Letters to the Editor

COMMUNITY NEWS Time to Talk About Sexual Assault

Did you know April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month?

In 2020, local nonprofit Monarch Services assisted 520 sexual assault survivors in Santa Cruz County. April is a chance for community members to proactively discuss sexual assault, demonstrate support for survivors, raise awareness and brainstorm prevention techniques.

This year, Monarch Services is partnering with the Santa Cruz City Commission for the Prevention of Violence Against Women, Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office, Sexual Assault Response Team and Kidpower to host and promote community awareness events.

All events will be virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The dates: • April 6: Sexual Assault Awareness

Month Day of Action https://bit. ly/3sg3IHP Wear teal in solidarity with survivors. • April 14: Sexual Assault, Consent and

Bystander Intervention https://bit. ly/2P7HdpA 9:30 to 11:15 a.m. Presented by Monarch Services • April 16-22: Virtual Documentary

Screening of “The Bystander Moment:

Transforming Rape Culture at its Roots” at https://bit.ly/3r0SBRA Available for online viewing from April 16-22.

No registration required. Presented by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and the Sexual Assault Response

Team. Supported by the Santa Cruz

Commission for Prevention of Violence Against Women. • April 20: “The Bystander Moment”

Virtual Conversation at https://bit. ly/30Wqc4x 6-8 p.m. with educatoractivist Jackson Katz, Sheriff Jim Hart, and activist-writer Ann Simonton. Presented by the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office and the Sexual Assault Response Team. Supported by the Santa Cruz Commission for Prevention of Violence Against Women. Limited to 250 registered attendees, recording available afterward.

“Denim Day” page 27

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Proposed Ban on Rodeos, Circuses at Fairgrounds Raises Questions

Editor’s note: This letter was sent to Santa

Cruz County Fair Board of Directors and Dave Kegebein, county fairgrounds manager. •••

It has been brought to my attention that the Santa Cruz County Animal Services is bringing a new model ordinance to the Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors for approval soon. I understand it is going before the Santa Cruz County Fair Board prior to the SC County Supervisors.

I have reviewed different editions of the document and have many concerns.

One of my biggest concerns, that would directly affect the fairgrounds, is proposed ordinance 6.04.250 Prohibition on using live animals for entertainment and purposes.

This ordinance states: “The use of animals as a form of amusement or entertainment in events such as circuses or rodeos is detrimental to the safety of the animals and the public, including children and trainers.” This statement is very subjective and when left up to interpretation could be an issue for the Santa Cruz County Fair for all animal events.

“Wild animals pose a significant danger to audience members, trainers, and the public at large.”

I want to clarify that horses and cattle are not wild animals. They are domestic animals, livestock. To group together circuses and rodeos based on the use of “wild animals” is false representation of the groups. Additionally, to limit all circuses would be unfortunate as most events that call themselves circuses only have domestic animals in their acts.

There are many types of circuses that use domestic livestock, including horses that would be great for the fairgrounds to host, such as Cavalia. I enjoy taking my daughters to the reptile and insect tents and visiting the camels during the fair. In the ordinance, “Wild Animals” would include these species. Does this mean the snake wrangler and camel rides will be prohibited?

“Travel or confinement impairs the animals’ physical, psychological, and social needs, while close confinement, lack of exercise, pressure to perform, and other physical requirements of performing render the animals unable to express natural behaviors and socialize appropriately.”

This is false information about how rodeo livestock are handled and maintained. When not at a rodeo, rodeo livestock live in large pastures and are under great care.

“This section does not apply to equestrian events except for those banned by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).”

The USEF should not be the only governing body for equestrian events. The USEF excludes many events and breeds, including the largest breed associations in the United States, the American Quarter Horse Association and the Jockey Club that registers Thoroughbreds. It also excludes many disciplines, such as cutting, reined cow horse, roping, team penning, team sorting, gymkhanas, and barrel racing.

These disciplines are represented under American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA), National Cutting Horse Association (NCHA), National Reined Cow Horse Association (NRCHA), among many other associations.

Not being more inclusive of the governing body(ies) for equestrian events in this ordinance will have a negative impact on revenue for Santa Cruz County fairgrounds, as many events not governed by USEF are hosted at the fairgrounds.

I am afraid blanket ordinances banning one type of event like circuses and rodeos will inadvertently ban many events that the fairgrounds currently supports and hosts.

I sincerely hope the Santa Cruz County Fair Board thoroughly reviews all aspects of the new model ordinance presented by Santa Cruz County Animal Services. I am afraid our ranching and farming heritage, and the future of what county fairs represent are at risk.

There is a lot at stake for the Santa Cruz County Fair if the model ordinance gets passed as it is being presented at this time. — Kristi Locatelli

•••

Bay Area Health Officers’ Statement About COVID-19 Vaccines

As local health officers, we fully support all three currently available vaccines for COVID-19. All three vaccines are safe and have been shown to be highly effective at preventing symptomatic illness and hospitalization.

The clinical trials for all three vaccines demonstrated that they were 100 percent effective in preventing deaths from COVID-19. There is also growing evidence that all three vaccines help prevent asymptomatic illness, too. This means that people who have been vaccinated are not likely to spread of COVID-19 to others who are not vaccinated.

There has been much debate about the advantages of one brand of vaccine over the other, but it’s difficult to compare their efficacy. The different brands of COVID- 19 vaccines have not been studied in head-tohead comparisons.

The vaccines have each been studied in slightly different groups of people and tested at different phases of the pandemic. The rates of community transmission and presence or absence of COVID-19 variants differed across studies.

What we can say with certainty is that all three vaccines provide levels of protection that are comparable to some of the best vaccines we have for other serious infectious diseases for which we routinely vaccinate people.

With COVID-19 continuing to circulate as we work toward community immunity, our collective medical advice is this: the best vaccine is the one you can get the soonest. The different vaccines have different storage requirements and with supplies of vaccine currently limited, the same brand may not be available at each vaccine site consistently.

If you have questions about vaccine, speak to your medical provider if you have one. You can also learn more about vaccines on the state’s COVID-19 website. — This statement has been approved by health officers representing the city of Berkeley and the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa,

Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma.

COMMUNITY NEWS Coastal Oak Interiors: Showcasing Aptos Lifestyle

By Jondi Gumz

Real estate agent Shanne Carvalho says his new retail store in Aptos came about because of Teri Mackay.

She’s the professional stager who has the knack of selecting the right furniture with the right pillows and the right photos — all from local vendors — to create the perfect look.

So many people asked if they could buy items they saw in homes she staged for sale that Carvalho agreed this could be a business.

So Coastal Oak (Carvalho means oak) Interiors opened in November in Aptos Village Square.

In March, Carvalho, 46, hosted a ribbon cutting with the Aptos Chamber of Commerce, the first of three such events in one week.

It was a burst of economic activity as new COVID cases plummeted, putting the county in the less restrictive Red Tier.

Naturally, attendees wore masks.

Watsonville contractor Frank Contreras redid the space, installing stylish pillars that provide display space for small items, and creating plenty of light.

Mackay sees the shop as a showcase for local artists such as Liz Lyons Friedman and photographer John Gavrilis.

Friedman, of Aptos, met Mackay at the Sip and Stroll in Aptos Village three years ago. She welcomed the opportunity to sell her work in the new shop, especially after Open Studios, the October art show extravaganza, was cancelled because of COVID.

“I’d been in all the shows since 1986,” said Friedman, who is hoping to be in Open Studios this fall.

She has paintings of sunsets, inspired by real life sunsets, for which is Aptos is famous.

Gavrilis’s photo of the pastelcoloredVenetian Court naturally draws the eye.

So do the colorful Murano glass bead hangings by Monica Ansaldo.

Mackay said her strategy is to stage one item, store one and sell one — so if you see something you like, buy it before someone else does.

For shoppers who want to move to Aptos, Carvalho can help. His real estate office, brokered by exp Realty, is in the same shopping center a few steps away. n

•••

Coastal Oak Interiors is at 7960 Soquel Drive Suite D, Aptos. Hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday; that could change in May. See www.coastaloakinteriors.com or call 831-889-8290.

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Shanne Carvalho, owner of Coastal Oak Interiors, with stager and buyer Teri Mackay.

Art for your walls at Coastal Oak Interiors.

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Liz Lyons Friedman with her paintings showcased at Coastal Oak Interiors.

Photo Credit: Jondi Gumz Monica Ansaldo with her “Boho” Murano glass bead hangings.

Robert Singleton Leaves Santa Cruz County Business Council

The Santa Cruz County Business Council is seeking a new executive director with the departure of Robert Singleton after four years for a senior government partnerships position at Bird Scooters for the Rockies/Pacific Northwest region.

Singleton was the Business Council’s policy analyst before being promoted in 2017 following the departure of then-CEO Casey Beyer to run the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce.

The Santa Cruz County Business Council is a 501c(6) advocacy organization that represents the largest employers in Santa Cruz County, with a focus on housing development, transportation, homelessness and water infrastructure.

The organization also serves as the general public affairs arm of the county-wide business community, joining coalitions, drafting letters of support, and working to place members of the business community into positions of influence or to engage key stakeholders. The SCCBC has more than 80 dues-paying membership organizations, including a diverse executive officer team represented by Looker/Google Cloud, UC Santa Cruz, Cruzio Internet, Marianne’s Ice Cream, and Kindpeoples. During Singleton’s tenure, the Business Council worked with its member companies and partner organizations to advocate on behalf of many new housing developments, ballot initiatives–including

Robert Singleton

Measures D, H, L, M (oppose) R, Y, and Z; larger land use plans like the Downtown Plan and Sustainable Santa Cruz County Plan, Student Housing West at UCSC and the in-concept approval of the downtown mixed use library/housing/parking development.

“He will be deeply missed,” said Stacy Nagel, 2021 board chair. n •••

A hiring committee of members will oversee recruitment. Those interested can email a resume and cover letter to robert.singleton@ sccbusinesscouncil.com.