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I witnessed a public outcry during the November 14th Santa Cruz County Syringe Services listening session at the Emeline Health Clinic.  Many community members were upset about the secondary exchange service and the amount of syringe litter in the county.  As I left the session, I couldn’t help but wonder, who picks up the syringe litter throughout Santa Cruz County? After a little digging, I sat down with Brooke Newman at the nonprofit Downtown Streets Team.  We chatted about their efforts to pick up debris, especially syringes, throughout Santa Cruz County since 2017.

Planning has begun for a festive community celebration to mark the opening in just a few short months of the new Felton Branch Library and Felton Discovery Park.

Nearly every seat in the gallery was taken. On a small table, there were handouts, agendas and cookies. At the big, u-shaped table, members of the San Lorenzo Valley Water District staff and board sat side-by-side for the December 5th meeting to address a number of important issues, including the revision of the Strategic Plan for the District and updating the Mission Statement.For an agency that has seen its fair share of contentious meetings and divided loyalties, this latest gathering was refreshingly drama-free, and the board sent the clear signal that they were ready to truly hear from their constituents.In an effort to modulate the temperature of the room during monthly board meetings, district staff, ratepayers and board members alike had landed on the idea of approving a Conflict Resolution training. Coastal Watershed Management Consultant Greg Larson had been cited as the optimal candidate for this event, and given that he already submitted a proposal to assist the District, the feeling amongst all in the room was that an investment in Larson would be a worthy one. Director Rick Moran furthered the idea that transparency is of the utmost importance, and District Manager Rick Rogers determined that the topic would be on the January agenda for a vote.Meeting attendees were heartened to hear that Director Lew Farris had read all 12 emails that had been submitted to the board prior to the December meeting, and in response, he had created a criteria chart which graphed the priorities outlined in those submissions. Of all correspondence received, Farris said, the most common suggestion was to use Greg Larson as a consultant for de-escalation training. “Thank you,” Farris said. “I heard you, and I’m going to do something with the information.” President Lois Henry acknowledged that it was time to slow things down. “First, we’ll do the conflict management training, and then we’ll work on the revised Strategic Plan. It doesn’t mean we can’t have different opinions—it’s about how we express them,” she said.While Farris’ words were generally well-received, there was still a bit of pushback from customers in the gallery. “The public doesn’t want to be heard, we want to participate,” said Felton’s Larry Ford. “That will be one of the lessons learned in conflict resolution. But I completely support the District’s priorities, including fiscal responsibility and building new headquarters. We also need urgent progress on the fire management program,” Ford continued as the audience nodded.Marc Shargel from Felton chimed in as well. “Director Farris demonstrated a terrific example of paying attention and listening. It was an example of an inclusive and deliberative process to undertake long range planning,” Shargel said. “But I’m concerned about the rhetoric that has emerged in these meetings. Personal attacks are not acceptable. If you point at someone and accuse them of polarizing rhetoric,” said Shargel, “you are engaging in polarizing rhetoric yourself.”Boulder Creek’s Nancy Macy summed up the impression of the District from past meetings. “Everyone is feeling this horrible conflict. It was like changing boats in the middle of the stream—jumping into one that was slightly smaller.” In reference to the Mission Statement, Macy stated, “The current Mission Statement is beautifully written, and assures the community you want to protect things for the future, like working to maintain infrastructure and our watershed,” she said, “and allowing groundwater to be restored. I know we can work together, and make progress as a community—and I love the conflict resolution process idea.”The last point of business was the election of a new president and vice president of the SLVWD Board of Directors. Steve Swan was elected president, and Lois Henry was voted in as vice president.To further the idea of directors, staff and ratepayers working together, SLVWD is putting together a Public Advisory Committee, comprised of 5-7 members of the public. Staff solicited applications to serve, and five total applications were received. After some discussion, the board decided to hold the positions open in an effort to gather more interested community members. According to District Manager Rogers, the commitment would include two hours per month of physical meetings, plus homework. Applications may be found online at www.slvwd.com on the homepage under “What’s New,” or you may pick one up in person at the District Office, located at 13060 Highway 9 in Boulder Creek. The new deadline for interested parties to throw their proverbial hat in the ring is January 29, 2020 at 3pm. The District is planning to seat the committee at the February 6, 2020 Board meeting.

These past couple of months have ignited quite the discussion throughout Santa Cruz County. Between colder weather, the spontaneous reopening and closing of Ross Camp, the Harm Reduction Coalition’s proposals for new syringe exchanges, and the Santa Cruz County Syringe Services listening sessions, most dinner tables in our community are abuzz with this difficult topic.  How can we best help, while limiting, the homeless population, syringe litter, and high rate of drug addiction in our county?  How do we provide shelters and services for healthier injections, but not enable a surge without progress?

Felton Community Hall plays host to a variety of events each week. From Jazzercise classes to wedding receptions, the venue in downtown Felton has a history of bringing people together. And so it was that on Saturday, November 23rd, environmental organizations from around the county convened at the Hall for the 20th Annual Environmental Town Hall. Headed by the Valley Women’s Club and featuring guest speaker State Assemblymember Mark Stone, the symposium highlighted over 25 agencies dedicated to the betterment of our county’s environment. Groups like Friends of Santa Cruz State Parks, the Resource Conservation District and the Tobacco Education Coalition lined the interior of the building, providing handouts, graphs, charts and a reason to get involved, while nearly 200 attendees roamed amongst the tables, asking questions, networking, and getting to know the representatives of these organizations.After a brief introduction by Valley Women’s Club’s Nancy Macy, Assemblymember Stone took center stage, and spent an hour addressing the crowd on everything from the collapse of our recycling programs to the catastrophic failures of PG&E to serve its customers to the health and safety of our watershed.Stone’s remarks began by acknowledging that the San Lorenzo Valley has always been his political home base, and characterized his constituents as a source of support and grief as he acknowledged the vocality for which our residents are known. “I never lack for hearing from folks in the San Lorenzo Valley,” Stone said. “If only my colleagues in the Assembly would hear from the constituents the way I hear from you, then we would make better progress.”The two major topics covered in Stone’s address were the recycling issue and the PG&E debacle. In regards to recycling, Stone acknowledged that the recycling program had imploded, and was collapsing on itself. For years, China had taken the world’s trash, and was processing it into recycled materials like cell phone covers, shoes and electronics. Eventually, the overrun of materials being shipped to China was too much, and the country ceased accepting the millions of tons of plastic it had promised to take each year. With that shift, America was now forced to keep millions of recycled bottles and cans right here, and with no one being willing to purchase the materials, the redemption program came to a screeching halt. Despite the upset of consumers who now had no way to recycle their CRV (California Redemption Value) items, insult was added to injury with the continuation of the CRV fee being assessed upon every purchase of a qualifying item.“Where is the CRV money going if consumers aren’t getting it back?” asked one attendee. Stone said that Cal-Recycle was amassing the funds for now, and there was no immediate plan for how to siphon that money back into the end-users’ pockets. Mention was made of possibly suspending the CRV charge by the state, given that consumers were being forced to pay a fee that they had no way to recoup. Stone acknowledged that while the idea made sense, it would be impossible to institute under Cal-Recycle’s authority. He promised that the legislature is well aware of the issue, and is working hard to come up with a solution that would benefit consumers. “We are out of session until January,” Stone said, “but when we return, the recycling issue will be top of mind.”Following the recycling issue, Stone opened up the topic of PG&E to a round of hisses emanating from attendees. In covering the utility’s responsibilities and reviewing its failures, Stone pointed out the multiple ways in which PG&E was causing harm to its customers: Shutting off power when the weather didn’t warrant it; hiding reporting on the consistency and necessity of powering down ridge top lines unnecessarily; paying millions to its top brass and shareholders in bonuses while ratepayers suffered under antiquated infrastructure and lack of proactivity by the giant company, and continued plans to make weather-induced power outages a method of reducing the company’s liability while they remain in bankruptcy. Stone indicated that there were a few ways to bring the utility to task, including dissolving the giant corporation into geographically-centered agencies. Despite the positive response from the audience at the concept of breaking up the monopoly, Stone implored the audience to “be careful what you wish for.” Small communities like the San Lorenzo Valley have their rates tied in to larger metropolitan areas like San Jose and San Francisco. “If the Valley was to become its own customer without the subsidies provided by urban blocks, rates would skyrocket,” said Stone. He once again reminded the symposium’s attendees that upon return to work in January, Stone and his fellow legislators were planning to focus on this issue.A spirited Q&A followed Stone’s note-free presentation, and after an hour of hearing Stone address the crowd, incentivized attendees left with a little more information about the guardianship of our community.Christina Wise is a writer, reporter, and community advocate who resides in Felton. She writes for the Press Banner on housing, education, arts and culture. Contact her at [email protected].

On November 19th, the County of Santa Cruz presented 69 businesses with a Green Business Certificate.  10 of those businesses are in our area, including Brunetti’s Interiors, the City of Scotts Valley, Faust Salon and Spa, San Lorenzo Water District, Santa Cruz County Bank, Scotts Valley Chamber of Commerce, Scotts Valley Water District, Suki’s Boho Boutique, Wild Roots Market, and Satellite Telework Network.  I interviewed several of these businesses to understand how and why they use green practices.

If you’ve spent any time driving through Scotts Valley these past couple of months, you’ve probably noticed a few new developments around town.  A notable housing development behind the Shell Station on the intersection of Mount Hermon Road and Scotts Valley Drive, the Terrace, plans on opening quickly after the new year.  The Terrace has been under construction since last May and will ultimately be made up of 19 homes. Each will have 3 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms, in blocks of five. 

On November 13th, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Leslie Chavez and Sara Clevenger, two of authors of 100 Things to do in Santa Cruz Before You Die.  We met up at Coffee Cat, their favorite cafe in Scotts Valley.  Both Leslie and Sara were quite charming and excited to chat about their new book, which is part of a national series and available in Bookshop Santa Cruz and on Amazon. 

The passage of most laws is a reactionary measure to reduce or eliminate harm due to lax safety standards. Bicycle helmet laws were passed to reduce traumatic brain injuries from bicycle accidents. Seat belt laws are meant to decrease injuries and increase survivability in a car crash. Thanks to Richard Reid, we all have to remove our shoes at the airport to ensure safety when flying. And in September, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB-2178 in response to illnesses spread by unsafe food preparation and distribution by charities. Operation Turkey, which aims to feed the hungry and homeless on Thanksgiving Day, was founded by Richard Bagdonas (this reporter’s brother) in Austin, Texas in 2000. Since then, the nonprofit has spread to eight states, including right here in Santa Cruz County. 19-year old Andy Wise (this reporter’s son) has taken it upon himself to support the nonprofit’s mission, and is embarking upon his second season as captain of the only Operation Turkey chapter in California. So it was with great shock and surprise that Wise was contacted by Felton Bible Church last week, and told that the whole show was a no-go. “Apparently, AB-2178 limits the ways you can prepare and distribute food,” says Wise. “The new law says that groups like Operation Turkey would be limited to serving food prepared in a commercial kitchen or could only share whole, uncut produce and prepackaged, “nonhazardous foods” in its original packaging. Well, that’s not what we do,” said Wise. “We hold a Turkey Tailgate the day before Thanksgiving, and we barbecue and smoke our turkeys in personal equipment. The next day, we create an assembly line with those turkeys, and all the sides, and we load up boxes of food to deliver to people in the community. This entire event is now in jeopardy of not happening because we need to operate out of a commercial kitchen. Thanksgiving is a big day for most restaurants—who is going to give up their kitchen the day before so we can cook 130 turkeys?” Wise understands the position of Felton Bible Church—“They don’t want to break the law anymore than we do”—but the late notice on an operation of this magnitude is more than worrisome for this Cabrillo College student, EMT and volunteer firefighter with Boulder Creek’s Fire Department. Wise has reached out to employees at the Office of Environmental Health, including Director Dr. Marilyn Underwood. While the office seems to be sympathetic to his plight, their only recommendation is to find a commercial kitchen to operate out of. And the clock is ticking. Valley residents, Operation Turkey needs your help. In order to feed 2,500 hungry county residents on Thanksgiving, the nonprofit needs to find a commercial kitchen that will grant its use on Wednesday, November 27th and Thursday, November 28th. Funds have been raised. Volunteers have signed up to help. Homebound residents have registered to receive a meal from the organization. And 19-year old Wise is hoping that a generous benefactor comes through to offer Operation Turkey a saving grace. If you have any connections, or are willing to help facilitate the use of a commercial kitchen, please send an email to [email protected].

The recreational attractions and environmental wonders of Santa Cruz County draw visitors from all over the world. Tourism in the county is a $1 billion industry with over 3 million visitors annually according to Visit Santa Cruz County and Visit California, nonprofit organizations that promote and develop tourism in the region. A large part of that economic impact reaches the Santa Cruz Mountains in the form of lodging, shopping, dining, events, entertainment and outdoor activities.