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SB fire chief to retire
Cold Spring administrators address bond concerns
By MITCHELL WHITE NEWS-PRESS ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Eric Nickel has announced he will retire at the end of the month. Chief Nickel, who was named fire chief of the fire department in November 2018, said he has decided to retire after 33 years in the fire service to spend more time with his family. “It’s time to take a step back and be of service to my family,” he told the News-Press on Wednesday. Chief Nickel said the past 14 months have been “pretty challenging” for him personally. His 23-year-old son died by suicide in July 2019. His parents, in their late 70s, and his motherin-law, in her 80s, have been faced with health and lifestyle challenges and need his part or full-time attention. “You can’t be a good fire chief, a good son, a good husband and a good dad all at the same time,” he said. “The fire service certainly takes a lot of priority.” Chief Nickel, 55, said he felt “really grateful” that he is still in a position to help his parents. He came to the local department after serving as fire chief for the city of Palo Alto and Stanford University. Under his leadership, the department became one of 10 municipal fire departments in the state to achieve international accreditation. Chief Nickel is a graduate of
RAFAEL MALDONADO/NEWS-PRESS
Cold Spring School opened for classes mid-September after Superintendent Dr. Amy Alzina advocated for a waiver. She reiterated her commitment for in-person learning during a presentation Wednesday night.
By ANNELISE HANSHAW NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
The Cold Spring School District in Montecito held a presentation Wednesday night to address concerns about Measure L2020, its bond measure on the Nov. 3 budget. A total of 44 attended. Cold Spring principal and superintendent Dr. Amy Alzina set the presentation after hearing misinformation. The Zoom webinar opened with an overview of STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics), a program that would benefit from the bond passing. STEAM Program Specialist Jean Gradias showcased the program’s projects,
showing pictures of kids decked out in woodshop aprons sanding their custom ukuleles. Cold Spring is partnering with Cleveland Elementary School’s sixth graders and building custom skateboards in coming days. “We have a vision of it being state of the art to not just serve our kids, but also the community,” Dr. Alzina said in a News-Press interview. Their last bond measure passed in 2008 but didn’t solve longstanding issues. “At the time, the need was much greater but they only went with $2 million,” she said. “You can’t keep doing small bonds; we need to get things done.” She feels uncomfortable asking to sell bonds during the pandemic,
but she feels the improvements need to be made as soon as possible. The school has had five water system failures in the last six months, Chief Business Official Yuri Calderon said during the presentation. “It demonstrates our need to make these improvements on an urgent basis,” he said. One leak occurred the weekend before online classes began and filled one of the two portable classrooms with a couple feet of water. “It was already hurting to begin with, and now it’s literally on its last leg,” Dr. Alzina said. She had to demolish a portable classroom a year ago after it became a safety issue. The floor
was so rotten a teacher fell through. The remaining two portables are in “horrible” condition, she said. They’re 19 years old and not salvageable. She doesn’t want to replace them with more portables and be back in the same position. She also hopes to increase more outdoor classroom space, a need revealed by the pandemic. Every classroom is full currently, and second-grade students are even learning in the library. She wants the new buildings to have room to grow. “With great schools, comes increasing enrollment,” she said. During her time as principal of Adams Elementary School Please see bond on A7
Tribute
Eddie Van Halen remembered By JOSH GREGA NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
I’ve seen more concerts than I can remember. Some I’ve reviewed for the News-Press, some I will never forget, and others I wish I could. Seeing Van Halen at Seattle’s Key Arena on Dec. 3, 2007, was one I’ll never forget and one that I would never want to. That night sticks in my memory as easily the loudest concert I’ve ever witnessed, at least that’s what it felt like to my 14-year-old ears. While that show and Van Halen’s entire 2007 tour was a big deal because it marked original frontman David Lee Roth’s return to the band after more than 20 years, the standout factor of the ’80s rock sound filling the arena
was the virtuosic guitar playing of the recently departed Eddie Van Halen. The rock world was stunned Tuesday when it was announced that the legendary guitarist and Van Halen namesake died of throat cancer, and locals who make their living through rock and roll were surprised and saddened to hear the news. Michael Shiflett, a guitar teacher at Santa Barbara business Jensen Guitar & Music Co., said he was shocked to find out that the guitar virtuoso had passed away from throat cancer. While Mr. Shiflett was aware that the Van Halen guitarist had suffered from tongue cancer years ago, the news that it had returned and claimed Please see Van Halen on A8
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the National Fire Academy’s Executive Fire Officer Program and is professionally credentialed as a Chief Fire Officer through the Commission on Professional Credentialing. He has worked for six fire departments in Southern and Northern California throughout his career, all of which faced wildland urban interface risks. He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Cal State Long Beach. Chief Nickel said the culture of the local fire department is “pretty special.” “It’s the hardest thing to walk away from,” he said. “It really tugs my stomach having to walk away from such wonderful men and women.” Please see Chief on A7
Goleta City Council keeps evictions moratoriam By GRAYCE MCCORMICK NEWS-PRESS STAFF WRITER
don’t know what’s happening out there. What I do like about the 25% is if people were to pay the 25% each month, then it wouldn’t be such a large amount in the end.” Council member Roger Aveces told the News-Press he disagrees with delaying the payment time. “Ultimately, the full bill is going to become due, and so if you could take off some in the beginning, some people can afford it,” he said. Council member Stuart Kasdin said, “To me, 25% is just this arbitrary number they proposed, and I understand the idea of trying to have it each way, but I can’t see that if somebody was getting relief under these provisions earlier in the year, that all of the sudden they’re going to have more money to pay later in the year. “I don’t want to see evictions, and I don’t know if the 25% is something that’s going to cause evictions.” In other news, the council will be appointing an ad hoc committee to assist with the development of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan, which creates a team to educate and advocate for equity in the workplace and community. The DEI Team will focus
The Goleta City Council has updated the city’s moratoria on residential and commercial evictions and foreclosures to align with the state’s new legislation. Now the mandated start date for repayment of deferred rent due to COVID-19 financial distress of homeowners is set at March 1, 2021. Residents with deferred rent must negotiate with their landlords to work out how repayment is structured. The council also directed city staff to align the expiration of the city’s commercial evictions moratorium with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order. Finally, it terminated its residential and commercial foreclosure prohibitions because there are already protections in place on the federal and state level for owners unable to pay their mortgage. The council was split on its decision during Tuesday’s meeting, but agreed on the fact that “no one wants to see mass evictions during a pandemic.” “We were anticipating they (tenants) would work something out with their landlord and make some sort of payment,” said Mayor Paula Perotte. “It’s a hard decision because we just Please see moratorium on A8
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COURTESY PHOTO
Van Halen lead guitarist and founding member Eddie Van Halen performs onstage. The guitarist died Tuesday after a battle with throat cancer.
COURTESY PHOTO
Santa Barbara City Fire Chief Eric Nickel has announced that he will retire Oct. 31.
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