Village Fourth Roadshow

Page 1

IN PASSING 2 - 9 July 2020 Vol 26 Issue 27

SERVING MONTECITO AND SUMMERLAND

Remembering Michael Doane, the man of a million stories, p.32

VILLAGE FOURTH ROADSHOW

ORGANIZERS DO A PANDEMIC PIVOT TO A ROADSHOW THROUGH MONTECITO; PANCAKE BREAKFAST, BBQ, AND MONTECITO CUP GAMES WILL HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL NEXT YEAR (STORY BEGINS ON PAGE 12)

COVER ART BY:

Peyton Ring is the winner of the Children’s Art Contest for the Village Fourth

The More You Know

From sources to State water costs, Carolee Krieger provides an overview of local water infrastructure, p. 10

City Living

How Parker Matthews learned grit and resiliency here in Montecito before moving to New York City, p.35

Tribute to the Fallen Montecito artist David Moseley crafts memorial benches out of trees salvaged from the debris flow, p.33


2

MONTECITO JOURNAL

2 – 9 July 2020


M O N T E C I T O E S TAT E S. C O M

RESIDENTIAL BROKERAGE

M O N T E C I T O E S TAT E S. C O M

The Premiere Estates of Montecito & Santa Barbara CAL BRE 00622258

805 565/2208 2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

3


Inside This Issue

5

Water Wisdom

6

Letters to the Editor

Water “Fan Boy” Bob Hazard explains Montecito’s first foray into water security

A collection of communications from readers Bob & Tina Gale, Jeffrey Schlossberg, Elizabeth Araluce Mason, Paul Orfalea, Donn Handy, Roberta-Anne Bernard, Denice S. Adams, and Haik Hakobian

8

Weekend Getaways

Eight of California’s best car camping locales

10 A Few Things

Montecito must quench its thirst locally

11 On Entertainment

Rubicon Theatre Company presents Drive-In Concert Series; ETC announces approach to reopening

12 Village Beat

Montecito’s Village Fourth takes its show on the road; Pat Nesbitt appeals to board; COVID-19 updates; Biltmore has uncertain future; Laguna’s Mieke Delwiche honored

14 Seen Around Town

Lynda Millner looks at the history of one of California’s most impressive buildings, the Santa Barbara Courthouse

15 On the Record PHOTOGRAPHY BY: SPENSER BRUCE

Dream. Design. Build. Live.

Cottage Hospital still very much open for business; memorial benches for victims of the 1/9/18 debris flow

16 Fitness Front

Downtown Community Acupuncture offers affordable acupuncture options so you can go frequently and consistently

18 People of Montecito

Sally (Southard) Hanseth recalls some cherished memories from growing up in Montecito, including riding her mom’s horse to MUS

20 Santa Barbara by the Glass

Michael Brughelli named as Folded Hills’ new winemaker

David Rintels writes to Michelle Obama with a plea to run as VP

22 Open Letter 412 E. Haley St. #3, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 805.965.9555 | frontdesk@beckercon.com| www.beckerstudiosinc.com @beckerstudios

23 Purely Political

Former Journal Editor Jim Buckley still supports Trump over his Dem opponent

26 Perspectives

Business leader Rinaldo Brutoco believes one way out of our economic crisis is not clinging to the antiquated notion of the Protestant Work Ethic

The Optimist Daily

California mandates emission-free trucks; new fertilizer has less greenhouse gases

27 Brilliant Thoughts

Ashleigh Brilliant on his methods for coping with worry and anxiety

Michael Doane, the man of a million stories, will be greatly missed

32 In Passing

34 5013c Weekly

Expansion of Sanctuary Centers will help meet demand to house and rehabilitate Santa Barbara’s homeless

35 Dear Montecito

Parker Matthews talks about character traits built in Montecito that have served him well at NYU and in NYC

36 In the News

SBCC Board of Trustees approve BLM Resolution

37 Nosh Town

Kick off summer BBQs with some inspiration from renowned chef Cat Cora

Our legal expert interprets landmark decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court

40 Jerry Meandering 41 Our Town

Joanne Calitri speaks to Next Energy Technologies Inc. execs about their renewable energy company

45 Wildlife

Animal lover Gretchen Lieff has something to crow about – crows!

46 Classified Advertising

Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales

47 Local Business Directory

SANTA BARBARA

We Buy, Sell and Broker Important Estate Jewelry, Diamonds and Watches. Located in the upper village of Montecito. Graduate Gemologists with 30 years of experience. We do free evaluations and private consultation. Open Monday-Friday 11-4. call: 805.969.0888 or email: info@tresormontecito.com 1470 East Valley Road suite V www.tresormontecito.com

4

MONTECITO JOURNAL

HOPE RANCH

MONTECITO

GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR LUXURY CUSTOM HOMES FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1983

805-966-9662

|

WWW.HOLEHOUSE.COM

“In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” – Thurgood Marshall

|

LICENSE #645496

2 – 9 July 2020


Water Wisdom by Bob Hazard

Bob Hazard has attended the Montecito Water District’s (MWD) Board and Finance Committee meetings since 2010. Having observed the leadership and management style of at least a dozen MWD directors he offers his own “Behind the Shower Curtain” look at the good, the bad, and the ugly on the Montecito water scene. He invites you to share his inside insights.

Is the Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with the City a Good Deal for Montecito and for the City? (Part I)

L

ast Thursday, the Board of Directors of the Montecito Water District (MWD) voted unanimously to approve the Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with the City of Santa Barbara. Next up is approval by the Santa Barbara City Council. The WSA is expected to go before the City Council June 30. If agreement is reached, city water deliveries to Montecito and Summerland would commence on January 1, 2022.

What is the Mission of the Montecito Water District?

The mission statement of the Montecito Water District is to provide an adequate and reliable supply of high-quality water to the residents of Montecito and Summerland, at the most reasonable cost. Think about that – and measure Water Board Director performance against that yardstick. Is the Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with the City a “good deal” for both Montecito and the City? Take a look at the record and make your own judgment.

3,000 PROJECTS • 600 CLIENTS • 30 YEARS • ONE BUILDER

How Important is Reliable Water to the Montecito Community?

The reality is that water is Montecito’s most precious community resource. Without it, no human being can live for more than three to four days. Without reliable water, Montecito is no longer Montecito – a billion dollars in Montecito home values shrinks to zero. The Montecito Community Plan makes two promises: (1) Retain the special, semi-rural residential quality and character

WATER WISDOM Page 274

Building Peace of Mind. BUILD WITH US | (805) 966 - 6401 | GIFFINANDCR ANE .COM LICENSE 611341

BEGINS JULY 1ST

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

5


LETTERS

TO THE EDITOR

If you have something you think Montecito should know about, or wish to respond to something you read in the Journal, we want to hear from you. Please send all such correspondence to: Montecito Journal, Letters to the Editor, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA. 93108. You can also FAX such mail to: (805) 969-6654, or E-mail to letters@montecitojournal.net

Happy 4th of July

E

ven though COVID means we are unable to celebrate the 4th of July at the traditional firehouse pancake breakfast, we can still stop by this month and donate the price of our meal tickets to show our support for the firefighters and staff who keep our community safe. Our family and friends will enjoy pancakes at home, but we will raise a forkful in tribute and look forward to the breakfast we love in 2021. Happy 4th of July, Montecito. Bob & Tina Gale

Seeking Peace and Quiet

BUILDING HOMES THAT

INSPIRE Private & Family-Owned

Residential Construction Company Serving Montecito California + Surrounding Area for 20 years

ManzoCi.com

424 Olive St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

[805] 705-1207

This communication was in response to a gentleman who endorses Mr. Nesbitt’s property as a fine place for helicopters. This is my personal reply. We hear you. You are an aviation enthusiast. Have you written to the Board of Supervisors? You believe in landowner rights.

Do those rights trump those of renters to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or their right to health and safety? What many of us prefer is a Santa Barbara experience not debased by the noisy convenience of people wealthy enough to lease or own, helicopters in our community. I’m guessing that a person’s financial status often impacts their view of property rights. After all, owners pay property taxes and that adds up for owners of multiple properties. We are all residents of perhaps the most beautiful community on earth. We have shared use of massive wealth in our beaches, mountains, and heritage. We are home to generous benefactors. Some folks don’t realize how hard these very fortunate folks work for the public good. In the end we are all just people, many friendly, kind, and generous. While we are here, while

LETTERS Page 294

JUST LISTED

Impeccably built beachfront residence and more! 8,038 sq ft on 0.45 acre adjacent to Padaro Lane and minutes from Montecito.

Visit 3749santaclaus.com

Steve Hayes 805.898.4370

Francois DeJohn 805.898.4365

lic. 00827640

lic. 01144570

steve@hayescommercial.com

HayesCommercial.com 222 E. Carrillo St, Suite 101 Santa Barbara, California

6

MONTECITO JOURNAL

fran@hayescommercial.com

Call today to discuss real estate investments or to find a great location for your business!

2 – 9 July 2020


the

ALLORA SUMMER SALE Starts Today! Thursday, July 2nd Enjoy 25% to 60% savings on our spring and summer designer collections. Captivating, luxury fashion is on sale now and right on time for this season’s outdoor events... shine six feet apart in your perfect Allora ensemble!

allorabylaura.com · 1269 Coast Village Rd. Montecito CA 93108 · 805.563.2425

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

7


Weekend Getaways by Chuck Graham

I

California’s Car Camping Possibilities

t’s the mobile basecamp transporting you to hidden natural wonders, where time slows down and the only set schedule moves along on its own course. You’re just along for the ride because you chose to be there, making the drive with enough provisions to see you through on your car camping excursion. All you need is for happenstance to deliver, but when you put yourself out there into the unknown, expect the unexpected and enjoy the ride while soaking in the many surprises at some of California’s best car camping locales.

Alabama Hills, Eastern Sierra

There really isn’t another car camping site quite like it in North America. I guess there’s a reason why, that over the years, the Alabama Hills have been a coveted site for movie directors. This high desert escarpment of mounting granite clusters has an even more stunning backdrop. Some of the Eastern Sierra’s tallest peaks loom to the west, including Mount Whitney, the tallest peak in the contiguous United States at 14,505 feet. Managed by the Bureau of Land Management, dirt roads lead to scenes from early Westerns like Joe Kidd and Nevada Smith and to more recent Oscar winning flicks like Gladiator and Django Unchained. Sunrises and sunsets are typically epic every day and there’s a couple of granite arches to search for that perfectly frame those iconic peaks. www.lonepinechamber.org/.../sightseeing-in-the-alabama-hills.

Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

Being that it’s California’s largest state park at 600,000 acres, vanishing from the mainstream and into the desert isn’t that difficult. Biodiversity is where it’s at in this unique arid transition zone where the Mojave and Colorado deserts converge and fortified on its northern fringe by the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto

free Zen meditation instruction

Mountains National Monument. Anza-Borrego is named after the 18th century Spanish explorer Juan Bautista de Anza (that must’ve been a helluva slog) and Borrego, Spanish for sheep, as in the nimble desert bighorn sheep that thrive in the steep, craggy canyons. If the state campground isn’t your bag, there’s plenty of places along nameless tracks for an authentic desert experience. It’s all on offer amongst the fan palm oases, desert iguanas, ocotillo, seasonal arroyos, and daunting badlands. www.parks.ca.gov.

Wind Wolves Preserve

At 93,000 acres this ecologically unique region is another transitional hotspot and is the West Coast’s largest nonprofit preserve. Imagine a mindboggling diverse pocket where the Transverse and Coast Ranges converge with the San Joaquin Valley, the Eastern Sierra and western Mojave Desert. Car camping is free. Just call ahead to make a reservation and then go explore immense San Emigdio Canyon. Hike the paths along the creek up the wide-open canyon where browsing mule deer and Tule elk traverse the steep hillsides. More trails lead above the canyon in a preserve with elevation gains ranging from 600 to 6,000 feet. www.wildlandsconservancy.org.

Carrizo Plain National Monument

The last of California’s grasslands became a National Monument in January 2001. Jointly managed by the Bureau of Land Management, The Nature Conservancy and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Carrizo Plain has two free campgrounds made for car camping. Nameless dirt roads are also open to car camping in the foothills of the Caliente and Temblor Ranges. Just remember that services of any kind are 50 miles in any one direction, so go over that gear list before heading out to what is also known as “California’s Serengeti” for its herds of pronghorn antelope, Tule elk, and black-tailed deer. If there’s one item not to forget before venturing to the Carrizo Plain, it’s a pair of binoculars. The grasslands are teeming with other wildlife, the most endangered species in the Golden State. Some of those include the giant kangaroo rat, San Joaquin kit fox, antelope ground squirrel and blunt-nosed leopard lizard. And if you’re a bird nerd, those binos will come in handy scanning for all those hawks, falcons, and eagles patrolling the grasslands.

Hearst San Simeon State Park

Located along Pacific Coast Highway 1 (PCH), on California’s stunning Central Coast, 35 miles north of San Luis Obispo, is a state park that offers easy access to driftwood-strewn beaches but also hikes into dense riparian areas. Five miles to the north is Hearst Castle, certainly worth a tour into William Randolph Hearst the newspaper tycoon’s residence. Two miles further to the north and you’ll find a marine mammal spectacle where thousands of northern elephant seals congregate on windblown beaches and beneath eroding bluffs. The Boucher Trail leads 1.5 miles to the north from there where the Piedras Blancas Light Station towers over daunting offshore pinnacles loaded with seabirds and bellowing pinnipeds. www.parks.ca.gov.

Big Sur Coast

When it comes to car camping along what is arguably the most scenic stretch of coastline in California, there’s lots to choose from above the sheer, wave-battered cliffs along this iconic drive. Abundant campgrounds can be had along the coast or in the dense redwood forests fed by dewy fog just across PCH. A myriad of trails leads to waterfalls, crashing waves, old smuggler routes, dizzying, scenic overlooks, and secluded coves. www.bigsur-coastline.com.

Wildrose Campground, Death Valley National Park

OFFERED BY EDITH CALDWELL AT 8 E. DE LA GUERRA IN SANTA BARBARA EVERY DAY IN JULY 10 : 00 TO 11: 00 IN THE MORNING

7: 00 TO 8: 00 IN THE EVENING

SEATING IS LIMITED TO TWELVE, SO PLEASE CALL TO RESERVE A SPACE. 805.696.5515 MASKS REQUIRED

8

MONTECITO JOURNAL

When most think of Death Valley National Park, the wind-groomed sand dunes and Badwater quickly come to mind, but Death Valley is a vast place and includes significant mountain ranges, including the Panamints. The highest summit is Telescope Peak at 11,049 feet and just adjacent to the north is Wildrose Peak at 9,064 feet. These peaks offer some amazing views, certainly a different and more grand perspective of one of the most unique National Parks in North America. The campground is just down the road from these trailheads and the historic charcoal kilns. The campground is at 4,100 feet and is first come first serve. www.nps.gov/deva.

Van Damme State Park, Mendocino

The breathtaking Mendocino Coast in Northern California, is one of the more scenic stretches of the Golden State. Highway 1 meanders right through Van Damme State Park, and their easy to moderate hiking trails within the park offer easy access to towering coastal redwoods, weathered pygmy forests, spawning salmon and some of the best kayaking and standup paddling on the entire West Coast. Making a reservation in advance is recommended. www. parks.ca.gov, www.kayakmendocino.com. •MJ

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.” – Desmond Tutu

2 – 9 July 2020


4th of July Sale

Pay no sales tax now thru July 5th UP TO

25% OFF Outdoor Wicker

20%

OFF All Teak Furniture

UP TO

25%

OFF Dining Sets

UP TO

25% OFF

Umbrellas

WE ARE FULLY STOCKED AND READY TO DELIVER. Our showroom is currently open by appointment only during our regular business hours. We are also here to help you by e-mail, text and phone if you prefer to shop from the comfort of your home.

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

7 PARKER WAY | SANTA BARBARA 805.966.1390 | haywards1890.com sales@haywards1890.com

MONTECITO JOURNAL

9


A Few Things Everyone in Montecito Should Know About Water by Carolee Krieger, Executive Director, California Water Impact Network

Part 1: The Public Trust, Montecito, and the Sources of Our Water

W

ater is a Public Trust Resource. The Public Trust Doctrine, codified by Roman Emperor Justinian in 535 AD, affirms the public’s fundamental right to water as a common resource. This right was reiterated in Britain’s Magna Carta, and later enshrined in the constitutions of the U.S. and California. When considering our local water policy, sources, and planning, it’s important to remember that the principles of the Public Trust supersede any individual’s or entity’s documented claim to fresh water. Fresh water in Montecito is most reliable from our local sources: Lake Cachuma and Jameson Lake, with a small amount from district wells drawing from our fractured (and therefore weak) groundwater basin. Near-term future sources currently under consideration are a share of the desalinated water produced by the City of Santa Barbara and non-potable recycled water (for landscaping). Local sources have two key benefits: low cost and local control. Ratepayers like you and me have a voice in how local sources are managed. Montecito is also under contract with the State Water Project, whose source is the San Francisco Bay Delta watershed (also known as the California Delta). The infrastructure that delivers State water to Montecito is controlled by the Department of Water Resources (DWR). Montecito has no influence over the cost of SWP deliveries or how much of our allocation we receive. But it would be a gross understatement to say that State water is unreliable and extremely expensive. Santa Barbara voters rejected State water in a 1979 ballot measure. Yet in the drought year of 1991, misinformation and fear swayed enough voters for a new State water ballot measure to narrowly pass. Under the terms of our SWP contract, we pay for our full 3,000 acre-foot allocation whether we receive any water or not. In 2014, we received only 5% of our State water allocation, effectively paying $30,000 per acre foot. While 2014 was an extreme year, the numbers averaged from 1998 to 2015 aren’t much better or anywhere near what voters were led to believe: our four South Coast districts (Montecito, Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria) received on average only 28% of our allocation, and paid billions more than we expected. A quick look at MWD’s current budget will tell you all you need to know about how this has adversely affected ratepayers in Montecito. Nearly 40% of total operating expenses pay for less than 10% of our water. The average effective cost per acre-foot of State water delivered to Montecito from 2010 to 2015 was $15,132. During that same time period, water from Lake Cachuma cost $310/AF. Desal is expected to cost approximately $2,500/AF. Our local problems with State water don’t end with outrageous costs and lack of reliability. In good water years, we cannot locally store State water to keep for future periods of drought. This year, Lake Cachuma has been at about 80% of capacity. Its sources of that water (rain, runoff, State) are carefully tracked. Should rain fill the reservoir, it’s the State water that gets taken off the books in the amount that spills from Lake Cachuma. Our arrangements to store portions of our State water elsewhere in the state are

with private entities and competes with other SWP contractors. This means there is no guarantee our water will be available when we need it, and puts us at risk of a “highest bidder” scenario in times of drought. Our issues are not unlike other districts all over California. Developing local and regional supplies of water is the future and doing so has bigger implications than we realize. Desalination is reliable, and technology is lowering the cost and improving the environmental impacts. Control of the facility, distribution of the water it supplies, and mitigation of the environmental impacts will be local. We would be wise to also explore potable recycled water, as is happening successfully elsewhere in the state. In 2022, our debt for the local branch of the SWP pipeline will be paid off, freeing up $1.8 million of the MWD budget annually. Montecito and our neighboring districts continue to make excellent gains at conservation. We have options, and the eyes of the entire State are on us.

With the resources, intellectual capital, and engaged

citizenry we have living right here, shouldn’t Montecito be the district to set the standard for all of California? There is no good reason why it can’t be so. We started

Earth Day, let’s step up, take a leadership role and show the entire state it can be done.

With the resources, intellectual capital, and engaged citizenry we have living right here, shouldn’t Montecito be the district to set the standard for all of California? There is no good reason why it can’t be so. We started Earth Day, let’s step up, take a leadership role and show the entire state it can be done. In Part 2, I’ll explain why the San Francisco Bay Delta watershed is so important to Montecito, and how we’re in a leadership position to make history in California – again. Longtime Santa Barbara resident Carolee Krieger leads C-WIN’s efforts to design and implement collaborative and lasting solutions for California’s fresh water resources. Santa Barbara 1st District Supervisor Naomi Schwartz named Krieger Woman of the Year in 1997. She has been featured in Mother Jones, Bloomberg, and an Emmynominated PBS broadcast about the impacts of almonds on water supply. •MJ

Montecito Tide Guide

10 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Day

Low

Thurs, July 2

Hgt High

Hgt Low

Hgt High

Hgt Low

2:43 AM -0.6 9:03 AM

3.7

01:45 PM

2

08:14 PM

6.5

Fri, July 3

3:29 AM -1.1 9:57 AM

3.8

02:33 PM

2.1

08:57 PM

6.7

Sat, July 4

4:13 AM -1.4 10:45 AM 3.9

03:18 PM

2.2

09:38 PM

6.6

Sun, July 5

4:55 AM -1.4 11:30 AM 3.9

04:03 PM

2.3

010:19 PM

6.5

Mon, July 6

5:36 AM -1.2 12:14 PM 3.9

04:46 PM

2.4

011:00 PM

6.2

Tues, July 7

6:16 AM -0.9 12:57 PM 3.9

05:31 PM

2.5

011:40 PM

5.7

01:41 PM

2.6

06:20 PM

2.6

-0.5

Hgt

Wed, July 8

6:55 AM

Thurs, July 9

12:20 AM 5.2

7:35 AM

0

02:27 PM

3.9

07:16 PM 2.8

Fri, July 10

1:03 AM

8:14 AM

0.4

03:14 PM

4

08:27 PM 2.8

4.6

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes

2 – 9 July 2020


On Entertainment

Rubicon Goes Retro: Reimagined Jukebox Musicals Live at Fairgrounds

by Steven Libowitz

Today’s Real Estate Strategy

W

hen the coronavirus caused shutdowns in California in mid-March, the married couple who run the Rubicon Theatre Company thought at first that maybe the Ventura outfit could just wait out the virus, postpone a couple of shows and get going again later in the spring. When it became clear that the Ventura venue wouldn’t be reopening anytime soon, producing artistic director Karyl Lynn Burns and her husband, co-founding artistic director James O’Neil, eventually, albeit belatedly, embraced the virtual world, finally in mid-May employing Zoom for such offerings as The Rubicon Experience, a podcast series where company members reflect on past shows with the artists that helped bring them to life; Crossing the Rubicon, a series of interviews with writers and directors about the process of creating and staging plays; and Rubicon Connections, an interview series delving into the often outside interests of the people who make up the extended Rubicon family. But as the summer approached, and the awareness that theaters weren’t going to be able to join restaurants and other businesses in reopening, the couple decided that streaming and podcasts just weren’t going to cut it.

Safe-Distance Drive-In Theatre Concert Series

A hybrid between a drive-in movie, a live concert and a theatre experience, the series boasts five 75-minute concerts that patrons can enjoy from the safety and comfort of their cars (parked at least six feet apart, of course) in the parking lot of the Ventura County Fairgrounds, which would normally be gearing up for its massive 11-day annual country fair. The roster of performers range from veterans of the Broadway stage, pop stars, show tune singers and classic rockers

ENTERTAINMENT Page 444

As a seller, now more than ever, you should insist on a creative marketing plan and an aggressive advertising budget to get your property sold. Each year, Dan Encell spends over $250,000 to market & advertise his listings. With this commitment, he has been able to achieve tremendous results despite difficult market conditions: Dan has ranked within the Top 10 Berkshire Hathaway Agents in the world for 14 of the past fifteen years!

Want results? Call Dan Encell at 565-4896. Remember, it doesn’t cost any more to work with the best. (But it can cost you plenty if you don’t.)

FREE IN HOME CONSULTATION

www.MontecitoKitchens.com Don Gragg 805.453.0518

2 – 9 July 2020

License #951784

Daniel Encell

Director, Estates Division Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Call: (805) 565-4896 DanEncell@aol.com Visit: www.DanEncell.com

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

11


Village Beat by Kelly Mahan Herrick

Kelly has been editor at large for the Journal since 2007, reporting on news in Montecito and beyond. She is also a licensed realtor with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices, and is a member of Montecito and Santa Barbara’s top real estate team, Calcagno & Hamilton.

Montecito Village Fourth Roadshow

M

ontecito Association’s Village Fourth committee is taking their patriotic show on the road! This Saturday, July 4, over 30 vintage vehicles, firetrucks, and police cars will go on a “socially-distanced” parade throughout Montecito, in an effort to bring patriotic cheer during a pandemic. “It’s going to be really fun, and a parade to remember!” said co-chair Mindy Denson, who is organizing the event with Kathi King and Trish Davis, along with a dedicated committee. With the COVID-19 pandemic still going strong, this Fourth of July will look different than past celebrations: there will be no pancake breakfast at the firehouse, no gathering of thousands of residents on San Ysidro Road to watch the world’s shortest parade from Upper Manning Park to Lower Manning Park, no t-shirts, no BBQ and fair, no Grand Marshal, and no Montecito Cup games. Instead, the parade will begin at Montecito Union School, travel down San Ysidro Road to San Leandro, down Sheffield to North Jameson, down Olive Mill to Channel Drive, past the Music Academy and Cemetery, up Coast Village Road and Olive Mill to Hot Springs, up Sycamore Canyon, turnaround at Montecito Covenant Church, and take Mountain Drive to San Ysidro, ending at MUS. Montecito residents are encouraged to come out and watch the parade while being socially distanced, and cheer on the vintage vehicles. The parade will begin with a flyover of four vintage airplanes, at 11:30 am sharp. The official artwork for the parade was created by 13-year-old Peyton Ring, who freehand drew a 1958 BMW 507 in a patriotic parade; the artwork is on posters that will be displayed during the parade. For residents who do not live on the parade route, park-

Peyton’s artwork features a vintage BMW, the Montecito Association logo, and fireworks

ually wrapped. Cold Spring School is located at 2243 Sycamore Canyon Road.

Helipad Appeal at Board of Supervisors

Peyton Ring is the winner of the children’s art contest for the Village Fourth

ing is available at Lower Manning Park and the Montecito YMCA for those who would like to watch the beginning of the parade from MUS. The crew putting on the event include Denson, King, and Davis, as well as Dana and Andrea Newquist, Conner Rehage, Michael Edwards, Dana Hansen, Nina Terzian, Jean von Wittenberg, Christie Venable, Houghton Hyatt, Cindy Feinberg, Jeff Norman, and Donna Spivak. For more information, see the map on page 21, or visit www.montecitoas sociation.org. If you are looking for a sweet treat before the parade, Cold Spring School is hosting a Bake Sale Caravan at the school’s parking lot, to benefit the Foodbank of Santa Barbara’s summer nutrition program. The program provides over 39,000 nutritious lunches to children in need during the summer. The Bake Sale is from 9 am to noon on Saturday, July 4, and volunteers approaching vehicles will be in masks and gloves. All treats will be individ-

• Available to care for our neighbors, and accepting new patients. • Infection control protocol followed, with all areas sanitized including wait area and exam room. 1483 E. Valley Road, Suite M | 805.969.6090

12 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Next week, on July 7, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors will hear from Summerland resident Pat Nesbitt, who is appealing a November 7 decision by the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission to deny a permit for a private helicopter pad on his nearly 20-acre property known as Carpinteria Valley Farms. Nesbitt, who admitted last September that he’s been landing helicopters on his property for decades without a permit, originally sought permission for a helistop with two landing zones to be used for personal use and emergency services. He revised the project before a Planning Commission hearing in September, removing the proposed pad on the eastern portion of his property and moving the second pad further west, towards the center of his property on a 10-acre field. The permit would limit the personal use of the helistop to a maximum of two times per week between the hours of 7 am and 7 pm (which was originally proposed as 9 pm), and per the staff report, his helicopters will take the ocean route as opposed to the mountain route in order to avoid any potential disturbance to residences along the mountain route. Frequency of use of the pad for emergency services would be on an as-needed basis. Nesbitt has said publicly that 500650 helicopters fly over our area every year, and that he believes that adding two flights per week would not disturb the peace and quiet of the surrounding neighborhood, especially given the property’s close proximity to Highway 101. He said any helicopters landing on his property would be required to use a flight path over the ocean, across

“It’s Fourth of July weekend, or, as I call it, Exploding Christmas.” -Stephen Colbert

Summerland beach and the freeway, and onto the property. But neighbors in Carpinteria, Summerland, and Montecito disagree, and have staunchly opposed the permit, submitting over one hundred letters to the Planning Commission for their November hearing. Concerns include the helipad’s close proximity to residential homes, nearby horse and bicycle trails, and a nearby environmentally sensitive habitat. A minority of neighbors have given their blessing, including Mr. Nesbitt’s adjacent neighbor, who said horses are not historically spooked by helicopter noise. Many residents have surmised that one of the reasons Nesbitt is seeking proper permitting now is that his property is for sale – the 43,000-sq-ft home has 11 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms, and is currently listed for $55 million – and having a permitted helistop would be appealing to a new buyer. Nesbitt retorts that he would require the future owner of the property to adhere to the flight path above the ocean, writing it in as a deed restriction; land use attorney Marc Chytilo, who is representing several nearby homeowners, maintains that a deed restriction is unenforceable. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission cited several reasons for denial, including inconsistency with the Summerland Community Plan and the Comprehensive Plan due to the loud, percussive nature of noise caused by helicopter take offs and landings. The Commission also noted the noise caused by helicopters would be detrimental to the surrounding neighborhood, adjacent trails, and nearby monarch butterfly roosting habitats. The Board of Supervisors hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, July 7. Visit www.countyofsb.org/bos for more information.

VILLAGE BEAT Page 434 2 – 9 July 2020


The Greatest Escapes

Marina Drive Contemporary 4305MarinaDrive.com $27,500,000 5162FoothillRd.com | $4,950,000

3090HiddenValleyLane.com | $7,995,000

MonteAlegreDr.com | $4,000,000

Suzanne Perkins

PERKINSGROUPRE.COM The Perkins Group Real Estate | +1 805.265.0786 | team@perkinsgroupre.com | DRE: 01106512 ©2020 Compass is a licensed real estate broker and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. All material presented herein is intended for informational purposes only. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is subject to errors, omissions, changes in price, condition, sale, or withdraw without notice. No statement is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate. Exact dimensions can be obtained by retaining the services of an architect or engineer. This is not intended to solicit property already listed.

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

13


Seen Around Town

by Lynda Millner

Santa Barbara County Courthouse

W

hile we’re waiting for this pandemic to subside it might be fun to learn a bit about one of our five National Historic Landmarks, the County Courthouse. The others are the Mission, Casa del Herrero, the Raphael Gonzales Adobe, and the Santa Barbara Club. As I write this the Courthouse has a lock on the door and is closed for business. But usually it is bustling with visitors, tourists, and attorneys. There are about 80 docents (the Docent Council) who volunteer their time to take folks on a tour of the building seven days a week. There is also a docent in the information booth as you enter all day to help with directions. The tour begins in the Mural Room which the architect William Mooser II designed to be the “throne room” for the king and queen. Well, the building does look like a Spanish castle! Instead the Mural Room has never been a courtroom but the meeting place for the five Santa Barbara County board of supervisors until the 1960s when they moved across the street to the admin

Ms Millner is the author of The Magic Makeover, Tricks for Looking Thinner, Younger and More Confident – Instantly. If you have an event that belongs in this column, you are invited to call Lynda at 969-6164.

building. Now the Mural Room is used for many weddings, ceremonies, parties, and the like. So welcome to my tour! How did we get this spectacular public building? It goes back to when California became the 31st state in 1850. Now we needed a courthouse. The city rented the Kays adobe at first. The town was rather wild and wooly with 25 saloons on State Street and a population of 500 and 500 more in the County. Then Santa Barbara needed a larger courthouse so a bigger adobe was acquired. The County was outgrowing their western frontier days and wanted a fancy eastern style place. They built a

SEEN Page 304

The grand arch and fountain at the Courthouse

MONTECITO, CA VIEW TOUR & BID ONLINE JULY 14–16

AUCTION Previously Offered for $8.9M. SELLING TO THE HIGHEST BIDDER, Virtual open houses every day & private showings by appointment. More details online.

In cooperation with:

Listed by Kris Johnston of Engel & Völkers

ConciergeAuctions.com | +1 646.760.7823 This property is listed for sale by Kris Johnston (#01860722) of Engel & Völkers Santa Ynez (#01527308) – 1090 Edison Street, Suite 102, PO Box 420, Santa Ynez, CA 93460; 805-691-9435. Concierge Auctions, LLC is a marketing service provider for auctions, is not a licensed Real Estate broker, and possesses California Auctioneer’s Bond #62662376 — 800 Brazos Street, Suite 220, Austin, TX 78701; +1 (212) 202-2940. Licensed Auctioneer Frank Trunzo (CA Bond #511522). All measurements, property corners, etc. to be verified by buyer to buyer’s full satisfaction. The services referred to herein are not available to residents of any state where prohibited by applicable state law. Concierge Auctions, LLC, its agents and affiliates, broker partners, auctioneer, and sellers do not warrant or guarantee the accuracy or completeness of any information and shall have no liability for errors or omissions or inaccuracies under any circumstances in this or any other property listings or advertising, promotional or publicity statements and materials. This is not meant as a solicitation for listings. Brokers are protected and encouraged to participate. Equal Housing Opportunity. See Auction Terms and Conditions for full details.

14 MONTECITO JOURNAL

2 – 9 July 2020


ON THE RECORD

Ultraviolet robots in action at Cottage Hospital

Nicholas Schou

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

Cottage Hospital Update

I

t’s been more than three months since the scary reality of the coronavirus threat began to sink in with public officials in California, and unfortunately, the pandemic shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, recent reports suggest the virus is not only spreading thanks to lackluster social-distancing efforts by sun-worshipping millennials, but is possibly even mutating. Clearly the best thing you can do for your health and those of your loved ones right now is to stay home, and when you have to go outside, avoid crowds and wear a mask at all times. That said, a recent Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that almost half (48 percent) of adults say that they or someone in their household have postponed or skipped appointments with their doctors because of fears of contracting the virus. Most medical facilities have discontinued elective surgeries during the pandem-

Dr. Robin Malone, Cottage ER physician

ic, however Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital is an exception. Moreover, the facility has taken substantial measures to protect both patients and staff during this time, so if you feel sick or otherwise need to go to the emergency room, do not hesitate to do so. “Cottage continues to be

ready 24/7 to provide safe care for all our patients,” said Dr. Brett Wilson, Cottage Hospital’s Medical Director of Emergency Medicine. “Medical conditions happen despite a pandemic. Please know that the same high level or care is still happening at Cottage, for every patient.” Among the safety measures that Cottage has adopted are: pre-screening for all patients who present themselves for emergency treatment, with an outdoor tented area set up to handle any cases that don’t require admission to the building. Also, anyone who shows symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will be immediately quarantined in an isolation ward pending further testing and treatment after entering a negative pressure room where the airflow is reversed so that

any airborne virus they bring with them doesn’t escape outside. While anyone entering the facility must wear face masks, precautions don’t stop there, as several state-ofthe-art disinfectant protocols have been introduced throughout the facility, including ultraviolet light generating robots that disinfect all rooms used for handling patients. Very Star Wars, right? According to Dr. Robin Malone, a Cottage Hospital emergency care physician, many people who are showing up for treatment have admitted that they only did so as a last resort, which she views as a disturbing trend. “Too many people are having emergencies but are waiting too long before they

ON THE RECORD Page 334

Thank you!

23rd Annual Mad Hatter Luncheon A Benefit for Transition House’s Programs for Children

We are grateful for all the sponsors and donors who generously maintained their support despite the luncheon’s cancellation. Our deepest thanks to our dedicated Transition House Auxiliary who worked hard to plan the event to raise money to benefit children experiencing homelessness.

$5,000 – Mad Hatter Becky & Pete Adams • Lynda Fairly • Kathy & Garth Nobis • S&S Seeds • Missy & Chuck Sheldon

$2,500 – King of Hearts DailyOM • Montecito Bank & Trust • The Towbes Group

$1,000 – Queen of Hearts William & Kathy Borgers James & Patricia Buckley Bunnin Chevrolet Cadillac Marisa & Brett Grimes Elizabeth Leddy

Jane Macedo de Veer and Karel de Veer Northern Trust Thomas & Charmaine Rogers Rudi Schulte Family Foundation Santa Barbara Home Improvement Center

State Farm Companies Foundation Sunni Thomas Diane and Ron White Anna and Don Ylvisaker Yoga Soup

$500 – Cheshire Cat

Transition House is dedicated to the solution of family homelessness in Santa Barbara. www.transitionhouse.com 2 – 9 July 2020

American Riviera Bank Kat Hosey Jean Keely Ruth Hardee Kovacs Lens Floor Covering of Santa Barbara

Kristin Linehan Penny Mathison Mary O’Neill Tileco Distributors, Inc.

Donors up to $500 BMW of Santa Barbara • Meridian Group Real Estate Management • Richard Stein, DDS • The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

15


Fitness Front

immune systems to help prevent any ‘invaders,’ mainly the current coronavirus. Rather than wait until it’s too late and reach for the common over the counter Western medicines that only help with symptoms – often by suppressing the immune system to stop the particular symptom – acupuncture can help you tackle the cause of why you are feeling ill in the first place! It can strengthen your own body’s natural defenses to balance and fight off any invaders naturally so you don’t have the unwanted symptoms in the first place.”

by Michelle Ebbin Michelle Ebbin is a renowned wellness/massage expert, and the author of four books. She appears regularly in the media to discuss the benefits of natural therapies and healthy living. She lives in Montecito with her husband, Luke, and three boys. Instagram @MichelleEbbin

Needle Stress Away

Acupuncture naturally boosts your immune system and helps with stress and anxiety, along with offering a multitude of other benefits

Downtown Community Acupuncture reopened in May with lounge chairs more than six feet apart and 50% lowered capacity

B

elieve it or not, I’m afraid of needles. In fact, I used to faint every time I had blood taken. Yet despite my fear I’ve turned to acupuncture for decades to help with

many common problems, including anxiety, stress, to boost my immune system, and yes, even for “facial rejuvenation.” Acupuncture has been my go-to treatment for both acute and

Bonita Beach Bohemian Lifestyle

O U R

Summer S A L E

S TA R T S W E D N E S DAY J U LY 1 S T

40 - 75 % 0ff! OUTDOOR FITTING ROOMS PROVIDED MASK UP!

16 MONTECITO JOURNAL

chronic problems, as well as my #1 choice for overall stress relief. Right now, as the COVID-19 pandemic has altered every aspect of life and protests plus political unrest compound our daily stress, acupuncture is a powerful alternative therapy that everyone could use. For those who haven’t tried it, acupuncture is a 3,000-year-old healing technique of Traditional Chinese Medicine that involves inserting very thin, flexible needles (often no thicker than human hair) into specific points on the skin. Stimulating these points increases circulation, restores balance to the energy or “chi” that flows through channels known as meridians that run throughout the body, and triggers the body’s natural healing response. It doesn’t hurt and the valuable results are often immediate and long lasting. Studies by the National Institutes of Health have shown that acupuncture can help regulate and stimulate the immune system with regular treatments. If you’re feeling stressed out (and who isn’t these days?), energy depleted, or simply not 100% yourself, I highly suggest trying acupuncture. One of my favorite acupuncturists in town is Laura Schlieske, founder of Downtown Community Acupuncture (DCA) and a 13-year practitioner with a Master’s Degree of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine from the Santa Barbara College of Oriental Medicine. For those who just aren’t ready for needles just yet, Laura and her team also provide herbal and nutritional consultations for professional grade herbal formulas to help destroy viruses and bacteria, boost immunity, and balance the body in general. She has specific formulas for stress, sleep, hormone balance, and pain. Laura says: “I think everyone is aware that extreme stress, poor nutrition and lack of sleep can lower the immune system. Your immune system is your main line of defense to ward off viruses and bacteria. It makes sense to do everything we can to strengthen our

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass

In California, acupuncturists are considered Primary Care Providers and Downtown Community Acupuncture was able to reopen in May strictly following Santa Barbara County Health guidelines.

In California, acupuncturists are considered Primary Care Providers and Downtown Community Acupuncture was able to reopen in May strictly following Santa Barbara County Health guidelines. This clinic is in the unique position to offer safe, community acupuncture with lounge chairs in the treatment area spaced more than six feet apart, a spacious high ceilinged, well-ventilated building, and 50% lowered capacity to ensure proper social distancing. I personally love community acupuncture because there’s a soothing, visceral energy that fills the room when several people are being treated at the same time and everyone is focused on healing. According to Laura, “Studies have shown that when a patient ‘rests’ with the needles and with one other or more people in the same room, it enhances the healing process.” Downtown Community Acupuncture is open Monday through Saturday, with pricing based on a sliding scale: $25 - $50 (plus $15 fee for the initial visit). As acupuncture is meant to be done frequently, the affordable pricing makes it easy for people to fit in regular, consistent sessions, and for first timers who are curious about Chinese medicine and acupuncture. Whether you choose needles or herbs or both, you’re in good hands at DCA! (And yes, the acupuncture facial was fabulous.) •MJ For more info: www.YourDCA.com Phone: (805) 845-8878 Downtown Community Acupuncture 209 West Sola Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101 2 – 9 July 2020


MORE ONLINE AT

VILLAGESITE.COM

736 Toro Canyon Rd | Santa Barbara | 4BD/4BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $7,500,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226

502 Picacho Ln | Montecito | 4BD/5BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $4,495,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.698.0199

975 Lilac Dr | Santa Barbara | 5BD/8BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $16,900,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600

4558 Via Esperanza | Santa Barbara | 5BD/6BA DRE 01005773 | Offered at $9,975,000 Gregg Leach 805.886.9000

1398 Oak Creek Canyon Rd | Montecito | 6BD/7BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $9,950,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.698.0199

2662 Sycamore Canyon Rd | Montecito | 5BD/6BA DRE 00978392 | Offered at $9,875,000 John A Sener 805.331.7402

610 Cima Vista Ln | Montecito | 6BD/8BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $8,995,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600

209 Greenwell Ave | Summerland | 4BD/4BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $6,195,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.698.0199

665 Las Alturas Rd | Santa Barbara | 5BD/4BA DRE 00914713 | Offered at $3,175,000 Tim Walsh 805.259.8808

790 Rockbridge Rd | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 00914713 | Offered at $2,995,000 Tim Walsh 805.259.8808

665 Coyote Rd | Santa Barbara | 5BD/4BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $2,395,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226

18 W Quinto St | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 01509445 | Offered at $2,395,000 Aaron Gilles 805.895.1877

2525 Banner Ave | Summerland | 4BD/3BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $2,250,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226

4357 Cuna Dr | Santa Barbara | 5BD/5BA DRE 01497110 | Offered at $2,245,000 Amy J Baird 805.478.9318

5617 W Camino Cielo | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 01813897 | Offered at $2,165,000 David M Kim 805.296.0662

30 Fairwood Ln | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 00835438 | Offered at $2,125,000 Jackie Walters 805.570.0558

5150 E Camino Cielo | Santa Barbara | 4BD/4BA DRE 00835438 | Offered at $1,795,000 Jackie Walters 805.570.0558

2206 Alameda Padre Serra | Santa Barbara | 3BD/4BA DRE 00778203 | Offered at $1,595,000 Mary Lu Edick 805.452.3258

WE REACH A WORLDWIDE AUDIENCE THROUGH OUR EXCLUSIVE AFFILIATES

All information provided is deemed reliable, but has not been verified and we do not guarantee it. We recommend that buyers make their own inquiries.

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

17


People of Montecito by Megan Waldrep

This column celebrates our neighbors and their personal stories of living here or growing up in Montecito. To be featured, please email your story and photos to meganwaldrep@icloud.com.

What is Your Fondest Memory of Living Here?

I normally interview each person for this column, but this letter was so good we had to print as is! Hi MJ, I’ve been loving your articles on favorite memories, and wanted to share a few of my own. I was raised here and have great memories of Montecito going back to the ‘60s. One is of my mom letting me catch a ride to school on the back of her horse. She’d be going on her morning rides up San Ysidro Road and into the mountains, and when we reached MUS, I’d just slide off the back, holding my sack lunch, and run into kindergarten. There was a whole culture here back in the ‘60s and ‘70s of kids with horses in their backyards. We used to love to get out of MUS, run home, jump on our horses and meet at what is now the Bonnie Lane neighborhood. Before there were houses, it was a magic wild playground of little hills and creeks. We would set up jumps and have contests with our horses, then we’d ride up to Pierre Lafond (when it was just a liquor store), tie our horses at the stone trough – which is still there at the San Ysidro entrance – get licorice and Cokes, and head back to our playground for hours of fun. Another memory is talking my friends into jumping off the Biltmore Pier at 10 at night after seeing Jaws at the Granada “or we’ll never swim in the ocean again.” Why they listened to me, I’ll never know. It was the scariest thing we ever did. And another time, in the early ‘70s, I again talked them into dressing up as elderly people. We snuck into the dining hall at Casa Dorinda to see if

we could get a free lunch. Of course, we shuffled in modeling ourselves after Ruth Buzzi (from Laugh-In) in saggy nylons, droopy dresses, hair nets. When the elegant residents gracefully walked in for lunch, we looked like clowns and bolted out mortified. It was magic then, and is magic today. I was married at All Saints in 1983, moved to Italy for years while my husband played pro volleyball there, and we fought our way back to Montecito to start our family. There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t feel incredibly lucky to be here. We still look at each other and just laugh saying, “what a life!!” I’ve never written to anyone about my memories and experiences growing up here. Keep it up! It’s so refreshing to read all the great memories everyone’s sharing of the special moments they remember. – Sally (Southard) Hanseth •MJ

Your Montecito and Santa Barbara Real Estate Agent

RDouglas@bhhscal.com | 805.318.0900 RachaelDouglas.com

Exceptional Architectural Finish

Montecito | Hope Ranch | Santa Barbara | Goleta

(805) 450-2049 | JAMES@JJCSB.NET ©2020 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC

18 MONTECITO JOURNAL

“The time is always right to do what is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

DRE 02024147

2 – 9 July 2020


2 8 4 S A N TA R O S A L A N E

JUST SOLD M O N T EC I TO, C A

Located in the sought after Hedgerow, we proudly represented the Buyers of this private enclave estate.

Last Asking $4,450,000

P R ESEN TED BY

Tyler Mearce

Tyler.Mearce@sothebyshomes.com Tyler.Mearce.com | 805.450.3336

Renee Marvin

Renee.Marvin@sothebyshomes.com ReneeMarvinHomes.com | 805.698.1590

ational Realty® is a registered trademark. This material is based upon information which we consider reliable but because it has been supplied by third parties, we cannot represent that it is accurate t to errors, omissions, changes including price or withdrawal without notice. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s rs for All Featured Agents: Kristi Curtis: 2012866 | Dusty Baker: 1908615 | Maureen McDermut: 1175027 | Sandy Stahl: 1040095 | Vivienne Leebosh: 01229350 | Caroline Santandrea: 01349311 | Harry Kolb: 00714226 | Joe McCorkell: 2051326 |

: 1970135

© Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. All rights reserved. Sotheby’s International Realty® is a registered trademark. This material is based upon information which we consider reliable but because it has been supplied by third parties, we cannot represent that it is accurate or complete and it should not be relied upon as such. This offering is subject to errors, omissions, changes including price or withdrawal without notice. If your property is listed with a real estate broker, please disregard. It is not our intention to solicit the offerings of other real estate brokers. We are happy to work with them and cooperate fully. Operated by Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Real estate agents affiliated with Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. are independent contractor sales associates and are not employees of Sotheby’s International Realty, Inc. Equal Housing Opportunity. Tyler Mearce DRE: 1969409, Renee Marvin DRE: 2056190

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

19


Santa Barbara in a Glass by Gabe Saglie Gabe Saglie has been covering the Santa Barbara wine scene for more than 15 years through columns, TV and radio. He’s a senior editor with Travelzoo and is a leading expert on travel deals, tips and trends. Gabe and wife Renee have 3 children and one Golden Retriever named Milo

New Hands at the Helm: Folded Hills Hires New Winemaker

A

n important change of the guard at Folded Hills: the winery has hired a new winemaker. Michael Brughelli brings a diverse background to the Folded Hills project, which operates a sprawling estate and vineyard off Highway 101 in Gaviota and an elegant tasting room in Montecito. The 38-year-old Nipomo resident gained particular acclaim with Scar of the Sea, a label he co-founded that’s become a darling of wine media and consumers, and his stake in which he sold early this year. Mr. Brughelli has also been director of sales for renowned Bien Nacido Vineyard and currently operates the wine industry advisory company, Vignerons Consulting. “Most winemakers are honed-in in one direction, running the vineyard or the winemaking,” he says. “What I bring to the table is that I know vineyards really well and I know wine-

making really well, and the two form a unique perspective.” Mr. Brughelli’s official title is consulting winemaker, though he says his role is far more hands-on than the position typically implies. And, as with his previous viticultural projects, his approach to the Folded Hills wines will be focused on the estate: its proximity to the coast, its exposure to winds, and its unique soils. “We’ll let the vineyard guide the winemaking process,” he says. “You let the vineyard inform the decisions you make season after season.” Mr. Brughelli is replacing winemaker Angela Osborne, a New Zealand native who’s been with Folded Hills from the beginning but who’s leaving now to focus on her own label, Tribute to Grace, which she founded in 2007. “It is a great honour to have a family’s trust be placed in one’s winemaking

Matthew Pifer, MD

Michael Brughelli, with a diverse background in Santa Barbara Co. winemaking, has been hired as new consulting winemaker for Folded Hills

hands (or feet),” she says in a press release issued last week, “and I will always be grateful to Kim and Andy for this privilege.” Adds Kim Busch: “Angela Osborne has been a pivotal part of the success of Folded Hills. Her style of winemaking has been a wonderful expression of place.” Mr. Brughelli told the Journal this week that he’s excited about joining the Folded Hills team. “It’s a chance to work with great people and to tap

into the great potential on that ranch,” he says. Folded Hills launched in 2017 as the pet project of Kim and Andy Busch, members of the St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch Companies, the largest brewery in the world. Aside from close to 1,000 animals, their 600-acre Gaviota farmstead is home to more than 15 acres of grapevines – grenache and syrah grapes that are farmed organically and biodynamically and that produce most of the Folded Hills portfolio of close to a dozen wines and blends and an annual output of 5,500 cases. Mr. Brughelli’s role begins with oversight of the 2020 vintage, which he says “looks really good” thus far. Grapes will be harvested this fall and the wines will be made at the state-ofthe-art Dierberg/Star Lane facility in the Happy Canyon area of the Santa Ynez Valley. The Folded Hills tasting rooms are open but operating on a limited basis due to COVID-19. Reservations are required for visits to the Gaviota estate and are highly recommended for tastings at the Montecito salon. Find out more at foldedhills.com. Mr. Brughelli is also working on his own eponymous label, Brughelli. His first wines, pinot noir and chardonnay from the 2018 vintage, should see public release this fall. •MJ

“Santa Barbara’s Premier Shoulder Expert”

Specializes in Shoulder, Sports Medicine and Biologic Therapies

Board Certified in Orthopedic Surgery, Specializing in Shoulder, Sports Medicine & Biologics (with an Emphisis in PRP & Stem Cells)

SERVICES

Shoulder Surgery | Knee Surgery | Sports Medicine | PRP Stem Cell | Rotator Cuff Repair | Shoulder Replacement Shoulder Instablility Treatment

20 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Contact us to schedule an appointment today.

805.967.9311 matthewpifermd.com

2 – 9 July 2020


Save the Date! PROUDLY PRESENTS

The Village

4th

Drawing by Peyton Ring

Road Show is ON!

Saturday July 4th 11:30 AM

A motorcade parade through the community! Call for artists – kids and adult: YOUR artwork could be our logo for this year’s Village 4th Road Show! Send in your artwork to: execdirector@montecitoassociation.org Winner announced June 15th.

Proudly Presents:

The Village THE 4th Get dressed in your 4th finery and Road is SHOW VILLAGE 4THShow ROAD come out and greet the motorcade to YOU! ISrolling ROLLING TO YOU! as it rolls by! Be safe. Physically

July 4th SaturdaySaturday July 4th, 11:30 AM 11:30 AM

distant. Wear face coverings, please. For more info:

montecitoassociation.org

PONSOR S OUR S TH A NK YOU TO

Montecito Village Grocery/Lawler Family

Shari and George Isaac

Neil Spidell and John Jackowski

Kathryn Washburn

Andrea Hein

Bobbi and Paul Didier

Linda Gluck

Jane Roney

Gerd and Pete Jordano

Christy and John Venable

Dorinne Lee and George Johnson

D. Hope Bryant

Montecito Community Foundation Bobbi and Ed Rosenblatt Christine and Stefan Riesenfeld Penelope W. Bianchi

2 – 9 July 2020

TURNAROUND Montecito Covenant Church

Village 4th Road Show 2020

Mountain Dr

San Ysidro Rd

Cold Spring Rd

PARADE ROUTE TIMES

End

Ashley Rd

11:30 MUS 11:45 Crane School

11:30 – MUS MUS

Sycamore Canyon

Parade parade Start start

12:00 Biltmore Hotel 12:15 Coast Village Road (via roundabout )

San Ysidro Rd

12:40 Olive Mill Road 1:00 Cold Spring School Olive Mill

Dolores Airey Gillmore

San Leandro

Kathi and Jeff King S Jameson

Ed and Bobbe Mullen Suzanne de Ponce

Parade Route

Channel Dr

N Jameson

Danielson

Jean M. Perloff Richard Ring

California Highway Patrol Congressman Salud Carbajal Montecito Fire District • The Voice of the Village •

AL SPECI NKS A TH

Santa Barbara County Sheriffs Supervisor Das Williams

MONTECITO JOURNAL

21


Pundit-Palooza!

W

hen I made the decision to build the consortium to purchase this newspaper I did so with one primary goal: to create a forum for our community to talk with and to each other, not at each other. Nor to avoid each other. From where I sat, there was a vast diversity of political and social perspectives in our tiny town, and they were not all feeling represented, or more importantly, heard. I hurt for our country right now. I see a dire need for healthy, vital discourse and basic civility. As I see it, the true danger we face as a nation, indeed as a civilization, lies not in our heated arguments, but in our not talking. This week we have two guest editorials by individuals with very different perspectives and world views. Both stepped up to support my vision for an inclusive community newspaper. Both are my friends. One, David Rintels, though currently residing in Martha’s Vineyard because he lost his home in the 2018 debris flow, is a long-time Montecito resident, a political and social activist, a life-long writer of television, movies and plays (and jokes that always make me laugh). The other, Jim Buckley, is the former owner (and founder) of this paper, and someone with whom I have enjoyed many cups of coffee at the former Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf on Coast Village Road. Jim is also someone with whom I agree on almost nothing – including the color of the sky. I’d go for Coffee Bean; He’d go for Tea Leaf. Though I do believe he fathered a wonderful son, who is my partner in this venture and with whom I also often disagree on matters political. My hope is that regardless of your political proclivities you will take the time to read both of these pieces, even if it means sitting on your hands to do so – something I had to do while reading one of these pieces. See if you can figure out which one. And, whatever your perspective, please know that we welcome you to add your voice to the mix. Montecito and the pages of its local paper want to be as safe for your opinions as they are for mine. – Gwyn Lurie

An Open Letter to Michelle Obama by David Rintels

David W Rintels is past President of the Writers Guild of America West, and winner of three Emmy Awards. He and his wife, writer Victoria Riskin, lived in Montecito for thirty years until the mudslides of 2018 claimed their house.

Dear Ms Obama,

I

take you at your word that you have no wish to be a candidate for Vice President on the ticket with Joe Biden. No one can fairly blame you. You have already given eight years of your life to serving the country and our people with self-sacrifice and devotion. And remembering the mud, the indecent, almost inhuman campaign they dragged you through last time, no one should ask you to reconsider, except… I have a dream in which I ask you – what if we reframe the question? Would you rather be Vice President for the next four years under Joe Biden… or a private citizen with Donald Trump as President? You are admired, even beloved, both at home and globally. You are universally respected for your character and values and commitment. While there are other qualified possible candidates, most people believe you are our best chance to prevent Trump’s reelection, by far. The stakes are much too important to take a chance. Please, help make America America again.

An Important Moment in American History…

In 1944, it was clear that President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s health had deteriorated badly. Ordinarily the most robust of men, he now often looked tired, drawn, grey. His famous energy had become a sometime thing. A fourth term promised to be singularly stressful. He said repeatedly he didn’t want to run – not everyone believed him – but he made clear that after twelve extraordinarily arduous years as President, fighting the Great Depression, the War, and dealing with other responsibilities beyond number, “All that is in me cries out to go back to my home on the Hudson River, to avoid public responsibilities, and to avoid also the publicity which in our democracy follows every step of the nation’s Chief Executive.” But the war was still to be won, as was the peace to follow, and FDR was unwilling to entrust those responsibilities to the Republican nominee, Thomas E. Dewey, for whom he had unvarnished disdain. He knew he might not survive another term in the most demanding job in the world, but he ran. He told a concerned friend, “In war the life of any one person means nothing.” Ten weeks after his fourth inauguration, on April 12, 1945, FDR died. By then the war was virtually won – Germany would surrender within a month, Japan less than four months after that – and in the brief time left to him he had successfully negotiated with Stalin and Churchill the creation of the United Nations, leaving the world a better, safer place. Today we are again at war. Unmistakably so. We have a President hellbent on dismantling or betraying everything that unites us, all that we care about and believe in. If he is not stopped at the ballot box, he has given fair warning the next four years will be even worse. Far, far worse. And this may be one time he is telling the truth. How much more can America endure and still be America? As long as there is even the remotest chance Trump could win reelection, we must lead with all our strength, which means you.

22 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Biden has said that if you were willing, he’d take you as his running mate “in a heartbeat. She’s brilliant. She knows her way around. She is a really fine woman. The Obamas are great friends.” He worries only that you wouldn’t agree. “I don’t think she has any desire to live in the White House again.” Still, it could be an opportunity only you could take fullest advantage of. You could ask him to make you responsible for children, say, for their health and nutrition and safety and education and student loans and opportunities in life. You could make an enormous difference in millions of lives. In 2008, my wife and I went to Iowa to campaign for Barack Obama. There we met Joe Biden’s mother, a remarkable and lovely woman, still vibrant in her wheelchair at age ninety, beating the drum for her son. We loved the time we spent with her and mourned when she died two years later, age 92. In 2012 we attended a small fundraiser where now-Vice President Biden was campaigning for reelection. Passing through the obligatory reception line for a quick greeting and photo, we took our moment to say how much we had admired his mother, how proud and happy she had been to be his mother, and how sorry we were to hear of her passing. The Vice President said to his aide, “Please stop the line. I want to talk to these people.” He escorted us a few feet away for privacy. “Wasn’t she wonderful! And do you know, in addition to everything else, I wouldn’t be here tonight, wouldn’t be Vice President, without her.” In 2008, he went on, after Obama had secured the nomination, he asked Biden to run as his Vice President. Biden thanked him but said no. He didn’t want to be Vice President, but more than that, he told Obama, he could be more useful to him in the Senate where, after six terms, he had risen to the top of the critical Committees on Justice and Foreign Relations where he would always have Obama’s back. All well and good, Obama said, but first he had to be elected. His feeling was the 2008 election might hinge on one state, Pennsylvania, which was very much in play; having Biden, who’d been born in Scranton and had kept close connections with the state, on the ticket with him could make the difference. He asked Biden to reconsider but Biden again said thank you but no. Obama persisted. He knew Biden discussed every big decision with his family. Would he talk to them, and then, if the answer was still no, Obama promised to accept it. That Sunday Biden sat with his wife and children and mother around the breakfast table and told them about Obama’s offer and his refusal. As he finished, Biden said, “My mother was looking at me strangely, I thought.” “There’s something I’m not understanding, Joe. When you graduated from college and law school, you had offers for good jobs, good salaries, good opportunities. But you decided to go into public service, and I’ll never forget why. You said the reason you were getting all these wonderful opportunities was that your background had made it possible, and those who had unfairly not been given the same chances you had – because they were Black, say, or couldn’t afford college – would in other circumstances be equally deserving and equally qualified. And you wanted to work to see they had that chance. I thought that was wonderful. “Now a Black man you love and admire has come to you and asked your help in getting a job – a very important job – and you’re telling him no. And I don’t understand why.” Biden said, “I looked at my mother for what I’m sure seemed a long time before I picked up the phone.” “Barack? It’s Joe. I’m in.” I have a dream, Ms Obama. You are sitting around the kitchen table talking to your husband and daughters and your mother. Then you go to the phone and dial. “Joe? It’s Michelle. I’m in.” •MJ

“We should protest openly everything… that smacks of discrimination or slander.” – Mary McLeod Bethune

2 – 9 July 2020


Purely Political

Select One of the Following One

by James Buckley

Jim Buckley is the founder and former owner of the Montecito Journal. He now spends most of his time trying to learn French.

W

A Look Back and Forth

ay back in the Dark Ages (say, the year 1970 or so), the “political season” began the day after Labor Day, in early September. That allowed for a nearly 10-week stretch of politicizing and polarizing to lead up to the first Tuesday in November, which was, putatively, Election Day. Over the years, that paradigm shifted to what we have now: a hodgepodge of various election days, with some states allowing for a month of voting, by mail mostly, not just politicking. Results can now take weeks, even months, to come up with a winner, depending upon how close the race was. Today, of course, in addition to the one-month-plus time period for actual voting, the political game has extended itself into a nearly year-round marathon, probably in order to fit into the 24/7 cycle of cable news, which demands daily fodder. Clearly, there’s a lot of politickin’ goin’ on out there. Luckily, at least as I see it, all that cable TV-time emptiness that needed to be filled with something was in fact filled by one particular presidential candidate during the 2016 election “cycle.” His name was (and is) Donald J. Trump, and his unique rallies – sometimes as many as five in one day – were consumed by the likes of CNN, MSNBC, FOX, and even network channels. They were seen as welcome respites to the often dry and certainly boring sameness of the talking heads of the day. There was no real “news,” so TV chatter concerned itself mostly with the latest polls, all of which predicted a huge win for the other candidate, Hillary Rodham Clinton. The billion dollars of free publicity given Mr. Trump actually propelled him to becoming the 45th President of the United States, and most of the media has been kicking itself in the rear ever since, believing its herd programming laziness led to the Trump presidency. And, they’re probably right, although we (I’m using the royal “we” here; I wrote the editorial) supported Donald Trump for president long before those rallies became a ratings hit. And, we were nearly alone among all print media in the entire nation (along with the Santa Barbara News-Press) to do so. It had nothing to do with the 24-hour news cycle and everything to do with the qualifications – or lack thereof – of Mr. Trump’s opponent: Hillary Clinton. The following is my editorial on the subject, printed on 16 October 2016:

Donald Trump for President

“Look, we’ve only got two choices and it’ll be a cold day in Hades when we’d pull the lever, mail in a ballot, or punch a card for Hillary Rodham Clinton. Let’s examine the two. Firstly, there is Ms Clinton, the ‘experienced’ one. After all, she was the wife of an Arkansas attorney general, the wife of an Arkansas governor, and the wife of a president. Riding on that marital train, she ran for the U.S. Senate in New York State and beat the luckless and lackluster Republican congressman Rick Lazio, who became the candidate by default after Rudy Giuliani was forced out of the race by, guess what? Revelations about his personal life. Funny enough, that’s what happened in Barack Obama’s one and only U.S. Senate race, as his opponent, Jack Ryan, dropped out after... wait for it... revelations about his personal life, mainly the release of court divorce documents in which his wife makes some rather salacious claims. “As for the importance of ‘experience,’ we’d like to point out that Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain had a heap of ‘experience’ before taking on the highest office in his land. He served on the Birmingham City Council beginning in 1911, became Lord Mayor in 1915, was elected to the House of Commons in 1918, served as postmaster general, minister of health, sat in on Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin’s cabinet, was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer, finally becoming Prime Minister in 1937. And, except for the political positions he held, as far as we can tell, never did a day’s work in the private sector in his life. “Most of us remember what happened in Munich when the ‘experienced’ Mr. Chamberlain handed Czechoslovakia over to the excitable Mr. Hitler. If you don’t, you’re probably a product of our 21st century educational establishment. “Here’s why we’ve chosen Mr. Trump: 1) His superior list of Supreme Court nominees; 2) His proposal to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35% to 15%, and a proposed one-time 10% tax on repatriated off-shore profits; 3) the simplification of the U.S. tax code; 4) strengthening U.S. borders, north, south, east, and west, and the immediate expulsion of convicted felons who are citizens of other countries; 5) [His promise] to reduce the red tape and regulatory state requirements that are killing small businesses will be well received. “That’s enough for us.” 2 – 9 July 2020

Apparently, according to many acquaintances who side with the opposition, there was only one choice, and that was of course, Ms Clinton. I wondered then and continue to wonder that if that were so, why have an election at all? The Montecito Journal (and at the time that was me) was consistently berated for supporting Mr. Trump and for not going along with virtually every other print media in the nation. All I could reflect upon was how closely such “consensus” of opinion reminded me of other issues. As for President Trump, he pretty much fulfilled a great many of his promises, against serious odds, such as: the southern wall is finally going up. As of this writing there’s about 217 miles of new construction and the pace is nearly a mile a day (although Mexico isn’t paying for it); corporate taxes have been reduced from 35% to 21%, spurring the boom we experienced before COVID19 crashed upon our shores; Supreme Court nominees Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh became confirmed justices; the one-time tax on repatriated profits was successful; red tape has been severely reduced. Other good points include approval of oil pipelines, the U.S. becoming the largest energy producer in the world, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and the Trans Pacific Partnership, etcetera.

[Trump’s] one-time tax on repatriated profits was successful; red tape has been severely reduced. Other good points include approval of oil pipelines, the U.S. becoming the largest energy producer in the world, pulling out of the Iran nuclear deal, pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and the Trans Pacific Partnership, etcetera. We knew we were taking a chance with Mr. Trump, and it has been anything but smooth sailing. Democrats – in league with now-disgraced FBI, DOJ, and CIA operatives – hounded the new president for nearly three years with unfounded charges of “collusion” with Russia, some going as far as calling President Trump’s activities “treasonous” (as did former Obama CIA Director John Brennan and a whole bunch of talking heads on CNN and MSNBC), culminating in a hasty, unsubstantiated “impeachment” for a skewed congratulatory phone call to the new president of Ukraine. It was all a made-up crock (starting with the Steele dossier) but sadly there were no voices on the left or somewhere near the middle who challenged those flimsy claims or were even vaguely curious about the genesis of the accusations. President Trump has had a tough time of it and he has, in fact, begun to resemble a defeated man, especially in his demeanor. His pace is slower; his tweets – which drive me and many of his supporters crazy – have yet to let up and they mostly hurt him at this point. He hasn’t lost his sense of humor, but his smiles are fewer and far between. He’s been beat up and betrayed by seasoned bureaucrats and by many of those once close to him. As a businessman, his reputation was as a ruthless competitor, and he often doesn’t treat former associates kindly. His uncalled-for insults and tirades directed at people who’ve disappointed him have been costly. That he doesn’t see how he has treated some people badly and others horribly does him no credit. Donald Trump is a seriously flawed human, yet, he’s been a good president (evidenced by his 85% approval rating within his party) and he obviously loves his country. We who support his policies hope, pray, dream even, that he finds the courage to confront the American public and admit some of his mistakes, some of his failures. It would be refreshing to find that he could graciously accept criticism from friend and foe. Despite his many shortcomings, I’m still pulling the lever for the re-election of President Trump. The alternative – a ghost of a lifelong politician, Joe Biden, and whatever left-wing activist he chooses as his running mate – isn’t even worth considering, at least not by me. There are two people in this race, right? •MJ

• The Voice of the Village •

WENDY GRAGG 805. 453. 3371

Luxury Real Estate Specialist for Nearly 20 Years

Lic #01304471

Luxury Real Estate Specialist

MONTECITO JOURNAL

23


CRISTAL IN

24 MONTECITO JOURNAL

2 – 9 July 2020


CLARK IN

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

25


Perspectives by Rinaldo S. Brutoco 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

Abandon the Protestant Work Ethic

I

’ve been thinking lately about all the money that’s been flowing into the economy from the CARES Act. The $500+ billion that went to big corporations has been in the news lately – mostly because of the brouhaha over Treasury Secretary Mnuchin refusing to tell the Congress how much he gave, to whom he gave it, for what, and with what conditions (if any). The portion of the relief bill that really interests me, however, is the $400+ billion that was intended to go directly to Americans all over the country in the form of direct payments. This amount, together with the $600 per week of enhanced unemployment payments paid by the Federal Government, is what has kept the American economy afloat for the past few months. It’s the only thing that is keeping vast numbers of Americans, millions of Americans, from falling into desperate poverty. And, fortunately, it’s the smartest investment we can make for the immediate present to keep the economy alive, and as a bridge to a better tomorrow. As recent experiments in direct monetary relief show, a small amount of monthly cash given directly to people who need it is the most effective anti-poverty strategy ever imagined. The reality is that everyone in the bottom 75 percent of American’s wealth structure spends most everything they have as soon as they can, primarily for necessities. That’s what makes our consumer-based economy work. No matter how many yachts the uber rich buy, it doesn’t help us because a) it represents an infinitesimally small amount of total dollars, and b) the yacht was almost certainly built in some other country! The current cash support programs are set to expire sequentially in July, August, and September, we have to ask: How will the economy stay afloat going forward? Has the Federal government become the “EMPLOYER OF LAST RESORT”? Should it be? And if not, how do we address the multiple challenges of fewer workers needed in manufacturing as robots invade the shop floor, our groceries are checked out by a computer, and an 18-wheeler can get to Miami from Los Angeles without a driver? The simple truth is that we won’t have enough 40 hour per week jobs for everyone who wants one. We’ll end up with unemployment at year end in the ten to 15 percent range if we are lucky! That totals 20,000,000 to 28,000,000 people! Currently we have no plan for all that excess labor in certain white collar fields. Simultaneously we have a total undersupply of labor in activities like farm worker, housemaid, janitor, and other perceived to be “less desirable” blue collar jobs. How to resolve? First, for the toughest jobs Americans don’t want, we should immediately set up a vigorous Guest Worker Program that will permit foreign nationals the opportunity to come to work for a set period of time up to nine months (although entry for periods as short as one season or three months should always be allowed so the Guest Worker can maintain a “real life” in their country of origin). These Guest Workers would receive a livable wage, contribute into our income tax and SSI systems, and enjoy the full protection of the law for all health, safety, and regulatory matters. That’s easy to set up, completely benign, and would be both good for the U.S. and for the Guest Workers themselves who would no longer be harassed crossing the border, or abused by improper labor practices. With regard to our own citizens, it is clear we have to be much more creative and courageous. We need to figure out how to employ the tens of millions of people that will not have a job available for them on January 1st, 2021. We’re just going to have to look for innovative ways to lower our unemployment rate. Let’s start by agreeing to totally reconstruct our collapsing national infrastructure. Let’s rebuild the 55 percent of all bridges that are unsafe to drive on. Let’s build high-speed inter- and intra-urban rail systems that will move people and “goods” more efficiently and economically. It is stunning to realize that the U.S. invented economic long-distance rail and now has a worse rail system than every other modern industrial nation. We also have to rebuild all of our fossil fuel-based energy systems to create energy that is “green,” sustainable, and far more affordable than our current mess of tangled monopolies, oligopolies, and compromised political leaders. Interest rates are almost zero, the economy is in the tank. We have to look at copying Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s idea for the Civil Conservation Corp (the “CCC”)? We could begin repairing all those bridges and building those grand new public spaces with CCC labor. Have you been to Yosemite and seen the grand Lodge, or to Mt. Hood to see that mountain top retreat? Those gorgeous buildings were built by the CCC which in its nine-year history employed over 3,000,000 single, unemployed men on Federal land until the Depression ended.

26 MONTECITO JOURNAL

California introduces historic law requiring all trucks to go green by 2045. espite only making up seven percent of vehicles on the road in California, diesel trucks account for 70 percent of the state’s smog-causing pollution and 80 percent of diesel soot emitted. In a move that’s expected to shake the auto industry, the Golden State recently enacted one of the country’s most comprehensive rules targeting air pollution caused by transportation. California’s Air Resource Board has introduced a new rule that says all commercial trucks and vans sold in the state in 2045 must be emission-free. The move would see a massive shift from dirty and harmful diesel-powered trucks to ones running on batteries and zero-emission hydrogen fuel cells. The rule is expected to go into effect as early as 2024, starting with smaller commercial vehicles. Half of all trucks sold in the state must be zero-emission by 2035, together with all short-haul drayage vehicles in ports and rail yards, while all last-mile delivery trucks and vans must be switched over by 2040. The regulation represents a step forward in the fight for environmental justice, as the air pollution generated by delivery hubs and ports disproportionately harms California’s Black, Asian, and Latinx communities.

D

Fertilizer relies on fossil fuels. This company could change that. Fertilizer has had a major impact in avoiding the oft-trotted out trope that population will outstrip food supplies, a dire prediction that has not come to be. According to Our World In Data, nitrogen-based fertilizer may be supporting up to half of the world’s current population (infuriatingly, hunger is not an issue of supply, but access). But that bounty comes at a cost: a deep climate footprint. Aside from the carbon emissions from producing it, researchers at UC Berkeley found evidence that increased fertilizer use has led to a sharp uptick in nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas contributing to climate change. Fertilizer is a necessity, but the future of food will depend on finding sustainable ways to produce and use it. That’s where Norwegian manufacturer Yara comes in to play. Working with French utility company ENGIE, Yara plans to use solar power as a greener method to produce fertilizer, with the testing site to be integrated into an existing plant in Western Australia. Ammonia is the key component of fertilizer manufacturing, but producing it requires natural gas. Yara’s plan is to remove the natural gas, replacing it with ammonia derived from solar power. Considering the massive impact fertilizer has on the environment, we’ll be keeping an eye on Yara’s development. •MJ We also ought to reduce the average work week from the 50+ hours down to 35 hours and redefine 35 hours as full time. Whatever you were making at 40 hours per week you’d be paid for 35 instead! That alone would create over three million new jobs and would leave us more personal time to remember what makes us “human” in the first place. We shouldn’t feel guilty to want to work fewer hours – we should think of ourselves as very forward-looking. For those of you thinking we couldn’t pay for such an “extravagance,” drop me an email and I’ll explain how the entire program would actually pay for itself just as the current 40 hour per week set up does. Tragically, the biggest thing holding us back from the foregoing practical solutions to our current economic crisis is our inappropriate clinging to the Protestant Work Ethic. The Protestant Work Ethic is the belief that hard work justifies our existence, and everyone should be made to work hard as a way to “earn their keep.” Interesting how billionaires and mega-millionaires never seem to be worried about the Protestant Work Ethic, because if you’re rich enough, it doesn’t apply to you! They live off their dividends, tax breaks, tax shelters, and other forms of “passive” income. They don’t use the “sweat of their brow” so they hold society captive to a level of unconscionable “benign neglect” for the poor. The rich fail to see why everyone doesn’t drive a Mercedes. If the poor worked hard enough, surely they would have a Mercedes in their driveway too! We all know that is totally absurd. The disadvantages that start at birth, and are multiplied as a young adult from a disadvantaged background squirms his way through a mostly broken public education system and ultimately finds himself on the bottom rung of society’s economic ladder. The plain truth is that by helping each other up from our humblest origins to whatever plateau our talent can take us is a true hero’s journey. As almost every emigrant knows, it is the essence of the true “American Story.” It is what we have done for 400 years in the U.S.: risen from what the sweat of our brow could produce (the Puritan Ethic) to what the creative ingenuity of our consciousness freed from survival thinking could create. •MJ

“The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.” - Gloria Steinem

2 – 9 July 2020


Brilliant Thoughts

WATER WISDOM (Continued from page 5)

of the community, and (2) Protect and preserve the extensive landscaping and “garden” atmosphere of Montecito.

by Ashleigh Brilliant

Is Montecito Vulnerable to Future Droughts?

Born London, 1933. Mother Canadian. Father a British civil servant. World War II childhood spent mostly in Toronto and Washington, D.C. Berkeley PhD. in American History, 1964. Living in Santa Barbara since 1973. No children. Best-known for his illustrated epigrams, called “Pot-Shots”, now a series of 10,000. Email ashleigh@west.net or visit www.ashleighbrilliant.com

Worriers and Warriors

I

t isn’t often that I make my Psychiatrist laugh – but he did, when, telling him about the events of a recent day, I said, “I was so busy, I forgot to take my anxiety pill.” Yes, I do actually take (in small doses) a pill that is supposed to have a calming effect, and does seem to help at certain times. But it is also true that, the more activities I have to keep me busy, the less need I seem to have for any artificial chemical soothing. But what is this “anxiety” anyway? Isn’t it what, in the good old pre-psychobabble days, we used to call “worry”? I don’t know any songs about anxiety – but we all know the century-old ditty about packing up your troubles in your old kit bag, with its heartening refrain, “What’s the use of worrying? It never was worthwhile!”

over-wrought by the years-long siege that he quarrels with the best fighter he has, Achilles, who consequently withdraws for an extended period, and goes off and sulks in his tent. But different warriors have different ways of coping with their neuroses. Some write poems, as if to justify the madness in which they are engaged. Back in the 1640s, Richard Lovelace apologized to his sweetheart, Lucasta, for leaving her, to go off and fight in the current war, saying: I could not love thee, dear, so much, Loved I not honor more.

Today, the phrase “No worries!” has become so common in Australian speech that it’s been called that country’s “national motto.” But isn’t it natural to have worries, especially about things which may be important to us, but which we can’t control? In the unlikely event that you are running short of things to worry about, you can always replenish your supply just by turning on the news. In fact, the news media seem to consider it their principal job to keep our anxieties stoked. And of course, a chief source of concern is all the conflicts going on in the world. But, except for the names and places, this is hardly news. In fact, there has rarely been any time in history when organized killing of some kind wasn’t going on somewhere. You might therefore think that the people who find themselves most closely involved in such unpleasantness are particularly good candidates for anxiety – and you’d be right. When it comes to armed forces, those in the lowest ranks, especially in wartime, may not be happy about their chances of being killed or maimed, but, apart from that, all they have to do is follow orders. It’s the ones responsible for giving the orders who are more properly plagued with anxiety. We can go back as far as Homer’s Iliad to see Agamemnon, leader of the Greeks against Troy, who is apparently so

I’m also not sure why Napoleon is so often depicted with his right hand in his vest, as if to calm his tremors. But a much more striking example of leadership attempting to cope with its own anxieties is in the “worry balls” (two steel balls) which Captain Queeg, the central character of Herman Wouk’s 1951 novel The Caine Mutiny constantly rolls in his hand when he is under conditions of stress. This proved such a popular idea that they were later marketed as “Queeg Balls.” General Eisenhower, just before the D-Day invasion in 1944, resorted to another method of relieving tremendous strain. He wrote an “In Case of Failure,” letter. In it, he said that “Our landings... have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold, and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack... was based upon the best information available. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt, it is mine alone.” Fortunately, that letter never had to be released. Apart from writing (and taking pills) one of my own time-tested techniques for coping with anxiety is singing. Besides the “old kit bag,” another of my favorite songs in such situations was made famous by Woody Guthrie. I’ll leave you with the simple chorus: It takes a worried man to sing a worried song. . . I’m worried now, but I won’t be worried long. •MJ

2 – 9 July 2020

I’m not sure about this “honor,” which so many have died defending. Even our own U.S. marines sing an anthem in which they proudly proclaim themselves to be: First to fight for right and freedom, And to keep our honor clean.

Between 2012 and 2019, the County of Santa Barbara experienced extraordinary drought conditions, including seven of the driest consecutive years on record. Tree ring analysts predict that California is actually facing not only a drought, but the strong possibility of a “megadrought” which may involve a decades-long period of low precipitation and dry soil moisture. Prudent planners look for the worst case scenario, and smile broadly if buckets of “raindrops keep falling on our heads” in Montecito. Too much water is a problem we would all love to have. The job of the current MWD Directors is to make sure Montecito has adequate water, drought or no drought.

How Much Water Does Montecito-Summerland Use Per Year?

MWD water sales peaked in 2008 at 6,518 acre feet per year (AFY). For the next six years after 2008, water sales ranged from a high of 5,964 in 2009 to a low of 4,715 AFY in a wet 2011. One acre foot is equal to 893 gallons, or the planned water usage of a suburban family household, daily. That’s 326,000 gallons per annum. In 2015, after water rationing and mandatory conservation were imposed, MWD water sales plummeted to 3,331 AFY, or 50% of the water sales in 2008, and have remained at about that level since. The District’s Future Supply and Demand Study assumes a demand of some 3,850 AFY in wet years, rising to possibly 5,000 AFY in dry years.

Are Our Current Water Supply Sources Reliable?

Our biggest supplier, the State Water Project, (SWP) promises to deliver 3,300 AFY of allocated water for Montecito from snowmelt in the High Sierra Mountains through the California Conduit and down the Coastal Branch Aqueduct to the Lake Cachuma Reservoir, 400 miles to the south, and on to Montecito. Unfortunately, State Water has a long history of being overpromised and under-delivered. Depending upon the volume of snowmelt, deliveries of State Water to Montecito have varied between 5% in 2012, a dry year, to 85% in 2018, a wet year. The average delivery from the State Water Program for Montecito lies in the 60% range of promised allocations. The aging State Water Project, designed to serve 23 million California residents, is now being asked to serve 40 million residents. Its 21 dams and more than 700 miles of aqueducts, canals, pipelines, and pumping stations are energy inefficient and badly in need of repair. Some 70% of the increasingly expensive State Water Project water is used by urban areas in Southern California and the San Francisco Bay area, while 30% is sent to the Central Valley to be used for agricultural irrigation. Other sources are also rainfall dependent. Surface reservoirs like Lake Cachuma are subject to massive evaporation. Pipeline capacity into Cachuma is too small to transport purchased water and State water in times of drought. Any unused MWD carryover water stored in Cachuma becomes the first water to be spilled over the dam and lost forever when Cachuma fills. Who can forget the loss of a year’s worth of MWD water stored in the San Luis Reservoir in 2017 when additional water from the Orville Dam was pumped through the Delta and into the San Luis Reservoir? Jameson Reservoir is increasingly filling with silt and cannot be dredged economically, thanks to environmental restrictions. Debris, soot and ash from the Thomas Wildfire shut down water deliveries from Jameson for almost a year.

More State Water is Needed for Agriculture

The thirsty Central Valley of California covers approximately 18,000 square miles, about 11% of California’s total land area. Its watershed comprises 60,000 square miles, or over a third of California’s area. About one-sixth of the irrigated land in the U.S. lies in California’s Central Valley. The Central Valley is the single most productive agricultural region in California, and one of the most productive in the world. It provides more than half of the fruits, vegetables, and nuts grown in the United States, including tomatoes, almonds, grapes, cotton, apricots, and asparagus. Agricultural productivity relies on irrigation from both surface water diversions and groundwater pumping from wells. More than seven million acres of the valley are irrigated. The valley also demands water for its urban cities, including the state capitol, Sacramento as well as Fresno, Bakersfield, Redding, Stockton, Modesto and Chico.

Is Desalination the Way to Go for All of Coastal California?

The California Department of Water Resources’ Water Plan Update has iden-

• The Voice of the Village •

WATER WISDOM Page 284 MONTECITO JOURNAL

27


WATER WISDOM (Continued from page 27)

tified the need for 275,000 AF of desalinated water by 2025. Given California’s growing need for more agricultural water, it is becoming increasingly challenging to provide reliable water for urban areas on the California Coast. Montecito sits on the front doorstep of the Pacific Ocean, the largest reservoir in the world, designed by God and built by nature without any help from CEQA. The Pacific Ocean is larger than all of the Earth’s land areas combined. It covers 30% of the Earth’s surface, the largest water mass on the planet. It holds 578 quadrillion acre feet of water. It is available and inexhaustible.

Does Desal Use Too Much Energy?

There is an argument that desalination uses too much electricity. Desal energy costs are dropping rapidly as new desalination membrane technology becomes available. The City’s recommissioned Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant uses 40% less energy than the original design built in 1992, greatly reducing its carbon footprint by using high-efficiency pumps, motors and improved filter technology. Whenever environmentalists complain about the high cost of energy in desalination, I am reminded that the current California State Water Project is the #1 largest single consumer of power in the state with a mammoth net usage of 5,100 Gigawatt hours (GWh) per annum. Why? State Water has to be pumped 2,882 feet over the Tehachapi Mountains, with 1,926 feet at the Edmonston Pumping Plant alone, the highest water lift system in the world. In addition, each time Montecito-bound State Water passes through any one of the seven pumping stations along the State Water Project’ delivery route, add at least an additional $100 per AF in energy cost to the Montecito water bill.

A Different View of Water Conservation

The thing about water is that it is not like oil or gas, where once used, it can never be replaced in nature. Today, we are reusing the same water used by our ancestors, millions of years ago. Here is where I get in trouble! Water is everywhere. It is stored in oceans, streams, and rivers; trapped in shrinking glaciers of ice; in clouds, or mists or rainfall; in green plants; in underground aquifers; in dams or reservoirs; and even in plastic water bottles waiting

to be consumed by water purists. 60% of our body weight is stored water. Water, like air, can be clean, dirty or full of salt. Its only problem is that water can be in all the wrong places and has to be moved or converted to potable water for human consumption. Conserving water has become synonymous with “Saving the Planet.” Practically speaking, conserving water makes about as much sense as conserving air. If we destroy our green plants that clean the air and transform Montecito and our neighboring communities into a desert, air quality and environmentalists suffer. You would think that the environmental community WOULD NOT object if Santa Barbara and Montecito-Summerland borrowed 10,000 AFY of saltwater per year and returned 10,000 AFY of fresh water per year to our ocean or groundwater aquifers.

Are Montecito Residents “Water Pigs?”

Based on water use per household Montecito water users could be considered “water pigs” compared to their neighbors in Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria. However, much of Montecito is zoned for one-acre or more lot sizes. When the measurement yardstick is shifted to “water sales per acre” instead of “water sales per capita,” MWD water sales are comparable to Santa Barbara, Goleta, and Carpinteria.

What is this “Water Supply Agreement” with the City of Santa Barbara?

Negotiated over the last two years, the WSA between the City of Santa Barbara and the Montecito Water District calls for the city to provide MWD with 1,430 AFY (acre feet per year) of potable water for each of the next 50 years. Water deliveries will begin January 1, 2022 and end December 31, 2071. 1,430 AFY represents 38% of Montecito’s estimated need of 3,750 AFY. Water will be delivered to MWD in equal monthly amounts of 1,117 AF per month, even though Montecito water use skyrockets in June, July, and August. It will be delivered on a “take it or pay” purchase commitment. This is NOT a desal agreement. The city has the right to sell potable water to MWD from any source the city chooses. This could be desal water blended with less expensive water from the city-owned Gibraltar Reservoir. It could be desal water blended with low cost purchased water that the city buys from other water districts; or it could be desal water blended with recycled city wastewater, as soon as treatment standards and state legislation allow highly treated wastewater to be blended with desal, or with other potable water sources. It is the desal plant safety valve that enables the City to enter into this Water Supply Agreement with District.

Is a 2.8% Increase in District Water Rates Justifiable?

Starting June 26, 2020, water rates in Montecito and Summerland will increase by 2.8% on water meter charges and variable water use charges, followed by four more years of 2.8% increases. However low volume users will get a DECREASE in rate. 73% of MWD customers are expected to see a decrease in their costs, or an increase of less than $20 per month. 19% of all customers are projected to see a monthly increase between $20 and $100 per month. The remaining 8%, all high-end users, are expected to see an increase of more than $100 per month. The new Water Rates were structured with seven goals in mind: (1) Maintain existing rate revenues of roughly 25% from meter charges and 75% from variable use water charges; (2) Encourage conservation by actually reducing rates for low water users and penalizing high-end users; (3) Avoid steep rate increase shocks of greater than 3% a year; (4) Eliminate the emergency drought water surcharge imposed at the time of rationing, but now long outdated; (5) Reduce the number of usage tiers from 4 to 3; (6) Provide water rate certainty for the next five years. The rate increase has been mistakenly characterized as a rate increase to fund a desal deal with the city. But a deeper dive reveals that 2.8% increase will also be used to pay down $5 million in debt principal; meet debt coverage requirements; cover anticipated added fixed charges from the State Water Program; and fund the capital costs of replacing aging pipelines, costs which have been deferred for years.

The Bottom Line

28 MONTECITO JOURNAL

The City owns, operates, and maintains the desalination plant and the conveyance pipeline. The City keeps 100% of ownership and all the residual value. Montecito pays 47% of all costs of desal plant design, construction, operations, maintenance and administrative costs, in order to receive the equivalent of 47% of the water produced by the plant at its current capacity. Montecito receives a reliable, droughtproof local supply of 1,430 AFY of potable water and achieves water security and water independence for the next 50 years. Sounds to me like a good deal for both parties. •MJ “Truth is powerful and it prevails.” – Sojourner Truth

2 – 9 July 2020


LETTERS (Continued from page 6)

our homes are here, while our family is here and while our friends are here, we all have a shot for happiness. Please don’t see my remarks as “eat the rich.” The materially wealthy have more options to use human resources. We have the opportunity and obligation to participate in our home. That is why we speak up, that is why we write letters, that is why we are here. No offense to those who disagree. We disagree about the sanctity of peace and quiet. This is not L.A. Jeffrey Schlossberg

Bridging the Gap

While I greatly enjoyed last week’s feature on the graduations of Montecito’s various student populations, it was a source of dismay and realization for me to notice that with the exception of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, there appeared to be no pictures of children of color. Every young person deserves the best possible educational experience. I am thrilled that the students at each respective school appeared to be the recipients of an exceptional academic environment. I only wish that Montecito was not so stratified and that all children of whatever demographic statistics could enjoy the same perks and benefits of belonging to institutions of similar status. Regardless of this, I do applaud the educators of Santa Barbara and Goleta schools who do an outstanding job of attempting to bridge the gap between the advantages that Montecito youth enjoy and others who are not so fortunate. Elizabeth Araluce Mason

scooter, are directly related to children’s cognitive development. Their bodies and brains need each other to develop to the best of their abilities. If kids aren’t in their bodies, it’s not triggering critical neural development. It all connects to the learning process. Everyone: grandparents, aunts, uncles, parents, teachers, all share responsibility to get kids playing safely in parks, on the hiking trails, kicking the soccer ball, or riding their bikes. Indoors it is as simple as playing Hopscotch or yoga. Sincerely, Paul Orfalea Audacious Foundation

We All Want the Same Thing

Writing about Divided America and the importance of National Unity Mr. Hazard mentions riots, arson, looting numerous times, but murder only once. Let’s put our priorities in place. One can always fix broken glass, but death is forever. Do we really need another round table discussion how to fight systematic racism and rebuild union? We do know what is wrong. We do know how to fix it! We all want the same thing. We do know the issue is national. Adding a few teachers to Head Start and telling “them” to start studying is not going to work this

time. We need moral commitment to social and economic reparations for the 400 year of slavery, Jim Craw laws and slave patrols. Donn Handy

Making Choices

Regarding your premise of all people are flawed… I Agree. I too Believe this. I am not the accomplished wordsmith you are, but I do see gaping holes in your central thesis. If I remember, you were presented to us as the new Editor of the Montecito Journal by your history of

LETTERS Page 424

RELIABLE. RESPONSIVE. TRUSTED.

Why Not Play Hopscotch?

One of the longest legacies of this pandemic will be that children are deprived of opportunities to be outside and playing. Research has proven that gross motor skills, such as throwing, catching, kicking, and riding a bike or

Hillcrest security Santa Barbara’s Premier Security Service.

( 8 0 5 ) 9 69 -19 52

|

H I L LC R E S T S E C U R I T Y.CO M

LICENSE ACO-6214 | C-10 861592 | PPO-120665

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

29


SEEN (Continued from page 14)

Greek Revival building complete with lots of marble and brass. As that became too small a new Hall of Records was constructed, but sadly in a Queen Anne style which didn’t blend with the larger building at all. Now it was time to have a contest to choose an architect for a new courthouse. By now the town was interested in a Spanish style building and a Spanish town, white stucco walls and red tile roofs. The city fathers chose first, second, third and fourth place winners, but then had no money to build with. Finally nature intervened in 1925 with a giant earthquake which struck down the courthouse and the Hall of Records. Now was the time to start anew. The second place winner was chosen for the job, William Mooser II. He knew about Andalusian architecture (the southwest part of Spain where the Alhambra palace is located in Granada). Also Mooser’s architect son had lived in Spain and knew all about Andalusia so he came back from Europe to help his dad. The town had never had a plan that all agreed on so they went to the city architect J. Wilmer Hershey and asked him to draw them a quick sketch. They were in a hurry. Lo and behold the group liked it and so began our current courthouse. A $700,000 bond was passed but expenses went up to almost $1.4 million. Now what? A stroke of luck. The Rio Grande Oil Co. struck oil at Ellwood, west of Santa Barbara. Revenue from the oil tax paid for the rest of the courthouse. And amazingly it was finished in just two months before the stock market crash in 1929. Now to decorate the Mural Room, artist Dan Groesbeck was chosen. Everyone had loved the large painting of Juan Cabrillo’s arrival in 1542 which hangs in the lobby just outside the Mural Room that Groesbeck had painted for a local bank in 1924. He had illustrated books for O. Henry, Joseph Conrad and Jack London and also worked in Hollywood for Cecil B. DeMille. He was to decorate all the walls and Giovanni Smeraldi was chosen to paint the ceiling. He was from Palermo, Sicily and much influenced by the cathedrals near his home. He had worked in the Vatican, Grand

Central Station in New York, the blue room in the White House and the Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. Groesbeck wasn’t given many instructions except to paint the history of Santa Barbara on all four walls. He had two helpers and was paid $9,000. It took them four months. He began with the Canalinos (before the Chumash) Indians watching Juan Cabrillo landing in Santa Barbara. (He may have landed on one of the Channel Islands.) The artist took some liberties. If you notice the ship is supposed to be anchored out, but the anchor is on the side of the ship. The sails are wide open to the wind. In real life it would have sailed away but artistically this looked better. Then in 1602 along came Vizcaino, a Spanish explorer and mapmaker. He arrived December 4 which was Saint Barbara’s feast day. Hence our name and claim of the territory for Spain. The next part of the mural is when Mexico was independent of Spain beginning in 1822 and only lasting until 1846. Captain John Fremont descended through San Marcos Pass and claimed Santa Barbara for the United States. The third wall portrays what makes Santa Barbara’s economic engine run. First came minerals: oil, silver and diatomaceous earth. Next came cattle: thousands, giving hides and tallow until the big draught in the 1800s. Lastly agriculture: strawberries, broccoli and grapes, grapes, grapes. When I first came here there were only 12 wineries in Santa Ynez Valley and one in Santa Barbara. Now there are over 200 in the Valley and dozens in town with as many tasting rooms. On the same wall there is a painting of California’s symbol, the grizzly bear, known to be all brown. But this one has a white nose – artistic license, I guess. There is also a hedgehog “crawling” across the painting. No one knows why. There is a wish for health and wealth (Saluda y Peseta) and Thank God (Gracias a Dios). Peeking out from around a tree is a young boy with a pixie hat on depicting Peter Pan. What did he have to do with Santa Barbara? At the time a film company was out on one of the

MEDICARE ANNUAL ELECTION PERIOD

Concerned?

We Can Help!

Call Us Now: (805) 683-3636

30 MONTECITO JOURNAL

CA License # 0773817

The clock tower at the Courthouse

islands filming the story of Peter Pan, silent and in black and white. The back wall shows the Chumash Indians working on the Mission – the fourth (various disasters had occurred including an earthquake in 1812) since 1786 when our Mission was the tenth in a line of 21 in California. There are also images on this wall of characters from Hollywood like Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Robin Hood, and Friar Tuck. The signature in the bottom left-hand corner is a forgery. After Groesbeck was paid and on his way to Europe they discovered the mural was unsigned. Upon being asked to return and sign his work, he said, “No. Just have someone do it.” And so they did. The chandeliers were custom made in the USA and weigh one thousand pounds. In fact everything in the Courthouse was made in the USA except for the tiles that form the wainscot and a few others. They came from Tunisia. When Mr. Steedman was building his George Washington Smith home, he and his family moved in the day of the earthquake because there was no damage. He still needed more of the Tunisian tiles and ordered them. But nothing came. Two years later here came the tiles. Turns out the Chemla factory was small and couldn’t keep up with the Courthouse orders and Steedman’s. The carpet on the dais is original as are the drapes. The varguenos (Spanish desks) on the dais are origi-

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time.” –Barack Obama

nal too. The supervisors had no offices so they kept their papers in them, with the large piece of furniture for the chief. The benches are original and used to be covered in cowhides instead of vinyl. That is why they are the length of a cow and its hide. In 2010 there was a fire in the ceiling causing smoke damage to the whole Mural Room. Insurance kicked in until it was discovered that the mural was on muslin, glued to the wall and then painted. The stucco behind the paintings was disintegrating and the room needed a total renovation to save the mural. This was finally accomplished in 2014. The workers left a square foot of the wall unrestored, so you can see just how bad it had been. As you leave the Mural Room you will notice the large Spanish bolt located on the outside of the door. It seems if the bad guys were attacking, the lock should be on the inside. The joke that goes around is that if the supervisors didn’t make the right decision, they would just lock them in until they did. It may have been the architect’s little joke. When the latest padlock goes away after the lockdown, come see your Courthouse. It presents itself as a grand palace and is frequently called the most beautiful public building in the United States. I think so. The rest of the Courthouse tour to be continued. The Courthouse is temporarily locked because of the pandemic. •MJ 2 – 9 July 2020


Protecting the Environment

INTRODUCING OUR RECYCLED WATER PROGRAM To help conserve precious potable water for home and business uses, the Montecito Sanitary District has been working with the Montecito Water District to create a recycled water program for commercial irrigation.

Our pilot program has demonstrated that it can produce high-quality recycled water. The project that would serve the entire cemetery would include treatment facilities on our site, the recycled water would be distributed by the Montecito Water District.

Water used for indoor versus outdoor in Montecito

SB Cemetery

MSD

Indoor

Landscaping

More than 90% of water used in Montecito is for landscaping.

The Santa Barbara Cemetery needs a substantial amount of water to maintain the beauty and serenity of its property, located adjacent to the Montecito Sanitary District treatment facility.

Please help us make recycled water a reality The Montecito Sanitary District looks forward to earning the approval of the Montecito Planning Commission and the County of Santa Barbara. These approvals would permit the construction of a recycled water facility to serve the Cemetery.

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

(805) 969-4200 • www.montsan.org

MONTECITO JOURNAL

31


In Passing Michael Doane, the Man of a Million Stories

by Guillaume Doane

A

nyone who knew Michael Doane knew that he was a man of a million stories. He was a prolific talker who could bend your ear for hours about politics, literature, sports, business, the weather – the topic rarely mattered. At dinner he would hold forth tirelessly and Mom would kick him under the table begging him to stop. We all giggled but he was never deterred. Dad loved conversation the way car nuts are obsessed with cars. There were the weeks he spent with the Lakota Sioux researching his book Bullet Heart and the tales he learned from tribal leaders in a sweat lodge. There was that time in Yankton when the jealous ex-boyfriend of a girl he was dating tried to shoot him during a frenzied pursuit across the university campus. Dad had befriended the football jocks by writing their college term papers. He found refuge in the linebacker’s dorm room. They were colorful tales of a complete and memorable life. He traveled the world, led an accomplished career in IT and he published five novels and five business books. Dad died on Friday at his home in Angers, France after a long battle with bladder and prostate cancer. He was 67.

Dad’s storytelling was prone to literary license. He was a writer, after all. But when it came to his favorite story – the night he met Mom – he didn’t need to embellish. Richard Michael Doane was born on August 3, 1952 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to Richard and Margaret Doane. His father was a marketing executive with the meat processing company John Morrell. The family moved around – to West Covina, to Ottumwa, Iowa, and then back to Sioux Falls, where Dad attended O’Gorman High School. He briefly attended the seminary, hoping to one day become a Catholic priest. He was kicked out, he claimed, for studying Latin in the bathroom after curfew. Later on, he set out to become a writer like his literary heroes Bernard Malamud and Jack Kerouac. He studied English literature at the University of South Dakota. In 1979, he sold his car and used the money to fly to Paris. It was meant to be a two-week vacation. It became a permanent stay. Shortly after arriving to France, he finished writing his first book and he sent the manuscript to publishers in New York. He collected the rejection letters and hung them on the walls of his apartment until every publisher had turned him down. He wrote a second book and repeated the process. Eventually, Knopf agreed to publish his third novel. That book, The Legends of Jesse Dark, launched his writing career and a successful collaboration with Gary Fisketjon, the powerhouse editor who also discovered Tobias Wolff, Donna Tartt, and Haruki Murakami. Dad’s storytelling was prone to literary license. He was a writer, after all. But when it came to his favorite story – the night he met Mom – he didn’t need to embellish. The story was incredible because it was true. They met at a Paris dinner party in January 1981. He spoke little French, she barely any English. It was love at first sight. He proposed after three days and they were married three months later. Their marriage lasted until the day he died. In 1991, Dad moved the family from France to Santa Fe, New Mexico. We lived on a seven-acre spread with cacti and coyotes. Dad wore cowboy boots, tended a vegetable garden, and he finished his fourth book, City of Light. Dad mixed with such a varied and fascinating crowd that everyone seemed like a character from one of his novels. There was his high school sweetheart Kim Kelly, the football star Jim Hargens and the enduring pals Bradley Aldern, Craig Volk and Danny Donahoe. There were business escapades in Tokyo and

32 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Hong Kong with Bob Friend, Graham Davis, Neil Walker and Chris Foulkes. My favorite stories were about the late-night adventures in the karaoke bar Osama and that time Dad convinced the proprietor that Bob Friend was the actor Tom Selleck. Dad always sang Dean Martin’s rendition of “Everybody Loves Somebody.” At different times, Dad ran in the same literary circles as the authors T. C. Boyle, Pete Dexter and, one his idols, Jim Harrison. In Santa Barbara, he played in a weekly basketball game that rotated a lot of Hollywood types and retired well to dos. Memorable friends included Dean Moray, the screenwriter Paul Brickman and Chris Carter, the TV producer and creator of The X-Files. Dad was such an iconic smoker he claimed he had been the inspiration for that show’s character, “The Smoking Man.” Friends in Santa Barbara will remember him as “The Smoking Gardener,” a nickname he earned for the beautiful garden he cultivated and the constant cigarette that dangled from his mouth. Dad spent the latter half of his career as a consultant and analyst in enterprise software, first in Sioux Falls and then in Peachtree City, Georgia. He became an expert on SAP and wrote four books on the subject. In 2017, he semi-retired briefly in Cape Town before he got sick. Dad was a man of deep humanity for whom the human condition was a lifelong preoccupation. He preferred daily acts of kindness over grand gestures of generosity. He lived by William Blake’s words: “He who would do good to another must do it in Minute Particulars.” He gave money to total strangers as indiscriminately as he would to friends and family. Dad was the kind of guy who enjoyed humble fare as much he delighted in the high life. He was as content with Sloppy Joes as he was with sifter of cognac. He could recite passages from Shakespeare as easily as he could recall how many home runs Hank Aaron hit in 1966 (44). He liked the feel of a good suit but he was most himself in a Hawaiian shirt, jeans and loafers. He desired few material possessions than a reliable computer, good books and good wine and whiskey. He drove the same pickup truck for almost twenty years. Every Christmas he asked for the same thing: “Peace on Earth.” In his final days, the man of a million stories uttered few words. We savored every one like they were the waning hours of summer. He is survived by his wife, Claudine Doane; a son, Guillaume Doane; a daughter, Sarah Sheldon; a sister, Catherine Simpson; a brother, Robert Doane; a brother-in-law, Hervé Ripoche; and two grandchildren, Attila and Elodie. •MJ

“Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.” – Ola Joseph

2 – 9 July 2020


ON THE RECORD (Continued from page 15)

come in,” she said. Thanks to the loosening of social-distancing measures that coincided with the Memorial Day Holiday, many patients are presenting themselves with serious flu-like symptoms, some of which are COVIDrelated and some of which are just good, old-fashioned cold viruses. “The last week or two have seen an especially big increase for us,” Malone said. “We aren’t just seeing the flu but a host of other viruses as well. And now we are seeing much younger age groups coming in with symptoms who are pretty sick. We want people to know that there are a lot of procedures in place and they shouldn’t be afraid to come to the hospital for treatment.”

An Homage of Fallen Trees

One of them sits in front of the Montecito Public Library. Another can be found on the grounds of the Knowlwood Tennis Club. Two are located next to the Boy Scout building in Upper Manning Park. Several are scattered along different trails in Montecito’s Ennisbrook and Casa Dorinda open spaces, and all of them are made from trees that were salvaged from the debris flows that devastated Montecito on January 9, 2018. An ongoing project of public art and remembrance by local craftsman David Moseley, they are memorial benches made in memory of victims of the disaster. A longtime Montecito resident who grew up near Romero Canyon and attended Montecito Union School, he isn’t necessarily comfortable with publicity and so tends to limit his words. “I’ve been milling lumber for about twenty years,” he said simply. Among Moseley’s creations: the wood tables and bars at Casa Blanca restaurant on State Street and a fourinch-thick 20-foot wooden table at the Montecito Club. Moseley first got the idea for making memorial benches during a conversation about a year ago with the Bucket Brigade’s Abe Powell. “I’ve known Abe for many decades, and am good friends with his family,” Moseley said. “We’ve known each other since kindergarten. Abe mentioned the idea to me and I started playing around with some different designs and it went from there.” According to Powell, the idea first arose when he and other Bucket Brigade members were digging through the mud and debris that inundated Montecito in the days after the tragedy. “There were all these trees that came down and the creeks were full of them. They were beautiful and people were talking about how we should use them for some kind of memorial,” he continued. “We thought maybe we could pull them out of there and make them into some 2 – 9 July 2020

Keith and Savina Hamm (photo courtesy Abe Powell)

John McManigal, Jr. and David Moseley on the memorial bench for John Mcmanigal, Sr. at Knowlwood Tennis Club (photo courtesy Abe Powell)

nice benches.” With that consensus, Powell immediately thought of Moseley and his craftmanship. “David is the son of a carpenter who was the son of a cabinet maker,” Powell said. “He grew up steeped in woodwork and at some point realized that with the wind blowing over these old trees or them having to be cut down, they were going to be hauled away. Instead, he figured he could make them into something beautiful.” So far, Moseley has made eight benches for victims of the debris flow, each one bearing a memorial plaque. The pair outside the Boy Scout building are for Dave and Jack Cantin, in honor of their service to Montecito’s legendary Troop 33. The bench in front of the library is dedicated to Joseph Bleckel, while the Knowlwood bench is named for John McManigal. On the bank of the San Ysidro Creek inside Ennisbrook Open Space, you’ll find a bench for Rebecca Riskin, and if you hike the Peter Bakewell trail, you’ll discover benches for both Morgan and Sawyer Corey as well as James and Alice Mitchell. Moseley agreed to craft each bench only after the Bucket Brigade contacted each family about the project and received their permission to include their lost loved one. “The Bucket Brigade founders thought it would be nice if there were beautiful benches throughout the community to help remember the friends and neighbors we lost on 1/9,” Powell said. “We hope to build benches for everyone, but it is up to the survivors. It’s still hard for people. We’ve talked to some folks and they say they’ll think about it, and a year goes by, and they still don’t know.”

No Mas Agua!

Apologies for the misleading headline, but it’s worth celebrating that the Montecito Journal’s six-part series on our town’s complex water politics is finally complete! On June 25, Montecito’s Water Board made history by voting unanimously to approve a deal with Santa Barbara that will guarantee us a local and reliable source of water for the next half century. In approving its Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with the city, the Montecito Water District (MWD) has agreed to help pay for the cost of the city’s pricey 1980s-era desalination plant, which originally operated for just four months before

• The Voice of the Village •

being hastily decommissioned for decades and only brought back online in 2015 during California’s most recent many years-long drought. MWD’s vote took place after a threehour online public hearing during which a cast of characters who are familiar to anyone who’s read the Journal’s coverage – including former board members as well as local water conservation advocates and environmentalists – made arguments both for and against the deal that featured prominently in the Journal’s previous coverage of this story. But according to Nick Turner, MWD’s general manager, only 15 formal protests were lodged against the agency’s plan. Given that MWD services well more than 4,000 household accounts, that didn’t come anywhere close to the 50 percent-plus-one-ratepayer benchmark needed to veto the Water Board’s vote. Along with approving the desal deal, MWD’s board of directors also approved a rate hike that will help pay for the water, but which the agency insists will only impact Montecito’s biggest water consumers while actually lowering the monthly bills for about half of the town’s residents. Despite the historic vote, however, arguments about the desal deal are likely to continue in the coming months and years. And given that water is the key to just about every major environmental story that affects Montecito and the rest of southern Santa Barbara County – from fire to rain to drought to cannabis (acres and acres and even more acres of cannabis) – it’s fair to say we aren’t done writing about water just yet. In fact, both Bob Hazard, MJ’s associate editor, and Carolee Krieger, California Water Impact Network’s president and executive director, already have something to say about it in this week’s issue, and we expect more editorials to come. Stay tuned! •MJ

MONTECITO JOURNAL

33


The 501c3 Weekly

by Zach Rosen

Sanctuary Centers

Sanctuary House provides inpatient care for 12 individuals in this historic Victorian house from 1902

Architect Christine Pierron’s rendering of a mixed-use building deemed a “community benefit” by the City Council

H

omelessness, substance abuse, and mental illness have long been identified and discussed as issues affecting the local community, along with the stigmas that still surround them. While an individual can be affected by one of these issues, often times a combination, or even all of these factors, contribute to an individual’s condition. Sanctuary Centers seeks to offer an integrated approach to treating these individual issues so their patients can heal themselves as a whole in a safe, supportive environment. Moreover, the recent influence of the pandemic has compounded these problems within our society. The worldwide shutdown has fueled unemployment, leading to housing insecurity, and the quarantine has left those with mental illnesses isolated and not always able to access the same level of support as normal. Fortunately, during these historic times Sanctuary Centers has been able to keep their services continually operating and they are still providing treatment and care for their patients. Demand for their services is up, with Sanctuary Centers making a concerted effort to try and meet the needs of the veteran, homeless, and youth populations they serve. Sanctuary Centers treats a range of conditions that stem from mental illness and substance abuse, including the frequent co-occurrence of the two. Their services are directed to those suffering from mental illnesses like schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and Asperger’s, as well as condition-based mental illnesses like trauma abuse and PTSD. Many of these conditions affect an individual’s ability to live independently and maintain a healthy lifestyle without a constant care provider. For these patients, Sanctuary Centers provides Inpatient Care at their picturesque Victorian Sanctuary House that was built in 1902 and offers 12 live-in positions for inpatient care. This allows patients who may otherwise need hospitalization to maintain an independent lifestyle but receive the continual support they require. Through individual and group therapies, career development, and independent living skills courses and other services, patients are taught lasting lessons and hone the skills necessary to establish their own autonomy. For patients who do not require around the clock treatment, or are transferring out of an inpatient program, there is a range of services offered through their Outpatient Care facility. This allows individuals to receive treatment and support while establishing an independent life. Patients receive treatment through a number of services that include psychotherapy, recreational groups, and even art-therapy, which uses the emotions expressed through mediums like dance, poetry, and art, to guide a patient’s thoughts through a healing process that develops and grows the individual. Sanctuary Centers offers flat packages for their Outpatient Care facility in full-, half-, or quarter-day programs that include a range of their services and allows patients to select the level of treatment they’re seeking, or just what their personal schedule allows. Individual sessions for one-on-one, or group and couple/family counseling, are also provided for patients who are not looking to sign up for a flat package. As mental illness and substance abuse often have associated physical ailments, their Integrated Care Clinic offers a comprehensive solution to providing medical, dental, and other health services to those in need. Incoming patients are assisted by a Behavioral Health Advocate that greets and guides them through the process and services available. Most of the Sanctuary Centers facilities operate off of a private pay model (with insurance billing services available), which is less reliant on the care afforded by the insurance provider, that allows them to maintain the high standard of care they wish to provide.

34 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Sanctuary Centers is one

of only two programs that offer 100% low-income housing and there are currently over eighty

people waiting for one of

the thirty-six apartments. Sanctuary Sketch: Elevation North

The live-in facilities are offered at a price that is a fraction of similar facilities in the area, and the Integrated Care Clinic offers a sliding scale and accepts most forms of insurance, including Medi-Cal, with an emphasis that patients will not be turned away due to inability to pay. To offer patients support as they establish a more independent lifestyle, Sanctuary Centers also operates their Supportive Housing program out of two facilities. This low-income housing is available to those who are affected by mental illness and/or substance abuse. The Arlington Apartments is a 28-unit apartment building located downtown and situated right next door to their other facilities. Nearby are the Hollister Apartments, an additional eight-unit apartment building. These apartments feature individual case management, in-house support, and a landlord that understands and supports each individual’s needs. Living with other patients creates a communal atmosphere and a lifestyle supported by the other residents. Demand for these facilities is higher than ever. Homelessness increased an estimated 45% last year with 60% of the homeless population in Santa Barbara suffering from substance abuse problems. Sanctuary Centers is one of only two programs that offer 100% low-income housing and there are currently over 80 people waiting for one of the 36 apartments. To address the occupancy limitations, they have been working on a new supportive housing facility that will be a culmination of their other services. This 34-unit building will offer low- to no-income apartments with an integrated care facility that offers free medical, dental, and behavioral health services, as well as free psychiatry and treatments for substance abuse. They currently can only meet 10% of the community’s demand and this new facility, once completed, will be able greatly increase their ability to offer services. The building is being self-funded through the organization and donations, and while the pandemic has affected aspects of the building process, Sanctuary Centers is still making progress. Meanwhile, they continue offering their integrated services to those affected by these issues. Regardless of the enduring stigmas around homelessness, mental illness, and substance abuse, these issues will continue to affect members of our community. The pandemic is certainly not going to help these issues and the recent discussions around racial injustice have helped bring light to how societal systems have helped to incubate some of these conditions. The answer is not a simple one, but with over 10,000 clients served and low-cost housing provided to over 250 individuals, at an 85% sobriety rate over the last ten years, Sanctuary Centers is helping provide multi-faceted solutions to the complex issues affecting our community. •MJ

“Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.” – Maya Angelou

2 – 9 July 2020


Dear Montecito by Stella Pierce

Montecito Alumni Write Letters from Life’s Front

During my senior year of high school, on my eighteenth birthday, my family packed up and evacuated to Northern California to escape the Thomas Fire. I’m not sure if you have done this, but after evacuating, I always reflect on the items I packed. Excluding clothes, I brought my six yearbooks from Montecito Union, two from Marymount, and three from Cate. I also brought my Chinese-toEnglish dictionary… Honestly, I have no idea why I grabbed this because school was canceled, and the only time I used it was when I spent a summer in China. Random, right? I’m sure we all brought important and random things, but who knows what to grab when you only have a couple of hours to get out of your house.

tary school, I worked with a group of students to support the Orkeeswa school in Monduli, Tanzania, and every individual that contributed was beyond generous. I’ve spent the last two years at NYU, and the transition from a small town of ten thousand to a city of many millions was not the easiest. Of course, I was well prepared for NYU’s academic curriculum, but finding my people and my place in the city took time. NYU preaches being ‘in and of the City’ and a ‘campus without walls.’ Through your experience, you will learn grit, resiliency, and graduate after four years as a stronger person. The risible thing about NYU’s desired outcome was that my small town back home taught me the same

My small town back home taught me the same lessons that New York City and NYU sought to teach me. Montecito showed me how to get back up and continue to move forward, carrying yourself with empathy and compassion.

T

wo months deep into quarantine, it quickly became clear how seriously my social skills had atrophied when I picked up the phone to call the home of Brett Matthews and Ginger Salazar. I had the intention of asking whichever parent picked up the phone if their son, the MUS, Marymount, and Cate alum Parker Matthews, would be interested in being the first person featured in my new column. But the phone rang. And rang. And then it rang out. When the tone for the voicemail sounded, my well developed language skills seemed to seep out my ears as I proceeded to reverse the name of my would be interviewee (referring to him as “Matthews Parker”), attempted to explain the concept of being between the ages of two people (referencing my chronological relationship to Parker and his younger sister, Grace), and then concluded the voicemail by forgetting to leave any contact information for myself. After leaving what I wager to be the most disorganized voice message that’s ever graced the Matthews’ family phone, I sighed, knowing I’d surely have to find someone else to feature in this week’s edition of “Dear Montecito.” Knowing this, you understand my elation when I found out that Parker was in fact willing to be featured. And the 20-year-old NYU Art History student did not disappoint, demonstrating a thoughtfulness, even in our brief emails, which is echoed in his open letter. Parker believes that “art is 2 – 9 July 2020

the truest form of expression” – something which rings clear in his observations of our small town, and indeed, the larger world.

Dear Montecito,

My name is Parker Matthews, and I was asked to give a sense of who I am. To be completely honest, this is a daunting task. After leaving NYU during my Sophomore Spring due to COVID-19, and spending the last 13 weeks at home, I’ve come to appreciate the strength of our small town. Growing up, I knew that Montecito and Santa Barbara were both magical places. There are few places in this world where you can find beautiful mountains and beaches only five miles apart. At Montecito Union, I always tried to pick a desk near the windows so I could stare at the green hillside or the perfectly kept organic garden where I would end up spending many recesses. Many people believe that Santa Barbara and Montecito are these beautiful places devoid of issues and struggles; however, over the last several years, our community has faced many challenges. Before I reached sixth grade, my family lived through three fire evacuations. I remember my little sister, then in her early years at MUS, running outside in glee that it was snowing. In fact, it was raining snowflake size ashes from the Jesusita Fire. Yes, Montecito is idyllic, and everyone’s hedges are pristine, but we do not live in a perfect bubble.

Shortly after returning from our evacuation, we were met by the 1/9/18 Debris Flow. While we are all too familiar with these tragedies, I’d like to focus on how our community came together to support and uplift one another. It’s always hard to express my feelings and emotions when it comes time to talk about these two tragedies. We all know friends and families who have lost lives and homes. When the earth moved on January 9th, our foundation as a community shifted. We were uprooted, and our lives were truly turned upside-down. To say that our town of Montecito is resilient is an understatement. Speaking from my own experience and personal trauma, it was not easy driving on certain roads and talking to friends from out of town about what occurred. The things I would share were stories of the Santa Barbara Bucket Brigade and the Partnership for Resilient Communities coming together to help neighbors and strangers recover lost belongings, clear debris, and help mitigate the potential for future debris flows. I witnessed thousands of people coming together in our community to help rebuild. It takes a lot of empathy and selflessness to put others’ needs in front of yourself, but our community continually worked together to uplift each other. We learned a bit about ‘grit’ in Mrs. Bachman’s MUS classroom, but sometimes you have to experience things to learn about how to be resilient. In looking back, this community has been very supportive of helping others. In elemen-

• The Voice of the Village •

lessons that New York City and NYU sought to teach me. Our community of Montecito showed me how to get back up and continue to move forward, carrying yourself with empathy and compassion. I moved to the city to expand my mindset and secure a more global perspective without realizing all that this community had already taught me. NYU and NYC have taught me a great deal about myself and moving to such a dynamic place has pushed me to grow in other ways, but I couldn’t be equipped to learn without the experiences shared and people met in Montecito. •MJ

Coastal Hideaways

Inc.

805 969-1995 Luxury Vacation Rentals Short or Long Term

Interior Design Services also available Hire the best in the industry to manage your income property. Please stop in and visit us 25 years serving the Santa Barbara community

Melissa M. Pierson, Owner 1211 Coast Village Road #4 Montecito, CA 93108 Vacations@coastalhideaways.com www.coastalhideaways.com

MONTECITO JOURNAL

35


In the News by Jun Starkey

SBCC Board of Trustees Votes on BLM Resolution

N

ot since the Civil Rights Movement more than 60 years ago, has the country experienced such a revolution of attitudes about race and justice in America. The killing of George Floyd and several other recent deaths of unarmed Black people at the hands of law enforcement has sparked massive outrage across a nation, where millions temporarily put aside a pandemic in favor of protest. In this age of the Internet and social media, the battles for justice are no longer just waged in person. A generation of people who grew up with phones in their pockets and Wi-Fi more ubiquitous than television has found its first defining, seminal moment of no return. Even the moderate paradise of Santa Barbara was not immune to the revolution. Santa Barbara’s government leaders aren’t known for their ability to respond quickly to the changes or concerns raised by the community. So it’s remarkable that in recent weeks just about every government panel and board has passed some kind of resolution in support of Black Lives Matter and those who died at the hands of cops. But since it’s Santa Barbara, it’s complicated. That was on full display last week when the Santa Barbara City College Board of Trustees, widely regarded as one of the best community colleges in the nation, voted on a resolution meant to affirm its commitment to Black students, faculty and staff. While the cities of Santa Barbara, Goleta and the county Board of Supervisors passed their resolutions swiftly, City College trustees debated over semantics and implications. The resolution passed 5-2 Thursday, and includes a statement condemning police brutality and affirming that Black lives matter, as well as plans to involve Black faculty, students and staff more in efforts to address racial inequity. The two trustees who voted against the resolution, Craig Nielsen and Veronica Gallardo, clashed with the rest of the board over the addition of two words, as well as the capitalization of the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter.’ “We are just, in this resolution, affirming three simple words, which are Black lives matter,” said Trustee Jonathan Abboud during the meeting.

36 MONTECITO JOURNAL

Santa Barbara City College is no stranger to racial controversies. After an administrator used the unabbreviated N-word during a gender and equity meeting in November 2018, students protested at the following Board of Trustees meetings, calling for her to be fired. The college also briefly became a segment on Fox News after the Board of Trustees stopped reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at its meetings, citing the pledge’s history of white nationalism. More recently, the college’s campus climate survey revealed a great lack of trust between employees and campus leadership. Trustee Abboud told the Montecito Journal the resolution was also a partial response to the discontent on campus. “We didn’t have a response at all last year,” he said. “It’s catching up to us.” Initially, Nielsen only advocated for the addition of the word “identifying,” to the statement about dismantling racial inequity. “I want more emphasis on identifying what to dismantle,” he said. This minor amendment was passed later in the meeting, but Nielsen went on to say that he did not agree with the phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ itself. “I’m one of those weird people that thinks all lives matter,” Nielsen said. “Black lives matter, but all lives matter.” Trustee Gallardo, whose seat, along with Nielsen’s, are on the ballot this November, looked into the Black Lives Matter group after reading the resolution. She was apparently unaware that Black Lives Matter was associated with calls to defund the police.

J ARROTT

&

CO.

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS

SPECIALIZING IN 1031 TAX-DEFERRED EXCHANGES

Trustees Abboud and Croninger, who co-authored the resolution, insisted the statement was meant to be interpreted as a phrase, not an endorsement of an organization. However, Gallardo maintained her belief that the capitalization of the whole phrase ‘Black Lives Matter’ was intentional.

More recently, the college’s campus climate survey revealed a great lack of trust between employees and campus leadership. Trustee Abboud told the Montecito Journal the resolution was also a partial response to the discontent on campus. “We didn’t have a response at all last year,” he said. “It’s catching up to us.” She said she could not, in her capacity as a first-grade teacher, support something that called to defund the police. She also refused any suggestion to alter the phrase. “I don’t want to frame it another way... I don’t want you to lowercase it because that wasn’t the intent,” Gallardo said. For other board members, it wasn’t a moment to start slicing and dicing the micro-definition of words. “I don’t think we’re here to debate

defunding the police,” said Abboud. “We are not endorsing a platform.” On June 23 at the Santa Barbara Unified School District, the vote was unanimous, but came after a massive protest that led to a list of demands delivered at the district’s doorstep. Government resolutions are usually top-down, where a bureaucrat or a politician wants to take a symbolic stand on a hot-button issue. In this case, these resolutions were brought by activists and students, by people of color, not asking for change, but demanding it. Laura Capps, president of the Board of Education, said she felt the need to respond quickly to the students’ demands. “Students came to us,” Capps said. “Their leadership was so impactful we wanted to act as fast as possible.” The school board also approved the content for two new ethnic studies courses, as stated in the students’ demands. “The learning never stops,” Capps said. “We need to listen to students.” The Santa Barbara City Council also unanimously passed a resolution condemning police brutality, and declaring racism a public health emergency. City College instructor and Santa Barbara City Councilwoman Kristen Sneddon told the Montecito Journal she supports the movement. For her, it’s not about criticizing cops, but recognizing a real situation that many people in the community experience. “We have to move out of the mode of thinking we are attacking police with this,” said Sneddon. “It’s about setting intention, and you can’t address a problem until you acknowledge the problem.” •MJ

The best little paper in America (Covering the best little community anywhere!) Executive Editor/CEO Gwyn Lurie • Publisher/COO Timothy Lennon Buckley Editor At Large Kelly Mahan Herrick • News and Feature Editor Nicholas Schou Associate Editor Bob Hazard • Copy Editor Lily Buckley Harbin Arts and Entertainment Editor Steven Libowitz

Contributors Scott Craig, Julia Rodgers, Ashleigh Brilliant, Sigrid Toye, Zach Rosen, Kim Crail Gossip Richard Mineards • History Hattie Beresford • Humor Ernie Witham Our Town Joanne A. Calitri Society Lynda Millner • Travel Jerry Dunn • Sportsman Dr. John Burk • Trail Talk Lynn P. Kirst

AND

Account Managers Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Casey Champion Bookkeeping Diane Davidson, Christine Merrick • Proofreading Helen Buckley

M ANAGEMENT F REE

Design/Production Trent Watanabe

TRIPLE NET LEASED

INVESTMENT PROPERTIES WITH NATIONAL TENANTS

Len

CALL Jarrott, MBA, CCIM

805-569-5999

http://www.jarrott.com

Published by Montecito Journal Media Group, LLC PRINTED BY NPCP INC., SANTA BARBARA, CA Montecito Journal is compiled, compounded, calibrated, cogitated over, and coughed up every Wednesday by an exacting agglomeration of excitable (and often exemplary) expert edifiers at 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA 93108. How to reach us: Editorial: (805) 565-1860; Sue Brooks: ext. 4; Christine Merrick: ext. 3; Classified: ext. 3; FAX: (805) 969-6654; Letters to Editor: Montecito Journal, 1206 Coast Village Circle, Suite H, Montecito, CA 93108; E-MAIL: tim@montecitojournal.net

“With freedom, books, flowers, and the moon, who could not be happy?” – Oscar Wilde

2 – 9 July 2020


NOSH TOWN

by Claudia Schou

SUMMER’S ALL-AMERICAN (PANDEMIC) COOKOUT

S

ummer is officially underway, so what better way to celebrate the season than to embrace the summer tradition of backyard grilling with family and friends? A cookout is the perfect way to practice social distancing with loved ones while satiating your gustatory appetites. Whether you’re in the mood for burgers, marinated meats, grilled tofu and veggies, it’s time to fire up the grill. Over the coming weeks, Montecito Journal will run a series of articles featuring culinary experts and businesses that we hope will inspire your grilling adventures all summer long.

CAT CORA, RESTAURATEUR AND CHEF

C

ora’s culinary accomplishments are akin to climbing Mount Everest. The Santa Barbara resident is a world-renowned chef, author, restaurateur, television personality, wellness expert, philanthropist, wife, and mom to six energetic boys. But perhaps Cora’s greatest contribution to the culinary world (locally) is Mesa Burger, serving classic Californiastyle angus beef on a brioche bun. One popular item is the Montecito Burger, topped with glazed mushrooms, single onion ring, arugula, sautéed onions, goat cheese and truffle aioli. Mesa Burger has outposts in the Mesa, Goleta and soon to open at 1209 Coast Village Road in Montecito. This summer, Cora is spending her time self-quarantining and promoting a public safety initiative called #forkthevirus as well as Cora-ntine Cuisine live on Instagram. When she’s Throw another lobster tail on the barbie! not cooking in her kitchen for her fans, she becomes a grill goddess, serving up her favorite grilled selections poolside for family and friends. We recently caught up with Cora to see what’s cooking on the grill.

What are your favorite summer side dishes? I love watermelon, mint and feta salad, grilled corn, Greek Salad, grilled potatoes with lots of herbs, lemon and garlic, and my Avocado Cobb salad to name a few. What are your favorite condiments? I think ketchup is a mother sauce. I also make a special sauce at Mesa Burger that is similar to a tangy Thousand Island dressing as well as an earthy truffle aioli and my hot sweet mustard to name a few. What’s your favorite wine pairing? I love Etude Pinot Noir with a delicious beef burger. Favorite BBQ tool? Tongs. What is your BBQ flair? I BBQ on my Hestan grill which is like my 7th child, by the pool in a bikini and big floppy hat. I am always marinating something. What is your favorite music to grill to? Bob Marley.

•MJ

Q. What is your favorite burger protein? A. Although this is like asking me which is my favorite child, I am going to go with a beef blend made with chuck and brisket and short ribs thrown in too. It’s so juicy and flavorful! What are your favorite herbs and seasonings for beef burgers? Onion, oregano and garlic, just like my mom made when I was growing up. What kind of burger typifies Montecito lifestyle? I have a beef burger called the Montecito, smothered in truffle aioli, arugula, mushrooms, goat cheese and one crisp onion ring and served on a brioche bun.

FREE HOME DELIVERY FREE Delivery on Orders $40 or more within Santa Barbara and Montecito Fresh, Local & Sustainable Order Online before 12PM for Same-Day-Delivery

sbfish.com

Chef Dario Furlati serving pizza & authentic Northern Italian Cuisine in Montecito, Santa Barbara and Goleta

With gratitude to our community for its support. We wish you the happiest and healthiest of summers. Now open for lunch, dine-in dinner service and take-out!

11:30 a.m. - 2:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday We are now open until 9:30.p.m. Friday and Saturday 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. Daily 805-884-9419 ext 2 | cadariorestaurants.com

2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

37


MONTECITO PLANNING COMMISSION NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING

MONTECITO SANITARY DISTRICT NOTICE OF A HEARING TO CONTINUE THE PRACTICE OF COLLECTING MONTECITO SANITARY DISTRICT SEWER SERVICE CHARGES ON THE COUNTY TAX ROLL NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that at 1:15 p.m. on the 9th day of July 2020, a hearing will be held to enable the MONTECITO SANITARY DISTRICT Governing Board to hear any objections to the collection of annual sewer service charges by use of the County Tax roll rather than billing monthly or quarterly. This meeting will be held remotely via Zoom meetings, pursuant to the State of California Executive Order No. N-29-20 issued on March 17, 2020. Information for joining the meeting will be posted at the District office at 1042 Monte Cristo Lane, Santa Barbara, and on the District’s website at www.montsan.org 72 hours prior to the meeting time. A report, which will be available at the time of the hearing in the Office of the MONTECITO SANITARY DISTRICT, contains a description of each parcel (APN) of real property within the MONTECITO SANITARY DISTRICT to which sewer service is presently being rendered, and for which an application for service has been made to the District on or before June 30, 2020. The report also sets forth the charge to be made for sewer services to each of said parcels for the Fiscal Year 2020-21. The District has elected to collect sewer service charges by use of the County Tax Roll in previous fiscal years and is proposing to use the same procedure for collection in Fiscal Year 2020-21. Sewer service charges, which are placed on the County Tax Roll for collection will be due and payable in the same manner, and the same time, as general taxes appearing on the County Tax Roll.

DATE OF HEARING:

JULY 15, 2020

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION Based on guidance from the California Department of Public Health and the California Governor's Stay at Home Executive Order N-3320, issued on March 19, 2020, to protect the health and well-being of all Californian’s and to establish consistency across the state in order to slow the spread of COVID-19, the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission hearings will no longer provide in-person participation. We have established alternative methods of participation in the Montecito Planning Commission hearings, pursuant to the California Governor’s Executive Order N-29-20, issued on March 17, 2020, which states: • •

Providing an opportunity to “observe and address the meeting telephonically or otherwise electronically,” alone, meets the participation requirement; and “Such a body need not make available any physical location from which members of the public may observe the meeting and offer public comment.”

The following alternative methods of participation are available to the public: 1. You may observe the live stream of the Montecito Planning Commission meetings on (1) Local Cable Channel 20, (2) online at: http://www.countyofsb.org/ceo/csbtv/livestream.sbc; or (3) YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/user/CSBTV20 2. If you wish to make a general public comment or to comment on a specific agenda item, the following methods are available: •

Distribution to the Montecito Planning Commission - Submit your comment via email prior to 12:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to the Commission hearing. Please submit your comment to the Recording Secretary at dvillalo@countyofsb.org. Your comment will be placed into the record and distributed appropriately.

Read into the record at the meeting – Submit your comment limited to 250 words or less via email to the Recording Secretary at dvillalo@countyofsb.org, prior to the close of public comment on the agenda item the comment is related to, unless otherwise directed by the Chair. Please state in your email that you would like this “read into the record.” Every effort will be made to read your comment into the record, but some comments may not be read out loud at the hearing due to time limitations. Comments timely received will be placed into record and distributed appropriately.

Video and Teleconference Public Participation – To participate via Zoom, please pre-register for the meeting using the below link. When: July 15, 2020 09:00 AM Pacific Time (US and Canada) Topic: Montecito Planning Commission 07/15/2020 Register in advance for this webinar: https://countyofsb.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_pLODubrQQnGGJoWF0efQ5Q

As set forth by Resolution No. 2020-924 Adopted by the Governing Board at its meeting on June 11, 2020

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Published June 24 and July 1, 2020 Montecito Journal

The Commission’s rules on hearings and public comment, unless otherwise directed by the Chair, remain applicable to each of the participation methods listed above.

ORDER FOR PUBLICATION OF SUMMONS: CASE No. 20CV01391. Notice to Defendants: Samuel Choe, Jiale Zhu, and Does 1-20: You have been sued by Plaintiff: City of Santa Barbara. You have 30 calendar days after this Summons and legal papers are served on you to file a response at the court and have a copy served on the plaintiff. A letter or phone call will not protect you. Your written response must be in proper legal form if you want the court to hear case. There may be a court form that you can use for your response. You can find these court forms and more information at the California Courts Online Self-Help Center, your county law library, or the courthouse nearest you. If you cannot pay the filing fee, as the court clerk for a fee waiver form. If you do not file your response on time, you may lose the case by default, and your wages, money, and property may be taken without further warning from the court. There are other legal requirements, you may want to contact an attorney right away. If you cannot afford an attorney, you may be eligible for free legal services. You can locate these non-profit groups online at www. lawhelpcalifornia.org, or by contacting your local court or county bar association. Name and address of the court: Superior Court of California, County of Santa Barbara, 1100 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93121-1107. Filed March 11, 2020, by Elizabeth Spann, Deputy Clerk. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Bahama Bob’s Spa Service, 3620 Santa Maria Ln, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Melinda J Gerow, 3620 Santa Maria Ln, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 24, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001558. Published July 1, 8, 15, 22, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Santa Barbara Limitless Ser-

vices, 214 Reef Ct., Santa Barbara, CA 93109. Elizabeth L Smith, 214 Reef Ct., Santa Barbara, CA 93109. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 15, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001481. Published July 1, 8, 15, 22, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Good Neighbor Productions, 5008 Yaple Ave, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. Saulius E Urbonas, 5008 Yaple Ave, Santa Barbara, CA 93111. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 9, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001421. Published July 1, 8, 15, 22, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Regina’s Treatery, 545 Toro Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Valley Heart Ranch, 545 Toro Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 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). FBN No. 2020-0001528. Published July 1, 8, 15, 22, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Santa Barbara Health and Healing Center, 2099 Refugio Road, Goleta, CA 93117. Amy Hazard, 4124 Modoc Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93110. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 9, 2020. This statement expires five years from the date it was filed in the Office of the

38 MONTECITO JOURNAL

The Montecito Planning Commission hearing begins at 9:00 a.m. The order of items listed on the agenda is subject to change by the Montecito Planning Commission. Anyone interested in this matter is invited to speak in support or in opposition to the projects. Written comments are also welcome. All letters should be addressed to the Montecito Planning Commission, 123 East Anapamu Street, Santa Barbara, California, 93101. Letters, with nine copies, and computer materials, e.g. PowerPoint presentations, should be filed with the secretary of the Planning Commission no later than 12:00 P.M. on the Friday before the Montecito Planning Commission hearing. The decision to accept late materials will be at the discretion of the Montecito Planning Commission. Maps and/or staff analysis of the proposals may be reviewed at https://www.countyofsb.org/plndev/hearings/cpc.sbc or by appointment by calling (805) 568-2000. If you challenge the project(s) 19CDH-00000-00021, 19DVP-00000-00033, or 20APL-00000-00006 in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence to the Montecito Planning Commission prior to the public hearing. In compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this hearing, please contact the Hearing Support Staff (805) 568-2000. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the hearing will enable the Hearing Support Staff to make reasonable arrangements. 19CDH-00000-00021 Behlau Duplex Exempt, CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 and 15303

1307 Danielson Road Joe Dargel, Supervising Planner (805) 568-3573 Ciara Ristig, Planner (805) 568-2077

The hearing on the request of Christopher Behlau, property owner, to consider Case No. 19CDH-00000-00021 [application filed on May 9, 2019], which is an application for a Coastal Development Permit to authorize the demolition of an existing duplex, and the construction of a new duplex and associated accessory development pursuant to Section 35-169 of the Article II Coastal Zoning Ordinance; and to determine that the project is exempt from environmental review pursuant to Sections 15301 and 15303 of the State Guidelines for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The subject property is zoned Two Family Residential (7-R-2) and is located at 1307 Danielson Road, Assessor Parcel No. 009-313-017, in the Montecito area, First Supervisorial District. 19DVP-00000-00033 Harding Residential Addition 2332 Bella Vista Drive Exempt, CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 and 15303 Tess Harris, Supervising Planner (805) 568-3319 Willow Brown, Planner (805) 568-2040 The hearing is a request by Geoffrey Harding, property owner, to consider Case No. 19DVP-00000-00033 [application filed on August 21, 2019], which is a request to authorize a 1,653-square-foot, two-story addition to an existing 2,846 square foot single story residence; and to determine the project is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 and 15303. The application involves Assessor’s Parcel No. 007-040-018, located at 2332 Bella Vista Drive, in the Montecito Community Plan area, First Supervisorial District. McTolridge Appeal of Siena 20APL-00000-00006 US Property Grading Land Use Permit 601 Cowles Road Exempt, CEQA Guidelines Section 15303 and 15304 Tess Harris, Supervising Planner (805) 568-3319 Willow Brown, Planner (805) 568-2040 Hearing on the request of Edward McToldridge, Appellant, to consider an appeal of a Director’s decision to approve Land Use Permit Case No. 19LUP-00000-00491, which authorized a garden service area requiring grading of 130 cubic yards of cut and 130 cubic yards of fill and the construction of retaining walls in the rear yard setback. The appeal was filed on February 10, 2020 in compliance with Chapter 35.492 of the Montecito Land Use and Development Code (MLUDC). This application involves Assessor’s Parcel Number 013-210-053, located at 601 Cowles Road in the Montecito Community Plan area, First Supervisorial District.

Published July 1, 2020 Montecito Journal

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. 2020-0001413. Published June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Theme and Variations, 1769 San Leandro Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Pamela Thiel, 1769 San Leandro Lane, Santa Barbara, CA

MONTECITO COUNTY PLANNING COMMISSION RECORDING SECRETARY (568-2000)

93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 10, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001435. Published June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following

“One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, one nation forevermore!” – Oliver Wendell Holmes

person(s) is/are doing business as: Lagoon Designs, 410 Nicholas Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Leah Yahyavi, 410 Nicholas Lane, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 8, 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).

FBN No. 2020-0001405. Published June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Turn Key Realty & Mortgage, 801 S. Broadway Suite 16, Santa Maria, CA 93454. Kenneth Lee Batson, 920 W. Apricot Unit 103, Lompoc, CA 93436. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 15, 2020. This statement expires five years from the

2 – 9 July 2020


CITY OF SANTA BARBARA - GENERAL SERVICES DIVISION PO BOX 1990, SANTA BARBARA, CA 93102-1990

ORDINANCE NO. 5951 AN UNCODIFIED EMERGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE

INVITATION FOR BIDS NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that sealed bids will be received via electronic transmission on the City of Santa Barbara PlanetBids portal site until the date and time indicated below at which time they will be publicly opened and posted for: BID NO. 5854

COUNCIL

OF

THE

CITY

OF

SANTA

BARBARA

AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF FIRST AMENDMENT TO AMENDED AND RESTATED LEASE No. 26,608 BETWEEN CITY OF SANTA BARBARA AND LA SIRENA ON EAST

DUE DATE & TIME: JULY 22, 2020 UNTIL 3:00 P.M.

BEACH, LLC

UTILITY RELOCATION AT 132 HARBOR WAY Scope of Work: Relocate approximately 202' of Southern California Edison's electrical service according to SCE plans. Bidders must be registered on the city of Santa Barbara’s PlanetBids portal in order to receive addendum notifications and to submit a bid. Go to PlanetBids for bid results and awards. It is the responsibility of the bidder to submit their bid with sufficient time to be received by PlanetBids prior to the bid opening date and time. The receiving deadline is absolute. Allow time for technical difficulties, uploading, and unexpected delays. Late or incomplete Bid will not be accepted.

The above captioned ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on June 23, 2020. The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the

If further information is needed, contact Jennifer Disney Dixon, Buyer II at (805) 564-5356 or email: JDisney@santabarbaraca.gov

provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be

A pre-bid meeting will not be held. FAIR EMPLOYMENT PRACTICE ACT Contractor agrees in accordance with Section 1735 and 1777.6 of California Labor Code, and the California Fair Employment Practice Act (Sections 1410-1433) that in the hiring of common or skilled labor for the performance of any work under this contract or any subcontract hereunder, no contractor, material supplier or vendor shall, by reason of age (over 40), ancestry, color, mental or physical disability, sex, gender identity and expression, marital status, medical condition (cancer or genetic characteristics), national origin, race, religious belief, or sexual orientation, discriminate against any person who is qualified and available to perform the work to which such employment relates. The Contractor further agrees to be in compliance with the City of Santa Barbara’s Nondiscriminatory Employment Provisions as set forth in Chapter 9 of the Santa Barbara Municipal Code.

obtained at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California. (Seal) /s/ Sarah Gorman, CMC City Clerk Services Manager

BONDING Bidders are hereby notified that a Payment Bond in the amount of 100% of the bid total will be required from the successful bidder for bids exceeding $25,000. The bond must be provided with ten (10) calendar days from notice of award and prior to the performance of any work. The bond must be signed by the bidder and a corporate surety, who is authorized to issue bonds in the State of California. Bidders are hereby notified that a separate Performance Bond in the amount of 100% of the bid total will be required from the successful bidder for bids exceeding $25,000. The bond must be provided with ten (10) calendar days from notice of award and prior to the performance of any work. The bond must be signed by the bidder and a corporate surety, who is authorized to issue bonds in the State of California. PREVAILING WAGE, APPRENTICES, PENALTIES, & CERTIFIED PAYROLL In accordance with the provisions of Labor Code § 1773.2, the Contractor is responsible for determining the correct prevailing wage rates. However, the City will provide wage information for projects subject to Federal Davis Bacon requirements. The Director of Industrial Relations has determined the general prevailing rates of wages and employer payments for health, welfare, vacation, pensions and similar purposes applicable, which is on file in the State of California Office of Industrial Relations. The contractor shall post a copy of these prevailing wage rates at the site of the project. It shall be mandatory upon the contractor to whom the contract is awarded and its subcontractors hired to pay not less than the said prevailing rates of wages to all workers employed by him in the execution of the contract (Labor Code § 1770 et seq.). Prevailing wage rates are available at http://www.dir.ca.gov/oprl/PWD/index.htm It is the duty of the contractor and subcontractors to employ registered apprentices and to comply with all aspects of Labor Code § 1777.5. There are penalties required for contractor’s/subcontractor’s failure to pay prevailing wages and for failure to employ apprentices, including forfeitures and debarment under Labor Code §§ 1775, 1776, 1777.1, 1777.7 and 1813.

ORDINANCE NO. 5951 STATE OF CALIFORNIA

) ) COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA ) ss. ) CITY OF SANTA BARBARA ) I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was introduced and adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on June 23, 2020, by the following roll call vote: AYES:

Councilmembers Eric Friedman, Alejandra Gutierrez, Oscar Gutierrez, Meagan Harmon, Mike Jordan, Kristen W. Sneddon; Mayor Cathy Murillo

NOES:

None

ABSENT:

None

ABSTENTIONS:

None

Under Labor Code § 1776, contractors and subcontractors are required to keep accurate payroll records. The prime contractor is responsible for submittal of their payrolls and those of their subcontractors as one package. Payroll records shall be certified and made available for inspection at all reasonable hours at the principal office of the contractor/subcontractor pursuant to Labor Code § 1776. The contractor and all subcontractors under the direct contractor shall furnish certified payroll records directly to the Labor Compliance Unit and to the department named in the Purchase Order/Contract at least monthly, and within ten (10) days of any request from any request from the City or the Labor Commissioner in accordance with Section 16461 of the California Code of Regulations. Payroll records shall be furnished in a format prescribed by section 16401 of Title 8 of the California Code of Regulations, with use of the current version of DIR's “Public Works Payroll Reporting Form” (A-1-131) and “Statement of Employer Payments” (DLSE Form PW26) constituting presumptive compliance with this requirement, provided the forms are filled out accurately and completely. In lieu of paper forms, the Compliance Monitoring Unit may provide for and require the electronic submission of certified payroll reports. The provisions of Article 2 and 3, Division 2, Chapter 1 of the Labor Code, State of California, are made by this reference a part of this quotation or bid. A contractor or subcontractor shall not be qualified to bid on, be listed in a bid proposal, subject to the requirements of Section 4104 of the Public Contract Code, or engage in the performance of any contract for public work, as defined in this chapter, unless currently licensed to perform the work and registered pursuant to Labor Code § 1725.5 without limitation or exception. It is not a violation of this section for an unlicensed contractor to submit a bid that is authorized by Section 7029.1 of the Business and Professions Code or by Section 20103.5 of the Public Contract Code, provided the contractor is registered to perform public work pursuant to Section 1725.5 at the time the contract is awarded.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara on June 24, 2020.

/s/ Sarah P. Gorman, CMC City Clerk Services Manager

This project is subject to compliance monitoring and enforcement by the Department of Industrial Relations. CERTIFICATIONS In accordance with California Public Contracting Code § 3300, the City requires the Contractor to possess a valid California A-General Engineering, or B-General Building, or C-10 Electrical contractor’s license at time the bids are opened and to continue to hold during the term of the contract all licenses and certifications required to perform the work specified herein.

I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on June 24, 2020.

CERTIFICATE OF INSURANCE Contractor must submit to the contracted department within ten (10) calendar days of an order, AND PRIOR TO START OF WORK, certificates of Insurance naming the City of Santa Barbara as Additional Insured in accordance with the attached Insurance Requirements.

_______________________________ William Hornung, C.P.M. General Services Manager

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. 2020-0001470. Published June 24, July 1, 8, 15, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Eva Terces, 3067 Paseo Del Descanso, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Jean Gatewood, 3067 Paseo Del Descan-

2 – 9 July 2020

so, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 3, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001368. Published June 10, 17, 24, July 1, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following

Published 7/1/2020 Montecito Journal

person(s) is/are doing business as: Dos Carlitos Restaurant & Tequila Bar, 3544 Sagunto Street, Santa Ynez, CA 93460. CLH Enterprises, Inc., 1212 Coast Village Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on May 29, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001328. Published June 10, 17, 24, July 1, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: CAVA Restaurant & Bar, 1212 Coast Village Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Blue Serrano Group, LLC, 1212 Coast Village Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County

• The Voice of the Village •

/s/ Cathy Murillo Mayor Published July 1, 2020 Montecito Journal

on May 29, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001327. Published June 10, 17, 24, July 1, 2020. FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Scout Du Jour, 636 Oak Grove

Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. Travis Chauvin Lee, 636 Oak Grove Drive, Santa Barbara, CA 93108. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on May 8, 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). FBN No. 2020-0001156. Published June 10, 17, 24, July 1, 2020.

MONTECITO JOURNAL

39


Jerry Meandering by Jerold Oshinsky A Partner with Kasowitz Benson Torres LLP, Jerold Oshinsky has more than 35 years of experience litigating insurance cases in federal and state courts throughout the country. Chambers USA consistently has designated him as the only lawyer to be accorded “Star” ranking in its national insurance category. Jerry has been a resident of Montecito for 14 years.

A Judicial Fork in The Road

The great Yankee baseball catcher Yogi Berra allegedly said: “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

T

his article will attempt to decipher the recent Supreme Court decisions which decisively protected the rights and interests of gay and transgender citizens and Dreamers (DACA, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals) and struck down as unconstitutional a Louisiana anti-abortion law. As it turns out, Chief Justice Roberts and Justice Gorsuch took the fork in the road typically occupied by the Liberal members of the Supreme Court. As a final note, I will offer some thoughts about the District Court’s decision concerning the publication of John Bolton’s book and the rights to the proceeds of those sales.

A Switch in Time Saves Nine

During the 1930s, President Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation was frustrated by decisions of the United States Supreme Court holding his programs unconstitutional. To protect the New Deal, FDR sought to increase the size of the Supreme Court from 9-15 justices and change the balance in his favor. Fortunately, one of the justices switched his vote to support the legislation, and the Supreme Court remained as we know it with nine Justices. (Another Justice Roberts, not related to the current Chief, was the deciding vote.) The Supreme Court was in the spotlight in June 2020, with three decisions that attracted as much editorial commentary as when the Supreme Court tossed the 2000 Presidential election to George Bush over Al Gore, 5-4; allowing unfettered corporate contributions to political campaigns (Citizens United), overturning gun control legislation in D.C. and generally advancing the right wing playbook.

McConnell UBER ALLES

The Conservative world was thrilled when Mitch McConnell blocked Judge Merrick Garland from being considered for a vote to fill the vacancy on the Supreme Court. The Republicans swooned with joy when the replacement nominations of Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch were cleared by their fellow Republicans in the U.S. Senate. Both were Appellate Judges, Kavanaugh from the D.C. Circuit and Gorsuch from the 10th Circuit from Colorado and both were confirmed, with votes along party lines. The administration gleefully assumed that it had established a Conservative firewall of support on the Supreme Court.

Three More Switches in Time

There were some hints, though, that these Justices might just be somewhat freewheeling. For example, Chief Justice Roberts had cast the deciding vote to uphold The Affordable Care Act, and to block the President’s plan to add a citizenship question to the Census. The DACA and the LBGTQ decisions in the Supreme Court were nevertheless

a complete surprise and reflect opposing approaches to decision making led by the Chief Justice. The Louisiana Abortion Law decision was more predictable, and reflects a clean sweep for the liberal justices joined again by the Chief Justice.

The DACA Opinion

In the majority opinion, Chief Justice Roberts and three of the four liberal justices, Kagan, Breyer, and Ginsburg, concurred that the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) could not terminate the DACA program without factual justification for its action, especially given the fact that the Dreamers had contributed billions of dollars of value to the American economy. Justice Sotomayor would have gone even one step further and opened an inquiry into whether or not the agency conduct was unjustified under the Constitution as a violation of Equal Protection. The Court remanded the case for further consideration in the underlying tribunals. The four dissenters in one opinion written by Justice Thomas and joined by Justices Alito and Gorsuch, and a separate dissenting opinion by Justice Kavanaugh, collectively argued that judicial review was not authorized at all by the Immigration Statutes and that the appeal should be rejected out of hand. The bottom line after 72 pages, is that the issues are probably going back to DHS for further consideration. In the meantime, Congress has the power, if it so desires, to rectify the situation by passing expansive legislation to embody the DACA program. The issue could return to the Supreme Court sooner if another case in Texas raising parallel issues gets there first.

The LBGTW Opinion

Not only did Chief Justice Roberts surprise the administration with his opinion in the DACA case, but in the LBGTQ case, joined by conservative Justice Gorsuch, they rejected the argument that employers could discriminate against gay and transgender people in employment. In a 6-3 opinion by Justice Gorsuch, joined by Chief Justice Roberts and Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, Breyer and Ginsburg, the Supreme Court held that it is illegal under Federal law for employers to discriminate against LGBTQ workers. The protections now include being unfairly fired, not hired or discriminated against in the workplace under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the words of Justice Gorsuch, “We must decide whether an employer can fire someone simply for being Homosexual or Transgender. The answer is NO.” The three remaining Conservatives, in an opinion by Thomas and joined by Alito, dissented and held that the statutory prohibition against discrimination on the basis of sex, did not include sexual orientation or sexual identity. Justice Kavanaugh separately dissented on the same basis, reasoning that “sex” should be read in accordance with its ordinary meaning of male vs female and not its literal meaning in the modern world. His solution was to leave the decision to legislation. The total opinion with dissents is 172 pages.

The Louisiana Abortion Law Decision

Finally, in adding to one of the most momentous sessions in its history, Chief Justice Roberts joined the four liberal Justices in another cliffhanger 5-4 decision, to strike down a restrictive Louisiana abortion law whose net effect would have been to limit the state to one abortion provider at a single clinic. Four years earlier the Supreme Court had struck down as unconstitutional a similar Texas law in a 5-3 decision. Justice Breyer wrote the majority opinion in both cases and Justice Roberts was in the minority in the Texas case, and had voted to uphold the Texas law. Why the switch? Chief Justice Roberts obviously and refreshingly believes in the sanctity of the Law and that legal precedent “requires us, absent special circumstances, to treat like cases alike.” This is known to generations of students of the law as “stare decisis.” This decision raises the ultimate question: “Is Roe v. Wade safe if the liberals maintain four seats on the Court through the next Presidential election?”

A Word About Bolton

40 MONTECITO JOURNAL

There is some confusion about the legal status of the Bolton book. The government belatedly has attempted to stop its publication and distribution. In order to do so, the government has to show that it has a strong case on the merits and that it would be irreparably injured if not granted the injunctive relief it seeks. In a very straightforward decision, in a heated setting, experienced District Court Judge in D.C., Royce Lamberth, ruled that the government had a strong case on the merits, but could not establish irreparable injury at this time because of the already wide distribution of the book. Judge Lamberth ordered, “Defendant Bolton has gambled with the national security of the United States. He has exposed his country to harm and himself to civil (and potential criminal) liability. But these facts do not control the motion before the Court. The government has failed to establish that an injunction will prevent irreparable harm. Its motion is accordingly DENIED. It is SO ORDERED.” •MJ “Who ever walked behind anyone to freedom? If we can’t go hand in hand, I don’t want to go.” – Hazel Scott

2 – 9 July 2020


Our Town

by Joanne A. Calitri

Joanne is the News Correspondent for the Montecito Journal since 2002. If you have a story for this column kindly call the office at 805-565-1860 with your name and contact info.

Gen X’ers NEXT Tech: Windows That Power Buildings

The NEXT team with inventor Corey Hoven (third from right in the back row) with their prototype solar window for commercial buildings winning the Most Disruptive Technology Award from the Pacific Coast Business Times and UC Santa Barbara Office of Technology & Industry Alliances

O

ur town’s innovative business, Next Energy Technologies Inc. (NEXT), a solar technology company with the motto “Windows Power Buildings” is co-founded by Gen-X’ers Corey Hoven PhD, Chief Technology Officer, from Montana and Daniel Emmett CEO from Carpinteria and a Cate School graduate. It was Corey’s research and studies in Materials Science, organic photovoltaics, with a dose of Anthropology studies on the barriers to sustainable renewable energy, where his research team won the UCSB 2010 New Venture Competition that became NEXT in 2011, and prompted a meeting with Daniel. An early investor and a long time NEXT Board member is Montecito resident, Jim Dehlsen, former head and founder of Clipper Windpower. NEXT won the 2019 Central Coast Innovation Award for Most Disruptive Technology, at the Four Seasons Biltmore Coral Casino Montecito, presented by The Pacific Coast Business Times in collaboration with UC Santa Barbara Office of Technology & Industry Alliances. Other awards include the Wells Fargo Innovation Incubator Award, the Municipal Green Building Conference Sustainable Cities Tech Challenge Award, the Hanely Wood HIVE 50 Award, the South Coast Business & Technology Awards Rising Star Award 2019, and a $2,500,000 award from the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative Technology to Market funding program (T2M3) to accelerate the research and development of next generation solar power technologies. Diving into a phone and e-interview with Daniel, Corey, and Jeff Horowitz, Director of Business Development and Partnerships: Q. Corey, what was your core inspiration to research organic light emitting diodes and photovoltaics in terms of device design, and overall renewable energy? A. I’ve been passionate about renewable energy ever since I was a kid. I grew up in Missoula, Montana. In grade school I built a scale model of my grandfather’s wave energy system he designed before he passed away including a 300-gallon water tank to test it. I earned my B.S. in Physics in 2005, focusing on renewable energy technology and identifying organic solar as the research area I wanted to pursue, and a B.S. in Anthropology at the same time, focusing on barriers to sustainable energy development, at Southern Oregon University. I came to the UCSB materials department to pursue my PhD because that was the best place to make progress on organic solar. It didn’t hurt that it was also the best (and top ranked) Materials Department in the world. The world urgently needs solutions to global warming and this one is a game changer. Buildings consume 40% of the world’s energy. Organic semiconductors were invented at UCSB by Alan Heeger, which has some amazing properties including the unique ability to fabricate photovoltaics that are transparent to the human eye. I went to graduate school at UCSB to study those semiconductors because I believed in the promise they held. We had a lot of work we had to accomplish, but we are finally extremely close to production. However, I am really just one piece of an absolutely amazing technical team that is equally as passionate about this technology and fighting climate change as I am. Daniel, talk about your pursuit of renewable energy and partnering with Corey? Growing up on the beach and in the water in Carpinteria helped forge a strong connection to the natural environment for me, and drove my studies at 2 – 9 July 2020

the intersection of environment and economics at UC Santa Cruz and Stanford and ultimately, my whole career. My work has been focused on driving practical and innovative solutions to climate change. Whether in a policy or advocacy role at nonprofits, like Environment Now Foundation or Energy Independence Now, working to shape policy to drive investment and adoption of new sustainable technologies, or in an operational role implementing these solutions for clients while at Innovo Energy Solutions or with a portfolio of commercial buildings in Los Angeles. I volunteer on the Boards of the Environmental Defense Center in Santa Barbara and the UCLA Law Institute on Climate Change and the Environment. My belief is that so much critical work and systemic change still needs to occur to protect our natural environment both on the Central Coast and in the much broader fight against climate change. For me, NEXT Energy is truly the culmination of years of work at the intersection of energy and environment. Empowering windows and glass facades to produce onsite renewable energy for buildings is such an elegant and compelling way to make the built environment part of the climate solution. I was lucky enough to meet Corey just as he was working to spin the technology out of UC Santa Barbara’s #1 Materials Department. We were introduced by a family friend, Michael Crooke, the former CEO of Patagonia, who was aware of my work on energy and buildings. Michael had heard about Corey’s groundbreaking work and his winning idea coming out of the Technology Management Program. It’s been a great match, and we’ve worked exceptionally well together since the company’s inception. Where are the materials sourced and manufactured? We source most of our materials from third-party chemical suppliers. Our proprietary semiconducting materials are synthesized at our facilities in Santa Barbara and we are manufacturing our prototype windows here as well. Aesthetics, economy, and renewable energy? NEXT’s invisible solar technology is seamlessly integrated into windows and glass facades, allowing buildings to power themselves with clean, cost-effective, solar energy solution, thereby reducing their carbon footprint and making buildings resilient and energy independent. Our technology is based on organic semiconductors, which have the unique ability to absorb infrared light, but have increased transmission in the visible spectra. This is not something possible with conventional photovoltaics and allows significant energy generation with little to no aesthetic impact to the window. Sales and distribution date and cost? We anticipate ready for a sales and distribution date in 2022 (full production). Smaller scale production (pilot) in the second half of 2021. By 2030 California Efficiency Strategic Energy Plan includes 100% of new commercial buildings will be designed to zero net energy standards. An estimate with NEXT windows is producing up to 60% of the building’s energy load. This dual use of the window makes our solar technology extremely cost competitive. Is this projected for residential? NEXT is primarily focused on the commercial building sector due to the enormous market opportunity and environmental impact. That said, there are applications for our technology in the residential market for smart window applications that can benefit from the same core technology we’ve developed for buildings. For example, our transparent solar coatings could be printed directly onto residential window glass to provide onboard power for (smart) windows in your home that have some sort of built-in functionality (e.g. IoT sensors, dynamic tinting, or automatic open and close). Is this U.S. based sales only? We plan to roll out globally. Our business model is to sell our technology, materials, and coating services to glass manufacturers and window fabricators through license agreements. What’s next for NEXT, in one year, five years, and by 2030? We are laser-focused this year on passing reliability and industry certification tests, and demonstrating pilot manufacturing with our supply chain partners. We’re also looking to close another round of financing from a combination of corporate strategics, venture firms, family offices, real estate owners, and developer. In a few years we anticipate being in full-scale production with our U.S. fabrication partner and in a position to commercialize with top window manufacturers and in coordination with leading construction, glazing partners, and architecture and development customers. In addition, we are aware of “bird safe” windows in commercial buildings and are tracking the progress of it so when it is ready to implement we will test how it fits into our windows. 411: https://www.nextenergytech.com

• The Voice of the Village •

•MJ

MONTECITO JOURNAL

41


LETTERS (Continued from page 29)

commitments and accomplishments: the choices you have made throughout your life to qualify you for consideration to speak to us readers. And we accepted and embraced you because of your history and your history of choices. Floyd and Rayshard too have a history of choices they have made. And by their history of choosing drugs and alcohol and disregarding our civil authorities, and their history of jail and prison as criminals and as dangerous to society, they both chose to put themselves into the hands of law enforcement time and again. And sometimes got caught. They made mistakes, cops make mistakes, I make mistakes, you make mistakes… But most of us learn to not do it again and go a different direction. What the cop did to Floyd was grievous and we all agree that this particular cop was and will be punished by law enforcement. But to conclude that because all people are flawed, therefore Floyd and Rayshard and your own history Gwyn, have no bearing on how you are known by us today is ludicrous. So, because Floyd and Rayshard and all people are flawed, Floyd and Rayshard can present us with their criminal histories and now be the Editor of The Montecito Journal? Or your housekeeper? Or babysitter? Or Accountant? Or your Husband? I hear what you are trying to say, but you’ve used a canon instead of a fly swatter to kill one little fly. I hope you and yours are doing well during these difficult days of Covid19 and Protests. Roberta-Anne Bernard

Heads Up

Regardless of your politics, Montecito needs to know SBUSD and SB City Council passed BLACK LIVES MATTERS DEMANDS that were privately agreed to in advance of public meetings behind closed doors. Unlawful agreements. Do you care? Healing Justice is BLM. As stated on its social media accounts, it is affiliated with National BLM the source of its DEMANDS, training, funding, and marching orders. Nationally, Shaun King calls the shots to be implemented locally by Krystal Farmer Siegart, former SBCC Student Trustee. After agreements are obtained for locals to meet “Demands,” statutes, renaming of schools and streets, churches are targets. Anti-Semitic attacks on Jews started June 2 in the Fairfax District. Destruction of private property is on-going. On the record, SB Mayor Murillo outright lied multiple times to resident Sullivan Israel, to me, colleagues and constituents to intentionally mislead the public and destroy any remain-

42 MONTECITO JOURNAL

ing trust in leadership. She stated the City’s demand agreements were not with BLM. Concurrently, ‘BLM Healing Justice’ posts victory of its control of both City and school board. Intimidation, humiliation, threats and shutting off Freedom of Speech was the successful MO implemented for 20 months by Krystal to take control of SBCC, before she left for Germany. The SBCC Foundation Donors chose to ignore or support. This movement has little to do with black prejudice, discrimination, and the multiple injustices which MUST be fixed. Rather, the goal of BLM is to ‘destroy to transform’ America. BLM Healing Justice is recruiting local kids with stipends now for leadership positions. Follow BLM Healing Justice, Darcel Elliott/ Das Williams, and leadership media posts. Heads Up. Denice S Adams

Might Makes Right or Do Black Lives Matter

I am outraged by the blatant disregard for life the “American police force” demonstrates. I say “American police force,” because all of the city police forces are similar. We have seen the bad behavior across our country from law enforcement in innumerable cities. All the individual police departments seem to act as one, as if they were a brotherhood, a club. Not only are their militaristic methods similar, the brutality appears over and over across our nation. Just a few of the events we’ve seen in recent days are the choking a man to death, pushing a 75-year-old man over backwards so he cracked his head on the street, beating peaceful protesters with batons, gassing peaceful protesters, pulling the mask off a protester and spraying him in the face with mace, smashing the car window of two young people and tasing them, twisting the arms of arrested protesters, slashing car tires in a K-Mart parking lot, ramming protesters with police cars, police drawing their guns and threatening to shoot protesters, and all in order to cause pain and punishment to people who are exercising their constitutional rights. These are just a sampling of the abuses we’ve witnessed, not to mention those which have taken place behind the scene. These cops see protesters as the enemy, rather than the upholders of our civil rights. There are not just a few bad apples. The problem is systemic and the rot goes all the way to the core. The entire system of policing in the U.S. is corrupt. Police officers of every precinct are trained to take down dangerous criminals, but that is the tactic they use against descent citizens as well, and against mild law breakers unde-

serving of death at the hands of those who have taken an oath to protect us. Perhaps the majority of police officers are not bad, but the system and the culture in which they operate is. It allows abuse with impunity. Even those cops who do not commit the crimes directly are often complicit in supporting the evil-doers by lying, covering up, under-reporting or keeping silent. Applauding “good cops” at a time such as this, when there are so many bad ones, does nothing to change the system and stop the abusive culture. If a cop is good, let that officer show it by opposing the bad ones and exposing that criminal cop, not by supporting his or her behavior. In the case of the Floyd murder, the other officers should have had the authority to restrain and stop the “so-called” rogue cop. And the next step should have been to arrest him for attempted murder before Floyd was choked to death. Of course, this is laughable under the present system. The “cop club” would never allow it. The police force supported by the police union and even the judicial system would not agree to that. Good cops who did take appropriate action and “whistle-blow” would not be protected. They would be ostracized and rejected by the other officers, and would be run out of the department. The culture of “might makes right” is so entrenched in our police force, that officers feel empowered to operate without consequence. Those who do so are “legal thugs.” Those committing these terrible crimes have continued to do so for so many years that abuse of citizens has become a normalcy in their ranks. But murder is murder, abuse is abuse, whether that behavior comes from a private citizen or from an officer of the law. I am convinced, if any citizen committed the terrible abuses we now see openly by police on TV and internet, that citizen would find a new home in San Quentin. And that is where many cops belong. Where is their punishment? Over and over, we hear that it is just a few bad apples. But we have had a bad situation for as many years as I can remember in my 69 years. We have heard complaints, but there was always an explanation for the abuse by cops as witnesses for their own kind. Now we are able to see it first hand in the cell phone movies. And still we hear the explanations from cops: “The old man tripped,” “the assailant attacked me,” the man pulled a gun on me.” We never hear: “I pushed him” or “he pulled a cell phone on me” or “he pulled a hairbrush on me.” Why is that? If the police abuse we have seen on TV since the demonstrations these past weeks is any indication of police work, then

“We must be free not because we claim freedom, but because we practice it.” – William Faulkner

we can guess what goes on behind the scene and in normal times when no cameras are rolling. The present system of law enforcement must be broken. Their military tactics must be broken. Bad cops must be broken. The entire system must be dismantled, and only after thoughtful consideration and care, should it be rebuilt. We’ve seen some recent accountability of officers charged with felonies. That is a step in the right direction, but it must go much further. Even as the days pass since the event which set the present revolution into being, more and more cops are committing terrible crimes against citizens. An entirely new system must emerge with better officers and a better culture. Police must continue to be trained to fight hardened criminals, but they must also be trained to deal with decent people, as most of us are. The change of law enforcement should start with suspending every police officer and having him or her reapply for the job under heavy scrutiny. Those who are re-hired receive bonuses, the others can find work elsewhere. If each police department did this with ten officers at a time, the police force could continue to operate during the transition. While this process would be in progress, necessary changes to laws would also have to be enacted to build a whole new police culture in which police are not elite, and certainly not above the law. It would be a much healthier environment for people to trust police, than fear them, as so many of us do, even being white. But it is not only our law enforcement system which needs overhauling. Our entire legal system, judicial, prison and probation systems need overhauling as well. And we citizens share the guilt. There is a lack of opportunity in poor communities, and that is more likely to lead to criminal behavior. If the privileged offered more opportunities to those in need, there would be less reason to resort to crime. And it is also clear that the smallest infraction by certain groups of our society is more punishable than that committed by others. Our entire society needs to change and become more compassionate to the underprivileged. I am so proud of the young people of this country who have taken to the streets in such force in the cause of Black Live Matter. My faith in the country of my birth, which had been waning over the past decades, has been restored by this movement. I thank each of you. I hope change is coming, and I commit to supporting an overhaul of our laws and institutions to ensure that this appalling history of injustice ends. Haik Hakobian •MJ 2 – 9 July 2020


VILLAGE BEAT (Continued from page 12)

COVID-19 in Montecito

Last week two popular restaurants on Coast Village Road closed their doors temporarily out of an abundance of caution, as a staff member at one of the restaurants tested positive for COVID-19. Lucky’s and Tre Lune, both owned by Gene Montesano, closed on Thursday, June 25; they are both expected to be reopened by the end of this week. “Although we were not required to close, we did so in the interest of the safety of our guests and staff,” said Lucky’s GM Leonard Schwartz. Schwartz reports that a staff member at Lucky’s reported to management last week that he had possibly been exposed to the virus outside of the restaurant, and he did not return to work pending his test results. Once his test came back positive, management decided to close the restaurant and instructed all 65 staff members to get tested. As of press time there have been no other positive cases at the restaurant. Since Lucky’s reopened earlier in June, every staff member is required to have their temperature taken before each shift, and wear face masks and gloves in addition to social distancing. One staff member on every shift is also responsible for extensive surface cleaning, wiping down tables and chairs and other high-touch surfaces between guest seatings, Schwartz said. Lucky’s will reopen as soon as a minimal number of staff reports negative test results, so the restaurant can be fully staffed before reopening, which is expected by the weekend. Over at Tre Lune, a staff member also reported that he had been exposed to someone outside of work and felt sick; his test ultimately came back negative but management felt it was the right thing to do to close the eatery and send staff for testing. Tre Lune is expected to reopen in the coming days. In the Upper Village, a staff member at Montecito Village Grocery had a close family member come down with the virus; because the staff member had no symptoms, he was not able to get a COVID-19 test, but was assumed positive and was quarantined out of an abundance of caution. Grocery owners Michael and Roxy Lawler tell us no other staff members have tested positive for the virus. “Because we are considered an essential business, we’ve been dealing with this proactively since the beginning of the pandemic,” Roxy said, adding that every staff member is required to have their temperature taken before each shift, and masks and gloves are mandatory. “We are taking this very seriously,” she said. All customers are also required to wear masks while shopping, and maintain six feet of 2 – 9 July 2020

Lucky’s on Coast Village Road closed temporarily last week due to a staff member’s positive COVID19 test. The eatery will reopen later this week.

social distance from staff and other shoppers. The Lawlers tell us the store is sanitized extensively throughout the day, and they believe that the precautions they take are effective, given they have not had any positive cases at the store. “These precautions work if they are done effectively,” Roxy said. The number of COVID-19 cases in Santa Barbara County continues to rise, with cases in unincorporated Santa Barbara County (which includes Montecito and Summerland) at 51 cases as of press time. The City of Santa Barbara has seen 284 cases as of press time. This Wednesday, July 1, Health Officer Henning Ansorg has ordered the closure of all bars, pubs, and breweries due to the increasing number of cases. For up-to-date information about COVID-19 in the County, visit www. publichealthsbc.org.

Biltmore’s Future Uncertain

Rumors have been swirling about the extended closure of Montecito’s Four Seasons Resort the Biltmore, which has been closed since March due to the pandemic. Hotels in the county were cleared to reopen on Friday, June 12, but the Biltmore’s doors have remained closed, leaving staff members and nearby locals wondering what the future holds for the iconic resort. We’re told that existing reservations have been canceled through July 15, and any new reservations are not being booked until 2021, but it’s unclear when the resort will reopen. Rumors range from an extensive remodel being planned, to an upcoming sale of the property, but our inquiries to public relations staff have gone unanswered. Staff at the Biltmore have all been furloughed, with employee-sponsored benefits paid through June 30. Senior leaders of the Four Seasons report they are working with the ownership of the resort on a reopening date, but nothing has been decided on as of press time. The Coral Casino, The Montecito Club, and Sandpiper Golf Club, which are also owned by Biltmore owner Ty Warner, remain closed as well, with members not paying dues during the closure.

Laguna Blanca’s Kindergarten Instructor and 2020 Faculty Excellence Award winner, Mieke Delwiche, is beloved by her students and fellow faculty members

Staff at The Montecito Club and the Sandpiper have been laid off. Warner’s other Montecito resort, San Ysidro Ranch, reopened in June.

Kindergarten Instructor Honored

“Creative. Passionate. Dedicated.” These are the words most frequently used to describe Laguna Blanca’s Kindergarten Instructor and 2020 Faculty Excellence Award winner, Mieke Delwiche. Since 2009, Delwiche has ushered in scores of youngsters to Laguna while opening their hearts and minds to a love of learning. Always holding herself to the highest expectations, Delwiche has the enviable ability to offer an integrated, thematic curriculum that balances rigor with engagement. “Through a range of activities that spark wonder, she encourages her students to explore, inquire, and imagine,” says colleague and Second Grade Instructor Mrs. Vance. Perhaps the most rewarding praise comes from First Grade Instructor Elyse Vanetti, who considers herself lucky to be the recipient of students taught by Delwiche. “Mieke’s students enter my classroom with a strong foundation in reading, writing, and mathematical skills,” explains Vanetti. “They are already reading, which is not the norm for beginning first graders.” The success of Delwiche’s students speaks to her many creative and engaging teaching styles. She is known on campus as the “master of differentiation,” making lessons accessible for all. Gifted in identifying what each student needs in a lesson, she creates activities tailored to those individual needs. According to her colleagues, it’s not unusual to walk into her classroom and find six differentiated centers where students are working interactively on concepts with the support they need to stretch their learning. The extra care and attention Delwiche puts into her classroom space provides a valuable immersive environment for young learners.

• The Voice of the Village •

In addition to guiding her kindergartners, Delwiche is a natural leader and is highly regarded by her peers for her nearly 20 years of teaching expertise. This was especially apparent this year when Laguna made the quick shift to remote learning in March. Her leadership as a certified Seesaw Ambassador was instrumental in keeping the learning going without interruption. She quickly became the go-to person for many as she continued to eagerly share and implement technology tips and tutorials that eased the minds of staff members and families as they moved to successful online learning. Kindergarten is a special milestone year, for both children and parents. As an expert blogger and vlogger, Delwiche keeps parents well-informed with exactly what’s happening in the classroom. Parents can regularly see their kindergartener in action with her daily blog posts. This strong parent-teacher connection is so important and appreciated by Delwiche’s kindergarten parents. Native to Carpinteria, Delwiche pursued a bilingual teaching credential at the University of San Diego before returning home and teaching for five years in a bilingual classroom at Canalino Elementary School. During that time, she earned her Master’s in Education from Cal Lutheran University with an emphasis in teaching reading. Mieke and her husband, John, have four children, and she has served as the beloved kindergarten teacher for her three youngest children. The Laguna Blanca School Faculty Excellence Award recognizes recipients – nominated by their peers – for their demonstrated excellence in teaching and their dedication to the school and its students. Thanks to an endowment from alumni parents Steven and Marilyn Gutsche, recipients receive a cash award and a $3,000 stipend for travel, workshops, equipment, and teaching materials. For information about Laguna Blanca’s programs, contact 805-687-2461 or visit www.lagunablanca.org. •MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL

43


ENTERTAINMENT (Continued from page 11)

who will perform on an elevated stage on site, with hi-def video projected on four huge screens on all sides of the stage. “Getting out and going somewhere and being with other people while watching a live performance in person, even if you have to stay in your car, just seemed like something that was important to do,” Burns said. “We’re so grateful we were able to find people who are so talented and live within drive-in distance who wanted to help.” The series kicks off July 6-8 with Drive-In Hits, starring Tony Awardwinner Christian Hoff, Travis Cloer, and friends who have logged zillions of performances of Jersey Boys and Million Dollar Quartet on Broadway and on the road. They’ll be offering their signature harmonies and smooth moves on selections from those shows as well as song cycles by Sam Cooke, The Everly Brothers, Smokey Robinson, and Brian Wilson. “Hearing those kinds of tight harmonies and a whole lot of songs that were a part of that era when the drivein and hot cars and jukebox hits were at their height just seemed like a sweet way to start things off,” explained Burns, who conceived of, curated, or co-created each of the entries. July 20-22 brings 2AM AT THE

44 MONTECITO JOURNAL

SANDS: Samonsky Sings Sinatra, which stars Broadway leading man Andrew Samonsky crooning not only smoky favorites from Ol’ Blue Eyes such as “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” and “Fly Me to the Moon,” but also Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and other famed singers of the era when the Rat Pack ruled Las Vegas, martinis were the drink du jour, and the early morning show at the Sands was the place to be. Samonsky – who will be backed by a nine-piece swing band performing arrangements created by the Quincy Jones – is a Ventura native who has starred on Broadway and on PBS in South Pacific, The Mystery of Edwin Drood and others, most recently a veteran of the National Tours of The Bridges of Madison County and Come From Away. “We’re doing it as a kind of Vegas setup so you get to feel the ambiance of the era,” Burns said. “Some band members used to play with those singers, so it’s just really cool, and there are also a lot of great multimedia images so you really get the feel of Sinatra late night in Vegas, with his pals coming around to sit in with him.” August 3-5’s offering is Forever Plaid: The 30th Anniversary Concert, featuring a one-again updated concert version of the perennially popular jukebox musical that finds its creator Stuart Ross responding to the moment. This special anniversary concert edition actually reunites some of the original performers, creating a double dose blast-from-the-past version of the show about four loveable nerds – friends from the high school A.V. Club in the ‘50s – who dreamed of becoming a guy group like their idols The Four Aces, but never made it to their big concert when a bus crash took their lives. For this show, they’ve been somehow summoned from the afterlife to bring a little heavenly harmony to a discordant world and to make the album they never got to make in life with songs delivered in four-part harmony including “Three Coins in the Fountain,” “Love is a Many Splendored Thing,” and “Rags to Riches.” “Stuart has written some new timely dialogue where they’re coming back to Earth in a way that’s related to all the strife that’s happening in our world because we need a moment of harmony,” Burns said. “And it’s amazing, because these guys who were in the original show are now all kind of theater royalty, fantastic performers. For them to come back out there to do this thirty years later is super fun.” Singer-songwriter fans should take note of the August 17-19 trio of concerts, when it might be worth booking space for all three nights, as the show, titled Jimmy Messina and Friends, fea-

tures a different superstar guest joining Messina, a veteran whose career dates back to the 1960s with Buffalo Springfield, the 1970s band Poco, the smash hit duo Loggins & Messina and a long solo career. John McFee from the Doobie Brothers, Messina’s Santa Ynez Valley neighbor, drops in on August 17. Timothy B Schmit, the bassist and vocalist for Poco and, later, the Eagles, shares the stage with his former bandmate on August 18. And Kenny Loggins, Messina’s former neighbor in Montecito back in the 1980s and early 1990s, joins his former partner on August 19, echoing the “Sittin’ In” sessions that launched Loggins’ career and spurred the duo to great heights. “That’ll be really a landmark thing to have those guys all together in situations we haven’t seen them for a while,” Burns said in an understatement. The series closes out on September 7-9 with MUSIC OF THE KNIGHTS: The Songs of Andrew Lloyd Webber, Elton John, and Paul McCartney, pairing the trio of show and song superstars based on the fact that each has earned the British title of “Sir.” None other than Ted Neeley, the original star of Broadway Jesus Christ Superstar, will be among those to interpret the knights’ night of music, which spans such songs as “I Don’t Know How to Love Him,” “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina,” “The Phantom of the Opera,” “Circle of Life,” “Can You Feel the Love Tonight,” “Your Song,” “Don’t Let the Sun Go Down on Me,” “Yesterday,” “Hey Jude,” and many more. Broadway stars Teri Bibb and Davis Gaines will be among the cast delivering the hits. “We’re still signing up more singers,” Burns said, adding that they’re about to book a vocalist from The Lion King among others. “We want the cast to be something spectacular, so we’re customizing the songs for the final cast.” Burns emphasized that safety came first in all of the production decisions, and all CDC guidelines will be observed for attendees, singers, and musicians. “There won’t be a backstage area, so the singers will also be waiting in their cars and they’ll be brought to the stage one at a time and kept six feet apart. We’ve got drum plexiglass between the performers so we can meet or exceed the state standards to be sure we would be taking care of people.” Tickets for the events range from $15 to $99.50. Visit www.rubicontheatre.org or call (805) 667-2900 for details, FAQs, reservations, and more information.

Stream Three for Free

RTC has also another gift for theater lovers this month by offering free viewings of Arlene Hutton’s Nibroc

“Liberty is the breath of life to nations.” – George Bernard Shaw

Trilogy via Vimeo recordings of the award winning works directed by the company’s own Katherine Farmer. Nibroc is a set of three plays about the challenges of a young couple living in Kentucky and Florida in the 1940s and early 1950s, following May and Raleigh from their meeting through the war years and then a decade into their marriage. Rubicon Theatre is able to share two free digital performances of each of the plays – Last Train to Nibroc, See Rock City, and Gulf View Drive – through the usually pay service DigitalTheatre.com, and they are the first U.S. company able to use the London-based platform. The plays star Erik Odom, Lily Nicksay, Sharon Sharth, Clarinda Ross, and Faline England, and will screen only twice over Vimeo over three successive weekend, July 11-12, 18-19 and 25-26. Register for the free screenings in advance at www.rubicontheatre. org/nibroc-trilogy.

ETC Easing Re-entry to Theater

Ensemble Theatre Company has announced a hybrid approach to cope with COVID for its upcoming 202021 season, which will consist of four plays, including spring productions of American Son and Tenderly that were originally scheduled for the previous season that was interrupted by the pandemic closures. The remaining two plays are reportedly set to be one-person shows playing to a sparse house to meet social distancing requirements. The titles and the specific show dates for the season will be announced closer to reopening, which as of now is still planned for October. Due to potential reductions in seating capacity to meet pandemic rules, all performances will initially be offered only by general admission, but ETC is selling new flex passes that provide the same discount and benefits as its normal subscriptions. Pass holders who for whatever reason prefer to attend from home will have access to each production, which are said to be mounted with open end dates, via live streaming. While the virus has certainly created havoc with programming, the postponement of American Son, which artistic director Jonathan Fox had just begun rehearsing when the stay-athome order was announced, might be a case of fortunate timing as the work by Christopher Demos-Brown – which is about the family strife, racial tensions, sexism, and potential police brutality issues that arise when an African-American mother reports to her local Florida police station that her teenage son is missing – takes on added timeliness in the wake of the current Black Lives Matter protests and anti-racism movement. Call the ETC box office at (805) 965-5400 or visit www.etcsb.org/boxoffice/sub scriptions. •MJ 2 – 9 July 2020


Wildlife Watch

by Gretchen Lieff

Gretchen is founder and president of the Lutah Maria Riggs Society and Davey’s Voice, both Santa Barbara 501(c)(3) nonprofits. Gretchen sits on the board of the California Water Impact Network and is vice president of the board of the Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network.

Sheryl Crow

Roger that’s great news! We’re critically short on volunteers. It’s baby season… with endless wild orphans pouring in.” “Sure I’ll have her call you.” Holy Moley… THIS was exciting! Polariis is a magnificent yacht docked at SB Harbor and her new captain is the young bright Atria St. Peter. She’s a sharp cookie and welcome addition to our overburdened Crow Club. And sure enough the following morning Atria entered the Center’s crow aviary where the baby crows went crazy as she moved with ease and confidence through the noisy flock. “I have a clan of crows living in my yard along Shoreline Park. They’re beachgoing and park going and they’re real mischievous. I feed them my dog’s leftovers… I just really like watching their antics. My favorite is named Averroes, after the philosopher. He has a feather that sticks out so I rec- Wildlife Care Network’s crow aviary ognize him and he’s become my first (photo by Priscilla) crow friend. We hang out for morning coffee.” Atria moves around the cackling hose of us who love crows do aviary dodging the flying babies and so because they’re good learnfilling bowls with fresh water; “I enjoy ers and problem solvers and utterly volunteering here so much… working delightful. They mate for life, live in with the animals is therapeutic. Even family units and are very consciensome of the more mundane tasks like tious parents. The Crow Fan Club is sweeping out the aviary or changing a big and passionate one with more sheets… allow you to be outside of than 70 thousand members on the yourself. And it’s really nice to just Facebook crow sites I checked out. lose yourself in helping the animals. In fact I have a new girlfriend who’s It’s nice.” so crazy about crows she’s willing to My crow learning curve has been risk her marriage. pretty steep recently. Here in Santa Barbara County you are most likely to find the good old American crow which is ubiquitous throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. Halfway through the 2020 wildlife baby season it feels like most of those North American Crows are hanging out right here. My Montecito property was labeled “great crow habitat” and a natural “crow release site” and so I was delighted with the two crates of eight crows delivered to my backyard. Food and water was placed on the crow stand where the excited young birds gathered after settling in to their new home. For two weeks we kept the bowls filled with worms and doggie kibble and watermelon… and for two weeks the young crows would fly in several times a day for a drink and a nibble as they meandered farther and farther from their release spot. Then we went away on a short vacation and the feeding stopped and upon our return the crows were gone and we were sad to lose them but happy they were free. And then three evenings ago we looked up into the big spruce and saw that one of the youngsters had returned and she didn’t look good. So we filled the bowls with food and water again and she came down onto the table to feed. Her blue eyes were bright and cautious. We named her Sheryl Crow. The next morning we were shocked to find Sheryl out on the driveway lying on her side. We put her into a box and rushed her to the Wildlife Center where Avery our new brilliant wildlife vet diagnosed malnutrition, treated her with subcutaneous IV electrolytes and a feeding tube full of liquid nutrition, and sent us home with special high protein bird food. For several days we fed Sheryl as she perched in her makeshift crow pen. And then it was time for her release. We opened the door and she timidly came to the edge of the box and flew up into the big spruce … cackled… and was gone. The following day as I sat beneath the spruce... I thought about Sheryl Crow and where she might be and whether she was ok wherever she was out in this big vast world. And then I recalled the tale of the old lady and her crow so many years ago. And here I was … The old lady and the crow. How did that happen? And I wonder about the deep connection between people and animals. And I wonder at the magic of the universe. •MJ

T

I

Miles Hartfeld and Gretchen Lieff (photo by Priscilla)

was a “Secret Garden” … “Green Mansions” kind of child. Deep forests, bright brooks, wide fields, and ocean waves beckoned my young exuberance. On the seldom occasions that an adult might be missing me, I would be found deep in the forest, grabbing minnows and crayfish from a tiny creek under the redwoods, or paddling under the waves of a Hawaiian North Shore beach… my bright yellow Easter dress in wet shambles as my parents shook their heads from the beach. One of my favorite childhood stories was of an old woman, whose small backyard was home to a flock of friendly crows. The lonely lady would feed them and they soon became her family. The woman would place bright objects on the table and watch as one particular crow delighted in throwing them up in the air… cawing and cackling at the descending sparkles. I envied that lady and vowed, one day, to have a pet crow of my own. ***Cut to adulthood*** There are two distinct categories of people. Those who love crows and those who hate them. For those who find them despicable I must say, I don’t blame you. They are brash, aggressive, loud, messy AND they are bullies to other animals. Those are the crow haters. Those of us who love crows do so because they’re good learners and problem solvers and utterly delightful. The crow fan club is a big and passionate one. In fact I have a new girlfriend who’s so crazy about crows she’s willing to risk her marriage. Amy is one of the dozens of volunteers who work at the SBWCN (Santa Barbara Wildlife Care Network). Early in the baby season, in early May, Amy was assigned six adorable fluffy orphaned baby crows to take home and nurse. Operation Crow in Amy’s backyard was intense with play pens and kiddie pools. From early morning till dark Amy was on call with mealy worms, scrambled eggs and dismembered frozen rats. The baby crows created a racket… which was unappreciated by Amy’s husband… who soon drew the line. And while Amy’s domestic peace was being tested, the Wildlife Center put out a call for permanent backyard homes for the season’s record number of orphaned baby crows to be released. One of the many to answer the call was Montecito favorite Roger Chrisman. Earlier in the month Roger and Sarah had hosted the release of a magnificent Cooper’s Hawk on their Montecito property; “I hear you’ve got crows and you need help.” Yes Commodore Roger. “Well it so happens my new captain of the Polariis is crazy about crows. She’s had a LOT of experience with them.” 2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

45


CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING (805) 565-1860 MORTGAGE SERVICES REVERSE MORTGAGE SERVICES Purchase and Refinance Products Ask about the new Jumbo Reverse Equity Line. No mortgage payments as long as you live in your home! Gayle Nagy 805.770.5515 gnagy@rpm-mtg.com NMLS #251258 Lend US dba RPM Mortgage, Inc. Santa Barbara, CA 93101 NMLS #1938 – Licensed by the DBO under the CA Residential Mortgage Lending Act. | C-294 | Equal Housing Opportunity

ITEMS FOR SALE TRESOR

MOVING MISS DAISY

WANTED

“We are Working To Serve You During This Crisis” Free Grocery/ Pharmacy Shopping to Those in Need, Online Estate Sales and No-Touch Estate Auctions, Senior Relocation and Estate Liquidation Services .Licensed, Bonded, Liability Insured, Workers Comped, Certified by The National Assoc Of Senior Move Managers (NASMM) and The American Society of Estate Liquidators (ASEL). Call or Text Glenn Novack at 805448-3788 info@movingmissdaisy. com or www.movingmissdaisy.com

WRITING SERVICES

We Buy, Sell and Broker Important Estate Jewelry. Located in the upper village of Montecito. Graduate Gemologists with 30 years of experience. We do free evaluations and private consultation. 1470 East Valley Rd suite V. 805 969-0888

ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES THE CLEARING HOUSE, LLC FRIENDS, CLIENTS, and CUSTOMERS

The Clearing House looks forward to serving our Estate Sale clients and customers in the near future. We are cautiously optimistic that doors will open soon and shopping our well-appointed estate sales can begin again. We miss you! Recognized as the Area’s Premier 
Estate Liquidators – Experts in the Santa Barbara Market!
 We are Skilled Professionals with Years of Experience in Downsizing and Estate Sales. Personalized Service. Insured. Call for a complimentary consultation. Elaine (805) 708 6113 Christa (805) 450 8382 email: theclearinghouseSB@cox.net website www.theclearinghouseSB.com

46 MONTECITO JOURNAL

LET’S CONNECT! #follow @molasses_jones on Instagram Send ca$h support: 5708 Hollister #258, Goleta, CA 93117

CREATING A LASTING LEGACY The story of a person’s life, told properly, is a marvel. It can be preserved as family treasure, or it can fade away. I write biographies and autobiographies, producing beautiful books that are thorough, professional, distinctive, impressive and entertaining. Many of my projects are gifts to honor beloved parents or spouses. I also assist with memoirs or other books. David Wilk (805) 455-5980 wilkonian@sbcglobal.net Excellent references. www.BiographyDavidWilk.com

DONATIONS NEEDED

We buy Classic Cars Running or not. We are local to Santa Barbara Foreign/Domestic Porsche/Mercedes We come to you. 1(800)432-7204 I Need Help with Learning iPhone and computer (entry level) leave message 805 682 8736 LET’S CONNECT! #follow @molasses_jones on Instagram Send ca$h support: 5708 Hollister #258, Goleta, CA 93117

SPECIAL SERVICES

NOW OPEN GOT OSTEOPOROSIS? We can help! At OsteoStrong our proven non-drug protocol takes just ten minutes once a week to improve your bone density and aid in more energy, strength, balance and agility. Please call for a complimentary session! CALL NOW (805) 453-6086

PHYSICAL TRAINING Fit for Life REMOTE TRAINING AVAILABLE Customized workouts and nutritional guidance for any lifestyle. Individual/ group sessions. Specialized in corrective exercise – injury prevention and post surgery. House calls available. Victoria Frost- CPT & CES 805-895-9227

$8 minimum

I want to buy a 2 - 4 unit rental property; in any condition. I have no money down; but have excellent credit! Perhaps seller financing or a lease with an option. 805-538-1119

Santa Barbara Bird Sanctuary Menagerie 2340 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.

REAL ESTATE WANTED I want to buy a home in any condition! I have no money down; but have excellent credit! Perhaps seller financing; or a lease with an option. 805-538-1119

TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED AD

It’s Simple. Charge is $2 per line, each line with 31 characters. Minimum is $8 per week/issue. Photo/logo/visual is an additional $20 per issue. Email text to frontdesk@montecitojournal.net or call (805) 565-1860 and we will respond with a cost. Deadline for inclusion is Monday before 2 pm. We accept Visa/MasterCard/Amex “The American, by nature, is optimistic.” – John F. Kennedy

2 – 9 July 2020


ADVERTISE IN THE LOCAL BUSINESS DIRECTORY (805) 565-1860 Greg Brashears Open for Dine-in or Take out Place take out order at

nuggetbarandgrill.com

Real Estate Appraisals

California Certified General Appraiser Serving Santa Barbara County and beyond for 30 years

V 805-650-9340 | EM gb@gregbrashears.com

BOOKS BOUGHT IN HOME PERSONAL TRAINING

& Everything SANTA BARBARA

BALANCE • STRENGTH • FLEXIBILITY

Paintings, Prints and Ephemera

JOHN STILLWELL

info@losthorizonbooks.com

SPECIALIST IN SENIOR FITNESS

(805) 705-2014 JOHN@STILLWELLFITNESS.COM

805-962-4606

Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers FARM DIRECT TO YOU

2285 Lillie Avenue Summerland Local Organic Produce Heavenly Baked Goods & Sourdough Breads

SweetWheelFarms@gmail.com 805.770.3677 / BOX DELIVERY AVAILABLE

LOST HORIZON BOOKSTORE now in Montecito, 539 San Ysidro Road

Mollie’s is Open Seven Days a Week On State! (Some of her tables are actually ON State Street, but she has plenty of room inside too!)

Mollie’s Ravioli, Spaghetti, Lasagna (voted “Best in the World” by James Buckley), and other freshly made pasta dishes are always cooked fresh, as are her Osso Bucco, Calamari, Turkey Meatballs, and many traditional Italian dishes (with an Ethiopian flair), all made and prepared in house by Mollie and her staff. To make a reservation (or to order take-out) from Mollie’s at 1218 State Street, call 805-770-8300. Ciao! Stay safe and healthy! 1 2 1 8 St at e St re e t | 8 0 5 - 7 7 0 - 8 3 0 0 | 8 0 5 - 4 5 2 - 2 6 9 2 | w w w. t m o l l i e . c o m 2 – 9 July 2020

• The Voice of the Village •

MONTECITO JOURNAL

47


TA K E A V I R T U A L T O U R T O D AY

©2020 Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices California Properties (BHHSCP) is a member of the franchise system of BHH Affiliates LLC. BHH Affiliates LLC and BHHSCP do not guarantee accuracy of all data including measurements, conditions, and features of property. Info is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Sellers will entertain and respond to all offers within this range. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.

BHHSCALIFORNIA.COM

296 LAS ENTRADAS DR, MONTECITO UPPER 6BD/11BA • $28,500,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

395 ASEGRA RD, SUMMERLAND 3BD/4BA • $9,988,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

810 BUENA VISTA DR, MONTECITO 6BD+apt/9BA • $8,950,000 MK Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

MIRAMAR BEACH, MONTECITO LOWER 2BD/2½BA • $7,950,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

620 CIMA VISTA LN, MONTECITO 3BD/3½BA • $6,850,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

660 LADERA LN, MONTECITO UPPER 2BD/3BA 4±acs • $4,950,000 MK Group, 805.565.4014 LIC# 01426886

877 LILAC DR, MONTECITO UPPER 3BD/4½BA+Guest Apt • $4,450,000 Daniel Encell, 805.565.4896 LIC# 00976141

700 RIVEN ROCK RD, MONTECITO 2.49 ± acs • $3,975,000 Jody Neal, 805.252.9267 LIC# 01995725

754 WINDING CREEK LN, MONTECITO 4BD/3½BA • $3,495,000 Cristal Clarke, 805.886.9378 LIC# 00968247

2942 TORITO RD, MONTECITO UPPER 3BD/3BA • $2,475,000 Joyce Enright, 805.570.1360 LIC# 00557356

805 TORO CANYON RD, MONTECITO 10.67±acs • $2,375,000 Nancy Kogevinas, 805.450.6233 LIC# 01209514

134 SANTA ELENA LN, MONTECITO 4BD/3BA • $2,095,000 Mary Whitney, 805.689.0915 LIC# 01144746

76 SEAVIEW DR, MONTECITO LOWER 2BD/2BA • $1,950,000 Kathleen Winter, 805.451.4663 LIC# 01022891

45 SEAVIEW DR, MONTECITO 2BD/2BA • $1,595,000 Team Scarborough, 805.331.1465 LIC# 01182792 / 01050902

@BHHSCALIFORNIA


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Articles inside

Classified Advertising

3min
page 46

Wildlife

6min
page 45

Our Town

30min
pages 41-44

Jerry Meandering

6min
page 40

Nosh Town

24min
pages 37-39

In Passing

11min
pages 32-33

Dear Montecito

6min
page 35

Purely Political

7min
pages 23-25

Brilliant Thoughts

23min
pages 27-31

5013c Weekly

5min
page 34

In the News

6min
page 36

Perspectives

8min
page 26

Open Letter

8min
page 22

Santa Barbara by the Glass

3min
pages 20-21

People of Montecito

4min
pages 18-19

On the Record

3min
page 15

Fitness Front

7min
pages 16-17

Letters to the Editor

2min
pages 6-7

Weekend Getaways

5min
pages 8-9

A Few Things

5min
page 10

Village Beat

6min
pages 12-13

Water Wisdom

1min
page 5
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.