VILLAGE FOURTH 9 - 16 July 2020 Vol 26 Issue 28
SERVING MONTECITO AND SUMMERLAND
This year’s celebration included vintage plane flyover and motorcade that traveled through town, p. 16
THE GRAND JURY IS NOT OUT SANTA BARBARA GRAND JURY BLASTS SANTA BARBARA BOARD OF SUPERVISORS FOR MARIJUANA MESS (STORY BEGINS ON PAGE 6)
Parklet Priority
Seven eateries along Coast Village Road expand their footprint thanks to emergency action by City reps, p. 12
Larger Than Life
After liberating himself from slavery, Jerry Forney left the circus to start a new life in Santa Barbara in 1874, p. 18
The Well Opens
Shane Brown of Big Daddy’s Antiques opens home and garden shop on Lillie Avenue in Summerland, p. 14
2
MONTECITO JOURNAL
9 – 16 July 2020
a n o t h e r f i n e p ro p e rt y r e p r e s e n t e d b y
D aniel e ncell
• #4 Berkshire Hathaway Agent in the Nation • Wall Street Journal “Top 100” Agents Nationwide (out of over 1.3 million) • Graduate of UCLA School of Law and former attorney (with training in Real Estate law, contracts, estate planning, and tax law) • Dedicated and highly trained full-time support staff • An expert in the luxury home market
remember, it Costs no more to Work With the best (but it Can Cost you plenty if you don’t)
Dan Encell “The Real Estate Guy” Phone: (805) 565-4896 Visit: www.DanEncell.com for market information & to search the entire MLS Email: danencell@aol.com DRE #00976141 WATCH ME ON CHANNEL 4, MONDAYS AT 8:30PM!
Each YEar Dan SpEnDS OvEr $250,000 In MarkEtIng anD aDvErtISIng!
NEW LISTING!
260 PENNY LANE • MONTECITO
Light and bright, this stunning traditional Ennisbrook Estate is the oasis you have been looking for. Sitting on 1.83 beautifully landscaped acres, this picturesque parcel provides the perfect space for family and friends. Located within the guarded gates of the prestigious Ennisbrook community, this charming estate is convenient to all the great amenities that Ennisbrook has to offer such as a pool, championship tennis courts, pickle ball, gym, basketball court and club house. Boasting an impressive foyer, living room with a fireplace, library, office, chef’s kitchen with dual islands and formal dining. The large master suite features a sitting room with a fireplace, dual walk-in closets, luxurious bath, and French doors with access to a private balcony. Wonderful covered outdoor spaces, extensive chicken house and yard, terraced gardens, majestic oaks, and a 3-car garage. MUS.
OFFERED AT $5,495,000
©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. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS.CalDRE#: 00976141
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
3
Inside This Issue Exceptional interior design for the heart of your home since 1984
SIMMONS & COMPANY Interior Hardscape + Design 805.898.0155 simmonsandcompany.com
Ask us about our Virtual Design Services!
5 Editor’s Letter Gwyn Lurie examines why the 4th felt so different this year 6 On the Record SB’s Grand Jury releases scathing report on Board of Supervisors over cannabis regulations 10 A Few Things Carolee Krieger is back to inform readers about Montecito’s water sources 11 Letters to the Editor A collection of communication from readers on topics ranging from potential pesticide spray to “cancel culture” 12 Village Beat Restaurants on Coast Village Road open parklets to allow diners to eat outside; Board of Supervisors denies Pat Nesbitt’s helipad appeal 14 Summerland Buzz Shane Brown opens The Well in the heart of Summerland 16 Our Town Annual Village Fourth parade morphs into a successful motorcade 18 The Way It Was Jerry Forney arrived in Santa Barbara with Montgomery Queen’s Circus in 1874 and never left 20 On Entertainment How Music Academy of the West’s MARLI has kept fellows and teachers on track 22 Water Wisdom Bob Hazard continues Montecito’s desalination history 23 Perspectives Boycotting, buycotting, conscious consumption, social activism, and more The Optimist Daily Naming houseplants could help keep them alive 24 Muller Monthly Music Meta Crossword Puzzle 26 A Good Sign Identifying sources of shame and how we can find direction 28 Dear Montecito Anna Martin recalls memories of her years living in Montecito 29 Profiles Chef Nancy Weiss’ fascination with cooking started when she was a child 39 Brilliant Thoughts An ode to the “search” and “find” commands on our computers 42 Nosh Town Talking BBQ with Alisal Guest Ranch’s Anthony Endy and wine tasting notes with Wyatt Davidson 46 Classified Advertising Our own “Craigslist” of classified ads, in which sellers offer everything from summer rentals to estate sales 47 Local Business Directory Smart business owners place business cards here so readers know where to look when they need what those businesses offer
MEDICARE ANNUAL ELECTION PERIOD
Concerned?
We Can Help!
Call Us Now: (805) 683-3636
4
MONTECITO JOURNAL
“There’s a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased this line.” – Oscar Levant
CA License # 0773817
9 – 16 July 2020
Editor’s Letter by Gwyn Lurie CEO and Executive Editor of the Montecito Journal Media Group
Our Forefathers, Forecasters? Forthright?
I
wrote this letter July 4th-5th, 2020. Growing up, Independence Day was one of my favorite holidays. It was a celebration of the strong shoulders upon which this great nation was built; a celebration of the principles our Founding Fathers fought for and a celebration of the Founding Fathers themselves. The food was great and plentiful, the fireworks were magical, and when I’d rewind my memory, without exception my July 4ths past looked like they were torn from the pages of National Geographic.
Montecito 4th of July
After moving to Montecito full time in 2009, my family enjoyed driving our 1928 Ford Model “A” pickup in Montecito’s July 4th Parade. My husband is a horrible maintainer of cars, so I remember the 4th as the one day of the year that car worked – helped by the fact that the parade was sloped downhill so we had gravity on our side. Years we couldn’t revive that car, when I was on the School Board, we loved marching in the parade with MUS. One year our family was even offered to hold the school banner and lead the parade. We did so proudly. Our family in the afore mentioned 1928 Ford Pickup -- not moving, as usual
3,000 PROJECTS • 600 CLIENTS • 30 YEARS • ONE BUILDER
Building Peace of Mind. BUILD WITH US | (805) 966 - 6401 | GIFFINANDCR ANE .COM LICENSE 611341
This year the 4th felt different for many reasons. There were no official fireworks. It’s forbidden to gather in large groups because of COVID. It’s also hard to gather because our nation, and even our local citizenry, is divided. Independence Day, which started as a celebration of our departure from an unfair British system of taxation and the declared independence of the American colony, has become a catch-all for patriotic tropes from the Founding Fathers to Mount Rushmore to the Statue of Liberty, to flag masks to flags-instead-of-masks. This year, I’ve noticed myself starting to have a different reaction to patriotic symbols which have been clashed My daughter at a 4th of July celebration past over, subverted and weaponized by both sides in a way I’ve never before seen in my lifetime. On Saturday the 4th I woke up to an Instagram post by Shaun King, the civil rights activist who often speaks for BLM, that basically said “F” the Fourth, it’s an arcane symbol of white supremacy and exclusion. And “F” the Founding Fathers.
9 – 16 July 2020
EDITOR’S LETTER Page 344
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
5
ON THE RECORD
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
SSeeccoonnd OppiinnioionnSSerevrivceice
SB Grand Jury Blasts Board of Supervisors for Marijuana Mess
O
n June 30, Santa Barbara’s Grand Jury released an historic, scathing report detailing alleged official malfeasance by the Board of Supervisors as it sought to regulate cannabis over the past three years, particularly DiDdidyoyouuaaddjjuusstt for tthheeppoosts-tC-C OO VIVDID wowrlodr?ld? in Carpinteria but also in North County wine country. By law, the report mentioned no names and took no stand on the legalization of cannabis, which has the support of a majority of county residents. Yet much of the report highlighted what it called questionable behavior by members of the Board’s so-called “Ad Hoc Sub Committee” which only consisted of Supervisors Steve Lavagnino ThTehw eo wroldrldhhaasscchhaannged ddrraammaatitciaclalyllythtishiyseayre, alirk,elliykeaclycealecrcaetlienrgactihnagngcehsanges and Das Williams. thatht aw ereerealarlereaaddyy hhappeennininggininouoruw rw tw oro ldr.ld. In its report, the Grand Jury wrote that as a result of the Ad Hoc committee’s direct handling of cannabis issues on behalf of the county, the cannabis lobby HoHwowww e ealal llwwoorrkk,, eeat, ggaatthheer,r,aann iew d dvievw safseatfyehtyavheaavlel baelel nbeinednelibnldy elibly had “nearly unfettered access” to the Board of Supervisors and county staff, altaelrted redalaoln onggwwitithh ootherr aassppeecctstsofoof uorulirvelisv.es. resulting in the “excessive allowance of licenses and acreage, creation of an unverified affidavit system,” and other policy errors. According to jurors, the ThTehqe uqeusetsio tionnisis:: hhaavve yoouurr ppoortrftofo liolioanadnydouyo r ufinr afinncaianl cpilaalnpblaen enbaedeanptaedapted county also failed to follow up on “widespread odor complaints” and other community concerns. forfotrhtehseeseddrarammaattiicc cchannggeess?? “The action taken by the Santa Barbara Board of Supervisors to certify the development of a robust cannabis industry as the primary objective of the canFoFr otrhtehepapsatst2288yyeeaars I hhaavveehheelplp d ifliaem ededlolcoacl ainl din ivdidivuiadlsuanlsdafnam s ilies nabis ordinances has altered the quality of life in Santa Barbara County, perhaps unudnedrestrsatnad ndththeeirir fifinnanciiaall ssitituuaatitoinonanadnpdreppraerpeafroer ftohre tfh uteurfeu.ture. forever,” the report’s introduction flatly states. “Instead of a balanced approach carefully evaluating how the cannabis industry would be compatible, both as NoNwowis ias aggrereaattttim imee to ggeett aannoothth erepr rporfo esfseiossniaolnvaiel wvieow n tohn e rtehaedirneeasd s ionfess of to amount of acreage and location, the Board simply opened the floodgates.” yoyuorupr oprotrftofolio edithwaitnhoa-consot,-cinost, in lioaanndd pplan.. CCoonntatactctmm e etoto gegt estasrteadrtw One of the Grand Jury’s most serious charges against the Ad Hoc commitdedpetphthrerveiveiw ew. . tee was that it pushed through a tax revenue scheme that allowed growers to be taxed only for the “gross receipts” they produced rather than the actual square-footage area of their farms. Thus, the jurors argued, the county effectively delegated its cannabis tax policy to a bunch of marijuana farmers who might simply sell to end users on the black market whatever portion of their crop they didn’t want to pay taxes for. Although the committee at one point promised tax revenues as lofty as $25 million per year, Santa Barbara only generated $6.8 million worth of tax revenue CChhrirsitsoto phpehreGr aGlla ollo from 2018 to 2019. By comparison, Monterey County, which has fewer farms U B S F i n a n c i a l UBS Financial SeS rveircv esicIensc.Inc. but taxes them by square footage, took in in $15.4 million over the same period. t aCrrailrlroillSotreSetrteet 222222EaEsatsC In any event, jurors argued, the huge revenues being promised by the comSSuuitiete101606 mittee as well as cannabis lobbyists were simply imaginary, assuming all that SSaanntataBaBrabrabra,raC,AC9A3190311-70114-7 6 146 weed was supposed to be legal. “Santa Barbara is just one of 58 counties in 880055-9-9 636-33-73771718008-0206-22-46727-4774 California,” they pointed out, “but with almost 500 registrants seeking as many as 1,365 separate cultivation permits, the county’s growers could potentially produce over 3.7 million pounds of cannabis per year, which is more than double the legal amount of cannabis consumed by the entire state.” Under the aegis of the Ad Hoc committee, Lavagnino and Williams also ® ® IM ChCrhisrtisotp AA oh pheer rTT. .GGaalllo, CCFFPP®®, ,CCIM allegedly allowed cannabis growers who own numerous greenhouses on counCPCW A® PW A® ty property immediately surrounding Carpinteria to receive county permits VicVeicPerPerseid Maannaaggeemm siedennt t--W Weealth M enetnt simply by signing affidavits claiming they intended to eventually conform to PoPrtofrotfloiolioMMaannaaggeerr whatever land-use or other regulations county officials might have in mind. 80850-57-3703-03-4 This so-called “legal non-conforming status” category, jurors wrote, allowed 342255 individual growers to receive as many 100-square-feet growing permits as they chcrihsrtiostpohpehre.rt..tg.gaallo m lo@ @ubs..ccoom wanted. Each of those permits was supposed to be provided only to lots that included a “residential structure.” The county, however, never enforced that rule, allowing growers to vastly expand their operations and certain Carpinteria farmers to tally up dozens of such permits for their rapidly expanding farms. Perhaps the Grand Jury’s most incendiary charge is that it felt stonewalled by ubusb.cso /f/sf/sc/chhrriissttoopheerrttggaalllolo .cm om the very county executives who were the target of its inquiry, which took some 18 months to complete and included interviews with hundreds of people. “This As aAsfiarmfirp meennt tsesrevrivceicsetsotcoliecnlitesn tsB, SUFBinSaFnicniaalnSceiravlicSeesrIvnic.eos fIfnecrs. booffthers both investigation by the Jury was hindered by the denial of its request for subpoemropvroidvin digngwweeaaltlh th m maanaggeem ,U inveinstvm ntenatdavdisvoisroyryseservrviciceess aand bbrrookkeeraraggeesesrevricveics.eIsn.vIensvtm esetnmt eandtviasodrvyiso ices to be issued to non-government witnesses who might have been helpful to esetm errvyicseesravnicdesbraonkderabgroe kservaig cees servnas are asreepsaerpaatreataenadnddidsitsitnincct,t,ddiiffffeer in m maatteeriraial w lw ayasyasnadnadreagreovgeornveedrnbeyddb iffyerdeinfftelarewnstalnadwsseapn ardatseeparate the inquiry,” jurors wrote. The investigation was further hindered by a “twoarraanrrgaenm netsn.tsIt. Iits isimimppoortrtaanntt that cclliieenntstsuu geem ndnedrestrasntadntdhethweayws ainyswihnicw h hwicehcowneduccotnbduusicnteb ssuasnindetshsaat nd that theythceayrceafruelflyullryearedadththeeaaggrreeeem mentss aannddddisicslcolsousruesretshath t awtewpreovpirdoevtiodethteomthaebm outatbhoeuptrothdeucptsroodr ucts or month delay in the final production of requested documents from the County of servsiecrevsicw maattiioonn, ,pplelaesaesererveievwiew e FPdDoFcudm oceunm coom us. Barbara that was purported to be responsive and complete.” And it gets esewoeffoeffr.erF. oFrormmoorere iinnfform thethPD t aetnutbast.cu ob ms/.w rk/inwgowrikthinugs.withSanta ® CerC tifi eretidfieFdinFainnacniacliaPl lPaln annneerrBBooaard ooff SSttaannddaradrsdIsnIcn. co.wonw s nthseth ceertcifiecratitfiiocnatmioanrkm s CaFrPk®s aCnFdPC EaRnTdIFIC EDERTIFIED worse: “During the investigation, the Jury learned that all documents requested ™™ ® CIIM MAA® isisa arergeig ioanrkmoaf rtkheoIfntvheestm Inevnetsstm tseaanltd FINA CN IACLIAPLLPALN FINA ANENRER inintthhee U U.S. C stiesrteedrecderctiefirctaifi tiocantm anednW h Wealth InstIintusttietu, tfeo, rfm CCAA, ,inintthhee UnniitteeddSStatatetsesofoAf m Aemriecaricaandan idUeB. S©2U0B2S0.2A0ll2r0ig.hAtsllrerisgehrvtesdr.eservhave ed. not been provided.” oremrelyrlIyMIM wdorw ldowrilddew .©
UBSUFBiSnaFinncainacliaSleSrevricviecsesInIncc..isis aa subbssiiddiaiaryryoof fUU IP-C BSBSAGA.GM. eM mebm erbFeINr RFAIN/SRIPAC/.SD U.BD S--5U7BDSF-25F7 DD B F2FDB
6
MONTECITO JOURNAL
“What the world needs is more geniuses with humility; there are so few of us left.” – Oscar Levant
ON THE RECORD Page 374 9 – 16 July 2020
Dr. Zerey
Montecito Journal
6/10/2020
6/3/2020
Half Page: 9.866” x 6.19”
Open and ready to provide safe care. We are prepared to protect your health. If you need medical care, don’t delay. Dr. Marc Zerey, General Surgeon, Chief of Staff, Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital
Your health is essential. Seek help if you need it. cottagehealth.org 9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
7
NEW LISTING!
2121
Summerland Heights Lane Montecito 2,709 Square Feet 3 Bedrooms, 2.5 Bathrooms + Loft/Office
Offered at $2,699,000
Available to See by Appointment with Appropriate Precautions Breathtaking up-close ocean and island views abound from this exquisite Contemporary Craftsman home, which is within close proximity to the beach, restaurants, shops, and trails. The 2700-sq-ft home has been recently remodeled with European oak floors and a designer chef's kitchen complete with custom Italian cabinetry, quality quartz countertops, top-of-theline German Gaggenau appliances, and ''NanaWall'' doors and windows, expanding the living space outdoors. The property is the perfect place to enjoy Montecito's Mediterranean climate and indoor-outdoor lifestyle, with ample space to entertain family and friends. The home enjoys an ideal floor plan with formal and relaxed living areas on the ground level and bedrooms upstairs. The large master boasts multiple closets, a sitting area, and a deck to enjoy the unobstructed coastal views. There are two other bedrooms and a second full bathroom, as well as a lovely lofted den/office/4th bedroom, complete with quality custom built-ins.
Kelly Mahan Herrick (805) 208-1451 |
Kelly@HomesInSantaBarbara.com
DRE 01499736/01129919/01974836 Š2020 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. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.
8
MONTECITO JOURNAL
9 – 16 July 2020
4th of July Sale — Extended! Pay no sales tax thru July 12th 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.
9 – 16 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 2: The San Francisco Bay Delta, the State Water Project, and Why Montecito Should Care
L
ess than a year after being elected, the new board of the Montecito Water District is proposing changes to its rate structure and water source portfolio. Definitely a good thing to be considering, but there’s a lot we all need to know before supporting crucial decisions that will affect our water resources for years to come. Let’s start at the source. Half the water used by all Californians, excluding what comes from private wells, comes from the San Francisco Bay Delta (also known as the California Delta) – one of the largest watersheds in the world. Of all the fresh water used by people in the state, ratepayers like us use about 13 percent, 80 percent is consumed by agriculture (also excluding what comes from private wells), and the rest is used by industry. Water from the Delta is exported via two massive conveyance systems: the federally managed Central Valley Project and the State Water Project. Montecito, like many water districts in Southern California, gets part of its water supply from the State Water Project. We’re literally connected to the California Delta. As I explained in Part 1, State water is extremely expensive and unreliable. The burden it puts on MWD’s budget for so little water (zero water in times of drought) is mind-boggling and significantly limits our planning options. Montecito’s 2019-20 adopted budget states that 37% of its total operating expenses is SWP costs even if no water is delivered. The unreliability of State water has a very simple explanation. Of the 29 million acre-foot average annual yield of the entire Delta watershed, 153.7 million acre feet are promised under contract to water districts all over the state. That’s right, five and a half times more than exists. In a 2000 ruling, the 3rd District Court of Appeals called the difference between what’s under contract and what exists “Paper Water.” No amount of expensive improvements or additions to the conveyance system – that Montecito is under contract to pay for – will produce any more water. Paper water becomes even harder to fathom when you consider the environmental toll on one of the largest watersheds on earth. Since the SWP went on line in the early 1960s, twice the recommended sustainable amount has been exported, most of it to industrial farms in the San Joaquin Valley. As a direct result, 95% of all fish in the Delta are gone. It is estimated that saltwater will intrude inland as far as Sacramento within 10 years. Given the scale of this mismanagement, the DWR’s right to allocate Delta water is in question and its freedom to legally pump water south is currently being challenged in court. In 2009 the California legislature acknowledged the Delta crisis and passed the Delta Reform Act, mandating that the Delta ecosystem be restored and that exports be “reliable.” Eleven years later no progress has been made. Why? State agencies refuse to own up to their responsibility as stewards of a crucial public trust resource: measure the available water, the claims on it and the comparative costs of alternatives. It doesn’t help that most people are under the false impression that there are no good alternatives. What does this mean for Montecito? We are a community of leaders with
global influence. We punch way above our weight in innovation, conservation, activism and philanthropy. Montecitans change the world. When it comes to water, why are we thinking so small? By the nature of who we are, when we solve our own issues we influence districts all over the state. By taking a leadership role, we positively impact yet another massive environmental crisis with global implications. A Public Trust Analysis of the California Delta is our immediate opportunity not only to develop regional solutions for ourselves, but to right the wrongs of a hundred-year history of water mismanagement in California, and set policy guidance for water resources everywhere it is scarce. We make history. Again.
We are a community of leaders with global influence. We punch way above our weight in innovation, conservation, activism and philanthropy. Montecitans change the world. When it comes to water, why are we thinking so small? A Public Trust Analysis is a sophisticated economic tool used when a Public Trust resource is in jeopardy and disagreement over its use and allocation is interfering with the interests of the State and its citizens. It’s essentially a cost/ benefit analysis that includes consideration of natural resources with non-market values. The best-known example is the economic analysis in the historic case that saved Mono Lake: the economic benefits of preserving the Public Trust of instream flows for Mono Lake – the non-market values – outweighed the cost to Los Angeles of finding an alternative water source to Mono Lake – a market value – by a factor of 50. In our case, the Public Trust Analysis will measure and place values on the resources at issue, develop economic measures of the relevant benefits and costs of alternative water allocations, and identify measures that could mitigate economic costs. Exactly what we need to make sound, forward-looking decisions. Montecito has the means to get this done. Much more importantly, we have a history of action and leveraging our gifts for the greater good at a global scale. We have that opportunity now, let’s not waste it. 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 Day
10 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Low
Hgt High
Hgt Low
Hgt High
Hgt Low
Hgt
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
4.6
8:14 AM
0.4
03:14 PM
4
08:27 PM 2.8
Sat, July 11
1:53 AM
4
8:54 AM
0.9
04:01 PM
4.1
09:56 PM 2.7
Sun, July 12
3:01 AM
3.4
9:36 AM
1.5
04:48 PM
4.3
011:30 PM 2.3
Mon, July 13
4:37 AM
3
10:22 AM
1.9
05:31 PM
4.6
Tues, July 14
12:43 AM 1.8
6:23 AM
2.9
11:12 AM
2.2
06:11 PM
4.8
Wed, July 15
1:34 AM 1.1
7:45 AM
3
12:04 PM
2.4
06:49 PM
5.2
Thurs, July 16
2:15 AM 0.6
8:42 AM
3.2
12:53 PM
2.5
07:26 PM
5.5
Fri, July 17
2:51 AM 0.1
9:25 AM
3.4
01:37 PM
2.6
08:03 PM
5.8
“Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won’t expect it back.” – Oscar Wilde
9 – 16 July 2020
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
Right Side of History
A
s I read the LA Times coverage of the independent SB Grand Jury’s scathing report on the unethical way our cannabis policy came to be, I had one silver lining thought: “Thank goodness the Montecito Journal had the wisdom – and guts – to be on the right side of history by endorsing Laura Capps.” Truth will tell. Bobby Shand
Say It Don’t Spray It
Recently, I believe Tuesday June 18th, my friends are I took a hike up San Ysidro Trail. About a half a mile up the trail, we saw workers in the middle of the creekbed spraying. The spraying wasn’t being done directly in the water but on islands surrounded by the creek I approached the workers and asked a man what they were doing. I was told that spraying was being done to stop plants from growing in the creekbed. I asked him if Monsanto’s Roundup was being used. He replied “no” and that the herbicide being used was completely safe. As I walked back, I stopped and looked in the cab of the truck that had the words “County of Santa Barbara” on it. There were quite a few containers which had labels clearly stating the contents were toxic to humans and animals. Dogs go to the creekbed quite a bit. Children may play down there. I saw no signs posted that pesticide spraying was going on. What if there were a heavy fog or light rain, and some herbicide was washed into the water? There are pools downstream that people go into. There’s also where San Ysidro Creek empties into the ocean, a place in which people wade barefoot across the creek. I understand the need to control growth in the creek to prevent debris flows and flooding. But there’s a better way to do it, like manually digging up the plants. The county could recruit volunteers to do this. How many other Montecito creeks is the county planning on spraying? Hikers, be careful that you, your children and your dogs don’t rub against the herbicide treated plants. Bryan Rosen
Shame on the MSD
I saw the full page ad in the Montecito Journal last week that was run by the Montecito Sanitary District. This ad violates everything about truth in advertising. I attended past MSD 9 – 16 July 2020
meetings, and there are definitely some things they’re not telling you, or outright lying about. First, “Our Recycling Program,” as touted in their ad, exists only in the MSD’s mind. There is NO recycled water facility of the sort their ad suggests. What they have done is spend $160,000 for a small test unit that processes a small amount of waste water that has so far been used to flush the MSD’s lines, not even to irrigate the landscaping at the MSD’s own facility. The excess from this small test program is mostly drained into the ocean. There is NO commercial production of recycled water. They haven’t built one, despite years of pressure from the Montecito community to do so. Second, the two elected board directors, Newquist and Barrett, object that the conceptual pilot recycling program is too small. If it ever gets built, it’s only going to recycle about 5% of the available water. Third, the Montecito Water District has signed NO contract for MSD’s recycled water, from a facility not even built yet, and neither has the Cemetery. So, this ad is just a lie. The Sanitary District is spending $100,000 for a publicity firm to run ads like this for them. What they really want is for you to look the other way while they use $6,000,000 of ratepayer money to build an expensive new building. That’s why they put in small print that they look forward to getting approval at the Montecito Planning Commission and the Santa Barbara County. Running deceptive ads like this is an egregious waste of customer money. Shame on the MSD! Montecito deserves better. Very truly yours, Edwin C. Martin, Jr.
Specializing in Fine Homes • Concept to Completion • Exceptional Home Design • Board of Architectural Reviews • All Phases of Construction Entitlement • Custom quality Construction “Santa Barbara Design and Build was fabulous. Don and his crew were the BEST from day one. He was honest, timely, flexible, artistic, patient and skilled. They understood my vision and built my dream home”. -Santa Barbara Resident
President Putz
Mark Twain’s comment that “the Populace adopts the Morals of its Monarch” resonates today as our country stumbles forward, the blind leading the blind. It is open season on bad behavior (watch your top knot on freeways) and it is somehow way cool to be crude, rude and aggressive since our screens erased social graces and distanced us, long before COVID-19. It does seem that the US has had a dumbosis pandemic for a number of decades now, although some might
Don Gragg
805.453.0518 WWW.SANTABARBARADESIGNANDBUILD.COM
FREE CONSULTATION Ca Lic # 887955
LETTERS Page 274 • The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
11
Village Beat
Six parklets – soon to be seven once Mesa Burger opens – have popped up on Coast Village, with mostly positive feedback save for a few concerns over parking, safety, and accessibility
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.
Parklets on Coast Village Road
I
n response to the staggering loss of local business related to the coronavirus pandemic, the City of Santa Barbara, in late May, authorized the use of “parklets” as an innovative way for restaurant owners to add physically distanced gathering spaces to public streets. The parklets are intended to be located in the parking lane adjacent to the curb, designed as an extension to the sidewalk within the frontage of the eatery’s space. The City Council authorized the use of parklets, as well as allowing restaurants to place additional tables on public sidewalks, as a way to help immediately alleviate the woes of Santa Barbara’s 400 restaurants and cafes; as a lifeline to keep them open while maintaining social distancing guidelines. “The key for these eateries, which run on super small margins, is that they can get as close to 100% of their pre-pandemic seating, so they won’t have to shut down,” said Rob Dayton, Transportation Planning and Parking Manager with the City of Santa Barbara’s Public Works department. “We knew going into this that we were going to work in the opposite way the City normally operates: that we were going to give permission first, and adjust later, rather than the other way around. We knew we didn’t have time to permit these parklets first, we just had to let them be built. It was an unprecedented move,” he told
Coast Village Association board president Bob Ludwick and City of Santa Barbara Transportation Planning and Parking Manager Rob Dayton discussed parklets along Coast Village Road on Monday
us earlier this week. With Montecito’s Coast Village Road located within City limits, we saw the installation of four parklets by the end of May – utilizing a total of eight parking spots – with relatively few issues reported. Not surprisingly, Governor Newsom’s pre-July 4th closure of all interior dining prompted several more restaurants to quickly build parklets,
it's All About the Service
DANA ZERTUCHE 805.403.5520 ·
dana@danazertuche.com
LORI CL ARIDGE BOWLES 805.452.3884 ·
CALRE#01465425
lori@loribowles.com
CALRE#01961570
www.MONTECITO.associates Owned by a subsidiary of NRT LLC.
12 MONTECITO JOURNAL
which have created a handful of issues along the road, including loss of parking, concerns about ADA accessibility, inability for pedestrians, strollers, and dog walkers to utilize the sidewalks, safety issues, and impacts to other, non-restaurant businesses along the road. “The goal of this was to help all businesses be successful during this trying time, but if we have a situation in which other businesses start suffering because of the parklets, then we have a problem,” Dayton said, admitting that there have been dozens of complaints about the parklets and restaurant tables along the public sidewalk on Coast Village, as well as in other areas of Santa Barbara including downtown and on the Westside. Earlier this week, officials re-opened a portion of State Street after pleas from several business owners; several blocks of State were closed to cars at the end of May, in an effort to encourage foot traffic and allow for eateries to spread out tables to adhere to social distancing. Dayton, along with Coast Village Association board president Bob Ludwick, walked Coast Village Road with us on Monday afternoon, the day after a bustling holiday weekend that brought hundreds of out-of-town tourists to the area to enjoy the shopping and restaurants. With six parklets now installed, and a seventh on the horizon, the street has lost 24 parking spots, which several business owners tell us is a problem for retailers. “We were closed for three months, and now that we are able to reopen, we are dealing with the loss of our coveted parking, which was already an issue along the road before COVID,” said one clothing store owner, who wished to remain anonymous. “Look, I get it, we need the restaurants to thrive in order for the street to thrive, but it’s becoming the ‘wild wild west’ out here, with business owners not thinking about their neighbors,” he added. Another nearby business owner, who has run her business on the street for over two decades agreed, saying that there could have been more thought put into the parklets before allowing them to be built. “It’s a balancing act to please both
“Of all the things I’ve lost I miss my mind the most.” – Ozzy Osbourne
restaurant owners and retail businesses, and we want it to be fair,” Dayton said, adding that restaurant owners are under clear guidelines laid out by the City, including keeping four feet of sidewalk available for both pedestrian and wheelchair accessibility. During our walk along Coast Village, Dayton called out numerous issues with several parklets, including utilizing more parking spaces than allowed, unreasonable blocking of sidewalks to fit tables, not adhering to six feet of social distance within the parklet, safety concerns, and less pressing, aesthetic issues. “We’ve been seeing this all over the city, and it’s just part of the adjustments that need to be made,” he said. Ludwick says he’s been watching the progression of the parklets, and recognizes they have had a mostly positive impact on the road, with a few hiccups. “We’ve been trying to encourage neighborly communication between business owners, so that some of the issues can be worked out in a fair way,” he said. “The bottom line is we are a family of businesses out here, and we all want each other to prosper.” Dayton suggests that those businesses with parklets review the guidelines laid out by the City, which includes working closely with neighbors to minimize impact. Both restaurant, retail, and office-based businesses may also want to encourage or require their employees to park on Coast Village Circle, rather than utilize the parking on Coast Village Road, which is already at a premium. The City of Santa Barbara has reserved the right to remove parklets at its sole discretion, and encourages any complaints to be sent to OutdoorDining@ SantaBarbaraCA.gov. The emergency ordinance that allows the parklets sunsets on Labor Day, September 7, but the City Council can and may decide to extend the ordinance longer, depending on the COVID-19 crisis. “We literally saved people’s businesses overnight by enacting this ordinance, and that was the intent all
VILLAGE BEAT Page 394 9 – 16 July 2020
P A R T
N
K
N
I
P
R S
R I S
E
S
AT E
U
E
T
G R
O
1
no.
Santa Barbara 2020 sales volume
735 FUE RA LA N E, M O N TEC ITO | $9,950,000 FueraLane.com DINA LANDI
SARAH HANACEK
JASMINE TENNIS
team@ RiskinPartners.com 805.565.8600 9 – 16 July 2020
ROBERT RISKIN
Village Properties Realtors license #01954177 • The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
13
Let’s discuss your real estate needs.
Summerland Buzz by Leslie A. Westbrook A third-generation Californian, Leslie, currently resides in Carpinteria but called Summerland home for 30 years. The award-winning writer assists clients sell fine art, antiques and collectibles at auction houses around the globe. She can be reached at LeslieAWestbrook@gmail.com or www.auctionliaison.com
Meet Shane “Big Daddy” Brown The Creator of The Well
T
The Morehart Group Mitch Morehart Beverly Palmer Susan Pate
805.452.7985 themorehartgroup.com themorehartgroup@compass.com DRE 01130349 | 01319565 | 00828316
rying to catch up with Shane Brown, creator and owner of the newly opened home and garden lollapalooza called The Well, in the indoor/outdoor spaces formerly known as The French Bulldog, Café Luna, Mediterranee Antiques, Summerland Rugs, and more, is a bit like trying to catch a fish with greased hands. “I get things done! I’m a train – get out of my way!” warns the man who says he doesn’t, and shouldn’t, drink coffee. I concur. Darting here and there faster than a knife through hot butter, the 52-yearold entrepreneur is the creator of the “Big Daddy’s Antiques” brand, which includes a huge warehouse in Los Angeles, a Big Daddy’s Antiques line of goods at Pottery Barn and a store in
SUMMERLAND Page 364
Shane Brown, aka Big Daddy
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
9 – 16 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 RESEN 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
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
15
Our Town
by Joanne A. Calitri
Joanne is a professional international photographer and journalist. Contact her at: artraks@yahoo.com
Montecito’s Village 4th Parade
O
ur town’s Annual Village 4th Parade was a great success! The Montecito Association went to great efforts to have a car parade whose route included all the Montecito area schools and where most of the students lived, as well as Channel Drive. The parade was well
attended all along the parade route, lined with happy families, kids and pets waving flags and cheering, social distancing and wearing masks joking, honestly I am smiling! The overcast morning gave way to a perfectly sunny day, as approximately 27 vehicles with their driver teams
were checked in and lined up by the event co-chairs Mindy Denson, Kathi B. King and Trish Davis at Montecito Union School. Everyone was wearing patriotic face masks and social distancing was respected. CHP Captain Cindy Pontes briefed all the parade vehicle drivers on how the car parade was going to be done and what to watch out for along the route for safety. She and her team of newly appointed Lieutenant Grady Stevens and Sgt Jim Richards were the lead car. At 11:30 am the parade commenced with a fly-over by five vintage planes in formation that came up from Butterfly Beach and flew directly over the parade start along San Ysidro
OW Lee Sale
Road, past MUS and onward into town. A huge thanks to pilot Michael Maloco, a 17-year Montecito resident and Montecito Association member who donated the fly over. Michael shared in a post parade interview with me, “All five aircraft are Beechcraft T-34 A & B Mentors made in 1955 – 1956, and restored to better than factory new and impeccably maintained, at no short expense. There were three A models that are ex-USAF aircraft and two B models built for the U.S. Navy. I piloted the lead aircraft in the formation and my pilot team are Jon Russell (Calabasas), Mike
VILLAGE 4TH Page 404
40% Off thru July 12*
IN-STOCK AND SPECIAL ORDERS Hayward’s has the largest selection of outdoor furniture between Los Angeles and San Francisco. In-stock items are available for immediate white glove delivery.
7 PARKER WAY SANTA BARBARA 805-966-1390 | haywards1890.com *Cannot be combined with other offers
16 MONTECITO JOURNAL
9 – 16 July 2020
MORE ONLINE AT
VILLAGESITE.COM
940 Coyote Rd | Santa Barbara | 7BD/9BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $4,295,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226
125 Rametto Rd | Santa Barbara | 3BD/4BA DRE 00837659 | Offered at $3,695,000 Patricia Griffin 805.705.5133
975 Lilac Dr | Santa Barbara | 5BD/8BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $16,900,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.565.8600
1147 Hill Rd | Santa Barbara | 4BD/5BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $11,500,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226
705 Riven Rock Rd | Montecito | 5BD/8BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $10,900,000 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
735 Fuera Ln | Montecito | 5BD/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
736 Toro Canyon Rd | Santa Barbara | 4BD/4BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $7,500,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226
209 Greenwell Ave | Summerland | 4BD/4BA DRE 01815307 | Offered at $6,195,000 Riskin Partners Estate Group 805.698.0199
5162 Foothill Rd | Carpinteria | 2BD/4BA DRE 01005773 | Offered at $4,950,000 Gregg Leach 805.886.9000
790 Rockbridge Rd | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 00914713 | Offered at $2,995,000 Tim Walsh 805.259.8808
2014 Garden St | Santa Barbara | 5BD/4BA DRE 01402612 | Offered at $2,995,000 Marcy Bazzani 805.717.0450
665 Coyote Rd | Santa Barbara | 5BD/4BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $2,395,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226
2525 Banner Ave | Summerland | 4BD/3BA DRE 01236143/01410304 | Offered at $2,250,000 Grubb Campbell Group 805.895.6226
5617 W Camino Cielo | Santa Barbara | 3BD/3BA DRE 01813897 | Offered at $2,165,000 David M Kim 805.296.0662
5150 E Camino Cielo | Santa Barbara | 4BD/4BA DRE 00835438 | Offered at $1,795,000 Jackie Walters 805.570.0558
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.
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
17
The Way It Was
The Incredible Jerry Forney
by Hattie Beresford
I have to say, when I first heard his story, it read like tall tale or legend, much like the stories of Paul Bunyan and John Henry. Bigger than life heroes, for sure; so the skeptical side of me decided to do some fact checking. What I discovered, despite the erroneous claim that he was the first black person to live in Santa Barbara, made me a believer. Jerry Forney was incredible!
Jerry Forney took the last name of his father’s owner, Jacob Forney Jr., when he liberated himself in 1854. The photo shows the Forney/Bost family to the left of the tree, and two servants standing on the porch on the right. (Burke County Public Library)
J
eremiah A. Erwin was born into slavery on the Erwin family’s Bellevue Plantation in Burke County, North Carolina, about 1821. (Surnames of slaves were usually that of the mother’s owner.) Burke County was a non-staple producing area, meaning that soil, climate, and poor farm-to-market transportation made the area unsuited for growing the cash crops of cotton or rice. Most farms were self-sufficient. Though enslaved people were used for farming, they were also put to other work and often
hired out as labor, with wages coming back to their owners. Slaves were employed in shops, in household manufacturing, gold mining, public works such as road maintenance, and in building the railroads. In 1852, Jerry, along with other people held in bondage by the Erwins, was taken to work the California gold fields, most likely by Colonel Joseph J. Erwin, who had earlier engaged in gold mining in North Carolina. Jerry and the others worked for a long time in the gold mines near Marysville, and
Ms Beresford is a local historian who has written two Noticias for the Santa Barbara Historical Museum as well as authored two books. One, The Way It Was: Santa Barbara Comes of Age, is a collection of articles written for the Montecito Journal. The other, Celebrating CAMA’s Centennial, is the fascinating story of Santa Barbara’s Community Arts Music Association.
their wages were sent home to Erwin. The Compromise of 1850 had declared California a free state and the rest of the lands won from Mexico in 1848 as open to popular sovereignty. The odious part of the compromise was a stronger fugitive slave law, which made it illegal for people in the free states to help runaway slaves or refuse to help catch runaways if called upon. Heavy fines and jail time were the consequence of giving aid to escaped slaves. Nevertheless, after two years working the mines in California, Jerry decided to liberate himself and refused to do any more work in bondage. At this time, he took the name Forney, because that was the name of his father’s owner. Also, perhaps, since Jeremiah Erwin might be on the runaway slave list, Jerry Forney would not. The Jacob Forney Jr. family’s plantation, where Jerry’s father was enslaved, lay next to the Erwin plantation. Jerry continued working in the California mines along with other African Americans and was still there in 1858 when the San Joaquin Republican published the following notice: “On the eastern side of Pompey’s Hill, Jerry Forney, a colored man, in sinking a well, at the depth of twenty-eight feet, came to rich pay dirt, and he and the other colored folks here are preparing to work it.” Jerry was still in Amador County in 1870, and lived in Ione, a Gold Rush supply town nicknamed “Bed Bug.” The Census for that year says he owned $600 worth of real estate and had a personal wealth of $100. ($600 then translates as about $12,000 today.)
Joining the Circus
An African American gold miner at Auburn Ravine in 1852, the same year Jerry and his crew were mining the placer fields (Courtesy Photo)
18 MONTECITO JOURNAL
By 1873, Jerry had had it with “Freeze Out,” another pet name for Ione, and joined the circus. Montgomery Queen’s Circus advertised thrilling trick riders, exciting trapeze artists, the world’s finest ascensionists, unrivaled acrobats, and the amazing boneless man. The Great Menagerie featured a large collection plundered from Africa and other climes. The unsurpassed street parade displayed the largest elephant that ever crossed the continent, a monster Bengal tiger, a genuine zebra as well as ibex, kangaroos, hyenas, sacred cow and calf, and an ostrich. Jerry’s stunt was riding a trick mule
“The only reason some people get lost in thought is because it’s unfamiliar territory.” – Paul Fix
Montgomery Queen’s Circus traveled up and down California from 1873 through 1877. Jerry’s act was to ride a trick mule. (L.A. Herald, 1874)
that he had trained himself. It was, apparently, a hard life, and Jerry was getting on in years. Montgomery Queen’s Circus came to Santa Barbara on November 3 and 4 of 1874, and, as the story goes, left without Jerry and his mule. By July 1875, Jerry had registered to vote in Santa Barbara County and found work as a laborer. According to his obituary, he appeared in the centennial celebration parade in 1876 on his mule, wearing broken shackles and carrying an American flag, impersonating, in reality, the freedman. (Though the newspaper made no report of it at the time.) To earn his living, the budding entrepreneur opened the very first bootblack stand in the city at the Occidental Hotel, and he joined the Baptist church. Jerry had arrived.
Santa Barbara
Jerry Forney soon became part and parcel of the fabric of the Santa Barbara community. He was affable, talented, wise and entrepreneurial, and despite being denied an education, he could read and write a little, though his spelling was extremely creative. He was well-liked and enormously popular, so much so that his activities, welfare, and ideas were often reported in the newspaper. Jerry worked as porter and lived in one of the staff rooms at the Occidental Hotel. In 1878, he was called upon to testify at the coroner’s inquest into the murder of Ah Yung. His testimony was transcribed as follows: “Ah Chung told me that Ah Yung told the boss that he [Ah Chung] was drunk and the boss discharged him; … he spoke about the trouble in a 9 – 16 July 2020
Jerry Forney trained several young men over the years and helped them set up bootblack stands along State Street. This young man may have been one of them. (Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
Make sure your portfolio contains the right investments—as well as the right protection from risk—for you and your family’s unique situation.
We offer free stock portfolio reviews. very angry manner; … Ah Chung told me last week that Ah Yung wanted to have him turned off, and that he was going to get his son for second cook and wanted me to use my influence with the bosses; I discovered the body this morning … lying on his face, dead, about 15 feet from the door.” Having grown up in the South,
Jerry’s accent was pronounced and tinged with remnants of patois. His admirers found it charming and amusing, and the Morning Press was wont to publish little snippets of his conversation. Jerry was quite the entertainer as well. When Bert’s Dramatic Troupe
Call us at 805-465-7365.
360 S. Hope Avenue Ste. C-210 | Santa Barbara, CA 93105 1485 East Valley Road Ste. 2 | Montecito, CA 93108
www.Harbor-Hills.com Investment Advisory Services provided through Partnervest Advisory Services, LLC a SEC Registered Investment Adviser. Insurance Services provided through Harbor Hills Insurance Services.
WAY IT WAS Page 444
Matthew Pifer, MD
“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 9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
Contact us to schedule an appointment today.
805.967.9311 matthewpifermd.com MONTECITO JOURNAL
19
On Entertainment
NEW! ELECTRIC BIKES for GROMS!
MAW Faculty, Fellows by Steven Libowitz Making the Most of MARLI Veteran clarinetist Richie Hawley (photo by Phil Channing)
And for Mom and Dad
F
GET OUTSIDE
Locally owned and operated for over 40 years 14 State Street | 805-962-0049 | Mon-Sunday 10-5
Mention this ad and receive a 15% discount
(up to $500 value) FULL SERVICE PLUMBING COMPANY SPECIALIZING IN: • ALL YOUR PLUMBING NEEDS • TRENCHLESS TECHNOLOGY • VIDEO PIPELINE INSPECTION • 24 HOUR DRAIN CLEANING SERVICE
Stewart’s
DE-ROOTING & PLUMBING
(805) 965-8813 License #375514
aced with closing down the campus this summer, the Music Academy of the West’s summer festival performed a pivot so dramatic that anyone watching in person might have suffered whiplash. Rather than having the 134 fellows from around the world immersed in studies, classes, rehearsals, and performances on the Miraflores campus in Montecito, everything would have to take place remotely over the Internet. The result of the shift is known as MARLI – the Music Academy Remote Learning Institute – where the fellows have been exposed to seminars with industry leaders that focus on a wide variety of topics surrounding innovation and adapting as well as career advice and coaching. A typical day might include private or group lessons with faculty members via Zoom or reviewing performances at home that make use the equipment contained in their provided tech packages. Meanwhile, MAW has been posting daily videos on its website to provide a glimpse of the activities to the public, which makes up a big part of a typical summer festival but has been otherwise excluded this year. Those snippets include picnic concerts from the fellows, excerpts from master classes and performances by faculty members in an attempt to offer a small semblance of what would normally take place live on campus and around town. We caught up with two of the faculty members to get some perspective on the program so far. Veteran clarinetist Richie Hawley is spending the summer with friends and family here in Montecito and conducting his MAW activities from his normal studio on campus. Q. How has the transition to the online learning format and Zoom been for you? A. We’ve all been teaching online since mid-March so that’s not new. I’ve got a great studio at home and all of my technology there, so I’m used to teaching that way. But what’s really different about this summer is this is a really specific program and the lessons are only a small part of the entire scope of MARLI. We have a studio class and masterclasses that I do with my students, but it’s all part of the curriculum that also involves seminars, the lecture and learning new skills that are just not part of their regular study (at a university) but yet are essential skills that most people have not taken the time to teach or learn. They’ve got seminars about writing grants. They’ve got a lot of career enhancement opportunities. So being able to learn how to layer and do electronic recording and work with ensembles is definitely a big part of the summer, but my students are finding that the seminars have been one of the greatest things that they have experienced during any sort of musical academic life.
ENTERTAINMENT Page 324
Great Kitchens Don’t Just Happen . . . • Certified They Happen by Design. Designers • Fine Custom Cabinetry • Unique Styles & Finishes • All Architectural Periods
“The Plumber with a conscience” *May not be combined with other discounts Payment must be made at time of service to receive discount (Limit one coupon per customer)
20 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Licensed & Insured CL # 604576
CABINETS • COUNTERTOPS • DESIGN SERVICES • INSTALLATIONS
Visit our Showroom Upstairs at 6351/2 N. Milpas at Ortega • 962-3228
“To err is human, but to really foul things up you need a computer.” – Paul R. Ehrlich
9 – 16 July 2020
970 VIA FRUTERIA
JUST SOLD REPRESENTED THE SELLER
Offered at $3,975,000
15 RUBIO ROAD
JUST SOLD REPRESENTED THE SELLER
Offered at $2,495,000
MK R E A L E STAT E G R O U P
Marsha Kotlyar | Patrice Serrani | Allie Baxter MON T E C I TO F IN E E STATE S.CO M 805.565.4014 | associates@marshakotlyar.com | Lic. # 01426886 ©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. Information is obtained from various sources and will not be verified by broker or MLS. Buyer is advised to independently verify the accuracy of that information.
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
21
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 look at the good, the bad, and the ugly on the Montecito water scene. Any event that took 32 years in the making needs to be recorded carefully for posterity.
Why Did it Take 32 Years for Montecito to Cut a Desal Deal with the City of Santa Barbara? (Part II):
T
he story of desalination in Santa Barbara dates back 32 years. Its plot, with all its twists and turns, rivals the movie, Chinatown, a tale of manipulation of water in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Faced with the threat of drought in the late 1980s, the City of Santa Barbara, the Montecito Water District and the Goleta Water District formed a regional partnership to jointly address the threat of “no water” in all three communities. In 1992, Montecito, Goleta, and Santa Barbara opened a regional seawater desalination plant in Santa Barbara with a production capability of 7,500 AFY (acre feet per year), expandable to 10,000 AFY. The cost was $34 million, split proportionately between the partners on the basis of entitlements: 1,250 AFY for Montecito Water, 3,069 AFY for Goleta and 3,181AFY for the City of Santa Barbara. Upon completion, the desal plant operated for only four months – between March and June of 1992 – before it was mothballed when abundant rainfall that year and ensuing years relieved the drought. When the threat disappeared, the desalination plant was idled. The districts and the City paid off the $34 million cost in full during the initial 5-year contract period, with the City share tallying approximately $14.5 million, according to Santa Barbara.
The City Goes It Alone – Montecito and Goleta Call it Quits
Montecito and Goleta elected NOT to renew their interest in the plant after the initial five-year contract period, leaving the City to bear the modest costs of standby operation. Components of the plant were sold to Saudi Arabia to recover
WANTED OLD COINS & PAPER MONEY
WE BUY: · Coin Collections (US and Foreign) · US Proof Sets & Mint Sets · All Gold & Silver Coins · Gold & Silver Bars
By Appointment Only Call Ron Gillio · Cell #(805) 637-5081
standby costs. An Environmental Impact Report was certified on May 24, 1994. On July 5, 1994, the City elected to make the idled desalination plant a permanent part of the City’s water supply portfolio. On October 15, 1996, the California Coastal Commission issued a Coastal Development Permit to the City for a future permanent desalination facility with a maximum capacity of 10,000 AFY. The plant remained on standby mode from 1994 until it reopened in 2015.
The Year 2013: Montecito Chooses Higher Water Rates
In 2013, a panicked Montecito Water District (MWD) faced the prospect of an extended drought with limited options and no Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP) since 2005. The solution was to pass massive rate increases onto MWD ratepayers in August 2013. Water rates soared by a whopping 16% in the first year, followed by four annual increases of 7.4% for each of the next four years. But the bad news didn’t stop there.
The Year 2014: Montecito Chooses Mandatory Rationing
Six months later in February 2014, in response to Governor Jerry Brown’s call to reduce water use by 20 percent, the 2014 Water Board imposed arbitrary and mandatory monthly rationing quotas on every water user in Montecito and Summerland. Out of all 537 special water districts that own and operate public water systems in California, MWD was the only Water District that opted for a mandatory water-rationing plan. The unpleasant result was that under monthly rationing, any customer with a one-time leak in their water line or irrigation system not only paid the elevated rates but was assessed $30 per hcf (hundred cubic feet) penalty for the first violation and $45 per hcf penalty for subsequent violations. Scores of customers appeared each month at Water Board hearings protesting their “leak charges.” Nevertheless, the District pick pocketed the community for $3 million a year in leak charges.
The Year 2015: Montecito Imposes a Temporary Water Shortage Emergency Surcharge
In April 2015 with revenues still falling, the 2015 MWD Board, imposed a “temporary” water shortage emergency surcharge of up to $4.16 per hcf to align revenue with falling sales and to purchase supplementary water during drought years, a charge that remained on the books until its sunset this year in July. On July 21, 2015, in response to its own severe drought conditions, the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to reactivate the Charles E. Meyer Desalination Plant. The City Council awarded IDE Americas, a design/build/ operate contract to re-commission the city’s desalination plant.
Effect of Water Rationing on Montecito
In 2015, with mandatory rationing in place, Montecito, water sales fell precipitously to 3,331 AFY, a 49-percent drop from 2008 water sales of 6,518 AFY. Conservationists cheered this apparent 50-percent reduction in Montecito water use.
Conservation or More Water Wells?
What really happened were two things: one “good,” and one “not so good.” The good thing was that Montecito residents dramatically cut water usage. New, more efficient irrigation systems were installed to replace sprinklers. Desert landscaping boomed. Golf courses switched from Rye Grass to Bermuda, reducing water use some 30 percent. Lawns were ripped out. Montecito went from green to brown. Local coast live oak trees died from lack of water and so did other landscaping. Renegade water trucks plowed the streets of Montecito, selling purloined water to panicked customers. The “not so good news” was that many large water users, threatened by
WATER WISDOM Page 434
GILLIO COINS · 1103 State Street Serving Santa Barbara Since 1971
SANTA BARBARA
HOPE RANCH
For Jewelry, contact: Bella Rosa Galleries phone #(805) 966-1707
MONTECITO
GENERAL CONTRACTOR FOR LUXURY CUSTOM HOMES FAMILY OWNED AND OPERATED SINCE 1983
805-966-9662
22 MONTECITO JOURNAL
|
“I have learned from my mistakes, and I am sure I can repeat them exactly.” – Peter Cook
WWW.HOLEHOUSE.COM
|
LICENSE #645496
9 – 16 July 2020
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
Conscious Consumption as Social Activism
T
here is a collective myth of how America started out as a haven for religious freedom. While there’s some truth to that, in fact, America started as a business. The first settlers in Jamestown were commercially organized as The Virginia Company, and granted a charter in 1604 to exploit New World resources for the British Crown. The early settlers in New Amsterdam were Dutch merchants and traders who created what became New York. Even New England, the home of the Puritans who purportedly just wanted to practice their brand of Christianity in peace, was settled by entrepreneurs, printers, artisans, and small merchants. People who wanted to manage their own destinies like Benjamin Franklin managed their own enterprises, and ultimately managing a new country to be called the United States – a country undeniably built by the merchant class supporting an agricultural and trading economy. The 1773 Boston Tea Party was the culmination of several years of colonists reducing British tea purchases to protest “taxation without representation” which clearly is a commercial rallying cry that ultimately launched a new American nation. The World Business Academy has had the same Tripartite Mission since inception in 1986. The Academy is dedicated to catalyzing a shift in 1) the consciousness of existing business leadership; 2) future business leaders; and 3) the general consuming public, toward an understanding that we are all in this together, and that business must be a noble enterprise. Business is the most powerful institution in society so it must promote the common good. For many years, the Academy has taught the Quadruple Bottom line, and at last it is becoming widely accepted. What is that Quadruple Bottom Line? It’s looking equally at People, Planet, Profit, and Purpose. The third part of our tripartite mission summarized above is to shift the consciousness of the “general consuming public” at large to put its money with its deeper values, knowing that when the public does this, business will immediately shift in response. As our values shift ever more quickly, business will shift ever more quickly to be able to continue to earn consumer dollars. You see, businesses in fact work for us! Sometimes this gets confused in our hyper consumerist economy since the gazillion dollar ad 9 – 16 July 2020
budgets are working nonstop to lure us into addiction to crass materialism and buying “name” brands, by convincing us that the latest, greatest thing just must be acquired! Lately though, even the biggest brands are starting to take notice. For example, our weakened political institutions have abandoned their protective role for society in the current Administration’s supervision of business, so the Business Community is taking on more responsibility. For example, knowing Facebook has totally abdicated its responsibility as a powerful media company to regulate hate speech, racism, Russian “bots” or outright lies, the business community realized that Facebook would only act responsibly if it saw itself making less money promoting racist and AntiAmerican propaganda. So… 240 U.S. companies representing 60 percent of Facebook ad revenue agreed to boycott Facebook until it grew up and acted appropriately. The #StopHateForProfit movement organized by a civil rights coalition, including the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) and the NAACP, as well as Color of Change, was joined by a number of very high profile brands, including Starbucks (which is Facebook’s sixth largest advertiser), Coca-Cola, Ford, Honda, Clorox, Patagonia and other outdoor brands, and Unilever, who all worked together to send Facebook a powerful message: Your profits will be reduced when you promote hate, bigotry, racism, antisemitism, and violence as a way to sell ads. For many of the companies pulling ads from Facebook, it’s part of an advertiser boycott in protest of what they say are the site’s failures to stop the spread of hate. These companies are not acting in a vacuum. They are responding to consumer and employee sentiments. They know that being associated with hateful speech will alienate their employees and their customers, and in a self-interested move, speaking out against Facebook signals their deeper values. This is a sign that conscious consumerism is having a moment. Facebook is finally agreeing to start moderating some content by flagging it or removing it. Finally Facebook took the action in committing to removing some accounts that belong to extreme hate movements, or foreign governments, after saying that they would not moderate content them-
Want Healthier Houseplants? Try Naming Them!
H
ave a hard time keeping houseplants alive? The key to a greener thumb might just be giving your plant a name. It sounds silly, but naming your plants helps you better remember to take care of them. It allows you to anthropomorphize the plant and empathize when it needs water, sun, or a bigger pot. We are also more likely to remember to check in on it if it has a name. Additionally, research shows we do tend to name things when we’re lonely, which means doing so must help us to feel less so. Naming your plant will not only extend its life but also help you feel a little less solitary during these isolating times. Research has also shown that talking to plants helps them grow faster and stay healthier. So feel free to give your plant a morning greeting or afternoon hello as well. Maybe name it after where you got it or the name of your favorite TV character. This part is completely up to you!
You can recycle aluminum foil. Here’s how to do it right. Aluminum is one of the most recycled materials used today. It can be recycled endlessly without loss of quality. With that said, what’s the best way to recycle aluminum foil? We have the answers right here. Check whether it’s possible: Before you can consider recycling any of your aluminum foil, you have to determine whether your local provider accepts it. Check your community website or search Earth911’s recycling locator. In most cases, if the recycling center takes aluminum foil, they’ll also accept disposable pie tins and roasting pans. Assess and clean: Most recycling services and centers ask that you clean the foil before you toss it in with your other recyclables. If the foil only has a few bits of food like a spot of frosting or a few breadcrumbs, wipe them off and rinse the foil. But if the foil is very dirty with baked-on cheese, lots of greasy oil, or burnt sauces and gravies, it’s beyond saving. In those cases, you’ll have to throw it away. Separate items: If aluminum foil is part of a package like yogurt containers, paper boxes, or drink containers, separate it from the other materials. Once the materials are separated, make sure everything is clean. Anything that is recyclable can be put in your bin or taken to a recycling center. If foil can’t be separated from other materials, you’ll have to throw it away. •MJ selves. The boycott members said, “This is too little.” And, although Zuckerberg is pretending to be “ok” with it all, the truth is that he spends every waking moment on the phone trying to cajole his advertisers. All to no avail. They want real change, not cosmetic pablum. Public pressure in business has a long history, going back to the term “boycott” first being used in Ireland in 1880, when Captain Charles Boycott, a British land agent, attempted to evict a large number of poor tenants. A political action organization called the Land League convinced Boycott’s employees to walk out, and got the whole community to shun him. Shops and other establishments refused to do business with him, and the post refused his mail. He ultimately left Ireland humiliated. The corollary to the BOYcott is the term BUYcott, where consumers shop brands and products that share their deeper values. The bottom line message is to vote with your dollar and don’t contribute a cent to companies
• The Voice of the Village •
whose values are out of alignment with your own. I’ve put my life’s work into this mission, specifically seeing the business sector as a catalyst for change. In 2013, I co-founded JUST Capital which annually ranks the 1,000 largest publicly traded USA companies by how “JUST” they are. To determine what “JUST” behavior would look like to the average person, JUST Capital annually conducts thousands of interviews all across the country – over 100,000 at this point. By looking at the JUST Capital rankings published by FORBES and carried on our website, every consumer can tell which companies reflect their values so they can shop there… And which companies fall far short of JUST behavior. Congratulations to all of us who’ve been speaking up with our dollars to get what we want from the Business community. It looks like the best companies are starting to get the message, and we will leave the rest behind. •MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL
23
Muller Monthly Music Meta – July 2020 We are pleased to announce the affiliation of
Our new monthly music-themed crossword puzzle is created and brought to you by Montecito resident Pete Muller and runs in the Washington Post and the Montecito Journal. Thank you, Pete, for playing with your home team!
What is a Meta Crossword Puzzle?
A JEFFREY M. DAVIS Vice President, Wealth Management D 805.730.3352 jeffrey.davis@raymondjames.com
with
Granada Building 1216 State Street, Suite 500 Santa Barbara, CA 93101 O 805.730.3350 raymondjames.com/daviswa Raymond James & Associates, Inc., member New York Stock Exchange/SIPC. 20-BR3GD-0083 TA 6/20
J ARROTT
&
CO.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS
SPECIALIZING IN 1031 TAX-DEFERRED EXCHANGES AND
TRIPLE NET LEASED
M ANAGEMENT F REE
INVESTMENT PROPERTIES WITH NATIONAL TENANTS CALL
Len Jarrott, MBA, CCIM 805-569-5999 http://www.jarrott.com
DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION 50 + YEARS EXPERIENCE - LOCAL 35+ YEARS
• FLOOR LEVELING • QUALITY REMODELING • FOUNDATION REPLACEMENTS • FOUNDATIONS REPAIRS • NEW CONSTRUCTION • RETAINING WALLS • FRENCH DRAINS – WATERPROOFING • SITE DRAINAGE SYSTEMS • UNDERPINNINGS – CAISSONS • STRUCTURAL CORRECTION WORK • CONCRETE DRIVEWAYS
805.698.4318 FREE INSPECTION William J. Dalziel Lic#B311003 – Bonded & Insured visit our site at:
www.williamjdalziel.com billdalziel@yahoo.com
24 MONTECITO JOURNAL
meta crossword puzzle provides the ultimate “aha” moment, challenging the solver to come up with a single answer somehow hidden in the puzzle. Hints to the answer can come from the title, the Muller has enjoyed solving theme entries, the clues, or the grid. If I’ve done my job as a constructor, once you get the meta, you’ll Pete crosswords since he was a teenager. He started creating them in 2005 know it. If you’re thinking, “Hmmm…maybe this is it,” you probably haven’t found the meta yet! published his first NY Times puzMetas are well-suited to contests, since it’s hard to cheat on a meta. An obscure crossword clue like and zle in 2006. While Pete is known for [Nickname for President Van Buren, from his birthplace] can be answered in a second using Google his innovative and tricky puzzles, he (“OLD KINDERHOOK”), but you can’t do the same for a meta. While googling is considered cheating places primary importance on creating a fun experience for the solver. (to some) in solving a crossword, googling is encouraged in solving metas. The meta answer will usually be reasonably well-known to most solvers. If it’s not, it will definitely be accessible via a web search.
For more information or to submit an answer, please go to https://pmxwords.com. Those submitting correct solutions before the contest deadline (8pm PT, Sunday July 12) will be eligible to win a free MMMM mug.
July 2020 Jazz Combos by Pete Muller
Muller Monthly Music Meta http://www.pmxwords.com
Jazz Combos
ACROSS 1 Adjective for a famous foursome 4 Boom preceder 7 Animal on a Meat Loaf album cover 10 Pier gp. 13 Food, once 15 "What you did with that bull was just amazing!" 16 Discouraging words 17 Country where Christmas Eve dinner is traditionally 12 courses 18 Utah mountain range with some of the best skiing in America 20 Spanish port of departure for Columbus 21 Roller requirement 23 One-percenters 25 Jacket that sounds like it should be green 26 Title starter of one of Tony Orlando and Dawn's biggest hits 27 Raven-ous initials? 29 Grammy winner Lennox 31 Subaru compacts since 1992 35 Super-long stretch 36 Sci-fi movie staple 39 Had dinner at 10, say 40 It's red, black, white, and explosive in Minecraft 41 "___ Wiedersehen, My Dear" (old song) 42 What could help you make tracks? 44 Actress Bialik of "The Big Bang Theory" 46 Place in Toto's biggest hit: Abbr. 47 "Dream on!" 51 Very few 54 Animal in a Tennessee Williams play title 56 Yellow-bellied? 58 Poet, sometimes 59 Something one might be called to 60 Colorful comparisons 62 Animal on a Cher album cover 63 Letter that doesn't appear in this puzzle 64 Some hand wavers 65 Doubly dashed digits, for short 66 Superlative ending 67 Initials for people who like to shoot 68 Deadlock deciders, for short DOWN 1 Water tap 2 Anti-acid?
1
2
3
13
4
5
6
7
14
9
20
21
23
24
26
27
37
38
22 25
28
29
32
33
30
34
35 40
42
44
43
45
46
51
12
19
39
41
11
16
18
31
10
15
17
36
8
52
47
53
54
56
57
59
60
62
63
64
65
66
67
48
49
50
55 58
61
68
The meta for this puzzle is a category describing some jazz performances.
3 Secret spiller, in a saying 4 Appropriate 5 The Elephant in Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," e.g. 6 Dance part 7 Stardust, once 8 Singer-songwriter Davis 9 Precedent setters 10 Private computer web 11 When tripled, a key to valuing real estate 12 Wan 14 Cocktail containing orgeat syrup 19 Boatloads 22 Type of court that doesn't consider new evidence 24 They're divisive 28 Monty ___ (band from Cranston whose name includes a pun on their home state) 30 Tree "herder" of fiction
“I want my children to have all the things I couldn’t afford. Then I want to move in with them.” – Phyllis Diller
32 Great Dane of comic strip fame 33 ___ Dingbats (computer font) 34 Breakout firm of the '70s? 36 Nanny watcher, perhaps 37 Llama lookalikes 38 Words after "Catch Us" in a Dave Clark Five song title 43 Sheik Yerbouti, presumably, and others 45 Pay-mind connection 48 Visit on a cruise, say 49 What a caret means to an editor 50 "Word Freak" author Stefan 52 Van Pelt in the comics 53 Large chamber group 55 Pyle of ineptness 56 They often appear before crosses 57 Military awards that started during WWI 61 Potent ending?
© 2020 Muller 9 –Pete 16 July 2020
For your dream home NEW LISTING | 949TOROCANYON.COM
NEW LISTING | 703PARKLANE.COM
1185FIFE.COM
580TOROCANYONPARK.COM
Iconic Masterwork by Barton Myers
Spanish Colonial Revival Gem
Premier Birnam Wood Golf Club Home
Stunning Montecito View Site
MONTECITO | 4BD/5BA | $8,200,000
MONTECITO | 6BD/7BA/1HBA | $6,385,000
MONTECITO | 5BD/6BA/1HBA | $5,900,000
MONTECITO | $5,500,000
V. Leebosh C. Santandrea 805.452.0212
Maureen McDermut 805.570.5545
Harry Kolb 805.452.2500
Sandy Stahl 805.689.1602
1301WESTMOUNTAIN.COM
NEW LISTING | 1463VICENTIPLACE.COM
1708PATERNARD.COM
87SEAVIEW.COM
Modern Single-Level Home
Exclusive Sea Meadow
Riviera Classic Paterna Rd
Designer Tree Top Living
SANTA BARBARA | 3BD/2BA/1HBA | $4,995,000
MONTECITO | 2BD/2BA/1HBA | $4,200,000
SANTA BARBARA | 5BD/3BA/1HBA | $3,495,000
MONTECITO | 2BD/2BA | $2,650,000
Joe McCorkell 805.455.7019
Jason Siemens 805.455.1165
Ray Benenate 805.448.7988
Julie Greener 805.895.4616
685TOROCANYON.COM
740SKYVIEWDRIVE.COM
8CELINEDRIVE.COM
1510SANLEANDROLANE.COM
Stunning Ocean Views
Montecito Garden Retreat
Mid-Century Modern Oasis
Montecito Build-able Parcel
SANTA BARBARA | 3BD/5BA | $2,525,000
MONTECITO | 3BD/2BA/1HBA | $2,295,000
SANTA BARBARA | 3BD/2BA/1HBA | $2,275,000
MONTECITO | $1,450,000
V. Leebosh C. Santandrea 805.452.0212
Linda Borkowski 805.252.7305
Carly Moore 805.443.0350
Sandy Stahl 805.689.1602
MONTECITO & SANTA BARBARA BROKERAGES | SOTHEBYSHOMES.COM/SANTABARBARA © 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. DRE License Numbers for All Featured Agents: Vivienne Leebosh: 01229350 | Caroline Santandrea: 01349311 | Maureen McDermut: 1175027 | Harry Kolb: 00714226 | Sandy Stahl: 1040095 | Joe McCorkell: 2051326 | Ray Benenate: 778964 | Julie Greener: 1250774 | Linda Borkowski: 1970135 | Carly Moore: 2006372 | Sandy Stahl: 1040095 |
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
25
A Good Sign by Jennifer Freed, PhD Jennifer Freed PhD is the best-selling author of USE YOUR PLANETS WISELY and a renowned psychological astrologer and social and emotional education trainer. She is the CCO of Ahasb.org. Jennifer has spent over thirty years consulting clients and businesses worldwide on psychological, spiritual, and educational topics. She can be reached at www.jenniferfreed.com
Shout Out to Birthday Darling Rendy Freedman of Montecito
R
endy Freedman is the co-founder of AHA! (www.ahasb.org), which is celebrating 21 years of serving teens, educators, and families. She is the proud mother of three amazing adults and two irresistible grandchildren. Rendy is beloved for her endless warmth, compassion, and her great capacity to work hard and play with abandon. Look for Rendy this summer enjoying her ocean swims, and then having a bright cocktail at a social distance. This month we are dealing with the virus and fierce and important social justice issues. Each of us will need to be part of the solution instead of adding to the problems. The worst thing we can do right now is create more separation or animosity between us. In order to bring our best to the enormous challenges this month we need to undo our shame, and promote noble qualities and conscious social engagement. Read each sign this month for clues on how to become more effective in social transformation. Using the energies of each astrological sign, we can tap into what may be underneath the shame – and can then find direction for dignifying our recovery from it.
Aries the Ram
they become consumed with drama. They have a deep core need to be on the throne of others’ admiration. They can dignify those deep needs for primacy and affection by realizing that wanting love is the most natural thing in the world. Learning how to make self-love the pinnacle of fulfillment is the key. Leos can be the HEART for the drumbeat of social change.
Virgo the Vestal Virgin
The Virgo can feel shame for feeling so utterly imperfect – for failing to live up to impossible virtues and standards. Virgos struggle with intense themes of criticism of themselves and others, which leads them to feel ashamed about their pettiness. They can dignify themselves by realizing that the quest for perfection is beautiful, and that the road to perfection is a pothole parade. They can learn to love the potholes as if they were each an oasis in a desert. Virgos can teach us all discernment and refinement.
Libra the Scales of Balance
Libras can feel shame for wanting to be liked so much that they sacrifice authenticity for social chits. They feel ashamed of being too much in response to others, and about how they merge their identities with those of the people they are with; they can dignify themselves by realizing that harmony and collaboration are beautiful values. They can remember that if they ask first for what they need and want, the chances for balance increase. Libras can hold both sides and see the common good.
Scorpio the Scorpion
Scorpios tend toward shame for having so much self-hatred; they are even ashamed of their shame. The dark thoughts and feelings Scorpios deal with make them feel like they are subhuman in some way. They can dignify themselves by recognizing that dark thoughts and feelings are the reason humans know light. Their experience of darkness is a superpower – especially when they help themselves and others to liberate these feelings from the prison of judgement. Scorpios can help us find the emotional courage to face the hardest times.
Aries people tend to feel shame for impulsive behaviors, acting out, or lashing out. They often feel ashamed of how badly they want to be central to others. They can dignify themselves by realizing that all rash behavior comes from inner irritation and a lack of emotional soothing, and by recognizing that wanting to be seen and acknowledged is a powerful longing – one that, when met with true compassion, does not have to emerge as a monopolizing, reckless energy. Aries can be the leaders in protecting safety and standing up for the underdog.
Sagittarius the Archer
Taurus the Bull
Capricorn the Sea-Goat
Taurus people tend to feel shame for needs around material security, stability, and control. They often feel shame for their focus on money. They can dignify themselves by realizing that their yearnings for comfort are part of being incarnated. When they upgrade their longing for material security to a strong sense of moral and social grounding, they can become a truly stabilizing force for others.
Gemini the Twins
Geminis can feel shame for being careless with actions and words and being all over the place in their minds. They often feel ashamed for being unrooted and insubstantial. These parts of the self can be dignified by realizing that the winds of the mind are not their true nature. The Gemini can feel self-compassion for feeling so spun around and can actively find ways to ground and stabilize their mind. Geminis can be the most effective at inspirational speech and writing.
Cancer the Crab
Cancerians may feel shame for underlying neediness, clinginess, dependency, and a deep orientation around security. They often have a deep shame for feeling so sensitively and having their feelings hurt so easily. They can dignify themselves by validating the desire for emotional closeness and the ability to mutually and vulnerably share intimacy. In recognizing that “home” is a legitimate longing, the Cancerian can feel proud to share their dreams for their ideas of home and family. They can allow others to know that underneath their shell of proficiency, they are highly sensitive souls who can be cut deeply by insensitivity. Cancers can be the sense of HOME we are all looking for.
Leo the Lion
Leos can feel shame for wanting to be adored and loved so much that
26 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Sagittarians feel shame for feeling superior – for thinking they know more than others and have the right opinion on everything – and, paradoxically for the inferiority complex that lies on the flip side of that sense of superiority. They can dignify themselves by becoming aware that the need to be right is about fear of uncertainty, and that fear is a beautiful emotion when greeted with compassion and curiosity instead of an emotional bypass. Sagittarius can bring the joy of earnest truth. Capricorns can feel shame around constant ambitious desires for recognition and success, as well as a secret shame for feeling like a fraud and failure. They may feel disgrace due to feelings of inadequacy and a lack of control. They can dignify themselves by validating the need for others to know how much effort they put into their contributions. Capricorns can address feelings of failure and inadequacy as natural outgrowths of having high standards and expecting more of oneself than is reasonable. They can come to see failure as just another word for learn and redirect. Capricorns can show us how to climb the great mountain with patient determination.
Aquarius the Water Bearer
Aquarians feel shame for their eccentric and unusual ways of seeing the world and for being different. They often feel ashamed for being at odds with their peers and for feeling out of place socially. They can dignify themselves by understanding how important being “not-normal” is to the development of the human race. Instead of being defensive and rebellious about how they feel different, they can soften with others about the ways in which they do not feel they belong. Aquarians can reveal a higher vision of the collective.
Pisces the Fish
Pisceans can feel shame for their unbearable emotional sensitivity and the longing to be saved by another. They often feel cowardly and weak because they are overwhelmed with feeling and dependency needs. They can dignify the vastness of their sensitivity by recognizing that feelings are always a call for love and intimacy; they can learn with others how to host feelings in a bigger story of impermanence and flow, and to find support systems to build true, dependable structures in their habits and lives. Pisces can demonstrate selfless compassion and empathy. •MJ
9 – 16 July 2020
LETTERS (Continued from page 11)
say that our suspicion of intelligence goes back to our roots as an item of national pride. I have recently started to hyphenate when mentioning the POTUS (he who shall not be named). With so many fascinating, dusty old grown up (or should I say adult) words beginning with our alphabet’s 16th letter, the fellow is clearly a P-resident. Whether Popinjay Prevaricator (no lie) or Pusillanimous Putz (not mean spirited enough) his list, like dead Jacob Marley’s chain, grows ever longer. Pompous? Pandering? Perfidious? Profligate? Take your pick. (Puling and Prurient don’t go hand in hand but you can look them up.) They too are relevant. The July 2 column Purely Political which still touts a “seriously flawed human” and plans to vote for him makes it plain how partisan dreams die hard. The nation has already had our own version of the D.T.’s for four years; complete with tremors and terrifying delusions we try to awaken from this binge. Apparently once the red state Koolaid is drunk (or the red pill ingested) there is no vaccine for afflicted Republicans and a low recovery rate for many. Sean Hutchinson
Our Banana Republic: Part Deux
So, last week our annually convened citizen Grand Jury released a devastating (not hyperbole!) report on our local cannabis industry that exposed the dark underbelly of how our County conducts business and the systemic changes necessary to restore, if that’s even possible, the public trust. Allow me to explain. As it relates to Cannabis, it outlined what many of us already knew. We knew that the Supervisors created a 2-person Ad-Hoc committee to skirt our Sunshine Laws and prevent open public hearings. We also knew that the Ad-Hoc gave “nearly unfettered access” to growers and lobbyists while crafting the ordinance. What the Jury learned was that they failed to create agendas or take minutes to “avoid Public Record Act Requests for such documents” – so much for open government! They also found lobbyist emails more like “attempts to command,” ultimately describing them as “unnerving.” The Jury often focused on an issue that I have previously written about (hence the “Part Deux”): Our uniquely different ethical milieu. We have no Contribution Moratoriums around Supervisor votes, creating a “pay to play” perception. Nor do we have obvious Supervisor Recusal Requirements, or an Ethics Commission. It appears that, apparently, we also don’t have Disclosure or Conflict of Interest rules 9 – 16 July 2020
that extend to senior county staffers. This may have allowed non-elected staffers – on their own – to forcefully challenge and ultimately change an APCD Advisory that required a onemile Cannabis buffer zone. So much for an “independent” agency designed to protect our air quality. Hypothetical Question: Could highly compensated/pensioned staffer(s) be permitted to hold undisclosed consulting gigs while helping to craft a County-wide and uniquely different/pro-piece of Cannabis legislation? Just curious… Our $1.2B County continues to overplay the $6M or so in annual taxes (not including expenses!) that cultivation generates. In reviewing the numbers, the Jury took issue with SB’s unique tax scheme that makes us de-facto pot partners by tying our tax fortunes to unverifiable and price fluctuating Cannabis-cash-receipts. “Used nearly ubiquitously in CA,” is the more easily verified square-footage-grown tax method. Using this method Monterey, for example, is collecting more than 2X the amount of taxes against just 62 permitted, INDOOR ONLY, acres. Presently, SB has 217 permitted acres (1,700 allowed), i.e. Monterey is collecting 8X more per acre than SB. Curious wouldn’t you agree? The Jury also discovered that none of the tax-related discussions resulting in our Cannabis-friendly scheme included our elected County Treasurer-Tax Collector. This exclusion was also the handiwork of the Ad-Hoc and certain senior staffers. Things really do get “curiouser and curiouser.” PLEASE, take 15 minutes and read the 26-page eye-popping report and the 12 recommendations made to the Supervisors (uggh!), which completely validates the recent Reasonable Cannabis lawsuit against the County. As a former Prosecutor, I was recently asked to handicap the likely follow-up of other hometown-trained and hometown-curious agencies? Well, although the Jury’s investigation was County “hindered” (their word), delayed and deeply disturbing, I wouldn’t hold your breath because, believe you me, SBC is truly a banana republic. Be vigilant, be involved and stay healthy! Jeff Giordano
The “Cancel Culture” of today seems just as foolish. In the last few weeks, modern day justice warriors and complicit useful idiots in the media, universities, and corporate image departments, have fired their shotguns at everything from people and brands to movies and ropes targeting the vague enemy of systemic racism. Editors at the New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Bon Appetit, and Variety have been fired or demoted, not for publishing lies, slurs, epithets, or hate, but for publishing opinions shared by millions of citizens. Brands such as Uncle Ben’s, Aunt Jemima, Eskimo Pie, and Mrs. Butterworth’s have been forced to change names not because of any discrimination or abuse practiced by their owners, but because the new woke crowd think they evoked images of historical prejudice. Realtors are being told that they shouldn’t use the term “Master Bedroom” when selling a house. Modern day book burning takes the form of removing Gone With the Wind from the film catalog and closing Splash Mountain at Disneyland, because they allegedly chronicle a part of history in a light this enlightened generation doesn’t want to see. Tearing down statutes and renaming buildings and schools doesn’t stop at the few that glorify slavery but extends to anything honoring anybody who had beliefs, held opinions, or engaged in practices which were popular at the time they lived but are deemed “culturally offensive” or “troubling” today. In some instances, mere existence at a point in time is cause for condemnation. Anyone who doesn’t fall in line with the group thought is viewed suspiciously or labeled part of the problem. There is no room for disagreement. The Thought Police of Oceania are in control. What should be next in the cross hairs of these rewriters of history?
First of all should be the renaming of the Democratic Party, the historical party of slavery, Jim Crow, and segregation. It is no excuse that the party’s attitudes and actions towards segregation have changed dramatically over the years: the cultural warriors do not recognize changing times. In their world, you inherit and are responsible for the sins of your fathers. The next demand should probably be for the elimination of the use of the word South as a noun. Too offensive. Too troubling. It conjures up historical injustice. Others that should have to go: Colonel Sanders for obvious reasons; All things Dixie (Chicks already done, Winn-Dixie Supermarkets, Stephen Foster songs, Dixieland Music); William Faulkner and Mark Twain; Gospel Music; Cotton. It is hard to imagine anything pre-1960 that isn’t culturally offensive or troubling to someone if they, like Humpty Dumpty, can define a word to mean just what they choose it to mean. What happened in Minneapolis to George Floyd is reprehensible, just as is the weekly bloodbath in Chicago’s South Side. Police brutality is disgusting no matter who the victim is. Substandard education in minority communities is unacceptable. Street gangs whether they are White, Black, Asian, or Hispanic, are a menace everywhere they are allowed to exist. Absentee fathers and the breakdown of the nuclear family are proven contributors to high school drop out rates, crime, and economic inequality. These are real issues requiring real discussion and real change. They are not going to be solved by toppling statutes of George Washington, firing an editor for publishing an Op-ed piece someone disagrees with, or changing the name of a popular ice cream bar. Lawrence W. Dam •MJ
Summer Weight Loss Special! $140 per month and ini:a:on fee waived Includes:
・Personalized diet plan ・Prescrip:on weight loss medica:on ・Monthly 30' mee:ngs with Dr Edman
Cancel Culture Craziness
・Monthly body composi:on analysis ・Op:onal B12/lipotropic injec:ons for an energy boost
If someone were to suggest that the tragic memory of the 2018 mudslides in our community could be forgotten or ameliorated by changing the name of Montecito to something else, you would no doubt call him a fool. The name of the city clearly has nothing to do with this sad moment in our history, and removing the name today isn’t going to retroactively substitute for poor forest management and lax flood control in the past.
Summer is upon us with a "new normal". Admit it though, for many of you "the new normal" includes 5-15 pounds of new fat. We can help you transform back to your pre-COVID self. Dr Edman can help you now (and if hormones are involved, you should have called yesterday). Many of our clients who were in the weight loss program actually LOST WEIGHT during the lockdown. Can you say that? Call 805.452.1252 for a free consult with Dr Edman to determine if this program is appropriate for you. Three month minimum. Fees paid in advance. Other condi:ons apply. Act Now - this offer is good for July only.
107 West Gu+errez Street edmanclinic.net 805.452.1252
• The Voice of the Village •
The #1 SB Weight Loss Center on Yelp!
MONTECITO JOURNAL
27
Dear Montecito
ities that opened my eyes to a love of science, but I still didn’t know what I wanted to do with it. I knew I wanted to help people. When figuring out what I wanted to do, sometimes I’d reflect back on my years in Montecito. I’d think about our Service Learning class at Crane, sorting items at the food bank or playing with bunnies. I’d think about a program I belonged to called Assisteens where we’d work on different programs aimed at helping the community. My favorite was volunteering at the school store for kids from underprivileged families, a store that allowed families to pick out a few outfits, new shoes, and other essentials, all for free. It is a little-known fact that there are some
by Stella Pierce
Montecito Alumni Write Letters from Life’s Front
R
aise your hand if you’ve ever wondered why medical workers do what they do. Don’t be shy. No one can see you after all, you’re reading a newspaper. It’s a natural thing to watch news footage of hospitals, the beds packed, the staff tired and wonder how anyone could want to go into healthcare (even when there isn’t a global health crisis). As someone who has at times been attracted to the medical field herself, I’ll be frank: I question the faculties of those who willingly pursue such a taxing, and often, dangerous job. So I’m thankful. Thankful to the front liners and thankful that this pandemic, if anything, has granted us a renewed value for our medical personnel. Still, there is something lacking, and I know what it is. It’s a question. (I adore all things medical; I love the new tools to locate cellular changes and the squishy organs with special enzymes, but I understand that my interest is not a popular one.) And the
question persists: why go into healthcare? Well folks, today we’re hearing from Anna Martin – someone to remind us why medical workers do what they do.
Dear Montecito,
My name is Anna Martin. I was born in San Francisco and have spent the majority of my life in the Bay Area. In fact, I only lived in Montecito for two years. You see, we came up here often when I was younger to spend time with my cousins and grandparents who live here. My early memories of Montecito are speckled with what these vacations were like: visits to the beautiful beaches, playing with my cousins in the sand, all that good stuff. But that was just vacation. Real life is a little more complicated. Some years later, my family decided to move down to Santa Barbara while my sister and I started attending the seventh grade at Crane Country Day School. It should be well known
Exceptional Architectural Finish (805) 450-2049 | JAMES@JJCSB.NET
28 MONTECITO JOURNAL
I knew I wanted to help people. When figuring out what I wanted to do, sometimes I’d reflect back on my years in Montecito. knowledge that moving schools (especially during middle school) is never easy. My first year at Crane was rough. I met some people who are now lifelong friends, but not everyone was as nice. I remember one math class in particular. We were all doing our individual practice work when one classmate turns around and asks me: “Hey. Anna, don’t you live behind the El Pollo Loco?” I don’t remember ever having been asked a question that made me feel so small. I wanted something biting to snap back at him. I probably said something along the lines of: “Yeah, you got a problem with that?” The boy turned around and just laughed with his friends sitting next to him. I think I went home that day and thought of a million things I could have said to him. Like: “Yeah, does it matter?” Or maybe just: “No, I actually live behind the 7/11.” Oh well, it was seventh grade. People were mean. I did live in the San Roque area, so he was right. I lived near the El Pollo Loco, and my family got dinner from there on a few occasions. Is there anything wrong with that? Real life isn’t vacation. This wasn’t the Montecito I was used to seeing on visits to my grandparents’ house, but there were good things that I didn’t have before. After all, Crane was where I really discovered an interest in science. Under the beloved Phil von Phul and the affable Pat Bixler, we learned about Physics by building boats and Chemistry by burning Cheetos. These were the sort of activ-
“When a man opens a car door for his wife, it’s either a new car or a new wife.” – Prince Philip
families that cannot afford multiple outfits for their children, and so the kids take turns going to school and wearing that outfit. This means that the children miss out on attending school and developing integral skills needed in life. I believe it was this program that showed me how much I really wanted to help people and showed me how much I wanted to incorporate this into my future career. I currently attend the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina. There, I am studying Biology, so I can become a nurse. Choosing nursing wasn’t easy. I knew I liked science and helping others, but I wasn’t sure what that held for me. I did struggle, like any college student, with wanting to – maybe – switch majors. During times I felt discouraged, I often considered other paths for myself (for a while, I thought I’d become an elementary school teacher). However, it became clear: I loved science too much to give up on the medical field. I really would like to be a pediatric nurse one day. I love children and think that if I can help some of them to feel better, then I want that opportunity. To all those who are entering college soon, it is unfortunate that, because of the way things have been, making new friends will not be as easy as it might have been. But I challenge you to get creative. Reach out to others in your classes, meet the neighbors in your dorm, leave your door open on move-in day. I know it might seem very scary and intimidating, but honestly, everyone is feeling the same way. College is a chance to meet new people and grow as a person. Reach out, challenge yourself. You’ll never know unless you try. •MJ 9 – 16 July 2020
Profiles
by Amelia Buckley
Helping you achieve your goals has always been ours
Amelia Buckley is a class of 2020 graduate from UC Santa Barbara and works as an editorial and communications associate for The Optimist Daily.
Chef Nancy Weiss: Kitchen to Community
Congratulations to Steve Hepp for being named to the 2020 Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list.
W
ith her captivating and confident demeanor, Chef Nancy Weiss says she often gets confused for a New Yorker. In reality, her love affair with food began a little closer to the Santa Barbara area where she would eventually cultivate her culinary career. Growing up in Los Angeles, Weiss became infatuated with the kitchen at age 12 and formed a relationship with food that would last a lifetime. The daughter of a dedicated teacher working long hours and an Eastern European Holocaust survivor, Weiss’ early relationship with food was tumultuous. She describes her mother as an “anti-domestic” whose weekday eating habits alternated between family McDonalds meals and intense dieting. Weekends were Weiss’ solace. While her mother frequented the beauty parlor, Weiss and her father watched movies, either John Wayne, Tarzan, or war movies, and Nancy meticulously
The JJD Group Steve Hepp, CIMA® Senior Vice President Wealth Management Advisor 805.963.6362 stephen_hepp@ml.com
Nancy Weiss has been a food leader in Santa Barbara for over 30 years
planned out what she would cook for the family. Faced with limited ingredients, she would make do with what she could find to feed her parents and
PROFILES Page 304
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management 1424 State Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 805.963.0333
Source: The Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” list, January 16, 2020. Data provided by SHOOKTM Research, LLC. Data as of June 30, 2019. The Forbes “Best-in-State Wealth Advisors” ranking was developed by SHOOK Research and is based on in-person and telephone due diligence meetings to evaluate each advisor qualitatively, a major component of a ranking algorithm that includes: client retention, industry experience, review of compliance records, firm nominations; and quantitative criteria, including: assets under management and revenue generated for their firms. Investment performance is not a criterion because client objectives and risk tolerances vary, and advisors rarely have audited performance reports. Rankings are based on the opinions of SHOOK Research, LLC and not indicative of future performance or representative of any one client’s experience. Rankings and recognition from Forbes are no guarantee of future investment success and do not ensure that a current or prospective client will experience a higher level of performance results, and such rankings should not be construed as an endorsement of the advisor. Neither Forbes nor SHOOK Research receives compensation in exchange for placement on the ranking. Forbes is a trademark of Forbes Media LLC. All rights reserved. For more information: www.SHOOKresearch.com. Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated (also referred to as “MLPF&S” or “Merrill”) makes available certain investment products sponsored, managed, distributed or provided by companies that are affiliates of Bank of America Corporation (“BofA Corp.”). MLPF&S is a registered broker-dealer, Member SIPC and a wholly owned subsidiary of BofA Corp. Investment products: Are Not FDIC Insured Are Not Bank Guaranteed May Lose Value The Bull Symbol and Merrill Lynch are trademarks of Bank of America Corporation. CIMA® is a registered service mark of the Investment Management Consultants Association dba Investments & Wealth Institute. © 2020 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved. ARRNFT7Q | AD-03-20-0225.B | 471003PM-0519 | 03/2020
Innovating, Together
What does True Community Banking mean? It means working together to find solutions under even the most trying of circumstances. It means we care about your employees as if they were our own. COMMERCIAL LOANS | COMMERCIAL LINES OF CREDIT | COMMERCIAL REAL ESTATE LENDING
Preferred SBA Lender
“My relationship with American Riviera Bank was key to getting a PPP loan. Now we’re working together to innovate and deliver the best experience for our customers under the new rules.” — Carlos Luna, Owner of Santo Mezcal, Los Agaves and Flor de Maíz, right, with brother and co-owner Christian 9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
AmericanRivieraBank.com 805.965.5942 Santa Barbara • Montecito • Goleta San Luis Obispo • Paso Robles MONTECITO JOURNAL
29
PROFILES (Continued from page 29)
two older brothers. These creative creations included meals such as blended canned asparagus with sour cream. Despite her mother’s disdain for the kitchen, Weiss remarks that they still reminisce humorously about her eclectic early meals. She smiles as she tells me that special occasions called for classics such as her father’s grilled steak, baked potatoes, and salad with blue cheese. Although simple compared to the recipes she would later create, Weiss describes these early childhood delicacies with fondness.
Putting Cooking on the Back Burner
Weiss took a step back from her asparagus endeavors as she headed north to complete her undergraduate degree in English at the University of California, Santa Barbara, but cooking quickly recaptured her attention after graduation. I had to ask: how does one go from majoring in English to a life in the food industry? Weiss says she has always loved to read and write, but after developing rheumatoid arthritis in her third year of undergrad, she was left feeling burnt out. She felt as though she had lost her drive. After dabbling in finance at a stock brokerage house, Weiss returned to her childhood passion and got a job as a prep chef at a local restaurant. She speaks with admirable honesty about the transition. She is naturally gifted in the kitchen and she knows it. She says, “I am very quick, super organized, and very creative with food. I have good technique.” Weiss’ love of writing did not dissipate as she focused on food. She says she found great pleasure in writing the menu: “I had a lot of fun describing food.” She explains writing about food isn’t too different from writing about literature. They are both artistic endeavors. If you’re going to interview Chef Nancy Weiss, you’d better do it on a full stomach. Listening to her describe some signature items, it’s clear she crafts a captivating menu. She easily conjures up images of bacon wrapped oysters and fattoush salad. She lights up as she tells me about these memorable dishes. Her passion for the craft shines through her vivid descriptions.
Going Solo with SOhO
In 1986, at age 26, she took a leap of faith and opened her own restaurant: SOhO. Tucked into an enclave on State Street, the intimate food and music venue was her pride and joy. Although it was difficult and demanding, she poured herself into its success. She speaks affectionately of its success, but it took all of her. It is part of the reason she never had kids. While
30 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Weiss sources produce from a local Santa Barbara County farm
other friends were settling down, she spent her entire reproductive years cooking hard. The restaurant was like her child. She explains the feeling vividly: “I remember just not having the appetite for a relationship at that time because my relationship with the restaurant was so deep and satisfying.” When her mother’s health declined and she began to feel overwhelmed traveling between Santa Barbara and Los Angeles, she made the difficult decision to let the restaurant go. She sold her shares and began looking for a job with the initial goal of just finding one with a healthcare plan to cover her arthritis care.
Engaging with Education
No children meant that when Weiss took a job as a chef for the Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD) in 2000, she had no idea the kind of food being served to these kids. Quite frankly she tells me, it was “chicken nuggets and garbage.” She now had a new project: getting healthier food to local kids. Her childhood expertise of whipping together meals with limited ingredients surprisingly prepared her perfectly for the new role. Determined to make nuggets healthier, she spiced up marinara sauce by dicing in carrots and celery and added it to the nuggets. Her improvised version of chicken parmesan was just the beginning. Soon she brought in farmers who she had developed relationships with at SOhO and got them contracts with
In 2015, Weiss won the Golden Carrot Award from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The award recognizes schools and food service directors across the country who work to create programs that encourage students to eat healthier and prevent disease.
the district. Lettuce, carrots, and other high demand goods were now coming from local vendors. To this day, SBUSD sources 30 percent of its ingredients from local suppliers. Her efforts to make healthy and delicious food a part of every child’s school day did not go unnoticed. In 2008, SBUSD began to take active steps towards district-wide revamping of its food systems. Weiss interviewed for the position of food director. When she got it she was able to expand her ideas county-wide.
A Down-to-earth Cooking Philosophy
So how do you make healthy food appealing to kids? It’s a pretty key part of the job. Weiss’ philosophy is simple: you make the classics using fresh, unprocessed ingredients. Grilled cheese, spaghetti and meatballs, pizza, but all from scratch. You make homemade ranch dressing and get kids excited about eating
“Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” – Redd Foxx
their vegetables. For a highly accomplished chef, her relationship with food is refreshingly down to earth. You get the feeling that there is a time and place for haute cuisine and there is also a time for a simple turkey sandwich.
Changing Mealtime Culture
Along with her healthy ingredient mentality, she also aimed to change how students saw the culture of mealtime. She wanted lunch time to be a collective and communal part of the school day. She says it should be “a celebration of refueling your body.” Healthy lunch programs with whole student body participation are about more than just eating in fellowship. According to Weiss, at least 60 percent of the children in Santa Barbara participate in free lunch programs, meaning they qualify for a subsidized school meal each day. The dichotomy between students who receive free 9 – 16 July 2020
lunch and those who bring their own meal or buy lunch complicates the food culture on campus. She says at some schools, there were even student stores selling Domino’s pizza to wealthier children. Weiss had a different vision: work with the school food program, sell our healthier pizza, and have it available to all kids so nobody feels left out. Expanding food quality and diversity was a big part of getting more students on board with school lunch. Weiss offered a plant-based entree option every day. Creations such as nachos with vegan coconut cheese made the program accessible to more students. She also brought in food trucks to serve schools without permissible kitchens such as St. Rafael’s and Notre Dame’s. Weiss explains that, unfortunately, the district and nature of the industry is highly political. It took some pushing from locals to encourage the district to embrace healthier options.
A Political Perspective
Local Santa Barbara resident and founder of Kinko’s, Paul Orfalea, helped push the transition. In 2008, he took up funding kitchens with proper infrastructure and hired chefs to go into district kitchens and help train employees. His initiative coincided with Weiss’ promotion to director and a larger federal initiative to boost healthy food in schools promoted by Michelle Obama. These intersectional healthy food initiatives propelled the program towards a more nutritious future. According to Weiss, over the next three years, Orfalea sunk millions into this initiative with her as one of his key strategists. The work didn’t go unnoticed. In 2015, Weiss won the Golden Carrot Award from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. The award recognizes schools and food service directors across the country who work to create programs that encourage students to eat healthier and prevent disease. I was curious about how federal policies affect food programs on the local level. The Trump administration has been taking steps to reverse federal healthy food policies, but Weiss says, unless he raises the poverty line which allows families to apply for food subsidies, it won’t affect local programs.
Retirement and Greek Delicacies
Weiss retired from the SBUSD on January 12 of this year, on her 60th birthday. What’s next for the chef and community advocate? She’s definitely not giving up her busy schedule. She is starting a culinary program at the United Boys & Girls Club where she will be teaching one or two days 9 – 16 July 2020
a week. She is piloting a funding campaign to get similar culinary programs in clubs across the county. The Westside facility is named “Nancy’s Kitchen” in her honor. In her new role, she will feed her passion for food and education by teaching kids from elementary-aged to teens about cooking and gardening. She says, “There is so much curriculum that can come from the kitchen.” She plans to incorporate the student garden into her cooking classes and show how food goes from farm to table. She does this through projects such as harvesting radishes, pickling them, and eating them on homemade street tacos. Her first
class is St. Patrick’s Day and they will be celebrating with green smoothie recipes. Weiss has also been invited to start a senior citizen and student cooking collaboration project at a local retirement community, Pilgrim Terrace. Additionally, she will be working with the Good Samaritan Shelter to revitalize the greenhouses on one of their rural properties. She is bringing in her agricultural connections to repair and plant the greenhouses in order to use them to teach people about working in agriculture and growing their own produce. The program will serve about 200 individuals in the community who are housing insecure.
Weiss’ new schedule doesn’t sound much like a restful retirement, but for someone with her energy and drive, an empty schedule just isn’t an option. She loves the kitchen too much. I couldn’t help but ask what her favorite dish to make is. She says it’s moussaka: a Greek dish with layered grilled eggplant, tomato sauce, spinach, ground lamb, and Bechamel sauce. Something like a Greek lasagna. You can almost smell the garlic and slow cooked vegetables during her mouth-watering description. After 40 years of professional cooking, I wondered if she still cooked for pleasure in her free time. Her response: “Every single day.” •MJ
RELIABLE. RESPONSIVE. TRUSTED.
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
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
31
ENTERTAINMENT (Continued from page 20)
Obviously Zoom sound quality isn’t great. How do you cope with that? Well, there’s no point in trying to argue the audio quality of Zoom. It’s at best half the recording quality of a compact disc, so everything is muted. Dynamics are limited because the software is designed for working with voice. And for some reason, whenever I or any of my students play a B natural on the clarinet, it makes the whole program just kind of short circuit for a few moments and it sounds like they’re playing underwater. However, what my students do is pre-record what we’re going to work on in lessons and masterclass with the high-quality microphones and digital packages the Academy provided and then upload it to YouTube, which has a very high resolution. So we’re all listening in high fidelity and then discussing the pieces and working on them in person live on Zoom… We have gotten to a point where I can freeze a frame, I can screen share or zoom in on some physical issues with the fingers that they might be having and then circle it almost like John Madden does in an instant replay for an NFL football game. Basically, there’s been a lot of ways that I’ve adapted to being online that augmented my teaching, in a manner that makes me almost want to have a virtual video grease board when I teach normally when we can be in person again. You are a personable guy, and I recall from whenever I’ve attended one of your masterclasses on campus that you are very open and friendly with your students. So much so that the audience can feel that connection. Have you been able to establish comradery and cohesiveness online? Before MARLI started, when we were just starting to wonder how the world was going to work, I reached out to the students because I was really worried that we wouldn’t have that connection. But I’ve noticed through these three weeks so far that there’s a definite personality to my studio and it is a result of (the fellows) interacting with each other in our classes, and acting as a team… So we really have gone from zero to a tremendous working relationship and respect for each other very quickly. It’s something I believe that the Music Academy seems to foster, even if it’s only in a virtual electronic form. I don’t know how, but there’s some magic about MAW. The leadership has inspired us all to foster these relationships with our studios in the same manner as before. So the fellows are looking forward to working with each other again in person next summer, which helps create camaraderie. It’s really fun to say, “Oh, by the way, I just got back from getting takeout from the Public Market.” Then I show them the food and say, “Don’t worry. Next year after our masterclass, we will be eating the same meal together.” What has been among the highlights for you? Seeing how a couple of my students played live in the masterclass last Friday when the Compeers were there and hearing how much they miss performing. It did seem like we were in the same room when one even said he was feeling nervous like he would at a concert, and he forgot what it feels like. They all felt this sense of pride and excitement about giving a performance live for other people. What has been the most unexpected aspect, a hidden asset if you will, of working remotely with the fellows and other faculty? The beauty of (MAW President) Scott Reed’s vision. He realized early on that all these students would be floating out there between the end of this past school year and the coming one in a manner that’s quite surreal, without knowing whether they’d be in person in the fall, or back online, or perhaps taking a deferment. And that’s amid the uncertainty around musical performance and the ability to audition. He recognized the need for this musical island, this place that would be a sanctuary of learning, an almost holistic case for us to come together as a community. His team figured out how to manage everything from the equipment packages to coordinating schedules across the planets, and it’s been extraordinary how Scott’s vision for (MARLI) has come to life. I’m wondering if in teaching from your studio on the MAW campus, you get more a sense of that Miraflores vibe. I imagine it’s got to feel different than if you were at home. Definitely. But for me, it’s bittersweet because I can feel the ghosts of all my colleagues from afar and I miss their presence. But even though the campus is empty, knowing that everyone is part of this electronic musical current that is going on with MAW is really inspiring and I’m really proud to be part of it. Speaking of colleagues, you recently recorded an album with MAW pianist Conor Hanick – and a video of one of the pieces ran last week on the daily Concert Hall Online. What drew you to each other to form the duo? Why do you think it works? Because we both have a collective interest in exploring new music that is very accessible yet still incredibly rich in its authenticity. (What we play) isn’t like a solo flute and piano or solo violin and piano, where it’s a showcase for a single
32 MONTECITO JOURNAL
instrument. It’s truly collaborative music where the piano and the clarinet voice are one in their musical importance, more like three-hand piano where the composer’s voice is pulled across two instruments. Looking ahead, they’re saying it could be at least another six months before we’re going to have indoor concerts. What happens when you contemplate that possible reality? lt’s an anxious time for all musicians. But there’s more of an unsettling feeling if you’re in the age group of the fellows, 20-24, where they’re just about to launch their careers and they’ve got all of these hopes and dreams and nothing is tangible for an audition in the fall or a possible competition in the spring. It’s abstract on a level that they’ve never known. So it’s wonderful that MARLI has given them the electronic tools to start their own broadcasting of their musical expression. Supplying the fellows with technology packets and then the knowledge and practical experience of using it with some of the projects that they’re doing together – it’s incredible.
Navigating the Cyberspace World
MAW collaborative piano chair Jonathan Feldman, who is operating out of his home in New Jersey, has yet to make peace with the coronavirus-created conditions that have forced him to spend the summer connecting with the fellows from nearly 3,000 miles across the continent from Montecito. “I’m very happy to be home in the summer for the first time in twenty years, but it’s a challenge for my department,” he said. “We make music with partners, so it’s debilitating in many ways to try to do something online. It’s impossible with Zoom because of the lag time.” The first encounter with Zoom delay was a doozy, Feldman said. “One of my piano students would play and I started to sing with them and they slowed down to be in time with me. Then I accommodated the slowing down by going even slower, and they slowed down even more because they were hearing it later and they wanted to be with me. I realized it was better to keep my mouth shut.” Instead, Feldman has focused the studio on talking with the pianists about preparing a score, perhaps for a first rehearsal. “I have been showing them particular places that they have to watch out for, things where they might be uncomfortable physically or technically, and so that they have a concept of where the articulations are and how to approach the fine details,” he said. “It’s been very productive from that standpoint. And what MAW is doing with MARLI is quite remarkable in showing all the fellows how you can navigate in this cyberspace world, putting together all the pieces to the puzzle.” Working with the fellows and fellow faculty on layered recordings has been valuable too, he said, because, when it comes to COVID-19, “we’re in it and it ain’t going away.” “The (layering process) pinpoints your own musical interpretation because you have to be precise as to how you’re playing. When you’re playing live with someone, things can vary. Sometimes you want to hold a particular note for emotional purposes a little longer than you were earlier during rehearsal, or maybe you need to accommodate (a wind player’s) breathing. But with these processes you have to be very, very exact as to how you want to put it down. So from that standpoint in my business, it is very important. And it’s been good for me, because when it comes to computers, I’m techno-moronic.” PC ineptitude aside, Feldman teamed with MAW trumpeter Paul Merkelo for a performance of Honegger’s Intrada, one of the signature entries in the Music Academy Concert Hall Online daily postings. “It was done in sections and it was a lot of work, and it wasn’t very satisfying for me on a musical level (to make it),” he said. “Yet I was amazed at how the technology can be learned and utilized, which was fascinating.” Feldman, who also hosted an online masterclass with legendary pianist Emanuel Ax earlier in the summer at MARLI, his former classmate and current fellow faculty member at Juilliard, said he’s even more curious to see what happens with the project that the MAW fellows are putting together for the last week of the MARLI program and the two-week mentoring program that follows. “It’s really quite remarkable what can get done.” Feldman will close out his portion of the summer with a masterclass with Anne Epperson, who created the collaborative piano program at MAW. And he was also looking forward to the last studio meeting with the students which, he said, will be a conversation about what they’ve accomplished and what comes next. He interrupted himself while relaying that last part, though, because he caught something outside the window in his Bergen County, New Jersey, home. “There’s a deer crossing my driveway here, just looking around for something to eat,” he said. “It really is nice to be home.” •MJ
“The less Holy Spirit we have, the more cake and coffee we need to keep the church going.” – Reinhard Bonnke
9 – 16 July 2020
CHANGE THE WORLD Join Human Rights Watch’s Third Thursdays 4pm Zoom conversations to discuss current human rights issues at home and abroad and learn what you can do to affect positive change. NICOLE AUSTIN-HILLERY
JULY 16
Executive Director, U.S. Programw Voting Rights & Racial Inequities
ELIN MARTINEZ
AUGUST 20
Senior Researcher, Children’s Rights Access to Education & Covid-19
SEPTEMBER 17
EMMA DALY Acting Deputy Executive Director, Media 1st Amendment & Freedom of Press
BILLY HOFFMAN & RUBIN RUIZ
OCTOBER 15
Life Without Parole Project Managers, Children’s Rights Division Juvenile Justice
NOVEMBER 19
LAURA PITTER Deputy Director, U/S. Program Criminal Justice & Mass Incarceration
FOR MORE INFORMATION & TO REGISTER, CONTACT LIS LEADER, SANTA BARBARA HRW DIRECTOR LEADERE@HRW.ORG / 805.452.0219 9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
33
EDITOR’S LETTER (Continued from page 5)
So because of beach closures and stay-at-home orders I decided to use some quality quarantine time to do a deep dive on the Founding Fathers and see if I couldn’t defend them against Shaun King’s charges and vitriol. It seemed like a good, patriotic use of my Independence Day weekend. In the U.S. the Founding Fathers, their principles and doctrines and intentions, seem as oft invoked as the Bible – and for every conceivable purpose. Are the Founders worthy of our hero worship? Every U.S. President, at one point or another, invokes the Founding Fathers in order to wrap rhetoric in the flag. But the America of the Founding Fathers is 250 years old and bears little resemblance to today’s world. Could the Framers have possibly planned for the complicated challenges we face today?
The America of the Founding Fathers
The America of the Founding Fathers had a total population of four million, 500,000 of whom were African (or in some cases Native American) slaves. The city with the most slaves was Charleston, South Carolina. The city with the second highest slave population… New York. The most populous state in the Union was Virginia, a colony in which nine of our first ten presidents owned plantations. None of the privacy matters we grapple with today could have been anticipated by the Founding Fathers because there was no internet and electricity was still 100 years off. Surveillance meant someone literally lurking outside your window and invasion of privacy would have involved someone reading your mail, then resealing it with a counterfeit wax seal. The Postmaster General was not established until the Constitutional Convention of 1787, so concepts like vote-by-mail really couldn’t have been considered or even conceived of. Looking back on the Founding Fathers and their “intentions,” when the Second Amendment (the Right to Bear Arms) was written, there were only two kinds of guns: long barrel muskets and flint lock pistols, both of which took about half a minute to get off a shot and reload. The Electoral College was another Founding Father anachronism, in part enacted as a way to “count” slaves to gin up more delegates for slave states, while simultaneously denying slaves the actual right to vote. Historian and Pulitzer winner Garry Wills of Lincoln At Gettysburg speculated that without the additional slave state votes, Jefferson would have lost the presidential election of 1800. Just as, later, John Quincy Adams would have lost to Andrew Jackson. Others who lost the popular vote but won in the electoral college were Rutherford Hayes, Benjamin Harrison, W, and of course, Donald Trump.
Principles of the Founding Fathers
So here we are in July 2020, everyone’s nominee for Worst Year of the Millenia (the one thing on which we can all agree), and as just one facet of this tumultuous year the Founding Fathers and other heroes considered foundational are today being torn down either actually or metaphorically. Should their images and the ideas behind these men be protected at all cost? Or was George Washington a “monster” as Shaun King said? The Father of Our Country owned 317 slaves at Mount Vernon. He received his first personal slave at age 11. From all reports (and there are books about it) we know that Washington was a harsh taskmaster. In fairness, slavery was an accepted practice in human civilization almost since its inception. Perhaps this speaks as much to the fundamental brutality of which humanity has certainly proved capable as it does to the character of those who owned slaves. Almost every culture has had slavery at one point or another. And there are millions of slaves scattered around the globe right now according to the Walk Free Global Slavery Index. While the prevalence of slavery does not justify Washington’s slave ownership, should we factor in what was considered accepted practice in “civilized” society at that time? Washington’s false teeth, long thought to be wooden, were actually human teeth “purchased” from the mouths of Washington’s own living slaves. The documents regarding the provenance of his slave teeth are housed in the Library of Congress in the city named after himself. The wood teeth myth is even refuted on the Mount Vernon website where they admit GW’s teeth were human but don’t go so far as to say they were slave teeth. His slaves’ teeth. That’s the kind of fudging of history that exemplifies my public-school education. While it’s true that in those days it was not unheard of for poor people to sell their teeth to the wealthy, my guess is when that poor person was a slave, saying “no” to “Master” was not really a viable option. These are facts. You may not like these facts. I don’t like these facts. Especially today, I think we all have a desire for something pure we can cling to: forthright Founding Fathers, perfect heroes and, in the absence of perfect heroes, perfect documents. We are all fond of words to live by. Mottos. Commandments. Holy books. An immutable and inalienable Constitution. I was happy with my parades and my barbecues, my sparklers and my Kodachrome memories. But I
34 MONTECITO JOURNAL
The defaced Frederick Douglass statue July 6th, 2020 (www.mytwintiers.com)
am now aware of facts that can’t help but recolor those memories. These facts were certainly not told to my kids on their 5th grade Colonial Trip when they visited Mount Vernon. If ignorance is bliss, knowledge often comes with… well… a loss of innocence, consternation, Sturm und Drang. A need to take a position and perhaps even a need to take action. Like most of us, I grew up with the dignified Washington whose image is on our stamps and money. That upright guy bravely crossing the frozen Potomac at Valley Forge. Not a guy with 317 slaves working his tobacco farm, a man who pursued his runaway slaves with the same relentlessness with which he drove the British out of Trenton. I’m bothered by the complexity of Washington and even more bothered that for so long I was passively yet blissfully ignorant to all this. Ignorant that while I was at the beach enjoying fireworks, many African Americans seethed at July 4th, pained by its ironic and oft invoked references to the Land of the Free while they were, literally, shackled. In the early 1800s one black paper called the 4th “the bleakest day of the year. We wish we could blot it from the calendar.” And in fact, after the last of New York’s slaves were emancipated in 1827, many African Americans did not whatsoever celebrate the 4th and instead staged annual protests on July 5th. The former slave turned abolitionist Frederick Douglass delivered his famous speech, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” on July 5, 1852 to the Rochester (NY) Ladies Anti-Slavery Society. I think Douglass expressed best the July 4th quandary whereby we celebrate our patriots whilst acknowledging those excluded from the American achievement. Douglass wrote: “Fellow Citizens, I am not wanting in respect for the Fathers of this Republic. The signers of the Declaration of Independence were brave men. They were great men, too. (However) the point from which I am compelled to view them is not… the most favorable. Yet I cannot contemplate their great deeds with less than admiration. They were statesmen, patriots and heroes, and for the good they did, and the principles they contended for, I will unite with you to honor their memory.” Douglass goes on: “But I say with a sad sense of the disparity between us. I am not included within the pale of this glorious anniversary! Your high independence only reveals the immeasurable distance between us. The blessings in which you, this day, rejoice, are not enjoyed in common. The rich inheritance of justice, liberty, prosperity and independence, bequeathed by your fathers, is shared by you, not by me. The sunlight that brought light and healing to you, has brought stripes and death to me. The 4th of July is yours, not mine.” So how is Mr. Douglass’ legacy doing today? This past weekend, on July 5th, 2020, on the 168th anniversary of Mr. Douglass delivering that speech in Rochester, where he fled from his enslavement in Maryland, the statue of Frederick Douglass was desecrated, moved off its pedestal, and irreparably damaged. Which brings us to today, July 8th, and finding a path forward. I do not advocate “canceling” the 4th or tossing it in the river like the bust of some confederate general. But I do think the 4th should be a celebration that puts on display our Founding Fathers, warts and all. A multidimensional picture. A celebration for ALL Americans. More nuanced, inclusive, and most importantly, tied to the complete historical record. Maybe one day we’ll celebrate the 4th-to-the-5th of July. A grand, two-day celebration of black joy and white joy and every joy in between. Let’s honor those who suffered to get us where we are today, those who suffered at the hands of our enemies but also those who suffered at the hands of our Forefathers. •MJ
“When you’re in love it’s the most glorious two and a half days of your life.” – Richard Lewis
9 – 16 July 2020
Lorem ipsum
A TRADITION THAT HONORS A LIFETIME OF EXTRAORDINARY SERVICE AND VOLUNTEERISM IN SANTA BARBARA NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN! Please submit your nominations for the 77th Man & Woman of the Year by July 24 at 5 p.m.
MARK YOUR CALENDAR The 77th Man & Woman of the Year VIRTUAL Awards Ceremony will be on September 2 at 11:30 a.m. David Boyd (left) and Jelinda DeVorzon (center) with former SBF President & CEO Ron Gallo (right) at the 76th Man & Woman of the Year Awards on September 4, 2019.
For more information and to submit your nomination, please visit:
SBFoundation.org/MWAwards 9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
35
SUMMERLAND (Continued from page 14) Aspen, Georgia Brown Home, named for one of his daughters, which will be a pop up this summer. Born in Torrance, Brown has lived in California most of his life. He and his wife, Kristine, and their two children, Raleigh, 13, and Georgia, 12, moved to Montecito three years ago. The girls are also helping out their pop this summer in Summerland. Found most days hawking his wares at his newest venture, Brown also travels to L.A. one to two days a week to oversee the Big Daddy’s showroom and warehouse in the big city. His love for vintage and antique goods that catch his eye and that of noted designers and savvy shoppers – and crossing his palm with silver – began at a young age. “My grandfather took me to flea markets when I was a kid. We’d stop at estate sales too, as well as go golfing,” recalled Brown, “My grandfather never sold anything. He bought and gave it away. When I was twelve years old and I visited Hearst Castle with my maternal grandmother, I thought ‘Wow! Rich people love antiques.’” In his mid-twenties, Brown realized he needed to do something to subsidize his income as the general manager for a Los Angeles messenger service. He started dabbling in vintage and antique goods, selling at the Santa
Monica and Rose Bowl swap meets on weekends and would make as much money in one day as what he made all month at his day job. He says he “hasn’t looked back” since launching a career that has included traveling all over the U.S. and the world, shopping and buying while meeting “interesting and fun people” along the way. Brown also began buying income properties in Aspen, Texas and California as vacation rentals on VRBO and Home Away. His wife handles that aspect of their family run businesses, while their two children are helping out this summer at The Well. About 80% of the Lillie Avenue address that has been beautifully restored and enhanced is now open. Brown brought in huge olive trees, gave all the buildings a fresh coat of gleaming white paint, and is still working on finishing touches on the back building so the planning department can sign off on the final permit. The spot on the corner where Summerland’s original post office once stood is now filled with unique items as is the spot where many of us enjoyed coffee and social interaction once upon a time. Now you’ll find vintage and antique wares, Brown’s “upcycled” pieces (that’s recycled that’s been re-imagined and re-worked into something new, better, and with an upcycled price tag). There are garden fountain walls on display that can be recreated in your own garden (and already have been!) as well as a cool and funky back stone wall punctuated with old window and door frames. “I’ve coveted the space for twenty years,” Brown admitted, “I drove by one day and saw an available to rent sign,” He negotiated a lease with Helen Pollack (who is 101 by the way!) and her son Tom and says he hopes to purchase the property one day. Then the pandemic hit. Work stopped for about six weeks, but the gates opened just a few weeks ago.
The Well, which recently opened in the former Café Luna/ Summerland Oriental Rugs compound on Lillie Avenue in the heart of Summerland
“The mix of old with new is very key to success of that property,” says Brown, who is “upcycling” constantly with items like a stone mill stone that he turns into a table as well as upcycling lamps. “I try to stay ahead of all the other retailers,” says the cutting-edge tastemaker, whose four-year-old licensing deal for the Big Daddy collection with Pottery Barn was a result of the company copying him for years, he says. The capsule collection includes reclaimed wood bedroom furnishings. The Well also offers a mélange of services including home staging, interior design, and hardscaping. (Brown had already been out on four landscaping calls at the time of this interview.) And all employees are wearing masks, inside and outside. “People are excited about the 60’ fountain wall concept that we installed, as well as the fireplace wall,” noted the man who admits he always wanted a home and garden store. “We can come and build either at your home to your specs.” The 50’ Santa Barbara stone wall in the back embedded with old doors and windows can also be replicated with doors and windows selected from The Well inventory and grout color of a customer’s choice. It appears that “rich people” do love antiques. Within the first few weeks of opening items in the store were littered with SOLD signs and Brown says the substantiable sales will help
fill Santa Barbara county’s sales tax coffers. Garden items from Europe abound, as well as a massive, $24,000 bronze fountain that Brown purchased in Bel Air, but there are also succulents for $5. Shoppers can also buy a ceramic container to put together a quick gift with potting soil and rocks on hand (a great project for your kids while you shop perhaps?) or have the staff create a lovely plant arrangement. It’s nice to know that a new business is booming during these stressful and unnerving times. The world could use some good economic news these days.
More Buzz…
Longtime fixture Summerland Oriental Rugs has moved their showroom across the street to the former home of Clive Markey’s Pine Trader. Longtime treasure-filled Summerland Antiques Collective re-opened a few weeks ago and has been buzzing with activity adding to the retail mix… Carpinteria’s Porch is moving from Santa Claus Lane to Lillie Avenue (into the space formerly known as Just Folk and briefly as Letter Perfect). Porch solo proprietor Diana Dolan calls the move “bittersweet” as she will lose some outdoor space, but due to upcoming 101 improvements and a big construction project on the Lane, felt it was a good time to make the “unplanned” move. Dolan was looking for pop up space and ended up leasing the building, which has been painted inside and out with Summerland’s “historical white”... Sacred Space is open with social distancing (no more tea served, but the garden is open) Thursday-Sunday and since moving to Summerland three years ago, Jack and Rose Herschorn are loving living in the wee seaside town. Seems like any “for lease” sign in Summerland is hot these days… and retail is thriving. Summerland’s historical meaning as “a place of limbo between death and afterlife” takes on new meaning in the days of COVID.
Last word.
36 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Be safe. Wear a mask. Don’t share air. •MJ “Lead me not into temptation; I can find the way myself.” – Rita Mae Brown
9 – 16 July 2020
ON THE RECORD (Continued from page 6)
Das Williams Responds: “Everyone Gets Unfettered Access”
Since the Grand Jury’s report became public last week, numerous local news stories and editorials have appeared about Santa Barbara’s cannabis controversy, including a July 5 Los Angeles Times article by investigative reporter Joe Mozingo, whose previous reporting on Santa Barbara’s cannabis policy first uncovered many of the allegations of corruption and undue influence that were extensively catalogued in the new report. In that article, Williams claimed the paper was only presenting “one side” of the story, while Lavagnino accused the Grand Jury of being an out-of-touch bunch of squares. “The demographics of the Grand Jury are not reflective of the county as a whole,” he elaborated. “It is not at all surprising to me that a group of predominantly white senior citizens is uncomfortable accepting that cannabis is now mainstream.” This week, in an interview with the Montecito Journal, Williams claimed it was “ethically questionable” for any reporter to write about a Grand Jury report before an official response could be issued [it’s not], but nonetheless agreed to speak on the record. “I guess I can tell you that Grand Juries are typically critical of processes,” Williams began. “That’s okay. I take seriously the responsibility to improve any situation the Grand Jury talks about, whether it’s homelessness or this matter.” Williams claimed he felt the Grand Jury had unfairly targeted him. “The questions they asked were so narrow in focus it was clear to me they already knew what their story was before they asked me,” he said. “They demonstrated a lack of knowledge about land use and the county’s limited options before permitting was put in place.” In his defense, Williams argued that his efforts to regulate the cannabis industry were genuine, if imperfect, and that he only took office after Proposition 64 had essentially mandated the expansion of cannabis grows in California. “Mistakes were made, but we made a rational response to something that was already in existence,” he said, although he denied any notion that he was in the pocket of the cannabis lobby. “The weirdest thing is, I have always had a policy of accepting a meeting from anybody who wants to meet. I view that as my job, so from the movers and shakers of this community to the dual-diagnosed people who send me handwritten, three-page letters about conspiracies, I meet with all these people. Everyone gets unfettered access to government in my view. That’s how it should work.” In a trio of text messages, Williams subsequently denied all three of the Grand Jury’s main allegations against him. “We’ve caught a sizable proportion of marijuana growers who tried to game the system and held them accountable,” he said, adding that 72 raids and 23 prosecutions show evidence of the program’s success. “It’s possible we would have caught more by adjudicating every single one, but it’s also possible we would have caught far less because we’d still be in the process of holding hearings on them.” Williams also argued that taxing cannabis growers by gross receipts rather than by actual size was the product of popular demand rather than any undue influence of the cannabis lobby. He has a point, because whatever its origins, when Supervisors officially weighed in on the proposed ordinance on February 13, 2018, Supervisors Janet Wolf and Joan Hartmann also voted in favor of it. Steve Mann, a conservative rancher, was the only no vote. Then on June 5 of that year, 75 percent of county voters marked “yes” when asked to vote on whether to approve the gross receipts-based tax. “The voters approved this method of taxation and we can’t change it with-
FREE HOME DELIVERY
out going back to the voters,” Williams contended, adding that the county has hired an auditor “to make sure people are paying their correct amount of taxes.” He also pled ignorance of any missing documents or pattern of stonewalling, as alleged by jurors. “I was not aware of the County material,” he said in reference to the files, “but the Grand Jury cancelled three or four [of the] times we had allocated for their interview between the end of February and the end of April.” Santa Barbara’s Board of Supervisors has 90 days to officially respond to the Grand Jury’s findings. Until then, Barney Melekian, an assistant county executive officer, refused to comment on the report beyond the county’s initial media response. “The Board of Supervisors had previously amended the cannabis land-use ordinance to restrict cultivation in response to community concerns, and as recently as two weeks ago, directed staff to bring back more changes to further restrict cultivation,” it states. “Staff will return with those ordinance changes on July 14.”
A Former Supervisor Remembers: “I Felt Like Alice in Wonderland”
Besides Williams, the Montecito Journal spoke with several other sources who were interviewed by the Grand Jury, including public officials who have clashed with both him and Lavagnino over cannabis. One of them is former Supervisor Wolf, who claims to have directly witnessed much of the alleged behavior mentioned in the jury’s report and who frequently voted against the pair on cannabis policy. “I thought that this report was one of the most comprehensive reports I have ever seen,” Wolf said. “The depth and information they had and asked for, and unfortunately there was some they apparently didn’t get, was pretty incredible. I thought they did a fabulous job.” Wolf provided the lone vote in opposition to the creation of the Ad Hoc committee on cannabis, which she viewed as a conflict of interest, and she wasn’t surprised with the Grand Jury’s finding that emails and text messages suggested that the county was effectively outsourcing its policy to industry lobbyists. “We had never done such an enormous land use ordinance in the way that was being proposed,” she said. “To have it being done with two board members and without the Brown Act (which protects the public’s right to know how policies are deliberated behind closed doors) on the face of it was wrong.” As Lavagnino and Williams began to articulate their vision for county cannabis policy to other board members, Wolf recalls, things got even weirder. “I couldn’t figure out why we were moving in the direction we were moving in when we had the schools and community members coming to us,” she said. “We were just moving forward.” Wolf said she regrets voting in favor of the committee’s tax revenue proposal but is proud of the fact she publicly opposed the grower affidavit scheme. “That was the most ridiculous thing I ever saw,” she said, “the implications of which, of course, we are all seeing now.”
ON THE RECORD Page 474
• 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
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
Ichiban Japanese Restaurant/Sushi Bar Lunch: Monday through Saturday 11:30am - 2:30pm Dinner: Monday through Sunday: 5pm - 10pm 1812A Cliff Drive Santa Barbara CA 93109 (805)564-7653 Lunch Specials, Bendo boxes. Full Sushi bar, Tatami Seats. Fresh Fish Delivered all week.
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
37
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following person(s) is/are doing business as: Social Superstars, 827 State St., Suite 21, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. Derren G Ohanian, 701 Grandview Ave, Ojai, CA 93023. This statement was filed with the County Clerk of Santa Barbara County on June 30, 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. 2020-0001616. Published July 8, 15, 22, 29, 2020. 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 931211107. 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 Services, 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 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 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.
38 MONTECITO JOURNAL
ORDINANCE NO. 5952
PUBLIC NOTICE City of Santa Barbara
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the City Council of the City of Santa Barbara will conduct a Public Hearing on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, during the afternoon session of the meeting, which begins at 2:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, City Hall, 735 Anacapa Street, Santa Barbara and will be held via teleconference. The hearing is to consider the appeal filed by Amy Steinfeld of the Parks and Recreation Commission's decision to deny the removal of a Brachychiton discolor, Queensland Lacebark street tree located in the parkway in front of 1721 Gillespie Street.
SANTA BARBARA APPROVING A LOAN AGREEMENT, DEED OF TRUST, AND NINETY-YEAR AFFORDABILITY CONTROL COVENANT IMPOSED ON REAL PROPERTY LOCATED
AT
AUTHORIZING
110-116 THE
EAST
COTA
COMMUNITY
STREET
AND
DEVELOPMENT
DIRECTOR TO EXECUTE SUCH AGREEMENTS AS NECESSARY The above captioned ordinance was adopted at a regular meeting of the Santa Barbara City Council held on June 30, 2020. The publication of this ordinance is made pursuant to the provisions of Section 512 of the Santa Barbara City Charter as amended, and the original ordinance in its entirety may be obtained at the City Clerk's Office, City Hall, Santa Barbara, California. (Seal) /s/ Sarah Gorman, CMC City Clerk Services Manager ORDINANCE NO. 5952 STATE OF CALIFORNIA
) ) COUNTY OF SANTA BARBARA ) ss. ) CITY OF SANTA BARBARA )
If you challenge the Council's action on the appeal of the Parks and Recreation Commission's decision 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 delivered to the City at, or prior to, the public hearing. You are invited to attend this public hearing and address your verbal comments to the City Council. Written comments are also welcome up to the time of the hearing, and should be addressed to the City Council via the City Clerk’s Office by sending them electronically to Clerk@SantaBarbaraCA.gov. In order to promote social distancing and prioritize the public’s health and well-being, the city council currently holds all meetings electronically. As a public health and safety precaution, the council chambers will not be open to the general public. Councilmembers and the public may participate electronically. On Thursday, July 16, 2020, an Agenda with all items to be heard on Tuesday, July 21, 2020, including the public hearing to consider this appeal, will be available online at www.SantaBarbaraCA.gov/CAP. The Agenda includes instructions for participation in the meeting. If you wish to participate in the public hearing, please follow the instructions on the posted Agenda.
(SEAL) I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing
/s/ Norma Estrada Deputy City Clerk July 6, 2020
ordinance was introduced on June 23, 2020 and adopted by the Council of the City of Santa Barbara at a meeting held on June 30, 2020, by the following roll call vote: AYES:
Councilmembers Eric Friedman, Alejandra Gutierrez, Oscar Gutierrez, Mike Jordan, Kristen W. Sneddon; Mayor Cathy Murillo
NOES:
None
ABSENT:
Councilmember Meagan Harmon
ABSTENTIONS:
None
Published July 8, 2020 Montecito Journal
MONTECITO WATER DISTRICT
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my
NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETING ON WATER AVAILABILITY CHARGE
hand and affixed the official seal of the City of Santa Barbara on July 1, 2020.
TUESDAY, JULY 28, 2020, 9:30 A.M. VIA TELECONFERENCE* /s/ Sarah P. Gorman, CMC City Clerk Services Manager
I HEREBY APPROVE the foregoing ordinance on July 1, 2020.
/s/ Cathy Murillo Mayor Published July 8, 2020 Montecito Journal
FICTITIOUS BUSINESS NAME STATEMENT: The following 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.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that, at the regularly scheduled meeting of the Board of Directors of the Montecito Water District to be held on Tuesday, July 28, 2020, at 9:30 A.M. the Board will hold a public hearing to consider the adoption of a resolution to continue an existing Water Availability Charge for the purpose of main replacement and enlargement. A written report, detailing the description of each parcel of real property and the amount of the charge for each parcel for the year, is on file and available for public review at Montecito Water District’s Office located at 583 San Ysidro Road. For information on a specific parcel’s acreage and proposed fee, owner may call 805.969.2271or email info@montecitowater.com. The District is proposing to continue the existing charge as it was established in July 1996 and with such exceptions as have previously been granted by the Board, with no increase in the charge or change in the methodology by which it is calculated. The District will continue to collect such charge on the tax rolls, as in previous years.
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 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.
At the Public Hearing on July 28, 2020 oral and written presentations may be made concerning said written report and proposed fees by anyone affected by said fees. The Board of Directors will also hear and consider objections and protests to the application of the fee. Any objection or protest must be presented to the District on or before the close of the July 28, 2020 Public Hearing or be precluded from consideration for the 2020-2021 tax year. *The public meeting will be conducted by telephonic and electronic means in accordance with Executive Orders N-2520, N-29-20, and N-33-20 by the Governor of the State of California. Remote participation information can be found on the meeting agenda and will be posted at the above location, on the website www.montecitowater.com, and available by calling 805-969-2271.
“I love being married. It’s so great to find that one special person you want to annoy for the rest of your life.” – Rita Rudner
### Run, MJ Public/legal notices section, July 8 & 15, 2020
9 – 16 July 2020
VILLAGE BEAT (Continued from page 12)
Brilliant Thoughts
along,” Dayton said. “With seven parklets along Coast Village Road, it shows, or at least gives the perception, that business is thriving out here, which is what we need right now,” he added.
by Ashleigh Brilliant 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
Seek and Ye Shall Find
O
ne of the most famous lines of all poetry (originally written in Persian a millennium ago, but first translated into English in 1859) comes from a book called the Rubaiyat, and is about a “moving finger,” which “writes, and, having writ, moves on” – and nothing we can do can bring that finger back, to erase or change anything. That particular digit is, of course, the notorious Finger of Fate. But the poet, Omar Khayyam, and even his relatively modern translator, Edward Fitzgerald, were both living in the immeasurably long eon before there were computers. In our own time, it is only too easy to revise or delete what our own fingers have written. In fact, my own favorite command (imagine, Omar, giving “commands” to your “moving finger”!) is “UNDO.” But, of all the wonders which can be performed by computers – and even more miraculous to me than “UNDO” – it is the capacity to “Search” and “Find” which ranks at the top of my personal list of manmade marvels. People who’ve grown up in the computer age, and have no memory of the “good old days,” can hardly imagine how much easier and faster what we used to call doing “research” has become. It might have taken weeks, or longer, to track down a single fact which is now freely available in response to a few keystrokes. Books, papers, libraries, card catalogs – these were the sources – possibly widely scattered – in which you had to dig to find what you were looking for. Now – except for those greedy souls who seek to exploit such wonders for their own profit, by devising ways to charge for it – information, or “data,” has become the cheapest and most abundant commodity in the world. But, if only it were as easy to search our own brains as it is to search the brains of our computers! I’m sure all the world’s technical geniuses are working on it – but right now, there’s no way we can issue commands to the extremely powerful thinking machines within our own skulls in the same easy way we can control our computers. There are no “SEARCH” or “FIND” commands which that mysterious object in my head understands, or will respond to almost instantaneously, the way that 9 – 16 July 2020
almost equally mysterious little box does – the one I can hold in my hand. When Jesus, in his “Sermon on the Mount” (as reported by Mathew) told us to “Seek, and ye shall find,” the injunction was inspirational, not a guarantee. But the theme of searching permeates our culture. Some famous stories even involve the search for a secret password. A good example is the so-called fairytale, collected by the Brothers Grimm, called “Rumpelstiltskin,” which concerns the knowledge of how to spin straw into gold. That knowledge is possessed by an imp-like creature, who is nameless all through the story, until the climax, which hinges upon discovering his name. But Saint Mathew – and even the Grimms – would probably be astonished to know that we now have something called a “Search Engine.” Just who invented that term I have been unable to discover – but the thing itself can be traced back no farther than 1990. Yes! Before 1990, all searches had to be conducted without engines. That includes the wellknown searches for the Holy Grail, for the Fountain of Youth, for El Dorado – even for the White Whale and the Northwest Passage – to say nothing of the tragic searches for lost explorers, like Sir John Franklin, who disappeared with his whole crew in the Arctic in 1847, but whose wife spent the rest of her own life organizing futile expeditions to look for him. And meanwhile, all over the world, hunters, both human and animal, seek their prey. Children are playing games based on searches, such as Hide and Seek, Blind Man’s Buff, Hunt the Thimble, and Button, Button, Who’s Got the Button; Geologists roam the Earth in search of oil and ores; Botanists seek new species, MicroBiologists probe the secrets of the genome, in quest of new ways to prolong human life; Archaeologists dig for keys to the human past; Spiritualists seek to establish contact with those who have died; and Astronomers have a whole Universe to search for all that is still unknown. And to cap it all, people everywhere are seeking inwardly. As one writer put it (whom modesty forbids me to name): “I’m in search of myself – Have you seen me anywhere?“
•MJ
Board of Supervisors Denies Helipad Appeal
At a hearing on Tuesday, July 7, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors denied Summerland resident Pat Nesbitt’s appeal to obtain a Conditional Use Permit for a private helicopter pad on his 20-acre property located on Via Real. The appeal was denied with a 3-2 vote. Over a dozen nearby residents and neighbors spoke out against the project at Tuesday’s hearing, joining a long list of nearly 200 residents and groups who have opposed the project, citing incompatibility with the surrounding residential neighborhoods. Groups in opposition to the project include the Carpinteria Valley Association, Padaro Lane Association, Summerland Citizens Association, Montecito Association, Montecito Trails Foundation, Citizen’s Planning Association, and others. The project came about last summer, when Nesbitt, who has admitted that he’s flown helicopters onto and from his property for over two decades without permission, originally sought a CUP for a helistop with two landing zones to be used for personal use and emergency services. A more modest project was in front of the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission in September, which included just one pad in the center of his property. 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 nearby residences. Frequency of use of the pad for emergency services would be on an as-needed basis, according to the staff report. Opponents to the project have voiced concern over the helipad’s close proximity to residential homes, nearby horse and bicycle trails, and a nearby environmentally sensitive habitat. Nesbitt argues that there are hundreds of helicopter flights over the area each year, and his request to add two flights per week would not significantly disturb the peace and quiet of the neighborhood. “Helicopters flying to and from my property do not fly over Santa Barbara residents,” he said, insisting that his helicopter flies 1/4-
• The Voice of the Village •
mile off shore. County counsel on Tuesday reiterated to the Board that despite Nesbitt’s promise to use a flight path over the ocean, flight pattern regulation and airport noise are in the jurisdiction of the FAA, and not enforceable by the County. The Santa Barbara County Planning Commission, at a subsequent hearing in November, cited inconsistency with the Summerland Community Plan and the Comprehensive Plan as reasons for denial, 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. “This is for the convenience of one individual, on one property, that is listed for sale,” said attorney Marc Chytilo, representing two groups in opposition to the permit. Nesbitt’s property, which includes a 43,000sq-ft home with 11 bedrooms and 22 bathrooms, is currently listed for sale for $55 million. Nesbitt said he plans on building another house next door, and maintaining the rights to the helipad should the property sell. The appeal was denied with a 3-2 vote, with Fourth District Supervisor Peter Adam and Fifth District Supervisor Steve Lavagnino dissenting. Supervisor Adam called the opposition to the project a “First World problem,” and said it would be very unreasonable to deny the project. Supervisor Lavagnino agreed, saying, “The public comments seem disconnected to what the project is. I can’t imagine it can be more than a couple of minutes worth of intrusion into someone’s life a couple of times a week. You know, sometimes that’s what living in society is,” he said. “It almost feels like [Nesbitt is being] penalized because he can afford to do it.” Supervisors Das Williams, Gregg Hart, and Joan Hartmann voted in favor of denial of the appeal, citing incompatibility with the surrounding area. “The only way it’s compatible is if the flight path is binding, and we can’t enforce that binding,” said First District Supervisor Williams, adding that he sympathizes with Nesbitt and appreciates that he stepped up to apply for a permit, while many other neighbors land helicopters without permission. Supervisors Hart and Hartmann both agreed the project would set a bad precedent. “Santa Barbara Airport is twenty minutes away. It’s agricultural land, but not an agricultural helicopter,” Supervisor Hartmann said. “I don’t think it’s in the best interest of the community at large,” Supervisor Hart said. •MJ MONTECITO JOURNAL
39
VILLAGE 4TH (Cont’d from page 16)
Reirdon (San Diego), Ron Alldredge (Tehachapi) and Kent Field (Santa Barbara) We are all high time pilots, some ex-military, some Commercial Captains; all are proficient in formation flying. I used to organize and Lead the Veterans Day Parade flights with 28 aircraft flying over Santa Barbara. We volunteered to do the July 4th parade fly over because are all patriotic Americans who are passionate about our love of our country, the men and women, as well as their families, who have and still give so much so that we can enjoy the lifestyles that we have. These include those in the military, police, fire, and all who are putting their lives on the COVID-19 line.” After the fly over Mindy gave the cue to start the car parade, following the CHP sedan were the Boy Scouts, Dana Newquist in a vintage Fire Engine with Sofia Schuster singing “God Bless America,” many Montecito Association members, U.S. military vehicles and veterans, WWII D-Day veterans, John and Hazel Blankenship (co-founders of the Pierre Claeyssens Veterans Foundation), Montecito Fire Dept, SB County Sheriff’s Dept, CA24 Representative Salud Carbajal driven by Jim Crooke Milpas Motors, First District SBC Supervisor Das Williams, and other vintage and classic cars. Great big thanks go to the co-chairs, to Montecito Association Executive Director Sharon Byrne, all the sponsors, and volunteers for continuing a Montecito tradition by adapting it to fit these current times. The car parade was so well attended and appreciated, Mindy said that, “All three co-chairs are hearing requests for a Montecito Motorcade again next year!” •MJ
40 MONTECITO JOURNAL
“When I eventually met Mr. Right I had no idea that his first name was Always.” – Rita Rudner
9 – 16 July 2020
9 – 16 July 2020
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
41
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.
ANTHONY ENDY EXECUTIVE CHEF AT ALISAL GUEST RANCH
T
hough he’s been executive chef and full-time pit master at Alisal Guest Ranch & Resort for two years, Anthony Endy, a Santa Ynez Valley native and former corporate chef at Paul Martin’s American Grill, has already earned a reputation for sophisticated Coastal Ranch-style barbecue, cooked over an open fire and charred to perfection. Endy’s slow-cooked-to-perfection approach to mouthwatering barbecue draws aficionados near and far to the ranch for a seasonal BBQ Bootcamp, where guests learn techniques such as spice blending and smoking meat to grilling desserts and lighting a fire over an open pit. We asked Endy to share some of his summer grilling tips with our readers.
What is your BBQ flair? I cook Bold California BBQ. I not only have a fresh approach to Santa Maria-style, local oak wood fires in open pits, but I also slow smoke and grill with fresh ingredients. I honor tradition and promote innovation to the cuisine that surrounds the fire. What are you listening to when you’re grilling? Blues: Muddy Waters; Country: Eric Church; Americana: Ryan Bingham; Rock: Gary Carter Jr.; Hip Hop: anything from the ‘90s – Juicy, The Notorious B.I.G. LOMPOC VALLEY PINQUITO BEANS INGREDIENTS 1 lb. dry pinquito beans, see sources below Water to cover beans 2 cups Applewood smoked bacon, diced 1/2 cup smoked cooked ham, diced 1 cup white onion, diced 1/2 cup roasted Anaheim chilies, diced 2 tbsp. garlic, minced 1 tsp. ancho chile powder, optional
Q. What is your meat or seafood choice at the moment? A. I have so many, but right now I’m focusing on my roots with Tri-Tip. Growing up here on the Central Coast, Tri-Tip has always been an integral cut of beef to grill over an oak fire. Be sure and always buy high quality beef, for Tri-Tip I like to stick to Prime Angus or Wagyu breeds. What is your favorite go-to summer marinade? During summer I like bright acidic and fresh marinades with a touch a spice. You can’t go wrong with a classic chimichurri. You will need fresh herbs (cilantro, parsley, oregano) along with fresh garlic, lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and chiles (I like fresh Fresno chiles or dried chile de arbol). In a blender, puree all the ingredients with salt and pepper to taste to bring the marinade together. This marinade is very simple to make yet packs a flavorful punch that can be added to pretty much everything – meats, vegetables, or used as a sauce on seafood. What is your favorite herb and seasoning for grilled fish? It really depends on the fish and my mood of the day. I generally like a fresh piece of white flaky fish simply prepared with sea salt, fresh lemon, extra virgin olive oil and touch of oregano and dried chile de arbol. I also love a classic Cajun blackening spice that toasts over a high heat fire (great for a seared tuna) finished with extra virgin olive oil. What are your favorite summer side dishes? Wow that’s like going to your favorite steakhouse and choosing one side. I love Lompoc Valley Pinquito Beans braised with bacon, onion, garlic, green chiles, ancho chile powder, lager, Worcestershire sauce, beef stock, and BBQ trimmings. You also can never go wrong with creamed corn, I add grilled poblano chilies to mine to give a needed smoky spice balance to the sweetness. What is your favorite condiment? My favorite goes in hand with the marinade – a classic chimichurri. I also don’t mind a good BBQ sauce – yes I said that. There is a time and place for a sweet, spicy sauce that is not too thick. I do at times crave a Roasted Tomato Salsa with a steak, a combination of flavors that speaks to my youth here in the Santa Ynez Valley. What are you grilling for dessert? Right now I am loving the peaches from Buttonwood Farms that are in season. They are great on the grill served with grilled pound cake and freshly whipped vanilla bean whipped cream. And I’m a chocolate guy that also loves mezcal sticky toffee pudding off the grill. This dish speaks volumes to when great products handled correctly and executed simply over the grill can be spectacular.
42 MONTECITO JOURNAL
Favorite BBQ tool? A good pair of tongs is always essential. There are a lot of gadgets out there but stick to the basics.
1 tsp. brown sugar 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. dry mustard 1 tsp. paprika 2 cups tomato puree 1 cup Worcestershire sauce 1/2 cup water
Rinse and check through the beans for small stones. Place the beans in a pot and cover with cold water and soak overnight. Drain the beans and return to the pot. Cover the beans with fresh, cold water by three inches and simmer over medium heat for 1.5 hours, or until tender. While the beans are cooking, make the sauce. Over medium high heat, sauté bacon in a saucepan over medium heat until lightly browned. Add the ham, onion, Anaheim chilies, and garlic and sauté two minutes longer. Add the ancho chile powder, brown sugar, salt, dry mustard, and paprika and sauté for another minute to toast the spices. Add the tomato puree, Worcestershire sauce, and water. Bring the mixture to a simmer and reduce to low heat and cook for 30 minutes while stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and reserve. When beans are cooked tender, drain all except for one cup of the cooking liquid. Return the beans and cup of liquid to the pot and stir in the sauce. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Where to find Central Coast grown pinquito beans: Lompoc Beans, Lompoc Valley Seed •MJ & Milling 805.736.2517; lompocbeans.com
TASTING NOTES WITH SANTA BARBARA WINE COLLECTIVE MANAGER WYATT DAVIDSON
S
anta Ynez Valley’s Storm Wines has been making some of the most elegant wines in Santa Barbara County since as early as 2006. Ernst Storm grew up in South Africa, where he studied winemaking and worked in both the Stellenbosch and Walker Bay regions. He settled in Santa Barbara County to explore the cooler growing areas and to focus on Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc from sites that embody elegance and show personality in their vintage. And the climate is not unlike the Western Cape, where his curiosity for winemaking began. Storm’s passion for wines with character shines through his 2019 Storm Sauvignon Blanc. The fruit for this Sauvignon Blanc was sourced from six vineyards at different corners of Santa Ynez Valley. Tropical notes and grapefruit dominate the nose that leads you to a palate filled with refreshing citrus, guava, melon, and a long delicious finish. Crisp and refreshing, this Sauvignon Blanc is a personal favorite for a warm summer day at the Santa Barbara Wine Collective, alongside a house-made cheese board and a freshly sliced baguette from our sister company, Helena Avenue Bakery. Or pick up a bottle to-go and enjoy at home with dinner. I love to enjoy mine with local Santa Barbara sea bass and grilled vegetables. •MJ
“If you have a secret, people will sit a little bit closer.” – Rob Cordry
9 – 16 July 2020
WATER WISDOM (Continued from page 22)
rationing restrictions, drilled private water wells to avoid the loss of millions of dollars invested in green landscaping. The number of new wells is unknown, but the 550 known producing wells, plus an estimated 730 permitted, unpermitted, and abandoned wells, had the unintended consequence of sticking hundreds of new straws into Montecito’s shrinking, low-level aquifers. Large well users who deserted MWD, were careful to retain MWD meters for low-volume household water, while still holding the option to pick up the telephone and demand more MWD water for their precious landscaping any time the underlying water table, or their wells, went to mud from overuse. Meanwhile, they contributed nearly nothing to maintaining the increasingly expensive fixed costs of the State Water System, or to providing water to protect our community from repeated wildfires.
The Year 2015: Renewed Interest in City Desal
Battered by Board decisions to impose rationing, and after futile efforts to design and build their own desal plant in Montecito, a pair of former MWD Directors, both trial lawyers, approached the City in 2015 to explore a partnership deal for desal water. These two talented lawyers descended on the City Water team, largely composed of engineers, and immediately fell into the legal quagmire of who would bear what liabilities. City negotiators, whose #1 priority was to craft a jointly-agreed-to term sheet, argued that legal points could be negotiated later, once a business deal was in place. A Memorandum of Understanding was delivered by the City to MWD on September 22, 2015 stating that “time was of the essence and it was necessary to conclude development of an Agreement by January 1, 2016.” In October 2015, after months of haggling, the City delivered a Preliminary Term Sheet to MWD with instructions to respond by December 31 to move negotiations forward. With some rainfall and a prediction of a wet Winter-Spring, MWD General Manager Tom Mosby, at the direction of his Board, stalled negotiations with the City. His December 31, 2015 response cited a “need for more studies and a need for more financial consultants.” His letter concluded “Best wishes to all in 2016 and may ample rainfall fill our reservoirs (and cups) this winter.”
The Year 2016: A Year of Stalled Negotiations with the City Over Desal
Rebecca Bjork, City Public Works Director, responded to Mosby on January 19, 2016 noting that, “We seem far apart on many issues, including the basic structure for the sale of water to the District… The District has been unable to even identify the quantity of water it needs.” The City mandated that talks with Montecito could not begin again until MWD paid upfront, non-refundable fees of $528,000 in order to start renegotiations without wasting City time or City costs. The first payment of $193,594 was delivered to the City in September 2016 to restart negotiations. Restart payments included a portion of the costs for the City’s Carollo Engineering studies, IDE desal design costs, legal costs, permitting costs, hydraulic modeling, conveyance pipeline design and City staff administrative costs. In addition, MWD spent approximately $615,000 in consulting fees, legal fees and staff time to explore its own desal plant in fiscal 2015-2016.
The Year 2016: Changes in Water Leadership
In February 2016, Water District Manager Nick Turner replaced retiring general manager Mosby. In December 2016, current MWD president Floyd Wicks, a water engineer and industry veteran, and Tobe Plough, a business consultant, were elected as new directors to replace appointed Director Charles Newman and retiring Director Jan Abel. Two years later, in 2018, three additional new directors – the financially savvy Ken Coates, the politically savvy Cori Hayman, and the business-savvy Brian Goebel – joined the MWD Board, completing the change from cozy, appointed directors to elected directors responsible to customers.
The Year 2017: What Changed with the New MWD Board?
First off, at the insistence of newly elected Water Directors Floyd Wicks and Tobe Plough in early 2017, the District wrote and adopted its long neglected, state-required, 2015 Urban Water Management Plan (UWMP). The District committed in writing to the State that it would set a goal of increasing local, drought-proof water supplies to 85 percent of total supplies by the year 2025. Additionally, because the previous Board had neglected to file the mandatory State Urban Management Plan in either 2010 or 2015, MWD found itself out of compliance with State mandates and therefore ineligible for state water grants. The new UWMP established new water priorities: (1) negotiation of a longterm water supply agreement with the City of Santa Barbara; (2) exploration of groundwater banking opportunities, and (3) pursuit of an agreement with 9 – 16 July 2020
a reluctant Montecito Sanitary District (MSD) Board for a joint recycled water agreement that met the legal restrictions wherein MWD would be the distributor and seller of recycled water while Montecito Sanitary (MSD) would be the producer of higher-quality recycled water.
Year 2017: Santa Barbara Goes It Alone
In May 2017, startup testing at the Santa Barbara desalination plant was completed and the City started distributing 3,125 AFY of desalinated water into the City’s water system. 3,125 AF of water represents about 30 percent of the City’s water demand of 11,000 AFY. Desalinated water joined surface water from the Cachuma and Gibraltar reservoirs, groundwater, State Water, imported water, recycled water and conservation in a balanced City water-supply portfolio. Just as important, the City was permitted by the State and the Coastal Commission to add an additional 4,375 AF of desal capacity at a lower cost at any time it chose, simply by adding additional membrane trains. That provides the cushion to service Montecito’s 1,430 AFY requirements when the City runs low on its available water supplies. The capital costs to reactivate the desal facility were $72 million, more than twice the cost of the original plant in 1991. The $72 million cost was financed over 20 years with a low 1.6 percent interest rate state loan, which equates to $4.2 million per year in debt service. In 2018, the City was awarded a $10 million grant from the Department of Water Resources, which, if accepted by the City Council, significantly reduces the overall cost of the project. Annual operating costs are estimated at about $4.1 million at full production and about $1.5 million in non-operation or standby mode. The plant could be put in standby mode during certain periods to reduce operating costs, but the WSA requires the desal plant to remain in a condition capable of producing water within 10 days. The plant design includes a screened ocean intake structure, using wedge wire screens made of durable copper-nickel alloy with one-millimeter openings to minimize marine life entrapment and impingement; diluted and diffused brine discharge; and high-efficiency pumps and motors to reduce the plant’s overall electrical power demands.
Desal Deal Resuscitated. Montecito Wants Back in The Game
It was not until the election of Floyd Wicks to the MWD Board in December of 2016 that talks with the City could safely resume. Wicks, a respected and seasoned water executive, was able to approach the City with the skills and mindset of an engineer to restart the lengthy negotiations that led to a preliminary agreement, and now final approval.
The Advantage of Ownership
City negotiator Josh Haggmark and his team have crafted a beautiful Agreement for the City, not simply to recover modest costs of adding new desal trains to serve Montecito’s water needs, but rather to recover 46 percent of all the hard and soft costs incurred by the City since 1992, including all legal, permitting, design, construction, operations, maintenance, chemicals, supplies for the plant, plus 65 percent of the cost of the City’s conveyance pipeline to transfer water from the desal plant on the coast to the Cater Water Treatment Plant north of the Santa Barbara Mission. The price of water is based on the theory that the City is supplying Montecito with 1,430 AFY out of its current production of 3,125 AFY of desal water, which computes to 46 percent of all desal costs charged to Montecito. The source of water supplied to MWD is totally at the City’s discretion but will always include a portion of desal.
The Desal Deal is Done… An Historic Regional Partnership
In March 2018, the MWD Board voted to support restarting negotiations with the City. Two months later, in May 2018, the City Council authorized its water staff to execute a new Funding Agreement with MWD and resume negotiations. In January 2019 the Santa Barbara City Council and the MWD Board approved a Term Sheet and directed staff to draft a Water Supply Agreement (WSA) with MWD. The time to act, not yak, arrived. On June 23, 2020, the MWD Board unanimously approved the WSA with the City. Seven days later, the Santa Barbara City Council voted unanimously to ship 1,430 AFY from the City’s drinking water supply to Montecito every year for the next 50 years, rain or shine. That represents 40 percent of Montecito-Summerland current needs. In return, the Montecito Water District has agreed to effectively fund 46 percent, or $33 million, of the City’s $72 million desalination plant through 2072, plus interest and a share of operation and maintenance costs, unless the plant is expanded. Contract signing is expected in July or August 2020. First water deliveries will begin January 1, 2022. Regional partnerships bring communities closer together. Let’s hope that works for this Water Supply Agreement after 32 years in the making. •MJ
• The Voice of the Village •
MONTECITO JOURNAL
43
WAY IT WAS (Continued from page 26)
Showing a little slice of State Street in 1903, the Sanborn Fire Insurance map shows the layout of the Mascarel (formerly Occidental, formerly Commericial) Hotel, where Jerry lodged in staff quarters for a time (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
The Occidental Hotel where Jerry set up the first bootblack stand in town (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
was in town to play at Lobero’s Opera House, several members joined Jerry to give an outdoor, free entertainment in front of the Occidental Hotel in the afternoon. “Quite a crowd gathered to listen to the old time negro melodies by the entire company; and to witness the dancing of ‘Jaba’ by Prof. Forney, which was done in his usual artistic style.”
one needs to remember that the Compromise of 1877 resulted in the beginning of the “Long Night” of racial segregation and subjugation. A disputed election between the party of Lincoln (Republicans) and their candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, and the party of the South (Democrats), who wanted Samuel J. Tilden, led to
the terrible betrayal. The Democrats would agree to the election of Hayes if the North would remove its troops from the South. These troops had been stationed in the South to ensure that Reconstruction policies and programs that helped the former slaves were secure. Southerners, of course, promised to treat the freedmen fairly, but step by step, African Americans were denied the right to vote and segregation took hold. Violence against those who objected became common. It is difficult to know how many African American families came to
Santa Barbara at this time, but his scheme must have been somewhat successful, for as late as 1886, he was placing ads in the Morning Press such as the following: “A colored man and his wife want situations. No objections to going into the country. Apply to Jerry Forney, next to the Commercial Hotel.” Jerry’s was not the only colonization plan at this time. As the situation for African Americans in the South deteriorated and the need for laborers in the West rose, colonies were established in California in such places as
Forney’s Colony Plan
In 1881, Jerry’s entrepreneurial nature took a different turn, one that was reported as far away as Sacramento. “Jerry Forney, a colored man at Santa Barbara, is arranging an exodus of colored people from his old home in North Carolina.” Locally, the Press reported, “Mention was made in these columns sometime since, of a plan of Jerry Forney to induce a number of colored people to emigrate here from North Carolina… A paper setting forth that a limited number of colored people, who would be willing to work for reasonable compensation, has been circulated by Jerry, and has received upwards of five hundred signatures, who number among them our best and wealthiest people. “Forney has opened a correspondence with an old acquaintance of his, and by the latter is informed that a colored colony of good mechanics, farm laborers, and house servants could easily be formed to come here, if their passage money be sent them. Jerry is confident he will succeed in his undertaking.” To understand Jerry’s motivation in taking on this project at this time,
44 MONTECITO JOURNAL
This section of the map shows the southern part of the city of Santa Barbara in 1877, just a few years after Jerry moved to town
“I have tried to know absolutely nothing about a great many things, and I have succeeded fairly well.” – Robert Benchley
9 – 16 July 2020
State Street with the Hotel Mascarel (former Occidental Hotel) on the left. Santa Barbara had dirt streets, a tram system, and was building wooden sidewalks when Jerry moved to town. (Courtesy Santa Barbara Historical Museum)
Drawing of the tableau scene of “Tenting on the Old Camp Ground” (San Francisco Examiner, 1897)
Shasta County and Fresno (1887 and 1888), and the A.M.E. in Los Angeles was involved in planning a colony in Lerdo, Sonora, Mexico, in 1891.
Jerry
Jerry’s activities were constantly in the news. He acted on the Lobero stage when a traveling production of Uncle Tom’s Cabin came to town in 1881. That year he also participated in the annual multi-day Flower Carnival held at the Lobero Theatre. The Morning Press reported, “The most interesting feature of all, will probably be the exnouncement’ of the temperance principles of Jerry Forney.” Jerry also agreed to sing some songs from his former Carolina home. When Major R.H. Hendershot, the heroic drummer boy of the Rappahannock, came to town, Jerry Forney participated in the closing tableau. It was entitled “Tenting on the Old Camp Ground” and showed a group of soldiers employed in their usual occupations while the famous song was sung. The audience was delighted to see Jerry on the stage. A 9 – 16 July 2020
haunting, beautiful rendition of the song that laments the tragedy and terrible losses for both sides during Civil War can be found at https://www. youtube.com/watch?v=bI67rO2zdC4 Jerry also immersed himself in the horticultural life of the community. He was experimenting with growing cotton and solicited the members of the Santa Barbara County Horticultural Society to experiment as well by giving them seeds. Jerry’s garden supplied his friends with clusters of fine large tomatoes and strawberries. The Morning Press reported, “Jerry has a typical southern garden and says he can raise the same things here as he did back there, though tomatoes the first of January are not common even in the South.” In 1891, he joined all the top horticulturalists in the area, like Kellogg, Cooper, Stow and Sexton, by sending an entry to the Agricultural Fair in Los Angeles. His was a cotton plant. In 1885, Jerry, now about 64 years old, married 35-year-old Martha Harris. The two eventually moved to a house at 33 North Yanonali Street (today a parking lot on the south-
A photo from the Civil War shows a New York regiment posing with both black and white members. Notice the soldier with a rifle on the far right. (Library of Congress)
west corner of Yanonali and Anacapa streets) and lived out their lives there. Martha worked at a laundry. In 1886, Jerry announced himself a candidate for mayor for the second time. Though he didn’t win, Jerry was not finished with politics; in 1890, he was on the ballot to be a delegate at the Republican primary. In 1898, Jerry suffered a paralytic stroke and became crippled by his rheumatism. He was no longer able to work. They relied on Martha’s small earnings for their support and the generosity of his many friends. In 1903, Pio Calderon, a fellow bootblack who had learned his trade from Jerry, held a benefit for Jerry and Martha. He announced that the total receipts for that day would go to them. In February 1904, Jeremiah A. Forney was summoned to meet his maker. He was nearly 90 years old. Despite its hardships, his was a life well lived. His influence on others of his race, his energy and spirit, his admirable amiability toward all people and his varied passions and interests made him a person who stood out from the rest. He would be missed.
• The Voice of the Village •
R.H. Hendershot was the heroic drummer boy of the Rappahannock who enlisted at age 11. He came to Santa Barbara which a show that included a drumming performance and Jerry participated in the final tableau. (Library of Congress)
Though Jerry never had children, by 1908, there was another Forney family living in town. Their origins were Burke County, North Carolina. Their descendents live and work in Santa Barbara today, and many were members of the St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, which has recently been nominated to become a historic landmark. (More on that next time.) •MJ (Sources: Contemporary newspapers, City Directories, US. Census, Marriage Registry, Voter Registration Records; Ione city websites; Morganton, NC websites; Biographical History of North Carolina from Colonial Times to Present, edited by Ashe and Weeks, 1905; various websites on Bellevue and Forney plantations; “Slavery in Microcosm: Burke County, North Carolina” by Edward W. Phifer in The Journal of Southern History, Vol 28, No. 2 (May 1962), pp 137-165) 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
WRITING SERVICES 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
ESTATE/SENIOR SERVICES THE CLEARING HOUSE, LLC DEAR FRIENDS
MOVING MISS DAISY
“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 805-448-3788 info@movingmissdaisy.com or www.movingmissdaisy.com
ITEMS FOR SALE
ven Sousa. Auction will be held Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 12:00 noon. Miscellaneous Furniture and Miscellaneous Supplies Being Sold at Avenue 2509 LLC located at 2509 N. Ventura Ave. Ventura, Ca 93001 on account of Maurice Abergel. Blind Auction will be held Thursday, July 16th at 12:00 noon.
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
SPECIAL SERVICES TRESOR 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 Antique Chickering + Sons Grand Piano. Looking for a home! Mahogany, good playable condition, Ivory keys with original bench. $2500 or best offer. (805) 565 - 9205.
NOW OPEN GOT OSTEOPOROSIS? We can help! At OsteoStrong our proven non-drug protocol takes just ten minutes once a week to improve your bone density and aid in more energy, strength, balance and agility. Please call for a complimentary session! CALL NOW (805) 453-6086
Foreign/Domestic Porsche/Mercedes We come to you. 1(800)432-7204 LET’S CONNECT! #follow @molasses_jones on Instagram Send ca$h support: 5708 Hollister #258, Goleta, CA 93117 Below-the-knee amputee seeks med-mal attorney. (805) 403-8313
DONATIONS NEEDED
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 Over 25 Years in Montecito
The Clearing House will resume hosting estate sales in late-July. We will follow CDC and local COVID-19 guidelines to protect our customers and staff. We look forward to seeing you all again. 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
Over25 25Years YearsininMontecito Montecito Over
MONTECITO MONTECITO MONTECITO ELECTRIC ELECTRIC ELECTRIC
WANTED 2002 Diesel Hatchback 4 Wheel Drive being Sold at 469 Kellogg Way Goleta, Ca 93117 on account of Ste-
$8 minimum
We buy Classic Cars Running or not. We are local to Santa Barbara
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 man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on.” – Robert Bloch
EXCELLENTREFERENCES R EFERENCES EXCELLENT EXCELLENT REFERENCES • Repair Wiring • Wiring • Repair Repair Wiring • Inspection • Electrical Remodel Wiring • Remodel Wiring • • New New Wiring • Wiring New Wiring • • Landscape LandscapeLighting Lighting • Landscape Lighting • • Interior InteriorLighting Lighting • Interior Lighting
(805) 969-1575 969-1575 (805) 969-1575 (805) STATE LICENSE STATE LICENSENo. No.485353 485353
STATE LICENSE No. 485353 MAXWELLL. HAILSTONE MAXWELLL. HAILSTONE MAXWELL L. HAILSTONE East Valley Road, Suit 147 1482 East Valley Road, Suit 147 1482 East Valley Road, Suite 147 Montecito, California 93108 Montecito, California 93108 Montecito, California 93108
www.montecitoelectric.com www.montecitoelectric.com 9 – 16 July 2020
ON THE RECORD (Continued from page 37)
Carpinteria Reacts: “It’s Disappointing and Frustrating”
As Principal Planner with Carpinteria’s Planning Department, Nick Bobroff is no stranger to Santa Barbara’s burgeoning cannabis controversy. Earlier this year, he prepared a report urging the County Planning Commission to require all cannabis farms to obtain Conditional Use Permits that would take into consideration any negative community impacts. Despite the Planning Commission’s unanimous vote in favor of Bobroff’s letter, Lavagnino and Williams led the board in refusing to apply his recommendations to Carpinteria, where most of the farms are located. “The Board ultimately decided to go in an entirely different direction, just focusing on inland parts of the county and disregarding what’s happening in Carpinteria and other coastal areas,” Bobroff complained. “It’s disappointing and frustrating.” He sees no evidence that the Board of Supervisors will change course on enabling cannabis operations anytime soon. “County staff appears to be planning to move full speed ahead,” he said.
A Question of Timing: A Deliberate Stonewalling?
If anyone has reason to feel vindicated by the Grand Jury’s report on cannabis, it’s Laura Capps, who ran unsuccessfully against Williams for First District Supervisor on March 3. Capps got the Journal’s endorsement, but not the Santa Barbara Independent’s. In a semi-apologetic editorial that read more like an endorsement for his opponent, the paper asserted that endorsing Williams was among the most “difficult decisions” it has “struggled to make” in its 34-year history. “Is his behavior over the past three years a good enough reason to toss him overboard? We don’t think so.” In a late-January debate with Williams hosted by the Journal, Capps highlighted what she called her opponent’s cozy relationship with cannabis lobbyists and his refusal to respond to complaints from communities such as Carpinteria.
Laughing Matters
R
onald Reagan often poked fun at his own age and reputation for laziness. “I have left orders to be awakened at any time in case of national emergency,” he once quipped, “even if I’m in a Cabinet meeting.” Send us your best joke, we’ll decide if it’s funny. We can only print what we can print, so don’t blame us. Please send “jokes” to letters@ montecitojournal.net
“I’m doing this because I believe so strongly that we need a change in leadership,” she argued onstage. “I couldn’t stand watching what’s happening.” Several sources who spoke to the Journal pointed to the Grand Jury’s explosive claim that its investigation was stymied by stall tactics from county executives. To them, any stonewalling could have only helped Williams win his race against Capps. “The election was in March, and I must have gotten my summons a year and a half ago,” complained one Carpinteria resident who asked not to be identified by name but who Grand Jurors interviewed for the cannabis probe. “I thought they’d be putting out their report by the beginning of the year. This was a deliberate stonewalling.” For her part, Capps says she hopes the Grand Jury’s report will help speed reform of the county’s cannabis policy. “The non-partisan, independent Grand Jury deserves our thanks for their thorough investigation,” she said. “Among many discoveries, it’s alarming to learn that County leaders stalled this work for months prior to the election. Now, I hope they do the right thing and follow the Jury’s common-sense recommendations – especially protecting the health of children and neighbors and long overdue County ethics reform. It is time.” Next week: Are county supervisors involved in the cannabis controversy being probed in a separate investigation? •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 Account Managers Sue Brooks, Tanis Nelson, Casey Champion Bookkeeping Diane Davidson, Christine Merrick • Proofreading Helen Buckley Design/Production Trent Watanabe 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
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
Sweet Wheel Farm & Flowers FARM DIRECT TO YOU
IN HOME PERSONAL TRAINING
IN HOME PERSONAL TRAINING
BALANCE • STRENGTH • FLEXIBILITY
BALANCE • STRENGTH • FLEXIBILITY
JOHN STILLWELL
SPECIALIST IN SENIOR FITNESS
9 – 16 July 2020
JOHN STILLWELL
SPECIALIST IN SENIOR FITNESS
(805) 705-2014
(805) 705-2014
JOHN@STILLWELLFITNESS.COM
JOHN@STILLWELLFITNESS.COM
• The Voice of the Village •
2285 Lillie Avenue Summerland Local Organic Produce Heavenly Baked Goods & Sourdough Breads
SweetWheelFarms@gmail.com 805.770.3677 / BOX DELIVERY AVAILABLE
MONTECITO JOURNAL
47
For 45 years, Montecito Bank & Trust has been making a difference in our local communities, and we’ve gotten to know the Central Coast like no one else. Thank you for helping us make 45 years possible!
montecito.bank • (805) 963-7511
