Perspectives

• The Voice of the Village • 14 – 21 May 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL 25 New Federalism in a Post-COVID World Part IV Rinaldo S. Brutoco is the Founding President and CEO of the Santa Barbara-based World Business Academy and a co-founder of JUST Capital. He’s a serial entrepreneur, executive, author, radio host, and futurist who’s published on the role of business in relation to pressing moral, environmental, and social concerns for over 35 years Innovating Learning and Hacking Disease How one school in California is mastering online learning. L ast week, The Optimist Daily online took an in-depth look at how our education systems will be transformed post-coronavirus. Today, we are checking out the Anacapa School, a school in Santa Barbara that is achieving high success rates with their approach to online learning.

The Trump Administration has taken the position that it was not “responsible” for preventing the coronavirus pandemic, nor for bringing the pandemic to an end, either domestically or abroad as was done so successfully with the Ebola virus and with SARS. The administration does not accept culpability for springing to action more quickly or with fewer dead Americans. They told the governors that they were “on their own.” The states have responded aggressively to protect the lives of their people and the integrity of their local medical institutions. Like Governor Cuomo in New York State (the original epicenter that has now flattened its pandemic curves), many governors have scrambled effectively to marshal their scarce resources to keep medical facilities from being overrun, and to keep their medical workers safe in the absence of adequate testing and personal protective gear with considerable success – Washington, California, Oregon, New Hampshire, Virginia, and Ohio to name a few states. States have also formed “compacts” amongst themselves achieving some success with coordinated regional responses.

At a time where parents are becoming more frustrated with the way online learning is being handled by schools, the Anacapa School is finding success by allowing students to explore their passions with guidance from dedicated teachers. For virtual learning, this involves real-time group collaboration in math class and science projects such as documenting ecosystems around their homes.

The head of the school, Dylan Minor, says the success is in large part due to the students’ positive attitudes and resilient spirits regarding their education. Even facing the possibility of meeting via Google Hangouts until next fall, the students are enthusiastic about coming to class each day.

There is a multitude of ways to adapt online learning to work for different age groups. Looking at schools that are managing to successfully run virtual classrooms is a great way to gain insights and inspiration for how to become better online teachers and administrators.

Researchers discover microbe that completely stops malaria.

A team of researchers in Kenya and the UK says they have discovered a microbe that completely protects mosquitoes from being infected with malaria, which researchers say has “enormous potential” to control the disease. Malaria is spread by the bite of infected mosquitoes, so protecting them could in turn protect people.

The malaria-blocking bug, Microsporidia MB, was discovered by studying mosquitoes on the shores of Lake Victoria in Kenya. It lives in the gut and genitals of the insects. The researchers could not find a single mosquito carrying the Microsporidia microbe that was harboring the malaria parasite. Lab experiments confirmed the microbe gave the mosquitoes protection.

While huge progress has been made in tackling malaria through the use of bed nets and spraying homes with insecticide, anti malaria efforts had stalled in recent years. Scientists need to understand how the microbe spreads, so they plan to perform more tests in Kenya. These approaches are relatively uncontroversial as the microbial species is already found in wild mosquitoes and is not introducing something new. It also would not kill the mosquitoes, so such a study would not have an impact on ecosystems that are dependent on them as food. •MJ W e began by examining the growing power of the Federal government, and particularly the executive Branch (the President). We traced the rise of Federal power, for better or worse, from the Articles of Confederation, through the U.S. Constitution, and through World War I up until today with the respective actions of states and the Federal government to the COVID-19 pandemic. We then examined those times when Federalism performed at its best (e.g. Roosevelt’s handling of the Great Depression and World War II), and how badly it has failed us with the coronavirus that has now claimed over 80,000 lives, a toll that rises daily. Last week we rounded out our observations by tracing the Civil War’s long-term impacts and the failure of the Federal government to obtain the Confederacy’s surrender, through the “States’ Rights” controversies in the 20th century and the resultant reverberations of the current “culture war” over time to the present. So here we are in 2020 living in a badly divided “nation” of “red” states and “blue” states, rather than the United States. Where does this end and how?

Compacts are multistate agreements between two or more states, which most often in U.S. history were organized around a common challenge. In the present moment the challenge is to bring about a quicker, safer end to the pandemic in the absence of federal support for procuring and distributing Personal Protective Equipment and test kits; the absence of binding national standards on “sheltering in place”; the absence of FDA coordination of multiple suppliers of potential serum antibody tests; and the failure to properly and aggressively use the Defense Production Act of 1950 to mobilize American industrial capacity to remedy all the supply chain disruptions.

To the contrary, the Federal government has pitted one state against each other and against FEMA itself in the procurement of test kits, creating price gouging by suppliers and radical responses by governors who have seen their supplies delivered to FEMA even after contracts are signed in a “Wild West” style bidding contest. Governor Hogan of Maryland arranged through his Korean wife to purchase a plane load of tests from South Korea and chartered a jet to have it secretly land at Baltimore International Airport, protected by Maryland National Guard soldiers, rather than Dulles so he could avoid having the Federal government seize the tests when they arrived. The remainder of that shipment is hidden and guarded from the national government to this day.

Currently there are three major regional state consortiums (informal compacts impacting 170 million Americans) that could become formal compacts if and when the states participating in them formalize these compacts by adopting mutually binding legislative action. These are: 1) The Western Compact, uniting California, Colorado, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington; 2) The Eastern Compact uniting New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Massachusetts; 3) and The Central Region Compact uniting Illinois, Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota, Michigan, Indiana, and Kentucky.

Compacts were widely used for many purposes by the original 13 Colonies prior to the Revolutionary War. The Articles of Confederation restricted such associations but the attempt to do so was partially watered down in the U.S. Constitution as Article 1, Section 10, Clause III which read “No state shall, without the consent of Congress enter into any agreement or compact with another state.” Even such an apparently definitive statement was not the final word as the Founding Fathers were primarily concerned with individual states setting up their own armies or “state departments,” but most matters were believed to be best dealt with at the state level. A series of cases broadened the states authority making it easier to create domestic Compacts for a wide variety of regional solutions until the supreme Court in 1893 decided Virginia v. Tennessee. That case held that the “consent” of Congress could be express or implied, and that the failure of Congress to object was deemed consent.

There are many matters upon which different states may agree that would concern the United States. In fact, the passage of time itself would suffice as “consent” if Congress failed to reject the Compact (which raises the legitimate question: Is one House of Congress sufficient for consent, and the equally obvious, if both Houses don’t agree to reject, is there still ipso facto implied consent?).

The coronavirus has catalyzed powerful regional Consortiums/Compacts into existence that collectively represent almost 60 percent of US GDP. What other alliances will arise in the post-coronavirus world where arrangements will be sought between states to accomplish objectives that a self-emasculated Federal government will not tackle? Short of setting up a “State Department” or creating an army for foreign deployment (as opposed to a National Guard which is totally permissible), it appears that the states could, and probably should, begin managing far more of their daily affairs amongst themselves. Almost certainly the Federal government, particularly the Executive branch, will reduce itself in scope and in power. Equally certain, a new balance of Federal and state power will emerge from the post covid-19 world. What will that look like? Stay tuned… •MJ

14 – 21 May 2020 MONTECITO JOURNAL26 “Political correctness is tyranny with manners.” – Charlton Heston big city bar that didn’t exist here, targeted the kind of demographic that wasn’t served, hired the kind of employee that wasn’t fully appreciated, and proceeded to make their mark.

“I remember a lady telling me on our third day that we were awfully young, and to be prepared to last only a few months,” Misty recalls. “I thought that was a strange thing to say to someone who just opened their dream bar in their dream city. But a lot of people told us there just wasn’t a lot of young blood here, it was an old town. Now we’re looking at the tech companies, and our three bars all in five years.”

The couple managed to strategically snag a prime piece of real estate next to the Granada Theatre that will always be valuable, even if the rest of State Street doesn’t get its act together. Their other locations are also prime, especially Test Pilot at the site of the bar formerly known as Reds, which had been a vastly under-utilized property in the heart of the economically exploding Funk Zone. Converting Baristas to Mixologists

Brandon is a tall, poised, soft-spoken man with a perfectly groomed beard. He’s prone to incremental innovations that are the hallmark of his business. One insight he had that proved immediately useful was that great baristas could make great bartenders. It didn’t take long after placing a poster offering Mixology Courses in the windows of The Good Lion before opening to tap into the wealth of talent in the thriving espresso bars and cafés of Santa Barbara. He managed to do so while continuing to work cooperatively and have great relations with Dune Roasters, Handlebar Coffee, and Low Pigeon on Haley.

The synergies in skills and timing between pulling a great espresso shot and blending the perfect mix of frothed almond milk and shaking up a Tequila Negroni were considerable, right down to the same honest and friendly customer relations and flawless presentation. Importantly, his employees represented the demographic he was looking to attract. In the meantime, he developed new concepts in drink production and fresh juicing to the point where Good Lion was about to launch a new juice distribution business when covidization imploded the economy. Good Lion’s Secret Weapon

Brandon always had an additional asset as he developed concepts for a neo-classic cocktail bar, the secret weapon in launching his business: his wife, Misty. Misty Orman is singular in so many ways it’s hard to know where to start. Vivacious is the word that first comes to mind. What do you say about an avowed Southern Belle from Garland, Texas whose entertainment career spans hand modeling for Bratz and Barbie to Buzz Lightyear? Yes, she’s the hand in all those toy commercials that makes those playsets come to life. Then there’s a number of acting gigs in television series like Boston Public and the campy latenight cult film Zombie Campout.

But those credits, while colorful, distract from her intellect and understanding of the customer’s cocktail experience. Misty is the Khaleesi of Santa Barbara bar design. She’s expert in assessing the nuances that people look for when entering an establishment, especially the underserved women who enjoy going to bars.

“A lot of bars and breweries are built towards men. Women are a little different. I always want things that inspire women to come in, cozy custom-made seating that feels authentic and true,” she explains. “Today it’s all about Instagram and having different areas where they’ll want to stand with their girlfriends and take photos, whether it’s cool wallpaper, bright plants, it’s all very visual. Even older ladies in their sixties and seventies come in. It’s awesome when there’s a hipster group in one section, then right next to them a group of women having cocktails in their sixties.”

Misty and Brandon are an essential team, a collaboration of focused individuals who seem to be playing a secret game, pushing each other to refine and problem solve in ways that other bars and bartenders just improvise. You have a sense talking to them that they are highly entertained by their lives, their challenges, and are deeply rooted in their loyalty and caring for each other.

It’s a good thing they’ve got all that going for them because they’ll have to up their game another couple of notches to match the challenges ahead. Reinventing the bar in the age of COVID is far tougher than making a Fatwashed Del Maguey Mezcal with an orange zest. The Challenge of the New Normal

What is a bar but a place where you mingle shoulder to shoulder and chat each other up while sharing libations? No one ever brags about going to an empty bar, it’s a failed enterprise.

There are a lot of contradictions to square in creating a new version. Since the closures, Brandon and Misty have been working solid 10- to 15-hour days, nonstop with bankers, lawyers, investors, accountants, and bookkeepers wrapping their heads around the various stimulus packages, familiarizing themselves with new legislation, working with their employees, and developing a new plan to find a way to keep alive the business they had so successfully developed against all odds. Everything at Risk

Everything they had built, all their savings and investments in the business were at risk.

“Most folks in our industry are on what they call ‘terms.’ Meaning 28 days after we purchase alcohol, we pay for it. So, we knew we had four weeks of heavy alcohol bills coming at us with no revenue, and of course, labor, payroll, all the taxes and sales tax and rent, all these big bills coming in. That was incredibly intense.”

One concern was how some of the property owners were behaving. They’ve offered abatements but not forgiveness. Some on the landlord side expect the business tenants to carry the shutdown alone.

“We understand that property owners are not endlessly wealthy,” Brandon adds. He has been on both sides of the landlord tenant equation. “Landlords can’t take this all on themselves, but it should be a partnership and taking on a portion of this pain, each on the tenant and the landlord side, is our view.”

Instantly with the shutdown, Brandon has obligations he would not have had otherwise.

“We were debt free on March 14 of this year. We had no debt anywhere. Now we’ve taken on the PPP loans and any rent we’ve abated.”

Additionally, the couple were in the middle of opening a new bar in downtown Ventura in the Bank of Italy building on Oak and Main. They were already past the point of no return.

“It’s just a gorgeous building,” Brandon remarked. “We had been looking around there because everything that we saw in Santa Barbara, we see in Ventura now. We’re going through the process. We were about to submit for plan check, which is a much faster process in Ventura than Santa Barbara, I mean way faster and less headaches.”

This is the litany heard countless times. Ventura and San Luis Obispo are far faster and more competitive than Santa Barbara. His Forecast of the Future

“I’m probably in the tiny minority, but I believe at some point between twelve and eighteen months from now, the bar of the future will be the bar it was two months ago,” Brandon reflects. “It’s going to take a vaccine and a lot of things to get back to that point.”

We take the contemporary bar for granted, but in fact an earlier pandemic, the Bubonic Plague, actually gave rise to first pubs and taverns. Until that time women home-brewed beer, because the water was not safe to drink. After the GOOD LION (Continued from page 8) GOOD LION Page 454 Misty Orman on set with her magic hands making toys come to life The Good Lion will roar again