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Fire Chief Kevin Taylor Talks COVID-19 and Crazy Weather Nicholas Schou is an award-winning investigative journalist and author of several books, including Orange Sunshine and Kill the

Messenger. If you have tips or stories about Montecito, please email him at newseditor@montecitojournal.net W hen I first met Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor last year, I remember asking him what the biggest challenge was facing his department. “The weather,” he told me, quickly adding that the sheer unpredictability of Montecito’s weather threats, be they fire or rain, made his job uniquely worrisome. This week, I caught up with Taylor for the second time since the COVID-19 pandemic reached Santa Barbara. Somewhat reassuringly, most of our conversation happened to be about the weird weather. Remember when weather seemed like our biggest threat? Montecito Fire Chief Kevin Taylor

Q: What the heck happened last Thursday night? The wind actually blew a framed window out of my house! Fortunately it fell on my bed and didn’t break.

A: That is what we call a “sundowner,” our version of the Santa Ana winds. They occur in Santa Barbara County in the spring and fall; the ones in the spring are usually stronger than the ones that occur in the fall. In a given year there are usually four or five sundowners but there have been ones that have lasted 14 days in a row, as happened in 2017. They arrive from the north as a result of a change of pressure between Bakersfield and Santa Barbara.

I saw a fire crew the next morning dealing with a massive Eucalyptus tree that cracked and toppled over the road near a powerline. I assume SoCal Edison had a lot of calls that night; did people lose power?

Oh yes, people lost power. We had to bring in extra staffing to respond to the windstorm. From Thursday at 5 pm to Friday at 5 pm, we had 26 total calls for service. 22 of those were related to the storm, either because of trees or power lines that were down. The highest sustained winds in the district were at our Cold Spring RAWS, which stands for Remotely Activated Weather Station. It’s located at the top of Cold Spring Trail, where we measured 53 mph sustained winds with gusts to 78 mph. The highest gust was 81 mph. We also have a RAWS down at Casa de Maria and it saw a gust of 43 mph. A vehicular casualty of last week’s windstorm

ON THE RECORD Page 184

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Can you explain what that means?

Well, it means that, overall, people appear to be sicker than normal when they call in. I suspect that with the stay-at-home order and the goal not to overwhelm the emergency departments, people are only calling 911 when they are very ill. That is most likely why the acuity level is higher. As it gets warmer and we see more people out and about on the trails we will see an uptick in those type of calls, trail rescue calls, though.

How is everyone at the firehouse doing?

All the fellows at the station are healthy and we are continuing all the things we talked about before as far as social distancing to the extent possible. Everyone is wearing cloth face coverings, and we are doing pretty intensive disinfecting at the fire station at the beginning and end of shifts.

Is it crazy to think that Montecito is actually doing pretty good so far and we might be able to move on sooner rather than later at this rate?

I would strongly agree that it appears to us that people are practicing social distancing and as a result of that the curve is getting flatter and flatter. I would also suggest that all the great work that the local restaurants and grocery stores and truck drivers continue to do allows our community to effectively practice social distance. So far, it’s working.

Santa Barbara Zoo Hosts “Drive By, Wave Hi” Donation Parade

Ever since March 17, the Santa Barbara Zoo has been off limits to the public. That’s not surprising, given California’s stayat-home restrictions, but it’s a disaster for the Zoo, its employees, and animals. In fact, the 57-yearold institution is facing the most dire financial crisis in its history. For that reason, on Saturday, April 25, Zoo staffers and volunteers dressed up in animal costumes and waving thank you signs hosted a family-friendly drive-through donation parade from 10 am to noon.

According to Elaine Mah Best, the Santa Barbara Zoo’s Vice President of Advancement and Marketing, about 80 cars participated in the parade, donating a total of $12,829. “In addition, we had eleven people donate a total of $2,000 for the Emergency Fund online as of Saturday at 1:30 pm,” Best said. “Not bad for a two-hour long event that we started planning just a week in advance! What was especially heartwarming was Social distancing Zoo volunteers welcoming families to the donation parade

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ON THE RECORD (Continued from page 18) that I heard over and over again from the folks driving through ‘Thank you for doing this,’ ‘We miss the Zoo so much,” and ‘Our family loves the Zoo.’ It was really sweet to see so many Zoo members and fans come out to support us.”

Because of the Zoo’s closure, it has been forced to furlough roughly 100 fulltime and part-time employees, reducing its payroll to just the essential staff necessary to keep the animals alive.

“These difficult decisions were all made in an effort to maintain the Zoo’s top priorities,” said Rich Block, the Santa Barbara Zoo’s president and CEO. “We remain dedicated to the health and welfare of the animals who reside at the Zoo, the safety of our employees working on-site, and the continued efforts to save local endangered and threatened wildlife.”

It’s difficult to exaggerate the impact that the COVID-19 shutdown has had on the Santa Barbara Zoo, which houses more than 500 animals on 30 acres of botanical gardens. According to a recent press release, it is “currently relying on cash reserves and support from the community to continue to operate” given that 97 percent of the annual budget relies on earned revenues from operations.”

Speaking of numbers, it costs approximately $630,000 per month to operate the Zoo at its current capacity. Breaking down the budget by species, each week the penguin colony costs $250 to feed, the five California condors cost another $150 per week, each giraffe needs $70 per week of food, compared to $120 for the three otters. The flamingo flock costs $200 to feed, all turtles and tortoises eat a total of $150 of food per week, and it costs a whopping $1,200 each week to purchase so-called feeder insects, which are used to feed all types of animals. In all, the total weekly animal food bill is $6,000.

During normal times, the Zoo operates several conservation and science education programs each year. But this was when the Zoo enjoyed an average of 480,000 visits per year, more than any other institution in the Santa Barbara area, thus bringing in significant extra tourist dollars to the city and its businesses. “The Santa Barbara Zoo has served as a community anchor for over fifty years, and we want to continue serving the hundreds of thousands of families whose lives we touch every year,” Block said. “With your support, we know we can get through this together.”

It’s not too late to donate. Go to app.pivvit.com/campaign/support-the-zooduring-covid-19-recovery, or send a check payable to “Santa Barbara Zoo” to the attention of Elaine K. Mah Best at 500 Niños Drive, Santa Barbara, 93103.

30 April – 7 May 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL20 “All the things I really like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening.” – Alexander Woollcott

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La Arcada Courtyard 1114 State Street, Suite 10 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805)845-7888 Call us for assistance at (805)845-7888 or Email info@C2Ccollection.com ON THE RECORD Page 224 Foggers for County First Responders

Much has been made lately in news articles about the effort to provide masks and other emergency preparedness gear to first responders in Santa Barbara. But not all such gear is wearable. To wit: One805, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting first responders, emergency preparedness and response, has just announced the purchase of 45 electric decontamination foggers.

The Hudson brand foggers are capable of quickly and efficiently dispersing sanitizing mist to large areas and will be provided to both the Santa Barbara Sheriff’s Department as well as police departments across the county. The foggers will help decontaminate jail cells, vehicles, equipment and both fire and police stations.

“As we have experience in this community, preparedness and response can come in many forms,” said Eric Phillips, One805’s CEO and co-founder. “We are proud that this community rallied quickly around our frontline personnel. This equipment will protect our community and the first responders who cannot work from home.”

One805 was the first organization to create a local Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) drive in coordination with the county’s Office of Emergency Services. Their office remains open with a monitored, secure drop box so that the organization can continue to collect equipment for doctors, nurses, hospital staff, and other first responders. “One805 is an extraordinary organization,” said Santa Barbara Sheriff Bill Brown. “Through the selflessness of its members and the generosity of our community, the public safety agencies of Santa Barbara County are obtaining equipment that help us save lives and protect property.”

To donate and support One805’s fight against COVID-19 and for more information, please go to One805.org. A One805 fogger at work

REOPENING (Continued from page 8) Shelter-in-Place Order was given March 15 and yet it had taken more than six weeks to form a task force. What kind of emergency comes to mind, where you can start six weeks into the disaster, and only meet once a week?

The meeting was wrapped up by councilmember Eric Friedman announcing his weekly social distancing playlist with Georgia Satellites’ “Keep Your Hands to Yourself.”

Why is this Important?

The surreal nature of City Council’s nonchalance to our imminent troubles may be just another example of human frailty in the face of adversity. Similar scenes may be happening all over the country as cities, counties, and states grapple with the unfathomable. But this time the underwhelming response from the City will be as deadly to businesses as the disease is to its inadvertent hosts with underlying conditions.

The coronavirus itself has only existed for about 200 days on earth. If it’s staying at least until its birthday in November, how will we cohabitate with it? How do we share Santa Barbara with this uninvited stranger?

According to Dr. Henning Ansorg, the Health Officer for Santa Barbara, the underlying condition of our local economy is this: “I think we will see people walking around with face coverings for a long time. Like six months. And in some instances, even longer. We will not have mass gatherings like football stadiums and concerts and things like that for a long time,” he explained. “We will probably be able to eventually open restaurants, with half the tables inside, keeping distancing. We will never shake hands again.” Never? “I wouldn’t recommend it, ever again.”

A Scalpel Not a Sledgehammer

Dr. Peter Rupert, the econ expert from the Forecast Project, has suggested that there is no one-size-fits-all reopening.

“When the issue of hospitals and people dying was overwhelming the healthcare system, it made sense to flatten the curve statewide all at once by using a sledgehammer. Now I think we need a scalpel to open up and flatten the economic curve.”

Each city and county is going to have to carve out its own path to reopening. Customizing their approaches while satisfying the broad orders from the State. This is very much the situation here in California where Governor Newsom has laid out a Six Point Plan for Reopening, which includes expanding testing, protecting the most vulnerable, providing needed PPE and other resources to hospitals, continuing to work closely with academics and research institutions, and redrawing floor plans while still maintaining the capacity to “reinstate more vigorous controls.”

Every city and county must come up with a plan that covers these six points and submit them to the State. Dr. Peter Rupert, director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project

The Risk, Burden, and Responsibility

Regardless of the plan our Mayor’s task force comes up with, it’s important to examine where the actual burden of responsibility lies in the process of reopening. Governments can close businesses, but they can’t open them without businesses figuring out how they can do so profitably. “Hotels in Santa Barbara were open. They were never required to close,” Dr. Rupert illustrates. “But no one was going to them so they closed.”

Misty and Brandon Ristaino, the owners of the Good Lion, Test Pilot, and other bars have thought long and hard about their business pre-COVID and now again.

“Some venues if you have half capacity feel cavernous and weird,” Brandon offered. “Our projects were built to feel good, even if there’s only ten people in the bar.”

The Ristainos have been working seven days a week, more than ever. They’ve

REOPENING Page 404

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30 April – 7 May 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL22 “The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” – Albert Einstein ON THE RECORD (Continued from page 20) Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis Sues Santa Barbara County

You might recognize the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis from various letters to the editor and reader-submitted editorials that have run in the Montecito Journal, Carpinteria’s Coastal View News, and other local newspapers in Santa Barbara county. Although the group claims not to oppose cannabis per se, its members have consistently decried what they say is a lack of enforcement by county officials that has allowed certain communities, particularly Carpinteria, to become overwhelmed with the distinct odor of flowering marijuana.

On February 27, three Carpinteria residents who are members of the coalition, Gregory and Marllus Gandrud and Paul Ekstrom, sued nearby cannabis farms, Ever-Bloom, Ednigma, Melodious Plots, and Saga Farms, alleging that the smell was unbearable. Just two months later, on April 23, the coalition filed yet another anti-cannabis lawsuit, this time against the county itself. Their complaint cites the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors’ recent decision to uphold a cannabis permit for Busy Bee’s Organics of Buellton, which last year received a land use permit from the county’s Planning Commission for a 22-acre cannabis farm in the town, despite protests from certain community members.

A search of the California Secretary of State website shows that the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis was incorporated in May 2019, with the aforementioned Carpinteria plaintiff Ekstrom as chief financial officer. However, the coalition’s CEO is Blair Pence, a wealthy land developer turned winemaker (and vocal anti-cannabis advocate) based in Buellton whose address is located just down the road from Busy Bee’s Organics. The new lawsuit claims that the county’s environmental review process is inadequate and that the supervisor’s three-to-two vote to allow a large-scale cannabis operation amid Buellton’s “well-established” wineries was misguided.

“This lawsuit is a last resort,” argues Debra Eagle, a coalition board member. “Industrial scale cannabis operations in the Santa Rita Hills AVA (American Viticultural Area) threaten our future. The Board has ignored these issues while violating several laws, so we have been forced into this litigation in order to bring these operations in line with state law and prevent cannabis growers from destroying Santa Barbara’s communities, tourism, and wine economy. Respect and moderation is all we ask for.”

The coalition’s lawsuit also argues that the county has a legal obligation to investigate every grower affidavit claiming that they were already in operation before January 16, 2016 and must also hold public hearings on the results of these investigations. Although 200 such affidavits were filed, the complaint states, the county failed to investigate any of them, despite the fact that the affidavits are being used by the growers to obtain state-issued grow permits.

“The county has a duty under the law to vet each affidavit that was filed,” said Robert Curtis, an attorney with Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis LLC, and the lead lawyer on the case. “It’s been four years, yet they refuse to do so.” Marc Chytilo, a Santa Barbara-based environmental attorney who filed the official state paperwork for the coalition last year, is also attached to the case. “The Board has continually ignored fundamental environmental principles in overriding twelve separate significant adverse environmental impacts,” he argued. “Without analyzing the impacts, the county cannot resolve the fundamental conflicts between these two interests. We need to find appropriate sites for cannabis cultivation where existing farms won’t be forced out.”

Sara Rotman, owner of Busy Bee’s Organics, declined to comment for this story, deferring questions to spokesperson Andrew Rice. “We’re not surprised that the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis founder and CEO Blair Pence has followed through on his numerous public threats to fight every single cannabis project that is approved in a two mile stretch of the Santa Ynez Valley near his winery,” Rice said. “Pence has been litigious in the past. We’re not his first target and we won’t be the last. This lawsuit is an abuse of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) to obstruct the farming of a pesticide-free, organic, legal, and environmentally friendly crop.”

Rice argued that the coalition, having failed to sway public officials with its anti-cannabis stance, is using its deep pockets in a cynical attempt to accomplish the same goal. “This frivolous litigation attempts to overturn unanimous approval by local and state governments as well as undermining the broad public support Santa Barbara voters have shown for cannabis legalization,” he said. “We are confident that the County and Busy Bee’s will prevail in court. In the meantime, we will continue farming the best sun-grown legal cannabis on earth while providing jobs and taxes for the people of Santa Barbara County.”

Susan Petrovich, a lawyer for Busy Bee’s Organics, also expressed frustration with the lawsuit. “We are disappointed to see that the Santa Barbara Coalition for Responsible Cannabis is filing a CEQA lawsuit against a model, outdoor, sun-grown cannabis farm that is frequently held as the gold-standard by government officials,” she said. “More than ten local and state agencies have reviewed and approved the project and found it to meet or exceed their rigorous requirements. This is an end run around the long-since expired statute of limitations to challenge the County’s cannabis laws.” When it Comes to Maintaining the Sewers, the Sanitary District’s Work Never Stops

Earlier this year, before the COVID19 emergency, I took a tour of the Montecito Sanitary District’s waste treatment facility, where the town’s collective fecal matter is slowly bio-engineered into top-notch soil fertilizer that ends up on the shelves of our local gardening emporiums (see “Montecito’s Most Unusual Harvest,” Montecito Journal, February 12). Part of my tour of the MSD plant included a visit to the maintenance crew’s war room, where a color-coded map on the wall showed every sewer line in the district as well as when its next scheduled cleaning would take place.

“Every little dot is a manhole,” explained line inspector Ricardo Larroude as he pointed at the map. “We have over 2,000 manholes in our system and 76 miles of sewer lines to maintain. We run a really aggressive maintenance system.”

Last week, I spent the better part of an unseasonably warm day with Larroude and two other maintenance workers, Travis Kearney and Noee Ortiz, while they performed routine maintenance on sewer lines in town. They rode in a pair of vehicles including a truck equipped with a vacuum hose and a water-jet hose that, when inserted into the sewer line, spins a constant spray of water at 3,000 pounds per square inch, effectively liquifying any roots or other organic material that might be clogging the sewer. The crews then used one of two different types of rakes to remove whatever debris had been dislodged by the waterjet.

Because of COVID-19 concerns, each worker wore special masks and shields in addition to their normal protective gear. And rather than leaving the manhole open during the work, the crew used a special covering that allowed the spray hose to be easily fed in and out of the sewer, while preventing any liquid from spraying onto the street. Over the course of the day, the crew cleaned the lines, starting at a manhole at the top of a hill, then working their way gradually downhill, manhole by manhole. Each of the cleanings took approximately 10 to 15 minutes. “I’ve seen everything you can think of in the sewers, hammers, towels, rags, wet wipes,” Larroude said. “They don’t break apart.”

But on this day, other than the random remains of a wet wipe that ended up stuck to a rake, there was almost no debris, so little of it that it failed to fill a single bucket during the course of the day. This, Larroude told me, is exactly what he likes to see. “Before the January 8 debris flow, we went two years without having a spill, and since then we haven’t had one either,” he said. “Our number one goal is not to have any spills. We’ve got to stay on top of it, but our guys do a great job.” •MJ Noee Ortiz and Travis Kearney at work Down the hatch Pulling the rake One last good scrape