39 minute read
Spirituality Matters
MONTECITO JOURNAL44 “Music in the soul can be heard by the universe.” – Lao Tzu Radhule’s Refuge in the Storm: Connecting in a Time of Conflict and Coronavirus Spirituality Matters by Steven Libowitz “Spirituality Matters” highlights two or three Santa Barbara area spiritual gatherings. Unusual themes and events with that something extra, especially newer ones looking for a boost in attendance, receive special attention. For consideration for inclusion in this column, email slibowitz@yahoo.com. S anta Barbara meditation leader Radhule Weininger sent out a missive to her mailing list over last weekend, and also asked if I could find some space in my column for her thoughts on anxiety over the growing cases of the Coronavirus as well as the coming election. Here’s an edited version:
“I am listening to a rising swell of alarm about the spread of the Coronavirus, knowing that we have a need to inform ourselves, to make ourselves as safe as possible, and to protect ourselves and our families. But terror management can disconnect us, as fear of a pandemic can make us circle our wagons, contract and become less open to others. While this unpredictable, mysterious virus is a real danger, it could perhaps also be seen as a metaphor for so much else that is alarming, uncertain, and potentially dangerous on a very primal level.
“What helps us to protect ourselves in a time like this? And in the midst of all these forces that feel quite volatile and scary, how can we keep our hearts open?
“Recently, I talked with my friend and mentor Joanna Macy (the author, teacher and Buddhist scholar who has offered ‘The Work That Reconnects’ since the 1970s) about the effects we may notice within ourselves when having to deal with an acute or ongoing crisis. She told me that ‘The human spirit does not want to avoid. When we turn away from reality, then our energy contracts and wanes, and we begin to feel dull and tired… We have been given eyes, ears, and intelligence. As humans, we are called to meet courageously what is obstructing our path. That gives us energy. When we meet the challenges in front of us, may they be illness, climate crisis, danger to our democracy or to vulnerable fellow humans, then we become discerning, eloquent, courageous, and able to hold our heads up. Courage gives us the energy to see when things are not right. Then we can feel healthy anger, our passion for justice and democracy. And this awakens our compassion.’
“Courage in French means ‘large-heartedness’. How do we keep our hearts large and wide open times such as these? Perhaps, as Rumi said, ‘Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing there is a field. I’ll meet you there’. I want to encourage you, and myself, to ask how we can find our way to this field of compassion. Maybe through spiritual practice, compassionate work for others and our world, or connection with trees, mountains and the earth? No matter what happens, we are held by something deeper that gives us security and makes it possible for us to show up and be present.”
Radhule Weininger, Ph.D. MD, offers donation-based meditation sessions weekly at Yoga Soup, The Sacred Space in Summerland and St. Michael’s in Isla Vista. The community-oriented Solidarity and Compassion Project meets at the Unitarian Society’s Parish Hall from 7-8.30 pm each second Wednesday of the month, featuring guest speakers from the community to discuss healing during difficult times and bringing together members of the leading faith traditions, as well as a variety of thinkers, visionaries and activists. The event on March 11 addresses the theme of “Refuge in the Storm” with meditation, a panel of speakers, discussion, music and sharing community. Visit www.mind fulheartprograms.org. ‘Death is But a Dream’ Visiting Nurse & Hospice Care of Santa Barbara’s 7th Annual PHorum features the return of Dr. Chris Kerr, neurobiologist and CEO & Chief Medical Officer for the Center for Hospice and Palliative Care in Buffalo, New York, whose new book, Death is But a Dream, celebrates our power to reclaim dying as a deeply meaningful and soothing process for both patients and their loved ones as well as a form of spiritual healing. Dr. Kerr will discuss his latest findings in his research on end-of-life experiences, which has received international attention and been featured in The New York Times and Atlantic Monthly as well as on the BBC.
In his first study, using quantifiable data, Dr. Kerr demonstrated that pre-death dreams and visions are experienced by the majority of dying patients, with positive psychological and spiritual benefits. At VNA Health’s Phorum, which takes place 5-7 pm next Thursday, March 12, at the Lobero Theatre, will discuss his recent studies which examine how such experiences help the dying grow and adapt as life ends as well as the effect of these experiences on the loved ones left behind. Free admission with required registration at https://vna. health/ways-to-give/special-events/ phorum2020. Call (805) 690-6218 for more information. Free Yoga… from the Ground Up Sierra Nolan’s free Yoga 101 Workshop: Foundations of Yoga is designed for first-timers, beginners or those who want to dig deeper into the yoga tradition and fine-tune their primary yoga asanas (poses). The two-hour session, slated for 1-3 pm on Saturday, March 7, at Divinitree Santa Barbara downtown, provides a non-intimidating environment to ask any questions you have about yoga – the poses, history, philosophy, breathing, meditation, and more – so you can maximize the benefit and understanding of the practice. Students will also learn how to use props and their own body to modify poses and movements to meet their unique needs. The poses will then be incorporated into an accessible and moderately-paced Vinyasa flow that links movement and breath. The intention is to provide participants with the tools to start confidently practicing yoga at home or in the studio. Studio Special Events Amardeep Kaur leads a Kundalini Yoga & Gong Experience – featuring sound healing, mantra chanting, and movement to assist in centering, grounding, and “awakening to the indescribable ecstasy of life” – from 7-8:30 pm on Friday, March 6, at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center ($20)... Also this week at SBYC: Sequences for Well-Being in a Stressful World with Sarah Tuttle offering specific Iyengar sequences and modifications to address such issues as headaches, digestive distress, insomnia, and anxiety 2-4:30 on Saturday, March 7 ($45); and Cheri Clampett’s monthly Therapeutic Yoga featuring breath awareness, guided meditation, handson healing massage, essential oils, and live improvised waveforms with healing intention played by Avahara, 2-4:30 on Sunday, March 8 ($50).
On tap at Yoga Soup is the monthly First Fridays Ecstatic Dance, this month featuring Aaron Musicant spinning the tunes for the “live DJ getdown dance party” featuring a contact improv warm-up and then free-form dancing to music that follows an ecstatic dance “wave” with slow and mellow music building to chaotic intensity and then returning to stillness at the end (7-9:30 Friday, March 6; $15)… Patrick San Francesco’s periodic Full Moon Meditation, Healing & Talk takes place 7-9 pm on Saturday, March 7, with individual healing followed by a guided live full moon “Harmony” meditation and talk on the topic of “What is the Universe?” ($30). Tricia Speidel’s Chakra Balancing Workshop at Power of Your Om yoga studio is an introductory class journeying through the system of energy centers that have an enormous impact on our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well-being by affecting our perceptions, feelings, and choices. She’ll employ essential oils, asana (poses), and meditations for each chakra, from root to crown (7:30-9:30 Friday, March 6; $40).
Meetup Minis
Santa Barbara Spirituality Cafe’s second gathering, slated for 2:30- 5 pm on Saturday, March 7, at 108 Northridge Road, will be the first meeting to move beyond administrative issues into the intention to share knowledge and interests, and inspire one another to be active in the community. The hope is to apply spirituality to some program or action to one’s own work or interest, with the intention that as a community of like-minded people we can do our little bit to make the world a better place. Visit www.meetup.com/SantaBarbara-Spirituality-Cafe-MeetupGroup/events/268638900… Heart Songs Kirtan Circle’s Darren Marc and friends Kelly Irelan, Jayananda and Amy Bankoff join together to offer a celebration of the heart, including kirtan (call-and-response singing of simple chants incorporating mantra and English lyrics), sharing cacao and essential oils to uplift mind, body, and spirit (7-9 pm Saturday, March 7, at 37 Colusa Drive in Goleta; $10 suggested donation; www.meetup.com/ Song-Circle-Cacao-Medicine-MusicKirtan)... SB Psychedelic Integration Circle’s monthly gathering to discuss experiences with entheogens, psychedelics and plant medicines as well as explore insights and support for the purpose of integration and healing takes place Monday, March 9, at a private home on the West Side. Details at www.meetup.com/SB-PsychedelicIntegration-Circle.
We are Sorry
The Montecito Vedanta Temple was not asked or notified about a planned event scheduled for last weekend by the Santa Barbara-BuddhistMeditation Meetup, which was canceled before taking place. We were asked to run a clarifying statement about the temple’s policies to avoid any future issues. The Vedanta Temple welcomes people from all religions and denominations for quiet prayer and meditation, but is not available for outside groups to use for organized events. •MJ
THE LONG NOW (Continued from page 33) Manager, is a garrulous, passionate believer in the future of Santa Barbara with an expansive vision of the future. The title “Parking Manager” doesn’t come close to describing what he does. Dayton oversees some of the most valuable property in the city – the surface parking lots, which may become instrumental in the future evolution of Santa Barbara. Twenty percent of State Street real estate is downtown parking. Cisterns for Capturing Rainwater for Reuse
One stunning idea in the 2017 charrette, remarkable for its simplicity, is the appearance of collective downtown water capture, or the ancient idea of cisterns. Rainwater is a natural resource, but the city has managed to turn it into a nuisance. Landowners are required to capture it and filter it back into the groundwater. The infeasibility of this regulation downtown is obvious.
“Why aren’t we just collecting it, and figuring out a way to reuse it?” Clay Aurell remarked. “If you go to Israel, they use their water seven times before they dispose of it.” We all know exactly where at the end of city streets the water ends up and where it can be collected and recycled.
All in all, these drawings bring out what is beautiful and unique about Santa Barbara urban design, featuring the use of paseos, a signature of Bernard Hoffman’s original plans from the 1920s, to connect paths throughout the downtown area, crisscrossing the grid of Santa Barbara streets adding a leisurely human dimension. The AIA designs are one potential, a beautiful evocative well-executed vision for downtown Santa Barbara’s future.
THE LONG NOW Page 484
Team 9 (Architects: Chris Manson-Hing, Cass Ensberg, Christine Pierron, Karl Kras, Elizabeth Wentling: Landscape: Katie Klein) looked at a city block cross section – creating cisterns for water capture and rooftop gardens and robust usage above and below street level
MERRAG COMMUNITY AWARENESS EVENT For Family Safety and Emergency Preparedness “FIRE SAFETY & SMALL FIRE SUPPRESSION” Thursday – March 12, 2020 10am - noon Montecito Fire Department 595 San Ysidro Road In this class, you will learn about: • Fire Chemistry – How fire occurs, classes of fire, how to extinguish each type of fire • Fire & Utility Hazards – Potential fire and utility hazards in the home and workplace, fire prevention strategies • Fire Sizeup Considerations – How to evaluate fires, assess firefighting resources, and determine course of action • Portable Fire Extinguishers – Types of extinguishers and how to use them • Fire Suppression Safety – How to decide if you should attempt to extinguish a fire • Hazardous Materials – How to identify potentially dangerous materials in storage, in transit and in your home
6. BID NO. 5827 STEARNS WHARF ANNUAL MAINTENANCE AND REPAIRS FOR 2020
The City of Santa Barbara (“City”) will accept electronic bids for its Stearns Wharf Annual Maintenance and Repairs for 2020 Project (“Project”), by or before March 27, 2020, at 3:00 p.m. through its PlanetBids portal. Bidders must be registered on the City of Santa Barbara’s PlanetBids™ portal in order to submit a Bid Proposal and to receive addendum notifications. Each bidder is responsible for making certain that their Bid Proposal is actually submitted/uploaded with sufficient time to be received by PlanetBids prior to the bid opening date and time. Large files may take more time to be submitted/uploaded to PlanetBids so plan accordingly. The receiving time at on PlanetBids’ server will be the governing time for acceptability of bids. Telegraphic, telephonic, electronic, and facsimile bids will not be accepted.
If any Addendum issued by the City is not acknowledged onlineby the Bidder, the PlanetBids System will prevent the Bidder from submitting a Bid Proposal. Bidders are responsible for obtaining all addenda from the City’s PlanetBids portal.
Bid results and awards will be available on PlanetBids.
Project Information.
2.1 Location and Description. The Project is located at Stearns Wharfin Santa Barbara, CAand is described as follows: Remove and replace deteriorated piles, pile caps, stringers and deck boards.
2.2 Time for Completion. The Project must be completed within 40 consecutive business days from the start date set forth in the Notice to Proceed. City anticipates that the Work will begin on or about April 2020, but the anticipated start date is provided solely for convenience and is neither certain nor binding.
2.3 Estimate. The estimate for this Project is $200,000.00
2.4 Bidders’ Conference. A MANDATORY bidders’ conference will be held on Thursday, March 12, 2020 at 9:30a.m., at the following location: Stearns Wharf Office, located at 219F Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, CA for the purpose of acquainting all prospective bidders with the Contract Documents and the Worksite. Bids will not be accepted or considered from parties that did not attend the mandatory pre-bid meeting.
License and Registration Requirements.
3.1 License. This Project requires a valid California contractor’s license forthe following classification(s): “A” General Engineering
3.2 DIR Registration. City may not accept a Bid Proposal from or enter into the Contract with a bidder, without proof that the bidder is registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) to perform public work pursuant to Labor Code § 1725.5, subject to limited legal exceptions
Contract Documents. The plans, specifications, bid forms and contract documents for the Project, and any addenda thereto (“Contract Documents”) may be downloaded from City’s website at: https://www.planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=29959
Bid Security. The Bid Proposal must be accompanied by bid security of ten percent of the maximum bid amount, in the form of a cashier’s or certified check made payable to City, or a bid bond executed by a surety licensed to do business in the State of California on the Bid Bond form included with the Contract Documents. The bid security must guarantee that within ten days after Cityissues the Notice of Award, the successful bidder will execute the Contract and submit the payment and performance bonds, insurance certificates and endorsements, and any other submittals required by the Contract Documents and as specified in the Notice of Award.
Prevailing Wage Requirements.
6.1 General. Pursuant to California Labor Code § 1720 et seq., this Project is subject to the prevailing wage requirements applicable to the locality in which the Work is to be performed for each craft, classification or type of worker needed to perform the Work, including employer payments for health and welfare, pension, vacation, apprenticeship and similar purposes.
6.2 Rates. The prevailing rates are on file with City and available online at http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSR. Each Contractor and Subcontractor must pay no less than the specified rates to all workers employed to work on the Project. The schedule of per diem wages is based upon a working day of eight hours. The rate for holiday and overtime work must be at least time and one-half.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Dax and Milo, 1331 Virginia Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Amanda Suzanne Tenold, 1331 Virginia Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 21, 2020. 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), filed by John Beck. FBN No. 2020- 0000572. Published February 26, March 4, 11, 18, 2020.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Zip Kleen INC, 1998 Cliff Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93109. Zip Kleen INC, 1998 Cliff Dr., Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 19, 2020. 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), filed by Maria F. Sanchez. FBN No. 2020- 0000541. Published February 26, March 4, 11, 18, 2020.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Pacific Party Services; Santa Barbara Face Painting, 5773 Encina RD #201, Goleta, CA 93117. Samantha Marx, 5773 Encina RD #201, Goleta, CA 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 6, 2020. 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), filed by John Beck. FBN No. 2020- 0000431. Published February 19, 26, March 4, 11, 2020.
11. 6.3 Compliance. The Contract will be subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the DIR, underLabor Code § 1771.4.
Performance and Payment Bonds. The successful bidder will be required to provide separate performance and payment bonds for 100% of the Contract Price regardless of contract dollar amount, as further specified in the Contract Documents.
Substitution of Securities. Substitution of appropriate securities in lieu of retention amounts from progress payments is permitted under Public Contract Code § 22300.
Subcontractor List. Each subcontractor must be registered with the DIR to perform work on public projects. Each bidder must submit a complete SubcontractorList WITH ITS Bid Proposal through the PlanetBids portal. Failure to do will result in rejection of your bid. The Subcontractors List shall include the name, location of the place of business, California contractor license number, and percentage of the Work to be performed (based on the Base Bid) for each Subcontractor that will perform work or service or fabricate or install work for the prime contractor in excess of onehalf of 1% of the bid price.
Instructions to Bidders. All bidders should carefully review the Instructions to Bidders before submitting a Bid Proposal.
Retention Percentage. The percentage of retention that will be withheld from progress payments is five (5) percent.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Pacific Party Services; Santa Barbara Face Painting, 5773 Encina RD #201, Goleta, CA 93117. Samantha Marx, 5773 Encina RD #201, Goleta, CA 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 6, 2020. 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), filed by John Beck. FBN No. 2020- 0000431. Published February 19, 26, March 4, 11, 2020.
5926 Corta St., Goleta, CA 93117. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on January 27, 2020. 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), filed by John Beck. FBN No. 2020- 0000278. Published February 19, 26, March 4, 11, 2020.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Miller Group Construction & Development, 1224 Coast Village Cir #20, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Robert F. Miller III, 559 Friendly Ct., Murphys, CA 95247. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 7, 2020. 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), filed by Brenda Aguilera. FBN No. 2020- 0000437. Published February 12, 19, 26, March 4, 2020.
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: HOMES805, 1187 Coast Village Road #187, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. HOMES805 INC, 1187 Coast Village Road #187, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on February 6, 2020. 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), filed by John Beck. FBN No. 2020- 0000415. Published February 12, 19, 26, March 4, 2020.
ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE FOR CHANGE OF NAME: CASE No. 20CV00524. To all interested parties: Petitioner Rosemary Ann Seegert filed a petition with Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, for a decree changing name to Teri Ann Huestis. 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 February 18, 2020 by Elizabeth Spann. Hearing date: April 15, 2020 at 9:30 am in Dept. 6, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Published 2/26, 3/4, 3/11, 3/18
1. Bid Acceptance. The City of Santa Barbara (“City”) will accept sealed bids for its Las Positas and Modoc Roads Multiuse Path Project (“Project”), by or before Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 3:00 pm., at its Purchasing Office, located at 310 E. Ortega Street, Santa Barbara, California 93101, at which time and place the bids will be publicly opened and read aloud. Each bidder is responsible for making certain that its Bid Proposal is actually delivered to the Purchasing Office. The receiving time at the Purchasing Office will be the governing time for acceptability of bids. Telegraphic, telephonic, electronic, and facsimile bids will not be accepted.
2. Project Information.
2.1 Location and Description. The Project is located on Las Positas and Modoc Roads in the City of Santa Barbara, and is described as follows: construction of a 2.6-mile Class I separated multiuse path for bicyclists, runners, and pedestrians along the south side of Modoc Road from Calle de los Amigos to Las Positas Road and along the west side of Las Positas Road from Modoc Road to Cliff Drive. Work generally includes, but is not limited to: clearing and grubbing; grading; removal of existing hardscape; construction of multiuse path, retaining walls, mid-block pedestrian crossings, new traffic signal; reconstruction of driveway entrances and roadway intersections; installation of storm drainage and stormwater treatment facilities; relocation of utilities; placement of slurry seal, striping, pavement markings, and street signs; and installation of landscaping.
2.2 Time for Completion. The planned timeframe for commencement and completion of construction of the Project is: 270 working days.
2.3 Engineer’s Estimate. The Engineer’s estimate for construction of this Project is: $14,000,000
3. License and Registration Requirements.
3.1 License. This Project requires a valid California contractor’s license for the following classification(s): Class A.
3.2 DIR Registration. Citywill not accept a Bid Proposal from or enter into the Contract with a bidder, without proof that the bidder and its Subcontractors are registered with the California Department of Industrial Relations (“DIR”) to perform public work under Labor Code section 1725.5, subject to limited legal exceptions.
4. Contract Documents. The plans, specifications, bid forms and contract documents for the Project, and any addenda thereto (“Contract Documents”) may be downloaded from City’s website at: planetbids.com/portal/portal.cfm?CompanyID=29959. A printed copy of the Contract Documents may be obtained from CyberCopy Shop, located at 504 N. Milpas Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93103, at (805) 884-6155.
5. Bid Security. The Bid Proposal must be accompanied by bid security of ten percent of the maximum bid amount, in the form of a cashier’s or certified check made payable to City, or a bid bond executed by a surety licensed to do business in the State of California on the Bid Bond form included with the Contract Documents. The bid security must guarantee that, within ten days after City’s issuance of the notice of award of the Contract, the bidder will execute the Contract and submit the payment and performance bonds, insurance certificates and endorsements, and all other documentation required by the Contract Documents.
6. Prevailing Wage Requirements.
6.1 General. This Project is subject to the prevailing wage requirements applicable to the locality in which the Work is to be performed for each craft, classification or type of worker needed to perform the Work, including employer payments for health and welfare, pension, vacation, apprenticeship and similar purposes.
6.2 Rates. The prevailing rates are on file with City and available online at http://www.dir.ca.gov/DLSR. Each Contractor and Subcontractor must pay no less than the specified rates to all workers employed to work on the Project. The schedule of per diem wages is based upon a working day of eight hours. The rate for holiday and overtime work must be at least time and one-half.
6.3 Compliance. The Contract will be subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the DIR, underLabor Code section 1771.4.
7. Performance and Payment Bonds. The successful bidder will be required to provide performance and payment bond for 100% of the Contract Price regardless of contract dollar amount.
8. Substitution of Securities. Substitution of appropriate securities in lieu of retention amounts from progress payments is permitted under Public Contract Code section 22300.
9. Subcontractor List. Each bidder must submit, with its Bid Proposal, the name, location of the place of business, California contractor license number, DIR registration number, and percentage of the Work to be performed (based on the Base Bid) for each Subcontractor that will perform work or service or fabricate or install work for the prime contractor in excess of one-half of 1% of the bid price, using the Subcontractor List form included with the Contract Documents.
10. Instructions to Bidders. All bidders should carefully review the Instructions to Bidders before submitting a Bid Proposal. This is a federal-aid project that must include the “Required Federal Forms” in the Special Conditions to be submitted with the Bid Proposal.
11. Buy America. This project is subject to the “Buy America” provisions of the Surface Transportation Assistance Act of 1982 as amended by the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991.
12. Disadvantaged Business Enterprises. The City of Santa Barbara affirms that in any contract entered into pursuant to this advertisement, disadvantaged business enterprises will be afforded full opportunity to submit bids in response to this invitation.
Bidders are advised that, as required by federal law, the State has established a statewide overall Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (DBE) goal. This Agency federal-aid contract is considered to be part of the statewide overall DBE goal. The Agency is required to report to Caltrans on DBE participation for all federal-aid contracts each year so that attainment efforts may be evaluated. This Agency federal-aid contract has a goal of 16% DBE participation.
13. Bid Rigging. The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) provides a toll-free “hotline” service to report bid rigging activities. Bid rigging activities can be reported Mondays through Fridays, between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Telephone No. 1-800-424-9071. Anyone with knowledge of possible bid rigging, bidder collusion, or otherfraudulent activities should use the “hotline” to report these activities. The “hotline” is part of the DOT’s continuing efforts to identify and investigate highway construction contract fraud and abuse and is operated under the direction of the DOT Inspector General. All information will be treated confidentially and caller anonymity will be respected.
Publishing Rates:
Fictitious Business Name: $45 $5 for each additional name
Name Change: $150
Summons: $150
Death Notice: $50
Probate: $100
Notice to Creditors: $100
Government Notice: $125 - any length
We will beat any advertised price
We will submit Proof of Publication directly to the Court
THE LONG NOW (Continued from page 45) Troubles Chronicled in Council Commissioned Report
Two years after the AIA Charrette, the situation remains essentially unchanged despite a number of measures. The 2019 Kosmont report, commissioned at a cost of $84,000 by the City Council, is considered the latest and certainly most official confirmation of the sad state of downtown. The report states bluntly that the town “does not have a business-friendly reputation,” is “expensive and high-risk” for new retailers, and the city staff itself is “is not enthusiastic to expedite development.” The report alone should have caused an upheaval in city government but was met instead with polite handwringing and a variety of half measures.
High among the list of troubles are homelessness and vagrancy, an emphasis on tourists and cruise ships rather than locals, a lack of realistic response to climate change and an alarming city-wide housing shortage marked by the lowest numbers of new homes and apartments being built since the 1940s. Coupled with an obstructive bureaucracy that hobbles new business and new housing through an unresponsive, entrenched and difficult and expensive permitting process, the conditions are stifling new projects, innovation, and economic growth.
Horror stories of absurd hold ups and costs are legion – such as construction at the Draughtsman on Mosaic on State Street Red Tagged for lack of a “saw permit.” A local restaurant’s new venture having to pick up the $200,000 tab in unnecessary work to the owner after contradictory water tier information by city inspectors.
Carrying costs on a new venture of $10,000 a month for two to three years while waiting for approvals are not uncommon, all the while the new business paying for construction and insurance can’t get one dollar of income. But these kinds of delays cost everybody. Delayed construction means delayed commerce, delayed income in taxes and fees for the city and taxpayers as well. It also is a drag on the economy.
The barrier to entry has become enormous, even for owners who are local and have gone through the process before. No wonder storefronts are empty.
Every study points to the lack of accountability and leadership. “It’s not going to get better just all of a sudden by itself,” Detlev Peikert remarked recently.
“We do projects all over and it’s not like this everywhere,” remarked Mr. Aurell. His frank, no-nonsense approach makes him a leader in town. “In San Luis Obispo, we just finished a Finney’s. We submitted our application, a planner called us up and said, Detlev Peikert of RRM Design
(Re: massing study) Team 1 (Architects: Brian Cearnal, Erica Obertelli, Robin Donaldson, Arelhy Arroyo. Landscape: Bob Cunningham. Planning: Ken Marshall) utilized OGEO’s “Digital Twin” of the Gutiérrez/Cota Lower State Street area. This rendering shows how building heights and volumes can be blended into the current structures
Artist Hank Pitcher
‘my job is to get your project through,’ that’s like arm-in-arm.” Many architects, builders and owners don’t want to speak on record about obstruction and delays, but the stories are everywhere.
All this doesn’t even address what we’re truly missing. “State Street has activity from noon to six pm. That’s the flash in the pan every day. Six hours,” Rob Dayton remarks with astonishment. “That street should be six am until midnight,” he remarked. “What if you saw people and heard laughter well into the night and there was activity in the streets?”
“I think it was Winston Churchill who said, ‘Man shapes the city, then the city shapes the man,” artist Hank Pitcher remarked after driving downtown one deserted evening. “It is very true that the space where we live and work shapes us, and the sad shape of State Street is creating a civic depression.”
Housing Helps Feed Businesses Nathan Vonk, the owner of Sullivan Goss Gallery, an American art gallery representing California artists with a worldwide reputation, agrees. “It used to be State Street was an exciting place to be. State Street used to be where Santa Barbara and Montecito connect. Now buyers from Montecito don’t want to come down here.”
Downtowns ebb and flow as culture, retail, and lifestyles change and many of these issues transcend any one city. Evidence shows a purchasing shift to services rather than things, a generational shift, income inequality and even bigger box stores outside downtown areas are also significant factors in the retail decline.
But what are Santa Barbara’s options? How does the city move forward? Where will the leadership come from – the City Council or the town stakeholders? Fortunately for all interested parties, the solutions and remedies to these dilemmas are known and documented. As Urban Planner Principal at RRM Design Group Debbie Rudd recounted, “I’ve worked with different communities up and down the coast and have seen how retail has shrunk. We’re seeing in
a lot of communities the need to infiltrate their downtowns with housing so that they can have more foot traffic downtown to feed those businesses.” In fact, the answer from every study, consultant and commission is the same – density, downtown blended retail and residency use. But density means taller buildings which many are against, fearing a loss of the small town feel Hoffman and Pearl seem to have fostered.
“If we truly want to make an impact in revitalizing downtown, we will need to accept that some buildings will be taller than forty-five feet,” Santa Barbara City planner Renee Brooke remarked recently in a public forum. “I know some people fear a loss of public views with taller buildings, but if designed carefully, buildings can actually frame really amazing views.”
Some locals balk at the newly passed California state laws that would allow developers to build structures up to 80 feet high,but the impact of height is little understood in downtown. After all the Balboa Building near the corner of State and De la Guerra is 80 feet tall and has never been a concern. The Masonic Temple on East Carrillo Street towers 67 feet and the Lobero Theatre is 70 feet to the top of its stage house both built in 1924, not to mention the 80-foot-plus Courthouse.
What 50, 60, and 80 feet really means is the possibility to create density without being all spread out and the possibility of bringing economic life to downtown. It also makes new construction financially feasible and housing potentially more affordable. What we do know in Santa Barbara is that if the heights remain at two and three stories, we get more luxury condos with a promise that someday when housing levels are saturated the prices will drop. Seems doubtful and certainly in a near term unlikely.
While no one wants to lose what’s special about Santa Barbara, it’s important to keep in mind that the original vision of Spanish revival architecture that has worked for so long a time was not actually “historic.” It was an amalgam of blended Spanish Colonial, Moorish, and Andalusian styles as well as cultural appropriation of Hispanic influences which were not historic but grafted on this quaint town by the sea, ignoring the Mexican, Barbareños, and Chumash cultures that had been dominant.
“If you pull the fondant (stucco) off of those old buildings, you’re going to see beautiful brick buildings that were built in the late 1800s,” Mr. Aurell states. “You can see that the proportions aren’t right in some of them, the arches, a filigree is off.” Santa Barbara was like other cities at the turn of the century, standard issue brick Victorian. It could have been
Wichita.
Pearl Chase and Bernard Hoffman’s Santa Barbara dream was a uniform and effective confection that has been a profitable brand for Santa Barbara. But how does that successful formula for Santa Barbara come to terms with today’s issues, the need for density, and contemporary lifestyles?
Landmarks Commission Chair Sees Value in Change
One Santa Barbara architect believes the answer lies in an unlikely place – The Historic Landmarks Commission. Anthony Grumbine is a principal architect at Harrison Design. He is also the current Chair of the City of Santa Barbara’s Historic Landmarks Commission (HLC) and serves on the Santa Barbara Trust for Historic Preservation’s Board of Directors. One would expect the HLC to be the home of anti-change naysayers. But Grumbine is a voluble, enthusiastic advocate and activist for Santa Barbara growth and urbanism.
Utilizing the original pre-earthquake drawings by George Washington Smith from the 1920s and others that hang in the Bernard Gebhard Room near City Hall, Grumbine has demonstrated through a kind of architectural archeology that the original elevations envisioned by Bernard Hoffman, George Washington Smith, Lutah Riggs, and other early era architects and urban planners, actually included higher density and taller buildings. Hoffman and Chase had envisioned Spanish revival Santa Barbara well before the disastrous earthquake.
Anthony Grumbine is a principal at Harrison Design and current Chair of the City of Santa Barbara’s Historic Landmarks Commission
Bernard Hoffman in particular had already built the Paseo to show the way.
“These drawings show what the original 1920s visions both pre- and post-earthquake were meant to be a much larger downtown,” Grumbine explains. “The aerial perspectives of the blocks each correspond to historic 1920s elevations.”
These elevations represent a city that never happened, utterly faithful to what we consider the Santa Barbara aesthetic. Yet after the earthquake it was built lower and smaller to get up and running quickly. Bernard Hoffman seized upon the emergency created by the aftermath of the disaster to impose his vision of a uniform Spanish Colonial style Santa Barbara, offering to pay for architectural plans for those conforming to his direction, and denying construction loans to those who refused.
“Today we have an opportunity to make Santa Barbara, even more ‘Santa Barbarish,’ since the vision was only partially produced and executed,” Grumbine concludes.
“Let’s face it, Santa Barbara has got the aesthetics down,” AIA Charrette leader Ellen Bildsten adds. “We’ve got this, now let’s deal with homelessness, affordability, density, stormwater management, and global warming.”
If so many solutions have already been established and so many evocative design elements are already present, what is the hold up? How do these remarkable possibilities become reality? Pearl Chase and Bernard Hoffman were never city officials. They imposed their vision on the city by wielding enormous power and wealth in the 1920s. How can it be done today?
The successful example of San Luis Obispo may be useful. That city has managed to create an exciting new prosperous vision of itself over the last two decades while dealing with the same kinds of problems Santa Barbara faces here – collapse of retail, empty storefronts, and homelessness. Pierre Rademaker is a renown graphic designer and branding expert who volunteered and led a number of other community professionals in the late 1990s San Luis Obispo’s plan to develop with Downtown Concept Plan, a plan that continues to be
THE LONG NOW Page 504
Team 8 (Architects: Detty Peikert, Akiko Wade Davis, Peter Hunt, Joe Moticha, Jeremy White. Planning: Matthew Hendren) created an excellent example of surface parking conversion – the Victoria Lot – to housing, mixed use, with courtyards and other open space
revised over the passing years and has led the city along a successful path of growth.
“It’s really more of a political problem than it is a design problem,” Mr. Rademaker begins. “We created a concept plan, not a master plan. Not too specific because it’s a vision. And a vision is loose enough to invite all the stakeholders in,” he offers. “We began with three architects and myself, we wound up with like thirty-two people and by extension the entire community.” Rademaker’s vision-making endeavor didn’t result in new requirements or regulations. It wasn’t a restricting, inhibiting, binding vision. Instead it was an agreed upon goal of what the community wanted San Luis Obispo to look like, how they wanted the city to develop, who they wanted to be.
“It was a poster, the front was the map, the entire general plan was on the back and we hung it in City Hall,” Rademaker concludes.
Gradually developers began to build around the concept drawing using the vision document as a guide. Rademaker’s process shows how an overwhelmingly complex idea can be agreed upon as a vision and still allow the details to begin to work themselves out naturally.
Remarkably the timing for change in Santa Barbara could be fortuitous. Just this month the city announced the appointment of Santa Barbara’s first Economic Development Manager (EDM), Jason Harris, to oversee the implementation of the City’s economic development program. Mr. Harris currently serves this function for the City of Santa Monica where he oversees a division of fourteen staff members and a budget of $5.5 million. No doubt the new hire’s twenty years as a skilled development manager will be helpful but when he relocates to Santa Barbara he will have no staff and no budget in a town where he is a stranger to the stakeholders, who initiated the demand for the position, but had no consultation in his hiring. Not one business owner was on the search committee.
The lack of consultation with stakeholders in the process of moving forward with the city’s first EDM is emblematic to the difficulties that downtown stakeholders, investors and participant parties have with the city government and the concern that action, change and vision are in short supply within City Hall.
Part of the frustration may stem from the “manager” structure of Santa Barbara city government. Usually people assume the mayor is the head of city government, but in a manager run structure such as ours, the manager is in charge of key hires and runs the administration and is not require to regularly seek approval from the Council or the public.
an american in paris
march 21 + 22 | 2020
Constantine Kitsopoulos, CONDUCTOR
• The Voice of the Village • 5 – 12 March 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL 51 805-899-2222 | thesymphony.org Gershwin: An American in Paris Academy Award-winning film with live orchestra accompaniment! The iconic musical An American in Paris was inspired by George Gershwin’s jazz-infused orchestral treasure of the same name, and the Santa Barbara Symphony has combined the two for an unforgettable program of music and film! Gershwin’s evocative and vivid An American in Paris is arguably the finest musical love letter ever penned to a city, while director Vincente Minnelli’s Academy Award-winning motion picture starring Gene Kelly has lost none of its insouciant charm. Come hear the Symphony, under the baton of guest conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos, provide live accompaniment to a screening of one of the world’s greatest movie musicals.
upcoming concerts... carpenter conducts poulenc & saint-saëns april 18 + 19, 2020 Nir Kabaretti, CONDUCTOR Cameron Carpenter, ORGAN beethoven’s 250 th birthday celebration may 16 + 17, 2020 Nir Kabaretti, CONDUCTOR Alessio Bax, PIANO Full list of guest artists on our website! Principal Sponsor: Dave & Chris Chernof Artist Sponsors: Patricia Gregory for the Baker Foundation, Nancy & Fred Golden Selection Sponsor: Chris Lancashire & Catherine Gee | Corporate Sponsor: Impulse Many citizens don’t realize this distinction. Few voters even know Paul Casey, even though he has been Santa Barbara’s City Manager for the past five years. They’ve never voted for him. He’s never been on a ballot.
If a city is simply run as a business operation, the City Administrator can be an efficient manager. But if important changes need to happen or vision is required, the management structure tends to be resistant. The potential for intransience and obstruction on a managerial level is great unless that individual City Manager is a leader and a risk taker. City Managers are also paid a lot of money. Paul Casey’s salary was recently raised to $372,675.04. City Attorney Ariel Calonne is paid $337,062.07, while Mayor Cathy Murillo made $71,000 in 2017.
Still the appointment of the Economic Development Manager represents a genuine opportunity for a new and focused look at adapting the spirit of Pearl Chase and Bernard Hoffman’s original vision of Santa Barbara to downtown. Amy Cooper, who wrote the stakeholder letter demanding the creation of an Office of Economic Development, is the first to express optimism.
“I’m hopeful that we now are all coming to the table together. We as a community need to inform the EDM,” she remarked. “He’s not from Santa Barbara. He needs to come together with the community from the start. So, I’m hopeful for the future of our downtown. Hopeful that the time is now.”
The myriad of interconnected downtown and development organizations led by people like Amy Cooper and the enormous depth of local professional urban planning and architectural talent exemplified by the AIA Charrette certainly seem sufficient to offer and guide a cogent, cohesive, community vision. The new EDM would be foolish not to take a cue from the people who live and work here.
Under current conditions a new vision of a revitalized Santa Barbara is not likely to originate from within City Hall, City Council, or managerial staff. Downtown is a story without real villains other than complacency and inertia. But like all good stories it needs a hero.
Pearl Chase and Bernard Hoffman nurtured the idea of beauty and progress that lasted a century. Today the voices of active, educated citizens like Amy Cooper, the AIA, and chair of the Historic Landmarks Commission Anthony Grumbine, are advocating fundamental change that is harmonious with that original inspiration. The choice between preserving beauty and fostering growth is a false one. It’s time to have the courage to leave paralysis and half measures behind and envision the Long Now of Santa Barbara. •MJ Team 2 (Architects: Dawn Sherry, Anthony Spann, Michael Holliday, Craig Goodman. Planning: Steve Welton) created new open spaces and pedestrian flows with modest heights that transform State Street into a mix of walks, fountains, and intriguing retail experiences
