28 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY december 19-25, 2024 www.montereycountynow.com had its problems. Conditions improved after A&D Narigi took over operations in 2019. But the root issue remained: short-term contracts with the management group, with the county holding the pursestrings. That changed on Aug. 1, when Friends of Laguna Seca completed a concession agreement with the county for up to 55 years. The contract gives financial responsibility for maintenance and improvements to Friends. With John Narigi’s management contract set to expire at the end of 2024, FLS announced that, starting Jan. 1, 2025 the organization will also assume day-to-day management of the county-owned facility. Aug. 6 The Carmel destination restaurant Aubergine earned a second star from Michelin, becoming the first so honored in Monterey County. Chef Justin Cogley’s kitchen had long held the only star in the county until joined in 2023 by Chez Noir, also in Carmel. In awarding the second star, Michelin critics noted that Cogley’s cooking “captures a sense of place that feels wholly his own.” Chez Noir retained its star. Aug. 28 The California Office of Health Care Affordability Board made a special trip from Sacramento to Seaside to give Monterey County residents an opportunity to share their experiences with the high cost of medical care delivered by local hospitals, some of the highest-priced in the state. Board members signaled their interest in launching an investigation into the county’s health care marketplace and in capping spending increases by the three largest hospitals, CHOMP, SVH and Natividad, for the next several years. When the OHCA board met in November, they signaled interest in further investigation of local hospital prices. September Sept. 5 A mountain lion is spotted roaming through downtown Salinas in the early-morning hours, prompting the Salinas Police Department to issue a shelter-in-place order to people in the area at 2:35am. The animal was not seen beyond South Salinas and by 5:45am, before people start their days, the SPD lifts the order, instead advising caution. Mountain lions need about 200 square miles to roam, but usually avoid populated areas. Sept. 12 The California Coastal Commission votes 7-1 to approve Monterey-Salinas Transit’s controversial SURF! busway project, which proposes to build a bus-only road west of Highway 1, on the Monterey Branch line rail tracks, from Marina to Sand City. In the wake of the approval, MST staff hustled to finalize the road’s design and secure a number of ministerial permits in order to submit to the Federal Transit Administration by Jan. 13, before a change in the presidential administration. A promised federal grant of up to $35 million—and with it, the project’s prospects—hang in the balance. Sept. 12 After years of fundraising, design and construction, Pacific Repertory Theatre finishes remodeling the Golden Bough Playhouse in Carmel, at a total cost of $10 million. The venue reopens with a contemporary satirical production by a young playwright, Selina Fillinger, titled POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive. Facility improvements include a new auditorium and 800-square-foot lobby. Sept. 13 After 14 years of tinkering, the Monterey County Board of Supervisors finally approves a short-term rental ordinance by a 3-2 vote, to go into effect in October. The new ordinance puts standards and requirements in place for STR owners to follow and capped the number of rentals in any planning area of unincorporated county to 4 percent of the housing stock. It also banned commercial rentals in Big Sur, Carmel Highlands, Carmel Valley and Moss Landing’s residential district. Sept. 18 Hops & Fog Brewing Company opened its doors on Aug. 14, pouring beer brewed elsewhere. Local history was made on Sept. 18 in the famously once-dry community when beer brewed in Pacific Grove flowed from the Hops & Fog taps. The first beer from P.G.’s first-ever brewpub is a light West Coast IPA, appropriately called First Batch. From the beginning, according to brewmaster Mike Durrant, support for the venue has been “overwhelming and awesome.” Sept. 19 Pacific Grove native, former head of the national NAACP and executive director of the national Sierra Club, Ben Jealous, says he was invited to speak at the local NAACP’s annual dinner, only to be disinvited after he refused to censor his remarks because of the dinner’s sponsor, Chevron. “You can imagine how heartbroken I was to have that invitation revoked in order to protect the comfort of the event’s sponsor—Chevron,” Jealous wrote in a letter to NAACP chapter President Lyndon Tarver and other leaders. He urged the leaders to return Chevron’s check, calling it “blood money,” because of the negative impact of Big Oil on communities of color. Tarver later denied Jealous was ever invited to speak and expressed anger over Jealous’ criticism of the chapter. Sept. 24 Salinas City Council approves a rent stabilization ordinance, becoming the first city in Monterey County to do so, over objections from property owners. The ordinance sets an annual cap on rent increases at 2.75 percent. “This is one step of many that we must take to address our housing crisis in Monterey County,” Councilmember Anthony Rocha said. “Today is a historic moment for our city, and it’s a positive change driven by the community.” The ordinance only applies to multi-family residences built before Feb. 1, 1995, per the Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act. A state proposition that would repeal that law, giving local jurisdictions more latitude in rent control measures, fails in November, earning just 40 percent of the vote. Sept. 26 The three-day Monterey Jazz Festival kicks off with a new artistic director at the helm. Darin Atwater is the third artistic director in the festival’s 67-year history. October Oct. 2 After decades of inaction, and several floods over the years that uprooted countless lives, officials break ground on the $599 million Pajaro River Flood Risk Management Project, which, once complete in about five years, is expected to provide 100-year flood risk reduction in an area that desperately needs it. The first section is being built in Watsonville, along Corralitos Creek, where there are currently no levees. The project languished as a low-priority project due to a cost-benefit formula used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, but lawmakers representing Pajaro at the state and federal levels were able to speed up the process and gain funding following the 2023 flood. Oct. 12 The first-ever Worlds Away festival hit the Monterey County Fairgrounds with a star-studded collection of electronic dance music DJs and about 7,000 attendees. Memories were made by EDM superstars Tiësto and The Chainsmokers, along with other largerthan-life artists like Lost Kings, ayokay, Sam Feldt and more. And though the festival was only one day this year, the organizers have promised to come back and expand it, hoping to make it an annual Monterey music staple. Oct. 15 Drew Tipton resigns from Greenfield City Council after the City lost a lawsuit calling his appointment to a vacant seat a Brown Act violation. According to Monterey Superior Court The Chainsmokers headlined the first-ever Worlds Away at the Monterey County Fairgrounds, concluding the one-day festival on Oct. 12 in front of about 7,000 fans. year in news
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