JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREYCOUNTYNOW.COM LOCAL & INDEPENDENT B-I-N-G-O 8 | SIGN OF THE TIMES 10 | OUT AND PROUD 24 | LAW AND ORDER 38 | GET THE SCOOP 40 FIRST PLACE GENERAL EXCELLENCE • 2025 CA JOURNALISM AWARDS • Firefighters are honing in on defensible space to protect homes from burning in the next wildfire. p. 18 By Katie Rodriguez READY OR NOT
INSIDER SQUID SAYS: THIS 4TH OF JULY SUPPORT LOCAL & INDEPENDENT JOURNALISM HOW TO JOIN Go online at insider.montereycountyweekly.com Or by mail: 668 Williams Ave., Seaside, CA 93955 Your contribution level: $500 $150 $50 $20 $15 $10 Other $_ ______ Contribution schedule: Monthly Annual One-time Name_________________________________________________________________________ Address_ ______________________________________________________________________ City, State_ ____________________________________________________________________ Email_ __________________________________ Phone________________________________ May we include your name in public acknowledgements? Yes How would you like your name to appear?__________________________________________ No, I would prefer to be anonymous Payment: Credit card number_ ____________________________________________________________ Expiration date __________________________CVV code_ _____________________________ Name/Billing address (if different from above)_ _____________________________________ ______________________________________________________________________________ The holiday that honors this nation’s founding is a perfect time to take stock of the freedoms we enjoy. Here at Monterey County Weekly, we put the freedom of the press at the top of our list of things to celebrate. It turns out, however, that a free press is an expensive enterprise. Our editorial department is the largest of any media operation covering Monterey County and the costs of providing professional, trustworthy journalism are substantial. Please join over 3,000 of your friends and neighbors and become a Weekly Insider today. We are asking the people who appreciate our local and independent journalism to help fund the operation. We designate all those who contribute as Insiders. Scan the QR code to become an Insider. In honor of Independence Day, the Weekly is offering an Insider incentive program. If you sign up to give $15/month from now through January 6, or make a one-time contribution of $150 or greater, we’ll send you a handy-dandy “Totally Locally” tote bag. JOIN YOUR FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS AND BECOME AND INSIDER 2 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com
www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 3 We are rooted here. We just branched out. montagehealth.org Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula created Montage Health to deliver exceptional care to more people, by expanding our services beyond the hospital. Today, we’re much more than a hospital. And as we’ve grown, we’ve remained true to our deep roots — nonprofit, independent, locally owned, and accountable only to the community we serve.
4 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 • ISSUE #1926 • ESTABLISHED IN 1988 Mike Sheehan (Nikon D850, 450mm, 1/3200 @ F6) This young red-tailed hawk spreads its wings as it comes in for a landing on a fence post in the foothills of the Gabilan Range. MONTEREY COUNTY PHOTO OF THE WEEK Send Etc. submissions to etcphoto@montereycountynow.com; please include caption and camera info. On the cover: Big Sur Fire Chief Matt Harris looks out over the dense chaparral covering Sycamore Canyon. He is training a 20-person hand crew that began assisting Big Sur homeowners with defensible space work in June. Cover Photo: Katie Rodriguez etc. Copyright © 2025 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 Katie Rodriguez (California Local News Fellow) katie@montereycountynow.com (x102) STAFF WRITER David Schmalz david@montereycountynow.com (x104) STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER Daniel Dreifuss daniel@montereycountynow.com (x140) 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 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. Subscribe to the newsletter @ montereycountynow.com/subscribe Go to montereycountynow.com We Deliver… NEWS • ARTS • ENTERTAINMENT FOOD • DRINK • CALENDAR Local news everyday
www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 5 20 PRIZES • Two High Efficiency Clothes Washers and a Dishwasher • iPads • Monterey Bay Aquarium Family Passes • Plant Nursery Gift Card • Visa Gift Cards! MontereyWaterInfo.org/WaterChallenge NO PURCHASE NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. Void where prohibited. The sweepstakes is open only to California-American Water Company water customers in the Monterey County District of California who complete and submit a Summer Splash Water Challenge Giveaway entry form (“gameboard”) with correct answers by mail by July 31, 2025, to MPWMD Summer Splash, P.O. Box 85, Monterey CA, 93942 or online at www.montereywaterinfo.org/waterchallenge by July 31, 2025 and who are at least 18 years of age as of the date of entry. Start: 12:01 a.m. PDT on 7/1/2025; deadline: 11:59 p.m. PDT on 7/31/2025. Two (2) Winners will receive a High Efficiency Clothes Washer (ARV $900), one (1) Winner will receive a High Efficiency Dishwasher (ARV $700), four (4) Winners will receive an Apple iPad (ARV $470), one (1) Winner will receive a $200 gift certificate/card to a local plant nursery (ARV $200), two (2) Winners will receive a Family Pack of Passes to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (ARV $230), ten (10) Winners will receive a $100 Visa Gift Card (ARV $100), one (1) Winner will receive a Monterey Zoo Family Ticket (ARV $160), four (4) Winners will receive a Cinemark Movie Gift Card (ARV $50). OFFICIAL RULES: https://www.montereywaterinfo.org/water-challenge-rules / SPONSORS: The Monterey Peninsula Water Management District, 5 Harris Ct, Building G, Monterey, CA 93940 and California-American Water Company, 511 Forest Lodge Road, Pacific Grove, CA 93950
6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com THE BUZZ FREE SPEECH With Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signing Senate Bill 2972 into law on June 20, students at public universities in the state can be banned from talking or having any “expressive” ideas at night. The bill allows universities to enact policies that prohibit “engaging in expressive activities on campus between the hours of 10pm and 8am,” defining “expressive activity” as “any speech or expressive conduct” protected by the First Amendment or Texas Constitution. In an article for the Houston Chronicle, First Amendment attorney Caitlin Vogus wrote that the bill would ban students from studying, writing an email, reporting for the student newspaper, painting a picture or praying at a service, among other things. “Lawmakers want to crack down on college students’ pro-Palestinian protests so badly that they literally passed a prohibition on talking,” she wrote. Republican Sen. Brandon Creighton, who authored the bill, told the Austin American-Statesman that the bill “ensures that speech stays free, protest stays peaceful and chaos never takes hold.” Good: Good news for Soledad residents: the fire department has a new ladder truck. The truck will increase firefighters’ ability to reach higher areas, including rooftops, upper floors and commercial areas. “It’ll create depth and bolster our fire department capabilities here in Soledad, and will enhance our services as the city grows with new commercial and residential properties,” said Cal Fire Battalion Chief Jason Luckenbach. The $1.7 million truck was purchased with $2 million in state funds secured by Senator Anna Caballero. “This investment is about both public safety and preparing Soledad for the future,” she said. The new truck is slated to go into service later this summer. The city also improved its 1950s-era fire station by building a bay next to it that can house the new truck, thanks to different funding sources, including impact fees and the American Rescue Plan Act. GREAT: Shovels are in the ground for a long-awaited safety and traffic flow improvement project in Carmel Valley. Construction began on June 23 on a roundabout at the T-intersection where Laureles Grade meets Carmel Valley Road, an intersection that has long been a priority of the Carmel Valley Road Advisory Committee. Construction is expected to last up to nine months, with two-way traffic controls in place until March 2026. (Construction will pause to allow thru-traffic during busy times like Car Week.) Teichert Construction has been awarded the $3.8 million bid to build the roundabout. The entire project cost, including engineering design, utility relocation and construction, is estimated at $5.6 million. It is funded through a combination of Carmel Valley traffic mitigation fees, a grant from the Monterey Bay Air Resources District and Measure X, a voter-approved, countywide transportation tax. GOOD WEEK / GREAT WEEK THE WEEKLY TALLY The largest graduating class in Rancho Cielo’s 25-year history. The nonprofit vocational school outside of Salinas honored the graduates across all of its vocational programs in a ceremony on Friday, June 13. Source: Rancho Cielo 77 QUOTE OF THE WEEK “The only harassing I do is I ask hard questions.” -Michael “Max” Schell, who resigned from the Soledad Community Health Care District Board of Directors on June 19. Three employees filed formal complaints accusing him of misconduct, which he denies (see story, montereycountynow.com). By Dr. Brynie Kaplan Dau, M.Sc., DVM We live in a beautiful county of wide open spaces with wild plants, wildlife, natural beauty, and a rugged coastline. We have plenty of wide open trails for hiking and walking our dogs. This is one of the reasons we love living here, right? But all of this open space and wild plants has one major downside: foxtails. Foxtails are an unfortunate fact of life for those of us who live in Monterey County. Foxtails grow year round in California but we are now in the season when they dry up and fall off of the plants onto the ground. If you have a dog or an outdoor cat you probably already know what a foxtail looks like. Foxtails can easily get embedded in your dog’s fur. Foxtails are dried seed heads of grasses that are shaped like tiny barbed arrowheads, and they are everywhere. They can become embedded in the fur of our pets, causing significant pain and destruction. They become lodged in eyes, ears, paws, under the arms, and just about anywhere you can think of on a dog’s body. Not only do they hurt our pets initially, but they can travel to more serious places in the body if they aren’t removed. Veterinarians have removed them from the lungs, abdominal organs, and even the brain after they have traveled. Therefore it is important to bring your pet in to your veterinarian if you see or suspect a foxtail. If there’s one in the eye like I saw recently in a young puppy, you’ll often notice squinting, redness, and yellow discharge. They can cause an ulcer on the cornea of the eye and cause significant pain. If a foxtail gets lodged in the ear you’ll notice head shaking and scratching. They can puncture the eardrum and migrate into the inner ear if left untreated. When a foxtail burrows under the skin between the toes, you’ll see a swollen bump, sometimes with a draining tract. I once removed over 35 foxtails from the belly of a dog who was laying in the shade in the weeds. Checking your dog’s paws can prevent foxtails from penetrating the skin. The sooner we can remove these little troublemakers the better. To make matters worse, foxtails are not always easy to find. They can hide in the deeper layers of connective tissue underneath the skin. In this case removal requires sedation and exploratory surgery. Sometimes multiple surgeries are required. Foxtails also carry bacteria with them that gets injected under the skin, so antibiotics as well as pain medicine are often required. The best way to avoid all of this is to stick to the trails when out hiking, and to check your pets every time you go out. I recommend checking ears, and in between toes every day, particularly in hairy breeds. You can further protect your dog by keeping their hair trimmed short, or at least keeping their feet trimmed. But if you do find a foxtail or suspect that one is embedded, take your dog or cat to the veterinarian right away so we can help you and your pet. That’s what we’re here for. Good luck this season! To learn more about foxtails and to get all your pet health questions answered, schedule a visit with Pacific Grove Animal Hospital at 831-318-0306. Summer is the Time to Watch out for Foxtails Sponsored by Pacific Grove Animal Hospital
www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 7 MONTEREY'S BIG AND BACKYARD FOOD FEST CELEBRATION 4TH OF JULY FREE ADMISSION THE CITY OF MONTEREY PRESENT S COLTON HALL LAWN FUN FOOD LIVE MUSIC 580 PACIFIC STREET MONTEREY FRIDAY4JULY 10:45AM – 4:30PM 2025 10:45–11:45AM THE PFEFFERS 12:00–1:30PM CARNAVAL! 1:30–3:00PM WILD AT HEART 3:00–4:30PM FOREVERLAND A variety of delicious food options will be available for purchase or you can bring a picnic lunch. Join us at this fun-filled, alcohol-free event! Animals prohibited (except guide/service dogs). Updates, more details, and food vendors at MONTEREY.GOV/JULY4TH or scan here!
8 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com 831 Long tables in airy halls traditionally signal community gatherings—and the perfect setup for bingo. On Wednesday evening, groups of friends begin to gather at these tables while a host sets up a projector and prize wheel at the other end of a hall. Many of the friends are in their 20s; the stereotype that bingo is just for older adults falls apart at Other Brother Beer Co. in Seaside. “Bingo gives me life. Bingo, like aqua fitness, is not just for the elderly,” says Seaside resident Rebecca Hardt, who attends the weekly event. Monterey Peninsula breweries and even some wine tasting rooms hold bingo events as a chance to win gift cards or other small prizes. The rules are similar to traditional bingo—guests must obtain a card and mark it if the correct numbers are called out to create rows or special shapes. The game seems to be gaining popularity and several regular guests return on a weekly basis for the event. “The world is so hectic—we need calm and connection,” says 21-year-old Elleke Knibbe, who’s playing bingo for the first time at Other Brother with a friend from out of town. “I was looking for fun things to do in the community. It’s like folding laundry. You don’t really have to do much but you still have a nice distraction.” Similar to Hardt, Knibbe also attends aqua fitness classes with her grandmother. “I had such a great time [at water aerobics],” she says. “You know everyone at our age—they’re crocheting, they’re knitting. I think it’s time to bring in more old people—is that the politically correct way of saying it?— things.” Other Brother’s bingo night is hosted by Ashley Baillie. “I think bingo is fun because there’s space to have conversations with the people that you come with,” she says. Bingo at Other Brother is a casual free game for anyone who comes in on a Wednesday night. If someone wants to participate, they can get one card for free. Prizes start small, but grow as the game goes on. In order to win the larger prizes, more than one row has to be filled on the bingo card. Tuesdays at the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside feature a more regulated kind of bingo game. Once noon rolls around, at least 60 people file into Laguna Grande Hall where long tables are set up. As players file in, they give each other friendly greetings. Bingo cards are 50 cents each. Because Bingo is defined legally in Seaside’s municipal code as a game of chance, an entire ordinance chapter spells out the rules and regulations for how it can be conducted. “We’re supposed to go with what they pay for,” says Seaside Recreation Coordinator Jaqueline Perez Lopez, who runs senior programs at the Oldemeyer Center. “All the money that we get for those cards is what we give for prizes.” The bingo game is taken seriously by the Tuesday crowd at the Oldemeyer Center, and that attitude manifests in the form of small traditions. Jack Carmenita, 94, sings “God Bless America” whenever he wins. He attends the game every week with his wife, Luanne Carmenita, and the two have been coming for at least a decade. “We love it,” Jack says. Luanne adds that socializing is a major part of bingo. Bingo at the Oldemeyer Center is hosted by 19-year-old Savannah Jaye, who has consistently hosted the event since she was hired in 2021. Jaye is now studying integrative biology and public health at UC Berkeley. She calls hosting bingo the highlight of her week. The game is marketed toward seniors, but Jaye encourages anyone over 18 years old—part of those rules and regulations—to come play bingo. “I love being up on stage,” Jaye says. “A lot of our older adults pick and choose which events they’d like to come to, but a lot of them choose bingo.” Bingo happens Wednesdays at 6:30pm at Other Brother Beer Co., 877 Broadway Ave., Seaside; ages 21+. Noon on Tuesdays at Oldemeyer Center, 986 Hilby Ave., Seaside; ages 18+; 50 cents per card. On Board Often thought of as just for the older generation, local bingo gatherings prove the game is for adults of any age. By Sloan Campi Tuesday afternoons at the Oldemeyer Center in Seaside are reserved for bingo. Players at the multigenerational gatherings say they enjoy the time to socialize—winning prizes is often secondary. “Bingo gives me life. Bingo is not just for the elderly.” TALES FROM THE AREA CODE DANIEL DREIFUSS LET' S CELEBRATE! 2025 BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce GET TICKETS! BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS 2025 Celebrating Excellence in the Monterey Peninsula Chamber of Commerce Business Community! Thursday, July 17, 2025 6:00 PM - 9:00 PM Embassy Suites by Hilton Monterey Bay-Seaside VOTE NOW!
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10 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS For as long as anyone can remember, a sign proclaiming Castroville as “The Artichoke Center of the World” has spanned Merritt Street on the main drag of the small North County agricultural town. Records on when the sign was actually installed are spotty, says James Derbin, general manager of the Castroville Community Services District. It was for sure resurfaced in 2017 by the district. Derbin, after estimating the sign originated in the 1950s, did some more digging. He found an article from the Castroville News reporting the sign was dedicated on June 25, 1931. After 94 years, nearly to the date, the sign is headed into retirement—but its replacement will quickly follow. In 2021, then-General Manager Eric Tynan told the Castroville Community Services District’s board of directors that the arch’s poles were rusting from the inside and needed to be replaced. The district received a $500,000 grant from the state’s Clean California program for a new sign and arch, and contracted Prunedale-based Signs by Van to design and construct the sign. An overnight closure of Merritt Street at Preston Street to install the new arch and sign is expected on Monday, June 30, although it may also happen on July 1 or July 2, according to Caltrans. Construction on the new arch coincides with a major project that broke ground earlier in June on Merritt Street/Highway 183. Known as the Castroville Improvement Project, Caltrans’ $38 million project will, among other things, rehab the pavement, reconstruct sidewalks and add pedestrian crossing aids from Del Monte Avenue to the intersection of Highway 1. Center of Attention Castroville’s historic Merritt Street sign is about to be replaced. By Erik Chalhoub As Immigration and Customs Enforcement targeted detentions continue in Monterey County and across the country, residents—including U.S. citizens—are changing their everyday routine for fear of being detained by ICE agents. “Since this is racially motivated, I’m carrying my passport with me.” Natalie Portillo says in Spanish. Natalie is Juan Carlos “JC” Portillo Contreras’s wife. The manager of Wild Fish restaurant in Pacific Grove was detained by ICE during a regular check-in. JC is a Salvadorian citizen seeking asylum in the U.S. He was doing ICE check-ins by phone every few months. His next call had been scheduled for June 11. Natalie says her husband received a notification changing his appointment to an earlier date, June 4. The contact also indicated that next check-in would be in person. Court documents show JC requested in March to expunge some of his earlier DUI convictions to temporarily halt his deportation and stay in the U.S. while his immigration case is resolved. The petition, Form I-246, or Application for Stay of Deportation or Removal, is difficult to obtain and expunging eligible convictions may help his case, documents state. The change surprised JC and his lawyer Sylvia Rodezno, yet they complied. “He showed up and he was detained,” Natalie says. “They put you between a rock and a hard place.” She adds that her husband was following the law. Not showing up automatically triggers immigrants to removal proceedings, Salinas immigration attorney Chris Cain says. At these, a judge will decide the person’s fate. Blanca Zarazua, a Salinas-based immigration attorney, said during a County of Monterey news briefing on June 11 that detentions during courthouse appearances and routine ICE check-ins have increased. According to tracreports.org, a database founded by Syracuse University, there are 56,397 people in ICE’s custody as of June 15. Nearly 72 percent, or 40,433, do not have a criminal record. Natalie hopes for a miracle; meanwhile, she’s struggling to keep up with their bills and groceries. JC has multiple DUI charges. His last arrest was in 2018. Cain says a DUI isn’t a deportable offense, but it can trigger additional scrutiny if there are multiple incidents. “An argument can be made that they have a problem with alcohol [that] it’s a substance abuse issue,” Cain explains. Misdemeanors, charges of domestic violence or theft have higher consequences in an immigration case compared to reckless driving. “He is a very responsible and hardworking man,” Natalie says of JC. “He’s an excellent dad.” Since his detention, Natalie has experienced a whirlwind of emotions: frustration, helplessness and anguish. JC was first taken to Adelanto, California. A few days later, he was moved to El Paso, Texas. For a time Natalie did not know his location. “He wasn’t on the system,” she says. “He disappeared.” According to Natalie, conditions in Texas are worse than in California. Detainees are living in tents under hot weather conditions with no access to showers, phones or medicine. Local residents are advocating for Juan Carlos “JC” Portillo Contreras’ release. A GoFundMe fundraiser has raised nearly $20,000 as of June 24. Legal Freeze The ICE detention of a local man following immigration law sends further ripples through the community. By Celia Jiménez Plans to replace Castroville’s iconic sign have been in the works since 2021, when the Castroville Community Services District’s board noted the rusting arch was becoming a safety hazard. “Since this is racially motivated, I’m carrying my passport.” COURTESY OF LIZ JACOBS DANIEL DREIFUSS
www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 11 Friday 10 am Alvarado & Calle Principal CITY OF MONTEREY’S Celebration & Food Fest Live Music, Food Vendors, Fun for All Immediately following the parade until 5 pm Colton Hall Lawn, 580 Pacific St. FREE MONTEREY FIREFIGHTERS CHARITY Pancake Breakfast Pancakes, Eggs, Sausage & Coffee 7:30 –10:30 am Fire Station #11, 600 Pacific St. TICKETS $15 Purchase in advance, mymuseum.org/july4 MONTEREY STATE HISTORIC PARK’S Living History Day Guided Tours & Early California Activities: Rope Making, Leather Craft, Games, Tortilla Making and More 11am– 3 pm • The Memory Garden, located behind the Pacific House Museum at Custom House Plaza FREE OLDMONTEREY.ORG U.S. Bank | Carolyn B. Harris, Attorney at Law | Monterey Museum of Art C3 Engineering * Copy King * Eugene Ganeles, CPA * Midici The Neapolitan Pizza Company Monterey Pacific Rotary * Monterey Marriott * Rosine’s Restaurant * Parker-Lusseau Pastries The Belardo Family & Friends * Shelley Bennett Skincare * Sandie Borthwick * Carmel Bach Festival * Cooper Molera * Del Rey Car Wash Jackman & Camba Families * West Coast Community Bank * Marotta Properties * The Paul Mortuary * Walker and Reed P.C. Team Beesley/Rotary Club Monterey Pacific * Dianna L. Gamecho
12 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com It’s been the proverbial “third rail” of Pacific Grove politics, whether to give the mayor and six councilmembers a raise. Each time it’s come up for a vote at council, it’s been rejected, following complaints by constituents that the jobs should be essentially volunteer and threats of defeat at the ballot box. That changed May 7, when the P.G. City Council, led by Mayor Nick Smith, voted 5-2 in favor of an increase based on Senate Bill 329, passed in 2023, which amended state law on compensating councilmembers. The changes allow for a five-percent increase per year since the last increase, in P.G.’s case, 1998. It means councilmembers would see an increase from $420 to $966 per month. In the mayor’s case the increase is $700 to $1,610. In either case, it’s a 130-percent increase. The law allows for an even greater increase in compensation based on inflation, not exceeding 10 percent per year. Other cities took that route—the Marina City Council approved raises from $200 to $2,000 for councilmembers and from $250 to $2,500 for mayor, a 900-percent increase. P.G. councilmembers who voted in favor of the raises—in part to encourage future participation of residents from diverse economic backgrounds— took a conservative approach, understanding there would be pushback. That pushback came two weeks later in the form of a referendum filed by former councilmember Luke Coletti, representing a group called Transparent Pacific Grove. Citing projected budget challenges in the coming years, Coletti called for the decision to go to the voters in an election or be rescinded by the council. In order to win, Transparent P.G. needs 10 percent of the city’s registered voters to sign a petition, or 1,060 certified signatures. Volunteers have been collecting signatures since early June and have until July 7. Opponents of the referendum have suggested that some volunteers were incorrectly telling people that the increase in compensation included health care and future raises. Former mayor Bill Peake brought up the question during a council meeting on June 18. Coletti clapped back, accusing Peake and others of spreading disinformation. “We’ve already gotten the signatures so it’s a moot point at this point,” Coletti said. He promised the group would deliver the signatures a week early on July 1. When asked how many signatures had been collected, Coletti did not give a specific number, only saying there were “lots.” In December 2020, the California Transportation Commission approved $20 million for a project that had been in work for over a decade: A complete overhaul of the intersection of Castroville Boulevard and Highway 156, where the existing traffic light would be removed and replaced with an interchange, with on- and offramps for vehicles to merge onto the highway at speed. But a few years went by and PG&E, despite pressing by Caltrans—which is co-sponsoring the project with the Transportation Agency for Monterey County—failed to assess the cost to relocate a high-pressure gas line, and TAMC was never able to put the project out to bid before losing the CTC grant, which had subsequently been increased to $28 million due to rising costs: The project was estimated to cost $29.5 million in 2019 and increased to $47.5 million by 2023, and has now increased to $126 million, largely because when PG&E finally completed its assessment it realized the gas line installation would be far more costly than Caltrans and TAMC estimates. Despite the ballooning price tag, the project remains very much alive, and when the CTC meets June 26-27 in Sacramento, the project will be included on a slate of projects that CTC staff is recommending for funding. CTC staff now recommends granting $80.3 million to the project (the remaining shortfall will come from other state and federal funds, as well as $15 million of local funding). “That’s the problem with not having the money to build a project—escalation is about 3 percent every year,” says TAMC Executive Director Todd Muck. “When you’re talking about a big project, it’s a lot of money.” CTC staff’s short note about the project says it will remove a “key bottleneck” along the highway, noting that a bridge over the highway will eliminate conflict points and improve truck speeds and throughput. TAMC estimates the project will prevent 4.6 “serious” collisions per year. Take Back A referendum to reverse a P.G. Council pay raise gathers steam—and acrimony. By Pam Marino NEWS BUILDING COMMUNITY As part of the City of Salinas’ Building Strong Neighborhoods series, the public is invited to have coffee with the Salinas Police Department and learn how to start a Neighborhood Watch initiative in their community. 6-7pm Thursday, June 26. Starbucks, 1598 N. Sanborn Road, Salinas. Free. 758-7166, tinyurl.com/2025BSN. EDUCATION IN FOCUS North Monterey County Unified School District Board of Trustees meets and accepts public comment. 6pm Thursday, June 26. North Monterey County High School, Media Center, 13990 Castroville Blvd., Castroville. Free. 633-3343, nmcusd.org. STAND WITH SUDAN Members of the local Sudanese American community, along with the Monterey Peace and Justice Center, host “Sudan: Stand Together for Peace and Humanitarian Relief.” The event features guest speakers on the war in Sudan, music, refreshments and more. 6-8pm Saturday, June 28. Marina Public Library, Community Room, 190 Seaside Circle, Marina. Free. RSVP at stand-with-sudan.eventbrite.com. 899-7322, montereypeaceandjustice@ gmail.com. PUBLIC PROCESS 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, July 1. Colton Hall, 580 Pacific St., Monterey. Free. 646-3799, monterey.gov. DISCUSSION ON THE DAIS Marina City Council holds its regular meeting to discuss city business. Public comment is accepted. 6:30pm Tuesday, July 1. Council Chambers, 211 Hillcrest Ave., Marina. Free. 884-1278, cityofmarina.org. FUTURE LEADERS High school students in Salinas are invited to apply for the Youth Council. Members of the council are tasked with promoting civic engagement among the young people of the city. Deadline to apply is 11:59pm Sunday, July 6. 758-7407, cityofsalinas.org/ News/SalinasYouthCouncil. COMMUNITY SPACE The City of Salinas is considering building a community center at Northgate Park. The public is invited to share input. Survey available at bit.ly/D5RecCenter. Free. 758-7328. Change Up A key traffic project on Highway 156 has new life, and a lot more money. By David Schmalz Former P.G. mayor Carmelita Garcia outside the town’s post office, collecting signatures for a referendum to overturn a recent City Council vote to raise council salaries. E-MAIL: toolbox@montereycountynow.com TOOLBOX “We’ve already gotten the signatures.” DANIEL DREIFUSS
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14 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com On a good day between October and November, Barbara Block, who leads the research on great white sharks and top pelagic predators at Hopkins Marine Station, says they’ll interact with anywhere from 10-15 great white sharks off the coast at Año Nuevo—a well-known home to elephant seal populations, and a hotspot for sharks. Studying white sharks—where they go, and why—is complex and often, pricey. A recent study led by Samantha Andrzejaczek and the Block Lab— in collaboration with researchers from the Coastal Oregon Marine Experiment Station, CSU Monterey Bay, the California White Shark Project and Montana State University—provides a substantial piece of the great white shark picture, offering the most comprehensive long-term tracking data of white sharks in Central California to date. Big picture: There’s a lot to learn about white shark population dynamics and underwater ecosystems they inhabit. But as apex predators, understanding how sharks move and feed can reveal deeper shifts in the marine environment. Researchers start by knowing where to reliably find these sharks, then coax them close enough to deploy a tag that collects data underwater. Boats, equipment, permits and the right weather all have to align to successfully tag and track a shark, hopefully for a full year before the tag naturally detaches. Adding to the challenge, white sharks don’t come near the surface like say, an elephant seal, and so the most valuable data is collected entirely underwater. Advancing technology has revolutionized how researchers monitor these animals’ movements and behaviors, painting a better picture of where these animals go and why. Still, scientists do not know where white sharks mate and breed—“It’s just really hard to track animals across such deep, vast ranges,” Andrzejaczek says. Using acoustic tags, scientists analyzed patterns across four groups— adult male and females, and subadult male and females—monitoring 355 white sharks for more than 15 years. They saw that adult males and females used the coastline differently, with females spending more time offshore, whereas subadults were found to have more variability. Researchers think this is because subadults are still developing feeding behaviors, making their movement less predictable. The acoustic tags attached near the dorsal fin emit unique pings every 60-120 seconds, picked up by underwater receivers anchored at specific locations, with Año Nuevo, Tomales Point and the Farallon Islands serving as the core locations. Now, the Block Lab is expanding this work, joining with other researchers to study white shark activity within the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. “It takes a lot of hours on the water to do what that paper represents,” Block says. “Like Yellowstone, it’s a place that’s wild here in Monterey Bay. In our habitat, instead of having predators like wolves or grizzlies, we have white sharks.” Predator Pathways A new study on great white sharks adds a significant piece to the shark migration puzzle. By Katie Rodriguez Batman, a 12.5-foot male white shark, takes a look at a decoy set up by researchers. Sharks use coastal sites to feed and build energy reserves before migrating, according to a study’s findings. NEWS “It’s hard to track animals across such deep, vast ranges.” WHITE SHARK IMAGES TAKEN IN ACCORDANCE WITH MBNMS PERMIT #MULTI-2023-005 NO DUMPING VIOLATORS PROSECUTED WILL BE SIMPLE TIPS TO HELP OUR OCEAN trash 101 • Keep trash, dog waste, cigarette butts off the streets and out of storm drains • Recycle at your home, business and school • Cut up six-pack rings to keep wildlife safe Quality feed & pet supplies • DIY dog & cat vaccines • Premium hay at great prices Low cost vaccination clinic for dogs & cats. Microchipping. Prescription flea/tick medication. Open every Saturday 1:30pm-4:30pm. 101 W. LAUREL DR, SALINAS • (831)443-6161 Mon-Sat 9am-6pm Sun 10am-5pm $5 OFF Any purchase of $25 or more $20 OFF Any purchase of $100 or more DIVERSIFY YOUR FLOCK! $10 OFF Any purchase of $50 or more CANNOT BE COMBINED WITH OTHER OFFERS. LIMIT 1 COUPON PER CUSTOMER. NOT VALID ON HAY, SHAVINGS, PETLOCK, ADVANTAGE/ADVANTIX, OR SERESTO COLLARS. MUST PRESENT ENTIRE PHYSICAL COUPON AT TIME OF PURCHASE. COME GET YOUR CHICKS, DUCKLINGS, AND BABY TURKEYS! CORNISH CROSS: PULLET CHICKS: MALE DUCKLINGS: FEMALE DUCKLINGS: WHITE TURKEYS: BRONZE TURKEYS: $4.00 $7.00 $13.00 $20.00 $17.00 $23.00
www.montereycountynow.com JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 15 THE CITY OF MONTEREY BEST SUMMER EVER!2025 SUMMER REGISTRATION IS OPEN! We are offering the following camps and programs plus much more. Follow Monterey Recreation on Facebook and Instagram or online at monterey.gov/rec for updates and program information. REGISTER ONLINE NOW! Flag Football Camp (7–14 yrs.) June 16–20 Imagine Dance Camp (4–8 yrs.) June 2–6, June 9–13, June 23–27, June 30 – July 3, July 7–11 Summer Fun Playground Program (5–10 yrs.) Offered M–F from 9am–4pm and located at neighborhood parks. June 16 – August 1 (7-week program) Whispering Pines Day Camp (5–9 yrs.) Weekly sessions offered M–F, June 16 – August 1 Camp Quien Sabe Youth Overnight Camp (7–15 yrs.) Weekly sessions offered M–F, June 23 – August 1 Tiny Tots Summer Camp (3–5 yrs.) Monday–Friday, 3 hours per day June 2–27, June 30 – July 25 Playwell LEGO® Camps (5–12 yrs.) June 16–20, July 21–25, July 28 – August 1 Summer Art Camp (7–13 yrs.) June 23–25, June 30 – July 2, July 7–9, July 14–16 Beach Volleyball (9–18 yrs.) June 9–13, June 16–20, June 23–27, July 7–11 Challenger International Soccer (7–14 yrs.) June 9–13, June 23–27, July 7–11, July 21–25 Track and Field Camp (7–13 yrs.) July 14–18 Basketball Camp (7–13 yrs.) July 21–25 REGISTER NOW! SCAN ME! to register on Amilia FOR MORE INFO + REGISTRATION MONTEREY.GOV/REC Registration is available online 24/7 at monterey.gov/rec. Full program information is posted on the Monterey Recreation registration website at monterey.gov/rec. Questions? Email: montereyrecreation@monterey.gov. 1767 Fairway Court, Seaside 4 beds, 4.5 baths • $2,689,000 • www.1767Fairway.com 917 Fountain Avenue, Pacific Grove 4 beds, 3.5 baths • $1,950,000 • www.917FountainAve.com 24826 Santa Fe Street, Carmel 3 beds, 2 baths • $1,899,000 • www.24826SantaFe.com 34998 Sky Ranch Road, Carmel Valley 4 beds, 2 baths • $1,620,000 • www.34998SkyRanch.com Interested in a property? Contact us to schedule a showing! 831.624.2300 MontereyCoastRealty.com CalDRE #01871677 Locally Owned. Globally Connected. View all available listings by scanning the code
16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com CROWN JEWEL It’s sad when people wave signs when they don’t even know what they are protesting about (“No Kings protests draw massive crowds in Monterey County,” June 19-25). The No Kings movement has no logic. We left kings behind in 1776. People need to learn what our Constitution says and means. Robert McGregor | Salinas The turnout was huge, and we had constant cars honking in solidarity the entire time! Cole Lynn | via social media For once a true protest. Not blocking streets or cars from being able to travel. Businesses also allowed to function. Liberals you did it right for once. However, a broken clock is right twice a day. Chad Brooks | via social media Not that my opinion matters a hill of beans, but it’s good to see the peaceful assembly on both sides. America is the best country on Earth, and today there was so much proof. I’ve lived all over the world and this is the only place I know of where you can have different sides and still maintain some sort of decorum without fear of retaliation, retribution or oppression. Differing opinions are a good thing. Let’s all keep it on the respectful side. Lastly, for both sides, remember…it’s not illegal to be misinformed or ignorant. Brent Ivester | via social media A COMPLETE 360 I know many people are resistant to roundabouts (“Construction on a roundabout at Laureles Grade and Carmel Valley Road to begin next week,” posted June 18). I was. But where I live in Salinas there are several outside my subdivision. I hated them during construction but now I love them. It has made life so much easier. The flow is great. No sitting in my car at stop lights or waiting for the traffic to let me in. The person in the circle has priority so you yield for them and then go! There is a learning curve but now I wish we had more of them. They will make commuting on 68 a much better experience. Laura Bianchi Payne | Salinas CUT BACK Wow, foreign language mastery is key to diplomacy, espionage and all types of vital communication (“Facing a $30 million budget reduction, DLI is offering more early retirement and resignations,” June 19-25). The DLI is essential to so many things. What a dumb place to make cuts. Chad Sutter | via social media The DLI and NPS are absolute treasures to our community and extremely valuable to our country. They should get more funding, not less. I guess the priorities remain tax cuts for the rich. Shawn Adams | via social media REMEMBER THE RIDE Thank you so much for covering this (“The AIDS/LifeCycle ride ends 30 years of a life-saving tradition, but its legacy lives on,” June 12-18). I participated in the event from 1996 to 2015 as a volunteer supporting the cyclists, setting up camp sites, etc. Along with the impact it made through raising funds for the larger community, the AIDS/LifeCycle created its own community for seven days each June. I met so many amazing, lifelong friends and my wife of 25 years. The event also supported local towns along the route which saw an influx of people one day a year to spend money and support small business as the cyclists traveled down the coast. Pezzini Farms fed 2,500 people fried artichokes in one day. In Bradley, the town set up a fundraiser each year with burgers and T-shirts. They raised enough money to fund their schools for the year and provide scholarships to students for college. The event will be greatly missed, but its legacy will live on in all the cyclists, volunteers and staff that have participated over the years. Mary Walker | Pacific Grove SPOT SEARCHING A few years of meetings on deck, just to get nothing done (“Carmel’s mayor puts parking on the priority list, citing lost revenue potential,” June 12-18). Adam J. Lincoln | via social media How about weekend parking at Carmel High School and run a shuttle down Ocean Avenue and dump the people out in front of Devendorf Park? Mark Carbonaro | via social media SOCCER PROS Another local player with connections to CSUMB who is beating the long odds playing soccer professionally is Julio Varela (“Beating the long odds of a pro soccer career requires far more than natural talent,” June 12-18). The Watsonville High School and Hartnell College alum turned pro in 2019 and has played in the Major Arena Soccer League for five teams across the country over seven seasons. He also had a call-up in 2022 with the US Men’s Futsal National Team camp in Dallas, where he had been playing for the Dallas Sidekicks. Varela is the oldest CSUMB alum still playing professionally out of the 12 men and women who have or still are playing. That includes Mitsy Ramirez, who last played for CSUMB in 2022 and is now playing for Toluca at the 1st division of women’s soccer in Mexico. Greg Pool | Monterey A RIVER RUNS Both Carmel River restoration projects have admirable objectives (“Two floodplain restoration projects on the lower Carmel River have had different fortunes,” June 5-11). Failure to fully fund the Carmel River FREE project would be a dereliction of duty. The inadequacy of the Highway 1 bridge over the Carmel River became widely known with the April 2, 1958 flood. In 1978, Monterey County’s consultant for the (eventually adopted in 1983) FEMA flood study recommended building a causeway across the river to alleviate flood concerns. So, here we are, multiple floods and at least 67 years after it was clear that the project was needed. And funding is in doubt for this project? Larry Hampson | Marina 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 JUNE 26-JULY 2, 2025 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY 17 There is consensus that the existing Carmel Police Station is woefully out of date. Built in 1967, it’s too small, ventilation is nonexistent, security issues abound and the roof “leaks like a sieve,” an architect from the firm Indigo told Carmel City Council on Thursday, March 27. “The building is obsolete, it is unsafe, it does not meet code and it’s just a terrible place to expect city employees to be working.” The focus that day was on a narrow decision: Should the City pursue renovating the existing building, or build a whole new one? “One of the options we do not have is doing nothing,” City Administrator Chip Rerig said. Councilmembers had little appetite to continue on the costly path of constructing a new building, with a price tag as high as $40 million. (Councilmember Bob Delves called it “fiscal fantasy.”) As council talked about the architectural options, they turned to a more existential question: Should the City of Carmel, population 3,220, even have a police department at all? Councilmember Alissandra Dramov, the most vociferous opponent to Indigo, envisioned a future of downsizing: “We may find ourselves sharing police services with Pacific Grove or Monterey, and we may just need a substation.” Delves agreed. “We have to look at policing as a shared service,” he said. Councilmember Hans Buder spoke next. While he expressed support for keeping a Carmel PD, he said it was time to put the issue front and center: “Two councilmembers brought up, do we even want to have a police department?” he said. “Why are we having this conversation about an architect when we haven’t even had that conversation? It seems to me that’s the conversation we should be having.” That is the conversation Carmel and other local cities should be having. Government agencies have been racing to approve their budgets for the 2025-26 fiscal year, which begins on July 1. And they are all staring down a version of expenses rising faster than revenues. One way to reduce those expenses is by having fewer high-level administrators—less top-heavy bureaucracy. This is not a DOGE-style approach to slash-and-burn government—it’s about finding efficiencies. Carmel already does this to great success with its fire services. Monterey Fire Department serves not just Monterey, but also has contracts to serve the neighboring cities of Carmel, Pacific Grove and Sand City, as well as the Monterey Regional Airport and the military installation where Naval Postgraduate School is located. The airport also shares a police department with Del Rey Oaks; Seaside Fire serves DRO. “Our relationship with Monterey Fire is phenomenal,” Rerig says of the past 13 years. It’s so phenomenal that in May, the Carmel council approved a $2.4 million, five-year contract to hand over its ambulance services to Monterey Fire as well. In this case, the cost to the city is estimated to be roughly $200,000 higher than maintaining its own service, but the service is better—for one thing, it means a paramedic will be guaranteed on every call. Carmel will keep its own vehicle, but will no longer be responsible for administration. As Assistant City Administrator Brandon Swanson wrote in a report to council: “In essence, the ambulance service would look the same as it does today…The only noticeable difference would be the patch on the arm of the staff which would say ‘Monterey Fire.’” Of course, that patch can be a dealbreaker. More than a decade ago, Seaside and Pacific Grove led the way in sharing one police chief. A push to expand that to include records and patrol was a bridge too far, and the model imploded. “There’s a lot of pride in communities for who represents them and has the patch on their sleeve,” says P.G. City Manager Matt Mogensen. But looking ahead, he says it’s possible the city would revisit the concept: “All government is going to have to shift and find ways to maintain services and be more efficient.” As Mogensen announced on June 18, Monterey is interested in forming a joint powers authority for fire service, instead of the current contract model. In Carmel, an ad hoc committee is scheduled to report back to council regarding the police station on July 1. After that, the bigger issue remains. The bold step forward would be toward consolidation. They could help lead the way. Sara Rubin is the Weekly’s editor. Reach her at sara@montereycountynow.com. Team Works Carmel leads the way in sharing services. It makes sense for local cities. By Sara Rubin FLAG ON THE PLAY…Squid’s all in on Pride Month, flying a Pride flag outside of Squid’s lair as well as checking out the various Pride-related events around the county, which culminate Saturday, June 28 with a parade through downtown Monterey and a celebration at Custom House Plaza (see Hot Picks, page 24). Among the first Pride events of the month are Pride flag raisings, something now routinely observed in many cities, including the small town of Pacific Grove, where this year’s event June 2 saw the biggest crowd yet, according to P.G. Councilmember Tina Rau, who herself is gay. “It was a really great community event,” featuring residents of all ages, she says to Squid’s colleague. But not everyone in the community thinks it’s great, apparently—the city’s Pride flags have been stolen for a few years in a row. This year two flags— one at City Hall and the other in front of the P.G. Fire Station—went missing the morning of June 13. Public Works replaced them within two hours, Rau says. Employees keep backups on hand knowing it’s going to happen. “They [anti-Pride protesters] want to get rid of this so bad but by doing this it shows you exactly why this is needed,” Rau says. “The irony is not lost on me.” Squid has a message for the thief (or thieves): Stealing is never OK. Have some pride. RETURN TO SENDER…Being a creature of many appendages, Squid understands the benefits of having many hands on deck, which is why Squid is often impressed with reports from the City of Monterey, a city with hundreds of skilled employees, many with decades of institutional knowledge. So Squid was curious to see how the city would respond to an April report from the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury, which found the city “has neglected to restore the integrity of its wharves for at least seven years.” Squid is well aware of the state of the city’s wharves— Squid swims under them all the time—and Squid knows the city is aware too, and working on it. The grand jury’s report concludes, however, by noting that most of its recommendations are already being implemented by the city. The recommendations that have not yet been implemented all call for the city to “prepare and publish a report analyzing the discrepancies between leaseholder inspection reports” and reports from engineers hired by the city. Squid’s curiosity was satisfied June 17, when Monterey City Council approved its statutory response to the civil grand jury’s report, which essentially said: Engineers have differing opinions. We’re not hiring another engineer to analyze why that is and create another report, costing more money and fixing nothing. Thank you for your understanding. THE LOCAL SPIN SQUID FRY THE MISSION OF MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY IS TO INSPIRE INDEPENDENT THINKING AND CONSCIOUS ACTION, ETC. “Do we even want to have a police department?” SEND SQUID A TIP: squid@montereycountynow.com
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