www.montereycountynow.com october 24-30, 2024 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 When the California Wildlife Conservation Board convenes in Sacramento next month, they’ll consider allocating for 25 projects across the state. There’s a request for $2 million for a fish screen replacement in Solano County, $420,000 for the acquisition of 84 acres to expand the Eel River Wildlife Area in Humboldt County and more. The day’s agenda also includes granting $1.4 million to the Western Rivers Conservancy and Esselen Tribe of Monterey County for the acquisition of 327 acres of land at Pico Blanco in Big Sur, and $6 million to the Big Sur Land Trust to construct a 67-acre habitat restoration area at Carr Lake in Salinas, where the nonprofit is transforming former agricultural land into Ensen Community Park. (The neighborhood park portion— with picnic areas, a dog park, basketball court and more—is already under construction.) This kind of breadth, in project type and geography, is a typical day for the Wildlife Conservation Board, says Executive Jennifer Norris. “We spend a lot, and we do a lot everywhere,” she says. A lot is perhaps an understatement. As of August, it had a general fund balance of $110.6 million, and a total fund balance of $369.5 million, including money earmarked for things like water quality projects or habitat conservation. Proposition 4, on the ballot this Nov. 5, would generate some $1.2 billion more for WCB. “It would support a lot of projects, without question,” Norris says. In the past five years, the WCB has spent $68.6 million on projects in Monterey County, including $24 million granted in 2023 to The Wildlands Conservancy for the acquisition of Rana Creek Ranch in Carmel Valley from former Apple chairman and CEO Mike Markkula. But mostly it comes in smaller amounts for smaller-scale projects—at Fort Ord Dunes State Park, Elkhorn Slough and on the Carmel River. It adds up to 28,852 acres in permanent protection locally since 2019. “These types of projects sometimes take years, waiting for the money to show up at the right time,” Norris says. “These projects are expensive. We often fill that last gap, sometimes $5 million, sometimes $8 million, sometimes $30 million.” These kinds of funds help groups like Big Sur Land Trust complete dream projects. “Land is really expensive,” says BSLT Executive Director Jeannette Tuitele-Lewis. “It is very difficult to raise the kind of money we would need to be able to conserve all of these magnificent areas with just private dollars. We depend on the state’s investment to help preserve lands.” Now, the decision-makers behind those state investments want to hear from you. As WCB prepares to update its five-year strategic plan, they are holding five workshops throughout California, including in Monterey on Oct. 30. “We want to hear from people about the types of places that are important,” Norris says. The overall mission—providing dollars that help lock in deals to protect habitat, boost climate resiliency, protect open spaces and public access to nature—has perhaps never been more critical. A report released earlier this month by World Wide Fund for Nature shows wildlife populations decreased by a “catastrophic” 73 percent globally between 1970 and 2020, based on tracking over 5,000 vertebrate species. “A number of tipping points are highly likely if current trends are left to continue, with potentially catastrophic consequences,” the report states. (WWF Chief Scientist Rebecca Shaw, who lives in Carmel Valley, edited the report and served on the steering committee.) In the face of such staggering loss, can we find solace in a 67-acre parcel in Salinas? Norris says yes—and in fact, that’s part of what makes Carr Lake worthy. “It’s exciting because it’s in the middle of an urban area but it’s very significant,” she says. “We are learning more and more how important it is to have functional ecosystems everywhere.” “Everywhere” can include expansive wilderness, but also our cities. What it includes for the next five years will be in part up to the direction the public shares at WCB’s workshops, helping direct tens of millions of dollars to projects that will give nature a fighting chance. Wildlife Conservation Board’s open house takes place 3:30-6:30pm Wednesday, Oct. 30 at Japanese American Citizens League, 424 Adams St., Monterey. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Land Grants A state agency that funds major land acquisitions swings through town. By Sara Rubin Model Behavior…Squid’s a big believer in due process and everyone getting a fair shake, but as a deadline-driven cephalopod, Squid also believes in expediency. So Squid perked up when Squid saw, on Monterey City Council’s Oct. 15 meeting agenda, more than 600 pages of documents related to an employee appealing his termination. Jerod Balthrop, a now-former electrician with the City of Monterey who was fired in November 2023, decided to make his situation public for reasons Squid can’t quite figure out—Squid’s colleague was unable to reach him—but the result was a public hearing that lasted more than two hours, and a subsequent closed session meeting that lasted nearly as long and wrapped just before midnight. In his duties as an electrician for the city, Balthrop was working at the Presidio of Monterey—the city’s “Monterey Model” is to provide services to the military to lower costs for maintaining their facilities so that they don’t suffer the same fate as the former Fort Ord—and according to the extensive documentation, he entered the Presidio’s Subway restaurant through the back door entrance. There, he was told by a female employee that Presidio authorities said he had to enter through the front door. Seems like a fair and reasonable ask, but instead of being reasonable, Balthrop said to the employee, according to the hundreds of pages of documents, that the Presidio’s manager in question can “suck it” while also motioning toward his crotch. The council upheld the termination, but it does call into question the alleged efficiency of the “Monterey Model.” How many hours and dollars does it take to fire an employee? More than Squid can count. Signs of the Times…Squid’s counting skills may be limited as noted above, but with two tentacles, Squid has no problem counting to two. Squid also has no problem consulting the sign ordinances that set forth requirements for campaign signs that sprout up like mushrooms at this time of year. In the City of Monterey, temporary signs (like political campaign signs) may be no more than 16 square feet per sign, and no more than 80 cumulative square feet per property. As Squid oozes around town, Squid has seen lots of signs for Brian Perez, a candidate for Monterey City Council District 4, that are at the maximum size limit. There are also signs that exceed the limit—until you look a little closer. They are two separate signs, each the max size, placed right next to each other with a sliver of daylight in between, but clearly meant to be read as one with text that runs across both. It’s like a diptych in a museum, only this is not fine art, it’s campaign signage. While it might comply with the letter of the law, it surely doesn’t align with the spirit of the law. the local spin SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “We depend on the state to help preserve lands.” Send Squid a tip: squid@montereycountynow.com
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