AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREYCOUNTYNOW.COM LOCAL & INDEPENDENT AN APP FOR THAT 10 | ANDRÉ 3000 DROPS THE MIC 26 | THE PERFECT BURGER… 34 | …HOLD THE MEAT 32 Children and teens spend all year raising livestock for this moment, as the Monterey County Fair kicks off. p. 16 By Erik Chalhoub ALL’S FAIR
2 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 • ISSUE #1883 • ESTABLISHED IN 1988 Shannon Cronin (Canon EOS R6, RF28-70mm lens) It’s time for a new school year and new traditions. About 1,000 CSU Monterey Bay students, along with faculty and staff, braved the chilly surf in front of Monterey Beach Hotel as part of Welcome Week events on Sunday, Aug. 25 for “The Plunge.” MONTEREY COUNTY PHOTO OF THE WEEK Send Etc. submissions to etcphoto@montereycountynow.com; please include caption and camera info. On the cover: Salinas FFA students (from left) Riley Mauras, Will Freshwater, Regina Lopez and Lily Tenorio are among the dozens of young people who have raised animals over the summer and are showing them at the Monterey County Fair, which runs Aug. 29-Sept. 2. Cover photo: Daniel Dreifuss etc. Copyright © 2024 by Milestone Communications Inc. 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, California 93955 (telephone 831-394-5656). All rights reserved. Monterey County Weekly, the Best of Monterey County and the Best of Monterey Bay are registered trademarks. No person, without prior permission from the publisher, may take more than one copy of each issue. Additional copies and back issues may be purchased for $1, plus postage. Mailed subscriptions: $300 yearly, prepaid. The Weekly is an adjudicated newspaper of Monterey County, court decree M21137. The Weekly assumes no responsibility for unsolicited materials. Visit our website at http://www.montereycountynow. com. Audited by CVC. FOUNDER & CEO Bradley Zeve bradley@montereycountynow.com (x103) PUBLISHER Erik Cushman erik@montereycountynow.com (x125) EDITORIAL EDITOR Sara Rubin sara@montereycountynow.com (x120) ASSOCIATE EDITOR Erik Chalhoub ec@montereycountynow.com (x135) FEATURES EDITOR Dave Faries dfaries@montereycountynow.com (x110) STAFF WRITER Celia Jiménez celia@montereycountynow.com (x145) STAFF WRITER Pam Marino pam@montereycountynow.com (x106) STAFF WRITER Agata Pope¸da (x138) aga@montereycountynow.com STAFF WRITER David Schmalz david@montereycountynow.com (x104) STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Dreifuss daniel@montereycountynow.com (x102) DIGITAL PRODUCER Sloan Campi sloan@montereycountynow.com (x105) CONTRIBUTORS Nik Blaskovich, Rob Brezsny, Robert Daniels, Tonia Eaton, Paul Fried, Jesse Herwitz, Jacqueline Weixel, Paul Wilner CARTOONS Rob Rogers, Tom Tomorrow PRODUCTION ART DIRECTOR/PRODUCTION MANAGER Karen Loutzenheiser karen@montereycountynow.com (x108) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Kevin Jewell kevinj@montereycountynow.com (x114) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Alexis Estrada alexis@montereycountynow.com (x114) GRAPHIC DESIGNER Lani Headley lani@montereycountynow.com (x114) SALES SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Diane Glim diane@montereycountynow.com (x124) SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE George Kassal george@montereycountynow.com (x122) SENIOR SALES EXECUTIVE Keith Bruecker keith@montereycountynow.com (x118) CLASSIFIEDS BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Keely Richter keely@montereycountynow.com (x123) DIGITAL DIRECTOR OF DIGITAL MEDIA Kevin Smith kevin@montereycountynow.com (x119) DISTRIBUTION DISTRIBUTION AT Arts Co. atartsco@gmail.com DISTRIBUTION CONTROL Harry Neal BUSINESS/FRONT OFFICE OFFICE MANAGER Linda Maceira linda@montereycountynow.com (x101) BOOKKEEPING Rochelle Trawick rochelle@montereycountynow.com 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, CA 93955 831-394-5656, (FAX) 831-394-2909 www.montereycountynow.com We’d love to hear from you. Send us your tips at tipline.montereycountynow.com. now [nou] adverb at the present time or moment Monterey County Now Local news, arts and entertainment, food and drink, calendar and daily newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter: www.montereycountynow.com/subscribe Find us online: www.montereycountynow.com
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4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH California lawmakers abandoned a bill that would have forced Big Tech companies to pay newsrooms for the content that online searches profit from. The California Journalism Preservation Act (Assembly Bill 886) would have forced sites like Google and Facebook to share money they earn from copyrighted content produced by journalists. Instead, Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, D-Oakland, dropped AB 886 and announced an agreement with Gov. Gavin Newsom and with tech companies on Aug. 21. The agreement calls for the creation of a News Transformation Fund, administered by the UC Berkeley School of Journalism, starting in 2025. The agreement also calls for the creation of a National AI Innovation Accelerator. Combined, the two funds are expected to distribute $250 million over five years—details about how much funding, beyond “the majority,” would go to newsrooms was not available. A group of journalist union representatives decried the deal for its “vague AI accelerator project that could very well destroy journalism jobs, and minimal financial commitments from Google to return the wealth this monopoly has stolen from our newsrooms.” Good: Carmel residents Abbie Leeson and her husband Bruce Leeson were way ahead of the ginger trend when they began promoting the health benefits of the knobby rhizome close to 40 years ago. In 1997 they launched The Ginger People, headquartered in Marina, to sell and distribute ginger around the world—today their annual revenue is $40 million, with their ginger and turmeric products in over 23,000 retail locations in 30 countries. On Aug. 1, Abbie Leeson was named on Forbes Magazine’s 2024 “50 Over 50” list, highlighting women making a difference—she was named in the “Lifestyle” category for her role in taking ginger into the mainstream with the company’s many products, including supplements, candy, juices, marinades and more. Abbie Leeson serves as head of innovation, adding new products annually. “We’re always working on something that’s new,” she told the Weekly in 2023. GREAT: Great news for Monterey County pet owners. Hitchcock Road Animal Services has partnered with DocuPet, a pet licensing provider, to streamline the pet licensing process with the goal to make it easier to identify and reunite pet owners with their lost furry family members. (Pet licensing is mandatory for dogs and optional for cats.) Humans can choose and customize their pet’s tags from hundreds of options. Every tag has a dual use, which serves as the pet’s license and is equipped with the free HomeSafe® 24/7 service. “This pet licensing partnership will help to reduce the number of animals in our shelter and open up space and vital resources for pets that truly need our care. We are excited for residents to utilize this program to help protect their pets and all pets in the community.” Animal Services Administrator Cindy Burnham said. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK “Monterey is a very dark place now, with a lot of witchcraft.” -Hung Cao, a candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia, speaking about Lovers Point in Pacific Grove (see Squid’s take, montereycountynow.com). QUOTE OF THE WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY $2.8 million The amount of dislocated worker grant funding the U.S. Department of Labor awarded to California on Aug. 23. The funds will support cleanup and recovery activities in eight counties, including Monterey, in response to winter storms earlier this year. Source: U.S. Department of Labor The exclusive benefit gala featuring Michelin chefs returns to The Inn at Spanish Bay on Sunday, November 3 ARE YOU READY? Meals on Wheels of the Monterey Peninsula is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization Tax ID # 94-2157521 MOWMP.ORG/CLASSIQUE REGISTER TODAY EVENT GALLERY
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6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com 831 From a living room in a home in Marina in 2018, three Asian Americans formed a group with a goal that extended well beyond the living room: to bring the Asian community in Monterey County together. That group, the Asian Communities of Marina, is a nonprofit that seeks to increase participation, unity and visibility of Asian Americans in Monterey County. It isn’t surprising this group originated in Marina; the city has the largest proportion, nearly 15 percent, of Asian residents in the county. Kathy Biala, a Marina City Council member and ACOM president, was one of the founders. “Asian Communities of Marina is trying to facilitate, in our local region, having our diverse Asian communities understand each other, work together, and to appreciate each other’s backgrounds,” Biala says. ACOM has members who come from a variety of backgrounds, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Filipino, Vietnamese, Pacific Islanders and South Asians. They work to create an alliance and collaborate on issues. “Asian voices needs to be heard,” says Jihua Zhou, an ACOM board member. Several members say ACOM has helped them connect with other Asian communities. “I used to know mostly just Chinese, but since then, I know a lot more Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese,” says David Kong, ACOM treasurer and a board member of Greenfield Union School District. Yong Soo Oh, ACOM’s secretary, says the Korean community tends to be shy. “They don’t speak outside of their community,” Oh says. One of ACOM’s goals is to share the Asian experience beyond cultural events. It’s also about sharing their contributions, struggles and their immigration experiences. ACOM has championed different matters in Monterey County including ending the Feast of Lanterns, a decades-long festival in Pacific Grove that was criticized as racist, as well as advocating for the sister city program in Marina pairing with Izunokuni, Japan and Namwon, South Korea. Kong grew up in Pacific Grove in the ’60s and he spoke against the Feast of Lanterns at P.G. council meetings. As a kid he used to wonder, “Why are they making fun of Asians?” “My parents did not feel comfortable living in Pacific Grove,” Kong recalls. The contributions of Asian Americans in Monterey County run deep, from agriculture to fishing and commerce. Longtime contributions are described in history books and John Steinbeck’s novels. Incidents such as the burning of Pacific Grove’s Chinese village in 1906, and the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, dwindled the Asian American presence in the area. While it has been a long journey, Asian Americans today are a thriving local community that is organizing to become a united front. Despite the name, anyone is welcome to join. “We are an action group,” says May Holland Dungo, an ACOM board member. Holland Dungo says numbers matter: “If we need something done, we have to go together as a group.” Their latest plan focuses on creating the first public Asian American garden Monterey County in Marina at LockePaddon Wetland Community Park, managed by the Monterey Peninsula Regional Park District. Their idea came from the Shinzen Friendship Garden in Fresno, a Japanese garden that is a popular attraction for locals and tourists. “It’s not just for Asians, but it’s for the entire community that deserves to have a beautiful [Asian] garden in the county,” Oh says. Oh points out there aren’t many places that showcase the Asian diaspora in Monterey County, and this would he a space to share their history. “It adds to the diversity of the whole Monterey County,” Holland Dungo adds. ACOM members plan to attend the next MPRPD board meeting on Sept. 4 to show their support for the Marina garden. Learn more about Asian Communities of Marina at acom2022ca.org. 242-0023, acom2022ca@gmail.com. United Front A local nonprofit is bringing Asian Americans together in Monterey County. By Celia Jiménez Asian Communities of Marina members including (from left) Yong Soo Oh, Jihua Zhou, Kathy Biala, May Holland Dungo and David Kong meet once a month. Since its inception, ACOM has grown from three to 40 registered members and dozens of volunteers. “It adds to the diversity of the whole county.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE CELIA JIMÉNEZ LOCAL PEOPLE n LOCAL BANK
www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 7 samara joy josé james mavis staples stanley clarke n•forever MONTEREYJAZZ.ORG 350 ARTISTS 87 SHOWS 3 DAYS OF MUSIC TICKETS ON SALE NOW! EASTWOOD SYMPHONIC FEAT. MONTEREY SYMPHONY DONALD LAWRENCE & COMPANY TICKETS START AT $60 H I L LT O P 871 JESSIE STREET 831-646-3975 EL ESTERO 777 PEARL STREET 831-646-3873 Pre-registration by appointment only. Please call the Preschool location of your choice for a registration appointment. Visit www.monterey.gov/rec for more info. learn - engage - play - socialize Tuesday – friday, 3 hours per day THE CITY OF MONTEREY must be “potty” trained years 3-5 for ages preschool p r o g r a m Dr. Brynie Kaplan Dau, MS, DVM Compassionate Care with exCeptional mediCine. 1023 Austin Avenue, Pacific Grove • 831-318-0306 www.pacificgroveanimalhospital.com VOTED MONTEREY COUNTY’S BEST VETERINARIAN THREE YEARS IN A ROW! ’23 ’22 ’21 SURGERY DERMATOLOGY FELINE & CANINE MEDICINE PET BOARDING PREVENTATIVE CARE REGENERATIVE MEDICINE PRP (PLATELET-RICH PLASMA) LASER THERAPY EXOTICS AND MUCH MORE
8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS The sounds on a Monday morning at Deja Blue are not something to dance to—the pounding of hammers and whirl of drills fill the air. But the dance floor in the restaurant and entertainment venue is open during construction, and it is in the middle of an expansion that will increase its size. “I look at this facility as kind of like the new hub to help jumpstart Broadway and make Broadway become the new downtown for Seaside,” owner Darryl Choates says. Deja Blue programming currently features live jazz and blues, comedy shows and Latin dance nights. Choates envisions the expansion as a way to diversify business as well; he plans to rent out the space as a private event center for weddings, quinceañeras, trade shows, concerts and more. The expansion project is merging the existing Deja Blue with the building next door. Once complete, the bar will act like an aisle with access between the venue area and the restaurant. “We’re going to make it just like Embassy Suites and if you were in their ballroom and you go to the restroom,” Choates says by way of comparison. The project will more than double the size of Deja Blue from 2,100 to 5,600 square feet, with a maximum occupancy of 375 people. The venue first opened in 2020, just before the pandemic shutdown. The current stage area will be removed and there will be portable stages instead, as well as an accessible ramp. The patio doubled in size and it has a Mexican, rustic vibe with sprinkles of decorated tiles, mosaic-decorated tables and an outdoor stage area. Choates expects to open the new space soon; the project is about two months behind schedule and currently 80-percent complete. Big Stage A dance and music venue in Seaside is expanding, and hopes to grow the nightlife scene. By Celia Jiménez One of Pacific Grove’s latest entertainment hot spots, Pop and Hiss, was abuzz on Thursday, Aug. 22, with upwards of 70 people noshing on charcuterie and sipping drinks from the bar. They weren’t there to hear a popular DJ or musician, they were there in part to watch the Democratic National Convention on a large screen. The other part: To formally launch a new political group, Pacific Grove Progressives. “The energy in this room has been sky high,” said P.G. Progressives President Colleen Ingram, shortly after the loud cheers died down in the room in response to Kamala Harris’ speech. “We’re really proud you were here with us to witness this together.” Voters skew Democratic in P.G.—in the 2020 presidential election, 76 percent voted for President Joe Biden compared to 21 percent for Donald Trump—and yet it’s conservative voices at P.G. City Council meetings and online that have dominated local decisions. One example: A majority of residents voted in 2022 in favor of allowing a single retail cannabis store and yet no store is on the horizon due to opposition. “We can have nice things” is P.G. Progressives’ tagline, a response to recent decisions by the council that have rankled many residents, including acting to remove the popular existing restaurant parklets with sidewalk dining and blocking a proposed skatepark. It’s also a reaction to residents who regularly protest change. Case in point: Pop and Hiss faced resistance from a small number of people who didn’t want a new music venue, before successfully obtaining permits. The group is also a direct reaction to those who have consistently disrupted meetings of the city’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Task Force for more than two years, or promoted anti-transgender, antiPride and other extreme conservative views on local social media groups. “We began as a small group of introverted activists,” Ingram said, prompting laughter. “[Witnessing] the worst of political practices occurring nationally happening right here in our little community” encouraged them to formally organize. As one example, she said there are calls to reinstate the Feast of Lanterns, which was ended after pressure from those contending it was cultural appropriation and racist. P.G. Progressives received status as a nonprofit, and registered with the California Fair Political Practices Commission, which gives them the ability to raise money for candidates, advertise and make endorsements. Ingram says they will be canvassing precincts for Pacific Grove candidates, as well as volunteering with the Monterey County Democratic Central Committee to promote other endorsed candidates. (They are also recognized as a club by the Democratic Central Committee.) The group is currently mulling endorsements in the three-person race for mayor; for City Council, with six candidates for two seats; and the race for the P.G. Unified School District board. A survey sent to the candidates includes several questions that range from establishing a code of conduct for elected officials, to addressing climate change and protection of the DEI Task Force. Celia Bosworth watches the Democratic National Convention with the Pacific Grove Progressives at Pop and Hiss in Pacific Grove. The crowd cheered when Vice President Kamala Harris spoke and formally accepted her party’s nomination. Political Force In blue P.G. where conservatives dominate the conversation, progressives find their voice. By Pam Marino Darryl Choates owns Deja Blue in Seaside and hopes to draw more comedy shows with an expanded space. “Our goal is going into more, larger entertainment,” he says. “We began as a small group of introverted activists.” DANIEL DREIFUSS DANIEL DREIFUSS
www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 9 Do you want to go InSIDE PRISon anD lEaRn wItH tHE InCaRCERatED? Members from the public engage in weekly discussions with inmates, sharing life stories related to empathy-building topics. Anyone over 18 is welcome to join! Offered Mondays from 4pm-6pm over 8-week cycles at CTF Soledad Prison - a voluntary commitment is required. Contact Program Director – Megan McDrew for more information and to sign up. Space is very limited! Professor Megan McDrew mmcdrew@transformativejusticecenter.org TransformativeJusticeCenter.org PRESENTING SPONSOR PEBBLE BEACH COMPANY RUNWAY SEATS $225 REGULAR SEATS $200 FREE VALET PARKING AVAILABLE TICKETS, SPONSORSHIP & MORE ALLIANCEONAGING.ORG 8316557564 OR NPASCULLI@ALLIANCEONAGING.ORG PLEASE JOIN US FRIDAY AUGUST 30, 2024 5:30PM COCKTAIL ATTIRE. DISCO OPTIONAL. 2700 17 MILE DRIVE, PEBBLE BEACH, CA
10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com It’s not that long ago that bulletin boards were one of the main resources to find out about community events, school announcements and job opportunities. They still exist, but information is increasingly online. And now there is an app, Nurbli, that is creating an online bulletin board so Monterey County residents and beyond can access information about their school district and local government at their fingertips. On Aug. 14, South Monterey County Joint Union High School District approved a one-year pilot program to include Nurbli as part of its resources to reach out to the indigenous community among its four high schools. “We are excited to try out the app and to see if parents respond well,” says Griselda Delgado, the district’s assistant superintendent of educational services. Benito Sanchez is a Greenfield High School graduate and Triqui speaker. He is also a software engineer who was motivated to develop the app after the Pajaro flooding in 2023 affected many indigenous residents. SMCJUHSD became aware of the app during a brainstorming meeting at Hartnell College in which representatives of different organizations discussed information accessibility for Monterey County’s population of Mexican indigenous speakers. Delgado, who has been in the county for about a year, says she realized parents weren’t getting information in their native language, and providing written translated documents wouldn’t be helpful either, since many cannot read. Greenfield Unified School District is also using the app; Sanchez has reached out to Gonzales Unified as well. The app provides more than a physical bulletin board. It invites a user to add their zip code, set the app’s interface language—English or Spanish— and the language they want for audio. The app populates with flyers and similar materials that are available in the local area. Users can then read them in their original language or listen to them in English, Spanish, Mixteco de San Martín Peras, or Triqui Bajo. Currently, Nurbli includes flyers about after-school tutors at King City High School, low-cost internet service, and the Monterey County Rape Crisis Center help line. The app is still in its infancy; it launched in May, and the volume of information remains pretty slim. Sanchez says it will grow as more entities, including local governments, school districts and organizations sign up and post updates about services, public meetings and other engagement opportunities. After Carmel barely made a deadline in April to turn into the state their eight-year housing plan, known as a housing element, some residents became alarmed that the plan to add a required 349 units in the tiny village included a provision that commits the city to building 149 units of very low- to low-income units on cityowned parking lots, including at the Sunset Center. It’s the exact opposite of what residents repeatedly told the Carmel City Council they wanted, says former councilmember Victoria Beach. “The idea of clumping people who are lower-income together is a discredited housing strategy,” she says. Beach and others began looking for a solution to satisfy the California Department of Housing and Community Development, which certified Carmel’s housing element. They named themselves Affordable Housing Alternatives and in July the council gave the go-ahead for the city’s Community Planning and Building department to collaborate with AHA. At a joint community meeting of about 50 people held on Aug. 21, AHA members presented four possible alternatives to adding the “magic number” of 149 units: creating more accessory dwelling units and junior ADUs; converting small hotels into housing; building above commercial sites; and adding units to church properties. Beach says a combination of these ideas could allow the city to reach its goal. While some residents in attendance were still in denial that the city must meet the state’s housing requirements or wanted to load up on ADUs and junior ADUs in name only, others urged their neighbors to be welcoming to the workers who commute to the city daily because there is nowhere affordable to live in Carmel. AHA members hope to create a viable plan by next year. Under Carmel’s current housing element, the city is required to release by December 2025 a request for proposals for developers who might be interested in constructing units on city parking lots. App Chat South County school districts embrace technology for language translation. By Celia Jiménez NEWS ON THE DAIS Monterey City Council meets and accepts public comment. Tell your elected officials what they are doing well and what you think they can do better. 4pm Tuesday, Sept. 3. Colton Hall, 580 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. 646-3799, monterey.gov. CONTINUED CARE Monterey County Behavioral Health holds a focus group to gather feedback on residential care facilities and how to improve them for people living with severe mental health illnesses. 5:30-7pm Tuesday, Sept. 3. NAMI Monterey County Office, 152 W. Gabilan St., Salinas. Free. 755-4510, bit.ly/3yQGh0j. CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Marina City Council meets to discuss city business, as well as hear from the public. 5pm Wednesday, Sept. 4. City Council Chambers, 211 Hillcrest Ave., Marina. Free. 884-1278, cityofmarina.org. THINKING OF YOU Family Service Agency of the Central Coast is gathering cards for National Grandparents’ Day to deliver to people living in assisted and skilled nursing facilities in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz counties on Sept. 8. Volunteers are needed to write these cards. Deliver cards to Family Service Agency/I-You Venture, 104 Walnut Ave. #208, Santa Cruz; or Santa Cruz Volunteer Center, Attn: FSA/I-You Venture, 1740 17th Ave., Santa Cruz. 459-8917, cleveland.n@fsa-cc.org, fsacc.org. FAMILIES FIRST First 5 Monterey County, which provides services for families with children through age 5, seeks a new commissioner on its board to fill a vacancy. Applicants should have knowledge of trauma and mental health, and have experience living or working in North and South counties. Applications are due Sept. 24. 4448549, first5monterey.org. PUBLIC INPUT Seaside residents, workers and interested parties are invited to participate in a survey for housing and community development needs. It’s part of a process to update the city’s consolidated plan document every five years. Survey is available in English and Spanish through Sept. 30 at surveymonkey.com/r/2N8NFZL. One by One A group of Carmel residents is determined to find affordable housing they can support. By Pam Marino Software developer Benito Sanchez with Nurbli, the community centric audio translation app he created, that is available on Apple and Google Play. E-MAIL: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX Users can listen in English, Spanish, Mixteco or Triqui. DANIEL DREIFUSS
www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 Former Seaside city manager Jaime Fontes, who City Council terminated for no cause (“loss of confidence”) effective June 6 of this year, is not done with Seaside yet. On July 22, Fontes filed a claim with the city for an amount that exceeds $10,000 regarding his termination. The claim, which the Weekly obtained via the California Public Records Act, puts in writing a broad set of claims against the city regarding personnel investigations that Fontes says he did not authorize, and that, as city manager, he was solely vested with the power to authorize them. Because he was terminated for no cause, Fontes, per his contract with the city, received six months of pay ($125,000) plus six months of medical benefits. Even though his contract explicitly states he can be fired for no cause, the central thrust of his claims is that because he pushed back on the personnel investigations that he didn’t authorize, the City Council terminated him in retaliation. The narrative laid out in the claims puts a finer point on the allegations that were broadly outlined in the Weekly’s previous reporting this year— that Fontes didn’t authorize the many personnel investigations conducted by an outside law firm, so that therefore they were unlawful. He also claims the city committed fraud in two ways: the first due to an April 4 city report asking the City Council to amend the city’s contract with outside attorney Don Freeman (who formerly served as Seaside’s city attorney for many years) to exceed its cost cap of $24,000. That report has a digital signature from Fontes, though his claim states he never signed it, and that he had Covid-19 from April 4-8. Another instance where Fontes claims fraud stems from an April 8 letter Mayor Ian Oglesby sent to an outside attorney whose firm was conducting the personnel investigations, and he assured her the city would pay any billings incurred. That letter was sent on the city manager’s letterhead, but Fontes claims he had no knowledge of it. If the city denies Fontes’ claim and he files a lawsuit, it wouldn’t be the first time he’s gone to court with a local city. He served as Greenfield’s city manager from April 2017 until June 2018, then sued that city, alleging discrimination, a hostile work environment and retaliation; that lawsuit was settled in 2020 with the city agreeing to pay Fontes $250,000. Also in 2020, Fontes sued Greenfield’s contract city attorney Mary Lerner, of the firm Lozano Smith, for “intentional interference with contractual relations.” That case was dismissed in 2021. Seaside saw several city employees resign earlier this year—including former finance director Victor Damiani and public works director Nisha Patel— both during and in the wake of the turmoil of the personnel investigations. The City Council also hired a former employee on Aug. 1. Former city manager Craig Malin is interim city manager two days a week—he’ll be flying in and out every week from Wisconsin until a permanent city manager is hired. Shot, Chaser Jaime Fontes, former Seaside city manager, files a claim against the city. By David Schmalz Former Seaside city manager Jaime Fontes was terminated in June. He filed a claim against the city on July 22; the city has 45 days to respond. If they deny the claim, Fontes has two years to sue. NEWS It wouldn’t be the first time he’s gone to court with a local city. DANIEL DREIFUSS LOCATED BEHIND THE PORTOLA HOTEL & SPA | COMPLIMENTARY PARKING (831) 649-2699 | PETERBSBREWPUB.COM HAPPY HOUR SUNDAY BREAKFAST 4PM TO 6PM LATE NIGHT 9PM TO 10PM 9:30AM TO 11AM MONTEREY’S FAVORITE SPORTS BAR CATCH ALL YOUR FAVORITE TEAMS ON 18 HDTV’S Open Mon-Fri 8:30am–5pm 384 Olympia Ave, Seaside (831) 583-9820 HansAutoRepair.com Seaside's first certified Green business! "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Save the planet!" {Bruce and Russell say: Bruce and Russell say: Fix that RUFF Ride and enjoy the Dog Days of Summer
12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com FLY OVER Fascinating (“Car Week fuels an uptick in air and road travel, with three times more private jets than usual,” Aug. 22-28). Did not know about timeshare jet ownership and the alternative fuel available here— learned something new. Car Week can be a headache for locals, but certainly injects a lot into the economy. Krista Carey | via social media Now I understand why it was so damn noisy all day long. Noise pollution! Robert Jurado | via social media AHEAD OF HER TIME I appreciate Pam Marino’s story (“Julia Platt, Pacific Grove’s first woman mayor, made an indelible mark locally and in the world of science,” Aug. 22-28). A well-written, informative article about the inspiring, influential, scientifically trained woman who helped preserve Pacific Grove’s waterfront. Why doesn’t the City erect a statue of her with plaques informing residents and visitors about her heritage? A statue at the foot of Forest Avenue would be fitting since her home overlooked that location. Jane Haines | Pacific Grove What a tale of bucking the system. She should be an inspiration to all who perceive wrong that needs to be righted. Walter Wagner | Salinas Great piece on Julia Platt. I didn’t know about her science PhD. Fortunately, perceptions have changed. Lee Henderson | via email Thank you for the wonderful profile of Julia Platt. Your writing is very engaging and I love that you are shining light on interesting women who have found ways to contribute their individual gifts to enrich our culture, society and environment,both locally and beyond. Barbara Bullock-Wilson | Pacific Grove RENT TO OWN It is interesting that the Monterey County Weekly has focused rent stabilization on only farmworkers while hundreds of workers employed in the greater Salinas area are also rent-burdened. Why are their voices not being heard? Why are landlords affected by this rent stabilization not being interviewed for their reactions? (“Salinas City Council is set to decide on the county’s first rent stabilization ordinance,” Aug. 15-21). In my opinion, you need to widen the scope of our rental housing crisis, which goes beyond just the plight of farmworkers. As a community, we need to encourage an increase in rental housing. Bringing more voices to the conversations needs to be encouraged without fear of repercussion. Diving deeper into unexpected consequences should be identified and explained. Rent stabilization may help a limited number of rent-burdened residents and should be acknowledged as such, however, the larger number of rent-burdened households will continue to struggle. Piling on more regulation and fees to the landlords of rental properties will not reduce poverty or increase wages. Gloria Moore | Salinas Lame duck Mayor Kimbley Craig skipping the vote on rent stabilization was gutless (“A sign of a power shift in Salinas, City Council agrees to pursue rent stabilization,” posted Aug. 21). If she is afraid to vote on contentious issues, she should just stop wasting our time and quit already [Craig recused herself from the vote]. Congrats to the Salinas City Council for passing laws that materially help Salinas residents despite their absentee mayor. Damien Maldonado | Salinas GETTING AHEAD Great story! Praying for you (“Safe Place Salinas opens, offering a brickand-mortar hub for services for unhoused youth,” Aug. 15-21). Rosemary Maldonado-Barron | Salinas BIG TENT As a Democrat who is tired of reading the invective in print and social media between the parties, please consider no longer publishing the Modern World political cartoon in the Weekly. This cartoon only serves to polarize our community, create more animosity toward the Republican party, and does nothing but foster hatred and stereotypes of people who might read your paper if they weren’t ridiculed every week. When Covid struck, you changed your column Good Week/Bad Week to Good Week/Great Week to send a more positive message (“The Buzz”). Will you please take another step in that direction by removing this mean-spirited cartoon? Emily Nicholl | Monterey Democratic voters are energized with a sugar high following the most packaged and empty convention in my memory. No one knows what [Kamala Harris’] positions are on any major issue other than abortion. Yet millions will enthusiastically vote based not on any data, but on a googly-goo feeling hollow speeches provide. Pathetic. Harris hides from her past positions, Trump trumpets his. Trump received millions of primary votes. Harris received zero. Not one! This is the side protecting “democracy.” Rich. John Greenway | Carmel Valley LIONS’ ROAR Smell is right! (“Massive sea lion haul-out prompts beach closures in Monterey,” posted Aug. 21.) Jim Pavelle | Marina PULL THE PLUG As a retired high school teacher I had to deal with cell phone use and lots of misuse by students during class (“Salinas Union High School District to implement a cellphone-free campus in middle schools,” Aug. 1-7). Despite clear rules and consequences for students who use their phones in class, many still did. It not only detracted greatly from their focus and learning, but from the whole learning atmosphere. There is a time and place for phones. The classroom is not one of them. Teachers need the support of parents and administrators to do their job. Give it to them by banning cell phone use in the classroom, even by the teachers unless in an emergency. Michael Kennedy | Monterey LETTERS • COMMENTSOPINION Submit letters to the editor to letters@montereycountynow.com. Please keep your letter to 150 words or less; subject to editing for space. Please include your full name, contact information and city you live in.
www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 13 I grew up in the days of the D.A.R.E. program, a curriculum that has fortunately been relegated to the dustbin. But even as educational frameworks and laws have evolved to be more relevant, so too have tobacco product manufacturers who are seeking to hook young consumers who will become addicted to tobacco products. Today’s youth experimenting with vape pens are tomorrow’s market. There is a shared responsibility when it comes to adapting to help kick deadly habits among a new generation of young people. One entity that shares responsibility are vendors who sell tobacco products. It was a headline-grabber a month ago when the Monterey County District Attorney announced that Gamal Kalini, owner of Rubystar Gems & Gifts in Monterey, agreed to pay $25,000 in civil penalties for unlawfully selling tobacco products to minors. (The legal age to purchase such products in California is 21.) The charges centered on unfair business practices—essentially that by playing by different rules, Rubystar was getting away with anticompetitive behavior. This case came after a series of complaints about the store. In 2021, then again in summer 2023 and fall of 2023, parents called Monterey Police to report their children were using tobacco products purchased from Rubystar. Two employees faced misdemeanor charges—the more recent one completed a fourhour diversion course on Aug. 8 of this year, according to court records—but still the sales to minors continued. “We appreciate the calls,” says MPD Lt. Jake Pinkas. “As a police department I can’t revoke somebody’s tobacco license, but we can establish a pattern.” In this case, the pattern led to the high-dollar civil penalty. There is another pattern, or maybe an absence of a pattern, that is concerning here though. That’s consistent enforcement of sales around tobacco rules. Eight cities and the unincorporated county have adopted a Tobacco Retail License Ordinance, which requires vendors to pay a $407 annual fee for the privilege of selling tobacco products. (There are 309 active permits on file, including Rubystar’s.) The licensing fee historically has helped fund enforcement efforts, including youth decoy operations; children would walk into stores and see if they could buy cigarettes or vape pens. At some point, that practice came to an end. The previous sheriff, Steve Bernal, said in 2021 that he had rejected a $700,000 grant to support enforcement because of staffing: “We just don’t have the bodies to take off the streets and commit to tobacco enforcement.” The youth decoy operations are supposedly coming back this fall after a multi-year hiatus, although it’s not clear exactly when, although the Health Department and Sheriff’s Office pledge to collaborate on a timeline TBD. “We are restarting the program,” Sheriff Tina Nieto said in a statement. “The health of our youth is important.” Of course, even with an active enforcement program, there are not always enforcers watching— health inspectors rely on voluntary compliance. “For instance, in a restaurant, food handlers should wash their hands. In a gas station, there should be proper storage and handling of hazardous materials,” says Ric Encarnacion, director of Environmental Health. But to some people who have been working for years on tobacco regulations, it feels like far from enough. “An ordinance without enforcement is useless—it’s just a waste of time,” says Dale Hillard, a retired high school science teacher who first joined the Coalition for a Tobacco-Free Monterey County in 1998. “If you don’t get a speeding ticket once in a while, you don’t slow down.” The Public Health Bureau of the County Health Department received $1.5 million in funds, to be dispersed over three years starting this year, thanks to a settlement with e-cigarette manufacturing giant JUUL Labs. They expect those funds to help revive regular enforcement. Meanwhile, we have known for 50 years that the use of tobacco products contributes to disease and early death. Since the U.S. Surgeon General first reported on the dangers of smoking in 1964, 20 million Americans have died from smoking, including 2.5 million nonsmokers. The single best way to avoid repeating that in the next half-century is to stop young people from starting in the first place. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Smoked Out Hopefully, county officials fulfill a promise to revive tobacco enforcement. By Sara Rubin SCAPE GOATS…Squid is not a very social creature. Squid prefers to keep tabs on others from behind the scenes, such as sending public records requests to see what juicy emails local government officials are writing. Walker Williams, the development manager of Scannell Properties, which plans to construct a five-story, nearly 3-million-square-foot Amazon warehouse in Salinas, turned the tables and wants to know who’s checking up on his project. On Aug. 12, Williams filed a request with the City of Salinas, asking for the names of all the people (and cephalopods) who have submitted public records seeking information about the proposal. Codenamed Project GOAT, work on the project has been underway for more than two years, out of the public eye. The city obliged, as required by law, and sent Williams the list of six people who have filed requests since July 2023 (including one of Squid’s colleagues at the Weekly). The records themselves mostly consist of emails (nearly 300 pages) and a one-sentence “operational statement” that essentially describes what a warehouse is. City officials at last publicly acknowledged the Amazon project on Aug. 26, announcing that work would begin soon on the site along Abbott Street and Harris Road. As Williams found out, when you’re building one of the largest Amazon warehouses in the country in someone’s city, the locals surely want to know about it. LATE PENALTY…Squid likens watching Monterey’s County Housing and Community Development Department at work to watching a pot of water boil—it takes a while for any results to bubble up. That was the case with the county’s draft housing plan, called a housing element, required of counties and cities to plan for increased housing units over an eight-year period, currently 2023-2031. MCHCD planners blew through deadlines in December and April with a tenuous promise to finish this summer (must be nice!). The Monterey County Board of Supervisors weighed in on a draft in June, requesting changes and directing it to come back to them by Aug. 20—before it would be sent to the state. On Aug. 12, county planners announced a lightning-quick seven-day public review of the latest draft, with the intention of sending it to the state on Aug. 19. Hold on, local housing advocates said, can’t we discuss it on Aug. 20 first? What’s a few more days? Apparently, the state got tired of watching the county’s pot simmer and was demanding results. Enforcement officials from the California Department of Housing and Community Development had been in touch, MCHCD Director Craig Spencer told the supervisors on Aug. 20. State officials have the power to turn up the heat, and impose sanctions. County planners had no choice but to get cooking, and fast. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “An ordinance without enforcement is useless.” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com Stars and Stripes The Democrats are reclaiming and reframing what it means to be patriotic in an authentic way. By Safa Samiezadé-Yazd FORUM Twenty years ago, I became scared of the American flag. Not weary, flat-out terrified. The more flags I saw in a neighborhood, the more physically unsafe I felt. That’s because American flags meant Republicans, and 20 years ago, Republicans meant people who didn’t think twice about hurling racial slurs at me, or tell me to go back to where I came from, because America doesn’t want or need people like me (for the record, “back to where I came from” is St. Louis, Missouri). It meant people who asked me, what kind of a fucked up name is Safa? (yes, this actually happened), and that if I really want to be an American, I needed to have an American name. Republicans meant people who openly expressed how unsafe they felt around a Muslim, how I made them feel uneasy simply by being brown. Republican meant people who valued their imagined safety as more worthy than my actually threatened one. And American flags meant Republicans. (Of course, I know that not all Republicans are like this. But the rest are doing a horribly poor job at reminding us of that.) The party of Donald J. Trump is nothing new for me. My entire adult life, my American identity has been questioned, scrutinized, doubted, qualified. All by people who felt it was their business to do so. Because to them, Muslim means foreigner (even though I was born here), and I can’t be an American if I’m also a foreigner. But then the 2024 Democratic National Convention happened from Aug. 19-22, and while it did not undo two decades of fear, it certainly upended it. I saw the same flags, heard the same chants, and for the first time, I felt invited to join. That same exact “U-S-A” chant I’ve heard so long from people who don’t want me here is now being belted out by people who do. Where the word “patriotism” for me has always been a dog whistle for nationalism, those nights in Chicago it was reclaimed and reappropriated to mean openness and inclusion. Propelling forward instead of slinking back. We still have a long ways to go, but for the first in a long time, I saw an opening where I could finally feel safe under my birth country’s flag, where my name can live both as an Iranian name, and an American name. A cynic may write off the reclaiming of patriotism as a political strategy to get conservative voters. To that, I say: Stop trying to kill the vibe. Someone once asked me how I remember that Democrats are blue and Republicans are red. I told her, the American flag. The red stripes represent the original 13 colonies— our past, fixed in time, the part of the flag that never changes, never evolves. The blue stars symbolize our 50 states—our present and future, shifting as new states were let in, still malleable. In that light, the two parties’ colors make perfect sense: Red wants an America that no longer exists, blue wants the America that lives today and can change for tomorrow. Safa Samiezadé-Yazd is an Iranian-American based in Los Angeles. She is currently a writer and producer in nonfiction TV. OPINION I could finally feel safe under my birth country’s flag. “I brought my Subaru to Hartzel on advice of a friend and I was so pleased with the service & attention I got from them. Not only finished on time, but under the estimate I was given. Very rare these days. So pleased with the whole experience & great peace of mind knowing it was done correctly. Highly recommend this guy.” —David F., Seaside 2/14/19 510 California Avenue | Sand City | 394.6002 hartzelautomotive.com EXPERT SERVICE WHEN YOU NEED IT. Subaru Mazda Lexus Infiniti Saab vintage MG SCHEDULE YOUR NEXT SERVICE ONLINE TODAY From our Farm To Your FamilY Fresh, locally grown, certified organic produce. Join our CSA now, and get your customized share of the harvest delivered each week. We deliver every Thursday to: Carmel/Carmel Valley: Hidden Valley Nursery Pacific Grove: Happy Girl Kitchen South Salinas, North Monterey, Watsonville: At the farm! Watsonville LiveEarthFarm.net
www.montereycountynow.com AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 Nutrition Facts Amount of these ingredients per serving ?% Total surprises unknown Pesticides UNKNOWN% Lead UNKNOWN% Salmonella UNKNOWN% COUNTY OF MONTEREY HEALTH DEPARTMENT WARNING: For more information, please call: 1-800-523-3157 8-24 Crude oil, gasoline, diesel fuel, and other petroleum products can expose you to chemicals including toluene and benzene, which are known to the State of California to cause cancer and birth defects or other reproductive harm. These exposures can occur in and around oil fields, refineries, chemical plants, transport and storage operations, such as pipelines, marine terminals, tank trucks, and other facilities and equipment. For more information go to: www.P65Warnings.ca.gov/petroleum. The foregoing warning is provided pursuant to Proposition 65. This law requires the Governor of California to publish a list of chemicals “known to the State to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity.” This list is compiled in accordance with a procedure established by the Proposition, and can be obtained from the California Environmental Protection Agency. Proposition 65 requires that clear and reasonable warnings be given to persons exposed to the listed chemicals in certain situations. VALERO Refining and Marketing Company, Ultramar Inc., and their affiliates and subsidiaries AERA ENERGY LLC PBF Energy Western Region LLC its affiliates and subsidiaries EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION its affiliates and subsidiaries PHILLIPS 66, including its divisions and subsidiaries (and under the trademarks 76) SHELL OIL PRODUCTS US Tesoro Refining & Marketing Company LLC (a subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corporation) and its affiliates (and under the trademarks ARCO, Shell, Thrifty, Exxon, and Mobil)
16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY AUGUST 29-SEPTEMBER 4, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com The Monterey County Fair has arrived. Students who spent countless hours raising animals over the summer are ready for their moment. By Erik Chalhoub MADE WITH CARE It’s 7am on a sunny mid-June morning in Chualar. Madison Stagner, fresh off the school year and preparing to enter her final year at Salinas High School, wakes up and walks to the barn on her family’s property, where she is greeted noisily by seven pigs vying for her attention. She consults a whiteboard in the center of the barn and a grid that is drawn on it. Each pig’s name is written across the top, and underneath them is every day of the week, with certain tasks organized in the grid. Today is Thursday, which means Bandit, Cal and Poppy are due for a bath. Lenard, Maple, Dean and Rory, meanwhile, just need a brush, after being bathed the previous day. All are fed—it’s important that they not only maintain their weight, but increase it. If this wasn’t summer break, Stagner would have to head off to school after completing these tasks, and after a long day of studying, go straight back to the barn to clean the pens, and of course, feed the pigs. But these are the early days of summer, so Stagner is able to spend more time with the pigs, perhaps take them for a walk and further bond with them. While other students her age may be off on vacation or hanging out with friends, Stagner has work to do in perhaps the busiest time of her year. She’s only a month removed from showing a pig at the Salinas Valley Fair in King City, and was only a few weeks away from making the trek to Sacramento for the California State Fair. After that, it’s non-stop through early fall: the Monterey County Fair runs Aug. 29-Sept. 2, the Santa Cruz County Fair from Sept. 11-15 and the San Benito County Fair from Oct. 4-6. It’s a labor of love. Stagner, 17, is now the president of Salinas FFA (Future Farmers of America), and has lived the lifestyle since joining a 4-H group when she was 9. She estimates she’s raised more than 60 pigs in her lifetime. As the Monterey County Fair kicks off for its 89th year, it marks the culmination of countless hours and immeasurable dedication from numerous students who have prepared for these days, hoping to not only earn money for college and other future dreams, but to share how important it is for Top: Bandit the pig gets some exercise at Madison Stagner’s Chualar home. Middle: Lily Tenorio brushes Hank Jr. at the Salinas FFA barn on the outskirts of Salinas. Above: The barn is bustling with activity during the summer, as Lily Tenorio (left) blow-drys her goat and Regina Lopez feeds hers, named Speedy Gonzales. Photos by Daniel Dreifuss except where noted
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