6 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY OCTOBER 23-29, 2025 www.montereycountynow.com NEWS The clock is ticking for the County of Monterey to distribute $20 million in state funds for the benefit of Pajaro. The funds come from Assembly Bill 102, secured by Pajaro’s state representatives to help its residents recover from the 2023 flood. That money needs to be spent by the end of December. Near the end of 2023, the County Board of Supervisors, with public input, agreed on how to divvy the money, with $10 million going toward direct aid to residents and businesses, and the rest being used for other means such as infrastructure projects, including for the renovation of the 1850s-era Porter Vallejo Mansion. In total, a little over $4 million of the state funds still needs to be spent by the end of the year. The third and final phase of direct financial assistance to residents launched in October. Across the first two phases, about $5.3 million has been spent, including nearly $500,000 in administrative costs. For businesses affected by the funding, $4.1 million has been spent on repairs and beautification projects, minus $290,841 for administrative costs. A little more than $1.5 million has also been spent on street upgrades throughout Pajaro, including streetlights, radar speed signs and curb ramps. Emergency Management Director Kelsey Scanlon told the supervisors on Tuesday, Oct. 21 that the money is well on its way to being spent by the deadline, and for some projects, will be fully expended by November. “This really is an example of a graceful and elegant balance of meeting the acute needs of the community but also investing long-term in the overall resilience of the community of Pajaro,” she said. Running Dry Millions in state funding for Pajaro’s flood recovery is nearly spent as deadline approaches. By Erik Chalhoub As Jeffrey Becom, president of the nonprofit Carmel Art Association, stands in the center of the Segal Gallery room, he leans over and carefully places a golf ball on the wood floor. The ball begins rolling slowly toward the wall several feet away, then picks up speed. It hits the wall with a thud. “This whole room has tilted,” Becom says. It’s just one clue of many that Carmel’s oldest art gallery, founded in 1927 by artists, has got a problem, one that no one seems willing to take responsibility for, leaving CAA with a possible $400,000 repair bill, equal to the nonprofit’s annual operating budget. Besides the sloping floor, there are cracks in walls inside and outside the historic building. The lobby floor made up of redwood end cuts, installed by artists in 1947, is filled with gaps—pieces of floor keep popping up. The issue began about seven years ago, less than a year after a major excavation next door at the corner of Dolores Street and Fifth Avenue in 2018. That was for a multi-use building that never got built due to the original owners, Leidig Draper Properties, running out of funds. (Locals dubbed the large hole “The Pit.”) In January 2020, a forensic engineering firm hired by CAA, GeoForensics Inc., concluded the 1- to 2-inch drop of the gallery’s northern wall was caused by the excavation. “It’s very clearly the fault of driving the pilings next to us, because we’re on a sand dune,” Becom says. The I-beams visible in the soil along the property line were temporarily placed, with no concrete added for support. CAA’s insurance company declined to pay for repairs, assigning blame to others. Leidig Draper Properties denied responsibility for the damage and instead blamed CAA for its own earlier renovation project that added a new roof and improvements on the south side of the gallery. (A representative for Leidig Draper did not respond for comment by the Weekly’s deadline.) Neighboring nonprofit Carmel Foundation, which owns a small apartment complex directly behind The Pit, suffered greater damage. One apartment was red-tagged by city officials, forcing its tenant, a low-income senior citizen, to move out. A laundry room had to be shuttered. The repairs, which will be completed in November, will likely cost around $800,000, says President/CEO Kim Stemler. She expects they will get some reimbursement from insurance. Efforts by CAA and the Carmel Foundation to enter into mediation with Leidig Draper’s insurance company have been frustrating. “They’re delaying and waiting for us to just give up. We can’t do that, we’re 98 years old and we aren’t going to go away,” Becom says. In addition to the upcoming $400,000 bill, CAA paid $70,000 for a new roof and $10,000 for a tall fence to prevent possible falls over a temporary fence between the two properties. They’ve also spent about $100,000 in legal fees. A fundraising campaign is underway. The new owner of the property with The Pit, Esperanza Carmel, owned by Monaco developer Patrice Pastor, is about to start construction of a 38,000-square-foot mixed use building. Pastor sent a letter to Becom on Oct. 10 stating that construction will begin Nov. 24. Jeffrey Becom, president of the Carmel Art Association, explains how the Segal Gallery room is tilting by 1 to 2 inches on the north wall, causing damage elsewhere. Sinking Feeling Carmel’s oldest art gallery is stuck with the bill after no one claims responsibility for damages. By Pam Marino Salinas-based Hijos del Sol is in the process of creating a mural on the side of an industrial building on Salinas Road in Pajaro, paid for by flood recovery funds. “They’re delaying and waiting for us to just give up.” NIK BLASKOVICH ERIK CHALHOUB
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