving on CVR, please drive safely and attentively and slowly. Parking on Coast Village Circle’s miraculous back parking lots is encouraged. UCLA patients should enter through the back lot beginning at 1 pm.
-CVA Annual Meeting at the Montecito Inn: The Board of Directors will recap the year and conduct the Coast Village Improvement Association’s Annual Board Meeting on Thursday, November 21st, at 8:30 am.
-Holiday Tree Lighting: On December 7th, immerse yourself in the joy of Christmas on Coast Village Road from 4-6 pm. Expect harmonious caroling from the SB Youth Symphony, Santa holding court, and delightful treats. The joy of the season will light up the evening – and the tree! Join in supporting Toys for Tots, with collection points conveniently located throughout Coast Village Road 411: www.coastvillageroad.com
Call for Black Fashion Designers for Black is Beautiful 2025 Gala
Healing Justice Santa Barbara’s 2nd Annual Black is Beautiful Gala will feature local Black Fashion Designers in support of the gala’s 2025 theme, “Beauty Through the Decades.” The event is scheduled for February 22, at the SB Hilton Beachfront Resort. The program is hosted by local artist and performer Vivian Storm. The gala program includes a fashion show, musical performances, a live band, keynote speaker, dance performances, a fashion show, Black youth and community awards, and a performance from the SBUSD Jazz Band. Each fashion artist will show one to two items in their collection. For applications, sponsorships, to volunteer, fundraise and buy tickets visit the 411. 411: www.hjsb.org/bib-2025
Weather-Proof Plants Sale and Garden Classes
The Santa Barbara Botanic Garden has announced their annual plant sale and garden classes for locals, in anticipation of a possible upcoming rainy season.
Shop early online now or go in person to the SBBG Planting Weekend November 9, from 10 am to 4:30 pm.
The experts at the SBBG say that fall season is a great time to plant California native plants – which will make use of the cool weather and winter rain to grow deep roots. All buyers can enter a contest to win a SBBG membership by posting a photo of their plant at their home on Instagram, and tagging it with @sbbg and #FallNativePlantLove. Winners will be selected at the end of November.
Events include a November 12 birding class with Rebecca Coulter, and a November 23 experience on the benefits of connecting to the natural world with Elena Ríos
411: https://sbbotanicgarden.org
These programs and services— made possible by your donations and our funding— impact lives everyday.
Charles Arnoldi Masterclass at the El Encanto SB
Painter, sculptor, and printmaker Charles Arnoldi – originally from Ohio but now living in Venice Beach – will jaunt up the freeway to our town to teach a masterclass in art at the El Encanto Hotel Santa Barbara on Monday, November 18, from 10 am to 3 pm. The program is for all skill levels with a presentation and discussion by Arnoldi, lunch and comped valet parking.
Arnoldi has used every medium from traditional paints on canvas to bronze for sculpting, but is most known for his large scale abstracts using tree branches for drawing lines, power chainsaw cut wood panels, aluminum paintings, polyethylene wall reliefs and other one-offs. His works are in numerous collections and museums throughout the U.S., including the Museum of Modern Art and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, and the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao in Spain. 411: @charlesarnoldistudio www.belmond.com/hotels/north-america/usa/ca/santa-barbara/belmond-el-encanto
Imagine Having a Whole VILLAGE Behind You.
On Entertainment New Beginnings with ‘The Boys’
by Steven Libowitz
For the last several years, New Beginnings’ annual fall fundraiser has moved beyond the typical wine-and-dine gala concept to actually put the focus on the longtime nonprofit’s areas of service – via presenting a theatrical event that mirrors themes of issues it works to combat. This year’s offering, The Boys Next Door, examines issues of mental health, developmental disabilities, and permanent supportive housing; all of which are integral to New Beginnings’ mission to support individuals and families facing similar challenges in our community.
This play focuses on four men with those challenges who are living together in a shared housing residence under the guidance of a caring but burnedout social worker, employing alternately poignant and humorous moments to explore their daily challenges, triumphs, and aspirations.
The Boys Next Door was written by Tom Griffin in 1988, but the issues it explores are perhaps even more paramount today, said director Jenny Sullivan, the longtime theater veteran who suggested the play for her third turn at the helm of New Beginnings’ fundraiser feature.
“It’s a wonderful story that really addresses a subject that the organization wants to dramatize,” she said. “You get to see how this group of people with different disabilities create their own kind of family, and they’re amazing characters. The play also shows what it’s like to be the care provider who’s trying to manage this three-ring circus, making sure everybody’s okay and having a good life. There’s so much humor as well as poignant moments.”
Sullivan’s familiarity with the issue runs to her own mentally handicapped brother, who lived in a state institution for years before she was able to get him into a group home for the last 10 years of his life. She also tapped as dramaturg longtime local theater veteran Rod Lathim – who has twice directed productions of The Boys Next Door – and assembled an impressive cast that includes Michael Nouri, Matt Cook, John Kassir, Sam Trammell, Devin Scott, and ETC 30-show veteran Nancy Nufer, among others. Former Assemblymember Hannah-Beth Jackson and her husband, Judge George Eskin, will also portray characters.
“I wanted to use more people from our community as a little treat for the Santa Barbara audience,” Sullivan explained.
While the performance at the New Vic Theatre on November 2 is New Beginnings’ way of employing theater to engage the audience in discussion, experience and education about the critical issues, the play is also meant to be lively entertainment in its own right.
“Just come see this wonderful world of The Boys Next Door,” Sullivan said. Visit https://etcsb.org/whats-on/community-events or www.sbnbcc.org.
Art & Letters Anniversaries
A couple of major theaters in town have been celebrating centennial anniversaries of a sort this year, while in February the Santa Barbara International Film Festival will turn 40. But in between, two well-established art galleries are also having 40th birthdays, and the city’s most enduring bookstore is marking a major milestone as well – heralding the half-century since its founding, all with special events taking place this week.
Waterhouse Gallery Santa Barbara opened its doors in town in 1984, in the early 1990s taking up residence in its current location at La Arcada in downtown Santa Barbara, where it has focused almost exclusively on representational art – largely
On Entertainment Page 394
The Boys Next Door comes to New Vic Theatre on November 2 (courtesy photo)
Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan
13 Tongues
Cheng Tsung-lung, Artistic Director
Sat, Nov 2 / 7:30 PM / Granada Theatre
Mixing traditional storytelling with futuristic imagery and shifting between folk, classical and electronic music sources, 13 Tongues delivers an unforgettable experience of contemporary dance at its most innovative and spectacular.
Dance Series Sponsors:
Margo Cohen-Feinberg, Barbara Stupay, and Sheila Wald
Bestselling Novelist and Essayist Anne Lamott
Somehow: Thoughts on Love
Wed, Nov 13 / 7:30 PM / Arlington Theatre
A lyrical writer who takes on the most complex, intimate parts of life with grace, humor and precision, Anne Lamott discusses finding love late in life, the changing ways we love our children and how love can keep us going in a painful world.
Books will be available for purchase and signing, courtesy of Chaucer’s
Lead Sponsor: Lynda Weinman & Bruce Heavin
Legacy: A Black Physician Reckons With Racism in Medicine
Wed, Nov 20 / 7:30 PM / UCSB Campbell Hall
FREE copies of Blackstock’s new book, Legacy , will be available while supplies last (pick up at event; one per household)
Through the lens of a generational memoir, ER physician and leading health equity advocate Uché Blackstock reflects on the deep inequities in the U.S. healthcare system and offers prescriptions for how to change them.
Brilliant Thoughts
Time Off
by Ashleigh Brilliant
With more and more of our work now being done by machines, the question naturally arises, how are we to spend all that “leisure” time? One answer is “Recreation.” But what are we re-creating? According to the Old Testament account, which we call Genesis, the whole world was created by God in six days – and on the seventh, He rested.
But in our modern world, recreation consists of activity, rather than of rest. That activity often comes under the heading of “Sport and Games,” of which one usual element is competition. Team sports have become so popular that just the spectators often fill large arenas. This is a relatively recent phenomenon, since the Romans gave up their Chariot Races and their Gladiatorial Combat millennia ago. But today, apart from various amateur and professional pursuits, there is the vast field of what are known as “hobbies.”
What’s significant about many activities we consider hobbies today, such as camping, hiking, or fishing, is that they were once matters of survival. In order to have fun these days, we engage ourselves in what, for our ancestors, were compulsory lifestyles. Barely two centuries ago, the only means of travelling or load-hauling on land depended on animal-power. Most modern relationships with animals, outside of agriculture, feature hunting, taming and training. So, some of us now enjoy ourselves by reverting to a more primitive way of life.
But of course, many other hobbies – and you’ll find hundreds included in any standard list – have nothing to do with “Nature,” but relate to other aspects of our lives. One classification covers “Collecting,” and you may be surprised at how many different types of items different people collect. Probably the most widespread is the collection of postage stamps, or “Philately,” which I know a little about, having engaged in it as a teenager. I still have my album, in which I stuck the stamps, not with glue – which would inflict permanent damage – but with a special type of
mounting known as a “hinge,” which you could buy packs of in stamp stores. These specialized shops catered to collectors, and in those days were not uncommon in the London suburb where I lived. You folded the hinge, and lightly moistened both parts, one which would adhere to the stamp without damaging it, and the other which held the stamp on the chosen page of your album.
Since used stamps actually had commercial value, depending on various factors including rarity, the dream of every collector was to somehow acquire a stamp whose value increased after you became its owner. (The values were published in special catalogs, which also provided illustrations.)
My own experience of this phenomenon may interest you. I hardly ever bought a stamp, but just once a dealer persuaded me to buy one because it might increase in value. This one, which was in “mint” condition, had been issued by the country now called Malawi. It depicted a soldier of the local militia – but the picture was very unflattering. And, in fact, the stamp was so unpopular that it had to be withdrawn from circulation and replaced with another design. The dealer said its value was therefore bound to go up. So, I paid the very small price he was asking and stuck it in my album. Soon after that, I stopped collecting, put the album away, and forgot about it. But I still remembered I had that one potentially valuable stamp.
About 60 years later, I discovered that the local Public Library had the current edition of the Scott Catalog of World Stamps. After all that time, this one stamp must surely be quite valuable. I quickly found the relevant page, which had an actual illustration. And what was my prized possession worth? The price shown was the very least amount they listed for any stamp.
How to explain this philatelic debacle? My theory is that the Postal Authority of the stamp-issuing country – the pre-Malawi Nyasaland – had indeed stopped selling the unpopular issue. But instead of destroying all those now-invalid stamps, they had simply sold them off to dealers.
The only other “collectible” item I actually sought for a time was matchbooks. That was an era before smoking went out of style. I never smoked tobacco, but those who did often needed “a light,” and many stores that sold cigarettes gave away the little cardboard match-packs, which did additional duty as an advertising medium.
Since then, my only collecting (unwillingly but inevitably) has been of Years.
Ashleigh Brilliant born England 1933, came to California in 1955, to Santa Barbara in 1973, to the Montecito Journal in 2016.
Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots,” now a series of 10,000. email: ashleigh@west. net. web: www.ash leighbrilliant.com.
DECEMBER 5-22
MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET
By Colin Escott and Floyd Mutrux
Directed by Brian McDonald
candy industry and your Tesla-driving dental professional. The Celtic Samhain festival dates to thousands of years ago, traditionally extending from sunset on October 31 to sunset on November 1. Samhain marked the end of summer and light, the beginning of the darkening winter – and harvest time. Samhain actually means “summer’s end”.
The medieval Celts believed that during this transition from the season of light and warmth to winter – with its increasing darkness and sweater sales – this world and the next overlay each other in a sort of supernatural Venn diagram. Mischievous spooks would walk right through the temporarily flimsy veil that separates the realms, probably chomping gum like otherworldly ne’er do wells, causing mild havoc and generally roiling the annoyed mortals.
By the early 7th century Pope Gregory I figured it was time to give these primitive belief systems the heave-ho, but saw the value in bringing pagan believers into the Christian fold by absorbing, rather than rudely abolishing, their old traditions. So in the early 800s the Church intermingled the Celtic spirit traditions with their own veneration of Catholic saints. November 1, former closing chapter of Samhain, became All Saints’ Day, also known as All Hallows Day. That’s when October 31, the day before All Hallows Day, became All Hallows Eve, linguistic predecessor of our Halloween.
The Samhain hangover is such that the night before All Saints Day your neighborhood is aswarm with plastic skeletons, poorly manufactured hellhounds with unreliable red diodes for eyes, and overpriced animatronic ghouls whose twitching paws do not frighten. Similarly, Easter is believed to be a long-ago Papist Christianizing of Eostre, ancient celebration of burgeoning spring and fertility. It was an uneasy fit in some ways, conjoining a powerful message of spiritual redemption with egg-laying rabbits in waistcoats.
As for “pagan” traditions – pagan is a word that early Christians used to conversationally consolidate those religions that were neither Christianity, Islam, nor Judaism. Paganism broadly referred to nature worship. In 20th century moviedom, “pagan” has unfortunately become synonymous with sinister folk horror flicks like Midsommar and The Wicker Man – whose 2006 remake famously features Nicholas Cage in a bear suit punching out an evil-doer. It probably looked good on paper.
Bat Guano and Transcendence
Dear reader, here’s the beef. The metaphysical origins of Halloween are thought of as charming balderdash – to use a politely archaic word for you-know-what. As the hollering reductionist lilliput reminds us, “There’s no such thing as ghosts or UFOs!” This is a very broadly held position, even by people whose own spiritual immersions
include a firm belief in the afterlife and the rewards that await the faithful there. What any one of us truly believes is a stew of stuff that is completely inconsistent and untethered to experiential reality. The idea of a “ghost” is laughably outlandish, but we nod with sober expressions as professional cosmologists assure us there are likely an infinite number of Other Universes nested invisibly and undetectably within our own. They call this “The Multiverse,” and they aren’t kidding. If we can countenance scientists telling us our entire reality is but one of an infinite number, doesn’t the idea of a ghost seem almost quaint by comparison? We all “know” the universe is endless and infinite and – as Hubble and Webb have shown – a bottomless well of inconceivably immense galaxies, scattered like sapphires on an infinite jeweler’s cloth. This is workaday canon, and not terribly thought-provoking, apparently. But the idea of some guy from another celestial neighborhood showing up in his extraterrestrial Hyundai – just another machine with a steering wheel and space for luggage – strikes us as hysterical and fabulist and idiotic.
This world of file cabinets, tap water, and faded floral wallpaper is as batsh*t crazy as you sporadically intuit. From quarks to quasars, we believe wholeheartedly. So why narrow the color field? We are (infamously) here for a geologic eyeblink. The crummy bargain gravel that lines your driveway is two billion years old, and you get a lousy 90 years or so (he optimistically blathered)? Why? Because the object of All This is simply our apprehension of it. We don’t need to live for a thousand years or be 30 light years wide. In the scale of things, we’re microscopic, and flash into and out of “existence” in a true jiffy. But we Are. Walk around the block tonight, and if the sky is clear stare into the vault of stars from which we emerged. Put down your red pencil. We’re transcendent. Believe.
Halloween – Flirting with the spirit realm, sort of. (Jnghiem, CC BY-SA, creative commons)
Exclusively for one night only, Salty Magazine and Chef Massimo Falsini will welcome guest chefs Josiah Citrin and Mattia Agazzi for a special one-night dinner event at Caruso’s restaurant. Join us for a 6-hand Michelin experience along the coast in Montecito, CA.
Tuesday, November 12th
$325 Per Person
TO LEARN MORE AND EXPLORE AVAILABILITY, SCAN THE BELOW QR CODE OR CALL 805.900.8388
Chef Massimo Falsini Caruso’s, Montecito
Chef Josiah Citrin Mélisse, Santa Monica
Chef Mattia Agazzi Gucci Osteria, Beverly Hills
An Independent Mind
One Last Thing About The Election
by Jeffrey Harding
Iam asked all the time whom I will vote for, Harris or Trump My unequivocable answer is that I am not going to vote for president. “What!?” – you may say. “You have a duty as an American citizen whose forebearers fought and died for your right to vote!” Well, I reply, I didn’t say I wasn’t going to vote, just that I’m not going to vote for a president. And the beauty of our system is that I won’t go to jail for not voting for the leader unlike some countries.
I regard my stance as a moral and principled one. Those of you who have been reading my columns know that my perspective is to look at how the candidates’ policies would affect the economy and our collective well-being. Would they negatively affect our prosperity? Would the consequences of those policies achieve the intended goals or be beset with unintended negative consequences?
Both candidates’ policies have serious flaws which would be harmful to our
economy and would result in making all classes of Americans poorer in the notso-distant future. These policies would hit the middle- and lower-classes harder than those in the top 20%.
I can’t rightly say which candidate’s policies would be worse, maybe Harris’s, maybe not. But if I vote for the lesser of two evils I’m still voting for evil. Besides, if I voted for Trump my vote would be meaningless because California is a solid blue state and a vote for Trump wouldn’t count. Harris has already got the Golden State in her pocket.
I am also asked whom I think will win. I usually answer that I know who is going to win, just ask me on November 6. I know what the polls say. Maybe they’ll be right this time, but I don’t have a lot of faith in polls.
This has been a very disappointing election season. It is as content-free as one could get. Harris keeps saying we need to go “forward,” whatever that means. Trump doesn’t make much sense in his rambling campaign stops. Both are trying to buy your vote with giveaways which, to use a value laden word, is pandering to you. If you are new to
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politics let me clue you in: almost none of these promises will be met because we don’t have enough money to pay for them. The candidates, or their handlers, know this, but it sure sounds good on the stump.
Both candidates’ policies have serious flaws which would be harmful to our economy and would result in making all classes of Americans poorer in the not-so-distant future.
As President John F. Kennedy said, with apologies to daughters: “Mothers all want their sons to grow up to be president, but they don’t want them to become politicians in the process.” He was a politician so he would know. The point being that candidates will say a lot of things to get elected, but don’t count on their promises.
issues transactionally – that is, how they would affect businesses, and probably his business in particular. I think that’s mostly accurate. He does say a lot of crazy things. If he wins we’ll have to see what he comes up with policy-wise other than cut taxes and build a tariff wall against the rest of the world. I don’t trust him either as the leader of this country and the free world.
I don’t think either Harris or Trump are capable occupiers of the Oval Office. They are short on ideas to grow the economy, preserve our freedoms, and make everyone better off. But they are what we’ve got and we put them there.
I’ll leave you with a quote from my favorite curmudgeon, H. L. Mencken, 1920:
When a candidate for public office faces the voters he … must either bark with the pack or be lost. … All odds are on the man who is, intrinsically, the most devious and mediocre – the man who can most adeptly disperse the notion that his mind is a virtual vacuum. The Presidency tends, year by year, to go to such men. As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. … On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
Harris is trying to move to the center and “represent all Americans.” Sounds just like Biden. He lied to us and went left, very left. I think Harris will do the same. Her instincts are left-Progressive and that’s what she knows. I don’t trust her. Nothing personal; contrary to her portrayal on the Right, she is an intelligent person, but she just can’t see past the Progressive playbook.
And Trump. I really don’t know where he is coming from. I don’t think he has a political philosophy. They say he decides
Jeffrey Harding is a real estate investor and long-time resident of Montecito. He previously published a popular financial blog, The Daily Capitalist. He is a retired SBCC adjunct professor.
All Hallows’ Drink
Psychics, Smoke, Mystery and More at SYR’s Speakeasy
by Zach Rosen
While on a normal night, San Ysidro Ranch’s Speakeasy at Plow & Angel has an intimate, moody ambiance – for Halloween evening the space will be transformed into the speakeasy of your dreams (well, to keep with the theme, let’s say nightmares – but really, it will be quite dreamy).
Enter the stone-lined space to live music and light bites with six specialty cocktails (available only for the night) that will entice and enchant you, hastening your immersion in the otherworldly environment. In one corner, a werewolf is getting its future told by Tarot. Is love on the horizon? In another corner, Australian breakdancer Raygun sits still, sipping from a smoking glass of pitchblack potion. Wait – on that side of the room: Is that Minion talking to a psychic?
So on October 31st, dress in your best scary, silly, or classy costume and prepare for an evening of entertainment and Halloween happenings.
As always, though – the drinks will be the centerpiece of the space and will sparkle, crackle, and smoke to your delight. One of the highlights of the night will be the Caramel Apple – crafted with white rum balanced by the bittersweet taste of amaro and accented by notes of coconut
and Granny Smith apples. The Tropical Zombie will keep you going long after Life (and possibly later searching for brains).
The classic tiki drink incorporates aged rum from the 300-year-old distillery El Dorado, and brings together the intricate bright spice character of lemon falernum with dashes of cinnamon to add a little sparkle and crackle to the flaming cocktail.
The Black Magic Negroni incorporates activated charcoal to turn a classic Negroni as dark as a new moon night. And if full moons get your hemoglobin goin’ the Oaxacan Blood Moon might be more your thing. Wisps of smoky mezcal get softly extinguished by the lush flavors of blood orange Amara with a blood orange edible air on top, giving the booze an aesthetic bite. For those looking to keep on theme sans alcohol, there will a specialty mocktail or two, as well – like the Crime of Passion.
Throughout the evening there will be other drinks that bring the mixology magic and mystery that The Speakeasy at Plow & Angel is known for. The Stonehouse will be serving some thematic mixes throughout the week as well. However, All Hallows’ Eve at The Speakeasy will be where it is all happening.
Add a little sparkle to your holiday this year (courtesy photo)
Taste the Black Magic this Halloween (courtesy photo)
The Speakeasy at Plow & Angel missing the obligatory spiderwebs – but don’t worry, they will be there (courtesy photo)
has evolved into whistle blowing. If you drill deep into the facts of this application the numbers do not add up. You will find manipulation, partial truths and untruths. Caruso is skirting environmental review and it is wrong. The County is complicit, and this has been Caruso’s long-range plan for some time. Watch the remaining bungalows fall to retail shops next. At what point does this morph from a single apparel shop to a regional destination “experience?” Then the Miramar is 100% in violation of CEQA. Common sense says 22 is enough, but Caruso claims these shops are just to entertain his bored guests. Bored in Santa Barbara? That is sad.
#3. For each square foot of employee housing created he reaps more retail footage. There is a direct calculus. Do you really believe his “line cooks” earning 80k a year will live in those apartments? Do you really believe this project will DE-crease traffic when he’s building far more parking/traffic demand than he is providing for. He is claiming in his application that he needs 61 more employees just to cover the western end of the project, while also claiming the entire resort only has 102 employees. Does a remaining 41 employees, when it used to be “102” left to run the entire resort make any sense to you? READ THE TRAFFIC AND PARKING REPORTS – they are ridiculous, and NOT signed or stamped by a licensed Transportation Engineer.
#4. To Mr. Hazard : my house, and two of my neighbors’ has mountain views, and its eastern views will be obliterated by this project. (I understand that view is not legally protected.) But I object to your speaking on behalf of my home when you have never been inside.
#5. To Mr. McFayden, who said your “church has been swept away.” This accusation is insulting to your church and its leaders. Caruso hoodwinked the first vestry member into sending a letter of approval by selling affordable housing without ever producing a plan or elevation that would demonstrate its direct impact on the church.
#6. Caruso loves to say “we listened to the neighbors. We took the third story down.” The project’s walls are 33’. The average height of a story is 10’. Do the math. We still do not have story poles which he promised to me and others in person. Where are they? Why would you say this when you knew there will be none because they will expose the true scale of this project? As for the driveway they took away, that
would’ve never passed transportation and they knew it. It’s an age-old developer ploy, yet the Miramar aficionados foolishly continue to repeat this.
#7. Caruso is skirting environmental review by claiming parking code of “single apparel shop.” Does anyone believe 22 shops plus multiple restaurants with more to come is a single shop? And yet still, he must ask the county to waive his 200 plus parking place deficiency in the coastal zone.
#8. To Mr. Caruso, you claim to be a good neighbor with integrity. Oh how I wish this was my experience. Your team never contacted us, the most proximate residential neighbor, 31 feet away. Never invited us to your tea parties, we found out about this development from the Montecito Association agenda. I spoke up, and only then did we communicate. How hard would it have been to send a letter, someone to knock on the door or leave a note? That’s what good neighbors do. And please quit trying to promote the “she’s just a landlord.” That’s not true. We spend the majority of our time here, in my family home, which has been here for generations.
#9. To the Miramar aficionados and club members – I am happy for you that you love the Miramar and its beauty. We love it here too. No one is trying to take that away from you. But this proposed giant project is taking a lot away from us and the greater community. Just watch what happens to your own traffic and parking.
In the meantime, we know this will pass with the help of Das Williams’ appointed Director of Planning, through the Board of Supervisors. It’s after that that things get interesting. What will become of the Labor Union threatening to sue on environmental grounds? They have a strong case. Perhaps more to come at the Coastal Commission. What will the evacuation plan show? How will they stage this construction while operating an under-parked hotel? Who knows?
Page Robinson Eucalyptus Lane
Slingshot P Back
As we enter the final days of the election season, those of us who oppose Measure P find ourselves the proverbial David against Goliath – but without even a slingshot.
We face an opponent, the bond measure’s backers, who are well-heeled and
Letters Page 344
We would have a large kitchen and a dining room and a nurse’s station and a place where people can really enjoy their early days of recovery in a larger, more spacious kind of healthy recovery environment.”
Upgrading both bed space and treatment with the clients’ success in mind is part of the concept of making this level of recovery available to all.
“The people that come to our facility are on Medi-Cal, ones who definitely could not afford treatment like this elsewhere,” Rightmire said. “That’s what makes us so special and valuable is that we provide treatment for those who are limited in their resources and who are able to come and get clean and sober here in town.
“We’re hoping that the community will rally with us to make this dream come true.”
ARTS is just one program of CADA, which was founded in 1949 as the Santa Barbara Committee on Alcoholism with an enlightened early perspective on alcoholism as an illness and not a “moral failing.” CADA is currently the county’s premier provider of education, prevention and treatment of substance abuse and related mental health conditions affecting youth, adults and families in Santa Barbara County.
CADA operates both adult programs and those serving youth and families, numbering five for each category and spanning Santa Barbara, Lompoc and Santa Maria. CADA’s Project Recovery has been a staple of the community for more than 35 years, providing safe, structured and low-cost outpatient treatment services to adults with alcohol and drug dependence issues. Each client has a primary counselor who develops and monitors his or her treatment plan, provides education on addiction and its medical consequences, helps clients understand relapse triggers, builds communication skills and self-esteem and identifies and addresses co-occurring disorders.
Other programs include the Multiple Offender DUI Program, school-based therapy, and the three Daniel Bryant Youth & Family Centers.
All of CADA’s treatment centers are operated with a commitment to providing a welcoming, warm and soul-nourishing environment.
For details on CADA’s program and how you can support the nonprofit –including the annual Amethyst Ball slated to move to May next year, call (805) 963-1433 or visit www.cadasb.org.
Community Voices (Continued from 11)
ask my questions... I was forced to recuse myself so as not to look impartial. There is a big difference between bias and the intent to do my job and understand just what this project really entails.
I am not opposed to Caruso enhancing what is currently in place at his hotel. I am not in any way opposed to Affordable Housing –although I would love to have seen it offered to our local First Responders, Sheriffs, teachers, etc. rather that some out-of-town employees, but that’s just my wish.
To conclude, I was appointed as a Montecito Planning Commissioner. My job is to ask questions and to do a deep dive into the information we are given to review. I am there to represent the well-being of the residents and retailers in Montecito. I am there to look out for your safety and, in the case of local traffic in the past few years, our collective sanity.
I did nothing wrong and had no bad intentions. I am simply trying to hold the County accountable to do some PLANNING before approving a project which will impact my great-grandchildren without proper analysis.
I would like to add that the tempest in a teapot about my questions apparently so deeply threatened the County
and Caruso, that there was a Press Release type statement sent by Caruso via email the night after the meeting. The communication questioned my integrity and accused me, basically, of collusion. Why are questions about this project such a threat? Why does Bob Hazard go on to further vilify me for asking questions? Whether those questions came from me, or Mr. Dracht, or anyone else, they were only questions. Asking them is part of my job description and my due diligence. No one had to go Hi Tech and use some App to discover their origin. I only had to be asked.
Caruso’s press release was handed out the following Saturday at the Montecito Union Carnival. I have lived and worked and participated in this community for over 40 years. My office is within several hundred yards of the Carnival location. The potential to impact my business, which relies heavily on my reputation as being honest and diligent and acting with full Integrity, has already eroded some people’s faith in who I am.
Is my asking questions really that frightening to them? Maybe I should go without a costume, just as myself, to Ghost Village Road and be the scariest one on the street.
Dear Montecito
The Front Lines of Hurricane Helene: A Healthcare Worker’s Story
by Beatrice Tolan
“They’re still recovering bodies. It’s the third deadliest hurricane behind Katrina and Camille,” said Yvette Vega, a Carpinterianative and healthcare professional living in Charlotte, North Carolina. “It’s a small community here, so if you don’t know someone directly, you know someone who does.”
Vega was fortunate enough to miss Hurricane Helene’s full force. “We didn’t have power for 12 hours, but when the sun went down, it was so beautiful you wouldn’t have guessed a hurricane had come through.”
The family of Vega’s partner, Jacob, live in a town northwest of Charlotte called Boone. They were not as fortunate. Hurricane Helene’s fury wiped out their digital communications, electricity, and water, leaving the rest of the family in the dark about their safety for two whole days.
aid after disasters. Appalachia, in fact, reminds me of the tight-knit community in Carpinteria.”
“After the third day of no contact, we made the trip to find them. What was usually an hour and a half drive became three and a half hours,” Vega shared. While Jacob’s relatives are safe and have regained power, they’re still encouraged to boil their water for fears of it containing bacteria and other living contaminants.
Vega continued, “Some houses in North Carolina are not expected to have power or running water for another six months.” As a witness on the front lines of the healthcare industry, Vega could not help but make parallels to a past, familiar tragedy.
“Hurricane Helene reminds me of the Montecito Mudslides. Even after six years, when you drive through Montecito, you still see the boulders that came down. And Montecito is affluent; rebuilding a town like Boone, which relies heavily on tourism, will take much longer.”
On the topic of resources, Vega lamented how the stereotypes of Appalachia might dissuade people from taking Hurricane Helene victims seriously. “The stereotype that everyone here leans towards one side of the political spectrum isn’t true, and jeopardizes our legitimacy in receiving
Vega was born and raised in Carpinteria, attending Crane Country Day School and Cate before heading to San Francisco to study Neuropsychology at University of San Francisco. Straight out of school, she started as a Clinical Research Coordinator at the ALBA Language Neurobiology Lab, working with patients who suffer a very specific type of dementia that affects language neural networks.
“Being multilingual – knowing English, Spanish, and French – has made me aware of the many social disparities within clinical research, trials, and treatments.” Her expertise as a researcher and communicator caught the attention of Meta; while she earned her master’s in public health at USC’s Keck School of Medicine, she worked full time at Meta in their User Experience Global Research Department.
But Vega knew where her passions truly lay. “While I loved research and
working in tech, I felt like my contributions to the general population were minimal and I wanted to return to healthcare.”
After six years in San Francisco Vega moved to Charlotte, North Carolina – not only to pursue her passion for healthcare, but to be closer to family and better investment opportunities. At only 26 years old, she works as the Program Manager for Neurosurgery and Spine at Atrium Health Hospital. “I’m on the surgeon’s schedule. If I’m in California and they call saying they need me tomorrow morning at 6 am, I’m on a plane.”
Vega credits her ambitious spirit and career successes to her USF undergraduate professor and mentor, Dr. Saralyn Ruff. “I have met very few professors that genuinely care for the well-being of their students wholeheartedly. I would not be where I am without the guidance of Dr. Ruff. Our educational system would be better if all students had an individual like her in their lives.”
Vega plans to continue her work in healthcare, helping North Carolinians rebuild after Hurricane Helene and future disasters to come. Vega enthusiastically shared, “I love my job and feel that my involvement – from administration, to nurses, to surgeons and patients – has allowed my team and me to produce the best possible patient outcomes in the southeast.”
A calm sun belies the hurricane’s wrath. Chimney Rock, NC. Sunday, Sept. 29th, 2024
Utter disbelief in the impact of the hurricane. Chimney Rock, NC. Sunday, Sept. 29th, 2024
Yvette Vega and her boyfriend Jacob find a moment of peace in Toronto, October 2024
The devastation found in Asheville, NC, on Sunday, Sept. 29th, 2024
Beatrice Tolan is a fine artist, animator, and writer living in Los Angeles after residing in Montecito for 20 years. She is invested in building community through unique perspectives and stories. beatricetola @gmail.com
Stanley Tucci is back with another memoir chronicling a year’s worth of meals in What I Ate in One Year
On and off the set, with and without a famous friend or two, Tucci’s memoir takes the form of diary entries as he dines in restaurants and home cooked meals in Rome, Dublin, and London amongst other locales, sharing wine and wisdom with his signature charm. Disclaimer, as I am a vegetarian some of the meals were stomach-churning, but I love his sense of humor and passion for food and sharing a meal.
‘Becoming
the Boogyman’
Out in paperback is Richard Chizmar ’s creepy fictional true crime bestseller (figure that one out) Becoming the Boogeyman . This is a sequel to Chasing the Boogeyman and it is just as riveting. Chizmar (a character in his book) is once again drawn into
Stories Matter Cold Weather Page Turners
by Leslie Zemeckis
the evil net of a serial killer. Problem is, the killer has been locked away in prison, so how to explain the bodies turning up and the evidence pointing to the Boogeyman? Chizmar’s style is breezy, winning and horror-inducing as the reader is sucked into the mystery and fascination of turning killers into celebrities. Warning: do not read this before going to bed.
‘The
Christmas Jigsaw Murders’
Alexandra Benedict gives us a unique heroine with her octogenarian puzzle maker in The Christmas Jigsaw Murders . Edie O’Sullivan is not your warm and fuzzy little old lady making tea and puzzles. She is grumpy, brusque, and living alone with her cats. Edie finds it hard to show affection for anyone, even her adopted son. When she starts receiving jigsaw puzzle pieces and warnings in the mail threatening her son, soon bodies begin piling up and she must race to solve the mystery in order to save her son’s life.
‘The
Children of Jocasta’
The Children of Jocasta by Natalie Haynes is a re-telling of Greek mythology’s Oedipus from the women’s point of view. And it is fantastic. There is the tragic Jocasta, Oedipus’s wife, and their daughters, Ismene, and Antigone. Haynes paints richly the world of Thebes as the story unfolds. Obviously well researched, the details of ancient Greece come alive with her moving prose.
‘The
Memory Dress’
Atogether in Jade Beer ’s novel The Memory Dress. Told in flashback – by a young Meredith who worked for Diana’s favorite couturier, and present-day Jayne – the story toggles between the two eras as Jayne tries to help her elderly neighbor Meredith; who can’t find her husband, William, and has problems recalling a past that may hold a clue.
‘Guilt and Ginataan’
In Guilt and Ginataan by Mia P. Manansala
is found dead in the corn
Lying next to her is Adeena, who can’t remember a thing and can’t explain the bloody knife in her possession. Lila is her best friend and along with her boyfriend they set out to solve the mystery. Peppered with Filipino recipes, this is a sweet read.
Leslie Zemeckis is an awardwinning documentarian, best-selling author, and actor. The creator of “Stories Matter,” professional female authors mentoring the next generation of female storytellers, co-sponsored by SBIFF.
famous dress once belonging to Princess Diana brings neighbors
, during Shady Palm’s Corn Festival the wife of the mayor
maze.
Your Westmont
Christmas Festival Offers a ‘Dwelling Place’
by
Westmont celebrates the 20th anniversary of its Christmas Festival, a highlight for many in Santa Barbara during Advent, on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 7 pm and Sunday, Dec. 15, at 3 pm, both at the Santa Barbara Granada Theatre. Tickets go on sale Monday, Nov. 4, at 10 am at westmont.edu/christmasfestival. For additional ticket information or to purchase tickets by phone, please contact the Granada box office at (805) 899-2222.
Each year, the festival celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ through an inspiring presentation with a theme, a narrative, and Christmas music from around the world and throughout the centuries, deepening our understanding of this holy season. This year’s theme is “Dwelling Place.” With the birth of the Christ child, God invites us to live in him as he makes his dwelling among us. The festive event features the Westmont Orchestra, College Choir, and Chamber Singers.
Petite Wine Traveler
Journey Through Santa Barbara’s Premier Vineyards
by Jamie Knee
This summer I reveled in the opportunity to traverse the vine-strewn expanses of Santa Barbara Wine Country, a treasure trove of over 300 wineries, each catering to a diverse palette of taste buds. As a dedicated Santa Barbara wine writer, each visit to these local vineyards is both a discovery and a homecoming. The region, known for its unique east-west facing valleys and diverse microclimates, is ideal for viticulture, setting it apart from other wine regions. Its cool marine air funneled by these mountains creates a microclimate ripe for viticulture, offering a prolonged growing season and ideal conditions for a wide array of grape varietals. While there are numerous fabulous wineries to explore, each with its own charm and specialty, the four I highlight here are perfect starting points for anyone looking to immerse themselves in the world-class wines of Santa Ynez Valley.
The Hilt & Jonata Winery
Ruth Lin , who has worked with orchestras and conductors from around the world, conducts the Westmont Orchestra and chairs the college’s music department.
Alumnus Daniel Gee, Westmont director of choral activities and director of the Santa Barbara Youth Symphony, will conduct the Westmont College Choir and Chamber Singers.
Zig Reichwald, Adams professor of music and worship, and alumnus Paul Mori (’77), conductor of the Santa Barbara Prime Time Band, will lead the congregational hymns.
Talk to Explore Maternity Care Deserts
Hospitals have increasingly been closing maternity departments around the country, including in California.
Stephanie Curtis, a Certified NurseMidwife and Westmont instructor of nursing, examines the issue of maternity care deserts in a Westmont Downtown Lecture, “Delivering in the Desert: The Impact of Maternity Ward Closures,” on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 5:30 pm at the Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St., in downtown Santa Barbara. The talk is free and open to the public; no tickets or reservations required. Free parking is available on the streets surrounding CAW or in nearby city parking lots. For more information, please call (805) 565-6051.
Curtis, who earned a Doctor of Nursing Practice from the University of Florida, will draw from her personal experiences as a midwife in
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In 2014, The Hilt Winery took a significant step by purchasing Rancho Salsipuedes, located on the southwestern edge of the Sta. Rita Hills. This strategic move included the construction of a modern hospitality complex and estate winery. The Hilt & Jonata, a family-owned marvel established in 2004, excels in producing pinot noir and chardonnay that reflect the nuanced elegance under the expert guidance of winemaker Matt Dees. The Barn at The Hilt Estate offers an extensive tasting lineup that spans the rich profiles of both The Hilt and JONATA estates, creating an unparalleled wine-tasting adventure.
Au Bon Climat
Founded in 1982 by Jim Clendenen and Adam Tolmach, Au Bon Climat specializes in Burgundian-style wines. The winery itself is situated in the northern reaches of Santa Barbara County, but it’s the charming tasting room in downtown Santa Barbara’s historic Presidio neighborhood that captures the essence of their craft. Here, wine lovers can explore a vast array of vintages, from the well-loved chardonnay and pinot noir to a selection of rare varietals. Each tasting explores the delicate balance between European tradition and the innovative spirit of the New World, guided by knowledgeable staff.
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Scott Craig, photos by Brad Elliott
Christmas Festival tickets go on sale Nov. 4
Ruth Lin conducts the Westmont Orchestra
Elizabeth’s Appraisals Panamanian Bat Basket
by Elizabeth Stewart
HHhas a lovely 10” tall Panamanian basket made by indigenous Darién Rainforest artists in the Wounaan tradition; you will see a lifelike bat design woven into the fibers. I would like to tell you that these naturalistic designs have been part of the tradition for thousands of years, but that would be misleading. Not until two European scholars visited the tribe in the 1980s did these baskets bear portrayals of local animals, insects, plants, flowers, trees, bords and iguana. These baskets through the ages were utilitarian and non-embellished, used for storing for water, precious stones, and foodstuffs. The STYLE of the baskets didn’t change through the years – as the forms were passed down from mother to daughter – but when the two scholars saw the natural beauty of the forms, they convinced the weaver women that they, the scholars, could sell those baskets if they added design elements from the rainforest or from ancient Pre-Columbian ceramic decorative elements. The weavers were asked to commemorate their history on the baskets. To encourage the market for such baskets, the women who formerly wove out of necessity and storage were renamed “Spirit-Weavers.” Thus, tradition was co-opted; but the new “tradition” grew a worldwide market.
The fibers which make up the baskets have, from time immemorial, been sourced from rainforest reeds and palm fronds. The chunga fiber of the black palm is a favorite of the weavers, who stitch fine silk black palm fronds called Werregue, colored with vegetable dyes, over the base coil of Naguala palm. The
colors for the designs are produced with natural extracts of plants, roots, berries and seed pods, fruits, flowers, and leaves. The Woun Meu (the native language of the Wounaan people) name for these traditional coil constructed palm fiber baskets is “hösig di.”
Almost every cultural group on the planet has made baskets, and almost every cultural group has made masks, whether masks are used for social bonding through traditional rituals, or to invoke supernatural powers. I found it fascinating that people during the COVID pandemic who were masked seemed less observant of society’s rules of polite decorum! Masks either present a new face to the outside world or hide a face from the outside world. The Wounaan masks were used in the past to serve a priestly function, to allow the wearer to access higher powers. Today these masks are sold in the international marketplace for decorative purposes, and the spirit figures, woven of fibers, are entertainment. Wounaan ritual masks formerly had been a private dance prop for the people and were worn by a spiritual leader. Embera shaman incorporated animal and natural figures into woven masks from the visages of birds, horses, cats of all kinds, monkeys, toucans, bears, anteaters, parrots, and deer. These spirit animals represented various archetypes or attributes of the beasts for a ritual purpose, with the figures representing the cultural tradition of the Embera, an indigenous rainforest Amerindian group. Once used in healing and cleansing dances for the Wounaan and Embera Peoples, there’s a shop online that will make you an Embera mask in the form of your dog for wall décor –a far cry from the animal spirit masks used to dispel an evil spirit considered responsible for a family member’s severe illness.
HH asks the value of her bat basket. It’s hard to say, because these are fairly new pieces and available online from $100-250 in this size. She writes me that she purchased it for $100 because she suspected it may have been Native American made, which it is not, and she suspected it was antique (over 100 years old), which it is not. There is no antique market for these baskets with designs, such as we find in the Native America basket weaving tradition, which has remained a feature of specific Tribal customs for centuries.
This basket is an interesting problem in valuation, because it is a stylized version of what the “developed” world thinks of as “primitive” traditional basketry. Strangely, this modern art form
has a growing market because of its artistry. They are truly beautifully made, and many are attributed to some of Panama’s best weavers. Some of the larger baskets with more intricate naturalistic designs can sell for thousands of dollars. I wonder how much of that income is retained by the weavers, although online sellers claim the money benefits the People...
Elizabeth Stewart, PhD is a veteran appraiser of fine art, furniture, glass, and other collectibles, and a cert. member of the AAA and an accr. member of the ASA. Please send any objects to be appraised to Elizabethappraisals@ gmail.com
This bat design and other flora and fauna motifs are a newer addition to traditional baskets, dating back to the 1980s
positioned to benefit financially. Of the $191,200.00 raised [for political advertising] to date, over $175,000.00 comes from three sources:
$150,000.00 from the SBCC Foundation
$20,000.00 from LPA, a design firm
$5,287.14 from Deane & Company, a campaign finance company
For years now, Santa Barbara City College’s elected trustees and administration have irresponsibly overseen the school’s budget. Enrollment has declined by 40%. Online teaching has likewise skyrocketed since 2020. Empty classrooms are leased (for a low nominal rent) to Antioch. But the budget continues to skyrocket and run in the red. Year after year after year.
I remember when classrooms across campus were full to capacity, every day and all day. By mid-morning, there were no spaces left in campus parking lots: east, west, or below along Cabrillo. Ten years ago, City College contracted with the city for parking spaces in the harbor area. Today, the college lots are maybe 2/3 full at prime teaching time, 10 am to 2 pm, only four days a week. Instead of adjusting for the dramatic enrollment declines, the college has continued business as usual. No reduction in staff, including top-heavy administrators and faculty with far-reduced workloads. No attempt to maintain those classrooms still being used. No attempt to adjust and plan as our student population has itself changed. That’s what good leadership does. Instead, it depleted the funding reserved for building maintenance. “Build, baby, build” during a downturn in student population. And take the easy way out: play on the public’s natural inclination to say yes to education, yet again. And count on us not keeping oversight of our hard-earned tax dollars.
Celeste Barber
Support for Guy Walker
The County Board of Education is an important governing body for serving children. Guy Walker is running for a seat on the board to continue a long passion of service to our community. His talent for divergent thinking, creating partnerships, and common sense have guided his leadership as a former College School District Board President, and on many other non-profit boards.
Although most citizens know little about what the County Board does, everyone who knows Guy knows that his center of gravity is doing good. The County Board serves some of our county’s most vulnerable students by overseeing the county office-run juvenile court and county community schools. When
serving on the Board, Guy will also consider charter school petitions, interdistrict transfer and expulsion appeals, and approval of the County Office of Education budget.
Nearly 30 years ago Mr. Walker shook my hand when I walked across the graduation stage at Santa Ynez Elementary School, a school in the College School District. Because of Guy’s mentorship I now serve as President of the Board. When setting the board agenda, I often think “how would Guy handle this?” He has been a mentor to many others, particularly in his role as a Trustee of Dunn School.
Guy’s voice on the County Board of Education will not just empower student success in my district – his leadership will reach across all of Santa Barbara County.
Dr. Peter Wright President of the Board, College School District
No on Prop 4
All is well and good for Prop 4 to protect California from “catastrophic fires.” If that was true, we’d endorse and vote for it, at least twice. But nowhere does Prop 4 describe what percentage of the bill will go to wildfire prevention and the latest equipment to put the fires out! According to CalMatters, “Prop 4 will add $10 billion in bond debt — costing $400 million every year for 40 years to repay — for ambiguous, short-term, so-called “climate” programs.”
Prop 4 gives the state of California a blank check to make costly mistakes!
Further, CalMatters describes another bond that seemed like a good idea at the time and “cost taxpayers $4.4 Billion in 2014 (10 years ago): the Sites Reservoir to add dams and store more water to send south. It is still years away from completion.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has already declared a budget emergency due to the state’s spending outpacing revenue. California faces a $62 billion deficit. We can’t afford additional debt to pay for questionable infrastructure programs. California is the most overtaxed state in the country. That’s why people who can afford it spend six months and one day out of the state to avoid taxes.
State Senator Brian Jones who represents California’s 40th Senate District asks why critical services, like wildfire prevention and safe drinking water, are not already a priority in the state’s General Fund budget?
Further, he writes, “Prop 4 will spend millions on so-called ‘infrastructure’ for farmers markets — things like popup tents, restrooms and hand-washing stations. It will also fund ‘workforce development’ to help ‘mitigate unem -
ployment,’ which of course is completely unrelated to infrastructure and climate. To top it off, the bond also includes grants for exhibit galleries at zoos and museums.”
These are make-work projects for government agencies to justify their existence. Even the LA Times, which reluctantly recommended a “Yes” vote on Prop 4 calls it “a Christmas tree with environmental gifts to private and public interests across the state.”
Please vote NO on Prop 4!
Anne Ready
In Support of Measure P
For over 100 years Santa Barbara City College has been a vital asset to our community providing low-cost higher education, vocational training, and adult education to our community. I became a trustee for SBCC in 2022. The opinions expressed in this letter are my own—a long-term resident of Santa Barbara and a Mesa homeowner.
Much has been written both pro and con about Measure P, a bond measure that would extend the tax rate approved in 2008 until 2061, releasing funds for much needed facility repairs and replacement. I am in favor of Measure P. When I voted to put Measure P on the ballot as a tax extension (instead of a separate new bond) I did so, not to deceive voters, but rather as the least painful way for taxpayers to repay the debt.
Why do we need a bond extension? If you take a walk on any of our three campuses (Cliff Drive, Schott and Wake) it will become obvious that our facilities need attention. And if we ignore the problems now, they will only continue to deteriorate and become more costly to repair or replace. We need improvements on all three campuses; Measure P addresses urgent needs for plumbing, roofing, paving, electrical, heating, along with replacement of the physical sciences building and the physical education complex. Retrofitting and replacing buildings is very expensive, yet SBCC does not receive significant funding from the state of California to do this because the state expects districts to fund major facility projects through local bonds. Instead the state offers matching funds and both of these building replacement projects would qualify SBCC to receive as much as $100 million in matching funding.
Who benefits? We all do! Santa Barbara benefits from the well-trained workforce produced by community colleges. These graduates are our nurses, auto mechanics, dental hygienists, cosmetologists, fire fighters, etc. Our children, grandchildren, neighbors and friends can all take advantage of free or low-cost entry into higher education. And people all over our community benefit from classes that enrich our lives from painting to parent education (and everything in-between).
Here are some facts about enrollment: In Fall 2023 SBCC had 13,427 students enrolled in credit classes. Of these students, about 55% were in-district students, about 38% were from districts elsewhere in California and about 7.5% were from out of state or international. Many community colleges specialize in specific areas; SBCC is known for its excellent programs in marine diving technology, culinary, nursing, and X-ray technology, to name a few. These programs attract students who wish to advance in these fields. Likewise, students from our area are welcome to enroll in community colleges throughout the state that offer the programs they seek, such as the fire academy at Alan Hancock Community College. In Fall 2023 SBCC also served almost 5,000 students in non-credit (adult education), offering a wide variety of classes that greatly enhance the quality of life in our community.
Why now? There will not be a better time to pass this bond. Putting it off until sometime in the future will only increase the problems – costs will be higher and campus infrastructure will be in worse condition and more costly to repair.
Bottom line: SBCC is coming out of fifteen years of administrative instability, leaving it with a budget deficit and an oversized campus. Fortunately, last year SBCC hired a strong and experienced president who is committed to leading the college as it realigns the budget and right-sizes the campus for the future. This is critical and hard work, but it’s not either/or. We can do both at the same time! With your investment in SBCC we can repair, rebuild, modernize and retrofit the facilities that so desperately need attention, while also balancing the budget and strengthening priorities.
Please support this valuable community asset and join me in voting YES for Measure P.
Ellen
Stoddard, SBCC Trustee
P for Prosperity
I write in support of Measure P. It will provide a needed investment in Santa Barbara City College (SBCC), a vital resource to our community.
For the past six years I have served on the SBCC Board of Trustees. I have twice been elected to the Board from SBCC Trustee Area 2 and twice elected as President of the Board. I have seen first-hand the deteriorating condition of our facilities. It has been my priority since 2019 to put forward to the voters a well thought out and narrowly focused bond proposal, I believe we have done that with Measure P.
The painful reality is that SBCC, like all California community colleges, has Letters Page 374
Montecito Health Coach
Fear: What Are We so Afraid of?
by Deann Zampelli
Before I became a mother, I had some pretty run-of-the-mill, irrational fears; snakes, heights, and flying cockroaches, to be exact. Well, not really heights, per se, but falling from great heights was a big concern. And did I mention the snakes?
Many years later, when we had our first child, these irrational stressors I had previously experienced miraculously disappeared. It wasn’t that I was now somehow fearless, it was just that one cluster of irrational fears were replaced by a ginormous one that my psyche now interpreted as A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER: protecting my newborn son. Who had time to worry about lions and tigers and bears? I had this fragile little creature to protect from the big bad world. There were germs, sharp objects, undiscovered allergies, hydrogenated oils, dirty sandboxes, processed meats, large purple dinosaurs, and kidnappers. (To be fair, I grew up in the 1970s when we were told every white van was certainly owned by one.)
With Hallow’s Eve and a Presidential election rapidly approaching, I started to consider the many ways we experience fear.
But first, some clarification. What is the difference between a fear, a phobia and anxiety? While anxiety and fear can feel similar, according to Psychology Today , “Anxiety does not necessarily require a triggering stimulus.” In the simplest of explanations, what that
means is that fear is a reaction to a perceived threat. For example, while walking to your car down an empty street late at night you hear footsteps behind you. Scary right? That’s fear. Anxiety’s version would be anticipating walking to your car after dinner and worrying about the possibility you might be followed, or the potential dangers involved in just walking down a street by yourself. A phobia, on the other hand – that is a whole different cauldron of snakes.
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “A phobia is an uncontrollable, irrational, and persistent fear of a specific object, situation, or activity.” Phobias are anxiety disorders that are no laughing matter. Almost 20 million Americans experience phobias, and the effects can be crippling; ranging from panic attacks to complete avoidance of the feared object by not ever leaving the house.
But what about the rest of us who don’t have phobias or anxiety, necessarily, but walk around each day experiencing fear without even realizing it?
Fear can be a positive influence on our behavior, in the same way that growing up in poverty can be a driving factor for some people’s financial success later in life. But, though an upbringing characterized by fear can foster our later survival instincts by reminding us to be careful, it can also cause us to make irrational choices. According to Northwestern Medicine Journal, “When the amygdala senses fear, the cerebral cortex (area of the brain that harnesses reasoning and judgment) becomes impaired.”
Fear of change is a big challenge that many experience; one of the numerous factors behind the vitriolic discourse we are frequently exposed to during an election cycle.
People are accustomed to their beliefs, their norms. They don’t want their routine shaken up. We grow up believing a set of truths, and when those are challenged it can feel threatening. It creates a sense of US vs. The Other. We are US and THEY are well, different. This fear can cause us to make irrational or often nonsensical decisions. The fear clouds our judgement.
Always having been a scaredy-cat myself, I have never gravitated toward haunted houses, escape rooms, horror film, or anything involving a jump scare. Strangely though, a few years ago I accidentally discovered my love of the suspense thriller. While on vacation, I stumbled upon one of those fabulous “take a book, leave a book” kiosks at an inn where we were staying. In A Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware popped out at me. After reading just one page I was in! Nine books later I am still hooked. I will often read her novels in just a few days, manically tearing through pages to find out who did it, who is the killer trapped – in the cabin/house/boat/whatever – with our apparent hero? I love the thrill of it all and the genius with which she lays out her maze-like plot. That is the closest thing I get to seeking out
fear. She creates a sense of jeopardy that pulls me in and holds me until the last page. However, is that really fear, or is that excitement?
But horror movies? Pass. The Sadistic Dentist Escape Room? Not happening. I have enough fear every time my teens leave the house. Ok, maybe that is more like anxiety, but you get the point. Still, I wondered, why do so many seek this out?
The UCSB publication Bottom Line (“The Science of Fear” by Hannah Maerowitz) summed it up best: “Far from being exclusively negative, fear can be exciting, novel, part of a growing experience, or even have a pleasant aftermath. Halloween may bring something we all fear – fear itself – to the forefront, and allow us to experience it in new and more enjoyable ways.”
Happy Halloween!
Trained at Duke Integrative Medicine, Deann Zampelli owns Montecito Coaching & Nutrition and has a broad range of clients working on everything from nutrition to improving their marathon pace. She also has a Masters in Clinical Psychology and has been a resident of Montecito since 2006.
Dr. Joel Rothman Director of the Center for Aging and Longevity Studies andDistinguished Professor and Wilcox Family Chair in Biotechnology at UCSB
Thursday, November 21, 2024 1:00 to 3:30 p.m. Hahn Hall, Music Academy of the West, 1070 Fairway Road, Santa Barbara
Advances in the science of aging mean that in the near future, human health might be dramatically improved not by individually treating many different age-driven maladies, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases as well as cancer, but instead by treating only one: aging itself.
Attendance is free, but all attendees MUST pre-register online at vistaslifelonglearning.org or by phoning VISTAS Business Manager at 805 -967-6030.
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PENDING ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO:
WAIVE THE PUBLIC HEARING ON A COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT THAT MAY BE APPEALED TO THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION AND APPROVE, CONDITIONALLY APPROVE, OR DENY THE COSTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT
This may affect your property. Please read.
Notice is hereby given that an application for the project described below has been submitted to the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department. This project requires the approval and issuance of a Coastal Development Permit by the Planning and Development Department.
The development requested by this application is subject to appeal to the California Coastal Commission following final action by Santa Barbara County and therefore a public hearing on the application is normally required prior to any action to approve, conditionally approve or deny the application. However, in compliance with California Coastal Act Section 30624.9, the Director has determined that this project qualifies as minor development and therefore intends to waive the public hearing requirement unless a written request for such hearing is submitted by an interested party to the Planning and Development Department within the 15 working days following the Date of Notice listed below. All requests for a hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, to Kathleen Volpi at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, by email at volpik@countyofsb.org, or by fax at (805) 568-2030. If a public hearing is requested, notice of such a hearing will be provided.
WARNING: Failure by a person to request a public hearing may result in the loss of the person’s ability to appeal any action taken by Santa Barbara County on this Coastal Development Permit to the Montecito Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors and ultimately the California Coastal Commission.
If a request for public hearing is not received by 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, then the Planning and Development Department will act to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the request for a Coastal Development Permit. At this time it is not known when this action may occur; however, this may be the only notice you receive for this project. To receive additional information regarding this project, including the date the Coastal Development Permit is approved, and/or to view the application and plans, or to provide comments on the project, please contact Kathleen Volpi at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, or by email at volpik@countyofsb.org, or by phone at (805) 568-2033.
PROPOSAL: PROMISE LAND LLC - AS-BUILT WALL
PROJECT ADDRESS: 1690 SAN LEANDRO LN, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108 1st SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT
The project is a request for a Coastal Development Permit with Hearing to legalize an as-built construction of an approximately 110 ft. long sandstone boulder retaining wall within the San Ysidro Creek. The wall ranges in height from 2 to 12 feet tall and 7.5 to 15 feet wide. The project will also include the removal of the top layer of ungrouted rock along the as-built section. No grading or tree removal occurred. The parcel will continue be served by the Montecito Water District, the Montecito Sanitary District, and the Montecito Fire District. Access will continue to be provided off of San Leandro Lane. The property is a 4.01-acre parcel zoned 2-E-1 and shown as Assessor's Parcel Number 007-280-012, located at 1690 san Leandro Lane in the Montecito Community Plan Area, First Supervisorial District.
APPEALS:
The decision of the Director of the Planning and Development Department to approve, conditionally approve, or deny this Coastal Development Permit 23CDH-00027 may be appealed to the Montecito Planning Commission by the applicant or an aggrieved person. The appeal must be filed within the 10 calendar days following the date that the Director takes action on this Coastal Development Permit. To qualify as an "aggrieved person" the appellant must have, in person or through a representative, informed the Planning and Development Department by appropriate means prior to the decision on the Coastal Development Permit of the nature of their concerns, or, for good cause, was unable to do so.
Appeals must be filed with the Planning and Development Department online at https://aca-prod.accela.com/sbco/Default.aspx, by 5:00 p.m. within the timeframe identified above. In the event that the last day for filing an appeal falls on a non-business day of the County, the appeal may be timely filed on the next business day.
This Coastal Development Permit may be appealed to the California Coastal Commission after an appellant has exhausted all local appeals, therefore a fee is not required to file an appeal.
For additional information regarding the appeal process, contact Kathleen Volpi.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
Information about this project review process may also be viewed at: https://ca-santabarbaracounty.civicplus.pro/1499/Planning-Permit-Process-Flow-Chart
Board of Architectural Review agendas may be viewed online at: https://www.countyofsb.org/160/Planning-Development
Published October 31, 2024 Montecito Journal
NOTICE OF APPLICATION AND PENDING ACTION BY THE DIRECTOR OF THE PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT TO:
WAIVE THE PUBLIC HEARING ON A COASTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT THAT MAY BE APPEALED TO THE CALIFORNIA COASTAL COMMISSION AND APPROVE, CONDITIONALLY APPROVE, OR DENY THE COSTAL DEVELOPMENT PERMIT
This may affect your property. Please read.
Notice is hereby given that an application for the project described below has been submitted to the Santa Barbara County Planning and Development Department. This project requires the approval and issuance of a Coastal Development Permit by the Planning and Development Department.
The development requested by this application is subject to appeal to the California Coastal Commission following final action by Santa Barbara County and therefore a public hearing on the application is normally required prior to any action to approve, conditionally approve or deny the application. However, in compliance with California Coastal Act Section 30624.9, the Director has determined that this project qualifies as minor development and therefore intends to waive the public hearing requirement unless a written request for such hearing is submitted by an interested party to the Planning and Development Department within the 15 working days following the Date of Notice listed below. All requests for a hearing must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below, to Soren Kringel at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, by email at kringels@countyofsb.org, or by fax at (805) 568-2030. If a public hearing is requested, notice of such a hearing will be provided.
WARNING: Failure by a person to request a public hearing may result in the loss of the person’s ability to appeal any action taken by Santa Barbara County on this Coastal Development Permit to the Montecito Planning Commission or Board of Supervisors and ultimately the California Coastal Commission.
If a request for public hearing is not received by 5:00 p.m. on the Request for Hearing Expiration Date listed below , then the Planning and Development Department will act to approve, approve with conditions, or deny the request for a Coastal Development Permit. At this time it is not known when this action may occur; however, this may be the only notice you receive for this project. To receive additional information regarding this project, including the date the Coastal Development Permit is approved, and/or to view the application and plans, or to provide comments on the project, please contact Soren Kringel at Planning and Development, 123 E. Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara 93101-2058, or by email at kringels@countyofsb.org, or by phone at (805) 568-2046.
PROPOSAL: HARRIS - SKIPPER - NEW SFD & DETACHED GARAGE
PROJECT ADDRESS: 1779 SAN LEANDRO LN, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93108 1st SUPERVISORIAL DISTRICT
The project is a request for a Coastal Development Permit with Hearing (CDH) to allow demolition of the existing residence, guest house, and garage and construction of a new 2,295 sq. ft. residence and 473 sq. ft. garage. Grading will include less than 50 cubic yards of cut and fill. No trees are proposed for removal. The parcel will be served by the Montecito Water District, the Montecito Sanitary District, and the Montecito Fire Protection District. Access will continue to be provided off of San Leandro Lane. The property is a 0.48-acre parcel zoned 1-E-1 and shown as Assessor's Parcel Number 007-340-005, located at 1779 San Leandro Lane in the Montecito Community Plan Area First Supervisorial District.
APPEALS:
The decision of the Director of the Planning and Development Department to approve, conditionally approve, or deny this Coastal Development Permit 23CDH-00022 may be appealed to the Montecito Planning Commission by the applicant or an aggrieved person. The appeal must be filed within the 10 calendar days following the date that the Director takes action on this Coastal Development Permit. To qualify as an "aggrieved person" the appellant must have, in person or through a representative, informed the Planning and Development Department by appropriate means prior to the decision on the Coastal Development Permit of the nature of their concerns, or, for good cause, was unable to do so.
Appeals must be filed with the Planning and Development Department online at https://acaprod.accela.com/sbco/Default.aspx , by 5:00 p.m. within the timeframe identified above. In the event that the last day for filing an appeal falls on a non -business day of the County, the appeal may be timely filed on the next business day.
This Coastal Development Permit may be appealed to the California Coastal Commission after an appellant has exhausted all local appeals, therefore a fee is not required to file an appeal.
For additional information regarding the appeal process, contact Soren Kringel.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Information about this project review process may also be viewed at: https://ca-santabarbaracounty.civicplus.pro/1499/Planning-Permit-Process-Flow-Chart
Board of Architectural Review agendas may be viewed online at : https://www.countyofsb.org/160/Planning-Development
Published October 31, 2024, Montecito Journal
AMENDED ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 24CV03779. To all interested parties: Petitioner Matthew Tanner Haynie
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Pivotal Management Group; PPG Marketing; Pivotal Promotions, 3201 Airpark Dr. Ste 201, Santa Maria, CA, 93455. Pivotal Perspectives INC, 3201 Airpark Dr. Ste 201, Santa Maria, CA, 93455. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on October 16, 2024. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the County Clerk. I hereby certify that this is a correct copy of the original statement on file in my office. Joseph E. Holland, County Clerk (SEAL). FBN No. 2024-0002429. Published October 24, 31, November 7, 14, 2024
filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Matthew Joseph Orosco. The Court orders that all persons interested in this matter appear before this court at the hearing indicated below to show cause, if any, why the petition for change of name should not be granted. Any person objecting to the name changes described above must file a written objection that includes the reasons for the objection at least two court days before the matter is scheduled to be heard and must appear at the hearing to show cause why the petition should not be granted. If no written objection is timely filed, the court may grant the petition without a hearing. Filed October 16, 2024 by Terri Chavez. Hearing date: December 6, 2024 at 10 am in Dept. 4, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published October 24, 31, November 7, 14, 2024
Folded Hills
At Folded Hills Winery, Kim and Andy Busch planted 15 acres of Rhône varietals in 2014 on their expansive 600-acre ranch in Gaviota, officially establishing the winery. This beautiful estate invites guests to connect with the land through its organically farmed vineyards and taste wines that reflect the region’s rich viticultural heritage. The tasting room offers breathtaking views and a direct link to the origins of each wine, providing a true sense of place that is as educational as it is enchanting.
Beckmen Vineyards
Beckmen Vineyards stands as a testament to biodynamic farming, being the first in Santa Barbara County to adopt this holistic approach when founded in 1994 by Tom and Judy Beckmen. The vineyard specializes in Rhône varietals, cultivated with a commitment to environmental stewardship and pure expression of terroir. The estate’s iconic red barn and duck pond create a pastoral setting that is quintessentially wine country. The vineyard’s commitment to biodynamic farming not only ensures the production of high-quality wines but also contributes to the preservation of the region’s natural beauty and biodiversity.
Santa Barbara Wine Country’s allure lies not only in its scenic landscapes and unique east-west mountain ranges but also in the dedicated vintners who nurture this land with their unwavering commitment and passion. The cool, marine air funneled by these mountains creates a microclimate ripe for viticulture, offering a prolonged growing season and ideal conditions for a wide array of grape varietals. Each winery visited represents a chapter in the ongoing story of this extraordinary wine region, inviting you to experience its vibrancy and diversity firsthand. As we explore these exceptional estates together, each bottle uncorks a narrative of passion, place, and the pursuit of perfection.
I invite you to join me in celebrating the spirit of Santa Barbara Wine Country – a region where every vine tells a story and every glass beckons a toast to the sublime. Let’s raise our glasses and embark on this journey together.
inadequate funding sources to properly maintain and repair its facilities. In some years the state provides a modest amount of funds for facility maintenance, but it is never near enough. Thus, each year the college falls further behind, and costs only go up.
The only available significant source of funds to protect the community’s investment is a local bond measure like Measure P. The reality is that SBCC has only had one successful bond since 1973, for $77 million in 2008. This is not nearly enough to properly maintain an excellent community college like SBCC.
Measure P will provide $198 million for repairs, upgrades, improvements and modernization. For a few facilities it will be more cost effective to replace rather than repair, especially when the facilities qualify for state matching funds. We estimate that up to $100 million in state matching funds will be lost to other California community colleges if Measure P does not pass.
Measure P is a tax rate extension, which means that it will not increase the tax rate above the $8.50 per hundred thousand dollars of assessed value approved in 2008. We chose this unique, uncommon, option as a way to minimize costs to taxpayers while making an impactful investment in Santa Barbara City College.
Each year half of all graduating high school students from Goleta, Santa Barbara, Montecito, Summerland and Carpinteria choose SBCC for their college education and job training. And with the Promise program their tuition, books, and supplies are free. Many of them will graduate after two years and transfer to a college or university for their final two years toward a bachelor’s degree. Others will receive training and education that will qualify them for good paying jobs in our local economy.
I urge a YES vote on Measure in support of the thousands of local students who depend on SBCC for their education.
Robert Miller Goleta
Why I Am Voting YES on SBCC’s Measure P, and Why It Matters
I am a first-generation college student who knows firsthand the value of community colleges in general and SBCC in particular. When I voted for Measure P as the vice president of Santa Barbara City College’s Board of Trustees for two terms, I knew very well about our college’s facilities. My support for Measure P is based on my service on SBCC’s publicly transparent budget and facilities committees.
My 2020 election to the Board of Trustees was during the pandemic with our meetings conducted over Zoom for approximately two years. After returning to in-person meetings I saw with my own eyes that too many buildings were past their normal life expectancy. Also, I learned that our community values SBCC because many of you told me so!
As Trustee, I embrace SBCC beyond its essential role of educating our remarkable workforce. As a proud former community college student, I know how it creates upward mobility pathways for all students, first generation and otherwise.
Measure P should not be controversial for anyone believing in public education as a societal good. Yet, funding for California schools has not kept pace with their financial need. Such neglect equals disinvestment in public education. As an educator and a childless tax-paying homeowner, I am happy for my tax dollars to go to SBCC and our deserving students. If we value something, we invest in it.
I love SBCC. I put my money where my mouth is. I hope you will too! Vote Yes on Measure P.
Dr. Anna Everett, PhD Vice President, SBCC Board of Trustees and Professor Emeritus, UCSB
Jamie Knee is a global wine communicator and travel writer, has hosted 100+ winemaker interviews, international wine judge, and holds multiple wine, sommelier, and educator certifications.
just take out this one trigger line, people may not agree with you, but they’ll at least be able to hear what you have to say.” So I do, because I don’t want to preach only to the choir. I want people to “at least hear what I have to say.” I suppose that’s what we all want. To at least be heard, and seen, and considered.
“Personally, I think we’d all do well to have a Tim Buckley in our lives. We need to relearn how to talk to each other with respect, even when we disagree. Without that, what we have is a world where none of us feels heard.”
So here we are, on the eve of this very important presidential election, and I feel the need to say something. To explain to our community the reasons why I put Kamala Harris ’s face on the cover of our paper – reasons which go beyond my excitement that I might be alive to witness our country elect its first Woman President. I’ve had the opportunity to spend a little time with Kamala Harris, though some close to me have spent more. She’s sharp and committed and passionate. She’s a fighter who truly wants to do well by everyone in this country, even those who oppose her. And she deeply believes in America’s potential; her joy is genuine.
I say all this understanding full well that mine does not represent everyone’s point of view, and that at this point, there are probably somewhere around zero swayable voters reading this. But there are other reasons I support Vice President Harris, and I want to explain those.
I was 40 when my husband and I married. So, I dated for a long time, and had many relationships – some long, some fleeting. But the common denominator I took from my decades long dating journey is: believe people when they tell you who they are! When someone told me on the first date that they had commitment issues, it always turned out to be true. My young self might not have wanted to believe it, seen it as challenge, but today I recognize it as a confession. If someone suggested they had a pattern of cheating, it turned out to be true. If early on they talked endlessly about their mother … well, you get the point.
So, when a candidate, or their proxies, tell us things, I think it’s important to listen. When they tell us they intend to lock up their political opponents, that their next term will be about retribution and revenge, that they would not hesitate to use the miliary or national guard on “the enemy from within,” that they believe that this country is “a disgrace,” and that if they win we will never again have to (or get to) vote, I believe them. And when they use language that is chillingly reminiscent of Hitler, who was elected in a democracy, for instance that immigrants are infecting the blood of America, or that “America is for Americans and Americans only” I find it deeply disturbing.
“These days it takes a concerted, intentional effort to have a nuanced understanding of an issue, making it very hard to have a real appreciation for the personal journeys that inform the divergent beliefs of others. That would take a willingness to walk a mile in another person’s phone.”
During WWII my mother hid for two years from the Nazis in an attic of a farmhouse in Poland. When the war ended, she and her family returned to their ransacked home only to be visited by their Polish neighbors who shot a gun over their heads, warning them: “Poland is for the Polish people only.” Forced from the only home they’d ever known, they traversed the Alps on foot into Italy where they spent five years in displaced persons camps, ultimately immigrating to the U.S. Like all of us, I come from immigrants.
Whatever the outcome of this election, the time has come for us to rethink politics and the nature of political discourse in this country.
Public service should not be about the personal agendas or insecurities or vendettas of our leaders. We must find a way to get money out of politics – it should not cost a billion dollars to run for President. The Electoral College is arcane and has outlived
its usefulness. Today this is a problem for the left, but things will shift, they always do. And when Texans finally get their act together and more of them vote, it will become a problem for the right as well. We must be able to ascertain truth from lies and to operate from the same set of facts, or our country will be endlessly divided. And divided we will fall.
Our elected representatives must spend more time working together to solve this country’s problems and less time trying to hold on to power. That is their job. If every minority party works to ensure that the majority party fails, it’s the people who will continue to lose. I also think it’s okay to expect our leaders to model respectability. Manners. Integrity. And fairness. So in them our children can see that good leadership matters. Because if it doesn’t, God help us all.
And personally, I think we’d all do well to have a Tim Buckley in our lives. We need to relearn how to talk to each other with respect, even when we disagree. Because without that, what we have is a world where none of us feels heard. Or seen. Or considered.
If you haven’t already, please vote on or by Tuesday, November 5th. And if your candidate wins, congratulations. If they don’t, remember, there’s always a next time. Isn’t there?
CANDIDATE ENDORSEMENTS
We believe there is value in constantly reevaluating our positions that sometimes come from a deeper understanding of the issues. You may notice that Prop. 36 is removed from this list. After further exploration, Proposition 36, titled, “Allows Felony Charges and Increases Sentences for Certain Drug and Theft Crimes.” We do not support putting more criminals on drug charges in our already overfilled prisons.
President & Vice President Kamala D. Harris & Tim Walz
United States Senator Adam B. Schiff
United States Representative, District 24 Salud Carbajal
State Senator, District 21 S. Monique Limón
Member of the State Assembly, District 37 Gregg Hart
Santa Barbara County Board of Education Trustee, Area 4
Guy Walker
Santa Barbara Unified School District Governing Board Member, Area 2
Sunita Beall
VOTE YES ON:
Proposition 2
Proposition 3
Proposition 4
Proposition 6
Proposition 32
landscape paintings and portraiture from impressionism to realism.
Waterhouse Gallery owners Ralph and Diane Waterhouse with artist Wyllis Heaton at their Santa Barbara gallery (photo by Don Millner)
Borders mega-stores came to town – an onslaught that eventually enveloped The Earthling – and is still here long after those bad boys went under. Even the advent of Amazon hasn’t been able to choke Chaucer’s, nor has the decision of its founder Mahri Kerley to retire and sell to married couple Jen Lemberger and Greg Feitt, the latter the book store’s employee for 20 years and general manager for the last seven.
In other words, making it to 50 means a lot.
Chaucer’s milestone celebration takes place on November 1 in a two-hour event featuring several special guests, including a number of local authors (T. C. Boyle among them), tribute videos, and words from the new owners and founder Kerley, who will be fêted with the Quire of Voyces leading everyone in singing “Happy Birthday” to the 80-year-old. The two winners of Chaucer’s “Tell Us Your Story” contest will read their works, and everyone will enjoy cupcakes and other treats, and be able to partake of the store’s annual anniversary sale.
“I don’t think there’s anybody else in our line of businesses that has lasted that long in town,” said Ralph Waterhouse, who is not only co-owner with his wife Diane but also a fine artist whose work is available at the gallery. “The gallery business is not an easy one. You’ve got to have a fairly thick skin and a lot of determination. But we have stuck to our guns as what we like to represent, and we’re still here.”
Indeed, the Waterhouses actually opened a second gallery at Coast Village Plaza in Montecito 18 months ago, which is managed by Diane as another labor of love.
“When we opened the first gallery, there were no personal computers, no Internet, and no black frames,” she said. “Times have changed but the gallery has always been a showcase for the most beautiful landscape, figurative and urban paintings. It’s just a big part of our life. We still have great passion for it and love what we do. We’re very proud of what we’ve accomplished and that many of our artists have been with us for years. And we love being so involved in the community with the arts.”
While the Santa Barbara gallery will be open for 1st Thursday, the bigger celebration happens on November 23 when nine of the gallery’s artists will be painting live in the courtyard, followed by an artists’ reception and a dinner party for artists, collectors and friends at a nearby restaurant. Visit www.waterhousegallery.com.
Forty years is actually stretching the truth when it comes to Sullivan Goss Gallery, which did indeed open in 1984, but down in Sierra Madre, where the gallery originally offered fine prints and later California paintings and contemporary art. The move to Santa Barbara came in 1993, when Sullivan Goss Books and Prints opened on State Street in Santa Barbara to sell both rare books and art. A year later, they moved to 7 East Anapamu Street for a larger space to sell books on art and architecture and historic and contemporary California art. Co-owners Patricia Sullivan Goss and Frank Goss added food and drink to the fare, resulting in the debut of Arts & Letters Café.
The art collection grew and expanded, and in 2004, the gallery got out of the book business altogether, expanding to include the building next door. 10 years ago, the much beloved Arts & Letters Café closed its doors, and in 2016 former Sullivan Goss employee Nathan Vonk acquired the gallery from Frank Goss. Whatever its history, and while both books and the bistro might still be missed, Sullivan Goss has continued to grow and expand its collection of artists’ estates and roster of new contemporary artists, both of which will be celebrated in a dual exhibition that opens on November 1.
Each of the gallery’s currently represented artists and estates will be exemplified by at least one of the artist’s works, alongside major works by artists who are important to the gallery –some 44 in all. A large number of the artists are expected to be present for the official reception on November 7 as part of the 1st Thursday art walk. Visit www.sullivangoss.com.
Chaucer’s Books was open in Santa Barbara long before Arts & Letter Café opened and closed. The independent midtown shop, which opened in 1974, the same year as the Earthling’s original store, survived the national bookstore wars when both Barnes & Noble and
“It’s a testament to the community of writers, readers, educators and partners that we exist. So the event is really a celebration of the community, a thank you to those that support us and buy our books,” said Lemberger. “Books and stories are windows and mirrors into our lives, and encourage empathy and understanding. There’s something special about book ownership, having a book to read and hold, reflect on, and come back to in different moments in your life. Books are the most ancient, advanced technology that we’re still using.”
Visit www.chaucersbooks.com.
Focus on Film
Trick question: Is Beetlejuice Beetlejuice –one of this summer’s hits – twice as good as the 1988 original? Not so much, which is why seeing Tim Burton’s now-classic 36-year-old Beetlejuice on Halloween seems like a special sort of holiday treat as it opens the Ojai Film Festival with a free screening in Libbey Park. The five-day extravaganza, which is marking its 25th year, once again presents a diverse selection of films, workshops, panels, and special events from October 31-November 4. Film highlights include Water for Life, Los Frikis, the documentary 999 — The Forgotten Girls, The Italians by Michelle Danner (who directed Miranda’s Victim, last year’s opening night film at SBIFF), Death Pays Flora a Visit, The Cigarette Surfboard, and the annual Gold Coast section showcasing locally produced films. A panel on “Navigating Film Distribution,” a live reading of the Screenplay Competition winner’s script, and a couple of parties are special attractions. Visit www.ojaifilmfestival.com for details, schedule and tickets.
Closer to town, the Alcazar Theatre in Carpinteria hosts a couple of cinematic special events starting November 2 with ECHOES: A George Greenough Experimental Show – a 50-minute six-pack of shorts digitally re-mastered in 4k by the Santa Barbara native surfer, surf photographer, shaper and filmmaking pioneer who was an early entrant in the visual documentation of deep tube riding. Greenough, who now lives mostly in Australia, will be on hand for a Q&A… The following night, the Alcazar screens The Bet, a fictional film about a grandfather and teenage boy produced by the nonprofit Community Film Studio Santa Barbara. A panel discussion with the filmmakers follows. Visit www.thealcazar.org/calendar.
Steven Libowitz has covered a plethora of topics for the Journal since 1997, and now leads our extensive arts and entertainment coverage
The annual Santa Barbara Jewish Film Festival gets underway November 6 with an opening night gala at the newly remodeled Bronfman Jewish Community Center, home of the festival’s fundraising beneficiary Santa Barbara Jewish Federation. The gala will be followed by a screening of Bliss at the New Vic, about a married couple with a more than 20-year age gap who must confront painful truths. Eight more films are on the slate, including Rob Mor’s Echoes of Loss: Eight Days in Israel, which pits his own personal loss of his wife against the tragedy of the Israel-Gaza crisis. Ádám Breier’s dark comedy All About the Levkoviches closes out the fest on November 10. Visit www. sbjewishfilmfestival.org.
Chaucer’s founder Mahri Kerley (photo by Jon Vreeland)
Ádám Breier’s dark comedy All About the Levkoviches closes out the SB Jewish Film Festival on November 10
Central and Southern California. She’ll explore how these populations have been affected and the factors that may contribute to the suspension or termination of inpatient maternity care. She has been an instructor at Westmont Downtown | Grotenhuis Nursing since 2023.
“This growing problem is a symptom of major issues in health care delivery affecting several facilities that provide maternity services,” she says. “It contributes to health care disparities and often leaves those in marginalized communities with even less access to care — some having to drive 30-40 miles to get to a safe place to deliver their babies.”
Westmont Downtown: Conversations About Things That Matter is a free lecture series sponsored by the Westmont Foundation, which also sponsors the annual Westmont President’s Breakfast in late February.
Warriors Race to PacWest Honors
Westmont senior Zola Sokhela finished fifth at the PacWest Cross Country Championships in Irvine to
claim First All-PacWest honors. The men’s team finished in fourth place out of 11 schools in the 8K race. Westmont’s men in the conference 8K – a pair of All-PacWest athletes – led the Warriors to a fourth place finish. The women ran to a seventh place finish out of 13 schools in the 6K. Senior Bryce Gardhouse , who transferred from Moorpark College, ran to a ninthplace finish, and second-consecutive Second Team All-PacWest campaign. Westmont will soon find out their plans regarding the NCAA Division II Westmont Regionals on Nov. 9 in Billings, Montana.
Volleyball Celebrates Seniors
The Westmont women’s volleyball team (10-9, 5-7 PacWest) will cele-
brate its seniors Kaili Hashimoto, Sara Krueger, and Taylor Distelberg on Friday, Nov. 1, at 7 pm prior to a match against Menlo College in Murchison Gym. Krueger leads the team with 179 kills. The Warriors have been stuck in the middle of the 14-team PacWest Conference standings with eight more conference games on the schedule. They return to action the following day, Saturday, Nov. 2, at 2 pm against Academy of Art University in Murchison Gym.
Our Town (Continued from 12)
I understand you are serving as a Board Member for Visit Santa Barbara… Visit Santa Barbara CEO Kathy Janega-Dykes and her team were some of the first people I met upon moving to the area. I shared that I wanted to participate and be a contributor to helping the area thrive, and was in turn invited to become a Board Member. Of course, I jumped at the opportunity to support an organization that is dedicated to promoting the region as a premier destination for leisure and business travel, and ultimately enriching the community and quality of life. As for other board service, I am identifying a nonprofit I can assist and hope I can provide a firm footprint in the community.
What is the coolest aspect of your position?
The coolest part is the fact that I work for and alongside the wonderful ladies and gentlemen of our resort, not the other way around. We are ONLY successful through our ladies and gentlemen delivering incredible experiences to all of our guests and have a fantastic and diverse team I get to serve.
As a busy executive, what do you do to unwind/recharge?
As much as possible I try to take Sunday off and spend quality time with my family. I’m an avid college sports supporter and have also been enjoying some of the American Riviera sites and experiences. We live in paradise!
What is the one thing we would not know about you from your press bio?
I moved here with my family; my wife Kris and two-year-old son Cooper. We plan to retire here enjoying everything about this incredible destination, learning more and more about why so many people have absolutely fallen in love with Santa Barbara. I have moved 16 times in my lifetime, with destinations across North America. My formative years were spent in the Bay Area of California and so my heart is here with my family.
It’s not you, it’s them. You know, the construction on Highway 101. The once beautiful peaceful drive now best described by locals as, “Sorry-not-sorry I’m late [again], I took the 101, tried the side streets and well, it’s complicated. And yes, my car needs a daily bath.” That along with the recent logical rant, “We can’t help but wonder if while the 101 Highway construction is on, can the town roads and routes not also be under construction?!” Indeed, the unannounced town road closures all day [surprise! – no longer a short cut] to the 101’s highway lane closures at prime traffic times [starting at 6 pm!] and dangerously unmarked new lane dividers, have made it more than a local guffaw. To make it easy for Our Town readers, we dove through the longwinded details on the SB Roads website. Here are the Caltrans plans outlined so far.
Montecito:
- Romero, Oak and San Ysidro creeks construction on new bridges installing underground bridge supports, building footings for the side supports, creek wing walls, and new storm drains
- Highway Northbound lanes and ramps construction including a new retaining wall and shoulder lane pavement.
- North Padaro Ln Interchange concrete site mixing and recycling nonstop
411: www.SBROADS.com, (805) 845-5112, or info@sbroads.com
GM Bradley Cance with Executive Chef Tillman at the Bistro kitchen
Stephanie Curtis to shine a light on maternity deserts Nov. 14
Zola Sokhela and Bryce Gardhouse (photo by Jacob Norling)
Seniors Taylor Distelberg, Kaili Hashimoto and Sara Krueger
Scott Craig is manager of media relations at Westmont College
Care. He talked about founding his San Luis Obispo eye clinic 15 years ago after volunteering at a hospital in Guatemala where they have done 19,000 surgeries in remote areas. Dr. Rajesh Saini provided details of his work at the Siliguri Greater Lions Eye Hospital located near Nepal and Bangladesh, with inspiring stories of children with cataracts being able to see again with these important surgeries supported by SEE International. Dr. Madhavi Reddy from Texas directed her speech to the future of SEE International and what to accomplish next, stating, “Goals are to increase the training of young ophthalmologists in regions of need, and for specialists in retinal surgery and other eye specialties, and to increase direct supplies to support partnering international sites and open more local clinics.”
From there, Geoff Green led the Ask starting at $25,000 with an immediate paddle raise by Dr. Levenson – Chief Medical Officer of SEE International, and the Medical Director of Levenson Eye in Jacksonville, Florida. After a thunderous applause from the attendees, Levenson announced he would match an additional $25,000 to anyone who would donate the same. Green put it out there and another paddle was raised to donate $25,000, thus reaching $75,000 in the first five minutes. It was a constant stream of paddle raises to Green’s wit securing an estimated $151,000. The total funding goal is $350,000, with proceeds to support SEE clinics in Santa Barbara and Ventura counties, SEE International clinics, and SEE Education initiatives to train medical professionals. Check the 411 to donate.
Closing remarks were made by Doctors Preeti and Janak Shah, who lauded the Honorees and Humanitarian 2024 award winners.
Following the program close, guests were given a commemorative wine glass and were off to an after-party with dancing and cocktails.
Attendees included VIPs Dr. John Crowder, SEE International Founding Board Member - Trustee Emeritus, and Gary Simpson; Alcon representatives traveling from Texas were Rhonda Bryant, Christal Clarke, Jill Ames, and Jody White; and from Sansum Clinic - Sutter Health were Toni Meyers M.D., Sitara Hanif Hirji M.D., Rebecca Hammel, Rosario Reynoso, Kirsten Wagner, Mica Bergman, Paulette Enriquez, Eliseo Rubio and Kristin Aller.
Also attending were the SEE International Board’s Scott Groff, Chair; Dr. Jeffrey Levenson, Chief Medical Officer; Howard Hudson, CPA, Board Treasurer and Secretary; Wright Watling, Assistant Secretary; and Board Members Dr. Dante Pieramici, William O’Connor, Lt. Col. Travis Morrow Esq., Kenneth Gack Esq., Dr. Madhavi Reddy and Dr. Lauren Shatz.
Golden Gala Lead Sponsor was Alcon. Top sponsors were Drs. Ilene and Jeff Levenson, Drs. Madhavi and Sundeep Reddy, David and Patricia Markoff, Robert Behrens, Dr. Michael Paveloff and Dr. Steven Carter’s Paveloff Vision Center, Genetech, The Julia Stearns Dockweiler Charitable Foundation, The Hutton Parker Foundation, CenCal Health, Sansum Clinic - Sutter Health, David and Patricia Markoff, Drs. Randall and Karen Goodman/Shepard Eye Center, Dr. Daniel and Ruth Shepard/ Shepard Eye Center, Howard and Lynn Hudson, and Montecito Bank and Trust.
SEE International, founded by the late Dr. Harry Brown, is dedicated to sight-restoring surgeries and essential eye care worldwide.
411: www.seeintl.org
SEE International Announces Humanitarian Award Recipients for its 50th Year
SEE International announced its Humanitarian Award recipients at a private event hosted by SEE International Board Chair Scott Groff and his wife Kohanya, at their Montecito estate, formerly owned by Michael Towbes, on Wednesday, October 23.
The evening soirée was limited to awardees, their significant others, SEE International staff and Board, and your Society reporter. Scott and Kohanya provided warm welcomes to everyone along with a cocktail reception and buffet dinner outside in the pool garden area.
At dinner, Scott welcomed everyone and said, “I’m here tonight with my heroes – the doctors who donate their efforts. We on the SEE Board are happy to support you, and do whatever we can, but you do the magic. I just returned from Namibia and saw the incredible work you are doing. It takes a village of people to put this together; logistics, the skill of the doctors, the supplies, the organization. It is an exceptional thing you are doing and I’m so proud to be a part of this organization. Thank you all for coming.”
He was followed by SEE International President & CEO Donald Bell, who addressed the awardees. “You are important members of the SEE family locally and internationally, some who have traveled a great distance to be with us tonight. As leaders in the patient care and global ophthalmology movement, you have shaped patient care. Many are committed SEE International surgeons and corporate sponsors who have defined what humanitarian eye care looks like and how it can be effectively delivered. Along the way, you have sponsored a generation of surgeons, volunteers, partners, NGOs and advocates around the world. On behalf of the SEE Board and staff, we are privileged and fortunate to be in your company tonight, thank you. And thank you to Scott and Kohanya who have welcomed us into their stunning home.”
The awards were given by members of the SEE International staff with a statement on the accomplishments of the honorees. The awards were in two areas, as follows. Honorary Humanitarian Awards for continued years of service went to renowned Namibian Dr. Helena Ndume; Dr. Preeti Shah and Dr. Janak Shah from Mumbai, India; French ophthalmic lenses manufacturer, Essilor International; and the late Dr. Michael Colvard.
The 2024 Humanitarian Awards went to Dr. Michael J. Paveloff , Dr. Jeremy Joseph , Dr. James B. Conahan , Dr. Reed Kindermann , Dr. Rajesh Saini , Matt and Lisa Lawenda from local Carpinteria business Blue Planet Eco-Eyewear ; Dr. Mark Silverberg from Sansum Clinic-Sutter Health; and the late Dr. George B. Primbs, M.D.
Each awardee talked about their work, provided statistical surgical achievements and thanked SEE International for supporting their work. The event concluded with a photo op of all the honorees and Scott Groff.
411: www.seeintl.org
Joanne A Calitri is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact her at: artraks@ yahoo.com
SEE International President & CEO Donald Bell (fifth from right) with honorees (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
The children of the late Dr. Harry Brown: Anny Ashbrook, Bradford Brown, Kelly Brown, and Cathi Brown (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
Kohanya and Scott Groff (photo by Joanne A Calitri)
tiara’s toss from the Duke and Duchess of Sussex – for the third year for 80 guests at the fun fête, An Artful Affair, organized by the Art Foundation of Santa Barbara.
More than a dozen artists – Wyllis Heaton, Ralph Waterhouse, Ray Hunter, Kevin Gleason, Rick Garcia, Nina Warner, Rick Delanty, Craig Nelson, Ann Sanders, Annie Hoffman, Andrea Anderson, Chloe Hourdequin, and Danuta Bennett – were featured while guests noshed on sumptuous fare catered by the historic Santa Barbara Club while quaffing wine from local purveyors. Frank, accompanied by his girlfriend Debbie Geremia, presented a fascinating history of his charming home, formerly part of the 84-acre estate of Stanley McCormick, founder of the International Harvester Company.
Quick draw works by Wyllis and Ralph sold for $1,600 and more than 30 other works on display were picked up by art fans.
Supporters checking out the easels included Maria McCall, Katherine Murray-Morse, Dirk Brandts, Hiroko Benko , Keith Moore , and Diane Waterhouse
Cartier Soirée
It was a real gem of an event when supporters of Lotusland descended on the Belmond El Encanto for a lecture on the exquisite jewelry of Cartier, the international bling emporium.
If the late opera singer Ganna Walska liked anything more than the plants and
flowers at her 37-acre Montecito estate it was jewelry, and she bought dozens of major pieces in her lifetime.
The silvery soirée was hosted by Worthy McCartney, who has spent more than 30 years with Cartier and currently serves as regional prestige executive sales advisor in Beverly Hills, and led by Gregory Bishop, who has been with the company for almost 25 years and serves as assistant vice president of Heritage and Sales Development, specializing in vintage and antique pieces.
Bishop is also responsible for sourcing and acquiring vintage items for the permanent Cartier Collection, as well as the Cartier Traditional Collection, sold exclusively at Cartier boutiques internationally.
One of Walska’s most interesting items was a diamond pendant necklace with ten large rose-cut diamonds – later sold to eccentric tobacco heiress Doris Duke – and a 1933 Cartier diamond necklace.
The sales of many of Walska’s Cartier jewelry pieces in 1971 enabled the gardens at Lotusland to expand.
Among the guests, who participated in a sumptuous tea afterwards, were
A CRISPR Conversation
Social gridlock reigned at Villa & Vine, the State Street eatery just a tiara’s toss from the Granada when 2020 Nobel Prize winning biochemist Dr. Jennifer Doudna – who alongside Emmanuelle Charpentier developed CRISPR gene editing, a genome engineering technology – spoke on “The Future of Human Health” at a dinner before the fascinating lecture. Notably, a novel technique dubbed “cancer shredding” also uses CRISPR to destroy particular types of tumor cells. Co-author of A Crack in Creation and the subject of Walter Isaacson’s bestseller The Code Breaker, Doudna explored the profoundly powerful gene editing technology, its ethical implications and its breakthrough applications in agriculture, the environment, and medical science.
Among the rapt audience were Patty MacFarlane, Katine Zaninovich, Ed and Sue Birch, Tom and Heather
Thomasine Richards, Anne Luther, Kendall Conrad, Caroline Thompson, and Belle and Lily Hahn
Some of the afternoon’s featured artists (photo by Priscilla)
Wyllis Heaton and Lucky Hoerner (photo by Priscilla)
Trustees Frank McGinity, Maria McCall, Linda Spann, and John Doordan (photo by Priscilla)
Lotusland ED Rebecca Anderson with Cartier’s Gregory Bishop and Worthy McCartney (courtesy photo)
Belle Hahn, Thomasine Richards, and Lily Hahn (courtesy photo)
Karena Akhavein, Flora Troy, and Elizabeth Patterson (courtesy photo)
CFSB Board members: Arick Fuller, George Tharakan, Lisa Guadagno, Richard Nagler, CFSB ED Lori Willis, Heather Suh, and Warren Suh (photo by Grace Kathryn)
Dr. Doudna with John MacFarlane, Dylan MacFarlane, and Patty MacFarlane (photo by Grace Kathryn)
UCSB A&L’s Celesta M. Billeci, Dr. Jennifer Doudna, Cancer Foundation of SB’s ED, Lori Willis (photo by Grace Kathryn)
Sturgess, Susan McCaw, Keith Lavine, and Ed McKinley
A Quick CAMA Recovery
Red tape caused major problems for the kickoff concert of CAMA’s 106th season with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra at the Granada when singer Thomas Bauer was unable to make the event because of visa issues.
Baritone and three-time Grammy winner Dashon Burton came in as a last-minute replacement, singing Mahler’s “Songs of a Wayfarer” with two symphonic masterpieces – Haydn’s “Symphony No.6 in D Major, ‘Le Matin’” and Brahms’ “Symphony No. 2 in D Major” completing the entertaining concert under conductor Jaime Martin, who is also maestro of Australia’s Melbourne Orchestra and Ireland’s RTE National Symphony Orchestra.
An enchanting evening...
Whose Eyes Behold Best?
The Duke of Sussex, 40, has beaten actor Bradley Cooper and soccer ace David Beckham in Harper’s Bazaar’s list of the hottest men of all time.
Riven Rock resident Prince Harry beat out strong competition, including actors Channing Tatum and Matthew McConaughey
Actress Meghan Markle’s husband
ranked 25th out of 50, just four years after he won the title of World’s Hottest Royal in 2020 in People magazine.
Taking top spot was the late ‘50s-star James Dean, who claimed the hearts of fans across the globe at the peak of his career in films like Giant and Rebel Without a Cause.
Brat Pack Flash Back
Montecito actor Rob Lowe “briefly” had a fling with Demi Moore, who went on to marry actor Bruce Willis, during their time as part of the Brat Pack in the 1980s, he’s admitted.
Morning TV talk show host Kelly Ripa on her podcast Let’s Talk Off Camera asked the 9-1-1: Lone Star actor if he’d ever dated Moore.
“I’m not telling tales out of school, but we briefly had a thing,” Lowe, 60, replied.
Almost Went with the Wind
At 91, Montecito comedienne Carol Burnett is finally thinking about retirement.
In a recent interview with Variety, the TV icon was asked if her Apple TV+ show Palm Royale would be her final on-camera job.
“Probably, unless there’s a cameo or
something fun!” Carol replied. She also opened up about her choice to end The Carol Burnett Show, which ran for 11 years on CBS from 1967 to 1978, with nine more episodes in 1991.
The variety sketch show had a staggering 279 episodes and was a key part of Burnett’s career, which has been going strong from the 1950s. During its run, the show drew in 30 million viewers a week – and won 25 Emmys.
“I called it quits because I thought we had done just about everything we could do, and we had started to repeat episodes in sketches,” she explained.
“I said, ‘I want to leave before the network started flicking the lights on and off and saying “Goodbye. Don’t do this anymore.’ I wanted to say goodbye.”
Arrivederci Billeci
Miller McCune Executive Director Celesta Billeci, the longest serving director of UCSB Arts & Lectures, is retiring after 25 seasons.
Though Celesta’s next chapter will take her beyond the Santa Barbara campus, her legacy of leadership will continue to inspire the community.
She is the third director of the organization, following in the footsteps of Peg Armstrong and Jan Oetinger
She arrived at the university following more than a decade of leadership at the UCLA Center for the Performing Arts, subsequently known as UCLA Live and currently as the UCLA Center for the Art of Performance.
Over the course of two and half decades in the top spot at UC Santa Barbara, she brought Arts & Lectures to downtown Santa Barbara venues and to national prominence.
Embracing the program’s unusually broad scope, Celesta grew the organization’s budget from less than one million dollars to its current level of more than $10 million annually.
On a personal note, we became good friends in the 17 years I have lived in
this rarefied enclave, and I will miss her bubbly enthusiasm for all things cultural, particularly dance.
Remembering Ron Ely
On a personal note, I mark the passing of Tarzan star Ron Ely, a longtime resident of Hope Ranch, who has died aged 86. Ely, who I last met at a memorial service for fellow actor Fess Parker in the rotunda of his eponymous hotel, now the Hilton, also hosted the Miss America Pageant between 1979 and 1981.
During his role of Tarzan on NBC in the ‘60s, he insisted on doing all his own stunts and suffered more than two dozen injuries. He retired from acting in 2001, but did return in a TV movie Expecting Amish in 2024.
Tragically his second wife, Valerie Lundeen, with whom he had three children, was stabbed to death in 2019 at their Hope Ranch home by their son, Cameron, who was later diagnosed to have been suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
He was shot by police responding to the dramatic scenes.
Sightings
Actor Josh Holloway noshing at Olio e Limone... Actress Robin Wright, ex-wife of Sean Penn, at Pierre Lafond... Weakest Link host Jane Lynch at Montecito Country Mart.
LACO played an enchanting evening filled with Mahler, Haydn, and Brahms (photo by Brian Feinzimer)
Billeci with New York City Ballet Principal Dancer Tiler Peck and MacArthur Award-winning choreographer Michelle Dorrance in 2023 (courtesy photo)
Jaime Martin directing the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra (photo by Brian Feinzimer)
Tarzan actor Ron Ely dead at 86 (photo courtesy of NBC Television, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)
From musings on the Royals to celebrity real estate deals, Richard Mineards is our man on the society scene and has been for more than 15 years
ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT
Calendar of Events
by Steven Libowitz
ENDING THIS WEEK
Step on it! – Carpinteria’s Alcazar Theatre ended its three-act thriller Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play that included Hitchcock’s The 39 Steps on October 20, while last weekend also brought the closure of Ensemble Theatre’s season-opening Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors at the New Vic – partially influenced by Hitchcock’s famous, fearsome, and funny Steps. But there’s still one weekend left of Westmont’s theater folk taking on the actual full version of The 39 Steps, the fast-paced murder mystery and international espionage plot turned spoof. A mere five actors encompassing numerous characters combine to present a riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, complete with accents and dialects adding to the broad comic timing and vaudevillian energy, not to mention costumes from designer Stacie Logue of Opera Santa Barbara and Music Academy experience. You can even enjoy the event as a late show on Halloween night!
WHEN: 9 pm October 31, plus Nov. 1-2 & 2 pm and 7:30 pm
WHERE: Westmont’s Porter Theatre, 955 La Paz Road
COST: $20 general, $12 students and seniors
INFO: (805) 565-7040 or www.westmont.edu/boxoffice
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Fall into the Folk Orchestra – The Folk Orchestra of Santa Barbara, who last performed in town just six weeks ago, is taking the title of its Fall Harvest concert series literally, culling from a global cornucopia of cultures and music. Featuring selections from harvest festivals around the world, including Galicia’s Fiestas de Magostos, Ireland and Scotland’s Samhain, Mexico’s Día de los Muertos and American traditions – the concert is designed to evoke the time of changing leaves, pumpkins, roaring fires and crisp evenings. It’s the latest brainchild of founder Adam Phillips who arranges the traditional folk songs with full orchestration for a 30-piece ensemble featuring bagpipes, mandolins, acoustic guitars, Irish whistles, harp, flute and a full contingent of classical strings – violins, violas, cellos, and double bass.
WHEN: 4 pm tonight, 2 pm Sunday
WHERE: The Chapel at El Presidio de Santa Barbara State Historic Park, 123 E.
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 1
Hold on… En Vogue is at the Casino?
– It’s overstating things a bit to suggest that En Vogue were the pioneers of female R&B groups, what with The Supremes, the Pointer Sisters and The Emotions providing shoulders to stand on. But when En Vogue launched in 1989 they did tweak things in that all the members were actual lead singers, not just back-up or dancers, setting something of a new bar that would be met by Destiny’s Child and many other descendants. Thirty-five years on, the current version of En Vogue features founding members Cindy Herron and Terry Ellis along with longtime singer Rhona Bennett, who continue to happily belt out hits such as “Hold On” and “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” that collectively resulted in albums sale of more than 20 million. The group has also received seven Grammy nominations, won two American Music Awards, three Soul Train Awards and seven MTV Video Music Awards along the way.
WHEN: 8 pm
WHERE: Samala Showroom at the Chumash Casino Resort, 3400 E. Hwy. 246, Santa Ynez
COST: $59-$89
INFO: (800) CHUMASH (248-6274) or www.chumashcasino.com
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2
Gate-way to the Streets of Bangka – Cloud Gate Dance Theatre of Taiwan was the name adopted by its founder Lin Hwai-min back in 1973 in homage to the oldest known dance company in China, as he created the first contemporary dance company in the greater Chinese-speaking community in Taiwan. In 2020, he passed the Artistic Director reins of Cloud Gate to Cheng Tsung-lung, who has ushered in his own creative works with traditional roots and excitingly innovative perspectives from the digital and globalized world. Tsung-lung’s 13 Tongues brings together all those elements in a personal piece drawn from his time as a child in the 1980s helping his father sell slippers on the diverse and bustling street scene of Bangka/ Wanhua, the oldest district of Taipei. The young Cheng was transfixed by his mother’s accounts of the legendary 1960s street artist and storyteller known as Thirteen Tongues, who was known for his ability to conjure up all the Bangka characters – high and low born, sacred and profane, men and women – in the most vivid, dramatic and fluently imaginative narratives. Transforming his childhood memories into dance, Cheng has based his own production on his experiences and these tales, with similar characters featured throughout and a unique blend of music ranging from Taiwanese folk songs to Taoist chants to electronica. The show merges the spiritual with the realities of life in this district, taking from both the religious heritage of Bangka/Wanhua and the modern secular world. Cloud Gate is uniquely up to the task as the dancers, who number 13, receive training in meditation; Qi Gong, an ancient breathing exercise; internal martial arts; modern dance and ballet. Manifesting in choreographies, the company transforms ancient aesthetics into a thrilling and modern celebration of motion.
WHEN: 7 pm
WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street
COST: $48.50-$108.50
INFO: (805) 899-2222/www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535/https://artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
Canon Perdido St (Sat) & Trinity Episcopal Church, 1500 State Street (Sun) COST: $45 tonight, $35 tomorrow INFO: (805) 260-3223 or https://folkorchestrasb.com
Seasonal Swan Song for SBAcoustic – Fear not: the acoustic music series now expanded to two venues interweaving performances of stringed sounds isn’t going on extended hiatus again. It’s just that tonight’s concert in collaboration with The Community Arts Workshop represents the final show of the year for the group. This series is the one that focuses on local luminaries plying the unamplified string trade, and tonight’s concert boasts Leokāne Pryor and Kimo West, the Hawaiian Slack Key guitar specialists who both live here and on the islands. West is a 2021 Grammy Winner, 2008 winner of the Hawaii Music Awards and four-time Nā Hōkū Hanohano nominee (the Hawaiian ‘Grammy’), while singer-songwriter Pryor focuses on the culture and music of Oahu. The Hula Dancers from Ka Hale Hula O Pilialohaokalani O Hilo will also be part of their set. Opening is longtime local John Lyle, the solo acoustic guitarist whose instrumental compositions draw from a large musical palette.
WHEN: 6 pm socializing, 7 pm concert
WHERE: Community Arts Workshop, 631 Garden St.
COST: $25 general, $20 reserved INFO: https://sbacoustic.com or www.sbcaw.org/upcoming
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3
KT & Colvin in Solvang – Both KT Tunstall and Shawn Colvin have made frequent appearances in Santa Barbara, including relatively recent respective repeat concerts at the Lobero. But as far as we know, they’ve never performed together in the area. That all changes tonight when the pair of powerful, inde-
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 3
Library Plaza Palooza – The chain link fence covered by opaque black plastic has been torn down, and the open air and alleyways are once again accessible. So let the games, the concerts, the dancing, the gathering, and the celebrations begin as the Michael Towbes Library Plaza celebrates its grand opening. Performances from a diverse selection of local ensembles include Santa Barbara Symphony, CAMA, Franklin Elementary Folklorico Academy, SB High Jazz Band, Flamenco SB and more, while children’s activities boast Balloon Animals, Bubble Guy, the Children’s Creative Project, Face painting and PAL’s Touch a Truck. Also on the agenda: interactive activities for all ages, library tours, a book sale by Friends of the Library, and film screenings in the Faulkner Gallery. More than 40 nonprofits will also be represented at tables on the closed-down block of Anapamu St. – the plaza’s not that big – where a fearsome foursome of food trucks will also provide optional meals and snacks. It’s just the opening salvo of what is expected to be a plethora of future activities at Santa Barbara’s new public square in the heart of the arts district.
WHEN: 12 noon-4 pm
WHERE: 40 E. Anapamu St.
COST: free
INFO: (805) 689-2448 or https://sblibraryfoundation.org/what-we-fund/ library-plaza-campaign
pendent-minded singer-songwriters share the stage at the Solvang Theatrefest, whose recently refurbished amphitheater boasts great sightlines and acoustics. UnitingTunstall, best known for hits “Black Horse and the Cherry Tree” and “Suddenly I See,” with Colvin, the Grammy-winner of “Sunny Came Home” fame, is an act of sheer singer-songwriter genius that should pay dividends far beyond the Danish village.
INFO: (805) 686-1789 or https://solvangtheaterfest.org
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 7
Perlman and Pals – Israeli-American violinist
Itzhak Perlman has been performing as a violin virtuoso for more than 65 years. Perlman’s career – launching with appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show at 12, and soloing in Carnegie Hall at 19 – has by now included playing just about every venue of consequence in the world, and collecting such awards as the Presidential Medal of Freedom and a solid 16 Grammys. Perlman enjoys superstar status rarely afforded a classical musician, beloved for his charm and humanity as well as his talent, as audiences are awed by both his artistry and the evident irrepressible joy when he is making music. Naturally, Perlman has a lot of friends – musical colleagues of extraordinary esteem who enjoy spending time with the now 79-year-old legend. Tonight offers a rare opportunity to see the violinist with several such peers, including two of the world’s most distinguished pianists in Emanuel Ax and Jean-Yves Thibaudet and the estimable, well-established Juilliard String Quartet in an evening of exceptional chamber music. The program encompasses works spanning three centuries, boasting Leclair’s Sonata for Two Violins in e minor, Op. 3 no. 5”; Mozart’s “Piano Quartet No. 2 in E-flat Major, K. 493”; and Chausson’s “Concert for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21.” You might not want to miss this one.
WHEN: 7 pm
WHERE: Granada Theatre, 1214 State Street
COST: $48.50-$108.50
INFO: (805) 899-2222/www.granadasb.org or (805) 893-3535/https:// artsandlectures.ucsb.edu
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Montecito Electric Repairs and Inspections Licensed C10485353 805-969-1575
PET/ HOUSE SITTING
Do you need to get away for a weekend, week or more? I will house sit and take care of your pets, plants & mail. I have refs if needed. Call me or text me. Christine (805) 452-2385
CARPET CLEANING
Carpet Cleaning Since 1978 (805) 963-5304
Rafael Mendez Cell: 689-8397 or 963-3117
Ocean view plot off of Bluff Ave. Island Edition-C #83 $39,000 For info (805) 455-0731
Mountain Facing Plot in Santa Barbara Cemetery $16,000 (805) 455-3021
KNIFE SHARPENING SERVICES
EDC Mobile Sharpening is locally owned and operated in Santa Barbara. We specialize in (No-Entry) House Calls, Businesses, and Special Events. Call (805) 696-0525 to schedule an appointment.
$10 MINIMUM TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD
It’s simple. Charge is $3 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $10 per issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email Classified Ad to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860. All ads must be finalized by Friday at 2pm the week prior to printing. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex (3% surcharge)
ESTONIA GRAND PIANO FOR SALE
Estonia 5’6” grand piano, excellent condition, bench and cover, photos available, Santa Ynez location. Professionally maintained. $8950 Perfect for aspiring student! 805-895-8400
DOWNSIZING SALE
Art, antiques, furniture, and miscellaneous. 3090 Eucalyptus Hill Road, Montecito CA 9 am – 5 pm 11/02/24 – 11/03/23
DONATIONS NEEDED
Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary Menagerie 2430 Lillie Avenue Summerland, CA 93067 (805) 969-1944
Donate to the Parrot Pantry! At SB Bird Sanctuary, backyard farmer’s bounty is our birds’ best bowl of food! The flock goes bananas for your apples, oranges & other homegrown fruits & veggies.
Volunteers
Do you have a special talent or skill? Do you need community service hours? The flock at SB Bird Sanctuary could always use some extra love and socialization. Call us and let’s talk about how you can help. (805) 969-1944
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED
K-9 PALS need volunteers to be foster parents for our dogs while they are waiting for their forever homes. For more information info@k-9pals.org or 805-570-0415
Heal the Ocean proudly salutes the generous Sponsors and Supporters who made our Imaginary Gala 2024, themed “Passport Travel to a Clean Ocean,” such a success! Through our Imaginary Gala format, 100% of your donations go directly to our mission and programs.
We thank Julia Louis-Dreyfus for being our Honorary Chair and hosting with such joy. We deeply appreciate the following Sponsors and Supporters for believing in our cause.
PLATINUM
Julia Louis-Dreyfus & Brad Hall
Nora McNeely Hurley & Michael Hurley
EXCELLENCE
Dan & Rae Emmett/Emmett Foundation
Sam and Sherilyn Scranton Rev. Trust
Pam & Jon Shields
Tomchin Family Foundation
LUXURY
James J. Mitchell/ James J. Mitchell Trust
PREMIUM
Jeanne & Robert Anderson/ RJA Foundation
Marcy Carsey/ Carsey Family Foundation
Charles & Brynn Crowe/ Kirby-Jones Family Foundation
Roy E. Crummer Foundation
Steve Starkey & Olivia Erschen
Adam & Kara Rhodes/WWW Foundation
FIRST CLASS
Peter & Nini Seaman
Tom & Sheila Cullen
The Dolotta Family Charitable Foundation
MAIN CABIN
Peter & Rebecca Adams
MJ & Brad Bakove
Stephen & Maria Black Junk Girls*
Richard & Connie Kennelly
Tom & Ami Kearns/ Kearns Family Giving Fund
Chris & Connie Lambert
Andy & Yvonne Neumann
2024 IMAGINARY GALA SPONSORS
CLASSIC
ANONYMOUS (3)
Susan Baerwald & Marcy Carsey/ Just Folk
Thomas & Nancy Crawford
Rinaldo & Lalla Brutoco/
Omega Point Institute
Johnson Ohana Foundation
Judith Little/William B. Little & Judith A. Little Charitable Trust
Pete & Jillian Muller/
Dancing Tides Foundation
Jack & Sheri Overall/ Overall Family Foundation
Pat & Maire Radis
Garland & Brenda Reiter/Garland and Brenda Reiter Family Foundation
COMFORT PLUS
ANONYMOUS
Marla Mercer & Frederick C. Herzog III/ Herzog & Mercer Living Trust
John & Gloria McManus
Travis Turpin
Alex & Gina Ziegler
PREFERRED
Larry & Wendy Barels
Donald & Noelle Burg
Ani Casillas
Zora & Les Charles/ The Cheeryble Foundation Nomadix*
Ellen L & Thomas Orlando
Ron & Stacy Pulice/Pulice Trust
Blair & Steve Raber
Charles & Eileen Read
Nancy Glaze Schaub
Rob & Pru Sternin/Sternin Family Fund
Patsy Tisch in honor of Hilary Tisch
Hunter & Casey Turpin
Jonathan & Elise Wygant
BUSINESS
ANONYMOUS
Kent & Brier Allebrand/Turpin Family Charitable Foundation/B&B Foundation
